[HP] The rise of the background character #13 (Patreon)

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Chapter #1 (Free): The rise of the background character #1

All characters are adults

Chapter #13: The truth is inside here.

Black robes, everyone was using that style of clothing, well, everyone except Alastor, who was wearing his usual robes, the professors were in a private meeting discussing how they’re going to proceed now after the death of a student.

Of course, Neville Longbottom’s grandmother was not only part of the board of directors of the school, but she was also an important figure in the government, they needed to proceed carefully, or else the scandal would become too big for the school to handle.

The woman was present at this dinner, but she hadn’t touched anything, not that Dumbledore could blame her, though, she’d probably wish to be at home mourning her grandson, the last member of her family who could've passed the Longbottom last name, with Neville’s death, the legacy was over, the name Longbottom is going to disappear.

“I wish we weren’t in these circumstances, and this meeting wouldn’t be needed,” Dumbledore started gaining everyone’s attention. “But there are important matters we need to discuss,” Dumbledore clapped his hands, and soon, house elves started to serve one of the finest elvish wines one could taste.

Dumbledore had this prepared for special or difficult occasions; no matter how serious most of them were, they were curious about the drink.

“Go ahead, this is a special elvish wine reserve that I got from my friend Nicholas Flammel, a gift from the previous Christmas,” Dumbledore encouraged them.

Soon, everyone, with no exception, took a sip of the drink, even Augusta took a really small sip, and Dumbledore admired that even in this situation, she was being courteous.

“First of all, I’d like to offer my condolences to Augusta, she has been a friend of mine for a long time, and I understand she's in a time of grieving, but if I know her correctly, I also know she wants to get justice,” Dumbledore’s tone became cold.

Augusta didn’t say anything; she tried her hardest not to sob, she wanted to be strong; she was the last person carrying the Longbottom name, even if she only acquired the name by marrying the Lord Longbottom back then, he was more than forty years older than her, so, she earned the right to wear the name, she needed to carry the legacy even in these difficult circumstances.

“That’s why we need to find who’s the one who put Neville Longbottom’s last name in the Goblet of Fire, as I’m completely convinced it wasn’t a coincidence,” the old wizard’s words caused everyone to look at him with curious yet cautious expressions.

You don’t defeat Grindelwald by being weak, Dumbledore was someone to be feared, and everyone knew that behind that nice façade, it was hiding someone capable of many great and also, fearsome things, the fact that he was able to contain his power was an incredible feat by itself, others like Voldemort had succumbed to the honeys of power and never came back from it.

“Albus, this—” Snape wasn’t clearly happy about this for some reason.

“Sit, Severus,” Dumbledore ordered, not asked.

The gloomy wizard did as he was told, but still, that didn’t mean he was comfortable here, and Dumbledore wanted to be sure he wasn’t the culprit behind Neville's death, he gave Severus a chance years ago to redeem himself, to know that he was behind this would cause a great pain and he doesn’t know how he would recover if that were true.

“Let’s cut the chase before things get ugly, I’ve spoken with someone recently and that person pointed out an interesting thing, the only person who could do it was a professor as all students wanted to get in the tournament, they wouldn’t give their place to someone younger than them and least of all, the one who has had the attention of our world since he lost his parents, so, I’m going to be blunt…Which one of you did it?” Dumbledore questioned with a cold expression.

Everyone was so silent that the beats in their hearts could be heard, this was the side of Dumbledore that no one wanted to see, the professors were looking at each other, whispering amongst themselves, but then, something crazy started to happen.

Alastor was starting to shake violently; everyone stared at him as he tried to get up and escape, but he was quickly restrained in his seat by Dumbledore.

“What the…” Snape couldn’t help but mutter.

Alastor’s body was transforming; not only was he shaking, but his whole body form was changing, and soon, bottles started to come out of his jacket. Snape quickly picked up one and smelled the thing.

“Polyjuice potion!” Snape said angrily. “So you were the one who has been stealing from me!” Snape looked at the changing man with a cold expression.

And then after a long time of spasms, it finally ended, revealing a figure most hadn’t seen in a long time and that most presumed to be dead.

“Barty Crouch…Jr,” Dumbledore finally broke the ice.

The man just looked at them with hatred and a triumphant smirk.

“Well, well, it seems like I got caught. I don’t know what you put in that drink, but…It truly destroyed the effects of the Polyjuice, very well…One hundred points to Gryffindor,” Barty said in a mocking tone.

“Albus?” Flitwick looked at him with a curious expression.

Albus took another bottle of elvish wine.

“Don’t worry, it was just veritaserum, I guess the two potions couldn’t coexist in the same body and the newest one took over his body, come on, drink from this and you’re going to get back to normal, I’m sorry I did this but this was the only way to catch the culprit without alerting him,” Dumbledore said as he handled them the bottle.

Soon, they started to drink from it. The fact that they could’ve exposed their deepest secrets was a scary thought, but at the same time, they were grateful the fake professor was caught.

The fact that they were being friendly with someone so vicious and dangerous was making them shiver; at least they caught him before he killed more students, or worse, he could’ve brought his friends and caused havoc.

“It’s useless…All of you are done, he’s coming back, you know? He’s bringing his vengeance upon all of you…Especially the traitors like you, Snape, look at you, becoming the pet of the dark lord’s most hated enemy…I still remember when you boasted about the things you used to do to muggles…Oh, if only the people here knew, there are levels of degeneration and cruelty, and then there's you. You’re just behind the dark lord!” Barty laughed.

“Enough with that, Barty. Why did you put Neville Longbottom’s name in the Goblet of Fire?” Dumbledore didn’t want to hear any more of his rants.

Barty tried to fight against the urge to answer, but the potion makes you feel pain if you’re not honest.

“The plan was to lure him during the final task away so the dark lord could make a ritual to gain his body back…Yes, he’s very much alive in a sad state, but even like that, he’s more dangerous than all of you combined,” he laughed. “And now your savior is gone, you can kill me if you want, but he’s already won!” Barty celebrated.

Then Dumbledore started to laugh, causing everyone to look at him with concern.

“That would be really bad, right? Well, it would be if it weren’t for the fact that we made a mistake years ago, Neville wasn’t the real threat to Voldemort. The one who’s going to vanquish your master is very much alive, and he's very ruthless and cunning, I must say. This plan was his idea after all,” Dumbledore’s words made Barty’s smile disappear.

But everyone was looking at Dumbledore with shocked expressions.

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