The procession had grown at an alarming speed, and its destructive power was far beyond what it should have been. When they ran into Ministry employees, they didn't retreat at all, choosing instead to resist in the most foolish way possible.
Tver had been turning these details over in his mind ever since he ran into Gabrielle.
At first, he hadn't been certain whether there was something more going on behind the scenes.
But once these Death Eaters appeared, he knew someone was trying to stir up a major incident here.
And with the Aurors still nowhere to be seen, Tver strongly suspected someone was deliberately stalling and diverting attention.
While these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Death Eaters were already in agony.
The flaming spears weren't particularly hot, barely warmer than body temperature. But they had pierced clean through shoulders and thighs.
The residual heat of the flames, combined with the blood spraying from their wounds, dulled their sense of injury.
Even so, the pain surged straight into their minds, tearing at their nerves and forcing out shrill, miserable screams.
As wizards, they rarely experienced this kind of physical suffering.
Mental torment was rare as well, usually because they were the ones inflicting it on others.
Now, though, the physical pain alone was enough to immobilize them, disrupting their movements and interfering with their ability to channel magic.
Gabrielle had never seen anything like this before. Moments earlier, when faced with the Killing Curse, she had been so frightened that she'd squeezed her eyes shut.
Now, hearing screams that sounded like something out of a nightmare, she cautiously opened them again, fear mixed with a trace of curiosity.
Blue-violet flames faithfully surrounded her and Mr. Fawley beside her. Her hand was still hovering over her wand, too late to draw it.
Through the leaping flames, she could see the Death Eaters pinned helplessly to the ground.
"M-Mr. Fawley…" she whimpered, clutching the hem of Tver's robe. Her small face pressed against his arm, her body trembling faintly.
"Don't be afraid. The bad people have already been punished," Tver said gently, patting her head as he withdrew the flames around them.
The spears pinning the Death Eaters in place remained, however, stubbornly restraining both their bodies and their magic.
With this much commotion, there was no way to hide what was happening. The distant procession finally realized they'd been completely manipulated, and that someone had started dealing with them in earnest.
They immediately abandoned the companions they'd been fighting alongside just moments ago and Apparated away in blind panic.
Mr. Weasley seized the opportunity, leading his sons and his Ministry colleagues to mop up the utterly demoralized crowd.
Just then, another group Apparated in front of Tver.
It was Cynthia, apparently with her subordinates. A few steps behind her was the witch who had been checking tickets at the stadium.
"Tver!" Cynthia's eyes locked onto him at once. "I thought you'd be over by the tent area!"
She hurried over without sparing the Death Eaters on the ground so much as a glance.
"What exactly happened? Why didn't our plan proceed as expected?" Tver asked gravely.
Cynthia's expression was just as serious. She shot a suspicious look at Gabrielle, who looked pitifully like a frightened kitten beside Tver, as well as the group of students behind her.
Ignoring Gabrielle's unhappy stare, she pulled Tver aside to an open spot and lowered her voice.
"Marvolio and I think it was Voldemort."
"Do you remember the remains you and Marvolio saw at Riddle Manor? Marvolio suspects Voldemort used that method to briefly gather power comparable to his peak."
"Then, while you and Marvolio were focused on Nagini, he quietly slipped into Barty's house, took control of Barty, and even lifted the Imperius Curse on Barty Jr."
"From Barty, Voldemort learned about our plan for tonight. He then secretly contacted the Death Eaters we'd cast aside, turned the situation to his advantage, and made use of tonight's parade."
"So they deliberately caused chaos here to draw the Ministry's attention?" Tver said, piecing it together.
"Then what about Voldemort? What's he trying to accomplish with all this?"
Cynthia glanced around, then took a deep breath.
"He plans to use this opportunity to resurrect himself."
Tver's eyes widened as he stared back at Cynthia, shock colliding with the unwavering certainty in her gaze.
"His target is Harry?!"
"Very likely. Once Marvolio realized that possibility, he took the Aurors to look for Potter, but Potter's friend said they got separated."
"Right now, Marvolio is tracking Voldemort's trail, but there's been no news yet."
Cynthia continued, clearly worried. "Marvolio thinks Voldemort's strength won't last for long, but he's still at his peak. He can't be sure he won't lose."
"If he loses, he can still escape. Potter can't…"
What a brilliant move.
Tver couldn't help but admire his opponent.
His original plan had been to wait until Voldemort revived during the final of the Goblet of Fire. During the brief window of the resurrection process, Marvolio would fuse with the Horcrux inside Harry's body, surpass Voldemort in one stroke, and replace him as the true core.
He hadn't expected Voldemort to turn the tables and carry out his resurrection plan tonight instead.
Now that Voldemort was prepared, Tver could no longer let Marvolio absorb the Horcrux so easily.
Even if Marvolio managed to revive, he would still be suppressed by Voldemort's main body.
"What about Barty? And Lucius? Does he know about Voldemort's plan?"
"Barty has recovered and is leading his people to arrest the marchers. He only sent me here after realizing some of the Death Eaters on the list were missing."
"As for Lucius… ha." Cynthia let out a helpless laugh.
"Voldemort ordered Peter Pettigrew to capture Lucius. Taking advantage of that, Peter secretly passed Voldemort's plan on to us."
"But to protect Peter, I arranged for Lucius to stay temporarily in the small stone cottage with the camp manager, the Roberts family."
It seemed things hadn't reached the worst possible point yet. Right now, the only real concern was Marvolio.
"Then I'll leave this to you. I'll go find—"
Whoosh.
With a soft sound, Marvolio appeared in front of them. Cradled in his arms was an unconscious Harry.
"Leave it to whom?" he asked curiously.
"You're back already?" Tver stared at him in surprise.
"What else would I do?" Marvolio replied as if it were obvious.
"Didn't you say Voldemort was extremely strong? I thought you'd be forced to retreat." Tver and Cynthia hurried forward to check on Harry.
"Hahaha." Marvolio shook his head, grinning.
"I misjudged him. The main body lasted less than a minute before I beat it back to its original form. Right now, it's probably fleeing with Barty Jr. and Wormtail."
"…"
All that worry, for nothing.
"However," Marvolio's expression grew serious, "the main body seems to have noticed my condition. It's probably realized that I'm competing with it for control of the body."
Tver's expression sharpened.
"Your soul strength still isn't enough to match his. We can't let him revive again so soon. At the very least, you need to absorb half of Voldemort's soul from the Horcrux inside Harry."
"Then what's going on with Harry right now?"
"Him?" Marvolio placed Harry into Tver's arms. "He passed out from the pain."
"…Weren't you unable to affect Harry before?"
"The Horcrux inside Potter was awakened by the main body. Their connection deepened. On top of that, my soul has grown stronger. The combined impact hit him all at once, and he couldn't withstand it, so he lost consciousness."