Mr. Weasley led the way, and they hurried along the lantern-lit passage into the woods, clutching their purchases. They could hear hundreds of people moving around, shouts, laughter, and intermittent singing. The wild excitement was contagious, and Bangs saw that everyone was laughing nonstop. They walked through the woods for about twenty minutes, laughing and joking loudly, until they emerged from the other side and found themselves in the shadow of an enormous gymnasium.
"It can accommodate 100,000 viewers." explained Mr. Weasley."Five hundred Ministry staff have been working on this for a year. Every inch of this place is under Muggle-Repelling Charm. Every time Muggles approached this place during the year, they would suddenly remember something urgent and hurry away, bless them.”he said kindly, leading the way to the nearest entrance, which was already crowded with shouting wizards.
"First class tickets!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance, looking at their tickets. Up the stairs, Arthur, to the very top.”
The stairs leading to the gymnasium were carpeted in purple. They walked up the stairs with the crowd, and slowly, the crowd split into the stands on the left and right. Mr. Weasley led the party up the stairs. They found themselves in a small box at the highest point of the stadium, facing the golden goalpost. There were about twenty purple gold-plated chairs here, divided into two rows. Bunce and the Weasleys sat down in the front row, and Bunce did not look around the grounds as Harry and the others did, but looked around. Winky, the Crouch house-elf, was sitting in the second-to-last seat at the back.
Nothing seemed to have changed because of Bunce's appearance. The match was still won by the Republic of Irishmen. Mr. Weasley led the excited crowd back to camp, and as it happened, the Death Eaters were marching.
"Come on, Bunce, Harry, get into the woods, come on, stick together, don't fall apart. We need to help the Ministry maintain order. I'll come to you when things are settled.”said Mr. Weasley.
Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already running toward the oncoming procession, and Mr. Weasley was hurrying after them. Ministry staff were running from all directions to the scene of the accident. The unfortunate Robbers were still being played by the Death Eaters.
"Hurry up and leave." said Fred, seizing Ginny's hand and dragging her back into the woods. Bunce, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George followed.
The lights that had illuminated the entrance to the stadium had gone out. Dark figures were stumbling through the trees, and children were crying, their nervous, anxious cries and voices echoing in the cold night around them. Bunce pulled out his wand and said softly," Flashing light!"
"Oh, we're silly," said Hermione, drawing her wand."Flashing light!“
"Ouch," Ron cried, and in the split second that the beam of light had lit up, the unlucky Ron had lost sight of the road and tripped over a root.
"Are you alright?" said Harry, pulling Ron up.
"Hmph, with those legs, it's hard not to trip.”A drawling voice sounded behind them.
It was Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, standing alone close by, leaning against a tree, looking very relaxed. He crossed his arms and looked like he had been watching the chaos in the camp through the cracks in the trees.
Ron swore at Malfoy, something Bangs knew he would never dare say in the presence of adults.
"Watch your language," said Malfoy, his pale eyes gleaming in the darkness."I think you'd better run!" You don't want her to be discovered, right?”
"Long time no see, Malfoy," said Bunce, as he advanced toward him with his wand raised.
"What do you want to do?" said Malfoy, slightly alarmed.
"Nothing. At least you're not worth me doing anything.”Bance said.
Malfoy did not find this reassuring. He pulled out his wand, pointed it at Bunce, and said, trembling slightly,"Don't come any closer, I'll chant.”
"Oh, you know how to resist?" Bangs took a few more steps forward.
"Don't come any closer. I'm serious.”said Malfoy, his pale face tinged with faint red.
Bunce waved his wand lightly, and Malfoy's wand flew out of his hand and fell to the ground.
"What can you do now, Malfoy? Goyle and Crabbe weren't around to escort them.”Bangs said coldly.
"Bunce, don't, you'll break the law.”warned Hermione.
"Don't kill me, don't, don't kill-" Malfoy dropped to his knees.
"Tsk, so weak." said Bunce, turning toward Harry.
Malfoy took advantage of the moment when Bunce turned around to pick up his wand from the ground and shout at him,"Expelliarmus."
Unfortunately, Bunce had been prepared for this. He dodged the attack with a sidestep, turned around, and with a wave of his wand, cut a tree beside Malfoy in two.
"Stop testing my patience, Malfoy.”Bangs said as he left.
"You shouldn't have done that, Bunce," said Harry.
"Yes, it's not worth it to do this for me.”said Hermione, her eyes red.
"Well done, buddy." said Ron approvingly.
Fred, George, and Ginny were gone, and the path was growing crowded. On the side of the road, a group of boys and girls in pajamas huddled together, arguing noisily. When they saw Bunce, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a little girl with thick curly hair turned around and said quickly,"Where's Madame Maxime? We can't find her-"
"What-what are you talking about?" said Ron.
"Oh," the girl who had spoken turned back again, and as they walked on, they distinctly heard her say,"Hogwarts,"
"Beothbatons," whispered Hermione.
"I'm sorry, what are you talking about?" asked Harry.
"They must be from Beothbatons," said Hermione."You know Beothbatons. I read about it in the Assessment of Magical Education in Europe.”
"Oh, I see." said Harry.
"Fred and George couldn't have gone too far.”said Ron, pulling out his wand, lighting it as Bunce and Hermione had done, and squinting down the path.
"Oh no, I can't believe I've lost my wand!”said Harry, rummaging through his pockets.
"You must be joking!" said Ron.
"It's true, Ron," Bance said.
"Maybe I left it in the tent?" said Ron.
"Could it have fallen out of your pocket when you were running just now?”said Hermione anxiously.
"You ought to know, don't you, Bunce?”asked Harry.
"Yes, I do know, don't get excited, it'll be back later, trust me, Harry.”Bance said.
"Alright then." said Harry.
Another earth-shattering explosion came from the edge of the forest, echoing in the night sky.
"Let's go, okay?”said Ron nervously, and Bunce noticed him glancing at Hermione. They set off again, Harry still fumbling in his pockets, though he knew he didn't have his wand.
They followed the dark path deeper and deeper into the woods. On the way, they saw a group of goblins talking and laughing over a large bag of gold coins, as if they were indifferent to the disturbance in the camp. They walked a little further into a soft silver light. Peering through the trees, they saw three slender and beautiful veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a group of young wizards, all talking loudly.
"I earn a hundred bags of gold coins a year!" One of them shouted," I work for the Committee for the Treatment of Dangerous Creatures. I kill dragons!”
"Bah! You're not!" his friend yelled."You're the dishwashing man at the Leaky Cauldron, I'm a bloodsucker hunter, I've killed over ninety-"
chimed in a third wizard whose pimples were visible even in the faint silver light of the veela: "I'm going to be the youngest Minister of Magic ever.”
Bangs smiled slightly mockingly. The muscles in Ron's face twitched strangely, and then he called out to them,"Did I tell you I invented a broomstick that goes all the way to Jupiter?”
"Aiya, how could you do this!" said Hermione. She and Harry seized Ron with all their might, pulled him over, and escorted him away with Bunce's help. When the veela and their worshippers were completely out of earshot, they were in the very center of the forest. They seemed to be the only ones here, and the surroundings were very quiet.
said Hermione, looking around."I thought we might as well just wait here, what do you say? We could hear movement a mile away.”
As she spoke, Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree in front of them.
Although the light from the three wands was not very strong, Bangs could see that Bagman had changed a lot. He no longer looked relaxed, his face no longer rosy, and he no longer had springs under his feet. He looked pale and nervous.
"Who's there?" he said, winking at them as though trying to make out who they were.”
"It's like this-there's been a disturbance over there.”said Ron.
Bagman stared at him.”
"Someone caught a family of Muggles in the camp," Ron explained.
"Damn it!" he swore, looking very upset, and then, without another word, he Disapparated with a poof.
"Mr. Bagman has no idea what's going on, does he?”said Hermione, frowning.
"He used to be a great Beater, though," said Ron, walking along the path into a clearing. "When he was with the Wimbledon Wasps, they won three championships in a row.”
"I hope the others will be safe.”said Hermione after a while.
"They will be fine." said Ron.
"Well, poor Muggles," said Hermione uneasily."What if they can't get them down?”
"No, don't think too much. It's okay.”Bangs comforted.
"That's crazy, to do something like that, with all the Ministry officials here tonight, after all!”said Hermione."I mean, did they expect to get away with it? Do you think they drank too much, or…"
She suddenly stopped talking and turned to look behind her. Harry and Ron turned their heads quickly too. From the sound, it seemed like someone was walking toward their clearing.
"Hello?" Harry shouted.
There was no response. Harry got to his feet, looked behind the tree, and asked,"Who's there?"
Then, without any warning, a voice broke the silence. It was different from the other sounds they had heard in the forest.
"The bones have reappeared!"
Then, a huge green thing appeared in Bangs 'line of sight. It jumped onto the treetops and flew into the air.
"What's this-" said Ron, jumping nervously.
Suddenly, the trees around them burst into screams.
"Who's there?" Harry shouted again.
"Harry, come on!" Hermione seized him by the collar and dragged him backward.
"What happened?" said Harry, surprised.
"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" moaned Hermione, tugging at Harry as hard as she could.”
"Voldemort's-" said Harry.
"Come on, Harry!" said Ron quickly.
"We can't escape." Bance said.
"What-"
There was a series of puffing sounds as twenty wizards descended from the sky and surrounded them.
"Quickly lie down." Bangs dragged them along.
"Dizzy!" Twenty voices roared at the same time, followed by a series of dazzling flashes. Bangs could feel a strong magical wave blowing over his head like a strong wind.
"Stop!" shouted a familiar voice-Mr. Weasley. That's my son!"
Bunce helped them to their feet and saw Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified.
"Ron-Harry-Bunce-and Hermione-are you all right?”said Mr. Weasley shakily.
"Get out of the way, Arthur," said Crouch coldly. He and the other Ministry wizard officers had gathered around. Bunce noticed that Mr. Crouch's face was set with anger.
"Which one of you did this?" he barked, his sharp eyes darting between the four of them."Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?”
"We didn't!" said Harry, pointing at the skull above.
"We didn't do anything!" said Ron angrily, staring at his father.”
"Don't lie!" said Mr. Crouch, a little wildly."You were found at the crime scene!”
"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown,"they're only children, Barty, they couldn't have-"
"You four, where did this mark come from?”said Mr. Weasley anxiously.
"Over there," said Hermione in a quavering voice, pointing to the spot where they had heard the noise."Someone was talking loudly behind the tree-a spell-"
"Oh, just standing there, are you?”said Mr. Crouch, turning his bulging eyes on Hermione again, his face full of suspicion. You seem to know exactly how to conjure a Mark, miss-"
Except for Mr. Crouch, none of the other Wizarding officials in the Ministries seemed to think that Bunce, Harry, Ron, and Hermione could ever conjure skeletons. At Hermione's words, they all raised their wands again, pointed them in the direction she had pointed, and peered through the dark thicket.
" We're too late," said the witch in the woolen dressing gown, shaking her head." They've already Disapparated.”
"I don't think so," said a wizard with a short brown beard, Amos Diggory, Cedric's father."Our Scaredy Masters must have slipped into these bushes and we'll probably catch them."
"Amos, be careful!" said the wizards, as Mr. Diggory puffed out his chest, raised his wand, strode across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness.
Seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory's voice.
"It's done! He caught it! There was someone here! He was unconscious! It's-ouch-good heavens!"
"You caught someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding utterly incredulous. Who is it?"
They heard the snapping of branches, the rustling of leaves, and then the crunching of footsteps as Mr. Diggory emerged from behind the trees. He was holding a small, soft body in his arms.
Mr. Crouch watched Mr. Diggory place his house-elf at his feet. He did not move or speak. The other Ministry officials were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds, Crouch stood motionless, as if frozen, his flaming eyes on his pale face staring fiercely at Winky on the floor. Then, he seemed to come back to his senses.
"It's-it can't be-it can't be," he stammered."It can't be-"
He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode toward the spot where Winky had been found.
"It's no use, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him."There's no one else there.”
But Mr. Crouch did not seem to care. They could hear him walking up and down there, and the rustling of leaves as he pushed aside the bushes in search.
"It's a bit embarrassing," said Mr. Diggory sharply, looking down at Winky's delirious figure."Barty Crouch's house-elf, I mean-"
"Come on, Amos," whispered Mr. Weasley."Do you really think elves did it? The Dark Mark was a wizard's symbol that required a wand.”
"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory."She's got a wand.”
"What?" said Mr. Weasley in surprise.
"Here, look," said Mr. Diggory, holding up a wand and handing it to Mr. Weasley."She's holding it. This was, first and foremost, a violation of the third rule of the Wand Rules: No non-human creature is allowed to carry or use a wand.”
Just then, with another poof, Mr. Ludo Bagman Apparated next to Mr. Weasley. Bagman panted and looked disoriented. He spun in circles, staring at the green skeleton in the sky.
"Dark Mark!" he panted and turned to look at his colleague.
Mr. Crouch returned empty-handed. His face was still horribly pale, his hands and his toothbrush mustache twitching.
"Where have you been, Barty?" Bagman asked."Why didn't you come to watch the match? And your house-elf saved you a seat-my goodness!”Bagman realized now that Winky was lying at his feet.”
"I've been terribly busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still enunciating each word."My house-elf's been Stunned.”
"Stunned? You mean, by you people? Why-"
Bagman's round, shining face had a look of sudden realization. He looked up at the skull, then down at Winky, and finally at Mr. Crouch.
"Impossible!" he said. The Dark Mark? She didn't know how to change! First of all, she needed a wand!”
"She does have a wand," said Mr. Diggory."I noticed she was holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she has to say for herself.”
Mr. Crouch did not respond, as though he had not heard Mr. Diggory, who seemed to take his silence for acquiescence. He raised his wand, pointed it at Winky, and said,"Quickly revive!"
Winky moved feebly. Her brown, bell-like eyes opened. She blinked hard, her expression blank. Under the silent gaze of the wizards, she sat up shakily. She saw Mr. Diggory's feet, and then, slowly and timidly, raised her eyes to his face, and then, more slowly, to the night sky above. She sucked in a breath of cold air and looked at the people gathered in the open space with confused eyes. Then she suddenly cried in fear.
"Little Elf!" said Mr. Diggory sharply."Do you know who I am? I am a member of the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures!”
Winky began to sway back and forth on the ground, her breathing interrupted by loud sobs.
"As you can see, goblin, someone conjured the Dark Mark here just now.”said Mr. Diggory."Moments later, we found you, right under the mark! Please give us a reasonable explanation!”
"I-I-I didn't, sir!”gasped Winky."I don't know how, sir!”
"You were found with a wand in your hand!”snarled Mr. Diggory, waving the wand in Winky's face.
"Ah-that's mine!" said Harry.
Everyone in the clearing turned to look at him.
"Sorry, what did you say?" asked Mr. Diggory incredulously.
"That's my wand!" said Harry."I've lost it!”
"You lost it?" repeated Mr. Diggory suspiciously."Are you confessing? You threw the wand away after you conjured the Mark?”
"Amos, think about who you're talking to!”said Mr. Weasley, very angry.”
"Oh-of course not," muttered Mr. Diggory."I'm sorry I lost my mind."
"I didn't leave it there," said Harry."I realized my wand was gone as soon as we entered the woods.‘
"So," said Mr. Diggory, looking back at Winky, curled up on the floor, his eyes cold."You found the wand, didn't you, goblin? You picked it up thinking you could have some fun with it, didn't you?”
"I didn't use it for magic, sir!”squeaked Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her flattened bulbous nose. I didn't conjure the Dark Mark, sir, I don't know how!”
"It's not her!" said Hermione nervously."Winky's voice was squeaky, and the one we just heard was much lower!”
"Yes," said Harry, nodding."That's definitely not an elf's voice.”
"Yeah, that's a human voice." said Ron.
"Well, we'll find out soon enough," snarled Mr. Diggory, ignoring them."There's an easy way to find out what the last spell was, elf, you know?”
Winky was shaking all over, shaking her head as hard as she could, her ears flapping. Mr. Diggory raised his own wand and connected it to Harry's.
"The Reversal Curse!" roared Mr. Diggory.
A ghastly, snake-tongued skull emerged from the point where the wands met, though it was only a shadow of the one above them.
"Vanish!" said Mr. Diggory, looking down at Winky at his feet with a look of cruel triumph.”
"It wasn't me!" she shrieked, her eyes rolling in horror. I'm a good elf, I didn't play with a wand, I don't know how!”
"You've been caught red-handed, goblin!”bellowed Mr. Diggory."Caught with this criminal wand!”
"Think about it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley loudly."A wizard who can do that spell is just a feather. Where did she learn it?”
"Perhaps Diggory is hinting," said Mr. Crouch, his every syllable laced with cold anger,"that I regularly teach my servants the Dark Mark?”
There was an awkward silence. Mr. Diggory looked terrified."Mr. Crouch didn't mean that at all."
"So far, you have accused the two people in this open space without any reason in almost obvious language. They are the least likely to conjure that mark!”roared Mr. Crouch."Harry Potter-and me! I suppose you're familiar with the boy's background, Amos?”
"Of course-everybody knows-" muttered Mr. Diggory, looking terrified.
"You will remember, I am sure, that in the course of my long career, there has been much evidence that I have always hated and abhorred the Dark Arts, and all who play with them, is there not?”shouted Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging again.
"Mr. Crouch, I-I never implied that you had anything to do with this!”muttered Amos Diggory again, his face already red behind his short brown beard.
"You're accusing me, Diggory, by accusing my elf!”shouted Mr. Crouch."Where else could she have learned to do it?”
"She-she might have picked it up by accident-"
"You're right, Amos," said Mr. Weasley."She might have picked up Winky by accident somewhere else?”He turned kindly to the elf and asked,"Where on earth did you find Harry's wand?”
"I-I found it there, sir," she whispered."It's in the woods, sir."
"Do you understand, Amos?" said Mr. Weasley."Whoever conjured the Mark Disapparated as soon as they were done and dropped Harry's wand. Clever of them not to use their own wands, lest they give themselves away. A moment later, the unlucky Winky caught sight of the wand and picked it up.”
"So, she was only a few steps away from the real criminal?”said Mr. Diggory impatiently.”
Winky was trembling even more than before. her lightbulb eyes looked from Mr. Diggory to Ludo 8226; Bagman looked again at Mr. Crouch. Then she took a deep breath and said,""I didn't see anyone, sir. No one."
"Amos," said Mr. Crouch very stiffly,"I am fully aware that, according to the usual procedure, you are to bring Winky into your division for questioning, but I ask your permission to deal with her.”
Mr. Diggory didn't seem very keen on the idea, but Bunce knew that Mr. Crouch was a very important figure in the Ministry and that Mr. Diggory would not dare refuse him.
"Don't worry, she will be punished.”added Mr. Crouch coolly.
"M-M-Master," stammered Winky, looking tearfully at Mr. Crouch.
Mr. Crouch stared at her, his face stiff, every line of his face prominent, his eyes devoid of pity.
"I was shocked by Winky's behavior tonight," he said slowly."I told her to stay in the tent. I told her to stand guard there while I went to settle the disturbance. I found she had disobeyed me, and that meant-clothes!”
"No!" screamed Winky, throwing herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. No clothes! No clothes!"
"She was terrified!" said Hermione indignantly, glaring at Mr. Crouch."Your house-elves are afraid of heights, and those masked wizards are hanging people in the air! It's reasonable for her to want to escape from them. You can't blame her!”
"I don't need a house-elf who disobeys my orders," he said coldly, looking at Hermione."I don't need a servant who forgets to listen to his master and defend his reputation.”
Winky was crying so hard that her cries echoed across the clearing. There was another awkward silence, and finally Mr. Weasley said quietly,"Well, if no one objects, I'll take my men back to the tent." Amos, the wand has told us everything it knows-if you can give it back to Harry, please-"
Mr. Diggory handed the wand to Harry, who pocketed it.
"Let's go, you four." whispered Mr. Weasley, but Hermione did not seem to want to move.
"Time to go, Hermione!" said Bunce forcefully, tugging at Hermione.
"What will happen to Winky?" said Hermione as soon as they had left the clearing.
"I don't know." said Mr. Weasley.
"How could they treat her like that!" said Hermione angrily."Mr. Diggory keeps calling her 'goblin' and Mr. Crouch! He clearly knew that she didn't do it, but he still wanted to fire her! He didn't care how scared or sad she was-he didn't even see her as a human being!”
"She's not human to begin with." Ron muttered.
"That doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings, Ron. It's disgusting what they're doing, how-"said Hermione.
"I agree, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley quickly, motioning her to move on,"but now is not the time to discuss elf rights. I want us to get back to the tent as soon as possible. How are the others?"
"We lost them in the dark, Mr. Weasley.”Bance said.
"Why is everyone so nervous about that skeleton, Dad?”asked Ron.
"I'll explain it to you when we get back to the tent.”said Mr. Weasley anxiously.
However, when they reached the edge of the forest, they encountered an obstacle. A large crowd of terrified wizards had gathered, many of them pushing forward when they saw Mr. Weasley approaching them.
"What's going on over there?"
"Who conjured that mark?"
"Arthur-could it be-him?”
"Of course it wasn't him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently."We don't know who it was either, looks like they Disapparated. Alright, everyone, please make way. I'm begging you. I want to go back to sleep.”
He led Bunce, Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the crowd back to camp. It was quiet now. The masked wizards were nowhere to be seen. Only a few destroyed tents were still smoking.
Charlie stuck his head out of the boys 'tent.
"What happened, Dad?" he shouted through the darkness."Fred, Doctor Joe, and Ginny are all back safe and sound, but they're all-"
"I brought them all back." said Mr. Weasley as he bent down into the tent, and Bunce and the others followed.
Bill was sitting at the small dining table, a sheet covering his arm, from which blood was pouring. Charlie's shirt was torn, and Percy was showing off his bleeding nose. Fred, George, and Ginny were all safe and sound, though they were all in shock.
"Give me your hand, Bill.”said Bunce, drawing out his wand.
"It's no use, it's Dark Magic.”Bill said.
Bunce sang, pointing his wand at the wound on Bill's arm, and the wound shrank and disappeared.
"Thank you, Bunce," Bill said in surprise.
"No need." said Bunce flatly, putting his wand back into his inner pocket.
"Did you catch them, Dad?”Bill asked.
"No," said Mr. Weasley, looking away from Bunce in surprise."We've found Barti8226; Crouch's house-elf had Harry's wand, but we had no idea who had conjured the mark.”
"What?" said Bill, Charlie, and Percy in unison.
"Harry's wand?" said Fred.
"Mr. Crouch's house-elf?”said Percy in shock.
Mr. Weasley, with the help of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, told everyone exactly what had happened in the woods. Percy was panting when they finished.
"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch should get rid of a house-elf like that!”he said." Master told her to stay put, but she ran away... And embarrassed her master in front of so many Ministry officials. If she's taken to the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures for questioning, it'll be too-"
"She didn't do anything-she just wasn't supposed to be in that place at that time!”Hermione snapped back, to everyone's surprise. Hermione had always been on good terms with Percy, after all-better than anyone else, in fact.
"Hermione, a wizard in Mr. Crouch's position can't afford to let his house-elf run amok with a wand!”said Percy pompously.
"She didn't run amok!" yelled Hermione."She just picked up her wand from the ground!”
"Alright, alright, can anyone explain what that skeleton is?”said Ron impatiently."It didn't hurt anyone. Why is everyone making such a fuss?”
"Let me tell you, Ron, it's You-Know-Who's symbol," said Hermione."I read about it in Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts.”
"It's been thirteen years since we've seen it," said Mr. Weasley quietly."People are naturally nervous. It's like seeing You-Know-Who again.”
" I don't understand," said Ron, frowning." I mean, at the end of the day, it's just a shadow in midair."
"Ron, every time You-Know-Who and his followers kill someone, they put the Dark Mark up in the air.”said Mr. Weasley."You don't understand the terror it brings, you're too young. "Imagine going back a few miles and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and you know what you're going to see." Mr. Weasley shivered."That's the last thing anyone wants to see."
After a moment of silence, Bill said,""Well, whoever conjured the Mark did us a disservice tonight. The Death Eaters fled at the sight of it. They all Disapparated in a hurry before we could get close enough to unmask them. Fortunately, we caught the Robert family in time and didn't let them fall to the ground. Now, their memories were being modified.
"Death Eaters?" said Harry."What are Death Eaters?”
"That's what You-Know-Who's believers call themselves.”said Bill."I think what we saw tonight was the remnants of these people-somehow they escaped Azkaban.”
"We can't prove it was them, Bill.”said Mr. Weasley.”he added helplessly.
"But Voldemort's followers-" said Harry. Everyone except Bunce shuddered-the Weasleys, like most people in the Wizarding world, avoided mentioning Voldemort's name. "I'm sorry," said Harry quickly."What are You-Know-Who's followers trying to do, hang Muggles in the air? I mean, what's the point?”
"Meaning?" said Mr. Weasley with a hollow laugh. When You-Know-Who was in power, they had killed Muggles mostly for fun. I thought they might have had a few too many drinks tonight, so I couldn't help reminding us: Many of them were still at large. It was just a happy little gathering.”he said in disgust.
"But if they were Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate at the sight of the Dark Mark?”said Ron."They'd be happy to see it, wouldn't they?”
"Use your brains, Ron.”said Bill."If they really were Death Eaters, they'd do anything they could to keep You-Know-Who out of Azkaban and make up all sorts of lies about what happened. I'm sure they're more afraid of seeing him come back than we are. You know, after You-Know-Who fell, they denied 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, would you?”
"So what did the person who conjured the Dark Mark do," said Hermione slowly,"for?”
"Don't think too much, go to bed early, Hermione. I can tell you one thing, though, that only the Death Eaters know how to conjure the Mark.”Bance said.
"Bunce's right, it's getting late, we've got to get a few hours 'sleep, then get the Portkey early and get out of here.”said Mr. Weasley.
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