Chapter 436 – Scream!!
"I swear… Malfoy will be one of them."
"That entire family is made of bastards!"
Moody roared in fury.
But no one paid him any attention.
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were both staring at Darren in deep concern, as though afraid he would collapse at any moment.
What they were seeing inside the Pensieve was enough to break anyone.
Even Dumbledore felt horror claw into his heart.
The Death Eaters had tortured Darren with countless spells.
Some of them were so cruel that death would have been kinder than survival.
Now Dumbledore finally understood why the necklace he had given Darren had reacted that night.
It turned out that Darren, in unbearable pain and confusion, had cast a lethal curse on himself.
Only the necklace had stopped it.
Dumbledore finally understood—
Darren had nearly killed himself.
And it was his gift that had saved him.
When he watched Darren being tortured, Dumbledore felt something worse than rage.
If he had been there that night…
He might not have saved Darren.
He might have killed him himself—
just to end his suffering.
Even death, at that moment, would have been mercy.
Then Dumbledore looked back at Darren standing beside him now.
And he realized something that frightened him even more.
Darren endured.
Although the memory showed his mental collapse, although the pain had driven him to madness…
Now he was standing here.
Watching it.
Still breathing.
Still aware.
Which meant—
what finally broke him had not been this.
Something worse was coming.
Dumbledore did not have to wait long.
When the tortured Darren was at the brink of death, the Death Eaters Apparated with him into a Muggle war zone.
A land drowning in blood.
A place where death went unnoticed.
A terrifying thought rose in Dumbledore's chest—
And then Darren's body trembled.
"Don't look!"
"Don't look, Darren!"
Dumbledore reached out to block his view—
but when he touched Darren's face, it was already wet.
"Headmaster…"
"I can still hold on…"
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
[Ding, Father value +100]
Darren forced the words out with a smile that shattered the heart.
Dumbledore felt something close to despair.
Then—
They saw it.
The Death Eaters tortured Muggle women and children in front of Darren.
Not to kill them.
But to hurt them.
A child's neck was pressed against the tip of a wand.
Blood ran down the wood—
but the child was still alive.
The child's eyes…
Even Dumbledore could not bear to meet them.
Inside the memory—
Darren begged.
Cried.
Screamed.
He did not beg for his life.
He begged for theirs.
"Kill them!"
"Stop it!"
"Please—just kill them!"
Dumbledore shouted:
"Stop watching!"
But Darren shook his head.
Tears poured down his face.
"Headmaster…"
"Let me look."
"Let me see the sin I committed."
Dumbledore staggered backward.
A dreadful understanding formed in his mind—
And then it happened.
Darren's magic rioted.
Out of control.
Like a flood.
Like death itself.
Every surviving Muggle fell.
The life drained from their eyes.
The silence afterward stabbed into Dumbledore's heart.
Even adults could not endure this.
And Darren was just a child.
After that—
Darren went mad.
He killed every Death Eater he could reach.
With fists.
With wild magic.
With pure rage.
"Headmaster…"
At Darren's side, his voice trembled.
"It was my Obscurus back then."
"You said Obscurus is not always good…"
"But at that time, Obscurus was the only
thing I had."
He laughed hollowly.
Dumbledore wanted to pull him away.
To shield his eyes.
To end it.
But Darren shook his head again.
His eyes were red.
Lost.
"I killed so many people…"
"I chose to forget."
"I was a coward."
"And now I remember…"
"I was a monster."
He walked deeper into the memory.
Dumbledore reached out—
missed.
Did not even know when he lost the courage to grab him.
Then—
An even deeper hell.
The Death Eaters were enraged.
They dragged Darren from battlefield to battlefield.
Everywhere—
suffering.
This time, Darren had nothing left.
No power.
No strength.
Not even Obscurus.
He screamed.
Cried.
Fell.
"Let me die!"
Over and over.
The Death Eaters laughed.
Just before dawn, they Apparated him back.
One wanted to kill him.
But they stopped—
and laughed instead.
"Let him live like this."
"He's already broken."
One by one, they vanished.
The magic seal on Darren slowly lifted.
He awoke—
and cast Obliviate on himself.
And somehow…
Today…
He remembered.
Inside the office, Professor McGonagall screamed:
"Get him out!"
"Darren—now!"
Dumbledore reacted instantly.
He seized Darren.
The boy was no longer conscious.
Only screaming.
Only shaking.
Only pain.
They rushed in a flash of flames.
The school infirmary.
"Poppy!"
Dumbledore shouted.
"Magic riot!"
"Memory collapse!"
"He must forget it now!"
"He's trying to kill himself!"
Darren struggled violently.
His eyes were empty.
His mouth whispered only one thing—
"Let me die…"