Hogwarts.
"Lupin" lifted the curtain just a crack and saw the figures coming in through the castle gates. Their voices were so loud he could hear them shouting without using a spell to enhance his hearing. They were beside Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, yelling with all their might, their arms waving and hands slicing through the air.
The muscles in their faces had gone completely out of control with excitement!
"I'm telling you, he's back! The one whose name must not be spoken has returned! Dewey is nothing more than that man's dog, understand? He's back, unstoppable, bringing death once again.
We need protection! We need someone to protect us!
We need Dumbledore!
I want to see Dumbledore, do you understand? Get us Dumbledore!"
The injured Hit Wizards shouted at the top of their lungs.
Professor McGonagall said nothing. She gathered up the front of her skirt and walked quickly.
"Lupin" used a spell to sharpen his vision, seeing the gloomy expression on Snape's face. He couldn't help smiling.
Dewey always managed to come up with something new. The boy's head was full of strange ideas. He just wondered whether this plan of his would work.
He remembered what Dewey had said: create an enemy. Only when there was an enemy everyone feared could the pressure of hunting them down be reduced.
Sirius, disguised as Lupin, wasn't sure what to make of that. He hadn't come here to impersonate Lupin for long; he was here to cover Dewey's tracks. Rather than hiding here, he would much rather go see Harry.
Even if he had to do it as Lupin.
He shifted his gaze and searched for Harry again, greedily wanting to see him just one more time.
Beneath the castle, both professors wore grim expressions.
They both knew who these people meant.
Voldemort.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape could both say that name without hesitation.
As the Hit Wizards shouted, Madam Pomfrey extended her wand and floated two of them steadily behind the crowd. The two professors said nothing.
Hearing the men's cries weighed heavily on their hearts, too.
When they arrived at the scene, they saw the blood congealed on the ground and the words written in blood behind it.
It was a horrifying sight.
Not because of Dewey Jones's cunning or cruelty, but because of the words carved behind them.
"Voldemort returns."
Was that fiend really coming back?
Even Snape, who wanted Voldemort dead more than anyone, had never believed Voldemort might already be dead. He had known since the year before that Voldemort hadn't truly died.
His return was only a matter of time.
That was why he was protecting Harry.
The Boy Who Lived.
The boy prophesied to defeat the Dark Lord.
But had the Dark Lord already returned? Why so soon?
Snape was troubled by the question. If the Dark Lord had returned, the Dark Mark on his arm should have been burning. When he came back, he should have summoned the Death Eaters to appear before him.
Even if the Dark Lord didn't summon them, as his power grew, the marks on their arms should gradually begin to burn all the same.
But the Dark Mark on Snape's arm was still, showing no reaction.
Was Dewey bluffing, or had the Dark Lord found some other magic to block their connection?
Snape couldn't be sure. He wanted to find Dumbledore, but that clearly wasn't possible right now.
Dumbledore wasn't receiving visitors.
In fact, Snape wasn't even sure whether Dumbledore was at Hogwarts. As he listened to the people behind him roar, their demands shifting from seeing Dumbledore to using Hogwarts's Floo Network, Professor McGonagall remained silent throughout. Professor Snape was so irritated he wanted to use a spell to make them shut up.
The three who had just finished class stood among the crowd, watching with curiosity.
Like a flock of ducks turning their heads at the sound of something.
Even Hermione, busy and utterly Confunded, had heard their shouting. She wasn't in a hurry to rush off to the next thing.
Gossip was human nature.
Their cries drifted over faintly on the wind.
"You-Know-Who is definitely coming back! We want to see Dumbledore, we want to see Dumbledore..."
"...Horrifying...terrifying...we need reinforcements..."
"Someone needs to go...the Dementors outside the school..."
The three exchanged glances, and Harry's heart sank.
What had he just heard?
You-Know-Who?
The students around him were starting to grow restless, too.
Though he still didn't know that Sirius was, in name, his father's murderer, he instinctively felt that the two fugitives meant trouble. Watching the Ministry people in such a sorry state from afar, Harry was sure he had heard the name You-Know-Who.
He turned to ask Ron something, but before he could, he heard Ron's teeth chattering beside him. When Harry turned, he saw how pale Ron looked.
"What's wrong, Ron?"
He asked Ron, and Hermione noticed something was wrong, too. She took Ron's hand, trying to comfort him, but Ron Weasley said nothing.
Behind him, the Weasley Twins stood quietly at the castle entrance, for once.
"He's back."
George or Fred—it was impossible to tell—looked at the bedraggled Ministry employees. The twins exchanged a glance. From the men's disheveled appearance, they recognized the methods of one particular Hit Wizard.
Dewey Jones.
Their eyes filled with hatred. They couldn't forget the day their family had gone out happily together, only to be attacked.
If they hadn't been in London, they might not have survived.
"Yes. We have to get revenge."
One of the twins spoke.
Noticing the students' attention, Professor McGonagall stopped and turned around.
"Enough!"
She addressed the Ministry employees sternly. "Those of you who are more seriously injured, follow our matron, Madam Pomfrey, to be treated.
Who will come with me to use the Floo Network and notify the Ministry?
You all seem full of energy. You don't look like you're about to die, so notifying the Ministry shouldn't be a problem."
The remaining Hit Wizards were cowed by Professor McGonagall's presence. With Snape glaring at them from the other side, they trembled like quails frightened out of their wits.
Not because of McGonagall, but because of what they had just concluded.
The Dark Lord was about to return.
Seeing them fall silent, Professor McGonagall led them into the castle.
Madam Pomfrey, for her part, felt no pressure. None of Dewey's attacks on the Hit Wizards had been fatal, and in her eyes, treating these injuries was a simple matter.
Malfoy, resting in the hospital wing, stared in amazement as the ward, which had been nearly empty, became crowded. These people taking up Hogwarts's medical resources weren't students. Did they look like Ministry employees?
Malfoy recognized one of them.
What had happened outside?
Draco Malfoy was very curious.
He wanted to go over and ask.
Meanwhile, one of the less seriously injured Hit Wizards went to contact the Ministry. He couldn't speak directly to Fudge; he could only report to his boss's boss.
Reporting over his superior's head was a special privilege Hit Wizards had in an emergency.
Of course, whether his boss would give him a hard time for it later was another matter. To hell with it, the Hit Wizard thought. Let them all go to hell. Who had time to think about anything else now?
The fear had seeped into his bones, leaving him unable to think about the future at all.
He went straight to Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She was a formidable woman. She was in the Ministry of Magic when a head appeared in her fireplace.
"You're Turner?"
Madam Bones looked at the person in the fireplace and furrowed her brow. "What happened?"
Turner saw Madam Bones and tried to make himself calm down.
"He's back. You know who I mean. He's back, Madam Bones.
Dewey is his lackey. Dewey attacked our Hit Wizard camp. We all nearly died.
He's acting on You-Know-Who's orders and has started warning us!"
At that, Madam Bones sprang to her feet. Her voice trembled slightly, though she herself didn't notice.
The coffee cup in her hand fell to the floor. Fortunately, the carpet kept it from breaking.
She couldn't spare the coffee cup a thought just then.
She asked Turner again, gravely, "Do you know what you're saying, Turner? Some things aren't a joke!"
"Yes, I know. I know, and I'll take responsibility for what I've said. We need reinforcements, we need reinforcements."
Madam Bones's Adam's apple bobbed. She gestured for Turner to wait. A moment later, a greasy-looking man appeared in her office.
Fudge stood in Madam Bones's office.
"What is it you want me to hear, Amelia?"
Fudge asked. He still had a great deal of respect for this subordinate of his. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was a giant in its own right. For a Minister like Fudge, who valued stability above all else and would rather avoid mistakes than achieve anything, he was happy to get along with a subordinate like her—as long as she didn't cause him trouble—and coast through his term in office together.
But before long, their understanding fell apart.
Even the people outside could hear Fudge roaring!
"This is impossible! Lies, all lies! You're lying!"
Inside the office, Madam Amelia was seeing Fudge this furious for the first time. He seemed to have lost control. He pointed at Amelia's nose and berated her loudly.
"Keep your subordinates in line, Amelia. I know they're unhappy with the Ministry. No rest, no compensation—but that doesn't give them the right to frighten me with lies!
I'm not a fool. Do I look like someone who believes just anything?
No, I'm not!
Listen, tell all your subordinates to shut up. If they keep lying like this, I won't hesitate to throw them in Azkaban. Do you understand?
I'm not discussing this with you, Bones! I'm informing you. Keep your subordinates in line. That's an order!
If you can manage them, then do it. If you can't, I'll find another Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement who can!
You're not indispensable, Madam!"
He roared in a fit of anger. On the other side of the fireplace, Hit Wizard Turner heard the Minister's words, and his heart sank. He opened his mouth to speak, but Fudge turned his anger on him.
"Shut up, you despicable, lowly liar! Get out of here. You don't deserve to set foot in the Ministry!"
He shouted furiously, his face flushed with rage and his words so ugly and out of control that even Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts was startled. On this end, Fudge cut off the Floo Network, having completely lost his composure.
He had no intention of sending anyone to help.
"Let those damn liars die there!"
He stormed out, refusing to believe a word the Hit Wizards had said. He felt as though his heart was acting up.
He didn't want to see anyone. He just wanted to get back to his office and have a moment of peace.
Unfortunately, even that wish was too much to ask.
He stormed out of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and came face-to-face with Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office!
Before you continue