Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)

by J.K. Rowling

“No! So why in the name of Merlin’s saggy left —

“‘I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.’”

An odd symbol, rather like a triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around his neck.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.

Fred’s eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.

“I thought . . . all these years . . . that we were protecting him for her. For Lily.”

“You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?”

“After all this time?” “Always,” said Snape.

His will to live had always been so much stronger than his fear of death.

Why had he never appreciated what a miracle he was, brain and nerve and bounding heart?

It was not, after all, so easy to die. Every second he breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on his face, was so precious: To think that people had years and years, time to waste, so much time it dragged, and he was clinging to each second.

I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life.”

He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.

It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.

“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”