94 Diagon Alley

You don't feel comfortable staying out of trouble when you learn that others are in danger. At this point Harry noticed something strange in one of Dumbledore's hands, the calm old man looking at his right hand and wearing a ring on his index finger - Harry had never seen him wear it before. The ring was huge , like gold, of rough workmanship, with a heavy black stone with a crack in the center. Dumbledore's eyes spoiled his calm face, in fact, for the first time tonight he showed guilt and sadness.

"You shouldn't think you have to go to the Department of Mysteries tonight, though. If I could have a candid conversation with you before that, Harry, I should have done it, You could have known long ago that Voldemort might be trying to lure you to the Department of Mysteries so you wouldn't be tricked there tonight. And Sirius wouldn't be following you there. The fault was on me, on me alone. Sirius and I were on a…very necessary mission…and dangerous. If he hadn’t stopped me, our battle might have been lost before it even started…” Dumbledore closed his eyes in pain, but he made up his mind that he would not reveal more about the "mission" to Harry today.

Harry was still standing there holding the doorknob, but he didn't realize it. He stared at Dumbledore intently, almost holding his breath. He listened to Dumbledore, but basically didn't understand anything.

"Please sit down," said Dumbledore. He wasn't ordering Harry, he was begging him. Harry hesitated, and sat down opposite Dumbledore. "Do I understand," Phineas Nigellus said slowly to Harry's left, "that my great-great-grandson—the last of the Black family—is dead?"

Dumbledore didn't answer, Harry couldn't speak at all.

"I don't believe it," Phineas said gruffly.

Harry turned his head hastily to see Phineas striding away from his portrait. Harry knew he had visited another of his portraits in Grimmauld Place. At this moment, he may have to walk through every portrait, to call Sirius all over the house...

"Harry, I owe you an explanation," said Dumbledore, "an explanation for the mistakes older people make. Because I realize now, what I did and didn't do Those things about you that have the regrets of older people. Young people don't know what older people think or how they feel, but if older people forget when they were young What's the situation, then it's a big mistake... It seems that I can't remember it lately..."

The sun has risen; the mountains have a dazzling orange edge, and the sky above is colorless and bright. The light fell on Dumbledore, on his gray eyebrows, on his beard, and on his deep wrinkles.

"Fifteen years ago," said Dumbledore, "when I saw the scar on your forehead, I was guessing what it meant. I thought it might be your relationship with Voldemort. There is some kind of connection between them.”

"You told me this before, Professor." Harry said bluntly. He didn't care about his rudeness at all. He doesn't care about anything anymore.

"Yes," said Dumbledore apologetically, "yes, but you see—it's necessary to start with your scars. Because obviously, before you return to the wizarding world, Soon after, my suspicions were confirmed, and you could feel Voldemort's presence, even if he was disguised, and when he was in high spirits, you could know how he felt. Since he was back in his body, recovering With his full power, this ability of yours becomes more and more pronounced."

Harry didn't nod. He already knew what Dumbledore said.

"Recently," Dumbledore continued, "I started to worry that Voldemort might realize that there is such a connection between you. Sure enough, once he sensed your presence, it was you By the time it got into his head and mind, I mean, of course, the night you witnessed Weasley being attacked."

"Yes, Snape told me," Harry muttered.

"It's Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore corrected him in a low voice, "Have you ever wondered why it wasn't me who explained this to you? Why didn't I personally Teach you Occlumency? Why haven't I even looked at you for months?"

Harry raised his eyes and saw the sadness and exhaustion on Dumbledore's face at this time.

"Yes," Harry muttered, "Yes, I thought about it."

"You see," Dumbledore continued, "Voldemort intends to enter your mind, control and mislead your mind, and I believe he had this idea not long ago, I Don't want his desire to get stronger. I'm sure if he knew that our relationship - now and then, is much more intimate than the principal-student relationship should be - he'd grab it Take advantage of the opportunity to use you to spy on me. I fear that he will use you, that he will try to control you. Harry, I think I am right in thinking that, Voldemort will use you in this way. The few times we've met, I think I've seen his shadow dangle behind your eyes..."

Harry remembered that every time he made eye contact with Dumbledore during this time, he always felt a lurking snake in his body awake, ready to attack.

"As Voldemort proved tonight, he controls you not to destroy me, but to destroy you. Just when he was temporarily controlling you, he hoped that I would Sacrifice you to kill him."

He sighed deeply. Harry listened to the words indifferently. If it was a few months ago, he must have been very interested in these things, but now, compared with the deep wounds in his heart caused by the loss of Sirius, these are meaningless and irrelevant..." Sirius told Me, on the night you saw Weasley being attacked, you felt Voldemort awaken in you. Immediately I realized that my worst fears were fulfilled: Voldemort already knew he could use you. To improve you To defend against Voldemort's intrusion into the brain, I arranged for Professor Snape to teach you Occlumency."

"Professor Snape found," Dumbledore continued, "that you have been dreaming of the doors of the Department of Mysteries for months. Of course, since Voldemort regained his body, Just thinking about being able to hear the prophecy; so when he pays close attention to that door, you will pay attention, even though you don't know what that means."

"Then you see Rookwood, who worked in the Department of Mysteries before his arrest, and you see him telling Voldemort what we already knew - that the orb of prophecy was stored in the Ministry, Being so heavily guarded, that only those involved in the prophecy could take them off the shelf without suffering. Because of this, either Voldemort risked eventual exposure by himself to the Ministry of Magic—or It's up to you to do it for him. So mastering Occlumency becomes your priority."

"But, I don't," Harry muttered. His voice was loud, and he wanted to relieve the heavy guilt in his heart in this way: frankly speaking, it must relieve some of the terrible pressure that had accumulated in his heart. "I didn't practice, I didn't take it to heart, I was able to keep myself from having this dream, and Hermione kept reminding me. If I did, he wouldn't be able to tell me where to go, and - Sirius, too. No--Sirius won't--"

Something went in Harry's head: he needed to prove himself, he needed to explain - "I tried to find out if he really caught Sirius, I went to Umbridge office, I asked Kreacher over the fire, and he said Sirius wasn't there, he was gone!"

"Kreacher wasn't lying, because Sirius and I were somewhere else," Dumbledore said quietly, "but he guided you to act on Voldemort's mind. You are not his master. , he tricked you into not punishing himself. Kreacher deliberately wanted you to go to the Ministry of Magic."

"He—he did it on purpose?"

"Oh, yes. I'm afraid Kreacher has been a servant and a master these months."

"How come?" Harry said blankly. "He hasn't left Grimmauld Place in all these years."

"Just before Christmas, Kreacher took a brief opportunity." Dumbledore said, "When Sirius yelled at him 'get out', he caught the words, misinterpreting it as an order to leave the house. He went to Blake's cousin, Narcissa, Bellatrix's sister and wife of Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa The only member of the Black family who can give him some respect..."

"How did you know?" Harry asked, pounding and feeling uncomfortable. He remembered worrying about Kreacher's inexplicable disappearance at Christmas, and then suddenly reappearing in the attic...

"Kreacher told me last night," said Dumbledore, "you know, after you gave Professor Snape that vague reminder, he realized that you had seen little The scene of Sirius being held in the Department of Mysteries. He, like you, wants to get in touch with Sirius right away. Let me make a point that the members of the Order of the Phoenix have Bidolores Umri