When everyone returned to Weasel Mountain, the hustle and bustle instantly vanished from their ears, leaving only the crisp chirping of insects.
Cedric had to go to the other side of the village, so after descending Weasel Mountain, he parted ways with them. The others continued forward,
under the cool moonlight, they walked through Ottery St Catchpole, chatting as they made their way along the damp path towards the Shabby Residence.
"You said you saw Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry looked at Kael, surprised, and asked.
"I only caught a glimpse, I'm not sure if I saw incorrectly," Kael said, "But that person's teeth were indeed white and bright, and he had golden hair, very much like Lockhart."
"You must have seen wrong," Ron said, "Lockhart is still at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, how could he possibly be watching the Quidditch World Cup."
"No." At this point, Mr. Weasley suddenly said from the front: "If I remember correctly, he was already cured a week ago... when Fudge visited St Mungo's.
"And when he returned, there was a large sum of money at the department."
"Did Lockhart donate?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"Not exactly a donation to the Ministry of Magic," Mr. Weasley said, "I also heard from someone in passing, it seems Lockhart realized his mistakes and decided to take out all his wealth from Gringotts to compensate those whose experiences he stole and help them restore their memories.
"Additionally, he transferred all book sales rights and dividends to the Ministry of Magic to help those with memory damage who need treatment."
Those in the same ward as him became the first batch of beneficiaries."
"All his wealth... plus all book revenues?" Ron said in surprise, "His books aren't cheap, how much money would that be, would Lockhart really give it away?"
"I don't know the specifics either."
Mr. Weasley said, "But it should be true, anyway his books can be sold again, just with the names replaced by those who truly did those things."
"So, is Lockhart fine now?" Harry asked.
"Of course." Ron scoffed, "Think about it, last year when he was a professor, everyone at Hogwarts bought seven of his books, that's tens of thousands of Galleons, and with what he saved before... those Galleons could pile up to a mountain."
Faced with so many Galleons, I guess anyone would forgive him..."
"But that's not right!" Hermione frowned, "He should be punished."
"No, I think this is punishment enough," Ron said.
Just thinking about losing tens of thousands of Galleons made Ron feel a pang of pain.
In his view, there was nothing scarier than this as a punishment.
Mr. Weasley remained silent.
Actually, about Lockhart, his original thoughts were the same as Hermione's, but thinking of the Longbottoms benefitting made him waver.
This seems like a coincidence; Lockhart was sent to St Mungo's, arranged in the same ward as the Longbottoms, and they became the first beneficiaries.
Kael nodded beside them.
Perhaps Lockhart neither wanted to stay in St Mungo's forever nor go to Azkaban, so he simply chose to spend money to buy peace.
But from the fact he could still watch the Quidditch World Cup, it seems this former Defence Against the Dark Arts professor kept a hand and didn't give all his money away.
His books were really popular, as long as the donated gold was shocking enough to satisfy everyone, no one would mind if he secretly kept a bit.
The few chatted along the way, quickly passing through Ottery St Catchpole, turning a corner at the path's end, the Shabby Residence appeared before them.
A shout came from the path.
"Oh, thank God, thank God!"
Mrs. Weasley had apparently been waiting for them all along, she rushed over wearing slippers, her face pale with a tense expression, clutching a rolled-up Daily Prophet.
"Arthur, I was so worried, thank goodness you're all okay..."
She stepped forward and hugged Mr. Weasley, the newspaper slipped powerlessly from her hands to the ground.
Kael casually picked it up.
[Terror at the Quidditch World Cup]
The headline was captivating, accompanied by a large photo below showing panicked crowds and a messy camp.
"So quickly?" Kael said incredulously, "Things just ended and it's already reported?"
"Half an hour ago, the owl brought it," Mrs. Weasley said, "I was wondering why the newspaper was delivered at this time... didn't expect such a major event, Merlin's beard... the Dark Mark..."
Kael opened the newspaper.
Several heads behind him leaned in together, everyone wanting to see what the newspaper said.
This paper was much thinner than usual, clearly rushed to leverage the hype, the content all related to the Quidditch World Cup.
"Ministry of Magic panic... lax security... Dark Wizards at large... gross negligence... disgrace..."
Ginny read the article aloud, angrily exclaiming: "Didn't the person writing this see that even Dad, on vacation, rushed to the front line?"
"She wouldn't see it... even if she did, she wouldn't write it down." Charlie pointed at a name on the newspaper, "Look who it is, Rita Skeeter, her articles are almost all fabricated."
"This woman specifically opposes the Ministry of Magic." Percy said angrily, "She must know almost everyone from the department went to the Quidditch World Cup camp, which is why she rushed to release this paper overnight."
Harry looked up... staring at the name Rita Skeeter.
He remembered last year's report on him driving a flying car to school was written by this woman too.
"Alright, don't worry about this, it's good you're safe." Mrs. Weasley led them toward the house.
In the cramped and crowded kitchen, she made hot cocoa for everyone, though Mr. Weasley insisted on aged Flaming Whiskey.
Ten minutes later, Mrs. Weasley brought a large plate of sandwiches, the quickest thing she could make.
But no one cared about food right now.
After such a long ordeal, with Fire Dragon and riots, everyone's spirits were tense all along, now suddenly relaxing, back in the familiar safety, inevitably lethargic, just wanting to lie in bed and sleep well.
Mrs. Weasley seemed to understand this too, so she didn't ask anything, and after everyone finished eating, she urged them upstairs, leaving Mr. Weasley alone here.
Kael returned to his own home.
The house lights were on, but no one was there.
A plate on the table held a few slices of still-steaming fried eggs and bread, alongside a Daily Prophet identical to the one he saw earlier.
It seemed Chris and Diana too received the news and rushed back to the Ministry of Magic overnight.
One could imagine the busy days ahead for the Ministry of Magic due to Rita Skeeter's report.
But what Kael couldn't understand is why Chris and Diana, one from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the other from the Department of Mysteries, this riot had anything to do with them, causing them to return to the Ministry overnight.
Could it be the riot involved Veela and Leprechauns?
...