"Wait, are they adding wizards to the movie?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"I have to say, that's a pretty creative idea…" Fred said. "But won't it feel a bit sudden? They should at least hint at it earlier!"
Percy frowned. "The plot's a mess! And they're portraying wizards as villains?"
"What's wrong with villains? Villains are cool, okay?" George retorted without hesitation, raising his voice slightly.
The wizards attacked to rousing music, fighting fiercely without retreating, while the Muggle soldiers appeared panicked.
Mrs. Weasley had initially dropped her knitting and grabbed her wand, ready to turn off the Streaming Mirror, but hearing her children's words, she slowly lowered her wand again.
Right, this is just a TV show made by Muggles, there's no need to make a fuss…
She suppressed her unease and chuckled self-deprecatingly, watching the screen more intently than before.
Wizards and Muggles started fighting… hmm, it's clearly fantasy. How many years has it been since wizards last participated in a Muggle war? But the scene of soldiers being incinerated was certainly very magical…
Mrs. Weasley silently evaluated.
"Something's not right."
Harry suddenly heard Michael whisper. He turned his head to see his Ravenclaw classmate staring at the screen with a serious expression.
"This magic is too real, and the spellcasting gestures… it doesn't look like something Muggles who know nothing about magic would imagine…" Michael murmured.
Harry looked closely and found it was true.
They had played a game called Magic Gate at Wade's house and knew how vastly different Muggle-imagined magic was from reality.
But the Weasleys didn't have such keen perception or experience; in their minds, magic was exactly as shown on screen.
"This… violates the Statute of Secrecy, doesn't it?" Harry asked uneasily.
With constant education from those around him, Harry now clearly understood the British Wizarding World's strict enforcement of the Statute of Secrecy.
He also lowered his voice and whispered, "Maybe some wizard leaked this information to a Muggle director… he's definitely in trouble."
Michael gave him a strange look. Harry scratched his head, confused. "Was I wrong?"
"I mean… this isn't acting! This part… it could very well be real! Maybe even happening right now!" Michael said in a very low voice.
"What?!" Harry exclaimed, startled.
At that moment, the Streaming Mirror was showing the laboratory scene. Although Harry's reaction was overly dramatic, no one found it strange.
"Oh…" Percy said with disgust. "This scene is disgusting. How could a Muggle director come up with something like this?"
"Not a director!" Ron corrected him. "The person who writes the script is called a screenwriter, right, Harry?"
Harry clenched his fists tightly, mumbled a vague assent, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.
If this really isn't a TV show… if it's truly happening…
Mrs. Weasley felt a strong unease again. She stood up and said, "Alright, children… this part is a bit unsuitable for young ones. You'd better go to bed. Tonight, I'm writing to FMC (Streaming Mirror Media Company)—they can't broadcast this kind of thing to children!"
"Wait, Mum! We're not children anymore!" the twins and Ron quickly interjected, trying to stop her.
"Your sister is!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily.
"I'm not! I'm twelve! And this is all fake, what's there to be scared of?" Ginny shrieked.
She didn't even care that Harry was still there, fiercely defending her right to watch the Streaming Mirror.
"Yeah, Mum." Even Percy, who had just been complaining about the plot, chimed in, "We've seen plenty of scary things at school! Compared to giant cockroaches, these scenes aren't so bad… and it's Christmas, after all."
Persuaded by her favorite son, Mrs. Weasley hesitated again and compromised, sitting down and warning, "Half an hour at most! Go to bed after this!"
"Yay!"
The children cheered, then turned back to watch. After only a short while, the scene suddenly changed. A skeletal old man, surrounded by numerous robed wizards, was giving a speech—
"When it's not you bleeding, can you pretend not to hear? When it's not your loved ones being killed, can you pretend you still have peace?"
Mrs. Weasley trembled all over. Before her mind could fully process it, her wand quickly turned off the Streaming Mirror.
"Mum—"
"You promised half an hour!"
"At least let us finish this episode!"
"It's too early to go to bed! I want to watch the Streaming Mirror! I want to watch wizards fight aliens!"
"Shut up!" Mrs. Weasley roared, blood rushing to her cheeks. She yelled, "Everyone back to your bedrooms! Sleep! Now!"
Her mother's volcanic anger stunned everyone. The room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Fred and George exchanged glances, neither daring to speak.
A few seconds later, Michael tugged at Harry, and the two were the first to stand up.
"Good night, everyone," Michael said.
Harry opened his mouth, finally managing to utter, "…Good night."
"I'm sorry, children." Mrs. Weasley's lips trembled as she said apologetically, "I shouldn't have been so harsh, but…"
"I understand, Mrs. Weasley, we're going back to our rooms," Michael said.
"But…" George started to say something hesitantly, then looked up at Harry's eyes, and a lightbulb went off in his head.
He grabbed Fred, who was still trying to protest, and pulled him up from the floor. "Alright then," he said, "early to bed, early to rise. We can go broomstick riding earlier tomorrow."
Ron had already headed upstairs, prompted by Harry, still feigning a disgruntled expression.
Ginny, having lost her teammates, glared angrily at her brothers, who showed no spirit of resistance. Noticing the unspoken understanding between them, her eyes darted around, and she got an idea.
"I know, Mum," Ginny said, hugging her mother sweetly and cutely. "You should rest early too."
"Oh, Ginny, dear." Mrs. Weasley caressed her youngest daughter's cheek with a cool hand, touched. "I'm so glad you're so sensible."
"We're going upstairs obediently too!" Fred, standing on the stairs, turned back to his twin brother. "Can't anyone else see this?"
George replied, "You can try again."
"Good idea."
Fred actually squeezed past him and came downstairs to the first floor. He deliberately circled Mrs. Weasley, and just as she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, he dashed upstairs, turning back to make a face.
"Fred, dear, you're so sensible!" George mimicked, pinching his voice, and successfully earned a roll of his sister's eyes.
Percy, who had been waiting for his younger siblings to protest, was dumbfounded. When he noticed his mother's sharp gaze turn to him, he struggled internally for a moment. In the end, he couldn't break free from the constraint of being "the most sensible child in the family."
Percy sighed, said goodbye to his mother, cast a lingering glance at the Streaming Mirror, and trudged upstairs.
After seeing all her unruly children return to their bedrooms, and ensuring no one secretly snuck out, Mrs. Weasley reopened the Streaming Mirror. She muted it and watched quietly alone in the living room.
The pale blue light of the Streaming Mirror reflected on Mrs. Weasley's face, making her look bloodless. Her fingers gripped her apron tightly, trembling uncontrollably.
It must be… that person, right? Grindelwald…
After the terrifying Dark Lord's escape, his picture had appeared on the front page of the Daily Prophet. The reporter had used overly objective, subtly fawning language to inform readers about the man's "great achievements."
When Peter Pettigrew and the other two escaped, it caused a stir across the British Wizarding World. The Ministry of Magic quickly launched a pursuit, and reporters in the newspapers frequently raised questions, implying that the Ministry's failure to catch them was due to incompetence or covert operations.
However, after Grindelwald's escape, the Daily Prophet mentioned it only once, and then it was as if it had never happened. No one called for a pursuit, and no one condemned him.
—Of course… Grindelwald isn't a British wizard, and he's almost never operated in Britain before…
Even if he does something now… it has nothing to do with British wizards like them… especially since the other side of the conflict is a Muggle force…
Mrs. Weasley tried to comfort herself, but she couldn't truly relax.
As she watched, she suddenly jumped up, checked the doors and windows, and then reinforced the protective and concealment charms around the Burrow. Only then did she sit down uneasily.
By now, the Streaming Mirror had returned to its regular programming, but the funny or tense plots could no longer stir Mrs. Weasley's emotions as before.
She sat on the sofa, wringing her hands, wishing desperately for her husband to come home soon.
…
"Good night."
"Good night."
The Weasley siblings exchanged goodnights, conveying understanding through glances only they could decipher.
"Ahem." Ron fake-coughed twice and told Percy, "I'll squeeze in with Harry and Michael tonight, so I won't disturb your rest."
Percy couldn't have been happier. He said good night, not thinking about anything else, his mind full of the unfinished plot from earlier. He returned to his bedroom.
*BANG!*
When the door closed, Fred and George immediately poked their heads out, looked upstairs and downstairs, then quickly darted into Harry's and the others' bedroom.
Harry had already quickly hidden the randomly discarded socks under the mattress and was rummaging through his trunk.
"Actually, I have a Streaming Mirror too, it's just a bit small. Sirius gave it to me before… Ah, found it!"
Harry pulled out the Streaming Mirror. Before he could turn it on, he heard the door creak open.
They all turned their heads in alarm, but didn't see Mrs. Weasley's angry face. They only saw the door pushed open a narrow crack, and then their little sister squeezed in sideways.
"Go back to your bedroom, Ginny!" Fred said, rudely shooing her. "You promised Mum you'd go to bed early."
"Hmph! No way!" Ginny crossed her arms and threatened, "If you don't let me join, I'll loudly call Mum!"
"What?! How could you…"
"Keep your voices down, or Mum really will come running!" George urged. "Hurry, Harry. I don't want to miss any more of the story!"
"Okay." Harry turned on the Streaming Mirror. The Weasley brothers quickly drew the curtains and turned off the lights in the room, pretending everyone was asleep.
Hearing Harry's voice, Ginny flushed. She squeezed in next to Ron, with Fred on her other side. They all pulled the blankets, stretching them across to barely cover everyone.
Grindelwald's speech was nearing its end. He hadn't said much, and then the screen showed the miserable fate of the experimental subjects from different angles: a natural pit filled with many corpses, and the tearful confession of a Muggle official.
Ginny huddled tightly against Fred, hearing Ron voice the question on her mind:
"I don't know… but I don't think this is a TV show, do you?" Ron said uncertainly. "The main character… and the other characters haven't appeared yet."
"Actually… Michael just said… this might be real…"
Harry said, feeling cold all over even under the blankets.
Ginny shivered.
"Don't joke, mate," Ron said, his voice tight. "If this were real, it would've been discovered ages ago! The Aurors at the Ministry of Magic aren't useless!"
"Aurors can't know everything," Fred said, his face grim. "How many Muggles are there compared to Aurors? They can't possibly keep an eye on the whole world."
George added, "And the place in the video doesn't look like Britain… that Muggle's accent sounds American."
As they spoke, the screen suddenly flickered, returning to the male protagonist tracking aliens.
A moment later, the scene changed again. A sweating wizard stood in the center, saying to someone off-screen, "Are you ready… What, it's already started!"
He quickly turned to face the camera, wiping sweat from his brow as he declared, "On behalf of the FMC, I solemnly announce that the footage just shown has absolutely no connection to us! It… it was…"
He quickly glanced at someone off-screen, then stammered, "It… it was some people illegally hijacking our signal, which is why that footage appeared… This is the Wizarding World's first signal hijacking incident… Erm… we will strengthen our defenses as quickly as possible to prevent similar incidents from happening again…"
He kept looking to the side as he spoke, unsure if he was being threatened or if his superior was constantly prompting him on what to say.
"Um… our company is not responsible for any statements or images in the video. These have nothing to do with us… The part of the show you just missed will be replayed. Please continue watching, everyone…"
After a long silence, Fred spoke in an astonished tone, "Merlin's beard… it's all true!"
"That's terrifying…" Ron whispered. "Those Muggles… and Grindelwald… Now I understand why people were so afraid of him…"
Beside them, Michael's face was unusually pale, but in the darkness, no one noticed.
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