| McGonagall had replaced the House tables, not nobody was sitting according to House anymore: All were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in the corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouthAfter a while, exhausted and drained, Harry found himself sitting on a bench beside Luna
"I'd want some peace and quiet, if it were me," she said
"I'd love some," he replied
"I'll distract them all," she said
And before he could say a word, she had cried, "Oooh, look, a Blibbering
Humdinger!" and pointed out the windowEveryone who heard looked around, and Harry slid the Cloak up over himself, and got to his feet
Now he could move through the Hall without interferenceHe spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder: There would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talkHe saw Neville, the sword of Gryffindor lying beside his plate as he ate, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirersAlong the aisle between the tables he walked, and he spotted the three Malfoys, huddled together as though unsure whether or not they were supposed to be tiffany silver jewelry there, but nobody was paying them any attentionEverywhere he looked, he saw families reunited, and finally, he saw the two whose company he craved most
"It's me," he muttered, crouching down between them"Will you come with me?"
They stood up at once, and together he, Ron and Hermione left the Great HallGreat chunks were missing from the marble staircase, part of the balustrade gone, and rubble and bloodstains occurred ever few steps as their climbed
Somewhere in the distance they could hear Peeves zooming through the corridors singing a victory song of his own composition:
\c\iWe did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one,
And Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun!\i
\c"Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?" said Ron, pushing open a door to let Harry and Hermione through
Happiness would come, Harry though, but at the moment it was muffled by exhaustion, and the pain of losing Fred and Lupin and Tonks pierced him like a physical wound every few stepsMost of all he felt the most stupendous relief, and a longing to sleepBut first he owed an explanation to Ron and Hermione, who had stuck with him for so long, and who deserved the truthPainstakingly he recounted what he had seem in cartier watches the Pensieve and what had happened in the forest, and they had not even begun to express all their shock and amazement, when at last they arrived at the place to which they had been walking, though none of them had mentioned their destination
Since he had last seen it, the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's study had been knocked aside; it stood lopsided, looking a little punch-drunk, and Harry wondered whether it would be able to distinguish passwords anymore
"Can we go up?" he asked the gargoyle
"Feel free," groaned the statue
They clambered over him and onto the spiral stone staircase that moved slowly upward like an escalatorHarry pushed open the door at the top
He had one, brief glimpse of the stone Pensieve on the desk where he had left it, and then an earsplitting noise made him cry out, thinking of curses and returning Death Eaters and the rebirth of Voldemort \a150\a150
But it was applauseAll around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving him a standing ovation; they waved their hats and in some cases their wigs, they reached through their frames to grip each other's hands; they danced up and down on their chairs in which they have been painted: Dilys Derwent sobbed quilted chanel purse unashamedly; Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas Niggelus called,
in his high, reedy voice, "And let it be noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten!"
But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster's chairTears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled Harry wit h the same balm as phoenix song
At last, Harry held up his hands, and the portraits fell respectfully silent, beaming and mopping their eyes and waiting eagerly for him to speakHe directed his words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with enormous careExhausted and bleary-eyed though he was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last piece of advice
"The thing that was hidden in the Snitch," he began, "I dropped it in the forestI don't exactly here, but I'm not going to go looking for it againDo you agree?"
"My dear boy, I do," said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious"A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of youDoes anyone know else know where it fell?"
"No one," said Harry, and chanel purses bags Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction
"I'm going to keep Ignotus's present, though," said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed
"But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on!"
"And then there's this
Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not like to see
"What?" said Ron loudly"Are you mental?"
"I know it's powerful," said Harry wearily"But I was happier with mine
He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out the two halves of holly tstill just connected by the finest threat of phoenix featherHermione had said that they could not be repaired, that the damage was too severeAll he knew was that if this did not work, nothing would
He laid the broken wand upon the headmaster's desk, touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand, and said, "\iReparo\i
As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its endHarry knew that he had succeededHe picked up the holly and phoenix wand and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion
"I'm putting the Elder Wand," he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, "back where it came tiffany canada fr |
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