Dolores Umbridge 44 страница

“You think you know more magic than I do? ” he said. “Than I,

than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of? ”

“Oh, he dreamed of it, ” said Harry, “but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you’ve done. ”

“You mean he was weak! ” screamed Voldemort. “Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine! ”

“No, he was cleverer than you, ” said Harry, “a better wizard, a better man. ”

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore! ” “You thought you did, ” said Harry, “but you were wrong. ” For the first time, the watching crowd stirred as the hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as one.

“ Dumbledore is dead! ” Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as

though they would cause him unendurable pain. “His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Pot- ter, and he will not return! ”

“Yes, Dumbledore’s dead, ” said Harry calmly, “but you didn’t have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant. ”

“What childish dream is this? ” said Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver from Harry’s.

“Severus Snape wasn’t yours, ” said Harry. “Snape was Dumble- dore’s, Dumbledore’s from the moment you started hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can’t understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle? ”

Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart.

“Snape’s Patronus was a doe, ” said Harry, “the same as my moth- er’s, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized, ” he said as he saw Vol- demort’s nostrils flare, “he asked you to spare her life, didn’t he? ” “He desired her, that was all, ” sneered Voldemort, “but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him —”

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“Of course he told you that, ” said Harry, “but he was Dumble- dore’s spy from the moment you threatened her, and he’s been work- ing against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him! ”

“It matters not! ” shrieked Voldemort, who had followed every word with rapt attention, but now let out a cackle of mad laughter. “It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore’s, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I

crushed your mother, Snape’s supposed great love! Oh, but it all

makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand! “Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy — I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore’s last plan went wrong, Harry Potter! ”

“Yeah, it did, ” said Harry. “You’re right. But before you try to kill me, I’d advise you to think about what you’ve done. . . . Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle. . . . ”

“What is this? ”

Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any rev- elation or taunt, nothing had shocked Voldemort like this. Harry saw his pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten.

“It’s your one last chance, ” said Harry, “it’s all you’ve got left. . . . I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise. . . . Be a man. . . try. . . Try for some remorse. . . . ”

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“You dare —? ” said Voldemort again.

“Yes, I dare, ” said Harry, “because Dumbledore’s last plan hasn’t backfired on me at all. It’s backfired on you, Riddle. ” Voldemort’s hand was trembling on the Elder Wand, and Harry gripped Draco’s very tightly. The moment, he knew, was seconds away.

“That wand still isn’t working properly for you because you mur- dered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore. ”

“He killed —”

“Aren’t you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore’s

death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand’s last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand’s power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him! ”

“But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand! ” Voldemort’s voice shook with malicious pleasure. “I stole the wand from its last master’s tomb! I removed it against its last master’s wishes! Its power is mine! ”

“You still don’t get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn’t enough! Holding it, using it, doesn’t make it really yours. Didn’t

you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard. . . . The Elder

Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world’s most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance. . . . ”

Voldemort’s chest rose and fell rapidly, and Harry could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the wand pointed at his face.

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“The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy. ” Blank shock showed in Voldemort’s face for a moment, but then it was gone.

“But what does it matter? ” he said softly. “Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone. . . and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy. . . . ”

“But you’re too late, ” said Harry. “You’ve missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him. ”

Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and he felt the eyes of ev- eryone in the Hall upon it.

“So it all comes down to this, doesn’t it? ” whispered Harry. “Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does. . . I am the true master of the Elder Wand. ”

A red-gold glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the near- est window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort’s was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand:

“ Avada Kedavra! ”

“ Expelliarmus! ”

The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort’s green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy’s shell.

One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment sus- pended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward him, and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, their incomprehensible shouts that deafened him. Then Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, nor tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason it was over at last —

The sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, and the Great Hall blazed with life and light. Harry was an indispensable part of the mingled outpourings of jubilation and mourning, of grief and celebration. They wanted him there with them, their leader and symbol, their savior and their guide, and that he had not slept, that he craved the company of only a few of them, seemed to occur to no one. He must speak to the bereaved, clasp their hands, witness their tears, receive their thanks, hear the news now creeping in from every quarter as

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the morning drew on; that the Imperiused up and down the country had come back to themselves, that Death Eaters were fleeing or else being captured, that the innocent of Azkaban were being released at that very moment, and that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister of Magic. . . .

They moved Voldemort’s body and laid it in a chamber off the Hall, away from the bodies of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevey, and fifty others who had died fighting him. McGonagall had re- placed the House tables, but nobody was sitting according to House anymore: All were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in a corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouth. After a while, exhausted and drained, Harry found himself sitting on a bench beside Luna.

“I’d want some peace and quiet, if it were me, ” she said. “I’d love some, ” he replied.

“I’ll distract them all, ” she said. “Use your Cloak. ” And before he could say a word she had cried, “Oooh, look, a Blibbering Humdinger! ” and pointed out of the window. Everyone who heard looked around, and Harry slid the Cloak up over him- self, and got to his feet.

Now he could move through the Hall without interference. He spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother’s shoulder: There would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talk. He saw Neville, the sword of Gryffindor lying beside his plate as he ate, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirers. Along the aisle between the tables he walked, and he spotted the three Malfoys, huddled together as

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

though unsure whether or not they were supposed to be there, but nobody was paying them any attention. Everywhere he looked he saw families reunited, and finally, he saw the two whose company he craved most.

“It’s me, ” he muttered, crouching down between them. “Will you come with me? ”

They stood up at once, and together he, Ron, and Hermione left the Great Hall. Great chunks were missing from the marble staircase, part of the balustrade gone, and rubble and bloodstains occurred every few steps as they climbed.

Somewhere in the distance they could hear Peeves zooming through the corridors singing a victory song of his own composition:

We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter’s the one,

And Voldy’s gone moldy, so now let’s have fun!

“Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn’t it? ” said Ron, pushing open a door to let Harry and Hermi- one through.

Happiness would come, Harry thought, but at the moment it was muffled by exhaustion, and the pain of losing Fred and Lupin and Tonks pierced him like a physical wound every few steps. Most of all he felt the most stupendous relief, and a longing to sleep. But first he owed an explanation to Ron and Hermione, who had stuck with him for so long, and who deserved the truth. Painstakingly he recounted what he had seen in the Pensieve and what had happened in the forest, and they had not even begun to express all their shock and amazement when at last they arrived at the place to which they had been walking, though none of them had mentioned their destination.

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THE FLAW IN THE PLAN

Since he had last seen it, the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster’s study had been knocked aside; it stood lopsided, looking a little punch-drunk, and Harry wondered whether it would be able to distinguish passwords anymore.

“Can we go up? ” he asked the gargoyle.

“Feel free, ” groaned the statue.

They clambered over him and onto the spiral stone staircase that moved slowly upward like an escalator. Harry pushed open the door at the top.

He had one, brief glimpse of the stone Pensieve on the desk where he had left it, and then an earsplitting noise made him cry out, thinking of curses and returning Death Eaters and the rebirth of Voldemort —

But it was applause. All around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving him a standing ovation; they waved their hats and in some cases their wigs, they reached through their frames to grip each other’s hands; they danced up and down on the chairs in which they had been painted; Dilys Derwent sobbed unashamedly; Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas Nigellus called, in his high, reedy voice, “And let it be noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten! ”

But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster’s chair. Tears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled Harry with the same balm as phoenix song.

At last, Harry held up his hands, and the portraits fell respectfully silent, beaming and mopping their eyes and waiting eagerly for him

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

to speak. He directed his words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with enormous care. Exhausted and bleary-eyed though he was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last piece of advice. “The thing that was hidden in the Snitch, ” he began, “I dropped

it in the forest. I don’t know exactly where, but I’m not going to go looking for it again. Do you agree? ”

“My dear boy, I do, ” said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious. “A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of you. Does anyone else know where it fell? ”

“No one, ” said Harry, and Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction. “I’m going to keep Ignotus’s present, though, ” said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed.

“But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on! ” “And then there’s this. ”

Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not like to see.

“I don’t want it, ” said Harry.

“What? ” said Ron loudly. “Are you mental? ”

“I know it’s powerful, ” said Harry wearily. “But I was happier with mine. So. . . ”

He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out the two halves of holly still just connected by the finest thread of phoenix feather. Hermione had said that they could not be re- paired, that the damage was too severe. All he knew was that if this did not work, nothing would.

He laid the broken wand upon the headmaster’s desk, touched it

with the very tip of the Elder Wand, and said, “ Reparo. ”

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As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end. Harry knew that he had succeeded. He picked up the holly and phoenix wand and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion.

“I’m putting the Elder Wand, ” he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, “back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won’t it? The previous master will never have been defeated. That’ll be the end of it. ”

Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other. “Are you sure? ” said Ron. There was the faintest trace of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand.

“I think Harry’s right, ” said Hermione quietly. “That wand’s more trouble than it’s worth, ” said Harry. “And quite honestly, ” he turned away from the painted portraits, think- ing now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryf- findor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, “I’ve had enough trouble for a lifetime. ”

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NINTEEN YEARS LATER

E P I L O G U E

NINETEEN YEARS LATER

utumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning

of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cages rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father’s arm.

“It won’t be long, and you’ll be going too, ” Harry told her.

“Two years, ” sniffed Lily. “I want to go now! ”

The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Albus’s voice drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamor; his sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car.

“I won’t! I won’t be in Slytherin! ”

“James, give it a rest! ” said Ginny.

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EPILOGUE

“I only said he might be, ” said James, grinning at his younger

brother. “There’s nothing wrong with that. He might be in

Slyth —”

But James caught his mother’s eye and fell silent. The five Potters approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger brother, James took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.

“You’ll write to me, won’t you? ” Albus asked his parents immedi- ately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother. “Every day, if you want us to, ” said Ginny.

“Not every day, ” said Albus quickly. “James says most people only

get letters from home about once a month. ”

“We wrote to James three times a week last year, ” said Ginny. “And you don’t want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts, ” Harry put in. “He likes a laugh, your brother. ”

Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three- quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which James had already disappeared. “Where are they? ” asked Albus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform. “We’ll find them, ” said Ginny reassuringly.

But the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out any- body’s faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnatu- rally loud. Harry thought he heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello. . . .

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NINETEEN YEARS LATER

“I think that’s them, Al, ” said Ginny suddenly. A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus had drawn right up to them.

“Hi, ” said Albus, sounding immensely relieved. Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.

“Parked all right, then? ” Ron asked Harry. “I did. Hermione didn’t believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I’d have to Confund the examiner. ”

“No, I didn’t, ” said Hermione, “I had complete faith in you. ”

“As a matter of fact, I did Confund him, ” Ron whispered to

Harry, as together they lifted Albus’s trunk and owl onto the train. “I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let’s face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that. ”

Back on the platform, they found Lily and Hugo, Rose’s younger brother, having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.

“If you’re not in Gryffindor, we’ll disinherit you, ” said Ron, “but no pressure. ”

“ Ron! ”

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and Rose looked solemn. “He doesn’t mean it, ” said Hermione and Ginny, but Ron was no longer paying attention. Catching Harry’s eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist. “Look who it is. ”

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat,

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EPILOGUE

which emphasized the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.

“So that’s little Scorpius, ” said Ron under his breath. “Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother’s brains. ”

“Ron, for heaven’s sake, ” said Hermione, half stern, half amused. “Don’t try to turn them against each other before they’ve even started school! ”

“You’re right, sorry, ” said Ron, but unable to help himself, he

added, “Don’t get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad

Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood. ” “Hey! ”

James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

“Teddy’s back there, ” he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam. “Just seen him! And

guess what he’s doing? Snogging Victoire! ”

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

“ Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin!

And I asked Teddy what he was doing —”

“You interrupted them? ” said Ginny. “You are so like Ron —”

“— and he said he’d come to see her off! And then he told me to

go away. He’s snogging her! ” James added as though worried he had

not made himself clear.

“Oh, it would be lovely if they got married! ” whispered Lily ec-

statically. “Teddy would really be part of the family then! ”

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NINETEEN YEARS LATER

“He already comes round for dinner about four times a week, ” said Harry. “Why don’t we just invite him to live with us and have done with it? ”

“Yeah! ” said James enthusiastically. “I don’t mind sharing with Al — Teddy could have my room! ”

“No, ” said Harry firmly, “you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished. ”

He checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett’s.

“It’s nearly eleven, you’d better get on board. ”

“Don’t forget to give Neville our love! ” Ginny told James as she hugged him.

“Mum! I can’t give a professor love! ”

“But you know Neville —”

James rolled his eyes.

“Outside, yeah, but at school he’s Professor Longbottom, isn’t he?

I can’t walk into Herbology and give him love. . . . ”

Shaking his head at his mother’s foolishness, he vented his feel- ings by aiming a kick at Albus.

“See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals. ”

“I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible! ”

But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

“Thestrals are nothing to worry about, ” Harry told Albus. “They’re gentle things, there’s nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won’t be going up to school in the carriages, you’ll be going in the boats. ”

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EPILOGUE

Ginny kissed Albus good-bye.

“See you at Christmas. ”

“Bye, Al, ” said Harry as his son hugged him. “Don’t forget Hagrid’s invited you to tea next Friday. Don’t mess with Peeves. Don’t duel anyone till you’ve learned how. And don’t let James wind you up. ”

“What if I’m in Slytherin? ”

The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Harry crouched down so that Albus’s face was slightly above his own. Alone of Harry’s three children, Albus had inherited Lily’s eyes.

“Albus Severus, ” Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, “you were named for two headmas- ters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew. ”

“ But just say —”

“— then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won’t it? It doesn’t matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you’ll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account. ”

“Really? ”

“It did for me, ” said Harry.

He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the wonder in Albus’s face when he said it. But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of par- ents were swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders.

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NINETEEN YEARS LATER

Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.

“Why are they all staring? ” demanded Albus as he and Rose

craned around to look at the other students.

“Don’t let it worry you, ” said Ron. “It’s me. I’m extremely famous. ”

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to move, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son’s thin face, al- ready ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him. . . .

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry’s hand was still raised in farewell. “He’ll be all right, ” murmured Ginny.

As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.

“I know he will. ”

The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.

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