Think it was me. As we were leaving, you know, the snake was coming for us, and so I

cast a Blasting Curse, and it rebounded everywhere, and it must have -- must have hit --"

"It was an accident." said Harry mechanically. He felt empty, stunned. "We'll -- we'll find

a way to repair it."

"Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to," said Hermione, the ears trickling down

her face. "Remember ... remember Ron? When he broke his wand, crashing the car? It

was never the same again, he had to get a new one."

Harry thought of Ollivander, kidnapped and held hostage by Voldemort; of Gregorovitch,

who was dead. How was he supposed to find himself a new wand?

"Well," he said, in a falsely matter-of-fact voice, "well, I'll just borrow yours for now,

then. While I keep watch."

Her face glazed with tears, Hermione handed over her wand, and he left her sitting beside

His bed, desiring nothing more than to get away from her.

The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

The sun was coming up: The pure, colorless vastness of the sky stretched over

Him, indifferent to him and his suffering. Harry sat down in the tent entrance and took a

Deep breath of clean air. Simply to be alive to watch the sun rise over the sparkling snowy

hillside ought to have been the greatest treasure on earth, yet he could not appreciate it:

His senses had been spiked by the calamity of losing his want. He looked out over a

Valley blanketed in snow, distant church bells chiming through the glittering silence.

Without realizing it, he was digging his fingers into his arms as if he were trying

To resist physical pain. He had spilled his own blood more times than he could count; he

Had lost all bones in his right arm once; this journey had already given him scars to his

Chest and forearm to join those on his hand and forehead, but never, until this moment,

Had he felt himself to be fatally weakened, vulnerable, and naked, as though the best part

Of his magical power had been torn from him. He knew exactly what Hermione would

say if he expressed any of this: The wand is only as good as the wizard. But she was

Wrong, his case was different. She had not felt the wand spin like the needle of a compass

And shoot golden flames at his enemy. He had lost the protection of the twin cores, and

Only now that it was gone did he realize how much he had been counting on it.

He pulled the pieces of the broken wand out of his pocket and, without looking at

them, tucked them away in Hagrid’s pouch around his neck. The pouch was now too full

of broken and useless objects to take any more. Harry’s hand brushed the old Snitch

Through the mokeskin and for a moment he had to fight the temptation to pull it out and

Throw it away. Impenetrable, unhelpful, useless, like everything else Dumbledore had left

Behind ---

And his fury at Dumbledore broke over him now like lava, scorching him inside,

Wiping out every other feeling. Out of sheer desperation they had talked themselves into

believing that Godric’s Hollow held answers, convinced themselves that they were

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 717