---
Chapter 384 – Attacking the Minister!!
Darren hesitated.
Then a plan formed instantly.
He looked at Dumbledore and said in a broken voice,
"Headmaster Dumbledore… I attacked the Minister. Arrest me."
His eyes were filled with despair.
Yet he clenched his fists tightly and continued,
"But… please, when you arrest me, can you spare Buckbeak?"
"It was dragged into this because of me. It could have survived… but now…"
"…it's all my fault."
"Minister Fudge is taking revenge on Buckbeak because of me…"
"I deserve it. I should have died long ago."
"I shouldn't have lived at all…"
"In the future he'll take revenge on my brother… on Hermione… on everyone…"
"All because of me…"
[Ding, Father Value +100]
[Ding, Father Value +100]
[Ding, Father Value +100]
The mist in Darren's eyes finally overflowed into tears.
He looked at Dumbledore in despair.
"I beg you… erase everything."
Before he could say another word, silence swallowed him.
Dumbledore had already raised his wand.
---
A cold pressure crashed into Darren's mind.
—
[Ding, sensing that the host is being affected by a high-level Obliviate spell.
Use Holy Father Value to retain memory?]
[Use]
—
If he didn't resist now, Dumbledore would truly erase everything.
Besides casting Obliviate on Darren, Dumbledore also cast it on Harry.
Then he placed his wand over Fudge's wound.
A soft incantation followed.
The gruesome injury on Fudge's chest slowly healed.
Fudge groaned.
His eyes opened.
The first thing he saw was Dumbledore.
Fury erupted instantly.
"Dumbledore! I must deal with this Potter boy this time—!"
Before he could finish—
"Forget everything."
The spell struck.
Fudge's pupils dulled.
His anger drained away.
Darren nearly laughed.
But he forced himself to stay silent.
Because Dumbledore was now modifying memories.
---
Darren shook his head.
A new memory slowly settled into his mind.
It was smooth.
Logical.
Consistent with his "personality."
In the memory:
Harry told him Buckbeak would be executed.
He rushed out of the castle.
He asked Fudge about the time.
Fudge told him he had misremembered.
Then he appealed for Buckbeak's life.
Fudge told him the regulation had already been repealed—it just hadn't been publicly announced yet.
And Fudge never mocked him.
Never smiled.
So he believed it.
And now—
He was simply standing in the corridor, crying helplessly.
Darren glanced around.
Harry and Hermione looked the same.
Their memories had also been altered.
Even Fudge no longer looked deliberate or cruel.
---
"I'm sorry, Darren," Fudge said stiffly.
"I don't know where you saw that regulation. It was repealed long ago."
Darren shook his head, choking up.
"I'm sorry, Minister… it's my fault… all of it…"
He turned and walked away.
Harry and Hermione quickly ran after him.
"Darren, where are you going?"
"Don't just run off!"
They were anxious.
They couldn't remember anything wrong—
But they felt as if they had almost lost him.
Then Dumbledore appeared.
It was as if he had just arrived.
"You children shouldn't wander around at times like this," he said gently.
"Go back to the dormitory."
Then he turned to Fudge.
His eyes were cold.
But he smiled.
"Come, Cornelius. Let's have a drink."
Fudge laughed awkwardly.
"Right… always you, Dumbledore…"
The two walked away together.
Only Darren remained behind.
---
Darren stood still.
Face pale.
Eyes red.
"Brother… I want to see Hagrid…"
"I want to stay with Buckbeak…"
"Even if it dies…"
"I want to be there at the end…"
His voice broke.
Harry's heart twisted painfully.
He remembered warning Fudge with Darren.
He should have been careful.
But now Darren had carried all the pain alone.
"Don't be like this…" Harry said hoarsely.
"I'll go get the invisibility cloak."
"After dinner, we'll go together."
---
That night, they ate in the Great Hall.
Darren claimed he couldn't eat.
But under Hermione's watchful eyes…
He forced down several steaks.
Some pudding.
Ice cream.
Finally, when he couldn't take another bite, he lowered his head and whispered,
"I'm eating… and Buckbeak is waiting to die…"
[Ding, Father Value +100]
[Ding, Father Value +100]
[Ding, Father Value +100]
Harry lost his appetite instantly.
Hermione too.
They stopped urging Darren.
Instead, Darren urged them to eat.
Because he knew—
Tonight would be exhausting.
They would go back in time.
And hunger would remain.
If they didn't eat now, they would regret it later.
But his words only deepened the ache in Harry's chest.
Harry couldn't eat a single bite.
Darren could only sigh inwardly.
Outwardly—
He looked devastated.
---
Dinner ended.
They pulled on the invisibility cloak and left the common room.
The cloak was large enough to cover all four.
Quietly…
They walked.
Eventually—
They reached Hagrid's hut.
They knocked softly.
After a long moment, the door opened.
Hagrid stood there.
His face was soaked with tears.
He wiped them quickly with his sleeve—
But the fabric was already drenched.
"Hagrid…"
Darren removed the cloak.
One look at his red eyes was enough.
Hagrid broke down again.
"Oh, lad… you shouldn't have come…"
"This isn't something you should see…"
"Buckbeak wouldn't want you to…"
He sobbed.
And then—
From inside the hut—
A screech echoed.
Buckbeak stirred.
Whether it was despair…
Or just Buckbeak hearing Darren's voice—
No one knew.
The Hippogriff stepped closer to the window.
Trying to see.
Trying to understand.
A few figures darted past the glass.
And then—
They were gone.
---
Meeting himself across two timelines…
Was impossible.
Hermione and the others would remember.
Time would fracture.
So this—
Was the only way.
---