Book Seven, Chapter Seventeen Excerpt

Well hey readers! As I said, I am going to do a Harry Potter book excerpt tonight! This one is special though. Why? Well if you cannot recognize the above image, it is from Deathly Hallows. Yeah, that is right my very first Book Excerpt here on Potter's Army from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I hope you will enjoy the selection I have picked out for you tonight. Remember though that I do not own any of the rights to the following selection. Jo Rowling and all of her publisher's own the rights to this book. I am just putting it up here for a fun little excerpt once and awhile. So enjoy!

BOOK EXCERPT:

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

CHAPTER 17 (starts on page 346)

BATHILDA'S SECRET

"We got away."
"Yes," said Hermione. "I had to use a Hover Charm to get you into your bunk, I couldn't lift you. You've been. . . Well, you haven't been quite. . . . ."
There were purple shadows under her brown eyes and he noticed a small sponge in her hand: She had been wiping her face.
"You've been ill," she finished. "Quite ill."
"How long ago did we leave?"
"Hours ago. It's nearly morning."
"And I've been. . . .what, unconscious?"
"Not exactly," said Hermione uncomfortably. "You've been shouting and moaning and . . . things," she added in a tone that made Harry feel uneasy. What had he done? Screamed cruses like Voldemort, cried like the baby in the crib?
"I couldn't get the Horcrux off you," Hermione said, and he knew she wanted to change the subject. "It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You've got a mark; I'm sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you too, but I've cleaned the wound and put some dittany on it. . . ."
He pulled the sweaty T-shirt he was wearing away from himself and looked down. There was a scarlet oval over his heart where the locket had burned him. He could also see the hale-healed puncture marks to his forearm.
"Where've you put the Horcrux?"
"In my bag. I think we should keep it off for awhile."
He lay back on his pillows and looked into her pinched gray face.
"We shouldn't have gone to Godric's Hollow. It's my fault, it's all my fault, Hermione, I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. I wanted to go too; I really thought Dumbledore might have left the sword there for you."
"Yeah well . . . we got that wrong, didn't we?"
"What happened Harry? What happened when she took you upstairs? Was the snake hiding somewhere? Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?"
"No," he said. "She was the snake. . . . or the snake was her. . . . all along."
"W-what?"
He closed his eyes. He could still smell Bathilda's house on him: It made the whole thing horribly vivid.
"Bathilda must've been dead a while. The snake was . . . was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in Godric's Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I'd go back."
"The snake was inside her?"
He opened his eyes again: Hermione looked revolted, nauseated.
"Lupin said there would be magic we'd never imagined," Harry said. "She didn't want to talk in front of you, because it was Parseltongue, all Parseltongue, and I didn't realize, but of course I could understand her. Once we were up in the room, the snake sent a message to You-Know-Who, I heard it happen inside my head, I felt him get excited, he said to keep me there. . . and then . . ."
He remembered the snake coming out of Bathilda's neck: Hermione did not need to know the details.
". . . . she changed, changed into the snake, and attacked."
He looked down at the puncture marks.
"It wasn't supposed to kill me, just keep me there till You-Know-Who came."
If he only managed to kill the snake, it would have been worth it, all of it. . . . Sick at heart, he sat up and threw back the covers.
"Harry, no, I'm sure you ought to rest!"
"You're the one who need sleep. No offense, but you look terrible. I'm fine. I'll keep watch for a while. Where's my wand?"
She did not answer, she merely looked at him.
"Where's my wand, Hermione?"
She was biting her lip, and tears swam in her eyes.
"Harry. . ."
"Where's my wand?"
She reached down beside the bed and held it out to him.
The holly and phoenix wand was nearly severed in two. One being fragile strand of phoenix feather kept both pieces hanging together. The wood had splintered apart completely. Harry took it into his hands as though it was a living thing that had suffered a terrible injury. He could not think properly: Everything was a blur of panic and fear. Then he held out the wand to Hermione.
"Mend it. Please."
"Harry, I don;t think, when it's broken like this-"
"Please, Hermione, try!"
"R-Reparo."
The dangling half of the wand resealed itself. Harry held it up.
"Lumos!"
The wand sparked feebly, then went out. Harry pointed it at Hermione.
"Expelliarmus!"
Hermione's wand gave a little jerk, but did not leave her hand. The feeble attempt at magic was too much for Harry's wand, which split into two again. He stared at it, aghast, unable to take in what he was seeing. . . . the wand that had survived so much. . . ."
"Harry," Hermione whispered so quietly he could hardly hear her. "I'm so, so sorry. I think it was me. As we were leaving, you know, the snake was coming for us, and so I cast a Blasting Curse, and it rebounded everywhere, and it must have-must have hit-"
"It was an accident," said Harry mechanically. He felt empty, stunned. "We'll-we'll find a way to repair it."
"Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to," said Hermione, the tears triclking down her face. "Remember . . . . remember Ron? When he broke his wand, crashing the car? It was never the same again, he had to get a new one."
Harry thought of Olivander, kidnapped and held hostage by Voldemort; of Gergorovitch, who was dead. How was he supposed to find himself a new wand?
"Well," he said, in a falsely matter-of-fact voice, "well, I'll just borrow yours for now, then. While I keep watch."
Her face glazed with tears, Hermione handed over her wand, and he left her sitting beside his bed, desiring nothing more than to get away from her.

Well I hope you all enjoyed this Book Excerpt Blog Post! I know it was quite longer than usual ones, but I thought it should be special since it's my last double digit Blog Post! I will do another post tonight, and it will be EXTREMELY special because it is my 100th Blog Post! :) So, make sure you tune in for that tonight! :D Thanks for reading Potter's Army again, never would be where I am today with the blog if it wasn't for all of you!

Hpfan7

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