Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

The Dark Mark on the back of Ron’s neck flashed with a bright black light, and his eyes dimmed once more.

Almost simultaneously, a red flash of magic struck Harry.

Harry was blasted backward, crashing heavily to the ground. The impact nearly shook his bones apart. Eyes wide, he saw Ron gripping his wand and pointing it down at him from above, the tip of the wand glowing with an eerie green light.

“Wake up, Ron, it’s me, Harry, Harry Potter…” Harry gasped.

Before he could finish, Harry heard Ron’s cold, merciless voice.

The voice was icy and devoid of any emotion, so unlike Ron that it sounded as though it belonged not to him, but to Voldemort himself.

“Avada Kedavra!” he chanted without hesitation.

“No!” Harry roared, utterly incredulous.

His mind went blank; the scar on his forehead and the excruciating pain throughout his body nearly made him faint.

Harry felt a jolt of dizziness. The Ron before him overlapped with Voldemort’s image.

This wasn’t Ron Weasley, this was Voldemort.

This was Voldemort!!!

Harry had felt this before; he knew it well. Voldemort was inside Ron.

He was looking at him through Ron’s eyes!

Harry gasped. In his best friend’s eyes, he saw Voldemort staring back at him.

His heart pounded wildly, a terrible thought flashing through his mind. He began to realize what this meant, but before the horrible thought could fully take shape, his vision was filled with green light.

Harry felt he had been struck by the Killing Curse; something within him, his life or perhaps his soul, was slipping away.

For a moment, Harry almost stopped breathing.

But then, a series of sharp cracking sounds rang out around him, and many people Apparated into the ruins.

The Killing Curse aimed at Harry was deflected, and he heard Sirius Black and Mad-Eye’s roars.

It was the Order of the Phoenix!

As the warmth returned to his body and his focus returned, in the dim, distorted light, Harry saw the witches and wizards of the Order appearing one after another around him, converging on his position, Sirius leading the charge.

And Ron —

Ron was running at breakneck speed towards the still-burning Dark Witch!

“Stop him! Stop Ron!” Harry shouted to Sirius, “That’s Voldemort!”

He had to shout it at least three times before the words fully forced their way out of his throat.

Without hesitation, before Harry even finished speaking, Sirius had already swiftly swung his wand, casting a spell at Ron.

In fact, it wasn’t just him. Many of the Order’s wizards unleashed spells at the same time. Dozens of red spells struck Ron from all directions, and he fell to the ground. Once again, a deathly silence fell over the ruins.

The illusory Veil of Death had not yet vanished, but its trembling was growing weaker and weaker.

“What’s going on here?”

“Harry’s there! I see him! Thank Merlin, he’s alive!”

““Merlin’s beard… that gate, that terrifying aura of Dark magic — I can barely breathe!”

“I swear, I’ve never seen such horrifying Dark magic in my entire life…”

Several seconds passed before the wizards’ gasps and murmured discussions rose again.

“Harry, are you alright?” Sirius Black asked loudly.

He walked over, his body just as battered and scarred.

Just moments ago, they had been fighting the suddenly appearing evil god’s creations. Within the evil god’s magical domain, many spells, including Apparition, were ineffective. Although the members of the Order of the Phoenix had been desperate to reach this place, they had been unable to break through those terrifying creatures.

On the contrary, five of them had died in the battle.

It was only when that powerful beam of magic streaked across the sky that the dreadful creations of the evil god vanished instantly.

Just like their sudden appearance, their disappearance was equally abrupt — leaving no trace, no explanation.

Sirius had no idea what had happened here, but he could feel the tangible, oppressive aura of Dark magic hanging in the air.

He looked around, anxiously staring at the illusory Veil of Death before them.

“What’s with this gate? Where’s Evan? He got here before we did!” Too many questions crowded his mind.

For example, why had Ron just tried to kill Harry with the Killing Curse?

Had he been under the Imperius Curse again?

And what about the Dark Witch burning in blue flames? She looked as though she had been struck by an unimaginably powerful Dark spell.

Mad-Eye was already leading a group of men towards her, trying to see if the flames could be extinguished.

“Sirius…” Harry said with difficulty.

“I’m here, Harry, it’s all over!” Sirius said calmly.

No, it wasn’t over!

The intense sense of danger had not faded.

On the contrary, the scar on Harry’s forehead was throbbing more and more.

Voldemort was furious. He knew what had happened; he had just been inside Ron.

And now he was coming, getting closer and closer.

“Sirius, we have to get out of here right now, Volde —” Harry clutched his aching scar, struggling to speak. “Voldemort is coming, he’s almost here, we have to get out of here immediately.”

“What—Voldemort? Damn it!” Sirius froze for a split second before reacting.

He scooped Harry up at once and shouted the news to the others.

“Take Harry and Ron, and secure that thing over there, we’re leaving here right now, before Voldemort shows up!” Mad-Eye shouted, his magical eye swirling wildly in its socket. “You two, don’t touch it with your hands! Can’t you see those blue magical flames?! Kingsley, stop examining that gate! It’s just a magical illusion; the real one is still at the Ministry! Stay alert, we have to get out of here. Sirius, you take Harry and go first, right now!”

“What about Evan? We still haven’t found him! That house-elf said he was here—”

“That kid might be in the castle ruins. I’ll go check it out. You guys go first, no, Bill, don’t follow me…”

Harry could no longer hear the voices behind him; Sirius Apparated with him!

The scene shifted, and in the blink of an eye, a large, scratched, black-painted door appeared before him.

The silver handle in the shape of a coiled snake was strikingly prominent.

It was Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

The moment Harry saw it, the front door flew open. Hermione came rushing out with a shrill cry, followed by Elaine, the house-elves Dobby and Kreacher.

Seeing them, Harry let out a slight breath of relief — only to tense up again at once.

Where was Evan?!

They had said earlier that Evan had gone there as well, but Harry hadn’t seen him.

No… perhaps he had.

In that powerful beam of magic.

Harry had a feeling — an unshakable one — that the beam of magic had been released by Evan himself.

Evan had rushed into the Veil of Death along with the magical beam…