On the dark forest road, Clark was in front, Hermione and Neville were behind, scurrying and running.

"The direction in which the Dark Lord mark just now appeared, it seems to be Harry's ......"

Before Hermione could finish her question, Clark shook his head, "It's not clear yet, let's go over and take a look." ”

Because of the riots in the camp, the path in the woods was densely packed with people.

But they all looked up nervously at the moment, looking at the huge skull above the forest. It has now risen very high, illuminating the entire woods like a terrifying neon signboard.

The three of Clark followed the dark path and continued deeper and deeper into the woods, looking for traces of Red, George, Ginny, and Ron and Harry.

On the way, they saw a group of goblins fighting against a bag of gold coins in front of them, and the black magic mark in the sky seemed to frighten them, and instructed them to prepare to divide the gold coins quickly and disperse.

They walked a little further, into a soft silver light.

Looking through the woods, they saw three slender and beautiful girls standing in a clearing, looking up at the sky, their faces full of horror.

Mei Wa was surrounded by a group of young wizards, who were also frightened, but they were still speaking in loud voices.

"Don't be afraid, I work on the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, specializing in slaughtering fire dragons!" One of the young wizards shouted.

"Phew! You're not! His friend yelled, "You're the one who washes the dishes at the Leaky Cauldron...... As for me, I'm a vampire hunter, and I've killed more than ninety ...... Rest assured, I will protect you. ”

Clark and the others had no intention of exposing these lies, and continued to speed up their pace and go deeper into the forest.

Along the way, they also ran into Draco Malfoy and his party, the little bully seemed to be frightened by the things above him, and when he saw Clark and them, he tried to come together to ask for Clark's help, but he refused.

After freeing themselves from the entanglement of Malfoy's men, they walked for a short time, and finally came to a short distance below the Dark Mark and saw a clearing in the forest.

It's just that the situation in the open space doesn't seem to be very good at this time.

A dozen tall wizards were forming a menacing circle, wand in hand, pointing to the clearing ahead, as if fearing that some dangerous figure would rush out and attack them.

In their encirclement, there were only Harry, Ron, and Sirius Black, and in the face of the circle of wizards around them, they could only hold their heads in their hands and lie on the ground, looking very embarrassed.

"Stop!" A familiar voice sounded, "Stop! That's my son! ”

Some of the wizards in the circle lowered their wands when they heard this, and it turned out that Mr. Weasley had strode to the center of the clearing, blocking Harry and the others.

"Ron-Harry-" his voice trembled and his expression frightened, "Sirius—are you all alright?" ”

"Get out of the way, Arthur." A cold, emotionless voice said.

It was Barty Crouch, who and the other wizarding officials in the ministry had gathered around, but the wand in his hand was still pointing at Sirius, and he didn't put it down.

"Sirius! Appear at the scene of the Dark Mark! I know, this is what you did, right? ”

He snapped, his sharp eyes sweeping between the three of them, finally resting on Sirius's face.

"It wasn't my godfather who did it!" Harry said, pointing to the skeleton above his head.

"We didn't do anything!" Ron stood up with Harry, rubbing his elbow and looking at his father angrily, "Why are you attacking us?" ”

"Don't lie, sir!" Crouch was still pointing his wand at Sirius, his eyes bursting out - he looked a little crazy, "You were found at the crime scene!" ”

"Especially you, Sirius, a former Death Eater......"

"Mr. Crouch," Clark walked into the clearing with Hermione and Neville, "the Minister has already identified the fact that Sirius is not a Death Eater and published it in the newspapers, and you say that you are slandering!" ”

"Barty," a witch in a woollen dressing coat whispered into his ear, "and two of them are children, Barty, and they can't—"

Barty Crouch snorted angrily and lowered his wand.

At this point, in order to clear Harry's suspicion, Mr. Weasley anxiously asked, "You three, where did this mark come from?" ”

"Over there," Sirius said calmly, pointing to the grove behind them, "there's someone behind that tree...... It should have been his incantation, and of course, if nothing else, he should have been knocked unconscious by your incantation. ”

"Oh, he's just standing there, isn't he?"

Barty Crouch still looked at Sirius with his furious eyes, his face full of suspicion.

"He also recited a mantra, didn't he? How do you know so clearly? Maybe you'll be familiar with that spell, Sirius—"

Harry glared at Crouch, and some of the ministry's wizarding officials frowned.

It seems that everyone except Crouch thinks that it is absolutely impossible for Harry, Ron, and Sirius to conjure skeletons.

They listened to Sirius, and one by one raised their wands again, pointed them in the direction he was pointing, and squinted into the dark bushes.

"Maybe we're late," said the witch in the woollen dressing coat, shaking her head, "and there are so many of us, and in this case, he should have seen a bad apparition long ago." ”

"I don't think so."

A wizard with a short brown beard spoke - it was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father.

"We weren't too late, and we fired the Stun Charm just in time, and there's a good chance that guy was hit...... We might even catch him......

"Amos, be careful!"

Several wizards kindly reminded him, only to see Mr. Diggory puff out his chest, raise his wand, and stride through the clearing, disappearing into the darkness.

Seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shouting.

"It's done! Caught it! There's someone here! Unconscious! Yes - ouch - oh my God......"

The sound of Mr. Diggory yelling made everyone outside nervous.

"You caught someone?" Crouch's tone was full of disbelief, "Who? Who is it? ”

They heard the snapping of branches, the rustle of fallen leaves, and the creaking of footsteps, and then Mr. Diggory stepped out from behind the bushes.

In his arms, holding a small, supple body, Clark recognized the tea towel at a glance, it was the house-elf they had seen in the top box of the Quidditch arena, Twinkle.

Harry and the others didn't know what was going on, and watched with curiosity as Mr. Diggory placed the house-elf at Barty Crouch's feet.

Mr. Crouch, who had always been known for his sternness and obedience, neither moved nor spoke.

The other officials of the Ministry of Magic stared at him with strange eyes, which made the atmosphere in the clearing even more oppressive, and even the insects in the forest were silent.

For a few seconds, Clark thought Crouch had fainted.

After all, he stood motionless, as if frozen, except for the fire-breathing eyes on his pale face, still staring fiercely at the sparkle on the ground.

Then, he seemed to come back to his senses.

"It's—impossible—impossible," he said in pause, "impossible—"

Crouch no longer has the calmness and composure he used to have, and his back, which has always been straight, has also bent.

He hurried around Mr. Diggory, not caring that the branches of the trees in the woods would cut through his clothes and mess with his appearance, and strode towards the place where Twinkle had been found.

"It's useless, Barty," shouted Mr. Diggory, at his back, "there's no one else there." ”

Crouch, however, seemed to ignore his words, as he seemed to be annoyed by the presence of his house-elves at the scene of the crime.

The wizarding officer of the Ministry of Magic in the clearing, along with Clarke, heard Crouch walking around the woods, and heard him rustle the leaves as he opened the bushes to look for them.

"That's a little embarrassing," Mr. Diggory looked down at the sparkling delirious figure, "Barty Crouch's house-elf...... I mean......"

Harry pricked up his ears when he heard this.

"Stop, Amos," retorted Mr. Weasley in a whisper, "do you really think that the elves did it?" The Dark Mark is a wizard symbol. A wand is required. ”

"But she's also holding a wand." Mr. Diggory spread his hands and said helplessly.

"What?" Mr. Weasley's eyes widened.

"Here, you see," Mr. Diggory said, holding up a wand and handing it to Mr. Weasley, "she had this in her hand when I found her. ”

"That would be a violation of the third rule of the Wands Guidelines, which states that no non-human creature may carry or use a wand." Hermione whispered the terms of the law.

Ron gloated and said, "So, Mr. Crouch, Percy's most admired man, has broken the law with the elves in his house?" Is this a shield for criminals? ”

Clark glanced at him, this big mouth, but he said the truth of the matter by mistake.

It's a pity that Crouch's character is so strong that even if Ron guesses the truth, no one will believe him.

While the melon-eating crowd was secretly observing the development, there was another pop in the air, and a panting Ludo Bagman apparition appeared next to Mr. Weasley.

As soon as he appeared, he was startled by the dark mark in the sky, but before he could ask what was going on with his colleagues around him, Crouch happened to come back empty-handed.

The elder man's face was still terribly pale, his hands and mustache were twitching, and he didn't know whether he was angry or afraid.

"Where have you been, Barty?" Bagman asked, "Why didn't you come to watch the game?" Your house-elf has taken a seat for you—oh my God! ”

Bagman then noticed Twilight lying at his feet, "What's wrong with her?" ”

Crouch looked at his house-elf with a gloomy face, and said word by word, "She's been put under a stun spell." ”

"Someone put a stun spell? You mean, by you people? Why-"

Bagman's shiny round face suddenly showed a look of sudden realization, and his gaze scanned back and forth over the green skeletons and shimmers in the sky, and finally landed on Crouch's.

"Impossible!" He said, "Twinkle? Conjured up the Dark Mark mark? She doesn't know how to change! First of all, she needs a wand! ”

"But she does have a wand," said Mr. Diggory, "and I find her holding one, Ludo. If you don't have an opinion, Crouch, I think we should hear how she defends herself. ”

Crouch was unresponsive and did not seem to hear Mr. Diggory.

Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence as a tacit acquiescence, so he raised his wand, pointed at Twinkle and said, "Rise quickly!" ”

Lying on the ground, Shimmer was hit by the green light, and his body shook weakly, and then his brown eyes like copper bells opened.

It's just that the expression on her face is still dazed, and she doesn't seem to have come back to her senses.

"Elf!" Mr. Diggory asked sternly, "Do you know who I am?" I'm a member of the Magical Beasts Management Control Division! ”

Twinkle shuddered at Mr. Diggory's stern voice before she realized where she was.

She sat up with a shudder, and as soon as she looked up, she saw Mr. Diggory's feet, and then she slowly and trembled her gaze upwards over Mr. Diggory's face, reflecting the floating skeletal image in her large, dull eyes.

"Shh~" Flashing gasped, looked at the people gathered around the clearing in confusion, especially Mr. Crouch, who was pale, and then suddenly cried in fear.

But Mr. Diggory didn't care about that, "You saw it, goblin, someone just made a dark mark here, and you, just now, were found underneath the mark!" Now do you have anything you would like to explain? ”

"I-I-I don't, sir!" The sparkling voice was full of fear, "I don't know how to change, sir!" ”

"Don't try to lie to me, you still had a wand in your hand when you were discovered!" Mister Diggory roared, waving his wand in front of Shining.

At this moment, a weak voice suddenly sounded next to him.

"Sir, that wand, it seems to be mine!"

As soon as these words came out, the people in the clearing turned their faces to look at the one who spoke up.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Mr. Diggory asked incredulously.

Harry raised his hand in embarrassment, "Sorry, sir, if I'm not mistaken, it should have been my wand, I lost it!" ”

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