CHAPTER 8
The sun was up when they all reached the the edge of the trees. Everyone was whispering and discussing Lupin's statement.
"I still don't understand. How could he be alive? I don't get it. I was there. He killed Dumbledore!" Harry rambled on to Ron and Hermione.
"I don't know either, Harry. He couldn't have come back from the dead. That's physically and magically impossible! There are no spells to bring anyone back to life. Not even Dumbledore's that powerful," Hermione answered.
"Well who cares how they came back! All that matters is that they're alive!" Ron said.
"But what if it's not true. I mean I know Sirius is alive but how do we know Snape's telling the truth about Dumbledore? He could have put a spell on the others to think Dumbledore was alive," Harry continued, "I'm not going to trust any of them until I see proof Dumbledore is alive!" Hermione rolled her eyes.
Lupin, who was leading the others, stopped and turned around.
"Alright everyone. We're in the middle of the woods so no one knows where we are. Now, we've figured out where we're going to go. We've moved Sirius's house somewhere else. It was very difficult but we did it. It's not very far off so we're going to walk there," Lupin said. Everyone walked quietly the rest of the way, even Harry.
After a few hours of walking, they reached Grimmauld Place. It was as grimy, old, and abandoned looking as Harry remembered it. But he loved it because it was pretty much his only home. Sirius, who had fallen back in the crowd to walk with Harry, smiled weakly. Harry could tell he was exhausted.
"Sirius, do you want your house back?" Harry grinned at Sirius.
"What do you mean, Harry?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Well, oh never mind," Harry answered.
"No, really, what are you talking about?" Sirius urged on.
"Oh, well, I inherited it when you...died," Harry said uncomfortably, "By the way, just so you know, Mundungus stole quite a bit of your belongings."
"Well, that's interesting. Anything else happen while I was dead?" Sirius asked with a stronger smile. Harry beamed at him. They all walked up the worn stone steps.
"Wait, where's Lestrange?" Hermione asked looking around.
"Oh, don't worry Hermione, she's up there," Sirius said as he pointed up the steps. Harry followed his finger and saw Snape holding on to the ropes that binded her.
"No, he can't be in charge of her. He'll let her go!" Harry moaned in frustration.
"Harry, please, calm down. We don't need another scene like the one back in the cave. That was very foolish by the way," Sirius lectured sternly. Harry took a deep sigh and forced the anger to retreat. Ron looked at him uneasily.
"Be careful mate," Ron whispered as they stepped through the door. The elf heads were still there on the wall in the hallway. The smell of filth was overwhelming. Mrs. Weasley raised her wand and whispered something under her hand covering her mouth and nose. The smell instantly disappeared. Just then, Harry's mind wandered to Ginny and Buckbeak. He hadn't seen either of them since the battle in the tunnels. Harry whipped around and saw her feeding Buckbeak outside by a tree. He took a sigh of relief and made his way out of the house toward her.
"Hello Harry," Ginny said as he approached, "It's great Sirius and Dumbledore are still alive isn't it!" She beamed at him and he could only return the action. He bowed at Buckbeak before he got too close. Buckbeak bowed back and Harry went over to pet him. Ginny handed him a dead ferret. He threw it up and Buckbeak caught it.
"Sorry there's no gnomes out here mate," Harry said to Buckbeak with a pat on his back.
"Gnomes?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Oh, well, he took care of them for you at your home," Harry answered.
"Right," Ginny said, "So, where's Draco?"
"Ginny, why do you call him Draco?" Harry said with a little bit of anger in his voice, or maybe it was jealousy.
"Because that's his name. I'm just being polite," she said.
"But why, he's not the least bit polite to you. I mean, he...tells your secrets..," Harry said helplessly.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that," she replied sympathetically.
"So, was it true?" Harry asked uncomfortably.
"Well," Ginny started.
"I see. It's alright-"
"Harry no,"
"No, really, I mean... I still like you Ginny! I just don't want you to get hurt or killed! But it doesn't really matter now does it because you are falling in love with Malfoy," Harry answered furiously.
"No, Harry it's not like that," she insisted.
"Then what is it?" Harry asked.
"It's...well...I don't know!" she yelled. She turned on her heel and stomped away. Harry took a deep breath and watched. He knew he already messed things up with her. He understood that she couldn't wait for him but he didn't understand why it was Malfoy she was falling for. After a few moments he stalked back to the house and rejoined Ron and Hermione. Everyone was crowed around Sirius, Snape, and Malfoy.
"What's going on?" Harry whispered.
"They're about to tell us about Dumbledore and how he and Sirius are alive," Hermione answered anxiously.
"I just hope Malfoy's not going to try to make a run for it again," Harry joked. Ron stifled a laugh and Hermione rolled her eyes again, but with a smile on her face.
"Everyone! Quiet please! Quiet!" Lupin shouted. The whispers faded away and the silence was deafening, "Alright, Severus, you may begin."
"Well, as you all have heard, I...killed Dumbledore," Snape started, "But, there was a flaw in your story. You see, Dumbledore's death was planned."
"No it wasn't! I saw the look in his eyes when you killed him! He was not faking! It was real!" Harry couldnt' help himself from shouting. Lupin buried his face in his hands, annoyed by his ignorance.
"Please Potter, let me finish explaining before you make a fool out of yourself," Snape smirked. Harry glared at him but kept his mouth shut. Hermione elbowed him in the side, "Now, the reason for that was he didn't know that i had planned to fake his death. You see, it all started with Sirius's death. Dumbledore didn't know about the veil, as did no one else. So, he simply tried to reach into the veil to help Sirius out. Obviously it didn't work or else you would've seen Sirius much earlier. Then, during his search to try to save Sirius, he discovered more about the Dark Lord, such as his childhood and the horcruxes." Many began to whisper.
"So, what are horcruxes?" asked George.
" A horcrux is an object in which the dark witch or wizard conceals a part of their soul in it. The object is usually very important to the witch or wizard and is hidden secretly. The Dark Lord has six horcruxes. Two of which, we believe to be destroyed. There is Tom Riddle's diary which Mr. Potter destroyed himself and Marvolo Gaunt's ring, which was destroyed by Dumbledore. Gaunt is the Dark Lord's ancestor. The others are believed to be Slytherin's locket, which was stolen from the cave it was hidden in before Dumbledore and Harry were there, a cup of Hufflepuff, an item belonging to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, and his snake Nagini," Snape continued.
"So, where's Dumbledore?" asked Fred impatiently.
"I'm getting
there Mr. Weasley," Snape answered, "Now, Mr. Potter here
and Dumbledore found out about Slytherin's locket. I had known about
it for a while and when I heard he was leaving the school, I knew he
was going to go to the cave. R.A.B. had gotten there a few years ago.
I was going to tell the Headmaster but then I got an idea. You see,
the Dark Lord had known that Dumbledore was searching for his
horcruxes and knew that eventually he would find them. So,
undercover, I heard he was going to plan to attack Dumbledore. That
was where Malfoy came in. His assignment was to kill Dumbledore. So,
I knew the horcrux wasn't there. I hurried to the cave before
Dumbledore and Potter got there. I filled the empty basin which held
the fake locket with a potion that stops death. Dumbledore drank it
and when he returned, it was in effect. I knew Malfoy couldn't kill
him so my secret wouldn't be found out. I pretended to kill him while
the death eaters were watching so they would believe I had killed
him. The next day I made a replica of Dumbledore while the Dark Lord
was dealing with young Mr. Malfoy. I took Dumbledore's body back here
and revived him. I explained everything and he left to go in hiding.
So, while the Dark Lord thought he was dead, Dumbledore would find
and destroy the rest of the horcruxes and save Sirius in peace."
Snape sat down and took a breath. No one made a sound. Harry wasn't
sure if they believed Snape or not. But surprisingly, Harry did.
Everything he said fitted. It never occured to him that the basin
would've had to fill up in order for Dumbledore to have drank the
liqiud. But it didn't fill up after Dumbledore drank it. It all made
sense. But then something occured to Harry.
"But, if
Dumbledore's alive, where is he?" Harry asked.
"I'm right here Harry. I've destroyed another horcrux," Dumbledore answered in a raspy but cheerful voice.
Everyone rushed to Dumbledore. Many cried in relief.
"Dumbledore! Oh my God!" Mrs. Weasley screamed. Dumbledore was almost suffocated by the many people surrounding him. That night was full of celebration and joy.
