Continued to scream.

“Mudbloods, filth, stains of dishonor, taint of shame on the house of my fathers –“

“SHUT UP!” Harry bellowed, directing his wand at her, and with a bang and a

Burst of red sparks, the curtains swung shut again, silencing her.

“That . . . that was . . . “ Hermione whimpered, as Ron helped her to her feet.

“Yeah,” said Harry, “but it wasn’t really him, was it? Just something to scare

Snape.”

Had it worked, Harry wondered, or had Snape already blasted the horror-figure

aside as casually as he had killed the real Dumbledore? Nerves still tingling, he led the

Other two up the hall, half-expecting some new terror to reveal itself, but nothing moved

Except for a mouse skittering along the skirting board.

“Before we go any farther, I think we’d better check,” whispered Hermione, and

she raised her wand and said, “Homenum revelio.”

Nothing happened.

“Well, you’ve just had a big shock,” said Ron kindly. “What was that supposed to

do?”

“It did what I meant it to do!” said Hermione rather crossly. “That was a spell to

reveal human presence, and there’s nobody here except us!”

“And old Dusty,” said Ron, glancing at the patch of carpet from which the corpsefigure

Had risen.

“Let’s go up,” said Hermione with a frightened look at the same spot, and she led

The way up the creaking stairs to the drawing room on the first floor.

Hermione waved her wand to ignite the old gas lamps, then, shivering slightly in

The drafty room, she perched on the sofa, her arms wrapped tightly around her. Ron

Crossed to the window and moved the heavy velvet curtains aside an inch.

“Can’t see anyone out there,” he reported. “And you’d think, if Harry still had a

Trace on him, they’d have followed us here. I know they can’t get in the house, but –

what’s up, Harry?”

Harry had given a cry of pain: His scar had burned against as something flashed

Across his mind like a bright light on water. He saw a large shadow and felt a fury that

Was not his own pound through his body, violent and brief as an electric shock.

“What did you see?” Ron asked, advancing on Harry. “Did you see him at my

place?”

“No, I just felt anger – he’s really angry –“

“But that could be at the Burrow,” said Ron loudly. “What else? Didn’t you see

anything? Was he cursing someone?”

“No, I just felt anger – I couldn’t tell –“

Harry felt badgered, confused, and Hermione did not help as she said in a

frightened voice, “Your scar, again? But what’s going on? I thought that connection had

closed!”

“It did, for a while,” muttered Harry; his scar was still painful, which made it hard

to concentrate. “I – I think it’s started opening again whenever he loses control, that’s

how it used to –“

“But then you’ve got to close your mind!” said Hermione shrilly. “Harry,

Dumbledore didn’t want you to use that connection, he wanted you to shut it down, that’s

why you were supposed to use Occlumency! Otherwise Voldemort can plant false images

in your mind, remember –“

“Yeah, I do remember, thanks,” said Harry through gritted teeth; he did not need

Hermione to tell him that Voldemort had once used this selfsame connection between

them to lead him into a trap, nor that it had resulted in Sirius’s death. He wished that he

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 767