Lowly tree. . . . No, the diadem had been returned secretly to its true home, and Voldemort

must have put it there –

“—the night he asked for a job!” said Harry, finishing his thought.

“I beg your pardon?”

“He hid the diadem in the castle, the night he asked Dumbledore to let him

teach!” said Harry. Saying it out loud enabled him to make sense of it all. “He must’ve

hidden the diadem on his way up to, or down from, Dumbledore’s office! But it was well

worth trying to get the job – then he might’ve got the chance to nick Gryffindor’s sword

as well – thank you, thanks!”

Harry left her floating there, looking utterly bewildered. As he rounded the corner

Back into the entrance hall, he checked his watch. It was five minutes until midnight, and

Though he now knew what the last Horcrux was, he was no closer to discovering where it

Was. . .

Generations of students had failed to find the diadem; that suggested that it was

not in Ravenclaw Tower – but if not there, where? What hiding place had Tom Riddle

discovered inside Hogwarts Castle, that he believed would remain secret forever?

Lost in desperate speculation, Harry turned a corner, but he had taken only a few

Steps down the new corridor when the window to his left broke open with a deafening,

Shattering crash. As he leapt aside, a gigantic body flew in through the window and hit

The opposite wall.

Something large and furry detached itself, whimpering, from the new arrival and flung

Itself at Harry.

“Hagrid!” Harry bellowed, fighting off Fang the boarhound’s attentions as the

enormous bearded figure clambered to his feet “What the --?”

“Harry, yer here! Yer here!”

Hagrid stooped down, bestowed upon Harry a cursory and rib-cracking hug, then

Ran back to the shattered window.

“Good boy, Grawpy!” he bellowed through the hole in the window. “I’ll se yer in

a moment, there’s a good lad!”

Beyond Hagrid, out in the dark night, Harry saw bursts of light in the distance and

heard a weird, keening scream. He looked down at his watch: It was midnight. The battle

Had begun.

“Blimey, Harry,” panted Hagrid, “this is it, eh? Time ter fight?”

“Hagrid, where have you come from?”

“Heard You-Know-Who from up in our cave,” said Hagrid grimly. “Voice carried,

didn’t it? ‘Yet got till midnight ter gimme Potter.’ Knew yeh mus’ be here, knew that

mus’ be happenin’. Get down, Fang. So we come ter join in, me an’ Grawpy an’ Fang.

Smashed our way through the boundary by the forest, Grawpy was carryin’ us, Fang an’

Me. Told him ter let me down at the castle, so he shoved me through the window, bless

him. Not exactly what I meant, bu’ – where’s Ron an’ Hermione?”

“That,” said Harry, “is a really good question. Come on.”

They hurried together along the corridor, Fang lolloping beside them. Harry could

hear movement through the corridors all around: running footsteps, shouts; through the

Windows, he could see more flashes of light in the dark grounds.

“Where’re we goin’?” puffed Hagrid, pounding along at Harry’s heels, making

The floorboards quake.

“I dunno exactly,” said Harry, making another random turn, “but Ron and

Hermione must be around here somewhere. . . .”

The first casualties of the battle were already strewn across the passage ahead:

The two stone gargoyles that usually guarded the entrance to the staffroom had been

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 592