The Hagrid's son

The appearance of Barty Crouch Jr. was shocking enough to divert attention from the supposed "resurrection" of Cedric, which Barnaby vehemently tried to deny.

He had only taken advantage of the Priori Incantatem phenomenon to pull Cedric's soul back into his body with some help.

Without the connection between the wand cores and if Cedric had been dead for more than ten minutes, not even he could have saved him.

Now, Barnaby tensed as he sensed the presence of a Dementor while Dumbledore explained to Harry what had happened when the Portkey was activated.

"That guy, the Minister of Magic Fudge, let a Dementor into the castle and had it suck the impostor's soul," said Sanshi after checking on the situation. "Maybe they held a grudge?"

"No," Barnaby knew what the current Minister of Magic was like, from both his own experiences and Tonks'. An absolute coward, greedy for power and money. "He eliminated the only witness who could confirm Voldemort's return. The Ministry will go into a panic and probably deny this fact with all their might, at least while Fudge is in charge."

"But Harry and Cedric saw him, right?" Sanshi pointed out. "Especially Cedric."

"Let me correct my statement. Fudge eliminated the only witness that would make people actually pay attention to this fact," Barnaby revised. "How much weight do you think the testimony of two students who just went through such an intense ordeal as the Triwizard Tournament will carry?"

"Are you saying they'll dismiss it as stress or something?" Sanshi's eyes widened in disbelief. "They can't be that stupid!"

"Yes, not even Rita Skeeter will be able to publish anything on this matter." Barnaby shook his head. "By the way, I haven't seen her around. Strange that she hasn't covered this event and slandered the champions."

"Do you doubt whether Harry is telling the truth?"

"Anyone with a functional brain can tell he's not faking it. He's clearly been through a rough time, and what happened with Cedric only confirms that." Especially since he also had knowledge of the wand Voldemort used from his time studying at Ollivanders.

Which reminded him that he should warn Ollivander to take some precautions during the coming period. If anything were to happen to Ollivander, it would be a huge problem for the British magical community.

He should also tell Tonks to ask her parents to return with them. The way the Death Eaters treated Muggles married to wizards or witches was well known, and he didn't want his future in-laws to become targets.

And since someone from the Black family was involved, even if disinherited…

"This will be the calm before the storm."

The first thing he would do once the school year ended would be to go and stock up all the empty space in the cellar with supplies for at least five years. Not just food, but potion ingredients, medicines, everyday items, and some magical artifacts.

The next few days were restless, to put it mildly.

The Weasley twins quickly got over the low spirits when Harry found out all the money they had earned was Leprechaun gold, and he gave them the thousand Galleons he won in the tournament.

Barnaby was astonished by such generosity, even knowing Harry had more than a substantial inheritance. If it had been him, he would have turned that gift into an investment in exchange for a fixed percentage of their profits, no matter how small.

Not only would this have been fairer, but the twins could have avoided getting scolded by their mother for accepting so much money without giving anything in return. Ginny was quite enthusiastic about the details when she told him later.

But it wasn't his business, though he would definitely visit their shop to see what they had and support their opening.

"Should we reinforce the enchantments around the house?" Sanshi asked, a little worried.

"No need. With Calcifer as the core and Frieren's magic, Voldemort doesn't stand a chance." Barnaby knew how secure his home was; he was more concerned about future events outside of it.

"Son," Hagrid approached Barnaby, pausing for a second when he saw Sanshi. "Oh, I think this is the first time we've met in person," he said, shaking Sanshi's hand in a firm grip. "Thanks for looking after my son."

"What's going on, Dad?"

"Dumbledore's assigned me a very important mission with Madam Maxime, and I'll be gone for a while. Could you take Fang to your house to look after him while I'm away? Fluffy can manage in the Forbidden Forest, but it'd be great if you could visit him now and then to check in and play with him."

"A mission?" Barnaby immediately grew alert. "What's it about?"

"Well..." Hagrid hesitated for a moment since Dumbledore told him it was a top-secret matter.

But wait, who could be more trustworthy than his own son?

"I'm going to visit the giant tribes and try to convince them not to join You-Know-Who if they're called." Hagrid explained. "Ideally, they'd face him, but I doubt it..."

Barnaby nodded. Indeed, various factions and creatures would start moving with Voldemort's return, and no one knew when the problem would explode in everyone's face.

"Take the magical folding tent with the undetectable extension charm we use sometimes for camping and picnics," he reminded him after thinking about it for a moment. "I don't think sleeping in caves or outdoors would be comfortable."

"Right, I didn't think of that…" Hagrid scratched his beard, thinking it was a good idea.

Though he and Maxime were half-giants (no matter how much she denied it), if they could be comfortable, why avoid it?

"Be careful during this time, son," Hagrid reminded him as he turned to help with the departure of the other schools. "This is going to be a tense period."

Barnaby watched as his father walked away and sighed.

"Looks like we'll have to postpone the wedding," Barnaby thought sadly, but with some resentment toward Dumbledore for his untimely interference.

With so many people around him, did he have to send his father?

"When his journey to the giants is over, I'll have to pull him away from Dumbledore or else he'll just drag my father into his conflict," Barnaby decided. "Tonks wanted to have the wedding soon, too, but I guess things never go the way you want."

If necessary, he could give his father a Draught of Living Death after the wedding until the storm passed, then wake him up while pretending he didn't know anything, asking where he had been all this time, worried sick.

He just hoped it wouldn't come to that, but if his father had started practicing with the wand he could now use again, he wouldn't be as concerned.