94 Diagon Alley

    Run over and threw herself on the edge of the rock, put the glass into the lake, and scooped up a full glass of icy lake water, this time the water did not disappear.

    "Sir—here!" Harry shouted, and he threw forward, clumsily pouring water on Dumbledore's face.

    He can only do this, because there is a cold feeling on his arm that is not holding the cup, but not because of the cold lake water splashing on it. A sticky, white hand grabbed his wrist, and the guy was dragging him slowly behind the rock. The surface of the lake was no longer as smooth as a mirror, but violently agitated. Harry looked around and saw white heads and hands popping out of the dark water everywhere, men, women, and children, all with sunken, blind eyes, floating toward the rock: A large corpse appeared in the dark lake water.

    "It's all petrified!" Harry yelled, and he pointed his wand at the Infernal corpse that grabbed his arm, desperately clinging to the smooth, wet rock face of the island. The Inferi let go of him and fell back into the water with a thud. Harry struggled to his feet. But more Inferi had climbed up the rock, their withered hands grasping the slippery rock, their hollow, misty eyes staring at him, their rags soaked in water trailing behind them, There was a look of contempt on the sunken face.

    "It's all petrified!" Harry yelled again, backing away and swinging his wand in the air. Six or seven Inferi were knocked out, but more Inferi were coming toward him. "There are many obstacles! Quickly imprison!"

    Several Inferi stumbled and fell, one or two **** with ropes, however, the Inferi who climbed the rocks behind them just stepped over them or stepped on them to fall The lower body came over again. Harry continued to wave his wand vigorously, shouting, "No Shadow! No Shadow!"

    The Inferi had deep gaps in their tattered wet clothes and cold skin, but not a single drop of blood came out. Unconsciously, they continued to push forward step by step, extending a pair of dry hands to Harry. Harry took a few more steps back, feeling arms wrap around him from behind, arms as cold and fleshless as death, lifted him off the ground, and walked slowly, but without hesitation, towards him. black lake. Harry knew there was no way he could get away, he would surely drown and become another Inferi guarding a fragment of Voldemort's soul...

    But at this moment, flames appeared in the darkness: a bright, golden-red fire ring around the rock, and the Infernal corpses clutching Harry changed one by one His feet staggered and his body swayed. They didn't dare go through the flames into the lake, so they dropped Harry. Harry fell to the ground, sliding his foot on the rock and scraping his arm, but he struggled to get up quickly, raising his wand and looking around warily.

    Dumbledore had stood up again, his face as pale as the Infernal corpses around him, but taller than them all, and the light of fire flickered in his eyes. His wand was held high like a torch, and flames shot out from the tip of the wand, like a huge, warm noose, surrounding the Inferi.

    The Inferi collided with each other, bewildered, trying to escape the flames that surrounded them...

    Dumbledore picked up the locket from under the stone basin and tucked it into his robe. Without saying a word, he motioned for Harry to come to him.

    The Inferi were dazed by the flames, seemingly unaware that their pursuers were leaving the island. The overwhelmed Inferi came to the lake and couldn't wait to slide back into the dark water.

     Dumbledore didn't answer, he led Harry towards the boat. Dumbledore barely had the strength to climb into the boat. He seemed to be using all his energy to maintain the protective aura around them. Harry supported him and seated him in the boat. The two had just squeezed in when the boat swept back across the pitch-black water, leaving the rock still surrounded by the ring of fire. Those Infernal corpses floating underwater seemed to dare not show their faces again.

    "Sir," Harry panted, "Sir, I forgot—forgot about the fire—they came at me all of a sudden and freaked me out—"

    "Understandable," Dumbledore murmured. Harry was horrified to hear how weak his voice was.

    With a soft thud, they reached the shore, and Harry jumped out of the boat first and turned around to help Dumbledore. As soon as Dumbledore came ashore, the hand holding the wand dropped. The ring of fire disappeared, but the Inferi did not emerge from the lake again. The boat sank again, and the chain slid into the lake again. Dumbledore sighed heavily and leaned against the rock wall of the cave.

    “I am weak…” he said.

    "Don't worry, sir," said Harry hastily, seeing Dumbledore's utterly pale and exhausted face, very disturbed, "don't worry, we'll both be back... On me, sir..."

    Harry pulled Dumbledore's uninjured arm over his shoulder, bearing most of the Headmaster's weight.

    "That protection...after all...well designed." Dumbledore said feebly, "It's impossible for one person to do it...You did a good job, very beautiful, Harry …”

    "Stop talking now," said Harry, terrified of Dumbledore's voice becoming so muffled and his feet so weak, "Save your energy, sir... We'll be out of here soon... We've done it! We've found the Horcrux, haven't we, Professor?" Harry, shaking all over, steadied Dumbledore, who was staggering a bit.

    "About your question, Harry." Dumbledore took out the locket with his injured hand and sighed feebly, "I admit, this is not what I imagined. Same."

    Dumbledore was so weak that he couldn't hold the Horcrux at all.

    The locket fell out of Dumbledore's pocket. The lid of the box was open, possibly popping off when it was dropped on the ground. Harry picked up the locket, and even though he was shocked, terrified, and sad at the moment, he knew there must be something wrong...

    He turned the locket over. Compared to the one he'd seen in the Pensieve, this one wasn't as big, it lacked the patterned logo, and it didn't have the flamboyant Slytherin "S" mark. Also, there is nothing inside but a sheet of folded parchment tightly tucked where the portrait is placed.

    Harry mechanically and without hesitation took out the piece of parchment, opened it by the light of many wands behind him, and read:

    [To the Dark Lord

    I was dead long before you read this.

    But I want you to know that I discovered your secret.

    I stole the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as possible.

    I am willing to die, I hope you can be killed when you meet your opponent.

    R.A.B.]

    Harry neither understands nor cares what it means. Only one thing matters: this is not Voldemort's Horcrux. Dumbledore drank that terrible potion to deplete his skills, and it was all in vain. Harry kneaded the parchment in his palm, tears clouding his eyes.

    Surprisingly, Dumbledore, who listened to this sentence with his eyes closed, seemed to regain some strength, and he even looked happier than before.

    "So it is, so it is." Dumbledore said in a weak voice, "Then we have to do one more thing."

    Dumbledore's body slid down again, and Harry had to support him with all his strength. "At least until we get out of here, Professor..."

    "No...Harry...Right now, we're going to bring a silent hero home." Dumbledore's wand hand suddenly faced the lake, and the pale corpses looked like Like a fish on its belly, it emerged from the bottom of the lake. Dumbledore seemed to be looking for some old friend, and Harry didn't know what he could help, so he could only stare at them with wide eyes.

    There was such a corpse, Harry noticed something different. Instead of tumbling in the lake like other corpses, he stood straight and faced the small island in the middle of the lake.

    "Are you looking for that?" Harry asked Dumbledore, pointing to the strange corpse.

    The weak headmaster answered Harry with action, he waved his wand, and the Inferi flew in front of them. Harry stood very cautiously in front of Dumbledore, ready to use the flames to resist the corpse's attack. But Dumbledore staggered and leaned down, placing the palm of his charred fingers directly on the corpse's forehead.

    After a bright yellow halo shrouded, the pale corpse suddenly stopped struggling. Harry even felt that the black-haired male corpse looked familiar.

    Dumbledore's eyes increased with some hope, and he said to Harry, "We need to take him back to Hogwarts..."

    "I can carry him." Harry didn't know why, but he couldn't hand Dumbledore a heavy corpse. "But can you go by yourself?"

    "The arch must be sealed again...my knife..." said Dumbledore softly.

    "No need, I got scratched by a rock," Harry said firmly. "You just tell me the location..."

    "Here..."

    Harry wiped the stone of the injured arm, and the arch was immediately reopened upon receiving the gift of blood. The three of them made their way through the cave outside, and Harry supported Dumbledore, carrying his new friend with difficulty, back into the icy waters in the fissure in the cliff.

    "It's going to be all right, sir," Harry said over and over again, worrying about Dumbledore's weak voice just now, and worrying more about his silence now,