July 19, 2007

• Just one more day

  A “leaked chapter” from deathly hallows
  
  Harry glared at the evil visage before him.
  Ron and Hermione lay, helpless, on the ground behind him. Whether they
  were dead or merely stunned he couldn’t be sure; he dared not divert
  his attention from his nemesis.

  “You see now, Potter,” Lord Voldemort hissed, “why I did not kill you on any of the numerous occasions we met in the past.”

  “You vile, wicked thing! Why don’t you just put me out of my misery?”

  Harry
  kept his wand pointed directly at Voldemort’s head, which took much
  effort. He felt both fatigue and frustration causing his wand arm to
  become heavier and heavier. Thousands of tiny little pins and needles
  were pricking his arm and it was starting to go numb. Harry knew that
  this wasn’t some evil spell doing this, it was just the stress of
  keeping his arm extended as long as he had been forced to.

  “Ah,
  you see,” Voldemort said while forcing his deformed face into what
  approximated a grin, “I intend to do something much better. Rather than
  end your life, I’m simply going to spoil it.”

  “Spoil it?”

  “Yes. I don’t intend, now or ever, to put you out of your misery. Instead, I intend to put you out of your mystery.”

  With
  that, Voldemort raised his hand, and a book suddenly appeared in it. It
  was large, with a yellow dust jacket, and a picture of a young man in
  robes on the cover.

  A picture of Harry.

  “What is that?” Harry couldn’t help but ask.

  “This, Potter,” Voldemort sneered, “is your future!”

  At
  that, several dozen people apparated behind Voldemort. He handed the
  book to one of them, who started, slowly, handing it off to the others.
  Each time it passed from person to person, another copy appeared in the
  hands of the person who handed it off. As time went on, more people
  started appearing behind this tableau of book duplication. Some dressed
  in 17th-century pirate garb, others as pitchfork-wielding demons,
  others in garb that was too bizarre for Harry to try and describe.

  “What are you doing?” Harry asked.

  “I
  am making sure the entire world knows your future! Every one in the
  world will know what happens to you two days before it actually
  happens! Then, when you and your destiny finally collide, no one will
  care!”

  Harry realized that his wand arm had finally succumbed to
  the forces of exhaustion and pain that had been dogging it for so long.
  Surrendering to fatigue, Harry barely had the energy to let out a
  plaintive scream before Voldemort threw another copy of the book
  directly at Harry, hitting him right above his scar

  • 11:35 pm
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