Section I

After dinner, Harry sat under a tree in the courtyard of the Burrow, chatting and eating Mrs. Weasley's vanilla-flavored ice cream. The evening wind blew through the tall grass, startling a flock of unknown birds, leaving their shadows fading away in the dark red sky.

"Twenty-three foreign wizards are missing, and four Muggles have been killed...... Hermione put down the Daily Prophet in her hand and frowned, "The Ministry of Magic suspects that this incident was a conspiracy by a group of Death Eaters in exile......"

"Oh, Death Eaters." Ron mumbled, ice cream in his mouth. "Dad said that after the fall of the Mysteries, many of the Death Eaters fled abroad and escaped the sanctions of the Ministry of Magic."

Hermione turned her head to look at Ron, the anger in her eyes causing her neck to shrink.

"Isn't the Ministry of Magic doing anything about these crazy people?"

"The Ministry of Magic can't do anything about them." Bill shook his head helplessly, the fanged earrings on his ears dangling, "Most of them are incognito or have changed their faces, and the Ministry of Magic has no hard evidence and doesn't have that much energy to hunt them down in foreign countries." ”

"Wolves always hurt." Fred added, "The Ministry of Magic is busy now, and lo and behold, Dad hasn't come back yet." ”

"They should be sent to jail, to ...... Azkaban. Hermione said firmly, but she was still a little hesitant to mention Azkaban, apparently her last year's contact with the Dementors had made her feel uncomfortable, "They have bad habits, and they deserve to be punished by the law, and the Ministry of Magic should not indulge them." ”

"Actually, they were punished." Bill said with some sternness, "After the fall of their masters, most of them were severely punished by the law, and the Ministry of Magic did not tolerate them. ”

"But it's true that some people are still at large, haven't they, they've just done something big." Ron was unconvinced, "Come to think of it, it's all around us, the Malfoys, and I guess they must have had a part in that night." ”

"Well, I don't like the Malfoys either, but I don't think they're in the Death Eaters - Charlie and I met them in the forest, while the Ministry of Magic was still confronting the Death Eaters." Bill said, as if thinking of something, and raised an eyebrow, "Besides, I don't think they would dare to do that." ”

Several people looked at Bill suspiciously, waiting for him to continue, Bill hesitated for a moment, and then said, "As the newspaper said, the Ministry of Magic suspects that this incident was done by Death Eaters from outside the country, and it makes sense. In fact, over the years, the Death Eaters in Britain have disappeared and nothing has happened. ”

"I don't think they're going to change their ways." George chimed in.

"Who knows." Bill shrugged, "But a lot of people think that what really made the Death Eaters watch out was a series of disappearances and murders a few years ago. ”

"Disappearances?" Harry and the others were intrigued, Harry frowned, "Death Eaters did it?" ”

"No, quite the opposite." "Many Death Eaters have been murdered or disappeared, unknowingly, all by the Ministry of Magic. ”

"They deserve it, don't they?" Ron huffed, "It's a pleasure." ”

"No, it's different." Bill interrupted Ron's words, he looked at the few people around him sternly, and shook his head, "In those cases, it wasn't just the Death Eaters who were killed, but their relatives as well. ”

"Oh, my God." Hermione couldn't help but cover her mouth, and her face turned pale.

"I remember very well that there were many reports of disappearances or murders in the newspapers during those days, and there was schadenfreude at first, but soon everyone was worried, especially after the Clem Rylis massacre...... "He was once a Death Eater, but his conscience found out that he had defected to the Ministry of Magic before the fall of the mysterious man, and thanks to his information, many people had been spared the murder of the Death Eaters." Because of this, the Ministry of Magic later did not hold him accountable, and Dad said that at the time of his trial, the jury unanimously acquitted him. ”

"What happened after that...... Ron asked.

"Poor Lelis, when it was noticed that he and his family had not shown up for a long time, went to his house outside Nottingham to look for him-"

Bill gasped, his face turned ugly, and he seemed to recall some terrible memory: "But only mutilated bodies were found—him, his wife, his mother, and his two children. ”

For a moment, no one spoke, digesting the terrible hearing in oppressive silence.

"Later, did you catch the murderer?" Hermione asked uneasily.

"Perhaps." Bill shook his head and said, "The Ministry of Magic has put a lot of pressure on the Ministry of Magic, and it has put a lot of effort into the investigation, and even Dumbledore has gone to help. Later, the Ministry of Magic stated that they had captured the murderer, also a Death Eater, motivated by revenge for their betrayal of the mysterious man; However, it was also said that the Ministry of Magic did not catch the murderer at all, but only found a scapegoat. Regardless, after that, the attacks ceased to take place, and most of the former Death Eaters in Britain had emigrated, with the rest carefully tucked their tails. ”

The unpleasant conversation did not continue, and everyone lost interest. When Mrs. Weasley's voice came from the other side of the house, beckoning them to return, they dusted off the blades of grass and walked without a word through the low, dense bushes towards the Burrow. The sky darkened completely, taking on a deep inky blue, and the crescent moon was like a hook, casting a cold glow in the thin night mist......

Section II

For the last few days of August, London was entangled in continuous rain, and the sky was overcast with clouds, which looked like an iron-grey relief, and the cool breeze carried a faint earthy smell, urging hurried passers-by to hurry up and walk through the wet streets.

Retracting his gaze from the window, Sauron sat in an old wicker chair and picked up the newspaper on the table, and on the copper shelf by the fireplace, Phobertol was lazily napping. Sauron squinted at the news in the newspaper, pausing to think about something before continuing to read in silence.

Not surprisingly, the World Cup catastrophe continued to dominate the newspapers, and despite the influence of the British Ministry of Magic over the major media outlets, the effect was not noticeable – with concerns on all sides in the face of huge casualties, and an overwhelming flood of questions and criticism.

In fact, as the main driver of the disaster, Sauron himself knew more than anyone could have imagined, so he didn't care much about most of the story, but he soon discovered something that interested him.

"We are deeply saddened to learn of this tragic news – dozens of innocent victims have been killed in this disaster. It is clear that it was the failure of the British Ministry of Magic to deal with this humanitarian catastrophe that was the result of the British government's consistent policy of hostility and persecution against dissident democrats. On behalf of the U.S. Department of Magic and the democrats, I would like to strongly demand that the British Government apologize for this incident and cease its usual dictatorial and high-handed political methods......"

Sauron's eyes narrowed, and there was no emotion on his calm face, and it wasn't until he read the entire report that a grim smile mixed with contempt broke out at the corner of his mouth.

"Dogs can't change their." Sauron muttered to himself, tossing the newspaper on the table.

But Sauron noticed something else - half an envelope peeking out from under the newspaper, the dark red lacquer glowing in the dim light, it was the annual Hogwarts start notice, which had been sent just last night. The new school year is about to begin, and all students are expected to embark on the train to school on the first day of September with a variety of emotions.

The dark phoenix woke up at some point, and silently flew down to Sauron's shoulder, rubbing his cheek lightly with his head, while Sauron raised his hand to stroke the smooth feathers of the phoenix, they didn't need to say a word but had a tacit understanding, as if they had been doing it for more than ten years of dependence on each other.

Sauron glanced at the newspaper spread out on the table—in the photo above the text of the report, a middle-aged-looking man in a well-dressed suit was still talking to the reporter's flashlight, and his gesture reminded him of Girod Lockhart.

Needless to say, the color of the newspaper began to yellow, the handwriting became blurred, and in the blink of an eye, a few seconds later, the table was empty except for a faint layer of dust.

Sauron got up and looked out the window, his face reflected in the window, calm with a hint of calm. The sky was getting darker, and the wind crackled against the glass with cold rain. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and blazing white thunder lit up the streets in an instant.

"Look at that, Mom." On a sparsely populated street, a passing child pulled his mother and said, "There's a man behind the window over there." ”

The mother raised her head and followed the child's direction, but only saw a dilapidated old house, among the cluttered vines, and there was nothing behind the dilapidated and dark windows, as if there were empty eye sockets without eyeballs, and they stared at it with bad intentions, which made people feel cold.

"You're wrong." The mother said perfunctorily, and hurried away with the child, as far away from this terrifying place as other passers-by.

It's just that anyone can really stay away from this qiē?

A storm is approaching, and under the gloomy sky, a flock of crow-like birds fly silently into the rain......