The Return to Hogwarts

Hermione looked up at the box above and said with a troubled expression,

"But flying is not simple magic; it's too difficult for us."

"It's not that difficult, actually. All you need is a flying broom, or even a shooting star—"

Ron looked around for another, safer way to get to the box, while Harry and Hermione stared at the box and sighed.

Then, without any warning, a voice suddenly broke the silence. The off-key voice was hoarse with pain, but it was not a cry for help; it sounded more like a spell.

"The bones reappear!"

The next second, a huge, shimmering green object suddenly appeared in the top-floor private room and soared into the sky!

Chapter 490 Explanation

2023-09-20

In the silent Quidditch pitch, a painful howl suddenly broke the silence. Then, a pattern emitting a ghostly green light appeared and hung above the box. In the dim light, Harry could vaguely see what looked like a blurry shadow falling inside the box.

This sudden turn of events stunned Harry and his two companions, leaving them momentarily speechless!

"what happened?"

A dozen seconds later, Ron's mouth gaped open, his voice strained and shrill, as if forced from his throat, completely unlike his usual tone. Ron's eyes widened in terror as he stared at the flickering pattern in the sky.

"What the hell is that?"

Harry almost thought the pattern was another image made by goblins, but then he realized that the goblins were currently arguing with the Veela brought by the Bulgarian team in the woods outside, and that goblins would never create such a terrifying image!

Harry strained his eyes and finally saw that it was an enormous skull, composed of countless emerald green, star-like things. A large python emerged from the skull's mouth, like a tongue. As they stared in stunned silence, the skull rose higher and higher, shining brightly in a cloud of green smoke, appearing like a rising constellation against the dark night sky.

"What's this."

Perhaps the whistling sound around him cleared Harry's head, and he raised a similar question to Ron's. He turned to look at the person among the three who was most likely to be able to answer the question, but to his surprise, he found Hermione's face deathly pale and her expression terrified.

"What's going on, Hermione? What did you see?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and grabbed Hermione's arm.

"This is the Dark Mark, Harry!"

Hermione groaned, “Get out of the way of those black-cloaked wizards who attacked the venue tonight, Harry!”

What prompted Harry to act was not Hermione's terrified scream, but rather his body's instinctive evasiveness when he sensed danger. In that instant, Harry and Hermione acted almost simultaneously, lunging at Ron, who stood there dumbfounded and hadn't reacted. Just as the three of them rolled around on the ground, a series of thuds and thuds rang out all around them.

"Collapse!"

About twenty wizards roared and shot spells at them as soon as they landed.

A series of dazzling magical lights illuminated the Quidditch pitch, and dirt splattered from the ground, hitting Harry's face with a thud. He felt a burning red light sweep over his head, and the strong wind made it impossible for him to open his eyes.

"Stop!" a voice that Harry and the others recognized very well shouted. "Stop! That's my son, and Harry Potter!"

The gusts of wind finally subsided, and the lingering sense of crisis dissipated. Harry released Hermione and Ron and looked up. The wizard closest to him had put down his wand and was squinting at his face. Meanwhile, Mr. Weasley was striding toward them from behind, looking terrified.

“Ron—Harry—” Mr. Weasley’s voice trembled, “Hermione—are you both alright?”

"Get out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, emotionless voice.

Harry recognized the wizard who had ordered Mr. Weasley to leave when he saw another face. It was Percy, who was following behind his superior, staring incredulously at Harry and his younger brother Ron sitting on the ground.

"You guys are here?!"

Percy, whom they hadn't seen for a while, called out to them, his eyes not filled with worry like Mr. Weasley's, but rather flashing with anger.

“Shut up!” Barty Crouch said again in that icy voice.

Then, facing Harry, his face hardened with anger, he demanded, "Who did this?" His sharp gaze swept over the three of them.

"Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

“We don’t!” Harry said, pointing to the skull above.

“We didn’t do anything!” Ron chimed in, rubbing his elbow and glaring angrily at Mr. Weasley. “Why did you attack us?”

“Don’t lie, gentlemen!” Crouch said, pointing his wand at Ron with his eyes bulging out of their sockets—he looked a little crazy.

"You were found at a crime scene!"

“Those three are just kids, Barty. I brought them to the game. They could never possibly be connected to the dark wizard who launched the attack tonight—” Mr. Weasley blocked Barty Crouch’s wand, looking directly into Mr. Crouch’s sharp gaze.

To Harry's annoyance, Percy looked at them with suspicion, as if he were genuinely considering the possibility that they might conjure the Dark Mark.

“Barty,” a witch in a long woolen robe whispered, “it doesn’t seem like it could be them—”

The fact that many of the Ministry of Magic officials surrounding them believed the green-eyed boy was Harry Potter speaks volumes. If the Dark Mark appeared in Harry Potter's presence, there's only one possibility: the person who summoned the mark was calling upon their allies to kill Harry Potter.

But Barty Crouch remained unmoved. Mr. Weasley, unable to withstand Crouch's intense gaze, turned and asked anxiously,

"You three, where did this mark come from? What did you all see?"

“Over there—” Hermione said in a trembling voice, “in the penthouse box, we saw the marker fly up from the box—”

"Oh? From the private box?" Mr. Crouch lowered his head, his gaze still menacing. "You just happened to see it; is this merely a coincidence?"

“Barty!” Mr. Weasley, annoyed by Barty Crouch’s leading question, glared at Crouch again and said quickly.

"You must have already recognized that one of the three of them is Harry Potter, right? You think Harry Potter can conjure up the Dark Mark? They are students at Hogwarts, and I'm sure that the Dark Mark isn't among the skills Dumbledore and Blaine taught them!"

When Mr. Weasley mentioned Dumbledore and Blaine, his meaning was very clear, and even Crouch's cheek twitched when he heard those two names.

"Why are you here? Dad said you went back to the tent with Sirius and Professor Blaine?"

Percy glanced at his father with displeasure, then frowned and asked Ron.

"What do you mean?" Ron glared at his brother, dissatisfied. "I've already said, we have nothing to do with that mark. We just saw it a little earlier than you!"

“Answer the question, sir!” Crouch’s gaze swept over Mr. Weasley’s shoulder and pointed at Ron. “You’re certainly not here to reminisce about the game, are you?”

Ron opened his mouth but didn't speak. He noticed his father was also looking at him with concern, and if he told everyone they were risking everything to find the gold he'd won from Ludo Bagman that had mysteriously disappeared, his father would probably skin him alive before his mother even had a chance to do anything.

"We've come to find my magic wand—"

Harry drew Crouch's attention.

“We did follow Sirius and Professor Blaine back to the tent, but before going to sleep, I discovered that my wand was missing. Then I remembered that I had left it in the box. Ron and Hermione came with me because they were worried about us encountering danger on the way. We didn’t go up because the stairs looked like they were about to collapse, and we were wondering what to do!”

Are you here to find the Lost Land Wand?

This was indeed unexpected for everyone at the Ministry of Magic, but upon hearing Harry's words, Mr. Weasley's face tightened. "You didn't bring Sirius with you?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell the truth, which seemed to make Mr. Weasley even angrier. If it weren't for the special circumstances, he would have certainly disciplined them.

"How did you get here?"

Mr. Diggory, who had previously escorted the foreign wizard who had stolen the item, also seemed to think that Harry and his friends had taken a very risky step. He clicked his tongue and asked in an incredulous tone,

“Our people are everywhere in the woods, but no one gave any warnings. You certainly didn’t just swagger in like that, did you?”

Since things had come to this point, Harry could no longer hide it, and he revealed the Invisibility Cloak that was curled up in his hand.

"Oh, an invisibility cloak?"

Mr. Diggory said with a hint of surprise, "This thing isn't cheap, but it's explainable—"

Amos Diggory turned to look at Mr. Crouch, who was squinting at the Invisibility Cloak in Harry's hand.

"Look, shall we go up and take a look?"

Chapter 491 The End of This Night

2023-09-21

Cedric Diggory's father, Mr. Amos Diggory, asked to see the box, but strangely, Mr. Crouch, who had previously seemed so righteous, didn't seem very interested in his suggestion. The witch in the dressing gown shook her head, clearing up Harry's confusion.

"Don't bother, Amos. The guy who conjured this thing has probably already Apparated away."

“I don’t think so,” Mr. Diggory said, staring at the box with interest.

“If he wanted to leave, the guy who pulled this prank should have left long ago. I guess he’s either too badly injured to walk, or he’s just woken up from a coma.”

Mr. Diggory flexed his wrists, seemingly sensing the danger of the stairs leading to the box, and Apparated up. Harry squinted, noticing Mr. Diggory appearing outside the box, gripping the twisted railing with one hand and pointing his glowing wand at the dark interior.

No one in the box fired a spell at Mr. Diggory. After a brief observation, he put his wand in his mouth and carefully climbed over the railing.

"Ouch!"

Suddenly, Mr. Diggory's startled cry rang out in the quiet Quidditch arena. The Ministry of Magic officials waiting on the ground tensed up immediately, pointing their wands at the boxes. Mr. Weasley shouted...

"What's going on, Amos? Do we need backup?"

“It’s nothing, I stepped into a hole and almost fell to the next level—” Mr. Diggory’s voice came from the box. “Don’t come up, Arthur, this place can’t support any more people!”

A series of creaking and groaning sounds emanated from the box, indicating that Mr. Diggory was searching it. The Ministry of Magic officials breathed a slight sigh of relief, but remained highly vigilant. Harry wanted to ask Mr. Diggory to keep an eye on his wand, but given the current situation, he said nothing.

"Hey, caught him! There's one... he's passed out, oh my god!"

Harry, his two friends, and Mr. Crouch exchanged bewildered glances, while Mr. Crouch exclaimed in utter disbelief,

"You caught someone? Who, who is it?"

boom!

Mr. Crouch's shouts were still echoing in the Quidditch arena when the air in front of them suddenly exploded. Mr. Diggory appeared amidst a puff of smoke, cradling a small, limp body in his arms. Harry immediately recognized him by his bat-like ears. When the smoke enveloping Mr. Diggory dissipated, and Harry could see the situation more clearly, he held his breath, his heart pounding. Hermione covered her mouth and took a few steps back.