Chronicles Of Arth: Prince Of Shadows

Soon, Arth met up with Mr. Weasley and everyone else.

The moment Mr. Weasley saw Arth, he immediately took off and grabbed Arth by the shoulder.

Something about the panicked look on Mr. Weasley's face bothered Arthur.

"Do you or do you not know where the others are?"

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione are missing."

Arth frowned.

"So that means that they are not with you?" Asked Arth looking behind Mr. Weasley. "I got separated from them at some point. I don't know where they could be."

"Damn it!" Mumbled Mr. Weasley. "Damn it all."

Suddenly, something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the trees. It flew up over the treetops and into the sky.

"What the — ?" gasped Mr. Weasley, staring up at the thing that had appeared.

It was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.

Arth stood frozen while staring at the emerald mark in the sky.

"It can't be. . . ."

Scarlet left his arm and morphed back into a human. She grabbed at Arth's shirt looking nervous.

"That is the death mark, isn't it? Doesn't the mark mean that someone has been killed?"

Mr. Weasley went pale.

"My son! We need to find them quickly!"

Arth nodded in response and split up with Mr. Weasley.

A few moments later, arth noticed a bunch of red sparks and a commotion in a part of the forest.

Arth immediately went to check it out.

"Ron — Harry" — his voice sounded shaky. "Hermione — are you all right?"

"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice.

It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.

"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.

"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping — he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

Arth decided it was best for him to calm things down.

"Mr. Crouch- I don't think that they are the ones who conjured the Dark Mark."

Mr. Crouch frowned and whipped his head around. However, his face visually softened at the sight of Arth. He hesitated for a while before asking, "why do you think that my boy Arth?"

Arth let out a wry smile before answering.

"The boy with the glasses is the famous Harry Potter. I really doubt that the one who defeated the Dark Lord would use his sign. Plus," said Arth while giving a quick glance at Ron. "I reckon that as the one who stopped the Dark Lord, Harry Potter would be wary around those who. . . . Conjure the Dark Mark around him seeing that Harry Potter and the forces of the Dark Lord are enemies."

"Then who do you suppose is the one who casted the Dark Mark?"

"Over there," said Hermione shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees . . . they shouted words — an incantation —"

The witch in the woolen dressing gown shook her head. "They'll have Disapparated."

"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. "Our Stunners went right through those trees. . . . There's a good chance we got them. . . ."

"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as the wizard squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness.

A few seconds later, they heard him shout.

"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's — but — blimey . . ."

"You've got someone? Who is it Diggory?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"

They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms.

Mr. Crouch did not move.

"This — cannot — be," he said jerkily. "No —"

He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found the elf.

"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there."

But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching.

"Stop it Barty. Your elf was the only one there."