Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Evan tiptoed out of the room. The stairwell was pitch black, devoid of any light.

This shabby old house was like a slumbering monster, ready to devour anyone who came near. But in reality, the house wasn’t as silent as Evan had imagined. Along with faint rustling sounds, the air was filled with a sweet aroma. The two mingled together and drifted up from the kitchen downstairs. It seemed someone was making breakfast.

Curious, Evan gave his wand a little flick at the top of the stairs, and by the faint glow from its tip, he made his way down.

The kitchen presented a dreamlike scene, nothing like the cold and gloomy place it had been the night before. Kreacher, the house-elf, was bustling about, bringing out rosy copper pots and pans. The wooden tabletop was polished clean until it gleamed. The plates set out for breakfast gleamed against the backdrop of the cheerfully burning flames. From the pan on the stove came a lively crackling sound, and the air was filled with the mouth-watering aroma of toast and fried eggs.

It was a stark contrast to the shabby scene upstairs. As soon as Evan appeared at the kitchen door, Kreacher hurried over. He said in a raspy voice, “Good morning, Master Evan. Very glad to see you again. Wash your hands before breakfast.”

“Good morning, Kreacher. Did Sirius send you here?” Evan asked, sitting down at the table.

The house-elf placed a pile of plates laden with a hearty breakfast before him and asked if he wanted milk or coffee.

“Milk, please!” Evan wiped his hands with the towel Kreacher handed him and continued, “By the way, Kreacher, I remember you were with Dobby at Hogwarts. How was it? Did anything happen there during the summer vacation?”

Evan had instructed Dobby to stay at Hogwarts and keep a close eye on Dumbledore’s tomb.

If Voldemort went there to take the Elder Wand, Evan wanted to know at once.

“Nothing special, except that that rude, big fool found some furry beasts from the forest and brought them home to keep, making everything stink. Kreacher doesn’t like Hogwarts; it’s not as nice as the Black family’s ancestral home. But Master doesn’t usually let old Kreacher back. He’s still a spendthrift, completely disregarding the Black family fortune.” As he spoke, Kreacher produced the latest issue of The Daily Prophet and handed it to Evan. “This is from Master, for Master Evan.”

“Sirius just wanted you to be with the other house-elves, so that… you wouldn’t feel so lonely,” Evan tried to explain, but Kreacher didn’t seem to be listening. He shook his head and unfolded the newspaper to read.

Today was the first day Voldemort took control of the Ministry of Magic. The front-page headline was striking: first a large photo of Dumbledore’s face, with pictures of Evan, Harry, Sirius, and others circling around it..

The headline read:

WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT

THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

What was there to question? The answer was obvious.

Evan skimmed through the article. Although he hadn’t seen with his own eyes everything that had happened on the Astronomy Tower that night, as one of the direct participants he could tell at once that nothing in this report — or in its so-called “questions” — was true.

Their aim was clear: to twist the facts of Dumbledore’s death so that the Wizarding world would stop opposing Voldemort and instead turn suspicion on Evan, Harry, and Sirius — or at the very least, sow doubt about them and the Order of the Phoenix.

Once the seeds of distrust began to sprout, that was enough!

This outcome was hardly surprising. Voldemort now controlled the Ministry of Magic, and The Daily Prophet naturally leaned to his side. Evan’s own Hogwarts Magic had already been declared a banned publication.

In fact, at the very bottom of the front page, he saw the eager Daily Prophet‘s latest list of banned publications. The first one, marked in red, was Hogwarts Magic News.

The entire article made no mention of Voldemort, which was precisely his plan: to quietly seize power.

Right now, most witches and wizards didn’t even know what was truly happening.

From the paper, all they would learn was that Dumbledore’s death had hidden depths, that it was a conspiracy plotted by Evan, Harry, and Sirius, and that Rufus Scrimgeour had died suddenly of an illness, his position taken over by Pius Thicknesse.

The new Minister had “persuaded” the Dementors to return to Azkaban and work more closely with the Ministry.

While this seemed like a breakthrough, persuading the Dementors, the public didn’t realize that the Ministry was no longer fighting Voldemort. Instead, the puppet Minister Thicknesse would handle daily affairs on Voldemort’s behalf, acting according to Voldemort’s will. Outside the Ministry, Voldemort could expand his influence unchecked.

Anyone with sense could deduce what was going on from the Ministry’s dramatic policy shifts, but such people dared not speak out. At best, they whispered in secret. The whole Wizarding world was now gripped by fear, trust between people eroding everywhere.

Evan turned the page. On the second spread, the latest Ministry policies were already announced — they really couldn’t wait!

“ ‘Muggle-born Register. The Ministry of Magic is undertaking a survey of so-called “Muggle-borns,” the better to understand how they came to possess magical secrets. Recent research undertaken by the Department of Mysteries reveals that magic can only be passed from person to person when Wizards reproduce. Where no proven Wizarding ancestry exists, therefore, the so-called Muggle-born is likely to have obtained magical power by theft or force.’ ”

Evan stopped short: the Ministry had used him as an example.

His most famous feat was at the last Quidditch World Cup, when his Transfiguration magic had prevented the collapse of the entire field. To most wizards, that kind of power was utterly abnormal, unbelievable — something no ordinary wizard should have.

People had no knowledge of Slytherin’s locket, the Book of Abraham, or the strange magic inscribed within it. To cite Evan’s magic as an example was a perfect way to stir suspicion. Even the wizards who supported him would be hard-pressed to argue against it.

The report didn’t dwell too much on the matter, but continued with the Ministry’s decision.

“ ‘The Ministry is determined to root out such usurpers of magical power, such as Evan Mason.; and to this end has issued an invitation to every so-called Muggle-born to present themselves for interview by the newly appointed Muggle-born Registration Commission.’ ”

Well then, since they had already branded Muggle-borns as thieves of magic, it wasn’t hard to imagine what sort of “interview” that would turn out to be.

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