Chapter 427 — He's a Waste!!
"Enough. I can afford a dress for you, at least!"
Harry snapped.
"But Darren—if you had no money, why didn't you tell me?"
Darren fell silent for a moment, then finally spoke, his voice soft and tired.
"Brother… wanting to donate money is my own choice. Even if I end up living poorly, I shouldn't drag you into it."
"I can't let you suffer because of the things I choose to do. That would be selfish."
[Ding, Father Prudence +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding...]
Harry froze.
Only then did he truly understand what Darren was thinking.
It wasn't that his brother was foolish.
It wasn't that he was naïve.
He simply did good things because he wanted to—and he never wanted to involve others.
And because of that… Harry felt even worse.
Darren was too kind.
So kind that it bordered on painful.
Just like Malfoy had said—kind to the point of stupidity.
But Harry couldn't bring himself to say anything cruel.
His eyes turned red.
Finally, he said hoarsely,
"Then the one thousand Gold Galleons in your vault… they're mine to give you. And you're not allowed to donate them again. That's your money for food."
Darren almost laughed inwardly.
A thousand?
He had more than eighty million Gold Galleons now.
So he immediately wanted to refuse—
But Harry glared at him.
"You can ignore me on everything else. But you will take this money.
If you don't… then I'll donate all of mine too, and we'll both starve together."
Darren instantly shook his head.
No. Absolutely not.
If Harry donated everything… Darren would just be pretending to be poor, but Harry would actually be.
Visualizing it made Darren almost laugh.
In the end, he reluctantly accepted the Gold Galleons.
Only then did Harry finally smile.
"Kids! Hurry up!"
Mrs. Weasley's voice rang out from downstairs.
"We have to get to King's Cross—it's raining!"
The people eavesdropping by the door scattered immediately.
Darren pretended not to notice.
He answered loudly and went downstairs with Harry, luggage in tow.
"Wait a moment—there's a message from the Ministry!"
Mr. Weasley had just prepared to leave when he suddenly stopped.
He took out a quill and sat by the fireplace.
A wizard's head appeared in the flames.
"Arthur, Mad-Eye Moody's house was broken into… the Muggles even called the police. You're needed immediately."
Then the flames vanished.
Mr. Weasley looked apologetically at Darren and the others.
"Looks like I can't take you to the station…"
He turned to Mrs. Weasley.
"Molly, can you handle it?"
"Of course."
Mrs. Weasley kissed him on the cheek.
"You be careful."
Mr. Weasley flushed and hurried off.
His awkward expression made Mrs. Weasley laugh.
"Alright—let's go, everyone!"
The trip to the station was… awful.
They travelled by Muggle car.
Traffic jams everywhere.
The horn blasting constantly.
Ron's Pigwigdeon and Hermione's Crookshanks were frightened by the noise and clung tightly to Darren.
It made him deeply uncomfortable—
—but as a "little Holy Father," he praised them gently instead.
Finally, they reached King's Cross.
The crowd was overwhelming.
They had to slip through one by one when no one was watching.
Harry and the others went through quickly.
When it was Darren's turn…
A group of Muggle girls suddenly surrounded him.
They thought he was filming something—
or maybe a television actor.
They asked for autographs.
By the time Darren managed to escape, he practically crawled through the wall into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
When he finally sat down in the Hogwarts Express, he felt like he could breathe again.
Then he looked up.
Hermione's expression was dark.
She had shut the compartment door tightly.
"Listen," she said angrily,
"Do you hear what Malfoy is saying outside?"
Only then did Darren notice voices in the corridor.
Malfoy's tone was smug.
"My dad said I should've gone to Durmstrang instead. That's where you actually learn the Dark Arts."
"Not like Hogwarts with its useless defensive rubbish…"
"If you ask me, Dumbledore should have been replaced long ago. He can't even protect his own students—stubborn old fool."
Then Crabbe or Goyle asked something.
Malfoy laughed loudly.
"Why was Potter fighting me? Of course, because he's a waste."
"If I were there, if Darren were my brother, I'd have knocked him unconscious so he couldn't get involved at all."
"What kind of 'Savior' can't even protect his own brother?"
"He still thinks Darren was being heroic. Have you ever seen anything that stupid?"
Darren shot to his feet.
"I'm going to beat him unconscious—"
But Harry grabbed him.
"Actually… he's right."
Harry spoke quietly, eyes dark.
"He's right, and I can't even deny it."
"If I could, Darren… I really would knock you out."
"I'm useless."
Darren went silent.
Then his eyes turned red.
"I'm sorry, brother… I made you worry."
[Ding, Holy Father value +90]
[Ding, Father value +50]
[Ding, Father value +70]
[Ding...]
Harry stared at him for a moment.
Then suddenly said,
"Then swear it to me."
"If you ever face something like this again—
you won't rush in first."
Darren froze.
How could he ever promise that?
This kind of situation was practically the main source of his Father value.
He couldn't agree.
Harry saw it on his face.
"See? I knew you wouldn't promise."
"Even if you swore, you'd still rush in."
He sighed.
"…Fine. Do whatever you want."
"Just promise me one thing."
"Every single time—
you come back alive."
Darren looked at him seriously.
"I promise."
"No matter what… I'll come back alive, every time."
"Just like this time."
"Even when I felt death again and again…"
"I still crawled back."
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding...]
Darren quietly watched his Father value rise.
And in his heart, he swore yet another promise—
Next time—
He would still rush in.
But he would also come back alive.
He may be extremely selfish, but harry , his friends they were his family now.
He will still continue to act whenever he can profit but just like till now he has never truly harmed someone completely innocent,
He was by no means a good person, but he wasn't completely evil, perhaps has was evil but there definitely was good somewhere in him.
--
He really had to admit that all these years together he really got attached to his small little family and friends .
So while he won't care about how plot unfolded or how., but he will definitely save those he like,( lupin, tonks,fred)