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A scarlet beam of light tore through the air inside the tent, striking Old Barty Crouch in the back just as he was raising his wand.
"Ugh—!!!"
The agony of the Crucio ravaged his body. The piercing pain, reaching deep into his marrow and straight into his soul, instantly drowned out all other sensations.
His arm, which had been holding the wand aloft, suddenly convulsed, and the wand fell from his hand with a "clatter." His body shook violently before collapsing forward uncontrollably, hitting the carpet heavily.
Lynn looked expressionlessly at Crouch rolling in pain on the ground and gave his wand a gentle flick.
A roll of spare canvas rope in the corner of the tent transformed into several chains, which wrapped around Crouch's wrists, ankles, and torso with a series of "clinking" sounds, binding him tightly and leaving only his head barely able to move.
After doing this, Lynn stepped forward slowly and stopped a few paces away from Crouch.
"Mr. Crouch, I imagine the taste of the Crucio should help you... Are you a bit more awake now? Do you remember who you are and what you were trying to do just now?"
Old Barty Crouch's body was still trembling violently, but he seemed to have barely regained a shred of sanity.
He nodded with difficulty.
Did Lynn believe him? It could only be said... that he "believed" him.
"Legilimency!"
Invisible threads of magical power instantly delved into Crouch's consciousness.
[Endure... pretend to have recovered... fool this kid... wait until he lets his guard down... find a chance to backstab this brat...]
Lynn: "..."
"Mr. Crouch, look, this is quite unfortunate. I don't want to treat a highly respected Ministry Department Head like this. But clearly, the Imperio is even more 'resilient' than I imagined. Your recovery... isn't quite complete."
Before his voice had even faded, the "helpful" Lynn naturally raised his wand once again.
"Crucio!"
Another merciless beam of light struck the bound Crouch, who had no way to dodge!
"Ah—!!! No... don't!! I was wrong! I really... Ah—!!!"
This time, the pain lasted longer and cut even deeper.
When Crouch opened his eyes again, his gaze held nothing but the exhaustion following extreme agony and... hollow vacancy. It took several seconds for focus to slowly return to those empty eyes.
Lynn performed Legilimency once again.
Good. That malicious thought of "backstabbing" had vanished, replaced by terror over what had just happened.
Lynn's change in expression was startlingly fast.
"Oh my, oh my~ Mr. Crouch!"
Lynn took a step forward, his tone filled with "sincere" apology. "You're finally awake! You didn't actually see anything just now, did you?"
Crouch closed his eyes in pain, seemingly lost in memory. When he opened them again, the way he looked at Lynn had changed completely.
"Yes... yes... I... I broke free... on my own... the rest... I can't remember clearly..."
"That's wonderful!" A look of immense "relief" blossomed on Lynn's face.
Lynn flicked his wand, and Crouch's head lolled to the side as he fell into a deep sleep.
Immediately afterward, Lynn's wand traced complex patterns in the air. Magic seeped into Crouch's sleeping brain, meticulously weaving, deleting, and overwriting.
He erased the parts of Crouch's memory involving his use of the Crucio and Legilimency, replacing them with a "reasonable" script in which "Mr. Crouch fought off the Imperio with his incredible willpower and finally broke free by force."
As for why he felt such intense pain after breaking free? Who knew.
Afterward, Lynn removed the chains from Crouch and let him lie in a relatively comfortable position.
Next, he walked over to Arthur Weasley and checked his condition. Old Barty's Stupefy spell had been quite forceful, but Arthur should be fine.
Lynn cast a calming spell on him to ensure he would wake up naturally.
Having finished all this, Lynn let out a soft sigh, his tone returning to its usual casualness.
"Alright, it's done. Let's go, Edgar, back to our tent. It's better to leave Mr. Crouch and Mr. Weasley to 'wake up naturally' here."
Edgar finally snapped out of it and lowered the protective shield. The moment he stood up, he felt a painful tightness in his bladder.
"I... I'm going to the bathroom first. I've been holding it in forever!"
Lynn: "..."
Time passed quietly.
Inside the tent, Arthur's eyelids twitched. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling a few seconds of confusion—how had he fallen asleep on the carpet? And so soundly?
He instinctively stretched, his bones making a pleasant "crackling" sound. He felt that this sleep had been exceptionally refreshing, and his spirits were unusually high.
"Hmm... what time is it..." He rubbed his eyes and sat up, his vision still a bit blurry as he scanned the interior of the tent.
Then, his gaze fixed on another figure lying on the carpet not far away.
Barty Crouch.
Instantly, the last memories before he lost consciousness exploded in his mind.
In that moment, all his confusion transformed into blazing fury!
"You piece of work, Barty Crouch!" Arthur's normally gentle face instantly flushed red.
He scrambled up from the ground, rolled up his sleeves, and strode toward the still-unconscious Crouch.
New grudges—being knocked unconscious for no reason—and old grievances—Crouch's usual condescending attitude—surged together in his chest. Arthur felt the blood rush straight to his head.
He walked over to Crouch, getting angrier the more he thought about it.
"To hell with your Ministry Department Head title! To hell with your orders!" Arthur cursed as he put all his strength into a kick, planting it squarely into Crouch's side!
Thud!
The kick was solid and full of force. Crouch's sleeping body suddenly arched, and he let out a muffled groan as he was jarred awake from his slumber.
Crouch's eyes snapped open. His consciousness wasn't fully clear yet, but the trembling pain throughout his body made him gasp instantly.
He rolled his eyes blankly and met Arthur's fiery gaze... and his recently withdrawn foot.
Crouch's mind was completely blank.
What happened? Where am I? Why does my whole body hurt so much? Why is Arthur Weasley kicking me? Was the power of this kick... really that great?
Just as he was being overwhelmed by pain and confusion, a tide of memories suddenly broke through some kind of blockage and surged into his mind.
"Arthur! Wait! Let me explain..." Crouch, ignoring the pain wracking his body, struggled to sit up. "It's not what you think... I was..."
However, in his rage, how could Arthur possibly listen?
"Explain? What's there to explain? Using a Stupefy on a colleague and trying to forcibly take a child—is that something you can brush off with an 'explanation'?!"
Arthur's gaze swept over a folding camping stool nearby. It was made of aluminum—not especially heavy, but definitely sturdy.
Without another word, he snatched up the stool and, under Crouch's terrified gaze, raised it high—
Bang!!!
"Ah—!!!" Crouch screamed.
"Arthur! Stop! This is... this is an order! I am the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation! You are attacking a superior!!"
Hearing the word "order" only made Arthur even angrier.
"To hell with your orders!"
Bang! Bang!
"Ah! Arthur! You're crazy! Stop! I can act as if this never happened... Ow!"
"Explain? Orders? I'll give you 'explain'! I'll give you 'orders'!"