Screech! A piercing cry cut through the stillness. A fiery-red phoenix flew in from the other end of the corridor, clutching a battered hat in its talons!
"Perhaps you need a little help, Harry." A voice both familiar and strange, with a hint of humor in it, sounded suddenly through the corridor.
Then the phoenix dropped a shabby, patched, pointed wizard's hat from the air. It wobbled down and landed squarely on Harry's head—the Sorting Hat!
"The Sorting Hat?" Harry froze. In the distance, Voldemort seemed taken aback too.
"That's right, Harry. It's me." The Sorting Hat's voice rang directly in Harry's mind, speaking at astonishing speed. "No time to explain! Feel inside. Is there something in there that suits you?"
Harry instinctively reached into the hat.
His fingers touched something cold and hard—a long, smooth hilt. He pulled with all his strength!
A flash of silver!
A gleaming silver sword appeared in Harry's hand. Its blade shone coldly, an egg-sized ruby was set near the hilt, and a line of tiny lettering was engraved along the blade—Godric Gryffindor.
The Sword of Gryffindor!
The phoenix circled above Harry's head as he wore the Sorting Hat. At that moment, the noise in the corridor grew louder. The Gryffindor students who had not gone to Hogsmeade seemed to have been drawn over.
Harry saw a crowd of young wizards approaching from the other end of the corridor. He tried to shout for them to leave, but a sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Voldemort, wrapped in a tattered cloak, raised his wand. "Avis! Waddiwasi! Incendio!"
After those spells, birds flew wildly in every direction. Blue-and-red flames erupted amid violent explosions, while dust and feathers filled the air, blocking the young wizards' path. They were