---
After Voldemort asked the question, Darren vanished on the spot.
Before disappearing, he even gave Voldemort a smug wink. Then he reappeared inside the space-ti corridor.
[Ding. The space-ti corridor has been fused. The host has obtained a portable space-ti corridor. Do you wish to leave now?]
[Leave where?]
[Not yet. Let check first—how much ti has passed outside.]
Darren answered weakly.
He was really afraid that if he were dropped back into Hogwarts randomly, there might already be a funeral being held for him.
If he suddenly fell into the middle of his own funeral, that would be beyond awkward.
When he discovered that a full month had passed outside, he chose to be dropped into London instead.
That way, even if there had been a funeral, it would probably already be over.
The man whose na could not be spoken had returned.
The Daily Prophet had run it as the front-page headline.
Fudge's photograph filled the front page, bowing repeatedly and offering apologies.
The Minister of Magic urged everyone to ensure their personal safety.
The Dark Lord is back. We must not be careless.
The Dentors have begun to refuse cooperation, but Aurors will now reinforce Azkaban, making it more secure than ever.
The article also ntioned Darren and Harry.
It said that the two of them had been harshly criticized last year, and that this year they had finally cleared their nas.
They were called powerful warriors.
"They didn't say that it was those sa people who forced Darren and Harry into being criticized in the first place," Hermione muttered.
She suddenly lifted the Daily Prophet and looked at Harry.
"Maybe you should be happy for once. And don't be so hard on Darren."
Ginny, sitting beside her, nodded.
With a pale, slightly resentful expression, she lowered her head and said as if casually,
"It's over now. Don't dwell on it."
Harry's hands trembled as he read the paper. Then he folded it and returned to his usual blank expression.
"I'm fine. I'm going to see Hagrid."
He put the newspaper down and walked toward the door.
Hermione followed him with her eyes. After he left, she sighed softly.
"Should we tell him that Darren might not be dead after all?"
Dumbledore had said Harry was too emotional. He had tried to explain that Darren wasn't dead—but Harry never gave him the chance to finish.
So Dumbledore left the choice to them: whether to tell Harry or not.
Harry didn't know that if Darren had really died, his portrait would have appeared in the Ministry.
Because Darren was the youngest person ever to receive the Order of rlin, Eleventh Class, his portrait had already been prepared in advance.
If he were dead, the portrait would have awakened.
But it hadn't.
Which ant… Darren was likely still alive.
They just didn't know where he had fallen through the Veil.
Hermione's explanation earned Ron's agreent.
He wanted to tell Harry.
But Luna, Ginny, and even Neville all opposed it.
"He deserves a little punishnt," Ginny said softly.
"He was too reckless… and Darren still hasn't co back. It's been a week already."
"The holidays are about to start. Even if you told him Darren wasn't dead, he wouldn't believe it."
"To be honest… I don't really believe it either. I think Dumbledore was just comforting us."
"He knew that if he said Darren was dead, I would have jumped into that curtain myself."
Ron wanted to argue, but in the end, he stayed silent.
"If Darren doesn't co back, people will start to notice," Neville said quietly.
"Everyone thinks he should be in the hospital wing or at St. Mungo's, like us."
"Yesterday Madam Pomfrey asked if Darren was at St. Mungo's. I said I didn't know…"
"I saw her crying. She was worried."
The ward fell into silence.
Harry was sitting by the Black Lake, a glass of juice beside him.
He held a book with Darren's picture on it, staring at it. From ti to ti, he looked across the lake.
He rembered third year, when Darren had cast the Patronus there—when the Azure Dragon had driven away hundreds of Dentors.
Sotis he wanted to talk about Darren.
Sotis he just wanted to think about him quietly.
How was he supposed to let him go?
They were twins.
Like Fred and George.
Inseparable.
Without Darren, Harry felt as if his soul had been torn away.
Even his desire to defeat Voldemort had faded.
At his lowest, he had even thought of letting Voldemort kill him, just so he could be reunited with Darren.
They would beco ghosts—
Harry suddenly froze.
A thought he had never considered before struck him.
He jumped up from the grass and ran toward Gryffindor Tower.
He went to find Nearly Headless Nick.
"Good evening, Harry…"
"I need to ask you sothing!"
Harry's face was filled with desperate hope.
Nick couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"All right… what is it?"
"Nick—you're dead, but you can still exist. I can talk to you. You can stand here…"
"I want to know… can anyone co back?"
"Only wizards can…" Nick said gently.
Harry's heart leapt.
Darren had always been afraid of leaving him alone. He loved Hogwarts.
He would co back.
He had to co back.
He would run up to him, smiling, and say,
Brother, I'm back. I'm back alive.
There had to be a way.
"He won't co back…" Nick said quietly.
"Very few choose that path. Most go on. Only those who fear death remain…"
"Perhaps the Departnt of Mysteries knows more…"
Harry stood there, frozen.
Only those who fear death stay.
Was Darren afraid of death?
No.
He had died expecting it—just to protect him.
Nick drifted away.
Harry remained standing there, empty.
Then Malfoy's voice cut in.
"Scarhead. Professor Snape wants to see you."
Snape?
Harry turned.
Why would Snape want him now?
He didn't want to hear Snape's voice—but he knew now that Snape and Darren had been acting together all along.
Snape had always been on their side.
"You're dead," Malfoy suddenly sneered.
"You got my father severely punished by him!"
"Wasn't that deserved?" Harry shot back.
"Why didn't he just kill you too?"
Malfoy, a Death Eater, raised his wand.
"Potter!"
Snape's voice rang down the corridor.
Malfoy instantly lowered his wand.
Snape strode over, cold eyes fixed on Harry.
"You're leaving soon," Snape said flatly.
"Go pack Darren Potter's belongings."
Harry turned around in disbelief.
The pain in his chest surged violently.
Darren was barely gone—and Snape was already ordering his things to be packed?
Were they going to erase him from the school too?
"I won't allow it. I won't let him—"
"Enough, Potter."
Snape cut him off harshly.
"I don't have ti to indulge your family drama."
"Now—imdiately—co with to his dormitory. Pack his things. Then attend the banquet tonight and leave Hogwarts."
"If you refuse, I'll have the house-elves do it. And if anything goes missing, you will be held responsible."
Snape's voice was cold and sharp, filled with barely restrained anger.
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