The Potions Master's Daughter (Book Five)

Chapter 45

"Are you alright?" asked McGonagall from above me.

Hagrid was on the side of Harry at the same time, "Come on, ye be alright."

I looked over at the rest of the hill, "Hagrid your house is on fire."

Without saying anything more I waved my hand and put out the fire, "No big deal I s'pose. Nothin' Dumbledore can't fix."

I stared up at Hagrid with surprisingly dry eyes, "Dumbledore was- he- he's dead Hagrid," Harry told him for me.

Hagrid's entire face dropped, "What do yeh mean? How's he dead?"

"Severus killed him," I said flatly standing up and brushing myself off, "That fucking disgrace killed the one good thing we had going for us. I am going to kill him if it's the last thing I do."

"He wouldn't have done that," McGonagall said disbelieving, "Dumbledore must've told Severus to go with the Death Eaters."

I shook my head and stared at her with no emotion other than fury on my face, "We both watched him kill Dumbledore. I assure you, he fooled us all."

"No," Hagrid muttered, "Dumbledore can't be dead."

"Let's get you two up to the castle, then Albus can explain to us what has happened," McGonagall said softly.

I just nodded. They were still in denial. I wish I could deny it all too. As we walked back up to the castle I saw the castle slowly coming to life as word got around that there was a Dark Mark looming high above Hogwarts.

Harry veered off our path to the front door and I saw where he was going. At the bottom of the Astronomy Tower there was s motionless lump laying on the ground. ALready a small group of people were gathering around it. I followed after him, with McGonagall and Hagrid right behind us.

The crowd seemed to part as Harry walked through it in a nearly dreamlike state to the figure on the ground.

"Oh!" gasped McGonagall but i hardly registered what she had said.

I was busy looking at the figure of Albus Dumbledore on the ground in front of me. His eyes were closed, but his limbs were at awkward angles from the fall he sustained. I stared at him for a long moment, trying to comprehend that this was a man that my own father had killed. That Albus Dumbledore would no longer be around to help me, or to annoy me.

Harry seems to be realizing the same thing, but he was reacting much worse than I was. He sat down next to Dumbledore and began to cry heavily. He wiped a bit of blood off of Dumbledore's cheek and positioned his glasses. I merely stood there, looking on with no emotion on my face, as though I still couldn't feel anything.

Suddenly Harry's hand darted out and snatched something off the ground-the locket. THe locket looked nothing like the one we had seen in the memory and I began to get a bad feeling in my stomach about all of this.

"Open it," I told him.

He opened the locket and a piece of paper fell out. My heart sunk even further as I began to read the words.

To the Dark Lord I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered 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.

"So this was all for nothing?" Harry asked bitterly.

I just shook my head and didn't say a word. I still was in awe of what had just happened in the past hour. MY entire life had changed irrevocably. Everything I had done, and DUmbledore had done to get this ticket was for nothing. Dumbledore was weak when He faced off against Draco, and Snape for nothing. There was nothing fair about this whole world, and I was sick of it.

"Harry come on, you need to get cleaned up and get some sleep," Ginny said softly taking his hand.

She led him away but I remained rooted on the ground beside Dumbledore's body. I sat there for what seemed like an eternity.