Meanwhile, on the other side.
Harry and his group finally managed to wriggle out of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, which was no simple task, taking them a whole hour—everything was so novel there, most of it practically impossible to resist with their wallets, and Harry was staring at the Dwarf Bulrush in his hand, pondering how to secure it—
to prevent it from becoming a snack for Hedwig or those two cheetahs.
Standing in the sunlight of Diagon Alley, everyone's expressions were somewhat dazed, including the newly arrived Hermione and Tom, who was already wearing a new robe.
Especially this boy who had "just" started to get acquainted with the magic world.
"They... are definitely going to lose Gryffindor a lot of points again this year."
Hermione turned back, a hint of helplessness in her eyes, "Looks like I'll have to raise my hand more often this year—"
"Maybe you could get the older students to add some points for Gryffindor, you're definitely going to take that new elective class, right?"
Ron winked at Hermione, noting that all the little wizards were aware of the new elective class since this year's book list, besides "Standard Spells, Grade 5" and the "Practical Attack Magic and Its Suppression of Dark Magic" required for dueling class, contained no other new books.
"That's cheating! I would never do that!" Hermione raised her head, lightly snorting.
"Alright, we need to go to Flourish and Blotts... Damn, I see those crazy books again, hasn't Hagrid given up on using that thing yet?"
Glancing at the somewhat chaotic direction of Flourish and Blotts, Harry instinctively rubbed his fingers—the moment he got that book with the long mouth, his fingers nearly got bitten through.
The group then proceeded along the bustling streets of Diagon Alley towards Flourish and Blotts.
The air was filled with the mixed scent of magic potion materials, new books, and candies, as little wizards excitedly discussed their plans for the new semester, while the parents beside them carefully calculated their expenses.
"Alright, we'll split up—Hermione, you take Tom to buy first-year books, I'll help you get your share—why so many?"
Harry took the book list handed over by Hermione, blinking in a bit of daze.
"Don't worry, after all, I've chosen eleven courses... with dueling, it should be twelve again?"
Hermione waved her hand to assure Harry not to be so surprised, given that, apart from the Divination class abandoned for special reasons, she didn't miss any other courses.
The group then split up, with Harry and Ron starting to seek their targets among a dazzling array of bookshelves, and just as the boy took down a fairly new "Standard Spells, Grade 5," a familiar voice sounded beside the two.
"Harry?"
So he and Ron turned their heads.
"Percy!"
Ron was the first to react, yes, standing before them was none other than red-haired... already starting to bald Percy Weasley, the man dressed in a meticulously ironed but slightly worn black formal robe, a badge pinned to his chest... seemingly from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
Percy's spirit compared to a few months ago was visibly downcast; in general, the man appeared quite desolate and exhausted, Harry had heard that during the tournament, Percy had been imprisoned by the Death Eaters for five whole months, meaning the one who often played chess with Ron at night was actually the Death Eater split vertically by Cedric—
Honestly, over months of interaction, no one sensed anything odd.
Now it seemed, the over five months being hidden by the Death Eaters were evidently not great for Percy, Ron also mentioned he hadn't returned home all summer.
"Percy?"
Looking at the rather dejected man before him, Harry was also somewhat surprised—"Why are you here... uh, I mean, what are you doing here?" Harry repeated, feeling his tone perhaps having an interrogative hint.
"Uh, I came... to buy some books."
This was obvious, not mentioning that this was indeed a bookstore, moreover Percy was holding a pile of tomes—looking even more copious than Hermione's textbooks, "Need some reference materials for writing reports—" Percy paused and refrained from saying more, obviously not wanting to discuss his work too much right now.
"So, Dad said you're now..." Ron tentatively spoke.
"Yes, I've been transferred to the Centaur Liaison Office of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as a director—even a promotion." Percy managed a somewhat forced smile.
"..."
A brief silence, the noisy background sound of Flourish and Blotts highlighting the quiet in this area.
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, knowing full well that Centaurs never contact the Ministry of Magic because they outright reject the wizarding world's classification of them, unable to endure being grouped with creatures like hags.
"Alright, it's actually a demotion." Percy sighed, clearly aware he couldn't conceal such matters, "but at least life is relatively carefree."
"..."
This was undoubtedly poor news for Percy.
"But—that wasn't your fault!"
Harry spoke somewhat indignantly on Percy's behalf, after all, when the Death Eater impersonated Percy, he had simply "slept" through the whole event, albeit this nap being unusually lengthy.
"But, there's no choice."
Percy sighed, then as if finally deciding on something, he ceased subconsciously avoiding their gaze, especially fixing his eyes steadily on Harry's face, "Harry, I've actually wanted to find you for a long time... but never had the chance, not knowing how to begin—"
His voice was not loud but very clear, carrying a resolute relief, "I wish... to apologize to you, a formal apology."
Harry widened his eyes in eperplexity.
"I, actually noticed something was off about Mr. Crouch quite early on—but, the original Mr. Crouch couldn't even remember my name, then from that day on, he began to favor me—although I sensed things were strange, I held onto a lucky hope and didn't inform anyone—"
Percy sighed, finally revealing the secret in his heart, "I even helped him gather information on the Champions, especially about you—"
"..."
"I never intended to harm my friends, or my family, but back then, I was really bewitched..." The man helplessly clutched his head, evidently this issue had become an unending nightmare, tears sliding down from his eyes, "but... I'm sorry, Harry."