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"I have no time to explain now," said Dumbledore. "It is a thrilling tale, I wish to do it justice." He smiled at Harry, who understood that he was not being snubbed, and that he had permission to keep asking questions.
"Sir — I got a Ministry of Magic leaflet by owl, about security measures we should all take against the Death Eaters. . . ." "Yes, I received one myself," said Dumbledore, still smiling. "Did you find it useful." "Not really." "No, I thought not. You have not asked me, for instance, what is my favorite flavor of jam, to check that I am indeed Professor Dumbledore and not an impostor." "I didn't. . ." Harry began, not entirely sure whether he was being reprimanded or not.
"For future reference, Harry, it is raspberry. . . although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself." "Er. . . right," said Harry. "Well, on that leaflet, it said something about Inferi. What exactly are they. The leaflet wasn't very clear." "They are corpses," said Dumbledore calmly. "Dead bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark wizard's bidding. Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful. . . . He killed enough people to make an army of them, of course. This is the place, Harry, just here. . . ." They were nearing a small, neat stone house set in its own garden. Harry was too busy digesting the horrible idea of Inferi to have much attention left for anything else, but as they reached the front gate, Dumbledore stopped dead and Harry walked into him.
"Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear." Harry followed his gaze up the carefully tended front path and felt his heart sink. The front door was hanging off its hinges.
Dumbledore glanced up and down the street. It seemed quite deserted.
"Wand out and follow me, Harry," he said quietly.
He opened the gate and walked swiftly and silently up the garden path, Harry at his heels, then pushed the front door very slowly, his wand raised and at the ready.
"Lumos."
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