Chapter 36 The Only One He Ever Feared

‘He hasn't gone!’ Harry yelled.

He did not believe it; he would not believe it; still he fought Lupin with every bit of strength he had. Lupin did not understand; people hid behind that curtain; Harry had heard them whispering the first time he had entered the room. Sirius was hiding, simply lurking out of sight—

‘SIRIUS!’ he bellowed. ‘SIRIUS!’

‘He can't come back, Harry,’ said Lupin, his voice breaking as he struggled to contain Harry. ‘He can't come back, because he's d—

‘HE—IS—NOT— DEAD!’ roared Harry. ‘SIRIUS!’

There was movement going on around them, pointless bustling, the flashes of more spells. To Harry it was meaningless noise, the deflected curses flying past them did not matter, nothing mattered except that Lupin should stop pretending that Sirius—who was standing feet from them behind that old curtain—was not going to emerge at any moment, shaking back his dark hair and eager to re-enter the battle.

Lupin dragged Harry away from the dais. Harry still staring at the archway, was angry at Sirius now for keeping him waiting—

But some part of him realised, even as he fought to break free from Lupin, that Sirius had never kept him waiting before ... Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry to help him ... if Sirius was not reappearing out of that archway when Harry was yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the only possible explanation was that he could not come back ... that he really was—

Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilised by invisible ropes; Mad-Eye Moody had crawled across the room to where Tonks lay, and was attempting to revive her; behind the dais there were still flashes of light, grunts and cries—Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius's duel with Bellatrix.

‘Harry?’

Neville had slid down the stone benches one by one to the place where Harry stood. Harry was no longer struggling against Lupin, who maintained a precautionary grip on his arm nevertheless.

‘Harry ... I'b really sorry ...’ said Neville. His legs were still dancing uncontrollably. ‘Was dad man—was Sirius Black a—a friend of yours?’

Harry nodded.

‘Here,’ said Lupin quietly, and pointing his wand at Neville's legs he said, ‘Finite.’ The spell was lifted: Neville's legs fell back to the floor and remained still. Lupin's face was pale. ‘Let's—let's find the others. Where are they all, Neville?’

Lupin turned away from the archway as he spoke. It sounded as though every word was causing him pain.

‘Dey're all back dere,’ said Neville. ‘A brain addacked Ron bud I dink he's all righd—and Herbione's unconscious, bud we could feel a bulse—’

There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. Harry saw Kingsley hit the ground yelling in pain: Bellatrix Lestrange turned tail and ran as Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her but she deflected it; she was halfway up the steps now —

‘Harry—no!’ cried Lupin, but Harry had already ripped his arm from Lupin's slackened grip.

‘SHE KILLED SIRIUS!’ bellowed Harry. ‘SHE KILLED HIM—I'LL KILL HER!’

And he was off, scrambling up the stone benches; people were shouting behind him but he did not care. The hem of Bellatrix's robes whipped out of sight ahead and they were back in the room where the brains were swimming ...

She aimed a curse over her shoulder. The tank rose into the air and tipped. Harry was deluged in the foul-smelling potion within: the brains slipped and slid over him and began spinning their long coloured tentacles, but he shouted, ‘Wingardium Leviosa!’ and they flew off him up into the air. Slipping and sliding, he ran on towards the door; he leapt over Luna, who was groaning on the floor, past Ginny, who said, ‘Harry—what—?', past Ron, who giggled feebly, and Hermione, who was still unconscious. He wrenched open the door into the circular black hall and saw Bellatrix disappearing through a door on the other side of the room; beyond her was the corridor leading back to the lifts.

He ran, but she had slammed the door behind her and the walls were already rotating. Once more, he was surrounded by streaks of blue light from the whirling candelabra.

‘Where's the exit?’ he shouted desperately, as the wall rumbled to a halt again. ‘Where's the way out?’

The room seemed to have been waiting for him to ask. The door right behind him flew open and the corridor towards the lifts stretched ahead of him, torch-lit and empty. He ran ...

He could hear a lift clattering ahead; he sprinted up the passageway, swung around the corner and slammed his fist on to the button to call a second lift. It jangled and banged lower and lower; the grilles slid open and Harry dashed inside, now hammering the button marked ‘Atrium'. The doors slid shut and he was rising ...

He forced his way out of the lift before the grilles were fully open and looked around. Bellatrix was almost at the telephone lift at the other end of the hall, but she looked back as he sprinted towards her and aimed another spell at him. He dodged behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren: the spell zoomed past him and hit the wrought-gold gates at the other end of the Atrium so that they rang like bells. There were no more footsteps. She had stopped running. He crouched behind the statues, listening.

‘Come out, come out, little Harry!’ she called in her mock baby voice, which echoed off the polished wooden floors. ‘What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!’

‘I am!’ shouted Harry, and a score of ghostly Harry's seemed to chorus I am! I am! I am! all around the room.

‘Aaaaaah ... did you love him, little baby Potter?’

Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before; he flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed, ‘Crucio!’

Bellatrix screamed: the spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had—she was already back on her feet, breathless, no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind the golden fountain again. Her counter-spell hit the head of the handsome wizard, which was blown off and landed twenty feet away, gouging long scratches into the wooden floor.

‘Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?’ she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. ‘You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain—to enjoy it—righteous anger won't hurt me for long—I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson—’

Harry was edging around the fountain on the other side when she screamed, ‘Crucio!’ and he was forced to duck down again as the centaur's arm, holding its bow, span off and landed with a crash on the floor a short distance from the golden wizard's head.

‘Potter, you cannot win against me!’ she cried.

He could hear her moving to the right, trying to get a clear shot of him. He backed around the statue away from her, crouching behind the centaur's legs, his head level with the house-elf's.

‘I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete— ’

‘Stupefy!’ yelled Harry. He had edged right around to where the goblin stood beaming up at the now headless wizard and taken aim at her back as she peered around the fountain. She reacted so fast he barely had time to duck.

‘Protego!’

The jet of red light, his own Stunning Spell, bounced back at him. Harry scrambled back behind the fountain and one of the goblin's ears went flying across the room.

‘Potter, I'm going to give you one chance!’ shouted Bellatrix. ‘Give me the prophecy—roll it out towards me now—and I may spare your life!’

‘Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!’ Harry roared and, as he shouted it, pain seared across his forehead; his scar was on fire again, and he felt a surge of fury that was quite unconnected with his own rage. ‘And he knows!’ said Harry, with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix's own. ‘Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?’

‘What? What do you mean?’ she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.

‘The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?’

His scar seared and burned ... the pain of it was making his eyes stream ...

‘LIAR!’ she shrieked, but he could hear the terror behind the anger now. ‘YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!’

Harry laughed again because he knew it would incense her, the pain building in his head so badly he thought his skull might burst. He waved his empty hand from behind the one-eared goblin and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying at him.

‘Nothing there!’ he shouted. ‘Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!’

‘No!’ she screamed. ‘It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED—DO NOT PUNISH ME—’

‘Don't waste your breath!’ yelled Harry, his eyes screwed up against the pain in his scar, now more terrible than ever. ‘He can't hear you from here!’

‘Can't I, Potter?’ said a high, cold voice.

Harry opened his eyes.

Tall, thin and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring ... Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stood frozen, quite unable to move.

‘So, you smashed my prophecy?’ said Voldemort softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. ‘No, Bella, he is not lying ... I see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind ... months of preparation, months of effort ... and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again ...’

‘Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!’ sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort's feet as he paced slowly nearer. ‘Master, you should know—’

‘Be quiet, Bella,’ said Voldemort dangerously. ‘I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your snivelling apologies?’

‘But Master—he is here—he is below—’

Voldemort paid no attention.

‘I have nothing more to say to you, Potter,’ he said quietly. ‘You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!’

Harry had not even opened his mouth to resist; his mind was blank, his wand pointing uselessly at the floor.

But the headless golden statue of the wizard in the fountain had sprung alive, leaping from its plinth to land with a crash on the floor between Harry and Voldemort. The spell merely glanced off its chest as the statue flung out its arms to protect Harry.

‘What—?’ cried Voldemort, staring around. And then he breathed, ‘Dumbledore!’

Harry looked behind him, his heart pounding. Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates.

Voldemort raised his wand and another jet of green light streaked at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cloak. Next second, he had reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand towards the remnants of the fountain. The other statues sprang to life. The statue of the witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor. Meanwhile, the goblin and the house-elf scuttled towards the fireplaces set along the wall and the one-armed centaur galloped at Voldemort, who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The headless statue thrust Harry backwards, away from the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort and the golden centaur cantered around them both.

‘It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom,’ said Dumbledore calmly. ‘The Aurors are on their way—’

‘By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!’ spat Voldemort. He sent another killing curse at Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security guard's desk, which burst into flame.

Dumbledore flicked his own wand: the force of the spell that emanated from it was such that Harry, though shielded by his golden guard, felt his hair stand on end as it passed and this time Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gong-like note reverberated from it—an oddly chilling sound.

‘You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?’ called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. ‘Above such brutality, are you?’

‘We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,’ Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk towards Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. ‘Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit—’

‘There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!’ snarled Voldemort.

‘You are quite wrong,’ said Dumbledore, still closing in upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though they were discussing the matter over drinks. Harry felt scared to see him walking along, undefended, shieldless; he wanted to cry out a warning, but his headless guard kept shunting him backwards towards the wall, blocking his every attempt to get out from behind it. ‘Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness—’

Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield. This time it was the one-armed centaur, galloping in front of Dumbledore, that took the blast and shattered into a hundred pieces, but before the fragments had even hit the floor, Dumbledore had drawn back his wand and waved it as though brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. For a moment, it seemed Dumbledore had won, but then the fiery rope became a serpent, which relinquished its hold on Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore.

Voldemort vanished; the snake reared from the floor, ready to strike—

There was a burst of flame in midair above Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared, standing on the plinth in the middle of the pool where so recently the five statues had stood.

‘Look out!’ Harry yelled.

But even as he shouted, another jet of green light flew at Dumbledore from Voldemort's wand and the snake struck—

Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, opened his beak wide and swallowed the jet of green light whole: he burst into flame and fell to the floor, small, wrinkled and flightless. At the same moment, Dumbledore brandished his wand in one long, fluid movement—the snake, which had been an instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; and the water in the pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass.

For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass—

Then he was gone and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.

‘MASTER!’ screamed Bellatrix.

Sure it was over, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, Harry made to run out from behind his statue guard, but Dumbledore bellowed: ‘Stay where you are, Harry!’

For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. Harry could not see why: the hall was quite empty but for themselves, the sobbing Bellatrix still trapped under the witch statue, and the baby phoenix Fawkes croaking feebly on the floor—’

Then Harry's scar burst open and he knew he was dead: it was pain beyond imagining, pain past endurance—

He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creatures began: they were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape—

And when the creature spoke, it used Harry's mouth, so that in his agony he felt his jaw move ...

‘Kill me now, Dumbledore ...’

Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again ...

‘If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy ...’

Let the pain stop, thought Harry ... let him kill us ... end it, Dumbledore ... death is nothing compared to this ...

And I'll see Sirius again ...

And as Harry's heart filled with emotion, the creatures coils loosened, the pain was gone; Harry was lying face down on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering as though he lay upon ice, not wood ...

And there were voices echoing through the hall, more voices than there should have been ... Harry opened his eyes, saw his glasses lying by the heel of the headless statue that had been guarding him, but which now lay flat on its back, cracked and immobile. He put them on and raised his head a little to find Dumbledore's crooked nose inches from his own.

‘Are you all right, Harry?’

‘Yes,’ said Harry, shaking so violently he could not hold his head up properly. ‘Yeah, I'm —where's Voldemort, where—who are all these—what's—’

The Atrium was full of people; the floor was reflecting the emerald green flames that had burst into fire in all the fireplaces along one wall; and streams of witches and wizards were emerging from them. As Dumbledore pulled him back to his feet, Harry saw the tiny gold statues of the house-elf and the goblin, leading a stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge forward.

‘He was there!’ shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain trapped only moments before. ‘I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disapparated!’

‘I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!’ gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pyjamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles. ‘Merlin's beard—here—here!— in the Ministry of Magic!—great heavens above—it doesn't seem possible—my word—how can this be—?’

‘If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius,’ said Dumbledore— apparently satisfied that Harry was all right, and walking forwards so that the newcomers realised he was there for the first time (a few of them raised their wands; others simply looked amazed; the statues of the elf and goblin applauded and Fudge jumped so much that his slipper-clad feet left the floor)—'you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them.’

‘Dumbledore!’ gasped Fudge, beside himself with amazement. ‘You—here—I—I—’

He looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him and it could not have been clearer that he was in half a mind to cry, ‘Seize him!’

‘Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men—and win, again!’ said Dumbledore in a thunderous voice. ‘But a few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong man for twelve months, and it is time you listened to sense!’

‘I—don't—well —’ blustered Fudge, looking around as though hoping somebody was going to tell him what to do. When nobody did, he said, ‘Very well—Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see ... Dumbledore, you—you will need to tell me exactly—the Fountain of Magical Brethren—what happened?’ he added in a kind of whimper, staring around at the floor, where the remains of the statues of the witch, wizard and centaur now lay scattered.

‘We can discuss that after I have sent Harry back to Hogwarts,’ said Dumbledore.

‘Harry—Harry Potter?’

Fudge wheeled around and stared at Harry, who was still standing against the wall beside the fallen statue that had guarded him during Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel.

‘He—here?’ said Fudge, goggling at Harry. ‘Why—what's all this about?’

‘I shall explain everything,’ repeated Dumbledore, ‘when Harry is back at school.’

He walked away from the pool to the place where the golden wizard's head lay on the floor. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, ‘Portus.’ The head glowed blue and trembled noisily against the wooden floor for a few seconds, then became still once more.

‘Now see here, Dumbledore!’ said Fudge, as Dumbledore picked up the head and walked back to Harry carrying it. ‘You haven't got authorisation for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister for Magic, you—you—’

His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him magisterially over his half-moon spectacles.

‘You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts,’ said Dumbledore. ‘You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you ...’ Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and surveyed it...'half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me.’

Fudge goggled worse than ever; his mouth was open and his round face grew pinker under his rumpled grey hair.

‘I—you—’

Dumbledore turned his back on him.

‘Take this Portkey, Harry.’

He held out the golden head of the statue and Harry placed his hand on it, past caring what he did next or where he went.

‘I shall see you in half an hour,’ said Dumbledore quietly. ‘One ... two ... three ...’

Harry felt the familiar sensation of a hook being jerked behind his navel. The polished wooden floor was gone from beneath his feet; the Atrium, Fudge and Dumbledore had all disappeared and he was flying forwards in a whirlwind of colour and sound ...

“他没有走！”哈利喊道。

　　他不相信；他根本不会相信；他仍然用他所有的力气反抗卢平。卢平不了解，那些藏在帘子后面的人们，哈利在第一次来到这个房间的时候听到他们在低声说话。天狼星藏在那儿，只不过是看不见他罢了。

　　“天狼星！”他喊道。“天狼星！”

　　“他不会回来了，哈利，”卢平说，他的声音由于他奋力抓住哈利而断断续续，“他不会回来了，因为他——-”

　　“他—没—有—死—！”哈利吼道。“天狼星！”

　　在他们周围，搏斗在毫无意义地继续着。对于哈利来说那些声音都是没有意义的，咒语从他们身旁飞过根本没有关系，一切的一切都没有关系只是卢平不应该假装认为——站在离他们几英尺的帘子后面的天狼星——再也不会出现了，再也不会甩着他黑黑的头发，再也不会渴望着重新投入战斗了。

　　卢平拉着哈利离开了台子。哈利依旧盯着拱门，他十分生气天狼星让他这样等着。

　　但是他有些明白了，即使他从卢平手里挣脱了，天狼星也从来没有让他这样等待。天狼星总是为了见哈利，帮助哈利冒着任何危险。如果天狼星在哈利如此声嘶力竭的呼喊着他的名字的时候仍然不从那个拱门后面出来，唯一合理的解释是他会不来了，他真的会不来了。

　　丹伯多已经把剩下来的大部分食死徒在屋子中央堆成了一堆儿，看上去像是被看不见的绳子捆上了一样；疯眼汉穆迪爬到了Tonks躺着的地方，试图把她就醒；在台子后面仍然有决斗的声音—Kingsley接着天狼星和莱斯特兰继续决斗。

　　“哈利？”

　　纳威从石椅上滑了下来，到了哈利面前。哈利不再与卢平抗争了，然而卢平仍然抓着他的胳膊防止他挣脱。

　　“哈利。我真的很抱歉。”纳威说。他的腿仍然情不自禁的跳着舞。“那个人—-天狼星布莱克是你的一个朋友吗？”

　　哈利点了点头。

　　“哦，”卢平安静的说，并用魔杖指着纳威的腿说道，“咒立停！”诅咒消失了；纳威的腿稳稳地站在了地面上。卢平的脸色很苍白。“我们—我们得找到其他人。他们都在哪儿，纳威？”

　　卢平说话时转过身去背对着拱门。听上去他说出每一个字都会引起他极大的痛苦。

　　“他们都在那儿。”纳威说。“一个大脑攻击了罗恩，不过我想他还好—荷米恩昏迷不醒，但是我们可以感到——”

　　突然从台子后面传来一声巨响。哈利看见Kingsley重重地摔在地上，痛苦的喊着；莱斯特兰看到丹伯多向她冲来后，转身想溜。丹伯多向她发射了一条咒语，但她使它偏离了；她现在已经爬了一半的楼梯了。

　　“哈利—不！”卢平喊道，但是哈利的胳膊已经从卢平松懈的双手中抽了出来。

　　“他杀死了天狼星！”哈利大叫道，“她杀了他，我要杀死她！”

　　随即，他开始追赶她了。他爬上石椅；人们在他身后呼喊着，但他不在乎。莱斯特兰的长袍在前面消失了，他们又回到了大脑室。

　　她转过头施了一个咒语。水池升到了空中，倾斜了。哈利身上被浇了又脏又臭的药水；大脑们滑向他，并伸出它们的触手，但是他叫道：“羽加迪姆 勒维奥萨！（Wingardium Leviosa！）”随后它们离开他漂浮到空中。他三步并两步向门冲去；他跳过在地上呻吟着的璐娜，经过金妮，经过怪笑着的罗恩，经过仍然昏迷不醒的荷米恩。他猛地拧开门进入了圆形黑色的大厅，看见莱斯特兰从屋子的另一端的一扇门消失了；在她后面是通向电梯的走廊。

　　他飞奔着，但是她已经把门关上了，随即墙又开始了转动。他又一次被闪着蓝光的烛台围绕着。

　　“出口在哪儿？”他绝望的喊着，此时墙停止了转动。“出口在哪儿？”

　　好像房间正等着他问这个问题一样。他正后方的门开了，通往电梯的走廊出现在他面前。走廊里空空的，点着灯。他继续狂跑。

　　他能听见前面有电梯运行的声音；他加快速度，奔过拐角，拳头砸在按钮上叫另一个电梯。电梯缓缓下落；铁门刚开，哈利就闪了进去，现在用拳头砸标有‘大厅’的按钮。门关上了，他现在在上升。

　　还没等电梯的门完全开开，他就挤着冲了出去。莱斯特兰几乎到了电话亭的那个电梯了，但是当哈利向她飞奔过去的时候，她回过头来施了一个咒语。他躲到‘魔法同胞喷泉’身后；咒语飞过他击中了大厅另一端的那扇大门，使得它们向门铃一样响了起来。这里没有楼梯了。她听了下来。他蜷缩在雕像后面，谛听着。

　　“出来吧，出来呀，小哈利！”他用婴儿的腔调叫唤着，她的声音在大厅里回响着。“你来找我是为了什么呀？我觉得你来是为了要给我亲爱的表弟报仇，是吧！”

　　“是的，没错！”哈利喊道，随着一阵回音，听上去像是哈利在一遍遍的叫着：“没错！没错！没错！没错！”

　　“哈哈哈哈哈~~~~~~~~~！你爱他吗，小可爱波特？”

　　从未有过的仇恨感在哈利胸中升起；他从喷泉后面冲了出来，喊道：“钻心剜骨！”

　　莱斯特兰尖叫起来；这道咒语使她摔倒在地，但是她并没有像纳威那样痛苦的抽搐着，她已经气喘吁吁的站稳了，脸上不再有笑容。哈利又一次躲到金色喷泉的后面。她的咒语击中了英俊巫师的头，它的头飞到了20英尺以外的地上。

　　“你从来没有用过不可饶恕咒吧，是吗，孩子？”她吼道。她放弃了她的婴儿腔调。“你是故意的，波特。你确实想要引起我的疼痛—你伤不了我的—我会展示给你看的，我会给你上一课—-”

　　当她喊道：“钻心剜骨！”的时候，哈利已经躲到了喷泉的另一边，他被迫再一次低下头，因为马人拿着弓的胳膊掉了下来。

　　“波特，你不会打赢我的！”她喊道。

　　他能听到她在向右移动，试图瞄得准些。他仍旧躲着她，蜷缩在马人的腿后，他的头与家养小精灵相平。

　　“我过去是，现在也是黑魔王最忠诚的仆人。我从他那里学习黑魔法，而且我所会的魔咒所拥有的力量是如此强大，以至于你这个可怜的小男孩永远也别想与之抗衡——”

　　“昏昏倒地！”哈利吼道。当她盯着喷泉到处看的时候，他已经挪到了妖精站的地方，举起魔杖瞄准了她。她反应的如此之快以至于他几乎没有时间趴下。

　　“咒语返回！”

　　他自己发射的昏迷咒，向他反弹回来。哈利爬回到喷泉背后，与此同时妖精的一个耳朵飞了出去。

　　“波特，我再给你一次机会！”莱斯特兰喊道，“把预言给我—把它扔给我—我回放你一条生路！”

　　“那么你就把我杀了吧，因为，它不见了！”哈利吼道，正当他喊的时候，疼痛在他的前额燃烧了起来；他的伤疤又疼起来了，他感到一股与自己的愤怒毫无关系的狂怒涌上心头。“他也知道了！”哈利说着，发出了一阵可以与莱斯特兰相比的疯狂的大笑。“你的老伙计伏地魔知道它不见了！他不会对你满意的，是吗？”

　　“什么？你么意思？”他喊道，她的声音里第一次透着恐惧。

　　“预言在我帮纳威上楼的时候打碎了！你认为伏地魔对于这个会说些什么呢？”

　　他的伤疤又疼又烧，剧烈的疼痛使得他的眼泪流了出来。

　　“你胡说！”她尖叫道，但他现在能听到愤怒后的恐惧了。“你拿着它，波特，你得把它给我！预言飞来！预言飞来！”

　　哈利又一次大笑起来，因为他知道这样会激怒她，他头上的疼痛是如此的剧烈，以至于他认为自己的头会裂开。当又一束绿光超他飞来时，他迅速用空闲的手把一只耳朵的妖精雕像拉了过来挡住了咒语。

　　“这儿什么也没有！”他喊道，“没有什么可以召唤的！它摔碎了，没人知道它说了什么，告诉你的头儿！”

　　“不！”她尖叫道。“这不是真的，你在撒谎！主人，我尽力了，我尽力了—不要惩罚我—-”

　　“别费力气了！”哈利喊道，他的眼睛由于前所未有的疼痛眯了起来，“在这里，他是听不到你的！”

　　“真的吗，波特？”一个凄厉、尖尖的声音说道。

　　哈利睁开了他的眼睛。

　　一个又高又瘦、戴着黑头巾、有着像蛇一样苍白憔悴的脸的人用他猩红色的眼睛盯着哈利。伏地魔在大厅中央出现了，他的魔杖直指一动不动的哈利。

　　“那么，你打碎了我的预言？”伏地魔轻轻的说，用他那冷漠的红眼睛盯着哈利。“不，Bella,他没有说谎。我通过他毫无价值的脑子看到了事实。几个月的准备，几个月的努力，然而我的食死徒们又一次让哈利波特阻止了我。我—”

　　“主人，我抱歉我不知道，我正在和阿尼玛格斯布莱克决斗！”莱斯特兰呜咽地说，她爬向伏地魔的脚边。“主人，你应该知道—”

　　“闭嘴，Bella,”伏地魔威胁的说。“我马上会处置你的。你认为我来到魔法部是来听你的道歉的吗？”

　　“但是主人—他在这儿—他在下面—”

　　伏地魔没有理会。

　　“我对你无话可说，波特，”他安静的说。“你让我厌烦了很久了。阿瓦达索命！”

　　哈利都没有张开嘴抵抗；他脑子里一片空白，他的魔杖毫无用处的指着地板。

　　但是喷泉里的金色无头巫师雕像突然变活了，从自己的底座一跃而起落到了哈利和伏地魔之间。当雕像伸出自己的胳膊保护哈利时，那个咒语仅仅从它的胸口擦过。

　　“什么—？”伏地魔喊道，环顾四周。然后，他倒吸了一口冷气，“丹伯多！”

　　哈利越过伏地魔看着，他的心在狂跳。丹伯多正站在金色大门前。

　　伏地魔举起他的魔杖，紧接着又一道绿光射向丹伯多。丹伯多旋转着他的斗篷，消失了。一转眼，他又在伏地魔身后重现，并向喷泉里剩下的雕像挥舞着魔杖。剩下的雕像也变活了。那个女巫的雕像向莱斯特兰冲去。在它压住她之前，莱斯特兰尖叫着向它的胸口发射着不起作用的咒语。雕像把她钉在了地上。与此同时，妖精和家养小精灵的雕像冲向墙边的火炉，独臂的马人向伏地魔飞奔过去，但是他消失了紧接着又在水池旁出现。无头的雕像使劲推着哈利往后走，远离战斗，同时，丹伯多向伏地魔走去，金色的马人围绕着他们慢跑着。

　　“今晚到这里来是很愚蠢的，汤姆，”丹伯多平静地说。“敖罗们正在来这儿的路上—”

　　“等他们到的时候我已经走了，而你已经死了！”伏地魔吼道。他又向丹伯多发了一道死咒但是没有击中，而是击中了保安的写字台，写字台着火了。

　　丹伯多突然晃动着自己的魔杖；当咒语经过的时候，它散发出来的力量之大就连被保护着的哈利也感到他的头发立了起来。这次伏地魔被迫凭空变出了一个银色的闪闪发亮的盾牌来阻挡它。不管那个咒语是什么，它并没有对盾牌造成明显的破坏，只是发出了敲锣的声音—一种奇怪的颤抖的声音。

　　“你不想杀我，丹伯多？”伏地魔说道，他猩红色的眼睛在盾牌上面眯成了一道缝。“仅仅是残忍的折磨我，是吗？”

　　“我们都知道，毁掉一个人还有其它的方法，汤姆，”丹伯多平静地说着，继续朝伏地魔走去，就好像这个世界上没有什么能让他害怕，就好像什么也阻挡不了他一样。“我承认，只取你的性命不会使我满足的—”

　　“没有什么比死亡还要糟的，丹伯多！”伏地魔咆哮道。

　　“你大错特错了，”丹伯多仍旧向伏地魔走去而且用轻声地说着，就好像他们在喝酒时讨论问题一样。哈利看到他这么不顾一切的往前走，觉得有些害怕。他想发出一声警告，但是他的无头保镖把他紧紧地按在墙上，阻止他冲出去。“确实如此啊，你对于‘这世界上有比死亡还要糟糕的事情’的不理解是你身上最大的弱点——”

　　有一道绿光从银色盾牌后飞了出来。这次是独臂马人，冲到丹伯多之前，结果被炸成了成百上千个碎片。但是还没等碎片落地，丹伯多抽出他的魔杖挥舞起来，就好像他在舞动一只鞭子。一条细长的火焰从杖尖儿飞了出来；它把伏地魔和他的盾牌围了起来。有一阵，丹伯多好像已经赢了，但是随后，火绳变成了一条蛇。蛇从伏地魔身上脱离下来转向丹伯多，发出嘶嘶的声音。

　　伏地魔消失了；蛇从地上跃起准备攻击。

　　当伏地魔重现的时候，在丹伯多上空有一阵爆炸声。伏地魔站在水池中央的，原来五个雕像站着的那个底座上。

　　“小心！”哈利喊道。

　　然而就在他喊的一刹那，另一到绿光从伏地魔的魔杖飞向丹伯多，同时，蛇也发起了攻击。

　　福克斯突然飞到丹伯多前面，张开它的喙吞掉了整个绿光；他掉到地上燃烧起来，在灰烬中重生了。与此同时，丹伯多流畅地挥舞着他的魔杖—-那只马上就要把毒牙插入到他身体中的蛇，飞到了高高的空中变成了一缕黑烟，消失了。同时，水池中的水升了起来把伏地魔覆盖住了。

　　有一阵子，伏地魔变成了黑黑的、看不见脸的、闪闪发光、模模糊糊的影像；很明显，他在试图把水弄开。

　　然后他走了，水柱落回到了水池中，溅出来的水打湿了地板。

　　“主人！”莱斯特兰尖叫道。

　　很明显一切都结束了，很明显伏地魔决定逃走了，哈利试图从雕像后面出来，但是丹伯多吼道：“待在哪儿，哈利！”

　　丹伯多的声音里第一次透着恐惧。哈利不明白为什么；大厅里空荡荡的只有他们，啜泣的莱斯特兰仍然困在女巫雕像下，新生的福克斯在地板上柔弱的叫着。

　　突然，哈利的伤疤裂开了，他知道他要死了；这是难以想象的疼痛，无法忍受的疼痛。

　　他离开了大厅，他被一个有着红眼睛的人盘绕着，他们连得如此紧密，以至于哈利不知道他们各自的身体在哪里；他们成了一体，由痛苦相连着，他逃都逃不掉。

　　这时，那个人说话了，他用的是哈利的嘴，所以在极度的痛苦中，哈利觉得他的下巴在动。

　　“杀了我吧，丹伯多。”

　　哈利什么都看不见，他快死了，他身体的每一部分都渴望着解脱，哈利感到那个人又在使用他了。

　　“如果死没有什么，丹伯多，那么就杀死这个孩子吧！”

　　让疼痛停止吧，哈利想。让它杀了我把。结束它吧，丹伯多。死和这个比起来根本算不了什么。

　　然后我就可以看到天狼星了。

　　正当哈利的心里想着死去的时候，那个和他缠绕在一起的人松开了他，疼痛消失了；哈利的脸朝下爬在地上，他的眼镜不见了。他剧烈的颤抖着，好像他是躺在冰上而不是木头上。

　　然后，大厅里有了声音。哈利睁开眼睛，看到眼镜放在无头保镖的脚后跟旁，然而无头雕像却静静的平躺在地上。他戴上眼镜抬起头，看到丹伯多的鹰勾鼻离他的鼻子仅有几英寸远。

　　“你还好吗，哈利？”

　　“是的，”哈利说道，他如此剧烈的抖动着，使得他无法正常的抬着头。“是的，我—伏地魔在哪儿，在哪儿—他们是谁—是什—-”

　　大厅里挤满了人；地板映着墨绿色的火焰；男巫和女巫在屋里走来走去。当丹伯多把哈利拉起来的时候，他看到了妖精和家养小精灵雕像旁的惊呆了的康奈利福吉。

　　“他在那儿！”一个穿着猩红色长袍梳着马尾辫的男人喊道。他指着屋子另一边的一堆金色的碎片，那儿正是莱斯特兰刚刚被困住的地方。“我看到他了，福吉先生，我发誓他是神秘人，他拉着一个女人然后幻影移形了！”

　　“我知道，威廉森，我知道，我也看到他了！”福吉嘟囔着，他在长袍里穿着睡衣，大口的喘着气就好像他刚跑完好几英里似的。“我的天呐—竟会在这儿—这儿！—在魔法部里！—我的上帝—这看上去根本不可能啊—我的天—怎么会有这样的事—？”

　　“如果你到楼下的神秘事务司去，康奈利，”丹伯多说道，很明显他对哈利没受伤感到高兴。他向前走来，所以信赖的人都意识到他在这儿（一些人举起了魔杖；还有一些人只是很吃惊；妖精和家养小精灵的雕像拍手喝彩；福吉惊讶得跳了起来，他的拖鞋掉在了地上）—“你会发现几个在逃的食死徒被困在死亡密室里，他们被‘抗-幻影移形’魔咒帮了起来，等待着你的发落。”

　　“丹伯多！”福吉喘着气惊讶地说道，“你在这儿—我—我—”

　　他环视四周，看着他带来的敖罗们，这在明显不过了，他想要喊：“抓住他！”

　　“康奈利，我准备好了和你的人决斗—而且再一次胜利！”丹伯多用雷鸣般的声音说道，“但是几分钟之前你亲眼看到了，我这一年来一直告诉你的真相。伏地魔回来了，你这十二个月都追错人了，现在到了你该理智一点儿的时候了！”

　　“我没有—好吧—”福吉咆哮道，他四周看了看，像是希望哪个人能站出来告诉他该怎么做。当没有一个人站出来时，他说道：“很好—Dawolish！威廉森！到神秘事务司去看看。丹伯多，你—你得详细地告诉我—魔法兄弟喷泉—发生了什么？”他的语气中加入了一丝呜咽，盯着地上剩下的女巫、男巫和马人的雕像。

　　“我们可以在我把哈利送回霍格瓦彻之后再谈，”丹伯多说。

　　“哈利—哈利波特？”

　　福吉转过身盯着哈利，哈利仍然挨着丹伯多和伏地魔决斗时保护他的雕像，靠墙站着。

　　“他—在这儿？”福吉等着哈利说着。“为什么—这到底是怎么回事？”

　　“在哈利回到霍格沃此后，”丹伯多重复道，“我会解释一切的。”

　　他离开水池边，来到男巫的头所在的地方。他用魔杖指着它，念道：“门钥匙。”那颗头发出蓝色的光并在地板上吵闹的抖动了一阵，然后又归于平静。

　　“看这儿，丹伯多！”当丹伯多时期那颗头向哈利走去时，福吉说道：“你没有权利使用那个门钥匙！你不能在魔法部长面前这样行事，你—你—”

　　丹伯多透过半月形的眼镜不屑地注视着他的时候，他的声音变得支支吾吾了。

　　“你得下令把Dolores Umbridge从霍格瓦彻开除，”丹伯多说道，“你得命令你的敖罗停止追捕我的保护神奇生物课老师，让他回来工作。今晚我会给你—”丹伯多从口袋里掏出一个有十二根指针的手表，看了看。“—半个小时的时间，在这段时间里我想我们可以研究一下这里发生的一切。在这之后，我要回到我的学校去。如果你需要我给你更多的帮助，当然，欢迎你到霍格瓦彻来与我联系。在信件的地址上写上‘校长’就可以找到我了。”

　　福吉的眼睛瞪得更圆了；他的嘴张着，他乱糟糟的头发下的圆脸泛着粉色。

　　“我-你—”

　　丹伯多住过身来看着哈利。

　　“拿着这个门钥匙，哈利。”

　　他拿出那颗金色的头，哈利把他的手放在它上方，并不关心自己接下来会做什么或者回去什么地方。

　　“我会在半小时后见你，”丹伯多轻声说，“一、二、三。”

　　哈利又感到了熟悉的感觉——一个钩子钩着他的肚脐把他想前猛拉过去。光亮的木地板在他脚下消失了；大厅，福吉和丹伯多都消失了，他在一阵绚丽多彩的旋风中向前飞着。