Chapter 504: Nightmare!!
"Oh, Darren, you're finally awake. I told them you were just sleeping, but they thought you'd fainted—so they sent you and Potter here."
Madam Pomfrey's words left Darren stunned.
Ignoring the embarrassment, he immediately turned to Harry, his face full of alarm.
"Brother—what's wrong with my brother? I—"
[Ding, Holy Father value +10]
[Ding, Father value +100]
He tried to stand up, but after sleeping for so long his legs were weak, and he dropped heavily back onto the hospital bed.
"Darren, don't worry. I'm fine," Harry said helplessly.
Looking at Darren like this, Harry almost felt as if Darren thought he was about to die.
But… didn't that just show how important he was to Darren?
"How are you, brother?" Darren asked anxiously. "I must have fallen asleep…"
"Don't worry," Harry replied. "It's just my scar acting up."
"Actually, you're the one who worried everyone. Madam Pomfrey said you were only overly tired and fell into a deep sleep."
"You've been training with me so intensely lately—why didn't you say you were exhausted?"
Ah… that.
He really was tired.
Staying up night after night, constantly on edge—there was no helping it.
Who told him to accept that condition?
Darren sneered inwardly.
On the surface, however, he put on a weak smile.
"It's nothing serious. I just need more rest in the future."
"But what about you? Why does your scar hurt again?"
"Did you have another dream?"
Harry nodded.
"Yes… I dreamed again. I don't even know whether it was truly a dream."
"I heard Voldemort scolding Peter Pettigrew, yelling at him for guarding him so badly."
"In the end, they could only deal with that problem, and Wormtail kept screaming. I was woken up by the pain in my scar."
"They sent me to the hospital wing—and when they brought me in, they realized you still hadn't woken up either."
"They called you several times and thought something had happened to you as well, so they sent us together."
Harry almost wanted to laugh as he said this.
Darren tilted his head.
Alright…
It seemed he really hadn't slept properly these past few days—he'd actually slept until now.
But honestly, they hadn't woken him very seriously either.
If they'd shouted a bit more, he probably wouldn't have slept so soundly.
At this moment, Harry's situation was far more important.
Darren remembered that in the original events, Harry would tell Dumbledore about this immediately.
But now Harry had him to talk to, so he hadn't gone yet.
Darren looked at Harry seriously.
"Brother, let's go. You must tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this."
"This wasn't just a dream—it may have been something that really happened."
Darren and Harry quickly put on their shoes.
Ignoring Madam Pomfrey calling after them to slow down, they rushed toward Dumbledore's office.
They stopped before the two ugly stone gargoyles.
"Sherbet lemon—acid drops—cockroach cluster—Every Flavor Beans!"
The stone statues slid apart.
Harry ran in after Darren.
But as soon as they reached the office entrance, they hesitated.
Because Fudge was inside.
Fudge's anxious voice drifted out.
"Bertha Jorkins' disappearance doesn't prove anything. I don't believe her disappearance is connected to Crouch's at all!"
"Bertha was already old. Though her disappearance shocked people, she wasn't defenseless."
"As for Crouch—he'd gone mad. Perhaps he simply ran off on his own."
Fudge wiped sweat from his forehead as he spoke.
"Minister," Moody said grimly,
"why do you think that?"
"Krum and Darren clearly had their memories tampered with. We cannot underestimate this."
"With Crouch's condition at the time, how could he have tricked Darren into drinking the pumpkin juice—and then altered his memory?"
"Krum?" Fudge scoffed. "That Durmstrang student? Who's to say he wasn't the problem?"
"And Madame Maxime—she's suspicious too! That giant woman—"
"Enough!"
Moody interrupted sharply.
"Darren and Potter are here."
The office door opened.
"Come in."
Moody forced a smile.
He glanced behind Darren and Harry, confirmed no one else was there, and closed the door.
"Darren," Dumbledore said, studying him,
"why are you here?"
Before Darren could answer, Dumbledore smiled.
"I heard you were sent to the hospital wing this afternoon because you fell asleep in class?"
He teased lightly.
Darren looked thoroughly embarrassed.
"Yes… well…"
Dumbledore laughed.
"I'm not mocking you. I'm telling you that you truly need rest, my boy."
"Even for the Triwizard Tournament, you cannot abandon sleep."
Darren nodded obediently.
"Well, Albus, since you still have matters to attend to, I'll take my leave."
Fudge said quickly—he clearly didn't want to stay any longer.
Dumbledore reminded him once more to take Crouch's disappearance seriously, which only irritated Fudge further.
"I'll see you out," Dumbledore said.
"Darren, Harry—wait here. I'll be right back."
He picked up his wand and left.
Moody nodded at Darren and followed Dumbledore out.
Only Darren and Harry remained in the office.
Darren's gaze fell on Fawkes.
The phoenix seemed delighted and rubbed affectionately against him.
Darren looked at its feathers, his eyes growing slightly warm.
He'd heard that phoenix tail feathers were incredibly valuable.
Ollivander himself bought phoenix tail feathers.
And Fawkes' feathers were priceless—after all, both Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand shared that same source.
Extremely valuable.
Just as Darren was thinking about those two feathers, he heard Harry cry out.
He turned his head.
Harry—who had been standing beside him—had suddenly fallen forward into a stone basin.
Startled, Darren rushed over.
It was the Pensieve.
Of course Darren had seen it before.
Dumbledore had once used it with him—nearly frightening Dumbledore half to death in the process.
He looked at the silvery, crystal-clear threads swirling inside.
Pretending to see it for the first time, Darren cautiously leaned forward.
His vision blurred—
And he fell straight into Dumbledore's memories.