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Chapter 261: Returns!!
Harry opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He had just lost Sirius—
the closest family he had besides Darren.
And now Sirius was gone.
Harry didn't have the strength to comfort anyone.
If Darren hadn't been in such a bad state earlier, Harry himself would have locked the door to his dormitory and stayed there, refusing to think about anything, secretly hoping Sirius might somehow come back.
"I'm sorry, brother… I made you worry.
You're right—Sirius was… my godfather.
You must be devastated. I should've been the one comforting you, but instead you're the one worried about me…"
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding, Father +100]
[Ding…]
Darren forced a fragile smile.
"Brother… Hermione… Ron… I—"
He was about to continue, ready to shine more Holy Father light on them.
But the system cut him off.
[Ding, the space-time corridor is now ending. Preparing to return in 10… 9… 8…]
…Already?
So fast?
Alright.
It was himself on the other end.
He would just continue gathering Father Points from the other side later.
But when he fell silent, Harry misunderstood immediately.
"Professor! Professor! Something's wrong with Darren!"
No, no, no.
Darren wanted to explain—
but his vision suddenly went dark.
And the next moment, he was standing inside the space-time corridor again.
Well… the rest would be up to his other self.
Hopefully he handled things well.
Darren sighed.
System—this is it? That's the whole trip?
[Ding, the space-time corridor can be accessed once per semester, or opened immediately by spending 10,000 Holy Father Points. Which does the host choose?]
Robbery.
System, you're daylight-robbery dark!
He treasured those 10,000 Father Points.
Forget it. Next time.
Darren clicked his tongue, threw his Invisibility Cloak over himself, stepped out of the corridor, and prepared to leave.
But the moment he exited, he froze.
The entire Gryffindor common room was packed with people.
He scanned the crowd—
Harry wasn't there.
Hermione and Ron were missing too.
"I heard Darren still hasn't been found!"
Ah.
Of course.
He'd been gone too long.
Luckily, he'd prepared for something like this.
"Yeah! How could someone just disappear inside the dormitory?"
Ahem.
Classmates…
I didn't disappear in the dormitory.
I walked out wearing the Invisibility Cloak and slipped into your common room.
"I heard from my sister that Slytherins probably kidnapped him! Those nasty snakes!"
Calm down, child.
If I show up in your lounge in a minute, you're going to look like the kidnapper.
"Why would they kidnap Darren?"
Exactly.
Slytherin has zero reason to hide him.
"Don't you know? Darren was about to finish developing that potion to help Squibs become wizards. Of course they panicked!"
…Well.
He had already completed it.
System reward.
But sure, close enough.
Should he pretend he'd been kidnapped?
"What does that have to do with Slytherins?"
"They're afraid! If Squibs can become wizards, pure-blood supremacy collapses!"
"Ohhh… that makes sense… Merlin, where did they take him? He's been missing for two days!"
Two days?
Darren blinked.
He'd only been in the corridor a short while—
but two days had passed here.
If he stayed any longer, would he return to find Harry and the others all grown with children?
A thousand-year dream in an instant.
But he didn't rush.
He lingered at the entrance under the cloak, waiting for someone to exit so he could slip out behind them.
Just as he stepped closer, the portrait hole swung open.
Harry entered, face drained, exhausted.
Hermione and Ron weren't with him.
"Harry! Any news of Darren?"
Fred and George hurried over.
"Mum's been crying nonstop—she said if we don't find him soon, she'll come to Hogwarts herself to speak with Dumbledore."
"Dad's furious too! Yesterday he actually fought Malfoy because Malfoy was mocking him—'Why don't you go inside the school and fetch the boy yourself?'—can you believe it?"
The twins babbled in worry.
Harry just shook his head.
The room sank into heavy silence.
No one spoke.
Darren didn't wait anymore.
When everyone turned away, he slipped to the window and leapt out silently, landing outside.
Harry glanced toward the window, frowning—
as if something tugged at his instincts.
But he shook his head and sank back into misery.
Where was Darren?
Harry felt sick to his stomach remembering what he'd seen earlier.
After hearing Darren was missing, he had barged into Slytherin's dormitory and seen the room where Darren had brewed the potion.
The sight gutted him.
No one ever realized how hard Darren worked—
how much he pushed himself alone in a small dormitory, just because someone once said they hoped for a potion for Squibs.
People only saw his brilliance, never the effort.
Harry's eyes reddened.
At that moment, he had felt only shock.
And guilt.
Darren always put others first.
He would sacrifice sleep, comfort—anything—just to help someone else.
And when he was finishing that miracle potion—
Someone took him.
They stole Darren right before he completed it.
Harry still didn't know how Darren vanished.
After the disappearance, Aurors flooded the school.
They examined Darren's dormitory repeatedly.
Finally, they reached a conclusion:
Darren had vanished instantly.
He'd been standing in the middle of the room…
and in the blink of an eye—
gone.
They believed a Portkey was used.
Someone must have broken in while Darren was alone and left a Portkey there to snatch him.
They even caught a student—
a Slytherin—
who had tampered with the room.
He had been placed under the Imperius Curse.
Because Harry had used Polyjuice Potion to enter Slytherin earlier, and unlocked Darren's door, the rumors spread.
So someone used the chaos to sneak into Darren's dormitory.
The student was Imperiused.
He placed the Portkey in Darren's room.
Unbelievable.
The Portkey itself was still there—unused—
Yet Darren vanished anyway.
So the Aurors concluded:
Two separate groups were targeting Darren.
Someone else got to him first.
They believed there were still hidden collaborators in Slytherin.
Every Slytherin student was being interrogated daily.
Harry didn't care who took Darren.
He only wanted to know:
Where was Darren now?
Was he safe?
Was he hurt?
And worst of all—
It was their fault.
If they hadn't gone into Darren's room,
maybe none of this would have happened.
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