Under Eda's tactful and gentle persuasion, Hermione finally stopped making a fuss about promoting house-elf rights. Miss Beaver seemed somewhat shaken by the discussion and sat gloomily to the side with her head drooping.
With the Weasley family's explanations, Harry finally learned what the Dark Mark was. That symbol represented not only Voldemort, but also the bloody slaughter carried out by his followers.
The Death Eaters used the human firework to summon their companions and call for their master Voldemort. They would also leave behind the Dark Mark after committing murders to display their power and spread fear among others.
As some tacky manual firework hidden in a corner, Eda sincerely thought the Dark Mark was not frightening at all. It was downright ugly. She truly did not know who designed the thing. It had absolutely no sense of aesthetics. If Eda ever had to use the Dark Mark as her logo, she would rather die on the spot.
Using such a crude and direct method to flaunt power and spread terror was incredibly shallow. Voldemort and the Death Eaters did not possess a single artistic bone in their bodies. Terror could be elegant too!
At three in the morning, everyone crawled back into bed once more. This time, no one disturbed their sleep, yet nobody could truly rest peacefully.
After only a few hours of sleep, Mr. Weasley woke everyone up. He packed the tents away with magic and stuffed them into his backpack, then they left the campsite as quickly as possible. Along the way, they saw Mr. Roberts standing outside his little stone cottage.
Mr. Roberts looked strange and absent-minded. Those were the aftereffects of Memory Charms and memory modification. Last night, he and his family had experienced the most horrifying event of their lives.
Raising a blade against innocent and weak people, Eda truly could not understand how the Death Eaters had the nerve to call themselves powerful.
Before the sun had risen, Mr. Weasley collected an old tire, and the group used it to return to Stoatshead Hill by Portkey. In the faint light of dawn, they passed through the village of Ottery St. Catchpole and followed the damp path toward the Burrow.
As they rounded a bend, the Burrow suddenly came into view, and a cry rang out from the path.
"Oh, thank goodness, thank goodness!" It was Mrs. Weasley's voice. She had been waiting in the yard for everyone to return.
Mrs. Weasley limped as she ran toward them. She still had one indoor slipper on her left foot, while her right shoe was nowhere to be seen.
Her face was pale and tense as she hugged each person tightly. In her hand was a copy of today's Daily Prophet, carrying reports about everything that had happened last night.
The article completely tore the Ministry of Magic apart, saying the Ministry had panicked, maintained lax security, allowed Dark wizards to roam free, brought enormous shame upon the country, that Fudge should resign in disgrace, and that Barty Crouch ought to be thrown into Azkaban.
The report was written by Rita Skeeter, a journalist supposedly famous for her self-discipline. She was a special columnist for the Daily Prophet.
"That woman specializes in going against the Ministry!" Percy said angrily. Even though Barty Crouch had called him Weatherby, Percy still remained fiercely loyal to his superior.
"Have mercy, Percy," Bill said with a yawn. The eldest son of the Weasley family had spoken up to stop him.
"I think that woman has a point," Charlie said. "The World Cup is an event watched by the entire world, yet the Ministry turned it into this mess and let Dark wizards exploit the opportunity. Now the whole world is laughing at us." The second son of the Weasley family also spoke up to stop him.
Although Eda had thrown a massive tantrum and taught the Ministry a lesson last night, no one had died. Yet the newspaper was reporting rumors such as "several corpses carried out of the forest."
Truly worthy of being a "disciplined" journalist. Truly worthy of being media reporters who loved stirring up trouble. A perfectly fine profession had been ruined by people like them.
"Wait," Mr. Weasley said strangely, "the only people near the Dark Mark last night were Ministry employees. How does Rita Skeeter know so many details?"
Everyone leaned over to look at the newspaper while Mr. Weasley pointed out the contents to them.
The paper fully recorded everything that happened at the end of the previous night: the confrontation between the Ministry and Sirius and Eda, how they were utterly defeated by a single Hogwarts student, and the matter involving the house-elf Winky.
At the end of the article, Rita Skeeter wrote: An incompetent Ministry of Magic. They failed to catch the Dark wizard who cast the Dark Mark. They were not even a match for a Hogwarts student. In the end, they could only pin all the blame on a house-elf while allowing the Dark wizard to continue roaming free. How are we supposed to trust such a Ministry?
Mr. Weasley let out a deep sigh. "Molly, I need to go to the office. Today's going to be busy." For the Ministry, catching the person who cast the Dark Mark was the highest priority, but clarifying the rumors and restoring their image was equally important.
Mr. Weasley left just like that, without even eating breakfast, hurrying back to the Ministry covered in dust and fatigue, even though the matter was outside Arthur Weasley's authority.
Workaholic Percy also left together with Mr. Weasley. For Percy, slacking off at work simply did not exist as an option. After the father and son left the Burrow, Sirius and Lupin also said their farewells and departed. They had things to do.
Harry remained at the Burrow, and he had no idea what Sirius and Lupin were going to do. Eda, however, had some guesses. She figured the two of them were probably going to see Dumbledore.
Both of them had lived through the last war. Compared to others, they were far more capable of sensing the smell of war.
After the World Cup ended, there was still a week left before Hogwarts started, so Eda, Harry, and Hermione stayed at the Burrow to spend the rest of the summer holiday.
During that week, Mr. Weasley and Percy were rarely at home. Every day, the father and son left before dawn and did not return to rest until late at night. Sirius and Lupin also never appeared at the Burrow, and no one knew what they were doing.
If the newspapers had not still been complaining about the Ministry's incompetence, everyone might have thought the events of that night had simply been a collective hallucination.
The week passed quickly for Eda and the others, because every day they were either playing or on their way to have fun. But for Mr. Weasley and Percy, it was an incredibly long week. The two of them were more exhausted than overworked draft animals.
Soon, only the final day of summer vacation remained. The next day, they would return to Hogwarts and begin a new school year.
Percy sat in the living room talking about how hard he had been working, how many Howlers he had received, and how much trouble the World Cup's security issues had caused him. Mr. Weasley ate his meal nearby and occasionally added a few comments about work.
Suddenly, Ron's scream came from upstairs, along with a shout of, "What is this thing?!"
Other than Mr. Weasley and Percy, everyone was drawn by the scream. They all rushed upstairs to see what had happened to Ron.
The group crowded around the doorway of Ron's bedroom and saw Ron talking to Mrs. Weasley.
"Mum, you gave me Ginny's new clothes," Ron said.
In his hands was a dark purple velvet dress with what looked like moldy frills around the collar and matching lace on the sleeves. It appeared to be a set of dress robes, though it was impossible to tell whether it was meant for a boy or a girl.
Hearing Ron's words, Ginny looked at the robes in disgust and shrank behind Eda. There was no way she would wear something like that!
"How could I have mixed it up?" Mrs. Weasley said. "That's yours. Dress robes."
"What?" Ron said in horror.
Behind Ron, Harry and Hermione struggled to control their expressions to stop themselves from laughing, which made their faces look rather twisted.
"Dress robes!" Mrs. Weasley repeated. "Your school list said you need dress robes this year... robes for formal occasions."
Ginny, hiding behind Eda, let out a sigh of relief and stepped out openly. "You'll definitely look great wearing that!"
The savage remark from his own little sister instantly shattered Ron's composure. Red-faced, he stubbornly declared, "I'd rather go naked than wear that."
"Don't be silly," Mrs. Weasley said. "You have to have dress robes, it's on your school list! I bought one for Harry too... show him, Harry..."
Harry, who had been trying hard not to laugh, instantly looked terrified. He hurriedly opened his package and found his own dress robes. Harry's robes were dark green, perfectly normal, without any lace.
Nothing was more brutal than comparison. Harry's normal dress robes without lace, compared to Ron's purplish lace-covered robes, created far too great a contrast.
Bill, Charlie, Eda, and the twins standing at the doorway all burst into laughter. Ron's outfit looked more like something an old grandmother would wear than something for a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Because... sigh, I had to buy you second-hand ones, so there wasn't much choice!" Mrs. Weasley said, blushing.
"I'm never wearing that thing," Ron insisted stubbornly. "Never!" Though this time, his tone was not as firm as before.
"Alright, Mum, it's no big deal," Fred said. "George and I can buy Ron a set of robes, at least a normal-looking pair of dress robes."
Bill, standing nearby, said, "Charlie and I should do it instead. Seems like we've never bought our little brother anything before!"
Charlie nodded in agreement. "Let's not include Percy. He only just started working."
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