Chapter 617

Harry rushed off, afraid that if he continued he wouldn’t be able to resist doing something strange. He never wanted the last impression he left on Ron to be hugging him and bawling his eyes out, with snot and tears streaming down his face.

“Professor.” He said under his breath, his heart thumping.

Felix nodded, still with a very little expression on his face, “Best to wait for everyone to leave, it’s better if we don’t attract too much attention.”

Harry watched Ron leave with the crowd, glancing at them suspiciously on his way out. Finally, the cheerful, lively atmosphere faded and Harry’s mood inevitably became lowered with the empty, silent great hall.

After a few more minutes, Felix led Harry away.

Harry followed along in a trance, those few minutes allowed the emotions that he had been deliberately suppressing over the summer to surface again, surging violently through his mind, and he felt like a drowning man, losing hope of survival little by little. As they walked past the dimly lit entrance hall and headed towards the Grand Staircase, Harry wondered a little, shouldn’t they be going outside?

Then he suddenly felt a sharp gaze staring at him from behind, and he jerked back to see a blurred, tall, dark figure standing motionlessly at the entrance to the dark underground staircase, staring blankly at him.

Harry tripped over the steps and when he looked up again the dark figure had disappeared and a cold chill ran through his hands and feet.

Felix stopped and looked over at the empty staircase thoughtfully.

“Severus.”

“That, that was Snape?” Harry asked in shock.

“It’s Professor Snape for you… probably because he’s worried.” Felix said uncertainly as they went up the stairs, Harry looked distracted, his mind intertwined with complicated thoughts, one thing Harry didn’t say was that he had just inexplicably thought of Ron’s Uncle Bilius.

Bilius had died twenty-four hours after having seen the Grim – which is a big black dog.

But there is more than one omen of death, Harry thought grumpily, thanks to Trelawney, who had taught him a lot about ‘ominous’ omens in class. Such a thing had happened to him in his third year, and Harry had been terrified by Sirius’ Animagus for a while. Credit for this goes to the fabulous divination class professor.

Luckily there is no need for him to attend her class this year.

But then Harry immediately felt depressed; would he be able to sit comfortably in class tomorrow? Maybe that would be a luxury for him unless he turned into a ghost like Moaning Myrtle … Not sure if Dudley would be able to see himself then?

“Keep up.”

Harry realized he was already half a staircase behind Professor Hap, and he quickened his pace.

“Where are we going, Professor?” To stop himself from drifting into a wild imagination, Harry asked a random question.

“Classroom seven.”

“Classroom seven?”

“Where else do you think we’re going?” Felix answered casually.

“I thought … well, it would be some hidden cave, a dungeon, or something like that.”

“Ah, you guessed it, didn’t you?” Felix smiled as they stopped at the door to classroom seven, “Dumbledore should already be in there.” Harry was surprised when he saw the dense pattern of runes condensing on Professor Hap’s fingertips.

“A necessary measure,” the smile on Felix’s face became more pronounced, “It is actually possible to open the door with a key, but I find this more convenient.”

“Is that how the students are going to get in too?” Harry asked, doubting that anyone except Hermione could get in.

“Huh, didn’t Dumbledore mention that at the dinner? Classroom seven is closed to the public this year, part of its function is placed next door … go ahead.” The door opened and Felix held it open, allowing Harry to enter first.

Harry walked in silently.

“Voldemort is being locked up here?” He asked all of a sudden.

“That’s right, we’ve arrived.”

Harry expected to see a ring, or a cage or something, and then Dumbledore and Professor Hap would stand back and watch him wrestle Voldemort as the only spectators, but the reality was quite different; Dumbledore stood calmly in front of the door of a small two-storey building, arms folded in front of his beard, humming a pleasant little tune as if he hadn’t yet been withdrawn from the merry atmosphere of the dinner party.

“Harry,” Dumbledore said in a brisk tone, “I know you’re full of questions, but I want you to keep your cool and not scream out loud next.”

After saying that he moved out of the way.

Harry’s eyes went wide and a scream shot up his throat – he saw Voldemort, limbs dangling helplessly towards the ground, his whole body hovering in mid-air, being swallowed by a silvery, transparent slowly rotating Ouroboros snake that was even bigger than the Basilisk.

The room shimmered with colourful dots of light that merged dreamily into the body of the Ouroboros snake.

“This is-”

“Voldemort’s private prison. He’s completely imprisoned, from his magic to his body, including his consciousness.” Felix said briefly, “Feel it carefully.”

Harry was a little unsure, and all he could do was clutch his wand.

Felix and Dumbledore looked at each other. Dumbledore gently said, “No, Harry, you don’t need your wand – feel it with your heart.”

Harry’s mind twitched as he noticed the anomaly. “I … er,” he looked at the two men uncertainly, “I seem to be able to sense the snake …”

Felix laughed.

“Because that has your emotions in it. This Ouroboros Patronus – let’s call it that for now – it’s actually made up of multiple Patronus-like magics, you read the information I gave you right? Then you should be able to understand it.”

Harry thought back carefully for a moment.

“Patronus requires positive emotions, but Professor you can substitute other emotions, as you have demonstrated previously at the club … and they can also be fused together?”

Harry imagined a scene in his head where there are few – or even a dozen – different-looking Patronus pieced together, and for the first time, he felt his brain was running out of steam and wondered if the Patronus book he had written had become outdated.

“It’s hard,” Felix said with a sigh, “some things have little to do with magic, and not surprisingly those little ones don’t listen to each other – they’re all products of strong emotions, and I need to find a single much more strong emotion that can lead them towards a common goal, a one with leadership character.”

Harry froze for a moment as he asked tentatively, “You mean … me?”

“It’s your patronus.” Felix corrected, “How can I put it? Emotions don’t lie, especially to themselves, and even though I also detest Voldemort from the bottom of my heart, it’s still hard to wholeheartedly burst with strong emotion while confronting him since I don’t hate him that deeply …”

Harry understood it fully.

“… Is that why you spent the last period of the school year collecting my Patronus?”

“That’s right, but the emotions are already used up.”

“Used up?” Harry repeated hoarsely, not understanding why his voice had suddenly started to tremble, “So you called me over because of this – to replenish emotional energy? Only I can do that, yeah … let’s see, because he killed my parents and tried to kill me, but unfortunately, it only left a scar on my forehead, oh I almost forgot, this scar is most important … since there is a little piece of Voldemort’s soul hidden deep inside.”

Felix looked surprised and couldn’t help but exchange a look with Dumbledore. Which seemed to ask – have you told Harry?

“Severus told you?” Dumbledore asked, the cheerfulness on his face fading.

“I saw it myself, through his memories, and yes, I know it all.” Harry said through clenched teeth, his voice involuntarily rising, “The very day you captured Voldemort. It looks like Snape didn’t tell you guys, I guess he didn’t know what to do with the situation, just like I did …”

“Who else have you told about this, Harry? It’s important.” Dumbledore asked with a serious expression.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell anyone, I even used the Occlumency you guys gave me,” Harry said agitatedly, trembling, but not out of fear, “I only have one question now, when am I going to die?”

“Harry-” Dumbledore spoke with difficulty.

“I understand, that’s my destiny and the whole point of me being alive, isn’t it?” Harry shouted, his long depression now finally found a vent for him to let it out, “But until then, I think I’ll live a little longer because … because of my Patronus.”

“Expecto Patronum!” He shouted and raised his wand, a majestic stag burst out of the tip, it stood in front of its master like true life, a true Patronus, and from its body, a bright light blossomed and the whole of the classroom seven enveloped.

Harry calmed down. He waved his wand and the silver stag kept skipping through the air, when the ouroboros snake moved up, spitting out its own tail, then the huge snake’s eyes lowered and gazed at the stag, which had something in it that it craved.

The silvery Patronus rose into the mouth of the Snake and became one with it.

The Ouroboros snake raised its head sharply as if to let out a roar. Two bright lights shot out of its eyes and its body began to wriggle violently, even the Voldemort at the tip of its tail began to tremble, but in the next second, the Ouroboros once again swallowed Voldemort and its own tail.

Silence fell over Classroom Seven.

Harry spoke, the tone of his voice was deadly calm.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Constantly counting the dates in my head, thinking about it all through my birthday. Maybe you guys would have approached me on the first day of summer break, but you didn’t, and after that Professor Hap found me, but he was there for Mr. Bagshot, and I thought the Order of the Phoenix bonfire party would be a good time, but none of you showed up … I thought to myself, yeah, you might have been merciful and wanted me to celebrate my sixteenth birthday …”

“Was there ever a spark of hope left in me?”

“Maybe there was, but the last little bit disappeared, and I was well-prepared for it before I came. But it doesn’t seem like the right time right now, I just want you guys to make a decision quickly because … because I might suddenly change my mind one day and become unwilling to die, give me an exact date before I change my mind.”

Harry was unable to say any more, and through his wet eyes, he saw an equally tearful Dumbledore.

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