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Chapter 646 – Sneaky Malfoy!!
Darren pretended not to understand anything, standing to the side and watching Ginny and the others argue.
But suddenly, Harry grabbed his sleeve and motioned urgently toward the street outside.
Darren followed his gaze and happened to see Malfoy hurrying away down the road.
"He ditched his mother," Harry said in a low, wary voice.
"I saw him sneak out. He must be up to something."
"Brother, I'll go take a look."
Darren immediately tapped his wand against himself, and his figure vanished.
Harry knew it was an Illusion Charm.
He was momentarily startled—Darren was actually using magic during the summer holidays. Wouldn't that—
"Oh, don't worry," Darren's voice whispered beside him.
"Headmaster Dumbledore lifted my restriction on using magic outside school last year. I'll be back soon."
"No, I'm coming too," Harry said quickly.
He pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, clearly intending to follow.
Before either of them could leave, Ron and Hermione grabbed them at the same time.
"Take us with you."
Darren sighed helplessly.
In the end, he could only cast the Illusion Charm on Hermione as well. Together, the four of them followed in the direction Malfoy had gone.
As expected, Malfoy headed straight into Knockturn Alley.
They stopped outside Borgin and Burkes.
"There's no way we can hear them like this—wait!"
Darren's eyes flicked to Ron's arms.
"You still have that?"
Ron finally remembered.
He said proudly, "I was going to put it away, but it got mixed in with everything."
They quickly pulled out the Extendable Ears and stretched them inside.
Just in time to hear Malfoy say coldly,
"Is it fixed yet?"
"Not yet," Borgin replied nervously.
"But if you could bring it back to the shop—"
"Don't worry about that," Malfoy interrupted.
"Just fix it properly."
"And if you don't feel like it," he added softly,
"I'm sure my friend Fenrir Greyback could help you understand."
"And this—"
Malfoy stepped closer to Borgin and showed him something.
Harry and the others couldn't see it clearly.
But Darren did.
It was the Dark Mark.
He looked away immediately, pretending he hadn't noticed.
"Don't tell anyone," Malfoy said sharply.
"Not even my mother. Do you hear me?"
With that, Malfoy turned and left Knockturn Alley.
The four of them exchanged glances.
To avoid being scolded by Mrs. Weasley, they hurried back to the joke shop.
Harry and Ron handled the explanation, claiming they'd been in the back room the whole time. Mrs. Weasley didn't look too closely.
They didn't let Darren speak.
Darren couldn't lie.
If he did, Mrs. Weasley would see through it instantly—and then Ron would suffer terribly.
To avoid that fate, Darren simply stood there smiling obediently.
Surprisingly, it worked.
Mrs. Weasley didn't suspect a thing.
But perhaps because she'd panicked when she couldn't find them earlier, she decided to leave Diagon Alley sooner than planned.
That evening, Mrs. Weasley prepared a huge feast.
Lupin was invited to the birthday celebration Harry and Darren had been meant to have for their sixteenth birthdays.
Because of Darren's accident, no one had been in the mood before.
Now that he was finally back, the house was lively again.
At the party, Sirius was setting off spinning fireworks with Fred and George.
Before dinner, Fred and George handed Darren several pairs of protective gloves.
"They reflect curses just by looking at someone," Fred said proudly.
"Even if you don't really need them, don't drop your guard."
"Yeah," George added.
"Slytherin is way more dangerous than Gryffindor."
"I even wrote to Dumbledore last year, asking him to shove you into Gryffindor," Sirius said grumpily.
"But he thought Snape would take care of you."
"I don't think he took care of you at all," Sirius continued irritably.
"Always settling personal grudges. I don't trust him."
"I didn't expect a foolish dog to understand the importance of my supervision," Snape sneered.
He stood up, wiped his mouth, and said coolly,
"Potter, since you've only just returned from St. Mungo's, I advise you to stop staying up late."
"If I see dark circles under your eyes again, I will personally send you to the hospital wing."
Darren's smile stiffened slightly.
Honestly, he was a little desperate.
Last year, Snape had let him stay up late because the school was poorly managed.
But this year was different.
Dumbledore was back—fully intact.
No cursed hand. No weakness.
Darren had even asked Harry about it, pretending to be worried.
Harry had told him that Dumbledore was healthier than ever.
Dumbledore hadn't touched any Horcruxes with his bare hands this time.
That alone explained everything.
Still, Darren nodded obediently on the surface.
"I've gotten much better this year," he said sincerely.
"I was just too excited last night. My brother and I were reading…"
"…I mean, reading got a bit late. I'll be careful."
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding…]
Snape's expression softened—just a little.
What didn't soften was Mrs. Weasley's glare at Ron.
"Darren just got back," she snapped.
"And you lot stayed up late with him? He'll get sick!"
"Oh, Darren," she added suddenly.
"Don't think you're covering for them—we know exactly what happened."
"They kept dragging you into conversations, didn't they?"
"Everyone knows your acting skills," she said fondly.
"And that performance with Severus last year fooled everyone."
"You'll never be allowed to act like that again."
"You're terrible at lying, child."
Mrs. Weasley smiled helplessly.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Only Ron protested loudly,
"What? That was acting? Darren didn't really fight Sn—Professor Snape?"
"It's Professor Snape," Mrs. Weasley corrected firmly.
"Of course Darren didn't fight him."
"They were acting, and Dumbledore was right there the whole time, feeding Darren cues."
"He even said he wanted to become an Auror," she sighed.
"Someone like him wouldn't lie—well, usually."
"If you ask me," she concluded,
"a child like Darren belongs at Hogwarts."
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