Έχω να πω ότι η Τζο δεν μας λυπάται καθόλου.
Χτύπημα πρώτο: He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just
behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out . . .
But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry
around the chest, holding him back.
There's nothing you can do, Harry - '
'Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!'
' - it's too late, Harry.'
'We can still reach him - ' Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let
go . . .
There's nothing you can do, Harry . . . nothing . . . he's gone.'
Χτύπημα 2ο: It was unbearable, he would not think about it, he could not stand it . . . there was a
terrible hollow inside him he did not want to feel or examine, a dark hole where Sirius had
been, where Sirius had vanished; he did not want to have to be alone with that great,
silent space, he could not stand it -
Χτύπημα 3ο: Sirius had appeared there once,
disguised as the shaggy black dog, so he could watch Harry play . . . he had probably
come to see whether Harry was as good as James had been . . . Harry had never asked
him . . .
Χτύπημα 4ο:And yet sitting here on the edge of the lake, with the terrible weight of grief dragging
at him, with the loss of Sirius so raw and fresh inside, he could not muster any great sense
of fear. It was sunny, and the grounds around him were full of laughing people, and even
though he felt as distant from them as though he belonged to a different race, it was still
very hard to believe as he sat here that his life must include, or end in, murder . . .
He sat there for a long time, gazing out at the water, trying not to think about his
godfather or to remember that it was directly across from here, on the opposite bank, that
Sirius had once collapsed trying to fend off a hundred Dementors . . .
Χτύπημα 5ο: He realised what it was within seconds. Sirius had given it to him just inside the front
door of number twelve Grimmauld Place. 'Use it if you need me, all right?'
Harry sank down on to his bed and unwrapped the package. Out fell a small, square
mirror. It looked old; it was certainly dirty. Harry held it up to his face and saw his own
reflection looking back at him.
He turned the mirror over. There on the reverse side was a scribbled note from Sirius.
This is a two-way mirror, I've got the other one of the pair. If you need to speak to me, just
say my name into it; you'll appear in my mirror and I'll be able to talk in yours. James and I
used to use them when we were in separate detentions.
Harry's heart began to race. He remembered seeing his dead parents in the Mirror of
Erised four years ago. He was going to be able to talk to Sirius again, right now, he knew it
- '
He looked around to make sure there was nobody else there; the dormitory was quite
empty. He looked back at the mirror, raised it in front of his face with trembling hands and
said, loudly and clearly, 'Sirius.'
His breath misted the surface of the glass. He held the mirror even closer, excitement
flooding through him, but the eyes blinking back at him through the fog were definitely his
own.
He wiped the mirror clear again and said, so that every syllable rang clearly through
the room:
'Sirius Black!'
Nothing happened. The frustrated face looking back out of the mirror was still,
definitely, his own . . .
Sirius didn't have his mirror on him when he went through the archway, said a small
voice in Harry's head. That's why it's riot working . . .
Harry remained quite still for a moment, then hurled the mirror back into the trunk
where it shattered. He had been convinced, for a whole, shining minute, that he was going
to see Sirius, talk to him again . . .
Τελειωτικό χτύπημα: 'Hey - hey, Nick! NICK!'
The ghost stuck its head back out of the wall, revealing the extravagantly plumed hat
and dangerously wobbling head of Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington.
'Good evening,' he said, withdrawing the rest of his body from the solid stone and
smiling at Harry. 'I am not the only one who is late, then? Though,' he sighed, 'in a rather
different sense, of course . . .'
'Nick, can I ask you something?'
A most peculiar expression stole over Nearly Headless Nick's face as he inserted a
finger in the stiff ruff at his neck and tugged it a little straighter, apparently to give himself
thinking time. He desisted only when his partially severed neck seemed about to give way
completely.
'Er - now, Harry?' said Nick, looking discomfited. 'Can't it wait until after the feast?'
'No - Nick - please,' said Harry, 'I really need to talk to you. Can we go in here?'
Harry opened the door of the nearest classroom and Nearly Headless Nick sighed.
'Oh, very well,' he said, looking resigned. 'I can't pretend I haven't been expecting it.'
Harry was holding the door open for him, but he drifted through the wall instead.
'Expecting what?' Harry asked, as he closed the door.
'You to come and find me,' said Nick, now gliding over to the window and looking out
at the darkening grounds. 'It happens, sometimes . . . when somebody has suffered a . . .
loss.'
'Well,' said Harry, refusing to be deflected. 'You were right, I've - I've come to find you.'
Nick said nothing.
'It's - ' said Harry, who was finding this more awkward than he had anticipated, 'it's just
- you're dead. But you're still here, aren't you?'
Nick sighed and continued to gaze out at the grounds.
That's right, isn't it?' Harry urged him. 'You died, but I'm talking to you . . . you can
walk around Hogwarts and everything, can't you?'
'Yes,' said Nearly Headless Nick quietly, 'I walk and talk, yes.'
'So, you came back, didn't you?' said Harry urgently. 'People can come back, right?
As ghosts. They don't have to disappear completely. Well?' he added impatiently, when
Nick continued to say nothing.
Nearly Headless Nick hesitated, then said, 'Not everyone can come back as a ghost.'
'What d'you mean?' said Harry quickly.
'Only . . . only wizards.'
'Oh,' said Harry, and he almost laughed with relief. 'Well, that's OK then, the person
I'm asking about is a wizard. So he can come back, right?'
Nick turned away from the window and looked mournfully at Harry.
'He won't come back.'
Who?'
'Sirius Black,' said Nick.
'But you did!' said Harry angrily. 'You came back - you're dead and you didn't
disappear - '
'Wizards can leave an imprint of themselves upon the earth, to walk palely where
their living selves once trod,' said Nick miserably. 'But very few wizards choose that path.'
'Why not?' said Harry. 'Anyway - it doesn't matter - Sirius won't care if it's unusual,
he'll come back, I know he will!'
And so strong was his belief, Harry actually turned his head to check the door, sure,
for a split second, that he was going to see Sirius, pearly-white and transparent but
beaming, walking through it towards him.
'He will not come back,' repeated Nick. 'He will have . . . gone on.'
'What d'you mean, "gone on"?' said Harry quickly. 'Gone on where? Listen - what
happens when you die, anyway? Where do you go? Why doesn't everyone come back?
Why isn't this place full of ghosts? Why - ?'
'I cannot answer,' said Nick.
'You're dead, aren't you?' said Harry exasperatedly. 'Who can answer better than
you?'
'I was afraid of death,' said Nick softly. 'I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder
whether I oughtn't to have . . . well, that is neither here nor there . . . in fact, I am neither
here nor there . . .' He gave a small sad chuckle. 'I know nothing of the secrets of death,
Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead. I believe learned wizards study the
matter in the Department of Mysteries - '
'Don't talk to me about that place!' said Harry fiercely.
'I am sorry not to have been more help,' said Nick gently. 'Well . . . well, do excuse
me . . . the feast, you know . . .'
And he left the room, leaving Harry there alone, gazing blankly at the wall through
which Nick had disappeared.
Harry felt almost as though he had lost his godfather all over again in losing the hope
that he might be able to see or speak to him once more. He walked slowly and miserably
back up through the empty castle, wondering whether he would ever feel cheerful again.
από Bella Black Παρ Ιουλ 01, 2011 5:50 pm
(Αν γίνεται και το έβδομο βιβλίο γιατί μόνο αυτά δε βρίσκω)
