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Chapter 659: How Could He Not Be There?!!
Harry said angrily.
Hermione and Ron also looked over with furious expressions.
Darren had finally come back, and Dumbledore had still done this to him!
"But he's right. I really didn't handle it well. Let's not talk about that now. I put a tracking spell on Mundungus—do you want to follow him?
See what he stole and make him return everything?"
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding… ］
Darren smiled.
In fact, besides the tracking spell, he had also placed a few "special" little curses on Mundungus. He knew Harry and the others probably wouldn't actually chase him. Those spells would definitely make Mundungus suffer during this time.
Daring to steal his things—he was really asking for death.
Sure enough, hearing Darren's words, Harry and the others were tempted.
But in the end they still decided not to chase Mundungus, and they also refused to let Darren go after him.
After all, wherever Mundungus went might be dangerous, and if this was some conspiracy by Voldemort, it would be even worse.
In such an unstable time, Hermione felt it was safer to stay in Hogsmeade.
The main thing was—
Right in front of them, two girls suddenly began to quarrel.
They seemed to be arguing over something.
"It's none of your business, Leanne!"
It was Katie Bell's voice.
But at that moment, Harry and the others still didn't realize how serious the situation was.
Watching two ladies argue wasn't very gentlemanly behavior.
So they planned to take a detour.
But at that instant, Leanne reached out and snatched the thing from Katie Bell's hand. The package Katie was holding immediately fell to the ground.
Katie hurried to pick it up.
But suddenly she seemed to be caught by something—her feet and neck were hooked, and she was lifted upside down into the air.
Her skirt flipped over.
Her hair whipped wildly in the cold wind.
Leanne's terrified scream rang out.
Darren rushed over at once.
He shouted, "Stay back! Everyone get away!"
He waved his wand.
Katie was slowly lowered.
Because of his spell, a large empty space was cleared around them.
Darren carefully tapped the chain Katie seemed to have touched with his wand.
It was a necklace.
It looked extremely beautiful.
This was a gorgeous opal necklace.
He had once seen it in Borgin and Burkes.
It carried countless dark curses.
Luckily, Katie Bell hadn't touched it directly.
At that moment Katie suddenly began screaming loudly.
Darren summoned a stretcher.
He secured Katie onto it.
Then with another wave of his wand, he cast several layers of Isolation Charms around the necklace, asked Harry to wrap it in cloth, and only then took it into his hands.
Afterward, he looked at Leanne.
"It seems we'll have to end this trip. We need to return to the castle."
"Katie will be all right, won't she?"
Leanne said anxiously.
Darren nodded.
He gave a gentle smile.
"I'm sure St. Mungo's will have a way."
"St. Mungo's!"
Leanne covered her mouth and began to sob quietly.
Darren didn't say more.
He gestured for Harry and the others to follow him back.
On the way, he asked Leanne what had happened.
"I don't know… everything was fine today. At the Three Broomsticks Katie went to the toilet.
"When she came out, she was holding that necklace and said she had to give it to someone. I thought it was suspicious and asked her to open it to see what it was.
"But she absolutely refused to let me see, and we started arguing. Then… then…"
Leanne began sobbing again.
"It will be all right," Darren comforted her.
Harry stared at the necklace carefully and whispered to Darren and the others, "In second year, when I ended up in Borgin and Burkes because of the Floo powder, I saw Malfoy staring at this necklace. I'm sure he must be behind this!"
Darren didn't respond.
He simply led Harry and the others to Professor McGonagall's office.
Professor McGonagall seemed to have received the news already.
By the time they arrived, she had hurried out of the castle.
When she saw Darren carrying Katie on the stretcher, an appreciative look appeared on her face.
"Good—excellent Summoning Charm… Alastor, take the child to Poppy.
"And later, send that necklace to Professor Snape!"
Professor McGonagall arranged everything swiftly.
Finally she turned to Darren.
"Darren, I need you to help me recall exactly what happened."
She led them into her office.
Darren nodded.
He knew Professor McGonagall wanted him to describe everything in detail.
But he didn't plan to do it that way.
He tapped his wand to his temple, then slowly pulled out a silvery thread of memory.
Just as Professor McGonagall was about to say there was no Pensieve here, Darren tapped the thread with his wand.
He smiled and said, "Recently I created a small spell that allows people to view memories without a Pensieve.
"It only works for one's own memory, and the clarity isn't as good as a Pensieve, but it's more direct for situations like this."
Professor McGonagall looked at him with admiration.
"Darren, I have never seen a student as gifted as you."
Darren smiled shyly.
Professor McGonagall nodded approvingly at his modesty.
At the same time, she watched the memory Darren provided.
As the scene unfolded, Leanne's mood improved slightly.
She added a few details that Darren hadn't noticed.
In the end she sobbed again.
It was obvious she was close to breaking down.
Watching a friend suffer such a disaster was truly painful.
If something like this happened to Darren, the pain would be a thousand times worse.
So he understood the girl's sorrow completely.
He even walked her out of the office.
He sighed softly.
"I want to kill the Death Eaters and Voldemort as soon as possible. I think I could even use the Killing Curse.
"If kindness cannot bring peace, then I would rather be the one holding the butcher's knife!"
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding… ］
"Don't be stupid. Dumbledore is here. He will handle everything…"
Harry hurried to stop Darren.
He wanted to say that Dumbledore would solve it.
But Professor McGonagall gave a bitter smile.
"Dumbledore has gone out on business. For now, I am in charge of the school."
"What? He left at a time like this? What is he doing?"
Harry exclaimed angrily.
At a moment like this—how could Dumbledore not be there?
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