The Dark Mark
"Just make sure that your mother doesn't know you've been gambling, boys." Ben requested both Jack and Kevin, as everyone made their way down the purple carpeted stairs.
"Calm down, dad." Jack said in an assuring tone. "We have some big plans for this money, we wouldn't want it confiscated from us."
Ben shook his head with a smirk, knowing of their plans.
Everyone all caught up in the crowds that now flooded out of the stadium and back to their campsites. There was raucous singing in the night air as they retraced their steps back through the lantern lit path. Leprechauns were also shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns.
Once they've finally reached the tents, no one felt like sleeping, and because of the noise around them, Ben agreed that they'd all have one last cup of cocoa together going to sleep.
Everyone argued enjoyably about the match, resulting in Arthur and Kenny going over how Krum used the Wronski Feint, Ben arguing with David about cobbing and Mike to tell Chrys why the formations were used, It was only when Mary dozed off at the tiny table, barely able to place her cup of hot chocolate on it that Ben said that it was time to end the conversing and insisted that everyone went to bed.
Both Chrys and Mary went into the next tent while Arthur, Mike and the Merlon boys all changed into their pyjamas, clambering into their bunks. From the other side of the campsite, singing can still be heard, along with the odd eching bang.
"I'm so glad to not be on duty tonight." Ben said sleepily. "Trying to stop the Irish from celebrating wouldn't be fun."
Arthur, who was on a top bunk above David, lay staring up at the ceiling of the tent, watching the glow through it from the leprechaun's lanterns flying overhead.
He pictured Krum's most spectacular moves in his head right before he dozed off to sleep.
His dream was glorious. He imagined he was in the finals of the Quidditch World Cup for the England National Team, having the crowd of one hundred thousand witches and wizards cheer him on as he made various moves, like the Wronski Feint and then finally catch the Snitch, winning for his country.
Suddenly, the dream disappeared like someone wiped the imagery away from Ben's voice shouting.
"Everyone, get up! Get up, it's urgent!"
Arthur sat up quickly as he heard fear and desperation in his voice. Everyone else woke up as Arthur realised that something was very wrong.
The noises of the campsite outside the tent had changed. The singing stopped and instead were screaming and footsteps running.
He got off from the bunk and rushed to Ben, who had his jeans over his pyjamas,
"Grab a jacket and get outside quickly!" He told Arthur, who did as told and hurried out of the tent with David at his heels.
Arthur was able to see people running into the woods from the light of the few fires that were still burning, and they were fleeing from something that was moving across the field towards them, which omitted odd flashes of lights and noises akin to gunfire.
Among the sounds was loud jeering, roars of laughter and drunken yells that were coming closer and closer. Then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.
It all came from a crowd of wizards that were tightly packed and moved together with their wands pointing straight up. They were all marching slowly across the field.
Arthur looked and they didn't seem to show their faces as they were all wearing hoods and masks to cover their faces.
High above them had to be one of the most disturbing sights Arthur had ever seen.
Floating in mid air were four struggling figures that were contorted into grotesque shapes. It was like the masked wizards were puppeteering them, being operated with invisible strings that rose from their wands into the air.
Two of the figures were small, which meant they were children. Therefore, the other two were their parents.
More wizards started joining the marching group, who Arthur now started suspecting were Voldemort's followers that lied to avoid going to Azkaban. Tents crumpled and fell as the crowd swelled. One or two of them would even blast a tent out of their way with their wands. Some would catch on fire.
Then the poor family in mid air were screaming. They were being suddenly illuminated as they passed by a burning tent. One of them was Mr Roberts, meaning that Voldemort's followers were torturing a Muggle family, which sickened Arthur to his core.
One of the marchers flipped who had to be Mrs Roberts upside down with his wand, causing her nightdress to fall and reveal her voluminous drawers, which she struggled to cover up as the crowd below all screeched and hooted with glee.
"Those sick bastards." David hissed as he watched the smallest Muggle child spinning like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side.
Both Chrys and Mary all hurried towards them, pulling coats over their nightdresses, with Ben right behind them. At that moment, Mike, Rob, Kenny and Sam all emerged from the boys' tent, the latter three all fully dressed with their sleeves rolled up and wands out.
"We're going to help the Ministry!" Ben shouted over all the noise. "You lot, go into the woods and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when those bastards are dealt with!"
Rob, Kenny and Sam all sprinted towards the marchers, with Ben following after them. Ministry wizards all dashed from every direction towards the source of all the trouble. The whole crowd beneath the Roberts family all got closer.
"Let's go." Jack said as he grabbed Mary's hand and pulled her towards the wood.
His twin and Mike followed after them as the trio did.
They looked back as they reached the trees, seeing that the crowd underneath the Roberts family was larger than ever and that the Ministry wizards were trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the centre, which proved to be difficult. It's like they were scared to perform a spell that could make the Roberts family fall.
All of the coloured lanterns that lit the path to the stadium were all extinguished, meaning that there were nothing but dark figures blundering through the trees; children were crying, anxious shouts and panicked voices reverberated around them in the cold night air. Arthur felt like he was being pushed by people whose faces he couldn't see and then he heard David grunt in pain.
"What the hell happened?" Chrys asked anxiously when she and Arthur abruptly stopped. "David, where are you? That's it… lumos!"
Her wand illuminated and directed its narrow beam across the path to see that David was currently lying on the ground.
"I tripped over a bloody tree root." David hissed angrily as he got to his feet.
"Well, with feet that size, hard not to." A familiar drawling voice said from behind them.
The three all turned sharply and saw Draco Malfoy standing alone nearby, leaning very relaxed up against a tree with his arms flooded and watched what was happening at the campsite through a gap in the trees.
David told Draco to do something that he would never say in front of his parents with how vulgar it was.
"Language, Merlon." Draco said, his pale eyes glittering the darkness. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?"
He nodded over to Chrys, and at that very moment, a blast that sounded like a bomb came from the campsite, followed by a flash of green light that lit the trees around them.
"What are you suggesting, you git?" Chrys spat.
"Ranger, they're after Muggles." Draco said. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in mid air? Because if you do, hang around, they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh.
"Chrys is a witch, you disgusting worm." Arthur snarled with venom as he glared at him in disgust.
"Have it your way, Pendergast." Draco said, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."
"Watch that dirty mouth of yours!" David shouted. The term 'Mudblood' is the most offensive term for a Muggle-Born, a witch or wizard who was born to Muggle parents.
"Forget this pathetic waste of magical blood." Chrys hissed, seizing David's arm to stop him from beating him up.
Then a bang from the other side of the trees, which was louder than anything that was heard before. And several people screamed.
Draco chuckled softly. "Scare easily, don't they?" He said lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to, trying to rescue the Muggles?"
"Because he's an Auror, you twat. Where are your parents? No doubt among those torturing that Muggle family." Arthur spat as his temper started rising.
Draco turned to face him, still smiling. "Well… if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Pendergast?"
"Let's just go and not waste our time with him." Chrys said with a disgusted look at Draco.
"Keep that head of yours down, Ranger." Draco sneered after them as they continued off.
"I have no question that his dad at least is one of them wearing a mask." Arthur spat.
"Same here." David agreed with him.
"Let's just hope the Ministry catches him." Chrys said before she realised something. "Oh, no… where are the others?"
The twins, Mary and Mike were nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that the path was packed with other people, all of whom all looked over their shoulders nervously towards the campsite.
There was a huddle of teenagers in pyjamas that argued a little way along the path. When they spotted the trio, a girl with thick and curly hair turned and said quickly "Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue -"
"Excuse me?" David asked in confusion, though it was clear the girl was speaking in French.
"Oh…." The girl said before turning her back on him. The trio walked on, but were able to hear her say "'Ogwarts."
"Beauxbatons." Chrys said.
"What?" Arthur asked.
"She and her group must go to the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic…. I learned of it when I was in France before our third year."
"I just hope that Jack and Kevin haven't gone that far." David said as he pulled his wand out and lit it, just like Chrys, squinting up the path. Arthur dug through his pockets in his jacket for his, only to find that it wasn't there. All he could find were his Omnioculars.
"Bloody hell, I've lost my wand!"
"Are you serious?"
Both David and Chrys raised their wands high enough to spread their narrow beams of light further on the ground, helping out Arthur, who looked all around, only to see that his wand was nowhere to be seen.
"Perhaps it's back in the tent." David suggested.
"But it could've fallen out of your pocket when we were running." Chrys pointed out, making Arthur groan.
He always kept his wand with him at all times in the wizarding world, especially these days for his process to be an Animagus, and so to be without it in the middle of what's currently going on made him vulnerable.
A sudden rustling noise nearby made the three all freeze.
It turned out to be Winky the house elf, who was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She moved in the oddest way, though, with great difficulty. It's like someone invisible was holding her back.
"There is bad wizards about!" She squeaked distractedly as she leaned forwards and laboured to keep running. "People high - high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"
She then disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought against whatever force restrained her. Arthur was thinking that it might be someone under an Invisibility Cloak.
"What was up with her?" David said, curiously looking after Winky. "Why can't she run properly?"
"She probably didn't ask for permission to hide from her master." Arthur said, though he still thought of the chance that she was pulling someone under an Invisibility Cloak.
"I feel bad for her." Chrys said sadly. "She was forced by Crouch to make her go up to the top of the stadium, aware that's afraid of heights. He probably has her bewitched so that she can't run when they start tampling tents."
Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood.
"Let's just keep moving." David said, sounding tense and looking over at Chrys. Arthur knew for sure that Chrys was in more danger than they were.
So the three set off again.
They kept following the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for the twins, Mary and Mike.
They ended up passing a group of goblins, all cackling over a sack of gold, which they must've won from betting on the match, and weren't bothered by what was currently going on.
Further along the path, they walked into a patch of silvery light, and when they looked through the trees, it turned out to be from three tall and beautiful Veela that stood in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all talking very loudly.
"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year." One of them shouted."I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."
"No, you're not…" His friend yelled. "...you're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but I'm a Vampire Hunter, I've killed about ninety so far -"
A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible in the dim silvery light from the Veela cut in. "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister for Magic, I am."
Arthur snorted with laughter as he recognised that pimply wizard. It was Stan Shunpike, who's really a conductor on the triple decker Knight Bus.
Arthur looked over at David, who seemed slack. Arthur smacked the back of his head and pushed him onward.
By the time the sounds of the Veela and their admirers faded away entirely, they found themselves in the very heart of the wood.
They were completely alone and everything was much quieter, which left the three on edge, Arthur even looking around.
"We'll just have to wait here. We can hear anyone coming a mile off." He told David and Chrys.
His words were barely out of his mouth when Ludo Bagman suddenly emerged from a tree right ahead of them.
Even in the feeble light from two wands, Arthur saw a great change over Bagman. He no longer seemed buoyant and rosy faced with no spring in his step. He now looked white and strained.
"Who's that?" He said, blinking at them, trying to make out who he was looking at. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"
All three looked at each other, surprised and confused.
"There's a riot going on." David informed him.
"What?" Bagman stared at him.
"At the campsite… people with hoods and masks got hold of a Muggle family…."
Bagman swore loudly. "Damn them!" He said, looking distracted before Disapparating with a small pop without another word.
"Definitely not on top of things, is he?" Chrys said with a frown.
"You'd think he would be, considering he was a great Beater." David said, leading off the path and into a small clearing, sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row when he was with them."
The three all sat in silence, all listening out for any noise from the campsite, yet everything seemed quiet, making them think that maybe the riot was over.
"Let's just hope the others are okay." Chrys said after a while.
The thought that the others would be hurt, or worse scared Arthur, especially towards Mike as he didn't want his newer friend to be hurt.
"They'll be fine." David said, trying to hide his worry.
"But just imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy." Arthur said, trying not to let his worries get the better of him. "He said that he wanted to show everyone how he and his family are scum."
"That would easily wipe that smug smirk off Draco's face." David snarled.
"But what about that Muggle family?" Chrys asked nervously. "What if they can't get back down?"
"Don't worry, they'll be back down." David reassured her.
"But those lot, who must be Voldemort's supporters that evaded capture, are crazy to do that with the whole Ministry of Magic out here tonight." Chrys said. "How could they expect to get away with that? They must've been drunk or -"
She broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Arthur and David looked around as well because it seemed that someone was staggering towards their clearing. All three were silent, listening to the sounds of uneven footsteps behind the dark trees until the footsteps came to a sudden halt.
"Hello?" Arthur called out.
There was nothing but silence. Arthur quietly walked over to peer around the tree, but it was too dark to see very far, though Arthur knew that there was someone standing just beyond the range of his vision.
"Who's there?" He shouted out.
That was when, without warning, the silence was cut off from a voice that was unlike any that he, David and Chrys heard in the wood, which uttered, not in a panicked shout, a spell of some kind.
"MORSMORDRE!"
Then something vast, green and glittering had erupted from the patch of darkness that Arthur tried to penetrate: it flew up over the treetops and into the sky.
David stood up and gasped upon seeing what was in the sky. Arthur looked up and he gasped before that familiar rage and fury consumed him whenever he laid eyes on Voldemort.
It was a colossal skull, composed of emerald stars and mist, with a serpent protruding from its mouth as though it were a tongue. It rose higher and higher, blazing with the greenish mist that had a haze of greenish smoke, etching against the black sky as though it was a new constellation.
The wood around the trio now erupted with screams, clearly from people seeing the skull in the sky. Arthur may not understand why as of now, but just the sight of it can frighten anyone as it rose high enough to illuminate the entire wood, like some sickly neon sign.
Arthur now scanned for who had conjured the skull, yet he still can't see anyone.
"Who's there?" He shouted again.
"Arthur, we got to go." Chrys said, seizing his jacket and tugging him backwards.
"What's wrong?" He asked, so taken aback to see how terrified she looked.
"It's the Dark Mark. Voldemort's sign!" She said, pulling him as hard as he could.
His eyes widened in shock and decided that they had to get away.
So all three of them went to get across the clearing, but before they took more than a few hurried steps, a series of pops announced that twenty or so wizards had appeared from thin air, surrounding them.
Arthur whirled around with wide eyes and saw that they all had their wands out, all pointing at himself, David and Chrys.
"HIT THE DECK!" He yelled at the top of his lungs without thinking, seizing the other two and pulled them to the ground.
"STUPEFY!" Twenty voices roared, resulting in a series of blinding red flashes and Arthur felt the hair on his head ripple like a sharp gust of wind swept through the clearing. He raised his head a fraction of an inch to see jets of fiery red light flying over them, all crossing each other and bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness.
"STOP!" A familiar voice bellowed out. "STOP! THAT'S MY SON!"
Arthur's hair stopped blowing and he raised his head, seeing that the wizard in front of him lowered his wand.
Arthur then rolled over and saw Benjamin Merlon striding towards them, looking terrified.
"David, Arthur, Chrys." He said, sounding shaken up. "Are you three alright?"
"Out of the way, Benjamin." Crouch's cold, curtly voice said.
He and the other Ministry wizards all closed in on them. Arthur got to his feet to face them, seeing Crouch's face was taut with rage.
"Which of you did it?" he snapped at the trio, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"
"We didn't do it, you stupid git!" Arthur spat at him, not caring that he insulted him as Crouch looked at him as though he wanted to jinx him.
"We haven't done a thing, you attacked innocents!" David added.
"Do not lie, sir!" Crouch shouted, his wand now pointed directly at David, who glared at him. Crouch's eyes were popping, looking slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"
"Barty…" A witch in a long woollen dressing gown whispered. "...they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to -"
"Did you three see where the Mark came from?" Ben asked the trio.
"In that direction." Chrys said, pointing to where the voice they heard came from. "It was someone from behind the trees… they shouted some kind of incantation -"
"Oh, stood over there, did they?" Crouch said, turning his popping eyes over to Chrys, clearly not believing her. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy -"
"That is enough, Crouch! You're making yourself look mad!" Ben said, shoving Crouch away from the trio as all the other Ministry wizards didn't believe that the trio conjured the Dark Mark. If anything, with Chrys' words, they all raised their wands in the direction she pointed to, squinting through the dark trees.
"We're too late." The witch in the dressing gown shook her head. "They'll have Disapparated.
"I don't think so." Amos Diggory, Cedric's father said. It was him because of his scrubby brown beard. "Our Stunners went right through those trees… there's a good chance we got them…."
"Amos, be careful!" A few of the wizards said warningly as Amos squared his shoulders and raised his wand when he marched across the clearing and disappeared into the darkness.
A few seconds later, Amos shouted.
"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's - but - blimey…."
"You've got someone?" Crouch shouted, sounding very much in disbelief. "Who? Who is it?"
There were snapping twigs and leaves rustling from the crunching footsteps Amos made when he reemerged from behind the trees. He carried a limp and tiny figure in his arms.
Upon seeing the tea towel, Arthur recognised that it was Winky.
Crouch didn't speak or move as Amos deposited Crouch's house elf on the ground at his feet. All the other Ministry wizards stared at him. For a few seconds he remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he was staring down at Winky before he came to life again.
"This - cannot - be." He said jerkily. "No -"
He moved quickly around Amos and strode towards where Winky was found. Arthur had that suspicion that there was more to what he was saying. It's like he was thinking about someone else.
"No point, Mr Crouch." Amos called after him. "There's no one else there."
Crouch didn't seem to take his word for it as he can be heard moving around with the rustling of leaves, pushing bushes aside, searching, probably for the person under the Invisibility Cloak, if Arthur was right about that.
"Bit embarrassing." Amos said grimly as he looked down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house elf… I mean to say…."
"Oh come on, Amos." Ben groaned in annoyance. "You seriously think the elf did it? The Dark Mark is a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."
"Yeah…" Amos said. "...and she had a wand."
"Excuse me?" Ben said in confusion.
"Here, look." Amos held up a wand, showing it to Ben. "Had it in her head. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."
Then a pop filled the air as Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Ben. He looked breathless and disoriented, spinning on the spot and goggled upwards at the emerald green skull in the sky.
"The Dark Mark!" He panted, nearly trampling Winky when he turned inquiringly towards his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"
Crouch had come back empty handed, his face looking ghostly white and both his hands and toothbrush moustache were twitching. It was like he found something he was disturbed by.
"Where have you been, Barty?" Bagman said. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat, too - Gulping gargoyles!" Bagman had finally noticed Winky by his feet. "What happened to her?"
"I have been busy, Ludo." Crouch said, still talking in that jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. "And my elf has been Stunned."
"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why -?"
Comprehension started forming on his round and shiny face, looking up at the skull before down at Winky and then at Crouch.
"No! Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand for a start!"
"And she had one." Amos pointed out. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's alright with you, Mr Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."
Crouch didn't give a sign that he heard Amos, though his silence was taken for assent. So Amos raised his wand, pointed it at Winky and said "Rennervate!"
Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened up and blinked several times, bemusingly. She then raised herself shakily into a sitting position before noticing Amos' feet, which made her slowly and tremendously raise her eyes to stare up to his face. She then, more slowly, looked up into the sky. The floating skull was reflected twice in her large, glassy eyes. She then gasped before looking around wildly at the crowded clearing and then burst into terrified sobs.
"Elf!" Amos said sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"
Winky started rocking back and forth on the ground, breathing in sharp bursts. This all reminded Arthur of Dobby in his moments of terrified disobedience.
"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago." Amos said. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"
"I - I - I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"
"You were found with a wand in your hand!" Amos barked, brandishing the wand in front of her. With the wand now within the green light from the skull in the sky, Arthur noticed that the end of it where it would be held had a wooden flame on it.
"That's my wand!" He said, making everyone in the clearing look at him.
"Excuse me?" Amos said, looking incredulously.
"That's my wand!" Arthur repeated. "I dropped it!"
"You dropped it?" Amos repeated the last sentence in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"
Arthur clenched his fists, desperately wanting to punch this idiot, but Ben grabbed Amos' shoulder and looked at him dangerously.
"Amos…" He said deadly calm. "...are you trying to embarrass yourself a second time by saying that Arthur Pendergast of all people conjured the Dark Mark?"
"Er - of course not." Amos mumbled, realising his situation. "Sorry… carried away…."
"I didn't exactly drop it there, anyway." Arthur pointed out, gesturing towards the trees under the skull. "I realised that it was missing right after we got into the wood."
"So." Amos said, his eyes hardening as he looked at Winky again, who cowered at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"
"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" Winky squealed with tears now streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is… I is… I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"
"It wasn't even her!" Chrys said, standing up with determination. "Her voice is squeaky. The voice we heard doing the incantation was very different! It was much deeper!" She then looked over to Arthur and David for support.
"She's right, it sounded like a man's voice." Arthur said. Realising at this moment that if it was someone under an Invisibility Cloak, then they must've sat next to Winky in the Top Box and took Arthur's wand without him noticing.
"And was clearly human." David added.
"Well, we'll soon see." Amos growled, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"
Winky trembled as she shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Amos raised his own wand again, placing it tip to tip with Arthur's.
"Prior Incantato!" He then roared.
Chrys gasped as a gigantic serpent tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was nothing compared to the one in the sky as it looked like it was made of thick grey smock, a ghost of the spell.
"Deletrius!" Amos shouted and the smoky skull disappeared in a wisp of smoke.
"So." Amos said with a savage triumph, looking down at Winky, who still shook convulsively.
"I is not doing it!" She squealed, eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"
"You've been caught red handed, elf!" Amos roared, looking like a madman. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"
"Amos… calm down." Ben said loudly. "Think about it clearly… very specific wizards know how to do that spell… how could she learn it?"
"Perhaps Amos is suggesting…" Crouch said, cold anger present in every syllable. "...that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"
This left a very unpleasant silence. And Amos looked utterly horrified.
"Mr Crouch… not… not at all…."
"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" Crouch barked. "Arthur Pendergast and myself! I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"
"Of course… everyone knows…." Amos muttered, truly discomfited.
"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practise them?" Crouch now shouted, his eyes bulging once more.
"Mr Crouch, I - I never suggested you had anything to do with it." Amos muttered, reddening behind his beard.
"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" Crouch shouted. "Where else would she have learnt to conjure it?"
"She - she might've picked it up anywhere -"
"That's the first fair point you've made so far, Amos." Ben said before he turned to Winky. "Winky?" He asked her softly and kindly, Winky flinching as though she was being shouted at again. "Where did you find Arthur's wand?"
She twisted the hem of her tea towel so violently that it frayed beneath her fingers.
"I - I is finding it… finding it there, sir…" She whispered. "...there… in the trees, sir…."
"There you go, Amos." Ben said. "Whoever conjured the Dark Mark had to have Disapparated right after having done it, leaving Arthur's wand behind. That's pretty clever to not use their own wand, which would've betrayed them. Winky clearly just had the misfortune to have come across it moments later, picking it up."
"But then, she'd have been feet away from the real culprit!" Amos said impatiently, not satisfied. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"
Winky started trembling worse than ever. Her large eyes flickered from Amos to Bagman and then to Crouch.
She gulped before saying "I is seeing no one, sir… no one…."
"Amos." Crouch said curtly. "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."
Amos looked like he didn't think much about the suggestion, though it was clear to Arthur how Crouch was the kind of important member of the Ministry to not even think of refusing what they suggested.
"You may rest assured that she will be punished." Crouch added coldly.
"M - m - master…." Winky stammered, looking up at him with her eyes brimming with tears. "M - m - master, p - p - please…."
Crouch stared back at her, his face somehow sharpening with each line upon it now more deeply etched. There wasn't even any pity in his gaze. "Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible." He said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. This means clothes."
"No!" Winky shrieked in horror as she prostated herself at Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"
Arthur knew what this meant.
For a house elf to be free of servitude to the magical family they serve, they're to be presented with proper garments. It was really sad to see how Winky clutched at her tea towel as she sobbed over Crouch's feet.
"She was just frightened!" Chrys spat angrily. "Your elf was scared of heights and of those wizards in masks making those people levitate. How can you blame her for wanting to get out of their way?"
Crouch took a step backwards, freeing himself from contact with the elf, who he surveyed like she was some filthy and rotten something that contaminated his over shined shoes.
"I have no use for a house elf who disobeys me." He said coldly to Chrys. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."
Winky cried so hard that her sobbing echoed around the clearing. There was a nasty kind of silence, one that was ended by Ben who said quietly "Well, I'm going to take my lot back to the tent, if anyone has no objections. Amos, that wand has told us all it could, now give it back to Arthur."
Amos handed Arthur his wand, which he snatched from his grasp and pocketed it.
"Let's go, you three." Ben then said quietly. Chrys was the last of them to leave as she looked back at the sobbing elf.
"What will happen to Winky?" She asked Ben when they all left the clearing.
"I have no idea." Ben said, unsure.
"The way he treated her…." Chrys said aghast. "And how Amos called her 'elf' like she's some freak. Crouch knew she didn't do it and still sacked her! Honestly, she may not be human, but she's still sentient!"
"I happen to agree with you, Chrys." Ben said. "But now isn't the time to talk about elf rights. All I want is to get back to the tent as soon as possible! Where are the others, by the way?"
"We lost them in the dark." David said. "But why was everyone so uptight about that skull in the sky?"
"I'll explain when we're back at the tent." Ben replied, now sounding worried.
However, when they reached the edge of the wood, their progress was impeded.
There was a large crowd of frightened witches and wizards that all congregated there, and upon seeing Ben coming towards them, a lot of them surged forwards.
"What's going on in there?"
"Who conjured it?"
"Ben, it's not… him?"
"Don't be stupid, of course it's not Arthur!" Ben snapped impatiently at that last question. "Whoever did it had to have Disapparated. Now get out of the way, I want to go to bed!"
He led the trio through the crowd and made it back to the campsite. All was now quiet with no sign of the masked and hooded wizards, despite the fact that several ruined tents were still smoking.
Kenny's head poked out from the boys' tent.
"Dad, what's going on?" He called through the dark. "Jack, Kevin, Mary and Mike are back, but the others -"
"They're here with me." Ben assured him as he entered the tent, followed by the trio.
Rob sat at the small kitchen table, holding a bedsheet to his forehead where a cut was formed diagonally. Kenny had a rip in his shirt and Sam had a cut on his cheek. The twins, Mary and Mike all looked unhurt, though shaken up. When Mike saw the trio, he got up and asked them if they're alright, especially Arthur, who assured him they were alright.
"Were you able to get who conjured the Dark Mark?" Rob asked his dad sharply.
"Unfortunately, no." Ben shook his head. "All we found was Crouch's elf holding Arthur's wand and we don't know who actually conjured the Mark."
"What?" Rob, Kenny and Sam asked in unison.
"Arthur's wand?" Mike questioned.
"And Crouch's elf?" Sam asked, utterly baffled.
With help from the trio, Ben explained what had happened in the woods. By the time they finished the story, everyone was in silence until Sam broke it.
"I knew Crouch was a sourpuss but to do that to his house elf… that's just straight up cruel, just as bad if Amos questioned her in his department." He said, shaking his head.
"And all she did was be in the wrong place at the wrong time, picking up a wand off the ground." Chrys agreed with him.
"Can someone now please explain what the big deal is about that skull in the sky?" David asked impatiently.
"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? It's Voldemort's symbol." Chrys said. "I learned about it from The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."
"And it also hasn't been seen in thirteen years." Ben said. "It's why people panicked, it was as though Voldemort was back."
"But why? What's so terrifying about it?" David frowned.
"Because Voldemort's followers would send the Dark Mark into the air whenever they've killed someone." Ben explained. The terror of it… it's unbelievable. Imagine coming home and finding the Dark Mark over your house, knowing that…" Ben looked choked up. "...you'll find your loved ones dead… everyone's worst fear…."
This left a foreboding silence until Rob removed the sheet from his forehead to check his cut with a mirror. "Of course, whoever conjured it scared off all the Death Eaters the moment they saw it. We caught the Roberts family before they could hit the ground. Their memories are being modified right now."
"Death Eaters? That's the name of Voldemort's followers?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah." Rob nodded. "The ones tonight had to be the ones that kept themselves out of Azkaban."
"For sure, though we can't prove it." Ben said.
"Without question." David added. "We actually encountered Draco in the woods, and he was so casual about the whole thing. It's so obvious that his dad is one of those bastards in those masks! We all know that Lucius was in league with Voldemort."
"Just… what's the point of his followers levitating those Muggles?" Arthur frowned, resulting in Ben making a hollow laugh.
"That's their idea of fun. Half of all the Muggle killings during when Voldemort was in power were done for fun. They clearly had a few drinks and couldn't resist reminding everyone that they're still at large. A little reunion as it were." He also frowned, but in disgust.
"And considering that they must've said that they weren't really loyal to Voldemort, they must've Disapparated in fear that he'd come back to punish them all." David theorised.
"Exactly." Rob nodded. "He wouldn't have been pleased with them for renouncing their loyalty to him."
"Then… whoever cast it must be more loyal than they are and did it to scare them off." Mike suggested.
"That's most likely why it was conjured." Ben shrugged. "But regardless… whoever conjured it had to be a Death Eater. Anyway, it's very late and Martha will be very worried when she hears about what happened. We'll only have a few more hours' sleep and then go get an early Portkey out of here."
Arthur got back to his bunk with his head going a mile a minute. He should feel exhausted, as it was nearly three in the morning, but he was wide away and concerned.
It was roughly three days ago now that he woke up with his scar burning from that dream involving Voldemort and Wormtail. And now tonight, for the first time in thirteen years, Voldemort's Dark Mark has appeared in the sky.
And he was thinking of his theory that Winky was accompanied by someone under an Invisibility Cloak. It can explain her movement when they first saw her in the wood, why Crouch went off to look where she was found beyond the clearing for a bit, and how he lost his wand. With this, the big question would be: who was under the Cloak?
Of course, he couldn't think of any suspects yet so he moved on to thinking about his letter that he sent to Sirius. He hoped that he got it and would reply soon.
Eventually, Arthur dozed off when his eyelids finally felt too heavy to keep open.
Honestly, Amos really has a thing for embarrassing himself, doesn't he?
And what those Death Eaters did is honestly disturbing.
