CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Leaving the graveyard under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry and Hermione spot the ruined Potter cottage and read a magical memorial sign. A frail woman approaches, whom Harry believes to be Bathilda Bagshot, and silently beckons them to her filthy, decaying house. Inside, Harry finds a photo of the blond thief seen in Gregorovitch’s memory, but Bathilda appears confused and urges Harry upstairs alone.

In a dark bedroom, Bathilda whispers to confirm Harry’s identity. Harry’s scar prickles and the Horcrux pulses. When Bathilda indicates a pile of laundry as if hiding something, her body collapses and Nagini bursts from her neck. The snake bites and coils around Harry. Hermione arrives; spells shatter the window, and amid chaos Harry grabs Hermione as Nagini attacks again.

As they leap out the blown window, Harry’s scar explodes with pain and he becomes Voldemort’s viewpoint, reliving the night in Godric’s Hollow: Voldemort kills James, confronts Lily, and murders her before attempting to kill baby Harry, which rebounds and destroys his body. Back in the present, Voldemort reaches Bathilda’s house as Harry and Hermione Disapparate.

Harry wakes in their tent at dawn, weak and drenched. Hermione explains they escaped, treated his snakebite with dittany, and severed the Horcrux from his chest when it stuck and burned him. Horrified, they deduce Bathilda was long dead and used as Nagini’s shell to lure Harry, speaking to him in Parseltongue.

Harry asks for his wand and discovers it is nearly severed. Hermione attempts to repair it, but the wand fails and splits again; she tearfully admits her rebounding Blasting Curse likely caused the break during their escape. Reeling from the loss, Harry takes Hermione’s wand to keep watch, while the two grapple with the failed lead and the trap set at Godric’s Hollow.