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Chapter 114. Shut up and do the impossible. The

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gibbous moon riding higher

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in the cloudless sky, the

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stars and wash of the Milky

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Way visible in all their majesty

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within the darkness.

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All these shone down

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upon the graveyard to bear witness

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from their unimaginable distance.

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In the instant when Harry had realized

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there was no way at all left

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to save everyone, his

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mind's voices had fallen

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away,

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become one. A

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single purpose taking

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up every fraction of his

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mind. Fifty

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seconds. Forty

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seconds. Harry's

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eyes tracked slowly across the air

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until his gaze landed on the first

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Death Eater,

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the one closest to him. Thirty

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seconds. Twenty

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seconds. Time's

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almost up, hissed

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Voldemort. I

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do know secrets

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you would like to

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know, Harry hissed. He

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didn't look directly at the

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Dark Lord as he spoke. But

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most valuable knowledge

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to you, I think, would

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be my ideas

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to how world might

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be destroyed. Yet

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to tell you such thoughts

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might lead to destruction

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of world. Do

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not know prophecy, but

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if there is prophecy, That

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makes it more than unusually

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probable that any action

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I take might have that

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effect.

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Or to tell you such

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might prevent destruction

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of world since you

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do seem motivated to

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avoid it. Not allowed

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to make such a decision

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myself would need

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to awaken and consult

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girl child friend. Vow

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requires.

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There was a long pause. The

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Dark Lord, floating above

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and behind the curve of Death Eaters

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with leveled wands, began

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to laugh as Salazar

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Slytherin had thought a snake

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would laugh. Cold

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amusement in the form of

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a hiss.

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Do

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you know how to destroy

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world then? Cannot

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deliberately try to imagine

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method. You might

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have way for servant

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to steal my thoughts.

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Vow prohibits. But

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suspect I could devise

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method if girl child

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said to try.

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Slytherin's eyes drifted slowly

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to another Death Eater and

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another.

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More snakeish laughter. Clever!

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You have my compliments

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or thinking of such

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tactics. But

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no. No,

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it is an order. But

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with world and your eternity

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at stake, would you

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not create a

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risk to a world

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in introducing such

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complications delaying

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your end? I

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will study Muggle Sciences

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myself.

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Think of all you

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might imagine.

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Now, speak

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such secrets as

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you may tell me. All

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this ends.

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Slowly, Harry's vision

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tracked across the graveyard in

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careful arcs, ignoring

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the Dark Lord except as a floating

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blackness in his peripheral vision.

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His mouth went on speaking with

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only half his attention.

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Have thought of idea

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you might not have considered,

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teacher. Your attempt

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to kill me might fail

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in certain specific way

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despite all your

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precautions. Perhaps

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lead into my destroying

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world later. Might

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not ordinarily deem probable,

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but with prophecy at hand,

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may well be so.

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Voldemort went still in

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the air. How?

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I'm not obligated

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to tell you.

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A cold anger began to

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see through the sneakish reply.

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Though I understand

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well your desperation

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and attempted cleverness.

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This

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begins to

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annoy me. I

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will not withhold from killing

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you, for that is still greater risk. To

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fail to tell me your

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thought risks destroying

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world. Speak!

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No! Thou does

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not obligate me to any

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positive

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action!

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The Dark Lord stared down

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at Harry Potter, who glanced up

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at the angry face only briefly,

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before his eyes went back to

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the next death eater. Some

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of them were shifting their stances

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slightly, but they stood

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still and said no words

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as they leveled their wands. The

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silver skull masks could

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not be read. Then

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the Dark Lord began

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to chuckle again. Survive

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your death! You

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think you might? No,

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child, my horcruxes

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are not linked to you

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also. I

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would know if they

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were. Or is

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there other reason

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you think you might survive

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beyond my ways

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of ensuring your

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death?

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Harry didn't allow himself to be

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distracted. The repeated

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failures didn't matter. They

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only led into the next action

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in the chain. But

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he still needed a next

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action.

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Now!

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Speak, secret!

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The Dark Lord hissed.

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Aww aye! Life

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eaters will pursue

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you always. Hate

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you always. Seek

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you out wherever you

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go. If what I

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have just done

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was successful, I

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have caused them to be set

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upon you. One

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charm, secret, will be

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beyond

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you for a long time to

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come. Perhaps forever,

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best defense against

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life eaters would die

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with

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me.

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This is starting

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to become sad.

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The Dark Lord's voice trailed

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off.

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Ah, I see.

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Life eaters

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respond to expectations.

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You tell me I will

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be hunted. I expect

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to be hunted. They

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hunt me. Such

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is rare, but

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not unheard

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of. Valuable

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secret, yes,

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can see many

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uses.

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A cruel smile.

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I shall allow you

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to select one

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person to be saved.

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Myself would

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tell you to die with dignity,

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but knowing myself,

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I know it for you. You

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have wasted my kindly

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gift just then

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by annoying me, and I retract

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it. Any other

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secrets?" Yes,

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really interesting

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ones too. Some

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you are unlikely to figure out

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on your own, not for

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very long time if

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ever. If I

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say I have told you all

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that do not risk world,

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will you not torment any

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of my friends or family?

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All of this speech started

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because you left me no

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way at all to save

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everyone.

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The Dark Lord stood still in the

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air for a long moment, and

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Harry's eyes went on

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tracking slowly across the graveyard

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as his hand remained tight

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upon his wand. In

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the instant when Harry had realized

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there was no way left to save

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everyone, he could not

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speak any incantation in English,

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but

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transfiguration was

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wordless. There

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was no material in contact with his

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wand's end except air, which

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could not be transfigured, but

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Voldemort did not know about

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partial transfiguration, which

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Harry could use to transfigure

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a tiny bit of the material from

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his wand itself.

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You are stalling,

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the Dark Lord said.

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Just to say, I am not. delay

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death, or with other

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purpose."

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Harry said nothing, his

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other work slowing as his mind

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sought a continuation of the conversation

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that would work even against the Dark

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Lord's will.

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"'Speak and tell

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me purpose, or

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this ends now,

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and your friends suffer

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for lifetimes. Lower

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Muggle Weapon, and do

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not point wand in my

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direction."

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Harry hissed, putting as much cold

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danger as he could into the snake's

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voice.

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"'Speak no commands

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to servants. I

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do possess capabilities

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of which you are ignorant.

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Can use one's such

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capacity to cause huge

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explosion almost instantly

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without speaking incantation.

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Slay your new body, all

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servants, stones

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scattered to who knows where."

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At his current level of practice, Harry

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could transfigure one cubic

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millimeter as fast as he could apply

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his will and magic. One

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cubic millimeter of

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antimatter. It

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wasn't a world-ending

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threat. Voldemort

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could have been carved from stone.

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"'You bluff somehow.'

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"'Not bluffing, speaking

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in snake talk. I

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tell you, I can do it

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almost instantly.' Just instantly,

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before any spell can

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be cast at me, I

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think. You know very

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little of sciences yet.

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Power I would command is stronger

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than process that fuels

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stars. Thou

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w'er stop you.

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And Voldemort,

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you cannot risk world.

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Take no risks, none

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with clever ideas. Would

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not risk world, I

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estimated size of explosion

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nowhere near that large.

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You do not know, fool. Cannot

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be sure. Voldemort's

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hiss was climbing higher. I

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am reasonably certain.

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Thou w'er not stop

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me.

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There was an increasing fury in

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Voldemort's expression, and yet

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his hiss carried a tinge

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of fear. There

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was an increasing fury

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in Voldemort's expression, and

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yet his hiss carried a tinge

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of fear.

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I shall wreak pain

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beyond imagining on

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all you care for.

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Shut

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up! I disregard

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all such threats now.

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As theory of games says,

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I should. The

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reason you make threats

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is that you expect

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me to respond.

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That, too. Harry had

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truly understood in the last

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extremity. Harry-

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Offer me something I

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want, teacher. For

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your new body, for

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your continued holding of

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stone, for lives

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of your servants.

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Harry's mouth was running on automatic,

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his real attention elsewhere.

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Beneath the moonlight, glints

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a tiny fragment of silver,

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a fraction of a line. From

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a tiny spot on the end of

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Harry's wand, a cubic

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millimeter of anchor stretched

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out a thin line of transfigured

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spider silk. It

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would have been broken at once, if

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tested. It would have gone

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unremarked, if any had

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noticed its glint. Less

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than a tenth of a millimeter in

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cross-section. The tiny

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shape represented by the extended

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line of spider silk was something

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Harry could transfigure swiftly.

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Ten centimeters of length to a

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cubic millimeter of total volume,

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and Harry could transfigure a cubic

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millimeter in a fraction of a second. He

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was forcing the transfiguration outward,

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extending it through the air

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as fast as he could without risking

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the transformation. The

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tracing line of spider silk

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looped around a death-eater's hood

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at neck level, returned

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to the pattern of threads. Voldemort's

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face was now impassive.

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You must not leave

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here alive. Sensible

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people called good would

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also agree. This

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I tell you in snake's

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speech, but all your

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friends I will treat

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kindly and protect under

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my reign. If

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you agree to die now

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as good person

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should."

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The last death-eater was

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looped. The pattern of spider

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silk was complete. The

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web had been drawn with loops around

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all the death-eater's necks. The

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end of those loops had been anchored

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to a central circle, and

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that central circle in turn

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had three threads stretching

18:47

across its center. The

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entire pattern still touching

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the anchor line, stretching

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out of Harry's wand. Over

18:58

the next seconds, those

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near-invisible threads of reflected

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moonlight turned black.

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Filaments, narrower, stronger,

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and sharper than steel

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wire. Braided

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carbon nanotubes, each

19:18

individual tube all a

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single molecule. Harry

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Hist.

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"'Want to also

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promise to treat nations

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kindly under your rule?

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Will not accept less!"

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Voldemort hovered still

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in the air, snake-face showing

19:45

a dawning fury. The

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last two threads stretched

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out from the dark pattern, black

19:54

threads already in the form of

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nanotubes. They moved

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lightly. through the air toward

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the Dark Lord himself, toward

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the sleeve just above Voldemort's

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left hand that held the gun,

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toward the sleeve above the right

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hand that held the U-Wand.

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Threads placed high at first

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to give them time to drift slowly

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downward through the air. The

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threads looped around,

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went over themselves, tied

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slippable knots, began

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to tighten, coming closer to

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the sleeve as Harry transfigured

20:35

them shorter. Harry

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felt the tickle of Voldemort's power

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beginning to touch his own in the back

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of his mind. At the same

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time, the Dark Lord's eyes

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widened, his mouth open. And,

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Harry transfigured the black

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thread stretching across the black pattern

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center to a quarter their previous

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size, shrinking the circle,

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yanking hard on everything attached,

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tightening loops. Black

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robes falling. Harry

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wasn't looking there, he didn't

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see the falling masks, the blood.

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In the back of his mind he felt some explosions

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of magic like he had felt when Hermione

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died, but he ignored them. Harry's

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eyes only saw the Dark Lord's

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hands and wand and gun

21:30

dropping downward,

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and then Harry's

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wand was rising, pointing.

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Harry screamed, Stupify!

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The red bolt, the color of the

21:45

stunning hex, winged toward

21:47

Voldemort, blazing across

21:49

the graveyard almost faster

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than the eye could see. Without

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any hesitation, despite his

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wounds, the Dark Lord jerked

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down and right through the air.

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And the red bolt from Professor

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Flitwick's secret swerving stunner

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turned in midair and

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slammed into Voldemort.

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The pain

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that flashed through Harry's scar was

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searing. It made him cry

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out and a red haze appear across his

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vision. Despite everything

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Harry dropped his wand in pain

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and sheer fatigue. As

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Harry let go of his wand the

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pain began to clear.

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Boom!

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Thank you so much for listening so far. Did

22:48

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22:50

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22:52

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22:58

the box set for Limitless Lands

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