Harry Potter and Claire Smith's Adventures: Book Four

Dress Robes and Suspicions

Chapter 6: Dress Robes and Suspicions

"Repeat Pettigrew has escaped Azkaban prison. If you see this man, immediately contact the Ministry of Magic. He is said to be dangerous. Again, if you see this man contact Ministry of Magic. WWN signing off." Sirius shut the radio off.

"That little rat!" Sirius sneered. "He better hope the Ministry finds him before I do or I'll kill him!"

"And what good would that do, Sirius?" Carina said. "You did that before and ended up in Azkaban. Don't do anything stupid because I'm sure the Ministry won't have a problem putting you back there."

"Carina's right, Sirius," Mr. Weasley stated. "Just let the Aurors do their job."

"And let Pettigrew escape again." Sirius scoffed. "They couldn't even find me when I escaped from Azkaban. They had to call the Muggle Prime Minister to spread the news in the Muggle world."

"They didn't know at the time that you were an Animagus," The Doctor said. "Now that they know, they'll have a keener eye."

"Am I the only one who thinks this is all a bit fishy?" Claire said.

"What do you mean?" Ron questioned.

"Just think about it for a second," Claire began. "One moment we're at the World Cup with cloaked figures wearing skull masks and the Dark Mark appears in the sky and then we come home to hear that Pettigrew escaped. I bet you Pettigrew is somehow connected to what happened at the World Cup."

"But that would also mean that You-Know-Who is back." Charlie said.

"Or his Death Eaters decided to cause havoc for fun." Sirius muttered.

"What are Death Eaters?" Harry asked.

"They're Voldemort's followers," Carina said, ignoring the Weasleys cringe at Voldemort's name. "The ones you saw tonight are more than likely the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban."

"I still don't get what the big deal is over the shape in the sky," Ron said, frowning.

"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," Mr. Weasley said. "The terror it inspired…you have no idea, you're too young to understand. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house and knowing what you're about to find inside…." Mr. Weasley winced. "Everyone's worst fear…..the very worst…."

It was silent for a moment. Then Bill said, "Well, it didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them."

"Bloody cowards," Claire said, earning a disapprovingly look from her mother. "What? You know it's true. They claim to be so faithful to him and yet they won't take responsibility for what they did."

"Why did Voldemort's supporters—" Harry began. The Weasleys flinched. "Sorry," Harry said quickly. "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what was the point?"

"The point?" Mr. Weasley said with a hollow laugh. "That's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when You-Know-Who was in power were done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.

"But if they were Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" Ron said. "They'd have even pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"

"Use your brains, Ron," Bill said. "If they really were Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of Azkaban when You-Know-Who lost power, and told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him back. They denied they'd ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives….I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?"