Chapter 496: Rumors and Refuting Rumors!!
With Dumbledore personally writing a letter to clarify the situation—
and with Filch intercepting the mail afterward (mainly that part)—
Rumors spread with a mouth, but refuting them breaks legs.
In any case, Hermione never received those insulting letters again.
But because Darren cared so much about the matter, Hermione began to seriously think about Rita Skeeter's Animagus form.
When she discussed it with Darren, she analyzed it very carefully.
"She knew that Hagrid's mother was a giant. That means she must have been in the garden at the time."
"The garden itself isn't very big. You've seen it—if there's someone there, you should be able to notice them."
"Hagrid is too tall. He might not notice students or anyone else. But we're all normal height. If it were a person, we should have seen them."
Hermione's reasoning was correct.
But the problem was—there were still no concrete clues.
Rita Skeeter could have been almost any kind of animal in the garden.
And the idea that she was an Animagus was still only a guess, not confirmed.
That made everything even more frustrating.
On top of that, much to Harry's distress, Darren had started thinking Snape was a good person again.
Because Snape had clearly been willing to approve Darren's leave request—something Darren felt deeply grateful for.
Harry couldn't understand why Snape would agree.
Even if there wasn't a conspiracy…
Then it could only mean that Snape didn't want to deal with it and was happy to let Darren leave the castle.
But no matter how Harry saw it, Darren took it as proof that Snape was a good professor.
Harry and the others wanted to show Darren evidence of Snape's wrongdoing, so he could see the professor's sinister side.
But they couldn't produce any proof at all.
It was a very tragic situation.
Fortunately, Percy's reply letter diverted their attention.
Percy's letter arrived together with Easter eggs.
Harry, Darren, and Ron each received an especially large Easter egg.
Their eggs were shaped like dragons and lions.
Inside were Mrs. Weasley's homemade toffees.
Only Hermione received a particularly small Easter egg.
So small it was barely bigger than a normal egg.
She stared at it sadly.
Without tears, she said,
"Mrs. Weasley must have read the Daily Prophet, right?"
That was obvious.
Otherwise, Mrs. Weasley wouldn't have known about Harry supposedly being jealous of Darren and crying under the covers at night.
But Hermione didn't mind as much as one might expect.
She did care about Mrs. Weasley's opinion—but not like before.
After all, in the original timeline, she liked Ron, so she cared deeply about his mother's view of her.
Now she didn't like Ron in that way anymore, so her feelings toward Ron's mother were fairly neutral.
She was only a little sad for a moment.
Then she suddenly remembered something else.
"Quick—open Percy's letter and let me see it!"
Ron hurriedly opened the letter, skimmed it, then handed it to Darren.
Darren lowered his head and read.
Percy's letter didn't bother with any formal greetings.
> As I've already told the Daily Prophet, I really don't have any news about Mr. Crouch.
No one has heard from him since Christmas, when you returned to school. But I'm certain I won't mistake my boss's handwriting.
Even while ill, he was still arranging his work in that manner. I believe the Ministry of Magic should award Mr. Crouch as a model worker.
Also, please tell Darren that I admired his performance in the second task.
If someone wants to join the Ministry of Magic, they should act like Darren—whether it's winning people over or being genuinely kind.
There's no doubt he did his very best.
I wanted to praise him publicly at the time, but I felt that saying such things in that situation might harm his reputation.
However, in private, I must praise him.
Ron, you should learn from Darren. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind Darren becoming the eighth child in our family.
The letter ended there.
Harry and the others exchanged looks.
As for news about Crouch, they figured it would be enough to tell Sirius directly.
But Percy's evaluation of Darren nearly drove them crazy.
"Why is it that when Percy says it, it sounds so… awful?"
Ron complained helplessly.
"Darren is obviously just kind. But when Percy talks about it, it turns into 'ideal Ministry material.'"
"I can't imagine Darren becoming like Percy. If that happened, I'd really lose my mind!"
Harry shuddered violently.
Because he had already started imagining a Percy-version Darren.
No.
Absolutely not.
For a moment, he almost felt like Darren had been replaced.
"Darren, don't listen to Percy. You can do whatever you want."
Hermione said angrily.
"If I could, I'd make everyone in the wizarding world honest and obedient so no one would ever bully you!"
Darren said that he was strong and wouldn't be bullied.
But none of them believed it.
Hermione had already started seriously considering the possibility of becoming Minister for Magic in the future.
Darren felt that there shouldn't be any problem with that.
After all, as long as she participated in the final battle, she would be qualified to become an Auror.
And honestly, in his opinion, her qualifications were more than enough.
If Hermione truly wanted to become Minister for Magic, it wouldn't be a problem at all.
Her abilities were outstanding.
As long as she wanted it, she could definitely achieve it.
But after finishing that train of thought, Darren felt a bit speechless.
Good grief.
They were already discussing the future that far ahead.
But Darren's calm didn't mean Harry shared it.
They had already started discussing what Hermione should do if she wanted to become Minister for Magic.
They only stopped once they reached Hagrid's hut.
The main reason was that Hagrid saw them arriving for class and immediately dragged out a huge incubator.
The moment they saw it, Harry and Ron were reminded of the days ruled by Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Their breathing nearly stopped.
They absolutely hated Blast-Ended Skrewts.
They hoped they would never see those creatures again for the rest of their lives.
…Unfortunately.
Hagrid opened the incubator.
Only then did they realize it was filled with many furry black creatures.
They had long noses.
Their front paws were flat, like small shovels.
They stared blankly out of the box at everyone.
A look of confusion on their faces.
"It's Nifflers!"
Hagrid laughed loudly.
He picked one up and said,
"They usually live underground, near mines. They really love anything shiny."
The Niffler in Hagrid's arms suddenly lunged at Pansy, who was wearing a gold watch.
"See? This little fellow likes things like that…"
"All right, everyone, take a Niffler."
"I've buried some gold coins under that tree over there."
"Let your Nifflers dig for them. Whoever finds the most gets a reward!"
"Come on, Darren—you go first. This one's yours!"
Darren spread his hands.
Hagrid placed a Niffler into them.
The Niffler immediately scampered up Darren's chest, climbed onto his neck, and rubbed its face against his cheek affectionately.
Darren laughed, tickled by it.
"Wow—that's so cute!"
Pansy screamed.
It wasn't clear whether she was screaming because of the Niffler…
Or because of Darren.