Dumbledore forced a smile onto his face.
He conjured a large mirror.
Darren stood in front of it and looked himself over.
He was still very handso; it was just that his face was frighteningly pale, the kind of look that made it obvious at a glance that he was seriously ill.
"Headmaster, can you make look a little better? I—"
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
Darren calmly accepted the Holy Father value.
But Snape cut him off.
"No. Your body cannot withstand magic right now. With your current physical state, even a Spirit-Rejuvenation Spell could shatter you."
"If you insist on eting them like this, then use it if you want."
"So… so I'll just say I caught a cold?" Darren said with a laugh. "I want to hide it for a few more days. Even if they find out later, it won't be so obvious now."
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
No one laughed along with him.
Everyone present felt deeply uncomfortable.
Darren, however, still wanted to keep talking.
After all, in this situation, every sentence he spoke brought Holy Father value. He knew this kind of treatnt wouldn't last long.
So he quickly looked at Dumbledore and said, "Headmaster, may I describe what happened back then?"
"Please don't refuse. I'm already in pain right now, and if I don't talk to distract myself, it feels unbearable."
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
"…Go on."
Dumbledore closed his eyes.
Then he stood directly in front of Darren.
Because of his condition, Darren couldn't sit down and could only stand. His voice trembled slightly as he recounted the scene from that day.
"He sensed that we were helping Darren clear the way again."
Moody spoke calmly.
The others nodded. That explanation fit.
"You could have co back imdiately," Snape said with restrained anger.
But Darren shook his head.
"I was thinking about dying together with him…"
"Don't look at like that. It's not that Luna was useless. It's just that when I saw Voldemort, all I wanted was to kill him and bring the wizarding world back to normal."
"But when I realized he wasn't dead, I decided I didn't want to die either. I wanted to live… and then you all know what happened."
"I won't do sothing like that again. I can't kill him now, but when I beco stronger, I'll kill him openly and properly!"
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
"Darren…" Dumbledore said heavily. "I may have misled you. There is a prophecy—only Harry can kill Voldemort."
He spoke with difficulty, clearly afraid that Darren wouldn't be able to accept this truth.
Darren fell silent.
After a long mont, he said helplessly, "So that's how it is… no wonder."
"Then how is my brother supposed to kill Voldemort?"
"I rember that Muggles have a surgery where they transplant organs. Could I give him my Obscurus?"
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
"Don't say nonsense!" soone snapped. "If your Obscurus is taken out, you will die!"
"And even if you could give it to your brother—"
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
"No. You would die, and your Obscurus would also dissipate once separated from you. You would die in vain and wouldn't help Harry at all."
"If I were you, I would make myself stronger. At the very least, you could fight Voldemort head-on. Perhaps you really could kill him."
Dumbledore said this seriously.
Darren froze for a mont, then laughed.
"Don't worry. I'll definitely live well and work hard to beco stronger. I will absolutely help my brother."
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
Darren spoke cheerfully.
Dumbledore sighed softly, then smiled.
"Darren, no matter what, thank you for being alive. Thank you for letting see you again."
"In the future, if you ever think about fighting soone, think about us."
"Think about what Severus would be like after you died, and think about how guilty and remorseful I would be."
The conversation ended—not the way Darren wanted, but the way everyone else insisted.
They urged him to rest properly.
Mrs. Weasley forced a smile and said, "I've told them you just returned from a mission and need to sleep. They'll understand."
"Don't worry, I won't let anyone disturb you."
"Also, this is the Draught of Living Death Severus gave you. Just two drops will let you sleep through the night."
Darren smiled gratefully.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes were completely red.
She wanted to hug him, but in the end didn't dare.
"Go on, go on, child. I don't want you to see cry, and I don't want you to feel worse."
Darren nodded.
He reached out and gently hugged Mrs. Weasley, then walked out of the eting room.
Harry and the others were standing right outside.
The mont they saw him, they rushed over happily.
Mrs. Weasley almost instinctively tried to stop them, but Mr. Weasley covered her mouth.
Darren gave Mr. Weasley a grateful look.
Then he hugged Harry and Ron one after the other.
He said loudly, "My first mission—I'm very excited."
"Even though I didn't find anyone, I still gained sothing. I did a decent thing and was praised by Headmaster Dumbledore!"
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding…]
"Well, we were worried all night," Ron said. "By the way, Darren, what kind of robe are you wearing? It looks really cool."
Darren laughed.
"This is a new style Headmaster Dumbledore rewarded with. I'm wearing it to commorate my first mission!"
Harry and the others looked at him with envy and reached out to touch the robe.
Darren quickly blocked their hands.
"Don't ss around. This is the robe from my first mission—don't touch it. And I just got back, let go get so proper sleep."
As he spoke, Fred accidentally bumped into him.
Darren's entire body seed to co apart as if it were falling to pieces.
"Ah!"
The scream echoed throughout Grimmauld Place.
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