94 hp Diagon Alley

"Then I can catch my breath. When are you and George planning to get married?" Ginny asked an earth-shattering question without changing her expression.

"I can't let Garrick miss my wedding." Gwen said with a small yawn, "Just wait and see, Ginny, after Bill's wedding, I bet you don't want to be in any weddings for a year. "

Ron trembled when he heard the words, "I don't know why I'm already scared, but anyway, the wedding is better than..."

They fell silent, each lost in thought, and Gwen believed that everyone else, like her, was thinking about the burial of Dumbledore's body the next morning.Although Gwen is the number one proponent of Dumbledore's fake death conspiracy theory, people in the entire castle are talking about death, which makes her feel inexplicably sentimental about the upcoming funeral.She understands that there is still work that must be done for all of us.For example, I must guard the wand shop.Dumbledore, for example, must complete his great work.Harry, for example, had to keep looking—what was that called?horcruxes.

The next day, Gwen woke up early to pack her luggage.The Hogwarts Express will leave an hour after the funeral.She 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, and he might not be in the mood for breakfast.But Rufus Scrimgeour was sitting in Snape's seat, which was very eye-catching.Gwen also spotted Percy Weasley with red hair and tortoiseshell 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.

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.They were walking towards the lake.The warm sunlight shone on everyone's faces, and they silently followed Professor McGonagall to a place lined with hundreds of chairs.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 of the people Gwen didn't know, but some she did, including members of the Order of the Phoenix: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody with his apprentice Cedric, Tonks— Her hair had miraculously turned brilliant pink again, and Remus Lupine-Tonks was holding hands with him, much to Gwen's relief.Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, with Fleur supporting Bill, followed by Fred and George in black dragon leather jackets.And then there's Madame Maxime, who takes up two and a half chairs by herself, Tom from the Leaky Cauldron, the shaggy double bass player from the Weird Sisters, and Ern Pullan, the Knight Bus driver. , Mrs. Malkin from the robe store in Diagon Alley, and a few people who just looked familiar, such as the waiter at the Pig's Head Bar, and the witch pushing the trolley on the Hogwarts Express.The ghosts of the castle came too, barely visible in the sunlight and recognizable only as they walked, glowing unreal in the bright air.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny took the last few seats in the row of chairs by the lake.Gwen pulled Katie and the twins into a row behind them, and Oliver Wood hurried up from the team.People were talking to each other in whispers like a breeze blowing through the grass, and the birds were singing loudly.The crowd keeps coming.Gwen saw Luna help Neville sit down on the chair, and couldn't help feeling fond of the two of them.On the night of Dumbledore's death, only the two of them responded to Hermione's call among all the members of DA. Even Harry said to Ginny: Maybe it's because they both miss DA the most... maybe they often put Coins out, hopefully DA will organize another event...but most importantly they are truly loyal and brave.Gwen wholeheartedly agrees with this view.

Cornelius Fudge walked past them toward the front seat, scowling, twirling his cuckold hat as usual.Then there was Rita Skeeter, clutching a notebook in her red-clawed hands, and then the students recognized Dolores Umbridge and were furious.Umbridge had a mournful expression on his toad/toad/toad face, and a black velvet butterfly atop 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.As if the sound of fairy music from another world came, Gwen forgot her aversion to Umbridge, and turned to look for the source of this music.She wasn't alone in doing this: many heads were turning, searching, with a little wonder.

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

Gwen also looked in the direction of Ginny's finger, just a few inches below the surface of the lake in the clear green water of the sunlit lake.A chorus of merfolk sang in a strange, unintelligible language, their pale faces rippling and purple hair floating around them.The music speaks plainly of grief and despair.

Hagrid was walking slowly along the aisle between the seats.He was weeping silently, tears glistening on his face, and in his arms was Dumbledore's body, wrapped in purple velvet studded with gold stars.Seeing this scene, it seemed that everyone felt a piercing pain in their hearts.Ron looked shocked and pale.Big, big tears kept dripping down Ginny's and Hermione's laps.

George held Gwen's hand tightly, and they couldn't help looking at the corpse.

In the atmosphere of the funeral, the corpse that was exactly like Dumbledore still made Gwen feel palpitations.The only thing that can comfort her is the magic that tightly binds her tongue.

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 gave him disapproving glances, including Dolores Umbridge... But everyone knew Deng Bullido wouldn't mind.

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.

It was Professor McGonagall's turn to speak, and the strong and brave witch had never shown such a vulnerable side.But she was very stingy with her words, and only said: "If Dumbledore were here, he would hope that we would not mourn his death, but remember his life." Wipe your face.

Suddenly, blinding white flames shot out from around Dumbledore's body and the table: the flames rose higher and higher, obscuring the body.White smoke curled up into the air, showing various strange shapes, just like the white light Gwen had seen under the Astronomy Tower.Then there appeared a white marble tomb, enclosing Dumbledore's body and the table on which it lay.

Countless arrows hid in the air like a shower, causing a few screams, but they fell far away from the crowd.This is the horse people mourning.They let out a long hiss, accompanied by a eulogy in human language: "A young warrior."

"Why young?" Harry asked hoarsely.

"Because centaurs are very long-lived magical creatures," Hermione replied subconsciously, sniffling, "Dumbledore is only young to them—oh!" Ron blushed himself, and was busy telling Hermione Min handed the handkerchief.

Or maybe it was because lying in the cold coffin was a real young man, only a few years older than them when he died.

While Gwen was still gripped by grief, George looked steely and passionate, looked at his girlfriend and said, "You know what we can do now?"

Gwen didn't know how to answer.

"Fight." The youth's fervent belief almost set the white funeral ablaze, "Gwen, we will continue to fight them until the day we win."

Years later, Gwen could still remember the fake funeral. She thought that Dumbledore's departure would make wizards lose hope.But many people—Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Fred and George—their determined eyes were like a clear but bottomless spring, and Like those people she met in her life who have experienced a lot but are still curious about the world, they have seen the complexity and suffering of life, and they are still persistent in finding meaning.

This was the last time Gwen took the Hogwarts Express home, and it was the last time she and