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"Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to kill!"
"We were hundreds of feet up! Stan's not himself, and if I Stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used Avada Kedavra! Expelliarmus saved me from Voldemort two years ago," Harry added defiantlyLupin was reminding him of the sneering Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry for wanting to teach Dumbledore's Army how to Disarm
"Yes, Harry," said Lupin with painful restraint, "and a great number of Death Eaters witnessed that happening! Forgive me, but it was a very unusual move then, under the imminent threat of deathRepeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who either witnessed or heard about the first occasion was close to suicidal!"
"So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?" said Harry angrily
"Of course not," said Lupin, "but the Death Eaters - frankly, most people! - would have expected you to attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!"
Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there was still a grain of defiance inside him
"I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there," said Harry, "That's Voldemort's job
Lupin's retort was lost: Finally succeeding in squeezing through the door, Hagrid staggered cartier santos white to a chair and sat down; it collapsed beneath himIgnoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry addressed Lupin again
"Will George be okay?"
All Lupin's frustration with Harry seemed to drain away at the question
"I think so, although there's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off -"
There was a scuffling from outsideLupin dived for the back door; Harry leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard
Two figures had appeared in the yard, and as Harry ran toward them he realized they were Hermione, now returning to her normal appearance, and Kingsley, both clutching a bent coat hanger, Hermione flung herself into Harry's arms, but Kingsley
showed no pleasure at the sight of any of themOver Hermione's shoulder Harry saw him raise his wand and point it at Lupin's chest
"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!"
"'Harry is the best hope we haveTrust him,'" said Lupin calmly
Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Lupin said, "It's him, I've checked!"
"All right, all right!" said Kingsley, stowing his wand back beneath his cloak, "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"
"So it seems," replied Lupin, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys
"Small comfort!" snarled Kingsley"Who else is back?"
"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me
Hermione stifled a little moan behind her hand
"What happened to you?" Lupin asked watch ballon de cartier Kingsley
"Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one," Kingsley reeled off, "and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quicklyRemus, he can -"
"Fly," supplied Harry"I saw him too, he came after Hagrid and me
"So that's why he left, to follow you!" said Kingsley, "I couldn't understand why he'd vanishedBut what made him change targets?"
"Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," said Lupin
"Stan?" repeated Hermione"But I thought he was in Azkaban?"
Kingsley let out a mirthless laugh
"Hermione, there's obviously been a mass breakout which the Ministry has hushed upTravers's hood fell off when I cursed him, he's supposed to be inside tooBut what happened to you, Remus? Where's George?"
"He lost an ear," said Lupin
"lost an \a150\a150 ?" repeated Hermione in a high voice
"Snape's work," said Lupin
"\iSnape?\i" shouted Harry"You didn't say -"
"He lost his hood during the chaseSectumsempra was always a specialty of Snape'sI wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood
Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the skyThere was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friendsWhere was Ron? Where were Fred and MrWeasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus?
"Harry, give fendi spy us a hand!" called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, in which he was stuck againGlad of something to do, Harry pulled him free, the headed through the empty kitchen and back into the sitting room, where MrsWeasley and Ginny were still tending to GeorgeWeasley had staunched his bleeding now, and by the lamplight Harry saw a clean gaping hole where George's ear had beenWeasley looked around and said, "I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark MagicBut it could've been so much worse
"Did I hear someone else in the yard?" Ginny asked
"Hermione and Kingsley," said Harry
"Thank goodness," Ginny whisperedThey looked at each other; Harry wanted to hug her, hold on to her; he did not even care much that MrsWeasley was there, but before he could act on the impulse, there was a great crash from the kitchen
"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"
Harry had never heard MrWeasley shout like that beforeHe burst into the living room, his bald patch gleaming with sweat, his spectacles askew, Fred right behind him, both pale but uninjured
"Arthur!" sobbed Mrs"Oh thank goodness!"
"How is he?"
MrWeasley dropped to his knees beside GeorgeFor the first time since Harry had known him, Fred seemed to be lost for wordsHe gaped over the back of the sofa at his twin's wound as if he could not believe what he was seeing
Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred buying chanel bags and their father's arrival, George stirred
"How do you feel, Georgie?" whispered Mrs
George's fingers groped for the side of his head
"Saintlike," he murmured
"What's wrong with him?" croaked Fred, looking terrified"Is his mind affected?"
"Saintlike," repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother\iHoley\i, Fred, geddit?"
MrsWeasley sobbed harder than everColor flooded Fred's pale face
"Pathetic," he told George"Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for \iholey\i?"
"Ah well," said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother"You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum
"Hi, Harry - you are Harry, right?"
"Yeah, I am," said Harry, moving closer to the sofa
"Well, at least we got you back okay," said George"Why aren't Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?"
"They're not back yet, George," said MrsHarry glanced at Ginny and motioned to her to accompany him back outsideAs they walked through the kitchen she said in a low voice
"Ron and Tonks should be back by nowThey didn't have a long journey; Auntie Muriel's not that far from hereHe had been trying to keep fear at bay ever since reaching the Burrow, but now it enveloped him, seeming to crawl over his skin, throbbing in his chest, clogging his throatAs they walked down the back steps into the dark yard, Ginny took his hand
Kingsley was striding backward and forward, glancing up at the sky every time he pleated miu miu handbag turne |
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