The crowd outside the tent wore hoods, their faces obscured as they shrieked and laughed with wild abandon.
Several figures floated above their heads, including a child being tossed about like a broken rag doll for their twisted entertainment.
For Lys, who'd already endured unpleasant memories during the day, this was like setting a match to her already throbbing skull.
Watching the mob of violence-hungry supporters swell, Lys shoved the three beside her into a nearby copse.
As Friedm departed, he even severed the ropes of two abandoned Whippets from the neighbouring tent. Now two muzzled dogs flanked him.
"Lys, nothing dreadful's going to happen, is it?" Friedm glanced toward the distant Malfoy tent. Some commotion stirred there too, though it seemed less severe than here.
"Don't know." Lys watched their own tent collapse under trampling feet, whilst the tent where Friedm had rescued the dogs was set ablaze.
The flames and destruction added fresh notes of madness to the mob's howling.
Lys touched her waist bag, silently cursing the Ministry—useless at everything else, but their Anti-Apparition wards were bloody effective.
Anti-Apparition on this scale... if she were alone, she'd have left already. But taking this many people—even draining herself completely and shattering every reserve—the splinching risk would be enormous.
This was a grand event with wizards from five continents attending. They'd mobilised nearly every wizard the Ministry could deploy, spending a full year on preparations!
But if you've been preparing for a bloody year, couldn't you send all available staff to maintain order too?!
Lys recalled seeing Arthur Weasley, a Ministry employee, leisurely watching the match with a gaggle of children earlier!
Seeing the marching crowd bypass their grove and head elsewhere, Lys turned back to Friedm.
The child gripped his wand so tightly he seemed ready to cast at any second.
Lys's lips curved slightly, attempting to comfort Friedm, but with no warmth in her eyes, the expression looked more menacing. She pushed Friedm further behind her.
Several fleeing wizards dashed past, including two struggling, screaming children. Lys silently cast Stupefy on them.
Their mother glanced about in confusion, then tucked them under her arms and continued fleeing.
Lys watched the crowds multiply and begin confronting the gradually arriving Aurors from various nations and Ministry personnel. Only then did she lead the three deeper into the woods.
"Oi, Friedm~" came a rather languid voice.
"Lys, it's Draco! Can we... bring him along?"
Friedm was delighted his mate was unharmed.
But turning back, he saw his sister's utterly expressionless face. She couldn't even be bothered to curve her lips.
"Where are your parents?"
"I don't know," Draco answered honestly, instantly becoming compliant. "Truly don't know. Father looked absolutely dreadful when he left. He brought me here, then vanished to do... something."
Lys glanced at him. "Keep up." She raised her hand, casting Avenseguim on him as well.
But Draco seemed convinced he wasn't these people's target. He didn't particularly want to follow Lys.
"They're only targeting Muggles and those Mudb— I mean, anyway, I'm a noble pureblood wizard. I'm a Malfoy! They won't harm me!"
Seeing this, Friedm frantically made eye contact with Draco, signalling him to shut up.
Watching Lys's expression darken further, Friedm gripped his wand with one hand whilst quickly seizing Draco's hand with the other, yanking him over.
Lys clutched her wand tightly, casting an irritated glance toward the forest's edge, where even her first advertising board continued displaying its beauty under magical and runic effects.
She led the group forward, attempting to escape this woodland and distance themselves from the crowds.
"Lys Black?"
Lys whipped around. Before her stood someone utterly unexpected—her former classmate and colleague: Barty Crouch Jr.
"You... why are you here?"
"That should be my bloody question! You claimed you weren't a traitor! But why are you here leisurely watching matches instead of rotting with us in Azkaban! And there's this traitor Malfoy's little spawn—look how he's enjoying himself! That's all from what the Lord once bestowed upon their family!!"
Draco's identity being mentioned by little Crouch's unhinged manner terrified him into shrinking behind Friedm, though Friedm could hardly shield him properly.
Lulu pulled both children behind her, whilst Noah remained behind Lys without moving. His wand secretly aimed at their opponent from Lys's flank, but she pressed it down.
"They found no evidence of my guilt." Lys revealed no weakness and didn't defend Malfoy—after all, Malfoy's claims of being deceived and controlled were common knowledge throughout Britain. She merely extended her magical senses outward.
"I was despised, so I accomplished nothing. You know this." Lys observed little Barty Crouch, whose mental state was clearly deteriorating, and silently cast two mental spells.
Though Lys couldn't control the effects precisely, the other party was hardly virtuous anyway. Lys reckoned as long as she could muddle through and escape, she didn't give a damn what happened to Barty Crouch.
She heard him mumbling incoherently: "He promised me tremendous power... I must rebel against my father, against everyone! For the magnificent... that he promised me..."
When he turned away, stumbling as if searching for something in his robes, Lys swiftly led her companions away.
Draco seemed rather shaken. Being dragged by Friedm, he didn't dare voice any more claims about his safety.
Though he still believed his bloodline protected him, there were lunatics here—and lunatics were an entirely different matter.
When Lys led everyone to the campground's outermost edge—where her advertising board scattered magical droplets from its model broomstick to bloom flowers upon the ground—they'd nearly reached Apparition range. But personnel from various nations' Ministries had already cordoned off the area.
A female Auror was gently reassuring the arriving wizards.
"You're safe here. We've contained the situation. Please cooperate and don't attempt to leave. We'll ensure everyone's safety until our investigation concludes..."
She never finished.
Blinding green light erupted from the forest they'd just traversed.
It cast Lys's upturned face in ghastly pallor.
Against the pitch-black sky, a serpent emerged from a hollow skull's maw, surveying its domain. The sinister green glow was bone-chillingly malevolent—
The Dark Mark!
The Dark Lord's mark!
Friedm released his grip on Draco and the dog leads, wrapping his arms tightly around Lys's waist.
"Lys, don't be frightened!"
The crowd behind them exploded into chaos. Some attempted to force their departure, but Aurors retaliated.
Two curses shot toward Lys and her group.
Lulu deflected one with her wand. Noah attempted to counter the second but failed.
Friedm, still clinging to Lys's waist, fired some unknown hex from his wand before Lys could react. Both spells detonated mid-air.
Lys looked down at Friedm, who was embracing her.
Gazing at that round, earnest face, Lys's voice came hoarsely: "Brilliant work."
And Draco?
The instant Friedm released him, he'd seized the corner of Lys's robes.
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