Cue No. 39

Violent orchestral pulses begin the moment an arm grabs Harry from the water. Aleatoricism runs rampant across all sections of the orchestra, trying to make sense of the horror that is now coming from the lake. With a big orchestral flourish, Harry casts a spell to illuminate the cave. The high strings hold. He turns to see several Inferi crawling out of the water.

Low male chorus sings tone clusters while drums beat a repetitive ritualistic rhythm. The chorus continues with dissonance even after the drums cut out, and Dumbledore calls for Harry while trying to reach his wand. Strings swirl around as Harry fights off the Inferi, but he is ultimately unsuccessful and is dragged into the lake.

In the water, the harps glissando quickly while the dissonance in the orchestra moves steadily upward. An Inferi grabs Harry from behind, and high violins enter with a quasi-scream since Harry is submerged and cannot exhale. A distant voice sings the 3-note motif, reminding us that all of this is the wicked invention of Tom Riddle. The bottom of the orchestra plays a low C, then strings begin to ascend tonally for the first time in the cue; this reprises the rising modulations from the previous cue. Something is happening above the water in the cave.

When Harry finally gets to the surface, the choir and orchestra erupt in the loudest moment in the entire score. Fire is engulfing the cave, and Dumbledore is standing on the rock, defending against the Inferi. A huge Fawkes B theme is played by the unified horn section. Harry makes it back to Dumbledore, and the two of them prepare to make it back to the cave’s entrance. The music climaxes harmonically but cuts off abruptly as the scene shifts to a sleeping Draco Malfoy in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.