Hogwarts Scholar System

"Ron - Harry -" Mr. Weasley strode towards them, his expression very frightened, his voice trembling slightly, "Hermione, are you all okay?"

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

It was Mr. Crouch, and he and other wizarding officials from the Ministry gathered around.

"Which one of you did this?" Mr. Crouch tightened his face in anger and asked them sternly, his sharp eyes scanning between the three of them, "Which one of you conjured the Dark Mark? "

"We don't have one!" Harry said, pointing to the skeleton above.

"We didn't do anything!" Ron said, rubbing his elbows and looking at his father angrily, "Why did you attack us?"

"Don't lie, sir!" said Mr. Crouch.He was still pointing his wand at Ron, his eyes were bulging out of his head, and he looked a little crazy. "You were found at a crime scene!"

"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown, "they are still children, Barty, there is no way they can"

"You three, where did this mark come from?" Mr. Weasley asked anxiously.

"Over there," said Hermione in a trembling voice, pointing to where they had heard the sound, "there are people behind the trees, and they are talking loudly - saying a spell."

"Oh, they were just standing there, weren't they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his bulging eyes to Hermione again, doubt written all over his face. "And they were saying a spell, weren't they? You seemed to have no idea how. You know how to create a mark very clearly, miss."

But except for Mr. Crouch, the wizarding officials in the ministry seemed to think that it was absolutely impossible for Harry, Ron and Hermione to conjure skeletons.After listening to Hermione's words, they all raised their wands again, pointed them in the direction she pointed, and squinted their eyes to peer into the dark trees.

"We are late," the witch in the woolen dressing gown said, shaking her head. "They have long since disapparated."

"I don't think so," Cedric's father, Amos Diggory, said suddenly. "Our scariers must have gotten into these trees, and there's a good chance we can catch them..."

"Amos, be careful!" several wizards warned, and Mr. Digory puffed out his chest, raised his wand, strode across the open space, and disappeared into the darkness.Hermione nervously covered her mouth with her hands and looked at his disappearing back.

A few seconds later they heard Mr. Diggory's cry.

"It's done! Caught! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's-ouch-oh my god"

"You've got a man?" cried Mr. Crouch, in a tone of complete disbelief. "Who? Who is it?"

They heard the snapping of branches, the rustling of fallen leaves, and then the crunching of feet as Mr. Diggory emerged from behind the trees.In his arms was a small, limp body - Crouch's house elf, Winky.

Mr. Crouch watched Mr. Diggory place his house-elf at his feet. He did not move or speak.Other Ministry officials stared at Mr. Crouch.For several seconds, Crouch stood motionless, as if frozen, his flaming eyes on his pale face staring fiercely at Twinkle on the ground.Then he seemed to come to his senses again.

"This - impossible - impossible," he said repeatedly, "impossible"

He stepped quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode toward the spot where Winky had been found.

"It's no use, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory shouted after him, "there's no one else there."

But Mr. Crouch seemed to ignore his words.They heard him walking up and down there, and heard him rustling the leaves as he parted the bushes in search of them.

"It's a bit embarrassing," said Mr. Diggory sternly, looking down at Winky's delirious figure, "Barty Crouch's house elf, I mean . . ."

"Stop talking nonsense, Amos," Mr. Weasley whispered, "Do you really think it was an elf who did it? The Dark Mark is a wizarding symbol. It requires a wand."

"Yes," said Mr. Diggory, "she has a wand."

"What?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Here, you see," Mr. Diggory raised a wand and handed it to Mr. Weasley, "she has one in her hand. This violates the third rule of the Wand Rules: any No non-human creature may carry or use a wand."

At this moment, there was another pop, and Mr. Ludo Bagman apparated next to Mr. Weasley.

"The Dark Mark!" he gasped, turning to look questioningly at his colleague, who was so frightened by the green skull in the sky that he almost stepped on Winky.

Mr. Crouch returned empty-handed.His face was still terribly pale, and his hands and mustache were twitching.

"Where have you been, Barty?" Bagman asked. "Why didn't you come to the game? Your house elf even reserved a seat for you! Oh my God!" Bagman realized then. Twinkle was lying at his feet, "What's wrong with her?"

"I've been terribly busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still wording every word and barely moving his lips. "My house elf has been put under a Stunning Charm."

"Being put under a coma spell? You mean, by you guys? Why——"

Bagman's shiny round face suddenly showed a look of enlightenment.He looked up at the skeleton, then down at Winky, and finally his eyes fell on Mr. Crouch.

"Impossible!" he said, "Twinkle? Conjured the Dark Mark? She doesn't know how to change it! First, she needs a wand!"

"She does need a wand," said Mr. Diggory, "and I found her holding one in her hand, Ludo. If you have no objection, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear how she defends herself. .”

Mr. Crouch showed no reaction, as if he had not heard what Mr. Diggory said, and Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for acquiescence.He raised his wand, pointed at Winky and said: "Resuscitate quickly!"

Winky moved feebly.Those brown bell-like eyes opened, and she blinked hard, her expression blank.Under the silent gazes of the wizards, she sat up tremblingly.She saw Mr. Diggory's feet, then slowly and tremblingly she raised her eyes to his face, and then, still more slowly, to the night sky above.

When her big, dull eyes saw the shadow of a skeleton floating in the night sky, she immediately took a breath of air, looked at the people surrounding the open space with confusion, and then suddenly started crying in fear.

"Elf!" Mr. Diggory asked sternly, "Do you know who I am? I am a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"

Winky began to rock back and forth on the ground, her breaths punctuated by violent sobs.

"You also saw it, little goblin, just now, someone conjured the Dark Mark here." Mr. Digory said, "A moment later, we found you, just under the mark! Please give us An explanation!”

"I-I-I didn't, sir!" Winky gasped, "I don't know how to change, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" growled Mr. Diggory, waving the wand in Winky's face.Harry recognized the wand as the green light that the skull shone across the clearing shone on his wand.

"Ah—that's mine!" he said.

Everyone in the clearing turned to look at him.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" Mr. Diggory asked in disbelief.

"That's my wand!" said Harry. "I lost it!"

"You lost it?" repeated Mr. Diggory doubtfully. "Are you confessing that you threw away the wand after you conjured the mark?"

"Amos, think about who you are talking to!" Mr. Weasley said angrily, "Could Harry Potter conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Oh—of course not," muttered Mr. Digory vaguely. "I'm sorry, I'm a little mad."

"I didn't leave it there," Harry pointed with his thumb toward the trees below the skull. "We just walked into the woods and my wand disappeared."

"So," Mr. Diggory said, looking back at Winky, who was curled up at his feet, his eyes became cold. "Leprechaun, you were the one who found this wand, weren't you? You picked it up. , thought you could have some fun with it, didn’t you?”

"I didn't do magic with it, sir!" shrieked Sparkle, tears running down the sides of her squashed bulbous nose in rivulets. "I—I—I just picked it up. Get up, sir! I didn't conjure the Dark Mark, sir, I don't know how!"

"It's not her!" Hermione said. She looked very nervous but did not flinch when speaking in front of so many Ministry of Magic officials -

"Winky spoke in a high-pitched voice. The voice we heard chanting the spell just now was much deeper!" She turned to look at Harry and Ron, asking for their approval. "It doesn't sound like Winky at all, does it?"

"Yes," Harry nodded and said, "That voice is definitely not that of an elf."

"Yeah, that's a human voice," Ron said.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough," growled Mr. Diggory, seemingly not listening to them. "There's an easy way to discover the last spell cast by a wand, did you know, elf? ?”

Twinkle trembled all over, shook her head desperately, and flapped her ears.Mr. Diggory raised his wand and connected it with Harry's.

"Flashback!" shouted Mr. Diggory.

Harry heard Hermione gasp, and at the same time he saw a very terrifying skeleton spitting out snakebites emerge from where the two wands met, but this was just the shadow of the green skeleton above their heads.It seemed to be made of thick gray smoke: a magical apparition.

"Fade away without a trace!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoke skeleton turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared.

"How do you say that?" Mr. Digory put on a very cruel and proud expression, looking at Winky at his feet, who was still trembling violently.

"It's not me!" she screamed, her eyes rolling in horror, "It's not me, it's not me, I don't know how! I'm a good elf, I don't have a wand, I don't know how!"

"You were caught red-handed, little goblin!" shouted Mr. Diggory, "with this criminal wand in your hand!"

"The joke ends here, Mr. Diggory!" Maple suddenly walked out of the darkness. Mr. Diggory and the others pointed their wands at the place where Maple's voice came from. "We came here together with the portkey, remember. Mr. Diggory?"

"Of course." Mr. Diggory lowered his wand, and other Ministry officials also lowered their guard.

"I'd like to ask, Mr. Diggory, do you know the spell of the Dark Mark?" Maple continued calmly.

"Of course not," Mr. Diggory responded, and then said: "You mean"

"Since the Dark Mark is lying on the ground," the people present couldn't help but shuddered again. Maple paused, "Oh, I'm sorry, I mean the Dark Mark was something invented by a mysterious man, so its spell It should only be used by the mysterious man and his followers."

"This should be an absconding criminal demonstrating to us, and Winky just happened to be used as a scapegoat by him." Maple continued to talk, "But his kung fu is not fully done. If he uses magic to modify it, With flashing memories, it would be perfect. Maybe you guys came too fast and he didn’t have a chance to finish it, maybe he did it on purpose."

"Sirius Black!" Mr. Diggory suddenly shouted, and Maple was speechless. What was this?

Well, Sirius Black, who is still missing at this moment, is indeed a subject of most suspicion.

"After disappearing for a year and suddenly coming back to make trouble, what is Black's intention?" Mr. Diggory hadn't yet confirmed it, but Barty Crouch immediately concluded that he was the one who did it.

"You actually set your sights on my servant. I will explain it to Fudge. We must intensify the search and arrest Black as soon as possible." Mr. Crouch roared.

"Mr. Crouch, although this was probably done by Black, according to regulations," Mr. Diggory said carefully.

"Amos," said Mr. Crouch stiffly, "I am fully aware that, as a matter of course, you are to bring Winky to your department for questioning; however, I ask your permission to deal with her by me. "

Mr. Diggory did not seem to agree with the suggestion, but he did not refuse Mr. Crouch's capital.

"Don't worry, she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly.

"Lord-lord-master," Winky looked up at Mr. Crouch with tears in her eyes and stammered, "Lord-lord-master, please-please-please!"

Mr. Crouch stared at her, his face hardening, every line standing out, and there was no mercy in his eyes.

"I was shocked by Winky's behavior tonight," he said slowly. "I told her to stay in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to resolve the commotion. I found her disobeying me. That's it. It means—clothes!”

"No!" Winky screamed, throwing herself at Mr. Crouch's feet, "No, Master! No clothes, no clothes!"

The only way to free a house elf is to give him decent clothes.Winky clutched her tea towel tightly and cried at Mr. Crouch's feet, looking so pitiful.

"She was terrified!" Hermione said angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch.

"Your house elf is afraid of heights, and those masked wizards leave people hanging in the air! It's understandable that she would want to escape them, and you can't blame her!"

Mr. Crouch stepped back, freeing himself from the elf.He looked down at Twinkle as if she were some filthy, rotten thing staining his polished shoes.

"I don't need a house elf who disobeys my orders," he said coldly, looking at Hermione, "I don't need a servant who forgets to obey his master's wishes and uphold his honor."

Winky cried so heartbrokenly that her cries echoed throughout the clearing.There was another very embarrassing silence, and finally Mr. Weasley said softly: "Well, if no one objects, I will take my men back to the tent. Amos, the wand has already known it." We've all been told, and if you can give it back to Harry, please—"

Mr. Diggory handed the wand to Harry, who pocketed it.

"Come on, you four," Mr. Weasley whispered.But Hermione seemed unwilling to move, her eyes still falling on the crying elf.

"Hermione!" said Mr. Weasley, more urgently.Hermione turned around and walked out of the clearing with Maple, Harry and Ron, walking through the woods.

"What will happen to Winky?" Hermione asked as soon as they left the clearing.

"I don't know," said Mr. Weasley.

"Why did they treat her like that!" Hermione said angrily, "Mr. Digory kept calling her a 'goblin'! And Mr. Crouch, he knew it wasn't her, but he still had to expel her! He doesn't care how scared or sad she is! He doesn't treat her as a human being at all!"

"Well, she's not human in the first place." Ron said.

Hermione immediately turned on him.

"That doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings, Ron. It's disgusting that they do that, that-"

"Hermione, I agree with you," Mr. Weasley said quickly, motioning for her to move on, "but now is not the time to discuss the rights of elves. I hope we can get back to the tent as soon as possible. How is everyone else? ?”

"We got separated from them in the dark," said Ron. "Dad, why is everyone so nervous about that skeleton?"

"I'll explain it to you when we get back to the tent," Mr. Weasley said anxiously.

But when they reached the edge of the woods, they encountered an obstacle.A large group of frightened wizards gathered there. When they saw Mr. Weasley walking towards them, many people pushed forward.

"What's going on over there?"

"Who conjured that mark?"

"Arthur - could it be - him?"

"Of course it's not him," Mr. Weasley said impatiently. "We don't know who it is. It looks like they've disapparated. Okay, everyone, please get out of the way. Please, I want to go back to sleep."

He led Maple, Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the crowd back to the camp.Now everything is quiet, there are no more shadows of the masked wizards, only a few destroyed tents are still smoking.

When they returned to the tent, the Weasley brothers and Ginny who had been separated from them returned to the tent safely.

Bill, Charlie and Percy were all back too, their clothes still stained with mud.However, thanks to Maple's ease in dealing with everyone, they were rescued without any injured hostages.

Originally, they were still interested in tracking down the person who brought them all down, but after the Dark Mark appeared, this matter became so important.

Mr. Weasley and Harry told Bill and the others what had just happened, and Percy gasped in anger——

"I say Mr. Crouch should get rid of such a house elf! She was clearly told to stay put and yet she ran away - and embarrassed her in front of so many Ministry officials - if she was To be taken to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for questioning would be too—"

"She didn't do anything - she just shouldn't have been in that place at that time!" Percy's words immediately angered Hermione, who was very sympathetic to the house elves' plight, and she spoke to Percy rudely. Nishi retorted.

Ever since Malfoy said "Mudblood" to Hermione, the sensitive Hermione knew the attitude of these wizarding families towards Muggle-born wizards. She felt the same way about the house elves, so Hermione was like that. Obsessed with being a house elf slave.

Percy, who admired Mr. Crouch, was stunned for a moment, and then he responded unceremoniously. After that, it was Ron who asked them to put the war on hold.

"Okay, okay, can anyone explain what that skeleton is?" Ron said impatiently, "It didn't hurt anyone, why is everyone making such a fuss?"

"Let me tell you, this is You-Know-Who's symbol, Ron," Hermione replied before the others. "I read about it in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."

"It's been 13 years since we saw it," Mr. Weasley said softly. "People are naturally very nervous. It's almost like seeing the mysterious man again."

"I don't understand," said Ron, frowning. "I mean - after all, it's just a shadow in mid-air."

"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers display the Dark Mark in the sky every time they kill someone," said Mr. Weasley. "The fear it brings - you don't know, you're too young. You Imagine coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house. You know what you'll see when you go in." Mr. Weasley shuddered. "It's everyone's worst fear - the worst. scary--"