Harry1 remained kneeling at Snape’s side, simply staring down at him, until quite suddenly a high, cold voice spoke2 so close to them that Harry jumped on his feet, the flask4 gripped tightly in his hands, thinking that Voldemort had reentered the room.
Voldemort’s voice reverberated5 from the walls and floor, and Harry realized that he was talking to Hogwarts and to all the surrounding area, that the residents of Hogsmeade and all those still fighting in the castle would hear him as clearly as if he stood beside them, his breath on the back of their necks, a deathblow away.
“You have fought,” said the high, cold voice, “valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.”
“Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.”
“Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.”
“You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.”
“I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray6 myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal7 you from me. One hour.”
Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads frantically8, looking at Harry.
“Don’t listen to him,” said Ron.
“It’ll be all right,” said Hermione wildly. “Let’s – let’s get back to the castle, if he’s gone to the forest we’ll need to think of a new plan – ”
She glanced at Snape’s body, then hurried back to the tunnel entrance. Ron followed her. Harry gathered up the Invisibility Cloak, then looked down at Snape. He did not know what to feel, except shock at the way Snape had been killed, and the reason for which it had been done…
They crawled back through the tunnel, none of them talking, and Harry wondered whether Ron and Hermione could still hear Voldemort ringing in their heads as he could.
You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest…One hour…
Small bundles seemed to litter the lawn at the front of the castle. It could only be an hour or so from dawn, yet it was pitch-black. The three of them hurried toward the stone steps. A lone9 dog, the size of a small boat, lay abandoned in front of them. There was no other sign of Grawp or of his attacker.
The castle was unnaturally10 silent. There were no flashes of light now, no bangs or screams or shouts. The flagstones of the deserted11 entrance hall were stained with blood. Emeralds were still scattered12 all over the floor, along with pieces of marble and splintered wood. Part of the banisters had been blown away.
“Where is everyone?” whispered Hermione.
Ron led the way to the Great Hall. Harry stopped in the doorway13.
The House tables were gone and the room was crowded. The survivors14 stood in groups, their arms around each other’s necks. The injured were being treated upon the raised platform by Madam Pomfrey and a group of helpers. Firenze was amongst the injured; his flank poured blood and he shook where he lay, unable to stand.
The dead lay in a row in the middle of the Hall. Harry could not see Fred’s body, because his family surrounded him. George was kneeling at his head; Mrs. Weasley was lying across Fred’s chest, her body shaking. Mr. Weasley stroking her hair while tears cascaded15 down his cheeks.
Without a word to Harry, Ron and Hermione walked away. Harry saw Hermione approach Ginny, whose face was swollen16 and blotchy17, and hug her. Ron joined Bill, Fleur, and Percy, who flung an arm around Ron’s shoulders. As Ginny and Hermione moved closer to the rest of the family, Harry had a clear view of the bodies lying next to Fred. Remus and Tonks, pale and still and peaceful-looking, apparently18 asleep beneath the dark, enchanted19 ceiling.
The Great Hall seemed to fly away, become smaller, shrink, as Harry reeled backward from the doorway. He could not draw breath. He could not bear to look at any of the other bodies, to see who else had died for him. He could not bear to join the Weasleys, could not look into their eyes, when if he had given himself up in the first place, Fred might never have died…
He turned away and ran up the marble staircase. Lupin, Tonks… He yearned20 not to feel… He wished he could rip out his heart, his innards, everything that was screaming inside him…
The castle was completely empty; even the ghosts seemed to have joined the mass mourning in the Great Hall. Harry ran without stopping, clutching the crystal flask of Snape’s last thoughts, and he did not slow down until he reached the stone gargoyle21 guarding the headmaster’s office.
“Password?”
“Dumbledore!” said Harry without thinking, because it was he whom he yearned to see, and to his surprise the gargoyle slid aside revealing the spiral staircase behind.
But when Harry burst into the circular office he found a change. The portraits that hung all around the walls were empty. Not a single headmaster or headmistress remained to see him; all, it seemed, had flitted away, charging through the paintings that lined the castle so that they could have a clear view of what was going on.
Harry glanced hopelessly at Dumbledore’s deserted frame, which hung directly behind the headmaster’s chair, then turned his back on it. The stone Pensieve lay in the cabinet where it had always been. Harry heaved it onto the desk and poured Snape’s memories into the wide basin with its runic markings around the edge. To escape into someone else’s head would be a blessed relief… Nothing that even Snape had left him could be worse than his own thoughts. The memories swirled22, silver white and strange, and without hesitating, with a feeling of reckless abandonment, as though this would assuage23 his torturing grief, Harry dived.
He fell headlong into sunlight, and his feet found warm ground. When he straightened up, he saw that he was in a nearly deserted playground. A single huge chimney dominated the distant skyline. Two girls were swinging backward and forward, and a skinny boy was watching them from behind a clump24 of bushes. His black hair was overlong and his clothes were so mismatched that it looked deliberate: too short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a grown man, an odd smocklike shirt.
Harry moved closer to the boy. Snape looked no more than nine or ten years old, sallow, small, stringy. There was undisguised greed in his thin face as he watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher and higher than her sister.
“Lily, don’t do it!” shrieked25 the elder of the two.
But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally26 flown, launched herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling27 on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly.
“Mummy told you not to!”
Petunia28 stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching29, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips30.
“Mummy said you weren’t allowed, Lily!”
“But I’m fine,” said Lily, still giggling31. “Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do.”
Petunia glanced around. The playground was deserted apart from themselves and, though the girls did not know it, Snape. Lily had picked up a fallen flower from the bush behind which Snape lurked32. Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and disapproval33. Lily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, then held out her palm. The flower sat there, opening and closing its petals34, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster35.
“Stop it!” shrieked Petunia.
“It’s not hurting you,” said Lily, but she closed her hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground.
“It’s not right,” said Petunia, but her eyes had followed the flower’s flight to the ground and lingered upon it. “How do you do it?” she added, and there was definite longing36 in her voice.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Snape could no longer contain himself, but had jumped out from behind the bushes. Petunia shrieked and ran backward toward the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. Snape seemed to regret his appearance. A dull flush of color mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily.
“What’s obvious?” asked Lily.
Snape had an air of nervous excitement. With a glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering37 beside the swings, he lowered his voice and said, “I know what you are.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re…you’re a witch,” whispered Snape.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say to somebody!”
She turned, nose in the air, and marched off toward her sister.
“No!” said Snape. He was highly colored now, and Harry wondered why he did not take off the ridiculously large coat, unless it was because he did not want to reveal the smock beneath it. He flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously batlike, like his older self.
The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, both holding on to one of the swing poles, as though it was the safe place in tag.
“You are,” said Snape to Lily. “You are a witch. I’ve been watching you for a while. But there’s nothing wrong with that. My mum’s one, and I’m a wizard.”
Petunia’s laugh was like cold water.
“Wizard!” she shrieked, her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. “I know who you are. You’re that Snape boy! They live down Spinner’s End by the river,” she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address a poor recommendation. “Why have you been spying on us?”
“Haven’t been spying,” said Snape, hot and uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight. “Wouldn’t spy on you, anyway,” he added spitefully, “you’re a Muggle.”
Though Petunia evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake the tone.
“Lily, come on, we’re leaving!” she said shrilly39. Lily obeyed her sister at once, glaring at Snape as she left. He stood watching them as they marched through the playground gate, and Harry, the only one left to observe him, recognized Snape’s bitter disappointment, and understood that Snape had been planning this moment for a while, and that it had all gone wrong…
The scene dissolved, and before Harry knew it, re-formed around him. He was now in a small thicket40 of trees. He could see a sunlit river glittering through their trunks. The shadows cast by the trees made a basin of cool green shade. Two children sat facing each other, cross-legged on the ground. Snape had removed his coat now; his odd smock looked less peculiar41 in the half light.
“…and the Ministry42 can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters.”
“But I have done magic outside school!”
“We’re all right. We haven’t got wands yet. They let you off when you’re a kid and you can’t help it. But once you’re eleven,” he nodded importantly, “and they start training you, then you’ve got to go careful.”
There was a little silence. Lily had picked up a fallen twig43 and twirled it in the air, and Harry knew that she was imagining sparks trailing from it. Then she dropped the twig, leaned in toward the boy, and said, “It is real, isn’t it? It’s not a joke? Petunia says you’re lying to me. Petunia says there isn’t a Hogwarts. It is real, isn’t it?”
“It’s real for us,” said Snape. “Not for her. But we’ll get the letter, you and me.”
“Really?” whispered Lily.
“Definitely,” said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled44 in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.
“And will it really come by owl46?” Lily whispered.
“Normally,” said Snape. “But you’re Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents.”
“Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?”
Snape hesitated. His black eyes, eager in the greenish gloom, moved over the pale face, the dark red hair.
“No,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference.”
“Good,” said Lily, relaxing. It was clear that she had been worrying.
“You’ve got loads of magic,” said Snape. “I saw that. All the time I was watching you…”
His voice trailed away; she was not listening, but had stretched out on the leafy ground and was looking up at the canopy47 of leaves overhead. He watched her as greedily as he had watched her in the playground.
“How are things at your house?” Lily asked.
A little crease48 appeared between his eyes.
“Fine,” he said.
“They’re not arguing anymore?”
“Oh yes, they’re arguing,” said Snape. He picked up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart, apparently unaware49 of what he was doing. “But it won’t be that long and I’ll be gone.”
“Doesn’t your dad like magic?”
“He doesn’t like anything, much,” said Snape.
“Severus?”
A little smile twisted Snape’s mouth when she said his name.
“Yeah?”
“Tell me about the dementors again.”
“What d’you want to know about them for?”
“If I use magic outside school – ”
“They wouldn’t give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You’re not going to end up in Azkaban, you’re too – ”
He turned red again and shredded50 more leaves. Then a small rustling51 noise behind Harry made him turn: Petunia, hiding behind a tree, had lost her footing.
“Tuney!” said Lily, surprise and welcome in her voice, but Snape had jumped to his feet.
“Who’s spying now?” he shouted. “What d’you want?”
Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. Harry could see her struggling for something hurtful to say.
“What is that you’re wearing, anyway?” she said, pointing at Snape’s chest. “Your mum’s blouse?”
There was a crack. A branch over Petunia’s head had fallen. Lily screamed. The branch caught Petunia on the shoulder, and she staggered backward and burst into tears.
“Tuney!”
But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on Snape.
“Did you make that happen?”
“No.” He looked both defiant52 and scared.
“You did!” She was backing away from him. “You did! You hurt her!”
“No – no, I didn’t!”
But the lie did not convince Lily. After one last burning look, she ran from the little thicket, off after her sister, and Snape looked miserable53 and confused…
And the scene re-formed. Harry looked around. He was on platform nine and three quarters, and Snape stood beside him, slightly hunched54, next to a thin, sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly resembled him. Snape was staring at a family of four a short distance away. The two girls stood a little apart from their parents. Lily seemed to be pleading with her sister. Harry moved closer to listen.
“…I’m sorry, Tuney, I’m sorry! Listen – ” She caught her sister’s hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. “Maybe once I’m there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I’m there, I’ll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!”
“I don’t – want – to – go!” said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister’s grasp. “You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a…”
Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners’ arms, over the owls55, fluttering and hooting56 at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet57 steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart.
“ – you think I want to be a – a freak?”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging58 her hand away.
“I’m not a freak,” said Lily. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”
“That’s where you’re going,” said Petunia with relish59. “A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy…weirdos, that’s what you two are. It’s good you’re being separated from normal people. It’s for our safety.”
Lily glanced toward her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment61, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce.
“You didn’t think it was such a freak’s school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you.”
Petunia turned scarlet.
“Beg? I didn’t beg!”
“I saw his reply. It was very kind.”
“You shouldn’t have read – ” whispered Petunia, “that was my private – how could you –?”
Lily gave herself away by half-glancing toward where Snape stood nearby. Petunia gasped62.
“That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking63 in my room!”
“No – not sneaking – “ Now Lily was on the defensive65. ”Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn’t believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that’s all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal66 service who take care of – “
“Apparently wizards poke3 their noses in everywhere!“ said Petunia, now as pale as she had been flushed. ”Freak!“ she spat67 at her sister, and she flounced off to where her parents stood…
The scene dissolved again. Snape was hurrying along the corridor of the Hogwarts Express as it clattered68 through the countryside. He had already changed into his school robes, had perhaps taken the first opportunity to take off his dreadful Muggle clothes. At last he stopped, outside a compartment69 in which a group of rowdy boys were talking. Hunched in a corner seat beside the window was Lily, her face pressed against the windowpane.
Snape slid open the compartment door and sat down opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked back out of the window. She had been crying.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” she said in a constricted70 voice.
“Why not?”
“Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore.“
“So what?”
She threw him a look of deep dislike.
“So she’s my sister!”
“She’s only a – “ He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.
“But we’re going!” he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. “This is it! We’re off to Hogwarts!”
She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.
“You’d better be in Slytherin,” said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.
“Slytherin?”
One of the boys sharing the compartment, who had shown no interest at all in Lily or Snape until that point, looked around at the word, and Harry, whose attention had been focused entirely71 on the two beside the window, saw his father: slight, black-haired like Snape, but with that indefinable air of having been well-cared-for, even adored, that Snape so conspicuously72 lacked.
“Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?” James asked the boy lounging on the seats opposite him, and with a jolt73, Harry realized that it was Sirius. Sirius did not smile.
“My whole family have been in Slytherin,” he said.
“Blimey,” said James, “and I thought you seemed all right!”
Sirius grinned.
“Maybe I’ll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?”
James lifted an invisible sword.
“‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!’ Like my dad.”
Snape made a small, disparaging74 noise. James turned on him.
“Got a problem with that?”
“No,” said Snape, though his slight sneer75 said otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny76 than brainy – ”
“Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?“ interjected Sirius.
James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.
“Come on, Severus, let’s find another compartment.”
“Oooooo…”
James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.
“See ya, Snivellus!” a voice called, as the compartment door slammed…
And the scene dissolved once more…
Harry was standing77 right behind Snape as they faced the candlelit House tables, lined with rapt faces. Then Professor McGonagall said, “Evans, Lily!”
He watched his mother walk forward on trembling legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, “Gryffindor!”
Harry heard Snape let out a tiny groan78. Lily took off the hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried toward the cheering Gryffindors, but as she went she glanced back at Snape, and there was a sad little smile on her face. Harry saw Sirius move up the bench to make room for her. She took one look at him, seemed to recognize him from the train, folded her arms, and firmly turned her back on him.
The roll call continued. Harry watched Lupin, Pettigrew, and his father join Lily and Sirius at the Gryffindor table. At last, when only a dozen students remained to be sorted, Professor McGonagall called Snape.
Harry walked with him to the stool, watched him place the hat upon his head. “Slytherin!” cried the Sorting Hat.
And Severus Snape moved off to the other side of the Hall, away from Lily, to where the Slytherins were cheering him, to where Lucius Malfoy, a prefect badge gleaming upon his chest, patted Snape on the back as he sat down beside him…
And the scene changed…
Lily and Snape were walking across the castle courtyard, evidently arguing. Harry hurried to catch up with them, to listen in. As he reached them, he realized how much taller they both were. A few years seemed to have passed since their Sorting.
“…thought we were supposed to be friends?” Snape was saying, “Best friends?”
“We are, Sev, but I don’t like some of the people you’re hanging round with! I’m sorry, but I detest79 Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he’s creepy! D’you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?“
Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face.
“That was nothing,” said Snape. “It was a laugh, that’s all – ”
“It was Dark Magic, and if you think that’s funny – ”
“What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?” demanded Snape. His color rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment80.
“What’s Potter got to do with anything?” said Lily.
“They sneak64 out at night. There’s something weird60 about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?”
“He’s ill,” said Lily. “They say he’s ill – ”
“Every month at the full moon?” said Snape.
“I know your theory,” said Lily, and she sounded cold. “Why are you so obsessed81 with them anyway? Why do you care what they’re doing at night?”
“I’m just trying to show you they’re not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are.“
The intensity82 of his gaze made her blush.
“They don’t use Dark Magic, though.“ She dropped her voice. ”And you’re being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow83, and James Potter saved you from whatever’s down there – “
Snape’s whole face contorted and he spluttered, “Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends’ too! You’re not going to – I won’t let you – ”
“Let me? Let me?“
Lily’s bright green eyes were slits84. Snape backtracked at once.
“I didn’t mean – I just don’t want to see you made a fool of – He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!” The words seemed wrenched85 from him against his will. “And he’s not…everyone thinks…big Quidditch hero – ” Snape’s bitterness and dislike were rendering86 him incoherent, and Lily’s eyebrows87 were traveling farther and farther up her forehead.
“I know James Potter’s an arrogant88 toerag,“ she said, cutting across Snape. ”I don’t need you to tell me that. But Mulciber’s and Avery’s idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don’t understand how you can be friends with them.“
Harry doubted that Snape had even heard her strictures on Mulciber and Avery. The moment she had insulted James Potter, his whole body had relaxed, and as they walked away there was a new spring in Snape’s step…
And the scene dissolved…
Harry watched again as Snape left the Great Hall after sitting his O.W.L. in Defense89 Against the Dark Arts, watched as he wandered away from the castle and strayed inadvertently close to the place beneath the beech90 tree where James, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew sat together. But Harry kept his distance this time, because he knew what happened after James had hoisted91 Severus into the air and taunted92 him; he knew what had been done and said, and it gave him no pleasure to hear it again… He watched as Lily joined the group and went to Snape’s defense. Distantly he heard Snape shout at her in his humiliation93 and his fury, the unforgivable word: “Mudblood.”
The scene changed…
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not interested.”
“I’m sorry!”
“Save your breath”
It was nighttime. Lily, who was wearing a dressing94 gown, stood with her arms folded in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.
“I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here.”
“I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just – ”
“Slipped out?“ There was no pity in Lily’s voice. ”It’s too late. I’ve made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?“
He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking.
“I can’t pretend anymore. You’ve chosen your way, I’ve chosen mine.”
“No – listen, I didn’t mean – ”
“ – to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?”
He struggled on the verge95 of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole…
The corridor dissolved, and the scene took a little longer to reform: Harry seemed to fly through shifting shapes and colors until his surroundings solidified96 again and he stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in the darkness, the wind whistling through the branches of a few leafless trees. The adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone… His fear infected Harry too, even though he knew that he could not be harmed, and he looked over his shoulder, wondering what it was that Snape was waiting for – Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air. Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand.
“Don’t kill me!”
“That was not my intention.”
Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated97 from below in the light cast by his wand.
“Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?”
“No – no message – I’m here on my own account!”
Snape was wringing98 his hands. He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.
“I – I come with a warning – no, a request – please – ”
Dumbledore flicked100 his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.
“What request could a Death Eater make of me?”
“The – the prophecy…the prediction…Trelawney…”
“Ah, yes,” said Dumbledore. “How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?”
“Everything – everything I heard!” said Snape. “That is why – it is for that reason – he thinks it means Lily Evans!”
“The prophecy did not refer to a woman,” said Dumbledore. “It spoke of a boy born at the end of July – ”
“You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down – kill them all – ”
“If she means so much to you,” said Dumbledore, “surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?”
“I have – I have asked him – ”
“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little, “You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?”
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.
“Hide them all, then,” he croaked101. “Keep her – them – safe. Please.”
“And what will you give me in return, Severus?”
“In – in return?“ Snape gaped102 at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, ”Anything.“
The hilltop faded, and Harry stood in Dumbledore’s office, and something was making a terrible sound, like a wounded animal. Snape was slumped103 forward in a chair and Dumbledore was standing over him, looking grim. After a moment or two, Snape raised his face, and he looked like a man who had lived a hundred years of misery104 since leaving the wild hilltop.
“I thought…you were going…to keep her…safe…”
“She and James put their faith in the wrong person,“ said Dumbledore. ”Rather like you, Severus. Weren’t you hoping that Lord Voldemort would spare her?“
Snape’s breathing was shallow.
“Her boy survives,” said Dumbledore.
With a tiny jerk of the head, Snape seemed to flick99 off an irksome fly.
“Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely105 her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans’s eyes, I am sure?“
“DON’T!” bellowed106 Snape. “Gone…dead…”
“Is this remorse107, Severus?”
“I wish…I wish I were dead…“
“And what use would that be to anyone?” said Dumbledore coldly. “If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear.”
Snape seemed to peer through a haze108 of pain, and Dumbledore’s words appeared to take a long time to reach him.
“What – what do you mean?”
“You know how and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily’s son.”
“He does not need protection. The Dark Lord has gone – ”
“The Dark Lord will return, and Harry Potter will be in terrible danger when he does.”
There was a long pause, and slowly Snape regained109 control of himself, mastered his own breathing. At last he said, “Very well. Very well. But never – never tell, Dumbledore! This must be between us! Swear it! I cannot bear…especially Potter’s son…I want your word!”
“My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?” Dumbledore sighed, looking down into Snape’s ferocious110, anguished111 face. “If you insist…”
The office dissolved but re-formed instantly. Snape was pacing up and down in front of Dumbledore.
“ – mediocre112, arrogant as his father, a determined113 rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent – ”
“You see what you expect to see, Severus,“ said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today. ”Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child.“
Dumbledore turned a page, and said, without looking up, “Keep an eye on Quirrell, won’t you?”
A whirl of color, and now everything darkened, and Snape and Dumbledore stood a little apart in the entrance hall, while the last stragglers from the Yule Ball passed them on their way to bed.
“Well?” murmured Dumbledore.
“Karkaroff’s Mark is becoming darker too. He is panicking, he fears retribution; you know how much help he gave the Ministry after the Dark Lord fell.” Snape looked sideways at Dumbledore’s crooked-nosed profile. “Karkaroff intends to flee if the Mark burns.”
“Does he?” said Dumbledore softly, as Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies came giggling in from the grounds. “And are you tempted114 to join him?”
“No,“ said Snape, his black eyes on Fleur’s and Roger’s retreating figures. “I am not such a coward.”
“No,” agreed Dumbledore. “You are a braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff. You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon…”
He walked away, leaving Snape looking stricken…
And now Harry stood in the headmaster’s office yet again. It was nighttime, and Dumbledore sagged115 sideways in the thronelike chair behind the desk, apparently semiconscious. His right hand dangled116 over the side, blackened and burned. Snape was muttering incantations, pointing his wand at the wrist of the hand, while with his left hand he tipped a goblet117 full of thick golden potion down Dumbledore’s throat. After a moment or two, Dumbledore’s eyelids118 fluttered and opened.
“Why,“ said Snape, without preamble119, “why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realized that. Why even touch it?”
Marvolo Gaunt’s ring lay on the desk before Dumbledore. It was cracked; the sword of Gryffindor lay beside it.
“I…was a fool. Sorely tempted…”
“Tempted by what?”
Dumbledore did not answer.
“It is a miracle you managed to return here!“ Snape sounded furious. ”That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being – “
Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and examined it with the expression of one being shown an interesting curio.
“You have done very well, Severus. How long do you think I have?”
Dumbledore’s tone was conversational121; he might have been asking for a weather forecast. Snape hesitated, and then said, “I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. It will spread eventually, it is the sort of curse that strengthens over time.”
Dumbledore smiled. The news that he had less than a year to live seemed a matter of little or no concern to him.
“I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus.”
“If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!” said Snape furiously. He looked down at the broken ring and the sword. “Did you think that breaking the ring would break the curse?”
“Something like that…I was delirious122, no doubt…“ said Dumbledore. With an effort he straightened himself in his chair. ”Well, really, this makes matters much more straightforward123.“
Snape looked utterly124 perplexed125. Dumbledore smiled.
“I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving126 around me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me.”
Snape sat down in the chair Harry had so often occupied, across the desk from Dumbledore. Harry could tell that he wanted to say more on the subject of Dumbledore’s cursed hand, but the other held it up in polite refusal to discuss the matter further. Scowling127, Snape said, “The Dark Lord does not expect Draco to succeed. This is merely punishment for Lucius’s recent failures. Slow torture for Draco’s parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price.”
“In short, the boy has had a death sentence pronounced upon him as surely as I have,” said Dumbledore. “Now, I should have thought the natural successor to the job, once Draco fails, is yourself?”
There was a short pause.
“That, I think, is the Dark Lord’s plan.”
“Lord Voldemort foresees a moment in the near future when he will not need a spy at Hogwarts?”
“He believes the school will soon be in his grasp, yes.”
“And if it does fall into his grasp,” said Dumbledore, almost, it seemed, as an aside, “I have your word that you will do all in your power to protect the students at Hogwarts?”
Snape gave a stiff nod.
“Good. Now then. Your first priority will be to discover what Draco is up to. A frightened teenage boy is a danger to others as well as to himself. Offer him help and guidance, he ought to accept, he likes you – ”
“ – much less since his father has lost favor. Draco blames me, he thinks I have usurped128 Lucius’s position.”
“All the same, try. I am concerned less for myself than for accidental victims of whatever schemes might occur to the boy. Ultimately, of course, there is only one thing to be done if we are to save him from Lord Voldemort’s wrath129.“
Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic130 as he asked, “Are you intending to let him kill you?”
“Certainly not. You must kill me.“
There was a long silence, broken only by an odd clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix131 was gnawing132 a bit of cuttlebone.
“Would you like me to do it now?“ asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony133. ”Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?“
“Oh, not quite yet,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “I daresay the moment will present itself in due course. Given what has happened tonight,” he indicated his withered134 hand, “we can be sure that it will happen within a year.”
“If you don’t mind dying,” said Snape roughly, “why not let Draco do it?”
“That boy’s soul is not yet so damaged,” said Dumbledore. “I would not have it ripped apart on my account.”
“And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?”
“You alone know whether it will harm your soul to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation,” said Dumbledore. “I ask this one great favor of you, Severus, because death is coming for me as surely as the Chudley Cannons135 will finish bottom of this year’s league. I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit to the protracted136 and messy affair it will be if, for instance, Greyback is involved – I hear Voldemort has recruited him? Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it.”
His tone was light, but his blue eyes pierced Snape as they had frequently pierced Harry, as though the soul they discussed was visible to him. At last Snape gave another curt137 nod.
Dumbledore seemed satisfied.
“Thank you, Severus…”
The office disappeared, and now Snape and Dumbledore were strolling together in the deserted castle grounds by twilight138.
“What are you doing with Potter, all these evenings you are closeted together?“ Snape asked abruptly139.
Dumbledore looked weary.
“Why? You aren’t trying to give him more detentions140, Severus? The boy will soon have spent more time in detention141 than out.“
“He is his father over again – ”
“In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother’s. I spend time with Harry because I have things to discuss with him, information I must give him before it is too late.”
“Information,” repeated Snape. “You trust him…you do not trust me.”
“It is not a question of trust. I have, as we both know, limited time. It is essential that I give the boy enough information for him to do what he needs to do.”
“And why may I not have the same information?”
“I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket, particularly not a basket that spends so much time dangling142 on the arm of Lord Voldemort.”
“Which I do on your orders!”
“And you do it extremely well. Do not think that I underestimate the constant danger in which you place yourself, Severus. To give Voldemort what appears to be valuable information while withholding143 the essentials is a job I would entrust144 to nobody but you.“
“Yet you confide45 much more in a boy who is incapable145 of Occlumency, whose magic is mediocre, and who has a direct connection into the Dark Lord’s mind!“
“Voldemort fears that connection,” said Dumbledore. “Not so long ago he had one small taste of what truly sharing Harry’s mind means to him. It was pain such as he has never experienced. He will not try to possess Harry again, I am sure of it. Not in that way.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Lord Voldemort’s soul, maimed as it is, cannot bear close contact with a soul like Harry’s. Like a tongue on frozen steel, like flesh in flame – “
“Souls? We were talking of minds!”
“In the case of Harry and Lord Voldemort, to speak of one is to speak of the other.”
Dumbledore glanced around to make sure that they were alone. They were close by the Forbidden Forest now, but there was no sign of anyone near them.
“After you have killed me, Severus – ”
“You refuse to tell me everything, yet you expect that small service of me!“ snarled146 Snape, and real anger flared147 in the thin face now. ”You take a great deal for granted, Dumbledore! Perhaps I have changed my mind!“
“You gave me your word, Severus. And while we are talking about services you owe me, I thought you agreed to keep a close eye on our young Slytherin friend?”
Snape looked angry, mutinous148. Dumbledore sighed.
“Come to my office tonight, Severus, at eleven, and you shall not complain that I have no confidence in you…”
They were back in Dumbledore’s office, the windows dark, and Fawkes sat silent as Snape sat quite still, as Dumbledore walked around him, talking.
“Harry must not know, not until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the strength to do what must be done?”
“But what must he do?”
“That is between Harry and me. Now listen closely, Severus. There will come a time – after my death – do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake.“
“For Nagini?” Snape looked astonished.
“Precisely. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth149 to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry.”
“Tell him what?”
Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing150 Curse rebounded151 upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort’s soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched152 itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsed153 building. Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort’s mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains154 attached to and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die.“
Harry seemed to be watching the two men from one end of a long tunnel, they were so far away from him, their voices echoing strangely in his ears.
“So the boy…the boy must die?” asked Snape quite calmly.
“And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.”
Another long silence. Then Snape said, “I thought…all those years…that we were protecting him for her. For Lily.”
“We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength,” said Dumbledore, his eyes still tight shut. “Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic155 growth. Sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged matters so that when he does set out to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort.”
Dumbledore opened his eyes. Snape looked horrified156.
“You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?“
“Don’t be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?”
“Lately, only those whom I could not save,” said Snape. He stood up. “You have used me.”
“Meaning?”
“I have spied for you and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter’s son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter157 – “
“But this is touching158, Severus,” said Dumbledore seriously. “Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?”
“For him?“ shouted Snape. ”Expecto Patronum!“
From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe. She landed on the office floor, bounded once across the office, and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.
“After all this time?”
“Always,” said Snape.
And the scene shifted. Now, Harry saw Snape talking to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk.
“You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry’s departure from his aunt and uncle’s,“ said Dumbledore. ”Not to do so will raise suspicion, when Voldemort believes you so well informed. However, you must plant the idea of decoys; that, I think, ought to ensure Harry’s safety. Try Confunding Mundungus Fletcher. And Severus, if you are forced to take part in the chase, be sure to act your part convincingly…I am counting upon you to remain in Lord Voldemort’s good books as long as possible, or Hogwarts will be left to the mercy of the Carrows…“
Now Snape was head to head with Mundungus in an unfamiliar159 tavern160, Mundungus’s face looking curiously161 blank, Snape frowning in concentration.
“You will suggest to the Order of the Phoenix,“ Snape murmured, ”that they use decoys. Polyjuice Potion. Identical Potters. It’s the only thing that might work. You will forget that I have suggested this. You will present it as your own idea. You understand?“
“I understand,” murmured Mundungus, his eyes unfocused…
Now Harry was flying alongside Snape on a broomstick through a clear dark night: He was accompanied by other hodded Death Eaters, and ahead were Lupin and a Harry who was really George… A Death Eater moved ahead of Snape and raised his wand, pointing it directly at Lupin’s back.
“Sectumsempra!“ shouted Snape.
But the spell, intended for the Death Eater’s wand hand, missed and hit George instead –
And next, Snape was kneeling in Sirius’s old bedroom. Tears were dripping from the end of his hooked nose as he read the old letter from Lily. The second page carried only a few words: could ever have been friends with Gellert Grindelwald. I think her mind’s going, personally!
Lots of love, Lily
Snape took the page bearing Lily’s signature, and her love, and tucked it inside his robes. Then he ripped in two the photograph he was also holding, so that he kept the part from which Lily laughed, throwing the portion showing James and Harry back onto the floor, under the chest of drawers…
And now Snape stood again in the headmaster’s study as Phineas Nigellus came hurrying into his portrait.
“Headmaster! They are camping in the Forest of Dean! The Mudblood – ”
“Do not use that word!”
“ – the Granger girl, then, mentioned the place as she opened her bag and I heard her!”
“Good. Very good!” cried the portrait of Dumbledore behind the headmaster’s chair. “Now, Severus, the sword! Do not forget that it must be taken under conditions of need and valor162 – and he must not know that you give it! If Voldemort should read Harry’s mind and see you acting163 for him – ”
“I know,” said Snape curtly164. He approached the portrait of Dumbledore and pulled at its side. It swung forward, revealing a hidden cavity behind it from which he took the sword of Gryffindor.
“And you still aren’t going to tell me why it’s so important to give Potter the sword?” said Snape as he swung a traveling cloak over his robes.
“No, I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore’s portrait. “He will know what to do with it. And Severus, be very careful, they may not take kindly165 to your appearance after George Weasley’s mishap166 – ”
Snape turned at the door.
“Don’t worry, Dumbledore,” he said coolly. “I have a plan…”
And Snape left the room. Harry rose up out of the Pensieve, and moments later he lay on the carpeted floor in exactly the same rooms Snape might just have closed the door.
哈利仍旧跪在斯内普旁边，直直盯着他，直到有个高高在上的冷酷声音突然在他耳边说起话来。哈利跳起来，把那只小瓶紧紧攥在手里，他以为伏地魔又回到房间来了。
伏地魔的声音在墙壁和地板之间回荡着，哈利这才意识到他是在对着霍格沃茨及其周边所有地区说话，这样一来霍格莫德的人和仍旧在城堡中激战的人们也能听得一清二楚，他的呼吸声如同在他们脖子后面一样。
那个高高冷酷的声音说：“你们战斗得很英勇，伏地魔大人知道如何褒奖勇士。”
“但是你们也遭受了惨重的损失，如果继续抵抗我，那你们一个个都要死。我不希望发生这种事情，巫师的血白流一滴出来都是一种浪费和损失。”
“伏地魔大人非常仁慈，我将下令我的部队立刻撤退。”
“给你们一个小时的时间，安置尸体，处理伤员。”
“现在我特别要跟哈利·波特说句话。你总让你的朋友去送死而不肯亲自面对我。我会在禁林中等一个小时，如果时间到了你还没有来见我，还不来投降，那时我就亲自出手了，哈利·波特，我会找到你，我会惩罚每一个试图把你藏起来的男人女人或孩子。你只有一个小时！”
罗恩和赫敏朝哈利拼命摇头。
“别听他的！”罗恩说道。
“没事的！”赫敏粗暴地说，“我们……我们回城堡去，如果他去禁林了拿我们就得想个新对策——”
她瞥了一眼斯内普的尸体，然后匆忙回到入口处。罗恩跟在她后面，哈利捡起隐身衣，朝下看着斯内普。除了被斯内普的死状和死因惊吓到以外，他什么也感觉不到。
他们顺着通道爬了回来，谁也没说话，哈利不知道罗恩和赫敏是否也和自己一样，脑海里还存留着伏地魔刚才的话的回声。
“你总让你的朋友去送死也不肯亲自面对我，我会在禁林等你一个小时……只有一个小时！”
城堡前面的草坪上一片狼藉，距离天亮大概还有一小时，四周却仍一片漆黑。他们三个人奋力跑向石阶。只有一只小船那么大小的狗被丢弃在他们面前，丝毫没有格洛普或他对手的影子。
城堡中一片不同寻常的死寂。现在闪光、爆炸声、惨叫和吼声都平息下来了。废弃的大厅入口处的石板上血迹斑斑。地上仍旧洒满了绿宝石，还有大理石和木头碎片。一部分楼梯栏杆也被摧毁了。
“大家都到哪儿去了？”赫敏小声说。
罗恩带路朝大会堂走去。哈利在门口停住了。
所有学院的长桌都被搬走了，屋子里挤满了人。活着的人扎堆站着，用手臂互相搂着脖子。庞弗雷夫人和助手们把伤员们抬到平台上救治。费伦泽也在伤员之中，他腰部一侧的伤口中不停地流着血，他躺在那里抽搐着，再也站不起来了。
牺牲的人被排成一排放在大厅中间。哈利看不见费雷德的尸体，因为他全家人把他团团围住了。乔治跪在他的前面，韦斯利太太趴在费雷德胸前，浑身颤抖着。韦斯利先生轻抚着她的头发，泪如泉涌。
罗恩和赫敏没跟哈利打招呼就走开了。哈利看见赫敏走到满脸肿胀血污的金妮身边拥抱她。罗恩和比尔、芙蓉、帕西在一起，他们搂着他的肩膀。金妮和赫敏朝家里人走过去时，哈利认出了费雷德身边的尸体。莱姆斯和唐克斯面色惨白的躺在那儿，安静得像是睡着了一般，他们头顶是黑沉沉的被施了魔法的天花板。
当哈利跌跌撞撞的从门口走回来时，原来那个大会堂忽然不见了，它变得狭小，好像萎缩了一样。他感到呼吸困难。他不敢再去看别的尸体，不敢再去看究竟还有谁为他而死。他也不敢去和韦斯利一家说话，不敢去看他们的眼睛，如果他一开始就站出来的话，弗雷德也许就不会死了……
他转身跑上了大理石楼梯。卢平、唐克斯……他不能再想了……他几乎想要把心拽出来，把所有内脏都拽出来，他身体内一直有什么在尖叫着……
城堡里空无一人了，甚至连鬼魂们也在大会堂里跟着一起哀悼死者。哈利一口气跑到校长办公室门口的滴水兽石像前才停下来，手里攥着装有斯内普记忆的瓶子。
“密码？”
“邓布利多！”哈利想也没想就这么喊道，因为他现在唯一能想到的就是邓布利多了。而令他吃惊的是，滴水兽竟然真的滑向了一边，露出身后的螺旋状楼梯。
但是当哈利冲进那间圆形的办公室他发现里面有一点变化。墙上挂了一圈的肖像全都空了。一个校长都没剩，可能是他们去拜访城堡其他地方的画像打听消息了。
哈利绝望的看了一眼挂在校长座椅后面那幅邓布利多肖像的空荡荡的画框，然后转过身。冥想盆还在柜子里的老地方。哈利把冥想盆端到桌子上，将斯内普的记忆倒进边上刻着古文字的盆里。躲进别人的大脑是件解脱……即便是斯内普的记忆也比他自己的那些强些。闪动着奇异的银白色光芒的记忆在盆里打旋转动着，哈里带着一种不管不顾毫不犹豫地把头浸入盆中，好像这样就可以暂时减轻痛苦。
他头朝前掉进一片阳光中，脚下是一片温暖的土地。等他站直身子，发现自己置身一个几乎废弃的操场上。遥远的天际只能看到一只巨大的烟囱。两个女孩正在来回荡秋千，一个瘦骨嶙峋的男孩躲在灌木丛后面看着她们。他的黑头发太长了，衣服很不合体，牛仔裤太短，衬衫像样式奇怪的罩衫，破烂的外衣显然是成年人穿的。
哈利靠近那男孩。那个时候的斯内普看上去决超不过九岁或十岁，面有菜色，矮小瘦弱。当他看着其中那个比较小的女孩荡得比姐姐越来越高时，瘦削的脸上有种难掩的渴望。
“莉莉，别那样！”年长一点的女孩叫道。
但是莉莉在秋千荡到最高点时，飞了起来，冲向天空时还发出大笑，然后她并没有掉到地上摔惨，而是像个秋千大师般在空中滑过，停留了那么久，落地时又那么轻。
“妈妈告诉过你别那样！”
佩尼用凉鞋的鞋跟触地停下了秋千，发出嘎嘎的摩擦声，然后跳起来，把手放在屁股上。
“妈妈说不许你那样，莉莉！”
“但是我没出事啊。”莉莉还是咯咯笑，“佩尼，看，看我能做这个！”
佩尼四下扫视了一圈，操场上除了她们还有她们并不知道的斯内普。莉莉从斯内普藏身德灌木丛中捡起一朵凋谢的花。佩尼向前走了两步，带着好奇和审视的态度。莉莉等她靠近能看清楚后，张开了手掌，那朵花在她的掌心一开一合，像是只有许多开口的奇怪牡蛎。
“快停下！”佩尼高叫。
“这也没伤到你呀。”莉莉合上手掌把花扔回地上。
“这是不对的！”佩尼说道，但是她的视线却跟着那朵掉落到地上的花，始终没有移开。“你怎么能做到的？”她追问道，声音里显然有一种向往。
“很明显，不是吗？”斯内普忍不住从灌木丛后面跳了出来。佩尼叫了一声，跑回到秋千那儿去了。但是莉莉虽然也被吓了一跳，却没有动。斯内普看起来对自己的出现感到有些抱歉，他看着莉莉，菜色的脸上渐渐涌起一阵红潮。
“什么很明显？”莉莉问道。
斯内普显得激动又紧张。他看了一眼在秋千处徘徊的佩尼，放低了声音说：“我知道你是什么人。”
“你什么意思？”
“你是……你是一个女巫。”斯内普小声说。
她看上去像是被冒犯了。
“那可不是一个好词！”
她转过身，昂起头，大步走回到姐姐的身边。
“不！”斯内普说道，他的脸红极了。哈利不明白他为什么不脱掉外面那件滑稽的外衣，除非是由于他不想把里面那件罩衫暴露出来。他追上去，宽大的外套像蝙蝠般上下扇动着，就像后来成年的他一样。
那对姐妹想了想，一致表示不相信他，她们抱着支撑秋千的一根柱子不放，好像那里是个安全之所。
“你是！”斯内普对莉莉说。“你是一个女巫！我看了你好一会儿了，但是那并没什么，我妈妈就是个女巫，而我也是一个巫师！”
“巫师！”她叫道。现在她从他意外出现带来的震惊中恢复过来了，“我知道你是谁了！你是那个斯内普家的孩子！他们住在河边的蜘蛛尾巷子头上！”她告诉莉莉。那种语调表示她觉得那个地址就是着恶劣的象征。“你为什么监视我们？”
“我没有监视！
收听单词发音 |
1
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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2
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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3
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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4
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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12
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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13
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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cascaded
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| 级联的 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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blotchy
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| adj.有斑点的，有污渍的；斑污 | |
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18
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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20
yearned
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
gargoyle
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| n.笕嘴 | |
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swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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assuage
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| v.缓和，减轻，镇定 | |
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24
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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25
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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27
crumpling
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| 压皱，弄皱( crumple的现在分词 )； 变皱 | |
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28
petunia
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| n.矮牵牛花 | |
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29
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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30
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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31
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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32
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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33
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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34
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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35
oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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38
affronted
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| adj.被侮辱的，被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 )；相遇 | |
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39
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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40
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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41
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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42
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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43
twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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44
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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45
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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46
owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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47
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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48
crease
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| n.折缝，褶痕，皱褶；v.(使)起皱 | |
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49
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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50
shredded
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| shred的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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52
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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53
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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54
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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55
owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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56
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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57
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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58
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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59
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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60
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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61
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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62
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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63
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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64
sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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65
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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66
postal
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| adj.邮政的，邮局的 | |
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67
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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68
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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69
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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70
constricted
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| adj.抑制的，约束的 | |
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71
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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72
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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73
jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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74
disparaging
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| adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难 | |
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75
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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76
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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77
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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78
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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79
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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80
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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81
obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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82
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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83
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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84
slits
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| n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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85
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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86
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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87
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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88
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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89
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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90
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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91
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
taunted
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| 嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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93
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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94
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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95
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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96
solidified
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| （使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的过去式和过去分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化 | |
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97
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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98
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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99
flick
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| n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动 | |
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100
flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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101
croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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102
gaped
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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103
slumped
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| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
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104
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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105
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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106
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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107
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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108
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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109
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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110
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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117
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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118
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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119
preamble
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| n.前言；序文 | |
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120
grimaced
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| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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123
straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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124
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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detentions
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| 拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校 | |
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detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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143
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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entrust
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| v.信赖，信托，交托 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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rebounded
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| 弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效 | |
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latched
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| v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上） | |
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153
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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154
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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parasitic
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| adj.寄生的 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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157
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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158
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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159
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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160
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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161
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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163
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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165
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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