Chapter 345: Reactions from All Sides
Chapter 345: Reactions from All Sides
Felix waved to a few Ministry of Magic workers nearby. One of them, looking excited, ran over. "Hello, Mr. Heap! It's simply incredible that you actually managed to stop the riot..." He seemed quite young, his acne glowing with excitement.
Felix calmly replied, "These... should be under your jurisdiction, right?"
"Don't worry! Leave it to us." The wizard patted his chest and pulled a whistle out of his pocket, blowing it loudly. After a while, with no one responding, he said dejectedly, "My colleagues must have been knocked out..."
Felix pointed in the direction he had come from. "I found some people and settled them in that direction."
"Moore! Keen! Follow me!" the wizard called out. Before leaving, he couldn't help but say, "It's an honor to fight alongside you, Mr. Heap."
"We'll go help put out the fires", Mr. Weasley said, calling over Bill Weasley and Charlie. Sirius Black thought for a moment and then greeted Felix, "I'll go find Harry and the others."
Felix nodded at him and circled the campsite, rescuing some injured people. He also used his Patronus to notify Lupin and Creevey. When they arrived, a mother and her child were with them.
"Thank you, thank you so much—" the young mother repeatedly thanked them.
When they returned to the battle site, it was surrounded by over a hundred Ministry of Magic wizards. They were methodically sorting and taking away the rioters.
Fudge kept wiping the sweat from his forehead, his face a mix of fear and disgust. "Take them all away! Determine their nationalities and identities, and inform their respective Ministries of Magic! And these, these..."
He hesitated, looking at the hooded wizards lying on the ground, finding it difficult to decide. He had just seen their faces, and the familiar visages made his stomach churn.
"Minister, these hooded figures are the leaders of the riot. They dragged the Roberts family out of their house, and they are receiving memory treatment due to the severe shock they suffered", a wizard reported.
Fudge's lips trembled, his mind filled with hesitation. Most of these hooded figures were Purebloods. If they were all convicted as ringleaders, they would be sent to Azkaban for at least three to five months, and he would lose their support.
"Click!" "Click!"
The sound of camera shutters echoed, and clusters of purple smoke drifted in the air.
Rita Skeeter, excited, directed her assistant, "Here, here, and over there... What do I see? Quidditch World Cup fans leading the riot, bullying Muggles for fun..." She was almost laughing.
"Did you get the photo of Mr. Heap standing among the crowd?" she asked enthusiastically.
"Only his back", her photographer replied.
"That's fine. We can do a series of reports—"
Fudge's fingers trembled. "When did they arrive? Chase them away! No, wait—" He rolled his eyes and whispered to his secretary, "Seize their photographs, don't destroy them, keep them secretly."
Walsh Cedric, the Minister's advisor, nodded and approached Rita Skeeter. "Madam, the investigation is still ongoing. The photos you've taken will be important evidence..."
Rita Skeeter began to argue, but Walsh Cedric whispered something to her, "...Purebloods, you don't want to anger them, do you?"
Rita Skeeter blinked, thinking for a moment. "Alright, you owe me a favor." She turned her back to Walsh Cedric and waved to her photographer, secretly keeping a stack of negatives. She replaced the remaining roll with a new one, turned around, and waved the negatives in front of Walsh Cedric. As he reached out to grab them, they turned to ash.
"Skeeter, you—"
Rita Skeeter, slyly, said, "I need them to owe me a favor, don't you think, Mr. Cedric?"
At the edge of the forest, Harry and the others, along with Ginny and the Weasley twins, hurried over. They pushed through the crowd, searching for Mr. Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie, and Sirius Black, who had gone to help maintain order.
But the Ministry of Magic wizards formed a line, blocking the view inside. The crowd could only stand on tiptoe, trying to see something.
Hermione whispered, "Did you see Professor Hup?"
"He must have left", Harry said. "I watched him go. He didn't seem injured."
"Amazing!" Ron exclaimed. "He took on all of them alone. Those Wizards were like headless flies or Billywigs without their stingers, completely harmless."
Hermione said seriously, "That's because Professor used more than one form of Ancient Magic. Did you see the golden shield? It blocked a hundred spells. After that, he kept using Apparition to dodge, which is extremely dangerous..."
Harry replied, "It wasn't just dodging. It was a tactic, looking for an opportunity. I tried to replicate it during the dueling games with Sirius Black over the summer, but unfortunately—"
Hermione disagreed, "That's very dangerous, Harry. Apparition is difficult to perform continuously, let alone while casting spells quickly."
"I know, but once you learn it..." Harry didn't finish, instead glancing meaningfully at the scene. Through the gaps between the Ministry of Magic workers, one could see dozens of Wizards sprawled on the ground, twisted and injured.
Everything was left unsaid.
On the other side, the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad arrived. They used the various "damaged limbs" left at the scene to find those who had failed to Apparate and were stuck in place.
Ron craned his neck, trying to see what was there. "Arms, legs, what's that... so bloody!" He was suddenly tapped on the head from behind. It was Mr. Weasley, with Bill Weasley and Charlie behind him, and Sirius Black standing to the side, smiling at Harry.
"Don't look, you might have nightmares", Mr. Weasley said. They were all dirty and had burn marks from the fire.
"I was just curious. What if they left—"
Ron stopped, drawn to something. He looked at Charlie, his mouth slowly opening. He pointed at Charlie, "Eyes, they're moving!"
"What?" Charlie looked at him confusedly. Mr. Weasley glanced at Charlie and quickly pulled him aside.
On Charlie's head, a brown eyeball was rolling in fear. The crowd around them cleared, and Harry's heart pounded. Mr. Weasley shouted, "Arnold! Over here! Another case of Apparition splitting!"
A sturdy Wizard ran over, glanced at the eyeball, and grinned. "It's still attached to some veins... if we don't do anything..." He gestured to his own eye, mimicking a gush.
Mr. Weasley frowned. "There are children here."
"Oh, sorry—get two more people!" Arnold called out. Soon, two more Wizards arrived. They circled the eyeball, pointing their wands at it. "I'll take care of it", Arnold said. In the horrified gazes of the crowd, he grabbed the eyeball and squeezed it, as if trying to crush it.
"Bang!"
He and the eyeball vanished.
"Wait, he'll be back soon", the other Wizard said nonchalantly, yawning heavily. "Another night of overtime."
Ron swallowed hard, feeling a bit queasy, as if he had swallowed something slimy. He couldn't help but retch, and Harry and Hermione also looked uneasy.
The twins shared a look. Ron had been showing off his unsteady Apparition skills to them, and they had been planning to learn it early.
On the other side, a heavy figure appeared.
Barty Crouch, his face cold, said, "Excuse me, move aside." He pushed through the crowd, like a stone wedging into the circle set up by the Ministry of Magic.
"Crouch?" Fudge's anger flared up at the sight of him. He had wanted to ask about Crouch's strange behavior, but the major accident had pushed those thoughts aside.
"I assigned you to handle the security for the Quidditch World Cup. Where were you?"
"Chasing the masked men", Crouch replied stiffly.
Harry watched Barty Crouch's back, wondering if the scar on his forehead still hurt and if he could see Voldemort's ugly face.
Sirius Black also stared at him with a probing gaze. Godfather and godson scrutinized him for a while, but Harry shook his head at Sirius. There was no reaction this time.
(End of Chapter)
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