Winky had gone missing. Of all the possible scenarios, this was just about the worst.
That meant something really had happened to Barty Crouch Jr.
Perhaps Barty Crouch Sr. had realized his son was at risk of slipping out of his control and had unhesitatingly erased this stain on the family.
And, while he was at it, made the house-elf who kept defending his son and failed to understand her place disappear as well.
But there was another possibility: Barty Crouch Jr. had broken free of his control... so where did that leave Barty Crouch Sr.?
Not far away, the Weasley family's tent shook. Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie... they ran out one after another, looking around in bewilderment.
After pondering for a while, Zhang Xiao made his decision:
"Winky is missing-we don't know whether she's dead. Rainwater, have all the house-elves keep an eye out. Report any leads on Winky immediately."
Rainwater nodded firmly. Even he could hear the gravity in Zhang Xiao's voice now, and he said loudly:
"Rainwater understands!"
Zhang Xiao let go and took a step forward, dropping straight down from dozens of meters in the air. Yet as he approached the ground, he settled onto it as lightly as a feather.
He shook out his robes. With a flick of his wrist, his wand vanished, and only then did he start walking toward the tent.
The Weasley family's tent was close to the edge of the campsite. The disturbance in the center had been ruthlessly suppressed almost as soon as it began.
So apart from the screams and explosions, Harry and the others had no idea what had happened.
They could only stand at the entrance to the tent, clutching their wands and looking around nervously and blankly, trying to work out what was going