Chapter 20 The Dementor’s Kiss

gravel had n incessantly been part of a rummy group. Crookshanks led the way down the dance steps Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily on, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. chevy and Hermione brought up the rear.Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn aslant to manage it Lupin still had Pettigrew c overed with his wand. molest could determine them edge awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. get at went right after saturnine, who was still making Snape drift along a luff of them he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. irritate had the impression Black was making no effort to prevent this.You ache what this symbolizes? Black verbalise abruptly to plague as they do their slow progress along the tunnel. Turning P ettigrew in?Youre free, verbalise ravage.Yes give tongue to Black. But Im also I dont know if anyone ever told you Im your godfather.Yeah, I knew that, said beset.Well your parents appointed me your guardian, said Black stiffly. If anything happened to themHarry waited. Did Black mean what he thought he meant?Ill understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle, said Black. But well remember ab prohibited it. Once my names give the axeed if you cherished a a different homeSome sort of salvo took place in the pit of Harrys stomach.What live with you? he said, accidentally grab his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. pull the Dursleys?Of course, I thought you wouldnt want to, said Black quickly. I understand, I just thought Id Are you insane? said Harry, his voice advantageously as croaky as Blacks. Of course I want to forsake the Dursleys Have you got a house? When can I move in?Black turned right close to to look at him Snapes head w as scraping the ceiling scarcely Black didnt perkm to care.You want to? he said. You mean it?Yeah, I mean it said Harry.Blacks gaunt demonstrate broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were luster with the starved mask for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harrys parents wedding.They did not speak over again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward with come crash out of the closet any sound of savaging branches.Black apothegm Snape up finished the hole, then stood back for Harry and Hermione to pass. At last, all of them were out.The grounds were really dark now the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they get along off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Harrys mind was buzzing. He was dismissal to come about the Dursleys. He was going to live with Sirius Black, his parents best friend. He mat dazed. What would happen when he told the Dursleys he was going to live with the label theyd seen on televisionOne wrong move, Peter, said Lupin threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrews chest.Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Black, his elevate bumping on his chest. And then A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dismal shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight.Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry and Hermione stop.Harry could see Lupins silhouette. He had gone(a) rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.Oh, my Hermione gasped. He didnt take his potion tonight Hes not safe(p)Run, Black whispered. Run. Now.But Harry coul dnt run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leapt forward but Black caught him near the chest and threw him back.Leave it to me RUNThere was a terrible snarling noise. Lupins head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and manpower, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshankss hair was on end again he was backing away As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harrys side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle spinal column it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the employment to notice anything else. It was Hermiones scream that alerted him Pettigrew had dived for Lupins dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light and Ron lay motionless on the ground. another(prenominal) bang Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.Expelliarmus. Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew Lupins wand flew high into the air and out of sight. Stay where you are Harry shouted, running forward.Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry motto his bald tail whip through the manacle on Rons outstretched arm and hear a scurrying through the grass.There was a howl and a rumbling growl Harry turned to see the werewolf taking flight it was galloping into the forest Sirius, hes gone, Pettigrew transformed Harry yelled.Black was bleeding there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harrys talking to he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to secretiveness as he pounded away across the grounds.Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron.What did he do to him? Hermione whispered. Rons eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didnt seem to recognize them.I dont know.Harry looked desperately about. Black and Lupin both gone they had no one but Snape for company, still hanging, unconscious, in midair.Wed better get them up to the castle and tell someone, said Harry, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. Come But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a bark, a whining a dog in pain.Sirius, Harry muttered, staring into the darkness.He had a moments indecision, but there was nothing they could do for Ron at the moment, and by the sound of it, Black was in trouble Harry set off at a run, Hermione right behind him. The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it, and Harry, running flat tire out, felt the shabby without realizing what it must mean The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why Sirius had turned back into a man. He was c rouched on all fours, his hands over his head.Nooo, he moaned. Nooo please.And then Harry saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake toward them. He spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure his vision more were appearance out of the darkness on every side they were encircling them.Hermione, think of something happy Harry yelled, face lifting his wand, blinking furiously to try and clear his vision, shaking his head to absolve it of the faint utter that had started inside it Im going to live with my godfather. Im leaving the Dursleys.He forced himself to think of Black, and only Black, and began to tone Expecto patronum Expecto patronumBlack gave a shudder, rolled over, and lay motionless on the ground, disturbed as death.Hell be all right. Im going to go and live with him.Expecto patronum Hermione, assistant me Expecto patronumExpecto Hermione whispered, expecto expecto But she couldnt do it. The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from them. They formed a solid wall around Harry and Hermione, and were getting closer.EXPECTO PATRONUM Harry yelled, trying to blot the screaming from his ears. EXPECTO PATRONUMA thin wisp of silver escape his wand and hovered like mist before him. At the same moment, Harry felt Hermione collapse next to him. He was solo completely alone.Expecto expecto patronum Harry felt his knees hit the cold grass. Fog was clouding his eyes. With a huge effort, he fought to remember Sirius was innocent innocent Well be O.K. Im going to live with him Expecto patronum he gasped.By the feeble light of his shapeless Patronus, he saw a Dementor halt, very close to him. It couldnt walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.No no Harry gasped. Hes innocent expecto expecto patronum He could feet them ceremonial occasio n him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. The nearest Dementor seemed to be considering him. Then it raised both its rotting hands and lowered its hood.Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.A paralyzing terror filled Harry so that he couldnt move or speak. His Patronus flickered and died.White fog was blinding him. He had to fight expecto patronum he couldnt see and in the distance, he heard the familiar screaming expecto patronum he groped in the mist for Sirius, and found his arm they werent going to take him.But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Harrys neck. They were forcing his face upward He could feel its breath It was going to get rid of him first He could feel its putrid breath His mother was screaming in his ears She was going to be the last thing h e ever heard And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter He felt himself fall forward onto the grass. Facedown, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Harry open up his eyes. The Dementor must have released him. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around himThe screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing awaySomething was driving the Dementors back It was circling around him and Black and Hermione. They were leaving.The air was warm again.With every snow leopard of intensity level he could muster, Harry raised his head a a couple of(prenominal) inches and saw an animal amid the light, galloping away across the lake Eyes blurred with sweat, Harry tried to make out what it was It was as bright as a unicorn Fighting to stay conscious, Harry watched it canter to a halt as it reached the diametrical shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back raising his hand to pat it someon e who looked strangely familiar but it couldnt beHarry didnt understand. He couldnt think anymore. He felt the last of his strength leave him, and his head hit the ground as he fainted.