Out of the corner of his eyes he saw his parents, Sirius, and Lupin vanish as he stepped

Forward into the firelight. At that moment he felt that nobody mattered but Voldemort. It

Was just the two of them.

The illusion was gone as soon as it had come. The giants roared as the Death

Eaters rose together, and there were many cries, gasps, even laughter. Voldemort had

Frozen where he stood, but his red eyes had found Harry, and he stared as Harry moved

Toward him, with nothing but the fire between them.

Then a voice yelled: “HARRY! NO!”

He turned: Hagrid was bound and trussed, tied to a tree nearby. His massive body

Shook the branches overhead as he struggled, desperate.

“NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT’RE YEH --- ?”

“QUIET!” shouted Rowle, and with a flick of his wand, Hagrid was silenced.

Bellatrix, who had leapt to her feet, was looking eagerly from Voldemort to Harry,

Her breast heaving. The only things that moved were the flames and the snake, coiling

and uncoiling in the glittering cage behind Voldemort’s head.

Harry could feel his wand against his chest, but he made no attempt to draw it. He

Knew that the snake was too well protected, knew that if he managed to point the wand at

Nagini, fifty curses would hit him first. And still, Voldemort and Harry looked at each

Other, and now Voldemort tilted his head a little to the side, considering the boy standing

Before him, and a singularly mirthless smile curled the lipless mouth.

“Harry Potter,” he said very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting

fire. “The Boy Who Lived.”

None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: Everything was waiting.

Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of

Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his ---

Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious

Child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red

Eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost

Control, before he betrayed fear ---

He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.

King’s Cross

He lay facedown, listening to the silence. He was perfectly alone. Nobody was

Watching. Nobody else was there. He was not perfectly sure that he was there himself.

A long time later, or maybe no time at all, it came to him that he must exist, must

Be more than disembodied thought, because he was lying, definitely lying, on some

Surface. Therefore he had a sense of touch, and the thing against which he lay existed too.

Almost as soon as he had reached this conclusion, Harry became conscious that

He was naked. Convinced as he was of his total solitude, this did not concern him, but it

Did intrigue him slightly. He wondered whether, as he could feel, he would be able to see.

In opening them, he discovered that he had eyes.

He lay in a bright mist, though it was not like mist he had ever experienced before.

His surroundings were not hidden by cloudy vapor; rather the cloudy vapor had not yet

Formed into surroundings. The floor on which he lay seemed to be white, neither warm

Nor cold, but simply there, a flat, blank something on which to be.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 486