Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 489 The Dark Mark

The Slytherin Ring, which had been hanging from Evan's chest, continued to shimmer with a faint golden light.

Just like the last time in the underground ruins of the Lair of Aragog, the magic emanating from Evan's body was constantly being absorbed by the Ring.

Dark golden streams flowed over the ancient and intricate lines of the Ring, and the emeralds, forming the capital letter "S", lit up in the center.

Now, the symbol of Slytherin house seemed like a vividly curved serpent.

After the excess magic was drawn from his body, Evan gradually regained consciousness and could feel the magical power from the Philosopher's Stone slowly ceasing.

The magical turmoil within his body had ended, although he could still feel a sharp pain all over.

Through slow practice, Evan could recover, and even his strength could surpass previous limits.

He tilted his head and incredulously gazed at the Ring on his chest, astonished by its magic.

After the last encounter, Evan knew the Ring was not a mere accessory. It possessed a powerful mysterious magic, so well concealed that not even Voldemort had noticed it.

He had simply thought of it as a personal belonging of his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, with a special commemorative significance.

Thus, he turned this Ring into a Horcrux.

But it was not so. All objects left by Slytherin seemed to hold special meanings.

Deep within the underground ruins, Evan saw it in the final mural.

The four corners were the Ring, the wand, and the huge scepter surrounded by two large green pythons.

This scepter appeared on the cover of the second part of the Book of Abraham, a key object left by ancient sorcerers.

Evan speculated that, like the Philosopher's Stone on the cover of the first part, they were the key to defeating evil spirits.

As one of the four objects alongside the scepter, the Ring was certainly not simple.

Evan had used it to defeat the eye monster and had absorbed the magic of thousands of years of plankton deep within the earth.

He still remembered the scene vividly, feeling as though an entirely new magical door had opened before his eyes.

This time, the Ring saved Evan's life at a critical moment.

Just like the last time, the magic upon it suddenly surged, absorbing the magic of the Philosopher's Stone pouring into Evan's body.

Evan didn't know what was happening, unable to comprehend how the magic in the Ring worked.

He had been studying it for a long time and had no clue.

Originally, he thought the intricate lines on the Ring would be similar to a slate, only recognizable by a Parselmouth.

But after Harry saw it, he was certain it was not so.

After learning about ancient magical characters, Evan felt those strange lines were like some kind of very, very ancient magical words.

Though he didn't know the nature of the magic in the Ring, and what its specific use was, there was no doubt that this Ring had become one of Evan's most precious magical objects.

He could sense the vast amount of absorbed magic slowly flowing back out.

The power of the Philosopher's Stone was calming down and becoming pure again, repairing the damage within Evan's body.

While most of the magic would eventually dissipate, a small part remained, becoming part of Evan's own strength.

The incident of this night had ended, and Caresius and Voldemort's conspiracy had once again failed.

Evan breathed a sigh of relief and felt unusually exhausted. Now, he only longed to fall into a deep slumber.

But before that, he still needed to comfort Hermione, who trembled in his arms.

After this incident, Evan clearly felt that his relationship with Hermione had taken a step forward.

Both had experienced this life-and-death situation and had an unimaginable interaction based on their mutual trust without reservations.

Evan gently caressed Hermione's trembling head.

Just when he thought everything was over, the accident happened again.

Tonight, the incident was far from over. The fear... it had not ended!

Appearing seemingly just to shatter the fragile nerves of the wizards, something vast, green, and bright emerged from the ruins of the building and soared into the sky.

In the next moment, a colossal skull appeared beside Evan and Hermione.

It was composed of what looked like emerald stars, with a snake protruding from its mouth like a tongue.

Under Evan's gaze, the skull rose higher and higher, glowing in a haze of green smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.

Like a sinister neon sign, it illuminated much of the sky.

Evan, Hermione, the silent stone giant beneath them, and the ruins were mirrored by the skull in the night sky, as if they were destined to be part of the scene.

For this dreadful skull represented the power of destruction and the deepest fear of the wizards; in the stadium, the crowds who had been calmed erupted into screams once more.

They screamed loudly and once again ran out of the stadium, fleeing as panic returned.

This time, the commotion caused by the vampires was even more evident.

"God, this is the Dark Mark!" Hermione exclaimed, tightly gripping Evan's arm, "Voldemort's symbol!"

Voldemort certainly couldn't appear here. Evan knew what all of this meant.

Almost at the same time the Dark Mark was cast, he felt Bartemius Crouch Jr. was in the ruins!

Needless to say, Voldemort and the vampires failed in their plan to rescue him at Crouch's tent.

No one would have thought Barty Crouch Sr. would allow a house-elf to bring his son to the Quidditch match.

Considering Barty Crouch Sr.'s character and Barty Crouch Jr.'s fugitive status, this was unbelievable.

As the vampires were about to attack the box, Barty Crouch Jr. was whisked away by the house-elf Winky, but he didn't escape too far.

Winky's order was to stay within the box; she couldn't stray too far and couldn't Apparate.

The long-term imprisonment had severely weakened Bartemius Crouch Jr.'s body, and he had not fully recovered.

Nevertheless, he managed to steal Harry's wand from the box.

This madman had no intention of fleeing with this wand at all.

After seeing Evan up close, he used it directly to proclaim his master's strength and taunt Evan. He wanted everyone to realize who was the most powerful and fearsome wizard in the world.

And his goal was achieved. Bartemius Crouch Jr. succeeded in causing panic and reminding everyone of Voldemort's terror.

All Ministry of Magic officials and Aurors quickly approached the ruins, and the red light of stunning spells flashed everywhere.

Evan clearly saw that Barty Crouch Sr., who had not been seen that night, was at the forefront.

The Ministry of Magic had lost face that night and urgently needed to show its presence.

Evan wondered how Crouch would feel when he realized that the enemy he was about to face was his own son.