The Baron raised his head and looked at Harry.
What else could there be?
He now knew his daughter's whereabouts, his wife's location was being kept from him, and the travel passes were ready...
He knew he couldn't issue a commission to this Witcher for now.
"Do you know Uma? The ugliest man alive?" Harry asked him.
The Baron looked up, his eyes filled with even more surprise.
"Witcher, you're like a prophet." He pushed away from the table and stood up. "Of course, I know. In fact, I just won him in a card game a few days ago."
"You sound as if you already knew he was in my possession."
Harry didn't bother to explain. "Take good care of him."
"Hmm?" The Baron was puzzled.
Harry said quietly, "He's a Sage. He was cursed by the Wild Hunt while trying to protect Ciri. That's why he looks that way."
The Baron raised his eyebrows in surprise and nodded. "Ciri's benefactor?"
"Alright, we thought he was just a jester."
"The passes?" Harry stretched out his hand.
The Baron waved his hand.
Sergeant Ardal walked in with two envelopes and handed them to Harry.
"Thank you," Harry nodded and grabbed Hermione's hand.
The Baron didn't quite understand what was happening and gestured to the table. "Why not sit down and enjoy some breakfa—"
Before he could finish, he saw Harry pull a small wooden stick out of his pocket, give it a light wave, and mutter a spell.
With a pop—a sharp crack filled the room, and both Harry and Hermione vanished from sight.
The Baron stared dumbfoundedly at the spot where Harry and Hermione had been standing. He furrowed his brows and asked hesitantly, "It was the Witcher who cast the spell, not the sorceress beside him?"
Sergeant Ardal nodded. "It seemed like it, Baron."
The Baron gritted his teeth. "Bloody hell, I wanted to ask him if he was really telling the truth."
If he really meant it when he said he would come back to help rescue his wife after finding Ciri.
"Eat, eat!" The Baron slapped the table, swearing under his breath.
Harry and Hermione Apparated to the nearest point outside Novigrad.
Using a Transfiguration spell, Harry conjured horses, and they hurriedly made their way toward the city.
While they were chasing Ciri's trail, back at Hogwarts, the school was bustling with the start of the new term.
Not just in Gryffindor, but in all the other Houses as well, people began to notice the absence of two always well-behaved yet highly noticeable students—Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
Ron and Neville obviously knew something.
But no matter who asked, they only gave vague responses like, "They have things to do," brushing off any further inquiries.
The two of them faithfully remembered Harry's instructions.
Every morning before leaving the tower and every evening before returning, they would check to see if the Room of Requirement would open.
Neville would also take an extra trip to the fourth floor.
He would stare at the magically protected classroom for half an hour, sometimes an hour, before leaving when Filch showed up.
In the dungeons.
Inside the Headmaster's office.
Snape slowly closed his eyes, and in the abandoned classroom on the fourth floor, black mist began to swirl around Crouch.
"It's still winter," Crouch woke up, his voice hoarse as he stared at the roaring fire in the fireplace, speaking heavily.
Time felt like it was dragging.
He once thought that being locked up in the basement of the Crouch household, under the control of the Imperius Curse, was the longest and most agonizing time of his life.
But the suffering he experienced then was nothing compared to now—not even one percent of it.
In his dreams, it felt like decades had passed.
But every time he woke up, it was still winter. Maybe ten days had passed, maybe a month, maybe even longer...
But he couldn't tell.
"Yes, spring is coming soon," Snape replied tersely. "I came here today to inform you of some new developments."
Crouch raised his head.
He couldn't feel any hint of spring at all.
His eyes were hollow, his expression murky.
"Potter has left Hogwarts," Snape said quietly.
It wasn't a secret that could be kept.
Harry was no longer at Hogwarts, and it was something that all the Houses had taken note of. Sirius had volunteered to take Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Harry, or Lupin could transform into Harry, and Tonks into Hermione.
But...
Professor McGonagall did not agree.
She didn't want Sirius or Lupin—those two troublemakers who had wreaked havoc on Gryffindor for so long—to return.
It had been a relief when Fred and George graduated.
Gryffindor finally had a moment of peace.
Under Harry and Hermione's influence, studying had even become a trend in Gryffindor—not as strong as in Ravenclaw, of course, but it was no longer something to be mocked.
Gryffindor had never been so well-behaved.
Snape's words left Crouch stunned. His eyes regained a hint of clarity. "He went to the Witcher's world, didn't he?"
"You expected that?" Snape's voice turned harsh, almost unconsciously.
Crouch nodded. "Of course."
"Isn't it obvious?"
His voice regained some vigor. "Ciri, that girl with Elder Blood, is in that world."
"And compared to the pitiful Death Eaters."
"One of me, locked up and under guard; you, Severus, only under suspicion and surveillance; and one other still hiding, slipping away..."
"Father only has two Horcruxes left."
"Compared to us, the Wild Hunt—a whole world of them—is a much bigger threat, isn't it?"
"Not to mention, they already know that one of Father's Horcruxes is in the hands of the Wild Hunt."
Crouch analyzed everything for Snape, his words flowing non-stop.
He spilled out everything he had been holding back.
"This is clearly a good opportunity," Snape said slowly. "Is there anything you need me to do?"
Crouch lowered his voice. "No."
Snape's voice grew sharp. "Crouch, you still don't trust—"
"No, Severus, I trust you," Crouch interrupted him. "I truly do trust you now."
"But Severus, I've always been preparing for the chance of being captured."
"I had everything arranged beforehand."
He paused for a moment.
"Although I don't know exactly what I arranged, the capture of the navigator, Potter going to that world... all of it was within my expectations."
Snape's voice dipped ominously. "You even anticipated the navigator being captured?"
Crouch looked meaningfully at the swirling black mist before him and nodded slowly. "Of course."
Snape tried to extract more information.
Crouch seemed sincere, but his memories had been tampered with, and he couldn't reveal anything more.
When ten minutes were up, Snape's eyes opened, his expression grim. He turned to Dumbledore. "Bad news. Crouch had anticipated the capture of the navigator. He also expected Harry to go to that world, and he had made arrangements for it."
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Powerstones?
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