All classes have been suspended and all exams have been postponed.

Over the next few days, some of the students were urged to leave Hogwarts by their parents - the morning after Dumbledore's death, the Pettier sisters left without breakfast; Zachares Smith, on the other hand, was escorted back from the castle by his arrogant-looking father.

On the other hand, Seamus Finigan flatly refused to accompany his mom home; They were shouting in the foyer, and finally his mother finally agreed to let him stay here for the funeral. Seamus told Harry and Ron that his mother had a hard time finding a bed in Hogsmeade, as witches and wizards were pouring into the village to pay their final respects to Dumbledore.

On the evening before the funeral, a powder-blue carriage the size of a house and pulled by twelve silver-maned flying horses flew out of the sky and stopped at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a scene that caused a stir among the younger students who had not seen it. Harry looked out the window as a tall, dignified, olive-skinned, dark-haired lady got out of the carriage and walked over to hug Hagrid, who had been waiting for him.

At the same time, a delegation of Ministry of Magic officials, including the Minister himself, moved into the castle. Harry tirelessly avoided touching any of them; He was sure that sooner or later he would be asked again to explain Dumbledore's last trip out of Hogwarts.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were together all day.

The good weather seems to be teasing them; Harry could imagine what would have happened if Dumbledore hadn't died, and they would have spent the last few days of the school year together, with Ginny's exams over and the pressure of homework gone...... He dragged on hour after hour, not saying what he knew he had to say, not doing what he knew was right, because it was so hard to give up his best source of comfort.

They go to the school hospital twice a day: Neville has been discharged, but Bill still needs Madam Pomfrey's care. His scars are as bad as ever; While he should be grateful that he saved his eyes and legs, in reality, he already resembles Mad-Eye Moody, but his personality seems to be the same as before. The only difference is that he seems to like the steak that is made very tender.

“…… So he was lucky to marry me," said Fleur happily as she puffed up Bill's pillow, "because the English always make their meat very old, I always say." ”

"I think I'll have to accept that he's really going to marry Fleur," Ginny sighed later that day, sitting with Harry, Ron, and Hermione by the open window of the Gryffindor common room, looking out at the playground at dusk.

"She's not that bad," Harry said. "It's ugly though,"

Seeing that Ginny raised his eyebrows, he quickly added, and Ginny smiled reluctantly.

"Well, I think if Mom can stand it, I can."

"Is there anyone else we know is dead?" Ron asked Hermione, who was reading the Daily Prophet carefully.

Hermione could hear the unnatural strength in his voice and frowned.

"No," she said reproachfully, folding the paper. "They're still looking for Snape, but there's no clue......"

"Of course not," Harry grew angry every time he talked about it. "Finding Voldemort would lead to finding Snape, and this time they don't seem to have managed to do that at all......"

"I'm going to sleep," Ginny said with a yawn. "Since ...... Well...... I haven't slept well since then, I need a little sleep. ”

She kissed Harry, at which point Ron consciously turned his face away, waved at the other two, and got up and walked to the girls' quarters. No sooner had the door closed behind her than Hermione leaned over to Harry, the most Hermione-esque expression on her face.

"Harry, I found something in the library this morning......"

“。 B。？ Harry sat up straight.

He did not feel the excitement, curiosity, and desire to find out the mystery that he had so often felt before; He only knew that he had to complete the task, which was to find the whereabouts of the true soul fragment, and then he could go a little further down the dark and rugged path that lay ahead of him, the path he had set out with Dumbledore, and he knew that he was now alone.

There may still be four Horcruxes left behind, and he needs to find and destroy each of them, before Voldemort can even be killed.

He kept reciting their names, as if by doing so he would bring them to him: "Box pendant...... Cup...... Snake...... Gryffindor or Ravenclaw stuff...... Cassette pendant...... Cup...... Snake...... Gryffindor or Ravenclaw stuff ......"

The eulogies seemed to beat in his mind as he slept, his dreams filled with cups, box pendants, and mysterious objects that he couldn't reach, and although Dumbledore had helped provide Harry with a rope ladder, the rope ladder turned into a snake when he started to climb it......

The morning after Dumbledore's death, he showed Hermione the note in the pendant, and although she didn't immediately recognize the initials as belonging to some unknown wizard she had read about in the past, she had been going to the library a lot ever since, a little more often for someone who didn't have homework to do.

"No," she said sadly, "I've been trying, Harry, but I've found nothing...... There are a couple of fairly famous wizards who fit that initials – Rosalyn Antigon Bunce...... Rupert Akbongo' Brustanton...... But it looks like none of them are right at all. Judging by the note, the man who stole the Horcruxes knew Voldemort, but I couldn't find the shred of evidence that Bunce and Akbongo were related to Voldemort...... I'm not talking about this, actually, it's about ...... Well, Snape's. ”

She looked at Harry nervously and mentioned the name again.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked sullenly, slumping back in his chair.

"Well, it's just that I think I'm kind of right about the half-blood prince......" she said tentatively.

"Do you have to repeat it, Hermione? What do you think I'm going to think of it now? ”

"No-no-Harry, I didn't mean that!" She hastened to say, looking around to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped, "I'm just saying that Erin did once own the book, and I'm right on that point...... She's Snape's mother! ”

"I don't think she's a beauty," Ron said. Hermione ignored him.

"I looked through the rest of the old Daily Prophet and found a small notice that said that Erin Prince was married to a man named Tobias Snape, and then another notice said that she had given birth to a—

"—murderer," Harry said viciously.

"Okay...... Yes," Hermione said. "So...... I'm somewhat right. Snape must be proud to be 'half a prince', right? The Daily Prophet said that Tobias Snape was a Muggle.

"Very well, that makes sense." Harry said. He put a lot of emphasis on his pure-blood side in order to associate with Lucius Malfoy and the rest of them...... He's like Voldemort. Pure-blood mother and Muggle father...... Ashamed of his origins, trying to make himself fearsome with dark magic, giving himself an impressive new name - Voldemort - Half-Blood Prince - how could Dumbledore not perceive——? ”

He paused, looked out the window, and couldn't help but ponder Dumbledore's unforgivable trust in Snape...... But as Hermione had casually reminded him, he, Harry, had been deceived as well...... Even though the scribbled spells were getting more and more vile at the time, he still refused to believe that such a clever boy had malicious intentions, and that boy had helped him so much...... Helped him...... The thought was almost unbearable for him now......

"I still don't understand why he didn't accuse you of using that book," Ron said. "He's sure he'd known where you got all this from." "He knows," Harry said bitterly. "He knew it when I used the Bladeless Charm. He didn't really need to go through the Stylist, maybe he knew before that Slahhorn had talked to him about how good I was in Potions class...... He shouldn't have put his old book under the cupboard, should he? ”

"Why didn't he tell you?"

"I guess he didn't want to associate himself with the book," Hermione said. "I don't think Dumbledore would be too happy if he found out. Even if Snape denied that the book was his, Slavhorn would immediately recognize his handwriting from the book. Anyway, the book was in Snape's old classroom, and I bet Dumbledore must have known Snape's mother's last name, 'Prince'. ”

"I should have shown that book to Dumbledore," Harry said. "He's been showing me how evil Voldemort was since he hit school, and I could have proved to him that Snape was like that......"

"'Evil' is an extreme word," Hermione whispered.

"You've been telling me that this book is dangerous!"

"I'm trying to say, Harry, you're too self-conscious. I always thought the half-blood prince's sense of humor seemed annoying, but I never guessed that he was a potential killer......"

"None of us guessed that Snape was like that...... You know that," Ron said.

Silence fell among them, and everyone fell into deep thought, but Harry was sure they were thinking as much as he was about tomorrow morning, the moment to bury Dumbledore's body.

Harry had never been to a funeral before, he didn't know what was going to happen, and he had a hint of concern about what he was going to see and feel.

Harry wondered if Dumbledore's death would have been more real for him after Dumbledore's funeral. Although he sometimes felt that this horrible fact was in danger of conquering him, he still had a large blank period of numbness, and in the midst of that numbness he found it hard to believe that Dumbledore was really gone, even though there was no one in the entire castle discussing anything else.

Admittedly, he wasn't desperately looking for some kind of loophole, some kind of way for Dumbledore to get back...... He fumbled in his pocket for the cold chain of the fake Horcrux, and now he carried it with him everywhere, not as a talisman, but as a reminder of what they had paid for this thing and what needed to be done.

Harry got up early the next day to pack his bags; The Hogwarts Express train is due to depart an hour after the funeral.

When he went downstairs, he found that the mood in the auditorium was very depressed. Everyone was dressed in formal robes, and no one looked hungry. Professor McGonagall vacated the throne-like chair in the middle of the faculty table. Hagrid's chair was empty, too: Harry felt that he might not be able to face breakfast; But Snape's seat was casually occupied by Rufus Scrimgeur.

As his yellow eyes scanned the Great Hall, Harry avoided it; Harry had an uncomfortable feeling that Scrimgeour was looking for him. Harry recognized Percy Weasley in Scrimgeur's entourage, with red hair and horn-framed glasses. Ron didn't show seeing Percy, but poked the smoked fish nuggets with rare resentment.

At the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle were muttering something together. Although they were all big boys, they looked strangely lonely without the pale, lanky Malfoy between them.

Harry didn't spare much time to think about Malfoy. All his hatred was directed at Snape, but he hadn't forgotten the fear in Malfoy's voice when he was at the top of the tower, or the fact that he had lowered his wand before the rest of the Death Eaters arrived.

Harry didn't believe Malfoy would kill Dumbledore. He still despised Malfoy because of his obsession with the Dark Arts, but now there was a little pity mixed in with disgust. Harry thought, where is Malfoy now, Voldemort has threatened to kill him and his parents, what will he do with Malfoy? Ginny nudged Harry's ribs lightly with her elbow, his thoughts interrupted. Professor McGonagall had already stood up, and the mournful hum in the auditorium had died away.

"It's almost time," she said. "Please follow your dean to the playground. Gryffindor students, follow me. They rose from their benches almost silently and walked out in line, and Harry caught a glimpse of Slavhorn at the front of the Slytherin line, dressed in a gorgeous silver-trimmed emerald green robe. He had never seen Professor Sprout, the Hufflepuff director, dressed so neatly; There was not a single patch on her hat, and when they reached the foyer, they found Mrs. Pince and Filch standing together, wearing a thick black veil that hung down to her knees, and Filch in an old-fashioned black suit with a tie that smelled of mothballs.

Harry stepped out the front door and up the stone steps, spotting them heading towards the lake. The warmth of the sun was rubbing his face, and they silently followed Professor McGonagall to a place neatly lined with hundreds of chairs.

There is an aisle in the middle of the chair: directly in front of the aisle is a marble table, and all the chairs face it.