Harry Potter 06 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

break through,’ said Ron, ‘and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us …’
    ‘And then Snape was there,’ said Tonks, ‘and then he wasn’t –’
    ‘I saw him running towards us, but that huge Death Eater’s jinx just missed me right afterwards and I ducked and lost track of things,’ said Ginny.
    ‘I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn’t there,’ said Lupin. ‘I tried to follow him but was thrown back just like Neville …’
    ‘He must have known a spell we didn’t,’ whispered McGonagall. ‘After all – he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher … I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who’d escaped up to the Tower …’
    ‘He was,’ said Harry savagely, ‘but to help them, not to stop them … and I’ll bet you had to have a Dark Mark to get through that barrier – so what happened when he came back down?’
    ‘Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs,’ said Lupin. ‘We all ran forwards – those of us who were still standing, anyway – and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust – obviously, none of us attacked them –’
    ‘We just let them pass,’ said Tonks in a hollow voice, ‘we thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters – and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again – I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don’t know what –’
    ‘He shouted, “It’s over,”’ said Harry. ‘He’d done what he’d meant to do.’
    They all fell silent. Fawkes’s lament was still echoing over the dark grounds outside. As the music reverberated upon the air, unbidden, unwelcome thoughts slunk into Harry’s mind … had they taken Dumbledore’s body from the foot of the Tower yet? What would happen to it next? Where would it rest? He clenched his fists tightly in his pockets. He could feel the small cold lump of the fake Horcrux against the knuckles of his right hand.
    The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making them all jump: Mr and Mrs Weasley were striding up the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face terrified.
    ‘Molly – Arthur –’ said Professor McGonagall, jumping up and hurrying to greet them. ‘I am so sorry –’
    ‘Bill,’ whispered Mrs Weasley, darting past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill’s mangled face. ‘Oh, Bill !’
    Lupin and Tonks had got up hastily and retreated so that Mr and Mrs Weasley could get nearer to the bed. Mrs Weasley bent over her son and pressed her lips to his bloody forehead.
    ‘You said Greyback attacked him?’ Mr Weasley asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. ‘But he hadn’t transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?’
    ‘We don’t yet know,’ said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Lupin.
    ‘There will probably be some contamination, Arthur,’ said Lupin. ‘It is an odd case, possibly unique … we don’t know what his behaviour might be like when he wakes up …’
    Mrs Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill’s wounds.
    ‘And Dumbledore …’ said Mr Weasley. ‘Minerva, is it true … is he really …?’
    As Professor McGonagall nodded, Harry felt Ginny move beside him and looked at her. Her slightly narrowed eyes were fixed upon Fleur, who was gazing down at Bill with a frozen expression on her face.
    ‘Dumbledore gone,’ whispered Mr Weasley, but Mrs Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began to sob, tears falling on to Bill’s mutilated face.
    ‘Of course, it doesn’t matter how he looks … it’s not r – really important … but he was a very handsome little b – boy … always very handsome … and he was g – going to be married!’
    ‘And what do you mean by zat?’ said Fleur suddenly and loudly. ‘What do you mean, ’e was going to be married?’
    Mrs Weasley raised her tear-stained face, looking startled.
    ‘Well – only that –’
    ‘You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me any more?’ demanded Fleur. ‘You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?’
    ‘No, that’s not what I –’
    ‘Because ’e will!’ said Fleur, drawing herself up to her full height and throwing back her long mane of silver hair. ‘It would take