Popular Web NovelsChapter 434 It's dawnChapter 434: Daybreak
Red firelight, terrifying green light, blurry star and moon light... When all the light near the swamp woodland gradually faded away, darkness once again enveloped the outer suburbs of Dartmoor, Devon. camping ground.
The flames that burned for most of the night finally used up their last remaining fuel. In the charred ruins, bright orange light disappeared into the night, and the dark red streamer of secret burning was looming.
The gray smoke slowly rose and floated into the vast sky. Not long after the flames extinguished, the cold and wet mist spread over. The thick mist covered the leaves and silently wetted the clothes.
It was foggy, the surrounding air was mixed with wet water vapor, choking smoke, the fragrance of grass and trees, and the evening wind was blowing unsteadily. The wizards camping in the open air had to light bonfires to disperse the everywhere. of chill.
A few blue bell-like flames floated in circles in the air, exuding a soft warmth.
Sitting around the campfire, Bill collapsed on the ground, covering his arm with a sheet, blood stained his sleeves, Charlie's shirt had a big tear, and the old scar on his chest was torn, The dried blood had solidified into dark red scabs, and Percy was wiping the nosebleed with a wet handkerchief.
Some were accidentally injured while maintaining order, and some were accidentally injured while carrying the bodies of petrified people. Molly was crying while dealing with the injuries of several children, complaining that they should not pay attention to the danger.
Having just experienced a farce, even George and Fred were a little depressed. Listening to Molly's nagging complaints, they felt a little relieved.
Loren unfolded the plain white blanket and wrapped himself and the girl beside him, and the temperature gradually rose.
Like melting ice and snow, Hermione's cold expression softened. She tilted her head weakly and leaned gently on Loren's shoulder. The light and shadow danced in her beautiful brown eyes, and the sparkling face of the house elf kept reappearing in her mind. .
...
"The disobedient elf...should be punished!"
"Lord, Lord, Master...please, please..."
"I was very shocked by your behavior tonight. I told you to stay in the tent. I told you to stay there and I went to solve the commotion... But you disobeyed me, which means ——Clothes!"
"No! No, Master! No clothes, no clothes!"
...
Hermione shook her head and found a soft and comfortable position on her shoulders, and said in a hoarse voice: " She must have been terrified... Winky was afraid of heights, and those masked wizards were making people hang in the air. It was understandable that she wanted to escape them. Anyone would do that, and no one could blame them. She."
Loren didn't say anything, just rested his cheek against the girl's hair to get some warmth.
"How did they treat her like that...Mr. Diggory kept calling her 'the goblin', and Mr. Crouch..." Hermione paused, "He clearly knew it wasn't her. , but also to abandon her, no one cares about how scared and sad Twinkle is, they don't regard her as a human being... It's really, really disgusting."
Hearing Hermione say such serious words, Percy paused. He glanced at Molly and whispered to make amends for his boss: "A wizard in Mr. Crouch's position, if his house elf holds He can't bear the responsibility for a wand to act recklessly... Besides, the house elf is indeed not a human being."
Molly threw the wrung handkerchief into his arms and glared angrily. He glanced.
"That doesn't mean she has no feelings, no heart... She didn't act recklessly, she didn't do anything, she just shouldn't have been in that place at that time."
He Min leaned on Loren's shoulder and remained motionless. She had communicated frequently with Professor Bubbaji in the past year. She already knew the wizard's attitude towards house elves.
Loren hugged the girl tightly.
"Alas..."
Arthur Weasley sighed and added a few slightly moist firewood into the bonfire. The firewood that could not be completely burned raised blue-white smoke and melted into the ethereal smoke. In the night.
"Hermione, I agree with you, but..."
"What's the but..." Molly sprinkled the white essence on Bill's wound, causing a burst of excitement. exclaimed in pain, "I think it's hard to say whether house elves have human feelings, but Crouch definitely doesn't!"
The Weasley children were shocked that their mother actually said such cruel words words.
Ginny asked weakly: "Mom, what does that mean?"
"When he discovered us just now, he ordered an attack without saying anything. If we failed to dodge in time, then A spell of this magnitude, even just a coma spell, would be enough to keep us in St. Mungo's for several months."
Molly became even more angry as she bandaged Bill's wound. The intensity made him grin: "And when the mysterious man fell more than ten years ago, it was he who took the initiative to sentence his son to Azkaban for life imprisonment... Even his own son was like this, what kind of feelings does he have!"
"Ahem..." Arthur coughed twice, "Don't say that, Mr. Crouch also wanted to deal with the Death Eaters... Maybe it was too dark just now..."
< br>George smiled in a strange accent: "Yeah, the sky is too dark, and the green skull is too dark."
Fred couldn't help but nodded, feeling a little scared when he thought of being besieged by dozens of stun spells: "It's all the fault of You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. When they invented that magic, they didn't make it look like the sun."
"..."
Arthur and Percy lowered their heads silently and tended to the bonfire. If they continued talking, they would be disliked by the whole family.
Ron looked at Molly. He was deeply impressed by his mother's frightened expression. After hesitating for a while, he asked: "Dad, why is everyone so nervous about that skeleton?"
Luo Ren felt Hermione's cheeks move. She probably wanted to explain out loud, but gave up because she was in a low mood.
"Let me tell you, that is the symbol of You-Know-Who, Ron," Bill replied softly. As the eldest child of the Weasley family, he had experienced that era personally. "I haven't seen it for thirteen years. People are naturally very nervous... It's like seeing the mysterious man again."
"I don't understand..." Ron frowned and looked at him, "I mean... after all,... This is just a shadow in mid-air..."
"Ron, every time the mysterious man and his followers kill someone, they will display the Dark Mark in the air," Arthur explained in a deep tone. "The fear it brings... you don't know, you are too young. Imagine coming home one day and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house. You know what you will see when you go in... "
Molly shivered with fright, the bandage rubbed against Charlie's wound, and the wound that had stopped bleeding started to ooze red again.
Grinning Charlie:...
"That's what everyone fears the most...the most fearful thing..." Arthur said quietly.
The young wizards who had not experienced that era were silent for a while. Thinking of the scene they saw tonight, Harry couldn't help but ask: "What did the Death Eaters want to do? Make the Muggles hang in the air." ? I mean, what's the point?"
"What's the point?" Arthur laughed dryly, "Harry, it's just the way they had fun in the past. Most of them kill Muggles for fun."
Loren thought of the Roberts family and felt a little uncomfortable. He frowned and asked, "Mr. Weasley, how will the Ministry of Magic treat the Roberts family?"
"Well..." Arthur said thoughtfully, "We should cure their injuries, repair their houses, then erase their memories, and then contact the Muggle government to give them some compensation."
Loren looked at the swaying and rising flames with a faint light in his eyes. It's really a standard process for handling magic leaks...
After treating the child's injuries, Mo Li came over and handed over the white fresh essence, gently rubbed his hair, and said with a smile: "Thank you Loren, if it weren't for your medicine, they would have shed dozens of gallons of blood."
George suddenly exclaimed: "Tens of gallons, are they bison?"
< br>Scattered laughter suddenly sounded in the cold swamp forest, blending into the crackling bonfire, adding a little warmth to the chaotic night.
...
A lot of things happened tonight, and hundreds of thousands of wizards from all over the world were involved, including employees of the Ministry of Magic from powerful countries and relatives of pure-blood families... As the place where the accident occurred, the British International The Affairs Cooperation Department immediately entered its busiest moment.
Count the petrified wizards, contact the ministries of magic of other countries to verify their identities, comfort the frightened wizards, apologize to other ministries of magic and ancient families, and maintain the image of the ministry of magic...
It is foreseeable that, People in the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation will have their hands full in the coming months.
But at this time, Mr. Barty Crouch, the always dedicated Director of the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation, actually asked to go home to rest and handed over the work to the Deputy Director.
However, considering that Mr. Crouch has been the coordinator since the Quidditch World Cup was held, he probably has never had a good sleep in the past week, and then thinking about Mr. Crouch's house elves being involved in the Dark Mark case... … Colleagues who believed Mr. Crouch was physically and mentally exhausted took it upon themselves to take over.
Wizard Village, Wiltshire, England, Crouch House.
Only a few oil lamps were on. The person who lit them was probably in a hurry and didn't even have time to close the lampshade. The lights kept shaking, and the shadows in the room kept shaking.
Hurrying, Barty Crouch finally cleaned up the house and turned all traces of Barty Crouch Jr.'s existence into ashes. In order to prevent any flaws, he didn't even use a wand. The fires were all lit with matches sent from Arthur Weasley.
Looking at the ashes in the fireplace, Barty Crouch rubbed his face tiredly and slumped weakly on the sofa.
Panic, shock, anger, sadness and other emotions came one after another, and his brain was already a little numb, but chaotic thoughts still emerged from every corner of his brain, tugging at his mind and preventing him from falling asleep.
The idiot son has escaped, what will he do?
Will you lose your reputation by appearing in public?
No, as long as Winky doesn't reveal his secret, the Ministry has no evidence.
The Dark Lord who went to join him?
Is Dumbledore's claim of Voldemort's return a ploy to seize power, or a real warning...
Boom!
Boom!
Suddenly there was a rapid and powerful knock on the door.
Crouch stood up suddenly and stared at the door of the mansion.
Boom, boom, boom!
The knock on the door echoed in the ancient and empty castle.
"Who?" Crouch asked warily.
"Me."
A high and familiar voice replied, that was the voice of another Barty Crouch, his son's voice.
Barty Crouch's eyes were foggy, and he couldn't tell what he was feeling at the moment, not anger, not joy, not sadness...
Or maybe all of them.
But Barty Crouch, a veteran employee of the Ministry of Magic, did not relax his vigilance. He went over the relevant situation in his mind: Bertha Jorkins' wand had been confiscated as evidence, and Barty Jr. He probably didn't have a wand. He had been under house arrest in the castle for more than ten years, and he couldn't find any help in a short period of time.
After eliminating the danger, Barty Crouch cautiously approached the castle gate with his wand. He waved the wand lightly, and with a harsh creaking sound, the gate quietly opened.
Seeing two figures standing outside the door, Barty Crouch was startled and immediately waved his wand——
A flash of red light flashed, and Barty Crouch fell to the ground and fell into a coma.
Bellatrix glanced proudly at the guy on the ground, walked into the house first, looked around with her chin raised, and saw the dilapidated scene in the mansion, her face full of disgust.
Little Barty Crouch walked behind, holding a swaddle in his hand. After closing the door, he carefully placed the swaddle on the sofa and shouted piously and respectfully: "Master."
The candlelight flickered by, revealing the infant monster. It was a lump of tender meat that seemed to have been reborn after being burned by fire. It was a dark red sticky mass with scarlet eyes on its flat snake face.
"Hahaha... This couldn't be more appropriate, this couldn't be more appropriate!"
...
There was no light in the dark blue sky, a thick moist fog rose, and the bonfire went out silently at some point.
"Wake up, wake up..."
Hearing the low-pitched call, Loren, who was sleeping lightly with squinted eyes, opened a crack and saw Molly who had packed the package. He was waking them up one by one.
"It's time to leave, let's go."
Walking back along the way we came, we passed through the burned ruins of the tent camp. There were Ministry of Magic staff on duty at the entrance and exit of the stone hut checking in. Probably because not many people had heard the news, and it was still dark, so there were people queuing up. Not much.
Mr. Roberts stood at the door of the stone house, looking dazed and his eyes dull.
"He will be fine." Arthur finished filling out the registration form and saw Loren and Hermione staring at Roberts in trance. He consoled him, "When a person's memory is modified, he will be temporarily confused. , and what they want to make him forget is such a big thing... It will be fine after a while."
When they walked out of the door, Roberts mechanically waved goodbye to the people leaving and said vaguely. He said: "Merry Christmas."
Hermione's heart tightened and she subconsciously tugged at Loren's sleeve.
Loren sighed softly: "I wish the Roberts family good luck."
They walked away towards the swamp, and at the door of the stone house that no one noticed, a light flashed quietly in Roberts' eyes.
(End of this chapte