---
Dumbledore had originally thought it would rely be another case of magic riot at worst.
He never imagined that Darren had endured so much.
Nor had he expected that, in order to survive, Darren had subconsciously forced himself to forget everything.
What was worse—
The Forgetfulness Charm Darren had cast back then was incomplete.
At that ti, he likely did not even have a wand, and the spell had been cast in desperation.
The result was unstable mory loss.
Fragnts still remained deep in his mind.
And now—
When Dumbledore extracted his mory…
And when they entered the Pensieve…
Everything had fully returned.
All at once.
"Do you really have to erase his mories?"
Madam Pomfrey asked anxiously.
She had never been fond of mory modification.
It was never truly safe.
Erasing mories was not healing.
It created new wounds.
"It must be done."
Dumbledore's voice was stern.
"Darren cannot bear these mories."
"I cannot allow him to rember them—ever again."
In his hand, the Elder Wand trembled faintly.
"Poppy, do this with ."
"We will erase everything he recalled today."
Dumbledore placed his wand against Darren's temple.
Madam Pomfrey hesitated—
Then lifted her wand as well.
"Together," she whispered.
"Together."
The spells were cast simultaneously.
"Forget everything!"
Twin streams of magic struck Darren at the sa ti.
---
And Darren heard the system's cold chanical voice.
[ Ding — Host is under forced mory deletion. ]
[ Do you wish to consu 3,000 Holy Father Points to negate the effect? ]
"…Damn it."
Darren nearly exploded internally.
He had worked so hard to pretend.
Endured acting like he was insane.
Allowed himself to be dragged to the infirmary.
And now—
They were trying to erase everything he had just faked.
Worse still—
It would cost three thousand Holy Father Points just to negate it.
Robbery.
This was daylight robbery.
If this mory vanished, then his fabricated trauma would be broken.
Darrens image as a tragic saint would collapse.
And Dumbledore would definitely grow suspicious.
As painful as it was…
He had no choice.
[ Use it. ]
The Holy Father Points vanished in an instant.
Darren's heart bled.
He had finally saved up a decent amount—
And just like that, three thousand were gone.
Gone.
Still—
On the surface, he collapsed beautifully.
Madam Pomfrey shoved a potion between his lips and poured it down his throat.
He nearly choked.
At this mont, Darren seriously believed that if magic did not exist, Madam Pomfrey would have killed more patients than she cured.
The potion worked quickly.
Within seconds—
Everything went dark.
---
When Darren opened his eyes again…
He heard voices.
"Did Dumbledore explain why Darren collapsed?"
"No. He just said to call him when Darren wakes up."
"But Darren's been unconscious for almost the whole day."
"By the way, Malfoy was wandering around outside earlier… any idea why he ca?"
Fred's voice.
"I don't know. Malfoy showing concern? He must be sick."
Ron scoffed.
"Good thing Ginny was there," Fred whispered.
"She imdiately called George and , and then we inford Harry."
Darren now understood why everyone had gathered.
He rembered telling McGonagall not to inform Harry.
And since Dumbledore had carried him using Fawkes…
It should have been secret.
Yet here they all were.
"Ginny… what exactly did you see?"
Harry's voice was tight with anxiety.
Ginny had refused to explain earlier.
Which only made Harry more nervous.
"I went to the infirmary for cold dicine that day."
"Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let talk about it…"
"But I saw everything."
She paused.
"Dumbledore ran in carrying Darren."
"And he shouted that Darren's mories had to be erased."
Ginny swallowed.
"He looked… insane."
"He kept screaming in terror."
"He kept shouting—"
'Kill !'
'Please kill !'
"Dumbledore could barely hold him down."
"He kept trying to use his wand on himself…"
"At the ti, I wondered… did Dumbledore torture him?"
"Or maybe…"
Ginny's voice trembled.
"…he rembered sothing too horrible."
"But what could be that terrible?"
"In second year Darren was attacked, just like this."
"And this ti… he was taken hostage by Death Eaters."
"When he ca back, he was full of injuries."
"But when he woke up…"
"He looked fine."
"So why…"
"Why did he collapse now?"
Ginny was shaking.
Harry felt no better.
Regret crushed him.
He should have followed.
He knew it.
When Dumbledore took Darren away…
He shouldn't have trusted anyone.
Not even professors.
If he had gone—
If he had insisted—
"This is my fault."
Harry said hoarsely.
"If Darren goes to Dumbledore's office ever again…"
"I'm going with him."
Hearing the tension rising—
Darren decided it was ti.
He moved his fingers.
Coughed softly.
Then—
Opened his eyes.
"Darren!"
Harry rushed to his bedside.
Ginny and Hermione followed instantly.
Fred and George ran to fetch Madam Pomfrey.
Darren blinked in confusion.
"Brother…"
"Why am I here…?"
A tear suddenly slid down his face.
Unknowingly.
He froze.
Frightened by it.
Madam Pomfrey rushed in.
"Darren!"
"Are you conscious?"
Darren seed to co back to his senses.
He wiped his cheek.
"I… don't know…"
"I just… feel very sad."
"As if sothing important died inside ."
He hesitated, embarrassed.
"…I'm sorry."
"I made you worry."
"…I think I just had a nightmare."
---
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