The Traitors [HP6] *EDITING*

Chapter 32- Harry's Final Trail

Harry had no idea how long it was from when he collapsed on the floor in the Great Hall to when he woke up on a cot, half-naked in the same exact spot. It was impossible to see the floor in the massive room since it was covered with small beds everywhere, each with its own student laying on top of it, in varying states of health. Some were all bandaged up like mummies, others only had a few scratches. Harry looked and saw that his arm had been reattached. He flexed the fingers a few times, just to be sure, and it worked perfectly. Laying back down on the cot, Harry's last thought before he fell asleep again was if now, with Dumbledore having shown whom he was truly allianced with, if good still had a chance over evil.

"Harry!" came a soft voice that felt like not too much later. "Harry... get up!"

After mumbling a few incoherent words, Harry sat up in his bed, rubbed his eyes, put on his glasses, and saw Professor McGonagall sitting down on his bed, with Ron on one side of her and Hermione and Cho on the other. All of them still had bandages on in random spots and Harry saw that most of the room had been cleared out. None of them were smiling, though, and Harry didn't blame them. What was there to smile about when the one person you always thought would be your leader, ally, and most importantly friend turned his back and you, and then punched you when you weren't looking?

"Well, it seems as though big heroes need big amounts of sleep," sighed Professor McGonagall, smiling for only the briefest of moments, then returning to her solemn face. "You were the last to fall in that battle and the last to wake up."

"At first, we weren't sure if you were going to," choked Cho.

"You gave us quite a scare," added Hermione.

"Yes, well... at least everything is okay now," said Ron, looking down.

"No, Ron," said Harry, standing up despite the pain in every bone and muscle in

his body. "No... everything is not okay and it will never be okay ever again."

"You're right," sighed Professor McGonagall, not moving her face slightly away from Harry. "Nothing will ever be okay again, Harry. Now that Dumbledore is... gone shall I say? Well, now I'm not sure what is going to happen."

"I just don't get it," heaved Harry, wanting to tear all of his hair off of his head. "I

just don't get it! How could he... all this time? Every time he smiled at me, every time he even looked at me... how could I have known that behind that mask he was wearing there was another, totally different person?"

"You couldn't have," groaned the professor again, rubbing her legs and standing up. "No one ever expected anything like this. No one...."

"But I should have!" exclaimed Harry, getting pangs of guilt. "Last year, at the Charms O.W.L. exam, I should have known something was up when we were allowed to use killing curses! I should have known something wasn't quite right when I heard he was the one that instituted Extreme Quidditch! It's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault," said Cho, walking over to Harry and putting her arm around him. "It's not yours, mine, Ron, Hermione's, it's nobody's fault! The only person that is responsible for what happened is Dumbledore himself."

"Well, him, You-Know-Who, and Quirrell," added Professor McGonagall. "At least one of those three is gone. Quirrell fled last night, never to come back."

"Those three aside," continued Cho. "Who was the one who made them come over to his side in the first place? Dumbledore. He is the source of everything that has happened ever since You-Know-Who's rise to power, and he will continue to be the source. The only way to stop evil once and for all is to beat him."