"Why are you soaking wet? Are you hurt?" Hermione's voice trembled as her fingers traced over Lia's cold, damp clothes, checking anxiously.
Lia just shook her head, unable to speak.
The death experience brought by the Obliteration Curse was too terrifying; the pain of being erased inch by inch from a material level far surpassed any previous experience.
She just wanted to be held by Hermione, to confirm that she truly "existed."
Mr. Arthur walked over quickly, his face looking grim.
"Children, come with me. We need to find a safer place."
He put an arm around Ginny, who was scared out of her wits, and motioned for Harry and Ron to follow with his other hand.
Hermione held Lia's hand, following behind Mr. Arthur, and the group stumbled deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
The firelight and screams from the campsite were gradually muffled by the dense canopy, leaving only the rustling of wind through the leaves and everyone's heavy breathing.
Just when they thought they were temporarily safe, a hoarse, malicious voice echoed from a clearing not far behind them.
"Morsmordre!"
A blinding green light shot into the sky, exploding in the dark night.
A giant skull, composed of countless green stars, hung in the night sky, with a hideous serpent coiling out of its mouth, flicking its tongue.
The dark mark.
"Who's there!" Arthur Weasley instinctively raised his magic wand, shouting sternly towards the direction of the voice.
There was a rustling sound in the woods, and a cloaked figure, startled by their commotion, dropped something in a panic and scrambled away into the darkness.
Almost simultaneously, dozens of blinding red lights shot from all directions, accompanied by loud 'cracking' sounds, as more than twenty Wizards Apparated, surrounding them completely.
They all looked tense, the tips of their magic wands glowing with dangerous light, pointed directly at the center of the clearing.
"Don't move! Drop your wands!" a commanding voice shouted sternly.
"It's us!" Hermione immediately raised her hands, answering loudly, trying to show they meant no harm.
The Ministry of Magic officials approached, and after seeing that it was just a few frightened children, the atmosphere eased slightly.
The leading man, with a serious face and a meticulously trimmed short beard, was none other than Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic.
He pulled Arthur aside to understand the situation of these people.
The atmosphere on the scene had calmed until a House-elf approached the two with a magic wand.
The two then turned their heads.
"Is this your magic wand?"
"That's mine, sir."
Harry quickly raised his hand when he saw the magic wand in the House-elf's hand.
"Are you sure it's your magic wand, Mr. Potter?" Mr. Crouch's tone suddenly became as stern as an interrogation.
"Yes, but..." Harry tried to explain.
"Did you just use it?" Crouch pressed on, giving Harry no chance to explain.
"I..." Harry was at a loss for words. He didn't even know when his magic wand had gone missing or how it had returned. He only remembered falling in the chaos and finding his magic wand by his side when he woke up.
"Prior Incantato!" an official declared, waving his magic wand at Harry's without explanation.
A puff of green smoke shot from the tip of the magic wand, condensing in the air into a skull-and-snake mark identical to the one in the sky.
The evidence was conclusive.
All the officials' magic wands were pointed at Harry, and the atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.
"This is ridiculous!" Hermione angrily stepped forward, shielding Harry. "Harry couldn't possibly do such a thing! We've been together the whole time! We saw someone cast that mark and then run away!"
"Oh? Is that so, Miss Granger?" A horse-faced official asked with a fake smile. "Then can you tell us who it was? Did you see his face?"
"I... I didn't see clearly, he was wearing a cloak..." Hermione's face flushed with urgency; she knew how weak that sounded.
"Enough!" Mr. Crouch impatiently interrupted her, his eyes showing a condescending disdain. "We don't have time to listen to a schoolgirl's panicked babbling here."
He turned to the other officials and ordered, "It seems we've caught the culprit. Inform The Daily Prophet, and say that..."
"Stop! What are you doing to my children's friend?" Mr. Arthur Weasley reacted, spreading his arms to shield the three children behind him. He glared at his colleagues. "Harry Potter summoning the dark mark? That's the most ridiculous and malicious accusation I've ever heard in my life!"
"Arthur, this is not your business to meddle in!" Barty Crouch said coldly. His gaze swept past Arthur to Harry behind him.
Crouch seemed eager to pin all the blame on one person, no matter who, to quickly conclude the matter.
However, all of this fell into Lia's eyes, who was in Hermione's arms.
In Lia's Eye of Truth, this powerful man, Barty Crouch, was covered in a thick layer of gray magic representing "lies and extreme anxiety."
That magic enveloped him like a dense fog, making every word he spoke reek of falsehood and decay.
"Hermione," Lia whispered, her cat ears pressing against Hermione's cheek, in a breathy voice only the two of them could hear, "He's lying. He's scared, he's desperately trying to cover something up."
Hermione's body stiffened for a moment. She subtly re-examined Crouch and indeed found that although his expression was stern, there was a hint of evasiveness and panic hidden deep in his eyes.
His attitude in handling this matter was too hasty, not to uncover the truth, but to quickly finalize a conclusion; he was avoiding some more terrible consequence.
Lia's small nose twitched slightly in the air, then scrunched up again.
"He smells... like the person who cast the spell just now," Lia added, her voice tinged with confusion. "No, that's not right, the smell is fainter... older... like... the smell of family."
The smell of family?
Hermione couldn't form effective information; she didn't know enough.
"Barty," Mr. Arthur's voice was steady and strong, "These children are my guests, and Harry is my son's best friend. I trust him just as I trust my own children. No one will touch him until Dumbledore arrives."
At the mention of Dumbledore's name, a hint of hesitation appeared on the officials' faces.
Crouch's face, however, grew even uglier.
The title of the greatest White Dark Lord of the century was no joke.
Crouch turned to Arthur, almost hissing through clenched teeth: "For your sake, Arthur. Take them away! Don't let me see them again!"
With that, he hurried away with a group of equally confused but obedient officials.
Only The Weasley Family, Harry, and Hermione remained in the clearing.
The night wind blew, and the skull mark in the sky slowly began to dissipate, but an ominous feeling weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
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