[SSHP] End of life

When Harry woke up the next day, he had missed breakfast and was curled up in bed, not wanting to move.

With his eyes closed, Harry vaguely recalled the events of the previous night, and found, unsurprisingly and desperately, that it was still true even hours later.

Snape was the one who told Voldemort the prophecy.Dumbledore insisted that he believed him.Dumbledore got back a Horcrux and was killed by Snape - it was his own incompetence that made Dumbledore choose to drink the potion himself, which made the great wizard powerless to resist.Malfoy was forced, shaking with fear.Snape was weeping in memory of Lily Potter, his own mother.The great halls of Hogwarts were shattered and Gryffindor's gigantic hourglass shattered.Neville was dead.Harry vaguely remembered asking yesterday who else had died, and no one had answered him.But when he passed by the other side of the medical wing, he saw several white sheets in a row.

Harry felt a stagnant calm.He suddenly remembered that in the firelight and darkness, the voice that was always whispering loudly growled at him: "Until you know to shut your mouth, shut your brain—"

Harry stretched out a finger and stroked lightly on the curtain of his bed.He half-opened his eyes, and all the memories seemed to be sealed in a glass fish tank, square, as tight as this bed.He carefully inspected the memory outside the glass, he could see the shaking figures, he could hear them talking, he could see their actions, but he was detached from his emotions.Clearing the mind and shutting down the feelings is actually not that difficult... Harry sat up suddenly, as if he was blessed with his soul, he stretched out his wand and tapped his temple, from the moment he stepped into Dumbledore's office until he left No. 12 Grimmauld Place , the memories in those fishbowls turned into strands of silver, floating and sticking to the tip of his wand.

Harry took out a glass bottle, put the memory in it and corked it.He had learned a new charm—no, perhaps not a new one.It's because he hasn't been practicing Occlumency properly.A long time ago, the book Hermione brought seemed to mention memory extraction, which is exactly what beginners in Occlumency can do.

He lay back on the bed and looked at the little glass bottle.The bottle was cold, and he played with it in his hand.He felt that after a night's rest, he could calm down and think carefully about his future actions.

Parents have passed away and will not be coming back.Even if the memory is pieced together to restore everything in their short life of more than 20 years, time cannot go backwards.Even if Snape really shed tears, even if Dumbledore said he was a spy, the only identity he can confirm is still a Death Eater, and he killed Dumbledore himself.The Malfoys were Death Eaters, and even if they weren't completely broken now, the timid Draco Malfoy's hands would get dirtier and dirtier over time.And Dumbledore, even though he never knew Dumbledore - no matter how much he concealed, whether he believed the wrong person or not, all these years of guidance and love were not fake.Their goals are also the same.

What Dumbledore entrusted to him must be done.The box that Dumbledore bought with his life was lying in his pocket at this moment, and he was surprised to find that it was fake in the chaos yesterday.

He needs to think hard.Use all the memories that Dumbledore gave him this school year, use these memories to find all the Horcruxes and destroy them.And in the end, maybe he'll need a face-to-face confrontation with Voldemort himself.Their leader is dead, and he is left alone because of the tasks he left behind, but he still has a long way to go.He couldn't turn back, maybe as early as the day his parents guarded him with their lives, maybe from the day he chose Gryffindor, maybe when he thought about it and decided to believe in Dumbledore and complete his mission started.

That's right.This is his mission.It doesn't matter who he's up against, who he's surrounded by, or even whether he survives in the end...he just has to keep his eyes on the mark, complete his journey, or fall in the middle.

Harry opened his eyes sleepily and blinked.He sat up and began to dress slowly.The dormitory was empty.Seamus and Neville would never come back again, their bed was still in the same state it was when they hurriedly got up last night, the quilt was thrown in a mess.He stared at the dropped corner of Seamus's bed curtain, which was buried under the fluffed-up quilt, and one of Neville's shoes thrown at the foot of Ron's bed.

Dean's bed was also empty, he wasn't in the dormitory.Harry had a vague recollection of waking up the night before to see Dean in the bed next to his, with no wounds on his body, allegedly passed out at the sight of Seamus' body.He is presumably still lying in the hospital wing.Ron tossed half the night yesterday and was still asleep at this time.

Harry walked out of Gryffindor Tower and up to the Astronomy Tower.Dumbledore fell from here, his robes, his hair and white beard fluttering in the wind, and his whole body was as fragile as a broken rag doll.The weather seems to be deliberately against the creatures. The colder and more hopeless the world is, the brighter the sun will be.Harry sat on the crenel of the wall where Dumbledore had fallen, moved forward a bit, and slowly dangled with his legs outside.

Dumbledore was dead... Sirius was dead, all dead.But he is alive, and many are alive.They still have to continue to endure life and continue the career that the dead can leave behind.When Sirius died, he thought he would never be happy again in this life, but he still came here.Maybe he can bear more than he imagined—now, he feels like a clock, counting down his life second by second, no happiness, no sadness, just walking along the established route step by step.No one knows whether his second hand will stop forever or start a new round of suffering when his second hand reaches zero.

Harry wiped his face as if there should be something on it.He stood up, took one last look at the fields and lake below, and walked down.

By the afternoon of this day, at least one fifteenth of the students had already been picked up by their parents.No one goes to class, neither the students nor the professors.Exams had been moved up to this weekend to make room for Dumbledore's funeral.Hermione didn't have the mood to study anymore, she would pull Harry and Ron to force them to study together day and night for each final exam, but she only spent two days in the library as usual, and she didn't even blame her friends for not being able to When there was no opportunity for love, he began to sit in the common room in a daze all day long, and sometimes looked at Harry with complicated, hesitant eyes.

The Monday after Dumbledore's death was sunny.The warm sunlight shone into the Gryffindor Tower through the windows of the dormitory, which was clear and transparent, no different from every midsummer afternoon, and everything was very peaceful.

Parents will come to Gryffindor on this day to sort out the belongings of the students who died in battle.In the Gryffindor common room, the students sat in silence.

A depressive atmosphere prevails during this time.Harry was annoyed by the constant interrogation, everyone wanted more details from him, and he repeated it until he couldn't speak anymore.But the listeners couldn't make any help to the status quo. They just listened to his story repeatedly, and then cried in despair, venting their confusion and fear.

He sat on the bed, unwilling to think about the funeral in the afternoon.Whenever he thought of them losing Dumbledore, he felt a chill run down his spine.He missed the summer vacation at The Burrow, when he had nothing to think about, nothing to worry about, just fly, play chess, eat with his belly open, and wait for the day when he could return to Hogwarts, his first home.He will see the principal, every professor he hates and likes, welcome the hard but happy study life.It's just that they ended before he had time to cherish them more.

Seamus' mother came earlier, alone.Dean sat facing Seamus' bed all night, with a pale face, and Ron helped Seamus' mother make the bed. His hands shook so badly that he dropped a book and apologized hastily.Neville's grandmother followed, the second time Harry saw the old woman, her head held high and her cane poking hard at the floor as she walked, as if she would lose her footing otherwise.

Harry helped Neville's grandmother organize Neville's things.Scrawled homework paper typed with a T, folded clothes on the corner of the bed that hadn't been put in the box yet, next to the pillow was the alarm clock and the memory ball that had become very old after six years.Neville didn't have much luggage. Among them was a small box filled with neatly folded candy wrappers, colorful, and each one was neatly marked with the date in the corner.

"I'm sorry..." Harry said softly, looking at the pile of candy wrappers.

"No!" the old woman screamed angrily, and Harry was surprised to see that her face was sad but proud. "My grandson was a hero! He died for Hogwarts, for the wizarding world of England! Fighting, unyielding, this is his nature! The Longbottoms are all brave Gryffindors!"

Harry stood aside, he was silent for a while, then picked up a red candy wrapper: "Can I have this?"

******

The funerals of Neville, Ernie, Seamus, Zacharias, and Anthony were held at Hogwarts at the same time as Dumbledore's funeral as ancillary to Dumbledore's funeral.As brave men who fought to defend their homeland from the Death Eaters, although their tombs are not in Hogwarts, a monument will be erected for them next to Dumbledore's White Tomb.

Zacharias is also an acquaintance of Harry's.Harry had always hated him, though, and there were hardly any good memories of him.He has a violent personality, often taunts Harry unceremoniously, and he can't do anything well.Harry felt that he would never forget Zacharias' sarcasm after the DA training and the provocation in the Quidditch match this school year. If he followed his own selfishness, he would definitely clear him out of the DA a hundred times .

He'd always thought Zacharias was a scumbag.I didn't expect that he would die here, in such a heroic way.On the second day when Hogwarts was attacked by Death Eaters, he helped the professors clean the remains of his classmates. Zacharias's body was covered in blood, and his right hand holding the wand was too tight to open.Probably because of Cruciatus, he bit his own lip.Harry looked at the coffins, shaking his head in pain.For the first time, he felt that it was too easy to judge others based on his intuitive feelings.Zacharias is forthright, brave, and he's a great Hufflepuff.Dissatisfaction with him seems to be nothing compared to these qualities.

Seamus' mother bent down in front of the coffin, watching Seamus' face silently.She stroked the light brown hair of her only son, and tears fell on his closed eyelids in strings, sliding down his pale and bloodless face.Hagrid was blowing his nose loudly, and McGonagall stood silently.Neville's grandma still wears her iconic vulture hat, which makes her at least look like she's holding her head high.

Harry saw this hat from a Boggart in his third year.At Christmas, Dumbledore also asked Snape to pass the big silver firecracker.Thinking back on those times now, it seems like a lifetime away.He couldn't imagine that he still had such a happy life, but those times really existed.He shivered under the hot sun, feeling that all the happiness in his life had been used up in the summer when he was 16 years old, and there would be no more in the future.

Even though no one was blaming him, Harry felt a pang of pain.Not the sharp pain of witnessing Dumbledore's death, nor the hysterical pain of Sirius' death.The pain was dull, and it seemed as if a piece of his heart had been emptied.If he hadn't called them out, if he was alone - he'd rather have been caught and slapped by Seamus' mother.

Hagrid walked towards a table with Dumbledore's body in his arms. His huge body was almost curled up, but it still made Dumbledore's body thin and small.Harry sat there without moving. He had wanted so much to see Dumbledore one last time, but he didn't want to look at him at all now, as if the burial meant that Dumbledore was really dead.The purple velvet was very tightly wrapped, and Harry stared at the velvet.All he could see was Hagrid's huge tears falling drop by drop on the golden stars.

The lawn was full of people.The wizards who came from all directions had no seats, and all stood side by side crowded together.Mermaids emerged from the beautiful green waters of the Black Lake, singing a mournful carol.The horsemen galloped from the depths of the Forbidden Forest, stood neatly on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and shot arrows into the sky.Everyone watched in silence, and at that moment, Harry felt that the rain of arrows disappearing into the sky could break the prophecy and change the trajectory of the stars.

—but in the end nothing happened.

In the rain of arrows and singing, there was a low sob among the students of Hogwarts. Some girls couldn't sit still and supported each other. Almost all the Slytherins were pale.Unlike the grief-stricken students and professors, the Ministry officials ahead sat upright, and Harry suspected they might feel quite relieved, perhaps happy, to be guided by Scrimgeour - now his biggest The enemy Dumbledore is dead.It's ridiculous, Dumbledore never thought of snatching the position of Minister of Magic, he loves the students, of course he will continue to be the headmaster of Hogwarts, even if he dies, he will not go to that dirty Ministry of Magic... he Will always be here, guarding his home.

Harry remembered Dumbledore saying long ago that he hadn't really gone as long as they remembered him.He didn't quite remember exactly what tone he used to say that sentence, he could only vaguely recall the meaning.

He is still here.No one can take his love away, not even death.Thinking of this, Harry suddenly felt a little more courageous.

Strength is gradually filling his body.All the dead, they are with him.They didn't leave him, did they?They just can't be touched anymore.

He can't predict the way ahead, but he still wants to fight this war.Even if it is never possible to tell the real winner or loser... At least when he is alive, the light will never be inferior to the darkness.He will keep fighting until one of them completely stops breathing.

Harry sat up straight in the hot sun.His skin was scorched hot by the sun, and the locket in his pocket was still cold, exuding the unique coldness of metal from the inside.He held the locket tightly, wound the chain around his fingers, unwound it, and wound it tightly again.One by one, speeches were being made at Dumbledore's tombstone, and Harry couldn't hear them clearly and didn't want to hear them.Surrounded by journalists, Dumbledore must have disliked the formality - he messed up every opening of the school year.Harry thought of Dumbledore's Dumbledore, sneeze, scum, and wringer in his first year, and smiled.

Maybe when it was all over, he could go back to Hogwarts, bring Dumbledore's portrait to see his tombstone, and let him talk to his own body.He'll love his idea.Maybe he never came back, and that was okay, there would be lots of students laughing and joking around, and Hagrid would always come to water his tombstone.He won't be alone.Those who wish to make a portrait can add some sweets to Dumbledore's frame.As far as Harry knew, Dumbledore seemed to have taken a liking to taffy again lately.