Chapter 400 – Strange?!!
Even so, they quietly followed their past selves.
Just as they were about to run into Darren, the current Darren hurriedly stopped them.
"Don't move—quick, go into that classroom. If I run into myself, I won't be able to explain it."
They immediately ducked into an empty classroom and hid.
From outside, they heard Darren's past voice, full of disbelief.
Then they heard him running away.
Harry frowned.
"I remember this part. After Darren ran out, he met Fudge, and Fudge told him he'd got the time wrong… There's nothing strange about that!"
Hermione shook her head suspiciously.
But they followed again.
Then they saw the scene that made their blood boil.
Fudge stood before Darren with a smug, triumphant look.
He sneered.
"What regulation?"
Then he laughed coldly.
"To tell you the truth, it was abolished this afternoon!"
It was unmistakable.
He had done it on purpose.
Harry gasped.
"I… I don't remember this…"
Hermione immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Shut up! Headmaster Dumbledore sent us here for a reason—this is what he wanted us to see!"
And then they watched.
They watched Darren break down in front of Fudge.
They watched him beg.
They watched him nearly attack Fudge in rage.
And because Dumbledore intervened, Darren's spell missed and struck Fudge instead.
They watched Darren collapse into despair.
They watched him ask Dumbledore to arrest him.
In the end, Dumbledore erased everything.
Fudge was healed.
History was reset.
After Dumbledore left with Fudge, Harry and Hermione finally let out the breath they had been holding.
Then they turned to Darren.
They were afraid to see his face.
As expected, his eyes slowly reddened.
"So… it really was all because of me?"
His voice trembled.
"I'm really terrible… I always drag everyone into trouble…"
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
"H-hey, Darren, don't think like that!"
Before he could finish, Hermione rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
Her body shook as she cried.
"Darren, this isn't your fault! You didn't do anything wrong—never! In my heart, you've always been the best!"
She looked straight at him, tears blurring her vision.
"Fudge did this because he's a bad person! You're a good person—how could a good person deserve something like this?!"
She clutched his sleeve.
"Look! We came back! Everything can still be changed!"
Only then did Harry snap out of it.
He pulled Hermione aside and hugged Darren fiercely.
"Darren, what were you thinking?! Did you even think about me when you asked Dumbledore to arrest you?"
He was furious.
"You're hateful, you know that?!"
Darren went pale.
Hermione narrowed her eyes dangerously.
But Harry went on, and that saved him from being murdered on the spot.
"You should've dragged me with you! I would never have let you go to Azkaban alone!"
He clenched his fists.
"Have you forgotten what Sirius became after Azkaban?!"
Then he finally noticed Darren's expression.
He immediately softened.
"…Don't be scared. Your brother is just angry—and worried about you."
He sighed.
He wanted to scold Darren for being reckless.
But when he saw Darren's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Darren wasn't reckless.
He was just too soft-hearted.
Harry thought that was everything Darren was.
Darren finally forced a small smile.
"I'm sorry, brother… I really was too impulsive."
Harry exhaled slowly.
"A little?"
...
They talked for a long time before finally deciding to move.
There was still a lot of time before that night arrived.
They needed somewhere to stay.
In the end, they decided to go to Hogsmeade for a drink and calm down.
After temporarily avoiding Sirius Black's "execution," they were in much better spirits.
They spent a surprisingly peaceful afternoon in Hogsmeade.
When they finally returned through the passage and stepped out near the castle, waiting for their past selves to appear…
They saw Dumbledore.
Fudge was with him—they seemed to have just come back from Hogsmeade as well.
Fudge was about to speak.
But Dumbledore suddenly froze.
His eyes widened.
He almost took a step back.
His lips moved beneath his beard several times—
but no sound came out.
Darren quite enjoyed this expression.
That's it.
This was exactly what he wanted to see.
He hadn't managed it earlier.
But now—
Now he finally saw it.
Even Harry could tell something was wrong.
Luckily, Dumbledore's beard hid most of his face.
Darren suddenly wondered if Dumbledore had grown it on purpose.
To hide expressions like this.
Dumbledore quickly recovered.
He cleared his throat and said as if nothing had happened,
"It's getting late. You should all head back. Darren—have you felt anything… unusual lately?"
Unusual.
Was he talking about his bloodline awakening?
Before today, Dumbledore hadn't sensed anything at all.
Now he suddenly could.
Of course he'd find it strange.
But Darren didn't have to give any explanation.
Weird things happened in the Wizarding World every day.
Dumbledore himself would find a reason.
So Darren simply tilted his head and thought seriously for a moment.
Then he shook his head innocently.
The picture of pure, harmless goodness.
Dumbledore… accepted it.
He had no choice but to accept it.
After all, no one suddenly awakened a bloodline like Darren had.
So Dumbledore came to a conclusion on his own:
Perhaps his bloodline had always been inside Darren.
Just dormant.
Just like Grindelwald's.
And now… it had simply awakened.
After all—
If Grindelwald's bloodline could exist in Darren,
why not his?
And with that, Dumbledore convinced himself completely.
Then another thought crossed his mind.
In the future…
Should Darren's name perhaps become—
Darren Dumbledore?