The moment the dome of the Astronomy Tower shattered with a deafening roar, the astral compass at Iblis's fingertips violently burst apart. She watched Dumbledore tumble like a broken marionette into the billowing smoke, eighteen layers of protective barriers exploding in succession behind her—barriers originally reserved as an escape route for the International Confederation of Wizards rescue team.
"Is this your idea of a... dignified exit?" Hellfire condensed into a throne of thorns around her ankles, yet the pain was nothing compared to the sharp ache in her chest at the sight of the old man's blood-stained white beard. Snape's promise in the two-way mirror three days ago still echoed in her ears: "I promise you." Yet now, it had dissolved into the spreading cracks upon the masonry of the Astronomy Tower.
The foam of blood Dumbledore coughed up formed the silhouette of a phoenix in the air. "I thought you would like this ending..." He leaned against a broken pillar with a smile, his right hand tightly clutching a lemon drop wrapper. "At least, in your eyes, it ought to have been..."
Chapter 257