Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 504 The Great Issue With Wild Gazes

A clear melancholy of the end of holidays was perceived in the air as Evan woke up the next morning.

The intense rain still lashed against the window as he dressed in jeans and a sweater; they would change into their school robes on the Hogwarts Express.

Evan, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George had just reached the landing of the first floor on their way to breakfast when Mrs. Weasley appeared at the foot of the stairs, looking concerned.

"Arthur!" she called upstairs. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!"

Mr. Weasley quickly passed by with his clothes on backward and disappeared from view.

As Evan and the others entered the kitchen, they saw Mrs. Weasley anxiously rummaging through drawers. "I have a quill around here somewhere!"... while Mr. Weasley bent over the fire, speaking.

In front of him, Amos Diggory's head sat in the midst of flames like a large bearded egg.

He spoke very fast, completely undisturbed by the sparks flying around him and the flames licking his ears.

"Muggle neighbors heard bangs and screams, so they called those, what are they called?... please-men. Arthur, you have to go there..."

"Here!" gasped Mrs. Weasley, pushing a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled quill into Mr. Weasley's hands.

"It's truly fortunate that I found out!" said Mr. Diggory's head. "I had to get to the office early to send a couple of owls, and I ran into the entire group of Misuse of Magic in action... if Rita Skeeter gets wind of this, Arthur..."

"What does Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody say happened?" Mr. Weasley asked, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading his quill, and preparing to take notes.

Upon hearing them mention Moody, Evan, who was stuffing his mouth with bread, silently paid attention to their words.

He probably knew what was happening, Voldemort and the vampires were in action, and attacked Moody the previous night.

He simply did not know if there was any issue with Crouch, but even if Bartemius Crouch, Jr. was not rescued, Voldemort would probably have done the same after the failed attack at the stadium and would have let Crouch Jr. pretend to be Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, to carry out a new plan to get Harry out of school.

With the help of powerful vampires, he would take steps anyway, which was crucial to his resurrection.

In the flames, Mr. Diggory's eyes rolled. "He says he heard an intruder in his garden. Says he was sneaking towards the house but was ambushed by his dustbins."

"What did the dustbins do?" Mr. Weasley asked, writing frantically.

"They made a great noise and shot rubbish everywhere, from what I can see," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently, one of them kept spinning when the please-men arrived..."

"And what about the intruder?" groaned Mr. Weasley.

"Arthur, you know Alastor 'Mad-Eye'," said Mr. Diggory's head. "He has been trying to help us investigate the vampires recently, causing trouble all over. Think about it, someone sneaking into his garden in the middle of the night? Most likely a very dazed cat spinning around covered in potato skins. But if the Misuse of Magic group gets their hands on Mad-Eye, he's finished... think of his record... we have to get him out of a minor charge, something in your department... How much do explosive dustbins cost?"

"It could be a warning," Mr. Weasley said, still writing very quickly, frowning. "Did Mad-Eye not use his wand? Did he not actually attack anyone?"

"I bet he jumped out of bed and started cursing everything within reach out the window," Mr. Diggory sighed, "but they'll have a hard time proving it, no victims."

"Alright, I'm off," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the parchment with his notes into his pocket and rushing out of the kitchen again.

Mr. Diggory's head looked at Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm sorry about this, Molly!" he said, calmer. "I've been bothering you so early, but Arthur is the only one who can get Mad-Eye out, and Mad-Eye's supposed to start his new job today. Why did he have to choose last night...?"

"No matter, Amos," said Mrs. Weasley. "Are you sure you don't want a piece of toasted bread or something before you go?"

"Oh, come on then," said Mr. Diggory.

Mrs. Weasley took a slice of toast buttered from a stack on the kitchen table, placed it on the fire tongs, and transferred it to Mr. Diggory's mouth.

"Thank you," he said softly and then, with a small pop, disappeared.

Immediately after, Mr. Weasley returned to the kitchen with a briefcase, his robes still on inside out, bidding farewell to everyone.

"I better hurry... have a good term, boys," said Mr. Weasley to Evan, Harry, Ron, and the twins, adjusting a cloak over his shoulders and preparing to Disapparate.

"Arthur, wait a minute. You need to fix your hair and change your robes before you go," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh!" Mr. Weasley stopped and asked Mrs. Weasley to help him fix it. "Molly, will you be alright taking the children to King's Cross?"

"Of course," she said. "Just watch out for Mad-Eye Moody, we'll be fine."

As Mr. Weasley vanished, Hermione, Ginny, Bill, and Charlie entered the kitchen.

"Did someone mention Mad-Eye?" asked Bill. "What has he been up to now?"

"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading jam on his toast. "Isn't he that loony...?"

"Your father holds a high opinion of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.

"Well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" Fred muttered as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Tell me who your friends are..."

"Moody was a great wizard in his time," said Bill.

"He's an old friend of Dumbledore," added Charlie.

"Dumbledore isn't exactly normal, is he?" said Fred. "I mean, I know he's a genius and all that..."

"Could someone tell me who Mad-Eye is?" asked Harry, as he had neither seen nor heard of Moody before.

"He retired. He used to work at the Ministry," said Charlie. "I met him once when Dad took me to work with him. He was an Auror... one of the best... a hunter of dark wizards."

"Exactly!" added Bill. "Half the cells in Azkaban are filled because of him. He made a lot of enemies, though... mainly the families of the people he caught... and I heard he's getting really paranoid in his old age. He trusts no one anymore and sees dark wizards everywhere."

"Yes, Dad talked with Sirius about that the other day!" agreed Ron. "The same goes for the Head of the Auror office, Rufus Scrimgeour. He's suspicious and seems like trouble; but Sirius thinks highly of him. He says that's the Aurors' specialty: not trusting anyone!"

"I don't know," said Harry. "But I don't want Sirius to turn into that."