Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 490: Rufus Scrimgeour

A series of dazzling red lights flashed over the ruins.

The figures flickered, and hundreds of burning red lights shot from the wizards’ wands, interlacing with each other. They hit the debris of the ruins and were bounced back into the darkness.

“I saw it, he Dispparated!” a wizard shouted.

“Don’t be silly, Apparition is not allowed in this area…”

But thinking of the sudden disappearance of Caresius, this sentence was particularly unconvincing this evening.

“The man suddenly disappeared from my sight, if it was not Apparition…” The voice broke out and then said in surprise, “There’s a man on the ground, unconscious, oh God, what’s this?!”

“What did you find?!” Mr. Crouch said in a cold, unemotional voice. His face tightened and his sharp eyes fell on the darkness.

A few seconds later, under the watchful eyes of everyone a wizard came out with a tiny, limp figure.

There was a tea towel around her neck. It was Winky, the house-elf!

Mr. Crouch watched as his house-elf was deposited under his feet, motionless and silent.

The other officials of the Ministry of Magic were all staring at Mr. Crouch, and the atmosphere in the air was weird.

For a few seconds, Crouch remained transfixed, as if frozen, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky.

Then he appeared to come to life again.

“This, this is impossible, impossible!” He said, “No way!”

He moved quickly around the wizard in front of him and strode off toward the place where Winky had been found.

“No point, Mr. Crouch!” the wizard who found Winky called after him, “There’s no one else there.”

But Mr. Crouch did not seem willing to take his word for it, and he walked up and down in there. He carefully searched through the dark ruins, and there was a constant sound of rubble rolling and falling.

When Evan and Hermione came down, he did not come out of the ruins.

“Evan, Hermione, are you both okay?”

Evan saw Sirius and Mr. Weasley running towards them and looking very scared.

In the sky, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Krum, Fred, George and other Quidditch players all slowly landed beside them.

People gathered to ask about Evan and Hermione, and wept with joy.

Everyone was shocked by Evan’s power, and did not expect this 13-year-old to be so strong.

Those familiar with it knew that Evan had used the power of the Philosopher’s Stone; that mighty power was beyond the imagination of the modern wizarding world.

Soon, Fudge came along under the protection of a group of Aurors.

He didn’t seem to have recovered from the huge shock, and asked Evan who he was fighting with.

“That’s enough, these two children need rest!” Sirius said impatiently, “Evan just had a fight with a Dark wizard who suddenly broke in. This should have been the responsibility of the Ministry of Magic. If you want to know the truth, you can ask those Dark wizards who have been caught, and you can know who they are and where they come from!”

“You’re right, Black!” Fudge nodded awkwardly. “We do…”

Just then, the officials of the Ministry of Magic at the edge of the ruins gave another cry of alarm, and everyone hurried over.

The Aurors seemed to be discussing whether the house-elf had cast the Dark Mark and the final focus was on the wand.

To use this magic, one must have a wand, and Winky did have one in her hand.

The scene was a mess, and when everyone squeezed through, the expressionless Crouch came out of the ruins. His face was still ghostly white, and his hands and toothbrush mustache were both twitching.

“Barty, where have you been tonight?” Fudge hurriedly asked. He looked even more flustered than he did. “I can’t believe this happened tonight, an attack of Dark wizards, and now even the Dark Mark has come out!” 

“I’ve been very busy!” said Mr. Crouch, still talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. “During the match, someone sneaked into my tent. They seemed to be looking for something!”

“To me, those guys are absolutely crazy. What will people say tomorrow?” Fudge complained, “Don’t even think about it. They’ll certainly think it’s all the fault of the Ministry of Magic, but who can… God, what happened to this house-elf?”

He seemed to have just seen Winky, the house-elf lying on the ground.

A man from the crowd quickly walked to Fudge and whispered a few words.

The wizard looked like an old lion with gray streaks in his mane of tawny hair and bushy eyebrows. 

Behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles had keen eyes, staring at Crouch with a bad eye.

He had a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp.

He immediately gave an impression of shrewdness and toughness.

He was Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office of the Ministry of Magic, and was currently the strongest Auror.

“Rufus, you mean…” Fudge’s gaze fell on the wand in Winky’s hand.

Then, he seemed to have suddenly discovered some great truth and looked up at Crouch incredulously.

“So, Crouch’s house-elf cast the Dark Mark with this wand!” Fudge said slowly with a hint of horror in his voice, “You-Know-Who’s sign, how could she use this magic?!” 

Crouch did not speak, and his eyes fell on the wand in Winky’s hand.

He didn’t seem to hear Fudge’s words, nor did he understand what he meant.

“It can’t be her…” someone whispered.

“Even if it wasn’t her, this house-elf can’t get away with it!” Scrimgeour said bluntly. “She violated Clause Three of the Code of Wand Use: No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand.”

“But……”

“I think we should listen to how this house-elf defends herself and then judge!” Scrimgeour continued. “If you have no objection, Mr. Crouch…”

He seemed to be asking Crouch, but he didn’t wait for him to answer, and quickly raised his wand and pointed at Winky, “Rennervate!”

Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked hard in a bemused sort of way.

Under the silent gaze of the wizards, she sat up trembling.

Then, slowly and trembling, she raised her eyes and looked at the crowd.

Then, more slowly, she turned her eyes to the night sky above.

It could be clearly seen that the floating skull was reflected twice in enormous, glassy eyes.

She gave a gasp, looked at the people in the open space with bewildered eyes, and suddenly burst into terrified sobs.