| He glanced over his shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring off into the distance, but he could not tell who they were -
"Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" he yelled over the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling out his wand, ramming Hedwig's cage into the floor, refusing to believe that she was dead"Hagrid, TURN AROUND!"
"My job's ter get you there safe, Harry!" bellow Hagrid, and he opened the throttle
"Stop - STOP!" Harry shouted, but as he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid's broad backHagrid swerved, but the Death Eaters were keeping up with the bike; more curses shot after them, and Harry had to sink low into the sidecar to avoid themWriggling around he cried, "\iStupefy!"\i and a red bolt of light shot from his own wand, cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to avoid it
"Hold on, Harry, this'll do for 'em!" roared Hagrid, and Harry looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming a thick finger into a green button near the fuel gauge
A wall, a solid black wall, erupted out of the exhaust pipeCraning his neck, Harry saw it expand into being in midairThree of the Death Eaters swerved and avoided it, but the fourth was not so lucky; He vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder from behind it, his broomstick broken into piecesOne of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they and the airborne wall were swallowed by darkness as Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars and sped up
More Killing Curses flew past Harry's head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were aiming for HagridHarry responded with further Stunning chanel wallet Spells: Red and green collided in midair in a shower of multicolored sparks, and Harry thought wildly of fireworks, and the Muggles below who would have no idea what was happening -
"Here we go again, Harry, hold on!" yelled Hagrid, and he jabbed at a second buttonThis time a great net burst from the bike's exhaust, but the Death Eaters were ready for itNot only did they swerve to avoid it, but the companion who had slowed to save their unconscious friend had caught upHe bloomed suddenly out of the darkness and now three of them were pursuing the motorbike, all shooting curses after it
"This'll do it, Harry, hold on tight!" yelled Hagrid, and Harry saw him slam his whole hand onto the purple button beside the speedometer
With an unmistakable bellowing roar, dragon fire burst from the exhaust, white-hot and blue, and the motorbike shot forward like a bullet with a sound of wrenching metalHarry saw the Death Eaters swerve out of sight to avoid the deadly trail of flame,
and at the same time felt the sidecar sway ominously: Its metal connections to the bike had splintered with the force of acceleration
"It's all righ', Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, now thrown flat onto the back by the surge of speed; nobody was steering now, and the sidecar was starting to twist violently in the bike's slipstream
"I'm on it, Harry, don' worry!" Hagrid yelled, and from inside his jacket pocket he pulled his flowery pink umbrella
"Hagrid! No! Let me!"
\i"REPARO!"\i
There was a deafening bang and the sidecar broke away from the bike completelyHarry sped forward, propelled by the impetus of the bike's flight, then the sidecar began to lose height -
In desperation Harry pointed his wand at the sidecar and shouted, \i"Wingardium Leviosa!"\i
The sidecar rose like a cork, unsteerable but at least still cheap chanel purses airborneHe had but a split second's relief, however, as more curses streaked past him: The three Death Eaters were closing in
"I'm comin', Harry!" Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning to sink again: Crouching as low as he could, he pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, \i"Impedimenta!"\i
The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest; For a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in midair as though he had hit an invisible barrier: One of his fellows almost collided with him -
Then the sidecar began to fall in earnest, and the remaining Death Eater shot a curse so close to Harry that he had to duck below the rim of the car, knocking out a tooth on the edge of his seat -
"I'm comin', Harry, I'm comin'!"
A huge hand seized the back of Harry's robes and hoisted him out of the plummeting sidecar; Harry pulled his rucksack with him as he dragged himself onto the motorbike's seat and found himself back-to-back with HagridAs they soared upward, away from the two remaining Death Eaters, Harry spat blood out of his mouth, pointed his wand at the falling sidecar, and yelled, \i"Confringo!"\i
He knew a dreadful, gut-wrenching pang for Hedwig as it exploded; the Death Eater nearest it was blasted off his broom and fell from sight; his companion fell back and vanished
"Harry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," moaned Hagrid, "I shouldn'ta tried ter repair it meself - yeh've got no room -"
"It's not a problem, just keep flying!" Harry shouted back, as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the darkness, drawing closer
As the curses came shooting across the intervening space again, Hagrid swerved and zigzagged: Harry knew that Hagrid did not dare use the dragon-fire button again, with Harry seated so insecurelyHarry sent Stunning tiffany toggle necklace Spell after Stunning Spell back at their pursuers, barely holding them offHe shot another blocking jinx at them: The closest Death Eater swerved to avoid it and his hood slipped, and by the red light of his next Stunning Spell, Harry saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike - Stan -
\i"Expelliarmus!"\i Harry yelled
"That's him, it's him, it's the real one!"
The hooded Death Eater's shout reached Harry even above the thunder of the motorbike's engine: Next moment, both pursuers had fallen back and disappeared from view
"Harry, what's happened?" bellowed Hagrid"Where've they gone?"
"I don't know!"
But Harry was afraid: The hooded Death Eater had shouted, "It's the real one!"; how had he known? He gazed around at the apparently empty darkness and felt its menaceWhere were they?
He clambered around on the seat to face forward and seized hold of the back of Hagrid's jacket
"Hagrid, do the dragon-fire thing again, let's get out of here!"
"Hold on tight, then, Harry!"
There was a deafening, screeching roar again and the white-blue fire shot from the exhaust: Harry felt himself slipping backwards off what little of the seat he hadHagrid flung backward upon him, barely maintaining his grip on the handlebars -
"I think we've lost 'em Harry, I think we've done it!" yelled Hagrid
But Harry was not convinced; Fear lapped at him as he looked left and right for pursuers he was sure would comeWhy had they fallen back? One of them had still had a wand\iit's the real one\iThey had said it right after he had tried to Disarm Stan
"We're nearly there, Harry, we've nearly made it!" shouted Hagrid
Harry felt the bike drop a little, though the lights down on the ground still seemed remote as stars
Then the scar on his forehead burned like fire: as a Death Eater appeared on either chanel bags to buy side of the bike, two Killing Curses missed Harry by millimeters, cast from behind -
And then Harry saw himVoldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his snake-like face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again -
Hagrid let out a bellow of fear and steered the motorbike into a vertical diveClinging on for dear life, Harry sent Stunning Spells flying at random into the whirling nightHe saw a body fly past him and knew he had hit one of them, but then he heard a bang and saw sparks from the engine; the motorbike spiraled through the air, completely out of control -
Green jets of light shot past them againHarry had no idea which way was up, which down: His scar was still burning; he expected to die at any secondA hooded figure on a broomstick was feet from him, he saw it raise its arm -
"NO!"
With a shout of fury Hagrid launched himself off the bike at the Death Eater; to his horror, Harry saw both Hagrid and the Death Eater, falling out of sight, their combined weight too much for the broomstick -
Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, Harry heard Voldemort scream, "\iMine!\i"
It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort was; he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, "\iAvada -"\i
As the pain from Harry's scar forced his eyes shut, his wand acted of its own accordHe felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of furyThe remaining Death Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, "\iNO!\i" Somehow, Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire buttonHe punched it with his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling straight toward the chloe white ground |
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