The one who reacted most strongly to Severus's words was naturally Greyback.
The werewolf practically roared his response.
"You clearly defected to the Aurors! Just this afternoon, you brought two people to track us down! You tried to capture and my n in one fell swoop!"
"And then?"
Severus rely raised an eyebrow.
His indifferent reaction left Greyback montarily speechless, his anger choking his words. It was Crouch Jr. who coldly glared at Severus.
"And this is how you behave? Fenrir may be despicable, but he's working for the Dark Lord. By attacking him like this, aren't you betraying the Dark Lord?"
"Working for the Dark Lord?"
Severus just sneered.
"It seems to he's working for you. What right does a scavenging beast like him have to represent the Dark Lord? Flaunting the Dark Mark so boldly in Eastbourne, kidnapping so many wizarding children under the na of the Death Eaters… was all that the Dark Lord's intention?"
Barty Jr. raised his voice, tilting his chin up as if trying to look down on Severus.
"Don't play word gas, Snape! We've gathered here to find our missing master! But your actions are clearly sabotaging our plans!"
However, Severus didn't back down an inch, eting his challenge head-on.
"On the contrary! What you're doing now is the real hindrance to the Dark Lord's return! After that night, he disappeared to find a safe place to recover and bide his ti. But what you're doing now is the greatest betrayal of all!"
Hearing this counteraccusation, Barty Jr.'s eyes turned vicious!
anwhile, the Dark wizards around him shifted uneasily, their gazes darting between the two. Their words had left them confused, unsure who was truly in the wrong.
These people had gathered under Barty Jr.'s banner because he claid to have clues about Voldemort's disappearance.
But now, listening to Severus, it sounded as though he knew more about Voldemort's situation and Voldemort was actually preparing for sothing!
"You defected to Dumbledore! You publicly repented your past in front of the entire British Wizarding World at the Ministry! Is that what you call loyalty?"
"Instead of lying low with the Dark Lord, waiting for the day he returns in full strength, you'd rather draw attention and waste the resources he's painstakingly built up?"
"You're just making excuses for your betrayal!"
"Hmph! You're the one trying to start your own faction… creating a new Death Eater!"
Severus's accusation struck like a bolt of lightning. Barty Jr.'s pupils dilated, and the surrounding followers instinctively took a step back.
Barty Jr. was so furious he nearly lost control!
He raised his wand at Severus, his voice hoarse with rage.
"How dare you question my loyalty to Master!"
"You even dared to kill your own father… who's to say your 'loyalty' isn't just another twisted act of 'fatherly love'?"
The happiest person present at this mont, or rather, ghost, was undoubtedly Ghost Snape.
Ever since becoming a ghost, he almost grew numb to Severus's provocations. But now, watching soone else bear the full brunt of Severus's verbal assault, he finally felt a sense of vindication.
'At last, soone else could understand what I'd been through!'
At this ti, Barty Jr. was now so enraged he was on the verge of losing all reason. The tip of his wand glowed green, and just as Severus raised his own wand, preparing to duel-
A shout suddenly ca from outside the window!
The voice instantly snapped Barty Jr. out of his rage, and he glared at Severus with deadly focus.
"You're stalling! Waiting for the Aurors to surround us!"
The other Dark wizards around him, who had been swayed by Severus's words and were initially prepared to stay out of it, now snapped to attention. They all raised their wands nervously, pointing them at Severus!
Severus t Barty Jr.'s gaze and smirked coldly.
"It seems like you still have a pawn among the Aurors, thanks to your father's connections."
"Snape! No matter how cleverly you twist your words, the Dark Lord will learn of your actions! When he truly returns, he will judge who the real traitor is!"
Barty Jr. spat out his final words at Severus, then without hesitation, he used Apparition and disappeared on the spot!
His followers didn't linger either… one by one, they vanished with sharp cracks of Apparition.
By the ti they had all disappeared, the sounds of broomsticks whizzing outside and chaotic footsteps rushing up the stairs echoed through the house.
Dozens of Aurors stord into the Crouch Family's residence. Scrimgeour, Robards, and Kingsley, their faces dark with anger, quickly made their way to the second floor.
"Trace their Apparition destinations imdiately! Robards, take a team and pursue!"
Scrimgeour ordered coldly.
Seeing these Aurors who couldn't even clean up properly in ti, Severus didn't bother hiding his disdain.
"I already asked Kingsley to remind you that you can't completely trust all the Aurors in your office."
This ti, Scrimgeour didn't respond with the sa stubborn defiance he had shown Severus before. He took a deep breath, his posture lowering as he offered an apology.
"That was indeed our mistake. We kept all the suspected individuals at the Ministry, but we didn't expect one of the Aurors sent here to be under the Imperius Curse."
After returning from Azkaban with Kingsley, Severus had sensed sothing was wrong the mont they approached the Crouch Family's residence.
He realized that Barty Jr. didn't seem affected by the Imperius Curse at all… instead, he had gathered everyone he could, ard himself with a wand, and was preparing to kill his father tonight!
After realizing this, Severus didn't hesitate. He imdiately sent Kingsley back to the Ministry to call for reinforcents.
The other scum didn't matter, but Barty Jr., another prodigy from Hogwarts, wouldn't be easy to capture.
If he had still been under the Imperius Curse, Severus and Kingsley could have simply subdued Barty Sr. to resolve the situation.
But now, defeating Barty Jr. wasn't the hard part… capturing or killing him was another matter entirely.
So Severus had no choice but to pin his hopes on the Aurors, stalling for ti while waiting for them to arrive and set up Anti-Apparition wards around the area.
But the result was painfully clear.
The Ministry of Magic never failed to let you down… especially when it ca to letting people down.
When Severus had been wanted, aside from Kingsley, the rest of the Aurors had been utterly incompetent at catching him.
Now that Severus needed their help, they were still just as useless… completely incapable of providing any aningful support!
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