𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 | 𝐟. 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

{ 75 }

── ⲇ ──

Y/n stared at the man with the twisted grin. She kept a hold on Harry's arm. Dumbledore stared at the man in disgust before turning to McGonagall. He asked her to stand guard. He dismissed Snape to get Madam Pomfrey.

"Miss Potter." He turned to her. His voice pulled her out of her shock and she turned to look at him with wide eyes. "Would you like to join Harry and I up to my office? Or perhaps you'd like to rest."

Y/n stayed silent for a moment. "I'll... I'll join you..." she nodded slightly. Dumbledore nodded and led her and Harry to his office.

"Sirius is waiting." Dumbledore informed them.

Y/n kept her grip on Harry. He was shaking. And he was tired. He wanted nothing more but for this nightmare to end.

── ⲇ ──

When they stepped into the office, Sirius immediately ran up to Harry. "Harry, are you alright? I knew it— I knew something like this would happen. What happened?"

"Sirius, he's quite shaken up right now." Y/n informed him, leading Harry over to a chair and sitting him down. "Take it easy." She spoke soothingly. Harry stared quietly at the floor.

Fawkes went and landed on his knee. Dumbledore sat across Harry at his desk.

"I need to know what happened after you touched the portkey." He told Harry.

"Professor, can't this way till the morning?" Y/n looked at Dumbledore. "Harry should rest." Sirius added, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."

Y/n stood beside Harry, gripping his hand gently. Harry looked at her through his hair before he gently cleared his throat to speak.

And he explained everything that happened in the cemetery.

He told them about Cedric's death.
Voldemort's return. The death eaters gathering.

When Harry mentioned Wormtail and how he pierced Harry's arm with a dagger, Sirius let out a shout which shocked them all in the room.

"He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used some‐ one else's," Harry told Dumbledore. "He said the protection my - my mother left in me - he'd have it too. And he was right - he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."

He then told them about Voldemort wanting to duel him. The wands had connected and he saw the ghosts of Cedric, Bertha Jorkins, the old man, and his parents. His grip on Y/n's hand lightly tightened when he mentioned their parents.

"The wands connected?" Sirius said, looking from Harry to Dumbledore. "Why?"

Harry looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face there was an arrested look.
"Priori Incantatem," he muttered.

His eyes gazed into Harry's and it was almost as though an invisible beam of understanding shot between them.

"The Reverse Spell effect?" said Sirius sharply.
"Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," he added, and he pointed at the scarlet-and- gold bird, perching peacefully on Harry's knee.