'I do,' said Harry, and he explained, briefly, about the pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway they formed. 'So they got in through the Room of Requirement.'
Almost against his will he glanced at Theodore, Allison, Tracey, and Terence, all of whom looked devastated.
'We turned it into a bloody mess,' said Tracey bleakly. 'After we gathered as many D.A. members as possible we tried to find Malfoy on the map like you said to do, but we couldn't find him. We decided to split up. Ginny, Neville, Terence, and I went to the Room of Requirement, and Malfoy was there, but he out smarted us.'
'He came out of the room about an hour after we started keeping watch,' said Ginny. 'He was on his own, clutching that awful shriveled arm—'
'I think it's called a Hand of Glory,' said Tracey. 'He used its power to see when no one else can to escape. He popped his head out of the Room of Requirement, and when he saw us he somehow made the area go pitch-black.'
'I believe it was Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder,' said Ginny bitterly. 'I can't believe Fred and George sold some to Malfoy or one of his goons. Anyway, we tried everything to see, Lumos, Incendio. Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. Obviously Malfoy could see because of that hand thing and was guiding them, but we didn’t dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we’d reached a corridor that was light, they’d gone.'
'Luckily,' said Remus hoarsely, 'Ginny, Neville, Tracey, and Terence ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Malfoy obviously hadn’t expected more people to be on the watch; he seemed to have exhausted his supply of Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the tower stairs—'
‘To set off the Mark?’ asked Harry.
‘He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement,” said Remus. ‘But I don’t think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me.’
‘So if Tracey and Terence were watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville,’ said Harry, turning to Allison, ‘were you—?’
‘Theodore, Canini, and I were guarding Snape’s office, yes,’ whispered Allison, the stone wall around her heart beginning to crack, ‘along with Luna. It was also my idea for Terry to patrol the halls with Colin and Susan. As for us, we just hung around outside the office, and for the longest while nothing happened, and since Tracey had the map we didn’t know Death Eaters were in the castle until nearly midnight. Then Professor Flitwick came running into the dungeon as fast as little could go. He was on a mission, he was yelling about the Death Eaters and then pushed right past the four of us and into Snape’s office. We heard him telling Snape that Snape had to go back with him and help, but then we all heard a loud thud and Snape came rushing out of his room and when he saw us he–he–‘
‘What?’ Harry urged her.
‘We were idiots, Harry!’ Theodore in a humiliated moan. ‘Snape told us Professor Flitwick had fainted and that we should make sure he’s alright while he—while he went to help fight the Death Eaters—‘ He said while scrunching up his robes in shame. Colin rubbed his back to try to calm him down.
Canini continued the recount of events.
‘So all four of us entered his office to tend to Professor Flitwick, he was out cold…we were just so stupid, Snape obviously used the stun spell on him, but we didn’t think of that. We also didn’t think that one or two of us could have followed Snape while the rest of us stayed. We figured it out eventually and Allison and I ran up stairs to join the battle, but it was too late. We’re the reason Snape made it up stairs.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ said Remus firmly in his fatherly tone. ‘Everyone, if you had not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you all and Luna.’
‘So then he came upstairs,’ said Harry, who was watching Snape running up the marble staircase in his mind’s eye, his black robes billowing behind him as ever, pulling his wand from under his cloak as he ascended, ‘and he found the place where you were all fighting…’
‘We were in trouble, we were losing,’ said Tonks in a low voice. ‘Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback…It was all dark…curses flying everywhere…The Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs…then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stair behind them with some kind of curse…Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air—‘
‘That’s around when my group arrived to help, but nothing any of us cast at that curse could break it,’ said Terence. ‘If course we couldn’t all put our full effort into taking down the barrier as the big bad blonde Death Eater stayed behind the others and was still blasting jinxes and hexes in every direction. I swear every spell missed by a hair…’
'And then Snape was there,' said Tonks, 'and then he wasn’t—'
'I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death Eater’s jinx just missed me right afterward and I ducked and lost track of things,' said Ginny.
'I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn’t there,' said Remus. 'I tried to follow him, but was thrown back just like Neville...'
'He must have known a spell we didn’t,' whispered McGonagall. 'After all—he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher...I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who’d escaped up to the tower...'
'He was,' said Harry savagely, 'but to help them, not to stop them...and I’ll bet you had to have a Dark Mark to get through that barrier—so what happened when he came back down?'
'Well, just before he did, that's when Canini and I also joined the fight,' said Allison. 'At this point with Neville and Bill down it was eight against one for that Death Eater and it seemed to make him go mad.'
'Yes, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs,' said Remus. 'We all ran forward—those of us who were still standing anyway—and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust—obviously, none of us attacked them—'
'We just let them pass,' said Tonks in a hollow voice. 'We thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters—and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again—I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don’t know what what he said as it was seconds later one of the Death Eaters ensnared me with the Fire Rope Spell—'
'He shouted, "It’s over,"' said Harry. 'He’d done what he’d meant to do.'
They all fell silent. Fawkes’s lament was still echoing over the dark grounds outside. As the music reverberated upon the air, unbidden, unwelcome thoughts slunk into Harry’s mind...Had they taken Dumbledore’s body from the foot of the tower yet? What would happen to it next? Where would it rest? He clenched his fists tightly in his pockets. He could feel the small cold lump of the fake Horcrux against the knuckles of his right hand.
The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making them all jump: Mr and Mrs Weasley were striding up the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face terrified.
'Molly—Arthur—' said Professor McGonagall, jumping up and hurrying to greet them. 'I am so sorry—'
'Bill,' whispered Mrs Weasley, darting past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill’s mangled face. 'Oh, Bill!'
Remus and Tonks had got up hastily and retreated so that Mr and Mrs Weasley could get nearer to the bed. Mrs Weasley bent over her son and pressed her lips to his bloody forehead.
'You said Greyback attacked him?' Mr Weasley asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. 'But he hadn’t transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?'
'We don’t yet know,' said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Remus.
'There will probably be some contamination, Arthur,' said Remus. 'It is an odd case, possibly unique...We don’t know what his behavior might be like when he awakens...'
Mrs Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill’s wounds.
'And Dumbledore...' said Mr Weasley. 'Minerva, is it true...Is he really..?'
As Professor McGonagall nodded, Harry noticed Fleur, who was gazing down at Bill with a frozen expression on her face.
'Dumbledore gone,' whispered Mr Weasley, but Mrs Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began to sob, tears falling onto Bill’s mutilated face.
'Of course, it doesn’t matter how he looks...It’s not r-really important...but he was a very handsome little b-boy...always very handsome...and he was g-going to be married!'
'And what do you mean by zat?' said Fleur suddenly and loudly. 'What do you mean, "’e was going to be married?"'
Mrs Weasley raised her tear-stained face, looking startled. 'Well—only that—'
'You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore?' demanded Fleur. 'You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?'
'No, that’s not what I—'
'Because ’e will!' said Fleur, drawing herself up to her full height and throwing back her long mane of silver hair. 'It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!'
'Well, yes, I’m sure,' said Mrs Weasley, 'but I thought perhaps—given how—how he—'
'You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per’aps, you hoped?' said Fleur, her nostrils flaring. 'What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!' she added fiercely, pushing Mrs Weasley aside and snatching the ointment from her.
While Mrs Weasley continued to talk to Fleur and seemed to be patching things up, Remus, Theodore, Allison, Tracey, Tonks, and Canini came over once more to Harry.
'I believe I owe you an apology,' said Remus, very serious. 'You were right that Snape and Draco Malfoy were up to something. I should have believed you. I'm deeply sorry.'
'Its ok, Moony,' said Harry quietly, 'I never thought that what they were planning was this extreme, this deadly.'
'And I guess you were right about Malfoy being a Death Eater,' Theodore admitted, but Canini then let out a whimper.
'He's not a Death Eater, just a servant of You-Know-Who,' she said in a shaky whisper.
'What do you mean he's not a Death Eater? He was in the tower only Death Eaters could enter?' said Tracey, quite confused.
'Malfoy went up the stairs before the barrier went up, and came down after it was destroyed,' she said slowly. 'Malfoy could not have been a Death Eater, because just like Fenrir Greyback, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named does not give the Dark Mark to werewolves.'
'What‽' said everyone present. Canini then broke down in tears.
'I'm so sorry I didn't tell anyone, maybe I could have prevented some of this if I had.
Remus tried to calm her down, 'It's ok, we aren't mad at you. We just want you to explain why you think Draco Malfoy is a werewolf.'
'Well, I figured out there was another werewolf in the school right at the beginning of the year because when I went to get my batch of Wolfsbane potion from Snape there was an extra dose waiting, at the time I didn't know who it was for. One full moon though I saw him. The entrances to Slytherin's Dungeon and Hufflepuff's Cellar both lead to the Entrance Hall, one time I saw him leave the Dungeon and head up the stairs while I was exiting the castle heading towards the Shrieking Shack. That made me curious, I started paying more attention to him, he always looked more sickly and in pain just before and after a full moon, just like how I am in the summer when I don't have Wolfsbane, I think he's in a bit of denial about his condition and wasn't accepting Snape's doses. It was then that I remembered how he howled in pain when Madam Malkin touched his arm, I know you think its a Dark Mark but I believe it was a fresh werewolf bite, I also remember you telling me he showed Borgin something on his arm while discussing Greyback in a threatening manner which to me sounded like Malfoy was giving proof that he did have connections to Greyback. Then a couple months ago I caught him leaving Slytherin's Dungeon again on a full moon. You told us Harry that Malfoy was fixing something up in the Room of Requirement, and I think that is correct, but I also believe one night a month he also used the room to transform, it probably produced magical chains like in our basement to keep himself restrained and that's why he has no visible scars.'
Harry now did remember that there had been nine days this school year that Malfoy never returned to the dormitory at all, and while he had thought they were apart of his scheme, thinking back the nights had all been around full moons. This didn't explain everything though.
'How could Malfoy even be a werewolf?' asked Harry.
'Greyback, I believe,' answered Canini with a shiver. 'He's in league with You-Know-Who. When Mr Malfoy couldn't get the prophecy last year, got captured, and was greatly responsible for You-Know-Who's secret return to be exposed, I think giving Draco Malfoy a near impossible task was not enough punishment in his eyes for Lucius. One of the things the Malfoys care the most about in the world is their blood status, so I think making Mr Malfoy's only child a "half-breed" was to utterly humiliate him. To keep Malfoy's cover, Fenrir was probably restrained enough that he only bit Malfoy's arm and not leave more visible damage.'
'But this can't be true, can it?' sad Theodore. 'Harry, you and I have been sharing a dorm with Malfoy all year, do you believe he's a werewolf?'
It took a lot of effort to not dispute Canini as Harry had been dead set on his Death Eater theory for nearly a year now, but Harry himself had noted several times how sickly Malfoy looked this year and now was recalling Snape and Malfoys conversation before Christmas where Malfoy mentioned Snape offering him handouts, and Snape saying he was supposed to guide Malfoy through something. He also recalled just hours before that Dumbledore himself had said Malfoy had a permanent status that would prevent him from fully joining Voldemort's ranks. Malfoy had also looked so terrified when Greyback appeared, which would make sense if he had be attacked by him. With a great sigh, Harry relented.
'I believe Canni, she's probably right. Malfoy is most likely a werewolf and not a Death Eater,' said Harry. 'However he is still following Voldemort's orders.'
'Oh, I agree, just like how Greyback was following You-Know-Who's orders,' said Canini.
'Not just Voldemort's orders,' said Harry before he thought about what he was saying. It just slipped out.
'Whose other orders has he followed?' asked Tonks.
Dumbledore had made him promise, but now Dumbledore was gone and Harry felt wrong keeping this secret, he decided to tell some of the truth.
'Look, Canini, I don't know the fully story or if it is true at all, but remember how you told me at the end of the summer you felt Borgin was obsessed with your family?' said Harry, she nodded. 'Dumbledore told me you were probably right. Your parents deaths were possibly not a random attack. If I were you I'd look into the inquiry Borgin's father made into the ownership of Borgin and Burkes, it might explain things better.'
Her skin went white with shock, but before anything else could be said, the Infirmary door slammed opened once more and all Harry saw was lady-bug red hair rush in.
'Tulip! You're hear?' said Tonks as she was hugged by her partner.
'I was staying in Hogsmeade, I was going to surprise you, but then I saw the Dark Mark. I got word that there had been a battle and that you were injured, and as I arrived at the castle I heard an even worse rumour. Is it true?'
'It is true,' said Tonks quietly. 'Dumbledore is dead.'
Tulip let out a gasp.
'I'm ok though, as will be just about everyone else,' said Tonks, trying to comfort her. 'Madam Pomfrey healed my burns in one flick of her wand.'
'Yes, I'm so glad you're ok,' said Tulip, giving Tonks a quick kiss. 'When I saw the Dark Mark and I learned you were at the school I thought I lost my fiancée after only being engaged for—'
'Fiancée?' said Harry, Canini, and Allison all at the same time.
'Er, yes,' said Tonks with a bit of pink rising in her cheeks. 'I had been hoping for a happier moment to tell everyone, but Tulip and I have decided to get married.'
'Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!' expressed Canini, hugging Tonks tightly, and she seemed to temporarily forget all the trauma that had occurred over the last few hours, even if just for a moment. 'Dora I'm so happy for you!'
'Good for you, Tonks,' said Allison proudly.
'Congrats you two,' added Harry.
'We know its rather soon, but we've know very well for over ten years, and with the war making it uncertain how much time we each will have we decided on Saturday that we should get married,' explained Tonks.
'This way we can spend our lives together side by side,' said Tulip happily. 'Further more, we bought a large cottage to live together in down in Winterton, North Lincolnshire, just off a little lake. We move in once Tonks' duties in Hogsmeade finishes.'
Tonks then turned to Allison, 'Speaking of which, Tulip and I discussed it, and if you still need a place to stay, Allison, until you can get on your feet we'd be happy for you to stay will us. We have quite a few spare bedrooms.'
'You...you really mean that?' asked Allison, her eyes were threatening to tear up.
'Of course, I have come to see you as a close friend and I'd love for you to stay with us. As an adult now though it is up to you where you lay your hat.'
'I say yes, oh thank you both so much,' and it was now her turn to hug Tonks.
They weren't the only two hugging. Mrs Weasley and Fleur had seemed to finally come together and they were both hugging and crying at the same time. McGonagall smiled ever so slightly at the different bonds being shared in the room.
'Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world,' said Professor McGonagall curtly, just as the hospital doors opened again and Hagrid walked in.
The little of his face that was not obscured by hair or beard was soaking and swollen; he was shaking with tears, a vast, spotted handkerchief in his hand.
'I’ve...I’ve done it, Professor,' he choked. 'M-moved him. Professor Sprout’s got the kids back in bed. Professor Flitwick’s lyin’ down, but he says he’ll be all righ’ in a jiffy, an’ Professor Slughorn says the Ministry’s bin informed.'
'Thank you, Hagrid,' said Professor McGonagall, standing up at once and turning to look at the group around Bill’s bed. 'I shall have to see the Ministry when they get here. Hagrid, please tell the Heads of Houses—Slughorn can represent Slytherin—that I want to see them in my office forthwith. I would like you to join us too.'
As Hagrid nodded, turned, and shuffled out of the room again, she looked down at Harry. 'Before I meet them I would like a quick word with you, Harry. If you’ll come with me...'
Harry stood up, and managed to mutter, 'See you in a bit' to his friends and family, and followed Professor McGonagall back down the ward. The corridors outside were deserted and the only sound was the distant phoenix song. It was several minutes before Harry became aware that they were not heading for Professor McGonagall’s office, but for Dumbledore’s, and another few seconds before he realized that of course, she had been deputy headmistress...Apparently she was now headmistress...so the room behind the gargoyle was now hers.
In silence they ascended the moving spiral staircase and entered the circular office. He did not know what he had expected: that the room would be draped in black, perhaps, or even that Dumbledore’s body might be lying there. In fact, it looked almost exactly as it had done when he and Dumbledore had left it mere hours previously: the silver instruments whirring and puffing on their spindlelegged tables, the Sorting Hat on a shelf, and a bowl of Sherbet lemon on his desk. But Fawkes’s perch stood empty, he was still crying his lament to the grounds. And a new portrait had joined the ranks of the dead headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts: Dumbledore was slumbering in a golden frame over the desk, his half-moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose, looking peaceful and untroubled.
After glancing once at this portrait, Professor McGonagall made an odd movement as though steeling herself, then rounded the desk to look at Harry, her face taut and lined.
'Harry,' she said, 'I would like to know what you and Professor Dumbledore were doing this evening when you left the school.'
'I can’t tell you that, Professor,' said Harry. He had expected the question and had his answer ready. It had been here, in this very room, that Dumbledore had told him that he was to confide the contents of their lessons to nobody but Theodore, Canini, Allison, and Tracey.
'Harry, it might be important,' said Professor McGonagall.
'It is,' said Harry, 'very, but he didn’t want me to tell anyone.'
Professor McGonagall glared at him. 'Potter'—Harry registered the renewed use of his surname—'in the light of Professor Dumbledore’s death, I think you must see that the situation has changed somewhat—'
'I don’t think so,' said Harry, shrugging. 'Professor Dumbledore never told me to stop following his orders if he died.'
'But—'
'There’s one thing you should know before the Ministry gets here, though. Madam Rosmerta’s under the Imperius Curse, she was helping Malfoy and the Death Eaters, that’s how the necklace and the poisoned mead—'
'Rosmerta?' said Professor McGonagall incredulously, but before she could go on, there was a knock on the door behind them and Professors Sprout, Flitwick, and Slughorn traipsed into the room, followed by Hagrid, who was still weeping copiously, his huge frame trembling with grief.
'Snape!' shouted Slughorn in absolute fury, who looked the most shaken, pale and sweating. 'Snape! I taught him! I thought I knew him!'
But before any of them could respond to this, a sharp voice spoke from high on the wall: A sallow-faced wizard with a short black fringe had just walked back into his empty canvas.
'Minerva, the Minister will be here within seconds, he has just Disapparated from the Ministry.'
'Thank you, Everard,' said Professor McGonagall, and she turned quickly to her teachers.
'I want to talk about what happens to Hogwarts before he gets here,' she said quickly. 'Personally, I am not convinced that the school should reopen next year. The death of the headmaster at the hands of one of our colleagues is a terrible stain upon Hogwarts’s history. It is horrible.'
'I am sure Dumbledore would have wanted the school to remain open,' said Professor Sprout. 'I feel that if a single pupil wants to come, then the school ought to remain open for that pupil.'
'But will we have a single pupil after this?' said Slughorn, now dabbing his sweating brow with a silken handkerchief. 'Parents will want to keep their children at home and I can’t say I blame them. Personally, I don’t think we’re in more danger at Hogwarts than we are anywhere else, but you can’t expect mothers to think like that. They’ll want to keep their families together, it’s only natural.'
'I agree,' said Professor McGonagall. 'And in any case, it is not true to say that Dumbledore never envisaged a situation in which Hogwarts might close. When the Chamber of Secrets reopened he considered the closure of the school—and I must say that Professor Dumbledore’s murder is more disturbing to me than the idea of Slytherin’s monster living undetected in the bowels of the castle...'
'We must consult the governors,' said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice; he had a large bruise on his forehead but seemed otherwise unscathed by his collapse in Snape’s office. 'We must follow the established procedures. A decision should not be made hastily.'
'Hagrid, you haven’t said anything,' said Professor McGonagall. 'What are your views, ought Hogwarts to remain open?'
Hagrid, who had been weeping silently into his large, spotted handkerchief throughout this conversation, now raised puffy red eyes and croaked, 'I dunno, Professor...that’s fer the Heads of House an’ the headmistress ter decide...'
'Professor Dumbledore always valued your views,' said Professor McGonagall kindly, 'and so do I.'
'Well, I’m stayin’,' said Hagrid, fat tears still leaking out of the corners of his eyes and trickling down into his tangled beard. 'It’s me home, it’s bin me home since I was thirteen. An’ if there’s kids who wan’ me ter teach ’em, I’ll do it. But...I dunno...Hogwarts without Dumbledore...' He gulped and disappeared behind his handkerchief once more, and there was silence.
'Very well,' said Professor McGonagall, glancing out of the window at the grounds, checking to see whether the Minister was yet approaching, 'then I must agree with Filius that the right thing to do is to consult the governors, who will make the final decision.
'Now, as to getting students home...there is an argument for doing it sooner rather than later. We could arrange for the Hogwarts Express to come tomorrow if necessary—'
'What about Dumbledore’s funeral?' said Harry, speaking at last.
'Well..' said Professor McGonagall, losing a little of her briskness as her voice shook. 'I—I know that it was Dumbledore’s wish to be laid to rest here, at Hogwarts—'
'Then that’s what’ll happen, isn’t it?' said Harry fiercely.
'If the Ministry thinks it appropriate,' said Professor McGonagall. 'No other headmaster or headmistress has ever been—'
'No other headmaster or headmistress ever gave more to this school,' growled Hagrid.
'Hogwarts should be Dumbledore’s final resting place,' said Professor Flitwick.
'Absolutely,' said Professor Sprout.
'And in that case,' said Harry, 'you shouldn’t send the students home until the funeral’s over. They’ll want to say—'
The last word caught in his throat, but Professor Sprout completed the sentence for him.
'Good-bye.'
'Well said,' squeaked Professor Flitwick. 'Well said indeed! Our students should pay tribute, it is fitting. We can arrange transport home afterward.'
'Seconded,' barked Professor Sprout.
'I suppose...yes...' said Slughorn in a rather agitated voice, while Hagrid let out a strangled sob of assent.
'He’s coming,' said Professor McGonagall suddenly, gazing down into the grounds. 'The Minister...and by the looks of it, he’s brought a delegation...'
'Can I leave, Professor?' said Harry at once.
He had no desire at all to see, or be interrogated by, Rufus Scrimgeour tonight.
'You may,' said Professor McGonagall. 'And quickly.'
She strode toward the door and held it open for him. He sped down the spiral staircase and off along the deserted corridor; he had left his Invisibility Cloak at the top of the Astronomy Tower, but it did not matter; there was nobody in the corridors or stairways to see him pass, not even Filch, Mrs Norris, or Peeves. He did not meet another soul until he turned into the passage leading to the Slytherin common room.
As Harry had suspected it would be, the common room was jam-packed. The room fell silent as he climbed through the portrait hole. He saw Crabbe talking to Pansy in the corner, and Goyle with Blaise sitting by the fireplace: This meant that the dormitory must be empty, or nearly so. Without speaking to anybody, without making eye contact at all, Harry walked straight across the room and through the door to the boys’ dormitories.
As he had hoped, Theodore was waiting for him, still fully dressed, sitting on his bed. Harry sat down on his own four-poster and for a moment, they simply stared at each other.
'They’re talking about closing the school,' said Harry.
'Remus mentioned that might be a possibility,' said Theodore.
There was a pause.
‘I cast Muffliato on the room, no one can eavesdrop,’ said Theodore. ‘Did you find a Horcrux?’
A sudden wave of disgust washed over Harry. For months now he had been unknowingly using Snape’s spells, a murderer’s spells. Now wasn’t the time just yet to discuss the Half-Blood Prince’s true identity. Theodore was right to focus on the Horcruxes. Harry shook his head. All that had taken place around that black lake seemed like an old nightmare now; had it really happened, and only hours ago?
‘It was a dead end then?’ said Theodore, looking crestfallen. ‘Dumbledore made a mistake on the location?’
‘No,’ said Harry. ‘Someone had already taken it and left a fake in its place.’
‘Someone already—?’
Wordlessly, Harry pulled the fake locket from his pocket, opened it, and passed it to Theodore. The full story could wait…It did not matter tonight…nothing mattered except the end, the end of their pointless adventure, the end of Dumbledore’s life…
‘R.A.B.,’ whispered Theodore, ‘that sounds familiar, was that person a subject in History of Magic?’
‘Dunno, didn’t take that subject this year,’ said Harry, lying back on his bed fully clothed and staring blankly upwards. He felt no curiosity at all about R.A.B.: He doubted that he would ever feel curious again. As he lay there, he became aware suddenly that the grounds were silent. Fawkes had stopped singing.
And he knew, without knowing how he knew it, that the phoenix had gone, had left Hogwarts for good, just as Dumbledore had left the school, had left the world…had left Harry.
