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第1章 下达命令

“Now, Aggerawayter! What are you up to? At it agin?”

“Of his own desire?”

“Sir, I got a Ministry of Magic leaflet by owl, about security measures we should all take against the Death Eaters...”

“Let me do that,” offered Harry, and he took the matches from her. She stood watching him as he finished lighting the candle stubs that stood on saucers around the room, perched precariously on stacks of books and on side tables crammed with cracked and moldy cups.

“Professor!” Harry said, sidestepping Snape before Snape could speak, “Mr. Crouch is here - he's down in the forest, he wants to speak to you!”

“No, no, that's miles away,” said Mr. Weasley, smiling. “We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup…”

“One way to find out, isn’t there?” said Harry.

“Karkaroff got released?” Harry said slowly - his brain seemed to be struggling to absorb yet another piece of shocking information. “Why did they release him?”

“Not at all: they are full of jests and gaiety.”