Bobbed along a bit and I followed it behind the shed and then it ... well, it went inside

me."

"Sorry?" said Harry, sure he had not heard correctly.

"It sort of floated toward me," said Ron, illustrating the movement with his free index

finger, "right to my chest, and then -- it just went straight through. It was here," he

touched a point close to his heard, "I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me, I

Knew what I was supposed to do. I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I

Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere...."

"We were there," said Harry. "We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept

thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!"

"Yeah, well, that would've been me," said Ron. "Your protective spells work, anyway,

because I couldn't see you and I couldn't hear you. I was sure you were around, though,

So in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought

you'd have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent."

"No, actually," said Hermione. "We've been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as

an extra precaution. And we left really early, because as Harry says, we'd heard

somebody blundering around."

"Well, I stayed on that hill all day," said Ron. "I kept hoping you'd appear. But when it

Started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the

Blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these

woods. I still couldn't see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in

the end -- and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously."

"You saw the what?" said Hermione sharply.

They explained what had happened and as the story of the silver doe and the sword in the

Pool unfolded, Hermione frowned form one to the other of them, concentrating so hard

She forgot to keep her limbs locked together.

"But it must have been a Patronus!" she said. "Couldn't you see who was casting it?

Didn't you see anyone? And it led you to the sword! I can't believe this! Then what

happened?"

Ron explained how he had watched Harry jump into the pool, and had waited for him to

Resurface; how he had realized that something was wrong, dived in, and saved Harry,

Then returned for the sword. He got as far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and

Harry cut in.

"-- and Ron stabbed it with the sword."

"And ... and it went? Just like that?" she whispered.

"Well, it -- it screamed," said Harry with half a glance at Ron. "Here."

He threw the locket into her lap; gingerly she picked it up and examined its punctured

Windows.

Deciding that it was at last safe to do so, Harry removed the Shield Charm with a wave of

Hermione's wand and turned to Ron.

"Did you just say now that you got away from the snatchers with a spare wand?"

"What?" said Ron, who had been watching Hermione examining the locket. "Oh -- oh

yeah."

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 811