The moment Ginny saw Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks arrive, and realized that a clash with Draco was about to break out the very next second, she grew so anxious she wanted to step forward and explain.
In her eyes, this was obviously not Draco's fault.
But before Ginny could do anything, a wizard who had suddenly appeared in front of her stopped her in her tracks.
When she looked closely, Ginny's eyes widened, and she halted on the spot.
Because it was her mother, Molly Weasley.
Ginny froze, her face full of complete unprepared surprise at seeing her mother here.
"Why...?"
"Why am I here? If Mundungus hadn't told us about this, we really wouldn't have known what was happening here, and we certainly wouldn't have found you here either."
"...This isn't the time for that. Draco's over there..."
The moment she heard that name, Molly Weasley's expression turned a little strange.
"I didn't believe that thief at first, but I never expected it to be true."
"What are you talking about? Don't tell me Mundungus said something to you."
"And aren't you going to explain why you're together with that Malfoy again?"
"..."
Ginny had not even thought in that direction. She only felt that her mother's tone and expression were not looking good.
Especially that word "again." It made Ginny roll her eyes hard.
As if she liked being around that guy so much...
But very quickly, she remembered something and hurriedly tugged on her mother's hand.
"Hurry and stop Moody and the others. What if they really start fighting?"
"That's exactly why I showed up. To stop you."
While holding on to Ginny, Molly Weasley did not forget to glance at Luna Lovegood, who seemed to be standing there by herself, staring blankly off into the distance.
She was a little curious what this girl, who seemed to have a touch of spirituality about her, was thinking at a moment like this.
As for Harry Potter's side, Molly Weasley did not think there was anything to worry about.
After all, that was Alastor Moody, a veteran old Auror...
...
In truth, things were nowhere near as easy for Alastor Moody as Molly Weasley imagined.
He had thought Draco must have used some underhanded method to defeat those Death Eaters before, but now it seemed things were not as he had assumed.
If anything, the truth was even beyond what he had imagined...
His single magical eye began spinning again.
That eye, which seemed capable of seeing through everything, swept relentlessly over Draco.
"Even though I was already prepared for this, that amount of magic, the kind only elite wizards possess, mastery of dark magic, and more importantly... that strength of mind."
Alastor Moody, standing there in a standoff with Draco, did not listen to Nymphadora Tonks and lower his wand. On the contrary, he tightened his grip on it.
A cautious man like him had no intention of entrusting his life to a stranger.
Even with Harry Potter effectively being used as a hostage, Alastor Moody still had no intention of lowering his wand.
As for whether doing so would provoke Draco, Alastor Moody had no room left in his mind to care.
What he did not seem to realize was that the people who had once made him this serious were, almost without exception, powerful, brutal, ruthless dark wizards.
In other words, Alastor Moody was already treating Draco as a genuinely powerful wizard...
Faced with her companion ignoring her, Nymphadora Tonks let out a helpless sigh, clearly getting a headache from this.
Honestly, if the Order of the Phoenix had not really been short on manpower right now, and if the only members currently at headquarters had not happened to be just the few of them, Nymphadora would not have wanted to act together with the temperamental Alastor in the first place.
Before they had shown themselves, she had already said she could handle everything herself...
After glancing at Harry Potter, who was pale and hanging his head, Nymphadora finally put on a smile and reached out to grab Alastor Moody's wand.
"...Nymphadora!"
"Calm down, Alastor. It's not that serious."
"You're the one who should calm down. Malfoys can't be trusted at all."
Alastor Moody's words made Harry Potter, who had been lowering his head, jerk it up abruptly, and the look he gave Alastor burned with extraordinary intensity.
It was worth mentioning that the instant Alastor Moody and the others appeared, the green glow in Harry Potter's eyes vanished as though it had only ever been an illusion.
As for Draco, who was being judged like that, he merely looked at Alastor Moody in front of him without the slightest reaction.
The blue light from Moody's magical eye made Draco narrow his own eyes slightly. The faint motion of his wand suggested he was considering whether, if a fight really broke out, he ought to make Moody's magical eye his first target.
As for that cousin of his, Draco said nothing at all.
After all, the two of them could hardly be called close...
...
The wind and snow seemed to be growing worse.
It was worth noting that the large-scale spell interfering with everyone's senses appeared to have been cast by Mundungus, the very man everyone had assumed had already fled the scene.
A wizard who could use that kind of spell so skillfully was probably none other than Mundungus himself.
After all, a man who constantly dealt with swindlers and petty thieves in the wizarding world, and who had done the kind of thing that enraged Harry Potter so badly, really did need spells like that to help with activities that could not stand the light of day.
In a way, that counted as one of his special talents...
And just as Ginny was worrying about what was happening over by Draco, the situation seemed to take another turn.
To be exact, another group had appeared on the scene.
All at once, a strange fluctuation of magic spread through the air. In the next instant, something seemed to flash before everyone's eyes, and the scene around them cracked apart for a moment in a baffling way.
Then, after a brief second of disorientation, the students who had vanished earlier, along with the lively chatter of the young wizards, all reappeared, and everything returned to normal within that short span of time.
At the same time, several figures became visible standing across from Alastor Moody.
The most conspicuous among them was the house-elf who had just lowered his finger. The strange distortion that had appeared around them just now was most likely his doing.
And that house-elf was Dobby, the one sent to protect Draco.
And...
The silver-haired witch leading several wizards to this place.
Fleur Delacour!