Somewhere deep in the woods.
Barty Crouch Jr. was trembling uncontrollably.
It was not fear, but excitement.
His breathing was ragged, and his eyes glinted with a morbid, fanatical light; today would be the day to announce the return of the Dark Lord.
"Little Master!" a shrill voice rang out.
A House-elf suddenly rushed out from the darkness and clung tightly to his leg.
"Winky and Old Master did not make a mistake; Winky has found Little Master." The House-elf burst into tears, snot and tears streaming down her face.
"Old Master sent me to find you. Please, come home with Winky! Old Master will forgive you!"
Barty Crouch Jr. looked down at her, his eyes cold.
"Home?"
"Go back to being locked up? To continue being tortured by that hypocritical old thing?"
"Get lost!"
Barty Crouch Jr. kicked Winky away, her small, thin body hitting the tree trunk with a dull thud.
"Cruciatus Curse!"
The red light struck Winky, and the House-elf's body instantly went rigid, letting out a shrill scream.
Barty Crouch Jr. watched expressionlessly as Winky rolled on the ground, twitching until she completely lost consciousness.
In his eyes, a House-elf was nothing more than a slave with no human rights.
In the distance, the commotion of the campsite could be heard; flames shot into the sky, and screams rose one after another.
But this was not enough; it was far from enough.
Barty Crouch Jr. raised his wand, pointing it at the sky.
Green light condensed at the tip of his wand, growing brighter and brighter.
"Morsmordre!"
A dazzling green light shot up into the sky.
A giant skull suddenly exploded in the night sky, and the green light instantly covered the entire campsite.
A python slowly emerged from the skull's mouth, coiling and twisting, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.
The dark mark.
That mark, which had disappeared for more than a decade, had now reappeared before the world.
The entire campsite fell into a deathly silence.
The next second, screams erupted, and the fear buried in their memories came rushing back.
More than a decade ago, in the era when Lord Voldemort was rampant, the appearance of the dark mark meant that someone had been killed.
Therefore, everyone feared seeing this mark appear above their heads one day.
At the edge of the woods.
Hermione looked up abruptly, staring at the green skull slowly circling in the sky.
Her face turned pale instantly.
"That is the dark mark..." Hermione explained to everyone.
"I have read about it in books; it is the exclusive symbol of Lord Voldemort and the Death Eater."
Harry and Ron also looked at the sky, both of their faces looking grim.
Not far away, the group of Death Eater that had been parading suddenly burst into deafening cheers.
"The Dark Lord has returned!"
"It is the dark mark! The master has returned!"
"Clear out these dirty Muggle and mudblood!"
Wild laughter rose one after another, and the parading group became even more frenzied.
The Roberts family was controlled by magic in the sky, spinning like ragdolls, unable to make any sound at this moment.
Charlie watched this scene, his brows furrowed.
The clamor of this group disgusted him.
Toying with ordinary people and taking pleasure in it—this behavior made him feel pathetic.
Furthermore, these people were Lord Voldemort's henchmen.
Charlie raised his wand, aiming the tip at the sky.
"Exploding Charm."
A pillar of red light shot up into the sky.
Boom!
A loud noise exploded in the night sky.
The green skull was hit directly by the red light, instantly shattering and dissipating into countless spots of light in the air.
The coiling python hadn't even had time to twist before it was blown to nothing.
The cheering Death Eater stopped, their laughter coming to an abrupt halt.
"Who! Who dares to desecrate the Dark Lord's mark!"
After the Death Eater reacted, they felt unprecedented humiliation.
"Found him! Over there!"
"It's in that direction!"
They turned to look at Charlie's position; that Spell just now was too conspicuous to ignore.
Charlie said in a low voice, "Hold onto me."
Hermione and the others immediately reached out and grabbed onto him.
Ron and Harry each carried one of The Twins, freeing up one hand to grab Charlie's sleeve.
Ginny was so nervous that her palms were sweating; she clutched Charlie's robes tightly.
"Kill him!"
A roar of fury came from the distance.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Dozens of green lights shot from the edge of the woods; that was the characteristic light of the Killing Curse.
The dense barrage of Spells blocked all space for evasion, and even the air was frozen by this murderous intent.
Charlie had no intention of taking them head-on.
The magic power within him erupted instantly, taking everyone with him as he used Apparition.
The green light hit the open ground, blasting out a patch of scorched earth.
The ground was corroded into countless pits, and a pungent, burnt smell rose from the soil.
The Death Eater, having lost their target, burst into raucous laughter.
"He's lucky he ran fast."
"A coward who only knows how to sneak attack."
"I thought he was some big shot, but he turned out to be nothing!"
They were immersed in the victory of "driving away the enemy," and some even raised their wands to fire randomly into the sky, celebrating this victory.
Laughter echoed through the campsite.
At this time, the Wizard in the entire campsite were fleeing in all directions, staying far away from these dozens of Death Eater.
The Ministry of Magic personnel were struggling to maintain order in the crowd, waiting for reinforcements from their companions.
However, by the time the Ministry of Magic personnel arrived, these Death Eater would likely have already run away.
But soon, someone noticed something wrong.
"Wait... is it getting a bit hot?"
A Death Eater had beads of sweat oozing from his forehead and wanted to take off his mask, but was stopped by his companion.
"Are you crazy? What if the Ministry of Magic sees your face?"
The temperature of the surrounding air was rising rapidly, as if someone had set up a furnace beneath the campsite.
"What is that in the sky?"
Someone looked up, puzzled.
All the Death Eater looked up, and their laughter came to an abrupt halt.
The night sky was dyed crimson.
Charlie was currently hovering high in the air, a blazing light emerging from the tip of his wand.
Flames condensed under his control, rapidly expanding from the size of a fingernail to a water vat, then to a house, and finally becoming a giant fireball with a diameter of several tens of meters.
The fireball looked like a piece stripped from the surface of the sun, with a white core showing through the crimson, emitting a terrifyingly high temperature.
The surrounding air was distorting, emitting a low, wailing sound.
"Damn it, what the hell is this thing!"
"Run, run!"
The Death Eater who had been arrogant just a moment ago instantly collapsed.
This level of magic was simply not something an individual could contend with.
The Roberts family, who had been toyed with by the Death Eater, were no longer being paid any attention by the Death Eater.
Charlie took over, using the Levitation Charm to keep them hovering steadily in the air, no longer spinning like a top.
The Death Eater screamed and fled in all directions; some attempted Apparition, but because they were extremely nervous, their mental state caused problems, resulting in severe splinching.
Only their upper bodies disappeared, while their lower bodies remained in place, blood gushing out.
This bloody scene stimulated the nerves of even more people.
"Don't use Apparition!"
"Don't panic!" the leader of the Death Eater roared.
"We have dozens of people, let's use the Shield Charm together to block it!"
His words helped the chaotic group regain some sanity.
"Protego!"
Dozens of wands were raised simultaneously, their light converging to form a translucent curtain of light.
The curtain of light covered all the Death Eater, as if it could bring a little sense of security.
"Yes, that's it!" someone breathed a sigh of relief.
"With so many people casting spells together, we can block anything!"
Before the words had even faded, Charlie waved his wand down.
The giant fireball detached from the tip of his wand and, like a meteorite, crashed down with a roar.
"Meteor Shower!"
The moment the curtain of light made contact with the fireball, it erupted with blinding white light.
Boom!
The flames swept out like a tsunami, swallowing all the Death Eater along with the curtain of light.
The most shocking thing was that this monstrous fire was precisely controlled by Charlie within a certain range.
It was as if there was an invisible wall, firmly trapping the flames.
Inside the wall was purgatory; outside the wall, not even a single blade of grass was scorched.
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