XCII. BALLAD OF THE LIONS AND EAGEL.
31:07 ─❁────────── 31:80
◁ Ⅱ ▷
❝Rocked by the waves of sorrow;
scorched by the flames or wrath❞
༻───────────────༺
"YOU GUYS CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT I just found out!" Lucia ran giddily down from the Girls' Dormitory staircase and into the common room. Since the Quidditch match, it had seemed that the overwhelming number of rumours regarding Harry doubled from the original amount. However, it also became even more ridiculous.
"What, did you finally catch Bao Bao in the act?! I swear and I get my hands on that fat ferr —"
"I told you it isn't Bao Bao! It's Crookshanks!" said Lucia reproachfully to Ron before she shook her head in annoyance. "Really, the audacity you have is unlike any other, Ron. But I wanted to talk about how people really don't find the Dementors attacks much fun in comparison to the rumours surrounding Harry these days. Geez, you would've thought it'll be much more intriguing than a simple bespectacled bo —"
"Hey!"
"Sorry, love," She laid herself against Harry's legs and looked up at Harry, who looked down at her with an unimpressed look. She scoffed and mumbled under her breath distantly, "Maybe I should've said you had Bao Bao tattooed on your buttocks instead —"
"Bao Bao tattooed to my what?" Harry blinked, bewildered by what he was currently hearing.
Lucia brushed him off and told her friends what happened prior to her coming here. "You know I was just going to feed Bao Bao in the dormitory like I always do right?" They nodded, still not understanding where this was heading to, "And then when I went out, there Romilda Vane was with her posse, and you know what's the first thing she asked me?"
"Come off with it already!" Ron yelled.
"She asked me if you," she turned to Harry, "had a hippogriff tattooed across you chest,"
Ron and Hermione both roared with laughter. Harry ignored them.
"And what exactly did you tell them?" Knowing Lucia, it was something incoherently odd —
"Right there and then, I had multiple choices, right? So, option one; was to lie and say yes. Of course, I didn't opt for option one because that option is too lame, so the next option; was to say that no, you don't,"
Harry heaved out a sigh of relief...
He spoke too soon.
"I didn't choose that either because, well, that's boring and I love to stir up some gossip around her because honestly there's nothing fun to do anymore!"
"Get on with it already," Ron said.
"— then I thought to myself right there, 'Hey, Buckbeak's face wouldn't look good on Harry's body, but Bao Bao however...' —"
"Not Bao Bao, any animal other than Bao Bao. Hell, I take that mushy face Crookshanks!" Harry exclaimed.
"Merlin's limp organs you're loud," said Lucia. "Anyway, I told Romilda that you do not have a tattoo of a hippogriff, instead —"
"Oh no," groaned Harry.
"— you have a tattoo of a Hungarian Horntail you fought during the first task a few years ago on your pecs," said Serafina proudly. "Now I'm just imagine if it were real..."
"Oh, I didn't expect that," Harry grinned smugly, "Thanks. And what did you tell her Ron's got?"
"Ginny said Pygmy Puff, but she didn't say where," said Lucia in deep thought.
Ron scowled as Hermione rolled around laughing.
"Wait 'till I get my hands —"
"You'll get your hands broken instead," said Lucia and Harry together with a serious tone.
He scowled again. "Some friends you are,"
As days turned to weeks, Lucia often felt that time was shortening and each day she had with Harry felt like something she should cherish more, as if they were both running out of time. She hated that feeling and frequently found herself tangled in Harry's arms more and more, trying to get rid of the nasty thoughts that lingered in her mind. It felt haunting.
And it seemed Harry himself had somewhat felt that way as well as he would constantly pull her into a much more private area in the castle through breaks and away from their friends just so he could steal comforting, yet hungry kisses. Trying to keep their hand off each other in public was proving to be harder than he had thought as the urge to keep their affections private was slowly deteriorating little-by-little. Perhaps it was because of the war that was looming over them, but the time they spent together felt too little to him. He needed more time with her, and he did have more time with her...
Right?
The ominous thought would haunt his mind, making it far too harder to keep himself away from Lucia. But neither would complain, for they enjoyed the each other company and it wasn't as though others were bothered about it — well, no one accept Ron of course.
Ron's tolerance for their occasionaly display of affection in public was thinning as each time he would turn back on his bestfriends, they would be gone from his side, leaving him to wander back to the common or to classes on his own, only for them to reappear a few minutes later, suspiciously neater than before.
"You two went snogging," said Ron as they sat in the common room in front of the fire; Lucia's head on Harry's lap as she read a magazine. Harry was reading a book about Quidditch, playing with her hair meanwhile.
"False," they said together airily.
"I'll catch you two one day in one of these broom closets you know?" taunted Ron, a bit disheveled looking after trying to find them throughout the castle just to see that they were in the common room the whole time.
"I think you're just hallucinating because you've missed the feeling of having to snog someone," said Lucia bluntly, turning another page with a yawn, "Even your little sister is getting som —"
"Lalalalalala," Ron ran away from them with his hands clamped over his ears, up to the Boys' Dormitory.
"Wow," said Harry, as Lucia sat up with a smirk. "That's a new record,"
"We just gaslighted him. I really didn't want to do that to him, to be honest. But he kept on tailing us," sighed Lucia in dismay, before she turned to Harry. "Now, more kissing, less talking,"
"As you wish," smirked Harry, smashing his lips against her before they fell on the loveseat.
Truthfully, Ginny really getting as much kisses as she could from Luna, all while trying to hold herself back as they came into the month of June. The fifth years were sitting for the O.W.L.s examination, and kissing have been restricted until the exams were to end. Ginny and Luna had asked Lucia to supervised them, though she did not believe that would do anything, for they would end up snogging one another in an empty aisle between book shelfs in the library at the end.
Lucia had just finished from 'supervising' Ginny and Luna and was heading back to Gryffindor Tower. She entered through the portrait hole just in time to see Hermione and Harry 'talking, near the window where he and Ron were sitting with books in front of them.
"Oh, not again," she heard Harry groaned, with drew her suspicions quickly. "Will you please drop it?"
Lucia approached them gingerly, what were they talking about? She turned to Ron, and saw a exasperated expression plastered on his face and she couldn't help but assume one thing.
"Are you two talking about the Half-Blood Prince again?" she asked, standing in front of the three with her head tilted in curiosity. "I thought we've forgotten about them?"
"Hermione was," said Harry, annoyed. "I, however, was not. So will you drop it?"
"I'm not dropping any of it," said Hermione firmly, "until you've heard me out. Now, I've been trying to find out a bit about who might make a hobby of inventing Dark spells —"
"He didn't make a hobby of it —"
"He, he — who says it's a he?"
"We've been through this," said Harry crossly. "Prince, Hermione, Prince!"
Lucia blinked; it was like watching a game of table tennis.
"Right!" said Hermione, red patches blazing in her cheeks as she pulled a very old piece of newsprint out of her pocket and slammed it down on the table in front of Harry. "Look at that! Look at the picture!"
Harry picked up the crumbling piece of paper and stared at the moving photograph, yellowed with age; Lucia and Ron leaned over for a look too. The picture showed a skinny girl of around fifteen. She was not pretty; she looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face. Underneath the photograph was the caption:
EILEEN PRINCE, CAPTAIN OF THE HOGWARTS GOBSTONES TEAM.
"So?" said Harry, scanning the short news item to which the picture belonged; it was a rather dull story about interschool competitions.
"Her name was Eileen Prince. Prince, Harry."
They looked at each other, and Harry realized what Hermione was trying to say. He burst out laughing. "No way."
"What?"
"You think she was the Half-Blood...? Oh, come on."
"Well, why not? Harry, there aren't any real princes in the Wizarding world! It's either a nickname, a made-up title somebody's given themselves, or it could be their actual name, couldn't it? No, listen! If, say, her father was a wizard whose surname was Prince, and her mother was a Muggle, then that would make her a 'half-blood Prince'!"
"Yeah, very ingenious, Hermione..."
"But it would! Maybe she was proud of being half a Prince!"
"Listen, Hermione, I can tell it's not a girl. I can just tell."
"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Ron mumbled to Lucia, and she heaved out an exasperated sigh.
"Nope."
"The truth is that you don't think a girl would have been clever enough," said Hermione angrily.
"How can I have hung round with Lucia and you for five years and not think girls are clever?" said Harry, stung by this. "It's the way he writes, I just know the Prince was a bloke, I can tell. This girl hasn't got anything to do with it. Where did you get this anyway?"
"The library," said Hermione predictably. "There's a whole collection of old Prophets up there. Well, I'm going to find out more about Eileen Prince if I can."
"Enjoy yourself," said Harry irritably.
"I will," said Hermione. "And the first place I'll look," she shot at him, as she reached the portrait hole, "is records of old Potions awards!"
Harry scowled after her for a moment, then continued his contemplation of the darkening sky.
"She's just never got over you outperforming her in Potions," said Ron, returning to his copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.
"I mean... I kind of get why she's mad and all..." muttered Lucia.
"You don't think I'm mad, wanting that book back, do you?" Harry asked them.
Lucia furrowed her brows. Sure, the book has helped them a lot, but it also almost killed Malfoy — but Malfoy had also almost used the Cruciatus Curse on Harry — but if it weren't for Snape, Malfoy would've been dead —
"'Course not," said Ron robustly, snapping Lucia back from her ponderings, "He was a genius, the Prince. Anyway... without his bezoar tip..." He drew his finger significantly across his own throat. "I wouldn't be here to discuss it, would I? I mean, I'm not saying that spell you used on Malfoy was great —"
"Nor am I," said Harry quickly.
"That was a terrible spell to use in school," Lucia deadpanned him. "Good if you're fighting Death Eaters, but in school? Terrible,"
"But the thing is he healed all right, didn't he? Back on his feet in no time."
"Yeah," said Harry; this was perfectly true, although his conscience squirmed slightly all the same. "Thanks to Snape and Lucia..."
"It's good that you're feeling guilty and all about it, but even after that Malfoy hasn't stop from being an utter prat," exhaled Lucia in dismay. "You still got detention with Snape this Saturday?"
"Yeah, and the Saturday after that, and the Saturday after that," sighed Harry. "And he's hinting now that if I don't get all the boxes done by the end of term, we'll carry on next year."
When Harry's pastime wasn't filled with Lucia or Ron, it would be with Snape, doing irksome detention. The time he could've used to hang out with Lucia, helping her do whatever she wanted for the day, but he must suffer detention with Snape. Admittedly, he now found that he had little time with Lucia entirely, and not to mention how Snape was keeping Harry later and later every time, while making pointed asides about Harry having to miss the good weather and the varied opportunities it offered. He really was missing having to just sleeping together in front of the fire... Ron he wasn't all that bothered, for they would hang out during the night, but Lucia was a different story.
With the upcoming O.W.L.s, Professor McGonagall had put her up with the task of tutoring students, in which Lucia was baffled to find out at first; she tried to convince their Head of the House to reconsider someone like Hermione, but all the professor said was, "Granger had been quite busy with her schedule and prefect duties. You were the second one that came up to mind, and I see it isn't as though you are quite busy these days..." which only left Lucia with no other choice than to spend most of her free time with a bunch of Gryffindor fifth year that would constantly bug her things that were out of topic and ultimately causing their tutoring time to be extend.
Harry was shaken from these bitter reflections by the appearance at his side of Jimmy Peakes, who was holding out a scroll of parchment.
"Thanks, Jimmy... Hey, it's from Dumbledore!" said Harry excitedly, unrolling the parchment and scanning it. "He wants me to go to his office as quick as I can!"
Lucia took a jab on Ron for touching her hair, before they both turned to Harry in disbelief. The three then stared at each other.
"Blimey," whispered Ron. "You don't reckon... he hasn't found...?"
"It has to be!" Lucia bounced by the balls of her feet, excited... but also anxious in the stomach.
"Better go and see, hadn't I?" said Harry, jumping to his feet.
Harry pressed a quick, but lingering kiss on Lucia's lips before hurrying out of the common room. Lucia smiled to herself and turned to Ron, who looked at her with a quirk of a brow, as though noticing immediately that something was wrong. He patted the empty space beside him, where Harry had sat before. She hesitantly complied, plopping herself down as she looked out ahead to the emptiness.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
She snorted, "You've missed the chance to say 'What's Ron?'" she chuckled half-heartedly, causing Ron to rolled his eyes, placing down his quill.
"Really, what's wrong? Something just got to be wrong if you're just staring at nothing all the time," said Ron.
"You've... you've noticed?" said Lucia, surprised.
"Harry may be your best friend-slashed-boyfriend and all," said Ron, "But I'm your best friend-slashed-brother, am I not?"
Lucia stared at him and saw him gradually squirmed in embarrassment and uncomfortably, but she just couldn't help but thrown herself on him, hugging him tightly. Ron was stunned by her actions for a moment before reciprocating, hugging her back.
"I'm scared," her voice muffled. "I really am,"
"For Harry?"
"For everyone," she said, closing her tightly, "I'm scared for everyone,"
Ron didn't know how to respond, nor did he know how to comfort at that time, but his lips moved on its own. "Me too,"
But that was enough.
That was all enough.
༻❁༺
About an hour or so later, Harry came racing into the common room, disheveled. Hermione had already returned from her time in the library trying to prove Harry wrong, and immediately went on a tangent to Lucia and Ron, who had spent their time together in the common room, playing Exploding Snaps and Wizard Chess when he came in.
"Harry!" Lucia stood up immediately, "What did he want? Was it a Ho — I mean, that thing?" She then finally noticed the look he had, "Harry, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Harry shortly, racing past them. He dashed up the stairs and into the boys' dormitory, leaving the three alarmed. He flung open his trunk and pulled out the Marauder's Map and a pair of balled-up socks. Then he sped back down the stairs and into the common room, skidding to a halt where Lucia, Ron, and Hermione sat, looking stunned.
"I've got to be quick," Harry panted. "Dumbledore thinks I'm getting my Invisibility Cloak. Listen..."
With the little amount of time he had, he began to tell them all about his meeting with Dumbledore just now, and where he was going as well as why. He didn't pause either for Lucia's rapidly blinks of anxiousness, or Hermione's gasps of horror, or for Ron's hasty questions; they could work out the finer details for themselves later.
"...so, you see what this means?" Harry finished at a gallop. "Dumbledore won't be here tonight, so Malfoy's going to have another clear shot at whatever he's up to. No, listen to me!" he hissed angrily, as both Ron and Hermione showed every sign of interrupting. "I know it was Malfoy celebrating in the Room of Requirement. Here —" He shoved the Marauder's Map into Lucia's hands. "You've got to watch him, and you've got to watch Snape too. Use anyone else who you can rustle up from the D.A., Hermione, those contact Galleons will still work, right? Dumbledore says he's put extra protection in the school, but if Snape's involved, he'll know what Dumbledore's protection is, and how to avoid it — but he won't be expecting you lot to be on the watch, will he?"
"Harry —" began Hermione, her eyes huge with fear.
"I haven't got time to argue," said Harry curtly. "Take this as well —"
He thrust the socks into Ron's hands.
"Thanks," said Ron. "Er — why do I need socks?"
"You need what's wrapped in them, it's the Felix Felicis. Share it between yourselves and anyone that could help. I'd better go, Dumbledore's waiting —"
"Hold on, Harry —" Lucia stood up, her guts were churning just like it did for the pass few years. "You need more luck than we do! You take it!" she pleaded, frenzied. "You don't know what you're about to be facing!"
"I'll be fine, I'll be with Dumbledore," said Harry softly to her, but Lucia knew that something was going to go wrong. She just could feel it. "I want to know you lot are okay... Don't look at me like that, Luce, I'll see you later..."
Lucia squeezed her eyes as the fright finally seeped into her skin like thousands of needles prickling her. Before Harry could hurry off, Lucia pulled him back, entangling her around him towering frame with the buzzing darkness in the back of her head, fearmongering her as she tightly encased him, not wanting to let him go. Harry felt Lucia's heart beating rapidly against him, indicating the fright she was in and quite honestly, he didn't want to let her go.
He wanted to cherished every single thing about her whilst he could; He love her and wanted to ease her worries; however he has to do this. For her, and for everyone's sake.
"Be as safe as you can," she said, breath shaky once they pulled away as she put on a brave face for him, trying to disregard the haunting feeling that something was going to go wrong. It was all in her head, she told herself repeatedly. "I know this is a piece of Voldemort's soul, but please, Harry, just come back to us in one piece. Come back to me, in one piece. Please."
"I will, I will," he brushed his thumb softly against her cheeks, "I'll come back. I have my lucky charm with me,"
"That lucky charm has been proving to be a bit useless these days, don't you think?" deadpanned Lucia.
"I never thought of that," Harry pressed a kiss on her scar, signifying his love for her, "It'll always be my lucky charm, whether you like it or not,"
Lucia smiled weakly, fluttering her eyes open, "Good luck,"
This wasn't going to be the last time he'll say this to her. "You too," And with one last glance at one another, their hands slipped away from each other's grasp. Harry ran off through the portrait hall in the hurry.
Silence befell upon the three; Hermione and Ron noticed Lucia's quivering body, as though she was holding back a sob. Just as they were about to comfort her, the quivering stop. She rose her head slowly, inhaling sharply before she set her eyes determinedly to the portrait hole.
"Lucia..." Ron started.
"I'm okay," she said, whirling around at her bestfriends with a bright smile. "I'm fine. And I know he'll be too. Let's just focus on the task at hand first —"
"What task?"
At the portrait hole, Ginny was standing there hand in hand with Luna, who wasn't allowed to be here, but this was Luna they were talking about. She's excused of many things.
"A portrait of a lion, how fitting," said Luna dreamily.
"Well —"
"What's going on?" Neville came down the boys' staircase.
Lucia looked around. There weren't much of them, but it was certainly of people who were a force to be reckoned with. They were all unique in their own way, fighting for their beliefs as well as the life of others is such dark times. And what was most important was that they trusted each other the most out of the entire school.
Ron looked at Hermione, then to Lucia; both gave him a nod.
"Wanna do us a favour...?"
༻❁༺
"Crucio!" The curse directed toward the redhead as she had her guard down for a brief second, however the curse never touched her, for another redhead had pushed her away. Lucia hurriedly helped Ginny up before throwing a spell back angrily, "Expulso!"
The spell sent the woman Death Eater backwards in an explosion. Lucia whirled around to the panting Ginny, "Did she get you?"
Ginny shook her head.
"Goo — Bombarda!" she casted when she saw another Death Eater getting ready to attack them from over Ginny's shoulder; the spell sending him back to a wall, exploding in the midst. "All right honey, I'll take care here. You go,"
"I'm not leaving you!" Ginny protested.
"Go help Luna!" urged Lucia. "She's handling a couple of Death Eaters on her own —"
But before Lucia could finish, a Cruciatus Curse was sent their way. Lucia pushed Ginny and herself away, narrowly missing.
"Go!"
Begrudgingly, Ginny pushed herself up and ran down the corridor where Luna and the others would be, leaving Lucia to be locked in combat against a lumpy Death Eater, whom she very well recognised to be Amycus Carrow. He threw hex and hex at her while she tried her hardest to dodged them. She was glad that she had sent Ginny away from fighting this guy, because she herself was growing tired already.
Amycus started giggling at her pretense, enjoying her suffering. "Crucio — Crucio — dodge as much as you can, but you wont last long with that dance, darling —"
"I've worn leotards and toe-shoes and was in hundreds of what you would deem uncomfortable positions, and not to mention I've danced with Harry Potter before" said Lucia, chest heaving heavily, keeping on with her tango. "This is nothing compared to having danced with someone with two left feet!"
Growing irritated, Amycus flicked his wand, "Avada Ke —"
"Impedimenta!" yelled Harry.
His jinx hit Amycus in the chest: He gave a piglike squeal of pain, was lifted off his feet and slammed into the opposite wall, slid down it, and fell out of sight behind Ron, Professor McGonagall, and Lupin, each of whom was battling a separate Death Eater. Beyond them, Harry saw Tonks fighting an enormous blond wizard who was sending curses flying in all directions, so that they ricocheted off the walls around them, cracking stone, shattering the nearest window —
"Where on earth did you come from?" Lucia cried from the floor, where she had fallen after Amycus' last attack. But there was no time to answer her. He put his head down and sprinted forward, narrowly avoiding a blast that erupted over his head, showering them all in bits of wall. Snape must not escape; he must catch up with Snape —
"Harry! Harry!" It was useless calling out to him. He was already gone, but Lucia felt chills down her spine. The look Harry had — it was like he wanted to kill.
Lucia's eyes widened and before she knew it, her legs began to move by itself after she had collected her wand. She ran down the corridor where Harry had stomped through, dodging the curses and hexes that were thrown her way, all the while reciprocating the act much more harshly.
She ran past Professor McGonagall, a very beaten up Neville, and a couple of others from the Order who were combatting against Death Eaters —
"Harry!"
"He's getting away!" he growled.
"Oh, for goodness's sake!" She sprinted up to him before she threw her body on him harshly right as a spell went over their heads. "Stupefy!"
Harry blinked, not imagining the moment where Lucia would be on top of him would be when they were in battle. "Thanks, he said breathlessly.
"'Course," she helped him up. "What happene —"
But once again, Harry pelted off. She growled under her breath and followed suit after him, remembering to leap the vanishing step halfway down the concealed staircase, she followed into the tapestry at the bottom and out into a corridor where a number of bewildered and pajama-clad Hufflepuffs stood.
"Harry! Lucia! We heard a noise, and someone said something about the Dark Mark —" began Ernie Macmillan.
"Out of the way!" yelled Harry, knocking two boys aside as he sprinted toward the landing and down the remainder of the marble staircase.
"Lucia?"
She bit her lip, contemplating whether to follow Harry, but instead she stayed and told them all what was happening and to stay safe with one another, not letting any younger students out of their common rooms. "Spread the word through the portraits, they can get throughout Hogwarts easier!"
"Wait!" Ernie called again, still trying to get his eyes used to the bloodied attire Lucia was in. "Where would you be?"
Lucia didn't answer; she bade them goodbye and made her way down the remainder of the marble staircase. The oak front doors had been blasted open, there were smears of blood on the flagstones, and several terrified students stood huddled against the walls, one or two still cowering with their arms over their faces. The giant Gryffindor hourglass had been hit by a curse, and the rubies within were still falling, with a loud rattle, onto the flagstones below.
She flew across the entrance hall, not sparing anymore glances around her surroundings, feeling her heart breaking just by catching the littlest of sight. She ran down to the grounds, but her legs finally gave up when she reached the slope that led down to Hagrid's hut that was lit in fire. She couldn't go forth anymore, as she let out a horrid sob, dropping to her knees finally.
"Hagrid?" she called quietly before she screamed out for him. "HAGRID!"
Her heart was lifted, as though her prayers were finally called; an enormous and smaller figure with something was being carried on the former's back were racing up the steep slopes. Harry, Hagrid, and Fang were alright.
"Lucia?" she could hear Harry croaked, but she was already in his arms, crying into his shoulders.
"Don't scare me like that! Both of you!" cried Lucia. "Everything's in shambles!"
"I know," whispered Harry, running his hand through the back of her hair. "I know,"
"I'll take more'n that ter finish me." Hagrid said to Lucia.
"Still," she sniffled, wiping her tears.
"We should put out your house," said Harry, "the charm's 'Aguamenti'..."
"Knew it was summat like that," mumbled Hagrid, and he raised a smoldering pink, flowery umbrella and said, "Aguamenti!"
A jet of water flew out of the umbrella tip. Lucia raised her wand arms as well, but she held up another hand to support it, and murmured "Aguamenti" too, along with harry: Together, they poured water on the house until the last flame was extinguished.
"S'not too bad," said Hagrid hopefully a few minutes later, looking at the smoking wreck. "Nothin' Dumbledore won' be able to put righ'..."
"Yeah... nothing Dumbledore can't..." Her voice faded when she saw the look on Harry's face, "Harry? What's wrong?"
But Hagrid didn't seem to notice this as he continued:
"I was bindin' up a couple o' bowtruckle legs when I heard 'em comin'," said Hagrid sadly, still staring at his wrecked cabin. "They'll've bin burnt ter twigs, poor little things
"Hagrid..." Harry called again.
"But what happened, Harry? I jus' saw them Death Eaters runnin' down from the castle, but what the ruddy hell was Snape doin' with 'em? Where's he gone — was he chasin' them?"
"H-Harry," Lucia's voice cracked, looking in between Harry and Hagrid, "What happened?"
"He..." Harry cleared his throat; it was dry from panic and the smoke. "Hagrid, he killed..."
Lucia paled in realisation.
No way...
"Killed?" said Hagrid loudly, staring down at Harry. "Snape killed? What're yeh on abou', Harry?"
"Dumbledore," said Harry. "Snape killed... Dumbledore."
Hagrid simply looked at him and then at Lucia, who was shocked in the face, and then back at Harry, the little of his face that could be seen completely blank, uncomprehending.
"Dumbledore wha', Harry?"
"He's dead. Snape killed him..."
"Don' say that," said Hagrid roughly. "Snape kill Dumbledore — don' be stupid, Harry. Wha's made yeh say tha'?"
"I saw it happen."
"Yeh couldn' have."
"I saw it, Hagrid."
Hagrid shook his head; his expression was disbelieving but sympathetic, and Lucia knew that Hagrid thought he had sustained a blow to the head, that he was confused, perhaps by the aftereffects of a jinx...
"What musta happened was, Dumbledore musta told Snape ter go with them Death Eaters," Hagrid said confidently. "I suppose he's gotta keep his cover. Look, let's get yeh back up ter the school. Come on, Harry..."
Lucia turned to Harry slowly, and his no attempt to explain told her enough. He was shaking uncontrollably and the more they neared the castle, the more he quivered. Lucia felt herself doing the same, but that was fear settling in her. The fear of what she deemed to be impossible from happening.
The oak front doors stood open ahead of them, light flooding out onto the drive and the lawn. Slowly, uncertainly, dressing-gowned people were creeping down the steps, looking around nervously for some sign of the Death Eaters who had fled into the night. Lucia's eyes, however, were fixed upon the ground at the foot of the tallest tower. She imagined that she could see a black, huddled mass lying in the grass there, though he was really too far away to see anything of the sort. She stared at the place, whimpering it was brutal. How he died, she assumed, was brutal. He had fallen off the highest tower in Hogwarts...
"What're they all lookin' at?" said Hagrid, as he, Lucia, and Harry approached the castle front, Fang keeping as close as he could to their ankles. "Wha's tha', lyin' on the grass?" Hagrid added sharply, heading now toward the foot of the Astronomy Tower, where a small crowd was congregating. "See it, Harry? Righ' at the foot o' the tower? Under where the Mark... Blimey... yeh don' think someone got thrown — ?"
Hagrid fell silent, the thought apparently too horrible to express aloud. Harry walked alongside him and Lucia, feeling the aches and pains in his face and his legs where the various hexes of the last half hour had hit him, though in an oddly detached way, as though somebody near him was suffering them. What was real and inescapable was the awful pressing feeling in his chest...
They moved, dreamlike, through the murmuring crowd to the very front, where the dumbstruck students and teachers had left a gap.
Lucia let out a gasp of a sob, clamping her hand over her mouth, tears were brimming her eyes. She didn't know Dumbledore as personally as Harry did, but he was still kind to her. His death indicated more than just an end of an era, but as well the true rise of Voldemort. With Dumbledore gone, he was much more unstoppable than he already was.
Lucia halted in her steps along with Hagrid, but Harry did not. He kept on walking until she reached Dumbledore's body, crouched down beside him.
Even from the distance she was in she could see Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping. She watched idly along the crowd as Harry reached out, straightened the half-moon spectacles upon the crooked nose, and wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. Then he gazed down at the wise old face and tried to absorb the enormous and incomprehensible truth: that never again would Dumbledore speak to him, never again could he help
The crowd murmured around him. After what seemed like a long time, Harry became aware that he was kneeling upon something hard and looked down.
The locket they had managed to steal so many hours before had fallen out of Dumbledore's pocket. It had opened, perhaps due to the force with which it hit the ground. And although he could not feel more shocked or horror or sadness than he felt already, Harry knew, as he picked it up, that there was something wrong...
He turned the locket over in his hands. This was neither as large as the locket he remembered seeing in the Pensieve, nor were there any markings upon it, no sign of the ornate S that was supposed to be Slytherin's mark. Moreover, there was nothing inside but for a scrap of folded parchment wedged tightly into the place where a portrait should have been.
Automatically, without really thinking about what he was doing, Harry pulled out the fragment of parchment, opened it, and read by the light of the many wands that had now been lit behind him:
To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
Harry neither knew nor cared what the message meant. Only one thing mattered: This was not a Horcrux. Dumbledore had weakened himself by drinking that terrible potion for nothing. Harry crumpled the parchment in his hand, and his eyes burned with tears as behind him Fang began to howl.
"C'mere, Harry..."
"No."
"Yeh can' stay here, Harry..." Hagrid managed, "Come on, now..."
"No."
He did not want to leave Dumbledore's side; he did not want to move anywhere. Hagrid's hand on his shoulder was trembling. Then another voice called for him, "Harry,"
Lucia had moved from her frozen spot, she approached Harry hesitantly. She still couldn't fathom this event, and yet she knew one will die. She never imagined it world be Dumbledore out of everyone, nonetheless she made no comment about it. She leaned down, her warm hand laid rest against Harry silently. But with that mere gesture was enough.
His face was hidden from the eyes of others, curtained by the mop of messy black hair of his. She held his hand, squeezing consolingly. "Let's go,"
And with that, he nodded.