Chapter 28: Flight of the Prince


Harry felt as though he too were hurtling through space; it had not

happened. . . . It could not have happened. ...


"Out of here, quickly," said Snape.


He seized Malfoy by the scruff of the neck and forced him through the

door ahead of the rest; Greyback and the squat brother and sister followed,

the latter both panting excitedly. As they vanished through the door, Harry

realized he could move again. What was now holding him paralyzed against

the wall was not magic, but horror and shock. He threw the Invisibility

Cloak aside as the brutal-faced Death Eater, last to leave the tower top, was

disappearing through the door.
"Petrificus Totalus!"


The Death Eater buckled as though hit in the back with something solid

and fell to the ground, rigid as a waxwork, but he had barely hit the floor

when Harry was clambering over him and running down the darkened

staircase.


Terror tore at Harry;s heart. ... He had to get to Dumbledore and he had to

catch Snape. ... Somehow the two things were linked. ... He could reverse

what had happened if he had them both together. ... Dumbledore could not

have died. ...

He leapt the last ten steps of the spiral staircase and stopped where he

landed, his wand raised. The dimly lit corridor was full of dust; half the

ceiling seemed to have fallen in; and a battle was raging before him, but

even as he attempted to make out who were fighting whom, he heard the

hated voice shout, "It's over, time to go!" and saw Snape disappearing

around the corner at the far end of the corridor; he and Malfoy seemed to

have forced their way through the fight unscathed. As Harry plunged after

them, one of the fighters detached themselves from the fray and flew at him:

it was the werewolf, Fenrir. He was on top of Harry before Harry could raise

his wand: Harry fell backward, with filthy matted hair in his face, the stench

of sweat and blood filling his nose and mouth, hot greedy breath at his throat

-


"Petrificus Totalus!"


Harry felt Fenrir collapse against him; with a stupendous effort he pushed

the werewolf off and onto the floor as a jet of green light came flying toward

him; he ducked and ran, headfirst, into the fight. His feet met something

squashy and slippery on the floor and he stumbled: There were two bodies

lying there, lying facedown in a pool of blood, but there was no time to

investigate. Harry now saw red hair flying like flames in front of him: Ginny

was locked in combat with the lumpy Death Eater, Amycus, who was

throwing hex after hex at her while she dodged them: Amycus was giggling,

enjoying the sport: "Crucio - Crucio - you can't dance forever, pretty-"


"Impedimenta!" yelled Harry.

His jinx hit Amycus in the chest: He gave a piglike squeal of pain, was

lifted off his feet and slammed into the opposite wall, slid down it, and fell

out of sight behind Ron, Professor McGonagall, and Lupin, each of whom

was battling a separate Death Eater. Beyond them, Harry saw Tonks fighting

an enormous blond wizard who was sending curses flying in all directions,

so that they ricocheted off the walls around them, cracking stone, shattering

the nearest window -


"Harry, where did you come from?" Ginny cried, but there was no time to

answer her. He put his head down and sprinted forward, narrowly avoiding a

blast that erupted over his head, showering them all in bits of wall. Snape

must not escape, he must catch up with Snape -


"Take that!" shouted Professor McGonagall, and Harry glimpsed the

female Death Eater, Alecto, sprinting away down the corridor with her arms

over her head, her brother right behind her. He launched himself after them

but his foot caught on something, and next moment he was lying across

someone's legs. Looking around, he saw Neville's pale, round face flat

against the floor. "Neville, are you - ?"


"M'all right," muttered Neville, who was clutching his stomach, "Harry . .

. Snape 'n' Malfoy . . . ran past. . ."


"I know, I'm on it!" said Harry, aiming a hex from the floor at the

enormous blond Death Eater who was causing most of the chaos. The man

gave a howl of pain as the spell hit him in the face: He wheeled around,

staggered, and then pounded away after the brother and sister. Harry

scrambled up from the floor and began to sprint along the corridor, ignoring

the bangs issuing from behind him, the yells of the others to come back, and

the mute call of the figures on the ground whose fate he did not yet know. . .

.


He skidded around the corner, his trainers slippery with blood; Snape had

an immense head start. Was it possible that he had already entered the

cabinet in the Room of Requirement, or had the Order made steps to secure

it, to prevent the Death Eaters retreating that way? He could hear nothing but

his own pounding feet, his own hammering heart as he sprinted along the

next empty corridor, but then spotted a bloody footprint that showed at least

one of the fleeing Death Eaters was heading toward the front doors - perhaps

the Room of Requirement was indeed blocked -


He skidded around another corner and a curse flew past him; he dived

behind a suit of armor that exploded. He saw the brother and sister running

down the marble staircase ahead and aimed jinxes at them, but merely hit

several bewigged witches in a portrait on the landing, who ran screeching

into neighboring paintings. As he leapt the wreckage of armor, Harry heard

more shouts and screams; other people within the castle seemed to have

awoken. . . .


He pelted toward a shortcut, hoping to overtake the brother and sister and

close in on Snape and Malfoy, who must surely have reached the grounds by

now. Remembering to leap the vanishing step halfway down the concealed

staircase, he burst through a tapestry at the bottom and out into a corridor

where a number of bewildered and pajama-clad Hufflepuffs stood.

"Harry! We heard a noise, and someone said something aboui the Dark

Mark -" began Ernie Macmillan.


"Out of the way!" yelled Harry, knocking two boys aside as he sprinted

toward the landing and down the remainder of the marble staircase. The oak

front doors had been blasted open, there were smears of blood on the

flagstones, and several terrified students stood huddled against the walls, one

or two still cowering with their arms over their faces. The giant Gryffindor

hourglass had been hit by a curse, and the rubies within were still falling,

with a loud rattle, onto the flagstones below.


Harry flew across the entrance hall and out into the dark grounds: He

could just make out three figures racing across the lawn, heading for the

gates beyond which they could Disapparate - by the looks of them, the huge

blond Death Eater and, some way ahead of him, Snape and Malfoy. ...


The cold night air ripped at Harry's lungs as he tore after them; he saw a

flash of light in the distance that momentarily silhouetted his quarry. He did

not know what it was but continued to run, not yet near enough to get a good

aim with a curse -


Another flash, shouts, retaliatory jets of light, and Harry understood:

Hagrid had emerged from his cabin and was trying to stop the Death Eaters

escaping, and though every breath seemed to shred his lungs and the stitch in

his chest was like fire, Harry sped up as an unbidden voice in his head said:

not Hagrid. . . not Hagrid too . . .

Something caught Harry hard in the small of the back and he fell forward,

his face smacking the ground, blood pouring out of both nostrils: He knew,

even as he rolled over, his wand ready, that the brother and sister he had

overtaken using his shortcut were closing in behind him. . . .


"Impedimenta!" he yelled as he rolled over again, crouching close to the

dark ground, and miraculously his jinx hit one of them, who stumbled and

fell, tripping up the other; Harry leapt to his feet and sprinted on after Snape.


And now he saw the vast outline of Hagrid, illuminated by the light of the

crescent moon revealed suddenly behind clouds; the blond Death Eater was

aiming curse after curse at the gamekeeper; but Hagrids immense strength

and the toughened skin he had inherited from his giantess mother seemed to

be protecting him. Snape and Malfoy, however, were still running; they

would soon be beyond the gates, able to Disapparate -


Harry tore past Hagrid and his opponent, took aim at Snape's back, and

yelled, "Stupefy!"

He missed; the jet of red light soared past Snape's head; Snape shouted,

"Run, Draco!"and turned. Twenty yards apart, he and Harry looked at each

other before raising their wands simultaneously.


"Cruc - "


But Snape parried the curse, knocking Harry backward off his feet before

he could complete it; Harry rolled over and scrambled back up again as the

huge Death Eater behind him yelled, "Incendio!" Harry heard an explosive

bang and a dancing orange light spilled over all of them: Hagrid's house was

on fire.


"Fang's in there, yer evil - !" Hagrid bellowed.


"Cruc -" yelled Harry for the second time, aiming for the figure ahead

illuminated in the dancing firelight, but Snape blocked the spell again. Harry

could see him sneering.


"No Unforgivable Curses from you, Potter!" he shouted over the rushing

of the flames, Hagrid's yells, and the wild yelping of the trapped Fang. "You

haven't got the nerve or the ability -"


"Incarc-"Harry roared, but Snape deflected the spell with an almost lazy

flick of his arm.


"Fight back!" Harry screamed at him. "Fight back, you cowardly-----"


"Coward, did you call me, Potter?" shouted Snape. "Your father would

never attack me unless it was four on one, what would you call him, I

wonder?" "Stupe-"


"Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth

shut and your mind closed, Potter!" sneered Snape, deflecting the curse once

more. "Now come!" he shouted at the huge Death Eater behind Harry. "It is

time to be gone, before the Ministry turns up -"

"Impedi -"


But before he could finish this jinx, excruciating pain hit Harry; he keeled

over in the grass. Someone was screaming, he would surely die of this

agony, Snape was going to torture him to death or madness -


"No!" roared Snape's voice and the pain stopped as suddenly as it had

started; Harry lay curled on the dark grass, clutching his wand and panting;

somewhere overhead Snape was shouting, "Have you forgotten our orders?

Potter belongs to the Dark Lord - we are to leave him! Go! Go!"


And Harry felt the ground shudder under his face as the brother and sister

and the enormous Death Eater obeyed, running toward the gates. Harry

uttered an inarticulate yell of rage: In that instant, he cared not whether he

lived or died. Pushing himself to his feet again, he staggered blindly toward

Snape, the man he now hated as much as he hated Voldemort himself -


"Sectum - "


Snape flicked his wand and the curse was repelled yet again; but Harry

was mere feet away now and he could see Snape's face clearly at last: He

was no longer sneering or jeering; the blazing flames showed a face full of

rage. Mustering all his powers of concentration, Harry thought, Levi -


"No, Potter!" screamed Snape. There was a loud BANG and Harry was

soaring backward, hitting the ground hard again, ;un\ this time his wand flew

out of his hand. He could hear Hagrid yelling and Fang howling as Snape

closed in and looked down on him where he lay, wandless and defenseless

as Dumbledore hadl been. Snape's pale face, illuminated by the flaming

cabin, was suffused with hatred just as it had been before he had cursed

Dumbledore.


"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented

them - I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like

your filthy father, would you? I don't think so . . . no"


Harry had dived for his wand; Snape shot a hex at it and it flew feet away

into the darkness and out of sight.


"Kill me then," panted Harry, who felt no fear at all, but only rage and

contempt. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward -"


"DON'T -" screamed Snape, and his face was suddenly demented,

inhuman, as though he was in as much pain as the yelping, howling dog

stuck in the burning house behind them - "CALL ME COWARD!"


And he slashed at the air: Harry felt a white-hot, whiplike something hit

him across the face and was slammed backward into the ground. Spots of

light burst in front of his eyes and for a moment all the breath seemed to

have gone from his body, then he heard a rush of wings above him and

something enormous obscured the stars. Buckbeak had flown at Snape, who

staggered backward as the razor-sharp claws slashed at him. As Harry raised

himself into a sitting position, his head still swimming from its last contact

with the ground, he saw Snape running as hard as he could, the enormous

beast flapping behind him and screeching as Harry had never heard him

screech -


Harry struggled to his feet, looking around groggily for his wand, hoping

to give chase again, but even as his fingers fumbled in the grass, discarding

twigs, he knew it would be too late, and sure enough, by the time he had

located his wand, he turned only to see the hippogriff circling the gates.

Snape had managed to Disapparate just beyond the school's boundaries.


"Hagrid," muttered Harry, still dazed, looking around. "HAGRID?"


He stumbled toward the burning house as an enormous figure emerged

from out of the flames carrying Fang on his back. With a cry of

thankfulness, Harry sank to his knees; he was shaking in every limb, his

body ached all over, and his breath came in painful stabs.


"Yeh all righ', Harry? Yeh all righ'? Speak ter me, Harry. . .."


Hagrids huge, hairy face was swimming above Harry, blocking out the

stars. Harry could smell burnt wood and dog hair; he put out a hand and felt

Fang's reassuringly warm and alive body quivering beside him.


"I'm all right," panted Harry. "Are you?" "'Course I am . . . take more'n

that ter finish me."

Hagrid put his hands under Harry's arms and raised him up with such

force that Harry's feet momentarily left the ground before Hagrid set him

upright again. He could see blood trickling down Hagrid's cheek from a deep

cut under one eye, which was swelling rapidly.


"We should put out your house," said Harry, "the charm's 'Aguamenti' ..."


"Knew it was summat like that," mumbled Hagrid, and he raised a

smoldering pink, flowery umbrella and said, "Aguamenti!"


A jet of water flew out of the umbrella tip. Harry raised his wand arm,

which felt like lead, and murmured "Aguamenti" too: Together, he and

Hagrid poured water on the house until the last flame was extinguished.


"S'not too bad," said Hagrid hopefully a few minutes later, looking at the

smoking wreck. "Nothin Dumbledore won' be able to put righ' . . ."


Harry felt a searing pain in his stomach at the sound of the name. In the

silence and the stillness, horror rose inside him.


"Hagrid ..."


"I was bindin' up a couple o' bowtruckle legs when I heard 'em coming,"

said Hagrid sadly, still staring at his wrecked cabin. "They'll bin burnt ter

twigs, poor little things. . . ."


"Hagrid . . ."

"But what happened, Harry? I jus' saw them Death Eaters run-nin down

from the castle, but what the ruddy hell was Snape doin' with 'em? Where's

he gone - was he chasin' them?"


"He . . ." Harry cleared his throat; it was dry from panic and the smoke.

"Hagrid, he killed . . ."


"Killed?" said Hagrid loudly, staring down at Harry. "Snape killed?

What're yeh on abou', Harry?"


"Dumbledore," said Harry. "Snape killed .. . Dumbledore."


Hagrid simply looked at him, the little of his face that could be seen

completely blank, uncomprehending.


"Dumbledore wha, Harry?"


"He's dead. Snape killed him...."


"Don' say that," said Hagrid roughly. "Snape kill Dumbledore - don' be

stupid, Harry. Wha's made yeh say tha'?"


"I saw it happen." , ,..


"Yeh couldn' have."

"I saw it, Hagrid."


Hagrid shook his head; his expression was disbelieving but sympathetic,

and Harry knew that Hagrid thought he had sustained a blow to the head,

that he was confused, perhaps by the aftereffects of a jinx. ...


"What musta happened was, Dumbledore musta told Snape ter go with

them Death Eaters," Hagrid said confidently. "I suppose he's gotta keep his

cover. Look, let's get yeh back up ter the school. Come on, Harry. ..."


Harry did not attempt to argue or explain. He was still shaking

uncontrollably. Hagrid would find out soon enough, too soon. ... As they

directed their steps back toward the castle, Harry saw that many of its

windows were lit now. He could imagine, clearly, the scenes inside as

people moved from room to room, telling each other that Death Eaters had

got in, that the Mark was shining over Hogwarts, that somebody must have

been killed. . . .


The oak front doors stood open ahead of them, light flooding out onto the

drive and the lawn. Slowly, uncertainly, dressing-gowned people were

creeping down the steps, looking around nervously for some sign of the

Death Eaters who had fled into the night. Harry's eyes, however, were fixed

upon the ground at the foot of the tallest tower. He imagined that he could

see a black, huddled mass lying in the grass there, though he was really too

far away to see anything of the sort. Even as he stared wordlessly at the

place where he thought

Dumbledore's body must lie, however, he saw people beginning to move

toward it.


"What're they all lookin' at?" said Hagrid, as he and Harry approached the

castle front, Fang keeping as close as he could to their ankles. "Wha's that

lyin' on the grass?" Hagrid added sharply, heading now toward the foot of

the Astronomy Tower, where a small crowd was congregating. "See it,

Harry? Right at the foot of the tower? Under where the Mark . . . Blimey . . .

yeh don' think someone got thrown - ?"


Hagrid fell silent, the thought apparently too horrible to express aloud.

Harry walked alongside him, feeling the aches and pains in his face and his

legs where the various hexes of the last half hour had hit him, though in an

oddly detached way, as though somebody near him was suffering them.

What was real and inescapable was the awful pressing feeling in his chest. . .

.


He and Hagrid moved, dreamlike, through the murmuring crowd to the

very front, where the dumbstruck students and teachers had left a gap.


Harry heard Hagrid's moan of pain and shock, but he did not stop; he

walked slowly forward until he reached the place where Dumbledore lay and

crouched down beside him. He had known there was no hope from the

moment that the full Body-Bind Curse Dumbledore had placed upon him

lifted, known that it could have happened only because its caster was dead,

but there was still no preparation for seeing him here, spread-eagled, broken:

the greatest wizard Harry had ever, or would ever, meet.

Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and

legs, he might have been sleeping. Harry reached out, straightened the half-

moon spectacles upon the crooked nose, and wiped a trickle of blood from

the mouth with his own sleeve. Then he gazed down at the wise old face and

tried to absorb the enormous and incomprehensible truth: that never again

would Dumbledore speak to him, never again could he help-----


The crowd murmured behind Harry. After what seemed like a long time,

he became aware that he was kneeling upon something hard and looked

down.


The locket they had managed to steal so many hours before had fallen out

of Dumbledore's pocket. It had opened, perhaps due to the force with which

it hit the ground. And although he could not feel more shock or horror or

sadness than he felt already, Harry knew, as he picked it up, that there was

something wrong-----


He turned the locket over in his hands. This was neither as large as the

locket he remembered seeing in the Pensieve, nor were there any markings

upon it, no sign of the ornate S that was supposed to be Slytherins mark.

Moreover, there was nothing inside but for a scrap of folded parchment

wedged tightly into the place where a portrait should have been.


Automatically, without really thinking about what he was doing, Harry

pulled out the fragment of parchment, opened it, and read by the light of the

many wands that had now been lit behind him:

To the Dark Lord


I now I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that

it was I who dicovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend

to destroy it as soon as I can.


I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be

mortal once more.


R.A.B.


Harry neither knew nor cared what the message meant. Only one thing

mattered: This was not a Horcrux. Dumbledore had weakened himself by

drinking that terrible potion for nothing. Harry crumpled the parchment in

his hand, and his eyes burned with tears as behind him Fang began to howl.