Dealing with Phineas Nigellus Black is rather like having Snape around. He is snide, waspish, and quick to take offense. But as the portrait of Armando Dippet says, portraits of former headmasters are “honor-bound to give service to the present headmaster of Hogwarts.” (HP/OotP, 473) After the first time Hermione blindfolds him, he declares he will never return, but that decision is not his to make. Through this connection, Snape learns that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are alive. In return, they learn that Dumbledore used the sword of Gryffindor to kill a Horcrux, that Dumbledore’s Army is still
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