Old Blood at Hogwarts

Bill took off the sheet wrapped around his arm, looked at the wound, and said, "Well, whoever conjured this mark did us a disservice tonight. The Death Eaters ran away as soon as they saw it. One of them They disapparated in a hurry before we could get close to them and remove the masks from their faces. However, we caught the Roberts family and prevented them from falling to the ground. Now their memories are being modified."

"Death Eaters?" Harry asked, "What are Death Eaters?"

"That's what the followers of You-Know-Who call themselves," Bill said. "I think we saw remnants of them tonight. They somehow escaped and didn't end up in Azkaban."

"We can't prove it's them, Bill," Mr. Weasley said helplessly, "but it's very possible."

"Yeah, I guess that's the case!" Ron said suddenly, "Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods, and he actually pretty much told us that his dad was one of those masked madmen! We all know that the Malfoy family used to have a close relationship with You-Know-Who!"

"But what do those Death Eaters want to do?" Aaron said at this time, "I mean, what's the point of leaving Muggles hanging in the air?"

"Meaning?" Mr. Weasley laughed dryly, "Aaron, that's how they have fun. In the past, when You-Know-Who was in power, half of them killed Muggles for fun. I guess they had a few extra glasses of wine tonight. , I couldn’t help but want to remind us: they still have a lot of people out and about. They had a pleasant little party.”

"But if they were Death Eaters, why did they disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" Ron asked, "They should be happy to see it, right?"

"Think about it, Ron." Bill said, "If they are really Death Eaters, after You-Know-Who loses power, they will do everything possible to avoid being imprisoned in Azkaban, and they will make up all kinds of lies. It was the mysterious man who forced them to kill and torture others in the first place. I bet they were more afraid of seeing him come back than the rest of us. After the mysterious man fell, they denied in every possible way that they had anything to do with him and went back to living normal lives. …I don’t think You-Know-Who would be very happy with them, don’t you?”

"So...the person who created the Dark Mark..." Hermione said slowly, "Did he do it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"

"We don't know that," said Mr. Weasley, "but I will tell you something... only Death Eaters know how to conjure that mark. I'm sure the person who conjured the mark must have been an Eater before. Dead Apostles, although maybe not now... Look, it's getting late and your mother would be worried sick if she heard about this. Let's grab a few hours' sleep and get the Portkey early. ,leave here."

Aaron only slept for a few hours before he was woken up again by Mr. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley used magic to pack the tent into his backpack, and they left the camp as quickly as possible, spotting Mr. Roberts standing at the door of his little stone hut on the way.Mr. Roberts looked strange and in a daze.He waved goodbye to them and muttered a vague "Merry Christmas."As they strode towards the moor, Mr. Weasley said, "He'll be fine. Sometimes, when a man's memory is altered, he gets a little confused for a while...and they're trying to make him forget." It’s such a big thing.”

As they approached the place where the door-key was, they heard many people making an anxious noise.Walking a little further, they found that a large number of wizards had surrounded Basil, the portkey keeper, and they were all clamoring to leave the camp as soon as possible.Mr. Weasley and Basil discussed it in a few words, and then everyone stood in the queue, and finally got an old tire before the sun rose, which they could use to return to Stoat Mountain.

In the twilight of dawn they passed through the village of Ottery St. Catchpole and followed the wet path toward the Burrow.Everyone said little along the way because they were all terribly tired and all they wanted to do was get breakfast as quickly as possible.They turned a corner and the Burrow loomed into view.

Suddenly, a cry came from the path: "Oh, thank God, thank God!"

Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, ran towards them, still wearing the slippers she had worn in the bedroom.Her face was pale and she looked nervous, holding a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet in her hand.

"Arthur, I'm so worried...so worried..."

She threw her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the Daily Prophet fell from her limp hands to the floor.Aaron looked down and saw the headline: "Horrifying Scenes at the Quidditch World Cup," accompanied by a flashing black-and-white photo of the Dark Mark hanging from a treetop.

"You are all fine." Mrs. Weasley muttered in shock. She let go of Mr. Weasley and looked at them one by one with a pair of red eyes. "You are all alive...oh, son..."

To everyone's surprise, she grabbed Fred and George and gave them a tight hug.She pushed so hard that the twins' heads banged together.

"Ouch! Mom, you're going to strangle us."

"I was yelling at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley couldn't help crying. "I've been thinking about this! If the mysterious man captures you, and the last words I say to you are Your OWLs exam results are not satisfactory? Oh, Fred... George..."

"Okay, okay, Molly. We are all safe." Mr. Weasley comforted her, pulling the twins out of her arms and leading her towards the house.

At the same time, he lowered his voice and said, "Bill, pick up that newspaper. I want to see what it says."

They all squeezed into the small kitchen, and Hermione made Mrs. Weasley a very strong cup of tea. Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a little Ogden's old strong whiskey into it.Then Bill handed the newspaper to his father.Mr. Weasley flicked through the first page, and Percy looked over his shoulder.

"I knew it would be like this." Mr. Weasley said seriously. "The Ministry of Magic is panicking...the criminals have not been caught...security is lax...dark wizards are at large...bringing shame to the country...Who is this?" Written by? Ah... of course it was her - Rita Skeeter."

"That woman is specifically against the Ministry of Magic!" Percy said angrily. "She said last week: 'We should have gone all out to eliminate vampires, but we were wasting time nitpicking about the thickness of the cauldron!' Paragraph No. 12 of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Semi-Humans by Wizards does not specifically state that..."

"Okay, Percy." Bill yawned and said, "Stop talking."

"I was mentioned." Mr. Weasley's eyes suddenly widened behind his glasses as he read the end of the Daily Prophet article.

"Where?" Mrs. Weasley took a sip of her whiskey tea and asked, coughing and gasping, "If I had seen you just now, I would have known you were still alive!"

"Without naming names," said Mr. Weasley, "Listen to this: Those wizards were panicking and waiting with bated breath for news by the woods, hoping for comfort from the Ministry of Magic. Regrettably, they were disappointed. In the Dark Shortly after the mark appeared, a Ministry official appeared and declared that no one was harmed, but declined to say more. It remains to be seen whether his words were enough to quell rumors that several bodies had been lifted from the woods an hour later. Continue to observe."

"Oh, dear," said Mr. Weasley angrily, handing the newspaper to Percy, "it's true that no one was hurt. What should I say? Rumors of several bodies being carried out of the woods... OK , now that she writes such words, rumors will definitely spread." He sighed deeply, "Molly, I have to go to the office, this matter needs to be clarified."

"I'll go with you, Dad." Percy said proudly. "Mr. Crouch will definitely need everyone to get to their places. Besides, I can also hand over my cauldron report to him personally."

With that he rushed out of the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley looked very sad: "Arthur, it stands to reason that you are on vacation! This matter has nothing to do with your office. They can handle it without you, right?"

"I have to go, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. "I made it worse. I'm going to change into my robes and go."

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry said suddenly, "Did Hedwig come back to me with a letter?"

"Hedwig?" Mrs. Weasley said dazedly, "No, dear. No, not a letter."

Aaron looked at Harry curiously.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione meaningfully and said, "Ron, can I go to your room to clean up my things?"

"Okay... I'll go too." Ron replied without hesitation, "Hermione, what about you?"

"Okay," Hermione said immediately.

Aaron felt something was wrong and said quickly: "Wait, I'll go too."

So the four of them filed out of the kitchen and walked upstairs.

They entered the attic room, and as soon as the door closed, Ron asked: "What's going on, Harry?"

"There's something I haven't told you," Harry said. "When I woke up on Saturday morning, my scar hurt again."

Hermione gasped, and Ron looked stunned.

Aaron asked in confusion: "Is there anything wrong with Harry's scar hurting?"

"You know, Aaron," Hermione said, "The scar on Harry's forehead was left by You-Know-Who."

"Of course." Aaron said, "I don't think there is anyone in the wizarding world who doesn't know the origin of that scar."

"Although the mysterious man's curse did not kill Harry, it created a certain connection between him and Harry." Hermione continued.

"Is there some kind of connection between Harry and the mysterious man?" Aaron asked in surprise.

"Yes." Hermione nodded and said, "The most intuitive manifestation of this connection is that once the mysterious person appears around Harry, Harry's scar will hurt."