Chapter 490: Rufus Scrimgeour

A series of dazzling red lights flickered over the ruins.

Figures flickered, and hundreds of fiery red lights shot from the wizards' wands, intertwined with each other. They struck the debris of the ruins and were thrown back into the darkness.

"I saw him, he dissipated," a wizard shouted.

"Don't be silly, apparition is not allowed in this area .... "

But thinking about Caresius' sudden disappearance, this sentence was particularly unconvincing tonight.

"The man suddenly disappeared from my sight, if it wasn't an apparition.... "The voice broke in and said in surprise, "There is a man on the ground, unconscious, oh God, what is this?"

"What have you found?!" Mr. Crouch said in a cold, emotionless voice. His face tightened and his sharp eyes fell into darkness.

A few seconds later, under everyone's gaze, a wizard came out with a small, faint figure.

There was a tea towel around his neck. It was Winky, the house elf himself!

Mr. Crouch watched as his own house elf was deposited beneath his feet, motionless and silent.

The other officials of the Ministry of Magic looked at Mr. Crouch, and the atmosphere in the air was strange.

For a few seconds, Crouch stood transfixed, as if frozen, his eyes glittering in his white face as he stared at Winky.

Then he seemed to come alive again.

"This, this is impossible, impossible!" He said, "Impossible!"

He moved quickly around the wizard in front of him and moved toward the spot where he had encountered Winky.

"It doesn't make sense, Mr. Crouch!" the wizard who found Winky called after him, "There's no one else there. "

But Mr. Crouch seemed unwilling to take his word for it, and he went in and out of there. He searched carefully through the dark ruins, and there was a constant sound of debris rolling and falling.

When Ivan and Hermione came down, he didn't come out of the ruins.

"Ivan, Hermione, are you both all right?"

Ivan saw Sirius and Mr. Weasley running towards them and looked very scared.

In the sky, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Ginny, Krum, Fred, George and other Quidditch players slowly landed next to them.

People gathered to ask about Ivan and Hermione and cried with joy.

Everyone was amazed by Ivan's power, and did not expect this 13-year-old boy to be so strong.

Those familiar with him knew that Ivan had used the power of the Philosopher's Stone; that mighty power was beyond the imagination of the modern wizarding world.

Soon, Fudge came under the protection of a group of Aurors.

He did not seem to have recovered from the great shock and asked Ivan who he was fighting.

"That's enough, these two boys need to rest!" Sirius said impatiently, "Ivan just had a fight with a dark wizard who suddenly burst in.... This should have been the responsibility of the Ministry of Magic. If you want to know the truth, you can ask those dark wizards who have been captured, and you can find out who they are and where they came from!"

"You're right, Black!" Fudge nodded awkwardly. "We... "

At that moment, the Ministry of Magic officials at the edge of the ruins gave another cry of alarm, and everyone rushed over.

The Aurors seemed to be discussing whether the tame elf had cast the Dark Mark and the final focus was on the wand.

To use this magic, one must have a wand, and Winky had one in her hand.

The scene was a mess, and when everyone squeezed in, the expressionless Crouch emerged from the ruins.

His face was still white as a ghost, and his hands and toothbrush mustache twitched.

"Barty, where have you been tonight?" Fudge asked hurriedly. He looked even more nervous than before. "I can't believe this happened tonight, an attack by dark wizards, and now even the Dark Mark is out!"

"I've been very busy!" said Mr. Crouch, still speaking in the same gruff manner, barely moving his lips. "During the match, someone snuck into my tent. He seemed to be looking for something!"

"To me, those guys are absolutely nuts. What will people say tomorrow?" Fudge grumbled, "Don't even think about it. They'll think it's all the Ministry of Magic's fault, but who can...? God, what's happened to this domestic scam?"

She looked like she had just seen Winky, the house elf, lying on the ground.

A man in the crowd rushed over to Fudge and whispered a few words to him.

The wizard looked like an old lion with gray streaks in his mane of tawny hair and bushy eyebrows.

Behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles he had sharp eyes, watching Crouch with an evil eye.

He had a certain ragged, gangly grace, though he walked with a slight limp.

He immediately gave an impression of shrewdness and toughness.

He was Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Bureau at the Ministry of Magic, and was currently the strongest Auror.

"Rufus, you mean.... " Fudge's gaze fell on the wand in Winky's hand.

Then, he seemed to have suddenly discovered a great truth and looked at Crouch in disbelief.

"So Crouch's tame elf cast the Dark Mark with this wand!" Fudge said slowly with a hint of horror in his voice, "The sign of You-Know-Who, how could she use this magic!"

Crouch did not speak, and his eyes fell on the wand in Winky's hand.

He didn't seem to hear Fudge's words, nor did he understand what he meant.

"It can't be her... " someone whispered.

"Even if it wasn't her, this tame elf can't get away with it." Scrimgeour said bluntly.

"She violated clause three of the wand-use code: no non-human creature may carry or use a wand."

"But... "

"I think we should hear how this domestic elf defends herself and then judge!" Scrimgeour continued. "If you have no objection, Mr. Crouch.... "

He seemed to be questioning Crouch, but he didn't wait for him to answer, and quickly raised his wand and pointed at Winky, "Rennervate!"

Winky stirred weakly. His big brown eyes widened and he blinked hard in a puzzled manner.

Under the silent gaze of the wizards, she sat up trembling.

Then, slowly and shakily, she raised her eyes and looked out at the crowd.

Then, more slowly, she turned her eyes to the night sky.

One could clearly see the floating skull reflected twice in huge glassy eyes.

She gasped, looked at the people in the open space with bewildered eyes, and suddenly burst into terrified sobs.