The Deathly Hallows Read online

  He had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his past. No doubt it would have felt strange, impertinent even, but after all, it had been common knowledge that Dumbledore had taken part in that legendary duel with Grindelwald, and Harry had not thought to ask Dumbledore what that had been like, nor about any of his other famous achievements. No, they had always discussed Harry, Harry’s past, Harry’s future, Harry’s plans … and it seemed to Harry now, despite the fact that his future was so dangerous and so uncertain, that he had missed irreplaceable opportunities when he had failed to ask Dumbledore more about himself, even though the only personal question he had ever asked his Headmaster was also the only one he suspected that Dumbledore had not answered honestly:

  ‘What do you see when you look in the Mirror?’

  ‘I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks.’

  After several minutes’ thought, Harry tore the obituary out of the Prophet, folded it carefully and tucked it inside the first volume of Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts. Then he threw the rest of the newspaper on to the rubbish pile and turned to face the room. It was much tidier. The only things left out of place were today’s Daily Prophet, still lying on the bed and, on top of it, the piece of broken mirror.

  Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror fragment off today’s Prophet and unfolded the newspaper. He had merely glanced at the headline when he had taken the rolled-up paper from the delivery owl early that morning and thrown it aside, after noting that it said nothing about Voldemort. Harry was sure that the Ministry was leaning on the Prophet to suppress news about Voldemort. It was only now, therefore, that he saw what he had missed.

  Across the bottom half of the front page, a smaller headline was set over a picture of Dumbledore striding along looking harried: DUMBLEDORE – THE TRUTH AT LAST?

  Coming next week, the shocking story of the flawed genius considered by many to be the greatest wizard of his generation. Stripping away the popular image of serene, silver-bearded wisdom, Rita Skeeter reveals the disturbed childhood, the lawless youth, the lifelong feuds and the guilty secrets that Dumbledore carried to his grave. WHY was the man tipped to be Minister for Magic content to remain a mere headmaster? WHAT was the real purpose of the secret organisation known as the Order of the Phoenix? HOW did Dumbledore really meet his end?

  The answers to these, and many more questions are explored in the explosive new biography The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, by Rita Skeeter, exclusively interviewed by Betty Braithwaite, page 13, inside.

  Harry ripped open the paper and found page thirteen. The article was topped with a picture showing another familiar face: a woman wearing jewelled glasses with elaborately curled, blonde hair, her teeth bared in what was clearly supposed to be a winning smile, wiggling her fingers up at him. Doing his best to ignore this nauseating image, Harry read on.

  In person, Rita Skeeter is much warmer and softer than her famously ferocious quill-portraits might suggest. Greeting me in the hallway of her cosy home, she leads me straight into the kitchen for a cup of tea, a slice of pound cake and, it goes without saying, a steaming vat of freshest gossip.

  Well, of course, Dumbledore is a biographer’s dream,’ says Skeeter. ‘Such a long, full life. I’m sure my book will be the first of very, very many.’

  Skeeter was certainly quick off the mark. Her nine-hundred page book was completed a mere four weeks after Dumbledore’s mysterious death in June. I ask her how she managed this super-fast feat.

  ‘Oh, when you’ve been a journalist as long as I have, working to a deadline is second nature. I knew that the wizarding world was clamouring for the full story and I wanted to be the first to meet that need.’

  I mention the recent, widely publicised remarks of Elphias Doge, Special Advisor to the Wizengamot and long-standing friend of Albus Dumbledore’s, that ‘Skeeter’s book contains less fact than a Chocolate Frog Card.’

  Skeeter throws back her head and laughs.

  ‘Darling Dodgy! I remember interviewing him a few years back about merpeople rights, bless him. Completely gaga, seemed to think we were sitting at the bottom of Lake Windermere, kept telling me to watch out for trout.’

  And yet Elphias Doge’s accusations of inaccuracy have been echoed in many places. Does Skeeter really feel that four short weeks have been enough to gain a full picture of Dumbledore’s long and extraordinary life?

  ‘Oh, my dear,’ beams Skeeter, rapping me affectionately across the knuckles, ‘you know as well as I do how much information can be generated by a fat bag of Galleons, a refusal to hear the word “no” and a nice sharp Quick-Quotes Quill! People were queuing to dish the dirt on Dumbledore, anyway. Not everyone thought he was so wonderful, you know – he trod on an awful lot of important toes. But old Dodgy Doge can get off his high Hippogriff, because I’ve had access to a source most journalists would swap their wands for, one who has never spoken in public before and who was close to Dumbledore during the most turbulent and disturbing phase of his youth.’

  The advance publicity for Skeeter’s biography has certainly suggested that there will be shocks in store for those who believe Dumbledore to have led a blameless life. What were the biggest surprises she uncovered, I ask.

  ‘Now, come off it, Betty, I’m not giving away all the highlights before anybody’s bought the book!’ laughs Skeeter. ‘But I can promise that anybody who still thinks Dumbledore was white as his beard is in for a rude awakening! Let’s just say that nobody hearing him rage against You-Know-Who would have dreamed that he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth! And for a wizard who spent his later years pleading for tolerance, he wasn’t exactly broad-minded when he was younger! Yes, Albus Dumbledore had an extremely murky past, not to mention that very fishy family, which he worked so hard to keep hushed up.’

  I ask whether Skeeter is referring to Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth, whose conviction by the Wizengamot for misuse of magic caused a minor scandal fifteen years ago.

  ‘Oh, Aberforth is just the tip of the dungheap,’ laughs Skeeter. ‘No, no, I’m talking about much worse than a brother with a fondness for fiddling about with goats, worse even than the Muggle-maiming father – Dumbledore couldn’t keep either of them quiet, anyway, they were both charged by the Wizengamot. No, it’s the mother and the sister that intrigued me, and a little digging uncovered a positive nest of nastiness – but, as I say, you’ll have to wait for chapters nine to twelve for full details. All I can say now is, it’s no wonder Dumbledore never talked about how his nose got broken.’

  Family skeletons notwithstanding, does Skeeter deny the brilliance that led to Dumbledore’s many magical discoveries?

  ‘He had brains,’ she concedes, ‘although many now question whether he could really take full credit for all of his supposed achievements. As I reveal in chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already discovered eight uses of dragon’s blood when Dumbledore “borrowed” his papers.’

  But the importance of some of Dumbledore’s achievements cannot, I venture, be denied. What of his famous defeat of Grindelwald?

  ‘Oh, now, I’m glad you mentioned Grindelwald,’ says Skeeter, with a tantalising smile. ‘I’m afraid those who go dewy-eyed over Dumbledore’s spectacular victory must brace themselves for a bombshell – or perhaps a Dungbomb. Very dirty business indeed. All I’ll say is, don’t be so sure that there really was the spectacular duel of legend. After they’ve read my book, people may be forced to conclude that Grindelwald simply conjured a white handkerchief from the end of his wand and came quietly!’

  Skeeter refuses to give any more away on this intriguing subject, so we turn instead to the relationship that will undoubtedly fascinate her readers more than any other.

  ‘Oh yes,’ says Skeeter, nodding briskly, ‘I devote an entire chapter to the whole Potter–Dumbledore relationship. It’s been called unhealthy, even sinister. Again, your readers will have to buy my book for the whole story, but there is no question that
Dumbledore took an unnatural interest in Potter from the word go. Whether that was really in the boy’s best interests – well, we’ll see. It’s certainly an open secret that Potter has had a most troubled adolescence.’

  I ask whether Skeeter is still in touch with Harry Potter, whom she so famously interviewed last year: a breakthrough piece in which Potter spoke exclusively of his conviction that You-Know-Who had returned.

  ‘Oh, yes, we’ve developed a close bond,’ says Skeeter. ‘Poor Potter has few real friends, and we met at one of the most testing moments of his life – the Triwizard Tournament. I am probably one of the only people alive who can say that they know the real Harry Potter.’

  Which leads us neatly to the many rumours still circulating about Dumbledore’s final hours. Does Skeeter believe that Potter was there when Dumbledore died?

  ‘Well, I don’t want to say too much – it’s all in the book – but eye witnesses inside Hogwarts Castle saw Potter running away from the scene moments after Dumbledore fell, jumped or was pushed. Potter later gave evidence against Severus Snape, a man against whom he has a notorious grudge. Is everything as it seems? That is for the wizarding community to decide – once they’ve read my book.’

  On that intriguing note I take my leave. There can be no doubt that Skeeter has quilled an instant bestseller. Dumbledore’s legions of admirers, meanwhile, may well be trembling at what is soon to emerge about their hero.

  Harry reached the bottom of the article, but continued to stare blankly at the page. Revulsion and fury rose in him like vomit; he balled up the newspaper and threw it, with all his force, at the wall, where it joined the rest of the rubbish heaped around his overflowing bin. He began to stride blindly around the room, opening empty drawers and picking up books only to replace them on the same piles, barely conscious of what he was doing, as random phrases from Rita’s article echoed in his head: an entire chapter to the whole Potter–Dumbledore relationship … it’s been called unhealthy, even sinister … he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth … I’ve had access to a source most journalists would swap their wands for …

  ‘Lies!’ Harry bellowed, and through the window he saw the next-door neighbour, who had paused to restart his lawnmower, look up nervously.

  Harry sat down hard on the bed. The broken bit of mirror danced away from him; he picked it up and turned it over in his fingers, thinking, thinking of Dumbledore and the lies with which Rita Skeeter was defaming him …

  A flash of brightest blue. Harry froze, his cut finger slipping on the jagged edge of the mirror again. He had imagined it, he must have done. He glanced over his shoulder, but the wall was a sickly peach colour of Aunt Petunia’s choosing: there was nothing blue there for the mirror to reflect. He peered into the mirror fragment again, and saw nothing but his own bright green eye looking back at him.

  He had imagined it, there was no other explanation; imagined it, because he had been thinking of his dead Headmaster. If anything was certain, it was that the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore would never pierce him again.

  — CHAPTER THREE —

  The Dursleys Departing

  The sound of the front door slamming echoed up the stairs and a voice yelled, ‘Oi! You!’

  Sixteen years of being addressed thus left Harry in no doubt whom his uncle was calling; nevertheless, he did not immediately respond. He was still gazing at the mirror fragment in which, for a split second, he had thought he saw Dumbledore’s eye. It was not until his uncle bellowed ‘BOY!’ that Harry got slowly to his feet and headed for the bedroom door, pausing to add the piece of broken mirror to the rucksack filled with things he would be taking with him.

  ‘You took your time!’ roared Vernon Dursley when Harry appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘Get down here, I want a word!’

  Harry strolled downstairs, his hands deep in his jeans pockets. When he reached the living room, he found all three Dursleys. They were dressed for travelling: Uncle Vernon in a fawn zip-up jacket, Aunt Petunia in a neat, salmon-coloured coat and Dudley, Harry’s large, blond, muscular cousin, in his leather jacket.

  ‘Yes?’ asked Harry.

  ‘Sit down!’ said Uncle Vernon. Harry raised his eyebrows. ‘Please!’ added Uncle Vernon, wincing slightly as though the word was sharp in his throat.

  Harry sat. He thought he knew what was coming. His uncle began to pace up and down, Aunt Petunia and Dudley following his movements with anxious expressions. Finally, his large, purple face crumpled with concentration, Uncle Vernon stopped in front of Harry and spoke.

  ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ he said.

  ‘What a surprise,’ said Harry.

  ‘Don’t you take that tone –’ began Aunt Petunia in a shrill voice, but Vernon Dursley waved her down.

  ‘It’s all a lot of claptrap,’ said Uncle Vernon, glaring at Harry with piggy little eyes. ‘I’ve decided I don’t believe a word of it. We’re staying put, we’re not going anywhere.’

  Harry looked up at his uncle and felt a mixture of exasperation and amusement. Vernon Dursley had been changing his mind every twenty-four hours for the past four weeks, packing and unpacking and repacking the car with every change of heart. Harry’s favourite moment had been the one when Uncle Vernon, unaware that Dudley had added his dumb-bells to his case since the last time it had been unpacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the boot and collapsed with roars of pain and much swearing.

  ‘According to you,’ Vernon Dursley said now, resuming his pacing up and down the living room, ‘we – Petunia, Dudley and I – are in danger. From – from –’

  ‘Some of “my lot”, right,’ said Harry.

  ‘Well, I don’t believe it,’ repeated Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt in front of Harry again. ‘I was awake half the night thinking it all over, and I believe it’s a plot to get the house.’

  ‘The house?’ repeated Harry. ‘What house?’

  ‘This house!’ shrieked Uncle Vernon, the vein in his forehead starting to pulse. ‘Our house! House prices are sky-rocketing round here! You want us out of the way and then you’re going to do a bit of hocus-pocus and before we know it the deeds will be in your name and –’

  ‘Are you out of your mind?’ demanded Harry. ‘A plot to get this house? Are you actually as stupid as you look?’

  ‘Don’t you dare –!’ squealed Aunt Petunia, but again, Vernon waved her down: slights on his personal appearance were, it seemed, as nothing to the danger he had spotted.

  ‘Just in case you’ve forgotten,’ said Harry, ‘I’ve already got a house, my godfather left me one. So why would I want this one? All the happy memories?’

  There was silence. Harry thought he had rather impressed his uncle with this argument.

  ‘You claim,’ said Uncle Vernon, starting to pace yet again, ‘that this Lord Thing –’

  ‘Voldemort,’ said Harry impatiently, ‘and we’ve been through this about a hundred times already. This isn’t a claim, it’s fact, Dumbledore told you last year, and Kingsley and Mr Weasley –’

  Vernon Dursley hunched his shoulders angrily, and Harry guessed that his uncle was attempting to ward off recollections of the unannounced visit, a few days into Harry’s summer holidays, of two fully grown wizards. The arrival on the doorstep of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had come as a most unpleasant shock to the Dursleys. Harry had to admit, however, that as Mr Weasley had once demolished half of the living room, his reappearance could not have been expected to delight Uncle Vernon.

  ‘– Kingsley and Mr Weasley explained it all as well,’ Harry pressed on remorselessly. ‘Once I’m seventeen, the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, and that exposes you as well as me. The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by holding you hostage I’d come and try to rescue you.’

  Uncle Vernon’s and Harry’s eyes met. Harry was sure that in that instant they were both wondering the same thing. Then Uncle Vernon wa
lked on and Harry resumed, ‘You’ve got to go into hiding and the Order wants to help. You’re being offered serious protection, the best there is.’

  Uncle Vernon said nothing, but continued to pace up and down. Outside, the sun hung low over the privet hedges. The next-door neighbour’s lawnmower stalled again.

  ‘I thought there was a Ministry of Magic?’ asked Vernon Dursley abruptly.

  ‘There is,’ said Harry, surprised.

  ‘Well, then, why can’t they protect us? It seems to me that, as innocent victims, guilty of nothing more than harbouring a marked man, we ought to qualify for government protection!’

  Harry laughed; he could not help himself. It was so very typical of his uncle to put his hopes in the establishment, even within this world that he despised and mistrusted.

  ‘You heard what Mr Weasley and Kingsley said,’ Harry replied. ‘We think the Ministry has been infiltrated.’

  Uncle Vernon strode to the fireplace and back, breathing so heavily that his great, black moustache rippled, his face still purple with concentration.

  ‘All right,’ he said, stopping in front of Harry yet again. ‘All right, let’s say, for the sake of argument, we accept this protection. I still don’t see why we can’t have that Kingsley bloke.’

  Harry managed not to roll his eyes, but with difficulty. This question had also been addressed half a dozen times.

  ‘As I’ve told you,’ he said, through gritted teeth, ‘Kingsley is protecting the Mug— I mean, your Prime Minister.’

  ‘Exactly – he’s the best!’ said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the blank television screen. The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along discreetly behind the Muggle Prime Minister as he visited a hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take to Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done with any other wizard, although it was true that they had never seen him with his earring in.