Harry spent the entire afternoon sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, staring blankly into the flames. Michael was beside him, equally listless, not even inclined to speak.
They desperately wanted to do something, but the adults had strictly forbidden them from leaving the room. Lupin still hadn't returned, and a strange young witch, Tonks, was acting as their "guard."
"Hey, come on, cheer up, will you?" Tonks tried to lighten the mood. "Look at me—"
She turned her nose into a pink pig snout and made snorting sounds, but the two children in front of the fireplace didn't even spare her a glance.
"That's the first time my trick hasn't worked!"
Tonks was utterly disheartened. Raising her voice, she said, "Look on the bright side, the child was kidnapped, not killed, which means the kidnappers definitely need him alive. You have to trust the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic; we'll definitely get him back!"
This time, Michael finally glanced over.
"Did they catch those three who broke out of prison?"
Tonks: "..."
"Did you find the Obscurus?" Michael asked again.
Tonks: "Uh..."
"I heard Dementors attacked passersby in Diagon Alley yesterday. Have you given any explanation for that?"
Tonks was on the verge of tears. She felt that not all the blame was hers, but the accusations kept piling up, almost crushing her to the ground.
Michael sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands in frustration, the scene of everyone leaving that morning replaying in his mind again and again.
He had actually noticed... he'd noticed Wade wasn't in high spirits and seemed quite tired, but he'd thought everyone was going shopping and couldn't leave Wade alone, so he hadn't suggested he stay home.
If he had voiced his observation then... if he had forcefully insisted Wade rest at home... would this incident have been avoided?
The blazing red flames in the fireplace suddenly turned green. Several people turned their heads simultaneously. Tonks nervously drew her wand, shielding the two children behind her.
Then, they heard a young voice: "Ouch! What are you all doing here? We don't need this many people!"
"Fred, you stepped on my foot!"
"Sorry, Ginny, but I'm George!"
A group of redheads tumbled out of the fireplace in a jumble, as if their order hadn't been arranged. Ron was directly at the bottom, and Ginny was pushed onto the sofa by her brother's knee, falling with a thud.
Fred and George, not to mention, tripped over their younger siblings and fell one after another, covered in soot.
Following them was Mr. Arthur Weasley, who barely maintained an adult's composure, stumbling out of the fireplace, muttering:
"You blasted rascals, you're in for it!"
"Mr. Weasley!" Harry, surprised, peered out from behind Tonks. "And Ron, Ginny, George, Fred! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, long time no see, Harry, and this one, that's Michael, isn't it?" Arthur Weasley patted the dust off himself and said, "We're here to pick you up, kids."
"—Pick us up?"
Harry was confused, while Michael immediately frowned.
"I heard Wade's missing, what happened?" Fred asked, pulling his sister up.
Ginny's face flushed, and she hid behind her brother, wishing her presence was infinitely close to zero.
George then asked, "We came to see if we could help... the more people looking, the better, right?"
"Are you okay, Harry?" Ron looked at him with concern, as if he were a fragile porcelain doll. "I guess you're not doing so well right now..."
"What happened?" Fred asked, pushing his brother aside.
A cacophony of voices surrounded him. Harry opened his mouth but couldn't speak, feeling as if his throat were filled with sand.
How could he explain it—that he carelessly lost his friend?
Fortunately, the question didn't need an answer, because before Harry could speak, the door suddenly burst open, and the cold wind, carrying tiny snowflakes, instantly swept in.
Dumbledore stood in the doorway, his expression terrifying. Thin flakes of snow covered his silver-white hair and shoulders.
As if containing countless surging angers, the old man's body instantly silenced everyone, and the chaotic noises vanished.
Dumbledore's anger wasn't directed at the people inside. He composed his expression, scanned the room, then nodded at them. With a flick of his wand, a silver-white Patronus shot out instantly.
A moment later, a series of "bangs" like firecrackers echoed in the courtyard. Several wizards Apparated into existence, quickly walked into the living room, and pulled down their hoods.
Harry saw a pale Lupin, Sirius, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, the Auror Kingsley, who had once tried to take Sirius away, and two other wizards he didn't recognize.
A fearsome-looking wizard with two different colored eyes saw them and frowned, saying, "Why are there so many children?"
Kingsley said calmly, "Because the one who's missing is also a child, Moody—these are probably his friends from school."
Alastor Moody "tsk"-ed. "I see most of them are from the Weasley Family... Arthur, quickly take them home! This isn't for kids to be involved in!"
"Wade is our friend!" George said indignantly. "And our Magic isn't bad either; don't underestimate us! We can help!"
"The only help you can provide is to not hinder our rescue operation!" Moody said coldly.
"We're involved too!" Michael said, trying to stay calm, his voice still trembling slightly. "Wade... we were right there when Wade went missing, maybe we can provide some clues!"
Moody's blue magical eye swiveled around, then suddenly fixed on Michael. He asked gruffly, "Oh... and did you find any clues, sir?"
Michael bit his lip, unable to speak.
"This is entirely my fault," Lupin suddenly said. "I took them out, but I... I was too careless, I didn't notice in time..."
"It's pointless to argue about whose fault this is now. The most important thing is to find Wade as quickly as possible."
Dumbledore spoke, still appearing very calm, as if the extremely angry scene Harry and the others had witnessed earlier was just an illusion.
Even though Harry was in a terrible mood, he couldn't help but feel a little confused. If Dumbledore's anger wasn't directed at Lupin, then who was he so angry with?
Just as he was thinking this, the Headmaster looked over. "Harry, Michael, this place might not be safe anymore. You need to stay at the Weasleys' for a while. Arthur, take the children."
"Right away, Dumbledore," Arthur Weasley quickly said.
"We want to stay!"
"I can help!"
"We're not children anymore!"
Everyone started clamoring, and some of the adult wizards frowned, looking annoyed as if they were dealing with unruly children.
"I know," Dumbledore said calmly. "When I need help, I will ask for yours. But right now, we need to act quickly to deal with this. I hope you can cooperate with the arrangements, alright?"
The Headmaster's voice seemed to possess a certain Magic, calming everyone who was restless, worried, and indignant.
His tone was gentle, but his attitude was unshakeable. Harry felt that if they continued to argue, wouldn't it just prove that it was right not to involve them?
Michael clenched his fists and was the first to stand up. "Let's go, Harry. They're right, we can't make things more difficult right now."
Arthur Weasley breathed a sigh of relief, quickly sprinkling Floo Powder into the fireplace, and simultaneously told Michael, "—The Burrow, kids, that's your destination."
The green flames took the children away one by one, and silence immediately fell over the room.
"Tell me what happened, Remus," Dumbledore said.
"Yes," Lupin said in a low voice. "This morning, I accompanied them to a Muggle supermarket to buy Christmas presents…"
Means of transport, routes taken, addresses and times, the situation in the vicinity before and after Wade's disappearance…
Lupin explained everything as quickly as possible.
"The Muggle supermarket heard a child went missing, and they offered some help. Fortunately, the supermarket we went to had just installed surveillance cameras recently…"
"Surveillance cameras?" Sirius asked, puzzled. "What are those?"
"They're Muggle Streaming Mirrors; they can record images," Tonks eagerly explained to him.
Lupin paused, and seeing that no one else had any further questions, he said, "We looked at the surveillance footage and found an old man who was very suspicious."
He pondered how to describe him, then decided that the person's appearance, height, and other features might not be reliable. Just then, he heard Dumbledore say:
"Let me see your memory."
The old man touched the table with his finger, and an ancient stone basin immediately appeared.
He said, "I've brought the Pensieve."
Lupin didn't hesitate. He inserted the tip of his Wand into the hair at his temple, pointing it at his temple.
A moment later, he pulled out his Wand, its tip trailing several strands of silvery, thread-like substance, ethereal like wisps of cloud.
Lupin deposited his memory into the Pensieve, and Dumbledore stirred it twice with his Wand. A miniature supermarket scene immediately appeared above the Pensieve. Wade was pushing a cart, picking out items, and a bald old man casually approached him…
Dumbledore's face completely hardened.
...
Wade was asleep when he suddenly heard a strange whooshing sound. He groggily opened his eyes, and after seeing the object in front of him, his heart nearly stopped—
A monster, whose head alone was the size of a house, was looking down at him. Then it extended a tongue as huge as a bedsheet and licked towards him, its white barbs like standing javelins, trembling as they lunged at him.
Wade's hair stood on end. He did a carp jump to spring up, drew his Wand, and swung it hard!
The tip of the Wand sparked, and though it caused no harm, the monster was startled. It let out a "meow" and leaped dozens of meters high, instantly shooting away.
Wade looked in shock at his uncooperative Wand, then at the "monster" that had jumped away, only to realize that it was just a very long-haired cat.
He had always been the one to use the Engorgement Charm to test others' nerve limits. Was someone now using that trick on him?
No…
Wade suddenly remembered how high the cat had jumped. He fell silent for a moment, then slowly looked up.
The ceiling seemed incredibly high and distant, far exceeding its usual height in his memory, and the chandelier was also astonishingly large.
Then he looked at his surroundings—
He had previously thought the floor was white, but it was actually white silk fabric, with the interwoven fibers clearly visible.
A truly massive bed, covering eight hundred square feet.
A rabbit-sized mottled larder beetle crawled past, its yellowish-brown carapace gleaming. Its feathery antennae twitched twice, as if greeting him warmly, or perhaps assessing whether this strange creature in front of it was edible.
Wade finally realized that no one was playing a trick on him with an Engorgement Charm; he himself had been shrunk.
—It's fine. Professor Snape had just taught about Shrinking Potion last semester. Wade had supplies of both this Potion and its corresponding antidote…
He reached into his pocket, then froze.
—Right, he hadn't brought his Wardrobe Space with him this time.
But perhaps this was a good thing… While he couldn't immediately solve his current predicament, if he had brought his Wardrobe Space, perhaps that magical item, which had taken countless efforts to create, would no longer belong to him.
Wade quickly calmed himself, lightly waving his Wand as he searched for other options.
As expected… this place was indeed protected by an Anti-Apparition Charm; the enemy wasn't as careless as he thought…
Extensive Repelling Charms, Shielding Charms… now even Owls couldn't find him, and there was no way a wizard or Muggle could accidentally stumble in…
The room had only a few small windows, placed high up and unable to open. But there were vents near the ceiling…
Wade glanced at the dark grates, feeling the call of freedom beckoning him.
If he turned into an eagle, he could fly up there.
But he was in an abnormal state right now, and he wasn't sure if his Animagus transformation would work properly… Plus, this was his last resort. If he impulsively exposed it to the enemy without successfully escaping, he wouldn't get a second chance to use it.
Wade didn't know if anyone was secretly observing him at the moment, but he suppressed the urge to transform and fly out immediately, opting to test things with conventional methods.
"*Diffindo!*"
The spell's light struck the glass, leaving only a shallow crack.
And perhaps because his Magical Power was dissipating, when he cast spells, fine, golden, powdery light would appear around his wand tip, reminding Wade of the Fairies Professor Flitwick used to decorate the classroom every Christmas.
That's how it looked when those little creatures used Magic.
He looked at the toy-like Wand in his hand and couldn't help but sigh.
Not far away, the cat that had jumped off the bed in fright looked at the tiny person on the bed, then at the fine, shimmering golden light. Its round, black pupils widened slightly.
It bared its teeth, lowered its body, and its paws landed silently on the ground as it slowly took two steps forwa
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