https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-428-Waiting-for-You-to-Become-a-Companion/13113085/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-430-Lupin-Don-t-Walk-into-Darkness/13113087/
Chapter 429: The Man in the Stream Mirror
Chapter 429: The Man in the Stream Mirror
"Wait, are they adding wizards to the movie?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"It's quite an imaginative idea, I must say..." Fred questioned, "But won't it be a bit jarring? They should've at least hinted at it earlier!"
Percy frowned, "The plot is all over the place! And they're portraying wizards as the villains?"
"What's wrong with being the villain? Villains are cool!" George retorted without hesitation, raising his voice slightly.
The wizards advanced to the sound of rousing music, fighting valiantly without retreat, while the Muggle soldiers appeared flustered and overwhelmed.
Mrs. Weasley, who had put down her knitting and picked up her wand to turn off the stream mirror, hesitated upon hearing the children's words. Slowly, she lowered her wand.
It was just a Muggle TV show; there was no need to make a fuss...
She suppressed her unease and chuckled to herself, then focused on the mirror with renewed seriousness.
The wizards and Muggles began to fight... Well, it was indeed a fantasy scene. How many years had it been since wizards last involved themselves in Muggle wars? But the scene of the soldiers being burned was undeniably magical...
Mrs. Weasley silently assessed the situation.
"Something's not right here," Michael whispered, and Harry turned to see his Ravenclaw classmate staring intently at the mirror with a grave expression.
"The magic is too realistic, and the casting gestures... It's not like something a Muggle who doesn't know magic would come up with," Michael said softly.
Harry took a closer look and agreed.
They had played a game called 'Magical Door' at the Vold house, and they were well aware of how far off Muggle imagination was from the reality of magic.
However, the Weasleys lacked this sensitivity or experience; in their minds, magic was exactly as it appeared on the screen.
"This... it's a breach of the Decree of Secrecy, isn't it?" Harry said anxiously.
Harry now understood the importance the magical world placed on upholding the Decree of Secrecy, thanks to the constant reminders from those around him.
He lowered his voice, "Maybe a wizard leaked this information to the Muggle director... They're in for trouble."
Michael gave him a strange look, and Harry scratched his head, confused. "Did I guess wrong?"
"What I mean is... this isn't acting! This part... it's very likely to be real! It might have just happened!" Michael said in an almost inaudible voice.
"What?!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.
Just then, the stream mirror showed a scene from a laboratory, and although Harry's reaction was a bit over-the-top, no one found it odd.
"Ugh..." Percy said with disgust, "The scene is so disgusting. How could a Muggle director come up with such a plot?"
"Not the director!" Ron corrected him, "The screenwriter writes the script, right, Harry?"
Harry clenched his fists tightly and murmured in agreement, a cold sweat forming on his back.
If this wasn't just a TV scene... If it was actually happening...
Mrs. Weasley felt a surge of unease again. She stood up and said, "Alright, kids... This part isn't suitable for young viewers. You should all go to bed. I'm writing a letter to Stream Media Company tonight—they can't show this to children!"
"Wait, Mom! We're not kids anymore!" The twins and Ron hurriedly stopped her.
"Your sister is!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily.
"I'm not! I'm twelve years old! And it's all fake, so what's there to be afraid of?" Ginny shouted, not caring that Harry was still beside her, fiercely defending her right to watch the stream mirror.
"Yeah, Mom," said Percy, who had just been criticizing the plot, "We've seen scarier things at school! Compared to giant cockroaches, this is nothing... And it's Christmas, after all."
With her favorite son's persuasion, Mrs. Weasley hesitated and compromised once more. She sat down and warned, "Half an hour at most! After that, off to bed!"
"Yay!"
The children cheered, but just as they turned back to the mirror, the scene suddenly changed. A gaunt, elderly man appeared, surrounded by dark-robed wizards, and began to speak—
"Can you ignore the bloodshed when it's not your own? Can you pretend to have peace when your loved ones are not the ones being killed?"
Mrs. Weasley shuddered, and before her mind could fully process what was happening, her wand had already swiftly turned off the stream mirror.
"Mom—"
"We agreed on half an hour!"
"At least let me finish this episode!"
"It's too early to sleep now! I want to watch the Stream Mirror! I want to see wizards fighting aliens!"
"Shut up!" Mrs. Weasley roared, her face flushing with anger. "Everyone, back to your rooms! Now! Go to sleep!"
The mother's volcanic eruption of fury startled everyone, and the room fell into an eerie silence, so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard.
Fred and George exchanged glances, neither daring to speak.
A few seconds later, Michael nudged Harry, and the two of them stood up first.
"Well, good night, everyone," Michael said.
Harry opened his mouth, struggling to find his voice. "Good...night," he managed to say.
"I'm sorry, kids," Mrs. Weasley said, her lips trembling with remorse. "I shouldn't have been so harsh, but..."
"I understand, Mrs. Weasley," Michael said. "We're heading to our rooms."
"But..." George hesitated, wanting to say something. He looked up and caught Harry's gaze, and a light bulb went off in his mind.
He grabbed Fred, who was still resisting, and pulled him up from the floor. "In that case, let's get some early sleep and wake up early. We can go broom flying earlier tomorrow."
Ron, taking Harry's hint, had already started up the stairs, deliberately maintaining a disgruntled expression.
Ginny, losing her teammates, glared at her brothers, who showed no signs of rebellion. Sensing the unspoken tension between them, she had an idea.
"I understand, Mom," Ginny said, hugging her mother. "You should get some rest, too."
"Oh, Ginny, my dear," Mrs. Weasley said, stroking her youngest daughter's cheek with her cold palm. "I'm so glad you're being so sensible."
"We're going upstairs, too!" Fred, standing on the stairs, turned to his twin brother. "Can't anyone see that?"
"You can try again," George replied.
"Good idea."
Fred actually squeezed past and went downstairs. He deliberately circled in front of Mrs. Weasley, causing her eyebrows to rise involuntarily. Then, he quickly darted upstairs, turning back to make a silly face.
"Fred, you're so sensible!" George said in a high-pitched voice, imitating him, earning a disapproving glance from his sister.
Percy, who had been expecting his younger siblings to protest, was dumbfounded. When he realized his mother's sharp gaze had turned to him, he struggled internally for a moment but ultimately couldn't break free from the label of being the most sensible child in the family.
Percy sighed and bid his mother goodbye, casting one last longing glance at the Stream Mirror before reluctantly heading upstairs.
Mrs. Weasley watched as the unruly group of children all returned to their rooms, ensuring that none of them sneaked back down. Then, she reopened the Stream Mirror, muted it, and sat alone in the living room, watching quietly.
The pale blue light from the Stream Mirror cast an eerie glow on Mrs. Weasley's face, making her look pale. Her fingers clenched the apron, trembling uncontrollably.
Was it...Grindelwald...?
After the terrifying Dark Lord's escape, his photo had made the front page of the Prophet Daily, with the journalist objectively, yet subtly flattering, introducing readers to the man's 'great achievements'.
Not a single word of criticism was published.
When Peter Pettigrew and the others escaped, it sparked heated discussions throughout the British magical community. The Ministry of Magic quickly initiated a capture operation, and journalists occasionally questioned in the newspapers, implying that the Ministry's failure to capture them was due to incompetence and potential corruption.
But after Grindelwald's escape, the Prophet Daily only mentioned it once, and then it was as if the incident had never happened. There were no calls for capture, no public outrage.
Of course, Grindelwald wasn't a British wizard and had rarely been active in Britain...
Even if he did something now, it wouldn't have much to do with British wizards...and besides, the other side of the battle was the Muggle forces...
Mrs. Weasley tried to reassure herself but couldn't truly put her mind at ease.
As she watched, she suddenly jumped up, checked the doors and windows, and reinforced the protective and concealment spells around the house. Only then did she sit down uneasily.
By this time, the Stream Mirror had resumed normal programming, but the funny or tense scenes couldn't capture Mrs. Weasley's emotions as they had before.
She sat on the sofa, twisting her fingers, intensely longing for her husband to return soon.
"Goodnight," the Weasley siblings bid each other, exchanging knowing glances that only they could understand.
Ron feigned a cough, "Ahem, I'm going to squeeze in with Harry and Michael tonight, Percy. Don't want to disturb your rest."
Percy, eager to be alone, bid them goodnight without a second thought. His mind was occupied with the unfinished plotline from earlier, and he hurried back to his room.
"Bang!" As the door closed, Fred and George immediately poked their heads out, glanced up and down the stairs, and then swiftly darted into Harry's room.
Harry had already hidden his scattered socks under the mattress and was rummaging through his suitcase.
"I have a Stream Mirror too, it's just a bit small. Sirius gave it to me before... Ah, here it is!" Harry pulled out the Stream Mirror, and before he could even open it, they heard the door creak open.
The group turned in alarm, but instead of Mrs. Weasley's angry face, they saw the door open a crack, and their little sister, Ginny, squeezed through.
"Go back to your room, Ginny!" Fred ordered, "You promised Mum you'd go to bed early."
"Hmph! No way!" Ginny crossed her arms, threatening, "If you don't let me join, I'll shout for Mum!"
"What? How could you..."
"Keep it down, or Mum will really come running!" George urged, "Come on, Harry. I don't want to miss any more of the show!"
"Okay." Harry opened the Stream Mirror as the Weasley brothers quickly drew the curtains and turned off the lights, pretending they were all asleep.
Ginny's face turned red as she heard Harry's voice. She squeezed in next to Ron, with Fred on her other side. They tugged the blanket to cover everyone.
Grindelwald's speech was coming to an end. He didn't say much, and the screen then showed the tragic fate of the test subjects from various angles: a natural pit filled with bodies, and a Muggle official's tearful account.
Ginny snuggled close to Fred, and Ron voiced the question on her mind, "I have a feeling... this doesn't seem like a TV show." Ron said uncertainly, "The main character... and the other characters haven't appeared yet."
"Actually... Michael said earlier... that this might be real..." Harry said, shivering under the blanket.
Ginny shuddered.
"Don't joke around, mate," Ron said tensely, "If this is real, it would've been discovered by now! The Aurors of the Ministry of Magic aren't pushovers!"
"The Aurors can't know everything," Fred said grimly, "There are so many Muggles, and so few Aurors. They can't monitor the whole world."
George added, "And the place in the footage doesn't look like Britain... that Muggle's accent sounds American."
As they spoke, the screen flashed and returned to the scene of the protagonist tracking aliens.
Moments later, the image changed again. A sweating wizard stood in the center, saying to someone off-screen, "Is it ready... What? It's already started!"
He quickly turned, facing the camera, wiping his sweat as he spoke, "On behalf of Stream Media Company, I solemnly declare that the footage just shown has nothing to do with us! It's... it's..."
He glanced quickly at someone off-screen and stammered, "There... are some people who have illegally hijacked our signal, which is why the previous footage appeared... This is the first signal hijacking incident in the wizarding world... We will strengthen our defenses to prevent similar incidents in the future..."
As he spoke, he kept glancing to the side, either threatened by someone or being prompted by his boss on what to say.
"Umm... our company is not responsible for any statements or images in the video. They have nothing to do with us... The previous footage will be replayed, please keep watching, viewers..."
After a long while, Fred exclaimed in amazement, "Merlin... it's all true!"
"It's terrifying," Ron whispered, "Those Muggles... and Grindelwald... now I understand why people fear him so much..."
Beside them, Michael's face was pale, but in the darkness, no one noticed.
(End of Chapter)
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