Chapter 426 — Blames Me!!
Note:- i am very busy from 9-5 so at most i will only be able.to translate 5 chapters per day
Thanks for reading
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"Madam, it's all my fault. I should have apprehended the Death Eaters first… Even though I was nearly out of magic at the time, it was still because I wasn't strong enough. If only I had been stronger…"
Darren lowered his head in remorse.
He looked utterly guilty.
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding...]
"Oh, Darren, you're far too kind-hearted!"
Mrs. Weasley said angrily.
"No matter how powerful you are, even someone like Dumbledore can't stop a fool from creating trouble! This was never your fault!"
Darren quickly tried to comfort her.
But Mr. Weasley interrupted.
"Molly, didn't you say you wouldn't cry once Darren was alright?"
Then he turned to Darren and sighed.
"The doctor already said that your magic went out of control once, so you're not allowed to get too emotional right now.
"This matter is already over… Diggory has been dismissed, and he may never have another chance to return to the Ministry of Magic…"
Halfway through his sentence, Mr. Weasley suddenly stopped, realizing what he had just let slip.
He rubbed his forehead in regret.
"Ah… I shouldn't have said that. Darren, forget what I just said."
After all, Amos Diggory had always been decent to Darren.
If Darren found out that Amos had been fired because of this, he would definitely feel terrible.
"Blame me!"
Mr. Weasley said miserably.
But what he saw in return was Darren's embarrassed expression.
"Please don't say it like that. I already knew this news this morning."
Darren let out a soft sigh.
Earlier that day, he had already pretended to be distressed over Amos Diggory's dismissal and neatly harvested another round of Father value.
Fred and George nodded aggressively in agreement.
"That's right, Dad. The Daily Prophet reported the whole thing in detail. Darren read it this morning and felt awful about it!"
"And he even wrote a letter to the Ministry of Magic!"
Fred said proudly.
"In it, he said the fault was entirely his, and that Diggory had done nothing wrong."
George continued with equal enthusiasm.
"He also apologized for not using proper honorifics and for not placing Mr. Diggory somewhere safe…"
"In short, it was a letter full of guilt and self-blame. We personally delivered it to the Ministry for Darren!"
The twins puffed out their chests.
Mr. Weasley opened his mouth, about to tell them there was nothing to be proud of—
—when he saw the two of them silently mouthing words at him:
We used a Muggle courier.
Mr. Weasley nearly burst out laughing.
All right.
Using Muggle postal service.
That really was something Fred and George would do.
By the time the letter reached the Ministry of Magic, it would probably be months later.
By then, no one would care.
The three of them laughed quietly together.
Darren, of course, noticed their silent exchange.
And he understood perfectly.
If he truly wanted the letter delivered urgently, why wouldn't he have used Paige?
Naturally, this whole arrangement was intentional.
But for the sake of appearances—
—and to farm just a little more Father value—
Darren still put on a worried look and said softly:
"I hope the Ministry of Magic listens to me…
"I really wish Mr. Diggory could be reinstated. I'm… genuinely worried about him."
[Ding, Father value +50]
[Ding, Father value +60]
[Ding, Father value +80]
[Ding...]
This time, he didn't earn much.
Because everyone in the room pretended not to hear him.
No one had the heart to tell Darren that the letter would almost certainly be useless—
and that Amos Diggory's dismissal was irreversible.
Mr. Weasley quickly changed the subject.
He turned to Fred and asked,
"The wizard who cast the Dark Mark—did the Daily Prophet say whether they caught him?"
"Nope, Dad."
George handed over the newspaper.
"Here. It's blowing up at the Ministry instead."
Mr. Weasley scanned it.
"Ministry Inaction… Cowardice… Forcing a fourteen-year-old to stand in front…"
He read a few lines, then glanced at the byline.
Rita Skeeter.
Of course.
Her writing was always merciless.
"Alright," Mr. Weasley said, folding the paper.
"Let them rant all they want. We've got better things to do. Go upstairs and pack your things."
At Mrs. Weasley's signal, Harry pulled Darren upstairs.
He took out the sets of clothes Mrs. Weasley had prepared.
They were two identical dark-green dress robes.
Fine fabric.
Elegant patterns.
Darren immediately felt uneasy.
He remembered clearly that there wasn't much gold left in his personal Gringotts vault.
So how could Mrs. Weasley afford to buy something like this?
"Brother… how much did these cost?"
Darren asked softly.
"I'll go get the Gold Galleons."
The moment he said that, Harry's face darkened.
"Darren—don't tell me you have no money. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Darren froze.
No money?
That wasn't right.
He had just extorted over eighty million Gold Galleons from a group of dark wizards.
Then it hit him.
All of that gold was stored in the system's bearer account.
Publicly, his Gringotts vault…
…was empty.
Because he had taken everything out and secretly given it to the Longbottom family.
There wasn't even a single Knut left.
His heart skipped a beat.
He really should have left some money behind—
At least enough to pretend he wasn't poor.
Trying to save the situation, Darren hurriedly rummaged through his suitcase.
He remembered keeping over a hundred Gold Galleons in there.
Plenty enough for a set of robes.
But after searching for a long time—
He found only two Gold Galleons.
Then he remembered.
During the Quidditch World Cup, he had gone wild with spending.
Magical souvenirs.
Limited items.
Special merchandise.
All gone.
Staring at the two lonely coins in his palm, Darren felt unspeakably awkward.
Harry definitely misunderstood even more now.
And it wasn't just Harry.
From the vague shadows near the door, it was obvious that several people were eavesdropping.
Left with no choice, Darren forced an embarrassed smile.
"Brother… I spent most of it at the Quidditch World Cup."
"…I really went too far."
"I'll be more careful in the future… I guess I should return the robes."
He lowered his voice.
"Second-hand ones are fine too… I don't really mind."
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding...]
At this point—
Dignity didn't matter anymore.
As long as the Father value went up… that was enough.