Moody lashed out at the Aurors for their half-hearted behaviour for several minutes before turning to Ivan and speaking.
"Had the Aurors been as observant as you, Harls, that whelp would have been seen through."
"You flatter me, Professor Moody…" Ivan shrugged noncommittally.
With Moody's violent temper, which Auror would dare question him?
"And after that, Alastor?" asked Dumbledore.
"Then they held me for a while, as if they were planning something, and when the Aurors left, Barty released me, saying he would lead me to his master, Lord Voldemort!" Moody's face became grave.
"Mystery Man?" Hermione said, wide-eyed with surprise. "So Harry was telling the truth and he's come back to life?"
"I was shocked at first, but I don't think so. At least, I think so…" Moody mumbled, smacking his lips.
Hermione was thoroughly confused, not quite understanding what Moody meant.
Moody was quick to dispel her doubts, tapping his cane on the chair with his right hand, transforming it into an oval bundle with an opening like a baby cauldron.
"This is the Voldemort I saw!" Moody exclaimed, his heart pounding as he recalled the scene.
Hermione took a few steps closer and saw that the bundle really did contain a statue of a baby, so lifelike that it looked real.
However, the strange thing was that the baby had a flat snake's face, and its exposed skin was dark red and covered in snake scales.
"It's Lord Voldemort?" Hermione's head was spinning, and she could not reconcile the story's terrifying Dark Lord with the sight of a hideous, dead baby in front of her.
Ivan did the same. He had to admit that Lord Voldemort was hideously ugly. It seemed that after losing most of its power, the basilisk's blood power had gone out of control to the point of serious mutating.
"Hey, what do you think? Surprised?" Moody said sarcastically, grinning. "When we first met, I didn't think the famous Dark Lord would be in Peter's arms like a baby. When Barty pointed him out and told me he was the Dark Lord, I thought they were joking."
"Your guess is correct, Alastor. Voldemort did not really come back to life." Dumbledore stared at the cauldron on the floor and the strange baby inside, then paused and continued solemnly.
"But compared to before, he became stronger, no longer a pathetic ghost, and gained a body, which meant he regained the ability to cast spells…"
Moody nodded, and after exchanging a few sarcastic words, as he did now, he was tortured by an enraged Lord Voldemort himself.
This is proof enough that Lord Voldemort is not as frail as he seems, and is still the extremely dangerous Dark Lord.
"He tortured me for a night with the Cruciatus Curse, then altered my memory while I was at my weakest, leading me to believe that I was actually a fanatical Death Eater who had been working undercover for the Ministry of Magic…"
"I always knew it was wrong. Why would a Death Eater catch so many Dark Wizards? I tried to put it right, but I couldn't help it. He used the Imperius Curse on me, strengthening that belief and controlling my actions.
I think I may be really old, and not as strong-willed as I used to be, but he managed to turn me into an obedient puppet."
Moody let out a defeated sigh.
"That's not your problem, Alastor. Lord Voldemort is very well versed in the study of the soul and the Dark Arts. No one knows exactly how far he has gone…" Dumbledore reassured him.
Yvonne nodded in agreement.
Lord Voldemort might not have been fully revived, and his powers were far weaker than they had been at their peak, but he still had his foundations, and was not someone that most wizards could hope to match.
It must be noted that Voldemort was able to take control of Barty Crouch, the former Head of the executive branch, in an instant.
Moody's performance, by contrast, was commendable, and it took Voldemort a while to get him under control.
Of course, it could also be because altering memories is delicate and requires the least amount of resistance from Moody.
Yvonne was lost in her thoughts while Moody went on to say more.
"After that, Voldemort probably felt that I had given in, so he did not try to avoid talking to Peter and Barty Junior.
I overheard them discussing a plan in which Voldemort had hoped Barty Crouch Junior would enter Hogwarts disguised as me with Polyjuice Potion, in order to facilitate its execution.
After all, using the Imperius Curse for remote control is not very convenient. They can only order me to do things, but they cannot know how things are going. I have to report to them periodically before Little Barty can give me instructions again."
"Then why did they change the plan halfway through?" Ivan asked with a frown, one of the two questions he had been puzzling over.
"Don't know." Moody shook his head, then thought better of it and went on. "I guess they're worried about your Marauder's Map seeing through them."
"It seems Pettigrew has given away quite a bit about me… I thought he really couldn't remember anything after losing his memory," Ivan sneered.
"The truth is, they wouldn't have been able to hide the map from us without Peter," Moody said. "Many people in the wizarding world know that. It would be strange if Voldemort didn't notice."
Ivan was taken aback, a strange expression on his face. Since when did everyone know about his Marauder's Map?
"Have you forgotten, Ivan? You showed the Marauder's Map to us last year when we were trying to turn the tables on Sirius, and it was on the front page of the Daily Prophet the day after…" Hermione reminded him.
She had collected every Daily Prophet related to Ivan and read them many times, so she naturally remembered them well.
Ivan smacked his head. He had forgotten about this.
He had seen the Daily Prophet on the wall of the Chamber of Secrets, and Barty Junior must have had a lot of free time on his hands. No wonder he was so protective of the Marauder's Map.
"You may have forgotten that Lord Voldemort was a master of memory, and he may have been able to help Peter retrieve some of his lost memories," Dumbledore added. "Peter was one of the makers of that map, and must have known exactly how to avoid it."