"Stop!"
After a brief moment of shock, Scrimgeour immediately pulled out his wand and aimed it at Tom.
"Your impersonation of Mr. Crouch and invasion of the Ministry of Magic has been exposed, and you have nowhere to run."
The three Aurors who had accompanied Scrimgeour also realized that the person in front of them, whose face was obscured by a hood, must be the intruder, and they all drew their wands and aimed them at Tom.
Looking at the four wands pointed at him, Tom showed no signs of panic, but was thinking about something else.
He never expected to be exposed so quickly; this was not what he had anticipated.
So he posed his question to Scrimgeour.
"I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly.
Before I'm arrested, can you tell me where I gave myself away?"
"Didn't you expose yourself by actively provoking us?"
Scrimgeour looked at Tom strangely, and seeing that he showed no intention of resisting, he didn't mind explaining further.
"I think you should have realized this when you cast the Black Magic Mark near the town next to Crouch Manor to provoke us.
Now the real Mr. Crouch has been sent to St. Mungo's Hospital.
Just surrender obediently, Death Eater."
"!"
After hearing Scrimgeour's words, Tom could piece together the whole story with a guess, and as for who did it, he could figure it out with his toes.
"Damn Barty Crouch Jr., you truly live up to your antisocial personality.
I should have just eaten you whole back then.
You cause trouble for me as soon as I let you out.
It's truly my luck to have such a 'Sleeping Dragon and Phoenix Fledgling' by my side to bring disaster upon myself."
"Alright, now raise your hands, cooperate, and don't try any tricks!"
Seeing Tom remain silent, Scrimgeour took a pair of silver-white magic handcuffs from his pocket and slowly approached, ready to arrest Tom in one swift move.
At this moment, Tom suddenly spoke, his voice clearly tinged with amusement: "Sorry, Rufus, I never intended to surrender just like that."
For some reason, Scrimgeour felt that Tom's tone and voice were incredibly familiar, but the current situation didn't allow him to ponder.
Without the slightest hesitation, he directly shouted to the Aurors he had brought: "Move!"
As Scrimgeour's words fell, four red magic beams struck Tom directly.
However, Tom's instantly activated Shield Charm directly deflected the Aurors' attacks, and Tom at this moment already held the elder wand in his hand, countering one of the blonde Aurors directly with a Stupefy.
The unparalleled attack speed and magic power caused this Auror to be knocked out before he could even react.
Just as the remaining three were about to counterattack, a rope made of fire silently bound another Auror, making him unable to break free no matter how he struggled.
He was then knocked out by a Stupefy, instantly losing his combat ability.
Seeing that the well-trained Aurors, who were considered elites in the magic world, were defeated two at a time in just one encounter, Scrimgeour could no longer maintain his composure from the beginning of the fight.
When did the remnants of the Death Eater group gain such a master?
But the reality simply didn't allow Scrimgeour to think.
He hurriedly cast a Blasting Curse, hoping to gain some breathing room.
However, the person opposite effortlessly deflected his spell with his wand.
The floor shattered by the deflected Blasting Curse flew up under the command of Tom's wand, transforming into stone warriors that charged towards Scrimgeour and his men.
"Transfiguration?!"
Scrimgeour fended off the stone warriors' attacks while racking his brain to guess the identity of his opponent.
This was completely unlike the fighting style of a Death Eater.
Dealing with him, an Auror in his prime who prided himself on being a master, was like an adult toying with a child.
Scrimgeour had no idea when such a person had appeared in the magic world.
At this moment, a puddle of water suddenly appeared out of nowhere beneath the feet of Scrimgeour's only remaining active subordinate.
As soon as he noticed something was wrong and tried to escape, it transformed into a water prison, trapping him tightly.
As he struggled desperately, a Stupefy followed him like a shadow, striking him directly.
At this point, what was originally a 4 vs 1 advantage for Scrimgeour and his team turned into a 1 vs 1 duel for Scrimgeour.
Scrimgeour, having dealt with the stone warriors, realized his subordinates had been completely wiped out, and his heart sank.
He was just about to fight Tom to the death when he found himself being pointed at by a wand.
Any move he made would surely result in an attack the next second.
This made Scrimgeour freeze his movements, but in that instant, he clearly saw the appearance of the wand pointing at him, and his pupils involuntarily constricted.
The unique elder wand; he had once had the fortune to see it on someone, and that one time ensured he would never forget the appearance of this wand.
"Albus Dumbledore?"
Scrimgeour called out the name with a dry voice.
Although it was hard to believe, everything—the opponent's familiar tone and voice, that unparalleled strength, the fighting style unlike a Dark Wizard, and this elder wand unique to Dumbledore—all indicated that this most impossible answer might just be the truth.
Tom heard Scrimgeour call out Dumbledore's name, slowly took off his hood, and revealed to Scrimgeour the face of Dumbledore, which was incredibly familiar to Scrimgeour.
Shock, disbelief, doubt, and other complex emotions eventually made Scrimgeour utter a single question: "Why?"
"Rufus," Tom said to Scrimgeour, imitating Dumbledore's tone, "having felt the limits of magic, I merely wish to take another step forward on the path of magic in the remaining time of my life.
This is but one of an old man's few wishes."
"Then the Black Magic Mark and the attack on Mr. Crouch were really done by you too?
That's impossible!"
Scrimgeour truly couldn't believe that Dumbledore was the perpetrator of these events.
Tom sighed slightly: "I'm afraid, Rufus, I did do all of this.
However, please forgive me for not being able to tell you the hidden circumstances."
Seeing Tom, who, despite admitting it openly, seemed full of unspoken difficulties, Scrimgeour was at a loss for words for a moment.
Just as silence was about to fall, Tom heard hurried footsteps from outside the door.
"Sorry, Rufus, I have to go.
Goodbye!"
"Stupefy!"
After stunning Scrimgeour, Tom casually pushed open a door and entered.
"Scrimgeour! Scrimgeour! Wake up!"
The unconscious Scrimgeour slowly opened his eyes and saw Tonks beside him, looking concerned.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're awake!
You're alright, that's truly wonderful!"
"Where are the others?"
Scrimgeour asked Tonks.
"They're all fine, they're all awake now.
Do you know the identity of the attacker?"
Scrimgeour nodded, then spoke a name that shocked Tonks so much her hair color immediately changed.
"Albus Dumbledore!"