Chapter 526 – Where to Go!!
Dumbledore's words silenced everyone.
They thought of Darren's kindness and his strength, and all of them showed helpless expressions.
Indeed, if Dumbledore had not been there, and Darren had quietly unlocked the spell in the middle of the night and run off, probably none of them would have noticed at all.
"Alright. Don't worry. Everyone clean things up here.
There are some things that Harry must not know—yes, absolutely not Harry."
Dumbledore said solemnly.
Everyone in the room nodded uneasily.
Although they had many questions, no one asked.
"Now, I only hope that Alastor and the others can catch up with Darren."
---
Harry was having a terrible time.
Last year, his younger brother Darren Potter had won the Triwizard Tournament.
That should have been a good thing.
But at the final moment, when they touched the trophy, they were teleported straight to Voldemort.
In front of Voldemort, Darren had almost been killed, and Harry himself had faced Voldemort directly.
Forget it—thinking about it only brought tears.
Fortunately, both he and Darren came back alive.
The only thing that truly frightened Harry was that Darren didn't seem to have come out of it.
Because of Mr. Diggory's death, Darren had developed serious psychological problems.
Dumbledore had written to him, saying that Darren always tried to fill every bit of free time and never seemed willing to stay idle at all.
And now, Darren had even learned how to deceive others—he had convinced Muggle psychiatrists that he was completely fine.
But whether there was a problem or not, did Darren himself really not know?
They had no way to expose it.
Faced with Darren's condition, everyone treated him with extreme caution—afraid he would collapse, afraid he would lose control and riot with magic.
Afraid he would end up like those Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup last year—
after having their memories examined by Dumbledore, they became completely broken and only wanted to end their lives.
So no one dared to probe further.
They spoke carefully, fearing they might hurt him.
Darren probably sensed their concern as well.
He disguised his emotions better and better.
Sometimes, they even truly believed that he was fine.
But how was he fine?
Nowhere. He wasn't fine at all.
Harry sighed helplessly.
He desperately wanted to see Darren right now.
Even if he couldn't help Darren, just being by his side would surely make Darren feel much steadier.
But summer vacation had already been going on for so long, and he hadn't seen Darren even once.
Dumbledore never allowed Darren to come see him.
Harry had written to Dumbledore, asking for Darren to visit, but Dumbledore said there was no need—they would meet after the summer holiday.
So more than a month had passed, and Harry still hadn't seen Darren at all.
Other than that, he had no news from the wizarding world.
Although he subscribed to the Daily Prophet, it was full of cheerful songs and dancing headlines, as if nothing had happened.
That was normal.
Fudge simply refused to believe that Voldemort had returned.
Even though Voldemort had projected himself in front of him, Fudge insisted it was all fake.
At most, he admitted it was the work of a group of Death Eaters—
even claiming it was the same group that had kidnapped Darren in second year.
Fudge said they were bold.
But he still hadn't found them.
All of this—
The Daily Prophet said nothing.
It made Harry want to throw the paper away.
But if he wanted any news from the wizarding world, he had no choice but to keep reading it.
He could only hope that someday, one or two journalists brave enough to tell the truth might say something.
Even though, so far, none had.
Even Rita Skeeter hadn't written much.
So Harry could only listen to Muggle news every day.
Uncle Vernon found this very strange.
He thought there must be something wrong with wizards who followed the news.
So he forbade Harry from listening.
Harry could only lie on the grass outside, as close as possible to Uncle Vernon's television, just to hear a bit of the broadcast.
He thought that if Voldemort really started causing chaos, it would become major news.
Muggle news.
Explosions. Fires.
Forgive Harry—he couldn't imagine Voldemort doing anything else.
Fortunately, when he listened again, the headlines were still trivial.
Some entertainment celebrities even made the news.
Aunt Petunia claimed she didn't care about such people—
yet she stared at those magazines obsessively.
Harry curled his lip in disgust and crawled out from under the window.
He decided to walk around a bit before going back.
Once the news ended, if he stayed, they would definitely realize he was eavesdropping.
On the way, he ran into Dudley.
Although Dudley no longer bullied him like before, he still looked at Harry with discomfort.
He even mocked Harry for having ridiculous dreams at night.
Harry grew angry and threatened him with his wand.
Then—
He heard something like air tearing.
And the Dementors appeared.
They drifted up beside them.
The Dementors even tried to perform the Dementor's Kiss on Dudley.
Harry had no choice.
He cast the Patronus Charm.
And because of that, an owl from the Ministry of Magic soon arrived.
They told him to stay quietly at home and wait for someone to come and snap his wand.
Harry was horrified.
He couldn't lose his wand.
He even thought about running away.
But Mrs. Figg, who lived nearby, stopped him.
She told him to take Dudley home first.
Harry had no choice but to do so.
And very quickly, he realized—
The Dursleys were furious because Dudley had been attacked.
They forced Harry to explain everything.
Harry talked about Voldemort.
That sent Uncle Vernon into a rage. He believed Harry had caused all of this and ordered him to leave the house.
Harry truly wanted to turn around and go.
If it hadn't been for Mrs. Figg, he would have already left.
But then, Dumbledore's letter arrived.
It told Harry to stay at the Dursleys' house and not leave under any circumstances.
And shortly after that, a second letter from the Ministry arrived—
Changing the punishment from snapping his wand to a formal hearing.
Harry felt utterly trapped.
Because even if he didn't want to leave, the Dursleys were now forcing him out.
They believed that as long as he stayed, he would bring danger upon them.
To be honest, Harry felt that was reasonable.
After all, he really was dangerous.
But now—
Where was he supposed to go?