𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑

the one with the white tomb

“She was playing a dangerous
game without so much as
a glimpse in the rulebook.”

•

ALL LESSONS WERE suspended, all examinations postponed. Some students were hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days- the Patil twins were gone before breakfast on the morning following Dumbledore's death 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 which was resolved when she agreed that he could remain behind for the funeral. She had difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade, Seamus told us, for wizards and witches were pouring into the village, preparing to pay their last respects to Dumbledore.

Some excitement 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. I watched from a window of the hospital wing as a gigantic and handsome olive-skinned, black-haired woman descended the carriage steps and threw herself into the waiting Hagrid's arms.

Meanwhile a delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister for Magic himself, was being accommodated within the castle. Harry was diligently avoiding contact with any of them; he was sure that, as was I, sooner or later, he would be asked again to account for Dumbledore's last moments before death.

For whatever reason, good or bad, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, me and Draco were all sitting together, spending the last few moments. Unwillingly, Theo, Blaise and Pansy had joined us too, a little wary of the whole situation, and still a little angry at Harry. Pansy, who had been a part of the Battle last night, supporting the Order and fighting off Death Eaters after Draco rounded them up, had a long scar down her back, and was visible slightly from her low back dress, which was completely healed thanks to magic. She was among the only few who came when Draco called up the members of the Salazar's Army.

Bill was alright now, only getting an affinity for rare steak, just like I had said. He bore a strange resemblance to Mad Eye now, with his scars, but thankfully was still in possession of all limbs and eyes.

"I suppose I'm just going to have to accept that he really is going to marry her," Ginny sighed later that evening.

"She's not that bad," Theo prompted awkwardly.

"You had a crush on her when she came, Theo," Pansy sighed dramatically. "You really need to get someone your own height."

"I'm not that short!" he snapped.

"Really?" Ginny promoted looking at him with a raised brow. "Because I recall you struggling to get a book from the library."

"I got the book!"

"Only with magic," Ginny shrugged.

What surprised me was how well my two groups of friends, who were sworn enemies until the day before, got along. The tragic feeling that death really brings people closer dawned me.

"What," Hermione asked, and paused when all the Slytherins looked at her. "What made you want to help us? I thought Slytherins were. . . "

"Purists?" Pansy smirked. "We are. But sooner or later we had to accept that magic isn't genetic and can belong to whoever possesses it."

"We do believe," Blaise said serenely. "That magic is a treasure, and we must do whatever we can to keep it that way, treat it that way. But-" he paused abruptly, clearly not finding the right words.