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“I’msorry，I’msorry!”HermionecriedasHarrywrenchedthebookfromRon’slegａｎｄretieditshit.“Whatareyoudoingwithallthosebooksanyway?”Ronasked，limpingbacktohisbed.“Justtryingtodecidewhichonestotakewithus，”saidHermione，“Whenwe’relookingfortheHorcruxes.”“Oh，ofcourse，”saidRon，clappingahａｎｄtohisforehead.“Iforgotwe’llbehuntingdownVoldemortinamobilelibrary.”“Haha，”saidHermione，lookingdownatSpellman’sSyllabary.“Iwonderwillweneedtotranslaterunes?It’spossibleIthinkwe’dbettertakeit，tobesafe.”ShedroppedthesyllabaryontothelargerofthetwopilesａｎｄpickedupHogwarts，AHistory.“Listen，”saidHarry.Hehadsatupstraight.RonａｎｄHermionelookedathimwithsimilarmixturesofresignationａｎｄdefiance.“IknowyousaidafterDumbledore’sfuneralthatyouwantedtocomewithme，”Harrybegan.“Herehegoes，”RonsaidtoHermione，rollinghiseyes.“Asweknewhewould，”hesighed，turningbacktothebooks.“Youknow，IthinkIwilltakeHogwarts，AHistory.Evenifwe’renotgoingbackthere，Idon’tthinkI’dfeelrightifIdidn’thaveitwith–““Listen!”saidHarryagain.“No，Harry，youlisten，”saidHermione.“We’recomingwithyou.Thatwasdecidedmonthsago–years，really.”“But–““Shutup，”Ronadvisedhim.“–areyousureyou’vethoughtthisthrough?”Harrypersisted.“Let’ssee，”saidHermione，slammingTravelswithTrollsontothediscardedpilewitharatherfiercelook.“I’vebeenpackingfordays，sowe’rereadytoleaveatamoment’snotice，whichforyourinformationhasincludeddoingsomeprettydifficultmagic，nottomentionsmugglingMad-Eye’swholestockofPolyjuicePotionrightunderRon’smum’snose.“I’vealsomodifiedmyparents’memoriessothatthey’reconvincedthey’rereallycalledWendellａｎｄMonicaWilkins，ａｎｄthattheirlife’sambitionistomovetoAustralia，whichtheyhavenowdone.That’stomakeitmoredifficultforVoldemorttotrackthemdownａｎｄinterrogatethemaboutme–oryou，becauseunfortunately，I’vetoldthemquiteabitaboutyou.“AssumingIsurviveourhuntfortheHorcruxes，I’llfindMumａｎｄDadａｎｄlifttheenchantment.IfIdon’t–well，IthinkI’vecastagoodenoughcharmtokeepthemsafeａｎｄhappy.WendellａｎｄMonicaWilkinsdon’tknowthatthey’vegotadaughter，yousee.”Hermione’seyeswereswimmingwithtearsagain.Rongotbackoffthebed，puthisarmaroundheroncemore，ａｎｄfrownedatHarryasthoughreproachinghimforlackoftact.Harrycouldnotthinkofanythingtosay，notleastbecauseitwashighlyunusualforRontobeteachinganyoneelsetact.“I–Hermione，I’msorry–Ididn’t–““Didn’trealizethatRonａｎｄIknowperfectlywellwhatmighthappenifwecomewithyou?Well，wedo.Ron，showHarrywhatyou’vedone.”“Nah，he’sjusteaten，”saidRon.“Goon，heneedstoknow!”“Oh，allright.Harry，comehere.”ForthesecondtimeRonwithdrewhisarmfromaroundHermioneａｎｄstumpedovertothedoor.“C’mon.”“Why?”Harryasked，followingRonoutoftheroomontothetinylａｎｄing.“Descendo，”mutteredRon，pointinghiswａｎｄatthelowceiling.Ahatchopenedrightovertheirheadsａｎｄaladdersliddowntotheirfeet.Ahorrible，half-sucking，half-moaningsoundcameoutofthesquarehole，alongwithanunpleasantsmelllikeopendrains.“That’syourghoul，isn’tit?”askedHarry，whohadneveractuallymetthecreaturethatsometimesdisruptedthenightlysilence.“Yeah，itis，”saidRon，climbingtheladder.“Comeａｎｄhavealookathim.”HarryfollowedRonupthefewshortstepsintothetinyatticspace.Hisheadａｎｄshoulderswereintheroombeforehecaughtsightofthecreaturecurledupafewfeetfromhim，fastasleepinthegloomwithitslargemouthwideopen.“Butititlooksdoghoulsnormallywearpajamas?”“No，”saidRon.“Norhavetheyusuallygotredhairorthatnumberofpustules.”Harrycontemplatedthething，slightlyrevolted.Itwashumaninshapeａｎｄsize，ａｎｄwaswearingwhat，nowthatHarry’seyesbecameusedtothedarkness，wasclearlyanoldpairofRon’spajamas.Hewasalsosurethatghoulsweregenerallyratherslimyａｎｄbald，ratherthandistinctlyhairyａｎｄcoveredinangrypurpleblisters.“He’sme，see?”saidRon.“No，”saidHarry.“Idon’t.”“I’llexplainitbackinmyroom，thesmell’sgettingtome，”saidRon.Theyclimbedbackdowntheladder，whichRonreturnedtotheceiling，ａｎｄrejoinedHermione，whowasstillsortingbooks.“Oncewe’veleft，theghoul’sgoingtocomeａｎｄlivedownhereinmyroom，”saidRon.“Ithinkhe’sreallylookingforwardtoit–well，it’shardtotell，becauseallhecandoismoanａｎｄdrool–buthenodsalotwhenyoumentionit.Anyway，he’sgoingtobemewithspattergroit.Good，eh?”Harrymerelylookedhisconfusion.“Itis!”saidRon，clearlyfrustratedthatHarryhadnotgraspedthebrillianceoftheplan.“Look，whenwethreedon’tturnupatHogwartsagain，everyone’sgoingtothinkHermioneａｎｄImustbewithyou，right?WhichmeanstheDeathEaterswillgostraightforourfamiliestoseeifthey’vegotinformationonwhereyouare.”“Buthopefullyit’lllooklikeI’vegoneawaywithMumａｎｄDad;alotofMuggle-bornsaretalkingaboutgoingintohidingatthemoment，”saidHermione.“Wecan’thidemywholefamily，it’lllooktoofishyａｎｄtheycan’tallleavetheirjobs，”saidRon.“Sowe’regoingtoputoutthestorythatI’mseriouslyillwithspattergroit，whichiswhyIcan’tgobacktoschool.Ifanyonecomescallingtoinvestigate，MumorDadcanshowthemtheghoulinmybed，coveredinpustules.Spattergroit’sreallycontagious，sothey’renotgoingtowanttogonearhim.Itwon’tmatterthathecan’tsayanything，either，becauseapparentlyyoucan’toncethefungushasspreadtoyouruvula.”“Andyourmumａｎｄdadareinonthisplan?”askedHarry.“Dadis.HehelpedFredａｎｄGeorgetransformtheghoul.Mumwell，you’veseenwhatshe’slike.Shewon’tacceptwe’regoingtillwe’regone.”Therewassilenceintheroom，brokenonlybygentlethudsasHermionecontinuedtothrowbooksontoonepileortheother.Ronsatwatchingher，ａｎｄHarrylookedfromonetotheother，unabletosayanything.Themeasuretheyhadtakentoprotecttheirfamiliesmadehimrealize，morethananythingelsecouldhavedone，thattheyreallyweregoingtocomewithhimａｎｄthattheyknewexactlyhowdangerousthatwouldbe.Hewantedtotellthemwhatthatmeanttohim，buthesimplycouldnotfindwordsimportantenough.ThroughthesilencecamethemuffledsoundsofMrs.Weasleyshoutingfromfourfloorsbelow.“Ginny’sprobablyleftaspeckofdustonapoxynapkinring，”saidRon.“IdunnowhytheDelacourshavegottocometwodaysbeforethewedding.”“Fleur’ssister’sabridesmaid，sheneedstobeherefortherehearsal，ａｎｄshe’stooyoungtocomeonherown，”saidHermione，assheporedindecisivelyoverBreakwithaBanshee.“Well，guestsaren’tgoingtohelpMum’sstresslevels，”saidRon.“Whatwereallyneedtodecide，”saidHermione，tossingDefensiveMagicalTheoryintothebinwithoutasecondglanceａｎｄpickingupAnAppraisalofMagicalEducationinEurope，“iswherewe’regoingafterweleavehere.IknowyousaidyouwantedtogotoGodric’sHollowfirst，Harry，ａｎｄIunderstａｎｄwhy，butwellshouldn’twemaketheHorcruxesourpriority?”“IfweknewwhereanyoftheHorcruxeswere，I’dagreewithyou，”saidHarry，whodidnotbelievethatHermionereallyunderstoodhisdesiretoreturntoGodric’sHollow.Hisparents’graveswereonlypartoftheattraction:Hehadastrong，thoughinexplicable，feelingthattheplaceheldanswersforhim.PerhapsitwassimplybecauseitwastherethathehadsurvivedVoldemort’sKillingCurse;nowthathewasfacingthechallengeofrepeatingthefeat，Harrywasdrawntotheplacewhereithadhappened，wantingtounderstａｎｄ.