Chapter 257: A Minor Incident and Calm
Chapter 257: A Minor Incident and Calm (Please subscribe, favorite, and vote)
"Get up, it's an emergency." Liam was fast asleep when he suddenly heard a loud shout in his ear. Instinctively, he grabbed his wand and sat up.
"Really? What's happening?" Ron, who was sleeping in the top bunk, also woke up. He lit his wand and looked at his father.
"It's not clear yet, but there's a battle breaking out near the Custodian's Hut. Although it's far from us, we still need to be prepared", Mr. Weasley said seriously.
When Liam climbed out of the tent with his wand in hand, he noticed that the surrounding singing had stopped. In the distance, faint screams could be heard, and he could see that some tents near the Custodian's Hut were on fire.
"Damn it, kids, get your wands out, it's an emergency!" At that moment, Sirius Black ran over with Harry. The wrinkles in their pants showed that they had also been sleeping in their clothes.
By then, everyone had gathered at the tent entrance. After hearing Sirius Black's words, they formed a circle, protecting the girls in the center, and raised their wands. People in the surrounding tents were also emerging, most of them in their pajamas, asking each other what was happening. However, because the disturbance was far away, the nearby people could still stand calmly at their tent doors, observing the situation.
After a while, the commotion in the distance began to subside. It seemed that this disturbance wasn't as severe as in the original story. Sirius Black noticed this and lowered his wand. "I think things are calming down. You can sit down and wait; there's no need to be so tense." He then pulled out a waterproof mat and sat on the ground.
Liam and the others looked at each other and followed suit. The surrounding people also sat down. Soon, the sense of unease dissipated, and some people even heated up hot cocoa to share.
Not long after, the sounds of the fight completely disappeared. Percy, looking disheveled, walked over. He greeted his family and friends, then drew his wand and pointed it at his throat, saying, "Sonorus!"
His voice then boomed like thunder, making everyone nearby hear him clearly. "Some drunkards caused a disturbance, but thanks to the Ministry of Magic, the situation has been brought under control. The troublemakers have been dispersed, and order has been restored. You can all continue resting now."
Percy then canceled the Sonorus spell and turned to his father. "After I informed Minister Bones, she ordered our few on-duty staff to lay low in key areas. About half an hour ago, a group of masked people in black robes indeed attacked the Custodian's Hut. Fortunately, we were prepared and prevented them from succeeding. As the Ministry of Magic reinforcements arrived, the attackers fled. After the situation was under control, the Ministry of Magic recalled all the Aurors and Hit Wizards to maintain order. We, the temporary staff, were then dismissed."
"Very good, you did an excellent job today", Mr. Weasley said, patting Percy on the shoulder.
At that moment, Liam received 4 Deviation Points. It wasn't much, but it was just the beginning. After all, dealing with the younger Barty Crouch required an entire school year's worth of effort, so it made sense that the initial task had a lower point reward.
The rest of the night, everyone, still shaken, just threw on their coats and laid down in the living area of the tent for a few hours. At dawn, they packed up their tents, collected a Portkey, and returned to Otterhill.
"Arthur—Are you all right?" As they walked into the yard of The Burrow, Mrs. Weasley, looking anxious, came out to greet them, clutching a rolled-up Daily Prophet. Liam could see Fudge on the front page, waving proudly to the crowd, with the headline: "Minister Fudge Well-Prepared, Successfully Calms the Disturbance."
"Hmph, taking all the credit. It was clearly Madam Bones' doing." The Daily Prophet dedicated several pages to praising Fudge, even portraying him as a chosen one with precognitive abilities. This greatly displeased Percy, who had been working most of the night.
“The Ministry of Magic has always been like this; you’ll have to get used to it,” Sirius Black said with a sarcastic tone. He and Harry had also come to The Burrow, as more people in one place meant a quicker Portkey collection.
After dinner, Sirius Black took Harry back to their residence. Over the next week, Mr. Weasley and Percy were rarely at home. They would leave early in the morning, before anyone else was up, and return long after dinner. However, Liam had a good time during this period. He and Hermione finally analyzed and mastered a part of the knowledge about body Transfiguration, making it possible to partially transform into an animal avatar.
“Although the disturbance was quickly quelled, it has still damaged our international reputation. So now Fudge has us all working overtime to restore it. I think this behavior is foolish, but since it’s an order, we follow it. At least we can take shifts to rest at a café or fast-food place during work. Just be careful not to talk about Quidditch when Muggles are around. Still, I hope this situation ends soon,” Percy said one evening during dinner.
“Don’t count on it,” Mr. Weasley said, looking exhausted as he pushed the door open. “Rita Skeeter didn’t find any substantial news last time, so she’s been digging around the Ministry of Magic lately. She’s discovered that poor Bertha Jorkins is missing, and it looks like that will be the headline in tomorrow’s Daily Prophet.”
“Oh, great,” Percy rolled his eyes. “Bertha Jorkins’s memory is like a leaky cauldron. This isn’t the first time she’s gone missing. She usually disappears for a month or two. Looks like my holiday is shot.”
Since they were leaving for school the next day, Liam and the others soon went upstairs to check their luggage. After taking inventory, he found that Mrs. Weasley had bought all his textbooks, supplies, and some potion materials.
As he was putting these items into his trunk, he heard Ron’s surprised exclamation from behind.
“What’s this thing?” Ron held up a strange-looking garment. To Liam, it looked like a deep purple velvet dress with a ruffled collar that seemed to be moldy and matching ruffles at the cuffs.
“I’ve seen similar clothes in the Museum. This is probably a formal attire. Didn’t they say everyone needs to bring dress robes this year? I think this is your dress robes,” Liam said, recognizing the situation.
“Museum? Oh, how old is this thing? By the way, what do your dress robes look like?”
Liam took a folded garment from his trunk and unfolded it. It was a deep blue dress robe, very plain except for a silver pattern along the edges, resembling a school robe.
“I bought it before I went to Brazil last year. It’s a bit short now, so I used Alchemy to modify it slightly for this year,” Liam explained, pointing to his formal attire.
“I think using Alchemy to modify it is more luxurious than buying a new one,” Ron shrugged, then looked at his own formal attire with a sigh. “I’d rather go shirtless than wear this.”
“It’s not that bad,” Liam said. “If you’re willing to pay for the materials, I can help you modify it.” He looked at Ron’s robe. “At least one Galleon and three Sickles.”
“Here, I hope it looks better,” Ron thought for a moment, bit his lip, and took out 20 Sickles from under a loose floorboard, handing them to Liam. Then he went outside to keep watch.
Ten minutes later, Ron heard Liam call from inside the room, “You can come in and take a look.”
When Ron entered, he hardly recognized his clothes: the entire outfit had turned a bright purple, the ugly ruffles had been replaced with simple silver-trimmed designs, and it now resembled Liam’s robe to some extent.
“Thank you so much. I would have definitely embarrassed myself otherwise.” Ron said, happy to pack his luggage.
(End of Chapter)
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