He didn't know how long they had been standing there listening, or why hearing the sad voice had eased their pain a little, but when the hospital door was opened again, and Professor McGonagall walked in, it seemed like a long time had passed. Like everyone else www.biquge.info she bears the marks of the battle: her face is torn, her robe is torn.

"Molly and Arthur are on their way here," she said, the hypnosis of the music shattered, and everyone seemed to wake up from their trance, turning their faces to look at Bill, while others rubbed their eyes and shook their heads. "Harry, what's going on? According to Hagrid, when Professor Dumbledore - you were with him when that happened. He said that Professor Snape was also involved—"Snape killed Dumbledore," Harry said.

She stared at him for a moment, then shook apprehensively; Madam Pomfrey seemed to perk up, conjuring a chair out of the thin air and placing it under McGonagall.

"Snape," Professor McGonagall said weakly as she slumped back in her chair. "We are all skeptical...... But he trusted...... Always...... Snape...... I can't believe ......" "Snape is a highly accomplished Occlumency," Lupin said, his voice unusually harsh. "We've always known that." "But Dumbledore swears he's on our side!" Tonks whispered. "I always thought Dumbledore knew something we didn't know about Snape...... "He kept hinting that there was a solid reason to trust Snape," Professor McGonagall muttered, wiping her teary eyes with a tartan lace handkerchief. "I mean...... History of Snape...... Of course, people are bound to be suspicious...... But Dumbledore unmistakably told me that Snape's repentance was absolutely sincere...... He will not listen to anyone who opposes him! "I want to know what Snape told Dumbledore to make him believe in him so much," Tonks said.

"I know," Harry said, and everyone turned to stare at him. "Snape sent a message to Voldemort, and Voldemort went after my mom and dad. Snape then told Dumbledore that he didn't realize what he was doing and was sorry for their deaths. "And then Dumbledore believed it?" Lupin said incredulously. "Dumbledore believes Snape is sorry for Jaime's death? Snape hated James...... "He also thinks my mother is worthless," Harry said, "because she's a Muggle ...... 'Mudblood', he calls her that...... "No one asked Harry how he knew this." Everyone seemed to be in a state of horror, trying to digest the incredible truth behind what had just happened.

"It's all my fault," Professor McGonagall said suddenly. She looked distracted, wringing the wet handkerchief in her hand. "My bad. I asked Philius to call Snape tonight, and I'm going to ask him to help us! If I hadn't warned Snape what had happened, he might not have been able to join the Death Eaters. I feel like he didn't know they were there until Filius told him, and I don't think he knew they were coming. "It's not your fault, Minerva," Lupin said firmly. We all wanted more help, and we were all glad to see Snape coming......" "So he joined the Death Eaters when he arrived?" Harry asked, wishing to know every detail of Snape's treachery and disgusting, feverishly gathering more reasons to hate him and swear revenge.

"I still don't understand how this happened," Professor McGonagall said distraught. "Everything is so chaotic...... Dumbledore told us he was going to be out of school for a few hours and let us go patrol the corridors, just in case...... Remus, Bill, and Nemphadora will join us...... So we went on patrol. Every secret passage leading outside the school was protected. All entrances to the castle are enchanted with powerful magic. I still don't know how the Death Eaters got in......" "I know," Harry briefly explained the pair of vanishing cabinets and the magical path that formed between them. So they came in through the room where they were answered. He glanced at Ron and Hermione, almost against his will, and they were both stunned.

"I messed things up, Harry," Ron said in frustration. "We did as you say: we looked at the map of the living spot and didn't find Malfoy on it, so we thought he must be in the Room of Requirement, so Ginny, and Neville and I went to spy on it...... But Malfoy passed us. "He came out of the house after we watched for an hour," Ginny said. He's a man, clutching that horrible wrinkled arm—" "His glorious hand," Ron said. "Only those who hold him can see its light, remember?" "Anyway," Ginny continued, "he must have been checking that the route where the Death Eaters had come in was empty, for as soon as he saw us throw something into the air, and then it was pitch black.

"Fast-acting dark powder imported from Peru," Ron said bitterly. "Fred and George sold. I'm going to talk to them and see who they're selling to. "We tried everything -- fluorescent flickering, flames," Ginny said. Nothing can penetrate the darkness; All we could do was get dark in the hallway while we heard someone passing by very quickly. Apparently Malfoy could see the way, because the hand could guide them, and we didn't dare cast any spells for fear of hurting our own people, and by the time we reached a corridor of light, they were gone. "Luckily," Lupin said hoarsely, "Ron, Ginny, and Neville bumped into us, and they immediately informed us of what had happened. A few minutes later, we spotted the Death Eaters heading in the direction of the Astronomical Tower. Malfoy apparently didn't expect more people to be watching; At least he seems to have run out of dark powder. So we had a fierce fight, and they scattered, so we went after them. One of them, Gibbon, escaped, and he ran towards the tower. "To cast the Dark Mark?" Harry asked.

"It must have been so, yes, they must have planned it before they left the Room of Requirement," Lupin said. "But I don't think Gibbon wanted to be left alone and wait for Dumbledore to come, because he went downstairs to rejoin the fight, and was struck by a death curse that grazed me." "So if Ron and Ginny and Neville are watching the Room of Requirement," Harry turned to Hermione, "are you ......?" "Outside Snape's office, yes," Hermione whispered, tears glistening down her eyes, "with Luna." We stayed around for a long time, but nothing happened...... We don't know what's going on upstairs, and the map of the living point is being held by Ron...... By the time Professor Flitwick ran to the cellar in a panic, it was almost midnight. He shouted at the Death Eaters to enter the castle, and I don't think he even noticed me and Ginny there. He rushed straight into Snape's office, and we heard him say that Snape had to go back with him to help, and then we heard a thud, and Snape flew out of his room, and he saw us, and -- and then -- "What? Harry urged her.

"I'm so stupid, Harry!" Hermione said in a shrill voice. "He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed, and told us to take care of Professor Flitwick while he went to fight the Death Eaters—" She covered her face with her hands in shame and continued between her fingers, her voice slurred.

"We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick, and we found him lying unconscious on the floor...... Oh, how obvious it was now, Snape must have cast a stun spell on him, but we didn't realize it at the time, we let Snape go! "It's not your fault," Lupin said firmly. Hermione, if you don't obey Snape and flash aside, he'll most likely kill you and Luna. "So he went upstairs," Harry said, the image in his mind of Snape running up the marble staircase, his black robe churning behind him as before, and pulling his wand from under his cloak as he climbed the stairs, "and he found the place where you fought......" "We're in trouble, we're about to lose," Tonks whispered. "Gibbon is dead, but the remaining Death Eaters seem to be fighting to the death. Neville is wounded and Bill is attacked by Greyback...... There was darkness all around...... Spells are flying...... Malfoy was gone, he must have slipped away and gone up the tower...... Then more of them followed, but one of them cast some kind of spell on the stairs behind them...... Neville ran at it, only to be thrown into the air—" "None of us could get there," Ron said, "the big Death Eater was still firing curses everywhere, and they bounced off the walls and almost hit our ......" "Then Snape got there," Tonks said, "and he didn't—" "I saw him running towards us, but then the tall Death Eater let out a curse, and it flew past me, and I quickly lowered myself and didn't see what was going on," Ginny said.

"I saw him go straight through the spell barrier as if there was nothing," Lupin said. "I tried to follow him, but was thrown out like Neville......" "He must know a spell we don't know," McGonagall whispered. "After all—he's a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher...... I just thought he was chasing the Death Eaters who had fled the Astronomical Tower......" "He's going," Harry said brutally, "but it's to help them, not stop them...... I bet there had to be a Dark Mark to get through that barrier - so what happened when he came back? "Well, that tall Death Eater just fired a spell that caused half of the ceiling to collapse and also break the spell that closed the staircase," Lupin said. We all ran forward--the ones of us who could still stand--and Snape and the boy appeared in the dust--apparently, none of us attacked either of them-" "We just let them pass," Tonks said in a hollow voice, "We thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters - note that the Death Eaters and Greyback returned, and we started fighting-I think I heard Snape shouting, but I don't know what he was shouting-" "He shouted, 'It's over,'" Harry said. "He did what he set out to do." They fell silent. Fox's elegy still echoes in the dark playground outside. When the song began again, a nasty thought burst into Harry's head...... Did they carry Dumbledore's body from under the Astronomy Tower? What's next for it? Where to be buried? He clenched his fists in his pockets. He could feel the small piece of cold fake soul shard against the knuckle of his right hand.

The door to the hospital suddenly opened, startling them all: the Weasleys were striding into the room, and Fleur was right behind them, her beautiful face showing a look of horror.

"Molly-Arthur-" Professor McGonagall jumped up and hurriedly greeted them. "I'm really sorry......" "Bill," Mrs. Weasley whispered, and at the sight of Bill's ruined face, she sped past Professor McGonagall. "Oh, Bill!" Lupin and Tonks quickly stood up and stepped aside to get the Weasleys closer to the hospital bed. Mrs. Weasley leaned over and kissed her son's bloody forehead.

"You just said Greyback attacked him?" Mrs. Weasley asked Professor McGonagall in distraught. "But didn't he not transform? What does that mean? What will happen to Bill? "We don't know yet," Professor McGonagall looked at Lupin helplessly.

"There's probably some damage, Arthur," Lupin said. "It's a strange situation, and it's probably unique...... We don't know what he's going to look like when he wakes up......" Mrs. Weasley took the disgusting poultice from Madam Pomfrey and began to rub it on Bill's wounds.

"And Dumbledore......," said Mrs. Weasley. Minerva, is that true...... Does he really ......? Professor McGonagall nodded, and Harry felt Ginny move beside her, and he turned to look at her. Ginny narrowed her eyes slightly at Fleur, who was looking down at Bill with a grim expression.

"Dumbledore is gone," Mr. Weasley whispered, but Mrs. Weasley still stared at her eldest son; She began to cry, tears falling onto Bill's ruined face.

"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks...... It's not really -- it really matters...... But he was a very handsome little man-boy...... Always very handsome...... And he was supposed to be married! "What do you mean by that?" Fleur suddenly said loudly. "Why was he going to get married?" Mrs. Weasley lifted her tear-stained face, looking shocked.