❝𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?❞
❝𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦.❞
𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 had a few, perhaps a little or more than a palm of qualms in his life. First up was the whole "The Boy-Who-Lived" shenanigans, then there was an ungodly am...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
LXVII. THE FOUR OF US
━━━━━━
"There's blood on the side of the mountain
It's turning a new shade of red"
THE MORNING AFTER DUMBLEDORE'S DEATH felt odd after the long night prior. Almost immediately, lessons were suspended, and all examinations were postponed. Some students were hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days — the Patil twins were gone before anyone could bid goodbye to them, and Zacharias Smith was escorted from the castle by his haughty-looking father.
Seamus Finnigan, on the other hand, refused point-blank to accompany his mother home; they had a shouting match in the entrance hall that was resolved when she agreed that he could remain behind for the funeral. She had difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade, for wizards and witches were pouring into the village, preparing to pay their last respects to Dumbledore.
It was a grim day, excluding some excitement that was caused among the younger students, who had never seen it before, when a powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen giant winged palominos, came soaring out of the sky in the late afternoon before the funeral and landed on the edge of the forest; Madame Maxime immediately herself into the waiting Hagrid's arms.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister of Magic himself, had been accommodated within the castle. It was clear to Marjorie that even if Harry stayed by her side whenever they left the common room, he was diligently avoiding contact with any of the officials. He would change their walking positions or pull them into secluded places to avoid being questioned. He knew that sooner or later, they would ask him to account for Dumbledore's last excursion from Hogwarts, and he was not ready to face those questions.
Marjorie spent a lot of her time after with Daphne, and if not her it would be Harry along with Ron and Hermione, trying to find solace in each other's company. The beautiful weather outside felt like a cruel joke to Marjorie; she couldn't help but wonder how different things would have been if Dumbledore did not drop dead and they could have enjoyed these final days of the year without the sense of grim and solemness overtaking them. And noticeably, Marjorie thought, with each passing hour, Harry seemed to have things plaguing his mind, as if he wanted to say something, but putting it off.
They visited the hospital wing twice a day: Neville had been discharged, but Bill remained under Madam Pomfrey's care. His scars were as severe as ever — in truth, he now bore a distinct resemblance to Mad-Eye Moody, though thankfully with both eyes and legs, and still retained a certain rugged handsomeness. Despite his injuries, Bill's personality remained unchanged; he was as warm and cheerful as ever. The only noticeable difference was his newfound preference for very rare steaks.
