Harry Potter and Shafik

Chapter 145 Dumbledore's Funeral

To the Dark Lord
I'll be dead before you read this
But I want you to know that I discovered your secret.

I stole the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as possible.

I am willing to die, I hope that when you meet your opponent
can be killed.

RAB
…………

All classes are suspended and all exams postponed.Over the next two days, some students were hastily picked up from Hogwarts by their parents - the Parvati twins left without breakfast the morning after Dumbledore's death, Zachary Smith Smith followed his smug father out of the castle.Seamus Finnigan flatly refused to go home with his mother, and they had a loud quarrel in the hall until his mother allowed him to stay for the funeral, and the quarrel ended.Seamus later told Harry and Ron that his mother had trouble finding a bed in Hogsmeade because so many wizards and wizards had flocked to the village to say their final goodbyes to Dumbledore.

Hilbert is now staying behind closed doors in Taoist Lingxu's office, and Professor Gandalf is equally depressed.oh!It's Mr. Gellert, now the corpse avatar is accompanying him, and Daphne is also accompanying Hilbert. Astoria learned the cause of Dumbledore's death from Hilbert. She said that she believed that Della division.I also believe that Professor Lingxu is not dead.But soon, Mr. Gellert saw it away. They were indeed at their age, and no one knew whether they would meet tomorrow.Life and death have long been bearish, and their "love" has long surpassed life and death.

At dusk the day before the funeral, a powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen huge winged silver-maned horses, flew from the sky and landed on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.The younger students were very excited, they had never seen such a sight before.Many students watched from the windows as a tall, imposing woman with black hair and yellow skin stepped out of the carriage and threw herself into the arms of Hagrid who was waiting there.She was Hagrid's wife, Lady Olim Maxime.Meanwhile, a delegation from the Ministry of Magic - which included the Minister himself - was arranged to take up residence at the castle.Harry took pains to avoid meeting any of them, believing that sooner or later they would question him about Dumbledore's last departure from Hogwarts.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stayed together all day.The sunny weather seemed to be taunting them.Harry couldn't help but imagine how much better it would have been if Dumbledore hadn't died.Now it's the end of term, Ginny's exams are over, the homework is less stressful, they hang out all day... He knows what he has to say and what he's supposed to do, but he puts it off hour by hour because he just can't He was reluctant to give up the things that brought him the most comfort.

Neville had been discharged from the hospital, where Bill continued to be under Madam Pomfrey's care.His scar is still so shocking.To be honest, he looks a lot like Mad-Eye Moody now, luckily his eyes and legs are still intact, but his personality doesn't seem to have changed at all.The only thing that has changed is that he now suddenly loves to eat very tender beef.

"...fortunately he's going to marry me," Fleur said cheerfully as she patted Bill's pillow softer, "because the British always overcook their meat. I've said that many times."

"Looks like I'll have to face it, he's really going to marry her," sighed Ginny, who sat in the open door of the Gryffindor common room with Harry, Ron, and Hermione that night. Beside the window, looking out at the field in the twilight.

"She's not that bad," Harry said, "although she's kind of ugly." Seeing Ginny's raised eyebrows, he added quickly, and Ginny forced a laugh.

"Well, since Mom can take it, I guess I'm fine too."

"Has anyone we knew died?" Ron asked, seeing Hermione browsing the Evening Prophet.

Hermione jumped at the malicious sound he made on purpose.

"No," she said disapprovingly, folding up the newspaper, "they're still looking for Snape, but there's no lead..."

"Of course not," said Harry, getting angry every time the subject was brought up. "They won't find Snape until they find Voldemort, and since they haven't been able to find him for so long..."

Bang!
The gate of the school hospital was kicked open.

Hilbert walked in and said to Harry, "I don't believe he killed Principal Dumbledore! I don't believe my master is dead either!"

"That's the way it is. He killed Dumbledore with his own hands." Hermione leaned towards Harry, seemingly to ease the relationship between the two.There was that expression on Hermione's face.

"Harry, I found something this morning, in the library..." Harry asked, sitting up straight.

He is not as excitable and curious as before, and he wants to break the casserole and ask the end.All he knew was that he must find out where the Horcrux had gone in the first place before he could explore the dark and winding path before him--the path he and Dumbledore had taken together, and now he knew he would be alone. keep going.There are probably four more Horcruxes hidden somewhere, and he needs to find and destroy them one by one before he can finally destroy Voldemort.He kept reciting their names to himself, as if to draw them in: "Lockets...cups...snakes...something from Gryffindor or Ravenclaw...lockets... ...cups...snakes...something from Gryffindor or Ravenclaw..."

The spell seemed to be still beating in Harry's head after he fell asleep at night, so that his dreams were filled with cups, lockets, and other mysterious objects, visible but out of reach, despite Dumbledore's zealous A rope ladder was handed to him, but as soon as he started to climb it, the rope ladder turned into a snake...

The morning after Dumbledore's death, he showed Hermione the note in the locket, and she didn't recognize the three letters as belonging to someone she had read about in the book. The Unknown Wizard, but, since then, she's been running to the library all day, which isn't much of a necessity for someone with no homework.

"No," she said sadly, "I've been trying, Harry, but I've found nothing... There are, however, two more famous wizards whose names begin with these letters - Rosaleen Antioch Gon Bangs...Rupert Axbange Brookstanton...but they don't match up at all. From that note, the man who stole the Horcrux should know Voldemort, while I can't find the slightest clue that Bangers or Axbange have anything to do with Voldemort...actually what I'm going to say is about...well, about Snape."

She looked nervous at the mention of the name again.

"What's the matter with him?" Harry asked gruffly, slumping back into his chair.

"Well, what I said about the 'Half-Blood Prince' was not wrong," she said hesitantly.

"Do you have to leave the pot unopened, Hermione? Do you know how I feel right now?"

"No—no—Harry, that's not what I meant!" she said in a panic, looking from side to side to see if anyone was listening. There's nothing wrong with Lynn Prince. You know... she's Snape's mother!"

"I don't think she's a beauty," said Ron, and Hermione ignored him.

"I went through what was left of the old Daily Prophet and found a nondescript notice that Eileen Prince was married to a man named Tobias Snape, who later A notice saying she gave birth to a—”

"—murderer," said Harry through gritted teeth.

"Yeah... that's right," said Hermione, "so... I was right, Snape must be proud of being 'half a Prince', understand? From the Daily Prophet , Tobias Snape is a Muggle."

"Yeah, that's right," said Harry, "he's pretending to be pure-blood so he can get involved with Lucius Malfoy and the others... He's like Voldemort. Pure-blood mother, Ma Father Melon...is ashamed of his parentage, wants to use the Dark Arts to make others fear him, and has given himself a new and prestigious name—Voldemort—Half-Blood Prince—Why didn't Dumbledore—?"

He paused, looking out the window.He couldn't help but keep thinking about Dumbledore's unforgivable trust in Snape...but as Hermione had just casually pointed out, he, Harry, was also deceived...despite all the scribbles The spell was getting crueler, but he still couldn't believe that the boy who had been so smart and helped him so much was a bad guy...

Helped him... It's unbearable to think about it now...

"I still don't understand why he didn't expose you for using that book," said Ron. "He must know where you got all that knowledge from."

"He knew it," said Harry bitterly, "he knew it when I cast the Sinister Charm. He didn't actually need Legilimency to cast the spell...he probably knew it before then , because Slughorn is always talking about how good I am at potions...he shouldn't have left his old textbook at the bottom of the storage cupboard, should he?"

"But why didn't he expose you?"

"I don't think he wants to associate himself with the book," said Hermione. "I think Dumbledore would be upset if he found out. Even if Snape didn't admit that the book was his Yes, Slughorn would have recognized his handwriting too. Anyway, the book was left in Snape's old classroom, and I'm sure Dumbledore knew that Snape's mother was called 'Prince '."

"I should have shown Dumbledore the book," said Harry. "He's been trying to make me realize how evil Voldemort was at school, and now I can prove that Snape was too—"

"'Evil' is too strong a word," Hermione said softly.

"Didn't you keep telling me that book was dangerous!"

"I mean, Harry, you blame yourself too much. I thought the prince had a cruel sense of humor, but I never would have guessed that he would become a murderer..."

"None of us would have guessed that Snape would... you know," said Ron.

They fell silent, each lost in thought, but Harry believed that the other two thought as much as he did about the burial of Dumbledore's body the next morning.Harry had never been to a funeral before, and when Sirius died, there were no bones to bury.He didn't know what would happen then.what will he seeHow will it feel?He was vaguely worried.He wondered if Dumbledore's death would be more real to him after the funeral was over.Now, sometimes that terrible truth nearly knocked him down, but more often he was blank and numb.He still had a hard time believing that Dumbledore really didn't exist anymore, despite the whole castle talking about it.Of course, he didn't look desperately for some loophole, as he did after Sirius died, hoping that Dumbledore would return...

He reached into his pocket for the cold chain of the fake Horcrux, which he carried with him everywhere now, not as a talisman, but as a reminder of its cost, of how much more he still had to do.

The next day, Harry woke up early to pack his bags.The Hogwarts Express will leave an hour after the funeral.He came downstairs and found that the atmosphere in the auditorium was very depressing.Everyone was in dress robes, and no one seemed to have much appetite.Professor McGonagall left the throne-like seat in the middle of the staff table empty.Hagrid's chair was empty, too.Harry guessed he might not be in the mood for breakfast.But Rufus Scrimgeour was sitting in Snape's seat, which was very eye-catching.His yellow eyes scanned the Great Hall, and Harry averted his gaze.Harry felt uncomfortably that Scrimgeour was looking for him.Among Scrimgeour's entourage, Harry spotted Percy Weasley with red hair and horn-rimmed glasses.Ron didn't give a hint that he knew Percy was coming, he just sliced ​​his smoked fish extra hard.

Over there at the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle huddled together and whispered.Although they were both big, hulking young men, without Malfoy's pale, slender figure in the middle, without Malfoy giving orders to them, the two of them looked very lonely.Harry didn't think about Malfoy any more, all his hatred was focused on Snape.He hadn't forgotten the terror in Malfoy's voice atop the tower, or the fact that Malfoy's wand had dropped before the other Death Eaters arrived.Harry didn't believe Malfoy would kill Dumbledore.He still hated Malfoy for his obsession with the Dark Arts, but now that hatred was mixed with a little pity.Where is Malfoy at the moment?What exactly was Voldemort ordering him to do by threatening to kill him and his parents?

Ginny poked Harry, interrupting his thoughts.Professor McGonagall stood up, and the mournful murmur in the Great Hall died down instantly.

"It's almost time," she said, "follow your headmaster to the grounds. The Gryffindors follow me."

They came out from behind the benches in a single file, hardly making a sound.Harry caught a glimpse of Slughorn standing at the head of the Slytherin procession, wearing rich emerald green robes embroidered with silver thread.Besides, he had never seen the head of Hufflepuff, Professor Sprout, so neat and tidy without a patch on his hat.When they reached the foyer, they found Mrs. Pince standing beside Filch, wearing a thick black veil that fell to her knees, and Filch was wearing an old-fashioned suit and tie, exuding It smelled of mothballs.

Harry went out the door, onto the stone steps, and found them walking in the direction of the lake.With the warm sunlight shining on his face, they silently followed Professor McGonagall to the place where hundreds of chairs were lined up.There was an aisle between the chairs, and in front of it stood a marble table, towards which all the chairs were directed.It is one of the most beautiful and pleasant days of summer.

Half the chairs were already occupied by people of all kinds: the ragged and the neat, the old and the young.Most people Harry didn't know, but some he did, including members of the Order of the Phoenix: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks - and her hair miraculously Turning bright pink, Remus Lupine - Tonks holding hands with him, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and Fleur supporting Bill, followed by Fred in black dragon leather jackets and george.Then there's Madame Maxime - who takes up two and a half chairs by herself, Tom from the Leaky Cauldron, Arabella Figg, Harry's Squib neighbor, and the hairy bass from the Weird Sisters. The fiddler, the knight bus driver Ern Pullan, Mrs. Malkin from the Robe Shop in Diagon Alley, and a few people Harry just looked familiar, such as the waiter in the Hog's Head pub, the pusher on the Hogwarts Express. The Witch of the Trolley.The ghosts of the castle came too, barely visible in the sunlight, recognizable only as they walked, glowing unreal in the bright air.

Harry then recognized Rita Skeeter and was annoyed to see a notebook clutched in her red-clawed hands, then recognized Dolores Umbridge and was furious .Umbridge wore a sad expression on his toad face, and a black velvet butterfly was crowned in his iron-brown curls.When she saw Firenze the Centaur standing like a sentinel by the lake, she was frightened and hurried to a seat far away.

Finally, everyone was seated.Harry could see Scrimgeour sitting in the front row with Mrs. McGonagall, looking dignified and dignified.Harry wondered if Scrimgeour and the other bigwigs were really mourning Dumbledore's death.Then, he heard music, like fairy music from another world, he forgot his aversion to the minister, and turned to look for the source of this music.He wasn't alone in doing this: many heads were turning, searching, with a little wonder.

Finally, everyone was seated.Harry could see Scrimgeour sitting in the front row with Mrs. McGonagall, looking dignified and dignified.Harry wondered if Scrimgeour and the other bigwigs were really mourning Dumbledore's death.Then, he heard music, like fairy music from another world, he forgot his aversion to the minister, and turned to look for the source of this music.He wasn't alone in doing this: many heads were turning, searching, with a little wonder.

"There." Ginny whispered into Harry's ear.

And then he saw them, in the clear green water of the sunlit lake, just inches below the surface, and it reminded him of the Inferi, and the terror came over him again.A chorus of merfolk sang in a strange language he could not understand, their pale faces rippling and purple hair floating around them.The music made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand on end, but it wasn't harsh.It speaks plainly of grief and despair.Looking down at the emotional faces in the water, Harry felt that at least they were mourning the loss of Dumbledore.Then Ginny poked him again, and he turned away.

Hagrid was walking slowly along the aisle between the seats.He was weeping silently, with tears streaming down his face, and Harry knew that he held Dumbledore's body in his arms, wrapped in purple velvet studded with gold stars.Seeing this scene, a piercing pain rose in Harry's throat: for a moment, that strange music, and Dumbledore's body so close to him, seemed to take away all the warmth of that day.Ron looked shocked and pale.Big, big tears kept dripping down Ginny's and Hermione's laps.They can't see what's ahead.Hagrid seemed to place the body carefully on the table.He was walking back down the aisle, blowing his nose and blowing his nose, and some people were throwing disapproving glances at him, and Harry saw Dolores Umbridge among them... but Harry knew Dumbledore wouldn't mind.Harry tried to say a friendly hello to Hagrid as he passed, but Hagrid's eyes were so swollen that it was a wonder he could still see where he was going.Harry looked at the back row, where Hagrid was going, and realized what was giving him the distance.There sat the giant Glop, in a jacket and trousers the size of a small tent, his enormous, ugly, pebble-like head hanging down, seeming docile, even understanding.Hagrid sat down next to his half-brother, and Gropp patted Hagrid on the head so hard that all four legs of the chair sank into the ground.Harry couldn't help laughing for a moment.But at this moment, the music stopped, he turned his face and looked ahead again.

A small, bushy-haired man in a plain black robe got up from his seat and stood in front of Dumbledore's body.Harry couldn't make out what he was saying.Occasionally a word or phrase floats behind hundreds of heads. "Noble spirit"... "scholarly maturity"... "great heart"... none of this makes much sense.None of this had much to do with the Dumbledore Harry knew.He suddenly remembered the few words invented by Dumbledore: "Fool!"
The sound of splashing water came from the left, and he turned his head to see that the mermaids had all emerged from the water and were listening carefully.Harry thought of Dumbledore squatting by the water two years ago, almost exactly where Harry was sitting now, talking to the leader of the merfolk in the merfolk language.Harry didn't know where Dumbledore had learned the merman's language.There are so many things he didn't ask him, and so many things he should tell him...

And then, suddenly, the terrible truth hit him, more relentlessly than ever, undeniable.Dumbledore was dead, gone... He clutched the cold locket so tightly that it hurt his palms, but he couldn't stop the tears from welling up in his eyes: he avoided Ginny and the others. Looking at the Forbidden Forest beyond the lake, the little man in black was still making a monotonous speech... There was movement in the Forbidden Forest.The centaurs also came to express their condolences.They didn't come out into the clearing, and Harry saw them standing half hidden in the shadows, looking motionless at the wizards here, their bows at their sides.Harry remembered his first nightmarish experience in the Forbidden Forest, where he first saw the fellow who had been Voldemort, and how he had confronted him, how he and How Dumbledore discussed how to fight this doomed battle.Dumbledore said that the important thing is to keep fighting, fighting, and fighting. Only in this way can the evil be controlled, although it will never be completely eliminated...

Harry sat in the scorching sun, clearly seeing those who cared about him standing alone in front of him, his mother, father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him, But now it's all over.He could no longer let anyone stand between him and Voldemort.He had to abandon forever the illusion that he should have thrown away as early as one year old, that the arms of some elder would protect him from any harm.No one would wake him from his nightmares now, no one would whisper comforting words in the dark that he was actually safe, that everything was his own imagination.His last and greatest protector was dead, and he was lonelier than ever.

The little man finally finished speaking and returned to his seat.Harry waited for someone else to stand up, expecting someone to speak, such as the Minister, but no one moved.

Suddenly, several people screamed.Blazing white flames shot out from Dumbledore's body and around the table: the flames rose higher and higher, obscuring the body.White smoke curled up into the air, taking on all sorts of strange shapes: for a split second Harry thought he saw a phoenix soaring joyfully into the blue sky, but then the flames died away and a white marble tomb appeared there , including Dumbledore's body and the table where the body was placed.

Countless arrows hid in the air like a shower, causing a few screams, but they fell far away from the crowd.Harry knew that it was the centaurs who were mourning.He saw them turn and disappear among the shady trees.The murlocs also sank slowly into the green bottom, and were never seen again.

Harry looked at Ginny, Ron and Hermione.Ron's face was scrunched up, as if the sun was blinding his eyes.Hermione's face was glistening with tears, but Ginny had stopped crying.She met Harry's gaze with the steely intensity she had embraced him on the day he was absent after the team had won the Quidditch Cup.In that moment, Harry knew that they had a heart for each other, that when he told her what he was going to do, she would not say "you be careful" or "you don't do it", but would embrace his decision, Because she knew from the bottom of her heart that he was that kind of person.So he gritted his teeth and said what he had known since Dumbledore's death that he had to say it.

"Ginny, listen to me..." he said in a very soft voice, when the voices around him grew louder and people stood up, "I can't have this relationship with you anymore. We can't Let’s meet again, we can’t be together again.”

With an odd, twisted smile on her face, she said, "For some stupid noble reason, isn't it?"

"These weeks with you... have been... like days stolen from someone else," said Harry, "but I can't... we can't...some things I have to do alone now Do."

Ginny didn't cry, just looked at him.

"Voldemort always used people who were close to his enemies. He already used you as bait once, and that was only because you were my best friend's sister. Think about it, if we keep this relationship, it will give What a danger you pose. You will know, will find out. He will try to get to me through you."

"What if I don't care?" Ginny said passionately.

"I care," said Harry, "if it's your funeral...and I caused it all... how do you think I'll feel..."

She turned her face away to look at the lake.

"I've never really given up on you," she said, "never really given up. I've always had hope... Hermione told me to throw myself into life and try to get along with other people and relax around you because, do you remember , I couldn't even speak when you were in the house. Hermione thinks that if I had more - myself, you might notice me more."

"Hermione is such a ghost," Harry said, trying to smile to himself, "I really regret not asking you sooner. Otherwise we could have had a long time... months... maybe years... "

"But you've been busy saving the wizarding world," Ginny said with a grin. "Well... I'm not really surprised. I knew it was going to end like this. I knew you weren't going to find Voldemort." I won't be reconciled. Maybe that's why I like you so much."

Hearing these words, Harry couldn't bear it any longer, thinking that if he continued to sit beside Ginny, his resolve would definitely be shaken.He saw Ron holding Hermione in his arms at this moment, stroking her hair gently, and Hermione was crying sadly on his shoulder, and big tears rolled down the tip of Ron's long nose.Harry stood up in embarrassment, turned his back on Ginny and Dumbledore's graves, and walked around the lake.It's better to walk around than to sit still: just as it's better to set off early to find the Horcruxes and destroy Voldemort than to wait anxiously...

(End of this chapter)