Summer sunlight baked the earth like a raging fire, scorching even the yellowed grass, while the heavy, stagnant air left everyone in an irritable state. At Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, Harry lay quietly in the flowerbed beneath the window, taking meticulous care not to make the slightest sound, desperate to catch the news broadcast from the television inside the living room.
Ever since the Triwizard Tournament ended, Harry had not basked in the joy of victory as people expected. Instead, his heart was a tangle of doubt and unease. He could never understand why he had encountered Barty Jr. Crouch during the competition, why Professor Grice had been taken hostage, or what on earth had happened after he was knocked unconscious. These questions pressed down on him like heavy boulders, making it hard to breathe.
Harry had tried to get the truth out of others, but whether the topic was Iblis or Ith, no one would give him a straight answer. He was forced to piece together fragments of the event from student gossip, and those rumors were usually contradictory, making it impossible to separate truth from falsehood. Some said Voldemort had returned, while others insisted it was merely a lie fabricated by Iblis. These so-called unreliable rumors only left Harry more bewildered and frustrated.
Chapter 206