Neon lights shimmered across the streets.
After sneaking into a dessert shop and helping himself to several small cakes and loaves of bread, Dawn finally saw the woman storm out of the steakhouse with the child and Dumbledore.
He wiped the crumbs from his mouth, followed after them, and casually stole a bottle of milk along the way.
Dumbledore seemed to sense something. He glanced back in Dawn's direction with a helpless expression.
The woman wasn't in any hurry to return home.
After making a phone call, she continued strolling through the shopping district with the child.
Before long, they entered a children's clothing store.
Through the display window, Dawn could see racks filled with animal-themed outfits.
The woman excitedly took down a little brown bear costume and began slipping it over the boy's head.
The atmosphere was peaceful and tranquil. So Dawn no longer devoted all of his attention to them.
Instead, he shifted most of his awareness to Blaise.
At that very moment, outside the dream...
Relentless rain still blanketed Hogwarts.
Dark clouds concealed the rising sun, leaving the castle shrouded in dim, shifting shadows.
High above, several owls pierced through the curtain of rain carrying letters meant for delivery.
Yet the moment they flew into the castle, it was as though they had been swallowed whole.
Not one emerged again.
Dawn clicked his tongue.
Standing beyond Hogwarts' boundaries, he gazed toward the indistinct silhouette of the castle, crouching beneath the storm like some slumbering beast.
A headache slowly formed as he frowned.
The moment he sensed what had happened here, he had Apparated back to investigate the school's condition.
But he also feared that entering the castle would trap this body inside the dream as well, leaving both of his bodies imprisoned there and stripping him of the freedom to move independently.
Then...
Remembering what the Brain had said—that powdered Brain-in-a-Jar had been scattered throughout the air, causing anyone who inhaled it to fall into the dream—Dawn had tried an experiment.
He cast the Bubble-Head Charm on an owl to isolate its breathing, then placed it under the Imperius Curse and ordered it to circle the castle once before flying back out.
He had waited a long time.
But not a single bird ever returned.
Apparently... All of his precautions had accomplished absolutely nothing.
"So the Brain lied?"
Dawn rubbed his chin.
"Or perhaps the Bubble-Head Charm simply can't block the Brain-in-a-Jar powder."
Thinking this, he looked back toward the sky, intending to capture another owl for further testing.
Unfortunately...
No more birds appeared.
"If only I still had the phoenix trait..." Dawn sighed softly.
He glanced outside the castle grounds.
All the students who had been lying unconscious in the muddy rain yesterday had vanished.
Fawkes had probably transported every one of them back inside.
Which meant...
The phoenix itself seemed completely unaffected.
A cold gust of wind swept past. Ripples spread across the puddles at his feet.
Rubbing the goosebumps on the back of his neck, Dawn returned to pondering how he might block the powder drifting through the air.
"I wonder... Did drones exist in 1991?"
The absurd idea suddenly crossed his mind. A moment later, he shook his head and dismissed it himself.
As far as he remembered...
Many Muggle devices simply wouldn't function properly around Hogwarts.
Rainwater continued pooling beneath his feet.
Unable to find another owl, Dawn traveled to Hogsmeade instead, captured several wizards, and repeated his experiments.
No matter what he tried... None of them ever emerged from the castle.
Scratching his head, he found himself completely out of ideas. Still, Dawn had no intention of leaving just yet.
He suspected it wouldn't be long before the Ministry of Magic arrived. Perhaps they would have a solution.
After all, every student who had returned home from Hogwarts the previous night had mysteriously disappeared.
The Ministry would inevitably investigate the school—or seek Dumbledore's help.
Given the scale of the incident and the amount of time that had passed...
There was no way the Ministry hadn't learned about it by now.
While waiting, Dawn absentmindedly unfolded the copy of the Daily Prophet he had taken from the owl earlier.
Although it felt as though an eternity had passed...
Only a single day had actually elapsed since the student had been nailed to a bed in the Hospital Wing, Fudge had visited Hogwarts, and parents had rushed to retrieve their children.
Naturally...
Today's Daily Prophet was still dominated by reports surrounding Hogwarts.
The front-page headline read:
[Child Tragically Murdered, Killer Still at Large!]
The article reconstructed the entire crime through "reasonable speculation," conveniently filling in the lack of eyewitnesses.
According to the writer, the murderer had entered the Hospital Wing under a Disillusionment Charm, avoided all patrols, knocked the victim unconscious with the Stunning Spell, and then hammered a wooden stake through the student's body into the bed.
The prose flowed smoothly.
Suspenseful. Dramatic. Written almost like a horror novel.
Dawn looked down at the byline.
As expected.
Rita Skeeter.
He suddenly found himself wondering...
If Gilderoy Lockhart were asked to write about the same case... Who would produce the more entertaining article?
Shaking his head, he continued reading.
The next article— Also written by Rita Skeeter—
Bore the title:
[The Witch Hunts Return?! Accepting Muggle-Born Wizards at Hogwarts Was Always Destined to End in Disaster!]
Throughout the piece, Skeeter argued that the murder method strongly resembled techniques used by Muggles during the witch hunts.
From this, she boldly concluded that the killer must have been a Muggle-born wizard.
The article relentlessly fueled hostility, deliberately emphasizing conflict between pure-bloods and Muggle-borns.
She certainly knew how to attract readers.
Nor did she stop there.
The article subtly suggested that Dumbledore might be protecting the murderer—
Just as he had supposedly protected the killer Hagrid years earlier.
Reading that passage, Dawn rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
If he remembered correctly...
Hadn't Dumbledore already cleared Hagrid's name at the Ministry after the basilisk had been exposed last school year?
Selectively ignoring inconvenient facts... The media truly employed the same tricks everywhere.
Regardless of country.
Regardless of whether they were Muggles or wizards.
With quiet amusement, Dawn turned the page. The next article finally bore a different reporter's name.
Its contents urged parents to bring their children home for the time being and wait until the Ministry declared Hogwarts safe before sending them back.
Hmm...
This sounds suspiciously like Fudge.
Dawn skimmed through the remaining articles. Most said roughly the same thing.
One detail, however, caught his attention.
Despite personally seeing the bloody message Dawn had written in the Hospital Wing yesterday...
Fudge had chosen not to publish it.
Dawn couldn't quite guess his reasoning.
Was Fudge trying to avoid spreading panic by mentioning Dawn's name?
Or had he simply concluded that someone who had supposedly been thrown through the Veil of Death couldn't possibly be the murderer, and that the message was merely an attempt to frame him?
The questions drifted briefly through his mind before disappearing again.
He simply wasn't interested enough to investigate.
Turning another page, he finished the paper.
There was still no mention whatsoever of the mass disappearance of Hogwarts students the previous night.
Perhaps the newspaper had already gone to print before the news reached them.
Or perhaps someone had deliberately suppressed the story.
Pop!
The timing could hardly have been more perfect.
Just as Dawn folded the newspaper shut, a squad of Aurors Apparated through the rain with a series of loud cracks.
Without hesitation, they entered the darkened castle.
Then...
Nothing.
Roughly half an hour later, a second group arrived.
This time they were far more cautious. Instead of charging in together, only part of the team entered first.
After waiting in vain for any response... The remaining Aurors visibly grew uneasy.
Several of them Apparated away again, likely returning to the Ministry to report the situation.
"The British magical world is about to explode."
Dawn raised an amused eyebrow.
Hogwarts... The sacred heart of magical Britain... Had fallen into chaos.
Very few people could possibly remain calm. Especially with so many children still trapped inside.
And indeed...
Exactly as he expected.
As Dawn watched, more and more witches and wizards gathered outside the castle.
In less than an hour...
Their numbers had grown to nearly a hundred. He saw many figures covering their faces as they wept.
The Weasley family had arrived as well.
So had an elderly witch wearing a hat topped with a stuffed vulture.
Some shouted.
Others argued.
Still others huddled together in frantic discussion.
The commotion became so loud that even the pounding rain could no longer drown it out.
But...
Dawn had no intention of remaining any longer.
He had watched for quite some time, yet the crowd had made no progress whatsoever.
It was time to return to Jerusalem.
Perhaps, after some time had passed, the situation here would finally change.
Pop!
Casting one last glance at the growing crowd converging from every direction, Dawn disappeared with a sharp crack of Apparition.
___________
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