The commotion below seemed to have ignited like a pile of dry kindling meeting fire, rapidly spreading as more and more fans joined the unrest. Furthermore, the veelas brought by Bulgaria were fanning the flames, and the Ministry employees trying to maintain order had charged into the surging crowd without causing so much as a ripple.
Were the supporters of Bulgaria enraged by their team's loss? Harry could understand this reason, but he was utterly baffled as to how that explosive sound had just occurred.
The people in the luxury box now dared not venture outside, for who knew if the enraged spectators might trample them into mincemeat? One by one, they rose from their chairs, making their way to the railing that overlooked the pitch, stretching their necks to catch a glimpse of the unfolding mayhem below.
"There are people in black robes!" Harry suddenly cried out, his voice tinged with a mixture of fear and urgency as he scanned the scene through his Omnioculars. "They're firing spells into the crowd!"
"Let me see!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Sirius snatched the Omnioculars from Harry's, the frames digging deeply into the sockets of his eyes as he peered intently at the chaos unfolding below. After a moment, he lowered the Omnioculars, nodding solemnly at Mr. Weasley.
"Harry's right, there are some people in dark cloaks all over the stadium, and they're causing the mayhem!"
The Bulgarian Minister of Magic immediately turned his gaze to Fudge, hoping for an explanation.
"Oh, oh—"
Fudge wiped the beads of sweat from his brow. He appeared flustered, but still managed a smile in an effort to reassure the people in the box.
"What a thrilling match, isn't it? Captivating the hearts of all!"
All eyes were on Fudge, whose pale face and quivering jowls showed his agitation.
"In my opinion, it's likely some extremist fan group, unwilling to accept the loss," Fudge continued, his words fumbling and unconvincing. He paused, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, before adding, "Oh, let me think, should we send someone down to inquire about the situation? Who will volunteer? Ah, splendid, Arthur, I nearly forgot you were here as well. What do you think?"
"Dad!" Ginny called out with concern, clinging to Mr. Weasley's robes, unwilling to let him leave.
"I must go, Ginny!" Mr. Weasley said sternly. "If there are indeed people causing trouble, then I must go stop them. It is my responsibility!"
"I'll go with you, Dad!" Percy suddenly spoke up. He was pleased that the Minister was looking at him with a grateful gaze, and so he puffed out his chest proudly. "I bet Mr. Crouch is already down there directing the crowd evacuation. I must be the first to act, so I don't leave him to face the unrest alone!"
Mr. Weasley eyed his young, fearless-looking son, hesitating for a moment, before ultimately nodding.
"Alright, Percy, you can come with me, but don't be reckless. And—"
Mr. Weasley's gaze was then fixed on Sirius.
Sirius had been planning to go down and assess the situation himself, but since Fudge had given the order to Arthur, someone did need to stay and look after these underage children, so he could only nod reluctantly.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of them."
With that, Mr. Weasley and Percy rushed out of the box like the wind, while the remaining ones waited anxiously. Fudge managed a strained smile, trying to reassure everyone, but no one was listening to him at this point.
The gloomy box was thick with tension, everyone maintaining a suppressed silence. But the commotion below showed no signs of subsiding - in fact, it was only growing more intense.
The air was filled with the booming of explosions, as if someone had set off a barrage of fireworks right in the middle of the Quidditch pitch. Cries of alarm and anguished wails came from all directions!
Ron, clutching his money bag, stared blankly at the box entrance where his father and Percy had just charged out, still seemingly unable to grasp the events unfolding.
"Harry!" Hermione grabbed Harry's sleeve and called out, her eyes filled with unease when Harry turned to face her.
"It's the Malfoys!" Harry said through gritted teeth, looking to Sirius, who was still surveying the situation.
"It must be Lucius Malfoy, he's the one causing this chaos, he and his entire family must have escaped in advance to avoid affecting themselves!"
"It's no use dwelling on that now, Harry!" Sirius said sternly. "We can investigate who's responsible after this unrest is dealt with. But if the chaos spreads up here, you all must not try to be heroes - you must all stick closely behind me. This is not Hogwarts, understand?"
"What's going on, Harry?" Hermione asked urgently, her voice laced with deep concern. "Why do you think it's the Malfoy family behind this?"
Harry then quickly recounted how he had noticed the Malfoy family suspiciously leaving the stadium early. Hearing this, Ron suddenly sprang up from his seat as if he had been magically revived.
"It has to be them!" Ron cried. "That whole family is rotten to the core! I'm going to tell Dad about your suspicion, Harry. Oh wait, the Minister is right here, Harry, maybe we should—"
"We have no concrete proof, Ron!" Hermione sharply interrupted, her slender frame visibly shuddering.
The commotion below was no longer just frightening explosions and screams - the Ministry seemed to have already engaged in a fierce battle with the troublemakers, and the eerie flashes of spellfire were painfully bright.
Hermione's body shivered, the sounds from below torturing her nerves and making her heart ache. She too suspected the Malfoy family, but still stopped Ron's suggestion.
"Unless you can find some tangible evidence, Ron, I don't see the Minister believing the guess of an underage student. Especially with all the influential wizards from around the world gathered here, I can't even imagine how they would perceive us—"
Mr. Weasley had been gone for a while, but no news had come back. The fear of the unknown was the most agonizing. Fudge, under immense inner turmoil, tried to comfort the people gathered around him, though the handkerchief he used to wipe his brow was already soaked through.
"Ludo, why don't you go down as well, and have Rufus send some Aurors to guard us?"
The rapidly escalating chaos from below was filling the trembling Fudge with a sense of dread, and he looked pleadingly at the cowering, nervous Ludo Bagman.
Most of the assembled agreed emphatically with Fudge's suggestion, using his authority as Minister to pressure Ludo to hurry and summon the Head of the Auror Office and his skilled subordinates to come defend them.
Before Ludo could even respond, a figure suddenly came rushing up the corridor towards the box, appearing in everyone's line of sight.
It was Remus!
He was drenched in sweat, his pupils contracted to extreme, his pale face from his half-year stay at St. Mungo's was now even more ghastly. He gripped his wand tightly, his brand-new robes half-burned. It seemed that he had just fought a fierce battle with someone!
"Lu-Lupin, is that you—"
Remus hadn't even caught his ragged breath yet when the panic-stricken Fudge cried out in alarm.
"What's going on, how did you even get here, I mean, you're not allowed to—"
Remus had no time or patience to deal with Fudge's stammering, incoherent questions. In the brief moment he regained his composure, he let out a thunderous, urgent shout towards Sirius, who was protectively shielding Harry and the others:
"Sirius, get Harry out of here immediately! It's the Death Eaters!"
Time seemed to freeze for a seemingly endless ten seconds in that oppressive box - not a single person, from Minister Fudge and his esteemed guests, to Sirius and the young people huddled behind him, to even the trembling Winky, dared to make even the slightest sound.
The fear was building, brewing, and then it erupted!
The shrieks of terror that burst forth in that instant were like a dam suddenly bursting open, the flood rushing out with unstoppable, violent force.
Agonized cries to the Heavens, the thunderous sounds of chairs toppling and crashing, the pained, anguished wails of wizards frantically tumbling down the stairs - everyone was frantically, desperately pushing and shoving towards the box's exit. Even Fudge's status as Minister held no sway now, as he was ruthlessly shoved aside by the panicked, stampeding crowd, inadvertently knocking over Winky and her chair!
Remus tried to push back into the box, but was quickly swallowed up and engulfed by the desperate, fleeing mob racing to escape, and soon he could no longer see or hear anyone.
"Everyone, get your wands out and follow me! If anyone tries to curse you, use your best spells to bring them down, no matter who they are!"
Sirius, radiating an intense, fierce resolve, had drawn his wand at some point, roaring commandingly to lead the terrified children to safety. But just then—
BOOM!
The sturdy wall beside the box entrance suddenly exploded in a deafening blast, sending many wizards flying back, crashing violently against the ceiling and other walls of the box. As the thick, choking dust slowly settled, three imposing figures in ominous, dark cloaks, emanating a palpable aura of malice, now stood before the horrified eyes of Sirius and Harry!
The fear of death hung over the wizards in the compartment like a thin, suffocating veil, making most of them shiver with barely contained terror.
The three wizards in dark cloaks stood calmly amidst the rubble they had blasted through the wall. They stared at the trembling "bigwigs" inside the compartment, who were as silent as mice. Despite the vast disparity in numbers between the two sides, the dark wizards exuded no tension, as if they were just facing a herd of pigs to be slaughtered.
"Hmph—" It was impossible to distinguish the faces of the three dark wizards who had appeared before them, but the one on the right was noticeably smaller in build. She glanced at the struggling Cornelius Fudge, who had been blown away by the recent explosion, and sneered contemptuously. "The Ministry, hmph, it's getting more and more pathetic!"
"Who are you?" Sirius asked, his voice low and steady as he positioned himself between the dark wizards and the children behind him. Bill and Charlie stood guard on the flanks, their wands raised and at the ready, but the beads of sweat on their foreheads showed the immense pressure they were under.
Sirius had now calmed himself; his grey eyes were gleaming with the intensity of an alpha wolf guarding its territory.
Remus had been lost in the panicked crowd somewhere, and the pampered "gentlemen" in the compartment, who were usually hailed as "powerful," were now so terrified that they had forgotten where they had placed their wands. Apart from Sirius, no one else seemed capable of protecting Harry and the children.
It was necessary to try and identify the three dark-robed figures. Sirius probed cautiously, "Let me guess, Malfoy, Dolohov, and the Carrow siblings, old friends, isn't that right? Why don't you throw off your cloaks and let me see your faces?"
"Impossible!" Fudge finally found some of the courage of a Minister of Magic. He and the Bulgarian Minister of Magic were standing amongst the ruins, their wands raised and pointed at the three dark wizards. Hearing Sirius's guess, Fudge flushed as if he had been deeply insulted. "The three people you mentioned are all in Azkaban, Sirius. They could never have escaped!"
"I'm not as confident as you, Minister," Sirius snapped back bitterly.
The battle erupted suddenly, without any warning, and Harry, protected by Sirius, realized that a real life-and-death duel was very different from the ones they had seen in Lockhart's dueling club – it was more underhanded and more perilous.
Among the three dark wizards, the smallest one, who looked like a woman, suddenly pointed her wand at the ceiling, and with a violent flash, the steel beams and roof panels supporting the structure collapsed, raining down a torrent of construction debris. Fudge and the Bulgarian Minister were buried without even having a chance to cast a spell.
"Get down!" Sirius roared. His arms swung repeatedly, and two crimson spells shot towards the three dark wizards like sharp-screaming arrows, but they had no effect.
The dark wizard in the middle thrust his ebony wand at the floor, and a dark, curtain-like water screen rapidly rose from the ground. Sirius's spells sank into the water screen and were extinguished without a trace.
This scene made Sirius's heart sink. "Bill, Charlie, find a chance to get them out of here!" he called out, his voice laced with urgency.
Before Harry could object, Sirius, like a lone wolf, charged out towards the dark wizards.
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