Harry sat down on the edge of the bath.

“Fine. I’ve just seen Voldemort murdering a woman. By now he’s probably killed

her whole family. And he didn’t need to. It was Cedric all over again, they were just there

… “

“Harry, you aren’t supposed to let this happen anymore!” Hermione cried, her

voice echoing through the bathroom. “Dumbledore wanted you to use Occlumency! HE

thought the connection was dangerous – Voldemort can use it, Harry! What good is it to

watch him kill and torture, how can it help?”

“Because it means I know what he’s doing,” said Harry.

“So you’re not even going to try to shut him out?”

“Hermione, I can’t. You know I’m lousy at Occlumency. I never got the hang of

it.”

“You never really tried!” she said hotly. “I don’t get it, Harry – do you like having

this special connection or relationship or what – whatever – “

She faltered under the look he gave her as he stood up.

“Like it?” he said quietly. “Would you like it?”

“I – no – I’m sorry, Harry. I just didn’t mean – “

“I hate it, I hate the fact that he can get inside me, that I have to watch him when

he’s most dangerous. But I’m going to use it.”

“Dumbledore –“

“Forget Dumbledore. This is my choice, nobody else’s. I want to know why he’s

after Gregorovitch.”

“Who?”

“He’s a foreign wandmaker,” said Harry. “He made Krum’s wand and Krum

reckons he’s brilliant.”

“But according to you,” said Ron, “Voldemort’s got Ollivander locked up

somewhere. If he’s already got a wandmaker, what does he need another one for?”

“Maybe he agrees with Krum, maybe he thinks Gregorovitch is better … or else

He thinks Gregorovitch will be able to explain what my wand did when he was chasing

me, because Ollivander didn’t know.”

Harry glanced into the cracked, dusty mirror and saw Ron and Hermione

Exchanging skeptical looks behind his back.

“Harry, you keep talking about what your wand did,” said Hermione, “but you

made it happen! Why are you so determined not to take responsibility for your own

power?”

“Because I know it wasn’t me! And so does Voldemort, Hermione! We both

know what really happened!”

They glared at each other; Harry knew that he had not convinced Hermione and

That she was marshaling counterarguments, against both his theory on his wand and the

fact that he was permitting himself to see into Voldemort’s mind. To his relief, Ron

Intervened.

“Drop it,” he advised her. “It’s up to him. And if we’re going to the Ministry

tomorrow, don’t you reckon we should go over the plan?”

Reluctantly, as the other two could tell, Hermione let the matter rest, though

Harry was quite sure she would attack again at the first opportunity. In the meantime,

They returned to the basement kitchen, where Kreacher served them all stew and treacle

Tart.

They did not get to bed until late that night, after spending hours going over and

Over their plan until they could recite it, word perfect, to each other. Harry, who was now

sleeping in Sirius’s room, lay in bed with his wandlight trained on the old photograph of

His father, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew, and muttered the plan to himself for another ten

Minutes. As he extinguished his wand, however, he was thinking not of Polyjuice Potion,

Puking Pastilles, or the navy blue robes of Magical Maintenance; he though of

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 802