94 Diagon Alley

He rushed towards the medical wing.

It was the first time Gwen saw George look so pale, he seemed to pass out in the next second, and even his lips were trembling terribly.

"Where are the others...there were others on the ground..." Harry asked as he walked.

"Neville was also in the hospital, and Madam Pomfrey thought he would make a full recovery. Luna and Professor Flitwick were also knocked unconscious, but they were all fine, just a little weak. Flitwick insists on taking care of Ravenclaw students. Dead a Death Eater, hit by the flying Killing Curse from the big blond Death Eater - Harry, if we don't drink you The elixir, I think we must all be killed, those spells seem to be just a little bit short, just miss us—"

They arrived at the school hospital and opened the door, Neville and Luna were still asleep. Ron, Hermione, Tonks and Lupin gathered around the innermost bed. When they heard the door open, they all raised their heads. Hermione ran over and hugged Harry. Lupin also came over with a worried look on his face. Gwen and George cut the crowd to the hospital bed.

"Are you all right, Harry?"

"I'm fine...how's Bill?"

No one answered. Gwen saw a cracked, grotesque, unrecognizable face lying on the pillow. Madam Pomfrey was wiping his wounds with a pungent green salve. Gwen remembered Snape's flick of his wand, and Malfoy's wound cut by Shenfeng Wuying was healed.

"Is there any spell that will cure him directly?" she asked Madam Pomfrey carefully.

"There is no magic spell to heal these wounds," Madam Pomfrey said. "I have tried all the magics I know of, and none can heal a werewolf bite."

"But wasn't he bitten by a werewolf during a full moon?" said Ron, looking down at his brother's face as if he could heal his wounds with his eyes." El Greyback didn't turn into a wolf, so Bill certainly didn't turn into a—a real—”

He looked at Lupin a little uncertainly.

"Yes, I don't think Bill will become a real werewolf," Lupin said, "but that's not to say nothing has changed. These are spell wounds. They can't heal completely, And—and Bill might have some werewolf traits in the future."

"Dumbledore may know what to do," said Ron. "Where is he? Bill is on his orders to fight those lunatics, Dumbledore is responsible for him, he can't Just let it go—"

"Ron, Dumbledore is dead," said Ginny.

"Impossible!" Lupin turned frantically from Ginny to Harry, hoping he would deny it, but Harry didn't, Lupin slumped on the chair beside Bill's bed, his hands Cover your face. Harry had never seen Lupin get out of control. Harry felt as though he had seen something indecent, and he turned to meet Ron's gaze. They exchanged glances in silence, confirming what Ginny had said.

"How did he die?" Tonks whispered, "how did it happen?"

"Snape killed him," said Harry, "I was there and saw it with my own eyes. We went back to the Astronomy Tower together because the Dark Mark was there... Dumbledore's disease Now, he's weak, but I think when we heard someone running upstairs, he realized it was a trap. Dumbledore put a spell on me, I couldn't do anything, I was wearing invisibility Clothes—then Malfoy came in through the door, disarmed—"

Hermione covered her mouth suddenly, Ron sighed, and Gwen's lips were trembling.

"—more Death Eaters came—then Snape—Snape did it, Avada Throwback." Harry couldn't go on.

"Did you see his wand?" Gwen turned his head sharply and asked, "Is it really a life-suppressing spell? Is there any possibility..."

Harry gritted his teeth and shook his head: "The Avada Sorceress hit his chest, Dumbledore...dropped the Astronomy Tower..."

Gwen whimpered and covered her face, "Oh...then George and I both saw...his body on the lawn."

Mrs. Pomfrey burst into tears. After a long time, Professor McGonagall pushed the door and walked into the ward. Like the others, she also had post-battle marks on her body, some bruises on her face, and a torn robe.

"Molly and Arthur are coming this way," she said, and everyone turned to look at Bill. "Harry, what's the matter? I heard from Hagrid that you were with Professor Dumbledore when he--when that happened. Hagrid also said that Professor Snape seemed to be involved in--"

"Snape killed Dumbledore," said Harry.

McGonagall stared at him for a moment, then shook uneasily. Madam Pomfrey took a few steps forward, used magic to conjure a chair, and placed it behind McGonagall.

"Snape is a great master of closure," Lupin said, his voice shrill and different than usual. "It's a fact that we all know."

"But Dumbledore swears he's on our side!" Tonks whispered, "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we don't knew…"

"He always implied that he had unbreakable reasons to trust Snape," murmured Professor McGonagall, wiping the corners of his tearful eyes with a plaid handkerchief, "I mean...from Snape's historical performance...of course there will be doubts about him...but Dumbledore made it clear to me that Snape's confession was absolutely heartfelt...he didn't want to hear a bad word about him!"

"I would like to know how Snape persuaded him," Tonks said.

"I know," said Harry, and everyone turned to stare at him, "Snape broke the news to Voldemort, causing Voldemort to hunt down my parents. Then Snape told Dumbledore Lido, who was unaware of the consequences of what he did at the time, is very sorry that he leaked information, and he regrets their deaths."

"Dumbledore believed him?" Lupin asked in disbelief, "Dumbledore believed Snape sorry for James' death? Snape always hated James …”

"And he thought my mother was worthless," said Harry, "because she was Muggle-born...he called her 'Mudblood'..."

No one asked how Harry knew this, as if everyone was lost in terror and shock, trying to accept the absurdity of what had happened.

"It's all my fault," said Professor McGonagall suddenly, looking bewildered, twisting a wet handkerchief in her hands, "my fault, I let Fried Vy called Snape at night, and I asked him to help us! If I hadn't informed Snape what was going on here, he probably wouldn't have joined the Death Eaters. I think in Flitwick to tell him Before, Snape didn't know the Death Eaters were here, didn't know they were coming."

"It's not your fault, Minerva," Lupin affirmed. "We all needed more help at the time, and we're glad to know that Snape is coming..."

"Then, when he arrives, does he join the Death Eaters directly?" Harry asked, wanting to know every detail of Snape's treacherous and sinful details, desperately trying to gather more haters for him Reason, swearing revenge.

"I don't know exactly how it happened," said Professor McGonagall distractedly, "everything is confusing... Dumbledore said he was leaving the school for a while and let us patrol the corridors Just in case... Remus, Bill, and Nymphadora joined in... So we patrolled together. Everything seemed peaceful. All secret passages to the campus were blocked and we knew no one could fly Come in, every entrance into the castle is shrouded in powerful magic. I still haven't figured out how the Death Eaters got in..."

"I know," said Harry, speaking briefly of the magical passages of the pair of vanishing cabinets, "so they slipped in from the room of necessity."

He glanced at Ron and Hermione involuntarily, both of them looking very embarrassed.

"I screwed it up, Harry," said Ron frustratedly, "We did as you said, checked the Marauder's map and didn't see Malfoy on it, we thought He must be in the Room of Requirement, so I, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville ran over there to guard it...but let Malfoy slip through."

"We waited an hour and he came out of that room," Ginny said, "he was alone, holding that disgusting dry hand—"

"His 'Hand of Glory,'" said Ron, "only the one who holds it can see the light, remember?"

"Anyway," Hermione continued, "he must be checking if the Death Eaters are safe to slip in, because as soon as he saw us he threw something in the air and it was pitch black. group-"

"—stealth smoke/fog/bombs imported from Peru," said Ron bitterly, "Fred and George. You're all doing business with someone."

Fred and George fell silent for a rare moment, and Gwen put her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder to try to comfort him.

"We tried everything—fluorescence flashes, flames," Ginny said, "nothing could penetrate the darkness, so we had to fumble out of the hallway, listening to When someone rushed past. Obviously because Malfoy had a hand of honor, he could see and guide them, but we dared not cast any magic or throw anything for fear of hitting our own. When the hallway was lit, they all ran out."

"Fortunately," Lupin said hoarsely