One shivering second of silence, the shock of the...
One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the airThe fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward him, and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, their incomprehensible shouts that deafened himThe Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, not tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason it was over at last \a150\a150
The sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, and the Great Hall blazed with life and lightHarry was an indispensible part of the mingled outpourings of jubilation and mourning, of grief and celebrationThey wanted him there with them, their leader and symbol, their savior and their guide, and that he had not slept, that he craved the company of only a few of them, seemed to occur to no oneHe must speak to the bereaved, clasp their hands, witness their tears, receive their thanks, hear the news now creeping in from every quarter as the morning drew on; that the Imperiused up and down the country had come back to themselves, that Death Eaters were fleeing or else being captured, latest louis vuitton shoulder bag that the innocent of Azkaban were being released at that very moment, and that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister of Magic
They moved Voldemort's body and laid it in a chamber off the Hall, away form the bodies of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevey, and fifty others who had died fighting himMcGonagall had replaced the House tables, not nobody was sitting according to House anymore: All were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in the corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouthAfter a while, exhausted and drained, Harry found himself sitting on a bench beside Luna
"I'd want some peace and quiet, if it were me," she said
"I'd love some," he replied
"I'll distract them all," she said
And before he could say a word, she had cried, "Oooh, look, a Blibbering
Humdinger!" and pointed out the windowEveryone who heard looked around, and Harry slid the Cloak up over himself, and got to his feet
Now he could move through the Hall without interferenceHe spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder: There would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talkHe saw Neville, the sword of Gryffindor lying beside his plate as he ate, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirersAlong the aisle between the tables he walked, and he spotted the three montre cartier ronde Malfoys, huddled together as though unsure whether or not they were supposed to be there, but nobody was paying them any attentionEverywhere he looked, he saw families reunited, and finally, he saw the two whose company he craved most
"It's me," he muttered, crouching down between them"Will you come with me?"
They stood up at once, and together he, Ron and Hermione left the Great HallGreat chunks were missing from the marble staircase, part of the balustrade gone, and rubble and bloodstains occurred ever few steps as their climbed
Somewhere in the distance they could hear Peeves zooming through the corridors singing a victory song of his own composition:
\c\iWe did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one,
And Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun!\i
\c"Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?" said Ron, pushing open a door to let Harry and Hermione through
Happiness would come, Harry though, but at the moment it was muffled by exhaustion, and the pain of losing Fred and Lupin and Tonks pierced him like a physical wound every few stepsMost of all he felt the most stupendous relief, and a longing to sleepBut first he owed an explanation to Ron and Hermione, who had stuck with him for so long, and who deserved the truthPainstakingly he recounted what he had seem in the Pensieve and what had happened in the forest, and they had not even begun to express all their shock and amazement, when at last they arrived at the prada black bags place to which they had been walking, though none of them had mentioned their destination
Since he had last seen it, the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's study had been knocked aside; it stood lopsided, looking a little punch-drunk, and Harry wondered whether it would be able to distinguish passwords anymore
"Can we go up?" he asked the gargoyle
"Feel free," groaned the statue
They clambered over him and onto the spiral stone staircase that moved slowly upward like an escalatorHarry pushed open the door at the top
He had one, brief glimpse of the stone Pensieve on the desk where he had left it, and then an earsplitting noise made him cry out, thinking of curses and returning Death Eaters and the rebirth of Voldemort \a150\a150
But it was applauseAll around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving him a standing ovation; they waved their hats and in some cases their wigs, they reached through their frames to grip each other's hands; they danced up and down on their chairs in which they have been painted: Dilys Derwent sobbed unashamedly; Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas Niggelus called,
in his high, reedy voice, "And let it be noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten!"
But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster's chairTears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into tiffany's bean necklace the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled Harry wit h the same balm as phoenix song
At last, Harry held up his hands, and the portraits fell respectfully silent, beaming and mopping their eyes and waiting eagerly for him to speakHe directed his words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with enormous careExhausted and bleary-eyed though he was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last piece of advice
"The thing that was hidden in the Snitch," he began, "I dropped it in the forestI don't exactly here, but I'm not going to go looking for it againDo you agree?"
"My dear boy, I do," said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious"A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of youDoes anyone know else know where it fell?"
"No one," said Harry, and Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction
"I'm going to keep Ignotus's present, though," said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed
"But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on!"
"And then there's this
Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not like to see
"What?" said Ron loudly"Are you mental?"
"I know it's powerful," said Harry wearily"But I was happier with mine
He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out the two halves of holly tstill just connected by the finest threat of phoenix rolex air king watches fea