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Chapter 182 — Hide Darren!!
Hermione gasped and rushed to the window.
Outside, she saw Leizi sprinting across the courtyard toward the Slytherin dormitory—still dragging the unfamiliar Invisibility Cloak behind him.
"It must be a Slytherin heirloom," Ron muttered. "No wonder it works so well… My dad always said pure-blood families hid all kinds of treasures. Too bad our family only has one house left."
Ron stared longingly in the direction the cat had gone.
Originally, Darren had already sent them back to Gryffindor Tower… but they didn't feel at ease, so they followed after him.
That was when they saw Leizi darting out of the Slytherin common room with this new cloak.
Harry—who obviously knew Invisibility Cloaks—realized immediately what it was.
And the moment they saw it, a thought hit them at the same time:
If they wore this cloak while following Darren, they could keep him safe.
Even if something happened, the enemy wouldn't notice them, and they could run for a professor immediately.
At the very least, they could ambush whoever threatened Darren.
So they played a little trick to stop Leizi.
The moment the cat saw them, he panicked. He even tried to bolt.
But Hermione threatened him:
If he didn't "lend" them the cloak, she would personally tell Darren that Leizi had stolen it.
Leizi reluctantly agreed.
Magical creatures were all clever; it wasn't surprising Leizi understood every word.
They put on the cloak he'd brought out.
Originally, they assumed it would simply help them sneak behind Darren.
But they quickly discovered the cloak was absurdly powerful—it didn't just hide their bodies. It even swallowed some of their sound.
They walked past multiple professors without being noticed.
Even when Ron stomped by accident, no one reacted.
That stunned all three of them.
Wearing this thing, they had even followed Darren into Dumbledore's office—"just to see if it worked."
They thought it would be funny.
They had no idea they'd witness something horrifying.
Dumbledore had actually instructed Snape to give Darren Veritaserum.
And judging by his tone, it wasn't the first time.
It must have happened before school even started—back when Darren was just a normal kid.
"This is wrong," Ron snapped, gripping his wand in anger. "The Ministry has laws—uh—I forgot which one—but only Aurors can use Veritaserum on prisoners, and only with approval! Dumbledore's breaking the law!"
His wand trembled in his hand.
And that wand? Darren had bought it for him.
Seeing the Headmaster he admired so much doing something like this made Ron's stomach churn.
"And Snape," Harry growled, "that disgusting potion was his invention. And he said the new Veritaserum was based on Darren's antidote research. Then he turned around and used it on Darren. What a two-faced bastard!"
Harry slammed his hand onto a desk.
He had never imagined Darren lived like this at Hogwarts.
"Do you remember what Snape said at the end?" Harry paced in frustration. "He threatened to expel Darren—why?! He drugged him, bullied him, then threatened him again. I knew Snape wasn't a good person!"
Harry stalked around the room, gripping his wand like a club—as if ready to break it over Snape's head.
"Exactly!" Ron said. "He puts on this nice act in front of Dumbledore, like he's so patient with you and Darren. But the second Dumbledore steps out, he shows who he really is. Darren is such a good kid, and Snape still yelled at him like he wanted to strangle him!"
Ron sounded absolutely convinced.
In his mind, Snape in front of Dumbledore was fake; the Snape Darren saw afterward was the real monster.
"I never knew Darren lived like this…" Harry whispered.
He dropped into a chair and buried his face in his hands.
Darren always told him he was fine. Always.
But now Harry finally saw the truth with his own eyes.
Dumbledore—who always smiled kindly—forced Veritaserum down Darren's throat.
Snape—who seemed to treat Darren fairly—mocked and threatened him.
"When they bully Darren like this… do they just see him as easy to push around?" Harry said bitterly. "Do they not think he has feelings?"
The thought only made him angrier.
He remembered how Darren defended Snape afterward.
He'd thought Darren was genuinely upset—and yet Darren still defended him, still acted the same gentle way.
"I think… maybe Snape is a good person?" Hermione said weakly.
But her voice was shaky—even she didn't believe it fully.
Snape didn't look like a good person at all.
Still… she remembered him accusing Dumbledore earlier. That part did seem sincere.
"Hermione! How can a 'good person' study Veritaserum strong enough to poison someone? Even if it's research, why would he shove it into a kid's mouth?!"
Ron's anger was boiling.
Hermione hesitated, then dropped the subject.
The three of them fell silent.
Then another problem occurred to all of them at the same time:
Should they tell Darren?
They didn't fully understand what Voldemort wanted with Darren.
Maybe Darren knew more than they did.
But in the end—they all shook their heads.
No. They couldn't tell him.
Darren was too kind.
Too softhearted.
He'd be devastated.
At the start of the year, Darren had nearly lost his magic—or even his life—because he worried too much about Harry.
If he learned about this, the sadness alone might trigger another magic surge.
And this time… he might not survive.
For Darren's safety, they reached a unanimous decision:
Hide everything from Darren.
And Ron added darkly:
"If Darren knew, he'd hide it from the professors and Dumbledore. And if they found out… they might torture him again."
Because of that sentence, all three became absolutely determined:
They would keep Darren in the dark.
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