[SSHP] End of life

This time it was Harry's turn to walk backwards.They eliminated traces bit by bit, and walked towards the square.The snow was still falling, and neither of them spoke so as not to hear the conversation in the supposedly empty space.

At this moment, Hermione stopped and grabbed Harry's arm tightly.Harry turned his head and saw Hermione quietly raised her finger in a "shh" motion at him.

Harry turned slowly, and the two moved cautiously sideways to clear the way completely.He gripped his wand tightly, he wasn't afraid to fight, but he also hoped it was a false alarm.

Hermione stared intently into the distance.A figure suddenly burst into the colorful lights of the church. The figure was short and moving slowly. He was wearing a tattered khaki cloak, covering his face tightly.The dim light made it impossible for Harry to tell the gender of the figure, but he was sure in his heart that it was a woman.The woman hunched forward, shuffling her feet under the cloak with difficulty but not giving up, and then she turned slightly to face Harry and Hermione.There were deep and shallow marks on her back, especially one side, as if she had a bad leg and was trying to keep her balance so she wouldn't fall on the icy and snow-covered road.

Harry felt Hermione's hand tightening, and it hurt him a little.Her wand was raised to her chest.

"You think he's a wizard?" Hermione whispered in Harry's ear.

"I think so," Harry whispered.This way of speaking heightened the tension between the two of them, so Harry pushed Hermione's hand away and raised an eyebrow at her.

The woman approached slowly, but Harry thought of Ron.If it was Ron who comforted Hermione in this way, Hermione would definitely be furious. She was always more harsh on Ron than she was on Harry.

The woman staggered to the opposite side of them, only one road away from them.She raised a heavily gloved hand under her thick cloak and waved at them.With the movement, a few strands of withered yellow hair fell out from under her hood.

"Even if it's a wizard, he has no reason to see us!" said Hermione.Her free hand had already grasped the invisibility cloak tightly. It seemed that if she was convinced that the invisibility cloak would not work, she would immediately throw away the clothes that got in the way and cast a curse on the woman.

Harry remained silent.For some reason, he felt that the man knew where they were, how many of them there were, and who they were.She shouldn't know, because even if the invisibility cloak, which has never had a problem so far, loses its effect, she should only see a middle-aged couple foolishly standing by the side of the road holding a stick.

Harry suddenly thought of Dumbledore.Arranging someone to wait for them in Godric's Hollow for months and years, until they search the ruins and find nothing, and then appear in front of them and lead them to verify the answers to the questions they thought about during the search. Only Dumbledore has the ability to do it .The Invisibility Cloak had been in Dumbledore's hands for so many years that it wouldn't be too difficult to find a way or two to see them.

The woman was still waving, pointing exactly where they were.She wasn't close, Harry thought, they were looking at each other, through the darkness under the cloak and the cloak.

"Are you Bathilda Bagshot?" Harry asked suddenly.

The man didn't answer, just gave a tiny nod under the cloak.Harry turned his head to see Hermione's suspicious face.He nodded, and Hermione nodded nervously.

Harry and Hermione moved slowly towards Bagshot without taking off the cloak.Now Harry was sure Bagshot had some way of knowing where they were, because she turned slowly and staggered back the way she had come.Harry and Hermione glanced at each other under the cloak, each seeing undiminished alertness in each other's eyes.

******

In fact, Bagshot's home is not far from Dumbledore's house.Harry and Hermione followed Bagshot's writhing path through the snow, and after walking for a while they saw an old house that clearly belonged to a wizard.Maybe it was Bagshot's age, or maybe it was wizards' usual slovenliness, and the yard was full of tangled vines that Harry and Hermione had to push through as they walked.

Bagshot stopped at the door.Harry saw her hands fumbling along the side of her cloak, and he quietly raised his wand.But Bagshot just took off his glove and took out the key.Slowly and awkwardly she opened the door and motioned for them to enter.The Horcrux trembled slightly as it passed Bagshot's side, and Harry clearly smelled an unpleasant smell, like an old man, or something rotting on her body.Under the snowy light, her knuckles turned a strange blue color, and there were spots of dark green and dark brown spots on the back of her hand.

The house is messy, like someone threw a tantrum in the middle of the house and smashed things, and they haven't had time to clean it up.In addition to the smell of dirty clothes and dust, Harry could faintly smell spoiled food.Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak and looked at Hermione.There was a candle burning in a corner of the room, and there was only one candle stump left. The flame was flickering, and the unique smoke from the candle burned to the end, which made Harry feel a little smoky.

Hermione, still holding her wand firmly in one hand, had the cloak draped over her arm and was stuffing the little finger of the wand-holding hand into the beaded pouch.Bagshot closed the door beside her, and for a split second the fire flickered violently and Harry jumped.

Bagshot walked slowly between Harry and Hermione, towards what appeared to be a living room.Harry and Hermione looked at each other and followed cautiously.Once inside, the smell of spoiled food intensified, choking Harry.Who would let food spoil like this?She clearly still retains the ability to move.

Hermione stopped at the door and gave Harry a gentle tug.Bagshot was lighting a candle tremblingly, and she was trembling out of alignment, and the match looked almost on the verge of igniting the dirty lace of her cuff.Seeing Harry looking back at her, Hermione quietly pointed to the table in front of her with her chin.There was a spherical thing on the table, one side was shriveled and covered with green hairs.The cheese was moldy too, a bitten piece of bread fell on the floor, and the jam jar was still open.The ground was covered with dust.

"Are you sure this is all right?" Hermione whispered.

"Perhaps, but we'll have to try," replied Harry. "Let me do it." He reminded Bagshot loudly as he went to get matches and light all the candles in the house one by one.

When he got to the edge of the window sill, Harry stopped.Under the light of the fire, a curved box is very dazzling.But the point was not there, he saw some photos scattered beside the curved box, his hands were shaking more than Bagshot, he managed to light the candle stub in the shallow dish, and immediately stretched out his hand impatiently and grabbed a photo frame.

The picture frame had only a glass surface and four frames, and it was placed diagonally on top of a stack of books.There is no support behind the frame, it is actually the surface cut from a full frame.The picture shows a boy with blond hair, grinning happily.Harry recognized at a glance that it was the boy who seemed to be very close to Dumbledore arm in arm in the book. He was the young Grindelwald.

"Bashshot—ma'am, er, miss?" Harry pinched the frame, wondering if it was the one stolen from Dumbledore's bedroom tabletop. "Who is this person?"

"Harry?" Hermione was on the other side of the room, and she had just lit the fireplace.

Bagshot stared at the photograph with his eyes wide open, then at Harry.Her face looked blank in the firelight.

"Who is this, and what's his name?" Harry tried his best to control his eagerness, and spoke as slowly as possible.He hadn't seen a single sign that Bagshot was going to give him anything since entering the house. It was hard to believe that Dumbledore would entrust such an important task to such a bewildered person.If this was the tip Dumbledore gave him, would he still want to break into Nurmengard Prison and take the props to destroy the second Dark Lord from the hands of the first Dark Lord?But where is Nurmengard Prison?

Bagshot walked up to Harry, and as she approached, the Horcrux in Harry's chest began to throb uncomfortably again.Can a Horcrux feel the approach of what destroys it?With vague anticipation, Harry held the photograph closer to Bagshot.But Bagshot didn't look at the picture again, she raised her hand, pointed to Harry, then to herself, and finally to the hall.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, "You want me to follow you?"

"Okay, let's go," said Hermione, standing up from the fireplace.

Bagshot began to shake his head, repeating what he had just done.

"You want me to follow you by myself?" said Harry.

"Why?" Hermione demanded loudly.

Bagshot didn't seem to hear Hermione's question, stared at Harry and nodded.The two looked at each other for a while.

"Lead the way," said Harry.

Bagshot turned and walked out of the newly brightened room.Harry was about to follow when Hermione ran up from behind and grabbed him: "You really think she knows who you are?"

"Yes," said Harry, "she's going to give me the sword, and only me, perhaps Dumbledore told her to. But he also knows I'll tell you everything. I'll be down soon."

"Okay." Hermione said, frowning, watching Bagshot staggering forward. "You have to hurry up. And, if there is danger, you must remember to call me in time."

Harry nodded, and smiled at Hermione to reassure her.Bagshot had moved to the edge of the stairs and was looking at Harry with cloudy eyes.Seeing Harry following, she turned and began to climb the stairs slowly.The stairs creaked under her feet, and Harry followed Bagshot with his hands half-open, fearful that Bagshot would suddenly fall.

A minute later, Harry climbed to the bottom of the stairs.Bagshot turned left and led him into a small room with a low ceiling. She was standing in the doorway, and Harry made sure she wanted to go in himself, and walked past Bagshot.As it passed her, the locket danced restlessly again.

It was very dark in the room, and there was a small window in the wall, but no light came in.Bagshot closed the door behind him, and the room was plunged into absolute darkness.

"Lumos," said Harry.When the fluorescent lights came on, he was surprised to find that Bagshot had already walked in front of him, and he did not hear her approaching.

"Do you have something for me?" he asked impatiently.Bagshot never said a word from beginning to end, including this room, everything gave him a strong sense of depression.He really wanted to get his stuff and get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Potter?" Bagshot asked hoarsely.Harry nodded.

"Yes, I am." Seeing that Bagshot seemed to be fully focused by the light on the tip of his wand, Harry could only add, "So do you have something for me?"

The raised question seemed to finally distract Bagshot's attention from the spot of fluorescent light.She raised a trembling withered hand and pointed to a pile of dirty clothes in the corner.

No one would try to find anything here, Harry thought, it was a perfectly safe place.He walked towards the corner where the pile of dirty clothes was, and glanced at the full-length mirror by the wall.To his surprise, Bagshot raised his right hand, and at some point a wand appeared in his hand, pointing right at his back.

Harry yelled and rolled sideways on the spot.Bagshot's spell hit the clump of dirty clothes, and there was no ruby-encrusted silver sword Harry had expected underneath it.There's nothing down there.

"What do you want!?" Harry roared in surprise and anger, standing up quickly. "Harry?" he heard Hermione scream from downstairs.

"What do you mean?" Harry gripped his wand tightly, spread his hands in a harmless motion, in a futile attempt to make one last effort, "do you have anything for me at all, and where? Do you want What do you want me to do?"

Bagshot stared at him with glazed eyes, expressionless, as if she didn't understand what he was saying, but the aggression she showed was unmistakable.She held her wand in one hand like a chicken paw, pointing tremblingly at Harry's face no matter what he said or how friendly she tried to be.

At this moment, Hermione rushed upstairs calling Harry's name, her footsteps thumping in the low corridor.Bagshot's wand was turned towards the door.

"No!" Harry yelled, trying to stop Bagshot from accidentally hitting Hermione.But Bagshot's spell outpaced him, and a ray of light hit Harry in the ribs, sending him flying backwards, hitting the wall hard.

Harry fell to the ground. Bagshot's spell was so powerful that he fell to pieces and knocked his back against the corner of the full-length mirror, and the pain was so great that he couldn't control his body.Hermione blasted the door open, and her instant spell collided with Bagshot's, sending sparks igniting what looked like a tattered rag.Then came the second and third times.

After three duels, Hermione was clearly at a disadvantage. Bagshot's strangely radiant spell cut off the hair on Hermione's ears that had grown longer in the past few months.Harry felt the Horcrux in his chest beating very hard, like a small heart growing outside his body.

He got up from the ground, grabbed Bagshot's long hair, and pulled back hard.Bagshot was approaching Hermione step by step, and caught off guard, his body fell backwards along with Harry's strength.She raised her hand upwards, and the light from the wand hit the junction of the wall and the ceiling.There was a muffled sound, and dust flew up.

Hermione screamed.

For a moment, smoke and dust covered Hermione's figure.Harry roared in horror and anger, and a fire rushed up in his heart.Bagshot made a sound that was almost hissing, not like a human voice, but like a snake spitting out a letter.She waved her hands in the air a few times to maintain her balance, then turned her head and grabbed Harry violently.

The moment Bagshot's hand touched Harry's chest, Harry's knee finally managed to lift to the height he wanted.With a bang, Bagshot's head and body formed a strange ninety-degree angle with Harry's knee as the fulcrum.Hermione finally moved, coughing and crawling out of the dust.A large piece of the ceiling caved in behind her, and scattered snowflakes fell from the hole.

Harry gasped.Everything happened in just two seconds, and he hadn't even felt the fear of killing someone himself.Bagshot's hair in his hand was like a handful of dry grass, the unpleasant smell became stronger, and the Horcrux became very active.He dropped the head, and Bagshot's body fell to the floor at a contorted angle.The rotting wooden floors creaked loudly.

The dull sound of flesh falling to the ground attracted Hermione.She covered her mouth and stared intently at the corpse on the ground with its head and body folded in two.

The accident happened so suddenly that Harry hadn't fully reacted to it yet. He didn't really realize that he had just killed a wizard who was indiscriminate, but at least not convicted.Seeing Hermione holding her wand and making no sound, he staggered to the desk clutching his ribs, trying to see if there were any clues in the musty pile of parchment.

The disgusting feel of the dry hair still remained in the palm of his hand, Harry stepped over the corpse without hesitation.As soon as she took one foot over, Hermione yelled, "Harry, get out of the way!"

Harry was taken aback for a moment, and then he realized what was under his feet. Even if Bagshot was disgusting, he couldn't treat the corpse of an elder like this, either forward or backward.In just a moment, Hermione's wand was raised, throwing a beam of light at his feet.

Hearing the rustling sound of something rubbing against the wooden floor under his feet, Harry's heart trembled, and he quickly raised his foot to jump over and look back at Bagshot's body.Before he could lift his feet, something under his feet suddenly jumped up and hit him, causing him to lean sideways and almost split his arms on the floor.The light was dodged.

Harry spread his hands unconsciously, trying to maintain his balance.When he stretched out his hand, his movement was a bit violent, just pulling the injured muscle in his back, and he shivered with pain.But it was the head that hurt more than the muscles, and his scar suddenly felt like it was about to split open, and he had never hurt like this before.At the same time, Harry felt the Horcrux throbbing wildly in his chest.

Harry faintly heard voices as a sharp pain hit him.A cold male voice said in a high, excited voice, "Grab him!"

"What are you doing—!! Harry! Harry! Armor!"

Bagshot's corpse writhed strangely on the ground a few times, then stood upright suddenly, and something sprang out from the neck, shooting towards Harry like lightning.Harry subconsciously raised his arms in front of him, and there was a sharp pain in his forearm.The wand whirled into the air, and he flew backwards, past Hermione, and crashed into the cabinet.At the same moment, he saw a thick tail lashing out where Hermione had just stood, and because Hermione jumped away just in time, her spell missed and the window blew into pieces.

Harry struggled to stand up.In front of him stood a large snake, under which his wand was pinned, and which was writhing and looking for a chance to pounce, shaking its head held high.The fluorescent light at the tip of the wand was blocked by the snake's body from time to time, flickering on and off.The scar was in severe pain, so painful that red light appeared in front of his eyes, the Horcrux was beating, and the temperature was getting higher and higher, almost burning through his body.Hermione screamed something around him, lights, splinters of china or wood, broken fabric flying around, but he could only see them vaguely.His brain was filled with white light, he was flying, he was on the verge of laughing with joy.His goal was about to be achieved, he opened his hands, and faced the cold wind and darkness freely in the sky...

With a groan of pain, something hit Harry on the nose.The unpleasant smell was poured into the nostrils again, and there was a fishy and sticky liquid, and Harry was choked and coughed.Hermione pulled herself up from him, presumably it was Hermione's elbow that hit his nose just now.The big snake bounced on the ground, its tail frantically whipped around, and a shelf by the wall fell down.

Harry rolled on the spot, pulling Hermione past him.His scar was still hurting, and every movement brought a very severe bout of dizziness. "That's a snake! How can a snake use a spell?" cried Hermione.

"Here he comes! We have to hurry!" said Harry hurriedly.His own voice passed through his ears, and he heard the horror in it.

The big snake happened to be blocking the door, standing in the mess that was originally a desk, and opened its mouth furiously.Harry scanned the room quickly as the snake's head shot at him.

"Thunderbolt!" screamed Hermione.Her spell grazed the snake's head and broke the snake's letter, and it still bounced back and forth in the room unabated, leaving dust everywhere.Harry flinched, dragging Hermione to the window as fast as he could.Hermione was caught off guard, and staggered to follow him, and as she crossed the window sill, her body seemed to hit the window frame, and Harry felt resistance.But he didn't stop. Instead, he grabbed Hermione's hand with greater strength, and dragged Hermione into the night outside the window.

The author has something to say: I found that the summary of the content is really addictive, and I can't stop hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

In fact, I have a very tight schedule today, so I really didn't want to double update.The content feed makes me double update.laugh.

Snakes can use magic spells... Of course they don't use them in the original book, but they didn't say they couldn't be used, right? After all, there is still a soul piece in Nagini's place.laugh.