‘There,’ she said softly. ‘Now he could be sleeping.’

  Harry placed the elf into the grave, arranged his tiny limbs so that he might have been resting, then climbed out and gazed for the last time upon the little body. He forced himself not to break down as he remembered Dumbledore’s funeral, and the rows and rows of golden chairs, and the Minister for Magic in the front row, the recitation of Dumbledore’s achievements, the stateliness of the white marble tomb. He felt that Dobby deserved just as grand a funeral, and yet here the elf lay between bushes in a roughly dug hole.

  ‘I think we ought to say something,’ piped up Luna. ‘I’ll go first, shall I?’

  And as everybody looked at her, she addressed the dead elf at the bottom of the grave.

  ‘Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from that cellar. It’s so unfair that you had to die, when you were so good and brave. I’ll always remember what you did for us. I hope you’re happy now.’

  She turned and looked expectantly at Ron, who cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, ‘Yeah … thanks Dobby.’

  ‘Thanks,’ muttered Dean.

  Harry swallowed.

  ‘Goodbye, Dobby,’ he said. It was all he could manage, but Luna had said it all for him. Bill raised his wand, and the pile of earth beside the grave rose up into the air and fell neatly upon it, a small, reddish mound.

  ‘D’you mind if I stay here a moment?’ he asked the others.

  They murmured words he did not catch; he felt gentle pats upon his back, and then they all traipsed back towards the cottage, leaving Harry alone beside the elf.

  He looked around: there were a number of large, white stones, smoothed by the sea, marking the edge of the flowerbeds. He picked up one of the largest and laid it, pillow-like, over the place where Dobby’s head now rested. He then felt in his pocket for a wand.

  There were two in there. He had forgotten, lost track; he could not now remember whose wands these were; he seemed to remember wrenching them out of someone’s hand. He selected the shorter of the two, which felt friendlier in his hand, and pointed it at the rock.

  Slowly, under his murmured instruction, deep cuts appeared upon the rock’s surface. He knew that Hermione could have done it more neatly, and probably more quickly, but he wanted to mark the spot as he had wanted to dig the grave. When Harry stood up again, the stone read:

  Here lies Dobby, a Free Elf.

  He looked down at his handiwork for a few more seconds, then walked away, his scar still prickling a little and his mind full of those things that had come to him in the grave, ideas that had taken shape in the darkness, ideas both fascinating and terrible.

  They were all sitting in the living room when he entered the little hall, their attention focused upon Bill, who was talking. The room was light-coloured, pretty, with a small fire of driftwood burning brightly in the fireplace. Harry did not want to drop mud upon the carpet, so he stood in the doorway, listening.

  ‘… lucky that Ginny’s on holiday. If she’d been at Hogwarts, they could have taken her before we reached her. Now we know she’s safe too.’

  He looked round and saw Harry standing there.

  ‘I’ve been getting them all out of The Burrow,’ he explained. ‘Moved them to Muriel’s. The Death Eaters know Ron’s with you now, they’re bound to target the family – don’t apologise,’ he added, at the sight of Harry’s expression. ‘It was always a matter of time, Dad’s been saying so for months. We’re the biggest blood traitor family there is.’

  ‘How are they protected?’ asked Harry.

  ‘Fidelius Charm. Dad’s Secret Keeper. And we’ve done it on this cottage too; I’m Secret Keeper here. None of us can go to work, but that’s hardly the most important thing now. Once Ollivander and Griphook are well enough, we’ll move them to Muriel’s too. There isn’t much room here, but she’s got plenty. Griphook’s legs are on the mend, Fleur’s given him Skele-Gro: we could probably move them in an hour or –’

  ‘No,’ Harry said, and Bill looked startled. ‘I need both of them here. I need to talk to them. It’s important.’

  He heard the authority in his own voice, the conviction, the sense of purpose that had come to him as he dug Dobby’s grave. All of their faces were turned towards him, looking puzzled.

  ‘I’m going to wash,’ Harry told Bill, looking down at his hands, still covered in mud and Dobby’s blood. ‘Then I’ll need to see them, straight away.’

  He walked into the little kitchen, to the basin beneath a window overlooking the sea. Dawn was breaking over the horizon, shell pink and faintly gold, as he washed, again following the train of thought that had come to him in the dark garden …

  Dobby would never be able to tell them who had sent him to the cellar, but Harry knew what he had seen. A piercing blue eye had looked out of the mirror fragment, and then help had come. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.

  Harry dried his hands, impervious to the beauty of the scene outside the window and to the murmuring of the others in the sitting room. He looked out over the ocean and felt closer, this dawn, than ever before, closer to the heart of it all.

  And still his scar prickled, and he knew that Voldemort was getting there too. Harry understood, and yet did not understand. His instinct was telling him one thing, his brain quite another. The Dumbledore in Harry’s head smiled, surveying Harry over the tips of his fingers, pressed together as if in prayer.

  You gave Ron the Deluminator. You understood him … you gave him a way back …

  And you understood Wormtail too … you knew there was a bit of regret there, somewhere …

  And if you knew them … what did you know about me, Dumbledore?

  Am I meant to know, but not to seek? Did you know how hard I’d find that? Is that why you made it this difficult? So I’d have time to work that out?

  Harry stood quite still, eyes glazed, watching the place where a bright gold rim of dazzling sun was rising over the horizon. Then he looked down at his clean hands, and was momentarily surprised to see the cloth he was holding in them. He set it down and returned to the hall, and as he did so, he felt his scar pulse angrily, and there flashed across his mind, swift as the reflection of a dragonfly over water, the outline of a building he knew extremely well.

  Bill and Fleur were standing at the foot of the stairs.

  ‘I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander,’ Harry said.

  ‘No,’ said Fleur. ‘You will ’ave to wait, ’Arry. Zey are both ill, tired –’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, without heat, ‘but it can’t wait. I need to talk to them now. Privately – and separately. It’s urgent.’

  ‘Harry, what the hell’s going on?’ asked Bill. ‘You turn up here with a dead house-elf and a half-conscious goblin, Hermione looks as though she’s been tortured and Ron’s just refused to tell me anything –’

  ‘We can’t tell you what we’re doing,’ said Harry flatly. ‘You’re in the Order, Bill, you know Dumbledore left us a mission. We’re not supposed to talk about it to anyone else.’

  Fleur made an impatient noise, but Bill did not look at her; he was staring at Harry. His deeply scarred face was hard to read. Finally, Bill said, ‘All right. Who do you want to talk to first?’

  Harry hesitated. He knew what hung on his decision. There was hardly any time left: now was the moment to decide: Horcruxes or Hallows?

  ‘Griphook,’ Harry said. ‘I’ll speak to Griphook first.’

  His heart was racing, as if he had been sprinting and had just cleared an enormous obstacle.

  ‘Up here, then,’ said Bill, leading the way.

  Harry had walked up several steps before stopping and looking back.

  ‘I need you two, as well!’ he called to Ron and Hermione, who had been skulking, half-concealed, in the doorway of the sitting room.

  They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved.

  ‘How are you?’ Harry asked Hermione. ‘You were amazing – coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that –’

  Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze.

  ‘What are we doing now, Harry?’ he asked.

  ‘You’ll see. Come on.’

  Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Bill up the steep stairs, on to a small landing. Three doors led off it.

  ‘In here,’ said Bill, opening the door to his and Fleur’s room. It, too, had a view of the sea, now flecked with gold in the sunrise. Harry moved to the window, turned his back on the spectacular view and waited, his arms folded, his scar prickling. Hermione took the chair beside the dressing table; Ron sat on the arm.

  Bill reappeared, carrying the little goblin, whom he set down carefully upon the bed. Griphook grunted thanks and Bill left, closing the door upon them all.

  ‘I’m sorry to take you out of bed,’ said Harry. ‘How are your legs?’

  ‘Painful,’ replied the goblin. ‘But mending.’

  He was still clutching the sword of Gryffindor, and wore a strange look; half-truculent, half-intrigued. Harry noted the goblin’s sallow skin, his long, thin fingers, his black eyes. Fleur had removed his shoes: his long feet were dirty. He was larger than a house-elf, but not by much. His domed head was much bigger than a human’s.

  ‘You probably don’t remember –’ Harry began.

  ‘– that I was the goblin who showed you to your vault, the first time you ever visited Gringotts?’ said Griphook. ‘I remember, Harry Potter. Even amongst goblins, you are very famous.’

  Harry and the goblin looked at each other, sizing each other up. Harry’s scar was still prickling. He wanted to get through this interview with Griphook quickly, and at the same time was afraid of making a false move. While he tried to decide on the best way to approach his request, the goblin broke the silence.

  ‘You buried the elf,’ he said, sounding unexpectedly rancorous. ‘I watched you, from the window of the bedroom next door.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Harry.

  Griphook looked at him out of the corners of his slanting black eyes.

  ‘You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter.’

  ‘In what way?’ asked Harry, rubbing his scar absently.

  ‘You dug the grave.’

  ‘So?’

  Griphook did not answer. Harry rather thought he was being sneered at for acting like a Muggle, but it did not much matter to him whether Griphook approved of Dobby’s grave or not. He gathered himself for the attack.

  ‘Griphook, I need to ask –’

  ‘You also rescued a goblin.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You brought me here. Saved me.’

  ‘Well, I take it you’re not sorry?’ said Harry, a little impatiently.

  ‘No, Harry Potter,’ said Griphook, and with one finger he twisted the thin, black beard upon his chin, ‘but you are a very odd wizard.’

  ‘Right,’ said Harry. ‘Well, I need some help, Griphook, and you can give it to me.’

  The goblin made no sign of encouragement, but continued to frown at Harry as though he had never seen anything like him.

  ‘I need to break into a Gringotts vault.’

  Harry had not meant to say it so baldly; the words were forced from him as pain shot through his lightning scar and he saw, again, the outline of Hogwarts. He closed his mind firmly. He needed to deal with Griphook first. Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry as though he had gone mad.

  ‘Harry –’ said Hermione, but she was cut off by Griphook.

  ‘Break into a Gringotts vault?’ repeated the goblin, wincing a little as he shifted his position upon the bed. ‘It is impossible.’

  ‘No, it isn’t,’ Ron contradicted him. ‘It’s been done.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Harry. ‘The same day I first met you, Griphook. My birthday, seven years ago.’

  ‘The vault in question was empty at the time,’ snapped the goblin, and Harry understood that even though Griphook had left Gringotts, he was offended at the idea of its defences being breached. ‘Its protection was minimal.’

  ‘Well, the vault we need to get into isn’t empty, and I’m guessing its protection will be pretty powerful,’ said Harry. ‘It belongs to the Lestranges.’

  He saw Hermione and Ron look at each other, astonished, but there would be time enough to explain after Griphook had given his answer.

  ‘You have no chance,’ said Griphook flatly. ‘No chance at all. “If you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours –” ’

  ‘ “Thief, you have been warned, beware –” yeah, I know, I remember,’ said Harry. ‘But I’m not trying to get myself any treasure, I’m not trying to take anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?’

  The goblin looked slantwise at Harry, and the lightning scar on Harry’s forehead prickled, but he ignored it, refusing to acknowledge its pain or its invitation.

  ‘If there was a wizard of whom I would believe that they did not seek personal gain,’ said Griphook finally, ‘it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and elves are not used to the protection, or the respect, that you have shown this night. Not from wand-carriers.’

  ‘Wand-carriers,’ repeated Harry: the phrase fell oddly upon his ears as his scar prickled, as Voldemort turned his thoughts northwards, and as Harry burned to question Ollivander, next door.

  ‘The right to carry a wand,’ said the goblin quietly, ‘has long been contested between wizards and goblins.’

  ‘Well, goblins can do magic without wands,’ said Ron.

  ‘That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wandlore with other magical beings, they deny us the possibility of extending our powers!’

  ‘Well, goblins won’t share any of their magic, either,’ said Ron. ‘You won’t tell us how to make swords and armour the way you do. Goblins know how to work metal in a way wizards have never –’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Harry, noting Griphook’s rising colour. ‘This isn’t about wizards versus goblins or any other sort of magical creature –’

  Griphook gave a nasty laugh.

  ‘But it is, it is about precisely that! As the Dark Lord becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under wizarding rule, house-elves are slaughtered, and who amongst the wand-carriers protests?’

  ‘We do!’ said Hermione. She had sat up straight, her eyes bright. ‘We protest! And I’m hunted quite as much as any goblin or elf, Griphook! I’m a Mudblood!’

  ‘Don’t call yourself –’ Ron muttered.

  ‘Why shouldn’t I?’ said Hermione. ‘Mudblood, and proud of it! I’ve got no higher position under this new order than you have, Griphook! It was me they chose to torture, back at the Malfoys’!’

  As she spoke, she pulled aside the neck of the dressing gown to reveal the thin cut Bellatrix had made, scarlet against her throat.

  ‘Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free?’ she asked. ‘Did you know that we’ve wanted elves to be freed for years?’ (Ron fidgeted uncomfortably on the arm of Hermione’s chair.) ‘You can’t want You-Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!’

  The goblin gazed at Hermione with the same curiosity he had shown Harry.

  ‘What do you seek within the Lestranges’ vault?’ he asked abruptly. ‘The sword that lies inside it is a fake. This is the real one.’ He looked from one to the other of them. ‘I think that you already know this. You asked me to lie for you back there.’

  ‘But the fake sword isn’t the only thing in that vault, is it?’ asked Harry. ‘Perhaps you’ve seen the other things in there?’

  His heart was pounding harder than ever. He redoubled his efforts to ignore the pulsing of his scar.

  The goblin twisted his beard around his finger again.

  ‘It is against our code to speak of the secrets of Gringotts. We are the guardians of fabulous treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers.’

  The goblin stroked the sword, and his black eyes roved from Harry, to Hermione, to Ron and then back again.

  ‘So young,’ he said finally, ‘to be fighting so many.’

  ‘Will you help us?’ said Harry. ‘We haven’t got a hope of breaking in without a goblin’s help. You’re our one chance.’

  ‘I shall … think about it,’ said Griphook maddeningly.

  ‘But –’ Ron started angrily; Hermione nudged him in the ribs.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Harry.

  The goblin bowed his great, domed head in acknowledgement, then flexed his short legs.

  ‘I think,’ he said, settling himself ostentatiously upon Bill and Fleur’s bed, ‘that the Skele-Gro has finished its work. I may be able to sleep at last. Forgive me …’

  ‘Yeah, of course,’ said Harry, but before leaving the room he leaned forwards and took the sword of Gryffindor from beside the goblin. Griphook did not protest, but Harry thought he saw resentment in the goblin’s eyes as he closed the door upon him.

  ‘Little git,’ whispered Ron. ‘He’s enjoying keeping us hanging.’

  ‘Harry,’ whispered Hermione, pulling them both away from the door, into the middle of the still dark landing, ‘are you saying what I think you’re saying? Are you saying there’s a Horcrux in the Lestranges’ vault?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Harry. ‘Bellatrix was terrified when she thought we’d been in there, she was beside herself. Why? What did she think we’d seen, what else did she think we might have taken? Something she was petrified You-Know-Who would find out about.’

  ‘But I thought we were looking for places You-Know-Who’s been, places he’s done something important?’ said Ron, looking baffled. ‘Was he ever inside the Lestranges’ vault?’

  ‘I don’t know whether he was ever inside Gringotts,’ said Harry. ‘He never had gold there when he was younger, because nobody left him anything. He would have seen the bank from the outside, though, the first time he ever went to Diagon Alley.’