Harry closed his eyes again and considered what he had seen. The Death Eaters

Have been buddled

Around Voldemort, who seem to have fallen to the ground. Something had happened

When he had hit Harry with

the Killing Curse. Had Voldemort too collapsed? It seemed like it. And both of them had

Briefly fallen unconcious

And both of them had now returned. . .

"My Lord, let me --"

"I do not require assitance," said Voldemort coldly, and though he could not see it,

Harry pictured

Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand. "The boy . . . Is he dead?"

There was a complete silence in the clearing. Nobody approached Harry, but he

Felt their concentraded

Gaze; it seemed to press him harder into the ground, and he was terrified a finger or an

Eyelid might twitch.

"You," said Voldemort, and there was a bang and a small shrick of pain.

"Examine him. Tell me whether he is dead."

Harry did not know who had been sent to verify. He could only lie there, with his

Heart thumping traitorously, and wait to be

Examined, but at the same time nothing, small comfort through it was, that Voldemort

Was wary of approaching him, that Voldemort

Suspected that all had not gone to plan . . . .

Hands, softer than he had been expecting, touched Harry's face, and felt his heart.

He could hear the woman's fast breathing,

Her pounding of life against his ribs.

"Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?"

The whisper was barely audible, her lips were an inch from his car, her head bent

So low that her long hair shielded his face

From the onlookers.

"Yes," he breathed back.

He felt the hand on his chest contract: her nails pierced him. Then it was

Withdrawn. She had sat up.

"He is dead!" Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers.

And now they shouted, now they yelled in triumph and stamped their feet, and

Through his eyelids, Harry saw bursts of red

And silver light shoot into the air in celebration.

Still feigning death on the ground, he understood. Narcissa knew that the only

Way she would be permitted to enter Hogwarts,

And find her son, was as part of the conquering army. She no longer cared whether

Voldemort won.

"You see?" screeched Voldemort over the tumult. "Harry Potter is dead by my

hand, and no man alive can threaten me now!

Watch! Crucio!"

Harry had been expecting it, knew his body would not be allowed to remain

Unsullied upon the forest floor; it must be subjected

to humiliation to prove Voldemort's victory. He was lifted into the air, and it took all his

Determination to remain limp, yet the pain he

Expected did not come. He was thrown once, twice, three times into the air. His glasses

Flew off and he felt his wand slide a little beneath

His robes, but he kept himself floppy and lifeless, and when he fell no ground for the last

Time, the clearing echoed with jeers and shrieks

Of laughter.

"Now," said Voldemort, "we go to the castle, and show them what has become of

their hero. Who shall drag the body? No - Wait - "

There was a fresh outbreak of laughter, and after a few moments Harry felt the

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 561