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+
+THE BOY WHO LIVED 
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, 
+were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, 
+thank you very much. They were the last people you’d 
+expect to be involved in anything strange or 
+mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such 
+nonsense. 
+
+Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called 
+Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy 
+man with hardly any neck, although he did have a 
+very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and 
+blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of 
+neck, which came in very useful as she spent so 
+much of her time craning over garden fences, spying 
+on the neighbors. The Dursley s had a small son 
+called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer 
+boy anywhere. 
+
+The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they 
+also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that 
+somebody would discover it. They didn’t think they 
+could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. 
+Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley’s sister, but they hadn’t 
+
+Page | 2 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended 
+she didn’t have a sister, because her sister and her 
+good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it 
+was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think 
+what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in 
+the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a 
+small son, too, but they had never even seen him. 
+
+This boy was another good reason for keeping the 
+Potters away; they didn’t want Dudley mixing with a 
+child like that. 
+
+When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray 
+Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the 
+cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and 
+mysterious things would soon be happening all over 
+the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out 
+his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley 
+gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming 
+Dudley into his high chair. 
+
+None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past 
+the window. 
+
+At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his 
+briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and 
+tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because 
+Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his 
+cereal at the walls. “Little tyke,” chortled Mr. Dursley 
+as he left the house. He got into his car and backed 
+out of number four’s drive. 
+
+It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the 
+first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a 
+map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn’t realize what he 
+had seen — then he jerked his head around to look 
+again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner 
+of Privet Drive, but there wasn’t a map in sight. What 
+could he have been thinking of? It must have been a 
+trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at 
+Page | 3 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around 
+the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his 
+mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet 
+Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn’t read 
+maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake 
+and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward 
+town he thought of nothing except a large order of 
+drills he was hoping to get that day. 
+
+But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his 
+mind by something else. As he sat in the usual 
+morning traffic jam, he couldn’t help noticing that 
+there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people 
+about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn’t bear 
+people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups 
+you saw on young people! He supposed this was some 
+stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the 
+steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these 
+weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering 
+excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see 
+that a couple of them weren’t young at all; why, that 
+man had to be older than he was, and wearing an 
+emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it 
+struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly 
+stunt — these people were obviously collecting for 
+something ... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved 
+on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the 
+Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. 
+
+Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in 
+his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn’t, he might 
+have found it harder to concentrate on drills that 
+morning. He didn’t see the owls swooping past in 
+broad daylight, though people down in the street did; 
+they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after 
+owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an 
+owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a 
+perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five 
+different people. He made several important telephone 
+Page | 4 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good 
+mood until lunchtime, when he thought he’d stretch 
+his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a 
+bun from the bakery. 
+
+He’d forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he 
+passed a group of them next to the baker’s. He eyed 
+them angrily as he passed. He didn’t know why, but 
+they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering 
+excitedly, too, and he couldn’t see a single collecting 
+tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a 
+large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words 
+of what they were saying. 
+
+“The Potters, that’s right, that’s what I heard — ” 
+
+“ — yes, their son, Harry — ” 
+
+Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He 
+looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say 
+something to them, but thought better of it. 
+
+He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his 
+office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, 
+seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing 
+his home number when he changed his mind. He put 
+the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, 
+thinking ... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn’t 
+such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots 
+of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. 
+Come to think of it, he wasn’t even sure his nephew 
+was called Harry. He’d never even seen the boy. It 
+might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no 
+point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so 
+upset at any mention of her sister. He didn’t blame 
+her — if he’d had a sister like that ... but all the 
+same, those people in cloaks ... 
+
+
+
+Page | 5 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that 
+afternoon and when he left the building at five o’clock, 
+he was still so worried that he walked straight into 
+someone just outside the door. 
+
+“Sorry,” he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled 
+and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. 
+Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet 
+cloak. He didn’t seem at all upset at being almost 
+knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split 
+into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that 
+made passersby stare, “Don’t be sorry, my dear sir, 
+for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You- 
+Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like 
+yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy 
+day!” 
+
+And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the 
+middle and walked off. 
+
+Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been 
+hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he 
+had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was 
+rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, 
+hoping he was imagining things, which he had never 
+hoped before, because he didn’t approve of 
+imagination. 
+
+As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the 
+first thing he saw — and it didn’t improve his mood — 
+was the tabby cat he’d spotted that morning. It was 
+now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the 
+same one; it had the same markings around its eyes. 
+
+“Shoo!” said Mr. Dursley loudly. 
+
+The cat didn’t move. It just gave him a stern look. 
+
+Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. 
+Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the 
+
+Page | 6 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+house. He was still determined not to mention 
+anything to his wife. 
+
+Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told 
+him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door’s problems 
+with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new 
+word (“Won’t!”). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. 
+When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the 
+living room in time to catch the last report on the 
+evening news: 
+
+“And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported 
+that the nation’s owls have been behaving very 
+unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at 
+night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have 
+been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in 
+every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to 
+explain why the owls have suddenly changed their 
+sleeping pattern.” The newscaster allowed himself a 
+grin. “Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim 
+McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more 
+showers of owls tonight, Jim?” 
+
+“Well, Ted,” said the weatherman, “I don’t know about 
+that, but it’s not only the owls that have been acting 
+oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, 
+and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that 
+instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they’ve had a 
+downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have 
+been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it’s not until 
+next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night 
+tonight.” 
+
+Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars 
+all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious 
+people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a 
+whisper about the Potters . . . 
+
+
+
+Page | 7 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two 
+cups of tea. It was no good. He’d have to say 
+something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. “Er 
+— Petunia, dear — you haven’t heard from your sister 
+lately, have you?” 
+
+As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and 
+angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn’t 
+have a sister. 
+
+“No,” she said sharply. “Why?” 
+
+“Funny stuff on the news,” Mr. Dursley mumbled. 
+“Owls . . . shooting stars . . . and there were a lot of 
+funny-looking people in town today ...” 
+
+“So?” snapped Mrs. Dursley. 
+
+“Well, I just thought ... maybe ... it was something to 
+do with ... you know ... her crowd.” 
+
+Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. 
+Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he’d 
+heard the name “Potter.” He decided he didn’t dare. 
+Instead he said, as casually as he could, “Their son — 
+he’d be about Dudley’s age now, wouldn’t he?” 
+
+“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Dursley stiffly. 
+
+“What’s his name again? Howard, isn’t it?” 
+
+“Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.” 
+
+“Oh, yes,” said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking 
+horribly. “Yes, I quite agree.” 
+
+He didn’t say another word on the subject as they 
+went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the 
+bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window 
+
+Page | 8 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and peered down into the front garden. The cat was 
+still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though 
+it were waiting for something. 
+
+Was he imagining things? Could all this have 
+anything to do with the Potters? If it did ... if it got out 
+that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn’t 
+think he could bear it. 
+
+The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep 
+quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over 
+in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell 
+asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, 
+there was no reason for them to come near him and 
+Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and 
+Petunia thought about them and their kind. ... He 
+couldn’t see how he and Petunia could get mixed up 
+in anything that might be going on — he yawned and 
+turned over — it couldn’t affect them. ... 
+
+How very wrong he was. 
+
+Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy 
+sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no 
+sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, 
+its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet 
+Drive. It didn’t so much as quiver when a car door 
+slammed on the next street, nor when two owls 
+swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight 
+before the cat moved at all. 
+
+A man appeared on the corner the cat had been 
+watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you’d 
+have thought he’d just popped out of the ground. The 
+cat’s tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. 
+
+Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet 
+Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the 
+silver of his hair and beard, which were both long 
+
+Page | 9 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long 
+robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and 
+high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, 
+bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles 
+and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it 
+had been broken at least twice. This man’s name was 
+Albus Dumbledore. 
+
+Albus Dumbledore didn’t seem to realize that he had 
+just arrived in a street where everything from his 
+name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy 
+rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But 
+he did seem to realize he was being watched, because 
+he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still 
+staring at him from the other end of the street. For 
+some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse 
+him. He chuckled and muttered, “I should have 
+known.” 
+
+He found what he was looking for in his inside 
+pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He 
+flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. 
+The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He 
+clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into 
+darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, 
+until the only lights left on the whole street were two 
+tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of 
+the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their 
+window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they 
+wouldn’t be able to see anything that was happening 
+down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put- 
+Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the 
+street toward number four, where he sat down on the 
+wall next to the cat. He didn’t look at it, but after a 
+moment he spoke to it. 
+
+“Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 10 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. 
+Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking 
+woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the 
+shape of the markings the cat had had around its 
+eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. 
+Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She 
+looked distinctly ruffled. 
+
+“How did you know it was me?” she asked. 
+
+“My dear Professor, I’ve never seen a cat sit so stiffly.” 
+
+“You’d be stiff if you’d been sitting on a brick wall all 
+day,” said Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“All day? When you could have been celebrating? I 
+must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my 
+way here.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. 
+
+“Oh yes, everyone’s celebrating, all right,” she said 
+impatiently. “You’d think they’d be a bit more careful, 
+but no — even the Muggles have noticed something’s 
+going on. It was on their news.” She jerked her head 
+back at the Dursleys’ dark living-room window. “I 
+heard it. Flocks of owls ... shooting stars. ... Well, 
+they’re not completely stupid. They were bound to 
+notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I’ll 
+bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much 
+sense.” 
+
+“You can’t blame them,” said Dumbledore gently. 
+“We’ve had precious little to celebrate for eleven 
+years.” 
+
+“I know that,” said Professor McGonagall irritably. 
+
+“But that’s no reason to lose our heads. People are 
+being downright careless, out on the streets in broad 
+
+Page | 11 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, 
+swapping rumors.” 
+
+She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore 
+here, as though hoping he was going to tell her 
+something, but he didn’t, so she went on. “A fine 
+thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who 
+seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found 
+out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, 
+Dumbledore?” 
+
+“It certainly seems so,” said Dumbledore. “We have 
+much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon 
+drop?” 
+
+“A what?” 
+
+“A lemon drop. They’re a kind of Muggle sweet I’m 
+rather fond of.” 
+
+“No, thank you,” said Professor McGonagall coldly, as 
+though she didn’t think this was the moment for 
+lemon drops. “As I say, even if You-Know-Who has 
+gone — ” 
+
+“My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like 
+yourself can call him by his name? All this You- 
+Know-Who’ nonsense — for eleven years I have been 
+trying to persuade people to call him by his proper 
+name: Voldemort.” Professor McGonagall flinched, but 
+Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, 
+seemed not to notice. “It all gets so confusing if we 
+keep saying You-Know-Who.’ I have never seen any 
+reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort’s name.” 
+
+“I know you haven’t,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+sounding half exasperated, half admiring. “But you’re 
+different. Everyone knows you’re the only one You- 
+Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of.” 
+
+Page | 12 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You flatter me,” said Dumbledore calmly. “Voldemort 
+had powers I will never have.” 
+
+
+
+“Only because you’re too — well — noble to use 
+them.” 
+
+“It’s lucky it’s dark. I haven’t blushed so much since 
+Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at 
+Dumbledore and said, “The owls are nothing next to 
+the rumors that are flying around. You know what 
+everyone’s saying? About why he’s disappeared? 
+
+About what finally stopped him?” 
+
+It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the 
+point she was most anxious to discuss, the real 
+reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all 
+day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she 
+fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she 
+did now. It was plain that whatever “everyone” was 
+saying, she was not going to believe it until 
+Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, 
+however, was choosing another lemon drop and did 
+not answer. 
+
+“What they’re saying,” she pressed on, “is that last 
+night Voldemort turned up in Godric’s Hollow. He 
+went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and 
+James Potter are — are — that they’re — dead.” 
+
+Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall 
+gasped. 
+
+“Lily and James ... I can’t believe it ... I didn’t want to 
+believe it ... Oh, Albus ...” 
+
+Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the 
+shoulder. “I know ... I know ...” he said heavily. 
+
+Page | 13 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Professor McGonagall’s voice trembled as she went 
+on. “That’s not all. They’re saying he tried to kill the 
+Potters’ son, Harry. But — he couldn’t. He couldn’t 
+kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but 
+they’re saying that when he couldn’t kill Harry Potter, 
+Voldemort’s power somehow broke — and that’s why 
+he’s gone.” 
+
+Dumbledore nodded glumly. 
+
+“It’s — it’s true?” faltered Professor McGonagall. “After 
+all he’s done ... all the people he’s killed ... he couldn’t 
+kill a little boy? It’s just astounding ... of all the 
+things to stop him . . . but how in the name of heaven 
+did Harry survive?” 
+
+“We can only guess,” said Dumbledore. “We may 
+never know.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief 
+and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. 
+Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden 
+watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very 
+odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; 
+instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It 
+must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, 
+because he put it back in his pocket and said, 
+“Hagrid’s late. I suppose it was he who told you I’d be 
+here, by the way?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Professor McGonagall. “And I don’t 
+suppose you’re going to tell me why you’re here, of all 
+places?” 
+
+“I’ve come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. 
+They’re the only family he has left now.” 
+
+“You don’t mean — you can’t mean the people who 
+live here?” cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her 
+
+Page | 14 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+feet and pointing at number four. “Dumbledore — you 
+can’t. I’ve been watching them all day. You couldn’t 
+find two people who are less like us. And they’ve got 
+this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way 
+up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter 
+come and live here!” 
+
+“It’s the best place for him,” said Dumbledore firmly. 
+“His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything 
+to him when he’s older. I’ve written them a letter.” 
+
+“A letter?” repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, 
+sitting back down on the wall. “Really, Dumbledore, 
+you think you can explain all this in a letter? These 
+people will never understand him! He’ll be famous — 
+a legend — I wouldn’t be surprised if today was 
+known as Harry Potter Day in the future — there will 
+be books written about Harry — every child in our 
+world will know his name!” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Dumbledore, looking very seriously 
+over the top of his half-moon glasses. “It would be 
+enough to turn any boy’s head. Famous before he can 
+walk and talk! Famous for something he won’t even 
+remember! Can’t you see how much better off he’ll be, 
+growing up away from all that until he’s ready to take 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her 
+mind, swallowed, and then said, “Yes — yes, you’re 
+right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, 
+Dumbledore?” She eyed his cloak suddenly as though 
+she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. 
+
+“Hagrid’s bringing him.” 
+
+“You think it — wise — to trust Hagrid with 
+something as important as this?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 15 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I would trust Hagrid with my life,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“I’m not saying his heart isn’t in the right place,” said 
+Professor McGonagall grudgingly, “but you can’t 
+pretend he’s not careless. He does tend to — what 
+was that?” 
+
+A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around 
+them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and 
+down the street for some sign of a headlight; it 
+swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — 
+and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed 
+on the road in front of them. 
+
+If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man 
+sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a 
+normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked 
+simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long 
+tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his 
+face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his 
+feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In 
+his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of 
+blankets. 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. “At 
+last. And where did you get that motorcycle?” 
+
+“Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir,” said the 
+giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he 
+spoke. “Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I’ve got him, 
+sir.” 
+
+“No problems, were there?” 
+
+“No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him 
+out all right before the Muggles started swarmin’ 
+around. He fell asleep as we was flyin’ over Bristol.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 16 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward 
+over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a 
+baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair 
+over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped 
+cut, like a bolt of lightning. 
+
+“Is that where — ?” whispered Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “Hell have that scar forever.” 
+
+“Couldn’t you do something about it, Dumbledore?” 
+
+“Even if I could, I wouldn’t. Scars can come in handy. 
+
+I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect 
+map of the London Underground. Well — give him 
+here, Hagrid — we’d better get this over with.” 
+
+Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned 
+toward the Dursleys’ house. 
+
+“Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?” asked 
+Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry 
+and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, 
+whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl 
+like a wounded dog. 
+
+“Shhh!” hissed Professor McGonagall, “you’ll wake the 
+Muggles!” 
+
+“S-s-sorry,” sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted 
+handkerchief and burying his face in it. “But I c-c- 
+can’t stand it — Lily an’ James dead — an’ poor little 
+Harry off ter live with Muggles — ” 
+
+“Yes, yes, it’s all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, 
+Hagrid, or we’ll be found,” Professor McGonagall 
+whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as 
+Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and 
+walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the 
+Page | 17 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it 
+inside Harry’s blankets, and then came back to the 
+other two. For a full minute the three of them stood 
+and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid’s shoulders 
+shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and 
+the twinkling light that usually shone from 
+Dumbledore’s eyes seemed to have gone out. 
+
+“Well,” said Dumbledore finally, “that’s that. We’ve no 
+business staying here. We may as well go and join the 
+celebrations.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, “I’d best 
+get this bike away. G ’night, Professor McGonagall — 
+Professor Dumbledore, sir.” 
+
+Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid 
+swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the 
+engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off 
+into the night. 
+
+“I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall,” 
+said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor 
+McGonagall blew her nose in reply. 
+
+Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. 
+On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put- 
+Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light 
+sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive 
+glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a 
+tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end 
+of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets 
+on the step of number four. 
+
+“Good luck, Harry,” he murmured. He turned on his 
+heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. 
+
+A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which 
+lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last 
+
+Page | 18 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+place you would expect astonishing things to happen. 
+Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without 
+waking up. One small hand closed on the letter 
+beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was 
+special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he 
+would be woken in a few hours’ time by Mrs. 
+
+Dursley’s scream as she opened the front door to put 
+out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next 
+few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin 
+Dudley. ... He couldn’t know that at this very 
+moment, people meeting in secret all over the country 
+were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed 
+voices: “To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 19 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE VANASHIG GLASS 
+
+Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had 
+woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but 
+Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose 
+on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass 
+number four on the Dursleys’ front door; it crept into 
+their living room, which was almost exactly the same 
+as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had 
+seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the 
+photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how 
+much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been 
+lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach 
+ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but Dudley 
+Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the 
+photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first 
+bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer 
+game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his 
+mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy 
+lived in the house, too. 
+
+Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, 
+but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it 
+
+
+
+Page | 20 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the 
+day. 
+
+“Up! Get up! Now!” 
+
+Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door 
+again. 
+
+“Up!” she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward 
+the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan 
+being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and 
+tried to remember the dream he had been having. It 
+had been a good one. There had been a flying 
+motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he’d had the 
+same dream before. 
+
+His aunt was back outside the door. 
+
+“Are you up yet?” she demanded. 
+
+“Nearly,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the 
+bacon. And don’t you dare let it burn, I want 
+everything perfect on Duddy’s birthday.” 
+
+Harry groaned. 
+
+“What did you say?” his aunt snapped through the 
+door. 
+
+“Nothing, nothing ...” 
+
+Dudley’s birthday — how could he have forgotten? 
+Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for 
+socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after 
+pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry 
+was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the 
+stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept. 
+Page | 21 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+When he was dressed he went down the hall into the 
+kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all 
+Dudley’s birthday presents. It looked as though 
+Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not 
+to mention the second television and the racing bike. 
+Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a 
+mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated 
+exercise — unless of course it involved punching 
+somebody. Dudley’s favorite punching bag was Harry, 
+but he couldn’t often catch him. Harry didn’t look it, 
+but he was very fast. 
+
+Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark 
+cupboard, but Harry had always been small and 
+skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and 
+skinnier than he really was because all he had to 
+wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was 
+about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin 
+face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green 
+eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot 
+of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had 
+punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked 
+about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his 
+forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He 
+had had it as long as he could remember, and the 
+first question he could ever remember asking his 
+Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it. 
+
+“In the car crash when your parents died,” she had 
+said. “And don’t ask questions.” 
+
+Don’t ask questions — that was the first rule for a 
+quiet life with the Dursleys. 
+
+Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was 
+turning over the bacon. 
+
+“Comb your hair!” he barked, by way of a morning 
+greeting. 
+
+Page | 22 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top 
+of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a 
+haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the 
+rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made 
+no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over 
+the place. 
+
+Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in 
+the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like 
+Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much 
+neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair 
+that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia 
+often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — 
+Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a 
+wig. 
+
+Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, 
+which was difficult as there wasn’t much room. 
+Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His 
+face fell. 
+
+“Thirty-six,” he said, looking up at his mother and 
+father. “That’s two less than last year.” 
+
+“Darling, you haven’t counted Auntie Marge’s present, 
+see, it’s here under this big one from Mommy and 
+Daddy.” 
+
+“All right, thirty-seven then,” said Dudley, going red 
+in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley 
+tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as 
+fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. 
+
+Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because 
+she said quickly, “And we’ll buy you another two 
+presents while we’re out today. How’s that, popkin? 
+Two more presents. Is that all right?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 23 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard 
+work. Finally he said slowly, “So I’ll have thirty ... 
+thirty ...” 
+
+“Thirty-nine, sweetums,” said Aunt Petunia. 
+
+“Oh.” Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the 
+nearest parcel. “All right then.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon chuckled. 
+
+“Little tyke wants his money’s worth, just like his 
+father. ’Atta boy, Dudley!” He ruffled Dudley’s hair. 
+
+At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia 
+went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon 
+watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video 
+camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new 
+computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the 
+paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came 
+back from the telephone looking both angry and 
+worried. 
+
+“Bad news, Vernon,” she said. “Mrs. Figg’s broken her 
+leg. She can’t take him.” She jerked her head in 
+Harry’s direction. 
+
+Dudley’s mouth fell open in horror, but Harry’s heart 
+gave a leap. Every year on Dudley’s birthday, his 
+parents took him and a friend out for the day, to 
+adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the 
+movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. 
+Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. 
+
+Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of 
+cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs 
+of all the cats she’d ever owned. 
+
+“Now what?” said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at 
+Harry as though he’d planned this. Harry knew he 
+
+Page | 24 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, 
+but it wasn’t easy when he reminded himself it would 
+be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbies, 
+Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again. 
+
+“We could phone Marge,” Uncle Vernon suggested. 
+
+“Don’t be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy.” 
+
+The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as 
+though he wasn’t there — or rather, as though he was 
+something very nasty that couldn’t understand them, 
+like a slug. 
+
+“What about what’s-her-name, your friend — 
+Yvonne?” 
+
+“On vacation in Majorca,” snapped Aunt Petunia. 
+
+“You could just leave me here,” Harry put in hopefully 
+(he’d be able to watch what he wanted on television 
+for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley’s 
+computer) . 
+
+Aunt Petunia looked as though she’d just swallowed a 
+lemon. 
+
+“And come back and find the house in ruins?” she 
+snarled. 
+
+“I won’t blow up the house,” said Harry, but they 
+weren’t listening. 
+
+“I suppose we could take him to the zoo,” said Aunt 
+Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car. ...” 
+
+“That cars new, he’s not sitting in it alone. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 25 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn’t really 
+crying — it had been years since he’d really cried — 
+but he knew that if he screwed up his face and 
+wailed, his mother would give him anything he 
+wanted. 
+
+“Dinky Duddydums, don’t cry, Mummy won’t let him 
+spoil your special day!” she cried, flinging her arms 
+around him. 
+
+“I ... don’t ... want ... him ... t-t-to come!” Dudley 
+yelled between huge, pretend sobs. “He always sp- 
+spoils everything!” He shot Harry a nasty grin through 
+the gap in his mothers arms. 
+
+Just then, the doorbell rang — “Oh, good Lord, 
+they’re here!” said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a 
+moment later, Dudley’s best friend, Piers Polkiss, 
+walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy 
+with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who 
+held people’s arms behind their backs while Dudley 
+hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. 
+
+Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn’t believe his 
+luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys’ car with 
+Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first 
+time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn’t been able 
+to think of anything else to do with him, but before 
+they’d left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside. 
+
+“I’m warning you,” he had said, putting his large 
+purple face right up close to Harry’s, “I’m warning you 
+now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — 
+and you’ll be in that cupboard from now until 
+Christmas.” 
+
+I’m not going to do anything,” said Harry, “honestly 
+
+
+
+Page | 26 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Uncle Vernon didn’t believe him. No one ever did. 
+
+
+
+The problem was, strange things often happened 
+around Harry and it was just no good telling the 
+Dursleys he didn’t make them happen. 
+
+Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from 
+the barbers looking as though he hadn’t been at all, 
+had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair 
+so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, 
+which she left “to hide that horrible scar.” Dudley had 
+laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless 
+night imagining school the next day, where he was 
+already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped 
+glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to 
+find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt 
+Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week 
+in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to 
+explain that he couldn’t explain how it had grown 
+back so quickly. 
+
+Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force 
+him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley’s (brown 
+with orange puff balls). The harder she tried to pull it 
+over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until 
+finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but 
+certainly wouldn’t fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided 
+it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great 
+relief, Harry wasn’t punished. 
+
+On the other hand, he’d gotten into terrible trouble 
+for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. 
+Dudley’s gang had been chasing him as usual when, 
+as much to Harry’s surprise as anyone else’s, there he 
+was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had 
+received a very angry letter from Harry’s headmistress 
+telling them Harry had been climbing school 
+buildings. But all he’d tried to do (as he shouted at 
+Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his 
+Page | 27 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans 
+outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the 
+wind must have caught him in mid-jump. 
+
+But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even 
+worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the 
+day somewhere that wasn’t school, his cupboard, or 
+Mrs. Figg’s cabbage-smelling living room. 
+
+While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt 
+Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at 
+work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry 
+were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, 
+it was motorcycles. 
+
+"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums,” 
+he said, as a motorcycle overtook them. 
+
+“I had a dream about a motorcycle,” said Harry, 
+remembering suddenly. “It was flying.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He 
+turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, 
+his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: 
+“MOTORCYCLES DONT FLY!” 
+
+Dudley and Piers sniggered. 
+
+“I know they don’t,” said Harry. “It was only a dream.” 
+
+But he wished he hadn’t said anything. If there was 
+one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his 
+asking questions, it was his talking about anything 
+acting in a way it shouldn’t, no matter if it was in a 
+dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he 
+might get dangerous ideas. 
+
+It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was 
+crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley 
+
+Page | 28 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance 
+and then, because the smiling lady in the van had 
+asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry 
+him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It 
+wasn’t bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they 
+watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked 
+remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn’t blond. 
+
+Harry had the best morning he’d had in a long time. 
+He was careful to walk a little way apart from the 
+Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting 
+to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn’t 
+fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They 
+ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a 
+tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn’t have 
+enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him 
+another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. 
+
+Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it 
+was all too good to last. 
+
+After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool 
+and dark in there, with lit windows all along the 
+walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes 
+were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and 
+stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, 
+poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. 
+Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It 
+could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle 
+Vernon’s car and crushed it into a trash can — but at 
+the moment it didn’t look in the mood. In fact, it was 
+fast asleep. 
+
+Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, 
+staring at the glistening brown coils. 
+
+“Make it move,” he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon 
+tapped on the glass, but the snake didn’t budge. 
+
+
+
+Page | 29 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Do it again,” Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped 
+the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake 
+just snoozed on. 
+
+“This is boring,” Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. 
+
+Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently 
+at the snake. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it 
+had died of boredom itself — no company except 
+stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass 
+trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than 
+having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only 
+visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to 
+wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the 
+house. 
+
+The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, 
+very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a 
+level with Harry’s. 
+
+It winked. 
+
+Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if 
+anyone was watching. They weren’t. He looked back 
+at the snake and winked, too. 
+
+The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and 
+Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave 
+Harry a look that said quite plainly: 
+
+“I get that all the time.” 
+
+“I know,” Harry murmured through the glass, though 
+he wasn’t sure the snake could hear him. “It must be 
+really annoying.” 
+
+The snake nodded vigorously. 
+
+“Where do you come from, anyway?” Harry asked. 
+
+Page | 30 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the 
+glass. Harry peered at it. 
+
+Boa Constrictor, Brazil. 
+
+“Was it nice there?” 
+
+The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again 
+and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the 
+zoo. “Oh, I see — so you’ve never been to Brazil?” 
+
+As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout 
+behind Harry made both of them jump. “DUDLEY! 
+MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! 
+YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT IT’S DOING!” 
+
+Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he 
+could. 
+
+“Out of the way, you,” he said, punching Harry in the 
+ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the 
+concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no 
+one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and 
+Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the 
+next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. 
+
+Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa 
+constrictor’s tank had vanished. The great snake was 
+uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. 
+People throughout the reptile house screamed and 
+started running for the exits. 
+
+As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have 
+sworn a low, hissing voice said, “Brazil, here I come. 
+... Thanksss, amigo.” 
+
+The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. 
+
+
+
+Page | 31 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But the glass,” he kept saying, “where did the glass 
+go?” " 
+
+The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of 
+strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over 
+again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as 
+Harry had seen, the snake hadn’t done anything 
+except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but 
+by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon’s car, 
+Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off 
+his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to 
+squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at 
+least, was Piers calming down enough to say, “Harry 
+was talking to it, weren’t you, Harry?” 
+
+Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the 
+house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he 
+could hardly speak. He managed to say, “Go — 
+cupboard — stay — no meals,” before he collapsed 
+into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get 
+him a large brandy. 
+
+Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing 
+he had a watch. He didn’t know what time it was and 
+he couldn’t be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. 
+
+Until they were, he couldn’t risk sneaking to the 
+kitchen for some food. 
+
+He’d lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten 
+miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever 
+since he’d been a baby and his parents had died in 
+that car crash. He couldn’t remember being in the car 
+when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he 
+strained his memory during long hours in his 
+cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a 
+blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his 
+forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though 
+he couldn’t imagine where all the green light came 
+from. He couldn’t remember his parents at all. His 
+Page | 32 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of 
+course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were 
+no photographs of them in the house. 
+
+When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and 
+dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take 
+him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys 
+were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or 
+maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to 
+know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A 
+tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once 
+while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. 
+After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt 
+Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without 
+buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed 
+all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. 
+
+A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually 
+shaken his hand in the street the other day and then 
+walked away without a word. The weirdest thing 
+about all these people was the way they seemed to 
+vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. 
+
+At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that 
+Dudley’s gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his 
+baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody 
+liked to disagree with Dudley’s gang. 
+
+
+
+Page | 33 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+3 
+
+
+
+
+THE LETTERS FROM NO ONE 
+
+The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned 
+Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he 
+was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer 
+holidays had started and Dudley had already broken 
+his new video camera, crashed his remote control 
+airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, 
+knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet 
+Drive on her crutches. 
+
+Harry was glad school was over, but there was no 
+escaping Dudley’s gang, who visited the house every 
+single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were 
+all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and 
+stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of 
+them were all quite happy to join in Dudley’s favorite 
+sport: Harry Hunting. 
+
+This was why Harry spent as much time as possible 
+out of the house, wandering around and thinking 
+about the end of the holidays, where he could see a 
+tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be 
+going off to secondary school and, for the first time in 
+Page | 34 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+his life, he wouldn’t be with Dudley. Dudley had been 
+accepted at Uncle Vernon’s old private school, 
+Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, 
+on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the 
+local public school. Dudley thought this was very 
+funny. 
+
+“They stuff people’s heads down the toilet the first day 
+at Stonewall,” he told Harry. “Want to come upstairs 
+and practice?” 
+
+“No, thanks,” said Harry. “The poor toilet’s never had 
+anything as horrible as your head down it — it might 
+be sick.” Then he ran, before Dudley could work out 
+what he’d said. 
+
+One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London 
+to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. 
+Figg’s. Mrs. Figg wasn’t as bad as usual. It turned out 
+she’d broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and 
+she didn’t seem quite as fond of them as before. She 
+let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of 
+chocolate cake that tasted as though she’d had it for 
+several years. 
+
+That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room 
+for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings 
+boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, 
+and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried 
+knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the 
+teachers weren’t looking. This was supposed to be 
+good training for later life. 
+
+As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, 
+Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest 
+moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and 
+said she couldn’t believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, 
+he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn’t 
+
+
+
+Page | 35 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs 
+might already have cracked from trying not to laugh. 
+
+
+
+
+There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next 
+morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed 
+to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He 
+went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked 
+like dirty rags swimming in gray water. 
+
+“What’s this?” he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips 
+tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a 
+question. 
+
+“Your new school uniform,” she said. 
+
+Harry looked in the bowl again. 
+
+“Oh,” he said, “I didn’t realize it had to be so wet.” 
+
+“Don’t be stupid,” snapped Aunt Petunia. “I’m dyeing 
+some of Dudley’s old things gray for you. It’ll look just 
+like everyone else’s when I’ve finished.” 
+
+Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not 
+to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to 
+think about how he was going to look on his first day 
+at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old 
+elephant skin, probably. 
+
+Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with 
+wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry’s new 
+uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as 
+usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which 
+he carried everywhere, on the table. 
+
+They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters 
+on the doormat. 
+
+Page | 36 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Get the mail, Dudley,” said Uncle Vernon from 
+behind his paper. 
+
+“Make Harry get it.” 
+
+“Get the mail, Harry.” 
+
+“Make Dudley get it.” 
+
+“Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley.” 
+
+Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the 
+mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard 
+from Uncle Vernon’s sister Marge, who was 
+vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope 
+that looked like a bill, and — a letter for Harry. 
+
+Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging 
+like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole 
+life, had written to him. Who would? He had no 
+friends, no other relatives — he didn’t belong to the 
+library, so he’d never even got rude notes asking for 
+books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so 
+plainly there could be no mistake: 
+
+Mr. H. Potter 
+
+The Cupboard under the Stairs 
+4 Privet Drive 
+Little Whinging 
+Surrey 
+
+The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish 
+parchment, and the address was written in emerald- 
+green ink. There was no stamp. 
+
+
+
+Page | 37 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry 
+saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, 
+an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large 
+letter H. 
+
+“Hurry up, boy!” shouted Uncle Vernon from the 
+kitchen. “What are you doing, checking for letter 
+bombs?” He chuckled at his own joke. 
+
+Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his 
+letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the 
+postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the 
+yellow envelope. 
+
+Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, 
+and flipped over the postcard. 
+
+“Marge’s ill,” he informed Aunt Petunia. “Ate a funny 
+whelk ...” 
+
+“Dad!” said Dudley suddenly. “Dad, Harry’s got 
+something!” 
+
+Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which 
+was written on the same heavy parchment as the 
+envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand 
+by Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“That’s mine\” said Harry, trying to snatch it back. 
+
+“Who’d be writing to you?” sneered Uncle Vernon, 
+shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at 
+it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of 
+traffic lights. And it didn’t stop there. Within seconds 
+it was the grayish white of old porridge. 
+
+“P-P-Petunia!” he gasped. 
+
+
+
+Page | 38 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle 
+Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia 
+took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment 
+it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her 
+throat and made a choking noise. 
+
+“Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!” 
+
+They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten 
+that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley 
+wasn’t used to being ignored. He gave his father a 
+sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick. 
+
+“I want to read that letter,” he said loudly. 
+
+“I want to read it,” said Harry furiously, “as it’s mine.” 
+
+“Get out, both of you,” croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing 
+the letter back inside its envelope. 
+
+Harry didn’t move. 
+
+“I WANT MY LETTER!” he shouted. 
+
+“Let me see it!” demanded Dudley. 
+
+“OUT!” roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry 
+and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw 
+them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind 
+them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but 
+silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; 
+Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one 
+ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack 
+between door and floor. 
+
+“Vernon,” Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering 
+voice, “look at the address — how could they possibly 
+know where he sleeps? You don’t think they’re 
+watching the house?” 
+
+Page | 39 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Watching — spying — might be following us,” 
+muttered Uncle Vernon wildly. 
+
+“But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write 
+back? Tell them we don’t want — ” 
+
+Harry could see Uncle Vernon’s shiny black shoes 
+pacing up and down the kitchen. 
+
+“No,” he said finally. “No, we’ll ignore it. If they don’t 
+get an answer. ... Yes, that’s best ... we won’t do 
+anything. ...” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“I’m not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn’t we 
+swear when we took him in we’d stamp out that 
+dangerous nonsense?” 
+
+That evening when he got back from work, Uncle 
+Vernon did something he’d never done before; he 
+visited Harry in his cupboard. 
+
+“Where’s my letter?” said Harry, the moment Uncle 
+Vernon had squeezed through the door. “Who’s 
+writing to me?” 
+
+“No one. It was addressed to you by mistake,” said 
+Uncle Vernon shortly. “I have burned it.” 
+
+“It was not a mistake,” said Harry angrily, “it had my 
+cupboard on it.” 
+
+“SILENCE!” yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of 
+spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep 
+breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which 
+looked quite painful. 
+
+
+
+Page | 40 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Er — yes, Harry — about this cupboard. Your aunt 
+and I have been thinking ... you’re really getting a bit 
+big for it . . . we think it might be nice if you moved 
+into Dudley’s second bedroom.” 
+
+“Why?” said Harry. 
+
+“Don’t ask questions!” snapped his uncle. “Take this 
+stuff upstairs, now.” 
+
+The Dursleys’ house had four bedrooms: one for 
+Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors 
+(usually Uncle Vernon’s sister, Marge), one where 
+Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys 
+and things that wouldn’t fit into his first bedroom. It 
+only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything 
+he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat 
+down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly 
+everything in here was broken. The month-old video 
+camera was lying on top of a small, working tank 
+Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor’s 
+dog; in the corner was Dudley’s first-ever television 
+set, which he’d put his foot through when his favorite 
+program had been canceled; there was a large 
+birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley 
+had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was 
+up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley 
+had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They 
+were the only things in the room that looked as 
+though they’d never been touched. 
+
+From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling 
+at his mother, “I don’t want him in there ... I need 
+that room ... make him get out. ...” 
+
+Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday 
+he’d have given anything to be up here. Today he’d 
+rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than 
+up here without it. 
+
+Page | 41 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. 
+Dudley was in shock. He’d screamed, whacked his 
+father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, 
+kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through 
+the greenhouse roof, and he still didn’t have his room 
+back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday 
+and bitterly wishing he’d opened the letter in the hall. 
+Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each 
+other darkly. 
+
+When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to 
+be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get 
+it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting 
+stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, 
+“There’s another one! ‘Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest 
+Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive — ’ ” 
+
+With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his 
+seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. 
+Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to 
+get the letter from him, which was made difficult by 
+the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around 
+the neck from behind. After a minute of confused 
+fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the 
+Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, 
+gasping for breath, with Harry’s letter clutched in his 
+hand. 
+
+“Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom,” he 
+wheezed at Harry. “Dudley — go — just go.” 
+
+Harry walked round and round his new room. 
+Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and 
+they seemed to know he hadn’t received his first 
+letter. Surely that meant they’d try again? And this 
+time he’d make sure they didn’t fail. He had a plan. 
+
+The repaired alarm clock rang at six o’clock the next 
+morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed 
+
+Page | 42 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+silently. He mustn’t wake the Dursleys. He stole 
+downstairs without turning on any of the lights. 
+
+He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of 
+Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. 
+His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall 
+toward the front door — 
+
+“AAAAARRRGH ! ” 
+
+Harry leapt into the air; he’d trodden on something 
+big and squashy on the doormat — something alive\ 
+
+Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry 
+realized that the big, squashy something had been his 
+uncle’s face. Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot 
+of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making 
+sure that Harry didn’t do exactly what he’d been 
+trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an 
+hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. 
+Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by 
+the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into 
+Uncle Vernon’s lap. Harry could see three letters 
+addressed in green ink. 
+
+“I want — ” he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing 
+the letters into pieces before his eyes. 
+
+Uncle Vernon didn’t go to work that day. He stayed at 
+home and nailed up the mail slot. 
+
+“See,” he explained to Aunt Petunia through a 
+mouthful of nails, “if they can’t deliver them they’ll 
+just give up.” 
+
+“I’m not sure that’ll work, Vernon.” 
+
+“Oh, these peoples minds work in strange ways, 
+Petunia, they’re not like you and me,” said Uncle 
+
+Page | 43 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of 
+fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him. 
+
+On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for 
+Harry. As they couldn’t go through the mail slot they 
+had been pushed under the door, slotted through the 
+sides, and a few even forced through the small 
+window in the downstairs bathroom. 
+
+Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all 
+the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and 
+boarded up the cracks around the front and back 
+doors so no one could go out. He hummed “Tiptoe 
+Through the Tulips” as he worked, and jumped at 
+small noises. 
+
+On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. 
+Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the 
+house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two 
+dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had 
+handed Aunt Petunia through the living room 
+window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone 
+calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find 
+someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the 
+letters in her food processor. 
+
+“Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?” 
+Dudley asked Harry in amazement. 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the 
+breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. 
+
+“No post on Sundays,” he reminded them cheerfully 
+as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, “no 
+damn letters today — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 44 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney 
+as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of 
+the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came 
+pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys 
+ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch 
+one — 
+
+“Out! OUT!” 
+
+Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and 
+threw him into the hall. When Aunt Petunia and 
+Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, 
+Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could 
+hear the letters still streaming into the room, 
+bouncing off the walls and floor. 
+
+“That does it,” said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak 
+calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at 
+the same time. “I want you all back here in five 
+minutes ready to leave. We’re going away. Just pack 
+some clothes. No arguments!” 
+
+He looked so dangerous with half his mustache 
+missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later 
+they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up 
+doors and were in the car, speeding toward the 
+highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his 
+father had hit him round the head for holding them 
+up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and 
+computer in his sports bag. 
+
+They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn’t 
+dare ask where they were going. Every now and then 
+Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in 
+the opposite direction for a while. 
+
+“Shake ’em off ... shake ’em off,” he would mutter 
+whenever he did this. 
+
+
+
+Page | 45 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They didn’t stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall 
+Dudley was howling. He’d never had such a bad day 
+in his life. He was hungry, he’d missed five television 
+programs he’d wanted to see, and he’d never gone so 
+long without blowing up an alien on his computer. 
+
+Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy- 
+looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley 
+and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, 
+musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, 
+sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of 
+passing cars and wondering... 
+
+They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on 
+toast for breakfast the next day. They had just 
+finished when the owner of the hotel came over to 
+their table. 
+
+“ ’Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I 
+got about an ’undred of these at the front desk.” 
+
+She held up a letter so they could read the green ink 
+address: 
+
+Mr. H. Potter 
+
+Room 1 7 
+
+Railview Hotel 
+
+Cokeworth 
+
+Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon 
+knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared. 
+
+“I’ll take them,” said Uncle Vernon, standing up 
+quickly and following her from the dining room. 
+
+
+
+Page | 46 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Wouldn’t it be better just to go home, dear?” Aunt 
+Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle 
+Vernon didn’t seem to hear her. Exactly what he was 
+looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into 
+the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook 
+his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. 
+The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed 
+field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the 
+top of a multilevel parking garage. 
+
+“Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he?” Dudley asked Aunt 
+Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had 
+parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, 
+and disappeared. 
+
+It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the 
+car. Dudley sniveled. 
+
+“It’s Monday,” he told his mother. “The Great 
+Humberto’s on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with 
+a television.” 
+
+Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was 
+Monday — and you could usually count on Dudley to 
+know the days of the week, because of television — 
+then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry’s eleventh 
+birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly 
+fun — last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat 
+hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon’s old socks. Still, 
+you weren’t eleven every day. 
+
+Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was 
+also carrying a long, thin package and didn’t answer 
+Aunt Petunia when she asked what he’d bought. 
+
+“Found the perfect place!” he said. “Come on! 
+
+Everyone out!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 47 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was 
+pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at 
+sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most 
+miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing 
+was certain, there was no television in there. 
+
+“Storm forecast for tonight!” said Uncle Vernon 
+gleefully, clapping his hands together. “And this 
+gentleman’s kindly agreed to lend us his boat!” 
+
+A toothless old man came ambling up to them, 
+pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat 
+bobbing in the iron-gray water below them. 
+
+“I’ve already got us some rations,” said Uncle Vernon, 
+“so all aboard!” 
+
+It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain 
+crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped 
+their faces. After what seemed like hours they 
+reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and 
+sliding, led the way to the broken-down house. 
+
+The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of 
+seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the 
+wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. 
+There were only two rooms. 
+
+Uncle Vernon’s rations turned out to be a bag of chips 
+each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the 
+empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up. 
+
+“Could do with some of those letters now, eh?” he said 
+cheerfully. 
+
+He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought 
+nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a 
+storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though 
+the thought didn’t cheer him up at all. 
+
+Page | 48 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+As night fell, the promised storm blew up around 
+them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls 
+of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy 
+windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in 
+the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on 
+the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off 
+to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find 
+the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under 
+the thinnest, most ragged blanket. 
+
+The storm raged more and more ferociously as the 
+night went on. Harry couldn’t sleep. He shivered and 
+turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach 
+rumbling with hunger. Dudley’s snores were drowned 
+by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. 
+The lighted dial of Dudley’s watch, which was 
+dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told 
+Harry he’d be eleven in ten minutes’ time. He lay and 
+watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the 
+Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the 
+letter writer was now. 
+
+Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak 
+outside. He hoped the roof wasn’t going to fall in, 
+although he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes 
+to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so 
+full of letters when they got back that he’d be able to 
+steal one somehow. 
+
+Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard 
+on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what 
+was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock 
+crumbling into the sea? 
+
+One minute to go and he’d be eleven. Thirty seconds 
+... twenty ... ten ... nine — maybe he’d wake Dudley 
+up, just to annoy him — three ... two ... one ... 
+
+BOOM. 
+
+Page | 49 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, 
+staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking 
+to come in. 
+
+
+
+Page | 50 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS 
+
+BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. 
+
+“Where’s the cannon?” he said stupidly. 
+
+There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon 
+came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in 
+his hands — now they knew what had been in the 
+long, thin package he had brought with them. 
+
+“Who’s there?” he shouted. “I warn you — I’m armed!” 
+
+There was a pause. Then — 
+
+SMASH! 
+
+The door was hit with such force that it swung clean 
+off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat 
+on the floor. 
+
+A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His 
+face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy 
+mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could 
+
+Page | 51 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under 
+all the hair. 
+
+The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so 
+that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, 
+picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its 
+frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. 
+He turned to look at them all. 
+
+“Couldn’t make us a cup o’ tea, could yeh? It’s not 
+been an easy journey. ...” 
+
+He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen 
+with fear. 
+
+“Budge up, yeh great lump,” said the stranger. 
+
+Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, 
+who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“An’ here’s Harry!” said the giant. 
+
+Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face 
+and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile. 
+
+“Las’ time I saw you, you was only a baby,” said the 
+giant. “Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer 
+mom’s eyes.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise. 
+
+“I demand that you leave at once, sir!” he said. “You 
+are breaking and entering!” 
+
+“Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune,” said the 
+giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the 
+gun out of Uncle Vernon’s hands, bent it into a knot 
+as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw 
+it into a corner of the room. 
+
+Page | 52 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a 
+mouse being trodden on. 
+
+“Anyway — Harry,” said the giant, turning his back 
+on the Dursleys, “a very happy birthday to yeh. Got 
+summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some 
+point, but it’ll taste all right.” 
+
+From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled 
+a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with 
+trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate 
+cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green 
+icing. 
+
+Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank 
+you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, 
+and what he said instead was, “Who are you?” 
+
+The giant chuckled. 
+
+“True, I haven’t introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, 
+Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.” 
+
+He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry’s 
+whole arm. 
+
+“What about that tea then, eh?” he said, rubbing his 
+hands together. “I’d not say no ter summat stronger if 
+yeh’ve got it, mind.” 
+
+His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled 
+chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the 
+fireplace; they couldn’t see what he was doing but 
+when he drew back a second later, there was a 
+roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with 
+flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over 
+him as though he’d sunk into a hot bath. 
+
+
+
+Page | 53 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged 
+under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things 
+out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a 
+squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, 
+several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber 
+liquid that he took a swig from before starting to 
+make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and 
+smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while 
+the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, 
+juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley 
+fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, “Don’t 
+touch anything he gives you, Dudley.” 
+
+The giant chuckled darkly. 
+
+“Yer great puddin’ of a son don’ need fattenin’ 
+anymore, Dursley, don’ worry.” 
+
+He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry 
+he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he 
+still couldn’t take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as 
+nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, 
+“I’m sorry, but I still don’t really know who you are.” 
+
+The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with 
+the back of his hand. 
+
+“Call me Hagrid,” he said, “everyone does. An’ like I 
+told yeh, I’m Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts — yeh’ll 
+know all about Hogwarts, o’ course.” 
+
+“Er — no,” said Harry. 
+
+Hagrid looked shocked. 
+
+“Sorry,” Harry said quickly. 
+
+“Sorry?” barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the 
+Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. “It’s 
+
+Page | 54 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren’t gettin’ 
+yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn’t even 
+know abou’ Hogwarts, fer cryin’ out loud! Did yeh 
+never wonder where yer parents learned it all?” 
+
+“All what?” asked Harry. 
+
+“ALL WHAT?” Hagrid thundered. “Now wait jus’ one 
+second!” 
+
+He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill 
+the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against 
+the wall. 
+
+“Do you mean ter tell me,” he growled at the Dursleys, 
+“that this boy — this boy! — knows nothin’ abou’ — 
+about ANYTHING?” 
+
+Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to 
+school, after all, and his marks weren’t bad. 
+
+“I know some things,” he said. “I can, you know, do 
+math and stuff.” 
+
+But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, “About 
+our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents’ 
+world.” 
+
+“What world?” 
+
+Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode. 
+“DURSLEY!” he boomed. 
+
+Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered 
+something that sounded like “Mimblewimble.” Hagrid 
+stared wildly at Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 55 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But yeh must know about yer mom and dad,” he 
+said. “I mean, they’re famous. You’re famous.” 
+
+“What? My — my mom and dad weren’t famous, were 
+they?” 
+
+“Yeh don’ know ... yeh don’ know ...” Hagrid ran his 
+fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a 
+bewildered stare. 
+
+“Yeh don’ know what yeh are?” he said finally. 
+
+Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice. 
+
+“Stop!” he commanded. “Stop right there, sir! I forbid 
+you to tell the boy anything!” 
+
+A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have 
+quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; 
+when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with 
+rage. 
+
+“You never told him? Never told him what was in the 
+letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw 
+Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An’ you’ve kept it from 
+him all these years?” 
+
+“Kept what from me?” said Harry eagerly. 
+
+“STOP! I FORBID YOU!” yelled Uncle Vernon in panic. 
+
+Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror. 
+
+“Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh,” said Hagrid. 
+“Harry — yer a wizard.” 
+
+There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and 
+the whistling wind could be heard. 
+
+
+
+Page | 56 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’m a what?” gasped Harry. 
+
+
+
+“A wizard, o’ course,” said Hagrid, sitting back down 
+on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, “an’ 
+a thumpin’ good’un, I’d say, once yeh’ve been trained 
+up a bit. With a mum an’ dad like yours, what else 
+would yeh be? An’ I reckon it’s abou’ time yeh read 
+yer letter.” 
+
+Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the 
+yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. 
+H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He 
+pulled out the letter and read: 
+
+HOGWARTS SCHOOL 
+o/WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY 
+
+Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE 
+
+(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sore., Chf. 
+
+Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of 
+Wizards) 
+
+Dear Mr. Potter, 
+
+We are pleased to inform you that you have been 
+accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
+Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary 
+books and equipment. 
+
+Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no 
+later than July 31. 
+
+Yours sincerely, 
+
+Minerva McGonagall, 
+
+Deputy Headmistress 
+
+
+
+Page | 57 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Questions exploded inside Harry’s head like fireworks 
+and he couldn’t decide which to ask first. After a few 
+minutes he stammered, “What does it mean, they 
+await my owl?” 
+
+“Gallopin’ Gorgons, that reminds me,” said Hagrid, 
+clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to 
+knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket 
+inside his overcoat he pulled an owl — a real, live, 
+rather ruffled-looking owl — a long quill, and a roll of 
+parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he 
+scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down: 
+
+Dear Professor Dumbledore, 
+
+Given Harry his letter. 
+
+Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. 
+
+Weather’s horrible. Hope you’re well. 
+
+Hagrid 
+
+Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which 
+clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw 
+the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and 
+sat down as though this was as normal as talking on 
+the telephone. 
+
+Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it 
+quickly. 
+
+“Where was I?” said Hagrid, but at that moment, 
+
+Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very 
+angry, moved into the firelight. 
+
+“He’s not going,” he said. 
+
+Hagrid grunted. 
+
+Page | 58 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’d like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him,” he 
+said. 
+
+
+
+“A what?” said Harry, interested. 
+
+“A Muggle,” said Hagrid, “it’s what we call nonmagic 
+folk like them. An’ it’s your bad luck you grew up in a 
+family o’ the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on.” 
+
+“We swore when we took him in we’d put a stop to 
+that rubbish,” said Uncle Vernon, “swore we’d stamp 
+it out of him! Wizard indeed!” 
+
+“You knew?” said Harry. “You knew I’m a — a 
+wizard?” 
+
+“Knew!” shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. “Knew\ Of 
+course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted 
+sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just 
+like that and disappeared off to that — that school — 
+and came home every vacation with her pockets full 
+of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the 
+only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! 
+
+But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this 
+and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in 
+the family!” 
+
+She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went 
+ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all 
+this for years. 
+
+“Then she met that Potter at school and they left and 
+got married and had you, and of course I knew you’d 
+be just the same, just as strange, just as — as — 
+abnormal — and then, if you please, she went and got 
+herself blown up and we got landed with you!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his 
+voice he said, “Blown up? You told me they died in a 
+car crash!” 
+
+“CAR CRASH!” roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily 
+that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. “How 
+could a car crash kill Lily an’ James Potter? It’s an 
+outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin’ his own 
+story when every kid in our world knows his name!” 
+
+“But why? What happened?” Harry asked urgently. 
+
+The anger faded from Hagrid’s face. He looked 
+suddenly anxious. 
+
+“I never expected this,” he said, in a low, worried 
+voice. “I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there 
+might be trouble gettin’ hold of yeh, how much yeh 
+didn’t know. Ah, Harry, I don’ know if I’m the right 
+person ter tell yeh — but someone’s gotta — yeh can’t 
+go off ter Hogwarts not knowin’.” 
+
+He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys. 
+
+“Well, it’s best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh — 
+mind, I can’t tell yeh everythin’, it’s a great myst’ry, 
+parts of it. ...” 
+
+He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, 
+and then said, “It begins, I suppose, with — with a 
+person called — but it’s incredible yeh don’t know his 
+name, everyone in our world knows — ” 
+
+“Who?” 
+
+“Well — I don’ like sayin’ the name if I can help it. No 
+one does.” 
+
+“Why not?” 
+
+Page | 60 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Gulpin’ gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. 
+Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard 
+who went ... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. 
+Worse than worse. His name was ...” 
+
+Hagrid gulped, but no words came out. 
+
+“Could you write it down?” Harry suggested. 
+
+“Nah — can’t spell it. All right — Voldemort.” Hagrid 
+shuddered. “Don’ make me say it again. Anyway, this 
+— this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started 
+lookin’ fer followers. Got ’em, too — some were afraid, 
+some just wanted a bit o’ his power, ’cause he was 
+gettin’ himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. 
+Didn’t know who ter trust, didn’t dare get friendly 
+with strange wizards or witches . . . terrible things 
+happened. He was takin’ over. ’Course, some stood up 
+to him — an’ he killed ’em. Horribly. One o’ the only 
+safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore’s 
+the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn’t dare 
+try takin’ the school, not jus’ then, anyway. 
+
+“Now, yer mum an’ dad were as good a witch an’ 
+wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an’ girl at Hogwarts 
+in their day! Suppose the myst’ry is why You-Know- 
+Who never tried to get ’em on his side before . . . 
+probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter 
+want anythin’ ter do with the Dark Side. 
+
+“Maybe he thought he could persuade ’em ... maybe 
+he just wanted ’em outta the way. All anyone knows 
+is, he turned up in the village where you was all 
+living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a 
+year old. He came ter yer house an’ — an’ — ” 
+
+Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted 
+handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a 
+foghorn. 
+
+Page | 61 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sorry,” he said. “But it’s that sad — knew yer mum 
+an’ dad, an’ nicer people yeh couldn’t find — anyway 
+
+
+
+“You-Know-Who killed ’em. An’ then — an’ this is the 
+real myst’ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too. 
+Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or 
+maybe he just liked killin’ by then. But he couldn’t do 
+it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer 
+forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That’s what yeh 
+get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh — took 
+care of yer mum an’ dad an’ yer house, even — but it 
+didn’t work on you, an’ that’s why yer famous, Harry. 
+No one ever lived after he decided ter kill ’em, no one 
+except you, an’ he’d killed some o’ the best witches 
+an’ wizards of the age — the McKinnons, the Bones, 
+the Prewetts — an’ you was only a baby, an’ you 
+lived.” 
+
+Something very painful was going on in Harry’s mind. 
+As Hagrid’s story came to a close, he saw again the 
+blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had 
+ever remembered it before — and he remembered 
+something else, for the first time in his life: a high, 
+cold, cruel laugh. 
+
+Hagrid was watching him sadly. 
+
+“Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on 
+Dumbledore’s orders. Brought yeh ter this lot ...” 
+
+“Load of old tosh,” said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; 
+he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. 
+Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his 
+courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were 
+clenched. 
+
+“Now, you listen here, boy,” he snarled, “I accept 
+there’s something strange about you, probably 
+
+Page | 62 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+nothing a good beating wouldn’t have cured — and as 
+for all this about your parents, well, they were 
+weirdos, no denying it, and the world’s better off 
+without them in my opinion — asked for all they got, 
+getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just 
+what I expected, always knew they’d come to a sticky 
+end — ” 
+
+But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and 
+drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. 
+Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, 
+“I’m warning you, Dursley — I’m warning you — one 
+more word ...” 
+
+In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella 
+by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon’s courage failed 
+again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell 
+silent. 
+
+“That’s better,” said Hagrid, breathing heavily and 
+sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged 
+right down to the floor. 
+
+Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, 
+hundreds of them. 
+
+“But what happened to Vol-, sorry — I mean, You- 
+Know-Who?” 
+
+“Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same 
+night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more 
+famous. That’s the biggest myst’ry, see ... he was 
+gettin’ more an’ more powerful — why’d he go? 
+
+“Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno 
+if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say 
+he’s still out there, bidin’ his time, like, but I don’ 
+believe it. People who was on his side came back ter 
+
+
+
+Page | 63 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ours. Some of ’em came outta kinda trances. Don’ 
+reckon they could’ve done if he was cornin’ back. 
+
+“Most of us reckon he’s still out there somewhere but 
+lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. ’Cause 
+somethin’ about you finished him, Harry. There was 
+somethin’ goin’ on that night he hadn’t counted on — 
+/ dunno what it was, no one does — but somethin’ 
+about you stumped him, all right.” 
+
+Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect 
+blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling 
+pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a 
+horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he 
+possibly be? He’d spent his life being clouted by 
+Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle 
+Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn’t they 
+been turned into warty toads every time they’d tried 
+to lock him in his cupboard? If he’d once defeated the 
+greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had 
+always been able to kick him around like a football? 
+
+“Hagrid,” he said quietly, “I think you must have 
+made a mistake. I don’t think I can be a wizard.” 
+
+To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled. 
+
+“Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when 
+you was scared or angry?” 
+
+Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think 
+about it . . . every odd thing that had ever made his 
+aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when 
+he, Harry, had been upset or angry ... chased by 
+Dudley’s gang, he had somehow found himself out of 
+their reach . . . dreading going to school with that 
+ridiculous haircut, he’d managed to make it grow 
+back . . . and the very last time Dudley had hit him, 
+
+
+
+Page | 64 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hadn’t he got his revenge, without even realizing he 
+was doing it? Hadn’t he set a boa constrictor on him? 
+
+
+
+Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that 
+Hagrid was positively beaming at him. 
+
+“See?” said Hagrid. “Harry Potter, not a wizard — you 
+wait, you’ll be right famous at Hogwarts.” 
+
+But Uncle Vernon wasn’t going to give in without a 
+fight. 
+
+“Haven’t I told you he’s not going?” he hissed. “He’s 
+going to Stonewall High and he’ll be grateful for it. I’ve 
+read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish — 
+spell books and wands and — ” 
+
+“If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won’t stop 
+him,” growled Hagrid. “Stop Lily an’ James Potter’s 
+son goin’ ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name’s been 
+down ever since he was born. He’s off ter the finest 
+school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven 
+years there and he won’t know himself. He’ll be with 
+youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an’ he’ll be 
+under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had, 
+Albus Dumbled — ” 
+
+“I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD 
+FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!” yelled Uncle 
+Vernon. 
+
+But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his 
+umbrella and whirled it over his head, “NEVER — ” he 
+thundered, “— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE 
+— IN — FRONT — OF — ME!” 
+
+He brought the umbrella swishing down through the 
+air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet 
+light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and 
+
+Page | 65 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with 
+his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in 
+pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a 
+curly pig’s tail poking through a hole in his trousers. 
+
+Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and 
+Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified 
+look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them. 
+
+Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his 
+beard. 
+
+“Shouldn’ta lost me temper,” he said ruefully, “but it 
+didn’t work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, 
+but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there 
+wasn’t much left ter do.” 
+
+He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy 
+eyebrows. 
+
+“Be grateful if yeh didn’t mention that ter anyone at 
+Hogwarts,” he said. “I’m — er — not supposed ter do 
+magic, strictly speakin’. I was allowed ter do a bit ter 
+follow yeh an’ get yer letters to yeh an’ stuff — one o’ 
+the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job — ” 
+
+“Why aren’t you supposed to do magic?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — 
+got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. 
+They snapped me wand in half an’ everything. But 
+Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great 
+man, Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Why were you expelled?” 
+
+“It’s gettin’ late and we’ve got lots ter do tomorrow,” 
+said Hagrid loudly. “Gotta get up ter town, get all yer 
+books an’ that.” 
+
+Page | 66 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry. 
+
+
+
+“You can kip under that,” he said. “Don’ mind if it 
+wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o’ dormice in 
+one o’ the pockets.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 67 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+DIAGON ALLY 
+
+Harry woke early the next morning. Although he 
+could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight. 
+
+“It was a dream,” he told himself firmly. “I dreamed a 
+giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a 
+school for wizards. When I open my eyes I’ll be at 
+home in my cupboard.” 
+
+There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. 
+
+And there’s Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harry 
+thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn’t open his 
+eyes. It had been such a good dream. 
+
+Tap. Tap. Tap. 
+
+“All right,” Harry mumbled, “I’m getting up.” 
+
+He sat up and Hagrid ’s heavy coat fell off him. The 
+hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid 
+himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there 
+
+
+
+Page | 68 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a 
+newspaper held in its beak. 
+
+Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as 
+though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He 
+went straight to the window and jerked it open. The 
+owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of 
+Hagrid, who didn’t wake up. The owl then fluttered 
+onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid ’s coat. 
+
+“Don’t do that.” 
+
+Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it 
+snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on 
+savaging the coat. 
+
+“Hagrid!” said Harry loudly. “There’s an owl — ” 
+
+“Pay him,” Hagrid grunted into the sofa. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“He wants payin’ fer deliverin’ the paper. Look in the 
+pockets.” 
+
+Hagrid ’s coat seemed to be made of nothing but 
+pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of 
+string, peppermint humbugs, teabags ... finally, Harry 
+pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins. 
+
+“Give him five Knuts,” said Hagrid sleepily. 
+
+“Knuts?” 
+
+“The little bronze ones.” 
+
+Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl 
+held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a 
+
+
+
+Page | 69 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off 
+through the open window. 
+
+Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched. 
+
+“Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter 
+London an’ buy all yer stuff fer school.” 
+
+Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking 
+at them. He had just thought of something that made 
+him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had 
+got a puncture. 
+
+“Urn — Hagrid?” 
+
+“Mm?” said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge 
+boots. 
+
+“I haven’t got any money — and you heard Uncle 
+Vernon last night ... he won’t pay for me to go and 
+learn magic.” 
+
+“Don’t worry about that,” said Hagrid, standing up 
+and scratching his head. “D’yeh think yer parents 
+didn’t leave yeh anything?” 
+
+“But if their house was destroyed — ” 
+
+“They didn’ keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, 
+first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards’ bank. Have a 
+sausage, they’re not bad cold — an’ I wouldn’ say no 
+teh a bit o’ yer birthday cake, neither.” 
+
+“Wizards have banks?” 
+
+“Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins.” 
+
+Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding. 
+
+
+
+Page | 70 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Goblins?” 
+
+
+
+“Yeah — so yeh’d be mad ter try an’ rob it, I’ll tell yeh 
+that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the 
+safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter 
+keep safe — ’cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o’ 
+fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway Fer Dumbledore. 
+Hogwarts business.” Hagrid drew himself up proudly. 
+“He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. 
+Fetchin’ you — gettin’ things from Gringotts — knows 
+he can trust me, see. 
+
+“Got everythin’? Come on, then.” 
+
+Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was 
+quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. 
+The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with 
+a lot of water in the bottom after the storm. 
+
+“How did you get here?” Harry asked, looking around 
+for another boat. 
+
+“Flew,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Flew?” 
+
+“Yeah — but we’ll go back in this. Not s’pposed ter 
+use magic now I’ve got yeh.” 
+
+They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at 
+Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying. 
+
+“Seems a shame ter row, though,” said Hagrid, giving 
+Harry another of his sideways looks. “If I was ter — er 
+— speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not 
+mentionin’ it at Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Of course not,” said Harry, eager to see more magic. 
+Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it 
+
+Page | 71 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward 
+land. 
+
+“Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?” 
+Harry asked. 
+
+“Spells — enchantments,” said Hagrid, unfolding his 
+newspaper as he spoke. “They say there’s dragons 
+guardin’ the high-security vaults. And then yeh gotta 
+find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under 
+London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh’d die 
+of hunger tryin’ ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter 
+get yer hands on summat.” 
+
+Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read 
+his newspaper, the Daily Prophet Harry had learned 
+from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone 
+while they did this, but it was very difficult, he’d 
+never had so many questions in his life. 
+
+“Ministry o’ Magic messin’ things up as usual,” Hagrid 
+muttered, turning the page. 
+
+“There’s a Ministry of Magic?” Harry asked, before he 
+could stop himself. 
+
+“ ’Course,” said Hagrid. “They wanted Dumbledore fer 
+Minister, o’ course, but he’d never leave Hogwarts, so 
+old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there 
+was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every 
+morning, askin’ fer advice.” 
+
+“But what does a Ministry of Magic do?” 
+
+“Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles 
+that there’s still witches an’ wizards up an’ down the 
+country.” 
+
+“Why?” 
+
+Page | 72 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone ’d be wantin’ magic 
+solutions to their problems. Nah, we’re best left 
+alone.” 
+
+At this moment the boat bumped gently into the 
+harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and 
+they clambered up the stone steps onto the street. 
+
+Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked 
+through the little town to the station. Harry couldn’t 
+blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as 
+anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary 
+things like parking meters and saying loudly, “See 
+that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?” 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep 
+up, “did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?” 
+
+“Well, so they say,” said Hagrid. “Crikey, I’d like a 
+dragon.” 
+
+“You’d like one?” 
+
+“Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go.” 
+
+They had reached the station. There was a train to 
+London in five minutes’ time. Hagrid, who didn’t 
+understand “Muggle money,” as he called it, gave the 
+bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets. 
+
+People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid 
+took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a 
+canary-yellow circus tent. 
+
+“Still got yer letter, Harry?” he asked as he counted 
+stitches. 
+
+Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket. 
+
+
+
+Page | 73 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Good,” said Hagrid. “There’s a list there of everything 
+yeh need.” 
+
+
+
+Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn’t 
+noticed the night before, and read: 
+
+HOGWARTS SCHOOL 
+o/WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY 
+
+UNIFORM 
+
+
+
+First-year students will require: 
+
+1 . Three sets of plain work robes (black) 
+
+2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 
+
+3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or 
+similar) 
+
+4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) 
+
+Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name 
+tags 
+
+
+
+COURSE BOOKS 
+
+
+
+All students should have a copy of each of the 
+following: 
+
+The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda 
+Goshawk 
+
+A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot 
+
+Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling 
+
+A Beginners’ Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric 
+Switch 
+
+Page | 74 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida 
+Spore 
+
+Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger 
+
+Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt 
+Scamander 
+
+The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin 
+Trimble 
+
+
+
+OTHER EQUIPMENT 
+
+
+
+1 wand 
+
+1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) 
+
+1 set glass or crystal phials 
+1 telescope 
+1 set brass scales 
+
+Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad 
+
+PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE 
+NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS 
+
+“Can we buy all this in London?” Harry wondered 
+aloud. 
+
+“If yeh know where to go,” said Hagrid. 
+
+Harry had never been to London before. Although 
+Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was 
+obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary 
+way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the 
+Underground, and complained loudly that the seats 
+were too small and the trains too slow. 
+
+Page | 75 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I don’t know how the Muggles manage without 
+magic,” he said as they climbed a broken-down 
+escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with 
+shops. 
+
+Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; 
+all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They 
+passed book shops and music stores, hamburger 
+restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as 
+if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an 
+ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there 
+really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath 
+them? Were there really shops that sold spell books 
+and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge 
+joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? If Harry hadn’t 
+known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he 
+might have thought so; yet somehow, even though 
+everything Hagrid had told him so far was 
+unbelievable, Harry couldn’t help trusting him. 
+
+“This is it,” said Hagrid, coming to a halt, “the Leaky 
+Cauldron. It’s a famous place.” 
+
+It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn’t 
+pointed it out, Harry wouldn’t have noticed it was 
+there. The people hurrying by didn’t glance at it. Their 
+eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the 
+record shop on the other as if they couldn’t see the 
+Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most 
+peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. 
+Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him 
+inside. 
+
+For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A 
+few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny 
+glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long 
+pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old 
+bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a 
+toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped 
+Page | 76 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know 
+Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the 
+bartender reached for a glass, saying, “The usual, 
+Hagrid?” 
+
+“Can’t, Tom, I’m on Hogwarts business,” said Hagrid, 
+clapping his great hand on Harry’s shoulder and 
+making Harry’s knees buckle. 
+
+“Good Lord,” said the bartender, peering at Harry, “is 
+this — can this be — ?” 
+
+The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely 
+still and silent. 
+
+“Bless my soul,” whispered the old bartender, “Harry 
+Potter ... what an honor.” 
+
+He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward 
+Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes. 
+
+“Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back.” 
+
+Harry didn’t know what to say. Everyone was looking 
+at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it 
+without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was 
+beaming. 
+
+Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the 
+next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands 
+with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron. 
+
+“Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can’t believe I’m meeting 
+you at last.” 
+
+“So proud, Mr. Potter, I’m just so proud.” 
+
+“Always wanted to shake your hand — I’m all of a 
+flutter.” 
+
+Page | 77 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can’t tell you, Diggle’s the 
+name, Dedalus Diggle.” 
+
+“I’ve seen you before!” said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle’s 
+top hat fell off in his excitement. “You bowed to me 
+once in a shop.” 
+
+“He remembers!” cried Dedalus Diggle, looking 
+around at everyone. “Did you hear that? He 
+remembers me!” 
+
+Harry shook hands again and again — Doris 
+Crockford kept coming back for more. 
+
+A pale young man made his way forward, very 
+nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. 
+
+“Professor Quirrell!” said Hagrid. “Harry, Professor 
+Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts.” 
+
+“P-P-Potter,” stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping 
+Harry’s hand, “c-can’t t-tell you how p-pleased I am to 
+meet you.” 
+
+“What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?” 
+
+“D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts,” muttered 
+Professor Quirrell, as though he’d rather not think 
+about it. “N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?” 
+
+He laughed nervously. “You’ll be g-getting all your 
+equipment, I suppose? I’ve g-got to p-pick up a new b- 
+book on vampires, m-myself.” He looked terrified at 
+the very thought. 
+
+But the others wouldn’t let Professor Quirrell keep 
+Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get 
+away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make 
+himself heard over the babble. 
+
+
+
+Page | 78 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, Harry.” 
+
+Doris Crockford shook Harry’s hand one last time, 
+and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a 
+small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but 
+a trash can and a few weeds. 
+
+Hagrid grinned at Harry. 
+
+“Told yeh, didn’t I? Told yeh you was famous. Even 
+Professor Quirrell was tremblin’ ter meet yeh — mind 
+you, he’s usually tremblin’.” 
+
+“Is he always that nervous?” 
+
+“Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine 
+while he was studyin’ outta books but then he took a 
+year off ter get some firsthand experience. ... They say 
+he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a 
+nasty bit o’ trouble with a hag — never been the same 
+since. Scared of the students, scared of his own 
+subject — now, where’s me umbrella?” 
+
+Vampires? Hags? Harry’s head was swimming. 
+
+Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall 
+above the trash can. 
+
+“Three up ... two across ...” he muttered. “Right, 
+stand back, Harry.” 
+
+He tapped the wall three times with the point of his 
+umbrella. 
+
+The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in 
+the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider 
+and wider — a second later they were facing an 
+archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway 
+onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of 
+sight. 
+
+Page | 79 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Welcome,” said Hagrid, “to Diagon Alley.” 
+
+He grinned at Harry’s amazement. They stepped 
+through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his 
+shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back 
+into solid wall. 
+
+The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons 
+outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — 
+Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — 
+Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them. 
+
+“Yeah, you’ll be needin’ one,” said Hagrid, “but we 
+gotta get yer money first.” 
+
+Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He 
+turned his head in every direction as they walked up 
+the street, trying to look at everything at once: the 
+shops, the things outside them, the people doing their 
+shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary 
+was shaking her head as they passed, saying, 
+
+“Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they’re mad.” 
+
+A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign 
+saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, 
+Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about 
+Harry’s age had their noses pressed against a window 
+with broomsticks in it. “Look,” Harry heard one of 
+them say, “the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest 
+ever — ” There were shops selling robes, shops selling 
+telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had 
+never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of 
+bat spleens and eels’ eyes, tottering piles of spell 
+books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, 
+globes of the moon. ... 
+
+“Gringotts,” said Hagrid. 
+
+
+
+Page | 80 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They had reached a snowy white building that 
+towered over the other little shops. Standing beside 
+its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of 
+scarlet and gold, was — 
+
+“Yeah, that’s a goblin,” said Hagrid quietly as they 
+walked up the white stone steps toward him. The 
+goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a 
+swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry 
+noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they 
+walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of 
+doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon 
+them: 
+
+Enter, stranger, but take heed 
+
+Of what awaits the sin of greed, 
+
+For those who take, but do not earn, 
+
+Must pay most dearly in their turn. 
+
+So if you seek beneath our floors 
+
+A treasure that was never yours, 
+
+Thief, you have been warned, beware 
+
+Of finding more than treasure there. 
+
+“Like I said, yeh’d be mad ter try an’ rob it,” said 
+Hagrid. 
+
+A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors 
+and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred 
+more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long 
+counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in 
+brass scales, examining precious stones through 
+eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count 
+Page | 81 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were 
+showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry 
+made for the counter. 
+
+“Morning,” said Hagrid to a free goblin. “We’ve come 
+ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter’s safe.” 
+
+“You have his key, sir?” 
+
+“Got it here somewhere,” said Hagrid, and he started 
+emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a 
+handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblins book of 
+numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry 
+watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of 
+rubies as big as glowing coals. 
+
+“Got it,” said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden 
+key. 
+
+The goblin looked at it closely. 
+
+“That seems to be in order.” 
+
+“An’ I’ve also got a letter here from Professor 
+Dumbledore,” said Hagrid importantly, throwing out 
+his chest. “It’s about the You-Know-What in vault 
+seven hundred and thirteen.” 
+
+The goblin read the letter carefully. 
+
+“Very well,” he said, handing it back to Hagrid, “I will 
+have someone take you down to both vaults. 
+Griphook!” 
+
+Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had 
+crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, 
+he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the 
+doors leading off the hall. 
+
+
+
+Page | 82 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What’s the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred 
+and thirteen?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Can’t tell yeh that,” said Hagrid mysteriously. “Very 
+secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore’s trusted me. 
+More’n my job’s worth ter tell yeh that.” 
+
+Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who 
+had expected more marble, was surprised. They were 
+in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming 
+torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were 
+little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled 
+and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward 
+them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty 
+— and were off. 
+
+At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting 
+passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, 
+left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. The 
+rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because 
+Griphook wasn’t steering. 
+
+Harry’s eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, 
+but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw 
+a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted 
+around to see if it was a dragon, but too late — they 
+plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake 
+where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the 
+ceiling and floor. 
+
+“I never know,” Harry called to Hagrid over the noise 
+of the cart, “what’s the difference between a 
+stalagmite and a stalactite?” 
+
+“Stalagmite’s got an ‘m’ in it,” said Hagrid. “An’ don’ 
+ask me questions just now, I think I’m gonna be 
+sick.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 83 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at 
+last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid 
+got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his 
+knees from trembling. 
+
+Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke 
+came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. 
+Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. 
+Heaps of little bronze Knuts. 
+
+“All yours,” smiled Hagrid. 
+
+All Harry’s — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn’t 
+have known about this or they’d have had it from him 
+faster than blinking. How often had they complained 
+how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time 
+there had been a small fortune belonging to him, 
+buried deep under London. 
+
+Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag. 
+
+“The gold ones are Galleons,” he explained. 
+
+“Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine 
+Knuts to a Sickle, it’s easy enough. Right, that should 
+be enough fer a couple o’ terms, we’ll keep the rest 
+safe for yeh.” He turned to Griphook. “Vault seven 
+hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go 
+more slowly?” 
+
+“One speed only,” said Griphook. 
+
+They were going even deeper now and gathering 
+speed. The air became colder and colder as they 
+hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over 
+an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the 
+side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, 
+but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff 
+of his neck. 
+
+
+
+Page | 84 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole. 
+
+“Stand back,” said Griphook importantly. He stroked 
+the door gently with one of his long fingers and it 
+simply melted away. 
+
+“If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they’d be 
+sucked through the door and trapped in there,” said 
+Griphook. 
+
+“How often do you check to see if anyone’s inside?” 
+Harry asked. 
+
+“About once every ten years,” said Griphook with a 
+rather nasty grin. 
+
+Something really extraordinary had to be inside this 
+top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned 
+forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at 
+the very least — but at first he thought it was empty. 
+Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up 
+in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up 
+and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to 
+know what it was, but knew better than to ask. 
+
+“Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don’t talk to 
+me on the way back, it’s best if I keep me mouth 
+shut,” said Hagrid. 
+
+
+
+One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the 
+sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn’t know where 
+to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He 
+didn’t have to know how many Galleons there were to 
+a pound to know that he was holding more money 
+than he’d had in his whole life — more money than 
+even Dudley had ever had. 
+
+
+
+Page | 85 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Might as well get yer uniform,” said Hagrid, nodding 
+toward Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. 
+“Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a 
+pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them 
+Gringotts carts.” He did still look a bit sick, so Harry 
+entered Madam Malkin’s shop alone, feeling nervous. 
+
+Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all 
+in mauve. 
+
+“Hogwarts, dear?” she said, when Harry started to 
+speak. “Got the lot here — another young man being 
+fitted up just now, in fact.” 
+
+In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed 
+face was standing on a footstool while a second witch 
+pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood 
+Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over 
+his head, and began to pin it to the right length. 
+
+“Hello,” said the boy, “Hogwarts, too?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+“My father’s next door buying my books and mother’s 
+up the street looking at wands,” said the boy. He had 
+a bored, drawling voice. “Then I’m going to drag them 
+off to look at racing brooms. I don’t see why first years 
+can’t have their own. I think I’ll bully father into 
+getting me one and I’ll smuggle it in somehow.” 
+
+Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley. 
+
+“Have you got your own broom?” the boy went on. 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“Play Quidditch at all?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 86 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” Harry said again, wondering what on earth 
+Quidditch could be. 
+
+“ I do — Father says it’s a crime if I’m not picked to 
+play for my House, and I must say, I agree. Know 
+what House you 11 be in yet?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute. 
+
+“Well, no one really knows until they get there, do 
+they, but I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family 
+have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d 
+leave, wouldn’t you?” 
+
+“Mmm,” said Harry, wishing he could say something a 
+bit more interesting. 
+
+“I say, look at that man!” said the boy suddenly, 
+nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was 
+standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two 
+large ice creams to show he couldn’t come in. 
+
+“That’s Hagrid,” said Harry, pleased to know 
+something the boy didn’t. “He works at Hogwarts.” 
+
+“Oh,” said the boy, “I’ve heard of him. He’s a sort of 
+servant, isn’t he?” 
+
+“He’s the gamekeeper,” said Harry. He was liking the 
+boy less and less every second. 
+
+“Yes, exactly. I heard he’s a sort of savage — lives in a 
+hut on the school grounds and every now and then he 
+gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire 
+to his bed.” 
+
+“I think he’s brilliant,” said Harry coldly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Do you?” said the boy, with a slight sneer. “Why is he 
+with you? Where are your parents?” 
+
+“They’re dead,” said Harry shortly. He didn’t feel 
+much like going into the matter with this boy. 
+
+“Oh, sorry,” said the other, not sounding sorry at all. 
+“But they were our kind, weren’t they?” 
+
+“They were a witch and wizard, if that’s what you 
+mean.” 
+
+“I really don’t think they should let the other sort in, 
+do you? They’re just not the same, they’ve never been 
+brought up to know our ways. Some of them have 
+never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, 
+imagine. I think they should keep it in the old 
+wizarding families. What’s your surname, anyway?” 
+
+But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, 
+“That’s you done, my dear,” and Harry, not sorry for 
+an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down 
+from the footstool. 
+
+“Well, I’ll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose,” said the 
+drawling boy. 
+
+Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid 
+had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with 
+chopped nuts). 
+
+“What’s up?” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Nothing,” Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment 
+and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a 
+bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When 
+they had left the shop, he said, “Hagrid, what’s 
+Quidditch?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 88 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin’ how little yeh know — 
+not knowin’ about Quidditch!” 
+
+“Don’t make me feel worse,” said Harry. He told 
+Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin’s. 
+
+“ — and he said people from Muggle families shouldn’t 
+even be allowed in — ” 
+
+“Yer not from a Muggle family. If he’d known who yeh 
+were — he’s grown up knowin’ yer name if his 
+parents are wizardin’ folk. You saw what everyone in 
+the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. 
+Anyway, what does he know about it, some o’ the best 
+I ever saw were the only ones with magic in ’em in a 
+long line o’ Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what 
+she had fer a sister!” 
+
+“So what is Quidditch?” 
+
+“It’s our sport. Wizard sport. It’s like — like soccer in 
+the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — 
+played up in the air on broomsticks and there’s four 
+balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules.” 
+
+“And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?” 
+
+“School Houses. There’s four. Everyone says 
+Hufflepuff are a lot o’ duffers, but — ” 
+
+“I bet I’m in Hufflepuff,” said Harry gloomily. 
+
+“Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin,” said Hagrid darkly. 
+“There’s not a single witch or wizard who went bad 
+who wasn’t in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one.” 
+
+“Vol-, sorry — You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Years an’ years ago,” said Hagrid. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+They bought Harry’s school books in a shop called 
+Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to 
+the ceiling with books as large as paving stones 
+bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in 
+covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a 
+few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, 
+who never read anything, would have been wild to get 
+his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to 
+drag Harry away from Curses and Counter-curses 
+(Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies 
+with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, 
+Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor 
+Vindictus Viridian. 
+
+“I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley.” 
+
+“I’m not sayin’ that’s not a good idea, but yer not ter 
+use magic in the Muggle world except in very special 
+circumstances,” said Hagrid. “An’ anyway, yeh 
+couldn’ work any of them curses yet, yeh’ll need a lot 
+more study before yeh get ter that level.” 
+
+Hagrid wouldn’t let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, 
+either (“It says pewter on yer list”), but they got a nice 
+set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a 
+collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the 
+Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make 
+up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and 
+rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the 
+floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders 
+lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, 
+and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While 
+Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a 
+supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, 
+Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at 
+twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery- 
+black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop). 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry’s list 
+again. 
+
+“Just yer wand left — oh yeah, an’ I still haven’t got 
+yeh a birthday present.” 
+
+Harry felt himself go red. 
+
+“You don’t have to — ” 
+
+“I know I don’t have to. Tell yeh what, I’ll get yer 
+animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years 
+ago, yeh’d be laughed at — an’ I don’ like cats, they 
+make me sneeze. I’ll get yer an owl. All the kids want 
+owls, they’re dead useful, carry yer mail an’ 
+everythin’.” 
+
+Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl 
+Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling 
+and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a 
+large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep 
+with her head under her wing. He couldn’t stop 
+stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor 
+Quirrell. 
+
+“Don’ mention it,” said Hagrid gruffly. “Don’ expect 
+you’ve had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just 
+Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, 
+Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand.” 
+
+A magic wand . . . this was what Harry had been really 
+looking forward to. 
+
+The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold 
+letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine 
+Wands since 382b. c. A single wand lay on a faded 
+purple cushion in the dusty window. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the 
+shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, 
+empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid 
+sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had 
+entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new 
+questions that had just occurred to him and looked 
+instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly 
+right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of 
+his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here 
+seemed to tingle with some secret magic. 
+
+“Good afternoon,” said a soft voice. Harry jumped. 
+Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a 
+loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the 
+spindly chair. 
+
+An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale 
+eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the 
+shop. 
+
+“Hello,” said Harry awkwardly. 
+
+“Ah yes,” said the man. “Yes, yes. I thought I’d be 
+seeing you soon. Harry Potter.” It wasn’t a question. 
+“You have your mother’s eyes. It seems only yesterday 
+she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten 
+and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. 
+Nice wand for charm work.” 
+
+Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished 
+he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. 
+
+“Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany 
+wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and 
+excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father 
+favored it — it’s really the wand that chooses the 
+wizard, of course.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry 
+were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself 
+reflected in those misty eyes. 
+
+“And that’s where ...” 
+
+Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry’s 
+forehead with a long, white finger. 
+
+“I’m sorry to say I sold the wand that did it,” he said 
+softly. “Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful 
+wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands ... well, 
+if I’d known what that wand was going out into the 
+world to do. ...” 
+
+He shook his head and then, to Harry’s relief, spotted 
+Hagrid. 
+
+“Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again. 
+
+... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn’t it?” 
+
+“It was, sir, yes,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it 
+in half when you got expelled?” said Mr. Ollivander, 
+suddenly stern. 
+
+“Er — yes, they did, yes,” said Hagrid, shuffling his 
+feet. “I’ve still got the pieces, though,” he added 
+brightly. 
+
+“But you don’t use them?” said Mr. Ollivander 
+sharply. 
+
+“Oh, no, sir,” said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he 
+gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. 
+
+“Hmmm,” said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a 
+piercing look. “Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see.” 
+
+Page | 93 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings 
+out of his pocket. “Which is your wand arm?” 
+
+“Er — well, I’m right-handed,” said Harry. 
+
+“Hold out your arm. That’s it.” He measured Harry 
+from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder 
+to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he 
+measured, he said, “Every Ollivander wand has a core 
+of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use 
+unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the 
+heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are 
+the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or 
+phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will 
+never get such good results with another wizard’s 
+wand.” 
+
+Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which 
+was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this 
+on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the 
+shelves, taking down boxes. 
+
+“That will do,” he said, and the tape measure 
+crumpled into a heap on the floor. “Right then, Mr. 
+Potter. Try this one. Beech-wood and dragon 
+heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take 
+it and give it a wave.” 
+
+Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it 
+around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his 
+hand almost at once. 
+
+“Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite 
+whippy. Try — ” 
+
+Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand 
+when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander. 
+
+
+
+Page | 94 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a 
+half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out.” 
+
+Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. 
+Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands 
+was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, 
+but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the 
+shelves, the happier he seemed to become. 
+
+“Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, well find the 
+perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — 
+yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and 
+phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple.” 
+
+Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his 
+fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it 
+swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of 
+red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, 
+throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid 
+whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, “Oh, 
+bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well ... 
+how curious ... how very curious ...” 
+
+He put Harry’s wand back into its box and wrapped it 
+in brown paper, still muttering, “Curious . . . curious 
+
+
+
+“Sorry,” said Harry, “but what’s curious?” 
+
+Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. 
+
+“I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Mr. Potter. 
+Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix 
+whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another 
+feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed 
+that you should be destined for this wand when its 
+brother — why, its brother gave you that scar.” 
+
+
+
+Harry swallowed. 
+
+Page | 95 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed 
+how these things happen. The wand chooses the 
+wizard, remember. ... I think we must expect great 
+things from you, Mr. Potter. ... After all, He-Who- 
+Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, 
+but great.” 
+
+Harry shivered. He wasn’t sure he liked Mr. 
+
+Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for 
+his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his 
+shop. 
+
+The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry 
+and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, 
+back through the wall, back through the Leaky 
+Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn’t speak at all as 
+they walked down the road; he didn’t even notice how 
+much people were gawking at them on the 
+Underground, laden as they were with all their funny- 
+shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its 
+cage on Harry’s lap. Up another escalator, out into 
+Paddington station; Harry only realized where they 
+were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder. 
+
+“Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves,” he 
+said. 
+
+He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on 
+plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. 
+Everything looked so strange, somehow. 
+
+“You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet,” said Hagrid. 
+
+Harry wasn’t sure he could explain. He’d just had the 
+best birthday of his life — and yet — he chewed his 
+hamburger, trying to find the words. 
+
+“Everyone thinks I’m special,” he said at last. “All 
+those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor 
+
+Page | 96 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander ... but I don’t know anything 
+about magic at all. How can they expect great things? 
+I’m famous and I can’t even remember what I’m 
+famous for. I don’t know what happened when Vol-, 
+sorry — I mean, the night my parents died.” 
+
+Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard 
+and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile. 
+
+“Don’ you worry, Harry. You’ll learn fast enough. 
+Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you’ll 
+be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it’s hard. Yeh’ve 
+been singled out, an’ that’s always hard. But yeh’ll 
+have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 
+’smatter of fact.” 
+
+Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take 
+him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an 
+envelope. 
+
+“Yer ticket fer Hogwarts,” he said. “First o’ September 
+— King’s Cross — it’s all on yer ticket. Any problems 
+with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she’ll 
+know where to find me. ... See yeh soon, Harry.” 
+
+The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to 
+watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his 
+seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he 
+blinked and Hagrid had gone. 
+
+
+
+Page | 97 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE JOURNEY FROM PLATFORM 
+NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS 
+
+Harry’s last month with the Dursleys wasn’t fun. 
+True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn’t 
+stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle 
+Vernon didn’t shut Harry in his cupboard, force him 
+to do anything, or shout at him — in fact, they didn’t 
+speak to him at all. Half terrified, half furious, they 
+acted as though any chair with Harry in it were 
+empty. Although this was an improvement in many 
+ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while. 
+
+Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for 
+company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name 
+he had found in A History of Magic. His school books 
+were very interesting. He lay on his bed reading late 
+into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the 
+open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt 
+Petunia didn’t come in to vacuum anymore, because 
+Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night 
+before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day 
+
+
+
+Page | 98 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, 
+counting down to September the first. 
+
+On the last day of August he thought he’d better 
+speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King’s 
+Cross station the next day, so he went down to the 
+living room where they were watching a quiz show on 
+television. He cleared his throat to let them know he 
+was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the 
+room. 
+
+“Er — Uncle Vernon?” 
+
+Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening. 
+
+“Er — I need to be at King’s Cross tomorrow to — to 
+go to Hogwarts.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon grunted again. 
+
+“Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?” 
+
+Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes. 
+
+“Thank you.” 
+
+He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon 
+actually spoke. 
+
+“Funny way to get to a wizards’ school, the train. 
+Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?” 
+
+Harry didn’t say anything. 
+
+“Where is this school, anyway?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Harry, realizing this for the first 
+time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of 
+his pocket. 
+
+Page | 99 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I just take the train from platform nine and three- 
+quarters at eleven o’clock,” he read. 
+
+His aunt and uncle stared. 
+
+“Platform what?” 
+
+“Nine and three-quarters.” 
+
+“Don’t talk rubbish,” said Uncle Vernon. “There is no 
+platform nine and three-quarters.” 
+
+“It’s on my ticket.” 
+
+“Barking,” said Uncle Vernon, “howling mad, the lot of 
+them. You 11 see. You just wait. All right, we’ll take 
+you to King’s Cross. We’re going up to London 
+tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn’t bother.” 
+
+“Why are you going to London?” Harry asked, trying 
+to keep things friendly. 
+
+“Taking Dudley to the hospital,” growled Uncle 
+Vernon. “Got to have that ruddy tail removed before 
+he goes to Smeltings.” 
+
+Harry woke at five o’clock the next morning and was 
+too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up 
+and pulled on his jeans because he didn’t want to 
+walk into the station in his wizard’s robes — he’d 
+change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet 
+again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw 
+that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then 
+paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. 
+Two hours later, Harry’s huge, heavy trunk had been 
+loaded into the Dursleys’ car, Aunt Petunia had 
+talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had 
+set off. 
+
+
+
+Page | 100 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They reached King’s Cross at half past ten. Uncle 
+Vernon dumped Harry’s trunk onto a cart and 
+wheeled it into the station for him. Harry thought this 
+was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, 
+facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face. 
+
+“Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine — platform 
+ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the 
+middle, but they don’t seem to have built it yet, do 
+they?” 
+
+He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic 
+number nine over one platform and a big plastic 
+number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, 
+nothing at all. 
+
+“Have a good term,” said Uncle Vernon with an even 
+nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry 
+turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of 
+them were laughing. Harry’s mouth went rather dry. 
+What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to 
+attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He’d 
+have to ask someone. 
+
+He stopped a passing guard, but didn’t dare mention 
+platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had 
+never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn’t 
+even tell him what part of the country it was in, he 
+started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being 
+stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for 
+the train that left at eleven o’clock, but the guard said 
+there wasn’t one. In the end the guard strode away, 
+muttering about time wasters. Harry was now trying 
+hard not to panic. According to the large clock over 
+the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on 
+the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; 
+he was stranded in the middle of a station with a 
+trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard 
+money, and a large owl. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you 
+had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to 
+get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get 
+out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector’s 
+stand between platforms nine and ten. 
+
+At that moment a group of people passed just behind 
+him and he caught a few words of what they were 
+saying. 
+
+“ — packed with Muggles, of course — ” 
+
+Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump 
+woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming 
+red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like 
+Harry’s in front of him — and they had an owl. 
+
+Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. 
+They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear 
+what they were saying. 
+
+“Now, what’s the platform number?” said the boys’ 
+mother. 
+
+“Nine and three-quarters!” piped a small girl, also red- 
+headed, who was holding her hand, “Mom, can’t I go 
+
+
+
+“You’re not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, 
+Percy, you go first.” 
+
+What looked like the oldest boy marched toward 
+platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to 
+blink in case he missed it — but just as the boy 
+reached the dividing barrier between the two 
+platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in 
+front of him and by the time the last backpack had 
+cleared away, the boy had vanished. 
+
+
+
+Page | 102 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Fred, you next,” the plump woman said. 
+
+
+
+“I’m not Fred, I’m George,” said the boy. “Honestly, 
+woman, you call yourself our mother? Can’t you tell 
+I’m George?” 
+
+“Sorry, George, dear.” 
+
+“Only joking, I am Fred,” said the boy, and off he 
+went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he 
+must have done so, because a second later, he had 
+gone — but how had he done it? 
+
+Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the 
+barrier — he was almost there — and then, quite 
+suddenly, he wasn’t anywhere. 
+
+There was nothing else for it. 
+
+“Excuse me,” Harry said to the plump woman. 
+
+“Hello, dear,” she said. “First time at Hogwarts? Ron’s 
+new, too.” 
+
+She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He 
+was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands 
+and feet, and a long nose. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “The thing is — the thing is, I don’t 
+know how to — ” 
+
+“How to get onto the platform?” she said kindly, and 
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“Not to worry,” she said. “All you have to do is walk 
+straight at the barrier between platforms nine and 
+ten. Don’t stop and don’t be scared you’ll crash into 
+it, that’s very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if 
+you’re nervous. Go on, go now before Ron.” 
+
+Page | 103 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Er — okay,” said Harry. 
+
+He pushed his trolley around and stared at the 
+barrier. It looked very solid. 
+
+He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on 
+their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked 
+more quickly. He was going to smash right into that 
+barrier and then he’d be in trouble — leaning forward 
+on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier 
+was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn’t be able 
+to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot 
+away — he closed his eyes ready for the crash — 
+
+It didn’t come ... he kept on running ... he opened his 
+eyes. 
+
+A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform 
+packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts 
+Express, eleven o’clock. Harry looked behind him and 
+saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had 
+been, with the words Platform Nine and Three- 
+Quarters on it. He had done it. 
+
+Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the 
+chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound 
+here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one 
+another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble 
+and the scraping of heavy trunks. 
+
+The first few carriages were already packed with 
+students, some hanging out of the window to talk to 
+their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed 
+his cart off down the platform in search of an empty 
+seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, 
+“Gran, I’ve lost my toad again.” 
+
+“Oh, Neville,” he heard the old woman sigh. 
+
+
+
+Page | 104 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small 
+crowd. 
+
+
+
+“Give us a look, Lee, go on.” 
+
+The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the 
+people around him shrieked and yelled as something 
+inside poked out a long, hairy leg. 
+
+Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found 
+an empty compartment near the end of the train. He 
+put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and 
+heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift 
+it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and 
+twice he dropped it painfully on his foot. 
+
+“Want a hand?” It was one of the red-haired twins 
+he’d followed through the barrier. 
+
+“Yes, please,” Harry panted. 
+
+“Oy, Fred! C’mere and help!” 
+
+With the twins’ help, Harry’s trunk was at last tucked 
+away in a corner of the compartment. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of 
+his eyes. 
+
+“What’s that?” said one of the twins suddenly, 
+pointing at Harry’s lightning scar. 
+
+“Blimey,” said the other twin. “Are you — ?” 
+
+“He is,” said the first twin. “Aren’t you?” he added to 
+Harry. 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 105 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ Harry Potter,” chorused the twins. 
+
+“Oh, him,” said Harry. “I mean, yes, I am.” 
+
+The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself 
+turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating 
+in through the train’s open door. 
+
+“Fred? George? Are you there?” 
+
+“Coming, Mom.” 
+
+With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the 
+train. 
+
+Harry sat down next to the window where, half 
+hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the 
+platform and hear what they were saying. Their 
+mother had just taken out her handkerchief. 
+
+“Ron, you’ve got something on your nose.” 
+
+The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she 
+grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose. 
+
+“Mom — geroff.” He wriggled free. 
+
+“Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?” 
+said one of the twins. 
+
+“Shut up,” said Ron. 
+
+“Where’s Percy?” said their mother. 
+
+“He’s coming now.” 
+
+The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had 
+already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts 
+
+
+
+Page | 106 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+robes, and Harry noticed a shiny red and gold badge 
+on his chest with the letter P on it. 
+
+“Can’t stay long, Mother,” he said. “I’m up front, the 
+prefects have got two compartments to themselves — ” 
+
+“Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?” said one of the twins, 
+with an air of great surprise. “You should have said 
+something, we had no idea.” 
+
+“Hang on, I think I remember him saying something 
+about it,” said the other twin. “Once — ” 
+
+“Or twice — ” 
+
+“A minute — ” 
+
+“All summer — ” 
+
+“Oh, shut up,” said Percy the Prefect. 
+
+“How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?” said one 
+of the twins. 
+
+“Because he’s a prefect,” said their mother fondly. “All 
+right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl 
+when you get there.” 
+
+She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she 
+turned to the twins. 
+
+“Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I 
+get one more owl telling me you’ve — you’ve blown up 
+a toilet or — ” 
+
+“Blown up a toilet? We’ve never blown up a toilet.” 
+“Great idea though, thanks, Mom.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 107 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s not funny. And look after Ron.” 
+
+“Don’t worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us.” 
+
+“Shut up,” said Ron again. He was almost as tall as 
+the twins already and his nose was still pink where 
+his mother had rubbed it. 
+
+“Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on 
+the train?” 
+
+Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn’t see him 
+looking. 
+
+“You know that black-haired boy who was near us in 
+the station? Know who he is?” 
+
+“Who?” 
+
+“ Harry Potted” 
+
+Harry heard the little girl’s voice. 
+
+“Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, 
+oh please. ...” 
+
+“You’ve already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy 
+isn’t something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, 
+Fred? How do you know?” 
+
+“Asked him. Saw his scar. It’s really there — like 
+lightning.” 
+
+“Poor dear — no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He 
+was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the 
+platform.” 
+
+“Never mind that, do you think he remembers what 
+You-Know-Who looks like?” 
+
+Page | 108 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Their mother suddenly became very stern. 
+
+
+
+“I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don’t you dare. As 
+though he needs reminding of that on his first day at 
+school.” 
+
+“All right, keep your hair on.” 
+
+A whistle sounded. 
+
+“Hurry up!” their mother said, and the three boys 
+clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the 
+window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their 
+younger sister began to cry. 
+
+“Don’t, Ginny, we’ll send you loads of owls.” 
+
+“Well send you a Hogwarts toilet seat.” 
+
+“ Georg e\” 
+
+“Only joking, Mom.” 
+
+The train began to move. Harry saw the boys’ mother 
+waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, 
+running to keep up with the train until it gathered too 
+much speed, then she fell back and waved. 
+
+Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as 
+the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the 
+window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He 
+didn’t know what he was going to — but it had to be 
+better than what he was leaving behind. 
+
+The door of the compartment slid open and the 
+youngest redheaded boy came in. 
+
+“Anyone sitting there?” he asked, pointing at the seat 
+opposite Harry. “Everywhere else is full.” 
+
+Page | 109 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He 
+glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the 
+window, pretending he hadn’t looked. Harry saw he 
+still had a black mark on his nose. 
+
+“Hey, Ron.” 
+
+The twins were back. 
+
+“Listen, we’re going down the middle of the train — 
+
+Lee Jordan’s got a giant tarantula down there.” 
+
+“Right,” mumbled Ron. 
+
+“Harry,” said the other twin, “did we introduce 
+ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, 
+our brother. See you later, then.” 
+
+“Bye,” said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the 
+compartment door shut behind them. 
+
+“Are you really Harry Potter?” Ron blurted out. 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and 
+George’s jokes,” said Ron. “And have you really got — 
+you know ...” 
+
+He pointed at Harry’s forehead. 
+
+Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning 
+scar. Ron stared. 
+
+“So that’s where You-Know-Who — ?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, “but I can’t remember it.” 
+
+“Nothing?” said Ron eagerly. 
+
+Page | 110 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing 
+else.” 
+
+
+
+“Wow,” said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few 
+moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized 
+what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the 
+window again. 
+
+“Are all your family wizards?” asked Harry, who found 
+Ron just as interesting as Ron found him. 
+
+“Er — yes, I think so,” said Ron. “I think Mom’s got a 
+second cousin who’s an accountant, but we never talk 
+about him.” 
+
+“So you must know loads of magic already.” 
+
+The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding 
+families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked 
+about. 
+
+“I heard you went to live with Muggles,” said Ron. 
+“What are they like?” 
+
+“Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle 
+and cousin are, though. Wish I’d had three wizard 
+brothers.” 
+
+“Five,” said Ron. For some reason, he was looking 
+gloomy. “I’m the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. 
+You could say I’ve got a lot to live up to. Bill and 
+Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and 
+Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy’s a 
+prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they 
+still get really good marks and everyone thinks they’re 
+really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the 
+others, but if I do, it’s no big deal, because they did it 
+first. You never get anything new, either, with five 
+
+Page | 111 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+brothers. I’ve got Bill’s old robes, Charlie’s old wand, 
+and Percy’s old rat.” 
+
+Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat 
+gray rat, which was asleep. 
+
+“His name’s Scabbers and he’s useless, he hardly ever 
+wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being 
+made a prefect, but they couldn’t aff — I mean, I got 
+Scabbers instead.” 
+
+Ron’s ears went pink. He seemed to think he’d said 
+too much, because he went back to staring out of the 
+window. 
+
+Harry didn’t think there was anything wrong with not 
+being able to afford an owl. After all, he’d never had 
+any money in his life until a month ago, and he told 
+Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley’s old clothes 
+and never getting proper birthday presents. This 
+seemed to cheer Ron up. 
+
+"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn’t know anything 
+about being a wizard or about my parents or 
+Voldemort — ” 
+
+Ron gasped. 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“ You said You-Know-Who’s name\” said Ron, sounding 
+both shocked and impressed. “I’d have thought you, 
+of all people — ” 
+
+“I’m not trying to be brave or anything, saying the 
+name,” said Harry, “I just never knew you shouldn’t. 
+See what I mean? I’ve got loads to learn. ... I bet,” he 
+added, voicing for the first time something that had 
+
+
+
+Page | 112 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+been worrying him a lot lately, “I bet I’m the worst in 
+the class.” 
+
+“You won’t be. There’s loads of people who come from 
+Muggle families and they learn quick enough.” 
+
+While they had been talking, the train had carried 
+them out of London. Now they were speeding past 
+fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a 
+time, watching the fields and lanes flick past. 
+
+Around half past twelve there was a great clattering 
+outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman 
+slid back their door and said, “Anything off the cart, 
+dears?” 
+
+Harry, who hadn’t had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, 
+but Ron’s ears went pink again and he muttered that 
+he’d brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the 
+corridor. 
+
+He had never had any money for candy with the 
+Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with 
+gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars 
+Bars as he could carry — but the woman didn’t have 
+Mars Bars. What she did have were Bertie Bott’s 
+Every Flavor Beans, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, 
+Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, 
+Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things 
+Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss 
+anything, he got some of everything and paid the 
+woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts. 
+
+Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the 
+compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat. 
+
+“Hungry, are you?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 113 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Starving,” said Harry, taking a large bite out of a 
+pumpkin pasty. 
+
+Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped 
+it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one 
+of them apart and said, “She always forgets I don’t 
+like corned beef.” 
+
+“Swap you for one of these,” said Harry, holding up a 
+pasty. “Go on — ” 
+
+“You don’t want this, it’s all dry,” said Ron. “She 
+hasn’t got much time,” he added quickly, “you know, 
+with five of us.” 
+
+“Go on, have a pasty,” said Harry, who had never had 
+anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share 
+it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, 
+eating their way through all Harry’s pasties, cakes, 
+and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten). 
+
+“What are these?” Harry asked Ron, holding up a 
+pack of Chocolate Frogs. “They’re not really frogs, are 
+they?” He was starting to feel that nothing would 
+surprise him. 
+
+“No,” said Ron. “But see what the card is. I’m missing 
+Agrippa.” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Oh, of course, you wouldn’t know — Chocolate Frogs 
+have cards inside them, you know, to collect — 
+famous witches and wizards. I’ve got about five 
+hundred, but I haven’t got Agrippa or Ptolemy.” 
+
+Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up 
+the card. It showed a man’s face. He wore half-moon 
+glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver 
+
+Page | 114 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture 
+was the name Albus Dumbledore. 
+
+
+
+“So this is Dumbledore!” said Harry. 
+
+“Don’t tell me you’d never heard of Dumbledore!” said 
+Ron. “Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks 
+
+
+
+Harry turned over his card and read: 
+
+ALBUS DUMBLEDORE 
+
+CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS 
+
+Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern 
+times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his 
+defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the 
+discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his 
+work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. 
+Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten 
+pin bowling. 
+
+Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his 
+astonishment, that Dumbledore ’s face had 
+disappeared. 
+
+“He’s gone!” 
+
+“Well, you can’t expect him to hang around all day,” 
+said Ron. “He’ll be back. No, I’ve got Morgana again 
+and I’ve got about six of her ... do you want it? You 
+can start collecting.” 
+
+Ron’s eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs 
+waiting to be unwrapped. 
+
+“Help yourself,” said Harry. “But in, you know, the 
+Muggle world, people just stay put in photos.” 
+
+Page | 115 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Do they? What, they don’t move at all?” Ron sounded 
+amazed. “Weird).” 
+
+
+
+Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the 
+picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron 
+was more interested in eating the frogs than looking 
+at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry 
+couldn’t keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only 
+Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcraft, 
+Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He 
+finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, 
+who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie 
+Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. 
+
+“You want to be careful with those,” Ron warned 
+Harry. “When they say every flavor, they mean every 
+flavor — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like 
+chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then 
+you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George 
+reckons he had a booger-flavored one once.” 
+
+Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, 
+and bit into a corner. 
+
+“Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts.” 
+
+They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. 
+Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, 
+curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave 
+enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron 
+wouldn’t touch, which turned out to be pepper. 
+
+The countryside now flying past the window was 
+becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there 
+were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. 
+
+There was a knock on the door of their compartment 
+and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on 
+
+Page | 116 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked 
+tearful. 
+
+
+
+“Sorry,” he said, “but have you seen a toad at all?” 
+
+When they shook their heads, he wailed, “I’ve lost 
+him! He keeps getting away from me!” 
+
+“Hell turn up,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes,” said the boy miserably. “Well, if you see him ...” 
+He left. 
+
+“Don’t know why he’s so bothered,” said Ron. “If I’d 
+brought a toad I’d lose it as quick as I could. Mind 
+you, I brought Scabbers, so I can’t talk.” 
+
+The rat was still snoozing on Ron’s lap. 
+
+“He might have died and you wouldn’t know the 
+difference,” said Ron in disgust. “I tried to turn him 
+yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but 
+the spell didn’t work. I’ll show you, look ...” 
+
+He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a 
+very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places 
+and something white was glinting at the end. 
+
+“Unicorn hair’s nearly poking out. Anyway — ” 
+
+He had just raised his wand when the compartment 
+door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but 
+this time he had a girl with him. She was already 
+wearing her new Hogwarts robes. 
+
+“Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost one,” she said. 
+She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown 
+hair, and rather large front teeth. 
+
+Page | 117 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We’ve already told him we haven’t seen it,” said Ron, 
+but the girl wasn’t listening, she was looking at the 
+wand in his hand. 
+
+“Oh, are you doing magic? Let’s see it, then.” 
+
+She sat down. Ron looked taken aback. 
+
+“Er — all right.” 
+
+He cleared his throat. 
+
+“ Sunshine , daisies, butter mellow, 
+
+Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.” 
+
+He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers 
+stayed gray and fast asleep. 
+
+“Are you sure that’s a real spell?” said the girl. “Well, 
+it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells 
+just for practice and it’s all worked for me. Nobody in 
+my family’s magic at all, it was ever such a surprise 
+when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of 
+course, I mean, it’s the very best school of witchcraft 
+there is, I’ve heard — I’ve learned all our course books 
+by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I’m 
+Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?” 
+
+She said all this very fast. 
+
+Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his 
+stunned face that he hadn’t learned all the course 
+books by heart either. 
+
+“I’m Ron Weasley,” Ron muttered. 
+
+“Harry Potter,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 118 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Are you really?” said Hermione. “I know all about 
+you, of course — I got a few extra books for 
+background reading, and you’re in Modern Magical 
+History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and 
+Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.” 
+
+“Am I?” said Harry, feeling dazed. 
+
+“Goodness, didn’t you know, I’d have found out 
+everything I could if it was me,” said Hermione. “Do 
+either of you know what House you’ll be in? I’ve been 
+asking around, and I hope I’m in Gryffindor, it sounds 
+by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, 
+but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad. ... 
+Anyway, we’d better go and look for Neville’s toad. 
+
+You two had better change, you know, I expect we’ll 
+be there soon.” 
+
+And she left, taking the toadless boy with her. 
+
+“Whatever House I’m in, I hope she’s not in it,” said 
+Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. “Stupid 
+spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a 
+dud.” 
+
+“What House are your brothers in?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Gryffindor,” said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling 
+on him again. “Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don’t 
+know what they’ll say if I’m not. I don’t suppose 
+Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put 
+me in Slytherin.” 
+
+“That’s the House Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was 
+in?” 
+
+
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, 
+looking depressed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 119 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You know, I think the ends of Scabbers’ whiskers are 
+a bit lighter,” said Harry, trying to take Ron’s mind off 
+Houses. “So what do your oldest brothers do now that 
+they’ve left, anyway?” 
+
+Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he’d 
+finished school. 
+
+“Charlie’s in Romania studying dragons, and Bill’s in 
+Africa doing something for Gringotts,” said Ron. “Did 
+you hear about Gringotts? It’s been all over the Daily 
+Prophet, but I don’t suppose you get that with the 
+Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security 
+vault.” 
+
+Harry stared. 
+
+“Really? What happened to them?” 
+
+“Nothing, that’s why it’s such big news. They haven’t 
+been caught. My dad says it must’ve been a powerful 
+Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don’t 
+think they took anything, that’s what’s odd. ’Course, 
+everyone gets scared when something like this 
+happens in case You-Know-Who’s behind it.” 
+
+Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was 
+starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know- 
+Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of 
+entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more 
+comfortable saying “Voldemort” without worrying. 
+
+“What’s your Quidditch team?” Ron asked. 
+
+“Er — I don’t know any,” Harry confessed. 
+
+“What!” Ron looked dumbfounded. “Oh, you wait, it’s 
+the best game in the world — ” And he was off, 
+explaining all about the four balls and the positions of 
+
+Page | 120 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the seven players, describing famous games he’d been 
+to with his brothers and the broomstick he’d like to 
+get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry 
+through the finer points of the game when the 
+compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn’t 
+Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this 
+time. 
+
+Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle 
+one at once: It was the pale boy from Madam Malkin’s 
+robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more 
+interest than he’d shown back in Diagon Alley. 
+
+“Is it true?” he said. “They’re saying all down the train 
+that Harry Potter’s in this compartment. So it’s you, is 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. 
+Both of them were thickset and looked extremely 
+mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they 
+looked like bodyguards. 
+
+“Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle,” said the pale 
+boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. 
+
+“And my names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.” 
+
+Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been 
+hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. 
+
+“Think my name’s funny, do you? No need to ask who 
+you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red 
+hair, freckles, and more children than they can 
+afford.” 
+
+He turned back to Harry. “You’ll soon find out some 
+wizarding families are much better than others, 
+
+Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the 
+wrong sort. I can help you there.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 121 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He held out his hand to shake Harry’s, but Harry 
+didn’t take it. 
+
+“I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, 
+thanks,” he said coolly. 
+
+Draco Malfoy didn’t go red, but a pink tinge appeared 
+in his pale cheeks. 
+
+“I’d be careful if I were you, Potter,” he said slowly. 
+“Unless you’re a bit politer you’ll go the same way as 
+your parents. They didn’t know what was good for 
+them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the 
+Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it’ll rub off on you.” 
+
+Both Harry and Ron stood up. 
+
+“Say that again,” Ron said, his face as red as his hair. 
+
+“Oh, you’re going to fight us, are you?” Malfoy 
+sneered. 
+
+“Unless you get out now,” said Harry, more bravely 
+than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot 
+bigger than him or Ron. 
+
+“But we don’t feel like leaving, do we, boys? We’ve 
+eaten all our food and you still seem to have some.” 
+
+Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to 
+Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he’d so much as 
+touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. 
+
+Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp 
+little teeth sunk deep into Goyle ’s knuckle — Crabbe 
+and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers 
+round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally 
+flew off and hit the window, all three of them 
+disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were 
+Page | 122 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps 
+they’d heard footsteps, because a second later, 
+Hermione Granger had come in. 
+
+“What has been going on?” she said, looking at the 
+sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers 
+by his tail. 
+
+“I think he’s been knocked out,” Ron said to Harry. 
+
+He looked closer at Scabbers. “No — I don’t believe it 
+— he’s gone back to sleep.” 
+
+And so he had. 
+
+“You’ve met Malfoy before?” 
+
+Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley. 
+
+“I’ve heard of his family,” said Ron darkly. “They were 
+some of the first to come back to our side after You- 
+Know-Who disappeared. Said they’d been bewitched. 
+My dad doesn’t believe it. He says Malfoy’s father 
+didn’t need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side.” He 
+turned to Hermione. “Can we help you with 
+something?” 
+
+“You’d better hurry up and put your robes on, I’ve 
+just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he 
+says we’re nearly there. You haven’t been fighting, 
+have you? You’ll be in trouble before we even get 
+there!” 
+
+“Scabbers has been fighting, not us,” said Ron, 
+scowling at her. “Would you mind leaving while we 
+change?” 
+
+“All right — I only came in here because people 
+outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and 
+down the corridors,” said Hermione in a sniffy voice. 
+
+Page | 123 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you 
+know?” 
+
+
+
+Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the 
+window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains 
+and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did 
+seem to be slowing down. 
+
+He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their 
+long black robes. Ron’s were a bit short for him, you 
+could see his sneakers underneath them. 
+
+A voice echoed through the train: “We will be reaching 
+Hogwarts in five minutes’ time. Please leave your 
+luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school 
+separately.” 
+
+Harry’s stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he 
+saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed 
+their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined 
+the crowd thronging the corridor. 
+
+The train slowed right down and finally stopped. 
+People pushed their way toward the door and out on 
+to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold 
+night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads 
+of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: 
+“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there, 
+Harry?” 
+
+Hagrid’s big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. 
+
+“C’mon, follow me — any more firs’ years? Mind yer 
+step, now! Firs’ years follow me!” 
+
+Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down 
+what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so 
+dark on either side of them that Harry thought there 
+must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. 
+
+Page | 124 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once 
+or twice. 
+
+
+
+“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid 
+called over his shoulder, “jus’ round this bend here.” 
+
+There was a loud “Oooooh!” 
+
+The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge 
+of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain 
+on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry 
+sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. 
+
+“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to 
+a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. 
+Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville 
+and Hermione. 
+
+“Everyone in?” shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to 
+himself. “Right then — FORWARD!” 
+
+And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, 
+gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as 
+glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great 
+castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed 
+nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. 
+
+“Heads down!” yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached 
+the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats 
+carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide 
+opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a 
+dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right 
+underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of 
+underground harbor, where they clambered out onto 
+rocks and pebbles. 
+
+“Oy, you there! Is this your toad?” said Hagrid, who 
+was checking the boats as people climbed out of 
+them. 
+
+Page | 125 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Trevor!” cried Neville blissfully, holding out his 
+hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the 
+rock after Hagrid’s lamp, coming out at last onto 
+smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. 
+
+They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded 
+around the huge, oak front door. 
+
+“Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?” 
+
+Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times 
+on the castle door. 
+
+
+
+Page | 126 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+7 
+
+
+
+
+THE SORTING HAT 
+
+The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired 
+witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a 
+very stern face and Harry’s first thought was that this 
+was not someone to cross. 
+
+“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.” 
+
+She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so 
+big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys’ 
+house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming 
+torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too 
+high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase 
+facing them led to the upper floors. 
+
+They followed Professor McGonagall across the 
+flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of 
+hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the 
+rest of the school must already be here — but 
+Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a 
+small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, 
+Page | 127 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+standing rather closer together than they would 
+usually have done, peering about nervously. 
+
+“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. 
+“The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but 
+before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will 
+be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very 
+important ceremony because, while you are here, 
+your House will be something like your family within 
+Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your 
+House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free 
+time in your House common room. 
+
+“The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, 
+Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own 
+noble history and each has produced outstanding 
+witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your 
+triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule- 
+breaking will lose House points. At the end of the 
+year, the House with the most points is awarded the 
+House cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a 
+credit to whichever House becomes yours. 
+
+“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few 
+minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest 
+you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can 
+while you are waiting.” 
+
+Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville’s cloak, 
+which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron’s 
+smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his 
+hair. 
+
+“I shall return when we are ready for you,” said 
+Professor McGonagall. “Please wait quietly.” 
+
+She left the chamber. Harry swallowed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 128 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How exactly do they sort us into Houses?” he asked 
+Ron. 
+
+
+
+“Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but 
+I think he was joking.” 
+
+Harry’s heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of 
+the whole school? But he didn’t know any magic yet 
+— what on earth would he have to do? He hadn’t 
+expected something like this the moment they 
+arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that 
+everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking 
+much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering 
+very fast about all the spells she’d learned and 
+wondering which one she’d need. Harry tried hard not 
+to listen to her. He’d never been more nervous, never, 
+not even when he’d had to take a school report home 
+to the Dursleys saying that he’d somehow turned his 
+teachers wig blue. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. 
+Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come 
+back and lead him to his doom. 
+
+Then something happened that made him jump about 
+a foot in the air — several people behind him 
+screamed. 
+
+“What the — ?” 
+
+He gasped. So did the people around him. About 
+twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back 
+wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they 
+glided across the room talking to one another and 
+hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be 
+arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was 
+saying: “Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give 
+him a second chance — ” 
+
+“My dear Friar, haven’t we given Peeves all the 
+chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and 
+
+Page | 129 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+you know, he’s not really even a ghost — I say, what 
+are you all doing here?” 
+
+
+
+A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly 
+noticed the first years. 
+
+Nobody answered. 
+
+“New students!” said the Fat Friar, smiling around at 
+them. “About to be Sorted, I suppose?” 
+
+A few people nodded mutely. 
+
+“Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!” said the Friar. “My old 
+House, you know.” 
+
+“Move along now,” said a sharp voice. “The Sorting 
+Ceremony’s about to start.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the 
+ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. 
+
+“Now, form a line,” Professor McGonagall told the first 
+years, “and follow me.” 
+
+Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, 
+Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with 
+Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, 
+back across the hall, and through a pair of double 
+doors into the Great Hall. 
+
+Harry had never even imagined such a strange and 
+splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands 
+of candles that were floating in midair over four long 
+tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. 
+These tables were laid with glittering golden plates 
+and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long 
+table where the teachers were sitting. Professor 
+McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they 
+Page | 130 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+came to a halt in a line facing the other students, 
+with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces 
+staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the 
+flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among 
+the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to 
+avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and 
+saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard 
+Hermione whisper, “It’s bewitched to look like the sky 
+outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History.” 
+
+It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, 
+and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open on to the 
+heavens. 
+
+Harry quickly looked down again as Professor 
+McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front 
+of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed 
+wizard’s hat. This hat was patched and frayed and 
+extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn’t have let it in 
+the house. 
+
+Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry 
+thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing — 
+noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at 
+the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there 
+was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip 
+near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the 
+hat began to sing: 
+
+“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty, 
+
+But don’t judge on what you see, 
+
+I’ll eat myself if you can find 
+
+A smarter hat than me. 
+
+You can keep your bowlers black, 
+
+
+
+Page | 131 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Your top hats sleek and tall, 
+
+For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat 
+And I can cap them all. 
+
+There’s nothing hidden in your head 
+The Sorting Hat can’t see, 
+
+So try me on and I will tell you 
+Where you ought to be. 
+
+You might belong in Gryffindor, 
+
+Where dwell the brave at heart, 
+
+Their daring, nerve, and chivalry 
+Set Gryffindors apart; 
+
+You might belong in Hufflepuff, 
+
+Where they are just and loyal, 
+
+Those patient Hufflepuffs are true 
+And unafraid of toil; 
+
+Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, 
+
+If you’ve a ready mind, 
+
+Where those of wit and learning, 
+
+Will always find their kind; 
+
+Or perhaps in Slytherin 
+
+Page | 132 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+You’ll make your real friends, 
+
+Those cunning folk use any means 
+To achieve their ends. 
+
+So put me on! Don’t be afraid l\ 
+
+And don’t get in a flap\ 
+
+You’re in safe hands (though I have none) 
+
+For I’m a Thinking Cap\” 
+
+The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished 
+its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then 
+became quite still again. 
+
+“So we’ve just got to try on the hat!” Ron whispered to 
+Harry. “I’ll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling 
+a troll.” 
+
+Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot 
+better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they 
+could have tried it on without everyone watching. The 
+hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn’t feel 
+brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If 
+only the hat had mentioned a House for people who 
+felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for 
+him. 
+
+Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a 
+long roll of parchment. 
+
+“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and 
+sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Abbott, 
+Hannah!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 133 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of 
+line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her 
+eyes, and sat down. A moment’s pause — 
+
+“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat. 
+
+The table on the right cheered and clapped as 
+Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. 
+
+Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at 
+her. 
+
+“Bones, Susan!” 
+
+“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat again, and Susan 
+scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. 
+
+“Boot, Terry!” 
+
+“RAVENCLAW!” 
+
+The table second from the left clapped this time; 
+several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with 
+Terry as he joined them. 
+
+“Brocklehurst, Mandy” went to Ravenclaw too, but 
+“Brown, Lavender” became the first new Gryffindor, 
+and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; 
+Harry could see Ron’s twin brothers catcalling. 
+
+“Bulstrode, Millicent” then became a Slytherin. 
+Perhaps it was Harry’s imagination, after all he’d 
+heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked 
+like an unpleasant lot. 
+
+He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He 
+remembered being picked for teams during gym at his 
+old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not 
+because he was no good, but because no one wanted 
+Dudley to think they liked him. 
+
+Page | 134 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Finch-Fletchley, Justin!” 
+
+
+
+“HUFFLEPUFF!” 
+
+Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the 
+House at once, but at others it took a little while to 
+decide. “Finnigan, Seamus,” the sandy-haired boy 
+next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a 
+whole minute before the hat declared him a 
+Gryffindor. 
+
+“Granger, Hermione!” 
+
+Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat 
+eagerly on her head. 
+
+“GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the hat. Ron groaned. 
+
+A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts 
+always do when you’re very nervous. What if he 
+wasn’t chosen at all? What if he just sat there with 
+the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor 
+McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had 
+obviously been a mistake and he’d better get back on 
+the train? 
+
+When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his 
+toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. 
+The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When 
+it finally shouted, “GRYFFINDOR,” Neville ran off still 
+wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter 
+to give it to “MacDougal, Morag.” 
+
+Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called 
+and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched 
+his head when it screamed, “SLYTHERIN!” 
+
+Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, 
+looking pleased with himself. 
+
+Page | 135 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There weren’t many people left now. 
+
+
+
+“Moon” , “Nott” ... , “Parkinson” ... , then a pair of 
+twin girls, “Path” and “Path” ... , then “Perks, Sally- 
+Anne” . . . , and then, at last — 
+
+“Potter, Harry!” 
+
+As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke 
+out like little hissing fires all over the hall. 
+
+“ Potter , did she say?” 
+
+“ The Harry Potter?” 
+
+The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over 
+his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a 
+good look at him. Next second he was looking at the 
+black inside of the hat. He waited. 
+
+“Hmm,” said a small voice in his ear. “Difficult. Very 
+difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind 
+either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a 
+nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting. ... 
+So where shall I put you?” 
+
+Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Not 
+Slytherin, not Slytherin. 
+
+“Not Slytherin, eh?” said the small voice. “Are you 
+sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in 
+your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to 
+greatness, no doubt about that — no? Well, if you’re 
+sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!” 
+
+Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole 
+hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward 
+the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been 
+chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed 
+
+Page | 136 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the 
+Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while 
+the Weasley twins yelled, “We got Potter! We got 
+Potter!” Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff 
+he’d seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving 
+Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he’d just plunged it 
+into a bucket of ice-cold water. 
+
+He could see the High Table properly now. At the end 
+nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave 
+him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, 
+in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, 
+sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once 
+from the card he’d gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on 
+the train. Dumbledore’s silver hair was the only thing 
+in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. 
+Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous 
+young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking 
+very peculiar in a large purple turban. 
+
+And now there were only four people left to be sorted. 
+“Thomas, Dean,” a Black boy even taller than Ron, 
+joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. “Turpin, Lisa,” 
+became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron’s turn. He 
+was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers 
+under the table and a second later the hat had 
+shouted, “GRYFFINDOR!” 
+
+Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed 
+into the chair next to him. 
+
+“Well done, Ron, excellent,” said Percy Weasley 
+pompously across Harry as “Zabini, Blaise,” was 
+made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her 
+scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. 
+
+Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had 
+only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin 
+pasties seemed ages ago. 
+
+Page | 137 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was 
+beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if 
+nothing could have pleased him more than to see 
+them all there. 
+
+“Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at 
+Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like 
+to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! 
+
+Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! 
+
+“Thank you!” 
+
+He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. 
+Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or not. 
+
+“Is he — a bit mad?” he asked Percy uncertainly. 
+
+“Mad?” said Percy airily. “He’s a genius! Best wizard 
+in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, 
+Harry?” 
+
+Harry’s mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him 
+were now piled with food. He had never seen so many 
+things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast 
+chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, 
+bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, 
+fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, 
+ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint 
+humbugs. 
+
+The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but 
+he’d never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. 
+Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really 
+wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate 
+with a bit of everything except the peppermints and 
+began to eat. It was all delicious. 
+
+“That does look good,” said the ghost in the ruff sadly, 
+watching Harry cut up his steak. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Can’t you — ?” 
+
+
+
+“I haven’t eaten for nearly five hundred years,” said 
+the ghost. “I don’t need to, of course, but one does 
+miss it. I don’t think I’ve introduced myself? Sir 
+Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. 
+Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower.” 
+
+“I know who you are!” said Ron suddenly. “My 
+brothers told me about you — you’re Nearly Headless 
+Nick!” 
+
+“I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy 
+— ” the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus 
+Finnigan interrupted. 
+
+“Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?” 
+
+Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little 
+chat wasn’t going at all the way he wanted. 
+
+“Like this,” he said irritably. He seized his left ear and 
+pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell 
+onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone 
+had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it 
+properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on 
+their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head 
+back onto his neck, coughed, and said, “So — new 
+Gryffindors! I hope you’re going to help us win the 
+House Championship this year? Gryffindors have 
+never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have 
+got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron’s 
+becoming almost unbearable — he’s the Slytherin 
+ghost.” 
+
+Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a 
+horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a 
+gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He 
+was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+see, didn’t look too pleased with the seating 
+arrangements. 
+
+“How did he get covered in blood?” asked Seamus 
+with great interest. 
+
+“I’ve never asked,” said Nearly Headless Nick 
+delicately. 
+
+When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the 
+remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving 
+them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the 
+desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor 
+you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate 
+eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell- 
+0, rice pudding ... 
+
+As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk 
+turned to their families. 
+
+“I’m half-and-half,” said Seamus. “Me dad’s a Muggle. 
+Mom didn’t tell him she was a witch ’til after they 
+were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him.” 
+
+The others laughed. 
+
+“What about you, Neville?” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, my gran brought me up and she’s a witch,” 
+said Neville, “but the family thought I was all- Muggle 
+for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me 
+off my guard and force some magic out of me — he 
+pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly 
+drowned — but nothing happened until I was eight. 
+Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was 
+hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles 
+when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue 
+and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the 
+way down the garden and into the road. They were all 
+Page | 140 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. 
+And you should have seen their faces when I got in 
+here — they thought I might not be magic enough to 
+come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he 
+bought me my toad.” 
+
+On Harry’s other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione 
+were talking about lessons (“I do hope they start right 
+away, there’s so much to learn, I’m particularly 
+interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning 
+something into something else, of course, it’s 
+supposed to be very difficult — “You’ll be starting 
+small, just matches into needles and that sort of 
+thing — ”). 
+
+
+
+Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, 
+looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was 
+drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall 
+was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor 
+Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a 
+teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and 
+sallow skin. 
+
+It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher 
+looked past Quirrell’s turban straight into Harry’s 
+eyes — and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on 
+Harry’s forehead. 
+
+“Ouch!” Harry clapped a hand to his head. 
+
+“What is it?” asked Percy. 
+
+“N-nothing.” 
+
+The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder 
+to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the 
+teacher’s look — a feeling that he didn’t like Harry at 
+all. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Who’s that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?” he 
+asked Percy. 
+
+“Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder 
+he’s looking so nervous, that’s Professor Snape. He 
+teaches Potions, but he doesn’t want to — everyone 
+knows he’s after Quirrell’s job. Knows an awful lot 
+about the Dark Arts, Snape.” 
+
+Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn’t 
+look at him again. 
+
+At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor 
+Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. 
+
+“Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all 
+fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to 
+give you. 
+
+“First years should note that the forest on the 
+grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our 
+older students would do well to remember that as 
+well.” 
+
+Dumbledore ’s twinkling eyes flashed in the direction 
+of the Weasley twins. 
+
+“I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to 
+remind you all that no magic should be used between 
+classes in the corridors. 
+
+“Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of 
+the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House 
+teams should contact Madam Hooch. 
+
+“And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third- 
+floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds 
+to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful 
+death.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did. 
+
+
+
+“He’s not serious?” he muttered to Percy. 
+
+“Must be,” said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. “It’s 
+odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we’re 
+not allowed to go somewhere — the forest’s full of 
+dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he 
+might have told us prefects, at least.” 
+
+“And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school 
+song!” cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other 
+teachers’ smiles had become rather fixed. 
+
+Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was 
+trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden 
+ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables 
+and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. 
+
+“Everyone pick their favorite tune,” said Dumbledore, 
+“and off we go!” 
+
+And the school bellowed: 
+
+“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, 
+
+Teach us something please, 
+
+Whether we be old and bald 
+Or young with scabby knees, 
+
+Our heads could do with filling 
+With some interesting stuff, 
+
+For now they’re bare and full of air, 
+
+Dead flies and bits of fluff, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+So teach us things worth knowing, 
+
+Bring back what we’ve forgot, 
+
+Just do your best, we’ll do the rest, 
+
+And learn until our brains all rot.” 
+
+Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, 
+only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a 
+very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their 
+last few lines with his wand and when they had 
+finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest. 
+
+“Ah, music,” he said, wiping his eyes. “A magic 
+beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you 
+trot!” 
+
+The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the 
+chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the 
+marble staircase. Harry’s legs were like lead again, 
+but only because he was so tired and full of food. He 
+was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in 
+the portraits along the corridors whispered and 
+pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them 
+through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and 
+hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, 
+yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just 
+wondering how much farther they had to go when 
+they came to a sudden halt. 
+
+A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair 
+ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them 
+they started throwing themselves at him. 
+
+“Peeves,” Percy whispered to the first years. “A 
+poltergeist.” He raised his voice, “Peeves — show 
+yourself.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a 
+balloon, answered. 
+
+“Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?” 
+
+There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark 
+eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross- 
+legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks. 
+
+“Oooooooh!” he said, with an evil cackle. “Ickle 
+Firsties! What fun!” 
+
+He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked. 
+
+“Go away, Peeves, or the Baron’ll hear about this, I 
+mean it!” barked Percy. 
+
+Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping 
+the walking sticks on Neville’s head. They heard him 
+zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed. 
+
+“You want to watch out for Peeves,” said Percy, as 
+they set off again. “The Bloody Baron’s the only one 
+who can control him, he won’t even listen to us 
+prefects. Here we are.” 
+
+At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a 
+very fat woman in a pink silk dress. 
+
+“Password?” she said. 
+
+“Caput Draconis,” said Percy, and the portrait swung 
+forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all 
+scrambled through it — Neville needed a leg up — 
+and found themselves in the Gryffindor common 
+room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs. 
+
+Percy directed the girls through one door to their 
+dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the 
+towers — they found their beds at last: five four- 
+posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their 
+trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk 
+much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed. 
+
+“Great food, isn’t it?” Ron muttered to Harry through 
+the hangings. “Get off Scabbers! He’s chewing my 
+sheets.” 
+
+Harry was going to ask Ron if he’d had any of the 
+treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once. 
+
+Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he 
+had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor 
+Quirrell’s turban, which kept talking to him, telling 
+him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it 
+was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn’t want 
+to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried 
+to pull it off but it tightened painfully — and there 
+was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it — 
+then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, 
+Snape, whose laugh became high and cold — there 
+was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating 
+and shaking. 
+
+He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he 
+woke next day, he didn’t remember the dream at all. 
+
+
+
+Page | 146 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE POTIONS MASTER 
+
+“There, look.” 
+
+“Where?” 
+
+“Next to the tall kid with the red hair.” 
+
+“Wearing the glasses?” 
+
+“Did you see his face?” 
+
+“Did you see his scar?” 
+
+Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his 
+dormitory the next day. People lining up outside 
+classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or 
+doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, 
+staring. Harry wished they wouldn’t, because he was 
+trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes. 
+
+There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at 
+Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; 
+some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some 
+
+Page | 147 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to 
+remember to jump. Then there were doors that 
+wouldn’t open unless you asked politely, or tickled 
+them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren’t 
+really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It 
+was also very hard to remember where anything was, 
+because it all seemed to move around a lot. The 
+people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, 
+and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk. 
+
+The ghosts didn’t help, either. It was always a nasty 
+shock when one of them glided suddenly through a 
+door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick 
+was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the 
+right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth 
+two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him 
+when you were late for class. He would drop 
+wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from 
+under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak 
+up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, 
+“GOT YOUR CONK!” 
+
+Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the 
+caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron managed to get 
+on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. 
+Filch found them trying to force their way through a 
+door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to 
+the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He 
+wouldn’t believe they were lost, was sure they were 
+trying to break into it on purpose, and was 
+threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they 
+were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing. 
+
+Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust- 
+colored creature with bulging, lamplike eyes just like 
+Filch’s. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule 
+in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she’d 
+whisk off for Filch, who’d appear, wheezing, two 
+seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of 
+Page | 148 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the school better than anyone (except perhaps the 
+Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any 
+of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was 
+the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a 
+good kick. 
+
+And then, once you had managed to find them, there 
+were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to 
+magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your 
+wand and saying a few funny words. 
+
+They had to study the night skies through their 
+telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn 
+the names of different stars and the movements of the 
+planets. Three times a week they went out to the 
+greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, 
+with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, 
+where they learned how to take care of all the strange 
+plants and fungi, and found out what they were used 
+for. 
+
+Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, 
+which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor 
+Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen 
+asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next 
+morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns 
+droned on and on while they scribbled down names 
+and dates, and got Emeric the Evil and Uric the 
+Oddball mixed up. 
+
+Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny 
+little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to 
+see over his desk. At the start of their first class he 
+took the roll call, and when he reached Harry’s name 
+he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. 
+
+Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had 
+been quite right to think she wasn’t a teacher to 
+
+
+
+Page | 149 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking- to 
+the moment they sat down in her first class. 
+
+“Transfiguration is some of the most complex and 
+dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,” she 
+said. “Anyone messing around in my class will leave 
+and not come back. You have been warned.” 
+
+Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. 
+They were all very impressed and couldn’t wait to get 
+started, but soon realized they weren’t going to be 
+changing the furniture into animals for a long time. 
+After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each 
+given a match and started trying to turn it into a 
+needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione 
+Granger had made any difference to her match; 
+Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had 
+gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare 
+smile. 
+
+The class everyone had really been looking forward to 
+was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell’s 
+lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom 
+smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to 
+ward off a vampire he’d met in Romania and was 
+afraid would be coming back to get him one of these 
+days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him 
+by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of 
+a troublesome zombie, but they weren’t sure they 
+believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus 
+Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had 
+fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started 
+talking about the weather; for another, they had 
+noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, 
+and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full 
+of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected 
+wherever he went. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn’t 
+miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come 
+from Muggle families and, like him, hadn’t had any 
+idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so 
+much to learn that even people like Ron didn’t have 
+much of a head start. 
+
+Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They 
+finally managed to find their way down to the Great 
+Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. 
+
+“What have we got today?” Harry asked Ron as he 
+poured sugar on his porridge. 
+
+“Double Potions with the Slytherins,” said Ron. 
+“Snape’s Head of Slytherin House. They say he always 
+favors them — we’ll be able to see if it’s true.” 
+
+“Wish McGonagall favored us,” said Harry. Professor 
+McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it 
+hadn’t stopped her from giving them a huge pile of 
+homework the day before. 
+
+Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to 
+this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on 
+the first morning, when about a hundred owls had 
+suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during 
+breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their 
+owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their 
+laps. 
+
+Hedwig hadn’t brought Harry anything so far. She 
+sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of 
+toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the 
+other school owls. This morning, however, she 
+fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar 
+bowl and dropped a note onto Harry’s plate. Harry 
+tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl: 
+
+
+
+Page | 151 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+
+
+I know you get Friday afternoons off so would you like 
+to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? 
+
+I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an 
+answer back with Hedwig. 
+
+Hagrid 
+
+Harry borrowed Ron’s quill, scribbled Yes, please, see 
+you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off 
+again. 
+
+It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look 
+forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to 
+be the worst thing that had happened to him so far. 
+
+At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the 
+idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of 
+the first Potions lesson, he knew he’d been wrong. 
+Snape didn’t dislike Harry — he hated him. 
+
+Potions lessons took place down in one of the 
+dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main 
+castle, and would have been quite creepy enough 
+without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all 
+around the walls. 
+
+Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the 
+roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry’s name. 
+
+“Ah, yes,” he said softly, “Harry Potter. Our new — 
+celebrity.” 
+
+Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle 
+sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling 
+the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were 
+black like Hagrid ’s, but they had none of Hagrid ’s 
+
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+
+
+
+
+warmth. They were cold and empty and made you 
+think of dark tunnels. 
+
+“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art 
+of potion-making,” he began. He spoke in barely more 
+than a whisper, but they caught every word — like 
+Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a 
+class silent without effort. “As there is little foolish 
+wand- waving here, many of you will hardly believe 
+this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand 
+the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its 
+shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that 
+creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, 
+ensnaring the senses. ... I can teach you how to bottle 
+fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren’t 
+as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to 
+teach.” 
+
+More silence followed this little speech. Harry and 
+Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione 
+Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked 
+desperate to start proving that she wasn’t a 
+dunderhead. 
+
+“Potter!” said Snape suddenly. “What would I get if I 
+added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of 
+wormwood?” 
+
+Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry 
+glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; 
+Hermione ’s hand had shot into the air. 
+
+“I don’t know, sir,” said Harry. 
+
+Snape ’s lips curled into a sneer. 
+
+“Tut, tut — fame clearly isn’t everything.” 
+
+He ignored Hermione ’s hand. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Let’s try again. Potter, where would you look if I told 
+you to find me a bezoar?” 
+
+Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it 
+would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry 
+didn’t have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He 
+tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who 
+were shaking with laughter. 
+
+“I don’t know, sir.” 
+
+“Thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming, 
+eh, Potter?” 
+
+Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into 
+those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at 
+the Dursleys’, but did Snape expect him to remember 
+everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and 
+Fungi ? 
+
+Snape was still ignoring Hermione’s quivering hand. 
+
+“What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood 
+and wolfsbane?” 
+
+At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching 
+toward the dungeon ceiling. 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Harry quietly. “I think Hermione 
+does, though, why don’t you try her?” 
+
+A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus’s eye, 
+and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not 
+pleased. 
+
+“Sit down,” he snapped at Hermione. “For your 
+information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a 
+sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the 
+Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken 
+
+Page | 154 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from 
+most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they 
+are the same plant, which also goes by the name of 
+aconite. Well? Why aren’t you all copying that down?” 
+
+There was a sudden rummaging for quills and 
+parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, “And a point 
+will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, 
+Potter.” 
+
+Things didn’t improve for the Gryffindors as the 
+Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into 
+pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to 
+cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, 
+watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake 
+fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, 
+whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone 
+to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his 
+horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a 
+loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow 
+managed to melt Seamus’s cauldron into a twisted 
+blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone 
+floor, burning holes in people’s shoes. Within 
+seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools 
+while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion 
+when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as 
+angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. 
+
+“Idiot boy!” snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion 
+away with one wave of his wand. “I suppose you 
+added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron 
+off the fire?” 
+
+Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over 
+his nose. 
+
+“Take him up to the hospital wing,” Snape spat at 
+Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who 
+had been working next to Neville. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You — Potter — why didn’t you tell him not to add 
+the quills? Thought he’d make you look good if he got 
+it wrong, did you? That’s another point you’ve lost for 
+Gryffindor.” 
+
+This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to 
+argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron. 
+
+“Don’t push it,” he muttered, “I’ve heard Snape can 
+turn very nasty.” 
+
+As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour 
+later, Harry’s mind was racing and his spirits were 
+low. He’d lost two points for Gryffindor in his very 
+first week — why did Snape hate him so much? 
+
+“Cheer up,” said Ron, “Snape’s always taking points 
+off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid 
+with you?” 
+
+At five to three they left the castle and made their way 
+across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden 
+house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow 
+and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. 
+
+When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling 
+from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid ’s 
+voice rang out, saying, “Back, Fang — back.” 
+
+Hagrid ’s big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he 
+pulled the door open. 
+
+“Hang on,” he said. “Back, Fang.” 
+
+He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar 
+of an enormous black boarhound. 
+
+There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants 
+were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was 
+
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+
+
+
+
+boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a 
+massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. 
+
+“Make yerselves at home,” said Hagrid, letting go of 
+Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started 
+licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as 
+fierce as he looked. 
+
+“This is Ron,” Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring 
+boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock 
+cakes onto a plate. 
+
+“Another Weasley, eh?” said Hagrid, glancing at Ron’s 
+freckles. “I spent half me life chasin’ yer twin brothers 
+away from the forest.” 
+
+The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins 
+that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron 
+pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all 
+about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on 
+Harry’s knee and drooled all over his robes. 
+
+Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call 
+Filch “that old git.” 
+
+“An’ as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I’d like ter introduce 
+her to Fang sometime. D’yeh know, every time I go up 
+ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can’t get 
+rid of her — Filch puts her up to it.” 
+
+Harry told Hagrid about Snape’s lesson. Hagrid, like 
+Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape 
+liked hardly any of the students. 
+
+“But he seemed to really hate me.” 
+
+“Rubbish!” said Hagrid. “Why should he?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Yet Harry couldn’t help thinking that Hagrid didn’t 
+quite meet his eyes when he said that. 
+
+“How’s yer brother Charlie?” Hagrid asked Ron. “I 
+liked him a lot — great with animals.” 
+
+Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on 
+purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie’s 
+work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper 
+that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was 
+a cutting from the Daily Prophet : 
+
+GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST 
+
+Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts 
+on 3 1 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark 
+wizards or witches unknown. 
+
+Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had 
+been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact 
+been emptied the same day. 
+
+“But we’re not telling you what was in there, so keep 
+your noses out if you know what’s good for you,” said 
+a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon. 
+
+Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that 
+someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn’t 
+mentioned the date. 
+
+“Hagrid!” said Harry, “that Gringotts break-in 
+happened on my birthday! It might’ve been happening 
+while we were there!” 
+
+There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn’t 
+meet Harry’s eyes this time. He grunted and offered 
+him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. 
+
+The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied 
+earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven 
+Page | 158 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, 
+taking out that grubby little package. Had that been 
+what the thieves were looking for? 
+
+As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for 
+dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes 
+they’d been too polite to refuse, Harry thought that 
+none of the lessons he’d had so far had given him as 
+much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid 
+collected that package just in time? Where was it 
+now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape 
+that he didn’t want to tell Harry? 
+
+
+
+Page | 159 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+9 
+
+
+
+
+THE MIDNIGHT DUEL 
+
+Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he 
+hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met 
+Draco Malfoy. Still, first-year Gryffindors only had 
+Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn’t have to put 
+up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn’t until 
+they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor 
+common room that made them all groan. Flying 
+lessons would be starting on Thursday — and 
+Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together. 
+
+“Typical,” said Harry darkly. “Just what I always 
+wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in 
+front of Malfoy.” 
+
+He had been looking forward to learning to fly more 
+than anything else. 
+
+“You don’t know that you’ll make a fool of yourself,” 
+said Ron reasonably. “Anyway, I know Malfoy’s always 
+going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet 
+that’s all talk.” 
+
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+
+
+
+Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He 
+complained loudly about first years never getting on 
+the House Quidditch teams and told long, boastful 
+stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly 
+escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn’t the only 
+one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he’d 
+spent most of his childhood zooming around the 
+countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell 
+anyone who’d listen about the time he’d almost hit a 
+hang glider on Charlie’s old broom. Everyone from 
+wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. 
+Ron had already had a big argument with Dean 
+Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. 
+Ron couldn’t see what was exciting about a game with 
+only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Harry 
+had caught Ron prodding Dean’s poster of West Ham 
+soccer team, trying to make the players move. 
+
+Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, 
+because his grandmother had never let him near one. 
+Privately, Harry felt she’d had good reason, because 
+Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of 
+accidents even with both feet on the ground. 
+
+Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about 
+flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn’t 
+learn by heart out of a book — not that she hadn’t 
+tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all 
+stupid with flying tips she’d gotten out of a library 
+book called Quidditch Through the Ages. Neville was 
+hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything 
+that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, 
+but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione ’s 
+lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. 
+
+Harry hadn’t had a single letter since Hagrid’s note, 
+something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of 
+course. Malfoy ’s eagle owl was always bringing him 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+packages of sweets from home, which he opened 
+gloatingly at the Slytherin table. 
+
+A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his 
+grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed 
+them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which 
+seemed to be full of white smoke. 
+
+“It’s a Remembrall!” he explained. “Gran knows I 
+forget things — this tells you if there’s something 
+you’ve forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this 
+and if it turns red — oh ...” His face fell, because the 
+Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, “... you’ve 
+forgotten something ...” 
+
+Neville was trying to remember what he’d forgotten 
+when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor 
+table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand. 
+
+Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half 
+hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor 
+McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any 
+teacher in the school, was there in a flash. 
+
+“What’s going on?” 
+
+“Malfoy’s got my Remembrall, Professor.” 
+
+Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall 
+back on the table. 
+
+“Just looking,” he said, and he sloped away with 
+Crabbe and Goyle behind him. 
+
+At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the 
+other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto 
+the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, 
+breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as 
+they marched down the sloping lawns toward a 
+Page | 162 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds 
+to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying 
+darkly in the distance. 
+
+The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty 
+broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry 
+had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about 
+the school brooms, saying that some of them started 
+to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly 
+to the left. 
+
+Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, 
+gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. 
+
+“Well, what are you all waiting for?” she barked. 
+“Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry 
+up.” " 
+
+Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and 
+some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. 
+
+“Stick out your right hand over your broom,” called 
+Madam Hooch at the front, “and say ‘Up!’ ” 
+
+“UP!” everyone shouted. 
+
+Harry’s broom jumped into his hand at once, but it 
+was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger’s had 
+simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville’s hadn’t 
+moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell 
+when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a 
+quaver in Neville’s voice that said only too clearly that 
+he wanted to keep his feet on the ground. 
+
+Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their 
+brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up 
+and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and 
+Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he’d been 
+doing it wrong for years. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the 
+ground, hard,” said Madam Hooch. “Keep your 
+brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight 
+back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle 
+— three — two — ” 
+
+But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of 
+being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the 
+whistle had touched Madam Hooch’s lips. 
+
+“Come back, boy!” she shouted, but Neville was rising 
+straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve 
+feet — twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face 
+look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, 
+slip sideways off the broom and — 
+
+WHAM — a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay 
+facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was 
+still rising higher and higher, and started to drift 
+lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight. 
+
+Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as 
+white as his. 
+
+“Broken wrist,” Harry heard her mutter. “Come on, 
+boy — it’s all right, up you get.” 
+
+She turned to the rest of the class. 
+
+“None of you is to move while I take this boy to the 
+hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are 
+or you’ll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 
+‘Quidditch.’ Come on, dear.” 
+
+Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, 
+hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm 
+around him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst 
+into laughter. 
+
+“Did you see his face, the great lump?” 
+
+The other Slytherins joined in. 
+
+“Shut up, Malfoy,” snapped Parvati Patil. 
+
+“Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?” said Pansy 
+Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. “Never thought 
+you’d like fat little crybabies, Parvati.” 
+
+“Look!” said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching 
+something out of the grass. “It’s that stupid thing 
+Longbottom’s gran sent him.” 
+
+The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up. 
+
+“Give that here, Malfoy,” said Harry quietly. Everyone 
+stopped talking to watch. 
+
+Malfoy smiled nastily. 
+
+“I think I’ll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find 
+— how about — up a tree?” 
+
+“Give it here!” Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto 
+his broomstick and taken off. He hadn’t been lying, he 
+could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost 
+branches of an oak he called, “Come and get it, 
+Potter!” 
+
+Harry grabbed his broom. 
+
+“iVo!” shouted Hermione Granger. “Madam Hooch told 
+us not to move — you’ll get us all into trouble.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry ignored her. Blood was pounding in his ears. 
+
+He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the 
+ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his 
+hair, and his robes whipped out behind him — and in 
+a rush of fierce joy he realized he’d found something 
+he could do without being taught — this was easy, 
+this was wonderful. He pulled his broomstick up a 
+little to take it even higher, and heard screams and 
+gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring 
+whoop from Ron. 
+
+He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in 
+midair. Malfoy looked stunned. 
+
+“Give it here,” Harry called, “or I’ll knock you off that 
+broom!” 
+
+“Oh, yeah?” said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking 
+worried. 
+
+Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward 
+and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it 
+shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got 
+out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about- 
+face and held the broom steady. A few people below 
+were clapping. 
+
+“No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, 
+Malfoy,” Harry called. 
+
+The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy. 
+
+“Catch it if you can, then!” he shouted, and he threw 
+the glass ball high into the air and streaked back 
+toward the ground. 
+
+Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up 
+in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward 
+and pointed his broom handle down — next second 
+
+Page | 166 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball 
+— wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the 
+screams of people watching — he stretched out his 
+hand — a foot from the ground he caught it, just in 
+time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently 
+onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in 
+his fist. 
+
+“HARRY POTTER!” 
+
+His heart sank faster than he’d just dived. Professor 
+McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his 
+feet, trembling. 
+
+“Never — in all my time at Hogwarts — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with 
+shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, “ — how dare 
+you — might have broken your neck — ” 
+
+“It wasn’t his fault, Professor — ” 
+
+“Be quiet, Miss Patil — ” 
+
+“But Malfoy — ” 
+
+“That’s enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now.” 
+
+Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle’s 
+triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in 
+Professor McGonagall’s wake as she strode toward the 
+castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it. 
+
+He wanted to say something to defend himself, but 
+there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. 
+Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without 
+even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now 
+he’d done it. He hadn’t even lasted two weeks. He’d be 
+packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the 
+Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep? 
+Page | 167 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, 
+and still Professor McGonagall didn’t say a word to 
+him. She wrenched open doors and marched along 
+corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. 
+Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He 
+thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as 
+gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid’s assistant. 
+His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron 
+and the others becoming wizards while he stumped 
+around the grounds carrying Hagrid’s bag. 
+
+Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. 
+She opened the door and poked her head inside. 
+
+“Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood 
+for a moment?” 
+
+Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane 
+she was going to use on him? 
+
+But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year 
+boy who came out of Flitwick’s class looking 
+confused. 
+
+“Follow me, you two,” said Professor McGonagall, and 
+they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking 
+curiously at Harry. 
+
+“In here.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom 
+that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy 
+writing rude words on the blackboard. 
+
+“Out, Peeves!” she barked. Peeves threw the chalk 
+into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out 
+cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door 
+behind him and turned to face the two boys. 
+
+
+
+Page | 168 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I’ve found you a 
+Seeker.” 
+
+Wood’s expression changed from puzzlement to 
+delight. 
+
+“Are you serious, Professor?” 
+
+“Absolutely,” said Professor McGonagall crisply. “The 
+boy’s a natural. I’ve never seen anything like it. Was 
+that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?” 
+
+Harry nodded silently. He didn’t have a clue what was 
+going on, but he didn’t seem to be being expelled, and 
+some of the feeling started coming back to his legs. 
+
+“He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot 
+dive,” Professor McGonagall told Wood. “Didn’t even 
+scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn’t have done 
+it.” 
+
+Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had 
+come true at once. 
+
+“Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?” he asked 
+excitedly. 
+
+“Wood’s captain of the Gryffindor team,” Professor 
+McGonagall explained. 
+
+“He’s just the build for a Seeker, too,” said Wood, now 
+walking around Harry and staring at him. “Light — 
+speedy — we’ll have to get him a decent broom, 
+Professor — a Nimbus Two Thousand or a 
+Cleansweep Seven, I’d say.” 
+
+“I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we 
+can’t bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need 
+a better team than last year. Flattened in that last 
+
+Page | 169 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+match by Slytherin, I couldn’t look Severus Snape in 
+the face for weeks. ...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses 
+at Harry. 
+
+“I want to hear you’re training hard, Potter, or I may 
+change my mind about punishing you.” 
+
+Then she suddenly smiled. 
+
+“Your father would have been proud,” she said. “He 
+was an excellent Quidditch player himself.” 
+
+“You’re joking.” 
+
+It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron 
+what had happened when he’d left the grounds with 
+Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and 
+kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he’d forgotten all 
+about it. 
+
+“Seeker?” he said. “But first years never — you must 
+be the youngest House player in about — ” 
+
+“ — a century,” said Harry, shoveling pie into his 
+mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the 
+excitement of the afternoon. “Wood told me.” 
+
+Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and 
+gaped at Harry. 
+
+“I start training next week,” said Harry. “Only don’t 
+tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret.” 
+
+Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, 
+spotted Harry, and hurried over. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well done,” said George in a low voice. “Wood told us. 
+We’re on the team too — Beaters.” 
+
+“I tell you, we’re going to win that Quidditch Cup for 
+sure this year,” said Fred. “We haven’t won since 
+Charlie left, but this year’s team is going to be 
+brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost 
+skipping when he told us.” 
+
+“Anyway, we’ve got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he’s 
+found a new secret passageway out of the school.” 
+
+“Bet it’s that one behind the statue of Gregory the 
+Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.” 
+
+Fred and George had hardly disappeared when 
+someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked 
+by Crabbe and Goyle. 
+
+“Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the 
+train back to the Muggles?” 
+
+“You’re a lot braver now that you’re back on the 
+ground and you’ve got your little friends with you,” 
+said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all 
+little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table 
+was full of teachers, neither of them could do more 
+than crack their knuckles and scowl. 
+
+“I’d take you on anytime on my own,” said Malfoy. 
+“Tonight, if you want. Wizard’s duel. Wands only — 
+no contact. What’s the matter? Never heard of a 
+wizard’s duel before, I suppose?” 
+
+“Of course he has,” said Ron, wheeling around. “I’m 
+his second, who’s yours?” 
+
+Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Crabbe,” he said. “Midnight all right? Well meet you 
+in the trophy room; that’s always unlocked.” 
+
+When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each 
+other. 
+
+“What is a wizard’s duel?” said Harry. “And what do 
+you mean, you’re my second?” 
+
+“Well, a second’s there to take over if you die,” said 
+Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. 
+Catching the look on Harry’s face, he added quickly, 
+“But people only die in proper duels, you know, with 
+real wizards. The most you and Malfoy’ll be able to do 
+is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows 
+enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he 
+expected you to refuse, anyway.” 
+
+“And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?” 
+
+“Throw it away and punch him on the nose,” Ron 
+suggested. 
+
+“Excuse me.” 
+
+They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger. 
+
+“Can’t a person eat in peace in this place?” said Ron. 
+
+Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry. 
+
+“I couldn’t help overhearing what you and Malfoy 
+were saying — ” 
+
+“Bet you could,” Ron muttered. 
+
+“ — and you mustn’t go wandering around the school 
+at night, think of the points you’ll lose Gryffindor if 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+you’re caught, and you’re bound to be. It’s really very 
+selfish of you.” 
+
+“And it’s really none of your business,” said Harry. 
+“Good-bye,” said Ron. 
+
+All the same, it wasn’t what you’d call the perfect end 
+to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later 
+listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville 
+wasn’t back from the hospital wing). Ron had spent 
+all evening giving him advice such as “If he tries to 
+curse you, you’d better dodge it, because I can’t 
+remember how to block them.” There was a very good 
+chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. 
+Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, 
+breaking another school rule today. On the other 
+hand, Malfoy’s sneering face kept looming up out of 
+the darkness — this was his big chance to beat 
+Malfoy face-to-face. He couldn’t miss it. 
+
+“Half-past eleven,” Ron muttered at last, “we’d better 
+go.” 
+
+They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their 
+wands, and crept across the tower room, down the 
+spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common 
+room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, 
+turning all the armchairs into hunched black 
+shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole 
+when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, “I 
+can’t believe you’re going to do this, Harry.” 
+
+A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, 
+wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown. 
+
+“You!” said Ron furiously. “Go back to bed!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 173 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I almost told your brother,” Hermione snapped, 
+
+“Percy — he’s a prefect, he’d put a stop to this.” 
+
+Harry couldn’t believe anyone could be so interfering. 
+
+“Come on,” he said to Ron. He pushed open the 
+portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole. 
+
+Hermione wasn’t going to give up that easily. She 
+followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at 
+them like an angry goose. 
+
+“Don’t you care about Gryffindor, do you only care 
+about yourselves, / don’t want Slytherin to win the 
+House Cup, and you’ll lose all the points I got from 
+Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching 
+Spells.” 
+
+“Go away.” 
+
+“All right, but I warned you, you just remember what 
+I said when you’re on the train home tomorrow, 
+you’re so — ” 
+
+But what they were, they didn’t find out. Hermione 
+had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back 
+inside and found herself facing an empty painting. 
+
+The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and 
+Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor Tower. 
+
+“Now what am I going to do?” she asked shrilly. 
+
+“That’s your problem,” said Ron. “We’ve got to go, 
+we’re going to be late.” 
+
+They hadn’t even reached the end of the corridor 
+when Hermione caught up with them. 
+
+“I’m coming with you,” she said. 
+
+Page | 174 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You are not.” 
+
+
+
+“D’you think I’m going to stand out here and wait for 
+Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I’ll tell 
+him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you 
+can back me up.” 
+
+“You’ve got some nerve — ” said Ron loudly. 
+
+“Shut up, both of you!” said Harry sharply. “I heard 
+something.” 
+
+It was a sort of snuffling. 
+
+“Mrs. Norris?” breathed Ron, squinting through the 
+dark. 
+
+It wasn’t Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up 
+on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake 
+as they crept nearer. 
+
+“Thank goodness you found me! I’ve been out here for 
+hours, I couldn’t remember the new password to get 
+in to bed.” 
+
+“Keep your voice down, Neville. The password’s ‘Pig 
+snout’ but it won’t help you now, the Fat Lady’s gone 
+off somewhere.” 
+
+“How’s your arm?” said Harry. 
+
+“Fine,” said Neville, showing them. “Madam Pomfrey 
+mended it in about a minute.” 
+
+“Good — well, look, Neville, we’ve got to be 
+somewhere, we’ll see you later — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 175 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t leave me!” said Neville, scrambling to his feet, 
+
+“I don’t want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron’s 
+been past twice already.” 
+
+Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at 
+Hermione and Neville. 
+
+“If either of you get us caught, I’ll never rest until I’ve 
+learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us 
+about, and used it on you.” 
+
+Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron 
+exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry 
+hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all 
+forward. 
+
+They flitted along corridors striped with bars of 
+moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry 
+expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they 
+were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor 
+and tiptoed toward the trophy room. 
+
+Malfoy and Crabbe weren’t there yet. The crystal 
+trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught 
+them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver 
+and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, 
+keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the 
+room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in 
+and started at once. The minutes crept by. 
+
+“He’s late, maybe he’s chickened out,” Ron whispered. 
+
+Then a noise in the next room made them jump. 
+
+Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard 
+someone speak — and it wasn’t Malfoy. 
+
+“Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a 
+corner.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 176 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, 
+Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as 
+quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the 
+door, away from Filch’s voice. Neville’s robes had 
+barely whipped round the corner when they heard 
+Filch enter the trophy room. 
+
+“They’re in here somewhere,” they heard him mutter, 
+“probably hiding.” 
+
+“This way!” Harry mouthed to the others and, 
+petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full 
+of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting 
+nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak 
+and broke into a run — he tripped, grabbed Ron 
+around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right 
+into a suit of armor. 
+
+The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the 
+whole castle. 
+
+“RUN!” Harry yelled, and the four of them sprinted 
+down the gallery, not looking back to see whether 
+Filch was following — they swung around the 
+doorpost and galloped down one corridor then 
+another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where 
+they were or where they were going — they ripped 
+through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden 
+passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their 
+Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from 
+the trophy room. 
+
+“I think we’ve lost him,” Harry panted, leaning against 
+the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was 
+bent double, wheezing and spluttering. 
+
+“I — told — you,” Hermione gasped, clutching at the 
+stitch in her chest, “I — told — you.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 177 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We’ve got to get back to Gryffindor Tower,” said Ron, 
+“quickly as possible.” 
+
+“Malfoy tricked you,” Hermione said to Harry. “You 
+realize that, don’t you? He was never going to meet 
+you — Filch knew someone was going to be in the 
+trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off.” 
+
+Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn’t 
+going to tell her that. 
+
+“Let’s go.” 
+
+It wasn’t going to be that simple. They hadn’t gone 
+more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled 
+and something came shooting out of a classroom in 
+front of them. 
+
+It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a 
+squeal of delight. 
+
+“Shut up, Peeves — please — you’ll get us thrown 
+out.” 
+
+Peeves cackled. 
+
+“Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, 
+tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you’ll get caughty.” 
+
+“Not if you don’t give us away, Peeves, please.” 
+
+“Should tell Filch, I should,” said Peeves in a sanity 
+voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. “It’s for your 
+own good, you know.” 
+
+“Get out of the way,” snapped Ron, taking a swipe at 
+Peeves — this was a big mistake. 
+
+
+
+Page | 178 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“STUDENTS OUT OF BED!” Peeves bellowed, 
+“STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS 
+CORRIDOR!” 
+
+Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right 
+to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a 
+door — and it was locked. 
+
+“This is it!” Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at 
+the door, “We’re done for! This is the end!” 
+
+They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he 
+could toward Peeves ’s shouts. 
+
+“Oh, move over,” Hermione snarled. She grabbed 
+Harry’s wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, 
+“Alohomora\” 
+
+The lock clicked and the door swung open — they 
+piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their 
+ears against it, listening. 
+
+“Which way did they go, Peeves?” Filch was saying. 
+“Quick, tell me.” 
+
+“Say ‘please.’ ” 
+
+“Don’t mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?” 
+
+“Shan’t say nothing if you don’t say please,” said 
+Peeves in his annoying singsong voice. 
+
+“All right — please.” 
+
+“NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn’t say nothing 
+if you didn’t say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!” And they 
+heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch 
+cursing in rage. 
+
+
+
+Page | 179 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He thinks this door is locked,” Harry whispered. “I 
+think well be okay — get off Neville!” For Neville had 
+been tugging on the sleeve of Harry’s bathrobe for the 
+last minute. “What?” 
+
+Harry turned around — and saw, quite clearly, what. 
+For a moment, he was sure he’d walked into a 
+nightmare — this was too much, on top of everything 
+that had happened so far. 
+
+They weren’t in a room, as he had supposed. They 
+were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third 
+floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden. 
+
+They were looking straight into the eyes of a 
+monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space 
+between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three 
+pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and 
+quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, 
+saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs. 
+
+It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, 
+and Harry knew that the only reason they weren’t 
+already dead was that their sudden appearance had 
+taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over 
+that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous 
+growls meant. 
+
+Harry groped for the doorknob — between Filch and 
+death, he’d take Filch. 
+
+They fell backward — Harry slammed the door shut, 
+and they ran, they almost flew, back down the 
+corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them 
+somewhere else, because they didn’t see him 
+anywhere, but they hardly cared — all they wanted to 
+do was put as much space as possible between them 
+and that monster. They didn’t stop running until they 
+
+
+
+Page | 180 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh 
+floor. 
+
+“Where on earth have you all been?” she asked, 
+looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders 
+and their flushed, sweaty faces. 
+
+“Never mind that — pig snout, pig snout,” panted 
+Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They 
+scrambled into the common room and collapsed, 
+trembling, into armchairs. 
+
+It was a while before any of them said anything. 
+Neville, indeed, looked as if he’d never speak again. 
+
+“What do they think they’re doing, keeping a thing 
+like that locked up in a school?” said Ron finally. “If 
+any dog needs exercise, that one does.” 
+
+Hermione had got both her breath and her bad 
+temper back again. 
+
+“You don’t use your eyes, any of you, do you?” she 
+snapped. “Didn’t you see what it was standing on?” 
+
+“The floor?” Harry suggested. “I wasn’t looking at its 
+feet, I was too busy with its heads.” 
+
+“No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It’s 
+obviously guarding something.” 
+
+She stood up, glaring at them. 
+
+“I hope you’re pleased with yourselves. We could all 
+have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now, if you 
+don’t mind, I’m going to bed.” 
+
+Ron stared after her, his mouth open. 
+
+
+
+Page | 181 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, we don’t mind,” he said. “You’d think we dragged 
+her along, wouldn’t you?” 
+
+But Hermione had given Harry something else to 
+think about as he climbed back into bed. The dog was 
+guarding something. . . . What had Hagrid said? 
+Gringotts was the safest place in the world for 
+something you wanted to hide — except perhaps 
+Hogwarts. 
+
+It looked as though Harry had found out where the 
+grubby little package from vault seven hundred and 
+thirteen was. 
+
+
+
+Page | 182 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+10 
+
+
+
+
+HALLOWEEN 
+
+Malfoy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that 
+Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, 
+looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the 
+next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting 
+the three-headed dog had been an excellent 
+adventure, and they were quite keen to have another 
+one. In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the 
+package that seemed to have been moved from 
+Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time 
+wondering what could possibly need such heavy 
+protection. 
+
+“It’s either really valuable or really dangerous,” said 
+Ron. 
+
+“Or both,” said Harry. 
+
+But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious 
+object was that it was about two inches long, they 
+didn’t have much chance of guessing what it was 
+without further clues. 
+
+Page | 183 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest 
+interest in what lay underneath the dog and the 
+trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near 
+the dog again. 
+
+Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and 
+Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they 
+saw this as an added bonus. All they really wanted 
+now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their 
+great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail 
+about a week later. 
+
+As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, 
+everyone’s attention was caught at once by a long, 
+thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry 
+was just as interested as everyone else to see what 
+was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the 
+owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, 
+knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly 
+fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a 
+letter on top of the parcel. 
+
+Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, 
+because it said: 
+
+
+
+DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE. 
+
+It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I 
+don’t want everybody knowing you’ve got a 
+broomstick or they’ll all want one. Oliver Wood will 
+meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven 
+o’clock for your first training session. 
+
+Professor M. McGonagall 
+
+Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the 
+note to Ron to read. 
+
+Page | 184 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“A Nimbus Two Thousand!” Ron moaned enviously. 
+“I’ve never even touched one.” 
+
+They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the 
+broomstick in private before their first class, but 
+halfway across the entrance hall they found the way 
+upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized 
+the package from Harry and felt it. 
+
+“That’s a broomstick,” he said, throwing it back to 
+Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. 
+“You’ll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren’t 
+allowed them.” 
+
+Ron couldn’t resist it. 
+
+“It’s not any old broomstick,” he said, “it’s a Nimbus 
+Two Thousand. What did you say you’ve got at home, 
+Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?” Ron grinned at Harry. 
+“Comets look flashy, but they’re not in the same 
+league as the Nimbus.” 
+
+“What would you know about it, Weasley, you 
+couldn’t afford half the handle,” Malfoy snapped back. 
+“I suppose you and your brothers have to save up 
+twig by twig.” 
+
+Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared 
+at Malfoy’s elbow. 
+
+“Not arguing, I hope, boys?” he squeaked. 
+
+“Potters been sent a broomstick, Professor,” said 
+Malfoy quickly. 
+
+“Yes, yes, that’s right,” said Professor Flitwick, 
+beaming at Harry. “Professor McGonagall told me all 
+about the special circumstances, Potter. And what 
+model is it?” 
+
+Page | 185 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir,” said Harry, fighting 
+not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy’s face. 
+“And it’s really thanks to Malfoy here that I’ve got it,” 
+he added. 
+
+Harry and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their 
+laughter at Malfoy’s obvious rage and confusion. 
+
+“Well, it’s true,” Harry chortled as they reached the 
+top of the marble staircase, “If he hadn’t stolen 
+Neville’s Remembrall I wouldn’t be on the team. ...” 
+
+“So I suppose you think that’s a reward for breaking 
+rules?” came an angry voice from just behind them. 
+Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking 
+disapprovingly at the package in Harry’s hand. 
+
+“I thought you weren’t speaking to us?” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes, don’t stop now,” said Ron, “it’s doing us so 
+much good.” 
+
+Hermione marched away with her nose in the air. 
+
+Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his 
+lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the 
+dormitory where his new broomstick was lying under 
+his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where 
+he’d be learning to play that night. He bolted his 
+dinner that evening without noticing what he was 
+eating, and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap 
+the Nimbus Two Thousand at last. 
+
+“Wow,” Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto 
+Harry’s bedspread. 
+
+Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different 
+brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and 
+shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of 
+
+Page | 186 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand 
+written in gold near the top. 
+
+As seven o’clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and 
+set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. He’d 
+never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of 
+seats were raised in stands around the field so that 
+the spectators were high enough to see what was 
+going on. At either end of the field were three golden 
+poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of 
+the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles 
+through, except that they were fifty feet high. 
+
+Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry 
+mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the 
+ground. What a feeling — he swooped in and out of 
+the goal posts and then sped up and down the field. 
+The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he 
+wanted at his lightest touch. 
+
+“Hey, Potter, come down!” 
+
+Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large 
+wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to 
+him. 
+
+“Very nice,” said Wood, his eyes glinting. “I see what 
+McGonagall meant ... you really are a natural. I’m 
+just going to teach you the rules this evening, then 
+you’ll be joining team practice three times a week.” 
+
+He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized 
+balls. 
+
+“Right,” said Wood. “Now, Quidditch is easy enough to 
+understand, even if it’s not too easy to play. There are 
+seven players on each side. Three of them are called 
+Chasers.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 187 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Three Chasers,” Harry repeated, as Wood took out a 
+bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball. 
+
+“This ball’s called the Quaffle,” said Wood. “The 
+Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and 
+get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten 
+points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the 
+hoops. Follow me?” 
+
+“The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through 
+the hoops to score,” Harry recited. “So — that’s sort of 
+like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn’t 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+“What’s basketball?” said Wood curiously. 
+
+“Never mind,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“Now, there’s another player on each side who’s called 
+the Keeper — I’m Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly 
+around our hoops and stop the other team from 
+scoring.” 
+
+“Three Chasers, one Keeper,” said Harry, who was 
+determined to remember it all. “And they play with 
+the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?” He 
+pointed at the three balls left inside the box. 
+
+“I’ll show you now,” said Wood. “Take this.” 
+
+He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short 
+baseball bat. 
+
+“I’m going to show you what the Bludgers do,” Wood 
+said. “These two are the Bludgers.” 
+
+He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and 
+slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed 
+
+
+
+Page | 188 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps 
+holding them inside the box. 
+
+“Stand back,” Wood warned Harry. He bent down and 
+freed one of the Bludgers. 
+
+At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then 
+pelted straight at Harry’s face. Harry swung at it with 
+the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent it 
+zigzagging away into the air — it zoomed around their 
+heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it 
+and managed to pin it to the ground. 
+
+“See?” Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger 
+back into the crate and strapping it down safely. “The 
+Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off 
+their brooms. That’s why you have two Beaters on 
+each team — the Weasley twins are ours — it’s their 
+job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and 
+knock them toward the other team. So — think you’ve 
+got all that?” 
+
+“Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the 
+Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the 
+Bludgers away from their team,” Harry reeled off. 
+
+“Very good,” said Wood. 
+
+“Er — have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?” Harry 
+asked, hoping he sounded offhand. 
+
+“Never at Hogwarts. We’ve had a couple of broken 
+jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last 
+member of the team is the Seeker. That’s you. And 
+you don’t have to worry about the Quaffle or the 
+Bludgers — ” 
+
+“ — unless they crack my head open.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 189 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for 
+the Bludgers — I mean, they’re like a pair of human 
+Bludgers themselves.” 
+
+Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth 
+and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the 
+Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. 
+It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver 
+wings. 
+
+“This,” said Wood, “is the Golden Snitch, and it’s the 
+most important ball of the lot. It’s very hard to catch 
+because it’s so fast and difficult to see. It’s the 
+Seeker’s job to catch it. You’ve got to weave in and out 
+of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get 
+it before the other team’s Seeker, because whichever 
+Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra 
+hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. 
+That’s why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of 
+Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it 
+can go on for ages — I think the record is three 
+months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so 
+the players could get some sleep. 
+
+“Well, that’s it — any questions?” 
+
+Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to 
+do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the 
+problem. 
+
+“We won’t practice with the Snitch yet,” said Wood, 
+carefully shutting it back inside the crate, “it’s too 
+dark, we might lose it. Let’s try you out with a few of 
+these.” 
+
+He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket 
+and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the 
+air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could 
+in every direction for Harry to catch. 
+
+Page | 190 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry didn’t miss a single one, and Wood was 
+delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen 
+and they couldn’t carry on. 
+
+“That Quidditch Cup’ll have our name on it this year,” 
+said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the 
+castle. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you turn out better 
+than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for 
+England if he hadn’t gone off chasing dragons.” 
+
+Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what 
+with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top 
+of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it 
+when he realized that he’d already been at Hogwarts 
+two months. The castle felt more like home than 
+Privet Drive ever had. His lessons, too, were becoming 
+more and more interesting now that they had 
+mastered the basics. 
+
+On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious 
+smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the 
+corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced 
+in Charms that he thought they were ready to start 
+making objects fly, something they had all been dying 
+to try since they’d seen him make Neville’s toad zoom 
+around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the 
+class into pairs to practice. Harry’s partner was 
+Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville 
+had been trying to catch his eye). Ron, however, was 
+to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to 
+tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. 
+She hadn’t spoken to either of them since the day 
+Harry’s broomstick had arrived. 
+
+“Now, don’t forget that nice wrist movement we’ve 
+been practicing!” squeaked Professor Flitwick, 
+perched on top of his pile of books as usual. “Swish 
+and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the 
+magic words properly is very important, too — never 
+Page | 191 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+forget Wizard Baruffio, who said ‘s’ instead of ‘f and 
+found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his 
+chest.” 
+
+It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and 
+flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be 
+sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got 
+so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set 
+fire to it — Harry had to put it out with his hat. 
+
+Ron, at the next table, wasn’t having much more 
+luck. 
+
+“Wingardium Leviosal” he shouted, waving his long 
+arms like a windmill. 
+
+“You’re saying it wrong,” Harry heard Hermione snap. 
+“It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and 
+long.” 
+
+“You do it, then, if you’re so clever,” Ron snarled. 
+
+Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked 
+her wand, and said, “Wingardium LeviosaV’ 
+
+Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four 
+feet above their heads. 
+
+“Oh, well done!” cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. 
+“Everyone see here, Miss Granger’s done it!” 
+
+Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. 
+
+“It’s no wonder no one can stand her,” he said to 
+Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded 
+corridor, “she’s a nightmare, honestly.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 192 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past 
+him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her 
+face — and was startled to see that she was in tears. 
+
+“I think she heard you.” 
+
+“So?” said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. 
+“She must’ve noticed she’s got no friends.” 
+
+Hermione didn’t turn up for the next class and wasn’t 
+seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great 
+Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry and Ron overheard 
+Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione 
+was crying in the girls’ bathroom and wanted to be 
+left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but 
+a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, 
+where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of 
+their minds. 
+
+A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and 
+ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the 
+tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the 
+pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on 
+the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term 
+banquet. 
+
+Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato 
+when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, 
+his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone 
+stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore’s chair, 
+slumped against the table, and gasped, “Troll — in 
+the dungeons — thought you ought to know.” 
+
+He then sank to the floor in a dead faint. 
+
+There was an uproar. It took several purple 
+firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor 
+Dumbledore’s wand to bring silence. 
+
+
+
+Page | 193 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Prefects,” he rumbled, “lead your Houses back to the 
+dormitories immediately!” 
+
+Percy was in his element. 
+
+“Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear 
+the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind 
+me, now. Make way, first years coming through! 
+Excuse me, I’m a prefect!” 
+
+“How could a troll get in?” Harry asked as they 
+climbed the stairs. 
+
+“Don’t ask me, they’re supposed to be really stupid,” 
+said Ron. “Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween 
+joke.” 
+
+They passed different groups of people hurrying in 
+different directions. As they jostled their way through 
+a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly 
+grabbed Ron’s arm. 
+
+“I’ve just thought — Hermione.” 
+
+“What about her?” 
+
+“She doesn’t know about the troll.” 
+
+Ron bit his lip. 
+
+“Oh, all right,” he snapped. “But Percy’d better not 
+see us.” 
+
+Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the 
+other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and 
+hurried off toward the girls’ bathroom. They had just 
+turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps 
+behind them. 
+
+
+
+Page | 194 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Percy!” hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large 
+stone griffin. 
+
+Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but 
+Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from 
+view. 
+
+“What’s he doing?” Harry whispered. “Why isn’t he 
+down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?” 
+
+“Search me.” 
+
+Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor 
+after Snape ’s fading footsteps. 
+
+“He’s heading for the third floor,” Harry said, but Ron 
+held up his hand. 
+
+“Can you smell something?” 
+
+Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a 
+mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no 
+one seems to clean. 
+
+And then they heard it — a low grunting, and the 
+shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed — at 
+the end of a passage to the left, something huge was 
+moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows 
+and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight. 
+
+It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a 
+dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder 
+with its small bald head perched on top like a 
+coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with 
+flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was 
+incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which 
+dragged along the floor because its arms were so long. 
+
+
+
+Page | 195 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. 
+It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then 
+slouched slowly into the room. 
+
+“The key’s in the lock,” Harry muttered. “We could 
+lock it in.” 
+
+“Good idea,” said Ron nervously. 
+
+They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, 
+praying the troll wasn’t about to come out of it. With 
+one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam 
+the door, and lock it. 
+
+“Yes!” 
+
+Flushed with their victory, they started to run back 
+up the passage, but as they reached the corner they 
+heard something that made their hearts stop — a 
+high, petrified scream — and it was coming from the 
+chamber they’d just chained up. 
+
+“Oh, no,” said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron. 
+
+“It’s the girls’ bathroom!” Harry gasped. 
+
+“ Hermionel” they said together. 
+
+It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what 
+choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted 
+back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their 
+panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran 
+inside. 
+
+Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall 
+opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll 
+was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the 
+walls as it went. 
+
+
+
+Page | 196 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Confuse it!” Harry said desperately to Ron, and, 
+seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against 
+the wall. 
+
+The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It 
+lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had 
+made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It 
+hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club 
+as it went. 
+
+“Oy, pea-brain!” yelled Ron from the other side of the 
+chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll 
+didn’t even seem to notice the pipe hitting its 
+shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, 
+turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving 
+Harry time to run around it. 
+
+“Come on, run, run\” Harry yelled at Hermione, trying 
+to pull her toward the door, but she couldn’t move, 
+she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open 
+with terror. 
+
+The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the 
+troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, 
+who was nearest and had no way to escape. 
+
+Harry then did something that was both very brave 
+and very stupid: He took a great running jump and 
+managed to fasten his arms around the troll’s neck 
+from behind. The troll couldn’t feel Harry hanging 
+there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit 
+of wood up its nose, and Harry’s wand had still been 
+in his hand when he’d jumped — it had gone straight 
+up one of the troll’s nostrils. 
+
+Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its 
+club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, 
+the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a 
+terrible blow with the club. 
+
+Page | 197 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled 
+out his own wand — not knowing what he was going 
+to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came 
+into his head: “Wingardium Leviosal” 
+
+The club flew suddenly out of the troll’s hand, rose 
+high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and 
+dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner’s 
+head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat 
+on its face, with a thud that made the whole room 
+tremble. 
+
+Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of 
+breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still 
+raised, staring at what he had done. 
+
+It was Hermione who spoke first. 
+
+“Is it — dead?” 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Harry, “I think it’s just been 
+knocked out.” 
+
+He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll’s 
+nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray 
+glue. 
+
+“Urgh — troll boogers.” 
+
+He wiped it on the troll’s trousers. 
+
+A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the 
+three of them look up. They hadn’t realized what a 
+racket they had been making, but of course, someone 
+downstairs must have heard the crashes and the 
+troll’s roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall 
+had come bursting into the room, closely followed by 
+Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell 
+
+
+
+Page | 198 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and 
+sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. 
+
+Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was 
+looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her 
+look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning 
+fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry’s 
+mind. 
+
+“What on earth were you thinking of?” said Professor 
+McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked 
+at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the 
+air. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed. Why aren’t you 
+in your dormitory?” 
+
+Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked 
+at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down. 
+
+Then a small voice came out of the shadows. 
+
+“Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for 
+me.” 
+
+“Miss Granger!” 
+
+Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last. 
+
+“I went looking for the troll because I — I thought I 
+could deal with it on my own — you know, because 
+I’ve read all about them.” 
+
+Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a 
+downright lie to a teacher? 
+
+“If they hadn’t found me, I’d be dead now. Harry 
+stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out 
+with its own club. They didn’t have time to come and 
+fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they 
+arrived.” 
+
+Page | 199 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story 
+wasn’t new to them. 
+
+“Well — in that case ...” said Professor McGonagall, 
+staring at the three of them, “Miss Granger, you 
+foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a 
+mountain troll on your own?” 
+
+Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. 
+Hermione was the last person to do anything against 
+the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to 
+get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started 
+handing out sweets. 
+
+“Miss Granger, five points will be taken from 
+Gryffindor for this,” said Professor McGonagall. “I’m 
+very disappointed in you. If you’re not hurt at all, 
+you’d better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are 
+finishing the feast in their Houses.” 
+
+Hermione left. 
+
+Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first 
+years could have taken on a full-grown mountain 
+troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor 
+Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go.” 
+
+They hurried out of the chamber and didn’t speak at 
+all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief 
+to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from 
+anything else. 
+
+“We should have gotten more than ten points,” Ron 
+grumbled. 
+
+“Five, you mean, once she’s taken off Hermione ’s.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 200 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Good of her to get us out of trouble like that,” Ron 
+admitted. “Mind you, we did save her.” 
+
+“She might not have needed saving if we hadn’t 
+locked the thing in with her,” Harry reminded him. 
+
+They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. 
+
+“Pig snout,” they said and entered. 
+
+The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone 
+was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, 
+however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. 
+There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of 
+them looking at each other, they all said “Thanks,” 
+and hurried off to get plates. 
+
+But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became 
+their friend. There are some things you can’t share 
+without ending up liking each other, and knocking 
+out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them. 
+
+
+
+Page | 201 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+QUIDDITCH 
+
+As they entered November, the weather turned very 
+cold. The mountains around the school became icy 
+gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the 
+ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen 
+from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on 
+the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin 
+overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin 
+boots. 
+
+The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry 
+would be playing in his first match after weeks of 
+training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor 
+won, they would move up into second place in the 
+House Championship. 
+
+Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood 
+had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry 
+should be kept, well, secret. But the news that he was 
+playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry 
+didn’t know which was worse — people telling him 
+he’d be brilliant or people telling him they’d be 
+running around underneath him holding a mattress. 
+Page | 202 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a 
+friend. He didn’t know how he’d have gotten through 
+all his homework without her, what with all the last- 
+minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them 
+do. She had also lent him Quidditch Through the Ages, 
+which turned out to be a very interesting read. 
+
+Harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of 
+committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had 
+happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that 
+Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, 
+and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to 
+happen to them; that although people rarely died 
+playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish 
+and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert. 
+
+Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about 
+breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her 
+from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for 
+it. The day before Harry’s first Quidditch match the 
+three of them were out in the freezing courtyard 
+during break, and she had conjured them up a bright 
+blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. 
+They were standing with their backs to it, getting 
+warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at 
+once that Snape was limping. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from 
+view; they were sure it wouldn’t be allowed. 
+Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces 
+caught Snape’s eye. He limped over. He hadn’t seen 
+the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to 
+tell them off anyway. 
+
+“What’s that you’ve got there, Potter?” 
+
+It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 203 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Library books are not to be taken outside the 
+school,” said Snape. “Give it to me. Five points from 
+Gryffindor.” 
+
+“He’s just made that rule up,” Harry muttered angrily 
+as Snape limped away. “Wonder what’s wrong with 
+his leg?” 
+
+“Dunno, but I hope it’s really hurting him,” said Ron 
+bitterly. 
+
+The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that 
+evening. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together next 
+to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron’s 
+Charms homework for them. She would never let 
+them copy (“How will you learn?”), but by asking her 
+to read it through, they got the right answers anyway. 
+
+Harry felt restless. He wanted Quidditch Through the 
+Ages back, to take his mind off his nerves about 
+tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of Snape? Getting 
+up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask 
+Snape if he could have it. 
+
+“Better you than me,” they said together, but Harry 
+had an idea that Snape wouldn’t refuse if there were 
+other teachers listening. 
+
+He made his way down to the staffroom and knocked. 
+There was no answer. He knocked again. Nothing. 
+
+Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was 
+worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered 
+inside — and a horrible scene met his eyes. 
+
+Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was 
+holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was 
+bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape 
+bandages. 
+
+Page | 204 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Blasted thing,” Snape was saying. “How are you 
+supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at 
+once?” 
+
+Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but — 
+
+“POTTER!” 
+
+Snape ’s face was twisted with fury as he dropped his 
+robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped. 
+
+“I just wondered if I could have my book back.” 
+
+“GET OUT! OUT!” 
+
+Harry left, before Snape could take any more points 
+from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs. 
+
+“Did you get it?” Ron asked as Harry joined them. 
+“What’s the matter?” 
+
+In a low whisper, Harry told them what he’d seen. 
+
+“You know what this means?” he finished 
+breathlessly. “He tried to get past that three-headed 
+dog at Halloween! That’s where he was going when we 
+saw him — he’s after whatever it’s guarding! And I’d 
+bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a 
+diversion!” 
+
+Hermione’s eyes were wide. 
+
+“No — he wouldn’t,” she said. “I know he’s not very 
+nice, but he wouldn’t try and steal something 
+Dumbledore was keeping safe.” 
+
+“Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints 
+or something,” snapped Ron. “I’m with Harry. I 
+
+
+
+Page | 205 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+wouldn’t put anything past Snape. But what’s he 
+after? What’s that dog guarding?” 
+
+Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the 
+same question. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry 
+couldn’t sleep. He tried to empty his mind — he 
+needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch 
+match in a few hours — but the expression on 
+Snape’s face when Harry had seen his leg wasn’t easy 
+to forget. 
+
+The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The 
+Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried 
+sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking 
+forward to a good Quidditch match. 
+
+“You’ve got to eat some breakfast.” 
+
+“I don’t want anything.” 
+
+“Just a bit of toast,” wheedled Hermione. 
+
+“I’m not hungry.” 
+
+Harry felt terrible. In an hour’s time he’d be walking 
+onto the field. 
+
+“Harry, you need your strength,” said Seamus 
+Finnigan. “Seekers are always the ones who get 
+clobbered by the other team.” 
+
+“Thanks, Seamus,” said Harry, watching Seamus pile 
+ketchup on his sausages. 
+
+By eleven o’clock the whole school seemed to be out 
+in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many 
+students had binoculars. The seats might be raised 
+high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what 
+was going on sometimes. 
+
+Page | 206 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean 
+the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for 
+Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the 
+sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said Potter for 
+President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had 
+done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then 
+Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that 
+the paint flashed different colors. 
+
+Meanwhile, in the locker room, Harry and the rest of 
+the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch 
+robes (Slytherin would be playing in green) . 
+
+Wood cleared his throat for silence. 
+
+“Okay, men,” he said. 
+
+“And women,” said Chaser Angelina Johnson. 
+
+“And women,” Wood agreed. “This is it.” 
+
+“The big one,” said Fred Weasley. 
+
+“The one we’ve all been waiting for,” said George. 
+
+“We know Oliver’s speech by heart,” Fred told Harry, 
+“we were on the team last year.” 
+
+“Shut up, you two,” said Wood. “This is the best team 
+Gryffindor’s had in years. We’re going to win. I know 
+it.” 
+
+He glared at them all as if to say, “Or else.” 
+
+“Right. It’s time. Good luck, all of you.” 
+
+Harry followed Fred and George out of the locker 
+room and, hoping his knees weren’t going to give way, 
+walked onto the field to loud cheers. 
+
+Page | 207 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the 
+middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her 
+broom in her hand. 
+
+“Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you,” she said, 
+once they were all gathered around her. Harry noticed 
+that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the 
+Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a fifth year. Harry 
+thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in 
+him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering 
+banner high above, flashing Potter for President over 
+the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver. 
+
+“Mount your brooms, please.” 
+
+Harry clambered onto his Nimbus Two Thousand. 
+
+Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. 
+
+Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They 
+were off. 
+
+“And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina 
+Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser 
+that girl is, and rather attractive, too — ” 
+
+“JORDAN!” 
+
+“Sorry, Professor.” 
+
+The Weasley twins’ friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the 
+commentary for the match, closely watched by 
+Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“And she’s really belting along up there, a neat pass 
+to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood’s, last 
+year only a reserve — back to Johnson and — no, the 
+Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain 
+Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes — Flint 
+Page | 208 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+flying like an eagle up there — he’s going to sc- no, 
+stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper 
+Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle — that’s 
+Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive 
+around Flint, off up the field and — OUCH — that 
+must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a 
+Bludger — Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that’s 
+Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but 
+he’s blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by 
+Fred or George Weasley, can’t tell which — nice play 
+by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back 
+in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and 
+off she goes — she’s really flying — dodges a speeding 
+Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, 
+Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — 
+GRYFFINDORS SCORE!” 
+
+Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and 
+moans from the Slytherins. 
+
+“Budge up there, move along.” 
+
+“Hagrid!” 
+
+Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid 
+enough space to join them. 
+
+“Bin watchin’ from me hut,” said Hagrid, patting a 
+large pair of binoculars around his neck, “But it isn’t 
+the same as bein’ in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch 
+yet, eh?” 
+
+“Nope,” said Ron. “Harry hasn’t had much to do yet.” 
+
+“Kept outta trouble, though, that’s somethin’,” said 
+Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skyward at 
+the speck that was Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 209 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, 
+squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was 
+part of his and Wood’s game plan. 
+
+“Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the 
+Snitch,” Wood had said. “We don’t want you attacked 
+before you have to be.” 
+
+When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple 
+of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings. Now he was 
+back to staring around for the Snitch. Once he caught 
+sight of a flash of gold, but it was just a reflection 
+from one of the Weasleys’ wristwatches, and once a 
+Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a 
+cannonball than anything, but Harry dodged it and 
+Fred Weasley came chasing after it. 
+
+“All right there, Harry?” he had time to yell, as he 
+beat the Bludger furiously toward Marcus Flint. 
+
+“Slytherin in possession,” Lee Jordan was saying, 
+“Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, 
+and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the — wait a 
+moment — was that the Snitch?” 
+
+A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey 
+dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his 
+shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left 
+ear. 
+
+Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived 
+downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker 
+Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they 
+hurtled toward the Snitch — all the Chasers seemed 
+to have forgotten what they were supposed to be 
+doing as they hung in midair to watch. 
+
+
+
+Page | 210 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry was faster than Higgs — he could see the little 
+round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead — he 
+put on an extra spurt of speed — 
+
+WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors 
+below — Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, 
+and Harry’s broom spun off course, Harry holding on 
+for dear life. 
+
+“Foul!” screamed the Gryffindors. 
+
+Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered 
+a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all 
+the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had 
+disappeared from sight again. 
+
+Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, “Send 
+him off, ref! Red card!” 
+
+“What are you talking about, Dean?” said Ron. 
+
+“Red card!” said Dean furiously. “In soccer you get 
+shown the red card and you’re out of the game!” 
+
+“But this isn’t soccer, Dean,” Ron reminded him. 
+
+Hagrid, however, was on Dean’s side. 
+
+“They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked 
+Harry outta the air.” 
+
+Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides. 
+
+“So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of 
+cheating — ” 
+
+“Jordan!” growled Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“I mean, after that open and revolting foul — ” 
+
+Page | 211 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Jordan, I’m warning you — ” 
+
+
+
+“All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor 
+Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I’m sure, so a 
+penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it 
+away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor 
+still in possession.” 
+
+It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went 
+spinning dangerously past his head, that it happened. 
+His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a 
+split second, he thought he was going to fall. He 
+gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and 
+knees. He’d never felt anything like that. 
+
+It happened again. It was as though the broom was 
+trying to buck him off. But Nimbus Two Thousands 
+did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Harry 
+tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal posts — 
+he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time-out — 
+and then he realized that his broom was completely 
+out of his control. He couldn’t turn it. He couldn’t 
+direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and 
+every now and then making violent swishing 
+movements that almost unseated him. 
+
+Lee was still commentating. 
+
+“Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — 
+passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face 
+by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, 
+Professor — Slytherins score — oh no ...” 
+
+The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have 
+noticed that Harry’s broom was behaving strangely It 
+was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, 
+jerking and twitching as it went. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Dunno what Harry thinks he’s doing,” Hagrid 
+mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. “If I 
+didn’ know better, I’d say he’d lost control of his 
+broom ... but he can’t have. ...” 
+
+Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over 
+the stands. His broom had started to roll over and 
+over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then 
+the whole crowd gasped. Harry’s broom had given a 
+wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling 
+from it, holding on with only one hand. 
+
+“Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?” 
+Seamus whispered. 
+
+“Can’t have,” Hagrid said, his voice shaking. “Can’t 
+nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful 
+Dark magic — no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two 
+Thousand.” 
+
+At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid ’s binoculars, 
+but instead of looking up at Harry, she started 
+looking frantically at the crowd. 
+
+“What are you doing?” moaned Ron, gray-faced. 
+
+“I knew it,” Hermione gasped, “Snape — look.” 
+
+Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle 
+of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on 
+Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath. 
+
+“He’s doing something — jinxing the broom,” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“What should we do?” 
+
+“Leave it to me.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 213 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had 
+disappeared. Ron turned the binoculars back on 
+Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost 
+impossible for him to hang on much longer. The 
+whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the 
+Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely onto one 
+of their brooms, but it was no good — every time they 
+got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They 
+dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously 
+hoping to catch him if he fell. Marcus Flint seized the 
+Quaffle and scored five times without anyone 
+noticing. 
+
+“Come on, Hermione,” Ron muttered desperately. 
+
+Hermione had fought her way across to the stand 
+where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row 
+behind him; she didn’t even stop to say sorry as she 
+knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in 
+front. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled 
+out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen 
+words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto 
+the hem of Snape ’s robes. 
+
+It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize 
+that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had 
+done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar 
+in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row — 
+Snape would never know what had happened. 
+
+It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able 
+to clamber back on to his broom. 
+
+“Neville, you can look!” Ron said. Neville had been 
+sobbing into Hagrid’s jacket for the last five minutes. 
+
+Harry was speeding toward the ground when the 
+crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+he was about to be sick — he hit the field on all fours 
+— coughed — and something gold fell into his hand. 
+
+“I’ve got the Snitch!” he shouted, waving it above his 
+head, and the game ended in complete confusion. 
+
+“He didn’t catch it, he nearly swallowed it,” Flint was 
+still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no 
+difference — Harry hadn’t broken any rules and Lee 
+Jordan was still happily shouting the results — 
+Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy 
+points to sixty. Harry heard none of this, though. He 
+was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid’s 
+hut, with Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“It was Snape,” Ron was explaining, “Hermione and I 
+saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, 
+he wouldn’t take his eyes off you.” 
+
+“Rubbish,” said Hagrid, who hadn’t heard a word of 
+what had gone on next to him in the stands. “Why 
+would Snape do somethin’ like that?” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another, 
+wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the 
+truth. 
+
+“I found out something about him,” he told Hagrid. 
+“He tried to get past that three-headed dog on 
+Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal 
+whatever it’s guarding.” 
+
+Hagrid dropped the teapot. 
+
+“How do you know about Fluffy?” he said. 
+
+“ Fluffy ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 215 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah — he’s mine — bought him off a Greek chappie 
+I met in the pub las’ year — I lent him to Dumbledore 
+to guard the — ” 
+
+“Yes?” said Harry eagerly. 
+
+“Now, don’t ask me anymore,” said Hagrid gruffly. 
+“That’s top secret, that is.” 
+
+“But Snape’s trying to steal it.” 
+
+“Rubbish,” said Hagrid again. “Snape’s a Hogwarts 
+teacher, he’d do nothin’ of the sort.” 
+
+“So why did he just try and kill Harry?” cried 
+Hermione. 
+
+The afternoon’s events certainly seemed to have 
+changed her mind about Snape. 
+
+“I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I’ve read all 
+about them! You’ve got to keep eye contact, and 
+Snape wasn’t blinking at all, I saw him!” 
+
+“I’m tellin’ yeh, yer wrong!” said Hagrid hotly. “I don’ 
+know why Harry’s broom acted like that, but Snape 
+wouldn’ try an’ kill a student! Now, listen to me, all 
+three of yeh — yer meddlin’ in things that don’ 
+concern yeh. It’s dangerous. You forget that dog, an’ 
+you forget what it’s guardin’, that’s between Professor 
+Dumbledore an’ Nicolas Flamel — ■” 
+
+“Aha!” said Harry, “so there’s someone called Nicolas 
+Flamel involved, is there?” 
+
+Hagrid looked furious with himself. 
+
+
+
+Page | 216 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MIRROR OF ERISED 
+
+Christmas was coming. One morning in mid- 
+December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in 
+several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the 
+Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several 
+snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, 
+bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that 
+managed to battle their way through the stormy sky 
+to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by 
+Hagrid before they could fly off again. 
+
+No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the 
+Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had 
+roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and 
+a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. 
+Worst of all were Professor Snape’s classes down in 
+the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist 
+before them and they kept as close as possible to 
+their hot cauldrons. 
+
+“I do feel so sorry,” said Draco Malfoy, one Potions 
+class, “for all those people who have to stay at 
+
+
+
+Page | 217 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Hogwarts for Christmas because they’re not wanted 
+at home.” 
+
+He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Crabbe and 
+Goyle chuckled. Harry, who was measuring out 
+powdered spine of lion-fish, ignored them. Malfoy had 
+been even more unpleasant than usual since the 
+Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had 
+lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a 
+wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as 
+Seeker next. Then he’d realized that nobody found 
+this funny, because they were all so impressed at the 
+way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking 
+broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone 
+back to taunting Harry about having no proper 
+family. 
+
+It was true that Harry wasn’t going back to Privet 
+Drive for Christmas. Professor McGonagall had come 
+around the week before, making a list of students 
+who would be staying for the holidays, and Harry had 
+signed up at once. He didn’t feel sorry for himself at 
+all; this would probably be the best Christmas he’d 
+ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying, too, 
+because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania 
+to visit Charlie. 
+
+When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, 
+they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. 
+Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a 
+loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind 
+it. 
+
+“Hi, Hagrid, want any help?” Ron asked, sticking his 
+head through the branches. 
+
+“Nah, I’m all right, thanks, Ron.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 218 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Would you mind moving out of the way?” came 
+Malfoy’s cold drawl from behind them. “Are you trying 
+to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be 
+gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I 
+suppose — that hut of Hagrid’s must seem like a 
+palace compared to what your family’s used to.” 
+
+Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs. 
+
+“WEASLEY!” 
+
+Ron let go of the front of Malfoy’s robes. 
+
+“He was provoked, Professor Snape,” said Hagrid, 
+sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. 
+“Malfoy was insultin’ his family.” 
+
+“Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, 
+Hagrid,” said Snape silkily. “Five points from 
+Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn’t more. 
+Move along, all of you.” 
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the 
+tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking. 
+
+“I’ll get him,” said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy’s 
+back, “one of these days, I’ll get him — ” 
+
+“I hate them both,” said Harry, “Malfoy and Snape.” 
+
+“Come on, cheer up, it’s nearly Christmas,” said 
+Hagrid. “Tell yeh what, come with me an’ see the 
+Great Hall, looks a treat.” 
+
+So the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off 
+to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and 
+Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas 
+decorations. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Ah, Hagrid, the last tree — put it in the far corner, 
+would you?” 
+
+The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and 
+mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than 
+twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the 
+room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering 
+with hundreds of candles. 
+
+“How many days you got left until yer holidays?” 
+Hagrid asked. 
+
+“Just one,” said Hermione. “And that reminds me — 
+Harry, Ron, we’ve got half an hour before lunch, we 
+should be in the library.” 
+
+“Oh yeah, you’re right,” said Ron, tearing his eyes 
+away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden 
+bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing 
+them over the branches of the new tree. 
+
+“The library?” said Hagrid, following them out of the 
+hall. “Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren’t yeh?” 
+
+“Oh, we’re not working,” Harry told him brightly. 
+
+“Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we’ve been 
+trying to find out who he is.” 
+
+“You what?” Hagrid looked shocked. “Listen here — 
+I’ve told yeh — drop it. It’s nothin’ to you what that 
+dog’s guardin’.” 
+
+“We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that’s 
+all,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Unless you’d like to tell us and save us the trouble?” 
+Harry added. “We must’ve been through hundreds of 
+books already and we can’t find him anywhere — just 
+
+
+
+Page | 220 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+give us a hint — I know I’ve read his name 
+somewhere.” 
+
+“I’m sayin’ nothin’,” said Hagrid flatly. 
+
+“Just have to find out for ourselves, then,” said Ron, 
+and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried 
+off to the library. 
+
+They had indeed been searching books for Flamel’s 
+name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how 
+else were they going to find out what Snape was 
+trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to 
+know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might 
+have done to get himself into a book. He wasn’t in 
+Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable 
+Magical Names of Our Time ; he was missing, too, from 
+Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of 
+Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of 
+course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of 
+thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds 
+of narrow rows. 
+
+Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had 
+decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of 
+books and started pulling them off the shelves at 
+random. Harry wandered over to the Restricted 
+Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel 
+wasn’t somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you 
+needed a specially signed note from one of the 
+teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he 
+knew he’d never get one. These were the books 
+containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at 
+Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying 
+advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. 
+
+“What are you looking for, boy?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 221 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather 
+duster at him. 
+
+“You’d better get out, then. Go on — out!” 
+
+Wishing he’d been a bit quicker at thinking up some 
+story, Harry left the library. He, Ron, and Hermione 
+had already agreed they’d better not ask Madam 
+Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure 
+she’d be able to tell them, but they couldn’t risk 
+Snape hearing what they were up to. 
+
+Harry waited outside in the corridor to see if the other 
+two had found anything, but he wasn’t very hopeful. 
+They had been looking for two weeks, after all, but as 
+they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn’t 
+surprising they’d found nothing. What they really 
+needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince 
+breathing down their necks. 
+
+Five minutes later, Ron and Hermione joined him, 
+shaking their heads. They went off to lunch. 
+
+“You will keep looking while I’m away, won’t you?” 
+said Hermione. “And send me an owl if you find 
+anything.” 
+
+“And you could ask your parents if they know who 
+Flamel is,” said Ron. “It’d be safe to ask them.” 
+
+“Very safe, as they’re both dentists,” said Hermione. 
+
+Once the holidays had started, Ron and Harry were 
+having too good a time to think much about Flamel. 
+They had the dormitory to themselves and the 
+common room was far emptier than usual, so they 
+were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. They 
+sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a 
+toasting fork — bread, English muffins, 
+
+Page | 222 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+marshmallows — and plotting ways of getting Malfoy 
+expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they 
+wouldn’t work. 
+
+Ron also started teaching Harry wizard chess. This 
+was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures 
+were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in 
+battle. Ron’s set was very old and battered. Like 
+everything else he owned, it had once belonged to 
+someone else in his family — in this case, his 
+grandfather. However, old chessmen weren’t a 
+drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had 
+trouble getting them to do what he wanted. 
+
+Harry played with chessmen Seamus Finnigan had 
+lent him, and they didn’t trust him at all. He wasn’t a 
+very good player yet and they kept shouting different 
+bits of advice at him, which was confusing. “Don’t 
+send me there, can’t you see his knight? Send him, we 
+can afford to lose him.” 
+
+On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward 
+to the next day for the food and the fun, but not 
+expecting any presents at all. When he woke early in 
+the morning, however, the first thing he saw was a 
+small pile of packages at the foot of his bed. 
+
+“Merry Christmas,” said Ron sleepily as Harry 
+scrambled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe. 
+
+“You, too,” said Harry. “Will you look at this? I’ve got 
+some presents!” 
+
+“What did you expect, turnips?” said Ron, turning to 
+his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry’s. 
+
+Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in 
+thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To 
+Harry, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden 
+
+Page | 223 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry 
+blew it — it sounded a bit like an owl. 
+
+A second, very small parcel contained a note. 
+
+We received your message and enclose your Christmas 
+present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. Taped 
+to the note was a fifty-pence piece. 
+
+“That’s friendly,” said Harry. 
+
+Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence. 
+
+“ Weird\ ” he said, “What a shape! This is money?” 
+
+“You can keep it,” said Harry, laughing at how 
+pleased Ron was. “Hagrid and my aunt and uncle — 
+so who sent these?” 
+
+“I think I know who that one’s from,” said Ron, 
+turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy 
+parcel. “My mom. I told her you didn’t expect any 
+presents and — oh, no,” he groaned, “she’s made you 
+a Weasley sweater.” 
+
+Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand- 
+knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of 
+homemade fudge. 
+
+“Every year she makes us a sweater,” said Ron, 
+unwrapping his own, “and mine’s always maroon.” 
+
+“That’s really nice of her,” said Harry, trying the 
+fudge, which was very tasty. 
+
+His next present also contained candy — a large box 
+of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Page | 224 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt 
+it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. 
+
+Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the 
+floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped. 
+
+“I’ve heard of those,” he said in a hushed voice, 
+dropping the box of Every Flavor Beans he’d gotten 
+from Hermione. “If that’s what I think it is — they’re 
+really rare, and really valuable.” 
+
+“What is it?” 
+
+Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It 
+was strange to the touch, like water woven into 
+material. 
+
+“It’s an Invisibility Cloak,” said Ron, a look of awe on 
+his face. “I’m sure it is — try it on.” 
+
+Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron 
+gave a yell. 
+
+“It is! Look down!” 
+
+Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He 
+dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection 
+looked back at him, just his head suspended in 
+midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the 
+cloak over his head and his reflection vanished 
+completely. 
+
+“There’s a note!” said Ron suddenly. “A note fell out of 
+it!” 
+
+
+
+Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. 
+Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen 
+before were the following words: 
+
+
+
+Page | 225 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Your father left this in my possession before he died. It 
+is time it was returned to you. 
+
+Use it well. 
+
+A Very Merry Christmas to you. 
+
+There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron 
+was admiring the cloak. 
+
+“I’d give anuthinq for one of these,” he said. “Anuthinq. 
+What’s the matter?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry. He felt very strange. Who had 
+sent the cloak? Had it really once belonged to his 
+father? 
+
+Before he could say or think anything else, the 
+dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George 
+Weasley bounded in. Harry stuffed the cloak quickly 
+out of sight. He didn’t feel like sharing it with anyone 
+else yet. 
+
+“Merry Christmas!” 
+
+“Hey, look — Harry’s got a Weasley sweater, too!” 
+
+Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one 
+with a large yellow F on it, the other a G. 
+
+“Harry’s is better than ours, though,” said Fred, 
+holding up Harry’s sweater. “She obviously makes 
+more of an effort if you’re not family.” 
+
+“Why aren’t you wearing yours, Ron?” George 
+demanded. “Come on, get it on, they’re lovely and 
+warm.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 226 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I hate maroon,” Ron moaned halfheartedly as he 
+pulled it over his head. 
+
+“You haven’t got a letter on yours,” George observed. 
+
+“I suppose she thinks you don’t forget your name. But 
+we’re not stupid — we know we’re called Gred and 
+Forge.” 
+
+“What’s all this noise?” 
+
+Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, 
+looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway 
+through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a 
+lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized. 
+
+“P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we’re all 
+wearing ours, even Harry got one.” 
+
+“I — don’t — want — ” said Percy thickly, as the twins 
+forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses 
+askew. 
+
+“And you’re not sitting with the prefects today, 
+either,” said George. “Christmas is a time for family.” 
+
+They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms 
+pinned to his side by his sweater. 
+
+Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas 
+dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of 
+roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; 
+tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich 
+gravy and cranberry sauce — and stacks of wizard 
+crackers every few feet along the table. These 
+fantastic party favors were nothing like the feeble 
+Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their 
+little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. 
+Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn’t 
+just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and 
+Page | 227 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from 
+the inside exploded a rear admiral’s hat and several 
+live, white mice. Up at the High Table, Dumbledore 
+had swapped his pointed wizard’s hat for a flowered 
+bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor 
+Flitwick had just read him. 
+
+Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. 
+Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle 
+embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting 
+redder and redder in the face as he called for more 
+wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the 
+cheek, who, to Harry’s amazement, giggled and 
+blushed, her top hat lopsided. 
+
+When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down 
+with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a 
+pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow- 
+Your-Own-Warts kit, and his own new wizard chess 
+set. The white mice had disappeared and Harry had a 
+nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs. 
+Norris’s Christmas dinner. 
+
+Harry and the Weasleys spent a happy afternoon 
+having a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Then, 
+cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the 
+fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry 
+broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to 
+Ron. He suspected he wouldn’t have lost so badly if 
+Percy hadn’t tried to help him so much. 
+
+After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, 
+and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy 
+to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy 
+chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor Tower 
+because they’d stolen his prefect badge. 
+
+It had been Harry’s best Christmas day ever. Yet 
+something had been nagging at the back of his mind 
+
+Page | 228 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+all day. Not until he climbed into bed was he free to 
+think about it: the Invisibility Cloak and whoever had 
+sent it. 
+
+Ron, full of turkey and cake and with nothing 
+mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon 
+as he’d drawn the curtains of his four-poster. Harry 
+leaned over the side of his own bed and pulled the 
+cloak out from under it. 
+
+His father’s ... this had been his father’s. He let the 
+material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light 
+as air. Use it well, the note had said. 
+
+He had to try it, now. He slipped out of bed and 
+wrapped the cloak around himself. Looking down at 
+his legs, he saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a 
+very funny feeling. 
+
+Use it well. 
+
+Suddenly, Harry felt wide-awake. The whole of 
+Hogwarts was open to him in this cloak. Excitement 
+flooded through him as he stood there in the dark 
+and silence. He could go anywhere in this, anywhere, 
+and Filch would never know. 
+
+Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him? 
+Something held him back — his father’s cloak — he 
+felt that this time — the first time — he wanted to use 
+it alone. 
+
+He crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across 
+the common room, and climbed through the portrait 
+hole. 
+
+“Who’s there?” squawked the Fat Lady. Harry said 
+nothing. He walked quickly down the corridor. 
+
+
+
+Page | 229 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Where should he go? He stopped, his heart racing, 
+and thought. And then it came to him. The Restricted 
+Section in the library. He’d be able to read as long as 
+he liked, as long as it took to find out who Flamel 
+was. He set off, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight 
+around him as he walked. 
+
+The library was pitch-black and very eerie. Harry lit a 
+lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The 
+lamp looked as if it was floating along in midair, and 
+even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, 
+the sight gave him the creeps. 
+
+The Restricted Section was right at the back of the 
+library. Stepping carefully over the rope that 
+separated these books from the rest of the library, he 
+held up his lamp to read the titles. 
+
+They didn’t tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold 
+letters spelled words in languages Harry couldn’t 
+understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a 
+dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The 
+hairs on the back of Harry’s neck prickled. Maybe he 
+was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint 
+whispering was coming from the books, as though 
+they knew someone was there who shouldn’t be. 
+
+He had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down 
+carefully on the floor, he looked along the bottom 
+shelf for an interesting-looking book. A large black 
+and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out 
+with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, 
+balancing it on his knee, let it fall open. 
+
+A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence — 
+the book was screaming! Harry snapped it shut, but 
+the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, 
+earsplitting note. He stumbled backward and knocked 
+over his lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, he 
+Page | 230 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside — 
+stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he ran 
+for it. He passed Filch in the doorway; Filch’s pale, 
+wild eyes looked straight through him, and Harry 
+slipped under Filch’s outstretched arm and streaked 
+off up the corridor, the book’s shrieks still ringing in 
+his ears. 
+
+He came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of 
+armor. He had been so busy getting away from the 
+library, he hadn’t paid attention to where he was 
+going. Perhaps because it was dark, he didn’t 
+recognize where he was at all. There was a suit of 
+armor near the kitchens, he knew, but he must be 
+five floors above there. 
+
+“You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if 
+anyone was wandering around at night, and 
+somebody’s been in the library — Restricted Section.” 
+
+Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. Wherever he 
+was, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, 
+greasy voice was getting nearer, and to his horror, it 
+was Snape who replied, “The Restricted Section? Well, 
+they can’t be far, we’ll catch them.” 
+
+Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape 
+came around the corner ahead. They couldn’t see 
+him, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if 
+they came much nearer they’d knock right into him — 
+the cloak didn’t stop him from being solid. 
+
+He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood 
+ajar to his left. It was his only hope. He squeezed 
+through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, 
+and to his relief he managed to get inside the room 
+without their noticing anything. They walked straight 
+past, and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing 
+deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That 
+Page | 231 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had been close, very close. It was a few seconds 
+before he noticed anything about the room he had 
+hidden in. 
+
+
+
+It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes 
+of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and 
+there was an upturned wastepaper basket — but 
+propped against the wall facing him was something 
+that didn’t look as if it belonged there, something that 
+looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it 
+out of the way. 
+
+It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, 
+with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed 
+feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: 
+Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. 
+
+His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch 
+and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, 
+wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again. 
+He stepped in front of it. 
+
+He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself 
+from screaming. He whirled around. His heart was 
+pounding far more furiously than when the book had 
+screamed — for he had seen not only himself in the 
+mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right 
+behind him. 
+
+But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, he 
+turned slowly back to the mirror. 
+
+There he was, reflected in it, white and scared- 
+looking, and there, reflected behind him, were at least 
+ten others. Harry looked over his shoulder — but still, 
+no one was there. Or were they all invisible, too? Was 
+he in fact in a room full of invisible people and this 
+mirrors trick was that it reflected them, invisible or 
+not? 
+
+Page | 232 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He looked in the mirror again. A woman standing 
+right behind his reflection was smiling at him and 
+waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind 
+him. If she was really there, he’d touch her, their 
+reflections were so close together, but he felt only air 
+— she and the others existed only in the mirror. 
+
+She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair 
+and her eyes — her eyes are just like mine, Harry 
+thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright 
+green — exactly the same shape, but then he noticed 
+that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same 
+time. The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next 
+to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and 
+his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just 
+as Harry’s did. 
+
+Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose 
+was nearly touching that of his reflection. 
+
+“Mom?” he whispered. “Dad?” 
+
+They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry 
+looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror, 
+and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses 
+like his, even a little old man who looked as though 
+he had Harry’s knobbly knees — Harry was looking at 
+his family, for the first time in his life. 
+
+The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared 
+hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against 
+the glass as though he was hoping to fall right 
+through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of 
+ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness. 
+
+How long he stood there, he didn’t know. The 
+reflections did not fade and he looked and looked 
+until a distant noise brought him back to his senses. 
+He couldn’t stay here, he had to find his way back to 
+
+Page | 233 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bed. He tore his eyes away from his mother’s face, 
+whispered, “I’ll come back,” and hurried from the 
+room. 
+
+“You could have woken me up,” said Ron, crossly. 
+
+“You can come tonight, I’m going back, I want to show 
+you the mirror.” 
+
+“I’d like to see your mom and dad,” Ron said eagerly. 
+
+“And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, 
+you’ll be able to show me your other brothers and 
+everyone.” 
+
+“You can see them any old time,” said Ron. “Just 
+come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe 
+it only shows dead people. Shame about not finding 
+Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why 
+aren’t you eating anything?” 
+
+Harry couldn’t eat. He had seen his parents and 
+would be seeing them again tonight. He had almost 
+forgotten about Flamel. It didn’t seem very important 
+anymore. Who cared what the three-headed dog was 
+guarding? What did it matter if Snape stole it, really? 
+
+“Are you all right?” said Ron. “You look odd.” 
+
+What Harry feared most was that he might not be 
+able to find the mirror room again. With Ron covered 
+in the cloak, too, they had to walk much more slowly 
+the next night. They tried retracing Harry’s route from 
+the library, wandering around the dark passageways 
+for nearly an hour. 
+
+“I’m freezing,” said Ron. “Let’s forget it and go back.” 
+
+“IVo!” Harry hissed. “I know it’s here somewhere.” 
+
+Page | 234 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the 
+opposite direction, but saw no one else. Just as Ron 
+started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, 
+Harry spotted the suit of armor. 
+
+“It’s here — just here — yes!” 
+
+They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the cloak 
+from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror. 
+
+There they were. His mother and father beamed at the 
+sight of him. 
+
+“See?” Harry whispered. 
+
+“I can’t see anything.” 
+
+“Look! Look at them all ... there are loads of them. ...” 
+“I can only see you.” 
+
+“Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am.” 
+
+Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the 
+mirror, he couldn’t see his family anymore, just Ron 
+in his paisley pajamas. 
+
+Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image. 
+“Look at me!” he said. 
+
+“Can you see all your family standing around you?” 
+
+“No — I’m alone — but I’m different — I look older — 
+and I’m Head Boy!” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 235 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I am — I’m wearing the badge like Bill used to — and 
+I’m holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup — 
+I’m Quidditch captain, too!” 
+
+Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to 
+look excitedly at Harry. 
+
+“Do you think this mirror shows the future?” 
+
+“How can it? All my family are dead — let me have 
+another look — ” 
+
+“You had it to yourself all last night, give me a bit 
+more time.” 
+
+“You’re only holding the Quidditch Cup, what’s 
+interesting about that? I want to see my parents.” 
+
+“Don’t push me — ” 
+
+A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to 
+their discussion. They hadn’t realized how loudly they 
+had been talking. 
+
+“Quick!” 
+
+Ron threw the cloak back over them as the luminous 
+eyes of Mrs. Norris came round the door. Ron and 
+Harry stood quite still, both thinking the same thing 
+— did the cloak work on cats? After what seemed an 
+age, she turned and left. 
+
+“This isn’t safe — she might have gone for Filch, I bet 
+she heard us. Come on.” 
+
+And Ron pulled Harry out of the room. 
+
+The snow still hadn’t melted the next morning. 
+
+
+
+Page | 236 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Want to play chess, Harry?” said Ron. 
+
+
+
+“No.” 
+
+“Why don’t we go down and visit Hagrid?” 
+
+“No ... you go ...” 
+
+“I know what you’re thinking about, Harry, that 
+mirror. Don’t go back tonight.” 
+
+“Why not?” 
+
+“I dunno, I’ve just got a bad feeling about it — and 
+anyway, you’ve had too many close shaves already. 
+Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. 
+So what if they can’t see you? What if they walk into 
+you? What if you knock something over?” 
+
+“You sound like Hermione.” 
+
+“I’m serious, Harry, don’t go.” 
+
+But Harry only had one thought in his head, which 
+was to get back in front of the mirror, and Ron wasn’t 
+going to stop him. 
+
+That third night he found his way more quickly than 
+before. He was walking so fast he knew he was 
+making more noise than was wise, but he didn’t meet 
+anyone. 
+
+And there were his mother and father smiling at him 
+again, and one of his grandfathers nodding happily. 
+Harry sank down to sit on the floor in front of the 
+mirror. There was nothing to stop him from staying 
+here all night with his family. Nothing at all. 
+
+Except — 
+
+Page | 237 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So — back again, Harry?” 
+
+Harry felt as though his insides had turned to ice. He 
+looked behind him. Sitting on one of the desks by the 
+wall was none other than Albus Dumbledore. Harry 
+must have walked straight past him, so desperate to 
+get to the mirror he hadn’t noticed him. 
+
+“I — I didn’t see you, sir.” 
+
+“Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make 
+you,” said Dumbledore, and Harry was relieved to see 
+that he was smiling. 
+
+“So,” said Dumbledore, slipping off the desk to sit on 
+the floor with Harry, “you, like hundreds before you, 
+have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised.” 
+
+“I didn’t know it was called that, sir.” 
+
+“But I expect you’ve realized by now what it does?” 
+
+“It — well — it shows me my family — ” 
+
+“And it showed your friend Ron himself as Head Boy.” 
+
+“How did you know — ?” 
+
+“I don’t need a cloak to become invisible,” said 
+Dumbledore gently. “Now, can you think what the 
+Mirror of Erised shows us all?” 
+
+Harry shook his head. 
+
+“Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be 
+able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, 
+that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly 
+as he is. Does that help?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 238 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry thought. Then he said slowly, “It shows us 
+what we want ... whatever we want ...” 
+
+“Yes and no,” said Dumbledore quietly. “It shows us 
+nothing more or less than the deepest, most 
+desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never 
+known your family, see them standing around you. 
+Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed 
+by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best 
+of all of them. However, this mirror will give us 
+neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away 
+before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been 
+driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or 
+even possible. 
+
+“The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, 
+Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If 
+you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It 
+does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, 
+remember that. Now, why don’t you put that 
+admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?” 
+
+Harry stood up. 
+
+“Sir — Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you 
+something?” 
+
+“Obviously, you’ve just done so,” Dumbledore smiled. 
+“You may ask me one more thing, however.” 
+
+“What do you see when you look in the mirror?” 
+
+“I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.” 
+
+Harry stared. 
+
+“One can never have enough socks,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone 
+
+
+
+Page | 239 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on 
+giving me books.” 
+
+It was only when he was back in bed that it struck 
+Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite 
+truthful. But then, he thought, as he shoved 
+Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal 
+question. 
+
+
+
+Page | 240 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NICHOLAS FLAMBL 
+
+Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking 
+for the Mirror of Erised again, and for the rest of the 
+Christmas holidays the Invisibility Cloak stayed 
+folded at the bottom of his trunk. Harry wished he 
+could forget what he’d seen in the mirror as easily, 
+but he couldn’t. He started having nightmares. Over 
+and over again he dreamed about his parents 
+disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high 
+voice cackled with laughter. 
+
+“You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could 
+drive you mad,” said Ron, when Harry told him about 
+these dreams. 
+
+Hermione, who came back the day before term 
+started, took a different view of things. She was torn 
+between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, 
+roaming the school three nights in a row (“If Filch had 
+caught you!”), and disappointment that he hadn’t at 
+least found out who Nicolas Flamel was. 
+
+
+
+Page | 241 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel 
+in a library book, even though Harry was still sure 
+he’d read the name somewhere. Once term had 
+started, they were back to skimming through books 
+for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even 
+less time than the other two, because Quidditch 
+practice had started again. 
+
+Wood was working the team harder than ever. Even 
+the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn’t 
+dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that 
+Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Harry was on 
+Wood’s side. If they won their next match, against 
+Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the 
+House Championship for the first time in seven years. 
+Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found that he 
+had fewer nightmares when he was tired out after 
+training. 
+
+Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice 
+session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. He’d 
+just gotten very angry with the Weasleys, who kept 
+dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off 
+their brooms. 
+
+“Will you stop messing around!” he yelled. “That’s 
+exactly the sort of thing that’ll lose us the match! 
+Snape’s refereeing this time, and he’ll be looking for 
+any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!” 
+
+George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these 
+words. 
+
+“ Snape’s refereeing?” he spluttered through a 
+mouthful of mud. “When’s he ever refereed a 
+Quidditch match? He’s not going to be fair if we might 
+overtake Slytherin.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The rest of the team landed next to George to 
+complain, too. 
+
+“It’s not my fault,” said Wood. “We’ve just got to make 
+sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn’t got an 
+excuse to pick on us.” 
+
+Which was all very well, thought Harry, but he had 
+another reason for not wanting Snape near him while 
+he was playing Quidditch. ... 
+
+The rest of the team hung back to talk to one another 
+as usual at the end of practice, but Harry headed 
+straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where 
+he found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Chess was 
+the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry 
+and Ron thought was very good for her. 
+
+“Don’t talk to me for a moment,” said Ron when Harry 
+sat down next to him, “I need to concern” He caught 
+sight of Harry’s face. “What’s the matter with you? 
+
+You look terrible.” 
+
+Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, 
+
+Harry told the other two about Snape ’s sudden, 
+sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee. 
+
+“Don’t play,” said Hermione at once. 
+
+“Say you’re ill,” said Ron. 
+
+“Pretend to break your leg,” Hermione suggested. 
+
+“ Really break your leg,” said Ron. 
+
+“I can’t,” said Harry. “There isn’t a reserve Seeker. If I 
+back out, Gryffindor can’t play at all.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 243 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+At that moment Neville toppled into the common 
+room. How he had managed to climb through the 
+portrait hole was anyone’s guess, because his legs 
+had been stuck together with what they recognized at 
+once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to 
+bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower. 
+
+Everyone fell over laughing except Hermione, who 
+leapt up and performed the countercurse. Neville’s 
+legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling. 
+
+“What happened?” Hermione asked him, leading him 
+over to sit with Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Malfoy,” said Neville shakily. “I met him outside the 
+library. He said he’d been looking for someone to 
+practice that on.” 
+
+“Go to Professor McGonagall!” Hermione urged 
+Neville. “Report him!” 
+
+Neville shook his head. 
+
+“I don’t want more trouble,” he mumbled. 
+
+“You’ve got to stand up to him, Neville!” said Ron. 
+“He’s used to walking all over people, but that’s no 
+reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier.” 
+
+“There’s no need to tell me I’m not brave enough to be 
+in Gryffindor, Malfoy’s already done that,” Neville 
+choked out. 
+
+Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a 
+Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box 
+Hermione had given him for Christmas. He gave it to 
+Neville, who looked as though he might cry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 244 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You’re worth twelve of Malfoy,” Harry said. “The 
+Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn’t it? And 
+where’s Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin.” 
+
+Neville’s lips twitched in a weak smile as he 
+unwrapped the frog. 
+
+“Thanks, Harry ... I think I’ll go to bed. ... D’you want 
+the card, you collect them, don’t you?” 
+
+As Neville walked away, Harry looked at the Famous 
+Wizard card. 
+
+“Dumbledore again,” he said, “He was the first one I 
+ever — ” 
+
+He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he 
+looked up at Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“I’ve found him\” he whispered. “I’ve found Flamel! I 
+told you I’d read the name somewhere before, I read it 
+on the train coming here — listen to this: 
+
+‘Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of 
+the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the 
+discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his 
+work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel’V’ 
+
+Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn’t looked so 
+excited since they’d gotten back the marks for their 
+very first piece of homework. 
+
+“Stay there!” she said, and she sprinted up the stairs 
+to the girls’ dormitories. Harry and Ron barely had 
+time to exchange mystified looks before she was 
+dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms. 
+
+“I never thought to look in here!” she whispered 
+excitedly. “I got this out of the library weeks ago for a 
+bit of light reading.” 
+
+Page | 245 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Light?” said Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet 
+until she’d looked something up, and started flicking 
+frantically through the pages, muttering to herself. 
+
+At last she found what she was looking for. 
+
+“I knew it! I knew it!” 
+
+“Are we allowed to speak yet?” said Ron grumpily. 
+Hermione ignored him. 
+
+“Nicolas Flamel,” she whispered dramatically, “is the 
+only known maker of the Sorcerer’s Stone\” 
+
+This didn’t have quite the effect she’d expected. 
+
+“The what?” said Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Oh, honestly , don’t you two read? Look — read that, 
+there.” 
+
+She pushed the book toward them, and Harry and 
+Ron read: 
+
+The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with 
+making the Sorcerer’s Stone, a legendary substance 
+with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform 
+any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of 
+Life, which will make the drinker immortal. 
+
+There have been many reports of the Sorcerer’s Stone 
+over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in 
+existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted 
+alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated 
+his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, 
+enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle 
+(six hundred and fifty-eight). 
+
+
+
+Page | 246 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“See?” said Hermione, when Harry and Ron had 
+finished. “The dog must be guarding Flamel’s 
+Sorcerer’s Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep 
+it safe for him, because they’re friends and he knew 
+someone was after it, that’s why he wanted the Stone 
+moved out of Gringotts!” 
+
+“A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever 
+dying!” said Harry. “No wonder Snape’s after it! 
+
+Anyone would want it.” 
+
+“And no wonder we couldn’t find Flamel in that Study 
+of Recent Developments in Wizardry,” said Ron. “He’s 
+not exactly recent if he’s six hundred and sixty-five, is 
+he?” 
+
+The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, 
+while copying down different ways of treating werewolf 
+bites, Harry and Ron were still discussing what they’d 
+do with a Sorcerer’s Stone if they had one. It wasn’t 
+until Ron said he’d buy his own Quidditch team that 
+Harry remembered about Snape and the coming 
+match. 
+
+“I’m going to play,” he told Ron and Hermione. “If I 
+don’t, all the Slytherins will think I’m just too scared 
+to face Snape. I’ll show them ... it’ll really wipe the 
+smiles off their faces if we win.” 
+
+“Just as long as we’re not wiping you off the field,” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+As the match drew nearer, however, Harry became 
+more and more nervous, whatever he told Ron and 
+Hermione. The rest of the team wasn’t too calm, 
+either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House 
+Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for 
+seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such 
+a biased referee? 
+
+Page | 247 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry didn’t know whether he was imagining it or not, 
+but he seemed to keep running into Snape wherever 
+he went. At times, he even wondered whether Snape 
+was following him, trying to catch him on his own. 
+Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly 
+torture, Snape was so horrible to Harry. Could Snape 
+possibly know they’d found out about the Sorcerer’s 
+Stone? Harry didn’t see how he could — yet he 
+sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could 
+read minds. 
+
+Harry knew, when they wished him good luck 
+outside the locker rooms the next afternoon, that Ron 
+and Hermione were wondering whether they’d ever 
+see him alive again. This wasn’t what you’d call 
+comforting. Harry hardly heard a word of Wood’s pep 
+talk as he pulled on his Quidditch robes and picked 
+up his Nimbus Two Thousand. 
+
+Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, had found a place in 
+the stands next to Neville, who couldn’t understand 
+why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had 
+both brought their wands to the match. Little did 
+Harry know that Ron and Hermione had been secretly 
+practicing the Leg-Locker Curse. They’d gotten the 
+idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready 
+to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to 
+hurt Harry. 
+
+“Now, don’t forget, it’s Locomotor Mortis,” Hermione 
+muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve. 
+
+“I know,” Ron snapped. “Don’t nag.” 
+
+Back in the locker room, Wood had taken Harry 
+aside. 
+
+“Don’t want to pressure you, Potter, but if we ever 
+need an early capture of the Snitch it’s now. Finish 
+
+Page | 248 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too 
+much.” 
+
+“The whole school’s out there!” said Fred Weasley, 
+peering out of the door. “Even — blimey — 
+Dumbledore’s come to watch!” 
+
+Harry’s heart did a somersault. 
+
+“Dumbledore?” he said, dashing to the door to make 
+sure. Fred was right. There was no mistaking that 
+silver beard. 
+
+Harry could have laughed out loud with relief. He was 
+safe. There was simply no way that Snape would dare 
+to try to hurt him if Dumbledore was watching. 
+
+Perhaps that was why Snape was looking so angry as 
+the teams marched onto the field, something that Ron 
+noticed, too. 
+
+“I’ve never seen Snape look so mean,” he told 
+Hermione. “Look — they’re off. Ouch!” 
+
+Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It 
+was Malfoy. 
+
+“Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn’t see you there.” 
+
+Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle. 
+
+“Wonder how long Potter’s going to stay on his broom 
+this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, 
+Weasley?” 
+
+Ron didn’t answer; Snape had just awarded 
+Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit 
+a Bludger at him. Hermione, who had all her fingers 
+crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at Harry, 
+
+Page | 249 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the 
+Snitch. 
+
+“You know how I think they choose people for the 
+Gryffindor team?” said Malfoy loudly a few minutes 
+later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty 
+for no reason at all. “It’s people they feel sorry for. 
+
+See, there’s Potter, who’s got no parents, then there’s 
+the Weasleys, who’ve got no money — you should be 
+on the team, Longbottom, you’ve got no brains.” 
+
+Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face 
+Malfoy. 
+
+“I’m worth twelve of you, Malfoy,” he stammered. 
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but 
+Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, 
+said, “You tell him, Neville.” 
+
+“Longbottom, if brains were gold you’d be poorer than 
+Weasley, and that’s saying something.” 
+
+Ron’s nerves were already stretched to the breaking 
+point with anxiety about Harry. 
+
+“I’m warning you, Malfoy — one more word — ” 
+
+“Ron!” said Hermione suddenly, “Harry — !” 
+
+“What? Where?” 
+
+Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, 
+which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. 
+Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, 
+as Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet. 
+
+“You’re in luck, Weasley, Potter’s obviously spotted 
+some money on the ground!” said Malfoy. 
+
+Page | 250 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was 
+happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to 
+the ground. Neville hesitated, then clambered over the 
+back of his seat to help. 
+
+“Come on, Harry!” Hermione screamed, leaping onto 
+her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape — 
+she didn’t even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around 
+under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from 
+the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle. 
+
+Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in 
+time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing 
+him by inches — the next second, Harry had pulled 
+out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch 
+clasped in his hand. 
+
+The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one 
+could ever remember the Snitch being caught so 
+quickly. 
+
+“Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game’s over! Harry’s 
+won! We’ve won! Gryffindor is in the lead!” shrieked 
+Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and 
+hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front. 
+
+Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. 
+He couldn’t believe it. He’d done it — the game was 
+over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors 
+came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land 
+nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped — then Harry felt 
+a hand on his shoulder and looked up into 
+Dumbledore’s smiling face. 
+
+“Well done,” said Dumbledore quietly, so that only 
+Harry could hear. “Nice to see you haven’t been 
+brooding about that mirror . . . been keeping busy . . . 
+excellent ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 251 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Snape spat bitterly on the ground. 
+
+
+
+Jc Jc Jc 
+
+
+
+Harry left the locker room alone some time later, to 
+take his Nimbus Two Thousand back to the 
+broomshed. He couldn’t ever remember feeling 
+happier. He’d really done something to be proud of 
+now — no one could say he was just a famous name 
+any more. The evening air had never smelled so 
+sweet. He walked over the damp grass, reliving the 
+last hour in his head, which was a happy blur: 
+Gryffindors running to lift him onto their shoulders; 
+Ron and Hermione in the distance, jumping up and 
+down, Ron cheering through a heavy nosebleed. 
+
+Harry had reached the shed. He leaned against the 
+wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its 
+windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor in 
+the lead. He’d done it, he’d shown Snape. ... 
+
+And speaking of Snape . . . 
+
+A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of 
+the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked 
+as fast as possible toward the forbidden forest. 
+Harry’s victory faded from his mind as he watched. 
+He recognized the figure’s prowling walk. Snape, 
+sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at 
+dinner — what was going on? 
+
+Harry jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand 
+and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw 
+Snape enter the forest at a run. He followed. 
+
+The trees were so thick he couldn’t see where Snape 
+had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, 
+brushing the top branches of trees until he heard 
+
+
+
+Page | 252 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+voices. He glided toward them and landed noiselessly 
+in a towering beech tree. 
+
+He climbed carefully along one of the branches, 
+holding tight to his broomstick, trying to see through 
+the leaves. 
+
+Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he 
+wasn’t alone. Quirrell was there, too. Harry couldn’t 
+make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering 
+worse than ever. Harry strained to catch what they 
+were saying. 
+
+"... d-don’t know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of 
+all p-places, Severus ...” 
+
+“Oh, I thought we’d keep this private,” said Snape, his 
+voice icy. “Students aren’t supposed to know about 
+the Sorcerer’s Stone, after all.” 
+
+Harry leaned forward. Quirrell was mumbling 
+something. Snape interrupted him. 
+
+“Have you found out how to get past that beast of 
+Hagrid’s yet?” 
+
+“B-b-but Severus, I — ” 
+
+“You don’t want me as your enemy, Quirrell,” said 
+Snape, taking a step toward him. 
+
+“I-I don’t know what you — ” 
+
+“You know perfectly well what I mean.” 
+
+An owl hooted loudly, and Harry nearly fell out of the 
+tree. He steadied himself in time to hear Snape say, 
+
+“ — your little bit of hocus-pocus. I’m waiting.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 253 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“B-but I d-d-don’t — ” 
+
+
+
+“Very well,” Snape cut in. “Well have another little 
+chat soon, when you’ve had time to think things over 
+and decided where your loyalties lie.” 
+
+He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the 
+clearing. It was almost dark now, but Harry could see 
+Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was 
+petrified. 
+
+
+
+Jc Jc Jc 
+
+
+
+“Harry, where have you been?” Hermione squeaked. 
+
+“We won! You won! We won!” shouted Ron, thumping 
+Harry on the back. “And I gave Malfoy a black eye, 
+and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single- 
+handed! He’s still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says 
+he’ll be all right — talk about showing Slytherin! 
+Everyone’s waiting for you in the common room, we’re 
+having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and 
+stuff from the kitchens.” 
+
+“Never mind that now,” said Harry breathlessly. “Let’s 
+find an empty room, you wait ’til you hear this. ...” 
+
+He made sure Peeves wasn’t inside before shutting 
+the door behind them, then he told them what he’d 
+seen and heard. 
+
+“So we were right, it is the Sorcerer’s Stone, and 
+Snape’s trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He 
+asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy — and he said 
+something about Quirrell’s ‘hocus-pocus’ — I reckon 
+there are other things guarding the stone apart from 
+Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell 
+
+
+
+Page | 254 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that 
+Snape needs to break through — ” 
+
+“So you mean the Stone’s only safe as long as Quirrell 
+stands up to Snape?” said Hermione in alarm. 
+
+“It’ll be gone by next Tuesday,” said Ron. 
+
+
+
+Page | 255 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NORBERT THE NORWEGIAN 
+RIDGEBACK 
+
+Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they’d 
+thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be 
+getting paler and thinner, but it didn’t look as though 
+he’d cracked yet. 
+
+Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door 
+to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape 
+was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which 
+surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever 
+Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an 
+encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling 
+people off for laughing at Quirrell’s stutter. 
+
+Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the 
+Sorcerer’s Stone. She had started drawing up study 
+schedules and color-coding all her notes. Harry and 
+Ron wouldn’t have minded, but she kept nagging 
+them to do the same. 
+
+
+
+Page | 256 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Hermione, the exams are ages away.” 
+
+“Ten weeks,” Hermione snapped. “That’s not ages, 
+that’s like a second to Nicolas Flamel.” 
+
+“But we’re not six hundred years old,” Ron reminded 
+her. “Anyway, what are you studying for, you already 
+know it all.” 
+
+“What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize 
+we need to pass these exams to get into the second 
+year? They’re very important, I should have started 
+studying a month ago, I don’t know what’s gotten into 
+me.” 
+
+Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking 
+along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so 
+much homework on them that the Easter holidays 
+weren’t nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It 
+was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting 
+the twelve uses of dragon’s blood or practicing wand 
+movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron 
+spent most of their free time in the library with her, 
+trying to get through all their extra work. 
+
+“I’ll never remember this,” Ron burst out one 
+afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking 
+longingly out of the library window. It was the first 
+really fine day they’d had in months. The sky was a 
+clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in 
+the air of summer coming. 
+
+Harry, who was looking up “Dittany” in One Thousand 
+Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn’t look up until he 
+heard Ron say, “Hagrid! What are you doing in the 
+library?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 257 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind 
+his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin 
+overcoat. 
+
+“Jus’ lookin’,” he said, in a shifty voice that got their 
+interest at once. “An’ what’re you lot up ter?” He 
+looked suddenly suspicious. “Yer not still lookin’ fer 
+Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?” 
+
+“Oh, we found out who he is ages ago,” said Ron 
+impressively. “And we know what that dog’s guarding, 
+it’s a Sorcerer’s St — ” 
+
+“Shhhh\” Hagrid looked around quickly to see if 
+anyone was listening. “Don’ go shoutin’ about it, 
+what’s the matter with yeh?” 
+
+“There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a 
+matter of fact,” said Harry, “about what’s guarding 
+the Stone apart from Fluffy — ” 
+
+“SHHHH!” said Hagrid again. “Listen — come an’ see 
+me later, I’m not promisin’ I’ll tell yeh anythin’, mind, 
+but don’ go rabbitin’ about it in here, students aren’ 
+s’pposed ter know. They’ll think I’ve told yeh — ” 
+
+“See you later, then,” said Harry. 
+
+Hagrid shuffled off. 
+
+“What was he hiding behind his back?” said 
+Hermione thoughtfully. 
+
+“Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?” 
+
+“I’m going to see what section he was in,” said Ron, 
+who’d had enough of working. He came back a 
+minute later with a pile of books in his arms and 
+slammed them down on the table. 
+
+Page | 258 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Dragons'.” he whispered. “Hagrid was looking up stuff 
+about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great 
+Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon 
+Keeper’s Guide.” 
+
+“Hagrid ’s always wanted a dragon, he told me so the 
+first time I ever met him,” said Harry. 
+
+“But it’s against our laws,” said Ron. “Dragon 
+breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks’ Convention 
+of 1709, everyone knows that. It’s hard to stop 
+Muggles from noticing us if we’re keeping dragons in 
+the back garden — anyway, you can’t tame dragons, 
+it’s dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie’s got 
+off wild ones in Romania.” 
+
+“But there aren’t wild dragons in Britain?” said Harry. 
+
+“Of course there are,” said Ron. “Common Welsh 
+Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic 
+has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind 
+have to keep putting spells on Muggles who’ve spotted 
+them, to make them forget.” 
+
+“So what on earth’s Hagrid up to?” said Hermione. 
+
+When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper’s 
+hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all 
+the curtains were closed. Hagrid called “Who is it?” 
+before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly 
+behind them. 
+
+It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a 
+warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. 
+
+Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat 
+sandwiches, which they refused. 
+
+“So — yeh wanted to ask me somethin’?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 259 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. There was no point beating around 
+the bush. “We were wondering if you could tell us 
+what’s guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone apart from 
+Fluffy.” 
+
+Hagrid frowned at him. 
+
+“O’ course I can’t,” he said. “Number one, I don’ know 
+meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I 
+wouldn’ tell yeh if I could. That Stone’s here fer a good 
+reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts — I 
+s’ppose yeh’ve worked that out an’ all? Beats me how 
+yeh even know abou’ Fluffy.” 
+
+“Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, 
+but you do know, you know everything that goes on 
+round here,” said Hermione in a warm, flattering 
+voice. Hagrid ’s beard twitched and they could tell he 
+was smiling. “We only wondered who had done the 
+guarding, really.” Hermione went on. “We wondered 
+who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, 
+apart from you.” 
+
+Hagrid ’s chest swelled at these last words. Harry and 
+Ron beamed at Hermione. 
+
+“Well, I don’ s’pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that ... 
+let’s see ... he borrowed Fluffy from me ... then some 
+o’ the teachers did enchantments ... Professor Sprout 
+— Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall — ” he 
+ticked them off on his fingers, “Professor Quirrell — 
+an’ Dumbledore himself did somethin’, o’ course. 
+
+Hang on, I’ve forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor 
+Snape.” 
+
+“Snape?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yeah — yer not still on abou’ that, are yeh? Look, 
+Snape helped protect the Stone, he’s not about ter 
+steal it.” 
+
+Harry knew Ron and Hermione were thinking the 
+same as he was. If Snape had been in on protecting 
+the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the 
+other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew 
+everything — except, it seemed, Quirrell’s spell and 
+how to get past Fluffy. 
+
+“You’re the only one who knows how to get past 
+Fluffy, aren’t you, Hagrid?” said Harry anxiously. 
+
+“And you wouldn’t tell anyone, would you? Not even 
+one of the teachers?” 
+
+“Not a soul knows except me an’ Dumbledore,” said 
+Hagrid proudly. 
+
+“Well, that’s something,” Harry muttered to the 
+others. “Hagrid, can we have a window open? I’m 
+boiling.” 
+
+“Can’t, Harry, sorry,” said Hagrid. Harry noticed him 
+glance at the fire. Harry looked at it, too. 
+
+“Hagrid — what’s that?” 
+
+But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of 
+the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg. 
+
+“Ah,” said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, 
+“That’s — er ...” 
+
+“Where did you get it, Hagrid?” said Ron, crouching 
+over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. “It must’ve 
+cost you a fortune.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Won it,” said Hagrid. “Las’ night. I was down in the 
+village havin’ a few drinks an’ got into a game o’ cards 
+with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of 
+it, ter be honest.” 
+
+“But what are you going to do with it when it’s 
+hatched?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, I’ve bin doin’ some readin’,” said Hagrid, pulling 
+a large book from under his pillow. “Got this outta the 
+library — Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit — 
+it’s a bit outta date, o’ course, but it’s all in here. Keep 
+the egg in the fire, ’cause their mothers breathe on 
+’em, see, an’ when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o’ 
+brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An’ 
+see here — how ter recognize diff’rent eggs — what I 
+got there’s a Norwegian Ridge-back. They’re rare, 
+them.” 
+
+He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione 
+didn’t. 
+
+“Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,” she said. 
+
+But Hagrid wasn’t listening. He was humming merrily 
+as he stoked the fire. 
+
+So now they had something else to worry about: what 
+might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was 
+hiding an illegal dragon in his hut. 
+
+“Wonder what it’s like to have a peaceful life,” Ron 
+sighed, as evening after evening they struggled 
+through all the extra homework they were getting. 
+Hermione had now started making study schedules 
+for Harry and Ron, too. It was driving them nuts. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry 
+another note from Hagrid. He had written only two 
+words: It’s hatching. 
+
+Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to 
+the hut. Hermione wouldn’t hear of it. 
+
+“Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going 
+to see a dragon hatching?” 
+
+“We’ve got lessons, we’ll get into trouble, and that’s 
+nothing to what Hagrid ’s going to be in when someone 
+finds out what he’s doing — ” 
+
+“Shut up!” Harry whispered. 
+
+Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped 
+dead to listen. How much had he heard? Harry didn’t 
+like the look on Malfoy’s face at all. 
+
+Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology 
+and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to 
+Hagrid’s with the other two during morning break. 
+When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of 
+their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels 
+at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge 
+of the forest. Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed 
+and excited. 
+
+“It’s nearly out.” He ushered them inside. 
+
+The egg was lying on the table. There were deep 
+cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny 
+clicking noise was coming from it. 
+
+They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched 
+with bated breath. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg 
+split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It 
+wasn’t exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a 
+crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge 
+compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout 
+with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, 
+orange eyes. 
+
+It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout. 
+
+“Isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid murmured. He reached 
+out a hand to stroke the dragon’s head. It snapped at 
+his fingers, showing pointed fangs. 
+
+“Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Hermione, “how fast do Norwegian 
+Ridgebacks grow, exactly?” 
+
+Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly 
+drained from his face — he leapt to his feet and ran to 
+the window. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” 
+
+“Someone was lookin’ through the gap in the curtains 
+— it’s a kid — he’s runnin’ back up ter the school.” 
+
+Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a 
+distance there was no mistaking him. 
+
+Malfoy had seen the dragon. 
+
+Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy’s face 
+during the next week made Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+very nervous. They spent most of their free time in 
+Hagrid ’s darkened hut, trying to reason with him. 
+
+“Just let him go,” Harry urged. “Set him free.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I can’t,” said Hagrid. “He’s too little. He’d die.” 
+
+
+
+They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times 
+in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its 
+nostrils. Hagrid hadn’t been doing his gamekeeping 
+duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. 
+There were empty brandy bottles and chicken 
+feathers all over the floor. 
+
+“I’ve decided to call him Norbert,” said Hagrid, looking 
+at the dragon with misty eyes. “He really knows me 
+now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where’s Mommy?” 
+
+“He’s lost his marbles,” Ron muttered in Harry’s ear. 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Harry loudly, “give it two weeks and 
+Norbert’s going to be as long as your house. Malfoy 
+could go to Dumbledore at any moment.” 
+
+Hagrid bit his lip. 
+
+“I — I know I can’t keep him forever, but I can’t jus’ 
+dump him, can’t.” 
+
+Harry suddenly turned to Ron. 
+
+“Charlie,” he said. 
+
+“You’re losing it, too,” said Ron. “I’m Ron, remember?” 
+
+“No — Charlie — your brother, Charlie. In Romania. 
+Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. 
+Charlie can take care of him and then put him back 
+in the wild!” 
+
+“Brilliant!” said Ron. “How about it, Hagrid?” 
+
+And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send 
+an owl to Charlie to ask him. 
+
+Page | 265 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The following week dragged by. Wednesday night 
+found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the 
+common room, long after everyone else had gone to 
+bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight 
+when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out 
+of nowhere as he pulled off Harry’s Invisibility Cloak. 
+He had been down at Hagrid’s hut, helping him feed 
+Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate. 
+
+“It bit me!” he said, showing them his hand, which 
+was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. “I’m not going 
+to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that 
+dragon’s the most horrible animal I’ve ever met, but 
+the way Hagrid goes on about it, you’d think it was a 
+fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off 
+for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a 
+lullaby.” 
+
+There was a tap on the dark window. 
+
+“It’s Hedwig!” said Harry, hurrying to let her in. “She’ll 
+have Charlie’s answer!” 
+
+The three of them put their heads together to read the 
+note. 
+
+Dear Ron, 
+
+How are you? Thanks for the letter — I’d be glad to 
+take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won’t be easy 
+getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send 
+him over with some friends of mine who are coming to 
+visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn’t be seen 
+carrying an illegal dragon. 
+
+Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at 
+midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and 
+take him away while it’s still dark. 
+
+
+
+Page | 266 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Send me an answer as soon as possible. 
+
+
+
+Love, 
+
+Charlie 
+
+They looked at one another. 
+
+“We’ve got the Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry. “It 
+shouldn’t be too difficult — I think the cloak’s big 
+enough to cover two of us and Norbert.” 
+
+It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that 
+the other two agreed with him. Anything to get rid of 
+Norbert — and Malfoy. 
+
+There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron’s bitten 
+hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn’t 
+know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey — 
+would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, 
+though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty 
+shade of green. It looked as if Norbert’s fangs were 
+poisonous. 
+
+Harry and Hermione rushed up to the hospital wing 
+at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in 
+bed. 
+
+“It’s not just my hand,” he whispered, “although that 
+feels like it’s about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam 
+Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he 
+could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept 
+threatening to tell her what really bit me — I’ve told 
+her it was a dog, but I don’t think she believes me — I 
+shouldn’t have hit him at the Quidditch match, that’s 
+why he’s doing this.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione tried to calm Ron down. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’ll all be over at midnight on Saturday,” said 
+Hermione, but this didn’t soothe Ron at all. On the 
+contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat. 
+
+“Midnight on Saturday!” he said in a hoarse voice. 
+
+“Oh no — oh no — I’ve just remembered — Charlie’s 
+letter was in that book Malfoy took, he’s going to 
+know we’re getting rid of Norbert.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione didn’t get a chance to answer. 
+Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made 
+them leave, saying Ron needed sleep. 
+
+“It’s too late to change the plan now,” Harry told 
+Hermione. “We haven’t got time to send Charlie 
+another owl, and this could be our only chance to get 
+rid of Norbert. We’ll have to risk it. And we have got 
+the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn’t know about 
+that.” 
+
+They found Fang the boarhound sitting outside with a 
+bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who 
+opened a window to talk to them. 
+
+“I won’t let you in,” he puffed. “Norbert’s at a tricky 
+stage — nothin’ I can’t handle.” 
+
+When they told him about Charlie’s letter, his eyes 
+filled with tears, although that might have been 
+because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg. 
+
+“Aargh! It’s all right, he only got my boot — jus’ 
+playin’ — he’s only a baby, after all.” 
+
+The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the 
+windows rattle. Harry and Hermione walked back to 
+the castle feeling Saturday couldn’t come quickly 
+enough. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time 
+came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn’t 
+been so worried about what they had to do. It was a 
+very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late 
+arriving at Hagrid ’s hut because they’d had to wait for 
+Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, 
+where he’d been playing tennis against the wall. 
+
+Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate. 
+
+“He’s got lots o’ rats an’ some brandy fer the journey,” 
+said Hagrid in a muffled voice. “An’ I’ve packed his 
+teddy bear in case he gets lonely.” 
+
+From inside the crate came ripping noises that 
+sounded to Harry as though the teddy was having his 
+head torn off. 
+
+“Bye-bye, Norbert!” Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and 
+Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak 
+and stepped underneath it themselves. “Mommy will 
+never forget you!” 
+
+How they managed to get the crate back up to the 
+castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as 
+they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the 
+entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up 
+another staircase, then another — even one of Harry’s 
+shortcuts didn’t make the work much easier. 
+
+“Nearly there!” Harry panted as they reached the 
+corridor beneath the tallest tower. 
+
+Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them 
+almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were 
+already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, 
+staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling 
+with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared. 
+
+
+
+Page | 269 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair 
+net, had Malfoy by the ear. 
+
+
+
+“Detention!” she shouted. “And twenty points from 
+Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the 
+night, how dare you — ” 
+
+“You don’t understand, Professor. Harry Potter’s 
+coming — he’s got a dragon!” 
+
+“What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! 
+Come on — I shall see Professor Snape about you, 
+Malfoy!” 
+
+The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower 
+seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not 
+until they’d stepped out into the cold night air did 
+they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe 
+properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig. 
+
+“Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!” 
+
+“Don’t,” Harry advised her. 
+
+Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert 
+thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, 
+four broomsticks came swooping down out of the 
+darkness. 
+
+Charlie’s friends were a cheery lot. They showed 
+Harry and Hermione the harness they’d rigged up, so 
+they could suspend Norbert between them. They all 
+helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry 
+and Hermione shook hands with the others and 
+thanked them very much. 
+
+At last, Norbert was going ... going ... gone. 
+
+
+
+Page | 270 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their 
+hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was 
+off them. No more dragon — Malfoy in detention — 
+what could spoil their happiness? 
+
+The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the 
+stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch’s face 
+loomed suddenly out of the darkness. 
+
+“Well, well, well,” he whispered, “we are in trouble.” 
+
+They’d left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tower. 
+
+
+
+Page | 271 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FORBIDDEN FOREST 
+
+Things couldn’t have been worse. 
+
+Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall’s 
+study on the first floor, where they sat and waited 
+without saying a word to each other. Hermione was 
+trembling. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover-up stories 
+chased each other around Harry’s brain, each more 
+feeble than the last. He couldn’t see how they were 
+going to get out of trouble this time. They were 
+cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to 
+forget the cloak? There was no reason on earth that 
+Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out 
+of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of 
+night, let alone being up the tallest Astronomy Tower, 
+which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add 
+Norbert and the Invisibility Cloak, and they might as 
+well be packing their bags already. 
+
+Had Harry thought that things couldn’t have been 
+worse? He was wrong. When Professor McGonagall 
+appeared, she was leading Neville. 
+
+
+
+Page | 272 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Harry!” Neville burst out, the moment he saw the 
+other two. “I was trying to find you to warn you, I 
+heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he 
+said you had a drag — ” 
+
+Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but 
+Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more 
+likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over 
+the three of them. 
+
+“I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch 
+says you were up in the Astronomy Tower. It’s one 
+o’clock in the morning. Explain yourselves.” 
+
+It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to 
+answer a teacher’s question. She was staring at her 
+slippers, as still as a statue. 
+
+“I think I’ve got a good idea of what’s been going on,” 
+said Professor McGonagall. “It doesn’t take a genius 
+to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and- 
+bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed 
+and into trouble. I’ve already caught him. I suppose 
+you think it’s funny that Longbottom here heard the 
+story and believed it, too?” 
+
+Harry caught Neville’s eye and tried to tell him 
+without words that this wasn’t true, because Neville 
+was looking stunned and hurt. Poor, blundering 
+Neville — Harry knew what it must have cost him to 
+try and find them in the dark, to warn them. 
+
+“I’m disgusted,” said Professor McGonagall. “Four 
+students out of bed in one night! I’ve never heard of 
+such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you 
+had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought 
+Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of 
+you will receive detentions — yes, you too, Mr. 
+Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk 
+Page | 273 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+around school at night, especially these days, it’s very 
+dangerous — and fifty points will be taken from 
+Gryffindor.” 
+
+“Fifty?” Harry gasped — they would lose the lead, the 
+lead he’d won in the last Quidditch match. 
+
+“Fifty points each,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose. 
+
+“Professor — please — ” 
+
+“You can’t—” 
+
+“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Potter. Now get 
+back to bed, all of you. I’ve never been more ashamed 
+of Gryffindor students.” 
+
+A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in 
+last place. In one night, they’d ruined any chance 
+Gryffindor had had for the House Cup. Harry felt as 
+though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. 
+How could they ever make up for this? 
+
+Harry didn’t sleep all night. He could hear Neville 
+sobbing into his pillow for what seemed like hours. 
+Harry couldn’t think of anything to say to comfort 
+him. He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the 
+dawn. What would happen when the rest of 
+Gryffindor found out what they’d done? 
+
+At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses 
+that recorded the House points the next day thought 
+there ’d been a mistake. How could they suddenly 
+have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? 
+And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, 
+the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch 
+matches, had lost them all those points, him and a 
+couple of other stupid first years. 
+
+Page | 274 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+From being one of the most popular and admired 
+people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most 
+hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on 
+him, because everyone had been longing to see 
+Slytherin lose the House Cup. Everywhere Harry 
+went, people pointed and didn’t trouble to lower their 
+voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other 
+hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and 
+cheering, “Thanks Potter, we owe you one!” 
+
+Only Ron stood by him. 
+
+“They’ll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George 
+have lost loads of points in all the time they’ve been 
+here, and people still like them.” 
+
+“They’ve never lost a hundred and fifty points in one 
+go, though, have they?” said Harry miserably. 
+
+“Well — no,” Ron admitted. 
+
+It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry 
+swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren’t 
+his business from now on. He’d had it with sneaking 
+around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that 
+he went to Wood and offered to resign from the 
+Quidditch team. 
+
+“Resign?” Wood thundered. “What good’ll that do? 
+
+How are we going to get any points back if we can’t 
+win at Quidditch?” 
+
+But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the 
+team wouldn’t speak to Harry during practice, and if 
+they had to speak about him, they called him “the 
+Seeker.” 
+
+Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn’t 
+have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren’t as 
+
+Page | 275 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+well-known, but nobody would speak to them, either. 
+Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in 
+class, keeping her head down and working in silence. 
+
+Harry was almost glad that the exams weren’t far 
+away. All the studying he had to do kept his mind off 
+his misery. He, Ron, and Hermione kept to 
+themselves, working late into the night, trying to 
+remember the ingredients in complicated potions, 
+learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates 
+of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions. ... 
+
+Then, about a week before the exams were due to 
+start, Harry’s new resolution not to interfere in 
+anything that didn’t concern him was put to an 
+unexpected test. Walking back from the library on his 
+own one afternoon, he heard somebody whimpering 
+from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he 
+heard Quirrell’s voice. 
+
+“No — no — not again, please — ” 
+
+It sounded as though someone was threatening him. 
+Harry moved closer. 
+
+“All right — all right — ” he heard Quirrell sob. 
+
+Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the 
+classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and 
+looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out 
+of sight; Harry didn’t think Quirrell had even noticed 
+him. He waited until Quirrell’s footsteps had 
+disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was 
+empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Harry 
+was halfway toward it before he remembered what 
+he’d promised himself about not meddling. 
+
+All the same, he’d have gambled twelve Sorcerer’s 
+Stones that Snape had just left the room, and from 
+
+Page | 276 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+what Harry had just heard, Snape would be walking 
+with a new spring in his step — Quirrell seemed to 
+have given in at last. 
+
+Harry went back to the library, where Hermione was 
+testing Ron on Astronomy. Harry told them what he’d 
+heard. 
+
+“Snape’s done it, then!” said Ron. “If Quirrell’s told 
+him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell — ” 
+
+“There’s still Fluffy, though,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Maybe Snape’s found out how to get past him 
+without asking Hagrid,” said Ron, looking up at the 
+thousands of books surrounding them. “I bet there’s a 
+book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a 
+giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?” 
+
+The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron’s 
+eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could. 
+
+“Go to Dumbledore. That’s what we should have done 
+ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we’ll be thrown 
+out for sure.” 
+
+“But we’ve got no proof.” said Harry. “Quirrell’s too 
+scared to back us up. Snape’s only got to say he 
+doesn’t know how the troll got in at Halloween and 
+that he was nowhere near the third floor — who do 
+you think they’ll believe, him or us? It’s not exactly a 
+secret we hate him, Dumbledore ’ll think we made it 
+up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn’t help us if his life 
+depended on it, he’s too friendly with Snape, and the 
+more students get thrown out, the better, he’ll think. 
+And don’t forget, we’re not supposed to know about 
+the Stone or Fluffy. That’ll take a lot of explaining.” 
+
+Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn’t. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“If we just do a bit of poking around — ” 
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry flatly, “we’ve done enough poking 
+around.” 
+
+He pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to 
+learn the names of its moons. 
+
+The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, 
+Hermione, and Neville at the breakfast table. They 
+were all the same: 
+
+Your detention will take place at eleven o’clock 
+tonight. 
+
+Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall. 
+
+Professor M. McGonagall 
+
+Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to do in 
+the furor over the points they’d lost. He half expected 
+Hermione to complain that this was a whole night of 
+studying lost, but she didn’t say a word. Like Harry, 
+she felt they deserved what they’d got. 
+
+At eleven o’clock that night, they said good-bye to Ron 
+in the common room and went down to the entrance 
+hall with Neville. Filch was already there — and so 
+was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had 
+gotten a detention, too. 
+
+“Follow me,” said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading 
+them outside. 
+
+“I bet you’ll think twice about breaking a school rule 
+again, won’t you, eh?” he said, leering at them. “Oh 
+yes . . . hard work and pain are the best teachers if you 
+ask me. ... It’s just a pity they let the old 
+punishments die out . . . hang you by your wrists from 
+Page | 278 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the ceiling for a few days, I’ve got the chains still in 
+my office, keep ’em well oiled in case they’re ever 
+needed. ... Right, off we go, and don’t think of running 
+off, now, it’ll be worse for you if you do.” 
+
+They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville 
+kept sniffing. Harry wondered what their punishment 
+was going to be. It must be something really horrible, 
+or Filch wouldn’t be sounding so delighted. 
+
+The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it 
+kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry 
+could see the lighted windows of Hagrid’s hut. Then 
+they heard a distant shout. 
+
+“Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started.” 
+
+Harry’s heart rose; if they were going to be working 
+with Hagrid it wouldn’t be so bad. His relief must 
+have showed in his face, because Filch said, “I 
+suppose you think you’ll be enjoying yourself with 
+that oaf? Well, think again, boy — it’s into the forest 
+you’re going and I’m much mistaken if you’ll all come 
+out in one piece.” 
+
+At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy 
+stopped dead in his tracks. 
+
+“The forest?” he repeated, and he didn’t sound quite 
+as cool as usual. “We can’t go in there at night — 
+there’s all sorts of things in there — werewolves, I 
+heard.” 
+
+Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry’s robe and made a 
+choking noise. 
+
+“That’s your problem, isn’t it?” said Filch, his voice 
+cracking with glee. “Should’ve thought of them 
+werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn’t you?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, 
+Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, 
+and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder. 
+
+“Abou’ time,” he said. “I bin waitin’ fer half an hour 
+already. All right, Harry, Hermione?” 
+
+“I shouldn’t be too friendly to them, Hagrid,” said 
+Filch coldly, “they’re here to be punished, after all.” 
+
+“That’s why yer late, is it?” said Hagrid, frowning at 
+Filch. “Bin lecturin’ them, eh? ’Snot your place ter do 
+that. Yeh’ve done yer bit, I’ll take over from here.” 
+
+“I’ll be back at dawn,” said Filch, “for what’s left of 
+them,” he added nastily, and he turned and started 
+back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the 
+darkness. 
+
+Malfoy now turned to Hagrid. 
+
+“I’m not going in that forest,” he said, and Harry was 
+pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice. 
+
+“Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts,” said 
+Hagrid fiercely. “Yeh’ve done wrong an’ now yeh’ve got 
+ter pay fer it.” 
+
+“But this is servant stuff, it’s not for students to do. I 
+thought we’d be copying lines or something, if my 
+father knew I was doing this, he’d — ” 
+
+“ — tell yer that’s how it is at Hogwarts,” Hagrid 
+growled. “Copyin’ lines! What good’s that ter anyone? 
+Yeh’ll do summat useful or yeh’ll get out. If yeh think 
+yer father’d rather you were expelled, then get back 
+off ter the castle an’ pack. Go on!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Malfoy didn’t move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but 
+then dropped his gaze. 
+
+“Right then,” said Hagrid, “now, listen carefully, 
+
+’cause it’s dangerous what we’re gonna do tonight, an’ 
+I don’ want no one takin’ risks. Follow me over here a 
+moment.” 
+
+He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his 
+lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding 
+earth track that disappeared into the thick black 
+trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked 
+into the forest. 
+
+“Look there,” said Hagrid, “see that stuff shinin’ on 
+the ground? Silvery stuff? That’s unicorn blood. 
+There’s a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. 
+This is the second time in a week. I found one dead 
+last Wednesday. We’re gonna try an’ find the poor 
+thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery.” 
+
+“And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us 
+first?” said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his 
+voice. 
+
+“There’s nothin’ that lives in the forest that’ll hurt yeh 
+if yer with me or Fang,” said Hagrid. “An’ keep ter the 
+path. Right, now, we’re gonna split inter two parties 
+an’ follow the trail in diff’rent directions. There’s blood 
+all over the place, it must’ve bin staggerin’ around 
+since last night at least.” 
+
+“I want Fang,” said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang’s 
+long teeth. 
+
+“All right, but I warn yeh, he’s a coward,” said Hagrid. 
+“So me, Harry, an’ Hermione’ll go one way an’ Draco, 
+Neville, an’ Fang’ll go the other. Now, if any of us 
+finds the unicorn, we’ll send up green sparks, right? 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Get yer wands out an’ practice now — that’s it — an’ 
+if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an’ we’ll 
+all come an’ find yeh — so, be careful — let’s go.” 
+
+The forest was black and silent. A little way into it 
+they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, 
+Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, 
+Neville, and Fang took the right. 
+
+They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. 
+Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the 
+branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the 
+fallen leaves. 
+
+Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried. 
+
+“ Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?” Harry 
+asked. 
+
+“Not fast enough,” said Hagrid. “It’s not easy ter catch 
+a unicorn, they’re powerful magic creatures. I never 
+knew one ter be hurt before.” 
+
+They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could 
+hear running water; there must be a stream 
+somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn 
+blood here and there along the winding path. 
+
+“You all right, Hermione?” Hagrid whispered. “Don’ 
+worry, it can’t’ve gone far if it’s this badly hurt, an’ 
+then well be able ter — GET BEHIND THAT TREE!” 
+
+Hagrid seized Harry and Hermione and hoisted them 
+off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an 
+arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready 
+to fire. The three of them listened. Something was 
+slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a 
+cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound 
+faded away. 
+
+“I knew it,” he murmured. “There’s summat in here 
+that shouldn’ be.” 
+
+“A werewolf?” Harry suggested. 
+
+“That wasn’ no werewolf an’ it wasn’ no unicorn, 
+neither,” said Hagrid grimly. “Right, follow me, but 
+careful, now.” 
+
+They walked more slowly, ears straining for the 
+faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, 
+something definitely moved. 
+
+“Who’s there?” Hagrid called. “Show yerself — I’m 
+armed!” 
+
+And into the clearing came — was it a man, or a 
+horse? To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard, 
+but below that was a horse’s gleaming chestnut body 
+with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione’s jaws 
+dropped. 
+
+“Oh, it’s you, Ronan,” said Hagrid in relief. “How are 
+yeh?” 
+
+He walked forward and shook the centaur’s hand. 
+
+“Good evening to you, Hagrid,” said Ronan. He had a 
+deep, sorrowful voice. “Were you going to shoot me?” 
+
+“Can’t be too careful, Ronan,” said Hagrid, patting his 
+crossbow. “There’s summat bad loose in this forest. 
+This is Harry Potter an’ Hermione Granger, by the 
+way. Students up at the school. An’ this is Ronan, 
+you two. He’s a centaur.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We’d noticed,” said Hermione faintly. 
+
+
+
+“Good evening,” said Ronan. “Students, are you? And 
+do you learn much, up at the school?” 
+
+“Erm — ” 
+
+“A bit,” said Hermione timidly. 
+
+“A bit. Well, that’s something.” Ronan sighed. He 
+flung back his head and stared at the sky. “Mars is 
+bright tonight.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid, glancing up, too. “Listen, I’m glad 
+we’ve run inter yeh, Ronan, ’cause there’s a unicorn 
+bin hurt — you seen anythin’?” 
+
+Ronan didn’t answer immediately. He stared 
+unblinkingly upward, then sighed again. 
+
+“Always the innocent are the first victims,” he said. 
+
+“So it has been for ages past, so it is now.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid, “but have yeh seen anythin’, 
+Ronan? Anythin’ unusual?” 
+
+“Mars is bright tonight,” Ronan repeated, while 
+Hagrid watched him impatiently. “Unusually bright.” 
+
+“Yeah, but I was meanin’ anythin’ unusual a bit 
+nearer home,” said Hagrid. “So yeh haven’t noticed 
+anythin’ strange?” 
+
+Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he 
+said, “The forest hides many secrets.” 
+
+A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid 
+raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+black-haired and -bodied and wilder-looking than 
+Ronan. 
+
+
+
+“Hullo, Bane,” said Hagrid. “All right?” 
+
+“Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?” 
+
+“Well enough. Look, I’ve jus’ bin askin’ Ronan, you 
+seen anythin’ odd in here lately? There’s a unicorn 
+bin injured — would yeh know anythin’ about it?” 
+
+Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked 
+skyward. 
+
+“Mars is bright tonight,” he said simply. 
+
+“We’ve heard,” said Hagrid grumpily. “Well, if either of 
+you do see anythin’, let me know, won’t yeh? We’ll be 
+off, then.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione followed him out of the clearing, 
+staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until 
+the trees blocked their view. 
+
+“Never,” said Hagrid irritably, “try an’ get a straight 
+answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not 
+interested in anythin’ closer’n the moon.” 
+
+“Are there many of them in here?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Oh, a fair few. . . . Keep themselves to themselves 
+mostly, but they’re good enough about turnin’ up if 
+ever I want a word. They’re deep, mind, centaurs ... 
+they know things ... jus’ don’ let on much.” 
+
+“D’you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?” 
+said Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask 
+me, that was what’s bin killin’ the unicorns — never 
+heard anythin’ like it before.” 
+
+They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry 
+kept looking nervously over his shoulder. He had the 
+nasty feeling they were being watched. He was very 
+glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. 
+They had just passed a bend in the path when 
+Hermione grabbed Hagrid ’s arm. 
+
+“Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!” 
+
+“You two wait here!” Hagrid shouted. “Stay on the 
+path, I’ll come back for yeh!” 
+
+They heard him crashing away through the 
+undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very 
+scared, until they couldn’t hear anything but the 
+rustling of leaves around them. 
+
+“You don’t think they’ve been hurt, do you?” 
+whispered Hermione. 
+
+“I don’t care if Malfoy has, but if something’s got 
+Neville ... it’s our fault he’s here in the first place.” 
+
+The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper 
+than usual. Harry’s seemed to be picking up every 
+sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going 
+on? Where were the others? 
+
+At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid’s 
+return. Malfoy, Neville, and Fang were with him. 
+Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked 
+up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville 
+had panicked and sent up the sparks. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well be lucky ter catch anythin’ now, with the racket 
+you two were makin’. Right, we’re changin’ groups — 
+Neville, you stay with me an’ Hermione, Harry, you go 
+with Fang an’ this idiot. I’m sorry,” Hagrid added in a 
+whisper to Harry, “but he’ll have a harder time 
+frightenin’ you, an’ we’ve gotta get this done.” 
+
+So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with 
+Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an 
+hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path 
+became almost impossible to follow because the trees 
+were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be 
+getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a 
+tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing 
+around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing 
+ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient 
+oak. 
+
+“Look — ” he murmured, holding out his arm to stop 
+Malfoy. 
+
+Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. 
+They inched closer. 
+
+It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry 
+had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its 
+long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where 
+it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on 
+the dark leaves. 
+
+Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering 
+sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on 
+the edge of the clearing quivered. ... Then, out of the 
+shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the 
+ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Malfoy, and 
+Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the 
+unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the 
+animals side, and began to drink its blood. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“AAAAAAAAAAARGH ! ” 
+
+
+
+Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted — so did 
+Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked 
+right at Harry — unicorn blood was dribbling down its 
+front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward Harry 
+— he couldn’t move for fear. 
+
+Then a pain like he’d never felt before pierced his 
+head; it was as though his scar were on fire. Half 
+blinded, he staggered backward. He heard hooves 
+behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean 
+over Harry, charging at the figure. 
+
+The pain in Harry’s head was so bad he fell to his 
+knees. It took a minute or two to pass. When he 
+looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was 
+standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one 
+looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a 
+palomino body. 
+
+“Are you all right?” said the centaur, pulling Harry to 
+his feet. 
+
+“Yes — thank you — what was that?” 
+
+The centaur didn’t answer. He had astonishingly blue 
+eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at 
+Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, 
+livid, on Harry’s forehead. 
+
+“You are the Potter boy,” he said. “You had better get 
+back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time — 
+especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker 
+this way. 
+
+“My name is Firenze,” he added, as he lowered 
+himself on to his front legs so that Harry could 
+clamber onto his back. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from 
+the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came 
+bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and 
+sweaty. 
+
+“Firenze!” Bane thundered. “What are you doing? You 
+have a human on your back! Have you no shame? Are 
+you a common mule?” 
+
+“Do you realize who this is?” said Firenze. “This is the 
+Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the 
+better.” 
+
+“What have you been telling him?” growled Bane. 
+“Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set 
+ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what 
+is to come in the movements of the planets?” 
+
+Ronan pawed the ground nervously. “I’m sure Firenze 
+thought he was acting for the best,” he said in his 
+gloomy voice. 
+
+Bane kicked his back legs in anger. 
+
+“For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs 
+are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not 
+our business to run around like donkeys after stray 
+humans in our forest!” 
+
+Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, 
+so that Harry had to grab his shoulders to stay on. 
+
+“Do you not see that unicorn?” Firenze bellowed at 
+Bane. “Do you not understand why it was killed? Or 
+have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set 
+myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, 
+yes, with humans alongside me if I must.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on 
+as best he could, they plunged off into the trees, 
+leaving Ronan and Bane behind them. 
+
+Harry didn’t have a clue what was going on. 
+
+“Why’s Bane so angry?” he asked. “What was that 
+thing you saved me from, anyway?” 
+
+Firenze slowed to a walk, warned Harry to keep his 
+head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did 
+not answer Harry’s question. They made their way 
+through the trees in silence for so long that Harry 
+thought Firenze didn’t want to talk to him anymore. 
+They were passing through a particularly dense patch 
+of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped. 
+
+“Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is 
+used for?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, startled by the odd question. “We’ve 
+only used the horn and tail hair in Potions.” 
+
+“That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a 
+unicorn,” said Firenze. “Only one who has nothing to 
+lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a 
+crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even 
+if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. 
+You have slain something pure and defenseless to 
+save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a 
+cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your 
+lips.” 
+
+Harry stared at the back of Firenze’s head, which was 
+dappled silver in the moonlight. 
+
+“But who’d be that desperate?” he wondered aloud. “If 
+you’re going to be cursed forever, death’s better, isn’t 
+it?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It is,” Firenze agreed, “unless all you need is to stay 
+alive long enough to drink something else — 
+something that will bring you back to full strength 
+and power — something that will mean you can never 
+die. Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the 
+school at this very moment?” 
+
+“The Sorcerer’s Stone! Of course — the Elixir of Life! 
+But I don’t understand who — ” 
+
+“Can you think of nobody who has waited many years 
+to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting 
+their chance?” 
+
+It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly 
+around Harry’s heart. Over the rustling of the trees, 
+he seemed to hear once more what Hagrid had told 
+him on the night they had met: “Some say he died. 
+Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough 
+human left in him to die.” 
+
+“Do you mean,” Harry croaked, “that was VoZ — ” 
+
+“Harry! Harry, are you all right?” 
+
+Hermione was running toward them down the path, 
+Hagrid puffing along behind her. 
+
+“I’m fine,” said Harry, hardly knowing what he was 
+saying. “The unicorn’s dead, Hagrid, it’s in that 
+clearing back there.” 
+
+“This is where I leave you,” Firenze murmured as 
+Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. “You are 
+safe now.” 
+
+Harry slid off his back. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Good luck, Harry Potter,” said Firenze. “The planets 
+have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. 
+I hope this is one of those times.” 
+
+He turned and cantered back into the depths of the 
+forest, leaving Harry shivering behind him. 
+
+Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, 
+waiting for them to return. He shouted something 
+about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him 
+awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide- 
+eyed as Harry began to tell him and Hermione what 
+had happened in the forest. 
+
+Harry couldn’t sit down. He paced up and down in 
+front of the fire. He was still shaking. 
+
+“Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort ... and 
+Voldemort’s waiting in the forest ... and all this time 
+we thought Snape just wanted to get rich. ...” 
+
+“Stop saying the name!” said Ron in a terrified 
+whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them. 
+
+Harry wasn’t listening. 
+
+“Firenze saved me, but he shouldn’t have done so. ... 
+Bane was furious ... he was talking about interfering 
+with what the planets say is going to happen. ... They 
+must show that Voldemort’s coming back. ... Bane 
+thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me. ... I 
+suppose that’s written in the stars as well.” 
+
+“Will you stop saying the name\” Ron hissed. 
+
+“So all I’ve got to wait for now is Snape to steal the 
+Stone,” Harry went on feverishly, “then Voldemort will 
+be able to come and finish me off. ... Well, I suppose 
+Bane 11 be happy.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word 
+of comfort. 
+
+“Harry, everyone says Dumbledore’s the only one 
+You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore 
+around, You-Know-Who won’t touch you. Anyway, 
+who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like 
+fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says 
+that’s a very imprecise branch of magic.” 
+
+The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. 
+They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But 
+the night’s surprises weren’t over. 
+
+When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his 
+Invisibility Cloak folded neatly underneath them. 
+There was a note pinned to it: 
+
+Just in case. 
+
+
+
+Page | 293 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THROUGH THE TRAPDOOR 
+
+In years to come, Harry would never quite remember 
+how he had managed to get through his exams when 
+he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through 
+the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and 
+there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and 
+well behind the locked door. 
+
+It was sweltering hot, especially in the large 
+classroom where they did their written papers. They 
+had been given special, new quills for the exams, 
+which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating 
+spell. 
+
+They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick 
+called them one by one into his class to see if they 
+could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. 
+Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse 
+into a snuffbox — points were given for how pretty the 
+snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. 
+Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their 
+necks while they tried to remember how to make a 
+Forgetfulness potion. 
+
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+
+
+
+Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore the 
+stabbing pains in his forehead, which had been 
+bothering him ever since his trip into the forest. 
+Neville thought Harry had a bad case of exam nerves 
+because Harry couldn’t sleep, but the truth was that 
+Harry kept being woken by his old nightmare, except 
+that it was now worse than ever because there was a 
+hooded figure dripping blood in it. 
+
+Maybe it was because they hadn’t seen what Harry 
+had seen in the forest, or because they didn’t have 
+scars burning on their foreheads, but Ron and 
+Hermione didn’t seem as worried about the Stone as 
+Harry. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, 
+but he didn’t keep visiting them in dreams, and they 
+were so busy with their studying they didn’t have 
+much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else 
+might be up to. 
+
+Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour 
+of answering questions about batty old wizards who’d 
+invented self-stirring cauldrons and they’d be free, 
+free for a whole wonderful week until their exam 
+results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns 
+told them to put down their quills and roll up their 
+parchment, Harry couldn’t help cheering with the 
+rest. 
+
+“That was far easier than I thought it would be,” said 
+Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto 
+the sunny grounds. “I needn’t have learned about the 
+1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of 
+Elfric the Eager.” 
+
+Hermione always liked to go through their exam 
+papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, 
+so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under 
+a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was 
+basking in the warm shallows. 
+
+
+
+“No more studying,” Ron sighed happily, stretching 
+out on the grass. “You could look more cheerful, 
+
+Harry, we’ve got a week before we find out how badly 
+we’ve done, there’s no need to worry yet.” 
+
+Harry was rubbing his forehead. 
+
+“I wish I knew what this means\” he burst out angrily. 
+“My scar keeps hurting — it’s happened before, but 
+never as often as this.” 
+
+“Go to Madam Pomfrey,” Hermione suggested. 
+
+“I’m not ill,” said Harry. “I think it’s a warning ... it 
+means danger’s coming. ...” 
+
+Ron couldn’t get worked up, it was too hot. 
+
+“Harry, relax, Hermione ’s right, the Stone’s safe as 
+long as Dumbledore’s around. Anyway, we’ve never 
+had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. 
+He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he’s not going to 
+try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch 
+for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down.” 
+
+Harry nodded, but he couldn’t shake off a lurking 
+feeling that there was something he’d forgotten to do, 
+something important. When he tried to explain this, 
+Hermione said, “That’s just the exams. I woke up last 
+night and was halfway through my Transfiguration 
+notes before I remembered we’d done that one.” 
+
+Harry was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn’t have 
+anything to do with work, though. He watched an owl 
+flutter toward the school across the bright blue sky, a 
+note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only one 
+
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+
+
+
+
+who ever sent him letters. Hagrid would never betray 
+Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to 
+get past Fluffy . . . never . . . but — 
+
+Harry suddenly jumped to his feet. 
+
+“Where ’re you going?” said Ron sleepily. 
+
+“I’ve just thought of something,” said Harry. He had 
+turned white. “We’ve got to go and see Hagrid, now.” 
+
+“Why?” panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up. 
+
+“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd,” said Harry, 
+scrambling up the grassy slope, “that what Hagrid 
+wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a 
+stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in 
+his pocket? How many people wander around with 
+dragon eggs if it’s against wizard law? Lucky they 
+found Hagrid, don’t you think? Why didn’t I see it 
+before?” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” said Ron, but Harry, 
+sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn’t 
+answer. 
+
+Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; 
+his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was 
+shelling peas into a large bowl. 
+
+“Hullo,” he said, smiling. “Finished yer exams? Got 
+time fer a drink?” 
+
+“Yes, please,” said Ron, but Harry cut him off. 
+
+“No, we’re in a hurry. Hagrid, I’ve got to ask you 
+something. You know that night you won Norbert? 
+What did the stranger you were playing cards with 
+look like?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Dunno said Hagrid casually, “he wouldn’ take his 
+cloak off.” 
+
+
+
+He saw the three of them look stunned and raised his 
+eyebrows. 
+
+“It’s not that unusual, yeh get a lot o’ funny folk in 
+the Hog’s Head — that’s one o’ the pubs down in the 
+village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn’ he? I 
+never saw his face, he kept his hood up.” 
+
+Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas. 
+
+“What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you 
+mention Hogwarts at all?” 
+
+“Mighta come up,” said Hagrid, frowning as he tried 
+to remember. “Yeah ... he asked what I did, an’ I told 
+him I was gamekeeper here. ... He asked a bit about 
+the sorta creatures I look after ... so I told him ... an’ I 
+said what I’d always really wanted was a dragon ... 
+an’ then ... I can’ remember too well, ’cause he kept 
+buyin’ me drinks. ... Let’s see ... yeah, then he said he 
+had the dragon egg an’ we could play cards fer it if I 
+wanted . . . but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he 
+didn’ want it ter go ter any old home. ... So I told him, 
+after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy. ...” 
+
+“And did he — did he seem interested in Fluffy?” 
+
+Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm. 
+
+“Well — yeah — how many three-headed dogs d’yeh 
+meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy’s a 
+piece o’ cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus’ 
+play him a bit o’ music an’ he’ll go straight off ter 
+sleep — ” 
+
+Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I shouldn’ta told yeh that!” he blurted out. “Forget I 
+said it! Hey — where’re yeh goin’?” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn’t speak to each other 
+at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, 
+which seemed very cold and gloomy after the 
+grounds. 
+
+“We’ve got to go to Dumbledore,” said Harry. “Hagrid 
+told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was 
+either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak — it 
+must’ve been easy, once he’d got Hagrid drunk. I just 
+hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us 
+up if Bane doesn’t stop him. Where’s Dumbledore’s 
+office?” 
+
+They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign 
+pointing them in the right direction. They had never 
+been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know 
+anyone who had been sent to see him. 
+
+“Well just have to — ” Harry began, but a voice 
+suddenly rang across the hall. 
+
+“What are you three doing inside?” 
+
+It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of 
+books. 
+
+“We want to see Professor Dumbledore,” said 
+Hermione, rather bravely, Harry and Ron thought. 
+
+“See Professor Dumbledore?” Professor McGonagall 
+repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to 
+want to do. “Why?” 
+
+Harry swallowed — now what? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s sort of secret,” he said, but he wished at once he 
+hadn’t, because Professor McGonagall’s nostrils 
+flared. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,” she said 
+coldly. “He received an urgent owl from the Ministry 
+of Magic and flew off for London at once.” 
+
+“He’s gone?” said Harry frantically. “Now?” 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, 
+he has many demands on his time — ” 
+
+“But this is important.” 
+
+“Something you have to say is more important than 
+the Ministry of Magic, Potter?” 
+
+“Look,” said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, 
+“Professor — it’s about the Sorcerer’s Stone — ” 
+
+Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it 
+wasn’t that. The books she was carrying tumbled out 
+of her arms, but she didn’t pick them up. 
+
+“How do you know — ?” she spluttered. 
+
+“Professor, I think — I know — that Sn — that 
+someone’s going to try and steal the Stone. I’ve got to 
+talk to Professor Dumbledore.” 
+
+She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow,” she 
+said finally. “I don’t know how you found out about 
+the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal 
+it, it’s too well protected.” 
+
+“But Professor — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Potter, I know what I’m talking about,” she said 
+shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen 
+books. “I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy 
+the sunshine.” 
+
+But they didn’t. 
+
+“It’s tonight,” said Harry, once he was sure Professor 
+McGonagall was out of earshot. “Snape’s going 
+through the trapdoor tonight. He’s found out 
+everything he needs, and now he’s got Dumbledore 
+out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of 
+Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns 
+up.” 
+
+“But what can we — ” 
+
+Hermione gasped. Harry and Ron wheeled round. 
+Snape was standing there. 
+
+“Good afternoon,” he said smoothly. 
+
+They stared at him. 
+
+“You shouldn’t be inside on a day like this,” he said, 
+with an odd, twisted smile. 
+
+“We were — ” Harry began, without any idea what he 
+was going to say. 
+
+“You want to be more careful,” said Snape. “Hanging 
+around like this, people will think you’re up to 
+something. And Gryffindor really can’t afford to lose 
+any more points, can it?” 
+
+Harry flushed. They turned to go outside, but Snape 
+called them back. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Be warned, Potter — any more nighttime wanderings 
+and I will personally make sure you are expelled. 
+
+Good day to you.” 
+
+He strode off in the direction of the staffroom. 
+
+Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others. 
+
+“Right, here’s what we’ve got to do,” he whispered 
+urgently. “One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape 
+— wait outside the staffroom and follow him if he 
+leaves it. Hermione, you’d better do that.” 
+
+“Why me?” 
+
+“It’s obvious,” said Ron. “You can pretend to be 
+waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know.” He put on a 
+high voice, “ ‘Oh Professor Flitwick, I’m so worried, I 
+think I got question fourteen b wrong. . . . ’ ” 
+
+“Oh, shut up,” said Hermione, but she agreed to go 
+and watch out for Snape. 
+
+“And we’d better stay outside the third-floor corridor,” 
+Harry told Ron. “Come on.” 
+
+But that part of the plan didn’t work. No sooner had 
+they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest 
+of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up 
+again and this time, she lost her temper. 
+
+“I suppose you think you’re harder to get past than a 
+pack of enchantments!” she stormed. “Enough of this 
+nonsense! If I hear you’ve come anywhere near here 
+again, I’ll take another fifty points from Gryffindor! 
+
+Yes, Weasley, from my own House!” 
+
+Harry and Ron went back to the common room. Harry 
+had just said, “At least Hermione’s on Snape’s tail,” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and 
+Hermione came in. 
+
+“I’m sorry, Harry!” she wailed. “Snape came out and 
+asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for 
+Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I’ve only 
+just got away, I don’t know where Snape went.” 
+
+“Well, that’s it then, isn’t it?” Harry said. 
+
+The other two stared at him. He was pale and his eyes 
+were glittering. 
+
+“I’m going out of here tonight and I’m going to try and 
+get to the Stone first.” 
+
+“You’re mad!” said Ron. 
+
+“You can’t!” said Hermione. “After what McGonagall 
+and Snape have said? You’ll be expelled!” 
+
+“SO WHAT?” Harry shouted. “Don’t you understand? 
+If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort’s coming 
+back! Haven’t you heard what it was like when he was 
+trying to take over? There won’t be any Hogwarts to 
+get expelled from! He’ll flatten it, or turn it into a 
+school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn’t matter 
+anymore, can’t you see? D’you think he’ll leave you 
+and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the House 
+Cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, 
+I’ll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for 
+Voldemort to find me there, it’s only dying a bit later 
+than I would have, because I’m never going over to 
+the Dark Side! I’m going through that trapdoor 
+tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! 
+Voldemort killed my parents, remember?” 
+
+He glared at them. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’re right, Harry,” said Hermione in a small voice. 
+
+
+
+“I’ll use the Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry. “It’s just 
+lucky I got it back.” 
+
+“But will it cover all three of us?” said Ron. 
+
+“All — all three of us?” 
+
+“Oh, come off it, you don’t think we’d let you go 
+alone?” 
+
+“Of course not,” said Hermione briskly. “How do you 
+think you’d get to the Stone without us? I’d better go 
+and look through my books, there might be 
+something useful. ...” 
+
+“But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too.” 
+
+“Not if I can help it,” said Hermione grimly. “Flitwick 
+told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve 
+percent on his exam. They’re not throwing me out 
+after that.” 
+
+After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in 
+the common room. Nobody bothered them; none of 
+the Gryffindors had anything to say to Harry any 
+more, after all. This was the first night he hadn’t been 
+upset by it. Hermione was skimming through all her 
+notes, hoping to come across one of the 
+enchantments they were about to try to break. Harry 
+and Ron didn’t talk much. Both of them were 
+thinking about what they were about to do. 
+
+Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed. 
+
+“Better get the cloak,” Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan 
+finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran 
+upstairs to their dark dormitory. He pulled out the 
+
+Page | 304 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+cloak and then his eyes fell on the flute Hagrid had 
+given him for Christmas. He pocketed it to use on 
+Fluffy — he didn’t feel much like singing. 
+
+He ran back down to the common room. 
+
+“We’d better put the cloak on here, and make sure it 
+covers all three of us — if Filch spots one of our feet 
+wandering along on its own — ” 
+
+“What are you doing?” said a voice from the corner of 
+the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair, 
+clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he’d 
+been making another bid for freedom. 
+
+“Nothing, Neville, nothing,” said Harry, hurriedly 
+putting the cloak behind his back. 
+
+Neville stared at their guilty faces. 
+
+“You’re going out again,” he said. 
+
+“No, no, no,” said Hermione. “No, we’re not. Why don’t 
+you go to bed, Neville?” 
+
+Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. 
+They couldn’t afford to waste any more time, Snape 
+might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep. 
+
+“You can’t go out,” said Neville, “you’ll be caught 
+again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble.” 
+
+“You don’t understand,” said Harry, “this is 
+important.” 
+
+But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do 
+something desperate. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I won’t let you do it,” he said, hurrying to stand in 
+front of the portrait hole. “I’ll — I’ll fight you!” 
+
+“Neville,” Ron exploded, “get away from that hole and 
+don’t be an idiot — ” 
+
+“Don’t you call me an idiot!” said Neville. “I don’t 
+think you should be breaking any more rules! And 
+you were the one who told me to stand up to people!” 
+
+“Yes, but not to us,” said Ron in exasperation. 
+
+“Neville, you don’t know what you’re doing.” 
+
+He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the 
+toad, who leapt out of sight. 
+
+“Go on then, try and hit me!” said Neville, raising his 
+fists. “I’m ready!” 
+
+Harry turned to Hermione. 
+
+“Do something,” he said desperately. 
+
+Hermione stepped forward. 
+
+“Neville,” she said, “I’m really, really sorry about this.” 
+She raised her wand. 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” she cried, pointing it at Neville. 
+
+Neville’s arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang 
+together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he 
+stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board. 
+
+Hermione ran to turn him over. Neville’s jaws were 
+jammed together so he couldn’t speak. Only his eyes 
+were moving, looking at them in horror. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’ve you done to him?” Harry whispered. 
+
+
+
+“It’s the full Body-Bind,” said Hermione miserably. 
+“Oh, Neville, I’m so sorry.” 
+
+“We had to, Neville, no time to explain,” said Harry. 
+
+“You’ll understand later, Neville,” said Ron as they 
+stepped over him and pulled on the Invisibility Cloak. 
+
+But leaving Neville lying motionless on the floor didn’t 
+feel like a very good omen. In their nervous state, 
+every statue’s shadow looked like Filch, every distant 
+breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on 
+them. 
+
+At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. 
+Norris skulking near the top. 
+
+“Oh, let’s kick her, just this once,” Ron whispered in 
+Harry’s ear, but Harry shook his head. As they 
+climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her 
+lamplike eyes on them, but didn’t do anything. 
+
+They didn’t meet anyone else until they reached the 
+staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing 
+halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would 
+trip. 
+
+“Who’s there?” he said suddenly as they climbed 
+toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. 
+“Know you’re there, even if I can’t see you. Are you 
+ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?” 
+
+He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at 
+them. 
+
+“Should call Filch, I should, if something’s a-creeping 
+around unseen.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry had a sudden idea. 
+
+
+
+“Peeves,” he said, in a hoarse whisper, “the Bloody 
+Baron has his own reasons for being invisible.” 
+
+Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught 
+himself in time and hovered about a foot off the 
+stairs. 
+
+“So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, sir,” he said 
+greasily. “My mistake, my mistake — I didn’t see you 
+— of course I didn’t, you’re invisible — forgive old 
+Peevsie his little joke, sir.” 
+
+“I have business here, Peeves,” croaked Harry. “Stay 
+away from this place tonight.” 
+
+“I will, sir, I most certainly will,” said Peeves, rising up 
+in the air again. “Hope your business goes well, 
+
+Baron, I’ll not bother you.” 
+
+And he scooted off. 
+
+“Brilliant, Harry!” whispered Ron. 
+
+A few seconds later, they were there, outside the 
+third-floor corridor — and the door was already ajar. 
+
+“Well, there you are,” Harry said quietly, “Snape’s 
+already got past Fluffy.” 
+
+Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress 
+upon all three of them what was facing them. 
+Underneath the cloak, Harry turned to the other two. 
+
+“If you want to go back, I won’t blame you,” he said. 
+“You can take the cloak, I won’t need it now.” 
+
+“Don’t be stupid,” said Ron. 
+
+Page | 308 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We’re coming,” said Hermione. 
+
+Harry pushed the door open. 
+
+As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their 
+ears. All three of the dog’s noses sniffed madly in their 
+direction, even though it couldn’t see them. 
+
+“What’s that at its feet?” Hermione whispered. 
+
+“Looks like a harp,” said Ron. “Snape must have left it 
+there.” 
+
+“It must wake up the moment you stop playing,” said 
+Harry. “Well, here goes ...” 
+
+He put Hagrid’s flute to his lips and blew. It wasn’t 
+really a tune, but from the first note the beast’s eyes 
+began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the 
+dog’s growls ceased — it tottered on its paws and fell 
+to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast 
+asleep. 
+
+“Keep playing,” Ron warned Harry as they slipped out 
+of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They 
+could feel the dog’s hot, smelly breath as they 
+approached the giant heads. 
+
+“I think we’ll be able to pull the door open,” said Ron, 
+peering over the dog’s back. “Want to go first, 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“No, I don’t!” 
+
+“All right.” Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully 
+over the dog’s legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the 
+trapdoor, which swung up and open. 
+
+“What can you see?” Hermione said anxiously. 
+
+Page | 309 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nothing — just black — there’s no way of climbing 
+down, we’ll just have to drop.” 
+
+Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to 
+get his attention and pointed at himself. 
+
+“You want to go first? Are you sure?” said Ron. “I 
+don’t know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to 
+Hermione so she can keep him asleep.” 
+
+Harry handed the flute over. In the few seconds’ 
+silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the 
+moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its 
+deep sleep. 
+
+Harry climbed over it and looked down through the 
+trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. 
+
+He lowered himself through the hole until he was 
+hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at 
+Ron and said, “If anything happens to me, don’t 
+follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to 
+Dumbledore, right?” 
+
+“Right,” said Ron. 
+
+“See you in a minute, I hope. ...” 
+
+And Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as 
+he fell down, down, down and — 
+
+FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he 
+landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, 
+his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he 
+was sitting on some sort of plant. 
+
+“It’s okay!” he called up to the light the size of a 
+postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, “it’s a 
+soft landing, you can jump!” 
+
+Page | 310 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to 
+Harry. 
+
+“What’s this stuff?” were his first words. 
+
+“Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it’s here 
+to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!” 
+
+The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark 
+from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She 
+landed on Harry’s other side. 
+
+“We must be miles under the school,” she said. 
+
+“Lucky this plant thing’s here, really,” said Ron. 
+
+“Lucky\” shrieked Hermione. “Look at you both!” 
+
+She leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. She 
+had to struggle because the moment she had landed, 
+the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils 
+around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs 
+had already been bound tightly in long creepers 
+without their noticing. 
+
+Hermione had managed to free herself before the 
+plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in 
+horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off 
+them, but the more they strained against it, the 
+tighter and faster the plant wound around them. 
+
+“Stop moving!” Hermione ordered them. “I know what 
+this is — it’s Devil’s Snare!” 
+
+“Oh, I’m so glad we know what it’s called, that’s a 
+great help,” snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop 
+the plant from curling around his neck. 
+
+
+
+Page | 311 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Shut up, I’m trying to remember how to kill it!” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Well, hurry up, I can’t breathe!” Harry gasped, 
+wrestling with it as it curled around his chest. 
+
+“Devil’s Snare, Devil’s Snare ... what did Professor 
+Sprout say? — it likes the dark and the damp — ” 
+
+“So light a fire!” Harry choked. 
+
+“Yes — of course — but there’s no wood!” Hermione 
+cried, wringing her hands. 
+
+“HAVE YOU GONE MAD?” Ron bellowed. “ARE YOU A 
+WITCH OR NOT?” 
+
+“Oh, right!” said Hermione, and she whipped out her 
+wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of 
+the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at 
+the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it 
+loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light 
+and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself 
+from their bodies, and they were able to pull free. 
+
+“Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione,” 
+said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat 
+off his face. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, “and lucky Harry doesn’t lose his 
+head in a crisis — ‘there’s no wood,’ honestly.” 
+
+“This way,” said Harry, pointing down a stone 
+passageway, which was the only way forward. 
+
+All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the 
+gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The 
+passageway sloped downward, and Harry was 
+reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+heart, he remembered the dragons said to be 
+guarding vaults in the wizards’ bank. If they met a 
+dragon, a fully-grown dragon — Norbert had been bad 
+enough ... 
+
+“Can you hear something?” Ron whispered. 
+
+Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to 
+be coming from up ahead. 
+
+“Do you think it’s a ghost?” 
+
+“I don’t know ... sounds like wings to me.” 
+
+“There’s light ahead — I can see something moving.” 
+
+They reached the end of the passageway and saw 
+before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling 
+arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel- 
+bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the 
+room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a 
+heavy wooden door. 
+
+“Do you think they’ll attack us if we cross the room?” 
+said Ron. 
+
+“Probably,” said Harry. “They don’t look very vicious, 
+but I suppose if they all swooped down at once . . . 
+well, there’s no other choice ... I’ll run.” 
+
+He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, 
+and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel 
+sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, 
+but nothing happened. He reached the door 
+untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked. 
+
+The other two followed him. They tugged and heaved 
+at the door, but it wouldn’t budge, not even when 
+Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm. 
+
+Page | 313 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Now what?” said Ron. 
+
+
+
+“These birds ... they can’t be here just for decoration,” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering — 
+glittering? 
+
+“They’re not birds!” Harry said suddenly. “They’re 
+keys\ Winged keys — look carefully. So that must 
+mean ...” he looked around the chamber while the 
+other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes — 
+look! Broomsticks! We’ve got to catch the key to the 
+door!” 
+
+“But there are hundreds of them!” 
+
+Ron examined the lock on the door. 
+
+“We’re looking for a big, old-fashioned one — probably 
+silver, like the handle.” 
+
+They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the 
+air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They 
+grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted 
+and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to 
+catch one. 
+
+Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest 
+Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting 
+things other people didn’t. After a minute’s weaving 
+about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he 
+noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it 
+had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the 
+keyhole. 
+
+“That one!” he called to the others. “That big one — 
+there — no, there — with bright blue wings — the 
+feathers are all crumpled on one side.” 
+
+Page | 314 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was 
+pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off 
+his broom. 
+
+“We’ve got to close in on it!” Harry called, not taking 
+his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. “Ron, you 
+come at it from above — Hermione, stay below and 
+stop it from going down — and I’ll try and catch it. 
+Right, NOW!” 
+
+Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key 
+dodged them both, and Harry streaked after it; it sped 
+toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a 
+nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone 
+with one hand. Ron and Hermione ’s cheers echoed 
+around the high chamber. 
+
+They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the 
+key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock 
+and turned — it worked. The moment the lock had 
+clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very 
+battered now that it had been caught twice. 
+
+“Ready?” Harry asked the other two, his hand on the 
+door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open. 
+
+The next chamber was so dark they couldn’t see 
+anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light 
+suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing 
+sight. 
+
+They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, 
+behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than 
+they were and carved from what looked like black 
+stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were 
+the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered 
+slightly — the towering white chessmen had no faces. 
+
+“Now what do we do?” Harry whispered. 
+
+Page | 315 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” said Ron. “We’ve got to play our 
+way across the room.” 
+
+
+
+Behind the white pieces they could see another door. 
+
+“How?” said Hermione nervously. 
+
+“I think,” said Ron, “we’re going to have to be 
+chessmen.” 
+
+He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out 
+to touch the knights horse. At once, the stone sprang 
+to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight 
+turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron. 
+
+“Do we — er — have to join you to get across?” 
+
+The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other 
+two. 
+
+“This needs thinking about. ...” he said. “I suppose 
+we’ve got to take the place of three of the black pieces. 
+
+
+
+Harry and Hermione stayed quiet, watching Ron 
+think. Finally he said, “Now, don’t be offended or 
+anything, but neither of you are that good at chess — 
+
+
+
+“We’re not offended,” said Harry quickly. “Just tell us 
+what to do.” 
+
+“Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and 
+Hermione, you go there instead of that castle.” 
+
+“What about you?” 
+
+“I’m going to be a knight,” said Ron. 
+
+Page | 316 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because 
+at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned 
+their backs on the white pieces and walked off the 
+board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione took. 
+
+“White always plays first in chess,” said Ron, peering 
+across the board. “Yes ... look ...” 
+
+A white pawn had moved forward two squares. 
+
+Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved 
+silently wherever he sent them. Harry’s knees were 
+trembling. What if they lost? 
+
+“Harry — move diagonally four squares to the right.” 
+
+Their first real shock came when their other knight 
+was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor 
+and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite 
+still, facedown. 
+
+“Had to let that happen,” said Ron, looking shaken. 
+“Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go 
+on.” 
+
+Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces 
+showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp 
+black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only 
+just noticed in time that Harry and Hermione were in 
+danger. He himself darted around the board, taking 
+almost as many white pieces as they had lost black 
+ones. 
+
+“We’re nearly there,” he muttered suddenly. “Let me 
+think — let me think ...” 
+
+The white queen turned her blank face toward him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 317 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes ...” said Ron softly, “it’s the only way ... I’ve got 
+to be taken.” 
+
+
+
+“NO!” Harry and Hermione shouted. 
+
+“That’s chess!” snapped Ron. “You’ve got to make 
+some sacrifices! I make my move and she’ll take me — 
+that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“Do you want to stop Snape or not?” 
+
+“Ron — ” 
+
+“Look, if you don’t hurry up, hell already have the 
+Stone!” 
+
+There was no alternative. 
+
+“Ready?” Ron called, his face pale but determined. 
+“Here I go — now, don’t hang around once you’ve 
+won.” 
+
+He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. 
+She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone 
+arm, and he crashed to the floor — Hermione 
+screamed but stayed on her square — the white 
+queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he’d 
+been knocked out. 
+
+Shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left. 
+
+The white king took off his crown and threw it at 
+Harry’s feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and 
+bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last 
+desperate look back at Ron, Harry and Hermione 
+charged through the door and up the next 
+passageway. 
+
+Page | 318 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What if he’s — ?” 
+
+
+
+“He’ll be all right,” said Harry, trying to convince 
+himself. “What do you reckon’s next?” 
+
+“We’ve had Sprout’s, that was the Devil’s Snare; 
+Flitwick must’ve put charms on the keys; McGonagall 
+transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that 
+leaves Quirrell’s spell, and Snape’s ...” 
+
+They had reached another door. 
+
+“All right?” Harry whispered. 
+
+“Go on.” 
+
+Harry pushed it open. 
+
+A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of 
+them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes 
+watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a 
+troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out 
+cold with a bloody lump on its head. 
+
+“I’m glad we didn’t have to fight that one,” Harry 
+whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its 
+massive legs. “Come on, I can’t breathe.” 
+
+He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly 
+daring to look at what came next — but there was 
+nothing very frightening in here, just a table with 
+seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a 
+line. 
+
+“Snape’s,” said Harry. “What do we have to do?” 
+
+They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a 
+fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn’t 
+ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same 
+
+Page | 319 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading 
+onward. They were trapped. 
+
+“Look!” Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to 
+the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it: 
+
+Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, 
+
+Two of us will help you, whichever you would find, 
+
+One among us seven will let you move ahead, 
+
+Another will transport the drinker back instead, 
+
+Two among our number hold only nettle wine, 
+
+Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line. 
+
+Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore, 
+
+To help you in your choice, we give you these clues 
+four: 
+
+First, however slyly the poison tries to hide 
+
+You will always find some on nettle wine’s left side; 
+
+Second, different are those who stand at either end, 
+
+But if you would move onward, neither is your friend; 
+
+Third, as you see clearly, all are different size, 
+
+Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides; 
+
+Fourth, the second left and the second on the right 
+
+Are twins once you taste them, though different at first 
+sight 
+
+Page | 320 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw 
+that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like 
+doing. 
+
+“Brilliant,” said Hermione. “This isn’t magic — it’s 
+logic — a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven’t 
+got an ounce of logic, they’d be stuck in here forever.” 
+
+“But so will we, won’t we?” 
+
+“Of course not,” said Hermione. “Everything we need 
+is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; 
+two are wine; one will get us safely through the black 
+fire, and one will get us back through the purple.” 
+
+“But how do we know which to drink?” 
+
+“Give me a minute.” 
+
+Hermione read the paper several times. Then she 
+walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to 
+herself and pointing at them. At last, she clapped her 
+hands. 
+
+“Got it,” she said. “The smallest bottle will get us 
+through the black fire — toward the Stone.” 
+
+Harry looked at the tiny bottle. 
+
+“There’s only enough there for one of us,” he said. 
+“That’s hardly one swallow.” 
+
+They looked at each other. 
+
+“Which one will get you back through the purple 
+flames?” 
+
+Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end 
+of the line. 
+
+Page | 321 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You drink that,” said Harry. “No, listen, get back and 
+get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying-key room, 
+they’ll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy — 
+go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to 
+Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold 
+Snape off for a while, but I’m no match for him, 
+really.” 
+
+“But Harry — what if You-Know- Who’s with him?” 
+
+“Well — I was lucky once, wasn’t I?” said Harry, 
+pointing at his scar. “I might get lucky again.” 
+
+Hermione’s lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at 
+Harry and threw her arms around him. 
+
+“Hermionel” 
+
+“Harry — you’re a great wizard, you know.” 
+
+“I’m not as good as you,” said Harry, very 
+embarrassed, as she let go of him. 
+
+“Me!” said Hermione. “Books! And cleverness! There 
+are more important things — friendship and bravery 
+and — oh Harry — be carefull” 
+
+“You drink first,” said Harry. “You are sure which is 
+which, aren’t you?” 
+
+“Positive,” said Hermione. She took a long drink from 
+the round bottle at the end, and shuddered. 
+
+“It’s not poison?” said Harry anxiously. 
+
+“No — but it’s like ice.” 
+
+“Quick, go, before it wears off.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 322 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Good luck — take care — ” 
+
+
+
+“GO!” 
+
+Hermione turned and walked straight through the 
+purple fire. 
+
+Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest 
+bottle. He turned to face the black flames. 
+
+“Here I come,” he said, and he drained the little bottle 
+in one gulp. 
+
+It was indeed as though ice was flooding his body. He 
+put the bottle down and walked forward; he braced 
+himself, saw the black flames licking his body, but 
+couldn’t feel them — for a moment he could see 
+nothing but dark fire — then he was on the other 
+side, in the last chamber. 
+
+There was already someone there — but it wasn’t 
+Snape. It wasn’t even Voldemort. 
+
+
+
+Page | 323 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MAN WITH TWO FACES 
+
+It was Quirrell. 
+
+“You\” gasped Harry. 
+
+Quirrell smiled. His face wasn’t twitching at all. 
+
+“Me,” he said calmly. “I wondered whether I’d be 
+meeting you here, Potter.” 
+
+“But I thought — Snape — ” 
+
+“Severus?” Quirrell laughed, and it wasn’t his usual 
+quivering treble, either, but cold and sharp. “Yes, 
+Severus does seem the type, doesn’t he? So useful to 
+have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. 
+
+Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st- 
+stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?” 
+
+Harry couldn’t take it in. This couldn’t be true, it 
+couldn’t. 
+
+“But Snape tried to kill me!” 
+
+Page | 324 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“No, no, no. / tried to kill you. Your friend Miss 
+Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed 
+to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She 
+broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds 
+and I’d have got you off that broom. I’d have managed 
+it before then if Snape hadn’t been muttering a 
+countercurse, trying to save you.” 
+
+“Snape was trying to save me?” 
+
+“Of course,” said Quirrell coolly. “Why do you think 
+he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying 
+to make sure I didn’t do it again. Funny, really ... he 
+needn’t have bothered. I couldn’t do anything with 
+Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought 
+Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he 
+did make himself unpopular . . . and what a waste of 
+time, when after all that, I’m going to kill you tonight.” 
+
+Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin 
+air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry. 
+
+“You’re too nosy to live, Potter. Scurrying around the 
+school on Halloween like that, for all I knew you’d 
+seen me coming to look at what was guarding the 
+Stone.” 
+
+“ You let the troll in?” 
+
+“Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls — you must 
+have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back 
+there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was 
+running around looking for it, Snape, who already 
+suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head 
+me off — and not only did my troll fail to beat you to 
+death, that three-headed dog didn’t even manage to 
+bite Snape ’s leg off properly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 325 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this 
+interesting mirror.” 
+
+It was only then that Harry realized what was 
+standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised. 
+
+“This mirror is the key to finding the Stone,” Quirrell 
+murmured, tapping his way around the frame. “Trust 
+Dumbledore to come up with something like this . . . 
+but he’s in London ... I’ll be far away by the time he 
+gets back. ...” 
+
+All Harry could think of doing was to keep Quirrell 
+talking and stop him from concentrating on the 
+mirror. 
+
+“I saw you and Snape in the forest — ” he blurted out. 
+
+“Yes,” said Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to 
+look at the back. “He was on to me by that time, 
+trying to find out how far I’d got. He suspected me all 
+along. Tried to frighten me — as though he could, 
+when I had Lord Voldemort on my side. ...” 
+
+Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror and 
+stared hungrily into it. 
+
+“I see the Stone ... I’m presenting it to my master ... 
+but where is it?” 
+
+Harry struggled against the ropes binding him, but 
+they didn’t give. He had to keep Quirrell from giving 
+his whole attention to the mirror. 
+
+“But Snape always seemed to hate me so much.” 
+
+“Oh, he does,” said Quirrell casually, “heavens, yes. 
+He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn’t you 
+
+
+
+Page | 326 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted 
+you dead.” 
+
+“But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing — I thought 
+Snape was threatening you. 
+
+For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across 
+Quirrell’s face. 
+
+“Sometimes,” he said, “I find it hard to follow my 
+master’s instructions — he is a great wizard and I am 
+weak — ” 
+
+“You mean he was there in the classroom with you?” 
+Harry gasped. 
+
+“He is with me wherever I go,” said Quirrell quietly. “I 
+met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish 
+young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about 
+good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong 
+I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, 
+and those too weak to seek it. ... Since then, I have 
+served him faithfully, although I have let him down 
+many times. He has had to be very hard on me.” 
+Quirrell shivered suddenly. “He does not forgive 
+mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from 
+Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me 
+. . . decided he would have to keep a closer watch on 
+me. ...” 
+
+Quirrell’s voice trailed away. Harry was remembering 
+his trip to Diagon Alley — how could he have been so 
+stupid? He’d seen Quirrell there that very day, shaken 
+hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron. 
+
+Quirrell cursed under his breath. 
+
+“I don’t understand ... is the Stone inside the mirror? 
+Should I break it?” 
+
+Page | 327 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry’s mind was racing. 
+
+
+
+What I want more than anything else in the world at 
+the moment, he thought, is to find the Stone before 
+Quirrell does. So if I look in the mirror, I should see 
+my self finding it — which means I’ll see where it’s 
+hidden! But how can I look without Quirrell realizing 
+what I’m up to? 
+
+He tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass 
+without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes around his 
+ankles were too tight: he tripped and fell over. Quirrell 
+ignored him. He was still talking to himself. 
+
+“What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help 
+me, Master!” 
+
+And to Harry’s horror, a voice answered, and the voice 
+seemed to come from Quirrell himself. 
+
+“Use the boy ... Use the boy ...” 
+
+Quirrell rounded on Harry. 
+
+“Yes — Potter — come here.” 
+
+He clapped his hands once, and the ropes binding 
+Harry fell off. Harry got slowly to his feet. 
+
+“Come here,” Quirrell repeated. “Look in the mirror 
+and tell me what you see.” 
+
+Harry walked toward him. 
+
+I must lie, he thought desperately. I must look and lie 
+about what I see, that’s all. 
+
+Quirrell moved close behind him. Harry breathed in 
+the funny smell that seemed to come from Quirrell’s 
+
+Page | 328 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+turban. He closed his eyes, stepped in front of the 
+mirror, and opened them again. 
+
+He saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. 
+But a moment later, the reflection smiled at him. It 
+put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood- 
+red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its 
+pocket — and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy 
+drop into his real pocket. Somehow — incredibly — 
+he’d gotten the Stone. 
+
+“Well?” said Quirrell impatiently. “What do you see?” 
+Harry screwed up his courage. 
+
+“I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore,” he 
+invented. “I — I’ve won the House Cup for Gryffindor.” 
+
+Quirrell cursed again. 
+
+“Get out of the way,” he said. As Harry moved aside, 
+he felt the Sorcerer’s Stone against his leg. Dare he 
+make a break for it? 
+
+But he hadn’t walked five paces before a high voice 
+spoke, though Quirrell wasn’t moving his lips. 
+
+“He lies ... He lies ...” 
+
+“Potter, come back here!” Quirrell shouted. “Tell me 
+the truth! What did you just see?” 
+
+The high voice spoke again. 
+
+“Let me speak to him ... face-to-face. ...” 
+
+“Master, you are not strong enough!” 
+
+“I have strength enough ... for this. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry felt as if Devil’s Snare was rooting him to the 
+spot. He couldn’t move a muscle. Petrified, he 
+watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap 
+his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. 
+Quirrell’s head looked strangely small without it. 
+
+Then he turned slowly on the spot. 
+
+Harry would have screamed, but he couldn’t make a 
+sound. Where there should have been a back to 
+Quirrell’s head, there was a face, the most terrible 
+face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with 
+glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. 
+
+“Harry Potter ...” it whispered. 
+
+Harry tried to take a step backward but his legs 
+wouldn’t move. 
+
+“See what I have become?” the face said. “Mere 
+shadow and vapor ... I have form only when I can 
+share another’s body . . . but there have always been 
+those willing to let me into their hearts and minds. ... 
+Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks 
+. . . you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the 
+forest ... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be 
+able to create a body of my own. ... Now ... why don’t 
+you give me that Stone in your pocket?” 
+
+So he knew. The feeling suddenly surged back into 
+Harry’s legs. He stumbled backward. 
+
+“Don’t be a fool,” snarled the face. “Better save your 
+own life and join me ... or you’ll meet the same end as 
+your parents. ... They died begging me for mercy. ...” 
+
+“LIAR!” Harry shouted suddenly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Quirrell was walking backward at him, so that 
+Voldemort could still see him. The evil face was now 
+smiling. 
+
+“How touching ...” it hissed. “I always value bravery. 
+
+... Yes, boy, your parents were brave. ... I killed your 
+father first, and he put up a courageous fight . . . but 
+your mother needn’t have died ... she was trying to 
+protect you. ... Now give me the Stone, unless you 
+want her to have died in vain.” 
+
+“NEVER!” 
+
+Harry sprang toward the flame door, but Voldemort 
+screamed “SEIZE HIM!” and the next second, Harry 
+felt Quirrell’s hand close on his wrist. At once, a 
+needle-sharp pain seared across Harry’s scar; his 
+head felt as though it was about to split in two; he 
+yelled, struggling with all his might, and to his 
+surprise, Quirrell let go of him. The pain in his head 
+lessened — he looked around wildly to see where 
+Quirrell had gone, and saw him hunched in pain, 
+looking at his fingers — they were blistering before his 
+eyes. 
+
+“Seize him! SEIZE HIM!” shrieked Voldemort again, 
+and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet, 
+landing on top of him, both hands around Harry’s 
+neck — Harry’s scar was almost blinding him with 
+pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony. 
+
+“Master, I cannot hold him — my hands — my 
+hands!” 
+
+And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground 
+with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, 
+bewildered, at his own palms — Harry could see they 
+looked burned, raw, red, and shiny. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Then kill him, fool, and be done!” screeched 
+Voldemort. 
+
+Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, 
+but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed 
+Quirrell’s face — 
+
+“AAAARGH!” 
+
+Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and 
+then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn’t touch his bare 
+skin, not without suffering terrible pain — his only 
+chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in 
+enough pain to stop him from doing a curse. 
+
+Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, 
+and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed 
+and tried to throw Harry off — the pain in Harry’s 
+head was building — he couldn’t see — he could only 
+hear Quirrell’s terrible shrieks and Voldemort’s yells 
+of, “KILL HIM! KILL HIM!” and other voices, maybe in 
+Harry’s own head, crying, “Harry! Harry!” 
+
+He felt Quirrell’s arm wrenched from his grasp, knew 
+all was lost, and fell into blackness, down ... down ... 
+down ... 
+
+Something gold was glinting just above him. The 
+Snitch! He tried to catch it, but his arms were too 
+heavy. 
+
+He blinked. It wasn’t the Snitch at all. It was a pair of 
+glasses. How strange. 
+
+He blinked again. The smiling face of Albus 
+Dumbledore swam into view above him. 
+
+“Good afternoon, Harry,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry stared at him. Then he remembered: “Sir! The 
+Stone! It was Quirrell! He’s got the Stone! Sir, quick — 
+
+
+
+“Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the 
+times,” said Dumbledore. “Quirrell does not have the 
+Stone.” 
+
+“Then who does? Sir, I — ” 
+
+“Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me 
+thrown out.” 
+
+Harry swallowed and looked around him. He realized 
+he must be in the hospital wing. He was lying in a bed 
+with white linen sheets, and next to him was a table 
+piled high with what looked like half the candy shop. 
+
+“Tokens from your friends and admirers,” said 
+Dumbledore, beaming. “What happened down in the 
+dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a 
+complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school 
+knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George 
+Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a 
+toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse 
+you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be 
+very hygienic, and confiscated it.” 
+
+“How long have I been in here?” 
+
+“Three days. Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger 
+will be most relieved you have come round, they have 
+been extremely worried.” 
+
+“But sir, the Stone — ” 
+
+“I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the 
+Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although 
+you were doing very well on your own, I must say.” 
+
+“You got there? You got Hermione’s owl?” 
+
+“We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I 
+reached London than it became clear to me that the 
+place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived 
+just in time to pull Quirrell off you — ” 
+
+“It was you.” 
+
+“I feared I might be too late.” 
+
+“You nearly were, I couldn’t have kept him off the 
+Stone much longer — ” 
+
+“Not the Stone, boy, you — the effort involved nearly 
+killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid 
+it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed.” 
+
+“Destroyed?” said Harry blankly. “But your friend — 
+Nicolas Flamel — ” 
+
+“Oh, you know about Nicolas?” said Dumbledore, 
+sounding quite delighted. “You did do the thing 
+properly, didn’t you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a 
+little chat, and agreed it’s all for the best.” 
+
+“But that means he and his wife will die, won’t they?” 
+
+“They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in 
+order and then, yes, they will die.” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on 
+Harry’s face. 
+
+“To one as young as you, I’m sure it seems incredible, 
+but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well- 
+organized mind, death is but the next great 
+adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a 
+wonderful thing. As much money and life as you 
+could want! The two things most human beings would 
+choose above all — the trouble is, humans do have a 
+knack of choosing precisely those things that are 
+worst for them.” 
+
+Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed 
+a little and smiled at the ceiling. 
+
+“Sir?” said Harry. “I’ve been thinking ... Sir — even if 
+the Stone’s gone, Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who — ” 
+
+“Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper 
+name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the 
+thing itself.” 
+
+“Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort’s going to try other ways of 
+coming back, isn’t he? I mean, he hasn’t gone, has 
+he?” 
+
+“No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there 
+somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to 
+share ... not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He 
+left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his 
+followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while 
+you may only have delayed his return to power, it will 
+merely take someone else who is prepared to fight 
+what seems a losing battle next time — and if he is 
+delayed again, and again, why, he may never return 
+to power.” 
+
+Harry nodded, but stopped quickly, because it made 
+his head hurt. Then he said, “Sir, there are some 
+other things I’d like to know, if you can tell me ... 
+things I want to know the truth about. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The truth.” Dumbledore sighed. “It is a beautiful and 
+terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with 
+great caution. However, I shall answer your questions 
+unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case 
+I beg you 11 forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie.” 
+
+“Well ... Voldemort said that he only killed my mother 
+because she tried to stop him from killing me. But 
+why would he want to kill me in the first place?” 
+
+Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time. 
+
+“Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. 
+
+Not today. Not now. You will know, one day ... put it 
+from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older . . . 
+I know you hate to hear this . . . when you are ready, 
+you will know.” 
+
+And Harry knew it would be no good to argue. 
+
+“But why couldn’t Quirrell touch me?” 
+
+“Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing 
+Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t 
+realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you 
+leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign ... to 
+have been loved so deeply, even though the person 
+who loved us is gone, will give us some protection 
+forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, 
+greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, 
+could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to 
+touch a person marked by something so good.” 
+
+Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out 
+on the windowsill, which gave Harry time to dry his 
+eyes on the sheet. When he had found his voice again, 
+Harry said, “And the Invisibility Cloak — do you know 
+who sent it to me?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Ah — your father happened to leave it in my 
+possession, and I thought you might like it.” 
+Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. “Useful things ... your 
+father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens 
+to steal food when he was here.” 
+
+“And there’s something else ...” 
+
+“Fire away.” 
+
+“Quirrell said Snape — ” 
+
+“Professor Snape, Harry.” 
+
+“Yes, him — Quirrell said he hates me because he 
+hated my father. Is that true?” 
+
+“Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike 
+yourself and Mr. Malfoy. And then, your father did 
+something Snape could never forgive.” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“He saved his life.” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Yes ...” said Dumbledore dreamily. “Funny, the way 
+people’s minds work, isn’t it? Professor Snape 
+couldn’t bear being in your father’s debt. ... I do 
+believe he worked so hard to protect you this year 
+because he felt that would make him and your father 
+even. Then he could go back to hating your father’s 
+memory in peace. ...” 
+
+Harry tried to understand this but it made his head 
+pound, so he stopped. 
+
+“And sir, there’s one more thing ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Just the one?” 
+
+
+
+“How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?” 
+
+“Ah, now, I’m glad you asked me that. It was one of 
+my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, 
+that’s saying something. You see, only one who 
+wanted to find the Stone — find it, but not use it — 
+would be able to get it, otherwise they’d just see 
+themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My 
+brain surprises even me sometimes. ... Now, enough 
+questions. I suggest you make a start on these 
+sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans! I was 
+unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a 
+vomit-flavored one, and since then I’m afraid I’ve 
+rather lost my liking for them — but I think I’ll be safe 
+with a nice toffee, don’t you?” 
+
+He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his 
+mouth. Then he choked and said, “Alas! Ear wax!” 
+
+Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was a nice woman, but 
+very strict. 
+
+“Just five minutes,” Harry pleaded. 
+
+“Absolutely not.” 
+
+“You let Professor Dumbledore in. ...” 
+
+“Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite 
+different. You need rest.” 
+
+“I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go 
+on, Madam Pomfrey ...” 
+
+“Oh, very well,” she said. “But five minutes only.” 
+
+And she let Ron and Hermione in. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harryl” 
+
+
+
+Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around him 
+again, but Harry was glad she held herself in as his 
+head was still very sore. 
+
+“Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to — 
+Dumbledore was so worried — ” 
+
+“The whole school’s talking about it,” said Ron. “What 
+really happened?” 
+
+It was one of those rare occasions when the true story 
+is even more strange and exciting than the wild 
+rumors. Harry told them everything: Quirrell; the 
+mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione 
+were a very good audience; they gasped in all the 
+right places, and when Harry told them what was 
+under Quirrell’s turban, Hermione screamed out loud. 
+
+“So the Stone’s gone?” said Ron finally. “Flamel’s just 
+going to die?” 
+
+“That’s what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that — 
+what was it? — ‘to the well-organized mind, death is 
+but the next great adventure.’ ” 
+
+“I always said he was off his rocker,” said Ron, 
+looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was. 
+
+“So what happened to you two?” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, I got back all right,” said Hermione. “I brought 
+Ron round — that took a while — and we were 
+dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when 
+we met him in the entrance hall — he already knew — 
+he just said, ‘Harry’s gone after him, hasn’t he?’ and 
+hurtled off to the third floor.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“D’you think he meant you to do it?” said Ron. 
+“Sending you your fathers cloak and everything?” 
+
+“Well,” Hermione exploded, “if he did — I mean to say 
+— that’s terrible — you could have been killed.” 
+
+“No, it isn’t,” said Harry thoughtfully. “He’s a funny 
+man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give 
+me a chance. I think he knows more or less 
+everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he 
+had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and 
+instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to 
+help. I don’t think it was an accident he let me find 
+out how the mirror worked. It’s almost like he thought 
+I had the right to face Voldemort if I could. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, Dumbledore’s off his rocker, all right,” said 
+Ron proudly. “Listen, you’ve got to be up for the end- 
+of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and 
+Slytherin won, of course — you missed the last 
+Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by 
+Ravenclaw without you — but the food’ll be good.” 
+
+At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over. 
+
+“You’ve had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT,” she 
+said firmly. 
+
+
+
+•k k k 
+
+
+
+After a good night’s sleep, Harry felt nearly back to 
+normal. 
+
+“I want to go to the feast,” he told Madam Pomfrey as 
+she straightened his many candy boxes. “I can, can’t 
+I?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Professor Dumbledore says you are to be allowed to 
+go,” she said sniffily, as though in her opinion 
+Professor Dumbledore didn’t realize how risky feasts 
+could be. “And you have another visitor.” 
+
+“Oh, good,” said Harry. “Who is it?” 
+
+Hagrid sidled through the door as he spoke. As usual 
+when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be 
+allowed. He sat down next to Harry, took one look at 
+him, and burst into tears. 
+
+“It’s — all ��� my — ruddy — fault!” he sobbed, his 
+face in his hands. “I told the evil git how ter get past 
+Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn’t 
+know, an’ I told him! Yeh could’ve died! All fer a 
+dragon egg! I’ll never drink again! I should be chucked 
+out an’ made ter live as a Muggle!” 
+
+“Hagrid!” said Harry, shocked to see Hagrid shaking 
+with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into 
+his beard. “Hagrid, he’d have found out somehow, 
+this is Voldemort we’re talking about, he’d have found 
+out even if you hadn’t told him.” 
+
+“Yeh could’ve died!” sobbed Hagrid. “An’ don’ say the 
+name!” 
+
+“VOLDEMORT!” Harry bellowed, and Hagrid was so 
+shocked, he stopped crying. “I’ve met him and I’m 
+calling him by his name. Please cheer up, Hagrid, we 
+saved the Stone, it’s gone, he can’t use it. Have a 
+Chocolate Frog, I’ve got loads. ...” 
+
+Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and 
+said, “That reminds me. I’ve got yeh a present.” 
+
+“It’s not a stoat sandwich, is it?” said Harry 
+anxiously, and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter 
+fix it. ’Course, he shoulda sacked me instead — 
+anyway, got y eh this ...” 
+
+It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book. 
+Harry opened it curiously. It was full of wizard 
+photographs. Smiling and waving at him from every 
+page were his mother and father. 
+
+“Sent owls off ter all yer parents’ old school friends, 
+askin’ fer photos ... knew yeh didn’ have any ... d’yeh 
+like it?” 
+
+Harry couldn’t speak, but Hagrid understood. 
+
+Harry made his way down to the end-of-year feast 
+alone that night. He had been held up by Madam 
+Pomfrey’s fussing about, insisting on giving him one 
+last checkup, so the Great Hall was already full. It 
+was decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and 
+silver to celebrate Slytherin ’s winning the House Cup 
+for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing 
+the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the 
+High Table. 
+
+When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush, and 
+then everybody started talking loudly at once. He 
+slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione at the 
+Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that 
+people were standing up to look at him. 
+
+Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The 
+babble died away. 
+
+“Another year gone!” Dumbledore said cheerfully. 
+
+“And I must trouble you with an old man’s wheezing 
+waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious 
+feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads 
+are all a little fuller than they were . . . you have the 
+Page | 342 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty 
+before next year starts. ... 
+
+“Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs 
+awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, 
+Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in 
+third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; 
+Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and 
+Slytherin, four hundred and seventy- two.” 
+
+A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the 
+Slytherin table. Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging 
+his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight. 
+
+“Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin,” said Dumbledore. 
+“However, recent events must be taken into account.” 
+
+The room went very still. The Slytherins’ smiles faded 
+a little. 
+
+“Ahem,” said Dumbledore. “I have a few last-minute 
+points to dish out. Let me see. Yes ... 
+
+“First — to Mr. Ronald Weasley ...” 
+
+Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish 
+with a bad sunburn. 
+
+"... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has 
+seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty 
+points.” 
+
+Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; 
+the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be 
+heard telling the other prefects, “My brother, you 
+know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall’s 
+giant chess set!” 
+
+At last there was silence again. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Second — to Miss Hermione Granger . . . for the use of 
+cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House 
+fifty points.” 
+
+Hermione buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly 
+suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up 
+and down the table were beside themselves — they 
+were a hundred points up. 
+
+“Third — to Mr. Harry Potter ...” said Dumbledore. 
+
+The room went deadly quiet. "... for pure nerve and 
+outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty 
+points.” 
+
+The din was deafening. Those who could add up while 
+yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now 
+had four hundred and seventy-two points — exactly 
+the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the House 
+Cup — if only Dumbledore had given Harry just one 
+more point. 
+
+Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell 
+silent. 
+
+“There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, 
+smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up 
+to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our 
+friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville 
+Longbottom.” 
+
+Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well 
+have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, 
+so loud was the noise that erupted from the 
+Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up 
+to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, 
+disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He 
+had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor 
+before. Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs 
+and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn’t have looked more 
+Page | 344 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+stunned and horrified if he’d just had the Body-Bind 
+Curse put on him. 
+
+“Which means,” Dumbledore called over the storm of 
+applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were 
+celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, “we need a little 
+change of decoration.” 
+
+He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green 
+hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; 
+the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering 
+Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking 
+Professor McGonagall’s hand, with a horrible, forced 
+smile. He caught Harry’s eye and Harry knew at once 
+that Snape ’s feelings toward him hadn’t changed one 
+jot. This didn’t worry Harry. It seemed as though life 
+would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it 
+ever was at Hogwarts. 
+
+It was the best evening of Harry’s life, better than 
+winning at Quidditch, or Christmas, or knocking out 
+mountain trolls ... he would never, ever forget tonight. 
+
+Harry had almost forgotten that the exam results 
+were still to come, but come they did. To their great 
+surprise, both he and Ron passed with good marks; 
+Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first 
+years. Even Neville scraped through, his good 
+Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions 
+one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as 
+stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he 
+had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you 
+couldn’t have everything in life. 
+
+And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their 
+trunks were packed, Neville’s toad was found lurking 
+in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all 
+students, warning them not to use magic over the 
+holidays (“I always hope they’ll forget to give us 
+Page | 345 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+these,” said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to 
+take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across 
+the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; 
+talking and laughing as the countryside became 
+greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor 
+Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off 
+their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; 
+pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at 
+King’s Cross station. 
+
+It took quite a while for them all to get off the 
+platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket 
+barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and 
+threes so they didn’t attract attention by all bursting 
+out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles. 
+
+“You must come and stay this summer,” said Ron, 
+“both of you — I’ll send you an owl.” 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, “I’ll need something to look 
+forward to.” 
+
+People jostled them as they moved forward toward the 
+gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them 
+called: 
+
+“Bye, Harry!” 
+
+“See you, Potter!” 
+
+“Still famous,” said Ron, grinning at him. 
+
+“Not where I’m going, I promise you,” said Harry. 
+
+He, Ron, and Hermione passed through the gateway 
+together. 
+
+“There he is, Mom, there he is, look!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 346 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was Ginny Weasley, Ron’s younger sister, but she 
+wasn’t pointing at Ron. 
+
+“Harry Potter!” she squealed. “Look, Mom! I can see 
+“Be quiet, Ginny, and it’s rude to point.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them. 
+
+“Busy year?” she said. 
+
+“Very,” said Harry. “Thanks for the fudge and the 
+sweater, Mrs. Weasley.” 
+
+“Oh, it was nothing, dear.” 
+
+“Ready, are you?” 
+
+It was Uncle Vernon, still purple-faced, still 
+mustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry, 
+carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary 
+people. Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, 
+looking terrified at the very sight of Harry. 
+
+“You must be Harry’s family!” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“In a manner of speaking,” said Uncle Vernon. “Hurry 
+up, boy, we haven’t got all day.” He walked away. 
+
+Harry hung back for a last word with Ron and 
+Hermione. 
+
+“See you over the summer, then.” 
+
+“Hope you have ��� er — a good holiday,” said 
+Hermione, looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, 
+shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant. 
+
+
+
+Page | 347 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, I will,” said Harry, and they were surprised at 
+the grin that was spreading over his face. “ They don’t 
+know we’re not allowed to use magic at home. I’m 
+going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 348 Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+J . K . R O W L ! N G 
+
+HARRY 
+
+POTTER 
+
+
+
+
+/ 
+
+
+
+
+THE WORST BIRTHDAY 
+
+Not for the first time, an argument had broken out 
+over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive. Mr. 
+Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of 
+the morning by a loud, hooting noise from his nephew 
+Harry’s room. 
+
+“Third time this week!” he roared across the table. “If 
+you can’t control that owl, it’ll have to go!” 
+
+Harry tried, yet again, to explain. 
+
+“She’s bored,” he said. “She’s used to flying around 
+outside. If I could just let her out at night — ” 
+
+“Do I look stupid?” snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of 
+fried egg dangling from his bushy mustache. “I know 
+what 11 happen if that owl’s let out.” 
+
+He exchanged dark looks with his wife, Petunia. 
+
+Harry tried to argue back but his words were drowned 
+by a long, loud belch from the Dursleys’ son, Dudley. 
+
+Page | 2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“I want more bacon.” 
+
+
+
+“There’s more in the frying pan, sweetums,” said Aunt 
+Petunia, turning misty eyes on her massive son. “We 
+must build you up while we’ve got the chance. ... I 
+don’t like the sound of that school food. ...” 
+
+“Nonsense, Petunia, I never went hungry when / was 
+at Smeltings,” said Uncle Vernon heartily. “Dudley 
+gets enough, don’t you, son?” 
+
+Dudley, who was so large his bottom drooped over 
+either side of the kitchen chair, grinned and turned to 
+Harry. 
+
+“Pass the frying pan.” 
+
+“You’ve forgotten the magic word,” said Harry 
+irritably. 
+
+The effect of this simple sentence on the rest of the 
+family was incredible: Dudley gasped and fell off his 
+chair with a crash that shook the whole kitchen; Mrs. 
+Dursley gave a small scream and clapped her hands 
+to her mouth; Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins 
+throbbing in his temples. 
+
+“I meant ‘please’!” said Harry quickly. “I didn’t mean 
+
+
+
+“WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU,” thundered his uncle, 
+spraying spit over the table, “ABOUT SAYING THE ‘M’ 
+WORD IN OUR HOUSE?” 
+
+“But I — ” 
+
+“HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!” roared 
+Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his fist. 
+
+
+
+Page | 3 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I just — ” 
+
+
+
+“I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION 
+OF YOUR ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF!” 
+
+Harry stared from his purple-faced uncle to his pale 
+aunt, who was trying to heave Dudley to his feet. 
+
+“All right,” said Harry, “all right ...” 
+
+Uncle Vernon sat back down, breathing like a winded 
+rhinoceros and watching Harry closely out of the 
+corners of his small, sharp eyes. 
+
+Ever since Harry had come home for the summer 
+holidays, Uncle Vernon had been treating him like a 
+bomb that might go off at any moment, because Harry 
+Potter wasn’t a normal boy. As a matter of fact, he 
+was as not normal as it is possible to be. 
+
+Harry Potter was a wizard — a wizard fresh from his 
+first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
+Wizardry. And if the Dursleys were unhappy to have 
+him back for the holidays, it was nothing to how 
+Harry felt. 
+
+He missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a 
+constant stomachache. He missed the castle, with its 
+secret passageways and ghosts, his classes (though 
+perhaps not Snape, the Potions master), the mail 
+arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, 
+sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, 
+visiting the gamekeeper, Hagrid, in his cabin next to 
+the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and, especially, 
+Quidditch, the most popular sport in the wizarding 
+world (six tall goal posts, four flying balls, and 
+fourteen players on broomsticks). 
+
+
+
+Page | 4 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+All Harry’s spellbooks, his wand, robes, cauldron, and 
+top-of-the-line Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick had 
+been locked in a cupboard under the stairs by Uncle 
+Vernon the instant Harry had come home. What did 
+the Dursleys care if Harry lost his place on the House 
+Quidditch team because he hadn’t practiced all 
+summer? What was it to the Dursleys if Harry went 
+back to school without any of his homework done? 
+
+The Dursleys were what wizards called Muggles (not a 
+drop of magical blood in their veins), and as far as 
+they were concerned, having a wizard in the family 
+was a matter of deepest shame. Uncle Vernon had 
+even padlocked Harry’s owl, Hedwig, inside her cage, 
+to stop her from carrying messages to anyone in the 
+wizarding world. 
+
+Harry looked nothing like the rest of the family. Uncle 
+Vernon was large and neckless, with an enormous 
+black mustache; Aunt Petunia was horse-faced and 
+bony; Dudley was blond, pink, and porky. Harry, on 
+the other hand, was small and skinny, with brilliant 
+green eyes and jet-black hair that was always untidy. 
+He wore round glasses, and on his forehead was a 
+thin, lightning-shaped scar. 
+
+It was this scar that made Harry so particularly 
+unusual, even for a wizard. This scar was the only 
+hint of Harry’s very mysterious past, of the reason he 
+had been left on the Dursleys’ doorstep eleven years 
+before. 
+
+At the age of one year old, Harry had somehow 
+survived a curse from the greatest Dark sorcerer of all 
+time, Lord Voldemort, whose name most witches and 
+wizards still feared to speak. Harry’s parents had died 
+in Voldemort’s attack, but Harry had escaped with his 
+lightning scar, and somehow — nobody understood 
+why — Voldemort’s powers had been destroyed the 
+instant he had failed to kill Harry. 
+
+Page | 5 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+So Harry had been brought up by his dead mother’s 
+sister and her husband. He had spent ten years with 
+the Dursleys, never understanding why he kept 
+making odd things happen without meaning to, 
+believing the Dursleys’ story that he had got his scar 
+in the car crash that had killed his parents. 
+
+And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to 
+Harry, and the whole story had come out. Harry had 
+taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his 
+scar were famous . . . but now the school year was 
+over, and he was back with the Dursleys for the 
+summer, back to being treated like a dog that had 
+rolled in something smelly. 
+
+The Dursleys hadn’t even remembered that today 
+happened to be Harry’s twelfth birthday. Of course, 
+his hopes hadn’t been high; they’d never given him a 
+real present, let alone a cake — but to ignore it 
+completely ... 
+
+At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat 
+importantly and said, “Now, as we all know, today is a 
+very important day.” 
+
+Harry looked up, hardly daring to believe it. 
+
+“This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of 
+my career,” said Uncle Vernon. 
+
+Harry went back to his toast. Of course, he thought 
+bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid 
+dinner party. He’d been talking of nothing else for two 
+weeks. Some rich builder and his wife were coming to 
+dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge 
+order from him (Uncle Vernon’s company made drills). 
+
+
+
+Page | 6 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I think we should run through the schedule one 
+more time,” said Uncle Vernon. “We should all be in 
+position at eight o’clock. Petunia, you will be — ?” 
+
+“In the lounge,” said Aunt Petunia promptly, “waiting 
+to welcome them graciously to our home.” 
+
+“Good, good. And Dudley?” 
+
+“I’ll be waiting to open the door.” Dudley put on a 
+foul, simpering smile. “May I take your coats, Mr. and 
+Mrs. Mason?” 
+
+“They’ll love him!” cried Aunt Petunia rapturously. 
+
+“Excellent, Dudley,” said Uncle Vernon. Then he 
+rounded on Harry. “And you?” 
+
+“I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and 
+pretending I’m not there,” said Harry tonelessly. 
+
+“Exactly,” said Uncle Vernon nastily. “I will lead them 
+into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour 
+them drinks. At eight-fifteen — ” 
+
+“I’ll announce dinner,” said Aunt Petunia. 
+
+“And, Dudley, you 11 say — ” 
+
+“May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. 
+Mason?” said Dudley, offering his fat arm to an 
+invisible woman. 
+
+“My perfect little gentleman!” sniffed Aunt Petunia. 
+
+“And you?” said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry. 
+
+“I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending 
+I’m not there,” said Harry dully. 
+
+Page | 7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good 
+compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?” 
+
+
+
+“Vernon tells me you’re a wonderful golfer, Mr. 
+
+Mason. ... Do tell me where you bought your dress, 
+Mrs. Mason. ...” 
+
+“Perfect ... Dudley?” 
+
+“How about — ‘We had to write an essay about our 
+hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you.’ ” 
+
+This was too much for both Aunt Petunia and Harry. 
+Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, 
+while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn’t 
+see him laughing. 
+
+“And you, boy?” 
+
+Harry fought to keep his face straight as he emerged. 
+
+“I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending 
+I’m not there,” he said. 
+
+“Too right, you will,” said Uncle Vernon forcefully. 
+
+“The Masons don’t know anything about you and it’s 
+going to stay that way. When dinner’s over, you take 
+Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia, 
+and I’ll bring the subject around to drills. With any 
+luck, I’ll have the deal signed and sealed before the 
+news at ten. We’ll be shopping for a vacation home in 
+Majorca this time tomorrow.” 
+
+Harry couldn’t feel too excited about this. He didn’t 
+think the Dursleys would like him any better in 
+Majorca than they did on Privet Drive. 
+
+“Right — I’m off into town to pick up the dinner 
+jackets for Dudley and me. And you,” he snarled at 
+
+Page | 8 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry. “You stay out of your aunt’s way while she’s 
+cleaning.” 
+
+Harry left through the back door. It was a brilliant, 
+sunny day. He crossed the lawn, slumped down on 
+the garden bench, and sang under his breath: 
+
+“Happy birthday to me ... happy birthday to me ...” 
+
+No cards, no presents, and he would be spending the 
+evening pretending not to exist. He gazed miserably 
+into the hedge. He had never felt so lonely. More than 
+anything else at Hogwarts, more even than playing 
+Quidditch, Harry missed his best friends, Ron 
+Weasley and Hermione Granger. They, however, didn’t 
+seem to be missing him at all. Neither of them had 
+written to him all summer, even though Ron had said 
+he was going to ask Harry to come and stay. 
+
+Countless times, Harry had been on the point of 
+unlocking Hedwig’s cage by magic and sending her to 
+Ron and Hermione with a letter, but it wasn’t worth 
+the risk. Underage wizards weren’t allowed to use 
+magic outside of school. Harry hadn’t told the 
+Dursleys this; he knew it was only their terror that he 
+might turn them all into dung beetles that stopped 
+them from locking him in the cupboard under the 
+stairs with his wand and broomstick. For the first 
+couple of weeks back, Harry had enjoyed muttering 
+nonsense words under his breath and watching 
+Dudley tearing out of the room as fast as his fat legs 
+would carry him. But the long silence from Ron and 
+Hermione had made Harry feel so cut off from the 
+magical world that even taunting Dudley had lost its 
+appeal — and now Ron and Hermione had forgotten 
+his birthday. 
+
+What wouldn’t he give now for a message from 
+Hogwarts? From any witch or wizard? He’d almost be 
+
+Page | 9 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+glad of a sight of his archenemy, Draco Malfoy, just to 
+be sure it hadn’t all been a dream. ... 
+
+Not that his whole year at Hogwarts had been fun. At 
+the very end of last term, Harry had come face-to-face 
+with none other than Lord Voldemort himself. 
+Voldemort might be a ruin of his former self, but he 
+was still terrifying, still cunning, still determined to 
+regain power. Harry had slipped through Voldemort’s 
+clutches for a second time, but it had been a narrow 
+escape, and even now, weeks later, Harry kept waking 
+in the night, drenched in cold sweat, wondering where 
+Voldemort was now, remembering his livid face, his 
+wide, mad eyes — 
+
+Harry suddenly sat bolt upright on the garden bench. 
+He had been staring absent-mindedly into the hedge 
+— and the hedge was staring back. Two enormous 
+green eyes had appeared among the leaves. 
+
+Harry jumped to his feet just as a jeering voice floated 
+across the lawn. 
+
+“I know what day it is,” sang Dudley, waddling toward 
+him. 
+
+The huge eyes blinked and vanished. 
+
+“What?” said Harry, not taking his eyes off the spot 
+where they had been. 
+
+“I know what day it is,” Dudley repeated, coming right 
+up to him. 
+
+“Well done,” said Harry. “So you’ve finally learned the 
+days of the week.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 10 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Today’s your birthday,” sneered Dudley. “How come 
+you haven’t got any cards? Haven’t you even got 
+friends at that freak place?” 
+
+“Better not let your mum hear you talking about my 
+school,” said Harry coolly. 
+
+Dudley hitched up his trousers, which were slipping 
+down his fat bottom. 
+
+“Why’re you staring at the hedge?” he said 
+suspiciously. 
+
+“I’m trying to decide what would be the best spell to 
+set it on fire,” said Harry. 
+
+Dudley stumbled backward at once, a look of panic 
+on his fat face. 
+
+“You c-can’t — Dad told you you’re not to do m-magic 
+— he said hell chuck you out of the house — and you 
+haven’t got anywhere else to go — you haven’t got any 
+friends to take you — ” 
+
+“ Jiggery pokeryV ’ said Harry in a fierce voice. “Hocus 
+pocus — squiggly wiggly — ” 
+
+“MUUUUUUM!” howled Dudley, tripping over his feet 
+as he dashed back toward the house. “MUUUUM! 
+
+He’s doing you know what!” 
+
+Harry paid dearly for his moment of fun. As neither 
+Dudley nor the hedge was in any way hurt, Aunt 
+Petunia knew he hadn’t really done magic, but he still 
+had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow at his head 
+with the soapy frying pan. Then she gave him work to 
+do, with the promise he wouldn’t eat again until he’d 
+finished. 
+
+
+
+Page | 11 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+While Dudley lolled around watching and eating ice 
+cream, Harry cleaned the windows, washed the car, 
+mowed the lawn, trimmed the flowerbeds, pruned and 
+watered the roses, and repainted the garden bench. 
+The sun blazed overhead, burning the back of his 
+neck. Harry knew he shouldn’t have risen to Dudley’s 
+bait, but Dudley had said the very thing Harry had 
+been thinking himself ... maybe he didn’t have any 
+friends at Hogwarts. ... 
+
+Wish they could see famous Harry Potter now, he 
+thought savagely as he spread manure on the flower 
+beds, his back aching, sweat running down his face. 
+
+It was half past seven in the evening when at last, 
+exhausted, he heard Aunt Petunia calling him. 
+
+“Get in here! And walk on the newspaper!” 
+
+Harry moved gladly into the shade of the gleaming 
+kitchen. On top of the fridge stood tonight’s pudding: 
+a huge mound of whipped cream and sugared violets. 
+A loin of roast pork was sizzling in the oven. 
+
+“Eat quickly! The Masons will be here soon!” snapped 
+Aunt Petunia, pointing to two slices of bread and a 
+lump of cheese on the kitchen table. She was already 
+wearing a salmon-pink cocktail dress. 
+
+Harry washed his hands and bolted down his pitiful 
+supper. The moment he had finished, Aunt Petunia 
+whisked away his plate. “Upstairs! Hurry!” 
+
+As he passed the door to the living room, Harry 
+caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in bow 
+ties and dinner jackets. He had only just reached the 
+upstairs landing when the doorbell rang and Uncle 
+Vernon’s furious face appeared at the foot of the 
+stairs. 
+
+Page | 12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Remember, boy — one sound — ” 
+
+Harry crossed to his bedroom on tiptoe, slipped 
+inside, closed the door, and turned to collapse on his 
+bed. 
+
+The trouble was, there was already someone sitting 
+on it. 
+
+
+
+Page | 13 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+DOBBY’S WARNING 
+
+Harry managed not to shout out, but it was a close 
+thing. The little creature on the bed had large, bat- 
+like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis 
+balls. Harry knew instantly that this was what had 
+been watching him out of the garden hedge that 
+morning. 
+
+As they stared at each other, Harry heard Dudley’s 
+voice from the hall. 
+
+“May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?” 
+
+The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low 
+that the end of its long, thin nose touched the carpet. 
+Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an 
+old pillowcase, with rips for arm- and leg-holes. 
+
+“Er — hello,” said Harry nervously. 
+
+“Harry Potter!” said the creature in a high-pitched 
+voice Harry was sure would carry down the stairs. “So 
+
+
+
+Page | 14 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir ... Such an 
+honor it is. ...” 
+
+“Th-thank you,” said Harry, edging along the wall and 
+sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who was 
+asleep in her large cage. He wanted to ask, “What are 
+you?” but thought it would sound too rude, so instead 
+he said, “Who are you?” 
+
+“Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf,” said 
+the creature. 
+
+“Oh — really?” said Harry. “Er — I don’t want to be 
+rude or anything, but — this isn’t a great time for me 
+to have a house-elf in my bedroom.” 
+
+Aunt Petunia’s high, false laugh sounded from the 
+living room. The elf hung his head. 
+
+“Not that I’m not pleased to meet you,” said Harry 
+quickly, “but, er, is there any particular reason you’re 
+here?” 
+
+“Oh, yes, sir,” said Dobby earnestly. “Dobby has come 
+to tell you, sir ... it is difficult, sir ... Dobby wonders 
+where to begin. ...” 
+
+“Sit down,” said Harry politely, pointing at the bed. 
+
+To his horror, the elf burst into tears — very noisy 
+tears. 
+
+“S-sit down).” he wailed. “Never ... never ever ...” 
+
+Harry thought he heard the voices downstairs falter. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I didn’t mean to offend you 
+or anything — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 15 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Offend Dobby!” choked the elf. “Dobby has never 
+been asked to sit down by a wizard — like an equal — 
+
+
+
+Harry, trying to say “Shh!” and look comforting at the 
+same time, ushered Dobby back onto the bed where 
+he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly 
+doll. At last he managed to control himself, and sat 
+with his great eyes fixed on Harry in an expression of 
+watery adoration. 
+
+“You can’t have met many decent wizards,” said 
+Harry, trying to cheer him up. 
+
+Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he 
+leapt up and started banging his head furiously on 
+the window, shouting, “Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!” 
+
+“Don’t — what are you doing?” Harry hissed, 
+springing up and pulling Dobby back onto the bed — 
+Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud 
+screech and was beating her wings wildly against the 
+bars of her cage. 
+
+“Dobby had to punish himself, sir,” said the elf, who 
+had gone slightly cross-eyed. “Dobby almost spoke ill 
+of his family, sir. ...” 
+
+“Your family?” 
+
+“The wizard family Dobby serves, sir. ... Dobby is a 
+house-elf — bound to serve one house and one family 
+forever. ...” 
+
+“Do they know you’re here?” asked Harry curiously. 
+Dobby shuddered. 
+
+
+
+Page | 16 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, no, sir, no ... Dobby will have to punish himself 
+most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will 
+have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they 
+ever knew, sir — ” 
+
+“But won’t they notice if you shut your ears in the 
+oven door?” 
+
+“Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobby is always having to 
+punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get 
+on with it, sir. Sometimes they reminds me to do 
+extra punishments. ...” 
+
+“But why don’t you leave? Escape?” 
+
+“A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will 
+never set Dobby free . . . Dobby will serve the family 
+until he dies, sir. ...” 
+
+Harry stared. 
+
+“And I thought I had it bad staying here for another 
+four weeks,” he said. “This makes the Dursleys sound 
+almost human. Can’t anyone help you? Can’t I?” 
+
+Almost at once, Harry wished he hadn’t spoken. 
+
+Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude. 
+
+“Please,” Harry whispered frantically, “please be quiet. 
+If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you’re 
+here — ” 
+
+“Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby . . . Dobby has 
+heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, 
+Dobby never knew. ...” 
+
+Harry, who was feeling distinctly hot in the face, said, 
+“Whatever you’ve heard about my greatness is a load 
+
+
+
+Page | 17 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of rubbish. I’m not even top of my year at Hogwarts; 
+that’s Hermione, she — ” 
+
+But he stopped quickly, because thinking about 
+Hermione was painful. 
+
+“Harry Potter is humble and modest,” said Dobby 
+reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. “Harry Potter 
+speaks not of his triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be- 
+Named — ” 
+
+“Voldemort?” said Harry. 
+
+Dobby clapped his hands over his bat ears and 
+moaned, “Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the 
+name!” 
+
+“Sorry,” said Harry quickly. “I know lots of people 
+don’t like it. My friend Ron — ” 
+
+He stopped again. Thinking about Ron was painful, 
+too. 
+
+Dobby leaned toward Harry, his eyes wide as 
+headlights. 
+
+“Dobby heard tell,” he said hoarsely, “that Harry 
+Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time, just 
+weeks ago ... that Harry Potter escaped yet again.” 
+
+Harry nodded and Dobby’s eyes suddenly shone with 
+tears. 
+
+“Ah, sir,” he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of 
+the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. “Harry Potter 
+is valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers 
+already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, 
+to warn him, even if he does have to shut his ears in 
+
+
+
+Page | 18 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the oven door later. . . . Harry Potter must not go back 
+to Hogwarts.” 
+
+There was a silence broken only by the chink of 
+knives and forks from downstairs and the distant 
+rumble of Uncle Vernon’s voice. 
+
+“W-what?” Harry stammered. “But I’ve got to go back 
+— term starts on September first. It’s all that’s 
+keeping me going. You don’t know what it’s like here. 
+
+I don’t belong here. I belong in your world — at 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+“No, no, no,” squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so 
+hard his ears flapped. “Harry Potter must stay where 
+he is safe. He is too great, too good, to lose. If Harry 
+Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal 
+danger.” 
+
+“Why?” said Harry in surprise. 
+
+“There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most 
+terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of 
+Witchcraft and Wizardry this year,” whispered Dobby, 
+suddenly trembling all over. “Dobby has known it for 
+months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in 
+peril. He is too important, sir!” 
+
+“What terrible things?” said Harry at once. “Who’s 
+plotting them?” 
+
+Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged 
+his head frantically against the wall. 
+
+“All right!” cried Harry, grabbing the elf’s arm to stop 
+him. “You can’t tell me. I understand. But why are 
+you warning me?” A sudden, unpleasant thought 
+struck him. “Hang on — this hasn’t got anything to 
+do with Vol — sorry — with You-Know-Who, has it? 
+Page | 19 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+You could just shake or nod,” he added hastily as 
+Dobby’s head tilted worryingly close to the wall again. 
+
+Slowly, Dobby shook his head. 
+
+“Not — not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir — ” 
+
+But Dobby’s eyes were wide and he seemed to be 
+trying to give Harry a hint. Harry, however, was 
+completely lost. 
+
+“He hasn’t got a brother, has he?” 
+
+Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever. 
+
+“Well then, I can’t think who else would have a 
+chance of making horrible things happen at 
+Hogwarts,” said Harry. “I mean, there’s Dumbledore, 
+for one thing — you know who Dumbledore is, don’t 
+you?” 
+
+Dobby bowed his head. 
+
+“Albus Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster 
+Hogwarts has ever had. Dobby knows it, sir. Dobby 
+has heard Dumbledore’s powers rival those of He- 
+Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his 
+strength. But, sir” — Dobby’s voice dropped to an 
+urgent whisper — “there are powers Dumbledore 
+doesn’t ... powers no decent wizard ...” 
+
+And before Harry could stop him, Dobby bounded off 
+the bed, seized Harry’s desk lamp, and started 
+beating himself around the head with earsplitting 
+yelps. 
+
+A sudden silence fell downstairs. Two seconds later 
+Harry, heart thudding madly, heard Uncle Vernon 
+
+
+
+Page | 20 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+coming into the hall, calling, “Dudley must have left 
+his television on again, the little tyke!” 
+
+“Quick! In the closet!” hissed Harry, stuffing Dobby 
+in, shutting the door, and flinging himself onto the 
+bed just as the door handle turned. 
+
+“What — the — devil — are — you — doing?” said 
+Uncle Vernon through gritted teeth, his face horribly 
+close to Harry’s. “You’ve just ruined the punch line of 
+my Japanese golfer joke. ... One more sound and 
+you’ll wish you’d never been born, boy!” 
+
+He stomped flat-footed from the room. 
+
+Shaking, Harry let Dobby out of the closet. 
+
+“See what it’s like here?” he said. “See why I’ve got to 
+go back to Hogwarts? It’s the only place I’ve got — 
+well, I think I’ve got friends.” 
+
+“Friends who don’t even write to Harry Potter?” said 
+Dobby slyly. 
+
+“I expect they’ve just been — wait a minute,” said 
+Harry, frowning. “How do you know my friends 
+haven’t been writing to me?” 
+
+Dobby shuffled his feet. 
+
+“Harry Potter mustn’t be angry with Dobby. Dobby 
+did it for the best — ” 
+
+“Have you been stopping my letters?” 
+
+“Dobby has them here, sir,” said the elf. Stepping 
+nimbly out of Harry’s reach, he pulled a thick wad of 
+envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was 
+wearing. Harry could make out Hermione’s neat 
+
+Page | 21 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+writing, Ron’s untidy scrawl, and even a scribble that 
+looked as though it was from the Hogwarts 
+gamekeeper, Hagrid. 
+
+Dobby blinked anxiously up at Harry. 
+
+“Harry Potter mustn’t be angry. ... Dobby hoped ... if 
+Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him . . . 
+Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir. 
+
+
+
+Harry wasn’t listening. He made a grab for the letters, 
+but Dobby jumped out of reach. 
+
+“Harry Potter will have them, sir, if he gives Dobby his 
+word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this 
+is a danger you must not face! Say you won’t go back, 
+sir!” 
+
+“No,” said Harry angrily. “Give me my friends’ letters!” 
+
+“Then Harry Potter leaves Dobby no choice,” said the 
+elf sadly. 
+
+Before Harry could move, Dobby had darted to the 
+bedroom door, pulled it open, and sprinted down the 
+stairs. 
+
+Mouth dry, stomach lurching, Harry sprang after him, 
+trying not to make a sound. He jumped the last six 
+steps, landing catlike on the hall carpet, looking 
+around for Dobby. From the dining room he heard 
+Uncle Vernon saying, "... tell Petunia that very funny 
+story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason. 
+She’s been dying to hear ...” 
+
+Harry ran up the hall into the kitchen and felt his 
+stomach disappear. 
+
+
+
+Page | 22 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Aunt Petunia’s masterpiece of a pudding, the 
+mountain of cream and sugared violets, was floating 
+up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the 
+corner crouched Dobby. 
+
+“No,” croaked Harry. “Please ... they’ll kill me. ...” 
+“Harry Potter must say he’s not going back to school 
+
+
+
+“Dobby ... please ...” 
+
+“Say it, sir — ” 
+
+“I can’t — ” 
+
+Dobby gave him a tragic look. 
+
+“Then Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry Potter’s own 
+good.” 
+
+The pudding fell to the floor with a heart-stopping 
+crash. Cream splattered the windows and walls as the 
+dish shattered. With a crack like a whip, Dobby 
+vanished. 
+
+There were screams from the dining room and Uncle 
+Vernon burst into the kitchen to find Harry, rigid with 
+shock, covered from head to foot in Aunt Petunia’s 
+pudding. 
+
+At first, it looked as though Uncle Vernon would 
+manage to gloss the whole thing over. (“Just our 
+nephew — very disturbed — meeting strangers upsets 
+him, so we kept him upstairs. ...”) He shooed the 
+shocked Masons back into the dining room, promised 
+Harry he would flay him to within an inch of his life 
+when the Masons had left, and handed him a mop. 
+Aunt Petunia dug some ice cream out of the freezer 
+Page | 23 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and Harry, still shaking, started scrubbing the 
+kitchen clean. 
+
+Uncle Vernon might still have been able to make his 
+deal — if it hadn’t been for the owl. 
+
+Aunt Petunia was just passing around a box of after- 
+dinner mints when a huge barn owl swooped through 
+the dining room window, dropped a letter on Mrs. 
+Mason’s head, and swooped out again. Mrs. Mason 
+screamed like a banshee and ran from the house 
+shouting about lunatics. Mr. Mason stayed just long 
+enough to tell the Dursleys that his wife was mortally 
+afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes, and to ask 
+whether this was their idea of a joke. 
+
+Harry stood in the kitchen, clutching the mop for 
+support, as Uncle Vernon advanced on him, a 
+demonic glint in his tiny eyes. 
+
+“Read it!” he hissed evilly, brandishing the letter the 
+owl had delivered. “Go on — read it!” 
+
+Harry took it. It did not contain birthday greetings. 
+
+Dear Mr. Potter, 
+
+We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was 
+used at your place of residence this evening at twelve 
+minutes past nine. 
+
+As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to 
+perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on 
+your part may lead to expulsion from said school 
+(Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage 
+Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). 
+
+We would also ask you to remember that any magical 
+activity that risks notice by members of the non- 
+
+P a g e | 24 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense 
+under section 13 of the International Confederation of 
+Warlocks’ Statute of Secrecy. 
+
+Enjoy your holidays! 
+
+Yours sincerely, 
+
+Mafalda Hopkirk 
+
+IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE 
+Ministry of Magic 
+
+Harry looked up from the letter and gulped. 
+
+“You didn’t tell us you weren’t allowed to use magic 
+outside school,” said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam 
+dancing in his eyes. “Forgot to mention it. ... Slipped 
+your mind, I daresay. ...” 
+
+He was bearing down on Harry like a great bulldog, 
+all his teeth bared. “Well, I’ve got news for you, boy. ... 
+I’m locking you up. ... You’re never going back to that 
+school . . . never . . . and if you try and magic yourself 
+out — they 11 expel you!” 
+
+And laughing like a maniac, he dragged Harry back 
+upstairs. 
+
+Uncle Vernon was as bad as his word. The following 
+morning, he paid a man to fit bars on Harry’s window. 
+He himself fitted a cat-flap in the bedroom door, so 
+that small amounts of food could be pushed inside 
+three times a day. They let Harry out to use the 
+bathroom morning and evening. Otherwise, he was 
+locked in his room around the clock. 
+
+
+
+Page | 25 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no sign 
+of relenting, and Harry couldn’t see any way out of his 
+situation. He lay on his bed watching the sun sinking 
+behind the bars on the window and wondered 
+miserably what was going to happen to him. 
+
+What was the good of magicking himself out of his 
+room if Hogwarts would expel him for doing it? Yet life 
+at Privet Drive had reached an all-time low. Now that 
+the Dursleys knew they weren’t going to wake up as 
+fruit bats, he had lost his only weapon. Dobby might 
+have saved Harry from horrible happenings at 
+Hogwarts, but the way things were going, he’d 
+probably starve to death anyway. 
+
+The cat-flap rattled and Aunt Petunia’s hand 
+appeared, pushing a bowl of canned soup into the 
+room. Harry, whose insides were aching with hunger, 
+jumped off his bed and seized it. The soup was stone- 
+cold, but he drank half of it in one gulp. Then he 
+crossed the room to Hedwig’s cage and tipped the 
+soggy vegetables at the bottom of the bowl into her 
+empty food tray. She ruffled her feathers and gave 
+him a look of deep disgust. 
+
+“It’s no good turning your beak up at it — that’s all 
+we’ve got,” said Harry grimly. 
+
+He put the empty bowl back on the floor next to the 
+cat-flap and lay back down on the bed, somehow even 
+hungrier than he had been before the soup. 
+
+Supposing he was still alive in another four weeks, 
+what would happen if he didn’t turn up at Hogwarts? 
+Would someone be sent to see why he hadn’t come 
+back? Would they be able to make the Dursleys let 
+him go? 
+
+
+
+Page | 26 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The room was growing dark. Exhausted, stomach 
+rumbling, mind spinning over the same unanswerable 
+questions, Harry fell into an uneasy sleep. 
+
+He dreamed that he was on show in a zoo, with a card 
+reading UNDERAGE WIZARD attached to his cage. 
+People goggled through the bars at him as he lay, 
+starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He saw Dobby’s 
+face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, 
+but Dobby called, “Harry Potter is safe there, sir!” and 
+vanished. Then the Dursleys appeared and Dudley 
+rattled the bars of the cage, laughing at him. 
+
+“Stop it,” Harry muttered as the rattling pounded in 
+his sore head. “Leave me alone ... cut it out ... I’m 
+trying to sleep. ...” 
+
+He opened his eyes. Moonlight was shining through 
+the bars on the window. And someone was goggling 
+through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, 
+long-nosed someone. 
+
+Ron Weasley was outside Harry’s window. 
+
+
+
+Page | 27 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+3 
+
+
+
+
+THE BURROW 
+
+“Ron\” breathed Harry, creeping to the window and 
+pushing it up so they could talk through the bars. 
+“Ron, how did you — What the — ?” 
+
+Harry’s mouth fell open as the full impact of what he 
+was seeing hit him. Ron was leaning out of the back 
+window of an old turquoise car, which was parked in 
+midair. Grinning at Harry from the front seats were 
+Fred and George, Ron’s elder twin brothers. 
+
+“All right, Harry?” asked George. 
+
+“What’s been going on?” said Ron. “Why haven’t you 
+been answering my letters? I’ve asked you to stay 
+about twelve times, and then Dad came home and 
+said you’d got an official warning for using magic in 
+front of Muggles — ” 
+
+“It wasn’t me — and how did he know?” 
+
+“He works for the Ministry,” said Ron. “You know 
+we’re not supposed to do spells outside school — ” 
+
+Page | 28 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“You should talk,” said Harry, staring at the floating 
+car. 
+
+“Oh, this doesn’t count,” said Ron. “We’re only 
+borrowing this. It’s Dad’s, we didn’t enchant it. But 
+doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with — ” 
+
+“I told you, I didn’t — but it’ll take too long to explain 
+now — look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the 
+Dursleys have locked me up and won’t let me come 
+back, and obviously I can’t magic myself out, because 
+the Ministry’ll think that’s the second spell I’ve done 
+in three days, so — ” 
+
+“Stop gibbering,” said Ron. “We’ve come to take you 
+home with us.” 
+
+“But you can’t magic me out either — ” 
+
+“We don’t need to,” said Ron, jerking his head toward 
+the front seat and grinning. “You forget who I’ve got 
+with me.” 
+
+“Tie that around the bars,” said Fred, throwing the 
+end of a rope to Harry. 
+
+“If the Dursleys wake up, I’m dead,” said Harry as he 
+tied the rope tightly around a bar and Fred revved up 
+the car. 
+
+“Don’t worry,” said Fred, “and stand back.” 
+
+Harry moved back into the shadows next to Hedwig, 
+who seemed to have realized how important this was 
+and kept still and silent. The car revved louder and 
+louder and suddenly, with a crunching noise, the 
+bars were pulled clean out of the window as Fred 
+drove straight up in the air. Harry ran back to the 
+window to see the bars dangling a few feet above the 
+Page | 29 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ground. Panting, Ron hoisted them up into the car. 
+Harry listened anxiously, but there was no sound 
+from the Dursleys’ bedroom. 
+
+When the bars were safely in the back seat with Ron, 
+Fred reversed as close as possible to Harry’s window. 
+
+“Get in,” Ron said. 
+
+“But all my Hogwarts stuff — my wand — my 
+broomstick — ” 
+
+“Where is it?” 
+
+“Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can’t 
+get out of this room — ” 
+
+“No problem,” said George from the front passenger 
+seat. “Out of the way, Harry.” 
+
+Fred and George climbed catlike through the window 
+into Harry’s room. You had to hand it to them, 
+thought Harry, as George took an ordinary hairpin 
+from his pocket and started to pick the lock. 
+
+“A lot of wizards think it’s a waste of time, knowing 
+this sort of Muggle trick,” said Fred, “but we feel 
+they’re skills worth learning, even if they are a bit 
+slow.” 
+
+There was a small click and the door swung open. 
+
+“So — we’ll get your trunk — you grab anything you 
+need from your room and hand it out to Ron,” 
+whispered George. 
+
+“Watch out for the bottom stair — it creaks,” Harry 
+whispered back as the twins disappeared onto the 
+dark landing. 
+
+Page | 30 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry dashed around his room, collecting his things 
+and passing them out of the window to Ron. Then he 
+went to help Fred and George heave his trunk up the 
+stairs. Harry heard Uncle Vernon cough. 
+
+At last, panting, they reached the landing, then 
+carried the trunk through Harry’s room to the open 
+window. Fred climbed back into the car to pull with 
+Ron, and Harry and George pushed from the bedroom 
+side. Inch by inch, the trunk slid through the window. 
+
+Uncle Vernon coughed again. 
+
+“A bit more,” panted Fred, who was pulling from 
+inside the car. “One good push — ” 
+
+Harry and George threw their shoulders against the 
+trunk and it slid out of the window into the back seat 
+of the car. 
+
+“Okay, let’s go,” George whispered. 
+
+But as Harry climbed onto the windowsill there came 
+a sudden loud screech from behind him, followed 
+immediately by the thunder of Uncle Vernon’s voice. 
+
+“THAT RUDDY OWL!” 
+
+“I’ve forgotten Hedwig!” 
+
+Harry tore back across the room as the landing light 
+clicked on — he snatched up Hedwig’s cage, dashed 
+to the window, and passed it out to Ron. He was 
+scrambling back onto the chest of drawers when 
+Uncle Vernon hammered on the unlocked door — and 
+it crashed open. 
+
+
+
+Page | 31 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+For a split second, Uncle Vernon stood framed in the 
+doorway; then he let out a bellow like an angry bull 
+and dived at Harry, grabbing him by the ankle. 
+
+Ron, Fred, and George seized Harry’s arms and pulled 
+as hard as they could. 
+
+“Petunia!” roared Uncle Vernon. “He’s getting away! 
+HE’S GETTING AWAY!” 
+
+But the Weasleys gave a gigantic tug and Harry’s leg 
+slid out of Uncle Vernon’s grasp — Harry was in the 
+car — he’d slammed the door shut — 
+
+“Put your foot down, Fred!” yelled Ron, and the car 
+shot suddenly toward the moon. 
+
+Harry couldn’t believe it — he was free. He rolled 
+down the window, the night air whipping his hair, 
+and looked back at the shrinking rooftops of Privet 
+Drive. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were 
+all hanging, dumbstruck, out of Harry’s window. 
+
+“See you next summer!” Harry yelled. 
+
+The Weasleys roared with laughter and Harry settled 
+back in his seat, grinning from ear to ear. 
+
+“Let Hedwig out,” he told Ron. “She can fly behind us. 
+She hasn’t had a chance to stretch her wings for 
+ages.” 
+
+George handed the hairpin to Ron and, a moment 
+later, Hedwig soared joyfully out of the window to 
+glide alongside them like a ghost. 
+
+“So — what’s the story, Harry?” said Ron impatiently. 
+“What’s been happening?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 32 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry told them all about Dobby, the warning he’d 
+given Harry and the fiasco of the violet pudding. 
+There was a long, shocked silence when he had 
+finished. 
+
+“Very fishy,” said Fred finally. 
+
+“Definitely dodgy,” agreed George. “So he wouldn’t 
+even tell you who’s supposed to be plotting all this 
+stuff?” 
+
+“I don’t think he could,” said Harry. “I told you, every 
+time he got close to letting something slip, he started 
+banging his head against the wall.” 
+
+He saw Fred and George look at each other. 
+
+“What, you think he was lying to me?” said Harry. 
+
+“Well,” said Fred, “put it this way — house-elves have 
+got powerful magic of their own, but they can’t 
+usually use it without their master’s permission. I 
+reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back 
+to Hogwarts. Someone’s idea of a joke. Can you think 
+of anyone at school with a grudge against you?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry and Ron together, instantly. 
+
+“Draco Malfoy,” Harry explained. “He hates me.” 
+
+“Draco Malfoy?” said George, turning around. “Not 
+Lucius Malfoy’s son?” 
+
+“Must be, it’s not a very common name, is it?” said 
+Harry. “Why?” 
+
+“I’ve heard Dad talking about him,” said George. “He 
+was a big supporter of You-Know-Who.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 33 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And when You-Know-Who disappeared,” said Fred, 
+craning around to look at Harry, “Lucius Malfoy came 
+back saying he’d never meant any of it. Load of dung 
+— Dad reckons he was right in You-Know- Who’s 
+inner circle.” 
+
+Harry had heard these rumors about Malfoy’s family 
+before, and they didn’t surprise him at all. Malfoy 
+made Dudley Dursley look like a kind, thoughtful, 
+and sensitive boy. 
+
+“I don’t know whether the Malfoys own a house-elf. 
+
+...” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, whoever owns him will be an old wizarding 
+family, and they’ll be rich,” said Fred. 
+
+“Yeah, Mum’s always wishing we had a house-elf to 
+do the ironing,” said George. “But all we’ve got is a 
+lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the 
+garden. House-elves come with big old manors and 
+castles and places like that; you wouldn’t catch one in 
+our house. ...” 
+
+Harry was silent. Judging by the fact that Draco 
+Malfoy usually had the best of everything, his family 
+was rolling in wizard gold; he could just see Malfoy 
+strutting around a large manor house. Sending the 
+family servant to stop Harry from going back to 
+Hogwarts also sounded exactly like the sort of thing 
+Malfoy would do. Had Harry been stupid to take 
+Dobby seriously? 
+
+“I’m glad we came to get you, anyway,” said Ron. “I 
+was getting really worried when you didn’t answer 
+any of my letters. I thought it was Errol’s fault at first 
+
+
+
+“Who’s Errol?” 
+
+Page | 34 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Our owl. He’s ancient. It wouldn’t be the first time 
+he’d collapsed on a delivery. So then I tried to borrow 
+Hermes — ” 
+
+“Who?” 
+
+“The owl Mum and Dad bought Percy when he was 
+made prefect,” said Fred from the front. 
+
+“But Percy wouldn’t lend him to me,” said Ron. “Said 
+he needed him.” 
+
+“Percy’s been acting very oddly this summer,” said 
+George, frowning. “And he has been sending a lot of 
+letters and spending a load of time shut up in his 
+room. ... I mean, there’s only so many times you can 
+polish a prefect badge. ... You’re driving too far west, 
+Fred,” he added, pointing at a compass on the 
+dashboard. Fred twiddled the steering wheel. 
+
+“So, does your dad know you’ve got the car?” said 
+Harry, guessing the answer. 
+
+“Er, no,” said Ron, “he had to work tonight. Hopefully 
+we’ll be able to get it back in the garage without Mum 
+noticing we flew it.” 
+
+“What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, 
+anyway?” 
+
+“He works in the most boring department,” said Ron. 
+“The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.” 
+
+“The what?” 
+
+“It’s all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle- 
+made, you know, in case they end up back in a 
+Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch 
+died and her tea set was sold to an antiques shop. 
+
+Page | 35 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried 
+to serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare — 
+Dad was working overtime for weeks.” 
+
+“What happened?” 
+
+“The teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all 
+over the place and one man ended up in the hospital 
+with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was 
+going frantic — it’s only him and an old warlock 
+called Perkins in the office — and they had to do 
+Memory Charms and all sorts of stuff to cover it up — 
+
+
+
+“But your dad — this car — ” 
+
+Fred laughed. “Yeah, Dad’s crazy about everything to 
+do with Muggles; our shed’s full of Muggle stuff. He 
+takes it apart, puts spells on it, and puts it back 
+together again. If he raided our house he’d have to put 
+himself under arrest. It drives Mum mad.” 
+
+“That’s the main road,” said George, peering down 
+through the windshield. “We’ll be there in ten 
+minutes. ... Just as well, it’s getting light. ...” 
+
+A faint pinkish glow was visible along the horizon to 
+the east. 
+
+Fred brought the car lower, and Harry saw a dark 
+patchwork of fields and clumps of trees. 
+
+“We’re a little way outside the village,” said George. 
+“Ottery St. Catchpole.” 
+
+Lower and lower went the flying car. The edge of a 
+brilliant red sun was now gleaming through the trees. 
+
+
+
+Page | 36 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Touchdown!” said Fred as, with a slight bump, they 
+hit the ground. They had landed next to a 
+tumbledown garage in a small yard, and Harry looked 
+out for the first time at Ron’s house. 
+
+It looked as though it had once been a large stone 
+pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and 
+there until it was several stories high and so crooked 
+it looked as though it were held up by magic (which, 
+Harry reminded himself, it probably was). Four or five 
+chimneys were perched on top of the red roof. A 
+lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance 
+read, THE BURROW. Around the front door lay a 
+jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron. 
+Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way 
+around the yard. 
+
+“It’s not much,” said Ron. 
+
+“It’s wonderful,” said Harry happily, thinking of Privet 
+Drive. 
+
+They got out of the car. 
+
+“Now, we’ll go upstairs really quietly,” said Fred, “and 
+wait for Mum to call us for breakfast. Then, Ron, you 
+come bounding downstairs going, ‘Mum, look who 
+turned up in the night!’ and she’ll be all pleased to 
+see Harry and no one need ever know we flew the 
+car.” 
+
+“Right,” said Ron. “Come on, Harry, I sleep at the — 
+at the top — ” 
+
+Ron had gone a nasty greenish color, his eyes fixed on 
+the house. The other three wheeled around. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley was marching across the yard, 
+scattering chickens, and for a short, plump, kind- 
+
+P a g e | 37 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+faced woman, it was remarkable how much she 
+looked like a saber-toothed tiger. 
+
+“Ah,” said Fred. 
+
+“Oh, dear,” said George. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley came to a halt in front of them, her 
+hands on her hips, staring from one guilty face to the 
+next. She was wearing a flowered apron with a wand 
+sticking out of the pocket. 
+
+“So,” she said. 
+
+“ ’Morning, Mum,” said George, in what he clearly 
+thought was a jaunty, winning voice. 
+
+“Have you any idea how worried I’ve been?” said Mrs. 
+Weasley in a deadly whisper. 
+
+“Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to — ” 
+
+All three of Mrs. Weasley’s sons were taller than she 
+was, but they cowered as her rage broke over them. 
+
+“Beds empty\ No note\ Car gone — could have crashed 
+— out of my mind with worry — did you care? — 
+never, as long as I’ve lived — you wait until your father 
+gets home, we never had trouble like this from Bill or 
+Charlie or Percy — ” 
+
+“Perfect Percy,” muttered Fred. 
+
+“YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF 
+PERCY’S BOOK!” yelled Mrs. Weasley, prodding a 
+finger in Fred’s chest. “You could havedied, you could 
+have been seen, you could have lost your father his 
+job 
+
+
+
+Page | 38 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It seemed to go on for hours. Mrs. Weasley had 
+shouted herself hoarse before she turned on Harry, 
+who backed away. 
+
+“I’m very pleased to see you, Harry, dear,” she said. 
+“Come in and have some breakfast.” 
+
+She turned and walked back into the house and 
+Harry, after a nervous glance at Ron, who nodded 
+encouragingly, followed her. 
+
+The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There 
+was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the 
+middle, and Harry sat down on the edge of his seat, 
+looking around. He had never been in a wizard house 
+before. 
+
+The clock on the wall opposite him had only one hand 
+and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were 
+things like Time to make tea, Time to feed the 
+chickens, and You’re late. Books were stacked three 
+deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like Charm 
+Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking, and One 
+Minute Feasts — It’s Magid And unless Harry’s ears 
+were deceiving him, the old radio next to the sink had 
+just announced that coming up was “Witching Hour, 
+with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina 
+Warbeck.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley was clattering around, cooking 
+breakfast a little haphazardly, throwing dirty looks at 
+her sons as she threw sausages into the frying pan. 
+Every now and then she muttered things like “don’t 
+know what you were thinking of,” and “never would 
+have believed it.” 
+
+“I don’t blame you, dear,” she assured Harry, tipping 
+eight or nine sausages onto his plate. “Arthur and I 
+have been worried about you, too. Just last night we 
+
+Page | 39 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+were saying we’d come and get you ourselves if you 
+hadn’t written back to Ron by Friday. But really” (she 
+was now adding three fried eggs to his plate), “flying 
+an illegal car halfway across the country — anyone 
+could have seen you — ” 
+
+She flicked her wand casually at the dishes in the 
+sink, which began to clean themselves, clinking 
+gently in the background. 
+
+“It was cloudy, Mum!” said Fred. 
+
+“You keep your mouth closed while you’re eating!” 
+Mrs. Weasley snapped. 
+
+“They were starving him, Mum!” said George. 
+
+“And you!” said Mrs. Weasley, but it was with a 
+slightly softened expression that she started cutting 
+Harry bread and buttering it for him. 
+
+At that moment there was a diversion in the form of a 
+small, redheaded figure in a long nightdress, who 
+appeared in the kitchen, gave a small squeal, and ran 
+out again. 
+
+“Ginny,” said Ron in an undertone to Harry. “My 
+sister. She’s been talking about you all summer.” 
+
+“Yeah, she’ll be wanting your autograph, Harry,” Fred 
+said with a grin, but he caught his mother’s eye and 
+bent his face over his plate without another word. 
+Nothing more was said until all four plates were 
+clean, which took a surprisingly short time. 
+
+“Blimey, I’m tired,” yawned Fred, setting down his 
+knife and fork at last. “I think I’ll go to bed and — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 40 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You will not,” snapped Mrs. Weasley. “It’s your own 
+fault you’ve been up all night. You’re going to de- 
+gnome the garden for me; they’re getting completely 
+out of hand again — ” 
+
+“Oh, Mum — ” 
+
+“And you two,” she said, glaring at Ron and Fred. 
+
+“You can go up to bed, dear,” she added to Harry. 
+
+“You didn’t ask them to fly that wretched car — ” 
+
+But Harry, who felt wide awake, said quickly, “I’ll help 
+Ron. I’ve never seen a de-gnoming — ” 
+
+“That’s very sweet of you, dear, but it’s dull work,” 
+said Mrs. Weasley. “Now, let’s see what Lockhart’s got 
+to say on the subject — ” 
+
+And she pulled a heavy book from the stack on the 
+mantelpiece. George groaned. 
+
+“Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden — ” 
+
+Harry looked at the cover of Mrs. Weasley’s book. 
+Written across it in fancy gold letters were the words 
+Gilderoy Lockhart’s Guide to Household Pests. There 
+was a big photograph on the front of a very good- 
+looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue 
+eyes. As always in the wizarding world, the 
+photograph was moving; the wizard, who Harry 
+supposed was Gilderoy Lockhart, kept winking 
+cheekily up at them all. Mrs. Weasley beamed down 
+at him. 
+
+“Oh, he is marvelous,” she said. “He knows his 
+household pests, all right, it’s a wonderful book. ...” 
+
+“Mum fancies him,” said Fred, in a very audible 
+whisper. 
+
+Page | 41 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t be so ridiculous, Fred,” said Mrs. Weasley, her 
+cheeks rather pink. “All right, if you think you know 
+better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, 
+and woe betide you if there’s a single gnome in that 
+garden when I come out to inspect it.” 
+
+Yawning and grumbling, the Weasleys slouched 
+outside with Harry behind them. The garden was 
+large, and in Harry’s eyes, exactly what a garden 
+should be. The Dursleys wouldn’t have liked it — 
+there were plenty of weeds, and the grass needed 
+cutting — but there were gnarled trees all around the 
+walls, plants Harry had never seen spilling from every 
+flower bed, and a big green pond full of frogs. 
+
+“Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know,” Harry 
+told Ron as they crossed the lawn. 
+
+“Yeah, I’ve seen those things they think are gnomes,” 
+said Ron, bent double with his head in a peony bush, 
+“like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods. ...” 
+
+There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush 
+shuddered, and Ron straightened up. “ This is a 
+gnome,” he said grimly. 
+
+“Gerroff me! Gerroff me!” squealed the gnome. 
+
+It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus. It was small 
+and leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head 
+exactly like a potato. Ron held it at arm’s length as it 
+kicked out at him with its horny little feet; he grasped 
+it around the ankles and turned it upside down. 
+
+“This is what you have to do,” he said. He raised the 
+gnome above his head (“Gerroff me!”) and started to 
+swing it in great circles like a lasso. Seeing the 
+shocked look on Harry’s face, Ron added, “It doesn’t 
+
+
+
+Page | 42 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hurt them — you’ve just got to make them really dizzy 
+so they can’t find their way back to the gnomeholes.” 
+
+
+
+He let go of the gnome’s ankles: It flew twenty feet 
+into the air and landed with a thud in the field over 
+the hedge. 
+
+“Pitiful,” said Fred. “I bet I can get mine beyond that 
+stump.” 
+
+Harry learned quickly not to feel too sorry for the 
+gnomes. He decided just to drop the first one he 
+caught over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing 
+weakness, sank its razor-sharp teeth into Harry’s 
+finger and he had a hard job shaking it off — until — 
+
+“Wow, Harry — that must’ve been fifty feet. ...” 
+
+The air was soon thick with flying gnomes. 
+
+“See, they’re not too bright,” said George, seizing five 
+or six gnomes at once. “The moment they know the 
+de-gnoming’s going on they storm up to have a look. 
+You’d think they’d have learned by now just to stay 
+put.” 
+
+Soon, the crowd of gnomes in the field started walking 
+away in a straggling line, their little shoulders 
+hunched. 
+
+“They’ll be back,” said Ron as they watched the 
+gnomes disappear into the hedge on the other side of 
+the field. “They love it here. ... Dad’s too soft with 
+them; he thinks they’re funny. ...” 
+
+Just then, the front door slammed. 
+
+“He’s back!” said George. “Dad’s home!” 
+
+Page | 43 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They hurried through the garden and back into the 
+house. 
+
+Mr. Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair with his 
+glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, 
+going bald, but the little hair he had was as red as 
+any of his children’s. He was wearing long green 
+robes, which were dusty and travel-worn. 
+
+“What a night,” he mumbled, groping for the teapot as 
+they all sat down around him. “Nine raids. Nine! And 
+old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me 
+when I had my back turned. ...” 
+
+Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed. 
+
+“Find anything, Dad?” said Fred eagerly. 
+
+“All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting 
+kettle,” yawned Mr. Weasley. “There was some pretty 
+nasty stuff that wasn’t my department, though. 
+Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some 
+extremely odd ferrets, but that’s the Committee on 
+Experimental Charms, thank goodness. ...” 
+
+“Why would anyone bother making door keys 
+shrink?” said George. 
+
+“Just Muggle-baiting,” sighed Mr. Weasley. “Sell them 
+a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can 
+never find it when they need it. ... Of course, it’s very 
+hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would 
+admit their key keeps shrinking — they’ll insist they 
+just keep losing it. Bless them, they’ll go to any 
+lengths to ignore magic, even if it’s staring them in 
+the face. ... But the things our lot have taken to 
+enchanting, you wouldn’t believe — ” 
+
+“LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?” 
+
+Page | 44 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Mrs. Weasley had appeared, holding a long poker like 
+a sword. Mr. Weasley’s eyes jerked open. He stared 
+guiltily at his wife. 
+
+“C-cars, Molly, dear?” 
+
+“Yes, Arthur, cars,” said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes 
+flashing. “Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and 
+telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it 
+apart to see how it worked, while really he was 
+enchanting it to make it fly.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley blinked. 
+
+“Well, dear, I think you’ll find that he would be quite 
+within the law to do that, even if — er — he maybe 
+would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth. 
+... There’s a loophole in the law, you’ll find. ... As long 
+as he wasn’t intending to fly the car, the fact that the 
+car could fly wouldn’t — ” 
+
+“Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole 
+when you wrote that law!” shouted Mrs. Weasley. 
+“Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that 
+Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your 
+information, Harry arrived this morning in the car 
+you weren’t intending to fly!” 
+
+“Harry?” said Mr. Weasley blankly. “Harry who?” 
+
+He looked around, saw Harry, and jumped. 
+
+“Good lord, is it Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet 
+you, Ron’s told us so much about — ” 
+
+“ Your sons flew that car to Harry’s house and back 
+last nighti” shouted Mrs. Weasley. “What have you got 
+to say about that, eh?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 45 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Did you really?” said Mr. Weasley eagerly. “Did it go 
+all right? I — I mean,” he faltered as sparks flew from 
+Mrs. Weasley’s eyes, “that — that was very wrong, 
+boys — very wrong indeed. ...” 
+
+“Let’s leave them to it,” Ron muttered to Harry as 
+Mrs. Weasley swelled like a bullfrog. “Come on, I’ll 
+show you my bedroom.” 
+
+They slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow 
+passageway to an uneven staircase, which wound its 
+way, zigzagging up through the house. On the third 
+landing, a door stood ajar. Harry just caught sight of 
+a pair of bright brown eyes staring at him before it 
+closed with a snap. 
+
+“Ginny,” said Ron. “You don’t know how weird it is for 
+her to be this shy. She never shuts up normally — ” 
+
+They climbed two more flights until they reached a 
+door with peeling paint and a small plaque on it, 
+saying RONALD’S ROOM. 
+
+Harry stepped in, his head almost touching the 
+sloping ceiling, and blinked. It was like walking into a 
+furnace: Nearly everything in Ron’s room seemed to 
+be a violent shade of orange: the bedspread, the walls, 
+even the ceiling. Then Harry realized that Ron had 
+covered nearly every inch of the shabby wallpaper 
+with posters of the same seven witches and wizards, 
+all wearing bright orange robes, carrying broomsticks, 
+and waving energetically. 
+
+“Your Quidditch team?” said Harry. 
+
+“The Chudley Cannons,” said Ron, pointing at the 
+orange bedspread, which was emblazoned with two 
+giant black C’s and a speeding cannonball. “Ninth in 
+the league.” 
+
+Page | 46 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron’s school spellbooks were stacked untidily in a 
+corner, next to a pile of comics that all seemed to 
+feature The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad 
+Muggle. Ron’s magic wand was lying on top of a fish 
+tank full of frog spawn on the windowsill, next to his 
+fat gray rat, Scabbers, who was snoozing in a patch of 
+sun. 
+
+Harry stepped over a pack of Self- Shuffling playing 
+cards on the floor and looked out of the tiny window. 
+In the field far below he could see a gang of gnomes 
+sneaking one by one back through the Weasleys’ 
+hedge. Then he turned to look at Ron, who was 
+watching him almost nervously, as though waiting for 
+his opinion. 
+
+“It’s a bit small,” said Ron quickly. “Not like that room 
+you had with the Muggles. And I’m right underneath 
+the ghoul in the attic; he’s always banging on the 
+pipes and groaning. ...” 
+
+But Harry, grinning widely, said, “This is the best 
+house I’ve ever been in.” 
+
+Ron’s ears went pink. 
+
+
+
+Page | 47 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+AT FLOURISH AND BLOTTS 
+
+Life at the Burrow was as different as possible from 
+life on Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything 
+neat and ordered; the Weasleys’ house burst with the 
+strange and unexpected. Harry got a shock the first 
+time he looked in the mirror over the kitchen 
+mantelpiece and it shouted, “ Tuck your shirt in, 
+scruff yV’ The ghoul in the attic howled and dropped 
+pipes whenever he felt things were getting too quiet, 
+and small explosions from Fred and George’s 
+bedroom were considered perfectly normal. What 
+Harry found most unusual about life at Ron’s, 
+however, wasn’t the talking mirror or the clanking 
+ghoul: It was the fact that everybody there seemed to 
+like him. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of his socks and 
+tried to force him to eat fourth helpings at every meal. 
+Mr. Weasley liked Harry to sit next to him at the 
+dinner table so that he could bombard him with 
+questions about life with Muggles, asking him to 
+explain how things like plugs and the postal service 
+worked. 
+
+Page | 48 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“ Fascinating !” he would say as Harry talked him 
+through using a telephone. “Ingenious, really, how 
+many ways Muggles have found of getting along 
+without magic.” 
+
+Harry heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about 
+a week after he had arrived at the Burrow. He and 
+Ron went down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. 
+Weasley and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen 
+table. The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally 
+knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud 
+clatter. Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things 
+over whenever Harry entered a room. She dived under 
+the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her 
+face glowing like the setting sun. Pretending he hadn’t 
+noticed this, Harry sat down and took the toast Mrs. 
+Weasley offered him. 
+
+“Letters from school,” said Mr. Weasley, passing 
+Harry and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish 
+parchment, addressed in green ink. “Dumbledore 
+already knows you’re here, Harry — doesn’t miss a 
+trick, that man. You two’ve got them, too,” he added, 
+as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas. 
+
+For a few minutes there was silence as they all read 
+their letters. Harry’s told him to catch the Hogwarts 
+Express as usual from King’s Cross station on 
+September first. There was also a list of the new 
+books he’d need for the coming year. 
+
+SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE: 
+
+The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda 
+Goshawk 
+
+Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart 
+
+Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart 
+
+Page | 49 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart 
+
+Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart 
+
+Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart 
+
+Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart 
+
+Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart 
+
+Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over at 
+Harry’s. 
+
+“You’ve been told to get all Lockhart’s books, too!” he 
+said. “The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher 
+must be a fan — bet it’s a witch.” 
+
+At this point, Fred caught his mother’s eye and 
+quickly busied himself with the marmalade. 
+
+“That lot won’t come cheap,” said George, with a 
+quick look at his parents. “Lockhart’s books are really 
+expensive. ...” 
+
+“Well, we’ll manage,” said Mrs. Weasley, but she 
+looked worried. “I expect we’ll be able to pick up a lot 
+of Ginny’s things secondhand.” 
+
+“Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?” Harry 
+asked Ginny. 
+
+She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, 
+and put her elbow in the butter dish. Fortunately no 
+one saw this except Harry, because just then Ron’s 
+elder brother Percy walked in. He was already 
+dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his 
+sweater vest. 
+
+“Morning, all,” said Percy briskly. “Lovely day.” 
+
+Page | 50 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He sat down in the only remaining chair but leapt up 
+again almost immediately, pulling from underneath 
+him a molting, gray feather duster — at least, that 
+was what Harry thought it was, until he saw that it 
+was breathing. 
+
+“Errol!” said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and 
+extracting a letter from under its wing. “Finally — he’s 
+got Hermione’s answer. I wrote to her saying we were 
+going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys.” 
+
+He carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door 
+and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped 
+straight off again so Ron laid him on the draining 
+board instead, muttering, “Pathetic.” Then he ripped 
+open Hermione’s letter and read it out loud: 
+
+“ ‘Dear Ron, and Harry if you’re there, 
+
+“ ‘I hope everything went all right and that Harry is 
+okay and that you didn’t do anything illegal to get him 
+out, Ron, because that would get Harry into trouble, 
+too. I’ve been really worried and if Harry is all right, 
+will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it 
+would be better if you used a different owl, because I 
+think another delivery might finish your one off 
+
+“ ‘I’m very busy with schoolwork, of course’ — How can 
+she be?” said Ron in horror. “We’re on vacation! — 
+‘and we’re going to London next Wednesday to buy my 
+new books. Why don’t we meet in Diagon Alley? 
+
+“ ‘Let me know what’s happening as soon as you can. 
+Love from Hermione.’ ” 
+
+“Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your 
+things then, too,” said Mrs. Weasley, starting to clear 
+the table. “What ’re you all up to today?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 51 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry, Ron, Fred, and George were planning to go up 
+the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned. It 
+was surrounded by trees that blocked it from view of 
+the village below, meaning that they could practice 
+Quidditch there, as long as they didn’t fly too high. 
+They couldn’t use real Quidditch balls, which would 
+have been hard to explain if they had escaped and 
+flown away over the village; instead they threw apples 
+for one another to catch. They took turns riding 
+Harry’s Nimbus Two Thousand, which was easily the 
+best broom; Ron’s old Shooting Star was often 
+outstripped by passing butterflies. 
+
+Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, 
+broomsticks over their shoulders. They had asked 
+Percy if he wanted to join them, but he had said he 
+was busy. Harry had only seen Percy at mealtimes so 
+far; he stayed shut in his room the rest of the time. 
+
+“Wish I knew what he was up to,” said Fred, frowning. 
+“He’s not himself. His exam results came the day 
+before you did; twelve O.W.L.s and he hardly gloated 
+at all.” 
+
+“Ordinary Wizarding Levels,” George explained, seeing 
+Harry’s puzzled look. “Bill got twelve, too. If we’re not 
+careful, we’ll have another Head Boy in the family. I 
+don’t think I could stand the shame.” 
+
+Bill was the oldest Weasley brother. He and the next 
+brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. Harry 
+had never met either of them, but knew that Charlie 
+was in Romania studying dragons and Bill in Egypt 
+working for the wizard’s bank, Gringotts. 
+
+“Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our 
+school stuff this year,” said George after a while. “Five 
+sets of Lockhart books! And Ginny needs robes and a 
+wand and everything. ...” 
+
+Page | 52 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry said nothing. He felt a bit awkward. Stored in 
+an underground vault at Gringotts in London was a 
+small fortune that his parents had left him. Of course, 
+it was only in the wizarding world that he had money; 
+you couldn’t use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in 
+Muggle shops. He had never mentioned his Gringotts 
+bank account to the Dursleys; he didn’t think their 
+horror of anything connected with magic would 
+stretch to a large pile of gold. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley woke them all early the following 
+Wednesday. After a quick half a dozen bacon 
+sandwiches each, they pulled on their coats and Mrs. 
+Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece 
+and peered inside. 
+
+“We’re running low, Arthur,” she sighed. “We’ll have 
+to buy some more today. ... Ah well, guests first! After 
+you, Harry dear!” 
+
+And she offered him the flowerpot. 
+
+Harry stared at them all watching him. 
+
+“W-what am I supposed to do?” he stammered. 
+
+“He’s never traveled by Floo powder,” said Ron 
+suddenly. “Sorry, Harry, I forgot.” 
+
+“Never?” said Mr. Weasley. “But how did you get to 
+Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?” 
+
+“I went on the Underground — ” 
+
+“Really?” said Mr. Weasley eagerly. “Were there 
+escapators? How exactly — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 53 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Not now, Arthur,” said Mrs. Weasley. “Floo powder’s 
+a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you’ve never 
+used it before — ” 
+
+
+
+“He’ll be all right, Mum,” said Fred. “Harry, watch us 
+first.” 
+
+He took a pinch of glittering powder out of the 
+flowerpot, stepped up to the fire, and threw the 
+powder into the flames. 
+
+With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose 
+higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted, 
+“Diagon Alley!” and vanished. 
+
+“You must speak clearly, dear,” Mrs. Weasley told 
+Harry as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot. 
+“And be sure to get out at the right grate. ...” 
+
+“The right what?” said Harry nervously as the fire 
+roared and whipped George out of sight, too. 
+
+“Well, there are an awful lot of wizard fires to choose 
+from, you know, but as long as you’ve spoken clearly 
+
+
+
+“He’ll be fine, Molly, don’t fuss,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+helping himself to Floo powder, too. 
+
+“But, dear, if he got lost, how would we ever explain 
+to his aunt and uncle?” 
+
+“They wouldn’t mind,” Harry reassured her. “Dudley 
+would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a 
+chimney, don’t worry about that — ” 
+
+“Well ... all right ... you go after Arthur,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley. “Now, when you get into the fire, say where 
+you’re going — ” 
+
+Page | 54 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And keep your elbows tucked in,” Ron advised. 
+
+“And your eyes shut,” said Mrs. Weasley. “The soot — 
+
+
+
+“Don’t fidget,” said Ron. “Or you might well fall out of 
+the wrong fireplace — ” 
+
+“But don’t panic and get out too early; wait until you 
+see Fred and George.” 
+
+Trying hard to bear all this in mind, Harry took a 
+pinch of Floo powder and walked to the edge of the 
+fire. He took a deep breath, scattered the powder into 
+the flames, and stepped forward; the fire felt like a 
+warm breeze; he opened his mouth and immediately 
+swallowed a lot of hot ash. 
+
+“D-Dia-gon Alley,” he coughed. 
+
+It felt as though he were being sucked down a giant 
+drain. He seemed to be spinning very fast — the 
+roaring in his ears was deafening — he tried to keep 
+his eyes open but the whirl of green flames made him 
+feel sick — something hard knocked his elbow and he 
+tucked it in tightly, still spinning and spinning — now 
+it felt as though cold hands were slapping his face — 
+squinting through his glasses he saw a blurred 
+stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the 
+rooms beyond — his bacon sandwiches were 
+churning inside him — he closed his eyes again 
+wishing it would stop, and then — 
+
+He fell, face forward, onto cold stone and felt the 
+bridge of his glasses snap. 
+
+Dizzy and bruised, covered in soot, he got gingerly to 
+his feet, holding his broken glasses up to his eyes. He 
+was quite alone, but where he was, he had no idea. 
+
+Page | 55 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+All he could tell was that he was standing in the stone 
+fireplace of what looked like a large, dimly lit wizard’s 
+shop — but nothing in here was ever likely to be on a 
+Hogwarts school list. 
+
+A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a 
+cushion, a bloodstained pack of cards, and a staring 
+glass eye. Evil-looking masks stared down from the 
+walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the 
+counter, and rusty, spiked instruments hung from 
+the ceiling. Even worse, the dark, narrow street Harry 
+could see through the dusty shop window was 
+definitely not Diagon Alley. 
+
+The sooner he got out of here, the better. Nose still 
+stinging where it had hit the hearth, Harry made his 
+way swiftly and silently toward the door, but before 
+he’d got halfway toward it, two people appeared on 
+the other side of the glass — and one of them was the 
+very last person Harry wanted to meet when he was 
+lost, covered in soot, and wearing broken glasses: 
+Draco Malfoy. 
+
+Harry looked quickly around and spotted a large 
+black cabinet to his left; he shot inside it and pulled 
+the doors closed, leaving a small crack to peer 
+through. Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy 
+stepped into the shop. 
+
+The man who followed could only be Draco’s father. 
+
+He had the same pale, pointed face and identical cold, 
+gray eyes. Mr. Malfoy crossed the shop, looking lazily 
+at the items on display, and rang a bell on the 
+counter before turning to his son and saying, “Touch 
+nothing, Draco.” 
+
+Malfoy, who had reached for the glass eye, said, “I 
+thought you were going to buy me a present.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 56 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I said I would buy you a racing broom,” said his 
+father, drumming his fingers on the counter. 
+
+“What’s the good of that if I’m not on the House 
+team?” said Malfoy, looking sulky and bad-tempered. 
+“Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. 
+Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play 
+for Gryffindor. He’s not even that good, it’s just 
+because he’s famous ... famous for having a stupid 
+scar on his forehead. ...” 
+
+Malfoy bent down to examine a shelf full of skulls. 
+
+"... everyone thinks he’s so smart, wonderful Potter 
+with his scar and his broomstick — ” 
+
+“You have told me this at least a dozen times 
+already,” said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his 
+son. “And I would remind you that it is not — prudent 
+— to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when 
+most of our kind regard him as the hero who made 
+the Dark Lord disappear — ah, Mr. Borgin.” 
+
+A stooping man had appeared behind the counter, 
+smoothing his greasy hair back from his face. 
+
+“Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again,” said 
+Mr. Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair. “Delighted — 
+and young Master Malfoy, too — charmed. How may I 
+be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and 
+very reasonably priced — ” 
+
+“I’m not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling,” said 
+Mr. Malfoy. 
+
+“Selling?” The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin ’s 
+face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 57 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is 
+conducting more raids,” said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll 
+of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it 
+for Mr. Borgin to read. “I have a few — ah — items at 
+home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were 
+to call. ...” 
+
+Mr. Borgin fixed a pair of pince-nez to his nose and 
+looked down the list. 
+
+“The Ministry wouldn’t presume to trouble you, sir, 
+surely?” 
+
+Mr. Malfoy’s lip curled. 
+
+“I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still 
+commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows 
+ever more meddlesome. There are rumors about a 
+new Muggle Protection Act — no doubt that flea- 
+bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it 
+
+
+
+Harry felt a hot surge of anger. 
+
+“ — and as you see, certain of these poisons might 
+make it appear — ” 
+
+“I understand, sir, of course,” said Mr. Borgin. “Let 
+me see ...” 
+
+“Can I have that?” interrupted Draco, pointing at the 
+withered hand on its cushion. 
+
+“Ah, the Hand of Glory!” said Mr. Borgin, abandoning 
+Mr. Malfoy’s list and scurrying over to Draco. “Insert a 
+candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend 
+of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste, 
+sir.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 58 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a 
+plunderer, Borgin,” said Mr. Malfoy coldly, and Mr. 
+Borgin said quickly, “No offense, sir, no offense meant 
+
+
+
+“Though if his grades don’t pick up,” said Mr. Malfoy, 
+more coldly still, “that may indeed be all he is fit for 
+
+
+
+“It’s not my fault,” retorted Draco. “The teachers all 
+have favorites, that Hermione Granger — ” 
+
+“I would have thought you’d be ashamed that a girl of 
+no wizard family beat you in every exam,” snapped 
+Mr. Malfoy. 
+
+“Ha!” said Harry under his breath, pleased to see 
+Draco looking both abashed and angry. 
+
+“It’s the same all over,” said Mr. Borgin, in his oily 
+voice. “Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere — 
+
+
+
+“Not with me,” said Mr. Malfoy, his long nostrils 
+flaring. 
+
+“No, sir, nor with me, sir,” said Mr. Borgin, with a 
+deep bow. 
+
+“In that case, perhaps we can return to my list,” said 
+Mr. Malfoy shortly. “I am in something of a hurry, 
+Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today — ” 
+
+They started to haggle. Harry watched nervously as 
+Draco drew nearer and nearer to his hiding place, 
+examining the objects for sale. Draco paused to 
+examine a long coil of hangman’s rope and to read, 
+smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace 
+
+
+
+Page | 59 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of opals, Caution: Do Not Touch. Cursed — Has 
+Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date. 
+
+
+
+Draco turned away and saw the cabinet right in front 
+of him. He walked forward — he stretched out his 
+hand for the handle — 
+
+“Done,” said Mr. Malfoy at the counter. “Come, Draco 
+
+
+
+Harry wiped his forehead on his sleeve as Draco 
+turned away. 
+
+“Good day to you, Mr. Borgin. Ill expect you at the 
+manor tomorrow to pick up the goods.” 
+
+The moment the door had closed, Mr. Borgin dropped 
+his oily manner. 
+
+“Good day yourself, Mister Malfoy, and if the stories 
+are true, you haven’t sold me half of what’s hidden in 
+your manor. ...” 
+
+Muttering darkly, Mr. Borgin disappeared into a back 
+room. Harry waited for a minute in case he came 
+back, then, quietly as he could, slipped out of the 
+cabinet, past the glass cases, and out of the shop 
+door. 
+
+Clutching his broken glasses to his face, Harry stared 
+around. He had emerged into a dingy alleyway that 
+seemed to be made up entirely of shops devoted to the 
+Dark Arts. The one he’d just left, Borgin and Burkes, 
+looked like the largest, but opposite was a nasty 
+window display of shrunken heads and, two doors 
+down, a large cage was alive with gigantic black 
+spiders. Two shab by-looking wizards were watching 
+him from the shadow of a doorway, muttering to each 
+other. Feeling jumpy, Harry set off, trying to hold his 
+Page | 60 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+glasses on straight and hoping against hope he’d be 
+able to find a way out of here. 
+
+An old wooden street sign hanging over a shop selling 
+poisonous candles told him he was in Knockturn 
+Alley. This didn’t help, as Harry had never heard of 
+such a place. He supposed he hadn’t spoken clearly 
+enough through his mouthful of ashes back in the 
+Weasleys’ fire. Trying to stay calm, he wondered what 
+to do. 
+
+“Not lost are you, my dear?” said a voice in his ear, 
+making him jump. 
+
+An aged witch stood in front of him, holding a tray of 
+what looked horribly like whole human fingernails. 
+
+She leered at him, showing mossy teeth. Harry 
+backed away. 
+
+“I’m fine, thanks,” he said. “I’m just — ” 
+
+“HARRY! What d’yeh think yer doin’ down there?” 
+
+Harry’s heart leapt. So did the witch; a load of 
+fingernails cascaded down over her feet and she 
+cursed as the massive form of Hagrid, the Hogwarts 
+gamekeeper, came striding toward them, beetle-black 
+eyes flashing over his great bristling beard. 
+
+“Hagrid!” Harry croaked in relief. “I was lost — Floo 
+powder — ” 
+
+Hagrid seized Harry by the scruff of the neck and 
+pulled him away from the witch, knocking the tray 
+right out of her hands. Her shrieks followed them all 
+the way along the twisting alleyway out into bright 
+sunlight. Harry saw a familiar, snow-white marble 
+building in the distance — Gringotts Bank. Hagrid 
+had steered him right into Diagon Alley. 
+
+Page | 61 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yer a mess!” said Hagrid gruffly, brushing soot off 
+Harry so forcefully he nearly knocked him into a 
+barrel of dragon dung outside an apothecary. 
+
+“Skulkin’ around Knockturn Alley, I dunno — dodgy 
+place, Harry — don’ want no one ter see yeh down 
+there — ” 
+
+“I realized that,” said Harry, ducking as Hagrid made 
+to brush him off again. “I told you, I was lost — what 
+were you doing down there, anyway?” 
+
+“ I was lookin’ fer a Flesh-Eatin’ Slug Repellent,” 
+growled Hagrid. “They’re ruinin’ the school cabbages. 
+Yer not on yer own?” 
+
+“I’m staying with the Weasleys but we got separated,” 
+Harry explained. “I’ve got to go and find them. ...” 
+
+They set off together down the street. 
+
+“How come yeh never wrote back ter me?” said Hagrid 
+as Harry jogged alongside him (he had to take three 
+steps to every stride of Hagrid ’s enormous boots). 
+Harry explained all about Dobby and the Dursleys. 
+
+“Lousy Muggles,” growled Hagrid. “If I’d’ve known — ” 
+
+“Harry! Harry! Over here!” 
+
+Harry looked up and saw Hermione Granger standing 
+at the top of the white flight of steps to Gringotts. She 
+ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying 
+behind her. 
+
+“What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid — Oh, 
+it’s wonderful to see you two again — Are you coming 
+into Gringotts, Harry?” 
+
+“As soon as I’ve found the Weasleys,” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 62 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeh won’t have long ter wait,” Hagrid said with a 
+grin. 
+
+Harry and Hermione looked around: Sprinting up the 
+crowded street were Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and 
+Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“Harry,” Mr. Weasley panted. “We hoped you’d only 
+gone one grate too far. ...” He mopped his glistening 
+bald patch. “Molly’s frantic — she’s coming now — ” 
+
+“Where did you come out?” Ron asked. 
+
+“Knockturn Alley,” said Hagrid grimly. 
+
+“Excellent.” said Fred and George together. 
+
+“We’ve never been allowed in,” said Ron enviously. 
+
+“I should ruddy well think not,” growled Hagrid. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley now came galloping into view, her 
+handbag swinging wildly in one hand, Ginny just 
+clinging onto the other. 
+
+“Oh, Harry — oh, my dear — you could have been 
+anywhere — ” 
+
+Gasping for breath she pulled a large clothes brush 
+out of her bag and began sweeping off the soot Hagrid 
+hadn’t managed to beat away. Mr. Weasley took 
+Harry’s glasses, gave them a tap of his wand, and 
+returned them, good as new. 
+
+“Well, gotta be off,” said Hagrid, who was having his 
+hand wrung by Mrs. Weasley (“Knockturn Alley! If you 
+hadn’t found him, Hagrid!”). “See yer at Hogwarts!” 
+And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than 
+anyone else in the packed street. 
+
+Page | 63 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?” Harry 
+asked Ron and Hermione as they climbed the 
+Gringotts steps. “Malfoy and his father.” 
+
+“Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?” said Mr. Weasley 
+sharply behind them. 
+
+“No, he was selling — ” 
+
+“So he’s worried,” said Mr. Weasley with grim 
+satisfaction. “Oh, I’d love to get Lucius Malfoy for 
+something. ...” 
+
+“You be careful, Arthur,” said Mrs. Weasley sharply 
+as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the 
+door. “That family’s trouble. Don’t go biting off more 
+than you can chew — ” 
+
+“So you don’t think I’m a match for Lucius Malfoy?” 
+said Mr. Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted 
+almost at once by the sight of Hermione’s parents, 
+who were standing nervously at the counter that ran 
+all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione 
+to introduce them. 
+
+“But you’re Mugglesl” said Mr. Weasley delightedly. 
+“We must have a drink! What’s that you’ve got there? 
+Oh, you’re changing Muggle money. Molly, look!” He 
+pointed excitedly at the ten-pound notes in Mr. 
+Granger’s hand. 
+
+“Meet you back here,” Ron said to Hermione as the 
+Weasleys and Harry were led off to their underground 
+vaults by another Gringotts goblin. 
+
+The vaults were reached by means of small, goblin- 
+driven carts that sped along minature train tracks 
+through the bank’s underground tunnels. Harry 
+enjoyed the breakneck journey down to the Weasleys’ 
+
+Page | 64 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+vault, but felt dreadful, far worse than he had in 
+Knock- turn Alley, when it was opened. There was a 
+very small pile of silver Sickles inside, and just one 
+gold Galleon. Mrs. Weasley felt right into the corners 
+before sweeping the whole lot into her bag. Harry felt 
+even worse when they reached his vault. He tried to 
+block the contents from view as he hastily shoved 
+handfuls of coins into a leather bag. 
+
+Back outside on the marble steps, they all separated. 
+Percy muttered vaguely about needing a new quill. 
+Fred and George had spotted their friend from 
+Hogwarts, Lee Jordan. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were 
+going to a secondhand robe shop. Mr. Weasley was 
+insisting on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky 
+Cauldron for a drink. 
+
+“Well all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to 
+buy your schoolbooks,” said Mrs. Weasley, setting off 
+with Ginny. “And not one step down Knockturn 
+Alley!” she shouted at the twins’ retreating backs. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione strolled off along the 
+winding, cobbled street. The bag of gold, silver, and 
+bronze jangling cheerfully in Harry’s pocket was 
+clamoring to be spent, so he bought three large 
+strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, which they 
+slurped happily as they wandered up the alley, 
+examining the fascinating shop windows. Ron gazed 
+longingly at a full set of Chudley Cannon robes in the 
+windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies until 
+Hermione dragged them off to buy ink and parchment 
+next door. In Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke 
+Shop, they met Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, who 
+were stocking up on Dr. Filibuster’s Fabulous Wet- 
+Start, No-Heat Fireworks, and in a tiny junk shop full 
+of broken wands, lopsided brass scales, and old 
+cloaks covered in potion stains they found Percy, 
+
+
+
+Page | 65 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book 
+called Prefects Who Gained Power. 
+
+“A study of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers,” 
+Ron read aloud off the back cover. “That sounds 
+fascinating. ...” 
+
+“Go away,” Percy snapped. 
+
+“ ’Course, he’s very ambitious, Percy, he’s got it all 
+planned out. ... He wants to be Minister of Magic ...” 
+Ron told Harry and Hermione in an undertone as they 
+left Percy to it. 
+
+An hour later, they headed for Flourish and Blotts. 
+They were by no means the only ones making their 
+way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw 
+to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the 
+doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was 
+proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the 
+upper windows: 
+
+GILDEROY LOCKHART 
+
+will be signing copies of his autobiography 
+
+MAGICAL ME 
+
+today 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
+
+“We can actually meet him!” Hermione squealed. “I 
+mean, he’s written almost the whole booklist!” 
+
+The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches 
+around Mrs. Weasley’s age. A harassed-looking wizard 
+stood at the door, saying, “Calmly, please, ladies. ... 
+Don’t push, there ... mind the books, now. ...” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione squeezed inside. A long 
+line wound right to the back of the shop, where 
+Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each 
+
+Page | 66 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+grabbed a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 
+2 and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the 
+Weasleys were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger. 
+
+“Oh, there you are, good,” said Mrs. Weasley. She 
+sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. “Well 
+be able to see him in a minute. ...” 
+
+Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a 
+table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all 
+winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the 
+crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget- 
+me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his 
+pointed wizard’s hat was set at a jaunty angle on his 
+wavy hair. 
+
+A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around 
+taking photographs with a large black camera that 
+emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding 
+flash. 
+
+“Out of the way, there,” he snarled at Ron, moving 
+back to get a better shot. “This is for the Daily Prophet 
+
+
+
+“Big deal,” said Ron, rubbing his foot where the 
+photographer had stepped on it. 
+
+Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw 
+Ron — and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he 
+leapt to his feet and positively shouted, “It can’t be 
+Harry Potter?” 
+
+The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart 
+dived forward, seized Harry’s arm, and pulled him to 
+the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry’s face 
+burned as Lockhart shook his hand for the 
+photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting 
+thick smoke over the Weasleys. 
+
+Page | 67 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nice big smile, Harry,” said Lockhart, through his 
+own gleaming teeth. “Together, you and I are worth 
+the front page.” 
+
+When he finally let go of Harry’s hand, Harry could 
+hardly feel his fingers. He tried to sidle back over to 
+the Weasleys, but Lockhart threw an arm around his 
+shoulders and clamped him tightly to his side. 
+
+“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said loudly, waving for 
+quiet. “What an extraordinary moment this is! The 
+perfect moment for me to make a little announcement 
+I’ve been sitting on for some time! 
+
+“When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and 
+Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography 
+— which I shall be happy to present him now, free of 
+charge — ” The crowd applauded again. “He had no 
+idea,” Lockhart continued, giving Harry a little shake 
+that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, “that 
+he would shortly be getting much, much more than 
+my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in 
+fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and 
+gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in 
+announcing that this September, I will be taking up 
+the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at 
+Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!” 
+
+The crowd cheered and clapped and Harry found 
+himself being presented with the entire works of 
+Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their 
+weight, he managed to make his way out of the 
+limelight to the edge of the room, where Ginny was 
+standing next to her new cauldron. 
+
+“You have these,” Harry mumbled to her, tipping the 
+books into the cauldron. “I’ll buy my own — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 68 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Bet you loved that, didn’t you, Potter?” said a voice 
+Harry had no trouble recognizing. He straightened up 
+and found himself face-to-face with Draco Malfoy, 
+who was wearing his usual sneer. 
+
+“Famous Harry Potter,” said Malfoy. “Can’t even go 
+into a bookshop without making the front page.” 
+
+“Leave him alone, he didn’t want all that!” said Ginny. 
+It was the first time she had spoken in front of Harry. 
+She was glaring at Malfoy. 
+
+“Potter, you’ve got yourself a girlfriend).” drawled 
+Malfoy. Ginny went scarlet as Ron and Hermione 
+fought their way over, both clutching stacks of 
+Lockhart’s books. 
+
+“Oh, it’s you,” said Ron, looking at Malfoy as if he 
+were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. 
+“Bet you’re surprised to see Harry here, eh?” 
+
+“Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, 
+Weasley,” retorted Malfoy. “I suppose your parents 
+will go hungry for a month to pay for all those.” 
+
+Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into 
+the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy, but 
+Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket. 
+
+“Ron!” said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred 
+and George. “What are you doing? It’s too crowded in 
+here, let’s go outside.” 
+
+“Well, well, well — Arthur Weasley.” 
+
+It was Mr. Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco’s 
+shoulder, sneering in just the same way. 
+
+“Lucius,” said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly. 
+
+Page | 69 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Busy time at the Ministry, I hear,” said Mr. Malfoy. 
+“All those raids ... I hope they’re paying you 
+overtime?” 
+
+He reached into Ginny’s cauldron and extracted, from 
+amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very 
+battered copy of A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration. 
+
+“Obviously not,” Mr. Malfoy said. “Dear me, what’s 
+the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if 
+they don’t even pay you well for it?” 
+
+Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny. 
+
+“We have a very different idea of what disgraces the 
+name of wizard, Malfoy,” he said. 
+
+“Clearly,” said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to 
+Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching 
+apprehensively. “The company you keep, Weasley ... 
+and I thought your family could sink no lower — ” 
+
+There was a thud of metal as Ginny’s cauldron went 
+flying; Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, 
+knocking him backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of 
+heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all their 
+heads; there was a yell of, “Get him, Dad!” from Fred 
+or George; Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, “No, Arthur, 
+no!”; the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more 
+shelves over; “Gentlemen, please — please!” cried the 
+assistant, and then, louder than all — 
+
+“Break it up, there, gents, break it up — ” 
+
+Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of 
+books. In an instant he had pulled Mr. Weasley and 
+Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. 
+Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of 
+Toadstools. He was still holding Ginny’s old 
+Page | 70 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes 
+glittering with malice. 
+
+“Here, girl — take your book — it’s the best your 
+father can give you — ” Pulling himself out of Hagrid’s 
+grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop. 
+
+“Yeh should’ve ignored him, Arthur,” said Hagrid, 
+almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he 
+straightened his robes. “Rotten ter the core, the whole 
+family, everyone knows that — no Malfoy’s worth 
+listenin’ ter — bad blood, that’s what it is — come on 
+now — let’s get outta here.” 
+
+The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop 
+them from leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid’s 
+waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried 
+up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and 
+Mrs. Weasley beside herself with fury. 
+
+“A fine example to set for your children . . . brawling in 
+public ... what Gilderoy Lockhart must’ve thought — ” 
+
+“He was pleased,” said Fred. “Didn’t you hear him as 
+we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the 
+Daily Prophet if he’d be able to work the fight into his 
+report — said it was all publicity — ” 
+
+But it was a subdued group that headed back to the 
+fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry, the 
+Weasleys, and all their shopping would be traveling 
+back to the Burrow using Floo powder. They said 
+good-bye to the Grangers, who were leaving the pub 
+for the Muggle street on the other side; Mr. Weasley 
+started to ask them how bus stops worked, but 
+stopped quickly at the look on Mrs. Weasley’s face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 71 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry took off his glasses and put them safely in his 
+pocket before helping himself to Floo powder. It 
+definitely wasn’t his favorite way to travel. 
+
+
+
+Page | 72 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+5 
+
+
+
+
+THE WHOMPING WILLOW 
+
+The end of the summer vacation came too quickly for 
+Harry’s liking. He was looking forward to getting back 
+to Hogwarts, but his month at the Burrow had been 
+the happiest of his life. It was difficult not to feel 
+jealous of Ron when he thought of the Dursleys and 
+the sort of welcome he could expect next time he 
+turned up on Privet Drive. 
+
+On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a 
+sumptuous dinner that included all of Harry’s favorite 
+things, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding. 
+Fred and George rounded off the evening with a 
+display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen 
+with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to 
+wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a 
+last mug of hot chocolate and bed. 
+
+It took a long while to get started next morning. They 
+were up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to 
+have a great deal to do. Mrs. Weasley dashed about in 
+a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people 
+kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of 
+Page | 73 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+toast in their hands; and Mr. Weasley nearly broke 
+his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed 
+the yard carrying Ginny’s trunk to the car. 
+
+Harry couldn’t see how eight people, six large trunks, 
+two owls, and a rat were going to fit into one small 
+Ford Anglia. He had reckoned, of course, without the 
+special features that Mr. Weasley had added. 
+
+“Not a word to Molly,” he whispered to Harry as he 
+opened the trunk and showed him how it had been 
+magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily. 
+
+When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley 
+glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, 
+George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by 
+side, and said, “Muggles do know more than we give 
+them credit for, don’t they?” She and Ginny got into 
+the front seat, which had been stretched so that it 
+resembled a park bench. “I mean, you’d never know it 
+was this roomy from the outside, would you?” 
+
+Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled 
+out of the yard, Harry turning back for a last look at 
+the house. He barely had time to wonder when he’d 
+see it again when they were back — George had 
+forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes 
+after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that 
+Fred could run in for his broomstick. They had 
+almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked 
+that she’d left her diary. By the time she had 
+clambered back into the car, they were running very 
+late, and tempers were running high. 
+
+Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his 
+wife. 
+
+“Molly, dear — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 74 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, Arthur — ” 
+
+
+
+“No one would see — this little button here is an 
+Invisibility Booster I installed — that’d get us up in 
+the air — then we fly above the clouds. We’d be there 
+in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser — ” 
+
+“I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight — ” 
+
+They reached King’s Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. 
+Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for 
+their trunks and they all hurried into the station. 
+
+Harry had caught the Hogwarts Express the previous 
+year. The tricky part was getting onto platform nine 
+and three-quarters, which wasn’t visible to the 
+Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through 
+the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. It 
+didn’t hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that 
+none of the Muggles noticed you vanishing. 
+
+“Percy first,” said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at 
+the clock overhead, which showed they had only five 
+minutes to disappear casually through the barrier. 
+
+Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr. 
+Weasley went next; Fred and George followed. 
+
+“I’ll take Ginny and you two come right after us,” Mrs. 
+Weasley told Harry and Ron, grabbing Ginny’s hand 
+and setting off. In the blink of an eye they were gone. 
+
+“Let’s go together, we’ve only got a minute,” Ron said 
+to Harry. 
+
+Harry made sure that Hedwig’s cage was safely 
+wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley 
+around to face the barrier. He felt perfectly confident; 
+this wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo 
+
+Page | 75 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+powder. Both of them bent low over the handles of 
+their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the 
+barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they 
+broke into a run and — 
+
+CRASH. 
+
+Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; 
+Ron’s trunk fell off with a loud thump, Harry was 
+knocked off his feet, and Hedwig’s cage bounced onto 
+the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking 
+indignantly; people all around them stared and a 
+guard nearby yelled, “What in blazes d’you think 
+you’re doing?” 
+
+“Lost control of the trolley,” Harry gasped, clutching 
+his ribs as he got up. Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who 
+was causing such a scene that there was a lot of 
+muttering about cruelty to animals from the 
+surrounding crowd. 
+
+“Why can’t we get through?” Harry hissed to Ron. 
+
+“I dunno — ” 
+
+Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people 
+were still watching them. 
+
+“We’re going to miss the train,” Ron whispered. “I 
+don’t understand why the gateway’s sealed itself — ” 
+
+Harry looked up at the giant clock with a sickening 
+feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ten seconds ... nine 
+seconds ... 
+
+He wheeled his trolley forward cautiously until it was 
+right against the barrier and pushed with all his 
+might. The metal remained solid. 
+
+
+
+Page | 76 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Three seconds ... two seconds ... one second ... 
+
+“It’s gone,” said Ron, sounding stunned. “The train’s 
+left. What if Mum and Dad can’t get back through to 
+us? Have you got any Muggle money?” 
+
+Harry gave a hollow laugh. “The Dursleys haven’t 
+given me pocket money for about six years.” 
+
+Ron pressed his ear to the cold barrier. 
+
+“Can’t hear a thing,” he said tensely. “What’re we 
+going to do? I don’t know how long it’ll take Mum and 
+Dad to get back to us.” 
+
+They looked around. People were still watching them, 
+mainly because of Hedwig’s continuing screeches. 
+
+“I think we’d better go and wait by the car,” said 
+Harry. “We’re attracting too much atten — ” 
+
+“Harry!” said Ron, his eyes gleaming. “The car!” 
+
+“What about it?” 
+
+“We can fly the car to Hogwarts!” 
+
+“But I thought — ” 
+
+“We’re stuck, right? And we’ve got to get to school, 
+haven’t we? And even underage wizards are allowed to 
+use magic if it’s a real emergency, section nineteen or 
+something of the Restriction of Thingy — ” 
+
+“But your mum and dad ...” said Harry, pushing 
+against the barrier again in the vain hope that it 
+would give way. “How will they get home?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 77 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“They don’t need the car!” said Ron impatiently. “They 
+know how to Apparate! You know, just vanish and 
+reappear at home! They only bother with Floo powder 
+and the car because we’re all underage and we’re not 
+allowed to Apparate yet. ...” 
+
+Harry’s feeling of panic turned suddenly to 
+excitement. 
+
+“Can you fly it?” 
+
+“No problem,” said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to 
+face the exit. “C’mon, let’s go. If we hurry we’ll be able 
+to follow the Hogwarts Express — ” 
+
+And they marched off through the crowd of curious 
+Muggles, out of the station and back onto the side 
+road where the old Ford Anglia was parked. 
+
+Ron unlocked the cavernous trunk with a series of 
+taps from his wand. They heaved their luggage back 
+in, put Hedwig on the back seat, and got into the 
+front. 
+
+“Check that no one’s watching,” said Ron, starting the 
+ignition with another tap of his wand. Harry stuck his 
+head out of the window: Traffic was rumbling along 
+the main road ahead, but their street was empty. 
+
+“Okay,” he said. 
+
+Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. 
+The car around them vanished — and so did they. 
+Harry could feel the seat vibrating beneath him, hear 
+the engine, feel his hands on his knees and his 
+glasses on his nose, but for all he could see, he had 
+become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the 
+ground in a dingy street full of parked cars. 
+
+
+
+Page | 78 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Let’s go,” said Ron’s voice from his right. 
+
+
+
+And the ground and the dirty buildings on either side 
+fell away, dropping out of sight as the car rose; in 
+seconds, the whole of London lay, smoky and 
+glittering, below them. 
+
+Then there was a popping noise and the car, Harry, 
+and Ron reappeared. 
+
+“Uh-oh,” said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. 
+“It’s faulty — ” 
+
+Both of them pummeled it. The car vanished. Then it 
+flickered back again. 
+
+“Hold on!” Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the 
+accelerator; they shot straight into the low, woolly 
+clouds and everything turned dull and foggy. 
+
+“Now what?” said Harry, blinking at the solid mass of 
+cloud pressing in on them from all sides. 
+
+“We need to see the train to know what direction to go 
+in,” said Ron. 
+
+“Dip back down again — quickly — ” 
+
+They dropped back beneath the clouds and twisted 
+around in their seats, squinting at the ground. 
+
+“I can see it!” Harry yelled. “Right ahead — there!” 
+
+The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below 
+them like a scarlet snake. 
+
+“Due north,” said Ron, checking the compass on the 
+dashboard. “Okay, we’ll just have to check on it every 
+half hour or so — hold on — ” 
+
+Page | 79 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And they shot up through the clouds. A minute later, 
+they burst out into a blaze of sunlight. 
+
+It was a different world. The wheels of the car 
+skimmed the sea of fluffy cloud, the sky a bright, 
+endless blue under the blinding white sun. 
+
+“All we’ve got to worry about now are airplanes,” said 
+Ron. 
+
+They looked at each other and started to laugh; for a 
+long time, they couldn’t stop. 
+
+It was as though they had been plunged into a 
+fabulous dream. This, thought Harry, was surely the 
+only way to travel — past swirls and turrets of snowy 
+cloud, in a car full of hot, bright sunlight, with a fat 
+pack of toffees in the glove compartment, and the 
+prospect of seeing Fred’s and George’s jealous faces 
+when they landed smoothly and spectacularly on the 
+sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle. 
+
+They made regular checks on the train as they flew 
+farther and farther north, each dip beneath the 
+clouds showing them a different view. London was 
+soon far behind them, replaced by neat green fields 
+that gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, a great 
+city alive with cars like multicolored ants, villages 
+with tiny toy churches. 
+
+Several uneventful hours later, however, Harry had to 
+admit that some of the fun was wearing off. The 
+toffees had made them extremely thirsty and they had 
+nothing to drink. He and Ron had pulled off their 
+sweaters, but Harry’s T-shirt was sticking to the back 
+of his seat and his glasses kept sliding down to the 
+end of his sweaty nose. He had stopped noticing the 
+fantastic cloud shapes now and was thinking 
+longingly of the train miles below, where you could 
+Page | 80 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+buy ice-cold pumpkin juice from a trolley pushed by a 
+plump witch. Why hadn’t they been able to get onto 
+platform nine and three-quarters? 
+
+“Can’t be much further, can it?” croaked Ron, hours 
+later still, as the sun started to sink into their floor of 
+cloud, staining it a deep pink. “Ready for another 
+check on the train?” 
+
+It was still right below them, winding its way past a 
+snowcapped mountain. It was much darker beneath 
+the canopy of clouds. 
+
+Ron put his foot on the accelerator and drove them 
+upward again, but as he did so, the engine began to 
+whine. 
+
+Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances. 
+
+“It’s probably just tired,” said Ron. “It’s never been 
+this far before. ...” 
+
+And they both pretended not to notice the whining 
+growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily 
+darker. Stars were blossoming in the blackness. 
+
+Harry pulled his sweater back on, trying to ignore the 
+way the windshield wipers were now waving feebly, as 
+though in protest. 
+
+“Not far,” said Ron, more to the car than to Harry, 
+
+“not far now,” and he patted the dashboard 
+nervously. 
+
+When they flew back beneath the clouds a little while 
+later, they had to squint through the darkness for a 
+landmark they knew. 
+
+“There!” Harry shouted, making Ron and Hedwig 
+jump. “Straight ahead!” 
+
+Page | 81 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over 
+the lake, stood the many turrets and towers of 
+Hogwarts castle. 
+
+But the car had begun to shudder and was losing 
+speed. 
+
+“Come on,” Ron said cajolingly, giving the steering 
+wheel a little shake, “nearly there, come on — ” 
+
+The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were 
+issuing from under the hood. Harry found himself 
+gripping the edges of his seat very hard as they flew 
+toward the lake. 
+
+The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of his 
+window, Harry saw the smooth, black, glassy surface 
+of the water, a mile below. Ron’s knuckles were white 
+on the steering wheel. The car wobbled again. 
+
+“Come on,” Ron muttered. 
+
+They were over the lake — the castle was right ahead 
+— Ron put his foot down. 
+
+There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine 
+died completely. 
+
+“Uh-oh,” said Ron, into the silence. 
+
+The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, 
+gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle 
+wall. 
+
+“IVoooooo!” Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel 
+around; they missed the dark stone wall by inches as 
+the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark 
+greenhouses, then the vegetable patch, and then out 
+over the black lawns, losing altitude all the time. 
+
+Page | 82 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled 
+his wand out of his back pocket — 
+
+
+
+“STOP! STOP!” he yelled, whacking the dashboard 
+and the windshield, but they were still plummeting, 
+the ground flying up toward them — 
+
+“WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!” Harry bellowed, 
+lunging for the steering wheel, but too late — 
+
+CRUNCH. 
+
+With an earsplitting bang of metal on wood, they hit 
+the thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a 
+heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the 
+crumpled hood; Hedwig was shrieking in terror; a 
+golf-ball-sized lump was throbbing on Harry’s head 
+where he had hit the windshield; and to his right, Ron 
+let out a low, despairing groan. 
+
+“Are you okay?” Harry said urgently. 
+
+“My wand,” said Ron, in a shaky voice. “Look at my 
+wand — ” 
+
+It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling 
+limply, held on by a few splinters. 
+
+Harry opened his mouth to say he was sure they’d be 
+able to mend it up at the school, but he never even 
+got started. At that very moment, something hit his 
+side of the car with the force of a charging bull, 
+sending him lurching sideways into Ron, just as an 
+equally heavy blow hit the roof. 
+
+“What’s happen — ?” 
+
+Ron gasped, staring through the windshield, and 
+Harry looked around just in time to see a branch as 
+
+Page | 83 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+thick as a python smash into it. The tree they had hit 
+was attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost 
+double, and its gnarled boughs were pummeling every 
+inch of the car it could reach. 
+
+“Aaargh!” said Ron as another twisted limb punched a 
+large dent into his door; the windshield was now 
+trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like 
+twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was 
+pounding furiously on the roof, which seemed to be 
+caving — 
+
+“Run for it!” Ron shouted, throwing his full weight 
+against his door, but next second he had been 
+knocked backward into Harry’s lap by a vicious 
+uppercut from another branch. 
+
+“We’re done for!” he moaned as the ceiling sagged, but 
+suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating — the 
+engine had restarted. 
+
+“Reverse!” Harry yelled, and the car shot backward; 
+the tree was still trying to hit them; they could hear 
+its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing 
+out at them as they sped out of reach. 
+
+“That,” panted Ron, “was close. Well done, car — ” 
+
+The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. 
+With two sharp clunks, the doors flew open and Harry 
+felt his seat tip sideways: Next thing he knew he was 
+sprawled on the damp ground. Loud thuds told him 
+that the car was ejecting their luggage from the trunk; 
+Hedwig’s cage flew through the air and burst open; 
+she rose out of it with an angry screech and sped off 
+toward the castle without a backward look. Then, 
+dented, scratched, and steaming, the car rumbled off 
+into the darkness, its rear lights blazing angrily. 
+
+
+
+Page | 84 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Come back!” Ron yelled after it, brandishing his 
+broken wand. “Dad’ll kill me!” 
+
+But the car disappeared from view with one last snort 
+from its exhaust. 
+
+“Can you believe our luck?” said Ron miserably, 
+bending down to pick up Scabbers. “Of all the trees 
+we could’ve hit, we had to get one that hits back.” 
+
+He glanced over his shoulder at the ancient tree, 
+which was still flailing its branches threateningly. 
+
+“Come on,” said Harry wearily, “we’d better get up to 
+the school. ...” 
+
+It wasn’t at all the triumphant arrival they had 
+pictured. Stiff, cold, and bruised, they seized the ends 
+of their trunks and began dragging them up the 
+grassy slope, toward the great oak front doors. 
+
+“I think the feast’s already started,” said Ron, 
+dropping his trunk at the foot of the front steps and 
+crossing quietly to look through a brightly lit window. 
+“Hey — Harry — come and look — it’s the Sorting!” 
+
+Harry hurried over and, together, he and Ron peered 
+in at the Great Hall. 
+
+Innumerable candles were hovering in midair over 
+four long, crowded tables, making the golden plates 
+and goblets sparkle. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling, 
+which always mirrored the sky outside, sparkled with 
+stars. 
+
+Through the forest of pointed black Hogwarts hats, 
+Harry saw a long line of scared-looking first years 
+filing into the Hall. Ginny was among them, easily 
+visible because of her vivid Weasley hair. Meanwhile, 
+
+Page | 85 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Professor McGonagall, a bespectacled witch with her 
+hair in a tight bun, was placing the famous Hogwarts 
+Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers. 
+
+Every year, this aged old hat, patched, frayed, and 
+dirty, sorted new students into the four Hogwarts 
+houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and 
+Slytherin). Harry well remembered putting it on, 
+exactly one year ago, and waiting, petrified, for its 
+decision as it muttered aloud in his ear. For a few 
+horrible seconds he had feared that the hat was going 
+to put him in Slytherin, the House that had turned 
+out more Dark witches and wizards than any other — 
+but he had ended up in Gryffindor, along with Ron, 
+Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. Last term, 
+Harry and Ron had helped Gryffindor win the House 
+Championship, beating Slytherin for the first time in 
+seven years. 
+
+A very small, mousy-haired boy had been called 
+forward to place the hat on his head. Harry’s eyes 
+wandered past him to where Professor Dumbledore, 
+the headmaster, sat watching the Sorting from the 
+staff table, his long silver beard and half-moon 
+glasses shining brightly in the candlelight. Several 
+seats along, Harry saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in 
+robes of aquamarine. And there at the end was 
+Hagrid, huge and hairy, drinking deeply from his 
+goblet. 
+
+“Hang on ...” Harry muttered to Ron. “There’s an 
+empty chair at the staff table. ... Where’s Snape?” 
+
+Professor Severus Snape was Harry’s least favorite 
+teacher. Harry also happened to be Snape ’s least 
+favorite student. Cruel, sarcastic, and disliked by 
+everybody except the students from his own House 
+(Slytherin), Snape taught Potions. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Maybe he’s ill!” said Ron hopefully. 
+
+“Maybe he’s left,” said Harry, “because he missed out 
+on the Defense Against the Dark Arts job again).” 
+
+“Or he might have been sacked).” said Ron 
+enthusiastically. “I mean, everyone hates him — ” 
+
+“Or maybe,” said a very cold voice right behind them, 
+“he’s waiting to hear why you two didn’t arrive on the 
+school train.” 
+
+Harry spun around. There, his black robes rippling in 
+a cold breeze, stood Severus Snape. He was a thin 
+man with sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy, 
+shoulder-length black hair, and at this moment, he 
+was smiling in a way that told Harry he and Ron were 
+in very deep trouble. 
+
+“Follow me,” said Snape. 
+
+Not daring even to look at each other, Harry and Ron 
+followed Snape up the steps into the vast, echoing 
+entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches. A 
+delicious smell of food was wafting from the Great 
+Hall, but Snape led them away from the warmth and 
+light, down a narrow stone staircase that led into the 
+dungeons. 
+
+“In!” he said, opening a door halfway down the cold 
+passageway and pointing. 
+
+They entered Snape’s office, shivering. The shadowy 
+walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars, in 
+which floated all manner of revolting things Harry 
+didn’t really want to know the name of at the 
+moment. The fireplace was dark and empty. Snape 
+closed the door and turned to look at them. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“So,” he said softly, “the train isn’t good enough for 
+the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekick, 
+Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we, boys?” 
+
+“No, sir, it was the barrier at King’s Cross, it — ” 
+
+“Silence!” said Snape coldly. “What have you done 
+with the car?” 
+
+Ron gulped. This wasn’t the first time Snape had 
+given Harry the impression of being able to read 
+minds. But a moment later, he understood, as Snape 
+unrolled today’s issue of the Evening Prophet 
+
+“You were seen,” he hissed, showing them the 
+headline: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES 
+MUGGLES. He began to read aloud: “Two Muggles in 
+London, convinced they saw an old car flying over the 
+Post Office tower ... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty 
+Bayliss, while hanging out her washing ... Mr. Angus 
+Fleet, of Peebles, reported to police ... Six or seven 
+Muggles in all. I believe your father works in the 
+Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?” he said, looking 
+up at Ron and smiling still more nastily. “Dear, dear 
+... his own son ...” 
+
+Harry felt as though he’d just been walloped in the 
+stomach by one of the mad tree’s larger branches. If 
+anyone found out Mr. Weasley had bewitched the car 
+...he hadn’t thought of that. ... 
+
+“I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable 
+damage seems to have been done to a very valuable 
+Whomping Willow,” Snape went on. 
+
+“That tree did more damage to us than we — ” Ron 
+blurted out. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Silence!” snapped Snape again. “Most unfortunately, 
+you are not in my House and the decision to expel 
+you does not rest with me. I shall go and fetch the 
+people who do have that happy power. You will wait 
+here.” 
+
+Harry and Ron stared at each other, white-faced. 
+Harry didn’t feel hungry anymore. He now felt 
+extremely sick. He tried not to look at a large, slimy 
+something suspended in green liquid on a shelf 
+behind Snape ’s desk. If Snape had gone to fetch 
+Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, they 
+were hardly any better off. She might be fairer than 
+Snape, but she was still extremely strict. 
+
+Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough 
+it was Professor McGonagall who accompanied him. 
+Harry had seen Professor McGonagall angry on 
+several occasions, but either he had forgotten just 
+how thin her mouth could go, or he had never seen 
+her this angry before. She raised her wand the 
+moment she entered; Harry and Ron both flinched, 
+but she merely pointed it at the empty fireplace, 
+where flames suddenly erupted. 
+
+“Sit,” she said, and they both backed into chairs by 
+the fire. 
+
+“Explain,” she said, her glasses glinting ominously. 
+
+Ron launched into the story, starting with the barrier 
+at the station refusing to let them through. 
+
+“ — so we had no choice, Professor, we couldn’t get on 
+the train.” 
+
+“Why didn’t you send us a letter by owl? I believe you 
+have an owl?” Professor McGonagall said coldly to 
+Harry. 
+
+Page | 89 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry gaped at her. Now she’d said it, that seemed 
+the obvious thing to have done. 
+
+
+
+“I — I didn’t think — ” 
+
+“That,” said Professor McGonagall, “is obvious.” 
+
+There was a knock on the office door and Snape, now 
+looking happier than ever, opened it. There stood the 
+headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. 
+
+Harry’s whole body went numb. Dumbledore was 
+looking unusually grave. He stared down his very 
+crooked nose at them, and Harry suddenly found 
+himself wishing he and Ron were still being beaten up 
+by the Whomping Willow. 
+
+There was a long silence. Then Dumbledore said, 
+“Please explain why you did this.” 
+
+It would have been better if he had shouted. Harry 
+hated the disappointment in his voice. For some 
+reason, he was unable to look Dumbledore in the 
+eyes, and spoke instead to his knees. He told 
+Dumbledore everything except that Mr. Weasley 
+owned the bewitched car, making it sound as though 
+he and Ron had happened to find a flying car parked 
+outside the station. He knew Dumbledore would see 
+through this at once, but Dumbledore asked no 
+questions about the car. When Harry had finished, he 
+merely continued to peer at them through his 
+spectacles. 
+
+“Well go and get our stuff,” said Ron in a hopeless 
+sort of voice. 
+
+“What are you talking about, Weasley?” barked 
+Professor McGonagall. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, you’re expelling us, aren’t you?” said Ron. 
+
+Harry looked quickly at Dumbledore. 
+
+“Not today, Mr. Weasley,” said Dumbledore. “But I 
+must impress upon both of you the seriousness of 
+what you have done. I will be writing to both your 
+families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do 
+anything like this again, I will have no choice but to 
+expel you.” 
+
+Snape looked as though Christmas had been 
+canceled. He cleared his throat and said, “Professor 
+Dumbledore, these boys have flouted the Decree for 
+the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious 
+damage to an old and valuable tree — surely acts of 
+this nature — ” 
+
+“It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these 
+boys’ punishments, Severus,” said Dumbledore 
+calmly. “They are in her House and are therefore her 
+responsibility.” He turned to Professor McGonagall. “I 
+must go back to the feast, Minerva, I’ve got to give out 
+a few notices. Come, Severus, there’s a delicious- 
+looking custard tart I want to sample — ” 
+
+Snape shot a look of pure venom at Harry and Ron as 
+he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, 
+leaving them alone with Professor McGonagall, who 
+was still eyeing them like a wrathful eagle. 
+
+“You’d better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, 
+you’re bleeding.” 
+
+“Not much,” said Ron, hastily wiping the cut over his 
+eye with his sleeve. “Professor, I wanted to watch my 
+sister being Sorted — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The Sorting Ceremony is over,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “Your sister is also in Gryffindor.” 
+
+“Oh, good,” said Ron. 
+
+“And speaking of Gryffindor — ” Professor McGonagall 
+said sharply, but Harry cut in: “Professor, when we 
+took the car, term hadn’t started, so — so Gryffindor 
+shouldn’t really have points taken from it — should 
+it?” he finished, watching her anxiously. 
+
+Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, but 
+he was sure she had almost smiled. Her mouth 
+looked less thin, anyway. 
+
+“I will not take any points from Gryffindor,” she said, 
+and Harry’s heart lightened considerably. “But you 
+will both get a detention.” 
+
+It was better than Harry had expected. As for 
+Dumbledore’s writing to the Dursleys, that was 
+nothing. Harry knew perfectly well they’d just be 
+disappointed that the Whomping Willow hadn’t 
+squashed him flat. 
+
+Professor McGonagall raised her wand again and 
+pointed it at Snape’s desk. A large plate of 
+sandwiches, two silver goblets, and a jug of iced 
+pumpkin juice appeared with a pop. 
+
+“You will eat in here and then go straight up to your 
+dormitory,” she said. “I must also return to the feast.” 
+
+When the door had closed behind her, Ron let out a 
+long, low whistle. 
+
+“I thought we’d had it,” he said, grabbing a sandwich. 
+
+“So did I,” said Harry, taking one, too. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Can you believe our luck, though?” said Ron thickly 
+through a mouthful of chicken and ham. “Fred and 
+George must’ve flown that car five or six times and no 
+Muggle ever saw them.” He swallowed and took 
+another huge bite. “Why couldn’t we get through the 
+barrier?” 
+
+Harry shrugged. “We’ll have to watch our step from 
+now on, though,” he said, taking a grateful swig of 
+pumpkin juice. “Wish we could’ve gone up to the 
+feast. ...” 
+
+“She didn’t want us showing off,” said Ron sagely. 
+“Doesn’t want people to think it’s clever, arriving by 
+flying car.” 
+
+When they had eaten as many sandwiches as they 
+could (the plate kept refilling itself), they rose and left 
+the office, treading the familiar path to Gryffindor 
+Tower. The castle was quiet; it seemed that the feast 
+was over. They walked past muttering portraits and 
+creaking suits of armor, and climbed narrow flights of 
+stone stairs, until at last they reached the passage 
+where the secret entrance to Gryffindor Tower was 
+hidden, behind an oil painting of a very fat woman in 
+a pink silk dress. 
+
+“Password?” she said as they approached. 
+
+“Er — ” said Harry. 
+
+They didn’t know the new year’s password, not having 
+met a Gryffindor prefect yet, but help came almost 
+immediately; they heard hurrying feet behind them 
+and turned to see Hermione dashing toward them. 
+
+“There you are! Where have you been? The most 
+ridiculous rumors — someone said you’d been 
+expelled for crashing a flying car — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, we haven’t been expelled,” Harry assured her. 
+
+
+
+“You’re not telling me you did fly here?” said 
+Hermione, sounding almost as severe as Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“Skip the lecture,” said Ron impatiently, “and tell us 
+the new password.” 
+
+“It’s ‘wattlebird,’ ” said Hermione impatiently, “but 
+that’s not the point — ” 
+
+Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of 
+the fat lady swung open and there was a sudden 
+storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of 
+Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the 
+circular common room, standing on the lopsided 
+tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to 
+arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull 
+Harry and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to scramble 
+in after them. 
+
+“Brilliant!” yelled Lee Jordan. “Inspired! What an 
+entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping 
+Willow, people’ll be talking about that one for years — 
+
+
+
+“Good for you,” said a fifth year Harry had never 
+spoken to; someone was patting him on the back as 
+though he’d just won a marathon; Fred and George 
+pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said 
+together, “Why couldn’t we’ve come in the car, eh?” 
+Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, 
+but Harry could see one person who didn’t look happy 
+at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some 
+excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get 
+near enough to start telling them off. Harry nudged 
+Ron in the ribs and nodded in Percy’s direction. Ron 
+got the point at once. 
+
+Page | 94 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Got to get upstairs — bit tired,” he said, and the two 
+of them started pushing their way toward the door on 
+the other side of the room, which led to a spiral 
+staircase and the dormitories. 
+
+“ ’Night,” Harry called back to Hermione, who was 
+wearing a scowl just like Percy’s. 
+
+They managed to get to the other side of the common 
+room, still having their backs slapped, and gained the 
+peace of the staircase. They hurried up it, right to the 
+top, and at last reached the door of their old 
+dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying 
+SECOND YEARS. They entered the familiar, circular 
+room, with its five four-posters hung with red velvet 
+and its high, narrow windows. Their trunks had been 
+brought up for them and stood at the ends of their 
+beds. 
+
+Ron grinned guiltily at Harry. 
+
+“I know I shouldn’t ’ve enjoyed that or anything, but — 
+
+
+
+The dormitory door flew open and in came the other 
+second year Gryffindor boys, Seamus Finnigan, Dean 
+Thomas, and Neville Longbottom. 
+
+“Unbelievablel” beamed Seamus. 
+
+“Cool,” said Dean. 
+
+“Amazing,” said Neville, awestruck. 
+
+Harry couldn’t help it. He grinned, too. 
+
+
+
+Page | 95 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+6 
+
+
+
+
+GILDEROY LOCKHART 
+
+The next day, however, Harry barely grinned once. 
+Things started to go downhill from breakfast in the 
+Great Hall. The four long House tables were laden 
+with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains 
+of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, beneath the 
+enchanted ceiling (today, a dull, cloudy gray). Harry 
+and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor table next to 
+Hermione, who had her copy of Voyages with 
+Vampires propped open against a milk jug. There was 
+a slight stiffness in the way she said “ ’Morning,” 
+which told Harry that she was still disapproving of the 
+way they had arrived. Neville Longbottom, on the 
+other hand, greeted them cheerfully. Neville was a 
+round-faced and accident-prone boy with the worst 
+memory of anyone Harry had ever met. 
+
+“Mail’s due any minute — I think Gran’s sending a 
+few things I forgot.” 
+
+Harry had only just started his porridge when, sure 
+enough, there was a rushing sound overhead and a 
+hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and 
+
+Page | 96 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+dropping letters and packages into the chattering 
+crowd. A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville’s 
+head and, a second later, something large and gray 
+fell into Hermione’s jug, spraying them all with milk 
+and feathers. 
+
+“Errol\” said Ron, pulling the bedraggled owl out by 
+the feet. Errol slumped, unconscious, onto the table, 
+his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his 
+beak. 
+
+“Oh, no — ” Ron gasped. 
+
+“It’s all right, he’s still alive,” said Hermione, prodding 
+Errol gently with the tip of her finger. 
+
+“It’s not that — it’s that.” 
+
+Ron was pointing at the red envelope. It looked quite 
+ordinary to Harry, but Ron and Neville were both 
+looking at it as though they expected it to explode. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” said Harry. 
+
+“She’s — she’s sent me a Howler,” said Ron faintly. 
+
+“You’d better open it, Ron,” said Neville in a timid 
+whisper. “It’ll be worse if you don’t. My gran sent me 
+one once, and I ignored it and” — he gulped — “it was 
+horrible.” 
+
+Harry looked from their petrified faces to the red 
+envelope. 
+
+“What’s a Howler?” he said. 
+
+But Ron’s whole attention was fixed on the letter, 
+which had begun to smoke at the corners. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Open it,” Neville urged. “It’ll all be over in a few 
+minutes — ” 
+
+Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope 
+from Errol’s beak, and slit it open. Neville stuffed his 
+fingers in his ears. A split second later, Harry knew 
+why. He thought for a moment it had exploded; a roar 
+of sound filled the huge hall, shaking dust from the 
+ceiling. 
+
+“— STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN 
+SURPRISED IF THEY’D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT 
+TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON’T SUPPOSE YOU 
+STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I 
+WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE — ” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley’s yells, a hundred times louder than 
+usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, 
+and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People 
+throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who 
+had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his 
+chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen. 
+
+“— LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I 
+THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, 
+
+WE DIDN’T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, 
+YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED — ” 
+
+Harry had been wondering when his name was going 
+to crop up. He tried very hard to look as though he 
+couldn’t hear the voice that was making his eardrums 
+throb. 
+
+“— ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER’S 
+FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT’S ENTIRELY YOUR 
+FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE 
+WE’LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 98 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had 
+dropped from Ron’s hand, burst into flames and 
+curled into ashes. Harry and Ron sat stunned, as 
+though a tidal wave had just passed over them. A few 
+people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke 
+out again. 
+
+Hermione closed Voyages with Vampires and looked 
+down at the top of Ron’s head. 
+
+“Well, I don’t know what you expected, Ron, but you 
+
+
+
+“Don’t tell me I deserved it,” snapped Ron. 
+
+Harry pushed his porridge away. His insides were 
+burning with guilt. Mr. Weasley was facing an inquiry 
+at work. After all Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had done for 
+him over the summer . . . 
+
+But he had no time to dwell on this; Professor 
+McGonagall was moving along the Gryffindor table, 
+handing out course schedules. Harry took his and 
+saw that they had double Herbology with the 
+Hufflepuffs first. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together, 
+crossed the vegetable patch, and made for the 
+greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. At 
+least the Howler had done one good thing: Hermione 
+seemed to think they had now been punished enough 
+and was being perfectly friendly again. 
+
+As they neared the greenhouses they saw the rest of 
+the class standing outside, waiting for Professor 
+Sprout. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had only just 
+joined them when she came striding into view across 
+the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart. 
+
+Professor Sprout’s arms were full of bandages, and 
+Page | 99 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+with another twinge of guilt, Harry spotted the 
+Whomping Willow in the distance, several of its 
+branches now in slings. 
+
+Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a 
+patched hat over her flyaway hair; there was usually 
+a large amount of earth on her clothes and her 
+fingernails would have made Aunt Petunia faint. 
+Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in 
+sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining 
+under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold 
+trimming. 
+
+“Oh, hello there!” he called, beaming around at the 
+
+assembled students. “Just been showing Professor 
+
+Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! 
+
+But I don’t want you running away with the idea that 
+
+I’m better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to 
+
+have met several of these exotic plants on my travels 
+?? 
+
+
+
+“Greenhouse three today, chaps!” said Professor 
+Sprout, who was looking distinctly disgruntled, not at 
+all her usual cheerful self. 
+
+There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever 
+worked in greenhouse one before — greenhouse three 
+housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. 
+Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and 
+unlocked the door. Harry caught a whiff of damp 
+earth and fertilizer mingling with the heavy perfume 
+of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from 
+the ceiling. He was about to follow Ron and Hermione 
+inside when Lockhart’s hand shot out. 
+
+“Harry! I’ve been wanting a word — you don’t mind if 
+he’s a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor 
+Sprout?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 100 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Judging by Professor Sprout’s scowl, she did mind, 
+but Lockhart said, “That’s the ticket,” and closed the 
+greenhouse door in her face. 
+
+“Harry,” said Lockhart, his large white teeth gleaming 
+in the sunlight as he shook his head. “Harry, Harry, 
+Harry.” 
+
+Completely nonplussed, Harry said nothing. 
+
+“When I heard — well, of course, it was all my fault. 
+Could have kicked myself.” 
+
+Harry had no idea what he was talking about. He was 
+about to say so when Lockhart went on, “Don’t know 
+when I’ve been more shocked. Flying a car to 
+Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you’d 
+done it. Stood out a mile. Harry, Harry, Harry.” 
+
+It was remarkable how he could show every one of 
+those brilliant teeth even when he wasn’t talking. 
+
+“Gave you a taste for publicity, didn’t I?” said 
+Lockhart. “Gave you the bug. You got onto the front 
+page of the paper with me and you couldn’t wait to do 
+it again.” 
+
+“Oh, no, Professor, see — ” 
+
+“Harry, Harry, Harry,” said Lockhart, reaching out 
+and grasping his shoulder. “I understand. Natural to 
+want a bit more once you’ve had that first taste — 
+and I blame myself for giving you that, because it was 
+bound to go to your head — but see here, young man, 
+you can’t start flying cars to try and get yourself 
+noticed. Just calm down, all right? Plenty of time for 
+all that when you’re older. Yes, yes, I know what 
+you’re thinking! ‘It’s all right for him, he’s an 
+internationally famous wizard already! ’ But when I 
+Page | 101 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are 
+now. In fact, I’d say I was even more of a nobody! I 
+mean, a few people have heard of you, haven’t they? 
+All that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!” 
+He glanced at the lightning scar on Harry’s forehead. 
+
+“I know, I know — it’s not quite as good as winning 
+Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award five 
+times in a row, as I have — but it’s a start, Harry, it’s 
+a start” 
+
+He gave Harry a hearty wink and strode off. Harry 
+stood stunned for a few seconds, then, remembering 
+he was supposed to be in the greenhouse, he opened 
+the door and slid inside. 
+
+Professor Sprout was standing behind a trestle bench 
+in the center of the greenhouse. About twenty pairs of 
+different-colored ear-muffs were lying on the bench. 
+When Harry had taken his place between Ron and 
+Hermione, she said, “We’ll be repotting Mandrakes 
+today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the 
+Mandrake?” 
+
+To nobody’s surprise, Hermione’s hand was first into 
+the air. 
+
+“Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative,” 
+said Hermione, sounding as usual as though she had 
+swallowed the textbook. “It is used to return people 
+who have been transfigured or cursed to their original 
+state.” 
+
+“Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor,” said Professor 
+Sprout. “The Mandrake forms an essential part of 
+most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who 
+can tell me why?” 
+
+Hermione’s hand narrowly missed Harry’s glasses as 
+it shot up again. 
+
+Page | 102 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears 
+it,” she said promptly. 
+
+“Precisely. Take another ten points,” said Professor 
+Sprout. “Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still 
+very young.” 
+
+She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and 
+everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred 
+or so tufty little plants, purplish green in color, were 
+growing there in rows. They looked quite 
+unremarkable to Harry, who didn’t have the slightest 
+idea what Hermione meant by the “cry” of the 
+Mandrake. 
+
+“Everyone take a pair of earmuffs,” said Professor 
+Sprout. 
+
+There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair 
+that wasn’t pink and fluffy. 
+
+“When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears 
+are completely covered,” said Professor Sprout. “When 
+it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs- 
+up. Right — earmuffs on.” 
+
+Harry snapped the earmuffs over his ears. They shut 
+out sound completely. Professor Sprout put the pink, 
+fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of 
+her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and 
+pulled hard. 
+
+Harry let out a gasp of surprise that no one could 
+hear. 
+
+Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly 
+baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were 
+growing right out of his head. He had pale green, 
+
+
+
+Page | 103 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his 
+lungs. 
+
+Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under 
+the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying 
+him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted 
+leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her 
+hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed 
+her own earmuffs. 
+
+“As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries 
+won’t kill yet,” she said calmly as though she’d just 
+done nothing more exciting than water a begonia. 
+“However, they will knock you out for several hours, 
+and as I’m sure none of you want to miss your first 
+day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in 
+place while you work. I will attract your attention 
+when it is time to pack up. 
+
+“Four to a tray — there is a large supply of pots here 
+
+— compost in the sacks over there — and be careful 
+of the Venomous Tentacula, it’s teething.” 
+
+She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as 
+she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had 
+been inching sneakily over her shoulder. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione were joined at their tray by 
+a curly-haired Hufflepuff boy Harry knew by sight but 
+had never spoken to. 
+
+“Justin Finch-Fletchley,” he said brightly, shaking 
+Harry by the hand. “Know who you are, of course, the 
+famous Harry Potter. ... And you’re Hermione Granger 
+
+— always top in everything” (Hermione beamed as she 
+had her hand shaken too) “ — and Ron Weasley. 
+Wasn’t that your flying car?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 104 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron didn’t smile. The Howler was obviously still on 
+his mind. 
+
+��That Lockhart’s something, isn’t he?” said Justin 
+happily as they began filling their plant pots with 
+dragon dung compost. “Awfully brave chap. Have you 
+read his books? I’d have died of fear if I’d been 
+cornered in a telephone booth by a werewolf, but he 
+stayed cool and — zap — just fantastic. 
+
+“My name was down for Eton, you know. I can’t tell 
+you how glad I am I came here instead. Of course, 
+Mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made 
+her read Lockhart’s books I think she’s begun to see 
+how useful it’ll be to have a fully trained wizard in the 
+family. ...” 
+
+After that they didn’t have much chance to talk. Their 
+earmuffs were back on and they needed to 
+concentrate on the Mandrakes. Professor Sprout had 
+made it look extremely easy, but it wasn’t. The 
+Mandrakes didn’t like coming out of the earth, but 
+didn’t seem to want to go back into it either. They 
+squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists, and 
+gnashed their teeth; Harry spent ten whole minutes 
+trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot. 
+
+By the end of the class, Harry, like everyone else, was 
+sweaty, aching, and covered in earth. Everyone 
+traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash and then 
+the Gryffindors hurried off to Transfiguration. 
+
+Professor McGonagall’s classes were always hard 
+work, but today was especially difficult. Everything 
+Harry had learned last year seemed to have leaked 
+out of his head during the summer. He was supposed 
+to be turning a beetle into a button, but all he 
+managed to do was give his beetle a lot of exercise as 
+it scuttled over the desktop avoiding his wand. 
+
+Page | 105 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron was having far worse problems. He had patched 
+up his wand with some borrowed Spellotape, but it 
+seemed to be damaged beyond repair. It kept 
+crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every 
+time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle it engulfed 
+him in thick gray smoke that smelled of rotten eggs. 
+Unable to see what he was doing, Ron accidentally 
+squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for 
+a new one. Professor McGonagall wasn’t pleased. 
+
+Harry was relieved to hear the lunch bell. His brain 
+felt like a wrung sponge. Everyone filed out of the 
+classroom except him and Ron, who was whacking 
+his wand furiously on the desk. 
+
+“Stupid — useless — thing — ” 
+
+“Write home for another one,” Harry suggested as the 
+wand let off a volley of bangs like a firecracker. 
+
+“Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back,” said Ron, 
+stuffing the now hissing wand into his bag. “ ‘It’s your 
+own fault your wand got snapped — ’ ” 
+
+They went down to lunch, where Ron’s mood was not 
+improved by Hermione’s showing them the handful of 
+perfect coat buttons she had produced in 
+T ransfiguration . 
+
+“What’ve we got this afternoon?” said Harry, hastily 
+changing the subject. 
+
+“Defense Against the Dark Arts,” said Hermione at 
+once. 
+
+“Why,” demanded Ron, seizing her schedule, “have 
+you outlined all Lockhart’s lessons in little hearts?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 106 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione snatched the schedule back, blushing 
+furiously. 
+
+They finished lunch and went outside into the 
+overcast courtyard. Hermione sat down on a stone 
+step and buried her nose in Voyages with Vampires 
+again. Harry and Ron stood talking about Quidditch 
+for several minutes before Harry became aware that 
+he was being closely watched. Looking up, he saw the 
+very small, mousy-haired boy he’d seen trying on the 
+Sorting Hat last night staring at Harry as though 
+transfixed. He was clutching what looked like an 
+ordinary Muggle camera, and the moment Harry 
+looked at him, he went bright red. 
+
+“All right, Harry? I’m — I’m Colin Creevey,” he said 
+breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. “I’m in 
+Gryffindor, too. D’you think — would it be all right if 
+— can I have a picture?” he said, raising the camera 
+hopefully. 
+
+“A picture?” Harry repeated blankly. 
+
+“So I can prove I’ve met you,” said Colin Creevey 
+eagerly, edging further forward. “I know all about you. 
+Everyone’s told me. About how you survived when 
+You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he 
+disappeared and everything and how you’ve still got a 
+lightning scar on your forehead” (his eyes raked 
+Harry’s hairline) “and a boy in my dormitory said if I 
+develop the film in the right potion, the pictures’ll 
+move.” Colin drew a great shuddering breath of 
+excitement and said, “It’s amazing here, isn’t it? I 
+never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I 
+got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad’s a milkman, he 
+couldn’t believe it either. So I’m taking loads of 
+pictures to send home to him. And it’d be really good 
+if I had one of you” — he looked imploringly at Harry 
+
+
+
+Page | 107 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+— “maybe your friend could take it and I could stand 
+next to you? And then, could you sign it?” 
+
+“ Signed photos? You’re giving out signed photos, 
+Potter?” 
+
+Loud and scathing, Draco Malfoy’s voice echoed 
+around the courtyard. He had stopped right behind 
+Colin, flanked, as he always was at Hogwarts, by his 
+large and thuggish cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. 
+
+“Everyone line up!” Malfoy roared to the crowd. “Harry 
+Potter’s giving out signed photos!” 
+
+“No, I’m not,” said Harry angrily, his fists clenching. 
+“Shut up, Malfoy.” 
+
+“You’re just jealous,” piped up Colin, whose entire 
+body was about as thick as Crabbe ’s neck. 
+
+“Jealous?” said Malfoy, who didn’t need to shout 
+anymore: Half the courtyard was listening in. “Of 
+what? I don’t want a foul scar right across my head, 
+thanks. I don’t think getting your head cut open 
+makes you that special, myself.” 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering stupidly. 
+
+“Eat slugs, Malfoy,” said Ron angrily. Crabbe stopped 
+laughing and started rubbing his knuckles in a 
+menacing way. 
+
+“Be careful, Weasley,” sneered Malfoy. “You don’t 
+want to start any trouble or your mommy’ll have to 
+come and take you away from school.” He put on a 
+shrill, piercing voice. “If you put another toe out of line 
+
+
+
+Page | 108 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A knot of Slytherin fifth years nearby laughed loudly 
+at this. 
+
+“Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter,” smirked 
+Malfoy. “It’d be worth more than his family’s whole 
+house — ” 
+
+Ron whipped out his Spellotaped wand, but Hermione 
+shut Voyages with Vampires with a snap and 
+whispered, “Look out!” 
+
+“What’s all this, what’s all this?” Gilderoy Lockhart 
+was striding toward them, his turquoise robes 
+swirling behind him. “Who’s giving out signed 
+photos?” 
+
+Harry started to speak but he was cut short as 
+Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and 
+thundered jovially, “Shouldn’t have asked! We meet 
+again, Harry!” 
+
+Pinned to Lockhart’s side and burning with 
+humiliation, Harry saw Malfoy slide smirking back 
+into the crowd. 
+
+“Come on then, Mr. Creevey,” said Lockhart, beaming 
+at Colin. “A double portrait, can’t do better than that, 
+and well both sign it for you.” 
+
+Colin fumbled for his camera and took the picture as 
+the bell rang behind them, signaling the start of 
+afternoon classes. 
+
+“Off you go, move along there,” Lockhart called to the 
+crowd, and he set off back to the castle with Harry, 
+who was wishing he knew a good Vanishing Spell, 
+still clasped to his side. 
+
+
+
+Page | 109 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“A word to the wise, Harry,” said Lockhart paternally 
+as they entered the building through a side door. “I 
+covered up for you back there with young Creevey — 
+if he was photographing me, too, your schoolmates 
+won’t think you’re setting yourself up so much. ...” 
+
+Deaf to Harry’s stammers, Lockhart swept him down 
+a corridor lined with staring students and up a 
+staircase. 
+
+“Let me just say that handing out signed pictures at 
+this stage of your career isn’t sensible — looks a tad 
+bigheaded, Harry, to be frank. There may well come a 
+time when, like me, you’ll need to keep a stack handy 
+wherever you go, but” — he gave a little chortle — “I 
+don’t think you’re quite there yet.” 
+
+They had reached Lockhart’s classroom and he let 
+Harry go at last. Harry yanked his robes straight and 
+headed for a seat at the very back of the class, where 
+he busied himself with piling all seven of Lockhart’s 
+books in front of him, so that he could avoid looking 
+at the real thing. 
+
+The rest of the class came clattering in, and Ron and 
+Hermione sat down on either side of Harry. 
+
+“You could’ve fried an egg on your face,” said Ron. 
+“You’d better hope Creevey doesn’t meet Ginny, or 
+they’ll be starting a Harry Potter fan club.” 
+
+“Shut up,” snapped Harry. The last thing he needed 
+was for Lockhart to hear the phrase “Harry Potter fan 
+club.” 
+
+When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared 
+his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, 
+picked up Neville Longbottom’s copy of Travels with 
+
+
+
+Page | 110 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking 
+portrait on the front. 
+
+“Me,” he said, pointing at it and winking as well. 
+“Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, 
+Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, 
+and five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most- 
+Charming- Smile Award — but I don’t talk about that. 
+I didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at 
+her!” 
+
+He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled 
+weakly. 
+
+“I see you’ve all bought a complete set of my books — 
+well done. I thought we’d start today with a little quiz. 
+Nothing to worry about — just to check how well 
+you’ve read them, how much you’ve taken in — ” 
+
+When he had handed out the test papers he returned 
+to the front of the class and said, “You have thirty 
+minutes — start — now\” 
+
+Harry looked down at his paper and read: 
+
+1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s favorite color? 
+
+2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s secret ambition? 
+
+3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart’s 
+greatest achievement to date? 
+
+On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right 
+down to: 
+
+54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart’s birthday, and what 
+would his ideal gift be? 
+
+
+
+Page | 111 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and 
+rifled through them in front of the class. 
+
+“Tut, tut — hardly any of you remembered that my 
+favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti. 
+
+And a few of you need to read Wanderings with 
+Werewolves more carefully — I clearly state in 
+chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be 
+harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples — 
+though I wouldn’t say no to a large bottle of Ogden’s 
+Old Firewhisky!” 
+
+He gave them another roguish wink. Ron was now 
+staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on 
+his face; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who 
+were sitting in front, were shaking with silent 
+laughter. Hermione, on the other hand, was listening 
+to Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when 
+he mentioned her name. 
+
+"... but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret 
+ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my 
+own range of hair-care potions — good girl! In fact” — 
+he flipped her paper over — “full marks! Where is 
+Miss Hermione Granger?” 
+
+Hermione raised a trembling hand. 
+
+“Excellent!” beamed Lockhart. “Quite excellent! Take 
+ten points for Gryffindor! And so — to business — ” 
+
+He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, 
+covered cage onto it. 
+
+“Now — be warned! It is my job to arm you against 
+the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may 
+find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. 
+Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am 
+here. All I ask is that you remain calm.” 
+
+Page | 112 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+In spite of himself, Harry leaned around his pile of 
+books for a better look at the cage. Lockhart placed a 
+hand on the cover. Dean and Seamus had stopped 
+laughing now. Neville was cowering in his front row 
+seat. 
+
+“I must ask you not to scream,” said Lockhart in a 
+low voice. “It might provoke them.” 
+
+As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped 
+off the cover. 
+
+“Yes,” he said dramatically. “ Freshly caught Cornish 
+pixies.” 
+
+Seamus Finnigan couldn’t control himself. He let out 
+a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn’t 
+mistake for a scream of terror. 
+
+“Yes?” He smiled at Seamus. 
+
+“Well, they’re not — they’re not very — dangerous, are 
+they?” Seamus choked. 
+
+“Don’t be so sure!” said Lockhart, waggling a finger 
+annoyingly at Seamus. “Devilish tricky little blighters 
+they can be!” 
+
+The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches 
+high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was 
+like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment 
+the cover had been removed, they had started 
+jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and 
+making bizarre faces at the people nearest them. 
+
+“Right, then,” Lockhart said loudly. “Let’s see what 
+you make of them!” And he opened the cage. 
+
+
+
+Page | 113 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every 
+direction like rockets. Two of them seized Neville by 
+the ears and lifted him into the air. Several shot 
+straight through the window, showering the back row 
+with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the 
+classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. 
+They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with 
+them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from 
+the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags 
+and books and threw them out of the smashed 
+window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering 
+under desks and Neville was swinging from the iron 
+chandelier in the ceiling. 
+
+“Come on now — round them up, round them up, 
+they’re only pixies,” Lockhart shouted. 
+
+He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and 
+bellowed, “Peskipiksi Pesternomti” 
+
+It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his 
+wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart 
+gulped and dived under his own desk, narrowly 
+avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second 
+later as the chandelier gave way. 
+
+The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the 
+exit. In the relative calm that followed, Lockhart 
+straightened up, caught sight of Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione, who were almost at the door, and said, 
+“Well, I’ll ask you three to just nip the rest of them 
+back into their cage.” He swept past them and shut 
+the door quickly behind him. 
+
+“Can you believe him?” roared Ron as one of the 
+remaining pixies bit him painfully on the ear. 
+
+“He just wants to give us some hands-on experience,” 
+said Hermione, immobilizing two pixies at once with a 
+
+Page | 114 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+clever Freezing Charm and stuffing them back into 
+their cage. 
+
+“Hands on?” said Harry, who was trying to grab a 
+pixie dancing out of reach with its tongue out. 
+“Hermione, he didn’t have a clue what he was doing 
+
+
+
+“Rubbish,” said Hermione. “You’ve read his books — 
+look at all those amazing things he’s done — ” 
+
+“He says he’s done,” Ron muttered. 
+
+
+
+Page | 115 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+7 
+
+
+
+
+MUDBLOODS AND MURMURS 
+
+Harry spent a lot of time over the next few days 
+dodging out of sight whenever he saw Gilderoy 
+Lockhart coming down a corridor. Harder to avoid 
+was Colin Creevey, who seemed to have memorized 
+Harry’s schedule. Nothing seemed to give Colin a 
+bigger thrill than to say, “All right, Harry?” six or 
+seven times a day and hear, “Hello, Colin,” back, 
+however exasperated Harry sounded when he said it. 
+
+Hedwig was still angry with Harry about the 
+disasterous car journey and Ron’s wand was still 
+malfunctioning, surpassing itself on Friday morning 
+by shooting out of Ron’s hand in Charms and hitting 
+tiny old Professor Flitwick squarely between the eyes, 
+creating a large, throbbing green boil where it had 
+struck. So with one thing and another, Harry was 
+quite glad to reach the weekend. He, Ron, and 
+Hermione were planning to visit Hagrid on Saturday 
+morning. Harry, however, was shaken awake several 
+hours earlier than he would have liked by Oliver 
+Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 
+
+Page | 116 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Whassamatter?” said Harry groggily. 
+
+“Quidditch practice!” said Wood. “Come on!” 
+
+Harry squinted at the window. There was a thin mist 
+hanging across the pink-and-gold sky. Now that he 
+was awake, he couldn’t understand how he could 
+have slept through the racket the birds were making. 
+
+“Oliver,” Harry croaked. “It’s the crack of dawn.” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Wood. He was a tall and burly sixth 
+year and, at the moment, his eyes were gleaming with 
+a crazed enthusiasm. “It’s part of our new training 
+program. Come on, grab your broom, and let’s go,” 
+said Wood heartily. “None of the other teams have 
+started training yet; we’re going to be first off the 
+mark this year — ” 
+
+Yawning and shivering slightly, Harry climbed out of 
+bed and tried to find his Quidditch robes. 
+
+“Good man,” said Wood. “Meet you on the field in 
+fifteen minutes.” 
+
+When he’d found his scarlet team robes and pulled on 
+his cloak for warmth, Harry scribbled a note to Ron 
+explaining where he’d gone and went down the spiral 
+staircase to the common room, his Nimbus Two 
+Thousand on his shoulder. He had just reached the 
+portrait hole when there was a clatter behind him and 
+Colin Creevey came dashing down the spiral 
+staircase, his camera swinging madly around his 
+neck and something clutched in his hand. 
+
+“I heard someone saying your name on the stairs, 
+Harry! Look what I’ve got here! I’ve had it developed, I 
+wanted to show you — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 117 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was 
+brandishing under his nose. 
+
+A moving, black-and-white Lockhart was tugging hard 
+on an arm Harry recognized as his own. He was 
+pleased to see that his photographic self was putting 
+up a good fight and refusing to be dragged into view. 
+As Harry watched, Lockhart gave up and slumped, 
+panting, against the white edge of the picture. 
+
+“Will you sign it?” said Colin eagerly. 
+
+“No,” said Harry flatly, glancing around to check that 
+the room was really deserted. “Sorry, Colin, I’m in a 
+hurry — Quidditch practice — ” 
+
+He climbed through the portrait hole. 
+
+“Oh, wow! Wait for me! I’ve never watched a Quidditch 
+game before!” 
+
+Colin scrambled through the hole after him. 
+
+“It’ll be really boring,” Harry said quickly, but Colin 
+ignored him, his face shining with excitement. 
+
+“You were the youngest House player in a hundred 
+years, weren’t you, Harry? Weren’t you?” said Colin, 
+trotting alongside him. “You must be brilliant. I’ve 
+never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is 
+that the best one there is?” 
+
+Harry didn’t know how to get rid of him. It was like 
+having an extremely talkative shadow. 
+
+“I don’t really understand Quidditch,” said Colin 
+breathlessly. “Is it true there are four balls? And two 
+of them fly around trying to knock people off their 
+brooms?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Harry heavily, resigned to explaining the 
+complicated rules of Quidditch. “They’re called 
+Bludgers. There are two Beaters on each team who 
+carry clubs to beat the Bludgers away from their side. 
+Fred and George Weasley are the Gryffindor Beaters.” 
+
+“And what are the other balls for?” Colin asked, 
+tripping down a couple of steps because he was 
+gazing open-mouthed at Harry. 
+
+“Well, the Quaffle — that’s the biggish red one — is 
+the one that scores goals. Three Chasers on each 
+team throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get 
+it through the goal posts at the end of the pitch — 
+they’re three long poles with hoops on the end.” 
+
+“And the fourth ball — ” 
+
+“ — is the Golden Snitch,” said Harry, “and it’s very 
+small, very fast, and difficult to catch. But that’s what 
+the Seeker’s got to do, because a game of Quidditch 
+doesn’t end until the Snitch has been caught. And 
+whichever team’s Seeker gets the Snitch earns his 
+team an extra hundred and fifty points.” 
+
+“And you’re the Gryffindor Seeker, aren’t you?” said 
+Colin in awe. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry as they left the castle and started 
+across the dew-drenched grass. “And there’s the 
+Keeper, too. He guards the goal posts. That’s it, 
+really.” 
+
+But Colin didn’t stop questioning Harry all the way 
+down the sloping lawns to the Quidditch field, and 
+Harry only shook him off when he reached the 
+changing rooms; Colin called after him in a piping 
+voice, “I’ll go and get a good seat, Harry!” and hurried 
+off to the stands. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The rest of the Gryffindor team were already in the 
+changing room. Wood was the only person who looked 
+truly awake. Fred and George Weasley were sitting, 
+puffy-eyed and tousle-haired, next to fourth year 
+Alicia Spinnet, who seemed to be nodding off against 
+the wall behind her. Her fellow Chasers, Katie Bell 
+and Angelina Johnson, were yawning side by side 
+opposite them. 
+
+“There you are, Harry, what kept you?” said Wood 
+briskly. “Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all 
+before we actually get onto the field, because I spent 
+the summer devising a whole new training program, 
+which I really think will make all the difference. ...” 
+
+Wood was holding up a large diagram of a Quidditch 
+field, on which were drawn many lines, arrows, and 
+crosses in different-colored inks. He took out his 
+wand, tapped the board, and the arrows began to 
+wiggle over the diagram like caterpillars. As Wood 
+launched into a speech about his new tactics, Fred 
+Weasley’s head drooped right onto Alicia Spinnet’s 
+shoulder and he began to snore. 
+
+The first board took nearly twenty minutes to explain, 
+but there was another board under that, and a third 
+under that one. Harry sank into a stupor as Wood 
+droned on and on. 
+
+“So,” said Wood, at long last, jerking Harry from a 
+wistful fantasy about what he could be eating for 
+breakfast at this very moment up at the castle. “Is 
+that clear? Any questions?” 
+
+“I’ve got a question, Oliver,” said George, who had 
+woken with a start. “Why couldn’t you have told us all 
+this yesterday when we were awake?” 
+
+Wood wasn’t pleased. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Now, listen here, you lot,” he said, glowering at them 
+all. “We should have won the Quidditch Cup last year. 
+We’re easily the best team. But unfortunately — 
+owing to circumstances beyond our control — ” 
+
+Harry shifted guiltily in his seat. He had been 
+unconscious in the hospital wing for the final match 
+of the previous year, meaning that Gryffindor had 
+been a player short and had suffered their worst 
+defeat in three hundred years. 
+
+Wood took a moment to regain control of himself. 
+Their last defeat was clearly still torturing him. 
+
+“So this year, we train harder than ever before. ... 
+Okay, let’s go and put our new theories into practice!” 
+Wood shouted, seizing his broomstick and leading the 
+way out of the locker rooms. Stiff-legged and still 
+yawning, his team followed. 
+
+They had been in the locker room so long that the 
+sun was up completely now, although remnants of 
+mist hung over the grass in the stadium. As Harry 
+walked onto the field, he saw Ron and Hermione 
+sitting in the stands. 
+
+“Aren’t you finished yet?” called Ron incredulously. 
+
+“Haven’t even started,” said Harry, looking jealously 
+at the toast and marmalade Ron and Hermione had 
+brought out of the Great Hall. “Wood’s been teaching 
+us new moves.” 
+
+He mounted his broomstick and kicked at the 
+ground, soaring up into the air. The cool morning air 
+whipped his face, waking him far more effectively 
+than Wood’s long talk. It felt wonderful to be back on 
+the Quidditch field. He soared right around the 
+stadium at full speed, racing Fred and George. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’s that funny clicking noise?” called Fred as 
+they hurtled around the corner. 
+
+Harry looked into the stands. Colin was sitting in one 
+of the highest seats, his camera raised, taking picture 
+after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the 
+deserted stadium. 
+
+“Look this way, Harry! This way!” he cried shrilly. 
+“Who’s that?” said Fred. 
+
+“No idea,” Harry lied, putting on a spurt of speed that 
+took him as far away as possible from Colin. 
+
+“What’s going on?” said Wood, frowning, as he 
+skimmed through the air toward them. “Why’s that 
+first year taking pictures? I don’t like it. He could be a 
+Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new 
+training program.” 
+
+“He’s in Gryffindor,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“And the Slytherins don’t need a spy, Oliver,” said 
+George. 
+
+“What makes you say that?” said Wood testily. 
+
+“Because they’re here in person,” said George, 
+pointing. 
+
+Several people in green robes were walking onto the 
+field, broomsticks in their hands. 
+
+“I don’t believe it!” Wood hissed in outrage. “I booked 
+the field for today! We’ll see about this!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Wood shot toward the ground, landing rather harder 
+than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as 
+he dismounted. Harry, Fred, and George followed. 
+
+“Flint!” Wood bellowed at the Slytherin Captain. “This 
+is our practice time! We got up specially! You can 
+clear off now!” 
+
+Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He had a 
+look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, 
+“Plenty of room for all of us, Wood.” 
+
+Angelina, Alicia, and Katie had come over, too. There 
+were no girls on the Slytherin team, who stood 
+shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors, leering 
+to a man. 
+
+“But I booked the field!” said Wood, positively spitting 
+with rage. “I booked it!” 
+
+“Ah,” said Flint. “But Tve got a specially signed note 
+here from Professor Snape. % Professor S. Snape, give 
+the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the 
+Quidditch field owinq to the need to train their new 
+Seeker. ’ ” 
+
+“You’ve got a new Seeker?” said Wood, distracted. 
+“Where?” 
+
+And from behind the six large figures before them 
+came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his 
+pale, pointed face. It was Draco Malfoy. 
+
+“Aren’t you Lucius Malfoy’s son?” said Fred, looking 
+at Malfoy with dislike. 
+
+“Funny you should mention Draco’s father,” said Flint 
+as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Let me show you the generous gift he’s made to the 
+Slytherin team.” 
+
+All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven 
+highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of 
+fine gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two 
+Thousand and One gleamed under the Gryffindors’ 
+noses in the early morning sun. 
+
+“Very latest model. Only came out last month,” said 
+Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end 
+of his own. “I believe it outstrips the old Two 
+Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the 
+old Cleansweeps” — he smiled nastily at Fred and 
+George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives — 
+“sweeps the board with them.” 
+
+None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything 
+to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly 
+his cold eyes were reduced to slits. 
+
+“Oh, look,” said Flint. “A field invasion.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see 
+what was going on. 
+
+“What’s happening?” Ron asked Harry. “Why aren’t 
+you playing? And what’s he doing here?” 
+
+He was looking at Malfoy, taking in his Slytherin 
+Quidditch robes. 
+
+“I’m the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley,” said Malfoy, 
+smugly. “Everyone’s just been admiring the brooms 
+my father’s bought our team.” 
+
+Ron gaped, openmouthed, at the seven superb 
+broomsticks in front of him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Good, aren’t they?” said Malfoy smoothly. “But 
+perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some 
+gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off 
+those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would 
+bid for them.” 
+
+The Slytherin team howled with laughter. 
+
+“At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy 
+their way in,” said Hermione sharply. “They got in on 
+pure talent.” 
+
+The smug look on Malfoy’s face flickered. 
+
+“No one asked your opinion, you filthy little 
+Mudblood,” he spat. 
+
+Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something 
+really bad because there was an instant uproar at his 
+words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred 
+and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, “How 
+dare you\”, and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, 
+pulled out his wand, yelling, “You’ll pay for that one, 
+Malfoy!” and pointed it furiously under Flint’s arm at 
+Malfoy’s face. 
+
+A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of 
+green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron’s wand, 
+hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling 
+backward onto the grass. 
+
+“Ron! Ron! Are you all right?” squealed Hermione. 
+
+Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came 
+out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several 
+slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap. 
+
+The Slytherin team were paralyzed with laughter. 
+
+Flint was doubled up, hanging onto his new 
+
+Page | 125 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, 
+banging the ground with his fist. The Gryffindors were 
+gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, 
+glistening slugs. Nobody seemed to want to touch 
+him. 
+
+“We’d better get him to Hagrid’s, it’s nearest,” said 
+Harry to Hermione, who nodded bravely, and the pair 
+of them pulled Ron up by the arms. 
+
+“What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? 
+But you can cure him, can’t you?” Colin had run 
+down from his seat and was now dancing alongside 
+them as they left the field. Ron gave a huge heave and 
+more slugs dribbled down his front. 
+
+“Oooh,” said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. 
+“Can you hold him still, Harry?” 
+
+“Get out of the way, Colin!” said Harry angrily. He and 
+Hermione supported Ron out of the stadium and 
+across the grounds toward the edge of the forest. 
+
+“Nearly there, Ron,” said Hermione as the 
+gamekeeper’s cabin came into view. “You’ll be all right 
+in a minute — almost there — ” 
+
+They were within twenty feet of Hagrid’s house when 
+the front door opened, but it wasn’t Hagrid who 
+emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of palest 
+mauve today, came striding out. 
+
+“Quick, behind here,” Harry hissed, dragging Ron 
+behind a nearby bush. Hermione followed, somewhat 
+reluctantly. 
+
+“It’s a simple matter if you know what you’re doing!” 
+Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid. “If you need 
+help, you know where I am! I’ll let you have a copy of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+my book. I’m surprised you haven’t already got one — 
+I’ll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!” 
+And he strode away toward the castle. 
+
+Harry waited until Lockhart was out of sight, then 
+pulled Ron out of the bush and up to Hagrid’s front 
+door. They knocked urgently. 
+
+Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but 
+his expression brightened when he saw who it was. 
+
+“Bin wonderin’ when you’d come ter see me — come 
+in, come in — thought you mighta bin Professor 
+Lockhart back again — ” 
+
+Harry and Hermione supported Ron over the 
+threshold into the one-roomed cabin, which had an 
+enormous bed in one corner, a fire crackling merrily 
+in the other. Hagrid didn’t seem perturbed by Ron’s 
+slug problem, which Harry hastily explained as he 
+lowered Ron into a chair. 
+
+“Better out than in,” he said cheerfully, plunking a 
+large copper basin in front of him. “Get ’em all up, 
+Ron.” 
+
+“I don’t think there’s anything to do except wait for it 
+to stop,” said Hermione anxiously, watching Ron bend 
+over the basin. “That’s a difficult curse to work at the 
+best of times, but with a broken wand — ” 
+
+Hagrid was bustling around making them tea. His 
+boarhound, Fang, was slobbering over Harry. 
+
+“What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?” Harry 
+asked, scratching Fang’s ears. 
+
+“Givin’ me advice on gettin’ kelpies out of a well,” 
+growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his 
+
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+
+
+
+
+scrubbed table and setting down the teapot. “Like I 
+don’ know. An’ bangin’ on about some banshee he 
+banished. If one word of it was true, I’ll eat my kettle.” 
+
+It was most unlike Hagrid to criticize a Hogwarts 
+teacher, and Harry looked at him in surprise. 
+Hermione, however, said in a voice somewhat higher 
+than usual, “I think you’re being a bit unfair. 
+
+Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the 
+best man for the job — ” 
+
+“He was the on’y man for the job,” said Hagrid, 
+offering them a plate of treacle toffee, while Ron 
+coughed squelchily into his basin. “An’ I mean the 
+on’y one. Gettin’ very difficult ter find anyone fer the 
+Dark Arts job. People aren’t too keen ter take it on, 
+see. They’re startin’ ter think it’s jinxed. No one’s 
+lasted long fer a while now. So tell me,” said Hagrid, 
+jerking his head at Ron. “Who was he tryin’ ter 
+curse?” 
+
+“Malfoy called Hermione something — it must’ve been 
+really bad, because everyone went wild.” 
+
+“It was bad,” said Ron hoarsely, emerging over the 
+tabletop looking pale and sweaty. “Malfoy called her 
+‘Mudblood,’ Hagrid — ” 
+
+Ron dived out of sight again as a fresh wave of slugs 
+made their appearance. Hagrid looked outraged. 
+
+“He didn’!” he growled at Hermione. 
+
+“He did,” she said. “But I don’t know what it means. I 
+could tell it was really rude, of course — ” 
+
+“It’s about the most insulting thing he could think of,” 
+gasped Ron, coming back up. “Mudblood’s a really 
+foul name for someone who is Muggle-born — you 
+
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+
+
+
+
+know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards — 
+like Malfoy’s family — who think they’re better than 
+everyone else because they’re what people call pure- 
+blood.” He gave a small burp, and a single slug fell 
+into his outstretched hand. He threw it into the basin 
+and continued, “I mean, the rest of us know it doesn’t 
+make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom 
+— he’s pure-blood and he can hardly stand a 
+cauldron the right way up.” 
+
+“An’ they haven’t invented a spell our Hermione can’ 
+do,” said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a 
+brilliant shade of magenta. 
+
+“It’s a disgusting thing to call someone,” said Ron, 
+wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand. “Dirty 
+blood, see. Common blood. It’s ridiculous. Most 
+wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we 
+hadn’t married Muggles we’d’ve died out.” 
+
+He retched and ducked out of sight again. 
+
+“Well, I don’ blame yeh fer tryin’ ter curse him, Ron,” 
+said Hagrid loudly over the thuds of more slugs 
+hitting the basin. “Bu’ maybe it was a good thing yer 
+wand backfired. ’Spect Lucius Malfoy would’ve come 
+marchin’ up ter school if yeh’d cursed his son. Least 
+yer not in trouble.” 
+
+Harry would have pointed out that trouble didn’t 
+come much worse than having slugs pouring out of 
+your mouth, but he couldn’t; Hagrid’s treacle toffee 
+had cemented his jaws together. 
+
+“Harry,” said Hagrid abruptly as though struck by a 
+sudden thought. “Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I’ve 
+heard you’ve bin givin’ out signed photos. How come I 
+haven’t got one?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Furious, Harry wrenched his teeth apart. 
+
+“I have not been giving out signed photos,” he said 
+hotly. “If Lockhart’s still spreading that around — ” 
+
+But then he saw that Hagrid was laughing. 
+
+“I’m on’y jokin’,” he said, patting Harry genially on the 
+back and sending him face first into the table. “I knew 
+yeh hadn’t really. I told Lockhart yeh didn’ need teh. 
+Yer more famous than him without tryin’.” 
+
+“Bet he didn’t like that,” said Harry, sitting up and 
+rubbing his chin. 
+
+“Don’ think he did,” said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling. 
+“An’ then I told him I’d never read one o’ his books an’ 
+he decided ter go. Treacle toffee, Ron?” he added as 
+Ron reappeared. 
+
+“No thanks,” said Ron weakly. “Better not risk it.” 
+
+“Come an’ see what I’ve bin growin’,” said Hagrid as 
+Harry and Hermione finished the last of their tea. 
+
+In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid ’s house 
+were a dozen of the largest pumpkins Harry had ever 
+seen. Each was the size of a large boulder. 
+
+“Gettin’ on well, aren’t they?” said Hagrid happily. 
+
+“Fer the Halloween feast ... should be big enough by 
+then.” 
+
+“What’ve you been feeding them?” said Harry. 
+
+Hagrid looked over his shoulder to check that they 
+were alone. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, I’ve bin givin’ them — you know — a bit o’ help 
+
+
+
+Harry noticed Hagrid’s flowery pink umbrella leaning 
+against the back wall of the cabin. Harry had had 
+reason to believe before now that this umbrella was 
+not all it looked; in fact, he had the strong impression 
+that Hagrid’s old school wand was concealed inside it. 
+Hagrid wasn’t supposed to use magic. He had been 
+expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, but Harry 
+had never found out why — any mention of the 
+matter and Hagrid would clear his throat loudly and 
+become mysteriously deaf until the subject was 
+changed. 
+
+“An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?” said Hermione, 
+halfway between disapproval and amusement. “Well, 
+you’ve done a good job on them.” 
+
+“That’s what yer little sister said,” said Hagrid, 
+nodding at Ron. “Met her jus’ yesterday.” Hagrid 
+looked sideways at Harry, his beard twitching. “Said 
+she was jus’ lookin’ round the grounds, but I reckon 
+she was hopin’ she might run inter someone else at 
+my house.” He winked at Harry. “If yeh ask me, she 
+wouldn’ say no ter a signed — ” 
+
+“Oh, shut up,” said Harry. Ron snorted with laughter 
+and the ground was sprayed with slugs. 
+
+“Watch it!” Hagrid roared, pulling Ron away from his 
+precious pumpkins. 
+
+It was nearly lunchtime and as Harry had only had 
+one bit of treacle toffee since dawn, he was keen to go 
+back to school to eat. They said good-bye to Hagrid 
+and walked back up to the castle, Ron hiccoughing 
+occasionally, but only bringing up two very small 
+slugs. 
+
+Page | 131 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They had barely set foot in the cool entrance hall 
+when a voice rang out, “There you are, Potter — 
+Weasley.” Professor McGonagall was walking toward 
+them, looking stern. “You will both do your detentions 
+this evening.” 
+
+“What’re we doing, Professor?” said Ron, nervously 
+suppressing a burp. 
+
+“ You will be polishing the silver in the trophy room 
+with Mr. Filch,” said Professor McGonagall. “And no 
+magic, Weasley — elbow grease.” 
+
+Ron gulped. Argus Filch, the caretaker, was loathed 
+by every student in the school. 
+
+“And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart 
+answer his fan mail,” said Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“Oh n — Professor, can’t I go and do the trophy room, 
+too?” said Harry desperately. 
+
+“Certainly not,” said Professor McGonagall, raising 
+her eyebrows. “Professor Lockhart requested you 
+particularly. Eight o’clock sharp, both of you.” 
+
+Harry and Ron slouched into the Great Hall in states 
+of deepest gloom, Hermione behind them, wearing a 
+well-you-did-break-school-rules sort of expression. 
+Harry didn’t enjoy his shepherd’s pie as much as he’d 
+thought. Both he and Ron felt they’d got the worse 
+deal. 
+
+“Filch ’ll have me there all night,” said Ron heavily. 
+
+“No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in 
+that room. I’m no good at Muggle cleaning.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’d swap anytime,” said Harry hollowly. “I’ve had 
+loads of practice with the Dursleys. Answering 
+Lockhart’s fan mail ... he’ll be a nightmare. ...” 
+
+Saturday afternoon seemed to melt away, and in what 
+seemed like no time, it was five minutes to eight, and 
+Harry was dragging his feet along the second-floor 
+corridor to Lockhart’s office. He gritted his teeth and 
+knocked. 
+
+The door flew open at once. Lockhart beamed down at 
+him. 
+
+“Ah, here’s the scalawag!” he said. “Come in, Harry, 
+come in — ” 
+
+Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many 
+candles were countless framed photographs of 
+Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another 
+large pile lay on his desk. 
+
+“You can address the envelopes!” Lockhart told Harry, 
+as though this was a huge treat. “This first one’s to 
+Gladys Gudgeon, bless her — huge fan of mine — ” 
+
+The minutes snailed by. Harry let Lockhart’s voice 
+wash over him, occasionally saying, “Mmm” and 
+“Right” and “Yeah.” Now and then he caught a phrase 
+like, “Fame’s a fickle friend, Harry,” or “Celebrity is as 
+celebrity does, remember that.” 
+
+The candles burned lower and lower, making the light 
+dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart 
+watching him. Harry moved his aching hand over 
+what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out 
+Veronica Smethley’s address. It must be nearly time to 
+leave, Harry thought miserably, please let it be nearly 
+time. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+And then he heard something — something quite 
+apart from the spitting of the dying candles and 
+Lockhart’s prattle about his fans. 
+
+It was a voice, a voice to chill the bone marrow, a 
+voice of breathtaking, ice-cold venom. 
+
+“Come ... come to me. ... Let me rip you. ... Let me tear 
+you. ... Let me kill you. ...” 
+
+Harry gave a huge jump and a large lilac blot 
+appeared on Veronica Smethley’s street. 
+
+“What?” he said loudly. 
+
+“I know!” said Lockhart. “Six solid months at the top 
+of the best-seller list! Broke all records!” 
+
+“No,” said Harry frantically. “That voice!” 
+
+“Sorry?” said Lockhart, looking puzzled. “What voice?” 
+
+“That — that voice that said — didn’t you hear it?” 
+
+Lockhart was looking at Harry in high astonishment. 
+
+“What are you talking about, Harry? Perhaps you’re 
+getting a little drowsy? Great Scott — look at the time! 
+“We’ve been here nearly four hours! I’d never have 
+believed it — the time’s flown, hasn’t it?” 
+
+Harry didn’t answer. He was straining his ears to hear 
+the voice again, but there was no sound now except 
+for Lockhart telling him he mustn’t expect a treat like 
+this every time he got detention. Feeling dazed, Harry 
+left. 
+
+It was so late that the Gryffindor common room was 
+almost empty. Harry went straight up to the 
+
+Page | 134 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+dormitory. Ron wasn’t back yet. Harry pulled on his 
+pajamas, got into bed, and waited. Half an hour later, 
+Ron arrived, nursing his right arm and bringing a 
+strong smell of polish into the darkened room. 
+
+“My muscles have all seized up,” he groaned, sinking 
+on his bed. “Fourteen times he made me buff up that 
+Quidditch Cup before he was satisfied. And then I 
+had another slug attack all over a Special Award for 
+Services to the School. Took ages to get the slime off. 
+
+. . . How was it with Lockhart?” 
+
+Keeping his voice low so as not to wake Neville, Dean, 
+and Seamus, Harry told Ron exactly what he had 
+heard. 
+
+“And Lockhart said he couldn’t hear it?” said Ron. 
+Harry could see him frowning in the moonlight. 
+
+“D’you think he was lying? But I don’t get it — even 
+someone invisible would’ve had to open the door.” 
+
+“I know,” said Harry, lying back in his four-poster and 
+staring at the canopy above him. “I don’t get it either.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 135 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+d 
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATHDAY PARTY 
+
+October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the 
+grounds and into the castle. Madam Pomfrey, the 
+nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds 
+among the staff and students. Her Pepperup Potion 
+worked instantly, though it left the drinker smoking 
+at the ears for several hours afterward. Ginny 
+Weasley, who had been looking pale, was bullied into 
+taking some by Percy. The steam pouring from under 
+her vivid hair gave the impression that her whole 
+head was on fire. 
+
+Raindrops the size of bullets thundered on the castle 
+windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower 
+beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid’s 
+pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds. Oliver 
+Wood’s enthusiasm for regular training sessions, 
+however, was not dampened, which was why Harry 
+was to be found, late one stormy Saturday afternoon 
+a few days before Halloween, returning to Gryffindor 
+Tower, drenched to the skin and splattered with mud. 
+Even aside from the rain and wind it hadn’t been a 
+happy practice session. Fred and George, who had 
+Page | 136 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+been spying on the Slytherin team, had seen for 
+themselves the speed of those new Nimbus Two 
+Thousand and Ones. They reported that the Slytherin 
+team was no more than seven greenish blurs, 
+shooting through the air like missiles. 
+
+As Harry squelched along the deserted corridor he 
+came across somebody who looked just as 
+preoccupied as he was. Nearly Headless Nick, the 
+ghost of Gryffindor Tower, was staring morosely out of 
+a window, muttering under his breath, "... don’t fulfill 
+their requirements ... half an inch, if that ...” 
+
+“Hello, Nick,” said Harry. 
+
+“Hello, hello,” said Nearly Headless Nick, starting and 
+looking round. He wore a dashing, plumed hat on his 
+long curly hair, and a tunic with a ruff, which 
+concealed the fact that his neck was almost 
+completely severed. He was pale as smoke, and Harry 
+could see right through him to the dark sky and 
+torrential rain outside. 
+
+“You look troubled, young Potter,” said Nick, folding a 
+transparent letter as he spoke and tucking it inside 
+his doublet. 
+
+“So do you,” said Harry. 
+
+“Ah,” Nearly Headless Nick waved an elegant hand, “a 
+matter of no importance. ... It’s not as though I really 
+wanted to join. ... Thought I’d apply, but apparently I 
+‘don’t fulfill requirements’ — ” 
+
+In spite of his airy tone, there was a look of great 
+bitterness on his face. 
+
+“But you would think, wouldn’t you,” he erupted 
+suddenly, pulling the letter back out of his pocket, 
+
+Page | 137 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a 
+blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless 
+Hunt?” 
+
+“Oh — yes,” said Harry, who was obviously supposed 
+to agree. 
+
+“I mean, nobody wishes more than I do that it had all 
+been quick and clean, and my head had come off 
+properly, I mean, it would have saved me a great deal 
+of pain and ridicule. However — ” Nearly Headless 
+Nick shook his letter open and read furiously: 
+
+“ ‘We can only accept huntsmen whose heads have 
+parted company with their bodies. You will appreciate 
+that it would be impossible otherwise for members to 
+participate in hunt activities such as Horseback Head- 
+Juggling and Head Polo. It is with the greatest regret, 
+therefore, that I must inform you that you do not fulfill 
+our requirements. With very best wishes, Sir Patrick 
+Delaney -Podmore.’ ” 
+
+Fuming, Nearly Headless Nick stuffed the letter away. 
+
+“Half an inch of skin and sinew holding my neck on, 
+Harry! Most people would think that’s good and 
+beheaded, but oh, no, it’s not enough for Sir Properly 
+Decapitated-Podmore . ” 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick took several deep breaths and 
+then said, in a far calmer tone, “So — what’s 
+bothering you? Anything I can do?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “Not unless you know where we can 
+get seven free Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones for 
+our match against Sly — ” 
+
+The rest of Harry’s sentence was drowned out by a 
+high-pitched mewling from somewhere near his 
+
+Page | 138 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ankles. He looked down and found himself gazing into 
+a pair of lamp-like yellow eyes. It was Mrs. Norris, the 
+skeletal gray cat who was used by the caretaker, 
+
+Argus Filch, as a sort of deputy in his endless battle 
+against students. 
+
+“You’d better get out of here, Harry,” said Nick 
+quickly. “Filch isn’t in a good mood — he’s got the flu 
+and some third years accidentally plastered frog 
+brains all over the ceiling in dungeon five. He’s been 
+cleaning all morning, and if he sees you dripping mud 
+all over the place — ” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, backing away from the accusing 
+stare of Mrs. Norris, but not quickly enough. Drawn 
+to the spot by the mysterious power that seemed to 
+connect him with his foul cat, Argus Filch burst 
+suddenly through a tapestry to Harry’s right, 
+wheezing and looking wildly about for the rule- 
+breaker. There was a thick tartan scarf bound around 
+his head, and his nose was unusually purple. 
+
+“Filth!” he shouted, his jowls aquiver, his eyes 
+popping alarmingly as he pointed at the muddy 
+puddle that had dripped from Harry’s Quidditch 
+robes. “Mess and muck everywhere! I’ve had enough 
+of it, I tell you! Follow me, Potter!” 
+
+So Harry waved a gloomy good-bye to Nearly Headless 
+Nick and followed Filch back downstairs, doubling the 
+number of muddy footprints on the floor. 
+
+Harry had never been inside Filch’s office before; it 
+was a place most students avoided. The room was 
+dingy and windowless, lit by a single oil lamp 
+dangling from the low ceiling. A faint smell of fried 
+fish lingered about the place. Wooden filing cabinets 
+stood around the walls; from their labels, Harry could 
+see that they contained details of every pupil Filch 
+Page | 139 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had ever punished. Fred and George Weasley had an 
+entire drawer to themselves. A highly polished 
+collection of chains and manacles hung on the wall 
+behind Filch’s desk. It was common knowledge that 
+he was always begging Dumbledore to let him 
+suspend students by their ankles from the ceiling. 
+
+Filch grabbed a quill from a pot on his desk and 
+began shuffling around looking for parchment. 
+
+“Dung,” he muttered furiously, “great sizzling dragon 
+bogies ... frog brains ... rat intestines ... I’ve had 
+enough of it ... make an example ... where’s the form 
+... yes ...” 
+
+He retrieved a large roll of parchment from his desk 
+drawer and stretched it out in front of him, dipping 
+his long black quill into the ink pot. 
+
+“ Name ... Harry Potter. Crime ...” 
+
+“It was only a bit of mud!” said Harry. 
+
+“It’s only a bit of mud to you, boy, but to me it’s an 
+extra hour scrubbing!” shouted Filch, a drip shivering 
+unpleasantly at the end of his bulbous nose. “Crime 
+... befouling the castle ... suggested sentence ...” 
+
+Dabbing at his streaming nose, Filch squinted 
+unpleasantly at Harry, who waited with bated breath 
+for his sentence to fall. 
+
+But as Filch lowered his quill, there was a great 
+BANG! on the ceiling of the office, which made the oil 
+lamp rattle. 
+
+“PEEVES!” Filch roared, flinging down his quill in a 
+transport of rage. “I’ll have you this time, I’ll have 
+you!” 
+
+Page | 140 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And without a backward glance at Harry, Filch ran 
+flat-footed from the office, Mrs. Norris streaking 
+alongside him. 
+
+Peeves was the school poltergeist, a grinning, airborne 
+menace who lived to cause havoc and distress. Harry 
+didn’t much like Peeves, but couldn’t help feeling 
+grateful for his timing. Hopefully, whatever Peeves 
+had done (and it sounded as though he’d wrecked 
+something very big this time) would distract Filch 
+from Harry. 
+
+Thinking that he should probably wait for Filch to 
+come back, Harry sank into a moth-eaten chair next 
+to the desk. There was only one thing on it apart from 
+his half-completed form: a large, glossy, purple 
+envelope with silver lettering on the front. With a 
+quick glance at the door to check that Filch wasn’t on 
+his way back, Harry picked up the envelope and read: 
+
+KWIKSPELL 
+
+A Correspondence Course in Beginners’ Magic 
+
+Intrigued, Harry flicked the envelope open and pulled 
+out the sheaf of parchment inside. More curly silver 
+writing on the front page said: 
+
+Feel out of step in the world of modern magic? Find 
+yourself making excuses not to perform simple spells? 
+Ever been taunted for your woeful wandwork? 
+
+There is an answer! 
+
+Kwikspell is an all-new, fail-safe, quick-result, easy- 
+learn course. Hundreds of witches and wizards have 
+benefited from the Kwikspell method! 
+
+
+
+Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: 
+
+Page | 141 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I had no memory for incantations and my potions 
+were a family joke! Now, after a Kwikspell course, I am 
+the center of attention at parties and friends beg for the 
+recipe of my Scintillation Solution!” 
+
+Warlock D. J. Prod of Didsbury says: 
+
+“My wife used to sneer at my feeble charms, but one 
+month into your fabulous Kwikspell course and I 
+succeeded in turning her into a yak! 
+
+Thank you, Kwikspell!” 
+
+Fascinated, Harry thumbed through the rest of the 
+envelope’s contents. Why on earth did Filch want a 
+Kwikspell course? Did this mean he wasn’t a proper 
+wizard? Harry was just reading “Lesson One: Holding 
+Your Wand (Some Useful Tips)” when shuffling 
+footsteps outside told him Filch was coming back. 
+Stuffing the parchment back into the envelope, Harry 
+threw it back onto the desk just as the door opened. 
+
+Filch was looking triumphant. 
+
+“That vanishing cabinet was extremely valuable!” he 
+was saying gleefully to Mrs. Norris. “We’ll have Peeves 
+out this time, my sweet — ” 
+
+His eyes fell on Harry and then darted to the 
+Kwikspell envelope, which, Harry realized too late, 
+was lying two feet away from where it had started. 
+
+Filch ’s pasty face went brick red. Harry braced 
+himself for a tidal wave of fury. Filch hobbled across 
+to his desk, snatched up the envelope, and threw it 
+into a drawer. 
+
+“Have you — did you read — ?” he sputtered. 
+
+
+
+Page | 142 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” Harry lied quickly. 
+
+Filch ’s knobbly hands were twisting together. 
+
+“If I thought you’d read my private — not that it’s 
+mine — for a friend — be that as it may — however — 
+
+
+
+Harry was staring at him, alarmed; Filch had never 
+looked madder. His eyes were popping, a tic was 
+going in one of his pouchy cheeks, and the tartan 
+scarf didn’t help. 
+
+“Very well — go — and don’t breathe a word — not 
+that — however, if you didn’t read — go now, I have to 
+write up Peeves’ report — go — ” 
+
+Amazed at his luck, Harry sped out of the office, up 
+the corridor, and back upstairs. To escape from 
+Filch ’s office without punishment was probably some 
+kind of school record. 
+
+“Harry! Harry! Did it work?” 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick came gliding out of a classroom. 
+Behind him, Harry could see the wreckage of a large 
+black-and-gold cabinet that appeared to have been 
+dropped from a great height. 
+
+“I persuaded Peeves to crash it right over Filch’s 
+office,” said Nick eagerly. “Thought it might distract 
+him — ” 
+
+
+
+“Was that you?” said Harry gratefully. “Yeah, it 
+worked, I didn’t even get detention. Thanks, Nick!” 
+
+They set off up the corridor together. Nearly Headless 
+Nick, Harry noticed, was still holding Sir Patrick’s 
+rejection letter. 
+
+Page | 143 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I wish there was something I could do for you about 
+the Headless Hunt,” Harry said. 
+
+
+
+Nearly Headless Nick stopped in his tracks and Harry 
+walked right through him. He wished he hadn’t; it 
+was like stepping through an icy shower. 
+
+“But there is something you could do for me,” said 
+Nick excitedly. “Harry — would I be asking too much 
+— but no, you wouldn’t want — ” 
+
+“What is it?” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, this Halloween will be my five hundredth 
+deathday,” said Nearly Headless Nick, drawing 
+himself up and looking dignified. 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry, not sure whether he should look 
+sorry or happy about this. “Right.” 
+
+“I’m holding a party down in one of the roomier 
+dungeons. Friends will be coming from all over the 
+country. It would be such an honor if you would 
+attend. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger would be most 
+welcome, too, of course — but I daresay you’d rather 
+go to the school feast?” He watched Harry on 
+tenterhooks. 
+
+“No,” said Harry quickly, “I’ll come — ” 
+
+“My dear boy! Harry Potter, at my deathday party! 
+And” — he hesitated, looking excited — “do you think 
+you could possibly mention to Sir Patrick how very 
+frightening and impressive you find me?” 
+
+“Of — of course,” said Harry. 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick beamed at him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 144 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“A deathday party?” said Hermione keenly when 
+Harry had changed at last and joined her and Ron in 
+the common room. “I bet there aren’t many living 
+people who can say they’ve been to one of those — it’ll 
+be fascinating!” 
+
+“Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they 
+died?” said Ron, who was halfway through his Potions 
+homework and grumpy. “Sounds dead depressing to 
+me....” 
+
+Rain was still lashing the windows, which were now 
+inky black, but inside all looked bright and cheerful. 
+The firelight glowed over the countless squashy 
+armchairs where people sat reading, talking, doing 
+homework or, in the case of Fred and George Weasley, 
+trying to find out what would happen if you fed a 
+Filibuster firework to a salamander. Fred had 
+“rescued” the brilliant orange, fire-dwelling lizard 
+from a Care of Magical Creatures class and it was 
+now smoldering gently on a table surrounded by a 
+knot of curious people. 
+
+Harry was at the point of telling Ron and Hermione 
+about Filch and the Kwikspell course when the 
+salamander suddenly whizzed into the air, emitting 
+loud sparks and bangs as it whirled wildly round the 
+room. The sight of Percy bellowing himself hoarse at 
+Fred and George, the spectacular display of tangerine 
+stars showering from the salamander’s mouth, and its 
+escape into the fire, with accompanying explosions, 
+drove both Filch and the Kwikspell envelope from 
+Harry’s mind. 
+
+By the time Halloween arrived, Harry was regretting 
+his rash promise to go to the deathday party. The rest 
+of the school was happily anticipating their Halloween 
+feast; the Great Hall had been decorated with the 
+usual live bats, Hagrid’s vast pumpkins had been 
+Page | 145 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit 
+in, and there were rumors that Dumbledore had 
+booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the 
+entertainment. 
+
+“A promise is a promise,” Hermione reminded Harry 
+bossily. “You said you’d go to the deathday party.” 
+
+So at seven o’clock, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked 
+straight past the doorway to the packed Great Hall, 
+which was glittering invitingly with gold plates and 
+candles, and directed their steps instead toward the 
+dungeons. 
+
+The passageway leading to Nearly Headless Nick’s 
+party had been lined with candles, too, though the 
+effect was far from cheerful: These were long, thin, 
+jet-black tapers, all burning bright blue, casting a 
+dim, ghostly light even over their own living faces. The 
+temperature dropped with every step they took. As 
+Harry shivered and drew his robes tightly around 
+him, he heard what sounded like a thousand 
+fingernails scraping an enormous blackboard. 
+
+“Is that supposed to be music?” Ron whispered. They 
+turned a corner and saw Nearly Headless Nick 
+standing at a doorway hung with black velvet drapes. 
+
+“My dear friends,” he said mournfully. “Welcome, 
+welcome ... so pleased you could come. ...” 
+
+He swept off his plumed hat and bowed them inside. 
+
+It was an incredible sight. The dungeon was full of 
+hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly 
+drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the 
+dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, 
+played by an orchestra on a raised, black-draped 
+platform. A chandelier overhead blazed midnight-blue 
+Page | 146 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+with a thousand more black candles. Their breath 
+rose in a mist before them; it was like stepping into a 
+freezer. 
+
+“Shall we have a look around?” Harry suggested, 
+wanting to warm up his feet. 
+
+“Careful not to walk through anyone,” said Ron 
+nervously, and they set off around the edge of the 
+dance floor. They passed a group of gloomy nuns, a 
+ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, a 
+cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight 
+with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Harry 
+wasn’t surprised to see that the Bloody Baron, a 
+gaunt, staring Slytherin ghost covered in silver 
+bloodstains, was being given a wide berth by the 
+other ghosts. 
+
+“Oh, no,” said Hermione, stopping abruptly. “Turn 
+back, turn back, I don’t want to talk to Moaning 
+Myrtle — ” 
+
+“Who?” said Harry as they backtracked quickly. 
+
+“She haunts one of the toilets in the girls’ bathroom 
+on the first floor,” said Hermione. 
+
+“She haunts a toilet ?” 
+
+“Yes. It’s been out-of-order all year because she keeps 
+having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went 
+in there anyway if I could avoid it; it’s awful trying to 
+have a pee with her wailing at you — ” 
+
+“Look, food!” said Ron. 
+
+On the other side of the dungeon was a long table, 
+also covered in black velvet. They approached it 
+eagerly but next moment had stopped in their tracks, 
+
+Page | 147 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+horrified. The smell was quite disgusting. Large, 
+rotten fish were laid on handsome silver platters; 
+cakes, burned charcoal-black, were heaped on 
+salvers; there was a great maggoty haggis, a slab of 
+cheese covered in furry green mold and, in pride of 
+place, an enormous gray cake in the shape of a 
+tombstone, with tar-like icing forming the words, 
+
+SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON 
+DIED 3 1 ST OCTOBER, 1 492 
+
+Harry watched, amazed, as a portly ghost approached 
+the table, crouched low, and walked through it, his 
+mouth held wide so that it passed through one of the 
+stinking salmon. 
+
+“Can you taste it if you walk through it?” Harry asked 
+him. 
+
+“Almost,” said the ghost sadly, and he drifted away. 
+
+“I expect they’ve let it rot to give it a stronger flavor,” 
+said Hermione knowledgeably, pinching her nose and 
+leaning closer to look at the putrid haggis. 
+
+“Can we move? I feel sick,” said Ron. 
+
+They had barely turned around, however, when a 
+little man swooped suddenly from under the table and 
+came to a halt in midair before them. 
+
+“Hello, Peeves,” said Harry cautiously. 
+
+Unlike the ghosts around them, Peeves the Poltergeist 
+was the very reverse of pale and transparent. He was 
+wearing a bright orange party hat, a revolving bow tie, 
+and a broad grin on his wide, wicked face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 148 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nibbles?” he said sweetly, offering them a bowl of 
+peanuts covered in fungus. 
+
+“No thanks,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Heard you talking about poor Myrtle,” said Peeves, 
+his eyes dancing. “Rude you was about poor Myrtle.” 
+He took a deep breath and bellowed, “OY! MYRTLE!” 
+
+“Oh, no, Peeves, don’t tell her what I said, she’ll be 
+really upset,” Hermione whispered frantically. “I didn’t 
+mean it, I don’t mind her — er, hello, Myrtle.” 
+
+The squat ghost of a girl had glided over. She had the 
+glummest face Harry had ever seen, half-hidden 
+behind lank hair and thick, pearly spectacles. 
+
+“What?” she said sulkily. 
+
+“How are you, Myrtle?” said Hermione in a falsely 
+bright voice. “It’s nice to see you out of the toilet.” 
+
+Myrtle sniffed. 
+
+“Miss Granger was just talking about you — ” said 
+Peeves slyly in Myrtle’s ear. 
+
+“Just saying — saying — how nice you look tonight,” 
+said Hermione, glaring at Peeves. 
+
+Myrtle eyed Hermione suspiciously. 
+
+“You’re making fun of me,” she said, silver tears 
+welling rapidly in her small, see-through eyes. 
+
+“No — honestly — didn’t I just say how nice Myrtle’s 
+looking?” said Hermione, nudging Harry and Ron 
+painfully in the ribs. 
+
+
+
+Page | 149 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, yeah — ” 
+
+
+
+“She did — ” 
+
+“Don’t lie to me,” Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding 
+down her face, while Peeves chuckled happily over her 
+shoulder. “D’you think I don’t know what people call 
+me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! 
+Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!” 
+
+“You’ve forgotten pimply,” Peeves hissed in her ear. 
+
+Moaning Myrtle burst into anguished sobs and fled 
+from the dungeon. Peeves shot after her, pelting her 
+with moldy peanuts, yelling, “Pimply\ Pimplyl” 
+
+“Oh, dear,” said Hermione sadly. 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick now drifted toward them 
+through the crowd. 
+
+“Enjoying yourselves?” 
+
+“Oh, yes,” they lied. 
+
+“Not a bad turnout,” said Nearly Headless Nick 
+proudly. “The Wailing Widow came all the way up 
+from Kent. ... It’s nearly time for my speech, I’d better 
+go and warn the orchestra. ...” 
+
+The orchestra, however, stopped playing at that very 
+moment. They, and everyone else in the dungeon, fell 
+silent, looking around in excitement, as a hunting 
+horn sounded. 
+
+“Oh, here we go,” said Nearly Headless Nick bitterly. 
+
+Through the dungeon wall burst a dozen ghost 
+horses, each ridden by a headless horseman. The 
+
+Page | 150 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+assembly clapped wildly; Harry started to clap, too, 
+but stopped quickly at the sight of Nick’s face. 
+
+The horses galloped into the middle of the dance floor 
+and halted, rearing and plunging. At the front of the 
+pack was a large ghost who held his bearded head 
+under his arm, from which position he was blowing 
+the horn. The ghost leapt down, lifted his head high 
+in the air so he could see over the crowd (everyone 
+laughed), and strode over to Nearly Headless Nick, 
+squashing his head back onto his neck. 
+
+“Nick!” he roared. “How are you? Head still hanging in 
+there?” 
+
+He gave a hearty guffaw and clapped Nearly Headless 
+Nick on the shoulder. 
+
+“Welcome, Patrick,” said Nick stiffly. 
+
+“Live ’uns!” said Sir Patrick, spotting Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione and giving a huge, fake jump of 
+astonishment, so that his head fell off again (the 
+crowd howled with laughter). 
+
+“Very amusing,” said Nearly Headless Nick darkly. 
+
+“Don’t mind Nick!” shouted Sir Patrick’s head from 
+the floor. “Still upset we won’t let him join the Hunt! 
+But I mean to say — look at the fellow — ” 
+
+“I think,” said Harry hurriedly, at a meaningful look 
+from Nick, “Nick’s very — frightening and — er — ” 
+
+“Ha!” yelled Sir Patrick’s head. “Bet he asked you to 
+say that!” 
+
+“If I could have everyone’s attention, it’s time for my 
+speech!” said Nearly Headless Nick loudly, striding 
+
+Page | 151 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+toward the podium and climbing into an icy blue 
+spotlight. 
+
+“My late lamented lords, ladies, and gentlemen, it is 
+my great sorrow ...” 
+
+But nobody heard much more. Sir Patrick and the 
+rest of the Headless Hunt had just started a game of 
+Head Hockey and the crowd were turning to watch. 
+Nearly Headless Nick tried vainly to recapture his 
+audience, but gave up as Sir Patrick’s head went 
+sailing past him to loud cheers. 
+
+Harry was very cold by now, not to mention hungry. 
+
+“I can’t stand much more of this,” Ron muttered, his 
+teeth chattering, as the orchestra ground back into 
+action and the ghosts swept back onto the dance 
+floor. 
+
+“Let’s go,” Harry agreed. 
+
+They backed toward the door, nodding and beaming 
+at anyone who looked at them, and a minute later 
+were hurrying back up the passageway full of black 
+candles. 
+
+“Pudding might not be finished yet,” said Ron 
+hopefully, leading the way toward the steps to the 
+entrance hall. 
+
+And then Harry heard it. 
+
+"... rip ... tear ... kill ...” 
+
+It was the same voice, the same cold, murderous 
+voice he had heard in Lockhart’s office. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He stumbled to a halt, clutching at the stone wall, 
+listening with all his might, looking around, squinting 
+up and down the dimly lit passageway. 
+
+“Harry, what’re you — ?” 
+
+“It’s that voice again — shut up a minute — ” 
+
+soo hungry ... for so long ...” 
+
+“Listen!” said Harry urgently, and Ron and Hermione 
+froze, watching him. 
+
+“... kill ... time to kill ...” 
+
+The voice was growing fainter. Harry was sure it was 
+moving away — moving upward. A mixture of fear and 
+excitement gripped him as he stared at the dark 
+ceiling; how could it be moving upward? Was it a 
+phantom, to whom stone ceilings didn’t matter? 
+
+“This way,” he shouted, and he began to run, up the 
+stairs, into the entrance hall. It was no good hoping to 
+hear anything here, the babble of talk from the 
+Halloween feast was echoing out of the Great Hall. 
+Harry sprinted up the marble staircase to the first 
+floor, Ron and Hermione clattering behind him. 
+
+“Harry, what’re we — ” 
+
+“SHH!” 
+
+Harry strained his ears. Distantly, from the floor 
+above, and growing fainter still, he heard the voice: 
+“...I smell blood. ...I SMELL BLOOD\” 
+
+His stomach lurched — 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s going to kill someone!” he shouted, and ignoring 
+Ron’s and Hermione’s bewildered faces, he ran up the 
+next flight of steps three at a time, trying to listen 
+over his own pounding footsteps — 
+
+Harry hurtled around the whole of the second floor, 
+Ron and Hermione panting behind him, not stopping 
+until they turned a corner into the last, deserted 
+passage. 
+
+“Harry, what was that all about?” said Ron, wiping 
+sweat off his face. “I couldn’t hear anything. ...” 
+
+But Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the 
+corridor. 
+
+“Loo/c!” 
+
+Something was shining on the wall ahead. They 
+approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. 
+Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall 
+between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by 
+the flaming torches. 
+
+THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. 
+ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE. 
+
+“What’s that thing — hanging underneath?” said Ron, 
+a slight quiver in his voice. 
+
+As they edged nearer, Harry almost slipped — there 
+was a large puddle of water on the floor; Ron and 
+Hermione grabbed him, and they inched toward the 
+message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All 
+three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt 
+backward with a splash. 
+
+
+
+Page | 154 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Mrs. Norris, the caretaker’s cat, was hanging by her 
+tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, 
+her eyes wide and staring. 
+
+For a few seconds, they didn’t move. Then Ron said, 
+“Let’s get out of here.” 
+
+“Shouldn’t we try and help — ” Harry began 
+awkwardly. 
+
+“Trust me,” said Ron. “We don’t want to be found 
+here.” 
+
+But it was too late. A rumble, as though of distant 
+thunder, told them that the feast had just ended. 
+From either end of the corridor where they stood 
+came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the 
+stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well-fed people; 
+next moment, students were crashing into the 
+passage from both ends. 
+
+The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as 
+the people in front spotted the hanging cat. Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the 
+corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students 
+pressing forward to see the grisly sight. 
+
+Then someone shouted through the quiet. 
+
+“Enemies of the Heir, beware! You’ll be next, 
+Mudbloods!” 
+
+It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of 
+the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless 
+face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the 
+hanging, immobile cat. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+9 
+
+
+
+
+THE WRITING ON THE WALL 
+
+“What’s going on here? What’s going on?” 
+
+Attracted no doubt by Malfoy’s shout, Argus Filch 
+came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then 
+he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in 
+horror. 
+
+“My cat! My cat! What’s happened to Mrs. Norris?” he 
+shrieked. 
+
+And his popping eyes fell on Harry. 
+
+“You!” he screeched. “You! You’ve murdered my cat! 
+You’ve killed her! I’ll kill you! I’ll — ” 
+
+“Argus'.” 
+
+Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a 
+number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept 
+past Harry, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. 
+Norris from the torch bracket. 
+
+
+
+Page | 156 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Come with me, Argus,” he said to Filch. “You, too, 
+
+Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger.” 
+
+Lockhart stepped forward eagerly. 
+
+“My office is nearest, Headmaster — just upstairs — 
+please feel free — ” 
+
+“Thank you, Gilderoy,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, 
+looking excited and important, hurried after 
+Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and 
+Snape. 
+
+As they entered Lockhart’s darkened office there was 
+a flurry of movement across the walls; Harry saw 
+several of the Lockharts in the pictures dodging out of 
+sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit the 
+candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore laid 
+Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to 
+examine her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged 
+tense looks and sank into chairs outside the pool of 
+candlelight, watching. 
+
+The tip of Dumbledore ’s long, crooked nose was 
+barely an inch from Mrs. Norris’s fur. He was looking 
+at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his 
+long fingers gently prodding and poking. Professor 
+McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes 
+narrowed. Snape loomed behind them, half in 
+shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: It was 
+as though he was trying hard not to smile. And 
+Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making 
+suggestions. 
+
+“It was definitely a curse that killed her — probably 
+the Trans-mogrifian Torture — I’ve seen it used many 
+
+
+
+Page | 157 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+times, so unlucky I wasn’t there, I know the very 
+countercurse that would have saved her. ...” 
+
+Lockhart’s comments were punctuated by Filch ’s dry, 
+racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair by the desk, 
+unable to look at Mrs. Norris, his face in his hands. 
+Much as he detested Filch, Harry couldn’t help feeling 
+a bit sorry for him, though not nearly as sorry as he 
+felt for himself. If Dumbledore believed Filch, he 
+would be expelled for sure. 
+
+Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under 
+his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand but 
+nothing happened: She continued to look as though 
+she had been recently stuffed. 
+
+"... I remember something very similar happening in 
+Ouagadougou,” said Lockhart, “a series of attacks, 
+the full story’s in my autobiography, I was able to 
+provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which 
+cleared the matter up at once. ...” 
+
+The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all 
+nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had 
+forgotten to remove his hair net. 
+
+At last Dumbledore straightened up. 
+
+“She’s not dead, Argus,” he said softly. 
+
+Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting 
+the number of murders he had prevented. 
+
+“Not dead?” choked Filch, looking through his fingers 
+at Mrs. Norris. “But why’s she all — all stiff and 
+frozen?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 158 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She has been Petrified,” said Dumbledore (“Ah! I 
+thought so!” said Lockhart). “But how, I cannot say. 
+
+
+
+“Ask him\” shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and 
+tearstained face to Harry. 
+
+“No second year could have done this,” said 
+Dumbledore firmly. “It would take Dark Magic of the 
+most advanced — ” 
+
+“He did it, he did it!” Filch spat, his pouchy face 
+purpling. “You saw what he wrote on the wall! He 
+found — in my office — he knows I’m a — I’m a — ” 
+Filch ’s face worked horribly. “He knows I’m a Squib!” 
+he finished. 
+
+“I never touched Mrs. Norris!” Harry said loudly, 
+uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at him, 
+including all the Lockharts on the walls. “And I don’t 
+even know what a Squib is.” 
+
+“Rubbish!” snarled Filch. “He saw my Kwikspell 
+letter!” 
+
+“If I might speak, Headmaster,” said Snape from the 
+shadows, and Harry’s sense of foreboding increased; 
+he was sure nothing Snape had to say was going to 
+do him any good. 
+
+“Potter and his friends may have simply been in the 
+wrong place at the wrong time,” he said, a slight sneer 
+curling his mouth as though he doubted it. “But we 
+do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why 
+was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn’t he 
+at the Halloween feast?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry, Ron and Hermione all launched into an 
+explanation about the deathday party. "... there were 
+hundreds of ghosts, they’ll tell you we were there — ” 
+
+“But why not join the feast afterward?” said Snape, 
+his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. “Why go 
+up to that corridor?” 
+
+Ron and Hermione looked at Harry. 
+
+“Because — because — ” Harry said, his heart 
+thumping very fast; something told him it would 
+sound very far-fetched if he told them he had been led 
+there by a bodiless voice no one but he could hear, 
+“because we were tired and wanted to go to bed,” he 
+said. 
+
+“Without any supper?” said Snape, a triumphant 
+smile flickering across his gaunt face. “I didn’t think 
+ghosts provided food fit for living people at their 
+parties.” 
+
+“We weren’t hungry,” said Ron loudly as his stomach 
+gave a huge rumble. 
+
+Snape’s nasty smile widened. 
+
+“I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being 
+entirely truthful,” he said. “It might be a good idea if 
+he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready 
+to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should 
+be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is 
+ready to be honest.” 
+
+“Really, Severus,” said Professor McGonagall sharply, 
+“I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. 
+This cat wasn’t hit over the head with a broomstick. 
+There is no evidence at all that Potter has done 
+anything wrong.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look. His 
+twinkling light-blue gaze made Harry feel as though 
+he were being X-rayed. 
+
+“Innocent until proven guilty, Severus,” he said 
+firmly. 
+
+Snape looked furious. So did Filch. 
+
+“My cat has been Petrified!” he shrieked, his eyes 
+popping. “I want to see some punishmenti” 
+
+“We will be able to cure her, Argus,” said Dumbledore 
+patiently. “Professer Sprout recently managed to 
+procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have 
+reached their full size, I will have a potion made that 
+will revive Mrs. Norris.” 
+
+“I’ll make it,” Lockhart butted in. “I must have done it 
+a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake 
+Restorative Draught in my sleep — ” 
+
+“Excuse me,” said Snape icily. “But I believe I am the 
+Potions master at this school.” 
+
+There was a very awkward pause. 
+
+“You may go,” Dumbledore said to Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione. 
+
+They went, as quickly as they could without actually 
+running. When they were a floor up from Lockhart’s 
+office, they turned into an empty classroom and 
+closed the door quietly behind them. Harry squinted 
+at his friends’ darkened faces. 
+
+“D’you think I should have told them about that voice 
+I heard?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Ron, without hesitation. “Hearing voices no 
+one else can hear isn’t a good sign, even in the 
+wizarding world.” 
+
+Something in Ron’s voice made Harry ask, “You do 
+believe me, don’t you?” 
+
+“ ’Course I do,” said Ron quickly. “But — you must 
+admit it’s weird. ...” 
+
+“I know it’s weird,” said Harry. “The whole thing’s 
+weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The 
+Chamber Has Been Opened’. ... What’s that supposed 
+to mean?” 
+
+“You know, it rings a sort of bell,” said Ron slowly. “I 
+think someone told me a story about a secret 
+chamber at Hogwarts once ... might’ve been Bill. ...” 
+
+“And what on earth’s a Squib?” said Harry. 
+
+To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger. 
+
+“Well — it’s not funny really — but as it’s Filch,” he 
+said. “A Squib is someone who was born into a 
+wizarding family but hasn’t got any magic powers. 
+Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but 
+Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch ’s trying to learn 
+magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a 
+Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates 
+students so much.” Ron gave a satisfied smile. “He’s 
+bitter.” 
+
+A clock chimed somewhere. 
+
+“Midnight,” said Harry. “We’d better get to bed before 
+Snape comes along and tries to frame us for 
+something else.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+For a few days, the school could talk of little else but 
+the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in 
+everyone’s minds by pacing the spot where she had 
+been attacked, as though he thought the attacker 
+might come back. Harry had seen him scrubbing the 
+message on the wall with Mrs. Skower’s All-Purpose 
+Magical Mess Remover, but to no effect; the words 
+still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone. When 
+Filch wasn’t guarding the scene of the crime, he was 
+skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out 
+at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in 
+detention for things like “breathing loudly” and 
+“looking happy.” 
+
+Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. 
+
+Norris’s fate. According to Ron, she was a great cat 
+lover. 
+
+“But you haven’t really got to know Mrs. Norris,” Ron 
+told her bracingly. “Honestly, we’re much better off 
+without her.” Ginny ’s lip trembled. “Stuff like this 
+doesn’t often happen at Hogwarts,” Ron assured her. 
+“They’ll catch the maniac who did it and have him out 
+of here in no time. I just hope he’s got time to Petrify 
+Filch before he’s expelled. I’m only joking — ” Ron 
+added hastily as Ginny blanched. 
+
+The attack had also had an effect on Hermione. It was 
+quite usual for Hermione to spend a lot of time 
+reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else. 
+Nor could Harry and Ron get much response from her 
+when they asked what she was up to, and not until 
+the following Wednesday did they find out. 
+
+Harry had been held back in Potions, where Snape 
+had made him stay behind to scrape tubeworms off 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+the desks. After a hurried lunch, he went upstairs to 
+meet Ron in the library, and saw Justin Finch- 
+Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology, coming 
+toward him. Harry had just opened his mouth to say 
+hello when Justin caught sight of him, turned 
+abruptly, and sped off in the opposite direction. 
+
+Harry found Ron at the back of the library, measuring 
+his History of Magic homework. Professor Binns had 
+asked for a three-foot-long composition on “The 
+Medieval Assembly of European Wizards.” 
+
+“I don’t believe it, I’m still eight inches short. ...” said 
+Ron furiously, letting go of his parchment, which 
+sprang back into a roll. “And Hermione’s done four 
+feet seven inches and her writing’s tiny.” 
+
+“Where is she?” asked Harry, grabbing the tape 
+measure and unrolling his own homework. 
+
+“Somewhere over there,” said Ron, pointing along the 
+shelves. “Looking for another book. I think she’s 
+trying to read the whole library before Christmas.” 
+
+Harry told Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running 
+away from him. 
+
+“Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an 
+idiot,” said Ron, scribbling away, making his writing 
+as large as possible. “All that junk about Lockhart 
+being so great — ” 
+
+Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. 
+
+She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk 
+to them. 
+
+“All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken 
+out,” she said, sitting down next to Harry and Ron. 
+“And there’s a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn’t 
+
+Page | 164 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+left my copy at home, but I couldn’t fit it in my trunk 
+with all the Lockhart books.” 
+
+
+
+“Why do you want it?” said Harry. 
+
+“The same reason everyone else wants it,” said 
+Hermione, “to read up on the legend of the Chamber 
+of Secrets.” 
+
+“What’s that?” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“That’s just it. I can’t remember,” said Hermione, 
+biting her lip. “And I can’t find the story anywhere 
+else — ” 
+
+“Hermione, let me read your composition,” said Ron 
+desperately, checking his watch. 
+
+“No, I won’t,” said Hermione, suddenly severe. “You’ve 
+had ten days to finish it — ” 
+
+“I only need another two inches, come on — ” 
+
+The bell rang. Ron and Hermione led the way to 
+History of Magic, bickering. 
+
+History of Magic was the dullest subject on their 
+schedule. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their 
+only ghost teacher, and the most exciting thing that 
+ever happened in his classes was his entering the 
+room through the blackboard. Ancient and shriveled, 
+many people said he hadn’t noticed he was dead. He 
+had simply got up to teach one day and left his body 
+behind him in an armchair in front of the staffroom 
+fire; his routine had not varied in the slightest since. 
+
+Today was as boring as ever. Professor Binns opened 
+his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old 
+vacuum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was 
+
+Page | 165 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+in a deep stupor, occasionally coming to long enough 
+to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep 
+again. He had been speaking for half an hour when 
+something happened that had never happened before. 
+Hermione put up her hand. 
+
+Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly 
+dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention 
+of 1289, looked amazed. 
+
+“Miss — er — ?” 
+
+“Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell 
+us anything about the Chamber of Secrets,” said 
+Hermione in a clear voice. 
+
+Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth 
+hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of 
+his trance; Lavender Brown’s head came up off her 
+arms and Neville Longbottom’s elbow slipped off his 
+desk. 
+
+Professor Binns blinked. 
+
+“My subject is History of Magic,” he said in his dry, 
+wheezy voice. “I deal with, facts, Miss Granger, not 
+myths and legends.” He cleared his throat with a 
+small noise like chalk snapping and continued, “In 
+September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian 
+sorcerers — ” 
+
+He stuttered to a halt. Hermione’s hand was waving 
+in the air again. 
+
+“Miss Grant?” 
+
+“Please, sir, don’t legends always have a basis in 
+fact?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 166 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Professor Binns was looking at her in such 
+amazement, Harry was sure no student had ever 
+interrupted him before, alive or dead. 
+
+“Well,” said Professor Binns slowly, “yes, one could 
+argue that, I suppose.” He peered at Hermione as 
+though he had never seen a student properly before. 
+“However, the legend of which you speak is such a 
+very sensational, even ludicrous tale — ” 
+
+But the whole class was now hanging on Professor 
+Binns ’s every word. He looked dimly at them all, every 
+face turned to his. Harry could tell he was completely 
+thrown by such an unusual show of interest. 
+
+“Oh, very well,” he said slowly. “Let me see ... the 
+Chamber of Secrets . . . 
+
+“You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded 
+over a thousand years ago — the precise date is 
+uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards 
+of the age. The four school Houses are named after 
+them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena 
+Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this 
+castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was 
+an age when magic was feared by common people, 
+and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.” 
+
+He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and 
+continued. 
+
+“For a few years, the founders worked in harmony 
+together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of 
+magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. 
+But then disagreements sprang up between them. A 
+rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. 
+Slytherin wished to be more selective about the 
+students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that 
+magical learning should be kept within all-magic 
+Page | 167 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+families. He disliked taking students of Muggle 
+parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After 
+a while, there was a serious argument on the subject 
+between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left 
+the school.” 
+
+Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, 
+looking like a wrinkled old tortoise. 
+
+“Reliable historical sources tell us this much,” he 
+said. “But these honest facts have been obscured by 
+the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The 
+story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber 
+in the castle, of which the other founders knew 
+nothing. 
+
+“Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the 
+Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to 
+open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. 
+The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber 
+of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to 
+purge the school of all who were unworthy to study 
+magic.” 
+
+There was silence as he finished telling the story, but 
+it wasn’t the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor 
+Binns ’s classes. There was unease in the air as 
+everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. 
+Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed. 
+
+“The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course,” he 
+said. “Naturally, the school has been searched for 
+evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most 
+learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale 
+told to frighten the gullible.” 
+
+Hermione’s hand was back in the air. 
+
+
+
+Page | 168 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sir — what exactly do you mean by the ‘horror 
+within’ the Chamber?” 
+
+“That is believed to be some sort of monster, which 
+the Heir of Slytherin alone can control,” said Professor 
+Binns in his dry, reedy voice. 
+
+The class exchanged nervous looks. 
+
+“I tell you, the thing does not exist,” said Professor 
+Binns, shuffling his notes. “There is no Chamber and 
+no monster.” 
+
+“But, sir,” said Seamus Finnigan, “if the Chamber can 
+only be opened by Slytherin’s true heir, no one else 
+would be able to find it, would they?” 
+
+“Nonsense, O’Flaherty,” said Professor Binns in an 
+aggravated tone. “If a long succession of Hogwarts 
+headmasters and headmistresses haven’t found the 
+thing — ” 
+
+“But, Professor,” piped up Parvati Patil, “you’d 
+probably have to use Dark Magic to open it — ” 
+
+“Just because a wizard doesn’t use Dark Magic 
+doesn’t mean he can’t, Miss Pennyfeather,” snapped 
+Professor Binns. “I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore 
+
+
+
+“But maybe you’ve got to be related to Slytherin, so 
+Dumbledore couldn’t — ” began Dean Thomas, but 
+Professor Binns had had enough. 
+
+“That will do,” he said sharply. “It is a myth! It does 
+not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that 
+Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom 
+cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We 
+
+
+
+Page | 169 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+will return, if you please, to history, to solid, 
+believable, verifiable facti” 
+
+
+
+And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into 
+its usual torpor. 
+
+“I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old 
+loony,” Ron told Harry and Hermione as they fought 
+their way through the teeming corridors at the end of 
+the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner. “But I 
+never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I 
+wouldn’t be in his House if you paid me. Honestly, if 
+the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I’d’ve 
+got the train straight back home. ...” 
+
+Hermione nodded fervently, but Harry didn’t say 
+anything. His stomach had just dropped 
+unpleasantly. 
+
+Harry had never told Ron and Hermione that the 
+Sorting Hat had seriously considered putting him in 
+Slytherin. He could remember, as though it were 
+yesterday, the small voice that had spoken in his ear 
+when he’d placed the hat on his head a year before: 
+You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your 
+head, and Slytherin would help you on the way to 
+greatness, no doubt about that. . . . 
+
+But Harry, who had already heard of Slytherin 
+House’s reputation for turning out Dark wizards, had 
+thought desperately, Not Slytherin ! and the hat had 
+said, Oh, well, if you’re sure ... better be Gryffindor. ... 
+
+As they were shunted along in the throng, Colin 
+Creevey went past. 
+
+“Hiya, Harry!” 
+
+“Hullo, Colin,” said Harry automatically. 
+
+Page | 170 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry — Harry — a boy in my class has been saying 
+you’re — ” 
+
+
+
+But Colin was so small he couldn’t fight against the 
+tide of people bearing him toward the Great Hall; they 
+heard him squeak, “See you, Harry!” and he was 
+gone. 
+
+“What’s a boy in his class saying about you?” 
+Hermione wondered. 
+
+“That I’m Slytherin’s heir, I expect,” said Harry, his 
+stomach dropping another inch or so as he suddenly 
+remembered the way Justin Finch-Fletchley had run 
+away from him at lunchtime. 
+
+“People here’ll believe anything,” said Ron in disgust. 
+
+The crowd thinned and they were able to climb the 
+next staircase without difficulty. 
+
+“D’you really think there’s a Chamber of Secrets?” 
+
+Ron asked Hermione. 
+
+“I don’t know,” she said, frowning. “Dumbledore 
+couldn’t cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think 
+that whatever attacked her might not be — well — 
+human.” 
+
+As she spoke, they turned a corner and found 
+themselves at the end of the very corridor where the 
+attack had happened. They stopped and looked. The 
+scene was just as it had been that night, except that 
+there was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket, 
+and an empty chair stood against the wall bearing the 
+message “The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened.” 
+
+“That’s where Filch has been keeping guard,” Ron 
+muttered. 
+
+Page | 171 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They looked at each other. The corridor was deserted. 
+
+
+
+“Can’t hurt to have a poke around,” said Harry, 
+dropping his bag and getting to his hands and knees 
+so that he could crawl along, searching for clues. 
+
+“Scorch marks!” he said. “Here — and here — ” 
+
+“Come and look at this!” said Hermione. “This is 
+funny. ...” 
+
+Harry got up and crossed to the window next to the 
+message on the wall. Hermione was pointing at the 
+topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were 
+scuttling, apparently fighting to get through a small 
+crack. A long, silvery thread was dangling like a rope, 
+as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get 
+outside. 
+
+“Have you ever seen spiders act like that?” said 
+Hermione wonderingly. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “have you, Ron? Ron?” 
+
+He looked over his shoulder. Ron was standing well 
+back and seemed to be fighting the impulse to run. 
+
+“What’s up?” said Harry. 
+
+“I — don’t — like — spiders,” said Ron tensely. 
+
+“I never knew that,” said Hermione, looking at Ron in 
+surprise. “You’ve used spiders in Potions loads of 
+times. ...” 
+
+“I don’t mind them dead,” said Ron, who was carefully 
+looking anywhere but at the window. “I just don’t like 
+the way they move. ...” 
+
+Page | 172 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione giggled. 
+
+
+
+“It’s not funny,” said Ron, fiercely. “If you must know, 
+when I was three, Fred turned my — my teddy bear 
+into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy 
+broomstick. ... You wouldn’t like them either if you’d 
+been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many 
+legs and ...” 
+
+He broke off, shuddering. Hermione was obviously 
+still trying not to laugh. Feeling they had better get off 
+the subject, Harry said, “Remember all that water on 
+the floor? Where did that come from? Someone’s 
+mopped it up.” 
+
+“It was about here,” said Ron, recovering himself to 
+walk a few paces past Filch’s chair and pointing. 
+
+“Level with this door.” 
+
+He reached for the brass doorknob but suddenly 
+withdrew his hand as though he’d been burned. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” said Harry. 
+
+“Can’t go in there,” said Ron gruffly. “That’s a girls’ 
+toilet.” 
+
+“Oh, Ron, there won’t be anyone in there,” said 
+Hermione, standing up and coming over. “That’s 
+Moaning Myrtle’s place. Come on, let’s have a look.” 
+
+And ignoring the large OUT OF ORDER sign, she 
+opened the door. 
+
+It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry 
+had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and 
+spotted mirror were a row of chipped sinks. The floor 
+was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the 
+stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders; 
+Page | 173 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and 
+scratched and one of them was dangling off its 
+hinges. 
+
+Hermione put her fingers to her lips and set off 
+toward the end stall. When she reached it she said, 
+“Hello, Myrtle, how are you?” 
+
+Harry and Ron went to look. Moaning Myrtle was 
+floating above the tank of the toilet, picking a spot on 
+her chin. 
+
+“This is a girls’ bathroom,” she said, eyeing Ron and 
+Harry suspiciously. “They’re not girls.” 
+
+“No,” Hermione agreed. “I just wanted to show them 
+how — er — nice it is in here.” 
+
+She waved vaguely at the dirty old mirror and the 
+damp floor. 
+
+“Ask her if she saw anything,” Harry mouthed at 
+Hermione. 
+
+“What are you whispering?” said Myrtle, staring at 
+him. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry quickly. “We wanted to ask — ” 
+
+“I wish people would stop talking behind my back!” 
+said Myrtle, in a voice choked with tears. “I do have 
+feelings, you know, even if I am dead — ” 
+
+“Myrtle, no one wants to upset you,” said Hermione. 
+“Harry only — ” 
+
+“No one wants to upset me! That’s a good one!” 
+howled Myrtle. “My life was nothing but misery at this 
+place and now people come along ruining my death!” 
+
+Page | 174 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We wanted to ask you if you’ve seen anything funny 
+lately,” said Hermione quickly. “Because a cat was 
+attacked right outside your front door on Halloween.” 
+
+“Did you see anyone near here that night?” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“I wasn’t paying attention,” said Myrtle dramatically. 
+“Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to 
+kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I’m — 
+that I’m — ” 
+
+“Already dead,” said Ron helpfully. 
+
+Myrtle gave a tragic sob, rose up in the air, turned 
+over, and dived headfirst into the toilet, splashing 
+water all over them and vanishing from sight, 
+although from the direction of her muffled sobs, she 
+had come to rest somewhere in the U-bend. 
+
+Harry and Ron stood with their mouths open, but 
+Hermione shrugged wearily and said, “Honestly, that 
+was almost cheerful for Myrtle. ... Come on, let’s go.” 
+
+Harry had barely closed the door on Myrtle’s gurgling 
+sobs when a loud voice made all three of them jump. 
+
+“RON!” 
+
+Percy Weasley had stopped dead at the head of the 
+stairs, prefect badge agleam, an expression of 
+complete shock on his face. 
+
+“That’s a girls’ bathroom!” he gasped. “What were you 
+— ?” 
+
+“Just having a look around,” Ron shrugged. “Clues, 
+you know — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 175 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Percy swelled in a manner that reminded Harry 
+forcefully of Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+
+
+“Get — away — from — there — ” Percy said, striding 
+toward them and starting to bustle them along, 
+flapping his arms. “Don’t you care what this looks 
+like? Coming back here while everyone’s at dinner — ” 
+
+“Why shouldn’t we be here?” said Ron hotly, stopping 
+short and glaring at Percy. “Listen, we never laid a 
+finger on that cat!” 
+
+“That’s what I told Ginny,” said Percy fiercely, “but 
+she still seems to think you’re going to be expelled, 
+
+I’ve never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out, you 
+might think of her, all the first years are thoroughly 
+overexcited by this business — ” 
+
+“ You don’t care about Ginny,” said Ron, whose ears 
+were now reddening. “You’re just worried I’m going to 
+mess up your chances of being Head Boy — ” 
+
+“Five points from Gryffindor!” Percy said tersely, 
+fingering his prefect badge. “And I hope it teaches you 
+a lesson! No more detective work, or I’ll write to 
+Mum!” 
+
+And he strode off, the back of his neck as red as 
+Ron’s ears. 
+
+
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione chose seats as far as 
+possible from Percy in the common room that night. 
+Ron was still in a very bad temper and kept blotting 
+his Charms homework. When he reached absently for 
+his wand to remove the smudges, it ignited the 
+parchment. Fuming almost as much as his 
+homework, Ron slammed The Standard Book of 
+Page | 176 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Spells, Grade 2 shut. To Harry’s surprise, Hermione 
+followed suit. 
+
+“Who can it be, though?” she said in a quiet voice, as 
+though continuing a conversation they had just been 
+having. “Who’d want to frighten all the Squibs and 
+Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Let’s think,” said Ron in mock puzzlement. “Who do 
+we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?” 
+
+He looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back, 
+unconvinced. 
+
+“If you’re talking about Malfoy — ” 
+
+“Of course I am!” said Ron. “You heard him — ‘You’ll 
+be next, MudbloodsV — come on, you’ve only got to 
+look at his foul rat face to know it’s him — ” 
+
+“Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?” said Hermione 
+skeptically. 
+
+“Look at his family,” said Harry, closing his books, 
+too. “The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; 
+he’s always boasting about it. They could easily be 
+Slytherin’s descendants. His father’s definitely evil 
+enough.” 
+
+“They could’ve had the key to the Chamber of Secrets 
+for centuries!” said Ron. “Handing it down, father to 
+son. ...” 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione cautiously, “I suppose it’s 
+possible. ...” 
+
+“But how do we prove it?” said Harry darkly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 177 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“There might be a way,” said Hermione slowly, 
+dropping her voice still further with a quick glance 
+across the room at Percy. “Of course, it would be 
+difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We’d be 
+breaking about fifty school rules, I expect — ” 
+
+“If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will 
+let us know, won’t you?” said Ron irritably. 
+
+“All right,” said Hermione coldly. “What we’d need to 
+do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and 
+ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it’s 
+us.” 
+
+
+
+“But that’s impossible,” Harry said as Ron laughed. 
+
+“No, it’s not,” said Hermione. “All we’d need would be 
+some Polyjuice Potion.” 
+
+“What’s that?” said Ron and Harry together. 
+
+“Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago — ” 
+
+“D’you think we’ve got nothing better to do in Potions 
+than listen to Snape?” muttered Ron. 
+
+“It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! 
+We could change into three of the Slytherins. No one 
+would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us 
+anything. He’s probably boasting about it in the 
+Slytherin common room right now, if only we could 
+hear him.” 
+
+“This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me,” said 
+Ron, frowning. “What if we were stuck looking like 
+three of the Slytherins forever?” 
+
+“It wears off after a while,” said Hermione, waving her 
+hand impatiently. “But getting hold of the recipe will 
+
+Page | 178 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called 
+Moste Potente Potions and it’s bound to be in the 
+Restricted Section of the library.” 
+
+There was only one way to get out a book from the 
+Restricted Section: You needed a signed note of 
+permission from a teacher. 
+
+“Hard to see why we’d want the book, really,” said 
+Ron, “if we weren’t going to try and make one of the 
+potions.” 
+
+“I think,” said Hermione, “that if we made it sound as 
+though we were just interested in the theory, we 
+might stand a chance. ...” 
+
+“Oh, come on, no teacher’s going to fall for that,” said 
+Ron. “They’d have to be really thick. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 179 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+10 
+
+
+
+
+THE ROGUE BLUDGER 
+
+Since the disastrous episode of the pixies, Professor 
+Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. 
+Instead, he read passages from his books to them, 
+and sometimes reenacted some of the more dramatic 
+bits. He usually picked Harry to help him with these 
+reconstructions; so far, Harry had been forced to play 
+a simple Transylvanian villager whom Lockhart had 
+cured of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head cold, 
+and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything 
+except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him. 
+
+Harry was hauled to the front of the class during their 
+very next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, this 
+time acting a werewolf. If he hadn’t had a very good 
+reason for keeping Lockhart in a good mood, he would 
+have refused to do it. 
+
+“Nice loud howl, Harry — exactly — and then, if you’ll 
+believe it, I pounced — like this — slammed him to 
+the floor — thus — with one hand, I managed to hold 
+him down — with my other, I put my wand to his 
+throat — I then screwed up my remaining strength 
+Page | 180 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+and performed the immensely complex Homorphus 
+Charm — he let out a piteous moan — go on, Harry — 
+higher than that — good — the fur vanished — the 
+fangs shrank — and he turned back into a man. 
+Simple, yet effective — and another village will 
+remember me forever as the hero who delivered them 
+from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks.” 
+
+The bell rang and Lockhart got to his feet. 
+
+“Homework — compose a poem about my defeat of 
+the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of Magical 
+Me to the author of the best one!” 
+
+The class began to leave. Harry returned to the back 
+of the room, where Ron and Hermione were waiting. 
+
+“Ready?” Harry muttered. 
+
+“Wait till everyone’s gone,” said Hermione nervously. 
+“All right ...” 
+
+She approached Lockhart’s desk, a piece of paper 
+clutched tightly in her hand, Harry and Ron right 
+behind her. 
+
+“Er — Professor Lockhart?” Hermione stammered. “I 
+wanted to — to get this book out of the library. Just 
+for background reading.” She held out the piece of 
+paper, her hand shaking slightly. “But the thing is, 
+it’s in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a 
+teacher to sign for it — I’m sure it would help me 
+understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls 
+about slow-acting venoms — ” 
+
+“Ah, Gadding with GhoulsV’ said Lockhart, taking the 
+note from Hermione and smiling widely at her. 
+“Possibly my very favorite book. You enjoyed it?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 181 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, yes,” said Hermione eagerly. “So clever, the way 
+you trapped that last one with the tea-strainer — ” 
+
+“Well, I’m sure no one will mind me giving the best 
+student of the year a little extra help,” said Lockhart 
+warmly, and he pulled out an enormous peacock 
+quill. “Yes, nice, isn’t it?” he said, misreading the 
+revolted look on Ron’s face. “I usually save it for book 
+signings.” 
+
+He scrawled an enormous loopy signature on the note 
+and handed it back to Hermione. 
+
+“So, Harry,” said Lockhart, while Hermione folded the 
+note with fumbling fingers and slipped it into her bag. 
+“Tomorrow’s the first Quidditch match of the season, I 
+believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin, is it not? I hear 
+you’re a useful player. I was a Seeker, too. I was 
+asked to try for the National Squad, but preferred to 
+dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces. 
+Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private 
+training, don’t hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass 
+on my expertise to less able players. ...” 
+
+Harry made an indistinct noise in his throat and then 
+hurried off after Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“I don’t believe it,” he said as the three of them 
+examined the signature on the note. “He didn’t even 
+look at the book we wanted.” 
+
+“That’s because he’s a brainless git,” said Ron. “But 
+who cares, we’ve got what we needed — ” 
+
+“He is not a brainless git,” said Hermione shrilly as 
+they half ran toward the library. 
+
+“Just because he said you were the best student of 
+the year — ” 
+
+Page | 182 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They dropped their voices as they entered the muffled 
+stillness of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, 
+was a thin, irritable woman who looked like an 
+underfed vulture. 
+
+“Moste Potente Potions?” she repeated suspiciously, 
+trying to take the note from Hermione; but Hermione 
+wouldn’t let go. 
+
+“I was wondering if I could keep it,” she said 
+breathlessly. 
+
+“Oh, come on,” said Ron, wrenching it from her grasp 
+and thrusting it at Madam Pince. “We’ll get you 
+another autograph. Lockhart ’ll sign anything if it 
+stands still long enough.” 
+
+Madam Pince held the note up to the light, as though 
+determined to detect a forgery, but it passed the test. 
+She stalked away between the lofty shelves and 
+returned several minutes later carrying a large and 
+moldy-looking book. Hermione put it carefully into 
+her bag and they left, trying not to walk too quickly or 
+look too guilty. 
+
+Five minutes later, they were barricaded in Moaning 
+Myrtle’s out-of-order bathroom once again. Hermione 
+had overridden Ron’s objections by pointing out that 
+it was the last place anyone in their right minds 
+would go, so they were guaranteed some privacy. 
+Moaning Myrtle was crying noisily in her stall, but 
+they were ignoring her, and she them. 
+
+Hermione opened Moste Potente Potions carefully, and 
+the three of them bent over the damp-spotted pages. 
+
+It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the 
+Restricted Section. Some of the potions had effects 
+almost too gruesome to think about, and there were 
+some very unpleasant illustrations, which included a 
+Page | 183 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+man who seemed to have been turned inside out and 
+a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of 
+her head. 
+
+“Here it is,” said Hermione excitedly as she found the 
+page headed The Polyjuice Potion. It was decorated 
+with drawings of people halfway through transforming 
+into other people. Harry sincerely hoped the artist 
+had imagined the looks of intense pain on their faces. 
+
+“This is the most complicated potion I’ve ever seen,” 
+said Hermione as they scanned the recipe. “Lacewing 
+flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass,” she 
+murmured, running her finger down the list of 
+ingredients. “Well, they’re easy enough, they’re in the 
+student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves. ... 
+Oooh, look, powdered horn of a bicorn — don’t know 
+where we’re going to get that — shredded skin of a 
+boomslang — thatll be tricky, too — and of course a 
+bit of whoever we want to change into.” 
+
+“Excuse me?” said Ron sharply. “What d’you mean, a 
+bit of whoever we’re changing into? I’m drinking 
+nothing with Crabbe’s toenails in it — ” 
+
+Hermione continued as though she hadn’t heard him. 
+
+“We don’t have to worry about that yet, though, 
+because we add those bits last. ...” 
+
+Ron turned, speechless, to Harry, who had another 
+worry. 
+
+“D’you realize how much we’re going to have to steal, 
+Hermione? Shredded skin of a boomslang, that’s 
+definitely not in the students’ cupboard. What’re we 
+going to do, break into Snape’s private stores? I don’t 
+know if this is a good idea. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 184 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione shut the book with a snap. 
+
+
+
+“Well, if you two are going to chicken out, fine,” she 
+said. There were bright pink patches on her cheeks 
+and her eyes were brighter than usual. “ I don’t want 
+to break rules, you know. / think threatening Muggle- 
+borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. 
+But if you don’t want to find out if it’s Malfoy, I’ll go 
+straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back 
+in — ” 
+
+
+
+“I never thought I’d see the day when you’d be 
+persuading us to break rules,” said Ron. “All right, 
+we’ll do it. But not toenails, okay?” 
+
+“How long will it take to make, anyway?” said Harry 
+as Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again. 
+
+“Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the 
+full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for 
+twenty-one days ... I’d say it’d be ready in about a 
+month, if we can get all the ingredients.” 
+
+“A month?” said Ron. “Malfoy could have attacked 
+half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!” But 
+Hermione ’s eyes narrowed dangerously again, and he 
+added swiftly, “But it’s the best plan we’ve got, so full 
+steam ahead, I say.” 
+
+However, while Hermione was checking that the coast 
+was clear for them to leave the bathroom, Ron 
+muttered to Harry, “It’ll be a lot less hassle if you can 
+just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow.” 
+
+Harry woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a 
+while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. He 
+was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Wood 
+would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of 
+facing a team mounted on the fastest racing brooms 
+Page | 185 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+gold could buy. He had never wanted to beat 
+Slytherin so badly. After half an hour of lying there 
+with his insides churning, he got up, dressed, and 
+went down to breakfast early, where he found the rest 
+of the Gryffindor team huddled at the long, empty 
+table, all looking uptight and not speaking much. 
+
+As eleven o’clock approached, the whole school 
+started to make its way down to the Quidditch 
+stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of 
+thunder in the air. Ron and Hermione came hurrying 
+over to wish Harry good luck as he entered the locker 
+rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor 
+robes, then sat down to listen to Wood’s usual pre- 
+match pep talk. 
+
+“Slytherin has better brooms than us,” he began. “No 
+point denying it. But we’ve got better people on our 
+brooms. We’ve trained harder than they have, we’ve 
+been flying in all weathers — ” (“Too true,” muttered 
+George Weasley. “I haven’t been properly dry since 
+August”) “ — and we’re going to make them rue the 
+day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his 
+way onto their team.” 
+
+Chest heaving with emotion, Wood turned to Harry. 
+
+“It’ll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a 
+Seeker has to have something more than a rich 
+father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, 
+Harry, because we’ve got to win today, we’ve got to.” 
+
+“So no pressure, Harry,” said Fred, winking at him. 
+
+As they walked out onto the field, a roar of noise 
+greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and 
+Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but 
+the Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and 
+hisses heard, too. Madam Hooch, the Quidditch 
+Page | 186 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+teacher, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which 
+they did, giving each other threatening stares and 
+gripping rather harder than was necessary. 
+
+“On my whistle,” said Madam Hooch. “Three ... two ... 
+one ...” 
+
+With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, 
+the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. 
+
+Harry flew higher than any of them, squinting around 
+for the Snitch. 
+
+“All right there, Scarhead?” yelled Malfoy, shooting 
+underneath him as though to show off the speed of 
+his broom. 
+
+Harry had no time to reply. At that very moment, a 
+heavy black Bludger came pelting toward him; he 
+avoided it so narrowly that he felt it ruffle his hair as 
+it passed. 
+
+“Close one, Harry!” said George, streaking past him 
+with his club in his hand, ready to knock the Bludger 
+back toward a Slytherin. Harry saw George give the 
+Bludger a powerful whack in the direction of Adrian 
+Pucey, but the Bludger changed direction in midair 
+and shot straight for Harry again. 
+
+Harry dropped quickly to avoid it, and George 
+managed to hit it hard toward Malfoy. Once again, the 
+Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at Harry’s 
+head. 
+
+Harry put on a burst of speed and zoomed toward the 
+other end of the field. He could hear the Bludger 
+whistling along behind him. What was going on? 
+Bludgers never concentrated on one player like this; it 
+was their job to try and unseat as many people as 
+possible. ... 
+
+Page | 187 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Fred Weasley was waiting for the Bludger at the other 
+end. Harry ducked as Fred swung at the Bludger with 
+all his might; the Bludger was knocked off course. 
+
+“Gotcha!” Fred yelled happily, but he was wrong; as 
+though it was magnetically attracted to Harry, the 
+Bludger pelted after him once more and Harry was 
+forced to fly off at full speed. 
+
+It had started to rain; Harry felt heavy drops fall onto 
+his face, splattering onto his glasses. He didn’t have a 
+clue what was going on in the rest of the game until 
+he heard Lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, 
+“Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero — ” 
+
+The Slytherins’ superior brooms were clearly doing 
+their jobs, and meanwhile the mad Bludger was doing 
+all it could to knock Harry out of the air. Fred and 
+George were now flying so close to him on either side 
+that Harry could see nothing at all except their flailing 
+arms and had no chance to look for the Snitch, let 
+alone catch it. 
+
+“Someone’s — tampered — with — this — Bludger — ” 
+Fred grunted, swinging his bat with all his might at it 
+as it launched a new attack on Harry. 
+
+“We need time out,” said George, trying to signal to 
+Wood and stop the Bludger breaking Harry’s nose at 
+the same time. 
+
+Wood had obviously got the message. Madam Hooch’s 
+whistle rang out and Harry, Fred, and George dived 
+for the ground, still trying to avoid the mad Bludger. 
+
+“What’s going on?” said Wood as the Gryffindor team 
+huddled together, while Slytherins in the crowd 
+jeered. “We’re being flattened. Fred, George, where 
+
+
+
+Page | 188 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina 
+scoring?” 
+
+“We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other 
+Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver,” said George 
+angrily. “Someone’s fixed it — it won’t leave Harry 
+alone. It hasn’t gone for anyone else all game. The 
+Slytherins must have done something to it.” 
+
+“But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam 
+Hooch’s office since our last practice, and there was 
+nothing wrong with them then. ...” said Wood, 
+anxiously. 
+
+Madam Hooch was walking toward them. Over her 
+shoulder, Harry could see the Slytherin team jeering 
+and pointing in his direction. 
+
+“Listen,” said Harry as she came nearer and nearer, 
+“with you two flying around me all the time the only 
+way I’m going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my 
+sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal 
+with the rogue one.” 
+
+“Don’t be thick,” said Fred. “It’ll take your head off.” 
+
+Wood was looking from Harry to the Weasleys. 
+
+“Oliver, this is insane,” said Alicia Spinnet angrily. 
+“You can’t let Harry deal with that thing on his own. 
+Let’s ask for an inquiry — ” 
+
+“If we stop now, we’ll have to forfeit the match!” said 
+Harry. “And we’re not losing to Slytherin just because 
+of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave 
+me alone!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 189 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“This is all your fault,” George said angrily to Wood. “ 
+‘Get the Snitch or die trying,’ what a stupid thing to 
+tell him—” 
+
+
+
+Madam Hooch had joined them. 
+
+“Ready to resume play?” she asked Wood. 
+
+Wood looked at the determined look on Harry’s face. 
+
+“All right,” he said. “Fred, George, you heard Harry — 
+leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on 
+his own.” 
+
+The rain was falling more heavily now. On Madam 
+Hooch’s whistle, Harry kicked hard into the air and 
+heard the telltale whoosh of the Bludger behind him. 
+Higher and higher Harry climbed; he looped and 
+swooped, spiraled, zigzagged, and rolled. Slightly 
+dizzy, he nevertheless kept his eyes wide open, rain 
+was speckling his glasses and ran up his nostrils as 
+he hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive 
+from the Bludger. He could hear laughter from the 
+crowd; he knew he must look very stupid, but the 
+rogue Bludger was heavy and couldn’t change 
+direction as quickly as Harry could; he began a kind 
+of roller-coaster ride around the edges of the stadium, 
+squinting through the silver sheets of rain to the 
+Gryffindor goal posts, where Adrian Pucey was trying 
+to get past Wood — 
+
+A whistling in Harry’s ear told him the Bludger had 
+just missed him again; he turned right over and sped 
+in the opposite direction. 
+
+“Training for the ballet, Potter?” yelled Malfoy as 
+Harry was forced to do a stupid kind of twirl in midair 
+to dodge the Bludger, and he fled, the Bludger trailing 
+a few feet behind him; and then, glaring back at 
+
+Page | 190 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Malfoy in hatred, he saw it — the Golden Snitch. It 
+was hovering inches above Malfoy’s left ear — and 
+Malfoy, busy laughing at Harry, hadn’t seen it. 
+
+For an agonizing moment, Harry hung in midair, not 
+daring to speed toward Malfoy in case he looked up 
+and saw the Snitch. 
+
+WHAM. 
+
+He had stayed still a second too long. The Bludger 
+had hit him at last, smashed into his elbow, and 
+Harry felt his arm break. Dimly, dazed by the searing 
+pain in his arm, he slid sideways on his rain- 
+drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his 
+right arm dangling useless at his side — the Bludger 
+came pelting back for a second attack, this time 
+aiming at his face — Harry swerved out of the way, 
+one idea firmly lodged in his numb brain: get to 
+Malfoy. 
+
+Through a haze of rain and pain he dived for the 
+shimmering, sneering face below him and saw its eyes 
+widen with fear: Malfoy thought Harry was attacking 
+him. 
+
+“What the — ” he gasped, careening out of Harry’s 
+way. 
+
+Harry took his remaining hand off his broom and 
+made a wild snatch; he felt his fingers close on the 
+cold Snitch but was now only gripping the broom with 
+his legs, and there was a yell from the crowd below as 
+he headed straight for the ground, trying hard not to 
+pass out. 
+
+With a splattering thud he hit the mud and rolled off 
+his broom. His arm was hanging at a very strange 
+angle; riddled with pain, he heard, as though from a 
+
+Page | 191 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+distance, a good deal of whistling and shouting. He 
+focused on the Snitch clutched in his good hand. 
+
+“Aha,” he said vaguely. “We’ve won.” 
+
+And he fainted. 
+
+He came around, rain falling on his face, still lying on 
+the field, with someone leaning over him. He saw a 
+glitter of teeth. 
+
+“Oh, no, not you,” he moaned. 
+
+“Doesn’t know what he’s saying,” said Lockhart loudly 
+to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around 
+them. “Not to worry, Harry. I’m about to fix your 
+arm.” 
+
+“iVo!” said Harry. “I’ll keep it like this, thanks. ...” 
+
+He tried to sit up, but the pain was terrible. He heard 
+a familiar clicking noise nearby. 
+
+“I don’t want a photo of this, Colin,” he said loudly. 
+
+“Lie back, Harry,” said Lockhart soothingly. “It’s a 
+simple charm I’ve used countless times — ” 
+
+“Why can’t I just go to the hospital wing?” said Harry 
+through clenched teeth. 
+
+“He should really, Professor,” said a muddy Wood, 
+who couldn’t help grinning even though his Seeker 
+was injured. “Great capture, Harry, really 
+spectacular, your best yet, I’d say — ” 
+
+Through the thicket of legs around him, Harry 
+spotted Fred and George Weasley, wrestling the rogue 
+
+
+
+Page | 192 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Bludger into a box. It was still putting up a terrific 
+fight. 
+
+“Stand back,” said Lockhart, who was rolling up his 
+jade-green sleeves. 
+
+“No — don’t — ” said Harry weakly, but Lockhart was 
+twirling his wand and a second later had directed it 
+straight at Harry’s arm. 
+
+A strange and unpleasant sensation started at Harry’s 
+shoulder and spread all the way down to his 
+fingertips. It felt as though his arm was being 
+deflated. He didn’t dare look at what was happening. 
+He had shut his eyes, his face turned away from his 
+arm, but his worst fears were realized as the people 
+above him gasped and Colin Creevey began clicking 
+away madly. His arm didn’t hurt anymore — nor did 
+it feel remotely like an arm. 
+
+“Ah,” said Lockhart. “Yes. Well, that can sometimes 
+happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer 
+broken. That’s the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, 
+just toddle up to the hospital wing — ah, Mr. 
+
+Weasley, Miss Granger, would you escort him? — and 
+Madam Pomfrey will be able to — er — tidy you up a 
+bit.” 
+
+As Harry got to his feet, he felt strangely lopsided. 
+Taking a deep breath he looked down at his right 
+side. What he saw nearly made him pass out again. 
+
+Poking out of the end of his robes was what looked 
+like a thick, flesh-colored rubber glove. He tried to 
+move his fingers. Nothing happened. 
+
+Lockhart hadn’t mended Harry’s bones. He had 
+removed them. 
+
+
+
+Page | 193 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Madam Pomfrey wasn’t at all pleased. 
+
+“You should have come straight to me!” she raged, 
+holding up the sad, limp remainder of what, half an 
+hour before, had been a working arm. “I can mend 
+bones in a second — but growing them back — ” 
+
+“You will be able to, won’t you?” said Harry 
+desperately. 
+
+“I’ll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful,” said 
+Madam Pomfrey grimly, throwing Harry a pair of 
+pajamas. “You’ll have to stay the night. ...” 
+
+Hermione waited outside the curtain drawn around 
+Harry’s bed while Ron helped him into his pajamas. It 
+took a while to stuff the rubbery, boneless arm into a 
+sleeve. 
+
+“How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, 
+eh?” Ron called through the curtain as he pulled 
+Harry’s limp fingers through the cuff. “If Harry had 
+wanted deboning he would have asked.” 
+
+“Anyone can make a mistake,” said Hermione. “And it 
+doesn’t hurt anymore, does it, Harry?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, getting into bed. “But it doesn’t do 
+anything else either.” 
+
+As he swung himself onto the bed, his arm flapped 
+pointlessly. 
+
+Hermione and Madam Pomfrey came around the 
+curtain. Madam Pomfrey was holding a large bottle of 
+something labeled Skele-Gro. 
+
+
+
+Page | 194 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You’re in for a rough night,” she said, pouring out a 
+steaming beakerful and handing it to him. “Regrowing 
+bones is a nasty business.” 
+
+So was taking the Skele-Gro. It burned Harry’s mouth 
+and throat as it went down, making him cough and 
+splutter. Still tut-tutting about dangerous sports and 
+inept teachers, Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Ron 
+and Hermione to help Harry gulp down some water. 
+
+“We won, though,” said Ron, a grin breaking across 
+his face. “That was some catch you made. Malfoy’s 
+face ... he looked ready to kill. ...” 
+
+“I want to know how he fixed that Bludger,” said 
+Hermione darkly. 
+
+“We can add that to the list of questions we’ll ask him 
+when we’ve taken the Polyjuice Potion,” said Harry, 
+sinking back onto his pillows. “I hope it tastes better 
+than this stuff. ...” 
+
+“If it’s got bits of Slytherins in it? You’ve got to be 
+joking,” said Ron. 
+
+The door of the hospital wing burst open at that 
+moment. Filthy and soaking wet, the rest of the 
+Gryffindor team had arrived to see Harry. 
+
+“Unbelievable flying, Harry,” said George. “I’ve just 
+seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about 
+having the Snitch on top of his head and not noticing. 
+Malfoy didn’t seem too happy.” 
+
+They had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of 
+pumpkin juice; they gathered around Harry’s bed and 
+were just getting started on what promised to be a 
+good party when Madam Pomfrey came storming over, 
+
+
+
+Page | 195 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+shouting, “This boy needs rest, he’s got thirty- three 
+bones to regrow! Out! OUT!” 
+
+And Harry was left alone, with nothing to distract him 
+from the stabbing pains in his limp arm. 
+
+Hours and hours later, Harry woke quite suddenly in 
+the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain: His 
+arm now felt full of large splinters. For a second, he 
+thought that was what had woken him. Then, with a 
+thrill of horror, he realized that someone was 
+sponging his forehead in the dark. 
+
+“Get off!” he said loudly, and then, “Dobby\” 
+
+The house-elf’s goggling tennis ball eyes were peering 
+at Harry through the darkness. A single tear was 
+running down his long, pointed nose. 
+
+“Harry Potter came back to school,” he whispered 
+miserably. “Dobby warned and warned Harry Potter. 
+Ah sir, why didn’t you heed Dobby? Why didn’t Harry 
+Potter go back home when he missed the train?” 
+
+Harry heaved himself up on his pillows and pushed 
+Dobby’s sponge away. 
+
+“What’re you doing here?” he said. “And how did you 
+know I missed the train?” 
+
+Dobby’s lip trembled and Harry was seized by a 
+sudden suspicion. 
+
+“It was you!” he said slowly. “You stopped the barrier 
+from letting us through!” 
+
+“Indeed yes, sir,” said Dobby, nodding his head 
+vigorously, ears flapping. “Dobby hid and watched for 
+Harry Potter and sealed the gateway and Dobby had 
+
+Page | 196 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to iron his hands afterward” — he showed Harry ten 
+long, bandaged fingers — “but Dobby didn’t care, sir, 
+for he thought Harry Potter was safe, and never did 
+Dobby dream that Harry Potter would get to school 
+another way!” 
+
+He was rocking backward and forward, shaking his 
+ugly head. 
+
+“Dobby was so shocked when he heard Harry Potter 
+was back at Hogwarts, he let his master’s dinner 
+burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, sir. ...” 
+
+Harry slumped back onto his pillows. 
+
+“You nearly got Ron and me expelled,” he said 
+fiercely. “You’d better get lost before my bones come 
+back, Dobby, or I might strangle you.” 
+
+Dobby smiled weakly. 
+
+“Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets them 
+five times a day at home.” 
+
+He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase 
+he wore, looking so pathetic that Harry felt his anger 
+ebb away in spite of himself. 
+
+“Why d’you wear that thing, Dobby?” he asked 
+curiously. 
+
+“This, sir?” said Dobby, plucking at the pillowcase. “ 
+Tis a mark of the house-elf’s enslavement, sir. Dobby 
+can only be freed if his masters present him with 
+clothes, sir. The family is careful not to pass Dobby 
+even a sock, sir, for then he would be free to leave 
+their house forever.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 197 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dobby mopped his bulging eyes and said suddenly, 
+“Harry Potter must go home! Dobby thought his 
+Bludger would be enough to make — ” 
+
+“Your Bludger?” said Harry, anger rising once more. 
+“What d’you mean, your Bludger? You made that 
+Bludger try and kill me?” 
+
+“Not kill you, sir, never kill you!” said Dobby, 
+shocked. “Dobby wants to save Harry Potter’s life! 
+Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain 
+here, sir! Dobby only wanted Harry Potter hurt 
+enough to be sent home!” 
+
+“Oh, is that all?” said Harry angrily. “I don’t suppose 
+you’re going to tell me why you wanted me sent home 
+in pieces?” 
+
+“Ah, if Harry Potter only knew!” Dobby groaned, more 
+tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. “If he knew 
+what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we 
+dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it 
+was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the 
+height of his powers, sir! We house-elves were treated 
+like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like 
+that, sir,” he admitted, drying his face on the 
+pillowcase. “But mostly, sir, life has improved for my 
+kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be- 
+Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord’s 
+power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and 
+Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of 
+us who thought the Dark days would never end, sir. 
+
+... And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to 
+happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby 
+cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that history is 
+to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is 
+open once more — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 198 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dobby froze, horrors truck, then grabbed Harry’s 
+water jug from his bedside table and cracked it over 
+his own head, toppling out of sight. A second later, he 
+crawled back onto the bed, cross-eyed, muttering, 
+“Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby ...” 
+
+“So there is a Chamber of Secrets?” Harry whispered. 
+“And — did you say it’s been opened before ? Tell me, 
+Dobby!” 
+
+He seized the elf’s bony wrist as Dobby’s hand inched 
+toward the water jug. “But I’m not Muggle-born — 
+how can I be in danger from the Chamber?” 
+
+“Ah, sir, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby,” 
+stammered the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. “Dark 
+deeds are planned in this place, but Harry Potter 
+must not be here when they happen — go home, 
+
+Harry Potter, go home. Harry Potter must not meddle 
+in this, sir, ’tis too dangerous — ” 
+
+“Who is it, Dobby?” Harry said, keeping a firm hold on 
+Dobby’s wrist to stop him from hitting himself with 
+the water jug again. “Who’s opened it? Who opened it 
+last time?” 
+
+“Dobby can’t, sir, Dobby can’t, Dobby mustn’t tell!” 
+squealed the elf. “Go home, Harry Potter, go home!” 
+
+“I’m not going anywhere!” said Harry fiercely. “One of 
+my best friends is Muggle-born; she’ll be first in line if 
+the Chamber really has been opened — ” 
+
+“Harry Potter risks his own life for his friends!” 
+moaned Dobby in a kind of miserable ecstasy. “So 
+noble! So valiant! But he must save himself, he must, 
+Harry Potter must not — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 199 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering. Harry 
+heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the 
+passageway outside. 
+
+“Dobby must go!” breathed the elf, terrified. There 
+was a loud crack, and Harry’s fist was suddenly 
+clenched on thin air. He slumped back into bed, his 
+eyes on the dark doorway to the hospital wing as the 
+footsteps drew nearer. 
+
+Next moment, Dumbledore was backing into the 
+dormitory, wearing a long woolly dressing gown and a 
+nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like 
+a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second 
+later, carrying its feet. Together, they heaved it onto a 
+bed. 
+
+“Get Madam Pomfrey,” whispered Dumbledore, and 
+Professor McGonagall hurried past the end of Harry’s 
+bed out of sight. Harry lay quite still, pretending to be 
+asleep. He heard urgent voices, and then Professor 
+McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by 
+Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over 
+her nightdress. He heard a sharp intake of breath. 
+
+“What happened?” Madam Pomfrey whispered to 
+Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed. 
+
+“Another attack,” said Dumbledore. “Minerva found 
+him on the stairs.” 
+
+“There was a bunch of grapes next to him,” said 
+Professor McGonagall. “We think he was trying to 
+sneak up here to visit Potter.” 
+
+Harry’s stomach gave a horrible lurch. Slowly and 
+carefully, he raised himself a few inches so he could 
+look at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay 
+across its staring face. 
+
+Page | 200 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide and his 
+hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his 
+camera. 
+
+“Petrified?” whispered Madam Pomfrey. 
+
+“Yes,” said Professor McGonagall. “But I shudder to 
+think ... If Albus hadn’t been on the way downstairs 
+for hot chocolate — who knows what might have — ” 
+
+The three of them stared down at Colin. Then 
+Dumbledore leaned forward and wrenched the 
+camera out of Colin’s rigid grip. 
+
+“You don’t think he managed to get a picture of his 
+attacker?” said Professor McGonagall eagerly. 
+
+Dumbledore didn’t answer. He opened the back of the 
+camera. 
+
+“Good gracious!” said Madam Pomfrey. 
+
+A jet of steam had hissed out of the camera. Harry, 
+three beds away, caught the acrid smell of burnt 
+plastic. 
+
+“Melted,” said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly. “All 
+melted ...” 
+
+“What does this mean, Albus?” Professor McGonagall 
+asked urgently. 
+
+“It means,” said Dumbledore, “that the Chamber of 
+Secrets is indeed open again.” 
+
+Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth. 
+Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore. 
+
+“But, Albus ... surely ... who?” 
+
+Page | 201 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The question is not who,” said Dumbledore, his eyes 
+on Colin. “The question is, how. ...” 
+
+And from what Harry could see of Professor 
+McGonagall’s shadowy face, she didn’t understand 
+this any better than he did. 
+
+
+
+Page | 202 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DUELING CLUB 
+
+Harry woke up on Sunday morning to find the 
+dormitory blazing with winter sunlight and his arm 
+reboned but very stiff. He sat up quickly and looked 
+over at Colin’s bed, but it had been blocked from view 
+by the high curtains Harry had changed behind 
+yesterday. Seeing that he was awake, Madam Pomfrey 
+came bustling over with a breakfast tray and then 
+began bending and stretching his arm and fingers. 
+
+“All in order,” she said as he clumsily fed himself 
+porridge left-handed. “When you’ve finished eating, 
+you may leave.” 
+
+Harry dressed as quickly as he could and hurried off 
+to Gryffindor Tower, desperate to tell Ron and 
+Hermione about Colin and Dobby, but they weren’t 
+there. Harry left to look for them, wondering where 
+they could have got to and feeling slightly hurt that 
+they weren’t interested in whether he had his bones 
+back or not. 
+
+
+
+Page | 203 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+As Harry passed the library, Percy Weasley strolled 
+out of it, looking in far better spirits than last time 
+they’d met. 
+
+“Oh, hello, Harry,” he said. “Excellent flying 
+yesterday, really excellent. Gryffindor has just taken 
+the lead for the House Cup — you earned fifty points!” 
+
+“You haven’t seen Ron or Hermione, have you?” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“No, I haven’t,” said Percy, his smile fading. “I hope 
+Ron’s not in another girls’ toilet ...” 
+
+Harry forced a laugh, watched Percy walk out of sight, 
+and then headed straight for Moaning Myrtle’s 
+bathroom. He couldn’t see why Ron and Hermione 
+would be in there again, but after making sure that 
+neither Filch nor any prefects were around, he opened 
+the door and heard their voices coming from a locked 
+stall. 
+
+“It’s me,” he said, closing the door behind him. There 
+was a clunk, a splash, and a gasp from within the 
+stall and he saw Hermione ’s eye peering through the 
+keyhole. 
+
+“Harry\” she said. “You gave us such a fright — come 
+in — how’s your arm?” 
+
+“Fine,” said Harry, squeezing into the stall. An old 
+cauldron was perched on the toilet, and a crackling 
+from under the rim told Harry they had lit a fire 
+beneath it. Conjuring up portable, waterproof fires 
+was a speciality of Hermione ’s. 
+
+“We ’d’ve come to meet you, but we decided to get 
+started on the Polyjuice Potion,” Ron explained as 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry, with difficulty, locked the stall again. “We’ve 
+decided this is the safest place to hide it.” 
+
+Harry started to tell them about Colin, but Hermione 
+interrupted. 
+
+“We already know — we heard Professor McGonagall 
+telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That’s why we 
+decided we’d better get going — ” 
+
+“The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the 
+better,” snarled Ron. “D’you know what I think? He 
+was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, 
+he took it out on Colin.” 
+
+“There’s something else,” said Harry, watching 
+Hermione tearing bundles of knotgrass and throwing 
+them into the potion. “Dobby came to visit me in the 
+middle of the night.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione looked up, amazed. Harry told 
+them everything Dobby had told him — or hadn’t told 
+him. Hermione and Ron listened with their mouths 
+open. 
+
+“The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?” 
+Hermione said. 
+
+“This settles it,” said Ron in a triumphant voice. 
+“Lucius Malfoy must’ve opened the Chamber when he 
+was at school here and now he’s told dear old Draco 
+how to do it. It’s obvious. Wish Dobby ’d told you what 
+kind of monster’s in there, though. I want to know 
+how come nobody’s noticed it sneaking around the 
+school.” 
+
+“Maybe it can make itself invisible,” said Hermione, 
+prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron. “Or 
+maybe it can disguise itself — pretend to be a suit of 
+
+Page | 205 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+armor or something — I’ve read about Chameleon 
+Ghouls — ” 
+
+
+
+“You read too much, Hermione,” said Ron, pouring 
+dead lacewings on top of the leeches. He crumpled up 
+the empty lacewing bag and looked at Harry. 
+
+“So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and 
+broke your arm. ...” He shook his head. “You know 
+what, Harry? If he doesn’t stop trying to save your life 
+he’s going to kill you.” 
+
+
+
+k k k 
+
+
+
+The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and 
+was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing 
+had spread through the entire school by Monday 
+morning. The air was suddenly thick with rumor and 
+suspicion. The first years were now moving around 
+the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they 
+would be attacked if they ventured forth alone. 
+
+Ginny Weasley, who sat next to Colin Creevey in 
+Charms, was distraught, but Harry felt that Fred and 
+George were going the wrong way about cheering her 
+up. They were taking turns covering themselves with 
+fur or boils and jumping out at her from behind 
+statues. They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic 
+with rage, told them he was going to write to Mrs. 
+Weasley and tell her Ginny was having nightmares. 
+
+Meanwhile, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade 
+in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices 
+was sweeping the school. Neville Longbottom bought 
+a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple 
+crystal, and a rotting newt tail before the other 
+Gryffindor boys pointed out that he was in no danger; 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+he was a pureblood, and therefore unlikely to be 
+attacked. 
+
+“They went for Filch first,” Neville said, his round face 
+fearful. “And everyone knows I’m almost a Squib.” 
+
+In the second week of December Professor 
+McGonagall came around as usual, collecting names 
+of those who would be staying at school for 
+Christmas. Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed her list; 
+they had heard that Malfoy was staying, which struck 
+them as very suspicious. The holidays would be the 
+perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion and try to 
+worm a confession out of him. 
+
+Unfortunately, the potion was only half finished. They 
+still needed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, 
+and the only place they were going to get them was 
+from Snape’s private stores. Harry privately felt he’d 
+rather face Slytherin’s legendary monster than let 
+Snape catch him robbing his office. 
+
+“What we need,” said Hermione briskly as Thursday 
+afternoon’s double Potions lesson loomed nearer, “is a 
+diversion. Then one of us can sneak into Snape’s 
+office and take what we need.” 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at her nervously. 
+
+“I think I’d better do the actual stealing,” Hermione 
+continued in a matter-of-fact tone. “You two will be 
+expelled if you get into any more trouble, and I’ve got 
+a clean record. So all you need to do is cause enough 
+mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so.” 
+
+Harry smiled feebly. Deliberately causing mayhem in 
+Snape’s Potions class was about as safe as poking a 
+sleeping dragon in the eye. 
+
+
+
+Page | 207 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Potions lessons took place in one of the large 
+dungeons. Thursday afternoon’s lesson proceeded in 
+the usual way. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming 
+between the wooden desks, on which stood brass 
+scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through 
+the fumes, making waspish remarks about the 
+Gryffindors’ work while the Slytherins sniggered 
+appreciatively. Draco Malfoy, who was Snape’s 
+favorite student, kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Ron 
+and Harry, who knew that if they retaliated they 
+would get detention faster than you could say 
+“Unfair.” 
+
+Harry’s Swelling Solution was far too runny, but he 
+had his mind on more important things. He was 
+waiting for Hermione’s signal, and he hardly listened 
+as Snape paused to sneer at his watery potion. When 
+Snape turned and walked off to bully Neville, 
+Hermione caught Harry’s eye and nodded. 
+
+Harry ducked swiftly down behind his cauldron, 
+pulled one of Fred’s Filibuster fireworks out of his 
+pocket, and gave it a quick prod with his wand. The 
+firework began to fizz and sputter. Knowing he had 
+only seconds, Harry straightened up, took aim, and 
+lobbed it into the air; it landed right on target in 
+Goyle’s cauldron. 
+
+Goyle’s potion exploded, showering the whole class. 
+People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution 
+hit them. Malfoy got a faceful and his nose began to 
+swell like a balloon; Goyle blundered around, his 
+hands over his eyes, which had expanded to the size 
+of a dinner plate — Snape was trying to restore calm 
+and find out what had happened. Through the 
+confusion, Harry saw Hermione slip quietly into 
+Snape’s office. 
+
+
+
+Page | 208 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Silence! SILENCE!” Snape roared. “Anyone who has 
+been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught — 
+when I find out who did this — ” 
+
+Harry tried not to laugh as he watched Malfoy hurry 
+forward, his head drooping with the weight of a nose 
+like a small melon. As half the class lumbered up to 
+Snape ’s desk, some weighted down with arms like 
+clubs, others unable to talk through gigantic puffed- 
+up lips, Harry saw Hermione slide back into the 
+dungeon, the front of her robes bulging. 
+
+When everyone had taken a swig of antidote and the 
+various swellings had subsided, Snape swept over to 
+Goyle’s cauldron and scooped out the twisted black 
+remains of the firework. There was a sudden hush. 
+
+“If I ever find out who threw this,” Snape whispered, “I 
+shall make sure that person is expelled.” 
+
+Harry arranged his face into what he hoped was a 
+puzzled expression. Snape was looking right at him, 
+and the bell that rang ten minutes later could not 
+have been more welcome. 
+
+“He knew it was me,” Harry told Ron and Hermione as 
+they hurried back to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. “I 
+could tell.” 
+
+Hermione threw the new ingredients into the cauldron 
+and began to stir feverishly. 
+
+“It’ll be ready in two weeks,” she said happily. 
+
+“Snape can’t prove it was you,” said Ron reassuringly 
+to Harry. “What can he do?” 
+
+“Knowing Snape, something foul,” said Harry as the 
+potion frothed and bubbled. 
+
+Page | 209 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A week later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking 
+across the entrance hall when they saw a small knot 
+of people gathered around the notice board, reading a 
+piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. 
+Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas beckoned them 
+over, looking excited. 
+
+“They’re starting a Dueling Club!” said Seamus. “First 
+meeting tonight! I wouldn’t mind dueling lessons; 
+they might come in handy one of these days. ...” 
+
+“What, you reckon Slytherin’s monster can duel?” 
+said Ron, but he, too, read the sign with interest. 
+
+“Could be useful,” he said to Harry and Hermione as 
+they went into dinner. “Shall we go?” 
+
+Harry and Hermione were all for it, so at eight o’clock 
+that evening they hurried back to the Great Hall. The 
+long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage 
+had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of 
+candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety 
+black once more and most of the school seemed to be 
+packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and 
+looking excited. 
+
+“I wonder who’ll be teaching us?” said Hermione as 
+they edged into the chattering crowd. “Someone told 
+me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was 
+young — maybe it’ll be him.” 
+
+“As long as it’s not — ” Harry began, but he ended on 
+a groan: Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the 
+stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and 
+accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his 
+usual black. 
+
+
+
+Page | 210 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, 
+
+“Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? 
+Can you all hear me? Excellent! 
+
+“Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me 
+permission to start this little dueling club, to train 
+you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I 
+myself have done on countless occasions — for full 
+details, see my published works. 
+
+“Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape,” 
+said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. “He tells me he 
+knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has 
+sportingly agreed to help me with a short 
+demonstration before we begin. Now, I don’t want any 
+of you youngsters to worry — you’ll still have your 
+Potions master when I’m through with him, never 
+fear!” 
+
+“Wouldn’t it be good if they finished each other off?” 
+Ron muttered in Harry’s ear. 
+
+Snape ’s upper lip was curling. Harry wondered why 
+Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been looking 
+at him like that he’d have been running as fast as he 
+could in the opposite direction. 
+
+Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and 
+bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of 
+his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. 
+Then they raised their wands like swords in front of 
+them. 
+
+“As you see, we are holding our wands in the 
+accepted combative position,” Lockhart told the silent 
+crowd. “On the count of three, we will cast our first 
+spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 211 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Harry murmured, watching 
+Snape baring his teeth. 
+
+“One — two — three — ” 
+
+Both of them swung their wands above their heads 
+and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: 
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ There was a dazzling flash of scarlet 
+light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew 
+backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and 
+slid down it to sprawl on the floor. 
+
+Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheered. 
+Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. “Do you think he’s 
+all right?” she squealed through her fingers. 
+
+“Who cares?” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat 
+had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end. 
+
+“Well, there you have it!” he said, tottering back onto 
+the platform. “That was a Disarming Charm — as you 
+see, I’ve lost my wand — ah, thank you, Miss Brown 
+— yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor 
+Snape, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it was very 
+obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to 
+stop you it would have been only too easy — however, 
+
+I felt it would be instructive to let them see ...” 
+
+Snape was looking murderous. Possibly Lockhart had 
+noticed, because he said, “Enough demonstrating! I’m 
+going to come amongst you now and put you all into 
+pairs. Professor Snape, if you’d like to help me — ” 
+
+They moved through the crowd, matching up 
+partners. Lockhart teamed Neville with Justin Finch- 
+Fletchley, but Snape reached Harry and Ron first. 
+
+
+
+Page | 212 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Time to split up the dream team, I think,” he 
+sneered. “Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter 
+
+
+
+Harry moved automatically toward Hermione. 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Snape, smiling coldly. “Mr. 
+Malfoy, come over here. Let’s see what you make of 
+the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger — you can 
+partner Miss Bulstrode.” 
+
+Malfoy strutted over, smirking. Behind him walked a 
+Slytherin girl who reminded Harry of a picture he’d 
+seen in Holidays with Hags. She was large and square 
+and her heavy jaw jutted aggressively. Hermione gave 
+her a weak smile that she did not return. 
+
+“Face your partners!” called Lockhart, back on the 
+platform. “And bow!” 
+
+Harry and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not 
+taking their eyes off each other. 
+
+“Wands at the ready!” shouted Lockhart. “When I 
+count to three, cast your charms to disarm your 
+opponents — only to disarm them — we don’t want 
+any accidents — one . . . two . . . three — ” 
+
+Harry swung his wand high, but Malfoy had already 
+started on “two”: His spell hit Harry so hard he felt as 
+though he’d been hit over the head with a saucepan. 
+He stumbled, but everything still seemed to be 
+working, and wasting no more time, Harry pointed his 
+wand straight at Malfoy and shouted, “Rictusempral” 
+
+A jet of silver light hit Malfoy in the stomach and he 
+doubled up, wheezing. 
+
+
+
+Page | 213 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I said disarm only\” Lockhart shouted in alarm over 
+the heads of the battling crowd, as Malfoy sank to his 
+knees; Harry had hit him with a Tickling Charm, and 
+he could barely move for laughing. Harry hung back, 
+with a vague feeling it would be unsporting to bewitch 
+Malfoy while he was on the floor, but this was a 
+mistake; gasping for breath, Malfoy pointed his wand 
+at Harry’s knees, choked, “Tarantallegral” and the 
+next second Harry’s legs began to jerk around out of 
+his control in a kind of quickstep. 
+
+“Stop! Stop!” screamed Lockhart, but Snape took 
+charge. 
+
+“Finite Incantatem\” he shouted; Harry’s feet stopped 
+dancing, Malfoy stopped laughing, and they were able 
+to look up. 
+
+A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the 
+scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, 
+panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, 
+apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done; 
+but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still 
+moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and 
+Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands 
+lay forgotten on the floor. Harry leapt forward and 
+pulled Millicent off. It was difficult: She was a lot 
+bigger than he was. 
+
+“Dear, dear,” said Lockhart, skittering through the 
+crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. “Up you 
+go, Macmillan. ... Careful there, Miss Fawcett. ... 
+Pinch it hard, it’ll stop bleeding in a second, Boot — 
+
+“I think I’d better teach you how to block unfriendly 
+spells,” said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst 
+of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes 
+glinted, and looked quickly away. “Let’s have a 
+
+
+
+Page | 214 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+volunteer pair — Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, 
+how about you — ” 
+
+“A bad idea, Professor Lockhart,” said Snape, gliding 
+over like a large and malevolent bat. “Longbottom 
+causes devastation with the simplest spells. We’ll be 
+sending what’s left of Finch-Fletchley up to the 
+hospital wing in a matchbox.” Neville’s round, pink 
+face went pinker. “How about Malfoy and Potter?” 
+said Snape with a twisted smile. 
+
+“Excellent idea!” said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and 
+Malfoy into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed 
+away to give them room. 
+
+“Now, Harry,” said Lockhart. “When Draco points his 
+wand at you, you do this.” 
+
+He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated 
+sort of wiggling action, and dropped it. Snape smirked 
+as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, “Whoops — 
+my wand is a little overexcited — ” 
+
+Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and 
+whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, too. 
+Harry looked up nervously at Lockhart and said, 
+“Professor, could you show me that blocking thing 
+again?” 
+
+“Scared?” muttered Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn’t 
+hear him. 
+
+“You wish,” said Harry out of the corner of his mouth. 
+
+Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. “Just 
+do what I did, Harry!” 
+
+“What, drop my wand?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 215 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Lockhart wasn’t listening. 
+
+“Three — two — one — go!” he shouted. 
+
+Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, 
+
+“ Serpensortial” 
+
+The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, 
+as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto 
+the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to 
+strike. There were screams as the crowd backed 
+swiftly away, clearing the floor. 
+
+“Don’t move, Potter,” said Snape lazily, clearly 
+enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye 
+to eye with the angry snake. “I’ll get rid of it. ...” 
+
+“Allow me!” shouted Lockhart. He brandished his 
+wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the 
+snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air 
+and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, 
+hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin 
+Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, 
+poised to strike. 
+
+Harry wasn’t sure what made him do it. He wasn’t 
+even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that 
+his legs were carrying him forward as though he was 
+on casters and that he had shouted stupidly at the 
+snake, “Leave him alone!” And miraculously — 
+inexplicably — the snake slumped to the floor, docile 
+as a thick, black garden hose, its eyes now on Harry. 
+Harry felt the fear drain out of him. He knew the 
+snake wouldn’t attack anyone now, though how he 
+knew it, he couldn’t have explained. 
+
+He looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see 
+Justin looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful — 
+but certainly not angry and scared. 
+
+Page | 216 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What do you think you’re playing at?” he shouted, 
+and before Harry could say anything, Justin had 
+turned and stormed out of the hall. 
+
+Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the 
+snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. 
+
+Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected 
+way: It was a shrewd and calculating look, and Harry 
+didn’t like it. He was also dimly aware of an ominous 
+muttering all around the walls. Then he felt a tugging 
+on the back of his robes. 
+
+“Come on,” said Ron’s voice in his ear. “Move — come 
+on—” 
+
+
+
+Ron steered him out of the hall, Hermione hurrying 
+alongside them. As they went through the doors, the 
+people on either side drew away as though they were 
+frightened of catching something. Harry didn’t have a 
+clue what was going on, and neither Ron nor 
+Hermione explained anything until they had dragged 
+him all the way up to the empty Gryffindor common 
+room. Then Ron pushed Harry into an armchair and 
+said, “You’re a Parselmouth. Why didn’t you tell us?” 
+
+“I’m a what?” said Harry. 
+
+“A Parselmouth .!” said Ron. “You can talk to snakes!” 
+
+“I know,” said Harry. “I mean, that’s only the second 
+time I’ve ever done it. I accidentally set a boa 
+constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once — 
+long story — but it was telling me it had never seen 
+Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to — 
+that was before I knew I was a wizard — ” 
+
+“A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?” 
+Ron repeated faintly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 217 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So?” said Harry. “I bet loads of people here can do it.” 
+
+
+
+“Oh, no they can’t,” said Ron. “It’s not a very common 
+gift. Harry, this is bad.” 
+
+“What’s bad?” said Harry, starting to feel quite angry. 
+“What’s wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn’t told 
+that snake not to attack Justin — ” 
+
+“Oh, that’s what you said to it?” 
+
+“What d’you mean? You were there — you heard me 
+
+
+
+“I heard you speaking Parseltongue,” said Ron. 
+
+“Snake language. You could have been saying 
+anything — no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded 
+like you were egging the snake on or something — it 
+was creepy, you know — ” 
+
+Harry gaped at him. 
+
+“I spoke a different language? But — I didn’t realize — 
+how can I speak a language without knowing I can 
+speak it?” 
+
+Ron shook his head. Both he and Hermione were 
+looking as though someone had died. Harry couldn’t 
+see what was so terrible. 
+
+“D’you want to tell me what’s wrong with stopping a 
+massive snake biting off Justin’s head?” he said. 
+“What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin 
+doesn’t have to join the Headless Hunt?” 
+
+“It matters,” said Hermione, speaking at last in a 
+hushed voice, “because being able to talk to snakes 
+was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That’s 
+why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent.” 
+
+Page | 218 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry’s mouth fell open. 
+
+
+
+“Exactly,” said Ron. “And now the whole school’s 
+going to think you’re his great-great-great-great- 
+grandson or something — ” 
+
+“But I’m not,” said Harry, with a panic he couldn’t 
+quite explain. 
+
+“You’ll find that hard to prove,” said Hermione. “He 
+lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, 
+you could be.” 
+
+
+
+•k k k 
+
+
+
+Harry lay awake for hours that night. Through a gap 
+in the curtains around his four-poster he watched 
+snow starting to drift past the tower window and 
+wondered ... 
+
+Could he be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin? He 
+didn’t know anything about his father’s family, after 
+all. The Dursleys had always forbidden questions 
+about his wizarding relatives. 
+
+Quietly, Harry tried to say something in Parseltongue. 
+The words wouldn’t come. It seemed he had to be 
+face-to-face with a snake to do it. 
+
+But I’m in Gryffindor, Harry thought. The Sorting Hat 
+wouldn’t have put me in here if I had Slytherin blood. 
+
+
+
+Ah, said a nasty little voice in his brain, but the 
+Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Slytherin, don’t you 
+remember? 
+
+Harry turned over. He’d see Justin the next day in 
+Herbology and he’d explain that he’d been calling the 
+
+Page | 219 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+snake off, not egging it on, which (he thought angrily, 
+pummeling his pillow) any fool should have realized. 
+
+By next morning, however, the snow that had begun 
+in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that 
+the last Herbology lesson of the term was canceled: 
+Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on 
+the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust 
+to no one else, now that it was so important for the 
+Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs. Norris and 
+Colin Creevey. 
+
+Harry fretted about this next to the fire in the 
+Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Hermione 
+used their time off to play a game of wizard chess. 
+
+“For heaven’s sake, Harry,” said Hermione, 
+exasperated, as one of Ron’s bishops wrestled her 
+knight off his horse and dragged him off the board. 
+
+“Go and find Justin if it’s so important to you.” 
+
+So Harry got up and left through the portrait hole, 
+wondering where Justin might be. 
+
+The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime 
+because of the thick, swirling gray snow at every 
+window. Shivering, Harry walked past classrooms 
+where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of 
+what was happening within. Professor McGonagall 
+was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had 
+turned his friend into a badger. Resisting the urge to 
+take a look, Harry walked on by, thinking that Justin 
+might be using his free time to catch up on some 
+work, and deciding to check the library first. 
+
+A group of the Hufflepuffs who should have been in 
+Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the 
+library, but they didn’t seem to be working. Between 
+the long lines of high bookshelves, Harry could see 
+
+Page | 220 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that their heads were close together and they were 
+having what looked like an absorbing conversation. 
+He couldn’t see whether Justin was among them. He 
+was walking toward them when something of what 
+they were saying met his ears, and he paused to 
+listen, hidden in the Invisibility section. 
+
+“So anyway,” a stout boy was saying, “I told Justin to 
+hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter’s 
+marked him down as his next victim, it’s best if he 
+keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin’s 
+been waiting for something like this to happen ever 
+since he let slip to Potter he was Muggle-born. Justin 
+actually told him he’d been down for Eton. That’s not 
+the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin’s 
+heir on the loose, is it?” 
+
+“You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?” said a 
+girl with blonde pigtails anxiously. 
+
+“Hannah,” said the stout boy solemnly, “he’s a 
+Parselmouth. Everyone knows that’s the mark of a 
+Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one 
+who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin 
+himself Serpent-tongue.” 
+
+There was some heavy murmuring at this, and Ernie 
+went on, “Remember what was written on the wall? 
+Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Potter had some sort of 
+run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch ’s cat’s 
+attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying 
+Potter at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of him 
+while he was lying in the mud. Next thing we know — 
+Creevey ’s been attacked.” 
+
+“He always seems so nice, though,” said Hannah 
+uncertainly, “and, well, he’s the one who made You- 
+Know-Who disappear. He can’t be all bad, can he?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 221 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, the Hufflepuffs 
+bent closer, and Harry edged nearer so that he could 
+catch Ernie’s words. 
+
+“No one knows how he survived that attack by You- 
+Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it 
+happened. He should have been blasted into 
+smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard 
+could have survived a curse like that.” He dropped his 
+voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and 
+said, “ That’s probably why You-Know-Who wanted to 
+kill him in the first place. Didn’t want another Dark 
+Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers 
+Potter’s been hiding?” 
+
+Harry couldn’t take anymore. Clearing his throat 
+loudly, he stepped out from behind the bookshelves. 
+
+If he hadn’t been feeling so angry, he would have 
+found the sight that greeted him funny: Every one of 
+the Hufflepuffs looked as though they had been 
+Petrified by the sight of him, and the color was 
+draining out of Ernie’s face. 
+
+“Hello,” said Harry. “I’m looking for Justin Finch- 
+Fletchley.” 
+
+The Hufflepuffs’ worst fears had clearly been 
+confirmed. They all looked fearfully at Ernie. 
+
+“What do you want with him?” said Ernie in a 
+quavering voice. 
+
+“I wanted to tell him what really happened with that 
+snake at the Dueling Club,” said Harry. 
+
+Ernie bit his white lips and then, taking a deep 
+breath, said, “We were all there. We saw what 
+happened.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 222 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Then you noticed that after I spoke to it, the snake 
+backed off?” said Harry. 
+
+“All I saw,” said Ernie stubbornly, though he was 
+trembling as he spoke, “was you speaking 
+Parseltongue and chasing the snake toward Justin.” 
+
+“I didn’t chase it at him!” Harry said, his voice 
+shaking with anger. “It didn’t even touch him!” 
+
+“It was a very near miss,” said Ernie. “And in case 
+you’re getting ideas,” he added hastily, “I might tell 
+you that you can trace my family back through nine 
+generations of witches and warlocks and my blood’s 
+as pure as anyone’s, so — ” 
+
+“I don’t care what sort of blood you’ve got!” said Harry 
+fiercely. “Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns?” 
+
+“I’ve heard you hate those Muggles you live with,” said 
+Ernie swiftly. 
+
+“It’s not possible to live with the Dursleys and not 
+hate them,” said Harry. “I’d like to see you try it.” 
+
+He turned on his heel and stormed out of the library, 
+earning himself a reproving glare from Madam Pince, 
+who was polishing the gilded cover of a large 
+spellbook. 
+
+Harry blundered up the corridor, barely noticing 
+where he was going, he was in such a fury. The result 
+was that he walked into something very large and 
+solid, which knocked him backward onto the floor. 
+
+“Oh, hello, Hagrid,” Harry said, looking up. 
+
+Hagrid’s face was entirely hidden by a woolly, snow- 
+covered balaclava, but it couldn’t possibly be anyone 
+
+Page | 223 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+else, as he filled most of the corridor in his moleskin 
+overcoat. A dead rooster was hanging from one of his 
+massive, gloved hands. 
+
+“All righ’, Harry?” he said, pulling up the balaclava so 
+he could speak. “Why aren’t yeh in class?” 
+
+“Canceled,” said Harry, getting up. “What’re you doing 
+in here?” 
+
+Hagrid held up the limp rooster. 
+
+“Second one killed this term,” he explained. “It’s 
+either foxes or a Blood-Suckin’ Bugbear, an’ I need 
+the headmaster’s permission ter put a charm around 
+the hen coop.” 
+
+He peered more closely at Harry from under his thick, 
+snow-flecked eyebrows. 
+
+“Yeh sure yeh’re all righ’? Yeh look all hot an’ 
+bothered — ” 
+
+Harry couldn’t bring himself to repeat what Ernie and 
+the rest of the Hufflepuffs had been saying about him. 
+
+“It’s nothing,” he said. “I’d better get going, Hagrid, it’s 
+Transfiguration next and I’ve got to pick up my 
+books.” 
+
+He walked off, his mind still full of what Ernie had 
+said about him. 
+
+“Justin’s been waiting for something like this to 
+happen ever since he let slip to Potter he was Muggle- 
+born. ...” 
+
+Harry stamped up the stairs and turned along 
+another corridor, which was particularly dark; the 
+
+Page | 224 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+torches had been extinguished by a strong, icy draft 
+that was blowing through a loose windowpane. He 
+was halfway down the passage when he tripped 
+headlong over something lying on the floor. 
+
+He turned to squint at what he’d fallen over and felt 
+as though his stomach had dissolved. 
+
+Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid 
+and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes 
+staring blankly at the ceiling. And that wasn’t all. 
+
+Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight 
+Harry had ever seen. 
+
+It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white 
+and transparent, but black and smoky, floating 
+immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His 
+head was half off and his face wore an expression of 
+shock identical to Justin’s. 
+
+Harry got to his feet, his breathing fast and shallow, 
+his heart doing a kind of drumroll against his ribs. He 
+looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and 
+saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could 
+away from the bodies. The only sounds were the 
+muffled voices of teachers from the classes on either 
+side. 
+
+He could run, and no one would ever know he had 
+been there. But he couldn’t just leave them lying 
+here. ... He had to get help. ... Would anyone believe 
+he hadn’t had anything to do with this? 
+
+As he stood there, panicking, a door right next to him 
+opened with a bang. Peeves the Poltergeist came 
+shooting out. 
+
+
+
+Page | 225 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Why, it’s potty wee Potter!” cackled Peeves, knocking 
+Harry’s glasses askew as he bounced past him. 
+“What’s Potter up to? Why’s Potter lurking — ” 
+
+Peeves stopped, halfway through a midair somersault. 
+Upside down, he spotted Justin and Nearly Headless 
+Nick. He flipped the right way up, filled his lungs and, 
+before Harry could stop him, screamed, “ATTACK! 
+ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR 
+GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! 
+ATTAAAACK!” 
+
+Crash — crash — crash — door after door flew open 
+along the corridor and people flooded out. For several 
+long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion 
+that Justin was in danger of being squashed and 
+people kept standing in Nearly Headless Nick. Harry 
+found himself pinned against the wall as the teachers 
+shouted for quiet. Professor McGonagall came 
+running, followed by her own class, one of whom still 
+had black-and-white- striped hair. She used her wand 
+to set off a loud bang, which restored silence, and 
+ordered everyone back into their classes. No sooner 
+had the scene cleared somewhat than Ernie the 
+Hufflepuff arrived, panting, on the scene. 
+
+“ Caught in the act!” Ernie yelled, his face stark white, 
+pointing his finger dramatically at Harry. 
+
+“That will do, Macmillan!” said Professor McGonagall 
+sharply. 
+
+Peeves was bobbing overhead, now grinning wickedly, 
+surveying the scene; Peeves always loved chaos. As 
+the teachers bent over Justin and Nearly Headless 
+Nick, examining them, Peeves broke into song: 
+
+“Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, 
+
+
+
+Page | 226 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+You’re killing off students, you think it’s good fun — ” 
+
+
+
+“That’s enough, Peeves!” barked Professor 
+McGonagall, and Peeves zoomed away backward, with 
+his tongue out at Harry. 
+
+Justin was carried up to the hospital wing by 
+Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra of the 
+Astronomy department, but nobody seemed to know 
+what to do for Nearly Headless Nick. In the end, 
+Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan out of thin 
+air, which she gave to Ernie with instructions to waft 
+Nearly Headless Nick up the stairs. This Ernie did, 
+fanning Nick along like a silent black hovercraft. This 
+left Harry and Professor McGonagall alone together. 
+
+“This way, Potter,” she said. 
+
+“Professor,” said Harry at once, “I swear I didn’t — ” 
+
+“This is out of my hands, Potter,” said Professor 
+McGonagall curtly. 
+
+They marched in silence around a corner and she 
+stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone 
+gargoyle. 
+
+“Lemon drop!” she said. This was evidently a 
+password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to 
+life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in 
+two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Harry 
+couldn’t fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a 
+spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, 
+like an escalator. As he and Professor McGonagall 
+stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed 
+behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and 
+higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a 
+gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the 
+shape of a griffin. 
+
+Page | 227 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He knew now where he was being taken. This must be 
+where Dumbledore lived. 
+
+
+
+Page | 228 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+THE POLY JUICE POTION 
+
+They stepped off the stone staircase at the top, and 
+Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. It opened 
+silently and they entered. Professor McGonagall told 
+Harry to wait and left him there, alone. 
+
+Harry looked around. One thing was certain: of all the 
+teachers’ offices Harry had visited so far this year, 
+Dumbledore’s was by far the most interesting. If he 
+hadn’t been scared out of his wits that he was about 
+to be thrown out of school, he would have been very 
+pleased to have a chance to look around it. 
+
+It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of 
+funny little noises. A number of curious silver 
+instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring 
+and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were 
+covered with portraits of old headmasters and 
+headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in 
+their frames. There was also an enormous, claw- 
+footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a 
+shabby, tattered wizard’s hat — the Sorting Hat 
+
+
+
+Page | 229 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Harry hesitated. He cast a wary eye around the 
+sleeping witches and wizards on the walls. Surely it 
+couldn’t hurt if he took the hat down and tried it on 
+again? Just to see ... just to make sure it had put him 
+in the right House — 
+
+He walked quietly around the desk, lifted the hat from 
+its shelf, and lowered it slowly onto his head. It was 
+much too large and slipped down over his eyes, just 
+as it had done the last time he’d put it on. Harry 
+stared at the black inside of the hat, waiting. Then a 
+small voice said in his ear, “Bee in your bonnet, Harry 
+Potter?” 
+
+“Er, yes,” Harry muttered. “Er — sorry to bother you 
+— I wanted to ask — ” 
+
+“You’ve been wondering whether I put you in the right 
+House,” said the hat smartly. “Yes ... you were 
+particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I 
+said before” — Harry’s heart leapt — “you would have 
+done well in Slytherin — ” 
+
+Harry’s stomach plummeted. He grabbed the point of 
+the hat and pulled it off. It hung limply in his hand, 
+grubby and faded. Harry pushed it back onto its 
+shelf, feeling sick. 
+
+“You’re wrong,” he said aloud to the still and silent 
+hat. It didn’t move. Harry backed away, watching it. 
+Then a strange, gagging noise behind him made him 
+wheel around. 
+
+He wasn’t alone after all. Standing on a golden perch 
+behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird that 
+resembled a half-plucked turkey. Harry stared at it 
+and the bird looked balefully back, making its gagging 
+noise again. Harry thought it looked very ill. Its eyes 
+
+
+
+Page | 230 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+were dull and, even as Harry watched, a couple more 
+feathers fell out of its tail. 
+
+Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for 
+Dumbledore ’s pet bird to die while he was alone in 
+the office with it, when the bird burst into flames. 
+
+Harry yelled in shock and backed away into the desk. 
+He looked feverishly around in case there was a glass 
+of water somewhere but couldn’t see one; the bird, 
+meanwhile, had become a fireball; it gave one loud 
+shriek and next second there was nothing but a 
+smoldering pile of ash on the floor. 
+
+The office door opened. Dumbledore came in, looking 
+very somber. 
+
+“Professor,” Harry gasped. “Your bird — I couldn’t do 
+anything — he just caught fire — ” 
+
+To Harry’s astonishment, Dumbledore smiled. 
+
+“About time, too,” he said. “He’s been looking dreadful 
+for days; I’ve been telling him to get a move on.” 
+
+He chuckled at the stunned look on Harry’s face. 
+
+“Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into 
+flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn 
+from the ashes. Watch him ...” 
+
+Harry looked down in time to see a tiny, wrinkled, 
+newborn bird poke its head out of the ashes. It was 
+quite as ugly as the old one. 
+
+“It’s a shame you had to see him on a Burning Day,” 
+said Dumbledore, seating himself behind his desk. 
+“He’s really very handsome most of the time, 
+wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating 
+
+Page | 231 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely 
+heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and 
+they make highly faithful pets.” 
+
+In the shock of Fawkes catching fire, Harry had 
+forgotten what he was there for, but it all came back 
+to him as Dumbledore settled himself in the high 
+chair behind the desk and fixed Harry with his 
+penetrating, light-blue stare. 
+
+Before Dumbledore could speak another word, 
+however, the door of the office flew open with an 
+almighty bang and Hagrid burst in, a wild look in his 
+eyes, his balaclava perched on top of his shaggy black 
+head and the dead rooster still swinging from his 
+hand. 
+
+“It wasn’ Harry, Professor Dumbledore!” said Hagrid 
+urgently. “I was talkin’ ter him seconds before that 
+kid was found, he never had time, sir — ” 
+
+Dumbledore tried to say something, but Hagrid went 
+ranting on, waving the rooster around in his 
+agitation, sending feathers everywhere. 
+
+“ — it can’t’ve bin him, I’ll swear it in front o’ the 
+Ministry o’ Magic if I have to — ” 
+
+“Hagrid, I — ” 
+
+“ — yeh’ve got the wrong boy, sir, I know Harry never 
+
+
+
+“Hagridl” said Dumbledore loudly. “I do not think that 
+Harry attacked those people.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Hagrid, the rooster falling limply at his 
+side. “Right. I’ll wait outside then, Headmaster.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 232 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And he stomped out looking embarrassed. 
+
+“You don’t think it was me, Professor?” Harry 
+repeated hopefully as Dumbledore brushed rooster 
+feathers off his desk. 
+
+“No, Harry, I don’t,” said Dumbledore, though his face 
+was somber again. “But I still want to talk to you.” 
+
+Harry waited nervously while Dumbledore considered 
+him, the tips of his long fingers together. 
+
+“I must ask you, Harry, whether there is anything 
+you’d like to tell me,” he said gently. “Anything at all.” 
+
+Harry didn’t know what to say. He thought of Malfoy 
+shouting, “You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” and of the 
+Polyjuice Potion simmering away in Moaning Myrtle’s 
+bathroom. Then he thought of the disembodied voice 
+he had heard twice and remembered what Ron had 
+said: “ Hearing voices no one else can hear isn’t a good 
+sign, even in the wizarding world.” He thought, too, 
+about what everyone was saying about him, and his 
+growing dread that he was somehow connected with 
+Salazar Slytherin. ... 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “There isn’t anything, Professor. ...” 
+
+The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless 
+Nick turned what had hitherto been nervousness into 
+real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nick’s 
+fate that seemed to worry people most. What could 
+possibly do that to a ghost? people asked each other; 
+what terrible power could harm someone who was 
+already dead? There was almost a stampede to book 
+seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could 
+go home for Christmas. 
+
+
+
+Page | 233 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“At this rate, well be the only ones left,” Ron told 
+Harry and Hermione. “Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. 
+What a jolly holiday it’s going to be.” 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy 
+did, had signed up to stay over the holidays, too. But 
+Harry was glad that most people were leaving. He was 
+tired of people skirting around him in the corridors, 
+as though he were about to sprout fangs or spit 
+poison; tired of all the muttering, pointing, and 
+hissing as he passed. 
+
+Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. 
+They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry 
+down the corridors, shouting, “Make way for the Heir 
+of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through. ...” 
+
+Percy was deeply disapproving of this behavior. 
+
+“It is not a laughing matter,” he said coldly. 
+
+“Oh, get out of the way, Percy,” said Fred. “Harry’s in 
+a hurry.” 
+
+“Yeah, he’s off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of 
+tea with his fanged servant,” said George, chortling. 
+
+Ginny didn’t find it amusing either. 
+
+“Oh, don’t,” she wailed every time Fred asked Harry 
+loudly who he was planning to attack next, or when 
+George pretended to ward Harry off with a large clove 
+of garlic when they met. 
+
+Harry didn’t mind; it made him feel better that Fred 
+and George, at least, thought the idea of his being 
+Slytherin ’s heir was quite ludicrous. But their antics 
+seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked 
+increasingly sour each time he saw them at it. 
+
+Page | 234 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s because he’s bursting to say it’s really him,” said 
+Ron knowingly. “You know how he hates anyone 
+beating him at anything, and you’re getting all the 
+credit for his dirty work.” 
+
+“Not for long,” said Hermione in a satisfied tone. “The 
+Polyjuice Potion’s nearly ready. We’ll be getting the 
+truth out of him any day now.” 
+
+At last the term ended, and a silence deep as the 
+snow on the grounds descended on the castle. Harry 
+found it peaceful, rather than gloomy, and enjoyed 
+the fact that he, Hermione, and the Weasleys had the 
+run of Gryffindor Tower, which meant they could play 
+Exploding Snap loudly without bothering anyone, and 
+practice dueling in private. Fred, George, and Ginny 
+had chosen to stay at school rather than visit Bill in 
+Egypt with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Percy, who 
+disapproved of what he termed their childish 
+behavior, didn’t spend much time in the Gryffindor 
+common room. He had already told them pompously 
+that he was only staying over Christmas because it 
+was his duty as a prefect to support the teachers 
+during this troubled time. 
+
+Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Harry 
+and Ron, the only ones left in their dormitory, were 
+woken very early by Hermione, who burst in, fully 
+dressed and carrying presents for them both. 
+
+“Wake up,” she said loudly, pulling back the curtains 
+at the window. 
+
+“Hermione — you’re not supposed to be in here — ” 
+said Ron, shielding his eyes against the light. 
+
+“Merry Christmas to you, too,” said Hermione, 
+throwing him his present. “I’ve been up for nearly an 
+
+
+
+Page | 235 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hour, adding more lace-wings to the potion. It’s 
+ready.” 
+
+Harry sat up, suddenly wide awake. 
+
+“Are you sure?” 
+
+“Positive,” said Hermione, shirting Scabbers the rat so 
+that she could sit down on the end of Ron’s four- 
+poster. “If we’re going to do it, I say it should be 
+tonight.” 
+
+At that moment, Hedwig swooped into the room, 
+carrying a very small package in her beak. 
+
+“Hello,” said Harry happily as she landed on his bed. 
+“Are you speaking to me again?” 
+
+She nibbled his ear in an affectionate sort of way, 
+which was a far better present than the one that she 
+had brought him, which turned out to be from the 
+Dursleys. They had sent Harry a toothpick and a note 
+telling him to find out whether he’d be able to stay at 
+Hogwarts for the summer vacation, too. 
+
+The rest of Harry’s Christmas presents were far more 
+satisfactory. Hagrid had sent him a large tin of treacle 
+toffee, which Harry decided to soften by the fire before 
+eating; Ron had given him a book called Flying with 
+the Cannons, a book of interesting facts about his 
+favorite Quidditch team, and Hermione had bought 
+him a luxury eagle-feather quill. Harry opened the 
+last present to find a new, hand-knitted sweater from 
+Mrs. Weasley and a large plum cake. He read her card 
+with a fresh surge of guilt, thinking about Mr. 
+Weasley’s car (which hadn’t been seen since its crash 
+with the Whomping Willow), and the bout of rule- 
+breaking he and Ron were planning next. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice 
+Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at 
+Hogwarts. 
+
+The Great Hall looked magnificent. Not only were 
+there a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees and thick 
+streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing the 
+ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and 
+dry, from the ceiling. Dumbledore led them in a few of 
+his favorite carols, Hagrid booming more and more 
+loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed. 
+
+Percy, who hadn’t noticed that Fred had bewitched 
+his prefect badge so that it now read “Pin-head,” kept 
+asking them all what they were sniggering at. Harry 
+didn’t even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, 
+snide remarks about his new sweater from the 
+Slytherin table. With a bit of luck, Malfoy would be 
+getting his comeuppance in a few hours’ time. 
+
+Harry and Ron had barely finished their third 
+helpings of Christmas pudding when Hermione 
+ushered them out of the hall to finalize their plans for 
+the evening. 
+
+“We still need a bit of the people you’re changing 
+into,” said Hermione matter-of-factly, as though she 
+were sending them to the supermarket for laundry 
+detergent. “And obviously, it’ll be best if you can get 
+something of Crabbe’s and Goyle’s; they’re Malfoy’s 
+best friends, he’ll tell them anything. And we also 
+need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can’t 
+burst in on us while we’re interrogating him. 
+
+“I’ve got it all worked out,” she went on smoothly, 
+ignoring Harry’s and Ron’s stupefied faces. She held 
+up two plump chocolate cakes. “I’ve filled these with a 
+simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make 
+sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how 
+greedy they are, they’re bound to eat them. Once 
+Page | 237 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+they’re asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide 
+them in a broom closet.” 
+
+Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each other. 
+
+“Hermione, I don’t think — ” 
+
+“That could go seriously wrong — ” 
+
+But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye not unlike 
+the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had. 
+
+“The potion will be useless without Crabbe’s and 
+Goyle’s hair,” she said sternly. “You do want to 
+investigate Malfoy, don’t you?” 
+
+“Oh, all right, all right,” said Harry. “But what about 
+you? Whose hair are you ripping out?” 
+
+“I’ve already got mine!” said Hermione brightly, 
+pulling a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showing 
+them the single hair inside it. “Remember Millicent 
+Bulstrode wrestling with me at the Dueling Club? She 
+left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle 
+me! And she’s gone home for Christmas — so I’ll just 
+have to tell the Slytherins I’ve decided to come back.” 
+
+When Hermione had bustled off to check on the 
+Polyjuice Potion again, Ron turned to Harry with a 
+doom-laden expression. 
+
+“Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things 
+could go wrong?” 
+
+But to Harry’s and Ron’s utter amazement, stage one 
+of the operation went just as smoothly as Hermione 
+had said. They lurked in the deserted entrance hall 
+after Christmas tea, waiting for Crabbe and Goyle 
+who had remained alone at the Slytherin table, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+shoveling down fourth helpings of trifle. Harry had 
+perched the chocolate cakes on the end of the 
+banisters. When they spotted Crabbe and Goyle 
+coming out of the Great Hall, Harry and Ron hid 
+quickly behind a suit of armor next to the front door. 
+
+“How thick can you get?” Ron whispered ecstatically 
+as Crabbe gleefully pointed out the cakes to Goyle 
+and grabbed them. Grinning stupidly, they stuffed the 
+cakes whole into their large mouths. For a moment, 
+both of them chewed greedily, looks of triumph on 
+their faces. Then, without the smallest change of 
+expression, they both keeled over backward onto the 
+floor. 
+
+By far the hardest part was hiding them in the closet 
+across the hall. Once they were safely stowed among 
+the buckets and mops, Harry yanked out a couple of 
+the bristles that covered Goyle ’s forehead and Ron 
+pulled out several of Crabbe ’s hairs. They also stole 
+their shoes, because their own were far too small for 
+Crabbe- and Goyle-size feet. Then, still stunned at 
+what they had just done, they sprinted up to Moaning 
+Myrtle’s bathroom. 
+
+They could hardly see for the thick black smoke 
+issuing from the stall in which Hermione was stirring 
+the cauldron. Pulling their robes up over their faces, 
+Harry and Ron knocked softly on the door. 
+
+“Hermione?” 
+
+They heard the scrape of the lock and Hermione 
+emerged, shiny-faced and looking anxious. Behind 
+her they heard the gloop gloop of the bubbling, 
+glutinous potion. Three glass tumblers stood ready on 
+the toilet seat. 
+
+“Did you get them?” Hermione asked breathlessly. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry showed her Goyle’s hair. 
+
+
+
+“Good. And I sneaked these spare robes out of the 
+laundry,” Hermione said, holding up a small sack. 
+“You’ll need bigger sizes once you’re Crabbe and 
+Goyle.” 
+
+The three of them stared into the cauldron. Close up, 
+the potion looked like thick, dark mud, bubbling 
+sluggishly. 
+
+“I’m sure I’ve done everything right,” said Hermione, 
+nervously rereading the splotched page of Moste 
+Potente Potions. “It looks like the book says it should 
+... once we’ve drunk it, we’ll have exactly an hour 
+before we change back into ourselves.” 
+
+“Now what?” Ron whispered. 
+
+“We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs.” 
+
+Hermione ladled large dollops of the potion into each 
+of the glasses. Then, her hand trembling, she shook 
+Millicent Bulstrode’s hair out of its bottle into the first 
+glass. 
+
+The potion hissed loudly like a boiling kettle and 
+frothed madly. A second later, it had turned a sick 
+sort of yellow. 
+
+“Urgh — essence of Millicent Bulstrode,” said Ron, 
+eyeing it with loathing. “Bet it tastes disgusting.” 
+
+“Add yours, then,” said Hermione. 
+
+Harry dropped Goyle’s hair into the middle glass and 
+Ron put Crabbe’s into the last one. Both glasses 
+hissed and frothed: Goyle’s turned the khaki color of 
+a booger, Crabbe’s a dark, murky brown. 
+
+Page | 240 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hang on,” said Harry as Ron and Hermione reached 
+for their glasses. “We’d better not all drink them in 
+here. ... Once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle we won’t 
+fit. And Millicent Bulstrode’s no pixie.” 
+
+“Good thinking,” said Ron, unlocking the door. “We’ll 
+take separate stalls.” 
+
+Careful not to spill a drop of his Polyjuice Potion, 
+Harry slipped into the middle stall. 
+
+“Ready?” he called. 
+
+“Ready,” came Ron’s and Hermione’s voices. 
+
+“One — two — three — ” 
+
+Pinching his nose, Harry drank the potion down in 
+two large gulps. It tasted like overcooked cabbage. 
+
+Immediately, his insides started writhing as though 
+he’d just swallowed live snakes — doubled up, he 
+wondered whether he was going to be sick — then a 
+burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach to 
+the very ends of his fingers and toes — next, bringing 
+him gasping to all fours, came a horrible melting 
+feeling, as the skin all over his body bubbled like hot 
+wax — and before his eyes, his hands began to grow, 
+the fingers thickened, the nails broadened, the 
+knuckles were bulging like bolts — his shoulders 
+stretched painfully and a prickling on his forehead 
+told him that hair was creeping down toward his 
+eyebrows — his robes ripped as his chest expanded 
+like a barrel bursting its hoops — his feet were agony 
+in shoes four sizes too small — 
+
+As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. 
+Harry lay facedown on the stone-cold floor, listening 
+to Myrtle gurgling morosely in the end toilet. With 
+
+Page | 241 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+difficulty, he kicked off his shoes and stood up. So 
+this was what it felt like, being Goyle. His large hand 
+trembling, he pulled off his old robes, which were 
+hanging a foot above his ankles, pulled on the spare 
+ones, and laced up Goyle’s boatlike shoes. He reached 
+up to brush his hair out of his eyes and met only the 
+short growth of wiry bristles, low on his forehead. 
+Then he realized that his glasses were clouding his 
+eyes because Goyle obviously didn’t need them — he 
+took them off and called, “Are you two okay?” Goyle’s 
+low rasp of a voice issued from his mouth. 
+
+“Yeah,” came the deep grunt of Crabbe from his right. 
+
+Harry unlocked his door and stepped in front of the 
+cracked mirror. Goyle stared back at him out of dull, 
+deepset eyes. Harry scratched his ear. So did Goyle. 
+
+Ron’s door opened. They stared at each other. Except 
+that he looked pale and shocked, Ron was 
+indistinguishable from Crabbe, from the pudding- 
+bowl haircut to the long, gorilla arms. 
+
+“This is unbelievable,” said Ron, approaching the 
+mirror and prodding Crabbe ’s flat nose. 
+
+“Unbelievable.” 
+
+“We’d better get going,” said Harry, loosening the 
+watch that was cutting into Goyle’s thick wrist. “We’ve 
+still got to find out where the Slytherin common room 
+is. I only hope we can find someone to follow ...” 
+
+Ron, who had been gazing at Harry, said, “You don’t 
+know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking.” He 
+banged on Hermione’s door. “C’mon, we need to go — ” 
+
+A high-pitched voice answered him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I — I don’t think I’m going to come after all. You go 
+on without me.” 
+
+“Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode’s ugly, no 
+one’s going to know it’s you — ” 
+
+“No — really — I don’t think I’ll come. You two hurry 
+up, you’re wasting time — ” 
+
+Harry looked at Ron, bewildered. 
+
+“That looks more like Goyle,” said Ron. “That’s how he 
+looks every time a teacher asks him a question.” 
+
+“Hermione, are you okay?” said Harry through the 
+door. 
+
+“Fine — I’m fine — go on — ” 
+
+Harry looked at his watch. Five of their precious sixty 
+minutes had already passed. 
+
+“Well meet you back here, all right?” he said. 
+
+Harry and Ron opened the door of the bathroom 
+carefully, checked that the coast was clear, and set 
+off. 
+
+“Don’t swing your arms like that,” Harry muttered to 
+Ron. 
+
+“Eh?” 
+
+“Crabbe holds them sort of stiff. ...” 
+
+“How’s this?” 
+
+“Yeah, that’s better. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+They went down the marble staircase. All they needed 
+now was a Slytherin that they could follow to the 
+Slytherin common room, but there was nobody 
+around. 
+
+“Any ideas?” muttered Harry. 
+
+“The Slytherins always come up to breakfast from 
+over there,” said Ron, nodding at the entrance to the 
+dungeons. The words had barely left his mouth when 
+a girl with long, curly hair emerged from the entrance. 
+
+“Excuse me,” said Ron, hurrying up to her. “We’ve 
+forgotten the way to our common room.” 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” said the girl stiffly. “Our common 
+room? I’m a Ravenclaw.” 
+
+She walked away, looking suspiciously back at them. 
+
+Harry and Ron hurried down the stone steps into the 
+darkness, their footsteps echoing particularly loudly 
+as Crabbe’s and Goyle’s huge feet hit the floor, feeling 
+that this wasn’t going to be as easy as they had 
+hoped. 
+
+The labyrinthine passages were deserted. They walked 
+deeper and deeper under the school, constantly 
+checking their watches to see how much time they 
+had left. After a quarter of an hour, just when they 
+were getting desperate, they heard a sudden 
+movement ahead. 
+
+“Ha!” said Ron excitedly. “There’s one of them now!” 
+
+The figure was emerging from a side room. As they 
+hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn’t a 
+Slytherin, it was Percy. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’re you doing down here?” said Ron in surprise. 
+Percy looked affronted. 
+
+“That,” he said stiffly, “is none of your business. It’s 
+Crabbe, isn’t it?” 
+
+“Wh — oh, yeah,” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, get off to your dormitories,” said Percy sternly. 
+“It’s not safe to go wandering around dark corridors 
+these days.” 
+
+“You are,” Ron pointed out. 
+
+“I,” said Percy, drawing himself up, “am a prefect. 
+Nothing’s about to attack me.” 
+
+A voice suddenly echoed behind Harry and Ron. 
+
+Draco Malfoy was strolling toward them, and for the 
+first time in his life, Harry was pleased to see him. 
+
+“There you are,” he drawled, looking at them. “Have 
+you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this 
+time? I’ve been looking for you; I want to show you 
+something really funny.” 
+
+Malfoy glanced witheringly at Percy. 
+
+“And what’re you doing down here, Weasley?” he 
+sneered. 
+
+Percy looked outraged. 
+
+“You want to show a bit more respect to a school 
+prefect!” he said. “I don’t like your attitude!” 
+
+Malfoy sneered and motioned for Harry and Ron to 
+follow him. Harry almost said something apologetic to 
+
+Page | 245 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Percy but caught himself just in time. He and Ron 
+hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the 
+next passage, “That Peter Weasley — ” 
+
+“Percy,” Ron corrected him automatically. 
+
+“Whatever,” said Malfoy. “I’ve noticed him sneaking 
+around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he’s up to. 
+He thinks he’s going to catch Slytherin’s heir single- 
+handed.” 
+
+He gave a short, derisive laugh. Harry and Ron 
+exchanged excited looks. 
+
+Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall. 
+“What’s the new password again?” he said to Harry. 
+“Er — ” said Harry. 
+
+“Oh, yeah — pure-blood\” said Malfoy, not listening, 
+and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. 
+Malfoy marched through it, and Harry and Ron 
+followed him. 
+
+The Slytherin common room was a long, low 
+underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling 
+from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on 
+chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately 
+carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several 
+Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed 
+chairs. 
+
+“Wait here,” said Malfoy to Harry and Ron, motioning 
+them to a pair of empty chairs set back from the fire. 
+“I’ll go and get it — my father’s just sent it to me — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 246 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Wondering what Malfoy was going to show them, 
+Harry and Ron sat down, doing their best to look at 
+home. 
+
+Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked 
+like a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Ron’s 
+nose. 
+
+“That’ll give you a laugh,” he said. 
+
+Harry saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the 
+clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh, and 
+handed it to Harry. 
+
+It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet, and it 
+said: 
+
+INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC 
+
+Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle 
+Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for 
+bewitching a Muggle car. 
+
+Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of 
+Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car 
+crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. 
+Weasley’s resignation. 
+
+“Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute,” 
+
+Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. “He is clearly unfit to 
+draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle 
+Protection Act should be scrapped immediately.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although 
+his wife told reporters to clear off or she’d set the 
+family ghoul on them. 
+
+
+
+Page | 247 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well?” said Malfoy impatiently as Harry handed the 
+clipping back to him. “Don’t you think it’s funny?” 
+
+“Ha, ha,” said Harry bleakly. 
+
+“Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should 
+snap his wand in half and go and join them,” said 
+Malfoy scornfully. “You’d never know the Weasleys 
+were purebloods, the way they behave.” 
+
+Ron’s — or rather, Crabbe’s — face was contorted 
+with fury. 
+
+“What’s up with you, Crabbe?” snapped Malfoy. 
+“Stomachache,” Ron grunted. 
+
+“Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those 
+Mudbloods a kick from me,” said Malfoy, snickering. 
+“You know, I’m surprised the Daily Prophet hasn’t 
+reported all these attacks yet,” he went on 
+thoughtfully. “I suppose Dumbledore’s trying to hush 
+it all up. He’ll be sacked if it doesn’t stop soon. 
+Father’s always said old Dumbledore’s the worst thing 
+that’s ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle- 
+borns. A decent headmaster would never ’ve let slime 
+like that Creevey in.” 
+
+Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary 
+camera and did a cruel but accurate impression of 
+Colin: “ ‘Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I 
+have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, 
+Potter?’ ” 
+
+He dropped his hands and looked at Harry and Ron. 
+“What’s the matter with you two?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Far too late, Harry and Ron forced themselves to 
+laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe 
+and Goyle were always slow on the uptake. 
+
+“Saint Potter, the Mudbloods’ friend,” said Malfoy 
+slowly. “He’s another one with no proper wizard 
+feeling, or he wouldn’t go around with that jumped-up 
+Granger Mudblood. And people think he’s Slytherin’s 
+heir!” 
+
+Harry and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was 
+surely seconds away from telling them it was him — 
+but then — 
+
+“I wish I knew who it is,” said Malfoy petulantly. “I 
+could help them.” 
+
+Ron’s jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more 
+clueless than usual. Fortunately, Malfoy didn’t notice, 
+and Harry, thinking fast, said, “You must have some 
+idea who’s behind it all. ...” 
+
+“You know I haven’t, Goyle, how many times do I have 
+to tell you?” snapped Malfoy. “And Father won’t tell 
+me anything about the last time the Chamber was 
+opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it 
+was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he 
+says that it was all kept quiet and it’ll look suspicious 
+if I know too much about it. But I know one thing — 
+last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a 
+Mudblood died. So I bet it’s a matter of time before 
+one of them’s killed this time. ... I hope it’s Granger,” 
+he said with relish. 
+
+Ron was clenching Crabbe ’s gigantic fists. Feeling 
+that it would be a bit of a giveaway if Ron punched 
+Malfoy, Harry shot him a warning look and said, 
+“D’you know if the person who opened the Chamber 
+last time was caught?” 
+
+Page | 249 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, yeah ... whoever it was was expelled,” said 
+Malfoy. “They’re probably still in Azkaban.” 
+
+
+
+“Azkaban?” said Harry, puzzled. 
+
+“Azkaban — the wizard prison , Goyle,” said Malfoy, 
+looking at him in disbelief. “Honestly, if you were any 
+slower, you’d be going backward.” 
+
+He shifted restlessly in his chair and said, “Father 
+says to keep my head down and let the Heir of 
+Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs 
+ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed 
+up in it. Of course, he’s got a lot on his plate at the 
+moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our 
+manor last week?” 
+
+Harry tried to force Goyle ’s dull face into a look of 
+concern. 
+
+“Yeah ...” said Malfoy. “Luckily, they didn’t find much. 
+Father’s got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But 
+luckily, we’ve got our own secret chamber under the 
+drawing-room floor — ” 
+
+“Ho!” said Ron. 
+
+Malfoy looked at him. So did Harry. Ron blushed. 
+
+Even his hair was turning red. His nose was also 
+slowly lengthening — their hour was up, Ron was 
+turning back into himself, and from the look of horror 
+he was suddenly giving Harry, he must be, too. 
+
+They both jumped to their feet. 
+
+“Medicine for my stomach,” Ron grunted, and without 
+further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin 
+common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, 
+and dashed up the passage, hoping against hope that 
+
+Page | 250 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Malfoy hadn’t noticed anything. Harry could feel his 
+feet slipping around in Goyle’s huge shoes and had to 
+hoist up his robes as he shrank; they crashed up the 
+steps into the dark entrance hall, which was full of a 
+muffled pounding coming from the closet where 
+they’d locked Crabbe and Goyle. Leaving their shoes 
+outside the closet door, they sprinted in their socks 
+up the marble staircase toward Moaning Myrtle’s 
+bathroom. 
+
+“Well, it wasn’t a complete waste of time,” Ron 
+panted, closing the bathroom door behind them. “I 
+know we still haven’t found out who’s doing the 
+attacks, but I’m going to write to Dad tomorrow and 
+tell him to check under the Malfoys’ drawing room.” 
+
+Harry checked his face in the cracked mirror. He was 
+back to normal. He put his glasses on as Ron 
+hammered on the door of Hermione’s stall. 
+
+“Hermione, come out, we’ve got loads to tell you — ” 
+
+“Go away!” Hermione squeaked. 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at each other. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” said Ron. “You must be back to 
+normal by now, we are — ” 
+
+But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall 
+door. Harry had never seen her looking so happy. 
+
+“Ooooooh, wait till you see,” she said. “It’s awful — ” 
+
+They heard the lock slide back and Hermione 
+emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head. 
+
+“What’s up?” said Ron uncertainly. “Have you still got 
+Millicent’s nose or something?” 
+
+Page | 251 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the 
+sink. 
+
+Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had 
+turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears 
+poking through her hair. 
+
+“It was a c-cat hair!” she howled. “M-Millicent 
+Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn’t 
+supposed to be used for animal transformations!” 
+
+“Uh-oh,” said Ron. 
+
+“You’ll be teased something dreadful,” said Myrtle 
+happily. 
+
+“It’s okay, Hermione,” said Harry quickly. “We’ll take 
+you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never 
+asks too many questions. ...” 
+
+It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the 
+bathroom. Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way 
+with a hearty guffaw. “Wait till everyone finds out 
+you’ve got a tail\” 
+
+
+
+Page | 252 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+* V 
+
+
+
+
+THE VERY SECRET DIARY 
+
+Hermione remained in the hospital wing for several 
+weeks. There was a flurry of rumor about her 
+disappearance when the rest of the school arrived 
+back from their Christmas holidays, because of 
+course everyone thought that she had been attacked. 
+So many students filed past the hospital wing trying 
+to catch a glimpse of her that Madam Pomfrey took 
+out her curtains again and placed them around 
+Hermione’s bed, to spare her the shame of being seen 
+with a furry face. 
+
+Harry and Ron went to visit her every evening. When 
+the new term started, they brought her each day’s 
+homework. 
+
+“If I’d sprouted whiskers, I’d take a break from work,” 
+said Ron, tipping a stack of books onto Hermione’s 
+bedside table one evening. 
+
+“Don’t be silly, Ron, I’ve got to keep up,” said 
+Hermione briskly. Her spirits were greatly improved 
+by the fact that all the hair had gone from her face 
+
+Page | 253 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+and her eyes were turning slowly back to brown. “I 
+don’t suppose you’ve got any new leads?” she added 
+in a whisper, so that Madam Pomfrey couldn’t hear 
+her. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry gloomily. 
+
+“I was so sure it was Malfoy,” said Ron, for about the 
+hundredth time. 
+
+“What’s that?” asked Harry, pointing to something 
+gold sticking out from under Hermione’s pillow. 
+
+“Just a get well card,” said Hermione hastily, trying to 
+poke it out of sight, but Ron was too quick for her. He 
+pulled it out, flicked it open, and read aloud: 
+
+“To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from 
+your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, 
+Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the 
+Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of 
+Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award.” 
+
+Ron looked up at Hermione, disgusted. 
+
+“You sleep with this under your pillow?” 
+
+But Hermione was spared answering by Madam 
+Pomfrey sweeping over with her evening dose of 
+medicine. 
+
+“Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you’ve ever met, or 
+what?” Ron said to Harry as they left the infirmary 
+and started up the stairs toward Gryffindor Tower. 
+Snape had given them so much homework, Harry 
+thought he was likely to be in the sixth year before he 
+finished it. Ron was just saying he wished he had 
+asked Hermione how many rat tails you were 
+supposed to add to a Hair-Raising Potion when an 
+Page | 254 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+angry outburst from the floor above reached their 
+ears. 
+
+“That’s Filch,” Harry muttered as they hurried up the 
+stairs and paused, out of sight, listening hard. 
+
+“You don’t think someone else’s been attacked?” said 
+Ron tensely. 
+
+They stood still, their heads inclined toward Filch’s 
+voice, which sounded quite hysterical. 
+
+“ — even more work for me! Mopping all night, like I 
+haven’t got enough to do! No, this is the final straw, I’m 
+going to Dumbledore — ” 
+
+His footsteps receded along the out-of-sight corridor 
+and they heard a distant door slam. 
+
+They poked their heads around the corner. Filch had 
+clearly been manning his usual lookout post: They 
+were once again on the spot where Mrs. Norris had 
+been attacked. They saw at a glance what Filch had 
+been shouting about. A great flood of water stretched 
+over half the corridor, and it looked as though it was 
+still seeping from under the door of Moaning Myrtle’s 
+bathroom. Now that Filch had stopped shouting, they 
+could hear Myrtle’s wails echoing off the bathroom 
+walls. 
+
+“Now what’s up with her?” said Ron. 
+
+“Let’s go and see,” said Harry, and holding their robes 
+over their ankles they stepped through the great wash 
+of water to the door bearing its OUT OF ORDER sign, 
+ignored it as always, and entered. 
+
+Moaning Myrtle was crying, if possible, louder and 
+harder than ever before. She seemed to be hiding 
+
+Page | 255 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+down her usual toilet. It was dark in the bathroom 
+because the candles had been extinguished in the 
+great rush of water that had left both walls and floor 
+soaking wet. 
+
+“What’s up, Myrtle?” said Harry. 
+
+“Who’s that?” glugged Myrtle miserably. “Come to 
+throw something else at me?” 
+
+Harry waded across to her stall and said, “Why would 
+I throw something at you?” 
+
+“Don’t ask me,” Myrtle shouted, emerging with a wave 
+of yet more water, which splashed onto the already 
+sopping floor. “Here I am, minding my own business, 
+and someone thinks it’s funny to throw a book at me. 
+
+
+
+“But it can’t hurt you if someone throws something at 
+you,” said Harry, reasonably. “I mean, it’d just go 
+right through you, wouldn’t it?” 
+
+He had said the wrong thing. Myrtle puffed herself up 
+and shrieked, “Let’s all throw books at Myrtle, 
+because she can’t feel it! Ten points if you can get it 
+through her stomach! Fifty points if it goes through 
+her head! Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game, I don’t 
+think!” 
+
+“Who threw it at you, anyway?” asked Harry. 
+
+“I don’t know. ... I was just sitting in the U-bend, 
+thinking about death, and it fell right through the top 
+of my head,” said Myrtle, glaring at them. “It’s over 
+there, it got washed out. ...” 
+
+Harry and Ron looked under the sink where Myrtle 
+was pointing. A small, thin book lay there. It had a 
+
+Page | 256 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+shabby black cover and was as wet as everything else 
+in the bathroom. Harry stepped forward to pick it up, 
+but Ron suddenly flung out an arm to hold him back. 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“Are you cra2y?” said Ron. “It could be dangerous.” 
+
+“ Dangerous ?” said Harry, laughing. “Come off it, how 
+could it be dangerous?” 
+
+“You’d be surprised,” said Ron, who was looking 
+apprehensively at the book. “Some of the books the 
+Ministry’s confiscated — Dad’s told me — there was 
+one that burned your eyes out. And everyone who 
+read Sonnets of a Sorcerer spoke in limericks for the 
+rest of their lives. And some old witch in Bath had a 
+book that you could never stop reading ! You just had 
+to wander around with your nose in it, trying to do 
+everything one-handed. And — ” 
+
+“All right, I’ve got the point,” said Harry. 
+
+The little book lay on the floor, nondescript and 
+soggy. 
+
+“Well, we won’t find out unless we look at it,” he said, 
+and he ducked around Ron and picked it up off the 
+floor. 
+
+Harry saw at once that it was a diary, and the faded 
+year on the cover told him it was fifty years old. He 
+opened it eagerly. On the first page he could just 
+make out the name “T. M. Riddle” in smudged ink. 
+
+“Hang on,” said Ron, who had approached cautiously 
+and was looking over Harry’s shoulder. “I know that 
+name. ... T. M. Riddle got an award for special 
+services to the school fifty years ago.” 
+
+Page | 257 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How on earth d’you know that?” said Harry in 
+amazement. 
+
+“Because Filch made me polish his shield about fifty 
+times in detention,” said Ron resentfully. “That was 
+the one I burped slugs all over. If you’d wiped slime 
+off a name for an hour, you’d remember it, too.” 
+
+Harry peeled the wet pages apart. They were 
+completely blank. There wasn’t the faintest trace of 
+writing on any of them, not even Auntie Mabel’s 
+birthday, or dentist, half-past three. 
+
+“He never wrote in it,” said Harry, disappointed. 
+
+“I wonder why someone wanted to flush it away?” said 
+Ron curiously. 
+
+Harry turned to the back cover of the book and saw 
+the printed name of a variety store on Vauxhall Road, 
+London. 
+
+“He must’ve been Muggle-born,” said Harry 
+thoughtfully. “To have bought a diary from Vauxhall 
+Road. ...” 
+
+“Well, it’s not much use to you,” said Ron. He 
+dropped his voice. “Fifty points if you can get it 
+through Myrtle’s nose.” 
+
+Harry, however, pocketed it. 
+
+Hermione left the hospital wing, de-whiskered, tail- 
+less, and fur-free, at the beginning of February. On 
+her first evening back in Gryffindor Tower, Harry 
+showed her T. M. Riddle’s diary and told her the story 
+of how they had found it. 
+
+
+
+Page | 258 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oooh, it might have hidden powers,” said Hermione 
+enthusiastically, taking the diary and looking at it 
+closely. 
+
+“If it has, it’s hiding them very well,” said Ron. “Maybe 
+it’s shy. I don’t know why you don’t chuck it, Harry.” 
+
+“I wish I knew why someone did try to chuck it,” said 
+Harry. “I wouldn’t mind knowing how Riddle got an 
+award for special services to Hogwarts either.” 
+
+“Could’ve been anything,” said Ron. “Maybe he got 
+thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant 
+squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would’ve done 
+everyone a favor. ...” 
+
+But Harry could tell from the arrested look on 
+Hermione ’s face that she was thinking what he was 
+thinking. 
+
+“What?” said Ron, looking from one to the other. 
+
+“Well, the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years 
+ago, wasn’t it?” he said. “That’s what Malfoy said.” 
+
+“Yeah ...” said Ron slowly. 
+
+“And this diary is fifty years old,” said Hermione, 
+tapping it excitedly. 
+
+“So?” 
+
+“Oh, Ron, wake up,” snapped Hermione. “We know 
+the person who opened the Chamber last time was 
+expelled fifty years ago. We know T. M. Riddle got an 
+award for special services to the school fifty years 
+ago. Well, what if Riddle got his special award for 
+catching the Heir of Slytherin? His diary would 
+probably tell us everything — where the Chamber is, 
+Page | 259 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and how to open it, and what sort of creature lives in 
+it — the person who’s behind the attacks this time 
+wouldn’t want that lying around, would they?” 
+
+“That’s a brilliant theory, Hermione,” said Ron, “with 
+just one tiny little flaw. There’s nothing written in his 
+diary.” 
+
+But Hermione was pulling her wand out of her bag. 
+
+“It might be invisible ink!” she whispered. 
+
+She tapped the diary three times and said, 
+“Aparecium\” 
+
+Nothing happened. Undaunted, Hermione shoved her 
+hand back into her bag and pulled out what appeared 
+to be a bright red eraser. 
+
+“It’s a Revealer, I got it in Diagon Alley,” she said. 
+
+She rubbed hard on January first. Nothing happened. 
+
+“I’m telling you, there’s nothing to find in there,” said 
+Ron. “Riddle just got a diary for Christmas and 
+couldn’t be bothered filling it in.” 
+
+Harry couldn’t explain, even to himself, why he didn’t 
+just throw Riddle’s diary away. The fact was that even 
+though he knew the diary was blank, he kept 
+absentmindedly picking it up and turning the pages, 
+as though it were a story he wanted to finish. And 
+while Harry was sure he had never heard the name T. 
+M. Riddle before, it still seemed to mean something to 
+him, almost as though Riddle was a friend he’d had 
+when he was very small, and had half-forgotten. But 
+this was absurd. He’d never had friends before 
+Hogwarts, Dudley had made sure of that. 
+
+
+
+Page | 260 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Nevertheless, Harry was determined to find out more 
+about Riddle, so next day at break, he headed for the 
+trophy room to examine Riddle’s special award, 
+accompanied by an interested Hermione and a 
+thoroughly unconvinced Ron, who told them he’d 
+seen enough of the trophy room to last him a lifetime. 
+
+Riddle’s burnished gold shield was tucked away in a 
+corner cabinet. It didn’t carry details of why it had 
+been given to him (“Good thing, too, or it’d be even 
+bigger and I’d still be polishing it,” said Ron). 
+
+However, they did find Riddle��s name on an old Medal 
+for Magical Merit, and on a list of old Head Boys. 
+
+“He sounds like Percy,” said Ron, wrinkling his nose 
+in disgust. “Prefect, Head Boy ... probably top of every 
+class — ” 
+
+“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” said Hermione in a 
+slightly hurt voice. 
+
+The sun had now begun to shine weakly on Hogwarts 
+again. Inside the castle, the mood had grown more 
+hopeful. There had been no more attacks since those 
+on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam 
+Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes 
+were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that 
+they were fast leaving childhood. 
+
+“The moment their acne clears up, they’ll be ready for 
+repotting again,” Harry heard her telling Filch kindly 
+one afternoon. “And after that, it won’t be long until 
+we’re cutting them up and stewing them. You’ll have 
+Mrs. Norris back in no time.” 
+
+Perhaps the Heir of Slytherin had lost his or her 
+nerve, thought Harry. It must be getting riskier and 
+riskier to open the Chamber of Secrets, with the 
+school so alert and suspicious. Perhaps the monster, 
+
+Page | 261 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+whatever it was, was even now settling itself down to 
+hibernate for another fifty years. ... 
+
+
+
+Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff didn’t take this cheerful 
+view. He was still convinced that Harry was the guilty 
+one, that he had “given himself away” at the Dueling 
+Club. Peeves wasn’t helping matters; he kept popping 
+up in the crowded corridors singing “Oh, Potter, you 
+rotter ...” now with a dance routine to match. 
+
+Gilderoy Lockhart seemed to think he himself had 
+made the attacks stop. Harry overheard him telling 
+Professor McGonagall so while the Gryffindors were 
+lining up for Transfiguration. 
+
+“I don’t think there’ll be any more trouble, Minerva,” 
+he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. “I 
+think the Chamber has been locked for good this 
+time. The culprit must have known it was only a 
+matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to 
+stop now, before I came down hard on him. 
+
+“You know, what the school needs now is a morale- 
+booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won’t 
+say any more just now, but I think I know just the 
+thing. ...” 
+
+He tapped his nose again and strode off. 
+
+Lockhart’s idea of a morale-booster became clear at 
+breakfast time on February fourteenth. Harry hadn’t 
+had much sleep because of a late-running Quidditch 
+practice the night before, and he hurried down to the 
+Great Hall, slightly late. He thought, for a moment, 
+that he’d walked through the wrong doors. 
+
+The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink 
+flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling 
+from the pale blue ceiling. Harry went over to the 
+
+Page | 262 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Gryffindor table, where Ron was sitting looking 
+sickened, and Hermione seemed to have been 
+overcome with giggles. 
+
+“What’s going on?” Harry asked them, sitting down 
+and wiping confetti off his bacon. 
+
+Ron pointed to the teachers’ table, apparently too 
+disgusted to speak. Lockhart, wearing lurid pink 
+robes to match the decorations, was waving for 
+silence. The teachers on either side of him were 
+looking stony-faced. From where he sat, Harry could 
+see a muscle going in Professor McGonagall’s cheek. 
+Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a 
+large beaker of Skele-Gro. 
+
+“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Lockhart shouted. “And may 
+I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me 
+cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this 
+little surprise for you all — and it doesn’t end here!” 
+
+Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to 
+the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking 
+dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had 
+them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps. 
+
+“My friendly, card-carrying cupids!” beamed Lockhart. 
+“They will be roving around the school today 
+delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn’t stop 
+here! I’m sure my colleagues will want to enter into 
+the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor 
+Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And 
+while you’re at it, Professor Flitwick knows more 
+about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I’ve 
+ever met, the sly old dog!” 
+
+Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape 
+was looking as though the first person to ask him for 
+a Love Potion would be force-fed poison. 
+
+Page | 263 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Please, Hermione, tell me you weren’t one of the 
+forty-six,” said Ron as they left the Great Hall for their 
+first lesson. Hermione suddenly became very 
+interested in searching her bag for her schedule and 
+didn’t answer. 
+
+All day long, the dwarfs kept barging into their 
+classes to deliver valentines, to the annoyance of the 
+teachers, and late that afternoon as the Gryffindors 
+were walking upstairs for Charms, one of the dwarfs 
+caught up with Harry. 
+
+“Oy, you! ’Arry Potter!” shouted a particularly grim- 
+looking dwarf, elbowing people out of the way to get to 
+Harry. 
+
+Hot all over at the thought of being given a valentine 
+in front of a line of first years, which happened to 
+include Ginny Weasley, Harry tried to escape. The 
+dwarf, however, cut his way through the crowd by 
+kicking people’s shins, and reached him before he’d 
+gone two paces. 
+
+“I’ve got a musical message to deliver to ’Arry Potter in 
+person,” he said, twanging his harp in a threatening 
+sort of way. 
+
+“Not here,” Harry hissed, trying to escape. 
+
+“Stay stilll” grunted the dwarf, grabbing hold of 
+Harry’s bag and pulling him back. 
+
+“Let me go!” Harry snarled, tugging. 
+
+With a loud ripping noise, his bag split in two. His 
+books, wand, parchment, and quill spilled onto the 
+floor and his ink bottle smashed over everything. 
+
+
+
+Page | 264 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry scrambled around, trying to pick it all up 
+before the dwarf started singing, causing something of 
+a holdup in the corridor. 
+
+“What’s going on here?” came the cold, drawling voice 
+of Draco Malfoy. Harry started stuffing everything 
+feverishly into his ripped bag, desperate to get away 
+before Malfoy could hear his musical valentine. 
+
+“What’s all this commotion?” said another familiar 
+voice as Percy Weasley arrived. 
+
+Losing his head, Harry tried to make a run for it, but 
+the dwarf seized him around the knees and brought 
+him crashing to the floor. 
+
+“Right,” he said, sitting on Harry’s ankles. “Here is 
+your singing valentine: 
+
+His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, 
+
+His hair is as dark as a blackboard. 
+
+I wish he was mine, he’s really divine, 
+
+The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.” 
+
+Harry would have given all the gold in Gringotts to 
+evaporate on the spot. Trying valiantly to laugh along 
+with everyone else, he got up, his feet numb from the 
+weight of the dwarf, as Percy Weasley did his best to 
+disperse the crowd, some of whom were crying with 
+mirth. 
+
+“Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago, 
+off to class, now,” he said, shooing some of the 
+younger students away. “And you, Malfoy — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 265 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry, glancing over, saw Malfoy stoop and snatch up 
+something. Leering, he showed it to Crabbe and 
+Goyle, and Harry realized that he’d got Riddle’s diary. 
+
+“Give that back,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+“Wonder what Potter’s written in this?” said Malfoy, 
+who obviously hadn’t noticed the year on the cover 
+and thought he had Harry’s own diary. A hush fell 
+over the onlookers. Ginny was staring from the diary 
+to Harry, looking terrified. 
+
+“Hand it over, Malfoy,” said Percy sternly. 
+
+“When I’ve had a look,” said Malfoy, waving the diary 
+tauntingly at Harry. 
+
+Percy said, “As a school prefect — ” but Harry had lost 
+his temper. He pulled out his wand and shouted, 
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ and just as Snape had disarmed 
+Lockhart, so Malfoy found the diary shooting out of 
+his hand into the air. Ron, grinning broadly, caught 
+it. 
+
+“Harry!” said Percy loudly. “No magic in the corridors. 
+I’ll have to report this, you know!” 
+
+But Harry didn’t care, he was one-up on Malfoy, and 
+that was worth five points from Gryffindor any day. 
+Malfoy was looking furious, and as Ginny passed him 
+to enter her classroom, he yelled spitefully after her, 
+
+“I don’t think Potter liked your valentine much!” 
+
+Ginny covered her face with her hands and ran into 
+class. Snarling, Ron pulled out his wand, too, but 
+Harry pulled him away. Ron didn’t need to spend the 
+whole of Charms belching slugs. 
+
+
+
+Page | 266 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It wasn’t until they had reached Professor Flitwick’s 
+class that Harry noticed something rather odd about 
+Riddle’s diary. All his other books were drenched in 
+scarlet ink. The diary, however, was as clean as it had 
+been before the ink bottle had smashed all over it. He 
+tried to point this out to Ron, but Ron was having 
+trouble with his wand again; large purple bubbles 
+were blossoming out of the end, and he wasn’t much 
+interested in anything else. 
+
+
+
+Jc Jc Jc 
+
+
+
+Harry went to bed before anyone else in his 
+dormitory that night. This was partly because he 
+didn’t think he could stand Fred and George singing, 
+“His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad” one 
+more time, and partly because he wanted to examine 
+Riddle’s diary again, and knew that Ron thought he 
+was wasting his time. 
+
+Harry sat on his four-poster and flicked through the 
+blank pages, not one of which had a trace of scarlet 
+ink on it. Then he pulled a new bottle out of his 
+bedside cabinet, dipped his quill into it, and dropped 
+a blot onto the first page of the diary. 
+
+The ink shone brightly on the paper for a second and 
+then, as though it was being sucked into the page, 
+vanished. Excited, Harry loaded up his quill a second 
+time and wrote, “My name is Harry Potter.” 
+
+The words shone momentarily on the page and they, 
+too, sank without trace. Then, at last, something 
+happened. 
+
+Oozing back out of the page, in his very own ink, 
+came words Harry had never written. 
+
+
+
+Page | 267 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did 
+you come by my diary?” 
+
+These words, too, faded away, but not before Harry 
+had started to scribble back. 
+
+“Someone tried to flush it down a toilet.” 
+
+He waited eagerly for Riddle’s reply. 
+
+“Lucky that I recorded my memories in some more 
+lasting way than ink. But I always knew that there 
+would be those who would not want this diary read.” 
+
+“What do you mean?” Harry scrawled, blotting the 
+page in his excitement. 
+
+“I mean that this diary holds memories of terrible 
+things. Things that were covered up. Things that 
+happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
+Wizardry.” 
+
+“That’s where I am now,” Harry wrote quickly. “I’m at 
+Hogwarts, and horrible stuff’s been happening. Do 
+you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?” 
+
+His heart was hammering. Riddle’s reply came 
+quickly, his writing becoming untidier, as though he 
+was hurrying to tell all he knew. 
+
+“Of course I know about the Chamber of Secrets. In my 
+day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. 
+But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was 
+opened and the monster attacked several students, 
+finally killing one. I caught the person who’d opened 
+the Chamber and he was expelled. But the 
+headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a 
+thing had happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell 
+the truth. A story was given out that the girl had died 
+Page | 268 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+in a freak accident They gave me a nice, shiny, 
+engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep 
+my mouth shut But I knew it could happen again. The 
+monster lived on, and the one who had the power to 
+release it was not imprisoned.” 
+
+Harry nearly upset his ink bottle in his hurry to write 
+back. 
+
+“It’s happening again now. There have been three 
+attacks and no one seems to know who’s behind 
+them. Who was it last time?” 
+
+“ I can show you, if you like,” came Riddle’s reply. “You 
+don’t have to take my word for it. I can take you inside 
+my memory of the night when I caught him.” 
+
+Harry hesitated, his quill suspended over the diary. 
+What did Riddle mean? How could he be taken inside 
+somebody else’s memory? He glanced nervously at the 
+door to the dormitory, which was growing dark. When 
+he looked back at the diary, he saw fresh words 
+forming. 
+
+“Let me show you.” 
+
+Harry paused for a fraction of a second and then 
+wrote two letters. 
+
+“OK.” 
+
+The pages of the diary began to blow as though 
+caught in a high wind, stopping halfway through the 
+month of June. Mouth hanging open, Harry saw that 
+the little square for June thirteenth seemed to have 
+turned into a minuscule television screen. His hands 
+trembling slightly, he raised the book to press his eye 
+against the little window, and before he knew what 
+was happening, he was tilting forward; the window 
+Page | 269 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was widening, he felt his body leave his bed, and he 
+was pitched headfirst through the opening in the 
+page, into a whirl of color and shadow. 
+
+He felt his feet hit solid ground, and stood, shaking, 
+as the blurred shapes around him came suddenly 
+into focus. 
+
+He knew immediately where he was. This circular 
+room with the sleeping portraits was Dumbledore’s 
+office — but it wasn’t Dumbledore who was sitting 
+behind the desk. A wizened, frail-looking wizard, bald 
+except for a few wisps of white hair, was reading a 
+letter by candlelight. Harry had never seen this man 
+before. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” he said shakily. “I didn’t mean to butt in 
+
+
+
+But the wizard didn’t look up. He continued to read, 
+frowning slightly. Harry drew nearer to his desk and 
+stammered, “Er — I’ll just go, shall I?” 
+
+Still the wizard ignored him. He didn’t seem even to 
+have heard him. Thinking that the wizard might be 
+deaf, Harry raised his voice. 
+
+“Sorry I disturbed you. I’ll go now,” he half-shouted. 
+
+The wizard folded up the letter with a sigh, stood up, 
+walked past Harry without glancing at him, and went 
+to draw the curtains at his window. 
+
+The sky outside the window was ruby-red; it seemed 
+to be sunset. The wizard went back to the desk, sat 
+down, and twiddled his thumbs, watching the door. 
+
+Harry looked around the office. No Fawkes the 
+phoenix — no whirring silver contraptions. This was 
+
+Page | 270 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hogwarts as Riddle had known it, meaning that this 
+unknown wizard was headmaster, not Dumbledore, 
+and he, Harry, was little more than a phantom, 
+completely invisible to the people of fifty years ago. 
+
+There was a knock on the office door. 
+
+“Enter,” said the old wizard in a feeble voice. 
+
+A boy of about sixteen entered, taking off his pointed 
+hat. A silver prefect’s badge was glinting on his chest. 
+He was much taller than Harry, but he, too, had jet- 
+black hair. 
+
+“Ah, Riddle,” said the headmaster. 
+
+“You wanted to see me, Professor Dippet?” said 
+Riddle. He looked nervous. 
+
+“Sit down,” said Dippet. “I’ve just been reading the 
+letter you sent me.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Riddle. He sat down, gripping his hands 
+together very tightly. 
+
+“My dear boy,” said Dippet kindly, “I cannot possibly 
+let you stay at school over the summer. Surely you 
+want to go home for the holidays?” 
+
+“No,” said Riddle at once. “I’d much rather stay at 
+Hogwarts than go back to that — to that — ” 
+
+“You live in a Muggle orphanage during the holidays, I 
+believe?” said Dippet curiously. 
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Riddle, reddening slightly. 
+
+“You are Muggle-born?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 271 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Half-blood, sir,” said Riddle. “Muggle father, witch 
+mother.” 
+
+“And are both your parents — ?” 
+
+“My mother died just after I was born, sir. They told 
+me at the orphanage she lived just long enough to 
+name me — Tom after my father, Marvolo after my 
+grandfather.” 
+
+Dippet clucked his tongue sympathetically. 
+
+“The thing is, Tom,” he sighed, “special arrangements 
+might have been made for you, but in the current 
+circumstances. ...” 
+
+“You mean all these attacks, sir?” said Riddle, and 
+Harry’s heart leapt, and he moved closer, scared of 
+missing anything. 
+
+“Precisely,” said the headmaster. “My dear boy, you 
+must see how foolish it would be of me to allow you to 
+remain at the castle when term ends. Particularly in 
+light of the recent tragedy . . . the death of that poor 
+little girl. ... You will be safer by far at your 
+orphanage. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Magic 
+is even now talking about closing the school. We are 
+no nearer locating the — er — source of all this 
+unpleasantness. ...” 
+
+Riddle’s eyes had widened. 
+
+“Sir — if the person was caught — if it all stopped — ” 
+
+“What do you mean?” said Dippet with a squeak in 
+his voice, sitting up in his chair. “Riddle, do you mean 
+you know something about these attacks?” 
+
+“No, sir,” said Riddle quickly. 
+
+Page | 272 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Harry was sure it was the same sort of “no” that 
+he himself had given Dumbledore. 
+
+Dippet sank back, looking faintly disappointed. 
+
+“You may go, Tom. ...” 
+
+Riddle slid off his chair and slouched out of the room. 
+Harry followed him. 
+
+Down the moving spiral staircase they went, emerging 
+next to the gargoyle in the darkening corridor. Riddle 
+stopped, and so did Harry, watching him. Harry could 
+tell that Riddle was doing some serious thinking. He 
+was biting his lip, his forehead furrowed. 
+
+Then, as though he had suddenly reached a decision, 
+he hurried off, Harry gliding noiselessly behind him. 
+They didn’t see another person until they reached the 
+entrance hall, when a tall wizard with long, sweeping 
+auburn hair and a beard called to Riddle from the 
+marble staircase. 
+
+“What are you doing, wandering around this late, 
+Tom?” 
+
+Harry gaped at the wizard. He was none other than a 
+fifty-year-younger Dumbledore. 
+
+“I had to see the headmaster, sir,” said Riddle. 
+
+“Well, hurry off to bed,” said Dumbledore, giving 
+Riddle exactly the kind of penetrating stare Harry 
+knew so well. “Best not to roam the corridors these 
+days. Not since ...” 
+
+He sighed heavily, bade Riddle good night, and strode 
+off. Riddle watched him walk out of sight and then, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+moving quickly, headed straight down the stone steps 
+to the dungeons, with Harry in hot pursuit. 
+
+But to Harry’s disappointment, Riddle led him not 
+into a hidden passageway or a secret tunnel but to 
+the very dungeon in which Harry had Potions with 
+Snape. The torches hadn’t been lit, and when Riddle 
+pushed the door almost closed, Harry could only just 
+see him, standing stock-still by the door, watching 
+the passage outside. 
+
+It felt to Harry that they were there for at least an 
+hour. All he could see was the figure of Riddle at the 
+door, staring through the crack, waiting like a statue. 
+And just when Harry had stopped feeling expectant 
+and tense and started wishing he could return to the 
+present, he heard something move beyond the door. 
+
+Someone was creeping along the passage. He heard 
+whoever it was pass the dungeon where he and Riddle 
+were hidden. Riddle, quiet as a shadow, edged 
+through the door and followed, Harry tiptoeing behind 
+him, forgetting that he couldn’t be heard. 
+
+For perhaps five minutes they followed the footsteps, 
+until Riddle stopped suddenly, his head inclined in 
+the direction of new noises. Harry heard a door creak 
+open, and then someone speaking in a hoarse 
+whisper. 
+
+“C’mon ... gotta get yeh outta here. ... C’mon now ... 
+in the box ...” 
+
+There was something familiar about that voice. ... 
+
+Riddle suddenly jumped around the corner. Harry 
+stepped out behind him. He could see the dark 
+outline of a huge boy who was crouching in front of 
+an open door, a very large box next to it. 
+
+Page | 274 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ’Evening, Rubeus,” said Riddle sharply. 
+
+The boy slammed the door shut and stood up. 
+
+“What yer doin’ down here, Tom?” 
+
+Riddle stepped closer. 
+
+“It’s all over,” he said. “I’m going to have to turn you 
+in, Rubeus. They’re talking about closing Hogwarts if 
+the attacks don’t stop.” 
+
+“What d’yeh — ” 
+
+“I don’t think you meant to kill anyone. But monsters 
+don’t make good pets. I suppose you just let it out for 
+exercise and — ” 
+
+“It never killed no one!” said the large boy, backing 
+against the closed door. From behind him, Harry 
+could hear a funny rustling and clicking. 
+
+“Come on, Rubeus,” said Riddle, moving yet closer. 
+“The dead girl’s parents will be here tomorrow. The 
+least Hogwarts can do is make sure that the thing 
+that killed their daughter is slaughtered. ...” 
+
+“It wasn’t him!” roared the boy, his voice echoing in 
+the dark passage. “He wouldn’! He never!” 
+
+“Stand aside,” said Riddle, drawing out his wand. 
+
+His spell lit the corridor with a sudden flaming light. 
+The door behind the large boy flew open with such 
+force it knocked him into the wall opposite. And out of 
+it came something that made Harry let out a long, 
+piercing scream unheard by anyone — 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+A vast, low-slung, hairy body and a tangle of black 
+legs; a gleam of many eyes and a pair of razor-sharp 
+pincers — Riddle raised his wand again, but he was 
+too late. The thing bowled him over as it scuttled 
+away, tearing up the corridor and out of sight. Riddle 
+scrambled to his feet, looking after it; he raised his 
+wand, but the huge boy leapt on him, seized his 
+wand, and threw him back down, yelling, 
+“NOOOOOOO!” 
+
+The scene whirled, the darkness became complete; 
+Harry felt himself falling and, with a crash, he landed 
+spread-eagled on his four-poster in the Gryffindor 
+dormitory, Riddle’s diary lying open on his stomach. 
+
+Before he had had time to regain his breath, the 
+dormitory door opened and Ron came in. 
+
+“There you are,” he said. 
+
+Harry sat up. He was sweating and shaking. 
+
+“What’s up?” said Ron, looking at him with concern. 
+
+“It was Hagrid, Ron. Hagrid opened the Chamber of 
+Secrets fifty years ago.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 276 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CORNELIUS FUDGE 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione had always known that 
+Hagrid had an unfortunate liking for large and 
+monstrous creatures. During their first year at 
+Hogwarts he had tried to raise a dragon in his little 
+wooden house, and it would be a long time before 
+they forgot the giant, three-headed dog he’d 
+christened “Fluffy.” And if, as a boy, Hagrid had heard 
+that a monster was hidden somewhere in the castle, 
+Harry was sure he’d have gone to any lengths for a 
+glimpse of it. He’d probably thought it was a shame 
+that the monster had been cooped up so long, and 
+thought it deserved the chance to stretch its many 
+legs; Harry could just imagine the thirteen-year-old 
+Hagrid trying to fit a leash and collar on it. But he 
+was equally certain that Hagrid would never have 
+meant to kill anybody. 
+
+Harry half wished he hadn’t found out how to work 
+Riddle’s diary. Again and again Ron and Hermione 
+made him recount what he’d seen, until he was 
+heartily sick of telling them and sick of the long, 
+circular conversations that followed. 
+
+Page | 277 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Riddle might have got the wrong person,” said 
+Hermione. “Maybe it was some other monster that 
+was attacking people. ...” 
+
+“How many monsters d’you think this place can 
+hold?” Ron asked dully. 
+
+“We always knew Hagrid had been expelled,” said 
+Harry miserably. “And the attacks must’ve stopped 
+after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle 
+wouldn’t have got his award.” 
+
+Ron tried a different tack. 
+
+“Riddle does sound like Percy — who asked him to 
+squeal on Hagrid, anyway?” 
+
+“But the monster had killed someone, Ron,” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle 
+orphanage if they closed Hogwarts,” said Harry. “I 
+don’t blame him for wanting to stay here. ...” 
+
+“You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn’t you, 
+Harry?” 
+
+“He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent,” said 
+Harry quickly. 
+
+The three of them fell silent. After a long pause, 
+Hermione voiced the knottiest question of all in a 
+hesitant voice. 
+
+“Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it 
+all?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That’d be a cheerful visit,” said Ron. “ ‘Hello, Hagrid. 
+Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and 
+hairy loose in the castle lately?’ ” 
+
+In the end, they decided that they would not say 
+anything to Hagrid unless there was another attack, 
+and as more and more days went by with no whisper 
+from the disembodied voice, they became hopeful that 
+they would never need to talk to him about why he 
+had been expelled. It was now nearly four months 
+since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been 
+Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that 
+the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. 
+Peeves had finally got bored of his “Oh, Potter, you 
+rotter” song, Ernie Macmillan asked Harry quite 
+politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in 
+Herbology one day, and in March several of the 
+Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in 
+greenhouse three. This made Professor Sprout very 
+happy. 
+
+“The moment they start trying to move into each 
+other’s pots, we’ll know they’re fully mature,” she told 
+Harry. “Then we’ll be able to revive those poor people 
+in the hospital wing.” 
+
+The second years were given something new to think 
+about during their Easter holidays. The time had 
+come to choose their subjects for the third year, a 
+matter that Hermione, at least, took very seriously. 
+
+“It could affect our whole future,” she told Harry and 
+Ron as they pored over lists of new subjects, marking 
+them with checks. 
+
+“I just want to give up Potions,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We can’t,” said Ron gloomily. “We keep all our old 
+subjects, or I’d’ve ditched Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts.” 
+
+“But that’s very important!” said Hermione, shocked. 
+
+“Not the way Lockhart teaches it,” said Ron. “I haven’t 
+learned anything from him except not to set pixies 
+loose.” 
+
+Neville Longbottom had been sent letters from all the 
+witches and wizards in his family, all giving him 
+different advice on what to choose. Confused and 
+worried, he sat reading the subject lists with his 
+tongue poking out, asking people whether they 
+thought Arithmancy sounded more difficult than the 
+study of Ancient Runes. Dean Thomas, who, like 
+Harry, had grown up with Muggles, ended up closing 
+his eyes and jabbing his wand at the list, then picking 
+the subjects it landed on. Hermione took nobody’s 
+advice but signed up for everything. 
+
+Harry smiled grimly to himself at the thought of what 
+Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would say if he tried 
+to discuss his career in wizardry with them. Not that 
+he didn’t get any guidance: Percy Weasley was eager 
+to share his experience. 
+
+“Depends where you want to go, Harry,” he said. “It’s 
+never too early to think about the future, so I’d 
+recommend Divination. People say Muggle Studies is 
+a soft option, but I personally think wizards should 
+have a thorough understanding of the non-magical 
+community, particularly if they’re thinking of working 
+in close contact with them — look at my father, he 
+has to deal with Muggle business all the time. My 
+brother Charlie was always more of an outdoor type, 
+so he went for Care of Magical Creatures. Play to your 
+strengths, Harry.” 
+
+Page | 280 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But the only thing Harry felt he was really good at 
+was Quidditch. In the end, he chose the same new 
+subjects as Ron, feeling that if he was lousy at them, 
+at least he’d have someone friendly to help him. 
+
+Gryffindor’s next Quidditch match would be against 
+Hufflepuff. Wood was insisting on team practices 
+every night after dinner, so that Harry barely had 
+time for anything but Quidditch and homework. 
+However, the training sessions were getting better, or 
+at least drier, and the evening before Saturday’s 
+match he went up to his dormitory to drop off his 
+broomstick feeling Gryffindor’s chances for the 
+Quidditch Cup had never been better. 
+
+But his cheerful mood didn’t last long. At the top of 
+the stairs to the dormitory, he met Neville 
+Longbottom, who was looking frantic. 
+
+“Harry — I don’t know who did it — I just found — ” 
+
+Watching Harry fearfully, Neville pushed open the 
+door. 
+
+The contents of Harry’s trunk had been thrown 
+everywhere. His cloak lay ripped on the floor. The 
+bedclothes had been pulled off his four-poster and the 
+drawer had been pulled out of his bedside cabinet, 
+the contents strewn over the mattress. 
+
+Harry walked over to the bed, openmouthed, treading 
+on a few loose pages of Travels with Trolls. As he and 
+Neville pulled the blankets back onto his bed, Ron, 
+Dean, and Seamus came in. Dean swore loudly. 
+
+“What happened, Harry?” 
+
+“No idea,” said Harry. But Ron was examining Harry’s 
+robes. All the pockets were hanging out. 
+
+Page | 281 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Someone’s been looking for something,” said Ron. “Is 
+there anything missing?” 
+
+Harry started to pick up all his things and throw 
+them into his trunk. It was only as he threw the last 
+of the Lockhart books back into it that he realized 
+what wasn’t there. 
+
+“Riddle’s diary’s gone,” he said in an undertone to 
+Ron. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+Harry jerked his head toward the dormitory door and 
+Ron followed him out. They hurried down to the 
+Gryffindor common room, which was half-empty, and 
+joined Hermione, who was sitting alone, reading a 
+book called Ancient Runes Made Easy. 
+
+Hermione looked aghast at the news. 
+
+“But — only a Gryffindor could have stolen — nobody 
+else knows our password — ” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Harry. 
+
+They woke the next day to brilliant sunshine and a 
+light, refreshing breeze. 
+
+“Perfect Quidditch conditions!” said Wood 
+enthusiastically at the Gryffindor table, loading the 
+team’s plates with scrambled eggs. “Harry, buck up 
+there, you need a decent breakfast.” 
+
+Harry had been staring down the packed Gryffindor 
+table, wondering if the new owner of Riddle’s diary 
+was right in front of his eyes. Hermione had been 
+urging him to report the robbery, but Harry didn’t like 
+the idea. He’d have to tell a teacher all about the 
+Page | 282 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+diary, and how many people knew why Hagrid had 
+been expelled fifty years ago? He didn’t want to be the 
+one who brought it all up again. 
+
+As he left the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione to go 
+and collect his Quidditch things, another very serious 
+worry was added to Harry’s growing list. He had just 
+set foot on the marble staircase when he heard it yet 
+again — 
+
+“ Kill this time ... let me rip ... tear ...” 
+
+He shouted aloud and Ron and Hermione both 
+jumped away from him in alarm. 
+
+“The voice!” said Harry, looking over his shoulder. “I 
+just heard it again — didn’t you?” 
+
+Ron shook his head, wide-eyed. Hermione, however, 
+clapped a hand to her forehead. 
+
+“Harry — I think I’ve just understood something! I’ve 
+got to go to the library!” 
+
+And she sprinted away, up the stairs. 
+
+“ What does she understand?” said Harry distractedly, 
+still looking around, trying to tell where the voice had 
+come from. 
+
+“Loads more than I do,” said Ron, shaking his head. 
+
+“But why’s she got to go to the library?” 
+
+“Because that’s what Hermione does,” said Ron, 
+shrugging. “When in doubt, go to the library.” 
+
+Harry stood, irresolute, trying to catch the voice 
+again, but people were now emerging from the Great 
+
+Page | 283 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hall behind him, talking loudly, exiting through the 
+front doors on their way to the Quidditch pitch. 
+
+
+
+“You’d better get moving,” said Ron. “It’s nearly eleven 
+— the match — ” 
+
+Harry raced up to Gryffindor Tower, collected his 
+Nimbus Two Thousand, and joined the large crowd 
+swarming across the grounds, but his mind was still 
+in the castle along with the bodiless voice, and as he 
+pulled on his scarlet robes in the locker room, his 
+only comfort was that everyone was now outside to 
+watch the game. 
+
+The teams walked onto the field to tumultuous 
+applause. Oliver Wood took off for a warm-up flight 
+around the goal posts; Madam Hooch released the 
+balls. The Hufflepuffs, who played in canary yellow, 
+were standing in a huddle, having a last-minute 
+discussion of tactics. 
+
+Harry was just mounting his broom when Professor 
+McGonagall came half marching, half running across 
+the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone. 
+
+Harry’s heart dropped like a stone. 
+
+“This match has been canceled,” Professor 
+McGonagall called through the megaphone, 
+addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and 
+shouts. Oliver Wood, looking devastated, landed and 
+ran toward Professor McGonagall without getting off 
+his broomstick. 
+
+“But, Professor!” he shouted. “We’ve got to play — the 
+Cup — Gryffindor — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued to 
+shout through her megaphone: 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“All students are to make their way back to the House 
+common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give 
+them further information. As quickly as you can, 
+please!” 
+
+Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned 
+Harry over to her. 
+
+“Potter, I think you’d better come with me. ...” 
+
+Wondering how she could possibly suspect him this 
+time, Harry saw Ron detach himself from the 
+complaining crowd; he came running up to them as 
+they set off toward the castle. To Harry’s surprise, 
+Professor McGonagall didn’t object. 
+
+“Yes, perhaps you’d better come, too, Weasley. ...” 
+
+Some of the students swarming around them were 
+grumbling about the match being canceled; others 
+looked worried. Harry and Ron followed Professor 
+McGonagall back into the school and up the marble 
+staircase. But they weren’t taken to anybody’s office 
+this time. 
+
+“This will be a bit of a shock,” said Professor 
+McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice as they 
+approached the infirmary. “There has been another 
+attack ... another double attack.” 
+
+Harry’s insides did a horrible somersault. Professor 
+McGonagall pushed the door open and he and Ron 
+entered. 
+
+Madam Pomfrey was bending over a sixth-year girl 
+with long, curly hair. Harry recognized her as the 
+Ravenclaw they’d accidentally asked for directions to 
+the Slytherin common room. And on the bed next to 
+her was — 
+
+Page | 285 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“HermioneY’ Ron groaned. 
+
+Hermione lay utterly still, her eyes open and glassy. 
+
+“They were found near the library,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “I don’t suppose either of you can 
+explain this? It was on the floor next to them. ...” 
+
+She was holding up a small, circular mirror. 
+
+Harry and Ron shook their heads, both staring at 
+Hermione. 
+
+“I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower,” said 
+Professor McGonagall heavily. “I need to address the 
+students in any case.” 
+
+“All students will return to their House common 
+rooms by six o’clock in the evening. No student is to 
+leave the dormitories after that time. You will be 
+escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to 
+use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All 
+further Quidditch training and matches are to be 
+postponed. There will be no more evening activities.” 
+
+The Gryffindors packed inside the common room 
+listened to Professor McGonagall in silence. She rolled 
+up the parchment from which she had been reading 
+and said in a somewhat choked voice, “I need hardly 
+add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely 
+that the school will be closed unless the culprit 
+behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone 
+who thinks they might know anything about them to 
+come forward.” 
+
+She climbed somewhat awkwardly out of the portrait 
+hole, and the Gryffindors began talking immediately. 
+
+
+
+Page | 286 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“That’s two Gryffindors down, not counting a 
+Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff,” 
+said the Weasley twins’ friend Lee Jordan, counting 
+on his fingers. “Haven’t any of the teachers noticed 
+that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn’t it obvious all this 
+stuff’s coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, 
+the monster of Slytherin — why don’t they just chuck 
+all the Slytherins out?” he roared, to nods and 
+scattered applause. 
+
+Percy Weasley was sitting in a chair behind Lee, but 
+for once he didn’t seem keen to make his views heard. 
+He was looking pale and stunned. 
+
+“Percy’s in shock,” George told Harry quietly. “That 
+Ravenclaw girl — Penelope Clearwater — she’s a 
+prefect. I don’t think he thought the monster would 
+dare attack a prefect.” 
+
+But Harry was only half-listening. He didn’t seem to 
+be able to get rid of the picture of Hermione, lying on 
+the hospital bed as though carved out of stone. And if 
+the culprit wasn’t caught soon, he was looking at a 
+lifetime back with the Dursleys. Tom Riddle had 
+turned Hagrid in because he was faced with the 
+prospect of a Muggle orphanage if the school closed. 
+Harry now knew exactly how he had felt. 
+
+“What’re we going to do?” said Ron quietly in Harry’s 
+ear. “D’you think they suspect Hagrid?” 
+
+“We’ve got to go and talk to him,” said Harry, making 
+up his mind. “I can’t believe it’s him this time, but if 
+he set the monster loose last time he’ll know how to 
+get inside the Chamber of Secrets, and that’s a start.” 
+
+“But McGonagall said we’ve got to stay in our tower 
+unless we’re in class — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I think,” said Harry, more quietly still, “it’s time to 
+get my dad’s old cloak out again.” 
+
+Harry had inherited just one thing from his father: a 
+long and silvery Invisibility Cloak. It was their only 
+chance of sneaking out of the school to visit Hagrid 
+without anyone knowing about it. They went to bed at 
+the usual time, waited until Neville, Dean, and 
+Seamus had stopped discussing the Chamber of 
+Secrets and finally fallen asleep, then got up, dressed 
+again, and threw the cloak over themselves. 
+
+The journey through the dark and deserted castle 
+corridors wasn’t enjoyable. Harry, who had wandered 
+the castle at night several times before, had never 
+seen it so crowded after sunset. Teachers, prefects, 
+and ghosts were marching the corridors in pairs, 
+staring around for any unusual activity. Their 
+Invisibility Cloak didn’t stop them making any noise, 
+and there was a particularly tense moment when Ron 
+stubbed his toe only yards from the spot where Snape 
+stood standing guard. Thankfully, Snape sneezed at 
+almost exactly the moment Ron swore. It was with 
+relief that they reached the oak front doors and eased 
+them open. 
+
+It was a clear, starry night. They hurried toward the 
+lit windows of Hagrid ’s house and pulled off the cloak 
+only when they were right outside his front door. 
+
+Seconds after they had knocked, Hagrid flung it open. 
+They found themselves face-to-face with him aiming a 
+crossbow at them. Fang the boarhound barked loudly 
+behind him. 
+
+“Oh,” he said, lowering the weapon and staring at 
+them. “What ’re you two doin’ here?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’s that for?” said Harry, pointing at the 
+crossbow as they stepped inside. 
+
+
+
+“Nothin’ — nothin’ — “ Hagrid muttered. “I’ve bin 
+expectin’ — doesn’ matter — Sit down — I’ll make tea 
+
+
+
+He hardly seemed to know what he was doing. He 
+nearly extinguished the fire, spilling water from the 
+kettle on it, and then smashed the teapot with a 
+nervous jerk of his massive hand. 
+
+“Are you okay, Hagrid?” said Harry. “Did you hear 
+about Hermione?” 
+
+“Oh, I heard, all righ’,” said Hagrid, a slight break in 
+his voice. 
+
+He kept glancing nervously at the windows. He 
+poured them both large mugs of boiling water (he had 
+forgotten to add tea bags) and was just putting a slab 
+of fruitcake on a plate when there was a loud knock 
+on the door. 
+
+Hagrid dropped the fruitcake. Harry and Ron 
+exchanged panic-stricken looks, then threw the 
+Invisibility Cloak back over themselves and retreated 
+into a corner. Hagrid checked that they were hidden, 
+seized his crossbow, and flung open his door once 
+more. 
+
+“Good evening, Hagrid.” 
+
+It was Dumbledore. He entered, looking deadly 
+serious, and was followed by a second, very odd- 
+looking man. 
+
+The stranger had rumpled gray hair and an anxious 
+expression, and was wearing a strange mixture of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+clothes: a pinstriped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black 
+cloak, and pointed purple boots. Under his arm he 
+carried a lime-green bowler. 
+
+“That’s Dad’s boss!” Ron breathed. “Cornelius Fudge, 
+the Minister of Magic!” 
+
+Harry elbowed Ron hard to make him shut up. 
+
+Hagrid had gone pale and sweaty. He dropped into 
+one of his chairs and looked from Dumbledore to 
+Cornelius Fudge. 
+
+“Bad business, Hagrid,” said Fudge in rather clipped 
+tones. “Very bad business. Had to come. Four attacks 
+on Muggle-borns. Things’ve gone far enough. 
+Ministry’s got to act.” 
+
+“I never,” said Hagrid, looking imploringly at 
+Dumbledore. “You know I never, Professor 
+Dumbledore, sir — ” 
+
+“I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my 
+full confidence,” said Dumbledore, frowning at Fudge. 
+
+“Look, Albus,” said Fudge, uncomfortably. “Hagrid’s 
+record’s against him. Ministry’s got to do something 
+— the school governors have been in touch — ” 
+
+“Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid 
+away will not help in the slightest,” said Dumbledore. 
+His blue eyes were full of a fire Harry had never seen 
+before. 
+
+“Look at it from my point of view,” said Fudge, 
+fidgeting with his bowler. “I’m under a lot of pressure. 
+Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it 
+wasn’t Hagrid, he’ll be back and no more said. But 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+I’ve got to take him. Got to. Wouldn’t be doing my 
+duty — ” 
+
+“Take me?” said Hagrid, who was trembling. “Take me 
+where?” 
+
+“For a short stretch only,” said Fudge, not meeting 
+Hagrid ’s eyes. “Not a punishment, Hagrid, more a 
+precaution. If someone else is caught, you’ll be let out 
+with a full apology — ” 
+
+“Not Azkaban?” croaked Hagrid. 
+
+Before Fudge could answer, there was another loud 
+rap on the door. 
+
+Dumbledore answered it. It was Harry’s turn for an 
+elbow in the ribs; he’d let out an audible gasp. 
+
+Mr. Lucius Malfoy strode into Hagrid’s hut, swathed 
+in a long black traveling cloak, smiling a cold and 
+satisfied smile. Fang started to growl. 
+
+“Already here, Fudge,” he said approvingly. “Good, 
+good...” 
+
+“What’re you doin’ here?” said Hagrid furiously. “Get 
+outta my house!” 
+
+“My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure 
+at all in being inside your — er — d’you call this a 
+house?” said Lucius Malfoy, sneering as he looked 
+around the small cabin. “I simply called at the school 
+and was told that the headmaster was here.” 
+
+“And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?” 
+said Dumbledore. He spoke politely, but the fire was 
+still blazing in his blue eyes. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ Dreadful thing, Dumbledore,” said Malfoy lazily, 
+taking out a long roll of parchment, “but the 
+governors feel it’s time for you to step aside. This is 
+an Order of Suspension — you’ll find all twelve 
+signatures on it. I’m afraid we feel you’re losing your 
+touch. How many attacks have there been now? Two 
+more this afternoon, wasn’t it? At this rate, there’ll be 
+no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts, and we all know 
+what an awful loss that would be to the school.” 
+
+“Oh, now, see here, Lucius,” said Fudge, looking 
+alarmed, “Dumbledore suspended — no, no — last 
+thing we want just now — ” 
+
+“The appointment — or suspension — of the 
+headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge,” 
+said Mr. Malfoy smoothly. “And as Dumbledore has 
+failed to stop these attacks — ” 
+
+“See here, Malfoy, if Dumbledore can’t stop them,” 
+said Fudge, whose upper lip was sweating now, “I 
+mean to say, who can?” 
+
+“That remains to be seen,” said Mr. Malfoy with a 
+nasty smile. “But as all twelve of us have voted — ” 
+
+Hagrid leapt to his feet, his shaggy black head grazing 
+the ceiling. 
+
+“An’ how many did yeh have ter threaten an’ 
+blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?” he roared. 
+
+“Dear, dear, you know, that temper of yours will lead 
+you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid,” said Mr. 
+Malfoy. “I would advise you not to shout at the 
+Azkaban guards like that. They won’t like it at all.” 
+
+“Yeh can’ take Dumbledore!” yelled Hagrid, making 
+Fang the boarhound cower and whimper in his 
+
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+
+
+
+
+basket. “Take him away, an’ the Muggle-borns won’ 
+stand a chance! There’ll be killin’ next!” 
+
+“Calm yourself, Hagrid,” said Dumbledore sharply. He 
+looked at Lucius Malfoy. 
+
+“If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of 
+course step aside — ” 
+
+“But — ” stuttered Fudge. 
+
+“iVo!” growled Hagrid. 
+
+Dumbledore had not taken his bright blue eyes off 
+Lucius Malfoy’s cold gray ones. 
+
+“However,” said Dumbledore, speaking very slowly 
+and clearly so that none of them could miss a word, 
+“you will find that I will only truly have left this school 
+when none here are loyal to me. You will also find 
+that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those 
+who ask for it.” 
+
+For a second, Harry was almost sure Dumbledore’s 
+eyes flickered toward the corner where he and Ron 
+stood hidden. 
+
+“Admirable sentiments,” said Malfoy, bowing. “We 
+shall all miss your — er — highly individual way of 
+running things, Albus, and only hope that your 
+successor will manage to prevent any — ah — killins.” 
+
+He strode to the cabin door, opened it, and bowed 
+Dumbledore out. Fudge, fiddling with his bowler, 
+waited for Hagrid to go ahead of him, but Hagrid 
+stood his ground, took a deep breath, and said 
+carefully, “If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, 
+all they’d have ter do would be ter follow the spiders. 
+That’d lead ’em right! That’s all I’m sayin’.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Fudge stared at him in amazement. 
+
+
+
+“All right, I’m cornin’,” said Hagrid, pulling on his 
+moleskin overcoat. But as he was about to follow 
+Fudge through the door, he stopped again and said 
+loudly, “An’ someone’ll need ter feed Fang while I’m 
+away.” 
+
+The door banged shut and Ron pulled off the 
+Invisibility Cloak. 
+
+“We’re in trouble now,” he said hoarsely. “No 
+Dumbledore. They might as well close the school 
+tonight. There’ll be an attack a day with him gone.” 
+
+Fang started howling, scratching at the closed door. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+ARAGOG 
+
+Summer was creeping over the grounds around the 
+castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and 
+flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the 
+greenhouses. But with no Hagrid visible from the 
+castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his 
+heels, the scene didn’t look right to Harry; no better, 
+in fact, than the inside of the castle, where things 
+were so horribly wrong. 
+
+Harry and Ron had tried to visit Hermione, but 
+visitors were now barred from the hospital wing. 
+
+“We’re taking no more chances,” Madam Pomfrey told 
+them severely through a crack in the infirmary door. 
+“No, I’m sorry, there’s every chance the attacker might 
+come back to finish these people off. ...” 
+
+With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never 
+before, so that the sun warming the castle walls 
+outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. 
+There was barely a face to be seen in the school that 
+didn’t look worried and tense, and any laughter that 
+
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+
+
+
+rang through the corridors sounded shrill and 
+unnatural and was quickly stifled. 
+
+
+
+Harry constantly repeated Dumbledore’s final words 
+to himself. “I will only truly have left this school when 
+none here are loyal to me. . . . Help will always be given 
+at Hog warts to those who ask for it.” But what good 
+were these words? Who exactly were they supposed to 
+ask for help, when everyone was just as confused and 
+scared as they were? 
+
+Hagrid’s hint about the spiders was far easier to 
+understand — the trouble was, there didn’t seem to 
+be a single spider left in the castle to follow. Harry 
+looked everywhere he went, helped (rather reluctantly) 
+by Ron. They were hampered, of course, by the fact 
+that they weren’t allowed to wander off on their own 
+but had to move around the castle in a pack with the 
+other Gryffindors. Most of their fellow students 
+seemed glad that they were being shepherded from 
+class to class by teachers, but Harry found it very 
+irksome. 
+
+One person, however, seemed to be thoroughly 
+enjoying the atmosphere of terror and suspicion. 
+
+Draco Malfoy was strutting around the school as 
+though he had just been appointed Head Boy. Harry 
+didn’t realize what he was so pleased about until the 
+Potions lesson about two weeks after Dumbledore and 
+Hagrid had left, when, sitting right behind Malfoy, 
+Harry overheard him gloating to Crabbe and Goyle. 
+
+“I always thought Father might be the one who got rid 
+of Dumbledore,” he said, not troubling to keep his 
+voice down. “I told you he thinks Dumbledore’s the 
+worst headmaster the school’s ever had. Maybe we’ll 
+get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won’t 
+want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall 
+won’t last long, she’s only filling in. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Snape swept past Harry, making no comment about 
+Hermione’s empty seat and cauldron. 
+
+“Sir,” said Malfoy loudly. “Sir, why don’t you apply for 
+the headmaster’s job?” 
+
+“Now, now, Malfoy,” said Snape, though he couldn’t 
+suppress a thin-lipped smile. “Professor Dumbledore 
+has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay 
+he’ll be back with us soon enough.” 
+
+“Yeah, right,” said Malfoy, smirking. “I expect you’d 
+have Father’s vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the 
+job — I’ll tell Father you’re the best teacher here, sir 
+
+
+
+Snape smirked as he swept off around the dungeon, 
+fortunately not spotting Seamus Finnigan, who was 
+pretending to vomit into his cauldron. 
+
+“I’m quite surprised the Mudbloods haven’t all packed 
+their bags by now,” Malfoy went on. “Bet you five 
+Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn’t Granger — ” 
+
+The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at 
+Malfoy’s last words, Ron had leapt off his stool, and in 
+the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts 
+to reach Malfoy went unnoticed. 
+
+“Let me at him,” Ron growled as Harry and Dean 
+hung onto his arms. “I don’t care, I don’t need my 
+wand, I’m going to kill him with my bare hands — ” 
+
+“Hurry up, I’ve got to take you all to Herbology,” 
+barked Snape over the class’s heads, and off they 
+marched, with Harry, Ron, and Dean bringing up the 
+rear, Ron still trying to get loose. It was only safe to 
+let go of him when Snape had seen them out of the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+castle and they were making their way across the 
+vegetable patch toward the greenhouses. 
+
+The Herbology class was very subdued; there were 
+now two missing from their number, Justin and 
+Hermione. 
+
+Professor Sprout set them all to work pruning the 
+Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Harry went to tip an armful of 
+withered stalks onto the compost heap and found 
+himself face-to-face with Ernie Macmillan. Ernie took 
+a deep breath and said, very formally, “I just want to 
+say, Harry, that I’m sorry I ever suspected you. I 
+know you’d never attack Hermione Granger, and I 
+apologize for all the stuff I said. We’re all in the same 
+boat now, and, well — ” 
+
+He held out a pudgy hand, and Harry shook it. 
+
+Ernie and his friend Hannah came to work at the 
+same Shrivelfig as Harry and Ron. 
+
+“That Draco Malfoy character,” said Ernie, breaking 
+off dead twigs, “he seems very pleased about all this, 
+doesn’t he? D’you know, I think he might be 
+Slytherin’s heir.” 
+
+“That’s clever of you,” said Ron, who didn’t seem to 
+have forgiven Ernie as readily as Harry. 
+
+“Do you think it’s Malfoy, Harry?” Ernie asked. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, so firmly that Ernie and Hannah 
+stared. 
+
+A second later, Harry spotted something. 
+
+Several large spiders were scuttling over the ground 
+on the other side of the glass, moving in an 
+
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+
+
+
+
+unnaturally straight line as though taking the 
+shortest route to a prearranged meeting. Harry hit 
+Ron over the hand with his pruning shears. 
+
+“Ouch\ What ’re you — ” 
+
+Harry pointed out the spiders, following their progress 
+with his eyes screwed up against the sun. 
+
+“Oh, yeah,” said Ron, trying, and failing, to look 
+pleased. “But we can’t follow them now — ” 
+
+Ernie and Hannah were listening curiously. 
+
+Harry’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the spiders. If 
+they pursued their fixed course, there could be no 
+doubt about where they would end up. 
+
+“Looks like they’re heading for the Forbidden Forest. 
+
+
+
+And Ron looked even unhappier about that. 
+
+At the end of the lesson Professor Sprout escorted the 
+class to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. 
+Harry and Ron lagged behind the others so they could 
+talk out of earshot. 
+
+“Well have to use the Invisibility Cloak again,” Harry 
+told Ron. “We can take Fang with us. He’s used to 
+going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some 
+help.” 
+
+“Right,” said Ron, who was twirling his wand 
+nervously in his fingers. “Er — aren’t there — aren’t 
+there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?” he 
+added as they took their usual places at the back of 
+Lockhart’s classroom. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Preferring not to answer that question, Harry said, 
+“There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are 
+all right, and the unicorns ...” 
+
+Ron had never been into the Forbidden Forest before. 
+Harry had entered it only once and had hoped never 
+to do so again. 
+
+Lockhart bounded into the room and the class stared 
+at him. Every other teacher in the place was looking 
+grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing 
+short of buoyant. 
+
+“Come now,” he cried, beaming around him. “Why all 
+these long faces?” 
+
+People swapped exasperated looks, but nobody 
+answered. 
+
+“Don’t you people realize,” said Lockhart, speaking 
+slowly, as though they were all a bit dim, “the danger 
+has passed! The culprit has been taken away — ” 
+
+“Says who?” said Dean Thomas loudly. 
+
+“My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn’t 
+have taken Hagrid if he hadn’t been one hundred 
+percent sure that he was guilty,” said Lockhart, in the 
+tone of someone explaining that one and one made 
+two. 
+
+“Oh, yes he would,” said Ron, even more loudly than 
+Dean. 
+
+“I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid ’s 
+arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley,” said Lockhart in a 
+self-satisfied tone. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron started to say that he didn’t think so, somehow, 
+but stopped in midsentence when Harry kicked him 
+hard under the desk. 
+
+
+
+“We weren’t there, remember?” Harry muttered. 
+
+But Lockhart’s disgusting cheeriness, his hints that 
+he had always thought Hagrid was no good, his 
+confidence that the whole business was now at an 
+end, irritated Harry so much that he yearned to throw 
+Gadding with Ghouls right in Lockhart’s stupid face. 
+Instead he contented himself with scrawling a note to 
+Ron: Let’s do it tonight 
+
+Ron read the message, swallowed hard, and looked 
+sideways at the empty seat usually filled by 
+Hermione. The sight seemed to stiffen his resolve, and 
+he nodded. 
+
+
+
+The Gryffindor common room was always very 
+crowded these days, because from six o’clock onward 
+the Gryffindors had nowhere else to go. They also had 
+plenty to talk about, with the result that the common 
+room often didn’t empty until past midnight. 
+
+Harry went to get the Invisibility Cloak out of his 
+trunk right after dinner, and spent the evening sitting 
+on it, waiting for the room to clear. Fred and George 
+challenged Harry and Ron to a few games of 
+Exploding Snap, and Ginny sat watching them, very 
+subdued in Hermione ’s usual chair. Harry and Ron 
+kept losing on purpose, trying to finish the games 
+quickly, but even so, it was well past midnight when 
+Fred, George, and Ginny finally went to bed. 
+
+Harry and Ron waited for the distant sounds of two 
+dormitory doors closing before seizing the cloak, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+throwing it over themselves, and climbing through the 
+portrait hole. 
+
+It was another difficult journey through the castle, 
+dodging all the teachers. At last they reached the 
+entrance hall, slid back the lock on the oak front 
+doors, squeezed between them, trying to stop any 
+creaking, and stepped out into the moonlit grounds. 
+
+�� ’Course,” said Ron abruptly as they strode across 
+the black grass, “we might get to the forest and find 
+there’s nothing to follow. Those spiders might not’ve 
+been going there at all. I know it looked like they were 
+moving in that sort of general direction, but ...” 
+
+His voice trailed away hopefully. 
+
+They reached Hagrid’s house, sad and sorry-looking 
+with its blank windows. When Harry pushed the door 
+open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. 
+Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his 
+deep, booming barks, they hastily fed him treacle 
+toffee from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his 
+teeth together. 
+
+Harry left the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid’s table. 
+There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark forest. 
+
+“C’mon, Fang, we’re going for a walk,” said Harry, 
+patting his leg, and Fang bounded happily out of the 
+house behind them, dashed to the edge of the forest, 
+and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree. 
+
+Harry took out his wand, murmured, “Lumos\” and a 
+tiny light appeared at the end of it, just enough to let 
+them watch the path for signs of spiders. 
+
+“Good thinking,” said Ron. “I’d light mine, too, but 
+you know — it’d probably blow up or something. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry tapped Ron on the shoulder, pointing at the 
+grass. Two solitary spiders were hurrying away from 
+the wandlight into the shade of the trees. 
+
+“Okay,” Ron sighed as though resigned to the worst, 
+“I’m ready. Let’s go.” 
+
+So, with Fang scampering around them, sniffing tree 
+roots and leaves, they entered the forest. By the glow 
+of Harry’s wand, they followed the steady trickle of 
+spiders moving along the path. They walked behind 
+them for about twenty minutes, not speaking, 
+listening hard for noises other than breaking twigs 
+and rustling leaves. Then, when the trees had become 
+thicker than ever, so that the stars overhead were no 
+longer visible, and Harry’s wand shone alone in the 
+sea of dark, they saw their spider guides leaving the 
+path. 
+
+Harry paused, trying to see where the spiders were 
+going, but everything outside his little sphere of light 
+was pitch-black. He had never been this deep into the 
+forest before. He could vividly remember Hagrid 
+advising him not to leave the forest path last time 
+he’d been in here. But Hagrid was miles away now, 
+probably sitting in a cell in Azkaban, and he had also 
+said to follow the spiders. 
+
+Something wet touched Harry’s hand and he jumped 
+backward, crushing Ron’s foot, but it was only Fang’s 
+nose. 
+
+“What d’you reckon?” Harry said to Ron, whose eyes 
+he could just make out, reflecting the light from his 
+wand. 
+
+“We’ve come this far,” said Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+So they followed the darting shadows of the spiders 
+into the trees. They couldn’t move very quickly now; 
+there were tree roots and stumps in their way, barely 
+visible in the near blackness. Harry could feel Fang’s 
+hot breath on his hand. More than once, they had to 
+stop, so that Harry could crouch down and find the 
+spiders in the wandlight. 
+
+They walked for what seemed like at least half an 
+hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and 
+brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground 
+seemed to be sloping downward, though the trees 
+were as thick as ever. 
+
+Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, 
+making both Harry and Ron jump out of their skins. 
+
+“What?” said Ron loudly, looking around into the 
+pitch-dark, and gripping Harry’s elbow very hard. 
+
+“There’s something moving over there,” Harry 
+breathed. “Listen ... sounds like something big. ...” 
+
+They listened. Some distance to their right, the 
+something big was snapping branches as it carved a 
+path through the trees. 
+
+“Oh, no,” said Ron. “Oh, no, oh, no, oh — ” 
+
+“Shut up,” said Harry frantically. “It’ll hear you.” 
+
+“Hear me?” said Ron in an unnaturally high voice. 
+
+“It’s already heard Fang!” 
+
+The darkness seemed to be pressing on their eyeballs 
+as they stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange 
+rumbling noise and then silence. 
+
+“What d’you think it’s doing?” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 304 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Probably getting ready to pounce,” said Ron. 
+
+They waited, shivering, hardly daring to move. 
+
+“D’you think it’s gone?” Harry whispered. 
+
+“Dunno — ” 
+
+Then, to their right, came a sudden blaze of light, so 
+bright in the darkness that both of them flung up 
+their hands to shield their eyes. Fang yelped and tried 
+to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped 
+even louder. 
+
+“Harry!” Ron shouted, his voice breaking with relief. 
+“Harry, it’s our car!” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Come on!” 
+
+Harry blundered after Ron toward the light, stumbling 
+and tripping, and a moment later they had emerged 
+into a clearing. 
+
+Mr. Weasley’s car was standing, empty, in the middle 
+of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense 
+branches, its headlights ablaze. As Ron walked, 
+openmouthed, toward it, it moved slowly toward him, 
+exactly like a large, turquoise dog greeting its owner. 
+
+“It’s been here all the time!” said Ron delightedly, 
+walking around the car. “Look at it. The forest’s 
+turned it wild. ...” 
+
+The sides of the car were scratched and smeared with 
+mud. Apparently it had taken to trundling around the 
+forest on its own. Fang didn’t seem at all keen on it; 
+he kept close to Harry, who could feel him quivering. 
+
+Page | 305 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His breathing slowing down again, Harry stuffed his 
+wand back into his robes. 
+
+“And we thought it was going to attack us!” said Ron, 
+leaning against the car and patting it. “I wondered 
+where it had gone!” 
+
+Harry squinted around on the floodlit ground for 
+signs of more spiders, but they had all scuttled away 
+from the glare of the headlights. 
+
+“We’ve lost the trail,” he said. “C’mon, let’s go and find 
+them.” 
+
+Ron didn’t speak. He didn’t move. His eyes were fixed 
+on a point some ten feet above the forest floor, right 
+behind Harry. His face was livid with terror. 
+
+Harry didn’t even have time to turn around. There 
+was a loud clicking noise and suddenly he felt 
+something long and hairy seize him around the 
+middle and lift him off the ground, so that he was 
+hanging facedown. Struggling, terrified, he heard 
+more clicking, and saw Ron’s legs leave the ground, 
+too, heard Fang whimpering and howling — next 
+moment, he was being swept away into the dark 
+trees. 
+
+Head hanging, Harry saw that what had hold of him 
+was marching on six immensely long, hairy legs, the 
+front two clutching him tightly below a pair of shining 
+black pincers. Behind him, he could hear another of 
+the creatures, no doubt carrying Ron. They were 
+moving into the very heart of the forest. Harry could 
+hear Fang fighting to free himself from a third 
+monster, whining loudly, but Harry couldn’t have 
+yelled even if he had wanted to; he seemed to have left 
+his voice back with the car in the clearing. 
+
+
+
+Page | 306 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He never knew how long he was in the creature’s 
+clutches; he only knew that the darkness suddenly 
+lifted enough for him to see that the leaf-strewn 
+ground was now swarming with spiders. Craning his 
+neck sideways, he realized that they had reached the 
+ridge of a vast hollow, a hollow that had been cleared 
+of trees, so that the stars shone brightly onto the 
+worst scene he had ever laid eyes on. 
+
+Spiders. Not tiny spiders like those surging over the 
+leaves below. Spiders the size of carthorses, eight- 
+eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic. The massive 
+specimen that was carrying Harry made its way down 
+the steep slope toward a misty, domed web in the very 
+center of the hollow, while its fellows closed in all 
+around it, clicking their pincers excitedly at the sight 
+of its load. 
+
+Harry fell to the ground on all fours as the spider 
+released him. Ron and Fang thudded down next to 
+him. Fang wasn’t howling anymore, but cowering 
+silently on the spot. Ron looked exactly like Harry felt. 
+His mouth was stretched wide in a kind of silent 
+scream and his eyes were popping. 
+
+Harry suddenly realized that the spider that had 
+dropped him was saying something. It had been hard 
+to tell, because he clicked his pincers with every word 
+he spoke. 
+
+“Aragog!” it called. “Aragog!” 
+
+And from the middle of the misty, domed web, a 
+spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very 
+slowly. There was gray in the black of his body and 
+legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head 
+was milky white. He was blind. 
+
+“What is it?” he said, clicking his pincers rapidly. 
+
+Page | 307 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Men,” clicked the spider who had caught Harry. 
+
+
+
+“Is it Hagrid?” said Aragog, moving closer, his eight 
+milky eyes wandering vaguely. 
+
+“Strangers,” clicked the spider who had brought Ron. 
+“Kill them,” clicked Aragog fretfully. “I was sleeping. 
+
+
+
+“We’re friends of Hagrid ’s,” Harry shouted. His heart 
+seemed to have left his chest to pound in his throat. 
+
+Click, click, click went the pincers of the spiders all 
+around the hollow. 
+
+Aragog paused. 
+
+“Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before,” 
+he said slowly. 
+
+“Hagrid’s in trouble,” said Harry, breathing very fast. 
+“That’s why we’ve come.” 
+
+“In trouble?” said the aged spider, and Harry thought 
+he heard concern beneath the clicking pincers. “But 
+why has he sent you?” 
+
+Harry thought of getting to his feet but decided 
+against it; he didn’t think his legs would support him. 
+So he spoke from the ground, as calmly as he could. 
+
+“They think, up at the school, that Hagrid’s been 
+setting a — a — something on students. They’ve 
+taken him to Azkaban.” 
+
+Aragog clicked his pincers furiously, and all around 
+the hollow the sound was echoed by the crowd of 
+
+Page | 308 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+spiders; it was like applause, except applause didn’t 
+usually make Harry feel sick with fear. 
+
+“But that was years ago,” said Aragog fretfully. “Years 
+and years ago. I remember it well. That’s why they 
+made him leave the school. They believed that I was 
+the monster that dwells in what they call the 
+Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had 
+opened the Chamber and set me free.” 
+
+“And you ... you didn’t come from the Chamber of 
+Secrets?” said Harry, who could feel cold sweat on his 
+forehead. 
+
+“I!” said Aragog, clicking angrily. “I was not born in 
+the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave 
+me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a 
+boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the 
+castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is 
+my good friend, and a good man. When I was 
+discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he 
+protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever 
+since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me 
+a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, 
+all through Hagrid ’s goodness. ...” 
+
+Harry summoned what remained of his courage. 
+
+“So you never — never attacked anyone?” 
+
+“Never,” croaked the old spider. “It would have been 
+my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never 
+harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed 
+was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of 
+the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our 
+kind like the dark and the quiet. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 309 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But then . . . Do you know what did kill that girl?” 
+said Harry. “Because whatever it is, it’s back and 
+attacking people again — ” 
+
+His words were drowned by a loud outbreak of 
+clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting 
+angrily; large black shapes shifted all around him. 
+
+“The thing that lives in the castle,” said Aragog, “is an 
+ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well 
+do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, 
+when I sensed the beast moving about the school.” 
+
+“What is it?” said Harry urgently. 
+
+More loud clicking, more rustling; the spiders seemed 
+to be closing in. 
+
+“We do not speak of it!” said Aragog fiercely. “We do 
+not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that 
+dread creature, though he asked me, many times.” 
+
+Harry didn’t want to press the subject, not with the 
+spiders pressing closer on all sides. Aragog seemed to 
+be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his 
+domed web, but his fellow spiders continued to inch 
+slowly toward Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Well just go, then,” Harry called desperately to 
+Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him. 
+
+“Go?” said Aragog slowly. “I think not. ...” 
+
+“But — but — ” 
+
+“My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my 
+command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when 
+it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, 
+friend of Hagrid.” 
+
+Page | 310 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry spun around. Feet away, towering above him, 
+was a solid wall of spiders, clicking, their many eyes 
+gleaming in their ugly black heads. 
+
+Even as he reached for his wand, Harry knew it was 
+no good, there were too many of them, but as he tried 
+to stand, ready to die fighting, a loud, long note 
+sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the 
+hollow. 
+
+Mr. Weasley’s car was thundering down the slope, 
+headlights glaring, its horn screeching, knocking 
+spiders aside; several were thrown onto their backs, 
+their endless legs waving in the air. The car screeched 
+to a halt in front of Harry and Ron and the doors flew 
+open. 
+
+“Get Fang!” Harry yelled, diving into the front seat; 
+
+Ron seized the boarhound around the middle and 
+threw him, yelping, into the back of the car — the 
+doors slammed shut — Ron didn’t touch the 
+accelerator but the car didn’t need him; the engine 
+roared and they were off, hitting more spiders. They 
+sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were 
+soon crashing through the forest, branches whipping 
+the windows as the car wound its way cleverly 
+through the widest gaps, following a path it obviously 
+knew. 
+
+Harry looked sideways at Ron. His mouth was still 
+open in the silent scream, but his eyes weren’t 
+popping anymore. 
+
+“Are you okay?” 
+
+Ron stared straight ahead, unable to speak. 
+
+They smashed their way through the undergrowth, 
+Fang howling loudly in the back seat, and Harry saw 
+
+Page | 311 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the side mirror snap off as they squeezed past a large 
+oak. After ten noisy, rocky minutes, the trees thinned, 
+and Harry could again see patches of sky. 
+
+The car stopped so suddenly that they were nearly 
+thrown into the windshield. They had reached the 
+edge of the forest. Fang flung himself at the window in 
+his anxiety to get out, and when Harry opened the 
+door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid’s house, 
+tail between his legs. Harry got out too, and after a 
+minute or so, Ron seemed to regain the feeling in his 
+limbs and followed, still stiff-necked and staring. 
+
+Harry gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed back 
+into the forest and disappeared from view. 
+
+Harry went back into Hagrid’s cabin to get the 
+Invisibility Cloak. Fang was trembling under a 
+blanket in his basket. When Harry got outside again, 
+he found Ron being violently sick in the pumpkin 
+patch. 
+
+“Follow the spiders,” said Ron weakly, wiping his 
+mouth on his sleeve. “I’ll never forgive Hagrid. We’re 
+lucky to be alive.” 
+
+“I bet he thought Aragog wouldn’t hurt friends of his,” 
+said Harry. 
+
+“That’s exactly Hagrid’s problem!” said Ron, thumping 
+the wall of the cabin. “He always thinks monsters 
+aren’t as bad as they’re made out, and look where it’s 
+got him! A cell in Azkaban!” He was shivering 
+uncontrollably now. “What was the point of sending 
+us in there? What have we found out, I’d like to 
+know?” 
+
+“That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets,” 
+said Harry, throwing the cloak over Ron and prodding 
+him in the arm to make him walk. “He was innocent.” 
+
+Page | 312 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron gave a loud snort. Evidently, hatching Aragog in 
+a cupboard wasn’t his idea of being innocent. 
+
+As the castle loomed nearer Harry twitched the cloak 
+to make sure their feet were hidden, then pushed the 
+creaking front doors ajar. They walked carefully back 
+across the entrance hall and up the marble staircase, 
+holding their breath as they passed corridors where 
+watchful sentries were walking. At last they reached 
+the safety of the Gryffindor common room, where the 
+fire had burned itself into glowing ash. They took off 
+the cloak and climbed the winding stair to their 
+dormitory. 
+
+Ron fell onto his bed without bothering to get 
+undressed. Harry, however, didn’t feel very sleepy. He 
+sat on the edge of his fourposter, thinking hard about 
+everything Aragog had said. 
+
+The creature that was lurking somewhere in the 
+castle, he thought, sounded like a sort of monster 
+Voldemort — even other monsters didn’t want to 
+name it. But he and Ron were no closer to finding out 
+what it was, or how it Petrified its victims. Even 
+Hagrid had never known what was in the Chamber of 
+Secrets. 
+
+Harry swung his legs up onto his bed and leaned 
+back against his pillows, watching the moon glinting 
+at him through the tower window. 
+
+He couldn’t see what else they could do. They had hit 
+dead ends everywhere. Riddle had caught the wrong 
+person, the Heir of Slytherin had got off, and no one 
+could tell whether it was the same person, or a 
+different one, who had opened the Chamber this time. 
+There was nobody else to ask. Harry lay down, still 
+thinking about what Aragog had said. 
+
+
+
+Page | 313 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He was becoming drowsy when what seemed like 
+their very last hope occurred to him, and he suddenly 
+sat bolt upright. 
+
+“Ron,” he hissed through the dark, “Ron — ” 
+
+Ron woke with a yelp like Fang’s, stared wildly 
+around, and saw Harry. 
+
+“Ron — that girl who died. Aragog said she was found 
+in a bathroom,” said Harry, ignoring Neville’s 
+snuffling snores from the corner. “What if she never 
+left the bathroom? What if she’s still there?” 
+
+Ron rubbed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. 
+And then he understood, too. 
+
+“You don’t think — not Moaning Myrtle ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 314 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS 
+
+All those times we were in that bathroom, and she 
+was just three toilets away,” said Ron bitterly at 
+breakfast next day, “and we could’ve asked her, and 
+now ...” 
+
+It had been hard enough trying to look for spiders. 
+Escaping their teachers long enough to sneak into a 
+girls’ bathroom, the girls’ bathroom, moreover, right 
+next to the scene of the first attack, was going to be 
+almost impossible. 
+
+But something happened in their first lesson, 
+Transfiguration, that drove the Chamber of Secrets 
+out of their minds for the first time in weeks. Ten 
+minutes into the class, Professor McGonagall told 
+them that their exams would start on the first of 
+June, one week from today. 
+
+“Exams?” howled Seamus Finnigan. “We’re still 
+getting exams?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 315 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+There was a loud bang behind Harry as Neville 
+Longbottom’s wand slipped, vanishing one of the legs 
+on his desk. Professor McGonagall restored it with a 
+wave of her own wand, and turned, frowning, to 
+Seamus. 
+
+“The whole point of keeping the school open at this 
+time is for you to receive your education,” she said 
+sternly. “The exams will therefore take place as usual, 
+and I trust you are all studying hard.” 
+
+Studying hard! It had never occurred to Harry that 
+there would be exams with the castle in this state. 
+There was a great deal of mutinous muttering around 
+the room, which made Professor McGonagall scowl 
+even more darkly. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore’s instructions were to keep the 
+school running as normally as possible,” she said. 
+“And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out 
+how much you have learned this year.” 
+
+Harry looked down at the pair of white rabbits he was 
+supposed to be turning into slippers. What had he 
+learned so far this year? He couldn’t seem to think of 
+anything that would be useful in an exam. 
+
+Ron looked as though he’d just been told he had to go 
+and live in the Forbidden Forest. 
+
+“Can you imagine me taking exams with this?” he 
+asked Harry, holding up his wand, which had just 
+started whistling loudly. 
+
+Three days before their first exam, Professor 
+McGonagall made another announcement at 
+breakfast. 
+
+
+
+Page | 316 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I have good news,” she said, and the Great Hall, 
+instead of falling silent, erupted. 
+
+“Dumbledore’s coming back!” several people yelled 
+joyfully. 
+
+“You’ve caught the Heir of Slytherin!” squealed a girl 
+at the Ravenclaw table. 
+
+“Quidditch matches are back on!” roared Wood 
+excitedly. 
+
+When the hubbub had subsided, Professor 
+McGonagall said, “Professor Sprout has informed me 
+that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. 
+Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who 
+have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that 
+one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, 
+attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year 
+will end with our catching the culprit.” 
+
+There was an explosion of cheering. Harry looked over 
+at the Slytherin table and wasn’t at all surprised to 
+see that Draco Malfoy hadn’t joined in. Ron, however, 
+was looking happier than he’d looked in days. 
+
+“It won’t matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!” he 
+said to Harry. “Hermione’ll probably have all the 
+answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she’ll go 
+crazy when she finds out we’ve got exams in three 
+days’ time. She hasn’t studied. It might be kinder to 
+leave her where she is till they’re over.” 
+
+Just then, Ginny Weasley came over and sat down 
+next to Ron. She looked tense and nervous, and Harry 
+noticed that her hands were twisting in her lap. 
+
+“What’s up?” said Ron, helping himself to more 
+porridge. 
+
+Page | 317 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ginny didn’t say anything, but glanced up and down 
+the Gryffindor table with a scared look on her face 
+that reminded Harry of someone, though he couldn’t 
+think who. 
+
+“Spit it out,” said Ron, watching her. 
+
+Harry suddenly realized who Ginny looked like. She 
+was rocking backward and forward slightly in her 
+chair, exactly like Dobby did when he was teetering 
+on the edge of revealing forbidden information. 
+
+“I’ve got to tell you something,” Ginny mumbled, 
+carefully not looking at Harry. 
+
+“What is it?” said Harry. 
+
+Ginny looked as though she couldn’t find the right 
+words. 
+
+“What?” said Ron. 
+
+Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out. 
+Harry leaned forward and spoke quietly, so that only 
+Ginny and Ron could hear him. 
+
+“Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have 
+you seen something? Someone acting oddly?” 
+
+Ginny drew a deep breath and, at that precise 
+moment, Percy Weasley appeared, looking tired and 
+wan. 
+
+“If you’ve finished eating, I’ll take that seat, Ginny. I’m 
+starving, I’ve only just come off patrol duty.” 
+
+Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been 
+electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and 
+
+
+
+Page | 318 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+scampered away. Percy sat down and grabbed a mug 
+from the center of the table. 
+
+
+
+“Percy!” said Ron angrily. “She was just about to tell 
+us something important!” 
+
+Halfway through a gulp of tea, Percy choked. 
+
+“What sort of thing?” he said, coughing. 
+
+“I just asked her if she’d seen anything odd, and she 
+started to say — ” 
+
+“Oh — that — that’s nothing to do with the Chamber 
+of Secrets,” said Percy at once. 
+
+“How do you know?” said Ron, his eyebrows raised. 
+
+“Well, er, if you must know, Ginny, er, walked in on 
+me the other day when I was — well, never mind — 
+the point is, she spotted me doing something and I, 
+um, I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must 
+say, I did think she’d keep her word. It’s nothing, 
+really, I’d just rather — ” 
+
+Harry had never seen Percy look so uncomfortable. 
+
+“What were you doing, Percy?” said Ron, grinning. 
+
+“Go on, tell us, we won’t laugh.” 
+
+Percy didn’t smile back. 
+
+“Pass me those rolls, Harry, I’m starving.” 
+
+Harry knew the whole mystery might be solved 
+tomorrow without their help, but he wasn’t about to 
+pass up a chance to speak to Myrtle if it turned up — 
+and to his delight it did, midmorning, when they were 
+being led to History of Magic by Gilderoy Lockhart. 
+
+Page | 319 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lockhart, who had so often assured them that all 
+danger had passed, only to be proved wrong right 
+away, was now wholeheartedly convinced that it was 
+hardly worth the trouble to see them safely down the 
+corridors. His hair wasn’t as sleek as usual; it seemed 
+he had been up most of the night, patrolling the 
+fourth floor. 
+
+“Mark my words,” he said, ushering them around a 
+corner. “The first words out of those poor Petrified 
+people’s mouths will be ‘It was Hagrid.’ Frankly, I’m 
+astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these 
+security measures are necessary.” 
+
+“I agree, sir,” said Harry, making Ron drop his books 
+in surprise. 
+
+“Thank you, Harry,” said Lockhart graciously while 
+they waited for a long line of Hufflepuffs to pass. “I 
+mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on 
+with, without walking students to classes and 
+standing guard all night. ...” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Ron, catching on. “Why don’t you 
+leave us here, sir, we’ve only got one more corridor to 
+go-” 
+
+
+
+“You know, Weasley, I think I will,” said Lockhart. “I 
+really should go and prepare my next class — ” 
+
+And he hurried off. 
+
+“Prepare his class,” Ron sneered after him. “Gone to 
+curl his hair, more like.” 
+
+They let the rest of the Gryffindors draw ahead of 
+them, then darted down a side passage and hurried 
+off toward Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. But just as 
+
+
+
+Page | 320 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+they were congratulating each other on their brilliant 
+scheme — 
+
+“Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?” 
+
+It was Professor McGonagall, and her mouth was the 
+thinnest of thin lines. 
+
+“We were — we were — ” Ron stammered. “We were 
+going to — to go and see — ” 
+
+“Hermione,” said Harry. Ron and Professor 
+McGonagall both looked at him. 
+
+“We haven’t seen her for ages, Professor,” Harry went 
+on hurriedly, treading on Ron’s foot, “and we thought 
+we’d sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell 
+her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to 
+worry — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall was still staring at him, and for 
+a moment, Harry thought she was going to explode, 
+but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky 
+voice. 
+
+“Of course,” she said, and Harry, amazed, saw a tear 
+glistening in her beady eye. “Of course, I realize this 
+has all been hardest on the friends of those who have 
+been ... I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you 
+may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns 
+where you’ve gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given 
+my permission.” 
+
+Harry and Ron walked away, hardly daring to believe 
+that they’d avoided detention. As they turned the 
+corner, they distinctly heard Professor McGonagall 
+blow her nose. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That,” said Ron fervently, “was the best story you’ve 
+ever come up with.” 
+
+They had no choice now but to go to the hospital wing 
+and tell Madam Pomfrey that they had Professor 
+McGonagall’s permission to visit Hermione. 
+
+Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly. 
+
+“There’s just no point talking to a Petrified person,” 
+she said, and they had to admit she had a point when 
+they’d taken their seats next to Hermione. It was 
+plain that Hermione didn’t have the faintest inkling 
+that she had visitors, and that they might just as well 
+tell her bedside cabinet not to worry for all the good it 
+would do. 
+
+“Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?” said 
+Ron, looking sadly at Hermione ’s rigid face. “Because 
+if he sneaked up on them all, no one’ll ever know. ...” 
+
+But Harry wasn’t looking at Hermione’s face. He was 
+more interested in her right hand. It lay clenched on 
+top of her blankets, and bending closer, he saw that a 
+piece of paper was scrunched inside her fist. 
+
+Making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere near, 
+he pointed this out to Ron. 
+
+“Try and get it out,” Ron whispered, shifting his chair 
+so that he blocked Harry from Madam Pomfrey’s view. 
+
+It was no easy task. Hermione’s hand was clamped so 
+tightly around the paper that Harry was sure he was 
+going to tear it. While Ron kept watch he tugged and 
+twisted, and at last, after several tense minutes, the 
+paper came free. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+It was a page torn from a very old library book. Harry 
+smoothed it out eagerly and Ron leaned close to read 
+it, too. 
+
+
+
+Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam 
+our land, there is none more curious or more deadly 
+than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. 
+This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live 
+many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken’s egg, 
+hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are 
+most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and 
+venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, 
+and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall 
+suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, 
+for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only 
+from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it. 
+
+And beneath this, a single word had been written, in 
+a hand Harry recognized as Hermione’s. Pipes. 
+
+It was as though somebody had just flicked a light on 
+in his brain. 
+
+“Ron,” he breathed. “This is it. This is the answer. The 
+monster in the Chamber’s a basilisk — a giant 
+serpent! That’s why I’ve been hearing that voice all 
+over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It’s 
+because I understand Parseltongue. ...” 
+
+Harry looked up at the beds around him. 
+
+“The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no 
+one’s died — because no one looked it straight in the 
+eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk 
+burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got 
+Petrified. Justin ... Justin must’ve seen the basilisk 
+through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast 
+Page | 323 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of it, but he couldn’t die again ... and Hermione and 
+that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next 
+to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was 
+a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first 
+person she met to look around corners with a mirror 
+first! And that girl pulled out her mirror — and — ” 
+
+Ron’s jaw had dropped. 
+
+“And Mrs. Norris?” he whispered eagerly. 
+
+Harry thought hard, picturing the scene on the night 
+of Halloween. 
+
+“The water ...” he said slowly. “The flood from 
+Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. I bet you Mrs. Norris 
+only saw the reflection. ...” 
+
+He scanned the page in his hand eagerly. The more 
+he looked at it, the more it made sense. 
+
+"... The crowing of the rooster ... is fatal to if!” he read 
+aloud. “Hagrid’s roosters were killed! The Heir of 
+Slytherin didn’t want one anywhere near the castle 
+once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it\ 
+
+It all fits!” 
+
+“But how’s the basilisk been getting around the 
+place?” said Ron. “A giant snake ... Someone would’ve 
+seen ...” 
+
+Harry, however, pointed at the word Hermione had 
+scribbled at the foot of the page. 
+
+“Pipes,” he said. “Pipes ... Ron, it’s been using the 
+plumbing. I’ve been hearing that voice inside the 
+walls. ...” 
+
+Ron suddenly grabbed Harry’s arm. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!” he said 
+hoarsely. “What if it’s a bathroom? What if it’s in — ” 
+
+“ — Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom,” said Harry. 
+
+They sat there, excitement coursing through them, 
+hardly able to believe it. 
+
+“This means,” said Harry, “I can’t be the only 
+Parselmouth in the school. The Heir of Slytherin’s 
+one, too. That’s how he’s been controlling the 
+basilisk.” 
+
+“What’re we going to do?” said Ron, whose eyes were 
+flashing. “Should we go straight to McGonagall?” 
+
+“Let’s go to the staffroom,” said Harry, jumping up. 
+“She’ll be there in ten minutes. It’s nearly break.” 
+
+They ran downstairs. Not wanting to be discovered 
+hanging around in another corridor, they went 
+straight into the deserted staffroom. It was a large, 
+paneled room full of dark, wooden chairs. Harry and 
+Ron paced around it, too excited to sit down. 
+
+But the bell to signal break never came. 
+
+Instead, echoing through the corridors came Professor 
+McGonagall’s voice, magically magnified. 
+
+“All students to return to their House dormitories at 
+once. All teachers return to the staffroom. Immediately, 
+please.” 
+
+Harry wheeled around to stare at Ron. 
+
+“Not another attack? Not now?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’ll we do?” said Ron, aghast. “Go back to the 
+dormitory?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, glancing around. There was an ugly 
+sort of wardrobe to his left, full of the teachers’ 
+cloaks. “In here. Let’s hear what it’s all about. Then 
+we can tell them what we’ve found out.” 
+
+They hid themselves inside it, listening to the 
+rumbling of hundreds of people moving overhead, and 
+the staffroom door banging open. From between the 
+musty folds of the cloaks, they watched the teachers 
+filtering into the room. Some of them were looking 
+puzzled, others downright scared. Then Professor 
+McGonagall arrived. 
+
+“It has happened,” she told the silent staffroom. “A 
+student has been taken by the monster. Right into 
+the Chamber itself.” 
+
+Professor Flitwick let out a squeal. Professor Sprout 
+clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the 
+back of a chair very hard and said, “How can you be 
+sure?” 
+
+“The Heir of Slytherin,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+who was very white, “left another message. Right 
+underneath the first one. ‘Her skeleton will lie in the 
+Chamber forever.’ ” 
+
+Professor Flitwick burst into tears. 
+
+“Who is it?” said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak- 
+kneed, into a chair. “Which student?” 
+
+“Ginny Weasley,” said Professor McGonagall. 
+
+Harry felt Ron slide silently down onto the wardrobe 
+floor beside him. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We shall have to send all the students home 
+tomorrow,” said Professor McGonagall. “This is the 
+end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said ...” 
+
+The staffroom door banged open again. For one wild 
+moment, Harry was sure it would be Dumbledore. 
+
+But it was Lockhart, and he was beaming. 
+
+“So sorry — dozed off — what have I missed?” 
+
+He didn’t seem to notice that the other teachers were 
+looking at him with something remarkably like 
+hatred. Snape stepped forward. 
+
+“Just the man,” he said. “The very man. A girl has 
+been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into 
+the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come 
+at last.” 
+
+Lockhart blanched. 
+
+“That’s right, Gilderoy,” chipped in Professor Sprout. 
+“Weren’t you saying just last night that you’ve known 
+all along where the entrance to the Chamber of 
+Secrets is?” 
+
+“I — well, I — ” sputtered Lockhart. 
+
+“Yes, didn’t you tell me you were sure you knew what 
+was inside it?” piped up Professor Flitwick. 
+
+“D-did I? I don’t recall — ” 
+
+“I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you 
+hadn’t had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was 
+arrested,” said Snape. “Didn’t you say that the whole 
+affair had been bungled, and that you should have 
+been given a free rein from the first?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues. 
+
+
+
+“I — I really never — you may have misunderstood — ” 
+
+“Well leave it to you, then, Gilderoy,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “Tonight will be an excellent time to do 
+it. Well make sure everyone’s out of your way. You’ll 
+be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free 
+rein at last.” 
+
+Lockhart gazed desperately around him, but nobody 
+came to the rescue. He didn’t look remotely handsome 
+anymore. His lip was trembling, and in the absence of 
+his usually toothy grin, he looked weak-chinned and 
+feeble. 
+
+“V-very well,” he said. “I’ll — I’ll be in my office, 
+getting — getting ready.” 
+
+And he left the room. 
+
+“Right,” said Professor McGonagall, whose nostrils 
+were flared, “that’s got him out from under our feet. 
+The Heads of Houses should go and inform their 
+students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts 
+Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. 
+
+Will the rest of you please make sure no students 
+have been left outside their dormitories.” 
+
+The teachers rose and left, one by one. 
+
+
+
+It was probably the worst day of Harry’s entire life. 
+
+He, Ron, Fred, and George sat together in a corner of 
+the Gryffindor common room, unable to say anything 
+to each other. Percy wasn’t there. He had gone to 
+send an owl to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then shut 
+himself up in his dormitory. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+No afternoon ever lasted as long as that one, nor had 
+Gryffindor Tower ever been so crowded, yet so quiet. 
+Near sunset, Fred and George went up to bed, unable 
+to sit there any longer. 
+
+“She knew something, Harry,” said Ron, speaking for 
+the first time since they had entered the wardrobe in 
+the staffroom. “That’s why she was taken. It wasn’t 
+some stupid thing about Percy at all. She’d found out 
+something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must 
+be why she was — ” Ron rubbed his eyes frantically. “I 
+mean, she was a pureblood. There can’t be any other 
+reason.” 
+
+Harry could see the sun sinking, blood-red, below the 
+skyline. This was the worst he had ever felt. If only 
+there was something they could do. Anything. 
+
+“Harry,” said Ron. “D’you think there’s any chance at 
+all she’s not — you know — ” 
+
+Harry didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t see how 
+Ginny could still be alive. 
+
+“D’you know what?” said Ron. “I think we should go 
+and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He’s going 
+to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him 
+where we think it is, and tell him it’s a basilisk in 
+there.” 
+
+Because Harry couldn’t think of anything else to do, 
+and because he wanted to be doing something, he 
+agreed. The Gryffindors around them were so 
+miserable, and felt so sorry for the Weasleys, that 
+nobody tried to stop them as they got up, crossed the 
+room, and left through the portrait hole. 
+
+Darkness was falling as they walked down to 
+Lockhart’s office. There seemed to be a lot of activity 
+
+Page | 329 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+going on inside it. They could hear scraping, thumps, 
+and hurried footsteps. 
+
+Harry knocked and there was a sudden silence from 
+inside. Then the door opened the tiniest crack and 
+they saw one of Lockhart’s eyes peering through it. 
+
+“Oh — Mr. Potter — Mr. Weasley — ” he said, opening 
+the door a bit wider. “I’m rather busy at the moment 
+— if you would be quick — ” 
+
+“Professor, we’ve got some information for you,” said 
+Harry. “We think it’ll help you.” 
+
+“Er — well — it’s not terribly — ” The side of 
+Lockhart’s face that they could see looked very 
+uncomfortable. “I mean — well — all right — ” 
+
+He opened the door and they entered. 
+
+His office had been almost completely stripped. Two 
+large trunks stood open on the floor. Robes, jade- 
+green, lilac, midnight-blue, had been hastily folded 
+into one of them; books were jumbled untidily into 
+the other. The photographs that had covered the walls 
+were now crammed into boxes on the desk. 
+
+“Are you going somewhere?” said Harry. 
+
+“Er, well, yes,” said Lockhart, ripping a life-size poster 
+of himself from the back of the door as he spoke and 
+starting to roll it up. “Urgent call — unavoidable — 
+got to go — ” 
+
+“What about my sister?” said Ron jerkily. 
+
+“Well, as to that — most unfortunate — ” said 
+Lockhart, avoiding their eyes as he wrenched open a 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+drawer and started emptying the contents into a bag. 
+“No one regrets more than I — ” 
+
+“You’re the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!” 
+said Harry. “You can’t go now! Not with all the Dark 
+stuff going on here!” 
+
+“Well — I must say — when I took the job — ” 
+Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his 
+robes, “nothing in the job description — didn’t expect 
+
+
+
+“You mean you’re running away? said Harry 
+disbelievingly. “After all that stuff you did in your 
+books — ” 
+
+“Books can be misleading,” said Lockhart delicately. 
+
+“You wrote them!” Harry shouted. 
+
+“My dear boy,” said Lockhart, straightening up and 
+frowning at Harry. “Do use your common sense. My 
+books wouldn’t have sold half as well if people didn’t 
+think I’d done all those things. No one wants to read 
+about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did 
+save a village from werewolves. He’d look dreadful on 
+the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch 
+who banished the Bandon Banshee had a hairy chin. 
+
+I mean, come on — ” 
+
+“So you’ve just been taking credit for what a load of 
+other people have done?” said Harry incredulously. 
+
+“Harry, Harry,” said Lockhart, shaking his head 
+impatiently, “it’s not nearly as simple as that. There 
+was work involved. I had to track these people down. 
+Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they 
+did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so 
+they wouldn’t remember doing it. If there’s one thing I 
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+
+
+
+
+pride myself on, it’s my Memory Charms. No, it’s been 
+a lot of work, Harry. It’s not all book signings and 
+publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have 
+to be prepared for a long hard slog.” 
+
+He banged the lids of his trunks shut and locked 
+them. 
+
+“Let’s see,” he said. “I think that’s everything. Yes. 
+Only one thing left.” 
+
+He pulled out his wand and turned to them. 
+
+“Awfully sorry, boys, but I’ll have to put a Memory 
+Charm on you now. Can’t have you blabbing my 
+secrets all over the place. I’d never sell another book 
+
+
+
+Harry reached his wand just in time. Lockhart had 
+barely raised his, when Harry bellowed, 
+
+“ Expelliarmus\ ” 
+
+Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his 
+trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, 
+and flung it out of the open window. 
+
+“Shouldn’t have let Professor Snape teach us that 
+one,” said Harry furiously, kicking Lockhart’s trunk 
+aside. Lockhart was looking up at him, feeble once 
+more. Harry was still pointing his wand at him. 
+
+“What d’you want me to do?” said Lockhart weakly. “I 
+don’t know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There’s 
+nothing I can do.” 
+
+“You’re in luck,” said Harry, forcing Lockhart to his 
+feet at wandpoint. “We think we know where it is. 
+And what’s inside it. Let’s go.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+They marched Lockhart out of his office and down the 
+nearest stairs, along the dark corridor where the 
+messages shone on the wall, to the door of Moaning 
+Myrtle’s bathroom. 
+
+They sent Lockhart in first. Harry was pleased to see 
+that he was shaking. 
+
+Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end 
+toilet. 
+
+“Oh, it’s you,” she said when she saw Harry. “What do 
+you want this time?” 
+
+“To ask you how you died,” said Harry. 
+
+Myrtle’s whole aspect changed at once. She looked as 
+though she had never been asked such a flattering 
+question. 
+
+“Ooooh, it was dreadful,” she said with relish. “It 
+happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I 
+remember it so well. I’d hidden because Olive Hornby 
+was teasing me about my glasses. The door was 
+locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody 
+come in. They said something funny. A different 
+language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what 
+really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I 
+unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own 
+toilet, and then — ” Myrtle swelled importantly, her 
+face shining. “I died.” 
+
+“How?” said Harry. 
+
+“No idea,” said Myrtle in hushed tones. “I just 
+remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My 
+whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating 
+away. ...” She looked dreamily at Harry. “And then I 
+came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive 
+Page | 333 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she’d ever 
+laughed at my glasses.” 
+
+“Where exactly did you see the eyes?” said Harry. 
+
+“Somewhere there,” said Myrtle, pointing vaguely 
+toward the sink in front of her toilet. 
+
+Harry and Ron hurried over to it. Lockhart was 
+standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face. 
+
+It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every 
+inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. 
+And then Harry saw it: Scratched on the side of one of 
+the copper taps was a tiny snake. 
+
+“That tap’s never worked,” said Myrtle brightly as he 
+tried to turn it. 
+
+“Harry,” said Ron. “Say something. Something in 
+Parseltongue.” 
+
+“But — ” Harry thought hard. The only times he’d ever 
+managed to speak Parseltongue were when he’d been 
+faced with a real snake. He stared hard at the tiny 
+engraving, trying to imagine it was real. 
+
+“Open up,” he said. 
+
+He looked at Ron, who shook his head. 
+
+“English,” he said. 
+
+Harry looked back at the snake, willing himself to 
+believe it was alive. If he moved his head, the 
+candlelight made it look as though it were moving. 
+
+“Open up,” he said. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Except that the words weren’t what he heard; a 
+strange hissing had escaped him, and at once the tap 
+glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. 
+Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, 
+sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, 
+a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. 
+
+Harry heard Ron gasp and looked up again. He had 
+made up his mind what he was going to do. 
+
+“I’m going down there,” he said. 
+
+He couldn’t not go, not now they had found the 
+entrance to the Chamber, not if there was even the 
+faintest, slimmest, wildest chance that Ginny might 
+be alive. 
+
+“Me too,” said Ron. 
+
+There was a pause. 
+
+“Well, you hardly seem to need me,” said Lockhart, 
+with a shadow of his old smile. “I’ll just — ” 
+
+He put his hand on the door knob, but Ron and Harry 
+both pointed their wands at him. 
+
+“You can go first,” Ron snarled. 
+
+White-faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the 
+opening. 
+
+“Boys,” he said, his voice feeble. “Boys, what good will 
+it do?” 
+
+Harry jabbed him in the back with his wand. 
+
+Lockhart slid his legs into the pipe. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I really don’t think — ” he started to say, but Ron 
+gave him a push, and he slid out of sight. Harry 
+followed quickly. He lowered himself slowly into the 
+pipe, then let go. 
+
+It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark 
+slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all 
+directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted 
+and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew 
+that he was falling deeper below the school than even 
+the dungeons. Behind him he could hear Ron, 
+thudding slightly at the curves. 
+
+And then, just as he had begun to worry about what 
+would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe 
+leveled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet 
+thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone 
+tunnel large enough to stand in. Lockhart was getting 
+to his feet a little ways away, covered in slime and 
+white as a ghost. Harry stood aside as Ron came 
+whizzing out of the pipe, too. 
+
+“We must be miles under the school,” said Harry, his 
+voice echoing in the black tunnel. 
+
+“Under the lake, probably,” said Ron, squinting 
+around at the dark, slimy walls. 
+
+All three of them turned to stare into the darkness 
+ahead. 
+
+“Lumosl” Harry muttered to his wand and it lit again. 
+“C’mon,” he said to Ron and Lockhart, and off they 
+went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor. 
+
+The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a 
+little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls 
+looked monstrous in the wandlight. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Remember,” Harry said quietly as they walked 
+cautiously forward, “any sign of movement, close your 
+eyes right away. ...” 
+
+But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first 
+unexpected sound they heard was a loud crunch as 
+Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat’s skull. 
+Harry lowered his wand to look at the floor and saw 
+that it was littered with small animal bones. Trying 
+very hard not to imagine what Ginny might look like if 
+they found her, Harry led the way forward, around a 
+dark bend in the tunnel. 
+
+“Harry — there’s something up there — ” said Ron 
+hoarsely, grabbing Harry’s shoulder. 
+
+They froze, watching. Harry could just see the outline 
+of something huge and curved, lying right across the 
+tunnel. It wasn’t moving. 
+
+“Maybe it’s asleep,” he breathed, glancing back at the 
+other two. Lockhart’s hands were pressed over his 
+eyes. Harry turned back to look at the thing, his heart 
+beating so fast it hurt. 
+
+Very slowly, his eyes as narrow as he could make 
+them and still see, Harry edged forward, his wand 
+held high. 
+
+The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, 
+poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the 
+tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have 
+been twenty feet long at least. 
+
+“Blimey,” said Ron weakly. 
+
+There was a sudden movement behind them. Gilderoy 
+Lockhart’s knees had given way. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Get up,” said Ron sharply, pointing his wand at 
+Lockhart. 
+
+Lockhart got to his feet — then he dived at Ron, 
+knocking him to the ground. 
+
+Harry jumped forward, but too late — Lockhart was 
+straightening up, panting, Ron’s wand in his hand 
+and a gleaming smile back on his face. 
+
+“The adventure ends here, boys!” he said. “I shall take 
+a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I 
+was too late to save the girl, and that you two 
+tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled 
+body — say good-bye to your memories!” 
+
+He raised Ron’s Spellotaped wand high over his head 
+and yelled, “Obliviatel” 
+
+The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. 
+Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping 
+over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great 
+chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the 
+floor. Next moment, he was standing alone, gazing at 
+a solid wall of broken rock. 
+
+“Ron!” he shouted. “Are you okay? Ron!” 
+
+“I’m here!” came Ron’s muffled voice from behind the 
+rock-fall. “I’m okay — this git’s not, though — he got 
+blasted by the wand — ” 
+
+There was a dull thud and a loud “ow!” It sounded as 
+though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins. 
+
+“What now?” Ron’s voice said, sounding desperate. 
+“We can’t get through — it’ll take ages. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry looked up at the tunnel ceiling. Huge cracks 
+had appeared in it. He had never tried to break apart 
+anything as large as these rocks by magic, and now 
+didn’t seem a good moment to try — what if the whole 
+tunnel caved in? 
+
+There was another thud and another “ow!” from 
+behind the rocks. They were wasting time. Ginny had 
+already been in the Chamber of Secrets for hours. ... 
+Harry knew there was only one thing to do. 
+
+“Wait there,” he called to Ron. “Wait with Lockhart. I’ll 
+go on. ... If I’m not back in an hour ...” 
+
+There was a very pregnant pause. 
+
+“I’ll try and shift some of this rock,” said Ron, who 
+seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. “So you 
+can — can get back through. And, Harry — ” 
+
+“See you in a bit,” said Harry, trying to inject some 
+confidence into his shaking voice. 
+
+And he set off alone past the giant snake skin. 
+
+Soon the distant noise of Ron straining to shift the 
+rocks was gone. The tunnel turned and turned again. 
+Every nerve in Harry’s body was tingling 
+unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet 
+dreaded what he’d find when it did. And then, at last, 
+as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid 
+wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were 
+carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. 
+
+Harry approached, his throat very dry. There was no 
+need to pretend these stone snakes were real; their 
+eyes looked strangely alive. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his 
+throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker. 
+
+“Open,” said Harry, in a low, faint hiss. 
+
+The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the 
+halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking 
+from head to foot, walked inside. 
+
+
+
+Page | 340 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN 
+
+He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit 
+chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more 
+carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in 
+darkness, casting long, black shadows through the 
+odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. 
+
+His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to 
+the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking in a 
+shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was 
+Ginny? 
+
+He pulled out his wand and moved forward between 
+the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed 
+loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes 
+narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest 
+sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone 
+snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, 
+with a jolt of the stomach, he thought he saw one stir. 
+
+Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a 
+statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, 
+standing against the back wall. 
+
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+
+
+
+Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant 
+face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a 
+long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the 
+wizard’s sweeping stone robes, where two enormous 
+gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And 
+between the feet, facedown, lay a small, black-robed 
+figure with flaming-red hair. 
+
+“Ginnyl” Harry muttered, sprinting to her and 
+dropping to his knees. “Ginny — don’t be dead — 
+please don’t be dead — ” He flung his wand aside, 
+grabbed Ginny’s shoulders, and turned her over. Her 
+face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes 
+were closed, so she wasn’t Petrified. But then she 
+must be — 
+
+“Ginny, please wake up,” Harry muttered desperately, 
+shaking her. Ginny’s head lolled hopelessly from side 
+to side. 
+
+“She won’t wake,” said a soft voice. 
+
+Harry jumped and spun around on his knees. 
+
+A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the 
+nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred 
+around the edges, as though Harry were looking at 
+him through a misted window. But there was no 
+mistaking him — 
+
+“Tom — Tom Riddle?” 
+
+Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry’s face. 
+
+“What d’you mean, she won’t wake?” Harry said 
+desperately. “She’s not — she’s not — ?” 
+
+“She’s still alive,” said Riddle. “But only just.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at 
+Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird, 
+misty light shining about him, not a day older than 
+sixteen. 
+
+“Are you a ghost?” Harry said uncertainly. 
+
+“A memory,” said Riddle quietly. “Preserved in a diary 
+for fifty years.” 
+
+He pointed toward the floor near the statue’s giant 
+toes. Lying open there was the little black diary Harry 
+had found in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. For a 
+second, Harry wondered how it had got there — but 
+there were more pressing matters to deal with. 
+
+“You’ve got to help me, Tom,” Harry said, raising 
+Ginny’s head again. “We’ve got to get her out of here. 
+There’s a basilisk ... I don’t know where it is, but it 
+could be along any moment. ... Please, help me — ” 
+
+Riddle didn’t move. Harry, sweating, managed to hoist 
+Ginny half off the floor, and bent to pick up his wand 
+again. 
+
+But his wand had gone. 
+
+“Did you see — ?” 
+
+He looked up. Riddle was still watching him — 
+twirling Harry’s wand between his long fingers. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, stretching out his hand for it. 
+
+A smile curled the corners of Riddle’s mouth. He 
+continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wand idly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Listen,” said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with 
+Ginny’s dead weight. “We’ve got to go\ If the basilisk 
+comes — ” 
+
+“It won’t come until it is called,” said Riddle calmly. 
+
+Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to 
+hold her up any longer. 
+
+“What d’you mean?” he said. “Look, give me my wand, 
+I might need it — ” 
+
+Riddle’s smile broadened. 
+
+“You won’t be needing it,” he said. 
+
+Harry stared at him. 
+
+“What d’you mean, I won’t be — ?” 
+
+“I’ve waited a long time for this, Harry Potter,” said 
+Riddle. “For the chance to see you. To speak to you.” 
+
+“Look,” said Harry, losing patience, “I don’t think you 
+get it. We’re in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk 
+later — ” 
+
+“We’re going to talk now,” said Riddle, still smiling 
+broadly, and he pocketed Harry’s wand. 
+
+Harry stared at him. There was something very funny 
+going on here. ... 
+
+“How did Ginny get like this?” he asked slowly. 
+
+“Well, that’s an interesting question,” said Riddle 
+pleasantly. “And quite a long story. I suppose the real 
+reason Ginny Weasley’s like this is because she 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an 
+invisible stranger.” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” said Harry. 
+
+“The diary,” said Riddle. “My diary. Little Ginny’s been 
+writing in it for months and months, telling me all her 
+pitiful worries and woes — how her brothers tease 
+her, how she had to come to school with secondhand 
+robes and books, how” — Riddle’s eyes glinted — 
+
+“how she didn’t think famous, good, great Harry 
+Potter would ever like her. ...” 
+
+All the time he spoke, Riddle’s eyes never left Harry’s 
+face. There was an almost hungry look in them. 
+
+“It’s very boring, having to listen to the silly little 
+troubles of an eleven-year-old girl,” he went on. “But I 
+was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was 
+kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one’s ever 
+understood me like you, Tom. ... I’m so glad I’ve got 
+this diary to confide in. ... It’s like having a friend I can 
+carry around in my pocket. ...” 
+
+Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn’t suit 
+him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of 
+Harry’s neck. 
+
+“If I say it myself, Harry, I’ve always been able to 
+charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her 
+soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what 
+I wanted. ... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of 
+her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew 
+powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. 
+Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few 
+of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back 
+into her ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry, whose mouth had 
+gone very dry. 
+
+“Haven’t you guessed yet, Harry Potter?” said Riddle 
+softly. “Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of 
+Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and 
+daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set 
+the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the 
+Squib’s cat.” 
+
+“No,” Harry whispered. 
+
+“Yes,” said Riddle, calmly. “Of course, she didn’t know 
+what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I 
+wish you could have seen her new diary entries . . . far 
+more interesting, they became. ... Dear Tom,” he 
+recited, watching Harry’s horrified face, “7 think I’m 
+losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over 
+my robes and I don’t know how they got there. Dear 
+Tom, I can’t remember what I did on the night of 
+Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I’ve got paint 
+all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me 
+I’m pale and I’m not myself. I think he suspects me. . . . 
+There was another attack today and I don’t know 
+where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I’m 
+going mad. ... I think I’m the one attacking everyone, 
+Tom\” 
+
+Harry’s fists were clenched, the nails digging deep 
+into his palms. 
+
+“It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop 
+trusting her diary,” said Riddle. “But she finally 
+became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And 
+that’s where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I 
+couldn’t have been more delighted. Of all the people 
+who could have picked it up, it was you, the very 
+person I was most anxious to meet. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And why did you want to meet me?” said Harry. 
+
+Anger was coursing through him, and it was an effort 
+to keep his voice steady. 
+
+“Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry,” 
+said Riddle. “Your whole fascinating history.” His eyes 
+roved over the lightning scar on Harry’s forehead, and 
+their expression grew hungrier. “I knew I must find 
+out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. 
+So I decided to show you my famous capture of that 
+great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust — ” 
+
+“Hagrid’s my friend,” said Harry, his voice now 
+shaking. “And you framed him, didn’t you? I thought 
+you made a mistake, but — ” 
+
+Riddle laughed his high laugh again. 
+
+“It was my word against Hagrid’s, Harry. Well, you 
+can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On 
+the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, 
+parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student 
+... on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in 
+trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf 
+cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden 
+Forest to wrestle trolls ... but I admit, even / was 
+surprised how well the plan worked. I thought 
+someone must realize that Hagrid couldn’t possibly be 
+the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years 
+to find out everything I could about the Chamber of 
+Secrets and discover the secret entrance ... as though 
+Hagrid had the brains, or the power! 
+
+“Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, 
+seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded 
+Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. 
+Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed. ... 
+Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the 
+other teachers did. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I bet Dumbledore saw right through you,” said 
+Harry, his teeth gritted. 
+
+“Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on 
+me after Hagrid was expelled,” said Riddle carelessly. 
+“I knew it wouldn’t be safe to open the Chamber again 
+while I was still at school. But I wasn’t going to waste 
+those long years I’d spent searching for it. I decided to 
+leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old 
+self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would 
+be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish 
+Salazar Slytherin’s noble work.” 
+
+“Well, you haven’t finished it,” said Harry 
+triumphantly. “No one’s died this time, not even the 
+cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be 
+ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right 
+again — ” 
+
+“Haven’t I already told you,” said Riddle quietly, “that 
+killing Mudbloods doesn’t matter to me anymore? For 
+many months now, my new target has been — you.” 
+
+Harry stared at him. 
+
+“Imagine how angry I was when the next time my 
+diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to 
+me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and 
+panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I 
+repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I 
+told you who’d been strangling roosters? So the 
+foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was 
+deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must 
+do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of 
+Slytherin’s heir. From everything Ginny had told me 
+about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to 
+solve the mystery — particularly if one of your best 
+friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+whole school was buzzing because you could speak 
+Parseltongue. ... 
+
+“So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall 
+and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried 
+and became very boring. But there isn’t much life left 
+in her. ... She put too much into the diary, into me. 
+Enough to let me leave its pages at last. ... I have 
+been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I 
+knew you’d come. I have many questions for you, 
+Harry Potter.” 
+
+“Like what?” Harry spat, fists still clenched. 
+
+“Well,” said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, “how is it that 
+you — a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical 
+talent — managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all 
+time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, 
+while Lord Voldemort’s powers were destroyed?” 
+
+There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now. 
+
+“Why do you care how I escaped?” said Harry slowly. 
+“Voldemort was after your time. ...” 
+
+“Voldemort,” said Riddle softly, “is my past, present, 
+and future, Harry Potter. ...” 
+
+He pulled Harry’s wand from his pocket and began to 
+trace it through the air, writing three shimmering 
+words: 
+
+tom marvolo riddle 
+
+Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his 
+name rearranged themselves: 
+
+i am lord voldemort 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You see?” he whispered. “It was a name I was already 
+using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, 
+of course. You think I was going to use my filthy 
+Muggle father’s name forever? I, in whose veins runs 
+the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my 
+mother’s side? I, keep the name of a foul, common 
+Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, 
+just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, 
+Harry — I fashioned myself a new name, a name I 
+knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to 
+speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the 
+world!” 
+
+Harry’s brain seemed to have jammed. He stared 
+numbly at Riddle, at the orphaned boy who had 
+grown up to murder Harry’s own parents, and so 
+many others. ... At last he forced himself to speak. 
+
+“You’re not,” he said, his quiet voice full of hatred. 
+
+“Not what?” snapped Riddle. 
+
+���Not the greatest sorcerer in the world,” said Harry, 
+breathing fast. “Sorry to disappoint you and all that, 
+but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus 
+Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were 
+strong, you didn’t dare try and take over at Hogwarts. 
+Dumbledore saw through you when you were at 
+school and he still frightens you now, wherever you’re 
+hiding these days — ” 
+
+The smile had gone from Riddle’s face, to be replaced 
+by a very ugly look. 
+
+“Dumbledore ’s been driven out of this castle by the 
+mere memory of me!” he hissed. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He’s not as gone as you might think!” Harry retorted. 
+He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, 
+wishing rather than believing it to be true — 
+
+Riddle opened his mouth, but froze. 
+
+Music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled 
+around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music 
+was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, 
+unearthly; it lifted the hair on Harry’s scalp and made 
+his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its 
+normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch 
+that Harry felt it vibrating inside his own ribs, flames 
+erupted at the top of the nearest pillar. 
+
+A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, 
+piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a 
+glittering golden tail as long as a peacock’s and 
+gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged 
+bundle. 
+
+A second later, the bird was flying straight at Harry. It 
+dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet, 
+then landed heavily on his shoulder. As it folded its 
+great wings, Harry looked up and saw it had a long, 
+sharp golden beak and a beady black eye. 
+
+The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to 
+Harry’s cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle. 
+
+“That’s a phoenix. ...” said Riddle, staring shrewdly 
+back at it. 
+
+“Fawkes?” Harry breathed, and he felt the bird’s 
+golden claws squeeze his shoulder gently. 
+
+“And that — ” said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing 
+that Fawkes had dropped, “that’s the old school 
+Sorting Hat — ” 
+
+Page | 351 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay 
+motionless at Harry’s feet. 
+
+Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that 
+the dark Chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddles 
+were laughing at once — 
+
+“This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A 
+songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry 
+Potter? Do you feel safe now?” 
+
+Harry didn’t answer. He might not see what use 
+Fawkes or the Sorting Hat were, but he was no longer 
+alone, and he waited for Riddle to stop laughing with 
+his courage mounting. 
+
+“To business, Harry,” said Riddle, still smiling 
+broadly. “Twice — in your past, in my future — we 
+have met. And twice I failed to kill you. How did you 
+survive ? Tell me everything. The longer you talk,” he 
+added softly, “the longer you stay alive.” 
+
+Harry was thinking fast, weighing his chances. Riddle 
+had the wand. He, Harry, had Fawkes and the Sorting 
+Hat, neither of which would be much good in a duel. 
+
+It looked bad, all right . . . but the longer Riddle stood 
+there, the more life was dwindling out of Ginny ... and 
+in the meantime, Harry noticed suddenly, Riddle’s 
+outline was becoming clearer, more solid. ... If it had 
+to be a fight between him and Riddle, better sooner 
+than later. 
+
+“No one knows why you lost your powers when you 
+attacked me,” said Harry abruptly. “I don’t know 
+myself. But I know why you couldn’t kill me. Because 
+my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born 
+mother,” he added, shaking with suppressed rage. 
+“She stopped you killing me. And I’ve seen the real 
+you, I saw you last year. You’re a wreck. You’re barely 
+Page | 352 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+alive. That’s where all your power got you. You’re in 
+hiding. You’re ugly, you’re foul — ” 
+
+Riddle’s face contorted. Then he forced it into an 
+awful smile. 
+
+“So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that’s a 
+powerful counter-charm. I can see now ... there is 
+nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you 
+see. There are strange likenesses between us, after 
+all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, 
+orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two 
+Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great 
+Slytherin himself. We even look something alike ... 
+but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved 
+you from me. That’s all I wanted to know.” 
+
+Harry stood, tense, waiting for Riddle to raise his 
+wand. But Riddle’s twisted smile was widening again. 
+
+“Now, Harry, I’m going to teach you a little lesson. 
+Let’s match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of 
+Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and 
+the best weapons Dumbledore can give him. ...” 
+
+He cast an amused eye over Fawkes and the Sorting 
+Hat, then walked away. Harry, fear spreading up his 
+numb legs, watched Riddle stop between the high 
+pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, 
+high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened 
+his mouth wide and hissed — but Harry understood 
+what he was saying. . . . 
+
+“ Speak to me, Slytherin , greatest of the Hogwarts 
+Four.” 
+
+Harry wheeled around to look up at the statue, 
+Fawkes swaying on his shoulder. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Slytherin’s gigantic stone face was moving. 
+Horrorstruck, Harry saw his mouth opening, wider 
+and wider, to make a huge black hole. 
+
+And something was stirring inside the statue’s mouth. 
+Something was slithering up from its depths. 
+
+Harry backed away until he hit the dark Chamber 
+wall, and as he shut his eyes tight he felt Fawkes’ 
+wing sweep his cheek as he took flight. Harry wanted 
+to shout, “Don’t leave me!” but what chance did a 
+phoenix have against the king of serpents? 
+
+Something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. 
+Harry felt it shudder — he knew what was happening, 
+he could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent 
+uncoiling itself from Slytherin’s mouth. Then he heard 
+Riddle’s hissing voice: 
+
+“Kill him.” 
+
+The basilisk was moving toward Harry; he could hear 
+its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty 
+floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry began to run 
+blindly sideways, his hands outstretched, feeling his 
+way — Voldemort was laughing — 
+
+Harry tripped. He fell hard onto the stone and tasted 
+blood — the serpent was barely feet from him, he 
+could hear it coming — 
+
+There was a loud, explosive spitting sound right above 
+him, and then something heavy hit Harry so hard 
+that he was smashed into the wall. Waiting for fangs 
+to sink through his body he heard more mad hissing, 
+something thrashing wildly off the pillars — 
+
+He couldn’t help it — he opened his eyes wide enough 
+to squint at what was going on. 
+
+Page | 354 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick 
+as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and 
+its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between 
+the pillars. As Harry trembled, ready to close his eyes 
+if it turned, he saw what had distracted the snake. 
+
+Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk 
+was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and 
+thin as sabers — 
+
+Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight 
+and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the 
+floor. The snake’s tail thrashed, narrowly missing 
+Harry, and before Harry could shut his eyes, it turned 
+
+— Harry looked straight into its face and saw that its 
+eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been 
+punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the 
+floor, and the snake was spitting in agony. 
+
+“NO!” Harry heard Riddle screaming. “LEAVE THE 
+BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! 
+YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM! KILL HIM!” 
+
+The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. 
+Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, 
+jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood 
+poured from its ruined eyes. 
+
+“Help me, help me,” Harry muttered wildly, “someone 
+
+— anyone — ” 
+
+The snake’s tail whipped across the floor again. Harry 
+ducked. Something soft hit his face. 
+
+The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Harry’s 
+arms. Harry seized it. It was all he had left, his only 
+chance — he rammed it onto his head and threw 
+himself flat onto the floor as the basilisk’s tail swung 
+over him again. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Help me — help me — Harry thought, his eyes 
+screwed tight under the hat. Please help me — 
+
+There was no answering voice. Instead, the hat 
+contracted, as though an invisible hand was 
+squeezing it very tightly. 
+
+Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top 
+of Harry’s head, almost knocking him out. Stars 
+winking in front of his eyes, he grabbed the top of the 
+hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard 
+beneath it. 
+
+A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, 
+its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs. 
+
+“KILL THE BOY! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS 
+BEHIND YOU! SNIFF — SMELL HIM!” 
+
+Harry was on his feet, ready. The basilisk’s head was 
+falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it 
+twisted to face him. He could see the vast, bloody eye 
+sockets, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough 
+to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his 
+sword, thin, glittering, venomous — 
+
+It lunged blindly — Harry dodged and it hit the 
+Chamber wall. It lunged again, and its forked tongue 
+lashed Harry’s side. He raised the sword in both his 
+hands — 
+
+The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was 
+true — Harry threw his whole weight behind the 
+sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the 
+serpent’s mouth — 
+
+But as warm blood drenched Harry’s arms, he felt a 
+searing pain just above his elbow. One long, 
+poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into 
+
+Page | 356 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over 
+sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor. 
+
+Harry slid down the wall. He gripped the fang that 
+was spreading poison through his body and wrenched 
+it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White- 
+hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the 
+wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his 
+own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. 
+The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color. 
+
+A patch of scarlet swam past, and Harry heard a soft 
+clatter of claws beside him. 
+
+“Fawkes,” said Harry thickly. “You were fantastic, 
+Fawkes. ...” He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on 
+the spot where the serpent’s fang had pierced him. 
+
+He could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark 
+shadow moved in front of him. 
+
+“You’re dead, Harry Potter,” said Riddle’s voice above 
+him. “Dead. Even Dumbledore’s bird knows it. Do you 
+see what he’s doing, Potter? He’s crying.” 
+
+Harry blinked. Fawkes’s head slid in and out of focus. 
+Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy 
+feathers. 
+
+“I’m going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. 
+Take your time. I’m in no hurry.” 
+
+Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to 
+be spinning. 
+
+“So ends the famous Harry Potter,” said Riddle’s 
+distant voice. “Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, 
+forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark 
+Lord he so unwisely challenged. You’ll be back with 
+
+Page | 357 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry. ... She 
+bought you twelve years of borrowed time . . . but Lord 
+Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must. 
+
+
+
+If this is dying, thought Harry, it’s not so bad. 
+
+Even the pain was leaving him. ... 
+
+But was this dying? Instead of going black, the 
+Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry 
+gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, 
+still resting his head on Harry’s arm. A pearly patch 
+of tears was shining all around the wound — except 
+that there was no wound — 
+
+“Get away, bird,” said Riddle’s voice suddenly. “Get 
+away from him — I said, get away — ” 
+
+Harry raised his head. Riddle was pointing Harry’s 
+wand at Fawkes; there was a bang like a gun, and 
+Fawkes took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet. 
+
+“Phoenix tears ...” said Riddle quietly, staring at 
+Harry’s arm. “Of course ... healing powers ... I forgot 
+
+
+
+He looked into Harry’s face. “But it makes no 
+difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and 
+me, Harry Potter ... you and me. ...” 
+
+He raised the wand — 
+
+Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes had soared back 
+overhead and something fell into Harry’s lap — the 
+diary. 
+
+For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, wand still 
+raised, stared at it. Then, without thinking, without 
+
+Page | 358 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+considering, as though he had meant to do it all 
+along, Harry seized the basilisk fang on the floor next 
+to him and plunged it straight into the heart of the 
+book. 
+
+There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink 
+spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over 
+Harry’s hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing 
+and twisting, screaming and flailing and then — 
+
+He had gone. Harry’s wand fell to the floor with a 
+clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the 
+steady drip drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The 
+basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right 
+through it. 
+
+Shaking all over, Harry pulled himself up. His head 
+was spinning as though he’d just traveled miles by 
+Floo powder. Slowly, he gathered together his wand 
+and the Sorting Hat, and, with a huge tug, retrieved 
+the glittering sword from the roof of the basilisk’s 
+mouth. 
+
+Then came a faint moan from the end of the 
+Chamber. Ginny was stirring. As Harry hurried 
+toward her, she sat up. Her bemused eyes traveled 
+from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over Harry, 
+in his blood-soaked robes, then to the diary in his 
+hand. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears 
+began to pour down her face. 
+
+“Harry — oh, Harry — I tried to tell you at b- 
+breakfast, but I c -couldn’t say it in front of Percy — it 
+was me, Harry — but I — I s-swear I d-didn’t mean to 
+— R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over — and — 
+how did you kill that — that thing? W-where’s Riddle? 
+The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the 
+diary — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s all right,” said Harry, holding up the diary, and 
+showing Ginny the fang hole, “Riddle’s finished. Look! 
+Him and the basilisk. C’mon, Ginny, let’s get out of 
+here — ” 
+
+“I’m going to be expelled!” Ginny wept as Harry helped 
+her awkwardly to her feet. “I’ve looked forward to 
+coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now 
+I’ll have to leave and — w-what’ll Mum and Dad say?” 
+
+Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the 
+Chamber entrance. Harry urged Ginny forward; they 
+stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, 
+through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. 
+Harry heard the stone doors close behind them with a 
+soft hiss. 
+
+After a few minutes’ progress up the dark tunnel, a 
+distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Harry’s 
+ears. 
+
+“Ron!” Harry yelled, speeding up. “Ginny’s okay! I’ve 
+got her!” 
+
+He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned 
+the next bend to see his eager face staring through 
+the sizable gap he had managed to make in the 
+rockfall. 
+
+“Ginny\” Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the 
+rock to pull her through first. “You’re alive! I don’t 
+believe it! What happened? How — what — where did 
+that bird come from?” 
+
+Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Ginny. 
+
+“He’s Dumbledore’s,” said Harry, squeezing through 
+himself. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“How come you’ve got a sword?” said Ron, gaping at 
+the glittering weapon in Harry’s hand. 
+
+
+
+“I’ll explain when we get out of here,” said Harry with 
+a sideways glance at Ginny, who was crying harder 
+than ever. 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“Later,” Harry said shortly. He didn’t think it was a 
+good idea to tell Ron yet who’d been opening the 
+Chamber, not in front of Ginny, anyway. “Where’s 
+Lockhart?” 
+
+“Back there,” said Ron, still looking puzzled but 
+jerking his head up the tunnel toward the pipe. “He’s 
+in a bad way. Come and see.” 
+
+Led by Fawkes, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a 
+soft golden glow in the darkness, they walked all the 
+way back to the mouth of the pipe. Gilderoy Lockhart 
+was sitting there, humming placidly to himself. 
+
+“His memory’s gone,” said Ron. “The Memory Charm 
+backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn’t got a clue 
+who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to 
+come and wait here. He’s a danger to himself.” 
+
+Lockhart peered good-naturedly up at them all. 
+
+“Hello,” he said. “Odd sort of place, this, isn’t it? Do 
+you live here?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron, raising his eyebrows at Harry. 
+
+Harry bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe. 
+
+“Have you thought how we’re going to get back up 
+this?” he said to Ron. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron shook his head, but Fawkes the phoenix had 
+swooped past Harry and was now fluttering in front of 
+him, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving 
+his long golden tail feathers. Harry looked uncertainly 
+at him. 
+
+“He looks like he wants you to grab hold ...” said Ron, 
+looking perplexed. “But you’re much too heavy for a 
+bird to pull up there — ” 
+
+“Fawkes,” said Harry, “isn’t an ordinary bird.” He 
+turned quickly to the others. “We’ve got to hold on to 
+each other. Ginny, grab Ron’s hand. Professor 
+Lockhart — ” 
+
+“He means you,” said Ron sharply to Lockhart. 
+
+“You hold Ginny’s other hand — ” 
+
+Harry tucked the sword and the Sorting Hat into his 
+belt, Ron took hold of the back of Harry’s robes, and 
+Harry reached out and took hold of Fawkes’s 
+strangely hot tail feathers. 
+
+An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through 
+his whole body and the next second, in a rush of 
+wings, they were flying upward through the pipe. 
+Harry could hear Lockhart dangling below him, 
+saying, “Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!” 
+The chill air was whipping through Harry’s hair, and 
+before he’d stopped enjoying the ride, it was over — 
+all four of them were hitting the wet floor of Moaning 
+Myrtle’s bathroom, and as Lockhart straightened his 
+hat, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into 
+place. 
+
+Myrtle goggled at them. 
+
+“You’re alive,” she said blankly to Harry. 
+
+Page | 362 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“There’s no need to sound so disappointed,” he said 
+grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off his 
+glasses. 
+
+“Oh, well ... I’d just been thinking ... if you had died, 
+you’d have been welcome to share my toilet,” said 
+Myrtle, blushing silver. 
+
+“Urgh!” said Ron as they left the bathroom for the 
+dark, deserted corridor outside. “Harry! I think 
+Myrtle’s grown fond of you! You’ve got competition, 
+Ginny!” 
+
+But tears were still flooding silently down Ginny’s 
+face. 
+
+“Where now?” said Ron, with an anxious look at 
+Ginny. Harry pointed. 
+
+Fawkes was leading the way, glowing gold along the 
+corridor. They strode after him, and moments later, 
+found themselves outside Professor McGonagall’s 
+office. 
+
+Harry knocked and pushed the door open. 
+
+
+
+Page | 363 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+DOBBY’S REWARD 
+
+For a moment there was silence as Harry, Ron, 
+
+Ginny, and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in 
+muck and slime and (in Harry’s case) blood. Then 
+there was a scream. 
+
+“Ginny\” 
+
+It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in 
+front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed 
+by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on 
+their daughter. 
+
+Harry, however, was looking past them. Professor 
+Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, 
+beaming, next to Professor McGonagall, who was 
+taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. 
+Fawkes went whooshing past Harry’s ear and settled 
+on Dumbledore ’s shoulder, just as Harry found 
+himself and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasley’s tight 
+embrace. 
+
+“You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?” 
+
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+
+
+
+“I think we’d all like to know that,” said Professor 
+McGonagall weakly. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry, who hesitated for a 
+moment, then walked over to the desk and laid upon 
+it the Sorting Hat, the ruby-encrusted sword, and 
+what remained of Riddle’s diary. 
+
+Then he started telling them everything. For nearly a 
+quarter of an hour he spoke into the rapt silence: He 
+told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how 
+Hermione had finally realized that he was hearing a 
+basilisk in the pipes; how he and Ron had followed 
+the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them 
+where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how he 
+had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the 
+victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of 
+Secrets might be in her bathroom. ... 
+
+“Very well,” Professor McGonagall prompted him as 
+he paused, “so you found out where the entrance was 
+— breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along 
+the way, I might add — but how on earth did you all 
+get out of there alive, Potter?” 
+
+So Harry, his voice now growing hoarse from all this 
+talking, told them about Fawkes’s timely arrival and 
+about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. But then 
+he faltered. He had so far avoided mentioning Riddle’s 
+diary — or Ginny. She was standing with her head 
+against Mrs. Weasley ’s shoulder, and tears were still 
+coursing silently down her cheeks. What if they 
+expelled her? Harry thought in panic. Riddle’s diary 
+didn’t work anymore. ... How could they prove it had 
+been he who’d made her do it all? 
+
+Instinctively, Harry looked at Dumbledore, who 
+smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon 
+spectacles. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What interests me most,” said Dumbledore gently, “is 
+how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, 
+when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in 
+the forests of Albania.” 
+
+Relief — warm, sweeping, glorious relief — swept over 
+Harry. 
+
+“W-what’s that?” said Mr. Weasley in a stunned voice. 
+“You-Know-Who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny ’s not 
+... Ginny hasn’t been ... has she?” 
+
+“It was this diary,” said Harry quickly, picking it up 
+and showing it to Dumbledore. “Riddle wrote it when 
+he was sixteen. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered 
+keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and 
+soggy pages. 
+
+“Brilliant,” he said softly. “Of course, he was probably 
+the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen.” 
+
+He turned around to the Weasleys, who were looking 
+utterly bewildered. 
+
+“Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once 
+called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years 
+ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the 
+school . . . traveled far and wide . . . sank so deeply into 
+the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our 
+kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical 
+transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord 
+Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone 
+connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome 
+boy who was once Head Boy here.” 
+
+“But, Ginny,” said Mrs. Weasley. “What’s our Ginny 
+got to do with — with — him?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“His d-diary!” Ginny sobbed. “I’ve b-been writing in it, 
+and he’s been w- writing back all year — ” 
+
+“Ginnyl” said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. “Haven’t I 
+taught you anything ? What have I always told you? 
+Never trust anything that can think for itself if you 
+can’t see where it keeps its brain. Why didn’t you 
+show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious 
+object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic — ” 
+
+“I d-didn’t know,” sobbed Ginny. “I found it inside one 
+of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had 
+just left it in there and forgotten about it — ” 
+
+“Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right 
+away,” Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. “This 
+has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no 
+punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have 
+been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort.” He strode over 
+to the door and opened it. “Bed rest and perhaps a 
+large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find 
+that cheers me up,” he added, twinkling kindly down 
+at her. “You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still 
+awake. She’s just giving out Mandrake juice — I 
+daresay the basilisk’s victims will be waking up any 
+moment.” 
+
+“So Hermione’s okay!” said Ron brightly. 
+
+“There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny,” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley 
+followed, still looking deeply shaken. 
+
+“You know, Minerva,” Professor Dumbledore said 
+thoughtfully to Professor McGonagall, “I think all this 
+merits a good feast Might I ask you to go and alert 
+the kitchens?” 
+
+Page | 367 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Right,” said Professor McGonagall crisply, also 
+moving to the door. “Ill leave you to deal with Potter 
+and Weasley, shall I?” 
+
+“Certainly,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+She left, and Harry and Ron gazed uncertainly at 
+Dumbledore. What exactly had Professor McGonagall 
+meant, deal with them? Surely — surely — they 
+weren’t about to be punished? 
+
+“I seem to remember telling you both that I would 
+have to expel you if you broke any more school rules,” 
+said Dumbledore. 
+
+Ron opened his mouth in horror. 
+
+“Which goes to show that the best of us must 
+sometimes eat our words,” Dumbledore went on, 
+smiling. “You will both receive Special Awards for 
+Services to the School and — let me see — yes, I think 
+two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor.” 
+
+Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart’s valentine 
+flowers and closed his mouth again. 
+
+“But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet 
+about his part in this dangerous adventure,” 
+Dumbledore added. “Why so modest, Gilderoy?” 
+
+Harry gave a start. He had completely forgotten about 
+Lockhart. He turned and saw that Lockhart was 
+standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his 
+vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, 
+Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was 
+talking to. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Professor Dumbledore,” Ron said quickly, “there was 
+an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. 
+Professor Lockhart — ” 
+
+“Am I a professor?” said Lockhart in mild surprise. 
+“Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?” 
+
+“He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand 
+backfired,” Ron explained quietly to Dumbledore. 
+
+“Dear me,” said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his 
+long silver mustache quivering. “Impaled upon your 
+own sword, Gilderoy!” 
+
+“Sword?” said Lockhart dimly. “Haven’t got a sword. 
+That boy has, though.” He pointed at Harry. “He’ll 
+lend you one.” 
+
+“Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the 
+infirmary, too?” Dumbledore said to Ron. “I’d like a 
+few more words with Harry. ...” 
+
+Lockhart ambled out. Ron cast a curious look back at 
+Dumbledore and Harry as he closed the door. 
+
+Dumbledore crossed to one of the chairs by the fire. 
+
+“Sit down, Harry,” he said, and Harry sat, feeling 
+unaccountably nervous. 
+
+“First of all, Harry, I want to thank you,” said 
+Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again. “You must have 
+shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing 
+but that could have called Fawkes to you.” 
+
+He stroked the phoenix, which had fluttered down 
+onto his knee. Harry grinned awkwardly as 
+Dumbledore watched him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And so you met Tom Riddle,” said Dumbledore 
+thoughtfully. “I imagine he was most interested in 
+you. ...” 
+
+Suddenly, something that was nagging at Harry came 
+tumbling out of his mouth. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore ... Riddle said I’m like him. 
+Strange likenesses, he said. ...” 
+
+“ Did he, now?” said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully 
+at Harry from under his thick silver eyebrows. “And 
+what do you think, Harry?” 
+
+“I don’t think I’m like him!” said Harry, more loudly 
+than he’d intended. “I mean, I’m — I’m in Gryffindor, 
+I’m ...” 
+
+But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his 
+mind. 
+
+“Professor,” he started again after a moment. “The 
+Sorting Hat told me I’d — I’d have done well in 
+Slytherin. Everyone thought / was Slytherin’s heir for 
+a while ... because I can speak Parseltongue. ...” 
+
+“You can speak Parseltongue, Harry,” said 
+Dumbledore calmly, “because Lord Voldemort — who 
+is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin 
+— can speak Parseltongue. Unless I’m much 
+mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to 
+you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he 
+intended to do, I’m sure. ...” 
+
+“Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?” Harry said, 
+thunderstruck. 
+
+“It certainly seems so.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“So I should be in Slytherin,” Harry said, looking 
+desperately into Dumbledore ’s face. “The Sorting Hat 
+could see Slytherin ’s power in me, and it — ” 
+
+“Put you in Gryffindor,” said Dumbledore calmly. 
+“Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many 
+qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked 
+students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue — 
+resourcefulness — determination — a certain 
+disregard for rules,” he added, his mustache 
+quivering again. “Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in 
+Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think.” 
+
+“It only put me in Gryffindor,” said Harry in a 
+defeated voice, “because I asked not to go in 
+Slytherin. ...” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Dumbledore, beaming once more. 
+“Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It 
+is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far 
+more than our abilities.” Harry sat motionless in his 
+chair, stunned. “If you want proof, Harry, that you 
+belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely 
+at this.” 
+
+Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall’s 
+desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and 
+handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the 
+rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the 
+name engraved just below the hilt. 
+
+Godric Gryffindor. 
+
+“Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of 
+the hat, Harry,” said Dumbledore simply. 
+
+For a minute, neither of them spoke. Then 
+Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in 
+
+
+
+Page | 371 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Professor McGonagall’s desk and took out a quill and 
+a bottle of ink. 
+
+“What you need, Harry, is some food and sleep. I 
+suggest you go down to the feast, while I write to 
+Azkaban — we need our gamekeeper back. And I 
+must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, 
+too,” he added thoughtfully. “Well be needing a new 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. ... Dear me, 
+we do seem to run through them, don’t we?” 
+
+Harry got up and crossed to the door. He had just 
+reached for the handle, however, when the door burst 
+open so violently that it bounced back off the wall. 
+
+Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And 
+cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in 
+bandages, was Dobby. 
+
+“Good evening, Lucius,” said Dumbledore pleasantly. 
+
+Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Harry over as he swept 
+into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after him, 
+crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject 
+terror on his face. 
+
+The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was 
+attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoy ’s shoes. 
+Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, 
+for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his 
+usually sleek hair was disheveled. Ignoring the elf 
+bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his 
+cold eyes upon Dumbledore. 
+
+“So!” he said “You’ve come back. The governors 
+suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 372 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, you see, Lucius,” said Dumbledore, smiling 
+serenely, “the other eleven governors contacted me 
+today. It was something like being caught in a 
+hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They’d heard that 
+Arthur Weasley’s daughter had been killed and 
+wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I 
+was the best man for the job after all. Very strange 
+tales they told me, too. ... Several of them seemed to 
+think that you had threatened to curse their families 
+if they didn’t agree to suspend me in the first place.” 
+
+Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes 
+were still slits of fury. 
+
+“So — have you stopped the attacks yet?” he sneered. 
+“Have you caught the culprit?” 
+
+“We have,” said Dumbledore, with a smile. 
+
+“Well?” said Mr. Malfoy sharply. “Who is it?” 
+
+“The same person as last time, Lucius,” said 
+Dumbledore. “But this time, Lord Voldemort was 
+acting through somebody else. By means of this 
+diary.” 
+
+He held up the small black book with the large hole 
+through the center, watching Mr. Malfoy closely. 
+Harry, however, was watching Dobby. 
+
+The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes 
+fixed meaningfully on Harry, he kept pointing at the 
+diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself 
+hard on the head with his fist. 
+
+“I see ...” said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore. 
+
+“A clever plan,” said Dumbledore in a level voice, still 
+staring Mr. Malfoy straight in the eye. “Because if 
+
+Page | 373 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry here” — Mr. Malfoy shot Harry a swift, sharp 
+look — “and his friend Ron hadn’t discovered this 
+book, why — Ginny Weasley might have taken all the 
+blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she 
+hadn’t acted of her own free will. ...” 
+
+Mr. Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly 
+masklike. 
+
+“And imagine,” Dumbledore went on, “what might 
+have happened then. ... The Weasleys are one of our 
+most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the 
+effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection 
+Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and 
+killing Muggle-borns. ... Very fortunate the diary was 
+discovered, and Riddle’s memories wiped from it. Who 
+knows what the consequences might have been 
+otherwise. ...” 
+
+Mr. Malfoy forced himself to speak. 
+
+“Very fortunate,” he said stiffly. 
+
+And still, behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first 
+to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching 
+himself in the head. 
+
+And Harry suddenly understood. He nodded at 
+Dobby, and Dobby backed into a corner, now twisting 
+his ears in punishment. 
+
+“Don’t you want to know how Ginny got hold of that 
+diary, Mr. Malfoy?” said Harry. 
+
+Lucius Malfoy rounded on him. 
+
+“How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold 
+of it?” he said. 
+
+
+
+Page | 374 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Because you gave it to her,” said Harry. “In Flourish 
+and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration 
+book and slipped the diary inside it, didn’t you?” 
+
+He saw Mr. Malfoy’s white hands clench and 
+unclench. 
+
+“Prove it,” he hissed. 
+
+“Oh, no one will be able to do that,” said Dumbledore, 
+smiling at Harry. “Not now that Riddle has vanished 
+from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, 
+Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord 
+Voldemort’s old school things. If any more of them 
+find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur 
+Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back 
+to you. ...” 
+
+Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Harry 
+distinctly saw his right hand twitch as though he was 
+longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned to 
+his house-elf. 
+
+“We’re going, Dobby!” 
+
+He wrenched open the door and as the elf came 
+hurrying up to him, he kicked him right through it. 
+They could hear Dobby squealing with pain all the 
+way along the corridor. Harry stood for a moment, 
+thinking hard. Then it came to him — 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore,” he said hurriedly. “Can I give 
+that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?” 
+
+“Certainly, Harry,” said Dumbledore calmly. “But 
+hurry. The feast, remember. ...” 
+
+Harry grabbed the diary and dashed out of the office. 
+He could hear Dobby’s squeals of pain receding 
+
+Page | 375 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+around the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan 
+could possibly work, Harry took off one of his shoes, 
+pulled off his slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed the diary 
+into it. Then he ran down the dark corridor. 
+
+He caught up with them at the top of the stairs. 
+
+“Mr. Malfoy,” he gasped, skidding to a halt, “I’ve got 
+something for you — ” 
+
+And he forced the smelly sock into Lucius Malfoy’s 
+hand. 
+
+“What the — ?” 
+
+Mr. Malfoy ripped the sock off the diary, threw it 
+aside, then looked furiously from the ruined book to 
+Harry. 
+
+“You’ll meet the same sticky end as your parents one 
+of these days, Harry Potter,” he said softly. “They were 
+meddlesome fools, too.” 
+
+He turned to go. 
+
+“Come, Dobby. I said, come.” 
+
+But Dobby didn’t move. He was holding up Harry’s 
+disgusting, slimy sock, and looking at it as though it 
+were a priceless treasure. 
+
+“Master has given a sock,” said the elf in wonderment. 
+“Master gave it to Dobby.” 
+
+“What’s that?” spat Mr. Malfoy. “What did you say?” 
+
+“Got a sock,” said Dobby in disbelief. “Master threw it, 
+and Dobby caught it, and Dobby — Dobby is free.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 376 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lucius Malfoy stood frozen, staring at the elf. Then he 
+lunged at Harry. 
+
+“You’ve lost me my servant, boy!” 
+
+But Dobby shouted, “You shall not harm Harry 
+Potter!” 
+
+There was a loud bang, and Mr. Malfoy was thrown 
+backward. He crashed down the stairs, three at a 
+time, landing in a crumpled heap on the landing 
+below. He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his 
+wand, but Dobby raised a long, threatening finger. 
+
+“You shall go now,” he said fiercely, pointing down at 
+Mr. Malfoy. “You shall not touch Harry Potter. You 
+shall go now.” 
+
+Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed 
+stare at the pair of them, he swung his cloak around 
+him and hurried out of sight. 
+
+“Harry Potter freed Dobby!” said the elf shrilly, gazing 
+up at Harry, moonlight from the nearest window 
+reflected in his orb-like eyes. “Harry Potter set Dobby 
+free!” 
+
+“Least I could do, Dobby,” said Harry, grinning. “Just 
+promise never to try and save my life again.” 
+
+The elf’s ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, 
+toothy smile. 
+
+“I’ve just got one question, Dobby,” said Harry as 
+Dobby pulled on Harry’s sock with shaking hands. 
+“You told me all this had nothing to do with He-Who- 
+Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 377 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It was a clue, sir,” said Dobby, his eyes widening, as 
+though this was obvious. “Was giving you a clue. The 
+Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be 
+freely named, you see?” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry weakly. “Well, I’d better go. There’s 
+a feast, and my friend Hermione should be awake by 
+now. ...” 
+
+Dobby threw his arms around Harry’s middle and 
+hugged him. 
+
+“Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!” he 
+sobbed. “Farewell, Harry Potter!” 
+
+And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared. 
+
+Harry had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never 
+one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, 
+and the celebration lasted all night. Harry didn’t know 
+whether the best bit was Hermione running toward 
+him, screaming “You solved it! You solved it!” or 
+Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to 
+wring his hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting 
+him, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing 
+Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they 
+were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his and 
+Ron’s four hundred points for Gryffindor securing the 
+House Cup for the second year running, or Professor 
+McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the 
+exams had been canceled as a school treat (“Oh, no!” 
+said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, 
+unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to 
+return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to 
+go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the 
+teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news. 
+
+“Shame,” said Ron, helping himself to a jam 
+doughnut. “He was starting to grow on me.” 
+
+Page | 378 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing 
+sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a 
+few, small differences — Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts classes were canceled (“but we’ve had plenty of 
+practice at that anyway,” Ron told a disgruntled 
+Hermione) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a 
+school governor. Draco was no longer strutting 
+around the school as though he owned the place. On 
+the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky. On the 
+other hand, Ginny Weasley was perfectly happy 
+again. 
+
+Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the 
+Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, 
+George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. 
+They made the most of the last few hours in which 
+they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. 
+They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of 
+Fred and George’s Filibuster fireworks, and practiced 
+disarming each other by magic. Harry was getting 
+very good at it. 
+
+They were almost at King’s Cross when Harry 
+remembered something. 
+
+“Ginny — what did you see Percy doing, that he didn’t 
+want you to tell anyone?” 
+
+“Oh, that,” said Ginny, giggling. “Well — Percy’s got a 
+girlfriend.” 
+
+Fred dropped a stack of books on George’s head. 
+“What?” 
+
+“It’s that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater,” 
+said Ginny. “That’s who he was writing to all last 
+summer. He’s been meeting her all over the school in 
+secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty 
+
+Page | 379 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — 
+you know — attacked. You won’t tease him, will you?” 
+she added anxiously. 
+
+“Wouldn’t dream of it,” said Fred, who was looking 
+like his birthday had come early. 
+
+“Definitely not,” said George, sniggering. 
+
+The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped. 
+
+Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and 
+turned to Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“This is called a telephone number,” he told Ron, 
+scribbling it twice, tearing the parchment in two, and 
+handing it to them. “I told your dad how to use a 
+telephone last summer — he’ll know. Call me at the 
+Dursleys’, okay? I can’t stand another two months 
+with only Dudley to talk to. ...” 
+
+“Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won’t 
+they?” said Hermione as they got off the train and 
+joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted 
+barrier. “When they hear what you did this year? 
+
+“Proud?” said Harry. “Are you crazy? All those times I 
+could’ve died, and I didn’t manage it? They’ll be 
+furious. ...” 
+
+And together they walked back through the gateway 
+to the Muggle world. 
+
+
+
+Page | 380 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+/ 
+
+
+
+
+OWL POST 
+
+Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. 
+For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more 
+than any other time of year. For another, he really 
+wanted to do his homework but was forced to do it in 
+secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to 
+be a wizard. 
+
+It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his 
+stomach in bed, the blankets drawn right over his 
+head like a tent, a flashlight in one hand and a large 
+leather-bound book (A History of Magic by Bathilda 
+Bagshot) propped open against the pillow. Harry 
+moved the tip of his eagle-feather quill down the page, 
+frowning as he looked for something that would help 
+him write his essay, “Witch Burning in the Fourteenth 
+Century Was Completely Pointless — discuss.” 
+
+The quill paused at the top of a likely-looking 
+paragraph. Harry pushed his round glasses up the 
+bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight closer to the 
+book, and read: 
+
+
+
+Page | 2 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Non-magic people (more commonly known as 
+Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval 
+times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the rare 
+occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, 
+burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard 
+would perform a basic Flame Freezing Charm and 
+then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a 
+gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird 
+enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed 
+herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in 
+various disguises. 
+
+Harry put his quill between his teeth and reached 
+underneath his pillow for his ink bottle and a roll of 
+parchment. Slowly and very carefully he unscrewed 
+the ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, and began to 
+write, pausing every now and then to listen, because 
+if any of the Dursleys heard the scratching of his quill 
+on their way to the bathroom, he’d probably find 
+himself locked in the cupboard under the stairs for 
+the rest of the summer. 
+
+The Dursley family of number four, Privet Drive, was 
+the reason that Harry never enjoyed his summer 
+holidays. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son, 
+Dudley, were Harry’s only living relatives. They were 
+Muggles, and they had a very medieval attitude 
+toward magic. Harry’s dead parents, who had been a 
+witch and wizard themselves, were never mentioned 
+under the Dursleys’ roof. For years, Aunt Petunia and 
+Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they kept Harry as 
+downtrodden as possible, they would be able to 
+squash the magic out of him. To their fury, they had 
+been unsuccessful. These days they lived in terror of 
+anyone finding out that Harry had spent most of the 
+last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
+Wizardry. The most they could do, however, was to 
+lock away Harry’s spellbooks, wand, cauldron, and 
+
+
+
+Page | 3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+broomstick at the start of the summer break, and 
+forbid him to talk to the neighbors. 
+
+This separation from his spellbooks had been a real 
+problem for Harry, because his teachers at Hogwarts 
+had given him a lot of holiday work. One of the 
+essays, a particularly nasty one about shrinking 
+potions, was for Harry’s least favorite teacher, 
+Professor Snape, who would be delighted to have an 
+excuse to give Harry detention for a month. Harry had 
+therefore seized his chance in the first week of the 
+holidays. While Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and 
+Dudley had gone out into the front garden to admire 
+Uncle Vernon’s new company car (in very loud voices, 
+so that the rest of the street would notice it too), 
+
+Harry had crept downstairs, picked the lock on the 
+cupboard under the stairs, grabbed some of his 
+books, and hidden them in his bedroom. As long as 
+he didn’t leave spots of ink on the sheets, the 
+Dursleys need never know that he was studying 
+magic by night. 
+
+Harry was particularly keen to avoid trouble with his 
+aunt and uncle at the moment, as they were already 
+in an especially bad mood with him, all because he’d 
+received a telephone call from a fellow wizard one 
+week into the school vacation. 
+
+Ron Weasley, who was one of Harry’s best friends at 
+Hogwarts, came from a whole family of wizards. This 
+meant that he knew a lot of things Harry didn’t, but 
+had never used a telephone before. Most unluckily it 
+had been Uncle Vernon who had answered the call. 
+
+“Vernon Dursley speaking.” 
+
+Harry, who happened to be in the room at the time, 
+froze as he heard Ron’s voice answer. 
+
+
+
+Page | 4 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I — WANT — 
+TO — TALK — TO — HARRY — POTTER!” 
+
+Ron was yelling so loudly that Uncle Vernon jumped 
+and held the receiver a foot away from his ear, staring 
+at it with an expression of mingled fury and alarm. 
+
+“WHO IS THIS?” he roared in the direction of the 
+mouthpiece. “WHO ARE YOU?” 
+
+“RON — WEASLEY!” Ron bellowed back, as though he 
+and Uncle Vernon were speaking from opposite ends 
+of a football field. “I’M — A — FRIEND — OF — 
+HARRY’S — FROM — SCHOOL — ” 
+
+Uncle Vernon’s small eyes swiveled around to Harry, 
+who was rooted to the spot. 
+
+“THERE IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE!” he roared, 
+now holding the receiver at arm’s length, as though 
+frightened it might explode. “I DONT KNOW WHAT 
+SCHOOL YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! NEVER 
+CONTACT ME AGAIN! DONT YOU COME NEAR MY 
+FAMILY!” 
+
+And he threw the receiver back onto the telephone as 
+if dropping a poisonous spider. 
+
+The fight that had followed had been one of the worst 
+ever. 
+
+“HOW DARE YOU GIVE THIS NUMBER TO PEOPLE 
+LIKE — PEOPLE LIKE YOU!” Uncle Vernon had 
+roared, spraying Harry with spit. 
+
+Ron obviously realized that he’d gotten Harry into 
+trouble, because he hadn’t called again. Harry’s other 
+best friend from Hogwarts, Hermione Granger, hadn’t 
+been in touch either. Harry suspected that Ron had 
+
+Page | 5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+warned Hermione not to call, which was a pity, 
+because Hermione, the cleverest witch in Harry’s 
+year, had Muggle parents, knew perfectly well how to 
+use a telephone, and would probably have had 
+enough sense not to say that she went to Hogwarts. 
+
+So Harry had had no word from any of his wizarding 
+friends for five long weeks, and this summer was 
+turning out to be almost as bad as the last one. There 
+was just one very small improvement — after 
+swearing that he wouldn’t use her to send letters to 
+any of his friends, Harry had been allowed to let his 
+owl, Hedwig, out at night. Uncle Vernon had given in 
+because of the racket Hedwig made if she was locked 
+in her cage all the time. 
+
+Harry finished writing about Wendelin the Weird and 
+paused to listen again. The silence in the dark house 
+was broken only by the distant, grunting snores of his 
+enormous cousin, Dudley. It must be very late, Harry 
+thought. His eyes were itching with tiredness. 
+
+Perhaps he’d finish this essay tomorrow night. ... 
+
+He replaced the top of the ink bottle; pulled an old 
+pillowcase from under his bed; put the flashlight, A 
+History of Magic, his essay, quill, and ink inside it; got 
+out of bed; and hid the lot under a loose floorboard 
+under his bed. Then he stood up, stretched, and 
+checked the time on the luminous alarm clock on his 
+bedside table. 
+
+It was one o’clock in the morning. Harry’s stomach 
+gave a funny jolt. He had been thirteen years old, 
+without realizing it, for a whole hour. 
+
+Yet another unusual thing about Harry was how little 
+he looked forward to his birthdays. He had never 
+received a birthday card in his life. The Dursleys had 
+
+
+
+Page | 6 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+completely ignored his last two birthdays, and he had 
+no reason to suppose they would remember this one. 
+
+Harry walked across the dark room, past Hedwig’s 
+large, empty cage, to the open window. He leaned on 
+the sill, the cool night air pleasant on his face after a 
+long time under the blankets. Hedwig had been 
+absent for two nights now. Harry wasn’t worried 
+about her: she’d been gone this long before. But he 
+hoped she’d be back soon — she was the only living 
+creature in this house who didn’t flinch at the sight of 
+him. 
+
+Harry, though still rather small and skinny for his 
+age, had grown a few inches over the last year. His 
+jet-black hair, however, was just as it always had 
+been — stubbornly untidy, whatever he did to it. The 
+eyes behind his glasses were bright green, and on his 
+forehead, clearly visible through his hair, was a thin 
+scar, shaped like a bolt of lightning. 
+
+Of all the unusual things about Harry, this scar was 
+the most extraordinary of all. It was not, as the 
+Dursleys had pretended for ten years, a souvenir of 
+the car crash that had killed Harry’s parents, because 
+Lily and James Potter had not died in a car crash. 
+They had been murdered, murdered by the most 
+feared Dark wizard for a hundred years, Lord 
+Voldemort. Harry had escaped from the same attack 
+with nothing more than a scar on his forehead, where 
+Voldemort’s curse, instead of killing him, had 
+rebounded upon its originator. Barely alive, 
+
+Voldemort had fled. ... 
+
+But Harry had come face-to-face with him at 
+Hogwarts. Remembering their last meeting as he 
+stood at the dark window, Harry had to admit he was 
+lucky even to have reached his thirteenth birthday. 
+
+
+
+Page | 7 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He scanned the starry sky for a sign of Hedwig, 
+perhaps soaring back to him with a dead mouse 
+dangling from her beak, expecting praise. Gazing 
+absently over the rooftops, it was a few seconds before 
+Harry realized what he was seeing. 
+
+Silhouetted against the golden moon, and growing 
+larger every moment, was a large, strangely lopsided 
+creature, and it was flapping in Harry’s direction. He 
+stood quite still, watching it sink lower and lower. For 
+a split second he hesitated, his hand on the window 
+latch, wondering whether to slam it shut. But then 
+the bizarre creature soared over one of the street 
+lamps of Privet Drive, and Harry, realizing what it 
+was, leapt aside. 
+
+Through the window soared three owls, two of them 
+holding up the third, which appeared to be 
+unconscious. They landed with a soft flump on 
+Harry’s bed, and the middle owl, which was large and 
+gray, keeled right over and lay motionless. There was 
+a large package tied to its legs. 
+
+Harry recognized the unconscious owl at once — his 
+name was Errol, and he belonged to the Weasley 
+family. Harry dashed to the bed, untied the cords 
+around Errol’s legs, took off the parcel, and then 
+carried Errol to Hedwig’s cage. Errol opened one 
+bleary eye, gave a feeble hoot of thanks, and began to 
+gulp some water. 
+
+Harry turned back to the remaining owls. One of 
+them, the large snowy female, was his own Hedwig. 
+She, too, was carrying a parcel and looked extremely 
+pleased with herself. She gave Harry an affectionate 
+nip with her beak as he removed her burden, then 
+flew across the room to join Errol. 
+
+
+
+Page | 8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry didn’t recognize the third owl, a handsome 
+tawny one, but he knew at once where it had come 
+from, because in addition to a third package, it was 
+carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. When 
+Harry relieved this owl of its burden, it ruffled its 
+feathers importantly, stretched its wings, and took off 
+through the window into the night. 
+
+Harry sat down on his bed and grabbed Errol’s 
+package, ripped off the brown paper, and discovered a 
+present wrapped in gold, and his first ever birthday 
+card. Fingers trembling slightly, he opened the 
+envelope. Two pieces of paper fell out — a letter and a 
+newspaper clipping. 
+
+The clipping had clearly come out of the wizarding 
+newspaper, the Daily Prophet, because the people in 
+the black-and-white picture were moving. Harry 
+picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and read: 
+
+MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE 
+
+SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE 
+
+Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts 
+Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual 
+Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. 
+
+A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, “We 
+will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in 
+Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse 
+breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. ” 
+
+The Weasley family will be spending a month in 
+Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year 
+at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children 
+currently attend. 
+
+
+
+Page | 9 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry scanned the moving photograph, and a grin 
+spread across his face as he saw all nine of the 
+Weasleys waving furiously at him, standing in front of 
+a large pyramid. Plump little Mrs. Weasley; tall, 
+balding Mr. Weasley; six sons; and one daughter, all 
+(though the black-and-white picture didn’t show it) 
+with flaming-red hair. Right in the middle of the 
+picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat, 
+Scabbers, on his shoulder and his arm around his 
+little sister, Ginny. 
+
+Harry couldn’t think of anyone who deserved to win a 
+large pile of gold more than the Weasleys, who were 
+very nice and extremely poor. He picked up Ron’s 
+letter and unfolded it. 
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+Happy birthday! 
+
+Look, I’m really sorry about that telephone call. I hope 
+the Muggles didn’t give you a hard time. I asked Dad, 
+and he reckons I shouldn’t have shouted. 
+
+It’s amazing here in Egypt. Bill’s taken us around all 
+the tombs and you wouldn’t believe the curses those 
+old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn’t let 
+Ginny come in the last one. There were all these 
+mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who’d broken in 
+and grown extra heads and stuff. 
+
+I couldn’t believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet 
+Draw. Seven hundred galleons! Most of it’s gone on 
+this trip, but they’re going to buy me a new wand for 
+next year. 
+
+Harry remembered only too well the occasion when 
+Ron’s old wand had snapped. It had happened when 
+
+
+
+Page | 10 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the car the two of them had been flying to Hogwarts 
+had crashed into a tree on the school grounds. 
+
+We’ll be back about a week before term starts and 
+we’ll be going up to London to get my wand and our 
+new books. Any chance of meeting you there? 
+
+Don’t let the Muggles get you down! 
+
+Try and come to London, 
+
+Ron 
+
+PS. Percy’s Head Boy. He got the letter last week. 
+
+Harry glanced back at the photograph. Percy, who 
+was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, was 
+looking particularly smug. He had pinned his Head 
+Boy badge to the fez perched jauntily on top of his 
+neat hair, his horn-rimmed glasses flashing in the 
+Egyptian sun. 
+
+Harry now turned to his present and unwrapped it. 
+Inside was what looked like a miniature glass 
+spinning top. There was another note from Ron 
+beneath it. 
+
+Harry — this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there’s 
+someone untrustworthy around, it’s supposed to light 
+up and spin. Bill says it’s rubbish sold for wizard 
+tourists and isn’t reliable, because it kept lighting up at 
+dinner last night. But he didn’t realize Fred and George 
+had put beetles in his soup. 
+
+Bye — 
+
+Ron 
+
+
+
+Page | 11 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry put the Pocket Sneakoscope on his bedside 
+table, where it stood quite still, balanced on its point, 
+reflecting the luminous hands of his clock. He looked 
+at it happily for a few seconds, then picked up the 
+parcel Hedwig had brought. 
+
+Inside this, too, there was a wrapped present, a card, 
+and a letter, this time from Hermione. 
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+Ron wrote to me and told me about his phone call to 
+your Uncle Vernon. I do hope you’re all right. 
+
+I’m on holiday in France at the moment and I didn’t 
+know how I was going to send this to you — what if 
+they’d opened it at customs? — but then Hedwig 
+turned up! I think she wanted to make sure you got 
+something for your birthday for a change. I bought your 
+present by owl-order; there was an advertisement in 
+the Daily Prophet (I’ve been getting it delivered; it’s so 
+good to keep up with what’s going on in the wizarding 
+world). Did you see that picture of Ron and his family a 
+week ago? I bet he’s learning loads. I’m really jealous 
+— the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating. 
+
+There’s some interesting local history of witchcraft 
+here, too. I’ve rewritten my whole History of Magic 
+essay to include some of the things I’ve found out. I 
+hope it’s not too long — it’s two rolls of parchment more 
+than Professor Binns asked for. 
+
+Ron says he’s going to be in London in the last week of 
+the holidays. Can you make it? Will your aunt and 
+uncle let you come? I really hope you can. If not, I’ll see 
+you on the Hogwarts Express on September first! 
+
+Love from 
+
+
+
+Page | 12 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione 
+
+
+
+PS. Ron says Percy’s Head Boy. I’ll bet Percy’s really 
+pleased. 
+
+Ron doesn’t seem too happy about it. 
+
+Harry laughed as he put Hermione ’s letter aside and 
+picked up her present. It was very heavy. Knowing 
+Hermione, he was sure it would be a large book full of 
+very difficult spells — but it wasn’t. His heart gave a 
+huge bound as he ripped back the paper and saw a 
+sleek black leather case, with silver words stamped 
+across it, reading Broomstick Servicing Kit. 
+
+“Wow, Hermione!” Harry whispered, unzipping the 
+case to look inside. 
+
+There was a large jar of Fleetwood’s High-Finish 
+Handle Polish, a pair of gleaming silver Tail-Twig 
+Clippers, a tiny brass compass to clip on your broom 
+for long journeys, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself 
+Broomcare. 
+
+Apart from his friends, the thing that Harry missed 
+most about Hogwarts was Quidditch, the most 
+popular sport in the magical world — highly 
+dangerous, very exciting, and played on broomsticks. 
+Harry happened to be a very good Quidditch player; 
+he had been the youngest person in a century to be 
+picked for one of the Hogwarts House teams. One of 
+Harry’s most prized possessions was his Nimbus Two 
+Thousand racing broom. 
+
+Harry put the leather case aside and picked up his 
+last parcel. He recognized the untidy scrawl on the 
+brown paper at once: this was from Hagrid, the 
+Hogwarts gamekeeper. He tore off the top layer of 
+paper and glimpsed something green and leathery, 
+Page | 13 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+but before he could unwrap it properly, the parcel 
+gave a strange quiver, and whatever was inside it 
+snapped loudly — as though it had jaws. 
+
+Harry froze. He knew that Hagrid would never send 
+him anything dangerous on purpose, but then, 
+
+Hagrid didn’t have a normal person’s view of what 
+was dangerous. Hagrid had been known to befriend 
+giant spiders, buy vicious, three-headed dogs from 
+men in pubs, and sneak illegal dragon eggs into his 
+cabin. 
+
+Harry poked the parcel nervously. It snapped loudly 
+again. Harry reached for the lamp on his bedside 
+table, gripped it firmly in one hand, and raised it over 
+his head, ready to strike. Then he seized the rest of 
+the wrapping paper in his other hand and pulled. 
+
+And out fell — a book. Harry just had time to register 
+its handsome green cover, emblazoned with the 
+golden title The Monster Book of Monsters, before it 
+flipped onto its edge and scuttled sideways along the 
+bed like some weird crab. 
+
+“Uh-oh,” Harry muttered. 
+
+The book toppled off the bed with a loud clunk and 
+shuffled rapidly across the room. Harry followed it 
+stealthily. The book was hiding in the dark space 
+under his desk. Praying that the Dursleys were still 
+fast asleep, Harry got down on his hands and knees 
+and reached toward it. 
+
+“Ouch!” 
+
+The book snapped shut on his hand and then flapped 
+past him, still scuttling on its covers. Harry 
+scrambled around, threw himself forward, and 
+
+
+
+Page | 14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+managed to flatten it. Uncle Vernon gave a loud, 
+sleepy grunt in the room next door. 
+
+Hedwig and Errol watched interestedly as Harry 
+clamped the struggling book tightly in his arms, 
+hurried to his chest of drawers, and pulled out a belt, 
+which he buckled tightly around it. The Monster Book 
+shuddered angrily, but could no longer flap and snap, 
+so Harry threw it down on the bed and reached for 
+Hagrid’s card. 
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+Happy birthday! 
+
+Think you might find this useful for next year. 
+
+Won’t say no more here. Tell you when I see you. 
+
+Hope the Muggles are treating you right. 
+
+All the best, 
+
+Hagrid 
+
+It struck Harry as ominous that Hagrid thought a 
+biting book would come in useful, but he put Hagrid’s 
+card up next to Ron’s and Hermione’s, grinning more 
+broadly than ever. Now there was only the letter from 
+Hogwarts left. 
+
+Noticing that it was rather thicker than usual, Harry 
+slit open the envelope, pulled out the first page of 
+parchment within, and read: 
+
+Dear Mr. Potter, 
+
+Please note that the new school year will begin on 
+September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave 
+
+Page | 15 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+from King’s Cross station, platform nine and three- 
+quarters, at eleven o’clock. 
+
+Third years are permitted to visit the village of 
+Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the 
+enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to 
+sign. 
+
+A list of books for next year is enclosed. 
+
+Yours sincerely, 
+
+Professor M. McGonagall 
+Deputy Headmistress 
+
+Harry pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and 
+looked at it, no longer grinning. It would be wonderful 
+to visit Hogsmeade on weekends; he knew it was an 
+entirely wizarding village, and he had never set foot 
+there. But how on earth was he going to persuade 
+Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to sign the form? 
+
+He looked over at the alarm clock. It was now two 
+o’clock in the morning. 
+
+Deciding that he’d worry about the Hogsmeade form 
+when he woke up, Harry got back into bed and 
+reached up to cross off another day on the chart he’d 
+made for himself, counting down the days left until 
+his return to Hogwarts. Then he took off his glasses 
+and lay down, eyes open, facing his three birthday 
+cards. 
+
+Extremely unusual though he was, at that moment 
+Harry Potter felt just like everyone else — glad, for the 
+first time in his life, that it was his birthday. 
+
+
+
+Page | 16 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+AUNT MARGE’S BIG MISTAKE 
+
+Harry went down to breakfast the next morning to 
+find the three Dursleys already sitting around the 
+kitchen table. They were watching a brand-new 
+television, a welcome-home-for-the-summer present 
+for Dudley, who had been complaining loudly about 
+the long walk between the fridge and the television in 
+the living room. Dudley had spent most of the 
+summer in the kitchen, his piggy little eyes fixed on 
+the screen and his five chins wobbling as he ate 
+continually. 
+
+Harry sat down between Dudley and Uncle Vernon, a 
+large, beefy man with very little neck and a lot of 
+mustache. Far from wishing Harry a happy birthday, 
+none of the Dursleys made any sign that they had 
+noticed Harry enter the room, but Harry was far too 
+used to this to care. He helped himself to a piece of 
+toast and then looked up at the reporter on the 
+television, who was halfway through a report on an 
+escaped convict: 
+
+
+
+Page | 17 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+"... The public is warned that Black is armed and 
+extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set 
+up, and any sighting of Black should be reported 
+immediately.” 
+
+“No need to tell us he’s no good,” snorted Uncle 
+Vernon, staring over the top of his newspaper at the 
+prisoner. “Look at the state of him, the filthy 
+layabout! Look at his hair!” 
+
+He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy 
+hair had always been a source of great annoyance to 
+Uncle Vernon. Compared to the man on the 
+television, however, whose gaunt face was 
+surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle, Harry 
+felt very well groomed indeed. 
+
+The reporter had reappeared. 
+
+“The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will 
+announce today — ” 
+
+“Hang on!” barked Uncle Vernon, staring furiously at 
+the reporter. “You didn’t tell us where that maniac’s 
+escaped from! What use is that? Lunatic could be 
+coming up the street right now!” 
+
+Aunt Petunia, who was bony and horse-faced, 
+whipped around and peered intently out of the 
+kitchen window. Harry knew Aunt Petunia would 
+simply love to be the one to call the hot line number. 
+She was the nosiest woman in the world and spent 
+most of her life spying on the boring, law-abiding 
+neighbors. 
+
+“When will they learn,” said Uncle Vernon, pounding 
+the table with his large purple fist, “that hanging’s the 
+only way to deal with these people?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 18 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Very true,” said Aunt Petunia, who was still 
+squinting into next door’s runner beans. 
+
+Uncle Vernon drained his teacup, glanced at his 
+watch, and added, “I’d better be off in a minute, 
+Petunia. Marge’s train gets in at ten.” 
+
+Harry, whose thoughts had been upstairs with the 
+Broomstick Servicing Kit, was brought back to earth 
+with an unpleasant bump. 
+
+“Aunt Marge?” he blurted out. “Sh — she’s not 
+coming here, is she?” 
+
+Aunt Marge was Uncle Vernon’s sister. Even though 
+she was not a blood relative of Harry’s (whose mother 
+had been Aunt Petunia’s sister), he had been forced to 
+call her “Aunt” all his life. Aunt Marge lived in the 
+country, in a house with a large garden, where she 
+bred bulldogs. She didn’t often stay at Privet Drive, 
+because she couldn’t bear to leave her precious dogs, 
+but each of her visits stood out horribly vividly in 
+Harry’s mind. 
+
+At Dudley’s fifth birthday party, Aunt Marge had 
+whacked Harry around the shins with her walking 
+stick to stop him from beating Dudley at musical 
+statues. A few years later, she had turned up at 
+Christmas with a computerized robot for Dudley and 
+a box of dog biscuits for Harry. On her last visit, the 
+year before Harry started at Hogwarts, Harry had 
+accidentally trodden on the tail of her favorite dog. 
+Ripper had chased Harry out into the garden and up 
+a tree, and Aunt Marge had refused to call him off 
+until past midnight. The memory of this incident still 
+brought tears of laughter to Dudley’s eyes. 
+
+“Marge’ll be here for a week,” Uncle Vernon snarled, 
+“and while we’re on the subject” — he pointed a fat 
+
+Page | 19 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+finger threateningly at Harry — “we need to get a few 
+things straight before I go and collect her.” 
+
+Dudley smirked and withdrew his gaze from the 
+television. Watching Harry being bullied by Uncle 
+Vernon was Dudley’s favorite form of entertainment. 
+
+“Firstly,” growled Uncle Vernon, “you’ll keep a civil 
+tongue in your head when you’re talking to Marge.” 
+
+“All right,” said Harry bitterly, “if she does when she’s 
+talking to me.” 
+
+“Secondly,” said Uncle Vernon, acting as though he 
+had not heard Harry’s reply, “as Marge doesn’t know 
+anything about your abnormality, I don’t want any — 
+any funny stuff while she’s here. You behave yourself, 
+got me?” 
+
+“I will if she does,” said Harry through gritted teeth. 
+
+“And thirdly,” said Uncle Vernon, his mean little eyes 
+now slits in his great purple face, “we’ve told Marge 
+you attend St. Brutus’s Secure Center for Incurably 
+Criminal Boys.” 
+
+“What?” Harry yelled. 
+
+“And you’ll be sticking to that story, boy, or there’ll be 
+trouble,” spat Uncle Vernon. 
+
+Harry sat there, white-faced and furious, staring at 
+Uncle Vernon, hardly able to believe it. Aunt Marge 
+coming for a week-long visit — it was the worst 
+birthday present the Dursleys had ever given him, 
+including that pair of Uncle Vernon’s old socks. 
+
+
+
+Page | 20 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, Petunia,” said Uncle Vernon, getting heavily to 
+his feet, “111 be off to the station, then. Want to come 
+along for the ride, Dudders?” 
+
+“No,” said Dudley, whose attention had returned to 
+the television now that Uncle Vernon had finished 
+threatening Harry. 
+
+“Duddy’s got to make himself smart for his auntie,” 
+said Aunt Petunia, smoothing Dudley’s thick blond 
+hair. “Mummy’s bought him a lovely new bow tie.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon clapped Dudley on his porky shoulder. 
+
+“See you in a bit, then,” he said, and he left the 
+kitchen. 
+
+Harry, who had been sitting in a kind of horrified 
+trance, had a sudden idea. Abandoning his toast, he 
+got quickly to his feet and followed Uncle Vernon to 
+the front door. 
+
+Uncle Vernon was pulling on his car coat. 
+
+“I’m not taking you,” he snarled as he turned to see 
+Harry watching him. 
+
+“Like I wanted to come,” said Harry coldly. “I want to 
+ask you something.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon eyed him suspiciously. 
+
+“Third years at Hog — at my school are allowed to 
+visit the village sometimes,” said Harry. 
+
+“So?” snapped Uncle Vernon, taking his car keys from 
+a hook next to the door. 
+
+
+
+Page | 21 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I need you to sign the permission form,” said Harry 
+in a rush. 
+
+“And why should I do that?” sneered Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, choosing his words carefully, “it’ll 
+be hard work, pretending to Aunt Marge I go to that 
+St. Whatsits — ” 
+
+“St. Brutus’s Secure Center for Incurably Criminal 
+Boys!” bellowed Uncle Vernon, and Harry was pleased 
+to hear a definite note of panic in Uncle Vernon’s 
+voice. 
+
+“Exactly,” said Harry, looking calmly up into Uncle 
+Vernon’s large, purple face. “It’s a lot to remember. I’ll 
+have to make it sound convincing, won’t I? What if I 
+accidentally let something slip?” 
+
+“ You’ll get the stuffing knocked out of you, won’t you?” 
+roared Uncle Vernon, advancing on Harry with his fist 
+raised. But Harry stood his ground. 
+
+“Knocking the stuffing out of me won’t make Aunt 
+Marge forget what I could tell her,” he said grimly. 
+
+Uncle Vernon stopped, his fist still raised, his face an 
+ugly puce. 
+
+“But if you sign my permission form,” Harry went on 
+quickly, “I swear I’ll remember where I’m supposed to 
+go to school, and I’ll act like a Mug — like I’m normal 
+and everything.” 
+
+Harry could tell that Uncle Vernon was thinking it 
+over, even if his teeth were bared and a vein was 
+throbbing in his temple. 
+
+
+
+Page | 22 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Right,” he snapped finally. “I shall monitor your 
+behavior carefully during Marge’s visit. If, at the end 
+of it, you’ve toed the line and kept to the story, I’ll 
+sign your ruddy form.” 
+
+He wheeled around, pulled open the front door, and 
+slammed it so hard that one of the little panes of 
+glass at the top fell out. 
+
+Harry didn’t return to the kitchen. He went back 
+upstairs to his bedroom. If he was going to act like a 
+real Muggle, he’d better start now. Slowly and sadly 
+he gathered up all his presents and his birthday 
+cards and hid them under the loose floorboard with 
+his homework. Then he went to Hedwig’s cage. Errol 
+seemed to have recovered; he and Hedwig were both 
+asleep, heads under their wings. Harry sighed, then 
+poked them both awake. 
+
+“Hedwig,” he said gloomily, “you’re going to have to 
+clear off for a week. Go with Errol. Ron’ll look after 
+you. I’ll write him a note, explaining. And don’t look at 
+me like that” — Hedwig’s large amber eyes were 
+reproachful — “it’s not my fault. It’s the only way I’ll 
+be allowed to visit Hogsmeade with Ron and 
+Hermione.” 
+
+Ten minutes later, Errol and Hedwig (who had a note 
+to Ron bound to her leg) soared out of the window 
+and out of sight. Harry, now feeling thoroughly 
+miserable, put the empty cage away inside the 
+wardrobe. 
+
+But Harry didn’t have long to brood. In next to no 
+time, Aunt Petunia was shrieking up the stairs for 
+Harry to come down and get ready to welcome their 
+guest. 
+
+
+
+Page | 23 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Do something about your hair!” Aunt Petunia 
+snapped as he reached the hall. 
+
+Harry couldn’t see the point of trying to make his hair 
+lie flat. Aunt Marge loved criticizing him, so the 
+untidier he looked, the happier she would be. 
+
+All too soon, there was a crunch of gravel outside as 
+Uncle Vernon’s car pulled back into the driveway, 
+then the clunk of the car doors and footsteps on the 
+garden path. 
+
+“Get the door!” Aunt Petunia hissed at Harry. 
+
+A feeling of great gloom in his stomach, Harry pulled 
+the door open. 
+
+On the threshold stood Aunt Marge. She was very like 
+Uncle Vernon: large, beefy, and purple-faced, she 
+even had a mustache, though not as bushy as his. In 
+one hand she held an enormous suitcase, and tucked 
+under the other was an old and evil-tempered 
+bulldog. 
+
+“Where’s my Dudders?” roared Aunt Marge. “Where’s 
+my neffy-poo?” 
+
+Dudley came waddling down the hall, his blond hair 
+plastered flat to his fat head, a bow tie just visible 
+under his many chins. Aunt Marge thrust the 
+suitcase into Harry’s stomach, knocking the wind out 
+of him, seized Dudley in a tight one-armed hug, and 
+planted a large kiss on his cheek. 
+
+Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley only put up 
+with Aunt Marge’s hugs because he was well paid for 
+it, and sure enough, when they broke apart, Dudley 
+had a crisp twenty-pound note clutched in his fat fist. 
+
+
+
+Page | 24 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Petunia!” shouted Aunt Marge, striding past Harry as 
+though he was a hat stand. Aunt Marge and Aunt 
+Petunia kissed, or rather, Aunt Marge bumped her 
+large jaw against Aunt Petunia’s bony cheekbone. 
+
+Uncle Vernon now came in, smiling jovially as he shut 
+the door. 
+
+“Tea, Marge?” he said. “And what will Ripper take?” 
+
+“Ripper can have some tea out of my saucer,” said 
+Aunt Marge as they all proceeded into the kitchen, 
+leaving Harry alone in the hall with the suitcase. But 
+Harry wasn’t complaining; any excuse not to be with 
+Aunt Marge was fine by him, so he began to heave the 
+case upstairs into the spare bedroom, taking as long 
+as he could. 
+
+By the time he got back to the kitchen, Aunt Marge 
+had been supplied with tea and fruitcake, and Ripper 
+was lapping noisily in the corner. Harry saw Aunt 
+Petunia wince slightly as specks of tea and drool 
+flecked her clean floor. Aunt Petunia hated animals. 
+
+“Who’s looking after the other dogs, Marge?” Uncle 
+Vernon asked. 
+
+“Oh, I’ve got Colonel Fubster managing them,” 
+boomed Aunt Marge. “He’s retired now, good for him 
+to have something to do. But I couldn’t leave poor old 
+Ripper. He pines if he’s away from me.” 
+
+Ripper began to growl again as Harry sat down. This 
+directed Aunt Marge’s attention to Harry for the first 
+time. 
+
+“So!” she barked. “Still here, are you?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 25 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t you say ‘yes’ in that ungrateful tone,” Aunt 
+Marge growled. “It’s damn good of Vernon and 
+Petunia to keep you. Wouldn’t have done it myself. 
+You’d have gone straight to an orphanage if you’d 
+been dumped on my doorstep.” 
+
+Harry was bursting to say that he’d rather live in an 
+orphanage than with the Dursleys, but the thought of 
+the Hogsmeade form stopped him. He forced his face 
+into a painful smile. 
+
+“Don’t you smirk at me!” boomed Aunt Marge. “I can 
+see you haven’t improved since I last saw you. I hoped 
+school would knock some manners into you.” She 
+took a large gulp of tea, wiped her mustache, and 
+said, “Where is it that you send him, again, Vernon?” 
+
+“St. Brutus’s,” said Uncle Vernon promptly. “It’s a 
+first-rate institution for hopeless cases.” 
+
+“I see,” said Aunt Marge. “Do they use the cane at St. 
+Brutus’s, boy?” she barked across the table. 
+
+“Er — ” 
+
+
+
+Uncle Vernon nodded curtly behind Aunt Marge’s 
+back. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. Then, feeling he might as well do 
+the thing properly, he added, “all the time.” 
+
+“Excellent,” said Aunt Marge. “I won’t have this 
+namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not 
+hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is 
+what’s needed in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. 
+Have you been beaten often?” 
+
+“Oh, yeah,” said Harry, “loads of times.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 26 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Aunt Marge narrowed her eyes. 
+
+
+
+“I still don’t like your tone, boy,” she said. “If you can 
+speak of your beatings in that casual way, they 
+clearly aren’t hitting you hard enough. Petunia, I’d 
+write if I were you. Make it clear that you approve the 
+use of extreme force in this boy’s case.” 
+
+Perhaps Uncle Vernon was worried that Harry might 
+forget their bargain; in any case, he changed the 
+subject abruptly. 
+
+“Heard the news this morning, Marge? What about 
+that escaped prisoner, eh?” 
+
+As Aunt Marge started to make herself at home, Harry 
+caught himself thinking almost longingly of life at 
+number four without her. Uncle Vernon and Aunt 
+Petunia usually encouraged Harry to stay out of their 
+way, which Harry was only too happy to do. Aunt 
+Marge, on the other hand, wanted Harry under her 
+eye at all times, so that she could boom out 
+suggestions for his improvement. She delighted in 
+comparing Harry with Dudley, and took huge 
+pleasure in buying Dudley expensive presents while 
+glaring at Harry, as though daring him to ask why he 
+hadn’t got a present too. She also kept throwing out 
+dark hints about what made Harry such an 
+unsatisfactory person. 
+
+“You mustn’t blame yourself for the way the boy’s 
+turned out, Vernon,” she said over lunch on the third 
+day. “If there’s something rotten on the inside, there’s 
+nothing anyone can do about it.” 
+
+Harry tried to concentrate on his food, but his hands 
+shook and his face was starting to burn with anger. 
+Remember the form, he told himself. Think about 
+Hogsmeade. Don’t say anything. Don’t rise — 
+
+Page | 27 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Aunt Marge reached for her glass of wine. 
+
+
+
+“It’s one of the basic rules of breeding,” she said. “You 
+see it all the time with dogs. If there’s something 
+wrong with the bitch, there’ll be something wrong 
+with the pup — ” 
+
+At that moment, the wineglass Aunt Marge was 
+holding exploded in her hand. Shards of glass flew in 
+every direction and Aunt Marge sputtered and 
+blinked, her great ruddy face dripping. 
+
+“Marge!” squealed Aunt Petunia. “Marge, are you all 
+right?” 
+
+“Not to worry,” grunted Aunt Marge, mopping her face 
+with her napkin. “Must have squeezed it too hard. Did 
+the same thing at Colonel Fubster’s the other day. No 
+need to fuss, Petunia, I have a very firm grip ...” 
+
+But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both 
+looking at Harry suspiciously, so he decided he’d 
+better skip dessert and escape from the table as soon 
+as he could. 
+
+Outside in the hall, he leaned against the wall, 
+breathing deeply. It had been a long time since he’d 
+lost control and made something explode. He couldn’t 
+afford to let it happen again. The Hogsmeade form 
+wasn’t the only thing at stake — if he carried on like 
+that, he’d be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+Harry was still an underage wizard, and he was 
+forbidden by wizard law to do magic outside school. 
+His record wasn’t exactly clean either. Only last 
+summer he’d gotten an official warning that had 
+stated quite clearly that if the Ministry got wind of 
+any more magic in Privet Drive, Harry would face 
+expulsion from Hogwarts. 
+
+Page | 28 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He heard the Dursleys leaving the table and hurried 
+upstairs out of the way. 
+
+Harry got through the next three days by forcing 
+himself to think about his Handbook of Do-It-Yourself 
+Broomcare whenever Aunt Marge started on him. This 
+worked quite well, though it seemed to give him a 
+glazed look, because Aunt Marge started voicing the 
+opinion that he was mentally subnormal. 
+
+At last, at long last, the final evening of Marge’s stay 
+arrived. Aunt Petunia cooked a fancy dinner and 
+Uncle Vernon uncorked several bottles of wine. They 
+got all the way through the soup and the salmon 
+without a single mention of Harry’s faults; during the 
+lemon meringue pie, Uncle Vernon bored them all 
+with a long talk about Grunnings, his drill-making 
+company; then Aunt Petunia made coffee and Uncle 
+Vernon brought out a bottle of brandy. 
+
+“Can I tempt you, Marge?” 
+
+Aunt Marge had already had quite a lot of wine. Her 
+huge face was very red. 
+
+“Just a small one, then,” she chuckled. “A bit more 
+than that ... and a bit more ... that’s the ticket.” 
+
+Dudley was eating his fourth slice of pie. Aunt 
+Petunia was sipping coffee with her little finger 
+sticking out. Harry really wanted to disappear into his 
+bedroom, but he met Uncle Vernon’s angry little eyes 
+and knew he would have to sit it out. 
+
+“Aah,” said Aunt Marge, smacking her lips and 
+putting the empty brandy glass back down. “Excellent 
+nosh, Petunia. It’s normally just a fry-up for me of an 
+evening, with twelve dogs to look after. ...” She 
+burped richly and patted her great tweed stomach. 
+Page | 29 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Pardon me. But I do like to see a healthy-sized boy,” 
+she went on, winking at Dudley. “You’ll be a proper- 
+sized man, Dudders, like your father. Yes, I’ll have a 
+spot more brandy, Vernon. ...” 
+
+“Now, this one here — ” 
+
+She jerked her head at Harry, who felt his stomach 
+clench. The Handbook, he thought quickly. 
+
+“This one’s got a mean, runty look about him. You get 
+that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last 
+year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred.” 
+
+Harry was trying to remember page twelve of his 
+book: A Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers. 
+
+“It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other 
+day. Bad blood will out. Now, I’m saying nothing 
+against your family, Petunia” — she patted Aunt 
+Petunia’s bony hand with her shovellike one — “but 
+your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best 
+families. Then she ran off with a wastrel and here’s 
+the result right in front of us.” 
+
+Harry was staring at his plate, a funny ringing in his 
+ears. Grasp your broom firmly by the tail, he thought. 
+But he couldn’t remember what came next. Aunt 
+Marge’s voice seemed to be boring into him like one of 
+Uncle Vernon’s drills. 
+
+“This Potter,” said Aunt Marge loudly, seizing the 
+brandy bottle and splashing more into her glass and 
+over the tablecloth, “you never told me what he did?” 
+
+Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were looking 
+extremely tense. Dudley had even looked up from his 
+pie to gape at his parents. 
+
+
+
+Page | 30 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He — didn’t work,” said Uncle Vernon, with half a 
+glance at Harry. “Unemployed.” 
+
+
+
+“As I expected!” said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig 
+of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. “A no- 
+account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who — ” 
+
+“He was not,” said Harry suddenly. The table went 
+very quiet. Harry was shaking all over. He had never 
+felt so angry in his life. 
+
+“MORE BRANDY!” yelled Uncle Vernon, who had gone 
+very white. He emptied the bottle into Aunt Marge’s 
+glass. “You, boy,” he snarled at Harry. “Go to bed, go 
+on — ” 
+
+
+
+“No, Vernon,” hiccuped Aunt Marge, holding up a 
+hand, her tiny bloodshot eyes fixed on Harry’s. “Go 
+on, boy, go on. Proud of your parents, are you? They 
+go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I 
+expect) — ” 
+
+“They didn’t die in a car crash!” said Harry, who 
+found himself on his feet. 
+
+“They died in a car crash, you nasty little liar, and left 
+you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking 
+relatives!” screamed Aunt Marge, swelling with fury. 
+“You are an insolent, ungrateful little — ” 
+
+But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking. For a 
+moment, it looked as though words had failed her. 
+
+She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger — 
+but the swelling didn’t stop. Her great red face started 
+to expand, her tiny eyes bulged, and her mouth 
+stretched too tightly for speech — next second, 
+several buttons had just burst from her tweed jacket 
+and pinged off the walls — she was inflating like a 
+monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her 
+Page | 31 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a 
+salami — 
+
+“MARGE!” yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia 
+together as Aunt Marge’s whole body began to rise off 
+her chair toward the ceiling. She was entirely round, 
+now, like a vast life buoy with piggy eyes, and her 
+hands and feet stuck out weirdly as she drifted up 
+into the air, making apoplectic popping noises. Ripper 
+came skidding into the room, barking madly. 
+
+“NOOOOOOO!” 
+
+Uncle Vernon seized one of Marge’s feet and tried to 
+pull her down again, but was almost lifted from the 
+floor himself. A second later, Ripper leapt forward and 
+sank his teeth into Uncle Vernon’s leg. 
+
+Harry tore from the dining room before anyone could 
+stop him, heading for the cupboard under the stairs. 
+The cupboard door burst magically open as he 
+reached it. In seconds, he had heaved his trunk to the 
+front door. He sprinted upstairs and threw himself 
+under the bed, wrenching up the loose floorboard, 
+and grabbed the pillowcase full of his books and 
+birthday presents. He wriggled out, seized Hedwig’s 
+empty cage, and dashed back downstairs to his 
+trunk, just as Uncle Vernon burst out of the dining 
+room, his trouser leg in bloody tatters. 
+
+“COME BACK IN HERE!” he bellowed. “COME BACK 
+AND PUT HER RIGHT!” 
+
+But a reckless rage had come over Harry. He kicked 
+his trunk open, pulled out his wand, and pointed it at 
+Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“She deserved it,” Harry said, breathing very fast. 
+
+“She deserved what she got. You keep away from me.” 
+
+Page | 32 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He fumbled behind him for the latch on the door. 
+
+
+
+“I’m going,” Harry said. “I’ve had enough.” 
+
+And in the next moment, he was out in the dark, 
+quiet street, heaving his heavy trunk behind him, 
+Hedwig’s cage under his arm. 
+
+
+
+Page | 33 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+3 
+
+
+
+
+THE KNIGHT BUS 
+
+Harry was several streets away before he collapsed 
+onto a low wall in Magnolia Crescent, panting from 
+the effort of dragging his trunk. He sat quite still, 
+anger still surging through him, listening to the 
+frantic thumping of his heart. 
+
+But after ten minutes alone in the dark street, a new 
+emotion overtook him: panic. Whichever way he 
+looked at it, he had never been in a worse fix. He was 
+stranded, quite alone, in the dark Muggle world, with 
+absolutely nowhere to go. And the worst of it was, he 
+had just done serious magic, which meant that he 
+was almost certainly expelled from Hogwarts. He had 
+broken the Decree for the Restriction of Underage 
+Wizardry so badly, he was surprised Ministry of Magic 
+representatives weren’t swooping down on him where 
+he sat. 
+
+Harry shivered and looked up and down Magnolia 
+Crescent. What was going to happen to him? Would 
+he be arrested, or would he simply be outlawed from 
+the wizarding world? He thought of Ron and 
+
+Page | 34 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Hermione, and his heart sank even lower. Harry was 
+sure that, criminal or not, Ron and Hermione would 
+want to help him now, but they were both abroad, 
+and with Hedwig gone, he had no means of contacting 
+them. 
+
+He didn’t have any Muggle money, either. There was a 
+little wizard gold in the money bag at the bottom of 
+his trunk, but the rest of the fortune his parents had 
+left him was stored in a vault at Gringotts Wizarding 
+Bank in London. He’d never be able to drag his trunk 
+all the way to London. Unless ... 
+
+He looked down at his wand, which he was still 
+clutching in his hand. If he was already expelled (his 
+heart was now thumping painfully fast), a bit more 
+magic couldn’t hurt. He had the Invisibility Cloak he 
+had inherited from his father — what if he bewitched 
+the trunk to make it feather-light, tied it to his 
+broomstick, covered himself in the cloak, and flew to 
+London? Then he could get the rest of his money out 
+of his vault and ... begin his life as an outcast. It was 
+a horrible prospect, but he couldn’t sit on this wall 
+forever, or he’d find himself trying to explain to 
+Muggle police why he was out in the dead of night 
+with a trunkful of spellbooks and a broomstick. 
+
+Harry opened his trunk again and pushed the 
+contents aside, looking for the Invisibility Cloak — 
+but before he had found it, he straightened up 
+suddenly, looking around him once more. 
+
+A funny prickling on the back of his neck had made 
+Harry feel he was being watched, but the street 
+appeared to be deserted, and no lights shone from 
+any of the large square houses. 
+
+He bent over his trunk again, but almost immediately 
+stood up once more, his hand clenched on his wand. 
+
+Page | 35 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He had sensed rather than heard it: someone or 
+something was standing in the narrow gap between 
+the garage and the fence behind him. Harry squinted 
+at the black alleyway. If only it would move, then he’d 
+know whether it was just a stray cat or — something 
+else. 
+
+“Lumos,” Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the 
+end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high 
+over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number 
+two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and 
+between them Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking 
+outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming 
+eyes. 
+
+Harry stepped backward. His legs hit his trunk and 
+he tripped. His wand flew out of his hand as he flung 
+out an arm to break his fall, and he landed, hard, in 
+the gutter — 
+
+There was a deafening BANG, and Harry threw up his 
+hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding 
+light — 
+
+With a yell, he rolled back onto the pavement, just in 
+time. A second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and 
+headlights screeched to a halt exactly where Harry 
+had just been lying. They belonged, as Harry saw 
+when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently 
+purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold 
+lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus. 
+
+For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been 
+knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple 
+uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak 
+loudly to the night. 
+
+“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for 
+the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your 
+
+Page | 36 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+wand hand, step on board, and we can take you 
+anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, 
+and I will be your conductor this eve — ” 
+
+The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught 
+sight of Harry, who was still sitting on the ground. 
+Harry snatched up his wand again and scrambled to 
+his feet. Close up, he saw that Stan Shunpike was 
+only a few years older than he was, eighteen or 
+nineteen at most, with large, protruding ears and 
+quite a few pimples. 
+
+“What were you doin’ down there?” said Stan, 
+dropping his professional manner. 
+
+“Fell over,” said Harry. 
+
+“ ’Choo fall over for?” sniggered Stan. 
+
+“I didn’t do it on purpose,” said Harry, annoyed. One 
+of the knees in his jeans was torn, and the hand he 
+had thrown out to break his fall was bleeding. He 
+suddenly remembered why he had fallen over and 
+turned around quickly to stare at the alleyway 
+between the garage and fence. The Knight Bus’s 
+headlamps were flooding it with light, and it was 
+empty. 
+
+“ ’Choo lookin’ at?” said Stan. 
+
+“There was a big black thing,” said Harry, pointing 
+uncertainly into the gap. “Like a dog ... but massive 
+
+
+
+He looked around at Stan, whose mouth was slightly 
+open. With a feeling of unease, Harry saw Stan’s eyes 
+move to the scar on Harry’s forehead. 
+
+“Woss that on your ’ead?” said Stan abruptly. 
+
+Page | 37 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry quickly, flattening his hair over 
+his scar. If the Ministry of Magic was looking for him, 
+he didn’t want to make it too easy for them. 
+
+“Woss your name?” Stan persisted. 
+
+“Neville Longbottom,” said Harry, saying the first 
+name that came into his head. “So — so this bus,” he 
+went on quickly, hoping to distract Stan, “did you say 
+it goes anywhere?” 
+
+“Yep,” said Stan proudly, “anywhere you like, long’s 
+it’s on land. Can’t do nuffink underwater. ’Ere,” he 
+said, looking suspicious again, “you did flag us down, 
+dincha? Stuck out your wand ’and, dincha?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry quickly. “Listen, how much would it 
+be to get to London?” 
+
+“Eleven Sickles,” said Stan, “but for firteen you get ’ot 
+chocolate, and for fifteen you get an ’ot water bottle 
+an’ a toofbrush in the color of your choice.” 
+
+Harry rummaged once more in his trunk, extracted 
+his money bag, and shoved some gold into Stan’s 
+hand. He and Stan then lifted his trunk, with 
+Hedwig’s cage balanced on top, up the steps of the 
+bus. 
+
+There were no seats; instead, half a dozen brass 
+bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows. 
+Candles were burning in brackets beside each bed, 
+illuminating the wood-paneled walls. A tiny wizard in 
+a nightcap at the rear of the bus muttered, “Not now, 
+thanks, I’m pickling some slugs” and rolled over in his 
+sleep. 
+
+“You ’ave this one,” Stan whispered, shoving Harry’s 
+trunk under the bed right behind the driver, who was 
+
+Page | 38 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+sitting in an armchair in front of the steering wheel. 
+“This is our driver, Ernie Prang. This is Neville 
+Longbottom, Ern.” 
+
+Ernie Prang, an elderly wizard wearing very thick 
+glasses, nodded to Harry, who nervously flattened his 
+bangs again and sat down on his bed. 
+
+“Take ’er away, Ern,” said Stan, sitting down in the 
+armchair next to Ernie’s. 
+
+There was another tremendous BANG, and the next 
+moment Harry found himself flat on his bed, thrown 
+backward by the speed of the Knight Bus. Pulling 
+himself up, Harry stared out of the dark window and 
+saw that they were now bowling along a completely 
+different street. Stan was watching Harry’s stunned 
+face with great enjoyment. 
+
+“This is where we was before you flagged us down,” he 
+said. “Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Wales?” 
+
+“Ar,” said Ernie. 
+
+“How come the Muggles don’t hear the bus?” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Them!” said Stan contemptuously. “Don’ listen 
+properly, do they? Don’ look properly either. Never 
+notice nuffink, they don’.” 
+
+“Best go wake up Madam Marsh, Stan,” said Ern. 
+“Well be in Abergavenny in a minute.” 
+
+Stan passed Harry’s bed and disappeared up a 
+narrow wooden staircase. Harry was still looking out 
+of the window, feeling increasingly nervous. Ernie 
+didn’t seem to have mastered the use of a steering 
+wheel. The Knight Bus kept mounting the pavement, 
+Page | 39 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+but it didn’t hit anything; lines of lampposts, 
+mailboxes, and trash cans jumped out of its way as it 
+approached and back into position once it had 
+passed. 
+
+Stan came back downstairs, followed by a faintly 
+green witch wrapped in a traveling cloak. 
+
+“ ’Ere you go, Madam Marsh,” said Stan happily as 
+Ern stamped on the brake and the beds slid a foot or 
+so toward the front of the bus. Madam Marsh 
+clamped a handkerchief to her mouth and tottered 
+down the steps. Stan threw her bag out after her and 
+rammed the doors shut; there was another loud 
+BANG, and they were thundering down a narrow 
+country lane, trees leaping out of the way. 
+
+Harry wouldn’t have been able to sleep even if he had 
+been traveling on a bus that didn’t keep banging 
+loudly and jumping a hundred miles at a time. His 
+stomach churned as he fell back to wondering what 
+was going to happen to him, and whether the 
+Dursleys had managed to get Aunt Marge off the 
+ceiling yet. 
+
+Stan had unfurled a copy of the Daily Prophet and 
+was now reading with his tongue between his teeth. A 
+large photograph of a sunken-faced man with long, 
+matted hair blinked slowly at Harry from the front 
+page. He looked strangely familiar. 
+
+“That man!” Harry said, forgetting his troubles for a 
+moment. “He was on the Muggle news!” 
+
+Stanley turned to the front page and chuckled. 
+
+“Sirius Black,” he said, nodding. “ ’Course ’e was on 
+the Muggle news, Neville, where you been?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 40 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He gave a superior sort of chuckle at the blank look 
+on Harry’s face, removed the front page, and handed 
+it to Harry. 
+
+“You oughta read the papers more, Neville.” 
+
+Harry held the paper up to the candlelight and read: 
+BLACK STILL AT LARGE 
+
+Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner 
+ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding 
+capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today. 
+
+“We are doing all we can to recapture Black,” said the 
+Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, 
+
+“and we beg the magical community to remain calm.” 
+
+Fudge has been criticized by some members of the 
+International Federation of Warlocks for informing the 
+Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis. 
+
+“Well, really, I had to, don’t you know,” said an 
+irritable Fudge. “Black is mad. He’s a danger to 
+anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the 
+Prime Minister’s assurance that he will not breathe a 
+word of Black’s true identity to anyone. And let’s face 
+it — who’d believe him if he did?” 
+
+While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a 
+gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill 
+each other), the magical community lives in fear of a 
+massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black 
+murdered thirteen people with a single curse. 
+
+
+
+Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, 
+the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive. 
+
+Page | 41 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen 
+pictures of them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked 
+just like one. 
+
+“Scary-lookin’ fing, inee?” said Stan, who had been 
+watching Harry read. 
+
+“He murdered thirteen people?” said Harry, handing 
+the page back to Stan, “with one curse?” 
+
+“Yep,” said Stan, “in front of witnesses an’ all. Broad 
+daylight. Big trouble it caused, dinnit, Ern?” 
+
+“Ar,” said Ern darkly. 
+
+Stan swiveled in his armchair, his hands on the back, 
+the better to look at Harry. 
+
+“Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-’Oo,” he said. 
+
+“What, Voldemort?” said Harry, without thinking. 
+
+Even Stan’s pimples went white; Ern jerked the 
+steering wheel so hard that a whole farmhouse had to 
+jump aside to avoid the bus. 
+
+“You outta your tree?” yelped Stan. “ ’Choo say ’is 
+name for?” 
+
+“Sorry,” said Harry hastily. “Sorry, I — I forgot — ” 
+
+“Forgot!” said Stan weakly. “Blimey, my ’eart’s goin’ 
+that fast...” 
+
+“So — so Black was a supporter of You-Know-Who?” 
+Harry prompted apologetically. 
+
+
+
+Page | 42 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah,” said Stan, still rubbing his chest. “Yeah, 
+that’s right. Very close to You-Know-’Oo, they say. 
+Anyway, when little ’Arry Potter got the better of You- 
+Know-’Oo — ” 
+
+Harry nervously flattened his bangs down again. 
+
+“ — all You-Know-’Oo’s supporters was tracked down, 
+wasn’t they, Ern? Most of ’em knew it was all over, 
+wiv You-Know-’Oo gone, and they came quiet. But not 
+Sirius Black. I ’eard he thought ’e’d be second-in- 
+command once You-Know-’Oo ’ad taken over. 
+
+“Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street 
+full of Muggles an’ Black took out ’is wand and ’e 
+blasted ’alf the street apart, an’ a wizard got it, an’ so 
+did a dozen Muggles what got in the way. ’Orrible, eh? 
+An’ you know what Black did then?” Stan continued 
+in a dramatic whisper. 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“Laughed,” said Stan. “Jus’ stood there an’ laughed. 
+An’ when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic 
+got there, ’e went wiv ’em quiet as anyfink, still 
+laughing ’is ’ead off. ’Cos ’e’s mad, inee, Ern? Inee 
+mad?” 
+
+“If he weren’t when he went to Azkaban, he will be 
+now,” said Ern in his slow voice. “I’d blow meself up 
+before I set foot in that place. Serves him right, mind 
+you ... after what he did. ...” 
+
+“They ’ad a job coverin’ it up, din’ they, Ern?” Stan 
+said. “ ’Ole street blown up an’ all them Muggles 
+dead. What was it they said ’ad ’appened, Ern?” 
+
+“Gas explosion,” grunted Ernie. 
+
+
+
+Page | 43 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“An’ now ’e’s out,” said Stan, examining the 
+newspaper picture of Black’s gaunt face again. “Never 
+been a breakout from Azkaban before, ’as there, Ern? 
+Beats me ’ow ’e did it. Frightenin’, eh? Mind, I don’t 
+fancy ’is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh, 
+Ern?” 
+
+Ernie suddenly shivered. 
+
+“Talk about summat else, Stan, there’s a good lad. 
+Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles.” 
+
+Stan put the paper away reluctantly, and Harry 
+leaned against the window of the Knight Bus, feeling 
+worse than ever. He couldn’t help imagining what 
+Stan might be telling his passengers in a few nights’ 
+time. 
+
+“ ’Ear about that ’Arry Potter? Blew up ’is aunt! We 
+’ad ’im ’ere on the Knight Bus, di’n’t we, Ern? ’E was 
+tryin’ to run for it. ...” 
+
+He, Harry, had broken wizard law just like Sirius 
+Black. Was inflating Aunt Marge bad enough to land 
+him in Azkaban? Harry didn’t know anything about 
+the wizard prison, though everyone he’d ever heard 
+speak of it did so in the same fearful tone. Hagrid, the 
+Hogwarts gamekeeper, had spent two months there 
+only last year. Harry wouldn’t soon forget the look of 
+terror on Hagrid ’s face when he had been told where 
+he was going, and Hagrid was one of the bravest 
+people Harry knew. 
+
+The Knight Bus rolled through the darkness, 
+scattering bushes and wastebaskets, telephone 
+booths and trees, and Harry lay, restless and 
+miserable, on his feather bed. After a while, Stan 
+remembered that Harry had paid for hot chocolate, 
+but poured it all over Harry’s pillow when the bus 
+Page | 44 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+moved abruptly from Anglesey to Aberdeen. One by 
+one, wizards and witches in dressing gowns and 
+slippers descended from the upper floors to leave the 
+bus. They all looked very pleased to go. 
+
+Finally, Harry was the only passenger left. 
+
+“Right then, Neville,” said Stan, clapping his hands, 
+“whereabouts in London?” 
+
+“Diagon Alley,” said Harry. 
+
+“Righto,” said Stan. “ ’Old tight, then ...” 
+
+BANG! 
+
+They were thundering along Charing Cross Road. 
+Harry sat up and watched buildings and benches 
+squeezing themselves out of the Knight Bus’s way. 
+
+The sky was getting a little lighter. He would lie low 
+for a couple of hours, go to Gringotts the moment it 
+opened, then set off — where, he didn’t know. 
+
+Ern slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus 
+skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby- 
+looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron, behind which lay 
+the magical entrance to Diagon Alley. 
+
+“Thanks,” Harry said to Ern. 
+
+He jumped down the steps and helped Stan lower his 
+trunk and Hedwig’s cage onto the pavement. 
+
+“Well,” said Harry. “ ’Bye then!” 
+
+But Stan wasn’t paying attention. Still standing in the 
+doorway to the bus, he was goggling at the shadowy 
+entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. 
+
+
+
+Page | 45 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ There you are, Harry,” said a voice. 
+
+
+
+Before Harry could turn, he felt a hand on his 
+shoulder. At the same time, Stan shouted, “Blimey! 
+Ern, come ’ere! Come ’ere!” 
+
+Harry looked up at the owner of the hand on his 
+shoulder and felt a bucketful of ice cascade into his 
+stomach — he had walked right into Cornelius Fudge, 
+the Minister of Magic himself. 
+
+Stan leapt onto the pavement beside them. 
+
+“What didja call Neville, Minister?” he said excitedly. 
+
+Fudge, a portly little man in a long, pinstriped cloak, 
+looked cold and exhausted. 
+
+“Neville?” he repeated, frowning. “This is Harry 
+Potter.” 
+
+“I knew it!” Stan shouted gleefully. “Ern! Ern! Guess 
+’oo Neville is, Ern! ’E’s ’Arry Potter! I can see ’is scar!” 
+
+“Yes,” said Fudge testily, “well, I’m very glad the 
+Knight Bus picked Harry up, but he and I need to 
+step inside the Leaky Cauldron now ...” 
+
+Fudge increased the pressure on Harry’s shoulder, 
+and Harry found himself being steered inside the pub. 
+A stooping figure bearing a lantern appeared through 
+the door behind the bar. It was Tom, the wizened, 
+toothless landlord. 
+
+“You’ve got him, Minister!” said Tom. “Will you be 
+wanting anything? Beer? Brandy?” 
+
+“Perhaps a pot of tea,” said Fudge, who still hadn’t let 
+go of Harry. 
+
+Page | 46 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a loud scraping and puffing from behind 
+them, and Stan and Ern appeared, carrying Harry’s 
+trunk and Hedwig’s cage and looking around 
+excitedly. 
+
+“ ’Ow come you di’n’t tell us ’oo you are, eh, Neville?” 
+said Stan, beaming at Harry, while Ernie’s owlish face 
+peered interestedly over Stan’s shoulder. 
+
+“And a private parlor, please, Tom,” said Fudge 
+pointedly. 
+
+“ ’Bye,” Harry said miserably to Stan and Ern as Tom 
+beckoned Fudge toward the passage that led from the 
+bar. 
+
+“ ’Bye, Neville!” called Stan. 
+
+Fudge marched Harry along the narrow passage after 
+Tom’s lantern, and then into a small parlor. Tom 
+clicked his fingers, a fire burst into life in the grate, 
+and he bowed himself out of the room. 
+
+“Sit down, Harry,” said Fudge, indicating a chair by 
+the fire. 
+
+Harry sat down, feeling goose bumps rising up his 
+arms despite the glow of the fire. Fudge took off his 
+pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up 
+the trousers of his bottle-green suit and sat down 
+opposite Harry. 
+
+“I am Cornelius Fudge, Harry. The Minister of Magic.” 
+
+Harry already knew this, of course; he had seen 
+Fudge once before, but as he had been wearing his 
+father’s Invisibility Cloak at the time, Fudge wasn’t to 
+know that. 
+
+
+
+Page | 47 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Tom the innkeeper reappeared, wearing an apron over 
+his nightshirt and bearing a tray of tea and crumpets. 
+He placed the tray on a table between Fudge and 
+Harry and left the parlor, closing the door behind 
+him. 
+
+“Well, Harry,” said Fudge, pouring out tea, “you’ve 
+had us all in a right flap, I don’t mind telling you. 
+Running away from your aunt and uncle’s house like 
+that! I’d started to think ... but you’re safe, and that’s 
+what matters.” 
+
+Fudge buttered himself a crumpet and pushed the 
+plate toward Harry. 
+
+“Eat, Harry, you look dead on your feet. Now then ... 
+You will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with 
+the unfortunate blowing-up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. 
+Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad 
+were dispatched to Privet Drive a few hours ago. Miss 
+Dursley has been punctured and her memory has 
+been modified. She has no recollection of the incident 
+at all. So that’s that, and no harm done.” 
+
+Fudge smiled at Harry over the rim of his teacup, 
+rather like an uncle surveying a favorite nephew. 
+Harry, who couldn’t believe his ears, opened his 
+mouth to speak, couldn’t think of anything to say, 
+and closed it again. 
+
+“Ah, you’re worrying about the reaction of your aunt 
+and uncle?” said Fudge. ���Well, I won’t deny that they 
+are extremely angry, Harry, but they are prepared to 
+take you back next summer as long as you stay at 
+Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays.” 
+
+Harry unstuck his throat. 
+
+
+
+Page | 48 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I always stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and 
+Easter holidays,” he said, “and I don’t ever want to go 
+back to Privet Drive.” 
+
+“Now, now, I’m sure you’ll feel differently once you’ve 
+calmed down,” said Fudge in a worried tone. “They 
+are your family, after all, and I’m sure you are fond of 
+each other — er — very deep down.” 
+
+It didn’t occur to Harry to put Fudge right. He was 
+still waiting to hear what was going to happen to him 
+now. 
+
+“So all that remains,” said Fudge, now buttering 
+himself a second crumpet, “is to decide where you’re 
+going to spend the last three weeks of your vacation. I 
+suggest you take a room here at the Leaky Cauldron 
+and — ” 
+
+“Hang on,” blurted Harry. “What about my 
+punishment?” 
+
+Fudge blinked. 
+
+“Punishment?” 
+
+“I broke the law!” Harry said. “The Decree for the 
+Restriction of Underage Wizardry!” 
+
+“Oh, my dear boy, we’re not going to punish you for a 
+little thing like that!” cried Fudge, waving his crumpet 
+impatiently. “It was an accident! We don’t send people 
+to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!” 
+
+But this didn’t tally at all with Harry’s past dealings 
+with the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+“Last year, I got an official warning just because a 
+house-elf smashed a pudding in my uncle’s house!” 
+
+Page | 49 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he told Fudge, frowning. “The Ministry of Magic said 
+I’d be expelled from Hogwarts if there was any more 
+magic there!” 
+
+Unless Harry’s eyes were deceiving him, Fudge was 
+suddenly looking awkward. 
+
+“Circumstances change, Harry. ... We have to take 
+into account ... in the present climate . . . Surely you 
+don’t want to be expelled?” 
+
+“Of course I don’t,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well then, what’s all the fuss about?” laughed Fudge. 
+“Now, have a crumpet, Harry, while I go and see if 
+Tom’s got a room for you.” 
+
+Fudge strode out of the parlor and Harry stared after 
+him. There was something extremely odd going on. 
+Why had Fudge been waiting for him at the Leaky 
+Cauldron, if not to punish him for what he’d done? 
+And now Harry came to think of it, surely it wasn’t 
+usual for the Minister of Magic himself to get involved 
+in matters of underage magic? 
+
+Fudge came back, accompanied by Tom the 
+innkeeper. 
+
+“Room eleven’s free, Harry,” said Fudge. “I think you’ll 
+be very comfortable. Just one thing, and I’m sure 
+you’ll understand ... I don’t want you wandering off 
+into Muggle London, all right? Keep to Diagon Alley. 
+And you’re to be back here before dark each night. 
+Sure you’ll understand. Tom will be keeping an eye on 
+you for me.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry slowly, “but why — ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 50 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t want to lose you again, do we?” said Fudge 
+with a hearty laugh. “No, no ... best we know where 
+you are. ... I mean ...” 
+
+Fudge cleared his throat loudly and picked up his 
+pinstriped cloak. 
+
+“Well, I’ll be off, plenty to do, you know. ...” 
+
+“Have you had any luck with Black yet?” Harry asked. 
+
+Fudge’s finger slipped on the silver fastenings of his 
+cloak. 
+
+“What’s that? Oh, you’ve heard — well, no, not yet, 
+but it’s only a matter of time. The Azkaban guards 
+have never yet failed ... and they are angrier than I’ve 
+ever seen them.” 
+
+Fudge shuddered slightly. 
+
+“So, I’ll say good-bye.” 
+
+He held out his hand and Harry, shaking it, had a 
+sudden idea. 
+
+“Er — Minister? Can I ask you something?” 
+
+“Certainly,” said Fudge with a smile. 
+
+“Well, third years at Hogwarts are allowed to visit 
+Hogsmeade, but my aunt and uncle didn’t sign the 
+permission form. D’you think you could — ?” 
+
+Fudge was looking uncomfortable. 
+
+“Ah,” he said. “No, no, I’m very sorry, Harry, but as 
+I’m not your parent or guardian — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 51 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But you’re the Minister of Magic,” said Harry eagerly. 
+“If you gave me permission — ” 
+
+“No, I’m sorry, Harry, but rules are rules,” said Fudge 
+flatly. “Perhaps you’ll be able to visit Hogsmeade next 
+year. In fact, I think it’s best if you don’t ... yes ... 
+well, I’ll be off. Enjoy your stay, Harry.” 
+
+And with a last smile and shake of Harry’s hand, 
+Fudge left the room. Tom now moved forward, 
+beaming at Harry. 
+
+“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Potter,” he said, “I’ve already 
+taken your things up. ...” 
+
+Harry followed Tom up a handsome wooden staircase 
+to a door with a brass number eleven on it, which 
+Tom unlocked and opened for him. 
+
+Inside was a very comfortable-looking bed, some 
+highly polished oak furniture, a cheerfully crackling 
+fire and, perched on top of the wardrobe — 
+
+“Hedwig!” Harry gasped. 
+
+The snowy owl clicked her beak and fluttered down 
+onto Harry’s arm. 
+
+“Very smart owl you’ve got there,” chuckled Tom. 
+“Arrived about five minutes after you did. If there’s 
+anything you need, Mr. Potter, don’t hesitate to ask.” 
+
+He gave another bow and left. 
+
+Harry sat on his bed for a long time, absentmindedly 
+stroking Hedwig. The sky outside the window was 
+changing rapidly from deep, velvety blue to cold, 
+steely gray and then, slowly, to pink shot with gold. 
+Harry could hardly believe that he’d left Privet Drive 
+Page | 52 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+only a few hours ago, that he wasn’t expelled, and 
+that he was now facing three Dursley-free weeks. 
+
+
+
+“It’s been a very weird night, Hedwig,” he yawned. 
+
+And without even removing his glasses, he slumped 
+back onto his pillows and fell asleep. 
+
+
+
+Page | 53 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LEAKY CAULDRON 
+
+It took Harry several days to get used to his strange 
+new freedom. Never before had he been able to get up 
+whenever he wanted or eat whatever he fancied. He 
+could even go wherever he pleased, as long as it was 
+in Diagon Alley, and as this long cobbled street was 
+packed with the most fascinating wizarding shops in 
+the world, Harry felt no desire to break his word to 
+Fudge and stray back into the Muggle world. 
+
+Harry ate breakfast each morning in the Leaky 
+Cauldron, where he liked watching the other guests: 
+funny little witches from the country, up for a day’s 
+shopping; venerable-looking wizards arguing over the 
+latest article in Transfiguration Today; wild-looking 
+warlocks; raucous dwarfs; and once, what looked 
+suspiciously like a hag, who ordered a plate of raw 
+liver from behind a thick woollen balaclava. 
+
+After breakfast Harry would go out into the backyard, 
+take out his wand, tap the third brick from the left 
+above the trash bin, and stand back as the archway 
+into Diagon Alley opened in the wall. 
+
+Page | 54 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Harry spent the long sunny days exploring the shops 
+and eating under the brightly colored umbrellas 
+outside cafes, where his fellow diners were showing 
+one another their purchases (“it’s a lunascope, old 
+boy — no more messing around with moon charts, 
+see?”) or else discussing the case of Sirius Black 
+(“personally, I won’t let any of the children out alone 
+until he’s back in Azkaban”). Harry didn’t have to do 
+his homework under the blankets by flashlight 
+anymore; now he could sit in the bright sunshine 
+outside Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor, 
+finishing all his essays with occasional help from 
+Florean Fortescue himself, who, apart from knowing a 
+great deal about medieval witch burnings, gave Harry 
+free sundaes every half an hour. 
+
+Once Harry had refilled his money bag with gold 
+Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts from his 
+vault at Gringotts, he had to exercise a lot of self- 
+control not to spend the whole lot at once. He had to 
+keep reminding himself that he had five years to go at 
+Hogwarts, and how it would feel to ask the Dursleys 
+for money for spellbooks, to stop himself from buying 
+a handsome set of solid gold Gobstones (a wizarding 
+game rather like marbles, in which the stones squirt a 
+nasty-smelling liquid into the other player’s face when 
+they lose a point). He was sorely tempted, too, by the 
+perfect, moving model of the galaxy in a large glass 
+ball, which would have meant he never had to take 
+another Astronomy lesson. But the thing that tested 
+Harry’s resolution most appeared in his favorite shop, 
+Quality Quidditch Supplies, a week after he’d arrived 
+at the Leaky Cauldron. 
+
+Curious to know what the crowd in the shop was 
+staring at, Harry edged his way inside and squeezed 
+in among the excited witches and wizards until he 
+glimpsed a newly erected podium, on which was 
+
+
+
+Page | 55 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+mounted the most magnificent broom he had ever 
+seen in his life. 
+
+“Just come out — prototype — ” a square-jawed 
+wizard was telling his companion. 
+
+“It’s the fastest broom in the world, isn’t it, Dad?” 
+squeaked a boy younger than Harry, who was 
+swinging off his father’s arm. 
+
+“Irish International Side’s just put in an order for 
+seven of these beauties!” the proprietor of the shop 
+told the crowd. “And they’re favorites for the World 
+Cup!” 
+
+A large witch in front of Harry moved, and he was 
+able to read the sign next to the broom: 
+
+THE FIREBOLT 
+
+This state-of-the-art racing broom sports a stream- 
+lined, superfine handle of ash, treated with a 
+diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its 
+own registration number. Each individually selected 
+birch twig in the broomtail has been honed to 
+aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt 
+unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The 
+Firebolt has an acceleration of 150 miles an hour in 
+ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable 
+Braking Charm. Price on request. 
+
+Price on request ... Harry didn’t like to think how 
+much gold the Firebolt would cost. He had never 
+wanted anything as much in his whole life — but he 
+had never lost a Quidditch match on his Nimbus Two 
+Thousand, and what was the point in emptying his 
+Gringotts vault for the Firebolt, when he had a very 
+good broom already? Harry didn’t ask for the price, 
+
+
+
+Page | 56 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+but he returned, almost every day after that, just to 
+look at the Firebolt. 
+
+There were, however, things that Harry needed to 
+buy. He went to the Apothecary to replenish his store 
+of potions ingredients, and as his school robes were 
+now several inches too short in the arm and leg, he 
+visited Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions and 
+bought new ones. Most important of all, he had to 
+buy his new schoolbooks, which would include those 
+for his two new subjects, Care of Magical Creatures 
+and Divination. 
+
+Harry got a surprise as he looked in at the bookshop 
+window. Instead of the usual display of gold- 
+embossed spellbooks the size of paving slabs, there 
+was a large iron cage behind the glass that held about 
+a hundred copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. 
+Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books 
+grappled with each other, locked together in furious 
+wrestling matches and snapping aggressively. 
+
+Harry pulled his booklist out of his pocket and 
+consulted it for the first time. The Monster Book of 
+Monsters was listed as the required book for Care of 
+Magical Creatures. Now Harry understood why Hagrid 
+had said it would come in useful. He felt relieved; he 
+had been wondering whether Hagrid wanted help with 
+some terrifying new pet. 
+
+As Harry entered Flourish and Blotts, the manager 
+came hurrying toward him. 
+
+“Hogwarts?” he said abruptly. “Come to get your new 
+books?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, “I need — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 57 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Get out of the way,” said the manager impatiently, 
+brushing Harry aside. He drew on a pair of very thick 
+gloves, picked up a large, knobbly walking stick, and 
+proceeded toward the door of the Monster Books’ cage. 
+
+“Hang on,” said Harry quickly, “I’ve already got one of 
+those.” 
+
+“Have you?” A look of enormous relief spread over the 
+manager’s face. “Thank heavens for that. I’ve been 
+bitten five times already this morning — ” 
+
+A loud ripping noise rent the air; two of the Monster 
+Books had seized a third and were pulling it apart. 
+
+“Stop it! Stop it!” cried the manager, poking the 
+walking stick through the bars and knocking the 
+books apart. “I’m never stocking them again, never! 
+
+It’s been bedlam! I thought we’d seen the worst when 
+we bought two hundred copies of the Invisible Book of 
+Invisibility — cost a fortune, and we never found 
+them. ... Well ... is there anything else I can help you 
+with?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, looking down his booklist, “I need 
+Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky.” 
+
+“Ah, starting Divination, are you?” said the manager, 
+stripping off his gloves and leading Harry into the 
+back of the shop, where there was a corner devoted to 
+fortune-telling. A small table was stacked with 
+volumes such as Predicting the Unpredictable: Insulate 
+Yourself Against Shocks and Broken Balls: When 
+Fortunes Turn Foul. 
+
+“Here you are,” said the manager, who had climbed a 
+set of steps to take down a thick, black-bound book. 
+“Unfogging the Future. Very good guide to all your 
+
+
+
+Page | 58 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+basic fortune-telling methods — palmistry, crystal 
+balls, bird entrails — ” 
+
+But Harry wasn’t listening. His eyes had fallen on 
+another book, which was among a display on a small 
+table: Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the 
+Worst Is Coming. 
+
+“Oh, I wouldn’t read that if I were you,” said the 
+manager lightly, looking to see what Harry was 
+staring at. “You’ll start seeing death omens 
+everywhere. It’s enough to frighten anyone to death.” 
+
+But Harry continued to stare at the front cover of the 
+book; it showed a black dog large as a bear, with 
+gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar. ... 
+
+The manager pressed Unfogging the Future into 
+Harry’s hands. 
+
+“Anything else?” he said. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, tearing his eyes away from the 
+dog’s and dazedly consulting his booklist. “Er — I 
+need Intermediate Transfiguration and The Standard 
+Book of Spells, Grade Three.” 
+
+Harry emerged from Flourish and Blotts ten minutes 
+later with his new books under his arms and made 
+his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, hardly noticing 
+where he was going and bumping into several people. 
+
+He tramped up the stairs to his room, went inside, 
+and tipped his books onto his bed. Somebody had 
+been in to tidy; the windows were open and sun was 
+pouring inside. Harry could hear the buses rolling by 
+in the unseen Muggle street behind him and the 
+sound of the invisible crowd below in Diagon Alley. He 
+caught sight of himself in the mirror over the basin. 
+Page | 59 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It can’t have been a death omen,” he told his 
+reflection defiantly. “I was panicking when I saw that 
+thing in Magnolia Crescent. ... It was probably just a 
+stray dog. ...” 
+
+He raised his hand automatically and tried to make 
+his hair lie flat. 
+
+“You’re fighting a losing battle there, dear,” said his 
+mirror in a wheezy voice. 
+
+As the days slipped by, Harry started looking 
+wherever he went for a sign of Ron or Hermione. 
+
+Plenty of Hogwarts students were arriving in Diagon 
+Alley now, with the start of term so near. Harry met 
+Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, his fellow 
+Gryffindors, in Quality Quidditch Supplies, where 
+they too were ogling the Firebolt; he also ran into the 
+real Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, forgetful boy, 
+outside Flourish and Blotts. Harry didn’t stop to chat; 
+Neville appeared to have mislaid his booklist and was 
+being told off by his very formidable-looking 
+grandmother. Harry hoped she never found out that 
+he’d pretended to be Neville while on the run from the 
+Ministry of Magic. 
+
+Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking 
+that he would at least meet Ron and Hermione 
+tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up, 
+dressed, went for a last look at the Firebolt, and was 
+just wondering where he’d have lunch, when someone 
+yelled his name and he turned. 
+
+“Harry! HARRY!” 
+
+They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean 
+Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor — Ron looking 
+incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving 
+frantically at him. 
+
+Page | 60 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Finally!” said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down. 
+“We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you’d 
+left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam 
+Malkin’s, and — ” 
+
+“I got all my school stuff last week,” Harry explained. 
+“And how come you knew I’m staying at the Leaky 
+Cauldron?” 
+
+“Dad,” said Ron simply. 
+
+Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, 
+would of course have heard the whole story of what 
+had happened to Aunt Marge. 
+
+“Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?” said 
+Hermione in a very serious voice. 
+
+“I didn’t mean to,” said Harry while Ron roared with 
+laughter. “I just — lost control.” 
+
+“It’s not funny, Ron,” said Hermione sharply. 
+“Honestly, I’m amazed Harry wasn’t expelled.” 
+
+“So am I,” admitted Harry. “Forget expelled, I thought 
+I was going to be arrested.” He looked at Ron. “Your 
+dad doesn’t know why Fudge let me off, does he?” 
+
+“Probably ’cause it’s you, isn’t it?” shrugged Ron, still 
+chuckling. “Famous Harry Potter and all that. I’d hate 
+to see what the Ministry’d do to me if I blew up an 
+aunt. Mind you, they’d have to dig me up first, 
+because Mum would’ve killed me. Anyway, you can 
+ask Dad yourself this evening. We’re staying at the 
+Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to 
+King’s Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione’s there as 
+well!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 61 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione nodded, beaming. “Mum and Dad dropped 
+me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things.” 
+
+“Excellent!” said Harry happily. “So, have you got all 
+your new books and stuff?” 
+
+“Look at this,” said Ron, pulling a long thin box out of 
+a bag and opening it. “Brand-new wand. Fourteen 
+inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair. And 
+we’ve got all our books — ” He pointed at a large bag 
+under his chair. “What about those Monster Books, 
+eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we 
+wanted two.” 
+
+“What’s all that, Hermione?” Harry asked, pointing at 
+not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to 
+her. 
+
+“Well, I’m taking more new subjects than you, aren’t 
+I?” said Hermione. “Those are my books for 
+Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, 
+Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies — ” 
+
+“What are you doing Muggle Studies for?” said Ron, 
+rolling his eyes at Harry. “You’re Muggle-born! Your 
+mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all 
+about Muggles!” 
+
+“But it’ll be fascinating to study them from the 
+wizarding point of view,” said Hermione earnestly. 
+
+“Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, 
+Hermione?” asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. 
+Hermione ignored them. 
+
+“I’ve still got ten Galleons,” she said, checking her 
+purse. “It’s my birthday in September, and Mum and 
+Dad gave me some money to get myself an early 
+birthday present.” 
+
+Page | 62 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How about a nice book?” said Ron innocently. 
+
+“No, I don’t think so,” said Hermione composedly. “I 
+really want an owl. I mean, Harry’s got Hedwig and 
+you’ve got Errol — ” 
+
+“I haven’t,” said Ron. “Errol’s a family owl. All I’ve got 
+is Scabbers.” He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. 
+“And I want to get him checked over,” he added, 
+placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. “I 
+don’t think Egypt agreed with him.” 
+
+Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there 
+was a definite droop to his whiskers. 
+
+“There’s a magical creature shop just over there,” said 
+Harry, who knew Diagon Alley very well by now. “You 
+could see if they’ve got anything for Scabbers, and 
+Hermione can get her owl.” 
+
+So they paid for their ice cream and crossed the street 
+to the Magical Menagerie. 
+
+There wasn’t much room inside. Every inch of wall 
+was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy 
+because the occupants of these cages were all 
+squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The 
+witch behind the counter was already advising a 
+wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione waited, examining the cages. 
+
+A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly 
+and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise 
+with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the 
+window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly 
+up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit 
+kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with 
+a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every 
+color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny 
+Page | 63 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, 
+and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats 
+that were playing some sort of skipping game using 
+their long, bald tails. 
+
+The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron 
+approached the counter. 
+
+“It’s my rat,” he told the witch. “He been a bit off-color 
+ever since I brought him back from Egypt.” 
+
+“Bang him on the counter,” said the witch, pulling a 
+pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket. 
+
+Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and 
+placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who 
+stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire 
+for a better look. 
+
+Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat 
+was secondhand (he had once belonged to Ron’s 
+brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy 
+rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone. 
+
+“Hm,” said the witch, picking up Scabbers. “How old 
+is this rat?” 
+
+“Dunno,” said Ron. “Quite old. He used to belong to 
+my brother.” 
+
+“What powers does he have?” said the witch, 
+examining Scabbers closely. 
+
+“Er — ” The truth was that Scabbers had never shown 
+the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witch’s 
+eyes moved from Scabbers ’s tattered left ear to his 
+front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted 
+loudly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 64 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He’s been through the mill, this one,” she said. 
+
+
+
+“He was like that when Percy gave him to me,” said 
+Ron defensively. 
+
+“An ordinary common or garden rat like this can’t be 
+expected to live longer than three years or so,” said 
+the witch. “Now, if you were looking for something a 
+bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these — ” 
+
+She indicated the black rats, who promptly started 
+skipping again. Ron muttered, “Show-offs.” 
+
+“Well, if you don’t want a replacement, you can try 
+this rat tonic,” said the witch, reaching under the 
+counter and bringing out a small red bottle. 
+
+“Okay,” said Ron. “How much — OUCH!” 
+
+Ron buckled as something huge and orange came 
+soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on 
+his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at 
+Scabbers. 
+
+“NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!” cried the witch, but 
+Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of 
+soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then 
+scampered for the door. 
+
+“Scabbers!” Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after 
+him; Harry followed. 
+
+It took them nearly ten minutes to catch Scabbers, 
+who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside 
+Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling 
+rat back into his pocket and straightened up, 
+massaging his head. 
+
+“What was that?” 
+
+Page | 65 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger,” 
+said Harry. 
+
+“Where’s Hermione?” 
+
+“Probably getting her owl — ” 
+
+They made their way back up the crowded street to 
+the Magical Menagerie. As they reached it, Hermione 
+came out, but she wasn’t carrying an owl. Her arms 
+were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat. 
+
+“You bought that monster?” said Ron, his mouth 
+hanging open. 
+
+“He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” said Hermione, glowing. 
+
+That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The 
+cat’s ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was 
+definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy 
+and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong 
+into a brick wall. Now that Scabbers was out of sight, 
+however, the cat was purring contentedly in 
+Hermione ’s arms. 
+
+“Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!” said Ron. 
+
+“He didn’t mean to, did you, Crookshanks?” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“And what about Scabbers?” said Ron, pointing at the 
+lump in his chest pocket. “He needs rest and 
+relaxation! How’s he going to get it with that thing 
+around?” 
+
+“That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic,” said 
+Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron’s 
+hand. “And stop worrying, Crookshanks will be 
+sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, 
+
+Page | 66 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+what’s the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch 
+said he’d been in there for ages; no one wanted him.” 
+
+“I wonder why,” said Ron sarcastically as they set off 
+toward the Leaky Cauldron. 
+
+They found Mr. Weasley sitting in the bar, reading the 
+Daily Prophet. 
+
+“Harry!” he said, smiling as he looked up. “How are 
+you?” 
+
+“Fine, thanks,” said Harry as he, Ron, and Hermione 
+joined Mr. Weasley with all their shopping. 
+
+Mr. Weasley put down his paper, and Harry saw the 
+now familiar picture of Sirius Black staring up at him. 
+
+“They still haven’t caught him, then?” he asked. 
+
+“No,” said Mr. Weasley, looking extremely grave. 
+“They’ve pulled us all off our regular jobs at the 
+Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far.” 
+
+“Would we get a reward if we caught him?” asked 
+Ron. “It’d be good to get some more money — ” 
+
+“Don’t be ridiculous, Ron,” said Mr. Weasley, who on 
+closer inspection looked very strained. “Black’s not 
+going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old wizard. It’s 
+the Azkaban guards who’ll get him back, you mark 
+my words.” 
+
+At that moment Mrs. Weasley entered the bar, laden 
+with shopping bags and followed by the twins, Fred 
+and George, who were about to start their fifth year at 
+Hogwarts; the newly elected Head Boy, Percy; and the 
+Weasleys’ youngest child and only girl, Ginny. 
+
+
+
+Page | 67 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ginny, who had always been very taken with Harry, 
+seemed even more heartily embarrassed than usual 
+when she saw him, perhaps because he had saved 
+her life during their previous year at Hogwarts. She 
+went very red and muttered “hello” without looking at 
+him. Percy, however, held out his hand solemnly as 
+though he and Harry had never met and said, “Harry. 
+How nice to see you.” 
+
+“Hello, Percy,” said Harry, trying not to laugh. 
+
+“I hope you’re well?” said Percy pompously, shaking 
+hands. It was rather like being introduced to the 
+mayor. 
+
+“Very well, thanks — ” 
+
+“Harry!” said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and 
+bowing deeply. “Simply splendid to see you, old boy — 
+
+
+
+“Marvelous,” said George, pushing Fred aside and 
+seizing Harry’s hand in turn. “Absolutely spiffing.” 
+
+Percy scowled. 
+
+“That’s enough, now,” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Mum!” said Fred as though he’d only just spotted her 
+and seizing her hand too. “How really corking to see 
+you — ” 
+
+“I said, that’s enough,” said Mrs. Weasley, depositing 
+her shopping in an empty chair. “Hello, Harry, dear. I 
+suppose you’ve heard our exciting news?” She pointed 
+to the brand-new silver badge on Percy’s chest. 
+“Second Head Boy in the family!” she said, swelling 
+with pride. 
+
+
+
+Page | 68 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And last,” Fred muttered under his breath. 
+
+
+
+“I don’t doubt that,” said Mrs. Weasley, frowning 
+suddenly. “I notice they haven’t made you two 
+prefects.” 
+
+“What do we want to be prefects for?” said George, 
+looking revolted at the very idea. “It’d take all the fun 
+out of life.” 
+
+Ginny giggled. 
+
+“You want to set a better example for your sister!” 
+snapped Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Ginny’s got other brothers to set her an example, 
+Mother,” said Percy loftily. “I’m going up to change for 
+dinner. ...” 
+
+He disappeared and George heaved a sigh. 
+
+“We tried to shut him in a pyramid,” he told Harry. 
+“But Mum spotted us.” 
+
+Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair. Tom the 
+innkeeper put three tables together in the parlor, and 
+the seven Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione ate their 
+way through five delicious courses. 
+
+“How’re we getting to King’s Cross tomorrow, Dad?” 
+asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous chocolate 
+pudding. 
+
+“The Ministry’s providing a couple of cars,” said Mr. 
+Weasley. 
+
+Everyone looked up at him. 
+
+“Why?” said Percy curiously. 
+
+Page | 69 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s because of you, Perce,” said George seriously. 
+“And there’ll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on 
+them — ” 
+
+“ — for Humongous Bighead,” said Fred. 
+
+Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into 
+their pudding. 
+
+“Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?” Percy 
+asked again, in a dignified voice. 
+
+“Well, as we haven’t got one anymore,” said Mr. 
+Weasley, “ — and as I work there, they’re doing me a 
+favor — ” 
+
+His voice was casual, but Harry couldn’t help noticing 
+that Mr. Weasley’s ears had gone red, just like Ron’s 
+did when he was under pressure. 
+
+“Good thing, too,” said Mrs. Weasley briskly. “Do you 
+realize how much luggage you’ve all got between you? 
+A nice sight you’d be on the Muggle Underground. ... 
+You are all packed, aren’t you?” 
+
+“Ron hasn’t put all his new things in his trunk yet,” 
+said Percy, in a long-suffering voice. “He’s dumped 
+them on my bed.” 
+
+“You’d better go and pack properly, Ron, because we 
+won’t have much time in the morning,” Mrs. Weasley 
+called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy. 
+
+After dinner everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by 
+one they made their way upstairs to their rooms to 
+check their things for the next day. Ron and Percy 
+were next door to Harry. He had just closed and 
+locked his own trunk when he heard angry voices 
+through the wall, and went to see what was going on. 
+Page | 70 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The door of number twelve was ajar and Percy was 
+shouting. 
+
+“It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for 
+polishing — ” 
+
+“I haven’t touched it, all right?” Ron roared back. 
+“What’s up?” said Harry. 
+
+“My Head Boy badge is gone,” said Percy, rounding on 
+Harry. 
+
+“So’s Scabbers’s rat tonic,” said Ron, throwing things 
+out of his trunk to look. “I think I might’ve left it in 
+the bar — ” 
+
+“You’re not going anywhere till you’ve found my 
+badge!” yelled Percy. 
+
+“I’ll get Scabbers’s stuff, I’m packed,” Harry said to 
+Ron, and he went downstairs. 
+
+Harry was halfway along the passage to the bar, 
+which was now very dark, when he heard another 
+pair of angry voices coming from the parlor. A second 
+later, he recognized them as Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys’. 
+He hesitated, not wanting them to know he’d heard 
+them arguing, when the sound of his own name made 
+him stop, then move closer to the parlor door. 
+
+“... makes no sense not to tell him,” Mr. Weasley was 
+saying heatedly. “Harry’s got a right to know. I’ve tried 
+to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a 
+child. He’s thirteen years old and — ” 
+
+“Arthur, the truth would terrify him!” said Mrs. 
+Weasley shrilly. “Do you really want to send Harry 
+
+
+
+Page | 71 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+back to school with that hanging over him? For 
+heaven’s sake, he’s happy not knowing!” 
+
+“I don’t want to make him miserable, I want to put 
+him on his guard!” retorted Mr. Weasley. “You know 
+what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by 
+themselves — they’ve even ended up in the Forbidden 
+Forest! But Harry mustn’t do that this year! When I 
+think what could have happened to him that night he 
+ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn’t picked 
+him up, I’m prepared to bet he would have been dead 
+before the Ministry found him.” 
+
+“But he’s not dead, he’s fine, so what’s the point — ” 
+
+“Molly, they say Sirius Black’s mad, and maybe he is, 
+but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, 
+and that’s supposed to be impossible. It’s been a 
+month, and no one’s seen hide nor hair of him, and I 
+don’t care what Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet, 
+we’re no nearer catching Black than inventing self- 
+spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is 
+what Black’s after — ” 
+
+“But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts.” 
+
+“We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can 
+break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts.” 
+
+“But no one’s really sure that Black’s after Harry — ” 
+
+There was a thud on wood, and Harry was sure Mr. 
+Weasley had banged his fist on the table. 
+
+“Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They 
+didn’t report it in the press because Fudge wanted it 
+kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night 
+Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Black’s 
+been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the 
+Page | 72 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+same words: ‘He’s at Hogwarts ... he’s at Hogwarts.’ 
+Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If 
+you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring 
+You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything 
+the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he’s had 
+twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that. ...” 
+
+There was a silence. Harry leaned still closer to the 
+door, desperate to hear more. 
+
+“Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. 
+But you’re forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don’t think 
+anything could hurt Harry at Hogwarts while 
+Dumbledore ’s headmaster. I suppose he knows about 
+all this?” 
+
+“Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds 
+the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the 
+entrances to the school grounds. He wasn’t happy 
+about it, but he agreed.” 
+
+“Not happy? Why shouldn’t he be happy, if they’re 
+there to catch Black?” 
+
+“Dumbledore isn’t fond of the Azkaban guards,” said 
+Mr. Weasley heavily. “Nor am I, if it comes to that ... 
+but when you’re dealing with a wizard like Black, you 
+sometimes have to join forces with those you’d rather 
+avoid.” 
+
+“If they save Harry — ” 
+
+“ — then I will never say another word against them,” 
+said Mr. Weasley wearily. “It’s late, Molly, we’d better 
+go up. ...” 
+
+Harry heard chairs move. As quietly as he could, he 
+hurried down the passage to the bar and out of sight. 
+The parlor door opened, and a few seconds later 
+
+Page | 73 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+footsteps told him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were 
+climbing the stairs. 
+
+
+
+The bottle of rat tonic was lying under the table they 
+had sat at earlier. Harry waited until he heard Mr. 
+and Mrs. Weasley’s bedroom door close, then headed 
+back upstairs with the bottle. 
+
+Fred and George were crouching in the shadows on 
+the landing, heaving with laughter as they listened to 
+Percy dismantling his and Ron’s room in search of his 
+badge. 
+
+“We’ve got it,” Fred whispered to Harry. “We’ve been 
+improving it.” 
+
+The badge now read BigheacL Boy. 
+
+Harry forced a laugh, went to give Ron the rat tonic, 
+then shut himself in his room and lay down on his 
+bed. 
+
+So Sirius Black was after him. This explained 
+everything. Fudge had been lenient with him because 
+he was so relieved to find him alive. He’d made Harry 
+promise to stay in Diagon Alley where there were 
+plenty of wizards to keep an eye on him. And he was 
+sending two Ministry cars to take them all to the 
+station tomorrow, so that the Weasleys could look 
+after Harry until he was on the train. 
+
+Harry lay listening to the muffled shouting next door 
+and wondered why he didn’t feel more scared. Sirius 
+Black had murdered thirteen people with one curse; 
+Mr. and Mrs. Weasley obviously thought Harry would 
+be panic-stricken if he knew the truth. But Harry 
+happened to agree wholeheartedly with Mrs. Weasley 
+that the safest place on earth was wherever Albus 
+Dumbledore happened to be. Didn’t people always say 
+Page | 74 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that Dumbledore was the only person Lord Voldemort 
+had ever been afraid of? Surely Black, as Voldemort’s 
+right-hand man, would be just as frightened of him? 
+
+And then there were these Azkaban guards everyone 
+kept talking about. They seemed to scare most people 
+senseless, and if they were stationed all around the 
+school, Black’s chances of getting inside seemed very 
+remote. 
+
+No, all in all, the thing that bothered Harry most was 
+the fact that his chances of visiting Hogsmeade now 
+looked like zero. Nobody would want Harry to leave 
+the safety of the castle until Black was caught; in 
+fact, Harry suspected his every move would be 
+carefully watched until the danger had passed. 
+
+He scowled at the dark ceiling. Did they think he 
+couldn’t look after himself? He’d escaped Lord 
+Voldemort three times; he wasn’t completely useless. 
+
+
+
+Unbidden, the image of the beast in the shadows of 
+Magnolia Crescent crossed his mind. What to do when 
+you know the worst is coming. . . . 
+
+“I’m not going to be murdered,” Harry said out loud. 
+
+“That’s the spirit, dear,” said his mirror sleepily. 
+
+
+
+Page | 75 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+5 
+
+
+
+
+THE DEMENTOR 
+
+Tom woke Harry the next morning with his usual 
+toothless grin and a cup of tea. Harry got dressed and 
+was just persuading a disgruntled Hedwig to get back 
+into her cage when Ron banged his way into the 
+room, pulling a sweatshirt over his head and looking 
+irritable. 
+
+“The sooner we get on the train, the better,” he said. 
+“At least I can get away from Percy at Hogwarts. Now 
+he’s accusing me of dripping tea on his photo of 
+Penelope Clearwater. You know,” Ron grimaced, “his 
+girlfriend. She’s hidden her face under the frame 
+because her nose has gone all blotchy. ...” 
+
+“I’ve got something to tell you,” Harry began, but they 
+were interrupted by Fred and George, who had looked 
+in to congratulate Ron on infuriating Percy again. 
+
+They headed down to breakfast, where Mr. Weasley 
+was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a 
+furrowed brow and Mrs. Weasley was telling 
+
+Page | 76 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Hermione and Ginny about a love potion she’d made 
+as a young girl. All three of them were rather giggly. 
+
+“What were you saying?” Ron asked Harry as they sat 
+down. 
+
+“Later,” Harry muttered as Percy stormed in. 
+
+Harry had no chance to speak to Ron or Hermione in 
+the chaos of leaving; they were too busy heaving all 
+their trunks down the Leaky Cauldron’s narrow 
+staircase and piling them up near the door, with 
+Hedwig and Hermes, Percy’s screech owl, perched on 
+top in their cages. A small wickerwork basket stood 
+beside the heap of trunks, spitting loudly. 
+
+“It’s all right, Crookshanks,” Hermione cooed through 
+the wickerwork. “I’ll let you out on the train.” 
+
+“You won’t,” snapped Ron. “What about poor 
+Scabbers, eh?” 
+
+He pointed at his chest, where a large lump indicated 
+that Scabbers was curled up in his pocket. 
+
+Mr. Weasley, who had been outside waiting for the 
+Ministry cars, stuck his head inside. 
+
+“They’re here,” he said. “Harry, come on.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley marched Harry across the short stretch 
+of pavement toward the first of two old-fashioned dark 
+green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive- 
+looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet. 
+
+“In you get, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley, glancing up and 
+down the crowded street. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry got into the back of the car and was shortly 
+joined by Hermione, Ron, and, to Ron’s disgust, 
+
+Percy. 
+
+The journey to King’s Cross was very uneventful 
+compared with Harry’s trip on the Knight Bus. The 
+Ministry of Magic cars seemed almost ordinary, 
+though Harry noticed that they could slide through 
+gaps that Uncle Vernon’s new company car certainly 
+couldn’t have managed. They reached King’s Cross 
+with twenty minutes to spare; the Ministry drivers 
+found them trolleys, unloaded their trunks, touched 
+their hats in salute to Mr. Weasley, and drove away, 
+somehow managing to jump to the head of an 
+unmoving line at the traffic lights. 
+
+Mr. Weasley kept close to Harry’s elbow all the way 
+into the station. 
+
+“Right then,” he said, glancing around them. “Let’s do 
+this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I’ll go 
+through first with Harry.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley strolled toward the barrier between 
+platforms nine and ten, pushing Harry’s trolley and 
+apparently very interested in the Intercity 125 that 
+had just arrived at platform nine. With a meaningful 
+look at Harry, he leaned casually against the barrier. 
+Harry imitated him. 
+
+In a moment, they had fallen sideways through the 
+solid metal onto platform nine and three-quarters and 
+looked up to see the Hogwarts Express, a scarlet 
+steam engine, puffing smoke over a platform packed 
+with witches and wizards seeing their children onto 
+the train. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Percy and Ginny suddenly appeared behind Harry. 
+They were panting and had apparently taken the 
+barrier at a run. 
+
+“Ah, there’s Penelope!” said Percy, smoothing his hair 
+and going pink again. Ginny caught Harry’s eye, and 
+they both turned away to hide their laughter as Percy 
+strode over to a girl with long, curly hair, walking with 
+his chest thrown out so that she couldn’t miss his 
+shiny badge. 
+
+Once the remaining Weasleys and Hermione had 
+joined them, Harry and Ron led the way to the end of 
+the train, past packed compartments, to a carriage 
+that looked quite empty. They loaded the trunks onto 
+it, stowed Hedwig and Crookshanks in the luggage 
+rack, then went back outside to say good-bye to Mr. 
+and Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley kissed all her children, then Hermione, 
+and finally, Harry. He was embarrassed, but really 
+quite pleased, when she gave him an extra hug. 
+
+“Do take care, won’t you, Harry?” she said as she 
+straightened up, her eyes oddly bright. Then she 
+opened her enormous handbag and said, “I’ve made 
+you all sandwiches. ... Here you are, Ron ... no, 
+they’re not corned beef. ... Fred? Where’s Fred? Here 
+you are, dear. ...” 
+
+“Harry,” said Mr. Weasley quietly, “come over here a 
+moment.” 
+
+He jerked his head toward a pillar, and Harry followed 
+him behind it, leaving the others crowded around 
+Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“There’s something I’ve got to tell you before you leave 
+— ” said Mr. Weasley, in a tense voice. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s all right, Mr. Weasley,” said Harry. “I already 
+know.” 
+
+“You know? How could you know?” 
+
+“I — er — I heard you and Mrs. Weasley talking last 
+night. I couldn’t help hearing,” Harry added quickly. 
+“Sorry — ” 
+
+“That’s not the way I’d have chosen for you to find 
+out,” said Mr. Weasley, looking anxious. 
+
+“No — honestly, it’s okay. This way, you haven’t 
+broken your word to Fudge and I know what’s going 
+on.” 
+
+“Harry, you must be very scared — ” 
+
+“I’m not,” said Harry sincerely. “Really” he added, 
+because Mr. Weasley was looking disbelieving. “I’m 
+not trying to be a hero, but seriously, Sirius Black 
+can’t be worse than Voldemort, can he?” 
+
+Mr. Weasley flinched at the sound of the name but 
+overlooked it. 
+
+“Harry, I knew you were, well, made of stronger stuff 
+than Fudge seems to think, and I’m obviously pleased 
+that you’re not scared, but — ” 
+
+“Arthur!” called Mrs. Weasley, who was now 
+shepherding the rest onto the train. “Arthur, what are 
+you doing? It’s about to go!” 
+
+“He’s coming, Molly!” said Mr. Weasley but he turned 
+back to Harry and kept talking in a lower and more 
+hurried voice. “Listen, I want you to give me your 
+word — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — that I’ll be a good boy and stay in the castle?” said 
+Harry gloomily. 
+
+“Not entirely,” said Mr. Weasley, who looked more 
+serious than Harry had ever seen him. “Harry, swear 
+to me you won’t go looking for Black.” 
+
+Harry stared. “What?” 
+
+There was a loud whistle. Guards were walking along 
+the train, slamming all the doors shut. 
+
+“Promise me, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley, talking more 
+quickly still, “that whatever happens — ” 
+
+“Why would I go looking for someone I know wants to 
+kill me?” said Harry blankly. 
+
+“Swear to me that whatever you might hear — ” 
+
+“Arthur, quickly!” cried Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Steam was billowing from the train; it had started to 
+move. Harry ran to the compartment door and Ron 
+threw it open and stood back to let him on. They 
+leaned out of the window and waved at Mr. and Mrs. 
+Weasley until the train turned a corner and blocked 
+them from view. 
+
+“I need to talk to you in private,” Harry muttered to 
+Ron and Hermione as the train picked up speed. 
+
+“Go away, Ginny,” said Ron. 
+
+“Oh, that’s nice,” said Ginny huffily, and she stalked 
+off. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off down the corridor, 
+looking for an empty compartment, but all were full 
+except for the one at the very end of the train. 
+
+This had only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep 
+next to the window. Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+checked on the threshold. The Hogwarts Express was 
+usually reserved for students and they had never seen 
+an adult there before, except for the witch who 
+pushed the food cart. 
+
+The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of 
+wizard’s robes that had been darned in several places. 
+He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his 
+light brown hair was flecked with gray. 
+
+“Who d’you reckon he is?” Ron hissed as they sat 
+down and slid the door shut, taking the seats farthest 
+away from the window. 
+
+“Professor R. J. Lupin,” whispered Hermione at once. 
+“How d’you know that?” 
+
+“It’s on his case,” she replied, pointing at the luggage 
+rack over the man’s head, where there was a small, 
+battered case held together with a large quantity of 
+neatly knotted string. The name Professor R. J. Lupin 
+was stamped across one corner in peeling letters. 
+
+“Wonder what he teaches?” said Ron, frowning at 
+Professor Lupin’s pallid profile. 
+
+“That’s obvious,” whispered Hermione. “There’s only 
+one vacancy, isn’t there? Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione had already had two 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, both of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+whom had lasted only one year. There were rumors 
+that the job was jinxed. 
+
+“Well, I hope he’s up to it,” said Ron doubtfully. “He 
+looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn’t 
+he? Anyway ...” He turned to Harry. “What were you 
+going to tell us?” 
+
+Harry explained all about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley’s 
+argument and the warning Mr. Weasley had just 
+given him. When he’d finished, Ron looked 
+thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her 
+mouth. She finally lowered them to say, “Sirius Black 
+escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry ... you’ll have to 
+be really, really careful. Don’t go looking for trouble, 
+Harry — ” 
+
+“I don’t go looking for trouble,” said Harry, nettled. 
+“Trouble usually finds me.” 
+
+“How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a 
+nutter who wants to kill him?” said Ron shakily. 
+
+They were taking the news worse than Harry had 
+expected. Both Ron and Hermione seemed to be much 
+more frightened of Black than he was. 
+
+“No one knows how he got out of Azkaban,” said Ron 
+uncomfortably. “No one’s ever done it before. And he 
+was a top-security prisoner too.” 
+
+“But they’ll catch him, won’t they?” said Hermione 
+earnestly. “I mean, they’ve got all the Muggles looking 
+out for him too. ...” 
+
+“What’s that noise?” said Ron suddenly. 
+
+A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from 
+somewhere. They looked all around the compartment. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s coming from your trunk, Harry,” said Ron, 
+standing up and reaching into the luggage rack. A 
+moment later he had pulled the Pocket Sneakoscope 
+out from between Harry’s robes. It was spinning very 
+fast in the palm of Ron’s hand and glowing brilliantly. 
+
+“Is that a Sneakoscope?” said Hermione interestedly, 
+standing up for a better look. 
+
+“Yeah ... mind you, it’s a very cheap one,” Ron said. 
+
+“It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol’s leg to 
+send it to Harry.” 
+
+“Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?” 
+said Hermione shrewdly. 
+
+“No! Well ... I wasn’t supposed to be using Errol. You 
+know he’s not really up to long journeys ... but how 
+else was I supposed to get Harry’s present to him?” 
+
+“Stick it back in the trunk,” Harry advised as the 
+Sneakoscope whistled piercingly, “or it’ll wake him 
+up.” 
+
+He nodded toward Professor Lupin. Ron stuffed the 
+Sneakoscope into a particularly horrible pair of Uncle 
+Vernon’s old socks, which deadened the sound, then 
+closed the lid of the trunk on it. 
+
+“We could get it checked in Hogsmeade,” said Ron, 
+sitting back down. “They sell that sort of thing in 
+Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. 
+Fred and George told me.” 
+
+“Do you know much about Hogsmeade?” asked 
+Hermione keenly. “I’ve read it’s the only entirely non- 
+Muggle settlement in Britain — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, I think it is,” said Ron in an offhand sort of 
+way, “but that’s not why I want to go. I just want to 
+get inside Honeydukes!” 
+
+“What’s that?” said Hermione. 
+
+“It’s this sweetshop,” said Ron, a dreamy look coming 
+over his face, “where they’ve got everything. ... Pepper 
+Imps — they make you smoke at the mouth — and 
+great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and 
+clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which 
+you can suck in class and just look like you’re 
+thinking what to write next — ” 
+
+“But Hogsmeade’s a very interesting place, isn’t it?” 
+Hermione pressed on eagerly. “In Sites of Historical 
+Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 
+1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shack’s 
+supposed to be the most severely haunted building in 
+Britain — ” 
+
+“ — and massive sherbet balls that make you levitate a 
+few inches off the ground while you’re sucking them,” 
+said Ron, who was plainly not listening to a word 
+Hermione was saying. 
+
+Hermione looked around at Harry. 
+
+“Won’t it be nice to get out of school for a bit and 
+explore Hogsmeade?” 
+
+“ ’Spect it will,” said Harry heavily. “You’ll have to tell 
+me when you’ve found out.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Ron. 
+
+“I can’t go. The Dursleys didn’t sign my permission 
+form, and Fudge wouldn’t either.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron looked horrified. 
+
+
+
+“You’re not allowed to come? But — no way — 
+McGonagall or someone will give you permission — ” 
+
+Harry gave a hollow laugh. Professor McGonagall, 
+head of Gryffindor House, was very strict. 
+
+“ — or we can ask Fred and George, they know every 
+secret passage out of the castle — ” 
+
+“Ron!” said Hermione sharply. “I don’t think Harry 
+should be sneaking out of school with Black on the 
+loose — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I expect that’s what McGonagall will say when 
+I ask for permission,” said Harry bitterly. 
+
+“But if we’re with him,” said Ron spiritedly to 
+Hermione, “Black wouldn’t dare — ” 
+
+“Oh, Ron, don’t talk rubbish,” snapped Hermione. 
+“Black’s already murdered a whole bunch of people in 
+the middle of a crowded street. Do you really think 
+he’s going to worry about attacking Harry just 
+because we’re there?” 
+
+She was fumbling with the straps of Crookshanks’s 
+basket as she spoke. 
+
+“Don’t let that thing out!” Ron said, but too late; 
+Crookshanks leapt lightly from the basket, stretched, 
+yawned, and sprang onto Ron’s knees; the lump in 
+Ron’s pocket trembled and he shoved Crookshanks 
+angrily away. 
+
+“Get out of here!” 
+
+“Ron, don’t!” said Hermione angrily. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron was about to answer back when Professor Lupin 
+stirred. They watched him apprehensively, but he 
+simply turned his head the other way, mouth slightly 
+open, and slept on. 
+
+The Hogwarts Express moved steadily north and the 
+scenery outside the window became wilder and darker 
+while the clouds overhead thickened. People were 
+chasing backward and forward past the door of their 
+compartment. Crookshanks had now settled in an 
+empty seat, his squashed face turned toward Ron, his 
+yellow eyes on Ron’s top pocket. 
+
+At one o’clock, the plump witch with the food cart 
+arrived at the compartment door. 
+
+“D’you think we should wake him up?” Ron asked 
+awkwardly, nodding toward Professor Lupin. “He 
+looks like he could do with some food.” 
+
+Hermione approached Professor Lupin cautiously. 
+
+“Er — Professor?” she said. “Excuse me — Professor?” 
+
+He didn’t move. 
+
+“Don’t worry, dear,” said the witch as she handed 
+Harry a large stack of Cauldron Cakes. “If he’s hungry 
+when he wakes, I’ll be up front with the driver.” 
+
+“I suppose he is asleep?” said Ron quietly as the witch 
+slid the compartment door closed. “I mean — he 
+hasn’t died, has he?” 
+
+“No, no, he’s breathing,” whispered Hermione, taking 
+the Cauldron Cake Harry passed her. 
+
+He might not be very good company, but Professor 
+Lupin’s presence in their compartment had its uses. 
+
+Page | 87 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Midafternoon, just as it had started to rain, blurring 
+the rolling hills outside the window, they heard 
+footsteps in the corridor again, and their three least 
+favorite people appeared at the door: Draco Malfoy, 
+flanked by his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory 
+Goyle. 
+
+Draco Malfoy and Harry had been enemies ever since 
+they had met on their very first train journey to 
+Hogwarts. Malfoy, who had a pale, pointed, sneering 
+face, was in Slytherin House; he played Seeker on the 
+Slytherin Quidditch team, the same position that 
+Harry played on the Gryffindor team. Crabbe and 
+Goyle seemed to exist to do Malfoy’s bidding. They 
+were both wide and musclely; Crabbe was taller, with 
+a pudding-bowl haircut and a very thick neck; Goyle 
+had short, bristly hair and long, gorilla-ish arms. 
+
+“Well, look who it is,” said Malfoy in his usual lazy 
+drawl, pulling open the compartment door. “Potty and 
+the Weasel.” 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle chuckled trollishly. 
+
+“I heard your father finally got his hands on some 
+gold this summer, Weasley,” said Malfoy. “Did your 
+mother die of shock?” 
+
+Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks’s 
+basket to the floor. Professor Lupin gave a snort. 
+
+“Who’s that?” said Malfoy, taking an automatic step 
+backward as he spotted Lupin. 
+
+“New teacher,” said Harry, who got to his feet, too, in 
+case he needed to hold Ron back. “What were you 
+saying, Malfoy?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Malfoy’s pale eyes narrowed; he wasn’t fool enough to 
+pick a fight right under a teacher’s nose. 
+
+“C’mon,” he muttered resentfully to Crabbe and 
+Goyle, and they disappeared. 
+
+Harry and Ron sat down again, Ron massaging his 
+knuckles. 
+
+“I’m not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year,” 
+he said angrily. “I mean it. If he makes one more 
+crack about my family, I’m going to get hold of his 
+head and — ” 
+
+Ron made a violent gesture in midair. 
+
+“Ron,” hissed Hermione, pointing at Professor Lupin, 
+“be careful ...” 
+
+But Professor Lupin was still fast asleep. 
+
+The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; 
+the windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, 
+which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into 
+life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. 
+The train rattled, the rain hammered, the wind 
+roared, but still, Professor Lupin slept. 
+
+“We must be nearly there,” said Ron, leaning forward 
+to look past Professor Lupin at the now completely 
+black window. 
+
+The words had hardly left him when the train started 
+to slow down. 
+
+“Great,” said Ron, getting up and walking carefully 
+past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. “I’m 
+starving. I want to get to the feast. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We can’t be there yet,” said Hermione, checking her 
+watch. 
+
+“So why’re we stopping?” 
+
+The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise 
+of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded 
+louder than ever against the windows. 
+
+Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into 
+the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were 
+sticking curiously out of their compartments. 
+
+The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds 
+and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of 
+the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went 
+out and they were plunged into total darkness. 
+
+“What��s going on?” said Ron’s voice from behind 
+Harry. 
+
+“Ouch!” gasped Hermione. “Ron, that was my foot!” 
+Harry felt his way back to his seat. 
+
+“D’you think we’ve broken down?” 
+
+“Dunno ...” 
+
+There was a squeaking sound, and Harry saw the dim 
+black outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the 
+window and peering out. 
+
+“There’s something moving out there,” Ron said. “I 
+think people are coming aboard. ...” 
+
+The compartment door suddenly opened and someone 
+fell painfully over Harry’s legs. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sorry — d’you know what’s going on? — Ouch — 
+sorry — ” 
+
+“Hullo, Neville,” said Harry, feeling around in the dark 
+and pulling Neville up by his cloak. 
+
+“Harry? Is that you? What’s happening?” 
+
+“No idea — sit down — ” 
+
+There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville 
+had tried to sit on Crookshanks. 
+
+“I’m going to go and ask the driver what’s going on,” 
+came Hermione’s voice. Harry felt her pass him, heard 
+the door slide open again, and then a thud and two 
+loud squeals of pain. 
+
+“Who’s that?” 
+
+“Who’s that?” 
+
+“Ginny?” 
+
+“Hermione?” 
+
+“What are you doing?” 
+
+“I was looking for Ron — ” 
+
+“Come in and sit down — ” 
+
+“Not here!” said Harry hurriedly. “I’m here!” 
+
+“Ouch!” said Neville. 
+
+“Quiet!” said a hoarse voice suddenly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. 
+Harry could hear movements in his corner. None of 
+them spoke. 
+
+There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering 
+light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin 
+appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They 
+illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked 
+alert and wary. 
+
+“Stay where you are,” he said in the same hoarse 
+voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of 
+fire held out in front of him. 
+
+But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could 
+reach it. 
+
+Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering 
+flames in Lupin’s hand, was a cloaked figure that 
+towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden 
+beneath its hood. Harry’s eyes darted downward, and 
+what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a 
+hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, 
+grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something 
+dead that had decayed in water. . . . 
+
+But it was visible only for a split second. As though 
+the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry’s gaze, 
+the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its 
+black cloak. 
+
+And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it 
+was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it 
+were trying to suck something more than air from its 
+surroundings. 
+
+An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his 
+own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+than his skin. It was inside his chest, it was inside 
+his very heart. ... 
+
+
+
+Harry’s eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn’t see. 
+He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his 
+ears as though of water. He was being dragged 
+downward, the roaring growing louder . . . 
+
+And then, from far away, he heard screaming, 
+terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to 
+help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but 
+couldn’t ... a thick white fog was swirling around him, 
+inside him — 
+
+“Harry! Harry! Are you all right?” 
+
+Someone was slapping his face. 
+
+“W — what?” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes; there were lanterns above 
+him, and the floor was shaking — the Hogwarts 
+Express was moving again and the lights had come 
+back on. He seemed to have slid out of his seat onto 
+the floor. Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to 
+him, and above them he could see Neville and 
+Professor Lupin watching. Harry felt very sick; when 
+he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, he 
+felt cold sweat on his face. 
+
+Ron and Hermione heaved him back onto his seat. 
+
+“Are you okay?” Ron asked nervously. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, looking quickly toward the door. 
+The hooded creature had vanished. “What happened? 
+Where’s that — that thing? Who screamed?” 
+
+“No one screamed,” said Ron, more nervously still. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry looked around the bright compartment. Ginny 
+and Neville looked back at him, both very pale. 
+
+“But I heard screaming — ” 
+
+A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was 
+breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces. 
+
+“Here,” he said to Harry, handing him a particularly 
+large piece. “Eat it. It’ll help.” 
+
+Harry took the chocolate but didn’t eat it. 
+
+“What was that thing?” he asked Lupin. 
+
+“A dementor,” said Lupin, who was now giving 
+chocolate to everyone else. “One of the dementors of 
+Azkaban.” 
+
+Everyone stared at him. Professor Lupin crumpled up 
+the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket. 
+
+“Eat,” he repeated. “It’ll help. I need to speak to the 
+driver, excuse me ...” 
+
+He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the 
+corridor. 
+
+“Are you sure you’re okay, Harry?” said Hermione, 
+watching Harry anxiously. 
+
+“I don’t get it. ... What happened?” said Harry, wiping 
+more sweat off his face. 
+
+“Well — that thing — the dementor — stood there and 
+looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn’t see its 
+face) — and you — you — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 94 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I thought you were having a fit or something,” said 
+Ron, who still looked scared. “You went sort of rigid 
+and fell out of your seat and started twitching — ” 
+
+“And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked 
+toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand,” said 
+Hermione, “and he said, ‘None of us is hiding Sirius 
+Black under our cloaks. Go.’ But the dementor didn’t 
+move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery 
+thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around 
+and sort of glided away. ...” 
+
+“It was horrible,” said Neville, in a higher voice than 
+usual. “Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?” 
+
+“I felt weird,” said Ron, shifting his shoulders 
+uncomfortably. “Like I’d never be cheerful again. ...” 
+
+Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly 
+as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob; Hermione went 
+over and put a comforting arm around her. 
+
+“But didn’t any of you — fall off your seats?” said 
+Harry awkwardly. 
+
+“No,” said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. 
+“Ginny was shaking like mad, though. ...” 
+
+Harry didn’t understand. He felt weak and shivery, as 
+though he were recovering from a bad bout of flu; he 
+also felt the beginnings of shame. Why had he gone to 
+pieces like that, when no one else had? 
+
+Professor Lupin had come back. He paused as he 
+entered, looked around, and said, with a small smile, 
+“I haven’t poisoned that chocolate, you know. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry took a bite and to his great surprise felt 
+warmth spread suddenly to the tips of his fingers and 
+toes. 
+
+“Well be at Hogwarts in ten minutes,” said Professor 
+Lupin. “Are you all right, Harry?” 
+
+Harry didn’t ask how Professor Lupin knew his name. 
+
+“Fine,” he muttered, embarrassed. 
+
+They didn’t talk much during the remainder of the 
+journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade 
+station, and there was a great scramble to get 
+outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville’s pet 
+toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was 
+freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down 
+in icy sheets. 
+
+“Firs’ years this way!” called a familiar voice. Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione turned and saw the gigantic 
+outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, 
+beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward 
+for their traditional journey across the lake. 
+
+“All righ’, you three?” Hagrid yelled over the heads of 
+the crowd. They waved at him, but had no chance to 
+speak to him because the mass of people around 
+them was shunting them away along the platform. 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the 
+school along the platform and out onto a rough mud 
+track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited 
+the remaining students, each pulled, Harry could only 
+assume, by an invisible horse, because when they 
+climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all 
+by itself, bumping and swaying in procession. 
+
+The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw. Harry 
+felt better since the chocolate, but still weak. Ron and 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hermione kept looking at him sideways, as though 
+frightened he might collapse again. 
+
+As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent 
+wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns 
+topped with winged boars, Harry saw two more 
+towering, hooded dementors, standing guard on 
+either side. A wave of cold sickness threatened to 
+engulf him again; he leaned back into the lumpy seat 
+and closed his eyes until they had passed the gates. 
+The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping 
+drive up to the castle; Hermione was leaning out of 
+the tiny window, watching the many turrets and 
+towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a 
+halt, and Hermione and Ron got out. 
+
+As Harry stepped down, a drawling, delighted voice 
+sounded in his ear. 
+
+“You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? 
+You actually fainted?” 
+
+Malfoy elbowed past Hermione to block Harry’s way 
+up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and 
+his pale eyes glinting maliciously. 
+
+“Shove off, Malfoy,��� said Ron, whose jaw was 
+clenched. 
+
+“Did you faint as well, Weasley?” said Malfoy loudly. 
+“Did the scary old dementor frighten you too, 
+Weasley?” 
+
+“Is there a problem?” said a mild voice. Professor 
+Lupin had just gotten out of the next carriage. 
+
+Malfoy gave Professor Lupin an insolent stare, which 
+took in the patches on his robes and the delapidated 
+suitcase. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he 
+
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+
+
+
+
+said, “Oh, no — er — Professor,” then he smirked at 
+Crabbe and Goyle and led them up the steps into the 
+castle. 
+
+Hermione prodded Ron in the back to make him 
+hurry, and the three of them joined the crowd 
+swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front 
+doors, into the cavernous entrance hall, which was lit 
+with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent 
+marble staircase that led to the upper floors. 
+
+The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; 
+Harry followed the crowd toward it, but had barely 
+glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and 
+cloudy tonight, when a voice called, “Potter! Granger! 
+
+I want to see you both!” 
+
+Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised. 
+Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher and 
+head of Gryffindor House, was calling over the heads 
+of the crowd. She was a stern-looking witch who wore 
+her hair in a tight bun; her sharp eyes were framed 
+with square spectacles. Harry fought his way over to 
+her with a feeling of foreboding: Professor McGonagall 
+had a way of making him feel he must have done 
+something wrong. 
+
+“There’s no need to look so worried — I just want a 
+word in my office,” she told them. “Move along there, 
+Weasley.” 
+
+Ron stared as Professor McGonagall ushered 
+Harry and Hermione away from the chattering crowd; 
+they accompanied her across the entrance hall, up 
+the marble staircase, and along a corridor. 
+
+Once they were in her office, a small room with a 
+large, welcoming fire, Professor McGonagall motioned 
+Harry and Hermione to sit down. She settled herself 
+
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+
+
+
+
+behind her desk and said abruptly, “Professor Lupin 
+sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on 
+the train, Potter.” 
+
+Before Harry could reply, there was a soft knock on 
+the door and Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, came 
+bustling in. 
+
+Harry felt himself going red in the face. It was bad 
+enough that he’d passed out, or whatever he had 
+done, without everyone making all this fuss. 
+
+“I’m fine,” he said, “I don’t need anything — ” 
+
+“Oh, it’s you, is it?” said Madam Pomfrey, ignoring 
+this and bending down to stare closely at him. “I 
+suppose you’ve been doing something dangerous 
+again?” 
+
+“It was a dementor, Poppy,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+They exchanged a dark look, and Madam Pomfrey 
+clucked disapprovingly. 
+
+“Setting dementors around a school,” she muttered, 
+pushing back Harry’s hair and feeling his forehead. 
+“He won’t be the last one who collapses. Yes, he’s all 
+clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they 
+have on people who are already delicate — ” 
+
+“I’m not delicate!” said Harry crossly. 
+
+“Of course you’re not,” said Madam Pomfrey 
+absentmindedly, now taking his pulse. 
+
+“What does he need?” said Professor McGonagall 
+crisply. “Bed rest? Should he perhaps spend tonight 
+in the hospital wing?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm /ine!” said Harry, jumping up. The thought of 
+what Draco Malfoy would say if he had to go to the 
+hospital wing was torture. 
+
+“Well, he should have some chocolate, at the very 
+least,” said Madam Pomfrey, who was now trying to 
+peer into Harry’s eyes. 
+
+“I’ve already had some,” said Harry. “Professor Lupin 
+gave me some. He gave it to all of us.” 
+
+“Did he, now?” said Madam Pomfrey approvingly. “So 
+we’ve finally got a Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+teacher who knows his remedies?” 
+
+“Are you sure you feel all right, Potter?” Professor 
+McGonagall said sharply. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+“Very well. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick 
+word with Miss Granger about her course schedule, 
+then we can go down to the feast together.” 
+
+Harry went back into the corridor with Madam 
+Pomfrey, who left for the hospital wing, muttering to 
+herself. He had to wait only a few minutes; then 
+Hermione emerged looking very happy about 
+something, followed by Professor McGonagall, and the 
+three of them made their way back down the marble 
+staircase to the Great Hall. 
+
+It was a sea of pointed black hats; each of the long 
+House tables was lined with students, their faces 
+glimmering by the light of thousands of candles, 
+which were floating over the tables in midair. 
+
+Professor Flitwick, who was a tiny little wizard with a 
+shock of white hair, was carrying an ancient hat and 
+a three-legged stool out of the hall. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh,” said Hermione softly, “we’ve missed the 
+Sorting!” 
+
+New students at Hogwarts were sorted into Houses by 
+trying on the Sorting Hat, which shouted out the 
+House they were best suited to (Gryffindor, 
+
+Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin). Professor 
+McGonagall strode off toward her empty seat at the 
+staff table, and Harry and Hermione set off in the 
+other direction, as quietly as possible, toward the 
+Gryffindor table. People looked around at them as 
+they passed along the back of the hall, and a few of 
+them pointed at Harry. Had the story of his collapsing 
+in front of the dementor traveled that fast? 
+
+He and Hermione sat down on either side of Ron, who 
+had saved them seats. 
+
+“What was all that about?” he muttered to Harry. 
+
+Harry started to explain in a whisper, but at that 
+moment the headmaster stood up to speak, and he 
+broke off. 
+
+Professor Dumbledore, though very old, always gave 
+an impression of great energy. He had several feet of 
+long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and 
+an extremely crooked nose. He was often described as 
+the greatest wizard of the age, but that wasn’t why 
+Harry respected him. You couldn’t help trusting Albus 
+Dumbledore, and as Harry watched him beaming 
+around at the students, he felt really calm for the first 
+time since the dementor had entered the train 
+compartment. 
+
+“Welcome!” said Dumbledore, the candlelight 
+shimmering on his beard. “Welcome to another year 
+at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and 
+as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it 
+
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+
+
+
+
+out of the way before you become befuddled by our 
+excellent feast. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, “As 
+you will all be aware after their search of the 
+Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing 
+host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are 
+here on Ministry of Magic business.” 
+
+He paused, and Harry remembered what Mr. Weasley 
+had said about Dumbledore not being happy with the 
+dementors guarding the school. 
+
+“They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds,” 
+Dumbledore continued, “and while they are with us, I 
+must make it plain that nobody is to leave school 
+without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled 
+by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks,” 
+he added blandly, and Harry and Ron glanced at each 
+other. “It is not in the nature of a dementor to 
+understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn 
+each and every one of you to give them no reason to 
+harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head 
+Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul 
+of the dementors,” he said. 
+
+Percy, who was sitting a few seats down from Harry, 
+puffed out his chest again and stared around 
+impressively. Dumbledore paused again; he looked 
+very seriously around the hall, and nobody moved or 
+made a sound. 
+
+“On a happier note,” he continued, “I am pleased to 
+welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. 
+
+“First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to 
+fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic 
+applause. Only those who had been in the 
+compartment on the train with Professor Lupin 
+clapped hard, Harry among them. Professor Lupin 
+looked particularly shabby next to all the other 
+teachers in their best robes. 
+
+“Look at Snape!” Ron hissed in Harry’s ear. 
+
+Professor Snape, the Potions master, was staring 
+along the staff table at Professor Lupin. It was 
+common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts job, but even Harry, who hated 
+Snape, was startled at the expression twisting his 
+thin, sallow face. It was beyond anger: it was loathing. 
+Harry knew that expression only too well; it was the 
+look Snape wore every time he set eyes on Harry. 
+
+“As to our second new appointment,” Dumbledore 
+continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor 
+Lupin died away. “Well, I am sorry to tell you that 
+Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures 
+teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to 
+enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I 
+am delighted to say that his place will be filled by 
+none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to 
+take on this teaching job in addition to his 
+gamekeeping duties.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another, 
+stunned. Then they joined in with the applause, 
+which was tumultuous at the Gryffindor table in 
+particular. Harry leaned forward to see Hagrid, who 
+was ruby-red in the face and staring down at his 
+enormous hands, his wide grin hidden in the tangle of 
+his black beard. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We should’ve known!” Ron roared, pounding the 
+table. “Who else would have assigned us a biting 
+book?” 
+
+
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the last to stop 
+clapping, and as Professor Dumbledore started 
+speaking again, they saw that Hagrid was wiping his 
+eyes on the tablecloth. 
+
+“Well, I think that’s everything of importance,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Let the feast begin!” 
+
+The golden plates and goblets before them filled 
+suddenly with food and drink. Harry, suddenly 
+ravenous, helped himself to everything he could reach 
+and began to eat. 
+
+It was a delicious feast; the hall echoed with talk, 
+laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks. Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione, however, were eager for it to 
+finish so that they could talk to Hagrid. They knew 
+how much being made a teacher would mean to him. 
+Hagrid wasn’t a fully qualified wizard; he had been 
+expelled from Hogwarts in his third year for a crime 
+he had not committed. It had been Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione who had cleared Hagrid ’s name last year. 
+
+At long last, when the last morsels of pumpkin tart 
+had melted from the golden platters, Dumbledore 
+gave the word that it was time for them all to go to 
+bed, and they got their chance. 
+
+“Congratulations, Hagrid!” Hermione squealed as they 
+reached the teachers’ table. 
+
+“All down ter you three,” said Hagrid, wiping his 
+shining face on his napkin as he looked up at them. 
+“Can’ believe it ... great man, Dumbledore ... came 
+straight down to me hut after Professor Kettleburn 
+
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+
+
+
+
+said he’d had enough. ... It’s what I always wanted. 
+
+
+
+Overcome with emotion, he buried his face in his 
+napkin, and Professor McGonagall shooed them away. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined the Gryffindors 
+streaming up the marble staircase and, very tired 
+now, along more corridors, up more and more stairs, 
+to the hidden entrance to Gryffindor Tower. A large 
+portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress asked them, 
+“Password?” 
+
+“Coming through, coming through!” Percy called from 
+behind the crowd. “The new password’s ‘Fortuna 
+Major’!” 
+
+“Oh no,” said Neville Longbottom sadly. He always 
+had trouble remembering the passwords. 
+
+Through the portrait hole and across the common 
+room, the girls and boys divided toward their separate 
+staircases. Harry climbed the spiral stair with no 
+thought in his head except how glad he was to be 
+back. They reached their familiar, circular dormitory 
+with its five four-poster beds, and Harry, looking 
+around, felt he was home at last. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+TALONS AND TEA LEAVES 
+
+When Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Great 
+Hall for breakfast the next day, the first thing they 
+saw was Draco Malfoy, who seemed to be entertaining 
+a large group of Slytherins with a very funny story. As 
+they passed, Malfoy did a ridiculous impression of a 
+swooning fit and there was a roar of laughter. 
+
+“Ignore him,” said Hermione, who was right behind 
+Harry. “Just ignore him, it’s not worth it. ...” 
+
+“Hey, Potter!” shrieked Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin 
+girl with a face like a pug. “Potter! The dementors are 
+coming, Potter! Woooooooo!” 
+
+Harry dropped into a seat at the Gryffindor table, next 
+to George Weasley. 
+
+“New third-year course schedules,” said George, 
+passing them over. “What’s up with you, Harry?” 
+
+“Malfoy,” said Ron, sitting down on George’s other 
+side and glaring over at the Slytherin table. 
+
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+
+
+
+George looked up in time to see Malfoy pretending to 
+faint with terror again. 
+
+“That little git,” he said calmly. “He wasn’t so cocky 
+last night when the dementors were down at our end 
+of the train. Came running into our compartment, 
+didn’t he, Fred?” 
+
+“Nearly wet himself,” said Fred, with a contemptuous 
+glance at Malfoy. 
+
+“I wasn’t too happy myself,” said George. “They’re 
+horrible things, those dementors. ...” 
+
+“Sort of freeze your insides, don’t they?” said Fred. 
+
+“You didn’t pass out, though, did you?” said Harry in 
+a low voice. 
+
+“Forget it, Harry,” said George bracingly. “Dad had to 
+go out to Azkaban one time, remember, Fred? And he 
+said it was the worst place he’d ever been, he came 
+back all weak and shaking. . . . They suck the 
+happiness out of a place, dementors. Most of the 
+prisoners go mad in there.” 
+
+“Anyway, we’ll see how happy Malfoy looks after our 
+first Quidditch match,” said Fred. “Gryffindor versus 
+Slytherin, first game of the season, remember?” 
+
+The only time Harry and Malfoy had faced each other 
+in a Quidditch match, Malfoy had definitely come off 
+worse. Feeling slightly more cheerful, Harry helped 
+himself to sausages and fried tomatoes. 
+
+Hermione was examining her new schedule. 
+
+“Ooh, good, we’re starting some new subjects today,” 
+she said happily. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Hermione,” said Ron, frowning as he looked over her 
+shoulder, “they’ve messed up your schedule. Look — 
+they’ve got you down for about ten subjects a day. 
+There isn’t enough time.” 
+
+“I’ll manage. I’ve fixed it all with Professor 
+McGonagall.” 
+
+“But look,” said Ron, laughing, “see this morning? 
+Nine o’clock, Divination. And underneath, nine 
+o’clock, Muggle Studies. And” — Ron leaned closer to 
+the schedule, disbelieving — “ look — underneath 
+that, Arithmancy, nine o’clock. I mean, I know you’re 
+good, Hermione, but no one’s that good. How’re you 
+supposed to be in three classes at once?” 
+
+“Don’t be silly,” said Hermione shortly. “Of course I 
+won’t be in three classes at once.” 
+
+“Well, then — ” 
+
+“Pass the marmalade,” said Hermione. 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“Oh, Ron, what’s it to you if my schedule’s a bit full?” 
+Hermione snapped. “I told you, I’ve fixed it all with 
+Professor McGonagall.” 
+
+Just then, Hagrid entered the Great Hall. He was 
+wearing his long moleskin overcoat and was 
+absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat from one 
+enormous hand. 
+
+“All righ’?” he said eagerly, pausing on the way to the 
+staff table. “Yer in my firs’ ever lesson! Right after 
+lunch! Bin up since five gettin’ everythin’ ready. ... 
+Hope it’s okay. ... Me, a teacher ... hones’ly. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+He grinned broadly at them and headed off to the 
+staff table, still swinging the polecat. 
+
+“Wonder what he’s been getting ready?” said Ron, a 
+note of anxiety in his voice. 
+
+The hall was starting to empty as people headed off 
+toward their first lesson. Ron checked his course 
+schedule. 
+
+“We’d better go, look, Divination’s at the top of North 
+Tower. It’ll take us ten minutes to get there. ...” 
+
+They finished their breakfasts hastily, said good-bye 
+to Fred and George, and walked back through the 
+hall. As they passed the Slytherin table, Malfoy did 
+yet another impression of a fainting fit. The shouts of 
+laughter followed Harry into the entrance hall. 
+
+The journey through the castle to North Tower was a 
+long one. Two years at Hogwarts hadn’t taught them 
+everything about the castle, and they had never been 
+inside North Tower before. 
+
+“There’s — got — to — be — a — shortcut,” Ron 
+panted as they climbed their seventh long staircase 
+and emerged on an unfamiliar landing, where there 
+was nothing but a large painting of a bare stretch of 
+grass hanging on the stone wall. 
+
+“I think it’s this way,” said Hermione, peering down 
+the empty passage to the right. 
+
+“Can’t be,” said Ron. “That’s south, look, you can see 
+a bit of the lake out of the window ...” 
+
+Harry was watching the painting. A fat, dapple-gray 
+pony had just ambled onto the grass and was grazing 
+nonchalantly. Harry was used to the subjects of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hogwarts paintings moving around and leaving their 
+frames to visit one another, but he always enjoyed 
+watching it. A moment later, a short, squat knight in 
+a suit of armor clanked into the picture after his 
+pony. By the look of the grass stains on his metal 
+knees, he had just fallen off. 
+
+“Aha!” he yelled, seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 
+“What villains are these, that trespass upon my 
+private lands! Come to scorn at my fall, perchance? 
+Draw, you knaves, you dogs!” 
+
+They watched in astonishment as the little knight 
+tugged his sword out of its scabbard and began 
+brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in 
+rage. But the sword was too long for him; a 
+particularly wild swing made him overbalance, and he 
+landed facedown in the grass. 
+
+“Are you all right?” said Harry, moving closer to the 
+picture. 
+
+“Get back, you scurvy braggart! Back, you rogue!” 
+
+The knight seized his sword again and used it to push 
+himself back up, but the blade sank deeply into the 
+grass and, though he pulled with all his might, he 
+couldn’t get it out again. Finally, he had to flop back 
+down onto the grass and push up his visor to mop his 
+sweating face. 
+
+“Listen,” said Harry, taking advantage of the knight’s 
+exhaustion, “we’re looking for the North Tower. You 
+don’t know the way, do you?” 
+
+“A quest!” The knight’s rage seemed to vanish 
+instantly. He clanked to his feet and shouted, “Come 
+follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or 
+else shall perish bravely in the charge!” 
+
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+
+
+He gave the sword another fruitless tug, tried and 
+failed to mount the fat pony, gave up, and cried, “On 
+foot then, good sirs and gentle lady! On! On!” 
+
+And he ran, clanking loudly, into the left side of the 
+frame and out of sight. 
+
+They hurried after him along the corridor, following 
+the sound of his armor. Every now and then they 
+spotted him running through a picture ahead. 
+
+“Be of stout heart, the worst is yet to come!” yelled the 
+knight, and they saw him reappear in front of an 
+alarmed group of women in crinolines, whose picture 
+hung on the wall of a narrow spiral staircase. 
+
+Puffing loudly, Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the 
+tightly spiraling steps, getting dizzier and dizzier, 
+until at last they heard the murmur of voices above 
+them and knew they had reached the classroom. 
+
+“Farewell!” cried the knight, popping his head into a 
+painting of some sinister-looking monks. “Farewell, 
+my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have need of noble 
+heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!” 
+
+“Yeah, well call you,” muttered Ron as the knight 
+disappeared, “if we ever need someone mental.” 
+
+They climbed the last few steps and emerged onto a 
+tiny landing, where most of the class was already 
+assembled. There were no doors off this landing, but 
+Ron nudged Harry and pointed at the ceiling, where 
+there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on 
+it. 
+
+“ ‘Sibyll Trelawney, Divination teacher,’ ” Harry read. 
+“How’re we supposed to get up there?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 111 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+As though in answer to his question, the trapdoor 
+suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended 
+right at Harry’s feet. Everyone got quiet. 
+
+“After you,” said Ron, grinning, so Harry climbed the 
+ladder first. 
+
+He emerged into the strangest-looking classroom he 
+had ever seen. In fact, it didn’t look like a classroom 
+at all, more like a cross between someone’s attic and 
+an old-fashioned tea shop. At least twenty small, 
+circular tables were crammed inside it, all 
+surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. 
+Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the 
+curtains at the windows were all closed, and the 
+many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It 
+was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning 
+under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a 
+heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large 
+copper kettle. The shelves running around the 
+circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking 
+feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered 
+playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a 
+huge array of teacups. 
+
+Ron appeared at Harry’s shoulder as the class 
+assembled around them, all talking in whispers. 
+
+“Where is she?” Ron said. 
+
+A voice came suddenly out of the shadows, a soft, 
+misty sort of voice. 
+
+“Welcome,” it said. “How nice to see you in the 
+physical world at last.” 
+
+Harry’s immediate impression was of a large, 
+glittering insect. Professor Trelawney moved into the 
+firelight, and they saw that she was very thin; her 
+
+Page | 112 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their 
+natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled 
+shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around 
+her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were 
+encrusted with bangles and rings. 
+
+“Sit, my children, sit,” she said, and they all climbed 
+awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poufs. Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione sat themselves around the same 
+round table. 
+
+“Welcome to Divination,” said Professor Trelawney, 
+who had seated herself in a winged armchair in front 
+of the fire. “My name is Professor Trelawney. You may 
+not have seen me before. I find that descending too 
+often into the hustle and bustle of the main school 
+clouds my Inner Eye.” 
+
+Nobody said anything to this extraordinary 
+pronouncement. Professor Trelawney delicately 
+rearranged her shawl and continued, “So you have 
+chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all 
+magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if 
+you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be 
+able to teach you. Books can take you only so far in 
+this field. ...” 
+
+At these words, both Harry and Ron glanced, 
+grinning, at Hermione, who looked startled at the 
+news that books wouldn’t be much help in this 
+subject. 
+
+“Many witches and wizards, talented though they are 
+in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden 
+disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled 
+mysteries of the future,” Professor Trelawney went on, 
+her enormous, gleaming eyes moving from face to 
+nervous face. “It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy,” 
+
+
+
+Page | 113 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+she said suddenly to Neville, who almost toppled off 
+his pouf. “Is your grandmother well?” 
+
+
+
+“I think so,” said Neville tremulously. 
+
+“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you, dear,” said 
+Professor Trelawney, the firelight glinting on her long 
+emerald earrings. Neville gulped. Professor Trelawney 
+continued placidly. “We will be covering the basic 
+methods of Divination this year. The first term will be 
+devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall 
+progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear,” she shot 
+suddenly at Parvati Patil, “beware a red-haired man.” 
+
+Parvati gave a startled look at Ron, who was right 
+behind her, and edged her chair away from him. 
+
+“In the second term,” Professor Trelawney went on, 
+
+“we shall progress to the crystal ball — if we have 
+finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, 
+classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout 
+of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, 
+one of our number will leave us forever.” 
+
+A very tense silence followed this pronouncement, but 
+Professor Trelawney seemed unaware of it. 
+
+“I wonder, dear,” she said to Lavender Brown, who 
+was nearest and shrank back in her chair, “if you 
+could pass me the largest silver teapot?” 
+
+Lavender, looking relieved, stood up, took an 
+enormous teapot from the shelf, and put it down on 
+the table in front of Professor Trelawney. 
+
+“Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are 
+dreading — it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of 
+October.” 
+
+Page | 114 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lavender trembled. 
+
+
+
+“Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a 
+teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. 
+Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs 
+remain. Swill these around the cup three times with 
+the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its 
+saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then 
+give your cup to your partner to read. You will 
+interpret the patterns using pages five and six of 
+Unfogging the Future. I shall move among you, helping 
+and instructing. Oh, and dear” — she caught Neville 
+by the arm as he made to stand up — “after you’ve 
+broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to 
+select one of the blue patterned ones? I’m rather 
+attached to the pink.” 
+
+Sure enough, Neville had no sooner reached the shelf 
+of teacups when there was a tinkle of breaking china. 
+Professor Trelawney swept over to him holding a 
+dustpan and brush and said, “One of the blue ones, 
+then, dear, if you wouldn’t mind ... thank you. ...” 
+
+When Harry and Ron had had their teacups filled, 
+they went back to their table and tried to drink the 
+scalding tea quickly. They swilled the dregs around as 
+Professor Trelawney had instructed, then drained the 
+cups and swapped over. 
+
+“Right,” said Ron as they both opened their books at 
+pages five and six. “What can you see in mine?” 
+
+“A load of soggy brown stuff,” said Harry. The heavily 
+perfumed smoke in the room was making him feel 
+sleepy and stupid. 
+
+“Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes 
+to see past the mundane!” Professor Trelawney cried 
+through the gloom. 
+
+Page | 115 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry tried to pull himself together. 
+
+“Right, you’ve got a crooked sort of cross ...” He 
+consulted Unfogging the Future. “That means you’re 
+going to have ‘trials and suffering’ — sorry about that 
+— but there’s a thing that could be the sun ... hang 
+on ... that means ‘great happiness’ ... so you’re going 
+to suffer but be very happy. ...” 
+
+“You need your Inner Eye tested, if you ask me,” said 
+Ron, and they both had to stifle their laughs as 
+Professor Trelawney gazed in their direction. 
+
+“My turn ...” Ron peered into Harry’s teacup, his 
+forehead wrinkled with effort. “There’s a blob a bit like 
+a bowler hat,” he said. “Maybe you’re going to work 
+for the Ministry of Magic. ...” 
+
+He turned the teacup the other way up. 
+
+“But this way it looks more like an acorn. ... What’s 
+that?” He scanned his copy of Unfogging the Future. “ 
+‘A windfall, unexpected gold.’ Excellent, you can lend 
+me some ... and there’s a thing here,” he turned the 
+cup again, “that looks like an animal . . . yeah, if that 
+was its head ... it looks like a hippo ... no, a sheep ...” 
+
+Professor Trelawney whirled around as Harry let out a 
+snort of laughter. 
+
+“Let me see that, my dear,” she said reprovingly to 
+Ron, sweeping over and snatching Harry’s cup from 
+him. Everyone went quiet to watch. 
+
+Professor Trelawney was staring into the teacup, 
+rotating it counterclockwise. 
+
+“The falcon ... my dear, you have a deadly enemy.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 116 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But everyone knows that,” said Hermione in a loud 
+whisper. Professor Trelawney stared at her. 
+
+“Well, they do,” said Hermione. “Everybody knows 
+about Harry and You-Know-Who.” 
+
+Harry and Ron stared at her with a mixture of 
+amazement and admiration. They had never heard 
+Hermione speak to a teacher like that before. 
+
+Professor Trelawney chose not to reply. She lowered 
+her huge eyes to Harry’s cup again and continued to 
+turn it. 
+
+“The club ... an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy 
+cup. ...” 
+
+“I thought that was a bowler hat,” said Ron 
+sheepishly. 
+
+“The skull ... danger in your path, my dear. ...” 
+
+Everyone was staring, transfixed, at Professor 
+Trelawney, who gave the cup a final turn, gasped, and 
+then screamed. 
+
+There was another tinkle of breaking china; Neville 
+had smashed his second cup. Professor Trelawney 
+sank into a vacant armchair, her glittering hand at 
+her heart and her eyes closed. 
+
+“My dear boy . . . my poor, dear boy ... no ... it is 
+kinder not to say ... no ... don’t ask me. ...” 
+
+“What is it, Professor?” said Dean Thomas at once. 
+Everyone had got to their feet, and slowly they 
+crowded around Harry and Ron’s table, pressing close 
+to Professor Trelawney’s chair to get a good look at 
+Harry’s cup. 
+
+
+
+Page | 117 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“My dear,” Professor Trelawney’s huge eyes opened 
+dramatically, “you have the Grim.” 
+
+
+
+“The what?” said Harry. 
+
+He could tell that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t 
+understand; Dean Thomas shrugged at him and 
+Lavender Brown looked puzzled, but nearly everybody 
+else clapped their hands to their mouths in horror. 
+
+“The Grim, my dear, the Grim!” cried Professor 
+Trelawney, who looked shocked that Harry hadn’t 
+understood. “The giant, spectral dog that haunts 
+churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen — the worst 
+omen — of death .!” 
+
+Harry’s stomach lurched. That dog on the cover of 
+Death Omens in Flourish and Blotts — the dog in the 
+shadows of Magnolia Crescent . . . Lavender Brown 
+clapped her hands to her mouth too. Everyone was 
+looking at Harry, everyone except Hermione, who had 
+gotten up and moved around to the back of Professor 
+Trelawney’s chair. 
+
+“I don’t think it looks like a Grim,” she said flatly. 
+
+Professor Trelawney surveyed Hermione with 
+mounting dislike. 
+
+“You’ll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I 
+perceive very little aura around you. Very little 
+receptivity to the resonances of the future.” 
+
+Seamus Finnigan was tilting his head from side to 
+side. 
+
+“It looks like a Grim if you do this,” he said, with his 
+eyes almost shut, “but it looks more like a donkey 
+from here,” he said, leaning to the left. 
+
+Page | 118 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“When you’ve all finished deciding whether I’m going 
+to die or not!” said Harry, taking even himself by 
+surprise. Now nobody seemed to want to look at him. 
+
+“I think we will leave the lesson here for today,” said 
+Professor Trelawney in her mistiest voice. “Yes ... 
+please pack away your things. ...” 
+
+Silently the class took their teacups back to Professor 
+Trelawney, packed away their books, and closed their 
+bags. Even Ron was avoiding Harry’s eyes. 
+
+“Until we meet again,” said Professor Trelawney 
+faintly, “fair fortune be yours. Oh, and dear” — she 
+pointed at Neville — “you’ll be late next time, so mind 
+you work extra-hard to catch up.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione descended Professor 
+Trelawney’s ladder and the winding stair in silence, 
+then set off for Professor McGonagall’s 
+Transfiguration lesson. It took them so long to find 
+her classroom that, early as they had left Divination, 
+they were only just in time. 
+
+Harry chose a seat right at the back of the room, 
+feeling as though he were sitting in a very bright 
+spotlight; the rest of the class kept shooting furtive 
+glances at him, as though he were about to drop dead 
+at any moment. He hardly heard what Professor 
+McGonagall was telling them about Animagi (wizards 
+who could transform at will into animals), and wasn’t 
+even watching when she transformed herself in front 
+of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings 
+around her eyes. 
+
+“Really, what has got into you all today?” said 
+Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself with 
+a faint pop, and staring around at them all. “Not that 
+
+
+
+Page | 119 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+it matters, but that’s the first time my 
+transformation’s not got applause from a class.” 
+
+
+
+Everybody’s heads turned toward Harry again, but 
+nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand. 
+
+“Please, Professor, we’ve just had our first Divination 
+class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and — ” 
+
+“Ah, of course,” said Professor McGonagall, suddenly 
+frowning. “There is no need to say any more, Miss 
+Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this 
+year?” 
+
+Everyone stared at her. 
+
+“Me,” said Harry, finally. 
+
+“I see,” said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with 
+her beady eyes. “Then you should know, Potter, that 
+Sibyll Trelawney has predicted the death of one 
+student a year since she arrived at this school. None 
+of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her 
+favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for 
+the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her 
+nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, 
+“Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of 
+magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very 
+little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and 
+Professor Trelawney — ” 
+
+She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of- 
+fact tone, “You look in excellent health to me, Potter, 
+so you will excuse me if I don’t let you off homework 
+today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand 
+it in.” 
+
+Page | 120 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione laughed. Harry felt a bit better. It was 
+harder to feel scared of a lump of tea leaves away 
+from the dim red light and befuddling perfume of 
+Professor Trelawney’s classroom. Not everyone was 
+convinced, however. Ron still looked worried, and 
+Lavender whispered, “But what about Neville’s cup?” 
+
+When the Transfiguration class had finished, they 
+joined the crowd thundering toward the Great Hall for 
+lunch. 
+
+“Ron, cheer up,” said Hermione, pushing a dish of 
+stew toward him. “You heard what Professor 
+McGonagall said.” 
+
+Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his 
+fork but didn’t start. 
+
+“Harry,” he said, in a low, serious voice, “you haven’t 
+seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?” 
+
+“Yeah, I have,” said Harry. “I saw one the night I left 
+the Dursleys’.” 
+
+Ron let his fork fall with a clatter. 
+
+“Probably a stray,” said Hermione calmly. 
+
+Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone 
+mad. 
+
+“Hermione, if Harry’s seen a Grim, that’s — that’s 
+bad,” he said. “My — my uncle Bilius saw one and — 
+and he died twenty-four hours later!” 
+
+“Coincidence,” said Hermione airily, pouring herself 
+some pumpkin juice. 
+
+
+
+Page | 121 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” said Ron, 
+starting to get angry. “Grims scare the living daylights 
+out of most wizards!” 
+
+“There you are, then,” said Hermione in a superior 
+tone. “They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim’s 
+not an omen, it’s the cause of death! And Harry’s still 
+with us because he’s not stupid enough to see one 
+and think, right, well, I’d better kick the bucket then!” 
+
+Ron mouthed wordlessly at Hermione, who opened 
+her bag, took out her new Arithmancy book, and 
+propped it open against the juice jug. 
+
+“I think Divination seems very woolly,” she said, 
+searching for her page. “A lot of guesswork, if you ask 
+me.” 
+
+“There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that 
+cup!” said Ron hotly. 
+
+“You didn’t seem quite so confident when you were 
+telling Harry it was a sheep,” said Hermione coolly. 
+
+“Professor Trelawney said you didn’t have the right 
+aura! You just don’t like being bad at something for a 
+change!” 
+
+He had touched a nerve. Hermione slammed her 
+Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits 
+of meat and carrot flew everywhere. 
+
+“If being good at Divination means I have to pretend 
+to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I’m not 
+sure I’ll be studying it much longer! That lesson was 
+absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy 
+class!” 
+
+
+
+She snatched up her bag and stalked away. 
+
+Page | 122 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron frowned after her. 
+
+
+
+“What’s she talking about?” he said to Harry. “She 
+hasn’t been to an Arithmancy class yet.” 
+
+Harry was pleased to get out of the castle after lunch. 
+Yesterday’s rain had cleared; the sky was a clear, pale 
+gray, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot 
+as they set off for their first ever Care of Magical 
+Creatures class. 
+
+Ron and Hermione weren’t speaking to each other. 
+Harry walked beside them in silence as they went 
+down the sloping lawns to Hagrid’s hut on the edge of 
+the Forbidden Forest. It was only when he spotted 
+three only-too-familiar backs ahead of them that he 
+realized they must be having these lessons with the 
+Slytherins. Malfoy was talking animatedly to Crabbe 
+and Goyle, who were chortling. Harry was quite sure 
+he knew what they were talking about. 
+
+Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. 
+He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the 
+boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start. 
+
+“C’mon, now, get a move on!” he called as the class 
+approached. “Got a real treat for yeh today! Great 
+lesson cornin’ up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!” 
+
+For one nasty moment, Harry thought that Hagrid 
+was going to lead them into the forest; Harry had had 
+enough unpleasant experiences in there to last him a 
+lifetime. However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge 
+of the trees, and five minutes later, they found 
+themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was 
+nothing in there. 
+
+
+
+Page | 123 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Everyone gather ’round the fence here!” he called. 
+“That’s it — make sure yeh can see — now, firs’ thing 
+yeh’ll want ter do is open yer books — ” 
+
+“How?” said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. 
+
+“Eh?” said Hagrid. 
+
+“How do we open our books?” Malfoy repeated. He 
+took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, 
+which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other 
+people took theirs out too; some, like Harry, had 
+belted their book shut; others had crammed them 
+inside tight bags or clamped them together with 
+binder clips. 
+
+“Hasn’ — hasn’ anyone bin able ter open their 
+books?” said Hagrid, looking crestfallen. 
+
+The class all shook their heads. 
+
+“Yeh’ve got ter stroke ’em,” said Hagrid, as though 
+this was the most obvious thing in the world. “Look — 
+
+
+
+He took Hermione’s copy and ripped off the Spellotape 
+that bound it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a 
+giant forefinger down its spine, and the book 
+shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand. 
+
+“Oh, how silly we’ve all been!” Malfoy sneered. “We 
+should have stroked them! Why didn’t we guess!” 
+
+“I — I thought they were funny,” Hagrid said 
+uncertainly to Hermione. 
+
+“Oh, tremendously funny!” said Malfoy. “Really witty, 
+giving us books that try and rip our hands off!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 124 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Shut up, Malfoy,” said Harry quietly. Hagrid was 
+looking downcast and Harry wanted Hagrid ’s first 
+lesson to be a success. 
+
+“Righ’ then,” said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his 
+thread, “so — so yeh’ve got yer books an’ — an’ — 
+now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I’ll go 
+an’ get ’em. Hang on ...” 
+
+He strode away from them into the forest and out of 
+sight. 
+
+“God, this place is going to the dogs,” said Malfoy 
+loudly. “That oaf teaching classes, my father’ll have a 
+fit when I tell him — ” 
+
+“Shut up, Malfoy,” Harry repeated. 
+
+“Careful, Potter, there’s a dementor behind you — ” 
+
+“Oooooooh!” squealed Lavender Brown, pointing 
+toward the opposite side of the paddock. 
+
+Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre 
+creatures Harry had ever seen. They had the bodies, 
+hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, 
+wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, 
+with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly 
+orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a 
+foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a 
+thick leather collar around its neck, which was 
+attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these 
+were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came 
+jogging into the paddock behind the creatures. 
+
+“Gee up, there!” he roared, shaking the chains and 
+urging the creatures toward the fence where the class 
+stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached 
+them and tethered the creatures to the fence. 
+
+Page | 125 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hippogriffs!” Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at 
+them. “Beau’iful, aren’ they?” 
+
+Harry could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once you 
+got over the first shock of seeing something that was 
+half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the 
+hippogriffs’ gleaming coats, changing smoothly from 
+feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy 
+gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and 
+inky black. 
+
+“So,” said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and 
+beaming around, “if yeh wan’ ter come a bit nearer — ” 
+
+No one seemed to want to. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, 
+however, approached the fence cautiously. 
+
+“Now, firs’ thing yeh gotta know abou’ hippogriffs is, 
+they’re proud,” said Hagrid. “Easily offended, 
+hippogriffs are. Don’t never insult one, ’cause it might 
+be the last thing yeh do.” 
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren’t listening; they 
+were talking in an undertone and Harry had a nasty 
+feeling they were plotting how best to disrupt the 
+lesson. 
+
+“Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs’ 
+move,” Hagrid continued. “It’s polite, see? Yeh walk 
+toward him, and yeh bow, an’ yeh wait. If he bows 
+back, yeh’re allowed ter touch him. If he doesn’ bow, 
+then get away from him sharpish, ’cause those talons 
+hurt. 
+
+“Right — who wants ter go first?” 
+
+Most of the class backed farther away in answer. 
+
+Even Harry, Ron, and Hermione had misgivings. The 
+hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing 
+
+Page | 126 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+their powerful wings; they didn���t seem to like being 
+tethered like this. 
+
+“No one?” said Hagrid, with a pleading look. 
+
+“I’ll do it,” said Harry. 
+
+There was an intake of breath from behind him, and 
+both Lavender and Parvati whispered, “Oooh, no, 
+Harry, remember your tea leaves!” 
+
+Harry ignored them. He climbed over the paddock 
+fence. 
+
+“Good man, Harry!” roared Hagrid. “Right then — let’s 
+see how yeh get on with Buckbeak.” 
+
+He untied one of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff 
+away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather 
+collar. The class on the other side of the paddock 
+seemed to be holding its breath. Malfoy’s eyes were 
+narrowed maliciously. 
+
+“Easy, now, Harry,” said Hagrid quietly. “Yeh’ve got 
+eye contact, now try not ter blink. ... Hippogriffs don’ 
+trust yeh if yeh blink too much. ...” 
+
+Harry’s eyes immediately began to water, but he 
+didn’t shut them. Buckbeak had turned his great, 
+sharp head and was staring at Harry with one fierce 
+orange eye. 
+
+“Tha’s it,” said Hagrid. “Tha’s it, Harry ... now, bow 
+
+
+
+Harry didn’t feel much like exposing the back of his 
+neck to Buckbeak, but he did as he was told. He gave 
+a short bow and then looked up. 
+
+
+
+Page | 127 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The hippogriff was still staring haughtily at him. It 
+didn’t move. 
+
+“Ah,” said Hagrid, sounding worried. “Right — back 
+away, now, Harry, easy does it — ” 
+
+But then, to Harry’s enormous surprise, the hippogriff 
+suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into 
+what was an unmistakable bow. 
+
+“Well done, Harry!” said Hagrid, ecstatic. “Right — 
+yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!” 
+
+Feeling that a better reward would have been to back 
+away, Harry moved slowly toward the hippogriff and 
+reached out toward it. He patted the beak several 
+times and the hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as 
+though enjoying it. 
+
+The class broke into applause, all except for Malfoy, 
+Crabbe, and Goyle, who were looking deeply 
+disappointed. 
+
+“Righ’ then, Harry,” said Hagrid. “I reckon he might’ 
+let yeh ride him!” 
+
+This was more than Harry had bargained for. He was 
+used to a broomstick; but he wasn’t sure a hippogriff 
+would be quite the same. 
+
+“Yeh climb up there, jus’ behind the wing joint,” said 
+Hagrid, “an’ mind yeh don’ pull any of his feathers 
+out, he won’ like that. ...” 
+
+Harry put his foot on the top of Buckbeak’s wing and 
+hoisted himself onto its back. Buckbeak stood up. 
+Harry wasn’t sure where to hold on; everything in 
+front of him was covered with feathers. 
+
+
+
+Page | 128 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Go on, then!” roared Hagrid, slapping the hippogriff’s 
+hindquarters. 
+
+Without warning, twelve-foot wings flapped open on 
+either side of Harry; he just had time to seize the 
+hippogriff around the neck before he was soaring 
+upward. It was nothing like a broomstick, and Harry 
+knew which one he preferred; the hippogriff’s wings 
+beat uncomfortably on either side of him, catching 
+him under his legs and making him feel he was about 
+to be thrown off; the glossy feathers slipped under his 
+fingers and he didn’t dare get a stronger grip; instead 
+of the smooth action of his Nimbus Two Thousand, he 
+now felt himself rocking backward and forward as the 
+hindquarters of the hippogriff rose and fell with its 
+wings. 
+
+Buckbeak flew him once around the paddock and 
+then headed back to the ground; this was the bit 
+Harry had been dreading; he leaned back as the 
+smooth neck lowered, feeling he was going to slip off 
+over the beak, then felt a heavy thud as the four ill- 
+assorted feet hit the ground. He just managed to hold 
+on and push himself straight again. 
+
+“Good work, Harry!” roared Hagrid as everyone except 
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. “Okay, who else 
+wants a go?” 
+
+Emboldened by Harry’s success, the rest of the class 
+climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied 
+the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were 
+bowing nervously, all over the paddock. Neville ran 
+repeatedly backward from his, which didn’t seem to 
+want to bend its knees. Ron and Hermione practiced 
+on the chestnut, while Harry watched. 
+
+
+
+Page | 129 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had taken over Buckbeak. 
+He had bowed to Malfoy, who was now patting his 
+beak, looking disdainful. 
+
+“This is very easy,” Malfoy drawled, loud enough for 
+Harry to hear him. “I knew it must have been, if 
+Potter could do it. ... I bet you’re not dangerous at all, 
+are you?” he said to the hippogriff. “Are you, you great 
+ugly brute?” 
+
+It happened in a flash of steely talons; Malfoy let out a 
+high-pitched scream and next moment, Hagrid was 
+wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he 
+strained to get at Malfoy, who lay curled in the grass, 
+blood blossoming over his robes. 
+
+“I’m dying!” Malfoy yelled as the class panicked. “I’m 
+dying, look at me! It’s killed me!” 
+
+“Yer not dyin’!” said Hagrid, who had gone very white. 
+“Someone help me — gotta get him outta here — ” 
+
+Hermione ran to hold open the gate as Hagrid lifted 
+Malfoy easily. As they passed, Harry saw that there 
+was a long, deep gash on Malfoy’s arm; blood 
+splattered the grass and Hagrid ran with him, up the 
+slope toward the castle. 
+
+Very shaken, the Care of Magical Creatures class 
+followed at a walk. The Slytherins were all shouting 
+about Hagrid. 
+
+“They should fire him straight away!” said Pansy 
+Parkinson, who was in tears. 
+
+“It was Malfoy’s fault!” snapped Dean Thomas. 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 130 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They all climbed the stone steps into the deserted 
+entrance hall. 
+
+“I’m going to see if he’s okay!” said Pansy, and they all 
+watched her run up the marble staircase. The 
+Slytherins, still muttering about Hagrid, headed away 
+in the direction of their dungeon common room; 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione proceeded upstairs to 
+Gryffindor Tower. 
+
+“D’you think he’ll be all right?” said Hermione 
+nervously. 
+
+“ ’Course he will. Madam Pomfrey can mend cuts in 
+about a second,” said Harry, who had had far worse 
+injuries mended magically by the nurse. 
+
+“That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid ’s 
+first class, though, wasn’t it?” said Ron, looking 
+worried. “Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him. ...” 
+
+They were among the first to reach the Great Hall at 
+dinnertime, hoping to see Hagrid, but he wasn’t there. 
+
+“They wouldn’t fire him, would they?” said Hermione 
+anxiously, not touching her steak-and-kidney 
+pudding. 
+
+“They’d better not,” said Ron, who wasn’t eating 
+either. 
+
+Harry was watching the Slytherin table. A large group 
+including Crabbe and Goyle was huddled together, 
+deep in conversation. Harry was sure they were 
+cooking up their own version of how Malfoy had been 
+injured. 
+
+“Well, you can’t say it wasn’t an interesting first day 
+back,” said Ron gloomily. 
+
+Page | 131 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They went up to the crowded Gryffindor common 
+room after dinner and tried to do the homework 
+Professor McGonagall had given them, but all three of 
+them kept breaking off and glancing out of the tower 
+window. 
+
+“There’s a light on in Hagrid’s window,” Harry said 
+suddenly. 
+
+Ron looked at his watch. 
+
+“If we hurried, we could go down and see him. It’s still 
+quite early. ...” 
+
+“I don’t know,” Hermione said slowly, and Harry saw 
+her glance at him. 
+
+“I’m allowed to walk across the grounds,” he said 
+pointedly. “Sirius Black hasn’t got past the dementors 
+yet, has he?” 
+
+So they put their things away and headed out of the 
+portrait hole, glad to meet nobody on their way to the 
+front doors, as they weren’t entirely sure they were 
+supposed to be out. 
+
+The grass was still wet and looked almost black in the 
+twilight. When they reached Hagrid’s hut, they 
+knocked, and a voice growled, “C’min.” 
+
+Hagrid was sitting in his shirtsleeves at his scrubbed 
+wooden table; his boarhound, Fang, had his head in 
+Hagrid’s lap. One look told them that Hagrid had been 
+drinking a lot; there was a pewter tankard almost as 
+big as a bucket in front of him, and he seemed to be 
+having difficulty getting them into focus. 
+
+
+
+Page | 132 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ’Spect it’s a record,” he said thickly, when he 
+recognized them. “Don’ reckon they’ve ever had a 
+teacher who lasted on’y a day before.” 
+
+“You haven’t been fired, Hagrid!” gasped Hermione. 
+
+“Not yet,” said Hagrid miserably, taking a huge gulp 
+of whatever was in the tankard. “But ’s only a matter 
+o’ time, i’n’t it, after Malfoy ...” 
+
+“How is he?” said Ron as they all sat down. “It wasn’t 
+serious, was it?” 
+
+“Madam Pomfrey fixed him best she could,” said 
+Hagrid dully, “but he’s sayin’ it’s still agony ... covered 
+in bandages ... moanin’ ...” 
+
+“He’s faking it,” said Harry at once. “Madam Pomfrey 
+can mend anything. She regrew half my bones last 
+year. Trust Malfoy to milk it for all it’s worth.” 
+
+“School gov’nors have bin told, o’ course,” said Hagrid 
+miserably. “They reckon I started too big. Shoulda left 
+hippogriffs fer later ... done flobberworms or summat. 
+... Jus’ thought it’d make a good firs’ lesson. ... ’S all 
+my fault. ...” 
+
+“It’s all Malfoy ’s fault, Hagrid!” said Hermione 
+earnestly. 
+
+“We’re witnesses,” said Harry. “You said hippogriffs 
+attack if you insult them. It’s Malfoy’s problem that 
+he wasn’t listening. We’ll tell Dumbledore what really 
+happened.” 
+
+“Yeah, don’t worry, Hagrid, we’ll back you up,” said 
+Ron. 
+
+
+
+Page | 133 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Tears leaked out of the crinkled corners of Hagrid ’s 
+beetle-black eyes. He grabbed both Harry and Ron 
+and pulled them into a bone-breaking hug. 
+
+“I think you’ve had enough to drink, Hagrid,” said 
+Hermione firmly. She took the tankard from the table 
+and went outside to empty it. 
+
+“Ar, maybe she’s right,” said Hagrid, letting go of 
+Harry and Ron, who both staggered away, rubbing 
+their ribs. Hagrid heaved himself out of his chair and 
+followed Hermione unsteadily outside. They heard a 
+loud splash. 
+
+“What’s he done?” said Harry nervously as Hermione 
+came back in with the empty tankard. 
+
+“Stuck his head in the water barrel,” said Hermione, 
+putting the tankard away. 
+
+Hagrid came back, his long hair and beard sopping 
+wet, wiping the water out of his eyes. 
+
+“Tha’s better,” he said, shaking his head like a dog 
+and drenching them all. “Listen, it was good of yeh ter 
+come an’ see me, I really — ” 
+
+Hagrid stopped dead, staring at Harry as though he’d 
+only just realized he was there. 
+
+“WHAT DYEH THINK YOU’RE DOIN’, EH?” he roared, 
+so suddenly that they jumped a foot in the air. 
+
+“YEH ’RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN’ AROUND AFTER 
+DARK, HARRY! AN’ YOU TWO! LETTIN’ HIM!” 
+
+Hagrid strode over to Harry, grabbed his arm, and 
+pulled him to the door. 
+
+
+
+Page | 134 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“C’mon!” Hagrid said angrily. “I’m takin’yer all back 
+up ter school, an’ don’ let me catch yeh walkin’ down 
+ter see me after dark again. I’m not worth that!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 135 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+7 
+
+
+
+
+THE BOGGART IN THE WARDROBE 
+
+Malfoy didn’t reappear in classes until late on 
+Thursday morning, when the Slytherins and 
+Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. He 
+swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in 
+bandages and bound up in a sling, acting, in Harry’s 
+opinion, as though he were the heroic survivor of 
+some dreadful battle. 
+
+“How is it, Draco?” simpered Pansy Parkinson. “Does 
+it hurt much?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Malfoy, putting on a brave sort of 
+grimace. But Harry saw him wink at Crabbe and 
+Goyle when Pansy had looked away. 
+
+“Settle down, settle down,” said Professor Snape idly. 
+
+Harry and Ron scowled at each other; Snape wouldn’t 
+have said “settle down” if they’d walked in late, he’d 
+have given them detention. But Malfoy had always 
+been able to get away with anything in Snape ’s 
+
+Page | 136 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+classes; Snape was head of Slytherin House, and 
+generally favored his own students above all others. 
+
+
+
+They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking 
+Solution. Malfoy set up his cauldron right next to 
+Harry and Ron, so that they were preparing their 
+ingredients on the same table. 
+
+“Sir,” Malfoy called, “sir, I’ll need help cutting up 
+these daisy roots, because of my arm — ” 
+
+“Weasley, cut up Malfoy’s roots for him,” said Snape 
+without looking up. 
+
+Ron went brick red. 
+
+“There’s nothing wrong with your arm,” he hissed at 
+Malfoy. 
+
+Malfoy smirked across the table. 
+
+“Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these 
+roots.” 
+
+Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy’s roots toward 
+him, and began to chop them roughly, so that they 
+were all different sizes. 
+
+“Professor,” drawled Malfoy, “Weasley’s mutilating my 
+roots, sir.” 
+
+Snape approached their table, stared down his 
+hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an 
+unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black 
+hair. 
+
+“Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley.” 
+
+“But, sir — !” 
+
+Page | 137 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully 
+shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces. 
+
+“Now,” said Snape in his most dangerous voice. 
+
+Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the 
+table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again. 
+
+“And, sir, 111 need this shrivelfig skinned,” said 
+Malfoy, his voice full of malicious laughter. 
+
+“Potter, you can skin Malfoy’s shrivelfig,” said Snape, 
+giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved 
+just for him. 
+
+Harry took Malfoy’s shrivelfig as Ron began trying to 
+repair the damage to the roots he now had to use. 
+Harry skinned the shrivelfig as fast as he could and 
+flung it back across the table at Malfoy without 
+speaking. Malfoy was smirking more broadly than 
+ever. 
+
+“Seen your pal Hagrid lately?” he asked them quietly. 
+
+“None of your business,” said Ron jerkily, without 
+looking up. 
+
+“I’m afraid he won’t be a teacher much longer,” said 
+Malfoy in a tone of mock sorrow. “Father’s not very 
+happy about my injury — ” 
+
+“Keep talking, Malfoy, and I’ll give you a real injury,” 
+snarled Ron. 
+
+“ — he’s complained to the school governors. And to 
+the Ministry of Magic. Father’s got a lot of influence, 
+you know. And a lasting injury like this” — he gave a 
+huge, fake sigh — “who knows if my arm’ll ever be the 
+same again?” 
+
+Page | 138 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So that’s why you’re putting it on,” said Harry, 
+accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his 
+hand was shaking in anger. “To try to get Hagrid 
+fired.” 
+
+“Well,” said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, 
+
+“ partly , Potter. But there are other benefits too. 
+Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me.” 
+
+A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Neville 
+regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his 
+worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape 
+made things ten times worse. His potion, which was 
+supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned — 
+
+“Orange, Longbottom,” said Snape, ladling some up 
+and allowing it to splash back into the cauldron, so 
+that everyone could see. “Orange. Tell me, boy, does 
+anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn’t 
+you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat 
+spleen was needed? Didn’t I state plainly that a dash 
+of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to 
+make you understand, Longbottom?” 
+
+Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though 
+he was on the verge of tears. 
+
+“Please, sir,” said Hermione, “please, I could help 
+Neville put it right — ” 
+
+“I don’t remember asking you to show off, Miss 
+Granger,” said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as 
+pink as Neville. “Longbottom, at the end of this lesson 
+we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad 
+and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage 
+you to do it properly.” 
+
+Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with 
+fear. 
+
+Page | 139 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Help me!” he moaned to Hermione. 
+
+
+
+“Hey, Harry,” said Seamus Finnigan, leaning over to 
+borrow Harry’s brass scales, “have you heard? Daily 
+Prophet this morning — they reckon Sirius Black’s 
+been sighted.” 
+
+“Where?” said Harry and Ron quickly. On the other 
+side of the table, Malfoy looked up, listening closely. 
+
+“Not too far from here,” said Seamus, who looked 
+excited. “It was a Muggle who saw him. ’Course, she 
+didn’t really understand. The Muggles think he’s just 
+an ordinary criminal, don’t they? So she phoned the 
+telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic 
+got there, he was gone.” 
+
+“Not too far from here ... ,” Ron repeated, looking 
+significantly at Harry. He turned around and saw 
+Malfoy watching closely. “What, Malfoy? Need 
+something else skinned?” 
+
+But Malfoy’s eyes were shining malevolently, and they 
+were fixed on Harry. He leaned across the table. 
+
+“Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, 
+Potter?” 
+
+“Yeah, that’s right,” said Harry offhandedly. 
+
+Malfoy’s thin mouth was curving in a mean smile. 
+
+“Of course, if it was me,” he said quietly, “I’d have 
+done something before now. I wouldn’t be staying in 
+school like a good boy, I’d be out there looking for 
+him.” 
+
+“What are you talking about, Malfoy?” said Ron 
+roughly. 
+
+Page | 140 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t you know, Potter?” breathed Malfoy, his pale 
+eyes narrowed. 
+
+
+
+“Know what?” 
+
+Malfoy let out a low, sneering laugh. 
+
+“Maybe you’d rather not risk your neck,” he said. 
+“Want to leave it to the dementors, do you? But if it 
+was me, I’d want revenge. I’d hunt him down myself.” 
+
+“ What are you talking about?” said Harry angrily, but 
+at that moment Snape called, “You should have 
+finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion 
+needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away 
+while it simmers and then we’ll test Longbottom’s. ...” 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly, watching Neville 
+sweat as he stirred his potion feverishly. Hermione 
+was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of 
+her mouth, so that Snape wouldn’t see. Harry and 
+Ron packed away their unused ingredients and went 
+to wash their hands and ladles in the stone basin in 
+the corner. 
+
+“What did Malfoy mean?” Harry muttered to Ron as 
+he stuck his hands under the icy jet that poured from 
+the gargoyle’s mouth. “Why would I want revenge on 
+Black? He hasn’t done anything to me — yet.” 
+
+“He’s making it up,” said Ron savagely. “He’s trying to 
+make you do something stupid. ...” 
+
+The end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to 
+Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron. 
+
+“Everyone gather ’round,” said Snape, his black eyes 
+glittering, “and watch what happens to Longbottom’s 
+toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking 
+
+Page | 141 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don’t 
+doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be 
+poisoned.” 
+
+The Gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins 
+looked excited. Snape picked up Trevor the toad in 
+his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville’s 
+potion, which was now green. He trickled a few drops 
+down Trevor’s throat. 
+
+There was a moment of hushed silence, in which 
+Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor 
+the tadpole was wriggling in Snape ’s palm. 
+
+The Gryffindors burst into applause. Snape, looking 
+sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his 
+robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he 
+reappeared suddenly, fully grown. 
+
+“Five points from Gryffindor,” said Snape, which 
+wiped the smiles from every face. “I told you not to 
+help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the steps to the 
+entrance hall. Harry was still thinking about what 
+Malfoy had said, while Ron was seething about 
+Snape. 
+
+“Five points from Gryffindor because the potion was 
+all right! Why didn’t you lie, Hermione? You should’ve 
+said Neville did it all by himself!” 
+
+Hermione didn’t answer. Ron looked around. 
+
+“Where is she?” 
+
+Harry turned too. They were at the top of the steps 
+now, watching the rest of the class pass them, 
+heading for the Great Hall and lunch. 
+
+Page | 142 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She was right behind us,” said Ron, frowning. 
+
+Malfoy passed them, walking between Crabbe and 
+Goyle. He smirked at Harry and disappeared. 
+
+“There she is,” said Harry. 
+
+Hermione was panting slightly, hurrying up the 
+stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed 
+to be tucking something down the front of her robes. 
+
+“How did you do that?” said Ron. 
+
+“What?” said Hermione, joining them. 
+
+“One minute you were right behind us, the next 
+moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs 
+again.” 
+
+“What?” Hermione looked slightly confused. “Oh — I 
+had to go back for something. Oh no — ” 
+
+A seam had split on Hermione’s bag. Harry wasn’t 
+surprised; he could see that it was crammed with at 
+least a dozen large and heavy books. 
+
+“Why are you carrying all these around with you?” 
+Ron asked her. 
+
+“You know how many subjects I’m taking,” said 
+Hermione breathlessly. “Couldn’t hold these for me, 
+could you?” 
+
+“But — ” Ron was turning over the books she had 
+handed him, looking at the covers. “You haven’t got 
+any of these subjects today. It’s only Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts this afternoon.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 143 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh yes,” said Hermione vaguely, but she packed all 
+the books back into her bag just the same. “I hope 
+there’s something good for lunch, I’m starving,” she 
+added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall. 
+
+“D’you get the feeling Hermione ’s not telling us 
+something?” Ron asked Harry. 
+
+
+
+Professor Lupin wasn’t there when they arrived at his 
+first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. They all 
+sat down, took out their books, quills, and 
+parchment, and were talking when he finally entered 
+the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty 
+old briefcase on the teacher’s desk. He was as shabby 
+as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, 
+as though he had had a few square meals. 
+
+“Good afternoon,” he said. “Would you please put all 
+your books back in your bags. Today’s will be a 
+practical lesson. You will need only your wands.” 
+
+A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put 
+away their books. They had never had a practical 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts before, unless you 
+counted the memorable class last year when their old 
+teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and 
+set them loose. 
+
+“Right then,” said Professor Lupin, when everyone 
+was ready. “If you’d follow me.” 
+
+Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and 
+followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led 
+them along the deserted corridor and around a 
+corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the 
+Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair 
+and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum. 
+Page | 144 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Peeves didn’t look up until Professor Lupin was two 
+feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and 
+broke into song. 
+
+“Loony, loopy Lupin,” Peeves sang. “Loony, loopy 
+Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin — ” 
+
+Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, 
+Peeves usually showed some respect toward the 
+teachers. Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin 
+to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he 
+was still smiling. 
+
+“I’d take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, 
+Peeves,” he said pleasantly. “Mr. Filch won’t be able to 
+get in to his brooms.” 
+
+Filch was the Hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, 
+failed wizard who waged a constant war against the 
+students and, indeed, Peeves. However, Peeves paid 
+no attention to Professor Lupin’s words, except to 
+blow a loud wet raspberry. 
+
+Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his 
+wand. 
+
+“This is a useful little spell,” he told the class over his 
+shoulder. “Please watch closely.” 
+
+He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, 
+
+“ Waddiwasil ” and pointed it at Peeves. 
+
+With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum 
+shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves ’s left 
+nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing. 
+
+“Cool, sir!” said Dean Thomas in amazement. 
+
+
+
+Page | 145 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Thank you, Dean,” said Professor Lupin, putting his 
+wand away again. “Shall we proceed?” 
+
+They set off again, the class looking at shabby 
+Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led them 
+down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the 
+staffroom door. 
+
+“Inside, please,” said Professor Lupin, opening it and 
+standing back. 
+
+The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, 
+mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. 
+Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he 
+looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were 
+glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around 
+his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to 
+close the door behind him, Snape said, “Leave it open, 
+Lupin. Td rather not witness this.” 
+
+He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black 
+robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned 
+on his heel and said, “Possibly no one’s warned you, 
+Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I 
+would advise you not to entrust him with anything 
+difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing 
+instructions in his ear.” 
+
+Neville went scarlet. Harry glared at Snape; it was bad 
+enough that he bullied Neville in his own classes, let 
+alone doing it in front of other teachers. 
+
+Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows. 
+
+“I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the 
+first stage of the operation,” he said, “and I am sure 
+he will perform it admirably.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 146 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Neville’s face went, if possible, even redder. Snape’s 
+lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap. 
+
+“Now, then,” said Professor Lupin, beckoning the 
+class toward the end of the room, where there was 
+nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept 
+their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand 
+next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, 
+banging off the wall. 
+
+“Nothing to worry about,” said Professor Lupin calmly 
+because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. 
+“There’s a boggart in there.” 
+
+Most people seemed to feel that this was something to 
+worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of 
+pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now 
+rattling doorknob apprehensively. 
+
+“Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces,” said Professor 
+Lupin. “Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the 
+cupboards under sinks — I’ve even met one that had 
+lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in 
+yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if 
+the staff would leave it to give my third years some 
+practice. 
+
+“So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what 
+is a boggart?” 
+
+Hermione put up her hand. 
+
+“It’s a shape-shifter,” she said. “It can take the shape 
+of whatever it thinks will frighten us most.” 
+
+“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” said Professor 
+Lupin, and Hermione glowed. “So the boggart sitting 
+in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. 
+
+He does not yet know what will frighten the person on 
+
+Page | 147 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a 
+boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let 
+him out, he will immediately become whatever each of 
+us most fears. 
+
+“This means,” said Professor Lupin, choosing to 
+ignore Neville’s small sputter of terror, “that we have a 
+huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. 
+
+Have you spotted it, Harry?” 
+
+Trying to answer a question with Hermione next to 
+him, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet 
+with her hand in the air, was very off-putting, but 
+Harry had a go. 
+
+“Er — because there are so many of us, it won’t know 
+what shape it should be?” 
+
+“Precisely,” said Professor Lupin, and Hermione put 
+her hand down, looking a little disappointed. “It’s 
+always best to have company when you’re dealing 
+with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should 
+he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I 
+once saw a boggart make that very mistake — tried to 
+frighten two people at once and turned himself into 
+half a slug. Not remotely frightening. 
+
+“The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it 
+requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really 
+finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is 
+force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. 
+
+“We will practice the charm without wands first. After 
+me, please ... riddikulusV’ 
+
+“ RiddikulusV’ said the class together. 
+
+“Good,” said Professor Lupin. “Very good. But that 
+was the easy part, I’m afraid. You see, the word alone 
+
+Page | 148 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+is not enough. And this is where you come in, 
+Neville.” 
+
+
+
+The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as 
+Neville, who walked forward as though he were 
+heading for the gallows. 
+
+“Right, Neville,” said Professor Lupin. “First things 
+first: what would you say is the thing that frightens 
+you most in the world?” 
+
+Neville’s lips moved, but no noise came out. 
+
+“Didn’t catch that, Neville, sorry,” said Professor 
+Lupin cheerfully. 
+
+Neville looked around rather wildly, as though 
+begging someone to help him, then said, in barely 
+more than a whisper, “Professor Snape.” 
+
+Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned 
+apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked 
+thoughtful. 
+
+“Professor Snape ... hmmm ... Neville, I believe you 
+live with your grandmother?” 
+
+“Er — yes,” said Neville nervously. “But — I don’t 
+want the boggart to turn into her either.” 
+
+“No, no, you misunderstand me,” said Professor 
+Lupin, now smiling. “I wonder, could you tell us what 
+sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?” 
+
+Neville looked startled, but said, “Well ... always the 
+same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. 
+
+And a long dress ... green, normally ... and sometimes 
+a fox-fur scarf.” 
+
+Page | 149 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And a handbag?” prompted Professor Lupin. 
+
+“A big red one,” said Neville. 
+
+“Right then,” said Professor Lupin. “Can you picture 
+those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them 
+in your mind’s eye?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Neville uncertainly, plainly wondering 
+what was coming next. 
+
+“When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, 
+
+Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of 
+Professor Snape,” said Lupin. “And you will raise your 
+wand — thus — and cry ‘Riddikulus’ — and 
+concentrate hard on your grandmother’s clothes. If all 
+goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into 
+that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with 
+that big red handbag.” 
+
+There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe 
+wobbled more violently. 
+
+“If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift 
+his attention to each of us in turn,” said Professor 
+Lupin. “I would like all of you to take a moment now 
+to think of the thing that scares you most, and 
+imagine how you might force it to look comical. ...” 
+
+The room went quiet. Harry thought ... What scared 
+him most in the world? 
+
+His first thought was Lord Voldemort — a Voldemort 
+returned to full strength. But before he had even 
+started to plan a possible counterattack on a boggart - 
+Voldemort, a horrible image came floating to the 
+surface of his mind. ... 
+
+
+
+Page | 150 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A rotting, glistening hand, slithering back beneath a 
+black cloak ... a long, rattling breath from an unseen 
+mouth . . . then a cold so penetrating it felt like 
+drowning. ... 
+
+Harry shivered, then looked around, hoping no one 
+had noticed. Many people had their eyes shut tight. 
+Ron was muttering to himself, “Take its legs off.” 
+Harry was sure he knew what that was about. Ron’s 
+greatest fear was spiders. 
+
+“Everyone ready?” said Professor Lupin. 
+
+Harry felt a lurch of fear. He wasn’t ready. How could 
+you make a dementor less frightening? But he didn’t 
+want to ask for more time; everyone else was nodding 
+and rolling up their sleeves. 
+
+“Neville, we’re going to back away,” said Professor 
+Lupin. “Let you have a clear field, all right? I’ll call the 
+next person forward. ... Everyone back, now, so 
+Neville can get a clear shot — ” 
+
+They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving 
+Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and 
+frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his 
+robes and was holding his wand ready. 
+
+“On the count of three, Neville,” said Professor Lupin, 
+who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the 
+wardrobe. “One — two — three — now\” 
+
+A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin’s 
+wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst 
+open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape 
+stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville. 
+
+
+
+Page | 151 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing 
+wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, 
+reaching inside his robes. 
+
+“R — r — riddikulusV’ squeaked Neville. 
+
+There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; 
+he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a 
+towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and 
+he was swinging a huge crimson handbag. 
+
+There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, 
+confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, “Parvati! 
+Forward!” 
+
+Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded 
+on her. There was another crack, and where he had 
+stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its 
+sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to 
+walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff 
+arms rising — 
+
+“RiddikulusV’ cried Parvati. 
+
+A bandage unraveled at the mummy’s feet; it became 
+entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off. 
+
+“Seamus!” roared Professor Lupin. 
+
+Seamus darted past Parvati. 
+
+Crack ! Where the mummy had been was a woman 
+with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green- 
+tinged face — a banshee. She opened her mouth wide 
+and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, 
+wailing shriek that made the hair on Harry’s head 
+stand on end — 
+
+“RiddikulusV’ shouted Seamus. 
+
+Page | 152 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her 
+throat; her voice was gone. 
+
+Crack). The banshee turned into a rat, which chased 
+its tail in a circle, then — crack). — became a 
+rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before — 
+crack ! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball. 
+
+“It’s confused!” shouted Lupin. “We’re getting there! 
+Dean!” 
+
+Dean hurried forward. 
+
+Crack) The eyeball became a severed hand, which 
+flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a 
+crab. 
+
+“RiddikulusV’ yelled Dean. 
+
+There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a 
+mousetrap. 
+
+“Excellent! Ron, you next!” 
+
+Ron leapt forward. 
+
+Crack) 
+
+Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet 
+tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, 
+clicking its pincers menacingly. For a moment, Harry 
+thought Ron had frozen. Then — 
+
+“RiddikulusV’ bellowed Ron, and the spider’s legs 
+vanished; it rolled over and over; Lavender Brown 
+squealed and ran out of its way and it came to a halt 
+at Harry’s feet. He raised his wand, ready, but — 
+
+
+
+Page | 153 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Here!” shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying 
+forward. 
+
+Crack). 
+
+The legless spider had vanished. For a second, 
+everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. 
+Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air 
+in front of Lupin, who said, “RiddikulusV’ almost 
+lazily. 
+
+Crack ! 
+
+“Forward, Neville, and finish him off!” said Lupin as 
+the boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack). 
+Snape was back. This time Neville charged forward 
+looking determined. 
+
+“RiddikulusV’ he shouted, and they had a split 
+second’s view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville 
+let out a great “Ha!” of laughter, and the boggart 
+exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, 
+and was gone. 
+
+“Excellent!” cried Professor Lupin as the class broke 
+into applause. “Excellent, Neville. Well done, 
+everyone. ... Let me see ... five points to Gryffindor for 
+every person to tackle the boggart — ten for Neville 
+because he did it twice . . . and five each to Hermione 
+and Harry.” 
+
+“But I didn’t do anything,” said Harry. 
+
+“You and Hermione answered my questions correctly 
+at the start of the class, Harry,” Lupin said lightly. 
+“Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, 
+kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it 
+for me ... to be handed in on Monday. That will be 
+all.” 
+
+Page | 154 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. Harry, 
+however, wasn’t feeling cheerful. Professor Lupin had 
+deliberately stopped him from tackling the boggart. 
+Why? Was it because he’d seen Harry collapse on the 
+train, and thought he wasn’t up to much? Had he 
+thought Harry would pass out again? 
+
+But no one else seemed to have noticed anything. 
+
+“Did you see me take that banshee?” shouted 
+Seamus. 
+
+“And the hand!” said Dean, waving his own around. 
+“And Snape in that hat!” 
+
+“And my mummy!” 
+
+“I wonder why Professor Lupin’s frightened of crystal 
+balls?” said Lavender thoughtfully. 
+
+“That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+lesson we’ve ever had, wasn’t it?” said Ron excitedly 
+as they made their way back to the classroom to get 
+their bags. 
+
+“He seems like a very good teacher,” said Hermione 
+approvingly. “But I wish I could have had a turn with 
+the boggart — ” 
+
+“What would it have been for you?” said Ron, 
+sniggering. “A piece of homework that only got nine 
+out of ten?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 155 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+d 
+
+
+
+
+FLIGHT OF THE FAT LADY 
+
+In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had 
+become most people’s favorite class. Only Draco 
+Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to 
+say about Professor Lupin. 
+
+“Look at the state of his robes,” Malfoy would say in a 
+loud whisper as Professor Lupin passed. “He dresses 
+like our old house-elf.” 
+
+But no one else cared that Professor Lupin’s robes 
+were patched and frayed. His next few lessons were 
+just as interesting as the first. After boggarts, they 
+studied Red Caps, nasty little goblinlike creatures 
+that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed: in 
+the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted 
+battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten 
+lost. From Red Caps they moved on to kappas, creepy 
+water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with 
+webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in 
+their ponds. 
+
+Harry only wished he was as happy with some of his 
+other classes. Worst of all was Potions. Snape was in 
+
+Page | 156 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+a particularly vindictive mood these days, and no one 
+was in any doubt why. The story of the boggart 
+assuming Snape’s shape, and the way that Neville 
+had dressed it in his grandmother’s clothes, had 
+traveled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn’t 
+seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at 
+the very mention of Professor Lupin’s name, and he 
+was bullying Neville worse than ever. 
+
+Harry was also growing to dread the hours he spent 
+in Professor Trelawney’s stifling tower room, 
+deciphering lopsided shapes and symbols, trying to 
+ignore the way Professor Trelawney’s enormous eyes 
+filled with tears every time she looked at him. He 
+couldn’t like Professor Trelawney, even though she 
+was treated with respect bordering on reverence by 
+many of the class. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown 
+had taken to haunting Professor Trelawney’s tower 
+room at lunchtimes, and always returned with 
+annoyingly superior looks on their faces, as though 
+they knew things the others didn’t. They had also 
+started using hushed voices whenever they spoke to 
+Harry, as though he were on his deathbed. 
+
+Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, 
+after the action-packed first class, had become 
+extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his 
+confidence. They were now spending lesson after 
+lesson learning how to look after flobberworms, which 
+had to be some of the most boring creatures in 
+existence. 
+
+“Why would anyone bother looking after them?” said 
+Ron, after yet another hour of poking shredded 
+lettuce down the flobberworms’ slimy throats. 
+
+At the start of October, however, Harry had 
+something else to occupy him, something so enjoyable 
+it more than made up for his unsatisfactory classes. 
+
+Page | 157 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Quidditch season was approaching, and Oliver 
+Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor team, called a 
+meeting one Thursday evening to discuss tactics for 
+the new season. 
+
+There were seven people on a Quidditch team: three 
+Chasers, whose job it was to score goals by putting 
+the Quaffle (a red, soccer-sized ball) through one of 
+the fifty-foot-high hoops at each end of the field; two 
+Beaters, who were equipped with heavy bats to repel 
+the Bludgers (two heavy black balls that zoomed 
+around trying to attack the players); a Keeper, who 
+defended the goal posts, and the Seeker, who had the 
+hardest job of all, that of catching the Golden Snitch, 
+a tiny, winged, walnut-sized ball, whose capture 
+ended the game and earned the Seeker’s team an 
+extra one hundred and fifty points. 
+
+Oliver Wood was a burly seventeen-year-old, now in 
+his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. There was a 
+quiet sort of desperation in his voice as he addressed 
+his six fellow team members in the chilly locker rooms 
+on the edge of the darkening Quidditch field. 
+
+“This is our last chance — my last chance — to win 
+the Quidditch Cup,” he told them, striding up and 
+down in front of them. “I’ll be leaving at the end of 
+this year. I’ll never get another shot at it. 
+
+“Gryffindor hasn’t won for seven years now. Okay, so 
+we’ve had the worst luck in the world — injuries — 
+then the tournament getting called off last year. ...” 
+Wood swallowed, as though the memory still brought 
+a lump to his throat. “But we also know we’ve got the 
+best — ruddy — team — in — the — school,” he said, 
+punching a fist into his other hand, the old manic 
+glint back in his eye. 
+
+“We’ve got three superb Chasers.” 
+
+Page | 158 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Wood pointed at Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, 
+and Katie Bell. 
+
+“We’ve got two unbeatable Beaters.” 
+
+“Stop it, Oliver, you’re embarrassing us,” said Fred 
+and George Weasley together, pretending to blush. 
+
+“And we’ve got a Seeker who has never failed to win 
+us a match).” Wood rumbled, glaring at Harry with a 
+kind of furious pride. “And me,” he added as an 
+afterthought. 
+
+“We think you’re very good too, Oliver,” said George. 
+
+“Spanking good Keeper,” said Fred. 
+
+“The point is,” Wood went on, resuming his pacing, 
+“the Quidditch Cup should have had our name on it 
+these last two years. Ever since Harry joined the 
+team, I’ve thought the thing was in the bag. But we 
+haven’t got it, and this year’s the last chance we’ll get 
+to finally see our name on the thing. ...” 
+
+Wood spoke so dejectedly that even Fred and George 
+looked sympathetic. 
+
+“Oliver, this year’s our year,” said Fred. 
+
+“Well do it, Oliver!” said Angelina. 
+
+“Definitely,” said Harry. 
+
+Full of determination, the team started training 
+sessions, three evenings a week. The weather was 
+getting colder and wetter, the nights darker, but no 
+amount of mud, wind, or rain could tarnish Harry’s 
+wonderful vision of finally winning the huge, silver 
+Quidditch Cup. 
+
+Page | 159 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room one 
+evening after training, cold and stiff but pleased with 
+the way practice had gone, to find the room buzzing 
+excitedly. 
+
+“What’s happened?” he asked Ron and Hermione, 
+who were sitting in two of the best chairs by the 
+fireside and completing some star charts for 
+Astronomy. 
+
+“First Hogsmeade weekend,” said Ron, pointing at a 
+notice that had appeared on the battered old bulletin 
+board. “End of October. Halloween.” 
+
+“Excellent,” said Fred, who had followed Harry 
+through the portrait hole. “I need to visit Zonko’s. I’m 
+nearly out of Stink Pellets.” 
+
+Harry threw himself into a chair beside Ron, his high 
+spirits ebbing away. Hermione seemed to read his 
+mind. 
+
+“Harry, I’m sure you’ll be able to go next time,” she 
+said. “They’re bound to catch Black soon. He’s been 
+sighted once already” 
+
+“Black’s not fool enough to try anything in 
+Hogsmeade,” said Ron. “Ask McGonagall if you can go 
+this time, Harry. The next one might not be for ages 
+
+
+
+“Ron\” said Hermione. “Harry’s supposed to stay in 
+school — ” 
+
+“He can’t be the only third year left behind,” said Ron. 
+“Ask McGonagall, go on, Harry — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I think I will,” said Harry, making up his mind. 
+
+
+
+Page | 160 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but at that 
+moment Crookshanks leapt lightly onto her lap. A 
+large, dead spider was dangling from his mouth. 
+
+“Does he have to eat that in front of us?” said Ron, 
+scowling. 
+
+“Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by 
+yourself?” said Hermione. 
+
+Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow 
+eyes fixed insolently on Ron. 
+
+“Just keep him over there, that’s all,” said Ron 
+irritably, turning back to his star chart. “I’ve got 
+Scabbers asleep in my bag.” 
+
+Harry yawned. He really wanted to go to bed, but he 
+still had his own star chart to complete. He pulled his 
+bag toward him, took out parchment, ink, and quill, 
+and started work. 
+
+“You can copy mine, if you like,” said Ron, labeling 
+his last star with a flourish and shoving the chart 
+toward Harry. 
+
+Hermione, who disapproved of copying, pursed her 
+lips but didn’t say anything. Crookshanks was still 
+staring unblinkingly at Ron, flicking the end of his 
+bushy tail. Then, without warning, he pounced. 
+
+“OY!” Ron roared, seizing his bag as Crookshanks 
+sank four sets of claws deep inside it and began 
+tearing ferociously. “GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!” 
+
+Ron tried to pull the bag away from Crookshanks, but 
+Crookshanks clung on, spitting and slashing. 
+
+
+
+Page | 161 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ron, don’t hurt him!” squealed Hermione; the whole 
+common room was watching; Ron whirled the bag 
+around, Crookshanks still clinging to it, and Scabbers 
+came flying out of the top — 
+
+“CATCH THAT CAT!” Ron yelled as Crookshanks freed 
+himself from the remnants of the bag, sprang over the 
+table, and chased after the terrified Scabbers. 
+
+George Weasley made a lunge for Crookshanks but 
+missed; Scabbers streaked through twenty pairs of 
+legs and shot beneath an old chest of drawers. 
+Crookshanks skidded to a halt, crouched low on his 
+bandy legs, and started making furious swipes 
+beneath it with his front paw. 
+
+Ron and Hermione hurried over; Hermione grabbed 
+Crookshanks around the middle and heaved him 
+away; Ron threw himself onto his stomach and, with 
+great difficulty, pulled Scabbers out by the tail. 
+
+“Look at him!” he said furiously to Hermione, 
+dangling Scabbers in front of her. “He’s skin and 
+bone! You keep that cat away from him!” 
+
+“Crookshanks doesn’t understand it’s wrong!” said 
+Hermione, her voice shaking. “All cats chase rats, 
+Ron!” 
+
+“There’s something funny about that animal!” said 
+Ron, who was trying to persuade a frantically wiggling 
+Scabbers back into his pocket. “It heard me say that 
+Scabbers was in my bag!” 
+
+“Oh, what rubbish,” said Hermione impatiently. 
+“Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else d’you 
+think — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That cat’s got it in for Scabbers!” said Ron, ignoring 
+the people around him, who were starting to giggle. 
+“And Scabbers was here first, and he’s ill!” 
+
+Ron marched through the common room and out of 
+sight up the stairs to the boys’ dormitories. 
+
+Ron was still in a bad mood with Hermione next day. 
+He barely talked to her all through Herbology, even 
+though he, Harry, and Hermione were working 
+together on the same puffapod. 
+
+“How’s Scabbers?” Hermione asked timidly as they 
+stripped fat pink pods from the plants and emptied 
+the shining beans into a wooden pail. 
+
+“He’s hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking,” said 
+Ron angrily, missing the pail and scattering beans 
+over the greenhouse floor. 
+
+“Careful, Weasley, careful!” cried Professor Sprout as 
+the beans burst into bloom before their very eyes. 
+
+They had Transfiguration next. Harry, who had 
+resolved to ask Professor McGonagall after the lesson 
+whether he could go into Hogsmeade with the rest, 
+joined the line outside the class trying to decide how 
+he was going to argue his case. He was distracted, 
+however, by a disturbance at the front of the line. 
+
+Lavender Brown seemed to be crying. Parvati had her 
+arm around her and was explaining something to 
+Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were 
+looking very serious. 
+
+“What’s the matter, Lavender?” said Hermione 
+anxiously as she, Harry, and Ron went to join the 
+group. 
+
+
+
+Page | 163 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She got a letter from home this morning,” Parvati 
+whispered. “It’s her rabbit, Binky. He’s been killed by 
+a fox.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Hermione, “I’m sorry, Lavender.” 
+
+“I should have known!” said Lavender tragically. “You 
+know what day it is?” 
+
+“Er — ” 
+
+
+
+“The sixteenth of October! That thing you’re dreading, 
+it will happen on the sixteenth of October!’ 
+Remember? She was right, she was right!” 
+
+The whole class was gathered around Lavender now. 
+Seamus shook his head seriously. Hermione 
+hesitated; then she said, “You — you were dreading 
+Binky being killed by a fox?” 
+
+“Well, not necessarily by a fox,” said Lavender, 
+looking up at Hermione with streaming eyes, “but I 
+was obviously dreading him dying, wasn’t I?” 
+
+“Oh,” said Hermione. She paused again. Then — 
+
+“Was Binky an old rabbit?” 
+
+“N — no!” sobbed Lavender. “H — he was only a 
+baby!” 
+
+Parvati tightened her arm around Lavender’s 
+shoulders. 
+
+“But then, why would you dread him dying?” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+Parvati glared at her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 164 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, look at it logically,” said Hermione, turning to 
+the rest of the group. “I mean, Binky didn’t even die 
+today, did he? Lavender just got the news today — ” 
+Lavender wailed loudly. “ — and she can’t have been 
+dreading it, because it’s come as a real shock — ” 
+
+“Don’t mind Hermione, Lavender,” said Ron loudly, 
+“she doesn’t think other people’s pets matter very 
+much.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door at 
+that moment, which was perhaps lucky; Hermione 
+and Ron were looking daggers at each other, and 
+when they got into class, they seated themselves on 
+either side of Harry and didn’t talk to each other for 
+the whole class. 
+
+Harry still hadn’t decided what he was going to say to 
+Professor McGonagall when the bell rang at the end of 
+the lesson, but it was she who brought up the subject 
+of Hogsmeade first. 
+
+“One moment, please!” she called as the class made 
+to leave. “As you’re all in my House, you should hand 
+Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. 
+No form, no visiting the village, so don’t forget!” 
+
+Neville put up his hand. 
+
+“Please, Professor, I — I think I’ve lost — ” 
+
+“Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, 
+Longbottom,” said Professor McGonagall. “She 
+seemed to think it was safer. Well, that’s all, you may 
+leave.” 
+
+“Ask her now,” Ron hissed at Harry. 
+
+“Oh, but — ” Hermione began. 
+
+Page | 165 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Go for it, Harry,” said Ron stubbornly. 
+
+Harry waited for the rest of the class to disappear, 
+then headed nervously for Professor McGonagall’s 
+desk. 
+
+“Yes, Potter?” 
+
+Harry took a deep breath. 
+
+“Professor, my aunt and uncle — er — forgot to sign 
+my form,” he said. 
+
+Professor McGonagall looked over her square 
+spectacles at him but didn’t say anything. 
+
+“So — er — d’you think it would be all right — I 
+mean, will it be okay if I — if I go to Hogsmeade?” 
+
+Professor McGonagall looked down and began 
+shuffling papers on her desk. 
+
+“I’m afraid not, Potter,” she said. “You heard what I 
+said. No form, no visiting the village. That’s the rule.” 
+
+“But — Professor, my aunt and uncle — you know, 
+they’re Muggles, they don’t really understand about 
+— about Hogwarts forms and stuff,” Harry said, while 
+Ron egged him on with vigorous nods. “If you said I 
+could go — ” 
+
+“But I don’t say so,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+standing up and piling her papers neatly into a 
+drawer. “The form clearly states that the parent or 
+guardian must give permission.” She turned to look at 
+him, with an odd expression on her face. Was it pity? 
+“I’m sorry, Potter, but that’s my final word. You had 
+better hurry, or you’ll be late for your next lesson.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 166 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was nothing to be done. Ron called Professor 
+McGonagall a lot of names that greatly annoyed 
+Hermione; Hermione assumed an “all-for-the-best” 
+expression that made Ron even angrier, and Harry 
+had to endure everyone in the class talking loudly 
+and happily about what they were going to do first, 
+once they got into Hogsmeade. 
+
+“There’s always the feast,” said Ron, in an effort to 
+cheer Harry up. “You know, the Halloween feast, in 
+the evening.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry gloomily, “great.” 
+
+The Halloween feast was always good, but it would 
+taste a lot better if he was coming to it after a day in 
+Hogsmeade with everyone else. Nothing anyone said 
+made him feel any better about being left behind. 
+Dean Thomas, who was good with a quill, had offered 
+to forge Uncle Vernon’s signature on the form, but as 
+Harry had already told Professor McGonagall he 
+hadn’t had it signed, that was no good. Ron 
+halfheartedly suggested the Invisibility Cloak, but 
+Hermione stamped on that one, reminding Ron what 
+Dumbledore had told them about the dementors 
+being able to see through them. Percy had what were 
+possibly the least helpful words of comfort. 
+
+“They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure 
+you, Harry, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he said 
+seriously. “All right, the sweetshop’s rather good, and 
+Zonko’s Joke Shop’s frankly dangerous, and yes, the 
+Shrieking Shack’s always worth a visit, but really, 
+Harry, apart from that, you’re not missing anything.” 
+
+On Halloween morning, Harry awoke with the rest 
+and went down to breakfast, feeling thoroughly 
+depressed, though doing his best to act normally. 
+
+
+
+Page | 167 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well bring you lots of sweets back from 
+Honeydukes,” said Hermione, looking desperately 
+sorry for him. 
+
+“Yeah, loads,” said Ron. He and Hermione had finally 
+forgotten their squabble about Crookshanks in the 
+face of Harry’s difficulties. 
+
+“Don’t worry about me,” said Harry, in what he hoped 
+was an offhand voice, “I’ll see you at the feast. Have a 
+good time.” 
+
+He accompanied them to the entrance hall, where 
+Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front 
+doors, checking off names against a long list, peering 
+suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no 
+one was sneaking out who shouldn’t be going. 
+
+“Staying here, Potter?” shouted Malfoy, who was 
+standing in line with Crabbe and Goyle. “Scared of 
+passing the dementors?” 
+
+Harry ignored him and made his solitary way up the 
+marble staircase, through the deserted corridors, and 
+back to Gryffindor Tower. 
+
+“Password?” said the Fat Lady, jerking out of a doze. 
+
+“Fortuna Major,” said Harry listlessly. 
+
+The portrait swung open and he climbed through the 
+hole into the common room. It was full of chattering 
+first and second years, and a few older students, who 
+had obviously visited Hogsmeade so often the novelty 
+had worn off. 
+
+“Harry! Harry! Hi, Harry!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 168 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was Colin Creevey, a second year who was deeply in 
+awe of Harry and never missed an opportunity to 
+speak to him. 
+
+“Aren’t you going to Hogsmeade, Harry? Why not? 
+Hey” — Colin looked eagerly around at his friends — 
+“you can come and sit with us, if you like, Harry!” 
+
+“Er — no, thanks, Colin,” said Harry, who wasn’t in 
+the mood to have a lot of people staring avidly at the 
+scar on his forehead. “I — I’ve got to go to the library, 
+got to get some work done.” 
+
+After that, he had no choice but to turn right around 
+and head back out of the portrait hole again. 
+
+“What was the point waking me up?” the Fat Lady 
+called grumpily after him as he walked away. 
+
+Harry wandered dispiritedly toward the library, but 
+halfway there he changed his mind; he didn’t feel like 
+working. He turned around and came face-to-face 
+with Filch, who had obviously just seen off the last of 
+the Hogsmeade visitors. 
+
+“What are you doing?” Filch snarled suspiciously. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry truthfully. 
+
+“Nothing!” spat Filch, his jowls quivering 
+unpleasantly. “A likely story! Sneaking around on 
+your own — why aren’t you in Hogsmeade buying 
+Stink Pellets and Belch Powder and Whizzing Worms 
+like the rest of your nasty little friends?” 
+
+Harry shrugged. 
+
+
+
+Page | 169 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, get back to your common room where you 
+belong!” snapped Filch, and he stood glaring until 
+Harry had passed out of sight. 
+
+But Harry didn’t go back to the common room; he 
+climbed a staircase, thinking vaguely of visiting the 
+Owlery to see Hedwig, and was walking along another 
+corridor when a voice from inside one of the rooms 
+said, “Harry?” 
+
+Harry doubled back to see who had spoken and met 
+Professor Lupin, looking around his office door. 
+
+“What are you doing?” said Lupin, though in a very 
+different voice from Filch. “Where are Ron and 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“Hogsmeade,” said Harry, in a would-be casual voice. 
+
+“Ah,” said Lupin. He considered Harry for a moment. 
+“Why don’t you come in? I’ve just taken delivery of a 
+grindylow for our next lesson.” 
+
+“A what?” said Harry. 
+
+He followed Lupin into his office. In the corner stood a 
+very large tank of water. A sickly green creature with 
+sharp little horns had its face pressed against the 
+glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly 
+fingers. 
+
+“Water demon,” said Lupin, surveying the grindylow 
+thoughtfully. “We shouldn’t have much difficulty with 
+him, not after the kappas. The trick is to break his 
+grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, 
+but very brittle.” 
+
+The grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried 
+itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner. 
+
+Page | 170 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Cup of tea?” Lupin said, looking around for his 
+kettle. “I was just thinking of making one.” 
+
+“All right,” said Harry awkwardly. 
+
+Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of 
+steam issued suddenly from the spout. 
+
+“Sit down,” said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. 
+“I’ve only got teabags, I’m afraid — but I daresay 
+you’ve had enough of tea leaves?” 
+
+Harry looked at him. Lupin’s eyes were twinkling. 
+
+“How did you know about that?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Professor McGonagall told me,” said Lupin, passing 
+Harry a chipped mug of tea. “You’re not worried, are 
+you?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+He thought for a moment of telling Lupin about the 
+dog he’d seen in Magnolia Crescent but decided not 
+to. He didn’t want Lupin to think he was a coward, 
+especially since Lupin already seemed to think he 
+couldn’t cope with a boggart. 
+
+Something of Harry’s thoughts seemed to have shown 
+on his face, because Lupin said, “Anything worrying 
+you, Harry?” 
+
+“No,” Harry lied. He drank a bit of tea and watched 
+the grindylow brandishing a fist at him. “Yes,” he said 
+suddenly, putting his tea down on Lupin’s desk. “You 
+know that day we fought the boggart? 
+
+“Yes,” said Lupin slowly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 171 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Why didn’t you let me fight it?” said Harry abruptly. 
+Lupin raised his eyebrows. 
+
+“I would have thought that was obvious, Harry,” he 
+said, sounding surprised. 
+
+Harry, who had expected Lupin to deny that he’d 
+done any such thing, was taken aback. 
+
+“Why?” he said again. 
+
+“Well,” said Lupin, frowning slightly, “I assumed that 
+if the boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of 
+Lord Voldemort.” 
+
+Harry stared. Not only was this the last answer he’d 
+expected, but Lupin had said Voldemort ’s name. The 
+only person Harry had ever heard say the name aloud 
+(apart from himself) was Professor Dumbledore. 
+
+“Clearly, I was wrong,” said Lupin, still frowning at 
+Harry. “But I didn’t think it a good idea for Lord 
+Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. I imagined 
+that people would panic.” 
+
+“I didn’t think of Voldemort,” said Harry honestly. “I 
+— I remembered those dementors.” 
+
+“I see,” said Lupin thoughtfully. “Well, well ... I’m 
+impressed.” He smiled slightly at the look of surprise 
+on Harry’s face. “That suggests that what you fear 
+most of all is — fear. Very wise, Harry.” 
+
+Harry didn’t know what to say to that, so he drank 
+some more tea. 
+
+“So you’ve been thinking that I didn’t believe you 
+capable of fighting the boggart?” said Lupin shrewdly. 
+
+Page | 172 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well ... yeah,” said Harry. He was suddenly feeling a 
+lot happier. “Professor Lupin, you know the 
+dementors — ” 
+
+He was interrupted by a knock on the door. 
+
+“Come in,” called Lupin. 
+
+The door opened, and in came Snape. He was 
+carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly, and 
+stopped at the sight of Harry, his black eyes 
+narrowing. 
+
+“Ah, Severus,” said Lupin, smiling. “Thanks very 
+much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?” 
+
+Snape set down the smoking goblet, his eyes 
+wandering between Harry and Lupin. 
+
+“I was just showing Harry my grindylow,” said Lupin 
+pleasantly, pointing at the tank. 
+
+“Fascinating,” said Snape, without looking at it. “You 
+should drink that directly, Lupin.” 
+
+“Yes, yes, I will,” said Lupin. 
+
+“I made an entire cauldronful,” Snape continued. “If 
+you need more.” 
+
+“I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks 
+very much, Severus.” 
+
+“Not at all,” said Snape, but there was a look in his 
+eye Harry didn’t like. He backed out of the room, 
+unsmiling and watchful. 
+
+Harry looked curiously at the goblet. Lupin smiled. 
+
+
+
+Page | 173 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion 
+for me,” he said. “I have never been much of a potion- 
+brewer and this one is particularly complex.” He 
+picked up the goblet and sniffed it. “Pity sugar makes 
+it useless,” he added, taking a sip and shuddering. 
+
+“Why — ?” Harry began. Lupin looked at him and 
+answered the unfinished question. 
+
+“I’ve been feeling a bit off-color,” he said. “This potion 
+is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be 
+working alongside Professor Snape; there aren’t many 
+wizards who are up to making it.” 
+
+Professor Lupin took another sip and Harry had a 
+crazy urge to knock the goblet out of his hands. 
+
+“Professor Snape’s very interested in the Dark Arts,” 
+he blurted out. 
+
+“Really?” said Lupin, looking only mildly interested as 
+he took another gulp of potion. 
+
+“Some people reckon — ” Harry hesitated, then 
+plunged recklessly on, “some people reckon he’d do 
+anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+job.” 
+
+Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face. 
+
+“Disgusting,” he said. “Well, Harry, I’d better get back 
+to work. I’ll see you at the feast later.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, putting down his empty teacup. 
+
+The empty goblet was still smoking. 
+
+“There you go,” said Ron. “We got as much as we 
+could carry.” 
+
+Page | 174 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A shower of brilliantly colored sweets fell into Harry’s 
+lap. It was dusk, and Ron and Hermione had just 
+turned up in the common room, pink-faced from the 
+cold wind and looking as though they’d had the time 
+of their lives. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, picking up a packet of tiny 
+black Pepper Imps. “What’s Hogsmeade like? Where 
+did you go?” 
+
+By the sound of it — everywhere. Dervish and 
+Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, Zonko’s Joke 
+Shop, into the Three Broomsticks for foaming mugs of 
+hot butterbeer, and many places besides. 
+
+“The post office, Harry! About two hundred owls, all 
+sitting on shelves, all color-coded depending on how 
+fast you want your letter to get there!” 
+
+“Honeydukes has got a new kind of fudge; they were 
+giving out free samples, there’s a bit, look — ” 
+
+“We think we saw an ogre, honestly, they get all sorts 
+at the Three Broomsticks — ” 
+
+“Wish we could have brought you some butterbeer, 
+really warms you up — ” 
+
+“What did you do?” said Hermione, looking anxious. 
+“Did you get any work done?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “Lupin made me a cup of tea in his 
+office. And then Snape came in. ...” 
+
+He told them all about the goblet. Ron’s mouth fell 
+open. 
+
+“ Lupin drank it?” he gasped. “Is he mad?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 175 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione checked her watch. 
+
+
+
+“We’d better go down, you know, the feast’ll be 
+starting in five minutes. ...” They hurried through the 
+portrait hole and into the crowd, still discussing 
+Snape. 
+
+“But if he — you know” — Hermione dropped her 
+voice, glancing nervously around — “if he was trying 
+to — to poison Lupin — he wouldn’t have done it in 
+front of Harry.” 
+
+“Yeah, maybe,” said Harry as they reached the 
+entrance hall and crossed into the Great Hall. It had 
+been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of 
+candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, 
+and many flaming orange streamers, which were 
+swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant 
+watersnakes. 
+
+The food was delicious; even Hermione and Ron, who 
+were full to bursting with Honeydukes sweets, 
+managed second helpings of everything. Harry kept 
+glancing at the staff table. Professor Lupin looked 
+cheerful and as well as he ever did; he was talking 
+animatedly to tiny little Professor Flitwick, the 
+Charms teacher. Harry moved his eyes along the 
+table, to the place where Snape sat. Was he imagining 
+it, or were Snape ’s eyes flickering toward Lupin more 
+often than was natural? 
+
+The feast finished with an entertainment provided by 
+the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls 
+and tables to do a bit of formation gliding; Nearly 
+Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had a great 
+success with a reenactment of his own botched 
+beheading. 
+
+
+
+Page | 176 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It had been such a pleasant evening that Harry’s good 
+mood couldn’t even be spoiled by Malfoy, who 
+shouted through the crowd as they all left the hall, 
+“The dementors send their love, Potter!” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the 
+Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower, 
+but when they reached the corridor that ended with 
+the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it jammed 
+with students. 
+
+“Why isn’t anyone going in?” said Ron curiously. 
+
+Harry peered over the heads in front of him. The 
+portrait seemed to be closed. 
+
+“Let me through, please,” came Percy’s voice, and he 
+came bustling importantly through the crowd. 
+
+“What’s the holdup here? You can’t all have forgotten 
+the password — excuse me, I’m Head Boy — ” 
+
+And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front 
+first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the 
+corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp 
+voice, “Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick.” 
+
+People’s heads turned; those at the back were 
+standing on tiptoe. 
+
+“What’s going on?” said Ginny, who had just arrived. 
+
+A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, 
+sweeping toward the portrait; the Gryffindors 
+squeezed together to let him through, and Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble 
+was. 
+
+“Oh, my — ” Hermione grabbed Harry’s arm. 
+
+
+
+Page | 177 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which 
+had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas 
+littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn 
+away completely. 
+
+Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined 
+painting and turned, his eyes somber, to see 
+Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying 
+toward him. 
+
+“We need to find her,” said Dumbledore. “Professor 
+McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell 
+him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat 
+Lady.” 
+
+“You’ll be lucky!” said a cackling voice. 
+
+It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd 
+and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight 
+of wreckage or worry. 
+
+“What do you mean, Peeves?” said Dumbledore 
+calmly, and Peeves’s grin faded a little. He didn’t dare 
+taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice 
+that was no better than his cackle. 
+
+“Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn’t want to be 
+seen. She’s a horrible mess. Saw her running through 
+the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging 
+between the trees. Crying something dreadful,” he 
+said happily. “Poor thing,” he added unconvincingly. 
+
+“Did she say who did it?” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+
+“Oh yes, Professorhead,” said Peeves, with the air of 
+one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. “He got 
+very angry when she wouldn’t let him in, you see.” 
+Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from 
+
+
+
+Page | 178 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+between his own legs. “Nasty temper he’s got, that 
+Sirius Black.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 179 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+9 
+
+
+
+
+GRIM DEFEAT 
+
+Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to 
+the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes 
+later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and 
+Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused. 
+
+“The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough 
+search of the castle,” Professor Dumbledore told them 
+as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all 
+doors into the hall. “I’m afraid that, for your own 
+safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want 
+the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the 
+hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in 
+charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me 
+immediately,” he added to Percy, who was looking 
+immensely proud and important. “Send word with one 
+of the ghosts.” 
+
+Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, 
+and said, “Oh, yes, you’ll be needing ...” 
+
+One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew 
+to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against 
+
+Page | 180 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered 
+with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags. 
+
+“Sleep well,” said Professor Dumbledore, closing the 
+door behind him. 
+
+The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the 
+Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what 
+had just happened. 
+
+“Everyone into their sleeping bags!” shouted Percy. 
+“Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten 
+minutes!” 
+
+“C’mon,” Ron said to Harry and Hermione; they seized 
+three sleeping bags and dragged them into a corner. 
+
+“Do you think Black’s still in the castle?” Hermione 
+whispered anxiously. 
+
+“Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be,” said Ron. 
+
+“It’s very lucky he picked tonight, you know,” said 
+Hermione as they climbed fully dressed into their 
+sleeping bags and propped themselves on their elbows 
+to talk. “The one night we weren’t in the tower. ...” 
+
+“I reckon he’s lost track of time, being on the run,” 
+said Ron. “Didn’t realize it was Halloween. Otherwise 
+he’d have come bursting in here.” 
+
+Hermione shuddered. 
+
+All around them, people were asking one another the 
+same question: “How did he get in?” 
+
+“Maybe he knows how to Apparate,” said a Ravenclaw 
+a few feet away. “Just appear out of thin air, you 
+know.” 
+
+Page | 181 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Disguised himself, probably,” said a Hufflepuff fifth 
+year. 
+
+“He could’ve flown in,” suggested Dean Thomas. 
+
+“Honestly, am I the only person who’s ever bothered 
+to read Hogwarts, A History?” said Hermione crossly 
+to Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Probably,” said Ron. “Why?” 
+
+“Because the castle’s protected by more than walls, 
+you know,” said Hermione. “There are all sorts of 
+enchantments on it, to stop people entering by 
+stealth. You can’t just Apparate in here. And I’d like 
+to see the disguise that could fool those dementors. 
+They’re guarding every single entrance to the 
+grounds. They’d have seen him fly in too. And Filch 
+knows all the secret passages, they’ll have them 
+covered. ...” 
+
+“The lights are going out now!” Percy shouted. “I want 
+everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!” 
+
+The candles all went out at once. The only light now 
+came from the silvery ghosts, who were drifting about 
+talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted 
+ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered 
+with stars. What with that, and the whispering that 
+still filled the hall, Harry felt as though he were 
+sleeping outdoors in a light wind. 
+
+Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the hall 
+to check that everything was quiet. Around three in 
+the morning, when many students had finally fallen 
+asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. Harry watched 
+him looking around for Percy, who had been prowling 
+between the sleeping bags, telling people off for 
+talking. Percy was only a short way away from Harry, 
+Page | 182 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron, and Hermione, who quickly pretended to be 
+asleep as Dumbledore’s footsteps drew nearer. 
+
+“Any sign of him, Professor?” asked Percy in a 
+whisper. 
+
+“No. All well here?” 
+
+“Everything under control, sir.” 
+
+“Good. There’s no point moving them all now. I’ve 
+found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor 
+portrait hole. You’ll be able to move them back in 
+tomorrow.” 
+
+“And the Fat Lady, sir?” 
+
+“Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. 
+Apparently she refused to let Black in without the 
+password, so he attacked. She’s still very distressed, 
+but once she’s calmed down, I’ll have Mr. Filch 
+restore her.” 
+
+Harry heard the door of the hall creak open again, 
+and more footsteps. 
+
+“Headmaster?” It was Snape. Harry kept quite still, 
+listening hard. “The whole of the third floor has been 
+searched. He’s not there. And Filch has done the 
+dungeons; nothing there either.” 
+
+“What about the Astronomy tower? Professor 
+Trelawney’s room? The Owlery?” 
+
+“All searched ...” 
+
+“Very well, Severus. I didn’t really expect Black to 
+linger.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 183 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?” 
+asked Snape. 
+
+Harry raised his head very slightly off his arms to free 
+his other ear. 
+
+“Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the 
+next.” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes a fraction and squinted up to 
+where they stood; Dumbledore ’s back was to him, but 
+he could see Percy’s face, rapt with attention, and 
+Snape ’s profile, which looked angry. 
+
+“You remember the conversation we had, 
+
+Headmaster, just before — ah — the start of term?” 
+said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as 
+though trying to block Percy out of the conversation. 
+
+“I do, Severus,” said Dumbledore, and there was 
+something like warning in his voice. 
+
+“It seems — almost impossible — that Black could 
+have entered the school without inside help. I did 
+express my concerns when you appointed — ” 
+
+“I do not believe a single person inside this castle 
+would have helped Black enter it,” said Dumbledore, 
+and his tone made it so clear that the subject was 
+closed that Snape didn’t reply. “I must go down to the 
+dementors,” said Dumbledore. “I said I would inform 
+them when our search was complete.” 
+
+“Didn’t they want to help, sir?” said Percy. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Dumbledore coldly. “But I’m afraid no 
+dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I 
+am headmaster.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 184 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Percy looked slightly abashed. Dumbledore left the 
+hall, walking quickly and quietly. Snape stood for a 
+moment, watching the headmaster with an expression 
+of deep resentment on his face; then he too left. 
+
+Harry glanced sideways at Ron and Hermione. Both of 
+them had their eyes open too, reflecting the starry 
+ceiling. 
+
+“What was all that about?” Ron mouthed. 
+
+The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the 
+next few days. The theories about how he had entered 
+the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, 
+from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology 
+class telling anyone who’d listen that Black could 
+turn into a flowering shrub. 
+
+The Fat Lady’s ripped canvas had been taken off the 
+wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan 
+and his fat gray pony. Nobody was very happy about 
+this. Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging 
+people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously 
+complicated passwords, which he changed at least 
+twice a day. 
+
+“He’s a complete lunatic,” said Seamus Finnigan 
+angrily to Percy. “Can’t we get anyone else?” 
+
+“None of the other pictures wanted the job,” said 
+Percy. “Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. 
+Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to 
+volunteer.” 
+
+Sir Cadogan, however, was the least of Harry’s 
+worries. He was now being closely watched. Teachers 
+found excuses to walk along corridors with him, and 
+Percy Weasley (acting, Harry suspected, on his 
+mother’s orders) was tailing him everywhere like an 
+Page | 185 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+extremely pompous guard dog. To cap it all, Professor 
+McGonagall summoned Harry into her office, with 
+such a somber expression on her face Harry thought 
+someone must have died. 
+
+“There’s no point hiding it from you any longer, 
+Potter,” she said in a very serious voice. “I know this 
+will come as a shock to you, but Sirius Black — ” 
+
+“I know he’s after me,” said Harry wearily. “I heard 
+Ron’s dad telling his mum. Mr. Weasley works for the 
+Ministry of Magic.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall seemed very taken aback. She 
+stared at Harry for a moment or two, then said, “I see! 
+Well, in that case, Potter, you’ll understand why I 
+don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be practicing 
+Quidditch in the evenings. Out on the field with only 
+your team members, it’s very exposed, Potter — ” 
+
+“We’ve got our first match on Saturday!” said Harry, 
+outraged. “I’ve got to train, Professor!” 
+
+Professor McGonagall considered him intently. Harry 
+knew she was deeply interested in the Gryffindor 
+team’s prospects; it had been she, after all, who’d 
+suggested him as Seeker in the first place. He waited, 
+holding his breath. 
+
+“Hmm ...” Professor McGonagall stood up and stared 
+out of the window at the Quidditch field, just visible 
+through the rain. “Well ... goodness knows, I’d like to 
+see us win the Cup at last ... but all the same, Potter 
+... I’d be happier if a teacher were present. I’ll ask 
+Madam Hooch to oversee your training sessions.” 
+
+The weather worsened steadily as the first Quidditch 
+match drew nearer. Undaunted, the Gryffindor team 
+was training harder than ever under the eye of 
+
+Page | 186 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Madam Hooch. Then, at their final training session 
+before Saturday’s match, Oliver Wood gave his team 
+some unwelcome news. 
+
+“We’re not playing Slytherin!” he told them, looking 
+very angry. “Flint’s just been to see me. We’re playing 
+Hufflepuff instead.” 
+
+“Why?” chorused the rest of the team. 
+
+“Flint’s excuse is that their Seeker’s arm’s still 
+injured,” said Wood, grinding his teeth furiously. “But 
+it’s obvious why they’re doing it. Don’t want to play in 
+this weather. Think it’ll damage their chances. ...” 
+
+There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, 
+and as Wood spoke, they heard a distant rumble of 
+thunder. 
+
+“There’s nothing wrong with Malfoy’s arm!” said Harry 
+furiously. “He’s faking it!” 
+
+“I know that, but we can’t prove it,” said Wood 
+bitterly. “And we’ve been practicing all those moves 
+assuming we’re playing Slytherin, and instead it’s 
+Hufflepuff, and their style’s quite different. They’ve got 
+a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory — ” 
+
+Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled. 
+
+“What?” said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted 
+behavior. 
+
+“He’s that tall, good-looking one, isn’t he?” said 
+Angelina. 
+
+“Strong and silent,” said Katie, and they started to 
+giggle again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 187 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He’s only silent because he’s too thick to string two 
+words together,” said Fred impatiently. “I don’t know 
+why you’re worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. 
+Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in 
+about five minutes, remember?” 
+
+“We were playing in completely different conditions!” 
+Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. “Diggory’s 
+put a very strong side together! He’s an excellent 
+Seeker! I was afraid you’d take it like this! We mustn’t 
+relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to 
+wrong-foot us! We must win!” 
+
+“Oliver, calm down!” said Fred, looking slightly 
+alarmed. “We’re taking Hufflepuff very seriously. 
+Seriously.” 
+
+The day before the match, the winds reached howling 
+point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so 
+dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra 
+torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin team was 
+looking very smug indeed, and none more so than 
+Malfoy. 
+
+“Ah, if only my arm was feeling a bit better!” he sighed 
+as the gale outside pounded the windows. 
+
+Harry had no room in his head to worry about 
+anything except the match tomorrow. Oliver Wood 
+kept hurrying up to him between classes and giving 
+him tips. The third time this happened, Wood talked 
+for so long that Harry suddenly realized he was ten 
+minutes late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and 
+set off at a run with Wood shouting after him, 
+“Diggory’s got a very fast swerve, Harry, so you might 
+want to try looping him — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 188 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry skidded to a halt outside the Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts classroom, pulled the door open, and 
+dashed inside. 
+
+“Sorry I’m late, Professor Lupin, I — ” 
+
+But it wasn’t Professor Lupin who looked up at him 
+from the teacher’s desk; it was Snape. 
+
+“This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think 
+we’ll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down.” 
+
+But Harry didn’t move. 
+
+“Where’s Professor Lupin?” he said. 
+
+“He says he is feeling too ill to teach today,” said 
+Snape with a twisted smile. “I believe I told you to sit 
+down?” 
+
+But Harry stayed where he was. 
+
+“What’s wrong with him?” 
+
+Snape ’s black eyes glittered. 
+
+“Nothing life-threatening,” he said, looking as though 
+he wished it were. “Five more points from Gryffindor, 
+and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be 
+fifty.” 
+
+Harry walked slowly to his seat and sat down. Snape 
+looked around at the class. 
+
+“As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor 
+Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have 
+covered so far — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 189 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Please, sir, we’ve done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, 
+and grindylows,” said Hermione quickly, “and we’re 
+just about to start — ” 
+
+“Be quiet,” said Snape coldly. “I did not ask for 
+information. I was merely commenting on Professor 
+Lupin’s lack of organization.” 
+
+“He’s the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher 
+we’ve ever had,” said Dean Thomas boldly, and there 
+was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the 
+class. Snape looked more menacing than ever. 
+
+“You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing 
+you — I would expect first years to be able to deal 
+with Red Caps and grindylows. Today we shall 
+discuss — ” 
+
+Harry watched him flick through the textbook, to the 
+very back chapter, which he must know they hadn’t 
+covered. 
+
+“ — werewolves,” said Snape. 
+
+“But, sir,” said Hermione, seemingly unable to 
+restrain herself, “we’re not supposed to do werewolves 
+yet, we’re due to start hinkypunks — ” 
+
+“Miss Granger,” said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, 
+“I was under the impression that I am teaching this 
+lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to 
+page 394.” He glanced around again. “All of you! 
+
+Now\” 
+
+With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen 
+muttering, the class opened their books. 
+
+“Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between 
+the werewolf and the true wolf?” said Snape. 
+
+Page | 190 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except 
+Hermione, whose hand, as it so often did, had shot 
+straight into the air. 
+
+“Anyone?” Snape said, ignoring Hermione. His twisted 
+smile was back. “Are you telling me that Professor 
+Lupin hasn’t even taught you the basic distinction 
+between — ” 
+
+“We told you,” said Parvati suddenly, “we haven’t got 
+as far as werewolves yet, we’re still on — ” 
+
+“Silencel” snarled Snape. “Well, well, well, I never 
+thought I’d meet a third -year class who wouldn’t even 
+recognize a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make 
+a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very 
+behind you all are. ...” 
+
+“Please, sir,” said Hermione, whose hand was still in 
+the air, “the werewolf differs from the true wolf in 
+several small ways. The snout of the werewolf — ” 
+
+“That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, 
+Miss Granger,” said Snape coolly. “Five more points 
+from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.” 
+
+Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and 
+stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears. It was a 
+mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they 
+were all glaring at him, because every one of them 
+had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once, and 
+Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least 
+twice a week, said loudly, “You asked us a question 
+and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don’t want 
+to be told?” 
+
+The class knew instantly he’d gone too far. Snape 
+advanced on Ron slowly, and the room held its 
+breath. 
+
+Page | 191 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Detention, Weasley,” Snape said silkily, his face very 
+close to Ron’s. “And if I ever hear you criticize the way 
+I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed.” 
+
+No one made a sound throughout the rest of the 
+lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from 
+the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the 
+rows of desks, examining the work they had been 
+doing with Professor Lupin. 
+
+“Very poorly explained . . . That is incorrect, the kappa 
+is more commonly found in Mongolia. . . . Professor 
+Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn’t have given 
+it three. ...” 
+
+When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back. 
+
+“You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, 
+on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want 
+two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want 
+them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took 
+this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to 
+arrange your detention.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione left the room with the rest of the 
+class, who waited until they were well out of earshot, 
+then burst into a furious tirade about Snape. 
+
+“Snape ’s never been like this with any of our other 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, even if he did 
+want the job,” Harry said to Hermione. “Why’s he got 
+it in for Lupin? D’you think this is all because of the 
+boggart?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Hermione pensively. “But I really 
+hope Professor Lupin gets better soon. ...” 
+
+Ron caught up with them five minutes later, in a 
+towering rage. 
+
+Page | 192 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“D’you know what that — ” (he called Snape 
+something that made Hermione say “Ron\”) “ — is 
+making me do? I’ve got to scrub out the bedpans in 
+the hospital wing. Without magid” He was breathing 
+deeply, his fists clenched. “Why couldn’t Black have 
+hidden in Snape’s office, eh? He could have finished 
+him off for us!” 
+
+Harry woke extremely early the next morning; so early 
+that it was still dark. For a moment he thought the 
+roaring of the wind had woken him. Then he felt a 
+cold breeze on the back of his neck and sat bolt 
+upright — Peeves the Poltergeist had been floating 
+next to him, blowing hard in his ear. 
+
+“What did you do that for?” said Harry furiously. 
+
+Peeves puffed out his cheeks, blew hard, and zoomed 
+backward out of the room, cackling. 
+
+Harry fumbled for his alarm clock and looked at it. It 
+was half past four. Cursing Peeves, he rolled over and 
+tried to get back to sleep, but it was very difficult, now 
+that he was awake, to ignore the sounds of the 
+thunder rumbling overhead, the pounding of the wind 
+against the castle walls, and the distant creaking of 
+the trees in the Forbidden Forest. In a few hours he 
+would be out on the Quidditch field, battling through 
+that gale. Finally, he gave up any thought of more 
+sleep, got up, dressed, picked up his Nimbus Two 
+Thousand, and walked quietly out of the dormitory. 
+
+As Harry opened the door, something brushed against 
+his leg. He bent down just in time to grab 
+Crookshanks by the end of his bushy tail and drag 
+him outside. 
+
+“You know, I reckon Ron was right about you,” Harry 
+told Crookshanks suspiciously. “There are plenty of 
+
+Page | 193 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+mice around this place — go and chase them. Go on,” 
+he added, nudging Crookshanks down the spiral 
+staircase with his foot. “Leave Scabbers alone.” 
+
+The noise of the storm was even louder in the 
+common room. Harry knew better than to think the 
+match would be canceled; Quidditch matches weren’t 
+called off for trifles like thunderstorms. Nevertheless, 
+he was starting to feel very apprehensive. Wood had 
+pointed out Cedric Diggory to him in the corridor; 
+Diggory was a fifth year and a lot bigger than Harry. 
+Seekers were usually light and speedy, but Diggory’s 
+weight would be an advantage in this weather 
+because he was less likely to be blown off course. 
+
+Harry whiled away the hours until dawn in front of 
+the fire, getting up every now and then to stop 
+Crookshanks from sneaking up the boys’ staircase 
+again. At long last Harry thought it must be time for 
+breakfast, so he headed through the portrait hole 
+alone. 
+
+“Stand and fight, you mangy cur!” yelled Sir Cadogan. 
+“Oh, shut up,” Harry yawned. 
+
+He revived a bit over a large bowl of porridge, and by 
+the time he’d started on toast, the rest of the team 
+had turned up. 
+
+“It’s going to be a tough one,” said Wood, who wasn’t 
+eating anything. 
+
+“Stop worrying, Oliver,” said Alicia soothingly, “we 
+don’t mind a bit of rain.” 
+
+But it was considerably more than a bit of rain. Such 
+was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school 
+turned out to watch the match as usual, but they ran 
+
+Page | 194 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+down the lawns toward the Quidditch field, heads 
+bowed against the ferocious wind, umbrellas being 
+whipped out of their hands as they went. Just before 
+he entered the locker room, Harry saw Malfoy, 
+
+Crabbe, and Goyle, laughing and pointing at him from 
+under an enormous umbrella on their way to the 
+stadium. 
+
+The team changed into their scarlet robes and waited 
+for Wood’s usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn’t 
+come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd 
+gulping noise, then shook his head hopelessly and 
+beckoned them to follow him. 
+
+The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways 
+as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was 
+cheering, they couldn’t hear it over the fresh rolls of 
+thunder. Rain was splattering over Harry’s glasses. 
+How on earth was he going to see the Snitch in this? 
+
+The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite 
+side of the field, wearing canary -yellow robes. The 
+Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; 
+Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood now looked as 
+though he had lockjaw and merely nodded. Harry saw 
+Madam Hooch’s mouth form the words, “Mount your 
+brooms.” He pulled his right foot out of the mud with 
+a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two 
+Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips 
+and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant — 
+they were off. 
+
+Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly 
+with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and 
+turned, squinting into the rain. 
+
+Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin and 
+frozen, hardly able to see his teammates, let alone the 
+tiny Snitch. He flew backward and forward across the 
+
+Page | 195 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+field past blurred red and yellow shapes, with no idea 
+of what was happening in the rest of the game. He 
+couldn’t hear the commentary over the wind. The 
+crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and 
+battered umbrellas. Twice Harry came very close to 
+being unseated by a Bludger; his vision was so 
+clouded by the rain on his glasses he hadn’t seen 
+them coming. 
+
+He lost track of time. It was getting harder and harder 
+to hold his broom straight. The sky was getting 
+darker, as though night had decided to come early. 
+Twice Harry nearly hit another player, without 
+knowing whether it was a teammate or opponent; 
+everyone was now so wet, and the rain so thick, he 
+could hardly tell them apart. ... 
+
+With the first flash of lightning came the sound of 
+Madam Hooch’s whistle; Harry could just see the 
+outline of Wood through the thick rain, gesturing him 
+to the ground. The whole team splashed down into 
+the mud. 
+
+“I called for time-out!” Wood roared at his team. 
+
+“Come on, under here — ” 
+
+They huddled at the edge of the field under a large 
+umbrella; Harry took off his glasses and wiped them 
+hurriedly on his robes. 
+
+“What’s the score?” 
+
+“We’re fifty points up,” said Wood, “but unless we get 
+the Snitch soon, we’ll be playing into the night.” 
+
+“I’ve got no chance with these on,” Harry said 
+exasperatedly, waving his glasses. 
+
+
+
+Page | 196 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his 
+shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head 
+and was, inexplicably, beaming. 
+
+“I’ve had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!” 
+
+He handed them to her, and as the team watched in 
+amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand 
+and said, “Imperviusl” 
+
+“There!” she said, handing them back to Harry. 
+“They’ll repel water!” 
+
+Wood looked as though he could have kissed her. 
+
+“Brilliant!” he called hoarsely after her as she 
+disappeared into the crowd. “Okay, team, let’s go for 
+it!” 
+
+
+
+Hermione ’s spell had done the trick. Harry was still 
+numb with cold, still wetter than he’d ever been in his 
+life, but he could see. Full of fresh determination, he 
+urged his broom through the turbulent air, staring in 
+every direction for the Snitch, avoiding a Bludger, 
+ducking beneath Diggory, who was streaking in the 
+opposite direction. ... 
+
+There was another clap of thunder, followed 
+immediately by forked lightning. This was getting 
+more and more dangerous. Harry needed to get the 
+Snitch quickly — 
+
+He turned, intending to head back toward the middle 
+of the field, but at that moment, another flash of 
+lightning illuminated the stands, and Harry saw 
+something that distracted him completely — the 
+silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly 
+imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, 
+empty row of seats. 
+
+Page | 197 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry’s numb hands slipped on the broom handle 
+and his Nimbus dropped a few feet. Shaking his 
+sodden bangs out of his eyes, he squinted back into 
+the stands. The dog had vanished. 
+
+“Harry!” came Wood’s anguished yell from the 
+Gryffindor goal posts. “Harry, behind you!” 
+
+Harry looked wildly around. Cedric Diggory was 
+pelting up the field, and a tiny speck of gold was 
+shimmering in the rain-filled air between them — 
+
+With a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the 
+broom-handle and zoomed toward the Snitch. 
+
+“Come on!” he growled at his Nimbus as the rain 
+whipped his face. “Fasteri” 
+
+But something odd was happening. An eerie silence 
+was falling across the stadium. The wind, though as 
+strong as ever, was forgetting to roar. It was as 
+though someone had turned off the sound, as though 
+Harry had gone suddenly deaf — what was going on? 
+
+And then a horribly familiar wave of cold swept over 
+him, inside him, just as he became aware of 
+something moving on the field below. . . . 
+
+Before he’d had time to think, Harry had taken his 
+eyes off the Snitch and looked down. 
+
+At least a hundred dementors, their hidden faces 
+pointing up at him, were standing beneath him. It 
+was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, 
+cutting at his insides. And then he heard it again. ... 
+Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head 
+... a woman . . . 
+
+“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry\” 
+
+Page | 198 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ Stand aside, you silly girl ... stand aside, now. ...” 
+
+
+
+“ Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead — ” 
+
+Numbing, swirling white mist was filling Harry’s 
+brain. . . . What was he doing? Why was he flying? He 
+needed to help her. ... She was going to die. ... She 
+was going to be murdered. ... 
+
+He was falling, falling through the icy mist. 
+
+“Not Harry\ Please ... have mercy ... have mercy. ...” 
+
+A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was 
+screaming, and Harry knew no more. 
+
+“Lucky the ground was so soft.” 
+
+“I thought he was dead for sure.” 
+
+“But he didn’t even break his glasses.” 
+
+Harry could hear the voices whispering, but they 
+made no sense whatsoever. He didn’t have a clue 
+where he was, or how he’d got there, or what he’d 
+been doing before he got there. All he knew was that 
+every inch of him was aching as though it had been 
+beaten. 
+
+“That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” 
+
+Scariest . . . the scariest thing . . . hooded black figures 
+... cold ... screaming ... 
+
+Harry’s eyes snapped open. He was lying in the 
+hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, 
+spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered 
+around his bed. Ron and Hermione were also there, 
+
+Page | 199 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+looking as though they’d just climbed out of a 
+swimming pool. 
+
+“Harry!” said Fred, who looked extremely white 
+underneath the mud. “How’re you feeling?” 
+
+It was as though Harry’s memory was on fast forward. 
+The lightning — the Grim — the Snitch — and the 
+dementors ... 
+
+“What happened?” he said, sitting up so suddenly 
+they all gasped. 
+
+“You fell off,” said Fred. “Must’ve been — what — fifty 
+feet?” 
+
+“We thought you’d died,” said Alicia, who was 
+shaking. 
+
+Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were 
+extremely bloodshot. 
+
+“But the match,” said Harry. “What happened? Are we 
+doing a replay?” 
+
+No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into 
+Harry like a stone. 
+
+“We didn’t — lose?” 
+
+“Diggory got the Snitch,” said George. “Just after you 
+fell. He didn’t realize what had happened. When he 
+looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to 
+call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and 
+square ... even Wood admits it.” 
+
+“Where is Wood?” said Harry, suddenly realizing he 
+wasn’t there. 
+
+
+
+Page | 200 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Still in the showers,” said Fred. “We think he’s trying 
+to drown himself.” 
+
+Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping 
+his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it 
+roughly. 
+
+“C’mon, Harry, you’ve never missed the Snitch 
+before.” 
+
+“There had to be one time you didn’t get it,” said 
+George. 
+
+“It’s not over yet,” said Fred. “We lost by a hundred 
+points, right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and 
+we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin ...” 
+
+“Hufflepuff’ll have to lose by at least two hundred 
+points,” said George. 
+
+“But if they beat Ravenclaw ...” 
+
+“No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses 
+against Hufflepuff ...” 
+
+“It all depends on the points — a margin of a hundred 
+either way — ” 
+
+Harry lay there, not saying a word. They had lost ... 
+for the first time ever, he had lost a Quidditch match. 
+
+After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to 
+tell the team to leave him in peace. 
+
+“Well come and see you later,” Fred told him. “Don’t 
+beat yourself up, Harry, you’re still the best Seeker 
+we’ve ever had.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 201 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. 
+Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind them, looking 
+disapproving. Ron and Hermione moved nearer to 
+Harry’s bed. 
+
+“Dumbledore was really angry,” Hermione said in a 
+quaking voice. “I’ve never seen him like that before. 
+
+He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and 
+you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. 
+Then he whirled his wand at the dementors. Shot 
+silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away. 
+... He was furious they’d come onto the grounds. We 
+heard him — ” 
+
+“Then he magicked you onto a stretcher,” said Ron. 
+“And walked up to school with you floating on it. 
+Everyone thought you were ...” 
+
+His voice faded, but Harry hardly noticed. He was 
+thinking about what the dementors had done to him 
+... about the screaming voice. He looked up and saw 
+Ron and Hermione looking at him so anxiously that 
+he quickly cast around for something matter-of-fact to 
+say. 
+
+“Did someone get my Nimbus?” 
+
+Ron and Hermione looked quickly at each other. 
+
+“Er — ” 
+
+
+
+“What?” said Harry, looking from one to the other. 
+
+“Well ... when you fell off, it got blown away,” said 
+Hermione hesitantly. 
+
+“And?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 202 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And it hit — it hit — oh, Harry — it hit the 
+Whomping Willow.” 
+
+Harry’s insides lurched. The Whomping Willow was a 
+very violent tree that stood alone in the middle of the 
+grounds. 
+
+“And?” he said, dreading the answer. 
+
+“Well, you know the Whomping Willow,” said Ron. “It 
+— it doesn’t like being hit.” 
+
+“Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you 
+came around,” said Hermione in a very small voice. 
+
+Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned 
+it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered 
+wood and twig onto the bed, the only remains of 
+Harry’s faithful, finally beaten broomstick. 
+
+
+
+Page | 203 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+10 
+
+
+
+
+THE MARAUDER’S MAP 
+
+Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Harry in the 
+hospital wing for the rest of the weekend. He didn’t 
+argue or complain, but he wouldn’t let her throw 
+away the shattered remnants of his Nimbus Two 
+Thousand. He knew he was being stupid, knew that 
+the Nimbus was beyond repair, but Harry couldn’t 
+help it; he felt as though he’d lost one of his best 
+friends. 
+
+He had a stream of visitors, all intent on cheering him 
+up. Hagrid sent him a bunch of earwiggy flowers that 
+looked like yellow cabbages, and Ginny Weasley, 
+blushing furiously, turned up with a get-well card she 
+had made herself, which sang shrilly unless Harry 
+kept it shut under his bowl of fruit. The Gryffindor 
+team visited again on Sunday morning, this time 
+accompanied by Wood, who told Harry (in a hollow, 
+dead sort of voice) that he didn’t blame him in the 
+slightest. Ron and Hermione left Harry’s bedside only 
+at night. But nothing anyone said or did could make 
+Harry feel any better, because they knew only half of 
+what was troubling him. 
+
+Page | 204 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+He hadn’t told anyone about the Grim, not even Ron 
+and Hermione, because he knew Ron would panic 
+and Hermione would scoff. The fact remained, 
+however, that it had now appeared twice, and both 
+appearances had been followed by near-fatal 
+accidents; the first time, he had nearly been run over 
+by the Knight Bus; the second, fallen fifty feet from 
+his broomstick. Was the Grim going to haunt him 
+until he actually died? Was he going to spend the rest 
+of his life looking over his shoulder for the beast? 
+
+And then there were the dementors. Harry felt sick 
+and humiliated every time he thought of them. 
+Everyone said the dementors were horrible, but no 
+one else collapsed every time they went near one. No 
+one else heard echoes in their head of their dying 
+parents. 
+
+Because Harry knew who that screaming voice 
+belonged to now. He had heard her words, heard 
+them over and over again during the night hours in 
+the hospital wing while he lay awake, staring at the 
+strips of moonlight on the ceiling. When the 
+dementors approached him, he heard the last 
+moments of his mother’s life, her attempts to protect 
+him, Harry, from Lord Voldemort, and Voldemort’s 
+laughter before he murdered her. . . . Harry dozed 
+fitfully, sinking into dreams full of clammy, rotted 
+hands and petrified pleading, jerking awake to dwell 
+again on his mother’s voice. 
+
+It was a relief to return to the noise and bustle of the 
+main school on Monday, where he was forced to think 
+about other things, even if he had to endure Draco 
+Malfoy’s taunting. Malfoy was almost beside himself 
+with glee at Gryffindor’s defeat. He had finally taken 
+off his bandages, and celebrated having the full use of 
+both arms again by doing spirited imitations of Harry 
+falling off his broom. Malfoy spent much of their next 
+Page | 205 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Potions class doing dementor imitations across the 
+dungeon; Ron finally cracked and flung a large, 
+slippery crocodile heart at Malfoy, which hit him in 
+the face and caused Snape to take fifty points from 
+Gryffindor. 
+
+“If Snape’s teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+again, I’m skiving off,” said Ron as they headed 
+toward Lupin’s classroom after lunch. “Check who’s 
+in there, Hermione.” 
+
+Hermione peered around the classroom door. 
+
+“It’s okay!” 
+
+Professor Lupin was back at work. It certainly looked 
+as though he had been ill. His old robes were hanging 
+more loosely on him and there were dark shadows 
+beneath his eyes; nevertheless, he smiled at the class 
+as they took their seats, and they burst at once into 
+an explosion of complaints about Snape’s behavior 
+while Lupin had been ill. 
+
+“It’s not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give 
+us homework?” 
+
+“We don’t know anything about werewolves — ” 
+
+“ — two rolls of parchment!” 
+
+“Did you tell Professor Snape we haven’t covered them 
+yet?” Lupin asked, frowning slightly. 
+
+The babble broke out again. 
+
+“Yes, but he said we were really behind — ” 
+
+“ — he wouldn’t listen — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 206 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — two rolls of parchmenti” 
+
+
+
+Professor Lupin smiled at the look of indignation on 
+every face. 
+
+“Don’t worry. I’ll speak to Professor Snape. You don’t 
+have to do the essay.” 
+
+“Oh no,” said Hermione, looking very disappointed. 
+“I’ve already finished it!” 
+
+They had a very enjoyable lesson. Professor Lupin 
+had brought along a glass box containing a 
+hinkypunk, a little one-legged creature who looked as 
+though he were made of wisps of smoke, rather frail 
+and harmless-looking. 
+
+“Lures travelers into bogs,” said Professor Lupin as 
+they took notes. “You notice the lantern dangling from 
+his hand? Hops ahead — people follow the light — 
+then — ’ ” 
+
+The hinkypunk made a horrible squelching noise 
+against the glass. 
+
+When the bell rang, everyone gathered up their things 
+and headed for the door, Harry among them, but — 
+
+“Wait a moment, Harry,” Lupin called. “I’d like a 
+word.” 
+
+Harry doubled back and watched Professor Lupin 
+covering the hinkypunk’s box with a cloth. 
+
+“I heard about the match,” said Lupin, turning back 
+to his desk and starting to pile books into his 
+briefcase, “and I’m sorry about your broomstick. Is 
+there any chance of fixing it?” 
+
+Page | 207 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry. “The tree smashed it to bits.” 
+
+Lupin sighed. 
+
+“They planted the Whomping Willow the same year 
+that I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a 
+game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In 
+the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an 
+eye, and we were forbidden to go near it. No 
+broomstick would have a chance. 
+
+“Did you hear about the dementors too?” said Harry 
+with difficulty. 
+
+Lupin looked at him quickly. 
+
+“Yes, I did. I don’t think any of us have seen Professor 
+Dumbledore that angry. They have been growing 
+restless for some time ... furious at his refusal to let 
+them inside the grounds. ... I suppose they were the 
+reason you fell?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. He hesitated, and then the question 
+he had to ask burst from him before he could stop 
+himself. “ Why? Why do they affect me like that? Am I 
+just — ?” 
+
+
+
+“It has nothing to do with weakness,” said Professor 
+Lupin sharply, as though he had read Harry’s mind. 
+“The dementors affect you worse than the others 
+because there are horrors in your past that the others 
+don’t have.” 
+
+A ray of wintery sunlight fell across the classroom, 
+illuminating Lupin’s gray hairs and the lines on his 
+young face. 
+
+“Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk 
+this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, 
+
+Page | 208 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, 
+hope, and happiness out of the air around them. 
+
+Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can’t 
+see them. Get too near a dementor and every good 
+feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of 
+you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long 
+enough to reduce you to something like itself . . . soul- 
+less and evil. You’ll be left with nothing but the worst 
+experiences of your life. And the worst that happened 
+to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their 
+broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of.” 
+
+“When they get near me — ” Harry stared at Lupin’s 
+desk, his throat tight. “I can hear Voldemort 
+murdering my mum.” 
+
+Lupin made a sudden motion with his arm as though 
+to grip Harry’s shoulder, but thought better of it. 
+
+There was a moment’s silence, then — 
+
+“Why did they have to come to the match?” said Harry 
+bitterly. 
+
+“They’re getting hungry,” said Lupin coolly, shutting 
+his briefcase with a snap. “Dumbledore won’t let them 
+into the school, so their supply of human prey has 
+dried up. ... I don’t think they could resist the large 
+crowd around the Quidditch field. All that excitement 
+. . . emotions running high ... it was their idea of a 
+feast.” 
+
+“Azkaban must be terrible,” Harry muttered. Lupin 
+nodded grimly. 
+
+“The fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, 
+but they don’t need walls and water to keep the 
+prisoners in, not when they’re all trapped inside their 
+own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. 
+Most of them go mad within weeks.” 
+
+Page | 209 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But Sirius Black escaped from them,” Harry said 
+slowly. “He got away. ...” 
+
+
+
+Lupin’s briefcase slipped from the desk; he had to 
+stoop quickly to catch it. 
+
+“Yes,” he said, straightening up, “Black must have 
+found a way to fight them. I wouldn’t have believed it 
+possible. ... Dementors are supposed to drain a 
+wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long. 
+
+
+
+“You made that dementor on the train back off,” said 
+Harry suddenly. 
+
+“There are — certain defenses one can use,” said 
+Lupin. “But there was only one dementor on the train. 
+The more there are, the more difficult it becomes to 
+resist.” 
+
+“What defenses?” said Harry at once. “Can you teach 
+me?” 
+
+“I don’t pretend to be an expert at fighting dementors, 
+Harry ... quite the contrary. ...” 
+
+“But if the dementors come to another Quidditch 
+match, I need to be able to fight them — ” 
+
+Lupin looked into Harry’s determined face, hesitated, 
+then said, “Well ... all right. I’ll try and help. But it’ll 
+have to wait until next term, I’m afraid. I have a lot to 
+do before the holidays. I chose a very inconvenient 
+time to fall ill.” 
+
+What with the promise of anti-dementor lessons from 
+Lupin, the thought that he might never have to hear 
+his mother’s death again, and the fact that Ravenclaw 
+flattened Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match at the 
+
+Page | 210 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+end of November, Harry’s mood took a definite 
+upturn. Gryffindor were not out of the running after 
+all, although they could not afford to lose another 
+match. Wood became repossessed of his manic 
+energy, and worked his team as hard as ever in the 
+chilly haze of rain that persisted into December. 
+
+Harry saw no hint of a dementor within the grounds. 
+Dumbledore’s anger seemed to be keeping them at 
+their stations at the entrances. 
+
+Two weeks before the end of the term, the sky 
+lightened suddenly to a dazzling, opaline white and 
+the muddy grounds were revealed one morning 
+covered in glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was 
+a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the 
+Charms teacher, had already decorated his classroom 
+with shimmering lights that turned out to be real, 
+fluttering fairies. The students were all happily 
+discussing their plans for the holidays. Both Ron and 
+Hermione had decided to remain at Hogwarts, and 
+though Ron said it was because he couldn’t stand two 
+weeks with Percy, and Hermione insisted she needed 
+to use the library, Harry wasn’t fooled; they were 
+doing it to keep him company, and he was very 
+grateful. 
+
+To everyone’s delight except Harry’s, there was to be 
+another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend of 
+the term. 
+
+“We can do all our Christmas shopping there!” said 
+Hermione. “Mum and Dad would really love those 
+Toothflossing Stringmints from Honeydukes!” 
+
+Resigned to the fact that he would be the only third 
+year staying behind again, Harry borrowed a copy of 
+Which Broomstick from Wood, and decided to spend 
+the day reading up on the different makes. He had 
+been riding one of the school brooms at team 
+Page | 211 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+practice, an ancient Shooting Star, which was very 
+slow and jerky; he definitely needed a new broom of 
+his own. 
+
+
+
+On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip, 
+Harry bid good-bye to Ron and Hermione, who were 
+wrapped in cloaks and scarves, then turned up the 
+marble staircase alone, and headed back toward 
+Gryffindor Tower. Snow had started to fall outside the 
+windows, and the castle was very still and quiet. 
+
+“Psst — Harry!” 
+
+He turned, halfway along the third-floor corridor, to 
+see Fred and George peering out at him from behind a 
+statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch. 
+
+“What are you doing?” said Harry curiously. “How 
+come you’re not going to Hogsmeade?” 
+
+“We’ve come to give you a bit of festive cheer before 
+we go,” said Fred, with a mysterious wink. “Come in 
+here. ...” 
+
+He nodded toward an empty classroom to the left of 
+the one-eyed statue. Harry followed Fred and George 
+inside. George closed the door quietly and then 
+turned, beaming, to look at Harry. 
+
+“Early Christmas present for you, Harry,” he said. 
+
+Fred pulled something from inside his cloak with a 
+flourish and laid it on one of the desks. It was a large, 
+square, very worn piece of parchment with nothing 
+written on it. Harry, suspecting one of Fred and 
+George’s jokes, stared at it. 
+
+“What’s that supposed to be?” 
+
+Page | 212 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“This, Harry, is the secret of our success,” said 
+George, patting the parchment fondly. 
+
+“It’s a wrench, giving it to you,” said Fred, “but we 
+decided last night, your need’s greater than ours.” 
+
+“Anyway, we know it by heart,” said George. “We 
+bequeath it to you. We don’t really need it anymore.” 
+
+“And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?” 
+said Harry. 
+
+“A bit of old parchment!” said Fred, closing his eyes 
+with a grimace as though Harry had mortally offended 
+him. “Explain, George.” 
+
+“Well ... when we were in our first year, Harry — 
+young, carefree, and innocent — ” 
+
+Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George 
+had ever been innocent. 
+
+“ — well, more innocent than we are now — we got 
+into a spot of bother with Filch.” 
+
+“We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset 
+him for some reason — ” 
+
+“So he hauled us off to his office and started 
+threatening us with the usual — ” 
+
+“ — detention — ” 
+
+“ — disembowelment — ” 
+
+“ — and we couldn’t help noticing a drawer in one of 
+his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly 
+Dangerous.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Don’t tell me — ” said Harry, starting to grin. 
+
+“Well, what would you’ve done?” said Fred. “George 
+caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I 
+whipped the drawer open, and grabbed — this.” 
+
+“It’s not as bad as it sounds, you know,” said George. 
+“We don’t reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. 
+He probably suspected what it was, though, or he 
+wouldn’t have confiscated it.” 
+
+“And you know how to work it?” 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Fred, smirking. “This little beauty’s 
+taught us more than all the teachers in this school.” 
+
+“You’re winding me up,” said Harry, looking at the 
+ragged old bit of parchment. 
+
+“Oh, are we?” said George. 
+
+He took out his wand, touched the parchment lightly, 
+and said, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” 
+
+And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a 
+spider’s web from the point that George’s wand had 
+touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, 
+they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then 
+words began to blossom across the top, great, curly 
+green words, that proclaimed: 
+
+Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs 
+
+Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers 
+
+are proud to present 
+
+THE MARAUDER’S MAP 
+
+
+
+Page | 214 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts 
+castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing 
+were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled 
+with a name in minuscule writing. Astounded, Harry 
+bent over it. A labeled dot in the top left corner 
+showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing his 
+study; the caretaker’s cat, Mrs. Norris, was prowling 
+the second floor; and Peeves the Poltergeist was 
+currently bouncing around the trophy room. And as 
+Harry’s eyes traveled up and down the familiar 
+corridors, he noticed something else. 
+
+This map showed a set of passages he had never 
+entered. And many of them seemed to lead — 
+
+“Right into Hogsmeade,” said Fred, tracing one of 
+them with his finger. “There are seven in all. Now, 
+Filch knows about these four” — he pointed them out 
+— “but we’re sure we’re the only ones who know 
+about these. Don’t bother with the one behind the 
+mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last 
+winter, but it’s caved in — completely blocked. And 
+we don’t reckon anyone’s ever used this one, because 
+the Whomping Willow’s planted right over the 
+entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into 
+the cellar of Honeydukes. We’ve used it loads of times. 
+And as you might’ve noticed, the entrance is right 
+outside this room, through that one-eyed old crone’s 
+hump.” 
+
+“Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs,” sighed 
+George, patting the heading of the map. “We owe 
+them so much.” 
+
+“Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new 
+generation of law-breakers,” said Fred solemnly. 
+
+“Right,” said George briskly. “Don’t forget to wipe it 
+after you’ve used it — ” 
+
+Page | 215 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — or anyone can read it,” Fred said warningly. 
+
+“Just tap it again and say, ‘Mischief managed!’ And 
+it’ll go blank.” 
+
+“So, young Harry,” said Fred, in an uncanny 
+impersonation of Percy, “mind you behave yourself.” 
+
+“See you in Honeydukes,” said George, winking. 
+
+They left the room, both smirking in a satisfied sort of 
+way. 
+
+Harry stood there, gazing at the miraculous map. He 
+watched the tiny ink Mrs. Norris turn left and pause 
+to sniff at something on the floor. If Filch really didn’t 
+know ... he wouldn’t have to pass the dementors at 
+all. ... 
+
+But even as he stood there, flooded with excitement, 
+something Harry had once heard Mr. Weasley say 
+came floating out of his memory. 
+
+Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you 
+can’t see where it keeps its brain. 
+
+This map was one of those dangerous magical objects 
+Mr. Weasley had been warning against. ... Aids for 
+Magical Mischief-Makers . . . but then, Harry reasoned, 
+he only wanted to use it to get into Hogsmeade, it 
+wasn’t as though he wanted to steal anything or 
+attack anyone ... and Fred and George had been 
+using it for years without anything horrible 
+happening. ... 
+
+Harry traced the secret passage to Honeydukes with 
+his finger. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Then, quite suddenly, as though following orders, he 
+rolled up the map, stuffed it inside his robes, and 
+hurried to the door of the classroom. He opened it a 
+couple of inches. There was no one outside. Very 
+carefully, he edged out of the room and behind the 
+statue of the one-eyed witch. 
+
+What did he have to do? He pulled out the map again 
+and saw, to his astonishment, that a new ink figure 
+had appeared upon it, labeled Harry Potter. This 
+figure was standing exactly where the real Harry was 
+standing, about halfway down the third-floor corridor. 
+Harry watched carefully. His little ink self appeared to 
+be tapping the witch with his minute wand. Harry 
+quickly took out his real wand and tapped the statue. 
+Nothing happened. He looked back at the map. The 
+tiniest speech bubble had appeared next to his figure. 
+The word inside said, “ Dissendium.” 
+
+“ Dissendiurrd” Harry whispered, tapping the stone 
+witch again. 
+
+At once, the statue’s hump opened wide enough to 
+admit a fairly thin person. Harry glanced quickly up 
+and down the corridor, then tucked the map away 
+again, hoisted himself into the hole headfirst, and 
+pushed himself forward. 
+
+He slid a considerable way down what felt like a stone 
+slide, then landed on cold, damp earth. He stood up, 
+looking around. It was pitch dark. He held up his 
+wand, muttered, “Lumos\” and saw that he was in a 
+very narrow, low, earthy passageway. He raised the 
+map, tapped it with the tip of his wand, and 
+muttered, “Mischief managed!” The map went blank 
+at once. He folded it carefully, tucked it inside his 
+robes, then, heart beating fast, both excited and 
+apprehensive, he set off. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The passage twisted and turned, more like the burrow 
+of a giant rabbit than anything else. Harry hurried 
+along it, stumbling now and then on the uneven floor, 
+holding his wand out in front of him. 
+
+It took ages, but Harry had the thought of 
+Honeydukes to sustain him. After what felt like an 
+hour, the passage began to rise. Panting, Harry sped 
+up, his face hot, his feet very cold. 
+
+Ten minutes later, he came to the foot of some worn 
+stone steps, which rose out of sight above him. 
+
+Careful not to make any noise, Harry began to climb. 
+A hundred steps, two hundred steps, he lost count as 
+he climbed, watching his feet. ... Then, without 
+warning, his head hit something hard. 
+
+It seemed to be a trapdoor. Harry stood there, 
+massaging the top of his head, listening. He couldn’t 
+hear any sounds above him. Very slowly, he pushed 
+the trapdoor open and peered over the edge. 
+
+He was in a cellar, which was full of wooden crates 
+and boxes. Harry climbed out of the trapdoor and 
+replaced it — it blended so perfectly with the dusty 
+floor that it was impossible to tell it was there. Harry 
+crept slowly toward the wooden staircase that led 
+upstairs. Now he could definitely hear voices, not to 
+mention the tinkle of a bell and the opening and 
+shutting of a door. 
+
+Wondering what he ought to do, he suddenly heard a 
+door open much closer at hand; somebody was about 
+to come downstairs. 
+
+“And get another box of Jelly Slugs, dear, they’ve 
+nearly cleaned us out — ” said a woman’s voice. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+A pair of feet was coming down the staircase. Harry 
+leapt behind an enormous crate and waited for the 
+footsteps to pass. He heard the man shifting boxes 
+against the opposite wall. He might not get another 
+chance — 
+
+Quickly and silently, Harry dodged out from his 
+hiding place and climbed the stairs; looking back, he 
+saw an enormous backside and shiny bald head, 
+buried in a box. Harry reached the door at the top of 
+the stairs, slipped through it, and found himself 
+behind the counter of Honeydukes — he ducked, 
+crept sideways, and then straightened up. 
+
+Honeydukes was so crowded with Hogwarts students 
+that no one looked twice at Harry. He edged among 
+them, looking around, and suppressed a laugh as he 
+imagined the look that would spread over Dudley’s 
+piggy face if he could see where Harry was now. 
+
+There were shelves upon shelves of the most 
+succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks 
+of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, 
+fat, honey-colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds 
+of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of 
+Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizbees, 
+the levitating sherbert balls that Ron had mentioned; 
+along yet another wall were “Special Effects” sweets: 
+Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with 
+bluebell-colored bubbles that refused to pop for days), 
+the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny 
+black Pepper Imps (“breathe fire for your friends!”), 
+
+Ice Mice (“hear your teeth chatter and squeak!”), 
+peppermint creams shaped like toads (“hop 
+realistically in the stomach!”), fragile sugar-spun 
+quills, and exploding bonbons. 
+
+Harry squeezed himself through a crowd of sixth 
+years and saw a sign hanging in the farthest corner of 
+
+Page | 219 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the shop (UNUSUAL TASTES). Ron and Hermione 
+were standing underneath it, examining a tray of 
+blood-flavored lollipops. Harry sneaked up behind 
+them. 
+
+“Ugh, no, Harry won’t want one of those, they’re for 
+vampires, I expect,” Hermione was saying. 
+
+“How about these?” said Ron, shoving ajar of 
+Cockroach Clusters under Hermione ’s nose. 
+
+“Definitely not,” said Harry. 
+
+Ron nearly dropped the jar. 
+
+“Harry\” squealed Hermione. “What are you doing 
+here? How — how did you — ?” 
+
+“Wow!” said Ron, looking very impressed, “you’ve 
+learned to Apparate!” 
+
+“ ’Course I haven’t,” said Harry. He dropped his voice 
+so that none of the sixth years could hear him and 
+told them all about the Marauder’s Map. 
+
+“How come Fred and George never gave it to me!” said 
+Ron, outraged. “I’m their brother!” 
+
+“But Harry isn’t going to keep it!” said Hermione, as 
+though the idea were ludicrous. “He’s going to hand it 
+in to Professor McGonagall, aren’t you, Harry?” 
+
+“No, I’m not!” said Harry. 
+
+“Are you mad?” said Ron, goggling at Hermione. 
+
+“Hand in something that good?” 
+
+“If I hand it in, I’ll have to say where I got it! Filch 
+would know Fred and George had nicked it!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But what about Sirius Black?” Hermione hissed. “He 
+could be using one of the passages on that map to get 
+into the castle! The teachers have got to know!” 
+
+“He can’t be getting in through a passage,” said Harry 
+quickly. “There are seven secret tunnels on the map, 
+right? Fred and George reckon Filch already knows 
+about four of them. And of the other three — one of 
+them’s caved in, so no one can get through it. One of 
+them’s got the Whomping Willow planted over the 
+entrance, so you can’t get out of it. And the one I just 
+came through — well — it’s really hard to see the 
+entrance to it down in the cellar, so unless he knew it 
+was there ...” 
+
+Harry hesitated. What if Black did know the passage 
+was there? Ron, however, cleared his throat 
+significantly, and pointed to a notice pasted on the 
+inside of the sweetshop door. 
+
+— BY ORDER OF — 
+
+THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC 
+
+Customers are reminded that until further notice, 
+dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade 
+every night after sundown. This measure has been put 
+in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will 
+be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is 
+therefore advisable that you complete your shopping 
+well before nightfall. 
+
+Merry Christmas! 
+
+
+
+“See?” said Ron quietly. “I’d like to see Black try and 
+break into Honeydukes with dementors swarming all 
+
+
+
+Page | 221 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+over the village. Anyway, Hermione, the Honeydukes 
+owners would hear a break-in, wouldn’t they? They 
+live over the shop!” 
+
+“Yes, but — but — ” Hermoine seemed to be struggling 
+to find another problem. “Look, Harry still shouldn’t 
+be coming into Hogsmeade. He hasn’t got a signed 
+form! If anyone finds out, he’ll be in so much trouble! 
+And it’s not nightfall yet — what if Sirius Black turns 
+up today? Now?” 
+
+“He’d have a job spotting Harry in this,” said Ron, 
+nodding through the mullioned windows at the thick, 
+swirling snow. “Come on, Hermione, it’s Christmas. 
+Harry deserves a break.” 
+
+Hermione bit her lip, looking extremely worried. 
+
+“Are you going to report me?” Harry asked her, 
+grinning. 
+
+“Oh — of course not — but honestly, Harry — ” 
+
+“Seen the Fizzing Whizbees, Harry?” said Ron, 
+grabbing him and leading him over to their barrel. 
+“And the Jelly Slugs? And the Acid Pops? Fred gave 
+me one of those when I was seven — it burnt a hole 
+right through my tongue. I remember Mum walloping 
+him with her broomstick.” Ron stared broodingly into 
+the Acid Pop box. “Reckon Fred’d take a bit of 
+Cockroach Cluster if I told him they were peanuts?” 
+
+When Ron and Hermione had paid for all their sweets, 
+the three of them left Honeydukes for the blizzard 
+outside. 
+
+Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little 
+thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a 
+layer of crisp snow; there were holly wreaths on the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in 
+the trees. 
+
+Harry shivered; unlike the other two, he didn’t have 
+his cloak. They headed up the street, heads bowed 
+against the wind, Ron and Hermione shouting 
+through their scarves. 
+
+“That’s the post office — ” 
+
+“Zonko’s is up there — ” 
+
+“We could go up to the Shrieking Shack — ” 
+
+“Tell you what,” said Ron, his teeth chattering, “shall 
+we go for a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks?” 
+
+Harry was more than willing; the wind was fierce and 
+his hands were freezing, so they crossed the road, 
+and in a few minutes were entering the tiny inn. 
+
+It was extremely crowded, noisy, warm, and smoky. A 
+curvy sort of woman with a pretty face was serving a 
+bunch of rowdy warlocks up at the bar. 
+
+“That’s Madam Rosmerta,” said Ron. “I’ll get the 
+drinks, shall I?” he added, going slightly red. 
+
+Harry and Hermione made their way to the back of 
+the room, where there was a small, vacant table 
+between the window and a handsome Christmas tree, 
+which stood next to the fireplace. Ron came back five 
+minutes later, carrying three foaming tankards of hot 
+butterbeer. 
+
+“Merry Christmas!” he said happily, raising his 
+tankard. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry drank deeply. It was the most delicious thing 
+he’d ever tasted and seemed to heat every bit of him 
+from the inside. 
+
+A sudden breeze ruffled his hair. The door of the 
+Three Broomsticks had opened again. Harry looked 
+over the rim of his tankard and choked. 
+
+Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had just entered 
+the pub with a flurry of snowflakes, shortly followed 
+by Hagrid, who was deep in conversation with a portly 
+man in a lime-green bowler hat and a pinstriped 
+cloak — Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic. 
+
+In an instant, Ron and Hermione had both placed 
+hands on the top of Harry’s head and forced him off 
+his stool and under the table. Dripping with 
+butterbeer and crouching out of sight, Harry clutched 
+his empty tankard and watched the teachers’ and 
+Fudge’s feet move toward the bar, pause, then turn 
+and walk right toward him. 
+
+Somewhere above him, Hermione whispered, 
+“Mobiliarbus\” 
+
+The Christmas tree beside their table rose a few 
+inches off the ground, drifted sideways, and landed 
+with a soft thump right in front of their table, hiding 
+them from view. Staring through the dense lower 
+branches, Harry saw four sets of chair legs move back 
+from the table right beside theirs, then heard the 
+grunts and sighs of the teachers and minister as they 
+sat down. 
+
+Next he saw another pair of feet, wearing sparkly 
+turquoise high heels, and heard a woman’s voice. 
+
+“A small gillywater — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 224 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Mine,” said Professor McGonagall’s voice. 
+
+“Four pints of mulled mead — ” 
+
+“Ta, Rosmerta,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella — ” 
+
+“Mmm!” said Professor Flitwick, smacking his lips. 
+
+“So you 11 be the red currant rum, Minister.” 
+
+“Thank you, Rosmerta, m’dear,” said Fudge’s voice. 
+“Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one 
+yourself, won’t you? Come and join us. ...” 
+
+“Well, thank you very much, Minister.” 
+
+Harry watched the glittering heels march away and 
+back again. His heart was pounding uncomfortably in 
+his throat. Why hadn’t it occurred to him that this 
+was the last weekend of term for the teachers too? 
+And how long were they going to sit there? He needed 
+time to sneak back into Honeydukes if he wanted to 
+return to school tonight. ... Hermione’s leg gave a 
+nervous twitch next to him. 
+
+“So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, 
+Minister?” came Madam Rosmerta’s voice. 
+
+Harry saw the lower part of Fudge’s thick body twist 
+in his chair as though he were checking for 
+eavesdroppers. Then he said in a quiet voice, “What 
+else, m’dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard 
+what happened up at the school at Halloween?” 
+
+“I did hear a rumor,” admitted Madam Rosmerta. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?” said Professor 
+McGonagall exasperatedly. 
+
+“Do you think Black’s still in the area, Minister?” 
+whispered Madam Rosmerta. 
+
+“I’m sure of it,” said Fudge shortly. 
+
+“You know that the dementors have searched the 
+whole village twice?” said Madam Rosmerta, a slight 
+edge to her voice. “Scared all my customers away. ... 
+It’s very bad for business, Minister.” 
+
+“Rosmerta, m’dear, I don’t like them any more than 
+you do,” said Fudge uncomfortably. “Necessary 
+precaution ... unfortunate, but there you are. ... I’ve 
+just met some of them. They’re in a fury against 
+Dumbledore — he won’t let them inside the castle 
+grounds.” 
+
+“I should think not,” said Professor McGonagall 
+sharply. “How are we supposed to teach with those 
+horrors floating around?” 
+
+“Hear, hear!” squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, whose 
+feet were dangling a foot from the ground. 
+
+“All the same,” demurred Fudge, “they are here to 
+protect you all from something much worse. ... We all 
+know what Black’s capable of. ...” 
+
+“Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,” said 
+Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. “Of all the people to 
+go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I’d 
+have thought ... I mean, I remember him when he was 
+a boy at Hogwarts. If you’d told me then what he was 
+going to become, I’d have said you’d had too much 
+mead.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You don’t know the half of it, Rosmerta,” said Fudge 
+gruffly. “The worst he did isn’t widely known.” 
+
+“The worst?” said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive 
+with curiosity. “Worse than murdering all those poor 
+people, you mean?” 
+
+“I certainly do,” said Fudge. 
+
+“I can’t believe that. What could possibly be worse?” 
+
+“You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta,” 
+murmured Professor McGonagall. “Do you remember 
+who his best friend was?” 
+
+“Naturally,” said Madam Rosmerta, with a small 
+laugh. “Never saw one without the other, did you? The 
+number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used 
+to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black 
+and James Potter!” 
+
+Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk. Ron 
+kicked him. 
+
+“Precisely,” said Professor McGonagall. “Black and 
+Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very 
+bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but 
+I don’t think we’ve ever had such a pair of 
+troublemakers — ” 
+
+“I dunno,” chuckled Hagrid. “Fred and George 
+Weasley could give ’em a run fer their money.” 
+
+“You’d have thought Black and Potter were brothers!” 
+chimed in Professor Flitwick. “Inseparable!” 
+
+“Of course they were,” said Fudge. “Potter trusted 
+Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed 
+when they left school. Black was best man when 
+
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+
+
+
+
+James married Lily. Then they named him godfather 
+to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can 
+imagine how the idea would torment him.” 
+
+“Because Black turned out to be in league with You- 
+Know-Who?” whispered Madam Rosmerta. 
+
+“Worse even than that, m’dear. ...” Fudge dropped his 
+voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. “Not 
+many people are aware that the Potters knew You- 
+Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of 
+course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had 
+a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, 
+and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised 
+them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know- 
+Who wasn’t an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore 
+told them that their best chance was the Fidelius 
+Charm.” 
+
+“How does that work?” said Madam Rosmerta, 
+breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his 
+throat. 
+
+“An immensely complex spell,” he said squeakily, 
+“involving the magical concealment of a secret inside 
+a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside 
+the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is 
+henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the 
+Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the 
+Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could 
+search the village where Lily and James were staying 
+for years and never find them, not even if he had his 
+nose pressed against their sitting room window!” 
+
+“So Black was the Potters’ Secret-Keeper?” whispered 
+Madam Rosmerta. 
+
+“Naturally,” said Professor McGonagall. “James Potter 
+told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell 
+
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+
+
+
+
+where they were, that Black was planning to go into 
+hiding himself . . . and yet, Dumbledore remained 
+worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters’ 
+Secret-Keeper himself.” 
+
+“He suspected Black?” gasped Madam Rosmerta. 
+
+“He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had 
+been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their 
+movements,” said Professor McGonagall darkly. 
+“Indeed, he had suspected for some time that 
+someone on our side had turned traitor and was 
+passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who.” 
+
+“But James Potter insisted on using Black?” 
+
+“He did,” said Fudge heavily. “And then, barely a week 
+after the Fidelius Charm had been performed — ” 
+
+“Black betrayed them?” breathed Madam Rosmerta. 
+
+“He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent 
+role, he was ready to declare his support openly for 
+You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this 
+for the moment of the Potters’ death. But, as we all 
+know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry 
+Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And 
+this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His 
+master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, 
+had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no 
+choice but to run for it — ” 
+
+“Filthy, stinkin’ turncoat!” Hagrid said, so loudly that 
+half the bar went quiet. 
+
+“Shh!” said Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“I met him!” growled Hagrid. “I musta bin the last ter 
+see him before he killed all them people! It was me 
+
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+
+
+
+
+what rescued Harry from Lily an’ James’s house after 
+they was killed! Jus’ got him outta the ruins, poor 
+little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an’ 
+his parents dead ... an’ Sirius Black turns up, on that 
+flyin’ motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter 
+me what he was doin’ there. I didn’ know he’d bin Lily 
+an’ James’s Secret-Keeper. Thought he’d jus’ heard 
+the news o’ You- Know- Who’s attack an’ come ter see 
+what he could do. White an’ shakin’, he was. An’ yeh 
+know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN’ 
+TRAITOR!” Hagrid roared. 
+
+“Hagrid, please!” said Professor McGonagall. “Keep 
+your voice down!” 
+
+“How was I ter know he wasn’ upset abou’ Lily an’ 
+James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou’! An’ 
+then he says, ‘Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I’m his 
+godfather, I’ll look after him — ’ Ha! But I’d had me 
+orders from Dumbledore, an’ I told Black no, 
+Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an’ 
+uncle’s. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told 
+me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. ‘I won’t 
+need it anymore,’ he says. 
+
+“I shoulda known there was somethin’ fishy goin’ on 
+then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin’ it 
+ter me for? Why wouldn’ he need it anymore? Fact 
+was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he’d 
+bin the Potters’ Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was 
+goin’ ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a 
+matter o’ hours before the Ministry was after him. 
+
+“But what if I’d given Harry to him, eh? I bet he ’d’ve 
+pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes’ 
+friends’ son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark 
+Side, there’s nothin’ and no one that matters to ’em 
+anymore. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+A long silence followed Hagrid ’s story. Then Madam 
+Rosmerta said with some satisfaction, “But he didn’t 
+manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic 
+caught up with him next day!” 
+
+“Alas, if only we had,” said Fudge bitterly. “It was not 
+we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew — 
+another of the Potters’ friends. Maddened by grief, no 
+doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters’ 
+Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself.” 
+
+“Pettigrew . . . that fat little boy who was always 
+tagging around after them at Hogwarts?” said Madam 
+Rosmerta. 
+
+“Hero-worshipped Black and Potter,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “Never quite in their league, talent-wise. 
+
+I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine 
+how I — how I regret that now. ...” She sounded as 
+though she had a sudden head cold. 
+
+“There, now, Minerva,” said Fudge kindly, “Pettigrew 
+died a hero’s death. Eyewitnesses — Muggles, of 
+course, we wiped their memories later — told us how 
+Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 
+“Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?’ And then he 
+went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. 
+Blew Pettigrew to smithereens. ...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, 
+“Stupid boy . . . foolish boy ... he was always hopeless 
+at dueling ... should have left it to the Ministry. ...” 
+
+“I tell yeh, if I’d got ter Black before little Pettigrew 
+did, I wouldn’t’ve messed around with wands — I’d’ve 
+ripped him limb — from — limb,” Hagrid growled. 
+
+“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Hagrid,” 
+said Fudge sharply. “Nobody but trained Hit Wizards 
+
+Page | 231 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have 
+stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I 
+was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical 
+Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on 
+the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I 
+will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A 
+crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had 
+cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles 
+screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with 
+what was left of Pettigrew in front of him ... a heap of 
+bloodstained robes and a few — a few fragments — ” 
+
+Fudge’s voice stopped abruptly. There was the sound 
+of five noses being blown. 
+
+“Well, there you have it, Rosmerta,” said Fudge 
+thickly. “Black was taken away by twenty members of 
+the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew 
+received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I 
+think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black’s 
+been in Azkaban ever since.” 
+
+Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh. 
+
+“Is it true he’s mad, Minister?” 
+
+“I wish I could say that he was,” said Fudge slowly. “I 
+certainly believe his master’s defeat unhinged him for 
+a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those 
+Muggles was the action of a cornered and desperate 
+man — cruel ... pointless. Yet I met Black on my last 
+inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the 
+prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the 
+dark; there’s no sense in them ... but I was shocked 
+at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite 
+rationally to me. It was unnerving. You’d have 
+thought he was merely bored — asked if I’d finished 
+with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he 
+missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at 
+Page | 232 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+how little effect the dementors seemed to be having on 
+him — and he was one of the most heavily guarded in 
+the place, you know. Dementors outside his door day 
+and night.” 
+
+“But what do you think he’s broken out to do?” said 
+Madam Rosmerta. “Good gracious, Minister, he isn’t 
+trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?” 
+
+“I daresay that is his — er — eventual plan,” said 
+Fudge evasively. “But we hope to catch Black long 
+before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and 
+friendless is one thing . . . but give him back his most 
+devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly 
+he’ll rise again. ...” 
+
+There was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone 
+had set down their glass. 
+
+“You know, Cornelius, if you’re dining with the 
+headmaster, we’d better head back up to the castle,” 
+said Professor McGonagall. 
+
+One by one, the pairs of feet in front of Harry took the 
+weight of their owners once more; hems of cloaks 
+swung into sight, and Madam Rosemerta’s glittering 
+heels disappeared behind the bar. The door of the 
+Three Broomsticks opened again, there was another 
+flurry of snow, and the teachers had disappeared. 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+Ron’s and Hermione’s faces appeared under the table. 
+They were both staring at him, lost for words. 
+
+
+
+Page | 233 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FIREBOLT 
+
+Harry didn’t have a very clear idea of how he had 
+managed to get back into the Honeydukes cellar, 
+through the tunnel, and into the castle once more. All 
+he knew was that the return trip seemed to take no 
+time at all, and that he hardly noticed what he was 
+doing, because his head was still pounding with the 
+conversation he had just heard. 
+
+Why had nobody ever told him? Dumbledore, Hagrid, 
+Mr. Weasley, Cornelius Fudge ... why hadn’t anyone 
+ever mentioned the fact that Harry’s parents had died 
+because their best friend had betrayed them? 
+
+Ron and Hermione watched Harry nervously all 
+through dinner, not daring to talk about what they’d 
+overheard, because Percy was sitting close by them. 
+When they went upstairs to the crowded common 
+room, it was to find Fred and George had set off half a 
+dozen Dungbombs in a fit of end-of-term high spirits. 
+Harry, who didn’t want Fred and George asking him 
+whether he’d reached Hogsmeade or not, sneaked 
+quietly up to the empty dormitory and headed 
+Page | 234 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+straight for his bedside cabinet. He pushed his books 
+aside and quickly found what he was looking for — 
+the leather-bound photo album Hagrid had given him 
+two years ago, which was full of wizard pictures of his 
+mother and father. He sat down on his bed, drew the 
+hangings around him, and started turning the pages, 
+searching, until ... 
+
+He stopped on a picture of his parents’ wedding day. 
+There was his father waving up at him, beaming, the 
+untidy black hair Harry had inherited standing up in 
+all directions. There was his mother, alight with 
+happiness, arm in arm with his dad. And there ... 
+that must be him. Their best man ... Harry had never 
+given him a thought before. 
+
+If he hadn’t known it was the same person, he would 
+never have guessed it was Black in this old 
+photograph. His face wasn’t sunken and waxy, but 
+handsome, full of laughter. Had he already been 
+working for Voldemort when this picture had been 
+taken? Was he already planning the deaths of the two 
+people next to him? Did he realize he was facing 
+twelve years in Azkaban, twelve years that would 
+make him unrecognizable? 
+
+But the dementors don’t affect him, Harry thought, 
+staring into the handsome, laughing face. He doesn’t 
+have to hear my mum screaming if they get too close — 
+
+Harry slammed the album shut, reached over and 
+stuffed it back into his cabinet, took off his robe and 
+glasses and got into bed, making sure the hangings 
+were hiding him from view. 
+
+The dormitory door opened. 
+
+“Harry?” said Ron’s voice uncertainly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 235 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Harry lay still, pretending to be asleep. He heard 
+Ron leave again, and rolled over on his back, his eyes 
+wide open. 
+
+A hatred such as he had never known before was 
+coursing through Harry like poison. He could see 
+Black laughing at him through the darkness, as 
+though somebody had pasted the picture from the 
+album over his eyes. He watched, as though 
+somebody was playing him a piece of film, Sirius 
+Black blasting Peter Pettigrew (who resembled Neville 
+Longbottom) into a thousand pieces. He could hear 
+(though having no idea what Black’s voice might 
+sound like) a low, excited mutter. “It has happened, 
+My Lord . . . the Potters have made me their Secret- 
+Keeper. ...” And then came another voice, laughing 
+shrilly, the same laugh that Harry heard inside his 
+head whenever the dementors drew near. . . . 
+
+“Harry, you — you look terrible.” 
+
+Harry hadn’t gotten to sleep until daybreak. He had 
+awoken to find the dormitory deserted, dressed, and 
+gone down the spiral staircase to a common room 
+that was completely empty except for Ron, who was 
+eating a Peppermint Toad and massaging his 
+stomach, and Hermione, who had spread her 
+homework over three tables. 
+
+“Where is everyone?” said Harry. 
+
+“Gone! It’s the first day of the holidays, remember?” 
+said Ron, watching Harry closely. “It’s nearly 
+lunchtime; I was going to come and wake you up in a 
+minute.” 
+
+Harry slumped into a chair next to the fire. Snow was 
+still falling outside the windows. Crookshanks was 
+spread out in front of the fire like a large, ginger rug. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You really don’t look well, you know,” Hermione said, 
+peering anxiously into his face. 
+
+“I’m fine,” said Harry. 
+
+“Harry, listen,” said Hermione, exchanging a look with 
+Ron, “you must be really upset about what we heard 
+yesterday. But the thing is, you mustn’t go doing 
+anything stupid.” 
+
+“Like what?” said Harry. 
+
+“Like trying to go after Black,” said Ron sharply. 
+
+Harry could tell they had rehearsed this conversation 
+while he had been asleep. He didn’t say anything. 
+
+“You won’t, will you, Harry?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Because Black’s not worth dying for,” said Ron. 
+
+Harry looked at them. They didn’t seem to 
+understand at all. 
+
+“D’you know what I see and hear every time a 
+dementor gets too near me?” Ron and Hermione 
+shook their heads, looking apprehensive. “I can hear 
+my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort. 
+
+And if you’d heard your mum screaming like that, 
+just about to be killed, you wouldn’t forget it in a 
+hurry. And if you found out someone who was 
+supposed to be a friend of hers betrayed her and sent 
+Voldemort after her — ” 
+
+“There’s nothing you can do!” said Hermione, looking 
+stricken. “The dementors will catch Black and he’ll go 
+back to Azkaban and — and serve him right!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You heard what Fudge said. Black isn’t affected by 
+Azkaban like normal people are. It’s not a 
+punishment for him like it is for the others.” 
+
+“So what are you saying?” said Ron, looking very 
+tense. “You want to — to kill Black or something?” 
+
+“Don’t be silly,” said Hermione in a panicky voice. 
+“Harry doesn’t want to kill anyone, do you, Harry?” 
+
+Again, Harry didn’t answer. He didn’t know what he 
+wanted to do. All he knew was that the idea of doing 
+nothing, while Black was at liberty, was almost more 
+than he could stand. 
+
+“Malfoy knows,” he said abruptly. “Remember what 
+he said to me in Potions? ‘If it was me, I’d hunt him 
+down myself. ... I’d want revenge.’ ” 
+
+“You’re going to take Malfoy ’s advice instead of ours?” 
+said Ron furiously. “Listen ... you know what 
+Pettigrew’s mother got back after Black had finished 
+with him? Dad told me — the Order of Merlin, First 
+Class, and Pettigrew’s finger in a box. That was the 
+biggest bit of him they could find. Black’s a madman, 
+Harry, and he’s dangerous — ” 
+
+“Malfoy’s dad must have told him,” said Harry, 
+ignoring Ron. “He was right in Voldemort’s inner 
+circle — ” 
+
+“ Say You-Knotu-Who, will you?” interjected Ron 
+angrily. 
+
+“ — so obviously, the Malfoys knew Black was working 
+for Voldemort — ” 
+
+“ — and Malfoy’d love to see you blown into about a 
+million pieces, like Pettigrew! Get a grip. Malfoy’s just 
+
+Page | 238 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hoping you 11 get yourself killed before he has to play 
+you at Quidditch.” 
+
+“Harry, please,” said Hermione, her eyes now shining 
+with tears, “please be sensible. Black did a terrible, 
+terrible thing, but d-don’t put yourself in danger, it’s 
+what Black wants. ... Oh, Harry, you’d be playing 
+right into Black’s hands if you went looking for him. 
+Your mum and dad wouldn’t want you to get hurt, 
+would they? They’d never want you to go looking for 
+Black!” 
+
+“I’ll never know what they’d have wanted, because 
+thanks to Black, I’ve never spoken to them,” said 
+Harry shortly. 
+
+There was a silence in which Crookshanks stretched 
+luxuriously, flexing his claws. Ron’s pocket quivered. 
+
+“Look,” said Ron, obviously casting around for a 
+change of subject, “it’s the holidays! It’s nearly 
+Christmas! Let’s — let’s go down and see Hagrid. We 
+haven’t visited him for ages!” 
+
+“No!” said Hermione quickly. “Harry isn’t supposed to 
+leave the castle, Ron — ” 
+
+“Yeah, let’s go,” said Harry, sitting up, “and I can ask 
+him how come he never mentioned Black when he 
+told me all about my parents!” 
+
+Further discussion of Sirius Black plainly wasn’t 
+what Ron had had in mind. 
+
+“Or we could have a game of chess,” he said hastily, 
+“or Gobstones. Percy left a set — ” 
+
+“No, let’s visit Hagrid,” said Harry firmly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 239 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+So they got their cloaks from their dormitories and set 
+off through the portrait hole (“Stand and fight, you 
+yellow-bellied mongrels!”), down through the empty 
+castle and out through the oak front doors. 
+
+They made their way slowly down the lawn, making a 
+shallow trench in the glittering, powdery snow, their 
+socks and the hems of their cloaks soaked and 
+freezing. The Forbidden Forest looked as though it 
+had been enchanted, each tree smattered with silver, 
+and Hagrid’s cabin looked like an iced cake. 
+
+Ron knocked, but there was no answer. 
+
+“He’s not out, is he?” said Hermione, who was 
+shivering under her cloak. 
+
+Ron had his ear to the door. 
+
+“There’s a weird noise,” he said. “Listen — is that 
+Fang?” 
+
+Harry and Hermione put their ears to the door too. 
+From inside the cabin came a series of low, throbbing 
+moans. 
+
+“Think we’d better go and get someone?” said Ron 
+nervously. 
+
+“Hagrid!” called Harry, thumping the door. “Hagrid, 
+are you in there?” 
+
+There was a sound of heavy footsteps, then the door 
+creaked open. Hagrid stood there with his eyes red 
+and swollen, tears splashing down the front of his 
+leather vest. 
+
+“Yeh’ve heard?” he bellowed, and he flung himself 
+onto Harry’s neck. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid being at least twice the size of a normal man, 
+this was no laughing matter. Harry, about to collapse 
+under Hagrid’s weight, was rescued by Ron and 
+Hermione, who each seized Hagrid under an arm and 
+heaved him back into the cabin. Hagrid allowed 
+himself to be steered into a chair and slumped over 
+the table, sobbing uncontrollably, his face glazed with 
+tears that dripped down into his tangled beard. 
+
+“Hagrid, what is it?” said Hermione, aghast. 
+
+Harry spotted an official-looking letter lying open on 
+the table. 
+
+“What’s this, Hagrid?” 
+
+Hagrid’s sobs redoubled, but he shoved the letter 
+toward Harry, who picked it up and read aloud: 
+
+Dear Mr. Hagrid, 
+
+Further to our inquiry into the attack by a hippogriff on 
+a student in your class, we have accepted the 
+assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no 
+responsibility for the regrettable incident. 
+
+“Well, that’s okay then, Hagrid!” said Ron, clapping 
+Hagrid on the shoulder. But Hagrid continued to sob, 
+and waved one of his gigantic hands, inviting Harry to 
+read on. 
+
+However, we must register our concern about the 
+hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the 
+official complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter 
+will therefore be taken to the Committee for the 
+Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The hearing will take 
+place on April 20th, and we ask you to present 
+yourself and your hippogriff at the Committee’s offices 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+in London on that date. In the meantime, the hippogriff 
+should be kept tethered and isolated. 
+
+Yours in fellowship ... 
+
+There followed a list of the school governors. 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron. “But you said Buckbeak isn’t a bad 
+hippogriff, Hagrid. I bet he’ll get off — ” 
+
+“Yeh don’ know them gargoyles at the Committee fer 
+the Disposal o’ Dangerous Creatures!” choked Hagrid, 
+wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “They’ve got it in fer 
+interestin’ creatures!” 
+
+A sudden sound from the corner of Hagrid ’s cabin 
+made Harry, Ron, and Hermione whip around. 
+Buckbeak the hippogriff was lying in the corner, 
+chomping on something that was oozing blood all over 
+the floor. 
+
+“I couldn’ leave him tied up out there in the snow!” 
+choked Hagrid. “All on his own! At Christmas.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another. 
+
+They had never seen eye to eye with Hagrid about 
+what he called “interesting creatures” and other 
+people called “terrifying monsters.” On the other 
+hand, there didn’t seem to be any particular harm in 
+Buckbeak. In fact, by Hagrid’s usual standards, he 
+was positively cute. 
+
+“You’ll have to put up a good strong defense, Hagrid,” 
+said Hermione, sitting down and laying a hand on 
+Hagrid’s massive forearm. “I’m sure you can prove 
+Buckbeak is safe.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Won’t make no difference!” sobbed Hagrid. “Them 
+Disposal devils, they’re all in Lucius Malfoy’s pocket! 
+Scared o’ him! An’ if I lose the case, Buckbeak — ” 
+
+Hagrid drew his finger swiftly across his throat, then 
+gave a great wail and lurched forward, his face in his 
+arms. 
+
+“What about Dumbledore, Hagrid?” said Harry. 
+
+“He’s done more’n enough fer me already,” groaned 
+Hagrid. “Got enough on his plate what with keepin’ 
+them dementors outta the castle, an’ Sirius Black 
+lurkin’ around — ” 
+
+Ron and Hermione looked quickly at Harry, as though 
+expecting him to start berating Hagrid for not telling 
+him the truth about Black. But Harry couldn’t bring 
+himself to do it, not now that he saw Hagrid so 
+miserable and scared. 
+
+“Listen, Hagrid,” he said, “you can’t give up. 
+Hermione’s right, you just need a good defense. You 
+can call us as witnesses — ” 
+
+“I’m sure I’ve read about a case of hippogriff-baiting,” 
+said Hermione thoughtfully, “where the hippogriff got 
+off. I’ll look it up for you, Hagrid, and see exactly what 
+happened.” 
+
+Hagrid howled still more loudly. Harry and Hermione 
+looked at Ron to help them. 
+
+“Er — shall I make a cup of tea?” said Ron. 
+
+Harry stared at him. 
+
+“It’s what my mum does whenever someone’s upset,” 
+Ron muttered, shrugging. 
+
+Page | 243 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+At last, after many more assurances of help, with a 
+steaming mug of tea in front of him, Hagrid blew his 
+nose on a handkerchief the size of a tablecloth and 
+said, “Yer right. I can’ afford to go ter pieces. Gotta 
+pull meself together. ...” 
+
+Fang the boarhound came timidly out from under the 
+table and laid his head on Hagrid ’s knee. 
+
+“I’ve not bin meself lately,” said Hagrid, stroking Fang 
+with one hand and mopping his face with the other. 
+“Worried abou’ Buckbeak, an’ no one likin’ me classes 
+
+
+
+“We do like them!” lied Hermione at once. 
+
+“Yeah, they’re great!” said Ron, crossing his fingers 
+under the table. “Er — how are the flobberworms?” 
+
+“Dead,” said Hagrid gloomily. “Too much lettuce.” 
+
+“Oh no!” said Ron, his lip twitching. 
+
+“An’ them dementors make me feel ruddy terrible an’ 
+all,” said Hagrid, with a sudden shudder. “Gotta walk 
+past ’em ev’ry time I want a drink in the Three 
+Broomsticks. ’S like bein’ back in Azkaban — ” 
+
+He fell silent, gulping his tea. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione watched him breathlessly. They had never 
+heard Hagrid talk about his brief spell in Azkaban 
+before. After a pause, Hermione said timidly, “Is it 
+awful in there, Hagrid?” 
+
+“Yeh’ve no idea,” said Hagrid quietly. “Never bin 
+anywhere like it. Thought I was goin’ mad. Kep’ goin’ 
+over horrible stuff in me mind . . . the day I got 
+expelled from Hogwarts . . . day me dad died . . . day I 
+had ter let Norbert go. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+His eyes filled with tears. Norbert was the baby 
+dragon Hagrid had once won in a game of cards. 
+
+
+
+“Yeh can’ really remember who yeh are after a while. 
+An’ yeh can’ see the point o’ livin’ at all. I used ter 
+hope I’d jus’ die in me sleep. ... When they let me out, 
+it was like bein’ born again, ev’rythin’ came floodin’ 
+back, it was the bes’ feelin’ in the world. Mind, the 
+dementors weren’t keen on lettin’ me go.” 
+
+“But you were innocent!” said Hermione. 
+
+Hagrid snorted. 
+
+“Think that matters to them? They don’ care. Long as 
+they’ve got a couple o’ hundred humans stuck there 
+with ’em, so they can leech all the happiness out of 
+’em, they don’ give a damn who’s guilty an’ who’s 
+not.” 
+
+Hagrid went quiet for a moment, staring into his tea. 
+Then he said quietly, “Thought o’ jus’ letting 
+Buckbeak go ... tryin’ ter make him fly away ... but 
+how d’yeh explain ter a hippogriff it’s gotta go inter 
+hidin’? An’ — an’ I’m scared o’ breakin’ the law. ...” He 
+looked up at them, tears leaking down his face again. 
+“I don’ ever want ter go back ter Azkaban.” 
+
+The trip to Hagrid’s, though far from fun, had 
+nevertheless had the effect Ron and Hermione had 
+hoped. Though Harry had by no means forgotten 
+about Black, he couldn’t brood constantly on revenge 
+if he wanted to help Hagrid win his case against the 
+Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. 
+He, Ron, and Hermione went to the library the next 
+day and returned to the empty common room laden 
+with books that might help prepare a defense for 
+Buckbeak. The three of them sat in front of the 
+roaring fire, slowly turning the pages of dusty 
+Page | 245 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+volumes about famous cases of marauding beasts, 
+speaking occasionally when they ran across 
+something relevant. 
+
+“Here’s something ... there was a case in 1722 ... but 
+the hippogriff was convicted — ugh, look what they 
+did to it, that’s disgusting — ” 
+
+“This might help, look — a manticore savaged 
+someone in 1296, and they let the manticore off — oh 
+— no, that was only because everyone was too scared 
+to go near it. ...” 
+
+Meanwhile, in the rest of the castle, the usual 
+magnificent Christmas decorations had been put up, 
+despite the fact that hardly any of the students 
+remained to enjoy them. Thick streamers of holly and 
+mistletoe were strung along the corridors, mysterious 
+lights shone from inside every suit of armor, and the 
+Great Hall was filled with its usual twelve Christmas 
+trees, glittering with golden stars. A powerful and 
+delicious smell of cooking pervaded the corridors, and 
+by Christmas Eve, it had grown so strong that even 
+Scabbers poked his nose out of the shelter of Ron’s 
+pocket to sniff hopefully at the air. 
+
+On Christmas morning, Harry was woken by Ron 
+throwing his pillow at him. 
+
+“Oy! Presents!” 
+
+Harry reached for his glasses and put them on, 
+squinting through the semi-darkness to the foot of his 
+bed, where a small heap of parcels had appeared. Ron 
+was already ripping the paper off his own presents. 
+
+“Another sweater from Mum . . . maroon again . . . see if 
+you’ve got one.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 246 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry had. Mrs. Weasley had sent him a scarlet 
+sweater with the Gryffindor lion knitted on the front, 
+also a dozen home-baked mince pies, some Christmas 
+cake, and a box of nut brittle. As he moved all these 
+things aside, he saw a long, thin package lying 
+underneath. 
+
+“What’s that?” said Ron, looking over, a freshly 
+unwrapped pair of maroon socks in his hand. 
+
+“Dunno ...” 
+
+Harry ripped the parcel open and gasped as a 
+magnificent, gleaming broomstick rolled out onto his 
+bedspread. Ron dropped his socks and jumped off his 
+bed for a closer look. 
+
+“I don’t believe it,” he said hoarsely. 
+
+It was a Firebolt, identical to the dream broom Harry 
+had gone to see every day in Diagon Alley. Its handle 
+glittered as he picked it up. He could feel it vibrating 
+and let go; it hung in midair, unsupported, at exactly 
+the right height for him to mount it. His eyes moved 
+from the golden registration number at the top of the 
+handle, right down to the perfectly smooth, 
+streamlined birch twigs that made up the tail. 
+
+“Who sent it to you?” said Ron in a hushed voice. 
+
+“Look and see if there’s a card,” said Harry. 
+
+Ron ripped apart the Firebolt’s wrappings. 
+
+“Nothing! Blimey, who’d spend that much on you?” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, feeling stunned, “I’m betting it 
+wasn’t the Dursleys.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I bet it was Dumbledore,” said Ron, now walking 
+around and around the Firebolt, taking in every 
+glorious inch. “He sent you the Invisibility Cloak 
+anonymously. ...” 
+
+“That was my dad’s, though,” said Harry. 
+“Dumbledore was just passing it on to me. He 
+wouldn’t spend hundreds of Galleons on me. He can’t 
+go giving students stuff like this — ” 
+
+“That’s why he wouldn’t say it was from him!” said 
+Ron. “In case some git like Malfoy said it was 
+favoritism. Hey, Harry” — Ron gave a great whoop of 
+laughter — “Malfoyl Wait till he sees you on this! He’ll 
+be sick as a pig! This is an international standard 
+broom, this is!” 
+
+“I can’t believe this,” Harry muttered, running a hand 
+along the Firebolt, while Ron sank onto Harry’s bed, 
+laughing his head off at the thought of Malfoy. “ Who 
+— ?” 
+
+“I know,” said Ron, controlling himself, “I know who it 
+could’ve been — Lupin!” 
+
+“What?” said Harry, now starting to laugh himself. 
+“Lupin? Listen, if he had this much gold, he’d be able 
+to buy himself some new robes.” 
+
+“Yeah, but he likes you,” said Ron. “And he was away 
+when your Nimbus got smashed, and he might’ve 
+heard about it and decided to visit Diagon Alley and 
+get this for you — ” 
+
+“What d’you mean, he was away?” said Harry. “He 
+was ill when I was playing in that match.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, he wasn’t in the hospital wing,” said Ron. “I 
+was there, cleaning out the bedpans on that detention 
+from Snape, remember?” 
+
+Harry frowned at Ron. 
+
+“I can’t see Lupin affording something like this.” 
+
+“What ’re you two laughing about?” 
+
+Hermione had just come in, wearing her dressing 
+gown and carrying Crookshanks, who was looking 
+very grumpy, with a string of tinsel tied around his 
+neck. 
+
+“Don’t bring him in here!” said Ron, hurriedly 
+snatching Scabbers from the depths of his bed and 
+stowing him in his pajama pocket. But Hermione 
+wasn’t listening. She dropped Crookshanks onto 
+Seamus’s empty bed and stared, open-mouthed, at 
+the Firebolt. 
+
+“Oh, Harry\ Who sent you that?” 
+
+“No idea,” said Harry. “There wasn’t a card or 
+anything with it.” 
+
+To his great surprise, Hermione did not appear either 
+excited or intrigued by the news. On the contrary, her 
+face fell, and she bit her lip. 
+
+“What’s the matter with you?” said Ron. 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Hermione slowly, “but it’s a bit 
+odd, isn’t it? I mean, this is supposed to be quite a 
+good broom, isn’t it?” 
+
+Ron sighed exasperatedly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s the best broom there is, Hermione,” he said. 
+
+“So it must’ve been really expensive. ...” 
+
+“Probably cost more than all the Slytherins’ brooms 
+put together,” said Ron happily. 
+
+“Well ... who’d send Harry something as expensive as 
+that, and not even tell him they’d sent it?” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Who cares?” said Ron impatiently. “Listen, Harry, 
+can I have a go on it? Can I?” 
+
+“I don’t think anyone should ride that broom just yet!” 
+said Hermione shrilly. 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at her. 
+
+“What d’you think Harry’s going to do with it — sweep 
+the floor?” said Ron. 
+
+But before Hermione could answer, Crookshanks 
+sprang from Seamus’s bed, right at Ron’s chest. 
+
+“GET — HIM — OUT — OF — HERE!” Ron bellowed 
+as Crookshanks ’s claws ripped his pajamas and 
+Scabbers attempted a wild escape over his shoulder. 
+Ron seized Scabbers by the tail and aimed a 
+misjudged kick at Crookshanks that hit the trunk at 
+the end of Harry’s bed, knocking it over and causing 
+Ron to hop up and down, howling with pain. 
+
+Crookshanks ’s fur suddenly stood on end. A shrill, 
+tinny whistling was filling the room. The Pocket 
+Sneakoscope had become dislodged from Uncle 
+Vernon’s old socks and was whirling and gleaming on 
+the floor. 
+
+
+
+Page | 250 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I forgot about that!” Harry said, bending down and 
+picking up the Sneakoscope. “I never wear those 
+socks if I can help it. ...” 
+
+The Sneakoscope whirled and whistled in his palm. 
+Crookshanks was hissing and spitting at it. 
+
+“You’d better take that cat out of here, Hermione,” 
+said Ron furiously, sitting on Harry’s bed nursing his 
+toe. “Can’t you shut that thing up?” he added to 
+Harry as Hermione strode out of the room, 
+Crookshanks ’s yellow eyes still fixed maliciously on 
+Ron. 
+
+Harry stuffed the Sneakoscope back inside the socks 
+and threw it back into his trunk. All that could be 
+heard now were Ron’s stifled moans of pain and rage. 
+Scabbers was huddled in Ron’s hands. It had been a 
+while since Harry had seen him out of Ron’s pocket, 
+and he was unpleasantly surprised to see that 
+Scabbers, once so fat, was now very skinny; patches 
+of fur seemed to have fallen out too. 
+
+“He’s not looking too good, is he?” Harry said. 
+
+“It’s stress!” said Ron. “He’d be fine if that big stupid 
+furball left him alone!” 
+
+But Harry, remembering what the woman at the 
+Magical Menagerie had said about rats living only 
+three years, couldn’t help feeling that unless Scabbers 
+had powers he had never revealed, he was reaching 
+the end of his life. And despite Ron’s frequent 
+complaints that Scabbers was both boring and 
+useless, he was sure Ron would be very miserable if 
+Scabbers died. 
+
+Christmas spirit was definitely thin on the ground in 
+the Gryffindor common room that morning. Hermione 
+
+Page | 251 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had shut Crookshanks in her dormitory, but was 
+furious with Ron for trying to kick him; Ron was still 
+fuming about Crookshanks ’s fresh attempt to eat 
+Scabbers. Harry gave up trying to make them talk to 
+each other and devoted himself to examining the 
+Firebolt, which he had brought down to the common 
+room with him. For some reason this seemed to 
+annoy Hermione as well; she didn’t say anything, but 
+she kept looking darkly at the broom as though it too 
+had been criticizing her cat. 
+
+At lunchtime they went down to the Great Hall, to 
+find that the House tables had been moved against 
+the walls again, and that a single table, set for twelve, 
+stood in the middle of the room. Professors 
+Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and 
+Flitwick were there, along with Filch, the caretaker, 
+who had taken off his usual brown coat and was 
+wearing a very old and rather moldy-looking tailcoat. 
+There were only three other students, two extremely 
+nervous-looking first years and a sullen-faced 
+Slytherin fifth year. 
+
+“Merry Christmas!” said Dumbledore as Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione approached the table. “As there are so 
+few of us, it seemed foolish to use the House tables. 
+
+... Sit down, sit down!” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down side by side at 
+the end of the table. 
+
+“Crackers!” said Dumbledore enthusiastically, offering 
+the end of a large silver noisemaker to Snape, who 
+took it reluctantly and tugged. With a bang like a 
+gunshot, the cracker flew apart to reveal a large, 
+pointed witch’s hat topped with a stuffed vulture. 
+
+Harry, remembering the boggart, caught Ron’s eye 
+and they both grinned; Snape ’s mouth thinned and 
+
+Page | 252 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he pushed the hat toward Dumbledore, who swapped 
+it for his wizard’s hat at once. 
+
+
+
+“Dig in!” he advised the table, beaming around. 
+
+As Harry was helping himself to roast potatoes, the 
+doors of the Great Hall opened again. It was Professor 
+Trelawney, gliding toward them as though on wheels. 
+She had put on a green sequined dress in honor of 
+the occasion, making her look more than ever like a 
+glittering, oversized dragonfly. 
+
+“Sibyll, this is a pleasant surprise!” said Dumbledore, 
+standing up. 
+
+“I have been crystal gazing, Headmaster,” said 
+Professor Trelawney in her mistiest, most faraway 
+voice, “and to my astonishment, I saw myself 
+abandoning my solitary luncheon and coming to join 
+you. Who am I to refuse the promptings of fate? I at 
+once hastened from my tower, and I do beg you to 
+forgive my lateness. ...” 
+
+“Certainly, certainly,” said Dumbledore, his eyes 
+twinkling. “Let me draw you up a chair — ” 
+
+And he did indeed draw a chair in midair with his 
+wand, which revolved for a few seconds before falling 
+with a thud between Professors Snape and 
+McGonagall. Professor Trelawney, however, did not sit 
+down; her enormous eyes had been roving around the 
+table, and she suddenly uttered a kind of soft scream. 
+
+“I dare not, Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be 
+thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget 
+that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will 
+be the first to die!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well risk it, Sibyll,” said Professor McGonagall 
+impatiently. “Do sit down, the turkey’s getting stone 
+cold.” 
+
+
+
+Professor Trelawney hesitated, then lowered herself 
+into the empty chair, eyes shut and mouth clenched 
+tight, as though expecting a thunderbolt to hit the 
+table. Professor McGonagall poked a large spoon into 
+the nearest tureen. 
+
+“Tripe, Sibyll?” 
+
+Professor Trelawney ignored her. Eyes open again, 
+she looked around once more and said, “But where is 
+dear Professor Lupin?” 
+
+“I’m afraid the poor fellow is ill again,” said 
+Dumbledore, indicating that everybody should start 
+serving themselves. “Most unfortunate that it should 
+happen on Christmas Day.” 
+
+“But surely you already knew that, Sibyll?” said 
+Professor McGonagall, her eyebrows raised. 
+
+Professor Trelawney gave Professor McGonagall a very 
+cold look. 
+
+“Certainly I knew, Minerva,” she said quietly. “But 
+one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. 
+
+I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the 
+Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous.” 
+
+“That explains a great deal,” said Professor 
+McGonagall tartly. 
+
+Professor Trelawney’s voice suddenly became a good 
+deal less misty. 
+
+
+
+Page | 254 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor 
+Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He 
+seems aware, himself, that his time is short. He 
+positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him — 
+
+
+
+“Imagine that,” said Professor McGonagall dryly. 
+
+“I doubt,” said Dumbledore, in a cheerful but slightly 
+raised voice, which put an end to Professor 
+McGonagall and Professor Trelawney’s conversation, 
+“that Professor Lupin is in any immediate danger. 
+Severus, you’ve made the potion for him again?” 
+
+“Yes, Headmaster,” said Snape. 
+
+“Good,” said Dumbledore. “Then he should be up and 
+about in no time. ... Derek, have you had any of these 
+chipolatas? They’re excellent.” 
+
+The first-year boy went furiously red on being 
+addressed directly by Dumbledore, and took the 
+platter of sausages with trembling hands. 
+
+Professor Trelawney behaved almost normally until 
+the very end of Christmas dinner, two hours later. 
+
+Full to bursting with Christmas dinner and still 
+wearing their party hats, Harry and Ron got up first 
+from the table and she shrieked loudly. 
+
+“My dears! Which of you left his seat first? Which?” 
+
+“Dunno,” said Ron, looking uneasily at Harry. 
+
+“I doubt it will make much difference,” said Professor 
+McGonagall coldly, “unless a mad axe-man is waiting 
+outside the doors to slaughter the first into the 
+entrance hall.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 255 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Even Ron laughed. Professor Trelawney looked highly 
+affronted. 
+
+“Coming?” Harry said to Hermione. 
+
+“No,” Hermione muttered, “I want a quick word with 
+Professor McGonagall.” 
+
+“Probably trying to see if she can take any more 
+classes,” yawned Ron as they made their way into the 
+entrance hall, which was completely devoid of mad 
+axe-men. 
+
+When they reached the portrait hole, they found Sir 
+Cadogan enjoying a Christmas party with a couple of 
+monks, several previous headmasters of Hogwarts, 
+and his fat pony. He pushed up his visor and toasted 
+them with a flagon of mead. 
+
+“Merry — hie — Christmas! Password?” 
+
+“Scurvy cur,” said Ron. 
+
+“And the same to you, sir!” roared Sir Cadogan as the 
+painting swung forward to admit them. 
+
+Harry went straight up to the dormitory, collected the 
+Firebolt and the Broomstick Servicing Kit Hermione 
+had given him for his birthday, brought them 
+downstairs, and tried to find something to do to the 
+Firebolt; however, there were no bent twigs to clip, 
+and the handle was so shiny already it seemed 
+pointless to polish it. He and Ron simply sat admiring 
+it from every angle until the portrait hole opened, and 
+Hermione came in, accompanied by Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+Though Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor 
+House, Harry had seen her in the common room only 
+
+Page | 256 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+once before, and that had been to make a very grave 
+announcement. He and Ron stared at her, both 
+holding the Firebolt. Hermione walked around them, 
+sat down, picked up the nearest book, and hid her 
+face behind it. 
+
+“So that’s it, is it?” said Professor McGonagall beadily, 
+walking over to the fireside and staring at the 
+Firebolt. “Miss Granger has just informed me that you 
+have been sent a broomstick, Potter.” 
+
+Harry and Ron looked around at Hermione. They 
+could see her forehead reddening over the top of her 
+book, which was upside down. 
+
+“May I?” said Professor McGonagall, but she didn’t 
+wait for an answer before pulling the Firebolt out of 
+their hands. She examined it carefully from handle to 
+twig-ends. “Hmm. And there was no note at all, 
+
+Potter? No card? No message of any kind?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry blankly. 
+
+“I see ... ,” said Professor McGonagall. “Well, I’m 
+afraid I will have to take this, Potter.” 
+
+“W — what?” said Harry, scrambling to his feet. 
+“Why?” 
+
+“It will need to be checked for jinxes,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “Of course, I’m no expert, but I daresay 
+Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick will strip it 
+down — ” 
+
+“Strip it down?” repeated Ron, as though Professor 
+McGonagall was mad. 
+
+
+
+Page | 257 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It shouldn’t take more than a few weeks,” said 
+Professor McGonagall. “You will have it back if we are 
+sure it is jinx-free.” 
+
+“There’s nothing wrong with it!” said Harry, his voice 
+shaking slightly. “Honestly, Professor — ” 
+
+“You can’t know that, Potter,” said Professor 
+McGonagall, quite kindly, “not until you’ve flown it, at 
+any rate, and I’m afraid that is out of the question 
+until we are certain that it has not been tampered 
+with. I shall keep you informed.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall turned on her heel and carried 
+the Firebolt out of the portrait hole, which closed 
+behind her. Harry stood staring after her, the tin of 
+High-Finish Polish still clutched in his hands. Ron, 
+however, rounded on Hermione. 
+
+“What did you go running to McGonagall for?” 
+
+Hermione threw her book aside. She was still pink in 
+the face, but stood up and faced Ron defiantly. 
+
+“Because I thought — and Professor McGonagall 
+agrees with me — that that broom was probably sent 
+to Harry by Sirius Black!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 258 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PATRONUS 
+
+Harry knew that Hermione had meant well, but that 
+didn’t stop him from being angry with her. He had 
+been the owner of the best broom in the world for a 
+few short hours, and now, because of her 
+interference, he didn’t know whether he would ever 
+see it again. He was positive that there was nothing 
+wrong with the Firebolt now, but what sort of state 
+would it be in once it had been subjected to all sorts 
+of anti-jinx tests? 
+
+Ron was furious with Hermione too. As far as he was 
+concerned, the stripping-down of a brand-new 
+Firebolt was nothing less than criminal damage. 
+Hermione, who remained convinced that she had 
+acted for the best, started avoiding the common room. 
+Harry and Ron supposed she had taken refuge in the 
+library and didn’t try to persuade her to come back. 
+All in all, they were glad when the rest of the school 
+returned shortly after New Year, and Gryffindor Tower 
+became crowded and noisy again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 259 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Wood sought Harry out on the night before term 
+started. 
+
+
+
+“Had a good Christmas?” he said, and then, without 
+waiting for an answer, he sat down, lowered his voice, 
+and said, “I’ve been doing some thinking over 
+Christmas, Harry. After the last match, you know. If 
+the dementors come to the next one ... I mean . . . we 
+can’t afford you to — well — ” 
+
+Wood broke off, looking awkward. 
+
+“I’m working on it,” said Harry quickly. “Professor 
+Lupin said he’d train me to ward off the dementors. 
+We should be starting this week. He said he’d have 
+time after Christmas.” 
+
+“Ah,” said Wood, his expression clearing. “Well, in 
+that case — I really didn’t want to lose you as Seeker, 
+Harry. And have you ordered a new broom yet?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“What! You’d better get a move on, you know — you 
+can’t ride that Shooting Star against Ravenclaw!” 
+
+“He got a Firebolt for Christmas,” said Ron. 
+
+“A Firebolt? No! Seriously? A — a real Firebolt?” 
+
+“Don’t get excited, Oliver,” said Harry gloomily. “I 
+haven’t got it anymore. It was confiscated.” And he 
+explained all about how the Firebolt was now being 
+checked for jinxes. 
+
+“Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 260 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sirius Black,” Harry said wearily. “He’s supposed to 
+be after me. So McGonagall reckons he might have 
+sent it.” 
+
+Waving aside the information that a famous murderer 
+was after his Seeker, Wood said, “But Black couldn’t 
+have bought a Firebolt! He’s on the run! The whole 
+country’s on the lookout for him! How could he just 
+walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a 
+broomstick?” 
+
+“I know,” said Harry, “but McGonagall still wants to 
+strip it down — ” 
+
+Wood went pale. 
+
+“I’ll go and talk to her, Harry,” he promised. “I’ll make 
+her see reason. ... A Firebolt ... a real Firebolt, on our 
+team . . . She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we 
+do. ... I’ll make her see sense. A Firebolt ...” 
+
+Classes started again the next day. The last thing 
+anyone felt like doing was spending two hours on the 
+grounds on a raw January morning, but Hagrid had 
+provided a bonfire full of salamanders for their 
+enjoyment, and they spent an unusually good lesson 
+collecting dry wood and leaves to keep the fire blazing 
+while the flame-loving lizards scampered up and 
+down the crumbling, white-hot logs. The first 
+Divination lesson of the new term was much less fun; 
+Professor Trelawney was now teaching them 
+palmistry, and she lost no time in informing Harry 
+that he had the shortest life line she had ever seen. 
+
+It was Defense Against the Dark Arts that Harry was 
+keen to get to; after his conversation with Wood, he 
+wanted to get started on his anti-dementor lessons as 
+soon as possible. 
+
+
+
+Page | 261 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ah yes,” said Lupin, when Harry reminded him of his 
+promise at the end of class. “Let me see ... how about 
+eight o’clock on Thursday evening? The History of 
+Magic classroom should be large enough. ... I’ll have 
+to think carefully about how we’re going to do this. ... 
+We can’t bring a real dementor into the castle to 
+practice on. ...” 
+
+“Still looks ill, doesn’t he?” said Ron as they walked 
+down the corridor, heading to dinner. “What d’you 
+reckon ’s the matter with him?” 
+
+There was a loud and impatient “tuh” from behind 
+them. It was Hermione, who had been sitting at the 
+feet of a suit of armor, repacking her bag, which was 
+so full of books it wouldn’t close. 
+
+“And what are you tutting at us for?” said Ron 
+irritably. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Hermione in a lofty voice, heaving her 
+bag back over her shoulder. 
+
+“Yes, you were,” said Ron. “I said I wonder what’s 
+wrong with Lupin, and you — ” 
+
+“Well, isn’t it obvious?” said Hermione, with a look of 
+maddening superiority. 
+
+“If you don’t want to tell us, don’t,” snapped Ron. 
+
+“Fine,” said Hermione haughtily, and she marched off. 
+
+“She doesn’t know,” said Ron, staring resentfully after 
+Hermione. “She’s just trying to get us to talk to her 
+again.” 
+
+At eight o’clock on Thursday evening, Harry left 
+Gryffindor Tower for the History of Magic classroom. 
+
+Page | 262 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the 
+lamps with his wand and had waited only five 
+minutes when Professor Lupin turned up, carrying a 
+large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor 
+Binns’ desk. 
+
+“What’s that?” said Harry. 
+
+“Another boggart,” said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. 
+“I’ve been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and 
+very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch’s 
+filing cabinet. It’s the nearest we’ll get to a real 
+dementor. The boggart will turn into a dementor when 
+he sees you, so we’ll be able to practice on him. I can 
+store him in my office when we’re not using him; 
+there’s a cupboard under my desk he’ll like.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, trying to sound as though he 
+wasn’t apprehensive at all and merely glad that Lupin 
+had found such a good substitute for a real dementor. 
+
+“So ...” Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, 
+and indicated that Harry should do the same. “The 
+spell I am going to try and teach you is highly 
+advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary 
+Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.” 
+
+“How does it work?” said Harry nervously. 
+
+“Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a 
+Patronus,” said Lupin, “which is a kind of anti- 
+dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between 
+you and the dementor.” 
+
+Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching 
+behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. 
+Professor Lupin continued, “The Patronus is a kind of 
+positive force, a projection of the very things that the 
+dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire 
+Page | 263 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real 
+humans can, so the dementors can’t hurt it. But I 
+must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too 
+advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have 
+difficulty with it.” 
+
+“What does a Patronus look like?” said Harry 
+curiously. 
+
+“Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.” 
+“And how do you conjure it?” 
+
+“With an incantation, which will work only if you are 
+concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very 
+happy memory.” 
+
+Harry cast his mind about for a happy memory. 
+Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the 
+Dursleys’ was going to do. Finally, he settled on the 
+moment when he had first ridden a broomstick. 
+
+“Right,” he said, trying to recall as exactly as possible 
+the wonderful, soaring sensation of his stomach. 
+
+“The incantation is this — ” Lupin cleared his throat. 
+“Expecto patronum).” 
+
+“Expecto patronum,” Harry repeated under his breath, 
+“expecto patronum.” 
+
+“Concentrating hard on your happy memory?” 
+
+“Oh — yeah — ” said Harry, quickly forcing his 
+thoughts back to that first broom ride. “Expecto 
+patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, 
+expecto patronum — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 264 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his 
+wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. 
+
+
+
+“Did you see that?” said Harry excitedly. “Something 
+happened!” 
+
+“Very good,” said Lupin, smiling. “Right, then — ready 
+to try it on a dementor?” 
+
+“Yes,” Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly, and 
+moving into the middle of the deserted classroom. He 
+tried to keep his mind on flying, but something else 
+kept intruding. . . . Any second now, he might hear his 
+mother again . . . but he shouldn’t think that, or he 
+would hear her again, and he didn’t want to ... or did 
+he? 
+
+Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled. 
+
+A dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face 
+turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand 
+gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom 
+flickered and went out. The dementor stepped from 
+the box and started to sweep silently toward Harry, 
+drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing 
+cold broke over him — 
+
+“Expecto patronurrd” Harry yelled. “Expecto patronum). 
+Expecto — ” 
+
+But the classroom and the dementor were dissolving. 
+
+. . . Harry was falling again through thick white fog, 
+and his mother’s voice was louder than ever, echoing 
+inside his head — “ Not Harry\ Not Harry\ Please — I’ll 
+do anything — ” 
+
+“Stand aside. Stand aside, girl\” 
+
+“Harry!” 
+
+Page | 265 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry jerked back to life. He was lying flat on his back 
+on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. 
+He didn’t have to ask what had happened. 
+
+“Sorry,” he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat 
+trickling down behind his glasses. 
+
+“Are you all right?” said Lupin. 
+
+“Yes ...” Harry pulled himself up on one of the desks 
+and leaned against it. 
+
+“Here — ” Lupin handed him a Chocolate Frog. “Eat 
+this before we try again. I didn’t expect you to do it 
+your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if 
+you had.” 
+
+“It’s getting worse,” Harry muttered, biting off the 
+Frog’s head. “I could hear her louder that time — and 
+him — Voldemort — ” 
+
+Lupin looked paler than usual. 
+
+“Harry, if you don’t want to continue, I will more than 
+understand — ” 
+
+“I do!” said Harry fiercely, stuffing the rest of the 
+Chocolate Frog into his mouth. “I’ve got to! What if 
+the dementors turn up at our match against 
+Ravenclaw? I can’t afford to fall off again. If we lose 
+this game we’ve lost the Quidditch Cup!” 
+
+“All right then ... ,” said Lupin. “You might want to 
+select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to 
+concentrate on. ... That one doesn’t seem to have 
+been strong enough. ...” 
+
+Harry thought hard and decided his feelings when 
+Gryffindor had won the House Championship last 
+
+Page | 266 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+year had definitely qualified as very happy. He 
+gripped his wand tightly again and took up his 
+position in the middle of the classroom. 
+
+“Ready?” said Lupin, gripping the box lid. 
+
+“Ready,” said Harry, trying hard to fill his head with 
+happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning, and not 
+dark thoughts about what was going to happen when 
+the box opened. 
+
+“Go!” said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went 
+icily cold and dark once more. The dementor glided 
+forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was 
+extending toward Harry — 
+
+“Expecto patronum).” Harry yelled. “Expecto patronuml 
+Expecto pat — ” 
+
+White fog obscured his senses . . . big, blurred shapes 
+were moving around him ... then came a new voice, a 
+man’s voice, shouting, panicking — 
+
+“Lily, take Harry and go\ It’s him\ Go! Run\ I’ll hold him 
+
+off~ 
+
+The sounds of someone stumbling from a room — a 
+door bursting open — a cackle of high-pitched 
+laughter — 
+
+“Harry! Harry ... wake up. ...” 
+
+Lupin was tapping Harry hard on the face. This time 
+it was a minute before Harry understood why he was 
+lying on a dusty classroom floor. 
+
+“I heard my dad,” Harry mumbled. “That’s the first 
+time I’ve ever heard him — he tried to take on 
+
+
+
+Page | 267 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it. 
+
+
+
+Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his 
+face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low 
+as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending 
+to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn’t see. 
+
+“You heard James?” said Lupin in a strange voice. 
+
+“Yeah ...” Face dry, Harry looked up. “Why — you 
+didn’t know my dad, did you?” 
+
+“I — I did, as a matter of fact,” said Lupin. “We were 
+friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Harry — perhaps we 
+should leave it here for tonight. This charm is 
+ridiculously advanced. ... I shouldn’t have suggested 
+putting you through this. ...” 
+
+“No!” said Harry. He got up again. “I’ll have one more 
+go! I’m not thinking of happy enough things, that’s 
+what it is. ... Hang on. ...” 
+
+He racked his brains. A really, really happy memory 
+. . . one that he could turn into a good, strong 
+Patronus ... 
+
+The moment when he’d first found out he was a 
+wizard, and would be leaving the Dursleys for 
+Hogwarts! If that wasn’t a happy memory, he didn’t 
+know what was. ... Concentrating very hard on how 
+he had felt when he’d realized he’d be leaving Privet 
+Drive, Harry got to his feet and faced the packing case 
+once more. 
+
+“Ready?” said Lupin, who looked as though he were 
+doing this against his better judgment. 
+
+“Concentrating hard? All right — go!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 268 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and 
+the dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and 
+dark — 
+
+“EXPECTO PATRONUM ” Harry bellowed. “ EXPECTO 
+PATRONUM EXPECTO PATRONUM ” 
+
+The screaming inside Harry’s head had started again 
+— except this time, it sounded as though it were 
+coming from a badly tuned radio — softer and louder 
+and softer again — and he could still see the 
+dementor — it had halted — and then a huge, silver 
+shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry’s wand, 
+to hover between him and the dementor, and though 
+Harry’s legs felt like water, he was still on his feet — 
+though for how much longer, he wasn’t sure — 
+
+“ RiddikulusV’ roared Lupin, springing forward. 
+
+There was a loud crack, and Harry’s cloudy Patronus 
+vanished along with the dementor; he sank into a 
+chair, feeling as exhausted as if he’d just run a mile, 
+and felt his legs shaking. Out of the corner of his eye, 
+he saw Professor Lupin forcing the boggart back into 
+the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a 
+silvery orb again. 
+
+“Excellent!” Lupin said, striding over to where Harry 
+sat. “Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!” 
+
+“Can we have another go? Just one more go?” 
+
+“Not now,” said Lupin firmly. “You’ve had enough for 
+one night. Here — ” 
+
+He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes’ best 
+chocolate. 
+
+
+
+Page | 269 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. 
+Same time next week?” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry. He took a bite of the chocolate 
+and watched Lupin extinguishing the lamps that had 
+rekindled with the disappearance of the dementor. A 
+thought had just occurred to him. 
+
+“Professor Lupin?” he said. “If you knew my dad, you 
+must’ve known Sirius Black as well.” 
+
+Lupin turned very quickly. 
+
+“What gives you that idea?” he said sharply. 
+
+“Nothing — I mean, I just knew they were friends at 
+Hogwarts too. ...” 
+
+Lupin’s face relaxed. 
+
+“Yes, I knew him,” he said shortly. “Or I thought I did. 
+You’d better be off, Harry, it’s getting late.” 
+
+Harry left the classroom, walking along the corridor 
+and around a corner, then took a detour behind a 
+suit of armor and sank down on its plinth to finish 
+his chocolate, wishing he hadn’t mentioned Black, as 
+Lupin was obviously not keen on the subject. Then 
+Harry’s thoughts wandered back to his mother and 
+father. ... 
+
+He felt drained and strangely empty, even though he 
+was so full of chocolate. Terrible though it was to hear 
+his parents’ last moments replayed inside his head, 
+these were the only times Harry had heard their 
+voices since he was a very small child. But he’d never 
+be able to produce a proper Patronus if he half 
+wanted to hear his parents again. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“They’re dead,” he told himself sternly. “They’re dead 
+and listening to echoes of them won’t bring them 
+back. You’d better get a grip on yourself if you want 
+that Quidditch Cup.” 
+
+He stood up, crammed the last bit of chocolate into 
+his mouth, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. 
+
+Ravenclaw played Slytherin a week after the start of 
+term. Slytherin won, though narrowly. According to 
+Wood, this was good news for Gryffindor, who would 
+take second place if they beat Ravenclaw too. He 
+therefore increased the number of team practices to 
+five a week. This meant that with Lupin’s anti- 
+dementor classes, which in themselves were more 
+draining than six Quidditch practices, Harry had just 
+one night a week to do all his homework. Even so, he 
+wasn’t showing the strain nearly as much as 
+Hermione, whose immense workload finally seemed to 
+be getting to her. Every night, without fail, Hermione 
+was to be seen in a corner of the common room, 
+several tables spread with books, Arithmancy charts, 
+rune dictionaries, diagrams of Muggles lifting heavy 
+objects, and file upon file of extensive notes; she 
+barely spoke to anybody and snapped when she was 
+interrupted. 
+
+“How’s she doing it?” Ron muttered to Harry one 
+evening as Harry sat finishing a nasty essay on 
+Undetectable Poisons for Snape. Harry looked up. 
+Hermione was barely visible behind a tottering pile of 
+books. 
+
+“Doing what?” 
+
+“Getting to all her classes!” Ron said. “I heard her 
+talking to Professor Vector, that Arithmancy witch, 
+this morning. They were going on about yesterday’s 
+lesson, but Hermione can’t’ve been there, because she 
+
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+
+
+
+
+was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie 
+McMillan told me she’s never missed a Muggle 
+Studies class, but half of them are at the same time 
+as Divination, and she’s never missed one of them 
+either!” 
+
+Harry didn’t have time to fathom the mystery of 
+Hermione’s impossible schedule at the moment; he 
+really needed to get on with Snape’s essay. Two 
+seconds later, however, he was interrupted again, this 
+time by Wood. 
+
+“Bad news, Harry. I’ve just been to see Professor 
+McGonagall about the Firebolt. She — er — got a bit 
+shirty with me. Told me I’d got my priorities wrong. 
+Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup 
+than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told 
+her I didn’t care if it threw you off, as long as you 
+caught the Snitch first.” Wood shook his head in 
+disbelief. “Honestly, the way she was yelling at me . . . 
+you’d think I’d said something terrible. ... Then I 
+asked her how much longer she was going to keep it. 
+...” He screwed up his face and imitated Professor 
+McGonagall’s severe voice. “ ‘As long as necessary, 
+Wood’ ... I reckon it’s time you ordered a new broom, 
+Harry. There’s an order form at the back of Which 
+Broomstick ... you could get a Nimbus Two Thousand 
+and One, like Malfoy’s got.” 
+
+“I’m not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good,” said 
+Harry flatly. 
+
+January faded imperceptibly into February, with no 
+change in the bitterly cold weather. The match 
+against Ravenclaw was drawing nearer and nearer, 
+but Harry still hadn’t ordered a new broom. He was 
+now asking Professor McGonagall for news of the 
+Firebolt after every Transfiguration lesson, Ron 
+
+
+
+Page | 272 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+standing hopefully at his shoulder, Hermione rushing 
+past with her face averted. 
+
+“No, Potter, you can’t have it back yet,” Professor 
+McGonagall told him the twelfth time this happened, 
+before he’d even opened his mouth. “We’ve checked 
+for most of the usual curses, but Professor Flitwick 
+believes the broom might be carrying a Hurling Hex. I 
+shall tell you once we’ve finished checking it. Now, 
+please stop badgering me.” 
+
+To make matters even worse, Harry’s anti-dementor 
+lessons were not going nearly as well as he had 
+hoped. Several sessions on, he was able to produce 
+an indistinct, silvery shadow every time the boggart- 
+dementor approached him, but his Patronus was too 
+feeble to drive the dementor away. All it did was 
+hover, like a semi-transparent cloud, draining Harry 
+of energy as he fought to keep it there. Harry felt 
+angry with himself, guilty about his secret desire to 
+hear his parents’ voices again. 
+
+“You’re expecting too much of yourself,” said 
+Professor Lupin sternly in their fourth week of 
+practice. “For a thirteen-year-old wizard, even an 
+indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren’t 
+passing out anymore, are you?” 
+
+“I thought a Patronus would — charge the dementors 
+down or something,” said Harry dispiritedly. “Make 
+them disappear — ” 
+
+“The true Patronus does do that,” said Lupin. “But 
+you’ve achieved a great deal in a very short space of 
+time. If the dementors put in an appearance at your 
+next Quidditch match, you will be able to keep them 
+at bay long enough to get back to the ground.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 273 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You said it’s harder if there are loads of them,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“I have complete confidence in you,” said Lupin, 
+smiling. “Here — you’ve earned a drink — something 
+from the Three Broomsticks. You won’t have tried it 
+before — ” 
+
+He pulled two bottles out of his briefcase. 
+
+“Butterbeer!” said Harry, without thinking. “Yeah, I 
+like that stuff!” 
+
+Lupin raised an eyebrow. 
+
+“Oh — Ron and Hermione brought me some back 
+from Hogsmeade,” Harry lied quickly. 
+
+“I see,” said Lupin, though he still looked slightly 
+suspicious. “Well — let’s drink to a Gryffindor victory 
+against Ravenclaw! Not that I’m supposed to take 
+sides, as a teacher ... ,” he added hastily. 
+
+They drank the butterbeer in silence, until Harry 
+voiced something he’d been wondering for a while. 
+
+“What’s under a dementor’s hood?” 
+
+Professor Lupin lowered his bottle thoughtfully. 
+
+“Hmmm ... well, the only people who really know are 
+in no condition to tell us. You see, the dementor 
+lowers its hood only to use its last and worst 
+weapon.” 
+
+“What’s that?” 
+
+“They call it the Dementor’s Kiss,” said Lupin, with a 
+slightly twisted smile. “It’s what dementors do to 
+
+Page | 274 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there 
+must be some kind of mouth under there, because 
+they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim 
+and — and suck out his soul.” 
+
+Harry accidentally spat out a bit of butterbeer. 
+
+“What — they kill — ?” 
+
+“Oh no,” said Lupin. “Much worse than that. You can 
+exist without your soul, you know, as long as your 
+brain and heart are still working. But you 11 have no 
+sense of self anymore, no memory, no ... anything. 
+There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just — 
+exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever 
+... lost.” 
+
+Lupin drank a little more butterbeer, then said, “It’s 
+the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily 
+Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the 
+dementors permission to perform it if they find him.” 
+
+Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of 
+someone having their soul sucked out through their 
+mouth. But then he thought of Black. 
+
+“He deserves it,” he said suddenly. 
+
+“You think so?” said Lupin lightly. “Do you really 
+think anyone deserves that?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry defiantly. “For ... for some things ...” 
+
+He would have liked to have told Lupin about the 
+conversation he’d overheard about Black in the Three 
+Broomsticks, about Black betraying his mother and 
+father, but it would have involved revealing that he’d 
+gone to Hogsmeade without permission, and he knew 
+Lupin wouldn’t be very impressed by that. So he 
+Page | 275 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+finished his butterbeer, thanked Lupin, and left the 
+History of Magic classroom. 
+
+Harry half wished that he hadn’t asked what was 
+under a dementor’s hood, the answer had been so 
+horrible, and he was so lost in unpleasant thoughts of 
+what it would feel like to have your soul sucked out of 
+you that he walked headlong into Professor 
+McGonagall halfway up the stairs. 
+
+“Do watch where you’re going, Potter!” 
+
+“Sorry, Professor — ” 
+
+“I’ve just been looking for you in the Gryffindor 
+common room. Well, here it is, we’ve done everything 
+we could think of, and there doesn’t seem to be 
+anything wrong with it at all. You’ve got a very good 
+friend somewhere, Potter. ...” 
+
+Harry’s jaw dropped. She was holding out his 
+Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever. 
+
+“I can have it back?” Harry said weakly. “Seriously?” 
+
+“Seriously,” said Professor McGonagall, and she was 
+actually smiling. “I daresay you’ll need to get the feel 
+of it before Saturday’s match, won’t you? And Potter 
+— do try and win, won’t you? Or we’ll be out of the 
+running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor 
+Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night. 
+
+
+
+Speechless, Harry carried the Firebolt back upstairs 
+toward Gryffindor Tower. As he turned a corner, he 
+saw Ron dashing toward him, grinning from ear to 
+ear. 
+
+
+
+Page | 276 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I still have 
+a go on it? Tomorrow?” 
+
+“Yeah ... anything ... said Harry, his heart lighter 
+than it had been in a month. “You know what — we 
+should make up with Hermione. ... She was only 
+trying to help. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, all right,” said Ron. “She’s in the common 
+room now — working, for a change — ” 
+
+They turned into the corridor to Gryffindor Tower and 
+saw Neville Longbottom, pleading with Sir Cadogan, 
+who seemed to be refusing him entrance. 
+
+“I wrote them down!” Neville was saying tearfully. 
+
+“But I must’ve dropped them somewhere!” 
+
+“A likely tale!” roared Sir Cadogan. Then, spotting 
+Harry and Ron: “Good even, my fine young yeomen! 
+Come clap this loon in irons. He is trying to force 
+entry to the chambers within!” 
+
+“Oh, shut up,” said Ron as he and Harry drew level 
+with Neville. 
+
+“I’ve lost the passwords!” Neville told them miserably. 
+“I made him tell me what passwords he was going to 
+use this week, because he keeps changing them, and 
+now I don’t know what I’ve done with them!” 
+
+“Oddsbodikins,” said Harry to Sir Cadogan, who 
+looked extremely disappointed and reluctantly swung 
+forward to let them into the common room. There was 
+a sudden, excited murmur as every head turned and 
+the next moment, Harry was surrounded by people 
+exclaiming over his Firebolt. 
+
+“Where ’d you get it, Harry?” 
+
+Page | 277 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Will you let me have a go?” 
+
+“Have you ridden it yet, Harry?” 
+
+“Ravenclaw’ll have no chance, they’re all on 
+Cleansweep Sevens!” 
+
+“Can I just hold it, Harry?” 
+
+After ten minutes or so, during which the Firebolt was 
+passed around and admired from every angle, the 
+crowd dispersed and Harry and Ron had a clear view 
+of Hermione, the only person who hadn’t rushed over 
+to them, bent over her work and carefully avoiding 
+their eyes. Harry and Ron approached her table and 
+at last, she looked up. 
+
+“I got it back,” said Harry, grinning at her and holding 
+up the Firebolt. 
+
+“See, Hermione? There wasn’t anything wrong with 
+it!” said Ron. 
+
+“Well — there might have been!” said Hermione. “I 
+mean, at least you know now that it’s safe!” 
+
+“Yeah, I suppose so,” said Harry. “I’d better put it 
+upstairs — ” 
+
+“I’ll take it!” said Ron eagerly. “I’ve got to give 
+Scabbers his rat tonic.” 
+
+He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made 
+of glass, carried it away up the boys’ staircase. 
+
+“Can I sit down, then?” Harry asked Hermione. 
+
+“I suppose so,” said Hermione, moving a great stack 
+of parchment off a chair. 
+
+Page | 278 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the 
+long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still 
+glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay 
+(“Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity”) and at the 
+rune translation Hermione was now poring over. 
+
+“How are you getting through all this stuff?” Harry 
+asked her. 
+
+“Oh, well — you know — working hard,” said 
+Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked 
+almost as tired as Lupin. 
+
+“Why don’t you just drop a couple of subjects?” Harry 
+asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for 
+her rune dictionary. 
+
+“I couldn’t do that!” said Hermione, looking 
+scandalized. 
+
+“Arithmancy looks terrible,” said Harry, picking up a 
+very complicated-looking number chart. 
+
+“Oh no, it’s wonderful!” said Hermione earnestly. “It’s 
+my favorite subject! It’s — ” 
+
+But exactly what was wonderful about Arithmancy, 
+Harry never found out. At that precise moment, a 
+strangled yell echoed down the boys’ staircase. The 
+whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at 
+the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing 
+louder and louder — and then Ron came leaping into 
+view, dragging with him a bedsheet. 
+
+“LOOK!” he bellowed, striding over to Hermione’s 
+table. “LOOK!” he yelled, shaking the sheets in her 
+face. 
+
+“Ron, what — ?” 
+
+Page | 279 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!” 
+
+
+
+Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly 
+bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was 
+holding. There was something red on it. Something 
+that looked horribly like — 
+
+“BLOOD!” Ron yelled into the stunned silence. “HE’S 
+GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE 
+FLOOR?” 
+
+“N — no,” said Hermione in a trembling voice. 
+
+Ron threw something down onto Hermione ’s rune 
+translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. 
+Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several 
+long, ginger cat hairs. 
+
+
+
+Page | 280 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+GRYFFINDOR VERSUS RAVENCLAW 
+
+It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione’s 
+friendship. Each was so angry with the other that 
+Harry couldn’t see how they’d ever make up. 
+
+Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken 
+Crookshanks’s attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, 
+hadn’t bothered to keep a close enough watch on him, 
+and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was 
+innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers 
+under all the boys’ beds. Hermione, meanwhile, 
+maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that 
+Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger 
+hairs might have been there since Christmas, and 
+that Ron had been prejudiced against her cat ever 
+since Crookshanks had landed on Ron’s head in the 
+Magical Menagerie. 
+
+Personally, Harry was sure that Crookshanks had 
+eaten Scabbers, and when he tried to point out to 
+Hermione that the evidence all pointed that way, she 
+lost her temper with Harry too. 
+
+
+
+Page | 281 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Okay, side with Ron, I knew you would!” she said 
+shrilly. ��First the Firebolt, now Scabbers, everything’s 
+my fault, isn’t it! Just leave me alone, Harry, I’ve got a 
+lot of work to do!” 
+
+Ron had taken the loss of his rat very hard indeed. 
+
+“Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring 
+Scabbers was,” said Fred bracingly “And he’s been 
+off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was 
+probably better for him to snuff it quickly — one 
+swallow — he probably didn’t feel a thing.” 
+
+“Fred\” said Ginny indignantly. 
+
+“All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it 
+yourself,” said George. 
+
+“He bit Goyle for us once!” Ron said miserably. 
+“Remember, Harry?” 
+
+“Yeah, that’s true,” said Harry. 
+
+“His finest hour,” said Fred, unable to keep a straight 
+face. “Let the scar on Goyle ’s finger stand as a lasting 
+tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself 
+down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what’s the 
+point of moaning?” 
+
+In a last-ditch attempt to cheer Ron up, Harry 
+persuaded him to come along to the Gryffindor team’s 
+final practice before the Ravenclaw match, so that he 
+could have a ride on the Firebolt after they’d finished. 
+This did seem to take Ron’s mind off Scabbers for a 
+moment (“Great! Can I try and shoot a few goals on 
+it?”) so they set off for the Quidditch field together. 
+
+Madam Hooch, who was still overseeing Gryffindor 
+practices to keep an eye on Harry, was just as 
+
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+
+
+
+
+impressed with the Firebolt as everyone else had 
+been. She took it in her hands before takeoff and gave 
+them the benefit of her professional opinion. 
+
+“Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a 
+fault, it’s a slight list to the tail end — you often find 
+they develop a drag after a few years. They’ve updated 
+the handle too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, 
+reminds me of the old Silver Arrows — a pity they’ve 
+stopped making them. I learned to fly on one, and a 
+very fine old broom it was too. ...” 
+
+She continued in this vein for some time, until Wood 
+said, “Er — Madam Hooch? Is it okay if Harry has the 
+Firebolt back? We need to practice. ...” 
+
+“Oh — right — here you are, then, Potter,” said 
+Madam Hooch. “I’ll sit over here with Weasley ...” 
+
+She and Ron left the field to sit in the stadium, and 
+the Gryffindor team gathered around Wood for his 
+final instructions for tomorrow’s match. 
+
+“Harry, I’ve just found out who Ravenclaw is playing 
+as Seeker. It’s Cho Chang. She’s a fourth year, and 
+she’s pretty good. ... I really hoped she wouldn’t be fit, 
+she’s had some problems with injuries. ...” Wood 
+scowled his displeasure that Cho Chang had made a 
+full recovery, then said, “On the other hand, she rides 
+a Comet Two Sixty, which is going to look like a joke 
+next to the Firebolt.” He gave Harry’s broom a look of 
+fervent admiration, then said, “Okay, everyone, let’s 
+go 
+
+
+
+And at long last, Harry mounted his Firebolt, and 
+kicked off from the ground. 
+
+It was better than he’d ever dreamed. The Firebolt 
+turned with the lightest touch; it seemed to obey his 
+
+Page | 283 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+thoughts rather than his grip; it sped across the field 
+at such speed that the stadium turned into a green- 
+and-gray blur; Harry turned it so sharply that Alicia 
+Spinnet screamed, then he went into a perfectly 
+controlled dive, brushing the grassy field with his toes 
+before rising thirty, forty, fifty feet into the air again — 
+
+“Harry, I’m letting the Snitch out!” Wood called. 
+
+Harry turned and raced a Bludger toward the goal 
+posts; he outstripped it easily, saw the Snitch dart 
+out from behind Wood, and within ten seconds had 
+caught it tightly in his hand. 
+
+The team cheered madly. Harry let the Snitch go 
+again, gave it a minute’s head start, then tore after it, 
+weaving in and out of the others; he spotted it lurking 
+near Katie Bell’s knee, looped her easily, and caught 
+it again. 
+
+It was the best practice ever; the team, inspired by 
+the presence of the Firebolt in their midst, performed 
+their best moves faultlessly, and by the time they hit 
+the ground again, Wood didn’t have a single criticism 
+to make, which, as George Weasley pointed out, was a 
+first. 
+
+“I can’t see what’s going to stop us tomorrow!” said 
+Wood. “Not unless — Harry, you’ve sorted out your 
+dementor problem, haven’t you?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, thinking of his feeble Patronus 
+and wishing it were stronger. 
+
+“The dementors won’t turn up again, Oliver. 
+Dumbledore’d go ballistic,” said Fred confidently. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, let’s hope not,” said Wood. “Anyway — good 
+work, everyone. Let’s get back to the tower ... turn in 
+early — ” 
+
+“I’m staying out for a bit; Ron wants a go on the 
+Firebolt,” Harry told Wood, and while the rest of the 
+team headed off to the locker rooms, Harry strode 
+over to Ron, who vaulted the barrier to the stands 
+and came to meet him. Madam Hooch had fallen 
+asleep in her seat. 
+
+“Here you go,” said Harry, handing Ron the Firebolt. 
+
+Ron, an expression of ecstasy on his face, mounted 
+the broom and zoomed off into the gathering darkness 
+while Harry walked around the edge of the field, 
+watching him. Night had fallen before Madam Hooch 
+awoke with a start, told Harry and Ron off for not 
+waking her, and insisted that they go back to the 
+castle. 
+
+Harry shouldered the Firebolt and he and Ron walked 
+out of the shadowy stadium, discussing the Firebolt’s 
+superbly smooth action, its phenomenal acceleration, 
+and its pinpoint turning. They were halfway toward 
+the castle when Harry, glancing to his left, saw 
+something that made his heart turn over — a pair of 
+eyes, gleaming out of the darkness. 
+
+Harry stopped dead, his heart banging against his 
+ribs. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” said Ron. 
+
+Harry pointed. Ron pulled out his wand and 
+muttered, “Lumos\” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+A beam of light fell across the grass, hit the bottom of 
+a tree, and illuminated its branches; there, crouching 
+among the budding leaves, was Crookshanks. 
+
+“Get out of here!” Ron roared, and he stooped down 
+and seized a stone lying on the grass, but before he 
+could do anything else, Crookshanks had vanished 
+with one swish of his long ginger tail. 
+
+“See?” Ron said furiously, chucking the stone down 
+again. “She’s still letting him wander about wherever 
+he wants — probably washing down Scabbers with a 
+couple of birds now. ...” 
+
+Harry didn’t say anything. He took a deep breath as 
+relief seeped through him; he had been sure for a 
+moment that those eyes had belonged to the Grim. 
+They set off for the castle once more. Slightly 
+ashamed of his moment of panic, Harry didn’t say 
+anything to Ron — nor did he look left or right until 
+they had reached the well-lit entrance hall. 
+
+Harry went down to breakfast the next morning with 
+the rest of the boys in his dormitory, all of whom 
+seemed to think the Firebolt deserved a sort of guard 
+of honor. As Harry entered the Great Hall, heads 
+turned in the direction of the Firebolt, and there was 
+a good deal of excited muttering. Harry saw, with 
+enormous satisfaction, that the Slytherin team were 
+all looking thunderstruck. 
+
+“Did you see his face?” said Ron gleefully, looking 
+back at Malfoy. “He can’t believe it! This is brilliant!” 
+
+Wood, too, was basking in the reflected glory of the 
+Firebolt. 
+
+“Put it here, Harry,” he said, laying the broom in the 
+middle of the table and carefully turning it so that its 
+
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+
+
+
+
+name faced upward. People from the Ravenclaw and 
+Hufflepuff tables were soon coming over to look. 
+Cedric Diggory came over to congratulate Harry on 
+having acquired such a superb replacement for his 
+Nimbus, and Percy’s Ravenclaw girlfriend, Penelope 
+Clearwater, asked if she could actually hold the 
+Firebolt. 
+
+“Now, now, Penny, no sabotage!” said Percy heartily 
+as she examined the Firebolt closely “Penelope and I 
+have got a bet on,” he told the team. “Ten Galleons on 
+the outcome of the match!” 
+
+Penelope put the Firebolt down again, thanked Harry, 
+and went back to her table. 
+
+“Harry — make sure you win,” said Percy, in an 
+urgent whisper. “I haven’t got ten Galleons. Yes, I’m 
+coming, Penny!” And he bustled off to join her in a 
+piece of toast. 
+
+“Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?” said a 
+cold, drawling voice. 
+
+Draco Malfoy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe 
+and Goyle right behind him. 
+
+“Yeah, reckon so,” said Harry casually. 
+
+“Got plenty of special features, hasn’t it?” said Malfoy, 
+eyes glittering maliciously. “Shame it doesn’t come 
+with a parachute — in case you get too near a 
+dementor.” 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. 
+
+“Pity you can’t attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy,” 
+said Harry. “Then it could catch the Snitch for you.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 287 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Gryffindor team laughed loudly. Malfoy’s pale 
+eyes narrowed, and he stalked away. They watched 
+him rejoin the rest of the Slytherin team, who put 
+their heads together, no doubt asking Malfoy whether 
+Harry’s broom really was a Firebolt. 
+
+At a quarter to eleven, the Gryffindor team set off for 
+the locker rooms. The weather couldn’t have been 
+more different from their match against Hufflepuff. It 
+was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze; there 
+would be no visibility problems this time, and Harry, 
+though nervous, was starting to feel the excitement 
+only a Quidditch match could bring. They could hear 
+the rest of the school moving into the stadium 
+beyond. Harry took off his black school robes, 
+removed his wand from his pocket, and stuck it 
+inside the T-shirt he was going to wear under his 
+Quidditch robes. He only hoped he wouldn’t need it. 
+He wondered suddenly whether Professor Lupin was 
+in the crowd, watching. 
+
+“You know what we’ve got to do,” said Wood as they 
+prepared to leave the locker rooms. “If we lose this 
+match, we’re out of the running. Just — just fly like 
+you did in practice yesterday, and we’ll be okay!” 
+
+They walked out onto the field to tumultuous 
+applause. The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, were 
+already standing in the middle of the field. Their 
+Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. 
+She was shorter than Harry by about a head, and 
+Harry couldn’t help noticing, nervous as he was, that 
+she was extremely pretty. She smiled at Harry as the 
+teams faced each other behind their captains, and he 
+felt a slight lurch in the region of his stomach that he 
+didn’t think had anything to do with nerves. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Wood, Davies, shake hands,” Madam Hooch said 
+briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw 
+Captain. 
+
+“Mount your brooms ... on my whistle . . . three — two 
+— one — ” 
+
+Harry kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed 
+higher and faster than any other broom; he soared 
+around the stadium and began squinting around for 
+the Snitch, listening all the while to the commentary, 
+which was being provided by the Weasley twins’ 
+friend Lee Jordan. 
+
+“They’re off, and the big excitement this match is the 
+Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. 
+According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt’s going to 
+be the broom of choice for the national teams at this 
+year’s World Championship — ” 
+
+“Jordan, would you mind telling us what’s going on in 
+the match?” interrupted Professor McGonagall’s voice. 
+
+“Right you are, Professor — just giving a bit of 
+background information — the Firebolt, incidentally, 
+has a built-in auto-brake and — ” 
+
+“Jordan!” 
+
+“Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of 
+Gryffindor heading for goal ...” 
+
+Harry streaked past Katie in the opposite direction, 
+gazing around for a glint of gold and noticing that Cho 
+Chang was tailing him closely. She was undoubtedly 
+a very good flier — she kept cutting across him, 
+forcing him to change direction. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Show her your acceleration, Harry!” Fred yelled as he 
+whooshed past in pursuit of a Bludger that was 
+aiming for Alicia. 
+
+Harry urged the Firebolt forward as they rounded the 
+Ravenclaw goal posts and Cho fell behind. Just as 
+Katie succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match, 
+and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild, he saw 
+it — the Snitch was close to the ground, flitting near 
+one of the barriers. 
+
+Harry dived; Cho saw what he was doing and tore 
+after him — Harry was speeding up, excitement 
+flooding him; dives were his speciality, he was ten feet 
+away — 
+
+Then a Bludger, hit by one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, 
+came pelting out of nowhere; Harry veered off course, 
+avoiding it by an inch, and in those few, crucial 
+seconds, the Snitch had vanished. 
+
+There was a great “Ooooooh” of disappointment from 
+the Gryffindor supporters, but much applause for 
+their Beater from the Ravenclaw end. George Weasley 
+vented his feelings by hitting the second Bludger 
+directly at the offending Beater, who was forced to roll 
+right over in midair to avoid it. 
+
+“Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at 
+that Firebolt go! Potter’s really putting it through its 
+paces now, see it turn — Chang’s Comet is just no 
+match for it, the Firebolt’s precision-balance is really 
+noticeable in these long — ” 
+
+“JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE 
+FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!” 
+
+Ravenclaw was pulling back; they had now scored 
+three goals, which put Gryffindor only fifty points 
+
+Page | 290 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ahead — if Cho got the Snitch before him, Ravenclaw 
+would win. Harry dropped lower, narrowly avoiding a 
+Ravenclaw Chaser, scanning the field frantically — a 
+glint of gold, a flutter of tiny wings — the Snitch was 
+circling the Gryffindor goal post — 
+
+Harry accelerated, eyes fixed on the speck of gold 
+ahead — but just then, Cho appeared out of thin air, 
+blocking him — 
+
+“HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!” 
+Wood roared as Harry swerved to avoid a collision. 
+“KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!” 
+
+Harry turned and caught sight of Cho; she was 
+grinning. The Snitch had vanished again. Harry 
+turned his Firebolt upward and was soon twenty feet 
+above the game. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw 
+Cho following him. ... She’d decided to mark him 
+rather than search for the Snitch herself. . . . All right, 
+then ... if she wanted to tail him, she’d have to take 
+the consequences. ... 
+
+He dived again, and Cho, thinking he’d seen the 
+Snitch, tried to follow; Harry pulled out of the dive 
+very sharply; she hurtled downward; he rose fast as a 
+bullet once more, and then saw it, for the third time 
+— the Snitch was glittering way above the field at the 
+Ravenclaw end. 
+
+He accelerated; so, many feet below, did Cho. He was 
+winning, gaining on the Snitch with every second — 
+then — 
+
+“Oh!” screamed Cho, pointing. 
+
+Distracted, Harry looked down. 
+
+
+
+Page | 291 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Three dementors, three tall, black, hooded dementors, 
+were looking up at him. 
+
+He didn’t stop to think. Plunging a hand down the 
+neck of his robes, he whipped out his wand and 
+roared, “Expecto patronum).” 
+
+Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted 
+from the end of his wand. He knew it had shot 
+directly at the dementors but didn’t pause to watch; 
+his mind still miraculously clear, he looked ahead — 
+he was nearly there. He stretched out the hand still 
+grasping his wand and just managed to close his 
+fingers over the small, struggling Snitch. 
+
+Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded. Harry turned 
+around in midair and saw six scarlet blurs bearing 
+down on him; next moment, the whole team was 
+hugging him so hard he was nearly pulled off his 
+broom. Down below he could hear the roars of the 
+Gryffindors in the crowd. 
+
+“That’s my boy!” Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina, 
+and Katie had all kissed Harry; Fred had him in a grip 
+so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off. 
+In complete disarray, the team managed to make its 
+way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and 
+looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters 
+sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he 
+knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd. 
+
+“Yes!” Ron yelled, yanking Harry’s arm into the air. 
+“Yes! Yes!” 
+
+“Well done, Harry!” said Percy, looking delighted. “Ten 
+Galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me — ” 
+
+“Good for you, Harry!” roared Seamus Finnigan. 
+
+
+
+Page | 292 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ruddy brilliant!” boomed Hagrid over the heads of 
+the milling Gryffindors. 
+
+“That was quite some Patronus,” said a voice in 
+Harry’s ear. 
+
+Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who 
+looked both shaken and pleased. 
+
+“The dementors didn’t affect me at all!” Harry said 
+excitedly. “I didn’t feel a thing!” 
+
+“That would be because they — er — weren’t 
+dementors,” said Professor Lupin. “Come and see — ” 
+
+He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to 
+see the edge of the field. 
+
+“You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright,” said Lupin. 
+
+Harry stared. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground 
+were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the 
+Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove 
+themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked 
+as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle ’s 
+shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of 
+the utmost fury on her face, was Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“An unworthy trick!” she was shouting. “A low and 
+cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! 
+Detention for all of you, and fifty points from 
+Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor 
+Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here 
+he comes now!” 
+
+If anything could have set the seal on Gryffindor’s 
+victory, it was this. Ron, who had fought his way 
+through to Harry’s side, doubled up with laughter as 
+
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+
+
+
+
+they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself from 
+the robe, Goyle’s head still stuck inside it. 
+
+
+
+“Come on, Harry!” said George, fighting his way over. 
+“Party! Gryffindor common room, now!” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, and feeling happier than he had 
+in ages, he and the rest of the team led the way, still 
+in their scarlet robes, out of the stadium and back up 
+to the castle. 
+
+
+
+It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch 
+Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. 
+Fred and George Weasley disappeared for a couple of 
+hours and returned with armfuls of bottles of 
+butterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of 
+Honeydukes sweets. 
+
+“How did you do that?” squealed Angelina Johnson as 
+George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the 
+crowd. 
+
+“With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and 
+Prongs,” Fred muttered in Harry’s ear. 
+
+Only one person wasn’t joining in the festivities. 
+Hermione, incredibly, was sitting in a corner, 
+attempting to read an enormous book entitled Home 
+Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. Harry broke 
+away from the table where Fred and George had 
+started juggling butterbeer bottles and went over to 
+her. 
+
+“Did you even come to the match?” he asked her. 
+
+“Of course I did,” said Hermione in a strangely high- 
+pitched voice, not looking up. “And I’m very glad we 
+
+Page | 294 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+won, and I think you did really well, but I need to 
+read this by Monday.” 
+
+“Come on, Hermione, come and have some food,” 
+Harry said, looking over at Ron and wondering 
+whether he was in a good enough mood to bury the 
+hatchet. 
+
+“I can’t, Harry. I’ve still got four hundred and twenty- 
+two pages to read!” said Hermione, now sounding 
+slightly hysterical. “Anyway ...” She glanced over at 
+Ron too. “He doesn’t want me to join in.” 
+
+There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that 
+moment to say loudly, “If Scabbers hadn’t just been 
+eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. 
+He used to really like them — ” 
+
+Hermione burst into tears. Before Harry could say or 
+do anything, she tucked the enormous book under 
+her arm, and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase 
+to the girls’ dormitories and out of sight. 
+
+“Can’t you give her a break?” Harry asked Ron 
+quietly. 
+
+“No,” said Ron flatly. “If she just acted like she was 
+sorry — but she’ll never admit she’s wrong, Hermione. 
+She’s still acting like Scabbers has gone on vacation 
+or something.” 
+
+The Gryffindor party ended only when Professor 
+McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing gown 
+and hair net at one in the morning, to insist that they 
+all go to bed. Harry and Ron climbed the stairs to 
+their dormitory, still discussing the match. At last, 
+exhausted, Harry climbed into bed, twitched the 
+hangings of his four-poster shut to block out a ray of 
+
+
+
+Page | 295 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+moonlight, lay back, and felt himself almost instantly 
+drifting off to sleep. ... 
+
+He had a very strange dream. He was walking 
+through a forest, his Firebolt over his shoulder, 
+following something silvery- white. It was winding its 
+way through the trees ahead, and he could only catch 
+glimpses of it between the leaves. Anxious to catch up 
+with it, he sped up, but as he moved faster, so did his 
+quarry. Harry broke into a run, and ahead he heard 
+hooves gathering speed. Now he was running flat out, 
+and ahead he could hear galloping. Then he turned a 
+corner into a clearing and — 
+
+“AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH 
+! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 
+
+Harry woke as suddenly as though he’d been hit in 
+the face. Disoriented in the total darkness, he 
+fumbled with his hangings — he could hear 
+movements around him, and Seamus Finnigan’s voice 
+from the other side of the room: “What’s going on?” 
+
+Harry thought he heard the dormitory door slam. At 
+last finding the divide in his curtains, he ripped them 
+back, and at the same moment, Dean Thomas lit his 
+lamp. 
+
+Ron was sitting up in bed, the hangings torn from one 
+side, a look of utmost terror on his face. 
+
+“Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!” 
+“You sure you weren’t dreaming, Ron?” said Dean. 
+
+
+
+Page | 296 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!” 
+
+They all scrambled out of bed; Harry reached the 
+dormitory door first, and they sprinted back down the 
+staircase. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy 
+voices called after them. 
+
+“Who shouted?” 
+
+“What ’re you doing?” 
+
+The common room was lit with the glow of the dying 
+fire, still littered with the debris from the party. It was 
+deserted. 
+
+“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming, Ron?” 
+
+“I’m telling you, I saw him!” 
+
+“What’s all the noise?” 
+
+“Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!” 
+
+A few of the girls had come down their staircase, 
+pulling on dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, 
+were reappearing. 
+
+“Excellent, are we carrying on?” said Fred Weasley 
+brightly. 
+
+“Everyone back upstairs!” said Percy, 
+hurrying into the common room and pinning his 
+Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke. 
+
+“Perce — Sirius Black!” said Ron faintly. “In our 
+dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!” 
+
+The common room went very still. 
+
+
+
+Page | 297 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nonsense!” said Percy, looking startled. “You had too 
+much to eat, Ron — had a nightmare — ” 
+
+
+
+“I’m telling you — ” 
+
+“Now, really, enough’s enough!” 
+
+Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the 
+portrait behind her as she entered the common room 
+and stared furiously around. 
+
+“I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but 
+this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of 
+you!” 
+
+“I certainly didn’t authorize this, Professor!” said 
+Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. “I was just 
+telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron 
+here had a nightmare — ” 
+
+“IT WASNT A NIGHTMARE!” Ron yelled. 
+
+“PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS 
+STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!” 
+
+Professor McGonagall stared at him. 
+
+“Don’t be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly 
+have gotten through the portrait hole?” 
+
+“Ask him!” said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at the 
+back of Sir Cadogan’s picture. “Ask him if he saw — ” 
+
+Glaring suspiciously at Ron, Professor McGonagall 
+pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The 
+whole common room listened with bated breath. 
+
+“Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor 
+Tower?” 
+
+Page | 298 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Certainly, good lady!” cried Sir Cadogan. 
+
+There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside 
+the common room. 
+
+“You — you did?” said Professor McGonagall. “But — 
+but the password!” 
+
+“He had ’em!” said Sir Cadogan proudly. “Had the 
+whole week’s, my lady! Read ’em off a little piece of 
+paper!” 
+
+Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the 
+portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was 
+white as chalk. 
+
+“Which person,” she said, her voice shaking, “which 
+abysmally foolish person wrote down this week’s 
+passwords and left them lying around?” 
+
+There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of 
+terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from 
+head to fluffy-slippered toes, raised his hand slowly 
+into the air. 
+
+
+
+Page | 299 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SNAPE’S GRUDGE 
+
+No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They 
+knew that the castle was being searched again, and 
+the whole House stayed awake in the common room, 
+waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. 
+Professor McGonagall came back at dawn, to tell 
+them that he had again escaped. 
+
+Throughout the day, everywhere they went they saw 
+signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be 
+seen teaching the front doors to recognize a large 
+picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling 
+up and down the corridors, boarding up everything 
+from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir 
+Cadogan had been fired. His portrait had been taken 
+back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and 
+the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly 
+restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had 
+agreed to return to her job only on condition that she 
+was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security 
+trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the 
+corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and 
+comparing the size of their clubs. 
+
+Page | 300 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Harry couldn’t help noticing that the statue of the 
+one-eyed witch on the third floor remained unguarded 
+and unblocked. It seemed that Fred and George had 
+been right in thinking that they — and now Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione — were the only ones who knew 
+about the hidden passageway within it. 
+
+“D’you reckon we should tell someone?” Harry asked 
+Ron. 
+
+“We know he’s not coming in through Honey duke’s,” 
+said Ron dismissively “We’d’ve heard if the shop had 
+been broken into.” 
+
+Harry was glad Ron took this view. If the one-eyed 
+witch was boarded up too, he would never be able to 
+go into Hogsmeade again. 
+
+Ron had become an instant celebrity. For the first 
+time in his life, people were paying more attention to 
+him than to Harry, and it was clear that Ron was 
+rather enjoying the experience. Though still severely 
+shaken by the night’s events, he was happy to tell 
+anyone who asked what had happened, with a wealth 
+of detail. 
+
+"... I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I 
+thought it was in my dream, you know? But then 
+there was this draft ... I woke up and one side of the 
+hangings on my bed had been pulled down. ... I rolled 
+over . . . and I saw him standing over me . . . like a 
+skeleton, with loads of filthy hair . . . holding this great 
+long knife, must’ve been twelve inches ... and he 
+looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, 
+and he scampered. 
+
+“Why, though?” Ron added to Harry as the group of 
+second-year girls who had been listening to his 
+chilling tale departed. “Why did he run?” 
+
+Page | 301 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry had been wondering the same thing. Why had 
+Black, having got the wrong bed, not silenced Ron 
+and proceeded to Harry? Black had proved twelve 
+years ago that he didn’t mind murdering innocent 
+people, and this time he had been facing five 
+unarmed boys, four of whom were asleep. 
+
+“He must’ve known he’d have a job getting back out of 
+the castle once you’d yelled and woken people up,” 
+said Harry thoughtfully. “He’d’ve had to kill the whole 
+House to get back through the portrait hole . . . then 
+he would’ve met the teachers. ...” 
+
+Neville was in total disgrace. Professor McGonagall 
+was so furious with him she had banned him from all 
+future Hogsmeade visits, given him a detention, and 
+forbidden anyone to give him the password into the 
+tower. Poor Neville was forced to wait outside the 
+common room every night for somebody to let him in, 
+while the security trolls leered unpleasantly at him. 
+None of these punishments, however, came close to 
+matching the one his grandmother had in store for 
+him. Two days after Black’s break-in, she sent Neville 
+the very worst thing a Hogwarts student could receive 
+over breakfast — a Howler. 
+
+The school owls swooped into the Great Hall carrying 
+the mail as usual, and Neville choked as a huge barn 
+owl landed in front of him, a scarlet envelope clutched 
+in its beak. Harry and Ron, who were sitting opposite 
+him, recognized the letter as a Howler at once — Ron 
+had got one from his mother the year before. 
+
+“Run for it, Neville,” Ron advised. 
+
+Neville didn’t need telling twice. He seized the 
+envelope, and holding it before him like a bomb, 
+sprinted out of the hall, while the Slytherin table 
+exploded with laughter at the sight of him. They 
+
+Page | 302 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+heard the Howler go off in the entrance hall — 
+Neville’s grandmother’s voice, magically magnified to 
+a hundred times its usual volume, shrieking about 
+how he had brought shame on the whole family. 
+
+Harry was too busy feeling sorry for Neville to notice 
+immediately that he had a letter too. Hedwig got his 
+attention by nipping him sharply on the wrist. 
+
+“Ouch! Oh — thanks, Hedwig.” 
+
+Harry tore open the envelope while Hedwig helped 
+herself to some of Neville’s cornflakes. The note inside 
+said: 
+
+Dear Harry and Ron, 
+
+How about having tea with me this afternoon ’round 
+six? 
+
+
+
+I’ll come and collect you from the castle. 
+
+WAIT FOR ME IN THE ENTRANCE HALL; 
+
+YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED OUT ON YOUR OWN 
+Cheers, 
+
+Hagrid 
+
+“He probably wants to hear all about Black!” said 
+Ron. 
+
+So at six o’clock that afternoon, Harry and Ron left 
+Gryffindor Tower, passed the security trolls at a run, 
+and headed down to the entrance hall. 
+
+Hagrid was already waiting for them. 
+
+
+
+Page | 303 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“All right, Hagrid!” said Ron. “S’pose you want to hear 
+about Saturday night, do you?” 
+
+“I’ve already heard all abou’ it,” said Hagrid, opening 
+the front doors and leading them outside. 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, looking slightly put out. 
+
+The first thing they saw on entering Hagrid’s cabin 
+was Buckbeak, who was stretched out on top of 
+Hagrid’s patchwork quilt, his enormous wings folded 
+tight to his body, enjoying a large plate of dead 
+ferrets. Averting his eyes from this unpleasant sight, 
+Harry saw a gigantic, hairy brown suit and a very 
+horrible yellow-and-orange tie hanging from the top of 
+Hagrid’s wardrobe door. 
+
+“What are they for, Hagrid?” said Harry. 
+
+“Buckbeak’s case against the Committee fer the 
+Disposal o’ Dangerous Creatures,” said Hagrid. “This 
+Friday. Him an’ me’ll be goin’ down ter London 
+together. I’ve booked two beds on the Knight Bus. ...” 
+
+Harry felt a nasty pang of guilt. He had completely 
+forgotten that Buckbeak’s trial was so near, and 
+judging by the uneasy look on Ron’s face, he had too. 
+They had also forgotten their promise about helping 
+him prepare Buckbeak’s defense; the arrival of the 
+Firebolt had driven it clean out of their minds. 
+
+Hagrid poured them tea and offered them a plate of 
+Bath buns, but they knew better than to accept; they 
+had had too much experience with Hagrid’s cooking. 
+
+“I got somethin’ ter discuss with you two,” said 
+Hagrid, sitting himself between them and looking 
+uncharacteristically serious. 
+
+
+
+Page | 304 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“Hermione,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“What about her?” said Ron. 
+
+“She’s in a righ’ state, that’s what. She’s bin cornin’ 
+down ter visit me a lot since Chris ’mas. Bin feelin’ 
+lonely. Firs’ yeh weren’ talking to her because o’ the 
+Firebolt, now yer not talkin’ to her because her cat — ” 
+
+“ — ate Scabbers!” Ron interjected angrily. 
+
+“Because her cat acted like all cats do,” Hagrid 
+continued doggedly. “She’s cried a fair few times, yeh 
+know. Goin’ through a rough time at the moment. 
+Bitten off more’n she can chew, if yeh ask me, all the 
+work she’s tryin’ ter do. Still found time ter help me 
+with Buckbeak’s case, mind. ... She’s found some 
+really good stuff fer me ... reckon he’ll stand a good 
+chance now. ...” 
+
+“Hagrid, we should’ve helped as well — sorry — ” 
+
+Harry began awkwardly. 
+
+“I’m not blamin’ yeh!” said Hagrid, waving Harry’s 
+apology aside. “Gawd knows yeh’ve had enough ter be 
+gettin’ on with. I’ve seen yeh practicin’ Quidditch ev’ry 
+hour o’ the day an’ night — but I gotta tell yeh, I 
+thought you two’d value yer friend more’n 
+broomsticks or rats. Tha’s all.” 
+
+Harry and Ron exchanged uncomfortable looks. 
+
+“Really upset, she was, when Black nearly stabbed 
+yeh, Ron. She’s got her heart in the right place, 
+Hermione has, an’ you two not talkin’ to her — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 305 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“If she’d just get rid of that cat, I’d speak to her 
+again!” Ron said angrily. “But she’s still sticking up 
+for it! It’s a maniac, and she won’t hear a word 
+against it!” 
+
+“Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou’ their pets,” 
+said Hagrid wisely. Behind him, Buckbeak spat a few 
+ferret bones onto Hagrid’s pillow. 
+
+They spent the rest of their visit discussing 
+Gryffindor’s improved chances for the Quidditch Cup. 
+At nine o’clock, Hagrid walked them back up to the 
+castle. 
+
+A large group of people was bunched around the 
+bulletin board when they returned to the common 
+room. 
+
+“Hogsmeade, next weekend!” said Ron, craning over 
+the heads to read the new notice. “What d’you 
+reckon?” he added quietly to Harry as they went to sit 
+down. 
+
+“Well, Filch hasn’t done anything about the passage 
+into Honeydukes. ...” Harry said, even more quietly. 
+
+“Harry!” said a voice in his right ear. Harry started 
+and looked around at Hermione, who was sitting at 
+the table right behind them and clearing a space in 
+the wall of books that had been hiding her. 
+
+“Harry, if you go into Hogsmeade again ... I’ll tell 
+Professor McGonagall about that map!” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Can you hear someone talking, Harry?” growled Ron, 
+not looking at Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Page | 306 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ron, how can you let him go with you? After what 
+Sirius Black nearly did to youl I mean it, I’ll tell — ” 
+
+“So now you’re trying to get Harry expelled!” said Ron 
+furiously. “Haven’t you done enough damage this 
+year?” 
+
+Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but with a 
+soft hiss, Crookshanks leapt onto her lap. Hermione 
+took one frightened look at the expression on Ron’s 
+face, gathered up Crookshanks, and hurried away 
+toward the girls’ dormitories. 
+
+“So how about it?” Ron said to Harry as though there 
+had been no interruption. “Come on, last time we 
+went you didn’t see anything. You haven’t even been 
+inside Zonko’s yet!” 
+
+Harry looked around to check that Hermione was well 
+out of earshot. 
+
+“Okay,” he said. “But I’m taking the Invisibility Cloak 
+this time.” 
+
+On Saturday morning, Harry packed his Invisibility 
+Cloak in his bag, slipped the Marauder’s Map into his 
+pocket, and went down to breakfast with everyone 
+else. Hermione kept shooting suspicious looks down 
+the table at him, but he avoided her eye and was 
+careful to let her see him walking back up the marble 
+staircase in the entrance hall as everybody else 
+proceeded to the front doors. 
+
+“ ’Bye!” Harry called to Ron. “See you when you get 
+back!” 
+
+Ron grinned and winked. 
+
+
+
+Page | 307 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry hurried up to the third floor, slipping the 
+Marauder’s Map out of his pocket as he went. 
+Crouching behind the one-eyed witch, he smoothed it 
+out. A tiny dot was moving in his direction. Harry 
+squinted at it. The minuscule writing next to it read 
+Neville Longbottom. 
+
+Harry quickly pulled out his wand, muttered, 
+
+“ Dissendium).” and shoved his bag into the statue, but 
+before he could climb in himself, Neville came around 
+the corner. 
+
+“Harry! I forgot you weren’t going to Hogsmeade 
+either!” 
+
+“Hi, Neville,” said Harry, moving swiftly away from the 
+statue and pushing the map back into his pocket. 
+“What are you up to?” 
+
+“Nothing,” shrugged Neville. “Want a game of 
+Exploding Snap?” 
+
+“Er — not now — I was going to go to the library and 
+do that vampire essay for Lupin — ” 
+
+“I’ll come with you!” said Neville brightly. “I haven’t 
+done it either!” 
+
+“Er — hang on — yeah, I forgot, I finished it last 
+night!” 
+
+“Great, you can help me!” said Neville, his round face 
+anxious. “I don’t understand that thing about the 
+garlic at all — do they have to eat it, or — ” 
+
+He broke off with a small gasp, looking over Harry’s 
+shoulder. 
+
+It was Snape. Neville took a quick step behind Harry. 
+
+Page | 308 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And what are you two doing here?” said Snape, 
+coming to a halt and looking from one to the other. 
+“An odd place to meet — ” 
+
+To Harry’s immense disquiet, Snape’s black eyes 
+flicked to the doorways on either side of them, and 
+then to the one-eyed witch. 
+
+“We’re not — meeting here,” said Harry. “We just — 
+met here.” 
+
+“Indeed?” said Snape. “You have a habit of turning up 
+in unexpected places, Potter, and you are very rarely 
+there for no good reason. ... I suggest the pair of you 
+return to Gryffindor Tower, where you belong.” 
+
+Harry and Neville set off without another word. As 
+they turned the corner, Harry looked back. Snape was 
+running one of his hands over the one-eyed witch’s 
+head, examining it closely. 
+
+Harry managed to shake Neville off at the Fat Lady by 
+telling him the password, then pretending he’d left his 
+vampire essay in the library and doubling back. Once 
+out of sight of the security trolls, he pulled out the 
+map again and held it close to his nose. 
+
+The third floor corridor seemed to be deserted. Harry 
+scanned the map carefully and saw, with a leap of 
+relief, that the tiny dot labeled Severus Snape was 
+now back in its office. 
+
+He sprinted back to the one-eyed witch, opened her 
+hump, heaved himself inside, and slid down to meet 
+his bag at the bottom of the stone chute. He wiped 
+the Marauder’s Map blank again, then set off at a 
+run. 
+
+
+
+Page | 309 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry, completely hidden beneath the Invisibility 
+Cloak, emerged into the sunlight outside Honeydukes 
+and prodded Ron in the back. 
+
+“It’s me,” he muttered. 
+
+“What kept you?” Ron hissed. 
+
+“Snape was hanging around. ...” 
+
+They set off up the High Street. 
+
+“Where are you?” Ron kept muttering out of the 
+corner of his mouth. “Are you still there? This feels 
+weird. ...” 
+
+They went to the post office; Ron pretended to be 
+checking the price of an owl to Bill in Egypt so that 
+Harry could have a good look around. The owls sat 
+hooting softly down at him, at least three hundred of 
+them; from Great Grays right down to tiny little Scops 
+owls (“Local Deliveries Only”), which were so small 
+they could have sat in the palm of Harry’s hand. 
+
+Then they visited Zonko’s, which was so packed with 
+students Harry had to exercise great care not to tread 
+on anyone and cause a panic. There were jokes and 
+tricks to fulfill even Fred’s and George’s wildest 
+dreams; Harry gave Ron whispered orders and passed 
+him some gold from under the cloak. They left 
+Zonko’s with their money bags considerably lighter 
+than they had been on entering, but their pockets 
+bulging with Dungbombs, Hiccup Sweets, Frog Spawn 
+Soap, and a Nose-Biting Teacup apiece. 
+
+The day was fine and breezy, and neither of them felt 
+like staying indoors, so they walked past the Three 
+Broomsticks and climbed a slope to visit the 
+Shrieking Shack, the most haunted dwelling in 
+
+Page | 310 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Britain. It stood a little way above the rest of the 
+village, and even in daylight was slightly creepy, with 
+its boarded windows and dank overgrown garden. 
+
+“Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it,” said Ron as they 
+leaned on the fence, looking up at it. “I asked Nearly 
+Headless Nick ... he says he’s heard a very rough 
+crowd lives here. No one can get in. Fred and George 
+tried, obviously, but all the entrances are sealed shut. 
+
+
+
+Harry, feeling hot from their climb, was just 
+considering taking off the cloak for a few minutes 
+when they heard voices nearby. Someone was 
+climbing toward the house from the other side of the 
+hill; moments later, Malfoy had appeared, followed 
+closely by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy was speaking. 
+
+"... should have an owl from Father any time now. He 
+had to go to the hearing to tell them about my arm . . . 
+about how I couldn’t use it for three months. ...” 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. 
+
+“I really wish I could hear that great hairy moron 
+trying to defend himself ... There’s no ’arm in ’im, 
+’onest — ’ . . . that hippogriff’s as good as dead — ” 
+
+Malfoy suddenly caught sight of Ron. His pale face 
+split in a malevolent grin. 
+
+“What are you doing, Weasley?” 
+
+Malfoy looked up at the crumbling house behind Ron. 
+
+“Suppose you’d love to live here, wouldn’t you, 
+Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? 
+
+I heard your family all sleep in one room — is that 
+true?” 
+
+Page | 311 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry seized the back of Ron’s robes to stop him from 
+leaping on Malfoy. 
+
+“Leave him to me,” he hissed in Ron’s ear. 
+
+The opportunity was too perfect to miss. Harry crept 
+silently around behind Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, 
+bent down, and scooped a large handful of mud out of 
+the path. 
+
+“We were just discussing your friend Hagrid,” Malfoy 
+said to Ron. “Just trying to imagine what he’s saying 
+to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous 
+Creatures. D’you think he’ll cry when they cut off his 
+hippogriff’s — ” 
+
+SPLAT. 
+
+Malfoy’s head jerked forward as the mud hit him; his 
+silver-blond hair was suddenly dripping in muck. 
+
+“What the — ?” 
+
+Ron had to hold onto the fence to keep himself 
+standing, he was laughing so hard. Malfoy, Crabbe, 
+and Goyle spun stupidly on the spot, staring wildly 
+around, Malfoy trying to wipe his hair clean. 
+
+“What was that? Who did that?” 
+
+“Very haunted up here, isn’t it?” said Ron, with the 
+air of one commenting on the weather. 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle were looking scared. Their bulging 
+muscles were no use against ghosts. Malfoy was 
+staring madly around at the deserted landscape. 
+
+
+
+Page | 312 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry sneaked along the path, where a particularly 
+sloppy puddle yielded some foul-smelling, green 
+sludge. 
+
+SPLATTER. 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle caught some this time. Goyle 
+hopped furiously on the spot, trying to rub it out of 
+his small, dull eyes. 
+
+“It came from over there!” said Malfoy, wiping his 
+face, and staring at a spot some six feet to the left of 
+Harry. 
+
+Crabbe blundered forward, his long arms 
+outstretched like a zombie. Harry dodged around him, 
+picked up a stick, and lobbed it at Crabbe ’s back. 
+Harry doubled up with silent laughter as Crabbe did a 
+kind of pirouette in midair, trying to see who had 
+thrown it. As Ron was the only person Crabbe could 
+see, it was Ron he started toward, but Harry stuck 
+out his leg. Crabbe stumbled — and his huge, flat foot 
+caught the hem of Harry’s cloak. Harry felt a great 
+tug, then the cloak slid off his face. 
+
+For a split second, Malfoy stared at him. 
+
+“AAARGH!” he yelled, pointing at Harry’s head. Then 
+he turned tail and ran, at breakneck speed, back 
+down the hill, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. 
+
+Harry tugged the cloak up again, but the damage was 
+done. 
+
+“Harry!” Ron said, stumbling forward and staring 
+hopelessly at the point where Harry had disappeared, 
+“you’d better run for it! If Malfoy tells anyone — you’d 
+better get back to the castle, quick — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 313 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“See you later,” said Harry, and without another 
+word, he tore back down the path toward Hogsmeade. 
+
+
+
+Would Malfoy believe what he had seen? Would 
+anyone believe Malfoy? Nobody knew about the 
+Invisibility Cloak — nobody except Dumbledore. 
+Harry’s stomach turned over — Dumbledore would 
+know exactly what had happened, if Malfoy said 
+anything — 
+
+Back into Honeydukes, back down the cellar steps, 
+across the stone floor, through the trapdoor — Harry 
+pulled off the cloak, tucked it under his arm, and ran, 
+flat out, along the passage. ... Malfoy would get back 
+first . . . how long would it take him to find a teacher? 
+Panting, a sharp pain in his side, Harry didn’t slow 
+down until he reached the stone slide. He would have 
+to leave the cloak where it was, it was too much of a 
+giveaway in case Malfoy had tipped off a teacher — he 
+hid it in a shadowy corner, then started to climb, fast 
+as he could, his sweaty hands slipping on the sides of 
+the chute. He reached the inside of the witch’s hump, 
+tapped it with his wand, stuck his head through, and 
+hoisted himself out; the hump closed, and just as 
+Harry jumped out from behind the statue, he heard 
+quick footsteps approaching. 
+
+It was Snape. He approached Harry at a swift walk, 
+his black robes swishing, then stopped in front of 
+him. 
+
+“So,” he said. 
+
+There was a look of suppressed triumph about him. 
+Harry tried to look innocent, all too aware of his 
+sweaty face and his muddy hands, which he quickly 
+hid in his pockets. 
+
+“Come with me, Potter,” said Snape. 
+
+Page | 314 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry followed him downstairs, trying to wipe his 
+hands clean on the inside of his robes without Snape 
+noticing. They walked down the stairs to the 
+dungeons and then into Snape’s office. 
+
+Harry had been in here only once before, and he had 
+been in very serious trouble then too. Snape had 
+acquired a few more slimy horrible things in jars 
+since last time, all standing on shelves behind his 
+desk, glinting in the firelight and adding to the 
+threatening atmosphere. 
+
+“Sit,” said Snape. 
+
+Harry sat. Snape, however, remained standing. 
+
+“Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with a strange 
+story, Potter,” said Snape. 
+
+Harry didn’t say anything. 
+
+“He tells me that he was up by the Shrieking Shack 
+when he ran into Weasley — apparently alone.” 
+
+Still, Harry didn’t speak. 
+
+“Mr. Malfoy states that he was standing talking to 
+Weasley, when a large amount of mud hit him in the 
+back of the head. How do you think that could have 
+happened?” 
+
+Harry tried to look mildly surprised. 
+
+“I don’t know, Professor.” 
+
+Snape’s eyes were boring into Harry’s. It was exactly 
+like trying to stare down a hippogriff. Harry tried hard 
+not to blink. 
+
+
+
+Page | 315 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. 
+
+Can you imagine what it might have been, Potter?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, now trying to sound innocently 
+curious. 
+
+“It was your head, Potter. Floating in midair.” 
+
+There was a long silence. 
+
+“Maybe he’d better go to Madam Pomfrey,” said Harry. 
+“If he’s seeing things like — ” 
+
+“What would your head have been doing in 
+Hogsmeade, Potter?” said Snape softly. “Your head is 
+not allowed in Hogsmeade. No part of your body has 
+permission to be in Hogsmeade.” 
+
+“I know that,” said Harry, striving to keep his face free 
+of guilt or fear. “It sounds like Malfoy’s having 
+hallucin — ” 
+
+“Malfoy is not having hallucinations,” snarled Snape, 
+and he bent down, a hand on each arm of Harry’s 
+chair, so that their faces were a foot apart. “If your 
+head was in Hogsmeade, so was the rest of you.” 
+
+“I’ve been up in Gryffindor Tower,” said Harry. “Like 
+you told — ” 
+
+“Can anyone confirm that?” 
+
+Harry didn’t say anything. Snape’s thin mouth curled 
+into a horrible smile. 
+
+“So,” he said, straightening up again. “Everyone from 
+the Minister of Magic downward has been trying to 
+keep famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black. But 
+famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the 
+
+Page | 316 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ordinary people worry about his safety! Famous Harry 
+Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought for 
+the consequences.” 
+
+Harry stayed silent. Snape was trying to provoke him 
+into telling the truth. He wasn’t going to do it. Snape 
+had no proof — yet. 
+
+“How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter,” 
+Snape said suddenly, his eyes glinting. “He too was 
+exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the 
+Quidditch field made him think he was a cut above 
+the rest of us too. Strutting around the place with his 
+friends and admirers . . . The resemblance between you 
+is uncanny.” 
+
+“My dad didn’t strut,” said Harry, before he could stop 
+himself. “And neither do I.” 
+
+“Your father didn’t set much store by rules either,” 
+Snape went on, pressing his advantage, his thin face 
+full of malice. “Rules were for lesser mortals, not 
+Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen — ” 
+
+“SHUT UP!” 
+
+Harry was suddenly on his feet. Rage such as he had 
+not felt since his last night in Privet Drive was 
+coursing through him. He didn’t care that Snape’s 
+face had gone rigid, the black eyes flashing 
+dangerously. 
+
+“ What did you say to me, Potter?” 
+
+“I told you to shut up about my dad!” Harry yelled. “I 
+know the truth, all right? He saved your life! 
+Dumbledore told me! You wouldn’t even be here if it 
+wasn’t for my dad!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Snape’s sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk. 
+
+“And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances 
+in which your father saved my life?” he whispered. 
+
+“Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for 
+precious Potter’s delicate ears?” 
+
+Harry bit his lip. He didn’t know what had happened 
+and didn’t want to admit it — but Snape seemed to 
+have guessed the truth. 
+
+“I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of 
+your father, Potter,” he said, a terrible grin twisting 
+his face. “Have you been imagining some act of 
+glorious heroism? Then let me correct you — your 
+saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing 
+joke on me that would have resulted in my death if 
+your father hadn’t got cold feet at the last moment. 
+There was nothing brave about what he did. He was 
+saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke 
+succeeded, he would have been expelled from 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+Snape’s uneven, yellowish teeth were bared. 
+
+“Turn out your pockets, Potter!” he spat suddenly. 
+
+Harry didn’t move. There was a pounding in his ears. 
+
+“Turn out your pockets, or we go straight to the 
+headmaster! Pull them out, Potter!” 
+
+Cold with dread, Harry slowly pulled out the bag of 
+Zonko’s tricks and the Marauder’s Map. 
+
+Snape picked up the Zonko’s bag. 
+
+
+
+Page | 318 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ron gave them to me,” said Harry, praying he’d get a 
+chance to tip Ron off before Snape saw him. “He — 
+brought them back from Hogsmeade last time — ” 
+
+“Indeed? And you’ve been carrying them around ever 
+since? How very touching . . . and what is this?” 
+
+Snape had picked up the map. Harry tried with all his 
+might to keep his face impassive. 
+
+“Spare bit of parchment,” he said with a shrug. 
+
+Snape turned it over, his eyes on Harry. 
+
+“Surely you don’t need such a very old piece of 
+parchment?” he said. “Why don’t I just — throw this 
+away?” 
+
+His hand moved toward the fire. 
+
+“No!” Harry said quickly. 
+
+“So!” said Snape, his long nostrils quivering. “Is this 
+another treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it — 
+something else? A letter, perhaps, written in invisible 
+ink? Or — instructions to get into Hogsmeade without 
+passing the dementors?” 
+
+Harry blinked. Snape ’s eyes gleamed. 
+
+“Let me see, let me see ... ,” he muttered, taking out 
+his wand and smoothing the map out on his desk. 
+“Reveal your secret!” he said, touching the wand to 
+the parchment. 
+
+Nothing happened. Harry clenched his hands to stop 
+them from shaking. 
+
+
+
+Page | 319 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Show yourself!” Snape said, tapping the map 
+sharply. 
+
+It stayed blank. Harry was taking deep, calming 
+breaths. 
+
+“Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, 
+commands you to yield the information you conceal!” 
+Snape said, hitting the map with his wand. 
+
+As though an invisible hand were writing upon it, 
+words appeared on the smooth surface of the map. 
+
+“Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor 
+Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large 
+nose out of other people’s business.” 
+
+Snape froze. Harry stared, dumbstruck, at the 
+message. But the map didn’t stop there. More writing 
+was appearing beneath the first. 
+
+“Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to 
+add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.” 
+
+It would have been very funny if the situation hadn’t 
+been so serious. And there was more. ... 
+
+“Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment 
+that an idiot like that ever became a professor.” 
+
+Harry closed his eyes in horror. When he’d opened 
+them, the map had had its last word. 
+
+“Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and 
+advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.” 
+
+Harry waited for the blow to fall. 
+
+“So ... ,” said Snape softly. “We’ll see about this. ...” 
+
+Page | 320 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He strode across to his fire, seized a fistful of 
+glittering powder from ajar on the fireplace, and 
+threw it into the flames. 
+
+“Lupin!” Snape called into the fire. “I want a word!” 
+
+Utterly bewildered, Harry stared at the fire. A large 
+shape had appeared in it, revolving very fast. Seconds 
+later, Professor Lupin was clambering out of the 
+fireplace, brushing ash off his shabby robes. 
+
+“You called, Severus?” said Lupin mildly. 
+
+“I certainly did,” said Snape, his face contorted with 
+fury as he strode back to his desk. “I have just asked 
+Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this.” 
+
+Snape pointed at the parchment, on which the words 
+of Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs 
+were still shining. An odd, closed expression appeared 
+on Lupin’s face. 
+
+“Well?” said Snape. 
+
+Lupin continued to stare at the map. Harry had the 
+impression that Lupin was doing some very quick 
+thinking. 
+
+“Well?” said Snape again. “This parchment is plainly 
+full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of 
+expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got 
+such a thing?” 
+
+Lupin looked up and, by the merest half-glance in 
+Harry’s direction, warned him not to interrupt. 
+
+“Full of Dark Magic?” he repeated mildly. “Do you 
+really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is 
+merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who 
+
+Page | 321 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I 
+imagine Harry got it from a joke shop — ” 
+
+“Indeed?” said Snape. His jaw had gone rigid with 
+anger. “You think a joke shop could supply him with 
+such a thing? You don’t think it more likely that he 
+got it directly from the manufacturers?” 
+
+Harry didn’t understand what Snape was talking 
+about. Nor, apparently, did Lupin. 
+
+“You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?” 
+he said. “Harry, do you know any of these men?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“You see, Severus?” said Lupin, turning back to 
+Snape. “It looks like a Zonko product to me — ” 
+
+Right on cue, Ron came bursting into the office. He 
+was completely out of breath, and stopped just short 
+of Snape ’s desk, clutching the stitch in his chest and 
+trying to speak. 
+
+“I — gave — Harry — that — stuff,” he choked. 
+“Bought — it ... in Zonko ’s ... ages — ago ...” 
+
+“Well!” said Lupin, clapping his hands together and 
+looking around cheerfully. “That seems to clear that 
+up! Severus, I’ll take this back, shall I?” He folded the 
+map and tucked it inside his robes. “Harry, Ron, 
+come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay 
+— excuse us, Severus — ” 
+
+Harry didn’t dare look at Snape as they left his office. 
+He, Ron, and Lupin walked all the way back into the 
+entrance hall before speaking. Then Harry turned to 
+Lupin. 
+
+
+
+Page | 322 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Professor, I — ” 
+
+
+
+“I don’t want to hear explanations,” said Lupin 
+shortly. He glanced around the empty entrance hall 
+and lowered his voice. “I happen to know that this 
+map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. 
+
+Yes, I know it’s a map,” he said as Harry and Ron 
+looked amazed. “I don’t want to know how it fell into 
+your possession. I am, however, astounded that you 
+didn’t hand it in. Particularly after what happened the 
+last time a student left information about the castle 
+lying around. And I can’t let you have it back, Harry.” 
+
+Harry had expected that, and was too keen for 
+explanations to protest. 
+
+“Why did Snape think I’d got it from the 
+manufacturers?” 
+
+“Because ... ,” Lupin hesitated, “because these 
+mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of 
+school. They’d think it extremely entertaining.” 
+
+“Do you know them?” said Harry, impressed. 
+
+“We’ve met,” he said shortly. He was looking at Harry 
+more seriously than ever before. 
+
+“Don’t expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I 
+cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I 
+would have thought that what you have heard when 
+the dementors draw near you would have had more of 
+an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep 
+you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them — 
+gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks.” 
+
+He walked away, leaving Harry feeling worse by far 
+than he had at any point in Snape ’s office. Slowly, he 
+and Ron mounted the marble staircase. As Harry 
+
+Page | 323 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+passed the one-eyed witch, he remembered the 
+Invisibility Cloak — it was still down there, but he 
+didn’t dare go and get it. 
+
+
+
+“It’s my fault,” said Ron abruptly. “I persuaded you to 
+go. Lupin’s right, it was stupid, we shouldn’t’ve done 
+
+
+
+it — ” 
+
+
+
+He broke off; they reached the corridor where the 
+security trolls were pacing, and Hermione was 
+walking toward them. One look at her face convinced 
+Harry that she had heard what had happened. His 
+heart plummeted — had she told Professor 
+McGonagall? 
+
+“Come to have a good gloat?” said Ron savagely as 
+she stopped in front of them. “Or have you just been 
+to tell on us?” 
+
+“No,” said Hermione. She was holding a letter in her 
+hands and her lip was trembling. “I just thought you 
+ought to know ... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is 
+going to be executed.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 324 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE QUIDDITCH FINAL 
+
+“He — he sent me this,” Hermione said, holding out 
+the letter. 
+
+Harry took it. The parchment was damp, and 
+enormous teardrops had smudged the ink so badly in 
+places that it was very difficult to read. 
+
+Dear Hermione, 
+
+We lost I’m allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. 
+Execution date to be fixed. 
+
+Beaky has enjoyed London. 
+
+I won’t forget all the help you gave us. 
+
+Hagrid 
+
+“They can’t do this,” said Harry. “They can’t. 
+Buckbeak isn’t dangerous.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 325 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Malfoy’s dad’s frightened the Committee into it,” said 
+Hermione, wiping her eyes. “You know what he’s like. 
+They’re a bunch of doddery old fools, and they were 
+scared. There’ll be an appeal, though, there always is. 
+Only I can’t see any hope. ... Nothing will have 
+changed.” 
+
+“Yeah, it will,” said Ron fiercely. “You won’t have to do 
+all the work alone this time, Hermione. I’ll help.” 
+
+“Oh, Ron!” 
+
+Hermione flung her arms around Ron’s neck and 
+broke down completely. Ron, looking quite terrified, 
+patted her very awkwardly on the top of the head. 
+Finally, Hermione drew away. 
+
+“Ron, I’m really, really sorry about Scabbers ... ,” she 
+sobbed. 
+
+“Oh — well — he was old,” said Ron, looking 
+thoroughly relieved that she had let go of him. “And 
+he was a bit useless. You never know, Mum and Dad 
+might get me an owl now.” 
+
+The safety measures imposed on the students since 
+Black’s second break-in made it impossible for Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione to go and visit Hagrid in the 
+evenings. Their only chance of talking to him was 
+during Care of Magical Creatures lessons. 
+
+He seemed numb with shock at the verdict. 
+
+“S’all my fault. Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin’ 
+there in black robes an’ I kep’ droppin’ me notes and 
+forgettin’ all them dates yeh looked up fer me, 
+Hermione. An’ then Lucius Malfoy stood up an’ said 
+his bit, and the Committee jus’ did exac’ly what he 
+told ’em. ...” 
+
+Page | 326 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“There’s still the appeal!” said Ron fiercely. “Don’t give 
+up yet, we’re working on it!” 
+
+They were walking back up to the castle with the rest 
+of the class. Ahead they could see Malfoy, who was 
+walking with Crabbe and Goyle, and kept looking 
+back, laughing derisively. 
+
+“S’no good, Ron,” said Hagrid sadly as they reached 
+the castle steps. “That Committee’s in Lucius Malfoy ’s 
+pocket. I’m jus’ gonna make sure the rest o’ Beaky’s 
+time is the happiest he’s ever had. I owe him that. ...” 
+
+Hagrid turned around and hurried back toward his 
+cabin, his face buried in his handkerchief. 
+
+“Look at him blubber!” 
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had been standing just 
+inside the castle doors, listening. 
+
+“Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?” said 
+Malfoy. “And he’s supposed to be our teacher!” 
+
+Harry and Ron both made furious moves toward 
+Malfoy, but Hermione got there first — SMACK! 
+
+She had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the 
+strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Harry, 
+Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as 
+Hermione raised her hand again. 
+
+“Don’t you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul — you 
+evil — ” 
+
+“Hermione!” said Ron weakly, and he tried to grab her 
+hand as she swung it back. 
+
+“Get off, Ron!” 
+
+Page | 327 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione pulled out her wand. Malfoy stepped 
+backward. Crabbe and Goyle looked at him for 
+instructions, thoroughly bewildered. 
+
+“C’mon,” Malfoy muttered, and in a moment, all three 
+of them had disappeared into the passageway to the 
+dungeons. 
+
+“Hermionel” Ron said again, sounding both stunned 
+and impressed. 
+
+“Harry, you’d better beat him in the Quidditch final!” 
+Hermione said shrilly. “You just better had, because I 
+can’t stand it if Slytherin wins!” 
+
+“We’re due in Charms,” said Ron, still goggling at 
+Hermione. “We’d better go.” 
+
+They hurried up the marble staircase toward 
+Professor Flitwick’s classroom. 
+
+“You’re late, boys!” said Professor Flitwick reprovingly 
+as Harry opened the classroom door. “Come along, 
+quickly, wands out, we’re experimenting with 
+Cheering Charms today, we’ve already divided into 
+pairs — ” 
+
+Harry and Ron hurried to a desk at the back and 
+opened their bags. Ron looked behind him. 
+
+“Where’s Hermione gone?” 
+
+Harry looked around too. Hermione hadn’t entered 
+the classroom, yet Harry knew she had been right 
+next to him when he had opened the door. 
+
+“That’s weird,” said Harry, staring at Ron. “Maybe — 
+maybe she went to the bathroom or something?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 328 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Hermione didn’t turn up all lesson. 
+
+“She could’ve done with a Cheering Charm on her 
+too,” said Ron as the class left for lunch, all grinning 
+broadly — the Cheering Charms had left them with a 
+feeling of great contentment. 
+
+Hermione wasn’t at lunch either. By the time they 
+had finished their apple pie, the after-effects of the 
+Cheering Charms were wearing off, and Harry and 
+Ron had started to get slightly worried. 
+
+“You don’t think Malfoy did something to her?” Ron 
+said anxiously as they hurried upstairs toward 
+Gryffindor Tower. 
+
+They passed the security trolls, gave the Fat Lady the 
+password (“Flibbertigibbet”), and scrambled through 
+the portrait hole into the common room. 
+
+Hermione was sitting at a table, fast asleep, her head 
+resting on an open Arithmancy book. They went to sit 
+down on either side of her. Harry prodded her awake. 
+
+“Wh — what?” said Hermione, waking with a start 
+and staring wildly around. “Is it time to go? W — 
+which lesson have we got now? 
+
+“Divination, but it’s not for another twenty minutes,” 
+said Harry. “Hermione, why didn’t you come to 
+Charms?” 
+
+“What? Oh no!” Hermione squeaked. “I forgot to go to 
+Charms!” 
+
+“But how could you forget?” said Harry. “You were 
+with us till we were right outside the classroom!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 329 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I don’t believe it!” Hermione wailed. “Was Professor 
+Flitwick angry? Oh, it was Malfoy, I was thinking 
+about him and I lost track of things!” 
+
+“You know what, Hermione?” said Ron, looking down 
+at the enormous Arithmancy book Hermione had 
+been using as a pillow. “I reckon you’re cracking up. 
+You’re trying to do too much.” 
+
+“No, I’m not!” said Hermione, brushing her hair out of 
+her eyes and staring hopelessly around for her bag. “I 
+just made a mistake, that’s all! I’d better go and see 
+Professor Flitwick and say sorry. ... I’ll see you in 
+Divination!” 
+
+Hermione joined them at the foot of the ladder to 
+Professor Trelawney’s classroom twenty minutes later, 
+looking extremely harassed. 
+
+“I can’t believe I missed Cheering Charms! And I bet 
+they come up in our exams; Professor Flitwick hinted 
+they might!” 
+
+Together they climbed the ladder into the dim, stifling 
+tower room. Glowing on every little table was a crystal 
+ball full of pearly white mist. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione sat down together at the same rickety table. 
+
+“I thought we weren’t starting crystal balls until next 
+term,” Ron muttered, casting a wary eye around for 
+Professor Trelawney, in case she was lurking nearby. 
+
+“Don’t complain, this means we’ve finished 
+palmistry,” Harry muttered back. “I was getting sick 
+of her flinching every time she looked at my hands.” 
+
+“Good day to you!” said the familiar, misty voice, and 
+Professor Trelawney made her usual dramatic 
+entrance out of the shadows. Parvati and Lavender 
+
+Page | 330 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+quivered with excitement, their faces lit by the milky 
+glow of their crystal ball. 
+
+
+
+“I have decided to introduce the crystal ball a little 
+earlier than I had planned,” said Professor Trelawney, 
+sitting with her back to the fire and gazing around. 
+“The fates have informed me that your examination in 
+June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to give 
+you sufficient practice.” 
+
+Hermione snorted. 
+
+“Well, honestly ... ‘the fates have informed her’ ... who 
+sets the exam? She does! What an amazing 
+prediction!” she said, not troubling to keep her voice 
+low. Harry and Ron choked back laughs. 
+
+It was hard to tell whether Professor Trelawney had 
+heard them, as her face was hidden in shadow. She 
+continued, however, as though she had not. 
+
+“Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art,” she said 
+dreamily. “I do not expect any of you to See when first 
+you peer into the Orb’s infinite depths. We shall start 
+by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and 
+external eyes” — Ron began to snigger uncontrollably 
+and had to stuff his fist in his mouth to stifle the 
+noise — “so as to clear the Inner Eye and the 
+superconscious. Perhaps, if we are lucky, some of you 
+will See before the end of the class.” 
+
+And so they began. Harry, at least, felt extremely 
+foolish, staring blankly at the crystal ball, trying to 
+keep his mind empty when thoughts such as “this is 
+stupid” kept drifting across it. It didn’t help that Ron 
+kept breaking into silent giggles and Hermione kept 
+tutting. 
+
+
+
+Page | 331 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Seen anything yet?” Harry asked them after a 
+quarter of an hour’s quiet crystal gazing. 
+
+“Yeah, there’s a burn on this table,” said Ron, 
+pointing. “Someone’s spilled their candle.” 
+
+“This is such a waste of time,” Hermione hissed. “I 
+could be practicing something useful. I could be 
+catching up on Cheering Charms — ” 
+
+Professor Trelawney rustled past. 
+
+“Would anyone like me to help them interpret the 
+shadowy portents within their Orb?” she murmured 
+over the clinking of her bangles. 
+
+“I don’t need help,” Ron whispered. “It’s obvious what 
+this means. There’s going to be loads of fog tonight.” 
+
+Both Harry and Hermione burst out laughing. 
+
+“Now, really!” said Professor Trelawney as everyone’s 
+heads turned in their direction. Parvati and Lavender 
+were looking scandalized. “You are disturbing the 
+clairvoyant vibrations!” She approached their table 
+and peered into their crystal ball. Harry felt his heart 
+sinking. He was sure he knew what was coming — 
+
+“There is something here!” Professor Trelawney 
+whispered, lowering her face to the ball, so that it was 
+reflected twice in her huge glasses. “Something 
+moving . . . but what is it?” 
+
+Harry was prepared to bet everything he owned, 
+including his Firebolt, that it wasn’t good news, 
+whatever it was. And sure enough — 
+
+“My dear ... ,” Professor Trelawney breathed, gazing 
+up at Harry. “It is here, plainer than ever before ... my 
+
+Page | 332 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+dear, stalking toward you, growing ever closer ... the 
+Gr — ” 
+
+
+
+“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” said Hermione loudly. “Not 
+that ridiculous Grim again\” 
+
+Professor Trelawney raised her enormous eyes to 
+Hermione ’s face. Parvati whispered something to 
+Lavender, and they both glared at Hermione too. 
+Professor Trelawney stood up, surveying Hermione 
+with unmistakable anger. 
+
+“I am sorry to say that from the moment you have 
+arrived in this class, my dear, it has been apparent 
+that you do not have what the noble art of Divination 
+requires. Indeed, I don’t remember ever meeting a 
+student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane.” 
+
+There was a moment’s silence. Then — 
+
+“Fine!” said Hermione suddenly, getting up and 
+cramming Unfogging the Future back into her bag. 
+“Fine!” she repeated, swinging the bag over her 
+shoulder and almost knocking Ron off his chair. “I 
+give up! I’m leaving!” 
+
+And to the whole class’s amazement, Hermione strode 
+over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed 
+down the ladder out of sight. 
+
+It took a few minutes for the class to settle down 
+again. Professor Trelawney seemed to have forgotten 
+all about the Grim. She turned abruptly from Harry 
+and Ron’s table, breathing rather heavily as she 
+tugged her gauzy shawl more closely to her. 
+
+“Ooooo!” said Lavender suddenly, making everyone 
+start. “Oooooo, Professor Trelawney, I’ve just 
+remembered! You saw her leaving, didn’t you? Didn’t 
+
+Page | 333 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+you, Professor? ‘Around Easter, one of our number will 
+leave us forever*.’ You said it ages ago, Professor!” 
+
+Professor Trelawney gave her a dewy smile. 
+
+“Yes, my dear, I did indeed know that Miss Granger 
+would be leaving us. One hopes, however, that one 
+might have mistaken the Signs. ... The Inner Eye can 
+be a burden, you know. ...” 
+
+Lavender and Parvati looked deeply impressed, and 
+moved over so that Professor Trelawney could join 
+their table instead. 
+
+“Some day Hermione’s having, eh?” Ron muttered to 
+Harry, looking awed. 
+
+“Yeah ...” 
+
+Harry glanced into the crystal ball but saw nothing 
+but swirling white mist. Had Professor Trelawney 
+really seen the Grim again? Would he? The last thing 
+he needed was another near-fatal accident, with the 
+Quidditch final drawing ever nearer. 
+
+The Easter holidays were not exactly relaxing. The 
+third years had never had so much homework. Neville 
+Longbottom seemed close to a nervous collapse, and 
+he wasn’t the only one. 
+
+“Call this a holiday!” Seamus Finnigan roared at the 
+common room one afternoon. “The exams are ages 
+away, what’re they playing at?” 
+
+But nobody had as much to do as Hermione. Even 
+without Divination, she was taking more subjects 
+than anybody else. She was usually last to leave the 
+common room at night, first to arrive at the library 
+
+
+
+Page | 334 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the next morning; she had shadows like Lupin’s 
+under her eyes, and seemed constantly close to tears. 
+
+Ron had taken over responsibility for Buckbeak’s 
+appeal. When he wasn’t doing his own work, he was 
+poring over enormously thick volumes with names 
+like The Handbook of Hippogriff Psychology and Fowl 
+or Foul? A Study of Hippogriff Brutality. He was so 
+absorbed, he even forgot to be horrible to 
+Crookshanks. 
+
+Harry, meanwhile, had to fit in his homework around 
+Quidditch practice every day, not to mention endless 
+discussions of tactics with Wood. The Gryffindor- 
+Slytherin match would take place on the first 
+Saturday after the Easter holidays. Slytherin was 
+leading the tournament by exactly two hundred 
+points. This meant (as Wood constantly reminded his 
+team) that they needed to win the match by more 
+than that amount to win the Cup. It also meant that 
+the burden of winning fell largely on Harry, because 
+capturing the Snitch was worth one hundred and fifty 
+points. 
+
+“So you must catch it only if we’re more than fifty 
+points up,” Wood told Harry constantly. “Only if we’re 
+more than fifty points up, Harry, or we win the match 
+but lose the Cup. You’ve got that, haven’t you? You 
+must catch the Snitch only if we’re — ” 
+
+“I KNOW, OLIVER!” Harry yelled. 
+
+The whole of Gryffindor House was obsessed with the 
+coming match. Gryffindor hadn’t won the Quidditch 
+Cup since the legendary Charlie Weasley (Ron’s 
+second oldest brother) had been Seeker. But Harry 
+doubted whether any of them, even Wood, wanted to 
+win as much as he did. The enmity between Harry 
+and Malfoy was at its highest point ever. Malfoy was 
+Page | 335 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+still smarting about the mud-throwing incident in 
+Hogsmeade and was even more furious that Harry 
+had somehow wormed his way out of punishment. 
+Harry hadn’t forgotten Malfoy’s attempt to sabotage 
+him in the match against Ravenclaw, but it was the 
+matter of Buckbeak that made him most determined 
+to beat Malfoy in front of the entire school. 
+
+Never, in anyone’s memory, had a match approached 
+in such a highly charged atmosphere. By the time the 
+holidays were over, tension between the two teams 
+and their Houses was at the breaking point. A 
+number of small scuffles broke out in the corridors, 
+culminating in a nasty incident in which a Gryffindor 
+fourth year and a Slytherin sixth year ended up in the 
+hospital wing with leeks sprouting out of their ears. 
+
+Harry was having a particularly bad time of it. He 
+couldn’t walk to class without Slytherins sticking out 
+their legs and trying to trip him up; Crabbe and Goyle 
+kept popping up wherever he went, and slouching 
+away looking disappointed when they saw him 
+surrounded by people. Wood had given instructions 
+that Harry should be accompanied everywhere he 
+went, in case the Slytherins tried to put him out of 
+action. The whole of Gryffindor House took up the 
+challenge enthusiastically, so that it was impossible 
+for Harry to get to classes on time because he was 
+surrounded by a vast, chattering crowd. Harry was 
+more concerned for his Firebolt’s safety than his own. 
+When he wasn’t flying it, he locked it securely in his 
+trunk and frequently dashed back up to Gryffindor 
+Tower at break times to check that it was still there. 
+
+All usual pursuits were abandoned in the Gryffindor 
+common room the night before the match. Even 
+Hermione had put down her books. 
+
+“I can’t work, I can’t concentrate,” she said nervously. 
+
+Page | 336 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a great deal of noise. Fred and George 
+Weasley were dealing with the pressure by being 
+louder and more exuberant than ever. Oliver Wood 
+was crouched over a model of a Quidditch field in the 
+corner, prodding little figures across it with his wand 
+and muttering to himself. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie 
+were laughing at Fred’s and George’s jokes. Harry was 
+sitting with Ron and Hermione, removed from the 
+center of things, trying not to think about the next 
+day, because every time he did, he had the horrible 
+sensation that something very large was fighting to 
+get out of his stomach. 
+
+“You’re going to be fine,” Hermione told him, though 
+she looked positively terrified. 
+
+“You’ve got a Firebolti” said Ron. 
+
+“Yeah ... ,” said Harry, his stomach writhing. 
+
+It came as a relief when Wood suddenly stood up and 
+yelled, “Team! Bed!” 
+
+
+
+Harry slept badly. First he dreamed that he had 
+overslept, and that Wood was yelling, “Where were 
+you? We had to use Neville instead!” Then he dreamed 
+that Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin team arrived 
+for the match riding dragons. He was flying at 
+breakneck speed, trying to avoid a spurt of flames 
+from Malfoy ’s steed’s mouth, when he realized he had 
+forgotten his Firebolt. He fell through the air and 
+woke with a start. 
+
+It was a few seconds before Harry remembered that 
+the match hadn’t taken place yet, that he was safe in 
+bed, and that the Slytherin team definitely wouldn’t 
+be allowed to play on dragons. He was feeling very 
+
+Page | 337 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+thirsty. Quietly as he could, he got out of his four- 
+poster and went to pour himself some water from the 
+silver jug beneath the window. 
+
+The grounds were still and quiet. No breath of wind 
+disturbed the treetops in the Forbidden Forest; the 
+Whomping Willow was motionless and innocent- 
+looking. It looked as though the conditions for the 
+match would be perfect. 
+
+Harry set down his goblet and was about to turn back 
+to his bed when something caught his eye. An animal 
+of some kind was prowling across the silvery lawn. 
+
+Harry dashed to his bedside table, snatched up his 
+glasses, and put them on, then hurried back to the 
+window. It couldn’t be the Grim — not now — not 
+right before the match — 
+
+He peered out at the grounds again and, after a 
+minute’s frantic searching, spotted it. It was skirting 
+the edge of the forest now. ... It wasn’t the Grim at all 
+...it was a cat. ... Harry clutched the window ledge in 
+relief as he recognized the bottlebrush tail. It was only 
+Crookshanks. ... 
+
+Or was it only Crookshanks? Harry squinted, 
+pressing his nose flat against the glass. Crookshanks 
+seemed to have come to a halt. Harry was sure he 
+could see something else moving in the shadow of the 
+trees too. 
+
+And just then, it emerged — a gigantic, shaggy black 
+dog, moving stealthily across the lawn, Crookshanks 
+trotting at its side. Harry stared. What did this mean? 
+If Crookshanks could see the dog as well, how could it 
+be an omen of Harry’s death? 
+
+“Ron!” Harry hissed. “Ron! Wake up!” 
+
+Page | 338 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Huh?” 
+
+
+
+“I need you to tell me if you can see something!” 
+
+“S’all dark, Harry,” Ron muttered thickly. “What’re 
+you on about?” 
+
+“Down here — ” 
+
+Harry looked quickly back out of the window. 
+
+Crookshanks and the dog had vanished. Harry 
+climbed onto the windowsill to look right down into 
+the shadows of the castle, but they weren’t there. 
+Where had they gone? 
+
+A loud snore told him Ron had fallen asleep again. 
+
+Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team entered the 
+Great Hall the next day to enormous applause. Harry 
+couldn’t help grinning broadly as he saw that both 
+the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were applauding 
+them too. The Slytherin table hissed loudly as they 
+passed. Harry noticed that Malfoy looked even paler 
+than usual. 
+
+Wood spent the whole of breakfast urging his team to 
+eat, while touching nothing himself. Then he hurried 
+them off to the field before anyone else had finished, 
+so they could get an idea of the conditions. As they 
+left the Great Hall, everyone applauded again. 
+
+“Good luck, Harry!” called Cho. Harry felt himself 
+blushing. 
+
+“Okay — no wind to speak of — sun’s a bit bright, 
+that could impair your vision, watch out for it — 
+
+ground’s fairly hard, good, that’ll give us a fast kickoff 
+?? 
+
+Page | 339 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Wood paced the field, staring around with the team 
+behind him. Finally, they saw the front doors of the 
+castle open in the distance and the rest of the school 
+spilling onto the lawn. 
+
+“Locker rooms,” said Wood tersely. 
+
+None of them spoke as they changed into their scarlet 
+robes. Harry wondered if they were feeling like he 
+was: as though he’d eaten something extremely 
+wriggly for breakfast. In what seemed like no time at 
+all, Wood was saying, “Okay, it’s time, let’s go — ” 
+
+They walked out onto the field to a tidal wave of noise. 
+Three-quarters of the crowd was wearing scarlet 
+rosettes, waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion 
+upon them, or brandishing banners with slogans like 
+“GO GRYFFINDOR!” and “LIONS FOR THE CUP!” 
+Behind the Slytherin goal posts, however, two 
+hundred people were wearing green; the silver serpent 
+of Slytherin glittered on their flags, and Professor 
+Snape sat in the very front row, wearing green like 
+everyone else, and a very grim smile. 
+
+“And here are the Gryffindors!” yelled Lee Jordan, 
+who was acting as commentator as usual. “Potter, 
+
+Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. 
+Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has 
+seen in a good few years — ” 
+
+Lee’s comments were drowned by a tide of “boos” from 
+the Slytherin end. 
+
+“And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain 
+Flint. He’s made some changes in the lineup and 
+seems to be going for size rather than skill — ” 
+
+More boos from the Slytherin crowd. Harry, however, 
+thought Lee had a point. Malfoy was easily the 
+
+Page | 340 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+smallest person on the Slytherin team; the rest of 
+them were enormous. 
+
+
+
+“Captains, shake hands!” said Madam Hooch. 
+
+Flint and Wood approached each other and grasped 
+each other’s hand very tightly; it looked as though 
+each was trying to break the other’s fingers. 
+
+“Mount your brooms!” said Madam Hooch. “Three ... 
+two ... one ...” 
+
+The sound of her whistle was lost in the roar from the 
+crowd as fourteen brooms rose into the air. Harry felt 
+his hair fly back off his forehead; his nerves left him 
+in the thrill of the flight; he glanced around, saw 
+Malfoy on his tail, and sped off in search of the 
+Snitch. 
+
+“And it’s Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinnet of 
+Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the 
+Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no — 
+Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of 
+Slytherin tearing up the field — WHAM! — nice 
+Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington 
+drops the Quaffle, it’s caught by — Johnson, 
+Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina — 
+nice swerve around Montague — duck, Angelina, 
+that’s a Bludger] — SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO 
+GRYFFINDOR!” 
+
+Angelina punched the air as she soared around the 
+end of the field; the sea of scarlet below was 
+screaming its delight — 
+
+“OUCH!” 
+
+Angelina was nearly thrown from her broom as 
+Marcus Flint went smashing into her. 
+
+Page | 341 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sorry!” said Flint as the crowd below booed. “Sorry, 
+didn’t see her!” 
+
+A moment later, Fred Weasley chucked his Beater’s 
+club at the back of Flint’s head. Flint’s nose smashed 
+into the handle of his broom and began to bleed. 
+
+“That will do!” shrieked Madam Hooch, zooming 
+between them. “Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an 
+unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to 
+Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!” 
+
+“Come off it, Miss!” howled Fred, but Madam Hooch 
+blew her whistle and Alicia flew forward to take the 
+penalty. 
+
+“Come on, Alicia!” yelled Lee into the silence that had 
+descended on the crowd. “YES! SHE’S BEATEN THE 
+KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!” 
+
+Harry turned the Firebolt sharply to watch Flint, still 
+bleeding freely, fly forward to take the Slytherin 
+penalty. Wood was hovering in front of the Gryffindor 
+goal posts, his jaw clenched. 
+
+“ ’Course, Wood’s a superb Keeper!” Lee Jordan told 
+the crowd as Flint waited for Madam Hooch’s whistle. 
+“Superb! Very difficult to pass — very difficult indeed 
+
+— YES! I DONT BELIEVE IT! HE’S SAVED IT!” 
+
+Relieved, Harry zoomed away, gazing around for the 
+Snitch, but still making sure he caught every word of 
+Lee’s commentary. It was essential that he hold 
+Malfoy off the Snitch until Gryffindor was more than 
+fifty points up — 
+
+“Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession 
+
+— no! — Gryffindor back in possession and it’s Katie 
+
+
+
+Page | 342 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Bell, Katie Bell for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, she’s 
+streaking up the field — THAT WAS DELIBERATE!” 
+
+
+
+Montague, a Slytherin Chaser, had swerved in front of 
+Katie, and instead of seizing the Quaffle had grabbed 
+her head. Katie cartwheeled in the air, managed to 
+stay on her broom, but dropped the Quaffle. 
+
+Madam Hooch’s whistle rang out again as she soared 
+over to Montague and began shouting at him. A 
+minute later, Katie had put another penalty past the 
+Slytherin Seeker. 
+
+“THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING 
+
+
+
+“Jordan, if you can’t commentate in an unbiased way 
+
+— !” 
+
+“I’m telling it like it is, Professor!” 
+
+Harry felt a huge jolt of excitement. He had seen the 
+Snitch — it was shimmering at the foot of one of the 
+Gryffindor goal posts — but he mustn’t catch it yet — 
+and if Malfoy saw it — 
+
+Faking a look of sudden concentration, Harry pulled 
+his Firebolt around and sped off toward the Slytherin 
+end — it worked. Malfoy went haring after him, 
+clearly thinking Harry had seen the Snitch there. ... 
+
+WHOOSH. 
+
+One of the Bludgers came streaking past Harry’s right 
+ear, hit by the gigantic Slytherin Beater, Derrick. 
+
+Then again — 
+
+WHOOSH. 
+
+Page | 343 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The second Bludger grazed Harry’s elbow. The other 
+Beater, Bole, was closing in. 
+
+Harry had a fleeting glimpse of Bole and Derrick 
+zooming toward him, clubs raised — 
+
+He turned the Firebolt upward at the last second, and 
+Bole and Derrick collided with a sickening crunch. 
+
+“Ha haaa!” yelled Lee Jordan as the Slytherin Beaters 
+lurched away from each other, clutching their heads. 
+“Too bad, boys! You’ll need to get up earlier than that 
+to beat a Firebolt! And it’s Gryffindor in possession 
+again, as Johnson takes the Quaffle — Flint alongside 
+her — poke him in the eye, Angelina! — it was a joke, 
+Professor, it was a joke — oh no — Flint in 
+possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goal 
+posts, come on now, Wood, save — !” 
+
+But Flint had scored; there was an eruption of cheers 
+from the Slytherin end, and Lee swore so badly that 
+Professor McGonagall tried to tug the magical 
+megaphone away from him. 
+
+“Sorry, Professor, sorry! Won’t happen again! So, 
+Gryffindor in the lead, thirty points to ten, and 
+Gryffindor in possession — ” 
+
+It was turning into the dirtiest game Harry had ever 
+played in. Enraged that Gryffindor had taken such an 
+early lead, the Slytherins were rapidly resorting to any 
+means to take the Quaffle. Bole hit Alicia with his 
+club and tried to say he’d thought she was a Bludger. 
+George Weasley elbowed Bole in the face in 
+retaliation. Madam Hooch awarded both teams 
+penalties, and Wood pulled off another spectacular 
+save, making the score forty-ten to Gryffindor. 
+
+
+
+Page | 344 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Snitch had disappeared again. Malfoy was still 
+keeping close to Harry as he soared over the match, 
+looking around for it — once Gryffindor was fifty 
+points ahead — 
+
+Katie scored. Fifty-ten. Fred and George Weasley were 
+swooping around her, clubs raised, in case any of the 
+Slytherins were thinking of revenge. Bole and Derrick 
+took advantage of Fred’s and George’s absence to aim 
+both Bludgers at Wood; they caught him in the 
+stomach, one after the other, and he rolled over in the 
+air, clutching his broom, completely winded. 
+
+Madam Hooch was beside herself. 
+
+“YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KEEPER UNLESS THE 
+QUAFFLE IS WITHIN THE SCORING AREA!” she 
+shrieked at Bole and Derrick. “Gryffindor penalty!” 
+
+And Angelina scored. Sixty-ten. Moments later, Fred 
+Weasley pelted a Bludger at Warrington, knocking the 
+Quaffle out of his hands; Alicia seized it and put it 
+through the Slytherin goal — seventy-ten. 
+
+The Gryffindor crowd below was screaming itself 
+hoarse — Gryffindor was sixty points in the lead, and 
+if Harry caught the Snitch now, the Cup was theirs. 
+Harry could almost feel hundreds of eyes following 
+him as he soared around the field, high above the rest 
+of the game, with Malfoy speeding along behind him. 
+
+And then he saw it. The Snitch was sparkling twenty 
+feet above him. 
+
+Harry put on a huge burst of speed; the wind was 
+roaring in his ears; he stretched out his hand, but 
+suddenly, the Firebolt was slowing down — 
+
+
+
+Page | 345 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Horrified, he looked around. Malfoy had thrown 
+himself forward, grabbed hold of the Firebolt’s tail, 
+and was pulling it back. 
+
+“You — ” 
+
+Harry was angry enough to hit Malfoy, but couldn’t 
+reach — Malfoy was panting with the effort of holding 
+onto the Firebolt, but his eyes were sparkling 
+maliciously. He had achieved what he’d wanted to do 
+— the Snitch had disappeared again. 
+
+“Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I’ve never seen such 
+tactics!” Madam Hooch screeched, shooting up to 
+where Malfoy was sliding back onto his Nimbus Two 
+Thousand and One. 
+
+“YOU CHEATING SCUM!” Lee Jordan was howling 
+into the megaphone, dancing out of Professor 
+McGonagall’s reach. “YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall didn’t even bother to tell him 
+off. She was actually shaking her finger in Malfoy’s 
+direction, her hat had fallen off, and she too was 
+shouting furiously. 
+
+Alicia took Gryffindor’s penalty, but she was so angry 
+she missed by several feet. The Gryffindor team was 
+losing concentration and the Slytherins, delighted by 
+Malfoy’s foul on Harry, were being spurred on to 
+greater heights. 
+
+“Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for goal — 
+Montague scores — ” Lee groaned. “Seventy-twenty to 
+Gryffindor. ...” 
+
+Harry was now marking Malfoy so closely their knees 
+kept hitting each other. Harry wasn’t going to let 
+Malfoy anywhere near the Snitch. ... 
+
+Page | 346 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Get out of it, Potter!” Malfoy yelled in frustration as 
+he tried to turn and found Harry blocking him. 
+
+“Angelina Johnson gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, 
+come on, Angelina, COME ON!” 
+
+Harry looked around. Every single Slytherin player 
+apart from Malfoy was streaking up the pitch toward 
+Angelina, including the Slytherin Keeper — they were 
+all going to block her — 
+
+Harry wheeled the Firebolt around, bent so low he 
+was lying flat along the handle, and kicked it forward. 
+Like a bullet, he shot toward the Slytherins. 
+
+“AAAAAAARRRGH ! ” 
+
+They scattered as the Firebolt zoomed toward them; 
+Angelina’s way was clear. 
+
+“SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES! Gryffindor leads by 
+eighty points to twenty!” 
+
+Harry, who had almost pelted headlong into the 
+stands, skidded to a halt in midair, reversed, and 
+zoomed back into the middle of the field. 
+
+And then he saw something to make his heart stand 
+still. Malfoy was diving, a look of triumph on his face 
+— there, a few feet above the grass below, was a tiny, 
+golden glimmer — 
+
+Harry urged the Firebolt downward, but Malfoy was 
+miles ahead — 
+
+“Go! Go! Go!” Harry urged his broom. He was gaining 
+on Malfoy — Harry flattened himself to the broom 
+handle as Bole sent a Bludger at him — he was at 
+Malfoy’s ankles — he was level — 
+
+Page | 347 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry threw himself forward, took both hands off his 
+broom. He knocked Malfoy’s arm out of the way and 
+
+
+
+“YES!” 
+
+He pulled out of his dive, his hand in the air, and the 
+stadium exploded. Harry soared above the crowd, an 
+odd ringing in his ears. The tiny golden ball was held 
+tight in his fist, beating its wings hopelessly against 
+his fingers. 
+
+Then Wood was speeding toward him, half-blinded by 
+tears; he seized Harry around the neck and sobbed 
+unrestrainedly into his shoulder. Harry felt two large 
+thumps as Fred and George hit them; then 
+Angelina’s, Alicia’s, and Katie’s voices, “We’ve won the 
+Cup\ We’ve won the Cup\” Tangled together in a 
+many-armed hug, the Gryffindor team sank, yelling 
+hoarsely, back to earth. 
+
+Wave upon wave of crimson supporters was pouring 
+over the barriers onto the field. Hands were raining 
+down on their backs. Harry had a confused 
+impression of noise and bodies pressing in on him. 
+Then he, and the rest of the team, were hoisted onto 
+the shoulders of the crowd. Thrust into the light, he 
+saw Hagrid, plastered with crimson rosettes — “Yeh 
+beat ’em, Harry, yeh beat ’em! Wait till I tell 
+Buckbeak!” There was Percy, jumping up and down 
+like a maniac, all dignity forgotten. Professor 
+McGonagall was sobbing harder even than Wood, 
+wiping her eyes with an enormous Gryffindor flag; 
+and there, fighting their way toward Harry, were Ron 
+and Hermione. Words failed them. They simply 
+beamed as Harry was borne toward the stands, where 
+Dumbledore stood waiting with the enormous 
+Quidditch Cup. 
+
+
+
+Page | 348 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+If only there had been a dementor around. ... As a 
+sobbing Wood passed Harry the Cup, as he lifted it 
+into the air, Harry felt he could have produced the 
+world’s best Patronus. 
+
+
+
+Page | 349 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PROFESSOR TRELAWNEY’S 
+PREDICTION 
+
+Harry’s euphoria at finally winning the Quidditch Cup 
+lasted at least a week. Even the weather seemed to be 
+celebrating; as June approached, the days became 
+cloudless and sultry, and all anybody felt like doing 
+was strolling onto the grounds and flopping down on 
+the grass with several pints of iced pumpkin juice, 
+perhaps playing a casual game of Gobstones or 
+watching the giant squid propel itself dreamily across 
+the surface of the lake. 
+
+But they couldn’t. Exams were nearly upon them, and 
+instead of lazing around outside, the students were 
+forced to remain inside the castle, trying to bully their 
+brains into concentrating while enticing wafts of 
+summer air drifted in through the windows. Even 
+Fred and George Weasley had been spotted working; 
+they were about to take their O.W.L.s (Ordinary 
+Wizarding Levels). Percy was getting ready to take his 
+N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests), the 
+highest qualification Hogwarts offered. As Percy 
+
+Page | 350 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+hoped to enter the Ministry of Magic, he needed top 
+grades. He was becoming increasingly edgy, and gave 
+very severe punishments to anybody who disturbed 
+the quiet of the common room in the evenings. In fact, 
+the only person who seemed more anxious than Percy 
+was Hermione. 
+
+Harry and Ron had given up asking her how she was 
+managing to attend several classes at once, but they 
+couldn’t restrain themselves when they saw the exam 
+schedule she had drawn up for herself. The first 
+column read: 
+
+Monday 
+
+9 o’clock, Arithmancy 
+9 o’clock, Transfiguration 
+Lunch 
+
+1 o’clock, Charms 
+1 o’clock, Ancient Runes 
+
+“Hermione?” Ron said cautiously, because she was 
+liable to explode when interrupted these days. “Er — 
+are you sure you’ve copied down these times right?” 
+
+“What?” snapped Hermione, picking up the exam 
+schedule and examining it. “Yes, of course I have.” 
+
+“Is there any point asking how you’re going to sit for 
+two exams at once?” said Harry. 
+
+“No,” said Hermione shortly. “Have either of you seen 
+my copy of Numerology and Gramatica?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 351 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading,” 
+said Ron, but very quietly. Hermione started shifting 
+heaps of parchment around on her table, looking for 
+the book. Just then, there was a rustle at the window 
+and Hedwig fluttered through it, a note clutched tight 
+in her beak. 
+
+“It’s from Hagrid,” said Harry, ripping the note open. 
+“Buckbeak’s appeal — it’s set for the sixth.” 
+
+“That’s the day we finish our exams,” said Hermione, 
+still looking everywhere for her Arithmancy book. 
+
+“And they’re coming up here to do it,” said Harry, still 
+reading from the letter. “Someone from the Ministry of 
+Magic and — and an executioner.” 
+
+Hermione looked up, startled. 
+
+“They’re bringing the executioner to the appeal! But 
+that sounds as though they’ve already decided!” 
+
+“Yeah, it does,” said Harry slowly. 
+
+“They can’t!” Ron howled. “I’ve spent ages reading up 
+on stuff for him; they can’t just ignore it all!” 
+
+But Harry had a horrible feeling that the Committee 
+for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures had had its 
+mind made up for it by Mr. Malfoy. Draco, who had 
+been noticeably subdued since Gryffindor’s triumph 
+in the Quidditch final, seemed to regain some of his 
+old swagger over the next few days. From sneering 
+comments Harry overheard, Malfoy was certain 
+Buckbeak was going to be killed, and seemed 
+thoroughly pleased with himself for bringing it about. 
+It was all Harry could do to stop himself imitating 
+Hermione and hitting Malfoy in the face on these 
+occasions. And the worst thing of all was that they 
+Page | 352 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had no time or opportunity to go and see Hagrid, 
+because the strict new security measures had not 
+been lifted, and Harry didn’t dare retrieve his 
+Invisibility Cloak from below the one-eyed witch. 
+
+k k k 
+
+
+
+Exam week began and an unnatural hush fell over 
+the castle. The third years emerged from 
+Transfiguration at lunchtime on Monday, limp and 
+ashen-faced, comparing results and bemoaning the 
+difficulty of the tasks they had been set, which had 
+included turning a teapot into a tortoise. Hermione 
+irritated the rest by fussing about how her tortoise 
+had looked more like a turtle, which was the least of 
+everyone else’s worries. 
+
+“Mine still had a spout for a tail, what a nightmare. 
+
+
+
+“Were the tortoises supposed to breathe steam?” 
+
+“It still had a willow-patterned shell, d’you think 
+that 11 count against me?” 
+
+Then, after a hasty lunch, it was straight back 
+upstairs for the Charms exam. Hermione had been 
+right; Professor Flitwick did indeed test them on 
+Cheering Charms. Harry slightly overdid his out of 
+nerves and Ron, who was partnering him, ended up 
+in fits of hysterical laughter and had to be led away to 
+a quiet room for an hour before he was ready to 
+perform the charm himself. After dinner, the students 
+hurried back to their common rooms, not to relax, 
+but to start studying for Care of Magical Creatures, 
+Potions, and Astronomy. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid presided over the Care of Magical Creatures 
+exam the following morning with a very preoccupied 
+air indeed; his heart didn’t seem to be in it at all. He 
+had provided a large tub of fresh flobberworms for the 
+class, and told them that to pass the test, their 
+flobberworm had to still be alive at the end of one 
+hour. As flobberworms flourished best if left to their 
+own devices, it was the easiest exam any of them had 
+ever taken, and also gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+plenty of opportunity to speak to Hagrid. 
+
+“Beaky’s gettin’ a bit depressed,” Hagrid told them, 
+bending low on the pretense of checking that Harry’s 
+flobberworm was still alive. “Bin cooped up too long. 
+But still ... we’ll know day after tomorrow — one way 
+or the other — ” 
+
+They had Potions that afternoon, which was an 
+unqualified disaster. Try as Harry might, he couldn’t 
+get his Confusing Concoction to thicken, and Snape, 
+standing watch with an air of vindictive pleasure, 
+scribbled something that looked suspiciously like a 
+zero onto his notes before moving away. 
+
+Then came Astronomy at midnight, up on the tallest 
+tower; History of Magic on Wednesday morning, in 
+which Harry scribbled everything Florean Fortescue 
+had ever told him about medieval witch-hunts, while 
+wishing he could have had one of Fortescue ’s choco- 
+nut sundaes with him in the stifling classroom. 
+Wednesday afternoon meant Herbology, in the 
+greenhouses under a baking-hot sun; then back to 
+the common room once more, with sunburnt necks, 
+thinking longingly of this time next day, when it 
+would all be over. 
+
+Their second to last exam, on Thursday morning, was 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin had 
+compiled the most unusual exam any of them had 
+
+Page | 354 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the 
+sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling 
+pool containing a grindylow, cross a series of potholes 
+full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of 
+marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a 
+hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle 
+with a new boggart. 
+
+“Excellent, Harry,” Lupin muttered as Harry climbed 
+out of the trunk, grinning. “Full marks.” 
+
+Flushed with his success, Harry hung around to 
+watch Ron and Hermione. Ron did very well until he 
+reached the hinkypunk, which successfully confused 
+him into sinking waist-high into the quagmire. 
+Hermione did everything perfectly until she reached 
+the trunk with the boggart in it. After about a minute 
+inside it, she burst out again, screaming. 
+
+“Hermione!” said Lupin, startled. “What’s the matter?” 
+
+“P — P — Professor McGonagall!” Hermione gasped, 
+pointing into the trunk. “Sh — she said I’d failed 
+everything!” 
+
+It took a little while to calm Hermione down. When at 
+last she had regained a grip on herself, she, Harry, 
+and Ron went back to the castle. Ron was still slightly 
+inclined to laugh at Hermione ’s boggart, but an 
+argument was averted by the sight that met them on 
+the top of the steps. 
+
+Cornelius Fudge, sweating slightly in his pinstriped 
+cloak, was standing there staring out at the grounds. 
+He started at the sight of Harry. 
+
+“Hello there, Harry!” he said. “Just had an exam, I 
+expect? Nearly finished?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. Hermione and Ron, not being on 
+speaking terms with the Minister of Magic, hovered 
+awkwardly in the background. 
+
+“Lovely day,” said Fudge, casting an eye over the lake. 
+“Pity ... pity ...” 
+
+He sighed deeply and looked down at Harry. 
+
+“I’m here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The 
+Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures 
+required a witness to the execution of a mad 
+hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts to check on 
+the Black situation, I was asked to step in.” 
+
+“Does that mean the appeal’s already happened?” Ron 
+interrupted, stepping forward. 
+
+“No, no, it’s scheduled for this afternoon,” said Fudge, 
+looking curiously at Ron. 
+
+“Then you might not have to witness an execution at 
+all!” said Ron stoutly. “The hippogriff might get off!” 
+
+Before Fudge could answer, two wizards came 
+through the castle doors behind him. One was so 
+ancient he appeared to be withering before their very 
+eyes; the other was tall and strapping, with a thin 
+black mustache. Harry gathered that they were 
+representatives of the Committee for the Disposal of 
+Dangerous Creatures, because the very old wizard 
+squinted toward Hagrid’s cabin and said in a feeble 
+voice, “Dear, dear, I’m getting too old for this. ... Two 
+o’clock, isn’t it, Fudge?” 
+
+The black-mustached man was fingering something in 
+his belt; Harry looked and saw that he was running 
+one broad thumb along the blade of a shining axe. 
+
+Ron opened his mouth to say something, but 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hermione nudged him hard in the ribs and jerked her 
+head toward the entrance hall. 
+
+“Why’d you stop me?” said Ron angrily as they 
+entered the Great Hall for lunch. “Did you see them? 
+They’ve even got the axe ready! This isn’t justice!” 
+
+“Ron, your dad works for the Ministry, you can’t go 
+saying things like that to his boss!” said Hermione, 
+but she too looked very upset. “As long as Hagrid 
+keeps his head this time, and argues his case 
+properly, they can’t possibly execute Buckbeak. ...” 
+
+But Harry could tell Hermione didn’t really believe 
+what she was saying. All around them, people were 
+talking excitedly as they ate their lunch, happily 
+anticipating the end of the exams that afternoon, but 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione, lost in worry about Hagrid 
+and Buckbeak, didn’t join in. 
+
+Harry’s and Ron’s last exam was Divination; 
+Hermione’s, Muggle Studies. They walked up the 
+marble staircase together; Hermione left them on the 
+first floor and Harry and Ron proceeded all the way 
+up to the seventh, where many of their class were 
+sitting on the spiral staircase to Professor Trelawney’s 
+classroom, trying to cram in a bit of last-minute 
+studying. 
+
+“She’s seeing us all separately,” Neville informed them 
+as they went to sit down next to him. He had his copy 
+of Unfogging the Future open on his lap at the pages 
+devoted to crystal gazing. “Have either of you ever 
+seen anything in a crystal ball?” he asked them 
+unhappily. 
+
+“Nope,” said Ron in an offhand voice. He kept 
+checking his watch; Harry knew that he was counting 
+down the time until Buckbeak’s appeal started. 
+
+Page | 357 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The line of people outside the classroom shortened 
+very slowly. As each person climbed back down the 
+silver ladder, the rest of the class hissed, “What did 
+she ask? Was it okay?” 
+
+But they all refused to say. 
+
+“She says the crystal ball’s told her that if I tell you, 
+
+I’ll have a horrible accident!” squeaked Neville as he 
+clambered back down the ladder toward Harry and 
+Ron, who had now reached the landing. 
+
+“That’s convenient,” snorted Ron. “You know, I’m 
+starting to think Hermione was right about her” — he 
+jabbed his thumb toward the trapdoor overhead — 
+“she’s a right old fraud.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, looking at his own watch. It was 
+now two o’clock. “Wish she’d hurry up ...” 
+
+Parvati came back down the ladder glowing with 
+pride. 
+
+“She says I’ve got all the makings of a true Seer,” she 
+informed Harry and Ron. “I saw loads of stuff. ... Well, 
+good luck!” 
+
+She hurried off down the spiral staircase toward 
+Lavender. 
+
+“Ronald Weasley,” said the familiar, misty voice from 
+over their heads. Ron grimaced at Harry and climbed 
+the silver ladder out of sight. Harry was now the only 
+person left to be tested. He settled himself on the floor 
+with his back against the wall, listening to a fly 
+buzzing in the sunny window, his mind across the 
+grounds with Hagrid. 
+
+
+
+Page | 358 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Finally, after about twenty minutes, Ron’s large feet 
+reappeared on the ladder. 
+
+“How’d it go?” Harry asked him, standing up. 
+
+“Rubbish,” said Ron. “Couldn’t see a thing, so I made 
+some stuff up. Don’t think she was convinced, 
+though. ...” 
+
+“Meet you in the common room,” Harry muttered as 
+Professor Trelawney’s voice called, “Harry Potter!” 
+
+The tower room was hotter than ever before; the 
+curtains were closed, the fire was alight, and the 
+usual sickly scent made Harry cough as he stumbled 
+through the clutter of chairs and tables to where 
+Professor Trelawney sat waiting for him before a large 
+crystal ball. 
+
+“Good day, my dear,” she said softly. “If you would 
+kindly gaze into the Orb. ... Take your time, now ... 
+then tell me what you see within it. ...” 
+
+Harry bent over the crystal ball and stared, stared as 
+hard as he could, willing it to show him something 
+other than swirling white fog, but nothing happened. 
+
+“Well?” Professor Trelawney prompted delicately. 
+“What do you see?” 
+
+The heat was overpowering and his nostrils were 
+stinging with the perfumed smoke wafting from the 
+fire beside them. He thought of what Ron had just 
+said, and decided to pretend. 
+
+“Er — ” said Harry, “a dark shape ... um ...” 
+
+“What does it resemble?” whispered Professor 
+Trelawney. “Think, now ...” 
+
+Page | 359 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry cast his mind around and it landed on 
+Buckbeak. 
+
+“A hippogriff,” he said firmly. 
+
+“Indeed!” whispered Professor Trelawney, scribbling 
+keenly on the parchment perched upon her knees. 
+“My boy, you may well be seeing the outcome of poor 
+Hagrid’s trouble with the Ministry of Magic! Look 
+closer. . . . Does the hippogriff appear to . . . have its 
+head?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry firmly. 
+
+“Are you sure?” Professor Trelawney urged him. “Are 
+you quite sure, dear? You don’t see it writhing on the 
+ground, perhaps, and a shadowy figure raising an axe 
+behind it?” 
+
+“No!” said Harry, starting to feel slightly sick. 
+
+“No blood? No weeping Hagrid?” 
+
+“No!” said Harry again, wanting more than ever to 
+leave the room and the heat. “It looks fine, it’s — 
+flying away. ...” 
+
+Professor Trelawney sighed. 
+
+“Well, dear, I think we’ll leave it there. ... A little 
+disappointing ... but I’m sure you did your best.” 
+
+Relieved, Harry got up, picked up his bag and turned 
+to go, but then a loud, harsh voice spoke behind him. 
+
+“It will happen tonight.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry wheeled around. Professor Trelawney had gone 
+rigid in her armchair; her eyes were unfocused and 
+her mouth sagging. 
+
+“S — sorry?” said Harry. 
+
+But Professor Trelawney didn’t seem to hear him. Her 
+eyes started to roll. Harry sat there in a panic. She 
+looked as though she was about to have some sort of 
+seizure. He hesitated, thinking of running to the 
+hospital wing — and then Professor Trelawney spoke 
+again, in the same harsh voice, quite unlike her own: 
+
+“The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned 
+by his followers. His servant has been chained these 
+twelve years. Tonight, before midnight ... the servant 
+will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The 
+Dark Lord will rise again with his servant’s aid, 
+greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight ... 
+before midnight . . . the servant . . . will set out ... to 
+rejoin ... his master. ...” 
+
+Professor Trelawney’s head fell forward onto her 
+chest. She made a grunting sort of noise. Harry sat 
+there, staring at her. Then, quite suddenly, Professor 
+Trelawney’s head snapped up again. 
+
+“I’m so sorry, dear boy,” she said dreamily, “the heat 
+of the day, you know ... I drifted off for a moment. ...” 
+
+Harry sat there, staring at her. 
+
+“Is there anything wrong, my dear?” 
+
+“You — you just told me that the — the Dark Lord’s 
+going to rise again ... that his servant’s going to go 
+back to him. ...” 
+
+Professor Trelawney looked thoroughly startled. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The Dark Lord? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? My 
+dear boy, that’s hardly something to joke about. ... 
+Rise again, indeed — ” 
+
+“But you just said it! You said the Dark Lord — ” 
+
+“I think you must have dozed off too, dear!” said 
+Professor Trelawney. “I would certainly not presume 
+to predict anything quite as far-fetched as that\” 
+
+Harry climbed back down the ladder and the spiral 
+staircase, wondering ... had he just heard Professor 
+Trelawney make a real prediction? Or had that been 
+her idea of an impressive end to the test? 
+
+Five minutes later he was dashing past the security 
+trolls outside the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, 
+Professor Trelawney’s words still resounding in his 
+head. People were striding past him in the opposite 
+direction, laughing and joking, heading for the 
+grounds and a bit of long-awaited freedom; by the 
+time he had reached the portrait hole and entered the 
+common room, it was almost deserted. Over in the 
+corner, however, sat Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“Professor Trelawney,” Harry panted, “just told me — ” 
+
+But he stopped abruptly at the sight of their faces. 
+
+“Buckbeak lost,” said Ron weakly. “Hagrid’s just sent 
+this.” 
+
+Hagrid’s note was dry this time, no tears had 
+splattered it, yet his hand seemed to have shaken so 
+much as he wrote that it was hardly legible. 
+
+Lost appeal. They’re going to execute at sunset 
+
+
+
+Nothing you can do. Don’t come down. 
+
+Page | 362 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+I don’t want you to see it 
+Hagrid 
+
+“We’ve got to go,” said Harry at once. “He can’t just sit 
+there on his own, waiting for the executioner!” 
+
+“Sunset, though,” said Ron, who was staring out the 
+window in a glazed sort of way. “We’d never be 
+allowed ... ’specially you, Harry. ...” 
+
+Harry sank his head into his hands, thinking. 
+
+“If we only had the Invisibility Cloak. ...” 
+
+“Where is it?” said Hermione. 
+
+Harry told her about leaving it in the passageway 
+under the one-eyed witch. 
+
+"... if Snape sees me anywhere near there again, I’m 
+in serious trouble,” he finished. 
+
+“That’s true,” said Hermione, getting to her feet. “If he 
+sees you. ... How do you open the witch’s hump 
+again?” 
+
+“You — you tap it and say, ‘Dissendium,’ ” said Harry. 
+“But — ” 
+
+Hermione didn’t wait for the rest of his sentence; she 
+strode across the room, pushed open the Fat Lady’s 
+portrait and vanished from sight. 
+
+“She hasn’t gone to get it?” Ron said, staring after 
+her. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+She had. Hermione returned a quarter of an hour 
+later with the silvery cloak folded carefully under her 
+robes. 
+
+“Hermione, I don’t know what’s gotten into you 
+lately!” said Ron, astounded. “First you hit Malfoy, 
+then you walk out on Professor Trelawney — ” 
+
+Hermione looked rather flattered. 
+
+They went down to dinner with everybody else, but 
+did not return to Gryffindor Tower afterward. Harry 
+had the cloak hidden down the front of his robes; he 
+had to keep his arms folded to hide the lump. They 
+skulked in an empty chamber off the entrance hall, 
+listening, until they were sure it was deserted. They 
+heard a last pair of people hurrying across the hall 
+and a door slamming. Hermione poked her head 
+around the door. 
+
+“Okay,” she whispered, “no one there — cloak on — ” 
+
+Walking very close together so that nobody would see 
+them, they crossed the hall on tiptoe beneath the 
+cloak, then walked down the stone front steps into 
+the grounds. The sun was already sinking behind the 
+Forbidden Forest, gilding the top branches of the 
+trees. 
+
+They reached Hagrid’s cabin and knocked. He was a 
+minute in answering, and when he did, he looked all 
+around for his visitor, pale-faced and trembling. 
+
+“It’s us,” Harry hissed. “We’re wearing the Invisibility 
+Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off.” 
+
+“Yeh shouldn’ve come!” Hagrid whispered, but he 
+stood back, and they stepped inside. Hagrid shut the 
+door quickly and Harry pulled off the cloak. 
+
+Page | 364 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hagrid was not crying, nor did he throw himself upon 
+their necks. He looked like a man who did not know 
+where he was or what to do. This helplessness was 
+worse to watch than tears. 
+
+“Wan’ some tea?” he said. His great hands were 
+shaking as he reached for the kettle. 
+
+“Where’s Buckbeak, Hagrid?” said Hermione 
+hesitantly. 
+
+“I — I took him outside,” said Hagrid, spilling milk all 
+over the table as he filled up the jug. “He’s tethered in 
+me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees 
+an’ — an’ smell fresh air — before — ” 
+
+Hagrid ’s hand trembled so violently that the milk jug 
+slipped from his grasp and shattered all over the 
+floor. 
+
+“I’ll do it, Hagrid,” said Hermione quickly, hurrying 
+over and starting to clean up the mess. 
+
+“There’s another one in the cupboard,” Hagrid said, 
+sitting down and wiping his forehead on his sleeve. 
+Harry glanced at Ron, who looked back hopelessly. 
+
+“Isn’t there anything anyone can do, Hagrid?” Harry 
+asked fiercely, sitting down next to him. “Dumbledore 
+
+
+
+“He’s tried,” said Hagrid. “He’s got no power ter 
+overrule the Committee. He told ’em Buckbeak’s all 
+right, but they’re scared. ... Yeh know what Lucius 
+Malfoy’s like ... threatened ’em, I expect ... an’ the 
+executioner, Macnair, he’s an old pal o’ Malfoy’s ... 
+but it’ll be quick an’ clean ... an’ I’ll be beside him. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 365 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hagrid swallowed. His eyes were darting all over the 
+cabin as though looking for some shred of hope or 
+comfort. 
+
+“Dumbledore ’s gonna come down while it — while it 
+happens. Wrote me this mornin’. Said he wants ter — 
+ter be with me. Great man, Dumbledore. ...” 
+
+Hermione, who had been rummaging in Hagrid ’s 
+cupboard for another milk jug, let out a small, quickly 
+stifled sob. She straightened up with the new jug in 
+her hands, fighting back tears. 
+
+“Well stay with you too, Hagrid,” she began, but 
+Hagrid shook his shaggy head. 
+
+“Yeh’re ter go back up ter the castle. I told yeh, I don’ 
+wan’ yeh watchin’. An’ yeh shouldn’ be down here 
+anyway. ... If Fudge an’ Dumbledore catch yeh out 
+without permission, Harry, yehll be in big trouble.” 
+
+Silent tears were now streaming down Hermione ’s 
+face, but she hid them from Hagrid, bustling around 
+making tea. Then, as she picked up the milk bottle to 
+pour some into the jug, she let out a shriek. 
+
+“Ron! I — I don’t believe it — it’s Scabbersl” 
+
+Ron gaped at her. 
+
+“What are you talking about?” 
+
+Hermione carried the milk jug over to the table and 
+turned it upside down. With a frantic squeak, and 
+much scrambling to get back inside, Scabbers the rat 
+came sliding out onto the table. 
+
+“Scabbers!” said Ron blankly. “Scabbers, what are 
+you doing here?” 
+
+Page | 366 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He grabbed the struggling rat and held him up to the 
+light. Scabbers looked dreadful. He was thinner than 
+ever, large tufts of hair had fallen out leaving wide 
+bald patches, and he writhed in Ron’s hands as 
+though desperate to free himself. 
+
+“It’s okay, Scabbers!” said Ron. “No cats! There’s 
+nothing here to hurt you!” 
+
+Hagrid suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed on the 
+window. His normally ruddy face had gone the color 
+of parchment. 
+
+“They’re cornin’. ...” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione whipped around. A group 
+of men was walking down the distant castle steps. In 
+front was Albus Dumbledore, his silver beard 
+gleaming in the dying sun. Next to him trotted 
+Cornelius Fudge. Behind them came the feeble old 
+Committee member and the executioner, Macnair. 
+
+“Yeh gotta go,” said Hagrid. Every inch of him was 
+trembling. “They mustn’ find yeh here. ... Go now. ...” 
+
+Ron stuffed Scabbers into his pocket and Hermione 
+picked up the cloak. 
+
+“I’ll let yeh out the back way,” said Hagrid. 
+
+They followed him to the door into his back garden. 
+Harry felt strangely unreal, and even more so when 
+he saw Buckbeak a few yards away, tethered to a tree 
+behind Hagrid’s pumpkin patch. Buckbeak seemed to 
+know something was happening. He turned his sharp 
+head from side to side and pawed the ground 
+nervously. 
+
+
+
+Page | 367 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s okay, Beaky,” said Hagrid softly. “It’s okay ...” He 
+turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “Go on,” he 
+said. “Get goin’.” 
+
+But they didn’t move. 
+
+“Hagrid, we can’t — ” 
+
+“Well tell them what really happened — ” 
+
+“They can’t kill him — ” 
+
+“Go!” said Hagrid fiercely. “It’s bad enough without 
+you lot in trouble an’ all!” 
+
+They had no choice. As Hermione threw the cloak 
+over Harry and Ron, they heard voices at the front of 
+the cabin. Hagrid looked at the place where they had 
+just vanished from sight. 
+
+“Go quick,” he said hoarsely. “Don’ listen. ...” 
+
+And he strode back into his cabin as someone 
+knocked at the front door. 
+
+Slowly, in a kind of horrified trance, Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione set off silently around Hagrid’s house. As 
+they reached the other side, the front door closed with 
+a sharp snap. 
+
+“Please, let’s hurry,” Hermione whispered. “I can’t 
+stand it, I can’t bear it. ...” 
+
+They started up the sloping lawn toward the castle. 
+The sun was sinking fast now; the sky had turned to 
+a clear, purple-tinged grey, but to the west there was 
+a ruby-red glow. 
+
+Ron stopped dead. 
+
+Page | 368 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, please, Ron,” Hermione began. 
+
+“It’s Scabbers — he won’t — stay put — ” 
+
+Ron was bent over, trying to keep Scabbers in his 
+pocket, but the rat was going berserk; squeaking 
+madly, twisting and flailing, trying to sink his teeth 
+into Ron’s hand. 
+
+“Scabbers, it’s me, you idiot, it’s Ron,” Ron hissed. 
+
+They heard a door open behind them and men’s 
+voices. 
+
+“Oh, Ron, please let’s move, they’re going to do it!” 
+Hermione breathed. 
+
+“Okay — Scabbers, stay put — ” 
+
+They walked forward; Harry, like Hermione, was 
+trying not to listen to the rumble of voices behind 
+them. Ron stopped again. 
+
+“I can’t hold him — Scabbers, shut up, everyone’ll 
+hear us — ” 
+
+The rat was squealing wildly, but not loudly enough 
+to cover up the sounds drifting from Hagrid’s garden. 
+There was a jumble of indistinct male voices, a 
+silence, and then, without warning, the unmistakable 
+swish and thud of an axe. 
+
+Hermione swayed on the spot. 
+
+“They did it!” she whispered to Harry. “I d — don’t 
+believe it — they did it!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 369 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CAT, RAT, AND DOG 
+
+
+
+Harry’s mind had gone blank with shock. The three of 
+them stood transfixed with horror under the 
+Invisibility Cloak. The very last rays of the setting sun 
+were casting a bloody light over the long-shadowed 
+grounds. Then, behind them, they heard a wild 
+howling. 
+
+“Hagrid,” Harry muttered. Without thinking about 
+what he was doing, he made to turn back, but both 
+Ron and Hermione seized his arms. 
+
+“We can’t,” said Ron, who was paper-white. “He’ll be 
+in worse trouble if they know we’ve been to see him. 
+
+
+
+Hermione ’s breathing was shallow and uneven. 
+
+“How — could — they?” she choked. “How could 
+they?” 
+
+“Come on,” said Ron, whose teeth seemed to be 
+chattering. 
+
+Page | 370 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+They set off back toward the castle, walking slowly to 
+keep themselves hidden under the cloak. The light 
+was fading fast now. By the time they reached open 
+ground, darkness was settling like a spell around 
+them. 
+
+“Scabbers, keep still,” Ron hissed, clamping his hand 
+over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron 
+came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers 
+deeper into his pocket. “What’s the matter with you, 
+you stupid rat? Stay still — OUCH! He bit me!” 
+
+“Ron, be quiet!” Hermione whispered urgently. 
+“Fudge’ll be out here in a minute — ” 
+
+“He won’t — stay — put — ” 
+
+Scabbers was plainly terrified. He was writhing with 
+all his might, trying to break free of Ron’s grip. 
+
+“What’s the matter with him?” 
+
+But Harry had just seen — slinking toward them, his 
+body low to the ground, wide yellow eyes glinting 
+eerily in the darkness — Crookshanks. Whether he 
+could see them or was following the sound of 
+Scabbers’s squeaks, Harry couldn’t tell. 
+
+“Crookshanks!” Hermione moaned. “No, go away, 
+Crookshanks! Go away!” 
+
+But the cat was getting nearer — 
+
+“Scabbers — NO!” 
+
+Too late — the rat had slipped between Ron’s 
+clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered 
+away. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, 
+and before Harry or Hermione could stop him, Ron 
+
+Page | 371 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and 
+pelted away into the darkness. 
+
+
+
+“Ron\” Hermione moaned. 
+
+She and Harry looked at each other, then followed at 
+a sprint; it was impossible to run full out under the 
+cloak; they pulled it off and it streamed behind them 
+like a banner as they hurtled after Ron; they could 
+hear his feet thundering along ahead and his shouts 
+at Crookshanks. 
+
+“Get away from him — get away — Scabbers, come 
+here — ” 
+
+There was a loud thud. 
+
+“Gotchal Get off, you stinking cat — ” 
+
+Harry and Hermione almost fell over Ron; they 
+skidded to a stop right in front of him. He was 
+sprawled on the ground, but Scabbers was back in 
+his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the 
+quivering lump. 
+
+“Ron — come on — back under the cloak — ” 
+
+Hermione panted. “Dumbledore — the Minister — 
+they’ll be coming back out in a minute — ” 
+
+But before they could cover themselves again, before 
+they could even catch their breath, they heard the 
+soft pounding of gigantic paws. ... Something was 
+bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow — an 
+enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog. 
+
+Harry reached for his wand, but too late — the dog 
+had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit 
+him on the chest; he keeled over backward in a whirl 
+of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth — 
+
+Page | 372 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But the force of its leap had carried it too far; it rolled 
+off him. Dazed, feeling as though his ribs were 
+broken, Harry tried to stand up; he could hear it 
+growling as it skidded around for a new attack. 
+
+Ron was on his feet. As the dog sprang back toward 
+them he pushed Harry aside; the dog’s jaws fastened 
+instead around Ron’s outstretched arm. Harry lunged 
+forward, he seized a handful of the brute’s hair, but it 
+was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a 
+rag doll — 
+
+Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard 
+across the face he was knocked off his feet again. He 
+heard Hermione shriek with pain and fall too. 
+
+Harry groped for his wand, blinking blood out of his 
+eyes — 
+
+“Lumos\” he whispered. 
+
+The wandlight showed him the trunk of a thick tree; 
+they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the 
+Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as 
+though in a high wind, whipping backward and 
+forward to stop them going nearer. 
+
+And there, at the base of the trunk, was the dog, 
+dragging Ron backward into a large gap in the roots 
+— Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso 
+were slipping out of sight — 
+
+“Ron!” Harry shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy 
+branch whipped lethally through the air and he was 
+forced backward again. 
+
+All they could see now was one of Ron’s legs, which 
+he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the 
+dog from pulling him farther underground — but a 
+
+Page | 373 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron’s leg 
+had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished 
+from sight. 
+
+“Harry — we’ve got to go for help — ” Hermione 
+gasped; she was bleeding too; the Willow had cut her 
+across the shoulder. 
+
+“No! That thing’s big enough to eat him; we haven’t 
+got time — ” 
+
+“Harry — we’re never going to get through without 
+help — ” 
+
+Another branch whipped down at them, twigs 
+clenched like knuckles. 
+
+“If that dog can get in, we can,” Harry panted, darting 
+here and there, trying to find a way through the 
+vicious, swishing branches, but he couldn’t get an 
+inch nearer to the tree roots without being in range of 
+the tree’s blows. 
+
+“Oh, help, help,” Hermione whispered frantically, 
+dancing uncertainly on the spot, “please ...” 
+
+Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between 
+the battering branches like a snake and placed his 
+front paws upon a knot on the trunk. 
+
+Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to 
+marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or 
+shook. 
+
+“Crookshanks!” Hermione whispered uncertainly. She 
+now grasped Harry’s arm painfully hard. “How did he 
+know — ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 374 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He’s friends with that dog,” said Harry grimly. “I’ve 
+seen them together. Come on — and keep your wand 
+out — ” 
+
+They covered the distance to the trunk in seconds, 
+but before they had reached the gap in the roots, 
+Crookshanks had slid into it with a flick of his 
+bottlebrush tail. Harry went next; he crawled forward, 
+headfirst, and slid down an earthy slope to the 
+bottom of a very low tunnel. Crookshanks was a little 
+way along, his eyes flashing in the light from Harry’s 
+wand. Seconds later, Hermione slithered down beside 
+him. 
+
+“Where’s Ron?” she whispered in a terrified voice. 
+
+“This way,” said Harry, setting off, bent-backed, after 
+Crookshanks. 
+
+“Where does this tunnel come out?” Hermione asked 
+breathlessly from behind him. 
+
+“I don’t know. ... It’s marked on the Marauder’s Map 
+but Fred and George said no one’s ever gotten into it. 
+...It goes off the edge of the map, but it looked like it 
+was heading for Hogsmeade. ...” 
+
+They moved as fast as they could, bent almost double; 
+ahead of them, Crookshanks ’s tail bobbed in and out 
+of view. On and on went the passage; it felt at least as 
+long as the one to Honeydukes. ... All Harry could 
+think of was Ron and what the enormous dog might 
+be doing to him. ... He was drawing breath in sharp, 
+painful gasps, running at a crouch. ... 
+
+And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it 
+twisted, and Crookshanks had gone. Instead, Harry 
+could see a patch of dim light through a small 
+opening. 
+
+Page | 375 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He and Hermione paused, gasping for breath, edging 
+forward. Both raised their wands to see what lay 
+beyond. 
+
+It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper 
+was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over 
+the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as 
+though somebody had smashed it. The windows were 
+all boarded up. 
+
+Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked very 
+frightened but nodded. 
+
+Harry pulled himself out of the hole, staring around. 
+The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood 
+open, leading to a shadowy hallway. Hermione 
+suddenly grabbed Harry’s arm again. Her wide eyes 
+were traveling around the boarded windows. 
+
+“Harry,” she whispered, “I think we’re in the Shrieking 
+Shack.” 
+
+Harry looked around. His eyes fell on a wooden chair 
+near them. Large chunks had been torn out of it; one 
+of the legs had been ripped off entirely. 
+
+“Ghosts didn’t do that,” he said slowly. 
+
+At that moment, there was a creak overhead. 
+Something had moved upstairs. Both of them looked 
+up at the ceiling. Hermione ’s grip on Harry’s arm was 
+so tight he was losing feeling in his fingers. He raised 
+his eyebrows at her; she nodded again and let go. 
+
+Quietly as they could, they crept out into the hall and 
+up the crumbling staircase. Everything was covered 
+in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide 
+shiny stripe had been made by something being 
+dragged upstairs. 
+
+Page | 376 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They reached the dark landing. 
+
+
+
+“Nox,” they whispered together, and the lights at the 
+end of their wands went out. Only one door was open. 
+As they crept toward it, they heard movement from 
+behind it; a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. 
+They exchanged a last look, a last nod. 
+
+Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door 
+wide open. 
+
+On a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings 
+lay Crookshanks, purring loudly at the sight of them. 
+On the floor beside him, clutching his leg, which 
+stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron. 
+
+Harry and Hermione dashed across to him. 
+
+“Ron — are you okay?” 
+
+“Where’s the dog?” 
+
+“Not a dog,” Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with 
+pain. “Harry, it’s a trap — ” 
+
+“What — ” 
+
+“He’s the dog ... he’s an Animagus. ...” 
+
+Ron was staring over Harry’s shoulder. Harry wheeled 
+around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed 
+the door behind them. 
+
+A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If 
+eyes hadn’t been shining out of the deep, dark 
+sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin 
+was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it 
+looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a 
+grin. It was Sirius Black. 
+
+Page | 377 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ he croaked, pointing Ron’s wand at 
+them. 
+
+Harry’s and Hermione’s wands shot out of their 
+hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then 
+he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry. 
+
+“I thought you’d come and help your friend,” he said 
+hoarsely. His voice sounded as though he had long 
+since lost the habit of using it. “Your father would 
+have done the same for me. Brave of you, not to run 
+for a teacher. I’m grateful ... it will make everything 
+much easier. ...” 
+
+The taunt about his father rang in Harry’s ears as 
+though Black had bellowed it. A boiling hate erupted 
+in Harry’s chest, leaving no place for fear. For the first 
+time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, 
+not to defend himself, but to attack ... to kill. Without 
+knowing what he was doing, he started forward, but 
+there was a sudden movement on either side of him 
+and two pairs of hands grabbed him and held him 
+back. ... “No, Harry!” Hermione gasped in a petrified 
+whisper; Ron, however, spoke to Black. 
+
+“If you want to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill us too!” 
+he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright 
+was draining him of still more color, and he swayed 
+slightly as he spoke. 
+
+Something flickered in Black’s shadowed eyes. 
+
+“Lie down,” he said quietly to Ron. “You will damage 
+that leg even more.” 
+
+“Did you hear me?” Ron said weakly, though he was 
+clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. “You’ll 
+have to kill all three of us!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 378 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“There’ll be only one murder here tonight,” said Black, 
+and his grin widened. 
+
+
+
+“Why’s that?” Harry spat, trying to wrench himself 
+free of Ron and Hermione. “Didn’t care last time, did 
+you? Didn’t mind slaughtering all those Muggles to 
+get at Pettigrew. ... What’s the matter, gone soft in 
+Azkaban?” 
+
+“Harry!” Hermione whimpered. “Be quiet!” 
+
+“HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!” Harry roared, and 
+with a huge effort he broke free of Hermione ’s and 
+Ron’s restraint and lunged forward — 
+
+He had forgotten about magic — he had forgotten that 
+he was short and skinny and thirteen, whereas Black 
+was a tall, full-grown man — all Harry knew was that 
+he wanted to hurt Black as badly as he could and 
+that he didn’t care how much he got hurt in return — 
+
+Perhaps it was the shock of Harry doing something so 
+stupid, but Black didn’t raise the wands in time — 
+one of Harry’s hands fastened over his wasted wrist, 
+forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of Harry’s 
+other hand collided with the side of Black’s head and 
+they fell, backward, into the wall — 
+
+Hermione was screaming; Ron was yelling; there was 
+a blinding flash as the wands in Black’s hand sent a 
+jet of sparks into the air that missed Harry’s face by 
+inches; Harry felt the shrunken arm under his fingers 
+twisting madly, but he clung on, his other hand 
+punching every part of Black it could find. 
+
+But Black’s free hand had found Harry’s throat — 
+
+“No,” he hissed, “I’ve waited too long — ” 
+
+Page | 379 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The fingers tightened, Harry choked, his glasses 
+askew. 
+
+Then he saw Hermione ’s foot swing out of nowhere. 
+Black let go of Harry with a grunt of pain; Ron had 
+thrown himself on Black’s wand hand and Harry 
+heard a faint clatter — 
+
+He fought free of the tangle of bodies and saw his own 
+wand rolling across the floor; he threw himself toward 
+it but — 
+
+“Argh!” 
+
+Crookshanks had joined the fray; both sets of front 
+claws had sunk themselves deep into Harry’s arm; 
+Harry threw him off, but Crookshanks now darted 
+toward Harry’s wand — 
+
+“NO YOU DONT!” roared Harry, and he aimed a kick 
+at Crookshanks that made the cat leap aside, 
+spitting; Harry snatched up his wand and turned — 
+
+“Get out of the way!” he shouted at Ron and 
+Hermione. 
+
+They didn’t need telling twice. Hermione, gasping for 
+breath, her lip bleeding, scrambled aside, snatching 
+up her and Ron’s wands. Ron crawled to the four- 
+poster and collapsed onto it, panting, his white face 
+now tinged with green, both hands clutching his 
+broken leg. 
+
+Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin 
+chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry 
+walking slowly nearer, his wand pointing straight at 
+Black’s heart. 
+
+“Going to kill me, Harry?” he whispered. 
+
+Page | 380 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry stopped right above him, his wand still pointing 
+at Black’s chest, looking down at him. A livid bruise 
+was rising around Black’s left eye and his nose was 
+bleeding. 
+
+“You killed my parents,” said Harry, his voice shaking 
+slightly, but his wand hand quite steady. 
+
+Black stared up at him out of those sunken eyes. 
+
+“I don’t deny it,” he said very quietly. “But if you knew 
+the whole story.” 
+
+“The whole story?” Harry repeated, a furious 
+pounding in his ears. “You sold them to Voldemort. 
+That’s all I need to know.” 
+
+“You’ve got to listen to me,” Black said, and there was 
+a note of urgency in his voice now. “You’ll regret it if 
+you don’t. ... You don’t understand. ...” 
+
+“I understand a lot better than you think,” said Harry, 
+and his voice shook more than ever. “You never heard 
+her, did you? My mum ... trying to stop Voldemort 
+killing me ... and you did that ... you did it. ...” 
+
+Before either of them could say another word, 
+something ginger streaked past Harry; Crookshanks 
+leapt onto Black’s chest and settled himself there, 
+right over Black’s heart. Black blinked and looked 
+down at the cat. 
+
+“Get off,” he murmured, trying to push Crookshanks 
+off him. 
+
+But Crookshanks sank his claws into Black’s robes 
+and wouldn’t shift. He turned his ugly, squashed face 
+to Harry and looked up at him with those great yellow 
+eyes. To his right, Hermione gave a dry sob. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry stared down at Black and Crookshanks, his 
+grip tightening on the wand. So what if he had to kill 
+the cat too? It was in league with Black. ... If it was 
+prepared to die, trying to protect Black, that wasn’t 
+Harry’s business. ... If Black wanted to save it, that 
+only proved he cared more for Crookshanks than for 
+Harry’s parents. ... 
+
+Harry raised the wand. Now was the moment to do it. 
+Now was the moment to avenge his mother and 
+father. He was going to kill Black. He had to kill 
+Black. This was his chance. ... 
+
+The seconds lengthened. And still Harry stood frozen 
+there, wand poised, Black staring up at him, 
+Crookshanks on his chest. Ron’s ragged breathing 
+came from near the bed; Hermione was quite silent. 
+
+And then came a new sound — 
+
+Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor 
+— someone was moving downstairs. 
+
+“WE’RE UP HERE!” Hermione screamed suddenly. 
+“WE’RE UP HERE — SIRIUS BLACK — QUICK!” 
+
+Black made a startled movement that almost 
+dislodged Crookshanks; Harry gripped his wand 
+convulsively — Do it nouA said a voice in his head — 
+but the footsteps were thundering up the stairs and 
+Harry still hadn’t done it. 
+
+The door of the room burst open in a shower of red 
+sparks and Harry wheeled around as Professor Lupin 
+came hurtling into the room, his face bloodless, his 
+wand raised and ready. His eyes flickered over Ron, 
+lying on the floor, over Hermione, cowering next to the 
+door, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering 
+
+
+
+Page | 382 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Black, and then to Black himself, crumpled and 
+bleeding at Harry’s feet. 
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ Lupin shouted. 
+
+Harry’s wand flew once more out of his hand; so did 
+the two Hermione was holding. Lupin caught them all 
+deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Black, 
+who still had Crookshanks lying protectively across 
+his chest. 
+
+Harry stood there, feeling suddenly empty. He hadn’t 
+done it. His nerve had failed him. Black was going to 
+be handed back to the dementors. 
+
+Then Lupin spoke, in a very tense voice. 
+
+“Where is he, Sirius?” 
+
+Harry looked quickly at Lupin. He didn’t understand 
+what Lupin meant. Who was Lupin talking about? He 
+turned to look at Black again. 
+
+Black’s face was quite expressionless. For a few 
+seconds, he didn’t move at all. Then, very slowly, he 
+raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron. 
+Mystified, Harry glanced around at Ron, who looked 
+bewildered. 
+
+“But then ... ,” Lupin muttered, staring at Black so 
+intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "... 
+why hasn’t he shown himself before now? Unless” — 
+Lupin’s eyes suddenly widened, as though he was 
+seeing something beyond Black, something none of 
+the rest could see, “ — unless he was the one ... 
+unless you switched . . . without telling me?” 
+
+Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin’s 
+face, Black nodded. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Professor,” Harry interrupted loudly, “what’s going 
+on — ?” 
+
+But he never finished the question, because what he 
+saw made his voice die in his throat. Lupin was 
+lowering his wand, gazing fixedly at Black. The 
+Professor walked to Black’s side, seized his hand, 
+pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the 
+floor, and embraced Black like a brother. 
+
+Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of 
+his stomach. 
+
+“I DONT BELIEVE IT!” Hermione screamed. 
+
+Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. She had 
+raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Lupin, 
+wild-eyed. “You — you — ” 
+
+“Hermione — ” 
+
+“ — you and him!” 
+
+“Hermione, calm down — ” 
+
+“I didn’t tell anyone!” Hermione shrieked. “I’ve been 
+covering up for you — ” 
+
+“Hermione, listen to me, please!” Lupin shouted. “I 
+can explain — ” 
+
+Harry could feel himself shaking, not with fear, but 
+with a fresh wave of fury. 
+
+“I trusted you,” he shouted at Lupin, his voice 
+wavering out of control, “and all the time you’ve been 
+his friend!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 384 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You��re wrong,” said Lupin. “I haven’t been Sirius’s 
+friend, but I am now — Let me explain. ...” 
+
+“NO!” Hermione screamed. “Harry, don’t trust him, 
+he’s been helping Black get into the castle, he wants 
+you dead too — he’s a werewolf.” 
+
+There was a ringing silence. Everyone’s eyes were now 
+on Lupin, who looked remarkably calm, though rather 
+pale. 
+
+“Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione,” he 
+said. “Only one out of three, I’m afraid. I have not 
+been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly 
+don’t want Harry dead. ...” An odd shiver passed over 
+his face. “But I won’t deny that I am a werewolf.” 
+
+Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back 
+with a whimper of pain. Lupin made toward him, 
+looking concerned, but Ron gasped, 
+
+“Get away from me, werewolf” 
+
+Lupin stopped dead. Then, with an obvious effort, he 
+turned to Hermione and said, “How long have you 
+known?” 
+
+“Ages,” Hermione whispered. “Since I did Professor 
+Snape’s essay. ...” 
+
+“He’ll be delighted,” said Lupin coolly. “He assigned 
+that essay hoping someone would realize what my 
+symptoms meant. ... Did you check the lunar chart 
+and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or 
+did you realize that the boggart changed into the 
+moon when it saw me?” 
+
+“Both,” Hermione said quietly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Lupin forced a laugh. 
+
+“You’re the cleverest witch of your age I’ve ever met, 
+Hermione.” 
+
+“I’m not,” Hermione whispered. “If I’d been a bit 
+cleverer, I’d have told everyone what you are!” 
+
+“But they already know,” said Lupin. “At least, the 
+staff do.” 
+
+“Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a 
+werewolf?” Ron gasped. “Is he mad?” 
+
+“Some of the staff thought so,” said Lupin. “He had to 
+work very hard to convince certain teachers that I’m 
+trustworthy — ” 
+
+“AND HE WAS WRONG!” Harry yelled. “YOU VE BEEN 
+HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!” He was pointing at 
+Black, who suddenly crossed to the four-poster bed 
+and sank onto it, his face hidden in one shaking 
+hand. Crookshanks leapt up beside him and stepped 
+onto his lap, purring. Ron edged away from both of 
+them, dragging his leg. 
+
+“I have not been helping Sirius,” said Lupin. “If you’ll 
+give me a chance, I’ll explain. Look — ” 
+
+He separated Harry’s, Ron’s and Hermione’s wands 
+and threw each back to its owner; Harry caught his, 
+stunned. 
+
+“There,” said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into 
+his belt. “You’re armed, we’re not. Now will you 
+listen?” 
+
+Harry didn’t know what to think. Was it a trick? 
+
+
+
+Page | 386 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“If you haven’t been helping him,” he said, with a 
+furious glance at Black, “how did you know he was 
+here?” 
+
+
+
+“The map,” said Lupin. “The Marauder’s Map. I was in 
+my office examining it — ” 
+
+“You know how to work it?” Harry said suspiciously. 
+
+“Of course I know how to work it,” said Lupin, waving 
+his hand impatiently. “I helped write it. I’m Moony — 
+that was my friends’ nickname for me at school.” 
+
+“You wrote — ?” 
+
+“The important thing is, I was watching it carefully 
+this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron, 
+and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to 
+visit Hagrid before his hippogriff was executed. And I 
+was right, wasn’t I?” 
+
+He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. 
+Little patches of dust rose at his feet. 
+
+“You might have been wearing your father’s old cloak, 
+Harry — ” 
+
+“How d’you know about the cloak?” 
+
+“The number of times I saw James disappearing 
+under it... ,” said Lupin, waving an impatient hand 
+again. “The point is, even if you’re wearing an 
+Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder’s 
+Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter 
+Hagrid’s hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, 
+and set off back toward the castle. But you were now 
+accompanied by somebody else.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “No, we weren’t!” 
+
+Page | 387 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Lupin, still pacing, 
+and ignoring Harry’s interruption. “I thought the map 
+must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?” 
+
+“No one was with us!” said Harry. 
+
+“And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, 
+labeled Sirius Black. ... I saw him collide with you; I 
+watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping 
+Willow — ” 
+
+“One of us!” Ron said angrily. 
+
+“No, Ron,” said Lupin. “Two of you.” 
+
+He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron. 
+
+“Do you think I could have a look at the rat?” he said 
+evenly. 
+
+“What?” said Ron. “What’s Scabbers got to do with 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+“Everything,” said Lupin. “Could I see him, please?” 
+
+Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. 
+Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to 
+seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. 
+Crookshanks stood up on Black’s leg and made a soft 
+hissing noise. 
+
+Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding 
+his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers. 
+
+“What?” Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to 
+him, looking scared. “What’s my rat got to do with 
+anything?” 
+
+“That’s not a rat,” croaked Sirius Black suddenly. 
+
+Page | 388 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What d’you mean — of course he’s a rat — ” 
+
+“No, he’s not,” said Lupin quietly. “He’s a wizard.” 
+
+“An Animagus,” said Black, “by the name of Peter 
+Pettigrew.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 389 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, AND 
+
+PRONGS 
+
+It took a few seconds for the absurdity of this 
+statement to sink in. Then Ron voiced what Harry 
+was thinking. 
+
+“You’re both mental.” 
+
+“Ridiculous!” said Hermione faintly. 
+
+“Peter Pettigrew’s dead!” said Harry. “He killed him 
+twelve years ago!” He pointed at Black, whose face 
+twitched convulsively. 
+
+“I meant to,” he growled, his yellow teeth bared, “but 
+little Peter got the better of me ... not this time, 
+though!” 
+
+And Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Black 
+lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black’s 
+weight fell on his broken leg. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sirius, NO!” Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards 
+and dragging Black away from Ron again, “WAIT! You 
+can’t do it just like that — they need to understand — 
+we’ve got to explain — ” 
+
+“We can explain afterwards!” snarled Black, trying to 
+throw Lupin off. One hand was still clawing the air as 
+it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a 
+piglet, scratching Ron’s face and neck as he tried to 
+escape. 
+
+“They’ve — got — a — right — to — know — 
+everything!” Lupin panted, still trying to restrain 
+Black. “Ron’s kept him as a pet! There are parts of it 
+even I don’t understand! And Harry — you owe Harry 
+the truth, Sirius!” 
+
+Black stopped struggling, though his hollowed eyes 
+were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly 
+under Ron’s bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands. 
+
+“All right, then,” Black said, without taking his eyes 
+off the rat. “Tell them whatever you like. But make it 
+quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was 
+imprisoned for. ...” 
+
+“You’re nutters, both of you,” said Ron shakily, 
+looking round at Harry and Hermione for support. 
+
+“I’ve had enough of this. I’m off.” 
+
+He tried to heave himself up on his good leg, but 
+Lupin raised his wand again, pointing it at Scabbers. 
+
+“You’re going to hear me out, Ron,” he said quietly. 
+“Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen.” 
+
+“HE’S NOT PETER, HE’S SCABBERS!” Ron yelled, 
+trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but 
+Scabbers was fighting too hard; Ron swayed and 
+
+Page | 391 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+overbalanced, and Harry caught him and pushed him 
+back down to the bed. Then, ignoring Black, Harry 
+turned to Lupin. 
+
+“There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die,” he 
+said. “A whole street full of them ...” 
+
+“They didn’t see what they thought they saw!” said 
+Black savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in 
+Ron’s hands. 
+
+“Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter,” said Lupin, 
+nodding. “I believed it myself — until I saw the map 
+tonight. Because the Marauder’s map never lies ... 
+Peter’s alive. Ron’s holding him, Harry.” 
+
+Harry looked down at Ron, and as their eyes met, 
+they agreed, silently: Black and Lupin were both out 
+of their minds. Their story made no sense whatsoever. 
+How could Scabbers be Peter Pettigrew? Azkaban 
+must have unhinged Black after all — but why was 
+Lupin playing along with him? 
+
+Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm 
+sort of voice, as though trying to will Professor Lupin 
+to talk sensibly. 
+
+“But Professor Lupin ... Scabbers can’t be Pettigrew 
+... it just can’t be true, you know it can’t ...” 
+
+“Why can’t it be true?” Lupin said calmly, as though 
+they were in class, and Hermione had simply spotted 
+a problem in an experiment with grindylows. 
+
+“Because . . . because people would know if Peter 
+Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in 
+class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them 
+up when I did my homework — the Ministry of Magic 
+keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become 
+Page | 392 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+animals; there’s a register showing what animal they 
+become, and their markings and things ... and I went 
+and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, 
+and there have been only seven Animagi this century, 
+and Pettigrew’s name wasn’t on the list — ” 
+
+Harry had barely had time to marvel inwardly at the 
+effort Hermione put into her homework, when Lupin 
+started to laugh. “Right again, Hermione!” he said. 
+“But the Ministry never knew that there used to be 
+three unregistered Animagi running around 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+“If you’re going to tell them the story, get a move on, 
+Remus,” snarled Black, who was still watching 
+Scabbers’s every desperate move. “I’ve waited twelve 
+years, I’m not going to wait much longer.” 
+
+“All right ... but you’ll need to help me, Sirius,” said 
+Lupin, “I only know how it began ...” 
+
+Lupin broke off. There had been a loud creak behind 
+him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord. 
+All five of them stared at it. Then Lupin strode toward 
+it and looked out into the landing. 
+
+“No one there ...” 
+
+“This place is haunted!” said Ron. 
+
+“It’s not,” said Lupin, still looking at the door in a 
+puzzled way. “The Shrieking Shack was never 
+haunted. ... The screams and howls the villagers used 
+to hear were made by me.” 
+
+He pushed his graying hair out of his eyes, thought 
+for a moment, then said, “That’s where all of this 
+starts — with my becoming a werewolf. None of this 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+could have happened if I hadn’t been bitten ... and if I 
+hadn’t been so foolhardy. ...” 
+
+He looked sober and tired. Ron started to interrupt, 
+but Hermione said, “Shh!” She was watching Lupin 
+very intently. 
+
+“I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My 
+parents tried everything, but in those days there was 
+no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been 
+making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me 
+safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week 
+preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I 
+transform. ... I am able to curl up in my office, a 
+harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again. 
+
+“Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, 
+however, I became a fully fledged monster once a 
+month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to 
+come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren’t likely to 
+want their children exposed to me. 
+
+“But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he 
+was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took 
+certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn’t 
+come to school. ...” Lupin sighed, and looked directly 
+at Harry. “I told you, months ago, that the Whomping 
+Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The 
+truth is that it was planted because I came to 
+Hogwarts. This house” — Lupin looked miserably 
+around the room, — “the tunnel that leads to it — 
+they were built for my use. Once a month, I was 
+smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to 
+transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth 
+to stop anyone coming across me while I was 
+dangerous.” 
+
+Harry couldn’t see where this story was going, but he 
+was listening raptly all the same. The only sound 
+
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+
+
+
+
+apart from Lupin’s voice was Scabbers’s frightened 
+squeaking. 
+
+
+
+“My transformations in those days were — were 
+terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I 
+was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and 
+scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the 
+noise and the screaming and thought they were 
+hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore 
+encouraged the rumor. . . . Even now, when the house 
+has been silent for years, the villagers don’t dare 
+approach it. ... 
+
+“But apart from my transformations, I was happier 
+than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, 
+I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black ... 
+
+Peter Pettigrew ... and, of course, your father, Harry 
+— James Potter. 
+
+“Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that 
+I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of 
+stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had 
+to go home to see her. ... I was terrified they would 
+desert me the moment they found out what I was. But 
+of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the 
+truth. ... 
+
+“And they didn’t desert me at all. Instead, they did 
+something for me that would make my 
+transformations not only bearable, but the best times 
+of my life. They became Animagi.” 
+
+“My dad too?” said Harry, astounded. 
+
+“Yes, indeed,” said Lupin. “It took them the best part 
+of three years to work out how to do it. Your father 
+and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the 
+school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus 
+transformation can go horribly wrong — one reason 
+Page | 395 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting 
+to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from 
+James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they 
+managed it. They could each turn into a different 
+animal at will.” 
+
+“But how did that help you?” said Hermione, 
+sounding puzzled. 
+
+“They couldn’t keep me company as humans, so they 
+kept me company as animals,” said Lupin. “A 
+werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out 
+of the castle every month under James’s Invisibility 
+Cloak. They transformed . . . Peter, as the smallest, 
+could slip beneath the Willow’s attacking branches 
+and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then 
+slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their 
+influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still 
+wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while 
+I was with them.” 
+
+“Hurry up, Remus,” snarled Black, who was still 
+watching Scabbers with a horrible sort of hunger on 
+his face. 
+
+“I’m getting there, Sirius, I’m getting there ... well, 
+highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that 
+we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the 
+Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and 
+the village by night. Sirius and James transformed 
+into such large animals, they were able to keep a 
+werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts 
+students ever found out more about the Hogwarts 
+grounds and Hogsmeade than we did. ... And that’s 
+how we came to write the Marauder’s Map, and sign it 
+with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is 
+Wormtail. James was Prongs.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What sort of animal — ?” Harry began, but Hermione 
+cut him off. 
+
+“That was still really dangerous! Running around in 
+the dark with a werewolf! What if you’d given the 
+others the slip, and bitten somebody?” 
+
+“A thought that still haunts me,” said Lupin heavily. 
+“And there were near misses, many of them. We 
+laughed about them afterwards. We were young, 
+thoughtless — carried away with our own cleverness.” 
+
+“I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore’s 
+trust, of course ... he had admitted me to Hogwarts 
+when no other headmaster would have done so, and 
+he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set 
+down for my own and others’ safety. He never knew I 
+had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi 
+illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty 
+feelings every time we sat down to plan our next 
+month’s adventure. And I haven’t changed ...” 
+
+Lupin’s face had hardened, and there was self-disgust 
+in his voice. “All this year, I have been battling with 
+myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore 
+that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn’t do it. Why? 
+Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant 
+admitting that I’d betrayed his trust while I was at 
+school, admitting that I’d led others along with me ... 
+and Dumbledore’s trust has meant everything to me. 
+He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a 
+job when I have been shunned all my adult life, 
+unable to find paid work because of what I am. And 
+so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the 
+school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, 
+that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it . . . 
+so, in a way, Snape’s been right about me all along.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Snape?” said Black harshly, taking his eyes off 
+Scabbers for the first time in minutes and looking up 
+at Lupin. “What’s Snape got to do with it?” 
+
+“He’s here, Sirius,” said Lupin heavily. “He’s teaching 
+here as well.” He looked up at Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought 
+very hard against my appointment to the Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling 
+Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He 
+has his reasons ... you see, Sirius here played a trick 
+on him which nearly killed him, a trick which 
+involved me — ” 
+
+Black made a derisive noise. 
+
+“It served him right,” he sneered. “Sneaking around, 
+trying to find out what we were up to . . . hoping he 
+could get us expelled. ...” 
+
+“Severus was very interested in where I went every 
+month.” Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “We 
+were in the same year, you know, and we — er — 
+didn’t like each other very much. He especially 
+disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James’s talent on 
+the Quidditch field . . . anyway Snape had seen me 
+crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one 
+evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow 
+to transform. Sirius thought it would be — er — 
+amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the 
+knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he’d be 
+able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it 
+— if he’d got as far as this house, he’d have met a 
+fully grown werewolf — but your father, who’d heard 
+what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled 
+him back, at great risk to his life . . . Snape glimpsed 
+me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was 
+Page | 398 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from 
+that time on he knew what I was. ...” 
+
+“So that’s why Snape doesn’t like you,” said Harry 
+slowly, “because he thought you were in on the joke?” 
+
+“That’s right,” sneered a cold voice from the wall 
+behind Lupin. 
+
+Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, 
+his wand pointing directly at Lupin. 
+
+
+
+Page | 399 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SERVANT OF LORD 
+VOLDERMORT 
+
+Hermione screamed. Black leapt to his feet. Harry felt 
+as though he’d received a huge electric shock. 
+
+“I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow,” 
+said Snape, throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep 
+this wand pointing directly at Lupin’s chest. “Very 
+useful, Potter, I thank you. ...” 
+
+Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of 
+suppressed triumph. “You’re wondering, perhaps, 
+how I knew you were here?” he said, his eyes 
+glittering. “I’ve just been to your office, Lupin. You 
+forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful 
+along. And very lucky I did ... lucky for me, I mean. 
+Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at 
+it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running 
+along this passageway and out of sight.” 
+
+“Severus — ” Lupin began, but Snape overrode him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 400 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“I’ve told the headmaster again and again that you’re 
+helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, 
+and here’s the proof. Not even I dreamed you would 
+have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout 
+
+
+
+“Severus, you’re making a mistake,” said Lupin 
+urgently. “You haven’t heard everything — I can 
+explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry — ” 
+
+“Two more for Azkaban tonight,” said Snape, his eyes 
+now gleaming fanatically. “I shall be interested to see 
+how Dumbledore takes this. ... He was quite 
+convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin ... a 
+tame werewolf — ” 
+
+“You fool,” said Lupin softly. “Is a schoolboy grudge 
+worth putting an innocent man back inside 
+Azkaban?” 
+
+BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of 
+Snape’s wand and twisted themselves around Lupin’s 
+mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell 
+to the floor, unable to move. With a roar of rage, 
+
+Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his 
+wand straight between Black’s eyes. 
+
+“Give me a reason,” he whispered. “Give me a reason 
+to do it, and I swear I will.” 
+
+Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to 
+say which face showed more hatred. 
+
+Harry stood there, paralyzed, not knowing what to do 
+or whom to believe. He glanced around at Ron and 
+Hermione. Ron looked just as confused as he did, still 
+fighting to keep hold on the struggling Scabbers. 
+Hermione, however, took an uncertain step toward 
+Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, “Professor 
+Page | 401 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Snape — it — it wouldn’t hurt to hear what they’ve 
+got to say, w — would it?” 
+
+“Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension 
+from this school,” Snape spat. “You, Potter, and 
+Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a 
+convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your 
+life, hold your tongue.” 
+
+“But if — if there was a mistake — ” 
+
+“KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!” Snape shouted, 
+looking suddenly quite deranged. “DONT TALK 
+ABOUT WHAT YOU DONT UNDERSTAND!” A few 
+sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was 
+still pointed at Black’s face. Hermione fell silent. 
+
+“Vengeance is very sweet,” Snape breathed at Black. 
+“How I hoped I would be the one to catch you. ...” 
+
+“The joke’s on you again, Severus,” Black snarled. “As 
+long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle” — he 
+jerked his head at Ron — “I’ll come quietly. ...” 
+
+“Up to the castle?” said Snape silkily. “I don’t think 
+we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the 
+dementors once we get out of the Willow. They’ll be 
+very pleased to see you, Black ... pleased enough to 
+give you a little kiss, I daresay. ...” 
+
+What little color there was in Black’s face left it. 
+
+“You — you’ve got to hear me out,” he croaked. “The 
+rat — look at the rat — ” 
+
+But there was a mad glint in Snape ’s eyes that Harry 
+had never seen before. He seemed beyond reason. 
+
+
+
+Page | 402 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Come on, all of you,” he said. He clicked his fingers, 
+and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to 
+his hands. “Ill drag the werewolf. Perhaps the 
+dementors will have a kiss for him too — ” 
+
+Before he knew what he was doing, Harry had crossed 
+the room in three strides and blocked the door. 
+
+“Get out of the way, Potter, you’re in enough trouble 
+already,” snarled Snape. “If I hadn’t been here to save 
+your skin — ” 
+
+“Professor Lupin could have killed me about a 
+hundred times this year,” Harry said. “I’ve been alone 
+with him loads of times, having defense lessons 
+against the dementors. If he was helping Black, why 
+didn’t he just finish me off then?” 
+
+“Don’t ask me to fathom the way a werewolf’s mind 
+works,” hissed Snape. “Get out of the way, Potter.” 
+
+“YOU’RE PATHETIC!” Harry yelled. “JUST BECAUSE 
+THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU 
+WONT EVEN LISTEN — ” 
+
+“SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!” 
+Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. “Like 
+father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; 
+you should be thanking me on bended knee! You 
+would have been well served if he’d killed you! You’d 
+have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you 
+might be mistaken in Black — now get out of the way, 
+or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!” 
+
+Harry made up his mind in a split second. Before 
+Snape could take even one step toward him, he had 
+raised his wand. 
+
+
+
+Page | 403 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ Expelliarmus\” he yelled — except that his wasn’t the 
+only voice that shouted. There was a blast that made 
+the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his 
+feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to 
+the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. 
+He had been knocked out. 
+
+Harry looked around. Both Ron and Hermione had 
+tried to disarm Snape at exactly the same moment. 
+Snape ’s wand soared in a high arc and landed on the 
+bed next to Crookshanks. 
+
+“You shouldn’t have done that,” said Black, looking at 
+Harry. “You should have left him to me. ...” 
+
+Harry avoided Black’s eyes. He wasn’t sure, even now, 
+that he’d done the right thing. 
+
+“We attacked a teacher. ... We attacked a teacher ... ,” 
+Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape 
+with frightened eyes. “Oh, we’re going to be in so 
+much trouble — ” 
+
+Lupin was struggling against his bonds. Black bent 
+down quickly and untied him. Lupin straightened up, 
+rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them. 
+
+“Thank you, Harry,” he said. 
+
+“I’m still not saying I believe you,” he told Lupin. 
+
+“Then it’s time we offered you some proof,” said 
+Lupin. “You, boy — give me Peter, please. Now.” 
+
+Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest. 
+
+“Come off it,” he said weakly. “Are you trying to say 
+he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on 
+Scabbers ? I mean ...” He looked up at Harry and 
+
+Page | 404 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione for support, “Okay, say Pettigrew could 
+turn into a rat — there are millions of rats — how’s he 
+supposed to know which one he’s after if he was 
+locked up in Azkaban?” 
+
+“You know, Sirius, that’s a fair question,” said Lupin, 
+turning to Black and frowning slightly. “How did you 
+find out where he was?” 
+
+Black put one of his clawlike hands inside his robes 
+and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he 
+smoothed flat and held out to show the others. 
+
+It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had 
+appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, 
+and there, on Ron’s shoulder, was Scabbers. 
+
+“How did you get this?” Lupin asked Black, 
+thunderstruck. 
+
+“Fudge,” said Black. “When he came to inspect 
+Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there 
+was Peter, on the front page ... on this boy’s shoulder. 
+... I knew him at once . . . how many times had I seen 
+him transform? And the caption said the boy would 
+be going back to Hogwarts ... to where Harry was. ...” 
+
+“My God,” said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to 
+the picture in the paper and back again. “His front 
+paw ...” 
+
+“What about it?” said Ron defiantly. 
+
+“He’s got a toe missing,” said Black. 
+
+“Of course,” Lupin breathed. “So simple ... so brilliant 
+... he cut it off himself?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 405 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Just before he transformed,” said Black. “When I 
+cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear 
+that I’d betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could 
+curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand 
+behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of 
+himself — and sped down into the sewer with the 
+other rats. ...” 
+
+“Didn’t you ever hear, Ron?” said Lupin. “The biggest 
+bit of Peter they found was his finger.” 
+
+“Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat 
+or something! He’s been in my family for ages, right — 
+
+
+
+“Twelve years, in fact,” said Lupin. “Didn’t you ever 
+wonder why he was living so long?” 
+
+“We — we’ve been taking good care of him!” said Ron. 
+
+“Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?” 
+said Lupin. “I’d guess he’s been losing weight ever 
+since he heard Sirius was on the loose again. ...” 
+
+“He’s been scared of that mad cat!” said Ron, nodding 
+toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the 
+bed. 
+
+But that wasn’t right, Harry thought suddenly. ... 
+Scabbers had been looking ill before he met 
+Crookshanks . . . ever since Ron’s return from Egypt . . . 
+since the time when Black had escaped. ... 
+
+“This cat isn’t mad,” said Black hoarsely. He reached 
+out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks ’s fluffy 
+head. “He’s the most intelligent of his kind I’ve ever 
+met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. 
+And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a 
+while before he trusted me. ... Finally, I managed to 
+Page | 406 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+communicate to him what I was after, and he’s been 
+helping me. ...” 
+
+
+
+“What do you mean?” breathed Hermione. 
+
+“He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn’t ... so he 
+stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me. ... 
+
+As I understand it, he took them from a boy’s bedside 
+table. ...” 
+
+Harry’s brain seemed to be sagging under the weight 
+of what he was hearing. It was absurd . . . and yet . . . 
+
+“But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for 
+it. ...” croaked Black. “This cat — Crookshanks, did 
+you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the 
+sheets. ... I supposed he bit himself. ... Well, faking 
+his own death had worked once. ...” 
+
+These words jolted Harry to his senses. 
+
+“And why did he fake his death?” he said furiously. 
+“Because he knew you were about to kill him like you 
+killed my parents!” 
+
+“No,” said Lupin, “Harry — ” 
+
+“And now you’ve come to finish him off!” 
+
+“Yes, I have,” said Black, with an evil look at 
+Scabbers. 
+
+“Then I should’ve let Snape take you!” Harry shouted. 
+
+“Harry,” said Lupin hurriedly, “don’t you see? All this 
+time we’ve thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and 
+Peter tracked him down — but it was the other way 
+around, don’t you see? Peter betrayed your mother 
+and father — Sirius tracked Peter down — ” 
+
+Page | 407 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Harry yelled. “HE WAS THEIR 
+SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU 
+TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!” 
+
+He was pointing at Black, who shook his head slowly; 
+the sunken eyes were suddenly overbright. 
+
+“Harry ... I as good as killed them,” he croaked. “I 
+persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the 
+last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret- 
+Keeper instead of me. ... I’m to blame, I know it. ... 
+The night they died, I’d arranged to check on Peter, 
+make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his 
+hiding place, he’d gone. Yet there was no sign of a 
+struggle. It didn’t feel right. I was scared. I set out for 
+your parents’ house straight away. And when I saw 
+their house, destroyed, and their bodies ... I realized 
+what Peter must’ve done ... what I’d done. ...” 
+
+His voice broke. He turned away. 
+
+“Enough of this,” said Lupin, and there was a steely 
+note in his voice Harry had never heard before. 
+“There’s one certain way to prove what really 
+happened. Ron, give me that rat” 
+
+“What are you going to do with him if I give him to 
+you?” Ron asked Lupin tensely. 
+
+“Force him to show himself,” said Lupin. “If he really 
+is a rat, it won’t hurt him.” 
+
+Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out 
+Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to 
+squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his 
+tiny black eyes bulging in his head. 
+
+“Ready, Sirius?” said Lupin. 
+
+
+
+Page | 408 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Black had already retrieved Snape’s wand from the 
+bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and 
+his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his 
+face. 
+
+“Together?” he said quietly. 
+
+“I think so,” said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in 
+one hand and his wand in the other. “On the count of 
+three. One — two — THREE!” 
+
+A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; 
+for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his 
+small gray form twisting madly — Ron yelled — the 
+rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding 
+flash of light and then — 
+
+It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing 
+tree. A head was shooting upward from the ground; 
+limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was 
+standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and 
+wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and 
+snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was 
+standing up. 
+
+He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry 
+and Hermione. His thin, colorless hair was unkempt 
+and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the 
+shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a 
+lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, 
+almost like Scabbers ’s fur, and something of the rat 
+lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, 
+watery eyes. He looked around at them all, his 
+breathing fast and shallow. Harry saw his eyes dart to 
+the door and back again. 
+
+“Well, hello, Peter,” said Lupin pleasantly, as though 
+rats frequently erupted into old school friends around 
+him. “Long time, no see.” 
+
+Page | 409 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“S — Sirius ... R — Remus ...” Even Pettigrew’s voice 
+was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. 
+“My friends ... my old friends ...” 
+
+Black’s wand arm rose, but Lupin seized him around 
+the wrist, gave him a warning look, then turned again 
+to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual. 
+
+“We’ve been having a little chat, Peter, about what 
+happened the night Lily and James died. You might 
+have missed the finer points while you were 
+squeaking around down there on the bed — ” 
+
+“Remus,” gasped Pettigrew, and Harry could see 
+beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, “you 
+don’t believe him, do you... ? He tried to kill me, 
+Remus. ...” 
+
+“So we’ve heard,” said Lupin, more coldly. “I’d like to 
+clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if 
+you’d be so — ” 
+
+“He’s come to try and kill me again!” Pettigrew 
+squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Harry saw 
+that he used his middle finger, because his index was 
+missing. “He killed Lily and James and now he’s going 
+to kill me too. ... You’ve got to help me, Remus. ...” 
+
+Black’s face looked more skull-like than ever as he 
+stared at Pettigrew with his fathomless eyes. 
+
+“No one’s going to try and kill you until we’ve sorted a 
+few things out,” said Lupin. 
+
+“Sorted things out?” squealed Pettigrew, looking 
+wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the 
+boarded windows and, again, the only door. “I knew 
+he’d come after me! I knew he’d be back for me! I’ve 
+been waiting for this for twelve years!” 
+
+Page | 410 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?” 
+said Lupin, his brow furrowed. “When nobody has 
+ever done it before?” 
+
+“He’s got dark powers the rest of us can only dream 
+of!” Pettigrew shouted shrilly. “How else did he get out 
+of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named 
+taught him a few tricks!” 
+
+Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh 
+that filled the whole room. 
+
+“Voldemort, teach me tricks?” he said. 
+
+Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a 
+whip at him. 
+
+“What, scared to hear your old master’s name?” said 
+Black. “I don’t blame you, Peter. His lot aren’t very 
+happy with you, are they?” 
+
+“Don’t know what you mean, Sirius — ” muttered 
+Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole 
+face was shining with sweat now. 
+
+“You haven’t been hiding from me for twelve years,” 
+said Black. “You’ve been hiding from Voldemort’s old 
+supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter. ... They 
+all think you’re dead, or you’d have to answer to 
+them. ... I’ve heard them screaming all sorts of things 
+in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double- 
+crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the 
+Potters’ on your information ... and Voldemort met his 
+downfall there. And not all Voldemort’s supporters 
+ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty 
+out here, biding their time, pretending they’ve seen 
+the error of their ways. ... If they ever got wind that 
+you were still alive, Peter — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 411 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t know ... what you’re talking about... said 
+Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his 
+face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. “You don’t 
+believe this — this madness, Remus — ” 
+
+“I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in 
+understanding why an innocent man would want to 
+spend twelve years as a rat,” said Lupin evenly. 
+
+“Innocent, but scared!” squealed Pettigrew. “If 
+Voldemort’s supporters were after me, it was because 
+I put one of their best men in Azkaban — the spy, 
+Sirius Black!” 
+
+Black’s face contorted. 
+
+“How dare you,” he growled, sounding suddenly like 
+the bear-sized dog he had been. “I, a spy for 
+Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who 
+were stronger and more powerful than myself? But 
+you, Peter — I’ll never understand why I didn’t see 
+you were the spy from the start. You always liked big 
+friends who’d look after you, didn’t you? It used to be 
+us ... me and Remus ... and James. ...” 
+
+Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting 
+for breath. 
+
+“Me, a spy ... must be out of your mind ... never ... 
+don’t know how you can say such a — ” 
+
+“Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper 
+because I suggested it,” Black hissed, so venomously 
+that Pettigrew took a step backward. “I thought it was 
+the perfect plan ... a bluff. ... Voldemort would be 
+sure to come after me, would never dream they’d use 
+a weak, talentless thing like you. ... It must have been 
+the finest moment of your miserable life, telling 
+Voldemort you could hand him the Potters.” 
+
+Page | 412 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; Harry caught 
+words like “far-fetched” and “lunacy,” but he couldn’t 
+help paying more attention to the ashen color of 
+Pettigrew’s face and the way his eyes continued to 
+dart toward the windows and door. 
+
+“Professor Lupin?” said Hermione timidly. “Can — can 
+I say something?” 
+
+“Certainly, Hermione,” said Lupin courteously. 
+
+“Well — Scabbers — I mean, this — this man — he’s 
+been sleeping in Harry’s dormitory for three years. If 
+he’s working for You-Know-Who, how come he never 
+tried to hurt Harry before now?” 
+
+“There!” said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Ron with 
+his maimed hand. “Thank you! You see, Remus? I 
+have never hurt a hair of Harry’s head! Why should 
+I?” 
+
+“I’ll tell you why,” said Black. “Because you never did 
+anything for anyone unless you could see what was in 
+it for you. Voldemort’s been in hiding for fifteen years, 
+they say he’s half dead. You weren’t about to commit 
+murder right under Albus Dumbledore’s nose, for a 
+wreck of a wizard who’d lost all of his power, were 
+you? You’d want to be quite sure he was the biggest 
+bully in the playground before you went back to him, 
+wouldn’t you? Why else did you find a wizard family 
+to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren’t 
+you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained 
+strength, and it was safe to rejoin him. ...” 
+
+Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several 
+times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk. 
+
+“Er — Mr. Black — Sirius?” said Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Page | 413 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared 
+at Hermione as though he had never seen anything 
+quite like her. 
+
+“If you don’t mind me asking, how — how did you get 
+out of Azkaban, if you didn’t use Dark Magic?” 
+
+“Thank you!” gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at 
+her. “Exactly! Precisely what I — ” 
+
+But Lupin silenced him with a look. Black was 
+frowning slightly at Hermione, but not as though he 
+were annoyed with her. He seemed to be pondering 
+his answer. 
+
+“I don’t know how I did it,” he said slowly. “I think the 
+only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was 
+innocent. That wasn’t a happy thought, so the 
+dementors couldn’t suck it out of me ... but it kept me 
+sane and knowing who I am . . . helped me keep my 
+powers ... so when it all became . . . too much ... I 
+could transform in my cell . . . become a dog. 
+Dementors can’t see, you know. ...” He swallowed. 
+“They feel their way toward people by feeding off their 
+emotions. ... They could tell that my feelings were less 
+— less human, less complex when I was a dog ... but 
+they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind 
+like everyone else in there, so it didn’t trouble them. 
+But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of 
+driving them away from me without a wand. ... 
+
+“But then I saw Peter in that picture ... I realized he 
+was at Hogwarts with Harry . . . perfectly positioned to 
+act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side 
+was gathering strength again. ...” 
+
+Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing 
+noiselessly, but staring all the while at Black as 
+though hypnotized. 
+
+Page | 414 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+"... ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of 
+allies ... and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he 
+gave them Harry, who’d dare say he’d betrayed Lord 
+Voldemort? He’d be welcomed back with honors. ... 
+
+“So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one 
+who knew Peter was still alive. ...” 
+
+Harry remembered what Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. 
+Weasley. “The guards say he’s been talking in his 
+sleep ... always the same words ... ‘He’s at Hog warts.’ 
+
+
+
+“It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and 
+the dementors couldn’t destroy it. ... It wasn’t a 
+happy feeling ... it was an obsession . . . but it gave me 
+strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they 
+opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as 
+a dog. ... It’s so much harder for them to sense 
+animal emotions that they were confused. ... I was 
+thin, very thin . . . thin enough to slip through the 
+bars. ... I swam as a dog back to the mainland. ... I 
+journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts 
+grounds as a dog. I’ve been living in the forest ever 
+since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of 
+course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry. ...” 
+
+He looked at Harry, who did not look away. 
+
+“Believe me,” croaked Black. “Believe me, Harry. I 
+never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died 
+before I betrayed them.” 
+
+And at long last, Harry believed him. Throat too tight 
+to speak, he nodded. 
+
+“No!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 415 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry’s 
+nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled 
+forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in 
+front of him as though praying. 
+
+“Sirius — it’s me ... it’s Peter ... your friend ... you 
+wouldn’t ...” 
+
+Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled. 
+
+“There’s enough filth on my robes without you 
+touching them,” said Black. 
+
+“Remus!” Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin 
+instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. “You 
+don’t believe this ... wouldn’t Sirius have told you 
+they’d changed the plan?” 
+
+“Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter,” said Lupin. “I 
+assume that’s why you didn’t tell me, Sirius?” he said 
+casually over Pettigrew’s head. 
+
+“Forgive me, Remus,” said Black. 
+
+“Not at all, Padfoot, old friend,” said Lupin, who was 
+now rolling up his sleeves. “And will you, in turn, 
+forgive me for believing you were the spy?” 
+
+“Of course,” said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted 
+across his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his 
+sleeves. “Shall we kill him together?” 
+
+“Yes, I think so,” said Lupin grimly. 
+
+“You wouldn’t ... you won’t... ,” gasped Pettigrew. And 
+he scrambled around to Ron. 
+
+
+
+Page | 416 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ron ... haven’t I been a good friend ... a good pet? 
+
+You won’t let them kill me, Ron, will you ... you’re on 
+my side, aren’t you?” 
+
+But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost 
+revulsion. 
+
+“I let you sleep in my bed\” he said. 
+
+“Kind boy ... kind master ...” Pettigrew crawled toward 
+Ron, “you won’t let them do it. ... I was your rat. ... I 
+was a good pet. ...” 
+
+“If you made a better rat than a human, it’s not much 
+to boast about, Peter,” said Black harshly. Ron, going 
+still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of 
+Pettigrew’s reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, 
+staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione’s 
+robes. 
+
+“Sweet girl ... clever girl ... you — you won’t let them. 
+... Help me. ...” 
+
+Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew’s 
+clutching hands and backed away against the wall, 
+looking horrified. 
+
+Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned 
+his head slowly toward Harry. 
+
+“Harry ... Harry ... you look just like your father ... 
+just like him. ...” 
+
+“HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?” roared Black. 
+“HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK 
+ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?” 
+
+“Harry,” whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, 
+hands outstretched. “Harry, James wouldn’t have 
+
+Page | 417 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+wanted me killed. ... James would have understood, 
+Harry ... he would have shown me mercy. ...” 
+
+
+
+Both Black and Lupin strode forward, seized 
+Pettigrew’s shoulders, and threw him backward onto 
+the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring 
+up at them. 
+
+“You sold Lily and James to Voldemort,” said Black, 
+who was shaking too. “Do you deny it?” 
+
+Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, 
+like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor. 
+
+“Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark 
+Lord . . . you have no idea ... he has weapons you can’t 
+imagine. ... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave 
+like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to 
+happen. ... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me — 
+
+
+
+“DONT LIE!” bellowed Black. “YOU’D BEEN PASSING 
+INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY 
+AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!” 
+
+“He — he was taking over everywhere!” gasped 
+Pettigrew. “Wh — what was there to be gained by 
+refusing him?” 
+
+“What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil 
+wizard who has ever existed?” said Black, with a 
+terribly fury in his face. “Only innocent lives, Peter!” 
+
+“You don’t understand!” whined Pettigrew. “He would 
+have killed me, Sirius!” 
+
+“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!” roared Black. 
+“DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS 
+WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!” 
+
+Page | 418 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands 
+raised. 
+
+“You should have realized,” said Lupin quietly, “if 
+Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter.” 
+
+Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned 
+to the wall. 
+
+“NO!” Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in 
+front of Pettigrew, facing the wands. “You can’t kill 
+him,” he said breathlessly. “You can’t.” 
+
+Black and Lupin both looked staggered. 
+
+“Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no 
+parents,” Black snarled. “This cringing bit of filth 
+would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. 
+You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to 
+him than your whole family.” 
+
+“I know,” Harry panted. “We’ll take him up to the 
+castle. We’ll hand him over to the dementors. ... He 
+can go to Azkaban ... but don’t kill him.” 
+
+“Harry!” gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms 
+around Harry’s knees. “You — thank you — it’s more 
+than I deserve — thank you — ” 
+
+“Get off me,” Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew’s hands 
+off him in disgust. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m 
+doing it because — I don’t reckon my dad would’ve 
+wanted them to become killers — just for you.” 
+
+No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, 
+whose breath was coming in wheezes as he clutched 
+his chest. Black and Lupin were looking at each 
+other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their 
+wands. 
+
+Page | 419 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You’re the only person who has the right to decide, 
+Harry,” said Black. “But think ... think what he did. 
+
+
+
+“He can go to Azkaban,” Harry repeated. “If anyone 
+deserves that place, he does. ...” 
+
+Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him. 
+
+“Very well,” said Lupin. “Stand aside, Harry.” 
+
+Harry hesitated. 
+
+“I’m going to tie him up,” said Lupin. “That’s all, I 
+swear.” 
+
+Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from 
+Lupin’s wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew 
+was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged. 
+
+“But if you transform, Peter,” growled Black, his own 
+wand pointing at Pettigrew too, “we will kill you. You 
+agree, Harry?” 
+
+Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor 
+and nodded so that Pettigrew could see him. 
+
+“Right,” said Lupin, suddenly businesslike. “Ron, I 
+can’t mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, 
+so I think it’s best if we just strap your leg up until we 
+can get you to the hospital wing.” 
+
+He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron’s leg 
+with his wand, and muttered, “Ferula.” Bandages 
+spun up Ron’s leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. 
+Lupin helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight 
+gingerly on the leg and didn’t wince. 
+
+“That’s better,” he said. “Thanks.” 
+
+Page | 420 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What about Professor Snape?” said Hermione in a 
+small voice, looking down at Snape’s prone figure. 
+
+
+
+“There’s nothing seriously wrong with him,” said 
+Lupin, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. 
+“You were just a little — overenthusiastic. Still out 
+cold. Er — perhaps it will be best if we don’t revive 
+him until we’re safely back in the castle. We can take 
+him like this. ...” 
+
+He muttered, “Mobilicorpus.” As though invisible 
+strings were tied to Snape’s wrists, neck, and knees, 
+he was pulled into a standing position, head still 
+lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung 
+a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. 
+Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it 
+safely into his pocket. 
+
+“And two of us should be chained to this,” said Black, 
+nudging Pettigrew with his toe. “Just to make sure.” 
+
+“I’ll do it,” said Lupin. 
+
+“And me,” said Ron savagely, limping forward. 
+
+Black conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon 
+Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to 
+Lupin’s right, right arm to Ron’s left. Ron’s face was 
+set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers’s true identity 
+as a personal insult. Crookshanks leapt lightly off the 
+bed and led the way out of the room, his bottlebrush 
+tail held jauntily high. 
+
+
+
+Page | 421 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DEMENTOR’S KISS 
+
+Harry had never been part of a stranger group. 
+Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, 
+Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in 
+a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting 
+creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they 
+descended, held up by his own wand, which was 
+being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry and Hermione 
+brought up the rear. 
+
+Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, 
+Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage 
+it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. 
+Harry could see them edging awkwardly along the 
+tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the 
+lead. Harry went right after Black, who was still 
+making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept 
+bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Harry 
+had the impression Black was making no effort to 
+prevent this. 
+
+
+
+Page | 422 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“You know what this means?” Black said abruptly to 
+Harry as they made their slow progress along the 
+tunnel. “Turning Pettigrew in?” 
+
+“You’re free,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes ... ,” said Black. “But I’m also — I don’t know if 
+anyone ever told you — I’m your godfather.” 
+
+“Yeah, I knew that,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well ... your parents appointed me your guardian,” 
+said Black stiffly. “If anything happened to them ...” 
+
+Harry waited. Did Black mean what he thought he 
+meant? 
+
+“I’ll understand, of course, if you want to stay with 
+your aunt and uncle,” said Black. “But ... well ... 
+think about it. Once my name’s cleared ... if you 
+wanted a ... a different home ...” 
+
+Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry’s 
+stomach. 
+
+“What — live with you?” he said, accidentally cracking 
+his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. 
+“Leave the Dursleys?” 
+
+“Of course, I thought you wouldn’t want to,” said 
+Black quickly. “I understand, I just thought I’d — ” 
+
+“Are you insane?” said Harry, his voice easily as 
+croaky as Black’s. “Of course I want to leave the 
+Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move 
+in?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 423 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Black turned right around to look at him; Snape’s 
+head was scraping the ceiling but Black didn’t seem 
+to care. 
+
+“You want to?” he said. “You mean it?” 
+
+“Yeah, I mean it!” said Harry. 
+
+Black’s gaunt face broke into the first true smile 
+Harry had seen upon it. The difference it made was 
+startling, as though a person ten years younger were 
+shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he 
+was recognizable as the man who had laughed at 
+Harry’s parents’ wedding. 
+
+They did not speak again until they had reached the 
+end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he 
+had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the 
+trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered 
+upward without any sound of savaging branches. 
+
+Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood 
+back for Harry and Hermione to pass. At last, all of 
+them were out. 
+
+The grounds were very dark now; the only light came 
+from the distant windows of the castle. Without a 
+word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and 
+occasionally whimpering. Harry’s mind was buzzing. 
+He was going to leave the Dursleys. He was going to 
+live with Sirius Black, his parents’ best friend. ... He 
+felt dazed. ... What would happen when he told the 
+Dursleys he was going to live with the convict they’d 
+seen on television... ! 
+
+“One wrong move, Peter,” said Lupin threateningly 
+ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at 
+Pettigrew’s chest. 
+
+
+
+Page | 424 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle 
+lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting 
+weirdly ahead of Black, his chin bumping on his 
+chest. And then — 
+
+A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on 
+the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight. 
+
+Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who 
+had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one 
+arm to make Harry and Hermione stop. 
+
+Harry could see Lupin’s silhouette. He had gone rigid. 
+Then his limbs began to shake. 
+
+“Oh, my — ” Hermione gasped. “He didn’t take his 
+potion tonight! He’s not safe!” 
+
+“Run,” Black whispered. “Run. Now.” 
+
+But Harry couldn’t run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew 
+and Lupin. He leapt forward but Black caught him 
+around the chest and threw him back. 
+
+“Leave it to me — RUN!” 
+
+There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin’s head was 
+lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were 
+hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and 
+hands, which were curling into clawed paws. 
+Crookshanks’s hair was on end again; he was backing 
+away — 
+
+As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius 
+disappeared from Harry’s side. He had transformed. 
+The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the 
+werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding 
+it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it 
+
+
+
+Page | 425 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were 
+locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other — 
+
+Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon 
+the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione’s 
+scream that alerted him — 
+
+Pettigrew had dived for Lupin’s dropped wand. Ron, 
+unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, 
+a burst of light — and Ron lay motionless on the 
+ground. Another bang — Crookshanks flew into the 
+air and back to the earth in a heap. 
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ Harry yelled, pointing his own wand 
+at Pettigrew; Lupin’s wand flew high into the air and 
+out of sight. “Stay where you are!” Harry shouted, 
+running forward. 
+
+Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry saw his 
+bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron’s 
+outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the 
+grass. 
+
+There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Harry turned 
+to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into 
+the forest — 
+
+“Sirius, he’s gone, Pettigrew transformed!” Harry 
+yelled. 
+
+Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his 
+muzzle and back, but at Harry’s words he scrambled 
+up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws 
+faded to silence as he pounded away across the 
+grounds. 
+
+Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron. 
+
+
+
+Page | 426 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What did he do to him?” Hermione whispered. Ron’s 
+eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open; he 
+was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, 
+but he didn’t seem to recognize them. 
+
+“I don’t know. ...” 
+
+Harry looked desperately around. Black and Lupin 
+both gone . . . they had no one but Snape for company, 
+still hanging, unconscious, in midair. 
+
+“We’d better get them up to the castle and tell 
+someone,” said Harry, pushing his hair out of his 
+eyes, trying to think straight. Come — ” 
+
+But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they 
+heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain. ... 
+
+“Sirius,” Harry muttered, staring into the darkness. 
+
+He had a moment’s indecision, but there was nothing 
+they could do for Ron at the moment, and by the 
+sound of it, Black was in trouble — 
+
+Harry set off at a run, Hermione right behind him. 
+
+The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground 
+near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it, and 
+Harry, running flat out, felt the cold without realizing 
+what it must mean — 
+
+The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the 
+lakeshore, they saw why — Sirius had turned back 
+into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands 
+over his head. 
+
+“iVooo,” he moaned. “Noooo ... please. ...” 
+
+And then Harry saw them. Dementors, at least a 
+hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the 
+
+Page | 427 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+lake toward them. He spun around, the familiar, icy 
+cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure 
+his vision; more were appearing out of the darkness 
+on every side; they were encircling them. ... 
+
+“Hermione, think of something happy!” Harry yelled, 
+raising his wand, blinking furiously to try and clear 
+his vision, shaking his head to rid it of the faint 
+screaming that had started inside it — 
+
+I’m going to live with my godfather. I’m leaving the 
+Dursleys. 
+
+He forced himself to think of Black, and only Black, 
+and began to chant: “Expecto patronum). Expecto 
+patronum).” 
+
+Black gave a shudder, rolled over, and lay motionless 
+on the ground, pale as death. 
+
+Hell be all right. I’m going to go and live with him. 
+
+“Expecto patronum). Hermione, help me! Expecto 
+patronum).” 
+
+“Expecto — ” Hermione whispered, “expecto — expecto 
+
+
+
+But she couldn’t do it. The dementors were closing in, 
+barely ten feet from them. They formed a solid wall 
+around Harry and Hermione, and were getting closer. 
+
+
+
+“EXPECTO PATRONUM” Harry yelled, trying to blot 
+the screaming from his ears. “EXPECTO PATRONUM.” 
+
+A thin wisp of silver escaped his wand and hovered 
+like mist before him. At the same moment, Harry felt 
+
+
+
+Page | 428 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione collapse next to him. He was alone ... 
+completely alone. ... 
+
+“Expecto — expecto patronum — ” 
+
+Harry felt his knees hit the cold grass. Fog was 
+clouding his eyes. With a huge effort, he fought to 
+remember — Sirius was innocent — innocent — We’ll 
+be okay — I’m going to live with him — 
+
+“ Expecto patronum J” he gasped. 
+
+By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he saw a 
+dementor halt, very close to him. It couldn’t walk 
+through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. 
+
+A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It 
+made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus 
+aside. 
+
+“No — no — ” Harry gasped. “He’s innocent ... expecto 
+— expecto patronum — ” 
+
+He could feel them watching him, hear their rattling 
+breath like an evil wind around him. The nearest 
+dementor seemed to be considering him. Then it 
+raised both its rotting hands — and lowered its hood. 
+
+Where there should have been eyes, there was only 
+thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty 
+sockets. But there was a mouth ... a gaping, 
+shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a 
+death rattle. 
+
+A paralyzing terror filled Harry so that he couldn’t 
+move or speak. His Patronus flickered and died. 
+
+White fog was blinding him. He had to fight ... expecto 
+patronum ... he couldn’t see ... and in the distance, he 
+heard the familiar screaming . . . expecto patronum . . . 
+
+Page | 429 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he groped in the mist for Sirius, and found his arm ... 
+they weren’t going to take him. ... 
+
+But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly 
+attached themselves around Harry’s neck. They were 
+forcing his face upward. ... He could feel its breath. ... 
+It was going to get rid of him first. ... He could feel its 
+putrid breath. . . . His mother was screaming in his 
+ears. ... She was going to be the last thing he ever 
+heard — 
+
+And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he 
+thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and 
+brighter. ... He felt himself fall forward onto the grass. 
+... Facedown, too weak to move, sick and shaking, 
+Harry opened his eyes. The dementor must have 
+released him. The blinding light was illuminating the 
+grass around him. ... The screaming had stopped, the 
+cold was ebbing away. . . . 
+
+Something was driving the dementors back. ... It was 
+circling around him and Black and Hermione. ... They 
+were leaving. ... The air was warm again. ... 
+
+With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry 
+raised his head a few inches and saw an animal amid 
+the light, galloping away across the lake. ... Eyes 
+blurred with sweat, Harry tried to make out what it 
+was. ... It was as bright as a unicorn. ... Fighting to 
+stay conscious, Harry watched it canter to a halt as it 
+reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry 
+saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back 
+. . . raising his hand to pat it . . . someone who looked 
+strangely familiar ... but it couldn’t be ... 
+
+Harry didn’t understand. He couldn’t think anymore. 
+He felt the last of his strength leave him, and his head 
+hit the ground as he fainted. 
+
+
+
+Page | 430 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+HERMIONE’S SECRET 
+
+“Shocking business ... shocking ... miracle none of 
+them died . . . never heard the like ... by thunder, it 
+was lucky you were there, Snape. ...” 
+
+“Thank you, Minister.” 
+
+“Order of Merlin, Second Class, I’d say. First Class, if 
+I can wangle it!” 
+
+“Thank you very much indeed, Minister.” 
+
+“Nasty cut you’ve got there. ... Black’s work, I 
+suppose?” 
+
+“As a matter of fact, it was Potter, Weasley, and 
+Granger, Minister. ...” 
+
+“iVo!” 
+
+“Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A 
+Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They 
+seemed to think there was a possibility he was 
+
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+
+
+
+innocent. They weren’t responsible for their actions. 
+On the other hand, their interference might have 
+permitted Black to escape. ... They obviously thought 
+they were going to catch Black single-handed. They’ve 
+got away with a great deal before now. ... I’m afraid 
+it’s given them a rather high opinion of themselves ... 
+and of course Potter has always been allowed an 
+extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster — 
+
+
+
+“Ah, well, Snape ... Harry Potter, you know ... we’ve 
+all got a bit of a blind spot where he’s concerned.” 
+
+“And yet — is it good for him to be given so much 
+special treatment? Personally, I try and treat him like 
+any other student. And any other student would be 
+suspended — at the very least — for leading his 
+friends into such danger. Consider, Minister — 
+against all school rules — after all the precautions 
+put in place for his protection — out-of-bounds, at 
+night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer — 
+and I have reason to believe he has been visiting 
+Hogsmeade illegally too — ” 
+
+“Well, well ... we shall see, Snape, we shall see. ... The 
+boy has undoubtedly been foolish. ...” 
+
+Harry lay listening with his eyes tight shut. He felt 
+very groggy. The words he was hearing seemed to be 
+traveling very slowly from his ears to his brain, so 
+that it was difficult to understand. ... His limbs felt 
+like lead; his eyelids too heavy to lift. ... He wanted to 
+lie here, on this comfortable bed, forever. ... 
+
+“What amazes me most is the behavior of the 
+dementors ... you’ve really no idea what made them 
+retreat, Snape?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 432 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, Minister ... by the time I had come ’round they 
+were heading back to their positions at the entrances. 
+
+
+
+“Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harry, and the girl 
+
+
+
+“All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound 
+and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and 
+brought them all straight back to the castle.” 
+
+There was a pause. Harry’s brain seemed to be 
+moving a little faster, and as it did, a gnawing 
+sensation grew in the pit of his stomach. ... 
+
+He opened his eyes. 
+
+Everything was slightly blurred. Somebody had 
+removed his glasses. He was lying in the dark hospital 
+wing. At the very end of the ward, he could make out 
+Madam Pomfrey with her back to him, bending over a 
+bed. Harry squinted. Ron’s red hair was visible 
+beneath Madam Pomfrey’s arm. 
+
+Harry moved his head over on the pillow. In the bed 
+to his right lay Hermione. Moonlight was falling 
+across her bed. Her eyes were open too. She looked 
+petrified, and when she saw that Harry was awake, 
+pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the 
+hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voices of 
+Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it 
+from the corridor outside. 
+
+Madam Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the 
+dark ward to Harry’s bed. He turned to look at her. 
+She was carrying the largest block of chocolate he 
+had ever seen in his life. It looked like a small 
+boulder. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Ah, you’re awake!” she said briskly. She placed the 
+chocolate on Harry’s bedside table and began 
+breaking it apart with a small hammer. 
+
+“How’s Ron?” said Harry and Hermione together. 
+
+“He’ll live,” said Madam Pomfrey grimly. “As for you 
+two ... you’ll be staying here until I’m satisfied you’re 
+— Potter, what do you think you’re doing?” 
+
+Harry was sitting up, putting his glasses back on, and 
+picking up his wand. 
+
+“I need to see the headmaster,” he said. 
+
+“Potter,” said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, “it’s all 
+right. They’ve got Black. He’s locked away upstairs. 
+The dementors will be performing the kiss any 
+moment now — ” 
+
+“WHAT?” 
+
+Harry jumped up out of bed; Hermione had done the 
+same. But his shout had been heard in the corridor 
+outside; next second, Cornelius Fudge and Snape had 
+entered the ward. 
+
+“Harry, Harry, what’s this?” said Fudge, looking 
+agitated. “You should be in bed — has he had any 
+chocolate?” he asked Madam Pomfrey anxiously. 
+
+“Minister, listen!” Harry said. “Sirius Black’s innocent! 
+Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him 
+tonight! You can’t let the dementors do that thing to 
+Sirius, he’s — ” 
+
+But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile 
+on his face. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harry, Harry, you’re very confused, you’ve been 
+through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we’ve 
+got everything under control. ...” 
+
+“YOU HAVEN’T!” Harry yelled. “YOU VE GOT THE 
+WRONG MAN!” 
+
+“Minister, listen, please,” Hermione said; she had 
+hurried to Harry’s side and was gazing imploringly 
+into Fudge’s face. “I saw him too. It was Ron’s rat, 
+he’s an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and — ” 
+
+“You see, Minister?” said Snape. “Confunded, both of 
+them. ... Black’s done a very good job on them. ...” 
+
+“WE’RE NOT CONFUNDED!” Harry roared. 
+
+“Minister! Professor!” said Madam Pomfrey angrily. “I 
+must insist that you leave. Potter is my patient, and 
+he should not be distressed!” 
+
+“I’m not distressed, I’m trying to tell them what 
+happened!” Harry said furiously. “If they’d just listen 
+
+
+
+But Madam Pomfrey suddenly stuffed a large chunk 
+of chocolate into Harry’s mouth; he choked, and she 
+seized the opportunity to force him back onto the bed. 
+
+“Now, please, Minister, these children need care. 
+Please leave — ” 
+
+The door opened again. It was Dumbledore. Harry 
+swallowed his mouthful of chocolate with great 
+difficulty and got up again. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“For heaven’s sake!” said Madam Pomfrey 
+hysterically. “Is this a hospital wing or not? 
+Headmaster, I must insist — ” 
+
+“My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with Mr. 
+Potter and Miss Granger,” said Dumbledore calmly. “I 
+have just been talking to Sirius Black — ” 
+
+“I suppose he’s told you the same fairy tale he’s 
+planted in Potter’s mind?” spat Snape. “Something 
+about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive — ” 
+
+“That, indeed, is Black’s story,” said Dumbledore, 
+surveying Snape closely through his half-moon 
+spectacles. 
+
+“And does my evidence count for nothing?” snarled 
+Snape. “Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking 
+Shack, nor did I see any sign of him on the grounds.” 
+
+“That was because you were knocked out, Professor!” 
+said Hermione earnestly. “You didn’t arrive in time to 
+hear — ” 
+
+“Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!” 
+
+“Now, Snape,” said Fudge, startled, “the young lady is 
+disturbed in her mind, we must make allowances — ” 
+
+“I would like to speak to Harry and Hermione alone,” 
+said Dumbledore abruptly. “Cornelius, Severus, 
+
+Poppy — please leave us.” 
+
+“Headmaster!” sputtered Madam Pomfrey “They need 
+treatment, they need rest — ” 
+
+“This cannot wait,” said Dumbledore. “I must insist.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 436 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into 
+her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door 
+behind her. Fudge consulted the large gold pocket 
+watch dangling from his waistcoat. 
+
+“The dementors should have arrived by now,” he said. 
+“Ill go and meet them. Dumbledore, 111 see you 
+upstairs.” 
+
+He crossed to the door and held it open for Snape, 
+but Snape hadn’t moved. 
+
+“You surely don’t believe a word of Black’s story?” 
+Snape whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore ’s 
+face. 
+
+“I wish to speak to Harry and Hermione alone,” 
+Dumbledore repeated. 
+
+Snape took a step toward Dumbledore. 
+
+“Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the 
+age of sixteen,” he breathed. “You haven’t forgotten 
+that, Headmaster? You haven’t forgotten that he once 
+tried to kill me?” 
+
+“My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus,” said 
+Dumbledore quietly. 
+
+Snape turned on his heel and marched through the 
+door Fudge was still holding. It closed behind them, 
+and Dumbledore turned to Harry and Hermione. They 
+both burst into speech at the same time. 
+
+“Professor, Black’s telling the truth — we saw 
+Pettigrew — ” 
+
+“ — he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a 
+werewolf — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — he’s a rat — ” 
+
+
+
+“ — Pettigrew’s front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off 
+
+
+
+“ — Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn’t Sirius — ” 
+
+But Dumbledore held up his hand to stem the flood of 
+explanations. 
+
+“It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not 
+interrupt me, because there is very little time,” he 
+said quietly. “There is not a shred of proof to support 
+Black’s story, except your word — and the word of 
+two thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince 
+anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw 
+Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the 
+Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters’ Secret- 
+Keeper.” 
+
+“Professor Lupin can tell you — ” Harry said, unable to 
+stop himself. 
+
+“Professor Lupin is currently deep in the forest, 
+unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is 
+human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse 
+than dead. I might add that werewolves are so 
+mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will 
+count for very little — and the fact that he and Sirius 
+are old friends — ” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“ Listen to me, Harry. It is too late, you understand 
+me? You must see that Professor Snape’s version of 
+events is far more convincing than yours.” 
+
+“He hates Sirius,” Hermione said desperately. “All 
+because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him — ” 
+
+Page | 438 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The 
+attack on the Fat Lady — entering Gryffindor Tower 
+with a knife — without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we 
+have no chance of overturning Sirius’s sentence.” 
+
+“But you believe us.” 
+
+“Yes, I do,” said Dumbledore quietly. “But I have no 
+power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule 
+the Minister of Magic. ...” 
+
+Harry stared up into the grave face and felt as though 
+the ground beneath him were falling sharply away. He 
+had grown used to the idea that Dumbledore could 
+solve anything. He had expected Dumbledore to pull 
+some amazing solution out of the air. But no . . . their 
+last hope was gone. 
+
+“What we need,” said Dumbledore slowly, and his 
+light blue eyes moved from Harry to Hermione, “is 
+more time.” 
+
+“But — ” Hermione began. And then her eyes became 
+very round. “OH!” 
+
+“Now, pay attention,” said Dumbledore, speaking very 
+low, and very clearly. “Sirius is locked in Professor 
+Flitwick’s office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth 
+window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes 
+well, you will be able to save more than one innocent 
+life tonight. But remember this, both of you: you must 
+not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law — you 
+know what is at stake. ... You — must — not — be — 
+seen.” 
+
+Harry didn’t have a clue what was going on. 
+Dumbledore had turned on his heel and looked back 
+as he reached the door. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I am going to lock you in. It is — ” he consulted his 
+watch, “five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three 
+turns should do it. Good luck.” 
+
+“Good luck?” Harry repeated as the door closed 
+behind Dumbledore. “Three turns? What’s he talking 
+about? What are we supposed to do?” 
+
+But Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her 
+robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, very 
+fine gold chain. 
+
+“Harry, come here,” she said urgently. ��Quick).” 
+
+Harry moved toward her, completely bewildered. She 
+was holding the chain out. He saw a tiny, sparkling 
+hourglass hanging from it. 
+
+“Here — ” 
+
+She had thrown the chain around his neck too. 
+
+“Ready?” she said breathlessly. 
+
+“What are we doing?” Harry said, completely lost. 
+
+Hermione turned the hourglass over three times. 
+
+The dark ward dissolved. Harry had the sensation 
+that he was flying very fast, backward. A blur of 
+colors and shapes rushed past him, his ears were 
+pounding, he tried to yell but couldn’t hear his own 
+voice — 
+
+And then he felt solid ground beneath his feet, and 
+everything came into focus again — 
+
+He was standing next to Hermione in the deserted 
+entrance hall and a stream of golden sunlight was 
+
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+
+
+
+
+falling across the paved floor from the open front 
+doors. He looked wildly around at Hermione, the 
+chain of the hourglass cutting into his neck. 
+
+“Hermione, what — ?” 
+
+“In here!” Hermione seized Harry’s arm and dragged 
+him across the hall to the door of a broom closet; she 
+opened it, pushed him inside among the buckets and 
+mops, then slammed the door behind them. 
+
+“What — how — Hermione, what happened?” 
+
+“We’ve gone back in time,” Hermione whispered, 
+lifting the chain off Harry’s neck in the darkness. 
+“Three hours back ...” 
+
+Harry found his own leg and gave it a very hard 
+pinch. It hurt a lot, which seemed to rule out the 
+possibility that he was having a very bizarre dream. 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“Shh! Listen! Someone’s coming! I think — I think it 
+might be us!” 
+
+Hermione had her ear pressed against the cupboard 
+door. 
+
+“Footsteps across the hall ... yes, I think it’s us going 
+down to Hagrid’s!” 
+
+“Are you telling me,” Harry whispered, “that we’re 
+here in this cupboard and we’re out there too?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione, her ear still glued to the 
+cupboard door. “I’m sure it’s us. It doesn’t sound like 
+more than three people ... and we’re walking slowly 
+because we’re under the Invisibility Cloak — ” 
+
+Page | 441 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She broke off, still listening intently. 
+
+
+
+“We’ve gone down the front steps. ...” 
+
+Hermione sat down on an upturned bucket, looking 
+desperately anxious, but Harry wanted a few 
+questions answered. 
+
+“Where did you get that hourglass thing?” 
+
+“It’s called a Time-Turner,” Hermione whispered, “and 
+I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day 
+back. I’ve been using it all year to get to all my 
+lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I 
+wouldn’t tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of 
+letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. 
+She had to tell them that I was a model student, and 
+that I’d never, ever use it for anything except my 
+studies. ... I’ve been turning it back so I could do 
+hours over again, that’s how I’ve been doing several 
+lessons at once, see? But ... 
+
+“Harry, I don’t understand what Dumbledore wants us 
+to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? 
+
+How’s that going to help Sirius?” 
+
+Harry stared at her shadowy face. 
+
+“There must be something that happened around now 
+he wants us to change,” he said slowly. “What 
+happened? We were walking down to Hagrid’s three 
+hours ago. ...” 
+
+“This is three hours ago, and we are walking down to 
+Hagrid’s,” said Hermione. “We just heard ourselves 
+leaving. ...” 
+
+Harry frowned; he felt as though he were screwing up 
+his whole brain in concentration. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Dumbledore just said — just said we could save 
+more than one innocent life. ...” And then it hit him. 
+“Hermione, we’re going to save Buckbeak!” 
+
+“But — how will that help Sirius?” 
+
+“Dumbledore said — he just told us where the 
+window is — the window of Flitwick’s office! Where 
+they’ve got Sirius locked up! We’ve got to fly 
+Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius 
+can escape on Buckbeak — they can escape together!” 
+
+From what Harry could see of Hermione’s face, she 
+looked terrified. 
+
+“If we manage that without being seen, it’ll be a 
+miracle!” 
+
+“Well, we’ve got to try, haven’t we?” said Harry. He 
+stood up and pressed his ear against the door. 
+
+“Doesn’t sound like anyone’s there. ... Come on, let’s 
+
+go. ...” 
+
+Harry pushed open the closet door. The entrance hall 
+was deserted. As quietly and quickly as they could, 
+they darted out of the closet and down the stone 
+steps. The shadows were already lengthening, the 
+tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest gilded once 
+more with gold. 
+
+“If anyone’s looking out of the window — ” Hermione 
+squeaked, looking up at the castle behind them. 
+
+“Well run for it,” said Harry determinedly. “Straight 
+into the forest, all right? We’ll have to hide behind a 
+tree or something and keep a lookout — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Okay, but well go around by the greenhouses!” said 
+Hermione breathlessly. “We need to keep out of sight 
+of Hagrid’s front door, or well see us! We must be 
+nearly at Hagrid’s by now!” 
+
+Still working out what she meant, Harry set off at a 
+sprint, Hermione behind him. They tore across the 
+vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, paused for a 
+moment behind them, then set off again, fast as they 
+could, skirting around the Whomping Willow, tearing 
+toward the shelter of the forest. ... 
+
+Safe in the shadows of the trees, Harry turned 
+around; seconds later, Hermione arrived beside him, 
+panting. 
+
+“Right,” she gasped. “We need to sneak over to 
+Hagrid’s. ... Keep out of sight, Harry. ...” 
+
+They made their way silently through the trees, 
+keeping to the very edge of the forest. Then, as they 
+glimpsed the front of Hagrid’s house, they heard a 
+knock upon his door. They moved quickly behind a 
+wide oak trunk and peered out from either side. 
+
+Hagrid had appeared in his doorway, shaking and 
+white, looking around to see who had knocked. And 
+Harry heard his own voice. 
+
+“It’s us. We’re wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in 
+and we can take it off.” 
+
+“Yeh shouldn’ve come!” Hagrid whispered. He stood 
+back, then shut the door quickly. 
+
+“This is the weirdest thing we’ve ever done,” Harry 
+said fervently. 
+
+“Let’s move along a bit,” Hermione whispered. “We 
+need to get nearer to Buckbeak!” 
+
+Page | 444 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They crept through the trees until they saw the 
+nervous hippogriff, tethered to the fence around 
+Hagrid’s pumpkin patch. 
+
+“Now?” Harry whispered. 
+
+“No!” said Hermione. “If we steal him now, those 
+Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! 
+
+We’ve got to wait until they’ve seen he’s tied outside!” 
+
+“That’s going to give us about sixty seconds,” said 
+Harry. This was starting to seem impossible. 
+
+At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china 
+from inside Hagrid’s cabin. 
+
+“That’s Hagrid breaking the milk jug,” Hermione 
+whispered. “I’m going to find Scabbers in a moment — 
+
+
+
+Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard 
+Hermione ’s shriek of surprise. 
+
+“Hermione,” said Harry suddenly, “what if we — we 
+just run in there and grab Pettigrew — ” 
+
+“No!” said Hermione in a terrified whisper. “Don’t you 
+understand? We’re breaking one of the most 
+important wizarding laws! Nobody’s supposed to 
+change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we’re 
+seen — ” 
+
+“We’d only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!” 
+
+“Harry, what do you think you’d do if you saw 
+yourself bursting into Hagrid’s house?” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Page | 445 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’d — I’d think I’d gone mad,” said Harry, “or I’d think 
+there was some Dark Magic going on — ” 
+
+
+
+“ Exactly ! You wouldn’t understand, you might even 
+attack yourself! Don’t you see? Professor McGonagall 
+told me what awful things have happened when 
+wizards have meddled with time. ... Loads of them 
+ended up killing their past or future selves by 
+mistake!” 
+
+“Okay!” said Harry. “It was just an idea, I just thought 
+
+
+
+But Hermione nudged him and pointed toward the 
+castle. Harry moved his head a few inches to get a 
+clear view of the distant front doors. Dumbledore, 
+Fudge, the old Committee member, and Macnair the 
+executioner were coming down the steps. 
+
+“We’re about to come out!” Hermione breathed. 
+
+And sure enough, moments later, Hagrid’s back door 
+opened, and Harry saw himself, Ron, and Hermione 
+walking out of it with Hagrid. It was, without a doubt, 
+the strangest sensation of his life, standing behind 
+the tree, and watching himself in the pumpkin patch. 
+
+“It’s okay, Beaky, it’s okay ... ,” Hagrid said to 
+Buckbeak. Then he turned to Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione. “Go on. Get goin’.” 
+
+“Hagrid, we can’t — ” 
+
+“Well tell them what really happened — ” 
+
+“They can’t kill him — ” 
+
+“Go! It’s bad enough without you lot in trouble an’ 
+all!” 
+
+Page | 446 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry watched the Hermione in the pumpkin patch 
+throw the Invisibility Cloak over him and Ron. 
+
+“Go quick. Don’ listen. ...” 
+
+There was a knock on Hagrid’s front door. The 
+execution party had arrived. Hagrid turned around 
+and headed back into his cabin, leaving the back door 
+ajar. Harry watched the grass flatten in patches all 
+around the cabin and heard three pairs of feet 
+retreating. He, Ron, and Hermione had gone ... but 
+the Harry and Hermione hidden in the trees could 
+now hear what was happening inside the cabin 
+through the back door. 
+
+“Where is the beast?” came the cold voice of Macnair. 
+
+“Out — outside,” Hagrid croaked. 
+
+Harry pulled his head out of sight as Macnair’s face 
+appeared at Hagrid’s window, staring out at 
+Buckbeak. Then they heard Fudge. 
+
+“We — er — have to read you the official notice of 
+execution, Hagrid. I’ll make it quick. And then you 
+and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, you’re 
+supposed to listen too, that’s procedure — ” 
+
+Macnair’s face vanished from the window. It was now 
+or never. 
+
+“Wait here,” Harry whispered to Hermione. “I’ll do it.” 
+
+As Fudge’s voice started again, Harry darted out from 
+behind his tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin 
+patch, and approached Buckbeak. 
+
+“It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of 
+Dangerous Creatures that the hippogriff Buckbeak, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+hereafter called the condemned, shall be executed on 
+the sixth of June at sundown — ” 
+
+Careful not to blink, Harry stared up into Buckbeak’s 
+fierce orange eyes once more and bowed. Buckbeak 
+sank to his scaly knees and then stood up again. 
+Harry began to fumble with the knot of rope tying 
+Buckbeak to the fence. 
+
+"... sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried 
+out by the Committee’s appointed executioner, Walden 
+Macnair ...” 
+
+“Come on, Buckbeak,” Harry murmured, “come on, 
+we’re going to help you. Quietly ... quietly ...” 
+
+"... as witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here. ...” 
+
+Harry threw all his weight onto the rope, but 
+Buckbeak had dug in his front feet. 
+
+“Well, let’s get this over with,” said the reedy voice of 
+the Committee member from inside Hagrid’s cabin. 
+“Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside — ” 
+
+“No, I — I wan’ ter be with him. ... I don’ wan’ him ter 
+be alone — ” 
+
+Footsteps echoed from within the cabin. 
+
+“Buckbeak, move\” Harry hissed. 
+
+Harry tugged harder on the rope around Buckbeak’s 
+neck. The hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings 
+irritably. They were still ten feet away from the forest, 
+in plain view of Hagrid’s back door. 
+
+“One moment, please, Macnair,” came Dumbledore’s 
+voice. “You need to sign too.” The footsteps stopped. 
+
+Page | 448 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his 
+beak and walked a little faster. 
+
+
+
+Hermione ’s white face was sticking out from behind a 
+tree. 
+
+“Harry, hurry!” she mouthed. 
+
+Harry could still hear Dumbledore’s voice talking from 
+within the cabin. He gave the rope another wrench. 
+Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They had 
+reached the trees. ... 
+
+“Quick! Quick!” Hermione moaned, darting out from 
+behind her tree, seizing the rope too and adding her 
+weight to make Buckbeak move faster. Harry looked 
+over his shoulder; they were now blocked from sight; 
+they couldn’t see Hagrid’s garden at all. 
+
+“Stop!” he whispered to Hermione. “They might hear 
+us — ” 
+
+
+
+Hagrid’s back door had opened with a bang. Harry, 
+Hermione, and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the 
+hippogriff seemed to be listening intently. 
+
+Silence . . . then — 
+
+“Where is it?” said the reedy voice of the Committee 
+member. “Where is the beast?” 
+
+“It was tied here!” said the executioner furiously. “I 
+saw it! Just here!” 
+
+“How extraordinary,” said Dumbledore. There was a 
+note of amusement in his voice. 
+
+“Beaky!” said Hagrid huskily. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. 
+The executioner seemed to have swung it into the 
+fence in anger. And then came the howling, and this 
+time they could hear Hagrid ’s words through his sobs. 
+
+“Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he’s gone\ Musta 
+pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!” 
+
+Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to 
+get back to Hagrid. Harry and Hermione tightened 
+their grip and dug their heels into the forest floor to 
+stop him. 
+
+“Someone untied him!” the executioner was snarling. 
+“We should search the grounds, the forest — ” 
+
+“Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you 
+really think the thief will have led him away on foot?” 
+said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. “Search the 
+skies, if you will. ... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of 
+tea. Or a large brandy.” 
+
+“O’ — o’ course, Professor,” said Hagrid, who sounded 
+weak with happiness. “Come in, come in. ...” 
+
+Harry and Hermione listened closely. They heard 
+footsteps, the soft cursing of the executioner, the 
+snap of the door, and then silence once more. 
+
+“Now what?” whispered Harry, looking around. 
+
+“Well have to hide in here,” said Hermione, who 
+looked very shaken. ��We need to wait until they’ve 
+gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it’s safe to 
+fly Buckbeak up to Sirius’s window. He won’t be there 
+for another couple of hours. ... Oh, this is going to be 
+difficult. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+She looked nervously over her shoulder into the 
+depths of the forest. The sun was setting now. 
+
+“We’re going to have to move,” said Harry, thinking 
+hard. “We’ve got to be able to see the Whomping 
+Willow, or we won’t know what’s going on.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Hermione, getting a firmer grip on 
+Buckbeak’s rope. “But we’ve got to keep out of sight, 
+Harry, remember. ...” 
+
+They moved around the edge of the forest, darkness 
+falling thickly around them, until they were hidden 
+behind a clump of trees through which they could 
+make out the Willow. 
+
+“There’s Ron!” said Harry suddenly. 
+
+A dark figure was sprinting across the lawn and its 
+shout echoed through the still night air. 
+
+“Get away from him — get away — Scabbers, come 
+here — ” 
+
+And then they saw two more figures materialize out of 
+nowhere. Harry watched himself and Hermione 
+chasing after Ron. Then he saw Ron dive. 
+
+“Gotchcd Get off, you stinking cat — ” 
+
+“There’s Sirius!” said Harry. The great shape of the 
+dog had bounded out from the roots of the Willow. 
+They saw him bowl Harry over, then seize Ron. ... 
+
+“Looks even worse from here, doesn’t it?” said Harry, 
+watching the dog pulling Ron into the roots. “Ouch — 
+look, I just got walloped by the tree — and so did you 
+— this is weird — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The Whomping Willow was creaking and lashing out 
+with its lower branches; they could see themselves 
+darting here and there, trying to reach the trunk. And 
+then the tree froze. 
+
+“That was Crookshanks pressing the knot,” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“And there we go ... ,” Harry muttered. “We’re in.” 
+
+The moment they disappeared, the tree began to move 
+again. Seconds later, they heard footsteps quite close 
+by. Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge, and the old 
+Committee member were making their way up to the 
+castle. 
+
+“Right after we’d gone down into the passage!” said 
+Hermione. “If only Dumbledore had come with us ...” 
+
+“Macnair and Fudge would’ve come too,” said Harry 
+bitterly. “I bet you anything Fudge would’ve told 
+Macnair to murder Sirius on the spot. ...” 
+
+They watched the four men climb the castle steps and 
+disappear from view. For a few minutes the scene was 
+deserted. Then — 
+
+“Here comes Lupin!” said Harry as they saw another 
+figure sprinting down the stone steps and haring 
+toward the Willow. Harry looked up at the sky. Clouds 
+were obscuring the moon completely. 
+
+They watched Lupin seize a broken branch from the 
+ground and prod the knot on the trunk. The tree 
+stopped fighting, and Lupin, too, disappeared into the 
+gap in its roots. 
+
+“If he’d only grabbed the cloak,” said Harry. “It’s just 
+lying there. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He turned to Hermione. 
+
+
+
+“If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape’d 
+never be able to get it and — ” 
+
+“Harry, we mustn’t be seen!” 
+
+“How can you stand this?” he asked Hermione 
+fiercely. “Just standing here and watching it happen?” 
+He hesitated. “I’m going to grab the cloak!” 
+
+“Harry, no!” 
+
+Hermione seized the back of Harry’s robes not a 
+moment too soon. Just then, they heard a burst of 
+song. It was Hagrid, making his way up to the castle, 
+singing at the top of his voice, and weaving slightly as 
+he walked. A large bottle was swinging from his 
+hands. 
+
+“See?” Hermione whispered. “See what would have 
+happened? We’ve got to keep out of sight! No, 
+Buckbeak).” 
+
+The hippogriff was making frantic attempts to get to 
+Hagrid again; Harry seized his rope too, straining to 
+hold Buckbeak back. They watched Hagrid meander 
+tipsily up to the castle. He was gone. Buckbeak 
+stopped fighting to get away. His head drooped sadly. 
+
+Barely two minutes later, the castle doors flew open 
+yet again, and Snape came charging out of them, 
+running toward the Willow. 
+
+Harry’s fists clenched as they watched Snape skid to 
+a halt next to the tree, looking around. He grabbed 
+the cloak and held it up. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Get your filthy hands off it,” Harry snarled under his 
+breath. 
+
+“Shh!” 
+
+Snape seized the branch Lupin had used to freeze the 
+tree, prodded the knot, and vanished from view as he 
+put on the cloak. 
+
+“So that’s it,” said Hermione quietly. “We’re all down 
+there ... and now we’ve just got to wait until we come 
+back up again. ...” 
+
+She took the end of Buckbeak’s rope and tied it 
+securely around the nearest tree, then sat down on 
+the dry ground, arms around her knees. 
+
+“Harry, there’s something I don’t understand. ... Why 
+didn’t the dementors get Sirius? I remember them 
+coming, and then I think I passed out . . . there were 
+so many of them. ...” 
+
+Harry sat down too. He explained what he’d seen; 
+how, as the nearest dementor had lowered its mouth 
+to Harry’s, a large silver something had come 
+galloping across the lake and forced the dementors to 
+retreat. 
+
+Hermione ’s mouth was slightly open by the time 
+Harry had finished. 
+
+“But what was it?” 
+
+“There’s only one thing it could have been, to make 
+the dementors go,” said Harry. “A real Patronus. A 
+powerful one.” 
+
+“But who conjured it?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 454 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry didn’t say anything. He was thinking back to 
+the person he’d seen on the other bank of the lake. He 
+knew who he thought it had been . . . but how could it 
+have been? 
+
+“Didn’t you see what they looked like?” said Hermione 
+eagerly. “Was it one of the teachers?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “He wasn’t a teacher.” 
+
+“But it must have been a really powerful wizard, to 
+drive all those dementors away. ... If the Patronus 
+was shining so brightly, didn’t it light him up? 
+Couldn’t you see — ?” 
+
+“Yeah, I saw him,” said Harry slowly. “But ... maybe I 
+imagined it. ... I wasn’t thinking straight. ... I passed 
+out right afterward. ...” 
+
+“ Who did you think it was?” 
+
+“I think — ” Harry swallowed, knowing how strange 
+this was going to sound. “I think it was my dad.” 
+
+Harry glanced up at Hermione and saw that her 
+mouth was fully open now. She was gazing at him 
+with a mixture of alarm and pity. 
+
+“Harry, your dad’s — well — dead,” she said quietly. 
+
+“I know that,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“You think you saw his ghost?” 
+
+“I don’t know ... no ... he looked solid. ...” 
+
+“But then — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Maybe I was seeing things,” said Harry. “But ... from 
+what I could see ... it looked like him. ... I’ve got 
+photos of him. ...” 
+
+Hermione was still looking at him as though worried 
+about his sanity. 
+
+“I know it sounds crazy,” said Harry flatly. He turned 
+to look at Buckbeak, who was digging his beak into 
+the ground, apparently searching for worms. But he 
+wasn’t really watching Buckbeak. 
+
+He was thinking about his father and about his 
+father’s three oldest friends ... Moony, Wormtail, 
+Padfoot, and Prongs. ... Had all four of them been out 
+on the grounds tonight? Wormtail had reappeared 
+this evening when everyone had thought he was dead. 
+... Was it so impossible his father had done the same? 
+Had he been seeing things across the lake? The figure 
+had been too far away to see distinctly . . . yet he had 
+felt sure, for a moment, before he’d lost 
+consciousness. ... 
+
+The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The 
+moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting 
+clouds. Hermione sat with her face turned toward the 
+Willow, waiting. 
+
+And then, at last, after over an hour . . . 
+
+“Here we come!” Hermione whispered. 
+
+She and Harry got to their feet. Buckbeak raised his 
+head. They saw Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambering 
+awkwardly out of the hole in the roots . . . followed by 
+the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upward. Next 
+came Harry, Hermione, and Black. They all began to 
+walk toward the castle. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s heart was starting to beat very fast. He 
+glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud 
+was going to move aside and show the moon. ... 
+
+“Harry,” Hermione muttered as though she knew 
+exactly what he was thinking, “we’ve got to stay put. 
+We mustn’t be seen. There’s nothing we can do. ...” 
+
+“So we’re just going to let Pettigrew escape all over 
+again. ...” said Harry quietly. 
+
+“How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?” 
+snapped Hermione. “There’s nothing we can do! We 
+came back to help Sirius; we’re not supposed to be 
+doing anything else!” 
+
+“ All right'.” 
+
+The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw 
+the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they 
+saw movement — 
+
+“There goes Lupin,” Hermione whispered. “He’s 
+transforming — ” 
+
+“Hermione!” said Harry suddenly. “We’ve got to move!” 
+
+“We mustn’t, I keep telling you — ” 
+
+“Not to interfere! Lupin’s going to run into the forest, 
+right at us!” 
+
+Hermione gasped. 
+
+“Quick!” she moaned, dashing to untie Buckbeak. 
+“Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going 
+to hide? The dementors will be coming any moment — 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Back to Hagrid’s!” Harry said. “It’s empty now — 
+come on!” 
+
+They ran as fast as they could, Buckbeak cantering 
+along behind them. They could hear the werewolf 
+howling behind them. ... 
+
+The cabin was in sight; Harry skidded to the door, 
+wrenched it open, and Hermione and Buckbeak 
+flashed past him; Harry threw himself in after them 
+and bolted the door. Fang the boarhound barked 
+loudly. 
+
+“Shh, Fang, it’s us!” said Hermione, hurrying over and 
+scratching his ears to quieten him. “That was really 
+close!” she said to Harry. 
+
+“Yeah ...” 
+
+Harry was looking out of the window. It was much 
+harder to see what was going on from here. Buckbeak 
+seemed very happy to find himself back inside 
+Hagrid’s house. He lay down in front of the fire, folded 
+his wings contentedly, and seemed ready for a good 
+nap. 
+
+“I think I’d better go outside again, you know,” said 
+Harry slowly. “I can’t see what’s going on — we won’t 
+know when it’s time — ” 
+
+Hermione looked up. Her expression was suspicious. 
+
+“I’m not going to try and interfere,” said Harry 
+quickly. “But if we don’t see what’s going on, how’re 
+we going to know when it’s time to rescue Sirius?” 
+
+“Well ... okay, then ... I’ll wait here with Buckbeak ... 
+but Harry, be careful — there’s a werewolf out there 
+— and the dementors — ” 
+
+Page | 458 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry stepped outside again and edged around the 
+cabin. He could hear yelping in the distance. That 
+meant the dementors were closing in on Sirius. ... He 
+and Hermione would be running to him any moment. 
+
+
+
+Harry stared out toward the lake, his heart doing a 
+kind of drumroll in his chest. ... Whoever had sent 
+that Patronus would be appearing at any moment. ... 
+
+For a fraction of a second he stood, irresolute, in front 
+of Hagrid’s door. You must not be seen. But he didn’t 
+want to be seen. He wanted to do the seeing. ... He 
+had to know. . . . 
+
+And there were the dementors. They were emerging 
+out of the darkness from every direction, gliding 
+around the edges of the lake. ... They were moving 
+away from where Harry stood, to the opposite bank. 
+
+... He wouldn’t have to get near them. ... 
+
+Harry began to run. He had no thought in his head 
+except his father. ... If it was him ... if it really was 
+him ... he had to know, had to find out. ... 
+
+The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there 
+was no sign of anybody. On the opposite bank, he 
+could see tiny glimmers of silver — his own attempts 
+at a Patronus — 
+
+There was a bush at the very edge of the water. Harry 
+threw himself behind it, peering desperately through 
+the leaves. On the opposite bank, the glimmers of 
+silver were suddenly extinguished. A terrified 
+excitement shot through him — any moment now — 
+
+“Come on!” he muttered, staring about. “Where are 
+you? Dad, come on — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 459 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But no one came. Harry raised his head to look at the 
+circle of dementors across the lake. One of them was 
+lowering its hood. It was time for the rescuer to 
+appear — but no one was coming to help this time — 
+
+And then it hit him — he understood. He hadn’t seen 
+his father — he had seen himself — 
+
+Harry flung himself out from behind the bush and 
+pulled out his wand. 
+
+“EXPECTO PATRONUM ” he yelled. 
+
+And out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless 
+cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. 
+He screwed up his eyes, trying to see what it was. It 
+looked like a horse. It was galloping silently away 
+from him, across the black surface of the lake. He 
+saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming 
+dementors. ... Now it was galloping around and 
+around the black shapes on the ground, and the 
+dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating 
+into the darkness. ... They were gone. 
+
+The Patronus turned. It was cantering back toward 
+Harry across the still surface of the water. It wasn’t a 
+horse. It wasn’t a unicorn, either. It was a stag. It was 
+shining brightly as the moon above ... it was coming 
+back to him. ... 
+
+It stopped on the bank. Its hooves made no mark on 
+the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, 
+silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its antlered head. And 
+Harry realized . . . 
+
+“Prongs,” he whispered. 
+
+But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the 
+creature, it vanished. 
+
+Page | 460 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry stood there, hand still outstretched. Then, with 
+a great leap of his heart, he heard hooves behind him 
+— he whirled around and saw Hermione dashing 
+toward him, dragging Buckbeak behind her. 
+
+“What did you do?” she said fiercely. “You said you 
+were only going to keep a lookout!” 
+
+“I just saved all our lives ... ,” said Harry. “Get behind 
+here — behind this bush — I’ll explain.” 
+
+Hermione listened to what had just happened with 
+her mouth open yet again. 
+
+“Did anyone see you?” 
+
+“Yes, haven’t you been listening? I saw me but I 
+thought I was my dad! It’s okay!” 
+
+“Harry, I can’t believe it. ... You conjured up a 
+Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That’s 
+very, very advanced magic. ...” 
+
+“I knew I could do it this time,” said Harry, “because 
+I’d already done it. ... Does that make sense?” 
+
+“I don’t know — Harry, look at Snape!” 
+
+Together they peered around the bush at the other 
+bank. Snape had regained consciousness. He was 
+conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of 
+Harry, Hermione, and Black onto them. A fourth 
+stretcher, no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating 
+at his side. Then, wand held out in front of him, he 
+moved them away toward the castle. 
+
+“Right, it’s nearly time,” said Hermione tensely, 
+looking at her watch. “We’ve got about forty-five 
+minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the 
+
+Page | 461 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hospital wing. We’ve got to rescue Sirius and get back 
+into the ward before anybody realizes we’re missing. 
+
+
+
+They waited, watching the moving clouds reflected in 
+the lake, while the bush next to them whispered in 
+the breeze. Buckbeak, bored, was ferreting for worms 
+again. 
+
+“D’you reckon he’s up there yet?” said Harry, 
+checking his watch. He looked up at the castle and 
+began counting the windows to the right of the West 
+Tower. 
+
+“Look!” Hermione whispered. “Who’s that? Someone’s 
+coming back out of the castle!” 
+
+Harry stared through the darkness. The man was 
+hurrying across the grounds, toward one of the 
+entrances. Something shiny glinted in his belt. 
+
+“Macnair!” said Harry. “The executioner! He’s gone to 
+get the dementors! This is it, Hermione — ” 
+
+Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak’s back and 
+Harry gave her a leg up. Then he placed his foot on 
+one of the lower branches of the bush and climbed up 
+in front of her. He pulled Buckbeak’s rope back over 
+his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like 
+reins. 
+
+“Ready?” he whispered to Hermione. “You’d better 
+hold on to me — ” 
+
+He nudged Buckbeak’s sides with his heels. 
+
+Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air. Harry 
+gripped his flanks with his knees, feeling the great 
+wings rising powerfully beneath them. Hermione was 
+
+Page | 462 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+holding Harry very tight around the waist; he could 
+hear her muttering, “Oh, no — I don’t like this — oh, I 
+really don’t like this — ” 
+
+Harry urged Buckbeak forward. They were gliding 
+quietly toward the upper floors of the castle. ... Harry 
+pulled hard on the left-hand side of the rope, and 
+Buckbeak turned. Harry was trying to count the 
+windows flashing past — 
+
+“Whoa!” he said, pulling backward as hard as he 
+could. 
+
+Buckbeak slowed down and they found themselves at 
+a stop, unless you counted the fact that they kept 
+rising up and down several feet as the hippogriff beat 
+his wings to remain airborne. 
+
+“He’s there!” Harry said, spotting Sirius as they rose 
+up beside the window. He reached out, and as 
+Buckbeak’s wings fell, was able to tap sharply on the 
+glass. 
+
+Black looked up. Harry saw his jaw drop. He leapt 
+from his chair, hurried to the window and tried to 
+open it, but it was locked. 
+
+“Stand back!” Hermione called to him, and she took 
+out her wand, still gripping the back of Harry’s robes 
+with her left hand. 
+
+“Alohomoral” 
+
+The window sprang open. 
+
+“How — how — ?” said Black weakly, staring at the 
+hippogriff. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Get on — there’s not much time,” said Harry, 
+gripping Buckbeak firmly on either side of his sleek 
+neck to hold him steady. “You’ve got to get out of here 
+
+— the dementors are coming — Macnair’s gone to get 
+them.” 
+
+Black placed a hand on either side of the window 
+frame and heaved his head and shoulders out of it. It 
+was very lucky he was so thin. In seconds, he had 
+managed to fling one leg over Buckbeak’s back and 
+pull himself onto the hippogriff behind Hermione. 
+
+“Okay, Buckbeak, up!” said Harry, shaking the rope. 
+“Up to the tower — come on!” 
+
+The hippogriff gave one sweep of its mighty wings and 
+they were soaring upward again, high as the top of 
+the West Tower. Buckbeak landed with a clatter on 
+the battlements, and Harry and Hermione slid off him 
+at once. 
+
+“Sirius, you’d better go, quick,” Harry panted. “They’ll 
+reach Flitwick’s office any moment, they’ll find out 
+you’re gone.” 
+
+Buckbeak pawed the ground, tossing his sharp head. 
+
+“What happened to the other boy? Ron?” croaked 
+Sirius. 
+
+“He’s going to be okay. He’s still out of it, but Madam 
+Pomfrey says shell be able to make him better. Quick 
+
+- go 
+
+
+
+But Black was still staring down at Harry. 
+
+“How can I ever thank — ” 
+
+“GO!” Harry and Hermione shouted together. 
+
+Page | 464 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Black wheeled Buckbeak around, facing the open sky. 
+
+“Well see each other again,” he said. “You are — truly 
+your father’s son, Harry. ...” 
+
+He squeezed Buckbeak’s sides with his heels. Harry 
+and Hermione jumped back as the enormous wings 
+rose once more. ... The hippogriff took off into the air. 
+
+. . . He and his rider became smaller and smaller as 
+Harry gazed after them ... then a cloud drifted across 
+the moon. ... They were gone. 
+
+
+
+Page | 465 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+OWL POST AGAIN 
+
+
+
+“Harry!” 
+
+Hermione was tugging at his sleeve, staring at her 
+watch. “We’ve got exactly ten minutes to get back 
+down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us 
+— before Dumbledore locks the door — ” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, wrenching his gaze from the sky, 
+“let’s go. ...” 
+
+They slipped through the doorway behind them and 
+down a tightly spiraling stone staircase. As they 
+reached the bottom of it, they heard voices. They 
+flattened themselves against the wall and listened. It 
+sounded like Fudge and Snape. They were walking 
+quickly along the corridor at the foot of the staircase. 
+
+"... only hope Dumbledore ’s not going to make 
+difficulties,” Snape was saying. “The Kiss will be 
+performed immediately?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 466 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“As soon as Macnair returns with the dementors. This 
+whole Black affair has been highly embarrassing. I 
+can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to 
+informing the Daily Prophet that we’ve got him at last. 
+...I daresay they’ll want to interview you, Snape ... 
+and once young Harry’s back in his right mind, I 
+expect he’ll want to tell the Prophet exactly how you 
+saved him. ...” 
+
+Harry clenched his teeth. He caught a glimpse of 
+Snape’s smirk as he and Fudge passed Harry and 
+Hermione’s hiding place. Their footsteps died away. 
+Harry and Hermione waited a few moments to make 
+sure they’d really gone, then started to run in the 
+opposite direction. Down one staircase, then another, 
+along a new corridor — then they heard a cackling 
+ahead. 
+
+“Peeves\” Harry muttered, grabbing Hermione’s wrist. 
+“In here!” 
+
+They tore into a deserted classroom to their left just 
+in time. Peeves seemed to be bouncing along the 
+corridor in boisterous good spirits, laughing his head 
+off. 
+
+“Oh, he’s horrible,” whispered Hermione, her ear to 
+the door. “I bet he’s all excited because the dementors 
+are going to finish off Sirius. ...” She checked her 
+watch. “Three minutes, Harry!” 
+
+They waited until Peeves ’s gloating voice had faded 
+into the distance, then slid back out of the room and 
+broke into a run again. 
+
+“Hermione — what’ll happen — if we don’t get back 
+inside — before Dumbledore locks the door?” Harry 
+panted. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I don’t want to think about it!” Hermione moaned, 
+checking her watch again. “One minute!” 
+
+They had reached the end of the corridor with the 
+hospital wing entrance. “Okay — I can hear 
+Dumbledore,” said Hermione tensely. “Come on, 
+Harry!” 
+
+They crept along the corridor. The door opened. 
+Dumbledore ’s back appeared. 
+
+“I am going to lock you in,” they heard him saying. “It 
+is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns 
+should do it. Good luck.” 
+
+Dumbledore backed out of the room, closed the door, 
+and took out his wand to magically lock it. Panicking, 
+Harry and Hermione ran forward. Dumbledore looked 
+up, and a wide smile appeared under the long silver 
+mustache. “Well?” he said quietly. 
+
+“We did it!” said Harry breathlessly. “Sirius has gone, 
+on Buckbeak. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore beamed at them. 
+
+“Well done. I think — ” He listened intently for any 
+sound within the hospital wing. “Yes, I think you’ve 
+gone too — get inside — I’ll lock you in — ” 
+
+Harry and Hermione slipped back inside the 
+dormitory. It was empty except for Ron, who was still 
+lying motionless in the end bed. As the lock clicked 
+behind them, Harry and Hermione crept back to their 
+own beds, Hermione tucking the Time-Turner back 
+under her robes. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey 
+came striding back out of her office. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Did I hear the headmaster leaving? Am I allowed to 
+look after my patients now?” 
+
+She was in a very bad mood. Harry and Hermione 
+thought it best to accept their chocolate quietly. 
+Madam Pomfrey stood over them, making sure they 
+ate it. But Harry could hardly swallow. He and 
+Hermione were waiting, listening, their nerves 
+jangling. ... And then, as they both took a fourth piece 
+of chocolate from Madam Pomfrey, they heard a 
+distant roar of fury echoing from somewhere above 
+them. ... 
+
+“What was that?” said Madam Pomfrey in alarm. 
+
+Now they could hear angry voices, growing louder and 
+louder. Madam Pomfrey was staring at the door. 
+
+“Really — they’ll wake everybody up! What do they 
+think they’re doing?” 
+
+Harry was trying to hear what the voices were saying. 
+They were drawing nearer — 
+
+“He must have Disapparated, Severus. We should 
+have left somebody in the room with him. When this 
+gets out — ” 
+
+“HE DIDNT DISAPPARATE!” Snape roared, now very 
+close at hand. “YOU CANT APPARATE OR 
+DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS — HAS — 
+SOMETHING — TO — DO — WITH — POTTER!” 
+
+“Severus — be reasonable — Harry has been locked 
+up-” 
+
+BAM. 
+
+The door of the hospital wing burst open. 
+
+Page | 469 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Fudge, Snape, and Dumbledore came striding into the 
+ward. Dumbledore alone looked calm. Indeed, he 
+looked as though he was quite enjoying himself. 
+
+Fudge appeared angry. But Snape was beside himself. 
+
+“OUT WITH IT, POTTER!” he bellowed. “WHAT DID 
+YOU DO?” 
+
+“Professor Snape!” shrieked Madam Pomfrey. “Control 
+yourself!” 
+
+“See here, Snape, be reasonable,” said Fudge. “This 
+door’s been locked, we just saw — ” 
+
+“THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!” Snape 
+howled, pointing at Harry and Hermione. His face was 
+twisted; spit was flying from his mouth. 
+
+“Calm down, man!” Fudge barked. “You’re talking 
+nonsense!” 
+
+“YOU DONT KNOW POTTER!” shrieked Snape. “HE 
+DID IT, I KNOW HE DID IT — ” 
+
+“That will do, Severus,” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+“Think about what you are saying. This door has been 
+locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam 
+Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?” 
+
+“Of course not!” said Madam Pomfrey, bristling. “I 
+would have heard them!” 
+
+“Well, there you have it, Severus,” said Dumbledore 
+calmly. “Unless you are suggesting that Harry and 
+Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I’m 
+afraid I don’t see any point in troubling them further.” 
+
+Snape stood there, seething, staring from Fudge, who 
+looked thoroughly shocked at his behavior, to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his 
+glasses. Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind 
+him, and stormed out of the ward. 
+
+“Fellow seems quite unbalanced,” said Fudge, staring 
+after him. “I’d watch out for him if I were you, 
+Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Oh, he’s not unbalanced,” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+“He’s just suffered a severe disappointment.” 
+
+“He’s not the only one!” puffed Fudge. “The Daily 
+Prophet’s going to have a field day! We had Black 
+cornered and he slipped through our fingers yet 
+again! All it needs now is for the story of that 
+hippogriff’s escape to get out, and I’ll be a 
+laughingstock! Well ... I’d better go and notify the 
+Ministry. ...” 
+
+“And the dementors?” said Dumbledore. “They’ll be 
+removed from the school, I trust?” 
+
+“Oh yes, they’ll have to go,” said Fudge, running his 
+fingers distractedly through his hair. “Never dreamed 
+they’d attempt to administer the Kiss on an innocent 
+boy. ... Completely out of control ... no, I’ll have them 
+packed off back to Azkaban tonight. ... Perhaps we 
+should think about dragons at the school entrance. 
+
+
+
+“Hagrid would like that,” said Dumbledore, smiling at 
+Harry and Hermione. As he and Fudge left the 
+dormitory, Madam Pomfrey hurried to the door and 
+locked it again. Muttering angrily to herself, she 
+headed back to her office. 
+
+There was a low moan from the other end of the ward. 
+Ron had woken up. They could see him sitting up, 
+rubbing his head, looking around. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What — what happened?” he groaned. “Harry? Why 
+are we in here? Where’s Sirius? Where’s Lupin? 
+
+What’s going on?” 
+
+Harry and Hermione looked at each other. 
+
+“You explain,” said Harry, helping himself to some 
+more chocolate. 
+
+When Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the hospital 
+wing at noon the next day, it was to find an almost 
+deserted castle. The sweltering heat and the end of 
+the exams meant that everyone was taking full 
+advantage of another Hogsmeade visit. Neither Ron 
+nor Hermione felt like going, however, so they and 
+Harry wandered onto the grounds, still talking about 
+the extraordinary events of the previous night and 
+wondering where Sirius and Buckbeak were now. 
+Sitting near the lake, watching the giant squid waving 
+its tentacles lazily above the water, Harry lost the 
+thread of the conversation as he looked across to the 
+opposite bank. The stag had galloped toward him 
+from there just last night. ... 
+
+A shadow fell across them and they looked up to see a 
+very bleary-eyed Hagrid, mopping his sweaty face with 
+one of his tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs and 
+beaming down at them. 
+
+“Know I shouldn’ feel happy, after wha’ happened las’ 
+night,” he said. “I mean, Black escapin’ again, an’ 
+everythin’ — but guess what?” 
+
+“What?” they said, pretending to look curious. 
+
+“Beaky! He escaped! He’s free! Bin celebratin’ all 
+night!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That’s wonderful!” said Hermione, giving Ron a 
+reproving look because he looked as though he was 
+close to laughing. 
+
+“Yeah ... can’t’ve tied him up properly,” said Hagrid, 
+gazing happily out over the grounds. “I was worried 
+this mornin’, mind ... thought he mighta met 
+Professor Lupin on the grounds, but Lupin says he 
+never ate anythin’ las’ night. ...” 
+
+“What?” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“Blimey, haven’ yeh heard?” said Hagrid, his smile 
+fading a little. He lowered his voice, even though there 
+was nobody in sight. “Er — Snape told all the 
+Slytherins this mornin’. ... Thought everyone ’d know 
+by now ... Professor Lupin’s a werewolf, see. An’ he 
+was loose on the grounds las’ night. ... He’s packin’ 
+now, o’ course.” 
+
+“He’s packing?” said Harry, alarmed. “Why?” 
+
+“Leavin’, isn’ he?” said Hagrid, looking surprised that 
+Harry had to ask. “Resigned firs’ thing this mornin’. 
+Says he can’t risk it happenin’ again.” 
+
+Harry scrambled to his feet. 
+
+“I’m going to see him,” he said to Ron and Hermione. 
+“But if he’s resigned — ” 
+
+“ — doesn’t sound like there’s anything we can do — ” 
+
+“I don’t care. I still want to see him. I’ll meet you back 
+here.” 
+
+Lupin’s office door was open. He had already packed 
+most of his things. The grindylow’s empty tank stood 
+
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+
+
+
+
+next to his battered old suitcase, which was open and 
+nearly full. Lupin was bending over something on his 
+desk and looked up only when Harry knocked on the 
+door. 
+
+“I saw you coming,” said Lupin, smiling. He pointed to 
+the parchment he had been poring over. It was the 
+Marauder’s Map. 
+
+“I just saw Hagrid,” said Harry. “And he said you’d 
+resigned. It’s not true, is it?” 
+
+“I’m afraid it is,” said Lupin. He started opening his 
+desk drawers and taking out the contents. 
+
+“Why?” said Harry. “The Ministry of Magic don’t think 
+you were helping Sirius, do they?” 
+
+Lupin crossed to the door and closed it behind Harry. 
+
+“No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince 
+Fudge that I was trying to save your lives.” He sighed. 
+“That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss 
+of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he — er — 
+accidentally let slip that I am a werewolf this morning 
+at breakfast.” 
+
+“You’re not leaving just because of that!” said Harry. 
+Lupin smiled wryly. 
+
+“This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from 
+parents. ... They will not want a werewolf teaching 
+their children, Harry. And after last night, I see their 
+point. I could have bitten any of you. ... That must 
+never happen again.” 
+
+“You’re the best Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+teacher we’ve ever had!” said Harry. “Don’t go!” 
+
+Page | 474 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lupin shook his head and didn’t speak. He carried on 
+emptying his drawers. Then, while Harry was trying 
+to think of a good argument to make him stay, Lupin 
+said, “From what the headmaster told me this 
+morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry. If 
+I’m proud of anything I’ve done this year, it’s how 
+much you’ve learned. ... Tell me about your 
+Patronus.” 
+
+“How d’you know about that?” said Harry, distracted. 
+
+“What else could have driven the dementors back?” 
+
+Harry told Lupin what had happened. When he’d 
+finished, Lupin was smiling again. 
+
+“Yes, your father was always a stag when he 
+transformed,” he said. “You guessed right ... that’s 
+why we called him Prongs.” 
+
+Lupin threw his last few books into his case, closed 
+the desk drawers, and turned to look at Harry. 
+
+“Here — I brought this from the Shrieking Shack last 
+night,” he said, handing Harry back the Invisibility 
+Cloak. “And ...” He hesitated, then held out the 
+Marauder’s Map too. “I am no longer your teacher, so 
+I don’t feel guilty about giving you back this as well. 
+It’s no use to me, and I daresay you, Ron, and 
+Hermione will find uses for it.” 
+
+Harry took the map and grinned. 
+
+“You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs 
+would’ve wanted to lure me out of school ... you said 
+they’d have thought it was funny.” 
+
+“And so we would have,” said Lupin, now reaching 
+down to close his case. “I have no hesitation in saying 
+
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+
+
+
+
+that James would have been highly disappointed if 
+his son had never found any of the secret passages 
+out of the castle.” 
+
+There was a knock on the door. Harry hastily stuffed 
+the Marauder’s Map and the Invisibility Cloak into his 
+pocket. 
+
+It was Professor Dumbledore. He didn’t look surprised 
+to see Harry there. 
+
+“Your carriage is at the gates, Remus,” he said. 
+
+“Thank you, Headmaster.” 
+
+Lupin picked up his old suitcase and the empty 
+grindylow tank. 
+
+“Well — good-bye, Harry,” he said, smiling. “It has 
+been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we’ll 
+meet again sometime. Headmaster, there is no need 
+to see me to the gates, I can manage. ...” 
+
+Harry had the impression that Lupin wanted to leave 
+as quickly as possible. 
+
+“Good-bye, then, Remus,” said Dumbledore soberly. 
+Lupin shifted the grindylow tank slightly so that he 
+and Dumbledore could shake hands. Then, with a 
+final nod to Harry and a swift smile, Lupin left the 
+office. 
+
+Harry sat down in his vacated chair, staring glumly at 
+the floor. He heard the door close and looked up. 
+Dumbledore was still there. 
+
+“Why so miserable, Harry?” he said quietly. “You 
+should be very proud of yourself after last night.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It didn’t make any difference,” said Harry bitterly. 
+“Pettigrew got away.” 
+
+“Didn’t make any difference?” said Dumbledore 
+quietly. “It made all the difference in the world, Harry. 
+You helped uncover the truth. You saved an innocent 
+man from a terrible fate.” 
+
+Terrible. Something stirred in Harry’s memory. 
+
+Greater and more terrible than ever before ... Professor 
+Trelawney’s prediction! 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore — yesterday, when I was 
+having my Divination exam, Professor Trelawney went 
+very — very strange.” 
+
+“Indeed?” said Dumbledore. “Er — stranger than 
+usual, you mean?” 
+
+“Yes . . . her voice went all deep and her eyes rolled 
+and she said ... she said Voldemort’s servant was 
+going to set out to return to him before midnight. ... 
+She said the servant would help him come back to 
+power.” Harry stared up at Dumbledore. “And then 
+she sort of became normal again, and she couldn’t 
+remember anything she’d said. Was it — was she 
+making a real prediction?” 
+
+Dumbledore looked mildly impressed. 
+
+“Do you know, Harry, I think she might have been,” 
+he said thoughtfully. “Who’d have thought it? That 
+brings her total of real predictions up to two. I should 
+offer her a pay raise. ...” 
+
+“But — ” Harry looked at him, aghast. How could 
+Dumbledore take this so calmly? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But — I stopped Sirius and Professor Lupin from 
+killing Pettigrew! That makes it my fault if Voldemort 
+comes back!” 
+
+
+
+“It does not,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Hasn’t your 
+experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, 
+Harry? The consequences of our actions are always so 
+complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a 
+very difficult business indeed. ... Professor Trelawney, 
+bless her, is living proof of that. ... You did a very 
+noble thing, in saving Pettigrew’s life.” 
+
+“But if he helps Voldemort back to power — !” 
+
+“Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent 
+Voldemort a deputy who is in your debt. ... When one 
+wizard saves another wizard’s life, it creates a certain 
+bond between them ... and I’m much mistaken if 
+Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry 
+Potter.” 
+
+“I don’t want a connection with Pettigrew!” said Harry. 
+“He betrayed my parents!” 
+
+“This is magic at its deepest, its most impenetrable, 
+Harry. But trust me ... the time may come when you 
+will be very glad you saved Pettigrew’s life.” 
+
+Harry couldn’t imagine when that would be. 
+Dumbledore looked as though he knew what Harry 
+was thinking. 
+
+“I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and 
+later, Harry,” he said gently. “He would have saved 
+Pettigrew too, I am sure of it.” 
+
+Harry looked up at him. Dumbledore wouldn’t laugh 
+— he could tell Dumbledore . . . 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I thought it was my dad who’d conjured my 
+Patronus. I mean, when I saw myself across the lake 
+...I thought I was seeing him.” 
+
+“An easy mistake to make,” said Dumbledore softly. “I 
+expect you 11 tire of hearing it, but you do look 
+extraordinarily like James. Except for the eyes ... you 
+have your mother’s eyes.” 
+
+Harry shook his head. 
+
+“It was stupid, thinking it was him,” he muttered. “I 
+mean, I knew he was dead.” 
+
+“You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You 
+think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever 
+in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, 
+Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have 
+need of him. How else could you produce that 
+particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night.” 
+
+It took a moment for Harry to realize what 
+Dumbledore had said. 
+
+“Last night Sirius told me all about how they became 
+Animagi,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “An 
+extraordinary achievement — not least, keeping it 
+quiet from me. And then I remembered the most 
+unusual form your Patronus took, when it charged 
+Mr. Malfoy down at your Quidditch match against 
+Ravenclaw. You know, Harry, in a way, you did see 
+your father last night. ... You found him inside 
+yourself.” 
+
+And Dumbledore left the office, leaving Harry to his 
+very confused thoughts. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Nobody at Hogwarts now knew the truth of what had 
+happened the night that Sirius, Buckbeak, and 
+Pettigrew had vanished except Harry, Ron, Hermione, 
+and Professor Dumbledore. As the end of term 
+approached, Harry heard many different theories 
+about what had really happened, but none of them 
+came close to the truth. 
+
+Malfoy was furious about Buckbeak. He was 
+convinced that Hagrid had found a way of smuggling 
+the hippogriff to safety, and seemed outraged that he 
+and his father had been outwitted by a gamekeeper. 
+Percy Weasley, meanwhile, had much to say on the 
+subject of Sirius’s escape. 
+
+“If I manage to get into the Ministry, I’ll have a lot of 
+proposals to make about Magical Law Enforcement!” 
+he told the only person who would listen — his 
+girlfriend, Penelope. 
+
+Though the weather was perfect, though the 
+atmosphere was so cheerful, though he knew they 
+had achieved the near impossible in helping Sirius to 
+freedom, Harry had never approached the end of a 
+school year in worse spirits. 
+
+He certainly wasn’t the only one who was sorry to see 
+Professor Lupin go. The whole of Harry’s Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts class was miserable about his 
+resignation. 
+
+“Wonder what they’ll give us next year?” said Seamus 
+Finnigan gloomily. 
+
+“Maybe a vampire,” suggested Dean Thomas 
+hopefully. 
+
+It wasn’t only Professor Lupin’s departure that was 
+weighing on Harry’s mind. He couldn’t help thinking a 
+
+Page | 480 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+lot about Professor Trelawney’s prediction. He kept 
+wondering where Pettigrew was now, whether he had 
+sought sanctuary with Voldemort yet. But the thing 
+that was lowering Harry’s spirits most of all was the 
+prospect of returning to the Dursleys. For maybe half 
+an hour, a glorious half hour, he had believed he 
+would be living with Sirius from now on . . . his 
+parents’ best friend. ... It would have been the next 
+best thing to having his own father back. And while 
+no news of Sirius was definitely good news, because it 
+meant he had successfully gone into hiding, Harry 
+couldn’t help feeling miserable when he thought of 
+the home he might have had, and the fact that it was 
+now impossible. 
+
+The exam results came out on the last day of term. 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione had passed every subject. 
+Harry was amazed that he had got through Potions. 
+He had a shrewd suspicion that Dumbledore might 
+have stepped in to stop Snape failing him on purpose. 
+Snape’s behavior toward Harry over the past week 
+had been quite alarming. Harry wouldn’t have 
+thought it possible that Snape’s dislike for him could 
+increase, but it certainly had. A muscle twitched 
+unpleasantly at the corner of Snape’s thin mouth 
+every time he looked at Harry, and he was constantly 
+flexing his fingers, as though itching to place them 
+around Harry’s throat. 
+
+Percy had got his top-grade N.E.W.T.s; Fred and 
+George had scraped a handful of O.W.L.s each. 
+Gryffindor House, meanwhile, largely thanks to their 
+spectacular performance in the Quidditch Cup, had 
+won the House championship for the third year 
+running. This meant that the end of term feast took 
+place amid decorations of scarlet and gold, and that 
+the Gryffindor table was the noisiest of the lot, as 
+everybody celebrated. Even Harry managed to forget 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+about the journey back to the Dursleys the next day 
+as he ate, drank, talked, and laughed with the rest. 
+
+
+
+As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station the 
+next morning, Hermione gave Harry and Ron some 
+surprising news. 
+
+“I went to see Professor McGonagall this morning, just 
+before breakfast. I’ve decided to drop Muggle Studies.” 
+
+“But you passed your exam with three hundred and 
+twenty percent!” said Ron. 
+
+“I know,” sighed Hermione, “but I can’t stand another 
+year like this one. That Time-Turner, it was driving 
+me mad. I’ve handed it in. Without Muggle Studies 
+and Divination, I’ll be able to have a normal schedule 
+again.” 
+
+“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell us about it,” said 
+Ron grumpily. “We’re supposed to be your friends.” 
+
+“I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone,” said Hermione 
+severely. She looked around at Harry, who was 
+watching Hogwarts disappear from view behind a 
+mountain. Two whole months before he’d see it again. 
+
+
+
+“Oh, cheer up, Harry!” said Hermione sadly. 
+
+“I’m okay,” said Harry quickly. “Just thinking about 
+the holidays.” 
+
+“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about them too,” said Ron. 
+“Harry, you’ve got to come and stay with us. I’ll fix it 
+up with Mum and Dad, then I’ll call you. I know how 
+to use a fellytone now — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“A telephone, Ron,” said Hermione. “Honestly, you 
+should take Muggle Studies next year. ...” 
+
+Ron ignored her. 
+
+“It’s the Quidditch World Cup this summer! How 
+about it, Harry? Come and stay, and we’ll go and see 
+it! Dad can usually get tickets from work.” 
+
+This proposal had the effect of cheering Harry up a 
+great deal. 
+
+“Yeah ... I bet the Dursleys’d be pleased to let me 
+come ... especially after what I did to Aunt Marge. ...” 
+
+Feeling considerably more cheerful, Harry joined Ron 
+and Hermione in several games of Exploding Snap, 
+and when the witch with the tea cart arrived, he 
+bought himself a very large lunch, though nothing 
+with chocolate in it. 
+
+But it was late in the afternoon before the thing that 
+made him truly happy turned up. ... 
+
+“Harry,” said Hermione suddenly, peering over his 
+shoulder. “What’s that thing outside your window?” 
+
+Harry turned to look outside. Something very small 
+and gray was bobbing in and out of sight beyond the 
+glass. He stood up for a better look and saw that it 
+was a tiny owl, carrying a letter that was much too 
+big for it. The owl was so small, in fact, that it kept 
+tumbling over in the air, buffeted this way and that in 
+the train’s slipstream. Harry quickly pulled down the 
+window, stretched out his arm, and caught it. It felt 
+like a very fluffy Snitch. He brought it carefully inside. 
+The owl dropped its letter onto Harry’s seat and began 
+zooming around their compartment, apparently very 
+pleased with itself for accomplishing its task. Hedwig 
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+
+clicked her beak with a sort of dignified disapproval. 
+Crookshanks sat up in his seat, following the owl with 
+his great yellow eyes. Ron, noticing this, snatched the 
+owl safely out of harm’s way. 
+
+Harry picked up the letter. It was addressed to him. 
+
+He ripped open the letter, and shouted, “It’s from 
+Sirius!” 
+
+“What?” said Ron and Hermione excitedly. “Read it 
+aloud!” 
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and 
+uncle. I don’t know whether they’re used to owl post 
+
+Buckbeak and I are in hiding. I won’t tell you where, in 
+case this owl falls into the wrong hands. I have some 
+doubt about his reliability, but he is the best I could 
+find, and he did seem eager for the job. 
+
+I believe the dementors are still searching for me, but 
+they haven’t a hope of finding me here. I am planning 
+to allow some Muggles to glimpse me soon, a long way 
+from Hogwarts, so that the security on the castle will 
+be lifted. 
+
+There is something I never got around to telling you 
+during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the 
+Firebolt — 
+
+“Ha!” said Hermione triumphantly. “See! I told you it 
+was from him!” 
+
+“Yes, but he hadn’t jinxed it, had he?” said Ron. 
+“Ouch!” The tiny owl, now hooting happily in his 
+hand, had nibbled one of his fingers in what it 
+seemed to think was an affectionate way. 
+
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+
+
+Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I 
+used your name but told them to take the gold from my 
+own Gringotts vault. Please consider it as thirteen 
+birthdays’ worth of presents from your godfather. 
+
+I would also like to apologize for the fright I think I 
+gave you that night last year when you left your 
+uncle’s house. I had only hoped to get a glimpse of you 
+before starting my journey north, but I think the sight 
+of me alarmed you. 
+
+I am enclosing something else for you, which I think 
+will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable. 
+
+If ever you need me, send word. Your owl will find me. 
+
+I’ll write again soon. 
+
+Sirius 
+
+Harry looked eagerly inside the envelope. There was 
+another piece of parchment in there. He read it 
+through quickly and felt suddenly as warm and 
+contented as though he’d swallowed a bottle of hot 
+butterbeer in one gulp. 
+
+I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter’s godfather, hereby give 
+him permission to visit Hogsmeade on weekends. 
+
+“That’ll be good enough for Dumbledore!” said Harry 
+happily. He looked back at Sirius’s letter. 
+
+“Hang on, there’s a P.S. ...” 
+
+I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, 
+as it’s my fault he no longer has a rat. 
+
+Ron’s eyes widened. The minute owl was still hooting 
+excitedly. 
+
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+
+“Keep him?” he said uncertainly. He looked closely at 
+the owl for a moment; then, to Harry’s and 
+Hermione’s great surprise, he held him out for 
+Crookshanks to sniff. 
+
+“What do’you reckon?” Ron asked the cat. “Definitely 
+an owl?” 
+
+Crookshanks purred. 
+
+“That’s good enough for me,” said Ron happily. “He’s 
+mine.” 
+
+Harry read and reread the letter from Sirius all the 
+way back into King’s Cross station. It was still 
+clutched tightly in his hand as he, Ron, and 
+Hermione stepped back through the barrier of 
+platform nine and three-quarters. Harry spotted 
+Uncle Vernon at once. He was standing a good 
+distance from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, eyeing them 
+suspiciously, and when Mrs. Weasley hugged Harry in 
+greeting, his worst suspicions about them seemed 
+confirmed. 
+
+“I’ll call about the World Cup!” Ron yelled after Harry 
+as Harry bid him and Hermione good-bye, then 
+wheeled the trolley bearing his trunk and Hedwig’s 
+cage toward Uncle Vernon, who greeted him in his 
+usual fashion. 
+
+“What’s that?” he snarled, staring at the envelope 
+Harry was still clutching in his hand. “If it’s another 
+form for me to sign, you’ve got another — ” 
+
+“It’s not,” said Harry cheerfully. “It’s a letter from my 
+godfather.” 
+
+“Godfather?” sputtered Uncle Vernon. “You haven’t 
+got a godfather!” 
+
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+
+
+
+“Yes, I have,” said Harry brightly. “He was my mum 
+and dad’s best friend. He’s a convicted murderer, but 
+he’s broken out of wizard prison and he’s on the run. 
+He likes to keep in touch with me, though ... keep up 
+with my news ... check if I’m happy. ...” 
+
+And, grinning broadly at the look of horror on Uncle 
+Vernon’s face, Harry set off toward the station exit, 
+Hedwig rattling along in front of him, for what looked 
+like a much better summer than the last. 
+
+
+
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+/ 
+
+
+
+
+THE RIDDLE HOUSE 
+
+The villagers of Little Hangleton still called it “the 
+Riddle House,” even though it had been many years 
+since the Riddle family had lived there. It stood on a 
+hill overlooking the village, some of its windows 
+boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading 
+unchecked over its face. Once a fine-looking manor, 
+and easily the largest and grandest building for miles 
+around, the Riddle House was now damp, derelict, 
+and unoccupied. 
+
+The Little Hangletons all agreed that the old house 
+was “creepy.” Half a century ago, something strange 
+and horrible had happened there, something that the 
+older inhabitants of the village still liked to discuss 
+when topics for gossip were scarce. The story had 
+been picked over so many times, and had been 
+embroidered in so many places, that nobody was 
+quite sure what the truth was anymore. Every version 
+of the tale, however, started in the same place: Fifty 
+years before, at daybreak on a fine summer’s 
+morning, when the Riddle House had still been well 
+
+
+
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+kept and impressive, a maid had entered the drawing 
+room to find all three Riddles dead. 
+
+The maid had run screaming down the hill into the 
+village and roused as many people as she could. 
+
+“Lying there with their eyes wide open! Cold as ice! 
+Still in their dinner things!” 
+
+The police were summoned, and the whole of Little 
+Hangleton had seethed with shocked curiosity and ill- 
+disguised excitement. Nobody wasted their breath 
+pretending to feel very sad about the Riddles, for they 
+had been most unpopular. Elderly Mr. and Mrs. 
+Riddle had been rich, snobbish, and rude, and their 
+grown-up son, Tom, had been, if anything, worse. All 
+the villagers cared about was the identity of their 
+murderer — for plainly, three apparently healthy 
+people did not all drop dead of natural causes on the 
+same night. 
+
+The Hanged Man, the village pub, did a roaring trade 
+that night; the whole village seemed to have turned 
+out to discuss the murders. They were rewarded for 
+leaving their firesides when the Riddles’ cook arrived 
+dramatically in their midst and announced to the 
+suddenly silent pub that a man called Frank Bryce 
+had just been arrested. 
+
+“Frank!” cried several people. “Never!” 
+
+Frank Bryce was the Riddles’ gardener. He lived alone 
+in a rundown cottage on the grounds of the Riddle 
+House. Frank had come back from the war with a 
+very stiff leg and a great dislike of crowds and loud 
+noises, and had been working for the Riddles ever 
+since. 
+
+
+
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+There was a rush to buy the cook drinks and hear 
+more details. 
+
+
+
+“Always thought he was odd,” she told the eagerly 
+listening villagers, after her fourth sherry. 
+
+“Unfriendly, like. I’m sure if I’ve offered him a cuppa 
+once, I’ve offered it a hundred times. Never wanted to 
+mix, he didn’t.” 
+
+“Ah, now,” said a woman at the bar, “he had a hard 
+war, Frank. He likes the quiet life. That’s no reason to 
+
+
+
+“Who else had a key to the back door, then?” barked 
+the cook. “There’s been a spare key hanging in the 
+gardener’s cottage far back as I can remember! 
+Nobody forced the door last night! No broken 
+windows! All Frank had to do was creep up to the big 
+house while we was all sleeping. ...” 
+
+The villagers exchanged dark looks. 
+
+“I always thought he had a nasty look about him, 
+right enough,” grunted a man at the bar. 
+
+“War turned him funny, if you ask me,” said the 
+landlord. 
+
+“Told you I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of 
+Frank, didn’t I, Dot?” said an excited woman in the 
+corner. 
+
+“Horrible temper,” said Dot, nodding fervently. “I 
+remember, when he was a kid ...” 
+
+By the following morning, hardly anyone in Little 
+Hangleton doubted that Frank Bryce had killed the 
+Riddles. 
+
+
+
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+But over in the neighboring town of Great Hangleton, 
+in the dark and dingy police station, Frank was 
+stubbornly repeating, again and again, that he was 
+innocent, and that the only person he had seen near 
+the house on the day of the Riddles’ deaths had been 
+a teenage boy, a stranger, dark-haired and pale. 
+Nobody else in the village had seen any such boy, and 
+the police were quite sure that Frank had invented 
+him. 
+
+Then, just when things were looking very serious for 
+Frank, the report on the Riddles’ bodies came back 
+and changed everything. 
+
+The police had never read an odder report. A team of 
+doctors had examined the bodies and had concluded 
+that none of the Riddles had been poisoned, stabbed, 
+shot, strangled, suffocated, or (as far as they could 
+tell) harmed at all. In fact (the report continued, in a 
+tone of unmistakable bewilderment), the Riddles all 
+appeared to be in perfect health — apart from the fact 
+that they were all dead. The doctors did note (as 
+though determined to find something wrong with the 
+bodies) that each of the Riddles had a look of terror 
+upon his or her face — but as the frustrated police 
+said, whoever heard of three people being frightened 
+to death? 
+
+As there was no proof that the Riddles had been 
+murdered at all, the police were forced to let Frank go. 
+The Riddles were buried in the Little Hangleton 
+churchyard, and their graves remained objects of 
+curiosity for a while. To everyone’s surprise, and amid 
+a cloud of suspicion, Frank Bryce returned to his 
+cottage on the grounds of the Riddle House. 
+
+“ ’S far as I’m concerned, he killed them, and I don’t 
+care what the police say,” said Dot in the Hanged 
+
+
+
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+Man. “And if he had any decency, he’d leave here, 
+knowing as how we knows he did it.” 
+
+But Frank did not leave. He stayed to tend the garden 
+for the next family who lived in the Riddle House, and 
+then the next — for neither family stayed long. 
+
+Perhaps it was partly because of Frank that the new 
+owners said there was a nasty feeling about the place, 
+which, in the absence of inhabitants, started to fall 
+into disrepair. 
+
+The wealthy man who owned the Riddle House these 
+days neither lived there nor put it to any use; they 
+said in the village that he kept it for “tax reasons,” 
+though nobody was very clear what these might be. 
+The wealthy owner continued to pay Frank to do the 
+gardening, however. Frank was nearing his seventy- 
+seventh birthday now, very deaf, his bad leg stiffer 
+than ever, but could be seen pottering around the 
+flower beds in fine weather, even though the weeds 
+were starting to creep up on him, try as he might to 
+suppress them. 
+
+Weeds were not the only things Frank had to contend 
+with either. Boys from the village made a habit of 
+throwing stones through the windows of the Riddle 
+House. They rode their bicycles over the lawns Frank 
+worked so hard to keep smooth. Once or twice, they 
+broke into the old house for a dare. They knew that 
+old Frank’s devotion to the house and grounds 
+amounted almost to an obsession, and it amused 
+them to see him limping across the garden, 
+brandishing his stick and yelling croakily at them. 
+Frank, for his part, believed the boys tormented him 
+because they, like their parents and grandparents, 
+thought him a murderer. So when Frank awoke one 
+night in August and saw something very odd up at 
+the old house, he merely assumed that the boys had 
+gone one step further in their attempts to punish him. 
+Page | 6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+It was Frank’s bad leg that woke him; it was paining 
+him worse than ever in his old age. He got up and 
+limped downstairs into the kitchen with the idea of 
+refilling his hot-water bottle to ease the stiffness in 
+his knee. Standing at the sink, filling the kettle, he 
+looked up at the Riddle House and saw lights 
+glimmering in its upper windows. Frank knew at once 
+what was going on. The boys had broken into the 
+house again, and judging by the flickering quality of 
+the light, they had started a fire. 
+
+Frank had no telephone, and in any case, he had 
+deeply mistrusted the police ever since they had 
+taken him in for questioning about the Riddles’ 
+deaths. He put down the kettle at once, hurried back 
+upstairs as fast as his bad leg would allow, and was 
+soon back in his kitchen, fully dressed and removing 
+a rusty old key from its hook by the door. He picked 
+up his walking stick, which was propped against the 
+wall, and set off into the night. 
+
+The front door of the Riddle House bore no sign of 
+being forced, nor did any of the windows. Frank 
+limped around to the back of the house until he 
+reached a door almost completely hidden by ivy, took 
+out the old key, put it into the lock, and opened the 
+door noiselessly. 
+
+He let himself into the cavernous kitchen. Frank had 
+not entered it for many years; nevertheless, although 
+it was very dark, he remembered where the door into 
+the hall was, and he groped his way toward it, his 
+nostrils full of the smell of decay, ears pricked for any 
+sound of footsteps or voices from overhead. He 
+reached the hall, which was a little lighter owing to 
+the large mullioned windows on either side of the 
+front door, and started to climb the stairs, blessing 
+the dust that lay thick upon the stone, because it 
+muffled the sound of his feet and stick. 
+
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+
+On the landing, Frank turned right, and saw at once 
+where the intruders were: At the very end of the 
+passage a door stood ajar, and a flickering light shone 
+through the gap, casting a long sliver of gold across 
+the black floor. Frank edged closer and closer, 
+grasping his walking stick firmly. Several feet from 
+the entrance, he was able to see a narrow slice of the 
+room beyond. 
+
+The fire, he now saw, had been lit in the grate. This 
+surprised him. Then he stopped moving and listened 
+intently, for a man’s voice spoke within the room; it 
+sounded timid and fearful. 
+
+“There is a little more in the bottle, My Lord, if you 
+are still hungry.” 
+
+“Later,” said a second voice. This too belonged to a 
+man — but it was strangely high-pitched, and cold as 
+a sudden blast of icy wind. Something about that 
+voice made the sparse hairs on the back of Frank’s 
+neck stand up. “Move me closer to the fire, Wormtail.” 
+
+Frank turned his right ear toward the door, the better 
+to hear. There came the clink of a bottle being put 
+down upon some hard surface, and then the dull 
+scraping noise of a heavy chair being dragged across 
+the floor. Frank caught a glimpse of a small man, his 
+back to the door, pushing the chair into place. He was 
+wearing a long black cloak, and there was a bald 
+patch at the back of his head. Then he went out of 
+sight again. 
+
+“Where is Nagini?” said the cold voice. 
+
+“I — I don’t know, My Lord,” said the first voice 
+nervously. “She set out to explore the house, I think. 
+
+
+
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+“You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail,” said 
+the second voice. “I will need feeding in the night. The 
+journey has tired me greatly.” 
+
+Brow furrowed, Frank inclined his good ear still closer 
+to the door, listening very hard. There was a pause, 
+and then the man called Wormtail spoke again. 
+
+“My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay 
+here?” 
+
+“A week,” said the cold voice. “Perhaps longer. The 
+place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot 
+proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the 
+Quidditch World Cup is over.” 
+
+Frank inserted a gnarled finger into his ear and 
+rotated it. Owing, no doubt, to a buildup of earwax, 
+he had heard the word “Quidditch,” which was not a 
+word at all. 
+
+“The — the Quidditch World Cup, My Lord?” said 
+Wormtail. (Frank dug his finger still more vigorously 
+into his ear.) “Forgive me, but — I do not understand 
+— why should we wait until the World Cup is over?” 
+
+“Because, fool, at this very moment wizards are 
+pouring into the country from all over the world, and 
+every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on 
+duty, on the watch for signs of unusual activity, 
+checking and double-checking identities. They will be 
+obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice 
+anything. So we wait.” 
+
+Frank stopped trying to clear out his ear. He had 
+distinctly heard the words “Ministry of Magic,” 
+“wizards,” and “Muggles.” Plainly, each of these 
+expressions meant something secret, and Frank could 
+think of only two sorts of people who would speak in 
+Page | 9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+code: spies and criminals. Frank tightened his hold 
+on his walking stick once more, and listened more 
+closely still. 
+
+“Your Lordship is still determined, then?” Wormtail 
+said quietly. 
+
+“Certainly I am determined, Wormtail.” There was a 
+note of menace in the cold voice now. 
+
+A slight pause followed — and then Wormtail spoke, 
+the words tumbling from him in a rush, as though he 
+was forcing himself to say this before he lost his 
+nerve. 
+
+“It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord.” 
+
+Another pause, more protracted, and then — 
+
+“Without Harry Potter?” breathed the second voice 
+softly. “I see ...” 
+
+“My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy!” 
+said Wormtail, his voice rising squeakily. “The boy is 
+nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we 
+were to use another witch or wizard — any wizard — 
+the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you 
+allowed me to leave you for a short while — you know 
+that I can disguise myself most effectively — I could 
+be back here in as little as two days with a suitable 
+person — ” 
+
+“I could use another wizard,” said the cold voice 
+softly, “that is true. ...” 
+
+“My Lord, it makes sense,” said Wormtail, sounding 
+thoroughly relieved now. “Laying hands on Harry 
+Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected — ” 
+
+
+
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+“And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a 
+substitute? I wonder . . . perhaps the task of nursing 
+me has become wearisome for you, “Wormtail? Could 
+this suggestion of abandoning the plan be nothing 
+more than an attempt to desert me?” 
+
+“My Lord! I — I have no wish to leave you, none at all 
+
+
+
+“Do not lie to me!” hissed the second voice. “I can 
+always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever 
+returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you 
+look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me. ...” 
+
+“No! My devotion to Your Lordship — ” 
+
+“Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You 
+would not be here if you had anywhere else to go. 
+
+How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding 
+every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?” 
+
+“But you seem so much stronger, My Lord — ” 
+
+“Liar,” breathed the second voice. “I am no stronger, 
+and a few days alone would be enough to rob me of 
+the little health I have regained under your clumsy 
+care. Silencel” 
+
+Wormtail, who had been sputtering incoherently, fell 
+silent at once. For a few seconds, Frank could hear 
+nothing but the fire crackling. Then the second man 
+spoke once more, in a whisper that was almost a hiss. 
+
+“I have my reasons for using the boy, as I have 
+already explained to you, and I will use no other. I 
+have waited thirteen years. A few more months will 
+make no difference. As for the protection surrounding 
+the boy, I believe my plan will be effective. All that is 
+needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail — 
+
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+courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full 
+extent of Lord Voldemort’s wrath — ” 
+
+“My Lord, I must speak!” said Wormtail, panic in his 
+voice now. “All through our journey I have gone over 
+the plan in my head — My Lord, Bertha Jorkins’s 
+disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if 
+we proceed, if I murder — ” 
+
+“IP” whispered the second voice. “If? If you follow the 
+plan, Wormtail, the Ministry need never know that 
+anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and 
+without fuss; I only wish that I could do it myself, but 
+in my present condition ... Come, Wormtail, one more 
+death and our path to Harry Potter is clear. I am not 
+asking you to do it alone. By that time, my faithful 
+servant will have rejoined us — ” 
+
+“I am a faithful servant,” said Wormtail, the merest 
+trace of sullenness in his voice. 
+
+“Wormtail, I need somebody with brains, somebody 
+whose loyalty has never wavered, and you, 
+unfortunately, fulfill neither requirement.” 
+
+“I found you,” said Wormtail, and there was definitely 
+a sulky edge to his voice now. “I was the one who 
+found you. I brought you Bertha Jorkins.” 
+
+“That is true,” said the second man, sounding 
+amused. “A stroke of brilliance I would not have 
+thought possible from you, Wormtail — though, if 
+truth be told, you were not aware how useful she 
+would be when you caught her, were you?” 
+
+“I — I thought she might be useful, My Lord — ” 
+
+“Liar,” said the second voice again, the cruel 
+amusement more pronounced than ever. “However, I 
+
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+do not deny that her information was invaluable. 
+Without it, I could never have formed our plan, and 
+for that, you will have your reward, Wormtail. I will 
+allow you to perform an essential task for me, one 
+that many of my followers would give their right 
+hands to perform. ...” 
+
+“R-really, My Lord? What — ?” Wormtail sounded 
+terrified again. 
+
+“Ah, Wormtail, you don’t want me to spoil the 
+surprise? Your part will come at the very end ... but I 
+promise you, you will have the honor of being just as 
+useful as Bertha Jorkins.” 
+
+“You ... you ...” Wormtail’s voice suddenly sounded 
+hoarse, as though his mouth had gone very dry. “You 
+. . . are going ... to kill me too?” 
+
+“Wormtail, Wormtail,” said the cold voice silkily, “why 
+would I kill you? I killed Bertha because I had to. She 
+was fit for nothing after my questioning, quite 
+useless. In any case, awkward questions would have 
+been asked if she had gone back to the Ministry with 
+the news that she had met you on her holidays. 
+Wizards who are supposed to be dead would do well 
+not to run into Ministry of Magic witches at wayside 
+inns. ...” 
+
+Wormtail muttered something so quietly that Frank 
+could not hear it, but it made the second man laugh 
+— an entirely mirthless laugh, cold as his speech. 
+
+“We could have modified her memory? But Memory 
+Charms can be broken by a powerful wizard, as I 
+proved when I questioned her. It would be an insult to 
+her memory not to use the information I extracted 
+from her, Wormtail.” 
+
+
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+Out in the corridor, Frank suddenly became aware 
+that the hand gripping his walking stick was slippery 
+with sweat. The man with the cold voice had killed a 
+woman. He was talking about it without any kind of 
+remorse — with amusement. He was dangerous — a 
+madman. And he was planning more murders — this 
+boy, Harry Potter, whoever he was — was in danger — 
+
+Frank knew what he must do. Now, if ever, was the 
+time to go to the police. He would creep out of the 
+house and head straight for the telephone box in the 
+village . . . but the cold voice was speaking again, and 
+Frank remained where he was, frozen to the spot, 
+listening with all his might. 
+
+“One more murder . . . my faithful servant at Hogwarts 
+... Harry Potter is as good as mine, Wormtail. It is 
+decided. There will be no more argument. But quiet ... 
+I think I hear Nagini. ...” 
+
+And the second man’s voice changed. He started 
+making noises such as Frank had never heard before; 
+he was hissing and spitting without drawing breath. 
+Frank thought he must be having some sort of fit or 
+seizure. 
+
+And then Frank heard movement behind him in the 
+dark passageway. He turned to look, and found 
+himself paralyzed with fright. 
+
+Something was slithering toward him along the dark 
+corridor floor, and as it drew nearer to the sliver of 
+firelight, he realized with a thrill of terror that it was a 
+gigantic snake, at least twelve feet long. Horrified, 
+transfixed, Frank stared as its undulating body cut a 
+wide, curving track through the thick dust on the 
+floor, coming closer and closer — What was he to do? 
+The only means of escape was into the room where 
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+two men sat plotting murder, yet if he stayed where 
+he was the snake would surely kill him — 
+
+But before he had made his decision, the snake was 
+level with him, and then, incredibly, miraculously, it 
+was passing; it was following the spitting, hissing 
+noises made by the cold voice beyond the door, and in 
+seconds, the tip of its diamond-patterned tail had 
+vanished through the gap. 
+
+There was sweat on Frank’s forehead now, and the 
+hand on the walking stick was trembling. Inside the 
+room, the cold voice was continuing to hiss, and 
+Frank was visited by a strange idea, an impossible 
+idea. . . . This man could talk to snakes. 
+
+Frank didn’t understand what was going on. He 
+wanted more than anything to be back in his bed with 
+his hot-water bottle. The problem was that his legs 
+didn’t seem to want to move. As he stood there 
+shaking and trying to master himself, the cold voice 
+switched abruptly to English again. 
+
+“Nagini has interesting news, Wormtail,” it said. 
+
+“In-indeed, My Lord?” said Wormtail. 
+
+“Indeed, yes,” said the voice. “According to Nagini, 
+there is an old Muggle standing right outside this 
+room, listening to every word we say.” 
+
+Frank didn’t have a chance to hide himself. There 
+were footsteps, and then the door of the room was 
+flung wide open. 
+
+A short, balding man with graying hair, a pointed 
+nose, and small, watery eyes stood before Frank, a 
+mixture of fear and alarm in his face. 
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+“Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your 
+manners?” 
+
+The cold voice was coming from the ancient armchair 
+before the fire, but Frank couldn’t see the speaker. 
+The snake, on the other hand, was curled up on the 
+rotting hearth rug, like some horrible travesty of a pet 
+dog. 
+
+Wormtail beckoned Frank into the room. Though still 
+deeply shaken, Frank took a firmer grip upon his 
+walking stick and limped over the threshold. 
+
+The fire was the only source of light in the room; it 
+cast long, spidery shadows upon the walls. Frank 
+stared at the back of the armchair; the man inside it 
+seemed to be even smaller than his servant, for Frank 
+couldn’t even see the back of his head. 
+
+“You heard everything, Muggle?” said the cold voice. 
+
+“What’s that you’re calling me?” said Frank defiantly, 
+for now that he was inside the room, now that the 
+time had come for some sort of action, he felt braver; 
+it had always been so in the war. 
+
+“I am calling you a Muggle,” said the voice coolly. “It 
+means that you are not a wizard.” 
+
+“I don’t know what you mean by wizard,” said Frank, 
+his voice growing steadier. “All I know is I’ve heard 
+enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You’ve 
+done murder and you’re planning more! And I’ll tell 
+you this too,” he added, on a sudden inspiration, “my 
+wife knows I’m up here, and if I don’t come back — ” 
+
+“You have no wife,” said the cold voice, very quietly. 
+“Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that 
+
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+you were coming. Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, 
+Muggle, for he knows ... he always knows. ...” 
+
+“Is that right?” said Frank roughly. “Lord, is it? Well, I 
+don’t think much of your manners, My Lord. Turn 
+’round and face me like a man, why don’t you?” 
+
+“But I am not a man, Muggle,” said the cold voice, 
+barely audible now over the crackling of the flames. “I 
+am much, much more than a man. However ... why 
+not? I will face you. ... Wormtail, come turn my chair 
+around.” 
+
+The servant gave a whimper. 
+
+“You heard me, Wormtail.” 
+
+Slowly, with his face screwed up, as though he would 
+rather have done anything than approach his master 
+and the hearth rug where the snake lay, the small 
+man walked forward and began to turn the chair. The 
+snake lifted its ugly triangular head and hissed 
+slightly as the legs of the chair snagged on its rug. 
+
+And then the chair was facing Frank, and he saw 
+what was sitting in it. His walking stick fell to the 
+floor with a clatter. He opened his mouth and let out 
+a scream. He was screaming so loudly that he never 
+heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it 
+raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a 
+rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumpled. He was 
+dead before he hit the floor. 
+
+Two hundred miles away, the boy called Harry Potter 
+woke with a start. 
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+THE SCAR 
+
+Harry lay flat on his back, breathing hard as though 
+he had been running. He had awoken from a vivid 
+dream with his hands pressed over his face. The old 
+scar on his forehead, which was shaped like a bolt of 
+lightning, was burning beneath his fingers as though 
+someone had just pressed a white-hot wire to his 
+skin. 
+
+He sat up, one hand still on his scar, the other 
+reaching out in the darkness for his glasses, which 
+were on the bedside table. He put them on and his 
+bedroom came into clearer focus, lit by a faint, misty 
+orange light that was filtering through the curtains 
+from the street lamp outside the window. 
+
+Harry ran his fingers over the scar again. It was still 
+painful. He turned on the lamp beside him, scrambled 
+out of bed, crossed the room, opened his wardrobe, 
+and peered into the mirror on the inside of the door. A 
+skinny boy of fourteen looked back at him, his bright 
+green eyes puzzled under his untidy black hair. He 
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+examined the lightning-bolt scar of his reflection more 
+closely. It looked normal, but it was still stinging. 
+
+Harry tried to recall what he had been dreaming 
+about before he had awoken. It had seemed so real. ... 
+There had been two people he knew and one he 
+didn’t. ... He concentrated hard, frowning, trying to 
+remember. ... 
+
+The dim picture of a darkened room came to him. ... 
+There had been a snake on a hearth rug ... a small 
+man called Peter, nicknamed Wormtail ... and a cold, 
+high voice ... the voice of Lord Voldemort. Harry felt 
+as though an ice cube had slipped down into his 
+stomach at the very thought. ... 
+
+He closed his eyes tightly and tried to remember what 
+Voldemort had looked like, but it was impossible. ... 
+All Harry knew was that at the moment when 
+Voldemort’s chair had swung around, and he, Harry, 
+had seen what was sitting in it, he had felt a spasm of 
+horror, which had awoken him ... or had that been 
+the pain in his scar? 
+
+And who had the old man been? For there had 
+definitely been an old man; Harry had watched him 
+fall to the ground. It was all becoming confused. 
+
+Harry put his face into his hands, blocking out his 
+bedroom, trying to hold on to the picture of that dimly 
+lit room, but it was like trying to keep water in his 
+cupped hands; the details were now trickling away as 
+fast as he tried to hold on to them. ... Voldemort and 
+Wormtail had been talking about someone they had 
+killed, though Harry could not remember the name . . . 
+and they had been plotting to kill someone else . . . 
+him). 
+
+Harry took his face out of his hands, opened his eyes, 
+and stared around his bedroom as though expecting 
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+to see something unusual there. As it happened, 
+there were an extraordinary number of unusual 
+things in this room. A large wooden trunk stood open 
+at the foot of his bed, revealing a cauldron, 
+broomstick, black robes, and assorted spellbooks. 
+Rolls of parchment littered that part of his desk that 
+was not taken up by the large, empty cage in which 
+his snowy owl, Hedwig, usually perched. On the floor 
+beside his bed a book lay open; Harry had been 
+reading it before he fell asleep last night. The pictures 
+in this book were all moving. Men in bright orange 
+robes were zooming in and out of sight on 
+broomsticks, throwing a red ball to one another. 
+
+Harry walked over to the book, picked it up, and 
+watched one of the wizards score a spectacular goal 
+by putting the ball through a fifty-foot-high hoop. 
+
+Then he snapped the book shut. Even Quidditch — in 
+Harry’s opinion, the best sport in the world — 
+couldn’t distract him at the moment. He placed Flying 
+with the Cannons on his bedside table, crossed to the 
+window, and drew back the curtains to survey the 
+street below. 
+
+Privet Drive looked exactly as a respectable suburban 
+street would be expected to look in the early hours of 
+Saturday morning. All the curtains were closed. As far 
+as Harry could see through the darkness, there 
+wasn’t a living creature in sight, not even a cat. 
+
+And yet . . . and yet . . . Harry went restlessly back to 
+the bed and sat down on it, running a finger over his 
+scar again. It wasn’t the pain that bothered him; 
+
+Harry was no stranger to pain and injury. He had lost 
+all the bones from his right arm once and had them 
+painfully regrown in a night. The same arm had been 
+pierced by a venomous foot-long fang not long 
+afterward. Only last year Harry had fallen fifty feet 
+from an airborne broomstick. He was used to bizarre 
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+accidents and injuries; they were unavoidable if you 
+attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 
+and had a knack for attracting a lot of trouble. 
+
+No, the thing that was bothering Harry was that the 
+last time his scar had hurt him, it had been because 
+Voldemort had been close by. ... But Voldemort 
+couldn’t be here, now. ... The idea of Voldemort 
+lurking in Privet Drive was absurd, impossible. ... 
+
+Harry listened closely to the silence around him. Was 
+he half-expecting to hear the creak of a stair or the 
+swish of a cloak? And then he jumped slightly as he 
+heard his cousin Dudley give a tremendous grunting 
+snore from the next room. 
+
+Harry shook himself mentally; he was being stupid. 
+There was no one in the house with him except Uncle 
+Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley, and they were 
+plainly still asleep, their dreams untroubled and 
+painless. 
+
+Asleep was the way Harry liked the Dursleys best; it 
+wasn’t as though they were ever any help to him 
+awake. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were 
+Harry’s only living relatives. They were Muggles who 
+hated and despised magic in any form, which meant 
+that Harry was about as welcome in their house as 
+dry rot. They had explained away Harry’s long 
+absences at Hogwarts over the last three years by 
+telling everyone that he went to St. Brutus’s Secure 
+Center for Incurably Criminal Boys. They knew 
+perfectly well that, as an underage wizard, Harry 
+wasn’t allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts, but 
+they were still apt to blame him for anything that 
+went wrong about the house. Harry had never been 
+able to confide in them or tell them anything about 
+his life in the wizarding world. The very idea of going 
+to them when they awoke, and telling them about his 
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+scar hurting him, and about his worries about 
+Voldemort, was laughable. 
+
+And yet it was because of Voldemort that Harry had 
+come to live with the Dursleys in the first place. If it 
+hadn’t been for Voldemort, Harry would not have had 
+the lightning scar on his forehead. If it hadn’t been for 
+Voldemort, Harry would still have had parents. ... 
+
+Harry had been a year old the night that Voldemort — 
+the most powerful Dark wizard for a century, a wizard 
+who had been gaining power steadily for eleven years 
+— arrived at his house and killed his father and 
+mother. Voldemort had then turned his wand on 
+Harry; he had performed the curse that had disposed 
+of many full-grown witches and wizards in his steady 
+rise to power — and, incredibly, it had not worked. 
+Instead of killing the small boy, the curse had 
+rebounded upon Voldemort. Harry had survived with 
+nothing but a lightning-shaped cut on his forehead, 
+and Voldemort had been reduced to something barely 
+alive. His powers gone, his life almost extinguished, 
+Voldemort had fled; the terror in which the secret 
+community of witches and wizards had lived for so 
+long had lifted, Voldemort’s followers had disbanded, 
+and Harry Potter had become famous. 
+
+It had been enough of a shock for Harry to discover, 
+on his eleventh birthday, that he was a wizard; it had 
+been even more disconcerting to find out that 
+everyone in the hidden wizarding world knew his 
+name. Harry had arrived at Hogwarts to find that 
+heads turned and whispers followed him wherever he 
+went. But he was used to it now: At the end of this 
+summer, he would be starting his fourth year at 
+Hogwarts, and Harry was already counting the days 
+until he would be back at the castle again. 
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+But there was still a fortnight to go before he went 
+back to school. He looked hopelessly around his room 
+again, and his eye paused on the birthday cards his 
+two best friends had sent him at the end of July. 
+
+What would they say if Harry wrote to them and told 
+them about his scar hurting? 
+
+At once, Hermione Granger’s voice seemed to fill his 
+head, shrill and panicky. 
+
+“ Your scar hurt? Harry, that’s really serious. . . . Write 
+to Professor Dumbledorel And I’ll go and check 
+Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions. ... Maybe 
+there’s something in there about curse scars. ...” 
+
+Yes, that would be Hermione’s advice: Go straight to 
+the headmaster of Hogwarts, and in the meantime, 
+consult a book. Harry stared out of the window at the 
+inky blue-black sky. He doubted very much whether a 
+book could help him now. As far as he knew, he was 
+the only living person to have survived a curse like 
+Voldemort’s; it was highly unlikely, therefore, that he 
+would find his symptoms listed in Common Magical 
+Ailments and Afflictions. As for informing the 
+headmaster, Harry had no idea where Dumbledore 
+went during the summer holidays. He amused himself 
+for a moment, picturing Dumbledore, with his long 
+silver beard, full-length wizard’s robes, and pointed 
+hat, stretched out on a beach somewhere, rubbing 
+suntan lotion onto his long crooked nose. Wherever 
+Dumbledore was, though, Harry was sure that 
+Hedwig would be able to find him; Harry’s owl had 
+never yet failed to deliver a letter to anyone, even 
+without an address. But what would he write? 
+
+Dear Professor Dumbledore, Sorry to bother you, but 
+my scar hurt this morning. Yours sincerely, Harry 
+Potter. 
+
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+Even inside his head the words sounded stupid. 
+
+And so he tried to imagine his other best friend, Ron 
+Weasley’s, reaction, and in a moment, Ron’s red hair 
+and long-nosed, freckled face seemed to swim before 
+Harry, wearing a bemused expression. 
+
+“ Your scar hurt? But ... but You-Knotu-Who can’t be 
+near you now, can he? I mean ... you’d know, wouldn’t 
+you? He’d be trying to do you in again, wouldn’t he? I 
+dunno, Harry, maybe curse scars always twinge a bit 
+... I’ll ask Dad. ...” 
+
+Mr. Weasley was a fully qualified wizard who worked 
+in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the 
+Ministry of Magic, but he didn’t have any particular 
+expertise in the matter of curses, as far as Harry 
+knew. In any case, Harry didn’t like the idea of the 
+whole Weasley family knowing that he, Harry, was 
+getting jumpy about a few moments’ pain. Mrs. 
+Weasley would fuss worse than Hermione, and Fred 
+and George, Ron’s sixteen-year-old twin brothers, 
+might think Harry was losing his nerve. The Weasleys 
+were Harry’s favorite family in the world; he was 
+hoping that they might invite him to stay any time 
+now (Ron had mentioned something about the 
+Quidditch World Cup), and he somehow didn’t want 
+his visit punctuated with anxious inquiries about his 
+scar. 
+
+Harry kneaded his forehead with his knuckles. What 
+he really wanted (and it felt almost shameful to admit 
+it to himself) was someone like — someone like a 
+parent: an adult wizard whose advice he could ask 
+without feeling stupid, someone who cared about 
+him, who had had experience with Dark Magic. ... 
+
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+And then the solution came to him. It was so simple, 
+and so obvious, that he couldn’t believe it had taken 
+so long — Sirius. 
+
+Harry leapt up from the bed, hurried across the room, 
+and sat down at his desk; he pulled a piece of 
+parchment toward him, loaded his eagle-feather quill 
+with ink, wrote Dear Sirius, then paused, wondering 
+how best to phrase his problem, still marveling at the 
+fact that he hadn’t thought of Sirius straight away. 
+
+But then, perhaps it wasn’t so surprising — after all, 
+he had only found out that Sirius was his godfather 
+two months ago. 
+
+There was a simple reason for Sirius’s complete 
+absence from Harry’s life until then — Sirius had 
+been in Azkaban, the terrifying wizard jail guarded by 
+creatures called dementors, sightless, soul-sucking 
+fiends who had come to search for Sirius at Hogwarts 
+when he had escaped. Yet Sirius had been innocent 
+— the murders for which he had been convicted had 
+been committed by Wormtail, Voldemort’s supporter, 
+whom nearly everybody now believed dead. Harry, 
+
+Ron, and Hermione knew otherwise, however; they 
+had come face-to-face with Wormtail only the 
+previous year, though only Professor Dumbledore had 
+believed their story. 
+
+For one glorious hour, Harry had believed that he was 
+leaving the Dursleys at last, because Sirius had 
+offered him a home once his name had been cleared. 
+But the chance had been snatched away from him — 
+Wormtail had escaped before they could take him to 
+the Ministry of Magic, and Sirius had had to flee for 
+his life. Harry had helped him escape on the back of a 
+hippogriff called Buckbeak, and since then, Sirius 
+had been on the run. The home Harry might have had 
+if Wormtail had not escaped had been haunting him 
+all summer. It had been doubly hard to return to the 
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+Dursleys knowing that he had so nearly escaped them 
+forever. 
+
+Nevertheless, Sirius had been of some help to Harry, 
+even if he couldn’t be with him. It was due to Sirius 
+that Harry now had all his school things in his 
+bedroom with him. The Dursleys had never allowed 
+this before; their general wish of keeping Harry as 
+miserable as possible, coupled with their fear of his 
+powers, had led them to lock his school trunk in the 
+cupboard under the stairs every summer prior to this. 
+But their attitude had changed since they had found 
+out that Harry had a dangerous murderer for a 
+godfather — for Harry had conveniently forgotten to 
+tell them that Sirius was innocent. 
+
+Harry had received two letters from Sirius since he 
+had been back at Privet Drive. Both had been 
+delivered, not by owls (as was usual with wizards), 
+but by large, brightly colored tropical birds. Hedwig 
+had not approved of these flashy intruders; she had 
+been most reluctant to allow them to drink from her 
+water tray before flying off again. Harry, on the other 
+hand, had liked them; they put him in mind of palm 
+trees and white sand, and he hoped that, wherever 
+Sirius was (Sirius never said, in case the letters were 
+intercepted), he was enjoying himself. Somehow, 
+
+Harry found it hard to imagine dementors surviving 
+for long in bright sunlight; perhaps that was why 
+Sirius had gone south. Sirius’s letters, which were 
+now hidden beneath the highly useful loose 
+floorboard under Harry’s bed, sounded cheerful, and 
+in both of them he had reminded Harry to call on him 
+if ever Harry needed to. Well, he needed to now, all 
+right. ... 
+
+Harry’s lamp seemed to grow dimmer as the cold gray 
+light that precedes sunrise slowly crept into the room. 
+Finally, when the sun had risen, when his bedroom 
+
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+walls had turned gold, and when sounds of movement 
+could be heard from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia’s 
+room, Harry cleared his desk of crumpled pieces of 
+parchment and reread his finished letter. 
+
+Dear Sirius, 
+
+Thanks for your last letter. That bird was enormous; it 
+could hardly get through my window. 
+
+Things are the same as usual here. Dudley’s diet isn’t 
+going too well. My aunt found him smuggling 
+doughnuts into his room yesterday. They told him 
+they ’d have to cut his pocket money if he keeps doing 
+it, so he got really angry and chucked his PlayStation 
+out of the window. That’s a sort of computer thing you 
+can play games on. Bit stupid really, now he hasn’t 
+even got Mega-Mutilation Part Three to take his mind 
+off things. 
+
+I’m okay, mainly because the Dursleys are terrified 
+you might turn up and turn them all into bats if I ask 
+you to. 
+
+A weird thing happened this morning, though. My scar 
+hurt again. Last time that happened it was because 
+Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But I don’t reckon he can 
+be anywhere near me now, can he? Do you know if 
+curse scars sometimes hurt years afterward? 
+
+I’ll send this with Hedwig when she gets back; she’s 
+offhunt-\ing at the moment. Say hello to Buckbeak for 
+me. 
+
+Harry 
+
+Yes, thought Harry, that looked all right. There was 
+no point putting in the dream; he didn’t want it to 
+look as though he was too worried. He folded up the 
+
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+parchment and laid it aside on his desk, ready for 
+when Hedwig returned. Then he got to his feet, 
+stretched, and opened his wardrobe once more. 
+Without glancing at his reflection, he started to get 
+dressed before going down to breakfast. 
+
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+3 
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+THE INVITATION 
+
+By the time Harry arrived in the kitchen, the three 
+Dursleys were already seated around the table. None 
+of them looked up as he entered or sat down. Uncle 
+Vernon’s large red face was hidden behind the 
+morning’s Daily Mail, and Aunt Petunia was cutting a 
+grapefruit into quarters, her lips pursed over her 
+horselike teeth. 
+
+Dudley looked furious and sulky, and somehow 
+seemed to be taking up even more space than usual. 
+This was saying something, as he always took up an 
+entire side of the square table by himself. When Aunt 
+Petunia put a quarter of unsweetened grapefruit onto 
+Dudley’s plate with a tremulous “There you are, Diddy 
+darling,” Dudley glowered at her. His life had taken a 
+most unpleasant turn since he had come home for 
+the summer with his end-of-year report. 
+
+Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had managed to find 
+excuses for his bad marks as usual: Aunt Petunia 
+always insisted that Dudley was a very gifted boy 
+whose teachers didn’t understand him, while Uncle 
+
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+Vernon maintained that “he didn’t want some swotty 
+little nancy boy for a son anyway.” They also skated 
+over the accusations of bullying in the report — “He’s 
+a boisterous little boy, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly!” 
+Aunt Petunia had said tearfully. 
+
+However, at the bottom of the report there were a few 
+well-chosen comments from the school nurse that not 
+even Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia could explain 
+away. No matter how much Aunt Petunia wailed that 
+Dudley was big-boned, and that his poundage was 
+really puppy fat, and that he was a growing boy who 
+needed plenty of food, the fact remained that the 
+school outfitters didn’t stock knickerbockers big 
+enough for him anymore. The school nurse had seen 
+what Aunt Petunia’s eyes — so sharp when it came to 
+spotting fingerprints on her gleaming walls, and in 
+observing the comings and goings of the neighbors — 
+simply refused to see: that far from needing extra 
+nourishment, Dudley had reached roughly the size 
+and weight of a young killer whale. 
+
+So — after many tantrums, after arguments that 
+shook Harry’s bedroom floor, and many tears from 
+Aunt Petunia — the new regime had begun. The diet 
+sheet that had been sent by the Smeltings school 
+nurse had been taped to the fridge, which had been 
+emptied of all Dudley’s favorite things — fizzy drinks 
+and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers — and filled 
+instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of 
+things that Uncle Vernon called “rabbit food.” To 
+make Dudley feel better about it all, Aunt Petunia had 
+insisted that the whole family follow the diet too. She 
+now passed a grapefruit quarter to Harry. He noticed 
+that it was a lot smaller than Dudley’s. Aunt Petunia 
+seemed to feel that the best way to keep up Dudley’s 
+morale was to make sure that he did, at least, get 
+more to eat than Harry. 
+
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+But Aunt Petunia didn’t know what was hidden under 
+the loose floorboard upstairs. She had no idea that 
+Harry was not following the diet at all. The moment 
+he had got wind of the fact that he was expected to 
+survive the summer on carrot sticks, Harry had sent 
+Hedwig to his friends with pleas for help, and they 
+had risen to the occasion magnificently. Hedwig had 
+returned from Hermione’s house with a large box 
+stuffed full of sugar-free snacks. (Hermione’s parents 
+were dentists.) Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had 
+obliged with a sack full of his own homemade rock 
+cakes. (Harry hadn’t touched these; he had had too 
+much experience of Hagrid ’s cooking.) Mrs. Weasley, 
+however, had sent the family owl, Errol, with an 
+enormous fruitcake and assorted meat pies. Poor 
+Errol, who was elderly and feeble, had needed a full 
+five days to recover from the journey. And then on 
+Harry’s birthday (which the Dursleys had completely 
+ignored) he had received four superb birthday cakes, 
+one each from Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Sirius. 
+Harry still had two of them left, and so, looking 
+forward to a real breakfast when he got back upstairs, 
+he ate his grapefruit without complaint. 
+
+Uncle Vernon laid aside his paper with a deep sniff of 
+disapproval and looked down at his own grapefruit 
+quarter. 
+
+“Is this it?” he said grumpily to Aunt Petunia. 
+
+Aunt Petunia gave him a severe look, and then 
+nodded pointedly at Dudley, who had already finished 
+his own grapefruit quarter and was eyeing Harry’s 
+with a very sour look in his piggy little eyes. 
+
+Uncle Vernon gave a great sigh, which ruffled his 
+large, bushy mustache, and picked up his spoon. 
+
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+The doorbell rang. Uncle Vernon heaved himself out 
+of his chair and set off down the hall. Quick as a 
+flash, while his mother was occupied with the kettle, 
+Dudley stole the rest of Uncle Vernon’s grapefruit. 
+
+Harry heard talking at the door, and someone 
+laughing, and Uncle Vernon answering curtly. Then 
+the front door closed, and the sound of ripping paper 
+came from the hall. 
+
+Aunt Petunia set the teapot down on the table and 
+looked curiously around to see where Uncle Vernon 
+had got to. She didn’t have to wait long to find out; 
+after about a minute, he was back. He looked livid. 
+
+“You,” he barked at Harry. “In the living room. Now.” 
+
+Bewildered, wondering what on earth he was 
+supposed to have done this time, Harry got up and 
+followed Uncle Vernon out of the kitchen and into the 
+next room. Uncle Vernon closed the door sharply 
+behind both of them. 
+
+“So,” he said, marching over to the fireplace and 
+turning to face Harry as though he were about to 
+pronounce him under arrest. “So.” 
+
+Harry would have dearly loved to have said, “So 
+what?” but he didn’t feel that Uncle Vernon’s temper 
+should be tested this early in the morning, especially 
+when it was already under severe strain from lack of 
+food. He therefore settled for looking politely puzzled. 
+
+“This just arrived,” said Uncle Vernon. He brandished 
+a piece of purple writing paper at Harry. “A letter. 
+About you.” 
+
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+Harry’s confusion increased. Who would be writing to 
+Uncle Vernon about him? Who did he know who sent 
+letters by the postman? 
+
+Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, then looked down at 
+the letter and began to read aloud: 
+
+Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, 
+
+We have never been introduced, but I am sure you 
+have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron. 
+
+As Harry might have told you, the final of the 
+Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, 
+and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get 
+prime tickets through his connections at the 
+Department of Magical Games and Sports. 
+
+I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, 
+as this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Britain 
+hasn’t hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are 
+extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad 
+to have Harry stay for the remainder of the summer 
+holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to 
+school. 
+
+It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as 
+quickly as possible in the normal way, because the 
+Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and 
+I am not sure he even knows where it is. 
+
+Hoping to see Harry soon, 
+
+Yours sincerely, 
+
+Molly Weasley 
+
+P.S. I do hope we’ve put enough stamps on. 
+
+
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+Uncle Vernon finished reading, put his hand back 
+into his breast pocket, and drew out something else. 
+
+“Look at this,” he growled. 
+
+He held up the envelope in which Mrs. Weasley’s 
+letter had come, and Harry had to fight down a laugh. 
+Every bit of it was covered in stamps except for a 
+square inch on the front, into which Mrs. Weasley 
+had squeezed the Dursleys’ address in minute 
+writing. 
+
+“She did put enough stamps on, then,” said Harry, 
+trying to sound as though Mrs. Weasley’s was a 
+mistake anyone could make. His uncle’s eyes flashed. 
+
+“The postman noticed,” he said through gritted teeth. 
+“Very interested to know where this letter came from, 
+he was. That’s why he rang the doorbell. Seemed to 
+think it was funny.” 
+
+Harry didn’t say anything. Other people might not 
+understand why Uncle Vernon was making a fuss 
+about too many stamps, but Harry had lived with the 
+Dursleys too long not to know how touchy they were 
+about anything even slightly out of the ordinary. Their 
+worst fear was that someone would find out that they 
+were connected (however distantly) with people like 
+Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Uncle Vernon was still glaring at Harry, who tried to 
+keep his expression neutral. If he didn’t do or say 
+anything stupid, he might just be in for the treat of a 
+lifetime. He waited for Uncle Vernon to say 
+something, but he merely continued to glare. Harry 
+decided to break the silence. 
+
+“So — can I go then?” he asked. 
+
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+A slight spasm crossed Uncle Vernon’s large purple 
+face. The mustache bristled. Harry thought he knew 
+what was going on behind the mustache: a furious 
+battle as two of Uncle Vernon’s most fundamental 
+instincts came into conflict. Allowing Harry to go 
+would make Harry happy, something Uncle Vernon 
+had struggled against for thirteen years. On the other 
+hand, allowing Harry to disappear to the Weasleys’ for 
+the rest of the summer would get rid of him two 
+weeks earlier than anyone could have hoped, and 
+Uncle Vernon hated having Harry in the house. To 
+give himself thinking time, it seemed, he looked down 
+at Mrs. Weasley’s letter again. 
+
+“Who is this woman?” he said, staring at the 
+signature with distaste. 
+
+“You’ve seen her,” said Harry. “She’s my friend Ron’s 
+mother, she was meeting him off the Hog — off the 
+school train at the end of last term.” 
+
+He had almost said “Hogwarts Express,” and that was 
+a sure way to get his uncle’s temper up. Nobody ever 
+mentioned the name of Harry’s school aloud in the 
+Dursley household. 
+
+Uncle Vernon screwed up his enormous face as 
+though trying to remember something very 
+unpleasant. 
+
+“Dumpy sort of woman?” he growled finally. “Load of 
+children with red hair?” 
+
+Harry frowned. He thought it was a bit rich of Uncle 
+Vernon to call anyone “dumpy,” when his own son, 
+Dudley, had finally achieved what he’d been 
+threatening to do since the age of three, and become 
+wider than he was tall. 
+
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+Uncle Vernon was perusing the letter again. 
+
+“Quidditch,” he muttered under his breath. 
+
+“Quidditch — what is this rubbish?” 
+
+Harry felt a second stab of annoyance. 
+
+“It’s a sport,” he said shortly. “Played on broom — ” 
+
+“All right, all right!” said Uncle Vernon loudly. Harry 
+saw, with some satisfaction, that his uncle looked 
+vaguely panicky. Apparently his nerves couldn’t stand 
+the sound of the word “broomsticks” in his living 
+room. He took refuge in perusing the letter again. 
+Harry saw his lips form the words “send us your 
+answer ... in the normal way.” He scowled. 
+
+“What does she mean, ‘the normal way’?” he spat. 
+
+“Normal for us,” said Harry, and before his uncle 
+could stop him, he added, “you know, owl post. That’s 
+what’s normal for wizards.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon looked as outraged as if Harry had just 
+uttered a disgusting swear word. Shaking with anger, 
+he shot a nervous look through the window, as 
+though expecting to see some of the neighbors with 
+their ears pressed against the glass. 
+
+“How many times do I have to tell you not to mention 
+that unnaturalness under my roof?” he hissed, his 
+face now a rich plum color. “You stand there, in the 
+clothes Petunia and I have put on your ungrateful 
+back — ” 
+
+“Only after Dudley finished with them,” said Harry 
+coldly, and indeed, he was dressed in a sweatshirt so 
+large for him that he had had to roll back the sleeves 
+
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+five times so as to be able to use his hands, and 
+which fell past the knees of his extremely baggy jeans. 
+
+
+
+“I will not be spoken to like that!” said Uncle Vernon, 
+trembling with rage. 
+
+But Harry wasn’t going to stand for this. Gone were 
+the days when he had been forced to take every single 
+one of the Dursleys’ stupid rules. He wasn’t following 
+Dudley’s diet, and he wasn’t going to let Uncle Vernon 
+stop him from going to the Quidditch World Cup, not 
+if he could help it. Harry took a deep, steadying 
+breath and then said, “Okay, I can’t see the World 
+Cup. Can I go now, then? Only I’ve got a letter to 
+Sirius I want to finish. You know — my godfather.” 
+
+He had done it. He had said the magic words. Now he 
+watched the purple recede blotchily from Uncle 
+Vernon’s face, making it look like badly mixed black 
+currant ice cream. 
+
+“You’re — you’re writing to him, are you?” said Uncle 
+Vernon, in a would-be calm voice — but Harry had 
+seen the pupils of his tiny eyes contract with sudden 
+fear. 
+
+“Well — yeah,” said Harry, casually. “It’s been a while 
+since he heard from me, and, you know, if he doesn’t, 
+he might start thinking something’s wrong.” 
+
+He stopped there to enjoy the effect of these words. 
+
+He could almost see the cogs working under Uncle 
+Vernon’s thick, dark, neatly parted hair. If he tried to 
+stop Harry writing to Sirius, Sirius would think Harry 
+was being mistreated. If he told Harry he couldn’t go 
+to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry would write and 
+tell Sirius, who would know Harry was being 
+mistreated. There was only one thing for Uncle 
+Vernon to do. Harry could see the conclusion forming 
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+in his uncle’s mind as though the great mustached 
+face were transparent. Harry tried not to smile, to 
+keep his own face as blank as possible. And then — 
+
+“Well, all right then. You can go to this ruddy ... this 
+stupid ... this World Cup thing. You write and tell 
+these — these Weasleys they’re to pick you up, mind. 
+I haven’t got time to go dropping you off all over the 
+country. And you can spend the rest of the summer 
+there. And you can tell your — your godfather ... tell 
+him ... tell him you’re going.” 
+
+“Okay then,” said Harry brightly. 
+
+He turned and walked toward the living room door, 
+fighting the urge to jump into the air and whoop. He 
+was going ... he was going to the Weasleys’, he was 
+going to watch the Quidditch World Cup! 
+
+Outside in the hall he nearly ran into Dudley, who 
+had been lurking behind the door, clearly hoping to 
+overhear Harry being told off. He looked shocked to 
+see the broad grin on Harry’s face. 
+
+“That was an excellent breakfast, wasn’t it?” said 
+Harry. “I feel really full, don’t you?” 
+
+Laughing at the astonished look on Dudley’s face, 
+Harry took the stairs three at a time, and hurled 
+himself back into his bedroom. 
+
+The first thing he saw was that Hedwig was back. She 
+was sitting in her cage, staring at Harry with her 
+enormous amber eyes, and clicking her beak in the 
+way that meant she was annoyed about something. 
+Exactly what was annoying her became apparent 
+almost at once. 
+
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+“OUCH!” said Harry as what appeared to be a small, 
+gray, feathery tennis ball collided with the side of his 
+head. Harry massaged the spot furiously, looking up 
+to see what had hit him, and saw a minute owl, small 
+enough to fit into the palm of his hand, whizzing 
+excitedly around the room like a loose firework. Harry 
+then realized that the owl had dropped a letter at his 
+feet. Harry bent down, recognized Ron’s handwriting, 
+then tore open the envelope. Inside was a hastily 
+scribbled note. 
+
+Harry — DAD GOT THE TICKETS — Ireland versus 
+Bulgaria, Monday night. Mum’s writing to the Muggles 
+to ask you to stay. They might already have the letter, 
+
+I don’t know how fast Muggle post is. Thought I’d send 
+this with Pig anyway. 
+
+Harry stared at the word “Pig,” then looked up at the 
+tiny owl now zooming around the light fixture on the 
+ceiling. He had never seen anything that looked less 
+like a pig. Maybe he couldn’t read Ron’s writing. He 
+went back to the letter: 
+
+We’re coming for you whether the Muggles like it or 
+not, you can’t miss the World Cup, only Mum and Dad 
+reckon it’s better if we pretend to ask their permission 
+first. If they say yes, send Pig back with your answer 
+pronto, and we’ll come and get you at five o’clock on 
+Sunday. If they say no, send Pig back pronto and we’ll 
+come and get you at five o’clock on Sunday anyway. 
+
+Hermione’s arriving this afternoon. Percy’s started 
+work — the Department of International Magical 
+Cooperation. Don’t mention anything about Abroad 
+while you’re here unless you want the pants bored off 
+you. 
+
+See you soon — 
+
+
+
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+Ron 
+
+
+
+“Calm down!” Harry said as the small owl flew low 
+over his head, twittering madly with what Harry could 
+only assume was pride at having delivered the letter 
+to the right person. “Come here, I need you to take my 
+answer back!” 
+
+The owl fluttered down on top of Hedwig’s cage. 
+Hedwig looked coldly up at it, as though daring it to 
+try and come any closer. 
+
+Harry seized his eagle-feather quill once more, 
+grabbed a fresh piece of parchment, and wrote: 
+
+Ron, it’s all okay, the Muggles say I can come. See you 
+five o’clock tomorrow. Can’t wait. 
+
+Harry 
+
+He folded this note up very small, and with immense 
+difficulty, tied it to the tiny owl’s leg as it hopped on 
+the spot with excitement. The moment the note was 
+secure, the owl was off again; it zoomed out of the 
+window and out of sight. 
+
+Harry turned to Hedwig. 
+
+“Feeling up to a long journey?” he asked her. 
+
+Hedwig hooted in a dignified sort of a way. 
+
+“Can you take this to Sirius for me?” he said, picking 
+up his letter. “Hang on ... I just want to finish it.” 
+
+He unfolded the parchment and hastily added a 
+postscript. 
+
+
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+If you want to contact me, I’ll be at my friend Ron 
+Weasley’s for the rest of the summer. His dad’s got us 
+tickets for the Quidditch World Cup\ 
+
+The letter finished, he tied it to Hedwig’s leg; she kept 
+unusually still, as though determined to show him 
+how a real post owl should behave. 
+
+“I’ll be at Ron’s when you get back, all right?” Harry 
+told her. 
+
+She nipped his finger affectionately, then, with a soft 
+swooshing noise, spread her enormous wings and 
+soared out of the open window. 
+
+Harry watched her out of sight, then crawled under 
+his bed, wrenched up the loose floorboard, and pulled 
+out a large chunk of birthday cake. He sat there on 
+the floor eating it, savoring the happiness that was 
+flooding through him. He had cake, and Dudley had 
+nothing but grapefruit; it was a bright summer’s day, 
+he would be leaving Privet Drive tomorrow, his scar 
+felt perfectly normal again, and he was going to watch 
+the Quidditch World Cup. It was hard, just now, to 
+feel worried about anything — even Lord Voldemort. 
+
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+BACK TO THE BURROW 
+
+By twelve o’clock the next day, Harry’s school trunk 
+was packed with his school things and all his most 
+prized possessions — the Invisibility Cloak he had 
+inherited from his father, the broomstick he had 
+gotten from Sirius, the enchanted map of Hogwarts he 
+had been given by Fred and George Weasley last year. 
+He had emptied his hiding place under the loose 
+floorboard of all food, double-checked every nook and 
+cranny of his bedroom for forgotten spellbooks or 
+quills, and taken down the chart on the wall counting 
+down the days to September the first, on which he 
+liked to cross off the days remaining until his return 
+to Hogwarts. 
+
+The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was 
+extremely tense. The imminent arrival at their house 
+of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys 
+uptight and irritable. Uncle Vernon had looked 
+downright alarmed when Harry informed him that the 
+Weasley s would be arriving at five o’clock the very 
+next day. 
+
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+“I hope you told them to dress properly, these people,” 
+he snarled at once. “I’ve seen the sort of stuff your lot 
+wear. They’d better have the decency to put on 
+normal clothes, that’s all.” 
+
+Harry felt a slight sense of foreboding. He had rarely 
+seen Mr. or Mrs. Weasley wearing anything that the 
+Dursleys would call “normal.” Their children might 
+don Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr. and 
+Mrs. Weasley usually wore long robes in varying 
+states of shabbiness. Harry wasn’t bothered about 
+what the neighbors would think, but he was anxious 
+about how rude the Dursleys might be to the 
+Weasleys if they turned up looking like their worst 
+idea of wizards. 
+
+Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some 
+people, this might have looked like a gesture of 
+welcome, but Harry knew it was because Uncle 
+Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating. 
+Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow 
+diminished. This was not because the diet was at last 
+taking effect, but due to fright. Dudley had emerged 
+from his last encounter with a fully-grown wizard with 
+a curly pig’s tail poking out of the seat of his trousers, 
+and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay 
+for its removal at a private hospital in London. It 
+wasn’t altogether surprising, therefore, that Dudley 
+kept running his hand nervously over his backside, 
+and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to 
+present the same target to the enemy. 
+
+Lunch was an almost silent meal. Dudley didn’t even 
+protest at the food (cottage cheese and grated celery). 
+Aunt Petunia wasn’t eating anything at all. Her arms 
+were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to 
+be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the 
+furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry. 
+
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+“They’ll be driving, of course?” Uncle Vernon barked 
+across the table. 
+
+“Er,” said Harry. 
+
+He hadn’t thought of that. How were the Weasleys 
+going to pick him up? They didn’t have a car 
+anymore; the old Ford Anglia they had once owned 
+was currently running wild in the Forbidden Forest at 
+Hogwarts. But Mr. Weasley had borrowed a Ministry 
+of Magic car last year; possibly he would do the same 
+today? 
+
+“I think so,” said Harry. 
+
+Uncle Vernon snorted into his mustache. Normally, 
+Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr. Weasley 
+drove; he tended to judge other men by how big and 
+expensive their cars were. But Harry doubted whether 
+Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr. Weasley even 
+if he drove a Ferrari. 
+
+Harry spent most of the afternoon in his bedroom; he 
+couldn’t stand watching Aunt Petunia peer out 
+through the net curtains every few seconds, as 
+though there had been a warning about an escaped 
+rhinoceros. Finally, at a quarter to five, Harry went 
+back downstairs and into the living room. 
+
+Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening 
+cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the 
+paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and Harry 
+was sure he was really listening with all his might for 
+the sound of an approaching car. Dudley was 
+crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath 
+him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Harry 
+couldn’t take the tension; he left the room and went 
+and sat on the stairs in the hall, his eyes on his 
+
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+watch and his heart pumping fast from excitement 
+and nerves. 
+
+But five o’clock came and then went. Uncle Vernon, 
+perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, 
+peered up and down the street, then withdrew his 
+head quickly. 
+
+“They’re late!” he snarled at Harry. 
+
+“I know,” said Harry. “Maybe — er — the traffic’s bad, 
+or something.” 
+
+Ten past five ... then a quarter past five ... Harry was 
+starting to feel anxious himself now. At half past, he 
+heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in 
+terse mutters in the living room. 
+
+“No consideration at all.” 
+
+“We might’ve had an engagement.” 
+
+“Maybe they think theyll get invited to dinner if 
+they’re late.” 
+
+“Well, they most certainly won’t be,” said Uncle 
+Vernon, and Harry heard him stand up and start 
+pacing the living room. “They’ll take the boy and go, 
+there 11 be no hanging around. That’s if they’re coming 
+at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind 
+don’t set much store by punctuality. Either that or 
+they drive some tin-pot car that’s broken d — 
+AAAAAAAARRRRRGH ! ” 
+
+Harry jumped up. From the other side of the living 
+room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys 
+scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next 
+moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking 
+terrified. 
+
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+“What happened?” said Harry. “What’s the matter?” 
+
+But Dudley didn’t seem able to speak. Hands still 
+clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he 
+could into the kitchen. Harry hurried into the living 
+room. 
+
+Loud hangings and scrapings were coming from 
+behind the Dursleys’ boarded-up fireplace, which had 
+a fake coal fire plugged in front of it. 
+
+“What is it?” gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed 
+into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the 
+fire. “What is it, Vernon?” 
+
+But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. 
+Voices could be heard from inside the blocked 
+fireplace. 
+
+“Ouch! Fred, no — go back, go back, there’s been 
+some kind of mistake — tell George not to — OUCH! 
+George, no, there’s no room, go back quickly and tell 
+Ron — ” 
+
+“Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad — maybe he’ll be able 
+to let us out — ” 
+
+There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards 
+behind the electric fire. 
+
+“Harry? Harry, can you hear us?” 
+
+The Dursleys rounded on Harry like a pair of angry 
+wolverines. 
+
+“What is this?” growled Uncle Vernon. “What’s going 
+on?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“They — they’ve tried to get here by Floo powder,” 
+said Harry, fighting a mad desire to laugh. “They can 
+travel by fire — only you’ve blocked the fireplace — 
+hang on — ” 
+
+He approached the fireplace and called through the 
+boards. 
+
+“Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?” 
+
+The hammering stopped. Somebody inside the 
+chimney piece said, “Shh!” 
+
+“Mr. Weasley, it’s Harry ... the fireplace has been 
+blocked up. You won’t be able to get through there.” 
+
+“Damn!” said Mr. Weasley’s voice. “What on earth did 
+they want to block up the fireplace for?” 
+
+“They’ve got an electric fire,” Harry explained. 
+
+“Really?” said Mr. Weasley’s voice excitedly. “Eclectic, 
+you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that. ... 
+Let’s think ... ouch, Ron!” 
+
+Ron’s voice now joined the others’. 
+
+“What are we doing here? Has something gone 
+wrong?” 
+
+“Oh no, Ron,” came Fred’s voice, very sarcastically. 
+“No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up.” 
+
+“Yeah, we’re having the time of our lives here,” said 
+George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he 
+was squashed against the wall. 
+
+
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+“Boys, boys ...” said Mr. Weasley vaguely. “I’m trying 
+to think what to do. ... Yes ... only way ... Stand back, 
+Harry.” 
+
+Harry retreated to the sofa. Uncle Vernon, however, 
+moved forward. 
+
+“Wait a moment!” he bellowed at the fire. “What 
+exactly are you going to — ” 
+
+BANG. 
+
+The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded- 
+up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, 
+Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose 
+chippings. Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward 
+over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before 
+she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the 
+Weasleys, all of whom had bright red hair, including 
+Fred and George, who were identical to the last 
+freckle. 
+
+“That’s better,” panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust 
+from his long green robes and straightening his 
+glasses. “Ah — you must be Harry’s aunt and uncle!” 
+
+Tall, thin, and balding, he moved toward Uncle 
+Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon 
+backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia. 
+Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was 
+covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair 
+and mustache and made him look as though he had 
+just aged thirty years. 
+
+“Er — yes — sorry about that,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at 
+the blasted fireplace. “It’s all my fault. It just didn’t 
+occur to me that we wouldn’t be able to get out at the 
+other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo 
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+Network, you see — just for an afternoon, you know, 
+so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren’t 
+supposed to be connected, strictly speaking — but 
+I’ve got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel 
+and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, 
+though, don’t worry. I’ll light a fire to send the boys 
+back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I 
+Disapparate.” 
+
+Harry was ready to bet that the Dursleys hadn’t 
+understood a single word of this. They were still 
+gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck. Aunt Petunia 
+staggered upright again and hid behind Uncle 
+Vernon. 
+
+“Hello, Harry!” said Mr. Weasley brightly. “Got your 
+trunk ready?” 
+
+“It’s upstairs,” said Harry, grinning back. 
+
+“Well get it,” said Fred at once. Winking at Harry, he 
+and George left the room. They knew where Harry’s 
+bedroom was, having once rescued him from it in the 
+dead of night. Harry suspected that Fred and George 
+were hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a 
+lot about him from Harry. 
+
+“Well,” said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, 
+while he tried to find words to break the very nasty 
+silence. “Very — erm — very nice place you’ve got 
+here.” 
+
+As the usually spotless living room was now covered 
+in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn’t go down 
+too well with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon’s face 
+purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing 
+her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to 
+actually say anything. 
+
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+Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything 
+to do with Muggles. Harry could see him itching to go 
+and examine the television and the video recorder. 
+
+“They run off eckeltricity, do they?” he said 
+knowledgeably. “Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect 
+plugs,” he added to Uncle Vernon. “And batteries. Got 
+a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I’m 
+mad, but there you are.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad 
+too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening 
+Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. 
+Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack. 
+
+Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Harry could 
+hear the clunk of his trunk on the stairs, and knew 
+that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. 
+Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley 
+with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself 
+behind his mother and father. Unfortunately, Uncle 
+Vernon’s bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt 
+Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley. 
+
+“Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?” said Mr. 
+Weasley, taking another brave stab at making 
+conversation. 
+
+“Yep,” said Harry, “that’s Dudley.” 
+
+He and Ron exchanged glances and then quickly 
+looked away from each other; the temptation to burst 
+out laughing was almost overwhelming. Dudley was 
+still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might 
+fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely 
+concerned at Dudley’s peculiar behavior. Indeed, from 
+the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was 
+quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite 
+
+
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+as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that 
+Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear. 
+
+“Having a good holiday, Dudley?” he said kindly. 
+
+Dudley whimpered. Harry saw his hands tighten still 
+harder over his massive backside. 
+
+Fred and George came back into the room carrying 
+Harry’s school trunk. They glanced around as they 
+entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into 
+identical evil grins. 
+
+“Ah, right,” said Mr. Weasley. “Better get cracking 
+then.” 
+
+He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out 
+his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against 
+the wall as one. 
+
+“Incendio\” said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the 
+hole in the wall behind him. 
+
+Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily 
+as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. 
+Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, 
+untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and 
+threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green 
+and roared higher than ever. 
+
+“Off you go then, Fred,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“Coming,” said Fred. “Oh no — hang on — ” 
+
+A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred’s pocket and 
+the contents were now rolling in every direction — 
+big, fat toffees in brightly colored wrappers. 
+
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+Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his 
+pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, 
+stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying 
+“the Burrow!” Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering 
+gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred 
+vanished. 
+
+“Right then, George,” said Mr. Weasley, “you and the 
+trunk.” 
+
+Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the 
+flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold 
+it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had 
+cried “the Burrow!” and vanished too. 
+
+“Ron, you next,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“See you,” said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. He 
+grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, 
+shouted “the Burrow!” and disappeared. 
+
+Now Harry and Mr. Weasley alone remained. 
+
+“Well ... T>ye then,” Harry said to the Dursleys. 
+
+They didn’t say anything at all. Harry moved toward 
+the fire, but just as he reached the edge of the hearth, 
+Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held him back. He 
+was looking at the Dursleys in amazement. 
+
+“Harry said good-bye to you,” he said. “Didn’t you 
+hear him?” 
+
+“It doesn’t matter,” Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. 
+“Honestly, I don’t care.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry’s 
+shoulder. 
+
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+“You aren’t going to see your nephew till next 
+summer,” he said to Uncle Vernon in mild 
+indignation. “Surely you’re going to say good-bye?” 
+
+Uncle Vernon’s face worked furiously. The idea of 
+being taught consideration by a man who had just 
+blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be 
+causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley’s 
+wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon’s tiny 
+eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, 
+“Good-bye, then.” 
+
+“See you,” said Harry, putting one foot forward into 
+the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm 
+breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging 
+sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started 
+to scream. 
+
+Harry wheeled around. Dudley was no longer 
+standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside 
+the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering 
+on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was 
+protruding from his mouth. One bewildered second 
+later, Harry realized that the foot-long thing was 
+Dudley’s tongue — and that a brightly colored toffee 
+wrapper lay on the floor before him. 
+
+Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside 
+Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and 
+attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; 
+unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse 
+than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was 
+bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. 
+Weasley had to shout to make himself heard. 
+
+“Not to worry, I can sort him out!” he yelled, 
+advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but 
+Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw 
+
+
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+herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. 
+Weasley. 
+
+
+
+“No, really!” said Mr. Weasley desperately. “It’s a 
+simple process — it was the toffee — my son Fred — 
+real practical joker — but it’s only an Engorgement 
+Charm — at least, I think it is — please, I can correct 
+
+
+
+it — ” 
+
+
+
+But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became 
+more panic-stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing 
+hysterically, tugging Dudley’s tongue as though 
+determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be 
+suffocating under the combined pressure of his 
+mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had 
+lost control completely, seized a china figure from on 
+top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. 
+Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to 
+shatter in the blasted fireplace. 
+
+“Now really!” said Mr. Weasley angrily, brandishing 
+his wand. “I’m trying to help\” 
+
+Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon 
+snatched up another ornament. 
+
+“Harry, go! Just go!” Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand 
+on Uncle Vernon. “I’ll sort this out!” 
+
+Harry didn’t want to miss the fun, but Uncle Vernon’s 
+second ornament narrowly missed his left ear, and on 
+balance he thought it best to leave the situation to 
+Mr. Weasley. He stepped into the fire, looking over his 
+shoulder as he said “the Burrow!” His last fleeting 
+glimpse of the living room was of Mr. Weasley blasting 
+a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon’s hand with his 
+wand, Aunt Petunia screaming and lying on top of 
+Dudley, and Dudley’s tongue lolling around like a 
+great slimy python. But next moment Harry had 
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+begun to spin very fast, and the Dursleys’ living room 
+was whipped out of sight in a rush of emerald-green 
+flames. 
+
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+WEASLEYS��� WIZARD WHEEZES 
+
+Harry spun faster and faster, elbows tucked tightly to 
+his sides, blurred fireplaces flashing past him, until 
+he started to feel sick and closed his eyes. Then, 
+when at last he felt himself slowing down, he threw 
+out his hands and came to a halt in time to prevent 
+himself from falling face forward out of the Weasleys’ 
+kitchen fire. 
+
+“Did he eat it?” said Fred excitedly, holding out a 
+hand to pull Harry to his feet. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, straightening up. “What was it?” 
+
+“Ton-Tongue Toffee,” said Fred brightly. “George and I 
+invented them, and we’ve been looking for someone to 
+test them on all summer. ...” 
+
+The tiny kitchen exploded with laughter; Harry looked 
+around and saw that Ron and George were sitting at 
+the scrubbed wooden table with two red-haired people 
+Harry had never seen before, though he knew 
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+immediately who they must be: Bill and Charlie, the 
+two eldest Weasley brothers. 
+
+
+
+“How’re you doing, Harry?” said the nearer of the two, 
+grinning at him and holding out a large hand, which 
+Harry shook, feeling calluses and blisters under his 
+fingers. This had to be Charlie, who worked with 
+dragons in Romania. Charlie was built like the twins, 
+shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were 
+both long and lanky. He had a broad, good-natured 
+face, which was weather-beaten and so freckly that he 
+looked almost tanned; his arms were muscular, and 
+one of them had a large, shiny burn on it. 
+
+Bill got to his feet, smiling, and also shook Harry’s 
+hand. Bill came as something of a surprise. Harry 
+knew that he worked for the wizarding bank, 
+Gringotts, and that Bill had been Head Boy at 
+Hogwarts; Harry had always imagined Bill to be an 
+older version of Percy: fussy about rule-breaking and 
+fond of bossing everyone around. However, Bill was — 
+there was no other word for it — cool. He was tall, 
+with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He 
+was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang 
+dangling from it. Bill’s clothes would not have looked 
+out of place at a rock concert, except that Harry 
+recognized his boots to be made, not of leather, but of 
+dragon hide. 
+
+Before any of them could say anything else, there was 
+a faint popping noise, and Mr. Weasley appeared out 
+of thin air at George’s shoulder. He was looking 
+angrier than Harry had ever seen him. 
+
+“That wasn’t funny, Fred!” he shouted. “What on 
+earth did you give that Muggle boy?” 
+
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+“I didn’t give him anything,” said Fred, with another 
+evil grin. “I just dropped it. ... It was his fault he went 
+and ate it, I never told him to.” 
+
+“You dropped it on purpose!” roared Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“You knew he’d eat it, you knew he was on a diet — ” 
+
+“How big did his tongue get?” George asked eagerly. 
+
+“It was four feet long before his parents would let me 
+shrink it!” 
+
+Harry and the Weasleys roared with laughter again. 
+
+“It isn’t funny\” Mr. Weasley shouted. “That sort of 
+behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle 
+relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the 
+mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons — ” 
+
+“We didn’t give it to him because he’s a Muggle!” said 
+Fred indignantly. 
+
+“No, we gave it to him because he’s a great bullying 
+git,” said George. “Isn’t he, Harry?” 
+
+“Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley,” said Harry earnestly. 
+
+“That’s not the point!” raged Mr. Weasley. “You wait 
+until I tell your mother — ” 
+
+“Tell me what?” said a voice behind them. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley had just entered the kitchen. She was a 
+short, plump woman with a very kind face, though 
+her eyes were presently narrowed with suspicion. 
+
+“Oh hello, Harry, dear,” she said, spotting him and 
+smiling. Then her eyes snapped back to her husband. 
+“Tell me what , Arthur?” 
+
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+Mr. Weasley hesitated. Harry could tell that, however 
+angry he was with Fred and George, he hadn’t really 
+intended to tell Mrs. Weasley what had happened. 
+There was a silence, while Mr. Weasley eyed his wife 
+nervously. Then two girls appeared in the kitchen 
+doorway behind Mrs. Weasley. One, with very bushy 
+brown hair and rather large front teeth, was Harry’s 
+and Ron’s friend, Hermione Granger. The other, who 
+was small and red-haired, was Ron’s younger sister, 
+Ginny. Both of them smiled at Harry, who grinned 
+back, which made Ginny go scarlet — she had been 
+very taken with Harry ever since his first visit to the 
+Burrow. 
+
+“Tell me what, Arthur?” Mrs. Weasley repeated, in a 
+dangerous sort of voice. 
+
+“It’s nothing, Molly,” mumbled Mr. Weasley, “Fred and 
+George just — but I’ve had words with them — ” 
+
+“What have they done this time?” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+“If it’s got anything to do with Weasleys’ Wizard 
+Wheezes — ” 
+
+“Why don’t you show Harry where he’s sleeping, 
+
+Ron?” said Hermione from the doorway. 
+
+“He knows where he’s sleeping,” said Ron, “in my 
+room, he slept there last — ” 
+
+“We can all go,” said Hermione pointedly. 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, cottoning on. “Right.” 
+
+“Yeah, we’ll come too,” said George. 
+
+“You stay where you are!” snarled Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+
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+Harry and Ron edged out of the kitchen, and they, 
+Hermione, and Ginny set off along the narrow hallway 
+and up the rickety staircase that zigzagged through 
+the house to the upper stories. 
+
+“What are Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes?” Harry asked 
+as they climbed. 
+
+Ron and Ginny both laughed, although Hermione 
+didn’t. 
+
+“Mum found this stack of order forms when she was 
+cleaning Fred and George’s room,” said Ron quietly. 
+“Great long price lists for stuff they’ve invented. Joke 
+stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads 
+of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they’d been 
+inventing all that ...” 
+
+“We’ve been hearing explosions out of their room for 
+ages, but we never thought they were actually making 
+things,” said Ginny. “We thought they just liked the 
+noise.” 
+
+“Only, most of the stuff — well, all of it, really — was 
+a bit dangerous,” said Ron, “and, you know, they were 
+planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, 
+and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren’t 
+allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the 
+order forms. ... She’s furious at them anyway. They 
+didn’t get as many O.W.L.s as she expected.” 
+
+O.W.L.s were Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the 
+examinations Hogwarts students took at the age of 
+fifteen. 
+
+“And then there was this big row,” Ginny said, 
+“because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of 
+Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do 
+is open a joke shop.” 
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+Just then a door on the second landing opened, and a 
+face poked out wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a 
+very annoyed expression. 
+
+“Hi, Percy,” said Harry. 
+
+“Oh hello, Harry,” said Percy. “I was wondering who 
+was making all the noise. I’m trying to work in here, 
+you know — I’ve got a report to finish for the office — 
+and it’s rather difficult to concentrate when people 
+keep thundering up and down the stairs.” 
+
+“We’re not thundering,” said Ron irritably. “We’re 
+walking. Sorry if we’ve disturbed the top-secret 
+workings of the Ministry of Magic.” 
+
+“What are you working on?” said Harry. 
+
+“A report for the Department of International Magical 
+Cooperation,” said Percy smugly. “We’re trying to 
+standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign 
+imports are just a shade too thin — leakages have 
+been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a 
+year — ” 
+
+“That’ll change the world, that report will,” said Ron. 
+“Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron 
+leaks.” 
+
+Percy went slightly pink. 
+
+“You might sneer, Ron,” he said heatedly, “but unless 
+some sort of international law is imposed we might 
+well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow- 
+bottomed products that seriously endanger — ” 
+
+“Yeah, yeah, all right,” said Ron, and he started off 
+upstairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door 
+shut. As Harry, Hermione, and Ginny followed Ron up 
+
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+three more flights of stairs, shouts from the kitchen 
+below echoed up to them. It sounded as though Mr. 
+Weasley had told Mrs. Weasley about the toffees. 
+
+The room at the top of the house where Ron slept 
+looked much as it had the last time that Harry had 
+come to stay: the same posters of Ron’s favorite 
+Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, were whirling 
+and waving on the walls and sloping ceiling, and the 
+fish tank on the windowsill, which had previously 
+held frog spawn, now contained one extremely large 
+frog. Ron’s old rat, Scabbers, was here no more, but 
+instead there was the tiny gray owl that had delivered 
+Ron’s letter to Harry in Privet Drive. It was hopping 
+up and down in a small cage and twittering madly. 
+
+“Shut up, Pig,” said Ron, edging his way between two 
+of the four beds that had been squeezed into the 
+room. “Fred and George are in here with us, because 
+Bill and Charlie are in their room,” he told Harry. 
+“Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because 
+he’s got to work.” 
+
+“Er — why are you calling that owl Pig?” Harry asked 
+Ron. 
+
+“Because he’s being stupid,” said Ginny. “Its proper 
+name is Pigwidgeon.” 
+
+“Yeah, and that’s not a stupid name at all,” said Ron 
+sarcastically. “Ginny named him,” he explained to 
+Harry. “She reckons it’s sweet. And I tried to change 
+it, but it was too late, he won’t answer to anything 
+else. So now he’s Pig. I’ve got to keep him up here 
+because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me 
+too, come to that.” 
+
+Pigwidgeon zoomed happily around his cage, hooting 
+shrilly. Harry knew Ron too well to take him 
+
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+seriously. He had moaned continually about his old 
+rat, Scabbers, but had been most upset when 
+Hermione’s cat, Crookshanks, appeared to have eaten 
+him. 
+
+“Where’s Crookshanks?” Harry asked Hermione now. 
+
+“Out in the garden, I expect,” she said. “He likes 
+chasing gnomes. He’s never seen any before.” 
+
+“Percy’s enjoying work, then?” said Harry, sitting 
+down on one of the beds and watching the Chudley 
+Cannons zooming in and out of the posters on the 
+ceiling. 
+
+“Enjoying it?” said Ron darkly. “I don’t reckon he’d 
+come home if Dad didn’t make him. He’s obsessed. 
+Just don’t get him onto the subject of his boss. 
+According to Mr. Crouch ... as I was saying to Mr. 
+Crouch . . . Mr. Crouch is of the opinion . . . Mr. Crouch 
+was telling me ... They 11 be announcing their 
+engagement any day now.” 
+
+“Have you had a good summer, Harry?” said 
+Hermione. “Did you get our food parcels and 
+everything?” 
+
+“Yeah, thanks a lot,” said Harry. “They saved my life, 
+those cakes.” 
+
+“And have you heard from — ?” Ron began, but at a 
+look from Hermione he fell silent. Harry knew Ron 
+had been about to ask about Sirius. Ron and 
+Hermione had been so deeply involved in helping 
+Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic that they 
+were almost as concerned about Harry’s godfather as 
+he was. However, discussing him in front of Ginny 
+was a bad idea. Nobody but themselves and Professor 
+
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+
+Dumbledore knew about how Sirius had escaped, or 
+believed in his innocence. 
+
+“I think they’ve stopped arguing,” said Hermione, to 
+cover the awkward moment, because Ginny was 
+looking curiously from Ron to Harry. “Shall we go 
+down and help your mum with dinner?” 
+
+“Yeah, all right,” said Ron. The four of them left Ron’s 
+room and went back downstairs to find Mrs. Weasley 
+alone in the kitchen, looking extremely bad-tempered. 
+
+“We’re eating out in the garden,” she said when they 
+came in. “There’s just not room for eleven people in 
+here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill 
+and Charlie are setting up the tables. Knives and 
+forks, please, you two,” she said to Ron and Harry, 
+pointing her wand a little more vigorously than she 
+had intended at a pile of potatoes in the sink, which 
+shot out of their skins so fast that they ricocheted off 
+the walls and ceiling. 
+
+“Oh for heaven’s sake,” she snapped, now directing 
+her wand at a dustpan, which hopped off the 
+sideboard and started skating across the floor, 
+scooping up the potatoes. “Those two!” she burst out 
+savagely, now pulling pots and pans out of a 
+cupboard, and Harry knew she meant Fred and 
+George. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to them, 
+I really don’t. No ambition, unless you count making 
+as much trouble as they possibly can. ...” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley slammed a large copper saucepan down 
+on the kitchen table and began to wave her wand 
+around inside it. A creamy sauce poured from the 
+wand tip as she stirred. 
+
+“It’s not as though they haven’t got brains,” she 
+continued irritably, taking the saucepan over to the 
+
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+stove and lighting it with a further poke of her wand, 
+“but they’re wasting them, and unless they pull 
+themselves together soon, they’ll be in real trouble. 
+I’ve had more owls from Hogwarts about them than 
+the rest put together. If they carry on the way they’re 
+going, they’ll end up in front of the Improper Use of 
+Magic Office.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley jabbed her wand at the cutlery drawer, 
+which shot open. Harry and Ron both jumped out of 
+the way as several knives soared out of it, flew across 
+the kitchen, and began chopping the potatoes, which 
+had just been tipped back into the sink by the 
+dustpan. 
+
+“I don’t know where we went wrong with them,” said 
+Mrs. Weasley, putting down her wand and starting to 
+pull out still more saucepans. “It’s been the same for 
+years, one thing after another, and they won’t listen 
+to — OH NOT AGAIN.” 
+
+She had picked up her wand from the table, and it 
+had emitted a loud squeak and turned into a giant 
+rubber mouse. 
+
+“One of their fake wands again!” she shouted. “How 
+many times have I told them not to leave them lying 
+around?” 
+
+She grabbed her real wand and turned around to find 
+that the sauce on the stove was smoking. 
+
+“C’mon,” Ron said hurriedly to Harry, seizing a 
+handful of cutlery from the open drawer, “let’s go and 
+help Bill and Charlie.” 
+
+They left Mrs. Weasley and headed out the back door 
+into the yard. 
+
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+They had only gone a few paces when Hermione’s 
+bandy-legged ginger cat, Crookshanks, came pelting 
+out of the garden, bottle-brush tail held high in the 
+air, chasing what looked like a muddy potato on legs. 
+Harry recognized it instantly as a gnome. Barely ten 
+inches high, its horny little feet pattered very fast as it 
+sprinted across the yard and dived headlong into one 
+of the Wellington boots that lay scattered around the 
+door. Harry could hear the gnome giggling madly as 
+Crookshanks inserted a paw into the boot, trying to 
+reach it. Meanwhile, a very loud crashing noise was 
+coming from the other side of the house. The source 
+of the commotion was revealed as they entered the 
+garden, and saw that Bill and Charlie both had their 
+wands out, and were making two battered old tables 
+fly high above the lawn, smashing into each other, 
+each attempting to knock the other’s out of the air. 
+Fred and George were cheering, Ginny was laughing, 
+and Hermione was hovering near the hedge, 
+apparently torn between amusement and anxiety. 
+
+Bill’s table caught Charlie’s with a huge bang and 
+knocked one of its legs off. There was a clatter from 
+overhead, and they all looked up to see Percy’s head 
+poking out of a window on the second floor. 
+
+“Will you keep it down?!” he bellowed. 
+
+“Sorry, Perce,” said Bill, grinning. “How’re the 
+cauldron bottoms coming on?” 
+
+“Very badly,” said Percy peevishly, and he slammed 
+the window shut. Chuckling, Bill and Charlie directed 
+the tables safely onto the grass, end to end, and then, 
+with a flick of his wand, Bill reattached the table leg 
+and conjured tablecloths from nowhere. 
+
+By seven o’clock, the two tables were groaning under 
+dishes and dishes of Mrs. Weasley’s excellent cooking, 
+
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+and the nine Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione were 
+settling themselves down to eat beneath a clear, deep- 
+blue sky. To somebody who had been living on meals 
+of increasingly stale cake all summer, this was 
+paradise, and at first, Harry listened rather than 
+talked as he helped himself to chicken and ham pie, 
+boiled potatoes, and salad. 
+
+At the far end of the table, Percy was telling his father 
+all about his report on cauldron bottoms. 
+
+“I’ve told Mr. Crouch that I’ll have it ready by 
+Tuesday,” Percy was saying pompously. “That’s a bit 
+sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of 
+things. I think he’ll be grateful I’ve done it in good 
+time, I mean, it’s extremely busy in our department 
+just now, what with all the arrangements for the 
+World Cup. We’re just not getting the support we 
+need from the Department of Magical Games and 
+Sports. Ludo Bagman — ” 
+
+“I like Ludo,” said Mr. Weasley mildly. “He was the 
+one who got us such good tickets for the Cup. I did 
+him a bit of a favor: His brother, Otto, got into a spot 
+of trouble — a lawnmower with unnatural powers — I 
+smoothed the whole thing over.” 
+
+“Oh Bagman’s likable enough, of course,” said Percy 
+dismissively, “but how he ever got to be Head of 
+Department ... when I compare him to Mr. Crouch! I 
+can’t see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our 
+department and not trying to find out what’s 
+happened to them. You realize Bertha Jorkins has 
+been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday 
+to Albania and never came back?” 
+
+“Yes, I was asking Ludo about that,” said Mr. 
+
+Weasley, frowning. “He says Bertha’s gotten lost 
+
+
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+plenty of times before now — though I must say, if it 
+was someone in my department, I’d be worried. ...” 
+
+“Oh Bertha’s hopeless, all right,” said Percy. “I hear 
+she’s been shunted from department to department 
+for years, much more trouble than she’s worth ... but 
+all the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. 
+Mr. Crouch has been taking a personal interest, she 
+worked in our department at one time, you know, and 
+I think Mr. Crouch was quite fond of her — but 
+Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably 
+misread the map and ended up in Australia instead of 
+Albania. However” — Percy heaved an impressive sigh 
+and took a deep swig of elderflower wine — “we’ve got 
+quite enough on our plates at the Department of 
+International Magical Cooperation without trying to 
+find members of other departments too. As you know, 
+we’ve got another big event to organize right after the 
+World Cup.” 
+
+Percy cleared his throat significantly and looked down 
+toward the end of the table where Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione were sitting. “ You know the one I’m talking 
+about, Father.” He raised his voice slightly. “The top- 
+secret one.” 
+
+Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Harry and 
+Hermione, “He’s been trying to get us to ask what that 
+event is ever since he started work. Probably an 
+exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons.” 
+
+In the middle of the table, Mrs. Weasley was arguing 
+with Bill about his earring, which seemed to be a 
+recent acquisition. 
+
+“... with a horrible great fang on it. Really, Bill, what 
+do they say at the bank?” 
+
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+“Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress 
+as long as I bring home plenty of treasure,” said Bill 
+patiently. 
+
+“And your hair’s getting silly, dear,” said Mrs. 
+
+Weasley, fingering her wand lovingly. “I wish you’d let 
+me give it a trim. ...” 
+
+“I like it,” said Ginny, who was sitting beside Bill. 
+“You’re so old-fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it’s nowhere 
+near as long as Professor Dumbledore’s. ...” 
+
+Next to Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, and Charlie were 
+all talking spiritedly about the World Cup. 
+
+“It’s got to be Ireland,” said Charlie thickly, through a 
+mouthful of potato. “They flattened Peru in the 
+semifinals.” 
+
+“Bulgaria has got Viktor Krum, though,” said Fred. 
+
+“Krum’s one decent player, Ireland has got seven,” 
+said Charlie shortly. “I wish England had got through. 
+That was embarrassing, that was.” 
+
+“What happened?” said Harry eagerly, regretting more 
+than ever his isolation from the wizarding world when 
+he was stuck on Privet Drive. 
+
+“Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and 
+ninety to ten,” said Charlie gloomily. “Shocking 
+performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland 
+was slaughtered by Luxembourg.” 
+
+Harry had been on the Gryffindor House Quidditch 
+team ever since his first year at Hogwarts and owned 
+one of the best racing brooms in the world, a Firebolt. 
+Flying came more naturally to Harry than anything 
+
+
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+else in the magical world, and he played in the 
+position of Seeker on the Gryffindor House team. 
+
+Mr. Weasley conjured up candles to light the 
+darkening garden before they had their homemade 
+strawberry ice cream, and by the time they had 
+finished, moths were fluttering low over the table, and 
+the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass 
+and honeysuckle. Harry was feeling extremely well fed 
+and at peace with the world as he watched several 
+gnomes sprinting through the rosebushes, laughing 
+madly and closely pursued by Crookshanks. 
+
+Ron looked carefully up the table to check that the 
+rest of the family were all busy talking, then he said 
+very quietly to Harry, “So — have you heard from 
+Sirius lately?” 
+
+Hermione looked around, listening closely. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry softly, “twice. He sounds okay. I 
+wrote to him yesterday. He might write back while I’m 
+here.” 
+
+He suddenly remembered the reason he had written 
+to Sirius, and for a moment was on the verge of telling 
+Ron and Hermione about his scar hurting again, and 
+about the dream that had awoken him . . . but he 
+really didn’t want to worry them just now, not when 
+he himself was feeling so happy and peaceful. 
+
+“Look at the time,” Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, 
+checking her wristwatch. “You really should be in 
+bed, the whole lot of you — you’ll be up at the crack 
+of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, if you leave your 
+school list out, I’ll get your things for you tomorrow in 
+Diagon Alley. I’m getting everyone else’s. There might 
+not be time after the World Cup, the match went on 
+for five days last time.” 
+
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+“Wow — hope it does this time!” said Harry 
+enthusiastically. 
+
+“Well, I certainly don’t,” said Percy sanctimoniously. “I 
+shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would 
+be if I was away from work for five days.” 
+
+“Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, 
+eh, Perce?” said Fred. 
+
+“That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!” said 
+Percy, going very red in the face. “It was nothing 
+personall” 
+
+“It was,” Fred whispered to Harry as they got up from 
+the table. “We sent it.” 
+
+
+
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+THE PORTKEY 
+
+Harry felt as though he had barely lain down to sleep 
+in Ron’s room when he was being shaken awake by 
+Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Time to go, Harry, dear,” she whispered, moving 
+away to wake Ron. 
+
+Harry felt around for his glasses, put them on, and 
+sat up. It was still dark outside. Ron muttered 
+indistinctly as his mother roused him. At the foot of 
+Harry’s mattress he saw two large, disheveled shapes 
+emerging from tangles of blankets. 
+
+“ ’S’ time already?” said Fred groggily. 
+
+They dressed in silence, too sleepy to talk, then, 
+yawning and stretching, the four of them headed 
+downstairs into the kitchen. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot 
+on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the 
+table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He 
+
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+looked up as the boys entered and spread his arms so 
+that they could see his clothes more clearly. He was 
+wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a 
+very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held 
+up with a thick leather belt. 
+
+“What d’you think?” he asked anxiously. “We’re 
+supposed to go incognito — do I look like a Muggle, 
+Harry?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, smiling, “very good.” 
+
+“Where ’re Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?” said 
+George, failing to stifle a huge yawn. 
+
+“Well, they’re Apparating, aren’t they?” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and 
+starting to ladle porridge into bowls. “So they can 
+have a bit of a lie-in.” 
+
+Harry knew that Apparating meant disappearing from 
+one place and reappearing almost instantly in 
+another, but had never known any Hogwarts student 
+to do it, and understood that it was very difficult. 
+
+“So they’re still in bed?” said Fred grumpily, pulling 
+his bowl of porridge toward him. “Why can’t we 
+Apparate too?” 
+
+“Because you’re not of age and you haven’t passed 
+your test,” snapped Mrs. Weasley. “And where have 
+those girls got to?” 
+
+She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her 
+climbing the stairs. 
+
+“You have to pass a test to Apparate?” Harry asked. 
+
+
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+“Oh yes,” said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets safely 
+into the back pocket of his jeans. “The Department of 
+Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people 
+the other day for Apparating without a license. It’s not 
+easy, Apparition, and when it’s not done properly it 
+can lead to nasty complications. This pair I’m talking 
+about went and splinched themselves.” 
+
+Everyone around the table except Harry winced. 
+
+“Er — splinched?” said Harry. 
+
+“They left half of themselves behind,” said Mr. 
+
+Weasley, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto 
+his porridge. “So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn’t 
+move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic 
+Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit 
+of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles 
+who spotted the body parts they’d left behind. ...” 
+
+Harry had a sudden vision of a pair of legs and an 
+eyeball lying abandoned on the pavement of Privet 
+Drive. 
+
+“Were they okay?” he asked, startled. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. “But they 
+got a heavy fine, and I don’t think they’ll be trying it 
+again in a hurry. You don’t mess around with 
+Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who 
+don’t bother with it. Prefer brooms — slower, but 
+safer.” 
+
+“But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?” 
+
+“Charlie had to take the test twice,” said Fred, 
+grinning. “He failed the first time, Apparated five 
+miles south of where he meant to, right on top of 
+some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?” 
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+“Yes, well, he passed the second time,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty 
+sniggers. 
+
+“Percy only passed two weeks ago,” said George. “He’s 
+been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just 
+to prove he can.” 
+
+There were footsteps down the passageway and 
+Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both 
+looking pale and drowsy. 
+
+“Why do we have to be up so early?” Ginny said, 
+rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table. 
+
+“We’ve got a bit of a walk,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“Walk?” said Harry. “What, are we walking to the 
+World Cup?” 
+
+“No, no, that’s miles away,” said Mr. Weasley, smiling. 
+“We only need to walk a short way. It’s just that it’s 
+very difficult for a large number of wizards to 
+congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We 
+have to be very careful about how we travel at the 
+best of times, and on a huge occasion like the 
+Quidditch World Cup — ” 
+
+“George!” said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all 
+jumped. 
+
+“What?” said George, in an innocent tone that 
+deceived nobody. 
+
+“What is that in your pocket?” 
+
+“Nothing!” 
+
+“Don’t you lie to me!” 
+
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+Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George’s pocket 
+and said, “Acciol” 
+
+Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of 
+George’s pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, 
+and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley ’s outstretched 
+hand. 
+
+“We told you to destroy them!” said Mrs. Weasley 
+furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more 
+Ton-Tongue Toffees. “We told you to get rid of the lot! 
+Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!” 
+
+It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently 
+been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the 
+house as possible, and it was only by using her 
+Summoning Charm that Mrs. Weasley managed to 
+find them all. 
+
+“Acciol Acciol Acciol” she shouted, and toffees zoomed 
+from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining 
+of George’s jacket and the turn-ups of Fred’s jeans. 
+
+“We spent six months developing those!” Fred 
+shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away. 
+
+“Oh a fine way to spend six months!” she shrieked. 
+
+“No wonder you didn’t get more O.W.L.s!” 
+
+All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as 
+they took their departure. Mrs. Weasley was still 
+glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, 
+though not nearly as much as the twins, who had 
+each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and 
+walked out without a word to her. 
+
+“Well, have a lovely time,” said Mrs. Weasley, “and 
+behave yourselves,” she called after the twins’ 
+retreating backs, but they did not look back or 
+
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+answer. “I’ll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along 
+around midday,” Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, as 
+he, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off across 
+the dark yard after Fred and George. 
+
+It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, 
+greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed 
+that daybreak was drawing closer. Harry, having been 
+thinking about thousands of wizards speeding toward 
+the Quidditch World Cup, sped up to walk with Mr. 
+Weasley. 
+
+“So how does everyone get there without all the 
+Muggles noticing?” he asked. 
+
+“It’s been a massive organizational problem,” sighed 
+Mr. Weasley. “The trouble is, about a hundred 
+thousand wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of 
+course, we just haven’t got a magical site big enough 
+to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles 
+can’t penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred 
+thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine 
+and three-quarters. So we had to find a nice deserted 
+moor, and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as 
+possible. The whole Ministry’s been working on it for 
+months. First, of course, we have to stagger the 
+arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive 
+two weeks beforehand. A limited number use Muggle 
+transport, but we can’t have too many clogging up 
+their buses and trains — remember, wizards are 
+coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of 
+course, but we have to set up safe points for them to 
+appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there’s a 
+handy wood they’re using as the Apparition point. For 
+those who don’t want to Apparate, or can’t, we use 
+Portkeys. They’re objects that are used to transport 
+wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged 
+time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. 
+There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at 
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+strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one 
+to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that’s 
+where we’re headed.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley pointed ahead of them, where a large 
+black mass rose beyond the village of Ottery St. 
+Catchpole. 
+
+“What sort of objects are Portkeys?” said Harry 
+curiously. 
+
+“Well, they can be anything,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+“Unobtrusive things, obviously, so Muggles don’t go 
+picking them up and playing with them . . . stuff they’ll 
+just think is litter. ...” 
+
+They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the 
+village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The 
+sky lightened very slowly as they made their way 
+through the village, its inky blackness diluting to 
+deepest blue. Harry’s hands and feet were freezing. 
+
+Mr. Weasley kept checking his watch. 
+
+They didn’t have breath to spare for talking as they 
+began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling 
+occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick 
+black tuffets of grass. Each breath Harry took was 
+sharp in his chest and his legs were starting to seize 
+up when, at last, his feet found level ground. 
+
+“Whew,” panted Mr. Weasley, taking off his glasses 
+and wiping them on his sweater. “Well, we’ve made 
+good time — we’ve got ten minutes. ...” 
+
+Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, 
+clutching a stitch in her side. 
+
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+“Now we just need the Portkey,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+replacing his glasses and squinting around at the 
+ground. “It won’t be big. ... Come on ...” 
+
+They spread out, searching. They had only been at it 
+for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent 
+the still air. 
+
+“Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we’ve got it!” 
+
+Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry 
+sky on the other side of the hilltop. 
+
+“Amos!” said Mr. Weasley, smiling as he strode over to 
+the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed. 
+
+Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced 
+wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding 
+a moldy-looking old boot in his other hand. 
+
+“This is Amos Diggory, everyone,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+“He works for the Department for the Regulation and 
+Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know 
+his son, Cedric?” 
+
+Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of 
+around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the 
+Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts. 
+
+“Hi,” said Cedric, looking around at them all. 
+
+Everybody said hi back except Fred and George, who 
+merely nodded. They had never quite forgiven Cedric 
+for beating their team, Gryffindor, in the first 
+Quidditch match of the previous year. 
+
+“Long walk, Arthur?” Cedric’s father asked. 
+
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+“Not too bad,” said Mr. Weasley. “We live just on the 
+other side of the village there. You?” 
+
+“Had to get up at two, didn’t we, Ced? I tell you, I’ll be 
+glad when he’s got his Apparition test. Still ... not 
+complaining ... Quidditch World Cup, wouldn’t miss it 
+for a sackful of Galleons — and the tickets cost about 
+that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy. ...” Amos 
+Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three 
+Weasley boys, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. “All these 
+yours, Arthur?” 
+
+“Oh no, only the redheads,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+pointing out his children. “This is Hermione, friend of 
+Ron’s — and Harry, another friend — ” 
+
+“Merlin’s beard,” said Amos Diggory, his eyes 
+widening. “Harry? Harry Potter?” 
+
+“Er — yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+Harry was used to people looking curiously at him 
+when they met him, used to the way their eyes moved 
+at once to the lightning scar on his forehead, but it 
+always made him feel uncomfortable. 
+
+“Ced’s talked about you, of course,” said Amos 
+Diggory. “Told us all about playing against you last 
+year. ... I said to him, I said — Ced, that’ll be 
+something to tell your grandchildren, that will. ... You 
+beat Harry Potterl” 
+
+Harry couldn’t think of any reply to this, so he 
+remained silent. Fred and George were both scowling 
+again. Cedric looked slightly embarrassed. 
+
+“Harry fell off his broom, Dad,” he muttered. “I told 
+you ... it was an accident. ...” 
+
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+
+“Yes, but you didn’t fall off, did you?” roared Amos 
+genially, slapping his son on his back. “Always 
+modest, our Ced, always the gentleman ... but the 
+best man won, I’m sure Harry’d say the same, 
+wouldn’t you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays 
+on, you don’t need to be a genius to tell which one’s 
+the better flier!” 
+
+“Must be nearly time,” said Mr. Weasley quickly, 
+pulling out his watch again. “Do you know whether 
+we’re waiting for any more, Amos?” 
+
+“No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already 
+and the Fawcetts couldn’t get tickets,” said Mr. 
+Diggory. “There aren’t any more of us in this area, are 
+there?” 
+
+“Not that I know of,” said Mr. Weasley. “Yes, it’s a 
+minute off. ... We’d better get ready. ...” 
+
+He looked around at Harry and Hermione. 
+
+“You just need to touch the Portkey, that’s all, a 
+finger will do — ” 
+
+With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the 
+nine of them crowded around the old boot held out by 
+Amos Diggory. 
+
+They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze 
+swept over the hilltop. Nobody spoke. It suddenly 
+occurred to Harry how odd this would look if a 
+Muggle were to walk up here now ... nine people, two 
+of them grown men, clutching this manky old boot in 
+the semidarkness, waiting. ... 
+
+“Three ...” muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his 
+watch, “two ... one ...” 
+
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+It happened immediately: Harry felt as though a hook 
+just behind his navel had been suddenly jerked 
+irresistibly forward. His feet left the ground; he could 
+feel Ron and Hermione on either side of him, their 
+shoulders banging into his; they were all speeding 
+forward in a howl of wind and swirling color; his 
+forefinger was stuck to the boot as though it was 
+pulling him magnetically onward and then — 
+
+His feet slammed into the ground; Ron staggered into 
+him and he fell over; the Portkey hit the ground near 
+his head with a heavy thud. 
+
+Harry looked up. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and 
+Cedric were still standing, though looking very 
+windswept; everybody else was on the ground. 
+
+“Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill,” said a voice. 
+
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+7 
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+
+BAGMAN AND CROUCH 
+
+Harry disentangled himself from Ron and got to his 
+feet. They had arrived on what appeared to be a 
+deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them was a 
+pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of 
+whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a 
+thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed 
+as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the 
+watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; 
+his colleague, a kilt and a poncho. 
+
+“Morning, Basil,” said Mr. Weasley, picking up the 
+boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it 
+into a large box of used Portkeys beside him; Harry 
+could see an old newspaper, an empty drinks can, 
+and a punctured football. 
+
+“Hello there, Arthur,” said Basil wearily. “Not on duty, 
+eh? It’s all right for some. ... We’ve been here all 
+night. ... You’d better get out of the way, we’ve got a 
+big party coming in from the Black Forest at five- 
+fifteen. Hang on, I’ll find your campsite. ... Weasley ... 
+Weasley ...” He consulted his parchment list. “About a 
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+
+
+quarter of a mile’s walk over there, first field you 
+come to. Site manager’s called Mr. Roberts. Diggory ... 
+second field ... ask for Mr. Payne.” 
+
+“Thanks, Basil,” said Mr. Weasley, and he beckoned 
+everyone to follow him. 
+
+They set off across the deserted moor, unable to make 
+out much through the mist. After about twenty 
+minutes, a small stone cottage next to a gate swam 
+into view. Beyond it, Harry could just make out the 
+ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, 
+rising up the gentle slope of a large field toward a 
+dark wood on the horizon. They said good-bye to the 
+Diggorys and approached the cottage door. 
+
+A man was standing in the doorway, looking out at 
+the tents. Harry knew at a glance that this was the 
+only real Muggle for several acres. When he heard 
+their footsteps, he turned his head to look at them. 
+
+“Morning!” said Mr. Weasley brightly. 
+
+“Morning,” said the Muggle. 
+
+“Would you be Mr. Roberts?” 
+
+“Aye, I would,” said Mr. Roberts. “And who’re you?” 
+
+“Weasley — two tents, booked a couple of days ago?” 
+
+“Aye,” said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list tacked to the 
+door. “You’ve got a space up by the wood there. Just 
+the one night?” 
+
+“That’s it,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“You’ll be paying now, then?” said Mr. Roberts. 
+
+
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+“Ah — right — certainly — ” said Mr. Weasley. He 
+retreated a short distance from the cottage and 
+beckoned Harry toward him. “Help me, Harry,” he 
+muttered, pulling a roll of Muggle money from his 
+pocket and starting to peel the notes apart. “This 
+one’s a — a — a ten? Ah yes, I see the little number 
+on it now. ... So this is a five?” 
+
+“A twenty,” Harry corrected him in an undertone, 
+uncomfortably aware of Mr. Roberts trying to catch 
+every word. 
+
+“Ah yes, so it is. ... I don’t know, these little bits of 
+paper ...” 
+
+“You foreign?” said Mr. Roberts as Mr. Weasley 
+returned with the correct notes. 
+
+“Foreign?” repeated Mr. Weasley, puzzled. 
+
+“You’re not the first one who’s had trouble with 
+money,” said Mr. Roberts, scrutinizing Mr. Weasley 
+closely. “I had two try and pay me with great gold 
+coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago.” 
+
+“Did you really?” said Mr. Weasley nervously. 
+
+Mr. Roberts rummaged around in a tin for some 
+change. 
+
+“Never been this crowded,” he said suddenly, looking 
+out over the misty field again. “Hundreds of pre- 
+bookings. People usually just turn up. ...” 
+
+“Is that right?” said Mr. Weasley, his hand held out 
+for his change, but Mr. Roberts didn’t give it to him. 
+
+“Aye,” he said thoughtfully. “People from all over. 
+Loads of foreigners. And not just foreigners. Weirdos, 
+
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+you know? There’s a bloke walking ’round in a kilt 
+and a poncho.” 
+
+“Shouldn’t he?” said Mr. Weasley anxiously. 
+
+“It’s like some sort of ... I dunno ... like some sort of 
+rally,” said Mr. Roberts. “They all seem to know each 
+other. Like a big party.” 
+
+At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out 
+of thin air next to Mr. Roberts’s front door. 
+
+“Obliviate\” he said sharply, pointing his wand at Mr. 
+Roberts. 
+
+Instantly, Mr. Roberts’s eyes slid out of focus, his 
+brows unknitted, and a look of dreamy unconcern fell 
+over his face. Harry recognized the symptoms of one 
+who had just had his memory modified. 
+
+“A map of the campsite for you,” Mr. Roberts said 
+placidly to Mr. Weasley. “And your change.” 
+
+“Thanks very much,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+The wizard in plus-fours accompanied them toward 
+the gate to the campsite. He looked exhausted: His 
+chin was blue with stubble and there were deep 
+purple shadows under his eyes. Once out of earshot 
+of Mr. Roberts, he muttered to Mr. Weasley, “Been 
+having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory 
+Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo 
+Bagman’s not helping. Trotting around talking about 
+Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a 
+worry about anti-Muggle security. Blimey, I’ll be glad 
+when this is over. See you later, Arthur.” 
+
+He Disapparated. 
+
+
+
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+
+“I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games 
+and Sports,” said Ginny, looking surprised. “He 
+should know better than to talk about Bludgers near 
+Muggles, shouldn’t he?” 
+
+“He should,” said Mr. Weasley, smiling, and leading 
+them through the gates into the campsite, “but Ludo’s 
+always been a bit ... well ... lax about security. You 
+couldn’t wish for a more enthusiastic head of the 
+sports department though. He played Quidditch for 
+England himself, you know. And he was the best 
+Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had.” 
+
+They trudged up the misty field between long rows of 
+tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had 
+clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, 
+but had slipped up by adding chimneys, or bellpulls, 
+or weather vanes. However, here and there was a tent 
+so obviously magical that Harry could hardly be 
+surprised that Mr. Roberts was getting suspicious. 
+Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection 
+of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several 
+live peacocks tethered at the entrance. A little farther 
+on they passed a tent that had three floors and 
+several turrets; and a short way beyond that was a 
+tent that had a front garden attached, complete with 
+birdbath, sundial, and fountain. 
+
+“Always the same,” said Mr. Weasley, smiling. “We 
+can’t resist showing off when we get together. Ah, 
+here we are, look, this is us.” 
+
+They had reached the very edge of the wood at the top 
+of the field, and here was an empty space, with a 
+small sign hammered into the ground that read 
+WEEZLY. 
+
+“Couldn’t have a better spot!” said Mr. Weasley 
+happily. “The field is just on the other side of the 
+
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+wood there, we’re as close as we could be.” He hoisted 
+his backpack from his shoulders. “Right,” he said 
+excitedly, “no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not 
+when we’re out in these numbers on Muggle land. 
+We’ll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn’t be 
+too difficult. ... Muggles do it all the time. ... Here, 
+Harry, where do you reckon we should start?” 
+
+Harry had never been camping in his life; the 
+Dursleys had never taken him on any kind of holiday, 
+preferring to leave him with Mrs. Figg, an old 
+neighbor. However, he and Hermione worked out 
+where most of the poles and pegs should go, and 
+though Mr. Weasley was more of a hindrance than a 
+help, because he got thoroughly overexcited when it 
+came to using the mallet, they finally managed to 
+erect a pair of shabby two-man tents. 
+
+All of them stood back to admire their handiwork. 
+Nobody looking at these tents would guess they 
+belonged to wizards, Harry thought, but the trouble 
+was that once Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived, they 
+would be a party of ten. Hermione seemed to have 
+spotted this problem too; she gave Harry a quizzical 
+look as Mr. Weasley dropped to his hands and knees 
+and entered the first tent. 
+
+“Well be a bit cramped,” he called, “but I think we’ll 
+all squeeze in. Come and have a look.” 
+
+Harry bent down, ducked under the tent flap, and felt 
+his jaw drop. He had walked into what looked like an 
+old-fashioned, three-room flat, complete with 
+bathroom and kitchen. Oddly enough, it was 
+furnished in exactly the same sort of style as Mrs. 
+Figg’s house: There were crocheted covers on the 
+mismatched chairs and a strong smell of cats. 
+
+
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+“Well, it’s not for long,” said Mr. Weasley, mopping his 
+bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the 
+four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. “I 
+borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn’t 
+camp much anymore, poor fellow, he’s got lumbago.” 
+
+He picked up the dusty kettle and peered inside it. 
+“Well need water. ...” 
+
+“There’s a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave 
+us,” said Ron, who had followed Harry inside the tent 
+and seemed completely unimpressed by its 
+extraordinary inner proportions. “It’s on the other 
+side of the field.” 
+
+“Well, why don’t you, Harry, and Hermione go and get 
+us some water then” — Mr. Weasley handed over the 
+kettle and a couple of saucepans — “and the rest of 
+us will get some wood for a fire?” 
+
+“But we’ve got an oven,” said Ron. “Why can’t we just 
+
+
+
+“Ron, anti-Muggle security!” said Mr. Weasley, his 
+face shining with anticipation. “When real Muggles 
+camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I’ve seen them at 
+
+
+
+it! 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+After a quick tour of the girls’ tent, which was slightly 
+smaller than the boys’, though without the smell of 
+cats, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off across the 
+campsite with the kettle and saucepans. 
+
+Now, with the sun newly risen and the mist lifting, 
+they could see the city of tents that stretched in every 
+direction. They made their way slowly through the 
+rows, staring eagerly around. It was only just 
+dawning on Harry how many witches and wizards 
+
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+there must be in the world; he had never really 
+thought much about those in other countries. 
+
+Their fellow campers were starting to wake up. First 
+to stir were the families with small children; Harry 
+had never seen witches and wizards this young 
+before. A tiny boy no older than two was crouched 
+outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand 
+and poking happily at a slug in the grass, which was 
+swelling slowly to the size of a salami. As they drew 
+level with him, his mother came hurrying out of the 
+tent. 
+
+“ How ma.ny times, Kevin? You don’t — touch — 
+Daddy’s — wand — yecchh!” 
+
+She had trodden on the giant slug, which burst. Her 
+scolding carried after them on the still air, mingling 
+with the little boy’s yells — “You bust slug! You bust 
+slug!” 
+
+A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, 
+barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy 
+broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girls’ 
+toes to skim the dewy grass. A Ministry wizard had 
+already spotted them; as he hurried past Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione he muttered distractedly, “In broad 
+daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose — ” 
+
+Here and there adult wizards and witches were 
+emerging from their tents and starting to cook 
+breakfast. Some, with furtive looks around them, 
+conjured fires with their wands; others were striking 
+matches with dubious looks on their faces, as though 
+sure this couldn’t work. Three African wizards sat in 
+serious conversation, all of them wearing long white 
+robes and roasting what looked like a rabbit on a 
+bright purple fire, while a group of middle-aged 
+American witches sat gossiping happily beneath a 
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+
+spangled banner stretched between their tents that 
+read: THE SALEM WITCHES’ INSTITUTE. Harry 
+caught snatches of conversation in strange languages 
+from the inside of tents they passed, and though he 
+couldn’t understand a word, the tone of every single 
+voice was excited. 
+
+“Er — is it my eyes, or has everything gone green?” 
+said Ron. 
+
+It wasn’t just Ron’s eyes. They had walked into a 
+patch of tents that were all covered with a thick 
+growth of shamrocks, so that it looked as though 
+small, oddly shaped hillocks had sprouted out of the 
+earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those that 
+had their flaps open. Then, from behind them, they 
+heard their names. 
+
+“Harry! Ron! Hermione!” 
+
+It was Seamus Finnigan, their fellow Gryffindor fourth 
+year. He was sitting in front of his own shamrock- 
+covered tent, with a sandy-haired woman who had to 
+be his mother, and his best friend, Dean Thomas, 
+also of Gryffindor. 
+
+“Like the decorations?” said Seamus, grinning. “The 
+Ministry’s not too happy.” 
+
+“Ah, why shouldn’t we show our colors?” said Mrs. 
+Finnigan. “You should see what the Bulgarians have 
+got dangling all over their tents. You’ll be supporting 
+Ireland, of course?” she added, eyeing Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione beadily. When they had assured her 
+that they were indeed supporting Ireland, they set off 
+again, though, as Ron said, “Like we’d say anything 
+else surrounded by that lot.” 
+
+
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+“I wonder what the Bulgarians have got dangling all 
+over their tents?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Let’s go and have a look,” said Harry, pointing to a 
+large patch of tents upheld, where the Bulgarian flag 
+— white, green, and red — was fluttering in the 
+breeze. 
+
+The tents here had not been bedecked with plant life, 
+but each and every one of them had the same poster 
+attached to it, a poster of a very surly face with heavy 
+black eyebrows. The picture was, of course, moving, 
+but all it did was blink and scowl. 
+
+“Krum,” said Ron quietly. 
+
+“What?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Krum!” said Ron. “Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian 
+Seeker!” 
+
+“He looks really grumpy,” said Hermione, looking 
+around at the many Krums blinking and scowling at 
+them. 
+
+“ ‘Really grumpy’?” Ron raised his eyes to the 
+heavens. “Who cares what he looks like? He’s 
+unbelievable. He’s really young too. Only just eighteen 
+or something. He’s a genius, you wait until tonight, 
+you’ll see.” 
+
+There was already a small queue for the tap in the 
+corner of the field. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined 
+it, right behind a pair of men who were having a 
+heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard 
+who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other 
+was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a 
+pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with 
+exasperation. 
+
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+
+“Just put them on, Archie, there’s a good chap. You 
+can’t walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate’s 
+already getting suspicious — ” 
+
+“I bought this in a Muggle shop,” said the old wizard 
+stubbornly. “Muggles wear them.” 
+
+“Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they 
+wear these,” said the Ministry wizard, and he 
+brandished the pinstriped trousers. 
+
+“I’m not putting them on,” said old Archie in 
+indignation. “I like a healthy breeze ’round my 
+privates, thanks.” 
+
+Hermione was overcome with such a strong fit of the 
+giggles at this point that she had to duck out of the 
+queue and only returned when Archie had collected 
+his water and moved away. 
+
+Walking more slowly now, because of the weight of 
+the water, they made their way back through the 
+campsite. Here and there, they saw more familiar 
+faces: other Hogwarts students with their families. 
+Oliver Wood, the old captain of Harry’s House 
+Quidditch team, who had just left Hogwarts, dragged 
+Harry over to his parents’ tent to introduce him, and 
+told him excitedly that he had just been signed to the 
+Puddlemere United reserve team. Next they were 
+hailed by Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff fourth year, 
+and a little farther on they saw Cho Chang, a very 
+pretty girl who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw team. 
+She waved and smiled at Harry, who slopped quite a 
+lot of water down his front as he waved back. More to 
+stop Ron from smirking than anything, Harry 
+hurriedly pointed out a large group of teenagers 
+whom he had never seen before. 
+
+
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+“Who d’you reckon they are?” he said. “They don’t go 
+to Hogwarts, do they?” 
+
+
+
+“ ’Spect they go to some foreign school,” said Ron. “I 
+know there are others. Never met anyone who went to 
+one, though. Bill had a penfriend at a school in Brazil 
+. . . this was years and years ago . . . and he wanted to 
+go on an exchange trip but Mum and Dad couldn’t 
+afford it. His penfriend got all offended when he said 
+he wasn’t going and sent him a cursed hat. It made 
+his ears shrivel up.” 
+
+Harry laughed but didn’t voice the amazement he felt 
+at hearing about other wizarding schools. He 
+supposed, now that he saw representatives of so 
+many nationalities in the campsite, that he had been 
+stupid never to realize that Hogwarts couldn’t be the 
+only one. He glanced at Hermione, who looked utterly 
+unsurprised by the information. No doubt she had 
+run across the news about other wizarding schools in 
+some book or other. 
+
+“You’ve been ages,” said George when they finally got 
+back to the Weasleys’ tents. 
+
+“Met a few people,” said Ron, setting the water down. 
+“You not got that fire started yet?” 
+
+“Dad’s having fun with the matches,” said Fred. 
+
+Mr. Weasley was having no success at all in lighting 
+the fire, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Splintered 
+matches littered the ground around him, but he 
+looked as though he was having the time of his life. 
+
+“Oops!” he said as he managed to light a match and 
+promptly dropped it in surprise. 
+
+
+
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+“Come here, Mr. Weasley,” said Hermione kindly, 
+taking the box from him, and showing him how to do 
+it properly. 
+
+At last they got the fire lit, though it was at least 
+another hour before it was hot enough to cook 
+anything. There was plenty to watch while they 
+waited, however. Their tent seemed to be pitched right 
+alongside a kind of thoroughfare to the field, and 
+Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, 
+greeting Mr. Weasley cordially as they passed. Mr. 
+Weasley kept up a running commentary, mainly for 
+Harry’s and Hermione’s benefit; his own children 
+knew too much about the Ministry to be greatly 
+interested. 
+
+“That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin 
+Liaison Office. ... Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he’s 
+with the Committee on Experimental Charms; he’s 
+had those horns for awhile now. ... Hello, Arnie ... 
+Arnold Peasegood, he’s an Obliviator — member of the 
+Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know. ... and 
+that’s Bode and Croaker ... they’re Unspeakables. ...” 
+
+“They’re what?” 
+
+“From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no 
+idea what they get up to. ...” 
+
+At last, the fire was ready, and they had just started 
+cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie, and 
+Percy came strolling out of the woods toward them. 
+
+“Just Apparated, Dad,” said Percy loudly. “Ah, 
+excellent, lunch!” 
+
+They were halfway through their plates of eggs and 
+sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, 
+waving and grinning at a man who was striding 
+
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+toward them. “Aha!” he said. “The man of the 
+moment! Ludo!” 
+
+Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person 
+Harry had seen so far, even including old Archie in 
+his flowered nightdress. He was wearing long 
+Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright 
+yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was 
+splashed across his chest. He had the look of a 
+powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes 
+were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely 
+had not had in the days when he had played 
+Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed 
+(probably broken by a stray Bludger, Harry thought), 
+but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy 
+complexion made him look like a very overgrown 
+schoolboy. 
+
+“Ahoy there!” Bagman called happily. He was walking 
+as though he had springs attached to the balls of his 
+feet and was plainly in a state of wild excitement. 
+
+“Arthur, old man,” he puffed as he reached the 
+campfire, “what a day, eh? What a day! Could we 
+have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless 
+night coming . . . and hardly a hiccough in the 
+arrangements. ... Not much for me to do!” 
+
+Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry 
+wizards rushed past, pointing at the distant evidence 
+of some sort of a magical fire that was sending violet 
+sparks twenty feet into the air. 
+
+Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched. 
+Apparently his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman 
+ran his department did not prevent him from wanting 
+to make a good impression. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Ah — yes,” said Mr. Weasley, grinning, “this is my 
+son Percy. He’s just started at the Ministry — and 
+this is Fred — no, George, sorry — that’s Fred — Bill, 
+Charlie, Ron — my daughter, Ginny — and Ron’s 
+friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.” 
+
+Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he 
+heard Harry’s name, and his eyes performed the 
+familiar flick upward to the scar on Harry’s forehead. 
+
+“Everyone,” Mr. Weasley continued, “this is Ludo 
+Bagman, you know who he is, it’s thanks to him we’ve 
+got such good tickets — ” 
+
+Bagman beamed and waved his hand as if to say it 
+had been nothing. 
+
+“Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?” he said 
+eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of 
+gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes. “I’ve 
+already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will 
+score first — I offered him nice odds, considering 
+Ireland’s front three are the strongest I’ve seen in 
+years — and little Agatha Timms has put up half 
+shares in her eel farm on a week-long match.” 
+
+“Oh ... go on then,” said Mr. Weasley. “Let’s see ... a 
+Galleon on Ireland to win?” 
+
+“A Galleon?” Ludo Bagman looked slightly 
+disappointed, but recovered himself. “Very well, very 
+well . . . any other takers?” 
+
+“They’re a bit young to be gambling,” said Mr. 
+
+Weasley. “Molly wouldn’t like — ” 
+
+“Well bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three 
+Knuts,” said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all 
+
+
+
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+their money, “that Ireland wins — but Viktor Krum 
+gets the Snitch. Oh and we’ll throw in a fake wand.” 
+
+
+
+“You don’t want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish 
+like that — ” Percy hissed, but Bagman didn’t seem to 
+think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, 
+his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it 
+from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk 
+and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared 
+with laughter. 
+
+“Excellent! I haven’t seen one that convincing in 
+years! I’d pay five Galleons for that!” 
+
+Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval. 
+
+“Boys,” said Mr. Weasley under his breath, “I don’t 
+want you betting. ... That’s all your savings. ... Your 
+mother — ” 
+
+“Don’t be a spoilsport, Arthur!” boomed Ludo 
+Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. “They’re old 
+enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland 
+will win but Krum ’ll get the Snitch? Not a chance, 
+boys, not a chance. ... I’ll give you excellent odds on 
+that one. ... We’ll add five Galleons for the funny 
+wand, then, shall we. ...” 
+
+Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman 
+whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting 
+down the twins’ names. 
+
+“Cheers,” said George, taking the slip of parchment 
+Bagman handed him and tucking it away carefully. 
+Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“Couldn’t do me a brew, I suppose? I’m keeping an 
+eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite 
+number’s making difficulties, and I can’t understand 
+
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+a word he’s saying. Barty’ll be able to sort it out. He 
+speaks about a hundred and fifty languages.” 
+
+“Mr. Crouch?” said Percy, suddenly abandoning his 
+look of poker-stiff disapproval and positively writhing 
+with excitement. “He speaks over two hundred! 
+Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll ...” 
+
+“Anyone can speak Troll,” said Fred dismissively. “All 
+you have to do is point and grunt.” 
+
+Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked 
+the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to the boil. 
+
+“Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?” Mr. Weasley 
+asked as Bagman settled himself down on the grass 
+beside them all. 
+
+“Not a dicky bird,” said Bagman comfortably. “But 
+she’ll turn up. Poor old Bertha ... memory like a leaky 
+cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my 
+word for it. She’ll wander back into the office 
+sometime in October, thinking it’s still July.” 
+
+“You don’t think it might be time to send someone to 
+look for her?” Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as 
+Percy handed Bagman his tea. 
+
+“Barty Crouch keeps saying that,” said Bagman, his 
+round eyes widening innocently, “but we really can’t 
+spare anyone at the moment. Oh — talk of the devil! 
+Barty!” 
+
+A wizard had just Apparated at their fireside, and he 
+could not have made more of a contrast with Ludo 
+Bagman, sprawled on the grass in his old Wasp 
+robes. Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, 
+dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The 
+parting in his short gray hair was almost unnaturally 
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+straight, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked 
+as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes 
+were very highly polished. Harry could see at once 
+why Percy idolized him. Percy was a great believer in 
+rigidly following rules, and Mr. Crouch had complied 
+with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly 
+that he could have passed for a bank manager; Harry 
+doubted even Uncle Vernon would have spotted him 
+for what he really was. 
+
+“Pull up a bit of grass, Barty,” said Ludo brightly, 
+patting the ground beside him. 
+
+“No thank you, Ludo,” said Crouch, and there was a 
+bite of impatience in his voice. “I’ve been looking for 
+you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add 
+another twelve seats to the Top Box.” 
+
+“Oh is that what they’re after?” said Bagman. “I 
+thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of 
+tweezers. Bit of a strong accent.” 
+
+“Mr. Crouch!” said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a 
+kind of half-bow that made him look like a 
+hunchback. “Would you like a cup of tea?” 
+
+“Oh,” said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild 
+surprise. “Yes — thank you, Weatherby.” 
+
+Fred and George choked into their own cups. Percy, 
+very pink around the ears, busied himself with the 
+kettle. 
+
+“Oh and I’ve been wanting a word with you too, 
+Arthur,” said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon 
+Mr. Weasley. “Ali Bashir’s on the warpath. He wants a 
+word with you about your embargo on flying carpets.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh. 
+
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+
+“I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I’ve 
+told him once I’ve told him a hundred times: Carpets 
+are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of 
+Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?” 
+
+“I doubt it,” said Mr. Crouch, accepting a cup from 
+Percy. “He’s desperate to export here.” 
+
+“Well, they’ll never replace brooms in Britain, will 
+they?” said Bagman. 
+
+“Ali thinks there’s a niche in the market for a family 
+vehicle,” said Mr. Crouch. “I remember my 
+grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve 
+— but that was before carpets were banned, of 
+course.” 
+
+He spoke as though he wanted to leave nobody in any 
+doubt that all his ancestors had abided strictly by the 
+law. 
+
+“So, been keeping busy, Barty?” said Bagman 
+breezily. 
+
+“Fairly,” said Mr. Crouch dryly. “Organizing Portkeys 
+across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo.” 
+
+“I expect you’ll both be glad when this is over?” said 
+Mr. Weasley. 
+
+Ludo Bagman looked shocked. 
+
+“Glad! Don’t know when I’ve had more fun. ... Still, 
+it’s not as though we haven’t got anything to look 
+forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organize, eh?” 
+
+Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman. 
+
+
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+“We agreed not to make the announcement until all 
+the details — ” 
+
+“Oh details!” said Bagman, waving the word away like 
+a cloud of midges. “They’ve signed, haven’t they? 
+They’ve agreed, haven’t they? I bet you anything these 
+kids’ll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it’s 
+happening at Hogwarts — ” 
+
+“Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know,” 
+said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman’s remarks 
+short. “Thank you for the tea, Weatherby.” 
+
+He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited 
+for Ludo to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, 
+swigging down the last of his tea, the gold in his 
+pockets chinking merrily. 
+
+“See you all later!” he said. “You’ll be up in the Top 
+Box with me — I’m commentating!” He waved, Barty 
+Crouch nodded curtly, and both of them 
+Disapparated. 
+
+“What’s happening at Hogwarts, Dad?” said Fred at 
+once. “What were they talking about?” 
+
+“You’ll find out soon enough,” said Mr.Weasley, 
+smiling. 
+
+“It’s classified information, until such time as the 
+Ministry decides to release it,” said Percy stiffly. “Mr. 
+Crouch was quite right not to disclose it.” 
+
+“Oh shut up, Weatherby,” said Fred. 
+
+A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over 
+the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the 
+still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with 
+anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain 
+
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+
+over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last 
+vestiges of pretence disappeared: the Ministry seemed 
+to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting 
+the signs of blatant magic now breaking out 
+everywhere. 
+
+Salesmen were Apparating every few feet, carrying 
+trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary 
+merchandise. There were luminous rosettes — green 
+for Ireland, red for Bulgaria — which were squealing 
+the names of the players, pointed green hats 
+bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves 
+adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both 
+countries that played their national anthems as they 
+were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that 
+really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, 
+which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening 
+themselves. 
+
+“Been saving my pocket money all summer for this,” 
+Ron told Harry as they and Hermione strolled through 
+the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron 
+purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green 
+rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, 
+the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked 
+backward and forward over Ron’s hand, scowling up 
+at the green rosette above him. 
+
+“Wow, look at these!” said Harry, hurrying over to a 
+cart piled high with what looked like brass 
+binoculars, except that they were covered with all 
+sorts of weird knobs and dials. 
+
+“Omnioculars,” said the saleswizard eagerly. “You can 
+replay action . . . slow everything down . . . and they 
+flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. 
+Bargain — ten Galleons each.” 
+
+
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+
+“Wish I hadn’t bought this now,” said Ron, gesturing 
+at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at 
+the Omnioculars. 
+
+“Three pairs,” said Harry firmly to the wizard. 
+
+“No — don’t bother,” said Ron, going red. He was 
+always touchy about the fact that Harry, who had 
+inherited a small fortune from his parents, had much 
+more money than he did. 
+
+“You won’t be getting anything for Christmas,” Harry 
+told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his and 
+Hermione’s hands. “For about ten years, mind.” 
+
+“Fair enough,” said Ron, grinning. 
+
+“Oooh, thanks, Harry,” said Hermione. “And I’ll get us 
+some programs, look — ” 
+
+Their money bags considerably lighter, they went 
+back to the tents. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all 
+sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was 
+carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no 
+souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold. 
+
+And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere 
+beyond the woods, and at once, green and red 
+lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to 
+the field. 
+
+“It’s time!” said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any 
+of them. “Come on, let’s go!” 
+
+
+
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+-4 
+
+
+
+THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP 
+
+Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, 
+they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern- 
+lit trail. They could hear the sounds of thousands of 
+people moving around them, shouts and laughter, 
+snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish 
+excitement was highly infectious; Harry couldn’t stop 
+grinning. They walked through the wood for twenty 
+minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they 
+emerged on the other side and found themselves in 
+the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Harry 
+could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls 
+surrounding the field, he could tell that ten 
+cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it. 
+
+“Seats a hundred thousand,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+spotting the awestruck look on Harry’s face. “Ministry 
+task force of five hundred have been working on it all 
+year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. 
+Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all 
+year, they’ve suddenly remembered urgent 
+appointments and had to dash away again . . . bless 
+them,” he added fondly, leading the way toward the 
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+
+nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a 
+swarm of shouting witches and wizards. 
+
+“Prime seats!” said the Ministry witch at the entrance 
+when she checked their tickets. “Top Box! Straight 
+upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go.” 
+
+The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich 
+purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the 
+crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into 
+the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley’s party 
+kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the 
+staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at 
+the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly 
+halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty 
+purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and 
+Harry, filing into the front seats with the Weasleys, 
+looked down upon a scene the likes of which he could 
+never have imagined. 
+
+A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking 
+their places in the seats, which rose in levels around 
+the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a 
+mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from 
+the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet 
+from their lofty position. At either end of the field 
+stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite 
+them, almost at Harry’s eye level, was a gigantic 
+blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as 
+though an invisible giant’s hand were scrawling upon 
+the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching 
+it, Harry saw that it was flashing advertisements 
+across the field. 
+
+The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family — safe, 
+reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burglar Buzzer ... Mrs. 
+Skower’s All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, 
+No Stain! ... Gladrags Wizardwear — London, Paris, 
+Hogsmeade ... 
+
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+
+Harry tore his eyes away from the sign and looked 
+over his shoulder to see who else was sharing the box 
+with them. So far it was empty, except for a tiny 
+creature sitting in the second from last seat at the 
+end of the row behind them. The creature, whose legs 
+were so short they stuck out in front of it on the 
+chair, was wearing a tea towel draped like a toga, and 
+it had its face hidden in its hands. Yet those long, 
+batlike ears were oddly familiar. . . . 
+
+“ Dobby ?” said Harry incredulously. 
+
+The tiny creature looked up and stretched its fingers, 
+revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact 
+size and shape of a large tomato. It wasn’t Dobby — it 
+was, however, unmistakably a house-elf, as Harry’s 
+friend Dobby had been. Harry had set Dobby free 
+from his old owners, the Malfoy family. 
+
+“Did sir just call me Dobby?” squeaked the elf 
+curiously from between its fingers. Its voice was 
+higher even than Dobby’s had been, a teeny, 
+quivering squeak of a voice, and Harry suspected — 
+though it was very hard to tell with a house-elf — that 
+this one might just be female. Ron and Hermione 
+spun around in their seats to look. Though they had 
+heard a lot about Dobby from Harry, they had never 
+actually met him. Even Mr. Weasley looked around in 
+interest. 
+
+“Sorry,” Harry told the elf, “I just thought you were 
+someone I knew.” 
+
+“But I knows Dobby too, sir!” squeaked the elf. She 
+was shielding her face, as though blinded by light, 
+though the Top Box was not brightly lit. “My name is 
+Winky, sir — and you, sir — ” Her dark brown eyes 
+widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon 
+Harry’s scar. “You is surely Harry Potter!” 
+
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+
+
+“Yeah, I am,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+“But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!” she said, 
+lowering her hands very slightly and looking 
+awestruck. 
+
+“How is he?” said Harry. “How’s freedom suiting 
+him?” 
+
+“Ah, sir,” said Winky, shaking her head, “ah sir, 
+meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did 
+Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free.” 
+
+“Why?” said Harry, taken aback. “What’s wrong with 
+him?” 
+
+“Freedom is going to Dobby’s head, sir,” said Winky 
+sadly. “Ideas above his station, sir. Can’t get another 
+position, sir.” 
+
+“Why not?” said Harry. 
+
+Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and 
+whispered, “He is wanting paying for his work, sir.” 
+
+“Paying?” said Harry blankly. “Well — why shouldn’t 
+he be paid?” 
+
+Winky looked quite horrified at the idea and closed 
+her fingers slightly so that her face was half-hidden 
+again. 
+
+“House-elves is not paid, sir!” she said in a muffled 
+squeak. “No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find 
+yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is 
+getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is 
+unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing 
+around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear 
+you’s up in front of the Department for the Regulation 
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+
+
+
+and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common 
+goblin.” 
+
+“Well, it’s about time he had a bit of fun,” said Harry. 
+
+“House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry 
+Potter,” said Winky firmly, from behind her hands. 
+“House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking 
+heights at all, Harry Potter” — she glanced toward the 
+edge of the box and gulped — “but my master sends 
+me to the Top Box and I comes, sir.” 
+
+“Why’s he sent you up here, if he knows you don’t like 
+heights?” said Harry, frowning. 
+
+“Master — master wants me to save him a seat, Harry 
+Potter. He is very busy,” said Winky, tilting her head 
+toward the empty space beside her. “Winky is wishing 
+she is back in master’s tent, Harry Potter, but Winky 
+does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf.” 
+
+She gave the edge of the box another frightened look 
+and hid her eyes completely again. Harry turned back 
+to the others. 
+
+“So that’s a house-elf?” Ron muttered. “Weird things, 
+aren’t they?” 
+
+“Dobby was weirder,” said Harry fervently. 
+
+Ron pulled out his Omnioculars and started testing 
+them, staring down into the crowd on the other side 
+of the stadium. 
+
+“Wild!” he said, twiddling the replay knob on the side. 
+“I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose 
+again ... and again ... and again ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+Hermione, meanwhile, was skimming eagerly through 
+her velvet-covered, tasseled program. 
+
+
+
+“ ‘A display from the team mascots will precede the 
+match,’ ” she read aloud. 
+
+“Oh that’s always worth watching,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+“National teams bring creatures from their native 
+land, you know, to put on a bit of a show.” 
+
+The box filled gradually around them over the next 
+half hour. Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with 
+people who were obviously very important wizards. 
+Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as 
+though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog. When 
+Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, 
+arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off 
+and shattered. Highly embarrassed, he repaired them 
+with his wand and thereafter remained in his seat, 
+throwing jealous looks at Harry, whom Cornelius 
+Fudge had greeted like an old friend. They had met 
+before, and Fudge shook Harry’s hand in a fatherly 
+fashion, asked how he was, and introduced him to 
+the wizards on either side of him. 
+
+“Harry Potter, you know,” he told the Bulgarian 
+minister loudly, who was wearing splendid robes of 
+black velvet trimmed with gold and didn’t seem to 
+understand a word of English. “Harry Potter ... oh 
+come on now, you know who he is . . . the boy who 
+survived You-Know-Who ... you do know who he is — ” 
+
+The Bulgarian wizard suddenly spotted Harry’s scar 
+and started gabbling loudly and excitedly, pointing at 
+it. 
+
+“Knew we’d get there in the end,” said Fudge wearily 
+to Harry. “I’m no great shakes at languages; I need 
+Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his 
+
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+
+house-elf’s saving him a seat. ... Good job too, these 
+Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the 
+best places ... ah, and here’s Lucius!” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned quickly. Edging 
+along the second row to three still-empty seats right 
+behind Mr. Weasley were none other than Dobby the 
+house-elf’s former owners: Lucius Malfoy; his son, 
+Draco; and a woman Harry supposed must be Draco’s 
+mother. 
+
+Harry and Draco Malfoy had been enemies ever since 
+their very first journey to Hogwarts. A pale boy with a 
+pointed face and white-blond hair, Draco greatly 
+resembled his father. His mother was blonde too; tall 
+and slim, she would have been nice-looking if she 
+hadn’t been wearing a look that suggested there was 
+a nasty smell under her nose. 
+
+“Ah, Fudge,” said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as 
+he reached the Minister of Magic. “How are you? I 
+don’t think you’ve met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, 
+Draco?” 
+
+“How do you do, how do you do?” said Fudge, smiling 
+and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. “And allow me to 
+introduce you to Mr. Oblansk — Obalonsk — Mr. — 
+well, he’s the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he 
+can’t understand a word I’m saying anyway, so never 
+mind. And let’s see who else — you know Arthur 
+Weasley, I daresay?” 
+
+It was a tense moment. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy 
+looked at each other and Harry vividly recalled the 
+last time they had come face-to-face: It had been in 
+Flourish and Blotts’ bookshop, and they had had a 
+fight. Mr. Malfoy’s cold gray eyes swept over Mr. 
+Weasley, and then up and down the row. 
+
+
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+
+“Good lord, Arthur,” he said softly. “What did you 
+have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your 
+house wouldn’t have fetched this much?” 
+
+Fudge, who wasn’t listening, said, “Lucius has just 
+given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo’s 
+Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. 
+He’s here as my guest.” 
+
+“How — how nice,” said Mr. Weasley, with a very 
+strained smile. 
+
+Mr. Malfoy’s eyes had returned to Hermione, who 
+went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at 
+him. Harry knew exactly what was making Mr. 
+Malfoy’s lip curl like that. The Malfoys prided 
+themselves on being purebloods; in other words, they 
+considered anyone of Muggle descent, like Hermione, 
+second-class. However, under the gaze of the Minister 
+of Magic, Mr. Malfoy didn’t dare say anything. He 
+nodded sneeringly to Mr. Weasley and continued 
+down the line to his seats. Draco shot Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione one contemptuous look, then settled 
+himself between his mother and father. 
+
+“Slimy gits,” Ron muttered as he, Harry, and 
+Hermione turned to face the field again. Next 
+moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box. 
+
+“Everyone ready?” he said, his round face gleaming 
+like a great, excited Edam. “Minister — ready to go?” 
+
+“Ready when you are, Ludo,” said Fudge comfortably. 
+
+Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own 
+throat, and said “Sonorusl” and then spoke over the 
+roar of sound that was now filling the packed 
+stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into 
+every corner of the stands. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Ladies and gentlemen ... welcome! Welcome to the 
+final of the four hundred and twenty-second 
+Quidditch World Cup!” 
+
+The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of 
+flags waved, adding their discordant national 
+anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite 
+them was wiped clear of its last message (Bertie Bott’s 
+Every Flavor Beans — A Risk With Every Mouthfull) 
+and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0. 
+
+“And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce 
+... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!” 
+
+The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid 
+block of scarlet, roared its approval. 
+
+“I wonder what they’ve brought,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+leaning forward in his seat. “Aaah!” He suddenly 
+whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly 
+on his robes. “Veelal” 
+
+“What are veel — ?” 
+
+But a hundred veela were now gliding out onto the 
+field, and Harry’s question was answered for him. 
+Veela were women . . . the most beautiful women Harry 
+had ever seen ... except that they weren’t — they 
+couldn’t be — human. This puzzled Harry for a 
+moment while he tried to guess what exactly they 
+could be; what could make their skin shine moon- 
+bright like that, or their white-gold hair fan out 
+behind them without wind . . . but then the music 
+started, and Harry stopped worrying about them not 
+being human — in fact, he stopped worrying about 
+anything at all. 
+
+The veela had started to dance, and Harry’s mind had 
+gone completely and blissfully blank. All that 
+
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+mattered in the world was that he kept watching the 
+veela, because if they stopped dancing, terrible things 
+would happen. ... 
+
+And as the veela danced faster and faster, wild, half- 
+formed thoughts started chasing through Harry’s 
+dazed mind. He wanted to do something very 
+impressive, right now. Jumping from the box into the 
+stadium seemed a good idea . . . but would it be good 
+enough? 
+
+“Harry, what are you doing?” said Hermione’s voice 
+from a long way off. 
+
+The music stopped. Harry blinked. He was standing 
+up, and one of his legs was resting on the wall of the 
+box. Next to him, Ron was frozen in an attitude that 
+looked as though he were about to dive from a 
+springboard. 
+
+Angry yells were filling the stadium. The crowd didn’t 
+want the veela to go. Harry was with them; he would, 
+of course, be supporting Bulgaria, and he wondered 
+vaguely why he had a large green shamrock pinned to 
+his chest. Ron, meanwhile, was absent-mindedly 
+shredding the shamrocks on his hat. Mr. Weasley, 
+smiling slightly, leaned over to Ron and tugged the 
+hat out of his hands. 
+
+“You’ll be wanting that,” he said, “once Ireland have 
+had their say.” 
+
+“Huh?” said Ron, staring openmouthed at the veela, 
+who had now lined up along one side of the field. 
+
+Hermione made a loud tutting noise. She reached up 
+and pulled Harry back into his seat. “Honestlyl” she 
+said. 
+
+
+
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+
+“And now,” roared Ludo Bagman’s voice, “kindly put 
+your wands in the air ... for the Irish National Team 
+Mascots!” 
+
+Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and- 
+gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one 
+circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller 
+comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A 
+rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting 
+the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and 
+aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the 
+rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and 
+merged; they had formed a great shimmering 
+shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to 
+soar over the stands. Something like golden rain 
+seemed to be falling from it — 
+
+“Excellent!” yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over 
+them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing 
+off their heads and seats. Squinting up at the 
+shamrock, Harry realized that it was actually 
+comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men 
+with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or 
+green. 
+
+“Leprechauns!” said Mr. Weasley over the tumultuous 
+applause of the crowd, many of whom were still 
+fighting and rummaging around under their chairs to 
+retrieve the gold. 
+
+“There you go,” Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of 
+gold coins into Harry’s hand, “for the Omnioculars! 
+Now you’ve got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!” 
+
+The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns 
+drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from 
+the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to 
+watch the match. 
+
+
+
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+
+“And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome — 
+the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you — 
+Dimitrov!” 
+
+A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast 
+it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an 
+entrance far below, to wild applause from the 
+Bulgarian supporters. 
+
+“Ivanova!” 
+
+A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out. 
+
+“Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand — 
+Krum\” 
+
+“That’s him, that’s him!” yelled Ron, following Krum 
+with his Omnioculars. Harry quickly focused his own. 
+
+Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with 
+a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He 
+looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to 
+believe he was only eighteen. 
+
+“And now, please greet — the Irish National Quidditch 
+Team!” yelled Bagman. “Presenting — Connolly! Ryan! 
+Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand — Lynch).” 
+
+Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Harry spun a 
+small dial on the side of his Omnioculars and slowed 
+the players down enough to read the word “Firebolt” 
+on each of their brooms and see their names, 
+embroidered in silver, upon their backs. 
+
+“And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, 
+acclaimed Chairwizard of the International 
+Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!” 
+
+
+
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+A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with 
+a mustache to rival Uncle Vernon’s, wearing robes of 
+pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the 
+field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the 
+mustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate 
+under one arm, his broomstick under the other. 
+
+Harry spun the speed dial on his Omnioculars back 
+to normal, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his 
+broomstick and kicked the crate open — four balls 
+burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black 
+Bludgers, and (Harry saw it for the briefest moment, 
+before it sped out of sight) the minuscule, winged 
+Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast on his whistle, 
+Mostafa shot into the air after the balls. 
+
+“Theeeeeeeey’re OFF!” screamed Bagman. “And it’s 
+Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! 
+Levski! Moran!” 
+
+It was Quidditch as Harry had never seen it played 
+before. He was pressing his Omnioculars so hard to 
+his glasses that they were cutting into the bridge of 
+his nose. The speed of the players was incredible — 
+the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another 
+so fast that Bagman only had time to say their 
+names. Harry spun the slow dial on the right of his 
+Omnioculars again, pressed the play-by-play button 
+on the top, and he was immediately watching in slow 
+motion, while glittering purple lettering flashed across 
+the lenses and the noise of the crowd pounded 
+against his eardrums. 
+
+Hawkshead Attacking Formation, he read as he 
+watched the three Irish Chasers zoom closely 
+together, Troy in the center, slightly ahead of Mullet 
+and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. 
+Porskoff Ploy flashed up next, as Troy made as though 
+to dart upward with the Quaffle, drawing away the 
+Bulgarian Chaser Ivanova and dropping the Quaffle to 
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+
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+
+Moran. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung 
+hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, 
+knocking it into Moran’s path; Moran ducked to avoid 
+the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, 
+soaring beneath, caught it — 
+
+“TROY SCORES!” roared Bagman, and the stadium 
+shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. “Ten 
+zero to Ireland!” 
+
+“What?” Harry yelled, looking wildly around through 
+his Omnioculars. “But Levski’s got the Quaffle!” 
+
+“Harry, if you’re not going to watch at normal speed, 
+you’re going to miss things!” shouted Hermione, who 
+was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air 
+while Troy did a lap of honor around the field. Harry 
+looked quickly over the top of his Omni-oculars and 
+saw that the leprechauns watching from the sidelines 
+had all risen into the air again and formed the great, 
+glittering shamrock. Across the field, the veela were 
+watching them sulkily. 
+
+Furious with himself, Harry spun his speed dial back 
+to normal as play resumed. 
+
+Harry knew enough about Quidditch to see that the 
+Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a 
+seamless team, their movements so well coordinated 
+that they appeared to be reading one another’s minds 
+as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on 
+Harry’s chest kept squeaking their names: “Troy — 
+Mullet — Moran).” And within ten minutes, Ireland had 
+scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero 
+and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause 
+from the green-clad supporters. 
+
+The match became still faster, but more brutal. 
+
+Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were 
+
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+whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the 
+Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from 
+using some of their best moves; twice they were forced 
+to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to 
+break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; 
+and score Bulgaria’s first goal. 
+
+“Fingers in your ears!” bellowed Mr. Weasley as the 
+veela started to dance in celebration. Harry screwed 
+up his eyes too; he wanted to keep his mind on the 
+game. After a few seconds, he chanced a glance at the 
+field. The veela had stopped dancing, and Bulgaria 
+was again in possession of the Quaffle. 
+
+“Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova — oh I say!” 
+roared Bagman. 
+
+One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two 
+Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the 
+center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though 
+they had just jumped from airplanes without 
+parachutes. Harry followed their descent through his 
+Omnioculars, squinting to see where the Snitch was 
+
+
+
+“They’re going to crash!” screamed Hermione next to 
+Harry. 
+
+She was half right — at the very last second, Viktor 
+Krum pulled out of the dive and spiraled off. Lynch, 
+however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could 
+be heard throughout the stadium. A huge groan rose 
+from the Irish seats. 
+
+“Fool!” moaned Mr. Weasley. “Krum was feinting!” 
+
+“It’s time-out!” yelled Bagman’s voice, “as trained 
+mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan 
+Lynch!” 
+
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+
+“He’ll be okay, he only got ploughed!” Charlie said 
+reassuringly to Ginny, who was hanging over the side 
+of the box, looking horror-struck. “Which is what 
+Krum was after, of course. ...” 
+
+Harry hastily pressed the replay and play-by-play 
+buttons on his Omnioculars, twiddled the speed dial, 
+and put them back up to his eyes. 
+
+He watched as Krum and Lynch dived again in slow 
+motion. Wronski Defensive Feint — dangerous Seeker 
+diversion read the shining purple lettering across his 
+lenses. He saw Krum’s face contorted with 
+concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in 
+time, while Lynch was flattened, and he understood 
+— Krum hadn’t seen the Snitch at all, he was just 
+making Lynch copy him. Harry had never seen 
+anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked as though he 
+was using a broomstick at all; he moved so easily 
+through the air that he looked unsupported and 
+weightless. Harry turned his Omnioculars back to 
+normal and focused them on Krum. He was now 
+circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by 
+mediwizards with cups of potion. Harry, focusing still 
+more closely upon Krum’s face, saw his dark eyes 
+darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He 
+was using the time while Lynch was revived to look 
+for the Snitch without interference. 
+
+Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the 
+green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and 
+kicked back off into the air. His revival seemed to give 
+Ireland new heart. When Mostafa blew his whistle 
+again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill 
+unrivaled by anything Harry had seen so far. 
+
+After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland 
+had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now 
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and 
+the game was starting to get dirtier. 
+
+As Mullet shot toward the goal posts yet again, 
+clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the 
+Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. 
+Whatever happened was over so quickly Harry didn’t 
+catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, 
+and Mostafa’s long, shrill whistle blast, told him it 
+had been a foul. 
+
+“And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for 
+cobbing — excessive use of elbows!” Bagman informed 
+the roaring spectators. “And — yes, it’s a penalty to 
+Ireland!” 
+
+The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air 
+like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had 
+been fouled, now darted together to form the words 
+“HA, HA, HA!” The veela on the other side of the field 
+leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and 
+started to dance again. 
+
+As one, the Weasley boys and Harry stuffed their 
+fingers into their ears, but Hermione, who hadn’t 
+bothered, was soon tugging on Harry’s arm. He 
+turned to look at her, and she pulled his fingers 
+impatiently out of his ears. 
+
+“Look at the referee!” she said, giggling. 
+
+Harry looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had 
+landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was 
+acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles 
+and smoothing his mustache excitedly. 
+
+“Now, we can’t have that!” said Ludo Bagman, though 
+he sounded highly amused. “Somebody slap the 
+referee!” 
+
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+
+A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his 
+fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa 
+hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself; 
+Harry, watching through the Omnioculars again, saw 
+that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had 
+started shouting at the veela, who had stopped 
+dancing and were looking mutinous. 
+
+“And unless I’m much mistaken, Mostafa is actually 
+attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!” 
+said Bagman’s voice. “Now there’s something we 
+haven’t seen before. ... Oh this could turn nasty. ...” 
+
+It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, 
+landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing 
+furiously with him, gesticulating toward the 
+leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words 
+“HEE, HEE, HEE.” Mostafa was not impressed by the 
+Bulgarians’ arguments, however; he was jabbing his 
+finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying 
+again, and when they refused, he gave two short 
+blasts on his whistle. 
+
+“Two penalties for Ireland!” shouted Bagman, and the 
+Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. “And Volkov and 
+Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms . . . 
+yes ... there they go ... and Troy takes the Quaffle ...” 
+
+Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything 
+they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were 
+acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in 
+particular seemed not to care whether their clubs 
+made contact with Bludger or human as they swung 
+them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight 
+at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her 
+off her broom. 
+
+“Foul\” roared the Irish supporters as one, all 
+standing up in a great wave of green. 
+
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+“Foul!” echoed Ludo Bagman’s magically magnified 
+voice. “Dimitrov skins Moran — deliberately flying to 
+collide there — and it’s got to be another penalty — 
+yes, there’s the whistle!” 
+
+The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this 
+time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a 
+very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field. At 
+this, the veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they 
+launched themselves across the field and began 
+throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the 
+leprechauns. Watching through his Omnioculars, 
+Harry saw that they didn’t look remotely beautiful 
+now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into 
+sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings 
+were bursting from their shoulders — 
+
+“And that, boys,” yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult 
+of the crowd below, “is why you should never go for 
+looks alone!” 
+
+Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to 
+separate the veela and the leprechauns, but with little 
+success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was 
+nothing to the one taking place above. Harry turned 
+this way and that, staring through his Omnioculars, 
+as the Quaffle changed hands with the speed of a 
+bullet. 
+
+“Levski — Dimitrov — Moran — Troy — Mullet — 
+Ivanova — Moran again — Moran — MORAN 
+SCORES!” 
+
+But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely 
+heard over the shrieks of the veela, the blasts now 
+issuing from the Ministry members’ wands, and the 
+furious roars of the Bulgarians. The game 
+recommenced immediately; now Levski had the 
+Quaffle, now Dimitrov — 
+
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+
+The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing 
+Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible toward Krum, 
+who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in 
+the face. 
+
+There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum’s 
+nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but 
+Hassan Mostafa didn’t blow his whistle. He had 
+become distracted, and Harry couldn’t blame him; 
+one of the veela had thrown a handful of fire and set 
+his broom tail alight. 
+
+Harry wanted someone to realize that Krum was 
+injured; even though he was supporting Ireland, 
+
+Krum was the most exciting player on the field. Ron 
+obviously felt the same. 
+
+“Time-out! Ah, come on, he can’t play like that, look 
+at him — ” 
+
+“Look at Lynch 1” Harry yelled. 
+
+For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, 
+and Harry was quite sure that this was no Wronski 
+Feint; this was the real thing. ... 
+
+“He’s seen the Snitch!” Harry shouted. “He’s seen it! 
+Look at him go!” 
+
+Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was 
+happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great 
+wave of green, screaming their Seeker on . . . but Krum 
+was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, 
+Harry had no idea; there were flecks of blood flying 
+through the air behind him, but he was drawing level 
+with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward 
+the ground again — 
+
+“They’re going to crash!” shrieked Hermione. 
+
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+“They’re not!” roared Ron. 
+
+“Lynch is!” yelled Harry. 
+
+And he was right — for the second time, Lynch hit the 
+ground with tremendous force and was immediately 
+stampeded by a horde of angry veela. 
+
+“The Snitch, where’s the Snitch?” bellowed Charlie, 
+along the row. 
+
+“He’s got it — Krum’s got it — it’s all over!” shouted 
+Harry. 
+
+Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, 
+was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint 
+of gold in his hand. 
+
+The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, 
+IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, who didn’t seem to 
+have realized what had happened. Then, slowly, as 
+though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the 
+rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and 
+louder and erupted into screams of delight. 
+
+“IRELAND WINS!” Bagman shouted, who like the 
+Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of 
+the match. “KRUM GETS THE SNITCH — BUT 
+IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don’t think any of us 
+were expecting that!” 
+
+“What did he catch the Snitch for?” Ron bellowed, 
+even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his 
+hands over his head. “He ended it when Ireland were 
+a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!” 
+
+“He knew they were never going to catch up!” Harry 
+shouted back over all the noise, also applauding 
+
+
+
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+loudly. “The Irish Chasers were too good. ... He 
+wanted to end it on his terms, that’s all. ...” 
+
+
+
+“He was very brave, wasn’t he?” Hermione said, 
+leaning forward to watch Krum land as a swarm of 
+mediwizards blasted a path through the battling 
+leprechauns and veela to get to him. “He looks a 
+terrible mess. ...” 
+
+Harry put his Omnioculars to his eyes again. It was 
+hard to see what was happening below, because 
+leprechauns were zooming delightedly all over the 
+field, but he could just make out Krum, surrounded 
+by mediwizards. He looked surlier than ever and 
+refused to let them mop him up. His team members 
+were around him, shaking their heads and looking 
+dejected; a short way away, the Irish players were 
+dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from 
+their mascots. Flags were waving all over the stadium, 
+the Irish national anthem blared from all sides; the 
+veela were shrinking back into their usual, beautiful 
+selves now, though looking dispirited and forlorn. 
+
+“Veil, ve fought bravely,” said a gloomy voice behind 
+Harry. He looked around; it was the Bulgarian 
+Minister of Magic. 
+
+“You can speak English!” said Fudge, sounding 
+outraged. “And you’ve been letting me mime 
+everything all day!” 
+
+“Veil, it vos very funny,” said the Bulgarian minister, 
+shrugging. 
+
+“And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, 
+flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup 
+itself is brought into the Top Box!” roared Bagman. 
+
+
+
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+Harry’s eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding 
+white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated 
+so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. 
+Squinting toward the entrance, he saw two panting 
+wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, 
+which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, who was still 
+looking very disgruntled that he’d been using sign 
+language all day for nothing. 
+
+“Let’s have a really loud hand for the gallant losers — 
+Bulgaria!” Bagman shouted. 
+
+And up the stairs into the box came the seven 
+defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below was 
+applauding appreciatively; Harry could see thousands 
+and thousands of Omniocular lenses flashing and 
+winking in their direction. 
+
+One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of 
+seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of 
+each as they shook hands with their own minister 
+and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, 
+looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming 
+spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding 
+the Snitch. Harry noticed that he seemed much less 
+coordinated on the ground. He was slightly duck- 
+footed and distinctly round-shouldered. But when 
+Krum’s name was announced, the whole stadium 
+gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar. 
+
+And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being 
+supported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash 
+seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked 
+strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy 
+and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd 
+below thundered its approval. Harry’s hands were 
+numb with clapping. 
+
+
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+
+At last, when the Irish team had left the box to 
+perform another lap of honor on their brooms (Aidan 
+Lynch on the back of Connolly’s, clutching hard 
+around his waist and still grinning in a bemused sort 
+of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and 
+muttered, “Quietus.” 
+
+“They’ll be talking about this one for years,” he said 
+hoarsely, “a really unexpected twist, that. ... shame it 
+couldn’t have lasted longer. ... Ah yes. ... yes, I owe 
+you . . . how much?” 
+
+For Fred and George had just scrambled over the 
+backs of their seats and were standing in front of 
+Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their 
+hands outstretched. 
+
+
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+9 
+
+
+
+
+THE DARK MARK 
+
+“ Don’t tell your mother you’ve been gambling,” Mr. 
+Weasley implored Fred and George as they all made 
+their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs. 
+
+“Don’t worry, Dad,” said Fred gleefully, “we’ve got big 
+plans for this money. We don’t want it confiscated.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley looked for a moment as though he was 
+going to ask what these big plans were, but seemed to 
+decide, upon reflection, that he didn’t want to know. 
+
+They were soon caught up in the crowds now flooding 
+out of the stadium and back to their campsites. 
+Raucous singing was borne toward them on the night 
+air as they retraced their steps along the lantern-lit 
+path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, 
+cackling and waving their lanterns. When they finally 
+reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and 
+given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley 
+agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa 
+together before turning in. They were soon arguing 
+enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn 
+
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+
+
+
+into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and 
+it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny 
+table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that 
+Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and 
+insisted that everyone go to bed. Hermione and Ginny 
+went into the next tent, and Harry and the rest of the 
+Weasleys changed into pajamas and clambered into 
+their bunks. From the other side of the campsite they 
+could still hear much singing and the odd echoing 
+bang. 
+
+“Oh I am glad I’m not on duty,” muttered Mr. Weasley 
+sleepily. “I wouldn’t fancy having to go and tell the 
+Irish they’ve got to stop celebrating.” 
+
+Harry, who was on a top bunk above Ron, lay staring 
+up at the canvas ceiling of the tent, watching the glow 
+of an occasional leprechaun lantern flying overhead, 
+and picturing again some of Krum’s more spectacular 
+moves. He was itching to get back on his own Firebolt 
+and try out the Wronski Feint. ... Somehow Oliver 
+Wood had never managed to convey with all his 
+wriggling diagrams what that move was supposed to 
+look like. ... Harry saw himself in robes that had his 
+name on the back, and imagined the sensation of 
+hearing a hundred-thousand-strong crowd roar, as 
+Ludo Bagman’s voice echoed throughout the stadium, 
+“I give you ... PotteA.” 
+
+Harry never knew whether or not he had actually 
+dropped off to sleep — his fantasies of flying like 
+Krum might well have slipped into actual dreams — 
+all he knew was that, quite suddenly, Mr. Weasley 
+was shouting. 
+
+“Get up! Ron — Harry — come on now, get up, this is 
+urgent!” 
+
+
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+Harry sat up quickly and the top of his head hit 
+canvas. 
+
+“ ’S’ matter?” he said. 
+
+Dimly, he could tell that something was wrong. The 
+noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had 
+stopped. He could hear screams, and the sound of 
+people running. He slipped down from the bunk and 
+reached for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had 
+pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas, said, “No 
+time, Harry — just grab a jacket and get outside — 
+quickly!” 
+
+Harry did as he was told and hurried out of the tent, 
+Ron at his heels. 
+
+By the light of the few fires that were still burning, he 
+could see people running away into the woods, fleeing 
+something that was moving across the field toward 
+them, something that was emitting odd flashes of 
+light and noises like gunfire. Loud jeering, roars of 
+laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward 
+them; then came a burst of strong green light, which 
+illuminated the scene. 
+
+A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving 
+together with wands pointing straight upward, was 
+marching slowly across the field. Harry squinted at 
+them. ... They didn’t seem to have faces. ... Then he 
+realized that their heads were hooded and their faces 
+masked. High above them, floating along in midair, 
+four struggling figures were being contorted into 
+grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked 
+wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the 
+people above them were marionettes operated by 
+invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. 
+Two of the figures were very small. 
+
+
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+More wizards were joining the marching group, 
+laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents 
+crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. 
+Once or twice Harry saw one of the marchers blast a 
+tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. 
+The screaming grew louder. 
+
+The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they 
+passed over a burning tent and Harry recognized one 
+of them: Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The 
+other three looked as though they might be his wife 
+and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. 
+Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress 
+fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she 
+struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her 
+screeched and hooted with glee. 
+
+“That’s sick,” Ron muttered, watching the smallest 
+Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty 
+feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from 
+side to side. “That is really sick. ...” 
+
+Hermione and Ginny came hurrying toward them, 
+pulling coats over their nightdresses, with Mr. 
+
+Weasley right behind them. At the same moment, Bill, 
+Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys’ tent, fully 
+dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands 
+out. 
+
+“We’re going to help the Ministry!” Mr. Weasley 
+shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. 
+“You lot — get into the woods, and stick together. I’ll 
+come and fetch you when we’ve sorted this out!” 
+
+Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away 
+toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore 
+after them. Ministry wizards were dashing from every 
+direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd 
+beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer. 
+Page | 132 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+“C’mon,” said Fred, grabbing Ginny’s hand and 
+starting to pull her toward the wood. Harry, Ron, 
+Hermione, and George followed. They all looked back 
+as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the 
+Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see 
+the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the 
+hooded wizards in the center, but they were having 
+great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared 
+to perform any spell that might make the Roberts 
+family fall. 
+
+The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the 
+stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were 
+blundering through the trees; children were crying; 
+anxious shouts and panicked voices were 
+reverberating around them in the cold night air. 
+
+Harry felt himself being pushed hither and thither by 
+people whose faces he could not see. Then he heard 
+Ron yell with pain. 
+
+“What happened?” said Hermione anxiously, stopping 
+so abruptly that Harry walked into her. “Ron, where 
+are you? Oh this is stupid — lumos\” 
+
+She illuminated her wand and directed its narrow 
+beam across the path. Ron was lying sprawled on the 
+ground. 
+
+“Tripped over a tree root,” he said angrily, getting to 
+his feet again. 
+
+“Well, with feet that size, hard not to,” said a drawling 
+voice from behind them. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned sharply. Draco 
+Malfoy was standing alone nearby, leaning against a 
+tree, looking utterly relaxed. His arms folded, he 
+seemed to have been watching the scene at the 
+campsite through a gap in the trees. 
+
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+Ron told Malfoy to do something that Harry knew he 
+would never have dared say in front of Mrs. Weasley 
+
+“Language, Weasley,” said Malfoy, his pale eyes 
+glittering. “Hadn’t you better be hurrying along, now? 
+You wouldn’t like her spotted, would you?” 
+
+He nodded at Hermione, and at the same moment, a 
+blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a 
+flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around 
+them. 
+
+“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Hermione 
+defiantly. 
+
+“Granger, they’re after Muggles,” said Malfoy. “D’you 
+want to be showing off your knickers in midair? 
+Because if you do, hang around ... they’re moving this 
+way, and it would give us all a laugh.” 
+
+“Hermione’s a witch,” Harry snarled. 
+
+“Have it your own way, Potter,” said Malfoy, grinning 
+maliciously. “If you think they can’t spot a Mudblood, 
+stay where you are.” 
+
+“You watch your mouth!” shouted Ron. Everybody 
+present knew that “Mudblood” was a very offensive 
+term for a witch or wizard of Muggle parentage. 
+
+“Never mind, Ron,” said Hermione quickly, seizing 
+Ron’s arm to restrain him as he took a step toward 
+Malfoy. 
+
+There came a bang from the other side of the trees 
+that was louder than anything they had heard. 
+
+Several people nearby screamed. Malfoy chuckled 
+softly. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Scare easily, don’t they?” he said lazily. “I suppose 
+your daddy told you all to hide? What’s he up to — 
+trying to rescue the Muggles?” 
+
+“Where’re your parents?” said Harry, his temper 
+rising. “Out there wearing masks, are they?” 
+
+Malfoy turned his face to Harry, still smiling. 
+
+“Well ... if they were, I wouldn’t be likely to tell you, 
+would I, Potter?” 
+
+“Oh come on,” said Hermione, with a disgusted look 
+at Malfoy, “let’s go and find the others.” 
+
+“Keep that big bushy head down, Granger,” sneered 
+Malfoy. 
+
+“Come on,” Hermione repeated, and she pulled Harry 
+and Ron up the path again. 
+
+“I’ll bet you anything his dad is one of that masked 
+lot!” said Ron hotly. 
+
+“Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him!” 
+said Hermione fervently. “Oh I can’t believe this. 
+
+Where have the others got to?” 
+
+Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, 
+though the path was packed with plenty of other 
+people, all looking nervously over their shoulders 
+toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle 
+of teenagers in pajamas was arguing vociferously a 
+little way along the path. When they saw Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione, a girl with thick curly hair turned and 
+said quickly, “ Ou est Madame Maxime? Nous Vavons 
+perdue — ” 
+
+“Er — what?” said Ron. 
+
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+
+
+
+“Oh ...” The girl who had spoken turned her back on 
+him, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her 
+say, “ ’Ogwarts.” 
+
+“Beauxbatons,” muttered Hermione. 
+
+“Sorry?” said Harry. 
+
+“They must go to Beauxbatons,” said Hermione. “You 
+know . . . Beauxbatons Academy of Magic ... I read 
+about it in An Appraisal of Magical Education in 
+Europe.” 
+
+“Oh ... yeah ... right,” said Harry. 
+
+“Fred and George can’t have gone that far,” said Ron, 
+pulling out his wand, lighting it like Hermione’s, and 
+squinting up the path. Harry dug in the pockets of his 
+jacket for his own wand — but it wasn’t there. The 
+only thing he could find was his Omnioculars. 
+
+“Ah, no, I don’t believe it ... I’ve lost my wand!” 
+
+“You’re kidding!” 
+
+Ron and Hermione raised their wands high enough to 
+spread the narrow beams of light farther on the 
+ground; Harry looked all around him, but his wand 
+was nowhere to be seen. 
+
+“Maybe it’s back in the tent,” said Ron. 
+
+“Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were 
+running?” Hermione suggested anxiously. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “maybe ...” 
+
+He usually kept his wand with him at all times in the 
+wizarding world, and finding himself without it in the 
+
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+
+midst of a scene like this made him feel very 
+vulnerable. 
+
+
+
+A rustling noise nearby made all three of them jump. 
+Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a 
+clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most 
+peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it 
+was as though someone invisible were trying to hold 
+her back. 
+
+“There is bad wizards about!” she squeaked 
+distractedly as she leaned forward and labored to 
+keep running. “People high — high in the air! Winky 
+is getting out of the way!” 
+
+And she disappeared into the trees on the other side 
+of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought the 
+force that was restraining her. 
+
+“What’s up with her?” said Ron, looking curiously 
+after Winky. “Why can’t she run properly?” 
+
+“Bet she didn’t ask permission to hide,” said Harry. 
+
+He was thinking of Dobby: Every time he had tried to 
+do something the Malfoys wouldn’t like, the house-elf 
+had been forced to start beating himself up. 
+
+“You know, house-elves get a very raw deal!” said 
+Hermione indignantly. “It’s slavery, that’s what it is! 
+That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the 
+stadium, and she was terrified, and he’s got her 
+bewitched so she can’t even run when they start 
+trampling tents! Why doesn’t anyone do something 
+about it?” 
+
+“Well, the elves are happy, aren’t they?” Ron said. 
+
+“You heard old Winky back at the match ... ‘House- 
+elves is not supposed to have fun’ ... that’s what she 
+likes, being bossed around. ...” 
+
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+
+“It’s people like you, Ron,” Hermione began hotly, 
+
+“who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just 
+because they’re too lazy to — ” 
+
+Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood. 
+
+“Let’s just keep moving, shall we?” said Ron, and 
+Harry saw him glance edgily at Hermione. Perhaps 
+there was truth in what Malfoy had said; perhaps 
+Hermione was in more danger than they were. They 
+set off again, Harry still searching his pockets, even 
+though he knew his wand wasn’t there. 
+
+They followed the dark path deeper into the wood, 
+still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, and Ginny. 
+They passed a group of goblins who were cackling 
+over a sack of gold that they had undoubtedly won 
+betting on the match, and who seemed quite 
+unperturbed by the trouble at the campsite. Farther 
+still along the path, they walked into a patch of silvery 
+light, and when they looked through the trees, they 
+saw three tall and beautiful veela standing in a 
+clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all 
+of whom were talking very loudly. 
+
+“I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a 
+year!” one of them shouted. “I’m a dragon killer for 
+the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous 
+Creatures.” 
+
+“No, you’re not!” yelled his friend. “You’re a 
+dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron. ... but I’m a 
+vampire hunter, I’ve killed about ninety so far — ” 
+
+A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even 
+by the dim, silvery light of the veela, now cut in, “I’m 
+about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, 
+
+I am.” 
+
+
+
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+Harry snorted with laughter. He recognized the 
+pimply wizard: His name was Stan Shunpike, and he 
+was in fact a conductor on the triple-decker Knight 
+Bus. He turned to tell Ron this, but Ron’s face had 
+gone oddly slack, and next second Ron was yelling, 
+“Did I tell you I’ve invented a broomstick that’ll reach 
+Jupiter?” 
+
+“Honestly\” said Hermione, and she and Harry 
+grabbed Ron firmly by the arms, wheeled him around, 
+and marched him away. By the time the sounds of 
+the veela and their admirers had faded completely, 
+they were in the very heart of the wood. They seemed 
+to be alone now; everything was much quieter. 
+
+Harry looked around. “I reckon we can just wait here, 
+you know. Well hear anyone coming a mile off.” 
+
+The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Ludo 
+Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of 
+them. 
+
+Even by the feeble light of the two wands, Harry could 
+see that a great change had come over Bagman. He 
+no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was 
+no more spring in his step. He looked very white and 
+strained. 
+
+“Who’s that?” he said, blinking down at them, trying 
+to make out their faces. “What are you doing in here, 
+all alone?” 
+
+They looked at one another, surprised. 
+
+“Well — there’s a sort of riot going on,” said Ron. 
+Bagman stared at him. 
+
+“What?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“At the campsite . . . some people have got hold of a 
+family of Muggles. ...” 
+
+Bagman swore loudly. 
+
+“Damn them!” he said, looking quite distracted, and 
+without another word, he Disapparated with a small 
+pop\ 
+
+“Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?” 
+said Hermione, frowning. 
+
+“He was a great Beater, though,” said Ron, leading 
+the way off the path into a small clearing, and sitting 
+down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. 
+
+“The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in 
+a row while he was with them.” 
+
+He took his small figure of Krum out of his pocket, set 
+it down on the ground, and watched it walk around. 
+Like the real Krum, the model was slightly duck- 
+footed and round-shouldered, much less impressive 
+on his splayed feet than on his broomstick. Harry was 
+listening for noise from the campsite. Everything 
+seemed much quieter; perhaps the riot was over. 
+
+“I hope the others are okay,” said Hermione after a 
+while. 
+
+“They’ll be fine,” said Ron. 
+
+“Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy,” said 
+Harry, sitting down next to Ron and watching the 
+small figure of Krum slouching over the fallen leaves. 
+“He’s always said he’d like to get something on him.” 
+
+“That’d wipe the smirk off old Draco’s face, all right,” 
+said Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Those poor Muggles, though,” said Hermione 
+nervously. “What if they can’t get them down?” 
+
+“They will,” said Ron reassuringly. “They’ll find a 
+way.” 
+
+“Mad, though, to do something like that when the 
+whole Ministry of Magic’s out here tonight!” said 
+Hermione. “I mean, how do they expect to get away 
+with it? Do you think they’ve been drinking, or are 
+they just — ” 
+
+But she broke off abruptly and looked over her 
+shoulder. Harry and Ron looked quickly around too. 
+
+It sounded as though someone was staggering toward 
+their clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of 
+the uneven steps behind the dark trees. But the 
+footsteps came to a sudden halt. 
+
+“Hello?” called Harry. 
+
+There was silence. Harry got to his feet and peered 
+around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but he 
+could sense somebody standing just beyond the range 
+of his vision. 
+
+“Who’s there?” he said. 
+
+And then, without warning, the silence was rent by a 
+voice unlike any they had heard in the wood; and it 
+uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like 
+a spell. 
+
+“MORSMORDREl ” 
+
+And something vast, green, and glittering erupted 
+from the patch of darkness Harry’s eyes had been 
+struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops 
+and into the sky. 
+
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+
+
+“What the — ?” gasped Ron as he sprang to his feet 
+again, staring up at the thing that had appeared. 
+
+For a split second, Harry thought it was another 
+leprechaun formation. Then he realized that it was a 
+colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald 
+stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a 
+tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, 
+blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against 
+the black sky like a new constellation. 
+
+Suddenly, the wood all around them erupted with 
+screams. Harry didn’t understand why, but the only 
+possible cause was the sudden appearance of the 
+skull, which had now risen high enough to illuminate 
+the entire wood like some grisly neon sign. He 
+scanned the darkness for the person who had 
+conjured the skull, but he couldn’t see anyone. 
+
+“Who’s there?” he called again. 
+
+“Harry, come on, move\” Hermione had seized the 
+collar of his jacket and was tugging him backward. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” Harry said, startled to see her 
+face so white and terrified. 
+
+“It’s the Dark Mark, Harry!” Hermione moaned, 
+pulling him as hard as she could. “You-Know-Who’s 
+sign!” 
+
+“Voldemort’s — ?” 
+
+“Harry, come on!” 
+
+Harry turned — Ron was hurriedly scooping up his 
+miniature Krum — the three of them started across 
+the clearing — but before they had taken a few 
+hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced 
+
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+
+the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, 
+surrounding them. 
+
+Harry whirled around, and in an instant, he 
+registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his 
+wand out, and every wand was pointing right at 
+himself, Ron, and Hermione. 
+
+Without pausing to think, he yelled, “DUCK!” 
+
+He seized the other two and pulled them down onto 
+the ground. 
+
+“STUPEFYl” roared twenty voices — there was a 
+blinding series of flashes and Harry felt the hair on 
+his head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept 
+the clearing. Raising his head a fraction of an inch he 
+saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the 
+wizards’ wands, crossing one another, bouncing off 
+tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness — 
+
+“Stop!” yelled a voice he recognized. “STOP! That’s my 
+son\” 
+
+Harry’s hair stopped blowing about. He raised his 
+head a little higher. The wizard in front of him had 
+lowered his wand. He rolled over and saw Mr. Weasley 
+striding toward them, looking terrified. 
+
+“Ron — Harry” — his voice sounded shaky — 
+“Hermione — are you all right?” 
+
+“Out of the way, Arthur,” said a cold, curt voice. 
+
+It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards 
+were closing in on them. Harry got to his feet to face 
+them. Mr. Crouch’s face was taut with rage. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Which of you did it?” he snapped, his sharp eyes 
+darting between them. “Which of you conjured the 
+Dark Mark?” 
+
+“We didn’t do that!” said Harry, gesturing up at the 
+skull. 
+
+“We didn’t do anything!” said Ron, who was rubbing 
+his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. “What 
+did you want to attack us for?” 
+
+“Do not lie, sir!” shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was 
+still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were 
+popping — he looked slightly mad. “You have been 
+discovered at the scene of the crime!” 
+
+“Barty,” whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing 
+gown, “they’re kids, Barty, they’d never have been 
+able to — ” 
+
+“Where did the Mark come from, you three?” said Mr. 
+Weasley quickly. 
+
+“Over there,” said Hermione shakily, pointing at the 
+place where they had heard the voice. “There was 
+someone behind the trees . . . they shouted words — 
+an incantation — ” 
+
+“Oh, stood over there, did they?” said Mr. Crouch, 
+turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief 
+etched all over his face. “Said an incantation, did 
+they? You seem very well informed about how that 
+Mark is summoned, missy — ” 
+
+But none of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. 
+Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that Harry, 
+Ron, or Hermione had conjured the skull; on the 
+contrary, at Hermione’s words, they had all raised 
+
+
+
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+their wands again and were pointing in the direction 
+she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees. 
+
+“We’re too late,” said the witch in the woolen dressing 
+gown, shaking her head. “They’ll have Disapparated.” 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said a wizard with a scrubby brown 
+beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric’s father. “Our 
+Stunners went right through those trees. ... There’s a 
+good chance we got them. ...” 
+
+“Amos, be careful!” said a few of the wizards 
+warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, 
+raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and 
+disappeared into the darkness. Hermione watched 
+him vanish with her hands over her mouth. 
+
+A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout. 
+
+“Yes! We got them! There’s someone here! 
+Unconscious! It’s — but — blimey ...” 
+
+“You’ve got someone?” shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding 
+highly disbelieving. “Who? Who is it?” 
+
+They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and 
+then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged 
+from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp 
+figure in his arms. Harry recognized the tea towel at 
+once. It was Winky. 
+
+Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory 
+deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other 
+Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a 
+few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes 
+blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky. 
+Then he appeared to come to life again. 
+
+“This — cannot — be,” he said jerkily. “No — ” 
+
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+
+
+He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off 
+toward the place where he had found Winky. 
+
+
+
+“No point, Mr. Crouch,” Mr. Diggory called after him. 
+“There’s no one else there.” 
+
+But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his 
+word for it. They could hear him moving around and 
+the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, 
+searching. 
+
+“Bit embarrassing,” Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking 
+down at Winky’s unconscious form. “Barty Crouch’s 
+house-elf ... I mean to say ...” 
+
+“Come off it, Amos,” said Mr. Weasley quietly, “you 
+don’t seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark’s a 
+wizard’s sign. It requires a wand.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Mr. Diggory, “and she had a wand.” 
+
+“What?” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“Here, look.” Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed 
+it to Mr. Weasley. “Had it in her hand. So that’s 
+clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a 
+start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or 
+use a wand.” 
+
+Just then there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman 
+Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking 
+breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, 
+goggling upward at the emerald-green skull. 
+
+“The Dark Mark!” he panted, almost trampling Winky 
+as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. “Who did 
+it? Did you get them? Barty! What’s going on?” 
+
+
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+Mr. Crouch had returned empty-handed. His face was 
+still ghostly white, and his hands and his toothbrush 
+mustache were both twitching. 
+
+“Where have you been, Barty?” said Bagman. “Why 
+weren’t you at the match? Your elf was saving you a 
+seat too — gulping gargoyles!” Bagman had just 
+noticed Winky lying at his feet. “What happened to 
+her?” 
+
+“I have been busy, Ludo,” said Mr. Crouch, still 
+talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his 
+lips. “And my elf has been stunned.” 
+
+“Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why — ?” 
+
+Comprehension dawned suddenly on Bagman’s 
+round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at 
+Winky, and then at Mr. Crouch. 
+
+“iVo!” he said. “Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She 
+wouldn’t know how! She’d need a wand, for a start!” 
+
+“And she had one,” said Mr. Diggory. “I found her 
+holding one, Ludo. If it’s all right with you, Mr. 
+
+Crouch, I think we should hear what she’s got to say 
+for herself.” 
+
+Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, 
+but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. 
+He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and 
+said, “Rennervatel” 
+
+Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened 
+and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of 
+way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself 
+shakily into a sitting position. She caught sight of Mr. 
+Diggory’s feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her 
+eyes to stare up into his face; then, more slowly still, 
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+she looked up into the sky. Harry could see the 
+floating skull reflected twice in her enormous, glassy 
+eyes. She gave a gasp, looked wildly around the 
+crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs. 
+
+“Elf!” said Mr. Diggory sternly. “Do you know who I 
+am? I’m a member of the Department for the 
+Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!” 
+
+Winky began to rock backward and forward on the 
+ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts. Harry 
+was reminded forcibly of Dobby in his moments of 
+terrified disobedience. 
+
+“As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a 
+short while ago,” said Mr. Diggory. “And you were 
+discovered moments later, right beneath it! An 
+explanation, if you please!” 
+
+“I — I — I is not doing it, sir!” Winky gasped. “I is not 
+knowing how, sir!” 
+
+“You were found with a wand in your hand!” barked 
+Mr. Diggory, brandishing it in front of her. And as the 
+wand caught the green light that was filling the 
+clearing from the skull above, Harry recognized it. 
+
+“Hey — that’s mine!” he said. 
+
+Everyone in the clearing looked at him. 
+
+“Excuse me?” said Mr. Diggory, incredulously. 
+
+“That’s my wand!” said Harry. “I dropped it!” 
+
+“You dropped it?” repeated Mr. Diggory in disbelief. 
+
+“Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you 
+conjured the Mark?” 
+
+
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+“Amos, think who you’re talking to!” said Mr. Weasley, 
+very angrily. “Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the 
+Dark Mark?” 
+
+“Er — of course not,” mumbled Mr. Diggory. “Sorry ... 
+carried away ...” 
+
+“I didn’t drop it there, anyway,” said Harry, jerking 
+his thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. “I 
+missed it right after we got into the wood.” 
+
+“So,” said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he 
+turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. 
+“You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up 
+and thought you’d have some fun with it, did you?” 
+
+“I is not doing magic with it, sir!” squealed Winky, 
+tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and 
+bulbous nose. “I is ... I is ... I is just picking it up, sir! 
+
+I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing 
+how!” 
+
+“It wasn’t her!” said Hermione. She looked very 
+nervous, speaking up in front of all these Ministry 
+wizards, yet determined all the same. “Winky’s got a 
+squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the 
+incantation was much deeper!” She looked around at 
+Harry and Ron, appealing for their support. “It didn’t 
+sound anything like Winky, did it?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, shaking his head. “It definitely didn’t 
+sound like an elf.” 
+
+“Yeah, it was a human voice,” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, we’ll soon see,” growled Mr. Diggory, looking 
+unimpressed. “There’s a simple way of discovering the 
+last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?” 
+
+
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+Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her 
+ears flapping, as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand 
+again and placed it tip to tip with Harry’s. 
+
+“ Prior Incantatol” roared Mr. Diggory. 
+
+Harry heard Hermione gasp, horrified, as a gigantic 
+serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where 
+the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the 
+green skull high above them; it looked as though it 
+were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell. 
+
+“Deletrius\” Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull 
+vanished in a wisp of smoke. 
+
+“So,” said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, 
+looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking 
+convulsively. 
+
+“I is not doing it!” she squealed, her eyes rolling in 
+terror. “I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a 
+good elf, I isn’t using wands, I isn’t knowing how!” 
+
+“ You’ve been caught red-handed, elf.” Mr. Diggory 
+roared. “Caught with the guilty wand in your hand\” 
+
+“Amos,” said Mr. Weasley loudly, “think about it ... 
+precious few wizards know how to do that spell. ... 
+Where would she have learned it?” 
+
+“Perhaps Amos is suggesting,” said Mr. Crouch, cold 
+anger in every syllable, “that I routinely teach my 
+servants to conjure the Dark Mark?” 
+
+There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory 
+looked horrified. “Mr. Crouch ... not ... not at all ...” 
+
+“You have now come very close to accusing the two 
+people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure 
+
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+
+
+that Mark!” barked Mr. Crouch. “Harry Potter — and 
+myself! I suppose you are familiar with the boy’s 
+story, Amos?” 
+
+“Of course — everyone knows — ” muttered Mr. 
+Diggory, looking highly discomforted. 
+
+“And I trust you remember the many proofs I have 
+given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the 
+Dark Arts and those who practice them?” Mr. Crouch 
+shouted, his eyes bulging again. 
+
+“Mr. Crouch, I — I never suggested you had anything 
+to do with it!” Amos Diggory muttered again, now 
+reddening behind his scrubby brown beard. 
+
+“If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!” 
+shouted Mr. Crouch. “Where else would she have 
+learned to conjure it?” 
+
+“She — she might’ve picked it up anywhere — ” 
+
+“Precisely, Amos,” said Mr. Weasley. “ She might have 
+picked it up anywhere. ... Winky?” he said kindly, 
+turning to the elf, but she flinched as though he too 
+was shouting at her. “Where exactly did you find 
+Harry’s wand?” 
+
+Winky was twisting the hem of her tea towel so 
+violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers. 
+
+“I — I is finding it ... finding it there, sir. ...” she 
+whispered, “there ... in the trees, sir. ...” 
+
+“You see, Amos?” said Mr. Weasley. “Whoever 
+conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right 
+after they’d done it, leaving Harry’s wand behind. A 
+clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which 
+could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the 
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+
+misfortune to come across the wand moments later 
+and pick it up.” 
+
+“But then, she’d have been only a few feet away from 
+the real culprit!” said Mr. Diggory impatiently. “Elf? 
+Did you see anyone?” 
+
+Winky began to tremble worse than ever. Her giant 
+eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, to Ludo Bagman, and 
+onto Mr. Crouch. Then she gulped and said, “I is 
+seeing no one, sir ... no one ...” 
+
+“Amos,” said Mr. Crouch curtly, “I am fully aware 
+that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want 
+to take Winky into your department for questioning. I 
+ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her.” 
+
+Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn’t think much of 
+this suggestion at all, but it was clear to Harry that 
+Mr. Crouch was such an important member of the 
+Ministry that he did not dare refuse him. 
+
+“You may rest assured that she will be punished,” Mr. 
+Crouch added coldly. 
+
+“M-m-master ...” Winky stammered, looking up at Mr. 
+Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. “M-m-master, 
+p-p-please ...” 
+
+Mr. Crouch stared back, his face somehow 
+sharpened, each line upon it more deeply etched. 
+There was no pity in his gaze. 
+
+“Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not 
+have believed possible,” he said slowly. “I told her to 
+remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I 
+went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she 
+disobeyed me. This means clothes.” 
+
+
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+“No!” shrieked Winky, prostrating herself at Mr. 
+Crouch’s feet. “No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!” 
+
+Harry knew that the only way to turn a house-elf free 
+was to present it with proper garments. It was pitiful 
+to see the way Winky clutched at her tea towel as she 
+sobbed over Mr. Crouch’s feet. 
+
+“But she was frightened!” Hermione burst out angrily, 
+glaring at Mr. Crouch. “Your elf’s scared of heights, 
+and those wizards in masks were levitating people! 
+
+You can’t blame her for wanting to get out of their 
+way!” 
+
+Mr. Crouch took a step backward, freeing himself 
+from contact with the elf, whom he was surveying as 
+though she were something filthy and rotten that was 
+contaminating his over-shined shoes. 
+
+“I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me,” he 
+said coldly, looking over at Hermione. “I have no use 
+for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, 
+and to her master’s reputation.” 
+
+Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed 
+around the clearing. There was a very nasty silence, 
+which was ended by Mr. Weasley, who said quietly, 
+“Well, I think I’ll take my lot back to the tent, if 
+nobody’s got any objections. Amos, that wand’s told 
+us all it can — if Harry could have it back, please — ” 
+
+Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand and Harry 
+pocketed it. 
+
+“Come on, you three,” Mr. Weasley said quietly. But 
+Hermione didn’t seem to want to move; her eyes were 
+still upon the sobbing elf. ��Hermione!” Mr. Weasley 
+said, more urgently. She turned and followed Harry 
+and Ron out of the clearing and off through the trees. 
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+
+“What’s going to happen to Winky?” said Hermione, 
+the moment they had left the clearing. 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“The way they were treating her!” said Hermione 
+furiously. “Mr. Diggory, calling her ‘elf’ all the time ... 
+and Mr. Crouch! He knows she didn’t do it and he’s 
+still going to sack her! He didn’t care how frightened 
+she’d been, or how upset she was — it was like she 
+wasn’t even human!” 
+
+“Well, she’s not,” said Ron. 
+
+Hermione rounded on him. 
+
+“That doesn’t mean she hasn’t got feelings, Ron. It’s 
+disgusting the way — ” 
+
+“Hermione, I agree with you,” said Mr. Weasley 
+quickly, beckoning her on, “but now is not the time to 
+discuss elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as 
+fast as we can. What happened to the others?” 
+
+“We lost them in the dark,” said Ron. “Dad, why was 
+everyone so uptight about that skull thing?” 
+
+“I’ll explain everything back at the tent,” said Mr. 
+Weasley tensely. 
+
+But when they reached the edge of the wood, their 
+progress was impeded. A large crowd of frightened- 
+looking witches and wizards was congregated there, 
+and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward them, 
+many of them surged forward. 
+
+“What’s going on in there?” 
+
+“Who conjured it?” 
+
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+
+
+“Arthur — it’s not — Him?” 
+
+
+
+“Of course it’s not Him,” said Mr. Weasley 
+impatiently. “We don’t know who it was; it looks like 
+they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to 
+get to bed.” 
+
+He led Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the crowd 
+and back into the campsite. All was quiet now; there 
+was no sign of the masked wizards, though several 
+ruined tents were still smoking. 
+
+Charlie’s head was poking out of the boys’ tent. 
+
+“Dad, what’s going on?” he called through the dark. 
+“Fred, George, and Ginny got back okay, but the 
+others — ” 
+
+“I’ve got them here,” said Mr. Weasley, bending down 
+and entering the tent. Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+entered after him. 
+
+Bill was sitting at the small kitchen table, holding a 
+bedsheet to his arm, which was bleeding profusely. 
+Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was 
+sporting a bloody nose. Fred, George, and Ginny 
+looked unhurt, though shaken. 
+
+“Did you get them, Dad?” said Bill sharply. “The 
+person who conjured the Mark?” 
+
+“No,” said Mr. Weasley. “We found Barty Crouch’s elf 
+holding Harry’s wand, but we’re none the wiser about 
+who actually conjured the Mark.” 
+
+“What?” said Bill, Charlie, and Percy together. 
+
+“Harry’s wand?” said Fred. 
+
+
+
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+“Mr. Crouch’s elf?” said Percy, sounding 
+thunderstruck. 
+
+With some assistance from Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione, Mr. Weasley explained what had happened 
+in the woods. When they had finished their story, 
+Percy swelled indignantly. 
+
+“Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like 
+that!” he said. “Running away when he’d expressly 
+told her not to ... embarrassing him in front of the 
+whole Ministry . . . how would that have looked, if 
+she’d been brought up in front of the Department for 
+the Regulation and Control — ” 
+
+“She didn’t do anything — she was just in the wrong 
+place at the wrong time!” Hermione snapped at Percy, 
+who looked very taken aback. Hermione had always 
+got on fairly well with Percy — better, indeed, than 
+any of the others. 
+
+“Hermione, a wizard in Mr. Crouch’s position can’t 
+afford a house-elf who’s going to run amok with a 
+wand!” said Percy pompously, recovering himself. 
+
+“She didn’t run amok!” shouted Hermione. “She just 
+picked it up off the ground!” 
+
+“Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing 
+was?” said Ron impatiently. “It wasn’t hurting 
+anyone. ... Why’s it such a big deal?” 
+
+“I told you, it’s You-Know-Who’s symbol, Ron,” said 
+Hermione, before anyone else could answer. “I read 
+about it in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts.” 
+
+“And it hasn’t been seen for thirteen years,” said Mr. 
+Weasley quietly. “Of course people panicked ... it was 
+almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again.” 
+
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+“I don’t get it,” said Ron, frowning. “I mean ... it’s still 
+only a shape in the sky. ...” 
+
+“Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark 
+Mark into the air whenever they killed,” said Mr. 
+Weasley. “The terror it inspired ... you have no idea, 
+you’re too young. Just picture coming home and 
+finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and 
+knowing what you’re about to find inside. ...” Mr. 
+Weasley winced. “Everyone’s worst fear ... the very 
+worst ...” 
+
+There was silence for a moment. Then Bill, removing 
+the sheet from his arm to check on his cut, said, 
+
+“Well, it didn’t help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It 
+scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw 
+it. They all Disapparated before we’d got near enough 
+to unmask any of them. We caught the Robertses 
+before they hit the ground, though. They’re having 
+their memories modified right now.” 
+
+“Death Eaters?” said Harry. “What are Death Eaters?” 
+
+“It’s what You-Know- Who’s supporters called 
+themselves,” said Bill. “I think we saw what’s left of 
+them tonight — the ones who managed to keep 
+themselves out of Azkaban, anyway.” 
+
+“We can’t prove it was them, Bill,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+“Though it probably was,” he added hopelessly. 
+
+“Yeah, I bet it was!” said Ron suddenly. “Dad, we met 
+Draco Malfoy in the woods, and he as good as told us 
+his dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all 
+know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!” 
+
+“But what were Voldemort’s supporters — ” Harry 
+began. Everybody flinched — like most of the 
+wizarding world, the Weasleys always avoided saying 
+
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+Voldemort’s name. “Sorry,” said Harry quickly. “What 
+were You -Know- Who’s supporters up to, levitating 
+Muggles? I mean, what was the point?” 
+
+“The point?” said Mr. Weasley with a hollow laugh. 
+“Harry, that’s their idea of fun. Half the Muggle 
+killings back when You-Know-Who was in power were 
+done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight 
+and couldn’t resist reminding us all that lots of them 
+are still at large. A nice little reunion for them,” he 
+finished disgustedly. 
+
+“But if they were the Death Eaters, why did they 
+Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?” said 
+Ron. “They’d have been pleased to see it, wouldn’t 
+they?” 
+
+“Use your brains, Ron,” said Bill. “If they really were 
+Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of 
+Azkaban when You-Know-Who lost power, and told all 
+sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture 
+people. I bet they’d be even more frightened than the 
+rest of us to see him come back. They denied they’d 
+ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, 
+and went back to their daily lives. ... I don’t reckon 
+he’d be over-pleased with them, do you?” 
+
+“So ... whoever conjured the Dark Mark ...” said 
+Hermione slowly, “were they doing it to show support 
+for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?” 
+
+“Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione,” said Mr. 
+Weasley. “But I’ll tell you this ... it was only the Death 
+Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I’d be very 
+surprised if the person who did it hadn’t been a Death 
+Eater once, even if they’re not now. ... Listen, it’s very 
+late, and if your mother hears what’s happened she’ll 
+be worried sick. We’ll get a few more hours sleep and 
+then try and get an early Portkey out of here.” 
+
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+
+Harry got back into his bunk with his head buzzing. 
+He knew he ought to feel exhausted: It was nearly 
+three in the morning, but he felt wide-awake — wide- 
+awake, and worried. 
+
+Three days ago — it felt like much longer, but it had 
+only been three days — he had awoken with his scar 
+burning. And tonight, for the first time in thirteen 
+years, Lord Voldemort’s mark had appeared in the 
+sky. What did these things mean? 
+
+He thought of the letter he had written to Sirius 
+before leaving Privet Drive. Would Sirius have gotten 
+it yet? When would he reply? Harry lay looking up at 
+the canvas, but no flying fantasies came to him now 
+to ease him to sleep, and it was a long time after 
+Charlie’s snores filled the tent that Harry finally dozed 
+off. 
+
+
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+MAYHEM AT THE MINISTRY 
+
+Mr. Weasley woke them after only a few hours sleep. 
+He used magic to pack up the tents, and they left the 
+campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mr. Roberts 
+at the door of his cottage. Mr. Roberts had a strange, 
+dazed look about him, and he waved them off with a 
+vague “Merry Christmas.” 
+
+“Hell be all right,” said Mr. Weasley quietly as they 
+marched off onto the moor. “Sometimes, when a 
+person’s memory’s modified, it makes him a bit 
+disorientated for a while . . . and that was a big thing 
+they had to make him forget.” 
+
+They heard urgent voices as they approached the spot 
+where the Portkeys lay, and when they reached it, 
+they found a great number of witches and wizards 
+gathered around Basil, the keeper of the Portkeys, all 
+clamoring to get away from the campsite as quickly as 
+possible. Mr. Weasley had a hurried discussion with 
+Basil; they joined the queue, and were able to take an 
+old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun 
+had really risen. They walked back through Ottery St. 
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+
+
+Catchpole and up the damp lane toward the Burrow 
+in the dawn light, talking very little because they were 
+so exhausted, and thinking longingly of their 
+breakfast. As they rounded the corner and the 
+Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane. 
+
+“Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for 
+them in the front yard, came running toward them, 
+still wearing her bedroom slippers, her face pale and 
+strained, a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet 
+clutched in her hand. 
+
+“Arthur — I’ve been so worried — so worried — ” 
+
+She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley’s neck, and 
+the Daily Prophet fell out of her limp hand onto the 
+ground. Looking down, Harry saw the headline: 
+SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD 
+CUP, complete with a twinkling black-and-white 
+photograph of the Dark Mark over the treetops. 
+
+“You’re all right,” Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, 
+releasing Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all 
+with red eyes, “you’re alive. ... Oh boys ...” 
+
+And to everybody’s surprise, she seized Fred and 
+George and pulled them both into such a tight hug 
+that their heads banged together. 
+
+“ Ouch\ Mum — you’re strangling us — ” 
+
+“I shouted at you before you left!” Mrs. Weasley said, 
+starting to sob. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about! What 
+if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I 
+ever said to you was that you didn’t get enough 
+O.W.L.s? Oh Fred ... George ...” 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+“Come on, now, Molly, we’re all perfectly okay,” said 
+Mr. Weasley soothingly, prising her off the twins and 
+leading her back toward the house. “Bill,” he added in 
+an undertone, “pick up that paper, I want to see what 
+it says. ...” 
+
+When they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, 
+and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very 
+strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on 
+pouring a shot of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey, Bill 
+handed his father the newspaper. Mr. Weasley 
+scanned the front page while Percy looked over his 
+shoulder. 
+
+“I knew it,” said Mr. Weasley heavily. “Ministry 
+blunders ... culprits not apprehended ... lax security ... 
+Dark wizards running unchecked . . . national disgrace 
+... Who wrote this? Ah ... of course ... Rita Skeeter.” 
+
+“That woman’s got it in for the Ministry of Magic!” 
+said Percy furiously. “Last week she was saying we’re 
+wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, 
+when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it 
+wasn’t specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the 
+Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part- 
+Humans — ” 
+
+“Do us a favor, Perce,” said Bill, yawning, “and shut 
+up.” 
+
+“I’m mentioned,” said Mr. Weasley, his eyes widening 
+behind his glasses as he reached the bottom of the 
+Daily Prophet article. 
+
+“Where?” spluttered Mrs. Weasley, choking on her tea 
+and whiskey. “If I’d seen that, I’d have known you 
+were alive!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Not by name,” said Mr. Weasley. “Listen to this: ‘If 
+the terrified wizards and witches who waited 
+breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected 
+reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were 
+sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some 
+time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging 
+that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any 
+more information. Whether this statement will be 
+enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were 
+removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be 
+seen.’ Oh really,” said Mr. Weasley in exasperation, 
+handing the paper to Percy. “Nobody was hurt. What 
+was I supposed to say? Rumors that several bodies 
+were removed from the woods ... well, there certainly 
+will be rumors now she’s printed that.” 
+
+He heaved a deep sigh. “Molly, I’m going to have to go 
+into the office; this is going to take some smoothing 
+over.” 
+
+“I’ll come with you, Father,” said Percy importantly. 
+“Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can 
+give him my cauldron report in person.” 
+
+He bustled out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked 
+most upset. 
+
+“Arthur, you’re supposed to be on holiday! This hasn’t 
+got anything to do with your office; surely they can 
+handle this without you?” 
+
+“I’ve got to go, Molly,” said Mr. Weasley. “I’ve made 
+things worse. I’ll just change into my robes and I’ll be 
+off. ...” 
+
+“Mrs. Weasley,” said Harry suddenly, unable to 
+contain himself, “Hedwig hasn’t arrived with a letter 
+for me, has she?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Hedwig, dear?” said Mrs. Weasley distractedly. “No ... 
+no, there hasn’t been any post at all.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione looked curiously at Harry. With a 
+meaningful look at both of them he said, “All right if I 
+go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?” 
+
+“Yeah ... think I will too,” said Ron at once. 
+“Hermione?” 
+
+“Yes,” she said quickly, and the three of them 
+marched out of the kitchen and up the stairs. 
+
+“What’s up, Harry?” said Ron, the moment they had 
+closed the door of the attic room behind them. 
+
+“There’s something I haven’t told you,” Harry said. 
+
+“On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar 
+hurting again.” 
+
+Ron’s and Hermione’s reactions were almost exactly 
+as Harry had imagined them back in his bedroom on 
+Privet Drive. Hermione gasped and started making 
+suggestions at once, mentioning a number of 
+reference books, and everybody from Albus 
+Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. 
+Ron simply looked dumbstruck. 
+
+“But — he wasn’t there, was he? You-Know-Who? I 
+mean — last time your scar kept hurting, he was at 
+Hogwarts, wasn’t he?” 
+
+“I’m sure he wasn’t on Privet Drive,” said Harry. “But I 
+was dreaming about him . . . him and Peter — you 
+know, Wormtail. I can’t remember all of it now, but 
+they were plotting to kill ... someone.” 
+
+
+
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+
+He had teetered for a moment on the verge of saying 
+“me,” but couldn’t bring himself to make Hermione 
+look any more horrified than she already did. 
+
+“It was only a dream,” said Ron bracingly. “Just a 
+nightmare.” 
+
+“Yeah, but was it, though?” said Harry, turning to 
+look out of the window at the brightening sky. “It’s 
+weird, isn’t it? ... My scar hurts, and three days later 
+the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort’s 
+sign’s up in the sky again.” 
+
+“Don’t — say — his — name!” Ron hissed through 
+gritted teeth. 
+
+“And remember what Professor Trelawney said?” 
+
+Harry went on, ignoring Ron. “At the end of last 
+year?” 
+
+Professor Trelawney was their Divination teacher at 
+Hogwarts. Hermione ’s terrified look vanished as she 
+let out a derisive snort. 
+
+“Oh Harry, you aren’t going to pay attention to 
+anything that old fraud says?” 
+
+“You weren’t there,” said Harry. “You didn’t hear her. 
+This time was different. I told you, she went into a 
+trance — a real one. And she said the Dark Lord 
+would rise again . . . greater and more terrible than ever 
+before ... and he’d manage it because his servant was 
+going to go back to him ... and that night Wormtail 
+escaped.” 
+
+There was a silence in which Ron fidgeted 
+absentmindedly with a hole in his Chudley Cannons 
+bedspread. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry?” 
+Hermione asked. “Are you expecting a letter?” 
+
+“I told Sirius about my scar,” said Harry, shrugging. 
+“I’m waiting for his answer.” 
+
+“Good thinking!” said Ron, his expression clearing. “I 
+bet Sirius ’ll know what to do!” 
+
+“I hoped he’d get back to me quickly,” said Harry. 
+
+“But we don’t know where Sirius is ... he could be in 
+Africa or somewhere, couldn’t he?” said Hermione 
+reasonably. “Hedwig’s not going to manage that 
+journey in a few days.” 
+
+“Yeah, I know,” said Harry, but there was a leaden 
+feeling in his stomach as he looked out of the window 
+at the Hedwig-free sky. 
+
+“Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, 
+Harry,” said Ron. “Come on — three on three, Bill and 
+Charlie and Fred and George will play. ... You can try 
+out the Wronski Feint. ...” 
+
+“Ron,” said Hermione, in an I-don’t-think-you’re- 
+being- very- sensitive sort of voice, “Harry doesn’t want 
+to play Quidditch right now. ... He’s worried, and he’s 
+tired. ... We all need to go to bed. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, I want to play Quidditch,” said Harry 
+suddenly. “Hang on, I’ll get my Firebolt.” 
+
+Hermione left the room, muttering something that 
+sounded very much like “Boys.” 
+
+k k k 
+
+
+
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+
+Neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy was at home much 
+over the following week. Both left the house each 
+morning before the rest of the family got up, and 
+returned well after dinner every night. 
+
+“It’s been an absolute uproar,” Percy told them 
+importantly the Sunday evening before they were due 
+to return to Hogwarts. “I’ve been putting out fires all 
+week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if 
+you don’t open a Howler straight away, it explodes. 
+Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill 
+reduced to cinders.” 
+
+“Why are they all sending Howlers?” asked Ginny, 
+who was mending her copy of One Thousand Magical 
+Herbs and Fungi with Spellotape on the rug in front of 
+the living room fire. 
+
+“Complaining about security at the World Cup,” said 
+Percy. “They want compensation for their ruined 
+property. Mundungus Fletcher’s put in a claim for a 
+twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but I’ve 
+got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping 
+under a cloak propped on sticks.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the 
+corner. Harry liked this clock. It was completely 
+useless if you wanted to know the time, but otherwise 
+very informative. It had nine golden hands, and each 
+of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family’s 
+names. There were no numerals around the face, but 
+descriptions of where each family member might be. 
+“Home,” “school,” and “work” were there, but there 
+was also “traveling,” “lost,” “hospital,” “prison,” and, 
+in the position where the number twelve would be on 
+a normal clock, “mortal peril.” 
+
+Eight of the hands were currently pointing to the 
+“home” position, but Mr. Weasley’s, which was the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+longest, was still pointing to “work.” Mrs. Weasley 
+sighed. 
+
+
+
+“Your father hasn’t had to go into the office on 
+weekends since the days of You-Know-Who,” she said. 
+“They’re working him far too hard. His dinner’s going 
+to be mined if he doesn’t come home soon.” 
+
+“Well, Father feels he’s got to make up for his mistake 
+at the match, doesn’t he?” said Percy. “If truth be 
+told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement 
+without clearing it with his Head of Department first 
+
+
+
+“Don’t you dare blame your father for what that 
+wretched Skeeter woman wrote!” said Mrs. Weasley, 
+flaring up at once. 
+
+“If Dad hadn’t said anything, old Rita would just have 
+said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry 
+had commented,” said Bill, who was playing chess 
+with Ron. “Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look 
+good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts’ 
+Charm Breakers once, and called me ‘a long-haired 
+pillock’?” 
+
+“Well, it is a bit long, dear,” said Mrs. Weasley gently. 
+“If you’d just let me — ” 
+
+“No, Mum.” 
+
+Rain lashed against the living room window. 
+
+Hermione was immersed in The Standard Book of 
+Spells, Grade 4, copies of which Mrs. Weasley had 
+bought for her, Harry, and Ron in Diagon Alley. 
+Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava. Harry was 
+polishing his Firebolt, the broomstick servicing kit 
+Hermione had given him for his thirteenth birthday 
+open at his feet. Fred and George were sitting in a far 
+Page | 168 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads 
+bent over a piece of parchment. 
+
+“What are you two up to?” said Mrs. Weasley sharply, 
+her eyes on the twins. 
+
+“Homework,” said Fred vaguely. 
+
+“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re still on holiday,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley. 
+
+“Yeah, we’ve left it a bit late,” said George. 
+
+“You’re not by any chance writing out a new order 
+form, are you?” said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. “You 
+wouldn’t be thinking of restarting Weasleys’ Wizard 
+Wheezes, by any chance?” 
+
+“Now, Mum,” said Fred, looking up at her, a pained 
+look on his face. “If the Hogwarts Express crashed 
+tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel 
+to know that the last thing we ever heard from you 
+was an unfounded accusation?” 
+
+Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Oh your father’s coming!” she said suddenly, looking 
+up at the clock again. 
+
+Mr. Weasley’s hand had suddenly spun from “work” 
+to “traveling”; a second later it had shuddered to a 
+halt on “home” with the others, and they heard him 
+calling from the kitchen. 
+
+“Coming, Arthur!” called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying out 
+of the room. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the 
+warm living room carrying his dinner on a tray. He 
+looked completely exhausted. 
+
+“Well, the fat’s really in the fire now,” he told Mrs. 
+Weasley as he sat down in an armchair near the 
+hearth and toyed unenthusiastically with his 
+somewhat shriveled cauliflower. “Rita Skeeter’s been 
+ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry 
+mess-ups to report. And now she’s found out about 
+poor old Bertha going missing, so that’ll be the 
+headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he 
+should have sent someone to look for her ages ago.” 
+
+“Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks,” 
+said Percy swiftly. 
+
+“Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn’t found out about 
+Winky,” said Mr. Weasley irritably. “There’d be a 
+week’s worth of headlines in his house-elf being 
+caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark 
+Mark.” 
+
+“I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while 
+irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?” said Percy 
+hotly. 
+
+“If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the 
+Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves!” said 
+Hermione angrily. 
+
+“Now look here, Hermione!” said Percy. “A high- 
+ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves 
+unswerving obedience from his servants — ” 
+
+“His slave, you mean!” said Hermione, her voice rising 
+passionately, “because he didn’t pay Winky, did he?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“I think you’d all better go upstairs and check that 
+you’ve packed properly!” said Mrs. Weasley, breaking 
+up the argument. “Come on now, all of you. ...” 
+
+Harry repacked his broomstick servicing kit, put his 
+Firebolt over his shoulder, and went back upstairs 
+with Ron. The rain sounded even louder at the top of 
+the house, accompanied by loud whistlings and 
+moans from the wind, not to mention sporadic howls 
+from the ghoul who lived in the attic. Pigwidgeon 
+began twittering and zooming around his cage when 
+they entered. The sight of the half-packed trunks 
+seemed to have sent him into a frenzy of excitement. 
+
+“Bung him some Owl Treats,” said Ron, throwing a 
+packet across to Harry. “It might shut him up.” 
+
+Harry poked a few Owl Treats through the bars of 
+Pigwidgeon’s cage, then turned to his trunk. Hedwig’s 
+cage stood next to it, still empty. 
+
+“It’s been over a week,” Harry said, looking at 
+Hedwig’s deserted perch. “Ron, you don’t reckon 
+Sirius has been caught, do you?” 
+
+“Nah, it would’ve been in the Daily Prophet,” said Ron. 
+“The Ministry would want to show they’d caught 
+someone, wouldn’t they?” 
+
+“Yeah, I suppose. ...” 
+
+“Look, here’s the stuff Mum got for you in Diagon 
+Alley. And she’s got some gold out of your vault for 
+you ... and she’s washed all your socks.” 
+
+He heaved a pile of parcels onto Harry’s camp bed 
+and dropped the money bag and a load of socks next 
+to it. Harry started unwrapping the shopping. Apart 
+from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, by 
+
+Page | 171 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Miranda Goshawk, he had a handful of new quills, a 
+dozen rolls of parchment, and refills for his potion- 
+making kit — he had been running low on spine of 
+lionfish and essence of belladonna. He was just piling 
+underwear into his cauldron when Ron made a loud 
+noise of disgust behind him. 
+
+“What is that supposed to be?” 
+
+He was holding up something that looked to Harry 
+like a long, maroon velvet dress. It had a moldy- 
+looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs. 
+
+There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley 
+entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered 
+Hogwarts robes. 
+
+“Here you are,” she said, sorting them into two piles. 
+“Now, mind you pack them properly so they don’t 
+crease.” 
+
+“Mum, you’ve given me Ginny’s new dress,” said Ron, 
+handing it out to her. 
+
+“Of course I haven’t,” said Mrs. Weasley. “That’s for 
+you. Dress robes.” 
+
+“What?” said Ron, looking horror-struck. 
+
+“Dress robes!” repeated Mrs. Weasley. “It says on your 
+school list that you’re supposed to have dress robes 
+this year ... robes for formal occasions.” 
+
+“You’ve got to be kidding,” said Ron in disbelief. “I’m 
+not wearing that, no way.” 
+
+“Everyone wears them, Ron!” said Mrs. Weasley 
+crossly. “They’re all like that! Your father’s got some 
+for smart parties!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’ll go starkers before I put that on,” said Ron 
+stubbornly. 
+
+“Don’t be so silly,” said Mrs. Weasley. “You’ve got to 
+have dress robes, they’re on your list! I got some for 
+Harry too ... show him, Harry. ...” 
+
+In some trepidation, Harry opened the last parcel on 
+his camp bed. It wasn’t as bad as he had expected, 
+however; his dress robes didn’t have any lace on them 
+at all — in fact, they were more or less the same as 
+his school ones, except that they were bottle green 
+instead of black. 
+
+“I thought they’d bring out the color of your eyes, 
+dear,” said Mrs. Weasley fondly. 
+
+“Well, they’re okay!” said Ron angrily, looking at 
+Harry’s robes. “Why couldn’t I have some like that?” 
+
+“Because ... well, I had to get yours secondhand, and 
+there wasn’t a lot of choice!” said Mrs. Weasley, 
+flushing. 
+
+Harry looked away. He would willingly have split all 
+the money in his Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, 
+but he knew they would never take it. 
+
+“I’m never wearing them,” Ron was saying stubbornly. 
+“Never.” 
+
+“Fine,” snapped Mrs. Weasley. “Go naked. And, Harry, 
+make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows 
+I could do with a laugh.” 
+
+She left the room, slamming the door behind her. 
+There was a funny spluttering noise from behind 
+them. Pigwidgeon was choking on an overlarge Owl 
+Treat. 
+
+Page | 173 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Why is everything I own rubbish?” said Ron 
+furiously, striding across the room to unstick 
+Pigwidgeon’s beak. 
+
+
+
+Page | 174 
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+
+
+ABOARD THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS 
+
+There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the 
+air when Harry awoke next morning. Heavy rain was 
+still splattering against the window as he got dressed 
+in jeans and a sweatshirt; they would change into 
+their school robes on the Hogwarts Express. 
+
+He, Ron, Fred, and George had just reached the first- 
+floor landing on their way down to breakfast, when 
+Mrs. Weasley appeared at the foot of the stairs, 
+looking harassed. 
+
+“Arthur!” she called up the staircase. “Arthur! Urgent 
+message from the Ministry!” 
+
+Harry flattened himself against the wall as Mr. 
+Weasley came clattering past with his robes on back- 
+to-front and hurtled out of sight. When Harry and the 
+others entered the kitchen, they saw Mrs. Weasley 
+rummaging anxiously in the drawers — “I’ve got a 
+quill here somewhere!” — and Mr. Weasley bending 
+over the fire, talking to — 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Harry shut his eyes hard and opened them again to 
+make sure that they were working properly. 
+
+Amos Diggory’s head was sitting in the middle of the 
+flames like a large, bearded egg. It was talking very 
+fast, completely unperturbed by the sparks flying 
+around it and the flames licking its ears. 
+
+"... Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting, so 
+they went and called those what-d’you-call-’ems — 
+please-men. Arthur, you’ve got to get over there — ” 
+
+“Here!” said Mrs. Weasley breathlessly, pushing a 
+piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled 
+quill into Mr. Weasley’s hands. 
+
+“ — it’s a real stroke of luck I heard about it,” said Mr. 
+Diggory’s head. “I had to come into the office early to 
+send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use 
+of Magic lot all setting off — if Rita Skeeter gets hold 
+of this one, Arthur — ” 
+
+“What does Mad-Eye say happened?” asked Mr. 
+Weasley, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his 
+quill, and preparing to take notes. 
+
+Mr. Diggory’s head rolled its eyes. “Says he heard an 
+intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the 
+house, but was ambushed by his dustbins.” 
+
+“What did the dustbins do?” asked Mr. Weasley, 
+scribbling frantically. 
+
+“Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish 
+everywhere, as far as I can tell,” said Mr. Diggory. 
+“Apparently one of them was still rocketing around 
+when the please-men turned up — ” 
+
+Mr. Weasley groaned. 
+
+Page | 176 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And what about the intruder?” 
+
+
+
+“Arthur, you know Mad-Eye,” said Mr. Diggory’s head, 
+rolling its eyes again. “Someone creeping into his yard 
+in the dead of night? More likely there’s a very shell- 
+shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in 
+potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot 
+get their hands on Mad-Eye, he’s had it — think of 
+his record — we’ve got to get him off on a minor 
+charge, something in your department — what are 
+exploding dustbins worth?” 
+
+“Might be a caution,” said Mr. Weasley, still writing 
+very fast, his brow furrowed. “Mad-Eye didn’t use his 
+wand? He didn’t actually attack anyone?” 
+
+“I’ll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing 
+everything he could reach through the window,” said 
+Mr. Diggory, “but they’ll have a job proving it, there 
+aren’t any casualties.” 
+
+“All right, I’m off,” Mr. Weasley said, and he stuffed 
+the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket 
+and dashed out of the kitchen again. 
+
+Mr. Diggory’s head looked around at Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Sorry about this, Molly,” it said, more calmly, 
+“bothering you so early and everything . . . but Arthur’s 
+the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye’s 
+supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he 
+had to choose last night ...” 
+
+“Never mind, Amos,” said Mrs. Weasley. “Sure you 
+won’t have a bit of toast or anything before you go?” 
+
+“Oh go on, then,” said Mr. Diggory. 
+
+
+
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+Mrs. Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a 
+stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs, 
+and transferred it into Mr. Diggory’s mouth. 
+
+“Fanks,” he said in a muffled voice, and then, with a 
+small pop, vanished. 
+
+Harry could hear Mr. Weasley calling hurried good- 
+byes to Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the girls. Within five 
+minutes, he was back in the kitchen, his robes on the 
+right way now, dragging a comb through his hair. 
+
+“I’d better hurry — you have a good term, boys,” said 
+Mr. Weasley to Harry, Ron, and the twins, fastening a 
+cloak over his shoulders and preparing to 
+Disapparate. “Molly, are you going to be all right 
+taking the kids to King’s Cross?” 
+
+“Of course I will,” she said. “You just look after Mad- 
+Eye, we’ll be fine.” 
+
+As Mr. Weasley vanished, Bill and Charlie entered the 
+kitchen. 
+
+“Did someone say Mad-Eye?” Bill asked. “What’s he 
+been up to now? 
+
+“He says someone tried to break into his house last 
+night,” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Mad-Eye Moody?” said George thoughtfully, 
+spreading marmalade on his toast. “Isn’t he that 
+nutter — ” 
+
+“Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody,” 
+said Mrs. Weasley sternly. 
+
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+“Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn’t he?” said Fred 
+quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. “Birds of a 
+feather ...” 
+
+“Moody was a great wizard in his time,” said Bill. 
+
+“He’s an old friend of Dumbledore’s, isn’t he?” said 
+Charlie. 
+
+“Dumbledore’s not what you’d call normal, though, is 
+he?” said Fred. “I mean, I know he’s a genius and 
+everything ...” 
+
+“Who is Mad-Eye?” asked Harry. 
+
+“He’s retired, used to work at the Ministry,” said 
+Charlie. “I met him once when Dad took me into work 
+with him. He was an Auror — one of the best ... a 
+Dark wizard catcher,” he added, seeing Harry’s blank 
+look. “Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of 
+him. He made himself loads of enemies, though ... the 
+families of people he caught, mainly . . . and I heard 
+he’s been getting really paranoid in his old age. 
+Doesn’t trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards 
+everywhere.” 
+
+Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off 
+at King’s Cross station, but Percy, apologizing most 
+profusely, said that he really needed to get to work. 
+
+“I just can’t justify taking more time off at the 
+moment,” he told them. “Mr. Crouch is really starting 
+to rely on me.” 
+
+“Yeah, you know what, Percy?” said George seriously. 
+“I reckon he’ll know your name soon.” 
+
+
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+Mrs. Weasley had braved the telephone in the village 
+post office to order three ordinary Muggle taxis to take 
+them into London. 
+
+
+
+“Arthur tried to borrow Ministry cars for us,” Mrs. 
+Weasley whispered to Harry as they stood in the rain- 
+washed yard, watching the taxi drivers heaving six 
+heavy Hogwarts trunks into their cars. “But there 
+weren’t any to spare. ... Oh dear, they don’t look 
+happy, do they?” 
+
+Harry didn’t like to tell Mrs. Weasley that Muggle taxi 
+drivers rarely transported overexcited owls, and 
+Pigwidgeon was making an earsplitting racket. Nor 
+did it help that a number of Filibuster’s Fabulous 
+Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks went off unexpectedly 
+when Fred’s trunk sprang open, causing the driver 
+carrying it to yell with fright and pain as Crookshanks 
+clawed his way up the man’s leg. 
+
+The journey was uncomfortable, owing to the fact that 
+they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their 
+trunks. Crookshanks took quite a while to recover 
+from the fireworks, and by the time they entered 
+London, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all severely 
+scratched. They were very relieved to get out at King’s 
+Cross, even though the rain was coming down harder 
+than ever, and they got soaked carrying their trunks 
+across the busy road and into the station. 
+
+Harry was used to getting onto platform nine and 
+three-quarters by now. It was a simple matter of 
+walking straight through the apparently solid barrier 
+dividing platforms nine and ten. The only tricky part 
+was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid 
+attracting Muggle attention. They did it in groups 
+today; Harry, Ron, and Hermione (the most 
+conspicuous, since they were accompanied by 
+Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks) went first; they leaned 
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+casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, 
+and slid sideways through it ... and as they did so, 
+platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front 
+of them. 
+
+The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam 
+engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing 
+from it, through which the many Hogwarts students 
+and parents on the platform appeared like dark 
+ghosts. Pigwidgeon became noisier than ever in 
+response to the hooting of many owls through the 
+mist. Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off to find seats, 
+and were soon stowing their luggage in a 
+compartment halfway along the train. They then 
+hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye 
+to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie. 
+
+“I might be seeing you all sooner than you think,” 
+said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye. 
+
+“Why?” said Fred keenly. 
+
+“You’ll see,” said Charlie. “Just don’t tell Percy I 
+mentioned it ... it’s ‘classified information, until such 
+time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,’ after all.” 
+
+“Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this 
+year,” said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost 
+wistfully at the train. 
+
+“Why?” said George impatiently. 
+
+“You’re going to have an interesting year,” said Bill, 
+his eyes twinkling. “I might even get time off to come 
+and watch a bit of it. ...” 
+
+“A bit of what?” said Ron. 
+
+
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+But at that moment, the whistle blew, and Mrs. 
+Weasley chivvied them toward the train doors. 
+
+“Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley,” said 
+Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, 
+and leaned out of the window to talk to her. 
+
+“Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Oh it was my pleasure, dears,” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+“Td invite you for Christmas, but ... well, I expect 
+you’re all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what 
+with ... one thing and another.” 
+
+“Mum!” said Ron irritably. “What d’you three know 
+that we don’t?” 
+
+“You’ll find out this evening, I expect,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, smiling. “It’s going to be very exciting — 
+mind you, I’m very glad they’ve changed the rules — ” 
+
+“What rules?” said Harry, Ron, Fred, and George 
+together. 
+
+“I’m sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you. ... Now, 
+behave, won’t you? Won’t you, Fred? And you, 
+George?” 
+
+The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to 
+move. 
+
+“Tell us what’s happening at Hogwarts!” Fred 
+bellowed out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and 
+Charlie sped away from them. “What rules are they 
+changing?” 
+
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+But Mrs. Weasley only smiled and waved. Before the 
+train had rounded the corner, she, Bill, and Charlie 
+had Disapparated. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back to their 
+compartment. The thick rain splattering the windows 
+made it very difficult to see out of them. Ron undid 
+his trunk, pulled out his maroon dress robes, and 
+flung them over Pigwidgeon’s cage to muffle his 
+hooting. 
+
+“Bagman wanted to tell us what’s happening at 
+Hogwarts,” he said grumpily, sitting down next to 
+Harry. “At the World Cup, remember? But my own 
+mother won’t say. Wonder what — ” 
+
+“Shh!” Hermione whispered suddenly, pressing her 
+finger to her lips and pointing toward the 
+compartment next to theirs. Harry and Ron listened, 
+and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in 
+through the open door. 
+
+"... Father actually considered sending me to 
+Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He 
+knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his 
+opinion of Dumbledore — the man’s such a 
+Mudblood-lover — and Durmstrang doesn’t admit 
+that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn’t like the idea of 
+me going to school so far away. Father says 
+Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than 
+Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students 
+actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we 
+do. ...” 
+
+Hermione got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, 
+and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy’s voice. 
+
+
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+
+“So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, 
+does he?” she said angrily. “I wish he had gone, then 
+we wouldn’t have to put up with him.” 
+
+“Durmstrang’s another wizarding school?” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione sniffily, “and it’s got a horrible 
+reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical 
+Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the 
+Dark Arts.” 
+
+“I think I’ve heard of it,” said Ron vaguely. “Where is 
+it? What country?” 
+
+“Well, nobody knows, do they?” said Hermione, 
+raising her eyebrows. 
+
+“Er — why not?” said Harry. 
+
+“There’s traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all 
+the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like 
+to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal 
+their secrets,” said Hermione matter-of-factly. 
+
+“Come off it,” said Ron, starting to laugh. 
+“Durmstrang’s got to be about the same size as 
+Hogwarts — how are you going to hide a great big 
+castle?” 
+
+“But Hogwarts is hidden,” said Hermione, in surprise. 
+“Everyone knows that ... well, everyone who’s read 
+Hogwarts, A History, anyway.” 
+
+“Just you, then,” said Ron. “So go on — how d’you 
+hide a place like Hogwarts?” 
+
+“It’s bewitched,” said Hermione. “If a Muggle looks at 
+it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over 
+
+
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+the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, 
+UNSAFE.” 
+
+“So Durmstrangll just look like a min to an outsider 
+too?” 
+
+“Maybe,” said Hermione, shrugging, “or it might have 
+Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup 
+stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, 
+they’ll have made it Unplottable — ” 
+
+“Come again?” 
+
+“Well, you can enchant a building so it’s impossible to 
+plot on a map, can’t you?” 
+
+“Er ... if you say so,” said Harry. 
+
+“But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the 
+far north,” said Hermione thoughtfully. “Somewhere 
+very cold, because they’ve got fur capes as part of 
+their uniforms.” 
+
+“Ah, think of the possibilities,” said Ron dreamily. “It 
+would’ve been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and 
+make it look like an accident. ... Shame his mother 
+likes him. ...” 
+
+The rain became heavier and heavier as the train 
+moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the 
+windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by 
+midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the 
+corridor, and Harry bought a large stack of Cauldron 
+Cakes for them to share. 
+
+Several of their friends looked in on them as the 
+afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, 
+Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round- 
+faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought 
+
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+up by his formidable witch of a grandmother. Seamus 
+was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its 
+magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still 
+squeaking “ Troy — Mullet — Moran\” but in a very 
+feeble and exhausted sort of way. After half an hour 
+or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless 
+Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in The 
+Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and started trying 
+to learn a Summoning Charm. 
+
+Neville listened jealously to the others’ conversation 
+as they relived the Cup match. 
+
+“Gran didn’t want to go,” he said miserably. “Wouldn’t 
+buy tickets. It sounded amazing though.” 
+
+“It was,” said Ron. “Look at this, Neville. ...” 
+
+He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and 
+pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum. 
+
+“Oh wow,” said Neville enviously as Ron tipped Krum 
+onto his pudgy hand. 
+
+“We saw him right up close, as well,” said Ron. “We 
+were in the Top Box — ” 
+
+“For the first and last time in your life, Weasley.” 
+
+Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind 
+him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish 
+cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at 
+least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had 
+overheard the conversation through the compartment 
+door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar. 
+
+“Don’t remember asking you to join us, Malfoy,” said 
+Harry coolly. 
+
+
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+“Weasley ... what is that?” said Malfoy, pointing at 
+Pigwidgeon’s cage. A sleeve of Ron’s dress robes was 
+dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, 
+the moldy lace cuff very obvious. 
+
+Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy 
+was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and 
+pulled. 
+
+“Look at this!” said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up 
+Ron’s robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, “Weasley, 
+you weren’t thinking of wearing these, were you? I 
+mean — they were very fashionable in about eighteen 
+ninety. ...” 
+
+“Eat dung, Malfoy!” said Ron, the same color as the 
+dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy’s 
+grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe 
+and Goyle guffawed stupidly. 
+
+“So ... going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring 
+a bit of glory to the family name? There’s money 
+involved as well, you know ... you’d be able to afford 
+some decent robes if you won. ...” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” snapped Ron. 
+
+“ Are you going to enter?” Malfoy repeated. “I suppose 
+you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, 
+do you?” 
+
+“Either explain what you’re on about or go away, 
+Malfoy,” said Hermione testily, over the top of The 
+Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4. 
+
+A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy’s pale face. 
+
+“Don’t tell me you don’t know?” he said delightedly. 
+“You’ve got a father and brother at the Ministry and 
+
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+you don’t even know ? My God, my father told me 
+about it ages ago ... heard it from Cornelius Fudge. 
+But then, Father’s always associated with the top 
+people at the Ministry. . . . Maybe your father’s too 
+junior to know about it, Weasley ... yes ... they 
+probably don’t talk about important stuff in front of 
+him. ...” 
+
+Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned to Crabbe and 
+Goyle, and the three of them disappeared. 
+
+Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding 
+compartment door so hard behind them that the glass 
+shattered. 
+
+“Ronl” said Hermione reproachfully, and she pulled 
+out her wand, muttered “ ReparoV ’ and the glass 
+shards flew back into a single pane and back into the 
+door. 
+
+“Well ... making it look like he knows everything and 
+we don’t. ...” Ron snarled. “ ‘Father’s always 
+associated with the top people at the Ministry.’... Dad 
+could’ve got a promotion any time ... he just likes it 
+where he is. ...” 
+
+“Of course he does,” said Hermione quietly. “Don’t let 
+Malfoy get to you, Ron — ” 
+
+“Him! Get to me!? As if!” said Ron, picking up one of 
+the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into 
+a pulp. 
+
+Ron’s bad mood continued for the rest of the journey. 
+He didn’t talk much as they changed into their school 
+robes, and was still glowering when the Hogwarts 
+Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in 
+the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station. 
+
+
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+As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of 
+thunder overhead. Hermione bundled up 
+Crookshanks in her cloak and Ron left his dress 
+robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads 
+bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The 
+rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it 
+was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being 
+emptied repeatedly over their heads. 
+
+“Hi, Hagrid!” Harry yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette 
+at the far end of the platform. 
+
+“All righ’, Harry?” Hagrid bellowed back, waving. “See 
+yeh at the feast if we don’ drown!” 
+
+First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by 
+sailing across the lake with Hagrid. 
+
+“Oooh, I wouldn’t fancy crossing the lake in this 
+weather,” said Hermione fervently, shivering as they 
+inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of 
+the crowd. A hundred horseless carriages stood 
+waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Ron, 
+Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of 
+them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments 
+later, with a great lurch, the long procession of 
+carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the 
+track toward Hogwarts Castle. 
+
+
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+THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT 
+
+Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged 
+boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages 
+trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast 
+becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Harry 
+could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted 
+windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick 
+curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as 
+their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front 
+doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. 
+People who had occupied the carriages in front were 
+already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. 
+Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from 
+their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up 
+only when they were safely inside the cavernous, 
+torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble 
+staircase. 
+
+“Blimey,” said Ron, shaking his head and sending 
+water everywhere, “if that keeps up the lake’s going to 
+overflow. I’m soak — ARRGH!” 
+
+
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+A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from 
+out of the ceiling onto Ron’s head and exploded. 
+Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways 
+into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped — 
+narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry’s feet, 
+sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into 
+his socks. People all around them shrieked and 
+started pushing one another in their efforts to get out 
+of the line of fire. Harry looked up and saw, floating 
+twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little 
+man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his 
+wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as 
+he took aim again. 
+
+“PEEVES!” yelled an angry voice. “Peeves, come down 
+here at ONCE!” 
+
+Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and 
+head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of 
+the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and 
+grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself 
+from falling. 
+
+“Ouch — sorry, Miss Granger — ” 
+
+“That’s all right, Professor!” Hermione gasped, 
+massaging her throat. 
+
+“Peeves, get down here NOW!” barked Professor 
+McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and 
+glaring upward through her square-rimmed 
+spectacles. 
+
+“Not doing nothing!” cackled Peeves, lobbing a water 
+bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and 
+dived into the Great Hall. “Already wet, aren’t they? 
+Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!” And he aimed another 
+bomb at a group of second years who had just 
+arrived. 
+
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+“I shall call the headmaster!” shouted Professor 
+McGonagall. “I’m warning you, Peeves — ” 
+
+Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his 
+water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the 
+marble staircase, cackling insanely. 
+
+“Well, move along, then!” said Professor McGonagall 
+sharply to the bedraggled crowd. “Into the Great Hall, 
+come on!” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the 
+entrance hall and through the double doors on the 
+right, Ron muttering furiously under his breath as he 
+pushed his sopping hair off his face. 
+
+The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, 
+decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates 
+and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and 
+hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in 
+midair. The four long House tables were packed with 
+chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff 
+sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. 
+
+It was much warmer in here. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione walked past the Slytherins, the 
+Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with 
+the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall, 
+next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. 
+Pearly white and semitransparent, Nick was dressed 
+tonight in his usual doublet, but with a particularly 
+large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking 
+extra-festive, and insuring that his head didn’t wobble 
+too much on his partially severed neck. 
+
+“Good evening,” he said, beaming at them. 
+
+“Says who?” said Harry, taking off his sneakers and 
+emptying them of water. “Hope they hurry up with the 
+Sorting. I’m starving.” 
+
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+The Sorting of the new students into Houses took 
+place at the start of every school year, but by an 
+unlucky combination of circumstances, Harry hadn’t 
+been present at one since his own. He was quite 
+looking forward to it. Just then, a highly excited, 
+breathless voice called down the table. 
+
+“Hiya, Harry!” 
+
+It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry was 
+something of a hero. 
+
+“Hi, Colin,” said Harry warily. 
+
+“Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother’s 
+starting! My brother Dennis!” 
+
+“Er — good,” said Harry. 
+
+“He’s really excited!” said Colin, practically bouncing 
+up and down in his seat. “I just hope he’s in 
+Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?” 
+
+“Er — yeah, all right,” said Harry. He turned back to 
+Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick. “Brothers 
+and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don’t 
+they?” he said. He was judging by the Weasleys, all 
+seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor. 
+
+“Oh no, not necessarily,” said Hermione. “Parvati 
+Patil’s twin’s in Ravenclaw, and they’re identical. 
+You’d think they’d be together, wouldn’t you?” 
+
+Harry looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be 
+rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of 
+course, was still fighting his way across the lake with 
+the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably 
+supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but 
+
+
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+there was another empty chair too, and Harry 
+couldn’t think who else was missing. 
+
+“Where’s the new Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+teacher?” said Hermione, who was also looking up at 
+the teachers. 
+
+They had never yet had a Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. 
+Harry’s favorite by far had been Professor Lupin, who 
+had resigned last year. He looked up and down the 
+staff table. There was definitely no new face there. 
+
+“Maybe they couldn’t get anyone!” said Hermione, 
+looking anxious. 
+
+Harry scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little 
+Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on 
+a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the 
+Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her 
+flyaway gray hair. She was talking to Professor 
+Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor 
+Sinistra ’s other side was the sallow-faced, hook- 
+nosed, greasy-haired Potions master, Snape — 
+
+Harry’s least favorite person at Hogwarts. Harry’s 
+loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape ’s 
+hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, 
+intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius 
+escape right under Snape ’s overlarge nose — Snape 
+and Sirius had been enemies since their own school 
+days. 
+
+On Snape ’s other side was an empty seat, which 
+Harry guessed was Professor McGonagall’s. Next to it, 
+and in the very center of the table, sat Professor 
+Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair 
+and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent 
+deep green robes embroidered with many stars and 
+moons. The tips of Dumbledore ’s long, thin fingers 
+Page | 194 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+were together and he was resting his chin upon them, 
+staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon 
+spectacles as though lost in thought. Harry glanced 
+up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look like the 
+sky outside, and he had never seen it look this 
+stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across 
+it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a 
+fork of lightning flashed across it. 
+
+“Oh hurry up,” Ron moaned, beside Harry, “I could 
+eat a hippogriff.” 
+
+The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the 
+doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. 
+Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first 
+years up to the top of the Hall. If Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first 
+years looked. They appeared to have swum across the 
+lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering 
+with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed 
+along the staff table and came to a halt in a line 
+facing the rest of the school — all of them except the 
+smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was 
+wrapped in what Harry recognized as Hagrid’s 
+moleskin overcoat. The coat was so big for him that it 
+looked as though he were draped in a furry black 
+circus tent. His small face protruded from over the 
+collar, looking almost painfully excited. When he had 
+lined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught 
+Colin Creevey’s eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and 
+mouthed, I fell in the lake\ He looked positively 
+delighted about it. 
+
+Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool 
+on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, 
+an extremely old, dirty, patched wizard’s hat. The first 
+years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a 
+moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the 
+
+
+
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+brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke 
+into song: 
+
+A thousand years or more ago, 
+
+When I was newly sewn, 
+
+There lived four wizards of renown, 
+
+Whose names are still well known: 
+
+Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, 
+
+Fair Ravenclaw, from glen, 
+
+Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, 
+
+Shrewd Slytherin, from fen. 
+
+They shared a wish, a hope, a dream, 
+
+They hatched a daring plan 
+To educate young sorcerers 
+Thus Hogwarts School began. 
+
+Now each of these four founders 
+Formed their own house, for each 
+Did value different virtues 
+In the ones they had to teach. 
+
+By Gryffindor, the bravest were 
+Prized far beyond the rest; 
+
+For Ravenclaw, the cleverest 
+Would always be the best; 
+
+For Hufflepuff, hard workers were 
+Most worthy of admission; 
+
+And power-hungry Slytherin 
+Loved those of great ambition. 
+
+While still alive they did divide 
+Their favorites from the throng, 
+
+Yet how to pick the worthy ones 
+When they were dead and gone? 
+
+Twas Gryffindor who found the way, 
+
+He whipped me off his head 
+
+The founders put some brains in me 
+
+So I could choose instead! 
+
+Now slip me snug about your ears, 
+
+I’ve never yet been wrong, 
+
+111 have a look inside your mind 
+And tell where you belong! 
+
+Page | 196 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat 
+finished. 
+
+
+
+“That’s not the song it sang when it Sorted us,” said 
+Harry, clapping along with everyone else. 
+
+“Sings a different one every year,” said Ron. “It’s got 
+to be a pretty boring life, hasn’t it, being a hat? I 
+suppose it spends all year making up the next one.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll 
+of parchment. 
+
+“When I call out your name, you will put on the hat 
+and sit on the stool,” she told the first years. “When 
+the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at 
+the appropriate table. 
+
+“Ackerley, Stewart!” 
+
+A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to 
+foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat 
+down on the stool. 
+
+“RAVENCLAW!” shouted the hat. 
+
+Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a 
+seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was 
+applauding him. Harry caught a glimpse of Cho, the 
+Ravenclaw Seeker, cheering Stewart Ackerley as he 
+sat down. For a fleeting second, Harry had a strange 
+desire to join the Ravenclaw table too. 
+
+“Baddock, Malcolm!” 
+
+“SLYTHERIN!” 
+
+The table on the other side of the hall erupted with 
+cheers; Harry could see Malfoy clapping as Baddock 
+
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+
+
+
+
+joined the Slytherins. Harry wondered whether 
+Baddock knew that Slytherin House had turned out 
+more Dark witches and wizards than any other. Fred 
+and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down. 
+
+“Branstone, Eleanor!” 
+
+“HUFFLEPUFF!” 
+
+“Cauldwell, Owen!” 
+
+“HUFFLEPUFF!” 
+
+“Creevey, Dennis!” 
+
+Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over 
+Hagrid ’s moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into 
+the Hall through a door behind the teachers’ table. 
+About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least 
+three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, 
+tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming 
+— a misleading impression, for Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. 
+He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the 
+staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on 
+the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide — 
+
+“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted. 
+
+Hagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis 
+Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it 
+back on the stool, and hurried over to join his 
+brother. 
+
+“Colin, I fell in!” he said shrilly, throwing himself into 
+an empty seat. “It was brilliant! And something in the 
+water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!” 
+
+
+
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+“Cool!” said Colin, just as excitedly. “It was probably 
+the giant squid, Dennis!” 
+
+“Wow\” said Dennis, as though nobody in their 
+wildest dreams could hope for more than being 
+thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and 
+pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster. 
+
+“Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The one 
+with the black hair and glasses? See him? Know who 
+he is, Dennis ?” 
+
+Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting 
+Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs. 
+
+The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying 
+degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to 
+the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as 
+Professor McGonagall passed the L’s. 
+
+“Oh hurry up,” Ron moaned, massaging his stomach. 
+
+“Now, Ron, the Sorting’s much more important than 
+food,” said Nearly Headless Nick as “Madley, Laura!” 
+became a Hufflepuff. 
+
+“ ’Course it is, if you’re dead,” snapped Ron. 
+
+“I do hope this year’s batch of Gryffindors are up to 
+scratch,” said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as 
+“McDonald, Natalie!” joined the Gryffindor table. “We 
+don’t want to break our winning streak, do we?” 
+
+Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship 
+for the last three years in a row. 
+
+“Pritchard, Graham!” 
+
+“SLYTHERIN!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Quirke, Orla!” 
+
+
+
+“RAVENCLAW!” 
+
+And finally, with “Whitby, Kevin!” (“HUFFLEPUFF!”), 
+the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up 
+the hat and the stool and carried them away. 
+
+“About time,” said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and 
+looking expectantly at his golden plate. 
+
+Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was 
+smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide 
+in welcome. 
+
+“I have only two words to say to you,” he told them, 
+his deep voice echoing around the Hall. “ Tuck in.” 
+
+“Hear, hear!” said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty 
+dishes filled magically before their eyes. 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates. 
+
+“Aaah, ’at’s be’er,” said Ron, with his mouth full of 
+mashed potato. 
+
+“You’re lucky there’s a feast at all tonight, you know,” 
+said Nearly Headless Nick. “There was trouble in the 
+kitchens earlier.” 
+
+“Why? Wha’ ’appened?” said Harry, through a sizable 
+chunk of steak. 
+
+“Peeves, of course,” said Nearly Headless Nick, 
+shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He 
+pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. “The 
+usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the 
+feast — well, it’s quite out of the question, you know 
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+
+
+
+what he’s like, utterly uncivilized, can’t see a plate of 
+food without throwing it. We held a ghost’s council — 
+the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance — but 
+most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his 
+foot down.” 
+
+The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt 
+and silent specter covered in silver bloodstains. He 
+was the only person at Hogwarts who could really 
+control Peeves. 
+
+“Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about 
+something,” said Ron darkly. “So what did he do in 
+the kitchens?” 
+
+“Oh the usual,” said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. 
+“Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans 
+everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the 
+house-elves out of their wits — ” 
+
+Clang. 
+
+Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. 
+Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, 
+staining several feet of white linen orange, but 
+Hermione paid no attention. 
+
+“There are house-elves here?” she said, staring, 
+horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. “Here at 
+Hogwarts ?” 
+
+“Certainly,” said Nearly Headless Nick, looking 
+surprised at her reaction. “The largest number in any 
+dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred.” 
+
+“I’ve never seen one!” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do 
+they?” said Nearly Headless Nick. “They come out at 
+
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+night to do a bit of cleaning . . . see to the fires and so 
+on. ... I mean, you’re not supposed to see them, are 
+you? That’s the mark of a good house-elf, isn’t it, that 
+you don’t know it’s there?” 
+
+Hermione stared at him. 
+
+“But they get paid?” she said. “They get holidays, 
+don’t they? And — and sick leave, and pensions, and 
+everything?” 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff 
+slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch 
+or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it 
+to his neck. 
+
+“Sick leave and pensions?” he said, pushing his head 
+back onto his shoulders and securing it once more 
+with his ruff. “House-elves don’t want sick leave and 
+pensions!” 
+
+Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of 
+food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and 
+pushed it away from her. 
+
+“Oh c’mon, ’Er-my-knee,” said Ron, accidentally 
+spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. “Oops 
+— sorry, ’Arry — ” He swallowed. “You won’t get them 
+sick leave by starving yourself!” 
+
+“Slave labor,” said Hermione, breathing hard through 
+her nose. “That’s what made this dinner. Slave labor.” 
+
+And she refused to eat another bite. 
+
+The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, 
+dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the 
+windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating 
+
+
+
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+the golden plates as the remains of the first course 
+vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings. 
+
+“Treacle tart, Hermione!” said Ron, deliberately 
+wafting its smell toward her. “Spotted dick, look! 
+Chocolate gateau!” 
+
+But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of 
+Professor McGonagall that he gave up. 
+
+When the puddings too had been demolished, and the 
+last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them 
+sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet 
+again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased 
+almost at once, so that only the howling wind and 
+pounding rain could be heard. 
+
+“So!” said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. 
+“Now that we are all fed and watered,” (“Hmph!” said 
+Hermione) “I must once more ask for your attention, 
+while I give out a few notices. 
+
+“Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you 
+that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has 
+this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, 
+Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The 
+full list comprises some four hundred and thirty- 
+seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. 
+
+Filch ’s office, if anybody would like to check it.” 
+
+The corners of Dumbledore ’s mouth twitched. He 
+continued, “As ever, I would like to remind you all 
+that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to 
+students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below 
+third year. 
+
+“It is also my painful duty to inform you that the 
+Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this 
+year.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What?” Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and 
+George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. 
+They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, 
+apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbledore went 
+on, “This is due to an event that will be starting in 
+October, and continuing throughout the school year, 
+taking up much of the teachers’ time and energy — 
+but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have 
+great pleasure in announcing that this year at 
+Hogwarts — ” 
+
+But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of 
+thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. 
+
+A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long 
+staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head 
+in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, 
+suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning 
+that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, 
+shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, 
+then began to walk up toward the teachers’ table. 
+
+A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every 
+other step. He reached the end of the top table, 
+turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. 
+Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. 
+Hermione gasped. 
+
+The lightning had thrown the man’s face into sharp 
+relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever 
+seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of 
+weathered wood by someone who had only the 
+vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to 
+look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. 
+Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth 
+looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the 
+nose was missing. But it was the man’s eyes that 
+made him frightening. 
+
+
+
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+One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other 
+was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. 
+The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without 
+blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to 
+side, quite independently of the normal eye — and 
+then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the 
+man’s head, so that all they could see was whiteness. 
+
+The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a 
+hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and 
+Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn’t 
+hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the 
+stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied 
+in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured 
+the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. 
+
+The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray 
+hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward 
+him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed 
+it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, 
+speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. 
+His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the 
+blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its 
+socket, taking in the Hall and the students. 
+
+“May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts teacher?” said Dumbledore brightly into the 
+silence. “Professor Moody.” 
+
+It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with 
+applause, but none of the staff or students clapped 
+except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their 
+hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed 
+dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly 
+quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by 
+Moody’s bizarre appearance to do more than stare at 
+him. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Moody?” Harry muttered to Ron. “MacL-Eye Moody? 
+The one your dad went to help this morning?” 
+
+“Must be,” said Ron in a low, awed voice. 
+
+“What happened to him?” Hermione whispered. “What 
+happened to his face?” 
+
+“Dunno,” Ron whispered back, watching Moody with 
+fascination. 
+
+Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than- 
+warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in 
+front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, 
+pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from 
+it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a 
+few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the 
+table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a 
+clawed foot. 
+
+Dumbledore cleared his throat. 
+
+“As I was saying,” he said, smiling at the sea of 
+students before him, all of whom were still gazing 
+transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, “we are to have the 
+honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming 
+months, an event that has not been held for over a 
+century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you 
+that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at 
+Hogwarts this year.” 
+
+“You’re JOKING!” said Fred Weasley loudly. 
+
+The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody’s 
+arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and 
+Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively. 
+
+“I am not joking, Mr. Weasley,” he said, “though now 
+that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over 
+
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+
+
+
+
+the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun 
+who all go into a bar ...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. 
+
+“Er — but maybe this is not the time ... no ...” said 
+Dumbledore, “where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard 
+Tournament ... well, some of you will not know what 
+this tournament involves, so I hope those who do 
+know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, 
+and allow their attention to wander freely. 
+
+“The Triwizard Tournament was first established 
+some seven hundred years ago as a friendly 
+competition between the three largest European 
+schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and 
+Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent 
+each school, and the three champions competed in 
+three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to 
+host the tournament once every five years, and it was 
+generally agreed to be a most excellent way of 
+establishing ties between young witches and wizards 
+of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll 
+mounted so high that the tournament was 
+discontinued.” 
+
+“ Death toll?” Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. 
+But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the 
+majority of students in the Hall; many of them were 
+whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry 
+himself was far more interested in hearing about the 
+tournament than in worrying about deaths that had 
+happened hundreds of years ago. 
+
+“There have been several attempts over the centuries 
+to reinstate the tournament,” Dumbledore continued, 
+“none of which has been very successful. However, 
+our own departments of International Magical 
+Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have 
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+
+
+
+decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have 
+worked hard over the summer to ensure that this 
+time, no champion will find himself or herself in 
+mortal danger. 
+
+“The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be 
+arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, 
+and the selection of the three champions will take 
+place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide 
+which students are most worthy to compete for the 
+Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a 
+thousand Galleons personal prize money.” 
+
+“I’m going for it!” Fred Weasley hissed down the table, 
+his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such 
+glory and riches. He was not the only person who 
+seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts 
+champion. At every House table, Harry could see 
+people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else 
+whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then 
+Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once 
+more. 
+
+“Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the 
+Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts,” he said, “the heads of the 
+participating schools, along with the Ministry of 
+Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on 
+contenders this year. Only students who are of age — 
+that is to say, seventeen years or older — will be 
+allowed to put forward their names for consideration. 
+This” — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for 
+several people had made noises of outrage at these 
+words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking 
+furious — “is a measure we feel is necessary, given 
+that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and 
+dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is 
+highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh 
+year will be able to cope with them. I will personally 
+be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our 
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+
+
+
+
+impartial judge into making them Hogwarts 
+champion.” His light blue eyes twinkled as they 
+flickered over Fred’s and George’s mutinous faces. “I 
+therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting 
+yourself if you are under seventeen. 
+
+“The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang 
+will be arriving in October and remaining with us for 
+the greater part of this year. I know that you will all 
+extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they 
+are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support 
+to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. 
+And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to 
+you all to be alert and rested as you enter your 
+lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!” 
+
+Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to 
+Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and 
+banging as all the students got to their feet and 
+swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance 
+hall. 
+
+“They can’t do that!” said George Weasley, who had 
+not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was 
+standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. “We’re 
+seventeen in April, why can’t we have a shot?” 
+
+“They’re not stopping me entering,” said Fred 
+stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. “The 
+champions’ll get to do all sorts of stuff you’d never be 
+allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons 
+prize money!” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, a faraway look on his face. “Yeah, a 
+thousand Galleons ...” 
+
+“Come on,” said Hermione, “we’ll be the only ones left 
+here if you don’t move.” 
+
+
+
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+Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George set off for 
+the entrance hall, Fred and George debating the ways 
+in which Dumbledore might stop those who were 
+under seventeen from entering the tournament. 
+
+“Who’s this impartial judge who’s going to decide who 
+the champions are?” said Harry. 
+
+“Dunno,” said Fred, “but it’s them we’ll have to fool. I 
+reckon a couple of drops of Aging Potion might do it, 
+George. ...” 
+
+“Dumbledore knows you’re not of age, though,” said 
+Ron. 
+
+“Yeah, but he’s not the one who decides who the 
+champion is, is he?” said Fred shrewdly. “Sounds to 
+me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, 
+he’ll choose the best from each school and never mind 
+how old they are. Dumbledore ’s trying to stop us 
+giving our names.” 
+
+“People have died, though!” said Hermione in a 
+worried voice as they walked through a door 
+concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, 
+narrower staircase. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Fred airily, “but that was years ago, 
+wasn’t it? Anyway, where’s the fun without a bit of 
+risk? Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get ’round 
+Dumbledore? Fancy entering?” 
+
+“What d’you reckon?” Ron asked Harry. “Be cool to 
+enter, wouldn’t it? But I s’pose they might want 
+someone older. ... Dunno if we’ve learned enough. ...” 
+
+“I definitely haven’t,” came Neville’s gloomy voice from 
+behind Fred and George. 
+
+
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+
+“I expect my gran’d want me to try, though. She’s 
+always going on about how I should be upholding the 
+family honor. I’ll just have to — oops. ...” 
+
+Neville’s foot had sunk right through a step halfway 
+up the staircase. There were many of these trick 
+stairs at Hogwarts; it was second nature to most of 
+the older students to jump this particular step, but 
+Neville’s memory was notoriously poor. Harry and 
+Ron seized him under the armpits and pulled him 
+out, while a suit of armor at the top of the stairs 
+creaked and clanked, laughing wheezily. 
+
+“Shut it, you,” said Ron, banging down its visor as 
+they passed. 
+
+They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor 
+Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of 
+a fat lady in a pink silk dress. 
+
+“Password?” she said as they approached. 
+
+“Balderdash,” said George, “a prefect downstairs told 
+me.” 
+
+The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall 
+through which they all climbed. A crackling fire 
+warmed the circular common room, which was full of 
+squashy armchairs and tables. Hermione cast the 
+merrily dancing flames a dark look, and Harry 
+distinctly heard her mutter “ Slave labor,” before 
+bidding them good night and disappearing through 
+the doorway to the girls’ dormitory. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Neville climbed up the last, spiral 
+staircase until they reached their own dormitory, 
+which was situated at the top of the tower. Five four- 
+poster beds with deep crimson hangings stood against 
+the walls, each with its owner’s trunk at the foot. 
+
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+
+
+
+Dean and Seamus were already getting into bed; 
+Seamus had pinned his Ireland rosette to his 
+headboard, and Dean had tacked up a poster of 
+Viktor Krum over his bedside table. His old poster of 
+the West Ham football team was pinned right next to 
+it. 
+
+“Mental,” Ron sighed, shaking his head at the 
+completely stationary soccer players. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Neville got into their pajamas and 
+into bed. Someone — a house-elf, no doubt — had 
+placed warming pans between the sheets. It was 
+extremely comfortable, lying there in bed and 
+listening to the storm raging outside. 
+
+“I might go in for it, you know,” Ron said sleepily 
+through the darkness, “if Fred and George find out 
+how to ... the tournament ... you never know, do 
+you?” 
+
+“S’pose not. ...” 
+
+Harry rolled over in bed, a series of dazzling new 
+pictures forming in his mind’s eye. ... He had 
+hoodwinked the impartial judge into believing he was 
+seventeen ... he had become Hogwarts champion ... 
+he was standing on the grounds, his arms raised in 
+triumph in front of the whole school, all of whom were 
+applauding and screaming ... he had just won the 
+Triwizard Tournament. ... Cho’s face stood out 
+particularly clearly in the blurred crowd, her face 
+glowing with admiration. ... 
+
+Harry grinned into his pillow, exceptionally glad that 
+Ron couldn’t see what he could. 
+
+
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+
+MAD-EYE MOODY 
+
+The storm had blown itself out by the following 
+morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still 
+gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter gray swirled overhead 
+as Harry, Ron, and Hermione examined their new 
+course schedules at breakfast. A few seats along, 
+
+Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were discussing 
+magical methods of aging themselves and bluffing 
+their way into the Triwizard Tournament. 
+
+“Today’s not bad ... outside all morning,” said Ron, 
+who was running his finger down the Monday column 
+of his schedule. “Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and 
+Care of Magical Creatures ... damn it, we’re still with 
+the Slytherins. ...” 
+
+“Double Divination this afternoon,” Harry groaned, 
+looking down. Divination was his least favorite 
+subject, apart from Potions. Professor Trelawney kept 
+predicting Harry’s death, which he found extremely 
+annoying. 
+
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+
+“You should have given it up like me, shouldn’t you?” 
+said Hermione briskly, buttering herself some toast. 
+“Then you’d be doing something sensible like 
+Arithmancy.” 
+
+“You’re eating again, I notice,” said Ron, watching 
+Hermione adding liberal amounts of jam to her toast 
+too. 
+
+“I’ve decided there are better ways of making a stand 
+about elf rights,” said Hermione haughtily. 
+
+“Yeah ... and you were hungry,” said Ron, grinning. 
+
+There was a sudden rustling noise above them, and a 
+hundred owls came soaring through the open 
+windows carrying the morning mail. Instinctively, 
+Harry looked up, but there was no sign of white 
+among the mass of brown and gray. The owls circled 
+the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters 
+and packages were addressed. A large tawny owl 
+soared down to Neville Longbottom and deposited a 
+parcel into his lap — Neville almost always forgot to 
+pack something. On the other side of the Hall Draco 
+Malfoy’s eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, 
+carrying what looked like his usual supply of sweets 
+and cakes from home. Trying to ignore the sinking 
+feeling of disappointment in his stomach, Harry 
+returned to his porridge. Was it possible that 
+something had happened to Hedwig, and that Sirius 
+hadn’t even got his letter? 
+
+His preoccupation lasted all the way across the 
+sodden vegetable patch until they arrived in 
+greenhouse three, but here he was distracted by 
+Professor Sprout showing the class the ugliest plants 
+Harry had ever seen. Indeed, they looked less like 
+plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding 
+vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly 
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+
+
+
+and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, 
+which appeared to be full of liquid. 
+
+“Bubotubers,” Professor Sprout told them briskly. 
+“They need squeezing. You will collect the pus — ” 
+
+“The what?” said Seamus Finnigan, sounding 
+revolted. 
+
+“Pus, Finnigan, pus,” said Professor Sprout, “and it’s 
+extremely valuable, so don’t waste it. You will collect 
+the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon- 
+hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when 
+undiluted, bubotuber pus.” 
+
+Squeezing the bubotubers was disgusting, but oddly 
+satisfying. As each swelling was popped, a large 
+amount of thick yellowish-green liquid burst forth, 
+which smelled strongly of petrol. They caught it in the 
+bottles as Professor Sprout had indicated, and by the 
+end of the lesson had collected several pints. 
+
+“This’ll keep Madam Pomfrey happy,” said Professor 
+Sprout, stoppering the last bottle with a cork. “An 
+excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, 
+bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to 
+desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples.” 
+
+“Like poor Eloise Midgen,” said Hannah Abbott, a 
+Hufflepuff, in a hushed voice. “She tried to curse hers 
+off.” 
+
+“Silly girl,” said Professor Sprout, shaking her head. 
+“But Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the 
+end.” 
+
+A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet 
+grounds, signaling the end of the lesson, and the 
+class separated; the Hufflepuffs climbing the stone 
+
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+
+
+
+steps for Transfiguration, and the Gryffindors heading 
+in the other direction, down the sloping lawn toward 
+Hagrid ’s small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge 
+of the Forbidden Forest. 
+
+Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the 
+collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. There 
+were several open wooden crates on the ground at his 
+feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his 
+collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents 
+more closely. As they drew nearer, an odd rattling 
+noise reached their ears, punctuated by what 
+sounded like minor explosions. 
+
+“Mornin’!” Hagrid said, grinning at Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione. “Be’er wait fer the Slytherins, they won’ 
+want ter miss this — Blast-Ended Skrewts!” 
+
+“Come again?” said Ron. 
+
+Hagrid pointed down into the crates. 
+
+“Eurgh!” squealed Lavender Brown, jumping 
+backward. 
+
+“Eurgh” just about summed up the Blast-Ended 
+Skrewts in Harry’s opinion. They looked like 
+deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy - 
+looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and 
+no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them 
+in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling 
+over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of 
+the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell 
+of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly 
+out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small phut, it 
+would be propelled forward several inches. 
+
+
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+
+“On’y jus’ hatched,” said Hagrid proudly, “so yeh’ll be 
+able ter raise ’em yerselves! Thought we’d make a bit 
+of a project of it!” 
+
+“And why would we want to raise them?” said a cold 
+voice. 
+
+The Slytherins had arrived. The speaker was Draco 
+Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling 
+appreciatively at his words. 
+
+Hagrid looked stumped at the question. 
+
+“I mean, what do they do?” asked Malfoy. “What is the 
+point of them?” 
+
+Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; 
+there was a few seconds’ pause, then he said roughly, 
+“Tha’s next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus’ feedin’ ’em today. 
+Now, yeh’ll wan’ ter try ’em on a few diff’rent things — 
+I’ve never had ’em before, not sure what they’ll go fer 
+
+— I got ant eggs an’ frog livers an’ a bit o’ grass snake 
+
+— just try ’em out with a bit of each.” 
+
+“First pus and now this,” muttered Seamus. 
+
+Nothing but deep affection for Hagrid could have 
+made Harry, Ron, and Hermione pick up squelchy 
+handfuls of frog liver and lower them into the crates 
+to tempt the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Harry couldn’t 
+suppress the suspicion that the whole thing was 
+entirely pointless, because the skrewts didn’t seem to 
+have mouths. 
+
+“Ouch\” yelled Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. 
+“It got me!” 
+
+Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious. 
+
+
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+
+“Its end exploded!” said Dean angrily, showing Hagrid 
+a burn on his hand. 
+
+“Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off,” said 
+Hagrid, nodding. 
+
+“Eurgh!” said Lavender Brown again. “Eurgh, Hagrid, 
+what’s that pointy thing on it?” 
+
+“Ah, some of ’em have got stings,” said Hagrid 
+enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand 
+from the box). “I reckon they’re the males. ... The 
+females Ve got sorta sucker things on their bellies. ... I 
+think they might be ter suck blood.” 
+
+“Well, I can certainly see why we’re trying to keep 
+them alive,” said Malfoy sarcastically. “Who wouldn’t 
+want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?” 
+
+“Just because they’re not very pretty, it doesn’t mean 
+they’re not useful,” Hermione snapped. “Dragon 
+blood’s amazingly magical, but you wouldn’t want a 
+dragon for a pet, would you?” 
+
+Harry and Ron grinned at Hagrid, who gave them a 
+furtive smile from behind his bushy beard. Hagrid 
+would have liked nothing better than a pet dragon, as 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew only too well — he 
+had owned one for a brief period during their first 
+year, a vicious Norwegian Ridgeback by the name of 
+Norbert. Hagrid simply loved monstrous creatures, 
+the more lethal, the better. 
+
+“Well, at least the skrewts are small,” said Ron as 
+they made their way back up to the castle for lunch 
+an hour later. 
+
+
+
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+
+“They are now,” said Hermione in an exasperated 
+voice, “but once Hagrid’s found out what they eat, I 
+expect they’ll be six feet long.” 
+
+“Well, that won’t matter if they turn out to cure 
+seasickness or something, will it?” said Ron, grinning 
+slyly at her. 
+
+“You know perfectly well I only said that to shut 
+Malfoy up,” said Hermione. “As a matter of fact I 
+think he’s right. The best thing to do would be to 
+stamp on the lot of them before they start attacking 
+us all.” 
+
+They sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped 
+themselves to lamb chops and potatoes. Hermione 
+began to eat so fast that Harry and Ron stared at her. 
+
+“Er — is this the new stand on elf rights?” said Ron. 
+“You’re going to make yourself puke instead?” 
+
+“No,” said Hermione, with as much dignity as she 
+could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts. “I 
+just want to get to the library.” 
+
+“What?” said Ron in disbelief. “Hermione — it’s the 
+first day back! We haven’t even got homework yet!” 
+
+Hermione shrugged and continued to shovel down her 
+food as though she had not eaten for days. Then she 
+leapt to her feet, said, “See you at dinner!” and 
+departed at high speed. 
+
+When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon 
+lessons, Harry and Ron set off for North Tower where, 
+at the top of a tightly spiraling staircase, a silver 
+stepladder led to a circular trapdoor in the ceiling, 
+and the room where Professor Trelawney lived. 
+
+
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+The familiar sweet perfume spreading from the fire 
+met their nostrils as they emerged at the top of the 
+stepladder. As ever, the curtains were all closed; the 
+circular room was bathed in a dim reddish light cast 
+by the many lamps, which were all draped with 
+scarves and shawls. Harry and Ron walked through 
+the mass of occupied chintz chairs and poufs that 
+cluttered the room, and sat down at the same small 
+circular table. 
+
+“Good day,” said the misty voice of Professor 
+Trelawney right behind Harry, making him jump. 
+
+A very thin woman with enormous glasses that made 
+her eyes appear far too large for her face, Professor 
+Trelawney was peering down at Harry with the tragic 
+expression she always wore whenever she saw him. 
+The usual large amount of beads, chains, and bangles 
+glittered upon her person in the firelight. 
+
+“You are preoccupied, my dear,” she said mournfully 
+to Harry. “My inner eye sees past your brave face to 
+the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your 
+worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead 
+for you, alas ... most difficult ... I fear the thing you 
+dread will indeed come to pass ... and perhaps sooner 
+than you think. ...” 
+
+Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. Ron rolled his 
+eyes at Harry, who looked stonily back. Professor 
+Trelawney swept past them and seated herself in a 
+large winged armchair before the fire, facing the class. 
+Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who deeply 
+admired Professor Trelawney, were sitting on poufs 
+very close to her. 
+
+“My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars,” she 
+said. “The movements of the planets and the 
+mysterious portents they reveal only to those who 
+
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+
+understand the steps of the celestial dance. Human 
+destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, 
+which intermingle ...” 
+
+But Harry’s thoughts had drifted. The perfumed fire 
+always made him feel sleepy and dull-witted, and 
+Professor Trelawney’s rambling talks on fortune- 
+telling never held him exactly spellbound — though 
+he couldn’t help thinking about what she had just 
+said to him. “ ‘I fear the thing you dread will indeed 
+come to pass . . . ’ ” 
+
+But Hermione was right, Harry thought irritably, 
+Professor Trelawney really was an old fraud. He 
+wasn’t dreading anything at the moment at all ... well, 
+unless you counted his fears that Sirius had been 
+caught ... but what did Professor Trelawney know? He 
+had long since come to the conclusion that her brand 
+of fortune-telling was really no more than lucky 
+guesswork and a spooky manner. 
+
+Except, of course, for that time at the end of last 
+term, when she had made the prediction about 
+Voldemort rising again . . . and Dumbledore himself 
+had said that he thought that trance had been 
+genuine, when Harry had described it to him. ... 
+
+“Harry\” Ron muttered. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+Harry looked around; the whole class was staring at 
+him. He sat up straight; he had been almost dozing 
+off, lost in the heat and his thoughts. 
+
+“I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born 
+under the baleful influence of Saturn,” said Professor 
+Trelawney, a faint note of resentment in her voice at 
+
+
+
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+the fact that he had obviously not been hanging on 
+her words. 
+
+“Born under — what, sorry?” said Harry. 
+
+“Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!” said Professor 
+Trelawney, sounding definitely irritated that he wasn’t 
+riveted by this news. “I was saying that Saturn was 
+surely in a position of power in the heavens at the 
+moment of your birth. ... Your dark hair ... your mean 
+stature ... tragic losses so young in life ... I think I am 
+right in saying, my dear, that you were born in 
+midwinter?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “I was born in July.” 
+
+Ron hastily turned his laugh into a hacking cough. 
+
+Half an hour later, each of them had been given a 
+complicated circular chart, and was attempting to fill 
+in the position of the planets at their moment of birth. 
+It was dull work, requiring much consultation of 
+timetables and calculation of angles. 
+
+“I’ve got two Neptunes here,” said Harry after a while, 
+frowning down at his piece of parchment, “that can’t 
+be right, can it?” 
+
+“Aaaaah,” said Ron, imitating Professor Trelawney’s 
+mystical whisper, “when two Neptunes appear in the 
+sky, it is a sure sign that a midget in glasses is being 
+born, Harry ...” 
+
+Seamus and Dean, who were working nearby, 
+sniggered loudly, though not loudly enough to mask 
+the excited squeals from Lavender Brown — “Oh 
+Professor, look! I think I’ve got an unaspected planet! 
+Oooh, which one’s that, Professor?” 
+
+
+
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+
+“It is Uranus, my dear,” said Professor Trelawney, 
+peering down at the chart. 
+
+“Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?” said 
+Ron. 
+
+Most unfortunately, Professor Trelawney heard him, 
+and it was this, perhaps, that made her give them so 
+much homework at the end of the class. 
+
+“A detailed analysis of the way the planetary 
+movements in the coming month will affect you, with 
+reference to your personal chart,” she snapped, 
+sounding much more like Professor McGonagall than 
+her usual airy-fairy self. “I want it ready to hand in 
+next Monday, and no excuses!” 
+
+“Miserable old bat,” said Ron bitterly as they joined 
+the crowds descending the staircases back to the 
+Great Hall and dinner. “Thatll take all weekend, that 
+will. ...” 
+
+“Lots of homework?” said Hermione brightly, catching 
+up with them. “Professor Vector didn’t give us any at 
+all!” 
+
+“Well, bully for Professor Vector,” said Ron moodily. 
+
+They reached the entrance hall, which was packed 
+with people queuing for dinner. They had just joined 
+the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind 
+them. 
+
+“Weasley! Hey, Weasley!” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, 
+and Goyle were standing there, each looking 
+thoroughly pleased about something. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“What?” said Ron shortly. 
+
+
+
+“Your dad’s in the paper, Weasley!” said Malfoy, 
+brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking 
+very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance 
+hall could hear. “Listen to this! 
+
+FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC 
+
+It seems as though the Ministry of Magic’s troubles are 
+not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special 
+Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd 
+control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to 
+account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the 
+Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment 
+yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the 
+Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. ” 
+
+Malfoy looked up. 
+
+“Imagine them not even getting his name right, 
+Weasley. It’s almost as though he’s a complete 
+nonentity, isn’t it?” he crowed. 
+
+Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. 
+Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and 
+read on: 
+
+Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of 
+a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in 
+a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers (“policemen”) 
+over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. 
+Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of “Mad- 
+Eye” Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the 
+Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference 
+between a handshake and attempted murder. 
+Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. 
+Moody ’s heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had 
+once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was 
+Page | 224 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+forced to modify several memories before he could 
+escape from the policemen, but refused to answer 
+Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved 
+the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially 
+embarrassing scene. 
+
+“And there’s a picture, Weasley!” said Malfoy, flipping 
+the paper over and holding it up. “A picture of your 
+parents outside their house — if you can call it a 
+house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of 
+weight, couldn’t she?” 
+
+Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at 
+him. 
+
+“Get stuffed, Malfoy,” said Harry. “C’mon, Ron. ...” 
+
+“Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, 
+weren’t you, Potter?” sneered Malfoy. “So tell me, is 
+his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?” 
+
+“You know your mother, Malfoy?” said Harry — both 
+he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron’s 
+robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy — 
+“that expression she’s got, like she’s got dung under 
+her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it 
+just because you were with her?” 
+
+Malfoy’s pale face went slightly pink. 
+
+“Don’t you dare insult my mother, Potter.” 
+
+“Keep your fat mouth shut, then,” said Harry, turning 
+away. 
+
+BANG! 
+
+Several people screamed — Harry felt something 
+white-hot graze the side of his face — he plunged his 
+
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+
+hand into his robes for his wand, but before he’d even 
+touched it, he heard a second loud BANG, and a roar 
+that echoed through the entrance hall. 
+
+“OH NO YOU DONT, LADDIE!” 
+
+Harry spun around. Professor Moody was limping 
+down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it 
+was pointing right at a pure white ferret, which was 
+shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where 
+Malfoy had been standing. 
+
+There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. 
+Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody 
+turned to look at Harry — at least, his normal eye was 
+looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the 
+back of his head. 
+
+“Did he get you?” Moody growled. His voice was low 
+and gravelly. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “missed.” 
+
+“LEAVE IT!” Moody shouted. 
+
+“Leave — what?” Harry said, bewildered. 
+
+“Not you — him!” Moody growled, jerking his thumb 
+over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, 
+about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that 
+Moody’s rolling eye was magical and could see out of 
+the back of his head. 
+
+Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the 
+ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, 
+streaking toward the dungeons. 
+
+“I don’t think so!” roared Moody, pointing his wand at 
+the ferret again — it flew ten feet into the air, fell with 
+
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+a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once 
+more. 
+
+“I don’t like people who attack when their opponent’s 
+back’s turned,” growled Moody as the ferret bounced 
+higher and higher, squealing in pain. “Stinking, 
+cowardly, scummy thing to do. ...” 
+
+The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing 
+helplessly. 
+
+“Never — do — that — again — ” said Moody, speaking 
+each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and 
+bounced upward again. 
+
+“Professor Moody!” said a shocked voice. 
+
+Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble 
+staircase with her arms full of books. 
+
+“Hello, Professor McGonagall,” said Moody calmly, 
+bouncing the ferret still higher. 
+
+“What — what are you doing?” said Professor 
+McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret’s 
+progress through the air. 
+
+“Teaching,” said Moody. 
+
+“Teach — Moody, is that a student?” shrieked 
+Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her 
+arms. 
+
+“Yep,” said Moody. 
+
+“No!” cried Professor McGonagall, running down the 
+stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with 
+a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, 
+lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair 
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+all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his 
+feet, wincing. 
+
+“Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a 
+punishment!” said Professor McGonagall weakly. 
+“Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?” 
+
+“He might’ve mentioned it, yeah,” said Moody, 
+scratching his chin unconcernedly, “but I thought a 
+good sharp shock — ” 
+
+“We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender’s 
+Head of House!” 
+
+“I’ll do that, then,” said Moody, staring at Malfoy with 
+great dislike. 
+
+Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain 
+and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody 
+and muttered something in which the words “my 
+father” were distinguishable. 
+
+“Oh yeah?” said Moody quietly, limping forward a few 
+steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around 
+the hall. “Well, I know your father of old, boy. ... You 
+tell him Moody’s keeping a close eye on his son . . . you 
+tell him that from me. ... Now, your Head of House’ll 
+be Snape, will it?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Malfoy resentfully. 
+
+“Another old friend,” growled Moody. “I’ve been 
+looking forward to a chat with old Snape. ... Come on, 
+you. ...” 
+
+And he seized Malfoy’s upper arm and marched him 
+off toward the dungeons. 
+
+
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+
+Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for 
+a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen 
+books, causing them to soar up into the air and back 
+into her arms. 
+
+“Don’t talk to me,” Ron said quietly to Harry and 
+Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a 
+few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all 
+sides about what had just happened. 
+
+“Why not?” said Hermione in surprise. 
+
+“Because I want to fix that in my memory forever,” 
+said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression 
+on his face. “Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing 
+ferret ...” 
+
+Harry and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione 
+began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates. 
+
+“He could have really hurt Malfoy, though,” she said. 
+“It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall 
+stopped it — ” 
+
+“Hermione!” said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping 
+open again, “you’re ruining the best moment of my 
+life!” 
+
+Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat 
+at top speed again. 
+
+“Don’t tell me you’re going back to the library this 
+evening?” said Harry, watching her. 
+
+“Got to,” said Hermione thickly. “Loads to do.” 
+
+“But you told us Professor Vector — ” 
+
+
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+
+“It’s not schoolwork,” she said. Within five minutes, 
+she had cleared her plate and departed. No sooner 
+had she gone than her seat was taken by Fred 
+Weasley. 
+
+“Moody!” he said. “How cool is he?” 
+
+“Beyond cool,” said George, sitting down opposite 
+Fred. 
+
+“Supercool,” said the twins’ best friend, Lee Jordan, 
+sliding into the seat beside George. “We had him this 
+afternoon,” he told Harry and Ron. 
+
+“What was it like?” said Harry eagerly. 
+
+Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of 
+meaning. 
+
+“Never had a lesson like it,” said Fred. 
+
+“He knows, man,” said Lee. 
+
+“Knows what?” said Ron, leaning forward. 
+
+“Knows what it’s like to be out there doing it,” said 
+George impressively. 
+
+“Doing what?” said Harry. 
+
+“Fighting the Dark Arts,” said Fred. 
+
+“He’s seen it all,” said George. 
+
+“ ’Mazing,” said Lee. 
+
+Ron dived into his bag for his schedule. 
+
+
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+
+“We haven’t got him till Thursday!” he said in a 
+disappointed voice. 
+
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+THE UNFORGIVABLE CURSES 
+
+The next two days passed without great incident, 
+unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron 
+in Potions. Professor Snape, who seemed to have 
+attained new levels of vindictiveness over the 
+summer, gave Neville detention, and Neville returned 
+from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been 
+made to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads. 
+
+“You know why Snape ’s in such a foul mood, don’t 
+you?” said Ron to Harry as they watched Hermione 
+teaching Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the frog 
+guts from under his fingernails. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Moody.” 
+
+It was common knowledge that Snape really wanted 
+the Dark Arts job, and he had now failed to get it for 
+the fourth year running. Snape had disliked all of 
+their previous Dark Arts teachers, and shown it — 
+but he seemed strangely wary of displaying overt 
+animosity to Mad-Eye Moody. Indeed, whenever Harry 
+saw the two of them together — at mealtimes, or 
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+when they passed in the corridors — he had the 
+distinct impression that Snape was avoiding Moody’s 
+eye, whether magical or normal. 
+
+“I reckon Snape’s a bit scared of him, you know,” 
+Harry said thoughtfully. 
+
+“Imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad,” 
+said Ron, his eyes misting over, “and bounced him all 
+around his dungeon. ...” 
+
+The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to 
+Moody’s first lesson so much that they arrived early 
+on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his 
+classroom before the bell had even rung. The only 
+person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in 
+time for the lesson. 
+
+“Been in the — ” 
+
+“Library.” Harry finished her sentence for her. 
+
+“C’mon, quick, or we won’t get decent seats.” 
+
+They hurried into three chairs right in front of the 
+teacher’s desk, took out their copies of The Dark 
+Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, and waited, 
+unusually quiet. Soon they heard Moody’s distinctive 
+clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he 
+entered the room, looking as strange and frightening 
+as ever. They could just see his clawed, wooden foot 
+protruding from underneath his robes. 
+
+“You can put those away,” he growled, stumping over 
+to his desk and sitting down, “those books. You won’t 
+need them.” 
+
+They returned the books to their bags, Ron looking 
+excited. 
+
+
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+
+Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of 
+grizzled gray hair out of his twisted and scarred face, 
+and began to call out names, his normal eye moving 
+steadily down the list while his magical eye swiveled 
+around, fixing upon each student as he or she 
+answered. 
+
+“Right then,” he said, when the last person had 
+declared themselves present, “I’ve had a letter from 
+Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you’ve had a 
+pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures 
+— you’ve covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, 
+grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?” 
+
+There was a general murmur of assent. 
+
+“But you’re behind — very behind — on dealing with 
+curses,” said Moody. “So I’m here to bring you up to 
+scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I’ve got 
+one year to teach you how to deal with Dark — ” 
+
+“What, aren’t you staying?” Ron blurted out. 
+
+Moody’s magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; 
+
+Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a 
+moment Moody smiled — the first time Harry had 
+seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily 
+scarred face look more twisted and contorted than 
+ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he 
+ever did anything as friendly as smile. Ron looked 
+deeply relieved. 
+
+“You’ll be Arthur Weasley’s son, eh?” Moody said. 
+“Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few 
+days ago. ... Yeah, I’m staying just the one year. 
+Special favor to Dumbledore. ... One year, and then 
+back to my quiet retirement.” 
+
+
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+
+He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled 
+hands together. 
+
+“So — straight into it. Curses. They come in many 
+strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry 
+of Magic, I’m supposed to teach you countercurses 
+and leave it at that. I’m not supposed to show you 
+what illegal Dark curses look like until you’re in the 
+sixth year. You’re not supposed to be old enough to 
+deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore’s got 
+a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can 
+cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you’re up 
+against, the better. How are you supposed to defend 
+yourself against something you’ve never seen? A 
+wizard who’s about to put an illegal curse on you isn’t 
+going to tell you what he’s about to do. He’s not going 
+to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be 
+prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You 
+need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I’m 
+talking.” 
+
+Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing 
+Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk. 
+Apparently Moody’s magical eye could see through 
+solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head. 
+
+“So ... do any of you know which curses are most 
+heavily punished by wizarding law?” 
+
+Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including 
+Ron’s and Hermione’s. Moody pointed at Ron, though 
+his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender. 
+
+“Er,” said Ron tentatively, ��my dad told me about one. 
+... Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?” 
+
+“Ah, yes,” said Moody appreciatively. “Your father 
+would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of 
+trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse.” 
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+
+Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his 
+desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large 
+black spiders were scuttling around inside it. Harry 
+felt Ron recoil slightly next to him — Ron hated 
+spiders. 
+
+Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, 
+and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could 
+all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and 
+muttered, “Imperio\” 
+
+The spider leapt from Moody’s hand on a fine thread 
+of silk and began to swing backward and forward as 
+though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, 
+then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing 
+on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. 
+Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two 
+of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably 
+a tap dance. 
+
+Everyone was laughing — everyone except Moody. 
+
+“Think it’s funny, do you?” he growled. “You’d like it, 
+would you, if I did it to you?” 
+
+The laughter died away almost instantly. 
+
+“Total control,” said Moody quietly as the spider 
+balled itself up and began to roll over and over. “I 
+could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, 
+throw itself down one of your throats ...” 
+
+Ron gave an involuntary shudder. 
+
+“Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards 
+being controlled by the Imperius Curse,” said Moody, 
+and Harry knew he was talking about the days in 
+which Voldemort had been all-powerful. “Some job for 
+
+
+
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+the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced 
+to act, and who was acting of their own free will. 
+
+“The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I’ll be 
+teaching you how, but it takes real strength of 
+character, and not everyone’s got it. Better avoid 
+being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” 
+he barked, and everyone jumped. 
+
+Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw 
+it back into the jar. 
+
+“Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?” 
+
+Hermione’s hand flew into the air again and so, to 
+Harry’s slight surprise, did Neville’s. The only class in 
+which Neville usually volunteered information was 
+Herbology, which was easily his best subject. Neville 
+looked surprised at his own daring. 
+
+“Yes?” said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over 
+to fix on Neville. 
+
+“There’s one — the Cruciatus Curse,” said Neville in a 
+small but distinct voice. 
+
+Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time 
+with both eyes. 
+
+“Your name’s Longbottom?” he said, his magical eye 
+swooping down to check the register again. 
+
+Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further 
+inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he 
+reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it 
+upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, 
+apparently too scared to move. 
+
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+
+“The Cruciatus Curse,” said Moody. “Needs to be a bit 
+bigger for you to get the idea,” he said, pointing his 
+wand at the spider. “Engorgio\” 
+
+The spider swelled. It was now larger than a 
+tarantula. Abandoning all pretense, Ron pushed his 
+chair backward, as far away from Moody’s desk as 
+possible. 
+
+Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, 
+and muttered, “CrucioV’ 
+
+At once, the spider’s legs bent in upon its body; it 
+rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from 
+side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was 
+sure that if it could have given voice, it would have 
+been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and 
+the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently 
+
+
+
+“Stop it!” Hermione said shrilly. 
+
+Harry looked around at her. She was looking, not at 
+the spider, but at Neville, and Harry, following her 
+gaze, saw that Neville’s hands were clenched upon the 
+desk in front of him, his knuckles white, his eyes 
+wide and horrified. 
+
+Moody raised his wand. The spider’s legs relaxed, but 
+it continued to twitch. 
+
+“Reducio,” Moody muttered, and the spider shrank 
+back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar. 
+
+“Pain,” said Moody softly. “You don’t need 
+thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can 
+perform the Cruciatus Curse. ... That one was very 
+popular once too. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Right . . . anyone know any others?” 
+
+
+
+Harry looked around. From the looks on everyone’s 
+faces, he guessed they were all wondering what was 
+going to happen to the last spider. Hermione’s hand 
+shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into 
+the air. 
+
+“Yes?” said Moody, looking at her. 
+
+“Avada Kedavra,” Hermione whispered. 
+
+Several people looked uneasily around at her, 
+including Ron. 
+
+“Ah,” said Moody, another slight smile twisting his 
+lopsided mouth. “Yes, the last and worst. Avada 
+Kedavra ... the Killing Curse.” 
+
+He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as 
+though it knew what was coming, the third spider 
+scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, 
+trying to evade Moody’s fingers, but he trapped it, and 
+placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle 
+frantically across the wooden surface. 
+
+Moody raised his wand, and Harry felt a sudden thrill 
+of foreboding. 
+
+“Avada Kedavral” Moody roared. 
+
+There was a flash of blinding green light and a 
+rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something 
+was soaring through the air — instantaneously the 
+spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but 
+unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled 
+cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost 
+toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him. 
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+
+Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the 
+floor. 
+
+“Not nice,” he said calmly. “Not pleasant. And there’s 
+no countercurse. There’s no blocking it. Only one 
+known person has ever survived it, and he’s sitting 
+right in front of me.” 
+
+Harry felt his face redden as Moody’s eyes (both of 
+them) looked into his own. He could feel everyone else 
+looking around at him too. Harry stared at the blank 
+blackboard as though fascinated by it, but not really 
+seeing it at all. ... 
+
+So that was how his parents had died . . . exactly like 
+that spider. Had they been unblemished and 
+unmarked too? Had they simply seen the flash of 
+green light and heard the rush of speeding death, 
+before life was wiped from their bodies? 
+
+Harry had been picturing his parents’ deaths over 
+and over again for three years now, ever since he’d 
+found out they had been murdered, ever since he’d 
+found out what had happened that night: Wormtail 
+had betrayed his parents’ whereabouts to Voldemort, 
+who had come to find them at their cottage. How 
+Voldemort had killed Harry’s father first. How James 
+Potter had tried to hold him off, while he shouted at 
+his wife to take Harry and run ... Voldemort had 
+advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move aside so 
+that he could kill Harry . . . how she had begged him to 
+kill her instead, refused to stop shielding her son . . . 
+and so Voldemort had murdered her too, before 
+turning his wand on Harry. . . . 
+
+Harry knew these details because he had heard his 
+parents’ voices when he had fought the dementors 
+last year — for that was the terrible power of the 
+dementors: to force their victims to relive the worst 
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+memories of their lives, and drown, powerless, in their 
+own despair. . . . 
+
+Moody was speaking again, from a great distance, it 
+seemed to Harry. With a massive effort, he pulled 
+himself back to the present and listened to what 
+Moody was saying. 
+
+“Avada Kedavra’s a curse that needs a powerful bit of 
+magic behind it — you could all get your wands out 
+now and point them at me and say the words, and I 
+doubt I’d get so much as a nosebleed. But that 
+doesn’t matter. I’m not here to teach you how to do it. 
+
+“Now, if there’s no countercurse, why am I showing 
+you? Because you’ve got to know. You’ve got to 
+appreciate what the worst is. You don’t want to find 
+yourself in a situation where you’re facing it. 
+CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” he roared, and the whole 
+class jumped again. 
+
+“Now ... those three curses — Avada Kedavra, 
+Imperius, and Cruciatus — are known as the 
+Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a 
+fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence 
+in Azkaban. That’s what you’re up against. That’s 
+what I’ve got to teach you to fight. You need 
+preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you 
+need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get 
+out your quills ... copy this down. ...” 
+
+They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each 
+of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the 
+bell rang — but when Moody had dismissed them and 
+they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst 
+forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed 
+voices — “Did you see it twitch?” “ — and when he 
+killed it — just like that!” 
+
+
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+They were talking about the lesson, Harry thought, as 
+though it had been some sort of spectacular show, 
+but he hadn’t found it very entertaining — and nor, it 
+seemed, had Hermione. 
+
+“Hurry up,” she said tensely to Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Not the ruddy library again?” said Ron. 
+
+“No,” said Hermione curtly, pointing up a side 
+passage. “Neville.” 
+
+Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, 
+staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same 
+horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody 
+had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. 
+
+“Neville?” Hermione said gently. 
+
+Neville looked around. 
+
+“Oh hello,” he said, his voice much higher than usual. 
+“Interesting lesson, wasn’t it? I wonder what’s for 
+dinner, I’m — I’m starving, aren’t you?” 
+
+“Neville, are you all right?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Oh yes, I’m fine,” Neville gabbled in the same 
+unnaturally high voice. “Very interesting dinner — I 
+mean lesson — what’s for eating?” 
+
+Ron gave Harry a startled look. 
+
+“Neville, what — ?” 
+
+But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and 
+they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward 
+them. All four of them fell silent, watching him 
+
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+apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much 
+lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard. 
+
+“It’s all right, sonny,” he said to Neville. “Why don’t 
+you come up to my office? Come on . . . we can have a 
+cup of tea. ...” 
+
+Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of 
+tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody 
+turned his magical eye upon Harry. 
+
+“You all right, are you, Potter?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, almost defiantly. 
+
+Moody’s blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it 
+surveyed Harry. Then he said, “You’ve got to know. It 
+seems harsh, maybe, but you’ve got to know. No point 
+pretending ... well ... come on, Longbottom, I’ve got 
+some books that might interest you.” 
+
+Neville looked pleadingly at Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione, but they didn’t say anything, so Neville 
+had no choice but to allow himself to be steered away, 
+one of Moody’s gnarled hands on his shoulder. 
+
+“What was that about?” said Ron, watching Neville 
+and Moody turn the corner. 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Hermione, looking pensive. 
+
+“Some lesson, though, eh?” said Ron to Harry as they 
+set off for the Great Hall. “Fred and George were right, 
+weren’t they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, 
+doesn’t he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that 
+spider just died, just snuffed it right — ” 
+
+But Ron fell suddenly silent at the look on Harry’s 
+face and didn’t speak again until they reached the 
+
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+Great Hall, when he said he supposed they had better 
+make a start on Professor Trelawney’s predictions 
+tonight, since they would take hours. 
+
+Hermione did not join in with Harry and Ron’s 
+conversation during dinner, but ate furiously fast, 
+and then left for the library again. Harry and Ron 
+walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and Harry, who had 
+been thinking of nothing else all through dinner, now 
+raised the subject of the Unforgivable Curses himself. 
+
+“Wouldn’t Moody and Dumbledore be in trouble with 
+the Ministry if they knew we’d seen the curses?” 
+
+Harry asked as they approached the Fat Lady. 
+
+“Yeah, probably,” said Ron. “But Dumbledore’s always 
+done things his way, hasn’t he, and Moody’s been 
+getting in trouble for years, I reckon. Attacks first and 
+asks questions later — look at his dustbins. 
+Balderdash.” 
+
+The Fat Lady swung forward to reveal the entrance 
+hole, and they climbed into the Gryffindor common 
+room, which was crowded and noisy. 
+
+“Shall we get our Divination stuff, then?” said Harry. 
+
+“I s’pose,” Ron groaned. 
+
+They went up to the dormitory to fetch their books 
+and charts, to find Neville there alone, sitting on his 
+bed, reading. He looked a good deal calmer than at 
+the end of Moody’s lesson, though still not entirely 
+normal. His eyes were rather red. 
+
+“You all right, Neville?” Harry asked him. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Neville, “I’m fine, thanks. Just reading 
+this book Professor Moody lent me. ...” 
+
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+
+He held up the book: Magical Water Plants of the 
+Mediterranean. 
+
+“Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody 
+I’m really good at Herbology,” Neville said. There was 
+a faint note of pride in his voice that Harry had rarely 
+heard there before. “He thought I’d like this.” 
+
+Telling Neville what Professor Sprout had said, Harry 
+thought, had been a very tactful way of cheering 
+Neville up, for Neville very rarely heard that he was 
+good at anything. It was the sort of thing Professor 
+Lupin would have done. 
+
+Harry and Ron took their copies of Unfogging the 
+Future back down to the common room, found a 
+table, and set to work on their predictions for the 
+coming month. An hour later, they had made very 
+little progress, though their table was littered with 
+bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols, and 
+Harry’s brain was as fogged as though it had been 
+filled with the fumes from Professor Trelawney’s fire. 
+
+“I haven’t got a clue what this lot’s supposed to 
+mean,” he said, staring down at a long list of 
+calculations. 
+
+“You know,” said Ron, whose hair was on end 
+because of all the times he had run his fingers 
+through it in frustration, “I think it’s back to the old 
+Divination standby.” 
+
+“What — make it up?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, sweeping the jumble of scrawled 
+notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink, and 
+starting to write. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Next Monday,” he said as he scribbled, “I am likely to 
+develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of 
+Mars and Jupiter.” He looked up at Harry. “You know 
+her — just put in loads of misery, shell lap it up.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, crumpling up his first attempt 
+and lobbing it over the heads of a group of chattering 
+first years into the fire. “Okay ... on Monday, / will be 
+in danger of — er — burns.” 
+
+“Yeah, you will be,” said Ron darkly, “we’re seeing the 
+skrewts again on Monday. Okay, Tuesday, I’ll ... erm 
+
+
+
+“Lose a treasured possession,” said Harry, who was 
+flicking through Unfogging the Future for ideas. 
+
+“Good one,” said Ron, copying it down. “Because of 
+... erm ... Mercury. Why don’t you get stabbed in the 
+back by someone you thought was a friend?” 
+
+“Yeah ... cool ...” said Harry, scribbling it down, 
+“because ... Venus is in the twelfth house.” 
+
+“And on Wednesday, I think I’ll come off worst in a 
+fight.” 
+
+“Aaah, I was going to have a fight. Okay, I’ll lose a 
+bet.” 
+
+“Yeah, you’ll be betting I’ll win my fight. ...” 
+
+They continued to make up predictions (which grew 
+steadily more tragic) for another hour, while the 
+common room around them slowly emptied as people 
+went up to bed. Crookshanks wandered over to them, 
+leapt lightly into an empty chair, and stared 
+inscrutably at Harry, rather as Hermione might look if 
+she knew they weren’t doing their homework properly. 
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+
+Staring around the room, trying to think of a kind of 
+misfortune he hadn’t yet used, Harry saw Fred and 
+George sitting together against the opposite wall, 
+heads together, quills out, poring over a single piece 
+of parchment. It was most unusual to see Fred and 
+George hidden away in a corner and working silently; 
+they usually liked to be in the thick of things and the 
+noisy center of attention. There was something 
+secretive about the way they were working on the 
+piece of parchment, and Harry was reminded of how 
+they had sat together writing something back at the 
+Burrow. He had thought then that it was another 
+order form for Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, but it didn’t 
+look like that this time; if it had been, they would 
+surely have let Lee Jordan in on the joke. He 
+wondered whether it had anything to do with entering 
+the Triwizard Tournament. 
+
+As Harry watched, George shook his head at Fred, 
+scratched out something with his quill, and said, in a 
+very quiet voice that nevertheless carried across the 
+almost deserted room, “No — that sounds like we’re 
+accusing him. Got to be careful ...” 
+
+Then George looked over and saw Harry watching 
+him. Harry grinned and quickly returned to his 
+predictions — he didn’t want George to think he was 
+eavesdropping. Shortly after that, the twins rolled up 
+their parchment, said good night, and went off to bed. 
+
+Fred and George had been gone ten minutes or so 
+when the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed 
+into the common room carrying a sheaf of parchment 
+in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she 
+walked in the other. Crookshanks arched his back, 
+purring. 
+
+“Hello,” she said, “I’ve just finished!” 
+
+
+
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+
+“So have I!” said Ron triumphantly, throwing down 
+his quill. 
+
+Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying 
+in an empty armchair, and pulled Ron’s predictions 
+toward her. 
+
+“Not going to have a very good month, are you?” she 
+said sardonically as Crookshanks curled up in her 
+lap. 
+
+“Ah well, at least I’m forewarned,” Ron yawned. 
+
+“You seem to be drowning twice,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Oh am I?” said Ron, peering down at his predictions. 
+“I’d better change one of them to getting trampled by 
+a rampaging hippogriff.” 
+
+“Don’t you think it’s a bit obvious you’ve made these 
+up?” said Hermione. 
+
+“How dare you!” said Ron, in mock outrage. “We’ve 
+been working like house-elves here!” 
+
+Hermione raised her eyebrows. 
+
+“It’s just an expression,” said Ron hastily. 
+
+Harry laid down his quill too, having just finished 
+predicting his own death by decapitation. 
+
+“What’s in the box?” he asked, pointing at it. 
+
+“Funny you should ask,” said Hermione, with a nasty 
+look at Ron. She took off the lid and showed them the 
+contents. 
+
+
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+
+Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colors, 
+but all bearing the same letters: S.P.E.W. 
+
+“ ‘Spew?” said Harry, picking up a badge and looking 
+at it. “What’s this about?” 
+
+“Not spew,” said Hermione impatiently. “It’s S-P-E-W. 
+Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish 
+Welfare.” 
+
+“Never heard of it,” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, of course you haven’t,” said Hermione briskly, 
+“I’ve only just started it.” 
+
+“Yeah?” said Ron in mild surprise. “How many 
+members have you got?” 
+
+“Well — if you two join — three,” said Hermione. 
+
+“And you think we want to walk around wearing 
+badges saying ‘spew,’ do you?” said Ron. 
+
+“S-P-E-W!” said Hermione hotly. “I was going to put 
+Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical 
+Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal 
+Status — but it wouldn’t fit. So that’s the heading of 
+our manifesto.” 
+
+She brandished the sheaf of parchment at them. 
+
+“I’ve been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf 
+enslavement goes back centuries. I can’t believe no 
+one’s done anything about it before now.” 
+
+“Hermione — open your ears,” said Ron loudly. “They. 
+Like. It. They like being enslaved!” 
+
+
+
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+“Our short-term aims,” said Hermione, speaking even 
+more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she 
+hadn’t heard a word, “are to secure house-elves fair 
+wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims 
+include changing the law about non-wand use, and 
+trying to get an elf into the Department for the 
+Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because 
+they’re shockingly underrepresented.” 
+
+“And how do we do all this?” Harry asked. 
+
+“We start by recruiting members,” said Hermione 
+happily. “I thought two Sickles to join — that buys a 
+badge — and the proceeds can fund our leaflet 
+campaign. You’re treasurer, Ron — I’ve got you a 
+collecting tin upstairs — and Harry, you’re secretary, 
+so you might want to write down everything I’m 
+saying now, as a record of our first meeting.” 
+
+There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at the 
+pair of them, and Harry sat, torn between 
+exasperation at Hermione and amusement at the look 
+on Ron’s face. The silence was broken, not by Ron, 
+who in any case looked as though he was temporarily 
+dumbstruck, but by a soft tap, tap on the window. 
+Harry looked across the now empty common room 
+and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl 
+perched on the windowsill. 
+
+“Hedwig!” he shouted, and he launched himself out of 
+his chair and across the room to pull open the 
+window. 
+
+Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and 
+landed on the table on top of Harry’s predictions. 
+
+“About time!” said Harry, hurrying after her. 
+
+
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+
+“She’s got an answer!” said Ron excitedly, pointing at 
+the grubby piece of parchment tied to Hedwig’s leg. 
+
+Harry hastily untied it and sat down to read, 
+whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto his knee, hooting 
+softly. 
+
+“What does it say?” Hermione asked breathlessly. 
+
+The letter was very short, and looked as though it had 
+been scrawled in a great hurry. Harry read it aloud: 
+
+Harry — 
+
+I’m flying north immediately. This news about your 
+scar is the latest in a series of strange rumors that 
+have reached me here. If it hurts again , go straight to 
+Dumbledore — they’re saying he’s got Mad-Eye out of 
+retirement, which means he’s reading the signs, even if 
+no one else is. 
+
+I’ll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. 
+
+Keep your eyes open, Harry. 
+
+Sirius 
+
+Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione, who stared 
+back at him. 
+
+“He’s flying north?” Hermione whispered. “He’s 
+coming back?” 
+
+“Dumbledore’s reading what signs?” said Ron, looking 
+perplexed. “Harry — what’s up?” 
+
+For Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with 
+his fist, jolting Hedwig out of his lap. 
+
+“I shouldn’t’ve told him!” Harry said furiously. 
+
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+
+
+“What are you on about?” said Ron in surprise. 
+
+
+
+“It’s made him think he’s got to come back!” said 
+Harry, now slamming his fist on the table so that 
+Hedwig landed on the back of Ron’s chair, hooting 
+indignantly. “Coming back, because he thinks I’m in 
+trouble! And there’s nothing wrong with me! And I 
+haven’t got anything for you,” Harry snapped at 
+Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, 
+
+“you’ll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food.” 
+
+Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look and took 
+off for the open window, cuffing him around the head 
+with her outstretched wing as she went. 
+
+“Harry,” Hermione began, in a pacifying sort of voice. 
+
+“I’m going to bed,” said Harry shortly. “See you in the 
+morning.” 
+
+Upstairs in the dormitory he pulled on his pajamas 
+and got into his four-poster, but he didn’t feel 
+remotely tired. 
+
+If Sirius came back and got caught, it would be his, 
+Harry’s, fault. Why hadn’t he kept his mouth shut? A 
+few seconds’ pain and he’d had to blab. ... If he’d just 
+had the sense to keep it to himself. . . . 
+
+He heard Ron come up into the dormitory a short 
+while later, but did not speak to him. For a long time, 
+Harry lay staring up at the dark canopy of his bed. 
+The dormitory was completely silent, and, had he 
+been less preoccupied, Harry would have realized that 
+the absence of Neville’s usual snores meant that he 
+was not the only one lying awake. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+BEAUXBATONS AND DRUMSTRANG 
+
+Early next morning, Harry woke with a plan fully 
+formed in his mind, as though his sleeping brain had 
+been working on it all night. He got up, dressed in the 
+pale dawn light, left the dormitory without waking 
+Ron, and went back down to the deserted common 
+room. Here he took a piece of parchment from the 
+table upon which his Divination homework still lay 
+and wrote the following letter: 
+
+Dear Sirius, 
+
+I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting, I was half 
+asleep when I wrote to you last time. There’s no point 
+coming back, everything’s fine here. Don’t worry about 
+me, my head feels completely normal. 
+
+Harry 
+
+He then climbed out of the portrait hole, up through 
+the silent castle (held up only briefly by Peeves, who 
+tried to overturn a large vase on him halfway along 
+
+
+
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+
+the fourth-floor corridor), finally arriving at the 
+Owlery, which was situated at the top of West Tower. 
+
+The Owlery was a circular stone room, rather cold 
+and drafty, because none of the windows had glass in 
+them. The floor was entirely covered in straw, owl 
+droppings, and the regurgitated skeletons of mice and 
+voles. Hundreds upon hundreds of owls of every 
+breed imaginable were nestled here on perches that 
+rose right up to the top of the tower, nearly all of 
+them asleep, though here and there a round amber 
+eye glared at Harry. He spotted Hedwig nestled 
+between a barn owl and a tawny, and hurried over to 
+her, sliding a little on the dropping-strewn floor. 
+
+It took him a while to persuade her to wake up and 
+then to look at him, as she kept shuffling around on 
+her perch, showing him her tail. She was evidently 
+still furious about his lack of gratitude the previous 
+night. In the end, it was Harry suggesting she might 
+be too tired, and that perhaps he would ask Ron to 
+borrow Pigwidgeon, that made her stick out her leg 
+and allow him to tie the letter to it. 
+
+“Just find him, all right?” Harry said, stroking her 
+back as he carried her on his arm to one of the holes 
+in the wall. “Before the dementors do.” 
+
+She nipped his finger, perhaps rather harder than she 
+would ordinarily have done, but hooted softly in a 
+reassuring sort of way all the same. Then she spread 
+her wings and took off into the sunrise. Harry 
+watched her fly out of sight with the familiar feeling of 
+unease back in his stomach. He had been so sure 
+that Sirius’s reply would alleviate his worries rather 
+than increasing them. 
+
+“That was a lie, Harry,” said Hermione sharply over 
+breakfast, when he told her and Ron what he had 
+
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+
+done. “You didn’t imagine your scar hurting and you 
+know it.” 
+
+“So what?” said Harry. “He’s not going back to 
+Azkaban because of me.” 
+
+“Drop it,” said Ron sharply to Hermione as she 
+opened her mouth to argue some more, and for once, 
+Hermione heeded him, and fell silent. 
+
+Harry did his best not to worry about Sirius over the 
+next couple of weeks. True, he could not stop himself 
+from looking anxiously around every morning when 
+the post owls arrived, nor, late at night before he went 
+to sleep, prevent himself from seeing horrible visions 
+of Sirius, cornered by dementors down some dark 
+London street, but betweentimes he tried to keep his 
+mind off his godfather. He wished he still had 
+Quidditch to distract him; nothing worked so well on 
+a troubled mind as a good, hard training session. On 
+the other hand, their lessons were becoming more 
+difficult and demanding than ever before, particularly 
+Moody’s Defense Against the Dark Arts. 
+
+To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced 
+that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each 
+of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see 
+whether they could resist its effects. 
+
+“But — but you said it’s illegal, Professor,” said 
+Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the 
+desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear 
+space in the middle of the room. “You said — to use it 
+against another human was — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like,” 
+said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione 
+and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. “If 
+you’d rather learn the hard way — when someone’s 
+
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+
+putting it on you so they can control you completely 
+— fine by me. You’re excused. Off you go.” 
+
+He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. 
+Hermione went very pink and muttered something 
+about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Harry 
+and Ron grinned at each other. They knew Hermione 
+would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss such an 
+important lesson. 
+
+Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and 
+put the Imperius Curse upon them. Harry watched 
+as, one by one, his classmates did the most 
+extraordinary things under its influence. Dean 
+Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing 
+the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a 
+squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite 
+astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have 
+been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them 
+seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of 
+them recovered only when Moody had removed it. 
+
+“Potter,” Moody growled, “you next.” 
+
+Harry moved forward into the middle of the 
+classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of 
+desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, 
+and said, “Imperio\” 
+
+It was the most wonderful feeling. Harry felt a floating 
+sensation as every thought and worry in his head was 
+wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, 
+untraceable happiness. He stood there feeling 
+immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone 
+watching him. 
+
+And then he heard Mad-Eye Moody’s voice, echoing in 
+some distant chamber of his empty brain: Jump onto 
+the desk . . . jump onto the desk. . . . 
+
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+
+Harry bent his knees obediently, preparing to spring. 
+Jump onto the desk. ... 
+
+Why, though? Another voice had awoken in the back 
+of his brain. 
+
+Stupid thing to do, really, said the voice. 
+
+Jump onto the desk. ... 
+
+No, I don’t think I will, thanks, said the other voice, a 
+little more firmly ... no, I don’t really want to. ... 
+
+Jump\ NOW 
+
+The next thing Harry felt was considerable pain. He 
+had both jumped and tried to prevent himself from 
+jumping — the result was that he’d smashed 
+headlong into the desk, knocking it over, and, by the 
+feeling in his legs, fractured both his kneecaps. 
+
+“Now, that’s more like it!” growled Moody’s voice, and 
+suddenly, Harry felt the empty, echoing feeling in his 
+head disappear. He remembered exactly what was 
+happening, and the pain in his knees seemed to 
+double. 
+
+“Look at that, you lot ... Potter fought! He fought it, 
+and he damn near beat it! We’ll try that again, Potter, 
+and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, 
+that’s where you see it — very good, Potter, very good 
+indeed! They’ll have trouble controlling you!” 
+
+
+
+“The way he talks,” Harry muttered as he hobbled out 
+of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class an hour 
+later (Moody had insisted on putting Harry through 
+
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+
+
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+his paces four times in a row, until Harry could throw 
+off the curse entirely), “you’d think we were all going 
+to be attacked any second.” 
+
+“Yeah, I know,” said Ron, who was skipping on every 
+alternate step. He had had much more difficulty with 
+the curse than Harry, though Moody assured him the 
+effects would wear off by lunch-time. “Talk about 
+paranoid ...” Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder 
+to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot and 
+went on. “No wonder they were glad to get shot of him 
+at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus 
+what he did to that witch who shouted ‘Boo’ behind 
+him on April Fools’ Day? And when are we supposed 
+to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with 
+everything else we’ve got to do?” 
+
+All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in 
+the amount of work they were required to do this 
+term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the 
+class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of 
+Transfiguration homework she had assigned. 
+
+“You are now entering a most important phase of your 
+magical education!” she told them, her eyes glinting 
+dangerously behind her square spectacles. “Your 
+Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer — ” 
+
+“We don’t take O.W.L.s till fifth year!” said Dean 
+Thomas indignantly. 
+
+“Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the 
+preparation you can get! Miss Granger remains the 
+only person in this class who has managed to turn a 
+hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might 
+remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls 
+up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!” 
+
+
+
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+
+Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed 
+to be trying not to look too pleased with herself. 
+
+Harry and Ron were deeply amused when Professor 
+Trelawney told them that they had received top marks 
+for their homework in their next Divination class. She 
+read out large portions of their predictions, 
+commending them for their unflinching acceptance of 
+the horrors in store for them — but they were less 
+amused when she asked them to do the same thing 
+for the month after next; both of them were running 
+out of ideas for catastrophes. 
+
+Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught 
+History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on 
+the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. 
+Professor Snape was forcing them to research 
+antidotes. They took this one seriously, as he had 
+hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before 
+Christmas to see if their antidote worked. Professor 
+Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in 
+preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms. 
+
+Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast- 
+Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace 
+given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. 
+Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their “project,” 
+suggested that they come down to his hut on 
+alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make 
+notes on their extraordinary behavior. 
+
+“I will not,” said Draco Malfoy flatly when Hagrid had 
+proposed this with the air of Father Christmas pulling 
+an extra- large toy out of his sack. “I see enough of 
+these foul things during lessons, thanks.” 
+
+Hagrid ’s smile faded off his face. 
+
+
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+
+
+“Yeh’ll do wha’yer told,” he growled, “or I’ll be takin’ a 
+leaf outta Professor Moody’s book. ... I hear yeh made 
+a good ferret, Malfoy.” 
+
+The Gryffindors roared with laughter. Malfoy flushed 
+with anger, but apparently the memory of Moody’s 
+punishment was still sufficiently painful to stop him 
+from retorting. Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to 
+the castle at the end of the lesson in high spirits; 
+seeing Hagrid put down Malfoy was particularly 
+satisfying, especially because Malfoy had done his 
+very best to get Hagrid sacked the previous year. 
+
+When they arrived in the entrance hall, they found 
+themselves unable to proceed owing to the large 
+crowd of students congregated there, all milling 
+around a large sign that had been erected at the foot 
+of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of the three, 
+stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them 
+and read the sign aloud to the other two: 
+
+TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT 
+
+The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang 
+will be arriving at 6 o’clock on Friday the 30th of 
+October. Lessons will end half an hour early — 
+
+“Brilliant!” said Harry. “It’s Potions last thing on 
+Friday! Snape won’t have time to poison us all!” 
+
+Students will return their bags and books to their 
+dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to 
+greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast. 
+
+
+
+“Only a week away!” said Ernie Macmillan of 
+Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes 
+
+
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+gleaming. “I wonder if Cedric knows? Think 111 go and 
+tell him. ...” 
+
+
+
+“Cedric?” said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off. 
+
+“Diggory,” said Harry. “He must be entering the 
+tournament.” 
+
+“That idiot, Hogwarts champion?” said Ron as they 
+pushed their way through the chattering crowd 
+toward the staircase. 
+
+“He’s not an idiot. You just don’t like him because he 
+beat Gryffindor at Quidditch,” said Hermione. “I’ve 
+heard he’s a really good student — and he’s a 
+prefect.” 
+
+She spoke as though this settled the matter. 
+
+“You only like him because he’s handsome,” said Ron 
+scathingly. 
+
+“Excuse me, I don’t like people just because they’re 
+handsome!” said Hermione indignantly. 
+
+Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly 
+like “Lockhart\” 
+
+The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a 
+marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. 
+During the following week, there seemed to be only 
+one topic of conversation, no matter where Harry 
+went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumors were flying 
+from student to student like highly contagious germs: 
+who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what 
+the tournament would involve, how the students from 
+Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from 
+themselves. 
+
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+Harry noticed too that the castle seemed to be 
+undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy 
+portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure 
+of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames 
+muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw 
+pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly 
+gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus 
+Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to 
+any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he 
+terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics. 
+
+Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too. 
+
+“Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can’t even 
+perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone 
+from Durmstrang!” Professor McGonagall barked at 
+the end of one particularly difficult lesson, during 
+which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own 
+ears onto a cactus. 
+
+When they went down to breakfast on the morning of 
+the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great 
+Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk 
+banners hung from the walls, each of them 
+representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion 
+for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for 
+Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, 
+and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind 
+the teachers’ table, the largest banner of all bore the 
+Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake 
+united around a large letter H. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down beside Fred and 
+George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most 
+unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else 
+and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to 
+them. 
+
+
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+
+“It’s a bummer, all right,” George was saying gloomily 
+to Fred. “But if he won’t talk to us in person, we’ll 
+have to send him the letter after all. Or we’ll stuff it 
+into his hand. He can’t avoid us forever.” 
+
+“Who’s avoiding you?” said Ron, sitting down next to 
+them. 
+
+“Wish you would,” said Fred, looking irritated at the 
+interruption. 
+
+“What’s a bummer?” Ron asked George. 
+
+“Having a nosy git like you for a brother,” said George. 
+
+“You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament 
+yet?” Harry asked. “Thought any more about trying to 
+enter?” 
+
+“I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen 
+but she wasn’t telling,” said George bitterly. “She just 
+told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my 
+raccoon.” 
+
+“Wonder what the tasks are going to be?” said Ron 
+thoughtfully. “You know, I bet we could do them, 
+Harry. We’ve done dangerous stuff before. ...” 
+
+“Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven’t,” said 
+Fred. “McGonagall says the champions get awarded 
+points according to how well they’ve done the tasks.” 
+
+“Who are the judges?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Well, the Heads of the participating schools are 
+always on the panel,” said Hermione, and everyone 
+looked around at her, rather surprised, “because all 
+three of them were injured during the Tournament of 
+
+
+
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+1792, when a cockatrice the champions were 
+supposed to be catching went on the rampage.” 
+
+She noticed them all looking at her and said, with her 
+usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all 
+the books she had, “It’s all in Hogwarts, A History. 
+Though, of course, that book’s not entirely reliable. A 
+Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more 
+accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective 
+History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier 
+Aspects of the School.” 
+
+“What are you on about?” said Ron, though Harry 
+thought he knew what was coming. 
+
+“ House-elves\” said Hermione, her eyes flashing. “Not 
+once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts, A 
+History mention that we are all colluding in the 
+oppression of a hundred slaves!” 
+
+Harry shook his head and applied himself to his 
+scrambled eggs. His and Ron’s lack of enthusiasm 
+had done nothing whatsoever to curb Hermione ’s 
+determination to pursue justice for house-elves. True, 
+both of them had paid two Sickles for a S.P.E.W. 
+badge, but they had only done it to keep her quiet. 
+Their Sickles had been wasted, however; if anything, 
+they seemed to have made Hermione more vociferous. 
+She had been badgering Harry and Ron ever since, 
+first to wear the badges, then to persuade others to do 
+the same, and she had also taken to rattling around 
+the Gryffindor common room every evening, cornering 
+people and shaking the collecting tin under their 
+noses. 
+
+“You do realize that your sheets are changed, your 
+fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food 
+cooked by a group of magical creatures who are 
+unpaid and enslaved?” she kept saying fiercely. 
+
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+
+Some people, like Neville, had paid up just to stop 
+Hermione from glowering at them. A few seemed 
+mildly interested in what she had to say, but were 
+reluctant to take a more active role in campaigning. 
+Many regarded the whole thing as a joke. 
+
+Ron now rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was 
+flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred 
+became extremely interested in his bacon (both twins 
+had refused to buy a S.P.E.W. badge). George, 
+however, leaned in toward Hermione. 
+
+“Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“No, of course not,” said Hermione curtly, “I hardly 
+think students are supposed to — ” 
+
+“Well, we have,” said George, indicating Fred, “loads 
+of times, to nick food. And we’ve met them, and 
+they’re happy. They think they’ve got the best job in 
+the world — ” 
+
+“That’s because they’re uneducated and 
+brainwashed!” Hermione began hotly, but her next 
+few words were drowned out by the sudden 
+whooshing noise from overhead, which announced 
+the arrival of the post owls. Harry looked up at once, 
+and saw Hedwig soaring toward him. Hermione 
+stopped talking abruptly; she and Ron watched 
+Hedwig anxiously as she fluttered down onto Harry’s 
+shoulder, folded her wings, and held out her leg 
+wearily. 
+
+Harry pulled off Sirius’s reply and offered Hedwig his 
+bacon rinds, which she ate gratefully. Then, checking 
+that Fred and George were safely immersed in further 
+discussions about the Tri-wizard Tournament, Harry 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+read out Sirius’s letter in a whisper to Ron and 
+Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Nice try, Harry. 
+
+I’m back in the country and well hidden. I want you to 
+keep me posted on everything that’s going on at 
+Hog warts. Don’t use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and 
+don’t worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don’t 
+forget what I said about your scar. 
+
+Sirius 
+
+“Why d’you have to keep changing owls?” Ron asked 
+in a low voice. 
+
+“Hedwig’ll attract too much attention,” said Hermione 
+at once. “She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps 
+returning to wherever he’s hiding ... I mean, they’re 
+not native birds, are they?” 
+
+Harry rolled up the letter and slipped it inside his 
+robes, wondering whether he felt more or less worried 
+than before. He supposed that Sirius managing to get 
+back without being caught was something. He 
+couldn’t deny either that the idea that Sirius was 
+much nearer was reassuring; at least he wouldn’t 
+have to wait so long for a response every time he 
+wrote. 
+
+“Thanks, Hedwig,” he said, stroking her. She hooted 
+sleepily, dipped her beak briefly into his goblet of 
+orange juice, then took off again, clearly desperate for 
+a good long sleep in the Owlery. 
+
+There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air 
+that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being 
+much more interested in the arrival that evening of 
+the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even 
+
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+
+Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half 
+an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Harry, 
+
+Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, 
+deposited their bags and books as they had been 
+instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back 
+downstairs into the entrance hall. 
+
+The Heads of Houses were ordering their students 
+into lines. 
+
+“Weasley, straighten your hat,” Professor McGonagall 
+snapped at Ron. “Miss Patil, take that ridiculous 
+thing out of your hair.” 
+
+Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental 
+butterfly from the end of her plait. 
+
+“Follow me, please,” said Professor McGonagall. “First 
+years in front ... no pushing. ...” 
+
+They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the 
+castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling 
+and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already 
+shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry, standing 
+between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from 
+the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering 
+with anticipation among the other first years. 
+
+“Nearly six,” said Ron, checking his watch and then 
+staring down the drive that led to the front gates. 
+“How d’you reckon they’re coming? The train?” 
+
+“I doubt it,” said Hermione. 
+
+“How, then? Broomsticks?” Harry suggested, looking 
+up at the starry sky. 
+
+“I don’t think so ... not from that far away. ...” 
+
+
+
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+“A Portkey?” Ron suggested. “Or they could Apparate 
+— maybe you’re allowed to do it under seventeen 
+wherever they come from?” 
+
+“You can’t Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, 
+how often do I have to tell you?” said Hermione 
+impatiently. 
+
+They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but 
+nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and 
+quite as usual. Harry was starting to feel cold. He 
+wished they’d hurry up. ... Maybe the foreign 
+students were preparing a dramatic entrance. ... He 
+remembered what Mr. Weasley had said back at the 
+campsite before the Quidditch World Cup: “always the 
+same — we can’t resist showing off when we get 
+together. ...” 
+
+And then Dumbledore called out from the back row 
+where he stood with the other teachers — 
+
+“Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation 
+from Beauxbatons approaches!” 
+
+“Where?” said many students eagerly, all looking in 
+different directions. 
+
+“There!” yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest. 
+
+Something large, much larger than a broomstick — 
+or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks — was hurtling 
+across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing 
+larger all the time. 
+
+“It’s a dragon!” shrieked one of the first years, losing 
+her head completely. 
+
+“Don’t be stupid ... it’s a flying house!” said Dennis 
+Creevey. 
+
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+
+Dennis’s guess was closer. ... As the gigantic black 
+shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden 
+Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows 
+hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn 
+carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward 
+them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged 
+horses, all palominos, and each the size of an 
+elephant. 
+
+The front three rows of students drew backward as 
+the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a 
+tremendous speed — then, with an almighty crash 
+that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin 
+fifth year’s foot, the horses’ hooves, larger than dinner 
+plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage 
+landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the 
+golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled 
+large, fiery red eyes. 
+
+Harry just had time to see that the door of the 
+carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden 
+wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened. 
+
+A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the 
+carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with 
+something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of 
+golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then 
+Harry saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging 
+from the inside of the carriage — a shoe the size of a 
+child’s sled — followed, almost immediately, by the 
+largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of 
+the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately 
+explained. A few people gasped. 
+
+Harry had only ever seen one person as large as this 
+woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; he doubted 
+whether there was an inch difference in their heights. 
+Yet somehow — maybe simply because he was used 
+to Hagrid — this woman (now at the foot of the steps, 
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+
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+
+and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) 
+seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped 
+into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was 
+revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; 
+large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky 
+nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at 
+the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to 
+foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals 
+gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers. 
+
+Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following 
+his lead, broke into applause too, many of them 
+standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman. 
+
+Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked 
+forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering 
+hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to 
+bend to kiss it. 
+
+“My dear Madame Maxime,” he said. “Welcome to 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+“Dumbly-dorr,” said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. 
+“I ’ope I find you well?” 
+
+“In excellent form, I thank you,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“My pupils,” said Madame Maxime, waving one of her 
+enormous hands carelessly behind her. 
+
+Harry, whose attention had been focused completely 
+upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a 
+dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their 
+late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were 
+now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were 
+shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their 
+robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of 
+them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves 
+and shawls around their heads. From what Harry 
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+
+could see of them (they were standing in Madame 
+Maxime ’s enormous shadow), they were staring up at 
+Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces. 
+
+“ ’As Karkaroff arrived yet?” Madame Maxime asked. 
+
+“He should be here any moment,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Would you like to wait here and greet him or would 
+you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?” 
+
+“Warm up, I think,” said Madame Maxime. “But ze 
+’orses — ” 
+
+“Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be 
+delighted to take care of them,” said Dumbledore, “the 
+moment he has returned from dealing with a slight 
+situation that has arisen with some of his other — er 
+— charges.” 
+
+“Skrewts,” Ron muttered to Harry, grinning. 
+
+“My steeds require — er — forceful ’andling,” said 
+Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted 
+whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at 
+Hogwarts could be up to the job. “Zey are very strong. 
+
+
+
+“I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job,” 
+said Dumbledore, smiling. 
+
+“Very well,” said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. 
+“Will you please inform zis ’Agrid zat ze ’orses drink 
+only single-malt whiskey?” 
+
+“It will be attended to,” said Dumbledore, also bowing. 
+
+“Come,” said Madame Maxime imperiously to her 
+students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her 
+and her students to pass up the stone steps. 
+
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+
+
+
+“How big d’you reckon Durmstrang’s horses are going 
+to be?” Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around 
+Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Well, if they’re any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid 
+won’t be able to handle them,” said Harry. “That’s if 
+he hasn’t been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder 
+what’s up with them?” 
+
+“Maybe they’ve escaped,” said Ron hopefully. 
+
+“Oh don’t say that,” said Hermione with a shudder. 
+“Imagine that lot loose on the grounds. ...” 
+
+They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the 
+Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing 
+hopefully up at the sky. For a few minutes, the 
+silence was broken only by Madame Maxime’s huge 
+horses snorting and stamping. But then — 
+
+“Can you hear something?” said Ron suddenly. 
+
+Harry listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was 
+drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a 
+muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an 
+immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a 
+riverbed. ... 
+
+“The lake!” yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. 
+“Look at the lake!” 
+
+From their position at the top of the lawns 
+overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the 
+smooth black surface of the water — except that the 
+surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some 
+disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great 
+bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now 
+washing over the muddy banks — and then, out in 
+the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if 
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+
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+
+a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake’s 
+floor. ... 
+
+What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise 
+slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool . . . and then 
+Harry saw the rigging. . . . 
+
+“It’s a mast!” he said to Ron and Hermione. 
+
+Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, 
+gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal 
+look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, 
+and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes 
+looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing 
+noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the 
+turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. 
+A few moments later, they heard the splash of an 
+anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the 
+thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank. 
+
+People were disembarking; they could see their 
+silhouettes passing the lights in the ship’s portholes. 
+All of them, Harry noticed, seemed to be built along 
+the lines of Crabbe and Goyle . . . but then, as they 
+drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light 
+streaming from the entrance hall, he saw that their 
+bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing 
+cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the 
+man who was leading them up to the castle was 
+wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like 
+his hair. 
+
+“Dumbledore!” he called heartily as he walked up the 
+slope. “How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?” 
+
+“Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” 
+Dumbledore replied. 
+
+
+
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+
+Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he 
+stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of 
+the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like 
+Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his 
+goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide 
+his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, 
+he shook hands with both of his own. 
+
+“Dear old Hogwarts,” he said, looking up at the castle 
+and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry 
+noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, 
+which remained cold and shrewd. “How good it is to 
+be here, how good. ... Viktor, come along, into the 
+warmth ... you don’t mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a 
+slight head cold. ...” 
+
+Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As 
+the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a 
+prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He 
+didn’t need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or 
+the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile. 
+
+���Harry — it’s Krum\” 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+t'fyfflapier- l6 
+
+
+
+
+THE GOBLET OF FIRE 
+
+“I don’t believe it!” Ron said, in a stunned voice, as 
+the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind 
+the party from Durmstrang. “Krum, Harry! Viktor 
+Kruml” 
+
+“For heaven’s sake, Ron, he’s only a Quidditch 
+player,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Only a Quidditch player?” Ron said, looking at her as 
+though he couldn’t believe his ears. “Hermione — he’s 
+one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he 
+was still at school!” 
+
+As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of 
+the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, 
+Harry saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the 
+soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of 
+Krum’s head. Several sixth-year girls were frantically 
+searching their pockets as they walked — 
+
+“Oh I don’t believe it, I haven’t got a single quill on me 
+
+?? 
+
+
+
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+
+“D’you think he’d sign my hat in lipstick?” 
+
+
+
+“Really,” Hermione said loftily as they passed the 
+girls, now squabbling over the lipstick. 
+
+“I’m getting his autograph if I can,” said Ron. “You 
+haven’t got a quill, have you, Harry?” 
+
+“Nope, they’re upstairs in my bag,” said Harry. 
+
+They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat 
+down. Ron took care to sit on the side facing the 
+doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang 
+students were still gathered around it, apparently 
+unsure about where they should sit. The students 
+from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw 
+table. They were looking around the Great Hall with 
+glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were 
+still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads. 
+
+“It’s not that cold,” said Hermione defensively. “Why 
+didn’t they bring cloaks?” 
+
+“Over here! Come and sit over here!” Ron hissed. 
+
+“Over here! Hermione, budge up, make a space — ” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Too late,” said Ron bitterly. 
+
+Viktor Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students had 
+settled themselves at the Slytherin table. Harry could 
+see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looking very smug 
+about this. As he watched, Malfoy bent forward to 
+speak to Krum. 
+
+“Yeah, that’s right, smarm up to him, Malfoy,” said 
+Ron scathingly. “I bet Krum can see right through 
+him, though ... bet he gets people fawning over him 
+
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+
+all the time. ... Where d’you reckon they’re going to 
+sleep? We could offer him a space in our dormitory, 
+Harry ... I wouldn’t mind giving him my bed, I could 
+kip on a camp bed.” 
+
+Hermione snorted. 
+
+“They look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot,” 
+said Harry. 
+
+The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy 
+furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with 
+expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking 
+up the golden plates and goblets and examining 
+them, apparently impressed. 
+
+Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding 
+chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in 
+honor of the occasion. Harry was surprised to see 
+that he added four chairs, two on either side of 
+Dumbledore’s. 
+
+“But there are only two extra people,” Harry said. 
+“Why’s Filch putting out four chairs, who else is 
+coming?” 
+
+“Eh?” said Ron vaguely. He was still staring avidly at 
+Krum. 
+
+When all the students had entered the Hall and 
+settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, 
+filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last 
+in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor 
+Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their 
+headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons 
+leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students 
+laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite 
+unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their 
+seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on 
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+Dumbledore ’s left-hand side. Dumbledore remained 
+standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall. 
+
+“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and — 
+most particularly — guests,” said Dumbledore, 
+beaming around at the foreign students. “I have great 
+pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and 
+trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and 
+enjoyable.” 
+
+One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler 
+around her head gave what was unmistakably a 
+derisive laugh. 
+
+“No one’s making you stay!” Hermione whispered, 
+bristling at her. 
+
+“The tournament will be officially opened at the end of 
+the feast,” said Dumbledore. “I now invite you all to 
+eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!” 
+
+He sat down, and Harry saw Karkaroff lean forward at 
+once and engage him in conversation. 
+
+The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. 
+The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled 
+out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes 
+in front of them than Harry had ever seen, including 
+several that were definitely foreign. 
+
+“What’s that?” said Ron, pointing at a large dish of 
+some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large 
+steak-and-kidney pudding. 
+
+“Bouillabaisse,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Bless you,” said Ron. 
+
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+“It’s French,” said Hermione, “I had it on holiday 
+summer before last. It’s very nice.” 
+
+“I’ll take your word for it,” said Ron, helping himself 
+to black pudding. 
+
+The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded 
+than usual, even though there were barely twenty 
+additional students there; perhaps it was because 
+their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly 
+against the black of the Hogwarts’ robes. Now that 
+they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang 
+students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep 
+bloodred. 
+
+Hagrid sidled into the Hall through a door behind the 
+staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. 
+He slid into his seat at the end and waved at Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione with a very heavily bandaged 
+hand. 
+
+“Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?” Harry called. 
+
+“Thrivin’,” Hagrid called back happily. 
+
+“Yeah, I’ll just bet they are,” said Ron quietly. “Looks 
+like they’ve finally found a food they like, doesn’t it? 
+Hagrid ’s fingers.” 
+
+At that moment, a voice said, “Excuse me, are you 
+wanting ze bouillabaisse?” 
+
+It was the girl from Beauxbatons who had laughed 
+during Dumbledore’s speech. She had finally removed 
+her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell 
+almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, 
+and very white, even teeth. 
+
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+Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his 
+mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint 
+gurgling noise. 
+
+“Yeah, have it,” said Harry, pushing the dish toward 
+the girl. 
+
+“You ’ave finished wiz it?” 
+
+“Yeah,” Ron said breathlessly. “Yeah, it was 
+excellent.” 
+
+The girl picked up the dish and carried it carefully off 
+to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling at the 
+girl as though he had never seen one before. Harry 
+started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog Ron back 
+to his senses. 
+
+“She’s a veelcd” he said hoarsely to Harry. 
+
+“Of course she isn’t!” said Hermione tartly. “I don’t see 
+anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!” 
+
+But she wasn’t entirely right about that. As the girl 
+crossed the Hall, many boys’ heads turned, and some 
+of them seemed to have become temporarily 
+speechless, just like Ron. 
+
+“I’m telling you, that’s not a normal girl!” said Ron, 
+leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. 
+“They don’t make them like that at Hogwarts!” 
+
+“They make them okay at Hogwarts,” said Harry 
+without thinking. Cho happened to be sitting only a 
+few places away from the girl with the silvery hair. 
+
+“When you’ve both put your eyes back in,” said 
+Hermione briskly, “you’ll be able to see who’s just 
+arrived.” 
+
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+She was pointing up at the staff table. The two 
+remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo 
+Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff’s 
+other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy’s boss, was next 
+to Madame Maxime. 
+
+“What are they doing here?” said Harry in surprise. 
+
+“They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn’t 
+they?” said Hermione. “I suppose they wanted to be 
+here to see it start.” 
+
+When the second course arrived they noticed a 
+number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an 
+odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it 
+carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be 
+clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who 
+looked like a veela appeared to have eaten enough, 
+however, and did not come over to get it. 
+
+Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, 
+Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of 
+tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Harry felt a slight 
+thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming. 
+Several seats down from them, Fred and George were 
+leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great 
+concentration. 
+
+“The moment has come,” said Dumbledore, smiling 
+around at the sea of upturned faces. “The Triwizard 
+Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few 
+words of explanation before we bring in the casket — ” 
+
+“The what?” Harry muttered. 
+
+Ron shrugged. 
+
+“ — just to clarify the procedure that we will be 
+following this year. But first, let me introduce, for 
+
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+those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, 
+Head of the Department of International Magical 
+Cooperation” — there was a smattering of polite 
+applause — “and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the 
+Department of Magical Games and Sports.” 
+
+There was a much louder round of applause for 
+Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his 
+fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so 
+much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial 
+wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or 
+wave when his name was announced. Remembering 
+him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, 
+Harry thought he looked strange in wizard’s robes. 
+
+His toothbrush mustache and severe parting looked 
+very odd next to Dumbledore’s long white hair and 
+beard. 
+
+“Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly 
+over the last few months on the arrangements for the 
+Triwizard Tournament,” Dumbledore continued, “and 
+they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and 
+Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the 
+champions’ efforts.” 
+
+At the mention of the word “champions,” the 
+attentiveness of the listening students seemed to 
+sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their 
+sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, “The 
+casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch.” 
+
+Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner 
+of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a 
+great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked 
+extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from 
+the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood 
+on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his 
+head hardly rose above anyone else’s. 
+
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+“The instructions for the tasks the champions will 
+face this year have already been examined by Mr. 
+Crouch and Mr. Bagman,” said Dumbledore as Filch 
+placed the chest carefully on the table before him, 
+
+“and they have made the necessary arrangements for 
+each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced 
+throughout the school year, and they will test the 
+champions in many different ways . . . their magical 
+prowess — their daring — their powers of deduction 
+— and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.” 
+
+At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so 
+absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing. 
+
+“As you know, three champions compete in the 
+tournament,” Dumbledore went on calmly, “one from 
+each of the participating schools. They will be marked 
+on how well they perform each of the Tournament 
+tasks and the champion with the highest total after 
+task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions 
+will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of 
+Fire.” 
+
+Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three 
+times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked 
+slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled 
+out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have 
+been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the 
+brim with dancing blue-white flames. 
+
+Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet 
+carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible 
+to everyone in the Hall. 
+
+“Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion 
+must write their name and school clearly upon a slip 
+of parchment and drop it into the goblet,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Aspiring champions have twenty-four 
+hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow 
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+night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of 
+the three it has judged most worthy to represent their 
+schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall 
+tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those 
+wishing to compete. 
+
+“To ensure that no underage student yields to 
+temptation,” said Dumbledore, “I will be drawing an 
+Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been 
+placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of 
+seventeen will be able to cross this line. 
+
+“Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to 
+compete that this tournament is not to be entered 
+into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by 
+the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the 
+tournament through to the end. The placing of your 
+name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical 
+contract. There can be no change of heart once you 
+have become a champion. Please be very sure, 
+therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to 
+play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, 
+
+I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all.” 
+
+“An Age Line!” Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as 
+they all made their way across the Hall to the doors 
+into the entrance hall. “Well, that should be fooled by 
+an Aging Potion, shouldn’t it? And once your name’s 
+in that goblet, you’re laughing — it can’t tell whether 
+you’re seventeen or not!” 
+
+“But I don’t think anyone under seventeen will stand 
+a chance,” said Hermione, “we just haven’t learned 
+enough ...” 
+
+“Speak for yourself,” said George shortly. “You’ll try 
+and get in, won’t you, Harry?” 
+
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+Harry thought briefly of Dumbledore ’s insistence that 
+nobody under seventeen should submit their name, 
+but then the wonderful picture of himself winning the 
+Triwizard Tournament filled his mind again. ... He 
+wondered how angry Dumbledore would be if 
+someone younger than seventeen did find a way to get 
+over the Age Line. ... 
+
+“Where is he?” said Ron, who wasn’t listening to a 
+word of this conversation, but looking through the 
+crowd to see what had become of Krum. “Dumbledore 
+didn’t say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, 
+did he?” 
+
+But this query was answered almost instantly; they 
+were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff 
+had just bustled up to his students. 
+
+“Back to the ship, then,” he was saying. “Viktor, how 
+are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send 
+for some mulled wine from the kitchens?” 
+
+Harry saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs 
+back on. 
+
+“Professor, I vood like some vine,” said one of the 
+other Durmstrang boys hopefully. 
+
+“I wasn’t offering it to you, Poliakoff,” snapped 
+Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing in an 
+instant. “I notice you have dribbled food all down the 
+front of your robes again, disgusting boy — ” 
+
+Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the 
+doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry stopped to let him 
+walk through first. 
+
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+“Thank you,” said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at 
+him. 
+
+And then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to 
+Harry and stared at him as though he couldn’t believe 
+his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from 
+Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff s eyes 
+moved slowly up Harry’s face and fixed upon his scar. 
+The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at 
+Harry too. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw 
+comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The boy 
+with food all down his front nudged the girl next to 
+him and pointed openly at Harry’s forehead. 
+
+“Yeah, that’s Harry Potter,” said a growling voice from 
+behind them. 
+
+Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody 
+was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his 
+magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang 
+headmaster. 
+
+The color drained from Karkaroff’s face as Harry 
+watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came 
+over him. 
+
+“You!” he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he 
+was really seeing him. 
+
+“Me,” said Moody grimly. “And unless you’ve got 
+anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want 
+to move. You’re blocking the doorway.” 
+
+It was true; half the students in the Hall were now 
+waiting behind them, looking over one another’s 
+shoulders to see what was causing the holdup. 
+
+Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his 
+students away with him. Moody watched him until he 
+
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+was out of sight, his magical eye fixed upon his back, 
+a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face. 
+
+
+
+As the next day was Saturday, most students would 
+normally have breakfasted late. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione, however, were not alone in rising much 
+earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they 
+went down into the entrance hall, they saw about 
+twenty people milling around it, some of them eating 
+toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been 
+placed in the center of the hall on the stool that 
+normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had 
+been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet 
+around it in every direction. 
+
+“Anyone put their name in yet?” Ron asked a third- 
+year girl eagerly. 
+
+“All the Durmstrang lot,” she replied. “But I haven’t 
+seen anyone from Hogwarts yet.” 
+
+“Bet some of them put it in last night after we’d all 
+gone to bed,” said Harry. “I would’ve if it had been me 
+... wouldn’t have wanted everyone watching. What if 
+the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?” 
+
+Someone laughed behind Harry. Turning, he saw 
+Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the 
+staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited. 
+
+“Done it,” Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione. “Just taken it.” 
+
+“What?” said Ron. 
+
+“The Aging Potion, dung brains,” said Fred. 
+
+
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+“One drop each,” said George, rubbing his hands 
+together with glee. “We only need to be a few months 
+older.” 
+
+
+
+“We’re going to split the thousand Galleons between 
+the three of us if one of us wins,” said Lee, grinning 
+broadly. 
+
+“I’m not sure this is going to work, you know,” said 
+Hermione warningly “I’m sure Dumbledore will have 
+thought of this.” 
+
+Fred, George, and Lee ignored her. 
+
+“Ready?” Fred said to the other two, quivering with 
+excitement. “C’mon, then — I’ll go first — ” 
+
+Harry watched, fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of 
+parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred 
+Weasley — Hog warts. Fred walked right up to the 
+edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes 
+like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with 
+the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon 
+him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line. 
+
+For a split second Harry thought it had worked — 
+George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of 
+triumph and leapt after Fred — but next moment, 
+there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were 
+hurled out of the golden circle as though they had 
+been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed 
+painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to 
+add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, 
+and both of them sprouted identical long white 
+beards. 
+
+The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and 
+George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet 
+and taken a good look at each other’s beards. 
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+“I did warn you,” said a deep, amused voice, and 
+everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming 
+out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, 
+his eyes twinkling. “I suggest you both go up to 
+Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss 
+Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of 
+Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves 
+up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their 
+beards is anything like as fine as yours.” 
+
+Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, 
+accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter, 
+and Harry, Ron, and Hermione, also chortling, went 
+in to breakfast. 
+
+The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this 
+morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was 
+fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while 
+hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every 
+corner. Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus, 
+who were discussing those Hogwarts students of 
+seventeen or over who might be entering. 
+
+“There’s a rumor going around that Warrington got up 
+early and put his name in,” Dean told Harry. “That 
+big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth.” 
+
+Harry, who had played Quidditch against Warrington, 
+shook his head in disgust. 
+
+“We can’t have a Slytherin champion!” 
+
+“And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory,” 
+said Seamus contemptuously. “But I wouldn’t have 
+thought he’d have wanted to risk his good looks.” 
+
+“Listen!” said Hermione suddenly. 
+
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+People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They all 
+swiveled around in their seats and saw Angelina 
+Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an 
+embarrassed sort of way. A tall black girl who played 
+Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina 
+came over to them, sat down, and said, “Well, I’ve 
+done it! Just put my name in!” 
+
+“You’re kidding!” said Ron, looking impressed. 
+
+“Are you seventeen, then?” asked Harry. 
+
+“ ’Course she is, can’t see a beard, can you?” said 
+Ron. 
+
+“I had my birthday last week,” said Angelina. 
+
+“Well, I’m glad someone from Gryffindor’s entering,” 
+said Hermione. “I really hope you get it, Angelina!” 
+
+“Thanks, Hermione,” said Angelina, smiling at her. 
+
+“Yeah, better you than Pretty-Boy Diggory,” said 
+Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their 
+table to scowl heavily at him. 
+
+“What’re we going to do today, then?” Ron asked 
+Harry and Hermione when they had finished 
+breakfast and were leaving the Great Hall. 
+
+“We haven’t been down to visit Hagrid yet,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Okay,” said Ron, “just as long as he doesn’t ask us to 
+donate a few fingers to the skrewts.” 
+
+A look of great excitement suddenly dawned on 
+Hermione ’s face. 
+
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+“I’ve just realized — I haven’t asked Hagrid to join 
+S.P.E.W. yet!” she said brightly. “Wait for me, will 
+you, while I nip upstairs and get the badges?” 
+
+“What is it with her?” said Ron, exasperated, as 
+Hermione ran away up the marble staircase. 
+
+“Hey, Ron,” said Harry suddenly. “It’s your friend ...” 
+
+The students from Beauxbatons were coming through 
+the front doors from the grounds, among them, the 
+veela-girl. Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire 
+stood back to let them pass, watching eagerly. 
+
+Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students 
+and organized them into a line. One by one, the 
+Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line 
+and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue- 
+white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned 
+briefly red and emitted sparks. 
+
+“What d’you reckon’ll happen to the ones who aren’t 
+chosen?” Ron muttered to Harry as the veela-girl 
+dropped her parchment into the Goblet of Fire. 
+“Reckon they’ll go back to school, or hang around to 
+watch the tournament?” 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry. “Hang around, I suppose. ... 
+Madame Maxime’s staying to judge, isn’t she?” 
+
+When all the Beauxbatons students had submitted 
+their names, Madame Maxime led them back out of 
+the hall and out onto the grounds again. 
+
+“Where are they sleeping, then?” said Ron, moving 
+toward the front doors and staring after them. 
+
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+A loud rattling noise behind them announced 
+Hermione’s reappearance with the box of S.P.E.W. 
+badges. 
+
+“Oh good, hurry up,” said Ron, and he jumped down 
+the stone steps, keeping his eyes on the back of the 
+veela-girl, who was now halfway across the lawn with 
+Madame Maxime. 
+
+As they neared Hagrid’s cabin on the edge of the 
+Forbidden Forest, the mystery of the Beauxbatons’ 
+sleeping quarters was solved. The gigantic powder- 
+blue carriage in which they had arrived had been 
+parked two hundred yards from Hagrid’s front door, 
+and the students were climbing back inside it. The 
+elephantine flying horses that had pulled the carriage 
+were now grazing in a makeshift paddock alongside it. 
+
+Harry knocked on Hagrid’s door, and Fang’s booming 
+barks answered instantly 
+
+“ ’Bout time!” said Hagrid, when he’d flung open the 
+door. “Thought you lot’d forgotten where I live!” 
+
+“We’ve been really busy, Hag — ” Hermione started to 
+say, but then she stopped dead, looking up at Hagrid, 
+apparently lost for words. 
+
+Hagrid was wearing his best (and very horrible) hairy 
+brown suit, plus a checked yellow-and-orange tie. 
+
+This wasn’t the worst of it, though; he had evidently 
+tried to tame his hair, using large quantities of what 
+appeared to be axle grease. It was now slicked down 
+into two bunches — perhaps he had tried a ponytail 
+like Bill’s, but found he had too much hair. The look 
+didn’t really suit Hagrid at all. For a moment, 
+Hermione goggled at him, then, obviously deciding 
+not to comment, she said, “Erm — where are the 
+skrewts?” 
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+“Out by the pumpkin patch,” said Hagrid happily. 
+“They’re gettin’ massive, mus’ be nearly three foot 
+long now. On’y trouble is, they’ve started killin’ each 
+other.” 
+
+“Oh no, really?” said Hermione, shooting a repressive 
+look at Ron, who, staring at Hagrid’s odd hairstyle, 
+had just opened his mouth to say something about it. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid sadly. “ ’S’ okay, though, I’ve got 
+’em in separate boxes now. Still got abou’ twenty.” 
+
+“Well, that’s lucky,” said Ron. Hagrid missed the 
+sarcasm. 
+
+Hagrid’s cabin comprised a single room, in one corner 
+of which was a gigantic bed covered in a patchwork 
+quilt. A similarly enormous wooden table and chairs 
+stood in front of the fire beneath the quantity of cured 
+hams and dead birds hanging from the ceiling. They 
+sat down at the table while Hagrid started to make 
+tea, and were soon immersed in yet more discussion 
+of the Triwizard Tournament. Hagrid seemed quite as 
+excited about it as they were. 
+
+“You wait,” he said, grinning. “You jus’ wait. Yer going 
+ter see some stuff yeh’ve never seen before. Firs’ task 
+... ah, but I’m not supposed ter say.” 
+
+“Go on, Hagrid!” Harry, Ron, and Hermione urged 
+him, but he just shook his head, grinning. 
+
+“I don’ want ter spoil it fer yeh,” said Hagrid. “But it’s 
+gonna be spectacular, I’ll tell yeh that. Them 
+champions ’re going ter have their work cut out. Never 
+thought I’d live ter see the Triwizard Tournament 
+played again!” 
+
+
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+They ended up having lunch with Hagrid, though they 
+didn’t eat much — Hagrid had made what he said was 
+a beef casserole, but after Hermione unearthed a 
+large talon in hers, she, Harry, and Ron rather lost 
+their appetites. However, they enjoyed themselves 
+trying to make Hagrid tell them what the tasks in the 
+tournament were going to be, speculating which of 
+the entrants were likely to be selected as champions, 
+and wondering whether Fred and George were 
+beardless yet. 
+
+A light rain had started to fall by midafternoon; it was 
+very cozy sitting by the fire, listening to the gentle 
+patter of the drops on the window, watching Hagrid 
+darning his socks and arguing with Hermione about 
+house-elves — for he flatly refused to join S.P.E.W. 
+when she showed him her badges. 
+
+“It’d be doin’ ’em an unkindness, Hermione,�� he said 
+gravely, threading a massive bone needle with thick 
+yellow yarn. “It’s in their nature ter look after 
+humans, that’s what they like, see? Yeh’d be makin’ 
+’em unhappy ter take away their work, an’ insultin’ 
+’em if yeh tried ter pay ’em.” 
+
+“But Harry set Dobby free, and he was over the moon 
+about it!” said Hermione. “And we heard he’s asking 
+for wages now!” 
+
+“Yeah, well, yeh get weirdos in every breed. I’m not 
+sayin’ there isn’t the odd elf who’d take freedom, but 
+yeh’ll never persuade most of ’em ter do it — no, 
+nothin’ doin’, Hermione.” 
+
+Hermione looked very cross indeed and stuffed her 
+box of badges back into her cloak pocket. 
+
+By half past five it was growing dark, and Ron, Harry, 
+and Hermione decided it was time to get back up to 
+
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+the castle for the Halloween feast — and, more 
+important, the announcement of the school 
+champions. 
+
+“I’ll come with yeh,” said Hagrid, putting away his 
+darning. “Jus’ give us a sec.” 
+
+Hagrid got up, went across to the chest of drawers 
+beside his bed, and began searching for something 
+inside it. They didn’t pay too much attention until a 
+truly horrible smell reached their nostrils. Coughing, 
+Ron said, “Hagrid, what’s that?” 
+
+“Eh?” said Hagrid, turning around with a large bottle 
+in his hand. “Don’ yeh like it?” 
+
+“Is that aftershave?” said Hermione in a slightly 
+choked voice. 
+
+“Er — eau de cologne,” Hagrid muttered. He was 
+blushing. “Maybe it’s a bit much,” he said gruffly. “I’ll 
+go take it off, hang on . . . 
+
+He stumped out of the cabin, and they saw him 
+washing himself vigorously in the water barrel outside 
+the window. 
+
+“Eau de cologne?” said Hermione in amazement. 
+“Hagrid?” 
+
+“And what’s with the hair and the suit?” said Harry in 
+an undertone. 
+
+“Look!” said Ron suddenly, pointing out of the 
+window. 
+
+Hagrid had just straightened up and turned ’round. If 
+he had been blushing before, it was nothing to what 
+he was doing now. Getting to their feet very 
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+cautiously, so that Hagrid wouldn’t spot them, Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione peered through the window and 
+saw that Madame Maxime and the Beauxbatons 
+students had just emerged from their carriage, clearly 
+about to set off for the feast too. They couldn’t hear 
+what Hagrid was saying, but he was talking to 
+Madame Maxime with a rapt, misty-eyed expression 
+Harry had only ever seen him wear once before — 
+when he had been looking at the baby dragon, 
+
+Norbert. 
+
+“He’s going up to the castle with her!” said Hermione 
+indignantly. “I thought he was waiting for us!” 
+
+Without so much as a backward glance at his cabin, 
+Hagrid was trudging off up the grounds with Madame 
+Maxime, the Beauxbatons students following in their 
+wake, jogging to keep up with their enormous strides. 
+
+“He fancies her!” said Ron incredulously. “Well, if they 
+end up having children, they’ll be setting a world 
+record — bet any baby of theirs would weigh about a 
+ton.” 
+
+They let themselves out of the cabin and shut the 
+door behind them. It was surprisingly dark outside. 
+Drawing their cloaks more closely around themselves, 
+they set off up the sloping lawns. 
+
+“Ooh it’s them, look!” Hermione whispered. 
+
+The Durmstrang party was walking up toward the 
+castle from the lake. Viktor Krum was walking side by 
+side with Karkaroff, and the other Durmstrang 
+students were straggling along behind them. Ron 
+watched Krum excitedly, but Krum did not look 
+around as he reached the front doors a little ahead of 
+Hermione, Ron, and Harry and proceeded through 
+them. 
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+When they entered the candlelit Great Hall it was 
+almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was 
+now standing in front of Dumbledore ’s empty chair at 
+the teachers’ table. Fred and George — clean-shaven 
+again — seemed to have taken their disappointment 
+fairly well. 
+
+“Hope it’s Angelina,” said Fred as Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione sat down. 
+
+“So do I!” said Hermione breathlessly. “Well, we’ll 
+soon know!” 
+
+The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than 
+usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in 
+two days, Harry didn’t seem to fancy the 
+extravagantly prepared food as much as he would 
+have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging 
+by the constantly craning necks, the impatient 
+expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the 
+standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished 
+eating yet, Harry simply wanted the plates to clear, 
+and to hear who had been selected as champions. 
+
+At long last, the golden plates returned to their 
+original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in 
+the level of noise within the Hall, which died away 
+almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On 
+either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame 
+Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. 
+Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various 
+students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite 
+uninterested, almost bored. 
+
+“Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision,” 
+said Dumbledore. “I estimate that it requires one 
+more minute. Now, when the champions’ names are 
+called, I would ask them please to come up to the top 
+of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through 
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+into the next chamber” — he indicated the door 
+behind the staff table — “where they will be receiving 
+their first instructions.” 
+
+He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave 
+with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the 
+carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them 
+into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now 
+shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, 
+the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames 
+almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, 
+waiting. ... A few people kept checking their watches. 
+
+
+
+“Any second,” Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away 
+from Harry. 
+
+The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red 
+again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a 
+tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of 
+parchment fluttered out of it — the whole room 
+gasped. 
+
+Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held 
+it at arm’s length, so that he could read it by the light 
+of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white. 
+
+“The champion for Durmstrang,” he read, in a strong, 
+clear voice, “will be Viktor Krum.” 
+
+“No surprises there!” yelled Ron as a storm of 
+applause and cheering swept the Hall. Harry saw 
+Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch 
+up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along 
+the staff table, and disappeared through the door into 
+the next chamber. 
+
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+“Bravo, Viktor!” boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that 
+everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. 
+“Knew you had it in you!” 
+
+The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone’s 
+attention was focused again on the goblet, which, 
+seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece 
+of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames. 
+
+“The champion for Beauxbatons,” said Dumbledore, 
+
+“is Fleur Delacour!” 
+
+“It’s her, Ron!” Harry shouted as the girl who so 
+resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook 
+back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up 
+between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. 
+
+“Oh look, they’re all disappointed,” Hermione said 
+over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the 
+Beauxbatons party. “Disappointed” was a bit of an 
+understatement, Harry thought. Two of the girls who 
+had not been selected had dissolved into tears and 
+were sobbing with their heads on their arms. 
+
+When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side 
+chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a 
+silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste 
+it. The Hogwarts champion next ... 
+
+And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks 
+showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into 
+the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third 
+piece of parchment. 
+
+“The Hogwarts champion,” he called, “is Cedric 
+Diggory!” 
+
+“No!” said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except 
+Harry; the uproar from the next table was too great. 
+
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+Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, 
+screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way 
+past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward 
+the chamber behind the teachers’ table. Indeed, the 
+applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some 
+time before Dumbledore could make himself heard 
+again. 
+
+“Excellent!” Dumbledore called happily as at last the 
+tumult died down. “Well, we now have our three 
+champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, 
+including the remaining students from Beauxbatons 
+and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce 
+of support you can muster. By cheering your 
+champion on, you will contribute in a very real — ” 
+
+But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it 
+was apparent to everybody what had distracted him. 
+
+The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. 
+Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot 
+suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another 
+piece of parchment. 
+
+Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a 
+long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out 
+and stared at the name written upon it. There was a 
+long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the 
+slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at 
+Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat 
+and read out — 
+
+“ Harry Potter.” 
+
+
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+THE FOUR CHAMPIONS 
+
+Harry sat there, aware that every head in the Great 
+Hall had turned to look at him. He was stunned. He 
+felt numb. He was surely dreaming. He had not heard 
+correctly. 
+
+There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry 
+bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were 
+standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, 
+frozen, in his seat. 
+
+Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to 
+her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor 
+Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor 
+Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning 
+slightly. 
+
+Harry turned to Ron and Hermione; beyond them, he 
+saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, 
+openmouthed. 
+
+“I didn’t put my name in,” Harry said blankly. “You 
+know I didn’t.” 
+
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+Both of them stared just as blankly back. 
+
+At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had 
+straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“Harry Potter!” he called again. “Harry! Up here, if you 
+please!” 
+
+“Go on,” Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight 
+push. 
+
+Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, 
+and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between 
+the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an 
+immensely long walk; the top table didn’t seem to be 
+getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds 
+and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were 
+a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. 
+After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front 
+of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers 
+upon him. 
+
+“Well ... through the door, Harry,” said Dumbledore. 
+He wasn’t smiling. 
+
+Harry moved off along the teachers’ table. Hagrid was 
+seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or 
+wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He 
+looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as 
+he passed like everyone else. Harry went through the 
+door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a 
+smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and 
+wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace 
+opposite him. 
+
+The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he 
+entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame 
+of her picture and into the one next to it, which 
+
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+contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The 
+wizened witch started whispering in his ear. 
+
+Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour 
+were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely 
+impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, 
+hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the 
+mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric 
+was standing with his hands behind his back, staring 
+into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when 
+Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, 
+silvery hair. 
+
+“What is it?” she said. “Do zey want us back in ze 
+Hall?” 
+
+She thought he had come to deliver a message. Harry 
+didn’t know how to explain what had just happened. 
+He just stood there, looking at the three champions. It 
+struck him how very tall all of them were. 
+
+There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and 
+Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the 
+arm and led him forward. 
+
+“Extraordinary!” he muttered, squeezing Harry’s arm. 
+“Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen ... lady,” he 
+added, approaching the fireside and addressing the 
+other three. “May I introduce — incredible though it 
+may seem — the fourth Triwizard champion?” 
+
+Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened 
+as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked nonplussed. He 
+looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as 
+though sure he must have misheard what Bagman 
+had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, 
+smiling, and said, “Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester 
+Bagman.” 
+
+
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+“Joke?” Bagman repeated, bewildered. “No, no, not at 
+all! Harry’s name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!” 
+
+Krum’s thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was 
+still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned. 
+
+“But evidently zair ’as been a mistake,” she said 
+contemptuously to Bagman. “ ’E cannot compete. ’E is 
+too young.” 
+
+“Well ... it is amazing,” said Bagman, rubbing his 
+smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. “But, as you 
+know, the age restriction was only imposed this year 
+as an extra safety measure. And as his name’s come 
+out of the goblet ... I mean, I don’t think there can be 
+any ducking out at this stage. ... It’s down in the 
+rules, you’re obliged ... Harry will just have to do the 
+best he — ” 
+
+The door behind them opened again, and a large 
+group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, 
+followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, 
+Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and 
+Professor Snape. Harry heard the buzzing of the 
+hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, 
+before Professor McGonagall closed the door. 
+
+“Madame Maxime!” said Fleur at once, striding over to 
+her headmistress. “Zey are saying zat zis little boy is 
+to compete also!” 
+
+Somewhere under Harry’s numb disbelief he felt a 
+ripple of anger. Little boy ? 
+
+Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, 
+and considerable, height. The top of her handsome 
+head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her 
+gigantic black-satin bosom swelled. 
+
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+“What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?” she said 
+imperiously. 
+
+“I’d rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore,” 
+said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely 
+smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. “Two 
+Hogwarts champions? I don’t remember anyone 
+telling me the host school is allowed two champions 
+— or have I not read the rules carefully enough?” 
+
+He gave a short and nasty laugh. 
+
+“C’est impossible,” said Madame Maxime, whose 
+enormous hand with its many superb opals was 
+resting upon Fleur’s shoulder. “ ’Ogwarts cannot ’ave 
+two champions. It is most injust.” 
+
+“We were under the impression that your Age Line 
+would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore,” 
+said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though 
+his eyes were colder than ever. “Otherwise, we would, 
+of course, have brought along a wider selection of 
+candidates from our own schools.” 
+
+“It’s no one’s fault but Potter’s, Karkaroff,” said Snape 
+softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. “Don’t 
+go blaming Dumbledore for Potter’s determination to 
+break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he 
+arrived here — ” 
+
+“Thank you, Severus,” said Dumbledore firmly, and 
+Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted 
+malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair. 
+
+Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at 
+Harry, who looked right back at him, trying to discern 
+the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon 
+spectacles. 
+
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+“Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, 
+Harry?” he asked calmly. 
+
+“No,” said Harry. He was very aware of everybody 
+watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of 
+impatient disbelief in the shadows. 
+
+“Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet 
+of Fire for you?” said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring 
+Snape. 
+
+“No,” said Harry vehemently. 
+
+“Ah, but of course ’e is lying!” cried Madame Maxime. 
+Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling. 
+
+“He could not have crossed the Age Line,” said 
+Professor McGonagall sharply. “I am sure we are all 
+agreed on that — ” 
+
+“Dumbly-dorr must ’ave made a mistake wiz ze line,” 
+said Madame Maxime, shrugging. 
+
+“It is possible, of course,” said Dumbledore politely 
+
+“Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not 
+make a mistake!” said Professor McGonagall angrily. 
+“Really, what nonsense! Harry could not have crossed 
+the line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore 
+believes that he did not persuade an older student to 
+do it for him, I’m sure that should be good enough for 
+everybody else!” 
+
+She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape. 
+
+“Mr. Crouch ... Mr. Bagman,” said Karkaroff, his voice 
+unctuous once more, “you are our — er — objective 
+judges. Surely you will agree that this is most 
+irregular?” 
+
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+Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his 
+handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was 
+standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face 
+half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the 
+half darkness making him look much older, giving 
+him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, 
+however, it was in his usual curt voice. 
+
+“We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly 
+that those people whose names come out of the 
+Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the 
+tournament.” 
+
+“Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front,” said 
+Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and 
+Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now 
+closed. 
+
+“I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of 
+my students,” said Karkaroff. He had dropped his 
+unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a 
+very ugly look indeed. “You will set up the Goblet of 
+Fire once more, and we will continue adding names 
+until each school has two champions. It’s only fair, 
+Dumbledore.” 
+
+“But Karkaroff, it doesn’t work like that,” said 
+Bagman. “The Goblet of Fire’s just gone out — it won’t 
+reignite until the start of the next tournament — ” 
+
+“ — in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be 
+competing!” exploded Karkaroff. “After all our 
+meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little 
+expected something of this nature to occur! I have 
+half a mind to leave now!” 
+
+“Empty threat, Karkaroff,” growled a voice from near 
+the door. “You can’t leave your champion now. He’s 
+got to compete. They’ve all got to compete. Binding 
+
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+magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, 
+eh?” 
+
+
+
+Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward 
+the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a 
+loud clunk. 
+
+“Convenient?” said Karkaroff. “I’m afraid I don’t 
+understand you, Moody.” 
+
+Harry could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as 
+though what Moody was saying was barely worth his 
+notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled 
+themselves into fists. 
+
+“Don’t you?” said Moody quietly. “It’s very simple, 
+Karkaroff. Someone put Potter’s name in that goblet 
+knowing he’d have to compete if it came out.” 
+
+“Evidently, someone ’oo wished to give ’Ogwarts two 
+bites at ze apple!” said Madame Maxime. 
+
+“I quite agree, Madame Maxime,” said Karkaroff, 
+bowing to her. “I shall be lodging complaints with the 
+Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation 
+of Wizards — ” 
+
+“If anyone’s got reason to complain, it’s Potter,” 
+growled Moody, “but ... funny thing ... I don’t hear 
+him saying a word. ...” 
+
+“Why should ’e complain?” burst out Fleur Delacour, 
+stamping her foot. “ ’E ’as ze chance to compete, ’asn’t 
+’e? We ’ave all been ’oping to be chosen for weeks and 
+weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons 
+in prize money — zis is a chance many would die for!” 
+
+“Maybe someone’s hoping Potter is going to die for it,” 
+said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. 
+
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+An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo 
+Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, 
+bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, 
+“Moody, old man ... what a thing to say!” 
+
+“We all know Professor Moody considers the morning 
+wasted if he hasn’t discovered six plots to murder him 
+before lunchtime,” said Karkaroff loudly. “Apparently 
+he is now teaching his students to fear assassination 
+too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your 
+reasons.” 
+
+“Imagining things, am I?” growled Moody. “Seeing 
+things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put 
+the boy’s name in that goblet. ...” 
+
+“Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?” said Madame 
+Maxime, throwing up her huge hands. 
+
+“Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical 
+object!” said Moody. “It would have needed an 
+exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle 
+that goblet into forgetting that only three schools 
+compete in the tournament. ... I’m guessing they 
+submitted Potter’s name under a fourth school, to 
+make sure he was the only one in his category. ...” 
+
+“You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, 
+Moody,” said Karkaroff coldly, “and a very ingenious 
+theory it is — though of course, I heard you recently 
+got it into your head that one of your birthday 
+presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk 
+egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a 
+carriage clock. So you’ll understand if we don’t take 
+you entirely seriously. ...” 
+
+“There are those who’ll turn innocent occasions to 
+their advantage,” Moody retorted in a menacing voice. 
+
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+“It’s my job to think the way Dark wizards do, 
+Karkaroff — as you ought to remember. ...” 
+
+“Alas tor!” said Dumbledore warningly. Harry 
+wondered for a moment whom he was speaking to, 
+but then realized “Mad-Eye” could hardly be Moody’s 
+real first name. Moody fell silent, though still 
+surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction — Karkaroff’s 
+face was burning. 
+
+“How this situation arose, we do not know,” said 
+Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the 
+room. “It seems to me, however, that we have no 
+choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have 
+been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, 
+therefore, they will do. ...” 
+
+“Ah, but Dumbly-dorr — ” 
+
+“My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, 
+
+I would be delighted to hear it.” 
+
+Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not 
+speak, she merely glared. She wasn’t the only one 
+either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, 
+however, looked rather excited. 
+
+“Well, shall we crack on, then?” he said, rubbing his 
+hands together and smiling around the room. “Got to 
+give our champions their instructions, haven���t we? 
+Barty, want to do the honors?” 
+
+Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie. 
+
+“Yes,” he said, “instructions. Yes ... the first task ...” 
+
+He moved forward into the firelight. Close up, Harry 
+thought he looked ill. There were dark shadows 
+beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his 
+
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+
+
+
+wrinkled skin that had not been there at the 
+Quidditch World Cup. 
+
+“The first task is designed to test your daring,” he told 
+Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, “so we are not going 
+to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the 
+unknown is an important quality in a wizard . . . very 
+important. ... 
+
+“The first task will take place on November the 
+twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the 
+panel of judges. 
+
+“The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept 
+help of any kind from their teachers to complete the 
+tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the 
+first challenge armed only with their wands. They will 
+receive information about the second task when the 
+first is over. Owing to the demanding and time- 
+consuming nature of the tournament, the champions 
+are exempted from end-of-year tests.” 
+
+Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore. 
+
+“I think that’s all, is it, Albus?” 
+
+“I think so,” said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. 
+Crouch with mild concern. “Are you sure you 
+wouldn’t like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?” 
+
+“No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry,” 
+said Mr. Crouch. “It is a very busy, very difficult time 
+at the moment. ... I’ve left young Weatherby in 
+charge. ... Very enthusiastic ... a little 
+overenthusiastic, if truth be told. ...” 
+
+“You’ll come and have a drink before you go, at 
+least?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Come on, Barty, I’m staying!” said Bagman brightly. 
+“It’s all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much 
+more exciting here than at the office!” 
+
+“I think not, Ludo,” said Crouch with a touch of his 
+old impatience. 
+
+“Professor Karkaroff — Madame Maxime — a 
+nightcap?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+But Madame Maxime had already put her arm 
+around Fleur’s shoulders and was leading her swiftly 
+out of the room. Harry could hear them both talking 
+very fast in French as they went off into the Great 
+Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, 
+exited, though in silence. 
+
+“Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed,” said 
+Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. “I am sure 
+Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with 
+you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this 
+excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and 
+noise.” 
+
+Harry glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left 
+together. 
+
+The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had 
+burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins 
+an eerie, flickering quality. 
+
+“So,” said Cedric, with a slight smile. “We’re playing 
+against each other again!” 
+
+“I s’pose,” said Harry. He really couldn’t think of 
+anything to say. The inside of his head seemed to be 
+in complete disarray, as though his brain had been 
+ransacked. 
+
+
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+
+“So ... tell me ...” said Cedric as they reached the 
+entrance hall, which was now lit only by torches in 
+the absence of the Goblet of Fire. “How did you get 
+your name in?” 
+
+“I didn’t,” said Harry, staring up at him. “I didn’t put 
+it in. I was telling the truth.” 
+
+“Ah ... okay,” said Cedric. Harry could tell Cedric 
+didn’t believe him. “Well ... see you, then.” 
+
+Instead of going up the marble staircase, Cedric 
+headed for a door to its right. Harry stood listening to 
+him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, 
+slowly, he started to climb the marble ones. 
+
+Was anyone except Ron and Hermione going to 
+believe him, or would they all think he’d put himself 
+in for the tournament? Yet how could anyone think 
+that, when he was facing competitors who’d had three 
+years’ more magical education than he had — when 
+he was now facing tasks that not only sounded very 
+dangerous, but which were to be performed in front of 
+hundreds of people? Yes, he’d thought about it ... he’d 
+fantasized about it ... but it had been a joke, really, 
+an idle sort of dream ... he’d never really, seriously 
+considered entering. ... 
+
+But someone else had considered it ... someone else 
+had wanted him in the tournament, and had made 
+sure he was entered. Why? To give him a treat? He 
+didn’t think so, somehow. ... 
+
+To see him make a fool of himself? Well, they were 
+likely to get their wish. ... 
+
+But to get him killed? 
+
+
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+
+
+
+Was Moody just being his usual paranoid self? 
+Couldn’t someone have put Harry’s name in the 
+goblet as a trick, a practical joke? Did anyone really 
+want him dead? 
+
+Harry was able to answer that at once. Yes, someone 
+wanted him dead, someone had wanted him dead 
+ever since he had been a year old ... Lord Voldemort. 
+But how could Voldemort have ensured that Harry’s 
+name got into the Goblet of Fire? Voldemort was 
+supposed to be far away, in some distant country, in 
+hiding, alone ... feeble and powerless. ... 
+
+Yet in that dream he had had, just before he had 
+awoken with his scar hurting, Voldemort had not 
+been alone ... he had been talking to Wormtail ... 
+plotting Harry’s murder. . . . 
+
+Harry got a shock to find himself facing the Fat Lady 
+already. He had barely noticed where his feet were 
+carrying him. It was also a surprise to see that she 
+was not alone in her frame. The wizened witch who 
+had flitted into her neighbor’s painting when he had 
+joined the champions downstairs was now sitting 
+smugly beside the Fat Lady. She must have dashed 
+through every picture lining seven staircases to reach 
+here before him. Both she and the Fat Lady were 
+looking down at him with the keenest interest. 
+
+“Well, well, well,” said the Fat Lady, “Violet’s just told 
+me everything. Who’s just been chosen as school 
+champion, then?” 
+
+“Balderdash,” said Harry dully. 
+
+“It most certainly isn’t!” said the pale witch 
+indignantly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“No, no, Vi, it’s the password,” said the Fat Lady 
+soothingly, and she swung forward on her hinges to 
+let Harry into the common room. 
+
+The blast of noise that met Harry’s ears when the 
+portrait opened almost knocked him backward. Next 
+thing he knew, he was being wrenched inside the 
+common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and 
+was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom 
+were screaming, applauding, and whistling. 
+
+“You should’ve told us you’d entered!” bellowed Fred; 
+he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed. 
+
+“How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!” 
+roared George. 
+
+“I didn’t,” Harry said. “I don’t know how — ” 
+
+But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; “Oh 
+if it couldn’t be me, at least it’s a Gryffindor — ” 
+
+“You’ll be able to pay back Diggory for that last 
+Quidditch match, Harry!” shrieked Katie Bell, another 
+of the Gryffindor Chasers. 
+
+“We’ve got food, Harry, come and have some — ” 
+
+“I’m not hungry, I had enough at the feast — ” 
+
+But nobody wanted to hear that he wasn’t hungry; 
+nobody wanted to hear that he hadn’t put his name in 
+the goblet; not one single person seemed to have 
+noticed that he wasn’t at all in the mood to celebrate. 
+... Lee Jordan had unearthed a Gryffindor banner 
+from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it 
+around Harry like a cloak. Harry couldn’t get away; 
+whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to 
+the dormitories, the crowd around him closed ranks, 
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+
+
+
+forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and 
+peanuts into his hands. ... Everyone wanted to know 
+how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore’s 
+Age Line and managed to get his name into the 
+goblet. ... 
+
+“I didn’t,” he said, over and over again, “I don’t know 
+how it happened.” 
+
+But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as 
+well not have answered at all. 
+
+“I’m tired!” he bellowed finally, after nearly half an 
+hour. “No, seriously, George — I’m going to bed — ” 
+
+He wanted more than anything to find Ron and 
+Hermione, to find a bit of sanity, but neither of them 
+seemed to be in the common room. Insisting that he 
+needed to sleep, and almost flattening the little 
+Creevey brothers as they attempted to waylay him at 
+the foot of the stairs, Harry managed to shake 
+everyone off and climb up to the dormitory as fast as 
+he could. 
+
+To his great relief, he found Ron was lying on his bed 
+in the otherwise empty dormitory, still fully dressed. 
+He looked up when Harry slammed the door behind 
+him. 
+
+“Where ’ve you been?” Harry said. 
+
+“Oh hello,” said Ron. 
+
+He was grinning, but it was a very odd, strained sort 
+of grin. Harry suddenly became aware that he was 
+still wearing the scarlet Gryffindor banner that Lee 
+had tied around him. He hastened to take it off, but it 
+was knotted very tightly. Ron lay on the bed without 
+moving, watching Harry struggle to remove it. 
+
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+
+
+“So,” he said, when Harry had finally removed the 
+banner and thrown it into a corner. 
+
+“Congratulations . ” 
+
+“What d’you mean, congratulations?” said Harry, 
+staring at Ron. There was definitely something wrong 
+with the way Ron was smiling: It was more like a 
+grimace. 
+
+“Well ... no one else got across the Age Line,” said 
+Ron. “Not even Fred and George. What did you use — 
+the Invisibility Cloak?” 
+
+“The Invisibility Cloak wouldn’t have got me over that 
+line,” said Harry slowly. 
+
+“Oh right,” said Ron. “I thought you might’ve told me 
+if it was the cloak ... because it would’ve covered both 
+of us, wouldn’t it? But you found another way, did 
+you?” 
+
+“Listen,” said Harry, “I didn’t put my name in that 
+goblet. Someone else must’ve done it.” 
+
+Ron raised his eyebrows. 
+
+“What would they do that for?” 
+
+“I dunno,” said Harry. He felt it would sound very 
+melodramatic to say, “To kill me.” 
+
+Ron’s eyebrows rose so high that they were in danger 
+of disappearing into his hair. 
+
+“It’s okay, you know, you can tell me the truth,” he 
+said. “If you don’t want everyone else to know, fine, 
+but I don’t know why you’re bothering to lie, you 
+didn’t get into trouble for it, did you? That friend of 
+the Fat Lady’s, that Violet, she’s already told us all 
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore’s letting you enter. A thousand Galleons 
+prize money, eh? And you don’t have to do end-of- 
+year tests either. ...” 
+
+“I didn’t put my name in that goblet!” said Harry, 
+starting to feel angry. 
+
+“Yeah, okay,” said Ron, in exactly the same sceptical 
+tone as Cedric. “Only you said this morning you’d 
+have done it last night, and no one would’ve seen you. 
+... I’m not stupid, you know.” 
+
+“You’re doing a really good impression of it,” Harry 
+snapped. 
+
+“Yeah?” said Ron, and there was no trace of a grin, 
+forced or otherwise, on his face now. “You want to get 
+to bed, Harry. I expect you’ll need to be up early 
+tomorrow for a photo-call or something.” 
+
+He wrenched the hangings shut around his four- 
+poster, leaving Harry standing there by the door, 
+staring at the dark red velvet curtains, now hiding 
+one of the few people he had been sure would believe 
+him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WEIGHING OF THE WANDS 
+
+When Harry woke up on Sunday morning, it took him 
+a moment to remember why he felt so miserable and 
+worried. Then the memory of the previous night rolled 
+over him. He sat up and ripped back the curtains of 
+his own four-poster, intending to talk to Ron, to force 
+Ron to believe him — only to find that Ron’s bed was 
+empty; he had obviously gone down to breakfast. 
+
+Harry dressed and went down the spiral staircase into 
+the common room. The moment he appeared, the 
+people who had already finished breakfast broke into 
+applause again. The prospect of going down into the 
+Great Hall and facing the rest of the Gryffindors, all 
+treating him like some sort of hero, was not inviting; 
+it was that, however, or stay here and allow himself to 
+be cornered by the Creevey brothers, who were both 
+beckoning frantically to him to join them. He walked 
+resolutely over to the portrait hole, pushed it open, 
+climbed out of it, and found himself face-to-face with 
+Hermione. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Hello,” she said, holding up a stack of toast, which 
+she was carrying in a napkin. “I brought you this. ... 
+Want to go for a walk?” 
+
+“Good idea,” said Harry gratefully. 
+
+They went downstairs, crossed the entrance hall 
+quickly without looking in at the Great Hall, and were 
+soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where 
+the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in 
+the water. It was a chilly morning, and they kept 
+moving, munching their toast, as Harry told 
+Hermione exactly what had happened after he had left 
+the Gryffindor table the night before. To his immense 
+relief, Hermione accepted his story without question. 
+
+“Well, of course I knew you hadn’t entered yourself,” 
+she said when he’d finished telling her about the 
+scene in the chamber off the Hall. “The look on your 
+face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the 
+question is, who did put it in? Because Moody’s right, 
+Harry ... I don’t think any student could have done it 
+... they’d never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over 
+Dumbledore ’s — ” 
+
+“Have you seen Ron?” Harry interrupted. 
+
+Hermione hesitated. 
+
+“Erm ... yes ... he was at breakfast,” she said. 
+
+“Does he still think I entered myself?” 
+
+“Well ... no, I don’t think so ... not really,” said 
+Hermione awkwardly. 
+
+“What’s that supposed to mean, ‘not really’?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Oh Harry, isn’t it obvious?” Hermione said 
+despairingly. “He’s jealous!” 
+
+
+
+“Jealous?” Harry said incredulously. “Jealous of 
+what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of 
+the whole school, does he?” 
+
+“Look,” said Hermione patiently, “it’s always you who 
+gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it’s not 
+your fault,” she added quickly, seeing Harry open his 
+mouth furiously. “I know you don’t ask for it ... but — 
+well — you know, Ron’s got all those brothers to 
+compete against at home, and you’re his best friend, 
+and you’re really famous — he’s always shunted to 
+one side whenever people see you, and he puts up 
+with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this 
+is just one time too many. ...” 
+
+“Great,” said Harry bitterly. “Really great. Tell him 
+from me I’ll swap any time he wants. Tell him from 
+me he’s welcome to it. ... People gawping at my 
+forehead everywhere I go. ...” 
+
+“I’m not telling him anything,” Hermione said shortly. 
+“Tell him yourself. It’s the only way to sort this out.” 
+
+“I’m not running around after him trying to make him 
+grow up!” Harry said, so loudly that several owls in a 
+nearby tree took flight in alarm. “Maybe he’ll believe 
+I’m not enjoying myself once I’ve got my neck broken 
+or — ” 
+
+
+
+“That’s not funny,” said Hermione quietly. “That’s not 
+funny at all.” She looked extremely anxious. “Harry, 
+I’ve been thinking — you know what we’ve got to do, 
+don’t you? Straight away, the moment we get back to 
+the castle?” 
+
+“Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+“Write to Sirius. You’ve got to tell him what’s 
+happened. He asked you to keep him posted on 
+everything that’s going on at Hogwarts. ... It’s almost 
+as if he expected something like this to happen. I 
+brought some parchment and a quill out with me — ” 
+
+“Come off it,” said Harry, looking around to check 
+that they couldn’t be overheard, but the grounds were 
+quite deserted. “He came back to the country just 
+because my scar twinged. He’ll probably come 
+bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone’s 
+entered me in the Triwizard Tournament — ” 
+
+“He’d want you to tell him,” said Hermione sternly. 
+“He’s going to find out anyway — ” 
+
+“How?” 
+
+“Harry, this isn’t going to be kept quiet,” said 
+Hermione, very seriously. “This tournament’s famous, 
+and you’re famous. Ill be really surprised if there isn’t 
+anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing. . . . 
+You’re already in half the books about You-Know- 
+Who, you know ... and Sirius would rather hear it 
+from you, I know he would.” 
+
+“Okay, okay, I’ll write to him,” said Harry, throwing 
+his last piece of toast into the lake. They both stood 
+and watched it floating there for a moment, before a 
+large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it 
+beneath the surface. Then they returned to the castle. 
+
+“Whose owl am I going to use?” Harry said as they 
+climbed the stairs. “He told me not to use Hedwig 
+again.” 
+
+“Ask Ron if you can borrow — ” 
+
+“I’m not asking Ron for anything,” Harry said flatly. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, borrow one of the school owls, then, anyone 
+can use them,” said Hermione. 
+
+They went up to the Owlery Hermione gave Harry a 
+piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink, then 
+strolled around the long lines of perches, looking at 
+all the different owls, while Harry sat down against a 
+wall and wrote his letter. 
+
+Dear Sirius, 
+
+You told me to keep you posted on what’s happening 
+at Hogwarts, so here goes — I don’t know if you’ve 
+heard, but the Tri-wizard Tournament’s happening this 
+year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth 
+champion. I don’t know who put my name in the Goblet 
+of Fire, because I didn’t The other Hogwarts champion 
+is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff 
+
+He paused at this point, thinking. He had an urge to 
+say something about the large weight of anxiety that 
+seemed to have settled inside his chest since last 
+night, but he couldn’t think how to translate this into 
+words, so he simply dipped his quill back into the ink 
+bottle and wrote, 
+
+Hope you’re okay, and Buckbeak — Harry 
+
+
+
+“Finished,” he told Hermione, getting to his feet and 
+brushing straw off his robes. At this, Hedwig came 
+fluttering down onto his shoulder and held out her 
+leg. 
+
+“I can’t use you,” Harry told her, looking around for 
+the school owls. “I’ve got to use one of these. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+Hedwig gave a very loud hoot and took off so suddenly 
+that her talons cut into his shoulder. She kept her 
+back to Harry all the time he was tying his letter to 
+the leg of a large barn owl. When the barn owl had 
+flown off, Harry reached out to stroke Hedwig, but she 
+clicked her beak furiously and soared up into the 
+rafters out of reach. 
+
+“First Ron, then you,” said Harry angrily. “ This isn’t 
+my fault.” 
+
+If Harry had thought that matters would improve 
+once everyone got used to the idea of him being 
+champion, the following day showed him how 
+mistaken he was. He could no longer avoid the rest of 
+the school once he was back at lessons — and it was 
+clear that the rest of the school, just like the 
+Gryffindors, thought Harry had entered himself for 
+the tournament. Unlike the Gryffindors, however, 
+they did not seem impressed. 
+
+The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms 
+with the Gryffindors, had turned remarkably cold 
+toward the whole lot of them. One Herbology lesson 
+was enough to demonstrate this. It was plain that the 
+Hufflepuffs felt that Harry had stolen their 
+champion’s glory; a feeling exacerbated, perhaps, by 
+the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any 
+glory, and that Cedric was one of the few who had 
+ever given them any, having beaten Gryffindor once at 
+Quidditch. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch- 
+Fletchley, with whom Harry normally got on very well, 
+did not talk to him even though they were repotting 
+Bouncing Bulbs at the same tray — though they did 
+laugh rather unpleasantly when one of the Bouncing 
+Bulbs wriggled free from Harry’s grip and smacked 
+him hard in the face. Ron wasn’t talking to Harry 
+either. Hermione sat between them, making very 
+forced conversation, but though both answered her 
+Page | 324 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+normally, they avoided making eye contact with each 
+other. Harry thought even Professor Sprout seemed 
+distant with him — but then, she was Head of 
+Hufflepuff House. 
+
+He would have been looking forward to seeing Hagrid 
+under normal circumstances, but Care of Magical 
+Creatures meant seeing the Slytherins too — the first 
+time he would come face-to-face with them since 
+becoming champion. 
+
+Predictably, Malfoy arrived at Hagrid ’s cabin with his 
+familiar sneer firmly in place. 
+
+“Ah, look, boys, it’s the champion,” he said to Crabbe 
+and Goyle the moment he got within earshot of Harry. 
+“Got your autograph books? Better get a signature 
+now, because I doubt he’s going to be around much 
+longer. ... Half the Triwizard champions have died ... 
+how long d’you reckon you’re going to last, Potter? 
+
+Ten minutes into the first task’s my bet.” 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle guffawed sycophantically, but 
+Malfoy had to stop there, because Hagrid emerged 
+from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower 
+of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended 
+Skrewt. To the class’s horror, Hagrid proceeded to 
+explain that the reason the skrewts had been killing 
+one another was an excess of pent-up energy, and 
+that the solution would be for each student to fix a 
+leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk. The 
+only good thing about this plan was that it distracted 
+Malfoy completely. 
+
+“Take this thing for a walk?” he repeated in disgust, 
+staring into one of the boxes. “And where exactly are 
+we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the 
+blasting end, or the sucker?” 
+
+
+
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+
+“Roun’ the middle,” said Hagrid, demonstrating. “Er 
+— yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, 
+jus’ as an extra precaution, like. Harry — you come 
+here an’ help me with this big one. ...” 
+
+Hagrid’s real intention, however, was to talk to Harry 
+away from the rest of the class. He waited until 
+everyone else had set off with their skrewts, then 
+turned to Harry and said, very seriously, “So — yer 
+competin’, Harry. In the tournament. School 
+champion.” 
+
+“One of the champions,” Harry corrected him. 
+
+Hagrid’s beetle-black eyes looked very anxious under 
+his wild eyebrows. 
+
+“No idea who put yeh in fer it, Harry?” 
+
+“You believe I didn’t do it, then?” said Harry, 
+concealing with difficulty the rush of gratitude he felt 
+at Hagrid’s words. 
+
+“ ’Course I do,” Hagrid grunted. “Yeh say it wasn’ you, 
+an’ I believe yeh — an’ Dumbledore believes yer, an’ 
+all.” 
+
+“Wish I knew who did do it,” said Harry bitterly. 
+
+The pair of them looked out over the lawn; the class 
+was widely scattered now, and all in great difficulty. 
+The skrewts were now over three feet long, and 
+extremely powerful. No longer shell-less and colorless, 
+they had developed a kind of thick, grayish, shiny 
+armor. They looked like a cross between giant 
+scorpions and elongated crabs — but still without 
+recognizable heads or eyes. They had become 
+immensely strong and very hard to control. 
+
+
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+
+“Look like they’re havin’ fun, don’ they?” Hagrid said 
+happily. Harry assumed he was talking about the 
+skrewts, because his classmates certainly weren’t; 
+every now and then, with an alarming bang, one of 
+the skrewts’ ends would explode, causing it to shoot 
+forward several yards, and more than one person was 
+being dragged along on their stomach, trying 
+desperately to get back on their feet. 
+
+“Ah, I don’ know, Harry,” Hagrid sighed suddenly, 
+looking back down at him with a worried expression 
+on his face. “School champion ... everythin’ seems ter 
+happen ter you, doesn’ it?” 
+
+Harry didn’t answer. Yes, everything did seem to 
+happen to him ... that was more or less what 
+Hermione had said as they had walked around the 
+lake, and that was the reason, according to her, that 
+Ron was no longer talking to him. 
+
+The next few days were some of Harry’s worst at 
+Hogwarts. The closest he had ever come to feeling like 
+this had been during those months, in his second 
+year, when a large part of the school had suspected 
+him of attacking his fellow students. But Ron had 
+been on his side then. He thought he could have 
+coped with the rest of the school’s behavior if he could 
+just have had Ron back as a friend, but he wasn’t 
+going to try and persuade Ron to talk to him if Ron 
+didn’t want to. Nevertheless, it was lonely with dislike 
+pouring in on him from all sides. 
+
+He could understand the Hufflepuffs’ attitude, even if 
+he didn’t like it; they had their own champion to 
+support. He expected nothing less than vicious 
+insults from the Slytherins — he was highly 
+unpopular there and always had been, because he 
+had helped Gryffindor beat them so often, both at 
+Quidditch and in the Inter-House Championship. But 
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+
+
+
+
+he had hoped the Ravenclaws might have found it in 
+their hearts to support him as much as Cedric. He 
+was wrong, however. Most Ravenclaws seemed to 
+think that he had been desperate to earn himself a bit 
+more fame by tricking the goblet into accepting his 
+name. 
+
+Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of 
+a champion so much more than he did. Exceptionally 
+handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and gray 
+eyes, it was hard to say who was receiving more 
+admiration these days, Cedric or Viktor Krum. Harry 
+actually saw the same sixth-year girls who had been 
+so keen to get Krum’s autograph begging Cedric to 
+sign their school bags one lunchtime. 
+
+Meanwhile there was no reply from Sirius, Hedwig 
+was refusing to come anywhere near him, Professor 
+Trelawney was predicting his death with even more 
+certainty than usual, and he did so badly at 
+Summoning Charms in Professor Flitwick’s class that 
+he was given extra homework — the only person to 
+get any, apart from Neville. 
+
+“It’s really not that difficult, Harry,” Hermione tried to 
+reassure him as they left Flitwick’s class — she had 
+been making objects zoom across the room to her all 
+lesson, as though she were some sort of weird magnet 
+for board dusters, wastepaper baskets, and 
+lunascopes. “You just weren’t concentrating properly 
+
+
+
+“Wonder why that was,” said Harry darkly as Cedric 
+Diggory walked past, surrounded by a large group of 
+simpering girls, all of whom looked at Harry as 
+though he were a particularly large Blast-Ended 
+Skrewt. “Still — never mind, eh? Double Potions to 
+look forward to this afternoon. ...” 
+
+
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+
+
+Double Potions was always a horrible experience, but 
+these days it was nothing short of torture. Being shut 
+in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Snape and 
+the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to 
+punish Harry as much as possible for daring to 
+become school champion, was about the most 
+unpleasant thing Harry could imagine. He had 
+already struggled through one Friday’s worth, with 
+Hermione sitting next to him intoning “ignore them, 
+ignore them, ignore them” under her breath, and he 
+couldn’t see why today should be any better. 
+
+When he and Hermione arrived at Snape ’s dungeon 
+after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, 
+each and every one of them wearing a large badge on 
+the front of his or her robes. For one wild moment 
+Harry thought they were S.P.E.W. badges — then he 
+saw that they all bore the same message, in luminous 
+red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit 
+underground passage: 
+
+Support CEDRIC DIGGORY — 
+
+The REAL Hogwarts Champion 
+
+“Like them, Potter?” said Malfoy loudly as Harry 
+approached. “And this isn’t all they do — look!” 
+
+He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message 
+upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, 
+which glowed green: 
+
+POTTER STINKS 
+
+The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them 
+pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER 
+STINKS was shining brightly all around Harry. He felt 
+the heat rise in his face and neck. 
+
+
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+
+“Oh very funny,” Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy 
+Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were 
+laughing harder than anyone, “really witty.” 
+
+Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and 
+Seamus. He wasn’t laughing, but he wasn’t sticking 
+up for Harry either. 
+
+“Want one, Granger?” said Malfoy, holding out a 
+badge to Hermione. “I’ve got loads. But don’t touch 
+my hand, now. I’ve just washed it, you see; don’t want 
+a Mudblood sliming it up.” 
+
+Some of the anger Harry had been feeling for days 
+and days seemed to burst through a dam in his chest. 
+He had reached for his wand before he’d thought 
+what he was doing. People all around them scrambled 
+out of the way, backing down the corridor. 
+
+“Harry!” Hermione said warningly. 
+
+“Go on, then, Potter,” Malfoy said quietly, drawing out 
+his own wand. “Moody’s not here to look after you 
+now — do it, if you’ve got the guts — ” 
+
+For a split second, they looked into each other’s eyes, 
+then, at exactly the same time, both acted. 
+
+“ FurnunculusV’ Harry yelled. 
+
+“ DensaugeoV’ screamed Malfoy. 
+
+Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in 
+midair, and ricocheted off at angles — Harry’s hit 
+Goyle in the face, and Malfoy’s hit Hermione. Goyle 
+bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great 
+ugly boils were springing up — Hermione, whimpering 
+in panic, was clutching her mouth. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Hermione!” 
+
+
+
+Ron had hurried forward to see what was wrong with 
+her; Harry turned and saw Ron dragging Hermione ’s 
+hand away from her face. It wasn’t a pretty sight. 
+Hermione ’s front teeth — already larger than average 
+— were now growing at an alarming rate; she was 
+looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth 
+elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin — 
+panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified 
+cry. 
+
+“And what is all this noise about?” said a soft, deadly 
+voice. 
+
+Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamored to give 
+their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger 
+at Malfoy and said, “Explain.” 
+
+“Potter attacked me, sir — ” 
+
+“We attacked each other at the same time!” Harry 
+shouted. 
+
+“ — and he hit Goyle — look — ” 
+
+Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled 
+something that would have been at home in a book 
+on poisonous fungi. 
+
+“Hospital wing, Goyle,” Snape said calmly. 
+
+“Malfoy got Hermione!” Ron said. “Loo/d” 
+
+He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth — she 
+was doing her best to hide them with her hands, 
+though this was difficult as they had now grown down 
+past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, 
+pointing at Hermione from behind Snape ’s back. 
+
+Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, “I see no 
+difference.” 
+
+Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, 
+she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up 
+the corridor and out of sight. 
+
+It was lucky, perhaps, that both Harry and Ron 
+started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky 
+their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for 
+in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear 
+exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, 
+however. 
+
+“Let’s see,” he said, in his silkiest voice. “Fifty points 
+from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and 
+Weasley. Now get inside, or it’ll be a week’s worth of 
+detentions.” 
+
+Harry’s ears were ringing. The injustice of it made 
+him want to curse Snape into a thousand slimy 
+pieces. He passed Snape, walked with Ron to the 
+back of the dungeon, and slammed his bag down onto 
+the table. Ron was shaking with anger too — for a 
+moment, it felt as though everything was back to 
+normal between them, but then Ron turned and sat 
+down with Dean and Seamus instead, leaving Harry 
+alone at his table. On the other side of the dungeon, 
+Malfoy turned his back on Snape and pressed his 
+badge, smirking. POTTER STINKS flashed once more 
+across the room. 
+
+Harry sat there staring at Snape as the lesson began, 
+picturing horrific things happening to him. ... If only 
+he knew how to do the Cruciatus Curse ... he’d have 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Snape flat on his back like that spider, jerking and 
+twitching. ... 
+
+“Antidotes!” said Snape, looking around at them all, 
+his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. “You 
+should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you 
+to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting 
+someone on whom to test one. ...” 
+
+Snape’s eyes met Harry’s, and Harry knew what was 
+coming. Snape was going to poison him. Harry 
+imagined picking up his cauldron, and sprinting to 
+the front of the class, and bringing it down on Snape’s 
+greasy head — 
+
+And then a knock on the dungeon door burst in on 
+Harry’s thoughts. 
+
+It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, 
+beaming at Harry, and walked up to Snape’s desk at 
+the front of the room. 
+
+“Yes?” said Snape curtly. 
+
+“Please, sir, I’m supposed to take Harry Potter 
+upstairs.” 
+
+Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose 
+smile faded from his eager face. 
+
+“Potter has another hour of Potions to complete,” said 
+Snape coldly. “He will come upstairs when this class 
+is finished.” 
+
+Colin went pink. 
+
+“Sir — sir, Mr. Bagman wants him,” he said 
+nervously. “All the champions have got to go, I think 
+they want to take photographs. ...” 
+
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+
+
+Harry would have given anything he owned to have 
+stopped Colin saying those last few words. He 
+chanced half a glance at Ron, but Ron was staring 
+determinedly at the ceiling. 
+
+“Very well, very well,” Snape snapped. “Potter, leave 
+your things here, I want you back down here later to 
+test your antidote.” 
+
+“Please, sir — he’s got to take his things with him,” 
+squeaked Colin. “All the champions — ” 
+
+“Very well\” said Snape. “Potter — take your bag and 
+get out of my sight!” 
+
+Harry swung his bag over his shoulder, got up, and 
+headed for the door. As he walked through the 
+Slytherin desks, POTTER STINKS flashed at him from 
+every direction. 
+
+“It’s amazing, isn’t it, Harry?” said Colin, starting to 
+speak the moment Harry had closed the dungeon 
+door behind him. “Isn’t it, though? You being 
+champion?” 
+
+“Yeah, really amazing,” said Harry heavily as they set 
+off toward the steps into the entrance hall. “What do 
+they want photos for, Colin?” 
+
+“The Daily Prophet, I think!” 
+
+“Great,” said Harry dully. “Exactly what I need. More 
+publicity.” 
+
+“Good luck!” said Colin when they had reached the 
+right room. Harry knocked on the door and entered. 
+
+He was in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks 
+had been pushed away to the back of the room, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, 
+however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the 
+blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. 
+Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered 
+desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, 
+talking to a witch Harry had never seen before, who 
+was wearing magenta robes. 
+
+Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as 
+usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur 
+were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal 
+happier than Harry had seen her so far; she kept 
+throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair 
+caught the light. A paunchy man, holding a large 
+black camera that was smoking slightly, was 
+watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye. 
+
+Bagman suddenly spotted Harry, got up quickly, and 
+bounded forward. 
+
+“Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, 
+Harry, in you come ... nothing to worry about, it’s just 
+the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges 
+will be here in a moment — ” 
+
+“Wand weighing?” Harry repeated nervously. 
+
+“We have to check that your wands are fully 
+functional, no problems, you know, as they’re your 
+most important tools in the tasks ahead,” said 
+Bagman. “The expert’s upstairs now with 
+Dumbledore. And then there’s going to be a little 
+photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter,” he added, 
+gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. “She’s 
+doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily 
+Prophet ...” 
+
+“Maybe not that small, Ludo,” said Rita Skeeter, her 
+eyes on Harry. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls 
+that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She 
+wore jeweled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching 
+her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two-inch nails, 
+painted crimson. 
+
+“I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry 
+before we start?” she said to Bagman, but still gazing 
+fixedly at Harry. “The youngest champion, you know 
+... to add a bit of color?” 
+
+“Certainly!” cried Bagman. “That is — if Harry has no 
+objection?” 
+
+“Er — ” said Harry. 
+
+“Lovely,” said Rita Skeeter, and in a second, her 
+scarlet-taloned fingers had Harry’s upper arm in a 
+surprisingly strong grip, and she was steering him 
+out of the room again and opening a nearby door. 
+
+“We don’t want to be in there with all that noise,” she 
+said. “Let’s see ... ah, yes, this is nice and cozy.” 
+
+It was a broom cupboard. Harry stared at her. 
+
+“Come along, dear — that’s right — lovely,” said Rita 
+Skeeter again, perching herself precariously upon an 
+upturned bucket, pushing Harry down onto a 
+cardboard box, and closing the door, throwing them 
+into darkness. “Let’s see now ...” 
+
+She unsnapped her crocodile-skin handbag and 
+pulled out a handful of candles, which she lit with a 
+wave of her wand and magicked into midair, so that 
+they could see what they were doing. 
+
+“You won’t mind, Harry, if I use a Quick-Quotes 
+Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“A what?” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+Rita Skeeter’s smile widened. Harry counted three 
+gold teeth. She reached again into her crocodile bag 
+and drew out a long acid-green quill and a roll of 
+parchment, which she stretched out between them on 
+a crate of Mrs. Skower’s All-Purpose Magical Mess 
+Remover. She put the tip of the green quill into her 
+mouth, sucked it for a moment with apparent relish, 
+then placed it upright on the parchment, where it 
+stood balanced on its point, quivering slightly. 
+
+“Testing ... my name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet 
+reporter.” 
+
+Harry looked down quickly at the quill. The moment 
+Rita Skeeter had spoken, the green quill had started 
+to scribble, skidding across the parchment: 
+
+Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, whose 
+savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations 
+
+
+
+“Lovely,” said Rita Skeeter, yet again, and she ripped 
+the top piece of parchment off, crumpled it up, and 
+stuffed it into her handbag. Now she leaned toward 
+Harry and said, “So, Harry ... what made you decide 
+to enter the Triwizard Tournament?” 
+
+“Er — ” said Harry again, but he was distracted by the 
+quill. Even though he wasn’t speaking, it was dashing 
+across the parchment, and in its wake he could make 
+out a fresh sentence: 
+
+An ugly scar, souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the 
+otherwise charming face of Harry Potter, whose eyes 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Ignore the quill, Harry,” said Rita Skeeter firmly. 
+Reluctantly, Harry looked up at her instead. “Now — 
+why did you decide to enter the tournament, Harry?” 
+
+“I didn’t,” said Harry. “I don’t know how my name got 
+into the Goblet of Fire. I didn’t put it in there.” 
+
+Rita Skeeter raised one heavily penciled eyebrow. 
+
+“Come now, Harry, there’s no need to be scared of 
+getting into trouble. We all know you shouldn’t really 
+have entered at all. But don’t worry about that. Our 
+readers love a rebel.” 
+
+“But I didn’t enter,” Harry repeated. “I don’t know 
+who — ” 
+
+“How do you feel about the tasks ahead?” said Rita 
+Skeeter. “Excited? Nervous?” 
+
+“I haven’t really thought ... yeah, nervous, I suppose,” 
+said Harry. His insides squirmed uncomfortably as he 
+spoke. 
+
+“Champions have died in the past, haven’t they?” said 
+Rita Skeeter briskly. “Have you thought about that at 
+all?” 
+
+“Well ... they say it’s going to be a lot safer this year,” 
+said Harry. 
+
+The quill whizzed across the parchment between 
+them, back and forward as though it were skating. 
+
+“Of course, you’ve looked death in the face before, 
+haven’t you?” said Rita Skeeter, watching him closely. 
+“How would you say that’s affected you?” 
+
+“Er,” said Harry, yet again. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Do you think that the trauma in your past might 
+have made you keen to prove yourself? To live up to 
+your name? Do you think that perhaps you were 
+tempted to enter the Triwizard Tournament because 
+
+
+
+“I didn’t enter,” said Harry, starting to feel irritated. 
+
+“Can you remember your parents at all?” said Rita 
+Skeeter, talking over him. 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“How do you think they’d feel if they knew you were 
+competing in the Triwizard Tournament? Proud? 
+Worried? Angry?” 
+
+Harry was feeling really annoyed now. How on earth 
+was he to know how his parents would feel if they 
+were alive? He could feel Rita Skeeter watching him 
+very intently. Frowning, he avoided her gaze and 
+looked down at words the quill had just written: 
+
+Tears fill those startling green eyes as our 
+conversation turns to the parents he can barely 
+remember. 
+
+“I have NOT got tears in my eyes!” said Harry loudly. 
+
+Before Rita Skeeter could say a word, the door of the 
+broom cupboard was pulled open. Harry looked 
+around, blinking in the bright light. Albus 
+Dumbledore stood there, looking down at both of 
+them, squashed into the cupboard. 
+
+“ Dumbledorel” cried Rita Skeeter, with every 
+appearance of delight — but Harry noticed that her 
+quill and the parchment had suddenly vanished from 
+the box of Magical Mess Remover, and Rita’s clawed 
+
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+
+
+
+
+fingers were hastily snapping shut the clasp of her 
+crocodile-skin bag. “How are you?” she said, standing 
+up and holding out one of her large, mannish hands 
+to Dumbledore. “I hope you saw my piece over the 
+summer about the International Confederation of 
+Wizards’ Conference?” 
+
+“Enchantingly nasty,” said Dumbledore, his eyes 
+twinkling. “I particularly enjoyed your description of 
+me as an obsolete dingbat.” 
+
+Rita Skeeter didn’t look remotely abashed. 
+
+“I was just making the point that some of your ideas 
+are a little old-fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many 
+wizards in the street — ” 
+
+“I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the 
+rudeness, Rita,” said Dumbledore, with a courteous 
+bow and a smile, “but I’m afraid we will have to 
+discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands 
+is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our 
+champions is hidden in a broom cupboard.” 
+
+Very glad to get away from Rita Skeeter, Harry 
+hurried back into the room. The other champions 
+were now sitting in chairs near the door, and he sat 
+down quickly next to Cedric, looking up at the velvet- 
+covered table, where four of the five judges were now 
+sitting — Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. 
+Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. Rita Skeeter settled 
+herself down in a corner; Harry saw her slip the 
+parchment out of her bag again, spread it on her 
+knee, suck the end of the Quick-Quotes Quill, and 
+place it once more on the parchment. 
+
+“May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?” said Dumbledore, 
+taking his place at the judges’ table and talking to the 
+champions. “He will be checking your wands to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+ensure that they are in good condition before the 
+tournament.” 
+
+Harry looked around, and with a jolt of surprise saw 
+an old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by 
+the window. Harry had met Mr. Ollivander before — 
+he was the wand-maker from whom Harry had 
+bought his own wand over three years ago in Diagon 
+Alley. 
+
+“Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, 
+please?” said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty 
+space in the middle of the room. 
+
+Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr. Ollivander and 
+handed him her wand. 
+
+“Hmmm ...” he said. 
+
+He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a 
+baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold 
+sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and 
+examined it carefully. 
+
+“Yes,” he said quietly, “nine and a half inches ... 
+inflexible . . . rosewood . . . and containing . . . dear me 
+
+
+
+“An ’air from ze ’ead of a veela,” said Fleur. “One of 
+my grandmuzzer’s.” 
+
+So Fleur was part veela, thought Harry, making a 
+mental note to tell Ron . . . then he remembered that 
+Ron wasn’t speaking to him. 
+
+“Yes,” said Mr. Ollivander, “yes, I’ve never used veela 
+hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather 
+temperamental wands . . . however, to each his own, 
+and if this suits you ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, 
+apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he 
+muttered, “ OrchideousV’ and a bunch of flowers burst 
+from the wand tip. 
+
+“Very well, very well, it’s in fine working order,” said 
+Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing 
+them to Fleur with her wand. “Mr. Diggory, you next.” 
+
+Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he 
+passed her. 
+
+“Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn’t it?” said Mr. 
+Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric 
+handed over his wand. “Yes, I remember it well. 
+Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly 
+fine male unicorn . . . must have been seventeen 
+hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked 
+his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches ... ash ... 
+pleasantly springy. It’s in fine condition. ... You treat 
+it regularly?” 
+
+“Polished it last night,” said Cedric, grinning. 
+
+Harry looked down at his own wand. He could see 
+finger marks all over it. He gathered a fistful of robe 
+from his knee and tried to rub it clean surreptitiously. 
+Several gold sparks shot out of the end of it. Fleur 
+Delacour gave him a very patronizing look, and he 
+desisted. 
+
+Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings 
+across the room from the tip of Cedric’s wand, 
+pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, “Mr. 
+Krum, if you please.” 
+
+Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered 
+and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust 
+
+
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+out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in 
+the pockets of his robes. 
+
+
+
+“Hmm,” said Mr. Ollivander, “this is a Gregorovitch 
+creation, unless I’m much mistaken? A fine wand- 
+maker, though the styling is never quite what I . . . 
+however ...” 
+
+He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning 
+it over and over before his eyes. 
+
+“Yes . . . hornbeam and dragon heartstring?” he shot at 
+Krum, who nodded. “Rather thicker than one usually 
+sees . . . quite rigid . . . ten and a quarter inches . . . 
+
+Avis'.” 
+
+The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a 
+number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end 
+and through the open window into the watery 
+sunlight. 
+
+“Good,” said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his 
+wand. “Which leaves ... Mr. Potter.” 
+
+Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr. 
+Ollivander. He handed over his wand. 
+
+“Aaaah, yes,” said Mr. Ollivander, his pale eyes 
+suddenly gleaming. “Yes, yes, yes. How well I 
+remember.” 
+
+Harry could remember too. He could remember it as 
+though it had happened yesterday. . . 
+
+Four summers ago, on his eleventh birthday, he had 
+entered Mr. Ollivander’s shop with Hagrid to buy a 
+wand. Mr. Ollivander had taken his measurements 
+and then started handing him wands to try. Harry 
+had waved what felt like every wand in the shop, until 
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+at last he had found the one that suited him — this 
+one, which was made of holly, eleven inches long, and 
+contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. 
+Mr. Ollivander had been very surprised that Harry 
+had been so compatible with this wand. “Curious,” he 
+had said, “curious,” and not until Harry asked what 
+was curious had Mr. Ollivander explained that the 
+phoenix feather in Harry’s wand had come from the 
+same bird that had supplied the core of Lord 
+Voldemort’s. 
+
+Harry had never shared this piece of information with 
+anybody. He was very fond of his wand, and as far as 
+he was concerned its relation to Voldemort’s wand 
+was something it couldn’t help — rather as he 
+couldn’t help being related to Aunt Petunia. However, 
+he really hoped that Mr. Ollivander wasn’t about to 
+tell the room about it. He had a funny feeling Rita 
+Skeeter’s Quick-Quotes Quill might just explode with 
+excitement if he did. 
+
+Mr. Ollivander spent much longer examining Harry’s 
+wand than anyone else’s. Eventually, however, he 
+made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it 
+back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect 
+condition. 
+
+“Thank you all,” said Dumbledore, standing up at the 
+judges’ table. “You may go back to your lessons now 
+— or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to 
+dinner, as they are about to end — ” 
+
+Feeling that at last something had gone right today, 
+Harry got up to leave, but the man with the black 
+camera jumped up and cleared his throat. 
+
+“Photos, Dumbledore, photos!” cried Bagman 
+excitedly. “All the judges and champions, what do you 
+think, Rita?” 
+
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+
+“Er — yes, let’s do those first,” said Rita Skeeter, 
+whose eyes were upon Harry again. “And then 
+perhaps some individual shots.” 
+
+The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxime 
+cast everyone else into shadow wherever she stood, 
+and the photographer couldn’t stand far enough back 
+to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit 
+while everyone else stood around her. Karkaroff kept 
+twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra 
+curl; Krum, whom Harry would have thought would 
+have been used to this sort of thing, skulked, half- 
+hidden, at the back of the group. The photographer 
+seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, but Rita 
+Skeeter kept hurrying forward and dragging Harry 
+into greater prominence. Then she insisted on 
+separate shots of all the champions. At last, they were 
+free to go. 
+
+Harry went down to dinner. Hermione wasn’t there — 
+he supposed she was still in the hospital wing having 
+her teeth fixed. He ate alone at the end of the table, 
+then returned to Gryffindor Tower, thinking of all the 
+extra work on Summoning Charms that he had to do. 
+Up in the dormitory, he came across Ron. 
+
+“You’ve had an owl,” said Ron brusquely the moment 
+he walked in. He was pointing at Harry’s pillow. The 
+school barn owl was waiting for him there. 
+
+“Oh — right,” said Harry. 
+
+“And we’ve got to do our detentions tomorrow night, 
+Snape’s dungeon,” said Ron. 
+
+He then walked straight out of the room, not looking 
+at Harry. For a moment, Harry considered going after 
+him — he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to talk to 
+him or hit him, both seemed quite appealing — but 
+
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+the lure of Sirius’s answer was too strong. Harry 
+strode over to the barn owl, took the letter off its leg, 
+and unrolled it. 
+
+Harry — 
+
+I can’t say everything I would like to in a letter, it’s too 
+risky in case the owl is intercepted — we need to talk 
+face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the 
+fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o’clock in the morning 
+on the 22nd of November? 
+
+I know better than anyone that you can look after 
+yourself and while you’re around Dumbledore and 
+Moody I don’t think anyone will be able to hurt you. 
+However, someone seems to be having a good try. 
+Entering you in that tournament would have been very 
+risky, especially right under Dumbledore’ s nose. 
+
+Be on the watch, Harry. I still want to hear about 
+anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of 
+November as quickly as you can. 
+
+Sirius 
+
+
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+
+THE HUNGARIAN HORNTAIL 
+
+The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all 
+that sustained Harry over the next fortnight, the only 
+bright spot on a horizon that had never looked 
+darker. The shock of finding himself school champion 
+had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was 
+facing him had started to sink in. The first task was 
+drawing steadily nearer; he felt as though it were 
+crouching ahead of him like some horrific monster, 
+barring his path. He had never suffered nerves like 
+these; they were way beyond anything he had 
+experienced before a Quidditch match, not even his 
+last one against Slytherin, which had decided who 
+would win the Quidditch Cup. Harry was finding it 
+hard to think about the future at all; he felt as though 
+his whole life had been leading up to, and would 
+finish with, the first task. ... 
+
+Admittedly, he didn’t see how Sirius was going to 
+make him feel any better about having to perform an 
+unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in 
+front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a 
+friendly face would be something at the moment. 
+
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+
+Harry wrote back to Sirius saying that he would be 
+beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had 
+suggested, and he and Hermione spent a long time 
+going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the 
+common room on the night in question. If the worst 
+came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of 
+Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn’t have to 
+resort to that — Filch would skin them alive. 
+
+In the meantime, life became even worse for Harry 
+within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had 
+published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, 
+and it had turned out to be not so much a report on 
+the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry. 
+Much of the front page had been given over to a 
+picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, 
+six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names 
+of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions 
+(misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of 
+the article, and Cedric hadn’t been mentioned at all. 
+
+The article had appeared ten days ago, and Harry still 
+got a sick, burning feeling of shame in his stomach 
+every time he thought about it. Rita Skeeter had 
+reported him saying an awful lot of things that he 
+couldn’t remember ever saying in his life, let alone in 
+that broom cupboard. 
+
+I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know 
+they’d be very proud of me if they could see me now. 
+
+... Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I’m 
+not ashamed to admit it. ... I know nothing will hurt 
+me during the tournament, because they’re watching 
+over me. ... 
+
+But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than 
+transforming his “er’s” into long, sickly sentences: 
+
+She had interviewed other people about him too. 
+
+
+
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+Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close 
+friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen 
+out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a 
+stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is 
+one of the top students in the school. 
+
+From the moment the article had appeared, Harry 
+had had to endure people — Slytherins, mainly — 
+quoting it at him as he passed and making sneering 
+comments. 
+
+“Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in 
+Transfiguration?” 
+
+“Since when have you been one of the top students in 
+the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and 
+Longbottom have set up together?” 
+
+“Hey — Harry!” 
+
+“Yeah, that’s right!” Harry found himself shouting as 
+he wheeled around in the corridor, having had just 
+about enough. “I’ve just been crying my eyes out over 
+my dead mum, and I’m just off to do a bit more. ...” 
+
+“No — it was just — you dropped your quill.” 
+
+It was Cho. Harry felt the color rising in his face. 
+
+“Oh — right — sorry,” he muttered, taking the quill 
+back. 
+
+“Er ... good luck on Tuesday,” she said. “I really hope 
+you do well.” 
+
+Which left Harry feeling extremely stupid. 
+
+Hermione had come in for her fair share of 
+unpleasantness too, but she hadn’t yet started yelling 
+
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+at innocent bystanders; in fact, Harry was full of 
+admiration for the way she was handling the 
+situation. 
+
+“ Stunningly pretty? Her?” Pansy Parkinson had 
+shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with 
+Hermione after Rita’s article had appeared. “What was 
+she judging against — a chipmunk?” 
+
+“Ignore it,” Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding 
+her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering 
+Slytherin girls as though she couldn’t hear them. 
+
+“Just ignore it, Harry.” 
+
+But Harry couldn’t ignore it. Ron hadn’t spoken to 
+him at all since he had told him about Snape’s 
+detentions. Harry had half hoped they would make 
+things up during the two hours they were forced to 
+pickle rats’ brains in Snape’s dungeon, but that had 
+been the day Rita’s article had appeared, which 
+seemed to have confirmed Ron’s belief that Harry was 
+really enjoying all the attention. 
+
+Hermione was furious with the pair of them; she went 
+from one to the other, trying to force them to talk to 
+each other, but Harry was adamant: He would talk to 
+Ron again only if Ron admitted that Harry hadn’t put 
+his name in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for 
+calling him a liar. 
+
+“I didn’t start this,” Harry said stubbornly. “It’s his 
+problem.” 
+
+“You miss him!” Hermione said impatiently. “And I 
+know he misses you — ” 
+
+“Miss him?” said Harry. “I don’t miss him. ...” 
+
+
+
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+But this was a downright lie. Harry liked Hermione 
+very much, but she just wasn’t the same as Ron. 
+
+There was much less laughter and a lot more hanging 
+around in the library when Hermione was your best 
+friend. Harry still hadn’t mastered Summoning 
+Charms, he seemed to have developed something of a 
+block about them, and Hermione insisted that 
+learning the theory would help. They consequently 
+spent a lot of time poring over books during their 
+lunchtimes. 
+
+Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, and 
+Harry wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, 
+or was he looking for things to help him through the 
+first task? Hermione often complained about Krum 
+being there — not that he ever bothered them — but 
+because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy 
+on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione 
+found the noise distracting. 
+
+“He’s not even good-looking!” she muttered angrily, 
+glaring at Krum’s sharp profile. “They only like him 
+because he’s famous! They wouldn’t look twice at him 
+if he couldn’t do that Wonky- Faint thing — ” 
+
+“Wronski Feint,” said Harry, through gritted teeth. 
+Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms 
+correct, it caused him another pang to imagine Ron’s 
+expression if he could have heard Hermione talking 
+about Wonky- Faints. 
+
+It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading 
+something, and would give anything to slow down 
+time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. The 
+days until the first task seemed to slip by as though 
+someone had fixed the clocks to work at double 
+speed. Harry’s feeling of barely controlled panic was 
+with him wherever he went, as everpresent as the 
+snide comments about the Daily Prophet article. 
+
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+
+On the Saturday before the first task, all students in 
+the third year and above were permitted to visit the 
+village of Hogsmeade. Hermione told Harry that it 
+would do him good to get away from the castle for a 
+bit, and Harry didn’t need much persuasion. 
+
+“What about Ron, though?” he said. “Don’t you want 
+to go with him?” 
+
+“Oh ... well ...” Hermione went slightly pink. “I 
+thought we might meet up with him in the Three 
+Broomsticks. ...” 
+
+“No,” said Harry flatly. 
+
+“Oh Harry, this is so stupid — ” 
+
+“I’ll come, but I’m not meeting Ron, and I’m wearing 
+my Invisibility Cloak.” 
+
+“Oh all right then ...” Hermione snapped, “but I hate 
+talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I’m 
+looking at you or not.” 
+
+So Harry put on his Invisibility Cloak in the 
+dormitory, went back downstairs, and together he 
+and Hermione set off for Hogsmeade. 
+
+Harry felt wonderfully free under the cloak; he 
+watched other students walking past them as they 
+entered the village, most of them sporting Support 
+Cedric Diggory\ badges, but no horrible remarks came 
+his way for a change, and nobody was quoting that 
+stupid article. 
+
+“People keep looking at me now,” said Hermione 
+grumpily as they came out of Honeydukes Sweetshop 
+later, eating large cream-filled chocolates. “They think 
+I’m talking to myself.” 
+
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+
+
+“Don’t move your lips so much then.” 
+
+
+
+“Come on, please just take off your cloak for a bit, no 
+one’s going to bother you here.” 
+
+“Oh yeah?” said Harry. “Look behind you.” 
+
+Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just 
+emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. Talking in 
+low voices, they passed right by Hermione without 
+looking at her. Harry backed into the wall of 
+Honeydukes to stop Rita Skeeter from hitting him 
+with her crocodile-skin handbag. When they were 
+gone, Harry said, “She’s staying in the village. I bet 
+she’s coming to watch the first task.” 
+
+As he said it, his stomach flooded with a wave of 
+molten panic. He didn’t mention this; he and 
+Hermione hadn’t discussed what was coming in the 
+first task much; he had the feeling she didn’t want to 
+think about it. 
+
+“She’s gone,” said Hermione, looking right through 
+Harry toward the end of the street. “Why don’t we go 
+and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it’s a 
+bit cold, isn’t it? You don’t have to talk to Ron!” she 
+added irritably, correctly interpreting his silence. 
+
+The Three Broomsticks was packed, mainly with 
+Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but 
+also with a variety of magical people Harry rarely saw 
+anywhere else. Harry supposed that as Hogsmeade 
+was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit 
+of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as 
+adept as wizards at disguising themselves. 
+
+It was very hard to move through crowds in the 
+Invisibility Cloak, in case you accidentally trod on 
+someone, which tended to lead to awkward questions. 
+
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+Harry edged slowly toward a spare table in the corner 
+while Hermione went to buy drinks. On his way 
+through the pub, Harry spotted Ron, who was sitting 
+with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Resisting the urge 
+to give Ron a good hard poke in the back of the head, 
+he finally reached the table and sat down at it. 
+
+Hermione joined him a moment later and slipped him 
+a butterbeer under his cloak. 
+
+“I look like such an idiot, sitting here on my own,” she 
+muttered. “Lucky I brought something to do.” 
+
+And she pulled out a notebook in which she had been 
+keeping a record of S.P.E.W. members. Harry saw his 
+and Ron’s names at the top of the very short list. It 
+seemed a long time ago that they had sat making up 
+those predictions together, and Hermione had turned 
+up and appointed them secretary and treasurer. 
+
+“You know, maybe I should try and get some of the 
+villagers involved in S.P.E.W.,” Hermione said 
+thoughtfully, looking around the pub. 
+
+“Yeah, right,” said Harry. He took a swig of butterbeer 
+under his cloak. “Hermione, when are you going to 
+give up on this spew stuff?” 
+
+“When house-elves have decent wages and working 
+conditions!” she hissed back. “You know, I’m starting 
+to think it’s time for more direct action. I wonder how 
+you get into the school kitchens?” 
+
+“No idea, ask Fred and George,” said Harry. 
+
+Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while Harry 
+drank his butterbeer, watching the people in the pub. 
+All of them looked cheerful and relaxed. Ernie 
+Macmillan and Hannah Abbott were swapping 
+
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+
+Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table; both of them 
+sporting Support Cedric Diggory\ badges on their 
+cloaks. Right over by the door he saw Cho and a large 
+group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn’t wearing a 
+Cedric badge though. ... This cheered up Harry very 
+slightly. ... 
+
+What wouldn’t he have given to be one of these 
+people, sitting around laughing and talking, with 
+nothing to worry about but homework? He imagined 
+how it would have felt to be here if his name hadn’t 
+come out of the Goblet of Fire. He wouldn’t be wearing 
+the Invisibility Cloak, for one thing. Ron would be 
+sitting with him. The three of them would probably be 
+happily imagining what deadly dangerous task the 
+school champions would be facing on Tuesday. He’d 
+have been really looking forward to it, watching them 
+do whatever it was . . . cheering on Cedric with 
+everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands. 
+
+
+
+He wondered how the other champions were feeling. 
+Every time he had seen Cedric lately, he had been 
+surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but 
+excited. Harry glimpsed Fleur Delacour from time to 
+time in the corridors; she looked exactly as she 
+always did, haughty and unruffled. And Krum just 
+sat in the library, poring over books. 
+
+Harry thought of Sirius, and the tight, tense knot in 
+his chest seemed to ease slightly. He would be 
+speaking to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight 
+was the night they were meeting at the common room 
+fire — assuming nothing went wrong, as everything 
+else had done lately. ... 
+
+“Look, it’s Hagrid!” said Hermione. 
+
+
+
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+The back of Hagrid ’s enormous shaggy head — he 
+had mercifully abandoned his bunches — emerged 
+over the crowd. Harry wondered why he hadn’t 
+spotted him at once, as Hagrid was so large, but 
+standing up carefully, he saw that Hagrid had been 
+leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. Hagrid had 
+his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but 
+Moody was drinking from his hip flask. Madam 
+Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn’t seem to think 
+much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as 
+she collected glasses from tables around them. 
+Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled 
+mead, but Harry knew better. Moody had told them 
+all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and 
+drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards 
+to poison an unattended cup. 
+
+As Harry watched, he saw Hagrid and Moody get up 
+to leave. He waved, then remembered that Hagrid 
+couldn’t see him. Moody, however, paused, his 
+magical eye on the corner where Harry was standing. 
+He tapped Hagrid in the small of the back (being 
+unable to reach his shoulder), muttered something to 
+him, and then the pair of them made their way back 
+across the pub toward Harry and Hermione’s table. 
+
+“All right, Hermione?” said Hagrid loudly. 
+
+“Hello,” said Hermione, smiling back. 
+
+Moody limped around the table and bent down; Harry 
+thought he was reading the S.P.E.W. notebook, until 
+he muttered, “Nice cloak, Potter.” 
+
+Harry stared at him in amazement. The large chunk 
+missing from Moody’s nose was particularly obvious 
+at a few inches’ distance. Moody grinned. 
+
+
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+“Can your eye — I mean, can you — ?” 
+
+
+
+“Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks,” Moody 
+said quietly. “And it’s come in useful at times, I can 
+tell you.” 
+
+Hagrid was beaming down at Harry too. Harry knew 
+Hagrid couldn’t see him, but Moody had obviously 
+told Hagrid he was there. Hagrid now bent down on 
+the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well, 
+and said in a whisper so low that only Harry could 
+hear it, “Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at me 
+cabin. Wear that cloak.” 
+
+Straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, “Nice ter see 
+yeh, Hermione,” winked, and departed. Moody 
+followed him. 
+
+“Why does Hagrid want me to meet him at midnight?” 
+Harry said, very surprised. 
+
+“Does he?” said Hermione, looking startled. “I wonder 
+what he’s up to? I don’t know whether you should go, 
+Harry. ...” She looked nervously around and hissed, 
+
+“It might make you late for Sirius.” 
+
+It was true that going down to Hagrid ’s at midnight 
+would mean cutting his meeting with Sirius very fine 
+indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to 
+Hagrid ’s to tell him he couldn’t go — always assuming 
+she would consent to take the note, of course — 
+
+Harry, however, thought it better just to be quick at 
+whatever Hagrid wanted him for. He was very curious 
+to know what this might be; Hagrid had never asked 
+Harry to visit him so late at night. 
+
+At half past eleven that evening, Harry, who had 
+pretended to go up to bed early, pulled the Invisibility 
+Cloak back over himself and crept back downstairs 
+
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+
+through the common room. Quite a few people were 
+still in there. The Creevey brothers had managed to 
+get hold of a stack of Support Cedric Diggoryl badges 
+and were trying to bewitch them to make them say 
+Support Harry Potter\ instead. So far, however, all they 
+had managed to do was get the badges stuck on 
+POTTER STINKS. Harry crept past them to the portrait 
+hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on 
+his watch. Then Hermione opened the Fat Lady for 
+him from outside as they had planned. He slipped 
+past her with a whispered “Thanks!” and set off 
+through the castle. 
+
+The grounds were very dark. Harry walked down the 
+lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid’s cabin. The 
+inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was 
+also lit up; Harry could hear Madame Maxime talking 
+inside it as he knocked on Hagrid’s front door. 
+
+“You there, Harry?” Hagrid whispered, opening the 
+door and looking around. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, slipping inside the cabin and 
+pulling the cloak down off his head. “What’s up?” 
+
+“Got summat ter show yeh,” said Hagrid. 
+
+There was an air of enormous excitement about 
+Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an 
+oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as 
+though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but 
+he had certainly attempted to comb his hair — Harry 
+could see the comb’s broken teeth tangled in it. 
+
+“What’re you showing me?” Harry said warily, 
+wondering if the skrewts had laid eggs, or Hagrid had 
+managed to buy another giant three-headed dog off a 
+stranger in a pub. 
+
+
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+“Come with me, keep quiet, an’ keep yerself covered 
+with that cloak,” said Hagrid. “We won’ take Fang, he 
+won’ like it. ...” 
+
+“Listen, Hagrid, I can’t stay long. ... I’ve got to be back 
+up at the castle by one o’clock — ” 
+
+But Hagrid wasn’t listening; he was opening the cabin 
+door and striding off into the night. Harry hurried to 
+follow and found, to his great surprise, that Hagrid 
+was leading him to the Beauxbatons carriage. 
+
+“Hagrid, what — ?” 
+
+“Shhh!” said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on 
+the door bearing the crossed golden wands. 
+
+Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk 
+shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She 
+smiled when she saw Hagrid. 
+
+“Ah, ’Agrid ... it is time?” 
+
+“Bong-sewer,” said Hagrid, beaming at her, and 
+holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps. 
+
+Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid 
+offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge 
+of the paddock containing Madame Maxime ’s giant 
+winged horses, with Harry, totally bewildered, 
+running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to 
+show him Madame Maxime? He could see her any old 
+time he wanted ... she wasn’t exactly hard to miss. ... 
+
+But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the 
+same treat as Harry, because after a while she said 
+playfully, “Wair is it you are taking me, ’Agrid?” 
+
+
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+
+“Yeh’ll enjoy this,” said Hagrid gruffly, “worth seem’, 
+trust me. On’y — don’ go tellin’ anyone I showed yeh, 
+right? Yeh’re not s’posed ter know.” 
+
+“Of course not,” said Madame Maxime, fluttering her 
+long black eyelashes. 
+
+And still they walked, Harry getting more and more 
+irritated as he jogged along in their wake, checking 
+his watch every now and then. Hagrid had some 
+harebrained scheme in hand, which might make him 
+miss Sirius. If they didn’t get there soon, he was going 
+to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and 
+leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame 
+Maxime. ... 
+
+But then — when they had walked so far around the 
+perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake 
+were out of sight — Harry heard something. Men were 
+shouting up ahead . . . then came a deafening, 
+earsplitting roar. . . . 
+
+Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees 
+and came to a halt. Harry hurried up alongside them 
+— for a split second, he thought he was seeing 
+bonfires, and men darting around them — and then 
+his mouth fell open. 
+
+Dragons. 
+
+Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons 
+were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure 
+fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and 
+snorting — torrents of fire were shooting into the dark 
+sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above 
+the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a 
+silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping 
+and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth- 
+scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping 
+Page | 360 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine 
+gold spikes around its face, which was shooting 
+mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a 
+gigantic black one, more lizard-like than the others, 
+which was nearest to them. 
+
+At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, 
+were attempting to control them, pulling on the 
+chains connected to heavy leather straps around their 
+necks and legs. Mesmerized, Harry looked up, high 
+above him, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with 
+vertical pupils like a cat’s, bulging with either fear or 
+rage, he couldn’t tell which. ... It was making a 
+horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream. ... 
+
+“Keep back there, Hagrid!” yelled a wizard near the 
+fence, straining on the chain he was holding. “They 
+can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I’ve 
+seen this Horntail do forty!” 
+
+“Is’n’ it beautiful?” said Hagrid softly. 
+
+“It’s no good!” yelled another wizard. “Stunning 
+Spells, on the count of three!” 
+
+Harry saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his 
+wand. 
+
+“Stupefy\” they shouted in unison, and the Stunning 
+Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, 
+bursting in showers of stars on the dragons’ scaly 
+hides — 
+
+Harry watched the dragon nearest to them teeter 
+dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide 
+in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of 
+flame, though still smoking — then, very slowly, it 
+fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly-black dragon hit the 
+
+
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+ground with a thud that Harry could have sworn 
+made the trees behind him quake. 
+
+
+
+The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked 
+forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the 
+size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains 
+and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they 
+forced deep into the ground with their wands. 
+
+“Wan’ a closer look?” Hagrid asked Madame Maxime 
+excitedly. The pair of them moved right up to the 
+fence, and Harry followed. The wizard who had 
+warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and 
+Harry realized who it was: Charlie Weasley. 
+
+“All right, Hagrid?” he panted, coming over to talk. 
+“They should be okay now — we put them out with a 
+Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be 
+better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet 
+— but, like you saw, they weren’t happy, not happy at 
+all — ” 
+
+
+
+“What breeds you got here, Charlie?” said Hagrid, 
+gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with 
+something close to reverence. Its eyes were still just 
+open. Harry could see a strip of gleaming yellow 
+beneath its wrinkled black eyelid. 
+
+“This is a Hungarian Horntail,” said Charlie. “There’s 
+a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one — 
+a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray — and a 
+Chinese Fireball, that’s the red.” 
+
+Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling 
+away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the 
+stunned dragons. 
+
+“I didn’t know you were bringing her, Hagrid,” Charlie 
+said, frowning. “The champions aren’t supposed to 
+
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+
+know what’s coming — she’s bound to tell her 
+student, isn’t she?” 
+
+
+
+“Jus’ thought she’d like ter see ’em,” shrugged Hagrid, 
+still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons. 
+
+“Really romantic date, Hagrid,” said Charlie, shaking 
+his head. 
+
+“Four ...” said Hagrid, “so it’s one fer each o’ the 
+champions, is it? What’ve they gotta do — fight ’em?” 
+
+“Just get past them, I think,” said Charlie. “We’ll be 
+on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the 
+ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don’t know 
+why ... but I tell you this, I don’t envy the one who 
+gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end’s as 
+dangerous as its front, look.” 
+
+Charlie pointed toward the Horntail’s tail, and Harry 
+saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it 
+every few inches. 
+
+Five of Charlie’s fellow keepers staggered up to the 
+Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge 
+granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They 
+placed them carefully at the Horntail’s side. Hagrid let 
+out a moan of longing. 
+
+“I’ve got them counted, Hagrid,” said Charlie sternly. 
+Then he said, “How’s Harry?” 
+
+“Fine,” said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs. 
+
+“Just hope he’s still fine after he’s faced this lot,” said 
+Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons’ 
+enclosure. “I didn’t dare tell Mum what he’s got to do 
+for the first task; she’s already having kittens about 
+him. ...” Charlie imitated his mother’s anxious voice. “ 
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+
+
+
+
+‘ How could they let him enter that tournament, he’s 
+much too young\ I thought they were all safe, I thought 
+there was going to he an age limiti ’ She was in floods 
+after that Daily Prophet article about him. ‘He still 
+cries about his parents\ Oh bless him, I never knew\ ’ ” 
+
+Harry had had enough. Trusting to the fact that 
+Hagrid wouldn’t miss him, with the attractions of four 
+dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, he 
+turned silently and began to walk away, back to the 
+castle. 
+
+He didn’t know whether he was glad he’d seen what 
+was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The 
+first shock was over now. Maybe if he’d seen the 
+dragons for the first time on Tuesday, he would have 
+passed out cold in front of the whole school ... but 
+maybe he would anyway. ... He was going to be armed 
+with his wand — which, just now, felt like nothing 
+more than a narrow strip of wood — against a fifty- 
+foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. 
+And he had to get past it. With everyone watching. 
+How? 
+
+Harry sped up, skirting the edge of the forest; he had 
+just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside 
+and talk to Sirius, and he couldn’t remember, ever, 
+wanting to talk to someone more than he did right 
+now — when, without warning, he ran into something 
+very solid. 
+
+Harry fell backward, his glasses askew, clutching the 
+cloak around him. A voice nearby said, “Ouch! Who’s 
+there?” 
+
+Harry hastily checked that the cloak was covering 
+him and lay very still, staring up at the dark outline 
+of the wizard he had hit. He recognized the goatee ... 
+it was Karkaroff. 
+
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+
+“Who’s there?” said Karkaroff again, very 
+suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harry 
+remained still and silent. After a minute or so, 
+Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort 
+of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as 
+though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back 
+under the cover of the trees and started to edge 
+forward toward the place where the dragons were. 
+
+Very slowly and very carefully, Harry got to his feet 
+and set off again as fast as he could without making 
+too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back 
+toward Hogwarts. 
+
+He had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up 
+to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out 
+what the first task was going to be. He might even 
+have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off 
+around the forest together — they were hardly 
+difficult to spot at a distance . . . and now all Karkaroff 
+had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like 
+Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for 
+the champions. 
+
+By the looks of it, the only champion who would be 
+facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric. 
+
+Harry reached the castle, slipped in through the front 
+doors, and began to climb the marble stairs; he was 
+very out of breath, but he didn’t dare slow down. ... 
+
+He had less than five minutes to get up to the fire. ... 
+
+“Balderdash!” he gasped at the Fat Lady, who was 
+snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole. 
+
+“If you say so,” she muttered sleepily, without opening 
+her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit 
+him. Harry climbed inside. The common room was 
+deserted, and, judging by the fact that it smelled quite 
+
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+
+normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any 
+Dungbombs to ensure that he and Sirius got privacy. 
+
+Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and threw 
+himself into an armchair in front of the fire. The room 
+was in semidarkness; the flames were the only source 
+of light. Nearby, on a table, the Support Cedric 
+Diggoryl badges the Creeveys had been trying to 
+improve were glinting in the firelight. They now read 
+POTTER REALLY STINKS. Harry looked back into the 
+flames, and jumped. 
+
+Sirius’s head was sitting in the fire. If Harry hadn’t 
+seen Mr. Diggory do exactly this back in the Weasleys’ 
+kitchen, it would have scared him out of his wits. 
+Instead, his face breaking into the first smile he had 
+worn for days, he scrambled out of his chair, 
+crouched down by the hearth, and said, “Sirius — 
+how ’re you doing?” 
+
+Sirius looked different from Harry’s memory of him. 
+When they had said good-bye, Sirius’s face had been 
+gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, 
+black, matted hair — but the hair was short and 
+clean now, Sirius’s face was fuller, and he looked 
+younger, much more like the only photograph Harry 
+had of him, which had been taken at the Potters’ 
+wedding. 
+
+“Never mind me, how are you?” said Sirius seriously. 
+
+“I’m — ” For a second, Harry tried to say “fine” — but 
+he couldn’t do it. Before he could stop himself, he was 
+talking more than he’d talked in days — about how 
+no one believed he hadn’t entered the tournament of 
+his own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about him 
+in the Daily Prophet, how he couldn’t walk down a 
+corridor without being sneered at — and about Ron, 
+Ron not believing him, Ron’s jealousy ... 
+
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+
+
+
+"... and now Hagrid’s just shown me what’s coming in 
+the first task, and it’s dragons, Sirius, and I’m a 
+goner,” he finished desperately. 
+
+Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern, eyes that 
+had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given 
+them — that deadened, haunted look. He had let 
+Harry talk himself into silence without interruption, 
+but now he said, “Dragons we can deal with, Harry, 
+but we’ll get to that in a minute — I haven’t got long 
+here ... I’ve broken into a wizarding house to use the 
+fire, but they could be back at any time. There are 
+things I need to warn you about.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry, feeling his spirits slip a further 
+few notches. ... Surely there could be nothing worse 
+than dragons coming? 
+
+“Karkaroff,” said Sirius. “Harry, he was a Death Eater. 
+You know what Death Eaters are, don’t you?” 
+
+“Yes — he — what?” 
+
+“He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he 
+got released. I’d bet everything that’s why Dumbledore 
+wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year — to keep an 
+eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into 
+Azkaban in the first place.” 
+
+“Karkaroff got released?” Harry said slowly — his 
+brain seemed to be struggling to absorb yet another 
+piece of shocking information. “Why did they release 
+him?” 
+
+“He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic,” said Sirius 
+bitterly. “He said he’d seen the error of his ways, and 
+then he named names ... he put a load of other people 
+into Azkaban in his place. ... He’s not very popular in 
+there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I 
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+
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+
+can tell, he’s been teaching the Dark Arts to every 
+student who passes through that school of his. So 
+watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry slowly. “But ... are you saying 
+Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he 
+did, he’s a really good actor. He seemed furious about 
+it. He wanted to stop me from competing.” 
+
+“We know he’s a good actor,” said Sirius, “because he 
+convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn’t 
+he? Now, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Daily 
+Prophet, Harry — ” 
+
+“ — you and the rest of the world,” said Harry bitterly. 
+
+“ — and reading between the lines of that Skeeter 
+woman’s article last month, Moody was attacked the 
+night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she 
+says it was another false alarm,” Sirius said hastily, 
+seeing Harry about to speak, “but I don’t think so, 
+somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from 
+getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job 
+would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no 
+one’s going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye’s heard 
+intruders a bit too often. But that doesn’t mean he 
+can’t still spot the real thing. Moody was the best 
+Auror the Ministry ever had.” 
+
+“So . . . what are you saying?” said Harry slowly. 
+“Karkaroff’s trying to kill me? But — why?” 
+
+Sirius hesitated. 
+
+“I’ve been hearing some very strange things,” he said 
+slowly. “The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active 
+than usual lately. They showed themselves at the 
+Quidditch World Cup, didn’t they? Someone set off 
+
+
+
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+
+the Dark Mark . . . and then — did you hear about that 
+Ministry of Magic witch who’s gone missing?” 
+
+“Bertha Jorkins?” said Harry. 
+
+“Exactly ... she disappeared in Albania, and that’s 
+definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last ... 
+and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament 
+was coming up, wouldn’t she?” 
+
+“Yeah, but ... it’s not very likely she’d have walked 
+straight into Voldemort, is it?” said Harry. 
+
+“Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins,” said Sirius grimly. 
+“She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above 
+your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, 
+but no brains, none at all. It’s not a good 
+combination, Harry. I’d say she’d be very easy to lure 
+into a trap. 
+
+“So ... so Voldemort could have found out about the 
+tournament?” said Harry. “Is that what you mean? 
+You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Sirius slowly, “I just don’t know 
+... Karkaroff doesn’t strike me as the type who’d go 
+back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was 
+powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put 
+your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I 
+can’t help thinking the tournament would be a very 
+good way to attack you and make it look like an 
+accident.” 
+
+“Looks like a really good plan from where I’m 
+standing,” said Harry grinning bleakly. “They’ll just 
+have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff.” 
+
+“Right — these dragons,” said Sirius, speaking very 
+quickly now. “There’s a way, Harry. Don’t be tempted 
+
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+
+to try a Stunning Spell — dragons are strong and too 
+powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single 
+Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a 
+time to overcome a dragon — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I know, I just saw,” said Harry. 
+
+“But you can do it alone,” said Sirius. “There is a way, 
+and a simple spell’s all you need. Just — ” 
+
+But Harry held up a hand to silence him, his heart 
+suddenly pounding as though it would burst. He 
+could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase 
+behind him. 
+
+“Go!” he hissed at Sirius. “Go! There’s someone 
+coming!” 
+
+Harry scrambled to his feet, hiding the fire — if 
+someone saw Sirius’s face within the walls of 
+Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar — the 
+Ministry would get dragged in — he, Harry, would be 
+questioned about Sirius’s whereabouts — 
+
+Harry heard a tiny pop\ in the fire behind him and 
+knew Sirius had gone. He watched the bottom of the 
+spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at 
+one o’clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from 
+telling him how to get past a dragon? 
+
+It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, 
+Ron stopped dead facing Harry across the room, and 
+looked around. 
+
+“Who were you talking to?” he said. 
+
+“What’s that got to do with you?” Harry snarled. 
+
+“What are you doing down here at this time of night?” 
+
+
+
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+
+“I just wondered where you — ” Ron broke off, 
+shrugging. “Nothing. I’m going back to bed.” 
+
+“Just thought you’d come nosing around, did you?” 
+Harry shouted. He knew that Ron had no idea what 
+he’d walked in on, knew he hadn’t done it on purpose, 
+but he didn’t care — at this moment he hated 
+everything about Ron, right down to the several 
+inches of bare ankle showing beneath his pajama 
+trousers. 
+
+“Sorry about that,” said Ron, his face reddening with 
+anger. “Should’ve realized you didn’t want to be 
+disturbed. I’ll let you get on with practicing for your 
+next interview in peace.” 
+
+Harry seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS 
+badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as he 
+could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead 
+and bounced off. 
+
+“There you go,” Harry said. “Something for you to 
+wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if 
+you’re lucky. ... That’s what you want, isn’t it?” 
+
+He strode across the room toward the stairs; he half 
+expected Ron to stop him, he would even have liked 
+Ron to throw a punch at him, but Ron just stood 
+there in his too-small pajamas, and Harry, having 
+stormed upstairs, lay awake in bed fuming for a long 
+time afterward and didn’t hear him come up to bed. 
+
+
+
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+
+THE FIRST TASK 
+
+Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so 
+inattentively that it was a while before he realized he 
+was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his 
+sock. When he’d finally got all his clothes on the right 
+parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, 
+locating her at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, 
+where she was eating breakfast with Ginny. Feeling 
+too queasy to eat, Harry waited until Hermione had 
+swallowed her last spoonful of porridge, then dragged 
+her out onto the grounds. There, he told her all about 
+the dragons, and about everything Sirius had said, 
+while they took another long walk around the lake. 
+
+Alarmed as she was by Sirius’s warnings about 
+Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons 
+were the more pressing problem. 
+
+“Let’s just try and keep you alive until Tuesday 
+evening,” she said desperately, “and then we can 
+worry about Karkaroff.” 
+
+
+
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+
+They walked three times around the lake, trying all 
+the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue 
+a dragon. Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so 
+they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled 
+down every book he could find on dragons, and both 
+of them set to work searching through the large pile. 
+
+“ ‘Talon-clipping by charms ... treating scale-rot ...’ 
+
+This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who 
+want to keep them healthy. ...” 
+
+“ ‘Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the 
+ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which 
+none but the most powerful spells can penetrate ...’ 
+
+But Sirius said a simple one would do it. ...” 
+
+“Let’s try some simple spellbooks, then,” said Harry, 
+throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much. 
+
+He returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set 
+them down, and began to flick through each in turn, 
+Hermione whispering nonstop at his elbow. 
+
+“Well, there are Switching Spells ... but what’s the 
+point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs 
+for wine-gums or something that would make it less 
+dangerous. ... The trouble is, like that book said, not 
+much is going to get through a dragon’s hide. ... I’d 
+say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really 
+haven’t got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall 
+... unless you’re supposed to put the spell on 
+yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But 
+they’re not simple spells, I mean, we haven’t done any 
+of those in class, I only know about them because I’ve 
+been doing O.W.L. practice papers. ...” 
+
+“Hermione,” Harry said, through gritted teeth, “will 
+you shut up for a bit, please? I’m trying to 
+concentrate.” 
+
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+But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was 
+that Harry’s brain filled with a sort of blank buzzing, 
+which didn’t seem to allow room for concentration. He 
+stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for 
+the Busy and Vexed. Instant scalping . . . but dragons 
+had no hair . . . pepper breath . . . that would probably 
+increase a dragon’s firepower ... horn tongue ... just 
+what he needed, to give it an extra weapon . . . 
+
+“Oh no, he’s back again, why can’t he read on his 
+stupid ship?” said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum 
+slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, 
+and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of 
+books. “Come on, Harry, we’ll go back to the common 
+room ... his fan club’ll be here in a moment, twittering 
+away. ...” 
+
+And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of 
+girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a 
+Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist. 
+
+Harry barely slept that night. When he awoke on 
+Monday morning, he seriously considered for the first 
+time ever just running away from Hogwarts. But as 
+he looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, 
+and thought about what leaving the castle would 
+mean, he knew he couldn’t do it. It was the only place 
+he had ever been happy . . . well, he supposed he must 
+have been happy with his parents too, but he couldn’t 
+remember that. 
+
+Somehow, the knowledge that he would rather be 
+here and facing a dragon than back on Privet Drive 
+with Dudley was good to know; it made him feel 
+slightly calmer. He finished his bacon with difficulty 
+(his throat wasn’t working too well), and as he and 
+Hermione got up, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the 
+Hufflepuff table. 
+
+
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+Cedric still didn’t know about the dragons ... the only 
+champion who didn’t, if Harry was right in thinking 
+that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and 
+Krum. ... 
+
+“Hermione, I’ll see you in the greenhouses,” Harry 
+said, coming to his decision as he watched Cedric 
+leaving the Hall. “Go on, I’ll catch you up.” 
+
+“Harry, you’ll be late, the bell’s about to ring — ” 
+
+“I’ll catch you up, okay?” 
+
+By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble 
+staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of 
+sixth-year friends. Harry didn’t want to talk to Cedric 
+in front of them; they were among those who had 
+been quoting Rita Skeeter’s article at him every time 
+he went near them. He followed Cedric at a distance 
+and saw that he was heading toward the Charms 
+corridor. This gave Harry an idea. Pausing at a 
+distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took 
+careful aim. 
+
+“Diffindol” 
+
+Cedric’s bag split. Parchment, quills, and books 
+spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink 
+smashed. 
+
+“Don’t bother,” said Cedric in an exasperated voice as 
+his friends bent down to help him. “Tell Flitwick I’m 
+coming, go on. ...” 
+
+This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. He 
+slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until 
+Cedric’s friends had disappeared into their classroom, 
+and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of 
+everyone but himself and Cedric. 
+
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+“Hi,” said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to 
+Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered 
+with ink. “My bag just split ... brand-new and all ...” 
+
+“Cedric,” said Harry, “the first task is dragons.” 
+
+“What?” said Cedric, looking up. 
+
+“Dragons,” said Harry, speaking quickly, in case 
+Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had 
+got to. “They’ve got four, one for each of us, and we’ve 
+got to get past them.” 
+
+Cedric stared at him. Harry saw some of the panic 
+he’d been feeling since Saturday night flickering in 
+Cedric’s gray eyes. 
+
+“Are you sure?” Cedric said in a hushed voice. 
+
+“Dead sure,” said Harry. “I’ve seen them.” 
+
+“But how did you find out? We’re not supposed to 
+know. ...” 
+
+“Never mind,” said Harry quickly — he knew Hagrid 
+would be in trouble if he told the truth. “But I’m not 
+the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know 
+by now — Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the 
+dragons too.” 
+
+Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, 
+parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off 
+one shoulder. He stared at Harry, and there was a 
+puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes. 
+
+“Why are you telling me?” he asked. 
+
+Harry looked at him in disbelief. He was sure Cedric 
+wouldn’t have asked that if he had seen the dragons 
+
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+himself. Harry wouldn’t have let his worst enemy face 
+those monsters unprepared — well, perhaps Malfoy or 
+Snape ... 
+
+“It’s just ... fair, isn’t it?” he said to Cedric. “We all 
+know now ... we’re on an even footing, aren’t we?” 
+
+Cedric was still looking at him in a slightly suspicious 
+way when Harry heard a familiar clunking noise 
+behind him. He turned around and saw Mad-Eye 
+Moody emerging from a nearby classroom. 
+
+“Come with me, Potter,” he growled. “Diggory, off you 
+go.” 
+
+Harry stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he 
+overheard them? 
+
+“Er — Professor, I’m supposed to be in Herbology — ” 
+
+“Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please. ...” 
+
+Harry followed him, wondering what was going to 
+happen to him now. What if Moody wanted to know 
+how he’d found out about the dragons? Would Moody 
+go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid, or just turn 
+Harry into a ferret? Well, it might be easier to get past 
+a dragon if he were a ferret, Harry thought dully, he’d 
+be smaller, much less easy to see from a height of fifty 
+feet ... 
+
+He followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the 
+door behind them and turned to look at Harry, his 
+magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one. 
+
+“That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter,” 
+Moody said quietly. 
+
+
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+Harry didn’t know what to say; this wasn’t the 
+reaction he had expected at all. 
+
+
+
+“Sit down,” said Moody, and Harry sat, looking 
+around. 
+
+He had visited this office under two of its previous 
+occupants. In Professor Lockhart’s day, the walls had 
+been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of 
+Professor Lockhart himself. When Lupin had lived 
+here, you were more likely to come across a specimen 
+of some fascinating new Dark creature he had 
+procured for them to study in class. Now, however, 
+the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd 
+objects that Harry supposed Moody had used in the 
+days when he had been an Auror. 
+
+On his desk stood what looked like a large, cracked, 
+glass spinning top; Harry recognized it at once as a 
+Sneakoscope, because he owned one himself, though 
+it was much smaller than Moody’s. In the corner on a 
+small table stood an object that looked something like 
+an extra- squiggly, golden television aerial. It was 
+humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung 
+opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting 
+the room. Shadowy figures were moving around 
+inside it, none of them clearly in focus. 
+
+“Like my Dark Detectors, do you?” said Moody, who 
+was watching Harry closely. 
+
+“What’s that?” Harry asked, pointing at the squiggly 
+golden aerial. 
+
+“Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects 
+concealment and lies ... no use here, of course, too 
+much interference — students in every direction lying 
+about why they haven’t done their homework. Been 
+humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my 
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+
+Sneakoscope because it wouldn’t stop whistling. It’s 
+extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of 
+course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff,” he 
+added in a growl. 
+
+“And what’s the mirror for?” 
+
+“Oh that’s my Foe-Glass. See them out there, 
+skulking around? I’m not really in trouble until I see 
+the whites of their eyes. That’s when I open my 
+trunk.” 
+
+He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the 
+large trunk under the window. It had seven keyholes 
+in a row. Harry wondered what was in there, until 
+Moody’s next question brought him sharply back to 
+earth. 
+
+“So ... found out about the dragons, have you?” 
+
+Harry hesitated. He’d been afraid of this — but he 
+hadn’t told Cedric, and he certainly wasn’t going to 
+tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules. 
+
+“It’s all right,” said Moody, sitting down and 
+stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. 
+
+“Cheating’s a traditional part of the Tri-wizard 
+Tournament and always has been.” 
+
+“I didn’t cheat,” said Harry sharply. “It was — a sort 
+of accident that I found out.” 
+
+Moody grinned. “I wasn’t accusing you, laddie. I’ve 
+been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as 
+high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old 
+Karkaroff and Maxime won’t be. They’ll have told their 
+champions everything they can. They want to win. 
+They want to beat Dumbledore. They’d like to prove 
+he’s only human.” 
+
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+Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye 
+swiveled around so fast it made Harry feel queasy to 
+watch it. 
+
+“So ... got any ideas how you’re going to get past your 
+dragon yet?” said Moody. 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, I’m not going to tell you,” said Moody gruffly. “I 
+don’t show favoritism, me. I’m just going to give you 
+some good, general advice. And the first bit is — play 
+to your strengths.” 
+
+“I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop 
+himself. 
+
+“Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I 
+say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best 
+at?” 
+
+Harry tried to concentrate. What was he best at? 
+
+Well, that was easy, really — 
+
+“Quidditch,” he said dully, “and a fat lot of help — ” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Moody, staring at him very hard, 
+his magical eye barely moving at all. “You’re a damn 
+good flier from what I’ve heard.” 
+
+“Yeah, but ...” Harry stared at him. “I’m not allowed a 
+broom, I’ve only got my wand — ” 
+
+“My second piece of general advice,” said Moody 
+loudly, interrupting him, “is to use a nice, simple 
+spell that will enable you to get what you need.” 
+
+Harry looked at him blankly. What did he need? 
+
+
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+“Come on, boy ...” whispered Moody. “Put them 
+together ... it’s not that difficult. ...” 
+
+And it clicked. He was best at flying. He needed to 
+pass the dragon in the air. For that, he needed his 
+Firebolt. And for his Firebolt, he needed — 
+
+“Hermione,” Harry whispered, when he had sped into 
+greenhouse three minutes later, uttering a hurried 
+apology to Professor Sprout as he passed her. 
+“Hermione — I need you to help me.” 
+
+“What d’you think I’ve been trying to do, Harry?” she 
+whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the 
+top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning. 
+
+“Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning 
+Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon.” 
+
+And so they practiced. They didn’t have lunch, but 
+headed for a free classroom, where Harry tried with 
+all his might to make various objects fly across the 
+room toward him. He was still having problems. The 
+books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the 
+room and dropping like stones to the floor. 
+
+“Concentrate, Harry, concentrate. ...” 
+
+“What d’you think I’m trying to do?” said Harry 
+angrily. “A great big dragon keeps popping up in my 
+head for some reason. ... Okay, try again. ...” 
+
+He wanted to skip Divination to keep practicing, but 
+Hermione refused point-blank to skive off 
+Arithmancy, and there was no point in staying 
+without her. He therefore had to endure over an hour 
+of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson 
+telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation 
+
+
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+to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in 
+July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths. 
+
+“Well, that’s good,” said Harry loudly, his temper 
+getting the better of him, “just as long as it’s not 
+drawn-out. I don’t want to suffer.” 
+
+Ron looked for a moment as though he was going to 
+laugh; he certainly caught Harry’s eye for the first 
+time in days, but Harry was still feeling too resentful 
+toward Ron to care. He spent the rest of the lesson 
+trying to attract small objects toward him under the 
+table with his wand. He managed to make a fly zoom 
+straight into his hand, though he wasn’t entirely sure 
+that was his prowess at Summoning Charms — 
+perhaps the fly was just stupid. 
+
+He forced down some dinner after Divination, then 
+returned to the empty classroom with Hermione, 
+using the Invisibility Cloak to avoid the teachers. 
+
+They kept practicing until past midnight. They would 
+have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, 
+pretending to think that Harry wanted things thrown 
+at him, started chucking chairs across the room. 
+Harry and Hermione left in a hurry before the noise 
+attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor 
+common room, which was now mercifully empty. 
+
+At two o’clock in the morning, Harry stood near the 
+fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects: books, 
+quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of 
+Gobstones, and Neville’s toad, Trevor. Only in the last 
+hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning 
+Charm. 
+
+“That’s better, Harry, that’s loads better,” Hermione 
+said, looking exhausted but very pleased. 
+
+
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+“Well, now we know what to do next time I can’t 
+manage a spell,” Harry said, throwing a rune 
+dictionary back to Hermione, so he could try again, 
+“threaten me with a dragon. Right ...” He raised his 
+wand once more. “Accio Dictionary !” 
+
+The heavy book soared out of Hermione ’s hand, flew 
+across the room, and Harry caught it. 
+
+“Harry, I really think you’ve got it!” said Hermione 
+delightedly. 
+
+“Just as long as it works tomorrow,” Harry said. “The 
+Firebolt’s going to be much farther away than the 
+stuff in here, it’s going to be in the castle, and I’m 
+going to be out there on the grounds. ...” 
+
+“That doesn’t matter,” said Hermione firmly “Just as 
+long as you’re concentrating really, really hard on it, 
+it’ll come. Harry, we’d better get some sleep ... you’re 
+going to need it.” 
+
+Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the 
+Summoning Charm that evening that some of his 
+blind panic had left him. It returned in full measure, 
+however, on the following morning. The atmosphere 
+in the school was one of great tension and excitement. 
+Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the 
+students time to get down to the dragons’ enclosure 
+— though of course, they didn’t yet know what they 
+would find there. 
+
+Harry felt oddly separate from everyone around him, 
+whether they were wishing him good luck or hissing 
+“ We’ll have a box of tissues ready, Potted as he 
+passed. It was a state of nervousness so advanced 
+that he wondered whether he mightn’t just lose his 
+head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, 
+and start trying to curse everyone in sight. Time was 
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+
+behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, 
+rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he 
+seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History 
+of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch . . . and 
+then (where had the morning gone? the last of the 
+dragon-free hours?), Professor McGonagall was 
+hurrying over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people 
+were watching. 
+
+“Potter, the champions have to come down onto the 
+grounds now. ... You have to get ready for your first 
+task.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto 
+his plate with a clatter. 
+
+“Good luck, Harry,” Hermione whispered. “You’ll be 
+fine!” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry in a voice that was most unlike his 
+own. 
+
+He left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She 
+didn’t seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly 
+as anxious as Hermione. As she walked him down the 
+stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, 
+she put her hand on his shoulder. 
+
+“Now, don’t panic,” she said, “just keep a cool head. 
+
+... We’ve got wizards standing by to control the 
+situation if it gets out of hand. ... The main thing is 
+just to do your best, and nobody will think any the 
+worse of you. ... Are you all right?” 
+
+“Yes,” Harry heard himself say. “Yes, I’m fine.” 
+
+She was leading him toward the place where the 
+dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when 
+they approached the clump of trees behind which the 
+
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+enclosure would be clearly visible, Harry saw that a 
+tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, 
+screening the dragons from view. 
+
+“You’re to go in here with the other champions,” said 
+Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, 
+“and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in 
+there ... he’ll be telling you the — the procedure. ... 
+Good luck.” 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, in a flat, distant voice. She left 
+him at the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside. 
+
+Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low 
+wooden stool. She didn’t look nearly as composed as 
+usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum 
+looked even surlier than usual, which Harry 
+supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was 
+pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric 
+gave him a small smile, which Harry returned, feeling 
+the muscles in his face working rather hard, as 
+though they had forgotten how to do it. 
+
+“Harry! Good-o!” said Bagman happily, looking 
+around at him. “Come in, come in, make yourself at 
+home!” 
+
+Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown 
+cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced 
+champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. 
+
+“Well, now we’re all here — time to fill you in!” said 
+Bagman brightly. “When the audience has assembled, 
+I’m going to be offering each of you this bag” — he 
+held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at 
+them — “from which you will each select a small 
+model of the thing you are about to face! There are 
+different — er — varieties, you see. And I have to tell 
+
+
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+you something else too . . . ah, yes . . . your task is to 
+collect the golden egg\” 
+
+Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to 
+show that he understood Bagman’s words, and then 
+started pacing around the tent again; he looked 
+slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn’t 
+reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be 
+sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly 
+how Harry felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for 
+this. ... 
+
+And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of 
+pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their 
+owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking. ... Harry 
+felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a 
+different species. And then — it seemed like about a 
+second later to Harry — Bagman was opening the 
+neck of the purple silk sack. 
+
+“Ladies first,” he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour. 
+
+She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out 
+a tiny, perfect model of a dragon — a Welsh Green. It 
+had the number two around its neck. And Harry 
+knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of 
+surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he 
+had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what 
+was coming. 
+
+The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the 
+scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three 
+around its neck. He didn’t even blink, just sat back 
+down and stared at the ground. 
+
+Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the 
+blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, the number one 
+tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry 
+put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the 
+
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+
+Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It 
+stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared 
+its minuscule fangs. 
+
+“Well, there you are!” said Bagman. “You have each 
+pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers 
+refer to the order in which you are to take on the 
+dragons, do you see? Now, I’m going to have to leave 
+you in a moment, because I’m commentating. Mr. 
+Diggory, you’re first, just go out into the enclosure 
+when you hear a whistle, all right? Now ... Harry ... 
+could I have a quick word? Outside?” 
+
+“Er ... yes,” said Harry blankly, and he got up and 
+went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a 
+short distance away, into the trees, and then turned 
+to him with a fatherly expression on his face. 
+
+“Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “I — no, nothing.” 
+
+“Got a plan?” said Bagman, lowering his voice 
+conspiratorially. “Because I don’t mind sharing a few 
+pointers, if you’d like them, you know. I mean,” 
+Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, 
+“you’re the underdog here, Harry. ... Anything I can 
+do to help ...” 
+
+“No,” said Harry so quickly he knew he had sounded 
+rude, “no — I — I know what I’m going to do, thanks.” 
+
+“Nobody would know, Harry,” said Bagman, winking 
+at him. 
+
+“No, I’m fine,” said Harry, wondering why he kept 
+telling people this, and wondering whether he had 
+ever been less fine. “I’ve got a plan worked out, I — ” 
+
+
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+A whistle had blown somewhere. 
+
+
+
+“Good lord, I’ve got to run!” said Bagman in alarm, 
+and he hurried off. 
+
+Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric 
+emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to 
+wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came 
+out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt. 
+
+Harry went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds 
+later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant 
+Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face- 
+to-face with the living counterpart of his model. ... 
+
+It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, 
+sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed . . . 
+yelled . . . gasped like a single many-headed entity, as 
+Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the 
+Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the 
+ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric’s 
+steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman’s 
+commentary made everything much, much worse. ... 
+Horrible pictures formed in Harry’s mind as he heard: 
+“Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow” ... “He’s 
+taking risks, this one!” ... “Clever move — pity it 
+didn’t work!” 
+
+And then, after about fifteen minutes, Harry heard 
+the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: 
+Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the 
+golden egg. 
+
+“Very good indeed!” Bagman was shouting. “And now 
+the marks from the judges!” 
+
+But he didn’t shout out the marks; Harry supposed 
+the judges were holding them up and showing them 
+to the crowd. 
+
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+“One down, three to go!” Bagman yelled as the whistle 
+blew again. “Miss Delacour, if you please!” 
+
+
+
+Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Harry felt more 
+warmly toward her than he had done so far as she left 
+the tent with her head held high and her hand 
+clutching her wand. He and Krum were left alone, at 
+opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other’s gaze. 
+
+The same process started again. ... “Oh I’m not sure 
+that was wise!” they could hear Bagman shouting 
+gleefully. “Oh . . . nearly! Careful now . . . good lord, I 
+thought she’d had it then!” 
+
+Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into 
+applause once more. ... Fleur must have been 
+successful too. A pause, while Fleur’s marks were 
+being shown . . . more clapping . . . then, for the third 
+time, the whistle. 
+
+“And here comes Mr. Krum!” cried Bagman, and 
+Krum slouched out, leaving Harry quite alone. 
+
+He felt much more aware of his body than usual; very 
+aware of the way his heart was pumping fast, and his 
+fingers tingling with fear ... yet at the same time, he 
+seemed to be outside himself, seeing the walls of the 
+tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away. 
+
+
+
+“Very daring!” Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard 
+the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, 
+while the crowd drew its collective breath. “That’s 
+some nerve he’s showing — and — yes, he’s got the 
+egg!” 
+
+Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking 
+glass; Krum had finished — it would be Harry’s turn 
+any moment. 
+
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+He stood up, noticing dimly that his legs seemed to be 
+made of marshmallow. He waited. And then he heard 
+the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance 
+of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside 
+him. And now he was walking past the trees, through 
+a gap in the enclosure fence. 
+
+He saw everything in front of him as though it was a 
+very highly colored dream. There were hundreds and 
+hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands 
+that had been magicked there since he’d last stood on 
+this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other 
+end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of 
+eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon 
+him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her 
+spiked tail, leaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard 
+ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, 
+but whether friendly or not, Harry didn��t know or 
+care. It was time to do what he had to do ... to focus 
+his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that 
+was his only chance. ... 
+
+He raised his wand. 
+
+“Accio Firebolti” he shouted. 
+
+Harry waited, every fiber of him hoping, praying. ... If 
+it hadn’t worked ... if it wasn’t coming ... He seemed 
+to be looking at everything around him through some 
+sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat 
+haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of 
+faces around him swim strangely. ... 
+
+And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind 
+him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward 
+him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the 
+enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, 
+waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making 
+even more noise. ... Bagman was shouting something 
+Page | 390 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+... but Harry’s ears were not working properly 
+anymore ... listening wasn’t important. ... 
+
+He swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from 
+the ground. And a second later, something 
+miraculous happened. ... 
+
+As he soared upward, as the wind rushed through his 
+hair, as the crowd’s faces became mere flesh-colored 
+pinpricks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size 
+of a dog, he realized that he had left not only the 
+ground behind, but also his fear. . . . He was back 
+where he belonged. ... 
+
+This was just another Quidditch match, that was all 
+... just another Quidditch match, and that Horntail 
+was just another ugly opposing team. ... 
+
+He looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the 
+gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, 
+residing safely between the dragon’s front legs. 
+“Okay,” Harry told himself, “diversionary tactics ... 
+let’s go. ...” 
+
+He dived. The Horntail’s head followed him; he knew 
+what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just 
+in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where 
+he would have been had he not swerved away . . . but 
+Harry didn’t care ... that was no more than dodging a 
+Bludger. ... 
+
+“Great Scott, he can fly!” yelled Bagman as the crowd 
+shrieked and gasped. “Are you watching this, Mr. 
+Krum?” 
+
+Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still 
+following his progress; its head revolving on its long 
+neck — if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy — 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+but better not push it too long, or it would be 
+breathing fire again — 
+
+Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its 
+mouth, but this time he was less lucky — he missed 
+the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet 
+him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the 
+long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes — 
+
+He could feel it stinging, he could hear screaming and 
+groans from the crowd, but the cut didn’t seem to be 
+deep. ... Now he zoomed around the back of the 
+Horntail, and a possibility occurred to him. ... 
+
+The Horntail didn’t seem to want to take off, she was 
+too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and 
+twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping 
+those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid 
+to move too far from them . . . but he had to persuade 
+her to do it, or he’d never get near them. ... The trick 
+was to do it carefully, gradually. . . . 
+
+He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not 
+near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, 
+but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept 
+her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, 
+watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs 
+bared. ... 
+
+He flew higher. The Horntail’s head rose with him, her 
+neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, 
+like a snake before its charmer. . . . 
+
+Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of 
+exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was 
+longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was 
+too high to reach now. ... She shot fire into the air, 
+which he dodged. ... Her jaws opened wide. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Come on,” Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above 
+her, “come on, come and get me ... up you get now ...” 
+
+And then she reared, spreading her great, black, 
+leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small 
+airplane — and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew 
+what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, 
+he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he 
+could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her 
+clawed front legs — he had taken his hands off his 
+Firebolt — he had seized the golden egg — 
+
+And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was 
+soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely 
+under his uninjured arm, and it was as though 
+somebody had just turned the volume back up — for 
+the first time, he became properly aware of the noise 
+of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as 
+loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup — 
+
+“Look at that!” Bagman was yelling. “Will you look at 
+that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his 
+egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. 
+Potter!” 
+
+Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to 
+subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the 
+enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, 
+and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving 
+him toward them, their smiles evident even from this 
+distance. He flew back over the stands, the noise of 
+the crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in 
+smoothly to land, his heart lighter than it had been in 
+weeks. ... He had got through the first task, he had 
+survived. ... 
+
+“That was excellent, Potter!” cried Professor 
+McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt — which from 
+her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand 
+
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+
+
+
+
+shook as she pointed at his shoulder. “You’ll need to 
+see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your 
+score. ... Over there, she’s had to mop up Diggory 
+already. ...” 
+
+“Yeh did it, Harry!” said Hagrid hoarsely. “Yeh did it! 
+An’ agains’ the Horntail an’ all, an’ yeh know Charlie 
+said that was the wors’ — ” 
+
+“Thanks, Hagrid,” said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid 
+wouldn’t blunder on and reveal that he had shown 
+Harry the dragons beforehand. 
+
+Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical 
+eye was dancing in its socket. 
+
+“Nice and easy does the trick, Potter,” he growled. 
+
+“Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please ...” said 
+Professor McGonagall. 
+
+Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and 
+saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a 
+second tent, looking worried. 
+
+“Dragons!” she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling 
+Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he 
+could make out Cedric’s shadow through the canvas, 
+but Cedric didn’t seem to be badly injured; he was 
+sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry’s 
+shoulder, talking furiously all the while. “Last year 
+dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to 
+bring into this school next? You’re very lucky ... this 
+is quite shallow ... it’ll need cleaning before I heal it 
+up, though. ...” 
+
+She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid 
+that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder 
+with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly. 
+
+Page | 394 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Now, just sit quietly for a minute — sit! And then you 
+can go and get your score.” 
+
+She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next 
+door and say, “How does it feel now, Diggory?” 
+
+Harry didn’t want to sit still: He was too full of 
+adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what 
+was going on outside, but before he’d reached the 
+mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside 
+— Hermione, followed closely by Ron. 
+
+“Harry, you were brilliant!” Hermione said squeakily. 
+There were fingernail marks on her face where she 
+had been clutching it in fear. “You were amazing! You 
+really were!” 
+
+But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white 
+and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost. 
+
+“Harry,” he said, very seriously, “whoever put your 
+name in that goblet — I — I reckon they’re trying to 
+do you in!” 
+
+It was as though the last few weeks had never 
+happened — as though Harry were meeting Ron for 
+the first time, right after he’d been made champion. 
+
+“Caught on, have you?” said Harry coldly. “Took you 
+long enough.” 
+
+Hermione stood nervously between them, looking 
+from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth 
+uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologize 
+and suddenly he found he didn’t need to hear it. 
+
+“It’s okay,” he said, before Ron could get the words 
+out. “Forget it.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“No,” said Ron, “I shouldn’t’ve — ” 
+
+
+
+“ Forget it,” Harry said. 
+
+Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned 
+back. 
+
+Hermione burst into tears. 
+
+“There’s nothing to cry about!” Harry told her, 
+bewildered. 
+
+“You two are so stupid).” she shouted, stamping her 
+foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. 
+Then, before either of them could stop her, she had 
+given both of them a hug and dashed away, now 
+positively howling. 
+
+“Barking mad,” said Ron, shaking his head. “Harry, 
+c’mon, they’ll be putting up your scores. ...” 
+
+Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling 
+more elated than he would have believed possible an 
+hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his 
+side, talking fast. 
+
+“You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric 
+did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on 
+the ground . . . turned it into a dog ... he was trying to 
+make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, 
+it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort 
+of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got 
+burned as well — the dragon changed its mind 
+halfway through and decided it would rather have 
+him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And 
+that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she 
+was trying to put it into a trance — well, that kind of 
+worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and 
+this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught 
+Page | 396 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+fire — she put it out with a bit of water out of her 
+wand. And Krum — you won’t believe this, but he 
+didn’t even think of flying! He was probably the best 
+after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right 
+in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in 
+agony and squashed half the real eggs — they took 
+marks off for that, he wasn’t supposed to do any 
+damage to them.” 
+
+Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the edge of 
+the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken 
+away, Harry could see where the five judges were 
+sitting — right at the other end, in raised seats 
+draped in gold. 
+
+“It’s marks out of ten from each one,” Ron said, and 
+Harry, squinting up the field, saw the first judge — 
+Madame Maxime — raise her wand in the air. What 
+looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which 
+twisted itself into a large figure eight. 
+
+“Not bad!” said Ron as the crowd applauded. “I 
+suppose she took marks off for your shoulder. ...” 
+
+Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into 
+the air. 
+
+“Looking good!” Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the 
+back. 
+
+Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd 
+was cheering harder than ever. 
+
+Ludo Bagman — ten. 
+
+“Ten?” said Harry in disbelief. “But ... I got hurt. ... 
+What’s he playing at?” 
+
+“Harry, don’t complain!” Ron yelled excitedly. 
+
+Page | 397 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a 
+moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too 
+— four. 
+
+
+
+“What?” Ron bellowed furiously. “Four? You lousy, 
+biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!” 
+
+But Harry didn’t care, he wouldn’t have cared if 
+Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron’s indignation on 
+his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him. 
+He didn’t tell Ron this, of course, but his heart felt 
+lighter than air as he turned to leave the enclosure. 
+And it wasn’t just Ron ... those weren’t only 
+Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come 
+to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of 
+the school had been on his side as well as Cedric’s. ... 
+He didn’t care about the Slytherins, he could stand 
+whatever they threw at him now. 
+
+“You’re tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!” said 
+Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off 
+back toward the school. “Listen, I’ve got to run, I’ve 
+got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I’d tell her 
+what happened — but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah 
+— and they told me to tell you you’ve got to hang 
+around for a few more minutes. ... Bagman wants a 
+word, back in the champions’ tent.” 
+
+Ron said he would wait, so Harry reentered the tent, 
+which somehow looked quite different now: friendly 
+and welcoming. He thought back to how he’d felt 
+while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the 
+long wait before he’d walked out to face it. ... There 
+was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably 
+worse. 
+
+Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One 
+side of Cedric’s face was covered in a thick orange 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
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+paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He 
+grinned at Harry when he saw him. 
+
+“Good one, Harry.” 
+
+“And you,” said Harry, grinning back. 
+
+“Well done, all of you!” said Ludo Bagman, bouncing 
+into the tent and looking as pleased as though he 
+personally had just got past a dragon. “Now, just a 
+quick few words. You’ve got a nice long break before 
+the second task, which will take place at half past 
+nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth — 
+but we’re giving you something to think about in the 
+meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs 
+you’re all holding, you will see that they open ... see 
+the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside 
+the egg — because it will tell you what the second 
+task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? 
+Sure? Well, off you go, then!” 
+
+Harry left the tent, rejoined Ron, and they started to 
+walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; 
+Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had 
+done in more detail. Then, as they rounded the clump 
+of trees behind which Harry had first heard the 
+dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them. 
+
+It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes 
+today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended 
+perfectly against them. 
+
+“Congratulations, Harry!” she said, beaming at him. “I 
+wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you 
+felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the 
+fairness of the scoring?” 
+
+“Yeah, you can have a word,” said Harry savagely. 
+“Good-bye.” 
+
+Page | 399 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And he set off back to the castle with Ron. 
+
+
+
+Page | 400 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+THE HOUSE-ELF LIBERATION FRONT 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery that 
+evening to find Pigwidgeon, so that Harry could send 
+Sirius a letter telling him that he had managed to get 
+past his dragon unscathed. On the way, Harry filled 
+Ron in on everything Sirius had told him about 
+Karkaroff. Though shocked at first to hear that 
+Karkaroff had been a Death Eater, by the time they 
+entered the Owlery Ron was saying that they ought to 
+have suspected it all along. 
+
+“Fits, doesn’t it?” he said. “Remember what Malfoy 
+said on the train, about his dad being friends with 
+Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. 
+They were probably running around in masks 
+together at the World Cup. ... I’ll tell you one thing, 
+though, Harry, if it was Karkaroff who put your name 
+in the goblet, he’s going to be feeling really stupid 
+now, isn’t he? Didn’t work, did it? You only got a 
+scratch! Come here — I’ll do it — ” 
+
+Pigwidgeon was so overexcited at the idea of a delivery 
+he was flying around and around Harry’s head, 
+
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+
+
+
+hooting incessantly. Ron snatched Pigwidgeon out of 
+the air and held him still while Harry attached the 
+letter to his leg. 
+
+“There’s no way any of the other tasks are going to be 
+that dangerous, how could they be?” Ron went on as 
+he carried Pigwidgeon to the window. “You know 
+what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Harry, 
+I’m serious.” 
+
+Harry knew that Ron was only saying this to make up 
+for his behavior of the last few weeks, but he 
+appreciated it all the same. Hermione, however, 
+leaned against the Owlery wall, folded her arms, and 
+frowned at Ron. 
+
+“Harry’s got a long way to go before he finishes this 
+tournament,” she said seriously. “If that was the first 
+task, I hate to think what’s coming next.” 
+
+“Right little ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” said Ron. 
+“You and Professor Trelawney should get together 
+sometime.” 
+
+He threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon 
+plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull 
+himself back up again; the letter attached to his leg 
+was much longer and heavier than usual — Harry 
+hadn’t been able to resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow 
+account of exactly how he had swerved, circled, and 
+dodged the Horntail. They watched Pigwidgeon 
+disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, 
+
+“Well, we’d better get downstairs for your surprise 
+party, Harry — Fred and George should have nicked 
+enough food from the kitchens by now.” 
+
+Sure enough, when they entered the Gryffindor 
+common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. 
+There were mountains of cakes and flagons of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee 
+Jordan had let off some Filibuster’s Fireworks, so that 
+the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean 
+Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up 
+some impressive new banners, most of which depicted 
+Harry zooming around the Horntail’s head on his 
+Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his 
+head on fire. 
+
+Harry helped himself to food; he had almost forgotten 
+what it was like to feel properly hungry, and sat down 
+with Ron and Hermione. He couldn’t believe how 
+happy he felt; he had Ron back on his side, he’d 
+gotten through the first task, and he wouldn’t have to 
+face the second one for three months. 
+
+“Blimey, this is heavy,” said Lee Jordan, picking up 
+the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table, and 
+weighing it in his hands. “Open it, Harry, go on! Let’s 
+just see what’s inside it!” 
+
+“He’s supposed to work out the clue on his own,” 
+Hermione said swiftly. “It’s in the tournament rules. 
+
+
+
+“I was supposed to work out how to get past the 
+dragon on my own too,” Harry muttered, so only 
+Hermione could hear him, and she grinned rather 
+guiltily. 
+
+“Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!” several people echoed. 
+
+Lee passed Harry the egg, and Harry dug his 
+fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around 
+it and prised it open. 
+
+It was hollow and completely empty — but the 
+moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a 
+loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. The 
+
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+nearest thing to it Harry had ever heard was the ghost 
+orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday party, 
+who had all been playing the musical saw. 
+
+“Shut it!” Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears. 
+
+“What was that?” said Seamus Finnigan, staring at 
+the egg as Harry slammed it shut again. “Sounded 
+like a banshee. ... Maybe you’ve got to get past one of 
+those next, Harry!” 
+
+“It was someone being tortured!” said Neville, who 
+had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over 
+the floor. “You’re going to have to fight the Cruciatus 
+Curse!” 
+
+“Don’t be a prat, Neville, that’s illegal,” said George. 
+“They wouldn’t use the Cruciatus Curse on the 
+champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy 
+singing ... maybe you’ve got to attack him while he’s 
+in the shower, Harry.” 
+
+“Want a jam tart, Hermione?” said Fred. 
+
+Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was 
+offering her. Fred grinned. 
+
+“It’s all right,” he said. “I haven’t done anything to 
+them. It’s the custard creams you’ve got to watch — ” 
+
+Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, 
+choked and spat it out. Fred laughed. 
+
+“Just my little joke, Neville. ...” 
+
+Hermione took a jam tart. Then she said, “Did you get 
+all this from the kitchens, Fred?” 
+
+
+
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+
+“Yep,” said Fred, grinning at her. He put on a high- 
+pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf. “ ‘Anything 
+we can get you, sir, anything at all!’ They’re dead 
+helpful ... get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish.” 
+
+“How do you get in there?” Hermione said in an 
+innocently casual sort of voice. 
+
+“Easy,” said Fred, “concealed door behind a painting 
+of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles 
+and — ” He stopped and looked suspiciously at her. 
+“Why?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Hermione quickly. 
+
+“Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike 
+now, are you?” said George. “Going to give up all the 
+leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion?” 
+
+Several people chortled. Hermione didn’t answer. 
+
+“Don’t you go upsetting them and telling them they’ve 
+got to take clothes and salaries!” said Fred warningly. 
+“You’ll put them off their cooking!” 
+
+Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning 
+into a large canary. 
+
+“Oh — sorry, Neville!” Fred shouted over all the 
+laughter. “I forgot — it was the custard creams we 
+hexed — ” 
+
+Within a minute, however, Neville had molted, and 
+once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking 
+entirely normal. He even joined in laughing. 
+
+“Canary Creams!” Fred shouted to the excitable 
+crowd. “George and I invented them — seven Sickles 
+each, a bargain!” 
+
+Page | 405 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+It was nearly one in the morning when Harry finally 
+went up to the dormitory with Ron, Neville, Seamus, 
+and Dean. Before he pulled the curtains of his four- 
+poster shut, Harry set his tiny model of the 
+Hungarian Horntail on the table next to his bed, 
+where it yawned, curled up, and closed its eyes. 
+
+Really, Harry thought, as he pulled the hangings on 
+his four-poster closed, Hagrid had a point . . . they 
+were all right, really, dragons. ... 
+
+The start of December brought wind and sleet to 
+Hogwarts. Drafty though the castle always was in 
+winter, Harry was glad of its fires and thick walls 
+every time he passed the Durmstrang ship on the 
+lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black 
+sails billowing against the dark skies. He thought the 
+Beauxbatons caravan was likely to be pretty chilly 
+too. Hagrid, he noticed, was keeping Madame 
+Maxime’s horses well provided with their preferred 
+drink of single-malt whiskey; the fumes wafting from 
+the trough in the corner of their paddock was enough 
+to make the entire Care of Magical Creatures class 
+light-headed. This was unhelpful, as they were still 
+tending the horrible skrewts and needed their wits 
+about them. 
+
+“I’m not sure whether they hibernate or not,” Hagrid 
+told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch 
+next lesson. “Thought we’d jus’ try an’ see if they 
+fancied a kip ... we’ll jus’ settle ’em down in these 
+boxes. ...” 
+
+There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their 
+desire to kill one another had not been exercised out 
+of them. Each of them was now approaching six feet 
+in length. Their thick gray armor; their powerful, 
+scuttling legs; their fire-blasting ends; their stings 
+and their suckers, combined to make the skrewts the 
+most repulsive things Harry had ever seen. The class 
+Page | 406 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had 
+brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets. 
+
+“Well jus’ lead ’em in here,” Hagrid said, “an’ put the 
+lids on, and we’ll see what happens.” 
+
+But the skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and 
+did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes 
+and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling, “Don’ panic, 
+now, don’ panic!” while the skrewts rampaged around 
+the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smoldering 
+wreckage of the boxes. Most of the class — Malfoy, 
+Crabbe, and Goyle in the lead — had fled into 
+Hagrid ’s cabin through the back door and barricaded 
+themselves in; Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, 
+were among those who remained outside trying to 
+help Hagrid. Together they managed to restrain and 
+tie up nine of the skrewts, though at the cost of 
+numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one skrewt 
+was left. 
+
+“Don’ frighten him, now!” Hagrid shouted as Ron and 
+Harry used their wands to shoot jets of fiery sparks at 
+the skrewt, which was advancing menacingly on 
+them, its sting arched, quivering, over its back. “Jus’ 
+try an’ slip the rope ’round his sting, so he won’ hurt 
+any o’ the others!” 
+
+“Yeah, we wouldn’t want that!” Ron shouted angrily 
+as he and Harry backed into the wall of Hagrid ’s 
+cabin, still holding the skrewt off with their sparks. 
+
+“Well, well, well ... this does look like fun.” 
+
+Rita Skeeter was leaning on Hagrid ’s garden fence, 
+looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick 
+magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and 
+her crocodile-skin handbag was over her arm. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Hagrid launched himself forward on top of the skrewt 
+that was cornering Harry and Ron and flattened it; a 
+blast of fire shot out of its end, withering the 
+pumpkin plants nearby. 
+
+“Who ’re you?” Hagrid asked Rita Skeeter as he 
+slipped a loop of rope around the skrewt’s sting and 
+tightened it. 
+
+“Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter,” Rita replied, 
+beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted. 
+
+“Thought Dumbledore said you weren’ allowed inside 
+the school anymore,” said Hagrid, frowning slightly as 
+he got off the slightly squashed skrewt and started 
+tugging it over to its fellows. 
+
+Rita acted as though she hadn’t heard what Hagrid 
+had said. 
+
+“What are these fascinating creatures called?” she 
+asked, beaming still more widely. 
+
+“Blast-Ended Skrewts,” grunted Hagrid. 
+
+“Really?” said Rita, apparently full of lively interest. 
+“I’ve never heard of them before ... where do they 
+come from?” 
+
+Harry noticed a dull red flush rising up out of 
+Hagrid’s wild black beard, and his heart sank. Where 
+had Hagrid got the skrewts from? Hermione, who 
+seemed to be thinking along these lines, said quickly, 
+“They’re very interesting, aren’t they? Aren’t they, 
+Harry?” 
+
+“What? Oh yeah ... ouch ... interesting,” said Harry as 
+she stepped on his foot. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Ah, you’re here, Harry!” said Rita Skeeter as she 
+looked around. “So you like Care of Magical 
+Creatures, do you? One of your favorite lessons?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry stoutly. Hagrid beamed at him. 
+
+“Lovely,” said Rita. “Really lovely. Been teaching 
+long?” she added to Hagrid. 
+
+Harry noticed her eyes travel over Dean (who had a 
+nasty cut across one cheek), Lavender (whose robes 
+were badly singed), Seamus (who was nursing several 
+burnt fingers), and then to the cabin windows, where 
+most of the class stood, their noses pressed against 
+the glass waiting to see if the coast was clear. 
+
+“This is o’ny me second year,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Lovely... I don’t suppose you’d like to give an 
+interview, would you? Share some of your experience 
+of magical creatures? The Prophet does a zoological 
+column every Wednesday, as I’m sure you know. We 
+could feature these — er — Bang-Ended Scoots.” 
+
+“Blast-Ended Skrewts,” Hagrid said eagerly. “Er — 
+yeah, why not?” 
+
+Harry had a very bad feeling about this, but there was 
+no way of communicating it to Hagrid without Rita 
+Skeeter seeing, so he had to stand and watch in 
+silence as Hagrid and Rita Skeeter made 
+arrangements to meet in the Three Broomsticks for a 
+good long interview later that week. Then the bell 
+rang up at the castle, signaling the end of the lesson. 
+
+“Well, good-bye, Harry!” Rita Skeeter called merrily to 
+him as he set off with Ron and Hermione. “Until 
+Friday night, then, Hagrid!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Shell twist everything he says,” Harry said under his 
+breath. 
+
+“Just as long as he didn’t import those skrewts 
+illegally or anything,” said Hermione desperately. 
+
+They looked at one another — it was exactly the sort 
+of thing Hagrid might do. 
+
+“Hagrid’s been in loads of trouble before, and 
+Dumbledore’s never sacked him,” said Ron 
+consolingly. “Worst that can happen is Hagrid’ll have 
+to get rid of the skrewts. Sorry ... did I say worst? I 
+meant best.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione laughed, and, feeling slightly 
+more cheerful, went off to lunch. 
+
+Harry thoroughly enjoyed double Divination that 
+afternoon; they were still doing star charts and 
+predictions, but now that he and Ron were friends 
+once more, the whole thing seemed very funny again. 
+Professor Trelawney, who had been so pleased with 
+the pair of them when they had been predicting their 
+own horrific deaths, quickly became irritated as they 
+sniggered through her explanation of the various 
+ways in which Pluto could disrupt everyday life. 
+
+“I would think,” she said, in a mystical whisper that 
+did not conceal her obvious annoyance, “that some of 
+us” — she stared very meaningfully at Harry — 
+
+“might be a little less frivolous had they seen what I 
+have seen during my crystal gazing last night. As I sat 
+here, absorbed in my needlework, the urge to consult 
+the orb overpowered me. I arose, I settled myself 
+before it, and I gazed into its crystalline depths . . . and 
+what do you think I saw gazing back at me?” 
+
+“An ugly old bat in outsize specs?” Ron muttered 
+under his breath. 
+
+Page | 410 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+Harry fought hard to keep his face straight. 
+
+“Death, my dears.” 
+
+Parvati and Lavender both put their hands over their 
+mouths, looking horrified. 
+
+“Yes,” said Professor Trelawney, nodding impressively, 
+“it comes, ever closer, it circles overhead like a 
+vulture, ever lower ... ever lower over the castle. ...” 
+
+She stared pointedly at Harry, who yawned very 
+widely and obviously. 
+
+“It’d be a bit more impressive if she hadn’t done it 
+about eighty times before,” Harry said as they finally 
+regained the fresh air of the staircase beneath 
+Professor Trelawney’s room. “But if I’d dropped dead 
+every time she’s told me I’m going to, I’d be a medical 
+miracle.” 
+
+“You’d be a sort of extra-concentrated ghost,” said 
+Ron, chortling, as they passed the Bloody Baron going 
+in the opposite direction, his wide eyes staring 
+sinisterly. “At least we didn’t get homework. I hope 
+Hermione got loads off Professor Vector, I love not 
+working when she is. ...” 
+
+But Hermione wasn’t at dinner, nor was she in the 
+library when they went to look for her afterward. The 
+only person in there was Viktor Krum. Ron hovered 
+behind the bookshelves for a while, watching Krum, 
+debating in whispers with Harry whether he should 
+ask for an autograph — but then Ron realized that six 
+or seven girls were lurking in the next row of books, 
+debating exactly the same thing, and he lost his 
+enthusiasm for the idea. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Wonder where she’s got to?” Ron said as he and 
+Harry went back to Gryffindor Tower. 
+
+
+
+“Dunno ... balderdash.” 
+
+But the Fat Lady had barely begun to swing forward 
+when the sound of racing feet behind them 
+announced Hermione’s arrival. 
+
+“Harry!” she panted, skidding to a halt beside him 
+(the Fat Lady stared down at her, eyebrows raised). 
+“Harry, you’ve got to come — you’ve got to come, the 
+most amazing thing’s happened — please — ” 
+
+She seized Harry’s arm and started to try to drag him 
+back along the corridor. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” Harry said. 
+
+“I’ll show you when we get there — oh come on, quick 
+
+
+
+Harry looked around at Ron; he looked back at Harry, 
+intrigued. 
+
+“Okay,” Harry said, starting off back down the 
+corridor with Hermione, Ron hurrying to keep up. 
+
+“Oh don’t mind me!” the Fat Lady called irritably after 
+them. “Don’t apologize for bothering me! I’ll just hang 
+here, wide open, until you get back, shall I?” 
+
+“Yeah, thanks!” Ron shouted over his shoulder. 
+
+“Hermione, where are we going?” Harry asked, after 
+she had led them down through six floors, and 
+started down the marble staircase into the entrance 
+hall. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“You’ll see, you’ll see in a minute!” said Hermione 
+excitedly. 
+
+She turned left at the bottom of the staircase and 
+hurried toward the door through which Cedric 
+Diggory had gone the night after the Goblet of Fire 
+had regurgitated his and Harry’s names. Harry had 
+never been through here before. He and Ron followed 
+Hermione down a flight of stone steps, but instead of 
+ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the 
+one that led to Snape’s dungeon, they found 
+themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with 
+torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that 
+were mainly of food. 
+
+“Oh hang on ...” said Harry slowly, halfway down the 
+corridor. “Wait a minute, Hermione. ...” 
+
+“What?” She turned around to look at him, 
+anticipation all over her face. 
+
+“I know what this is about,” said Harry. 
+
+He nudged Ron and pointed to the painting just 
+behind Hermione. It showed a gigantic silver fruit 
+bowl. 
+
+“Hermione!” said Ron, cottoning on. “You’re trying to 
+rope us into that spew stuff again!” 
+
+“No, no, I’m not!” she said hastily. “And it’s not spew, 
+Ron — ” 
+
+“Changed the name, have you?” said Ron, frowning at 
+her. “What are we now, then, the House-Elf Liberation 
+Front? I’m not barging into that kitchen and trying to 
+make them stop work, I’m not doing it — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+‘Tm not asking you to!” Hermione said impatiently. “I 
+came down here just now, to talk to them all, and I 
+found — oh come on, Harry, I want to show you!” 
+
+She seized his arm again, pulled him in front of the 
+picture of the giant fruit bowl, stretched out her 
+forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear. It began 
+to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a 
+large green door handle. Hermione seized it, pulled 
+the door open, and pushed Harry hard in the back, 
+forcing him inside. 
+
+He had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high- 
+ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with 
+mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped 
+around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at 
+the other end, when something small hurtled toward 
+him from the middle of the room, squealing, “Harry 
+Potter, sir! Harry Potteri” 
+
+Next second all the wind had been knocked out of 
+him as the squealing elf hit him hard in the midriff, 
+hugging him so tightly he thought his ribs would 
+break. 
+
+“D-Dobby?” Harry gasped. 
+
+“It is Dobby, sir, it is!” squealed the voice from 
+somewhere around his navel. “Dobby has been 
+hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry 
+Potter has come to see him, sir!” 
+
+Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming 
+up at Harry, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped 
+eyes brimming with tears of happiness. He looked 
+almost exactly as Harry remembered him; the pencil- 
+shaped nose, the batlike ears, the long fingers and 
+feet — all except the clothes, which were very 
+different. 
+
+Page | 414 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+When Dobby had worked for the Malfoys, he had 
+always worn the same filthy old pillowcase. Now, 
+however, he was wearing the strangest assortment of 
+garments Harry had ever seen; he had done an even 
+worse job of dressing himself than the wizards at the 
+World Cup. He was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, on 
+which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie 
+patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of 
+what looked like children’s soccer shorts, and odd 
+socks. One of these, Harry saw, was the black one 
+Harry had removed from his own foot and tricked Mr. 
+Malfoy into giving Dobby, thereby setting Dobby free. 
+The other was covered in pink and orange stripes. 
+
+“Dobby, what’re you doing here?” Harry said in 
+amazement. 
+
+“Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!” Dobby 
+squealed excitedly. “Professor Dumbledore gave 
+Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!” 
+
+“Winky?” said Harry. “She’s here too?” 
+
+“Yes, sir, yes!” said Dobby, and he seized Harry’s 
+hand and pulled him off into the kitchen between the 
+four long wooden tables that stood there. Each of 
+these tables, Harry noticed as he passed them, was 
+positioned exactly beneath the four House tables 
+above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were 
+clear of food, dinner having finished, but he supposed 
+that an hour ago they had been laden with dishes 
+that were then sent up through the ceiling to their 
+counterparts above. 
+
+At least a hundred little elves were standing around 
+the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as 
+Dobby led Harry past them. They were all wearing the 
+same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts 
+crest, and tied, as Winky’s had been, like a toga. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and 
+pointed. 
+
+“Winky, sir!” he said. 
+
+Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike 
+Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She 
+was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a 
+matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large 
+ears. However, while every one of Dobby ’s strange 
+collection of garments was so clean and well cared for 
+that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not 
+taking care of her clothes at all. There were soup 
+stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt. 
+
+“Hello, Winky,” said Harry. 
+
+Winky’s lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which 
+spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed 
+down her front, just as they had done at the 
+Quidditch World Cup. 
+
+“Oh dear,” said Hermione. She and Ron had followed 
+Harry and Dobby to the end of the kitchen. “Winky, 
+don’t cry, please don’t ...” 
+
+But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the 
+other hand, beamed up at Harry. 
+
+“Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?” he squeaked 
+loudly, over Winky’s sobs. 
+
+“Er — yeah, okay,” said Harry. 
+
+Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up 
+behind him, bearing a large silver tray laden with a 
+teapot, cups for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a milk 
+jug, and a large plate of biscuits. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Good service!” Ron said, in an impressed voice. 
+Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked 
+delighted; they bowed very low and retreated. 
+
+“How long have you been here, Dobby?” Harry asked 
+as Dobby handed around the tea. 
+
+“Only a week, Harry Potter, sir!” said Dobby happily. 
+“Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You 
+see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has 
+been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult 
+indeed — ” 
+
+At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed- 
+tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though 
+she made no effort to stem the flow. 
+
+“Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, 
+sir, trying to find work!” Dobby squeaked. “But Dobby 
+hasn’t found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying 
+now!” 
+
+The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been 
+listening and watching with interest, all looked away 
+at these words, as though Dobby had said something 
+rude and embarrassing. Hermione, however, said, 
+“Good for you, Dobby!” 
+
+“Thank you, miss!” said Dobby, grinning toothily at 
+her. “But most wizards doesn’t want a house-elf who 
+wants paying, miss. That’s not the point of a house- 
+elf,’ they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby ’s 
+face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes 
+and he wants to be paid, Harry Potter. . . . Dobby likes 
+being free!” 
+
+The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging 
+away from Dobby, as though he were carrying 
+something contagious. Winky, however, remained 
+
+Page | 417 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+where she was, though there was a definite increase 
+in the volume of her crying. 
+
+“And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, 
+and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!” said 
+Dobby delightedly. 
+
+At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and 
+lay facedown on the flagged stone floor, beating her 
+tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with 
+misery. Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees 
+beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she 
+said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued 
+with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky’s 
+screeches. 
+
+“And then Dobby had the idea, Harry Potter, sir! Why 
+doesn’t Dobby and Winky find work together?’ Dobby 
+says. Where is there enough work for two house- 
+elves?’ says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes 
+to him, sir! Hogwarts\ So Dobby and Winky came to 
+see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor 
+Dumbledore took us on!” 
+
+Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled 
+in his eyes again. 
+
+“And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, 
+sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, 
+sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off 
+a month!” 
+
+“That’s not very much!” Hermione shouted 
+indignantly from the floor, over Winky’s continued 
+screaming and fist-beating. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a 
+week, and weekends off,” said Dobby, suddenly giving 
+a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much 
+
+Page | 418 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+leisure and riches were frightening, “but Dobby beat 
+him down, miss. ... Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he 
+isn’t wanting too much, miss, he likes work better.” 
+
+“And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, 
+Winky?” Hermione asked kindly. 
+
+If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she 
+was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when 
+she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her 
+massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and 
+suddenly furious. 
+
+“Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting 
+paid!” she squeaked. “Winky is not sunk so low as 
+that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!” 
+
+“Ashamed?” said Hermione blankly. “But — Winky, 
+come on! It’s Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not 
+you! You didn’t do anything wrong, he was really 
+horrible to you — ” 
+
+But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over 
+the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she 
+couldn’t hear a word, and screeched, “You is not 
+insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. 
+Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. 
+Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!” 
+
+“Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry Potter,” 
+squeaked Dobby confidentially. “Winky forgets she is 
+not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to 
+speak her mind now, but she won’t do it.” 
+
+“Can’t house-elves speak their minds about their 
+masters, then?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Oh no, sir, no,” said Dobby, looking suddenly 
+serious. “ Tis part of the house-elf’s enslavement, sir. 
+
+Page | 419 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We 
+upholds the family’s honor, and we never speaks ill of 
+them — though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he 
+does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said 
+we is free to — to — ” 
+
+Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Harry 
+closer. Harry bent forward. Dobby whispered, “He 
+said we is free to call him a — a barmy old codger if 
+we likes, sir!” 
+
+Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle. 
+
+“But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter,” he said, 
+talking normally again, and shaking his head so that 
+his ears flapped. “Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore 
+very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and 
+our silence for him.” 
+
+“But you can say what you like about the Malfoys 
+now?” Harry asked him, grinning. 
+
+A slightly fearful look came into Dobby’s immense 
+eyes. 
+
+“Dobby — Dobby could,” he said doubtfully. He 
+squared his small shoulders. “Dobby could tell Harry 
+Potter that his old masters were — were — bad Dark 
+wizards'.” 
+
+Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror- 
+struck by his own daring — then he rushed over to 
+the nearest table and began banging his head on it 
+very hard, squealing, “ Bad Dobby ! Bad Dobby\” 
+
+Harry seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled 
+him away from the table. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Thank you, Harry Potter, thank you,” said Dobby 
+breathlessly, rubbing his head. 
+
+“You just need a bit of practice,” Harry said. 
+
+“Practice!” squealed Winky furiously. “You is ought to 
+be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way 
+about your masters!” 
+
+“They isn’t my masters anymore, Winky!” said Dobby 
+defiantly. “Dobby doesn’t care what they think 
+anymore!” 
+
+“Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!” moaned Winky, tears 
+leaking down her face once more. “My poor Mr. 
+Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is 
+needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after 
+the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it 
+before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her 
+...oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was 
+freed? Oh the shame, the shame!” She buried her face 
+in her skirt again and bawled. 
+
+“Winky,” said Hermione firmly, “I’m quite sure Mr. 
+Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. 
+We’ve seen him, you know — ” 
+
+“You is seeing my master?” said Winky breathlessly, 
+raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more 
+and goggling at Hermione. “You is seeing him here at 
+Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione, “he and Mr. Bagman are judges 
+in the Tri-wizard Tournament.” 
+
+“Mr. Bagman comes too?” squeaked Winky, and to 
+Harry’s great surprise (and Ron’s and Hermione’s too, 
+by the looks on their faces), she looked angry again. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My 
+master isn’t liking him, oh no, not at all!” 
+
+“Bagman — bad?” said Harry. 
+
+“Oh yes,” Winky said, nodding her head furiously. 
+
+“My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky 
+is not saying ... Winky — Winky keeps her master’s 
+secrets. ...” 
+
+She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her 
+sobbing into her skirt, “Poor master, poor master, no 
+Winky to help him no more!” 
+
+They couldn’t get another sensible word out of Winky. 
+They left her to her crying and finished their tea, 
+while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf 
+and his plans for his wages. 
+
+“Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Harry Potter!” 
+he said happily, pointing at his bare chest. 
+
+“Tell you what, Dobby,” said Ron, who seemed to have 
+taken a great liking to the elf, “I’ll give you the one my 
+mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from 
+her. You don’t mind maroon, do you?” 
+
+Dobby was delighted. 
+
+“We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you,” Ron told 
+him, “but it’ll go well with your tea cozy.” 
+
+As they prepared to take their leave, many of the 
+surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering 
+snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with 
+a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and 
+curtsying, but Harry and Ron loaded their pockets 
+with cream cakes and pies. 
+
+
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+
+“Thanks a lot!” Harry said to the elves, who had all 
+clustered around the door to say good night. “See 
+you, Dobby!” 
+
+“Harry Potter . . . can Dobby come and see you 
+sometimes, sir?” Dobby asked tentatively. 
+
+“ ’Course you can,” said Harry, and Dobby beamed. 
+
+“You know what?” said Ron, once he, Hermione, and 
+Harry had left the kitchens behind and were climbing 
+the steps into the entrance hall again. “All these years 
+I’ve been really impressed with Fred and George, 
+nicking food from the kitchens — well, it’s not exactly 
+difficult, is it? They can’t wait to give it away!” 
+
+“I think this is the best thing that could have 
+happened to those elves, you know,” said Hermione, 
+leading the way back up the marble staircase. “Dobby 
+coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see 
+how happy he is, being free, and slowly it’ll dawn on 
+them that they want that too!” 
+
+“Let’s hope they don’t look too closely at Winky,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Oh shell cheer up,” said Hermione, though she 
+sounded a bit doubtful. “Once the shock’s worn off, 
+and she’s got used to Hogwarts, she’ll see how much 
+better off she is without that Crouch man.” 
+
+“She seems to love him,” said Ron thickly (he had just 
+started on a cream cake) . 
+
+“Doesn’t think much of Bagman, though, does she?” 
+said Harry. “Wonder what Crouch says at home about 
+him?” 
+
+
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+
+“Probably says he’s not a very good Head of 
+Department,” said Hermione, “and let’s face it ... he’s 
+got a point, hasn’t he?” 
+
+“I’d still rather work for him than old Crouch,” said 
+Ron. “At least Bagman’s got a sense of humor.” 
+
+“Don’t let Percy hear you saying that,” Hermione said, 
+smiling slightly. 
+
+“Yeah, well, Percy wouldn’t want to work for anyone 
+with a sense of humor, would he?” said Ron, now 
+starting on a chocolate eclair. “Percy wouldn’t 
+recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him 
+wearing Dobby’s tea cozy.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+THE UNEXPECTED TASK 
+
+“Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?” 
+
+Professor McGonagall’s irritated voice cracked like a 
+whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, 
+and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up. 
+
+It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their 
+work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into 
+guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on 
+Professor McGonagall’s desk (Neville’s still had 
+feathers); they had copied down their homework from 
+the blackboard (“Describe, with examples, the ways in 
+which Transforming Spells must be adapted when 
+performing Cross-Species Switches”). The bell was due 
+to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had 
+been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and 
+George’s fake wands at the back of the class, looked 
+up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber 
+haddock. 
+
+“Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough 
+to act their age,” said Professor McGonagall, with an 
+
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+
+angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry’s 
+haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor — Ron’s 
+parrot’s beak had severed it moments before — “I 
+have something to say to you all. 
+
+“The Yule Ball is approaching — a traditional part of 
+the Tri-wizard Tournament and an opportunity for us 
+to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will 
+be open only to fourth years and above — although 
+you may invite a younger student if you wish — ” 
+
+Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil 
+nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working 
+furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both 
+looked around at Harry. Professor McGonagall 
+ignored them, which Harry thought was distinctly 
+unfair, as she had just told off him and Ron. 
+
+“Dress robes will be worn,” Professor McGonagall 
+continued, “and the ball will start at eight o’clock on 
+Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great 
+Hall. Now then — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the 
+class. 
+
+“The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to — er 
+— let our hair down,” she said, in a disapproving 
+voice. 
+
+Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand 
+pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. 
+Harry could see what was funny this time: Professor 
+McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as 
+though she had never let her hair down in any sense. 
+
+“But that does NOT mean,” Professor McGonagall 
+went on, “that we will be relaxing the standards of 
+behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be 
+
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+
+most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student 
+embarrasses the school in any way.” 
+
+The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of 
+activity as everyone packed their bags and swung 
+them onto their shoulders. 
+
+Professor McGonagall called above the noise, “Potter 
+— a word, if you please.” 
+
+Assuming this had something to do with his headless 
+rubber haddock, Harry proceeded gloomily to the 
+teacher’s desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the 
+rest of the class had gone, and then said, “Potter, the 
+champions and their partners — ” 
+
+“What partners?” said Harry. 
+
+Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as 
+though she thought he was trying to be funny. 
+
+“Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter,” she said 
+coldly. “Your dance partners.” 
+
+Harry’s insides seemed to curl up and shrivel. 
+
+“Dance partners?” He felt himself going red. “I don’t 
+dance,” he said quickly. 
+
+“Oh yes, you do,” said Professor McGonagall irritably. 
+“That’s what I’m telling you. Traditionally, the 
+champions and their partners open the ball.” 
+
+Harry had a sudden mental image of himself in a top 
+hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of 
+frilly dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle 
+Vernon’s work parties. 
+
+“I’m not dancing,” he said. 
+
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+
+“It is traditional,” said Professor McGonagall firmly. 
+“You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what 
+is expected of you as a representative of the school. 
+
+So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter.” 
+
+“But — I don’t — ” 
+
+“You heard me, Potter,” said Professor McGonagall in 
+a very final sort of way. 
+
+A week ago, Harry would have said finding a partner 
+for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a 
+Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the 
+latter, and was facing the prospect of asking a girl to 
+the ball, he thought he’d rather have another round 
+with the dragon. 
+
+Harry had never known so many people to put their 
+names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; he 
+always did, of course, because the alternative was 
+usually going back to Privet Drive, but he had always 
+been very much in the minority before now. This year, 
+however, everyone in the fourth year and above 
+seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to Harry to 
+be obsessed with the coming ball — or at least all the 
+girls were, and it was amazing how many girls 
+Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold; he had never 
+quite noticed that before. Girls giggling and 
+whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with 
+laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly 
+comparing notes on what they were going to wear on 
+Christmas night. ... 
+
+“Why do they have to move in packs?” Harry asked 
+Ron as a dozen or so girls walked past them, 
+sniggering and staring at Harry. “How’re you 
+supposed to get one on their own to ask them?” 
+
+
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+“Lasso one?” Ron suggested. “Got any idea who you’re 
+going to try?” 
+
+Harry didn’t answer. He knew perfectly well whom 
+he’d like to ask, but working up the nerve was 
+something else. ... Cho was a year older than he was; 
+she was very pretty; she was a very good Quidditch 
+player, and she was also very popular. 
+
+Ron seemed to know what was going on inside 
+Harry’s head. 
+
+“Listen, you’re not going to have any trouble. You’re a 
+champion. You’ve just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I 
+bet they 11 be queuing up to go with you.” 
+
+In tribute to their recently repaired friendship, Ron 
+had kept the bitterness in his voice to a bare 
+minimum. Moreover, to Harry’s amazement, he 
+turned out to be quite right. 
+
+A curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom 
+Harry had never spoken in his life asked him to go to 
+the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so 
+taken aback he said no before he’d even stopped to 
+consider the matter. The girl walked off looking rather 
+hurt, and Harry had to endure Dean’s, Seamus’s, and 
+Ron’s taunts about her all through History of Magic. 
+The following day, two more girls asked him, a second 
+year and (to his horror) a fifth year who looked as 
+though she might knock him out if he refused. 
+
+“She was quite good-looking,” said Ron fairly, after 
+he’d stopped laughing. 
+
+“She was a foot taller than me,” said Harry, still 
+unnerved. “Imagine what I’d look like trying to dance 
+with her.” 
+
+
+
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+
+Hermione’s words about Krum kept coming back to 
+him. “They only like him because he’s famous!” Harry 
+doubted very much if any of the girls who had asked 
+to be his partner so far would have wanted to go to 
+the ball with him if he hadn’t been a school 
+champion. Then he wondered if this would bother 
+him if Cho asked him. 
+
+On the whole, Harry had to admit that even with the 
+embarrassing prospect of opening the ball before him, 
+life had definitely improved since he had got through 
+the first task. He wasn’t attracting nearly as much 
+unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which he 
+suspected had a lot to do with Cedric — he had an 
+idea Cedric might have told the Hufflepuffs to leave 
+Harry alone, in gratitude for Harry���s tip-off about the 
+dragons. There seemed to be fewer Support Cedric 
+Diggoryl badges around too. Draco Malfoy, of course, 
+was still quoting Rita Skeeter’s article to him at every 
+possible opportunity, but he was getting fewer and 
+fewer laughs out of it — and just to heighten Harry’s 
+feeling of well-being, no story about Hagrid had 
+appeared in the Daily Prophet 
+
+“She didn’ seem very int’rested in magical creatures, 
+ter tell yeh the truth,” Hagrid said, when Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita 
+Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical 
+Creatures lesson of the term. To their very great relief, 
+Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the 
+skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind 
+his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and 
+preparing a fresh selection of food with which to 
+tempt the skrewts. 
+
+“She jus’ wanted me ter talk about you, Harry,” 
+
+Hagrid continued in a low voice. “Well, I told her we’d 
+been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the 
+Dursleys. ‘Never had to tell him off in four years?’ she 
+
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+
+said. ‘Never played you up in lessons, has he?’ I told 
+her no, an’ she didn’ seem happy at all. Yeh’d think 
+she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Harry.” 
+
+“ ’Course she did,” said Harry, throwing lumps of 
+dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up 
+his knife to cut some more. “She can’t keep writing 
+about what a tragic little hero I am, it’ll get boring.” 
+
+“She wants a new angle, Hagrid,” said Ron wisely as 
+he shelled salamander eggs. “You were supposed to 
+say Harry’s a mad delinquent!” 
+
+“But he’s not!” said Hagrid, looking genuinely 
+shocked. 
+
+“She should’ve interviewed Snape,” said Harry grimly. 
+“He’d give her the goods on me any day. ‘Potter has 
+been crossing lines ever since he first arrived at this 
+school. . . . ’ ” 
+
+“Said that, did he?” said Hagrid, while Ron and 
+Hermione laughed. “Well, yeh might’ve bent a few 
+rules, Harry, bu’ yeh’re all righ’ really, aren’ you?” 
+
+“Cheers, Hagrid,” said Harry, grinning. 
+
+“You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, 
+Hagrid?” said Ron. 
+
+“Though’ I might look in on it, yeah,” said Hagrid 
+gruffly. “Should be a good do, I reckon. You’ll be 
+openin’ the dancin’, won’ yeh, Harry? Who ’re you 
+takin’?” 
+
+“No one, yet,” said Harry, feeling himself going red 
+again. Hagrid didn’t pursue the subject. 
+
+
+
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+
+The last week of term became increasingly boisterous 
+as it progressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were 
+flying everywhere, though Harry didn’t believe half of 
+them — for instance, that Dumbledore had bought 
+eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam 
+Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had 
+booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the 
+Weird Sisters were Harry didn’t know, never having 
+had access to a wizard’s wireless, but he deduced 
+from the wild excitement of those who had grown up 
+listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) 
+that they were a very famous musical group. 
+
+Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, 
+gave up trying to teach them much when their minds 
+were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play 
+games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of 
+it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning 
+Charm Harry had used during the first task of the 
+Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so 
+generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, 
+for example, from plowing on through his notes on 
+goblin rebellions — as Binns hadn’t let his own death 
+stand in the way of continuing to teach, they 
+supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn’t going to 
+put him off. It was amazing how he could make even 
+bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as 
+Percy’s cauldron-bottom report. Professors 
+McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the 
+very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of 
+course, would no sooner let them play games in class 
+than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, 
+he informed them that he would be testing them on 
+poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term. 
+
+“Evil, he is,” Ron said bitterly that night in the 
+Gryffindor common room. “Springing a test on us on 
+the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole 
+load of studying.” 
+
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+
+“Mmm ... you’re not exactly straining yourself, 
+though, are you?” said Hermione, looking at him over 
+the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a 
+card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack — a much 
+more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, 
+because of the chance that the whole thing would 
+blow up at any second. 
+
+“It’s Christmas, Hermione,” said Harry lazily; he was 
+rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time 
+in an armchair near the fire. 
+
+Hermione looked severely over at him too. “I’d have 
+thought you’d be doing something constructive, 
+
+Harry, even if you don’t want to learn your antidotes!” 
+
+“Like what?” Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins 
+of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle 
+Bats Chaser. 
+
+“That egg!” Hermione hissed. 
+
+“Come on, Hermione, I’ve got till February the twenty- 
+fourth,” Harry said. 
+
+He had put the golden egg upstairs in his trunk and 
+hadn’t opened it since the celebration party after the 
+first task. There were still two and a half months to go 
+until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing 
+meant, after all. 
+
+“But it might take weeks to work it out!” said 
+Hermione. “You’re going to look a real idiot if everyone 
+else knows what the next task is and you don’t!” 
+
+“Leave him alone, Hermione, he’s earned a bit of a 
+break,” said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on 
+top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing 
+his eyebrows. 
+
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+
+
+“Nice look, Ron ... go well with your dress robes, that 
+will.” 
+
+
+
+It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table 
+with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much 
+damage had been done. 
+
+“Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?” George asked. 
+
+“No, he’s off delivering a letter,” said Ron. “Why?” 
+
+“Because George wants to invite him to the ball,” said 
+Fred sarcastically. 
+
+“Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great 
+prat,” said George. 
+
+“Who d’you two keep writing to, eh?” said Ron. 
+
+“Nose out, Ron, or I’ll burn that for you too,” said 
+Fred, waving his wand threateningly. “So ... you lot 
+got dates for the ball yet?” 
+
+“Nope,” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, you’d better hurry up, mate, or all the good 
+ones will be gone,” said Fred. 
+
+“Who’re you going with, then?” said Ron. 
+
+“Angelina,” said Fred promptly, without a trace of 
+embarrassment. 
+
+“What?” said Ron, taken aback. “You’ve already asked 
+her?” 
+
+“Good point,” said Fred. He turned his head and 
+called across the common room, “Oi! Angelina!” 
+
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+
+Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet 
+near the fire, looked over at him. 
+
+
+
+“What?” she called back. 
+
+“Want to come to the ball with me?” 
+
+Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look. 
+
+“All right, then,” she said, and she turned back to 
+Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on 
+her face. 
+
+“There you go,” said Fred to Harry and Ron, “piece of 
+cake.” 
+
+He got to his feet, yawning, and said, “We’d better use 
+a school owl then, George, come on. ...” 
+
+They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and 
+looked across the smoldering wreck of his card castle 
+at Harry. 
+
+“We should get a move on, you know ... ask someone. 
+He’s right. We don’t want to end up with a pair of 
+trolls.” 
+
+Hermione let out a sputter of indignation. 
+
+“A pair of . . . what, excuse me?” 
+
+“Well — you know,” said Ron, shrugging. “I’d rather 
+go alone than with — with Eloise Midgen, say.” 
+
+“Her acne’s loads better lately — and she’s really 
+nice!” 
+
+“Her nose is off-center,” said Ron. 
+
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+
+
+“Oh I see,” Hermione said, bristling. “So basically, 
+you’re going to take the best-looking girl who’ll have 
+you, even if she’s completely horrible?” 
+
+“Er — yeah, that sounds about right,” said Ron. 
+
+“I’m going to bed,” Hermione snapped, and she swept 
+off toward the girls’ staircase without another word. 
+
+The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire 
+to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and 
+Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at 
+its best this Christmas. When the decorations went 
+up, Harry noticed that they were the most stunning 
+he had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles 
+had been attached to the banisters of the marble 
+staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the 
+Great Hall were bedecked with everything from 
+luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, 
+and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing 
+carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite 
+something to hear “O Come, All Ye Faithful” sung by 
+an empty helmet that only knew half the words. 
+Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract 
+Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to 
+hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of 
+his own invention, all of which were very rude. 
+
+And still, Harry hadn’t asked Cho to the ball. He and 
+Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Harry 
+pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than 
+he would without a partner; Harry was supposed to 
+be starting the dancing with the other champions. 
+
+“I suppose there’s always Moaning Myrtle,” he said 
+gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls’ 
+toilets on the second floor. 
+
+
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+
+“Harry — we’ve just got to grit our teeth and do it,” 
+said Ron on Friday morning, in a tone that suggested 
+they were planning the storming of an impregnable 
+fortress. “When we get back to the common room 
+tonight, we’ll both have partners — agreed?” 
+
+“Er ... okay,” said Harry. 
+
+But every time he glimpsed Cho that day — during 
+break, and then lunchtime, and once on the way to 
+History of Magic — she was surrounded by friends. 
+Didn’t she ever go anywhere alone? Could he perhaps 
+ambush her as she was going into a bathroom? But 
+no — she even seemed to go there with an escort of 
+four or five girls. Yet if he didn’t do it soon, she was 
+bound to have been asked by somebody else. 
+
+He found it hard to concentrate on Snape’s Potions 
+test, and consequently forgot to add the key 
+ingredient — a bezoar — meaning that he received 
+bottom marks. He didn’t care, though; he was too 
+busy screwing up his courage for what he was about 
+to do. When the bell rang, he grabbed his bag, and 
+hurried to the dungeon door. 
+
+“I’ll meet you at dinner,” he said to Ron and 
+Hermione, and he dashed off upstairs. 
+
+He’d just have to ask Cho for a private word, that was 
+all. ... He hurried off through the packed corridors 
+looking for her, and (rather sooner than he had 
+expected) he found her, emerging from a Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts lesson. 
+
+“Er — Cho? Could I have a word with you?” 
+
+Giggling should be made illegal, Harry thought 
+furiously, as all the girls around Cho started doing it. 
+
+
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+She didn’t, though. She said, “Okay,” and followed 
+him out of earshot of her classmates. 
+
+Harry turned to look at her and his stomach gave a 
+weird lurch as though he had missed a step going 
+downstairs. 
+
+“Er,” he said. 
+
+He couldn’t ask her. He couldn’t. But he had to. Cho 
+stood there looking puzzled, watching him. 
+
+The words came out before Harry had quite got his 
+tongue around them. 
+
+“Wangoballwime?” 
+
+“Sorry?” said Cho. 
+
+“D’you — d’you want to go to the ball with me?” said 
+Harry. Why did he have to go red now? Why ? 
+
+“Oh!” said Cho, and she went red too. “Oh Harry, I’m 
+really sorry,” and she truly looked it. “I’ve already said 
+I’ll go with someone else.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry. 
+
+It was odd; a moment before his insides had been 
+writhing like snakes, but suddenly he didn’t seem to 
+have any insides at all. 
+
+“Oh okay,” he said, “no problem.” 
+
+“I’m really sorry,” she said again. 
+
+“That’s okay,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+They stood there looking at each other, and then Cho 
+said, “Well — ” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, ’bye,” said Cho, still very red. She walked away. 
+Harry called after her, before he could stop himself. 
+“Who ’re you going with?” 
+
+“Oh — Cedric,” she said. “Cedric Diggory.” 
+
+“Oh right,” said Harry. 
+
+His insides had come back again. It felt as though 
+they had been filled with lead in their absence. 
+
+Completely forgetting about dinner, he walked slowly 
+back up to Gryffindor Tower, Cho’s voice echoing in 
+his ears with every step he took. “ Cedric — Cedric 
+Diggory.” He had been starting to quite like Cedric — 
+prepared to overlook the fact that he had once beaten 
+him at Quidditch, and was handsome, and popular, 
+and nearly everyone’s favorite champion. Now he 
+suddenly realized that Cedric was in fact a useless 
+pretty boy who didn’t have enough brains to fill an 
+eggcup. 
+
+“Fairy lights,” he said dully to the Fat Lady — the 
+password had been changed the previous day. 
+
+“Yes, indeed, dear!” she trilled, straightening her new 
+tinsel hair band as she swung forward to admit him. 
+
+Entering the common room, Harry looked around, 
+and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in 
+a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking 
+to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice. 
+
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+
+
+“What’s up, Ron?” said Harry, joining them. 
+
+
+
+Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his 
+face. 
+
+“Why did I do it?” he said wildly. “I don’t know what 
+made me do it!” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“He — er — just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the 
+ball with him,” said Ginny. She looked as though she 
+was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron’s 
+arm sympathetically. 
+
+“You what?” said Harry. 
+
+“I don’t know what made me do it!” Ron gasped again. 
+“What was I playing at? There were people — all 
+around — I’ve gone mad — everyone watching! I was 
+just walking past her in the entrance hall — she was 
+standing there talking to Diggory — and it sort of 
+came over me — and I asked her!” 
+
+Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept 
+talking, though the words were barely 
+distinguishable. 
+
+“She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. 
+Didn’t even answer. And then — I dunno — I just sort 
+of came to my senses and ran for it.” 
+
+“She’s part veela,” said Harry. “You were right — her 
+grandmother was one. It wasn’t your fault, I bet you 
+just walked past when she was turning on the old 
+charm for Diggory and got a blast of it — but she was 
+wasting her time. He’s going with Cho Chang.” 
+
+Ron looked up. 
+
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+
+
+
+“I asked her to go with me just now,” Harry said dully, 
+“and she told me.” 
+
+Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling. 
+
+“This is mad,” said Ron. “We’re the only ones left who 
+haven’t got anyone — well, except Neville. Hey — 
+guess who he asked? Hermionel” 
+
+“ What?” said Harry, completely distracted by this 
+startling news. 
+
+“Yeah, I know!” said Ron, some of the color coming 
+back into his face as he started to laugh. “He told me 
+after Potions! Said she’s always been really nice, 
+helping him out with work and stuff — but she told 
+him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! 
+She just didn’t want to go with Neville ... I mean, who 
+would?” 
+
+“Don’t!” said Ginny, annoyed. “Don’t laugh — ” 
+
+Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait 
+hole. 
+
+“Why weren’t you two at dinner?” she said, coming 
+over to join them. 
+
+“Because — oh shut up laughing, you two — because 
+they’ve both just been turned down by girls they 
+asked to the ball!” said Ginny. 
+
+That shut Harry and Ron up. 
+
+“Thanks a bunch, Ginny,” said Ron sourly. 
+
+“All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?” said 
+Hermione loftily. “Eloise Midgen starting to look quite 
+
+
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+
+pretty now, is she? Well, I’m sure you’ll find someone 
+somewhere who’ll have you.” 
+
+But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly 
+seeing her in a whole new light. 
+
+“Hermione, Neville’s right — you are a girl. ...” 
+
+“Oh well spotted,” she said acidly. 
+
+“Well — you can come with one of us!” 
+
+“No, I can’t,” snapped Hermione. 
+
+“Oh come on,” he said impatiently, “we need partners, 
+we’re going to look really stupid if we haven’t got any, 
+everyone else has ...” 
+
+“I can’t come with you,” said Hermione, now blushing, 
+“because I’m already going with someone.” 
+
+“No, you’re not!” said Ron. “You just said that to get 
+rid of Neville!” 
+
+“Oh did I?” said Hermione, and her eyes flashed 
+dangerously. “Just because it’s taken you three years 
+to notice, Ron, doesn’t mean no one else has spotted 
+I’m a girl!” 
+
+Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again. 
+
+“Okay, okay, we know you’re a girl,” he said. “That 
+do? Will you come now?” 
+
+“I’ve already told you!” Hermione said very angrily. 
+
+“I’m going with someone else!” 
+
+And she stormed off toward the girls’ dormitories 
+again. 
+
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+
+
+“She’s lying,” said Ron flatly, watching her go. 
+
+“She’s not,” said Ginny quietly. 
+
+“Who is it then?” said Ron sharply. 
+
+“I’m not telling you, it’s her business,” said Ginny. 
+
+“Right,” said Ron, who looked extremely put out, “this 
+is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and 
+I’ll just—” 
+
+“I can’t,” said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. “I’m 
+going with — with Neville. He asked me when 
+Hermione said no, and I thought ... well ... I’m not 
+going to be able to go otherwise, I’m not in fourth 
+year.” She looked extremely miserable. “I think I’ll go 
+and have dinner,” she said, and she got up and 
+walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed. 
+
+Ron goggled at Harry. 
+
+“What’s got into them?” he demanded. 
+
+But Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come 
+in through the portrait hole. The time had come for 
+drastic action. 
+
+“Wait here,” he said to Ron, and he stood up, walked 
+straight up to Parvati, and said, “Parvati? Will you go 
+to the ball with me?” 
+
+Parvati went into a fit of giggles. Harry waited for 
+them to subside, his fingers crossed in the pocket of 
+his robes. 
+
+“Yes, all right then,” she said finally, blushing 
+furiously. 
+
+
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+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, in relief. “Lavender — will you 
+go with Ron?” 
+
+“She’s going with Seamus,��� said Parvati, and the pair 
+of them giggled harder than ever. 
+
+Harry sighed. 
+
+“Can’t you think of anyone who’d go with Ron?” he 
+said, lowering his voice so that Ron wouldn’t hear. 
+
+“What about Hermione Granger?” said Parvati. 
+
+“She’s going with someone else.” 
+
+Parvati looked astonished. 
+
+“Ooooh — who?” she said keenly. 
+
+Harry shrugged. “No idea,” he said. “So what about 
+Ron?” 
+
+“Well ...” said Parvati slowly, “I suppose my sister 
+might ... Padma, you know ... in Ravenclaw. I’ll ask 
+her if you like.” 
+
+“Yeah, that would be great,” said Harry. “Let me 
+know, will you?” 
+
+And he went back over to Ron, feeling that this ball 
+was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and hoping 
+very much that Padma Patil’s nose was dead center. 
+
+
+
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+
+THE YULE BALL 
+
+Despite the very heavy load of homework that the 
+fourth years had been given for the holidays, Harry 
+was in no mood to work when term ended, and spent 
+the week leading up to Christmas enjoying himself as 
+fully as possible along with everyone else. Gryffindor 
+Tower was hardly less crowded now than during 
+term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as 
+its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than 
+usual. Fred and George had had a great success with 
+their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days 
+of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all 
+over the place. Before long, however, all the 
+Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else 
+offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a 
+Canary Cream concealed in the center, and George 
+confided to Harry that he and Fred were now working 
+on developing something else. Harry made a mental 
+note never to accept so much as a crisp from Fred 
+and George in future. He still hadn’t forgotten Dudley 
+and the Ton-Tongue Toffee. 
+
+
+
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+
+Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its 
+grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage 
+looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the 
+iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid’s cabin, while 
+the Durmstrang ship’s portholes were glazed with ice, 
+the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in 
+the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of 
+rich, warming stews and savory puddings, and only 
+Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to 
+complain about. 
+
+“It is too ’eavy, all zis ’Ogwarts food,” they heard her 
+saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her 
+one evening (Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to 
+be spotted by Fleur). “I will not fit into my dress 
+robes!” 
+
+“Oooh there’s a tragedy,” Hermione snapped as Fleur 
+went out into the entrance hall. “She really thinks a 
+lot of herself, that one, doesn’t she?” 
+
+“Hermione — who are you going to the ball with?” 
+said Ron. 
+
+He kept springing this question on her, hoping to 
+startle her into a response by asking it when she least 
+expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and 
+said, “I’m not telling you, you’ll just make fun of me.” 
+
+“You’re joking, Weasley!” said Malfoy, behind them. 
+“You’re not telling me someone’s asked that to the 
+ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?” 
+
+Harry and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione 
+said loudly, waving to somebody over Malfoy’s 
+shoulder, “Hello, Professor Moody!” 
+
+
+
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+
+Malfoy went pale and jumped backward, looking 
+wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the 
+staff table, finishing his stew. 
+
+“Twitchy little ferret, aren’t you, Malfoy?” said 
+Hermione scathingly, and she, Harry, and Ron went 
+up the marble staircase laughing heartily. 
+
+“Hermione,” said Ron, looking sideways at her, 
+suddenly frowning, “your teeth ...” 
+
+“What about them?” she said. 
+
+“Well, they’re different ... I’ve just noticed. ...” 
+
+“Of course they are — did you expect me to keep 
+those fangs Malfoy gave me?” 
+
+“No, I mean, they’re different to how they were before 
+he put that hex on you. ... They’re all ... straight and 
+— and normal-sized.” 
+
+Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously, and 
+Harry noticed it too: It was a very different smile from 
+the one he remembered. 
+
+“Well ... when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get 
+them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to 
+stop her when they were back to how they normally 
+were,” she said. “And I just ... let her carry on a bit.” 
+She smiled even more widely. “Mum and Dad won’t be 
+too pleased. I’ve been trying to persuade them to let 
+me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry 
+on with my braces. You know, they’re dentists, they 
+just don’t think teeth and magic should — look! 
+Pigwidgeon’s back!” 
+
+Ron’s tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the 
+icicle-laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to 
+
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+his leg. People passing him were pointing and 
+laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and 
+said, “Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn’t he cute?” 
+
+“Stupid little feathery git!” Ron hissed, hurrying up 
+the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. “You bring 
+letters to the addressee! You don’t hang around 
+showing off!” 
+
+Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over 
+Ron’s fist. The third-year girls all looked very 
+shocked. 
+
+“Clear off!” Ron snapped at them, waving the fist 
+holding Pigwidgeon, who hooted more happily than 
+ever as he soared through the air. “Here — take it, 
+Harry,” Ron added in an undertone as the third-year 
+girls scuttled away looking scandalized. He pulled 
+Sirius’s reply off Pigwidgeon’s leg, Harry pocketed it, 
+and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read it. 
+
+Everyone in the common room was much too busy in 
+letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone 
+else was up to. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat apart 
+from everyone else by a dark window that was 
+gradually filling up with snow, and Harry read out: 
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever 
+put your name in that goblet shouldn’t be feeling too 
+happy right now! I was going to suggest a 
+Conjunctivitis Curse, as a dragon’s eyes are its 
+weakest point — “That’s what Krum did!” Hermione 
+whispered — but your way was better, I’m impressed. 
+
+Don’t get complacent, though, Harry. You’ve only done 
+one task; whoever put you in for the tournament’s got 
+plenty more opportunity if they’re trying to hurt you. 
+
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+
+
+Keep your eyes open — particularly when the person 
+we discussed is around — and concentrate on keeping 
+yourself out of trouble. 
+
+Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything 
+unusual. 
+
+Sirius 
+
+“He sounds exactly like Moody,” said Harry quietly, 
+tucking the letter away again inside his robes. “ 
+‘Constant vigilance!’ You’d think I walk around with 
+my eyes shut, banging off the walls. ...” 
+
+“But he’s right, Harry,” said Hermione, “you have still 
+got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at 
+that egg, you know, and start working out what it 
+means. ...” 
+
+“Hermione, he’s got ages!” snapped Ron. “Want a 
+game of chess, Harry?” 
+
+“Yeah, okay,” said Harry. Then, spotting the look on 
+Hermione ’s face, he said, “Come on, how’m I 
+supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? 
+
+I won’t even be able to hear the egg over this lot.” 
+
+“Oh I suppose not,” she sighed, and she sat down to 
+watch their chess match, which culminated in an 
+exciting checkmate of Ron’s, involving a couple of 
+recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop. 
+
+Harry awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day. 
+Wondering what had caused his abrupt return to 
+consciousness, he opened his eyes, and saw 
+something with very large, round, green eyes staring 
+back at him in the darkness, so close they were 
+almost nose to nose. 
+
+
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+
+“Dobbyl” Harry yelled, scrambling away from the elf 
+so fast he almost fell out of bed. “Don’t do that!” 
+
+“Dobby is sorry, sir!” squeaked Dobby anxiously, 
+jumping backward with his long fingers over his 
+mouth. “Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter 
+‘Merry Christmas’ and bring him a present, sir! Harry 
+Potter did say Dobby could come and see him 
+sometimes, sir!” 
+
+“It’s okay,” said Harry, still breathing rather faster 
+than usual, while his heart rate returned to normal. 
+“Just — just prod me or something in future, all right, 
+don’t bend over me like that. ...” 
+
+Harry pulled back the curtains around his four- 
+poster, took his glasses from his bedside table, and 
+put them on. His yell had awoken Ron, Seamus, 
+
+Dean, and Neville. All of them were peering through 
+the gaps in their own hangings, heavy-eyed and 
+tousle-haired. 
+
+“Someone attacking you, Harry?” Seamus asked 
+sleepily. 
+
+“No, it’s just Dobby,” Harry muttered. “Go back to 
+sleep.” 
+
+“Nah ... presents!” said Seamus, spotting the large 
+pile at the foot of his bed. Ron, Dean, and Neville 
+decided that now they were awake they might as well 
+get down to some present-opening too. Harry turned 
+back to Dobby, who was now standing nervously next 
+to Harry’s bed, still looking worried that he had upset 
+Harry. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop 
+on top of his tea cozy. 
+
+“Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present?” he 
+squeaked tentatively. 
+
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+
+“ ’Course you can,” said Harry. “Er ... I’ve got 
+something for you too.” 
+
+It was a lie; he hadn’t bought anything for Dobby at 
+all, but he quickly opened his trunk and pulled out a 
+particularly knobbly rolled-up pair of socks. They 
+were his oldest and foulest, mustard yellow, and had 
+once belonged to Uncle Vernon. The reason they were 
+extra-knobbly was that Harry had been using them to 
+cushion his Sneakoscope for over a year now. He 
+pulled out the Sneakoscope and handed the socks to 
+Dobby, saying, “Sorry, I forgot to wrap them. ...” 
+
+But Dobby was utterly delighted. 
+
+“Socks are Dobby’s favorite, favorite clothes, sir!” he 
+said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle 
+Vernon’s. “I has seven now, sir. ... But sir ...” he said, 
+his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to 
+their highest extent, so that they reached to the 
+bottom of his shorts, “they has made a mistake in the 
+shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!” 
+
+“Ah, no, Harry, how come you didn’t spot that?” said 
+Ron, grinning over from his own bed, which was now 
+strewn with wrapping paper. “Tell you what, Dobby — 
+here you go — take these two, and you can mix them 
+up properly. And here’s your sweater.” 
+
+He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just 
+unwrapped, and the hand-knitted sweater Mrs. 
+Weasley had sent. Dobby looked quite overwhelmed. 
+
+“Sir is very kind!” he squeaked, his eyes brimming 
+with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. “Dobby knew 
+sir must be a great wizard, for he is Harry Potter’s 
+greatest friend, but Dobby did not know that he was 
+also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless — ” 
+
+
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+
+“They’re only socks,” said Ron, who had gone slightly 
+pink around the ears, though he looked rather 
+pleased all the same. “Wow, Harry — ” He had just 
+opened Harry’s present, a Chudley Cannon hat. 
+
+“Cool!” He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed 
+horribly with his hair. 
+
+Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which 
+turned out to be — socks. 
+
+“Dobby is making them himself, sir!” the elf said 
+happily. “He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!” 
+
+The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of 
+broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a 
+pattern of Snitches. 
+
+“They’re ... they’re really ... well, thanks, Dobby,” said 
+Harry, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby’s eyes 
+to leak with happiness again. 
+
+“Dobby must go now, sir, we is already making 
+Christmas dinner in the kitchens!” said Dobby, and 
+he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to 
+Ron and the others as he passed. 
+
+Harry’s other presents were much more satisfactory 
+than Dobby’s odd socks — with the obvious exception 
+of the Dursleys’, which consisted of a single tissue, an 
+all-time low — Harry supposed they too were 
+remembering the Ton-Tongue Toffee. Hermione had 
+given Harry a book called Quidditch Teams of Britain 
+and Ireland ; Ron, a bulging bag of Dungbombs; 
+
+Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock 
+any lock and undo any knot; and Hagrid, a vast box 
+of sweets including all Harry’s favorites: Bertie Bott’s 
+Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble’s Best 
+Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees. There was also, 
+of course, Mrs. Weasley’s usual package, including a 
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+new sweater (green, with a picture of a dragon on it — 
+Harry supposed Charlie had told her all about the 
+Horntail), and a large quantity of homemade mince 
+pies. 
+
+Harry and Ron met up with Hermione in the common 
+room, and they went down to breakfast together. They 
+spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where 
+everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned 
+to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which 
+included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas 
+puddings, and large piles of Cribbage’s Wizarding 
+Crackers. 
+
+They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the 
+snow was untouched except for the deep channels 
+made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students 
+on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to 
+watch Harry and the Weasleys’ snowball fight rather 
+than join in, and at five o’clock said she was going 
+back upstairs to get ready for the ball. 
+
+“What, you need three hours?” said Ron, looking at 
+her incredulously and paying for his lapse in 
+concentration when a large snowball, thrown by 
+George, hit him hard on the side of the head. “Who ’re 
+you going with?” he yelled after Hermione, but she 
+just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into 
+the castle. 
+
+There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball 
+included a feast, so at seven o’clock, when it had 
+become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned 
+their snowball fight and trooped back to the common 
+room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her 
+friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely 
+tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the 
+bottom of her picture. 
+
+
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+“Lairy fights, that’s the one!” she giggled when they 
+gave the password, and she swung forward to let 
+them inside. 
+
+Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville changed into 
+their dress robes up in their dormitory, all of them 
+looking very self-conscious, but none as much as 
+Ron, who surveyed himself in the long mirror in the 
+corner with an appalled look on his face. There was 
+just no getting around the fact that his robes looked 
+more like a dress than anything else. In a desperate 
+attempt to make them look more manly, he used a 
+Severing Charm on the ruff and cuffs. It worked fairly 
+well; at least he was now lace-free, although he hadn’t 
+done a very neat job, and the edges still looked 
+depressingly frayed as the boys set off downstairs. 
+
+“I still can’t work out how you two got the best- 
+looking girls in the year,” muttered Dean. 
+
+“Animal magnetism,” said Ron gloomily, pulling stray 
+threads out of his cuffs. 
+
+The common room looked strange, full of people 
+wearing different colors instead of the usual mass of 
+black. Parvati was waiting for Harry at the foot of the 
+stairs. She looked very pretty indeed, in robes of 
+shocking pink, with her long dark plait braided with 
+gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists. 
+Harry was relieved to see that she wasn’t giggling. 
+
+“You — er — look nice,” he said awkwardly. 
+
+“Thanks,” she said. “Padma’s going to meet you in the 
+entrance hall,” she added to Ron. 
+
+“Right,” said Ron, looking around. “Where’s 
+Hermione?” 
+
+
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+
+Parvati shrugged. “Shall we go down then, Harry?” 
+
+
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, wishing he could just stay in the 
+common room. Fred winked at Harry as he passed 
+him on the way out of the portrait hole. 
+
+The entrance hall was packed with students too, all 
+milling around waiting for eight o’clock, when the 
+doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those 
+people who were meeting partners from different 
+Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find 
+one another. Parvati found her sister, Padma, and led 
+her over to Harry and Ron. 
+
+“Hi,” said Padma, who was looking just as pretty as 
+Parvati in robes of bright turquoise. She didn’t look 
+too enthusiastic about having Ron as a partner, 
+though; her dark eyes lingered on the frayed neck and 
+sleeves of his dress robes as she looked him up and 
+down. 
+
+“Hi,” said Ron, not looking at her, but staring around 
+at the crowd. “Oh no ...” 
+
+He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Harry, 
+because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking 
+stunning in robes of silver-gray satin, and 
+accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, 
+Roger Davies. When they had disappeared, Ron stood 
+straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd. 
+
+“Where is Hermione?” he said again. 
+
+A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their 
+dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was 
+wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, 
+which in Harry’s opinion made him look like a vicar. 
+Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was 
+clutching Malfoy’s arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both 
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+wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, 
+and neither of them, Harry was pleased to see, had 
+managed to find a partner. 
+
+The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to 
+look as the Durmstrang students entered with 
+Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the 
+party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes 
+Harry didn’t know. Over their heads he saw that an 
+area of lawn right in front of the castle had been 
+transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights — 
+meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting 
+in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and 
+fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be 
+Father Christmas and his reindeer. 
+
+Then Professor McGonagall’s voice called, 
+
+“Champions over here, please!” 
+
+Parvati readjusted her bangles, beaming; she and 
+Harry said “See you in a minute” to Ron and Padma 
+and walked forward, the chattering crowd parting to 
+let them through. Professor McGonagall, who was 
+wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a 
+rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her 
+hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while 
+everyone else went inside; they were to enter the 
+Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students 
+had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies 
+stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked 
+so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a 
+partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. 
+Cedric and Cho were close to Harry too; he looked 
+away from them so he wouldn’t have to talk to them. 
+His eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. His jaw 
+dropped. 
+
+It was Hermione. 
+
+
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+But she didn’t look like Hermione at all. She had done 
+something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but 
+sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot 
+at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made 
+of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was 
+holding herself differently, somehow — or maybe it 
+was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she 
+usually had slung over her back. She was also 
+smiling — rather nervously, it was true — but the 
+reduction in the size of her front teeth was more 
+noticeable than ever; Harry couldn’t understand how 
+he hadn’t spotted it before. 
+
+“Hi, Harry!” she said. “Hi, Parvati!” 
+
+Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering 
+disbelief. She wasn’t the only one either; when the 
+doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum’s fan club from 
+the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of 
+deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as 
+she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn’t seem 
+to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, 
+however, walked right past Hermione without looking 
+at her. 
+
+Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor 
+McGonagall told the champions and their partners to 
+get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and 
+everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered 
+and started walking up toward a large round table at 
+the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. 
+
+The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling 
+silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe 
+and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House 
+tables had vanished; instead, there were about a 
+hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about 
+a dozen people. 
+
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+Harry concentrated on not tripping over his feet. 
+Parvati seemed to be enjoying herself; she was 
+beaming around at everybody, steering Harry so 
+forcefully that he felt as though he were a show dog 
+she was putting through its paces. He caught sight of 
+Ron and Padma as he neared the top table. Ron was 
+watching Hermione pass with narrowed eyes. Padma 
+was looking sulky. 
+
+Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions 
+approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an 
+expression remarkably like Ron’s as he watched 
+Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, 
+tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow 
+stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the 
+students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed 
+her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of 
+lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. 
+Crouch, Harry suddenly realized, was not there. The 
+fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley. 
+
+When the champions and their partners reached the 
+table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, 
+staring pointedly at Harry. Harry took the hint and 
+sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, 
+navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such 
+smugness that Harry thought it ought to be fined. 
+
+“I’ve been promoted,” Percy said before Harry could 
+even ask, and from his tone, he might have been 
+announcing his election as supreme ruler of the 
+universe. “I’m now Mr. Crouch’s personal assistant, 
+and I’m here representing him.” 
+
+“Why didn’t he come?” Harry asked. He wasn’t looking 
+forward to being lectured on cauldron bottoms all 
+through dinner. 
+
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+‘Tm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn’t well, not well at all. 
+Hasn’t been right since the World Cup. Hardly 
+surprising — overwork. He’s not as young as he was 
+— though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind 
+remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup 
+was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. 
+Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the 
+misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or 
+whatever she was called. Naturally, he dismissed her 
+immediately afterward, but — well, as I say, he’s 
+getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he’s 
+found a definite drop in his home comforts since she 
+left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and 
+the aftermath of the Cup to deal with — that revolting 
+Skeeter woman buzzing around — no, poor man, he’s 
+having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I’m just glad 
+he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take 
+his place.” 
+
+Harry wanted very much to ask whether Mr. Crouch 
+had stopped calling Percy “Weatherby” yet, but 
+resisted the temptation. 
+
+There was no food as yet on the glittering golden 
+plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of 
+them. Harry picked his up uncertainly and looked 
+around — there were no waiters. Dumbledore, 
+however, looked carefully down at his own menu, 
+then said very clearly to his plate, “Pork chops!” 
+
+And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of 
+the table placed their orders with their plates too. 
+Harry glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt 
+about this new and more complicated method of 
+dining — surely it meant plenty of extra work for the 
+house-elves? — but for once, Hermione didn’t seem to 
+be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with 
+Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she 
+was eating. 
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+It now occurred to Harry that he had never actually 
+heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly 
+talking now, and very enthusiastically at that. 
+
+“Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as 
+comfortable, I am thinking,” he was telling Hermione. 
+“Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for 
+magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even 
+than these — though in vinter, ve have very little 
+daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer 
+ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the 
+mountains — ” 
+
+“Now, now, Viktor!” said Karkaroff with a laugh that 
+didn’t reach his cold eyes, “don’t go giving away 
+anything else, now, or your charming friend will know 
+exactly where to find us!” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Igor, all this 
+secrecy ... one would almost think you didn’t want 
+visitors.” 
+
+“Well, Dumbledore,” said Karkaroff, displaying his 
+yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, “we are all 
+protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we 
+not jealously guard the halls of learning that have 
+been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud 
+that we alone know our school’s secrets, and right to 
+protect them?” 
+
+“Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all 
+Hogwarts’ secrets, Igor,” said Dumbledore amicably. 
+“Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong 
+turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself 
+in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen 
+before, containing a really rather magnificent 
+collection of chamber pots. When I went back to 
+investigate more closely, I discovered that the room 
+had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. 
+
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+Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the 
+morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon 
+— or when the seeker has an exceptionally full 
+bladder.” 
+
+Harry snorted into his plate of goulash. Percy 
+frowned, but Harry could have sworn Dumbledore 
+had given him a very small wink. 
+
+Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the 
+Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies. 
+
+“Zis is nothing,” she said dismissively, looking around 
+at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. “At ze Palace 
+of Beauxbatons, we ’ave ice sculptures all around ze 
+dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of 
+course . . . zey are like ’uge statues of diamond, 
+glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply 
+superb. And we ’ave choirs of wood nymphs, ’oo 
+serenade us as we eat. We ’ave none of zis ugly armor 
+in ze ’alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into 
+Beauxbatons, ’e would be expelled like zat.” She 
+slapped her hand onto the table impatiently. 
+
+Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed 
+look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with 
+his fork. Harry had the impression that Davies was 
+too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was 
+saying. 
+
+“Absolutely right,” he said quickly, slapping his own 
+hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. “Like 
+that. Yeah.” 
+
+Harry looked around the Hall. Hagrid was sitting at 
+one of the other staff tables; he was back in his 
+horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top 
+table. Harry saw him give a small wave, and looking 
+
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+around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals 
+glittering in the candlelight. 
+
+Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name 
+properly; he kept calling her “Hermy-own.” 
+
+“Her-my-oh-nee,” she said slowly and clearly. 
+
+“Herm-own-ninny.” 
+
+“Close enough,” she said, catching Harry’s eye and 
+grinning. 
+
+When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore 
+stood up and asked the students to do the same. 
+
+Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed 
+back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then 
+he conjured a raised platform into existence along the 
+right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a 
+cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it. 
+
+The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to 
+wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely 
+hairy and dressed in black robes that had been 
+artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their 
+instruments, and Harry, who had been so interested 
+in watching them that he had almost forgotten what 
+was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all 
+the other tables had gone out, and that the other 
+champions and their partners were standing up. 
+
+“Come on!” Parvati hissed. “We’re supposed to dance!” 
+
+Harry tripped over his dress robes as he stood up. 
+
+The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; 
+Harry walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, 
+carefully avoiding catching anyone’s eye (he could see 
+Seamus and Dean waving at him and sniggering), and 
+next moment, Parvati had seized his hands, placed 
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+one around her waist, and was holding the other 
+tightly in hers. 
+
+It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, Harry thought, 
+revolving slowly on the spot (Parvati was steering) . He 
+kept his eyes fixed over the heads of the watching 
+people, and very soon many of them too had come 
+onto the dance floor, so that the champions were no 
+longer the center of attention. Neville and Ginny were 
+dancing nearby — he could see Ginny wincing 
+frequently as Neville trod on her feet — and 
+Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. He 
+was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat 
+barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very 
+gracefully for a woman so large. Mad-Eye Moody was 
+doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor 
+Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg. 
+
+“Nice socks, Potter,” Moody growled as he passed, his 
+magical eye staring through Harry’s robes. 
+
+“Oh — yeah, Dobby the house-elf knitted them for 
+me,” said Harry, grinning. 
+
+“He is so creepy\” Parvati whispered as Moody 
+clunked away. “I don’t think that eye should be 
+allowed]” 
+
+Harry heard the final, quavering note from the 
+bagpipe with relief. The Weird Sisters stopped playing, 
+applause filled the hall once more, and Harry let go of 
+Parvati at once. 
+
+“Let’s sit down, shall we?” 
+
+“Oh — but — this is a really good one!” Parvati said 
+as the Weird Sisters struck up a new song, which was 
+much faster. 
+
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+“No, I don’t like it,” Harry lied, and he led her away 
+from the dance floor, past Fred and Angelina, who 
+were dancing so exhuberantly that people around 
+them were backing away in fear of injury, and over to 
+the table where Ron and Padma were sitting. 
+
+“How’s it going?” Harry asked Ron, sitting down and 
+opening a bottle of butterbeer. 
+
+Ron didn’t answer. He was glaring at Hermione and 
+Krum, who were dancing nearby. Padma was sitting 
+with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in 
+time to the music. Every now and then she threw a 
+disgruntled look at Ron, who was completely ignoring 
+her. Parvati sat down on Harry’s other side, crossed 
+her arms and legs too, and within minutes was asked 
+to dance by a boy from Beauxbatons. 
+
+“You don’t mind, do you, Harry?” Parvati said. 
+
+“What?” said Harry, who was now watching Cho and 
+Cedric. 
+
+“Oh never mind,” snapped Parvati, and she went off 
+with the boy from Beauxbatons. When the song 
+ended, she did not return. 
+
+Hermione came over and sat down in Parvati’s empty 
+chair. She was a bit pink in the face from dancing. 
+
+“Hi,” said Harry. Ron didn’t say anything. 
+
+“It’s hot, isn’t it?” said Hermione, fanning herself with 
+her hand. “Viktor’s just gone to get some drinks.” 
+
+Ron gave her a withering look. “Viktor?” he said. 
+“Hasn’t he asked you to call him Vicky yet?” 
+
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+Hermione looked at him in surprise. “What’s up with 
+you?” she said. 
+
+“If you don’t know,” said Ron scathingly, “I’m not 
+going to tell you.” 
+
+Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who 
+shrugged. 
+
+“Ron, what — ?” 
+
+“He’s from Durmstrang!” spat Ron. “He’s competing 
+against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You — you’re — ” 
+Ron was obviously casting around for words strong 
+enough to describe Hermione ’s crime, “ fraternizing 
+with the enemy, that’s what you’re doing!” 
+
+Hermione’s mouth fell open. 
+
+“Don’t be so stupid!” she said after a moment. “The 
+enemy\ Honestly — who was the one who was all 
+excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one 
+who wanted his autograph? Who’s got a model of him 
+up in their dormitory?” 
+
+Ron chose to ignore this. “I s’pose he asked you to 
+come with him while you were both in the library?” 
+
+“Yes, he did,” said Hermione, the pink patches on her 
+cheeks glowing more brightly. “So what?” 
+
+“What happened — trying to get him to join spew, 
+were you?” 
+
+“No, I wasn’t! If you really want to know, he — he said 
+he’d been coming up to the library every day to try 
+and talk to me, but he hadn’t been able to pluck up 
+the courage!” 
+
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+Hermione said this very quickly, and blushed so 
+deeply that she was the same color as Parvati’s robes. 
+
+“Yeah, well — that’s his story,” said Ron nastily. 
+
+“And what’s that supposed to mean?” 
+
+“Obvious, isn’t it? He’s Karkaroff’s student, isn’t he? 
+He knows who you hang around with. ... He’s just 
+trying to get closer to Harry — get inside information 
+on him — or get near enough to jinx him — ” 
+
+Hermione looked as though Ron had slapped her. 
+When she spoke, her voice quivered. 
+
+“For your information, he hasn’t asked me one single 
+thing about Harry, not one — ” 
+
+Ron changed tack at the speed of light. 
+
+“Then he’s hoping you’ll help him find out what his 
+egg means! I suppose you’ve been putting your heads 
+together during those cozy little library sessions — ” 
+
+“I’d never help him work out that egg!” said Hermione, 
+looking outraged. “Never. How could you say 
+something like that — I want Harry to win the 
+tournament, Harry knows that, don’t you, Harry?” 
+
+“You’ve got a funny way of showing it,” sneered Ron. 
+
+“This whole tournament’s supposed to be about 
+getting to know foreign wizards and making friends 
+with them!” said Hermione hotly. 
+
+“No it isn’t!” shouted Ron. “It’s about winning!” 
+
+People were starting to stare at them. 
+
+
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+“Ron,” said Harry quietly, “I haven’t got a problem 
+with Hermione coming with Krum — ” 
+
+But Ron ignored Harry too. 
+
+“Why don’t you go and find Vicky, he’ll be wondering 
+where you are,” said Ron. 
+
+“Don’t call him Vickyl” 
+
+Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across 
+the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Ron 
+watched her go with a mixture of anger and 
+satisfaction on his face. 
+
+“Are you going to ask me to dance at all?” Padma 
+asked him. 
+
+“No,” said Ron, still glaring after Hermione. 
+
+“Fine,” snapped Padma, and she got up and went to 
+join Parvati and the Beauxbatons boy, who conjured 
+up one of his friends to join them so fast that Harry 
+could have sworn he had zoomed him there by a 
+Summoning Charm. 
+
+“Vare is Herm-own-ninny?” said a voice. 
+
+Krum had just arrived at their table clutching two 
+butterbeers. 
+
+“No idea,” said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. “Lost 
+her, have you?” 
+
+Krum was looking surly again. 
+
+“Veil, if you see her, tell her I haff drinks,” he said, 
+and he slouched off. 
+
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+“Made friends with Viktor Krum, have you, Ron?” 
+
+
+
+Percy had bustled over, rubbing his hands together 
+and looking extremely pompous. “Excellent! That’s 
+the whole point, you know — international magical 
+cooperation!” 
+
+To Harry’s displeasure, Percy now took Padma’s 
+vacated seat. The top table was now empty; Professor 
+Dumbledore was dancing with Professor Sprout, Ludo 
+Bagman with Professor McGonagall; Madame Maxime 
+and Hagrid were cutting a wide path around the 
+dance floor as they waltzed through the students, and 
+Karkaroff was nowhere to be seen. When the next 
+song ended, everybody applauded once more, and 
+Harry saw Ludo Bagman kiss Professor McGonagall’s 
+hand and make his way back through the crowds, at 
+which point Fred and George accosted him. 
+
+“What do they think they’re doing, annoying senior 
+Ministry members?” Percy hissed, watching Fred and 
+George suspiciously. “No respect ...” 
+
+Ludo Bagman shook off Fred and George fairly 
+quickly, however, and, spotting Harry, waved and 
+came over to their table. 
+
+“I hope my brothers weren’t bothering you, Mr. 
+Bagman?” said Percy at once. 
+
+“What? Oh not at all, not at all!” said Bagman. “No, 
+they were just telling me a bit more about those fake 
+wands of theirs. Wondering if I could advise them on 
+the marketing. I’ve promised to put them in touch 
+with a couple of contacts of mine at Zonko’s Joke 
+Shop. ...” 
+
+Percy didn’t look happy about this at all, and Harry 
+was prepared to bet he would be rushing to tell Mrs. 
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+Weasley about this the moment he got home. 
+Apparently Fred and George’s plans had grown even 
+more ambitious lately, if they were hoping to sell to 
+the public. Bagman opened his mouth to ask Harry 
+something, but Percy diverted him. 
+
+“How do you feel the tournament’s going, Mr. 
+
+Bagman? Our department’s quite satisfied — the 
+hitch with the Goblet of Fire” — he glanced at Harry 
+— “was a little unfortunate, of course, but it seems to 
+have gone very smoothly since, don’t you think?” 
+
+“Oh yes,” Bagman said cheerfully, “it’s all been 
+enormous fun. How’s old Barty doing? Shame he 
+couldn’t come.” 
+
+“Oh I’m sure Mr. Crouch will be up and about in no 
+time,” said Percy importantly, “but in the meantime, 
+I’m more than willing to take up the slack. Of course, 
+it’s not all attending balls” — he laughed airily — “oh 
+no, I’ve had to deal with all sorts of things that have 
+cropped up in his absence — you heard Ali Bashir 
+was caught smuggling a consignment of flying carpets 
+into the country? And then we’ve been trying to 
+persuade the Transylvanians to sign the International 
+Ban on Dueling. I’ve got a meeting with their Head of 
+Magical Cooperation in the new year — ” 
+
+“Let’s go for a walk,” Ron muttered to Harry, “get 
+away from Percy. ...” 
+
+Pretending they wanted more drinks, Harry and Ron 
+left the table, edged around the dance floor, and 
+slipped out into the entrance hall. The front doors 
+stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose 
+garden winked and twinkled as they went down the 
+front steps, where they found themselves surrounded 
+by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large 
+stone statues. Harry could hear splashing water, 
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+which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people 
+were sitting on carved benches. He and Ron set off 
+along one of the winding paths through the 
+rosebushes, but they had gone only a short way when 
+they heard an unpleasantly familiar voice. 
+
+"... don’t see what there is to fuss about, Igor.” 
+
+“Severus, you cannot pretend this isn’t happening!” 
+Karkaroff’s voice sounded anxious and hushed, as 
+though keen not to be overheard. “It’s been getting 
+clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming 
+seriously concerned, I can’t deny it — ” 
+
+“Then flee,” said Snape’s voice curtly. “Flee — I will 
+make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape 
+had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, 
+his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from 
+many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from 
+them. 
+
+“Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!” Snape snarled 
+as a girl ran past him. “And ten points from Hufflepuff 
+too, Stebbins!” as a boy went rushing after her. “And 
+what are you two doing?” he added, catching sight of 
+Harry and Ron on the path ahead. Karkaroff, Harry 
+saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them 
+standing there. His hand went nervously to his 
+goatee, and he began winding it around his finger. 
+
+“We’re walking,” Ron told Snape shortly. “Not against 
+the law, is it?” 
+
+“Keep walking, then!” Snape snarled, and he brushed 
+past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind 
+
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+him. Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. Harry and 
+Ron continued down the path. 
+
+“What’s got Karkaroff all worried?” Ron muttered. 
+
+“And since when have he and Snape been on first- 
+name terms?” said Harry slowly. 
+
+They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over 
+which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall 
+fountain. The shadowy outlines of two enormous 
+people were visible on a stone bench, watching the 
+water in the moonlight. And then Harry heard Hagrid 
+speak. 
+
+“Momen’ I saw yeh, I knew,” he was saying, in an 
+oddly husky voice. 
+
+Harry and Ron froze. This didn’t sound like the sort of 
+scene they ought to walk in on, somehow. . . . Harry 
+looked around, back up the path, and saw Fleur 
+Delacour and Roger Davies standing half-concealed in 
+a rosebush nearby. He tapped Ron on the shoulder 
+and jerked his head toward them, meaning that they 
+could easily sneak off that way without being noticed 
+(Fleur and Davies looked very busy to Harry), but 
+Ron, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Fleur, 
+shook his head vigorously, and pulled Harry deeper 
+into the shadows behind the reindeer. 
+
+“What did you know, ’Agrid?” said Madame Maxime, a 
+purr in her low voice. 
+
+Harry definitely didn’t want to listen to this; he knew 
+Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like 
+this (he certainly would have) — if it had been 
+possible he would have put his fingers in his ears and 
+hummed loudly, but that wasn’t really an option. 
+Instead he tried to interest himself in a beetle 
+Page | 471 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+crawling along the stone reindeer’s back, but the 
+beetle just wasn’t interesting enough to block out 
+Hagrid’s next words. 
+
+“I jus’ knew ... knew you were like me. ... Was it yer 
+mother or yer father?” 
+
+“I — I don’t know what you mean, ’Agrid. ...” 
+
+“It was my mother,” said Hagrid quietly. “She was one 
+o’ the las’ ones in Britain. ’Course, I can’ remember 
+her too well ... she left, see. When I was abou’ three. 
+She wasn’ really the maternal sort. Well ... it’s not in 
+their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her ... 
+might be dead fer all I know. ...” 
+
+Madame Maxime didn’t say anything. And Harry, in 
+spite of himself, took his eyes off the beetle and 
+looked over the top of the reindeer’s antlers, listening. 
+
+. . . He had never heard Hagrid talk about his 
+childhood before. 
+
+“Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen’. Tiny 
+little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could 
+lift him up an’ put him on top o’ the dresser if he 
+annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh. ...” Hagrid’s 
+deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, 
+motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. 
+“Dad raised me ... but he died, o’ course, jus’ after I 
+started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after 
+that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter 
+me, he was. ...” 
+
+Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief 
+and blew his nose heavily. 
+
+“So ... anyway ... enough abou’ me. What about you? 
+Which side you got it on?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet. 
+
+“It is chilly,” she said — but whatever the weather 
+was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. 
+
+“I think I will go in now.” 
+
+“Eh?” said Hagrid blankly. “No, don’ go! I’ve — I’ve 
+never met another one before!” 
+
+“Anuzzer what, precisely?” said Madame Maxime, her 
+tone icy. 
+
+Harry could have told Hagrid it was best not to 
+answer; he stood there in the shadows gritting his 
+teeth, hoping against hope he wouldn’t — but it was 
+no good. 
+
+“Another half-giant, o’ course!” said Hagrid. 
+
+“ ’Ow dare you!” shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice 
+exploded through the peaceful night air like a 
+foghorn; behind him, Harry heard Fleur and Roger fall 
+out of their rosebush. “I ’ave nevair been more 
+insulted in my life! ’Alf-giant? Moi? I ’ave — I ’ave big 
+bones!” 
+
+She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of 
+fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing 
+aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, 
+staring after her. It was much too dark to make out 
+his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood 
+up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off 
+out into the dark grounds in the direction of his 
+cabin. 
+
+“C’mon,” Harry said, very quietly to Ron. “Let’s go. ...” 
+But Ron didn’t move. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“What’s up?” said Harry, looking at him. 
+
+Ron looked around at Harry, his expression very 
+serious indeed. 
+
+“Did you know?” he whispered. “About Hagrid being 
+half-giant?” 
+
+“No,” Harry said, shrugging. “So what?” 
+
+He knew immediately, from the look Ron was giving 
+him, that he was once again revealing his ignorance 
+of the wizarding world. Brought up by the Dursleys, 
+there were many things that wizards took for granted 
+that were revelations to Harry, but these surprises 
+had become fewer with each successive year. Now, 
+however, he could tell that most wizards would not 
+have said “So what?” upon finding out that one of 
+their friends had a giantess for a mother. 
+
+“I’ll explain inside,” said Ron quietly, “c’mon. ...” 
+
+Fleur and Roger Davies had disappeared, probably 
+into a more private clump of bushes. Harry and Ron 
+returned to the Great Hall. Parvati and Padma were 
+now sitting at a distant table with a whole crowd of 
+Beauxbatons boys, and Hermione was once more 
+dancing with Krum. Harry and Ron sat down at a 
+table far removed from the dance floor. 
+
+“So?” Harry prompted Ron. “What’s the problem with 
+giants?” 
+
+“Well, they’re ... they’re ...” Ron struggled for words. 
+"... not very nice,” he finished lamely. 
+
+“Who cares?” Harry said. “There’s nothing wrong with 
+Hagrid!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“I know there isn’t, but ... blimey, no wonder he keeps 
+it quiet,” Ron said, shaking his head. “I always 
+thought he’d got in the way of a bad Engorgement 
+Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn’t like to 
+mention it. ...” 
+
+“But what’s it matter if his mother was a giantess?” 
+said Harry. 
+
+“Well ... no one who knows him will care, ’cos they’ll 
+know he’s not dangerous,” said Ron slowly. “But ... 
+Harry, they’re just vicious, giants. It’s like Hagrid 
+said, it’s in their natures, they’re like trolls ... they 
+just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren’t 
+any left in Britain now, though.” 
+
+“What happened to them?” 
+
+“Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got 
+themselves killed by Aurors. There ’re supposed to be 
+giants abroad, though. ... They hide out in mountains 
+mostly. ...” 
+
+“I don’t know who Maxime thinks she’s kidding,” 
+
+Harry said, watching Madame Maxime sitting alone at 
+the judges’ table, looking very somber. “If Hagrid ’s 
+half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones ... the only 
+thing that’s got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur.” 
+
+Harry and Ron spent the rest of the ball discussing 
+giants in their corner, neither of them having any 
+inclination to dance. Harry tried not to watch Cho 
+and Cedric too much; it gave him a strong desire to 
+kick something. 
+
+When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, 
+everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause 
+and started to wend their way into the entrance hall. 
+Many people were expressing the wish that the ball 
+
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+
+
+
+
+could have gone on longer, but Harry was perfectly 
+happy to be going to bed; as far as he was concerned, 
+the evening hadn’t been much fun. 
+
+Out in the entrance hall, Harry and Ron saw 
+Hermione saying good night to Krum before he went 
+back to the Durmstrang ship. She gave Ron a very 
+cold look and swept past him up the marble staircase 
+without speaking. Harry and Ron followed her, but 
+halfway up the staircase Harry heard someone calling 
+him. 
+
+“Hey — Harry!” 
+
+It was Cedric Diggory. Harry could see Cho waiting for 
+him in the entrance hall below. 
+
+“Yeah?” said Harry coldly as Cedric ran up the stairs 
+toward him. 
+
+Cedric looked as though he didn’t want to say 
+whatever it was in front of Ron, who shrugged, 
+looking bad-tempered, and continued to climb the 
+stairs. 
+
+“Listen ...” Cedric lowered his voice as Ron 
+disappeared. “I owe you one for telling me about the 
+dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail 
+when you open it?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well ... take a bath, okay?” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Take a bath, and — er — take the egg with you, and 
+— er — just mull things over in the hot water. It’ll 
+help you think. ... Trust me.” 
+
+Page | 476 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry stared at him. 
+
+“Tell you what,” Cedric said, “use the prefects’ 
+bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of 
+Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password’s 
+‘pine fresh. ’ Gotta go . . . want to say good night — ” 
+
+He grinned at Harry again and hurried back down the 
+stairs to Cho. 
+
+Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower alone. That 
+had been extremely strange advice. Why would a bath 
+help him to work out what the wailing egg meant? 
+Was Cedric pulling his leg? Was he trying to make 
+Harry look like a fool, so Cho would like him even 
+more by comparison? 
+
+The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the 
+picture over the portrait hole. Harry had to yell “Fairy 
+lights!” before he woke them up, and when he did, 
+they were extremely irritated. He climbed into the 
+common room and found Ron and Hermione having a 
+blazing row. Standing ten feet apart, they were 
+bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face. 
+
+“Well, if you don’t like it, you know what the solution 
+is, don’t you?” yelled Hermione; her hair was coming 
+down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was 
+screwed up in anger. 
+
+“Oh yeah?” Ron yelled back. “What’s that?” 
+
+“Next time there’s a ball, ask me before someone else 
+does, and not as a last resort!” 
+
+Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water 
+as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the 
+girls’ staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Well,” he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, “well — 
+that just proves — completely missed the point — ” 
+
+Harry didn’t say anything. He liked being back on 
+speaking terms with Ron too much to speak his mind 
+right now — but he somehow thought that Hermione 
+had gotten the point much better than Ron had. 
+
+
+
+Page | 478 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+RITA SKEBTER’S SCOOP 
+
+Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor 
+common room was much quieter than it had been 
+lately, many yawns punctuating the lazy 
+conversations. Hermione’s hair was bushy again; she 
+confessed to Harry that she had used liberal amounts 
+of Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion on it for the ball, “but it’s 
+way too much bother to do every day,” she said 
+matter-of-factly, scratching a purring Crookshanks 
+behind the ears. 
+
+Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an 
+unspoken agreement not to discuss their argument. 
+They were being quite friendly to each other, though 
+oddly formal. Ron and Harry wasted no time in telling 
+Hermione about the conversation they had overheard 
+between Madame Maxime and Hagrid, but Hermione 
+didn’t seem to find the news that Hagrid was a half- 
+giant nearly as shocking as Ron did. 
+
+“Well, I thought he must be,” she said, shrugging. “I 
+knew he couldn’t be pure giant because they’re about 
+twenty feet tall. But honestly, all this hysteria about 
+
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+
+
+
+
+giants. They can’t all be horrible. ... It’s the same sort 
+of prejudice that people have toward werewolves. ... 
+
+It’s just bigotry, isn’t it?” 
+
+Ron looked as though he would have liked to reply 
+scathingly, but perhaps he didn’t want another row, 
+because he contented himself with shaking his head 
+disbelievingly while Hermione wasn’t looking. 
+
+It was time now to think of the homework they had 
+neglected during the first week of the holidays. 
+Everybody seemed to be feeling rather flat now that 
+Christmas was over — everybody except Harry, that 
+is, who was starting (once again) to feel slightly 
+nervous. 
+
+The trouble was that February the twenty-fourth 
+looked a lot closer from this side of Christmas, and he 
+still hadn’t done anything about working out the clue 
+inside the golden egg. He therefore started taking the 
+egg out of his trunk every time he went up to the 
+dormitory, opening it, and listening intently, hoping 
+that this time it would make some sense. He strained 
+to think what the sound reminded him of, apart from 
+thirty musical saws, but he had never heard anything 
+else like it. He closed the egg, shook it vigorously, and 
+opened it again to see if the sound had changed, but 
+it hadn’t. He tried asking the egg questions, shouting 
+over all the wailing, but nothing happened. He even 
+threw the egg across the room — though he hadn’t 
+really expected that to help. 
+
+Harry had not forgotten the hint that Cedric had 
+given him, but his less-than-friendly feelings toward 
+Cedric just now meant that he was keen not to take 
+his help if he could avoid it. In any case, it seemed to 
+him that if Cedric had really wanted to give Harry a 
+hand, he would have been a lot more explicit. He, 
+Harry, had told Cedric exactly what was coming in 
+Page | 480 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the first task — and Cedric’s idea of a fair exchange 
+had been to tell Harry to take a bath. Well, he didn’t 
+need that sort of rubbishy help — not from someone 
+who kept walking down corridors hand in hand with 
+Cho, anyway. And so the first day of the new term 
+arrived, and Harry set off to lessons, weighed down 
+with books, parchment, and quills as usual, but also 
+with the lurking worry of the egg heavy in his 
+stomach, as though he were carrying that around 
+with him too. 
+
+Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the 
+greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so 
+thick that they couldn’t see out of them in Herbology. 
+Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical 
+Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, 
+the skrewts would probably warm them up nicely, 
+either by chasing them, or blasting off so forcefully 
+that Hagrid’s cabin would catch fire. 
+
+When they arrived at Hagrid’s cabin, however, they 
+found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair 
+and a very prominent chin standing before his front 
+door. 
+
+“Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago,” she 
+barked at them as they struggled toward her through 
+the snow. 
+
+“Who ’re you?” said Ron, staring at her. “Where’s 
+Hagrid?” 
+
+“My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank,” she said 
+briskly. “I am your temporary Care of Magical 
+Creatures teacher.” 
+
+“Where’s Hagrid?” Harry repeated loudly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He is indisposed,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank 
+shortly. 
+
+Soft and unpleasant laughter reached Harry’s ears. 
+
+He turned; Draco Malfoy and the rest of the 
+Slytherins were joining the class. All of them looked 
+gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank. 
+
+“This way, please,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and 
+she strode off around the paddock where the 
+Beauxbatons horses were shivering. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione followed her, looking back over their 
+shoulders at Hagrid’s cabin. All the curtains were 
+closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill? 
+
+“What’s wrong with Hagrid?” Harry said, hurrying to 
+catch up with Professor Grubbly-Plank. 
+
+“Never you mind,” she said as though she thought he 
+was being nosy. 
+
+“I do mind, though,” said Harry hotly. “What’s up with 
+him?” 
+
+Professor Grubbly-Plank acted as though she couldn’t 
+hear him. She led them past the paddock where the 
+huge Beauxbatons horses were standing, huddled 
+against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the 
+forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was 
+tethered. 
+
+Many of the girls “ooooohed!” at the sight of the 
+unicorn. 
+
+“Oh it’s so beautiful!” whispered Lavender Brown. 
+“How did she get it? They’re supposed to be really 
+hard to catch!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow 
+all around look gray. It was pawing the ground 
+nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back 
+its horned head. 
+
+“Boys keep back!” barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, 
+throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the 
+chest. “They prefer the woman’s touch, unicorns. 
+Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, 
+easy does it. ...” 
+
+She and the girls walked slowly forward toward the 
+unicorn, leaving the boys standing near the paddock 
+fence, watching. The moment Professor Grubbly- 
+Plank was out of earshot, Harry turned to Ron. 
+
+“What d’you reckon’s wrong with him? You don’t 
+think a skrewt — ?” 
+
+“Oh he hasn’t been attacked, Potter, if that’s what 
+you’re thinking,” said Malfoy softly. “No, he’s just too 
+ashamed to show his big, ugly face.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry sharply. 
+
+Malfoy put his hand inside the pocket of his robes 
+and pulled out a folded page of newsprint. 
+
+“There you go,” he said. “Hate to break it to you, 
+Potter. ...” 
+
+He smirked as Harry snatched the page, unfolded it, 
+and read it, with Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville 
+looking over his shoulder. It was an article topped 
+with a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty. 
+
+DUMBLEDORE’S GIANT MISTAKE 
+
+
+
+Page | 483 
+
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+
+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts 
+School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been 
+afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes 
+Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of 
+this year, he hired Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody, the 
+notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many 
+raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given 
+Moody’s well-known habit of attacking anybody who 
+makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye 
+Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when 
+set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to 
+teach Care of Magical Creatures. 
+
+Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from 
+Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of 
+gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for 
+him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used 
+his mysterious influence over the headmaster to 
+secure the additional post of Care of Magical 
+Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better- 
+qualified candidates. 
+
+An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, 
+
+Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to 
+terrify the students in his care with a succession of 
+horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind 
+eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series 
+of lessons that many admit to being “very 
+frightening.” 
+
+“I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent 
+Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm,” says Draco 
+Malfoy, a fourth-year student. “We all hate Hagrid, 
+but we’re just too scared to say anything.” 
+
+Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of 
+intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily 
+Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding 
+
+Page | 484 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+creatures he has dubbed “Blast-Ended Skrewts, ” 
+highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire- 
+crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature 
+is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by 
+the Department for the Regulation and Control of 
+Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself 
+to be above such petty restrictions. 
+
+“I was just having some fun,” he says, before hastily 
+changing the subject. 
+
+As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now 
+unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not — as he has 
+always pretended — a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in 
+fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively 
+reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, 
+whose whereabouts are currently unknown. 
+
+Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought 
+themselves to the point of extinction by warring 
+amongst themselves during the last century. The 
+handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who- 
+Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some 
+of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of 
+terror. 
+
+While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must- 
+Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against 
+the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is 
+possible she escaped to one of the giant communities 
+still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics 
+during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any 
+guide, however, Fridwulfa’s son appears to have 
+inherited her brutal nature. 
+
+In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed 
+a close friendship with the boy who brought around 
+You-Know- Who’s fall from power — thereby driving 
+Hagrid ’s own mother, like the rest of You-Know- Who’s 
+
+Page | 485 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is 
+unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large 
+friend — but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to 
+ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow 
+students, is warned about the dangers of associating 
+with part-giants. 
+
+
+
+Harry finished reading and looked up at Ron, whose 
+mouth was hanging open. 
+
+“How did she find out?” he whispered. 
+
+But that wasn’t what was bothering Harry. 
+
+“What d’you mean, “we all hate Hagrid’?” Harry spat 
+at Malfoy. “What’s this rubbish about him” — he 
+pointed at Crabbe — “getting a bad bite off a 
+flobberworm? They haven’t even got teeth!” 
+
+Crabbe was sniggering, apparently very pleased with 
+himself. 
+
+“Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf’s 
+teaching career,” said Malfoy, his eyes glinting. “Half- 
+giant ... and there was me thinking he’d just 
+swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young. 
+
+... None of the mummies and daddies are going to like 
+this at all. ... They’ll be worried he’ll eat their kids, ha, 
+ha. ...” 
+
+“You — ” 
+
+“Are you paying attention over there?” 
+
+Professor Grubbly-Plank’s voice carried over to the 
+boys; the girls were all clustered around the unicorn 
+now, stroking it. Harry was so angry that the Daily 
+
+Page |486 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Prophet article shook in his hands as he turned to 
+stare unseeingly at the unicorn, whose many magical 
+properties Professor Grubbly-Plank was now 
+enumerating in a loud voice, so that the boys could 
+hear too. 
+
+“I hope she stays, that woman!” said Parvati Patil 
+when the lesson had ended and they were all heading 
+back to the castle for lunch. “That’s more what I 
+thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like . . . 
+proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters. ...” 
+
+“What about Hagrid?” Harry said angrily as they went 
+up the steps. 
+
+“What about him?” said Parvati in a hard voice. “He 
+can still be gamekeeper, can’t he?” 
+
+Parvati had been very cool toward Harry since the 
+ball. He supposed that he ought to have paid her a bit 
+more attention, but she seemed to have had a good 
+time all the same. She was certainly telling anybody 
+who would listen that she had made arrangements to 
+meet the boy from Beauxbatons in Hogsmeade on the 
+next weekend trip. 
+
+“That was a really good lesson,” said Hermione as 
+they entered the Great Hall. “I didn’t know half the 
+things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni — ” 
+
+“Look at this!” Harry snarled, and he shoved the Daily 
+Prophet article under Hermione ’s nose. 
+
+Hermione ’s mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction 
+was exactly the same as Ron’s. 
+
+“How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You 
+don’t think Hagrid told her?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 487 
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry, leading the way over to the 
+Gryffindor table and throwing himself into a chair, 
+furious. “He never even told us, did he? I reckon she 
+was so mad he wouldn’t give her loads of horrible 
+stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him 
+back.” 
+
+“Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the 
+ball,” said Hermione quietly. 
+
+“We’d have seen her in the garden!” said Ron. 
+“Anyway, she’s not supposed to come into school 
+anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her. ...” 
+
+“Maybe she’s got an Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry, 
+ladling chicken casserole onto his plate and splashing 
+it everywhere in his anger. “Sort of thing she’d do, 
+isn’t it, hide in bushes listening to people.” 
+
+“Like you and Ron did, you mean,” said Hermione. 
+
+“We weren’t trying to hear him!” said Ron indignantly. 
+“We didn’t have any choice! The stupid prat, talking 
+about his giantess mother where anyone could have 
+heard him!” 
+
+“We’ve got to go and see him,” said Harry. “This 
+evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back 
+... you do want him back?” he shot at Hermione. 
+
+“I — well, I’m not going to pretend it didn’t make a 
+nice change, having a proper Care of Magical 
+Creatures lesson for once — but I do want Hagrid 
+back, of course I do!” Hermione added hastily, 
+quailing under Harry’s furious stare. 
+
+So that evening after dinner, the three of them left the 
+castle once more and went down through the frozen 
+
+
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+grounds to Hagrid’s cabin. They knocked, and Fang’s 
+booming barks answered. 
+
+“Hagrid, it’s us!” Harry shouted, pounding on the 
+door. “Open up! 
+
+Hagrid didn’t answer. They could hear Fang 
+scratching at the door, whining, but it didn’t open. 
+They hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even 
+went and banged on one of the windows, but there 
+was no response. 
+
+“What’s he avoiding us for?” Hermione said when they 
+had finally given up and were walking back to the 
+school. “He surely doesn’t think we’d care about him 
+being half-giant?” 
+
+But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn’t see a 
+sign of him all week. He didn’t appear at the staff 
+table at mealtimes, they didn’t see him going about 
+his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor 
+Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical 
+Creatures classes. Malfoy was gloating at every 
+possible opportunity. 
+
+“Missing your half-breed pal?” he kept whispering to 
+Harry whenever there was a teacher around, so that 
+he was safe from Harry’s retaliation. “Missing the 
+elephant-man?” 
+
+There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through 
+January. Hermione was very surprised that Harry 
+was going to go. 
+
+“I just thought you’d want to take advantage of the 
+common room being quiet,” she said. “Really get to 
+work on that egg.” 
+
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+“Oh I — I reckon I’ve got a pretty good idea what it’s 
+about now,” Harry lied. 
+
+“Have you really?” said Hermione, looking impressed. 
+“Well done!” 
+
+Harry’s insides gave a guilty squirm, but he ignored 
+them. He still had five weeks to work out that egg 
+clue, after all, and that was ages ... whereas if he 
+went into Hogsmeade, he might run into Hagrid, and 
+get a chance to persuade him to come back. 
+
+He, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together on 
+Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds 
+toward the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang 
+ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum 
+emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but 
+swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but 
+apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he 
+climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his 
+arms, and dived, right into the lake. 
+
+“He’s mad!” said Harry, staring at Krum’s dark head 
+as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. “It must 
+be freezing, it’s January!” 
+
+“It’s a lot colder where he comes from,” said 
+Hermione. “I suppose it feels quite warm to him.” 
+
+“Yeah, but there’s still the giant squid,” said Ron. He 
+didn’t sound anxious — if anything, he sounded 
+hopeful. Hermione noticed his tone of voice and 
+frowned. 
+
+“He’s really nice, you know,” she said. “He’s not at all 
+like you’d think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it 
+much better here, he told me.” 
+
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+Ron said nothing. He hadn’t mentioned Viktor Krum 
+since the ball, but Harry had found a miniature arm 
+under his bed on Boxing Day, which had looked very 
+much as though it had been snapped off a small 
+model figure wearing Bulgarian Quidditch robes. 
+
+Harry kept his eyes skinned for a sign of Hagrid all 
+the way down the slushy High Street, and suggested a 
+visit to the Three Broomsticks once he had 
+ascertained that Hagrid was not in any of the shops. 
+
+The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look 
+around at all the tables told Harry that Hagrid wasn’t 
+there. Heart sinking, he went up to the bar with Ron 
+and Hermione, ordered three butter-beers from 
+Madam Rosmerta, and thought gloomily that he 
+might just as well have stayed behind and listened to 
+the egg wailing after all. 
+
+“Doesn’t he ever go into the office?” Hermione 
+whispered suddenly. “Look!” 
+
+She pointed into the mirror behind the bar, and Harry 
+saw Ludo Bagman reflected there, sitting in a 
+shadowy corner with a bunch of goblins. Bagman was 
+talking very fast in a low voice to the goblins, all of 
+whom had their arms crossed and were looking rather 
+menacing. 
+
+It was indeed odd, Harry thought, that Bagman was 
+here at the Three Broomsticks on a weekend when 
+there was no Triwizard event, and therefore no 
+judging to be done. He watched Bagman in the 
+mirror. He was looking strained again, quite as 
+strained as he had that night in the forest before the 
+Dark Mark had appeared. But just then Bagman 
+glanced over at the bar, saw Harry, and stood up. 
+
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+“In a moment, in a moment!” Harry heard him say 
+brusquely to the goblins, and Bagman hurried 
+through the pub toward Harry, his boyish grin back 
+in place. 
+
+“Harry!” he said. “How are you? Been hoping to run 
+into you! Everything going all right?” 
+
+“Fine, thanks,” said Harry. 
+
+“Wonder if I could have a quick, private word, Harry?” 
+said Bagman eagerly. “You couldn’t give us a 
+moment, you two, could you?” 
+
+“Er — okay,” said Ron, and he and Hermione went off 
+to find a table. 
+
+Bagman led Harry along the bar to the end furthest 
+from Madam Rosmerta. 
+
+“Well, I just thought I’d congratulate you again on 
+your splendid performance against that Horntail, 
+Harry,” said Bagman. “Really superb.” 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, but he knew this couldn’t be all 
+that Bagman wanted to say, because he could have 
+congratulated Harry in front of Ron and Hermione. 
+Bagman didn’t seem in any particular rush to spill 
+the beans, though. Harry saw him glance into the 
+mirror over the bar at the goblins, who were all 
+watching him and Harry in silence through their 
+dark, slanting eyes. 
+
+“Absolute nightmare,” said Bagman to Harry in an 
+undertone, noticing Harry watching the goblins too. 
+“Their English isn’t too good ... it’s like being back 
+with all the Bulgarians at the Quidditch World Cup ... 
+but at least they used sign language another human 
+could recognize. This lot keep gabbling in 
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+Gobbledegook . . . and I only know one word of 
+Gobbledegook. Bladvak. It means ‘pickax.’ I don’t like 
+to use it in case they think I’m threatening them.” 
+
+He gave a short, booming laugh. 
+
+“What do they want?” Harry said, noticing how the 
+goblins were still watching Bagman very closely. 
+
+“Er — well ...” said Bagman, looking suddenly 
+nervous. “They ... er ... they’re looking for Barry 
+Crouch.” 
+
+“Why are they looking for him here?” said Harry. “He’s 
+at the Ministry in London, isn’t he?” 
+
+“Er ... as a matter of fact, I’ve no idea where he is,” 
+said Bagman. “He’s sort of ... stopped coming to work. 
+Been absent for a couple of weeks now. Young Percy, 
+his assistant, says he’s ill. Apparently he’s just been 
+sending instructions in by owl. But would you mind 
+not mentioning that to anyone, Harry? Because Rita 
+Skeeter’s still poking around everywhere she can, and 
+I’m willing to bet she’d work up Barty’s illness into 
+something sinister. Probably say he’s gone missing 
+like Bertha Jorkins.” 
+
+“Have you heard anything about Bertha Jorkins?” 
+Harry asked. 
+
+“No,” said Bagman, looking strained again. “I’ve got 
+people looking, of course ...” (About time, thought 
+Harry) “and it’s all very strange. She definitely arrived 
+in Albania, because she met her second cousin there. 
+And then she left the cousin’s house to go south and 
+see an aunt . . . and she seems to have vanished 
+without trace en route. Blowed if I can see where 
+she’s got to ... she doesn’t seem the type to elope, for 
+instance ... but still. ... What are we doing, talking 
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+
+about goblins and Bertha Jorkins? I really wanted to 
+ask you” — he lowered his voice — “how are you 
+getting on with your golden egg?” 
+
+“Er ... not bad,” Harry said untruthfully. 
+
+Bagman seemed to know he wasn’t being honest. 
+
+“Listen, Harry,” he said (still in a very low voice), “I 
+feel very bad about all this . . . you were thrown into 
+this tournament, you didn’t volunteer for it... and if 
+...” (his voice was so quiet now, Harry had to lean 
+closer to listen) “if I can help at all ... a prod in the 
+right direction ... I’ve taken a liking to you ... the way 
+you got past that dragon! ... well, just say the word.” 
+
+Harry stared up into Bagman’s round, rosy face and 
+his wide, baby-blue eyes. 
+
+“We’re supposed to work out the clues alone, aren’t 
+we?” he said, careful to keep his voice casual and not 
+sound as though he was accusing the head of the 
+Department of Magical Games and Sports of breaking 
+the rules. 
+
+“Well ... well, yes,” said Bagman impatiently, “but — 
+come on, Harry — we all want a Hogwarts victory, 
+don’t we?” 
+
+“Have you offered Cedric help?” Harry said. 
+
+The smallest of frowns creased Bagman’s smooth 
+face. “No, I haven’t,” he said. “I — well, like I say, I’ve 
+taken a liking to you. Just thought I’d offer ...” 
+
+“Well, thanks,” said Harry, “but I think I’m nearly 
+there with the egg . . . couple more days should crack 
+it.” 
+
+
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+He wasn’t entirely sure why he was refusing 
+Bagman’s help, except that Bagman was almost a 
+stranger to him, and accepting his assistance would 
+feel somehow much more like cheating than asking 
+advice from Ron, Hermione, or Sirius. 
+
+Bagman looked almost affronted, but couldn’t say 
+much more as Fred and George turned up at that 
+point. 
+
+“Hello, Mr. Bagman,” said Fred brightly. “Can we buy 
+you a drink?” 
+
+“Er ... no,” said Bagman, with a last disappointed 
+glance at Harry, “no, thank you, boys ...” 
+
+Fred and George looked quite as disappointed as 
+Bagman, who was surveying Harry as though he had 
+let him down badly. 
+
+“Well, I must dash,” he said. “Nice seeing you all. 
+
+Good luck, Harry.” 
+
+He hurried out of the pub. The goblins all slid off their 
+chairs and exited after him. Harry went to rejoin Ron 
+and Hermione. 
+
+“What did he want?” Ron said, the moment Harry had 
+sat down. 
+
+“He offered to help me with the golden egg,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“He shouldn’t be doing that!” said Hermione, looking 
+very shocked. “He’s one of the judges! And anyway, 
+you’ve already worked it out — haven’t you?” 
+
+“Er ... nearly,” said Harry. 
+
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+“Well, I don’t think Dumbledore would like it if he 
+knew Bagman was trying to persuade you to cheat!” 
+said Hermione, still looking deeply disapproving. “I 
+hope he’s trying to help Cedric as much!” 
+
+“He’s not, I asked,” said Harry. 
+
+“Who cares if Diggory’s getting help?” said Ron. Harry 
+privately agreed. 
+
+“Those goblins didn’t look very friendly,” said 
+Hermione, sipping her butterbeer. “What were they 
+doing here?” 
+
+“Looking for Crouch, according to Bagman,” said 
+Harry. “He’s still ill. Hasn’t been into work.” 
+
+“Maybe Percy’s poisoning him,” said Ron. “Probably 
+thinks if Crouch snuffs it he’ll be made head of the 
+Department of International Magical Cooperation.” 
+
+Hermione gave Ron a don’t -joke-about-things-like- 
+that look, and said, “Funny, goblins looking for Mr. 
+Crouch. . . . They’d normally deal with the Department 
+for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.” 
+
+“Crouch can speak loads of different languages, 
+though,” said Harry. “Maybe they need an 
+interpreter.” 
+
+“Worrying about poor ’ickle goblins, now, are you?” 
+Ron asked Hermione. “Thinking of starting up 
+S.P.U.G. or something? Society for the Protection of 
+Ugly Goblins?” 
+
+“Ha, ha, ha,” said Hermione sarcastically. “Goblins 
+don’t need protection. Haven’t you been listening to 
+what Professor Binns has been telling us about goblin 
+rebellions?” 
+
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+“No,” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+“Well, they’re quite capable of dealing with wizards,” 
+said Hermione, taking another sip of butterbeer. 
+“They’re very clever. They’re not like house-elves, who 
+never stick up for themselves.” 
+
+“Uh-oh,” said Ron, staring at the door. 
+
+Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing 
+banana-yellow robes today; her long nails were 
+painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by 
+her paunchy photographer. She bought drinks, and 
+she and the photographer made their way through 
+the crowds to a table nearby, Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione glaring at her as she approached. She was 
+talking fast and looking very satisfied about 
+something. 
+
+"... didn’t seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? 
+Now, why would that be, do you think? And what’s he 
+doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing 
+them the sights . . . what nonsense ... he was always a 
+bad liar. Reckon something’s up? Think we should do 
+a bit of digging? ‘Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical 
+Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman ...’ Snappy start to 
+a sentence, Bozo — we just need to find a story to fit 
+it — ” 
+
+
+
+“Trying to ruin someone else’s life?” said Harry loudly. 
+
+A few people looked around. Rita Skeeter ’s eyes 
+widened behind her jeweled spectacles as she saw 
+who had spoken. 
+
+“Harry!” she said, beaming. “How lovely! Why don’t 
+you come and join — ?” 
+
+
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+“I wouldn’t come near you with a ten-foot 
+broomstick,” said Harry furiously. “What did you do 
+that to Hagrid for, eh?” 
+
+Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows. 
+
+“Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am 
+merely doing my — ” 
+
+“Who cares if he’s half- giant?” Harry shouted. “There’s 
+nothing wrong with him!” 
+
+The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta 
+was staring over from behind the bar, apparently 
+oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling 
+with mead was overflowing. 
+
+Rita Skeeter’s smile flickered very slightly, but she 
+hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her 
+crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes 
+Quill, and said, “How about giving me an interview 
+about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind 
+the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the 
+reasons behind it. Would you call him a father 
+substitute?” 
+
+Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer 
+clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade. 
+
+“You horrible woman,” she said, through gritted teeth, 
+“you don’t care, do you, anything for a story, and 
+anyone will do, won’t they? Even Ludo Bagman — ” 
+
+“Sit down, you silly little girl, and don’t talk about 
+things you don’t understand,” said Rita Skeeter 
+coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. “I 
+know things about Ludo Bagman that would make 
+your hair curl . . . not that it needs it — ” she added, 
+eyeing Hermione ’s bushy hair. 
+
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+“Let’s go,” said Hermione, “c’mon, Harry — Ron ...” 
+
+
+
+They left; many people were staring at them as they 
+went. Harry glanced back as they reached the door. 
+Rita Skeeter’s Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was 
+zooming backward and forward over a piece of 
+parchment on the table. 
+
+“She’ll be after you next, Hermione,” said Ron in a low 
+and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the 
+street. 
+
+“Let her try!” said Hermione defiantly; she was 
+shaking with rage. “I’ll show her! Silly little girl, am I? 
+Oh, I’ll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid 
+
+
+
+“You don’t want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter,” said 
+Ron nervously. “I’m serious, Hermione, she’ll dig up 
+something on you — ” 
+
+“My parents don’t read the Daily Prophet She can’t 
+scare me into hiding!” said Hermione, now striding 
+along so fast that it was all Harry and Ron could do to 
+keep up with her. The last time Harry had seen 
+Hermione in a rage like this, she had hit Draco Malfoy 
+around the face. “And Hagrid isn’t hiding anymore! 
+
+He should never have let that excuse for a human 
+being upset him! Come on!” 
+
+Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up 
+the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, 
+and up through the grounds to Hagrid ’s cabin. 
+
+The curtains were still drawn, and they could hear 
+Fang barking as they approached. 
+
+“Hagrid!” Hermione shouted, pounding on his front 
+door. “Hagrid, that’s enough! We know you’re in there! 
+
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+Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! 
+
+You can’t let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! 
+Hagrid, get out here, you’re just being — ” 
+
+The door opened. Hermione said, “About t — !” and 
+then stopped, very suddenly, because she had found 
+herself face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Albus 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“Good afternoon,” he said pleasantly, smiling down at 
+them. 
+
+“We — er — we wanted to see Hagrid,” said Hermione 
+in a rather small voice. 
+
+“Yes, I surmised as much,” said Dumbledore, his eyes 
+twinkling. “Why don’t you come in?” 
+
+“Oh ... um ... okay,” said Hermione. 
+
+She, Ron, and Harry went into the cabin; Fang 
+launched himself upon Harry the moment he entered, 
+barking madly and trying to lick his ears. Harry 
+fended off Fang and looked around. 
+
+Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two 
+large mugs of tea. He looked a real mess. His face was 
+blotchy, his eyes swollen, and he had gone to the 
+other extreme where his hair was concerned; far from 
+trying to make it behave, it now looked like a wig of 
+tangled wire. 
+
+“Hi, Hagrid,” said Harry. 
+
+Hagrid looked up. 
+
+“ ’Lo,” he said in a very hoarse voice. 
+
+
+
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+“More tea, I think,” said Dumbledore, closing the door 
+behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione, drawing out his 
+wand, and twiddling it; a revolving tea tray appeared 
+in midair along with a plate of cakes. Dumbledore 
+magicked the tray onto the table, and everybody sat 
+down. There was a slight pause, and then 
+Dumbledore said, “Did you by any chance hear what 
+Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?” 
+
+Hermione went slightly pink, but Dumbledore smiled 
+at her and continued, “Hermione, Harry, and Ron still 
+seem to want to know you, judging by the way they 
+were attempting to break down the door.” 
+
+“Of course we still want to know you!” Harry said, 
+staring at Hagrid. “You don’t think anything that 
+Skeeter cow — sorry, Professor,” he added quickly, 
+looking at Dumbledore. 
+
+“I have gone temporarily deaf and haven’t any idea 
+what you said, Harry,” said Dumbledore, twiddling 
+his thumbs and staring at the ceiling. 
+
+“Er — right,” said Harry sheepishly. “I just meant — 
+Hagrid, how could you think we’d care what that — 
+woman — wrote about you?” 
+
+Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid ’s beetle-black eyes 
+and fell slowly into his tangled beard. 
+
+“Living proof of what I’ve been telling you, Hagrid,” 
+said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the 
+ceiling. “I have shown you the letters from the 
+countless parents who remember you from their own 
+days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I 
+sacked you, they would have something to say about 
+it — ” 
+
+
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+“Not all of ’em,” said Hagrid hoarsely. “Not all of ’em 
+wan’ me ter stay.” 
+
+“Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal 
+popularity, I’m afraid you will be in this cabin for a 
+very long time,” said Dumbledore, now peering sternly 
+over his half-moon spectacles. “Not a week has 
+passed since I became headmaster of this school 
+when I haven’t had at least one owl complaining 
+about the way I run it. But what should I do? 
+Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to 
+anybody?” 
+
+“Yeh — yeh’re not half-giant!” said Hagrid croakily. 
+
+“Hagrid, look what I’ve got for relatives!” Harry said 
+furiously. “Look at the Dursleys!” 
+
+“An excellent point,” said Professor Dumbledore. “My 
+own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing 
+inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the 
+papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He 
+held his head high and went about his business as 
+usual! Of course, I’m not entirely sure he can read, so 
+that may not have been bravery. ...” 
+
+“Come back and teach, Hagrid,” said Hermione 
+quietly, “please come back, we really miss you.” 
+
+Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks 
+and into his tangled beard. 
+
+Dumbledore stood up. “I refuse to accept your 
+resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on 
+Monday,” he said. “You will join me for breakfast at 
+eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good 
+afternoon to you all.” 
+
+
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+Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch 
+Fang’s ears. When the door had shut behind him, 
+Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. 
+Hermione kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid 
+looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, “Great 
+man, Dumbledore ... great man ...” 
+
+“Yeah, he is,” said Ron. “Can I have one of these 
+cakes, Hagrid?” 
+
+“Help yerself,” said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the 
+back of his hand. “Ar, he’s righ’, o’ course — yeh’re all 
+righ’ ... I bin stupid ... my ol’ dad woulda bin 
+ashamed o’ the way I’ve bin behavin’. ...” More tears 
+leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, 
+and said, “Never shown you a picture of my old dad, 
+have I? Here ...” 
+
+Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a 
+drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard 
+with Hagrid’s crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat 
+on top of Hagrid’s shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven 
+or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, 
+but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth 
+— he looked hardly older than eleven. 
+
+“Tha’ was taken jus’ after I got inter Hogwarts,” 
+
+Hagrid croaked. “Dad was dead chuffed ... thought I 
+migh’ not be a wizard, see, ’cos me mum ... well, 
+anyway. ’Course, I never was great shakes at magic, 
+really ... but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, 
+see, in me second year. ... 
+
+“Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after 
+Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job ... trusts 
+people, he does. Gives ’em second chances ... tha’s 
+what sets him apar’ from other heads, see. He’ll 
+accept anyone at Hogwarts, s’long as they’ve got the 
+talent. Knows people can turn out okay even if their 
+Page | 503 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+families weren’ ... well ... all tha’ respectable. But 
+some don’ understand that. There’s some who’d 
+always hold it against yeh ... there’s some who’d even 
+pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up 
+an’ say — I am what I am, an’ I’m not ashamed. 
+
+‘Never be ashamed,’ my ol’ dad used ter say, ‘there’s 
+some wholl hold it against you, but they’re not worth 
+botherin’ with.’ An’ he was right. I’ve bin an idiot. I’m 
+not botherin’ with her no more, I promise yeh that. 
+
+Big bones ... I’ll give her big bones.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another 
+nervously; Harry would rather have taken fifty Blast- 
+Ended Skrewts for a walk than admit to Hagrid that 
+he had overheard him talking to Madame Maxime, 
+but Hagrid was still talking, apparently unaware that 
+he had said anything odd. 
+
+“Yeh know wha’, Harry?” he said, looking up from the 
+photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, “when I 
+firs’ met you, you reminded me o’ me a bit. Mum an’ 
+Dad gone, an’ you was feelin’ like yeh wouldn’ fit in at 
+Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to 
+it ... an’ now look at yeh, Harry! School champion!” 
+
+He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very 
+seriously, “Yeh know what I’d love, Harry? I’d love yeh 
+ter win, I really would. It’d show ’em all ... yeh don’ 
+have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don’ have ter be 
+ashamed of what yeh are. It’d show ’em Dumbledore’s 
+the one who’s got it righ’, lettin’ anyone in as long as 
+they can do magic. How you doin’ with that egg, 
+Harry?” 
+
+“Great,” said Harry. “Really great.” 
+
+Hagrid ’s miserable face broke into a wide, watery 
+smile. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Tha’s my boy ... you show ’em, Harry, you show ’em. 
+Beat ’em all.” 
+
+Lying to Hagrid wasn’t quite like lying to anyone else. 
+Harry went back to the castle later that afternoon 
+with Ron and Hermione, unable to banish the image 
+of the happy expression on Hagrid’s whiskery face as 
+he had imagined Harry winning the tournament. The 
+incomprehensible egg weighed more heavily than ever 
+on Harry’s conscience that evening, and by the time 
+he had got into bed, he had made up his mind — it 
+was time to shelve his pride and see if Cedric’s hint 
+was worth anything. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+THE EGG AND THE EYE 
+
+As Harry had no idea how long a bath he would need 
+to work out the secret of the golden egg, he decided to 
+do it at night, when he would be able to take as much 
+time as he wanted. Reluctant though he was to accept 
+more favours from Cedric, he also decided to use the 
+prefects’ bathroom; far fewer people were allowed in 
+there, so it was much less likely that he would be 
+disturbed. 
+
+Harry planned his excursion carefully, because he 
+had been caught out of bed and out-of-bounds by 
+Filch the caretaker in the middle of the night once 
+before, and had no desire to repeat the experience. 
+
+The Invisibility Cloak would, of course, be essential, 
+and as an added precaution, Harry thought he would 
+take the Marauder’s Map, which, next to the cloak, 
+was the most useful aid to rule-breaking Harry 
+owned. The map showed the whole of Hogwarts, 
+including its many shortcuts and secret passageways 
+and, most important of all, it revealed the people 
+inside the castle as minuscule, labeled dots, moving 
+around the corridors, so that Harry would be 
+Page | 506 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+forewarned if somebody was approaching the 
+bathroom. 
+
+
+
+On Thursday night, Harry sneaked up to bed, put on 
+the cloak, crept back downstairs, and, just as he had 
+done on the night when Hagrid had shown him the 
+dragons, waited for the portrait hole to open. This 
+time it was Ron who waited outside to give the Fat 
+Lady the password (“banana fritters”). “Good luck,” 
+Ron muttered, climbing into the room as Harry crept 
+out past him. 
+
+It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, 
+because Harry had the heavy egg under one arm and 
+the map held in front of his nose with the other. 
+However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, 
+and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Harry 
+was able to ensure that he wouldn’t run into anyone 
+he wanted to avoid. When he reached the statue of 
+Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his 
+gloves on the wrong hands, he located the right door, 
+leaned close to it, and muttered the password, “Pine 
+fresh,” just as Cedric had told him. 
+
+The door creaked open. Harry slipped inside, bolted 
+the door behind him, and pulled off the Invisibility 
+Cloak, looking around. 
+
+His immediate reaction was that it would be worth 
+becoming a prefect just to be able to use this 
+bathroom. It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled 
+chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, 
+including what looked like an empty, rectangular 
+swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. 
+
+About a hundred golden taps stood all around the 
+pool’s edges, each with a differently colored jewel set 
+into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long 
+white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile 
+of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a 
+Page | 507 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured 
+a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her 
+long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she 
+snored. 
+
+Harry moved forward, looking around, his footsteps 
+echoing off the walls. Magnificent though the 
+bathroom was — and quite keen though he was to try 
+out a few of those taps — now he was here he 
+couldn’t quite suppress the feeling that Cedric might 
+have been having him on. How on earth was this 
+supposed to help solve the mystery of the egg? 
+Nevertheless, he put one of the fluffy towels, the 
+cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the 
+swimming-pool-sized bath, then knelt down and 
+turned on a few of the taps. 
+
+He could tell at once that they carried different sorts 
+of bubble bath mixed with the water, though it wasn’t 
+bubble bath as Harry had ever experienced it. One 
+tap gushed pink and blue bubbles the size of 
+footballs; another poured ice-white foam so thick that 
+Harry thought it would have supported his weight if 
+he’d cared to test it; a third sent heavily perfumed 
+purple clouds hovering over the surface of the water. 
+Harry amused himself for a while turning the taps on 
+and off, particularly enjoying the effect of one whose 
+jet bounced off the surface of the water in large arcs. 
+Then, when the deep pool was full of hot water, foam, 
+and bubbles, which took a very short time 
+considering its size, Harry turned off all the taps, 
+pulled off his pajamas, slippers, and dressing gown, 
+and slid into the water. 
+
+It was so deep that his feet barely touched the 
+bottom, and he actually did a couple of lengths before 
+swimming back to the side and treading water, 
+staring at the egg. Highly enjoyable though it was to 
+swim in hot and foamy water with clouds of different- 
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+
+
+
+colored steam wafting all around him, no stroke of 
+brilliance came to him, no sudden burst of 
+understanding. 
+
+Harry stretched out his arms, lifted the egg in his wet 
+hands, and opened it. The wailing, screeching sound 
+filled the bathroom, echoing and reverberating off the 
+marble walls, but it sounded just as 
+incomprehensible as ever, if not more so with all the 
+echoes. He snapped it shut again, worried that the 
+sound would attract Filch, wondering whether that 
+hadn’t been Cedric’s plan — and then, making him 
+jump so badly that he dropped the egg, which 
+clattered away across the bathroom floor, someone 
+spoke. 
+
+“I’d try putting it in the water, if I were you.” 
+
+Harry had swallowed a considerable amount of 
+bubbles in shock. He stood up, sputtering, and saw 
+the ghost of a very glum-looking girl sitting cross- 
+legged on top of one of the taps. It was Moaning 
+Myrtle, who was usually to be heard sobbing in the S- 
+bend of a toilet three floors below. 
+
+“Myrtle!” Harry said in outrage, “I’m — I’m not 
+wearing anything!” 
+
+The foam was so dense that this hardly mattered, but 
+he had a nasty feeling that Myrtle had been spying on 
+him from out of one of the taps ever since he had 
+arrived. 
+
+“I closed my eyes when you got in,” she said, blinking 
+at him through her thick spectacles. “You haven’t 
+been to see me for ages.” 
+
+“Yeah ... well ...” said Harry, bending his knees 
+slightly, just to make absolutely sure Myrtle couldn’t 
+
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+
+
+see anything but his head, “I’m not supposed to come 
+into your bathroom, am I? It’s a girls’ one.” 
+
+
+
+“You didn’t used to care,” said Myrtle miserably. “You 
+used to be in there all the time.” 
+
+This was true, though only because Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione had found Myrtle’s out-of-order toilets a 
+convenient place to brew Polyjuice Potion in secret — 
+a forbidden potion that had turned him and Ron into 
+living replicas of Crabbe and Goyle for an hour, so 
+that they could sneak into the Slytherin common 
+room. 
+
+“I got told off for going in there,” said Harry, which 
+was half-true; Percy had once caught him coming out 
+of Myrtle’s bathroom. “I thought I’d better not come 
+back after that.” 
+
+“Oh ... I see ...” said Myrtle, picking at a spot on her 
+chin in a morose sort of way. “Well... anyway ... I’d try 
+the egg in the water. That’s what Cedric Diggory did.” 
+
+“Have you been spying on him too?” said Harry 
+indignantly. “What d’you do, sneak up here in the 
+evenings to watch the prefects take baths?” 
+
+“Sometimes,” said Myrtle, rather slyly, “but I’ve never 
+come out to speak to anyone before.” 
+
+“I’m honored,” said Harry darkly. “You keep your eyes 
+shut!” 
+
+He made sure Myrtle had her glasses well covered 
+before hoisting himself out of the bath, wrapping the 
+towel firmly around his waist, and going to retrieve 
+the egg. Once he was back in the water, Myrtle peered 
+through her fingers and said, “Go on, then . . . open it 
+under the water!” 
+
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+
+
+Harry lowered the egg beneath the foamy surface and 
+opened it ... and this time, it did not wail. A gurgling 
+song was coming out of it, a song whose words he 
+couldn’t distinguish through the water. 
+
+“You need to put your head under too,” said Myrtle, 
+who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying bossing him 
+around. “Go on!” 
+
+Harry took a great breath and slid under the surface 
+— and now, sitting on the marble bottom of the 
+bubble-filled bath, he heard a chorus of eerie voices 
+singing to him from the open egg in his hands: 
+
+“Come seek us where our voices sound, 
+
+We cannot sing above the ground, 
+
+And while you’re searching ponder this: 
+
+We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss, 
+
+An hour long you’ll have to look, 
+
+And to recover what we took, 
+
+But past an hour — the prospect’s black, 
+
+Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back.” 
+
+Harry let himself float back upward and broke the 
+bubbly surface, shaking his hair out of his eyes. 
+
+“Hear it?” said Myrtle. 
+
+“Yeah ... ‘Come seek us where our voices sound ...’ 
+and if I need persuading . . . hang on, I need to listen 
+again. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+He sank back beneath the water. It took three more 
+underwater renditions of the egg’s song before Harry 
+had it memorized; then he trod water for a while, 
+thinking hard, while Myrtle sat and watched him. 
+
+“I’ve got to go and look for people who can’t use their 
+voices above the ground. ...” he said slowly. “Er ... 
+who could that be?” 
+
+“Slow, aren’t you?” 
+
+He had never seen Moaning Myrtle so cheerful, apart 
+from the day when a dose of Polyjuice Potion had 
+given Hermione the hairy face and tail of a cat. Harry 
+stared around the bathroom, thinking ... if the voices 
+could only be heard underwater, then it made sense 
+for them to belong to underwater creatures. He ran 
+this theory past Myrtle, who smirked at him. 
+
+“Well, that’s what Diggory thought,” she said. “He lay 
+there talking to himself for ages about it. Ages and 
+ages ... nearly all the bubbles had gone. ...” 
+
+“Underwater ...” Harry said slowly. “Myrtle ... what 
+lives in the lake, apart from the giant squid?” 
+
+“Oh all sorts,” she said. “I sometimes go down there 
+... sometimes don’t have any choice, if someone 
+flushes my toilet when I’m not expecting it. ...” 
+
+Trying not to think about Moaning Myrtle zooming 
+down a pipe to the lake with the contents of a toilet, 
+Harry said, “Well, does anything in there have a 
+human voice? Hang on — ” 
+
+Harry’s eyes had fallen on the picture of the snoozing 
+mermaid on the wall. 
+
+“Myrtle, there aren’t merpeople in there, are there?” 
+
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+
+
+
+“Oooh, very good,” she said, her thick glasses 
+twinkling, “it took Diggory much longer than that! 
+
+And that was with her awake too” — Myrtle jerked her 
+head toward the mermaid with an expression of great 
+dislike on her glum face — “giggling and showing off 
+and flashing her fins. ...” 
+
+“That’s it, isn’t it?” said Harry excitedly. “The second 
+task’s to go and find the merpeople in the lake and . . . 
+and ...” 
+
+But he suddenly realized what he was saying, and he 
+felt the excitement drain out of him as though 
+someone had just pulled a plug in his stomach. He 
+wasn’t a very good swimmer; he’d never had much 
+practice. Dudley had had lessons in his youth, but 
+Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, no doubt hoping 
+that Harry would drown one day, hadn’t bothered to 
+give him any. A couple of lengths of this bath were all 
+very well, but that lake was very large, and very deep 
+. . . and merpeople would surely live right at the 
+bottom. ... 
+
+“Myrtle,” Harry said slowly, “how am I supposed to 
+breathe ?” 
+
+At this, Myrtle’s eyes filled with sudden tears again. 
+
+“Tactless!” she muttered, groping in her robes for a 
+handkerchief. 
+
+“What’s tactless?” said Harry, bewildered. 
+
+“Talking about breathing in front of me!” she said 
+shrilly, and her voice echoed loudly around the 
+bathroom. “When I can’t ... when I haven’t ... not for 
+ages ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+She buried her face in her handkerchief and sniffed 
+loudly. Harry remembered how touchy Myrtle had 
+always been about being dead, but none of the other 
+ghosts he knew made such a fuss about it. 
+
+“Sorry,” he said impatiently. “I didn’t mean — I just 
+forgot ...” 
+
+“Oh yes, very easy to forget Myrtle’s dead,” said 
+Myrtle, gulping, looking at him out of swollen eyes. 
+“Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them 
+hours and hours to find my body — I know, I was 
+sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into 
+the bathroom — ‘Are you in here again, sulking, 
+Myrtle?’ she said, ‘because Professor Dippet asked me 
+to look for you — ’ And then she saw my body . . . 
+ooooh, she didn’t forget it until her dying day, I made 
+sure of that . . . followed her around and reminded her, 
+I did. I remember at her brother’s wedding — ” 
+
+But Harry wasn’t listening; he was thinking about the 
+merpeople’s song again. “We’ve taken what you’ll 
+sorely miss.” That sounded as though they were going 
+to steal something of his, something he had to get 
+back. What were they going to take? 
+
+“ — and then, of course, she went to the Ministry of 
+Magic to stop me stalking her, so I had to come back 
+here and live in my toilet.” 
+
+“Good,” said Harry vaguely. “Well, I’m a lot further on 
+than I was. ... Shut your eyes again, will you? I’m 
+getting out.” 
+
+He retrieved the egg from the bottom of the bath, 
+climbed out, dried himself, and pulled on his pajamas 
+and dressing gown again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 514 
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+
+
+“Will you come and visit me in my bathroom again 
+sometime?” Moaning Myrtle asked mournfully as 
+Harry picked up the Invisibility Cloak. 
+
+“Er ... I’ll try,” Harry said, though privately thinking 
+the only way he’d be visiting Myrtle’s bathroom again 
+was if every other toilet in the castle got blocked. “See 
+you, Myrtle ... thanks for your help.” 
+
+“ ’Bye, ’bye,” she said gloomily, and as Harry put on 
+the Invisibility Cloak he saw her zoom back up the 
+tap. 
+
+Out in the dark corridor, Harry examined the 
+Marauder’s Map to check that the coast was still 
+clear. Yes, the dots belonging to Filch and his cat, 
+
+Mrs. Norris, were safely in their office ... nothing else 
+seemed to be moving apart from Peeves, though he 
+was bouncing around the trophy room on the floor 
+above. ... Harry had taken his first step back toward 
+Gryffindor Tower when something else on the map 
+caught his eye ... something distinctly odd. 
+
+Peeves was not the only thing that was moving. A 
+single dot was flitting around a room in the bottom 
+left-hand corner — Snape’s office. But the dot wasn’t 
+labeled “Severus Snape” ... it was Bartemius Crouch. 
+
+Harry stared at the dot. Mr. Crouch was supposed to 
+be too ill to go to work or to come to the Yule Ball — 
+so what was he doing, sneaking into Hogwarts at one 
+o’clock in the morning? Harry watched closely as the 
+dot moved around and around the room, pausing 
+here and there. ... 
+
+Harry hesitated, thinking . . . and then his curiosity got 
+the better of him. He turned and set off in the 
+opposite direction toward the nearest staircase. He 
+was going to see what Crouch was up to. 
+
+Page | 515 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+Harry walked down the stairs as quietly as possible, 
+though the faces in some of the portraits still turned 
+curiously at the squeak of a floorboard, the rustle of 
+his pajamas. He crept along the corridor below, 
+pushed aside a tapestry about halfway along, and 
+proceeded down a narrower staircase, a shortcut that 
+would take him down two floors. He kept glancing 
+down at the map, wondering ... It just didn’t seem in 
+character, somehow, for correct, law-abiding Mr. 
+Crouch to be sneaking around somebody else’s office 
+this late at night. ... 
+
+And then, halfway down the staircase, not thinking 
+about what he was doing, not concentrating on 
+anything but the peculiar behavior of Mr. Crouch, 
+Harry’s leg suddenly sank right through the trick step 
+Neville always forgot to jump. He gave an ungainly 
+wobble, and the golden egg, still damp from the bath, 
+slipped from under his arm. He lurched forward to try 
+and catch it, but too late; the egg fell down the long 
+staircase with a bang as loud as a bass drum on 
+every step — the Invisibility Cloak slipped — Harry 
+snatched at it, and the Marauder’s Map fluttered out 
+of his hand and slid down six stairs, where, sunk in 
+the step to above his knee, he couldn’t reach it. 
+
+The golden egg fell through the tapestry at the bottom 
+of the staircase, burst open, and began wailing loudly 
+in the corridor below. Harry pulled out his wand and 
+struggled to touch the Marauder’s Map, to wipe it 
+blank, but it was too far away to reach — 
+
+Pulling the cloak back over himself Harry 
+straightened up, listening hard with his eyes screwed 
+up with fear ... and, almost immediately — 
+
+“PEEVES!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 516 
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+
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+
+It was the unmistakable hunting cry of Filch the 
+caretaker. Harry could hear his rapid, shuffling 
+footsteps coming nearer and nearer, his wheezy voice 
+raised in fury. 
+
+“What’s this racket? Wake up the whole castle, will 
+you? I’ll have you, Peeves, I’ll have you, you’ll ... and 
+what is this?” 
+
+Filch ’s footsteps halted; there was a clink of metal on 
+metal and the wailing stopped — Filch had picked up 
+the egg and closed it. Harry stood very still, one leg 
+still jammed tightly in the magical step, listening. Any 
+moment now, Filch was going to pull aside the 
+tapestry, expecting to see Peeves . . . and there would 
+be no Peeves ... but if he came up the stairs, he would 
+spot the Marauder’s Map ... and Invisibility Cloak or 
+not, the map would show “Harry Potter” standing 
+exactly where he was. 
+
+“Egg?” Filch said quietly at the foot of the stairs. “My 
+sweet!” — Mrs. Norris was obviously with him — “This 
+is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school 
+champion!” 
+
+Harry felt sick; his heart was hammering very fast — 
+
+“PEEVES!” Filch roared gleefully. “You’ve been 
+stealing!” 
+
+He ripped back the tapestry below, and Harry saw his 
+horrible, pouchy face and bulging, pale eyes staring 
+up the dark and (to Filch) deserted staircase. 
+
+“Hiding, are you?” he said softly. “I’m coming to get 
+you, Peeves. ... You’ve gone and stolen a Tri wizard 
+clue, Peeves. ... Dumbledore’ll have you out of here 
+for this, you filthy, pilfering poltergeist. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 517 
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+
+Filch started to climb the stairs, his scrawny, dust- 
+colored cat at his heels. Mrs. Norris’s lamp-like eyes, 
+so very like her master’s, were fixed directly upon 
+Harry. He had had occasion before now to wonder 
+whether the Invisibility Cloak worked on cats. ... Sick 
+with apprehension, he watched Filch drawing nearer 
+and nearer in his old flannel dressing gown — he 
+tried desperately to pull his trapped leg free, but it 
+merely sank a few more inches — any second now, 
+Filch was going to spot the map or walk right into him 
+
+
+
+“Filch? What’s going on?” 
+
+Filch stopped a few steps below Harry and turned. At 
+the foot of the stairs stood the only person who could 
+make Harry’s situation worse: Snape. He was wearing 
+a long gray nightshirt and he looked livid. 
+
+“It’s Peeves, Professor,” Filch whispered malevolently. 
+“He threw this egg down the stairs.” 
+
+Snape climbed up the stairs quickly and stopped 
+beside Filch. Harry gritted his teeth, convinced his 
+loudly thumping heart would give him away at any 
+second. ... 
+
+“Peeves?” said Snape softly, staring at the egg in 
+Filch’s hands. “But Peeves couldn’t get into my office. 
+
+
+
+“This egg was in your office, Professor?” 
+
+“Of course not,” Snape snapped. “I heard banging and 
+wailing — ” 
+
+“Yes, Professor, that was the egg — ” 
+
+“ — I was coming to investigate — ” 
+
+Page | 518 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — Peeves threw it, Professor — ” 
+
+“ — and when I passed my office, I saw that the 
+torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! 
+Somebody has been searching it!” 
+
+“But Peeves couldn’t — ” 
+
+“I know he couldn’t, Filch!” Snape snapped again. “I 
+seal my office with a spell none but a wizard could 
+break!” Snape looked up the stairs, straight through 
+Harry, and then down into the corridor below. “I want 
+you to come and help me search for the intruder, 
+Filch.” 
+
+“I — yes, Professor — but — ” 
+
+Filch looked yearningly up the stairs, right through 
+Harry, who could see that he was very reluctant to 
+forgo the chance of cornering Peeves. Go, Harry 
+pleaded with him silently, go with Snape ... go ... Mrs. 
+Norris was peering around Filch ’s legs. ... Harry had 
+the distinct impression that she could smell him. ... 
+Why had he filled that bath with so much perfumed 
+foam? 
+
+“The thing is, Professor,” said Filch plaintively, “the 
+headmaster will have to listen to me this time. Peeves 
+has been stealing from a student, it might be my 
+chance to get him thrown out of the castle once and 
+for all — ” 
+
+“Filch, I don’t give a damn about that wretched 
+poltergeist; it’s my office that’s — ” 
+
+Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. 
+
+Snape stopped talking very abruptly. He and Filch 
+both looked down at the foot of the stairs. Harry saw 
+
+Page | 519 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Mad-Eye Moody limp into sight through the narrow 
+gap between their heads. Moody was wearing his old 
+traveling cloak over his nightshirt and leaning on his 
+staff as usual. 
+
+“Pajama party, is it?” he growled up the stairs. 
+
+“Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor,” said 
+Filch at once. “Peeves the Poltergeist, throwing things 
+around as usual — and then Professor Snape 
+discovered that someone had broken into his off — ” 
+
+“Shut up!” Snape hissed to Filch. 
+
+Moody took a step closer to the foot of the stairs. 
+
+Harry saw Moody’s magical eye travel over Snape, and 
+then, unmistakably, onto himself. 
+
+Harry’s heart gave a horrible jolt. Moody could see 
+through Invisibility Cloaks ... he alone could see the 
+full strangeness of the scene: Snape in his nightshirt, 
+Filch clutching the egg, and he, Harry, trapped in the 
+stairs behind them. Moody’s lopsided gash of a mouth 
+opened in surprise. For a few seconds, he and Harry 
+stared straight into each other’s eyes. Then Moody 
+closed his mouth and turned his blue eye upon Snape 
+again. 
+
+“Did I hear that correctly, Snape?” he asked slowly. 
+“Someone broke into your office?” 
+
+“It is unimportant,” said Snape coldly. 
+
+“On the contrary,” growled Moody, “it is very 
+important. Who’d want to break into your office?” 
+
+“A student, I daresay,” said Snape. Harry could see a 
+vein flickering horribly on Snape ’s greasy temple. “It 
+has happened before. Potion ingredients have gone 
+
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+missing from my private store cupboard ... students 
+attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt. ...” 
+
+“Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?” said 
+Moody. “Not hiding anything else in your office, are 
+you?” 
+
+Harry saw the edge of Snape ’s sallow face turn a 
+nasty brick color, the vein in his temple pulsing more 
+rapidly. 
+
+“You know I’m hiding nothing, Moody,” he said in a 
+soft and dangerous voice, “as you’ve searched my 
+office pretty thoroughly yourself.” 
+
+Moody’s face twisted into a smile. “Auror’s privilege, 
+Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore happens to trust me,” said Snape 
+through clenched teeth. “I refuse to believe that he 
+gave you orders to search my office!” 
+
+“ ’Course Dumbledore trusts you,” growled Moody. 
+“He’s a trusting man, isn’t he? Believes in second 
+chances. But me — I say there are spots that don’t 
+come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d’you 
+know what I mean?” 
+
+Snape suddenly did something very strange. He 
+seized his left forearm convulsively with his right 
+hand, as though something on it had hurt him. 
+
+Moody laughed. “Get back to bed, Snape.” 
+
+“You don’t have the authority to send me anywhere!” 
+Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry 
+with himself. “I have as much right to prowl this 
+school after dark as you do!” 
+
+
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+“Prowl away,” said Moody, but his voice was full of 
+menace. “I look forward to meeting you in a dark 
+corridor some time. ... You’ve dropped something, by 
+the way. ...” 
+
+With a stab of horror, Harry saw Moody point at the 
+Marauder’s Map, still lying on the staircase six steps 
+below him. As Snape and Filch both turned to look at 
+it, Harry threw caution to the winds; he raised his 
+arms under the cloak and waved furiously at Moody 
+to attract his attention, mouthing “It’s mine! Mine!” 
+
+Snape had reached out for it, a horrible expression of 
+dawning comprehension on his face — 
+
+“Accio Parchments 
+
+The map flew up into the air, slipped through Snape ’s 
+outstretched fingers, and soared down the stairs into 
+Moody’s hand. 
+
+“My mistake,” Moody said calmly. “It’s mine — 
+must’ve dropped it earlier — ” 
+
+But Snape ’s black eyes were darting from the egg in 
+Filch’s arms to the map in Moody’s hand, and Harry 
+could tell he was putting two and two together, as 
+only Snape could. ... 
+
+“Potter,” he said quietly. 
+
+“What’s that?” said Moody calmly, folding up the map 
+and pocketing it. 
+
+“Potter!” Snape snarled, and he actually turned his 
+head and stared right at the place where Harry was, 
+as though he could suddenly see him. “That egg is 
+Potter’s egg. That piece of parchment belongs to 
+
+
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+Potter. I have seen it before, I recognize it! Potter is 
+here! Potter, in his Invisibility Cloak!” 
+
+Snape stretched out his hands like a blind man and 
+began to move up the stairs; Harry could have sworn 
+his over-large nostrils were dilating, trying to sniff 
+Harry out — trapped, Harry leaned backward, trying 
+to avoid Snape’s fingertips, but any moment now — 
+
+“There’s nothing there, Snape!” barked Moody, “but 
+I’ll be happy to tell the headmaster how quickly your 
+mind jumped to Harry Potter!” 
+
+“Meaning what?” Snape turned again to look at 
+Moody, his hands still outstretched, inches from 
+Harry’s chest. 
+
+“Meaning that Dumbledore’s very interested to know 
+who’s got it in for that boy!” said Moody, limping 
+nearer still to the foot of the stairs. “And so am I, 
+Snape ... very interested. ...” The torchlight flickered 
+across his mangled face, so that the scars, and the 
+chunk missing from his nose, looked deeper and 
+darker than ever. 
+
+Snape was looking down at Moody, and Harry 
+couldn’t see the expression on his face. For a 
+moment, nobody moved or said anything. Then Snape 
+slowly lowered his hands. 
+
+“I merely thought,” said Snape, in a voice of forced 
+calm, “that if Potter was wandering around after 
+hours again ... it’s an unfortunate habit of his ... he 
+should be stopped. For — for his own safety.” 
+
+“Ah, I see,” said Moody softly. “Got Potter’s best 
+interests at heart, have you?” 
+
+
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+
+There was a pause. Snape and Moody were still 
+staring at each other. Mrs. Norris gave a loud meow, 
+still peering around Filch’s legs, looking for the source 
+of Harry’s bubble-bath smell. 
+
+“I think I will go back to bed,” Snape said curtly. 
+
+“Best idea you’ve had all night,” said Moody. “Now, 
+Filch, if you’ll just give me that egg — ” 
+
+“No!” said Filch, clutching the egg as though it were 
+his firstborn son. “Professor Moody, this is evidence of 
+Peeves’ treachery!” 
+
+“It’s the property of the champion he stole it from,” 
+said Moody. “Hand it over, now.” 
+
+Snape swept downstairs and passed Moody without 
+another word. Filch made a chirruping noise to Mrs. 
+Norris, who stared blankly at Harry for a few more 
+seconds before turning and following her master. Still 
+breathing very fast, Harry heard Snape walking away 
+down the corridor; Filch handed Moody the egg and 
+disappeared from view too, muttering to Mrs. Norris. 
+“Never mind, my sweet ... we’ll see Dumbledore in the 
+morning ... tell him what Peeves was up to. ...” 
+
+A door slammed. Harry was left staring down at 
+Moody, who placed his staff on the bottommost stair 
+and started to climb laboriously toward him, a dull 
+clunk on every other step. 
+
+“Close shave, Potter,” he muttered. 
+
+“Yeah ... I — er ... thanks,” said Harry weakly. 
+
+“What is this thing?” said Moody, drawing the 
+Marauders Map out of his pocket and unfolding it. 
+
+
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+“Map of Hogwarts,” said Harry, hoping Moody was 
+going to pull him out of the staircase soon; his leg 
+was really hurting him. 
+
+“Merlin’s beard,” Moody whispered, staring at the 
+map, his magical eye going haywire. “This ... this is 
+some map, Potter!” 
+
+“Yeah, it’s ... quite useful,” Harry said. His eyes were 
+starting to water from the pain. “Er — Professor 
+Moody, d’you think you could help me — ?” 
+
+“What? Oh! Yes ... yes, of course ...” 
+
+Moody took hold of Harry’s arms and pulled; Harry’s 
+leg came free of the trick step, and he climbed onto 
+the one above it. Moody was still gazing at the map. 
+
+“Potter ...” he said slowly, “you didn’t happen, by any 
+chance, to see who broke into Snape’s office, did you? 
+On this map, I mean?” 
+
+“Er ... yeah, I did ...” Harry admitted. “It was Mr. 
+Crouch.” 
+
+Moody’s magical eye whizzed over the entire surface of 
+the map. He looked suddenly alarmed. 
+
+“Crouch?” he said. “You’re — you’re sure, Potter?” 
+
+“Positive,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, he’s not here anymore,” said Moody, his eye 
+still whizzing over the map. “Crouch ... that’s very — 
+very interesting. ...” 
+
+He said nothing for almost a minute, still staring at 
+the map. Harry could tell that this news meant 
+something to Moody and very much wanted to know 
+
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+what it was. He wondered whether he dared ask. 
+Moody scared him slightly ... yet Moody had just 
+helped him avoid an awful lot of trouble. ... 
+
+“Er ... Professor Moody ... why d’you reckon Mr. 
+Crouch wanted to look around S nape’s office?” 
+
+Moody’s magical eye left the map and fixed, quivering, 
+upon Harry. It was a penetrating glare, and Harry had 
+the impression that Moody was sizing him up, 
+wondering whether to answer or not, or how much to 
+tell him. 
+
+“Put it this way, Potter,” Moody muttered finally, “they 
+say old Mad-Eye’s obsessed with catching Dark 
+wizards ... but I’m nothing — nothing — compared to 
+Barty Crouch.” 
+
+He continued to stare at the map. Harry was burning 
+to know more. 
+
+“Professor Moody?” he said again. “D’you think ... 
+could this have anything to do with . . . maybe Mr. 
+Crouch thinks there’s something going on. ...” 
+
+“Like what?” said Moody sharply. 
+
+Harry wondered how much he dare say. He didn’t 
+want Moody to guess that he had a source of 
+information outside Hogwarts; that might lead to 
+tricky questions about Sirius. 
+
+“I don’t know,” Harry muttered, “odd stuff’s been 
+happening lately, hasn’t it? It’s been in the Daily 
+Prophet ... the Dark Mark at the World Cup, and the 
+Death Eaters and everything. ...” 
+
+Both of Moody’s mismatched eyes widened. 
+
+
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+“You’re a sharp boy, Potter,” he said. His magical eye 
+roved back to the Marauder’s Map. “Crouch could be 
+thinking along those lines,” he said slowly. “Very 
+possible ... there have been some funny rumors flying 
+around lately — helped along by Rita Skeeter, of 
+course. It’s making a lot of people nervous, I reckon.” 
+
+A grim smile twisted his lopsided mouth. “Oh if 
+there’s one thing I hate,” he muttered, more to himself 
+than to Harry, and his magical eye was fixed on the 
+left-hand corner of the map, “it’s a Death Eater who 
+walked free. ...” 
+
+Harry stared at him. Could Moody possibly mean 
+what Harry thought he meant? 
+
+“And now I want to ask you a question, Potter,” said 
+Moody in a more businesslike tone. 
+
+Harry’s heart sank; he had thought this was coming. 
+Moody was going to ask where he had got this map, 
+which was a very dubious magical object — and the 
+story of how it had fallen into his hands incriminated 
+not only him, but his own father, Fred and George 
+Weasley, and Professor Lupin, their last Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts teacher. Moody waved the map 
+in front of Harry, who braced himself — 
+
+“Can I borrow this?” 
+
+“Oh!” said Harry. 
+
+He was very fond of his map, but on the other hand, 
+he was extremely relieved that Moody wasn’t asking 
+where he’d got it, and there was no doubt that he 
+owed Moody a favor. 
+
+“Yeah, okay.” 
+
+
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+“Good boy,” growled Moody. “I can make good use of 
+this ... this might be exactly what I’ve been looking 
+for. ... Right, bed, Potter, come on, now. ...” 
+
+They climbed to the top of the stairs together, Moody 
+still examining the map as though it was a treasure 
+the like of which he had never seen before. They 
+walked in silence to the door of Moody’s office, where 
+he stopped and looked up at Harry. 
+
+“You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, taken aback. 
+
+“You want to consider it,” said Moody, nodding and 
+looking at Harry thoughtfully. “Yes, indeed ... and 
+incidentally ... I’m guessing you weren’t just taking 
+that egg for a walk tonight?” 
+
+“Er — no,” said Harry, grinning. “I’ve been working 
+out the clue.” 
+
+Moody winked at him, his magical eye going haywire 
+again. 
+
+“Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, 
+Potter. ... See you in the morning. ...” 
+
+He went back into his office, staring down at the 
+Marauder’s Map again, and closed the door behind 
+him. 
+
+Harry walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, lost in 
+thought about Snape, and Crouch, and what it all 
+meant. ... Why was Crouch pretending to be ill, if he 
+could manage to get to Hogwarts when he wanted to? 
+What did he think Snape was concealing in his office? 
+
+
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+And Moody thought he, Harry, ought to be an Auror! 
+Interesting idea . . . but somehow, Harry thought, as 
+he got quietly into his four-poster ten minutes later, 
+the egg and the cloak now safely back in his trunk, he 
+thought he’d like to check how scarred the rest of 
+them were before he chose it as a career. 
+
+
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+
+THE SECOND TASK 
+
+“You said you’d already worked out that egg clue!” 
+said Hermione indignantly. 
+
+“Keep your voice down!” said Harry crossly. “I just 
+need to — sort of fine-tune it, all right?” 
+
+He, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the very back 
+of the Charms class with a table to themselves. They 
+were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the 
+Summoning Charm today — the Banishing Charm. 
+Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when 
+objects kept flying across the room, Professor Flitwick 
+had given each student a stack of cushions on which 
+to practice, the theory being that these wouldn’t hurt 
+anyone if they went off target. It was a good theory, 
+but it wasn’t working very well. Neville’s aim was so 
+poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier 
+things flying across the room — Professor Flitwick, for 
+instance. 
+
+“Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?” Harry 
+hissed as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly 
+
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+
+past them, landing on top of a large cabinet. “I’m 
+trying to tell you about Snape and Moody. ...” 
+
+This class was an ideal cover for a private 
+conversation, as everyone was having far too much 
+fun to pay them any attention. Harry had been 
+recounting his adventures of the previous night in 
+whispered installments for the last half hour. 
+
+“Snape said Moody’s searched his office as well?” Ron 
+whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he 
+Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it 
+soared into the air and knocked Parvati’s hat off). 
+“What ... d’you reckon Moody’s here to keep an eye on 
+Snape as well as Karkaroff?” 
+
+“Well, I dunno if that’s what Dumbledore asked him 
+to do, but he’s definitely doing it,” said Harry, waving 
+his wand without paying much attention, so that his 
+cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk. 
+“Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here 
+because he’s giving him a second chance or 
+something. ...” 
+
+“What?” said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion 
+spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the 
+chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick’s desk. 
+“Harry . . . maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name 
+in the Goblet of Fire!” 
+
+“Oh Ron,” said Hermione, shaking her head 
+sceptically, “we thought Snape was trying to kill 
+Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry’s 
+life, remember?” 
+
+She Banished a cushion and it flew across the room 
+and landed in the box they were all supposed to be 
+aiming at. Harry looked at Hermione, thinking ... it 
+was true that Snape had saved his life once, but the 
+
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+odd thing was, Snape definitely loathed him, just as 
+he’d loathed Harry’s father when they had been at 
+school together. Snape loved taking points from 
+Harry, and had certainly never missed an opportunity 
+to give him punishments, or even to suggest that he 
+should be suspended from the school. 
+
+“I don’t care what Moody says,” Hermione went on. 
+“Dumbledore’s not stupid. He was right to trust 
+Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of 
+people wouldn’t have given them jobs, so why 
+shouldn’t he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a 
+bit — ” 
+
+
+
+“ — evil,” said Ron promptly. “Come on, Hermione, 
+why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his 
+office, then?” 
+
+“Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?” said 
+Hermione, ignoring Ron. “It’s a bit funny, isn’t it, that 
+he can’t manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can 
+get up here in the middle of the night when he wants 
+to?” 
+
+“You just don’t like Crouch because of that elf, 
+Winky,” said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the 
+window. 
+
+“You just want to think Snape’s up to something,” 
+said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly 
+into the box. 
+
+“I just want to know what Snape did with his first 
+chance, if he’s on his second one,” said Harry grimly, 
+and his cushion, to his very great surprise, flew 
+straight across the room and landed neatly on top of 
+Hermione ’s. 
+
+
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+Obedient to Sirius’s wish of hearing about anything 
+odd at Hogwarts, Harry sent him a letter by brown 
+owl that night, explaining all about Mr. Crouch 
+breaking into Snape’s office, and Moody and Snape’s 
+conversation. Then Harry turned his attention in 
+earnest to the most urgent problem facing him: how 
+to survive underwater for an hour on the twenty- 
+fourth of February. 
+
+Ron quite liked the idea of using the Summoning 
+Charm again — Harry had explained about Aqua- 
+Lungs, and Ron couldn’t see why Harry shouldn’t 
+Summon one from the nearest Muggle town. 
+
+Hermione squashed this plan by pointing out that, in 
+the unlikely event that Harry managed to learn how 
+to operate an Aqua-Lung within the set limit of an 
+hour, he was sure to be disqualified for breaking the 
+International Code of Wizarding Secrecy — it was too 
+much to hope that no Muggles would spot an Aqua- 
+Lung zooming across the countryside to Hogwarts. 
+
+“Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to 
+Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something,” 
+Hermione said. “If only we’d done human 
+Transfiguration already! But I don’t think we start 
+that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you 
+don’t know what you’re doing. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, I don’t fancy walking around with a periscope 
+sticking out of my head,” said Harry. “I s’pose I could 
+always attack someone in front of Moody; he might do 
+it for me. ...” 
+
+“I don’t think he’d let you choose what you wanted to 
+be turned into, though,” said Hermione seriously. 
+
+“No, I think your best chance is some sort of charm.” 
+
+So Harry, thinking that he would soon have had 
+enough of the library to last him a lifetime, buried 
+
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+himself once more among the dusty volumes, looking 
+for any spell that might enable a human to survive 
+without oxygen. However, though he, Ron, and 
+Hermione searched through their lunchtimes, 
+evenings, and whole weekends — though Harry asked 
+Professor McGonagall for a note of permission to use 
+the Restricted Section, and even asked the irritable, 
+vulture-like librarian, Madam Pince, for help — they 
+found nothing whatsoever that would enable Harry to 
+spend an hour underwater and live to tell the tale. 
+
+Familiar flutterings of panic were starting to disturb 
+Harry now, and he was finding it difficult to 
+concentrate in class again. The lake, which Harry had 
+always taken for granted as just another feature of 
+the grounds, drew his eyes whenever he was near a 
+classroom window, a great, iron-gray mass of chilly 
+water, whose dark and icy depths were starting to 
+seem as distant as the moon. 
+
+Just as it had before he faced the Horntail, time was 
+slipping away as though somebody had bewitched the 
+clocks to go extra-fast. There was a week to go before 
+February the twenty-fourth (there was still time) ... 
+there were five days to go (he was bound to find 
+something soon) ... three days to go (please let me find 
+something . . . please) . . . 
+
+With two days left, Harry started to go off food again. 
+The only good thing about breakfast on Monday was 
+the return of the brown owl he had sent to Sirius. He 
+pulled off the parchment, unrolled it, and saw the 
+shortest letter Sirius had ever written to him. 
+
+Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl. 
+
+Harry turned the parchment over and looked at the 
+back, hoping to see something else, but it was blank. 
+
+
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+“Weekend after next,” whispered Hermione, who had 
+read the note over Harry’s shoulder. “Here — take my 
+quill and send this owl back straight away.” 
+
+Harry scribbled the dates down on the back of 
+Sirius’s letter, tied it onto the brown owl’s leg, and 
+watched it take flight again. What had he expected? 
+Advice on how to survive underwater? He had been so 
+intent on telling Sirius all about Snape and Moody he 
+had completely forgotten to mention the egg’s clue. 
+
+“What’s he want to know about the next Hogsmeade 
+weekend for?” said Ron. 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry dully. The momentary happiness 
+that had flared inside him at the sight of the owl had 
+died. “Come on ... Care of Magical Creatures.” 
+
+Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast- 
+Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two 
+skrewts left, or because he was trying to prove he 
+could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank 
+could, Harry didn’t know, but Hagrid had been 
+continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he’d 
+returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew 
+quite as much about unicorns as he did about 
+monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack 
+of poisonous fangs disappointing. 
+
+Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. 
+Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. 
+Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight 
+at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had 
+to work hard to conceal how much she liked them. 
+
+“Easier ter spot than the adults,” Hagrid told the 
+class. “They turn silver when they’re abou’ two years 
+old, an’ they grow horns at aroun’ four. Don’ go pure 
+white till they’re full grown, ’round about seven. 
+
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+They’re a bit more trustin’ when they’re babies ... don’ 
+mind boys so much. ... C’mon, move in a bit, yeh can 
+pat ’em if yeh want ... give ’em a few o’ these sugar 
+lumps. ... 
+
+“You okay, Harry?” Hagrid muttered, moving aside 
+slightly, while most of the others swarmed around the 
+baby unicorns. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“Jus’ nervous, eh?” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Bit,” said Harry. 
+
+“Harry,” said Hagrid, clapping a massive hand on his 
+shoulder, so that Harry’s knees buckled under its 
+weight, “I’d’ve bin worried before I saw yeh take on 
+tha’ Horntail, but I know now yeh can do anythin’ yeh 
+set yer mind ter. I’m not worried at all. Yeh’re goin’ ter 
+be fine. Got yer clue worked out, haven’ yeh?” 
+
+Harry nodded, but even as he did so, an insane urge 
+to confess that he didn’t have any idea how to survive 
+at the bottom of the lake for an hour came over him. 
+He looked up at Hagrid — perhaps he had to go into 
+the lake sometimes, to deal with the creatures in it? 
+He looked after everything else on the grounds, after 
+all — 
+
+“Yeh’re goin’ ter win,” Hagrid growled, patting Harry’s 
+shoulder again, so that Harry actually felt himself 
+sink a couple of inches into the soft ground. “I know 
+it. I can feel it. Yeh’re goin’ ter win, Harry.” 
+
+Harry just couldn’t bring himself to wipe the happy, 
+confident smile off Hagrid ’s face. Pretending he was 
+interested in the young unicorns, he forced a smile in 
+
+
+
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+return, and moved forward to pat them with the 
+others. 
+
+
+
+By the evening before the second task, Harry felt as 
+though he were trapped in a nightmare. He was fully 
+aware that even if, by some miracle, he managed to 
+find a suitable spell, he’d have a real job mastering it 
+overnight. How could he have let this happen? Why 
+hadn’t he got to work on the egg’s clue sooner? Why 
+had he ever let his mind wander in class — what if a 
+teacher had once mentioned how to breathe 
+underwater? 
+
+He sat with Hermione and Ron in the library as the 
+sun set outside, tearing feverishly through page after 
+page of spells, hidden from one another by the 
+massive piles of books on the desk in front of each of 
+them. Harry’s heart gave a huge leap every time he 
+saw the word “water” on a page, but more often than 
+not it was merely “Take two pints of water, half a 
+pound of shredded mandrake leaves, and a newt ...” 
+
+“I don’t reckon it can be done,” said Ron’s voice flatly 
+from the other side of the table. “There’s nothing. 
+Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and 
+ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere 
+near powerful enough to drain the lake.” 
+
+“There must be something,” Hermione muttered, 
+moving a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired 
+she was poring over the tiny print of Olde and 
+Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes with her nose 
+about an inch from the page. “They’d never have set a 
+task that was undoable.” 
+
+“They have,” said Ron. “Harry, just go down to the 
+lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the 
+merpeople to give back whatever they’ve nicked, and 
+see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate.” 
+
+Page | 537 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+“There’s a way of doing it!” Hermione said crossly. 
+“There just has to be!” 
+
+She seemed to be taking the library’s lack of useful 
+information on the subject as a personal insult; it had 
+never failed her before. 
+
+“I know what I should have done,” said Harry, resting, 
+facedown, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. “I 
+should’ve learned to be an Animagus like Sirius.” 
+
+An Animagus was a wizard who could transform into 
+an animal. 
+
+“Yeah, you could’ve turned into a goldfish any time 
+you wanted!” said Ron. 
+
+“Or a frog,” yawned Harry. He was exhausted. 
+
+“It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you 
+have to register yourself and everything,” said 
+Hermione vaguely, now squinting down the index of 
+Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions. 
+“Professor McGonagall told us, remember ... you’ve 
+got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic 
+Office ... what animal you become, and your 
+markings, so you can’t abuse it. ...” 
+
+“Hermione, I was joking,” said Harry wearily. “I know I 
+haven’t got a chance of turning into a frog by 
+tomorrow morning. ...” 
+
+“Oh this is no use,” Hermione said, snapping shut 
+Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. “Who on earth wants to 
+make their nose hair grow into ringlets?” 
+
+“I wouldn’t mind,” said Fred Weasley’s voice. “Be a 
+talking point, wouldn’t it?” 
+
+
+
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+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up. Fred and 
+George had just emerged from behind some 
+bookshelves. 
+
+“What’re you two doing here?” Ron asked. 
+
+“Looking for you,” said George. “McGonagall wants 
+you, Ron. And you, Hermione.” 
+
+“Why?” said Hermione, looking surprised. 
+
+“Dunno ... she was looking a bit grim, though,” said 
+Fred. 
+
+“We’re supposed to take you down to her office,” said 
+George. 
+
+Ron and Hermione stared at Harry, who felt his 
+stomach drop. Was Professor McGonagall about to tell 
+Ron and Hermione off? Perhaps she’d noticed how 
+much they were helping him, when he ought to be 
+working out how to do the task alone? 
+
+“Well meet you back in the common room,” Hermione 
+told Harry as she got up to go with Ron — both of 
+them looked very anxious. “Bring as many of these 
+books as you can, okay?” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry uneasily. 
+
+By eight o’clock, Madam Pince had extinguished all 
+the lamps and came to chivvy Harry out of the library. 
+Staggering under the weight of as many books as he 
+could carry, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common 
+room, pulled a table into a corner, and continued to 
+search. There was nothing in Madcap Magic for 
+Wacky Warlocks . . . nothing in A Guide to Medieval 
+Sorcery . . . not one mention of underwater exploits in 
+An Anthology of Eighteenth-Century Charms, or in 
+Page | 539 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dreadful Denizens of the Deep, or Powers You Never 
+Knew You Had and What to Do with Them Now You’ve 
+Wised Up. 
+
+Crookshanks crawled into Harry’s lap and curled up, 
+purring deeply. The common room emptied slowly 
+around Harry. People kept wishing him luck for the 
+next morning in cheery, confident voices like Hagrid’s, 
+all of them apparently convinced that he was about to 
+pull off another stunning performance like the one he 
+had managed in the first task. Harry couldn’t answer 
+them, he just nodded, feeling as though there were a 
+golfball stuck in his throat. By ten to midnight, he 
+was alone in the room with Crookshanks. He had 
+searched all the remaining books, and Ron and 
+Hermione had not come back. 
+
+It’s over, he told himself. You can’t do it. You’ll just 
+have to go down to the lake in the morning and tell 
+the judges. ... 
+
+He imagined himself explaining that he couldn’t do 
+the task. He pictured Bagman’s look of round-eyed 
+surprise, Karkaroff’s satisfied, yellow-toothed smile. 
+
+He could almost hear Fleur Delacour saying “I knew it 
+... ’e is too young, ’e is only a little boy.” He saw Malfoy 
+flashing his POTTER STINKS badge at the front of the 
+crowd, saw Hagrid’s crestfallen, disbelieving face. ... 
+
+Forgetting that Crookshanks was on his lap, Harry 
+stood up very suddenly; Crookshanks hissed angrily 
+as he landed on the floor, gave Harry a disgusted 
+look, and stalked away with his bottlebrush tail in the 
+air, but Harry was already hurrying up the spiral 
+staircase to his dormitory. . . . He would grab the 
+Invisibility Cloak and go back to the library, he’d stay 
+there all night if he had to. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+“Lumos,” Harry whispered fifteen minutes later as he 
+opened the library door. 
+
+Wand tip alight, he crept along the bookshelves, 
+pulling down more books — books of hexes and 
+charms, books on merpeople and water monsters, 
+books on famous witches and wizards, on magical 
+inventions, on anything at all that might include one 
+passing reference to underwater survival. He carried 
+them over to a table, then set to work, searching them 
+by the narrow beam of his wand, occasionally 
+checking his watch. ... 
+
+One in the morning . . . two in the morning . . . the only 
+way he could keep going was to tell himself, over and 
+over again, next book ...in the next one . . . the next one 
+
+
+
+The mermaid in the painting in the prefects’ 
+bathroom was laughing. Harry was bobbing like a 
+cork in bubbly water next to her rock, while she held 
+his Firebolt over his head. 
+
+“Come and get it!” she giggled maliciously. “Come on, 
+jump!” 
+
+“I can’t,” Harry panted, snatching at the Firebolt, and 
+struggling not to sink. “Give it to me!” 
+
+But she just poked him painfully in the side with the 
+end of the broomstick, laughing at him. 
+
+“That hurts ��� get off — ouch — ” 
+
+“Harry Potter must wake up, sir!” 
+
+“Stop poking me — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Dobby must poke Harry Potter, sir, he must wake 
+up!” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes. He was still in the library; the 
+Invisibility Cloak had slipped off his head as he’d 
+slept, and the side of his face was stuck to the pages 
+of Where There’s a Wand, There’s a Way. He sat up, 
+straightening his glasses, blinking in the bright 
+daylight. 
+
+“Harry Potter needs to hurry!” squeaked Dobby. “The 
+second task starts in ten minutes, and Harry Potter 
+
+
+
+“Ten minutes?” Harry croaked. “Ten — ten minutes?” 
+
+He looked down at his watch. Dobby was right. It was 
+twenty past nine. A large, dead weight seemed to fall 
+through Harry’s chest into his stomach. 
+
+“Hurry, Harry Potter!” squeaked Dobby, plucking at 
+Harry’s sleeve. “You is supposed to be down by the 
+lake with the other champions, sir!” 
+
+“It’s too late, Dobby,” Harry said hopelessly. “I’m not 
+doing the task, I don’t know how — ” 
+
+“Harry Potter will do the task!” squeaked the elf. 
+“Dobby knew Harry had not found the right book, so 
+Dobby did it for him!” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “But you don’t know what the 
+second task is — ” 
+
+“Dobby knows, sir! Harry Potter has to go into the 
+lake and find his Wheezy — ” 
+
+“Find my what?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“ — and take his Wheezy back from the merpeople!” 
+
+
+
+“What’s a Wheezy?” 
+
+“Your Wheezy, sir, your Wheezy — Wheezy who is 
+giving Dobby his sweater!” 
+
+Dobby plucked at the shrunken maroon sweater he 
+was now wearing over his shorts. 
+
+“What?” Harry gasped. “They’ve got ... they’ve got 
+Ron?” 
+
+“The thing Harry Potter will miss most, sir!” squeaked 
+Dobby. “ ‘But past an hour — ’ ” 
+
+“ — ‘the prospect’s black,’ ” Harry recited, staring, 
+horror-struck, at the elf. “ ‘Too late, it’s gone, it won’t 
+come back.’ Dobby — what’ve I got to do?” 
+
+“You has to eat this, sir!” squeaked the elf, and he put 
+his hand in the pocket of his shorts and drew out a 
+ball of what looked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails. 
+“Right before you go into the lake, sir — gillyweed!” 
+
+“What’s it do?” said Harry, staring at the gillyweed. 
+
+“It will make Harry Potter breathe underwater, sir!” 
+
+“Dobby,” said Harry frantically, “listen — are you sure 
+about this?” 
+
+He couldn’t quite forget that the last time Dobby had 
+tried to “help” him, he had ended up with no bones in 
+his right arm. 
+
+“Dobby is quite sure, sir!” said the elf earnestly. 
+“Dobby hears things, sir, he is a house-elf, he goes all 
+over the castle as he lights the fires and mops the 
+
+Page | 543 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+floors. Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and 
+Professor Moody in the staffroom, talking about the 
+next task. . . . Dobby cannot let Harry Potter lose his 
+Wheezy!” 
+
+Harry’s doubts vanished. Jumping to his feet he 
+pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, stuffed it into his bag, 
+grabbed the gillyweed, and put it into his pocket, then 
+tore out of the library with Dobby at his heels. 
+
+“Dobby is supposed to be in the kitchens, sir!” Dobby 
+squealed as they burst into the corridor. “Dobby will 
+be missed — good luck, Harry Potter, sir, good luck!” 
+
+“See you later, Dobby!” Harry shouted, and he 
+sprinted along the corridor and down the stairs, three 
+at a time. 
+
+The entrance hall contained a few last-minute 
+stragglers, all leaving the Great Hall after breakfast 
+and heading through the double oak doors to watch 
+the second task. They stared as Harry flashed past, 
+sending Colin and Dennis Creevey flying as he leapt 
+down the stone steps and out onto the bright, chilly 
+grounds. 
+
+As he pounded down the lawn he saw that the seats 
+that had encircled the dragons’ enclosure in 
+November were now ranged along the opposite bank, 
+rising in stands that were packed to the bursting 
+point and reflected in the lake below. The excited 
+babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water 
+as Harry ran flat-out around the other side of the lake 
+toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold- 
+draped table at the water’s edge. Cedric, Fleur, and 
+Krum were beside the judges’ table, watching Harry 
+sprint toward them. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+‘Tm ... here ...” Harry panted, skidding to a halt in 
+the mud and accidentally splattering Fleur’s robes. 
+
+“Where have you been?” said a bossy, disapproving 
+voice. “The task’s about to start!” 
+
+Harry looked around. Percy Weasley was sitting at the 
+judges’ table — Mr. Crouch had failed to turn up 
+again. 
+
+“Now, now, Percy!” said Ludo Bagman, who was 
+looking intensely relieved to see Harry. “Let him catch 
+his breath!” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled at Harry, but Karkaroff and 
+Madame Maxime didn’t look at all pleased to see him. 
+... It was obvious from the looks on their faces that 
+they had thought he wasn’t going to turn up. 
+
+Harry bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for 
+breath; he had a stitch in his side that felt as though 
+he had a knife between his ribs, but there was no 
+time to get rid of it; Ludo Bagman was now moving 
+among the champions, spacing them along the bank 
+at intervals of ten feet. Harry was on the very end of 
+the line, next to Krum, who was wearing swimming 
+trunks and was holding his wand ready. 
+
+“All right, Harry?” Bagman whispered as he moved 
+Harry a few feet farther away from Krum. “Know what 
+you’re going to do?” 
+
+“Yeah,” Harry panted, massaging his ribs. 
+
+Bagman gave Harry’s shoulder a quick squeeze and 
+returned to the judges’ table; he pointed his wand at 
+his throat as he had done at the World Cup, said, 
+“Sonorusl” and his voice boomed out across the dark 
+water toward the stands. 
+
+Page | 545 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, all our champions are ready for the second 
+task, which will start on my whistle. They have 
+precisely an hour to recover what has been taken 
+from them. On the count of three, then. One ... two ... 
+three!” 
+
+The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the 
+stands erupted with cheers and applause; without 
+looking to see what the other champions were doing, 
+Harry pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled the 
+handful of gillyweed out of his pocket, stuffed it into 
+his mouth, and waded out into the lake. 
+
+It was so cold he felt the skin on his legs searing as 
+though this were fire, not icy water. His sodden robes 
+weighed him down as he walked in deeper; now the 
+water was over his knees, and his rapidly numbing 
+feet were slipping over silt and flat, slimy stones. He 
+was chewing the gillyweed as hard and fast as he 
+could; it felt unpleasantly slimy and rubbery, like 
+octopus tentacles. Waist-deep in the freezing water he 
+stopped, swallowed, and waited for something to 
+happen. 
+
+He could hear laughter in the crowd and knew he 
+must look stupid, walking into the lake without 
+showing any sign of magical power. The part of him 
+that was still dry was covered in goose pimples; half 
+immersed in the icy water, a cruel breeze lifting his 
+hair, Harry started to shiver violently. He avoided 
+looking at the stands; the laughter was becoming 
+louder, and there were catcalls and jeering from the 
+Slytherins. ... 
+
+Then, quite suddenly, Harry felt as though an 
+invisible pillow had been pressed over his mouth and 
+nose. He tried to draw breath, but it made his head 
+spin; his lungs were empty, and he suddenly felt a 
+piercing pain on either side of his neck — 
+
+Page | 546 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+Harry clapped his hands around his throat and felt 
+two large slits just below his ears, flapping in the cold 
+air. ... He had gills. Without pausing to think, he did 
+the only thing that made sense — he flung himself 
+forward into the water. 
+
+The first gulp of icy lake water felt like the breath of 
+life. His head had stopped spinning; he took another 
+great gulp of water and felt it pass smoothly through 
+his gills, sending oxygen back to his brain. He 
+stretched out his hands in front of him and stared at 
+them. They looked green and ghostly under the water, 
+and they had become webbed. He twisted around and 
+looked at his bare feet — they had become elongated 
+and the toes were webbed too: It looked as though he 
+had sprouted flippers. 
+
+The water didn’t feel icy anymore either ... on the 
+contrary, he felt pleasantly cool and very light. ... 
+Harry struck out once more, marveling at how far and 
+fast his flipper-like feet propelled him through the 
+water, and noticing how clearly he could see, and how 
+he no longer seemed to need to blink. He had soon 
+swum so far into the lake that he could no longer see 
+the bottom. He flipped over and dived into its depths. 
+
+Silence pressed upon his ears as he soared over a 
+strange, dark, foggy landscape. He could only see ten 
+feet around him, so that as he sped through the water 
+new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the 
+oncoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black 
+weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, 
+glimmering stones. He swam deeper and deeper, out 
+toward the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring 
+through the eerily gray-lit water around him to the 
+shadows beyond, where the water became opaque. 
+
+Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or 
+twice he thought he saw something larger moving 
+
+Page | 547 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered 
+it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense 
+clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other 
+champions, merpeople, Ron — nor, thankfully, the 
+giant squid. 
+
+Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he 
+could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very 
+overgrown grass. Harry was staring unblinkingly 
+ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the 
+gloom . . . and then, without warning, something 
+grabbed hold of his ankle. 
+
+Harry twisted his body around and saw a grindylow, a 
+small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, 
+its long fingers clutched tightly around Harry’s leg, its 
+pointed fangs bared — Harry stuck his webbed hand 
+quickly inside his robes and fumbled for his wand. By 
+the time he had grasped it, two more grindylows had 
+risen out of the weed, had seized handfuls of Harry’s 
+robes, and were attempting to drag him down. 
+
+“Relashio\” Harry shouted, except that no sound came 
+out. ... A large bubble issued from his mouth, and his 
+wand, instead of sending sparks at the grindylows, 
+pelted them with what seemed to be a jet of boiling 
+water, for where it struck them, angry red patches 
+appeared on their green skin. Harry pulled his ankle 
+out of the grindylows grip and swam, as fast as he 
+could, occasionally sending more jets of hot water 
+over his shoulder at random; every now and then he 
+felt one of the grindylows snatch at his foot again, 
+and he kicked out, hard; finally, he felt his foot 
+connect with a horned skull, and looking back, saw 
+the dazed grindylow floating away, cross-eyed, while 
+its fellows shook their fists at Harry and sank back 
+into the weed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 548 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+Harry slowed down a little, slipped his wand back 
+inside his robes, and looked around, listening again. 
+He turned full circle in the water, the silence pressing 
+harder than ever against his eardrums. He knew he 
+must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was 
+moving but the rippling weed. 
+
+“How are you getting on?” 
+
+Harry thought he was having a heart attack. He 
+whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating 
+hazily in front of him, gazing at him through her 
+thick, pearly glasses. 
+
+“Myrtle!” Harry tried to shout — but once again, 
+nothing came out of his mouth but a very large 
+bubble. Moaning Myrtle actually giggled. 
+
+“You want to try over there!” she said, pointing. “I 
+won’t come with you. ... I don’t like them much, they 
+always chase me when I get too close. ...” 
+
+Harry gave her the thumbs-up to show his thanks 
+and set off once more, careful to swim a bit higher 
+over the weed to avoid any more grindylows that 
+might be lurking there. 
+
+He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. 
+He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, 
+which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. 
+Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting 
+mersong. 
+
+“An hour long you’ll have to look, 
+
+And to recover what we took ...” 
+
+Harry swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge 
+out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of 
+
+Page | 549 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and 
+chasing what looked like the giant squid. Harry swam 
+on past the rock, following the mersong. 
+
+"... your time’s half gone, so tarry not 
+
+Lest what you seek stays here to rot. ...” 
+
+A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae 
+loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here 
+and there at the dark windows, Harry saw faces ... 
+faces that bore no resemblance at all to the painting 
+of the mermaid in the prefects’ bathroom. ... 
+
+The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark 
+green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their 
+broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles 
+around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam 
+past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to 
+watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails 
+beating the water, spears clutched in their hands. 
+
+Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the 
+dwellings became more numerous; there were 
+gardens of weed around some of them, and he even 
+saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. 
+Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching 
+him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, 
+talking behind their hands to one another. Harry sped 
+around a corner and a very strange sight met his 
+eyes. 
+
+A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of 
+the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version 
+of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing 
+in the middle, calling the champions toward them, 
+and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a 
+gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people 
+were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson. 
+Page | 550 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. 
+There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, 
+whose clouds of silvery hair made Harry feel sure that 
+she was Fleur Delacour’s sister. All four of them 
+appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were 
+lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of 
+bubbles kept issuing from their mouths. 
+
+Harry sped toward the hostages, half expecting the 
+merpeople to lower their spears and charge at him, 
+but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the 
+hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very 
+strong. For a fleeting second he thought of the knife 
+Sirius had bought him for Christmas — locked in his 
+trunk in the castle a quarter of a mile away, no use to 
+him whatsoever. 
+
+He looked around. Many of the merpeople 
+surrounding them were carrying spears. He swam 
+swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long 
+green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to 
+mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman 
+laughed and shook his head. 
+
+“We do not help,” he said in a harsh, croaky voice. 
+
+“Come ON\” Harry said fiercely (but only bubbles 
+issued from his mouth), and he tried to pull the spear 
+away from the merman, but the merman yanked it 
+back, still shaking his head and laughing. 
+
+Harry swirled around, staring about. Something 
+sharp ... anything ... 
+
+There were rocks littering the lake bottom. He dived 
+and snatched up a particularly jagged one and 
+returned to the statue. He began to hack at the ropes 
+binding Ron, and after several minutes’ hard work, 
+they broke apart. Ron floated, unconscious, a few 
+Page | 551 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the 
+ebb of the water. 
+
+Harry looked around. There was no sign of any of the 
+other champions. What were they playing at? Why 
+didn’t they hurry up? He turned back to Hermione, 
+raised the jagged rock, and began to hack at her 
+bindings too — 
+
+At once, several pairs of strong gray hands seized 
+him. Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away 
+from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, 
+and laughing. 
+
+“You take your own hostage,” one of them said to 
+him. “Leave the others ...” 
+
+“No way!” said Harry furiously — but only two large 
+bubbles came out. 
+
+“Your task is to retrieve your own friend . . . leave the 
+others ...” 
+
+“She’s my friend too!” Harry yelled, gesturing toward 
+Hermione, an enormous silver bubble emerging 
+soundlessly from his lips. “And I don’t want them to 
+die either!” 
+
+Cho’s head was on Hermione ’s shoulder; the small 
+silver-haired girl was ghostly green and pale. Harry 
+struggled to fight off the mermen, but they laughed 
+harder than ever, holding him back. Harry looked 
+wildly around. Where were the other champions? 
+Would he have time to take Ron to the surface and 
+come back down for Hermione and the others? Would 
+he be able to find them again? He looked down at his 
+watch to see how much time was left — it had 
+stopped working. 
+
+
+
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+
+But then the merpeople around him pointed excitedly 
+over his head. Harry looked up and saw Cedric 
+swimming toward them. There was an enormous 
+bubble around his head, which made his features 
+look oddly wide and stretched. 
+
+“Got lost!” he mouthed, looking panic-stricken. “Fleur 
+and Krum’re coming now!” 
+
+Feeling enormously relieved, Harry watched Cedric 
+pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free. He 
+pulled her upward and out of sight. 
+
+Harry looked around, waiting. Where were Fleur and 
+Krum? Time was getting short, and according to the 
+song, the hostages would be lost after an hour. . . . 
+
+The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those 
+holding Harry loosened their grip, staring behind 
+them. Harry turned and saw something monstrous 
+cutting through the water toward them: a human 
+body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark. . . . 
+It was Krum. He appeared to have transfigured 
+himself — but badly. 
+
+The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began 
+snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that 
+Krum’s new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for 
+biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Harry 
+was quite sure that if Krum wasn’t careful, he was 
+going to rip Hermione in half. Darting forward, Harry 
+hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the 
+jagged stone. Krum seized it and began to cut 
+Hermione free. Within seconds, he had done it; he 
+grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a 
+backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her 
+toward the surface. 
+
+
+
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+
+Now what? Harry thought desperately. If he could be 
+sure that Fleur was coming. ... But still no sign. 
+
+There was nothing to be done except . . . 
+
+He snatched up the stone, which Krum had dropped, 
+but the mermen now closed in around Ron and the 
+little girl, shaking their heads at him. Harry pulled 
+out his wand. 
+
+“Get out of the way!” 
+
+Only bubbles flew out of his mouth, but he had the 
+distinct impression that the mermen had understood 
+him, because they suddenly stopped laughing. Their 
+yellowish eyes were fixed upon Harry’s wand, and 
+they looked scared. There might be a lot more of them 
+than there were of him, but Harry could tell, by the 
+looks on their faces, that they knew no more magic 
+than the giant squid did. 
+
+“You’ve got until three!” Harry shouted; a great 
+stream of bubbles burst from him, but he held up 
+three fingers to make sure they got the message. “One 
+...” (he put down a finger) “two ...” (he put down a 
+second one) — 
+
+They scattered. Harry darted forward and began to 
+hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, 
+and at last she was free. He seized the little girl 
+around the waist, grabbed the neck of Ron’s robes, 
+and kicked off from the bottom. 
+
+It was very slow work. He could no longer use his 
+webbed hands to propel himself forward; he worked 
+his flippers furiously, but Ron and Fleur’s sister were 
+like potato-filled sacks dragging him back down. ... 
+
+He fixed his eyes skyward, though he knew he must 
+still be very deep, the water above him was so dark. 
+
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+
+Merpeople were rising with him. He could see them 
+swirling around him with ease, watching him struggle 
+through the water. ... Would they pull him back down 
+to the depths when the time was up? Did they 
+perhaps eat humans? Harry’s legs were seizing up 
+with the effort to keep swimming; his shoulders were 
+aching horribly with the effort of dragging Ron and 
+the girl. ... 
+
+He was drawing breath with extreme difficulty. He 
+could feel pain on the sides of his neck again ... he 
+was becoming very aware of how wet the water was in 
+his mouth . . . yet the darkness was definitely thinning 
+now ... he could see daylight above him. ... 
+
+He kicked hard with his flippers and discovered that 
+they were nothing more than feet . . . water was 
+flooding through his mouth into his lungs ... he was 
+starting to feel dizzy, but he knew light and air were 
+only ten feet above him ... he had to get there ... he 
+had to . . . 
+
+Harry kicked his legs so hard and fast it felt as 
+though his muscles were screaming in protest; his 
+very brain felt waterlogged, he couldn’t breathe, he 
+needed oxygen, he had to keep going, he could not 
+stop — 
+
+And then he felt his head break the surface of the 
+lake; wonderful, cold, clear air was making his wet 
+face sting; he gulped it down, feeling as though he 
+had never breathed properly before, and, panting, 
+pulled Ron and the little girl up with him. All around 
+him, wild, green-haired heads were emerging out of 
+the water with him, but they were smiling at him. 
+
+The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of 
+noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be 
+on their feet; Harry had the impression they thought 
+
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+
+that Ron and the little girl might be dead, but they 
+were wrong ... both of them had opened their eyes; 
+the girl looked scared and confused, but Ron merely 
+expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright 
+light, turned to Harry, and said, “Wet, this, isn’t it?” 
+Then he spotted Fleur’s sister. “What did you bring 
+her for?” 
+
+“Fleur didn’t turn up, I couldn’t leave her,” Harry 
+panted. 
+
+“Harry, you prat,” said Ron, “you didn’t take that song 
+thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn’t have 
+let any of us drown!” 
+
+“The song said — ” 
+
+“It was only to make sure you got back inside the time 
+limit!” said Ron. “I hope you didn’t waste time down 
+there acting the hero!” 
+
+Harry felt both stupid and annoyed. It was all very 
+well for Ron; he’d been asleep, he hadn’t felt how 
+eerie it was down in the lake, surrounded by spear- 
+carrying merpeople who’d looked more than capable 
+of murder. 
+
+“C’mon,” Harry said shortly, “help me with her, I don’t 
+think she can swim very well.” 
+
+They pulled Fleur’s sister through the water, back 
+toward the bank where the judges stood watching, 
+twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of 
+honor, singing their horrible screechy songs. 
+
+Harry could see Madam Pomfrey fussing over 
+Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were 
+wrapped in thick blankets. Dumbledore and Ludo 
+Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron from the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked 
+very white and somehow much younger than usual, 
+came splashing out to meet them. Meanwhile 
+Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur 
+Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and 
+nail to return to the water. 
+
+“Gabrielle! Gabrielle\ Is she alive ? Is she ’urt?” 
+
+“She’s fine!” Harry tried to tell her, but he was so 
+exhausted he could hardly talk, let alone shout. 
+
+Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the 
+bank (“Gerroff, Percy, I’m all right!”); Dumbledore and 
+Bagman were pulling Harry upright; Fleur had broken 
+free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister. 
+
+“It was ze grindylows . . . zey attacked me ... oh 
+Gabrielle, I thought ... I thought ...” 
+
+“Come here, you,” said Madam Pomfrey. She seized 
+Harry and pulled him over to Hermione and the 
+others, wrapped him so tightly in a blanket that he 
+felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and forced a 
+measure of very hot potion down his throat. Steam 
+gushed out of his ears. 
+
+“Harry, well done!” Hermione cried. “You did it, you 
+found out how all by yourself!” 
+
+“Well — ” said Harry. He would have told her about 
+Dobby, but he had just noticed Karkaroff watching 
+him. He was the only judge who had not left the table; 
+the only judge not showing signs of pleasure and 
+relief that Harry, Ron, and Fleur’s sister had got back 
+safely. “Yeah, that’s right,” said Harry, raising his 
+voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him. 
+
+
+
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+
+“You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own- 
+ninny,” said Krum. Harry had the impression that 
+Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; 
+perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her 
+from the lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle 
+impatiently and said, “You’re well outside the time 
+limit, though, Harry. . . . Did it take you ages to find 
+us?” 
+
+“No ... I found you okay. ...” 
+
+Harry’s feeling of stupidity was growing. Now he was 
+out of the water, it seemed perfectly clear that 
+Dumbledore’s safety precautions wouldn’t have 
+permitted the death of a hostage just because their 
+champion hadn’t turned up. Why hadn’t he just 
+grabbed Ron and gone? He would have been first 
+back. ... Cedric and Krum hadn’t wasted time 
+worrying about anyone else; they hadn’t taken the 
+mersong seriously. ... 
+
+Dumbledore was crouching at the water’s edge, deep 
+in conversation with what seemed to be the chief 
+merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking 
+female. He was making the same sort of screechy 
+noises that the merpeople made when they were 
+above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak 
+Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his 
+fellow judges, and said, “A conference before we give 
+the marks, I think.” 
+
+The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had 
+gone to rescue Ron from Percy’s clutches; she led him 
+over to Harry and the others, gave him a blanket and 
+some Pepperup Potion, then went to fetch Fleur and 
+her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms 
+and her robes were torn, but she didn’t seem to care, 
+nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Look after Gabrielle,” she told her, and then she 
+turned to Harry. “You saved ’er,” she said 
+breathlessly. “Even though she was not your ’ostage.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, who was now heartily wishing 
+he’d left all three girls tied to the statue. 
+
+Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek 
+(he felt his face burn and wouldn’t have been 
+surprised if steam was coming out of his ears again), 
+then said to Ron, “And you too — you ’elped — ” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, “yeah, a 
+bit — ” 
+
+
+
+Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him. 
+Hermione looked simply furious, but just then, Ludo 
+Bagman’s magically magnified voice boomed out 
+beside them, making them all jump, and causing the 
+crowd in the stands to go very quiet. 
+
+“Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. 
+Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what 
+happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have 
+therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each 
+of the champions, as follows. ... 
+
+“Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent 
+use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by 
+grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to 
+retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five 
+points.” 
+
+Applause from the stands. 
+
+“I deserved zero,” said Fleur throatily, shaking her 
+magnificent head. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head 
+Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though 
+he returned one minute outside the time limit of an 
+hour.” Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the 
+crowd; Harry saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. “We 
+therefore award him forty-seven points.” 
+
+Harry’s heart sank. If Cedric had been outside the 
+time limit, he most certainly had been. 
+
+“Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of 
+Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and 
+was second to return with his hostage. We award him 
+forty points.” 
+
+Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very 
+superior. 
+
+“Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect,” Bagman 
+continued. “He returned last, and well outside the 
+time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess 
+informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the 
+hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to 
+his determination to return all hostages to safety, not 
+merely his own.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, 
+half-commiserating looks. 
+
+“Most of the judges,” and here, Bagman gave 
+Karkaroff a very nasty look, “feel that this shows 
+moral fiber and merits full marks. However ... Mr. 
+Potter’s score is forty-five points.” 
+
+Harry’s stomach leapt — he was now tying for first 
+place with Cedric. Ron and Hermione, caught by 
+surprise, stared at Harry, then laughed and started 
+applauding hard with the rest of the crowd. 
+
+
+
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+
+“There you go, Harry!” Ron shouted over the noise. 
+“You weren’t being thick after all — you were showing 
+moral fiber!” 
+
+Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn’t 
+look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione 
+in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering 
+Harry to listen. 
+
+“The third and final task will take place at dusk on 
+the twenty-fourth of June,” continued Bagman. “The 
+champions will be notified of what is coming precisely 
+one month beforehand. Thank you all for your 
+support of the champions.” 
+
+It was over, Harry thought dazedly, as Madam 
+Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages 
+back to the castle to get into dry clothes ... it was 
+over, he had got through ... he didn’t have to worry 
+about anything now until June the twenty-fourth. ... 
+
+Next time he was in Hogsmeade, Harry decided as he 
+walked back up the stone steps into the castle, he 
+was going to buy Dobby a pair of socks for every day 
+of the year. 
+
+
+
+Page | 561 
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+
+
+
+PADFOOT RETURNS 
+
+One of the best things about the aftermath of the 
+second task was that everybody was very keen to hear 
+details of what had happened down in the lake, which 
+meant that Ron was getting to share Harry’s limelight 
+for once. Harry noticed that Ron’s version of events 
+changed subtly with every retelling. At first, he gave 
+what seemed to be the truth; it tallied with 
+Hermione’s story, anyway — Dumbledore had put all 
+the hostages into a bewitched sleep in Professor 
+McGonagall’s office, first assuring them that they 
+would be quite safe, and would awake when they were 
+back above the water. One week later, however, Ron 
+was telling a thrilling tale of kidnap in which he 
+struggled single-handedly against fifty heavily armed 
+merpeople who had to beat him into submission 
+before tying him up. 
+
+“But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve,” he assured 
+Padma Patil, who seemed to be a lot keener on Ron 
+now that he was getting so much attention and was 
+making a point of talking to him every time they 
+
+
+
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+
+passed in the corridors. “I could’ve taken those mer- 
+idiots any time I wanted.” 
+
+“What were you going to do, snore at them?” said 
+Hermione waspishly. People had been teasing her so 
+much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would 
+most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood. 
+
+Ron’s ears went red, and thereafter, he reverted to the 
+bewitched sleep version of events. 
+
+As they entered March the weather became drier, but 
+cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time 
+they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in 
+the post because the owls kept being blown off 
+course. The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius 
+with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up 
+at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers 
+sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn 
+off Sirius’s reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it 
+was going to be sent outside again. 
+
+Sirius’s letter was almost as short as the previous 
+one. 
+
+Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past 
+Dervish and Banges) at two o’clock on Saturday 
+afternoon. Bring as much food as you can. 
+
+“He hasn’t come back to Hogsmeade?” said Ron 
+incredulously. 
+
+“It looks like it, doesn’t it?” said Hermione. 
+
+“I can’t believe him,” said Harry tensely, “if he’s 
+caught ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+“Made it so far, though, hasn’t he?” said Ron. “And 
+it’s not like the place is swarming with dementors 
+anymore.” 
+
+Harry folded up the letter, thinking. If he was honest 
+with himself, he really wanted to see Sirius again. He 
+therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon 
+— double Potions — feeling considerably more 
+cheerful than he usually did when descending the 
+steps to the dungeons. 
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle 
+outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson’s 
+gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at 
+something Harry couldn’t see and sniggering heartily. 
+Pansy’s pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle ’s 
+broad back as Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached. 
+
+“There they are, there they are!” she giggled, and the 
+knot of Slytherins broke apart. Harry saw that Pansy 
+had a magazine in her hands — Witch Weekly. The 
+moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired 
+witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large 
+sponge cake with her wand. 
+
+“You might find something to interest you in there, 
+Granger!” Pansy said loudly, and she threw the 
+magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking 
+startled. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, 
+and Snape beckoned them all inside. 
+
+Hermione, Harry, and Ron headed for a table at the 
+back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had 
+turned his back on them to write up the ingredients 
+of today’s potion on the blackboard, Hermione hastily 
+rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, 
+in the center pages, Hermione found what they were 
+looking for. Harry and Ron leaned in closer. A color 
+photograph of Harry headed a short piece entitled: 
+Page | 564 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry Potter’s Secret Heartache 
+
+
+
+A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all 
+the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. 
+Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, 
+fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found 
+solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle- 
+born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he 
+would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow 
+in a life already littered with personal loss. 
+
+Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to 
+have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone 
+cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor 
+Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World 
+Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with 
+both boys’ affections. Krum, who is openly smitten 
+with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited 
+her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, 
+and insists that he has “never felt this way about any 
+other girl.” 
+
+However, it might not be Miss Granger’s doubtful 
+natural charms that have captured these unfortunate 
+boys’ interest. 
+
+“She’s really ugly,” says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty 
+and vivacious fourth-year student, “but she’d be well 
+up to making a Love Potion, she’s quite brainy. I 
+think that’s how she’s doing it.” 
+
+Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and 
+no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate 
+these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter’s well- 
+wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his 
+heart on a worthier candidate. 
+
+“I told you!” Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared 
+down at the article. “I told you not to annoy Rita 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Skeeter! She’s made you out to be some sort of — of 
+scarlet woman!” 
+
+Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted 
+with laughter. “ Scarlet woman?” she repeated, 
+shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked 
+around at Ron. 
+
+“It’s what my mum calls them,” Ron muttered, his 
+ears going red. 
+
+“If that’s the best Rita can do, she’s losing her touch,” 
+said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw Witch 
+Weekly onto the empty chair beside her. “What a pile 
+of old rubbish.” 
+
+She looked over at the Slytherins, who were all 
+watching her and Harry closely across the room to see 
+if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave 
+them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, Harry, 
+and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they 
+would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion. 
+
+“There’s something funny, though,” said Hermione 
+ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over 
+a bowl of scarab beetles. “How could Rita Skeeter 
+have known ... ?” 
+
+“Known what?” said Ron quickly. “You haven’t been 
+mixing up Love Potions, have you?” 
+
+“Don’t be stupid,” Hermione snapped, starting to 
+pound up her beetles again. “No, it’s just ... how did 
+she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the 
+summer?” 
+
+Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and 
+determinedly avoided Ron’s eyes. 
+
+
+
+Page | 566 
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+
+
+“What?” said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud 
+clunk. 
+
+
+
+“He asked me right after he’d pulled me out of the 
+lake,” Hermione muttered. “After he’d got rid of his 
+shark’s head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets 
+and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges 
+so they wouldn’t hear, and he said, if I wasn’t doing 
+anything over the summer, would I like to — ” 
+
+“And what did you say?” said Ron, who had picked up 
+his pestle and was grinding it on the desk, a good six 
+inches from his bowl, because he was looking at 
+Hermione. 
+
+“And he did say he’d never felt the same way about 
+anyone else,” Hermione went on, going so red now 
+that Harry could almost feel the heat coming from 
+her, “but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? 
+
+She wasn’t there ... or was she? Maybe she has got an 
+Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the 
+grounds to watch the second task. ...” 
+
+“And what did you say?” Ron repeated, pounding his 
+pestle down so hard that it dented the desk. 
+
+“Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry 
+were okay to — ” 
+
+“Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, 
+Miss Granger,” said an icy voice right behind them, 
+and all three of them jumped, “I must ask you not to 
+discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor.” 
+
+Snape had glided over to their desk while they were 
+talking. The whole class was now looking around at 
+them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash POTTER 
+STINKS across the dungeon at Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Ah . . . reading magazines under the table as well?” 
+Snape added, snatching up the copy of Witch Weekly. 
+“A further ten points from Gryffindor ... oh but of 
+course ...” Snape’s black eyes glittered as they fell on 
+Rita Skeeter’s article. “Potter has to keep up with his 
+press cuttings. ...” 
+
+The dungeon rang with the Slytherins’ laughter, and 
+an unpleasant smile curled Snape’s thin mouth. To 
+Harry’s fury, he began to read the article aloud. 
+
+“ ‘Harry Potter’s Secret Heartache . . . dear, dear, 
+
+Potter, what’s ailing you now? ‘A boy like no other, 
+perhaps ...’ ” 
+
+Harry could feel his face burning. Snape was pausing 
+at the end of every sentence to allow the Slytherins a 
+hearty laugh. The article sounded ten times worse 
+when read by Snape. Even Hermione was blushing 
+scarlet now. 
+
+“ ‘. . . Harry Potter’s well-wishers must hope that, next 
+time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.’ 
+How very touching,” sneered Snape, rolling up the 
+magazine to continued gales of laughter from the 
+Slytherins. “Well, I think I had better separate the 
+three of you, so you can keep your minds on your 
+potions rather than on your tangled love lives. 
+Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, 
+beside Miss Parkinson. Potter — that table in front of 
+my desk. Move. Now.” 
+
+Furious, Harry threw his ingredients and his bag into 
+his cauldron and dragged it up to the front of the 
+dungeon to the empty table. Snape followed, sat down 
+at his desk and watched Harry unload his cauldron. 
+Determined not to look at Snape, Harry resumed the 
+mashing of his scarab beetles, imagining each one to 
+have Snape’s face. 
+
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+
+“All this press attention seems to have inflated your 
+already over-large head, Potter,” said Snape quietly, 
+once the rest of the class had settled down again. 
+
+Harry didn’t answer. He knew Snape was trying to 
+provoke him; he had done this before. No doubt he 
+was hoping for an excuse to take a round fifty points 
+from Gryffindor before the end of the class. 
+
+“You might be laboring under the delusion that the 
+entire wizarding world is impressed with you,” Snape 
+went on, so quietly that no one else could hear him 
+(Harry continued to pound his scarab beetles, even 
+though he had already reduced them to a very fine 
+powder), “but I don’t care how many times your 
+picture appears in the papers. To me, Potter, you are 
+nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to 
+be beneath him.” 
+
+Harry tipped the powdered beetles into his cauldron 
+and started cutting up his ginger roots. His hands 
+were shaking slightly out of anger, but he kept his 
+eyes down, as though he couldn’t hear what Snape 
+was saying to him. 
+
+“So I give you fair warning, Potter,” Snape continued 
+in a softer and more dangerous voice, “pint-sized 
+celebrity or not — if I catch you breaking into my 
+office one more time — ” 
+
+“I haven’t been anywhere near your office!” said Harry 
+angrily, forgetting his feigned deafness. 
+
+“Don’t lie to me,” Snape hissed, his fathomless black 
+eyes boring into Harry’s. “Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. 
+Both come from my private stores, and I know who 
+stole them.” 
+
+
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+Harry stared back at Snape, determined not to blink 
+or to look guilty. In truth, he hadn’t stolen either of 
+these things from Snape. Hermione had taken the 
+boomslang skin back in their second year — they had 
+needed it for the Polyjuice Potion — and while Snape 
+had suspected Harry at the time, he had never been 
+able to prove it. Dobby, of course, had stolen the 
+gillyweed. 
+
+“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harry lied 
+coldly. 
+
+“You were out of bed on the night my office was 
+broken into!” Snape hissed. “I know it, Potter! Now, 
+Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your fan club, but 
+I will not tolerate your behavior! One more nighttime 
+stroll into my office, Potter, and you will pay!” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry coolly, turning back to his ginger 
+roots. “I’ll bear that in mind if I ever get the urge to go 
+in there.” 
+
+Snape’s eyes flashed. He plunged a hand into the 
+inside of his black robes. For one wild moment, Harry 
+thought Snape was about to pull out his wand and 
+curse him — then he saw that Snape had drawn out a 
+small crystal bottle of a completely clear potion. Harry 
+stared at it. 
+
+“Do you know what this is, Potter?” Snape said, his 
+eyes glittering dangerously again. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, with complete honesty this time. 
+
+“It is Veritaserum — a Truth Potion so powerful that 
+three drops would have you spilling your innermost 
+secrets for this entire class to hear,” said Snape 
+viciously. “Now, the use of this potion is controlled by 
+very strict Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch 
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+your step, you might just find that my hand slips” — 
+he shook the crystal bottle slightly — “right over your 
+evening pumpkin juice. And then, Potter ... then we’ll 
+find out whether you’ve been in my office or not.” 
+
+Harry said nothing. He turned back to his ginger 
+roots once more, picked up his knife, and started 
+slicing them again. He didn’t like the sound of that 
+Truth Potion at all, nor would he put it past Snape to 
+slip him some. He repressed a shudder at the thought 
+of what might come spilling out of his mouth if Snape 
+did it . . . quite apart from landing a whole lot of people 
+in trouble — Hermione and Dobby for a start — there 
+were all the other things he was concealing . . . like the 
+fact that he was in contact with Sirius . . . and — his 
+insides squirmed at the thought — how he felt about 
+Cho. ... He tipped his ginger roots into the cauldron 
+too, and wondered whether he ought to take a leaf out 
+of Moody’s book and start drinking only from a 
+private hip flask. 
+
+There was a knock on the dungeon door. 
+
+“Enter,” said Snape in his usual voice. 
+
+The class looked around as the door opened. 
+
+Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him 
+as he walked up toward Snape ’s desk. He was 
+twisting his finger around his goatee and looking 
+agitated. 
+
+“We need to talk,” said Karkaroff abruptly when he 
+had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that 
+nobody should hear what he was saying that he was 
+barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a 
+rather poor ventriloquist. Harry kept his eyes on his 
+ginger roots, listening hard. 
+
+
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+“I’ll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff,” Snape 
+muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him. 
+
+“I want to talk now, while you can’t slip off, Severus. 
+You’ve been avoiding me.” 
+
+“After the lesson,” Snape snapped. 
+
+Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to 
+see if he’d poured out enough armadillo bile, Harry 
+sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair of them. 
+Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked 
+angry. 
+
+Karkaroff hovered behind Snape ’s desk for the rest of 
+the double period. He seemed intent on preventing 
+Snape from slipping away at the end of class. Keen to 
+hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry deliberately 
+knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two 
+minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse 
+to duck down behind his cauldron and mop up while 
+the rest of the class moved noisily toward the door. 
+
+“What’s so urgent?” he heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff. 
+
+“This,” said Karkaroff, and Harry, peering around the 
+edge of his cauldron, saw Karkaroff pull up the left- 
+hand sleeve of his robe and show Snape something on 
+his inner forearm. 
+
+“Well?” said Karkaroff, still making every effort not to 
+move his lips. “Do you see? It’s never been this clear, 
+never since — ” 
+
+“Put it away!” snarled Snape, his black eyes sweeping 
+the classroom. 
+
+“But you must have noticed — ” Karkaroff began in an 
+agitated voice. 
+
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+
+“We can talk later, Karkaroff!” spat Snape. “Potter! 
+What are you doing?” 
+
+“Clearing up my armadillo bile, Professor,” said Harry 
+innocently, straightening up and showing Snape the 
+sodden rag he was holding. 
+
+Karkaroff turned on his heel and strode out of the 
+dungeon. He looked both worried and angry. Not 
+wanting to remain alone with an exceptionally angry 
+Snape, Harry threw his books and ingredients back 
+into his bag and left at top speed to tell Ron and 
+Hermione what he had just witnessed. 
+
+They left the castle at noon the next day to find a 
+weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The 
+weather was milder than it had been all year, and by 
+the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, all three of them 
+had taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their 
+shoulders. The food Sirius had told them to bring was 
+in Harry’s bag; they had sneaked a dozen chicken 
+legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice 
+from the lunch table. 
+
+They went into Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present 
+for Dobby, where they had fun selecting the most 
+lurid socks they could find, including a pair patterned 
+with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that 
+screamed loudly when they became too smelly. Then, 
+at half past one, they made their way up the High 
+Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the 
+edge of the village. 
+
+Harry had never been in this direction before. The 
+winding lane was leading them out into the wild 
+countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were 
+fewer here, and their gardens larger; they were 
+walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose 
+shadow Hogsmeade lay. Then they turned a corner 
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+
+and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for 
+them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very 
+large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some 
+newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar. . . . 
+
+“Hello, Sirius,” said Harry when they had reached 
+him. 
+
+The black dog sniffed Harry’s bag eagerly, wagged its 
+tail once, then turned and began to trot away from 
+them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to 
+meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione climbed over the stile and followed. 
+
+Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, 
+where the ground was covered with boulders and 
+rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. 
+They followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain 
+itself. For nearly half an hour they climbed a steep, 
+winding, and stony path, following Sirius’s wagging 
+tail, sweating in the sun, the shoulder straps of 
+Harry’s bag cutting into his shoulders. 
+
+Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when 
+they reached the place where he had vanished, they 
+saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into 
+it and found themselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. 
+Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a 
+large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Half gray 
+horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak’s fierce orange eye 
+flashed at the sight of them. All three of them bowed 
+low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a 
+moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and 
+allowed Hermione to rush forward and stroke his 
+feathery neck. Harry, however, was looking at the 
+black dog, which had just turned into his godfather. 
+
+
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+Sirius was wearing ragged gray robes; the same ones 
+he had been wearing when he had left Azkaban. His 
+black hair was longer than it had been when he had 
+appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted 
+once more. He looked very thin. 
+
+“Chicken!” he said hoarsely after removing the old 
+Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them 
+down onto the cave floor. 
+
+Harry pulled open his bag and handed over the 
+bundle of chicken legs and bread. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a 
+drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing 
+off a large chunk with his teeth. “I’ve been living off 
+rats mostly. Can’t steal too much food from 
+Hogsmeade; I’d draw attention to myself.” 
+
+He grinned up at Harry, but Harry returned the grin 
+only reluctantly. 
+
+“What’re you doing here, Sirius?” he said. 
+
+“Fulfilling my duty as godfather,” said Sirius, gnawing 
+on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. “Don’t 
+worry about it, I’m pretending to be a lovable stray.” 
+
+He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in 
+Harry’s face, said more seriously, “I want to be on the 
+spot. Your last letter ... well, let’s just say things are 
+getting fishier. I’ve been stealing the paper every time 
+someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, 
+I’m not the only one who’s getting worried.” 
+
+He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave 
+floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them. 
+Harry, however, continued to stare at Sirius. 
+
+
+
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+“What if they catch you? What if you’re seen?” 
+
+“You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around 
+here who know I’m an Animagus,” said Sirius, 
+shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg. 
+
+Ron nudged Harry and passed him the Daily 
+Prophets. There were two: The first bore the headline 
+Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch, the second, 
+Ministry Witch Still Missing — Minister of Magic Now 
+Personally Involved. 
+
+Harry scanned the story about Crouch. Phrases 
+jumped out at him: hasn’t been seen in public since 
+November ... house appears deserted ... St. Mungo’s 
+Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline 
+comment . . . Ministry refuses to confirm rumors of 
+critical illness. . . . 
+
+“They’re making it sound like he’s dying,” said Harry 
+slowly. “But he can’t be that ill if he managed to get 
+up here. ...” 
+
+“My brother’s Crouch’s personal assistant,” Ron 
+informed Sirius. “He says Crouch is suffering from 
+overwork.” 
+
+“Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up 
+close,” said Harry slowly, still reading the story. “The 
+night my name came out of the goblet. ...” 
+
+“Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn’t 
+he?” said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was 
+stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius’s 
+chicken bones. “I bet he wishes he hadn’t done it now 
+— bet he feels the difference now she’s not there to 
+look after him.” 
+
+
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+
+“Hermione’s obsessed with house-elfs,” Ron muttered 
+to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, 
+however, looked interested. 
+
+“Crouch sacked his house-elf?” 
+
+“Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup,” said Harry, and 
+he launched into the story of the Dark Mark’s 
+appearance, and Winky being found with Harry’s 
+wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch’s fury. 
+When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again 
+and had started pacing up and down the cave. 
+
+“Let me get this straight,” he said after a while, 
+brandishing a fresh chicken leg. “You first saw the elf 
+in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together. 
+
+“But Crouch didn’t turn up for the match?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “I think he said he’d been too busy.” 
+
+Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he 
+said, “Harry, did you check your pockets for your 
+wand after you’d left the Top Box?” 
+
+“Erm ...” Harry thought hard. “No,” he said finally. “I 
+didn’t need to use it before we got in the forest. And 
+then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in 
+there were my Omnioculars.” He stared at Sirius. “Are 
+you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand 
+in the Top Box?” 
+
+“It’s possible,” said Sirius. 
+
+“Winky didn’t steal that wand!” Hermione insisted. 
+
+
+
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+“The elf wasn’t the only one in that box,” said Sirius, 
+his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. “Who else 
+was sitting behind you?” 
+
+“Loads of people,” said Harry. “Some Bulgarian 
+ministers ... Cornelius Fudge ... the Malfoys ...” 
+
+“The Malfoys!” said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his 
+voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak 
+tossed his head nervously. “I bet it was Lucius 
+Malfoy!” 
+
+“Anyone else?” said Sirius. 
+
+“No one,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman,” Hermione 
+reminded him. 
+
+“Oh yeah ...” 
+
+“I don’t know anything about Bagman except that he 
+used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps,” said 
+Sirius, still pacing. “What’s he like?” 
+
+“He’s okay,” said Harry. “He keeps offering to help me 
+with the Triwizard Tournament.” 
+
+“Does he, now?” said Sirius, frowning more deeply. “I 
+wonder why he’d do that?” 
+
+“Says he’s taken a liking to me,” said Harry. 
+
+“Hmm,” said Sirius, looking thoughtful. 
+
+“We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark 
+appeared,” Hermione told Sirius. “Remember?” she 
+said to Harry and Ron. 
+
+
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+
+“Yeah, but he didn’t stay in the forest, did he?” said 
+Ron. “The moment we told him about the riot, he 
+went off to the campsite.” 
+
+“How d’you know?” Hermione shot back. “How d’you 
+know where he Disapparated to?” 
+
+“Come off it,” said Ron incredulously. “Are you saying 
+you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?” 
+
+“It’s more likely he did it than Winky,” said Hermione 
+stubbornly. 
+
+“Told you,” said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, 
+“told you she’s obsessed with house — ” 
+
+But Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron. 
+
+“When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf 
+had been discovered holding Harry’s wand, what did 
+Crouch do?” 
+
+“Went to look in the bushes,” said Harry, “but there 
+wasn’t anyone else there.” 
+
+“Of course,” Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, “of 
+course, he’d want to pin it on anyone but his own elf 
+. . . and then he sacked her?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione in a heated voice, “he sacked 
+her, just because she hadn’t stayed in her tent and let 
+herself get trampled — ” 
+
+“Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!” said 
+Ron. 
+
+Sirius shook his head and said, “She’s got the 
+measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you 
+
+
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+want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at 
+how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” 
+
+He ran a hand over his unshaven face, evidently 
+thinking hard. 
+
+“All these absences of Barty Crouch’s ... he goes to 
+the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a 
+seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn’t bother 
+to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate 
+the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to 
+that too. ... It’s not like Crouch. If he’s ever taken a 
+day off work because of illness before this, I’ll eat 
+Buckbeak.” 
+
+“D’you know Crouch, then?” said Harry. 
+
+Sirius’s face darkened. He suddenly looked as 
+menacing as he had the night when Harry first met 
+him, the night when Harry still believed Sirius to be a 
+murderer. 
+
+“Oh I know Crouch all right,” he said quietly. “He was 
+the one who gave the order for me to be sent to 
+Azkaban — without a trial.” 
+
+“What?” said Ron and Hermione together. 
+
+“You’re kidding!” said Harry. 
+
+“No, I’m not,” said Sirius, taking another great bite of 
+chicken. “Crouch used to be Head of the Department 
+of Magical Law Enforcement, didn’t you know?” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads. 
+
+“He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic,” said 
+Sirius. “He’s a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully 
+magical — and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort 
+
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+supporter,” he said, reading the look on Harry’s face. 
+“No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against 
+the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were 
+against the Dark Side ... well, you wouldn’t 
+understand ... you’re too young. ...” 
+
+“That’s what my dad said at the World Cup,” said 
+Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice. “Try us, 
+why don’t you?” 
+
+A grin flashed across Sirius’s thin face. 
+
+“All right, I’ll try you. ...” He walked once up the cave, 
+back again, and then said, “Imagine that Voldemort’s 
+powerful now. You don’t know who his supporters 
+are, you don’t know who’s working for him and who 
+isn’t; you know he can control people so that they do 
+terrible things without being able to stop themselves. 
+You’re scared for yourself, and your family, and your 
+friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, 
+more disappearances, more torturing ... the Ministry 
+of Magic’s in disarray, they don’t know what to do, 
+they’re trying to keep everything hidden from the 
+Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. 
+
+Terror everywhere ... panic ... confusion ... that’s how 
+it used to be. 
+
+“Well, times like that bring out the best in some 
+people and the worst in others. Crouch’s principles 
+might’ve been good in the beginning — I wouldn’t 
+know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he 
+started ordering very harsh measures against 
+Voldemort’s supporters. The Aurors were given new 
+powers — powers to kill rather than capture, for 
+instance. And I wasn’t the only one who was handed 
+straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought 
+violence with violence, and authorized the use of the 
+Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he 
+became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark 
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+Side. He had his supporters, mind you — plenty of 
+people thought he was going about things the right 
+way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards 
+clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. 
+When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a 
+matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then 
+something rather unfortunate happened. ...” Sirius 
+smiled grimly. “Crouch’s own son was caught with a 
+group of Death Eaters who’d managed to talk their 
+way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to 
+find Voldemort and return him to power.” 
+
+“Crouch’s son was caught?” gasped Hermione. 
+
+“Yep,” said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to 
+Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground 
+beside the loaf of bread, and tearing it in half. “Nasty 
+little shock for old Barty, I’d imagine. Should have 
+spent a bit more time at home with his family, 
+shouldn’t he? Ought to have left the office early once 
+in a while ... gotten to know his own son.” 
+
+He began to wolf down large pieces of bread. 
+
+“ Was his son a Death Eater?” said Harry. 
+
+“No idea,” said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. “I was 
+in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is 
+mostly stuff I’ve found out since I got out. The boy 
+was definitely caught in the company of people I’d bet 
+my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been 
+in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the 
+house-elf.” 
+
+“Did Crouch try and get his son off?” Hermione 
+whispered. 
+
+Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a 
+bark. 
+
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+
+“Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the 
+measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened 
+to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated 
+his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw 
+him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she 
+associated him with the Dark Mark again — doesn’t 
+that tell you what he’s like? Crouch’s fatherly 
+affection stretched just far enough to give his son a 
+trial, and by all accounts, it wasn’t much more than 
+an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the 
+boy ... then he sent him straight to Azkaban.” 
+
+“He gave his own son to the dementors?” asked Harry 
+quietly. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Sirius, and he didn’t look remotely 
+amused now. “I saw the dementors bringing him in, 
+watched them through the bars in my cell door. He 
+can’t have been more than nineteen. They took him 
+into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his 
+mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, 
+though . . . they all went quiet in the end . . . except 
+when they shrieked in their sleep. ...” 
+
+For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius’s eyes 
+became more pronounced than ever, as though 
+shutters had closed behind them. 
+
+“So he’s still in Azkaban?” Harry said. 
+
+“No,” said Sirius dully. “No, he’s not in there anymore. 
+He died about a year after they brought him in.” 
+
+“He died?” 
+
+“He wasn’t the only one,” said Sirius bitterly. “Most go 
+mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They 
+lose the will to live. You could always tell when a 
+death was coming, because the dementors could 
+
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+sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty 
+sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important 
+Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a 
+deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty 
+Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died 
+herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted 
+away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his 
+son’s body. The dementors buried him outside the 
+fortress; I watched them do it.” 
+
+Sirius threw aside the bread he had just lifted to his 
+mouth and instead picked up the flask of pumpkin 
+juice and drained it. 
+
+“So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he 
+had it made,” he continued, wiping his mouth with 
+the back of his hand. “One moment, a hero, poised to 
+become Minister of Magic . . . next, his son dead, his 
+wife dead, the family name dishonored, and, so I’ve 
+heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once 
+the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more 
+sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a 
+nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly 
+astray. The conclusion was that his father never 
+cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top 
+job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the 
+Department of International Magical Cooperation.” 
+
+There was a long silence. Harry was thinking of the 
+way Crouch’s eyes had bulged as he’d looked down at 
+his disobedient house-elf back in the wood at the 
+Quidditch World Cup. This, then, must have been 
+why Crouch had overreacted to Winky being found 
+beneath the Dark Mark. It had brought back 
+memories of his son, and the old scandal, and his fall 
+from grace at the Ministry. 
+
+“Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark 
+wizards,” Harry told Sirius. 
+
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+
+“Yeah, I’ve heard it’s become a bit of a mania with 
+him,” said Sirius, nodding. “If you ask me, he still 
+thinks he can bring back the old popularity by 
+catching one more Death Eater.” 
+
+“And he sneaked up here to search Snape’s office!” 
+said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione. 
+
+“Yes, and that doesn’t make sense at all,” said Sirius. 
+
+“Yeah, it does!” said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook 
+his head. 
+
+“Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why 
+hasn’t he been coming to judge the tournament? It 
+would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to 
+Hogwarts and keep an eye on him.” 
+
+“So you think Snape could be up to something, then?” 
+asked Harry, but Hermione broke in. 
+
+“Look, I don’t care what you say, Dumbledore trusts 
+Snape — ” 
+
+“Oh give it a rest, Hermione,” said Ron impatiently. “I 
+know Dumbledore ’s brilliant and everything, but that 
+doesn’t mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn’t fool 
+him — ” 
+
+
+
+“Why did Snape save Harry’s life in the first year, 
+then? Why didn’t he just let him die?” 
+
+“I dunno — maybe he thought Dumbledore would 
+kick him out — ” 
+
+“What d’you think, Sirius?” Harry said loudly, and 
+Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen. 
+
+
+
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+“I think they’ve both got a point,” said Sirius, looking 
+thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. “Ever since I 
+found out Snape was teaching here, I’ve wondered 
+why Dumbledore hired him. Snape ’s always been 
+fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at 
+school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was,” Sirius 
+added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. 
+“Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school 
+than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of 
+a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be 
+Death Eaters.” 
+
+Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off 
+names. 
+
+“Rosier and Wilkes — they were both killed by Aurors 
+the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges — 
+they’re a married couple — they’re in Azkaban. Avery 
+
+— from what I’ve heard he wormed his way out of 
+trouble by saying he’d been acting under the Imperius 
+Curse — he’s still at large. But as far as I know, 
+
+Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater 
+
+— not that that means much. Plenty of them were 
+never caught. And Snape ’s certainly clever and 
+cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble.” 
+
+“Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to 
+keep that quiet,” said Ron. 
+
+“Yeah, you should’ve seen Snape’s face when 
+Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!” said Harry 
+quickly. “Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says 
+Snape’s been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really 
+worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but 
+I couldn’t see what it was.” 
+
+“He showed Snape something on his arm?” said 
+Sirius, looking frankly bewildered. He ran his fingers 
+distractedly through his filthy hair, then shrugged 
+
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+again. “Well, I’ve no idea what that’s about ... but if 
+Karkaroff’s genuinely worried, and he’s going to 
+Snape for answers ...” 
+
+Sirius stared at the cave wall, then made a grimace of 
+frustration. 
+
+“There’s still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, 
+and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other 
+people wouldn’t, but I just can’t see him letting Snape 
+teach at Hogwarts if he’d ever worked for Voldemort.” 
+
+“Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into 
+Snape ’s office then?” said Ron stubbornly. 
+
+“Well,” said Sirius slowly, “I wouldn’t put it past Mad- 
+Eye to have searched every single teacher’s office 
+when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I’m not sure 
+he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he’s seen, 
+it’s not surprising. I’ll say this for Moody, though, he 
+never killed if he could help it. Always brought people 
+in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never 
+descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, 
+though ... he’s a different matter ... is he really ill? If 
+he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to 
+Snape ’s office? And if he’s not ... what’s he up to? 
+What was he doing at the World Cup that was so 
+important he didn’t turn up in the Top Box? What’s 
+he been doing while he should have been judging the 
+tournament?” 
+
+Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave 
+wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky 
+floor, looking for bones he might have overlooked. 
+Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron. 
+
+
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+“You say your brother’s Crouch’s personal assistant? 
+Any chance you could ask him if he’s seen Crouch 
+lately?” 
+
+“I can try,” said Ron doubtfully. “Better not make it 
+sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, 
+though. Percy loves Crouch.” 
+
+“And you might try and find out whether they’ve got 
+any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you’re at it,” said 
+Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the Daily 
+Prophet. 
+
+“Bagman told me they hadn’t,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes, he’s quoted in the article in there,” said Sirius, 
+nodding at the paper. “Blustering on about how bad 
+Bertha’s memory is. Well, maybe she’s changed since 
+I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn’t forgetful at 
+all — quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she 
+had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her 
+into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her 
+mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at 
+the Ministry of Magic ... maybe that’s why Bagman 
+didn’t bother to look for her for so long. ...” 
+
+Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his 
+shadowed eyes. 
+
+“What’s the time?” 
+
+Harry checked his watch, then remembered it hadn’t 
+been working since it had spent over an hour in the 
+lake. 
+
+“It’s half past three,” said Hermione. 
+
+“You’d better get back to school,” Sirius said, getting 
+to his feet. “Now listen ...” He looked particularly hard 
+
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+at Harry. “I don’t want you lot sneaking out of school 
+to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still 
+want to hear about anything odd. But you’re not to go 
+leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an 
+ideal opportunity for someone to attack you.” 
+
+“No one’s tried to attack me so far, except a dragon 
+and a couple of grindylows,” Harry said, but Sirius 
+scowled at him. 
+
+“I don’t care ... I’ll breathe freely again when this 
+tournament’s over, and that’s not until June. And 
+don’t forget, if you’re talking about me among 
+yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?” 
+
+He handed Harry the empty napkin and flask and 
+went to pat Buckbeak good-bye. “I’ll walk to the edge 
+of the village with you,” said Sirius, “see if I can 
+scrounge another paper.” 
+
+He transformed into the great black dog before they 
+left the cave, and they walked back down the 
+mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn 
+ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of 
+them to pat him on the head, before turning and 
+setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village. 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way back into 
+Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts. 
+
+“Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?” 
+Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. 
+“But maybe he doesn’t care ... it’d probably just make 
+him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves 
+rules. He’d just say Crouch was refusing to break 
+them for his own son.” 
+
+“Percy would never throw any of his family to the 
+dementors,” said Hermione severely. 
+
+
+
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+“I don’t know,” said Ron. “If he thought we were 
+standing in the way of his career . . . Percy’s really 
+ambitious, you know. ...” 
+
+They walked up the stone steps into the entrance 
+hall, where the delicious smells of dinner wafted 
+toward them from the Great Hall. 
+
+“Poor old Snuffles,” said Ron, breathing deeply. “He 
+must really like you, Harry. ... Imagine having to live 
+off rats.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+THE MADNESS OF MR. CROUCH 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery 
+after breakfast on Sunday to send a letter to Percy, 
+asking, as Sirius had suggested, whether he had seen 
+Mr. Crouch lately. They used Hedwig, because it had 
+been so long since she’d had a job. When they had 
+watched her fly out of sight through the Owlery 
+window, they proceeded down to the kitchen to give 
+Dobby his new socks. 
+
+The house-elves gave them a very cheery welcome, 
+bowing and curtsying and bustling around making 
+tea again. Dobby was ecstatic about his present. 
+
+“Harry Potter is too good to Dobby!” he squeaked, 
+wiping large tears out of his enormous eyes. 
+
+“You saved my life with that gillyweed, Dobby, you 
+really did,” said Harry. 
+
+“No chance of more of those eclairs, is there?” said 
+Ron, who was looking around at the beaming and 
+bowing house-elves. 
+
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+“You’ve just had breakfast!” said Hermione irritably, 
+but a great silver platter of eclairs was already 
+zooming toward them, supported by four elves. 
+
+“We should get some stuff to send up to Snuffles,” 
+Harry muttered. 
+
+“Good idea,” said Ron. “Give Pig something to do. You 
+couldn’t give us a bit of extra food, could you?” he 
+said to the surrounding elves, and they bowed 
+delightedly and hurried off to get some more. 
+
+“Dobby, where’s Winky?” said Hermione, who was 
+looking around. 
+
+“Winky is over there by the fire, miss,” said Dobby 
+quietly, his ears drooping slightly. 
+
+“Oh dear,” said Hermione as she spotted Winky. 
+
+Harry looked over at the fireplace too. Winky was 
+sitting on the same stool as last time, but she had 
+allowed herself to become so filthy that she was not 
+immediately distinguishable from the smoke- 
+blackened brick behind her. Her clothes were ragged 
+and unwashed. She was clutching a bottle of 
+butterbeer and swaying slightly on her stool, staring 
+into the fire. As they watched her, she gave an 
+enormous hiccup. 
+
+“Winky is getting through six bottles a day now,” 
+Dobby whispered to Harry. 
+
+“Well, it’s not strong, that stuff,” Harry said. 
+
+But Dobby shook his head. “ Tis strong for a house- 
+elf, sir,” he said. 
+
+
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+Winky hiccuped again. The elves who had brought the 
+eclairs gave her disapproving looks as they returned 
+to work. 
+
+“Winky is pining, Harry Potter,” Dobby whispered 
+sadly. “Winky wants to go home. Winky still thinks 
+Mr. Crouch is her master, sir, and nothing Dobby 
+says will persuade her that Professor Dumbledore is 
+her master now.” 
+
+“Hey, Winky,” said Harry, struck by a sudden 
+inspiration, walking over to her, and bending down, 
+“you don’t know what Mr. Crouch might be up to, do 
+you? Because he’s stopped turning up to judge the 
+Triwizard Tournament.” 
+
+Winky’s eyes flickered. Her enormous pupils focused 
+on Harry. She swayed slightly again and then said, “M 
+— Master is stopped — hie — coming?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “we haven’t seen him since the 
+first task. The Daily Prophet’s saying he’s ill.” 
+
+Winky swayed some more, staring blurrily at Harry. 
+
+“Master — hie — ill?” 
+
+Her bottom lip began to tremble. 
+
+“But we’re not sure if that’s true,” said Hermione 
+quickly. 
+
+“Master is needing his — hie — Winky!” whimpered 
+the elf. “Master cannot — hie — manage — hie — all 
+by himself. ...” 
+
+“Other people manage to do their own housework, 
+you know, Winky,” Hermione said severely. 
+
+
+
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+“Winky — hie — is not only — hie — doing housework 
+for Mr. Crouch!” Winky squeaked indignantly, 
+swaying worse than ever and slopping butterbeer 
+down her already heavily stained blouse. “Master is — 
+hie — trusting Winky with — hie — the most 
+important — hie — the most secret — ” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+But Winky shook her head very hard, spilling more 
+butterbeer down herself. 
+
+“Winky keeps — hie — her master’s secrets,” she said 
+mutinously, swaying very heavily now, frowning up at 
+Harry with her eyes crossed. “You is — hie — nosing, 
+you is.” 
+
+“Winky must not talk like that to Harry Potter!” said 
+Dobby angrily. “Harry Potter is brave and noble and 
+Harry Potter is not nosy!” 
+
+“He is nosing — hie — into my master’s — hie — 
+private and secret — hie — Winky is a good house-elf 
+— hie — Winky keeps her silence — hie — people 
+trying to — hie — pry and poke — hie — ” 
+
+Winky’s eyelids drooped and suddenly, without 
+warning, she slid off her stool into the hearth, snoring 
+loudly. The empty bottle of butterbeer rolled away 
+across the stone-flagged floor. Half a dozen house- 
+elves came hurrying forward, looking disgusted. One 
+of them picked up the bottle; the others covered 
+Winky with a large checked tablecloth and tucked the 
+ends in neatly, hiding her from view. 
+
+“We is sorry you had to see that, sirs and miss!” 
+squeaked a nearby elf, shaking his head and looking 
+very ashamed. “We is hoping you will not judge us all 
+by Winky, sirs and miss!” 
+
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+
+“She’s unhappy!” said Hermione, exasperated. “Why 
+don’t you try and cheer her up instead of covering her 
+up?” 
+
+“Begging your pardon, miss,” said the house-elf, 
+bowing deeply again, “but house-elves has no right to 
+be unhappy when there is work to be done and 
+masters to be served.” 
+
+“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Hermione cried. “Listen to me, 
+all of you! You’ve got just as much right as wizards to 
+be unhappy! You’ve got the right to wages and 
+holidays and proper clothes, you don’t have to do 
+everything you’re told — look at Dobby!” 
+
+“Miss will please keep Dobby out of this,” Dobby 
+mumbled, looking scared. The cheery smiles had 
+vanished from the faces of the house-elves around the 
+kitchen. They were suddenly looking at Hermione as 
+though she were mad and dangerous. 
+
+“We has your extra food!” squeaked an elf at Harry’s 
+elbow, and he shoved a large ham, a dozen cakes, and 
+some fruit into Harry’s arms. “Good-bye!” 
+
+The house-elves crowded around Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione and began shunting them out of the 
+kitchen, many little hands pushing in the smalls of 
+their backs. 
+
+“Thank you for the socks, Harry Potter!” Dobby called 
+miserably from the hearth, where he was standing 
+next to the lumpy tablecloth that was Winky. 
+
+“You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you, 
+Hermione?” said Ron angrily as the kitchen door 
+slammed shut behind them. “They won’t want us 
+visiting them now! We could’ve tried to get more stuff 
+out of Winky about Crouch!” 
+
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+
+“Oh as if you care about that!” scoffed Hermione. “You 
+only like coming down here for the food!” 
+
+It was an irritable sort of day after that. Harry got so 
+tired of Ron and Hermione sniping at each other over 
+their homework in the common room that he took 
+Sirius’s food up to the Owlery that evening on his 
+own. 
+
+Pigwidgeon was much too small to carry an entire 
+ham up to the mountain by himself, so Harry enlisted 
+the help of two school screech owls as well. When 
+they had set off into the dusk, looking extremely odd 
+carrying the large package between them, Harry 
+leaned on the windowsill, looking out at the grounds, 
+at the dark, rustling treetops of the Forbidden Forest, 
+and the rippling sails of the Durmstrang ship. An 
+eagle owl flew through the coil of smoke rising from 
+Hagrid’s chimney; it soared toward the castle, around 
+the Owlery, and out of sight. Looking down, Harry 
+saw Hagrid digging energetically in front of his cabin. 
+Harry wondered what he was doing; it looked as 
+though he were making a new vegetable patch. As he 
+watched, Madame Maxime emerged from the 
+Beauxbatons carriage and walked over to Hagrid. She 
+appeared to be trying to engage him in conversation. 
+Hagrid leaned upon his spade, but did not seem keen 
+to prolong their talk, because Madame Maxime 
+returned to the carriage shortly afterward. 
+
+Unwilling to go back to Gryffindor Tower and listen to 
+Ron and Hermione snarling at each other, Harry 
+watched Hagrid digging until the darkness swallowed 
+him and the owls around Harry began to awake, 
+swooshing past him into the night. 
+
+By breakfast the next day Ron’s and Hermione’s bad 
+moods had burnt out, and to Harry’s relief, Ron’s 
+dark predictions that the house-elves would send 
+
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+
+substandard food up to the Gryffindor table because 
+Hermione had insulted them proved false; the bacon, 
+eggs, and kippers were quite as good as usual. 
+
+When the post owls arrived, Hermione looked up 
+eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something. 
+
+“Percy won’t’ve had time to answer yet,” said Ron. “We 
+only sent Hedwig yesterday.” 
+
+“No, it’s not that,” said Hermione. “I’ve taken out a 
+subscription to the Daily Prophet I’m getting sick of 
+finding everything out from the Slytherins.” 
+
+“Good thinking!” said Harry, also looking up at the 
+owls. “Hey, Hermione, I think you’re in luck — ” 
+
+A gray owl was soaring down toward Hermione. 
+
+“It hasn’t got a newspaper, though,” she said, looking 
+disappointed. “It’s — ” 
+
+But to her bewilderment, the gray owl landed in front 
+of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a 
+brown owl, and a tawny. 
+
+“How many subscriptions did you take out?” said 
+Harry, seizing Hermione ’s goblet before it was 
+knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were 
+jostling close to her, trying to deliver their own letter 
+first. 
+
+“What on earth — ?” Hermione said, taking the letter 
+from the gray owl, opening it, and starting to read. 
+
+“Oh really!” she sputtered, going rather red. 
+
+“What’s up?” said Ron. 
+
+“It’s — oh how ridiculous — ” 
+
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+
+She thrust the letter at Harry, who saw that it was 
+not handwritten, but composed from pasted letters 
+that seemed to have been cut out of the Daily Prophet. 
+
+You are a WickEd giRL. HarRy PotTER desErves 
+
+BeTteR. GO back wherE you cAMe from mUGgle. 
+
+“They’re all like it!” said Hermione desperately, 
+opening one letter after another. “ ‘Harry Potter can do 
+much better than the likes of you. ...’ ‘You deserve to 
+be boiled in frog spawn. ...’ Ouch!” 
+
+She had opened the last envelope, and yellowish- 
+green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over 
+her hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils. 
+
+“Undiluted bubotuber pus!” said Ron, picking up the 
+envelope gingerly and sniffing it. 
+
+“Ow!” said Hermione, tears starting in her eyes as she 
+tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but 
+her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful 
+sores that it looked as though she were wearing a pair 
+of thick, knobbly gloves. 
+
+“You’d better get up to the hospital wing,” said Harry 
+as the owls around Hermione took flight. “We’ll tell 
+Professor Sprout where you’ve gone. ...” 
+
+“I warned her!” said Ron as Hermione hurried out of 
+the Great Hall, cradling her hands. “I warned her not 
+to annoy Rita Skeeter! Look at this one ...” He read 
+out one of the letters Hermione had left behind: “ ‘I 
+read in Witch Weekly about how you are playing 
+Harry Potter false and that boy has had enough 
+hardship and I will be sending you a curse by next 
+
+
+
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+post as soon as I can find a big enough envelope.’ 
+Blimey, she’d better watch out for herself.” 
+
+Hermione didn’t turn up for Herbology. As Harry and 
+Ron left the greenhouse for their Care of Magical 
+Creatures class, they saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle 
+descending the stone steps of the castle. Pansy 
+Parkinson was whispering and giggling behind them 
+with her gang of Slytherin girls. Catching sight of 
+Harry, Pansy called, “Potter, have you split up with 
+your girlfriend? Why was she so upset at breakfast?” 
+
+Harry ignored her; he didn’t want to give her the 
+satisfaction of knowing how much trouble the Witch 
+Weekly article had caused. 
+
+Hagrid, who had told them last lesson that they had 
+finished with unicorns, was waiting for them outside 
+his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his 
+feet. Harry’s heart sank at the sight of the crates — 
+surely not another skrewt hatching? — but when he 
+got near enough to see inside, he found himself 
+looking at a number of fluffy black creatures with 
+long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like 
+spades, and they were blinking up at the class, 
+looking politely puzzled at all the attention. 
+
+“These’re nifflers,” said Hagrid, when the class had 
+gathered around. “Yeh find ’em down mines mostly. 
+They like sparkly stuff. ... There yeh go, look.” 
+
+One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and 
+attempted to bite Pansy Parkinson’s watch off her 
+wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward. 
+
+“Useful little treasure detectors,” said Hagrid happily. 
+“Thought we’d have some fun with ’em today. See over 
+there?” He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned 
+earth Harry had watched him digging from the Owlery 
+
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+window. “I’ve buried some gold coins. I’ve got a prize 
+fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus’ 
+take off all yer valuables, an’ choose a niffler, an’ get 
+ready ter set ’em loose.” 
+
+Harry took off his watch, which he was only wearing 
+out of habit, as it didn’t work anymore, and stuffed it 
+into his pocket. Then he picked up a niffler. It put its 
+long snout in Harry’s ear and sniffed enthusiastically. 
+It was really quite cuddly. 
+
+“Hang on,” said Hagrid, looking down into the crate, 
+“there’s a spare niffler here ... who’s missin’? Where’s 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“She had to go to the hospital wing,” said Ron. 
+
+“Well explain later,” Harry muttered; Pansy 
+Parkinson was listening. 
+
+It was easily the most fun they had ever had in Care 
+of Magical Creatures. The nifflers dived in and out of 
+the patch of earth as though it were water, each 
+scurrying back to the student who had released it and 
+spitting gold into their hands. Ron’s was particularly 
+efficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins. 
+
+“Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?” he asked 
+excitedly as his niffler dived back into the soil, 
+splattering his robes. 
+
+“Yer mum wouldn’ be happy, Ron,” said Hagrid, 
+grinning. “They wreck houses, nifflers. I reckon 
+they’ve nearly got the lot, now,” he added, pacing 
+around the patch of earth while the nifflers continued 
+to dive. “I on’y buried a hundred coins. Oh there 
+y’are, Hermione!” 
+
+
+
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+
+Hermione was walking toward them across the lawn. 
+Her hands were very heavily bandaged and she looked 
+miserable. Pansy Parkinson was watching her 
+beadily. 
+
+“Well, let’s check how yeh’ve done!” said Hagrid. 
+“Count yer coins! An’ there’s no point tryin’ ter steal 
+any, Goyle,” he added, his beetle-black eyes 
+narrowed. “It’s leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few 
+hours.” 
+
+Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It 
+turned out that Ron’s niffler had been most 
+successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of 
+Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. The bell rang 
+across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set 
+off back to the castle, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+stayed behind to help Hagrid put the nifflers back in 
+their boxes. Harry noticed Madame Maxime watching 
+them out of her carriage window. 
+
+“What yeh done ter your hands, Hermione?” said 
+Hagrid, looking concerned. 
+
+Hermione told him about the hate mail she had 
+received that morning, and the envelope full of 
+bubotuber pus. 
+
+“Aaah, don’ worry,” said Hagrid gently, looking down 
+at her. “I got some o’ those letters an’ all, after Rita 
+Skeeter wrote abou’ me mum. ‘Yeh’re a monster an’ 
+yeh should be put down.’ ‘Yer mother killed innocent 
+people an’ if you had any decency you’d jump in a 
+lake. ’ ” 
+
+“No!” said Hermione, looking shocked. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid, heaving the niffler crates over by 
+his cabin wall. “They’re jus’ nutters, Hermione. Don’ 
+
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+open ’em if yeh get any more. Chuck ’em straigh’ in 
+the fire.” 
+
+
+
+“You missed a really good lesson,” Harry told 
+Hermione as they headed back toward the castle. 
+“They’re good, nifflers, aren’t they, Ron?” 
+
+Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid 
+had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about 
+something. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” said Harry. “Wrong flavor?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron shortly. “Why didn’t you tell me about 
+the gold?” 
+
+“What gold?” said Harry. 
+
+“The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup,” 
+said Ron. “The leprechaun gold I gave you for my 
+Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn’t you tell me 
+it disappeared?” 
+
+Harry had to think for a moment before he realized 
+what Ron was talking about. 
+
+“Oh ...” he said, the memory coming back to him at 
+last. “I dunno ... I never noticed it had gone. I was 
+more worried about my wand, wasn’t I?” 
+
+They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and 
+went into the Great Hall for lunch. 
+
+“Must be nice,” Ron said abruptly, when they had sat 
+down and started serving themselves roast beef and 
+Yorkshire puddings. “To have so much money you 
+don’t notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing.” 
+
+
+
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+
+“Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!” said 
+Harry impatiently. “We all did, remember?” 
+
+
+
+“I didn’t know leprechaun gold vanishes,” Ron 
+muttered. “I thought I was paying you back. You 
+shouldn’t ’ve given me that Chudley Cannon hat for 
+Christmas.” 
+
+“Forget it, all right?” said Harry. 
+
+Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, 
+glaring at it. Then he said, “I hate being poor.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of 
+them really knew what to say. 
+
+“It’s rubbish,” said Ron, still glaring down at his 
+potato. “I don’t blame Fred and George for trying to 
+make some extra money. Wish I could. Wish I had a 
+niffler.” 
+
+“Well, we know what to get you next Christmas,” said 
+Hermione brightly. Then, when Ron continued to look 
+gloomy, she said, “Come on, Ron, it could be worse. 
+
+At least your fingers aren’t full of pus.” Hermione was 
+having a lot of difficulty managing her knife and fork, 
+her fingers were so stiff and swollen. “I hate that 
+Skeeter woman!” she burst out savagely. “I’ll get her 
+back for this if it’s the last thing I do!” 
+
+
+
+Hate mail continued to arrive for Hermione over the 
+following week, and although she followed Hagrid’s 
+advice and stopped opening it, several of her ill- 
+wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the 
+Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at her for the 
+whole Hall to hear. Even those people who didn’t read 
+Witch Weekly knew all about the supposed Harry- 
+Page | 603 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+Krum-Hermione triangle now. Harry was getting sick 
+of telling people that Hermione wasn’t his girlfriend. 
+
+“It’ll die down, though,” he told Hermione, “if we just 
+ignore it. ... People got bored with that stuff she wrote 
+about me last time — ” 
+
+“I want to know how she’s listening into private 
+conversations when she’s supposed to be banned 
+from the grounds!” said Hermione angrily. 
+
+Hermione hung back in their next Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts lesson to ask Professor Moody 
+something. The rest of the class was very eager to 
+leave; Moody had given them such a rigorous test of 
+hex-deflection that many of them were nursing small 
+injuries. Harry had such a bad case of Twitchy Ears, 
+he had to hold his hands clamped over them as he 
+walked away from the class. 
+
+“Well, Rita’s definitely not using an Invisibility Cloak!” 
+Hermione panted five minutes later, catching up with 
+Harry and Ron in the entrance hall and pulling 
+Harry’s hand away from one of his wiggling ears so 
+that he could hear her. “Moody says he didn’t see her 
+anywhere near the judges’ table at the second task, or 
+anywhere near the lake!” 
+
+“Hermione, is there any point in telling you to drop 
+this?” said Ron. 
+
+“No!” said Hermione stubbornly. “I want to know how 
+she heard me talking to Viktor! And how she found 
+out about Hagrid’s mum!” 
+
+“Maybe she had you bugged,” said Harry. 
+
+“Bugged?” said Ron blankly. “What ... put fleas on her 
+or something?” 
+
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+
+Harry started explaining about hidden microphones 
+and recording equipment. Ron was fascinated, but 
+Hermione interrupted them. 
+
+“Aren’t you two ever going to read Hogwarts, A 
+History?” 
+
+“What’s the point?” said Ron. “You know it by heart, 
+we can just ask you.” 
+
+“All those substitutes for magic Muggles use — 
+electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things 
+— they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there’s too 
+much magic in the air. No, Rita’s using magic to 
+eavesdrop, she must be. ... If I could just find out 
+what it is ... ooh, if it’s illegal, I’ll have her ...” 
+
+“Haven’t we got enough to worry about?” Ron asked 
+her. “Do we have to start a vendetta against Rita 
+Skeeter as well?” 
+
+“I’m not asking you to help!” Hermione snapped. “I’ll 
+do it on my own!” 
+
+She marched back up the marble staircase without a 
+backward glance. Harry was quite sure she was going 
+to the library. 
+
+“What’s the betting she comes back with a box of / 
+Hate Rita Skeeter badges?” said Ron. 
+
+Hermione, however, did not ask Harry and Ron to 
+help her pursue vengeance against Rita Skeeter, for 
+which they were both grateful, because their workload 
+was mounting ever higher in the days before the 
+Easter holidays. Harry frankly marveled at the fact 
+that Hermione could research magical methods of 
+eavesdropping as well as everything else they had to 
+do. He was working flat-out just to get through all 
+Page | 605 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
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+
+their homework, though he made a point of sending 
+regular food packages up to the cave in the mountain 
+for Sirius; after last summer, Harry had not forgotten 
+what it felt like to be continually hungry. He enclosed 
+notes to Sirius, telling him that nothing out of the 
+ordinary had happened, and that they were still 
+waiting for an answer from Percy. 
+
+Hedwig didn’t return until the end of the Easter 
+holidays. Percy’s letter was enclosed in a package of 
+Easter eggs that Mrs. Weasley had sent. Both Harry’s 
+and Ron’s were the size of dragon eggs and full of 
+homemade toffee. Hermione’s, however, was smaller 
+than a chicken egg. Her face fell when she saw it. 
+
+“Your mum doesn’t read Witch Weekly, by any 
+chance, does she, Ron?” she asked quietly. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, whose mouth was full of toffee. 
+
+“Gets it for the recipes.” 
+
+Hermione looked sadly at her tiny egg. 
+
+“Don’t you want to see what Percy’s written?” Harry 
+asked her hastily. 
+
+Percy’s letter was short and irritated. 
+
+As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. 
+
+Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending 
+in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven’t actually 
+seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own 
+superior’s handwriting. I have quite enough to do at 
+the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous 
+rumors. Please don’t bother me again unless it’s 
+something important. Happy Easter. 
+
+The start of the summer term would normally have 
+meant that Harry was training hard for the last 
+
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+
+
+Quidditch match of the season. This year, however, it 
+was the third and final task in the Triwizard 
+Tournament for which he needed to prepare, but he 
+still didn’t know what he would have to do. Finally, in 
+the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held him 
+back in Transfiguration. 
+
+“You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at 
+nine o’clock, Potter,” she told him. “Mr. Bagman will 
+be there to tell the champions about the third task.” 
+
+So at half past eight that night, Harry left Ron and 
+Hermione in Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs. 
+As he crossed the entrance hall, Cedric came up from 
+the Hufflepuff common room. 
+
+“What d’you reckon it’s going to be?” he asked Harry 
+as they went together down the stone steps, out into 
+the cloudy night. “Fleur keeps going on about 
+underground tunnels; she reckons we’ve got to find 
+treasure.” 
+
+“That wouldn’t be too bad,” said Harry, thinking that 
+he would simply ask Hagrid for a niffler to do the job 
+for him. 
+
+They walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch 
+stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and 
+walked out onto the field. 
+
+“What’ve they done to it?” Cedric said indignantly, 
+stopping dead. 
+
+The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It 
+looked as though somebody had been building long, 
+low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in 
+every direction. 
+
+
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+
+“They’re hedges!” said Harry, bending to examine the 
+nearest one. 
+
+
+
+“Hello there!” called a cheery voice. 
+
+Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field 
+with Krum and Fleur. Harry and Cedric made their 
+way toward them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur 
+beamed at Harry as he came nearer. Her attitude 
+toward him had changed completely since he had 
+saved her sister from the lake. 
+
+“Well, what d’you think?” said Bagman happily as 
+Harry and Cedric climbed over the last hedge. 
+“Growing nicely, aren’t they? Give them a month and 
+Hagrid’ll have them twenty feet high. Don’t worry,” he 
+added, grinning, spotting the less-than-happy 
+expressions on Harry’s and Cedric’s faces, “you’ll have 
+your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is 
+over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we’re 
+making here?” 
+
+No one spoke for a moment. Then — 
+
+“Maze,” grunted Krum. 
+
+“That’s right!” said Bagman. “A maze. The third task’s 
+really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be 
+placed in the center of the maze. The first champion 
+to touch it will receive full marks.” 
+
+“We seemply ’ave to get through the maze?” said 
+Fleur. 
+
+“There will be obstacles,” said Bagman happily, 
+bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Hagrid is providing 
+a number of creatures . . . then there will be spells that 
+must be broken ... all that sort of thing, you know. 
+Now, the champions who are leading on points will 
+Page | 608 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+get a head start into the maze.” Bagman grinned at 
+Harry and Cedric. “Then Mr. Krum will enter ... then 
+Miss Delacour. But you 11 all be in with a fighting 
+chance, depending how well you get past the 
+obstacles. Should be fun, eh?” 
+
+Harry, who knew only too well the kind of creatures 
+that Hagrid was likely to provide for an event like this, 
+thought it was unlikely to be any fun at all. However, 
+he nodded politely like the other champions. 
+
+“Very well ... if you haven’t got any questions, we’ll go 
+back up to the castle, shall we, it’s a bit chilly. ...” 
+
+Bagman hurried alongside Harry as they began to 
+wend their way out of the growing maze. Harry had 
+the feeling that Bagman was going to start offering to 
+help him again, but just then, Krum tapped Harry on 
+the shoulder. 
+
+“Could I haff a vord?” 
+
+“Yeah, all right,” said Harry, slightly surprised. 
+
+“Vill you valk vith me?” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry curiously. 
+
+Bagman looked slightly perturbed. 
+
+“I’ll wait for you, Harry, shall I?” 
+
+“No, it’s okay, Mr. Bagman,” said Harry, suppressing 
+a smile, “I think I can find the castle on my own, 
+thanks.” 
+
+Harry and Krum left the stadium together, but Krum 
+did not set a course for the Durmstrang ship. Instead, 
+he walked toward the forest. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What ’re we going this way for?” said Harry as they 
+passed Hagrid’s cabin and the illuminated 
+Beauxbatons carriage. 
+
+“Don’t vant to be overheard,” said Krum shortly. 
+
+When at last they had reached a quiet stretch of 
+ground a short way from the Beauxbatons horses’ 
+paddock, Krum stopped in the shade of the trees and 
+turned to face Harry. 
+
+“I vant to know,” he said, glowering, “vot there is 
+between you and Hermy-own-ninny.” 
+
+Harry, who from Krum’s secretive manner had 
+expected something much more serious than this, 
+stared up at Krum in amazement. 
+
+“Nothing,” he said. But Krum glowered at him, and 
+Harry, somehow struck anew by how tall Krum was, 
+elaborated. “We’re friends. She’s not my girlfriend and 
+she never has been. It’s just that Skeeter woman 
+making things up.” 
+
+“Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often,” said 
+Krum, looking suspiciously at Harry. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “because we’re friends.” 
+
+He couldn’t quite believe he was having this 
+conversation with Viktor Krum, the famous 
+International Quidditch player. It was as though the 
+eighteen-year-old Krum thought he, Harry, was an 
+equal — a real rival — 
+
+“You haff never ... you haff not ...” 
+
+“No,” said Harry very firmly. 
+
+
+
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+
+Krum looked slightly happier. He stared at Harry for a 
+few seconds, then said, “You fly very veil. I vos 
+votching at the first task.” 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, grinning broadly and suddenly 
+feeling much taller himself. “I saw you at the 
+Quidditch World Cup. The Wronski Feint, you really 
+
+
+
+But something moved behind Krum in the trees, and 
+Harry, who had some experience of the sort of thing 
+that lurked in the forest, instinctively grabbed Krum’s 
+arm and pulled him around. 
+
+“Vot is it?” 
+
+Harry shook his head, staring at the place where he’d 
+seen movement. He slipped his hand inside his robes, 
+reaching for his wand. 
+
+Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. 
+For a moment, Harry didn’t recognize him ... then he 
+realized it was Mr. Crouch. 
+
+He looked as though he had been traveling for days. 
+The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his 
+face scratched; he was unshaven and gray with 
+exhaustion. His neat hair and mustache were both in 
+need of a wash and a trim. His strange appearance, 
+however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. 
+Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to 
+be talking to someone that he alone could see. He 
+reminded Harry vividly of an old tramp he had seen 
+once when out shopping with the Dursleys. That man 
+too had been conversing wildly with thin air; Aunt 
+Petunia had seized Dudley’s hand and pulled him 
+across the road to avoid him; Uncle Vernon had then 
+treated the family to a long rant about what he would 
+like to do with beggars and vagrants. 
+
+Page | 611 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Vosn’t he a judge?” said Krum, staring at Mr. 
+
+Crouch. “Isn’t he vith your Ministry?” 
+
+Harry nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked 
+slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at him, 
+but continued to talk to a nearby tree. 
+
+"... and when you’ve done that, Weatherby, send an 
+owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of 
+Durmstrang students who will be attending the 
+tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will 
+be twelve. ...” 
+
+“Mr. Crouch?” said Harry cautiously. 
+
+"... and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, 
+because she might want to up the number of 
+students she’s bringing, now Karkaroff’s made it a 
+round dozen ... do that, Weatherby, will you? Will 
+you? Will...” 
+
+Mr. Crouch’s eyes were bulging. He stood staring at 
+the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he 
+staggered sideways and fell to his knees. 
+
+“Mr. Crouch?” Harry said loudly. “Are you all right?” 
+
+Crouch’s eyes were rolling in his head. Harry looked 
+around at Krum, who had followed him into the trees, 
+and was looking down at Crouch in alarm. 
+
+“Vot is wrong with him?” 
+
+“No idea,” Harry muttered. “Listen, you’d better go 
+and get someone — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore!” gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out 
+and seized a handful of Harry’s robes, dragging him 
+
+
+
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+
+closer, though his eyes were staring over Harry’s 
+head. “I need ... see ... Dumbledore. ...” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, “if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can 
+go up to the — ” 
+
+“I’ve done ... stupid ... thing ...” Mr. Crouch breathed. 
+He looked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and 
+bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his 
+chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a 
+terrible effort. “Must ... tell ... Dumbledore ...” 
+
+“Get up, Mr. Crouch,” said Harry loudly and clearly. 
+“Get up, I’ll take you to Dumbledore!” 
+
+Mr. Crouch’s eyes rolled forward onto Harry. 
+
+“Who ... you?” he whispered. 
+
+“I’m a student at the school,” said Harry, looking 
+around at Krum for some help, but Krum was 
+hanging back, looking extremely nervous. 
+
+“You’re not ... his?” whispered Crouch, his mouth 
+sagging. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, without the faintest idea what 
+Crouch was talking about. 
+
+“Dumbledore ’s?” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Harry. 
+
+Crouch was pulling him closer; Harry tried to loosen 
+Crouch’s grip on his robes, but it was too powerful. 
+
+“Warn ... Dumbledore ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“I’ll get Dumbledore if you let go of me,” said Harry. 
+“Just let go, Mr. Crouch, and I’ll get him. ...” 
+
+“Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done 
+that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be 
+arriving shortly, we are attending a concert tonight 
+with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge.” 
+
+Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and 
+seemed completely unaware that Harry was there, 
+which surprised Harry so much he didn’t notice that 
+Crouch had released him. 
+
+“Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.s, 
+most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud 
+indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from 
+the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have 
+time to draft a response. ...” 
+
+“You stay here with him!” Harry said to Krum. “I’ll get 
+Dumbledore, I’ll be quicker, I know where his office is 
+
+
+
+“He is mad,” said Krum doubtfully, staring down at 
+Crouch, who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently 
+convinced it was Percy. 
+
+“Just stay with him,” said Harry, starting to get up, 
+but his movement seemed to trigger another abrupt 
+change in Mr. Crouch, who seized him hard around 
+the knees and pulled Harry back to the ground. 
+
+“Don’t ... leave ... me!” he whispered, his eyes bulging 
+again. “I ... escaped . . . must warn . . . must tell . . . see 
+Dumbledore . . . my fault ... all my fault . . . Bertha . . . 
+dead ... all my fault . . . my son . . . my fault . . . tell 
+Dumbledore . . . Harry Potter . . . the Dark Lord . . . 
+stronger ... Harry Potter ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“I’ll get Dumbledore if you let me go, Mr. Crouch!” 
+said Harry. He looked furiously around at Krum. 
+
+“Help me, will you?” 
+
+Looking extremely apprehensive, Krum moved 
+forward and squatted down next to Mr. Crouch. 
+
+“Just keep him here,” said Harry, pulling himself free 
+of Mr. Crouch. “I’ll be back with Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Hurry, von’t you?” Krum called after him as Harry 
+sprinted away from the forest and up through the 
+dark grounds. They were deserted; Bagman, Cedric, 
+and Fleur had disappeared. Harry tore up the stone 
+steps, through the oak front doors, and off up the 
+marble staircase, toward the second floor. 
+
+Five minutes later he was hurtling toward a stone 
+gargoyle standing halfway along an empty corridor. 
+
+“Sher — sherbet lemon!” he panted at it. 
+
+This was the password to the hidden staircase to 
+Dumbledore ’s office — or at least, it had been two 
+years ago. The password had evidently changed, 
+however, for the stone gargoyle did not spring to life 
+and jump aside, but stood frozen, glaring at Harry 
+malevolently. 
+
+“Move!” Harry shouted at it. “C’mon!” 
+
+But nothing at Hogwarts had ever moved just because 
+he shouted at it; he knew it was no good. He looked 
+up and down the dark corridor. Perhaps Dumbledore 
+was in the staffroom? He started running as fast as 
+he could toward the staircase — 
+
+“POTTER!” 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+Harry skidded to a halt and looked around. Snape 
+had just emerged from the hidden staircase behind 
+the stone gargoyle. The wall was sliding shut behind 
+him even as he beckoned Harry back toward him. 
+
+“What are you doing here, Potter?” 
+
+“I need to see Professor Dumbledore!” said Harry, 
+running back up the corridor and skidding to a 
+standstill in front of Snape instead. “It’s Mr. Crouch 
+... he’s just turned up ... he’s in the forest ... he’s 
+asking — ” 
+
+“What is this rubbish?” said Snape, his black eyes 
+glittering. “What are you talking about?” 
+
+“Mr. Crouch!” Harry shouted. “From the Ministry! 
+
+He’s ill or something — he’s in the forest, he wants to 
+see Dumbledore! Just give me the password up to — ” 
+
+“The headmaster is busy, Potter,” said Snape, his thin 
+mouth curling into an unpleasant smile. 
+
+“I’ve got to tell Dumbledore!” Harry yelled. 
+
+“Didn’t you hear me, Potter?” 
+
+Harry could tell Snape was thoroughly enjoying 
+himself, denying Harry the thing he wanted when he 
+was so panicky. 
+
+“Look,” said Harry angrily, “Crouch isn’t right — he’s 
+— he’s out of his mind — he says he wants to warn — 
+
+
+
+The stone wall behind Snape slid open. Dumbledore 
+was standing there, wearing long green robes and a 
+mildly curious expression. “Is there a problem?” he 
+said, looking between Harry and Snape. 
+
+Page | 616 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Professor!” Harry said, sidestepping Snape before 
+Snape could speak, “Mr. Crouch is here — he’s down 
+in the forest, he wants to speak to you!” 
+
+Harry expected Dumbledore to ask questions, but to 
+his relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort. 
+
+“Lead the way,” he said promptly, and he swept off 
+along the corridor behind Harry, leaving Snape 
+standing next to the gargoyle and looking twice as 
+ugly. 
+
+“What did Mr. Crouch say, Harry?” said Dumbledore 
+as they walked swiftly down the marble staircase. 
+
+“Said he wants to warn you ... said he’s done 
+something terrible ... he mentioned his son . . . and 
+Bertha Jorkins ... and — and Voldemort ... something 
+about Voldemort getting stronger. ...” 
+
+“Indeed,” said Dumbledore, and he quickened his 
+pace as they hurried out into the pitch-darkness. 
+
+“He’s not acting normally,” Harry said, hurrying along 
+beside Dumbledore. “He doesn’t seem to know where 
+he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley’s 
+there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see 
+you. ... I left him with Viktor Krum.” 
+
+“You did?” said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to 
+take longer strides still, so that Harry was running to 
+keep up. “Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. 
+Crouch?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “Krum and I were talking, Mr. 
+Bagman had just finished telling us about the third 
+task, we stayed behind, and then we saw Mr. Crouch 
+coming out of the forest — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 617 
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+
+
+
+
+“Where are they?” said Dumbledore as the 
+Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness. 
+
+“Over here,” said Harry, moving in front of 
+Dumbledore, leading the way through the trees. He 
+couldn’t hear Crouch’s voice anymore, but he knew 
+where he was going; it hadn’t been much past the 
+Beauxbatons carriage ... somewhere around here. ... 
+
+“Viktor?” Harry shouted. 
+
+No one answered. 
+
+“They were here,” Harry said to Dumbledore. “They 
+were definitely somewhere around here. ...” 
+
+“Lumos,” Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and 
+holding it up. 
+
+Its narrow beam traveled from black trunk to black 
+trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon 
+a pair of feet. 
+
+Harry and Dumbledore hurried forward. Krum was 
+sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be 
+unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch. 
+Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of 
+his eyelids. 
+
+“Stunned,” he said softly. His half-moon glasses 
+glittered in the wandlight as he peered around at the 
+surrounding trees. 
+
+“Should I go and get someone?” said Harry. “Madam 
+Pomfrey?” 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore swiftly. “Stay here.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the 
+direction of Hagrid ’s cabin. Harry saw something 
+silvery dart out of it and streak away through the 
+trees like a ghostly bird. Then Dumbledore bent over 
+Krum again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, 
+“Renneruate.” 
+
+Krum opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw 
+Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a 
+hand on his shoulder and made him lie still. 
+
+“He attacked me!” Krum muttered, putting a hand up 
+to his head. “The old madman attacked me! I vos 
+looking around to see vare Potter had gone and he 
+attacked from behind!” 
+
+“Lie still for a moment,” Dumbledore said. 
+
+The sound of thunderous footfalls reached them, and 
+Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his 
+heels. He was carrying his crossbow. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore!” he said, his eyes widening. 
+“Harry — what the — ?” 
+
+“Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff,” said 
+Dumbledore. “His student has been attacked. When 
+you’ve done that, kindly alert Professor Moody — ” 
+
+“No need, Dumbledore,” said a wheezy growl. “I’m 
+here.” 
+
+Moody was limping toward them, leaning on his staff, 
+his wand lit. 
+
+“Damn leg,” he said furiously. “Would’ve been here 
+quicker ... what’s happened? Snape said something 
+about Crouch — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 619 
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+
+
+
+“Crouch?” said Hagrid blankly. 
+
+“Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!” said Dumbledore sharply. 
+
+“Oh yeah ... right y’are, Professor ...” said Hagrid, and 
+he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang 
+trotting after him. 
+
+“I don’t know where Barty Crouch is,” Dumbledore 
+told Moody, “but it is essential that we find him.” 
+
+“I’m onto it,” growled Moody, and he pulled out his 
+wand and limped off into the forest. 
+
+Neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke again until they 
+heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang 
+returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them. 
+He was wearing his sleek silver furs, and he looked 
+pale and agitated. 
+
+“What is this?” he cried when he saw Krum on the 
+ground and Dumbledore and Harry beside him. 
+“What’s going on?” 
+
+“I vos attacked!” said Krum, sitting up now and 
+rubbing his head. “Mr. Crouch or votever his name — 
+
+
+
+“Crouch attacked you? Crouch attacked you? The 
+Triwizard judge?” 
+
+“Igor,” Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn 
+himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking 
+livid. 
+
+“Treachery!” he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. “It 
+is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured 
+me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is 
+not an equal competition! First you sneak Potter into 
+
+Page | 620 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the tournament, though he is underage! Now one of 
+your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion 
+out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in 
+this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with 
+your talk of closer international wizarding links, of 
+rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences — 
+here’s what I think of you!” 
+
+Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore’s feet. 
+In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of 
+Karkaroff’s furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed 
+him against a nearby tree. 
+
+“Apologize!” Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for 
+breath, Hagrid’s massive fist at his throat, his feet 
+dangling in midair. 
+
+“Hagrid, no\” Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing. 
+
+Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the 
+tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk 
+and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and 
+leaves showered down upon his head. 
+
+“Kindly escort Harry back up to the castle, Hagrid,” 
+said Dumbledore sharply. 
+
+Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering 
+look. 
+
+“Maybe I’d better stay here, Headmaster. ...” 
+
+“You will take Harry back to school, Hagrid,” 
+Dumbledore repeated firmly. “Take him right up to 
+Gryffindor Tower. And Harry — I want you to stay 
+there. Anything you might want to do — any owls you 
+might want to send — they can wait until morning, do 
+you understand me?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Er — yes,” said Harry, staring at him. How had 
+Dumbledore known that, at that very moment, he had 
+been thinking about sending Pigwidgeon straight to 
+Sirius, to tell him what had happened? 
+
+“Ill leave Fang with yeh, Headmaster,” Hagrid said, 
+staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still 
+sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and 
+tree roots. “Stay, Fang. C’mon, Harry.” 
+
+They marched in silence past the Beauxbatons 
+carriage and up toward the castle. 
+
+“How dare he,” Hagrid growled as they strode past the 
+lake. “How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like 
+Dumbledore ’d do anythin’ like that. Like Dumbledore 
+wanted you in the tournament in the firs’ place. 
+Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more 
+worried than he’s bin lately. An’ you!” Hagrid 
+suddenly said angrily to Harry, who looked up at him, 
+taken aback. “What were yeh doin’, wanderin’ off with 
+ruddy Krum? He’s from Durmstrang, Harry! Coulda 
+jinxed yeh right there, couldn’ he? Hasn’ Moody 
+taught yeh nothin’? ’Magine lettin’ him lure yeh off on 
+yer own — ” 
+
+“Krum’s all right!” said Harry as they climbed the 
+steps into the entrance hall. “He wasn’t trying to jinx 
+me, he just wanted to talk about Hermione — ” 
+
+“I’ll be havin’ a few words with her, an’ all,” said 
+Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. “The less you 
+lot ’ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh’ll 
+be. Yeh can’ trust any of ’em.” 
+
+“You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime,” 
+Harry said, annoyed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 622 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’ you talk ter me abou’ her!” said Hagrid, and he 
+looked quite frightening for a moment. “I’ve got her 
+number now! Tryin’ ter get back in me good books, 
+tryin’ ter get me ter tell her what’s cornin’ in the third 
+task. Ha! You can’ trust any of ’em!” 
+
+Hagrid was in such a bad mood, Harry was quite glad 
+to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. He 
+clambered through the portrait hole into the common 
+room and hurried straight for the corner where Ron 
+and Hermione were sitting, to tell them what had 
+happened. 
+
+
+
+Page | 623 
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+z? 
+
+
+
+
+THE DREAM 
+
+“It comes down to this,” said Hermione, rubbing her 
+forehead. “Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or 
+somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor 
+wasn’t looking.” 
+
+“It must’ve been Crouch,” said Ron at once. “That’s 
+why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got 
+there. He’d done a runner.” 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Harry, shaking his head. “He 
+seemed really weak — I don’t reckon he was up to 
+Disapparating or anything.” 
+
+“You can’t Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, 
+haven’t I told you enough times?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Okay ... how’s this for a theory,” said Ron excitedly. 
+“Krum attacked Crouch — no, wait for it — and then 
+Stunned himself!” 
+
+“And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?” said Hermione 
+coldly. 
+
+Page | 624 
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Oh yeah ...” 
+
+
+
+It was daybreak. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had crept 
+out of their dormitories very early and hurried up to 
+the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now they 
+were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All 
+three of them were puffy-eyed and pale because they 
+had been talking late into the night about Mr. 
+
+Crouch. 
+
+“Just go through it again, Harry,” said Hermione. 
+“What did Mr. Crouch actually say?” 
+
+“I’ve told you, he wasn’t making much sense,” said 
+Harry. “He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about 
+something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, 
+and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying 
+stuff was his fault. ... He mentioned his son.” 
+
+“Well, that was his fault,” said Hermione testily. 
+
+“He was out of his mind,” said Harry. “Half the time 
+he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, 
+and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving 
+him instructions.” 
+
+“And ... remind me what he said about You-Know- 
+Who?” said Ron tentatively. 
+
+“I’ve told you,” Harry repeated dully. “He said he’s 
+getting stronger.” 
+
+There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely 
+confident voice, “But he was out of his mind, like you 
+said, so half of it was probably just raving. ...” 
+
+“He was sanest when he was trying to talk about 
+Voldemort,” said Harry, and Ron winced at the sound 
+of the name. “He was having real trouble stringing 
+
+Page | 625 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+two words together, but that was when he seemed to 
+know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. 
+He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore.” 
+
+Harry turned away from the window and stared up 
+into the rafters. The many perches were half-empty; 
+every now and then, another owl would swoop in 
+through one of the windows, returning from its night’s 
+hunting with a mouse in its beak. 
+
+“If Snape hadn’t held me up,” Harry said bitterly, “we 
+might’ve got there in time. The headmaster is busy, 
+Potter ... what’s this rubbish, Potter?’ Why couldn’t he 
+have just got out of the way?” 
+
+“Maybe he didn’t want you to get there!” said Ron 
+quickly. “Maybe — hang on — how fast d’you reckon 
+he could’ve gotten down to the forest? D’you reckon 
+he could’ve beaten you and Dumbledore there?” 
+
+“Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or 
+something,” said Harry. 
+
+“Wouldn’t put it past him,” Ron muttered. 
+
+“We need to see Professor Moody,” said Hermione. 
+
+“We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch.” 
+
+“If he had the Marauder’s Map on him, it would’ve 
+been easy,” said Harry. 
+
+“Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds,” 
+said Ron, “because it only shows up to the 
+boundaries, doesn’t — ” 
+
+“Shh!” said Hermione suddenly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 626 
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+
+
+
+
+Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. 
+Harry could hear two voices arguing, coming closer 
+and closer. 
+
+“ — that’s blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of 
+trouble for that — ” 
+
+“ — we’ve tried being polite; it’s time to play dirty, like 
+him. He wouldn’t like the Ministry of Magic knowing 
+what he did — ” 
+
+“I’m telling you, if you put that in writing, it’s 
+blackmail!” 
+
+“Yeah, and you won’t be complaining if we get a nice 
+fat payoff, will you?” 
+
+The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came 
+over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione. 
+
+“What’re you doing here?” Ron and Fred said at the 
+same time. 
+
+“Sending a letter,” said Harry and George in unison. 
+“What, at this time?” said Hermione and Fred. 
+
+Fred grinned. 
+
+“Fine — we won’t ask you what you’re doing, if you 
+don’t ask us,” he said. 
+
+He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. Harry 
+glanced at it, but Fred, whether accidentally or on 
+purpose, shifted his hand so that the name on it was 
+covered. 
+
+
+
+Page | 627 
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, don’t let us hold you up,” Fred said, making a 
+mock bow and pointing at the door. 
+
+Ron didn’t move. “Who’re you blackmailing?” he said. 
+
+The grin vanished from Fred’s face. Harry saw George 
+half glance at Fred, before smiling at Ron. 
+
+“Don’t be stupid, I was only joking,” he said easily. 
+
+“Didn’t sound like that,” said Ron. 
+
+Fred and George looked at each other. Then Fred said 
+abruptly, “I’ve told you before, Ron, keep your nose 
+out if you like it the shape it is. Can’t see why you 
+would, but — ” 
+
+“It’s my business if you’re blackmailing someone,” 
+said Ron. “George’s right, you could end up in serious 
+trouble for that.” 
+
+“Told you, I was joking,” said George. He walked over 
+to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began 
+attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. “You’re 
+starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, 
+you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you’ll be made a 
+prefect.” 
+
+“No, I won’t!” said Ron hotly. 
+
+George carried the barn owl over to the window and it 
+took off. George turned around and grinned at Ron. 
+
+“Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you 
+later.” 
+
+He and Fred left the Owlery. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione stared at one another. 
+
+
+
+Page | 628 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You don’t think they know something about all this, 
+do you?” Hermione whispered. “About Crouch and 
+everything?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “If it was something that serious, 
+they’d tell someone. They’d tell Dumbledore.” 
+
+Ron, however, was looking uncomfortable. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” Hermione asked him. 
+
+“Well ...” said Ron slowly, “I dunno if they would. 
+They’re ... they’re obsessed with making money lately, 
+
+I noticed it when I was hanging around with them — 
+when — you know — ” 
+
+“We weren’t talking.” Harry finished the sentence for 
+him. “Yeah, but blackmail ...” 
+
+“It’s this joke shop idea they’ve got,” said Ron. “I 
+thought they were only saying it to annoy Mum, but 
+they really mean it, they want to start one. They’ve 
+only got a year left at Hogwarts, they keep going on 
+about how it’s time to think about their future, and 
+Dad can’t help them, and they need gold to get 
+started.” 
+
+Hermione was looking uncomfortable now. 
+
+“Yes, but ... they wouldn’t do anything against the law 
+to get gold.” 
+
+“Wouldn’t they?” said Ron, looking skeptical. “I dunno 
+... they don’t exactly mind breaking rules, do they?” 
+
+“Yes, but this is the law,” said Hermione, looking 
+scared. “This isn’t some silly school rule. ... They’ll get 
+a lot more than detention for blackmail! Ron ... maybe 
+you’d better tell Percy. ...” 
+
+Page | 629 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Are you mad?” said Ron. “Tell Percy? He’d probably 
+do a Crouch and turn them in.” He stared at the 
+window through which Fred and Georges owl had 
+departed, then said, “Come on, let’s get some 
+breakfast.” 
+
+“D’you think it’s too early to go and see Professor 
+Moody?” Hermione said as they went down the spiral 
+staircase. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “He’d probably blast us through the 
+door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he’ll think 
+we’re trying to attack him while he’s asleep. Let’s give 
+it till break.” 
+
+History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. Harry kept 
+checking Ron’s watch, having finally discarded his 
+own, but Ron’s was moving so slowly he could have 
+sworn it had stopped working too. All three of them 
+were so tired they could happily have put their heads 
+down on the desks and slept; even Hermione wasn’t 
+taking her usual notes, but was sitting with her head 
+on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes 
+out of focus. 
+
+When the bell finally rang, they hurried out into the 
+corridors toward the Dark Arts classroom and found 
+Professor Moody leaving it. He looked as tired as they 
+felt. The eyelid of his normal eye was drooping, giving 
+his face an even more lopsided appearance than 
+usual. 
+
+“Professor Moody?” Harry called as they made their 
+way toward him through the crowd. 
+
+“Hello, Potter,” growled Moody. His magical eye 
+followed a couple of passing first years, who sped up, 
+looking nervous; it rolled into the back of Moody’s 
+
+
+
+Page | 630 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+head and watched them around the corner before he 
+spoke again. 
+
+
+
+“Come in here.” 
+
+He stood back to let them into his empty classroom, 
+limped in after them, and closed the door. 
+
+“Did you find him?” Harry asked without preamble. 
+“Mr. Crouch?” 
+
+“No,” said Moody. He moved over to his desk, sat 
+down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight 
+groan, and pulled out his hip flask. 
+
+“Did you use the map?” Harry said. 
+
+“Of course,” said Moody, taking a swig from his flask. 
+“Took a leaf out of your book, Potter. Summoned it 
+from my office into the forest. He wasn’t anywhere on 
+there.” 
+
+“So he did Disapparate?” said Ron. 
+
+“You can’t Disapparate on the grounds, Ron\” said 
+Hermione. “There are other ways he could have 
+disappeared, aren’t there, Professor?” 
+
+Moody’s magical eye quivered as it rested on 
+Hermione. “You’re another one who might think about 
+a career as an Auror,” he told her. “Mind works the 
+right way, Granger.” 
+
+Hermione flushed pink with pleasure. 
+
+“Well, he wasn’t invisible,” said Harry. “The map 
+shows invisible people. He must’ve left the grounds, 
+then.” 
+
+Page | 631 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But under his own steam?” said Hermione eagerly, 
+
+“or because someone made him?” 
+
+“Yeah, someone could’ve — could’ve pulled him onto a 
+broom and flown off with him, couldn’t they?” said 
+Ron quickly, looking hopefully at Moody as if he too 
+wanted to be told he had the makings of an Auror. 
+
+“We can’t rule out kidnap,” growled Moody. 
+
+“So,” said Ron, “d’you reckon he’s somewhere in 
+Hogsmeade?” 
+
+“Could be anywhere,” said Moody, shaking his head. 
+“Only thing we know for sure is that he’s not here.” 
+
+He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and 
+his lopsided mouth revealed a number of missing 
+teeth. Then he said, “Now, Dumbledore’s told me you 
+three fancy yourselves as investigators, but there’s 
+nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry’ll be 
+looking for him now, Dumbledore’s notified them. 
+Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “Oh yeah ...” 
+
+He hadn’t given the maze a single thought since he’d 
+left it with Krum the previous night. 
+
+“Should be right up your street, this one,” said 
+Moody, looking up at Harry and scratching his 
+scarred and stubbly chin. “From what Dumbledore’s 
+said, you’ve managed to get through stuff like this 
+plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of 
+obstacles guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone in your first 
+year, didn’t you?” 
+
+“We helped,” Ron said quickly. “Me and Hermione 
+helped.” 
+
+Page | 632 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Moody grinned. 
+
+
+
+“Well, help him practice for this one, and I’ll be very 
+surprised if he doesn’t win,” said Moody. “In the 
+meantime ... constant vigilance, Potter. Constant 
+vigilance.” He took another long draw from his hip 
+flask, and his magical eye swiveled onto the window. 
+The topmost sail of the Durmstrang ship was visible 
+through it. 
+
+“You two,” counseled Moody, his normal eye on Ron 
+and Hermione, “you stick close to Potter, all right? I’m 
+keeping an eye on things, but all the same ... you can 
+never have too many eyes out.” 
+
+
+
+•k k k 
+
+
+
+Sirius sent their owl back the very next morning. It 
+fluttered down beside Harry at the same moment that 
+a tawny owl landed in front of Hermione, clutching a 
+copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak. She took the 
+newspaper, scanned the first few pages, said, “Ha! 
+
+She hasn’t got wind of Crouch!” then joined Ron and 
+Harry in reading what Sirius had to say on the 
+mysterious events of the night before last. 
+
+Harry — what do you think you are playing at, 
+walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? I want 
+you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to 
+go walking with anyone else at night. There is 
+somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to 
+me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing 
+Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from 
+them in the dark. You could have been killed. 
+
+Your name didn’t get into the Goblet of Fire by 
+accident. If someone’s trying to attack you, they’re on 
+
+Page | 633 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+their last chance. Stay close to Ron and Hermione, do 
+not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm 
+yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and 
+Disarming. A few hexes wouldn’t go amiss either. 
+There’s nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your 
+head down and look after yourself. I’m waiting for your 
+letter giving me your word you won’t stray out-of- 
+bounds again. 
+
+Sirius 
+
+“Who’s he, to lecture me about being out-of-bounds?” 
+said Harry in mild indignation as he folded up Sirius’s 
+letter and put it inside his robes. “After all the stuff he 
+did at school!” 
+
+“He’s worried about you!” said Hermione sharply. 
+
+“Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!” 
+
+“No one’s tried to attack me all year,” said Harry. “No 
+one’s done anything to me at all — ” 
+
+“Except put your name in the Goblet of Fire,” said 
+Hermione. “And they must’ve done that for a reason, 
+Harry. Snuffles is right. Maybe they’ve been biding 
+their time. Maybe this is the task they’re going to get 
+you.” 
+
+“Look,” said Harry impatiently, “let’s say Sirius is 
+right, and someone Stunned Krum to kidnap Crouch. 
+Well, they would’ve been in the trees near us, 
+wouldn’t they? But they waited till I was out of the 
+way until they acted, didn’t they? So it doesn’t look 
+like I’m their target, does it?” 
+
+“They couldn’t have made it look like an accident if 
+they’d murdered you in the forest!” said Hermione. 
+“But if you die during a task — ” 
+
+
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+
+“They didn’t care about attacking Krum, did they?” 
+said Harry. “Why didn’t they just polish me off at the 
+same time? They could’ve made it look like Krum and 
+I had a duel or something.” 
+
+“Harry, I don’t understand it either,” said Hermione 
+desperately. “I just know there are a lot of odd things 
+going on, and I don’t like it. ... Moody’s right — Sirius 
+is right — you’ve got to get in training for the third 
+task, straight away. And you make sure you write 
+back to Sirius and promise him you’re not going to go 
+sneaking off alone again.” 
+
+The Hogwarts grounds never looked more inviting 
+than when Harry had to stay indoors. For the next 
+few days he spent all of his free time either in the 
+library with Hermione and Ron, looking up hexes, or 
+else in empty classrooms, which they sneaked into to 
+practice. Harry was concentrating on the Stunning 
+Spell, which he had never used before. The trouble 
+was that practicing it involved certain sacrifices on 
+Ron’s and Hermione ’s part. 
+
+“Can’t we kidnap Mrs. Norris?” Ron suggested on 
+Monday lunchtime as he lay flat on his back in the 
+middle of their Charms classroom, having just been 
+Stunned and reawoken by Harry for the fifth time in a 
+row. “Let’s Stun her for a bit. Or you could use 
+Dobby, Harry, I bet he’d do anything to help you. I’m 
+not complaining or anything” — he got gingerly to his 
+feet, rubbing his backside — “but I’m aching all over. 
+
+
+
+“Well, you keep missing the cushions, don’t you!” said 
+Hermione impatiently, rearranging the pile of 
+cushions they had used for the Banishing Spell, 
+which Flitwick had left in a cabinet. “Just try and fall 
+backward!” 
+
+
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+“Once you’re Stunned, you can’t aim too well, 
+Hermione!” said Ron angrily. “Why don’t you take a 
+turn?” 
+
+“Well, I think Harry’s got it now, anyway,” said 
+Hermione hastily. “And we don’t have to worry about 
+Disarming, because he’s been able to do that for ages. 
+... I think we ought to start on some of these hexes 
+this evening.” 
+
+She looked down the list they had made in the 
+library. 
+
+“I like the look of this one,” she said, “this 
+Impediment Curse. Should slow down anything that’s 
+trying to attack you, Harry. We’ll start with that one.” 
+
+The bell rang. They hastily shoved the cushions back 
+into Flitwick’s cupboard and slipped out of the 
+classroom. 
+
+“See you at dinner!” said Hermione, and she set off for 
+Arithmancy, while Harry and Ron headed toward 
+North Tower, and Divination. Broad strips of dazzling 
+gold sunlight fell across the corridor from the high 
+windows. The sky outside was so brightly blue it 
+looked as though it had been enameled. 
+
+“It’s going to be boiling in Trelawney’s room, she never 
+puts out that fire,” said Ron as they started up the 
+staircase toward the silver ladder and the trapdoor. 
+
+He was quite right. The dimly lit room was 
+swelteringly hot. The fumes from the perfumed fire 
+were heavier than ever. Harry’s head swam as he 
+made his way over to one of the curtained windows. 
+While Professor Trelawney was looking the other way, 
+disentangling her shawl from a lamp, he opened it an 
+inch or so and settled back in his chintz armchair, so 
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+that a soft breeze played across his face. It was 
+extremely comfortable. 
+
+“My dears,” said Professor Trelawney, sitting down in 
+her winged armchair in front of the class and peering 
+around at them all with her strangely enlarged eyes, 
+“we have almost finished our work on planetary 
+divination. Today, however, will be an excellent 
+opportunity to examine the effects of Mars, for he is 
+placed most interestingly at the present time. If you 
+will all look this way, I will dim the lights. ...” 
+
+She waved her wand and the lamps went out. The fire 
+was the only source of light now. Professor Trelawney 
+bent down and lifted, from under her chair, a 
+miniature model of the solar system, contained within 
+a glass dome. It was a beautiful thing; each of the 
+moons glimmered in place around the nine planets 
+and the fiery sun, all of them hanging in thin air 
+beneath the glass. Harry watched lazily as Professor 
+Trelawney began to point out the fascinating angle 
+Mars was making to Neptune. The heavily perfumed 
+fumes washed over him, and the breeze from the 
+window played across his face. He could hear an 
+insect humming gently somewhere behind the 
+curtain. His eyelids began to droop. ... 
+
+He was riding on the back of an eagle owl, soaring 
+through the clear blue sky toward an old, ivy-covered 
+house set high on a hillside. Lower and lower they 
+flew, the wind blowing pleasantly in Harry’s face, until 
+they reached a dark and broken window in the upper 
+story of the house and entered. Now they were flying 
+along a gloomy passageway, to a room at the very end 
+. . . through the door they went, into a dark room 
+whose windows were boarded up. ... 
+
+Harry had left the owl’s back ... he was watching, 
+now, as it fluttered across the room, into a chair with 
+
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+its back to him. ... There were two dark shapes on the 
+floor beside the chair . . . both of them were stirring. . . . 
+
+One was a huge snake . . . the other was a man ... a 
+short, balding man, a man with watery eyes and a 
+pointed nose ... he was wheezing and sobbing on the 
+hearth rug. . . . 
+
+“You are in luck, Wormtail,” said a cold, high-pitched 
+voice from the depths of the chair in which the owl 
+had landed. “You are very fortunate indeed. Your 
+blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead.” 
+
+“My Lord!” gasped the man on the floor. “My Lord, I 
+am ... 1 am so pleased ... and so sorry. ...” 
+
+“Nagini,” said the cold voice, “you are out of luck. 1 
+will not be feeding Wormtail to you, after all ... but 
+never mind, never mind . . . there is still Harry Potter. 
+
+
+
+The snake hissed. Harry could see its tongue 
+fluttering. 
+
+“Now, Wormtail,” said the cold voice, “perhaps one 
+more little reminder why I will not tolerate another 
+blunder from you. ...” 
+
+“My Lord ... no ... I beg you ...” 
+
+The tip of a wand emerged from around the back of 
+the chair, ft was pointing at Wormtail. 
+
+“Crucio\” said the cold voice. 
+
+Wormtail screamed, screamed as though every nerve 
+in his body were on fire, the screaming filled Harry’s 
+ears as the scar on his forehead seared with pain; he 
+
+
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+was yelling too. ... Voldemort would hear him, would 
+know he was there. ... 
+
+
+
+“Harry! Harry\” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor of 
+Professor Trelawney’s room with his hands over his 
+face. His scar was still burning so badly that his eyes 
+were watering. The pain had been real. The whole 
+class was standing around him, and Ron was 
+kneeling next to him, looking terrified. 
+
+“You all right?” he said. 
+
+“Of course he isn’t!” said Professor Trelawney, looking 
+thoroughly excited. Her great eyes loomed over Harry, 
+gazing at him. “What was it, Potter? A premonition? 
+An apparition? What did you see?” 
+
+“Nothing,” Harry lied. He sat up. He could feel himself 
+shaking. He couldn’t stop himself from looking 
+around, into the shadows behind him; Voldemort’s 
+voice had sounded so close. ... 
+
+“You were clutching your scar!” said Professor 
+Trelawney. “You were rolling on the floor, clutching 
+your scar! Come now, Potter, I have experience in 
+these matters!” 
+
+Harry looked up at her. 
+
+“I need to go to the hospital wing, I think,” he said. 
+“Bad headache.” 
+
+“My dear, you were undoubtedly stimulated by the 
+extraordinary clairvoyant vibrations of my room!” said 
+Professor Trelawney “If you leave now, you may lose 
+the opportunity to see further than you have ever — ” 
+
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+“I don’t want to see anything except a headache cure,” 
+said Harry. 
+
+He stood up. The class backed away. They all looked 
+unnerved. 
+
+“See you later,” Harry muttered to Ron, and he picked 
+up his bag and headed for the trapdoor, ignoring 
+Professor Trelawney, who was wearing an expression 
+of great frustration, as though she had just been 
+denied a real treat. 
+
+When Harry reached the bottom of her stepladder, 
+however, he did not set off for the hospital wing. He 
+had no intention whatsoever of going there. Sirius 
+had told him what to do if his scar hurt him again, 
+and Harry was going to follow his advice: He was 
+going straight to Dumbledore’s office. He marched 
+down the corridors, thinking about what he had seen 
+in the dream ... it had been as vivid as the one that 
+had awoken him on Privet Drive. ... He ran over the 
+details in his mind, trying to make sure he could 
+remember them. ... He had heard Voldemort accusing 
+Wormtail of making a blunder ... but the owl had 
+brought good news, the blunder had been repaired, 
+somebody was dead ... so Wormtail was not going to 
+be fed to the snake ... he, Harry, was going to be fed 
+to it instead. ... 
+
+Harry had walked right past the stone gargoyle 
+guarding the entrance to Dumbledore’s office without 
+noticing. He blinked, looked around, realized what he 
+had done, and retraced his steps, stopping in front of 
+it. Then he remembered that he didn’t know the 
+password. 
+
+“Sherbet lemon?” he tried tentatively. 
+
+The gargoyle did not move. 
+
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+
+“Okay,” said Harry, staring at it, “Pear Drop. Er — 
+Licorice Wand. Fizzing Whizbee. Drooble’s Best 
+Blowing Gum. Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans ... oh 
+no, he doesn’t like them, does he? ... oh just open, 
+can’t you?” he said angrily. “I really need to see him, 
+it’s urgent!” 
+
+The gargoyle remained immovable. 
+
+Harry kicked it, achieving nothing but an excruciating 
+pain in his big toe. 
+
+“Chocolate Frog!” he yelled angrily, standing on one 
+leg. “Sugar Quill! Cockroach Cluster!” 
+
+The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside. Harry 
+blinked. 
+
+“Cockroach Cluster?” he said, amazed. “I was only 
+joking. ...” 
+
+He hurried through the gap in the walls and stepped 
+onto the foot of a spiral stone staircase, which moved 
+slowly upward as the doors closed behind him, taking 
+him up to a polished oak door with a brass door 
+knocker. 
+
+He could hear voices from inside the office. He 
+stepped off the moving staircase and hesitated, 
+listening. 
+
+“Dumbledore, I’m afraid I don’t see the connection, 
+don’t see it at all!” It was the voice of the Minister of 
+Magic, Cornelius Fudge. “Ludo says Bertha’s perfectly 
+capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have 
+expected to have found her by now, but all the same, 
+we’ve no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at 
+all. As for her disappearance being linked with Barty 
+Crouch’s!” 
+
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+
+“And what do you thinks happened to Barty Crouch, 
+Minister?” said Moody’s growling voice. 
+
+“I see two possibilities, Alastor,” said Fudge. “Either 
+Crouch has finally cracked — more than likely, I’m 
+sure you’ll agree, given his personal history — lost his 
+mind, and gone wandering off somewhere — ” 
+
+“He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, 
+Cornelius,” said Dumbledore calmly. 
+
+“Or else — well ...” Fudge sounded embarrassed. 
+
+“Well, I’ll reserve judgment until after I’ve seen the 
+place where he was found, but you say it was just 
+past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you 
+know what that woman is?” 
+
+“I consider her to be a very able headmistress — and 
+an excellent dancer,” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+
+“Dumbledore, come!” said Fudge angrily. “Don’t you 
+think you might be prejudiced in her favor because of 
+Hagrid? They don’t all turn out harmless — if, indeed, 
+you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster 
+fixation he’s got — ” 
+
+“I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid,” 
+said Dumbledore, just as calmly. “I think it possible 
+that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius.” 
+
+“Can we wrap up this discussion?” growled Moody. 
+
+“Yes, yes, let’s go down to the grounds, then,” said 
+Fudge impatiently. 
+
+“No, it’s not that,” said Moody, “it’s just that Potter 
+wants a word with you, Dumbledore. He’s just outside 
+the door.” 
+
+
+
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+
+THE PENSIEVE 
+
+The door of the office opened. 
+
+“Hello, Potter,” said Moody. “Come in, then.” 
+
+Harry walked inside. He had been inside 
+Dumbledore’s office once before; it was a very 
+beautiful, circular room, lined with pictures of 
+previous headmasters and headmistresses of 
+Hogwarts, all of whom were fast asleep, their chests 
+rising and falling gently. 
+
+Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore’s 
+desk, wearing his usual pinstriped cloak and holding 
+his lime-green bowler hat. 
+
+“Harry!” said Fudge jovially, moving forward. “How are 
+you?” 
+
+“Fine,” Harry lied. 
+
+
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+“We were just talking about the night when Mr. 
+Crouch turned up on the grounds,” said Fudge. “It 
+was you who found him, was it not?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. Then, feeling it was pointless to 
+pretend that he hadn’t overheard what they had been 
+saying, he added, “I didn’t see Madame Maxime 
+anywhere, though, and she’d have a job hiding, 
+wouldn’t she?” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled at Harry behind Fudge’s back, his 
+eyes twinkling. 
+
+“Yes, well,” said Fudge, looking embarrassed, “we’re 
+about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Harry, if 
+you’ll excuse us ... perhaps if you just go back to your 
+class — ” 
+
+“I wanted to talk to you, Professor,” Harry said 
+quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, 
+searching look. 
+
+“Wait here for me, Harry,” he said. “Our examination 
+of the grounds will not take long.” 
+
+They trooped out in silence past him and closed the 
+door. After a minute or so, Harry heard the clunks of 
+Moody’s wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor 
+below. He looked around. 
+
+“Hello, Fawkes,” he said. 
+
+Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore’s phoenix, was 
+standing on his golden perch beside the door. The 
+size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet-and-gold 
+plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked 
+benignly at Harry. 
+
+
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+Harry sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore’s 
+desk. For several minutes, he sat and watched the old 
+headmasters and headmistresses snoozing in their 
+frames, thinking about what he had just heard, and 
+running his fingers over his scar. It had stopped 
+hurting now. 
+
+He felt much calmer, somehow, now that he was in 
+Dumbledore’s office, knowing he would shortly be 
+telling him about the dream. Harry looked up at the 
+walls behind the desk. The patched and ragged 
+Sorting Hat was standing on a shelf. A glass case next 
+to it held a magnificent silver sword with large rubies 
+set into the hilt, which Harry recognized as the one he 
+himself had pulled out of the Sorting Hat in his 
+second year. The sword had once belonged to Godric 
+Gryffindor, founder of Harry’s House. He was gazing 
+at it, remembering how it had come to his aid when 
+he had thought all hope was lost, when he noticed a 
+patch of silvery light, dancing and shimmering on the 
+glass case. He looked around for the source of the 
+light and saw a sliver of silver-white shining brightly 
+from within a black cabinet behind him, whose door 
+had not been closed properly. Harry hesitated, 
+glanced at Fawkes, then got up, walked across the 
+office, and pulled open the cabinet door. 
+
+A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings 
+around the edge: runes and symbols that Harry did 
+not recognize. The silvery light was coming from the 
+basin’s contents, which were like nothing Harry had 
+ever seen before. He could not tell whether the 
+substance was liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish 
+silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it 
+became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, 
+like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked 
+like light made liquid — or like wind made solid — 
+Harry couldn’t make up his mind. 
+
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+He wanted to touch it, to find out what it felt like, but 
+nearly four years’ experience of the magical world told 
+him that sticking his hand into a bowl full of some 
+unknown substance was a very stupid thing to do. He 
+therefore pulled his wand out of the inside of his 
+robes, cast a nervous look around the office, looked 
+back at the contents of the basin, and prodded them. 
+
+The surface of the silvery stuff inside the basin began 
+to swirl very fast. 
+
+Harry bent closer, his head right inside the cabinet. 
+The silvery substance had become transparent; it 
+looked like glass. He looked down into it, expecting to 
+see the stone bottom of the basin — and saw instead 
+an enormous room below the surface of the 
+mysterious substance, a room into which he seemed 
+to be looking through a circular window in the ceiling. 
+
+The room was dimly lit; he thought it might even be 
+underground, for there were no windows, merely 
+torches in brackets such as the ones that illuminated 
+the walls of Hogwarts. Lowering his face so that his 
+nose was a mere inch away from the glassy 
+substance, Harry saw that rows and rows of witches 
+and wizards were seated around every wall on what 
+seemed to be benches rising in levels. An empty chair 
+stood in the very center of the room. There was 
+something about the chair that gave Harry an 
+ominous feeling. Chains encircled the arms of it, as 
+though its occupants were usually tied to it. 
+
+Where was this place? It surely wasn’t Hogwarts; he 
+had never seen a room like that here in the castle. 
+Moreover, the crowd in the mysterious room at the 
+bottom of the basin was comprised of adults, and 
+Harry knew there were not nearly that many teachers 
+at Hogwarts. They seemed, he thought, to be waiting 
+for something; even though he could only see the tops 
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+of their hats, all of their faces seemed to be pointing 
+in one direction, and none of them were talking to one 
+another. 
+
+The basin being circular, and the room he was 
+observing square, Harry could not make out what was 
+going on in the corners of it. He leaned even closer, 
+tilting his head, trying to see . . . 
+
+The tip of his nose touched the strange substance 
+into which he was staring. 
+
+Dumbledore’s office gave an almighty lurch — Harry 
+was thrown forward and pitched headfirst into the 
+substance inside the basin — 
+
+But his head did not hit the stone bottom. He was 
+falling through something icy-cold and black; it was 
+like being sucked into a dark whirlpool — 
+
+And suddenly, Harry found himself sitting on a bench 
+at the end of the room inside the basin, a bench 
+raised high above the others. He looked up at the 
+high stone ceiling, expecting to see the circular 
+window through which he had just been staring, but 
+there was nothing there but dark, solid stone. 
+
+Breathing hard and fast, Harry looked around him. 
+Not one of the witches and wizards in the room (and 
+there were at least two hundred of them) was looking 
+at him. Not one of them seemed to have noticed that a 
+fourteen-year- old boy had just dropped from the 
+ceiling into their midst. Harry turned to the wizard 
+next to him on the bench and uttered a loud cry of 
+surprise that reverberated around the silent room. 
+
+He was sitting right next to Albus Dumbledore. 
+
+
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+“Professor!” Harry said in a kind of strangled whisper. 
+“I’m sorry — I didn’t mean to — I was just looking at 
+that basin in your cabinet — I — where are we?” 
+
+But Dumbledore didn’t move or speak. He ignored 
+Harry completely. Like every other wizard on the 
+benches, he was staring into the far corner of the 
+room, where there was a door. 
+
+Harry gazed, nonplussed, at Dumbledore, then 
+around at the silently watchful crowd, then back at 
+Dumbledore. And then it dawned on him. ... 
+
+Once before, Harry had found himself somewhere that 
+nobody could see or hear him. That time, he had 
+fallen through a page in an enchanted diary, right 
+into somebody else’s memory ... and unless he was 
+very much mistaken, something of the sort had 
+happened again. ... 
+
+Harry raised his right hand, hesitated, and then 
+waved it energetically in front of Dumbledore ’s face. 
+Dumbledore did not blink, look around at Harry, or 
+indeed move at all. And that, in Harry’s opinion, 
+settled the matter. Dumbledore wouldn’t ignore him 
+like that. He was inside a memory, and this was not 
+the present-day Dumbledore. Yet it couldn’t be that 
+long ago . . . the Dumbledore sitting next to him now 
+was silver-haired, just like the present-day 
+Dumbledore. But what was this place? What were all 
+these wizards waiting for? 
+
+Harry looked around more carefully. The room, as he 
+had suspected when observing it from above, was 
+almost certainly underground — more of a dungeon 
+than a room, he thought. There was a bleak and 
+forbidding air about the place; there were no pictures 
+on the walls, no decorations at all; just these serried 
+rows of benches, rising in levels all around the room, 
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+all positioned so that they had a clear view of that 
+chair with the chains on its arms. 
+
+Before Harry could reach any conclusions about the 
+place in which they were, he heard footsteps. The 
+door in the corner of the dungeon opened and three 
+people entered — or at least one man, flanked by two 
+dementors. 
+
+Harry’s insides went cold. The dementors — tall, 
+hooded creatures whose faces were concealed — were 
+gliding slowly toward the chair in the center of the 
+room, each grasping one of the man’s arms with their 
+dead and rotten-looking hands. The man between 
+them looked as though he was about to faint, and 
+Harry couldn’t blame him ... he knew the dementors 
+could not touch him inside a memory, but he 
+remembered their power only too well. The watching 
+crowd recoiled slightly as the dementors placed the 
+man in the chained chair and glided back out of the 
+room. The door swung shut behind them. 
+
+Harry looked down at the man now sitting in the 
+chair and saw that it was Karkaroff. 
+
+Unlike Dumbledore, Karkaroff looked much younger; 
+his hair and goatee were black. He was not dressed in 
+sleek furs, but in thin and ragged robes. He was 
+shaking. Even as Harry watched, the chains on the 
+arms of the chair glowed suddenly gold and snaked 
+their way up Karkaroff’s arms, binding him there. 
+
+“Igor Karkaroff,” said a curt voice to Harry’s left. 
+
+Harry looked around and saw Mr. Crouch standing 
+up in the middle of the bench beside him. Crouch’s 
+hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he 
+looked fit and alert. “You have been brought from 
+Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+
+
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+You have given us to understand that you have 
+important information for us.” 
+
+Karkaroff straightened himself as best he could, 
+tightly bound to the chair. 
+
+“I have, sir,” he said, and although his voice was very 
+scared, Harry could still hear the familiar unctuous 
+note in it. “I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish 
+to help. I — I know that the Ministry is trying to — to 
+round up the last of the Dark Lord’s supporters. I am 
+eager to assist in any way I can. ...” 
+
+There was a murmur around the benches. Some of 
+the wizards and witches were surveying Karkaroff 
+with interest, others with pronounced mistrust. Then 
+Harry heard, quite distinctly, from Dumbledore’s 
+other side, a familiar, growling voice saying, “Filth.” 
+
+Harry leaned forward so that he could see past 
+Dumbledore. Mad-Eye Moody was sitting there — 
+except that there was a very noticeable difference in 
+his appearance. He did not have his magical eye, but 
+two normal ones. Both were looking down upon 
+Karkaroff, and both were narrowed in intense dislike. 
+
+“Crouch is going to let him out,” Moody breathed 
+quietly to Dumbledore. “He’s done a deal with him. 
+Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch 
+is going to let him go if he’s got enough new names. 
+Let’s hear his information, I say, and throw him 
+straight back to the dementors.” 
+
+Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through 
+his long, crooked nose. 
+
+“Ah, I was forgetting ... you don’t like the dementors, 
+do you, Albus?” said Moody with a sardonic smile. 
+
+
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+“No,” said Dumbledore calmly, “I’m afraid I don’t. I 
+have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with 
+such creatures.” 
+
+“But for filth like this ...” Moody said softly. 
+
+“You say you have names for us, Karkaroff,” said Mr. 
+Crouch. “Let us hear them, please.” 
+
+“You must understand,” said Karkaroff hurriedly, 
+
+“that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in 
+the greatest secrecy. . . . He preferred that we — I 
+mean to say, his supporters — and I regret now, very 
+deeply, that I ever counted myself among them — ” 
+
+“Get on with it,” sneered Moody. 
+
+“ — we never knew the names of every one of our 
+fellows — He alone knew exactly who we all were — ” 
+
+“Which was a wise move, wasn’t it, as it prevented 
+someone like you, Karkaroff, from turning all of them 
+in,” muttered Moody. 
+
+“Yet you say you have some names for us?” said Mr. 
+Crouch. 
+
+“I — I do,” said Karkaroff breathlessly. “And these 
+were important supporters, mark you. People I saw 
+with my own eyes doing his bidding. I give this 
+information as a sign that I fully and totally renounce 
+him, and am filled with a remorse so deep I can 
+barely — ” 
+
+“These names are?” said Mr. Crouch sharply. 
+Karkaroff drew a deep breath. 
+
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+“There was Antonin Dolohov,” he said. “I — I saw him 
+torture countless Muggles and — and non-supporters 
+of the Dark Lord.” 
+
+
+
+“And helped him do it,” murmured Moody. 
+
+“We have already apprehended Dolohov,” said 
+Crouch. “He was caught shortly after yourself.” 
+
+“Indeed?” said Karkaroff, his eyes widening. “I — I am 
+delighted to hear it!” 
+
+But he didn’t look it. Harry could tell that this news 
+had come as a real blow to him. One of his names 
+was worthless. 
+
+“Any others?” said Crouch coldly. 
+
+“Why, yes ... there was Rosier,” said Karkaroff 
+hurriedly. “Evan Rosier.” 
+
+“Rosier is dead,” said Crouch. “He was caught shortly 
+after you were too. He preferred to fight rather than 
+come quietly and was killed in the struggle.” 
+
+“Took a bit of me with him, though,” whispered 
+Moody to Harry’s right. Harry looked around at him 
+once more, and saw him indicating the large chunk 
+out of his nose to Dumbledore. 
+
+“No — no more than Rosier deserved!” said Karkaroff, 
+a real note of panic in his voice now. Harry could see 
+that he was starting to worry that none of his 
+information would be of any use to the Ministry. 
+Karkaroff’s eyes darted toward the door in the corner, 
+behind which the dementors undoubtedly still stood, 
+waiting. 
+
+“Any more?” said Crouch. 
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+“Yes!” said Karkaroff. “There was Travers — he helped 
+murder the McKinnons! Mulciber — he specialized in 
+the Imperius Curse, forced countless people to do 
+horrific things! Rookwood, who was a spy, and passed 
+He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named useful information from 
+inside the Ministry itself!” 
+
+Harry could tell that, this time, Karkaroff had struck 
+gold. The watching crowd was all murmuring 
+together. 
+
+“Rookwood?” said Mr. Crouch, nodding to a witch 
+sitting in front of him, who began scribbling upon her 
+piece of parchment. “Augustus Rookwood of the 
+Department of Mysteries?” 
+
+“The very same,” said Karkaroff eagerly. “I believe he 
+used a network of well-placed wizards, both inside the 
+Ministry and out, to collect information — ” 
+
+“But Travers and Mulciber we have,” said Mr. Crouch. 
+“Very well, Karkaroff, if that is all, you will be 
+returned to Azkaban while we decide — ” 
+
+“Not yet!” cried Karkaroff, looking quite desperate. 
+“Wait, I have more!” 
+
+Harry could see him sweating in the torchlight, his 
+white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his 
+hair and beard. 
+
+“Snape!” he shouted. “Severus Snape!” 
+
+“Snape has been cleared by this council,” said Crouch 
+disdainfully. “He has been vouched for by Albus 
+Dumbledore.” 
+
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+“No!” shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that 
+bound him to the chair. “I assure you! Severus Snape 
+is a Death Eater!” 
+
+Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. 
+
+“I have given evidence already on this matter,” he said 
+calmly. “Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. 
+However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort’s 
+downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. 
+He is now no more a Death Eater than I am.” 
+
+Harry turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody. He was 
+wearing a look of deep skepticism behind 
+Dumbledore ’s back. 
+
+“Very well, Karkaroff,” Crouch said coldly, “you have 
+been of assistance. I shall review your case. You will 
+return to Azkaban in the meantime. ...” 
+
+Mr. Crouch’s voice faded. Harry looked around; the 
+dungeon was dissolving as though it were made of 
+smoke; everything was fading; he could see only his 
+own body — all else was swirling darkness. ... 
+
+And then, the dungeon returned. Harry was sitting in 
+a different seat, still on the highest bench, but now to 
+the left side of Mr. Crouch. The atmosphere seemed 
+quite different: relaxed, even cheerful. The witches 
+and wizards all around the walls were talking to one 
+another, almost as though they were at some sort of 
+sporting event. Harry noticed a witch halfway up the 
+rows of benches opposite. She had short blonde hair, 
+was wearing magenta robes, and was sucking the end 
+of an acid-green quill. It was, unmistakably, a 
+younger Rita Skeeter. Harry looked around; 
+Dumbledore was sitting beside him again, wearing 
+different robes. Mr. Crouch looked more tired and 
+
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+somehow fiercer, gaunter. ... Harry understood. It was 
+a different memory, a different day ... a different trial. 
+
+The door in the corner opened, and Ludo Bagman 
+walked into the room. 
+
+This was not, however, a Ludo Bagman gone to seed, 
+but a Ludo Bagman who was clearly at the height of 
+his Quidditch-playing fitness. His nose wasn’t broken 
+now; he was tall and lean and muscular. Bagman 
+looked nervous as he sat down in the chained chair, 
+but it did not bind him there as it had bound 
+Karkaroff, and Bagman, perhaps taking heart from 
+this, glanced around at the watching crowd, waved at 
+a couple of them, and managed a small smile. 
+
+“Ludo Bagman, you have been brought here in front 
+of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges 
+relating to the activities of the Death Eaters,” said Mr. 
+Crouch. “We have heard the evidence against you, 
+and are about to reach our verdict. Do you have 
+anything to add to your testimony before we 
+pronounce judgment?” 
+
+Harry couldn’t believe his ears. Ludo Bagman, a 
+Death Eater? 
+
+“Only,” said Bagman, smiling awkwardly, “well — I 
+know I’ve been a bit of an idiot — ” 
+
+One or two wizards and witches in the surrounding 
+seats smiled indulgently. Mr. Crouch did not appear 
+to share their feelings. He was staring down at Ludo 
+Bagman with an expression of the utmost severity 
+and dislike. 
+
+“You never spoke a truer word, boy,” someone 
+muttered dryly to Dumbledore behind Harry. He 
+looked around and saw Moody sitting there again. “If I 
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+didn’t know he’d always been dim, I’d have said some 
+of those Bludgers had permanently affected his brain. 
+
+
+
+“Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing 
+information to Lord Voldemort’s supporters,” said Mr. 
+Crouch. “For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment 
+in Azkaban lasting no less than — ” 
+
+But there was an angry outcry from the surrounding 
+benches. Several of the witches and wizards around 
+the walls stood up, shaking their heads, and even 
+their fists, at Mr. Crouch. 
+
+“But I’ve told you, I had no idea!” Bagman called 
+earnestly over the crowd’s babble, his round blue eyes 
+widening. “None at all! Old Rookwood was a friend of 
+my dad’s ... never crossed my mind he was in with 
+You-Know-Who! I thought I was collecting information 
+for our side! And Rookwood kept talking about getting 
+me a job in the Ministry later on ... once my 
+Quidditch days are over, you know ... I mean, I can’t 
+keep getting hit by Bludgers for the rest of my life, 
+can I?” 
+
+There were titters from the crowd. 
+
+“It will be put to the vote,” said Mr. Crouch coldly. He 
+turned to the right-hand side of the dungeon. “The 
+jury will please raise their hands ... those in favor of 
+imprisonment ...” 
+
+Harry looked toward the right-hand side of the 
+dungeon. Not one person raised their hand. Many of 
+the witches and wizards around the walls began to 
+clap. One of the witches on the jury stood up. 
+
+“Yes?” barked Crouch. 
+
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+“We’d just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his 
+splendid performance for England in the Quidditch 
+match against Turkey last Saturday,” the witch said 
+breathlessly. 
+
+Mr. Crouch looked furious. The dungeon was ringing 
+with applause now. Bagman got to his feet and 
+bowed, beaming. 
+
+“Despicable,” Mr. Crouch spat at Dumbledore, sitting 
+down as Bagman walked out of the dungeon. 
+“Rookwood get him a job indeed. ... The day Ludo 
+Bagman joins us will be a sad day indeed for the 
+Ministry. ...” 
+
+And the dungeon dissolved again. When it had 
+returned, Harry looked around. He and Dumbledore 
+were still sitting beside Mr. Crouch, but the 
+atmosphere could not have been more different. There 
+was total silence, broken only by the dry sobs of a 
+frail, wispy-looking witch in the seat next to Mr. 
+Crouch. She was clutching a handkerchief to her 
+mouth with trembling hands. Harry looked up at 
+Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer 
+than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple. 
+
+“Bring them in,” he said, and his voice echoed 
+through the silent dungeon. 
+
+The door in the corner opened yet again. Six 
+dementors entered this time, flanking a group of four 
+people. Harry saw the people in the crowd turn to 
+look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to 
+one another. 
+
+The dementors placed each of the four people in the 
+four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the 
+dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared 
+blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous- 
+
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+looking man, whose eyes were darting around the 
+crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and 
+heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained 
+chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late 
+teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was 
+shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his 
+freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside 
+Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her 
+seat, whimpering into her handkerchief. 
+
+Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in 
+front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face. 
+
+“You have been brought here before the Council of 
+Magical Law,” he said clearly, “so that we may pass 
+judgment on you, for a crime so heinous — ” 
+
+“Father,” said the boy with the straw-colored hair. 
+“Father ... please ...” 
+
+“ — that we have rarely heard the like of it within this 
+court,” said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning 
+out his son’s voice. “We have heard the evidence 
+against you. The four of you stand accused of 
+capturing an Auror — Frank Longbottom — and 
+subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him 
+to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your 
+exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named — ” 
+
+“Father, I didn’t!” shrieked the boy in chains below. “I 
+didn’t, I swear it, Father, don’t send me back to the 
+dementors — ” 
+
+“You are further accused,” bellowed Mr. Crouch, “of 
+using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom’s 
+wife, when he would not give you information. You 
+planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to 
+power, and to resume the lives of violence you 
+
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+presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the 
+jury — ” 
+
+“Mother!” screamed the boy below, and the wispy little 
+witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward 
+and forward. “Mother, stop him, Mother, I didn’t do it, 
+it wasn’t me!” 
+
+“I now ask the jury,” shouted Mr. Crouch, “to raise 
+their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes 
+deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!” 
+
+In unison, the witches and wizards along the right- 
+hand side of the dungeon raised their hands. The 
+crowd around the walls began to clap as it had for 
+Bagman, their faces full of savage triumph. The boy 
+began to scream. 
+
+“No! Mother, no! I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, I didn’t 
+know! Don’t send me there, don’t let him!” 
+
+The dementors were gliding back into the room. The 
+boys’ three companions rose quietly from their seats; 
+the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at 
+Crouch and called, “The Dark Lord will rise again, 
+Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will 
+rise again and will come for us, he will reward us 
+beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were 
+faithful! We alone tried to find him!” 
+
+But the boy was trying to fight off the dementors, 
+even though Harry could see their cold, draining 
+power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, 
+some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of 
+the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle. 
+
+“I’m your son!” he screamed up at Crouch. “I’m your 
+son!” 
+
+
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+“You are no son of mine!” bellowed Mr. Crouch, his 
+eyes bulging suddenly. “I have no son!” 
+
+The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and 
+slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch 
+appeared not to have noticed. 
+
+“Take them away!” Crouch roared at the dementors, 
+spit flying from his mouth. “Take them away, and 
+may they rot there!” 
+
+“Father! Father, I wasn’t involved! No! No! Father, 
+please!” 
+
+“I think, Harry, it is time to return to my office,” said 
+a quiet voice in Harry’s ear. 
+
+Harry started. He looked around. Then he looked on 
+his other side. 
+
+There was an Albus Dumbledore sitting on his right, 
+watching Crouch’s son being dragged away by the 
+dementors — and there was an Albus Dumbledore on 
+his left, looking right at him. 
+
+“Come,” said the Dumbledore on his left, and he put 
+his hand under Harry’s elbow. Harry felt himself 
+rising into the air; the dungeon dissolved around him; 
+for a moment, all was blackness, and then he felt as 
+though he had done a slow-motion somersault, 
+suddenly landing flat on his feet, in what seemed like 
+the dazzling light of Dumbledore ’s sunlit office. The 
+stone basin was shimmering in the cabinet in front of 
+him, and Albus Dumbledore was standing beside 
+him. 
+
+“Professor,” Harry gasped, “I know I shouldn’t’ve — I 
+didn’t mean — the cabinet door was sort of open and 
+
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+“I quite understand,” said Dumbledore. He lifted the 
+basin, carried it over to his desk, placed it upon the 
+polished top, and sat down in the chair behind it. He 
+motioned for Harry to sit down opposite him. 
+
+Harry did so, staring at the stone basin. The contents 
+had returned to their original, silvery-white state, 
+swirling and rippling beneath his gaze. 
+
+“What is it?” Harry asked shakily. 
+
+“This? It is called a Pensieve,” said Dumbledore. “I 
+sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, 
+that I simply have too many thoughts and memories 
+crammed into my mind.” 
+
+“Er,” said Harry, who couldn’t truthfully say that he 
+had ever felt anything of the sort. 
+
+“At these times,” said Dumbledore, indicating the 
+stone basin, “I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons 
+the excess thoughts from one’s mind, pours them into 
+the basin, and examines them at one’s leisure. It 
+becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you 
+understand, when they are in this form.” 
+
+“You mean . . . that stuff’s your thoughts?” Harry said, 
+staring at the swirling white substance in the basin. 
+
+“Certainly,” said Dumbledore. “Let me show you.” 
+
+Dumbledore drew his wand out of the inside of his 
+robes and placed the tip into his own silvery hair, 
+near his temple. When he took the wand away, hair 
+seemed to be clinging to it — but then Harry saw that 
+it was in fact a glistening strand of the same strange 
+silvery-white substance that filled the Pensieve. 
+Dumbledore added this fresh thought to the basin, 
+and Harry, astonished, saw his own face swimming 
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+around the surface of the bowl. Dumbledore placed 
+his long hands on either side of the Pensieve and 
+swirled it, rather as a gold prospector would pan for 
+fragments of gold . . . and Harry saw his own face 
+change smoothly into Snape’s, who opened his mouth 
+and spoke to the ceiling, his voice echoing slightly. 
+
+“It’s coming back ... Karkaroff’s too ... stronger and 
+clearer than ever ...” 
+
+“A connection I could have made without assistance,” 
+Dumbledore sighed, “but never mind.” He peered over 
+the top of his half-moon spectacles at Harry, who was 
+gaping at Snape’s face, which was continuing to swirl 
+around the bowl. “I was using the Pensieve when Mr. 
+Fudge arrived for our meeting and put it away rather 
+hastily. Undoubtedly I did not fasten the cabinet door 
+properly. Naturally, it would have attracted your 
+attention.” 
+
+“I’m sorry,” Harry mumbled. 
+
+Dumbledore shook his head. “Curiosity is not a sin,” 
+he said. “But we should exercise caution with our 
+curiosity ... yes, indeed ...” 
+
+Frowning slightly, he prodded the thoughts within the 
+basin with the tip of his wand. Instantly, a figure rose 
+out of it, a plump, scowling girl of about sixteen, who 
+began to revolve slowly, with her feet still in the basin. 
+She took no notice whatsoever of Harry or Professor 
+Dumbledore. When she spoke, her voice echoed as 
+Snape’s had done, as though it were coming from the 
+depths of the stone basin. “He put a hex on me, 
+Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, 
+sir. I only said I’d seen him kissing Florence behind 
+the greenhouses last Thursday. ...” 
+
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+“But why, Bertha,” said Dumbledore sadly, looking up 
+at the now silently revolving girl, “why did you have to 
+follow him in the first place?” 
+
+“Bertha?” Harry whispered, looking up at her. “Is that 
+— was that Bertha Jorkins?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore, prodding the thoughts in the 
+basin again; Bertha sank back into them, and they 
+became silvery and opaque once more. “That was 
+Bertha as I remember her at school.” 
+
+The silvery light from the Pensieve illuminated 
+Dumbledore’s face, and it struck Harry suddenly how 
+very old he was looking. He knew, of course, that 
+Dumbledore was getting on in years, but somehow he 
+never really thought of Dumbledore as an old man. 
+
+“So, Harry,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Before you got 
+lost in my thoughts, you wanted to tell me 
+something.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “Professor — I was in Divination 
+just now, and — er — I fell asleep.” 
+
+He hesitated here, wondering if a reprimand was 
+coming, but Dumbledore merely said, “Quite 
+understandable. Continue.” 
+
+“Well, I had a dream,” said Harry. “A dream about 
+Lord Voldemort. He was torturing Wormtail ... you 
+know who Wormtail — ” 
+
+“I do know,” said Dumbledore promptly. “Please 
+continue.” 
+
+“Voldemort got a letter from an owl. He said 
+something like, Wormtail’s blunder had been 
+repaired. He said someone was dead. Then he said, 
+
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+Wormtail wouldn’t be fed to the snake — there was a 
+snake beside his chair. He said — he said he’d be 
+feeding me to it, instead. Then he did the Cruciatus 
+Curse on Wormtail — and my scar hurt,” Harry said. 
+“It woke me up, it hurt so badly.” 
+
+Dumbledore merely looked at him. 
+
+“Er — that’s all,” said Harry. 
+
+“I see,” said Dumbledore quietly. “I see. Now, has your 
+scar hurt at any other time this year, excepting the 
+time it woke you up over the summer?” 
+
+“No, I — how did you know it woke me up over the 
+summer?” said Harry, astonished. 
+
+“You are not Sirius’s only correspondent,” said 
+Dumbledore. “I have also been in contact with him 
+ever since he left Hogwarts last year. It was I who 
+suggested the mountainside cave as the safest place 
+for him to stay.” 
+
+Dumbledore got up and began walking up and down 
+behind his desk. Every now and then, he placed his 
+wand tip to his temple, removed another shining 
+silver thought, and added it to the Pensieve. The 
+thoughts inside began to swirl so fast that Harry 
+couldn’t make out anything clearly: It was merely a 
+blur of color. 
+
+“Professor?” he said quietly, after a couple of minutes. 
+
+Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at Harry. 
+
+“My apologies,” he said quietly. He sat back down at 
+his desk. 
+
+“D’you — d’you know why my scar’s hurting me?” 
+
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+Dumbledore looked very intently at Harry for a 
+moment, and then said, “I have a theory, no more 
+than that. ... It is my belief that your scar hurts both 
+when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is 
+feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred.” 
+
+“But ... why?” 
+
+“Because you and he are connected by the curse that 
+failed,” said Dumbledore. “That is no ordinary scar.” 
+
+“So you think . . . that dream . . . did it really happen?” 
+
+“It is possible,” said Dumbledore. “I would say — 
+probable. Harry — did you see Voldemort?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “Just the back of his chair. But — 
+there wouldn’t have been anything to see, would 
+there? I mean, he hasn’t got a body, has he? But ... 
+but then how could he have held the wand?” Harry 
+said slowly. 
+
+“How indeed?” muttered Dumbledore. “How indeed 
+
+
+
+Neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke for a while. 
+Dumbledore was gazing across the room, and, every 
+now and then, placing his wand tip to his temple and 
+adding another shining silver thought to the seething 
+mass within the Pensieve. 
+
+“Professor,” Harry said at last, “do you think he’s 
+getting stronger?” 
+
+“Voldemort?” said Dumbledore, looking at Harry over 
+the Pensieve. It was the characteristic, piercing look 
+Dumbledore had given him on other occasions, and 
+always made Harry feel as though Dumbledore were 
+seeing right through him in a way that even Moody’s 
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+
+
+
+magical eye could not. “Once again, Harry, I can only 
+give you my suspicions.” 
+
+Dumbledore sighed again, and he looked older, and 
+wearier, than ever. 
+
+“The years of Voldemort’s ascent to power,” he said, 
+“were marked with disappearances. Bertha Jorkins 
+has vanished without a trace in the place where 
+Voldemort was certainly known to be last. Mr. Crouch 
+too has disappeared ... within these very grounds. 
+
+And there was a third disappearance, one which the 
+Ministry, I regret to say, do not consider of any 
+importance, for it concerns a Muggle. His name was 
+Frank Bryce, he lived in the village where Voldemort’s 
+father grew up, and he has not been seen since last 
+August. You see, I read the Muggle newspapers, 
+unlike most of my Ministry friends.” 
+
+Dumbledore looked very seriously at Harry. 
+
+“These disappearances seem to me to be linked. The 
+Ministry disagrees — as you may have heard, while 
+waiting outside my office.” 
+
+Harry nodded. Silence fell between them again, 
+Dumbledore extracting thoughts every now and then. 
+Harry felt as though he ought to go, but his curiosity 
+held him in his chair. 
+
+“Professor?” he said again. 
+
+“Yes, Harry?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Er . . . could I ask you about . . . that court thing I was 
+in ... in the Pensieve?” 
+
+
+
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+
+“You could,” said Dumbledore heavily. “I attended it 
+many times, but some trials come back to me more 
+clearly than others ... particularly now. ...” 
+
+“You know — you know the trial you found me in? 
+
+The one with Crouch’s son? Well ... were they talking 
+about Neville’s parents?” 
+
+Dumbledore gave Harry a very sharp look. “Has 
+Neville never told you why he has been brought up by 
+his grandmother?” he said. 
+
+Harry shook his head, wondering, as he did so, how 
+he could have failed to ask Neville this, in almost four 
+years of knowing him. 
+
+“Yes, they were talking about Neville’s parents,” said 
+Dumbledore. “His father, Frank, was an Auror just 
+like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured 
+for information about Voldemort’s whereabouts after 
+he lost his powers, as you heard.” 
+
+“So they’re dead?” said Harry quietly. 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore, his voice full of a bitterness 
+Harry had never heard there before. “They are insane. 
+They are both in St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical 
+Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, 
+with his grandmother, during the holidays. They do 
+not recognize him.” 
+
+Harry sat there, horror-struck. He had never known 
+... never, in four years, bothered to find out ... 
+
+“The Longbottoms were very popular,” said 
+Dumbledore. “The attacks on them came after 
+Voldemort’s fall from power, just when everyone 
+thought they were safe. Those attacks caused a wave 
+of fury such as I have never known. The Ministry was 
+Page | 667 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+under great pressure to catch those who had done it. 
+Unfortunately, the Longbottoms’ evidence was — 
+given their condition — none too reliable.” 
+
+“Then Mr. Crouch’s son might not have been 
+involved?” said Harry slowly. 
+
+Dumbledore shook his head. 
+
+“As to that, I have no idea.” 
+
+Harry sat in silence once more, watching the contents 
+of the Pensieve swirl. There were two more questions 
+he was burning to ask . . . but they concerned the guilt 
+of living people. ... 
+
+“Er,” he said, “Mr. Bagman ...” 
+
+"... has never been accused of any Dark activity 
+since,” said Dumbledore calmly. 
+
+“Right,” said Harry hastily, staring at the contents of 
+the Pensieve again, which were swirling more slowly 
+now that Dumbledore had stopped adding thoughts. 
+“And ... er ...” 
+
+But the Pensieve seemed to be asking his question for 
+him. Snape’s face was swimming on the surface 
+again. Dumbledore glanced down into it, and then up 
+at Harry. 
+
+“No more has Professor Snape,” he said. 
+
+Harry looked into Dumbledore ’s light blue eyes, and 
+the thing he really wanted to know spilled out of his 
+mouth before he could stop it. 
+
+“What made you think he’d really stopped supporting 
+Voldemort, Professor?” 
+
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+
+
+
+Dumbledore held Harry’s gaze for a few seconds, and 
+then said, “That, Harry, is a matter between Professor 
+Snape and myself.” 
+
+Harry knew that the interview was over; Dumbledore 
+did not look angry, yet there was a finality in his tone 
+that told Harry it was time to go. He stood up, and so 
+did Dumbledore. 
+
+“Harry,” he said as Harry reached the door. “Please do 
+not speak about Neville’s parents to anybody else. He 
+has the right to let people know, when he is ready.” 
+
+“Yes, Professor,” said Harry, turning to go. 
+
+“And — ” 
+
+Harry looked back. Dumbledore was standing over 
+the Pensieve, his face lit from beneath by its silvery 
+spots of light, looking older than ever. He stared at 
+Harry for a moment, and then said, “Good luck with 
+the third task.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+THE THIRD TASK 
+
+“Dumbledore reckons You- Know- Who’s getting 
+stronger again as well?” Ron whispered. 
+
+Everything Harry had seen in the Pensieve, nearly 
+everything Dumbledore had told and shown him 
+afterward, he had now shared with Ron and 
+Hermione — and, of course, with Sirius, to whom 
+Harry had sent an owl the moment he had left 
+Dumbledore’s office. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat 
+up late in the common room once again that night, 
+talking it all over until Harry’s mind was reeling, until 
+he understood what Dumbledore had meant about a 
+head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have 
+been a relief to siphon them off. 
+
+Ron stared into the common room fire. Harry thought 
+he saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening 
+was warm. 
+
+“And he trusts Snape?” Ron said. “He really trusts 
+Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?” 
+
+
+
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+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was 
+sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her 
+knees. Harry thought she too looked as though she 
+could have done with a Pensieve. 
+
+“Rita Skeeter,” she muttered finally. 
+
+“How can you be worrying about her now?” said Ron, 
+in utter disbelief. 
+
+“I’m not worrying about her,” Hermione said to her 
+knees. “I’m just thinking ... remember what she said 
+to me in the Three Broomsticks? ‘I know things about 
+Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.’ This 
+is what she meant, isn’t it? She reported his trial, she 
+knew he’d passed information to the Death Eaters. 
+And Winky too, remember ... ‘Ludo Bagman’s a bad 
+wizard.’ Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got 
+off, he would have talked about it at home.” 
+
+“Yeah, but Bagman didn’t pass information on 
+purpose, did he?” 
+
+Hermione shrugged. 
+
+“And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked 
+Crouch?” Ron said, turning back to Harry. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “but he’s only saying that because 
+Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage.” 
+
+“We never thought of her, did we?” said Ron slowly. 
+“Mind you, she’s definitely got giant blood, and she 
+doesn’t want to admit it — ” 
+
+“Of course she doesn’t,” said Hermione sharply, 
+looking up. “Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita 
+
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+
+
+
+
+found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping 
+to conclusions about her, just because she’s part 
+giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I’d probably 
+say I had big bones if I knew that’s what I’d get for 
+telling the truth.” 
+
+Hermione looked at her watch. “We haven’t done any 
+practicing!” she said, looking shocked. “We were going 
+to do the Impediment Curse! We’ll have to really get 
+down to it tomorrow! Come on, Harry, you need to get 
+some sleep.” 
+
+Harry and Ron went slowly upstairs to their 
+dormitory. As Harry pulled on his pajamas, he looked 
+over at Neville’s bed. True to his word to Dumbledore, 
+he had not told Ron and Hermione about Neville’s 
+parents. As Harry took off his glasses and climbed 
+into his four-poster, he imagined how it must feel to 
+have parents still living but unable to recognize you. 
+He often got sympathy from strangers for being an 
+orphan, but as he listened to Neville’s snores, he 
+thought that Neville deserved it more than he did. 
+Lying in the darkness, Harry felt a rush of anger and 
+hate toward the people who had tortured Mr. and 
+Mrs. Longbottom. ... He remembered the jeers of the 
+crowd as Crouch’s son and his companions had been 
+dragged from the court by the dementors. ... He 
+understood how they had felt. ... Then he 
+remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy 
+and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later. 
+
+
+
+It was Voldemort, Harry thought, staring up at the 
+canopy of his bed in the darkness, it all came back to 
+Voldemort. ... He was the one who had torn these 
+families apart, who had ruined all these lives. ... 
+
+Ron and Hermione were supposed to be studying for 
+their exams, which would finish on the day of the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+third task, but they were putting most of their efforts 
+into helping Harry prepare. 
+
+“Don’t worry about it,” Hermione said shortly when 
+Harry pointed this out to them and said he didn’t 
+mind practicing on his own for a while, “at least we’ll 
+get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We’d 
+never have found out about all these hexes in class.” 
+
+“Good training for when we’re all Aurors,” said Ron 
+excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a 
+wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it 
+stop dead in midair. 
+
+The mood in the castle as they entered June became 
+excited and tense again. Everyone was looking 
+forward to the third task, which would take place a 
+week before the end of term. Harry was practicing 
+hexes at every available moment. He felt more 
+confident about this task than either of the others. 
+Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly 
+be, Moody was right: Harry had managed to find his 
+way past monstrous creatures and enchanted 
+barriers before now, and this time he had some 
+notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay 
+ahead. 
+
+Tired of walking in on Harry, Hermione, and Ron all 
+over the school, Professor McGonagall had given them 
+permission to use the empty Transfiguration 
+classroom at lunchtimes. Harry had soon mastered 
+the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and 
+obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would 
+enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and 
+the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione’s 
+that would make his wand point due north, therefore 
+enabling him to check whether he was going in the 
+right direction within the maze. He was still having 
+trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was 
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+
+
+
+
+supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around 
+himself that deflected minor curses; Hermione 
+managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs 
+Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten 
+minutes afterward before she had looked up the 
+counter-jinx. 
+
+“You’re still doing really well, though,” Hermione said 
+encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off 
+those spells they had already learned. “Some of these 
+are bound to come in handy.” 
+
+“Come and look at this,” said Ron, who was standing 
+by the window. He was staring down onto the 
+grounds. “What’s Malfoy doing?” 
+
+Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and 
+Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. 
+Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; 
+both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up 
+to his mouth and speaking into it. 
+
+“He looks like he’s using a walkie-talkie,” said Harry 
+curiously. 
+
+“He can’t be,” said Hermione, “I’ve told you, those 
+sorts of things don’t work around Hogwarts. Come on, 
+Harry,” she added briskly, turning away from the 
+window and moving back into the middle of the room, 
+“let’s try that Shield Charm again.” 
+
+
+
+Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he 
+seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry 
+through the last task before they concerned 
+themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in 
+every letter that whatever might be going on outside 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry’s responsibility, 
+nor was it within his power to influence it. 
+
+
+
+If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, he wrote, 
+my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to 
+lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore’s 
+protection, but all the same, take no risks : Concentrate 
+on getting through that maze safely, and then we can 
+turn our attention to other matters. 
+
+Harry’s nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth 
+drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had 
+felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, 
+he was confident that, this time, he had done 
+everything in his power to prepare for the task. For 
+another, this was the final hurdle, and however well 
+or badly he did, the tournament would at last be over, 
+which would be an enormous relief. 
+
+Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor 
+table on the morning of the third task. The post owls 
+appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from 
+Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over 
+and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but 
+Harry appreciated it all the same. A screech owl 
+arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of 
+the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, 
+glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of 
+pumpkin juice all over it. 
+
+“What?” said Harry and Ron together, staring at her. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the 
+paper out of sight, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at 
+the headline and said, “No way. Not today. That old 
+cow.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “Rita Skeeter again?” 
+
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+
+
+
+“No,” said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted 
+to push the paper out of sight. 
+
+
+
+“It’s about me, isn’t it?” said Harry. 
+
+“No,” said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. 
+
+But before Harry could demand to see the paper, 
+Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the 
+Slytherin table. 
+
+“Hey, Potter! Potteri How’s your head? You feeling all 
+right? Sure you’re not going to go berserk on us?” 
+
+Malfoy was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. 
+Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, 
+twisting in their seats to see Harry’s reaction. 
+
+“Let me see it,” Harry said to Ron. “Give it here.” 
+
+Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. 
+Harry turned it over and found himself staring at his 
+own picture, beneath the banner headline: 
+
+HARRY POTTER 
+
+“DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS” 
+
+The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is 
+unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, 
+Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has 
+recently come to light about Harry Potter’s strange 
+behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to 
+compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard 
+Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School. 
+
+Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, 
+regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to 
+complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). 
+On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, 
+your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming 
+from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too 
+badly to continue studying. 
+
+It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo’s Hospital 
+for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter’s brain 
+was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You- 
+Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is 
+still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated 
+confusion. 
+
+“He might even be pretending,” said one specialist. 
+“This could be a plea for attention.” 
+
+The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying 
+facts about Harry Potter thatAlbus Dumbledore, 
+Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from 
+the wizarding public. 
+
+“Potter can speak Parseltongue, ” reveals Draco Malfoy, 
+a Hogwarts fourth year. “There were a lot of attacks 
+on students a couple of years ago, and most people 
+thought Potter was behind them after they saw him 
+lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on 
+another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he’s 
+made friends with werewolves and giants too. We 
+think he’d do anything for a bit of power.” 
+
+Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has 
+long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most 
+famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than 
+You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force 
+Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, 
+stated that he would regard any wizard who could 
+speak Parseltongue “as worthy of investigation. 
+Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody 
+who could converse with snakes, as serpents are 
+Page | 677 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are 
+historically associated with evildoers.” Similarly, 
+“anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious 
+creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to 
+have a fondness for violence.” 
+
+Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a 
+boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the 
+Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might 
+resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the 
+tournament, the third task of which takes place this 
+evening. 
+
+“Gone off me a bit, hasn’t she?” said Harry lightly, 
+folding up the paper. 
+
+Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle 
+were laughing at him, tapping their heads with their 
+fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling 
+their tongues like snakes. 
+
+“How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?” 
+
+Ron said. “There’s no way she was there, there’s no 
+way she could’ve heard — ” 
+
+“The window was open,” said Harry. “I opened it to 
+breathe.” 
+
+“You were at the top of North Tower!” Hermione said. 
+“Your voice couldn’t have carried all the way down to 
+the grounds!” 
+
+“Well, you’re the one who’s supposed to be 
+researching magical methods of bugging!” said Harry. 
+“You tell me how she did it!” 
+
+“I’ve been trying!” said Hermione. “But I ... but ...” 
+
+
+
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+An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over 
+Hermione ’s face. She slowly raised a hand and ran 
+her fingers through her hair. 
+
+“Are you all right?” said Ron, frowning at her. 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers 
+through her hair again, and then held her hand up to 
+her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible 
+walkie-talkie. Harry and Ron stared at each other. 
+
+“I’ve had an idea,” Hermione said, gazing into space. 
+
+“I think I know . . . because then no one would be able 
+to see ... even Moody ... and she’d have been able to 
+get onto the window ledge ... but she’s not allowed ... 
+she’s definitely not allowed ... I think we’ve got her! 
+Just give me two seconds in the library — just to 
+make sure!” 
+
+With that, Hermione seized her school bag and 
+dashed out of the Great Hall. 
+
+“Oi!” Ron called after her. “We’ve got our History of 
+Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey,” he said, turning 
+back to Harry, “she must really hate that Skeeter 
+woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What’re 
+you going to do in Binns’s class — read again?” 
+
+Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard 
+champion, Harry had been sitting in the back of every 
+exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third 
+task. 
+
+“S’pose so,” Harry said to Ron; but just then, 
+
+Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the 
+Gryffindor table toward him. 
+
+“Potter, the champions are congregating in the 
+chamber off the Hall after breakfast,” she said. 
+
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+
+“But the task’s not till tonight!” said Harry, 
+accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, 
+afraid he had mistaken the time. 
+
+“I’m aware of that, Potter,” she said. “The champions’ 
+families are invited to watch the final task, you know. 
+This is simply a chance for you to greet them.” 
+
+She moved away. Harry gaped after her. 
+
+“She doesn’t expect the Dursleys to turn up, does 
+she?” he asked Ron blankly. 
+
+“Dunno,” said Ron. “Harry, I’d better hurry, I’m going 
+to be late for Binns. See you later.” 
+
+Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great 
+Hall. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the 
+Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the 
+side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join 
+them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was. 
+
+He really didn’t want to go into the chamber. He had 
+no family — no family who would turn up to see him 
+risk his life, anyway. But just as he was getting up, 
+thinking that he might as well go up to the library 
+and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side 
+chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out. 
+
+“Harry, come on, they’re waiting for you!” 
+
+Utterly perplexed, Harry got up. The Dursleys 
+couldn’t possibly be here, could they? He walked 
+across the Hall and opened the door into the 
+chamber. 
+
+Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. 
+Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his 
+dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He 
+had inherited his father’s hooked nose. On the other 
+
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+
+side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French 
+to her mother. Fleur’s little sister, Gabrielle, was 
+holding her mother’s hand. She waved at Harry, who 
+waved back, grinning. Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and 
+Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at him. 
+
+“Surprise!” Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as he smiled 
+broadly and walked over to them. “Thought we’d come 
+and watch you, Harry!” She bent down and kissed 
+him on the cheek. 
+
+“You all right?” said Bill, grinning at Harry and 
+shaking his hand. “Charlie wanted to come, but he 
+couldn’t get time off. He said you were incredible 
+against the Horntail.” 
+
+Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with 
+great interest over her mother’s shoulder. Harry could 
+tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or 
+earrings with fangs on them. 
+
+“This is really nice of you,” Harry muttered to Mrs. 
+Weasley. “I thought for a moment — the Dursleys — ” 
+
+“Hmm,” said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. She had 
+always refrained from criticizing the Dursleys in front 
+of Harry, but her eyes flashed every time they were 
+mentioned. 
+
+“It’s great being back here,” said Bill, looking around 
+the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady’s friend, winked at 
+him from her frame). “Haven’t seen this place for five 
+years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? 
+Sir Cadogan?” 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the 
+previous year. 
+
+“And the Fat Lady?” said Bill. 
+
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+
+
+
+“She was here in my time,” said Mrs. Weasley. “She 
+gave me such a telling off one night when I got back 
+to the dormitory at four in the morning — ” 
+
+“What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in 
+the morning?” said Bill, surveying his mother with 
+amazement. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling. 
+
+“Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll,” 
+she said. “He got caught by Apollyon Pringle — he 
+was the caretaker in those days — your father’s still 
+got the marks.” 
+
+“Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?” said Bill. 
+
+“Yeah, okay,” said Harry, and they made their way 
+back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they 
+passed Amos Diggory, he looked around. 
+
+“There you are, are you?” he said, looking Harry up 
+and down. “Bet you’re not feeling quite as full of 
+yourself now Cedric’s caught you up on points, are 
+you?” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“Ignore him,” said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, 
+frowning after his father. “He’s been angry ever since 
+Rita Skeeter’s article about the Triwizard Tournament 
+— you know, when she made out you were the only 
+Hogwarts champion.” 
+
+“Didn’t bother to correct her, though, did he?” said 
+Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he 
+started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and 
+Bill. “Still ... you’ll show him, Ced. Beaten him once 
+before, haven’t you?” 
+
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+
+“Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, 
+Amos!” Mrs. Weasley said angrily. “I would have 
+thought you’d know that, working at the Ministry!” 
+
+Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say 
+something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, 
+and he merely shrugged and turned away. 
+
+Harry had a very enjoyable morning walking over the 
+sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing 
+them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang 
+ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping 
+Willow, which had been planted after she had left 
+school, and reminisced at length about the 
+gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg. 
+
+“How’s Percy?” Harry asked as they walked around 
+the greenhouses. 
+
+“Not good,” said Bill. 
+
+“He’s very upset,” said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her 
+voice and glancing around. “The Ministry wants to 
+keep Mr. Crouch’s disappearance quiet, but Percy’s 
+been hauled in for questioning about the instructions 
+Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think 
+there’s a chance they weren’t genuinely written by 
+him. Percy’s been under a lot of strain. They’re not 
+letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge 
+tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it.” 
+
+They returned to the castle for lunch. 
+
+“Mum — Bill!” said Ron, looking stunned, as he 
+joined the Gryffindor table. “What ’re you doing here?” 
+
+“Come to watch Harry in the last task!” said Mrs. 
+Weasley brightly. “I must say, it makes a lovely 
+change, not having to cook. How was your exam?” 
+
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+“Oh ... okay,” said Ron. “Couldn’t remember all the 
+goblin rebels’ names, so I invented a few. It’s all 
+right,” he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, 
+while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, “they’re all called 
+stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it 
+wasn’t hard.” 
+
+Fred, George, and Ginny came to sit next to them too, 
+and Harry was having such a good time he felt almost 
+as though he were back at the Burrow; he had 
+forgotten to worry about that evening’s task, and not 
+until Hermione turned up, halfway through lunch, 
+did he remember that she had had a brainwave about 
+Rita Skeeter. 
+
+“Are you going to tell us — ?” 
+
+Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at 
+Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Hello, Hermione,” said Mrs. Weasley, much more 
+stiffly than usual. 
+
+“Hello,” said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold 
+expression on Mrs. Weasley’s face. 
+
+Harry looked between them, then said, “Mrs. Weasley, 
+you didn’t believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in 
+Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione ’s not my 
+girlfriend.” 
+
+“Oh!” said Mrs. Weasley. “No — of course I didn’t!” 
+
+But she became considerably warmer toward 
+Hermione after that. 
+
+Harry, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the 
+afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and 
+then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. 
+
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+
+Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the 
+staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but 
+Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame 
+Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame 
+Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Harry 
+thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing 
+along the table at her. 
+
+There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who 
+was starting to feel really nervous now, didn’t eat 
+much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to 
+fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to 
+his feet at the staff table, and silence fell. 
+
+“Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes’ time, I will be 
+asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch 
+field for the third and final task of the Triwizard 
+Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. 
+Bagman down to the stadium now.” 
+
+Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were 
+applauding him; the Weasleys and Hermione all 
+wished him good luck, and he headed off out of the 
+Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor. 
+
+“Feeling all right, Harry?” Bagman asked as they went 
+down the stone steps onto the grounds. “Confident?” 
+
+“I’m okay,” said Harry. It was sort of true; he was 
+nervous, but he kept running over all the hexes and 
+spells he had been practicing in his mind as they 
+walked, and the knowledge that he could remember 
+them all made him feel better. 
+
+They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now 
+completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge 
+ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap 
+right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. 
+The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy. 
+
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+Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the 
+air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet 
+as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The 
+sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars 
+were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, 
+Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came 
+walking into the stadium and approached Bagman 
+and the champions. They were wearing large, red, 
+luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who 
+had his on the back of his moleskin vest. 
+
+“We are going to be patrolling the outside of the 
+maze,” said Professor McGonagall to the champions. 
+“If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, 
+send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come 
+and get you, do you understand?” 
+
+The champions nodded. 
+
+“Off you go, then!” said Bagman brightly to the four 
+patrollers. 
+
+“Good luck, Harry,” Hagrid whispered, and the four of 
+them walked away in different directions, to station 
+themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed 
+his wand at his throat, muttered, “ Sonorus,” and his 
+magically magnified voice echoed into the stands. 
+
+“Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the 
+Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me 
+remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in 
+first place, with eighty-five points each — Mr. Cedric 
+Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts 
+School!” The cheers and applause sent birds from the 
+Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. 
+
+“In second place, with eighty points — Mr. Viktor 
+Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!” More applause. “And 
+in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons 
+Academy!” 
+
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+Harry could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, 
+and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up 
+the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved 
+back, beaming at him. 
+
+“So ... on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!” said 
+Bagman. “Three — two — one — ” 
+
+He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and 
+Cedric hurried forward into the maze. 
+
+The towering hedges cast black shadows across the 
+path, and, whether because they were so tall and 
+thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound 
+of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment 
+they entered the maze. Harry felt almost as though he 
+were underwater again. He pulled out his wand, 
+muttered, “Lumos,” and heard Cedric do the same 
+just behind him. 
+
+After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They 
+looked at each other. 
+
+“See you,” Harry said, and he took the left one, while 
+Cedric took the right. 
+
+Harry heard Bagman’s whistle for the second time. 
+Krum had entered the maze. Harry sped up. His 
+chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned 
+right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his 
+head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, 
+there was nothing in sight. 
+
+Bagman’s whistle blew in the distance for the third 
+time. All of the champions were now inside. 
+
+Harry kept looking behind him. The old feeling that 
+he was being watched was upon him. The maze was 
+
+
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+growing darker with every passing minute as the sky 
+overhead deepened to navy. He reached a second fork. 
+
+“ Point Me,” he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in 
+his palm. 
+
+The wand spun around once and pointed toward his 
+right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and he 
+knew that he needed to go northwest for the center of 
+the maze. The best he could do was to take the left 
+fork and go right again as soon as possible. 
+
+The path ahead was empty too, and when Harry 
+reached a right turn and took it, he again found his 
+way unblocked. Harry didn’t know why, but the lack 
+of obstacles was unnerving him. Surely he should 
+have met something by now? It felt as though the 
+maze were luring him into a false sense of security. 
+Then he heard movement right behind him. He held 
+out his wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only 
+upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on 
+the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. 
+The sleeve of his robe was smoking. 
+
+“Hagrid’s Blast-Ended Skrewts!” he hissed. “They’re 
+enormous — I only just got away!” 
+
+He shook his head and dived out of sight, along 
+another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between 
+himself and the skrewts, Harry hurried off again. 
+Then, as he turned a corner, he saw ... a dementor 
+gliding toward him. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by 
+its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it 
+advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Harry 
+could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness 
+stealing over him, but knew what he had to do. ... 
+
+He summoned the happiest thought he could, 
+concentrated with all his might on the thought of 
+
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+getting out of the maze and celebrating with Ron and 
+Hermione, raised his wand, and cried, “Expecto 
+Patronum).” 
+
+A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry’s wand 
+and galloped toward the dementor, which fell back 
+and tripped over the hem of its robes. ... Harry had 
+never seen a dementor stumble. 
+
+“Hang on!” he shouted, advancing in the wake of his 
+silver Patronus. “You’re a boggart! Riddikulusl” 
+
+There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter 
+exploded in a wisp of smoke. The silver stag faded 
+from sight. Harry wished it could have stayed, he 
+could have used some company . . . but he moved on, 
+quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, his 
+wand held high once more. 
+
+Left . . . right . . . left again . . . Twice he found himself 
+facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again 
+and found that he was going too far east. He turned 
+back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist 
+floating ahead of him. 
+
+Harry approached it cautiously, pointing the wand’s 
+beam at it. This looked like some kind of 
+enchantment. He wondered whether he might be able 
+to blast it out of the way. 
+
+“Reductol” he said. 
+
+The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it 
+intact. He supposed he should have known better; the 
+Reductor Curse was for solid objects. What would 
+happen if he walked through the mist? Was it worth 
+chancing it, or should he double back? 
+
+
+
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+
+He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the 
+silence. 
+
+
+
+“Fleur?” Harry yelled. 
+
+There was silence. He stared all around him. What 
+had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have 
+come from somewhere ahead. He took a deep breath 
+and ran through the enchanted mist. 
+
+The world turned upside down. Harry was hanging 
+from the ground, with his hair on end, his glasses 
+dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the 
+bottomless sky. He clutched them to the end of his 
+nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though his 
+feet were glued to the grass, which had now become 
+the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled 
+heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he 
+tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from 
+the earth completely. 
+
+Think , he told himself, as all the blood rushed to his 
+head, think ... 
+
+But not one of the spells he had practiced had been 
+designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and 
+sky. Did he dare move his foot? He could hear the 
+blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices — try 
+and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued 
+and disqualified from the task. 
+
+He shut his eyes, so he wouldn’t be able to see the 
+view of endless space below him, and pulled his right 
+foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling. 
+
+Immediately, the world righted itself. Harry fell 
+forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid 
+ground. He felt temporarily limp with shock. He took 
+a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and 
+
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+hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he 
+ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled 
+innocently at him in the moonlight. 
+
+He paused at a junction of two paths and looked 
+around for some sign of Fleur. He was sure it had 
+been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was 
+she all right? There was no sign of red sparks — did 
+that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was 
+she in such trouble that she couldn’t reach her 
+wand? Harry took the right fork with a feeling of 
+increasing unease ... but at the same time, he 
+couldn’t help thinking, One champion down ... 
+
+The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as 
+though Fleur was no longer in the running. He’d got 
+this far, hadn’t he? What if he actually managed to 
+win? Fleetingly, and for the first time since he’d found 
+himself champion, he saw again that image of 
+himself, raising the Triwizard Cup in front of the rest 
+of the school. ... 
+
+He met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running 
+into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong 
+turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to 
+jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow 
+flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then he 
+rounded another corner and found himself facing a 
+Blast-Ended Skrewt. 
+
+Cedric was right — it was enormous. Ten feet long, it 
+looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its 
+long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor 
+glinted in the light from Harry’s wand, which he 
+pointed at it. 
+
+“Stupefy'.” 
+
+
+
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+The spell hit the skrewt’s armor and rebounded; 
+
+Harry ducked just in time, but could smell burning 
+hair; it had singed the top of his head. The skrewt 
+issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward 
+toward him. 
+
+“ Impedimental ” Harry yelled. The spell hit the skrewt’s 
+armor again and ricocheted off; Harry staggered back 
+a few paces and fell over. a IMPEDIMENT A\” 
+
+The skrewt was inches from him when it froze — he 
+had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less 
+underside. Panting, Harry pushed himself away from 
+it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction — the 
+Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt 
+would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment. 
+
+He took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and 
+hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, 
+he performed the Four-Point Spell again, 
+backtracked, and chose a path that would take him 
+northwest. 
+
+He had been hurrying along the new path for a few 
+minutes, when he heard something in the path 
+running parallel to his own that made him stop dead. 
+
+“What are you doing?” yelled Cedric’s voice. “What the 
+hell d’you think you’re doing?” 
+
+And then Harry heard Krum’s voice. 
+
+“ Crucio \ ” 
+
+The air was suddenly full of Cedric’s yells. Horrified, 
+Harry began sprinting up his path, trying to find a 
+way into Cedric’s. When none appeared, he tried the 
+Reductor Curse again. It wasn’t very effective, but it 
+burned a small hole in the hedge through which 
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+Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles 
+and branches until they broke and made an opening; 
+he struggled through it, tearing his robes, and looking 
+to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the 
+ground, Krum standing over him. 
+
+Harry pulled himself up and pointed his wand at 
+Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and 
+began to run. 
+
+“ Stupefy]” Harry yelled. 
+
+The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in 
+his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown 
+in the grass. Harry dashed over to Cedric, who had 
+stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his 
+hands over his face. 
+
+“Are you all right?” Harry said roughly, grabbing 
+Cedric’s arm. 
+
+“Yeah,” panted Cedric. “Yeah ... I don’t believe it ... he 
+crept up behind me. ... I heard him, I turned around, 
+and he had his wand on me. ...” 
+
+Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Harry 
+looked down at Krum. 
+
+“I can’t believe this ... I thought he was all right,” 
+Harry said, staring at Krum. 
+
+“So did I,” said Cedric. 
+
+“Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?” said Harry. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Cedric. “You don’t think Krum got her 
+too?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Harry slowly. 
+
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+“Should we leave him here?” Cedric muttered. 
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry. “I reckon we should send up red 
+sparks. Someone’ll come and collect him ... otherwise 
+he’ll probably be eaten by a skrewt.” 
+
+“He’d deserve it,” Cedric muttered, but all the same, 
+he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks 
+into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking 
+the spot where he lay. 
+
+Harry and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a 
+moment, looking around them. Then Cedric said, 
+
+“Well ... I s’pose we’d better go on . ...” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “Oh ... yeah ... right ...” 
+
+It was an odd moment. He and Cedric had been 
+briefly united against Krum — now the fact that they 
+were opponents came back to Harry. The two of them 
+proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then 
+Harry turned left, and Cedric right. Cedric’s footsteps 
+soon died away. 
+
+Harry moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point 
+Spell, making sure he was moving in the right 
+direction. It was between him and Cedric now. His 
+desire to reach the cup first was now burning 
+stronger than ever, but he could hardly believe what 
+he’d just seen Krum do. The use of an Unforgivable 
+Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in 
+Azkaban, that was what Moody had told them. Krum 
+surely couldn’t have wanted the Triwizard Cup that 
+badly. ... Harry sped up. 
+
+Every so often he hit more dead ends, but the 
+increasing darkness made him feel sure he was 
+getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode 
+down a long, straight path, he saw movement once 
+
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+again, and his beam of wandlight hit an extraordinary 
+creature, one which he had only seen in picture form, 
+in his Monster Book of Monsters. 
+
+It was a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large lion: 
+great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in 
+a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. 
+She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry 
+as he approached. He raised his wand, hesitating. 
+
+She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing 
+from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. 
+Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice. 
+
+“You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past 
+me.” 
+
+“So ... so will you move, please?” said Harry, knowing 
+what the answer was going to be. 
+
+“No,” she said, continuing to pace. “Not unless you 
+can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess — I 
+let you pass. Answer wrongly — I attack. Remain 
+silent — I will let you walk away from me unscathed.” 
+
+Harry’s stomach slipped several notches. It was 
+Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him. 
+He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he 
+could keep silent, get away from the sphinx 
+unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to 
+the center. 
+
+“Okay,” he said. “Can I hear the riddle?” 
+
+The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very 
+middle of the path, and recited: 
+
+“First think of the person who lives in disguise, 
+
+
+
+Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. 
+
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+Next, tell me what’s always the last thing to mend, 
+
+The middle of middle and end of the end? 
+
+And finally give me the sound often heard 
+During the search for a hard-to-find word. 
+
+Now string them together, and answer me this, 
+
+Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?” 
+
+Harry gaped at her. 
+
+“Could I have it again . . . more slowly?” he asked 
+tentatively. 
+
+She blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem. 
+
+“All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn’t want to 
+kiss?” Harry asked. 
+
+She merely smiled her mysterious smile. Harry took 
+that for a “yes.” Harry cast his mind around. There 
+were plenty of animals he wouldn’t want to kiss; his 
+immediate thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but 
+something told him that wasn’t the answer. He’d have 
+to try and work out the clues. ... 
+
+“A person in disguise,” Harry muttered, staring at her, 
+“who lies ... er ... that’d be a — an imposter. No, 
+that’s not my guess! A — a spy? I’ll come back to that 
+. . . could you give me the next clue again, please?” 
+
+She repeated the next lines of the poem. 
+
+“ The last thing to mend,’ ” Harry repeated. “Er ... no 
+idea ... ‘middle of middle’ ... could I have the last bit 
+again?” 
+
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+She gave him the last four lines. 
+
+“ The sound often heard during the search for a hard- 
+to-find word,’ ” said Harry. “Er ... that’d be ... er ... 
+hang on — ‘er’! Er’s a sound!” 
+
+The sphinx smiled at him. 
+
+“Spy ... er ... spy ... er ...” said Harry, pacing up and 
+down. “A creature I wouldn’t want to kiss ... a spiderl” 
+
+The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, 
+stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for 
+him to pass. 
+
+“Thanks!” said Harry, and, amazed at his own 
+brilliance, he dashed forward. 
+
+He had to be close now, he had to be. ... His wand 
+was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he 
+didn’t meet anything too horrible, he might have a 
+chance. ... 
+
+Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up 
+ahead. “Point Mel” he whispered again to his wand, 
+and it spun around and pointed him to the right- 
+hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light 
+ahead. 
+
+The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a 
+hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled 
+out onto the path in front of him. 
+
+Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was 
+sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and 
+Harry knew he would never catch up, Cedric was 
+much taller, had much longer legs — 
+
+
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+Then Harry saw something immense over a hedge to 
+his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected 
+with his own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about 
+to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had 
+not seen it — 
+
+“Cedric!” Harry bellowed. “On your left!” 
+
+Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past 
+the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, 
+he tripped. Harry saw Cedric’s wand fly out of his 
+hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and 
+began to bear down upon Cedric. 
+
+“Stupefy'.” Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider’s 
+gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, 
+he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider 
+jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead. 
+
+“ Stupefy ! Impedimenta ! Stupefy !” 
+
+But it was no use — the spider was either so large, or 
+so magical, that the spells were doing no more than 
+aggravating it. Harry had one horrifying glimpse of 
+eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers 
+before it was upon him. 
+
+He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling 
+madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the 
+pincers and next moment he was in excruciating 
+pain. He could hear Cedric yelling “Stupefy'.” too, but 
+his spell had no more effect than Harry’s — Harry 
+raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers once 
+more and shouted “ Expelliarmus'.” 
+
+It worked — the Disarming Spell made the spider 
+drop him, but that meant that Harry fell twelve feet 
+onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath 
+him. Without pausing to think, he aimed high at the 
+
+Page | 698 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+spider’s underbelly, as he had done with the skrewt, 
+and shouted “Stupefyl” just as Cedric yelled the same 
+thing. 
+
+The two spells combined did what one alone had not: 
+The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby 
+hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy 
+legs. 
+
+“Harry!” he heard Cedric shouting. “You all right? Did 
+it fall on you?” 
+
+“No,” Harry called back, panting. He looked down at 
+his leg. It was bleeding freely. He could see some sort 
+of thick, gluey secretion from the spider’s pincers on 
+his torn robes. He tried to get up, but his leg was 
+shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. 
+He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and 
+looked around. 
+
+Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, 
+which was gleaming behind him. 
+
+“Take it, then,” Harry panted to Cedric. “Go on, take 
+it. You’re there.” 
+
+But Cedric didn’t move. He merely stood there, 
+looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. 
+Harry saw the longing expression on his face in its 
+golden light. Cedric looked around at Harry again, 
+who was now holding onto the hedge to support 
+himself. Cedric took a deep breath. 
+
+“You take it. You should win. That’s twice you’ve 
+saved my neck in here.” 
+
+“That’s not how it’s supposed to work,” Harry said. He 
+felt angry; his leg was very painful, he was aching all 
+over from trying to throw off the spider, and after all 
+
+Page | 699 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
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+
+
+his efforts, Cedric had beaten him to it, just as he’d 
+beaten Harry to ask Cho to the ball. “The one who 
+reaches the cup first gets the points. That’s you. I’m 
+telling you, I’m not going to win any races on this leg.” 
+
+Cedric took a few paces nearer to the Stunned spider, 
+away from the cup, shaking his head. 
+
+“No,” he said. 
+
+“Stop being noble,” said Harry irritably. “Just take it, 
+then we can get out of here.” 
+
+Cedric watched Harry steadying himself, holding tight 
+to the hedge. 
+
+“You told me about the dragons,” Cedric said. “I 
+would’ve gone down in the first task if you hadn’t told 
+me what was coming.” 
+
+“I had help on that too,” Harry snapped, trying to mop 
+up his bloody leg with his robes. “You helped me with 
+the egg — we’re square.” 
+
+“I had help on the egg in the first place,” said Cedric. 
+
+“We’re still square,” said Harry, testing his leg 
+gingerly; it shook violently as he put weight on it; he 
+had sprained his ankle when the spider had dropped 
+him. 
+
+“You should’ve got more points on the second task,” 
+said Cedric mulishly. “You stayed behind to get all the 
+hostages. I should’ve done that.” 
+
+“I was the only one who was thick enough to take that 
+song seriously!” said Harry bitterly. “Just take the 
+cup!” 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Cedric. 
+
+
+
+He stepped over the spider’s tangled legs to join 
+Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was 
+walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House 
+hadn’t had in centuries. 
+
+“Go on,” Cedric said. He looked as though this was 
+costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his 
+face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed 
+decided. 
+
+Harry looked from Cedric to the cup. For one shining 
+moment, he saw himself emerging from the maze, 
+holding it. He saw himself holding the Triwizard Cup 
+aloft, heard the roar of the crowd, saw Cho’s face 
+shining with admiration, more clearly than he had 
+ever seen it before ... and then the picture faded, and 
+he found himself staring at Cedric’s shadowy, 
+stubborn face. 
+
+“Both of us,” Harry said. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Well take it at the same time. It’s still a Hogwarts 
+victory. We’ll tie for it.” 
+
+Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms. 
+
+“You — you sure?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah ... we’ve helped each other 
+out, haven’t we? We both got here. Let’s just take it 
+together.” 
+
+For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn’t 
+believe his ears; then his face split in a grin. 
+
+Page | 701 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You’re on,” he said. “Come here.” 
+
+He grabbed Harry’s arm below the shoulder and 
+helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup 
+stood. When they had reached it, they both held a 
+hand out over one of the cup’s gleaming handles. 
+
+“On three, right?” said Harry. “One — two — three — ” 
+
+He and Cedric both grasped a handle. 
+
+Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his 
+navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not 
+unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was 
+pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling 
+color, Cedric at his side. 
+
+
+
+Page | 702 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+FLESH, BLOOD, AND BONE 
+
+Harry felt his feet slam into the ground; his injured 
+leg gave way, and he fell forward; his hand let go of 
+the Triwizard Cup at last. He raised his head. 
+
+“Where are we?” he said. 
+
+Cedric shook his head. He got up, pulled Harry to his 
+feet, and they looked around. 
+
+They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they 
+had obviously traveled miles — perhaps hundreds of 
+miles — for even the mountains surrounding the 
+castle were gone. They were standing instead in a 
+dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a 
+small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to 
+their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Harry 
+could just make out the outline of a fine old house on 
+the hillside. 
+
+Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up 
+at Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 703 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?” he 
+asked. 
+
+“Nope,” said Harry. He was looking around the 
+graveyard. It was completely silent and slightly eerie. 
+“Is this supposed to be part of the task?” 
+
+“I dunno,” said Cedric. He sounded slightly nervous. 
+“Wands out, d’you reckon?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, glad that Cedric had made the 
+suggestion rather than him. 
+
+They pulled out their wands. Harry kept looking 
+around him. He had, yet again, the strange feeling 
+that they were being watched. 
+
+“Someone’s coming,” he said suddenly. 
+
+Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched 
+the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward 
+them between the graves. Harry couldn’t make out a 
+face, but from the way it was walking and holding its 
+arms, he could tell that it was carrying something. 
+Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded 
+cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face. And 
+— several paces nearer, the gap between them closing 
+all the time — Harry saw that the thing in the 
+person’s arms looked like a baby ... or was it merely a 
+bundle of robes? 
+
+Harry lowered his wand slightly and glanced sideways 
+at Cedric. Cedric shot him a quizzical look. They both 
+turned back to watch the approaching figure. 
+
+It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only 
+six feet from them. For a second, Harry and Cedric 
+and the short figure simply looked at one another. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+And then, without warning, Harry’s scar exploded 
+with pain. It was agony such as he had never felt in 
+all his life; his wand slipped from his fingers as he put 
+his hands over his face; his knees buckled; he was on 
+the ground and he could see nothing at all; his head 
+was about to split open. 
+
+From far away, above his head, he heard a high, cold 
+voice say, “Kill the spare.” 
+
+A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched 
+the words to the night: “Avada KedavraV’ 
+
+A blast of green light blazed through Harry’s eyelids, 
+and he heard something heavy fall to the ground 
+beside him; the pain in his scar reached such a pitch 
+that he retched, and then it diminished; terrified of 
+what he was about to see, he opened his stinging 
+eyes. 
+
+Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside 
+him. He was dead. 
+
+For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared 
+into Cedric’s face, at his open gray eyes, blank and 
+expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at 
+his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. 
+And then, before Harry’s mind had accepted what he 
+was seeing, before he could feel anything but numb 
+disbelief, he felt himself being pulled to his feet. 
+
+The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, 
+lit his wand, and was dragging Harry toward the 
+marble headstone. Harry saw the name upon it 
+flickering in the wandlight before he was forced 
+around and slammed against it. 
+
+TOM RIDDLE 
+
+
+
+Page | 705 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The cloaked man was now conjuring tight cords 
+around Harry, tying him from neck to ankles to the 
+headstone. Harry could hear shallow, fast breathing 
+from the depths of the hood; he struggled, and the 
+man hit him — hit him with a hand that had a finger 
+missing. And Harry realized who was under the hood. 
+It was Wormtail. 
+
+“You!” he gasped. 
+
+But Wormtail, who had finished conjuring the ropes, 
+did not reply; he was busy checking the tightness of 
+the cords, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, 
+fumbling over the knots. Once sure that Harry was 
+bound so tightly to the headstone that he couldn’t 
+move an inch, Wormtail drew a length of some black 
+material from the inside of his cloak and stuffed it 
+roughly into Harry’s mouth; then, without a word, he 
+turned from Harry and hurried away. Harry couldn’t 
+make a sound, nor could he see where Wormtail had 
+gone; he couldn’t turn his head to see beyond the 
+headstone; he could see only what was right in front 
+of him. 
+
+Cedric’s body was lying some twenty feet away. Some 
+way beyond him, glinting in the starlight, lay the 
+Triwizard Cup. Harry’s wand was on the ground at 
+Cedric’s feet. The bundle of robes that Harry had 
+thought was a baby was close by, at the foot of the 
+grave. It seemed to be stirring fretfully. Harry watched 
+it, and his scar seared with pain again . . . and he 
+suddenly knew that he didn’t want to see what was in 
+those robes ... he didn’t want that bundle opened. ... 
+
+He could hear noises at his feet. He looked down and 
+saw a gigantic snake slithering through the grass, 
+circling the headstone where he was tied. Wormtail’s 
+fast, wheezy breathing was growing louder again. It 
+sounded as though he was forcing something heavy 
+Page | 706 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+across the ground. Then he came back within Harry’s 
+range of vision, and Harry saw him pushing a stone 
+cauldron to the foot of the grave. It was full of what 
+seemed to be water — Harry could hear it slopping 
+around — and it was larger than any cauldron Harry 
+had ever used; a great stone belly large enough for a 
+full-grown man to sit in. 
+
+The thing inside the bundle of robes on the ground 
+was stirring more persistently, as though it was trying 
+to free itself. Now Wormtail was busying himself at 
+the bottom of the cauldron with a wand. Suddenly 
+there were crackling flames beneath it. The large 
+snake slithered away into the darkness. 
+
+The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. 
+The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out 
+fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was 
+thickening, blurring the outline of Wormtail tending 
+the fire. The movements beneath the robes became 
+more agitated. And Harry heard the high, cold voice 
+again. 
+
+“Hurry\” 
+
+The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks 
+now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds. 
+
+“It is ready, Master.” 
+
+“Now ...” said the cold voice. 
+
+Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, 
+revealing what was inside them, and Harry let out a 
+yell that was strangled in the wad of material blocking 
+his mouth. 
+
+It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone 
+and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind — but 
+
+Page | 707 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+worse, a hundred times worse. The thing Wormtail 
+had been carrying had the shape of a crouched 
+human child, except that Harry had never seen 
+anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly - 
+looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs 
+were thin and feeble, and its face — no child alive 
+ever had a face like that — flat and snakelike, with 
+gleaming red eyes. 
+
+The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin 
+arms, put them around Wormtail’s neck, and 
+Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, his hood fell back, 
+and Harry saw the look of revulsion on Wormtail’s 
+weak, pale face in the firelight as he carried the 
+creature to the rim of the cauldron. For one moment, 
+Harry saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the sparks 
+dancing on the surface of the potion. And then 
+Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; 
+there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; 
+Harry heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft 
+thud. 
+
+Let it drown, Harry thought, his scar burning almost 
+past endurance, please ... let it drown. ... 
+
+Wormtail was speaking. His voice shook; he seemed 
+frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, 
+closed his eyes, and spoke to the night. 
+
+“Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew 
+your son!” 
+
+The surface of the grave at Harry’s feet cracked. 
+Horrified, Harry watched as a fine trickle of dust rose 
+into the air at Wormtail’s command and fell softly into 
+the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke 
+and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned 
+a vivid, poisonous-looking blue. 
+
+
+
+Page | 708 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, 
+thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His 
+voice broke into petrified sobs. 
+
+“ Flesh — of the servant — w-willingly given — you will 
+— revive — your master.” 
+
+He stretched his right hand out in front of him — the 
+hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger 
+very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward. 
+
+Harry realized what Wormtail was about to do a 
+second before it happened — he closed his eyes as 
+tightly as he could, but he could not block the scream 
+that pierced the night, that went through Harry as 
+though he had been stabbed with the dagger too. He 
+heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail’s 
+anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as 
+something was dropped into the cauldron. Harry 
+couldn’t stand to look ... but the potion had turned a 
+burning red; the light of it shone through Harry’s 
+closed eyelids... 
+
+Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony. Not 
+until Harry felt Wormtail’s anguished breath on his 
+face did he realize that Wormtail was right in front of 
+him. 
+
+“B-blood of the enemy ... forcibly taken ... you will ... 
+resurrect your foe.” 
+
+Harry could do nothing to prevent it, he was tied too 
+tightly. ... Squinting down, struggling hopelessly at 
+the ropes binding him, he saw the shining silver 
+dagger shaking in Wormtail’s remaining hand. He felt 
+its point penetrate the crook of his right arm and 
+blood seeping down the sleeve of his torn robes. 
+Wormtail, still panting with pain, fumbled in his 
+
+
+
+Page | 709 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+pocket for a glass vial and held it to Harry’s cut, so 
+that a dribble of blood fell into it. 
+
+He staggered back to the cauldron with Harry’s blood. 
+He poured it inside. The liquid within turned, 
+instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, his job done, 
+dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then 
+slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the 
+bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing. 
+
+The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond 
+sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it 
+turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing 
+happened. ... 
+
+Let it have drowned, Harry thought, let it have gone 
+wrong. ... 
+
+And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the 
+cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam 
+billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, 
+obliterating everything in front of Harry, so that he 
+couldn’t see Wormtail or Cedric or anything but vapor 
+hanging in the air. . . It’s gone wrong, he thought . . . it’s 
+drowned . . . please . . . please let it be dead. . . 
+
+But then, through the mist in front of him, he saw, 
+with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, 
+tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the 
+cauldron. 
+
+“Robe me,” said the high, cold voice from behind the 
+steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still 
+cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the 
+black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached 
+up, and pulled them one-handed over his master’s 
+head. 
+
+
+
+Page | 710 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at 
+Harry . . . and Harry stared back into the face that had 
+haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a 
+skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that 
+was flat as a snake’s with slits for nostrils ... 
+
+Lord Voldemort had risen again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 711 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATH EATERS 
+
+Voldemort looked away from Harry and began 
+examining his own body. His hands were like large, 
+pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own 
+chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils 
+were slits, like a cat’s, gleamed still more brightly 
+through the darkness. He held up his hands and 
+flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. 
+
+He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay 
+twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the great 
+snake, which had slithered back into sight and was 
+circling Harry again, hissing. Voldemort slipped one of 
+those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep 
+pocket and drew out a wand. He caressed it gently 
+too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, 
+who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the 
+headstone where Harry was tied; he fell to the foot of 
+it and lay there, crumpled up and crying. Voldemort 
+turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, 
+cold, mirthless laugh. 
+
+Wormtail’s robes were shining with blood now; he had 
+wrapped the stump of his arm in them. 
+
+Page | 712 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“My Lord ...” he choked, “my Lord ... you promised ... 
+you did promise ...” 
+
+“Hold out your arm,” said Voldemort lazily. 
+
+“Oh Master ... thank you, Master ...” 
+
+He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort 
+laughed again. 
+
+“The other arm, Wormtail.” 
+
+“Master, please ... please ...” 
+
+Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail’s left 
+arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail’s robes up past 
+his elbow, and Harry saw something upon the skin 
+there, something like a vivid red tattoo — a skull with 
+a snake protruding from its mouth — the image that 
+had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup: 
+the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, 
+ignoring Wormtail’s uncontrollable weeping. 
+
+“It is back,” he said softly, “they will all have noticed it 
+... and now, we shall see ... now we shall know ...” 
+
+He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on 
+Wormtail’s arm. 
+
+The scar on Harry’s forehead seared with a sharp 
+pain again, and Wormtail let out a fresh howl; 
+Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail’s mark, 
+and Harry saw that it had turned jet black. 
+
+A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort 
+straightened up, threw back his head, and stared 
+around at the dark graveyard. 
+
+
+
+Page | 713 
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+
+
+
+
+“How many will be brave enough to return when they 
+feel it?” he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed 
+upon the stars. “And how many will be foolish enough 
+to stay away?” 
+
+He began to pace up and down before Harry and 
+Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. 
+After a minute or so, he looked down at Harry again, 
+a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face. 
+
+“You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late 
+father,” he hissed softly. “A Muggle and a fool ... very 
+like your dear mother. But they both had their uses, 
+did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a 
+child . . . and I killed my father, and see how useful he 
+has proved himself, in death. ...” 
+
+Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, 
+looking all around him as he walked, and the snake 
+continued to circle in the grass. 
+
+“You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My 
+father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here 
+in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned 
+her when she told him what she was. ... He didn’t like 
+magic, my father . . . 
+
+“He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before 
+I was even born, Potter, and she died giving birth to 
+me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage ... 
+but I vowed to find him ... I revenged myself upon 
+him, that fool who gave me his name . . . Tom Riddle. 
+
+
+
+Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to 
+grave. 
+
+
+
+Page | 714 
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+
+
+
+
+“Listen to me, reliving family history ...” he said 
+quietly, “why, I am growing quite sentimental. ... But 
+look, Harry! My true family returns. ...” 
+
+The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. 
+Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every 
+shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them 
+were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved 
+forward . . . slowly, cautiously, as though they could 
+hardly believe their eyes. Voldemort stood in silence, 
+waiting for them. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to 
+his knees, crawled toward Voldemort, and kissed the 
+hem of his black robes. 
+
+“Master ... Master ...” he murmured. 
+
+The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of 
+them approaching Voldemort on his knees and 
+kissing his robes, before backing away and standing 
+up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom 
+Riddle’s grave, Harry, Voldemort, and the sobbing and 
+twitching heap that was Wormtail. Yet they left gaps 
+in the circle, as though waiting for more people. 
+Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He 
+looked around at the hooded faces, and though there 
+was no wind, a rustling seemed to run around the 
+circle, as though it had shivered. 
+
+“Welcome, Death Eaters,” said Voldemort quietly. 
+“Thirteen years ... thirteen years since last we met. 
+
+Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday. 
+
+... We are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or 
+are we?” 
+
+He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like 
+nostrils widening. 
+
+“I smell guilt,” he said. “There is a stench of guilt 
+upon the air.” 
+
+Page | 715 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each 
+member of it longed, but did not dare, to step back 
+from him. 
+
+“I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers 
+intact — such prompt appearances! — and I ask 
+myself . . . why did this band of wizards never come to 
+the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal 
+loyalty?” 
+
+No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who 
+was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding 
+arm. 
+
+“And I answer myself,” whispered Voldemort, “they 
+must have believed me broken, they thought I was 
+gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they 
+pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment. 
+
+
+
+“And then I ask myself, but how could they have 
+believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the 
+steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal 
+death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of 
+my power in the times when I was mightier than any 
+wizard living? 
+
+“And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still 
+greater power could exist, one that could vanquish 
+even Lord Voldemort ... perhaps they now pay 
+allegiance to another . . . perhaps that champion of 
+commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus 
+Dumbledore?” 
+
+At the mention of Dumbledore’s name, the members 
+of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook 
+their heads. Voldemort ignored them. 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It is a disappointment to me ... I confess myself 
+disappointed. ...” 
+
+One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, 
+breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he 
+collapsed at Voldemort’s feet. 
+
+“Master!” he shrieked, “Master, forgive me! Forgive us 
+all!” 
+
+Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand. 
+
+“ Cruciol ” 
+
+The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked; 
+Harry was sure the sound must carry to the houses 
+around. ... Let the police come, he thought desperately 
+... anyone ... anything ... 
+
+
+
+Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater 
+lay flat upon the ground, gasping. 
+
+“Get up, Avery,” said Voldemort softly. “Stand up. You 
+ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. 
+Thirteen long years ... I want thirteen years’ 
+repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has 
+paid some of his debt already, have you not, 
+Wormtail?” 
+
+He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob. 
+
+“You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear 
+of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. 
+You know that, don’t you?” 
+
+“Yes, Master,” moaned Wormtail, “please, Master ... 
+please ...” 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+“Yet you helped return me to my body,” said 
+Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the 
+ground. “Worthless and traitorous as you are, you 
+helped me . . . and Lord Voldemort rewards his 
+helpers. ...” 
+
+Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it 
+through the air. A streak of what looked like molten 
+silver hung shining in the wand’s wake. Momentarily 
+shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a 
+gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as 
+moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself 
+upon Wormtail’s bleeding wrist. 
+
+Wormtail’s sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing 
+harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in 
+disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly 
+to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling 
+glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, 
+picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it 
+into powder. 
+
+“My Lord,” he whispered. “Master ... it is beautiful ... 
+thank you ... thank you. ...” 
+
+He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the 
+hem of Voldemort’s robes. 
+
+“May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail,” said 
+Voldemort. 
+
+“No, my Lord ... never, my Lord ...” 
+
+Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, 
+staring at his powerful new hand, his face still 
+shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the 
+man on Wormtail’s right. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Lucius, my slippery friend,” he whispered, halting 
+before him. “I am told that you have not renounced 
+the old ways, though to the world you present a 
+respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in 
+a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried 
+to find me, Lucius. ... Your exploits at the Quidditch 
+World Cup were fun, I daresay ... but might not your 
+energies have been better directed toward finding and 
+aiding your master?” 
+
+“My Lord, I was constantly on the alert,” came Lucius 
+Malfoy’s voice swiftly from beneath the hood. “Had 
+there been any sign from you, any whisper of your 
+whereabouts, I would have been at your side 
+immediately, nothing could have prevented me — ” 
+
+“And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful 
+Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?” said 
+Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking 
+abruptly. “Yes, I know all about that, Lucius. ... You 
+have disappointed me. ... I expect more faithful 
+service in the future.” 
+
+“Of course, my Lord, of course. ... You are merciful, 
+thank you. ...” 
+
+Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the 
+space — large enough for two people — that 
+separated Malfoy and the next man. 
+
+“The Lestranges should stand here,” said Voldemort 
+quietly. “But they are entombed in Azkaban. They 
+were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than 
+renounce me. ... When Azkaban is broken open, the 
+Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. The 
+dementors will join us ... they are our natural allies ... 
+we will recall the banished giants ... I shall have all 
+my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of 
+creatures whom all fear. ...” 
+
+Page | 719 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in 
+silence, but he paused before others and spoke to 
+them. 
+
+“Macnair . . . destroying dangerous beasts for the 
+Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall 
+have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord 
+Voldemort will provide. ...” 
+
+“Thank you, Master ... thank you,” murmured 
+Macnair. 
+
+“And here” — Voldemort moved on to the two largest 
+hooded figures — “we have Crabbe . . . you will do 
+better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, 
+Goyle?” 
+
+They bowed clumsily, muttering dully. 
+
+“Yes, Master ...” 
+
+“We will, Master. ...” 
+
+“The same goes for you, Nott,” said Voldemort quietly 
+as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyle ’s 
+shadow. 
+
+“My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your 
+most faithful — ” 
+
+“That will do,” said Voldemort. 
+
+He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood 
+surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he 
+could see people standing there. 
+
+“And here we have six missing Death Eaters . . . three 
+dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return ... he 
+will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever ... he 
+
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+
+
+
+
+will be killed, of course ... and one, who remains my 
+most faithful servant, and who has already reentered 
+my service.” 
+
+The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes 
+dart sideways at one another through their masks. 
+
+“He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was 
+through his efforts that our young friend arrived here 
+tonight. ... 
+
+“Yes,” said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth 
+as the eyes of the circle flashed in Harry’s direction. 
+“Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing 
+party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of 
+honor.” 
+
+There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right 
+of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoy’s 
+voice spoke from under the mask. 
+
+“Master, we crave to know . . . we beg you to tell us . . . 
+how you have achieved this . . . this miracle . . . how 
+you managed to return to us. ...” 
+
+“Ah, what a story it is, Lucius,” said Voldemort. “And 
+it begins — and ends — with my young friend here.” 
+
+He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry, so that 
+the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of 
+them. The snake continued to circle. 
+
+“You know, of course, that they have called this boy 
+my downfall?” Voldemort said softly, his red eyes 
+upon Harry, whose scar began to burn so fiercely that 
+he almost screamed in agony. “You all know that on 
+the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill 
+him. His mother died in the attempt to save him — 
+and unwittingly provided him with a protection I 
+Page | 721 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+admit I had not foreseen. ... I could not touch the 
+boy.” 
+
+Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put 
+it very close to Harry’s cheek. 
+
+“His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice. 
+
+. . . This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I 
+was foolish to overlook it . . . but no matter. I can 
+touch him now.” 
+
+Harry felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch 
+him, and thought his head would burst with the pain. 
+Voldemort laughed softly in his ear, then took the 
+finger away and continued addressing the Death 
+Eaters. 
+
+“I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was 
+deflected by the woman’s foolish sacrifice, and it 
+rebounded upon myself. Aaah . . . pain beyond pain, 
+my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I 
+was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less 
+than the meanest ghost ... but still, I was alive. What 
+I was, even I do not know ... I, who have gone further 
+than anybody along the path that leads to 
+immortality. You know my goal — to conquer death. 
+And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or 
+more of my experiments had worked . . . for I had not 
+been killed, though the curse should have done it. 
+Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest 
+creature alive, and without the means to help myself 
+. . . for I had no body, and every spell that might have 
+helped me required the use of a wand. ... 
+
+“I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, 
+endlessly, second by second, to exist. ... I settled in a 
+faraway place, in a forest, and I waited. ... Surely, one 
+of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me . . . 
+one of them would come and perform the magic I 
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+
+
+
+
+could not, to restore me to a body . . . but I waited in 
+vain. ...” 
+
+The shiver ran once more around the circle of 
+listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence 
+spiral horribly before continuing. 
+
+“Only one power remained to me. I could possess the 
+bodies of others. But I dared not go where other 
+humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors 
+were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes 
+inhabited animals — snakes, of course, being my 
+preference — but I was little better off inside them 
+than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to 
+perform magic ... and my possession of them 
+shortened their lives; none of them lasted long. ... 
+
+“Then . . . four years ago . . . the means for my return 
+seemed assured. A wizard — young, foolish, and 
+gullible — wandered across my path in the forest I 
+had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I 
+had been dreaming of . . . for he was a teacher at 
+Dumbledore’s school ... he was easy to bend to my 
+will ... he brought me back to this country, and after 
+a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise 
+him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan 
+failed. I did not manage to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone. I 
+was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted ... 
+thwarted, once again, by Harry Potter. ...” 
+
+Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the 
+leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite 
+motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed 
+upon Voldemort, and upon Harry. 
+
+“The servant died when I left his body, and I was left 
+as weak as ever I had been,” Voldemort continued. “I 
+returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not 
+pretend to you that I didn’t then fear that I might 
+
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+
+
+
+
+never regain my powers. ... Yes, that was perhaps my 
+darkest hour ... I could not hope that I would be sent 
+another wizard to possess ... and I had given up hope, 
+now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had 
+become of me. ...” 
+
+One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved 
+uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice. 
+
+“And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost 
+abandoned hope, it happened at last ... a servant 
+returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his 
+own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding 
+by those he had once counted friends, and decided to 
+return to his master. He sought me in the country 
+where it had long been rumored I was hiding . . . 
+helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. 
+Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, 
+Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a 
+place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, 
+where small animals like themselves had met their 
+deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them. ... 
+
+“But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, 
+Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the 
+very forest where he had hoped to find me, he 
+foolishly stopped at an inn for some food . . . and who 
+should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a 
+witch from the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+“Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. 
+
+This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my 
+last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail — displaying 
+a presence of mind I would never have expected from 
+him — convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him 
+on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her ... he 
+brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might 
+have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+wildest dreams . . . for — with a little persuasion — she 
+became a veritable mine of information. 
+
+“She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be 
+played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she 
+knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too 
+willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She 
+told me many things . . . but the means I used to break 
+the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and 
+when I had extracted all useful information from her, 
+her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. 
+She had now served her purpose. I could not possess 
+her. I disposed of her.” 
+
+Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes 
+blank and pitiless. 
+
+“Wormtail’s body, of course, was ill adapted for 
+possession, as all assumed him dead, and would 
+attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he 
+was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor 
+wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the 
+instructions I gave him, which would return me to a 
+rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be 
+able to inhabit while awaiting the essential 
+ingredients for true rebirth ... a spell or two of my 
+own invention ... a little help from my dear Nagini,” 
+Voldemort’s red eyes fell upon the continually circling 
+snake, “a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and 
+the snake venom Nagini provided ... I was soon 
+returned to an almost human form, and strong 
+enough to travel. 
+
+“There was no hope of stealing the Sorcerer’s Stone 
+anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have 
+seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to 
+embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. 
+I set my sights lower ... I would settle for my old body 
+back again, and my old strength. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I knew that to achieve this — it is an old piece of 
+Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight — I 
+would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of 
+them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? 
+
+Flesh given by a servant. ... 
+
+“My father’s bone, naturally, meant that we would 
+have to come here, where he was buried. But the 
+blood of a foe ... Wormtail would have had me use any 
+wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who 
+had hated me ... as so many of them still do. But I 
+knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more 
+powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted 
+Harry Potter’s blood. I wanted the blood of the one 
+who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago . . . 
+for the lingering protection his mother once gave him 
+would then reside in my veins too. ... 
+
+“But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been 
+better protected than I think even he knows, 
+protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, 
+when it fell to him to arrange the boy’s future. 
+Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the 
+boy’s protection as long as he is in his relations’ care. 
+Not even I can touch him there. ... Then, of course, 
+there was the Quidditch World Cup. ... I thought his 
+protection might be weaker there, away from his 
+relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong 
+enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of 
+Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to 
+Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that 
+Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how 
+could I take him? 
+
+“Why ... by using Bertha Jorkins’s information, of 
+course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at 
+Hogwarts, to ensure that the boy’s name was entered 
+into the Goblet of Fire. Use my Death Eater to ensure 
+that the boy won the tournament — that he touched 
+Page | 726 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the Triwizard Cup first — the cup which my Death 
+Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring 
+him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore’s help and 
+protection, and into my waiting arms. And here he is 
+... the boy you all believed had been my downfall...” 
+
+Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face 
+Harry. He raised his wand. 
+
+“Crucio\” 
+
+It was pain beyond anything Harry had ever 
+experienced; his very bones were on fire; his head was 
+surely splitting along his scar; his eyes were rolling 
+madly in his head; he wanted it to end ... to black out 
+...to die ... 
+
+And then it was gone. He was hanging limply in the 
+ropes binding him to the headstone of Voldemort’s 
+father, looking up into those bright red eyes through 
+a kind of mist. The night was ringing with the sound 
+of the Death Eaters’ laughter. 
+
+“You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that 
+this boy could ever have been stronger than me,” said 
+Voldemort. “But I want there to be no mistake in 
+anybody’s mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky 
+chance. And I am now going to prove my power by 
+killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when 
+there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to 
+die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be 
+allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt 
+which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, 
+Nagini,” he whispered, and the snake glided away 
+through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood 
+watching. 
+
+“Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his 
+wand.” 
+
+Page | 727 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+
+PRIORI INCANTATEM 
+
+Wormtail approached Harry, who scrambled to find 
+his feet, to support his own weight before the ropes 
+were untied. Wormtail raised his new silver hand, 
+pulled out the wad of material gagging Harry, and 
+then, with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying 
+Harry to the gravestone. 
+
+There was a split second, perhaps, when Harry might 
+have considered running for it, but his injured leg 
+shook under him as he stood on the overgrown grave, 
+as the Death Eaters closed ranks, forming a tighter 
+circle around him and Voldemort, so that the gaps 
+where the missing Death Eaters should have stood 
+were filled. Wormtail walked out of the circle to the 
+place where Cedric’s body lay and returned with 
+Harry’s wand, which he thrust roughly into Harry’s 
+hand without looking at him. Then Wormtail resumed 
+his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters. 
+
+“You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?” 
+said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through 
+the darkness. 
+
+Page | 728 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+At these words Harry remembered, as though from a 
+former life, the dueling club at Hogwarts he had 
+attended briefly two years ago. ... All he had learned 
+there was the Disarming Spell, “ Expelliarmus” ... and 
+what use would it be to deprive Voldemort of his 
+wand, even if he could, when he was surrounded by 
+Death Eaters, outnumbered by at least thirty to one? 
+He had never learned anything that could possibly fit 
+him for this. He knew he was facing the thing against 
+which Moody had always warned . . . the un-blockable 
+Avada Kedavra curse — and Voldemort was right — 
+his mother was not here to die for him this time. ... 
+
+He was quite unprotected. ... 
+
+“We bow to each other, Harry,” said Voldemort, 
+bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face 
+upturned to Harry. “Come, the niceties must be 
+observed. ... Dumbledore would like you to show 
+manners. ... Bow to death, Harry. ...” 
+
+The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemort’s 
+lipless mouth was smiling. Harry did not bow. He was 
+not going to let Voldemort play with him before killing 
+him ... he was not going to give him that satisfaction. 
+
+
+
+“I said, bow,” Voldemort said, raising his wand — and 
+Harry felt his spine curve as though a huge, invisible 
+hand were bending him ruthlessly forward, and the 
+Death Eaters laughed harder than ever. 
+
+“Very good,” said Voldemort softly, and as he raised 
+his wand the pressure bearing down upon Harry lifted 
+too. “And now you face me, like a man ... straight- 
+backed and proud, the way your father died. ... 
+
+“And now — we duel.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do 
+anything to defend himself, before he could even 
+move, he had been hit again by the Cruciatus Curse. 
+The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no 
+longer knew where he was. ... White-hot knives were 
+piercing every inch of his skin, his head was surely 
+going to burst with pain, he was screaming more 
+loudly than he’d ever screamed in his life — 
+
+And then it stopped. Harry rolled over and scrambled 
+to his feet; he was shaking as uncontrollably as 
+Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; 
+he staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death 
+Eaters, and they pushed him away, back toward 
+Voldemort. 
+
+“A little break,” said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils 
+dilating with excitement, “a little pause . . . That hurt, 
+didn’t it, Harry? You don’t want me to do that again, 
+do you?” 
+
+Harry didn’t answer. He was going to die like Cedric, 
+those pitiless red eyes were telling him so ... he was 
+going to die, and there was nothing he could do about 
+it... but he wasn’t going to play along. He wasn’t going 
+to obey Voldemort ... he wasn’t going to beg. ... 
+
+“I asked you whether you want me to do that again,” 
+said Voldemort softly. “Answer me! ImperioV’ 
+
+And Harry felt, for the third time in his life, the 
+sensation that his mind had been wiped of all 
+thought. ... Ah, it was bliss, not to think, it was as 
+though he were floating, dreaming ... just answer no 
+. . . say no ... just answer no. . . . 
+
+I will not, said a stronger voice, in the back of his 
+head, I won’t answer. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Just answer no. ... 
+
+
+
+I won’t do it, I won’t say it. ... 
+
+Just answer no. ... 
+
+“I WONT!” 
+
+And these words burst from Harry’s mouth; they 
+echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state 
+was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been 
+thrown over him — back rushed the aches that the 
+Cruciatus Curse had left all over his body — back 
+rushed the realization of where he was, and what he 
+was facing. ... 
+
+“You won’t?” said Voldemort quietly, and the Death 
+Eaters were not laughing now. “You won’t say no? 
+Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before 
+you die. ... Perhaps another little dose of pain?” 
+
+Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was 
+ready; with the reflexes born of his Quidditch 
+training, he flung himself sideways onto the ground; 
+he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort’s 
+father, and he heard it crack as the curse missed 
+him. 
+
+“We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry,” said 
+Voldemort’s soft, cold voice, drawing nearer, as the 
+Death Eaters laughed. “You cannot hide from me. 
+
+Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this 
+mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, 
+
+Harry? Come out, Harry . . . come out and play, then 
+...it will be quick ... it might even be painless ... I 
+would not know ... I have never died. ...” 
+
+Harry crouched behind the headstone and knew the 
+end had come. There was no hope ... no help to be 
+
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+had. And as he heard Voldemort draw nearer still, he 
+knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or 
+reason: He was not going to die crouching here like a 
+child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die 
+kneeling at Voldemort’s feet ... he was going to die 
+upright like his father, and he was going to die trying 
+to defend himself, even if no defense was possible. ... 
+
+Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face 
+around the headstone, Harry stood up ... he gripped 
+his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of 
+him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing 
+Voldemort. 
+
+Voldemort was ready. As Harry shouted, 
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ Voldemort cried, “Avada KedavraV’ 
+
+A jet of green light issued from Voldemort’s wand just 
+as a jet of red light blasted from Harry’s — they met 
+in midair — and suddenly Harry’s wand was vibrating 
+as though an electric charge were surging through it; 
+his hand seized up around it; he couldn’t have 
+released it if he’d wanted to — and a narrow beam of 
+light connected the two wands, neither red nor green, 
+but bright, deep gold. Harry, following the beam with 
+his astonished gaze, saw that Voldemort’s long white 
+fingers too were gripping a wand that was shaking 
+and vibrating. 
+
+And then — nothing could have prepared Harry for 
+this — he felt his feet lift from the ground. He and 
+Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their 
+wands still connected by that thread of shimmering 
+golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of 
+Voldemort’s father and then came to rest on a patch 
+of ground that was clear and free of graves. ... The 
+Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking 
+Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, 
+reforming the circle around Harry and Voldemort, the 
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+
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+
+snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing 
+their wands — 
+
+
+
+The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort 
+splintered; though the wands remained connected, a 
+thousand more beams arced high over Harry and 
+Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they 
+were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage 
+of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like 
+jackals, their cries strangely muffled now. ... 
+
+“Do nothing!” Voldemort shrieked to the Death 
+Eaters, and Harry saw his red eyes wide with 
+astonishment at what was happening, saw him 
+fighting to break the thread of light still connecting 
+his wand with Harry’s; Harry held onto his wand 
+more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread 
+remained unbroken. “Do nothing unless I command 
+you!” Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters. 
+
+And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the 
+air. ... It was coming from every thread of the light- 
+spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort. It 
+was a sound Harry recognized, though he had heard 
+it only once before in his life: phoenix song. 
+
+It was the sound of hope to Harry . . . the most 
+beautiful and welcome thing he had ever heard in his 
+life. ... He felt as though the song were inside him 
+instead of just around him. ... It was the sound he 
+connected with Dumbledore, and it was almost as 
+though a friend were speaking in his ear. . . . 
+
+Don’t break the connection. 
+
+I know, Harry told the music, I know I mustn’t ... but 
+no sooner had he thought it, than the thing became 
+much harder to do. His wand began to vibrate more 
+powerfully than ever . . . and now the beam between 
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+him and Voldemort changed too ... it was as though 
+large beads of light were sliding up and down the 
+thread connecting the wands — Harry felt his wand 
+give a shudder under his hand as the light beads 
+began to slide slowly and steadily his way. . . . The 
+direction of the beam’s movement was now toward 
+him, from Voldemort, and he felt his wand shudder 
+angrily. ... 
+
+As the closest bead of light moved nearer to Harry’s 
+wand tip, the wood beneath his fingers grew so hot he 
+feared it would burst into flame. The closer that bead 
+moved, the harder Harry’s wand vibrated; he was sure 
+his wand would not survive contact with it; it felt as 
+though it was about to shatter under his fingers — 
+
+He concentrated every last particle of his mind upon 
+forcing the bead back toward Voldemort, his ears full 
+of phoenix song, his eyes furious, fixed ... and slowly, 
+very slowly, the beads quivered to a halt, and then, 
+just as slowly, they began to move the other way ... 
+and it was Voldemort ’s wand that was vibrating extra- 
+hard now ... Voldemort who looked astonished, and 
+almost fearful. ... 
+
+One of the beads of light was quivering, inches from 
+the tip of Voldemort’s wand. Harry didn’t understand 
+why he was doing it, didn’t know what it might 
+achieve . . . but he now concentrated as he had never 
+done in his life on forcing that bead of light right back 
+into Voldemort’s wand ... and slowly ... very slowly ... 
+it moved along the golden thread ... it trembled for a 
+moment... and then it connected. ... 
+
+At once, Voldemort’s wand began to emit echoing 
+screams of pain ... then — Voldemort’s red eyes 
+widened with shock — a dense, smoky hand flew out 
+of the tip of it and vanished . . . the ghost of the hand 
+he had made Wormtail ... more shouts of pain ... and 
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+
+then something much larger began to blossom from 
+Voldemort’s wand tip, a great, grayish something, 
+that looked as though it were made of the solidest, 
+densest smoke. ... It was a head ... now a chest and 
+arms . . . the torso of Cedric Diggory. 
+
+If ever Harry might have released his wand from 
+shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept him 
+clutching his wand tightly, so that the thread of 
+golden light remained unbroken, even though the 
+thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it 
+looked so solid) emerged in its entirety from the end of 
+Voldemort’s wand, as though it were squeezing itself 
+out of a very narrow tunnel . . . and this shade of 
+Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden 
+thread of light, and spoke. 
+
+“Hold on, Harry,” it said. 
+
+Its voice was distant and echoing. Harry looked at 
+Voldemort . . . his wide red eyes were still shocked . . . 
+he had no more expected this than Harry had . . . and, 
+very dimly, Harry heard the frightened yells of the 
+Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the 
+golden dome. ... 
+
+More screams of pain from the wand . . . and then 
+something else emerged from its tip . . . the dense 
+shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms 
+and torso ... an old man Harry had seen only in a 
+dream was now pushing himself out of the end of the 
+wand just as Cedric had done ... and his ghost, or his 
+shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric’s, and 
+surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, 
+and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning 
+on his walking stick. . . . 
+
+
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+“He was a real wizard, then?” the old man said, his 
+eyes on Voldemort. “Killed me, that one did. ... You 
+fight him, boy. ...” 
+
+But already, yet another head was emerging . . . and 
+this head, gray as a smoky statue, was a woman’s. ... 
+Harry, both arms shaking now as he fought to keep 
+his wand still, saw her drop to the ground and 
+straighten up like the others, staring. ... 
+
+The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle 
+before her with wide eyes. 
+
+“Don’t let go, now!” she cried, and her voice echoed 
+like Cedric’s as though from very far away. “Don’t let 
+him get you, Harry — don’t let go!” 
+
+She and the other two shadowy figures began to pace 
+around the inner walls of the golden web, while the 
+Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it ... and 
+Voldemort’s dead victims whispered as they circled 
+the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to 
+Harry, and hissed words Harry couldn’t hear to 
+Voldemort. 
+
+And now another head was emerging from the tip of 
+Voldemort’s wand ... and Harry knew when he saw it 
+who it would be ... he knew, as though he had 
+expected it from the moment when Cedric had 
+appeared from the wand . . . knew, because the woman 
+was the one he’d thought of more than any other 
+tonight. ... 
+
+The smoky shadow of a young woman with long hair 
+fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened 
+up, and looked at him ... and Harry, his arms shaking 
+madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of his 
+mother. 
+
+
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+“Your father’s coming ...” she said quietly. “Hold on 
+for your father ... it will be all right ... hold on. ...” 
+
+And he came . . . first his head, then his body . . . tall 
+and untidy-haired like Harry, the smoky, shadowy 
+form of James Potter blossomed from the end of 
+Voldemort’s wand, fell to the ground, and 
+straightened like his wife. He walked close to Harry, 
+looking down at him, and he spoke in the same 
+distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so 
+that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his 
+victims prowled around him, could not hear. . . . 
+
+“When the connection is broken, we will linger for 
+only moments . . . but we will give you time . . . you 
+must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts 
+... do you understand, Harry?” 
+
+“Yes,” Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on 
+his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his 
+fingers. 
+
+“Harry ...” whispered the figure of Cedric, “take my 
+body back, will you? Take my body back to my 
+parents. ...” 
+
+“I will,” said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort 
+of holding the wand. 
+
+“Do it now,” whispered his father’s voice, “be ready to 
+run ... do it now. ...” 
+
+“NOW!” Harry yelled; he didn’t think he could have 
+held on for another moment anyway — he pulled his 
+wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the 
+golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the 
+phoenix song died — but the shadowy figures of 
+Voldemort’s victims did not disappear — they were 
+
+
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+closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry from his 
+gaze — 
+
+And Harry ran as he had never run in his life, 
+knocking two stunned Death Eaters aside as he 
+passed; he zigzagged behind headstones, feeling their 
+curses following him, hearing them hit the 
+headstones — he was dodging curses and graves, 
+pelting toward Cedric’s body, no longer aware of the 
+pain in his leg, his whole being concentrated on what 
+he had to do — 
+
+“Stun him\” he heard Voldemort scream. 
+
+Ten feet from Cedric, Harry dived behind a marble 
+angel to avoid the jets of red light and saw the tip of 
+its wing shatter as the spells hit it. Gripping his wand 
+more tightly, he dashed out from behind the angel — 
+
+“Impedimental” he bellowed, pointing his wand wildly 
+over his shoulder at the Death Eaters running at him. 
+
+From a muffled yell, he thought he had stopped at 
+least one of them, but there was no time to stop and 
+look; he jumped over the cup and dived as he heard 
+more wand blasts behind him; more jets of light flew 
+over his head as he fell, stretching out his hand to 
+grab Cedric’s arm — 
+
+“Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!” shrieked 
+Voldemort. 
+
+Harry’s hand had closed on Cedric’s wrist; one 
+tombstone stood between him and Voldemort, but 
+Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of 
+reach — 
+
+
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+Voldemort’s red eyes flamed in the darkness. Harry 
+saw his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his 
+wand. 
+
+“Acciol” Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the 
+Triwizard Cup. 
+
+It flew into the air and soared toward him. Harry 
+caught it by the handle — 
+
+He heard Voldemort’s scream of fury at the same 
+moment that he felt the jerk behind his navel that 
+meant the Portkey had worked — it was speeding him 
+away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along 
+with him. ... They were going back. 
+
+
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+VERITASERUM 
+
+Harry felt himself slam flat into the ground; his face 
+was pressed into grass; the smell of it filled his 
+nostrils. He had closed his eyes while the Portkey 
+transported him, and he kept them closed now. He 
+did not move. All the breath seemed to have been 
+knocked out of him; his head was swimming so badly 
+he felt as though the ground beneath him were 
+swaying like the deck of a ship. To hold himself 
+steady, he tightened his hold on the two things he 
+was still clutching: the smooth, cold handle of the Tri- 
+wizard Cup and Cedric’s body. He felt as though he 
+would slide away into the blackness gathering at the 
+edges of his brain if he let go of either of them. Shock 
+and exhaustion kept him on the ground, breathing in 
+the smell of the grass, waiting ... waiting for someone 
+to do something . . . something to happen . . . and all 
+the while, his scar burned dully on his forehead. ... 
+
+A torrent of sound deafened and confused him; there 
+were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams. ... He 
+remained where he was, his face screwed up against 
+
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+the noise, as though it were a nightmare that would 
+pass. ... 
+
+Then a pair of hands seized him roughly and turned 
+him over. 
+
+“Harry! HarryV’ 
+
+He opened his eyes. 
+
+He was looking up at the starry sky, and Albus 
+Dumbledore was crouched over him. The dark 
+shadows of a crowd of people pressed in around 
+them, pushing nearer; Harry felt the ground beneath 
+his head reverberating with their footsteps. 
+
+He had come back to the edge of the maze. He could 
+see the stands rising above him, the shapes of people 
+moving in them, the stars above. 
+
+Harry let go of the cup, but he clutched Cedric to him 
+even more tightly. He raised his free hand and seized 
+Dumbledore ’s wrist, while Dumbledore ’s face swam in 
+and out of focus. 
+
+“He’s back,” Harry whispered. “He’s back. Voldemort.” 
+
+“What’s going on? What’s happened?” 
+
+The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down 
+over Harry; it looked white, appalled. 
+
+“My God — Diggory!” it whispered. “Dumbledore — 
+he’s dead!” 
+
+The words were repeated, the shadowy figures 
+pressing in on them gasped it to those around them 
+. . . and then others shouted it — screeched it — into 
+
+
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+the night — “He’s dead!” “He’s dead!” “Cedric Diggory! 
+Dead).” 
+
+
+
+“Harry, let go of him,” he heard Fudge��s voice say, and 
+he felt fingers trying to pry him from Cedric’s limp 
+body, but Harry wouldn’t let him go. Then 
+Dumbledore’s face, which was still blurred and 
+misted, came closer. 
+
+“Harry, you can’t help him now. It’s over. Let go.” 
+
+“He wanted me to bring him back,” Harry muttered — 
+it seemed important to explain this. “He wanted me to 
+bring him back to his parents. ...” 
+
+“That’s right, Harry ... just let go now. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore bent down, and with extraordinary 
+strength for a man so old and thin, raised Harry from 
+the ground and set him on his feet. Harry swayed. His 
+head was pounding. His injured leg would no longer 
+support his weight. The crowd around them jostled, 
+fighting to get closer, pressing darkly in on him — 
+“What’s happened?” “What’s wrong with him?” 
+
+“Dig gory’s dead\” 
+
+“He’ll need to go to the hospital wing!” Fudge was 
+saying loudly. “He’s ill, he’s injured — Dumbledore, 
+Diggory’s parents, they’re here, they’re in the stands. 
+
+
+
+“I’ll take Harry, Dumbledore, I’ll take him — ” 
+
+“No, I would prefer — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore, Amos Diggory’s running ... he’s coming 
+over. ... Don’t you think you should tell him — before 
+he sees — ?” 
+
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+“Harry, stay here — ” 
+
+
+
+Girls were screaming, sobbing hysterically. . . . The 
+scene flickered oddly before Harry’s eyes. ... 
+
+“It’s all right, son, I’ve got you ... come on ... hospital 
+wing ...” 
+
+“Dumbledore said stay,” said Harry thickly, the 
+pounding in his scar making him feel as though he 
+was about to throw up; his vision was blurring worse 
+than ever. 
+
+“You need to lie down. ... Come on now. ...” 
+
+Someone larger and stronger than he was was half 
+pulling, half carrying him through the frightened 
+crowd. Harry heard people gasping, screaming, and 
+shouting as the man supporting him pushed a path 
+through them, taking him back to the castle. Across 
+the lawn, past the lake and the Durmstrang ship, 
+Harry heard nothing but the heavy breathing of the 
+man helping him walk. 
+
+“What happened, Harry?” the man asked at last as he 
+lifted Harry up the stone steps. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. 
+
+It was Mad-Eye Moody. 
+
+“Cup was a Portkey,” said Harry as they crossed the 
+entrance hall. “Took me and Cedric to a graveyard ... 
+and Voldemort was there ... Lord Voldemort ...” 
+
+Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs ... 
+
+“The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?” 
+
+“Killed Cedric ... they killed Cedric. ...” 
+
+“And then?” 
+
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+Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Along the corridor . . . 
+
+“Made a potion ... got his body back. ...” 
+
+“The Dark Lord got his body back? He’s returned?” 
+“And the Death Eaters came ... and then we dueled. 
+
+
+
+“You dueled with the Dark Lord?” 
+
+“Got away . . . my wand . . . did something funny. ... I 
+saw my mum and dad ... they came out of his wand. 
+
+
+
+“In here, Harry ... in here, and sit down. ... You’ll be 
+all right now ... drink this. ...” 
+
+Harry heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup 
+being pushed into his hands. 
+
+“Drink it ... you’ll feel better ... come on, now, Harry, I 
+need to know exactly what happened. ...” 
+
+Moody helped tip the stuff down Harry’s throat; he 
+coughed, a peppery taste burning his throat. Moody’s 
+office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody 
+himself. ... He looked as white as Fudge had looked, 
+and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Harry’s 
+face. 
+
+“Voldemort’s back, Harry? You’re sure he’s back? How 
+did he do it?” 
+
+“He took stuff from his father’s grave, and from 
+Wormtail, and me,” said Harry. His head felt clearer; 
+his scar wasn’t hurting so badly; he could now see 
+Moody’s face distinctly, even though the office was 
+
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+dark. He could still hear screaming and shouting 
+from the distant Quidditch field. 
+
+
+
+“What did the Dark Lord take from you?” said Moody. 
+
+“Blood,” said Harry, raising his arm. His sleeve was 
+ripped where Wormtail’s dagger had torn it. 
+
+Moody let out his breath in a long, low hiss. 
+
+“And the Death Eaters? They returned?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “Loads of them ...” 
+
+“How did he treat them?” Moody asked quietly. “Did 
+he forgive them?” 
+
+But Harry had suddenly remembered. He should have 
+told Dumbledore, he should have said it straightaway 
+
+
+
+“There’s a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There’s a Death 
+Eater here — they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, 
+they made sure I got through to the end — ” 
+
+Harry tried to get up, but Moody pushed him back 
+down. 
+
+“I know who the Death Eater is,” he said quietly. 
+
+“Karkaroff?” said Harry wildly. “Where is he? Have 
+you got him? Is he locked up?” 
+
+“Karkaroff?” said Moody with an odd laugh. 
+
+“Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark 
+burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful 
+supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them . . . 
+but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of 
+tracking his enemies.” 
+
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+“Karkaroff’s gone? He ran away? But then — he didn’t 
+put my name in the goblet?” 
+
+
+
+“No,” said Moody slowly. “No, he didn’t. It was I who 
+did that.” 
+
+Harry heard, but didn’t believe. 
+
+“No, you didn’t,” he said. “You didn’t do that ... you 
+can’t have done ...” 
+
+“I assure you I did,” said Moody, and his magical eye 
+swung around and fixed upon the door, and Harry 
+knew he was making sure that there was no one 
+outside it. At the same time, Moody drew out his 
+wand and pointed it at Harry. 
+
+“He forgave them, then?” he said. “The Death Eaters 
+who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+He was looking at the wand Moody was pointing at 
+him. This was a bad joke, it had to be. 
+
+“I asked you,” said Moody quietly, “whether he forgave 
+the scum who never even went to look for him. Those 
+treacherous cowards who wouldn’t even brave 
+Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth 
+who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the 
+Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark 
+Mark when I fired it into the sky.” 
+
+“ You fired . . . What are you talking about ... ?” 
+
+“I told you, Harry ... I told you. If there’s one thing I 
+hate more than any other, it’s a Death Eater who 
+walked free. They turned their backs on my master 
+when he needed them most. I expected him to punish 
+
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+them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt 
+them, Harry. ...” Moody’s face was suddenly lit with 
+an insane smile. “Tell me he told them that I, I alone 
+remained faithful . . . prepared to risk everything to 
+deliver to him the one thing he wanted above all ... 
+you.” 
+
+“You didn’t ... it — it can’t be you. ...” 
+
+“Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the 
+name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off 
+every person I thought might try to hurt you or 
+prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who 
+nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did. 
+Who helped you see the only way you could beat the 
+dragon? I did.” 
+
+Moody’s magical eye had now left the door. It was 
+fixed upon Harry. His lopsided mouth leered more 
+widely than ever. 
+
+“It hasn’t been easy, Harry, guiding you through these 
+tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use 
+every ounce of cunning I possess, so that my hand 
+would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore 
+would have been very suspicious if you had managed 
+everything too easily. As long as you got into that 
+maze, preferably with a decent head start — then, I 
+knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the 
+other champions and leaving your way clear. But I 
+also had to contend with your stupidity. The second 
+task . . . that was when I was most afraid we would 
+fail. I was keeping watch on you, Potter. I knew you 
+hadn’t worked out the egg’s clue, so I had to give you 
+another hint — ” 
+
+“You didn’t,” Harry said hoarsely. “Cedric gave me the 
+clue — ” 
+
+
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+“Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I 
+trusted that he would pass the information on to you. 
+Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. I was 
+sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him 
+about the dragons, and so he did. But even then, 
+Potter, even then you seemed likely to fail. I was 
+watching all the time ... all those hours in the library. 
+Didn’t you realize that the book you needed was in 
+your dormitory all along? I planted it there early on, I 
+gave it to the Longbottom boy, don’t you remember? 
+Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. It would 
+have told you all you needed to know about gillyweed. 
+
+I expected you to ask everyone and anyone you could 
+for help. Longbottom would have told you in an 
+instant. But you did not ... you did not. ... You have a 
+streak of pride and independence that might have 
+ruined all. 
+
+“So what could I do? Feed you information from 
+another innocent source. You told me at the Yule Ball 
+a house-elf called Dobby had given you a Christmas 
+present. I called the elf to the staffroom to collect 
+some robes for cleaning. I staged a loud conversation 
+with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who 
+had been taken, and whether Potter would think to 
+use gillyweed. And your little elf friend ran straight to 
+Snape’s office and then hurried to find you. ...” 
+
+Moody’s wand was still pointing directly at Harry’s 
+heart. Over his shoulder, foggy shapes were moving in 
+the Foe-Glass on the wall. 
+
+“You were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you 
+had drowned. But luckily, Dumbledore took your 
+idiocy for nobility, and marked you high for it. I 
+breathed again. 
+
+“You had an easier time of it than you should have in 
+that maze tonight, of course,” said Moody. “I was 
+
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+
+patrolling around it, able to see through the outer 
+hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. 
+I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the 
+Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish 
+Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear.” 
+
+Harry stared at Moody. He just didn’t see how this 
+could be. ... Dumbledore’s friend, the famous Auror 
+. . . the one who had caught so many Death Eaters . . . 
+
+It made no sense ... no sense at all. ... 
+
+The foggy shapes in the Foe-Glass were sharpening, 
+had become more distinct. Harry could see the 
+outlines of three people over Moody’s shoulder, 
+moving closer and closer. But Moody wasn’t watching 
+them. His magical eye was upon Harry. 
+
+“The Dark Lord didn’t manage to kill you, Potter, and 
+he so wanted to,” whispered Moody. “Imagine how he 
+will reward me when he finds I have done it for him. I 
+gave you to him — the thing he needed above all to 
+regenerate — and then I killed you for him. I will be 
+honored beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his 
+dearest, his closest supporter ... closer than a son. ...” 
+
+Moody’s normal eye was bulging, the magical eye 
+fixed upon Harry. The door was barred, and Harry 
+knew he would never reach his own wand in time. ... 
+
+“The Dark Lord and I,” said Moody, and he looked 
+completely insane now, towering over Harry, leering 
+down at him, “have much in common. Both of us, for 
+instance, had very disappointing fathers ... very 
+disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the 
+indignity, Harry, of being named after those fathers. 
+And both of us had the pleasure . . . the very great 
+pleasure ... of killing our fathers to ensure the 
+continued rise of the Dark Order!” 
+
+
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+“You’re mad,” Harry said — he couldn’t stop himself 
+— “you’re mad!” 
+
+
+
+“Mad, am I?” said Moody, his voice rising 
+uncontrollably. “We’ll see! We’ll see who’s mad, now 
+that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! 
+He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him — 
+and now — I conquer you!” 
+
+Moody raised his wand, he opened his mouth; Harry 
+plunged his own hand into his robes — 
+
+“Stupefy\” There was a blinding flash of red light, and 
+with a great splintering and crashing, the door of 
+Moody’s office was blasted apart — 
+
+Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor. 
+Harry, still staring at the place where Moody’s face 
+had been, saw Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, 
+and Professor McGonagall looking back at him out of 
+the Foe-Glass. He looked around and saw the three of 
+them standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front, 
+his wand outstretched. 
+
+At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first 
+time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard 
+Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon 
+Dumbledore ’s face as he stared down at the 
+unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more 
+terrible than Harry could have ever imagined. There 
+was no benign smile upon Dumbledore ’s face, no 
+twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was 
+cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of 
+power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were 
+giving off burning heat. 
+
+He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath 
+Moody’s unconscious body, and kicked him over onto 
+his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed 
+
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+him, looking into the Foe-Glass, where his own face 
+was still visible, glaring into the room. Professor 
+McGonagall went straight to Harry. 
+
+“Come along, Potter,” she whispered. The thin line of 
+her mouth was twitching as though she was about to 
+cry. “Come along ... hospital wing ...” 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore sharply. 
+
+“Dumbledore, he ought to — look at him — he’s been 
+through enough tonight — ” 
+
+“He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to 
+understand,” said Dumbledore curtly. “Understanding 
+is the first step to acceptance, and only with 
+acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know 
+who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered 
+tonight, and why.” 
+
+“Moody,” Harry said. He was still in a state of 
+complete disbelief. “How can it have been Moody?” 
+
+“This is not Alastor Moody,” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+“You have never known Alastor Moody. The real 
+Moody would not have removed you from my sight 
+after what happened tonight. The moment he took 
+you, I knew — and I followed.” 
+
+Dumbledore bent down over Moody’s limp form and 
+put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody’s 
+hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned 
+to Professors McGonagall and Snape. 
+
+“Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion 
+you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and 
+bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly 
+go down to Hagrid’s house, where you will find a large 
+black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog 
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+up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, 
+then come back here.” 
+
+If either Snape or McGonagall found these 
+instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. Both 
+turned at once and left the office. Dumbledore walked 
+over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key 
+in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of 
+spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a 
+second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk 
+again. The spellbooks had vanished; this time it 
+contained an assortment of broken Sneako-scopes, 
+some parchment and quills, and what looked like a 
+silvery Invisibility Cloak. Harry watched, astounded, 
+as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and 
+sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the 
+trunk, and each time revealing different contents. 
+Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw 
+open the lid, and Harry let out a cry of amazement. 
+
+He was looking down into a kind of pit, an 
+underground room, and lying on the floor some ten 
+feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in 
+appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His 
+wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have 
+held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, 
+and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing. Harry 
+stared, thunderstruck, between the sleeping Moody in 
+the trunk and the unconscious Moody lying on the 
+floor of the office. 
+
+Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, 
+and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping 
+Moody. He bent over him. 
+
+“Stunned — controlled by the Imperius Curse — very 
+weak,” he said. “Of course, they would have needed to 
+keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter’s 
+
+
+
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+cloak — he’s freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see 
+him, but he seems in no immediate danger.” 
+
+Harry did as he was told; Dumbledore covered Moody 
+in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered 
+out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip 
+flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and 
+turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto 
+the office floor. 
+
+“Polyjuice Potion, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “You see 
+the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody 
+never does drink except from his hip flask, he’s well 
+known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep 
+the real Moody close by, so that he could continue 
+making the potion. You see his hair ...” Dumbledore 
+looked down on the Moody in the trunk. “The 
+imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it 
+is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, 
+our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as 
+frequently as he should have done ... on the hour . . . 
+every hour. ... We shall see.” 
+
+Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat 
+down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious 
+Moody on the floor. Harry stared at him too. Minutes 
+passed in silence. ... 
+
+Then, before Harry’s very eyes, the face of the man on 
+the floor began to change. The scars were 
+disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the 
+mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. 
+The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing 
+into the scalp and turning the color of straw. 
+Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away 
+as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the 
+magical eyeball had popped out of the man’s face as a 
+real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and 
+continued to swivel in every direction. 
+
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+Harry saw a man lying before him, pale-skinned, 
+slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. He knew who 
+he was. He had seen him in Dumbledore’s Pensieve, 
+had watched him being led away from court by the 
+dementors, trying to convince Mr. Crouch that he was 
+innocent . . . but he was lined around the eyes now 
+and looked much older. . . . 
+
+There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. 
+Snape had returned with Winky at his heels. 
+
+Professor McGonagall was right behind them. 
+
+“Crouch!” Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. 
+“Barty Crouch!” 
+
+“Good heavens,” said Professor McGonagall, stopping 
+dead and staring down at the man on the floor. 
+
+Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape’s legs. 
+Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing 
+shriek. 
+
+“Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?” 
+
+She flung herself forward onto the young man’s chest. 
+
+“You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed 
+Master’s son!” 
+
+“He is simply Stunned, Winky,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?” 
+
+Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of 
+completely clear liquid: the Veritaserum with which 
+he had threatened Harry in class. Dumbledore got up, 
+bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a 
+sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe- 
+Glass, in which the reflections of Dumbledore, Snape, 
+and McGonagall were still glaring down upon them 
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+all. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her 
+hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man’s 
+mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then 
+he pointed his wand at the man’s chest and said, 
+“Rennervate.” 
+
+Crouch’s son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his 
+gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that 
+their faces were level. 
+
+“Can you hear me?” Dumbledore asked quietly. 
+
+The man’s eyelids flickered. 
+
+“Yes,” he muttered. 
+
+“I would like you to tell us,” said Dumbledore softly, 
+“how you came to be here. How did you escape from 
+Azkaban?” 
+
+Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began 
+to speak in a flat, expressionless voice. 
+
+“My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She 
+persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to 
+her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He 
+agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of 
+Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother’s hairs. 
+She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of 
+my hairs. We took on each other’s appearance.” 
+
+Winky was shaking her head, trembling. 
+
+“Say no more, Master Barty, say no more, you is 
+getting your father into trouble!” 
+
+But Crouch took another deep breath and continued 
+in the same flat voice. 
+
+
+
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+“The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, 
+one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one 
+healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father 
+smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case 
+any prisoners were watching through their doors. 
+
+“My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. 
+She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the 
+end. She was buried under my name and bearing my 
+appearance. Everyone believed her to be me.” 
+
+The man’s eyelids flickered. 
+
+“And what did your father do with you, when he had 
+got you home?” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+
+“Staged my mother’s death. A quiet, private funeral. 
+That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to 
+health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be 
+controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to 
+subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I 
+thought only of finding my master ... of returning to 
+his service.” 
+
+“How did your father subdue you?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“The Imperius Curse,” Crouch said. “I was under my 
+father’s control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility 
+Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. 
+She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She 
+persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. 
+Rewards for my good behavior.” 
+
+“Master Barty, Master Barty,” sobbed Winky through 
+her hands. “You isn’t ought to tell them, we is getting 
+in trouble. ...” 
+
+
+
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+“Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?” 
+said Dumbledore softly. “Did anyone know except 
+your father and the house-elf?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. “A 
+witch in my father’s office. Bertha Jorkins. She came 
+to the house with papers for my father’s signature. He 
+was not at home. Winky showed her inside and 
+returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins 
+heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. 
+She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the 
+Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She 
+confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory 
+Charm on her to make her forget what she’d found 
+out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory 
+permanently.” 
+
+“Why is she coming to nose into my master’s private 
+business?” sobbed Winky. “Why isn’t she leaving us 
+be?” 
+
+“Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup,” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“Winky talked my father into it,” said Crouch, still in 
+the same monotonous voice. “She spent months 
+persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I 
+had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be 
+in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell 
+fresh air for once. She said my mother would have 
+wanted it. She told my father that my mother had 
+died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a 
+life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end. 
+
+“It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky 
+up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say 
+that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit 
+there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we 
+
+
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+would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. 
+Nobody would ever know. 
+
+“But Winky didn’t know that I was growing stronger. I 
+was starting to fight my father’s Imperius Curse. 
+
+There were times when I was almost myself again. 
+There were brief periods when I seemed outside his 
+control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like 
+waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in 
+public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front 
+of me, a wand sticking out of a boy’s pocket. I had not 
+been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. 
+Winky didn’t know. Winky is frightened of heights. 
+
+She had her face hidden.” 
+
+“Master Barty, you bad boy!” whispered Winky, tears 
+trickling between her fingers. 
+
+“So you took the wand,” said Dumbledore, “and what 
+did you do with it?” 
+
+“We went back to the tent,” said Crouch. “Then we 
+heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones 
+who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had 
+never suffered for my master. They had turned their 
+backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They 
+were free to seek him, but they did not. They were 
+merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their 
+voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had 
+been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted 
+to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My 
+father had left the tent; he had gone to free the 
+Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She 
+used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She 
+pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, 
+away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I 
+wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show 
+those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord 
+
+
+
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+meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used 
+the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky. 
+
+“Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells 
+everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees 
+where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us 
+was broken. We were both Stunned. 
+
+“When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must 
+be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had 
+been found and felt me lying there. He waited until 
+the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put 
+me back under the Imperius Curse and took me 
+home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She 
+had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me 
+escape.” 
+
+Winky let out a wail of despair. 
+
+“Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And 
+then ... and then ...” Crouch’s head rolled on his 
+neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. “My 
+master came for me. 
+
+“He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of 
+his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I 
+was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in 
+Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great 
+deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. 
+She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach 
+at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through 
+the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. 
+She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told 
+him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from 
+seeking my master. And so my master knew that I 
+was still his faithful servant — perhaps the most 
+faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based 
+upon the information Bertha had given him. He 
+
+
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+needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. 
+
+My father answered the door.” 
+
+The smile spread wider over Crouch’s face, as though 
+recalling the sweetest memory of his life. Winky’s 
+petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. 
+She seemed too appalled to speak. 
+
+“It was very quick. My father was placed under the 
+Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the 
+one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to 
+go about his business as usual, to act as though 
+nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I 
+was myself again, alive as I hadn’t been in years.” 
+
+“And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything 
+for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest 
+ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He 
+told me he needed to place a faithful servant at 
+Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter 
+through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing 
+to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry 
+Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn 
+the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first 
+person to touch it to my master. But first — ” 
+
+“You needed Alastor Moody,” said Dumbledore. His 
+blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained 
+calm. 
+
+“Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice 
+Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody 
+put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We 
+managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into 
+a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some 
+of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I 
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+
+became Moody’s double. I took his leg and his eye. I 
+was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to 
+sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I 
+made the dustbins move around the yard. I told 
+Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, 
+who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up 
+Moody’s clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the 
+trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept 
+him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be 
+able to question him. To find out about his past, learn 
+his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I 
+also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The 
+other ingredients were easy. I stole boom-slang skin 
+from the dungeons. When the Potions master found 
+me in his office, I said I was under orders to search 
+it.” 
+
+“And what became of Wormtail after you attacked 
+Moody?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my 
+father’s house, and to keep watch over my father.” 
+
+“But your father escaped,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius 
+Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he 
+knew what was happening. My master decided it was 
+no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He 
+forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He 
+made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail 
+neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My 
+father escaped. My master guessed that he was 
+heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell 
+Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to 
+admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban. 
+
+“My master sent me word of my father’s escape. He 
+told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and 
+
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+watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry 
+Potter. The map that had almost mined everything.” 
+
+“Map?” said Dumbledore quickly. “What map is this?” 
+
+“Potter’s map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter 
+saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice 
+Potion from Snape’s office one night. He thought I was 
+my father. We have the same first name. I took the 
+map from Potter that night. I told him my father 
+hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was 
+after Snape. 
+
+“For a week I waited for my father to arrive at 
+Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my 
+father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility 
+Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking 
+around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and 
+Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master 
+needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned 
+Krum. I killed my father.” 
+
+“iVoooo!” wailed Winky. “Master Barty, Master Barty, 
+what is you saying?” 
+
+“You killed your father,” Dumbledore said, in the 
+same soft voice. “What did you do with the body?” 
+
+“Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the 
+Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched 
+Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore 
+joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore 
+out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, 
+doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I 
+told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. 
+
+“Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I 
+went back to my father’s body. Watched the map. 
+When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father’s 
+
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+body. He became a bone ... I buried it, while wearing 
+the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front 
+of Hagrid’s cabin.” 
+
+There was complete silence now, except for Winky’s 
+continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, “And tonight 
+
+
+
+“I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze 
+before dinner,” whispered Barty Crouch. “Turned it 
+into a Portkey. My master’s plan worked. He is 
+returned to power and I will be honored by him 
+beyond the dreams of wizards.” 
+
+The insane smile lit his features once more, and his 
+head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and 
+sobbed at his side. 
+
+
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+
+
+THE PARTING OF THE WAYS 
+
+Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty 
+Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. Then 
+he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, 
+ropes that twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, 
+binding him tightly. He turned to Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I 
+take Harry upstairs?” 
+
+“Of course,” said Professor McGonagall. She looked 
+slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched 
+someone being sick. However, when she drew out her 
+wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was 
+quite steady. 
+
+“Severus” — Dumbledore turned to Snape — “please 
+tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to 
+get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go 
+down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and 
+bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want 
+
+
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+to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the 
+hospital wing in half an hour’s time if he needs me.” 
+
+Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room. 
+
+“Harry?” Dumbledore said gently. 
+
+Harry got up and swayed again; the pain in his leg, 
+which he had not noticed all the time he had been 
+listening to Crouch, now returned in full measure. He 
+also realized that he was shaking. Dumbledore 
+gripped his arm and helped him out into the dark 
+corridor. 
+
+“I want you to come up to my office first, Harry,” he 
+said quietly as they headed up the passageway. 
+
+“Sirius is waiting for us there.” 
+
+Harry nodded. A kind of numbness and a sense of 
+complete unreality were upon him, but he did not 
+care; he was even glad of it. He didn’t want to have to 
+think about anything that had happened since he had 
+first touched the Triwizard Cup. He didn’t want to 
+have to examine the memories, fresh and sharp as 
+photographs, which kept flashing across his mind. 
+Mad-Eye Moody, inside the trunk. Wormtail, slumped 
+on the ground, cradling his stump of an arm. 
+Voldemort, rising from the steaming cauldron. Cedric 
+. . . dead . . . Cedric, asking to be returned to his 
+parents. ... 
+
+“Professor,” Harry mumbled, “where are Mr. and Mrs. 
+Diggory?” 
+
+“They are with Professor Sprout,” said Dumbledore. 
+His voice, which had been so calm throughout the 
+interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for 
+the first time. “She was Head of Cedric’s house, and 
+knew him best.” 
+
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+They had reached the stone gargoyle. Dumbledore 
+gave the password, it sprang aside, and he and Harry 
+went up the moving spiral staircase to the oak door. 
+Dumbledore pushed it open. Sirius was standing 
+there. His face was white and gaunt as it had been 
+when he had escaped Azkaban. In one swift moment, 
+he had crossed the room. 
+
+“Harry, are you all right? I knew it — I knew 
+something like this — what happened?” 
+
+His hands shook as he helped Harry into a chair in 
+front of the desk. 
+
+“What happened?” he asked more urgently. 
+
+Dumbledore began to tell Sirius everything Barty 
+Crouch had said. Harry was only half listening. So 
+tired every bone in his body was aching, he wanted 
+nothing more than to sit here, undisturbed, for hours 
+and hours, until he fell asleep and didn’t have to 
+think or feel anymore. 
+
+There was a soft rush of wings. Fawkes the phoenix 
+had left his perch, flown across the office, and landed 
+on Harry’s knee. 
+
+“ ’Lo, Fawkes,” said Harry quietly. He stroked the 
+phoenix’s beautiful scarlet-and-gold plumage. Fawkes 
+blinked peacefully up at him. There was something 
+comforting about his warm weight. 
+
+Dumbledore stopped talking. He sat down opposite 
+Harry, behind his desk. He was looking at Harry, who 
+avoided his eyes. Dumbledore was going to question 
+him. He was going to make Harry relive everything. 
+
+“I need to know what happened after you touched the 
+Portkey in the maze, Harry,” said Dumbledore. 
+
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+
+“We can leave that till morning, can’t we, 
+Dumbledore?” said Sirius harshly. He had put a hand 
+on Harry’s shoulder. “Let him have a sleep. Let him 
+rest.” 
+
+Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward Sirius, but 
+Dumbledore took no notice of Sirius’s words. He 
+leaned forward toward Harry. Very unwillingly, Harry 
+raised his head and looked into those blue eyes. 
+
+“If I thought I could help you,” Dumbledore said 
+gently, “by putting you into an enchanted sleep and 
+allowing you to postpone the moment when you 
+would have to think about what has happened 
+tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the 
+pain for a while will make it worse when you finally 
+feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I 
+could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate 
+your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what 
+happened.” 
+
+The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note. It 
+shivered in the air, and Harry felt as though a drop of 
+hot liquid had slipped down his throat into his 
+stomach, warming him, and strengthening him. 
+
+He took a deep breath and began to tell them. As he 
+spoke, visions of everything that had passed that 
+night seemed to rise before his eyes; he saw the 
+sparkling surface of the potion that had revived 
+Voldemort; he saw the Death Eaters Apparating 
+between the graves around them; he saw Cedric’s 
+body, lying on the ground beside the cup. 
+
+Once or twice, Sirius made a noise as though about to 
+say something, his hand still tight on Harry’s 
+shoulder, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop 
+him, and Harry was glad of this, because it was easier 
+to keep going now he had started. It was even a relief; 
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+
+he felt almost as though something poisonous were 
+being extracted from him. It was costing him every bit 
+of determination he had to keep talking, yet he sensed 
+that once he had finished, he would feel better. 
+
+When Harry told of Wormtail piercing his arm with 
+the dagger, however, Sirius let out a vehement 
+exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that 
+Harry started. Dumbledore walked around the desk 
+and told Harry to stretch out his arm. Harry showed 
+them both the place where his robes were torn and 
+the cut beneath them. 
+
+“He said my blood would make him stronger than if 
+he’d used someone else’s,” Harry told Dumbledore. 
+
+“He said the protection my — my mother left in me — 
+he’d have it too. And he was right — he could touch 
+me without hurting himself, he touched my face.” 
+
+For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam 
+of something like triumph in Dumbledore ’s eyes. But 
+next second, Harry was sure he had imagined it, for 
+when Dumbledore had returned to his seat behind 
+the desk, he looked as old and weary as Harry had 
+ever seen him. 
+
+“Very well,” he said, sitting down again. “Voldemort 
+has overcome that particular barrier. Harry, continue, 
+please.” 
+
+Harry went on; he explained how Voldemort had 
+emerged from the cauldron, and told them all he 
+could remember of Voldemort’s speech to the Death 
+Eaters. Then he told how Voldemort had untied him, 
+returned his wand to him, and prepared to duel. 
+
+But when he reached the part where the golden beam 
+of light had connected his and Voldemort’s wands, he 
+found his throat obstructed. He tried to keep talking, 
+
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+but the memories of what had come out of 
+Voldemort’s wand were flooding into his mind. He 
+could see Cedric emerging, see the old man, Bertha 
+Jorkins ... his father ... his mother ... 
+
+He was glad when Sirius broke the silence. 
+
+“The wands connected?” he said, looking from Harry 
+to Dumbledore. “Why?” 
+
+Harry looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face 
+there was an arrested look. 
+
+“Priori Incantatem,” he muttered. 
+
+His eyes gazed into Harry’s and it was almost as 
+though an invisible beam of understanding shot 
+between them. 
+
+“The Reverse Spell effect?” said Sirius sharply. 
+
+“Exactly,” said Dumbledore. “Harry’s wand and 
+Voldemort’s wand share cores. Each of them contains 
+a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This 
+phoenix, in fact,” he added, and he pointed at the 
+scarlet-and-gold bird, perching peacefully on Harry’s 
+knee. 
+
+“My wand’s feather came from Fawkes?” Harry said, 
+amazed. 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell 
+me you had bought the second wand, the moment 
+you left his shop four years ago.” 
+
+“So what happens when a wand meets its brother?” 
+said Sirius. 
+
+
+
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+
+“They will not work properly against each other,” said 
+Dumbledore. “If, however, the owners of the wands 
+force the wands to do battle ... a very rare effect will 
+take place. One of the wands will force the other to 
+regurgitate spells it has performed — in reverse. The 
+most recent first ... and then those which preceded it. 
+
+
+
+He looked interrogatively at Harry, and Harry nodded. 
+
+“Which means,” said Dumbledore slowly, his eyes 
+upon Harry’s face, “that some form of Cedric must 
+have reappeared.” 
+
+Harry nodded again. 
+
+“Diggory came back to life?” said Sirius sharply. 
+
+“No spell can reawaken the dead,” said Dumbledore 
+heavily. “All that would have happened is a kind of 
+reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would 
+have emerged from the wand . . . am I correct, Harry?” 
+
+“He spoke to me,” Harry said. He was suddenly 
+shaking again. “The ... the ghost Cedric, or whatever 
+he was, spoke.” 
+
+“An echo,” said Dumbledore, “which retained Cedric’s 
+appearance and character. I am guessing other such 
+forms appeared ... less recent victims of Voldemort’s 
+wand. ...” 
+
+“An old man,” Harry said, his throat still constricted. 
+“Bertha Jorkins. And ...” 
+
+“Your parents?” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+Sirius’s grip on Harry’s shoulder was now so tight it 
+was painful. 
+
+“The last murders the wand performed,” said 
+Dumbledore, nodding. “In reverse order. More would 
+have appeared, of course, had you maintained the 
+connection. Very well, Harry, these echoes, these 
+shadows . . . what did they do?” 
+
+Harry described how the figures that had emerged 
+from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden 
+web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, how 
+the shadow of Harry’s father had told him what to do, 
+how Cedric’s had made its final request. 
+
+At this point, Harry found he could not continue. He 
+looked around at Sirius and saw that he had his face 
+in his hands. 
+
+Harry suddenly became aware that Fawkes had left 
+his knee. The phoenix had fluttered to the floor. It 
+was resting its beautiful head against Harry’s injured 
+leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes 
+onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. 
+The skin mended. His leg was repaired. 
+
+“I will say it again,” said Dumbledore as the phoenix 
+rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch 
+beside the door. “You have shown bravery beyond 
+anything I could have expected of you tonight, Harry. 
+You have shown bravery equal to those who died 
+fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You 
+have shouldered a grown wizard’s burden and found 
+yourself equal to it — and you have now given us all 
+that we have a right to expect. You will come with me 
+to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to 
+the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some 
+peace ... Sirius, would you like to stay with him?” 
+
+
+
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+Sirius nodded and stood up. He transformed back 
+into the great black dog and walked with Harry and 
+Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them 
+down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing. 
+
+When Dumbledore pushed open the door, Harry saw 
+Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione grouped 
+around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey. They 
+appeared to be demanding to know where Harry was 
+and what had happened to him. All of them whipped 
+around as Harry, Dumbledore, and the black dog 
+entered, and Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled 
+scream. 
+
+“Harry! Oh Harry!” 
+
+She started to hurry toward him, but Dumbledore 
+moved between them. 
+
+“Molly,” he said, holding up a hand, “please listen to 
+me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible 
+ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. 
+What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If 
+he would like you all to stay with him,” he added, 
+looking around at Ron, Hermione, and Bill too, “you 
+may do so. But I do not want you questioning him 
+until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this 
+evening.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. She 
+rounded on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they 
+were being noisy, and hissed, “Did you hear? He 
+needs quiet!” 
+
+“Headmaster,” said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the 
+great black dog that was Sirius, “may I ask what — ?” 
+
+“This dog will be remaining with Harry for a while,” 
+said Dumbledore simply. “I assure you, he is 
+
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+extremely well trained. Harry — I will wait while you 
+get into bed.” 
+
+Harry felt an inexpressible sense of gratitude to 
+Dumbledore for asking the others not to question 
+him. It wasn’t as though he didn’t want them there; 
+but the thought of explaining it all over again, the 
+idea of reliving it one more time, was more than he 
+could stand. 
+
+“I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with 
+Fudge, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “I would like you to 
+remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the 
+school.” He left. 
+
+As Madam Pomfrey led Harry to a nearby bed, he 
+caught sight of the real Moody lying motionless in a 
+bed at the far end of the room. His wooden leg and 
+magical eye were lying on the bedside table. 
+
+“Is he okay?” Harry asked. 
+
+“He’ll be fine,” said Madam Pomfrey, giving Harry 
+some pajamas and pulling screens around him. He 
+took off his robes, pulled on the pajamas, and got into 
+bed. Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, and the black 
+dog came around the screen and settled themselves 
+in chairs on either side of him. Ron and Hermione 
+were looking at him almost cautiously, as though 
+scared of him. 
+
+“I’m all right,” he told them. “Just tired.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley’s eyes filled with tears as she smoothed 
+his bedcovers unnecessarily. 
+
+Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, 
+returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion 
+and a goblet. 
+
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+
+“You’ll need to drink all of this, Harry,” she said. “It’s 
+a potion for dreamless sleep.” 
+
+Harry took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. He 
+felt himself becoming drowsy at once. Everything 
+around him became hazy; the lamps around the 
+hospital wing seemed to be winking at him in a 
+friendly way through the screen around his bed; his 
+body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the 
+warmth of the feather matress. Before he could finish 
+the potion, before he could say another word, his 
+exhaustion had carried him off to sleep. 
+
+Harry woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that he 
+didn’t open his eyes, wanting to drop off again. The 
+room was still dimly lit; he was sure it was still 
+nighttime and had a feeling that he couldn’t have 
+been asleep very long. 
+
+Then he heard whispering around him. 
+
+“They’ll wake him if they don’t shut up!” 
+
+“What are they shouting about? Nothing else can 
+have happened, can it?” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes blearily Someone had removed 
+his glasses. He could see the fuzzy outlines of Mrs. 
+Weasley and Bill close by. Mrs. Weasley was on her 
+feet. 
+
+“That’s Fudge’s voice,” she whispered. “And that’s 
+Minerva McGonagall’s, isn’t it? But what are they 
+arguing about?” 
+
+Now Harry could hear them too: people shouting and 
+running toward the hospital wing. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva — ” Cornelius 
+Fudge was saying loudly. 
+
+“You should never have brought it inside the castle!” 
+yelled Professor McGonagall. “When Dumbledore 
+finds out — ” 
+
+Harry heard the hospital doors burst open. Unnoticed 
+by any of the people around his bed, all of whom were 
+staring at the door as Bill pulled back the screens, 
+Harry sat up and put his glasses back on. 
+
+Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors 
+McGonagall and Snape were at his heels. 
+
+“Where’s Dumbledore?” Fudge demanded of Mrs. 
+Weasley. 
+
+“He’s not here,” said Mrs. Weasley angrily. “This is a 
+hospital wing, Minister, don’t you think you’d do 
+better to — ” 
+
+But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping 
+up the ward. 
+
+“What has happened?” said Dumbledore sharply, 
+looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. “Why 
+are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I’m 
+surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over 
+Barty Crouch — ” 
+
+“There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, 
+Dumbledore!” she shrieked. “The Minister has seen to 
+that!” 
+
+Harry had never seen Professor McGonagall lose 
+control like this. There were angry blotches of color in 
+her cheeks, and her hands were balled into fists; she 
+was trembling with fury. 
+
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+
+“When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the 
+Death Eater responsible for tonight’s events,” said 
+Snape, in a low voice, “he seemed to feel his personal 
+safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a 
+dementor to accompany him into the castle. He 
+brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch — ” 
+
+“I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!” 
+Professor McGonagall fumed. “I told him you would 
+never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, 
+but — ” 
+
+“My dear woman!” roared Fudge, who likewise looked 
+angrier than Harry had ever seen him, “as Minister of 
+Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring 
+protection with me when interviewing a possibly 
+dangerous — ” 
+
+But Professor McGonagall’s voice drowned Fudge’s. 
+
+“The moment that — that thing entered the room,” 
+she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, 
+“it swooped down on Crouch and — and — ” 
+
+Harry felt a chill in his stomach as Professor 
+McGonagall struggled to find words to describe what 
+had happened. He did not need her to finish her 
+sentence. He knew what the dementor must have 
+done. It had administered its fatal kiss to Barty 
+Crouch. It had sucked his soul out through his 
+mouth. He was worse than dead. 
+
+“By all accounts, he is no loss!” blustered Fudge. “It 
+seems he has been responsible for several deaths!” 
+
+“But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius,” said 
+Dumbledore. He was staring hard at Fudge, as 
+though seeing him plainly for the first time. “He 
+
+
+
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+cannot give evidence about why he killed those 
+people.” 
+
+
+
+“Why he killed them? Well, that’s no mystery, is it?” 
+blustered Fudge. “He was a raving lunatic! From what 
+Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have 
+thought he was doing it all on You-Know- Who’s 
+instructions!” 
+
+“Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, 
+Cornelius,” Dumbledore said. “Those people’s deaths 
+were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort 
+to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort 
+has been restored to his body.” 
+
+Fudge looked as though someone had just swung a 
+heavy weight into his face. Dazed and blinking, he 
+stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn’t quite 
+believe what he had just heard. He began to sputter, 
+still goggling at Dumbledore. 
+
+“You-Know- Who ... returned? Preposterous. Come 
+now, Dumbledore ...” 
+
+“As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you,” 
+said Dumbledore, “we heard Barry Crouch confess. 
+Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how 
+he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort 
+— learning of his continued existence from Bertha 
+Jorkins — went to free him from his father and used 
+him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. 
+Crouch has helped Voldemort to return.” 
+
+“See here, Dumbledore,” said Fudge, and Harry was 
+astonished to see a slight smile dawning on his face, 
+“you — you can’t seriously believe that. You-Know- 
+Who — back? Come now, come now . . . certainly, 
+Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon 
+
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+You-Know- Who’s orders — but to take the word of a 
+lunatic like that, Dumbledore ...” 
+
+“When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he 
+was transported straight to Voldemort,” said 
+Dumbledore steadily. “He witnessed Lord Voldemort’s 
+rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to 
+my office.” 
+
+Dumbledore glanced around at Harry and saw that he 
+was awake, but shook his head and said, “I am afraid 
+I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight.” 
+
+Fudge’s curious smile lingered. He too glanced at 
+Harry, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, 
+“You are — er — prepared to take Harry’s word on 
+this, are you, Dumbledore?” 
+
+There was a moment’s silence, which was broken by 
+Sirius growling. His hackles were raised, and he was 
+baring his teeth at Fudge. 
+
+“Certainly, I believe Harry,” said Dumbledore. His 
+eyes were blazing now. “I heard Crouch’s confession, 
+and I heard Harry’s account of what happened after 
+he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make 
+sense, they explain everything that has happened 
+since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer.” 
+
+Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once 
+again, he glanced at Harry before answering. 
+
+“You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has 
+returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a 
+boy who ... well ...” 
+
+Fudge shot Harry another look, and Harry suddenly 
+understood. 
+
+
+
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+
+“You’ve been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge,” he 
+said quietly. 
+
+Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill all jumped. 
+None of them had realized that Harry was awake. 
+
+Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate 
+look came over his face. 
+
+“And if I have?” he said, looking at Dumbledore. “If I 
+have discovered that you’ve been keeping certain facts 
+about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And 
+having funny turns all over the place — ” 
+
+“I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry 
+has been experiencing in his scar?” said Dumbledore 
+coolly. 
+
+“You admit that he has been having these pains, 
+then?” said Fudge quickly. “Headaches? Nightmares? 
+Possibly — hallucinations?” 
+
+“Listen to me, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore, taking a 
+step toward Fudge, and once again, he seemed to 
+radiate that indefinable sense of power that Harry 
+had felt after Dumbledore had Stunned young 
+Crouch. “Harry is as sane as you or I. That scar upon 
+his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it 
+hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling 
+particularly murderous.” 
+
+Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, 
+but he looked no less stubborn. 
+
+“You’ll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I’ve never heard 
+of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before. ...” 
+
+“Look, I saw Voldemort come back!” Harry shouted. 
+
+He tried to get out of bed again, but Mrs. Weasley 
+
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+forced him back. “I saw the Death Eaters! I can give 
+you their names! Lucius Malfoy — ” 
+
+Snape made a sudden movement, but as Harry 
+looked at him, Snape’s eyes flew back to Fudge. 
+
+“Malfoy was cleared!” said Fudge, visibly affronted. “A 
+very old family — donations to excellent causes — ” 
+
+“Macnair!” Harry continued. 
+
+“Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!” 
+
+“Avery — Nott — Crabbe — Goyle — ” 
+
+“You are merely repeating the names of those who 
+were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years 
+ago!” said Fudge angrily. “You could have found those 
+names in old reports of the trials! For heaven’s sake, 
+Dumbledore — the boy was full of some crackpot 
+story at the end of last year too — his tales are getting 
+taller, and you’re still swallowing them — the boy can 
+talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he’s 
+trustworthy?” 
+
+“You fool!” Professor McGonagall cried. “Cedric 
+Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the 
+random work of a lunatic!” 
+
+“I see no evidence to the contrary!” shouted Fudge, 
+now matching her anger, his face purpling. “It seems 
+to me that you are all determined to start a panic that 
+will destabilize everything we have worked for these 
+last thirteen years!” 
+
+Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had 
+always thought of Fudge as a kindly figure, a little 
+blustering, a little pompous, but essentially good- 
+natured. But now a short, angry wizard stood before 
+
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+him, refusing, point-blank, to accept the prospect of 
+disruption in his comfortable and ordered world — to 
+believe that Voldemort could have risen. 
+
+“Voldemort has returned,” Dumbledore repeated. “If 
+you accept that fact straightaway, Fudge, and take 
+the necessary measures, we may still be able to save 
+the situation. The first and most essential step is to 
+remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors — ” 
+
+“Preposterous!” shouted Fudge again. “Remove the 
+dementors? I’d be kicked out of office for suggesting 
+it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night 
+because we know the dementors are standing guard 
+at Azkaban!” 
+
+“The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, 
+Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord 
+Voldemort ’s most dangerous supporters in the care of 
+creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!” 
+said Dumbledore. “They will not remain loyal to you, 
+Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope 
+for their powers and their pleasures than you can! 
+With the dementors behind him, and his old 
+supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed 
+to stop him regaining the sort of power he had 
+thirteen years ago!” 
+
+Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though 
+no words could express his outrage. 
+
+“The second step you must take — and at once,” 
+Dumbledore pressed on, “is to send envoys to the 
+giants.” 
+
+“Envoys to the giants?” Fudge shrieked, finding his 
+tongue again. “What madness is this?” 
+
+
+
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+“Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is 
+too late,” said Dumbledore, “or Voldemort will 
+persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among 
+wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!” 
+
+“You — you cannot be serious!” Fudge gasped, 
+shaking his head and retreating further from 
+Dumbledore. “If the magical community got wind that 
+I had approached the giants — people hate them, 
+Dumbledore — end of my career — ” 
+
+“You are blinded,” said Dumbledore, his voice rising 
+now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes 
+blazing once more, “by the love of the office you hold, 
+Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you 
+always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! 
+
+You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone 
+is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has 
+just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure- 
+blood family as old as any — and see what that man 
+chose to make of his life! I tell you now — take the 
+steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, 
+in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest 
+Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act — 
+and history will remember you as the man who 
+stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance 
+to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!” 
+
+“Insane,” whispered Fudge, still backing away. “Mad 
+
+
+
+And then there was silence. Madam Pomfrey was 
+standing frozen at the foot of Harry’s bed, her hands 
+over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was still standing over 
+Harry, her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from 
+rising. Bill, Ron, and Hermione were staring at Fudge. 
+
+“If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you 
+as far as this, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore, “we have 
+
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+reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you 
+see fit. And I — I shall act as I see fit.” 
+
+Dumbledore ’s voice carried no hint of a threat; it 
+sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as 
+though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a 
+wand. 
+
+“Now, see here, Dumbledore,” he said, waving a 
+threatening finger. “I’ve given you free rein, always. 
+
+I’ve had a lot of respect for you. I might not have 
+agreed with some of your decisions, but I’ve kept 
+quiet. There aren’t many who’d have let you hire 
+werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach 
+your students without reference to the Ministry. But if 
+you’re going to work against me — ” 
+
+“The only one against whom I intend to work,” said 
+Dumbledore, “is Lord Voldemort. If you are against 
+him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side.” 
+
+It seemed Fudge could think of no answer to this. He 
+rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a 
+moment and spun his bowler hat in his hands. 
+
+Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea in his voice, “He 
+can’t be back, Dumbledore, he just can’t be ...” 
+
+Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up 
+the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out 
+his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled. 
+
+“There,” said Snape harshly. “There. The Dark Mark. 
+
+It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it 
+burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death 
+Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. 
+It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his 
+means of summoning us to him. When he touched 
+the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, 
+and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has 
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+
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+
+been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff’s too. Why do 
+you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the 
+Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff 
+fears the Dark Lord’s vengeance. He betrayed too 
+many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a 
+welcome back into the fold.” 
+
+Fudge stepped back from Snape too. He was shaking 
+his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word 
+Snape had said. He stared, apparently repelled by the 
+ugly mark on Snape ’s arm, then looked up at 
+Dumbledore and whispered, “I don’t know what you 
+and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have 
+heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in 
+touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the 
+running of this school. I must return to the Ministry.” 
+
+He had almost reached the door when he paused. He 
+turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and 
+stopped at Harry’s bed. 
+
+“Your winnings,” he said shortly, taking a large bag of 
+gold out of his pocket and dropping it onto Harry’s 
+bedside table. “One thousand Galleons. There should 
+have been a presentation ceremony, but under the 
+circumstances ...” 
+
+He crammed his bowler hat onto his head and walked 
+out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The 
+moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to 
+look at the group around Harry’s bed. 
+
+“There is work to be done,” he said. “Molly ... am I 
+right in thinking that I can count on you and 
+Arthur?” 
+
+“Of course you can,” said Mrs. Weasley. She was 
+white to the lips, but she looked resolute. “We know 
+what Fudge is. It’s Arthur’s fondness for Muggles that 
+
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+has held him back at the Ministry all these years. 
+Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride.” 
+
+“Then I need to send a message to Arthur,” said 
+Dumbledore. “All those that we can persuade of the 
+truth must be notified immediately, and he is well 
+placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as 
+shortsighted as Cornelius.” 
+
+“Ill go to Dad,” said Bill, standing up. “Ill go now.” 
+
+“Excellent,” said Dumbledore. “Tell him what has 
+happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him 
+shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge 
+thinks I am interfering at the Ministry — ” 
+
+“Leave it to me,” said Bill. 
+
+He clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder, kissed his 
+mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, and strode 
+quickly from the room. 
+
+“Minerva,” said Dumbledore, turning to Professor 
+McGonagall, “I want to see Hagrid in my office as 
+soon as possible. Also — if she will consent to come — 
+Madame Maxime.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word. 
+
+“Poppy,” Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, “would 
+you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody’s 
+office, where I think you will find a house-elf called 
+Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for 
+her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby 
+will look after her for us.” 
+
+“Very — very well,” said Madam Pomfrey, looking 
+startled, and she too left. 
+
+
+
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+
+Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, and 
+that Madam Pomfrey’s footsteps had died away, 
+before he spoke again. 
+
+“And now,” he said, “it is time for two of our number 
+to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius ... if 
+you could resume your usual form.” 
+
+The great black dog looked up at Dumbledore, then, 
+in an instant, turned back into a man. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the bed. 
+
+“Sirius Black!” she shrieked, pointing at him. 
+
+“Mum, shut up!” Ron yelled. “It’s okay!” 
+
+Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the 
+look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror. 
+
+“Him!” he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face 
+showed equal dislike. “What is he doing here?” 
+
+“He is here at my invitation,” said Dumbledore, 
+looking between them, “as are you, Severus. I trust 
+you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old 
+differences and trust each other.” 
+
+Harry thought Dumbledore was asking for a near 
+miracle. Sirius and Snape were eyeing each other 
+with the utmost loathing. 
+
+“I will settle, in the short term,” said Dumbledore, 
+with a bite of impatience in his voice, “for a lack of 
+open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the 
+same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of 
+us who know the truth do not stand united, there is 
+no hope for any of us.” 
+
+
+
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+
+Very slowly — but still glaring at each other as 
+though each wished the other nothing but ill — Sirius 
+and Snape moved toward each other and shook 
+hands. They let go extremely quickly. 
+
+“That will do to be going on with,” said Dumbledore, 
+stepping between them once more. “Now I have work 
+for each of you. Fudge’s attitude, though not 
+unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to 
+set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella 
+Figg, Mundungus Fletcher — the old crowd. Lie low at 
+Lupins for a while; I will contact you there.” 
+
+“But — ” said Harry. 
+
+He wanted Sirius to stay. He did not want to have to 
+say goodbye again so quickly. 
+
+“You’ll see me very soon, Harry,” said Sirius, turning 
+to him. “I promise you. But I must do what I can, you 
+understand, don’t you?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah ... of course I do.” 
+
+Sirius grasped his hand briefly, nodded to 
+Dumbledore, transformed again into the black dog, 
+and ran the length of the room to the door, whose 
+handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone. 
+
+“Severus,” said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, “you 
+know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready ... if 
+you are prepared ...” 
+
+“I am,” said Snape. 
+
+He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, 
+black eyes glittered strangely. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Then good luck,” said Dumbledore, and he watched, 
+with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape 
+swept wordlessly after Sirius. 
+
+It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke 
+again. 
+
+“I must go downstairs,” he said finally. “I must see the 
+Diggorys. Harry — take the rest of your potion. I will 
+see all of you later.” 
+
+Harry slumped back against his pillows as 
+Dumbledore disappeared. Hermione, Ron, and Mrs. 
+Weasley were all looking at him. None of them spoke 
+for a very long time. 
+
+“You’ve got to take the rest of your potion, Harry,” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley said at last. Her hand nudged the sack 
+of gold on his bedside cabinet as she reached for the 
+bottle and the goblet. “You have a good long sleep. Try 
+and think about something else for a while . . . think 
+about what you’re going to buy with your winnings!” 
+
+“I don’t want that gold,” said Harry in an 
+expressionless voice. “You have it. Anyone can have 
+it. I shouldn’t have won it. It should’ve been Cedric’s.” 
+
+The thing against which he had been fighting on and 
+off ever since he had come out of the maze was 
+threatening to overpower him. He could feel a 
+burning, prickling feeling in the inner corners of his 
+eyes. He blinked and stared up at the ceiling. 
+
+“It wasn’t your fault, Harry,” Mrs. Weasley whispered. 
+
+“I told him to take the cup with me,” said Harry. 
+
+Now the burning feeling was in his throat too. He 
+wished Ron would look away. 
+
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+
+Mrs. Weasley set the potion down on the bedside 
+cabinet, bent down, and put her arms around Harry. 
+He had no memory of ever being hugged like this, as 
+though by a mother. The full weight of everything he 
+had seen that night seemed to fall in upon him as 
+Mrs. Weasley held him to her. His mother’s face, his 
+father’s voice, the sight of Cedric, dead on the ground 
+all started spinning in his head until he could hardly 
+bear it, until he was screwing up his face against the 
+howl of misery fighting to get out of him. 
+
+There was a loud slamming noise, and Mrs. Weasley 
+and Harry broke apart. Hermione was standing by the 
+window. She was holding something tight in her 
+hand. 
+
+“Sorry,” she whispered. 
+
+“Your potion, Harry,” said Mrs. Weasley quickly, 
+wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. 
+
+Harry drank it in one gulp. The effect was 
+instantaneous. Heavy, irresistible waves of dreamless 
+sleep broke over him; he fell back onto his pillows and 
+thought no more. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+THE BEGINNING 
+
+When he looked back, even a month later, Harry 
+found he had only scattered memories of the next few 
+days. It was as though he had been through too much 
+to take in any more. The recollections he did have 
+were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the 
+meeting with the Diggorys that took place the 
+following morning. 
+
+They did not blame him for what had happened; on 
+the contrary, both thanked him for returning Cedric’s 
+body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of 
+the interview. Mrs. Diggory ’s grief seemed to be 
+beyond tears. 
+
+“He suffered very little then,” she said, when Harry 
+had told her how Cedric had died. “And after all, 
+
+Amos ... he died just when he’d won the tournament. 
+He must have been happy.” 
+
+When they got to their feet, she looked down at Harry 
+and said, “You look after yourself, now.” 
+
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+
+
+Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table. 
+
+“You take this,” he muttered to her. “It should’ve been 
+Cedric’s, he got there first, you take it — ” 
+
+But she backed away from him. 
+
+“Oh no, it’s yours, dear, I couldn’t ... you keep it.” 
+
+Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower the following 
+evening. From what Hermione and Ron told him, 
+Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning 
+at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave 
+Harry alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger 
+him to tell the story of what had happened in the 
+maze. Most people, he noticed, were skirting him in 
+the corridors, avoiding his eyes. Some whispered 
+behind their hands as he passed. He guessed that 
+many of them had believed Rita Skeeter’s article 
+about how disturbed and possibly dangerous he was. 
+Perhaps they were formulating their own theories 
+about how Cedric had died. He found he didn’t care 
+very much. He liked it best when he was with Ron 
+and Hermione and they were talking about other 
+things, or else letting him sit in silence while they 
+played chess. He felt as though all three of them had 
+reached an understanding they didn’t need to put 
+into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some 
+word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts — and 
+that it was useless to speculate about what might be 
+coming until they knew anything for certain. The only 
+time they touched upon the subject was when Ron 
+told Harry about a meeting Mrs. Weasley had had 
+with Dumbledore before going home. 
+
+“She went to ask him if you could come straight to us 
+this summer,” he said. “But he wants you to go back 
+to the Dursleys, at least at first.” 
+
+
+
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+
+“Why?” said Harry. 
+
+“She said Dumbledore’s got his reasons,” said Ron, 
+shaking his head darkly. “I suppose we’ve got to trust 
+him, haven’t we?” 
+
+The only person apart from Ron and Hermione that 
+Harry felt able to talk to was Hagrid. As there was no 
+longer a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, they 
+had those lessons free. They used the one on 
+Thursday afternoon to go down and visit Hagrid in his 
+cabin. It was a bright and sunny day; Fang bounded 
+out of the open door as they approached, barking and 
+wagging his tail madly. 
+
+“Who’s that?” called Hagrid, coming to the door. 
+
+“ Harry\” 
+
+He strode out to meet them, pulled Harry into a one- 
+armed hug, ruffled his hair, and said, “Good ter see 
+yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh.” 
+
+They saw two bucket-size cups and saucers on the 
+wooden table in front of the fireplace when they 
+entered Hagrid ’s cabin. 
+
+“Bin havin’ a cuppa with Olympe,” Hagrid said. “She’s 
+jus’ left.” 
+
+“Who?” said Ron curiously. 
+
+“Madame Maxime, o’ course!” said Hagrid. 
+
+“You two made up, have you?” said Ron. 
+
+“Dunno what yeh’re talkin’ about,” said Hagrid airily, 
+fetching more cups from the dresser. When he had 
+made tea and offered around a plate of doughy 
+
+
+
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+cookies, he leaned back in his chair and surveyed 
+Harry closely through his beetle-black eyes. 
+
+“You all righ’?” he said gruffly. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“No, yeh’re not,” said Hagrid. “ ’Course yeh’re not. But 
+yeh will be.” 
+
+Harry said nothing. 
+
+“Knew he was goin’ ter come back,” said Hagrid, and 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him, shocked. 
+“Known it fer years, Harry. Knew he was out there, 
+bidin’ his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, 
+an’ we’ll jus’ have ter get on with it. We’ll fight. Migh’ 
+be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. That’s 
+Dumbledore’s plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 
+’S long as we’ve got him, I’m not too worried.” 
+
+Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows at the disbelieving 
+expressions on their faces. 
+
+“No good sittin’ worryin’ abou’ it,” he said. “What’s 
+cornin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does. 
+Dumbledore told me wha’ you did, Harry.” 
+
+Hagrid’s chest swelled as he looked at Harry. 
+
+“Yeh did as much as yer father would’ve done, an’ I 
+can’ give yeh no higher praise than that.” 
+
+Harry smiled back at him. It was the first time he’d 
+smiled in days. “What’s Dumbledore asked you to do, 
+Hagrid?” he asked. “He sent Professor McGonagall to 
+ask you and Madame Maxime to meet him — that 
+night.” 
+
+
+
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+
+“Got a little job fer me over the summer,” said Hagrid. 
+“Secret, though. I’m not s’pposed ter talk abou’ it, no, 
+not even ter you lot. Olympe — Madame Maxime ter 
+you — might be cornin’ with me. I think she will. 
+Think I got her persuaded.” 
+
+“Is it to do with Voldemort?” 
+
+Hagrid flinched at the sound of the name. 
+
+“Migh’ be,” he said evasively. “Now ... who’d like ter 
+come an’ visit the las’ skrewt with me? I was jokin’ — 
+jokin’!” he added hastily, seeing the looks on their 
+faces. 
+
+
+
+k k k 
+
+
+
+It was with a heavy heart that Harry packed his trunk 
+up in the dormitory on the night before his return to 
+Privet Drive. He was dreading the Leaving Feast, 
+which was usually a cause for celebration, when the 
+winner of the Inter-House Championship would be 
+announced. He had avoided being in the Great Hall 
+when it was full ever since he had left the hospital 
+wing, preferring to eat when it was nearly empty to 
+avoid the stares of his fellow students. 
+
+When he, Ron, and Hermione entered the Hall, they 
+saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. 
+The Great Hall was normally decorated with the 
+winning House’s colors for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, 
+however, there were black drapes on the wall behind 
+the teachers’ table. Harry knew instantly that they 
+were there as a mark of respect to Cedric. 
+
+The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, 
+his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He 
+was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone 
+
+
+
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+spoke to him. Harry couldn’t blame him; Moody’s fear 
+of attack was bound to have been increased by his 
+ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Professor 
+Karkaroff’s chair was empty. Harry wondered, as he 
+sat down with the other Gryffindors, where Karkaroff 
+was now, and whether Voldemort had caught up with 
+him. 
+
+Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next 
+to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further 
+along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, 
+was Snape. His eyes lingered on Harry for a moment 
+as Harry looked at him. His expression was difficult to 
+read. He looked as sour and unpleasant as ever. 
+
+Harry continued to watch him, long after Snape had 
+looked away. 
+
+What was it that Snape had done on Dumbledore’s 
+orders, the night that Voldemort had returned? And 
+why ... why ... was Dumbledore so convinced that 
+Snape was truly on their side? He had been their spy, 
+Dumbledore had said so in the Pensieve. Snape had 
+turned spy against Voldemort, “at great personal 
+risk.” Was that the job he had taken up again? Had 
+he made contact with the Death Eaters, perhaps? 
+Pretended that he had never really gone over to 
+Dumbledore, that he had been, like Voldemort 
+himself, biding his time? 
+
+Harry’s musings were ended by Professor 
+Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The 
+Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy 
+than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very 
+quiet. 
+
+“The end,” said Dumbledore, looking around at them 
+all, “of another year.” 
+
+
+
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+
+He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff 
+table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before 
+he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the 
+saddest and palest faces in the Hall. 
+
+“There is much that I would like to say to you all 
+tonight,” said Dumbledore, “but I must first 
+acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who 
+should be sitting here,” he gestured toward the 
+Hufflepuffs, “enjoying our feast with us. I would like 
+you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to 
+Cedric Diggory.” 
+
+They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as 
+everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, 
+and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, “Cedric 
+Diggory.” 
+
+Harry caught a glimpse of Cho through the crowd. 
+There were tears pouring silently down her face. He 
+looked down at the table as they all sat down again. 
+
+“Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the 
+qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house,” 
+Dumbledore continued. “He was a good and loyal 
+friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death 
+has affected you all, whether you knew him well or 
+not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to 
+know exactly how it came about.” 
+
+Harry raised his head and stared at Dumbledore. 
+
+“Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort.” 
+
+A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were 
+staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He 
+looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter 
+themselves into silence. 
+
+
+
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+
+“The Ministry of Magic,” Dumbledore continued, “does 
+not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of 
+your parents will be horrified that I have done so — 
+either because they will not believe that Lord 
+Voldemort has returned, or because they think I 
+should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my 
+belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable 
+to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric 
+died as the result of an accident, or some sort of 
+blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory.” 
+
+Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was 
+turned toward Dumbledore now ... or almost every 
+face. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry saw Draco 
+Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. 
+Harry felt a hot, sick swoop of anger in his stomach. 
+He forced himself to look back at Dumbledore. 
+
+“There is somebody else who must be mentioned in 
+connection with Cedric’s death,” Dumbledore went 
+on. “I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter.” 
+
+A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads 
+turned in Harry’s direction before flicking back to face 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort,” 
+said Dumbledore. “He risked his own life to return 
+Cedric’s body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every 
+respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever 
+shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor 
+him.” 
+
+Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and raised his 
+goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall 
+followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had 
+murmured Cedric’s, and drank to him. But through a 
+gap in the standing figures, Harry saw that Malfoy, 
+Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had 
+Page | 797 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets 
+untouched. Dumbledore, who after all possessed no 
+magical eye, did not see them. 
+
+When everyone had once again resumed their seats, 
+Dumbledore continued, “The Triwizard Tournament’s 
+aim was to further and promote magical 
+understanding. In the light of what has happened — 
+of Lord Voldemort’s return — such ties are more 
+important than ever before.” 
+
+Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and 
+Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons 
+students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the 
+Slytherin table. Krum, Harry saw, looked wary, 
+almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore 
+to say something harsh. 
+
+“Every guest in this Hall,” said Dumbledore, and his 
+eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, “will be 
+welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to 
+come. I say to you all, once again — in the light of 
+Lord Voldemort’s return, we are only as strong as we 
+are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord 
+Voldemort’s gift for spreading discord and enmity is 
+very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally 
+strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of 
+habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are 
+identical and our hearts are open. 
+
+“It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am 
+mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult 
+times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered 
+directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your 
+families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a 
+student was taken from our midst. 
+
+“Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should 
+come when you have to make a choice between what 
+
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+
+is right and what is easy, remember what happened 
+to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because 
+he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. 
+Remember Cedric Diggory.” 
+
+Harry’s trunk was packed; Hedwig was back in her 
+cage on top of it. He, Ron, and Hermione were waiting 
+in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the 
+fourth years for the carriages that would take them 
+back to Hogsmeade station. It was another beautiful 
+summer’s day. He supposed that Privet Drive would 
+be hot and leafy, its flower beds a riot of color, when 
+he arrived there that evening. The thought gave him 
+no pleasure at all. 
+
+“ ’Arry!” 
+
+He looked around. Fleur Delacour was hurrying up 
+the stone steps into the castle. Beyond her, far across 
+the grounds, Harry could see Hagrid helping Madame 
+Maxime to back two of the giant horses into their 
+harness. The Beauxbatons carriage was about to take 
+off. 
+
+“We will see each uzzer again, I ’ope,” said Fleur as 
+she reached him, holding out her hand. “I am ’oping 
+to get a job ’ere, to improve my Eenglish.” 
+
+“It’s very good already,” said Ron in a strangled sort of 
+voice. Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled. 
+
+“Good-bye, ’Arry,” said Fleur, turning to go. “It ’az 
+been a pleasure meeting you!” 
+
+Harry’s spirits couldn’t help but lift slightly as he 
+watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to 
+Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the 
+sunlight. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting 
+back,” said Ron. “D’you reckon they can steer that 
+ship without Karkaroff?” 
+
+“Karkaroff did not steer,” said a gruff voice. “He 
+stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork.” 
+
+Krum had come to say good-bye to Hermione. 
+
+“Could I have a vord?” he asked her. 
+
+“Oh ... yes ... all right,” said Hermione, looking 
+slightly flustered, and following Krum through the 
+crowd and out of sight. 
+
+“You’d better hurry up!” Ron called loudly after her. 
+“The carriages’ll be here in a minute!” 
+
+He let Harry keep a watch for the carriages, however, 
+and spent the next few minutes craning his neck over 
+the crowd to try and see what Krum and Hermione 
+might be up to. They returned quite soon. Ron stared 
+at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive. 
+
+“I liked Diggory,” said Krum abruptly to Harry. “He 
+vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos 
+from Durmstrang — with Karkaroff,” he added, 
+scowling. 
+
+“Have you got a new headmaster yet?” said Harry. 
+
+Krum shrugged. He held out his hand as Fleur had 
+done, shook Harry’s hand, and then Ron’s. Ron 
+looked as though he was suffering some sort of 
+painful internal struggle. Krum had already started 
+walking away when Ron burst out, “Can I have your 
+autograph?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless 
+carriages that were now trundling toward them up the 
+drive, as Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed 
+a fragment of parchment for Ron. 
+
+
+
+The weather could not have been more different on 
+the journey back to King’s Cross than it had been on 
+their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There 
+wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione had managed to get a compartment to 
+themselves. Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under 
+Ron’s dress robes to stop him from hooting 
+continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her 
+wing, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat 
+like a large, furry ginger cushion. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione talked more fully and freely than they had 
+all week as the train sped them southward. Harry felt 
+as though Dumbledore’s speech at the Leaving Feast 
+had unblocked him, somehow. It was less painful to 
+discuss what had happened now. They broke off their 
+conversation about what action Dumbledore might be 
+taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the 
+lunch trolley arrived. 
+
+When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her 
+money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy 
+of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in 
+there. Harry looked at it, unsure whether he really 
+wanted to know what it might say, but Hermione, 
+seeing him looking at it, said calmly, “There’s nothing 
+in there. You can look for yourself, but there’s 
+nothing at all. I’ve been checking every day. Just a 
+small piece the day after the third task saying you 
+won the tournament. They didn’t even mention 
+Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me, Fudge 
+is forcing them to keep quiet.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He’ll never keep Rita quiet,” said Harry. “Not on a 
+story like this.” 
+
+“Oh, Rita hasn’t written anything at all since the third 
+task,” said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. 
+“As a matter of fact,” she added, her voice now 
+trembling slightly, “Rita Skeeter isn’t going to be 
+writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she 
+wants me to spill the beans on her.” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” said Ron. 
+
+“I found out how she was listening in on private 
+conversations when she wasn’t supposed to be 
+coming onto the grounds,” said Hermione in a rush. 
+
+Harry had the impression that Hermione had been 
+dying to tell them this for days, but that she had 
+restrained herself in light of everything else that had 
+happened. 
+
+“How was she doing it?” said Harry at once. 
+
+“How did you find out?” said Ron, staring at her. 
+
+“Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea, 
+
+Harry,” she said. 
+
+“Did I?” said Harry, perplexed. “How?” 
+
+“Bugging,” said Hermione happily. 
+
+“But you said they didn’t work — ” 
+
+“Oh not electronic bugs,” said Hermione. “No, you see 
+... Rita Skeeter” — Hermione ’s voice trembled with 
+quiet triumph — “is an unregistered Animagus. She 
+can turn — ” 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out of her 
+bag. 
+
+“ — into a beetle.” 
+
+“You’re kidding,” said Ron. “You haven’t ... she’s not 
+
+
+
+“Oh yes she is,” said Hermione happily, brandishing 
+the jar at them. 
+
+Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat 
+beetle. 
+
+“That’s never — you’re kidding — ” Ron whispered, 
+lifting the jar to his eyes. 
+
+“No, I’m not,” said Hermione, beaming. “I caught her 
+on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very 
+closely, and you 11 notice the markings around her 
+antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she 
+wears.” 
+
+Harry looked and saw that she was quite right. He 
+also remembered something. 
+
+“There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard 
+Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Hermione. “And Viktor pulled a beetle 
+out of my hair after we’d had our conversation by the 
+lake. And unless I’m very much mistaken, Rita was 
+perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the 
+day your scar hurt. She’s been buzzing around for 
+stories all year.” 
+
+“When we saw Malfoy under that tree ...” said Ron 
+slowly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 803 
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+
+
+
+“He was talking to her, in his hand,” said Hermione. 
+“He knew, of course. That’s how she’s been getting all 
+those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They 
+wouldn’t care that she was doing something illegal, as 
+long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us 
+and Hagrid.” 
+
+Hermione took the glass jar back from Ron and 
+smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the 
+glass. 
+
+“I’ve told her I’ll let her out when we get back to 
+London,” said Hermione. “I’ve put an Unbreakable 
+Charm on the jar, you see, so she can’t transform. 
+
+And I’ve told her she’s to keep her quill to herself for a 
+whole year. See if she can’t break the habit of writing 
+horrible lies about people.” 
+
+Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back 
+inside her schoolbag. 
+
+The door of the compartment slid open. 
+
+“Very clever, Granger,” said Draco Malfoy. 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All 
+three of them looked more pleased with themselves, 
+more arrogant and more menacing, than Harry had 
+ever seen them. 
+
+“So,” said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the 
+compartment and looking slowly around at them, a 
+smirk quivering on his lips. “You caught some 
+pathetic reporter, and Potter’s Dumbledore’s favorite 
+boy again. Big deal.” 
+
+His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered. 
+
+
+
+Page | 804 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Trying not to think about it, are we?” said Malfoy 
+softly, looking around at all three of them. “Trying to 
+pretend it hasn’t happened?” 
+
+“Get out,” said Harry. 
+
+He had not been this close to Malfoy since he had 
+watched him muttering to Crabbe and Goyle during 
+Dumbledore’s speech about Cedric. He could feel a 
+kind of ringing in his ears. His hand gripped his wand 
+under his robes. 
+
+“You’ve picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I 
+told you you ought to choose your company more 
+carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first 
+day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with 
+riffraff like this!” He jerked his head at Ron and 
+Hermione. “Too late now, Potter! They’ll be the first to 
+go, now the Dark Lord’s back! Mudbloods and 
+Muggle-lovers first! Well — second — Diggory was the 
+f— ” 
+
+It was as though someone had exploded a box of 
+fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the 
+blaze of the spells that had blasted from every 
+direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Harry 
+blinked and looked down at the floor. 
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious 
+in the doorway. He, Ron, and Hermione were on their 
+feet, all three of them having used a different hex. Nor 
+were they the only ones to have done so. 
+
+“Thought we’d see what those three were up to,” said 
+Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into 
+the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did 
+George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he 
+followed Fred inside. 
+
+
+
+Page | 805 
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+
+
+
+“Interesting effect,” said George, looking down at 
+Crabbe. “Who used the Furnunculus Curse?” 
+
+“Me,” said Harry. 
+
+“Odd,” said George lightly. “I used Jelly-Legs. Looks 
+as though those two shouldn’t be mixed. He seems to 
+have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, 
+let’s not leave them here, they don’t add much to the 
+decor.” 
+
+Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed 
+the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle — each of 
+whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of 
+jinxes with which they had been hit — out into the 
+corridor, then came back into the compartment and 
+rolled the door shut. 
+
+“Exploding Snap, anyone?” said Fred, pulling out a 
+pack of cards. 
+
+They were halfway through their fifth game when 
+Harry decided to ask them. 
+
+“You going to tell us, then?” he said to George. “Who 
+you were blackmailing?” 
+
+“Oh,” said George darkly. “ That 
+
+“It doesn’t matter,” said Fred, shaking his head 
+impatiently. “It wasn’t anything important. Not now, 
+anyway.” 
+
+“We’ve given up,” said George, shrugging. 
+
+But Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept on asking, and 
+finally, Fred said, “All right, all right, if you really 
+want to know ... it was Ludo Bagman.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 806 
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+
+
+
+
+“Bagman?” said Harry sharply. “Are you saying he 
+was involved in — ” 
+
+“Nah,” said George gloomily. “Nothing like that. 
+
+Stupid git. He wouldn’t have the brains.” 
+
+“Well, what, then?” said Ron. 
+
+Fred hesitated, then said, “You remember that bet we 
+had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how 
+Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry and Ron slowly. 
+
+“Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he’d caught 
+from the Irish mascots.” 
+
+“So?” 
+
+“So,” said Fred impatiently, “it vanished, didn’t it? By 
+next morning, it had gone!” 
+
+“But — it must’ve been an accident, mustn’t it?” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+George laughed very bitterly. 
+
+“Yeah, that’s what we thought, at first. We thought if 
+we just wrote to him, and told him he’d made a 
+mistake, he’d cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored 
+our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at 
+Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to 
+get away from us.” 
+
+“In the end, he turned pretty nasty,” said Fred. “Told 
+us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn’t giving 
+us anything.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 807 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So we asked for our money back,” said George 
+glowering. 
+
+“He didn’t refuse!” gasped Hermione. 
+
+“Right in one,” said Fred. 
+
+“But that was all your savings!” said Ron. 
+
+“Tell me about it,” said George. “ ’Course, we found 
+out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan’s dad 
+had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as 
+well. Turns out he’s in big trouble with the goblins. 
+Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them 
+cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and 
+took all the gold he had, and it still wasn’t enough to 
+cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to 
+Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He’s lost everything 
+gambling. Hasn’t got two Galleons to rub together. 
+And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins 
+back?” 
+
+“How?” said Harry. 
+
+“He put a bet on you, mate,” said Fred. “Put a big bet 
+on you to win the tournament. Bet against the 
+goblins.” 
+
+“So that’s why he kept trying to help me win!” said 
+Harry. “Well — I did win, didn’t I? So he can pay you 
+your gold!” 
+
+“Nope,” said George, shaking his head. “The goblins 
+play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, 
+and Bagman was betting you’d win outright. So 
+Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after 
+the third task.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 808 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+George sighed deeply and started dealing out the 
+cards again. 
+
+The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough; 
+Harry wished it could have gone on all summer, in 
+fact, and that he would never arrive at King’s Cross . . . 
+but as he had learned the hard way that year, time 
+will not slow down when something unpleasant lies 
+ahead, and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was 
+pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The 
+usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the 
+students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione 
+struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, 
+carrying their trunks. Harry, however, stayed put. 
+
+“Fred — George — wait a moment.” 
+
+The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and 
+drew out his Triwizard winnings. 
+
+“Take it,” he said, and he thrust the sack into 
+George’s hands. 
+
+“What?” said Fred, looking flabbergasted. 
+
+“Take it,” Harry repeated firmly. “I don’t want it.” 
+
+“You’re mental,” said George, trying to push it back at 
+Harry. 
+
+“No, I’m not,” said Harry. “You take it, and get 
+inventing. It’s for the joke shop.” 
+
+“He is mental,” Fred said in an almost awed voice. 
+
+“Listen,” said Harry firmly. “If you don’t take it, I’m 
+throwing it down the drain. I don’t want it and I don’t 
+need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+do with a few laughs. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to 
+need them more than usual before long.” 
+
+“Harry,” said George weakly, weighing the money bag 
+in his hands, “there’s got to be a thousand Galleons 
+in here.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, grinning. “Think how many 
+Canary Creams that is.” 
+
+The twins stared at him. 
+
+“Just don’t tell your mum where you got it ... 
+although she might not be so keen for you to join the 
+Ministry anymore, come to think of it. ...” 
+
+“Harry,” Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand. 
+
+“Look,” he said flatly, “take it, or I’ll hex you. I know 
+some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? 
+
+Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they’re 
+from you.” 
+
+He left the compartment before they could say 
+another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and 
+Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex 
+marks. 
+
+Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. 
+Weasley was close by him. She hugged Harry very 
+tightly when she saw him and whispered in his ear, “I 
+think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the 
+summer. Keep in touch, Harry.” 
+
+“See you, Harry,” said Ron, clapping him on the back. 
+
+“ ’Bye, Harry!” said Hermione, and she did something 
+she had never done before, and kissed him on the 
+cheek. 
+
+Page | 810 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry — thanks,” George muttered, while Fred 
+nodded fervently at his side. 
+
+Harry winked at them, turned to Uncle Vernon, and 
+followed him silently from the station. There was no 
+point worrying yet, he told himself, as he got into the 
+back of the Dursleys’ car. 
+
+As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come... 
+and he would have to meet it when it did. 
+
+
+
+Page | 811 
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+Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+HARRY 
+
+POTTER 
+
+
+
+
+I 
+
+
+
+
+DUDLEY DEMENTED 
+
+The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to 
+a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square 
+houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually 
+gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that 
+were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing; 
+the use of hosepipes had been banned due to 
+drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and 
+lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive 
+had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, 
+windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a 
+nonexistent breeze. The only person left outdoors was 
+a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a 
+flower bed outside number four. 
+
+He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who 
+had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone 
+who has grown a lot in a short space of time. His 
+jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and 
+faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away 
+from the uppers. Harry Potter’s appearance did not 
+endear him to the neighbors, who were the sort of 
+people who thought scruffiness ought to be 
+Page | 2 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+punishable by law, but as he had hidden himself 
+behind a large hydrangea bush this evening he was 
+quite invisible to passersby. In fact, the only way he 
+would be spotted was if his Uncle Vernon or Aunt 
+Petunia stuck their heads out of the living room 
+window and looked straight down into the flower bed 
+below. 
+
+On the whole, Harry thought he was to be 
+congratulated on his idea of hiding here. He was not, 
+perhaps, very comfortable lying on the hot, hard 
+earth, but on the other hand, nobody was glaring at 
+him, grinding their teeth so loudly that he could not 
+hear the news, or shooting nasty questions at him, as 
+had happened every time he had tried sitting down in 
+the living room and watching television with his aunt 
+and uncle. 
+
+Almost as though this thought had fluttered through 
+the open window, Vernon Dursley, Harry’s uncle, 
+suddenly spoke. “Glad to see the boy’s stopped trying 
+to butt in. Where is he anyway?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Aunt Petunia unconcernedly. “Not 
+in the house.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon grunted. 
+
+“Watching the news ...” he said scathingly. “I’d like to 
+know what he’s really up to. As if a normal boy cares 
+what’s on the news — Dudley hasn’t got a clue what’s 
+going on, doubt he knows who the Prime Minister is! 
+Anyway, it’s not as if there ’d be anything about his lot 
+on our news — ” 
+
+“Vernon, shh\” said Aunt Petunia. “The window’s 
+open!” 
+
+“Oh — yes — sorry, dear ...” 
+
+Page | 3 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Dursleys fell silent. Harry listened to a jingle 
+about Fruit ’N Bran breakfast cereal while he watched 
+Mrs. Figg, a batty, cat-loving old lady from nearby 
+Wisteria Walk, amble slowly past. She was frowning 
+and muttering to herself. Harry was very pleased that 
+he was concealed behind the bush; Mrs. Figg had 
+recently taken to asking him around for tea whenever 
+she met him in the street. She had rounded the 
+corner and vanished from view before Uncle Vernon’s 
+voice floated out of the window again. 
+
+“Dudders out for tea?” 
+
+“At the Polkisses’,” said Aunt Petunia fondly. “He’s got 
+so many little friends, he’s so popular ...” 
+
+Harry repressed a snort with difficulty. The Dursleys 
+really were astonishingly stupid about their son, 
+Dudley; they had swallowed all his dim-witted lies 
+about having tea with a different member of his gang 
+every night of the summer holidays. Harry knew 
+perfectly well that Dudley had not been to tea 
+anywhere; he and his gang spent every evening 
+vandalizing the play park, smoking on street corners, 
+and throwing stones at passing cars and children. 
+Harry had seen them at it during his evening walks 
+around Little Whinging; he had spent most of the 
+holidays wandering the streets, scavenging 
+newspapers from bins along the way. 
+
+The opening notes of the music that heralded the 
+seven o’clock news reached Harry’s ears and his 
+stomach turned over. Perhaps tonight — after a 
+month of waiting — would be the night — 
+
+“Record numbers of stranded holidaymakers fill 
+airports as the Spanish baggage-handlers’ strike 
+reaches its second week — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Give ’em a lifelong siesta, I would,” snarled Uncle 
+Vernon over the end of the newsreader’s sentence, 
+but no matter: Outside in the flower bed, Harry’s 
+stomach seemed to unclench. If anything had 
+happened, it would surely have been the first item on 
+the news; death and destruction were more important 
+than stranded holidaymakers... 
+
+He let out a long, slow breath and stared up at the 
+brilliant blue sky. Every day this summer had been 
+the same: the tension, the expectation, the temporary 
+relief, and then mounting tension again . . . and 
+always, growing more insistent all the time, the 
+question of why nothing had happened yet... 
+
+He kept listening, just in case there was some small 
+clue, not recognized for what it really was by the 
+Muggles — an unexplained disappearance, 
+perhaps, or some strange accident ... but the 
+baggage-handlers’ strike was followed by news on the 
+drought in the Southeast (“I hope he’s listening next 
+door!” bellowed Uncle Vernon, “with his sprinklers on 
+at three in the morning!”); then a helicopter that had 
+almost crashed in a field in Surrey, then a famous 
+actress’s divorce from her famous husband (“as if 
+we’re interested in their sordid affairs,” sniffed Aunt 
+Petunia, who had followed the case obsessively in 
+every magazine she could lay her bony hands on). 
+
+Harry closed his eyes against the now blazing evening 
+sky as the newsreader said, “And finally, Bungy the 
+budgie has found a novel way of keeping cool this 
+summer. Bungy, who lives at the Five Feathers in 
+Barnsley, has learned to water-ski! Mary Dorkins 
+went to find out more...” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes again. If they had reached 
+water-skiing budgerigars, there was nothing else 
+worth hearing. He rolled cautiously onto his front and 
+
+Page | 5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+raised himself onto his knees and elbows, preparing 
+to crawl out from under the window. 
+
+He had moved about two inches when several things 
+happened in very quick succession. 
+
+A loud, echoing crack broke the sleepy silence like a 
+gunshot; a cat streaked out from under a parked car 
+and flew out of sight; a shriek, a bellowed oath, and 
+the sound of breaking china came from the Dursleys’ 
+living room, and as though Harry had been waiting 
+for this signal, he jumped to his feet, at the same time 
+pulling from the waistband of his jeans a thin wooden 
+wand as if he were unsheathing a sword. But before 
+he could draw himself up to full height, the top of his 
+head collided with the Dursleys’ open window, and 
+the resultant crash made Aunt Petunia scream even 
+louder. 
+
+Harry felt as if his head had been split in two; eyes 
+streaming, he swayed, trying to focus on the street 
+and spot the source of the noise, but he had barely 
+staggered upright again when two large purple hands 
+reached through the open window and closed tightly 
+around his throat. 
+
+“Put — it — away\” Uncle Vernon snarled into Harry’s 
+ear. “Now\ Before — anyone — sees!” 
+
+“Get — off — me!” Harry gasped; for a few seconds 
+they struggled, Harry pulling at his uncle’s sausage- 
+like fingers with his left hand, his right maintaining a 
+firm grip on his raised wand. Then, as the pain in the 
+top of Harry’s head gave a particularly nasty throb, 
+Uncle Vernon yelped and released Harry as though he 
+had received an electric shock — some invisible force 
+seemed to have surged through his nephew, making 
+him impossible to hold. 
+
+
+
+Page | 6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Panting, Harry fell forward over the hydrangea bush, 
+straightened up, and stared around. There was no 
+sign of what had caused the loud cracking noise, but 
+there were several faces peering through various 
+nearby windows. Harry stuffed his wand hastily back 
+into his jeans and tried to look innocent. 
+
+“Lovely evening!” shouted Uncle Vernon, waving at 
+Mrs. Number Seven, who was glaring from behind her 
+net curtains. “Did you hear that car backfire just 
+now? Gave Petunia and me quite a turn!” 
+
+He continued to grin in a horrible, manic way until all 
+the curious neighbors had disappeared from their 
+various windows, then the grin became a grimace of 
+rage as he beckoned Harry back toward him. 
+
+Harry moved a few steps closer, taking care to stop 
+just short of the point at which Uncle Vernon’s 
+outstretched hands could resume their strangling. 
+
+“What the devil do you mean by it, boy?” asked Uncle 
+Vernon in a croaky voice that trembled with fury. 
+
+“What do I mean by what?” said Harry coldly. He kept 
+looking left and right up the street, still hoping to see 
+the person who had made the cracking noise. 
+
+“Making a racket like a starting pistol right outside 
+our — ” 
+
+“I didn’t make that noise,” said Harry firmly. 
+
+Aunt Petunia’s thin, horsey face now appeared beside 
+Uncle Vernon’s wide, purple one. She looked livid. 
+
+“Why were you lurking under our window?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 7 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes — yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing 
+under our window, boy?” 
+
+“Listening to the news,” said Harry in a resigned 
+voice. 
+
+His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage. 
+
+“Listening to the news! Again?” 
+
+“Well, it changes every day, you see,” said Harry. 
+
+“Don’t you be clever with me, boy! I want to know 
+what you’re really up to — and don’t give me any 
+more of this listening to the news tosh! You know 
+perfectly well that your lot ...” 
+
+“Careful, Vernon!” breathed Aunt Petunia, and Uncle 
+Vernon lowered his voice so that Harry could barely 
+hear him, "... that your lot don’t get on our news!” 
+
+“That’s all you know,” said Harry. 
+
+The Dursleys goggled at him for a few seconds, then 
+Aunt Petunia said, “You’re a nasty little liar. What are 
+all those — ” she too lowered her voice so that Harry 
+had to lip-read the next word, “ — owls — doing if 
+they’re not bringing you news?” 
+
+“Aha!” said Uncle Vernon in a triumphant whisper. 
+“Get out of that one, boy! As if we didn’t know you get 
+all your news from those pestilential birds!” 
+
+Harry hesitated for a moment. It cost him something 
+to tell the truth this time, even though his aunt and 
+uncle could not possibly know how bad Harry felt at 
+admitting it. 
+
+
+
+Page | 8 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The owls ... aren’t bringing me news,” said Harry 
+tonelessly. 
+
+“I don’t believe it,” said Aunt Petunia at once. 
+
+“No more do I,” said Uncle Vernon forcefully. 
+
+“We know you’re up to something funny,” said Aunt 
+Petunia. 
+
+“We’re not stupid, you know,” said Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“Well, that’s news to me,” said Harry, his temper 
+rising, and before the Dursleys could call him back, 
+he had wheeled about, crossed the front lawn, 
+stepped over the low garden wall, and was striding off 
+up the street. 
+
+He was in trouble now and he knew it. He would have 
+to face his aunt and uncle later and pay the price for 
+his rudeness, but he did not care very much just at 
+the moment; he had much more pressing matters on 
+his mind. 
+
+Harry was sure that the cracking noise had been 
+made by someone Apparating or Disapparating. It 
+was exactly the sound Dobby the house-elf made 
+when he vanished into thin air. Was it possible that 
+Dobby was here in Privet Drive? Could Dobby be 
+following him right at this very moment? As this 
+thought occurred he wheeled around and stared back 
+down Privet Drive, but it appeared to be completely 
+deserted again and Harry was sure that Dobby did 
+not know how to become invisible... 
+
+He walked on, hardly aware of the route he was 
+taking, for he had pounded these streets so often 
+lately that his feet carried him to his favorite haunts 
+automatically. Every few steps he glanced back over 
+
+Page | 9 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+his shoulder. Someone magical had been near him as 
+he lay among Aunt Petunias dying begonias, he was 
+sure of it. Why hadn’t they spoken to him, why hadn’t 
+they made contact, why were they hiding now? 
+
+And then, as his feeling of frustration peaked, his 
+certainty leaked away. 
+
+Perhaps it hadn’t been a magical sound after all. 
+Perhaps he was so desperate for the tiniest sign of 
+contact from the world to which he belonged that he 
+was simply overreacting to perfectly ordinary noises. 
+Could he be sure it hadn’t been the sound of 
+something breaking inside a neighbor’s house? 
+
+Harry felt a dull, sinking sensation in his stomach 
+and, before he knew it, the feeling of hopelessness 
+that had plagued him all summer rolled over him 
+once again... 
+
+Tomorrow morning he would be awoken by the alarm 
+at five o’clock so that he could pay the owl that 
+delivered the Daily Prophet — but was there any point 
+in continuing to take it? Harry merely glanced at the 
+front page before throwing it aside these days; when 
+the idiots who ran the paper finally realized that 
+Voldemort was back it would be headline news, and 
+that was the only kind Harry cared about. 
+
+If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying 
+letters from his best friends, Ron and Hermione, 
+though any expectation he had had that their letters 
+would bring him news had long since been dashed. 
+
+“We can’t say much about you-know-what, 
+obviously...” “We’ve been told not to say anything 
+important in case our letters go astray...” “We’re quite 
+busy but I can’t give you details here...” “There’s a fair 
+
+
+
+Page | 10 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+amount going on, we’ll tell you everything when we see 
+you...” 
+
+But when were they going to see him? Nobody seemed 
+too bothered with a precise date. Hermione had 
+scribbled, “I expect we’ll be seeing you quite soon” 
+inside his birthday card, but how soon was soon? As 
+far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their 
+letters, Hermione and Ron were in the same place, 
+presumably at Ron’s parents’ house. He could hardly 
+bear to think of the pair of them having fun at the 
+Burrow when he was stuck in Privet Drive. In fact, he 
+was so angry at them that he had thrown both their 
+birthday presents of Honeydukes chocolates away 
+unopened, though he had regretted this after eating 
+the wilting salad Aunt Petunia had provided for 
+dinner that night. 
+
+And what were Ron and Hermione busy with? Why 
+wasn’t he, Harry, busy? Hadn’t he proved himself 
+capable of handling much more than they? Had they 
+all forgotten what he had done? Hadn’t it been he who 
+had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being 
+murdered and been tied to that tombstone and nearly 
+killed ... ? 
+
+Don’t think about that, Harry told himself sternly for 
+the hundredth time that summer. It was bad enough 
+that he kept revisiting the graveyard in his 
+nightmares, without dwelling on it in his waking 
+moments too. 
+
+He turned a corner into Magnolia Crescent; halfway 
+along he passed the narrow alleyway down the side of 
+a garage where he had first clapped eyes on his 
+godfather. Sirius, at least, seemed to understand how 
+Harry was feeling; admittedly his letters were just as 
+empty of proper news as Ron and Hermione’s, but at 
+
+
+
+Page | 11 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+least they contained words of caution and consolation 
+instead of tantalizing hints: 
+
+“ I know this must be frustrating for you...” “Keep your 
+nose clean and everything will be okay...” “Be careful 
+and don’t do anything rash...” 
+
+Well, thought Harry, as he crossed Magnolia 
+Crescent, turned into Magnolia Road, and headed 
+toward the darkening play park, he had (by and large) 
+done as Sirius advised; he had at least resisted the 
+temptation to tie his trunk to his broomstick and set 
+off for the Burrow by himself. In fact Harry thought 
+his behavior had been very good considering how 
+frustrated and angry he felt at being stuck in Privet 
+Drive this long, reduced to hiding in flower beds in 
+the hope of hearing something that might point to 
+what Lord Voldemort was doing. Nevertheless, it was 
+quite galling to be told not to be rash by a man who 
+had served twelve years in the wizard prison, 
+
+Azkaban, escaped, attempted to commit the murder 
+he had been convicted for in the first place, then gone 
+on the run with a stolen hippogriff. . . 
+
+Harry vaulted over the locked park gate and set off 
+across the parched grass. The park was as empty as 
+the surrounding streets. When he reached the swings 
+he sank onto the only one that Dudley and his friends 
+had not yet managed to break, coiled one arm around 
+the chain, and stared moodily at the ground. He 
+would not be able to hide in the Dursleys’ flower bed 
+again. Tomorrow he would have to think of some 
+fresh way of listening to the news. In the meantime, 
+he had nothing to look forward to but another 
+restless, disturbed night, because even when he 
+escaped nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling 
+dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in 
+dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had 
+something to do with the trapped feeling he had when 
+Page | 12 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he was awake. Often the old scar on his forehead 
+prickled uncomfortably, but he did not fool himself 
+that Ron or Hermione or Sirius would find that very 
+interesting anymore... In the past his scar hurting 
+had warned that Voldemort was getting stronger 
+again, but now that Voldemort was back they would 
+probably remind him that its regular irritation was 
+only to be expected... Nothing to worry about ... old 
+news ... 
+
+The injustice of it all welled up inside him so that he 
+wanted to yell with fury. If it hadn’t been for him, 
+nobody would even have known Voldemort was back! 
+And his reward was to be stuck in Little Whinging for 
+four solid weeks, completely cut off from the magical 
+world, reduced to squatting among dying begonias so 
+that he could hear about water-skiing budgerigars! 
+How could Dumbledore have forgotten him so easily? 
+Why had Ron and Hermione got together without 
+inviting him along too? How much longer was he 
+supposed to endure Sirius telling him to sit tight and 
+be a good boy; or resist the temptation to write to the 
+stupid Daily Prophet and point out that Voldemort 
+had returned? These furious thoughts whirled around 
+in Harry’s head, and his insides writhed with anger as 
+a sultry, velvety night fell around him, the air full of 
+the smell of warm, dry grass and the only sound that 
+of the low grumble of traffic on the road beyond the 
+park railings. 
+
+He did not know how long he had sat on the swing 
+before the sound of voices interrupted his musings 
+and he looked up. The street-lamps from the 
+surrounding roads were casting a misty glow strong 
+enough to silhouette a group of people making their 
+way across the park. One of them was singing a loud, 
+crude song. The others were laughing. A soft ticking 
+noise came from several expensive racing bikes that 
+they were wheeling along. 
+
+Page | 13 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry knew who those people were. The figure in front 
+was unmistakably his cousin, Dudley Dursley, 
+wending his way home, accompanied by his faithful 
+gang. 
+
+Dudley was as vast as ever, but a year’s hard dieting 
+and the discovery of a new talent had wrought quite a 
+change in his physique. As Uncle Vernon delightedly 
+told anyone who would listen, Dudley had recently 
+become the Junior Heavyweight Inter-School Boxing 
+Champion of the Southeast. “The noble sport,” as 
+Uncle Vernon called it, had made Dudley even more 
+formidable than he had seemed to Harry in the 
+primary school days when he had served as Dudley’s 
+first punching bag. Harry was not remotely afraid of 
+his cousin anymore but he still didn’t think that 
+Dudley learning to punch harder and more accurately 
+was cause for celebration. Neighborhood children all 
+around were terrified of him — even more terrified 
+than they were of “that Potter boy,” who, they had 
+been warned, was a hardened hooligan who attended 
+St. Brutus’s Secure Center for Incurably Criminal 
+Boys. 
+
+Harry watched the dark figures crossing the grass 
+and wondered whom they had been beating up 
+tonight. Look round, Harry found himself thinking as 
+he watched them. Come on ... look round ... I’m sitting 
+here all alone... Come and have ago... 
+
+If Dudley’s friends saw him sitting here, they would 
+be sure to make a beeline for him, and what would 
+Dudley do then? He wouldn’t want to lose face in 
+front of the gang, but he’d be terrified of provoking 
+Harry. . . It would be really fun to watch Dudley’s 
+dilemma; to taunt him, watch him, with him 
+powerless to respond . . . and if any of the others tried 
+hitting Harry, Harry was ready — he had his wand . . . 
+let them try ... He’d love to vent some of his 
+Page | 14 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+frustration on the boys who had once made his life 
+hell — 
+
+
+
+But they did not turn around, they did not see him, 
+they were almost at the railings. Harry mastered the 
+impulse to call after them... Seeking a fight was not a 
+smart move... He must not use magic... He would be 
+risking expulsion again... 
+
+Dudley’s gang’s voices died; they were out of sight, 
+heading along Magnolia Road. 
+
+There you go, Sirius, Harry thought dully. Nothing 
+rash. Kept my nose clean. Exactly the opposite of what 
+you’d have done ... 
+
+He got to his feet and stretched. Aunt Petunia and 
+Uncle Vernon seemed to feel that whenever Dudley 
+turned up was the right time to be home, and anytime 
+after that was much too late. Uncle Vernon had 
+threatened to lock Harry in the shed if he came home 
+after Dudley again, so, stifling a yawn, still scowling, 
+Harry set off toward the park gate. 
+
+Magnolia Road, like Privet Drive, was full of large, 
+square houses with perfectly manicured lawns, all 
+owned by large, square owners who drove very clean 
+cars similar to Uncle Vernon’s. Harry preferred Little 
+Whinging by night, when the curtained windows 
+made patches of jewel-bright colors in the darkness 
+and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving 
+mutters about his “delinquent” appearance when he 
+passed the householders. He walked quickly, so that 
+halfway along Magnolia Road Dudley’s gang came into 
+view again; they were saying their farewells at the 
+entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Harry stepped into 
+the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited. 
+
+
+
+Page | 15 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+"... squealed like a pig, didn’t he?” Malcolm was 
+saying, to guffaws from the others. 
+
+“Nice right hook, Big D,” said Piers. 
+
+“Same time tomorrow?” said Dudley. 
+
+“Round at my place, my parents are out,” said 
+Gordon. 
+
+“See you then,” said Dudley. 
+
+“Bye Dud!” 
+
+“See ya, Big D!” 
+
+Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on 
+before setting off again. When their voices had faded 
+once more he headed around the corner into Magnolia 
+Crescent and by walking very quickly he soon came 
+within hailing distance of Dudley, who was strolling 
+along at his ease, humming tunelessly. 
+
+“Hey, Big D!” 
+
+Dudley turned. 
+
+“Oh,” he grunted. “It’s you.” 
+
+“How long have you been ‘Big D’ then?” said Harry. 
+
+“Shut it,” snarled Dudley, turning away again. 
+
+“Cool name,” said Harry, grinning and falling into 
+step beside his cousin. “But you’ll always be Ickle 
+Diddykins to me.” 
+
+“I said, SHUT IT!” said Dudley, whose ham-like hands 
+had curled into fists. 
+
+Page | 16 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t the boys know that’s what your mum calls 
+you?” 
+
+“Shut your face.” 
+
+“You don’t tell her to shut her face. What about 
+‘popkin’ and ‘Dinky Diddydums,’ can I use them 
+then?” 
+
+Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself 
+from hitting Harry seemed to be demanding all his 
+self-control. 
+
+“So who’ve you been beating up tonight?” Harry 
+asked, his grin fading. “Another ten-year-old? I know 
+you did Mark Evans two nights ago — ” 
+
+“He was asking for it,” snarled Dudley. 
+
+“Oh yeah?” 
+
+“He cheeked me.” 
+
+“Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that’s been 
+taught to walk on its hind legs? ’Cause that’s not 
+cheek, Dud, that’s true ...” 
+
+A muscle was twitching in Dudley’s jaw. It gave Harry 
+enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was 
+making Dudley; he felt as though he was siphoning 
+off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet 
+he had. 
+
+They turned right down the narrow alleyway where 
+Harry had first seen Sirius and which formed a 
+shortcut between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria 
+Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets 
+it linked because there were no streetlamps. Their 
+
+
+
+Page | 17 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one 
+side and a high fence on the other. 
+
+“Think you’re a big man carrying that thing, don’t 
+you?” Dudley said after a few seconds. 
+
+“What thing?” 
+
+“That — that thing you’re hiding.” 
+
+Harry grinned again. 
+
+“Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s’pose 
+if you were, you wouldn’t be able to walk and talk at 
+the same time...” 
+
+Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look 
+sideways at it. 
+
+“You’re not allowed,” Dudley said at once. “I know 
+you’re not. You’d get expelled from that freak school 
+you go to.” 
+
+“How d’you know they haven’t changed the rules, Big 
+D?” 
+
+“They haven’t,” said Dudley, though he didn’t sound 
+completely convinced. Harry laughed softly. 
+
+“You haven’t got the guts to take me on without that 
+thing, have you?” Dudley snarled. 
+
+“Whereas you just need four mates behind you before 
+you can beat up a ten-year-old. You know that boxing 
+title you keep banging on about? How old was your 
+opponent? Seven? Eight?” 
+
+“He was sixteen for your information,” snarled 
+Dudley, “and he was out cold for twenty minutes after 
+
+Page | 18 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+I’d finished with him and he was twice as heavy as 
+you. You just wait till I tell Dad you had that thing 
+out — ” 
+
+“Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing 
+champ frightened of nasty Harry’s wand?” 
+
+“Not this brave at night, are you?” sneered Dudley. 
+
+“This is night, Diddykins. That’s what we call it when 
+it goes all dark like this.” 
+
+“I mean when you’re in bed!” Dudley snarled. 
+
+He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at 
+his cousin. From the little he could see of Dudley’s 
+large face, he was wearing a strangely triumphant 
+look. 
+
+“What d’you mean, I’m not brave in bed?” said Harry, 
+completely nonplussed. “What — am I supposed to be 
+frightened of pillows or something?” 
+
+“I heard you last night,” said Dudley breathlessly. 
+“Talking in your sleep. Moaning.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” Harry said again, but there was 
+a cold, plunging sensation in his stomach. He had 
+revisited the graveyard last night in his dreams. 
+
+Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter then adopted a 
+high-pitched, whimpering voice. “ ‘Don’t kill Cedric! 
+Don’t kill Cedric!’ Who’s Cedric — your boyfriend?” 
+
+“I — you’re lying — ” said Harry automatically. But his 
+mouth had gone dry. He knew Dudley wasn’t lying — 
+how else would he know about Cedric? 
+
+
+
+Page | 19 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ T)ad! Help me, Dad! He’s going to kill me, Dad! Boo- 
+hoo!”’ 
+
+“Shut up,” said Harry quietly. “Shut up, Dudley, I’m 
+warning you!” 
+
+“ ‘Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! 
+He’s killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He’s going to — ’ 
+Don’t you point that thing at me\” 
+
+Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing 
+the wand directly at Dudley’s heart. Harry could feel 
+fourteen years’ hatred of Dudley pounding in his 
+veins — what wouldn’t he give to strike now, to jinx 
+Dudley so thoroughly he’d have to crawl home like an 
+insect, struck dumb, sprouting feelers — 
+
+“Don’t ever talk about that again,” Harry snarled. 
+“D’you understand me?” 
+
+“Point that thing somewhere else!” 
+
+“I said, do you understand me?” 
+
+“Point it somewhere else\” 
+
+“DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?” 
+
+“GET THAT THING AWAY FROM — ” 
+
+Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he 
+had been doused in icy water. 
+
+Something had happened to the night. The star- 
+strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch-black and 
+lightless — the stars, the moon, the misty streetlamps 
+at either end of the alley had vanished. The distant 
+grumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. 
+
+The balmy evening was suddenly piercingly, bitingly 
+Page | 20 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, 
+silent darkness, as though some giant hand had 
+dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, 
+blinding them. 
+
+For a split second Harry thought he had done magic 
+without meaning to, despite the fact that he’d been 
+resisting as hard as he could — then his reason 
+caught up with his senses — he didn’t have the power 
+to turn off the stars. He turned his head this way and 
+that, trying to see something, but the darkness 
+pressed on his eyes like a weightless veil. 
+
+Dudley’s terrified voice broke in Harry’s ear. 
+
+“W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!” 
+
+“I’m not doing anything! Shut up and don’t move!” 
+
+“I c-can’t see! I’ve g-gone blind! I — ” 
+
+“I said shut up!” 
+
+Harry stood stock-still, turning his sightless eyes left 
+and right. The cold was so intense that he was 
+shivering all over; goose bumps had erupted up his 
+arms, and the hairs on the back of his neck were 
+standing up — he opened his eyes to their fullest 
+extent, staring blankly around, unseeing . . . 
+
+It was impossible... They couldn’t be here... Not in 
+Little Whinging ... He strained his ears... He would 
+hear them before he saw them... 
+
+“I’ll t-tell Dad!” Dudley whimpered. “W-where are you? 
+What are you d-do — ?” 
+
+“Will you shut up?” Harry hissed, “I’m trying to lis — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 21 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had 
+been dreading. 
+
+
+
+There was something in the alleyway apart from 
+themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, 
+rattling breaths. Harry felt a horrible jolt of dread as 
+he stood trembling in the freezing air. 
+
+“C-cut it out! Stop doing it! Ill h-hit you, I swear I 
+will!” 
+
+“Dudley, shut — ” 
+
+WHAM 
+
+A fist made contact with the side of Harry’s head, 
+lifting Harry off his feet. Small white lights popped in 
+front of Harry’s eyes; for the second time in an hour 
+he felt as though his head had been cleaved in two; 
+next moment he had landed hard on the ground, and 
+his wand had flown out of his hand. 
+
+“You moron, Dudley!” Harry yelled, his eyes watering 
+with pain, as he scrambled to his hands and knees, 
+now feeling around frantically in the blackness. He 
+heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, 
+stumbling. 
+
+“DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU’RE RUNNING RIGHT 
+AT IT!” 
+
+There was a horrible squealing yell, and Dudley’s 
+footsteps stopped. At the same moment, Harry felt a 
+creeping chill behind him that could mean only one 
+thing. There was more than one. 
+
+“DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER 
+YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!” Harry 
+
+Page | 22 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground 
+like spiders. “Where’s — wand — come on — Lumosl” 
+
+He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to 
+help him in his search — and to his disbelieving 
+relief, light flared inches from his right hand — the 
+wand tip had ignited. Harry snatched it up, 
+scrambled to his feet, and turned around. 
+
+His stomach turned over. 
+
+A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly 
+toward him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face 
+visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it 
+came. 
+
+Stumbling backward, Harry raised his wand. 
+
+“Expecto Patronurrd” 
+
+A silvery wisp of vapor shot from the tip of the wand 
+and the dementor slowed, but the spell hadn’t worked 
+properly; tripping over his feet, Harry retreated 
+farther as the dementor bore down upon him, panic 
+fogging his brain — concentrate — 
+
+A pair of gray, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside 
+the dementor’s robes, reaching for him. A rushing 
+noise filled Harry’s ears. 
+
+“Expecto PatronumV’ 
+
+His voice sounded dim and distant... Another wisp of 
+silver smoke, feebler than the last, drifted from the 
+wand — he couldn’t do it anymore, he couldn’t work 
+the spell — 
+
+There was laughter inside his own head, shrill, high- 
+pitched laughter... He could smell the dementor’s 
+
+Page | 23 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+putrid, death-cold breath, filling his own lungs, 
+drowning him — Think ... something happy... 
+
+But there was no happiness in him... The dementor’s 
+icy fingers were closing on his throat — the high- 
+pitched laughter was growing louder and louder, and 
+a voice spoke inside his head — “Bow to death, 
+
+Harry. . . It might even be painless. . . I would not 
+know... I have never died...” 
+
+He was never going to see Ron and Hermione again — 
+
+And their faces burst clearly into his mind as he 
+fought for breath — 
+
+“EXPECTO PATRONUM” 
+
+An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of 
+Harry’s wand; its antlers caught the dementor in the 
+place where the heart should have been; it was 
+thrown backward, weightless as darkness, and as the 
+stag charged, the dementor swooped away, batlike 
+and defeated. 
+
+“THIS WAY!” Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling 
+around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit 
+wand aloft. “DUDLEY? DUDLEY!” 
+
+He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached 
+them: Dudley was curled on the ground, his arms 
+clamped over his face; a second dementor was 
+crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its 
+slimy hands, prizing them slowly, almost lovingly 
+apart, lowering its hooded head toward Dudley’s face 
+as though about to kiss him... 
+
+“GET IT!” Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring 
+sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping 
+back past him. The dementor’s eyeless face was 
+
+Page | 24 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+barely an inch from Dudley’s when the silver antlers 
+caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air and, 
+like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into 
+the darkness. The stag cantered to the end of the 
+alleyway and dissolved into silver mist. 
+
+Moon, stars, and streetlamps burst back into life. A 
+warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in 
+neighboring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars 
+in Magnolia Crescent filled the air again. Harry stood 
+quite still, all his senses vibrating, taking in the 
+abrupt return to normality. After a moment he 
+became aware that his T-shirt was sticking to him; he 
+was drenched in sweat. 
+
+He could not believe what had just happened. 
+Dementors here, in Little Whinging . . . 
+
+Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and 
+shaking. Harry bent down to see whether he was in a 
+fit state to stand up, but then heard loud, running 
+footsteps behind him; instinctively raising his wand 
+again, he spun on his heel to face the newcomer. 
+
+Mrs. Figg, their batty old neighbor, came panting into 
+sight. Her grizzled gray hair was escaping from its 
+hairnet, a clanking string shopping bag was swinging 
+from her wrist, and her feet were halfway out of her 
+tartan carpet slippers. Harry made to stow his wand 
+hurriedly out of sight, but — 
+
+“Don’t put it away, idiot boy!” she shrieked. “What if 
+there are more of them around? Oh, I’m going to kill 
+Mundungus Fletcher!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 25 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+A PECK OF OWLS 
+
+“What?” said Harry blankly. 
+
+“He left!” said Mrs. Figg, wringing her hands. “Left to 
+see someone about a batch of cauldrons that fell off 
+the back of a broom! I told him I’d flay him alive if he 
+went, and now look! Dementors! It’s just lucky I put 
+Mr. Tibbies on the case! But we haven’t got time to 
+stand around! Hurry, now, we’ve got to get you back! 
+Oh, the trouble this is going to cause! I will kill him!” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+The revelation that his batty old cat-obsessed 
+neighbor knew what dementors were was almost as 
+big a shock to Harry as meeting two of them down the 
+alleyway. “You’re — you’re a witch?” 
+
+“I’m a Squib, as Mundungus knows full well, so how 
+on earth was I supposed to help you fight off 
+dementors? He left you completely without cover 
+when I warned him — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 26 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“This bloke Mundungus has been following me? Hang 
+on — it was him). He Disapparated from the front of 
+my house!” 
+
+“Yes, yes, yes, but luckily I’d stationed Mr. Tibbies 
+under a car just in case, and Mr. Tibbies came and 
+warned me, but by the time I got to your house you’d 
+gone — and now — oh, what’s Dumbledore going to 
+say? You!” she shrieked at Dudley, still supine on the 
+alley floor. “Get your fat bottom off the ground, 
+quick!” 
+
+“You know Dumbledore?” said Harry, staring at her. 
+
+“Of course I know Dumbledore, who doesn’t know 
+Dumbledore? But come on — I’ll be no help if they 
+come back, I’ve never so much as Transfigured a 
+teabag — ” 
+
+She stooped down, seized one of Dudley’s massive 
+arms in her wizened hands, and tugged. 
+
+“Get up, you useless lump, get up!” 
+
+But Dudley either could not or would not move. He 
+was still on the ground, trembling and ashen-faced, 
+his mouth shut very tight. 
+
+“I’ll do it.” Harry took hold of Dudley’s arm and 
+heaved: With an enormous effort he managed to hoist 
+Dudley to his feet. Dudley seemed to be on the point 
+of fainting: His small eyes were rolling in their sockets 
+and sweat was beading his face; the moment Harry let 
+go of him he swayed dangerously. 
+
+“Hurry up!” said Mrs. Figg hysterically. 
+
+Harry pulled one of Dudley’s massive arms around 
+his own shoulders and dragged him toward the road, 
+
+Page | 27 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+sagging slightly under his weight. Mrs. Figg tottered 
+along in front of them, peering anxiously around the 
+corner. 
+
+“Keep your wand out,” she told Harry, as they entered 
+Wisteria Walk. “Never mind the Statute of Secrecy 
+now, there’s going to be hell to pay anyway, we might 
+as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg. Talk about 
+the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery ... 
+This was exactly what Dumbledore was afraid of — 
+what’s that at the end of the street? Oh, it’s just Mr. 
+Prentice... Don’t put your wand away, boy, don’t I 
+keep telling you I’m no use?” 
+
+It was not easy to hold a wand steady and carry 
+Dudley along at the same time. Harry gave his cousin 
+an impatient dig in the ribs, but Dudley seemed to 
+have lost all desire for independent movement. He 
+was slumped on Harry’s shoulder, his large feet 
+dragging along the ground. 
+
+“Why didn’t you tell me you’re a Squib?” Harry asked 
+Mrs. Figg, panting with the effort to keep walking. “All 
+those times I came round your house — why didn’t 
+you say anything?” 
+
+“Dumbledore ’s orders. I was to keep an eye on you 
+but not say anything, you were too young. I’m sorry I 
+gave you such a miserable time, but the Dursleys 
+would never have let you come if they’d thought you 
+enjoyed it. It wasn’t easy, you know... But oh my 
+word,” she said tragically, wringing her hands once 
+more, “when Dumbledore hears about this — how 
+could Mundungus have left, he was supposed to be 
+on duty until midnight — where is he? How am I 
+going to tell Dumbledore what’s happened, I can’t 
+Apparate — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 28 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’ve got an owl, you can borrow her,” Harry groaned, 
+wondering whether his spine was going to snap under 
+Dudley’s weight. 
+
+“Harry, you don’t understand! Dumbledore will need 
+to act as quickly as possible, the Ministry have their 
+own ways of detecting underage magic, they’ll know 
+already, you mark my words — ” 
+
+“But I was getting rid of dementors, I had to use 
+magic — they’re going to be more worried what 
+dementors were doing floating around Wisteria Walk, 
+surely?” 
+
+“Oh my dear, I wish it were so but I’m afraid — 
+MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER, I AM GOING TO KILL 
+YOU!” 
+
+There was a loud crack and a strong smell of mingled 
+drink and stale tobacco filled the air as a squat, 
+unshaven man in a tattered overcoat materialized 
+right in front of them. He had short bandy legs, long 
+straggly ginger hair, and bloodshot baggy eyes that 
+gave him the doleful look of a basset hound; he was 
+also clutching a silvery bundle that Harry recognized 
+at once as an Invisibility Cloak. 
+
+“ ’S’ up, Figgy?” he said, staring from Mrs. Figg to 
+Harry and Dudley. “What ’appened to staying 
+undercover?” 
+
+“I’ll give you undercover!” cried Mrs. Figg. “Dementors, 
+you useless, skiving sneak thief!” 
+
+“Dementors?” repeated Mundungus, aghast. 
+“Dementors here?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 29 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, here, you worthless pile of bat droppings, here!” 
+shrieked Mrs. Figg. “Dementors attacking the boy on 
+your watch!” 
+
+“Blimey,” said Mundungus weakly, looking from Mrs. 
+Figg to Harry and back again. “Blimey, I ...” 
+
+“And you off buying stolen cauldrons! Didn’t I tell you 
+not to go? Didn’t i?” 
+
+“I — well, I — ” Mundungus looked deeply 
+uncomfortable. “It ... it was a very good business 
+opportunity, see ...” 
+
+Mrs. Figg raised the arm from which her string bag 
+dangled and whacked Mundungus around the face 
+and neck with it; judging by the clanking noise it 
+made it was full of cat food. 
+
+“Ouch — gerroff — gerroff, you mad old bat! 
+
+Someone’s gotta tell Dumbledore!” 
+
+“Yes — they — have!” yelled Mrs. Figg, still swinging 
+the bag of cat food at every bit of Mundungus she 
+could reach. “And — it — had — better — be — you — 
+and — you — can — tell — him — why — you — 
+weren’t — there — to — help!” 
+
+“Keep your ’airnet on!” said Mundungus, his arms 
+over his head, cowering. “I’m going, I’m going!” 
+
+And with another loud crack, he vanished. 
+
+“I hope Dumbledore murders him!” said Mrs. Figg 
+furiously. “Now come on, Harry, what are you waiting 
+for?” 
+
+Harry decided not to waste his remaining breath on 
+pointing out that he could barely walk under Dudley’s 
+
+Page | 30 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bulk. He gave the semiconscious Dudley a heave and 
+staggered onward. 
+
+“I’ll take you to the door,” said Mrs. Figg, as they 
+turned into Privet Drive. “Just in case there are more 
+of them around... Oh my word, what a catastrophe ... 
+and you had to fight them off yourself . . . and 
+Dumbledore said we were to keep you from doing 
+magic at all costs... Well, it’s no good crying over 
+spilled potion, I suppose ... but the cat’s among the 
+pixies now ...” 
+
+“So,” Harry panted, “Dumbledore ’s ... been having ... 
+me followed?” 
+
+“Of course he has,” said Mrs. Figg impatiently. “Did 
+you expect him to let you wander around on your own 
+after what happened in June? Good Lord, boy, they 
+told me you were intelligent... Right ... get inside and 
+stay there,” she said as they reached number four. “I 
+expect someone will be in touch with you soon 
+enough.” 
+
+“What are you going to do?” asked Harry quickly. 
+
+“I’m going straight home,” said Mrs. Figg, staring 
+around the dark street and shuddering. “I’ll need to 
+wait for more instructions. Just stay in the house. 
+Good night.” 
+
+“Hang on, don’t go yet! I want to know — ” 
+
+But Mrs. Figg had already set off at a trot, carpet 
+slippers flopping, string bag clanking. 
+
+“Wait!” Harry shouted after her; he had a million 
+questions to ask anyone who was in contact with 
+Dumbledore; but within seconds Mrs. Figg was 
+swallowed by the darkness. Scowling, Harry 
+
+Page | 31 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+readjusted Dudley on his shoulder and made his 
+slow, painful way up number four’s garden path. 
+
+The hall light was on. Harry stuck his wand back 
+inside the waistband of his jeans, rang the bell, and 
+watched Aunt Petunia’s outline grow larger and 
+larger, oddly distorted by the rippling glass in the 
+front door. 
+
+“Diddy! About time too, I was getting quite — quite — 
+Diddy, what’s the matter?” 
+
+Harry looked sideways at Dudley and ducked out 
+from under his arm just in time. Dudley swayed for a 
+moment on the spot, his face pale green, then he 
+opened his mouth at last and vomited all over the 
+doormat. 
+
+“DIDDY! Diddy, what’s the matter with you? Vernon? 
+VERNON!” 
+
+Harry’s uncle came galumphing out of the living 
+room, walrus mustache blowing hither and thither as 
+it always did when he was agitated. He hurried 
+forward to help Aunt Petunia negotiate a weak-kneed 
+Dudley over the threshold while avoiding stepping in 
+the pool of sick. 
+
+“He’s ill, Vernon!” 
+
+“What is it, son? What’s happened? Did Mrs. Polkiss 
+give you something foreign for tea?” 
+
+“Why are you all covered in dirt, darling? Have you 
+been lying on the ground?” 
+
+“Hang on — you haven’t been mugged, have you, 
+son?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 32 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Aunt Petunia screamed. 
+
+
+
+“Phone the police, Vernon! Phone the police! Diddy, 
+darling, speak to Mummy! What did they do to you?” 
+
+In all the kerfuffle, nobody seemed to have noticed 
+Harry, which suited him perfectly. He managed to slip 
+inside just before Uncle Vernon slammed the door 
+and while the Dursleys made their noisy progress 
+down the hall toward the kitchen, Harry moved 
+carefully and quietly toward the stairs. 
+
+“Who did it, son? Give us names. Well get them, don’t 
+worry.” 
+
+“Shh! He’s trying to say something, Vernon! What is 
+it, Diddy? Tell Mummy!” 
+
+Harry’s foot was on the bottommost stair when 
+Dudley found his voice. 
+
+“Him” 
+
+Harry froze, foot on the stair, face screwed up, braced 
+for the explosion. 
+
+“BOY! COME HERE!” 
+
+With a feeling of mingled dread and anger, Harry 
+removed his foot slowly from the stair and turned to 
+follow the Dursleys. 
+
+The scrupulously clean kitchen had an oddly unreal 
+glitter after the darkness outside. Aunt Petunia was 
+ushering Dudley into a chair; he was still very green 
+and clammy looking. Uncle Vernon was standing in 
+front of the draining board, glaring at Harry through 
+tiny, narrowed eyes. 
+
+
+
+Page | 33 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What have you done to my son?” he said in a 
+menacing growl. 
+
+
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry, knowing perfectly well that 
+Uncle Vernon wouldn’t believe him. 
+
+“What did he do to you, Diddy?” Aunt Petunia said in 
+a quavering voice, now sponging sick from the front of 
+Dudley’s leather jacket. “Was it — was it you-know- 
+what, darling? Did he use — his thing?” 
+
+Slowly, tremulously, Dudley nodded. 
+
+“I didn’t!” Harry said sharply, as Aunt Petunia let out 
+a wail and Uncle Vernon raised his fists. “I didn’t do 
+anything to him, it wasn’t me, it was — ” 
+
+But at that precise moment a screech owl swooped in 
+through the kitchen window. Narrowly missing the 
+top of Uncle Vernon’s head, it soared across the 
+kitchen, dropped the large parchment envelope it was 
+carrying in its beak at Harry’s feet, and turned 
+gracefully, the tips of its wings just brushing the top 
+of the fridge, then zoomed outside again and off 
+across the garden. 
+
+“OWLS!” bellowed Uncle Vernon, the well-worn vein in 
+his temple pulsing angrily as he slammed the kitchen 
+window shut. “OWLS AGAIN! I WILL NOT HAVE ANY 
+MORE OWLS IN MY HOUSE!” 
+
+But Harry was already ripping open the envelope and 
+pulling out the letter inside, his heart pounding 
+somewhere in the region of his Adam’s apple. 
+
+Dear Mr. Potter, 
+
+We have received intelligence that you performed the 
+Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this 
+
+Page | 34 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the 
+presence of a Muggle. 
+
+The severity of this breach of the Decree for the 
+Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has 
+resulted in your expulsion from Hog warts School of 
+Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will 
+be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy 
+your wand. 
+
+As you have already received an official warning for a 
+previous offense under section 13 of the International 
+Confederation of Wizards’ Statute of Secrecy, we regret 
+to inform you that your presence is required at a 
+disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a. m. 
+on August 12th. 
+
+Hoping you are well, 
+
+Yours sincerely, 
+
+Mafalda Hopkirk 
+
+IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE 
+Ministry of Magic 
+
+Harry read the letter through twice. He was only 
+vaguely aware of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia 
+talking in the vicinity. Inside his head, all was icy and 
+numb. One fact had penetrated his consciousness 
+like a paralyzing dart. He was expelled from 
+Hogwarts. It was all over. He was never going back. 
+
+He looked up at the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon was 
+purple-faced, shouting, his fists still raised; Aunt 
+Petunia had her arms around Dudley, who was 
+retching again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 35 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry’s temporarily stupefied brain seemed to 
+reawaken. Ministry representatives will be calling at 
+your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand. 
+There was only one thing for it. He would have to run 
+— now. Where he was going to go, Harry didn’t know, 
+but he was certain of one thing: At Hogwarts or 
+outside it, he needed his wand. In an almost 
+dreamlike state, he pulled his wand out and turned to 
+leave the kitchen. 
+
+“Where d’you think you’re going?” yelled Uncle 
+Vernon. When Harry didn’t reply, he pounded across 
+the kitchen to block the doorway into the hall. “I 
+haven’t finished with you, boy!” 
+
+“Get out of the way,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+“You’re going to stay here and explain how my son — ” 
+
+“If you don’t get out of the way I’m going to jinx you,” 
+said Harry, raising the wand. 
+
+“You can’t pull that one on me!” snarled Uncle 
+Vernon. “I know you’re not allowed to use it outside 
+that madhouse you call a school!” 
+
+“The madhouse has chucked me out,” said Harry. “So 
+I can do whatever I like. You’ve got three seconds. 
+
+One — two — ” 
+
+A resounding CRACK filled the kitchen; Aunt Petunia 
+screamed, Uncle Vernon yelled and ducked, but for 
+the third time that night Harry was staring for the 
+source of a disturbance he had not made. He spotted 
+it at once: A dazed and ruffled-looking barn owl was 
+sitting outside on the kitchen sill, having just collided 
+with the closed window. 
+
+
+
+Page | 36 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ignoring Uncle Vernon’s anguished yell of “OWLS!” 
+Harry crossed the room at a run and wrenched the 
+window open again. The owl stuck out its leg, to 
+which a small roll of parchment was tied, shook its 
+feathers, and took off the moment Harry had pulled 
+off the letter. Hands shaking, Harry unfurled the 
+second message, which was written very hastily and 
+blotchily in black ink. 
+
+Harry — 
+
+Dumbledore’s just arrived at the Ministry, and he’s 
+trying to sort it all out. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT 
+AND UNCLE’S HOUSE. DO NOT DO ANYMORE 
+MAGIC. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR WAND. 
+
+Arthur Weasley 
+
+Dumbledore was trying to sort it all out... What did 
+that mean? How much power did Dumbledore have to 
+override the Ministry of Magic? Was there a chance 
+that he might be allowed back to Hogwarts, then? A 
+small shoot of hope burgeoned in Harry’s chest, 
+almost immediately strangled by panic — how was he 
+supposed to refuse to surrender his wand without 
+doing magic? He’d have to duel with the Ministry 
+representatives, and if he did that, he’d be lucky to 
+escape Azkaban, let alone expulsion. 
+
+His mind was racing. . . He could run for it and risk 
+being captured by the Ministry, or stay put and wait 
+for them to find him here. He was much more 
+tempted by the former course, but he knew that Mr. 
+Weasley had his best interests at heart ... and, after 
+all, Dumbledore had sorted out much worse than this 
+before... 
+
+“Right,” Harry said, “I’ve changed my mind, I’m 
+staying.” 
+
+Page | 37 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He flung himself down at the kitchen table and faced 
+Dudley and Aunt Petunia. The Dursleys appeared 
+taken aback at his abrupt change of mind. Aunt 
+Petunia glanced despairingly at Uncle Vernon. The 
+vein in Uncle Vernon’s purple temple was throbbing 
+worse than ever. 
+
+“Who are all these ruddy owls from?” he growled. 
+
+“The first one was from the Ministry of Magic, 
+expelling me,” said Harry calmly; he was straining his 
+ears to catch noises outside in case the Ministry 
+representatives were approaching, and it was easier 
+and quieter to answer Uncle Vernon’s questions than 
+to have him start raging and bellowing. “The second 
+one was from my friend Ron’s dad, he works at the 
+Ministry.” 
+
+“Ministry of Magic?” bellowed Uncle Vernon. “People 
+like you in government? Oh this explains everything, 
+everything, no wonder the country’s going to the 
+dogs...” 
+
+When Harry did not respond, Uncle Vernon glared at 
+him, then spat, “And why have you been expelled?” 
+
+“Because I did magic.” 
+
+“AHA!” roared Uncle Vernon, slamming his fist down 
+on the top of the fridge, which sprang open; several of 
+Dudley’s low-fat snacks toppled out and burst on the 
+floor. “So you admit it! What did you do to Dudley?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry, slightly less calmly. “That 
+wasn’t me — ” 
+
+“Was,” muttered Dudley unexpectedly, and Uncle 
+Vernon and Aunt Petunia instantly made flapping 
+
+
+
+Page | 38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+gestures at Harry to quiet him while they both bent 
+low over Dudley. 
+
+“Go on, son,” said Uncle Vernon, “what did he do?” 
+
+“Tell us, darling,” whispered Aunt Petunia. 
+
+“Pointed his wand at me,” Dudley mumbled. 
+
+“Yeah, I did, but I didn’t use — ” Harry began angrily, 
+but ... 
+
+“SHUT UP!” roared Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in 
+unison. “Go on, son,” repeated Uncle Vernon, 
+mustache blowing about furiously. 
+
+“All dark,” Dudley said hoarsely, shuddering. 
+“Everything dark. And then I h-heard . . . things. Inside 
+m-my head ...” 
+
+Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia exchanged looks of 
+utter horror. If their least favorite thing in the world 
+was magic, closely followed by neighbors who cheated 
+more than they did on the hosepipe ban, people who 
+heard voices were definitely in the bottom ten. They 
+obviously thought Dudley was losing his mind. 
+
+“What sort of things did you hear, popkin?” breathed 
+Aunt Petunia, very white-faced and with tears in her 
+eyes. 
+
+But Dudley seemed incapable of saying. He 
+shuddered again and shook his large blond head, and 
+despite the sense of numb dread that had settled on 
+Harry since the arrival of the first owl, he felt a 
+certain curiosity. Dementors caused a person to relive 
+the worst moments of their life... What would spoiled, 
+pampered, bullying Dudley have been forced to hear? 
+
+
+
+Page | 39 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How come you fell over, son?” said Uncle Vernon in 
+an unnaturally quiet voice, the kind of voice he would 
+adopt at the bedside of a very ill person. 
+
+“T-tripped,” said Dudley shakily. “And then — ” 
+
+He gestured at his massive chest. Harry understood: 
+Dudley was remembering the clammy cold that filled 
+the lungs as hope and happiness were sucked out of 
+you. 
+
+“Horrible,” croaked Dudley. “Cold. Really cold.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Uncle Vernon in a voice of forced calm, 
+while Aunt Petunia laid an anxious hand on Dudley’s 
+forehead to feel his temperature. “What happened 
+then, Dudders?” 
+
+“Felt ... felt ... felt ... as if... as if ...” 
+
+“As if you’d never be happy again,” Harry supplied 
+tonelessly. 
+
+“Yes,” Dudley whispered, still trembling. 
+
+“So,” said Uncle Vernon, voice restored to full and 
+considerable volume as he straightened up. “So you 
+put some crackpot spell on my son so he’d hear 
+voices and believe he was — was doomed to misery, 
+or something, did you?” 
+
+“How many times do I have to tell you?” said Harry, 
+temper and voice rising together. “It wasn’t me\ It was 
+a couple of dementors!” 
+
+“A couple of — what’s this codswallop?” 
+
+“De — men — tors,” said Harry slowly and clearly. 
+“Two of them.” 
+
+Page | 40 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And what the ruddy hell are dementors?” 
+
+
+
+“They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban,” said Aunt 
+Petunia. 
+
+Two seconds’ ringing silence followed these words and 
+then Aunt Petunia clapped her hand over her mouth 
+as though she had let slip a disgusting swear word. 
+Uncle Vernon was goggling at her. Harry’s brain 
+reeled. Mrs. Figg was one thing — but Aunt Petunia? 
+
+“How d’you know that?” he asked her, astonished. 
+
+Aunt Petunia looked quite appalled with herself. She 
+glanced at Uncle Vernon in fearful apology, then 
+lowered her hand slightly to reveal her horsey teeth. 
+
+“I heard — that awful boy — telling her about them — 
+years ago,” she said jerkily. 
+
+“If you mean my mum and dad, why don’t you use 
+their names?” said Harry loudly, but Aunt Petunia 
+ignored him. She seemed horribly flustered. 
+
+Harry was stunned. Except for one outburst years 
+ago, in the course of which Aunt Petunia had 
+screamed that Harry’s mother had been a freak, he 
+had never heard her mention her sister. He was 
+astounded that she had remembered this scrap of 
+information about the magical world for so long, when 
+she usually put all her energies into pretending it 
+didn’t exist. 
+
+Uncle Vernon opened his mouth, closed it again, 
+opened it once more, shut it, then, apparently 
+struggling to remember how to talk, opened it for a 
+third time and croaked, “So — so — they — er — they 
+— er — they actually exist, do they — er — dementy- 
+whatsits?” 
+
+Page | 41 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Aunt Petunia nodded. 
+
+
+
+Uncle Vernon looked from Aunt Petunia to Dudley to 
+Harry as if hoping somebody was going to shout 
+“April Fool!” When nobody did, he opened his mouth 
+yet again, but was spared the struggle to find more 
+words by the arrival of the third owl of the evening, 
+which zoomed through the still-open window like a 
+feathery cannonball and landed with a clatter on the 
+kitchen table, causing all three of the Dursleys to 
+jump with fright. Harry tore a second official-looking 
+envelope from the owl’s beak and ripped it open as 
+the owl swooped back out into the night. 
+
+“Enough — effing — owls ...” muttered Uncle Vernon 
+distractedly, stomping over to the window and 
+slamming it shut again. 
+
+Dear Mr. Potter, 
+
+Further to our letter of approximately twenty-two 
+minutes ago, the Ministry of Magic has revised its 
+decision to destroy your wand forthwith. You may 
+retain your wand until your disciplinary hearing on 
+12th August, at which time an official decision will be 
+taken. 
+
+Following discussions with the Headmaster of 
+Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the 
+Ministry has agreed that the question of your expulsion 
+will also be decided at that time. You should therefore 
+consider yourself suspended from school pending 
+further inquiries. 
+
+With best wishes, 
+
+Yours sincerely, 
+
+Mafalda Hopkirk 
+
+Page | 42 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE 
+
+
+
+Ministry of Magic 
+
+Harry read this letter through three times in quick 
+succession. The miserable knot in his chest loosened 
+slightly at the thought that he was not definitely 
+expelled, though his fears were by no means 
+banished. Everything seemed to hang on this hearing 
+on the twelfth of August. 
+
+“Well?” said Uncle Vernon, recalling Harry to his 
+surroundings. “What now? Have they sentenced you 
+to anything? Do your lot have the death penalty?” he 
+added as a hopeful afterthought. 
+
+“I’ve got to go to a hearing,” said Harry. 
+
+“And they’ll sentence you there?” 
+
+“I suppose so.” 
+
+“I won’t give up hope, then,” said Uncle Vernon 
+nastily. 
+
+“Well, if that’s all,” said Harry, getting to his feet. He 
+was desperate to be alone, to think, perhaps to send a 
+letter to Ron, Hermione, or Sirius. 
+
+“NO, IT RUDDY WELL IS NOT ALL!” bellowed Uncle 
+Vernon. “SIT BACK DOWN!” 
+
+“What now?” said Harry impatiently. 
+
+“DUDLEY!” roared Uncle Vernon. “I want to know 
+exactly what happened to my son!” 
+
+“FINE!” yelled Harry, and in his temper, red and gold 
+sparks shot out of the end of his wand, still clutched 
+
+Page | 43 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+in his hand. All three Dursleys flinched, looking 
+terrified. 
+
+“Dudley and I were in the alleyway between Magnolia 
+Crescent and Wisteria Walk,” said Harry, speaking 
+fast, fighting to control his temper. “Dudley thought 
+he’d be smart with me, I pulled out my wand but 
+didn’t use it. Then two dementors turned up — ” 
+
+“But what ARE dementoids?” asked Uncle Vernon 
+furiously. “What do they DO?” 
+
+“I told you — they suck all the happiness out of you,” 
+said Harry, “and if they get the chance, they kiss you 
+
+
+
+“Kiss you?” said Uncle Vernon, his eyes popping 
+slightly. “Kiss you?” 
+
+“It’s what they call it when they suck the soul out of 
+your mouth.” 
+
+Aunt Petunia uttered a soft scream. 
+
+“His soul? They didn’t take — he’s still got his — ” 
+
+She seized Dudley by the shoulders and shook him, 
+as though testing to see whether she could hear his 
+soul rattling around inside him. 
+
+“Of course they didn’t get his soul, you’d know if they 
+had,” said Harry, exasperated. 
+
+“Fought ’em off, did you, son?” said Uncle Vernon 
+loudly, with the appearance of a man struggling to 
+bring the conversation back onto a plane he 
+understood. “Gave ’em the old one-two, did you?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 44 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You can’t give a dementor the old one-two,” said 
+Harry through clenched teeth. 
+
+“Why’s he all right, then?” blustered Uncle Vernon. 
+“Why isn’t he all empty, then?” 
+
+“Because I used the Patronus — ” 
+
+WHOOSH. With a clattering, a whirring of wings, and 
+a soft fall of dust, a fourth owl came shooting out of 
+the kitchen fireplace. 
+
+“FOR GOD’S SAKE!” roared Uncle Vernon, pulling 
+great clumps of hair out of his mustache, something 
+he hadn’t been driven to in a long time. “I WILL NOT 
+HAVE OWLS HERE, I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS, I 
+TELL YOU!” 
+
+But Harry was already pulling a roll of parchment 
+from the owl’s leg. He was so convinced that this 
+letter had to be from Dumbledore, explaining 
+everything — the dementors, Mrs. Figg, what the 
+Ministry was up to, how he, Dumbledore, intended to 
+sort everything out — that for the first time in his life 
+he was disappointed to see Sirius’s handwriting. 
+Ignoring Uncle Vernon’s ongoing rant about owls and 
+narrowing his eyes against a second cloud of dust as 
+the most recent owl took off back up the chimney, 
+Harry read Sirius’s message. 
+
+Arthur’s just told us what’s happened. 
+
+Don’t leave the house again, whatever you do. 
+
+Harry found this such an inadequate response to 
+everything that had happened tonight that he turned 
+the piece of parchment over, looking for the rest of the 
+letter, but there was nothing there. 
+
+
+
+Page | 45 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And now his temper was rising again. Wasn’t 
+anybody going to say “well done” for fighting off two 
+dementors single-handedly? Both Mr. Weasley and 
+Sirius were acting as though he’d misbehaved and 
+they were saving their tellings-off until they could 
+ascertain how much damage had been done. 
+
+“ — a peck, I mean, pack of owls shooting in and out 
+of my house and I won’t have it, boy, I won’t — ” 
+
+“I can’t stop the owls coming,” Harry snapped, 
+crushing Sirius’s letter in his fist. 
+
+“I want the truth about what happened tonight!” 
+barked Uncle Vernon. “If it was demenders who hurt 
+Dudley, how come you’ve been expelled? You did you- 
+know-what, you’ve admitted it!” 
+
+Harry took a deep, steadying breath. His head was 
+beginning to ache again. He wanted more than 
+anything to get out of the kitchen, away from the 
+Dursleys. 
+
+“I did the Patronus Charm to get rid of the 
+dementors,” he said, forcing himself to remain calm. 
+“It’s the only thing that works against them.” 
+
+“But what were dementoids doing in Little Whinging?” 
+said Uncle Vernon in tones of outrage. 
+
+“Couldn’t tell you,” said Harry wearily. “No idea.” 
+
+His head was pounding in the glare of the strip 
+lighting now. His anger was ebbing away. He felt 
+drained, exhausted. The Dursleys were all staring at 
+him. 
+
+“It’s you,” said Uncle Vernon forcefully. “It’s got 
+something to do with you, boy, I know it. Why else 
+
+Page | 46 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+would they turn up here? Why else would they be 
+down that alleyway? You’ve got to be the only — the 
+only — ” Evidently he couldn’t bring himself to say the 
+word “wizard.” “The only you-know-what for miles.” 
+
+“I don’t know why they were here...” 
+
+But at these words of Uncle Vernon’s, Harry’s 
+exhausted brain ground back into action. Why had 
+the dementors come to Little Whinging? How could it 
+be coincidence that they had arrived in the alleyway 
+where Harry was? Had they been sent? Had the 
+Ministry of Magic lost control of the dementors, had 
+they deserted Azkaban and joined Voldemort, as 
+Dumbledore had predicted they would? 
+
+“These demembers guard some weirdos’ prison?” said 
+Uncle Vernon, lumbering in the wake of Harry’s train 
+of thought. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+If only his head would stop hurting, if only he could 
+just leave the kitchen and get to his dark bedroom 
+and think... 
+
+“Oho! They were coming to arrest you!” said Uncle 
+Vernon, with the triumphant air of a man reaching an 
+unassailable conclusion. “That’s it, isn’t it, boy? 
+
+You’re on the run from the law!” 
+
+“Of course I’m not,” said Harry, shaking his head as 
+though to scare off a fly, his mind racing now. 
+
+“Then why — ?” 
+
+“He must have sent them,” said Harry quietly, more to 
+himself than to Uncle Vernon. 
+
+
+
+Page | 47 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What’s that? Who must have sent them?” 
+
+“Lord Voldemort,” said Harry. 
+
+He registered dimly how strange it was that the 
+Dursleys, who flinched, winced, and squawked if they 
+heard words like “wizard,” “magic,” or “wand,” could 
+hear the name of the most evil wizard of all time 
+without the slightest tremor. 
+
+“Lord — hang on,” said Uncle Vernon, his face 
+screwed up, a look of dawning comprehension in his 
+piggy eyes. “I’ve heard that name ... that was the one 
+who ...” 
+
+“Murdered my parents, yes,” Harry said. 
+
+“But he’s gone,” said Uncle Vernon impatiently, 
+without the slightest sign that the murder of Harry’s 
+parents might be a painful topic to anybody. “That 
+giant bloke said so. He’s gone.” 
+
+“He’s back,” said Harry heavily. 
+
+It felt very strange to be standing here in Aunt 
+Petunia’s surgically clean kitchen, beside the top-of- 
+the-range fridge and the wide-screen television, and 
+talking calmly of Lord Voldemort to Uncle Vernon. 
+
+The arrival of the dementors in Little Whinging 
+seemed to have caused a breach in the great, invisible 
+wall that divided the relentlessly non-magical world of 
+Privet Drive and the world beyond. Harry’s two lives 
+had somehow become fused and everything had been 
+turned upside down: The Dursleys were asking for 
+details about the magical world and Mrs. Figg knew 
+Albus Dumbledore; dementors were soaring around 
+Little Whinging and he might never go back to 
+Hogwarts. Harry’s head throbbed more painfully. 
+
+
+
+Page | 48 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Back?” whispered Aunt Petunia. 
+
+She was looking at Harry as she had never looked at 
+him before. And all of a sudden, for the very first time 
+in his life, Harry fully appreciated that Aunt Petunia 
+was his mother’s sister. He could not have said why 
+this hit him so very powerfully at this moment. All he 
+knew was that he was not the only person in the 
+room who had an inkling of what Lord Voldemort 
+being back might mean. Aunt Petunia had never in 
+her life looked at him like that before. Her large, pale 
+eyes (so unlike her sister’s) were not narrowed in 
+dislike or anger: They were wide and fearful. The 
+furious pretense that Aunt Petunia had maintained 
+all Harry’s life — that there was no magic and no 
+world other than the world she inhabited with Uncle 
+Vernon — seemed to have fallen away. 
+
+“Yes,” Harry said, talking directly to Aunt Petunia 
+now. “He came back a month ago. I saw him.” 
+
+Her hands found Dudley’s massive leather-clad 
+shoulders and clutched them. 
+
+“Hang on,” said Uncle Vernon, looking from his wife 
+to Harry and back again, apparently dazed and 
+confused by the unprecedented understanding that 
+seemed to have sprung up between them. “Hang on. 
+This Lord Voldything’s back, you say.” 
+
+“Yes.” 
+
+“The one who murdered your parents.” 
+
+“Yes.” 
+
+“And now he’s sending dismembers after you?” 
+
+“Looks like it,” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 49 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I see,” said Uncle Vernon, looking from his white- 
+faced wife to Harry and hitching up his trousers. He 
+seemed to be swelling, his great purple face stretching 
+before Harry’s eyes. “Well, that settles it,” he said, his 
+shirt front straining as he inflated himself, “you can 
+get out of this house, boy\” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“You heard me — OUT!” Uncle Vernon bellowed, and 
+even Aunt Petunia and Dudley jumped. “OUT! OUT! I 
+should’ve done it years ago! Owls treating the place 
+like a rest home, puddings exploding, half the lounge 
+destroyed, Dudley’s tail, Marge bobbing around on 
+the ceiling, and that flying Ford Anglia — OUT! OUT! 
+You’ve had it! You’re history! You’re not staying here if 
+some loony’s after you, you’re not endangering my 
+wife and son, you’re not bringing trouble down on us, 
+if you’re going the same way as your useless parents, 
+I’ve had it! OUT!” 
+
+Harry stood rooted to the spot. The letters from the 
+Ministry, Mr. Weasley, and Sirius were crushed in his 
+left hand. Don’t leave the house again, whatever you 
+do. DO NOT LEA VE YOUR A UNT AND UNCLE’S 
+HOUSE. 
+
+“You heard me!” said Uncle Vernon, bending forward 
+now, so that his massive purple face came closer to 
+Harry’s, so that Harry actually felt flecks of spit hit 
+his face. “Get going! You were all keen to leave half an 
+hour ago! I’m right behind you! Get out and never 
+darken our doorstep again! Why we ever kept you in 
+the first place I don’t know. Marge was right, it should 
+have been the orphanage, we were too damn soft for 
+our own good, thought we could squash it out of you, 
+thought we could turn you normal, but you’ve been 
+rotten from the beginning, and I’ve had enough — 
+OWLS!” 
+
+Page | 50 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The fifth owl zoomed down the chimney so fast it 
+actually hit the floor before zooming into the air again 
+with a loud screech. Harry raised his hand to seize 
+the letter, which was in a scarlet envelope, but it 
+soared straight over his head, flying directly at Aunt 
+Petunia, who let out a scream and ducked, her arms 
+over her face. The owl dropped the red envelope on 
+her head, turned, and flew straight up the chimney 
+again. 
+
+Harry darted forward to pick up the letter, but Aunt 
+Petunia beat him to it. 
+
+“You can open it if you like,” said Harry, “but I’ll hear 
+what it says anyway. That’s a Howler.” 
+
+“Let go of it, Petunia!” roared Uncle Vernon. “Don’t 
+touch it, it could be dangerous!” 
+
+“It’s addressed to me,” said Aunt Petunia in a shaking 
+voice. “It’s addressed to me, Vernon, look! Mrs. 
+
+Petunia Dursley, The Kitchen, Number Four, Privet 
+Drive — ” 
+
+She caught her breath, horrified. The red envelope 
+had begun to smoke. 
+
+“Open it!” Harry urged her. “Get it over with! It’ll 
+happen anyway — ” 
+
+“No — ” 
+
+
+
+Aunt Petunia’s hand was trembling. She looked wildly 
+around the kitchen as though looking for an escape 
+route, but too late — the envelope burst into flames. 
+Aunt Petunia screamed and dropped it. 
+
+
+
+Page | 51 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+An awful voice filled the kitchen, echoing in the 
+confined space, issuing from the burning letter on the 
+table. 
+
+
+
+“REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA.” 
+
+Aunt Petunia looked as though she might faint. She 
+sank into the chair beside Dudley, her face in her 
+hands. The remains of the envelope smoldered into 
+ash in the silence. 
+
+“What is this?” Uncle Vernon said hoarsely. “What — 
+
+I don’t — Petunia?” 
+
+Aunt Petunia said nothing. Dudley was staring 
+stupidly at his mother, his mouth hanging open. The 
+silence spiraled horribly. Harry was watching his 
+aunt, utterly bewildered, his head throbbing fit to 
+burst. 
+
+“Petunia, dear?” said Uncle Vernon timidly. “P- 
+Petunia?” 
+
+She raised her head. She was still trembling. She 
+swallowed. 
+
+“The boy — the boy will have to stay, Vernon,” she 
+said weakly. 
+
+“W-what?” 
+
+“He stays,” she said. She was not looking at Harry. 
+
+She got to her feet again. 
+
+“He ... but Petunia ...” 
+
+“If we throw him out, the neighbors will talk,” she 
+said. She was regaining her usual brisk, snappish 
+manner rapidly, though she was still very pale. 
+
+Page | 52 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“They’ll ask awkward questions, they’ll want to know 
+where he’s gone. We’ll have to keep him.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon was deflating like an old tire. 
+
+“But Petunia, dear — ” 
+
+Aunt Petunia ignored him. She turned to Harry. 
+
+“You’re to stay in your room,” she said. “You’re not to 
+leave the house. Now get to bed.” 
+
+Harry didn’t move. 
+
+“Who was that Howler from?” 
+
+“Don’t ask questions,” Aunt Petunia snapped. 
+
+“Are you in touch with wizards?” 
+
+“I told you to get to bed!” 
+
+“What did it mean? Remember the last what?” 
+
+“Go to bed!” 
+
+“How come — ?” 
+
+“YOU HEARD YOUR AUNT, NOW GET TO BED!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 53 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ADVANCED GUARD 
+
+“Fve just been attacked by dementors and I might be 
+expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what’s going 
+on and when I’m going to get out of here. ” 
+
+Harry copied these words onto three separate pieces 
+of parchment the moment he reached the desk in his 
+dark bedroom. He addressed the first to Sirius, the 
+second to Ron, and the third to Hermione. His owl, 
+Hedwig, was off hunting; her cage stood empty on the 
+desk. Harry paced the bedroom waiting for her to 
+come back, his head pounding, his brain too busy for 
+sleep even though his eyes stung and itched with 
+tiredness. His back ached from carrying Dudley 
+home, and the two lumps on his head where the 
+window and Dudley had hit him were throbbing 
+painfully. 
+
+Up and down he paced, consumed with anger and 
+frustration, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, 
+casting angry looks out at the empty, star-strewn sky 
+every time he passed the window. Dementors sent to 
+get him, Mrs. Figg and Mundungus Fletcher tailing 
+Page | 54 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+him in secret, then suspension from Hogwarts and a 
+hearing at the Ministry of Magic — and still no one 
+was telling him what was going on. 
+
+And what, what, had that Howler been about? Whose 
+voice had echoed so horribly, so menacingly, through 
+the kitchen? 
+
+Why was he still trapped here without information? 
+Why was everyone treating him like some naughty 
+kid? Don’t do any more magic, stay in the house... 
+
+He kicked his school trunk as he passed it, but far 
+from relieving his anger he felt worse, as he now had 
+a sharp pain in his toe to deal with in addition to the 
+pain in the rest of his body. 
+
+Just as he limped past the window, Hedwig soared 
+through it with a soft rustle of wings like a small 
+ghost. 
+
+“About time!” Harry snarled, as she landed lightly on 
+top of her cage. “You can put that down, IVe got work 
+for you!” 
+
+Hedwig’s large round amber eyes gazed reproachfully 
+at him over the dead frog clamped in her beak. 
+
+“Come here,” said Harry, picking up the three small 
+rolls of parchment and a leather thong and tying the 
+scrolls to her scaly leg. “Take these straight to Sirius, 
+Ron, and Hermione and don’t come back here without 
+good long replies. Keep pecking them till they’ve 
+written decent-length answers if you’ve got to. 
+Understand?” 
+
+Hedwig gave a muffled hooting noise, beak still full of 
+frog. 
+
+
+
+Page | 55 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Get going, then,” said Harry. 
+
+She took off immediately. The moment she’d gone, 
+Harry threw himself down onto his bed without 
+undressing and stared at the dark ceiling. In addition 
+to every other miserable feeling, he now felt guilty 
+that he’d been irritable with Hedwig; she was the only 
+friend he had at number four, Privet Drive. But he’d 
+make it up to her when she came back with Sirius’s, 
+Ron’s, and Hermione’s answers. 
+
+They were bound to write back quickly; they couldn’t 
+possibly ignore a dementor attack. He’d probably 
+wake up tomorrow to three fat letters full of sympathy 
+and plans for his immediate removal to the Burrow. 
+And with that comforting idea, sleep rolled over him, 
+stifling all further thought. 
+
+•k Jc k 
+
+
+
+But Hedwig didn’t return next morning. Harry spent 
+the day in his bedroom, leaving it only to go to the 
+bathroom. Three times that day Aunt Petunia shoved 
+food into his room through the cat flap Uncle Vernon 
+had installed three summers ago. Every time Harry 
+heard her approaching he tried to question her about 
+the Howler, but he might as well have interrogated 
+the doorknob for all the answers he got. Otherwise 
+the Dursleys kept well clear of his bedroom. Harry 
+couldn’t see the point of forcing his company on 
+them; another row would achieve nothing except 
+perhaps making him so angry he’d perform more 
+illegal magic. 
+
+So it went on for three whole days. Harry was filled 
+alternately with restless energy that made him unable 
+to settle to anything, during which he paced his 
+bedroom again, furious at the whole lot of them for 
+
+
+
+Page | 56 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+leaving him to stew in this mess, and with a lethargy 
+so complete that he could lie on his bed for an hour 
+at a time, staring dazedly into space, aching with 
+dread at the thought of the Ministry hearing. 
+
+What if they ruled against him? What if he was 
+expelled and his wand was snapped in half? What 
+would he do, where would he go? He could not return 
+to living full-time with the Dursleys, not now that he 
+knew the other world, the one to which he really 
+belonged... Was it possible that he might be able to 
+move into Sirius’s house, as Sirius had suggested a 
+year ago, before he had been forced to flee from the 
+Ministry himself? Would he be allowed to live there 
+alone, given that he was still underage? Or would the 
+matter of where he went next be decided for him; had 
+his breach of the International Statute of Secrecy 
+been severe enough to land him in a cell in Azkaban? 
+Whenever this thought occurred, Harry invariably slid 
+off his bed and began pacing again. 
+
+On the fourth night after Hedwig’s departure Harry 
+was lying in one of his apathetic phases, staring at 
+the ceiling, his exhausted mind quite blank, when his 
+uncle entered his bedroom. Harry looked slowly 
+around at him. Uncle Vernon was wearing his best 
+suit and an expression of enormous smugness. 
+
+“We’re going out,” he said. 
+
+“Sorry?” 
+
+“We — that is to say, your aunt, Dudley, and I — are 
+going out.” 
+
+“Fine,” said Harry dully, looking back at the ceiling. 
+
+“You are not to leave your bedroom while we are 
+away.” 
+
+Page | 57 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Okay.” 
+
+
+
+“You are not to touch the television, the stereo, or any 
+of our possessions.” 
+
+“Right.” 
+
+“You are not to steal food from the fridge.” 
+
+“Okay.” 
+
+“I am going to lock your door.” 
+
+“You do that.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, clearly suspicious of 
+this lack of argument, then stomped out of the room 
+and closed the door behind him. Harry heard the key 
+turn in the lock and Uncle Vernon’s footsteps walking 
+heavily down the stairs. A few minutes later he heard 
+the slamming of car doors, the rumble of an engine, 
+and the unmistakable sound of the car sweeping out 
+of the drive. 
+
+Harry had no particular feeling about the Dursleys 
+leaving. It made no difference to him whether they 
+were in the house or not. He could not even summon 
+the energy to get up and turn on his bedroom light. 
+The room grew steadily darker around him as he lay 
+listening to the night sounds through the window he 
+kept open all the time, waiting for the blessed 
+moment when Hedwig returned. 
+
+The empty house creaked around him. The pipes 
+gurgled. Harry lay there in a kind of stupor, thinking 
+of nothing, suspended in misery. 
+
+And then, quite distinctly, he heard a crash in the 
+kitchen below. 
+
+Page | 58 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He sat bolt upright, listening intently. The Dursleys 
+couldn’t be back, it was much too soon, and in any 
+case he hadn’t heard their car. 
+
+There was silence for a few seconds, and then he 
+heard voices. 
+
+Burglars, he thought, sliding off the bed onto his feet 
+— but a split second later it occurred to him that 
+burglars would keep their voices down, and whoever 
+was moving around in the kitchen was certainly not 
+troubling to do so. 
+
+He snatched up his wand from his bedside table and 
+stood facing his bedroom door, listening with all his 
+might. Next moment he jumped as the lock gave a 
+loud click and his door swung open. 
+
+Harry stood motionless, staring through the open 
+door at the dark upstairs landing, straining his ears 
+for further sounds, but none came. He hesitated for a 
+moment and then moved swiftly and silently out of 
+his room to the head of the stairs. 
+
+His heart shot upward into his throat. There were 
+people standing in the shadowy hall below, 
+silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through 
+the glass door; eight or nine of them, all, as far as he 
+could see, looking up at him. 
+
+“Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone’s eye 
+out,” said a low, growling voice. 
+
+Harry’s heart was thumping uncontrollably. He knew 
+that voice, but he did not lower his wand. 
+
+“Professor Moody?” he said uncertainly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 59 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I don’t know so much about ‘Professor,’ ” growled the 
+voice, “never got round to much teaching, did I? Get 
+down here, we want to see you properly.” 
+
+Harry lowered his wand slightly but did not relax his 
+grip on it, nor did he move. He had very good reason 
+to be suspicious. He had recently spent nine months 
+in what he had thought was Mad-Eye Moody’s 
+company only to find out that it wasn’t Moody at all, 
+but an impostor; an impostor, moreover, who had 
+tried to kill Harry before being unmasked. But before 
+he could make a decision about what to do next, a 
+second, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs. 
+
+“It’s all right, Harry. We’ve come to take you away.” 
+
+Harry’s heart leapt. He knew that voice too, though he 
+hadn’t heard it for more than a year. 
+
+“P-Professor Lupin?” he said disbelievingly. “Is that 
+you?” 
+
+“Why are we all standing in the dark?” said a third 
+voice, this one completely unfamiliar, a woman’s. 
+“Lumos.” 
+
+A wand tip flared, illuminating the hall with magical 
+light. Harry blinked. The people below were crowded 
+around the foot of the stairs, gazing intently up at 
+him, some craning their heads for a better look. 
+
+Remus Lupin stood nearest to him. Though still quite 
+young, Lupin looked tired and rather ill; he had more 
+gray hair than when Harry had said good-bye to him, 
+and his robes were more patched and shabbier than 
+ever. Nevertheless, he was smiling broadly at Harry, 
+who tried to smile back through his shock. 
+
+
+
+Page | 60 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would,” said the 
+witch who was holding her lit wand aloft. She looked 
+the youngest there; she had a pale heart-shaped face, 
+dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a 
+violent shade of violet. “Wotcher, Harry!” 
+
+“Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus,” said a bald 
+black wizard standing farthest back; he had a deep, 
+slow voice and wore a single gold hoop in his ear. “He 
+looks exactly like James.” 
+
+“Except the eyes,” said a wheezy-voiced, silver-haired 
+wizard at the back. “Lily’s eyes.” 
+
+Mad-Eye Moody, who had long grizzled gray hair and 
+a large chunk missing from his nose, was squinting 
+suspiciously at Harry through his mismatched eyes. 
+One of the eyes was small, dark, and beady, the other 
+large, round, and electric blue — the magical eye that 
+could see through walls, doors, and the back of 
+Moody’s own head. 
+
+“Are you quite sure it’s him, Lupin?” he growled. “It’d 
+be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater 
+impersonating him. We ought to ask him something 
+only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone 
+brought any Veritaserum?” 
+
+“Harry, what form does your Patronus take?” said 
+Lupin. 
+
+“A stag,” said Harry nervously. 
+
+“That’s him, Mad-Eye,” said Lupin. 
+
+Harry descended the stairs, very conscious of 
+everybody still staring at him, stowing his wand into 
+the back pocket of his jeans as he came. 
+
+
+
+Page | 61 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t put your wand there, boy!” roared Moody. 
+“What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost 
+buttocks, you know!” 
+
+“Who d’you know who’s lost a buttock?” the violet- 
+haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly. 
+
+“Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your 
+back pocket!” growled Mad-Eye. “Elementary wand 
+safety, nobody bothers about it anymore...” He 
+stumped off toward the kitchen. “And I saw that,” he 
+added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes at the 
+ceiling. 
+
+Lupin held out his hand and shook Harry’s. 
+
+“How are you?” he asked, looking at Harry closely. 
+“F-fine ...” 
+
+Harry could hardly believe this was real. Four weeks 
+with nothing, not the tiniest hint of a plan to remove 
+him from Privet Drive, and suddenly a whole bunch of 
+wizards was standing matter-of-factly in the house as 
+though this were a long-standing arrangement. He 
+glanced at the people surrounding Lupin; they were 
+still gazing avidly at him. He felt very conscious of the 
+fact that he had not combed his hair for four days. 
+
+“I’m — you’re really lucky the Dursleys are out ...” he 
+mumbled. 
+
+“Lucky, ha!” said the violet-haired woman. “It was me 
+that lured them out of the way. Sent a letter by 
+Muggle post telling them they’d been short-listed for 
+the All-England Best-Kept Suburban Lawn 
+Competition. They’re heading off to the prize-giving 
+right now... Or they think they are.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 62 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry had a fleeting vision of Uncle Vernon’s face 
+when he realized there was no All-England Best-Kept 
+Suburban Lawn Competition. 
+
+“We are leaving, aren’t we?” he asked. “Soon?” 
+
+“Almost at once,” said Lupin, “we’re just waiting for 
+the all-clear.” 
+
+“Where are we going? The Burrow?” Harry asked 
+hopefully. 
+
+“Not the Burrow, no,” said Lupin, motioning Harry 
+toward the kitchen; the little knot of wizards followed, 
+all still eyeing Harry curiously. “Too risky. We’ve set 
+up headquarters somewhere undetectable. It’s taken 
+a while...” 
+
+Mad-Eye Moody was now sitting at the kitchen table 
+swigging from a hip flask, his magical eye spinning in 
+all directions, taking in the Dursleys’ many labor- 
+saving appliances. 
+
+“This is Alastor Moody, Harry,” Lupin continued, 
+pointing toward Moody. 
+
+“Yeah, I know,” said Harry uncomfortably; it felt odd 
+to be introduced to somebody he’d thought he’d 
+known for a year. 
+
+“And this is Nymphadora — ” 
+
+“ Don’t call me Nymphadora, Remus,” said the young 
+witch with a shudder. “It’s Tonks.” 
+
+“ — Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by 
+her surname only,” finished Lupin. 
+
+
+
+Page | 63 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So would you if your fool of a mother had called you 
+‘Nymphadora, ’ ” muttered Tonks. 
+
+“And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt” — he indicated the 
+tall black wizard, who bowed — “Elphias Doge” — the 
+wheezy-voiced wizard nodded — “Dedalus Diggle — ” 
+
+“We’ve met before,” squeaked the excitable Diggle, 
+dropping his top hat. 
+
+“ — Emmeline Vance” — a stately looking witch in an 
+emerald-green shawl inclined her head — “Sturgis 
+Podmore” — a square-jawed wizard with thick, straw- 
+colored hair winked — “and Hestia Jones.” A pink- 
+cheeked, black-haired witch waved from next to the 
+toaster. 
+
+Harry inclined his head awkwardly at each of them as 
+they were introduced. He wished they would look at 
+something other than him; it was as though he had 
+suddenly been ushered onstage. He also wondered 
+why so many of them were there. 
+
+“A surprising number of people volunteered to come 
+and get you,” said Lupin, as though he had read 
+Harry’s mind; the corners of his mouth twitched 
+slightly. 
+
+“Yeah, well, the more the better,” said Moody darkly. 
+“We’re your guard, Potter.” 
+
+“We’re just waiting for the signal to tell us it’s safe to 
+set off,” said Lupin, glancing out of the kitchen 
+window. “We’ve got about fifteen minutes.” 
+
+“Very clean, aren’t they, these Muggles?” said the 
+witch called Tonks, who was looking around the 
+kitchen with great interest. “My dad’s Muggle-born 
+
+
+
+Page | 64 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and he’s a right old slob. I suppose it varies, just like 
+with wizards?” 
+
+“Er — yeah,” said Harry. “Look” — he turned back to 
+Lupin — “what’s going on, I haven’t heard anything 
+from anyone, what’s Vol — ?” 
+
+Several of the witches and wizards made odd hissing 
+noises; Dedalus Diggle dropped his hat again, and 
+Moody growled, “Shut up\” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“We’re not discussing anything here, it’s too risky,” 
+said Moody, turning his normal eye on Harry; his 
+magical eye remained pointing up at the ceiling. 
+“Damn it,” he added angrily, putting a hand up to the 
+magical eye, “it keeps sticking — ever since that scum 
+wore it — ” 
+
+And with a nasty squelching sound much like a 
+plunger being pulled from a sink, he popped out his 
+eye. 
+
+“Mad-Eye, you do know that’s disgusting, don’t you?” 
+said Tonks conversationally. 
+
+“Get me a glass of water, would you, Harry?” asked 
+Moody. 
+
+Harry crossed to the dishwasher, took out a clean 
+glass, and filled it with water at the sink, still watched 
+eagerly by the band of wizards. Their relentless 
+staring was starting to annoy him. 
+
+“Cheers,” said Moody, when Harry handed him the 
+glass. He dropped the magical eyeball into the water 
+and prodded it up and down; the eye whizzed around, 
+
+
+
+Page | 65 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+staring at them all in turn. “I want three-hundred- 
+and-sixty degrees visibility on the return journey.” 
+
+“How’re we getting — wherever we’re going?” Harry 
+asked. 
+
+“Brooms,” said Lupin. “Only way. You’re too young to 
+Apparate, they’ll be watching the Floo Network, and 
+it’s more than our life’s worth to set up an 
+unauthorized Portkey.” 
+
+“Remus says you’re a good flier,” said Kingsley 
+Shacklebolt in his deep voice. 
+
+“He’s excellent,” said Lupin, who was checking his 
+watch. “Anyway, you’d better go and get packed, 
+Harry, we want to be ready to go when the signal 
+comes.” 
+
+“I’ll come and help you,” said Tonks brightly. 
+
+She followed Harry back into the hall and up the 
+stairs, looking around with much curiosity and 
+interest. 
+
+“Funny place,” she said, “it’s a bit too clean, d’you 
+know what I mean? Bit unnatural. Oh, this is better,” 
+she added, as they entered Harry’s bedroom and he 
+turned on the light. 
+
+His room was certainly much messier than the rest of 
+the house. Confined to it for four days in a very bad 
+mood, Harry had not bothered tidying up after 
+himself. Most of the books he owned were strewn over 
+the floor where he’d tried to distract himself with each 
+in turn and thrown it aside. Hedwig’s cage needed 
+cleaning out and was starting to smell, and his trunk 
+lay open, revealing a jumbled mixture of Muggle 
+
+
+
+Page | 66 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+clothes and wizard’s robes that had spilled onto the 
+floor around it. 
+
+Harry started picking up books and throwing them 
+hastily into his trunk. Tonks paused at his open 
+wardrobe to look critically at her reflection in the 
+mirror on the inside of the door. 
+
+“You know, I don’t think purple’s really my color,” she 
+said pensively, tugging at a lock of spiky hair. “D’you 
+think it makes me look a bit peaky?” 
+
+“Er — ” said Harry, looking up at her over the top of 
+Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland. 
+
+“Yeah, it does,” said Tonks decisively. She screwed up 
+her eyes in a strained expression as though she were 
+struggling to remember something. A second later, 
+her hair had turned bubble-gum pink. 
+
+“How did you do that?” said Harry, gaping at her as 
+she opened her eyes again. 
+
+“I’m a Metamorphmagus,” she said, looking back at 
+her reflection and turning her head so that she could 
+see her hair from all directions. “It means I can 
+change my appearance at will,” she added, spotting 
+Harry’s puzzled expression in the mirror behind her. 
+
+“I was born one. I got top marks in Concealment and 
+Disguise during Auror training without any study at 
+all, it was great.” 
+
+“You’re an Auror?” said Harry, impressed. Being a 
+Dark wizard catcher was the only career he’d ever 
+considered after Hogwarts. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Tonks, looking proud. “Kingsley is as 
+well; he’s a bit higher up than I am, though. I only 
+qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and 
+
+Page | 67 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Tracking, I’m dead clumsy, did you hear me break 
+that plate when we arrived downstairs?” 
+
+
+
+“Can you learn how to be a Metamorphmagus?” Harry 
+asked her, straightening up, completely forgetting 
+about packing. 
+
+Tonks chuckled. 
+
+“Bet you wouldn’t mind hiding that scar sometimes, 
+eh?” 
+
+Her eyes found the lightning-shaped scar on Harry’s 
+forehead. 
+
+“No, I wouldn’t mind,” Harry mumbled, turning away. 
+He did not like people staring at his scar. 
+
+“Well, you 11 have to learn the hard way, I’m afraid,” 
+said Tonks. “Metamorphmagi are really rare, they’re 
+born, not made. Most wizards need to use a wand or 
+potions to change their appearance... But we’ve got to 
+get going, Harry, we’re supposed to be packing,” she 
+added guiltily, looking around at all the mess on the 
+floor. 
+
+“Oh — yeah,” said Harry, grabbing up a few more 
+books. 
+
+“Don’t be stupid, it’ll be much quicker if I — pack).” 
+cried Tonks, waving her wand in a long, sweeping 
+movement over the floor. 
+
+Books, clothes, telescope, and scales all soared into 
+the air and flew pell-mell into the trunk. 
+
+“It’s not very neat,” said Tonks, walking over to the 
+trunk and looking down at the jumble inside. “My 
+mum’s got this knack of getting stuff to fit itself in 
+
+Page | 68 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+neatly — she even gets the socks to fold themselves — 
+but I’ve never mastered how she does it — it’s a kind 
+of flick — ” 
+
+She flicked her wand hopefully; one of Harry’s socks 
+gave a feeble sort of wiggle and flopped back on top of 
+the mess within. 
+
+“Ah, well,” said Tonks, slamming the trunk’s lid shut, 
+“at least it’s all in. That could do with a bit of 
+cleaning, too — Scourgify — ” She pointed her wand at 
+Hedwig’s cage; a few feathers and droppings 
+vanished. “Well, that’s a bit better — I’ve never quite 
+got the hang of these sort of householdy spells. Right 
+— got everything? Cauldron? Broom? Wow! A 
+Firebolt?” 
+
+Her eyes widened as they fell on the broomstick in 
+Harry’s right hand. It was his pride and joy, a gift 
+from Sirius, an international standard broomstick. 
+
+“And I’m still riding a Comet Two Sixty,” said Tonks 
+enviously. “Ah well ... wand still in your jeans? Both 
+buttocks still on? Okay, let’s go. Locomotor Trunk.” 
+
+Harry’s trunk rose a few inches into the air. Holding 
+her wand like a conductor’s baton, Tonks made it 
+hover across the room and out of the door ahead of 
+them, Hedwig’s cage in her left hand. Harry followed 
+her down the stairs carrying his broomstick. 
+
+Back in the kitchen, Moody had replaced his eye, 
+which was spinning so fast after its cleaning it made 
+Harry feel sick. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis 
+Podmore were examining the microwave and Hestia 
+Jones was laughing at a potato peeler she had come 
+across while rummaging in the drawers. Lupin was 
+sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys. 
+
+
+
+Page | 69 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Excellent,” said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and 
+Harry entered. “We’ve got about a minute, I think. We 
+should probably get out into the garden so we’re 
+ready. Harry, I’ve left a letter telling your aunt and 
+uncle not to worry — ” 
+
+“They won’t,” said Harry. 
+
+“That you’re safe — ” 
+
+“That’ll just depress them.” 
+
+“ — and you’ll see them next summer.” 
+
+“Do I have to?” 
+
+Lupin smiled but made no answer. 
+
+“Come here, boy,” said Moody gruffly, beckoning 
+Harry toward him with his wand. “I need to 
+Disillusion you.” 
+
+“You need to what?” said Harry nervously. 
+
+“Disillusionment Charm,” said Moody, raising his 
+wand. “Lupin says you’ve got an Invisibility Cloak, 
+but it won’t stay on while we’re flying; this’ll disguise 
+you better. Here you go — ” 
+
+He rapped Harry hard on the top of the head and 
+Harry felt a curious sensation as though Moody had 
+just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be 
+running down his body from the point the wand had 
+struck. 
+
+“Nice one, Mad-Eye,” said Tonks appreciatively, 
+staring at Harry’s midriff. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry looked down at his body, or rather, what had 
+been his body, for it didn’t look anything like his 
+anymore. It was not invisible; it had simply taken on 
+the exact color and texture of the kitchen unit behind 
+him. He seemed to have become a human chameleon. 
+
+“Come on,” said Moody, unlocking the back door with 
+his wand. 
+
+They all stepped outside onto Uncle Vernon’s 
+beautifully kept lawn. 
+
+“Clear night,” grunted Moody, his magical eye 
+scanning the heavens. “Could’ve done with a bit more 
+cloud cover. Right, you,” he barked at Harry, “we’re 
+going to be flying in close formation. Tonks’ll be right 
+in front of you, keep close on her tail. Lupin’ll be 
+covering you from below. I’m going to be behind you. 
+The rest’ll be circling us. We don’t break ranks for 
+anything, got me? If one of us is killed — ” 
+
+“Is that likely?” Harry asked apprehensively, but 
+Moody ignored him. 
+
+“ — the others keep flying, don’t stop, don’t break 
+ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, 
+
+Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; 
+keep flying east and they’ll join you.” 
+
+“Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he’ll think we’re not 
+taking this seriously,” said Tonks, as she strapped 
+Harry’s trunk and Hedwig’s cage into a harness 
+hanging from her broom. 
+
+“I’m just telling the boy the plan,” growled Moody. 
+“Our job’s to deliver him safely to headquarters and if 
+we die in the attempt — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No one’s going to die,” said Kingsley Shacklebolt in 
+his deep, calming voice. 
+
+“Mount your brooms, that’s the first signal!” said 
+Lupin sharply, pointing into the sky. 
+
+Far, far above them, a shower of bright red sparks 
+had flared among the stars. Harry recognized them at 
+once as wand sparks. He swung his right leg over his 
+Firebolt, gripped its handle tightly, and felt it 
+vibrating very slightly, as though it was as keen as he 
+was to be up in the air once more. 
+
+“Second signal, let’s go!” said Lupin loudly, as more 
+sparks, green this time, exploded high above them. 
+
+Harry kicked off hard from the ground. The cool night 
+air rushed through his hair as the neat square 
+gardens of Privet Drive fell away, shrinking rapidly 
+into a patchwork of dark greens and blacks, and 
+every thought of the Ministry hearing was swept from 
+his mind as though the rush of air had blown it out of 
+his head. He felt as though his heart was going to 
+explode with pleasure; he was flying again, flying 
+away from Privet Drive as he’d been fantasizing about 
+all summer, he was going home... For a few glorious 
+moments, all his problems seemed to recede into 
+nothing, insignificant in the vast, starry sky. 
+
+“Hard left, hard left, there’s a Muggle looking up!” 
+shouted Moody from behind him. Tonks swerved and 
+Harry followed her, watching his trunk swinging 
+wildly beneath her broom. “We need more height... 
+Give it another quarter of a mile!” 
+
+Harry’s eyes watered in the chill as they soared 
+upward; he could see nothing below now but tiny 
+pinpricks of light that were car headlights and 
+streetlamps. Two of those tiny lights might belong to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Uncle Vernon’s car... The Dursleys would be heading 
+back to their empty house right now, full of rage 
+about the nonexistent lawn competition . . . and Harry 
+laughed aloud at the thought, though his voice was 
+drowned by the flapping of the others’ robes, the 
+creaking of the harness holding his trunk and the 
+cage, the whoosh of the wind in their ears as they 
+sped through the air. He had not felt this alive in a 
+month, or this happy... 
+
+“Bearing south!” shouted Mad-Eye. “Town ahead!” 
+
+They soared right, so that they did not pass directly 
+over the glittering spiderweb of lights below. 
+
+“Bear southeast and keep climbing, there’s some low 
+cloud ahead we can lose ourselves in!” called Moody. 
+
+“We’re not going through clouds!” shouted Tonks 
+angrily. “We’ll get soaked, Mad-Eye!” 
+
+Harry was relieved to hear her say this; his hands 
+were growing numb on the Firebolt’s handle. He 
+wished he had thought to put on a coat; he was 
+starting to shiver. 
+
+They altered their course every now and then 
+according to Mad-Eye ’s instructions. Harry’s eyes 
+were screwed up against the rush of icy wind that 
+was starting to make his ears ache. He could 
+remember being this cold on a broom only once 
+before, during the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff 
+in his third year, which had taken place in a storm. 
+The guard around him was circling continuously like 
+giant birds of prey. Harry lost track of time. He 
+wondered how long they had been flying; it felt like an 
+hour at least. 
+
+
+
+Page | 73 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Turning southwest!” yelled Moody. “We want to avoid 
+the motorway!” 
+
+Harry was now so chilled that he thought longingly 
+for a moment of the snug, dry interiors of the cars 
+streaming along below, then, even more longingly, of 
+traveling by Floo powder; it might be uncomfortable to 
+spin around in fireplaces but it was at least warm in 
+the flames... Kingsley Shacklebolt swooped around 
+him, bald pate and earring gleaming slightly in the 
+moonlight... Now Emmeline Vance was on his right, 
+her wand out, her head turning left and right . . . then 
+she too swooped over him, to be replaced by Sturgis 
+Podmore... 
+
+“We ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure 
+we’re not being followed!” Moody shouted. 
+
+“ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE?” Tonks screamed from 
+the front. “We’re all frozen to our brooms! If we keep 
+going off course we’re not going to get there until next 
+week! We’re nearly there now!” 
+
+“Time to start the descent!” came Lupin’s voice. 
+“Follow Tonks, Harry!” 
+
+Harry followed Tonks into a dive. They were heading 
+for the largest collection of lights he had yet seen, a 
+huge, sprawling, crisscrossing mass, glittering in lines 
+and grids, interspersed with patches of deepest black. 
+Lower and lower they flew, until Harry could see 
+individual headlights and streetlamps, chimneys, and 
+television aerials. He wanted to reach the ground very 
+much, though he felt sure that someone would have 
+to unfreeze him from his broom. 
+
+“Here we go!” called Tonks, and a few seconds later 
+she had landed. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry touched down right behind her and 
+dismounted on a patch of unkempt grass in the 
+middle of a small square. Tonks was already 
+unbuckling Harry’s trunk. Shivering, Harry looked 
+around. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses 
+were not welcoming; some of them had broken 
+windows, glimmering dully in the light from the 
+street-lamps, paint was peeling from many of the 
+doors, and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets 
+of front steps. 
+
+“Where are we?” Harry asked, but Lupin said quietly, 
+“In a minute.” 
+
+Moody was rummaging in his cloak, his gnarled 
+hands clumsy with cold. 
+
+“Got it,” he muttered, raising what looked like a silver 
+cigarette lighter into the air and clicking it. 
+
+The nearest streetlamp went out with a pop. He 
+clicked the un-lighter again; the next lamp went out. 
+He kept clicking until every lamp in the square was 
+extinguished and the only light in the square came 
+from curtained windows and the sickle moon 
+overhead. 
+
+“Borrowed it from Dumbledore,” growled Moody, 
+pocketing the Put-Outer. “That’ll take care of any 
+Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now, come 
+on, quick.” 
+
+He took Harry by the arm and led him from the patch 
+of grass, across the road, and onto the pavement. 
+Lupin and Tonks followed, carrying Harry’s trunk 
+between them, the rest of the guard, all with their 
+wands out, flanking them. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The muffled pounding of a stereo was coming from an 
+upper window in the nearest house. A pungent smell 
+of rotting rubbish came from the pile of bulging bin- 
+bags just inside the broken gate. 
+
+“Here,” Moody muttered, thrusting a piece of 
+parchment toward Harry’s Disillusioned hand and 
+holding his lit wand close to it, so as to illuminate the 
+writing. “Read quickly and memorize.” 
+
+Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow 
+handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said: 
+
+The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may he 
+found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. 
+
+
+
+Page | 76 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NUMBER TWELVE, GRIMMAULD 
+PLACE 
+
+“What’s the Order of the — ?” Harry began. 
+
+“Not here, boy!” snarled Moody. “Wait till we’re 
+inside!” 
+
+He pulled the piece of parchment out of Harry’s hand 
+and set fire to it with his wand tip. As the message 
+curled into flames and floated to the ground, Harry 
+looked around at the houses again. They were 
+standing outside number eleven; he looked to the left 
+and saw number ten; to the right, however, was 
+number thirteen. 
+
+“But where’s — ?” 
+
+“Think about what you’ve just memorized,” said Lupin 
+quietly. 
+
+Harry thought, and no sooner had he reached the 
+part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a 
+
+
+
+Page | 77 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+battered door emerged out of nowhere between 
+numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty 
+walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra 
+house had inflated, pushing those on either side out 
+of its way. Harry gaped at it. The stereo in number 
+eleven thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside 
+hadn’t even felt anything. 
+
+“Come on, hurry,” growled Moody, prodding Harry in 
+the back. 
+
+Harry walked up the worn stone steps, staring at the 
+newly materialized door. Its black paint was shabby 
+and scratched. The silver door knocker was in the 
+form of a twisted serpent. There was no keyhole or 
+letterbox. 
+
+Lupin pulled out his wand and tapped the door once. 
+Harry heard many loud, metallic clicks and what 
+sounded like the clatter of a chain. The door creaked 
+open. 
+
+“Get in quick, Harry,” Lupin whispered. “But don’t go 
+far inside and don’t touch anything.” 
+
+Harry stepped over the threshold into the almost total 
+darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust, and 
+a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of 
+a derelict building. He looked over his shoulder and 
+saw the others filing in behind him, Lupin and Tonks 
+carrying his trunk and Hedwig’s cage. Moody was 
+standing on the top step and releasing the balls of 
+light the Put-Outer had stolen from the street-lamps; 
+they flew back to their bulbs and the square beyond 
+glowed momentarily with orange light before Moody 
+limped inside and closed the front door, so that the 
+darkness in the hall became complete. 
+
+“Here — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He rapped Harry hard over the head with his wand; 
+Harry felt as though something hot was trickling 
+down his back this time and knew that the 
+Disillusionment Charm must have lifted. 
+
+“Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light 
+in here,” Moody whispered. 
+
+The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd 
+feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just 
+entered the house of a dying person. He heard a soft 
+hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps 
+sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a 
+flickering insubstantial light over the peeling 
+wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy 
+hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered 
+overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked 
+on the walls. Harry heard something scuttling behind 
+the baseboard. Both the chandelier and the 
+candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like 
+serpents. 
+
+There were hurried footsteps and Ron’s mother, Mrs. 
+Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the 
+hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried 
+toward them, though Harry noticed that she was 
+rather thinner and paler than she had been last time 
+he had seen her. 
+
+“Oh, Harry, it’s lovely to see you!” she whispered, 
+pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding 
+him at arm’s length and examining him critically. 
+“You’re looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you’ll 
+have to wait a bit for dinner, I’m afraid...” 
+
+She turned to the gang of wizards behind him and 
+whispered urgently, “He’s just arrived, the meeting’s 
+started...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The wizards behind Harry all made noises of interest 
+and excitement and began filing past Harry toward 
+the door through which Mrs. Weasley had just come; 
+Harry made to follow Lupin, but Mrs. Weasley held 
+him back. 
+
+“No, Harry, the meeting’s only for members of the 
+Order. Ron and Hermione are upstairs, you can wait 
+with them until the meeting’s over and then we’ll have 
+dinner. And keep your voice down in the hall,” she 
+added in an urgent whisper. 
+
+“Why?” 
+
+“I don’t want to wake anything up.” 
+
+“What d’you — ?” 
+
+“I’ll explain later, I’ve got to hurry, I’m supposed to be 
+at the meeting — I’ll just show you where you’re 
+sleeping.” 
+
+Pressing her finger to her lips, she led him on tiptoes 
+past a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, behind 
+which Harry supposed there must be another door, 
+and after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked 
+as though it had been made from a severed troll’s leg, 
+they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of 
+shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A 
+closer look showed Harry that the heads belonged to 
+house-elves. All of them had the same rather 
+snoutlike nose. 
+
+Harry’s bewilderment deepened with every step he 
+took. What on earth were they doing in a house that 
+looked as though it belonged to the Darkest of 
+wizards? 
+
+“Mrs. Weasley, why — ?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Ron and Hermione will explain everything, dear, I’ve 
+really got to dash,” Mrs. Weasley whispered 
+distractedly. “There” — they had reached the second 
+landing — “you’re the door on the right. I’ll call you 
+when it’s over.” 
+
+And she hurried off downstairs again. 
+
+Harry crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom 
+doorknob, which was shaped like a serpent’s head, 
+and opened the door. 
+
+He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, 
+twin-bedded room, then there was a loud twittering 
+noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his 
+vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of 
+very bushy hair — Hermione had thrown herself onto 
+him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while 
+Ron’s tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round 
+and round their heads. 
+
+“HARRY! Ron, he’s here, Harry’s here! We didn’t hear 
+you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have 
+you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our 
+letters were useless — but we couldn’t tell you 
+anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn’t, 
+oh, we’ve got so much to tell you, and you’ve got to 
+tell us — the dementors! When we heard — and that 
+Ministry hearing — it’s just outrageous, I’ve looked it 
+all up, they can’t expel you, they just can’t, there’s 
+provision in the Decree for the Restriction of 
+Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life- 
+threatening situations — ” 
+
+“Let him breathe, Hermione,” said Ron, grinning, 
+closing the door behind Harry. He seemed to have 
+grown several more inches during their month apart, 
+making him taller and more gangly looking than ever, 
+
+
+
+Page | 81 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+though the long nose, bright red hair, and freckles 
+were the same. 
+
+Hermione, still beaming, let go of Harry, but before 
+she could say another word there was a soft 
+whooshing sound and something white soared from 
+the top of a dark wardrobe and landed gently on 
+Harry’s shoulder. 
+
+“Hedwig!” 
+
+The snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled his ear 
+affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers. 
+
+“She’s been in a right state,” said Ron. “Pecked us 
+half to death when she brought your last letters, look 
+at this — ” 
+
+He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, 
+which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut. 
+
+“Oh yeah,” Harry said. “Sorry about that, but I 
+wanted answers, you know...” 
+
+“We wanted to give them to you, mate,” said Ron. 
+“Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you’d do 
+something stupid if you were stuck all on your own 
+without news, but Dumbledore made us — ” 
+
+“ — swear not to tell me,” said Harry. “Yeah, 
+Hermione’s already said.” 
+
+The warm glow that had flared inside him at the sight 
+of his two best friends was extinguished as something 
+icy flooded the pit of his stomach. All of a sudden — 
+after yearning to see them for a solid month — he felt 
+he would rather Ron and Hermione left him alone. 
+
+
+
+Page | 82 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a strained silence in which Harry stroked 
+Hedwig automatically, not looking at either of the 
+others. 
+
+“He seemed to think it was best,” said Hermione 
+rather breathlessly. “Dumbledore, I mean.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry. He noticed that her hands too 
+bore the marks of Hedwig’s beak and found that he 
+was not at all sorry. 
+
+“I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles 
+— ” Ron began. 
+
+“Yeah?” said Harry, raising his eyebrows. “Have either 
+of you been attacked by dementors this summer?” 
+
+“Well, no — but that’s why he’s had people from the 
+Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time — ” 
+
+Harry felt a great jolt in his guts as though he had 
+just missed a step going downstairs. So everyone had 
+known he was being followed except him. 
+
+“Didn’t work that well, though, did it?” said Harry, 
+doing his utmost to keep his voice even. “Had to look 
+after myself after all, didn’t I?” 
+
+“He was so angry,” said Hermione in an almost 
+awestruck voice. “Dumbledore. We saw him. When he 
+found out Mundungus had left before his shift had 
+ended. He was scary.” 
+
+“Well, I’m glad he left,” Harry said coldly. “If he 
+hadn’t, I wouldn’t have done magic and Dumbledore 
+would probably have left me at Privet Drive all 
+summer.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Aren’t you ... aren’t you worried about the Ministry of 
+Magic hearing?” said Hermione quietly. 
+
+“No,” Harry lied defiantly. He walked away from them, 
+looking around, with Hedwig nestled contentedly on 
+his shoulder, but this room was not likely to raise his 
+spirits. It was dank and dark. A blank stretch of 
+canvas in an ornate picture frame was all that 
+relieved the bareness of the peeling walls and as 
+Harry passed it he thought he heard someone lurking 
+out of sight snigger. 
+
+“So why’s Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the 
+dark?” Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice 
+casual. “Did you — er — bother to ask him at all?” 
+
+He glanced up just in time to see them exchanging a 
+look that told him he was behaving just as they had 
+feared he would. It did nothing to improve his temper. 
+
+“We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was 
+going on,” said Ron. “We did, mate. But he’s really 
+busy now, we’ve only seen him twice since we came 
+here and he didn’t have much time, he just made us 
+swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, 
+he said the owls might be intercepted — ” 
+
+“He could still’ve kept me informed if he’d wanted to,” 
+Harry said shortly. “You’re not telling me he doesn’t 
+know ways to send messages without owls.” 
+
+Hermione glanced at Ron and then said, “I thought 
+that too. But he didn’t want you to know anything.” 
+
+“Maybe he thinks I can’t be trusted,” said Harry, 
+watching their expressions. 
+
+“Don’t be thick,” said Ron, looking highly 
+disconcerted. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Or that I can’t take care of myself — ” 
+
+
+
+“Of course he doesn’t think that!” said Hermione 
+anxiously. 
+
+“So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys’ while 
+you two get to join in everything that’s going on 
+here?” said Harry, the words tumbling over one 
+another in a rush, his voice growing louder with every 
+word. “How come you two are allowed to know 
+everything that’s going on — ?” 
+
+“We’re not!” Ron interrupted. “Mum won’t let us near 
+the meetings, she says we’re too young — ” 
+
+But before he knew it, Harry was shouting. 
+
+“SO YOU HAVEN’T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG 
+DEAL! YOUVE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN T YOU? 
+YOUVE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, IVE BEEN 
+STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS’ FOR A MONTH! AND IVE 
+HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWOVE EVER 
+MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT — WHO 
+SAVED THE SORCERER’S STONE? WHO GOT RID 
+OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM 
+THE DEMENTORS?” 
+
+Every bitter and resentful thought that Harry had had 
+in the past month was pouring out of him; his 
+frustration at the lack of news, the hurt that they had 
+all been together without him, his fury at being 
+followed and not told about it: All the feelings he was 
+half-ashamed of finally burst their boundaries. 
+
+Hedwig took fright at the noise and soared off on top 
+of the wardrobe again; Pigwidgeon twittered in alarm 
+and zoomed even faster around their heads. 
+
+“WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES 
+AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO 
+
+Page | 85 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE 
+FROM HIM? ME!” 
+
+
+
+Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, 
+clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say, 
+while Hermione looked on the verge of tears. 
+
+“BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON? 
+WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME 
+WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?” 
+
+
+
+“Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did — ” 
+Hermione began. 
+
+
+
+“CANTVE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR 
+YOU’D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE 
+MADE YOU SWEAR — ” 
+
+
+
+“Well, he did — ” 
+
+“FOUR WEEKS IVE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, 
+NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND 
+OUT WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON — ” 
+
+
+
+“We wanted to — ” 
+
+“I SUPPOSE YOUVE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, 
+HAVENT YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER — ” 
+
+“No, honest — ” 
+
+“Harry, we’re really sorry!” said Hermione desperately, 
+her eyes now sparkling with tears. “You’re absolutely 
+right, Harry — I’d be furious if it was me!” 
+
+Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then 
+turned away from them again, pacing up and down. 
+Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. 
+
+
+
+Page | 86 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful 
+creak of the floorboards below Harry’s feet. 
+
+“What is this place anyway?” he shot at Ron and 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix,” said Ron 
+at once. 
+
+“Is anyone going to bother telling me what the Order 
+of the Phoenix — ?” 
+
+“It’s a secret society,” said Hermione quickly. 
+“Dumbledore’s in charge, he founded it. It’s the people 
+who fought against You-Know-Who last time.” 
+
+“Who’s in it?” said Harry, coming to a halt with his 
+hands in his pockets. 
+
+“Quite a few people — ” 
+
+“ — we’ve met about twenty of them,” said Ron, “but 
+we think there are more...” 
+
+Harry glared at them. 
+
+“ Well?” he demanded, looking from one to the other. 
+“Er,” said Ron. “Well what?” 
+
+“Voldemorti” said Harry furiously, and both Ron and 
+Hermione winced. “What’s happening? What’s he up 
+to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?” 
+
+“We’ve told you, the Order don’t let us in on their 
+meetings,” said Hermione nervously. “So we don’t 
+know the details — but we’ve got a general idea — ” 
+she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry’s face. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, 
+see,” said Ron. “They’re really useful.” 
+
+
+
+“Extendable — ?” 
+
+“Ears, yeah. Only we’ve had to stop using them lately 
+because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and 
+George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning 
+them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before 
+Mum realized what was going on. We know some of 
+the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping 
+tabs on them, you know — ” 
+
+“ — some of them are working on recruiting more 
+people to the Order — ” said Hermione. 
+
+“ — and some of them are standing guard over 
+something,” said Ron. “They’re always talking about 
+guard duty.” 
+
+“Couldn’t have been me, could it?” said Harry 
+sarcastically. 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Ron, with a look of dawning 
+comprehension. 
+
+Harry snorted. He walked around the room again, 
+looking anywhere but at Ron and Hermione. “So what 
+have you two been doing, if you’re not allowed in 
+meetings?” he demanded. “You said you’d been busy.” 
+
+“We have,” said Hermione quickly. “We’ve been 
+decontaminating this house, it’s been empty for ages 
+and stuff’s been breeding in here. We’ve managed to 
+clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms, and I 
+think we’re doing the drawing room tomo — AARGH!” 
+
+With two loud cracks, Fred and George, Ron’s elder 
+twin brothers, had materialized out of thin air in the 
+
+Page | 88 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+middle of the room. Pigwidgeon twittered more wildly 
+than ever and zoomed off to join Hedwig on top of the 
+wardrobe. 
+
+“Stop doing that!” Hermione said weakly to the twins, 
+who were as vividly red-haired as Ron, though 
+stockier and slightly shorter. 
+
+“Hello, Harry,” said George, beaming at him. “We 
+thought we heard your dulcet tones.” 
+
+“You don’t want to bottle up your anger like that, 
+Harry, let it all out,” said Fred, also beaming. “There 
+might be a couple of people fifty miles away who 
+didn’t hear you.” 
+
+“You two passed your Apparation tests, then?” asked 
+Harry grumpily. 
+
+“With distinction,” said Fred, who was holding what 
+looked like a piece of very long, flesh-colored string. 
+
+“It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer 
+to walk down the stairs,” said Ron. 
+
+“Time is Galleons, little brother,” said Fred. “Anyway, 
+Harry, you’re interfering with reception. Extendable 
+Ears,” he added in response to Harry’s raised 
+eyebrows, holding up the string, which Harry now 
+saw was trailing out onto the landing. “We’re trying to 
+hear what’s going on downstairs.” 
+
+“You want to be careful,” said Ron, staring at the ear. 
+“If Mum sees one of them again ...” 
+
+“It’s worth the risk, that’s a major meeting they’re 
+having,” said Fred. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The door opened and a long mane of red hair 
+appeared. 
+
+“Oh hello, Harry!” said Ron’s younger sister, Ginny, 
+brightly. “I thought I heard your voice.” 
+
+Turning to Fred and George she said, “It’s no go with 
+the Extendable Ears, she’s gone and put an 
+Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door.” 
+
+“How d’you know?” said George, looking crestfallen. 
+
+“Tonks told me how to find out,” said Ginny. “You just 
+chuck stuff at the door and if it can’t make contact 
+the door’s been Imperturbed. I’ve been flicking 
+Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they 
+just soar away from it, so there’s no way the 
+Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap.” 
+
+Fred heaved a deep sigh. “Shame. I really fancied 
+finding out what old Snape’s been up to.” 
+
+“Snape?” said Harry quickly. “Is he here?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said George, carefully closing the door and 
+sitting down on one of the beds; Fred and Ginny 
+followed. “Giving a report. Top secret.” 
+
+“Git,” said Fred idly. 
+
+“He’s on our side now,” said Hermione reprovingly. 
+
+Ron snorted. “Doesn’t stop him being a git. The way 
+he looks at us when he sees us...” 
+
+“Bill doesn’t like him either,” said Ginny, as though 
+that settled the matter. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry was not sure his anger had abated yet; but his 
+thirst for information was now overcoming his urge to 
+keep shouting. He sank onto the bed opposite the 
+others. 
+
+“Is Bill here?” he asked. “I thought he was working in 
+Egypt.” 
+
+“He applied for a desk job so he could come home and 
+work for the Order,” said Fred. “He says he misses the 
+tombs, but,” he smirked, “there are compensations...” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” 
+
+“Remember old Fleur Delacour?” said George. “She’s 
+got a job at Gringotts to eemprove ’er Eeenglish — ” 
+
+“ — and Bill’s been giving her a lot of private lessons,” 
+sniggered Fred. 
+
+“Charlie’s in the Order too,” said George, “but he’s 
+still in Romania, Dumbledore wants as many foreign 
+wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie’s trying to 
+make contacts on his days off.” 
+
+“Couldn’t Percy do that?” Harry asked. The last he 
+had heard, the third Weasley brother was working in 
+the Department of International Magical Cooperation 
+at the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+At these words all the Weasleys and Hermione 
+exchanged darkly significant looks. 
+
+“Whatever you do, don’t mention Percy in front of 
+Mum and Dad,” Ron told Harry in a tense voice. 
+
+“Why not?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Because every time Percy’s name’s mentioned, Dad 
+breaks whatever he’s holding and Mum starts crying,” 
+Fred said. 
+
+“It’s been awful,” said Ginny sadly. 
+
+“I think we’re well shut of him,” said George with an 
+uncharacteristically ugly look on his face. 
+
+“What’s happened?” Harry said. 
+
+“Percy and Dad had a row,” said Fred. “I’ve never seen 
+Dad row with anyone like that. It’s normally Mum 
+who shouts...” 
+
+“It was the first week back after term ended,” said 
+Ron. “We were about to come and join the Order. 
+Percy came home and told us he’d been promoted.” 
+
+“You’re kidding?” said Harry. 
+
+Though he knew perfectly well that Percy was highly 
+ambitious, Harry’s impression was that Percy had not 
+made a great success of his first job at the Ministry of 
+Magic. Percy had committed the fairly large oversight 
+of failing to notice that his boss was being controlled 
+by Lord Voldemort (not that the Ministry had believed 
+that — they all thought that Mr. Crouch had gone 
+mad). 
+
+“Yeah, we were all surprised,” said George, “because 
+Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there 
+was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought 
+to have realized Crouch was off his rocker and 
+informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left 
+him in charge, he wasn’t going to complain...” 
+
+“So how come they promoted him?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That’s exactly what we wondered,” said Ron, who 
+seemed very keen to keep normal conversation going 
+now that Harry had stopped yelling. “He came home 
+really pleased with himself — even more pleased than 
+usual if you can imagine that — and told Dad he’d 
+been offered a position in Fudge’s own office. A really 
+good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts — 
+Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to 
+be all impressed, I think.” 
+
+“Only Dad wasn’t,” said Fred grimly. 
+
+“Why not?” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the 
+Ministry checking that nobody’s having any contact 
+with Dumbledore,” said George. 
+
+“Dumbledore’s name’s mud with the Ministry these 
+days, see,” said Fred. “They all think he’s just making 
+trouble saying You-Know- Who’s back.” 
+
+“Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who’s 
+in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks,” 
+said George. 
+
+“Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he’s 
+friendly with Dumbledore, and he’s always thought 
+Dad’s a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle 
+obsession — ” 
+
+“But what’s this got to do with Percy?” asked Harry, 
+confused. 
+
+“I’m coming to that. Dad reckons Fudge only wants 
+Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy 
+on the family — and Dumbledore.” 
+
+
+
+Harry let out a low whistle. 
+
+Page | 93 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Bet Percy loved that.” 
+
+Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way. 
+
+“He went completely berserk. He said — well, he said 
+loads of terrible stuff. He said he’s been having to 
+struggle against Dad’s lousy reputation ever since he 
+joined the Ministry and that Dad’s got no ambition 
+and that’s why we’ve always been — you know — not 
+had a lot of money, I mean — ” 
+
+“ What?” said Harry in disbelief, as Ginny made a 
+noise like an angry cat. 
+
+“I know,” said Ron in a low voice. “And it got worse. 
+
+He said Dad was an idiot to run around with 
+Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big 
+trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and 
+that he — Percy — knew where his loyalty lay and it 
+was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were 
+going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going 
+to make sure everyone knew he didn’t belong to our 
+family anymore. And he packed his bags the same 
+night and left. He’s living here in London now.” 
+
+Harry swore under his breath. He had always liked 
+Percy least of Ron’s brothers, but he had never 
+imagined he would say such things to Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“Mum’s been in a right state,” said Ron. “You know — 
+crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and 
+talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I 
+dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work — 
+ignores him, I s’pose.” 
+
+“But Percy must know Voldemort’s back,” said Harry 
+slowly. “He’s not stupid, he must know your mum 
+and dad wouldn’t risk everything without proof — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row,” said 
+Ron, shooting Harry a furtive look. “Percy said the 
+only evidence was your word and ... I dunno ... he 
+didn’t think it was good enough.” 
+
+“Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously,” said 
+Hermione tartly, and the others all nodded. 
+
+“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, looking 
+around at them all. They were all regarding him 
+warily. 
+
+“Haven’t — haven’t you been getting the Daily 
+Prophet?” Hermione asked nervously. 
+
+“Yeah, I have!” said Harry. 
+
+“Have you — er — been reading it thoroughly?” 
+Hermione asked still more anxiously. 
+
+“Not cover to cover,” said Harry defensively. “If they 
+were going to report anything about Voldemort it 
+would be headline news, wouldn’t it!” 
+
+The others flinched at the sound of the name. 
+Hermione hurried on, “Well, you’d need to read it 
+cover to cover to pick it up, but they — um — they 
+mention you a couple of times a week.” 
+
+“But I’d have seen — ” 
+
+“Not if you’ve only been reading the front page, you 
+wouldn’t,” said Hermione, shaking her head. “I’m not 
+talking about big articles. They just slip you in, like 
+you’re a standing joke.” 
+
+“What d’you — ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 95 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s quite nasty, actually,” said Hermione in a voice of 
+forced calm. “They’re just building on Rita’s stuff.” 
+
+“But she’s not writing for them anymore, is she?” 
+
+“Oh no, she’s kept her promise — not that she’s got 
+any choice,” Hermione added with satisfaction. “But 
+she laid the foundation for what they’re trying to do 
+now.” 
+
+“Which is what?” said Harry impatiently. 
+
+“Okay, you know she wrote that you were collapsing 
+all over the place and saying your scar was hurting 
+and all that?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, who was not likely to forget Rita 
+Skeeter’s stories about him in a hurry. 
+
+“Well, they’re writing about you as though you’re this 
+deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he’s a 
+great tragic hero or something,” said Hermione, very 
+fast, as though it would be less unpleasant for Harry 
+to hear these facts quickly. “They keep slipping in 
+snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story 
+appears they say something like ‘a tale worthy of 
+Harry Potter’ and if anyone has a funny accident or 
+anything it’s let’s hope he hasn’t got a scar on his 
+forehead or we’ll be asked to worship him next — ’ ” 
+
+“I don’t want anyone to worship — ” Harry began 
+hotly. 
+
+“I know you don’t,” said Hermione quickly, looking 
+frightened. “I know, Harry. But you see what they’re 
+doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody 
+will believe. Fudge is behind it, I’ll bet anything. They 
+want wizards on the street to think you’re just some 
+stupid boy who’s a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous 
+Page | 96 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+tall stories because he loves being famous and wants 
+to keep it going.” 
+
+“I didn’t ask — I didn’t want — Voldemort killed my 
+parentsV’ Harry spluttered. “I got famous because he 
+murdered my family but couldn’t kill me! Who wants 
+to be famous for that? Don’t they think I’d rather it’d 
+never — ” 
+
+“We know, Harry,” said Ginny earnestly. 
+
+“And of course, they didn’t report a word about the 
+dementors attacking you,” said Hermione. “Someone’s 
+told them to keep that quiet. That should’ve been a 
+really big story, out-of-control dementors. They 
+haven’t even reported that you broke the International 
+Statute of Secrecy — we thought they would, it would 
+tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid 
+show-off — we think they’re biding their time until 
+you’re expelled, then they’re really going to go to town 
+— I mean, if you’re expelled, obviously,” she went on 
+hastily, “you really shouldn’t be, not if they abide by 
+their own laws, there’s no case against you.” 
+
+They were back on the hearing and Harry did not 
+want to think about it. He cast around for another 
+change of subject, but was saved the necessity of 
+finding one by the sound of footsteps coming up the 
+stairs. 
+
+“Uh-oh.” 
+
+Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug; there was 
+another loud crack and he and George vanished. 
+Seconds later, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the bedroom 
+doorway. 
+
+“The meeting’s over, you can come down and have 
+dinner now, everyone’s dying to see you, Harry. And 
+
+Page | 97 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+who’s left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen 
+door?” 
+
+
+
+“Crookshanks,” said Ginny unblushingly. “He loves 
+playing with them.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Mrs. Weasley, “I thought it might have 
+been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. 
+Now don’t forget to keep your voices down in the hall. 
+Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been 
+doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please...” 
+
+Ginny grimaced at the others and followed her mother 
+out of the room, leaving Harry alone with Ron and 
+Hermione again. Both of them were watching him 
+apprehensively, as though they feared that he would 
+start shouting again now that everyone else had gone. 
+The sight of them looking so nervous made him feel 
+slightly ashamed. 
+
+“Look ...” he muttered, but Ron shook his head, and 
+Hermione said quietly, “We knew you’d be angry, 
+Harry, we really don’t blame you, but you’ve got to 
+understand, we did try and persuade Dumbledore — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I know,” said Harry grudgingly. 
+
+He cast around for a topic to change the subject from 
+Dumbledore — the very thought of him made Harry’s 
+insides burn with anger again. 
+
+“Who’s Kreacher?” he asked. 
+
+“The house-elf who lives here,” said Ron. “Nutter. 
+Never met one like him.” 
+
+Hermione frowned at Ron. 
+
+“He’s not a nutter, Ron — ” 
+
+Page | 98 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“His life’s ambition is to have his head cut off and 
+stuck up on a plaque just like his mother,” said Ron 
+irritably. “Is that normal, Hermione?” 
+
+“Well — well, if he is a bit strange, it’s not his fault — ” 
+
+Ron rolled his eyes at Harry. 
+
+“Hermione still hasn’t given up on spew — ” 
+
+“It’s not ‘spew’!” said Hermione heatedly. “It’s the 
+Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and it’s 
+not just me, Dumbledore says we should be kind to 
+Kreacher too — ” 
+
+“Yeah, yeah,” said Ron. “C’mon, I’m starving.” 
+
+He led the way out of the door and onto the landing, 
+but before they could descend the stairs — “Hold it!” 
+Ron breathed, flinging out an arm to stop Harry and 
+Hermione walking any farther. “They’re still in the 
+hall, we might be able to hear something — ” 
+
+The three of them looked cautiously over the 
+banisters. The gloomy hallway below was packed with 
+witches and wizards, including all of Harry’s guard. 
+They were whispering excitedly together. In the very 
+center of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired 
+head and prominent nose of his least favorite teacher 
+at Hogwarts, Professor Snape. Harry leaned farther 
+over the banisters. He was very interested in what 
+Snape was doing for the Order of the Phoenix. . . 
+
+A thin piece of flesh-colored string descended in front 
+of Harry’s eyes. Looking up he saw Fred and George 
+on the landing above, cautiously lowering the 
+Extendable Ear toward the dark knot of people below. 
+A moment later, however, they began to move toward 
+the front door and out of sight. 
+
+Page | 99 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Dammit,” Harry heard Fred whisper, as he hoisted 
+the Extendable Ear back up again. 
+
+They heard the front door open and then close. 
+
+“Snape never eats here,” Ron told Harry quietly. 
+“Thank God. C’mon.” 
+
+“And don’t forget to keep your voice down in the hall, 
+Harry,” Hermione whispered. 
+
+As they passed the row of house-elf heads on the wall 
+they saw Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, and Tonks at the front 
+door, magically sealing its many locks and bolts 
+behind those who had just left. 
+
+“We’re eating down in the kitchen,” Mrs. Weasley 
+whispered, meeting them at the bottom of the stairs. 
+“Harry, dear, if youll just tiptoe across the hall, it’s 
+through this door here — ” 
+
+CRASH. 
+
+“Tonksl” cried Mrs. Weasley exasperatedly, turning to 
+look behind her. 
+
+“I’m sorry!” wailed Tonks, who was lying flat on the 
+floor. “It’s that stupid umbrella stand, that’s the 
+second time I’ve tripped over — ” 
+
+But the rest of her words were drowned by a horrible, 
+earsplitting, bloodcurdling screech. 
+
+The moth-eaten velvet curtains Harry had passed 
+earlier had flown apart, but there was no door behind 
+them. For a split second, Harry thought he was 
+looking through a window, a window behind which an 
+old woman in a black cap was screaming and 
+screaming as though she was being tortured — then 
+Page | lOOHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he realized it was simply a life-size portrait, but the 
+most realistic, and the most unpleasant, he had ever 
+seen in his life. 
+
+The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, 
+the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she 
+screamed, and all along the hall behind them, the 
+other portraits awoke and began to yell too, so that 
+Harry actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and 
+clapped his hands over his ears. 
+
+Lupin and Mrs. Weasley darted forward and tried to 
+tug the curtains shut over the old woman, but they 
+would not close and she screeched louder than ever, 
+brandishing clawed hands as though trying to tear at 
+their faces. 
+
+“Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half- 
+breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How 
+dare you befoul the house of my fathers — ” 
+
+Tonks apologized over and over again, at the same 
+time dragging the huge, heavy troll’s leg back off the 
+floor. Mrs. Weasley abandoned the attempt to close 
+the curtains and hurried up and down the hall, 
+Stunning all the other portraits with her wand. Then 
+a man with long black hair came charging out of a 
+door facing Harry. 
+
+“Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!” he roared, 
+seizing the curtain Mrs. Weasley had abandoned. 
+
+The old woman’s face blanched. 
+
+“Yooooul” she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of 
+the man. “Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my 
+fleshl” 
+
+
+
+Page | lOlHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I said — shut — UP!” roared the man, and with a 
+stupendous effort he and Lupin managed to force the 
+curtains closed again. 
+
+The old woman’s screeches died and an echoing 
+silence fell. 
+
+Panting slightly and sweeping his long dark hair out 
+of his eyes, Harry’s godfather, Sirius, turned to face 
+him. 
+
+“Hello, Harry,” he said grimly, “I see you’ve met my 
+mother.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 102Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+5 
+
+
+
+
+THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX 
+
+“Your — ?” 
+
+“My dear old mum, yeah,” said Sirius. “We’ve been 
+trying to get her down for a month but we think she 
+put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the 
+canvas. Let’s get downstairs, quick, before they all 
+wake up again.” 
+
+“But what’s a portrait of your mother doing here?” 
+Harry asked, bewildered, as they went through the 
+door from the hall and led the way down a flight of 
+narrow stone steps, the others just behind them. 
+
+“Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ 
+house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s 
+mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters 
+— about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” 
+
+Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how 
+hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded. He followed 
+his godfather to the bottom of the stairs and through 
+a door leading into the basement kitchen. 
+
+Page | 103Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+It was scarcely less gloomy than the hall above, a 
+cavernous room with rough stone walls. Most of the 
+light was coming from a large fire at the far end of the 
+room. A haze of pipe smoke hung in the air like battle 
+fumes, through which loomed the menacing shapes of 
+heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the dark 
+ceiling. Many chairs had been crammed into the room 
+for the meeting and a long wooden table stood in the 
+middle of the room, littered with rolls of parchment, 
+goblets, empty wine bottles, and a heap of what 
+appeared to be rags. Mr. Weasley and his eldest son, 
+Bill, were talking quietly with their heads together at 
+the end of the table. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. Her husband, a thin, 
+balding, red-haired man, who wore horn-rimmed 
+glasses, looked around and jumped to his feet. 
+
+“Harry!” Mr. Weasley said, hurrying forward to greet 
+him and shaking his hand vigorously. “Good to see 
+you!” 
+
+Over his shoulder Harry saw Bill, who still wore his 
+long hair in a ponytail, hastily rolling up the lengths 
+of parchment left on the table. 
+
+“Journey all right, Harry?” Bill called, trying to gather 
+up twelve scrolls at once. “Mad-Eye didn’t make you 
+come via Greenland, then?” 
+
+“He tried,” said Tonks, striding over to help Bill and 
+immediately sending a candle toppling onto the last 
+piece of parchment. “Oh no — sorry — ” 
+
+“Here, dear,” said Mrs. Weasley, sounding 
+exasperated, and she repaired the parchment with a 
+wave of her wand: In the flash of light caused by Mrs. 
+Weasley’s charm, Harry caught a glimpse of what 
+looked like the plan of a building. 
+
+Page | 104Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Mrs. Weasley had seen him looking. She snatched the 
+plan off the table and stuffed it into Bill’s heavily 
+laden arms. 
+
+“This sort of thing ought to be cleared away promptly 
+at the end of meetings,” she snapped before sweeping 
+off toward an ancient dresser from which she started 
+unloading dinner plates. 
+
+Bill took out his wand, muttered “Evanescol” and the 
+scrolls vanished. 
+
+“Sit down, Harry,” said Sirius. “You’ve met 
+Mundungus, haven’t you?” 
+
+The thing Harry had taken to be a pile of rags gave a 
+prolonged, grunting snore and then jerked awake. 
+
+“Some’n say m’ name?” Mundungus mumbled 
+sleepily. “I ’gree with Sirius...” 
+
+He raised a very grubby hand in the air as though 
+voting, his droopy, bloodshot eyes unfocused. Ginny 
+giggled. 
+
+“The meeting’s over, Dung,” said Sirius, as they all sat 
+down around him at the table. “Harry’s arrived.” 
+
+“Eh?” said Mundungus, peering balefully at Harry 
+through his matted ginger hair. “Blimey, so ’e ’as. 
+
+Yeah ... you all right, ’arry?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+Mundungus fumbled nervously in his pockets, still 
+staring at Harry, and pulled out a grimy black pipe. 
+
+He stuck it in his mouth, ignited the end of it with his 
+wand, and took a deep pull on it. Great billowing 
+clouds of greenish smoke obscured him in seconds. 
+Page | 105Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Owe you a ’pology,” grunted a voice from the middle 
+of the smelly cloud. 
+
+“For the last time, Mundungus,” called Mrs. Weasley, 
+“will you please not smoke that thing in the kitchen, 
+especially not when we’re about to eat!” 
+
+“Ah,” said Mundungus. “Right. Sorry, Molly.” 
+
+The cloud of smoke vanished as Mundungus stowed 
+his pipe back in his pocket, but an acrid smell of 
+burning socks lingered. 
+
+“And if you want dinner before midnight I’ll need a 
+hand,” Mrs. Weasley said to the room at large. “No, 
+you can stay where you are, Harry dear, you’ve had a 
+long journey — ” 
+
+“What can I do, Molly?” said Tonks enthusiastically, 
+bounding forward. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley hesitated, looking apprehensive. 
+
+“Er — no, it’s all right, Tonks, you have a rest too, 
+you’ve done enough today — ” 
+
+“No, no, I want to help!” said Tonks brightly, knocking 
+over a chair as she hurried toward the dresser from 
+which Ginny was collecting cutlery. 
+
+Soon a series of heavy knives were chopping meat 
+and vegetables of their own accord, supervised by Mr. 
+Weasley, while Mrs. Weasley stirred a cauldron 
+dangling over the fire and the others took out plates, 
+more goblets, and food from the pantry. Harry was 
+left at the table with Sirius and Mundungus, who was 
+still blinking mournfully at him. 
+
+“Seen old Figgy since?” he asked. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry, “I haven’t seen anyone.” 
+
+
+
+“See, I wouldn’t ’ave left,” said Mundungus, leaning 
+forward, a pleading note in his voice, “but I ’ad a 
+business opportunity — ” 
+
+Harry felt something brush against his knees and 
+started, but it was only Crookshanks, Hermione’s 
+bandy-legged ginger cat, who wound himself once 
+around Harry’s legs, purring, then jumped onto 
+Sirius’s lap and curled up. Sirius scratched him 
+absentmindedly behind the ears as he turned, still 
+grim-faced, to Harry. 
+
+“Had a good summer so far?” 
+
+“No, it’s been lousy,” said Harry. 
+
+For the first time, something like a grin flitted across 
+Sirius’s face. 
+
+“Don’t know what you’re complaining about, myself.” 
+
+“ What?” said Harry incredulously. 
+
+“Personally, I’d have welcomed a dementor attack. A 
+deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the 
+monotony nicely. You think you’ve had it bad, at least 
+you’ve been able to get out and about, stretch your 
+legs, get into a few fights... I’ve been stuck inside for a 
+month.” 
+
+“How come?” asked Harry, frowning. 
+
+“Because the Ministry of Magic’s still after me, and 
+Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus 
+by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big 
+disguise is useless. There’s not much I can do for the 
+Order of the Phoenix ... or so Dumbledore feels.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was something about the slightly flattened tone 
+of voice in which Sirius uttered Dumbledore’s name 
+that told Harry that Sirius was not very happy with 
+the headmaster either. Harry felt a sudden upsurge of 
+affection for his godfather. 
+
+“At least you’ve known what’s been going on,” he said 
+bracingly. 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Sirius sarcastically. “Listening to 
+Snape’s reports, having to take all his snide hints that 
+he’s out there risking his life while I’m sat on my 
+backside here having a nice comfortable time . . . 
+asking me how the cleaning’s going — ” 
+
+“What cleaning?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Trying to make this place fit for human habitation,” 
+said Sirius, waving a hand around the dismal 
+kitchen. “No one’s lived here for ten years, not since 
+my dear mother died, unless you count her old 
+house-elf, and he’s gone round the twist, hasn’t 
+cleaned anything in ages — ” 
+
+“Sirius?” said Mundungus, who did not appear to 
+have paid any attention to this conversation, but had 
+been minutely examining an empty goblet. “This solid 
+silver, mate?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Sirius, surveying it with distaste. “Finest 
+fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed 
+with the Black family crest.” 
+
+“That’d come off, though,” muttered Mundungus, 
+polishing it with his cuff. 
+
+“Fred — George — NO, JUST CARRY THEM!” Mrs. 
+Weasley shrieked. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry, Sirius, and Mundungus looked around and, a 
+split second later, dived away from the table. Fred 
+and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, 
+an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy wooden 
+breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through 
+the air toward them. The stew skidded the length of 
+the table and came to a halt just before the end, 
+leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface, the 
+flagon of butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its 
+contents everywhere, and the bread knife slipped off 
+the board and landed, point down and quivering 
+ominously, exactly where Sirius’s right hand had 
+been seconds before. 
+
+“FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!” screamed Mrs. Weasley. 
+“THERE WAS NO NEED — IVE HAD ENOUGH OF 
+THIS — JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE ALLOWED TO USE 
+MAGIC NOW YOU DONT HAVE TO WHIP YOUR 
+WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!” 
+
+“We were just trying to save a bit of time!” said Fred, 
+hurrying forward and wrenching the bread knife out 
+of the table. “Sorry Sirius, mate — didn’t mean to — ” 
+
+Harry and Sirius were both laughing. Mundungus, 
+who had toppled backward off his chair, was swearing 
+as he got to his feet. Crookshanks had given an angry 
+hiss and shot off under the dresser, from whence his 
+large yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. 
+
+“Boys,” Mr. Weasley said, lifting the stew back into 
+the middle of the table, “your mother’s right, you’re 
+supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you’ve 
+come of age — ” 
+
+“ — none of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!” 
+Mrs. Weasley raged at the twins, slamming a fresh 
+flagon of butterbeer onto the table and spilling almost 
+as much again. “Bill didn’t feel the need to Apparate 
+
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+
+
+
+
+every few feet! Charlie didn’t Charm everything he 
+met! Percy — ” 
+
+She stopped dead, catching her breath with a 
+frightened look at her husband, whose expression 
+was suddenly wooden. 
+
+“Let’s eat,” said Bill quickly. 
+
+“It looks wonderful, Molly,” said Lupin, ladling stew 
+onto a plate for her and handing it across the table. 
+
+For a few minutes there was silence but for the chink 
+of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs as 
+everyone settled down to their food. Then Mrs. 
+
+Weasley turned to Sirius and said, “I’ve been meaning 
+to tell you, there’s something trapped in that writing 
+desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and 
+shaking. Of course, it could just be a boggart, but I 
+thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it 
+before we let it out.” 
+
+“Whatever you like,” said Sirius indifferently. 
+
+“The curtains in there are full of doxies too,” Mrs. 
+Weasley went on. “I thought we might try and tackle 
+them tomorrow.” 
+
+“I look forward to it,” said Sirius. Harry heard the 
+sarcasm in his voice, but he was not sure that anyone 
+else did. 
+
+Opposite Harry, Tonks was entertaining Hermione 
+and Ginny by transforming her nose between 
+mouthfuls. Screwing up her eyes each time with the 
+same pained expression she had worn back in Harry’s 
+bedroom, her nose swelled to a beaklike protuberance 
+like Snape’s, shrank to something resembling a 
+button mushroom, and then sprouted a great deal of 
+Page | llOHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hair from each nostril. Apparently this was a regular 
+mealtime entertainment, because after a while 
+Hermione and Ginny started requesting their favorite 
+noses. 
+
+“Do that one like a pig snout, Tonks ...” 
+
+Tonks obliged, and Harry, looking up, had the fleeting 
+impression that a female Dudley was grinning at him 
+from across the table. 
+
+Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Lupin were having an intense 
+discussion about goblins. 
+
+“They’re not giving anything away yet,” said Bill. “I 
+still can’t work out whether they believe he’s back or 
+not. ’Course, they might prefer not to take sides at all. 
+Keep out of it.” 
+
+“I’m sure they’d never go over to You-Know-Who,” 
+said Mr. Weasley, shaking his head. “They’ve suffered 
+losses too. Remember that goblin family he murdered 
+last time, somewhere near Nottingham?” 
+
+“I think it depends what they’re offered,” said Lupin. 
+“And I’m not talking about gold; if they’re offered 
+freedoms we’ve been denying them for centuries 
+they’re going to be tempted. Have you still not had 
+any luck with Ragnok, Bill?” 
+
+“He’s feeling pretty anti-wizard at the moment,” said 
+Bill. “He hasn’t stopped raging about the Bagman 
+business, he reckons the Ministry did a cover-up, 
+those goblins never got their gold from him, you know 
+
+
+
+A gale of laughter from the middle of the table 
+drowned the rest of Bill’s words. Fred, George, Ron, 
+and Mundungus were rolling around in their seats. 
+
+Page | lllHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+"... and then,” choked Mundungus, tears running 
+down his face, “and then, if you’ll believe it, ’e says to 
+me, ’e says, ‘’ere, Dung, where didja get all them toads 
+from? ’Cos some son of a Bludger’s gone and nicked 
+all mine!’ And I says, ‘Nicked all your toads, Will, 
+what next? So you’ll be wanting some more, then?’ 
+And if you’ll believe me, lads, the gormless gargoyle 
+buys all ’is own toads back orf me for twice what ’e 
+paid in the first place — ■” 
+
+“I don’t think we need to hear any more of your 
+business dealings, thank you very much, 
+Mundungus,” said Mrs. Weasley sharply, as Ron 
+slumped forward onto the table, howling with 
+laughter. 
+
+“Beg pardon, Molly,” said Mundungus at once, wiping 
+his eyes and winking at Harry. “But, you know, Will 
+nicked ’em orf Warty Harris in the first place so I 
+wasn’t really doing nothing wrong — ” 
+
+“I don’t know where you learned about right and 
+wrong, Mundungus, but you seem to have missed a 
+few crucial lessons,” said Mrs. Weasley coldly. 
+
+Fred and George buried their faces in their goblets of 
+butterbeer; George was hiccuping. For some reason, 
+Mrs. Weasley threw a very nasty look at Sirius before 
+getting to her feet and going to fetch a large rhubarb 
+crumble for pudding. Harry looked round at his 
+godfather. 
+
+“Molly doesn’t approve of Mundungus,” said Sirius in 
+an undertone. 
+
+“How come he’s in the Order?” Harry said very 
+quietly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He’s useful,” Sirius muttered. “Knows all the crooks 
+— well, he would, seeing as he’s one himself. But he’s 
+also very loyal to Dumbledore, who helped him out of 
+a tight spot once. It pays to have someone like Dung 
+around, he hears things we don’t. But Molly thinks 
+inviting him to stay for dinner is going too far. She 
+hasn’t forgiven him for slipping off duty when he was 
+supposed to be tailing you.” 
+
+Three helpings of rhubarb crumble and custard later 
+and the waistband on Harry’s jeans was feeling 
+uncomfortably tight (which was saying something, as 
+the jeans had once been Dudley’s). He lay down his 
+spoon in a lull in the general conversation. Mr. 
+Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete 
+and relaxed, Tonks was yawning widely, her nose now 
+back to normal, and Ginny, who had lured 
+Crookshanks out from under the dresser, was sitting 
+cross-legged on the floor, rolling butterbeer corks for 
+him to chase. 
+
+“Nearly time for bed, I think,” said Mrs. Weasley on a 
+yawn. 
+
+“Not just yet, Molly,” said Sirius, pushing away his 
+empty plate and turning to look at Harry. “You know, 
+I’m surprised at you. I thought the first thing you’d do 
+when you got here would be to start asking questions 
+about Voldemort.” 
+
+The atmosphere in the room changed with the 
+rapidity Harry associated with the arrival of 
+dementors. Where seconds before it had been sleepily 
+relaxed, it was now alert, even tense. A frisson had 
+gone around the table at the mention of Voldemort’s 
+name. Lupin, who had been about to take a sip of 
+wine, lowered his goblet slowly, looking wary. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I did!” said Harry indignantly. “I asked Ron and 
+Hermione but they said we’re not allowed in the 
+Order, so — ” 
+
+“And they’re quite right,” said Mrs. Weasley. “You’re 
+too young.” 
+
+She was sitting bolt upright in her chair, her fists 
+clenched upon its arms, every trace of drowsiness 
+gone. 
+
+“Since when did someone have to be in the Order of 
+the Phoenix to ask questions?” asked Sirius. “Harry’s 
+been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He’s 
+got the right to know what’s been happen — ” 
+
+“Hang on!” interrupted George loudly. 
+
+“How come Harry gets his questions answered?” said 
+Fred angrily. 
+
+“ We’ve been trying to get stuff out of you for a month 
+and you haven’t told us a single stinking thing!” said 
+George. 
+
+“ ‘You’re too young, you’re not in the Order,’ ” said 
+Fred, in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily 
+like his mother’s. “Harry’s not even of age!” 
+
+“It’s not my fault you haven’t been told what the 
+Order’s doing,” said Sirius calmly. “That’s your 
+parents’ decision. Harry, on the other hand — ” 
+
+“It’s not down to you to decide what’s good for Harry!” 
+said Mrs. Weasley sharply. Her normally kindly face 
+looked dangerous. “You haven’t forgotten what 
+Dumbledore said, I suppose?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Which bit?” Sirius asked politely, but with an air as 
+though readying himself for a fight. 
+
+“The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs 
+to know,” said Mrs. Weasley, placing a heavy 
+emphasis on the last three words. 
+
+Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George’s heads turned from 
+Sirius to Mrs. Weasley as though following a tennis 
+rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned 
+butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her 
+mouth slightly open. Lupin’s eyes were fixed on 
+Sirius. 
+
+“I don’t intend to tell him more than he needs to 
+know, Molly,” said Sirius. “But as he was the one who 
+saw Voldemort come back” (again, there was a 
+collective shudder around the table at the name), “he 
+has more right than most to — ” 
+
+“He’s not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!” said 
+Mrs. Weasley. “He’s only fifteen and — ” 
+
+“ — and he’s dealt with as much as most in the 
+Order,” said Sirius, “and more than some — ” 
+
+“No one’s denying what he’s done!” said Mrs. Weasley, 
+her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her 
+chair. “But he’s still — ” 
+
+“He’s not a child!” said Sirius impatiently. 
+
+“He’s not an adult either!” said Mrs. Weasley, the 
+color rising in her cheeks. “He’s not James, Sirius!” 
+
+“I’m perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly,” said 
+Sirius coldly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm not sure you are!” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it’s as 
+though you think you’ve got your best friend back!” 
+
+“What’s wrong with that?” said Harry. 
+
+“What’s wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, 
+however much you might look like him!” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, her eyes still boring into Sirius. “You are still 
+at school and adults responsible for you should not 
+forget it!” 
+
+“Meaning I’m an irresponsible godfather?” demanded 
+Sirius, his voice rising. 
+
+“Meaning you’ve been known to act rashly, Sirius, 
+which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to 
+stay at home and — ” 
+
+“We’ll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of 
+this, if you please!” said Sirius loudly. 
+
+“Arthur!” said Mrs. Weasley, rounding on her 
+husband. “Arthur, back me up!” 
+
+Mr. Weasley did not speak at once. He took off his 
+glasses and cleaned them slowly on his robes, not 
+looking at his wife. Only when he had replaced them 
+carefully on his nose did he say, “Dumbledore knows 
+the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that 
+Harry will have to be filled in to a certain extent now 
+that he is staying at headquarters — ” 
+
+“Yes, but there’s a difference between that and 
+inviting him to ask whatever he likes!” 
+
+“Personally,” said Lupin quietly, looking away from 
+Sirius at last, as Mrs. Weasley turned quickly to him, 
+hopeful that finally she was about to get an ally, “I 
+
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+
+
+
+
+think it better that Harry gets the facts — not all the 
+facts, Molly, but the general picture — from us, rather 
+than a garbled version from ... others.” 
+
+His expression was mild, but Harry felt sure that 
+Lupin, at least, knew that some Extendable Ears had 
+survived Mrs. Weasley’s purge. 
+
+“Well,” said Mrs. Weasley, breathing deeply and 
+looking around the table for support that did not 
+come, “well ... I can see I’m going to be overruled. I’ll 
+just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons 
+for not wanting Harry to know too much, and 
+speaking as someone who has got Harry’s best 
+interests at heart — ” 
+
+“He’s not your son,” said Sirius quietly. 
+
+“He’s as good as,” said Mrs. Weasley fiercely. “Who 
+else has he got?” 
+
+“He’s got me!” 
+
+“Yes,” said Mrs. Weasley, her lip curling. “The thing 
+is, it’s been rather difficult for you to look after him 
+while you’ve been locked up in Azkaban, hasn’t it?” 
+
+Sirius started to rise from his chair. 
+
+“Molly, you’re not the only person at this table who 
+cares about Harry,” said Lupin sharply. “Sirius, sit 
+down.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley’s lower lip was trembling. Sirius sank 
+slowly back into his chair, his face white. 
+
+“I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this,” 
+
+Lupin continued. “He’s old enough to decide for 
+himself.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I want to know what’s been going on,” Harry said at 
+once. 
+
+He did not look at Mrs. Weasley. He had been touched 
+by what she had said about his being as good as a 
+son, but he was also impatient at her mollycoddling. . . 
+Sirius was right, he was not a child. 
+
+“Very well,” said Mrs. Weasley, her voice cracking. 
+“Ginny — Ron — Hermione — Fred — George — I 
+want you out of this kitchen, now.” 
+
+There was instant uproar. 
+
+“We’re of age!” Fred and George bellowed together. 
+
+“If Harry’s allowed, why can’t I?” shouted Ron. 
+
+“Mum, I want to!” wailed Ginny. 
+
+“NO!” shouted Mrs. Weasley, standing up, her eyes 
+overbright. “I absolutely forbid — ” 
+
+“Molly, you can’t stop Fred and George,” said Mr. 
+Weasley wearily. “They are of age — ” 
+
+“They’re still at school — ” 
+
+“But they’re legally adults now,” said Mr. Weasley in 
+the same tired voice. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley was now scarlet in the face. 
+
+“I — oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but 
+Ron — ” 
+
+“Harry’ll tell me and Hermione everything you say 
+anyway!” said Ron hotly. “Won’t — won’t you?” he 
+added uncertainly, meeting Harry’s eyes. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+For a split second, Harry considered telling Ron that 
+he wouldn’t tell him a single word, that he could try a 
+taste of being kept in the dark and see how he liked 
+it. But the nasty impulse vanished as they looked at 
+each other. 
+
+“ ’Course I will,” Harry said. Ron and Hermione 
+beamed. 
+
+“Fine!” shouted Mrs. Weasley. “Fine! Ginny — BED!” 
+
+Ginny did not go quietly. They could hear her raging 
+and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs, 
+and when she reached the hall Mrs. Black’s 
+earsplitting shrieks were added to the din. Lupin 
+hurried off to the portrait to restore calm. It was only 
+after he had returned, closing the kitchen door 
+behind him and taking his seat at the table again, 
+that Sirius spoke. 
+
+“Okay, Harry ... what do you want to know?” 
+
+Harry took a deep breath and asked the question that 
+had been obsessing him for a month. 
+
+“Where’s Voldemort? What’s he doing? I’ve been trying 
+to watch the Muggle news,” he said, ignoring the 
+renewed shudders and winces at the name, “and 
+there hasn’t been anything that looks like him yet, no 
+funny deaths or anything — ” 
+
+“That’s because there haven’t been any suspicious 
+deaths yet,” said Sirius, “not as far as we know, 
+anyway... And we know quite a lot.” 
+
+“More than he thinks we do anyway,” said Lupin. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“How come he’s stopped killing people?” Harry asked. 
+He knew that Voldemort had murdered more than 
+once in the last year alone. 
+
+“Because he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself 
+at the moment,” said Sirius. “It would be dangerous 
+for him. His comeback didn’t come off quite the way 
+he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up.” 
+
+“Or rather, you messed it up for him,” said Lupin with 
+a satisfied smile. 
+
+“How?” Harry asked perplexedly. 
+
+“You weren’t supposed to survive!” said Sirius. 
+“Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to 
+know he’d come back. But you survived to bear 
+witness.” 
+
+“And the very last person he wanted alerted to his 
+return the moment he got back was Dumbledore,” 
+said Lupin. “And you made sure Dumbledore knew at 
+once.” 
+
+“How has that helped?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Are you kidding?” said Bill incredulously. 
+“Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was 
+ever scared of!” 
+
+“Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the 
+Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort 
+returned,” said Sirius. 
+
+“So what’s the Order been doing?” said Harry, looking 
+around at them all. 
+
+“Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort 
+can’t carry out his plans,” said Sirius. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“How d’you know what his plans are?” Harry asked 
+quickly. 
+
+
+
+“Dumbledore’s got a shrewd idea,” said Lupin, “and 
+Dumbledore’s shrewd ideas normally turn out to be 
+accurate.” 
+
+“So what does Dumbledore reckon he’s planning?” 
+
+“Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again,” 
+said Sirius. “In the old days he had huge numbers at 
+his command; witches and wizards he’d bullied or 
+bewitched into following him, his faithful Death 
+Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard 
+him planning to recruit the giants; well, they’ll be just 
+one group he’s after. He’s certainly not going to try 
+and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen 
+Death Eaters.” 
+
+“So you’re trying to stop him getting more followers?” 
+“We’re doing our best,” said Lupin. 
+
+“How?” 
+
+“Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many 
+people as possible that You-Know-Who really has 
+returned, to put them on their guard,” said Bill. “It’s 
+proving tricky, though.” 
+
+“Why?” 
+
+“Because of the Ministry’s attitude,” said Tonks. “You 
+saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, 
+Harry. Well, he hasn’t shifted his position at all. He’s 
+absolutely refusing to believe it’s happened.” 
+
+“But why?” said Harry desperately. “Why’s he being 
+so stupid? If Dumbledore — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Ah, well, you’ve put your finger on the problem,” said 
+Mr. Weasley with a wry smile. “Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Fudge is frightened of him, you see,” said Tonks 
+sadly. 
+
+“Frightened of Dumbledore?” said Harry 
+incredulously. 
+
+“Frightened of what he’s up to,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+“You see, Fudge thinks Dumbledore’s plotting to 
+overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be 
+Minister of Magic.” 
+
+“But Dumbledore doesn’t want — ” 
+
+“Of course he doesn’t,” said Mr. Weasley. “He’s never 
+wanted the Minister’s job, even though a lot of people 
+wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. 
+Fudge came to power instead, but he’s never quite 
+forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore 
+had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the 
+job.” 
+
+“Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore’s much 
+cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, 
+and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever 
+asking Dumbledore for help and advice,” said Lupin. 
+“But it seems that he’s become fond of power now, 
+and much more confident. He loves being Minister of 
+Magic, and he’s managed to convince himself that 
+he’s the clever one and Dumbledore’s simply stirring 
+up trouble for the sake of it.” 
+
+“How can he think that?” said Harry angrily. “How 
+can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up — 
+that I’d make it all up?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Because accepting that Voldemort’s back would 
+mean trouble like the Ministry hasn’t had to cope 
+with for nearly fourteen years,” said Sirius bitterly. 
+“Fudge just can’t bring himself to face it. It’s so much 
+more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore’s 
+lying to destabilize him.” 
+
+“You see the problem,” said Lupin. “While the 
+Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from 
+Voldemort, it’s hard to convince people he’s back, 
+especially as they really don’t want to believe it in the 
+first place. What’s more, the Ministry’s leaning heavily 
+on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they’re 
+calling Dumbledore’s rumormongering, so most of the 
+Wizarding community are completely unaware 
+anything’s happened, and that makes them easy 
+targets for the Death Eaters if they’re using the 
+Imperius Curse.” 
+
+“But you’re telling people, aren’t you?” said Harry, 
+looking around at Mr. Weasley, Sirius, Bill, 
+Mundungus, Lupin, and Tonks. “You’re letting people 
+know he’s back?” 
+
+They all smiled humorlessly. 
+
+“Well, as everyone thinks I’m a mad mass murderer 
+and the Ministry’s put a ten-thousand-Galleon price 
+on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start 
+handing out leaflets, can I?” said Sirius restlessly. 
+
+“And I’m not a very popular dinner guest with most of 
+the community,” said Lupin. “It’s an occupational 
+hazard of being a werewolf.” 
+
+“Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the 
+Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off,” 
+said Sirius, “and it’s very important for us to have 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet 
+Voldemort will have them.” 
+
+“We’ve managed to convince a couple of people, 
+though,” said Mr. Weasley. “Tonks here, for one — 
+she’s too young to have been in the Order of the 
+Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a 
+huge advantage — Kingsley Shacklebolt’s been a real 
+asset too. He’s in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he’s 
+been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in 
+Tibet.” 
+
+“But if none of you’s putting the news out that 
+Voldemort ’s back — ” Harry began. 
+
+“Who said none of us was putting the news out?” said 
+Sirius. “Why d’you think Dumbledore’s in such 
+trouble?” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” Harry asked. 
+
+“They’re trying to discredit him,” said Lupin. “Didn’t 
+you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported 
+that he’d been voted out of the Chairmanship of the 
+International Confederation of Wizards because he’s 
+getting old and losing his grip, but it’s not true, he 
+was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a 
+speech announcing Voldemort’s return. They’ve 
+demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot 
+— that’s the Wizard High Court — and they’re talking 
+about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, 
+too.” 
+
+“But Dumbledore says he doesn’t care what they do 
+as long as they don’t take him off the Chocolate Frog 
+cards,” said Bill, grinning. 
+
+“It’s no laughing matter,” said Mr. Weasley shortly. “If 
+he carries on defying the Ministry like this, he could 
+
+Page | 124Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+end up in Azkaban and the last thing we want is 
+Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows 
+Dumbledore’s out there and wise to what he’s up to, 
+he’s going to go cautiously for a while. If 
+Dumbledore’s out of the way — well, You-Know-Who 
+will have a clear field.” 
+
+“But if Voldemort’s trying to recruit more Death 
+Eaters, it’s bound to get out that he’s come back, isn’t 
+it?” asked Harry desperately. 
+
+“Voldemort doesn’t march up to people’s houses and 
+bang on their front doors, Harry,” said Sirius. “He 
+tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He’s well- 
+practiced at operating in secrecy. In any case, 
+gathering followers is only one thing he’s interested 
+in, he’s got other plans too, plans he can put into 
+operation very quietly indeed, and he’s concentrating 
+on them at the moment.” 
+
+“What’s he after apart from followers?” Harry asked 
+swiftly. 
+
+He thought he saw Sirius and Lupin exchange the 
+most fleeting of looks before Sirius said, “Stuff he can 
+only get by stealth.” 
+
+When Harry continued to look puzzled, Sirius said, 
+“Like a weapon. Something he didn’t have last time.” 
+
+“When he was powerful before?” 
+
+“Yes.” 
+
+“Like what kind of weapon?” said Harry. “Something 
+worse than the Avada Kedavra — ?” 
+
+“That’s enough.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Mrs. Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the 
+door. Harry had not noticed her return from taking 
+Ginny upstairs. Her arms were crossed and she 
+looked furious. 
+
+“I want you in bed, now. All of you,” she added, 
+looking around at Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione. 
+
+“You can’t boss us — ” Fred began. 
+
+“Watch me,” snarled Mrs. Weasley. She was trembling 
+slightly as she looked at Sirius. “You’ve given Harry 
+plenty of information. Any more and you might just 
+as well induct him into the Order straightaway.” 
+
+“Why not?” said Harry quickly. “I’ll join, I want to join, 
+I want to fight — ” 
+
+“No.” 
+
+It was not Mrs. Weasley who spoke this time, but 
+Lupin. 
+
+“The Order is comprised only of overage wizards,” he 
+said. “Wizards who have left school,” he added, as 
+Fred and George opened their mouths. “There are 
+dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any 
+of you ... I think Molly’s right, Sirius. We’ve said 
+enough.” 
+
+Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Mrs. Weasley 
+beckoned imperiously to her sons and Hermione. One 
+by one they stood up and Harry, recognizing defeat, 
+followed suit. 
+
+
+
+Page | 126Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT 
+HOUSE OF BLACK 
+
+Mrs. Weasley followed them upstairs looking grim. 
+
+“I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking,” she 
+said as they reached the first landing. “We’ve got a 
+busy day tomorrow. I expect Ginny’s asleep,” she 
+added to Hermione, “so try not to wake her up.” 
+
+“Asleep, yeah, right,” said Fred in an undertone, after 
+Hermione bade them good night and they were 
+climbing to the next floor. “If Ginny’s not lying awake 
+waiting for Hermione to tell her everything they said 
+downstairs, then I’m a flobberworm...” 
+
+“All right, Ron, Harry,” said Mrs. Weasley on the 
+second landing, pointing them into their bedroom. 
+
+“Off to bed with you.” 
+
+“ ’Night,” Harry and Ron said to the twins. 
+
+“Sleep tight,” said Fred, winking. 
+
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+
+
+
+Mrs. Weasley closed the door behind Harry with a 
+sharp snap. The bedroom looked, if anything, even 
+danker and gloomier than it had on first sight. The 
+blank picture on the wall was now breathing very 
+slowly and deeply, as though its invisible occupant 
+was asleep. Harry put on his pajamas, took off his 
+glasses, and climbed into his chilly bed while Ron 
+threw Owl Treats up on top of the wardrobe to pacify 
+Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, who were clattering around 
+and rustling their wings restlessly. 
+
+“We can’t let them out to hunt every night,” Ron 
+explained as he pulled on his maroon pajamas. 
+“Dumbledore doesn’t want too many owls swooping 
+around the square, thinks it’ll look suspicious. Oh 
+yeah ... I forgot...” 
+
+He crossed to the door and bolted it. 
+
+“What ’re you doing that for?” 
+
+“Kreacher,” said Ron as he turned off the light. “First 
+night I was here he came wandering in at three in the 
+morning. Trust me, you don’t want to wake up and 
+find him prowling around your room. Anyway ...” He 
+got into his bed, settled down under the covers, then 
+turned to look at Harry in the darkness. Harry could 
+see his outline by the moonlight filtering in through 
+the grimy window. “What d’you reckon?” 
+
+Harry didn’t need to ask what Ron meant. 
+
+“Well, they didn’t tell us much we couldn’t have 
+guessed, did they?” he said, thinking of all that had 
+been said downstairs. “I mean, all they’ve really said 
+is that the Order’s trying to stop people joining Vol — ” 
+
+There was a sharp intake of breath from Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — demort” said Harry firmly. “When are you going to 
+start using his name? Sirius and Lupin do.” 
+
+
+
+Ron ignored this last comment. “Yeah, you’re right,” 
+he said. “We already knew nearly everything they told 
+us, from using the Extendable Ears. The only new bit 
+was — ” 
+
+Crack. 
+
+“OUCH!” 
+
+“Keep your voice down, Ron, or Mum’ll be back up 
+here.” 
+
+“You two just Apparated on my knees!” 
+
+“Yeah, well, it’s harder in the dark — ” 
+
+Harry saw the blurred outlines of Fred and George 
+leaping down from Ron’s bed. There was a groan of 
+bedsprings and Harry’s mattress descended a few 
+inches as George sat down near his feet. 
+
+“So, got there yet?” said George eagerly. 
+
+“The weapon Sirius mentioned?” said Harry. 
+
+“Let slip, more like,” said Fred with relish, now sitting 
+next to Ron. “We didn’t hear about that on the old 
+Extendables, did we?” 
+
+“What d’you reckon it is?” said Harry. 
+
+“Could be anything,” said Fred. 
+
+“But there can’t be anything worse than the Avada 
+Kedavra curse, can there?” said Ron. “What’s worse 
+than death?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Maybe it’s something that can kill loads of people at 
+once,” suggested George. 
+
+“Maybe it’s some particularly painful way of killing 
+people,” said Ron fearfully. 
+
+“He’s got the Cruciatus Curse for causing pain,” said 
+Harry. “He doesn’t need anything more efficient than 
+that.” 
+
+There was a pause and Harry knew that the others, 
+like him, were wondering what horrors this weapon 
+could perpetrate. 
+
+“So who d’you thinks got it now?” asked George. 
+
+“I hope it’s our side,” said Ron, sounding slightly 
+nervous. 
+
+“If it is, Dumbledore’s probably keeping it,” said Fred. 
+
+“Where?” said Ron quickly. “Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Bet it is!” said George. “That’s where he hid the 
+Sorcerer’s Stone!” 
+
+“A weapon’s going to be a lot bigger than the Stone, 
+though!” said Ron. 
+
+“Not necessarily,” said Fred. 
+
+“Yeah, size is no guarantee of power,” said George. 
+“Look at Ginny.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry. 
+
+“You’ve never been on the receiving end of one of her 
+Bat-Bogey Hexes, have you?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Shhh!” said Fred, half-rising from the bed. “Listen!” 
+
+
+
+They fell silent. Footsteps were coming up the stairs 
+again. 
+
+“Mum,” said George, and without further ado there 
+was a loud crack and Harry felt the weight vanish 
+from the end of his bed. A few seconds later and they 
+heard the floorboard creak outside their door; Mrs. 
+Weasley was plainly listening to see whether they 
+were talking or not. 
+
+Hedwig and Pigwidgeon hooted dolefully. The 
+floorboard creaked again and they heard her heading 
+upstairs to check on Fred and George. 
+
+“She doesn’t trust us at all, you know,” said Ron 
+regretfully. 
+
+Harry was sure he would not be able to fall asleep; 
+the evening had been so packed with things to think 
+about that he fully expected to lie awake for hours 
+mulling it all over. He wanted to continue talking to 
+Ron, but Mrs. Weasley was now creaking back 
+downstairs again, and once she had gone he distinctly 
+heard others making their way upstairs... In fact, 
+many-legged creatures were cantering softly up and 
+down outside the bedroom door, and Hagrid, the Care 
+of Magical Creatures teacher, was saying, “Beauties, 
+aren’ they, eh, Harry? We’ll be study in’ weapons this 
+term...” And Harry saw that the creatures had 
+cannons for heads and were wheeling to face him... 
+
+He ducked... 
+
+The next thing he knew, he was curled in a warm ball 
+under his bedclothes, and George’s loud voice was 
+filling the room. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Mum says get up, your breakfast is in the kitchen 
+and then she needs you in the drawing room, there 
+are loads more doxies than she thought and she’s 
+found a nest of dead puffskeins under the sofa.” 
+
+Half an hour later, Harry and Ron, who had dressed 
+and breakfasted quickly, entered the drawing room, a 
+long, high-ceilinged room on the first floor with olive- 
+green walls covered in dirty tapestries. The carpet 
+exhaled little clouds of dust every time someone put 
+their foot on it and the long, moss-green velvet 
+curtains were buzzing as though swarming with 
+invisible bees. It was around these that Mrs. Weasley, 
+Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George were grouped, all 
+looking rather peculiar, as they had tied cloths over 
+their noses and mouths. Each of them was also 
+holding a large bottle of black liquid with a nozzle at 
+the end. 
+
+“Cover your faces and take a spray,” Mrs. Weasley 
+said to Harry and Ron the moment she saw them, 
+pointing to two more bottles of black liquid standing 
+on a spindle-legged table. “It’s Doxycide. I’ve never 
+seen an infestation this bad — what that house-elf’s 
+been doing for the last ten years — ” 
+
+Hermione ’s face was half concealed by a tea towel but 
+Harry distinctly saw her throw a reproachful look at 
+Mrs. Weasley at these words. 
+
+“Kreacher’s really old, he probably couldn’t manage — 
+
+
+
+“You’d be surprised what Kreacher can manage when 
+he wants to, Hermione,” said Sirius, who had just 
+entered the room carrying a bloodstained bag of what 
+appeared to be dead rats. “I’ve just been feeding 
+Buckbeak,” he added, in reply to Harry’s inquiring 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+look. “I keep him upstairs in my mother’s bedroom. 
+Anyway ... this writing desk ...” 
+
+He dropped the bag of rats onto an armchair, then 
+bent over to examine the locked cabinet which, Harry 
+now noticed for the first time, was shaking slightly. 
+
+“Well, Molly, I’m pretty sure this is a boggart,” said 
+Sirius, peering through the keyhole, “but perhaps we 
+ought to let Mad-Eye have a shifty at it before we let it 
+out — knowing my mother it could be something 
+much worse.” 
+
+“Right you are, Sirius,” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+They were both speaking in carefully light, polite 
+voices that told Harry quite plainly that neither had 
+forgotten their disagreement of the night before. 
+
+A loud, clanging bell sounded from downstairs, 
+followed at once by the cacophony of screams and 
+wails that had been triggered the previous night by 
+Tonks knocking over the umbrella stand. 
+
+“I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell!” said 
+Sirius exasperatedly, hurrying back out of the room. 
+They heard him thundering down the stairs as Mrs. 
+Black’s screeches echoed up through the house once 
+more: “Stains of dishonor, filthy half-breeds, blood 
+traitors, children of filth ...” 
+
+“Close the door, please, Harry,” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Harry took as much time as he dared to close the 
+drawing room door; he wanted to listen to what was 
+going on downstairs. Sirius had obviously managed to 
+shut the curtains over his mother’s portrait because 
+she had stopped screaming. He heard Sirius walking 
+down the hall, then the clattering of the chain on the 
+Page | 133Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+front door, and then a deep voice he recognized as 
+Kingsley Shacklebolt’s saying, “Hestia’s just relieved 
+me, so she’s got Moody’s cloak now, thought I’d leave 
+a report for Dumbledore...” 
+
+Feeling Mrs. Weasley’s eyes on the back of his head, 
+Harry regretfully closed the drawing room door and 
+rejoined the doxy party. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley was bending over to check the page on 
+doxies in Gilderoy Lockhart’s Guide to Household 
+Pests, which was lying open on the sofa. 
+
+“Right, you lot, you need to be careful, because doxies 
+bite and their teeth are poisonous. I’ve got a bottle of 
+antidote here, but I’d rather nobody needed it.” 
+
+She straightened up, positioned herself squarely in 
+front of the curtains, and beckoned them all forward. 
+
+“When I say the word, start spraying immediately,” 
+she said. “They’ll come flying out at us, I expect, but it 
+says on the sprays one good squirt will paralyze them. 
+When they’re immobilized, just throw them in this 
+bucket.” 
+
+She stepped carefully out of their line of fire and 
+raised her own spray. “All right — squirti” 
+
+Harry had been spraying only a few seconds when a 
+fully grown doxy came soaring out of a fold in the 
+material, shiny beetlelike wings whirring, tiny needle- 
+sharp teeth bared, its fairylike body covered with 
+thick black hair and its four tiny fists clenched with 
+fury. Harry caught it full in the face with a blast of 
+Doxycide; it froze in midair and fell, with a 
+surprisingly loud thunk, onto the worn carpet below. 
+Harry picked it up and threw it in the bucket. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Fred, what are you doing?” said Mrs. Weasley 
+sharply. “Spray that at once and throw it away!” 
+
+Harry looked around. Fred was holding a struggling 
+doxy between his forefinger and thumb. 
+
+“Right-o,” Fred said brightly, spraying the doxy 
+quickly in the face so that it fainted, but the moment 
+Mrs. Weasley’s back was turned he pocketed it with a 
+wink. 
+
+“We want to experiment with doxy venom for our 
+Skiving Snack-boxes,” George told Harry under his 
+breath. 
+
+Deftly spraying two doxies at once as they soared 
+straight for his nose, Harry moved closer to George 
+and muttered out of the corner of his mouth, “What 
+are Skiving Snackboxes?” 
+
+“Range of sweets to make you ill,” George whispered, 
+keeping a wary eye on Mrs. Weasley’s back. “Not 
+seriously ill, mind, just ill enough to get you out of a 
+class when you feel like it. Fred and I have been 
+developing them this summer. They’re double-ended, 
+color-coded chews. If you eat the orange half of the 
+Puking Pastilles, you throw up. Moment you’ve been 
+rushed out of the lesson for the hospital wing, you 
+swallow the purple half — ” 
+
+“ ‘ — which restores you to full fitness, enabling you to 
+pursue the leisure activity of your own choice during 
+an hour that would otherwise have been devoted to 
+unprofitable boredom.’ That’s what we’re putting in 
+the adverts, anyway,” whispered Fred, who had edged 
+over out of Mrs. Weasley’s line of vision and was now 
+sweeping a few stray doxies from the floor and adding 
+them to his pocket. “But they still need a bit of work. 
+At the moment our testers are having a bit of trouble 
+Page | 135Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+stopping puking long enough to swallow the purple 
+end.” 
+
+
+
+“Testers?” 
+
+“Us,” said Fred. “We take it in turns. George did the 
+Fainting Fancies — we both tried the Nosebleed 
+Nougat — ” 
+
+“Mum thought we’d been dueling,” said George. 
+
+“Joke shop still on, then?” Harry muttered, 
+pretending to be adjusting the nozzle on his spray. 
+
+“Well, we haven’t had a chance to get premises yet,” 
+said Fred, dropping his voice even lower as Mrs. 
+Weasley mopped her brow with her scarf before 
+returning to the attack, “so we’re running it as a mail- 
+order service at the moment. We put advertisements 
+in the Daily Prophet last week.” 
+
+“All thanks to you, mate,” said George. “But don’t 
+worry ... Mum hasn’t got a clue. She won’t read the 
+Daily Prophet anymore, ’cause of it telling lies about 
+you and Dumbledore.” 
+
+Harry grinned. He had forced the Weasley twins to 
+take the thousand-Galleon prize money he had won 
+in the Triwizard Tournament to help them realize 
+their ambition to open a joke shop, but he was still 
+glad to know that his part in furthering their plans 
+was unknown to Mrs. Weasley, who did not think that 
+running a joke shop was a suitable career for two of 
+her sons. 
+
+The de-doxying of the curtains took most of the 
+morning. It was past midday when Mrs. Weasley 
+finally removed her protective scarf, sank into a 
+sagging armchair, and sprang up again with a cry of 
+
+Page | 136Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+disgust, having sat on the bag of dead rats. The 
+curtains were no longer buzzing; they hung limp and 
+damp from the intensive spraying; unconscious 
+doxies lay crammed in the bucket at the foot of them 
+beside a bowl of their black eggs, at which 
+Crookshanks was now sniffing and Fred and George 
+were shooting covetous looks. 
+
+“I think well tackle those after lunch.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley pointed at the dusty glass-fronted 
+cabinets standing on either side of the mantelpiece. 
+They were crammed with an odd assortment of 
+objects: a selection of rusty daggers, claws, a coiled 
+snakeskin, a number of tarnished silver boxes 
+inscribed with languages Harry could not understand 
+and, least pleasant of all, an ornate crystal bottle with 
+a large opal set into the stopper, full of what Harry 
+was quite sure was blood. 
+
+The clanging doorbell rang again. Everyone looked at 
+Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Stay here,” she said firmly, snatching up the bag of 
+rats as Mrs. Blacks screeches started up again from 
+down below. “I’ll bring up some sandwiches.” 
+
+She left the room, closing the door carefully behind 
+her. At once, everyone dashed over to the window to 
+look down onto the doorstep. They could see the top 
+of an unkempt gingery head and a stack of 
+precariously balanced cauldrons. 
+
+“Mundungus!” said Hermione. “What’s he brought all 
+those cauldrons for?” 
+
+“Probably looking for a safe place to keep them,” said 
+Harry. “Isn’t that what he was doing the night he was 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+supposed to be tailing me? Picking up dodgy 
+cauldrons?” 
+
+
+
+“Yeah, you’re right!” said Fred, as the front door 
+opened; Mundungus heaved his cauldrons through it 
+and disappeared from view. “Blimey, Mum won’t like 
+that...” 
+
+He and George crossed to the door and stood beside 
+it, listening intently. Mrs. Black’s screaming had 
+stopped again. 
+
+“Mundungus is talking to Sirius and Kingsley,” Fred 
+muttered, frowning with concentration. “Can’t hear 
+properly ... d’you reckon we can risk the Extendable 
+Ears?” 
+
+“Might be worth it,” said George. “I could sneak 
+upstairs and get a pair — ” 
+
+But at that precise moment there was an explosion of 
+sound from downstairs that rendered Extendable 
+Ears quite unnecessary. All of them could hear 
+exactly what Mrs. Weasley was shouting at the top of 
+her voice. 
+
+“WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN 
+GOODS!” 
+
+“I love hearing Mum shouting at someone else,” said 
+Fred, with a satisfied smile on his face as he opened 
+the door an inch or so to allow Mrs. Weasley ’s voice to 
+permeate the room better. “It makes such a nice 
+change.” 
+
+COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE 
+HAVENT GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT 
+WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS 
+INTO THE HOUSE — ” 
+
+Page | 138Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The idiots are letting her get into her stride,” said 
+George, shaking his head. “You’ve got to head her off 
+early, otherwise she builds up a head of steam and 
+goes on for hours. And she’s been dying to have a go 
+at Mundungus ever since he sneaked off when he was 
+supposed to be following you, Harry — and there goes 
+Sirius’s mum again — ” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley’s voice was lost amid fresh shrieks and 
+screams from the portraits in the hall. George made 
+to shut the door to drown the noise, but before he 
+could do so, a house-elf edged into the room. 
+
+Except for the filthy rag tied like a loincloth around 
+its middle, it was completely naked. It looked very old. 
+Its skin seemed to be several times too big for it and 
+though it was bald like all house-elves, there was a 
+quantity of white hair growing out of its large, batlike 
+ears. Its eyes were a bloodshot and watery gray, and 
+its fleshy nose was large and rather snoutlike. 
+
+The elf took absolutely no notice of Harry and the 
+rest. Acting as though it could not see them, it 
+shuffled hunchbacked, slowly and doggedly, toward 
+the far end of the room, muttering under its breath all 
+the while in a hoarse, deep voice like a bullfrog’s, "... 
+Smells like a drain and a criminal to boot, but she’s 
+no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats 
+messing up my Mistress’s house, oh my poor 
+Mistress, if she knew, if she knew the scum they’ve let 
+in her house, what would she say to old Kreacher, oh 
+the shame of it, Mudbloods and werewolves and 
+traitors and thieves, poor old Kreacher, what can he 
+do...” 
+
+“Hello, Kreacher,” said Fred very loudly, closing the 
+door with a snap. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The house-elf froze in his tracks, stopped muttering, 
+and then gave a very pronounced and very 
+unconvincing start of surprise. 
+
+“Kreacher did not see Young Master,” he said, turning 
+around and bowing to Fred. Still facing the carpet, he 
+added, perfectly audibly, “Nasty little brat of a blood 
+traitor it is.” 
+
+“Sorry?” said George. “Didn’t catch that last bit.” 
+
+“Kreacher said nothing,” said the elf, with a second 
+bow to George, adding in a clear undertone, “and 
+there’s its twin, unnatural little beasts they are.” 
+
+Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or not. The elf 
+straightened up, eyeing them all very malevolently, 
+and apparently convinced that they could not hear 
+him as he continued to mutter. 
+
+"... and there’s the Mudblood, standing there bold as 
+brass, oh if my Mistress knew, oh how she’d cry, and 
+there’s a new boy, Kreacher doesn’t know his name, 
+what is he doing here, Kreacher doesn’t know ...” 
+
+“This is Harry, Kreacher,” said Hermione tentatively. 
+“Harry Potter.” 
+
+Kreacher’s pale eyes widened and he muttered faster 
+and more furiously than ever. 
+
+“The Mudblood is talking to Kreacher as though she 
+is my friend, if Kreacher’s Mistress saw him in such 
+company, oh what would she say — ” 
+
+“Don’t call her a Mudblood!” said Ron and Ginny 
+together, very angrily. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It doesn’t matter,” Hermione whispered, “he’s not in 
+his right mind, he doesn’t know what he’s — ” 
+
+“Don’t kid yourself, Hermione, he knows exactly what 
+he’s saying,” said Fred, eyeing Kreacher with great 
+dislike. 
+
+Kreacher was still muttering, his eyes on Harry. 
+
+“Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the 
+scar, it must be true, that’s that boy who stopped the 
+Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it — ” 
+
+“Don’t we all, Kreacher?” said Fred. 
+
+“What do you want anyway?” George asked. 
+
+Kreacher ’s huge eyes darted onto George. 
+
+“Kreacher is cleaning,” he said evasively. 
+
+“A likely story,” said a voice behind Harry. 
+
+Sirius had come back; he was glowering at the elf 
+from the doorway. The noise in the hall had abated; 
+perhaps Mrs. Weasley and Mundungus had moved 
+their argument down into the kitchen. At the sight of 
+Sirius, Kreacher flung himself into a ridiculously low 
+bow that flattened his snoutlike nose on the floor. 
+
+“Stand up straight,” said Sirius impatiently. “Now, 
+what are you up to?” 
+
+“Kreacher is cleaning,” the elf repeated. “Kreacher 
+lives to serve the noble house of Black — ” 
+
+“ — and it’s getting blacker every day, it’s filthy,” said 
+Sirius. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Master always liked his little joke,” said Kreacher, 
+bowing again, and continuing in an undertone, 
+“Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his 
+mother’s heart — ” 
+
+“My mother didn’t have a heart, Kreacher,” Sirius 
+snapped. “She kept herself alive out of pure spite.” 
+
+Kreacher bowed again and said, “Whatever Master 
+says,” then muttered furiously, “Master is not fit to 
+wipe slime from his mother’s boots, oh my poor 
+Mistress, what would she say if she saw Kreacher 
+serving him, how she hated him, what a 
+disappointment he was — ” 
+
+“I asked you what you were up to,” said Sirius coldly. 
+“Every time you show up pretending to be cleaning, 
+you sneak something off to your room so we can’t 
+throw it out.” 
+
+“Kreacher would never move anything from its proper 
+place in Master’s house,” said the elf, then muttered 
+very fast, “Mistress would never forgive Kreacher if 
+the tapestry was thrown out, seven centuries it’s been 
+in the family, Kreacher must save it, Kreacher will not 
+let Master and the blood traitors and the brats 
+destroy it — ” 
+
+“I thought it might be that,” said Sirius, casting a 
+disdainful look at the opposite wall. “She’ll have put 
+another Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of it, 
+
+I don’t doubt, but if I can get rid of it I certainly will. 
+Now go away, Kreacher.” 
+
+It seemed that Kreacher did not dare disobey a direct 
+order; nevertheless, the look he gave Sirius as he 
+shuffled out past him was redolent of deepest loathing 
+and he muttered all the way out of the room. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher 
+around, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if 
+she saw the house now, scum living in it, her 
+treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of 
+hers and he’s back, they say he’s a murderer too — ” 
+
+“Keep muttering and I will be a murderer!” said Sirius 
+irritably, and he slammed the door shut on the elf. 
+
+“Sirius, he’s not right in the head,” said Hermione 
+pleadingly, “I don’t think he realizes we can hear 
+him.” 
+
+“He’s been alone too long,” said Sirius, “taking mad 
+orders from my mother’s portrait and talking to 
+himself, but he was always a foul little — ” 
+
+“If you just set him free,” said Hermione hopefully, 
+“maybe — ” 
+
+“We can’t set him free, he knows too much about the 
+Order,” said Sirius curtly. “And anyway, the shock 
+would kill him. You suggest to him that he leaves this 
+house, see how he takes it.” 
+
+Sirius walked across the room, where the tapestry 
+Kreacher had been trying to protect hung the length 
+of the wall. Harry and the others followed. 
+
+The tapestry looked immensely old; it was faded and 
+looked as though doxies had gnawed it in places; 
+nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was 
+embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show 
+them a sprawling family tree dating back (as far as 
+Harry could tell) to the Middle Ages. Large words at 
+the very top of the tapestry read: 
+
+THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK 
+
+
+
+Page | 143Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“TOUJOURS PUR” 
+
+
+
+“You’re not on here!” said Harry, after scanning the 
+bottom of the tree. 
+
+“I used to be there,” said Sirius, pointing at a small, 
+round, charred hole in the tapestry, rather like a 
+cigarette burn. “My sweet old mother blasted me off 
+after I ran away from home — Kreacher’s quite fond of 
+muttering the story under his breath.” 
+
+“You ran away from home?” 
+
+“When I was about sixteen,” said Sirius. “I’d had 
+enough.” 
+
+“Where did you go?” asked Harry, staring at him. 
+
+“Your dad’s place,” said Sirius. “Your grandparents 
+were really good about it; they sort of adopted me as a 
+second son. Yeah, I camped out at your dad’s during 
+the school holidays, and then when I was seventeen I 
+got a place of my own, my Uncle Alphard had left me 
+a decent bit of gold — he’s been wiped off here too, 
+that’s probably why — anyway, after that I looked 
+after myself. I was always welcome at Mr. and Mrs. 
+Potter’s for Sunday lunch, though.” 
+
+“But . . . why did you ... ?” 
+
+“Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand 
+through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the 
+whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood 
+mania, convinced that to be a Black made you 
+practically royal . . . my idiot brother, soft enough to 
+believe them ... that’s him.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, 
+at the name REGULUS BLACK. A date of death (some 
+fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth. 
+
+“He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much 
+better son, as I was constantly reminded.” 
+
+“But he died,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Sirius. “Stupid idiot ... he joined the 
+Death Eaters.” 
+
+“You’re kidding!” 
+
+“Come on, Harry, haven’t you seen enough of this 
+house to tell what kind of wizards my family were?” 
+said Sirius testily. 
+
+“Were — were your parents Death Eaters as well?” 
+
+“No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had 
+the right idea, they were all for the purification of the 
+Wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and 
+having purebloods in charge. They weren’t alone 
+either, there were quite a few people, before 
+Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought he 
+had the right idea about things... They got cold feet 
+when they saw what he was prepared to do to get 
+power, though. But I bet my parents thought Regulus 
+was a right little hero for joining up at first.” 
+
+“Was he killed by an Auror?” Harry asked tentatively. 
+
+“Oh no,” said Sirius. “No, he was murdered by 
+Voldemort. Or on Voldemort’s orders, more likely, I 
+doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed 
+by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after 
+he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he 
+was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you 
+Page | 145Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+don’t just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It’s 
+a lifetime of service or death.” 
+
+“Lunch,” said Mrs. Weasley’s voice. 
+
+She was holding her wand high in front of her, 
+balancing a huge tray loaded with sandwiches and 
+cake on its tip. She was very red in the face and still 
+looked angry. The others moved over to her, eager for 
+some food, but Harry remained with Sirius, who had 
+bent closer to the tapestry. 
+
+“I haven’t looked at this for years. There’s Phineas 
+Nigellus ... my great-great-grandfather, see? Least 
+popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had . . . and 
+Araminta Meliflua . . . cousin of my mother’s . . . tried to 
+force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting 
+legal . . . and dear Aunt Elladora . . . she started the 
+family tradition of beheading house-elves when they 
+got too old to carry tea trays ... of course, anytime the 
+family produced someone halfway decent they were 
+disowned. I see Tonks isn’t on here. Maybe that’s why 
+Kreacher won’t take orders from her — he’s supposed 
+to do whatever anyone in the family asks him...” 
+
+“You and Tonks are related?” Harry asked, surprised. 
+
+“Oh yeah, her mother, Andromeda, was my favorite 
+cousin,” said Sirius, examining the tapestry carefully. 
+“No, Andromeda’s not on here either, look — ” 
+
+He pointed to another small round burn mark 
+between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa. 
+
+“Andromeda’s sisters are still here because they made 
+lovely, respectable pure-blood marriages, but 
+Andromeda married a Muggle-born, Ted Tonks, so — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Sirius mimed blasting the tapestry with a wand and 
+laughed sourly. Harry, however, did not laugh; he was 
+too busy staring at the names to the right of 
+Andromeda’s burn mark. A double line of gold 
+embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy, 
+and a single vertical gold line from their names led to 
+the name Draco. 
+
+“You’re related to the Malfoys!” 
+
+“The pure-blood families are all interrelated,” said 
+Sirius. “If you’re only going to let your sons and 
+daughters marry purebloods your choice is very 
+limited, there are hardly any of us left. Molly and I are 
+cousins by marriage and Arthur’s something like my 
+second cousin once removed. But there’s no point 
+looking for them on here — if ever a family was a 
+bunch of blood traitors it’s the Weasleys.” 
+
+But Harry was now looking at the name to the left of 
+Andromeda’s burn: Bellatrix Black, which was 
+connected by a double line to Rodolphus Lestrange. 
+
+“Lestrange ...” Harry said aloud. The name had 
+stirred something in his memory; he knew it from 
+somewhere, but for a moment he couldn’t think 
+where, though it gave him an odd, creeping sensation 
+in the pit of his stomach. 
+
+“They’re in Azkaban,” said Sirius shortly. 
+
+Harry looked at him curiously. 
+
+“Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with 
+Barty Crouch, Junior,” said Sirius in the same 
+brusque voice. “Rodolphus ’s brother, Rabastan, was 
+with them too.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+And Harry remembered: He had seen Bellatrix 
+Lestrange inside Dumbledore’s Pensieve, the strange 
+device in which thoughts and memories could be 
+stored: a tall dark woman with heavy-lidded eyes, 
+who had stood at her trial and proclaimed her 
+continuing allegiance to Lord Voldemort, her pride 
+that she had tried to find him after his downfall and 
+her conviction that she would one day be rewarded 
+for her loyalty. 
+
+“You never said she was your — ” 
+
+“Does it matter if she’s my cousin?” snapped Sirius. 
+“As far as I’m concerned, they’re not my family. She’s 
+certainly not my family. I haven’t seen her since I was 
+your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming in 
+to Azkaban. D’you think I’m proud of having relatives 
+like her?” 
+
+“Sorry,” said Harry quickly, “I didn’t mean — I was 
+just surprised, that’s all — ” 
+
+“It doesn’t matter, don’t apologize,” Sirius mumbled at 
+once. He turned away from the tapestry, his hands 
+deep in his pockets. “I don’t like being back here,” he 
+said, staring across the drawing room. “I never 
+thought I’d be stuck in this house again.” 
+
+Harry understood completely. He knew how he would 
+feel if forced, when he was grown up and thought he 
+was free of the place forever, to return and live at 
+number four, Privet Drive. 
+
+“It’s ideal for headquarters, of course,” Sirius said. 
+
+“My father put every security measure known to 
+Wizard-kind on it when he lived here. It’s Unplottable, 
+so Muggles could never come and call — as if they’d 
+have wanted to — and now Dumbledore’s added his 
+protection, you’d be hard put to find a safer house 
+Page | 148Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+anywhere. Dumbledore’s Secret-Keeper for the Order, 
+you know — nobody can find headquarters unless he 
+tells them personally where it is — that note Moody 
+showed you last night, that was from Dumbledore...” 
+Sirius gave a short, barklike laugh. “If my parents 
+could see the use it was being put to now ... well, my 
+mother’s portrait should give you some idea...” 
+
+He scowled for a moment, then sighed. 
+
+“I wouldn’t mind if I could just get out occasionally 
+and do something useful. I’ve asked Dumbledore 
+whether I can escort you to your hearing — as 
+Snuffles, obviously — so I can give you a bit of moral 
+support, what d’you think?” 
+
+Harry felt as though his stomach had sunk through 
+the dusty carpet. He had not thought about the 
+hearing once since dinner the previous evening; in the 
+excitement of being back with the people he liked 
+best, of hearing everything that was going on, it had 
+completely flown his mind. At Sirius’s words, 
+however, the crushing sense of dread returned to 
+him. He stared at Hermione and the Weasleys, all 
+tucking into their sandwiches, and thought how he 
+would feel if they went back to Hogwarts without him. 
+
+“Don’t worry,” Sirius said. Harry looked up and 
+realized that Sirius had been watching him. “I’m sure 
+they’re going to clear you, there’s definitely something 
+in the International Statute of Secrecy about being 
+allowed to use magic to save your own life.” 
+
+“But if they do expel me,” said Harry, quietly, “can I 
+come back here and live with you?” 
+
+Sirius smiled sadly. 
+
+“We’ll see.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’d feel a lot better about the hearing if I knew I didn’t 
+have to go back to the Dursleys,” Harry pressed him. 
+
+
+
+“They must be bad if you prefer this place,” said 
+Sirius gloomily. 
+
+“Hurry up, you two, or there won’t be any food left,” 
+Mrs. Weasley called. 
+
+Sirius heaved another great sigh, cast a dark look at 
+the tapestry, and he and Harry went to join the 
+others. 
+
+Harry tried his best not to think about the hearing 
+while they emptied the glass cabinets that afternoon. 
+Fortunately for him, it was a job that required a lot of 
+concentration, as many of the objects in there seemed 
+very reluctant to leave their dusty shelves. Sirius 
+sustained a bad bite from a silver snuffbox; within 
+seconds, his bitten hand had developed an 
+unpleasant crusty covering like a tough brown glove. 
+
+“It’s okay,” he said, examining the hand with interest 
+before tapping it lightly with his wand and restoring 
+its skin to normal, “must be Wartcap powder in 
+there.” 
+
+He threw the box aside into the sack where they were 
+depositing the debris from the cabinets; Harry saw 
+George wrap his own hand carefully in a cloth 
+moments later and sneak the box into his already 
+doxy-filled pocket. 
+
+They found an unpleasant-looking silver instrument, 
+something like a many-legged pair of tweezers, which 
+scuttled up Harry’s arm like a spider when he picked 
+it up, and attempted to puncture his skin; Sirius 
+seized it and smashed it with a heavy book entitled 
+Nature’s Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. There was a 
+Page | 150Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+musical box that emitted a faintly sinister, tinkling 
+tune when wound, and they all found themselves 
+becoming curiously weak and sleepy until Ginny had 
+the sense to slam the lid shut; also a heavy locket 
+that none of them could open, a number of ancient 
+seals and, in a dusty box, an Order of Merlin, First 
+Class, that had been awarded to Sirius’s grandfather 
+for “Services to the Ministry.” 
+
+“It means he gave them a load of gold,” said Sirius 
+contemptuously, throwing the medal into the rubbish 
+sack. 
+
+Several times, Kreacher sidled into the room and 
+attempted to smuggle things away under his 
+loincloth, muttering horrible curses every time they 
+caught him at it. When Sirius wrested a large golden 
+ring bearing the Black crest from his grip Kreacher 
+actually burst into furious tears and left the room 
+sobbing under his breath and calling Sirius names 
+Harry had never heard before. 
+
+“It was my father’s,” said Sirius, throwing the ring 
+into the sack. “Kreacher wasn’t quite as devoted to 
+him as to my mother, but I still caught him snogging 
+a pair of my father’s old trousers last week.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley kept them all working very hard over 
+the next few days. The drawing room took three days 
+to decontaminate; finally the only undesirable things 
+left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, 
+which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the 
+wall, and the rattling writing desk; Moody had not 
+dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be 
+sure what was inside it. 
+
+They moved from the drawing room to a dining room 
+on the ground floor where they found spiders large as 
+saucers lurking in the dresser (Ron left the room 
+
+Page | 151Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hurriedly to make a cup of tea and did not return for 
+an hour and a half) . The china, which bore the Black 
+crest and motto, was all thrown unceremoniously into 
+a sack by Sirius, and the same fate met a set of old 
+photographs in tarnished silver frames, all of whose 
+occupants squealed shrilly as the glass covering them 
+smashed. 
+
+Snape might refer to their work as “cleaning,” but in 
+Harry’s opinion they were really waging war on the 
+house, which was putting up a very good fight, aided 
+and abetted by Kreacher. The house-elf kept 
+appearing wherever they were congregated, his 
+muttering becoming more and more offensive as he 
+attempted to remove anything he could from the 
+rubbish sacks. Sirius went as far as to threaten him 
+with clothes, but Kreacher fixed him with a watery 
+stare and said, “Master must do as Master wishes,” 
+before turning away and muttering very loudly, “but 
+Master will not turn Kreacher away, no, because 
+Kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is 
+plotting against the Dark Lord, yes, with these 
+Mudbloods and traitors and scum...” 
+
+At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione’s protests, seized 
+Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him 
+bodily from the room. 
+
+The doorbell rang several times a day, which was the 
+cue for Sirius’s mother to start shrieking again, and 
+for Harry and the others to attempt to eavesdrop on 
+the visitor, though they gleaned very little from the 
+brief glimpses and snatches of conversation they were 
+able to sneak before Mrs. Weasley recalled them to 
+their tasks. Snape flitted in and out of the house 
+several times more, though to Harry’s relief they never 
+came face-to-face; he also caught sight of his 
+Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, 
+
+
+
+Page | 152Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+looking very odd in a Muggle dress and coat, though 
+she also seemed too busy to linger. 
+
+Sometimes, however, the visitors stayed to help; 
+
+Tonks joined them for a memorable afternoon in 
+which they found a murderous old ghoul lurking in 
+an upstairs toilet, and Lupin, who was staying in the 
+house with Sirius but who left it for long periods to do 
+mysterious work for the Order, helped them repair a 
+grandfather clock that had developed the unpleasant 
+habit of shooting heavy bolts at passersby. 
+Mundungus redeemed himself slightly in Mrs. 
+Weasley’s eyes by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of 
+purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he 
+removed them from their wardrobe. 
+
+Despite the fact that he was still sleeping badly, still 
+having dreams about corridors and locked doors that 
+made his scar prickle, Harry was managing to have 
+fun for the first time all summer. As long as he was 
+busy he was happy; when the action abated, however, 
+whenever he dropped his guard, or lay exhausted in 
+bed watching blurred shadows move across the 
+ceiling, the thought of the looming Ministry hearing 
+returned to him. Fear jabbed at his insides like 
+needles as he wondered what was going to happen to 
+him if he was expelled. The idea was so terrible that 
+he did not dare voice it aloud, not even to Ron and 
+Hermione, who, though he often saw them whispering 
+together and casting anxious looks in his direction, 
+followed his lead in not mentioning it. Sometimes he 
+could not prevent his imagination showing him a 
+faceless Ministry official who was snapping his wand 
+in two and ordering him back to the Dursleys’ ... but 
+he would not go. He was determined on that. He 
+would come back here to Grimmauld Place and live 
+with Sirius. 
+
+
+
+Page | 153Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He felt as though a brick had dropped into his 
+stomach when Mrs. Weasley turned to him during 
+dinner on Wednesday evening and said quietly, “I’ve 
+ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, 
+
+Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight too. 
+
+A good first impression can work wonders.” 
+
+Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny all stopped 
+talking and looked over at him. Harry nodded and 
+tried to keep eating his chops, but his mouth had 
+become so dry he could not chew. 
+
+“How am I getting there?” he asked Mrs. Weasley, 
+trying to sound unconcerned. 
+
+“Arthur’s taking you to work with him,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley gently. 
+
+Mr. Weasley smiled encouragingly at Harry across the 
+table. 
+
+“You can wait in my office until it’s time for the 
+hearing,” he said. 
+
+Harry looked over at Sirius, but before he could ask 
+the question, Mrs. Weasley had answered it. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore doesn’t think it’s a good idea 
+for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I — ” 
+
+“ — think he’s quite right,” said Sirius through 
+clenched teeth. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips. 
+
+“When did Dumbledore tell you that?” Harry said, 
+staring at Sirius. 
+
+
+
+Page | 154Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He came last night, when you were in bed,” said Mr. 
+Weasley. 
+
+Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his fork. 
+Harry dropped his own eyes to his plate. The thought 
+that Dumbledore had been in the house on the eve of 
+his hearing and not asked to see him made him feel, 
+if that were possible, even worse. 
+
+
+
+Page | 155Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+7 
+
+
+
+
+THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC 
+
+Harry awoke at half-past five the next morning as 
+abruptly and completely as if somebody had yelled in 
+his ear. For a few moments he lay immobile as the 
+prospect of the hearing filled every tiny particle of his 
+brain, then, unable to bear it, he leapt out of bed and 
+put on his glasses. Mrs. Weasley had laid out his 
+freshly laundered jeans and T-shirt at the foot of his 
+bed. Harry scrambled into them. The blank picture on 
+the wall sniggered again. 
+
+Ron was lying sprawled on his back with his mouth 
+wide open, fast asleep. He did not stir as Harry 
+crossed the room, stepped out onto the landing, and 
+closed the door softly behind him. Trying not to think 
+of the next time he would see Ron, when they might 
+no longer be fellow students at Hogwarts, Harry 
+walked quietly down the stairs, past the heads of 
+Kreacher’s ancestors, and into the kitchen. 
+
+He had expected it to be empty, but it was not. When 
+he reached the door he heard the soft rumble of 
+voices on the other side and when he pushed it open 
+
+Page | 156Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+he saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Lupin, and 
+Tonks sitting there almost as though they were 
+waiting for him. All were fully dressed except Mrs. 
+Weasley, who was wearing a quilted, purple dressing 
+gown. She leapt to her feet the moment he entered. 
+
+“Breakfast,” she said as she pulled out her wand and 
+hurried over to the fire. 
+
+“M-m-morning, Harry,” yawned Tonks. Her hair was 
+blonde and curly this morning. “Sleep all right?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“I’ve b-b-been up all night,” she said, with another 
+shuddering yawn. “Come and sit down...” 
+
+She drew out a chair, knocking over the one beside it 
+in the process. 
+
+“What do you want, Harry?” Mrs. Weasley called. 
+“Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and eggs? 
+
+Toast?” 
+
+“Just — just toast, thanks,” said Harry. 
+
+Lupin glanced at Harry, then said to Tonks, “What 
+were you saying about Scrimgeour?” 
+
+“Oh ... yeah ... well, we need to be a bit more careful, 
+he’s been asking Kingsley and me funny questions...” 
+
+Harry felt vaguely grateful that he was not required to 
+join in the conversation. His insides were squirming. 
+Mrs. Weasley placed a couple of pieces of toast and 
+marmalade in front of him; he tried to eat, but it was 
+like chewing carpet. Mrs. Weasley sat down on his 
+other side and started fussing with his T-shirt, 
+
+
+
+Page | 157Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+tucking in the label and smoothing out creases across 
+the shoulders. He wished she wouldn’t. 
+
+"... and I’ll have to tell Dumbledore I can’t do night 
+duty tomorrow, I’m just t-t-too tired,” Tonks finished, 
+yawning hugely again. 
+
+“I’ll cover for you,” said Mr. Weasley. “I’m okay, I’ve 
+got a report to finish anyway...” 
+
+Mr. Weasley was not wearing wizard’s robes but a 
+pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. 
+He turned from Tonks to Harry. 
+
+“How are you feeling?” 
+
+Harry shrugged. 
+
+“It’ll all be over soon,” Mr. Weasley said bracingly. “In 
+a few hours’ time you’ll be cleared.” 
+
+Harry said nothing. 
+
+“The hearing’s on my floor, in Amelia Bones ’s office. 
+She’s Head of the Department of Magical Law 
+Enforcement and she’s the one who’ll be questioning 
+you.” 
+
+“Amelia Bones is okay, Harry,” said Tonks earnestly. 
+“She’s fair, she’ll hear you out.” 
+
+Harry nodded, still unable to think of anything to say. 
+
+“Don’t lose your temper,” said Sirius abruptly. “Be 
+polite and stick to the facts.” 
+
+Harry nodded again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 158Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The law’s on your side,” said Lupin quietly. “Even 
+underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life- 
+threatening situations.” 
+
+Something very cold trickled down the back of Harry’s 
+neck; for a moment he thought someone was putting 
+a Disillusionment Charm on him again, then he 
+realized that Mrs. Weasley was attacking his hair with 
+a wet comb. She pressed hard on the top of his head. 
+
+“Doesn’t it ever lie flat?” she said desperately. 
+
+Harry shook his head. 
+
+Mr. Weasley checked his watch and looked up at 
+Harry. 
+
+“I think we’ll go now,” he said. “We’re a bit early, but I 
+think you’ll be better off there than hanging around 
+here.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry automatically, dropping his toast 
+and getting to his feet. 
+
+“You’ll be all right, Harry,” said Tonks, patting him on 
+the arm. 
+
+“Good luck,” said Lupin. “I’m sure it will be fine.” 
+
+“And if it’s not,” said Sirius grimly, “I’ll see to Amelia 
+Bones for you...” 
+
+Harry smiled weakly. Mrs. Weasley hugged him. 
+
+“We’ve all got our fingers crossed,” she said. 
+
+“Right,” said Harry. “Well ... see you later then.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 159Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He followed Mr. Weasley upstairs and along the hall. 
+He could hear Sirius’s mother grunting in her sleep 
+behind her curtains. Mr. Weasley unbolted the door 
+and they stepped out into the cold, gray dawn. 
+
+“You don’t normally walk to work, do you?” Harry 
+asked him, as they set off briskly around the square. 
+
+“No, I usually Apparate,” said Mr. Weasley, “but 
+obviously you can’t, and I think it’s best we arrive in a 
+thoroughly non-magical fashion . . . makes a better 
+impression, given what you’re being disciplined for...” 
+
+Mr. Weasley kept his hand inside his jacket as they 
+walked. Harry knew it was clenched around his wand. 
+The run-down streets were almost deserted, but when 
+they arrived at the miserable little Underground 
+station they found it already full of early morning 
+commuters. As ever when he found himself in close 
+proximity to Muggles going about their daily business, 
+Mr. Weasley was hard put to contain his enthusiasm. 
+
+“Simply fabulous,” he whispered, indicating the 
+automatic ticket machines. “Wonderfully ingenious.” 
+
+“They’re out of order,” said Harry, pointing at the 
+sign. 
+
+“Yes, but even so ...” said Mr. Weasley, beaming 
+fondly at them. 
+
+They bought their tickets instead from a sleepy- 
+looking guard (Harry handled the transaction, as Mr. 
+Weasley was not very good with Muggle money) and 
+five minutes later they were boarding an Underground 
+train that rattled them off toward the center of 
+London. Mr. Weasley kept anxiously checking and 
+rechecking the Underground map above the windows. 
+
+
+
+Page | 160Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Four stops, Harry ... three stops left now ... two 
+stops to go, Harry ...” 
+
+They got off at a station in the very heart of London, 
+swept from the train in a tide of besuited men and 
+women carrying briefcases. Up the escalator they 
+went, through the ticket barrier (Mr. Weasley 
+delighted with the way the stile swallowed his ticket), 
+and emerged onto a broad street lined with imposing- 
+looking buildings, already full of traffic. 
+
+“Where are we?” said Mr. Weasley blankly, and for 
+one heart-stopping moment Harry thought they had 
+gotten off at the wrong station despite Mr. Weasley’s 
+continual references to the map; but a second later he 
+said, “Ah yes ... this way, Harry,” and led him down a 
+side road. 
+
+“Sorry,” he said, “but I never come by train and it all 
+looks rather different from a Muggle perspective. As a 
+matter of fact I’ve never even used the visitor’s 
+entrance before.” 
+
+The farther they walked, the smaller and less 
+imposing the buildings became, until finally they 
+reached a street that contained several rather 
+shabby-looking offices, a pub, and an overflowing 
+dumpster. Harry had expected a rather more 
+impressive location for the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+“Here we are,” said Mr. Weasley brightly, pointing at 
+an old red telephone box, which was missing several 
+panes of glass and stood before a heavily graffittied 
+wall. “After you, Harry.” 
+
+He opened the telephone box door. 
+
+Harry stepped inside, wondering what on earth this 
+was about. Mr. Weasley folded himself in beside Harry 
+
+Page | 161Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and closed the door. It was a tight fit; Harry was 
+jammed against the telephone apparatus, which was 
+hanging crookedly from the wall as though a vandal 
+had tried to rip it off. Mr. Weasley reached past Harry 
+for the receiver. 
+
+“Mr. Weasley, I think this might be out of order too,” 
+Harry said. 
+
+“No, no, I’m sure it’s fine,” said Mr. Weasley, holding 
+the receiver above his head and peering at the dial. 
+“Let’s see ... six ...” he dialed the number, “two ... four 
+... and another four ... and another two ...” 
+
+As the dial whirred smoothly back into place, a cool 
+female voice sounded inside the telephone box, not 
+from the receiver in Mr. Weasley’s hand, but as loudly 
+and plainly as though an invisible woman were 
+standing right beside them. 
+
+“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your 
+name and business.” 
+
+“Er ...” said Mr. Weasley, clearly uncertain whether he 
+should talk into the receiver or not; he compromised 
+by holding the mouthpiece to his ear, “Arthur 
+Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, here to 
+escort Harry Potter, who has been asked to attend a 
+disciplinary hearing...” 
+
+“Thank you,” said the cool female voice. “Visitor, 
+please take the badge and attach it to the front of 
+your robes.” 
+
+There was a click and a rattle, and Harry saw 
+something slide out of the metal chute where 
+returned coins usually appeared. He picked it up: It 
+was a square silver badge with Harry Potter, 
+
+
+
+Page | 162Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Disciplinary Hearing on it. He pinned it to the front of 
+his T-shirt as the female voice spoke again. 
+
+“Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to 
+a search and present your wand for registration at the 
+security desk, which is located at the far end of the 
+Atrium.” 
+
+The floor of the telephone box shuddered. They were 
+sinking slowly into the ground. Harry watched 
+apprehensively as the pavement rose up past the 
+glass windows of the telephone box until darkness 
+closed over their heads. Then he could see nothing at 
+all; he could only hear a dull grinding noise as the 
+telephone box made its way down through the earth. 
+After about a minute, though it felt much longer to 
+Harry, a chink of golden light illuminated his feet 
+and, widening, rose up his body, until it hit him in 
+the face and he had to blink to stop his eyes from 
+watering. 
+
+“The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day,” 
+said the woman’s voice. 
+
+The door of the telephone box sprang open and Mr. 
+Weasley stepped out of it, followed by Harry, whose 
+mouth had fallen open. 
+
+They were standing at one end of a very long and 
+splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. 
+The peacock-blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming 
+golden symbols that were continually moving and 
+changing like some enormous heavenly notice board. 
+The walls on each side were paneled in shiny dark 
+wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. 
+Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge 
+from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft 
+whoosh ; on the right-hand side, short queues of 
+
+
+
+Page | 163Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+wizards were forming before each fireplace, waiting to 
+depart. 
+
+Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of 
+golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the 
+middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a 
+noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight 
+up in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful 
+witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The last 
+three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and 
+wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the 
+ends of the two wands, the point of the centaur’s 
+arrow, the tip of the goblin’s hat, and each of the 
+house-elf’s ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling 
+water was added to the pops and cracks of 
+Apparators and the clatter of footsteps as hundreds of 
+witches and wizards, most of whom were wearing 
+glum, early-morning looks, strode toward a set of 
+golden gates at the far end of the hall. 
+
+“This way,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+They joined the throng, wending their way between 
+the Ministry workers, some of whom were carrying 
+tottering piles of parchment, others battered 
+briefcases, still others reading the Daily Prophet as 
+they walked. As they passed the fountain Harry saw 
+silver Sickles and bronze Knuts glinting up at him 
+from the bottom of the pool. A small, smudged sign 
+beside it read: 
+
+All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren will 
+be given to 
+
+St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries 
+
+If I’m not expelled from Hogwarts, I’ll put in ten 
+Galleons, Harry found himself thinking desperately. 
+
+
+
+Page | 164Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Over here, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley, and they 
+stepped out of the stream of Ministry employees 
+heading for the golden gates, toward a desk on the 
+left, over which hung a sign saying SECURITY. A 
+badly shaven wizard in peacock-blue robes looked up 
+as they approached and put down his Daily Prophet. 
+
+“I’m escorting a visitor,” said Mr. Weasley, gesturing 
+toward Harry. 
+
+“Step over here,” said the wizard in a bored voice. 
+
+Harry walked closer to him and the wizard held up a 
+long golden rod, thin and flexible as a car aerial, and 
+passed it up and down Harry’s front and back. 
+
+“Wand,” grunted the security wizard at Harry, putting 
+down the golden instrument and holding out his 
+hand. 
+
+Harry produced his wand. The wizard dropped it onto 
+a strange brass instrument, which looked something 
+like a set of scales with only one dish. It began to 
+vibrate. A narrow strip of parchment came speeding 
+out of a slit in the base. The wizard tore this off and 
+read the writing upon it. 
+
+“Eleven inches, phoenix-feather core, been in use four 
+years. That correct?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry nervously. 
+
+“I keep this,” said the wizard, impaling the slip of 
+parchment on a small brass spike. “You get this 
+back,” he added, thrusting the wand at Harry. 
+
+“Thank you.” 
+
+“Hang on...” said the wizard slowly. 
+
+Page | 165Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His eyes had darted from the silver visitor’s badge on 
+Harry’s chest to his forehead. 
+
+“Thank you, Eric,” said Mr. Weasley firmly, and 
+grasping Harry by the shoulder, he steered him away 
+from the desk and back into the stream of wizards 
+and witches walking through the golden gates. 
+
+Jostled slightly by the crowd, Harry followed Mr. 
+Weasley through the gates into the smaller hall 
+beyond, where at least twenty lifts stood behind 
+wrought golden grilles. Harry and Mr. Weasley joined 
+the crowd around one of them. A big, bearded wizard 
+holding a large cardboard box stood nearby. The box 
+was emitting rasping noises. 
+
+“All right, Arthur?” said the wizard, nodding at Mr. 
+Weasley. 
+
+“What’ve you got there, Bob?” asked Mr. Weasley, 
+looking at the box. 
+
+“We’re not sure,” said the wizard seriously. “We 
+thought it was a bog-standard chicken until it started 
+breathing fire. Looks like a serious breach of the Ban 
+on Experimental Breeding to me.” 
+
+With a great jangling and clattering a lift descended in 
+front of them; the golden grille slid back and Harry 
+and Mr. Weasley moved inside it with the rest of the 
+crowd. Harry found himself jammed against the back 
+wall of the lift. Several witches and wizards were 
+looking at him curiously; he stared at his feet to avoid 
+catching anyone’s eye, flattening his fringe as he did 
+so. The grilles slid shut with a crash and the lift 
+ascended slowly, chains rattling all the while, while 
+the same cool female voice Harry had heard in the 
+telephone box rang out again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 166Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Level seven, Department of Magical Games and 
+Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch 
+League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and 
+Ludicrous Patents Office.” 
+
+The lift doors opened; Harry glimpsed an untidy- 
+looking corridor, with various posters of Quidditch 
+teams tacked lopsidedly on the walls; one of the 
+wizards in the lift, who was carrying an armful of 
+broomsticks, extricated himself with difficulty and 
+disappeared down the corridor. The doors closed, the 
+lift juddered upward again, and the woman’s voice 
+said, “Level six, Department of Magical Transport, 
+incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom 
+Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparation 
+Test Center.” 
+
+Once again the lift doors opened and four or five 
+witches and wizards got out; at the same time, several 
+paper airplanes swooped into the lift. Harry stared up 
+at them as they flapped idly around above his head; 
+they were a pale violet color and he could see 
+MINISTRY OF MAGIC stamped along the edges of 
+their wings. 
+
+“Just Interdepartmental memos,” Mr. Weasley 
+muttered to him. “We used to use owls, but the mess 
+was unbelievable ... droppings all over the desks ...” 
+
+As they clattered upward again, the memos flapped 
+around the swaying lamp in the lift’s ceiling. 
+
+“Level five, Department of International Magical 
+Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical 
+Trading Standards Body, the International Magical 
+Office of Law, and the International Confederation of 
+Wizards, British Seats.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 167Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+When the doors opened, two of the memos zoomed 
+out with a few more witches and wizards, but several 
+more memos zoomed in, so that the light from the 
+lamp in the ceiling flickered and flashed as they 
+darted around it. 
+
+“Level four, Department for the Regulation and 
+Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, 
+Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and 
+Pest Advisory Bureau.” 
+
+“ ’S’cuse,” said the wizard carrying the fire-breathing 
+chicken and he left the lift pursued by a little flock of 
+memos. The doors clanged shut yet again. 
+
+“Level three, Department of Magical Accidents and 
+Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic 
+Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters, and 
+Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee.” 
+
+Everybody left the lift on this floor except Mr. 
+
+Weasley, Harry, and a witch who was reading an 
+extremely long piece of parchment that was trailing 
+on the ground. The remaining memos continued to 
+soar around the lamp as the lift juddered upward 
+again, and then the doors opened and the voice said, 
+“Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, 
+including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror 
+Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration 
+Services.” 
+
+“This is us, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley, and they 
+followed the witch out of the lift into a corridor lined 
+with doors. “My office is on the other side of the floor.” 
+
+“Mr. Weasley,” said Harry, as they passed a window 
+through which sunlight was streaming, “aren’t we 
+underground?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 168Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, we are,” said Mr. Weasley, “those are enchanted 
+windows; Magical Maintenance decide what weather 
+we’re getting every day. We had two months of 
+hurricanes last time they were angling for a pay 
+raise... Just round here, Harry.” 
+
+They turned a corner, walked through a pair of heavy 
+oak doors, and emerged in a cluttered, open area 
+divided into cubicles, which were buzzing with talk 
+and laughter. Memos were zooming in and out of 
+cubicles like miniature rockets. A lopsided sign on the 
+nearest cubicle read AUROR HEADQUARTERS. 
+
+Harry looked surreptitiously through the doorways as 
+they passed. The Aurors had covered their cubicle 
+walls with everything from pictures of wanted wizards 
+and photographs of their families, to posters of their 
+favorite Quidditch teams and articles from the Daily 
+Prophet A scarlet-robed man with a ponytail longer 
+than Bill’s was sitting with his boots up on his desk, 
+dictating a report to his quill. A little farther along, a 
+witch with a patch over her eye was talking over the 
+top of her cubicle wall to Kingsley Shacklebolt. 
+
+“Morning, Weasley,” said Kingsley carelessly, as they 
+drew nearer. “I’ve been wanting a word with you, have 
+you got a second?” 
+
+“Yes, if it really is a second,” said Mr. Weasley, “I’m in 
+rather a hurry.” 
+
+They were talking to each other as though they hardly 
+knew each other, and when Harry opened his mouth 
+to say hello to Kingsley, Mr. Weasley stood on his 
+foot. They followed Kingsley along the row and into 
+the very last cubicle. 
+
+Harry received a slight shock; Sirius’s face was 
+blinking down at him from every direction. Newspaper 
+
+Page | 169Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+cuttings and old photographs — even the one of 
+Sirius being best man at the Potters’ wedding — 
+papered the walls. The only Sirius-free space was a 
+map of the world in which little red pins were glowing 
+like jewels. 
+
+“Here,” said Kingsley brusquely to Mr. Weasley, 
+shoving a sheaf of parchment into his hand, “I need 
+as much information as possible on flying Muggle 
+vehicles sighted in the last twelve months. We’ve 
+received information that Black might still be using 
+his old motorcycle.” 
+
+Kingsley tipped Harry an enormous wink and added, 
+in a whisper, “Give him the magazine, he might find it 
+interesting.” Then he said in normal tones, “And don’t 
+take too long, Weasley, the delay on that firelegs 
+report held our investigation up for a month.” 
+
+“If you had read my report you would know that the 
+term is ‘firearms,’ ” said Mr. Weasley coolly. “And I’m 
+afraid you’ll have to wait for information on 
+motorcycles, we’re extremely busy at the moment.” He 
+dropped his voice and said, “If you can get away 
+before seven, Molly’s making meatballs.” 
+
+He beckoned to Harry and led him out of Kingsley’s 
+cubicle, through a second set of oak doors, into 
+another passage, turned left, marched along another 
+corridor, turned right into a dimly lit and distinctly 
+shabby corridor, and finally reached a dead end, 
+where a door on the left stood ajar, revealing a broom 
+cupboard, and a door on the right bore a tarnished 
+brass plaque reading MISUSE OF MUGGLE 
+ARTIFACTS. 
+
+Mr. Weasley’s dingy office seemed to be slightly 
+smaller than the broom cupboard. Two desks had 
+been crammed inside it and there was barely room to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+move around them because of all the overflowing 
+filing cabinets lining the walls, on top of which were 
+tottering piles of files. The little wall space available 
+bore witness to Mr. Weasley’s obsessions; there were 
+several posters of cars, including one of a dismantled 
+engine, two illustrations of postboxes he seemed to 
+have cut out of Muggle children’s books, and a 
+diagram showing how to wire a plug. 
+
+Sitting on top of Mr. Weasley’s overflowing in-tray was 
+an old toaster that was hiccuping in a disconsolate 
+way and a pair of empty leather gloves that were 
+twiddling their thumbs. A photograph of the Weasley 
+family stood beside the in-tray. Harry noticed that 
+Percy appeared to have walked out of it. 
+
+“We haven’t got a window,” said Mr. Weasley 
+apologetically, taking off his bomber jacket and 
+placing it on the back of his chair. “We’ve asked, but 
+they don’t seem to think we need one. Have a seat, 
+Harry, doesn’t look as if Perkins is in yet.” 
+
+Harry squeezed himself into the chair behind 
+Perkins’s desk while Mr. Weasley rifled through the 
+sheaf of parchment Kingsley Shacklebolt had given 
+him. 
+
+“Ah,” he said, grinning, as he extracted a copy of a 
+magazine entitled The Quibbler from its midst, “yes 
+...” He flicked through it. “Yes, he’s right, I’m sure 
+Sirius will find that very amusing — oh dear, what’s 
+this now?” 
+
+A memo had just zoomed in through the open door 
+and fluttered to rest on top of the hiccuping toaster. 
+Mr. Weasley unfolded it and read aloud, “ Third 
+regurgitating public toilet reported in Bethnal Green, 
+kindly investigate immediately. ’ This is getting 
+ridiculous...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“A regurgitating toilet?” 
+
+
+
+“Anti-Muggle pranksters,” said Mr. Weasley, frowning. 
+“We had two last week, one in Wimbledon, one in 
+Elephant and Castle. Muggles are pulling the flush 
+and instead of everything disappearing — well, you 
+can imagine. The poor things keep calling in those — 
+those pumbles, I think they’re called — you know, the 
+ones who mend pipes and things — ” 
+
+“Plumbers?” 
+
+“ — exactly, yes, but of course they’re flummoxed. I 
+only hope we can catch whoever’s doing it.” 
+
+“Will it be Aurors who catch them?” 
+
+“Oh no, this is too trivial for Aurors, it’ll be the 
+ordinary Magical Law Enforcement Patrol — ah, 
+
+Harry, this is Perkins.” 
+
+A stooped, timid-looking old wizard with fluffy white 
+hair had just entered the room, panting. 
+
+“Oh Arthur!” he said desperately, without looking at 
+Harry. “Thank goodness, I didn’t know what to do for 
+the best, whether to wait here for you or not, I’ve just 
+sent an owl to your home but you’ve obviously missed 
+it — an urgent message came ten minutes ago — ” 
+
+“I know about the regurgitating toilet,” said Mr. 
+Weasley. 
+
+“No, no, it’s not the toilet, it’s the Potter boy’s hearing 
+— they’ve changed the time and venue — it starts at 
+eight o’clock now and it’s down in old Courtroom Ten 
+
+
+
+“Down in old — but they told me — Merlin’s beard — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Mr. Weasley looked at his watch, let out a yelp, and 
+leapt from his chair. 
+
+“Quick, Harry, we should have been there five 
+minutes ago!” 
+
+Perkins flattened himself against the filing cabinets as 
+Mr. Weasley left the office at a run, Harry on his 
+heels. 
+
+“Why have they changed the time?” Harry said 
+breathlessly as they hurtled past the Auror cubicles; 
+people poked out their heads and stared as they 
+streaked past. Harry felt as though he had left all his 
+insides back at Perkins’s desk. 
+
+“I’ve no idea, but thank goodness we got here so early, 
+if you’d missed it it would have been catastrophic!” 
+
+Mr. Weasley skidded to a halt beside the lifts and 
+jabbed impatiently at the down button. 
+
+“Come ON!” 
+
+The lift clattered into view and they hurried inside. 
+Every time it stopped Mr. Weasley cursed furiously 
+and pummelled the number nine button. 
+
+“Those courtrooms haven’t been used in years,” said 
+Mr. Weasley angrily. “I can’t think why they’re doing it 
+down there — unless — but no ...” 
+
+A plump witch carrying a smoking goblet entered the 
+lift at that moment, and Mr. Weasley did not 
+elaborate. 
+
+“The Atrium,” said the cool female voice and the 
+golden grilles slid open, showing Harry a distant 
+glimpse of the golden statues in the fountain. The 
+
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+
+
+
+
+plump witch got out and a sallow-skinned wizard with 
+a very mournful face got in. 
+
+
+
+“Morning, Arthur,” he said in a sepulchral voice as 
+the lift began to descend. “Don’t often see you down 
+here...” 
+
+“Urgent business, Bode,” said Mr. Weasley, who was 
+bouncing on the balls of his feet and throwing 
+anxious looks over at Harry. 
+
+“Ah, yes,” said Bode, surveying Harry unblinkingly. 
+
+“Of course.” 
+
+Harry barely had emotion to spare for Bode, but his 
+unfaltering gaze did not make him feel any more 
+comfortable. 
+
+“Department of Mysteries,” said the cool female voice, 
+and left it at that. 
+
+“Quick, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley as the lift doors 
+rattled open, and they sped up a corridor that was 
+quite different from those above. The walls were bare; 
+there were no windows and no doors apart from a 
+plain black one set at the very end of the corridor. 
+Harry expected them to go through it, but instead Mr. 
+Weasley seized him by the arm and dragged him to 
+the left, where there was an opening leading to a flight 
+of steps. 
+
+“Down here, down here,” panted Mr. Weasley, taking 
+two steps at a time. “The lift doesn’t even come down 
+this far ... why they’re doing it there ...” 
+
+They reached the bottom of the steps and ran along 
+yet another corridor, which bore a great resemblance 
+to that which led to Snape’s dungeon at Hogwarts, 
+with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The 
+
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+
+
+
+
+doors they passed here were heavy wooden ones with 
+iron bolts and keyholes. 
+
+“Courtroom ... ten ... I think ... we’re nearly ... yes.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley stumbled to a halt outside a grimy dark 
+door with an immense iron lock and slumped against 
+the wall, clutching at a stitch in his chest. 
+
+“Go on,” he panted, pointing his thumb at the door. 
+“Get in there.” 
+
+“Aren’t — aren’t you coming with — ?” 
+
+“No, no, I’m not allowed. Good luck!” 
+
+Harry’s heart was beating a violent tattoo against his 
+Adam’s apple. He swallowed hard, turned the heavy 
+iron door handle, and stepped inside the courtroom. 
+
+
+
+Page | 175Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+8 
+
+
+
+
+THE HEARING 
+
+Harry gasped; he could not help himself. The large 
+dungeon he had entered was horribly familiar. He had 
+not only seen it before, he had been here before: This 
+was the place he had visited inside Dumbledore’s 
+Pensieve, the place where he had watched the 
+Lestranges sentenced to life imprisonment in 
+Azkaban. 
+
+The walls were made of dark stone, dimly lit by 
+torches. Empty benches rose on either side of him, 
+but ahead, in the highest benches of all, were many 
+shadowy figures. They had been talking in low voices, 
+but as the heavy door swung closed behind Harry an 
+ominous silence fell. 
+
+A cold male voice rang across the courtroom. 
+
+“You’re late.” 
+
+“Sorry,” said Harry nervously. “I-I didn’t know the 
+time had changed.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“That is not the Wizengamot’s fault,” said the voice. 
+“An owl was sent to you this morning. Take your 
+seat.” 
+
+Harry dropped his gaze to the chair in the center of 
+the room, the arms of which were covered in chains. 
+He had seen those chains spring to life and bind 
+whoever sat between them. His footsteps echoed 
+loudly as he walked across the stone floor. When he 
+sat gingerly on the edge of the chair the chains 
+clinked rather threateningly but did not bind him. 
+Feeling rather sick he looked up at the people seated 
+at the bench above. 
+
+There were about fifty of them, all, as far as he could 
+see, wearing plum-colored robes with an elaborately 
+worked silver W on the left-hand side of the chest and 
+all staring down their noses at him, some with very 
+austere expressions, others looks of frank curiosity. 
+
+In the very middle of the front row sat Cornelius 
+Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge was a portly man 
+who often sported a lime-green bowler hat, though 
+today he had dispensed with it; he had dispensed too 
+with the indulgent smile he had once worn when he 
+spoke to Harry. A broad, square-jawed witch with 
+very short gray hair sat on Fudge’s left; she wore a 
+monocle and looked forbidding. On Fudge’s right was 
+another witch, but she was sitting so far back on the 
+bench that her face was in shadow. 
+
+“Very well,” said Fudge. “The accused being present 
+— finally — let us begin. Are you ready?” he called 
+down the row. 
+
+“Yes, sir,” said an eager voice Harry knew. Ron’s 
+brother Percy was sitting at the very end of the front 
+bench. Harry looked at Percy, expecting some sign of 
+recognition from him, but none came. Percy’s eyes, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+behind his horn-rimmed glasses, were fixed on his 
+parchment, a quill poised in his hand. 
+
+
+
+“Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August,” said 
+Fudge in a ringing voice, and Percy began taking 
+notes at once, “into offenses committed under the 
+Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage 
+Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by 
+Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet 
+Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. 
+
+“Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of 
+Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department 
+of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, 
+Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, 
+Percy Ignatius Weasley — ” 
+
+“ — Witness for the defense, Albus Percival Wulfric 
+Brian Dumbledore,” said a quiet voice from behind 
+Harry, who turned his head so fast he cricked his 
+neck. 
+
+Dumbledore was striding serenely across the room 
+wearing long midnight-blue robes and a perfectly 
+calm expression. His long silver beard and hair 
+gleamed in the torchlight as he drew level with Harry 
+and looked up at Fudge through the half-moon 
+spectacles that rested halfway down his very crooked 
+nose. 
+
+The members of the Wizengamot were muttering. All 
+eyes were now on Dumbledore. Some looked annoyed, 
+others slightly frightened; two elderly witches in the 
+back row, however, raised their hands and waved in 
+welcome. 
+
+A powerful emotion had risen in Harry’s chest at the 
+sight of Dumbledore, a fortified, hopeful feeling rather 
+like that which phoenix song gave him. He wanted to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+catch Dumbledore’s eye, but Dumbledore was not 
+looking his way; he was continuing to look up at the 
+obviously flustered Fudge. 
+
+“Ah,” said Fudge, who looked thoroughly 
+disconcerted. “Dumbledore. Yes. You — er — got our 
+
+— er — message that the time and — er — place of 
+the hearing had been changed, then?” 
+
+“I must have missed it,” said Dumbledore cheerfully. 
+“However, due to a lucky mistake I arrived at the 
+Ministry three hours early, so no harm done.” 
+
+“Yes — well — I suppose well need another chair — I 
+
+— Weasley, could you — ?” 
+
+“Not to worry, not to worry,” said Dumbledore 
+pleasantly; he took out his wand, gave it a little flick, 
+and a squashy chintz armchair appeared out of 
+nowhere next to Harry. Dumbledore sat down, put the 
+tips of his long fingers together, and looked at Fudge 
+over them with an expression of polite interest. The 
+Wizengamot was still muttering and fidgeting 
+restlessly; only when Fudge spoke again did they 
+settle down. 
+
+“Yes,” said Fudge again, shuffling his notes. “Well, 
+then. So. The charges. Yes.” 
+
+He extricated a piece of parchment from the pile 
+before him, took a deep breath, and read, “The 
+charges against the accused are as follows: That he 
+did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of 
+the illegality of his actions, having received a previous 
+written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a 
+similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a 
+Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle, 
+on August the second at twenty-three minutes past 
+nine, which constitutes an offense under paragraph C 
+Page | 179Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of 
+Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under section 
+thirteen of the International Confederation of Wizards’ 
+Statute of Secrecy. 
+
+“You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet 
+Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?” Fudge said, glaring at 
+Harry over the top of his parchment. 
+
+“Yes,” Harry said. 
+
+“You received an official warning from the Ministry for 
+using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?” 
+
+“Yes, but — ” 
+
+“And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the 
+second of August?” said Fudge. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, “but — ” 
+
+“Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic 
+outside school while you are under the age of 
+seventeen?” 
+
+“Yes, but — ” 
+
+“Knowing that you were in an area full of Muggles?” 
+“Yes, but — ” 
+
+“Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a 
+Muggle at the time? 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry angrily, “but I only used it because 
+we were — ” 
+
+The witch with the monocle on Fudge’s left cut across 
+him in a booming voice. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You produced a fully fledged Patronus?” 
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, “because — ” 
+
+“A corporeal Patronus?” 
+
+“A — what?” said Harry. 
+
+“Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to 
+say, it was more than vapor or smoke?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, feeling both impatient and slightly 
+desperate, “it’s a stag, it’s always a stag.” 
+
+“Always?” boomed Madam Bones. “You have 
+produced a Patronus before now?” 
+
+“Yes” said Harry, “I’ve been doing it for over a year — 
+
+
+
+“And you are fifteen years old?” 
+
+“Yes, and — ” 
+
+“You learned this at school?” 
+
+“Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, 
+because of the — ” 
+
+“Impressive,” said Madam Bones, staring down at 
+him, “a true Patronus at that age ... very impressive 
+indeed.” 
+
+Some of the wizards and witches around her were 
+muttering again; a few nodded, but others were 
+frowning and shaking their heads. 
+
+“It’s not a question of how impressive the magic was,” 
+said Fudge in a testy voice. “In fact, the more 
+
+Page | 181Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given 
+that the boy did it in plain view of a Muggle!” 
+
+
+
+Those who had been frowning now murmured in 
+agreement, but it was the sight of Percy’s 
+sanctimonious little nod that goaded Harry into 
+speech. 
+
+“I did it because of the dementors!” he said loudly, 
+before anyone could interrupt him again. 
+
+He had expected more muttering, but the silence that 
+fell seemed to be somehow denser than before. 
+
+“Dementors?” said Madam Bones after a moment, 
+raising her thick eyebrows so that her monocle looked 
+in danger of falling out. “What do you mean, boy?” 
+
+“I mean there were two dementors down that alleyway 
+and they went for me and my cousin!” 
+
+“Ah,” said Fudge again, smirking unpleasantly as he 
+looked around at the Wizengamot, as though inviting 
+them to share the joke. “Yes. Yes, I thought we’d be 
+hearing something like this.” 
+
+“Dementors in Little Whinging?” Madam Bones said 
+in tones of great surprise. “I don’t understand — ” 
+
+“Don’t you, Amelia?” said Fudge, still smirking. “Let 
+me explain. He’s been thinking it through and decided 
+dementors would make a very nice little cover story, 
+very nice indeed. Muggles can’t see dementors, can 
+they, boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient ... so 
+it’s just your word and no witnesses...” 
+
+“I’m not lying!” said Harry loudly, over another 
+outbreak of muttering from the court. “There were two 
+of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+everything went dark and cold and my cousin felt 
+them and ran for it — ” 
+
+“Enough, enough!” said Fudge with a very 
+supercilious look on his face. “I’m sorry to interrupt 
+what I’m sure would have been a very well-rehearsed 
+story — ” 
+
+Dumbledore cleared his throat. The Wizengamot fell 
+silent again. 
+
+“We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of 
+dementors in that alleyway,” he said, “other than 
+Dudley Dursley, I mean.” 
+
+Fudge’s plump face seemed to slacken, as though 
+somebody had let air out of it. He stared down at 
+Dumbledore for a moment or two, then, with the 
+appearance of a man pulling himself back together, 
+said, “We haven’t got time to listen to more 
+taradiddles, I’m afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt 
+with quickly — ” 
+
+“I may be wrong,” said Dumbledore pleasantly, “but I 
+am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of 
+Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses 
+for his or her case? Isn’t that the policy of the 
+Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam 
+Bones?” he continued, addressing the witch in the 
+monocle. 
+
+“True,” said Madam Bones. “Perfectly true.” 
+
+“Oh, very well, very well,” snapped Fudge. “Where is 
+this person?” 
+
+“I brought her with me,” said Dumbledore. “She’s just 
+outside the door. Should I — ?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No — Weasley, you go,” Fudge barked at Percy, who 
+got up at once, hurried down the stone steps from the 
+judge’s balcony, and hastened past Dumbledore and 
+Harry without glancing at them. 
+
+A moment later, Percy returned, followed by Mrs. 
+
+Figg. She looked scared and more batty than ever. 
+Harry wished she had thought to change out of her 
+carpet slippers. 
+
+Dumbledore stood up and gave Mrs. Figg his chair, 
+conjuring a second one for himself. 
+
+“Full name?” said Fudge loudly, when Mrs. Figg had 
+perched herself nervously on the very edge of her 
+seat. 
+
+“Arabella Doreen Figg,” said Mrs. Figg in her quavery 
+voice. 
+
+“And who exactly are you?” said Fudge, in a bored 
+and lofty voice. 
+
+“I’m a resident of Little Whinging, close to where 
+Harry Potter lives,” said Mrs. Figg. 
+
+“We have no record of any witch or wizard living in 
+Little Whinging other than Harry Potter,” said Madam 
+Bones at once. “That situation has always been 
+closely monitored, given ... given past events.” 
+
+“I’m a Squib,” said Mrs. Figg. “So you wouldn’t have 
+me registered, would you?” 
+
+“A Squib, eh?” said Fudge, eyeing her suspiciously. 
+“We’ll be checking that. You’ll leave details of your 
+parentage with my assistant, Weasley. Incidentally, 
+can Squibs see dementors?” he added, looking left 
+and right along the bench where he sat. 
+
+Page | 184Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, we can!” said Mrs. Figg indignantly. 
+
+
+
+Fudge looked back down at her, his eyebrows raised. 
+“Very well,” he said coolly. “What is your story?” 
+
+“I had gone out to buy cat food from the corner shop 
+at the end of Wisteria Walk, shortly after nine on the 
+evening of the second of August,” gabbled Mrs. Figg at 
+once, as though she had learned what she was saying 
+by heart, “when I heard a disturbance down the 
+alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria 
+Walk. On approaching the mouth of the alleyway I 
+saw dementors running — ” 
+
+“Running?” said Madam Bones sharply. “Dementors 
+don’t run, they glide.” 
+
+“That’s what I meant to say,” said Mrs. Figg quickly, 
+patches of pink appearing in her withered cheeks. 
+“Gliding along the alley toward what looked like two 
+boys.” 
+
+“What did they look like?” said Madam Bones, 
+narrowing her eyes so that the monocle’s edges 
+disappeared into her flesh. 
+
+“Well, one was very large and the other one rather 
+skinny — ” 
+
+“No, no,” said Madam Bones impatiently, “the 
+dementors ... describe them.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Mrs. Figg, the pink flush creeping up her 
+neck now. “They were big. Big and wearing cloaks.” 
+
+Harry felt a horrible sinking in the pit of his stomach. 
+Whatever Mrs. Figg said to the contrary, it sounded to 
+him as though the most she had ever seen was a 
+picture of a dementor, and a picture could never 
+
+Page | 185Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+convey the truth of what these beings were like: the 
+eerie way they moved, hovering inches over the 
+ground, or the rotting smell of them, or that terrible, 
+rattling noise they made as they sucked on the 
+surrounding air ... A dumpy wizard with a large black 
+mustache in the second row leaned close to his 
+neighbor, a frizzy-haired witch, and whispered 
+something in her ear. She smirked and nodded. 
+
+“Big and wearing cloaks,” repeated Madam Bones 
+coolly, while Fudge snorted derisively. “I see. Anything 
+else?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Mrs. Figg. “I felt them. Everything went 
+cold, and this was a very warm summer��s night, mark 
+you. And I felt ... as though all happiness had gone 
+from the world . . . and I remembered . . . dreadful 
+things...” 
+
+Her voice shook and died. 
+
+Madam Bones’ eyes widened slightly. Harry could see 
+red marks under her eyebrow where the monocle had 
+dug into it. 
+
+“What did the dementors do?” she asked, and Harry 
+felt a rush of hope. 
+
+“They went for the boys,” said Mrs. Figg, her voice 
+stronger and more confident now, the pink flush 
+ebbing away from her face. “One of them had fallen. 
+The other was backing away, trying to repel the 
+dementor. That was Harry. He tried twice and 
+produced silver vapor. On the third attempt, he 
+produced a Patronus, which charged down the first 
+dementor and then, with his encouragement, chased 
+away the second from his cousin. And that ... that 
+was what happened,” Mrs. Figg finished, somewhat 
+lamely. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Madam Bones looked down at Mrs. Figg in silence; 
+Fudge was not looking at her at all, but fidgeting with 
+his papers. Finally he raised his eyes and said, rather 
+aggressively “That’s what you saw, is it?” 
+
+“That was what happened,” Mrs. Figg repeated. 
+
+“Very well,” said Fudge. “You may go.” 
+
+Mrs. Figg cast a frightened look from Fudge to 
+Dumbledore, then got up and shuffled off toward the 
+door again. Harry heard it thud shut behind her. 
+
+“Not a very convincing witness,” said Fudge loftily. 
+
+“Oh, I don’t know,” said Madam Bones in her 
+booming voice. “She certainly described the effects of 
+a dementor attack very accurately. And I can’t 
+imagine why she would say they were there if they 
+weren’t — ” 
+
+“But dementors wandering into a Muggle suburb and 
+just happening to come across a wizard?” snorted 
+Fudge. “The odds on that must be very, very long, 
+even Bagman wouldn’t have bet — ” 
+
+“Oh, I don’t think any of us believe the dementors 
+were there by coincidence,” said Dumbledore lightly. 
+
+The witch sitting to the right of Fudge with her face in 
+shadow moved slightly, but everyone else was quite 
+still and silent. 
+
+“And what is that supposed to mean?” asked Fudge 
+icily. 
+
+“It means that I think they were ordered there,” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I think we might have a record of it if someone had 
+ordered a pair of dementors to go strolling through 
+Little Whinging!” barked Fudge. 
+
+“Not if the dementors are taking orders from someone 
+other than the Ministry of Magic these days,” said 
+Dumbledore calmly. “I have already given you my 
+views on this matter, Cornelius.” 
+
+“Yes, you have,” said Fudge forcefully, “and I have no 
+reason to believe that your views are anything other 
+than bilge, Dumbledore. The dementors remain in 
+place in Azkaban and are doing everything we ask 
+them to.” 
+
+“Then,” said Dumbledore, quietly but clearly, “we 
+must ask ourselves why somebody within the 
+Ministry ordered a pair of dementors into that 
+alleyway on the second of August.” 
+
+In the complete silence that greeted these words, the 
+witch to the right of Fudge leaned forward so that 
+Harry saw her for the first time. 
+
+He thought she looked just like a large, pale toad. She 
+was rather squat with a broad, flabby face, as little 
+neck as Uncle Vernon, and a very wide, slack mouth. 
+Her eyes were large, round, and slightly bulging. Even 
+the little black velvet bow perched on top of her short 
+curly hair put him in mind of a large fly she was 
+about to catch on a long sticky tongue. 
+
+“The Chair recognizes Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior 
+Undersecretary to the Minister,” said Fudge. 
+
+The witch spoke in a fluttery, girlish, high-pitched 
+voice that took Harry aback; he had been expecting a 
+croak. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’m sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor 
+Dumbledore,” she said with a simper that left her big, 
+round eyes as cold as ever. “So silly of me. But it 
+sounded for a teensy moment as though you were 
+suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an 
+attack on this boy!” 
+
+She gave a silvery laugh that made the hairs on the 
+back of Harry’s neck stand up. A few other members 
+of the Wizengamot laughed with her. It could not have 
+been plainer that not one of them was really amused. 
+
+“If it is true that the dementors are taking orders only 
+from the Ministry of Magic, and it is also true that two 
+dementors attacked Harry and his cousin a week ago, 
+then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry 
+might have ordered the attacks,” said Dumbledore 
+politely. “Of course, these particular dementors may 
+have been outside Ministry control — ” 
+
+“There are no dementors outside Ministry control!” 
+snapped Fudge, who had turned brick red. 
+
+Dumbledore inclined his head in a little bow. 
+
+“Then undoubtedly the Ministry will be making a full 
+inquiry into why two dementors were so very far from 
+Azkaban and why they attacked without 
+authorization.” 
+
+“It is not for you to decide what the Ministry of Magic 
+does or does not do, Dumbledore!” snapped Fudge, 
+now a shade of magenta of which Uncle Vernon would 
+have been proud. 
+
+“Of course it isn’t,” said Dumbledore mildly. “I was 
+merely expressing my confidence that this matter will 
+not go uninvestigated.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He glanced at Madam Bones, who readjusted her 
+monocle and stared back at him, frowning slightly. 
+
+“I would remind everybody that the behavior of these 
+dementors, if indeed they are not figments of this 
+boy’s imagination, is not the subject of this hearing!” 
+said Fudge. “We are here to examine Harry Potter’s 
+offenses under the Decree for the Reasonable 
+Restriction of Underage Sorcery!” 
+
+“Of course we are,” said Dumbledore, “but the 
+presence of dementors in that alleyway is highly 
+relevant. Clause seven of the Decree states that magic 
+may be used before Muggles in exceptional 
+circumstances, and as those exceptional 
+circumstances include situations that threaten the 
+life of the wizard or witch himself, or witches, wizards, 
+or Muggles present at the time of the — ” 
+
+“We are familiar with clause seven, thank you very 
+much!” snarled Fudge. 
+
+“Of course you are,” said Dumbledore courteously. 
+“Then we are in agreement that Harry’s use of the 
+Patronus Charm in these circumstances falls 
+precisely into the category of exceptional 
+circumstances it describes?” 
+
+“If there were dementors, which I doubt — ” 
+
+“You have heard from an eyewitness,” Dumbledore 
+interrupted. “If you still doubt her truthfulness, call 
+her back, question her again. I am sure she would not 
+object.” 
+
+“I — that — not — ” blustered Fudge, fiddling with the 
+papers before him. “It’s — I want this over with today, 
+Dumbledore!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But naturally, you would not care how many times 
+you heard from a witness, if the alternative was a 
+serious miscarriage of justice,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Serious miscarriage, my hat!” said Fudge at the top 
+of his voice. “Have you ever bothered to tot up the 
+number of cock-and-bull stories this boy has come 
+out with, Dumbledore, while trying to cover up his 
+flagrant misuse of magic out of school? I suppose 
+you’ve forgotten the Hover Charm he used three years 
+ago -” 
+
+“That wasn’t me, it was a house-elf!” said Harry. 
+
+“YOU SEE?” roared Fudge, gesturing flamboyantly in 
+Harry’s direction. “A house-elf! In a Muggle house! I 
+ask you — ” 
+
+“The house-elf in question is currently in the employ 
+of Hogwarts School,” said Dumbledore. “I can 
+summon him here in an instant to give evidence if 
+you wish.” 
+
+“I — not — I haven’t got time to listen to house-elves! 
+Anyway, that’s not the only — he blew up his aunt, 
+for God’s sake!” Fudge shouted, banging his fist on 
+the judge’s bench and upsetting a bottle of ink. 
+
+“And you very kindly did not press charges on that 
+occasion, accepting, I presume, that even the best 
+wizards cannot always control their emotions,” said 
+Dumbledore calmly, as Fudge attempted to scrub the 
+ink off his notes. 
+
+“And I haven’t even started on what he gets up to at 
+school — ” 
+
+“ — but as the Ministry has no authority to punish 
+Hogwarts students for misdemeanors at school, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s behavior there is not relevant to this inquiry,” 
+said Dumbledore, politely as ever, but now with a 
+suggestion of coolness behind his words. 
+
+“Oho!” said Fudge. “Not our business what he does at 
+school, eh? You think so?” 
+
+“The Ministry does not have the power to expel 
+Hogwarts students, Cornelius, as I reminded you on 
+the night of the second of August,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Nor does it have the right to confiscate wands until 
+charges have been successfully proven, again, as I 
+reminded you on the night of the second of August. In 
+your admirable haste to ensure that the law is 
+upheld, you appear, inadvertently I am sure, to have 
+overlooked a few laws yourself.” 
+
+“Laws can be changed,” said Fudge savagely. 
+
+“Of course they can,” said Dumbledore, inclining his 
+head. “And you certainly seem to be making many 
+changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks 
+since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has 
+already become the practice to hold a full criminal 
+trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!” 
+
+A few of the wizards above them shifted 
+uncomfortably in their seats. Fudge turned a slightly 
+deeper shade of puce. The toadlike witch on his right, 
+however, merely gazed at Dumbledore, her face quite 
+expressionless. 
+
+“As far as I am aware, however,” Dumbledore 
+continued, “there is no law yet in place that says this 
+court’s job is to punish Harry for every bit of magic he 
+has ever performed. He has been charged with a 
+specific offense and he has presented his defense. All 
+he and I can do now is to await your verdict.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore put his fingertips together again and said 
+no more. Fudge glared at him, evidently incensed. 
+Harry glanced sideways at Dumbledore, seeking 
+reassurance; he was not at all sure that Dumbledore 
+was right in telling the Wizengamot, in effect, that it 
+was about time they made a decision. Again, however, 
+Dumbledore seemed oblivious to Harry’s attempt to 
+catch his eye. He continued to look up at the benches 
+where the entire Wizengamot had fallen into urgent, 
+whispered conversations. 
+
+Harry looked at his feet. His heart, which seemed to 
+have swollen to an unnatural size, was thumping 
+loudly under his ribs. He had expected the hearing to 
+last longer than this. He was not at all sure that he 
+had made a good impression. He had not really said 
+very much. He ought to have explained more fully 
+about the dementors, about how he had fallen over, 
+about how both he and Dudley had nearly been 
+kissed... 
+
+Twice he looked up at Fudge and opened his mouth to 
+speak, but his swollen heart was now constricting his 
+air passages and both times he merely took a deep 
+breath and looked back at his shoes. 
+
+Then the whispering stopped. Harry wanted to look 
+up at the judges, but found that it was really much, 
+much easier to keep examining his laces. 
+
+“Those in favor of clearing the accused of all 
+charges?” said Madam Bones ’s booming voice. 
+
+Harry’s head jerked upward. There were hands in the 
+air, many of them . . . more than half! Breathing very 
+fast, he tried to count, but before he could finish 
+Madam Bones had said, “And those in favor of 
+conviction?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Fudge raised his hand; so did half a dozen others, 
+including the witch on his right and the heavily 
+mustached wizard and the frizzy-haired witch in the 
+second row. 
+
+Fudge glanced around at them all, looking as though 
+there was something large stuck in his throat, then 
+lowered his own hand. He took two deep breaths and 
+then said, in a voice distorted by suppressed rage, 
+“Very well, very well ... cleared of all charges.” 
+
+“Excellent,” said Dumbledore briskly, springing to his 
+feet, pulling out his wand, and causing the two chintz 
+armchairs to vanish. “Well, I must be getting along. 
+Good day to you all.” 
+
+And without looking once at Harry, he swept from the 
+dungeon. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WOES OF MRS. WEASLEY 
+
+Dumbledore’s abrupt departure took Harry 
+completely by surprise. He remained sitting where he 
+was in the chained chair, struggling with his feelings 
+of shock and relief. The Wizengamot were all getting 
+to their feet, talking, and gathering up their papers 
+and packing them away. Harry stood up. Nobody 
+seemed to be paying him the slightest bit of attention 
+except the toadlike witch on Fudge’s right, who was 
+now gazing down at him instead of at Dumbledore. 
+Ignoring her, he tried to catch Fudge’s eye, or Madam 
+Bones’s, wanting to ask whether he was free to go, 
+but Fudge seemed quite determined not to notice 
+Harry, and Madam Bones was busy with her 
+briefcase, so he took a few tentative steps toward the 
+exit and when nobody called him back, broke into a 
+very fast walk. 
+
+He took the last few steps at a run, wrenched open 
+the door, and almost collided with Mr. Weasley, who 
+was standing right outside, looking pale and 
+apprehensive. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Dumbledore didn’t say — ” 
+
+
+
+“Cleared,” Harry said, pulling the door closed behind 
+him, “of all charges!” 
+
+Beaming, Mr. Weasley seized Harry by the shoulders. 
+
+“Harry, that’s wonderful! Well, of course, they couldn’t 
+have found you guilty, not on the evidence, but even 
+so, I can’t pretend I wasn’t — ” 
+
+But Mr. Weasley broke off, because the courtroom 
+door had just opened again. The Wizengamot were 
+filing out. 
+
+“Merlin’s beard,” said Mr. Weasley wonderingly, 
+pulling Harry aside to let them all pass, “you were 
+tried by the full court?” 
+
+“I think so,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+One or two of the passing wizards nodded to Harry as 
+they passed and a few, including Madam Bones, said, 
+“Morning, Arthur,” to Mr. Weasley, but most averted 
+their eyes. Cornelius Fudge and the toadlike witch 
+were almost the last to leave the dungeon. Fudge 
+acted as though Mr. Weasley and Harry were part of 
+the wall, but again, the witch looked almost 
+appraisingly at Harry as she passed. Last of all to 
+pass was Percy. Like Fudge, he completely ignored his 
+father and Harry; he marched past clutching a large 
+roll of parchment and a handful of spare quills, his 
+back rigid and his nose in the air. The lines around 
+Mr. Weasley’s mouth tightened slightly, but other 
+than this he gave no sign that he had noticed his 
+third son. 
+
+“I’m going to take you straight back so you can tell 
+the others the good news,” he said, beckoning Harry 
+
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+
+
+
+
+forward as Percy’s heels disappeared up the stairs to 
+the ninth level. I’ll drop you off on the way to that 
+toilet in Bethnal Green. Come on...” 
+
+
+
+“So what will you have to do about the toilet?” Harry 
+asked, grinning. Everything suddenly seemed five 
+times funnier than usual. It was starting to sink in: 
+He was cleared, he was going hack to Hogwarts. 
+
+“Oh, it’s a simple enough anti-jinx,” said Mr. Weasley 
+as they mounted the stairs, “but it’s not so much 
+having to repair the damage, it’s more the attitude 
+behind the vandalism, Harry. Muggle-baiting might 
+strike some wizards as funny, but it’s an expression 
+of something much deeper and nastier, and I for one 
+
+
+
+Mr. Weasley broke off in mid-sentence. They had just 
+reached the ninth-level corridor, and Cornelius Fudge 
+was standing a few feet away from them, talking 
+quietly to a tall man with sleek blond hair and a 
+pointed, pale face. 
+
+The second man turned at the sound of their 
+footsteps. He too broke off in mid-conversation, his 
+cold gray eyes narrowed and fixed upon Harry’s face. 
+
+“Well, well, well ... Patronus Potter,” said Lucius 
+Malfoy coolly. 
+
+Harry felt winded, as though he had just walked into 
+something heavy. He had last seen those cool gray 
+eyes through slits in a Death Eater’s hood, and last 
+heard that man’s voice jeering in a dark graveyard 
+while Lord Voldemort tortured him. He could not 
+believe that Lucius Malfoy dared look him in the face; 
+he could not believe that he was here, in the Ministry 
+of Magic, or that Cornelius Fudge was talking to him, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+when Harry had told Fudge mere weeks ago that 
+Malfoy was a Death Eater. 
+
+“The Minister was just telling me about your lucky 
+escape, Potter,” drawled Mr. Malfoy. “Quite 
+astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of 
+very tight holes... Snakelike, in fact ...” 
+
+Mr. Weasley gripped Harry’s shoulder in warning. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “yeah, I’m good at escaping...” 
+
+Lucius Malfoy raised his eyes to Mr. Weasley’s face. 
+
+“And Arthur Weasley too! What are you doing here, 
+Arthur?” 
+
+“I work here,” said Mr. Weasley shortly. 
+
+“Not here, surely?” said Mr. Malfoy, raising his 
+eyebrows and glancing toward the door over Mr. 
+Weasley’s shoulder. “I thought you were up on the 
+second floor. . . Don’t you do something that involves 
+sneaking Muggle artifacts home and bewitching 
+them?” 
+
+“No,” said Mr. Weasley curtly, his fingers now biting 
+into Harry’s shoulder. 
+
+“What are you doing here anyway?” Harry asked 
+Lucius Malfoy. 
+
+“I don’t think private matters between myself and the 
+Minister are any concern of yours, Potter,” said 
+Malfoy, smoothing the front of his robes; Harry 
+distinctly heard the gentle clinking of what sounded 
+like a full pocket of gold. “Really, just because you are 
+Dumbledore’s favorite boy, you must not expect the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+same indulgence from the rest of us... Shall we go up 
+to your office, then, Minister?” 
+
+“Certainly,” said Fudge, turning his back on Harry 
+and Mr. Weasley. “This way, Lucius.” 
+
+They strode off together, talking in low voices. Mr. 
+Weasley did not let go of Harry’s shoulder until they 
+had disappeared into the lift. 
+
+“Why wasn’t he waiting outside Fudge’s office if 
+they’ve got business to do together?” Harry burst out 
+furiously. “What was he doing down here?” 
+
+“Trying to sneak down to the courtroom, if you ask 
+me,” said Mr. Weasley, looking extremely agitated as 
+he glanced over his shoulder as though making sure 
+they could not be overheard. “Trying to find out 
+whether you’d been expelled or not. I’ll leave a note 
+for Dumbledore when I drop you off, he ought to 
+know Malfoy’s been talking to Fudge again.” 
+
+“What private business have they got together 
+anyway?” 
+
+“Gold, I expect,” said Mr. Weasley angrily. “Malfoy’s 
+been giving generously to all sorts of things for 
+years... Gets him in with the right people ... then he 
+can ask favors ... delay laws he doesn’t want passed 
+... Oh, he’s very well connected, Lucius Malfoy...” 
+
+The lift arrived; it was empty except for a flock of 
+memos that flapped around Mr. Weasley’s head as he 
+pressed the button for the Atrium and the doors 
+clanged shut; he waved them away irritably. 
+
+“Mr. Weasley,” said Harry slowly, “if Fudge is meeting 
+Death Eaters like Malfoy, if he’s seeing them alone, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+how do we know they haven’t put the Imperius Curse 
+on him?” 
+
+“Don’t think it hadn’t occurred to us, Harry,” 
+muttered Mr. Weasley. “But Dumbledore thinks 
+Fudge is acting of his own accord at the moment — 
+which, as Dumbledore says, is not a lot of comfort... 
+Best not talk about it anymore just now, Harry...” 
+
+The doors slid open and they stepped out into the 
+now almost-deserted Atrium. Eric the security man 
+was hidden behind his Daily Prophet again. They had 
+walked straight past the golden fountain before Harry 
+remembered. 
+
+“Wait...” he told Mr. Weasley, and pulling his money 
+bag from his pocket, he turned back to the fountain. 
+
+He looked up into the handsome wizard’s face, but up 
+close, Harry thought he looked rather weak and 
+foolish. The witch was wearing a vapid smile like a 
+beauty contestant, and from what Harry knew of 
+goblins and centaurs, they were most unlikely to be 
+caught staring this soppily at humans of any 
+description. Only the house-elf’s attitude of creeping 
+servility looked convincing. With a grin at the thought 
+of what Hermione would say if she could see the 
+statue of the elf, Harry turned his money bag upside 
+down and emptied not just ten Galleons, but the 
+whole contents into the pool at the statues’ feet. 
+
+“I knew it!” yelled Ron, punching the air. “You always 
+get away with stuff!” 
+
+“They were bound to clear you,” said Hermione, who 
+had looked positively faint with anxiety when Harry 
+had entered the kitchen and was now holding a 
+shaking hand over her eyes. “There was no case 
+against you, none at all...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering 
+they all knew I’d get off,” said Harry, smiling. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley was wiping her face on her apron, and 
+Fred, George, and Ginny were doing a kind of war 
+dance to a chant that went “He got off, he got off he 
+got off — ” 
+
+“That’s enough, settle down!” shouted Mr. Weasley, 
+though he too was smiling. “Listen, Sirius, Lucius 
+Malfoy was at the Ministry — ” 
+
+“What?” said Sirius sharply. 
+
+“He got off he got off he got off — ” 
+
+“Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to 
+Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge’s 
+office together. Dumbledore ought to know.” 
+
+“Absolutely,” said Sirius. “We’ll tell him, don’t worry.” 
+
+“Well, I’d better get going, there’s a vomiting toilet in 
+Bethnal Green waiting for me. Molly, I’ll be late, I’m 
+covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in 
+for dinner — ” 
+
+“He got off he got off he got off — ” 
+
+“That’s enough — Fred — George — Ginny!” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, as Mr. Weasley left the kitchen. “Harry dear, 
+come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate 
+breakfast...” 
+
+Ron and Hermione sat themselves down opposite him 
+looking happier than they had done since he had first 
+arrived at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, and 
+Harry’s feeling of giddy relief, which had been 
+somewhat dented by his encounter with Lucius 
+Page | 201Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Malfoy, swelled again. The gloomy house seemed 
+warmer and more welcoming all of a sudden; even 
+Kreacher looked less ugly as he poked his snoutlike 
+nose into the kitchen to investigate the source of all 
+the noise. 
+
+“ ’Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, 
+there was no way they were going to convict you,” 
+said Ron happily, now dishing great mounds of 
+mashed potatoes onto everyone’s plates. 
+
+“Yeah, he swung it for me,” said Harry. He felt that it 
+would sound highly ungrateful, not to mention 
+childish, to say, “I wish he’d talked to me, though. Or 
+even looked at me.” 
+
+And as he thought this, the scar on his forehead 
+burned so badly that he clapped his hand to it. 
+
+“What’s up?” said Hermione, looking alarmed. 
+
+“Scar,” Harry mumbled. “But it’s nothing... It happens 
+all the time now...” 
+
+None of the others had noticed a thing; all of them 
+were now helping themselves to food while gloating 
+over Harry’s narrow escape; Fred, George, and Ginny 
+were still singing. Hermione looked rather anxious, 
+but before she could say anything, Ron said happily, 
+
+“I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate 
+with us, you know.” 
+
+“I don’t think he’ll be able to, Ron,” said Mrs. Weasley, 
+setting a huge plate of roast chicken down in front of 
+Harry. “He’s really very busy at the moment.” 
+
+“HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF—” 
+
+“SHUT UP!” roared Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Page | 202Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Over the next few days Harry could not help noticing 
+that there was one person within number twelve, 
+Grimmauld Place, who did not seem wholly overjoyed 
+that he would be returning to Hogwarts. Sirius had 
+put up a very good show of happiness on first hearing 
+the news, wringing Harry’s hand and beaming just 
+like the rest of them; soon, however, he was moodier 
+and surlier than before, talking less to everybody, 
+even Harry, and spending increasing amounts of time 
+shut up in his mother’s room with Buckbeak. 
+
+“Don’t you go feeling guilty!” said Hermione sternly, 
+after Harry had confided some of his feelings to her 
+and Ron while they scrubbed out a moldy cupboard 
+on the third floor a few days later. “You belong at 
+Hogwarts and Sirius knows it. Personally, I think he’s 
+being selfish.” 
+
+“That’s a bit harsh, Hermione,” said Ron, frowning as 
+he attempted to prize off a bit of mold that had 
+attached itself firmly to his finger, “you wouldn’t want 
+to be stuck inside this house without company.” 
+
+“He’ll have company!” said Hermione. “It’s 
+headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, isn’t it? He 
+just got his hopes up that Harry would be coming to 
+live here with him.” 
+
+“I don’t think that’s true,” said Harry, wringing out 
+his cloth. “He wouldn’t give me a straight answer 
+when I asked him if I could.” 
+
+“He just didn’t want to get his own hopes up even 
+more,” said Hermione wisely. “And he probably felt a 
+bit guilty himself, because I think a part of him was 
+really hoping you’d be expelled. Then you’d both be 
+outcasts together.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 203Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Come off it!” said Harry and Ron together, but 
+Hermione merely shrugged. 
+
+“Suit yourselves. But I sometimes think Ron’s mum’s 
+right, and Sirius gets confused about whether you’re 
+you or your father, Harry.” 
+
+“So you think he’s touched in the head?” said Harry 
+heatedly. 
+
+“No, I just think he’s been very lonely for a long time,” 
+said Hermione simply. 
+
+At this point Mrs. Weasley entered the bedroom 
+behind them. 
+
+“Still not finished?” she said, poking her head into the 
+cupboard. 
+
+“I thought you might be here to tell us to have a 
+break!” said Ron bitterly. “D’you know how much 
+mold we’ve got rid of since we arrived here?” 
+
+“You were so keen to help the Order,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, “you can do your bit by making 
+headquarters fit to live in.” 
+
+“I feel like a house-elf,” grumbled Ron. 
+
+“Well, now that you understand what dreadful lives 
+they lead, perhaps you’ll be a bit more active in 
+S.P.E.W.!” said Hermione hopefully, as Mrs. Weasley 
+left them to it again. “You know, maybe it wouldn’t be 
+a bad idea to show people exactly how horrible it is to 
+clean all the time — we could do a sponsored scrub of 
+Gryffindor common room, all proceeds to S.P.E.W., it 
+would raise awareness as well as funds — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 204Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’ll sponsor you to shut up about spew,” Ron 
+muttered irritably, but only so Harry could hear him. 
+
+Harry found himself daydreaming about Hogwarts 
+more and more as the end of the holidays 
+approached; he could not wait to see Hagrid again, to 
+play Quidditch, even to stroll across the vegetable 
+patches to the Herbology greenhouses. It would be a 
+treat just to leave this dusty, musty house, where half 
+of the cupboards were still bolted shut and Kreacher 
+wheezed insults out of the shadows as you passed, 
+though Harry was careful not to say any of this within 
+earshot of Sirius. 
+
+The fact was that living at the headquarters of the 
+anti-Voldemort movement was not nearly as 
+interesting or exciting as Harry would have expected 
+before he’d experienced it. Though members of the 
+Order of the Phoenix came and went regularly, 
+sometimes staying for meals, sometimes only for a few 
+minutes’ whispered conversation, Mrs. Weasley made 
+sure that Harry and the others were kept well out of 
+earshot (whether Extendable or normal) and nobody, 
+not even Sirius, seemed to feel that Harry needed to 
+know anything more than he had heard on the night 
+of his arrival. 
+
+On the very last day of the holidays Harry was 
+sweeping up Hedwig’s owl droppings from the top of 
+the wardrobe when Ron entered their bedroom 
+carrying a couple of envelopes. 
+
+“Booklists have arrived,” he said, throwing one of the 
+envelopes up to Harry, who was standing on a chair. 
+“About time, I thought they’d forgotten, they usually 
+come much earlier than this...” 
+
+Harry swept the last of the droppings into a rubbish 
+bag and threw the bag over Ron’s head into the 
+
+Page | 205Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+wastepaper basket in the corner, which swallowed it 
+and belched loudly. He then opened his letter: It 
+contained two pieces of parchment, one the usual 
+reminder that term started on the first of September, 
+the other telling him which books he would need for 
+the coming year. 
+
+“Only two new ones,” he said, reading the list. “The 
+Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, by Miranda 
+Goshawk and Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert 
+Slinkhard.” 
+
+Crack. 
+
+Fred and George Apparated right beside Harry. He 
+was so used to them doing this by now that he didn’t 
+even fall off his chair. 
+
+“We were just wondering who assigned the Slinkhard 
+book,” said Fred conversationally. 
+
+“Because it means Dumbledore’s found a new 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,” said George. 
+
+“And about time too,” said Fred. 
+
+“What d’you mean?” Harry asked, jumping down 
+beside them. 
+
+“Well, we overheard Mum and Dad talking on the 
+Extendable Ears a few weeks back,” Fred told Harry, 
+“and from what they were saying, Dumbledore was 
+having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this 
+year.” 
+
+“Not surprising, is it, when you look at what’s 
+happened to the last four?” said George. 
+
+
+
+Page | 206Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“One sacked, one dead, one’s memory removed, and 
+one locked in a trunk for nine months,” said Harry, 
+counting them off on his fingers. “Yeah, I see what 
+you mean.” 
+
+“What’s up with you, Ron?” asked Fred. 
+
+Ron did not answer. Harry looked around. Ron was 
+standing very still with his mouth slightly open, 
+gaping at his letter from Hogwarts. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” said Fred impatiently, moving 
+around Ron to look over his shoulder at the 
+parchment. 
+
+Fred’s mouth fell open too. 
+
+“Prefect?” he said, staring incredulously at the letter. 
+“Prefect?” 
+
+George leapt forward, seized the envelope in Ron’s 
+other hand, and turned it upside down. Harry saw 
+something scarlet and gold fall into George’s palm. 
+
+“No way,” said George in a hushed voice. 
+
+“There’s been a mistake,” said Fred, snatching the 
+letter out of Ron’s grasp and holding it up to the light 
+as though checking for a watermark. “No one in their 
+right mind would make Ron a prefect...” 
+
+The twins’ heads turned in unison and both of them 
+stared at Harry. 
+
+“We thought you were a cert!” said Fred in a tone that 
+suggested Harry had tricked them in some way. 
+
+“We thought Dumbledore was bound to pick you!” 
+said George indignantly. 
+
+Page | 207Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Winning the Triwizard and everything!” said Fred. 
+
+“I suppose all the mad stuff must’ve counted against 
+him,” said George to Fred. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Fred slowly. “Yeah, you’ve caused too 
+much trouble, mate. Well, at least one of you’s got 
+their priorities right.” 
+
+He strode over to Harry and clapped him on the back 
+while giving Ron a scathing look. 
+
+“Prefect ... ickle Ronnie the prefect ...” 
+
+“Oh, Mum’s going to be revolting,” groaned George, 
+thrusting the prefect badge back at Ron as though it 
+might contaminate him. 
+
+Ron, who still had not said a word, took the badge, 
+stared at it for a moment, and then held it out to 
+Harry as though asking mutely for confirmation that 
+it was genuine. Harry took it. A large P was 
+superimposed on the Gryffindor lion. He had seen a 
+badge just like this on Percy’s chest on his very first 
+day at Hogwarts. 
+
+The door banged open. Hermione came tearing into 
+the room, her cheeks flushed and her hair flying. 
+There was an envelope in her hand. 
+
+“Did you — did you get — ?” 
+
+She spotted the badge in Harry’s hand and let out a 
+shriek. 
+
+“I knew it!” she said excitedly, brandishing her letter. 
+“Me too, Harry, me too!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 208Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry quickly, pushing the badge back into 
+Ron’s hand. “It’s Ron, not me.” 
+
+
+
+“It — what?” 
+
+“Ron’s prefect, not me,” Harry said. 
+
+“Ron?” said Hermione, her jaw dropping. “But ... are 
+you sure? I mean — ” 
+
+She turned red as Ron looked around at her with a 
+defiant expression on his face. 
+
+“It’s my name on the letter,” he said. 
+
+“I ...” said Hermione, looking thoroughly bewildered. 
+
+“I ... well ... wow! Well done, Ron! That’s really — ” 
+
+“Unexpected,” said George, nodding. 
+
+“No,” said Hermione, blushing harder than ever, “no, 
+it’s not ... Ron’s done loads of ... he’s really ...” 
+
+The door behind her opened a little wider and Mrs. 
+Weasley backed into the room carrying a pile of 
+freshly laundered robes. 
+
+“Ginny said the booklists had come at last,” she said, 
+glancing around at all the envelopes as she made her 
+way over to the bed and started sorting the robes into 
+two piles. “If you give them to me I’ll take them over to 
+Diagon Alley this afternoon and get your books while 
+you’re packing. Ron, I’ll have to get you more 
+pajamas, these are at least six inches too short, I 
+can’t believe how fast you’re growing ... what color 
+would you like?” 
+
+“Get him red and gold to match his badge,” said 
+George, smirking. 
+
+Page | 209Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Match his what?” said Mrs. Weasley absently, rolling 
+up a pair of maroon socks and placing them on Ron’s 
+pile. 
+
+“His badge,” said Fred, with the air of getting the 
+worst over quickly. “His lovely shiny new prefect’s 
+badge.” 
+
+Fred’s words took a moment to penetrate Mrs. 
+Weasley’s preoccupation about pajamas. 
+
+“His ... but ... Ron, you’re not... ?” 
+
+Ron held up his badge. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley let out a shriek just like Hermione’s. 
+
+“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! Oh, Ron, how 
+wonderful! A prefect! That’s everyone in the family!” 
+
+“What are Fred and I, next-door neighbors?” said 
+George indignantly, as his mother pushed him aside 
+and flung her arms around her youngest son. 
+
+“Wait until your father hears! Ron, I’m so proud of 
+you, what wonderful news, you could end up Head 
+Boy just like Bill and Percy, it’s the first step! Oh, 
+what a thing to happen in the middle of all this worry, 
+I’m just thrilled, oh Ronnie — ” 
+
+Fred and George were both making loud retching 
+noises behind her back but Mrs. Weasley did not 
+notice; arms tight around Ron’s neck, she was kissing 
+him all over his face, which had turned a brighter 
+scarlet than his badge. 
+
+“Mum ... don’t ... Mum, get a grip...” he muttered, 
+trying to push her away. 
+
+
+
+Page | 210Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She let go of him and said breathlessly, “Well, what 
+will it be? We gave Percy an owl, but you’ve already 
+got one, of course.” 
+
+“W-what do you mean?” said Ron, looking as though 
+he did not dare believe his ears. 
+
+“You’ve got to have a reward for this!” said Mrs. 
+Weasley fondly. “How about a nice new set of dress 
+robes?” 
+
+“We’ve already bought him some,” said Fred sourly, 
+who looked as though he sincerely regretted this 
+generosity. 
+
+“Or a new cauldron, Charlie’s old one’s rusting 
+through, or a new rat, you always liked Scabbers — ” 
+
+“Mum,” said Ron hopefully, “can I have a new 
+broom?” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley’s face fell slightly; broomsticks were 
+expensive. 
+
+“Not a really good one!” Ron hastened to add. “Just — 
+just a new one for a change ...” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley hesitated, then smiled. 
+
+“Of course you can... Well, I’d better get going if I’ve 
+got a broom to buy too. I’ll see you all later... Little 
+Ronnie, a prefect! And don’t forget to pack your 
+trunks... A prefect ... Oh, I’m all of a dither!” 
+
+She gave Ron yet another kiss on the cheek, sniffed 
+loudly, and bustled from the room. 
+
+Fred and George exchanged looks. 
+
+
+
+Page | 211Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You don’t mind if we don’t kiss you, do you, Ron?” 
+said Fred in a falsely anxious voice. 
+
+“We could curtsy, if you like,” said George. 
+
+“Oh, shut up,” said Ron, scowling at them. 
+
+“Or what?” said Fred, an evil grin spreading across 
+his face. “Going to put us in detention?” 
+
+“I’d love to see him try,” sniggered George. 
+
+“He could if you don’t watch out!” said Hermione 
+angrily, at which Fred and George burst out laughing 
+and Ron muttered, “Drop it, Hermione.” 
+
+“We’re going to have to watch our step, George,” said 
+Fred, pretending to tremble, “with these two on our 
+case...” 
+
+“Yeah, it looks like our law-breaking days are finally 
+over,” said George, shaking his head. 
+
+And with another loud crack, the twins Disapparated. 
+
+“Those two!” said Hermione furiously, staring up at 
+the ceiling, through which they could now hear Fred 
+and George roaring with laughter in the room 
+upstairs. “Don’t pay any attention to them, Ron, 
+they’re only jealous!” 
+
+“I don’t think they are,” said Ron doubtfully, also 
+looking up at the ceiling. “They’ve always said only 
+prats become prefects... Still,” he added on a happier 
+note, “they’ve never had new brooms! I wish I could go 
+with Mum and choose... She’ll never be able to afford 
+a Nimbus, but there’s the new Cleansweep out, that’d 
+be great... Yeah, I think I’ll go and tell her I like the 
+Cleansweep, just so she knows...” 
+
+Page | 212Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He dashed from the room, leaving Harry and 
+Hermione alone. 
+
+For some reason, Harry found that he did not want to 
+look at Hermione. He turned to his bed, picked up the 
+pile of clean robes Mrs. Weasley had laid upon it, and 
+crossed the room to his trunk. 
+
+“Harry?” said Hermione tentatively. 
+
+“Well done,” said Harry, so heartily it did not sound 
+like his voice at all, and still not looking at her. 
+“Brilliant. Prefect. Great.” 
+
+“Thanks,” said Hermione. “Erm — Harry — could I 
+borrow Hedwig so I can tell Mum and Dad? They’ll be 
+really pleased — I mean, prefect is something they 
+can understand — ” 
+
+“Yeah, no problem,” said Harry, still in the horrible 
+hearty voice that did not belong to him. “Take her!” 
+
+He leaned over his trunk, laid the robes on the 
+bottom of it, and pretended to be rummaging for 
+something while Hermione crossed to the wardrobe 
+and called Hedwig down. A few moments passed; 
+Harry heard the door close but remained bent double, 
+listening; the only sounds he could hear were the 
+blank picture on the wall sniggering again and the 
+wastepaper basket in the corner coughing up the owl 
+droppings. 
+
+He straightened up and looked behind him. Hermione 
+and Hedwig had gone. Harry returned slowly to his 
+bed and sank onto it, gazing unseeingly at the foot of 
+the wardrobe. 
+
+He had forgotten completely about prefects being 
+chosen in the fifth year. He had been too anxious 
+
+Page | 213Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+about the possibility of being expelled to spare a 
+thought for the fact that badges must be winging their 
+way toward certain people. But if he had remembered 
+... if he had thought about it . . . what would he have 
+expected? 
+
+Not this, said a small and truthful voice inside his 
+head. 
+
+Harry screwed up his face and buried it in his hands. 
+He could not lie to himself; if he had known the 
+prefect badge was on its way, he would have expected 
+it to come to him, not Ron. Did this make him as 
+arrogant as Draco Malfoy? Did he think himself 
+superior to everyone else? Did he really believe he was 
+better than Ron? 
+
+No, said the small voice defiantly. 
+
+Was that true? Harry wondered, anxiously probing 
+his own feelings. 
+
+I’m better at Quidditch, said the voice. But I’m not 
+better at anything else. 
+
+That was definitely true, Harry thought; he was no 
+better than Ron in lessons. But what about outside 
+lessons? What about those adventures he, Ron, and 
+Hermione had had together since they had started at 
+Hogwarts, often risking much worse than expulsion? 
+
+Well, Ron and Hermione were with me most of the 
+time, said the voice in Harry’s head. 
+
+Not all the time, though, Harry argued with himself. 
+They didn’t fight Quirrell with me. They didn’t take on 
+Riddle and the basilisk. They didn’t get rid of all those 
+dementors the night Sirius escaped. They weren’t in 
+that graveyard with me, the night Voldemort returned... 
+Page | 214Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And the same feeling of ill usage that had 
+overwhelmed him on the night he had arrived rose 
+again. I’ve definitely done more, Harry thought 
+indignantly. I’ve done more than either of them\ 
+
+But maybe, said the small voice fairly, maybe 
+Dumbledore doesn’t choose prefects because they’ve 
+got themselves into a load of dangerous situations... 
+Maybe he chooses them for other reasons... Ron must 
+have something you don’t... 
+
+Harry opened his eyes and stared through his fingers 
+at the wardrobe’s clawed feet, remembering what Fred 
+had said. 
+
+“No one in their right mind would make Ron a 
+prefect...” 
+
+Harry gave a small snort of laughter. A second later 
+he felt sickened with himself. 
+
+Ron had not asked Dumbledore to give him the 
+prefect badge. This was not Ron’s fault. Was he, 
+
+Harry, Ron’s best friend in the world, going to sulk 
+because he didn’t have a badge, laugh with the twins 
+behind Ron’s back, ruin this for Ron when, for the 
+first time, he had beaten Harry at something? 
+
+At this point Harry heard Ron’s footsteps on the stairs 
+again. He stood up, straightened his glasses, and 
+hitched a grin onto his face as Ron bounded back 
+through the door. 
+
+“Just caught her!” he said happily. “She says she’ll 
+get the Cleansweep if she can.” 
+
+“Cool,” Harry said, and he was relieved to hear that 
+his voice had stopped sounding hearty. “Listen — Ron 
+— well done, mate.” 
+
+Page | 215Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The smile faded off Ron’s face. 
+
+
+
+“I never thought it would be me!” he said, shaking his 
+head, “I thought it would be you!” 
+
+“Nah, I’ve caused too much trouble,” Harry said, 
+echoing Fred. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, “yeah, I suppose... Well, we’d better 
+get our trunks packed, hadn’t we?” 
+
+It was odd how widely their possessions seemed to 
+have scattered themselves since they had arrived. It 
+took them most of the afternoon to retrieve their 
+books and belongings from all over the house and 
+stow them back inside their school trunks. Harry 
+noticed that Ron kept moving his prefect’s badge 
+around, first placing it on his bedside table, then 
+putting it into his jeans pocket, then taking it out and 
+laying it on his folded robes, as though to see the 
+effect of the red on the black. Only when Fred and 
+George dropped in and offered to attach it to his 
+forehead with a Permanent Sticking Charm did he 
+wrap it tenderly in his maroon socks and lock it in his 
+trunk. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley returned from Diagon Alley around six 
+o’clock, laden with books and carrying a long package 
+wrapped in thick brown paper that Ron took from her 
+with a moan of longing. 
+
+“Never mind unwrapping it now, people are arriving 
+for dinner, I want you all downstairs,” she said, but 
+the moment she was out of sight Ron ripped off the 
+paper in a frenzy and examined every inch of his new 
+broom, an ecstatic expression on his face. 
+
+Down in the basement Mrs. Weasley had hung a 
+scarlet banner over the heavily laden dinner table, 
+
+Page | 216Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+which read CONGRATULATIONS RON AND 
+HERMIONE — NEW PREFECTS. She looked in a 
+better mood than Harry had seen her all holiday. 
+
+“I thought we’d have a little party, not a sit-down 
+dinner,” she told Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, 
+and Ginny as they entered the room. “Your father and 
+Bill are on their way, Ron, I’ve sent them both owls 
+and they’re thrilled,” she added, beaming. 
+
+Fred rolled his eyes. 
+
+Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were 
+already there and Mad-Eye Moody stumped in shortly 
+after Harry had got himself a butterbeer. 
+
+“Oh, Alastor, I am glad you’re here,” said Mrs. 
+
+Weasley brightly, as Mad-Eye shrugged off his 
+traveling cloak. “We’ve been wanting to ask you for 
+ages — could you have a look in the writing desk in 
+the drawing room and tell us what’s inside it? We 
+haven’t wanted to open it just in case it’s something 
+really nasty.” 
+
+“No problem, Molly ...” 
+
+Moody’s electric-blue eye swiveled upward and stared 
+fixedly through the ceiling of the kitchen. 
+
+“Drawing room ...” he growled, as the pupil 
+contracted. “Desk in the corner? Yeah, I see it... Yeah, 
+it’s a boggart... Want me to go up and get rid of it, 
+Molly?” 
+
+“No, no, I’ll do it myself later,” beamed Mrs. Weasley. 
+“You have your drink. We’re having a little bit of a 
+celebration, actually...” She gestured at the scarlet 
+banner. “Fourth prefect in the family!” she said 
+fondly, ruffling Ron’s hair. 
+
+Page | 217Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Prefect, eh?” growled Moody, his normal eye on Ron 
+and his magical eye swiveling around to gaze into the 
+side of his head. Harry had the very uncomfortable 
+feeling it was looking at him and moved away toward 
+Sirius and Lupin. 
+
+“Well, congratulations,” said Moody, still glaring at 
+Ron with his normal eye, “authority figures always 
+attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you 
+can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn’t have 
+appointed you...” 
+
+Ron looked rather startled at this view of the matter 
+but was saved the trouble of responding by the arrival 
+of his father and eldest brother. Mrs. Weasley was in 
+such a good mood she did not even complain that 
+they had brought Mundungus with them too; he was 
+wearing a long overcoat that seemed oddly lumpy in 
+unlikely places and declined the offer to remove it and 
+put it with Moody’s traveling cloak. 
+
+“Well, I think a toast is in order,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+when everyone had a drink. He raised his goblet. “To 
+Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects!” 
+
+Ron and Hermione beamed as everyone drank to 
+them and then applauded. 
+
+“I was never a prefect myself,” said Tonks brightly 
+from behind Harry as everybody moved toward the 
+table to help themselves to food. Her hair was tomato- 
+red and waist length today; she looked like Ginny’s 
+older sister. “My Head of House said I lacked certain 
+necessary qualities.” 
+
+“Like what?” said Ginny, who was choosing a baked 
+potato. 
+
+“Like the ability to behave myself,” said Tonks. 
+
+Page | 218Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ginny laughed; Hermione looked as though she did 
+not know whether to smile or not and compromised 
+by taking an extra large gulp of butterbeer and 
+choking on it. 
+
+“What about you, Sirius?” Ginny asked, thumping 
+Hermione on the back. 
+
+Sirius, who was right beside Harry, let out his usual 
+barklike laugh. 
+
+“No one would have made me a prefect, I spent too 
+much time in detention with James. Lupin was the 
+good boy, he got the badge.” 
+
+“I think Dumbledore might have hoped that I would 
+be able to exercise some control over my best friends,” 
+said Lupin. “I need scarcely say that I failed dismally.” 
+
+Harry’s mood suddenly lifted. His father had not been 
+a prefect either. All at once the party seemed much 
+more enjoyable; he loaded up his plate, feeling 
+unusually fond of everyone in the room. 
+
+Ron was rhapsodizing about his new broom to 
+anybody who would listen. 
+
+"... naught to seventy in ten seconds, not bad, is it? 
+When you think the Comet Two Ninety’s only naught 
+to sixty and that’s with a decent tailwind according to 
+Which Broomstick?” 
+
+Hermione was talking very earnestly to Lupin about 
+her view of elf rights. 
+
+“I mean, it’s the same kind of nonsense as werewolf 
+segregation, isn’t it? It all stems from this horrible 
+thing wizards have of thinking they’re superior to 
+other creatures...” 
+
+Page | 219Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Mrs. Weasley and Bill were having their usual 
+argument about Bill’s hair. 
+
+"... getting really out of hand, and you’re so good- 
+looking, it would look much better shorter, wouldn’t 
+it, Harry?” 
+
+“Oh — I dunno — ” said Harry, slightly alarmed at 
+being asked his opinion; he slid away from them in 
+the direction of Fred and George, who were huddled 
+in a corner with Mundungus. 
+
+Mundungus stopped talking when he saw Harry, but 
+Fred winked and beckoned Harry closer. 
+
+“It’s okay,” he told Mundungus, “we can trust Harry, 
+he’s our financial backer.” 
+
+“Look what Dung’s gotten us,” said George, holding 
+out his hand to Harry. It was full of what looked like 
+shriveled black pods. A faint rattling noise was 
+coming from them, even though they were completely 
+stationary. 
+
+“Venomous Tentacula seeds,” said George. “We need 
+them for the Skiving Snackboxes but they’re a Class 
+C Non-Tradeable Substance so we’ve been having a 
+bit of trouble getting hold of them.” 
+
+“Ten Galleons the lot, then, Dung?” said Fred. 
+
+“Wiv all the trouble I went to to get ’em?” said 
+Mundungus, his saggy, bloodshot eyes stretching 
+even wider. “I’m sorry, lads, but I’m not taking a Knut 
+under twenty.” 
+
+“Dung likes his little joke,” Fred said to Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 220Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, his best one so far has been six Sickles for a 
+bag of knarl quills,” said George. 
+
+“Be careful,” Harry warned them quietly. 
+
+“What?” said Fred. “Mum’s busy cooing over Prefect 
+Ron, we’re okay.” 
+
+“But Moody could have his eye on you,” Harry pointed 
+out. 
+
+Mundungus looked nervously over his shoulder. 
+
+“Good point, that,” he grunted. “All right, lads, ten it 
+is, if you’ll take ’em quick.” 
+
+“Cheers, Harry!” said Fred delightedly, when 
+Mundungus had emptied his pockets into the twins’ 
+outstretched hands and scuttled off toward the food. 
+“We’d better get these upstairs...” 
+
+Harry watched them go, feeling slightly uneasy. It had 
+just occurred to him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would 
+want to know how Fred and George were financing 
+their joke shop business when, as was inevitable, 
+they finally found out about it. Giving the twins his 
+Tri-wizard winnings had seemed a simple thing to do 
+at the time, but what if it led to another family row 
+and a Percy-like estrangement? Would Mrs. Weasley 
+still feel that Harry was as good as her son if she 
+found out he had made it possible for Fred and 
+George to start a career she thought quite 
+unsuitable? 
+
+Standing where the twins had left him with nothing 
+but a guilty weight in the pit of his stomach for 
+company, Harry caught the sound of his own name. 
+Kingsley Shacklebolt’s deep voice was audible even 
+over the surrounding chatter. 
+
+Page | 221Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+"... why Dumbledore didn’t make Potter a prefect?” 
+said Kingsley. 
+
+“He’ll have had his reasons,” replied Lupin. 
+
+“But it would’ve shown confidence in him. It’s what 
+I’d’ve done,” persisted Kingsley, “ ’specially with the 
+Daily Prophet having a go at him every few days...” 
+
+Harry did not look around; he did not want Lupin or 
+Kingsley to know he had heard. He followed 
+Mundungus back toward the table, though not 
+remotely hungry. His pleasure in the party had 
+evaporated as quickly as it had come; he wished he 
+were upstairs in bed. 
+
+Mad-Eye Moody was sniffing at a chicken leg with 
+what remained of his nose; evidently he could not 
+detect any trace of poison, because he then tore a 
+strip off it with his teeth. 
+
+"... the handle’s made of Spanish oak with anti-jinx 
+varnish and in-built vibration control — ” Ron was 
+saying to Tonks. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley yawned widely. 
+
+“Well, I think I’ll sort out that boggart before I turn 
+in... Arthur, I don’t want this lot up too late, all right? 
+’Night, Harry, dear.” 
+
+She left the kitchen. Harry set down his plate and 
+wondered whether he could follow her without 
+attracting attention. 
+
+“You all right, Potter?” grunted Moody. 
+
+“Yeah, fine,” lied Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 222Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Moody took a swig from his hip flask, his electric blue 
+eye staring sideways at Harry. 
+
+“Come here, I’ve got something that might interest 
+you,” he said. 
+
+From an inner pocket of his robes Moody pulled a 
+very tattered old Wizarding photograph. 
+
+“Original Order of the Phoenix,” growled Moody. 
+“Found it last night when I was looking for my spare 
+Invisibility Cloak, seeing as Podmore hasn’t had the 
+manners to return my best one... Thought people 
+might like to see it.” 
+
+Harry took the photograph. A small crowd of people, 
+some waving at him, others lifting their glasses, 
+looked back up at him. 
+
+“There’s me,” said Moody unnecessarily, pointing at 
+himself. The Moody in the picture was unmistakable, 
+though his hair was slightly less gray and his nose 
+was intact. “And there’s Dumbledore beside me, 
+Dedalus Diggle on the other side ... That’s Marlene 
+McKinnon, she was killed two weeks after this was 
+taken, they got her whole family. That’s Frank and 
+Alice Longbottom — ” 
+
+Harry’s stomach, already uncomfortable, clenched as 
+he looked at Alice Longbottom; he knew her round, 
+friendly face very well, even though he had never met 
+her, because she was the image of her son, Neville. 
+
+“Poor devils,” growled Moody. “Better dead than what 
+happened to them ... and that’s Emmeline Vance, 
+you’ve met her, and that there’s Lupin, obviously ... 
+Benjy Fenwick, he copped it too, we only ever found 
+bits of him ... shift aside there,” he added, poking the 
+picture, and the little photographic people edged 
+Page | 223Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+sideways, so that those who were partially obscured 
+could move to the front. 
+
+
+
+“That’s Edgar Bones ... brother of Amelia Bones, they 
+got him and his family too, he was a great wizard ... 
+Sturgis Podmore, blimey, he looks young ... Caradoc 
+Dearborn, vanished six months after this, we never 
+found his body ... Hagrid, of course, looks exactly the 
+same as ever ... Elphias Doge, you’ve met him, I’d 
+forgotten he used to wear that stupid hat . . . Gideon 
+Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his 
+brother Fabian, they fought like heroes ... budge 
+along, budge along ...” 
+
+The little people in the photograph jostled among 
+themselves, and those hidden right at the back 
+appeared at the forefront of the picture. 
+
+“That’s Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth, only time I 
+ever met him, strange bloke ... That’s Dorcas 
+Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally ... Sirius, 
+when he still had short hair ... and ... there you go, 
+thought that would interest you!” 
+
+Harry’s heart turned over. His mother and father were 
+beaming up at him, sitting on either side of a small, 
+watery-eyed man Harry recognized at once as 
+Wormtail: He was the one who had betrayed their 
+whereabouts to Voldemort and so helped bring about 
+their deaths. 
+
+“Eh?” said Moody. 
+
+Harry looked up into Moody’s heavily scarred and 
+pitted face. Evidently Moody was under the 
+impression he had just given Harry a bit of a treat. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, attempting to grin again. “Er ... 
+listen, I’ve just remembered, I haven’t packed my ...” 
+
+Page | 224Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He was spared the trouble of inventing an object he 
+had not packed; Sirius had just said, “What’s that 
+you’ve got there, Mad-Eye?” and Moody had turned 
+toward him. Harry crossed the kitchen, slipped 
+through the door and up the stairs before anyone 
+could call him back. 
+
+He did not know why he had received such a shock; 
+he had seen his parents’ pictures before, after all, and 
+he had met Wormtail ... but to have them sprung on 
+him like that, when he was least expecting it ... No 
+one would like that, he thought angrily. . . 
+
+And then, to see them surrounded by all those other 
+happy faces ... Benjy Fenwick, who had been found in 
+bits, and Gideon Prewett, who had died like a hero, 
+and the Longbottoms, who had been tortured into 
+madness ... all waving happily out of the photograph 
+forevermore, not knowing that they were doomed... 
+Well, Moody might find that interesting ... he, Harry, 
+found it disturbing... 
+
+Harry tiptoed up the stairs in the hall past the stuffed 
+elf heads, glad to be on his own again, but as he 
+approached the first landing he heard noises. 
+Someone was sobbing in the drawing room. 
+
+“Hello?” Harry said. 
+
+There was no answer but the sobbing continued. He 
+climbed the remaining stairs two at a time, walked 
+across the landing, and opened the drawing-room 
+door. 
+
+Someone was cowering against the dark wall, her 
+wand in her hand, her whole body shaking with sobs. 
+Sprawled on the dusty old carpet in a patch of 
+moonlight, clearly dead, was Ron. 
+
+
+
+Page | 225Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+All the air seemed to vanish from Harry’s lungs; he 
+felt as though he were falling through the floor; his 
+brain turned icy cold — Ron dead, no, it couldn’t be 
+
+
+
+But wait a moment, it couldn’t be — Ron was 
+downstairs — 
+
+“Mrs. Weasley?” Harry croaked. 
+
+“ R-r-riddikulus\” Mrs. Weasley sobbed, pointing her 
+shaking wand at Ron’s body. 
+
+Crack. 
+
+Ron’s body turned into Bill’s, spread-eagled on his 
+back, his eyes wide open and empty. Mrs. Weasley 
+sobbed harder than ever. 
+
+“ R-riddikulus\” she sobbed again. 
+
+Crack. 
+
+Mr. Weasley’s body replaced Bill’s, his glasses askew, 
+a trickle of blood running down his face. 
+
+“No!” Mrs. Weasley moaned. “No ... riddikulus\ 
+Riddikulusl RIDDIKULUSl” 
+
+Crack. Dead twins. Crack. Dead Percy. Crack. Dead 
+Harry ... 
+
+“Mrs. Weasley, just get out of here!” shouted Harry, 
+staring down at his own dead body on the floor. “Let 
+someone else — ” 
+
+“What’s going on?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 226Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lupin had come running into the room, closely 
+followed by Sirius, with Moody stumping along behind 
+them. Lupin looked from Mrs. Weasley to the dead 
+Harry on the floor and seemed to understand in an 
+instant. Pulling out his own wand he said, very firmly 
+and clearly, “ RiddikulusV’ 
+
+Harry’s body vanished. A silvery orb hung in the air 
+over the spot where it had lain. Lupin waved his wand 
+once more and the orb vanished in a puff of smoke. 
+
+“Oh — oh — oh!” gulped Mrs. Weasley, and she broke 
+into a storm of crying, her face in her hands. 
+
+“Molly,” said Lupin bleakly, walking over to her, 
+
+“Molly, don’t ...” 
+
+Next second she was sobbing her heart out on Lupin’s 
+shoulder. 
+
+“Molly, it was just a boggart,” he said soothingly, 
+patting her on the head. “Just a stupid boggart ...” 
+
+“I see them d-d-dead all the time!” Mrs. Weasley 
+moaned into his shoulder. “All the t-t-time! I d-d- 
+dream about it ...” 
+
+Sirius was staring at the patch of carpet where the 
+boggart, pretending to be Harry’s body, had lain. 
+Moody was looking at Harry, who avoided his gaze. He 
+had a funny feeling Moody’s magical eye had followed 
+him all the way out of the kitchen. 
+
+“D-d-don’t tell Arthur,” Mrs. Weasley was gulping 
+now, mopping her eyes frantically with her cuffs. “I d- 
+d-don’t want him to know... Being silly ...” 
+
+Lupin handed her a handkerchief and she blew her 
+nose. 
+
+Page | 227Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry, I’m so sorry, what must you think of me?” she 
+said shakily. “Not even able to get rid of a boggart ...” 
+
+“Don’t be stupid,” said Harry, trying to smile. 
+
+“I’m just s-s-so worried,” she said, tears spilling out of 
+her eyes again. “Half the f-f-family’s in the Order, it’ll 
+b-b-be a miracle if we all come through this... and P- 
+P-Percy’s not talking to us... What if something d-d- 
+dreadful happens and we had never m-m-made up? 
+And what’s going to happen if Arthur and I get killed, 
+who’s g-g-going to look after Ron and Ginny?” 
+
+“Molly, that’s enough,” said Lupin firmly. “This isn’t 
+like last time. The Order is better prepared, we’ve got 
+a head start, we know what Voldemort’s up to — ” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley gave a little squeak of fright at the 
+sound of the name. 
+
+“Oh, Molly, come on, it’s about time you got used to 
+hearing it — look, I can’t promise no one’s going to get 
+hurt, nobody can promise that, but we’re much better 
+off than we were last time, you weren’t in the Order 
+then, you don’t understand, last time we were 
+outnumbered twenty to one by the Death Eaters and 
+they were picking us off one by one...” 
+
+Harry thought of the photograph again, of his parents’ 
+beaming faces. He knew Moody was still watching 
+him. 
+
+“Don’t worry about Percy,” said Sirius abruptly. “He’ll 
+come round. It’s a matter of time before Voldemort 
+moves into the open; once he does, the whole 
+Ministry’s going to be begging us to forgive them. And 
+I’m not sure I’ll be accepting their apology,” he added 
+bitterly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 228Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And as for who’s going to look after Ron and Ginny if 
+you and Arthur died,” said Lupin, smiling slightly, 
+“what do you think we’d do, let them starve?” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley smiled tremulously. 
+
+“Being silly,” she muttered again, mopping her eyes. 
+
+But Harry, closing his bedroom door behind him 
+some ten minutes later, could not think Mrs. Weasley 
+silly. He could still see his parents beaming up at him 
+from the tattered old photograph, unaware that their 
+lives, like so many of those around them, were 
+drawing to a close. The image of the boggart posing as 
+the corpse of each member of Mrs. Weasley’s family in 
+turn kept flashing before his eyes. 
+
+Without warning, the scar on his forehead seared 
+with pain again and his stomach churned horribly. 
+
+“Cut it out,” he said firmly, rubbing the scar as the 
+pain receded again. 
+
+“First sign of madness, talking to your own head,” 
+said a sly voice from the empty picture on the wall. 
+
+Harry ignored it. He felt older than he had ever felt in 
+his life, and it seemed extraordinary to him that 
+barely an hour ago he had been worried about a joke 
+shop and who had gotten a prefect’s badge. 
+
+
+
+Page | 229Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+10 
+
+
+
+
+LUNA LOVEGOOD 
+
+Harry had a troubled night’s sleep. His parents wove 
+in and out of his dreams, never speaking; Mrs. 
+Weasley sobbed over Kreacher’s dead body watched 
+by Ron and Hermione, who were wearing crowns, and 
+yet again Harry found himself walking down a 
+corridor ending in a locked door. He awoke abruptly 
+with his scar prickling to find Ron already dressed 
+and talking to him. 
+
+"... better hurry up, Mum’s going ballistic, she says 
+we’re going to miss the train...” 
+
+There was a lot of commotion in the house. From 
+what he heard as he dressed at top speed, Harry 
+gathered that Fred and George had bewitched their 
+trunks to fly downstairs to save the bother of carrying 
+them, with the result that they had hurtled straight 
+into Ginny and knocked her down two flights of stairs 
+into the hall; Mrs. Black and Mrs. Weasley were both 
+screaming at the top of their voices. 
+
+
+
+Page | 230Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, 
+YOU IDIOTS — ” 
+
+FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE 
+HOUSE OF MY FATHERS — ” 
+
+Hermione came hurrying into the room looking 
+flustered just as Harry was putting on his trainers; 
+Hedwig was swaying on her shoulder, and she was 
+carrying a squirming Crookshanks in her arms. 
+
+“Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back” — the owl 
+fluttered obligingly over and perched on top of her 
+cage — “are you ready yet?” 
+
+“Nearly — Ginny all right?” Harry asked, shoving on 
+his glasses. 
+
+“Mrs. Weasley’s patched her up,” said Hermione. “But 
+now Mad-Eye’s complaining that we can’t leave unless 
+Sturgis Podmore’s here, otherwise the guard will be 
+one short.” 
+
+“Guard?” said Harry. “We have to go to King’s Cross 
+with a guard?” 
+
+“ You have to go to King’s Cross with a guard,” 
+Hermione corrected him. 
+
+“Why?” said Harry irritably. “I thought Voldemort was 
+supposed to be lying low, or are you telling me he’s 
+going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do 
+me in?” 
+
+“I don’t know, it’s just what Mad-Eye says,” said 
+Hermione distractedly, looking at her watch. “But if 
+we don’t leave soon we’re definitely going to miss the 
+train...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 231Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!” 
+Mrs. Weasley bellowed and Hermione jumped as 
+though scalded and hurried out of the room. Harry 
+seized Hedwig, stuffed her unceremoniously into her 
+cage, and set off downstairs after Hermione, dragging 
+his trunk. 
+
+Mrs. Black’s portrait was howling with rage but 
+nobody was bothering to close the curtains over her; 
+all the noise in the hall was bound to rouse her again 
+anyway. 
+
+“Harry, you’re to come with me and Tonks,” shouted 
+Mrs. Weasley over the repeated screeches of 
+“MUDBLOODSl SCUM CREATURES OF DIRV.” “Leave 
+your trunk and your owl, Alastor’s going to deal with 
+the luggage... Oh, for heaven’s sake, Sirius, 
+Dumbledore said no!” 
+
+A bearlike black dog had appeared at Harry’s side as 
+Harry clambered over the various trunks cluttering 
+the hall to get to Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Oh honestly ...” said Mrs. Weasley despairingly, 
+“well, on your own head be it!” 
+
+She wrenched open the front door and stepped out 
+into the weak September sunlight. Harry and the dog 
+followed her. The door slammed behind them and 
+Mrs. Black’s screeches were cut off instantly. 
+
+“Where’s Tonks?” Harry said, looking around as they 
+went down the stone steps of number twelve, which 
+vanished the moment they reached the pavement. 
+
+“She’s waiting for us just up here,” said Mrs. Weasley 
+stiffly, averting her eyes from the lolloping black dog 
+beside Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 232Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+An old woman greeted them on the corner. She had 
+tightly curled gray hair and wore a purple hat shaped 
+like a porkpie. 
+
+“Wotcher, Harry,” she said, winking. “Better hurry up, 
+hadn’t we, Molly?” she added, checking her watch. 
+
+“I know, I know,” moaned Mrs. Weasley, lengthening 
+her stride, “but Mad-Eye wanted to wait for Sturgis... 
+If only Arthur could have got us cars from the 
+Ministry again ... but Fudge wouldn’t let him borrow 
+so much as an empty ink bottle these days... How 
+Muggles can stand traveling without magic ...” 
+
+But the great black dog gave a joyful bark and 
+gamboled around them, snapping at pigeons, and 
+chasing its own tail. Harry couldn’t help laughing. 
+Sirius had been trapped inside for a very long time. 
+Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips in an almost Aunt 
+Petunia-ish way. 
+
+It took them twenty minutes to reach King’s Cross by 
+foot and nothing more eventful happened during that 
+time than Sirius scaring a couple of cats for Harry’s 
+entertainment. Once inside the station they lingered 
+casually beside the barrier between platforms nine 
+and ten until the coast was clear, then each of them 
+leaned against it in turn and fell easily through onto 
+platform nine and three quarters, where the Hogwarts 
+Express stood belching sooty steam over a platform 
+packed with departing students and their families. 
+Harry inhaled the familiar smell and felt his spirits 
+soar. . . He was really going back. . . 
+
+“I hope the others make it in time,” said Mrs. Weasley 
+anxiously, staring behind her at the wrought-iron 
+arch spanning the platform, through which new 
+arrivals would come. 
+
+
+
+Page | 233Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nice dog, Harry!” called a tall boy with dreadlocks. 
+
+“Thanks, Lee,” said Harry, grinning, as Sirius wagged 
+his tail frantically. 
+
+“Oh good,” said Mrs. Weasley, sounding relieved, 
+“here’s Alas tor with the luggage, look ...” 
+
+A porter’s cap pulled low over his mismatched eyes, 
+Moody came limping through the archway pushing a 
+cart full of their trunks. 
+
+“All okay,” he muttered to Mrs. Weasley and Tonks. 
+“Don’t think we were followed...” 
+
+Seconds later, Mr. Weasley emerged onto the platform 
+with Ron and Hermione. They had almost unloaded 
+Moody’s luggage cart when Fred, George, and Ginny 
+turned up with Lupin. 
+
+“No trouble?” growled Moody. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Lupin. 
+
+“I’ll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore,” said 
+Moody. “That’s the second time he’s not turned up in 
+a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus.” 
+
+“Well, look after yourselves,” said Lupin, shaking 
+hands all round. He reached Harry last and gave him 
+a clap on the shoulder. “You too, Harry. Be careful.” 
+
+“Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled,” 
+said Moody, shaking Harry’s hand too. “And don’t 
+forget, all of you — careful what you put in writing. If 
+in doubt, don’t put it in a letter at all.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 234Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s been great meeting all of you,” said Tonks, 
+hugging Hermione and Ginny. “We’ll see you soon, I 
+expect.” 
+
+A warning whistle sounded; the students still on the 
+platform started hurrying onto the train. 
+
+“Quick, quick,” said Mrs. Weasley distractedly, 
+hugging them at random and catching Harry twice. 
+“Write... Be good... If you’ve forgotten anything we’ll 
+send it on... Onto the train, now, hurry...” 
+
+For one brief moment, the great black dog reared onto 
+its hind legs and placed its front paws on Harry’s 
+shoulders, but Mrs. Weasley shoved Harry away 
+toward the train door hissing, “For heaven’s sake act 
+more like a dog, Sirius!” 
+
+“See you!” Harry called out of the open window as the 
+train began to move, while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny 
+waved beside him. The figures of Tonks, Lupin, 
+
+Moody, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shrank rapidly but 
+the black dog was bounding alongside the window, 
+wagging its tail; blurred people on the platform were 
+laughing to see it chasing the train, and then they 
+turned the corner, and Sirius was gone. 
+
+“He shouldn’t have come with us,” said Hermione in a 
+worried voice. 
+
+“Oh lighten up,” said Ron, “he hasn’t seen daylight for 
+months, poor bloke.” 
+
+“Well,” said Fred, clapping his hands together, “can’t 
+stand around chatting all day, we’ve got business to 
+discuss with Lee. See you later,” and he and George 
+disappeared down the corridor to the right. 
+
+
+
+Page | 235Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The train was gathering still more speed, so that the 
+houses outside the window flashed past and they 
+swayed where they stood. 
+
+“Shall we go and find a compartment, then?” Harry 
+asked Ron and Hermione. 
+
+Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. 
+
+“Er,” said Ron. 
+
+“We’re — well — Ron and I are supposed to go into 
+the prefect carriage,” Hermione said awkwardly. 
+
+Ron wasn’t looking at Harry; he seemed to have 
+become intensely interested in the fingernails on his 
+left hand. 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry. “Right. Fine.” 
+
+“I don’t think we’ll have to stay there all journey,” said 
+Hermione quickly. “Our letters said we just get 
+instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then 
+patrol the corridors from time to time.” 
+
+“Fine,” said Harry again. “Well, I-I might see you later, 
+then.” 
+
+“Yeah, definitely,” said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious 
+look at Harry. “It’s a pain having to go down there, I’d 
+rather — but we have to — I mean, I’m not enjoying 
+it, I’m not Percy,” he finished defiantly. 
+
+“I know you’re not,” said Harry and he grinned. But 
+as Hermione and Ron dragged their trunks, 
+Crookshanks, and a caged Pigwidgeon off toward the 
+engine end of the train, Harry felt an odd sense of 
+loss. He had never traveled on the Hogwarts Express 
+without Ron. 
+
+Page | 236Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Come on,” Ginny told him, “if we get a move on we’ll 
+be able to save them places.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, picking up Hedwig’s cage in one 
+hand and the handle of his trunk in the other. They 
+struggled off down the corridor, peering through the 
+glass-paneled doors into the compartments they 
+passed, which were already full. Harry could not help 
+noticing that a lot of people stared back at him with 
+great interest and that several of them nudged their 
+neighbors and pointed him out. After he had met this 
+behavior in five consecutive carriages he remembered 
+that the Daily Prophet had been telling its readers all 
+summer what a lying show-off he was. He wondered 
+bleakly whether the people now staring and 
+whispering believed the stories. 
+
+In the very last carriage they met Neville Longbottom, 
+Harry’s fellow fifth-year Gryffindor, his round face 
+shining with the effort of pulling his trunk along and 
+maintaining a one-handed grip on his struggling toad, 
+Trevor. 
+
+“Hi, Harry,” he panted. “Hi, Ginny... Everywhere ’s 
+full... I can’t find a seat...” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” said Ginny, who had 
+squeezed past Neville to peer into the compartment 
+behind him. “There’s room in this one, there’s only 
+Loony Lovegood in here — ” 
+
+Neville mumbled something about not wanting to 
+disturb anyone. 
+
+“Don’t be silly,” said Ginny, laughing, “she’s all right.” 
+
+She slid the door open and pulled her trunk inside it. 
+Harry and Neville followed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 237Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hi, Luna,” said Ginny. “Is it okay if we take these 
+seats?” 
+
+The girl beside the window looked up. She had 
+straggly, waist-length, dirty-blond hair, very pale 
+eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a 
+permanently surprised look. Harry knew at once why 
+Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by. The 
+girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. Perhaps it 
+was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her 
+left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to 
+wear a necklace of butterbeer caps, or that she was 
+reading a magazine upside down. Her eyes ranged 
+over Neville and came to rest on Harry. She nodded. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Ginny, smiling at her. 
+
+Harry and Neville stowed the three trunks and 
+Hedwig’s cage in the luggage rack and sat down. The 
+girl called Luna watched them over her upside-down 
+magazine, which was called The Quibbler. She did not 
+seem to need to blink as much as normal humans. 
+
+She stared and stared at Harry, who had taken the 
+seat opposite her and now wished he had not. 
+
+“Had a good summer, Luna?” Ginny asked. 
+
+“Yes,” said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off 
+Harry. “Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. You’re 
+Harry Potter,” she added. 
+
+“I know I am,” said Harry. 
+
+Neville chuckled. Luna turned her pale eyes upon him 
+instead. 
+
+“And I don’t know who you are.” 
+
+“I’m nobody,” said Neville hurriedly. 
+
+Page | 238Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No you’re not,” said Ginny sharply. “Neville 
+Longbottom — Luna Lovegood. Luna’s in my year, but 
+in Ravenclaw.” 
+
+“ Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure,” said 
+Luna in a singsong voice. 
+
+She raised her upside-down magazine high enough to 
+hide her face and fell silent. Harry and Neville looked 
+at each other with their eyebrows raised. Ginny 
+suppressed a giggle. 
+
+The train rattled onward, speeding them out into 
+open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day; 
+one moment the carriage was full of sunlight and the 
+next they were passing beneath ominously gray 
+clouds. 
+
+“Guess what I got for my birthday?” said Neville. 
+
+“Another Remembrall?” said Harry, remembering the 
+marblelike device Neville’s grandmother had sent him 
+in an effort to improve his abysmal memory. 
+
+“No,” said Neville, “I could do with one, though, I lost 
+the old one ages ago... No, look at this...” 
+
+He dug the hand that was not keeping a firm grip on 
+Trevor into his schoolbag and after a little bit of 
+rummaging pulled out what appeared to be a small 
+gray cactus in a pot, except that it was covered with 
+what looked like boils rather than spines. 
+
+“Mimbulus mimbletonia,” he said proudly. 
+
+Harry stared at the thing. It was pulsating slightly, 
+giving it the rather sinister look of some diseased 
+internal organ. 
+
+
+
+Page | 239Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s really, really rare,” said Neville, beaming. “I don’t 
+know if there’s one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, 
+even. I can’t wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My 
+great-uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I’m going to 
+see if I can breed from it.” 
+
+Harry knew that Neville’s favorite subject was 
+Herbology, but for the life of him he could not see 
+what he would want with this stunted little plant. 
+
+“Does it — er — do anything?” he asked. 
+
+“Loads of stuff!” said Neville proudly. “It’s got an 
+amazing defensive mechanism — hold Trevor for 
+me...” 
+
+He dumped the toad into Harry’s lap and took a quill 
+from his schoolbag. Luna Lovegood’s popping eyes 
+appeared over the top of her upside-down magazine 
+again, watching what Neville was doing. Neville held 
+the Mimbulus mimbletonia up to his eyes, his tongue 
+between his teeth, chose his spot, and gave the plant 
+a sharp prod with the tip of his quill. 
+
+Liquid squirted from every boil on the plant, thick, 
+stinking, dark-green jets of it; they hit the ceiling, the 
+windows, and spattered Luna Lovegood’s magazine. 
+Ginny, who had flung her arms up in front of her face 
+just in time, merely looked as though she was 
+wearing a slimy green hat, but Harry, whose hands 
+had been busy preventing the escape of Trevor, 
+received a face full. It smelled like rancid manure. 
+
+Neville, whose face and torso were also drenched, 
+shook his head to get the worst out of his eyes. 
+
+“S-sorry,” he gasped. “I haven’t tried that before... 
+Didn’t realize it would be quite so ... Don’t worry, 
+
+
+
+Page | 240Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+though, Stinksap’s not poisonous,” he added 
+nervously, as Harry spat a mouthful onto the floor. 
+
+
+
+At that precise moment the door of their compartment 
+slid open. 
+
+“Oh ... hello, Harry,” said a nervous voice. “Um ... bad 
+time?” 
+
+Harry wiped the lenses of his glasses with his Trevor- 
+free hand. A very pretty girl with long, shiny black 
+hair was standing in the doorway smiling at him: Cho 
+Chang, the Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. 
+
+“Oh ... hi,” said Harry blankly. 
+
+“Um ...” said Cho. “Well ... just thought I’d say hello 
+... ’bye then.” 
+
+She closed the door again, rather pink in the face, 
+and departed. Harry slumped back in his seat and 
+groaned. He would have liked Cho to discover him 
+sitting with a group of very cool people laughing their 
+heads off at a joke he had just told; he would not 
+have chosen to be sitting with Neville and Loony 
+Lovegood, clutching a toad and dripping in Stinksap. 
+
+“Never mind,” said Ginny bracingly. “Look, we can get 
+rid of all this easily.” She pulled out her wand. 
+
+“ Scour gif yY’ 
+
+The Stinksap vanished. 
+
+“Sorry,” said Neville again, in a small voice. 
+
+Ron and Hermione did not turn up for nearly an 
+hour, by which time the food trolley had already gone 
+by. Harry, Ginny, and Neville had finished their 
+Pumpkin Pasties and were busy swapping Chocolate 
+
+Page | 241Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Frog cards when the compartment door slid open and 
+they walked in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a 
+shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage. 
+
+“I’m starving,” said Ron, stowing Pigwidgeon next to 
+Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and 
+throwing himself into the seat next to him. He ripped 
+open the wrapper, bit off the Frog’s head, and leaned 
+back with his eyes closed as though he had had a 
+very exhausting morning. 
+
+“Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each 
+House,” said Hermione, looking thoroughly 
+disgruntled as she took her seat. “Boy and girl from 
+each.” 
+
+“And guess who’s a Slytherin prefect?” said Ron, still 
+with his eyes closed. 
+
+“Malfoy,” replied Harry at once, his worst fear 
+confirmed. 
+
+“ ’Course,” said Ron bitterly, stuffing the rest of the 
+Frog into his mouth and taking another. 
+
+“And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson,” said 
+Hermione viciously. “How she got to be a prefect when 
+she’s thicker than a concussed troll ...” 
+
+“Who’s Hufflepuff?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott,” said Ron 
+thickly. 
+
+“And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for 
+Ravenclaw,” said Hermione. 
+
+“You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil,” said a 
+vague voice. 
+
+Page | 242Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Everyone turned to look at Luna Lovegood, who was 
+gazing un-blinkingly at Ron over the top of The 
+Quibbler. He swallowed his mouthful of Frog. 
+
+“Yeah, I know I did,” he said, looking mildly 
+surprised. 
+
+“She didn’t enjoy it very much,” Luna informed him. 
+“She doesn’t think you treated her very well, because 
+you wouldn’t dance with her. I don’t think I’d have 
+minded,” she added thoughtfully, “I don’t like dancing 
+very much.” 
+
+She retreated behind The Quibbler again. Ron stared 
+at the cover with his mouth hanging open for a few 
+seconds, then looked around at Ginny for some kind 
+of explanation, but Ginny had stuffed her knuckles in 
+her mouth to stop herself giggling. Ron shook his 
+head, bemused, then checked his watch. 
+
+“We’re supposed to patrol the corridors every so 
+often,” he told Harry and Neville, “and we can give out 
+punishments if people are misbehaving. I can’t wait to 
+get Crabbe and Goyle for something...” 
+
+“You’re not supposed to abuse your position, Ron!” 
+said Hermione sharply. 
+
+“Yeah, right, because Malfoy won’t abuse it at all,” 
+said Ron sarcastically. 
+
+“So you’re going to descend to his level?” 
+
+“No, I’m just going to make sure I get his mates before 
+he gets mine.” 
+
+“For heaven’s sake, Ron — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 243Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’ll make Goyle do lines, it’ll kill him, he hates 
+writing,” said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to 
+Goyle ’s low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look 
+of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. “I 
+... must ... not ... look ... like ... a ... baboon’s ... 
+backside...” 
+
+Everyone laughed, but nobody laughed harder than 
+Luna Lovegood. She let out a scream of mirth that 
+caused Hedwig to wake up and flap her wings 
+indignantly and Crookshanks to leap up into the 
+luggage rack, hissing. She laughed so hard that her 
+magazine slipped out of her grasp, slid down her legs, 
+and onto the floor. 
+
+“That was funny\” 
+
+Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped 
+for breath, staring at Ron. Utterly nonplussed, he 
+looked around at the others, who were now laughing 
+at the expression on Ron’s face and at the ludicrously 
+prolonged laughter of Luna Lovegood, who was 
+rocking backward and forward, clutching her sides. 
+
+“Are you taking the mickey?” said Ron, frowning at 
+her. 
+
+“Baboon’s ... backside!” she choked, holding her ribs. 
+
+Everyone else was watching Luna laughing, but 
+Harry, glancing at the magazine on the floor, noticed 
+something that made him dive for it. Upside down it 
+had been hard to tell what the picture on the front 
+was, but Harry now realized it was a fairly bad 
+cartoon of Cornelius Fudge; Harry only recognized 
+him because of the lime-green bowler hat. One of 
+Fudge’s hands was clenched around a bag of gold; the 
+other hand was throttling a goblin. The cartoon was 
+captioned: How Far Will Fudge Go to Gain Gringotts? 
+Page | 244Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Beneath this were listed the titles of other articles 
+inside the magazine. 
+
+CORRUPTION IN THE QUIDDITCH LEAGUE: 
+
+How the Tornados Are Taking Control 
+SECRETS OF THE ANCIENT RUNES REVEALED 
+SIRIUS BLACK: Villain or Victim? 
+
+“Can I have a look at this?” Harry asked Luna eagerly. 
+
+She nodded, still gazing at Ron, breathless with 
+laughter. 
+
+Harry opened the magazine and scanned the index; 
+until this moment he had completely forgotten the 
+magazine Kingsley had handed Mr. Weasley to give to 
+Sirius, but it must have been this edition of The 
+Quibbler. He found the page and turned excitedly to 
+the article. 
+
+This too was illustrated by a rather bad cartoon; in 
+fact, Harry would not have known it was supposed to 
+be Sirius if it hadn’t been captioned. Sirius was 
+standing on a pile of human bones with his wand out. 
+The headline on the article read: 
+
+SIRIUS - Black As He’s Painted? 
+
+Notorious Mass Murderer OR Innocent Singing 
+Sensation? 
+
+Harry had to read this sentence several times before 
+he was convinced that he had not misunderstood it. 
+Since when had Sirius been a singing sensation? 
+
+
+
+Page | 245Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+For fourteen years Sirius Black has been believed 
+guilty of the mass murder of twelve innocent Muggles 
+and one wizard. Black’s audacious escape from 
+Azkaban two years ago has led to the widest manhunt 
+ever conducted by the Ministry of Magic. None of us 
+has ever questioned that he deserves to be recaptured 
+and handed back to the dementors. 
+
+BUT DOES HE? 
+
+Startling new evidence has recently come to light that 
+Sirius Black may not have committed the crimes for 
+which he was sent to Azkaban. In fact, says Doris 
+Purkiss, of 18 Acanthia Way, Little Norton, Black may 
+not even have been present at the killings. 
+
+“What people don’t realize is that Sirius Black is a 
+false name, ” says Mrs. Purkiss. “The man people 
+believe to be Sirius Black is actually Stubby 
+Boardman, lead singer of the popular singing group 
+The Hobgoblins, who retired from public life after being 
+struck in the ear by a turnip at a concert in Little 
+Norton Church Hall nearly fifteen years ago. I 
+recognized him the moment I saw his picture in the 
+paper. Now, Stubby couldn’t possibly have committed 
+those crimes, because on the day in question he 
+happened to be enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner 
+with me. I have written to the Minister of Magic and am 
+expecting him to give Stubby, alias Sirius, a full pardon 
+any day now. ” 
+
+Harry finished reading and stared at the page in 
+disbelief. Perhaps it was a joke, he thought, perhaps 
+the magazine often printed spoof items. He flicked 
+back a few pages and found the piece on Fudge. 
+
+Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, denied that 
+he had any plans to take over the running of the 
+Wizarding Bank, Gringotts, when he was elected 
+
+Page | 246Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Minister of Magic five years ago. Fudge has always 
+insisted that he wants nothing more than to 
+“cooperate peacefully” with the guardians of our gold. 
+
+BUT DOES HE? 
+
+Sources close to the Minister have recently disclosed 
+that Fudge’s dearest ambition is to seize control of the 
+goblin gold supplies and that he will not hesitate to 
+use force if need be. 
+
+“It wouldn’t be the first time, either,” said a Ministry 
+insider. “Cornelius ‘Goblin-Crusher’ Fudge, that’s what 
+his friends call him, if you could hear him when he 
+thinks no one’s listening, oh, he’s always talking about 
+the goblins he’s had done in; he’s had them drowned, 
+he’s had them dropped off buildings, he’s had them 
+poisoned, he’s had them cooked in pies...” 
+
+
+
+Harry did not read any further. Fudge might have 
+many faults but Harry found it extremely hard to 
+imagine him ordering goblins to be cooked in pies. He 
+flicked through the rest of the magazine. Pausing 
+every few pages he read an accusation that the 
+Tutshill Tornados were winning the Quidditch League 
+by a combination of blackmail, illegal broom- 
+tampering, and torture; an interview with a wizard 
+who claimed to have flown to the moon on a 
+Cleansweep Six and brought back a bag of moon frogs 
+to prove it; and an article on ancient runes, which at 
+least explained why Luna had been reading The 
+Quibbler upside down. According to the magazine, if 
+you turned the runes on their heads they revealed a 
+spell to make your enemy’s ears turn into kumquats. 
+In fact, compared to the rest of the articles in The 
+Quibbler, the suggestion that Sirius might really be 
+the lead singer of The Hobgoblins was quite sensible. 
+Page | 247Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Anything good in there?” asked Ron as Harry closed 
+the magazine. 
+
+“Of course not,” said Hermione scathingly, before 
+Harry could answer, “ The Quibbler’s rubbish, 
+everyone knows that.” 
+
+“Excuse me,” said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost 
+its dreamy quality. “My father’s the editor.” 
+
+“I — oh,” said Hermione, looking embarrassed. “Well 
+... it’s got some interesting ... I mean, it’s quite ...” 
+
+“I’ll have it back, thank you,” said Luna coldly, and 
+leaning forward she snatched it out of Harry’s hands. 
+Rifling through it to page fifty-seven, she turned it 
+resolutely upside down again and disappeared behind 
+it, just as the compartment door opened for the third 
+time. Harry looked around; he had expected this, but 
+that did not make the sight of Draco Malfoy smirking 
+at him from between his cronies Crabbe and Goyle 
+any more enjoyable. 
+
+“What?” he said aggressively, before Malfoy could 
+open his mouth. 
+
+“Manners, Potter, or I’ll have to give you a detention,” 
+drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointed 
+chin were just like his father’s. “You see, I, unlike 
+you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, 
+unlike you, have the power to hand out 
+punishments.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “but you, unlike me, are a git, so 
+get out and leave us alone.” 
+
+Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed. Malfoy’s 
+lip curled. 
+
+
+
+Page | 248Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to 
+Weasley, Potter?” he asked. 
+
+“Shut up, Malfoy,” said Hermione sharply. 
+
+“I seem to have touched a nerve,” said Malfoy, 
+smirking. “Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because 
+I’ll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of 
+line.” 
+
+“Get out!” said Hermione, standing up. 
+
+Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look 
+and departed, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering in his 
+wake. Hermione slammed the compartment door 
+behind them and turned to look at Harry, who knew 
+at once that she, like him, had registered what Malfoy 
+had said and been just as unnerved by it. 
+
+“Chuck us another Frog,” said Ron, who had clearly 
+noticed nothing. 
+
+Harry could not talk freely in front of Neville and 
+Luna. He exchanged another nervous look with 
+Hermione and then stared out of the window. 
+
+He had thought Sirius coming with him to the station 
+was a bit of a laugh, but suddenly it seemed reckless, 
+if not downright dangerous... Hermione had been 
+right... Sirius should not have come. What if Mr. 
+Malfoy had noticed the black dog and told Draco, 
+what if he had deduced that the Weasleys, Lupin, 
+Tonks, and Moody knew where Sirius was hiding? Or 
+had Malfoy’s use of the word “dogging” been a 
+coincidence? 
+
+The weather remained undecided as they traveled 
+farther and farther north. Rain spattered the windows 
+in a halfhearted way, then the sun put in a feeble 
+
+Page | 249Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. 
+When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the 
+carriages, Luna rolled up The Quibbler, put it 
+carefully away in her bag, and took to staring at 
+everyone in the compartment instead. 
+
+Harry was sitting with his forehead pressed against 
+the train window, trying to get a first distant glimpse 
+of Hogwarts, but it was a moonless night and the 
+rain-streaked window was grimy. 
+
+“We’d better change,” said Hermione at last. She and 
+Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their 
+chests. Harry saw Ron checking how it looked in the 
+black window. 
+
+At last the train began to slow down and they heard 
+the usual racket up and down it as everybody 
+scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, 
+ready for departure. Ron and Hermione were 
+supposed to supervise all this; they disappeared from 
+the carriage again, leaving Harry and the others to 
+look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon. 
+
+“I’ll carry that owl, if you like,” said Luna to Harry, 
+reaching out for Pigwidgeon as Neville stowed Trevor 
+carefully in an inside pocket. 
+
+“Oh — er — thanks,” said Harry, handing her the 
+cage and hoisting Hedwig’s more securely into his 
+arms. 
+
+They shuffled out of the compartment feeling the first 
+sting of the night air on their faces as they joined the 
+crowd in the corridor. Slowly they moved toward the 
+doors. Harry could smell the pine trees that lined the 
+path down to the lake. He stepped down onto the 
+platform and looked around, listening for the familiar 
+call of “Firs’ years over here ... firs’ years ...” 
+
+Page | 250Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But it did not come. Instead a quite different voice, a 
+brisk female one, was calling, “First years line up over 
+here, please! All first years to me!” 
+
+A lantern came swinging toward Harry and by its light 
+he saw the prominent chin and severe haircut of 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken 
+over Hagrid ’s Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a 
+while the previous year. 
+
+“Where’s Hagrid?” he said out loud. 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Ginny, “but we’d better get out of 
+the way, we’re blocking the door.” 
+
+“Oh yeah ...” 
+
+Harry and Ginny became separated as they moved off 
+along the platform and out through the station. 
+Jostled by the crowd, Harry squinted through the 
+darkness for a glimpse of Hagrid; he had to be here, 
+Harry had been relying on it — seeing Hagrid again 
+had been one of the things to which he had been 
+looking forward most. But there was no sign of him at 
+all. 
+
+He can’t have left, Harry told himself as he shuffled 
+slowly through a narrow doorway onto the road 
+outside with the rest of the crowd. He’s just got a cold 
+or something... 
+
+He looked around for Ron or Hermione, wanting to 
+know what they thought about the reappearance of 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank, but neither of them was 
+anywhere near him, so he allowed himself to be 
+shunted forward onto the dark rain-washed road 
+outside Hogsmeade station. 
+
+
+
+Page | 251Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Here stood the hundred or so horseless stagecoaches 
+that always took the students above first year up to 
+the castle. Harry glanced quickly at them, turned 
+away to keep a lookout for Ron and Hermione, then 
+did a double take. 
+
+The coaches were no longer horseless. There were 
+creatures standing between the carriage shafts; if he 
+had had to give them a name, he supposed he would 
+have called them horses, though there was something 
+reptilian about them, too. They were completely 
+fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, 
+of which every bone was visible. Their heads were 
+dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and 
+staring. Wings sprouted from each wither — vast, 
+black leathery wings that looked as though they 
+ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet 
+in the gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister. 
+Harry could not understand why the coaches were 
+being pulled by these horrible horses when they were 
+quite capable of moving along by themselves. 
+
+“Where’s Pig?” said Ron’s voice, right behind Harry. 
+
+“That Luna girl was carrying him,” said Harry, 
+turning quickly, eager to consult Ron about Hagrid. 
+“Where d’you reckon — ” 
+
+“ — Hagrid is? I dunno,” said Ron, sounding worried. 
+“He’d better be okay...” 
+
+A short distance away, Draco Malfoy, followed by a 
+small gang of cronies including Crabbe, Goyle, and 
+Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some timid-looking 
+second years out of the way so that they could get a 
+coach to themselves. Seconds later Hermione emerged 
+panting from the crowd. 
+
+
+
+Page | 252Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Malfoy was being absolutely foul to a first year back 
+there, I swear I’m going to report him, he’s only had 
+his badge three minutes and he’s using it to bully 
+people worse than ever... Where’s Crookshanks?” 
+
+“Ginny’s got him,” said Harry. “There she is...” 
+
+Ginny had just emerged from the crowd, clutching a 
+squirming Crookshanks. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Hermione, relieving Ginny of the cat. 
+“Come on, let’s get a carriage together before they all 
+fillup...” 
+
+“I haven’t got Pig yet!” Ron said, but Hermione was 
+already heading off toward the nearest unoccupied 
+coach. Harry remained behind with Ron. 
+
+“What are those things, d’you reckon?” he asked Ron, 
+nodding at the horrible horses as the other students 
+surged past them. 
+
+“What things?” 
+
+“Those horse — ” 
+
+Luna appeared holding Pigwidgeon’s cage in her 
+arms; the tiny owl was twittering excitedly as usual. 
+
+“Here you are,” she said. “He’s a sweet little owl, isn’t 
+he?” 
+
+“Er ... yeah ... He’s all right,” said Ron gruffly. “Well, 
+come on then, let’s get in... what were you saying, 
+Harry?” 
+
+“I was saying, what are those horse things?” Harry 
+said, as he, Ron, and Luna made for the carriage in 
+which Hermione and Ginny were already sitting. 
+
+Page | 253Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What horse things?” 
+
+
+
+“The horse things pulling the carriages!” said Harry 
+impatiently; they were, after all, about three feet from 
+the nearest one; it was watching them with empty 
+white eyes. Ron, however, gave Harry a perplexed 
+look. 
+
+“What are you talking about?” 
+
+“I’m talking about — look!” 
+
+Harry grabbed Ron’s arm and wheeled him about so 
+that he was face-to-face with the winged horse. Ron 
+stared straight at it for a second, then looked back at 
+Harry. 
+
+“What am I supposed to be looking at?” 
+
+“At the — there, between the shafts! Harnessed to the 
+coach! It’s right there in front — ” 
+
+But as Ron continued to look bemused, a strange 
+thought occurred to Harry. 
+
+“Can’t ... can’t you see them?” 
+
+“See what?” 
+
+“Can’t you see what’s pulling the carriages?” 
+
+Ron looked seriously alarmed now. 
+
+“Are you feeling all right, Harry?” 
+
+“I ... yeah ...” 
+
+Harry felt utterly bewildered. The horse was there in 
+front of him, gleaming solidly in the dim light issuing 
+
+Page | 254Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+from the station windows behind them, vapor rising 
+from its nostrils in the chilly night air. Yet unless Ron 
+was faking — and it was a very feeble joke if he was — 
+Ron could not see it at all. 
+
+“Shall we get in, then?” said Ron uncertainly, looking 
+at Harry as though worried about him. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah, go on ...” 
+
+“It’s all right,” said a dreamy voice from beside Harry 
+as Ron vanished into the coach’s dark interior. 
+
+“You’re not going mad or anything. I can see them 
+too.” 
+
+“Can you?” said Harry desperately, turning to Luna. 
+He could see the bat-winged horses reflected in her 
+wide, silvery eyes. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Luna, “I’ve been able to see them ever 
+since my first day here. They’ve always pulled the 
+carriages. Don’t worry. You’re just as sane as I am.” 
+
+Smiling faintly, she climbed into the musty interior of 
+the carriage after Ron. Not altogether reassured, 
+
+Harry followed her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 255Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+XX 
+
+
+
+
+THE SORTING HAT’S NEW SONG 
+
+Harry did not want to tell the others that he and Luna 
+were having the same hallucination, if that was what 
+it was, so he said nothing about the horses as he sat 
+down inside the carriage and slammed the door 
+behind him. Nevertheless, he could not help watching 
+the silhouettes of the horses moving beyond the 
+window. 
+
+“Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?” asked 
+Ginny. “What’s she doing back here? Hagrid can’t 
+have left, can he?” 
+
+“I’ll be quite glad if he has,” said Luna. “He isn’t a 
+very good teacher, is he?” 
+
+“Yes, he is!” said Harry, Ron, and Ginny angrily. 
+
+Harry glared at Hermione; she cleared her throat and 
+quickly said, “Erm ... yes ... he’s very good.” 
+
+“Well, we think he’s a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw,” said 
+Luna, unfazed. 
+
+Page | 256Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You’ve got a rubbish sense of humor then,” Ron 
+snapped, as the wheels below them creaked into 
+motion. 
+
+Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron’s rudeness; on 
+the contrary, she simply watched him for a while as 
+though he were a mildly interesting television 
+program. 
+
+Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy 
+up the road. When they passed between the tall stone 
+pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the 
+gates to the school grounds, Harry leaned forward to 
+try and see whether there were any lights on in 
+Hagrid’s cabin by the Forbidden Forest, but the 
+grounds were in complete darkness. Hogwarts Castle, 
+however, loomed ever closer: a towering mass of 
+turrets, jet-black against the dark sky, here and there 
+a window blazing fiery bright above them. 
+
+The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone steps 
+leading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of 
+the carriage first. He turned again to look for lit 
+windows down by the forest, but there was definitely 
+no sign of life within Hagrid’s cabin. Unwillingly, 
+because he had half hoped they would have vanished, 
+he turned his eyes instead upon the strange, skeletal 
+creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their 
+blank white eyes gleaming. 
+
+Harry had once before had the experience of seeing 
+something that Ron could not, but that had been a 
+reflection in a mirror, something much more 
+insubstantial than a hundred very solid-looking 
+beasts strong enough to pull a fleet of carriages. If 
+Luna was to be believed, the beasts had always been 
+there but invisible; why, then, could Harry suddenly 
+see them, and why could Ron not? 
+
+
+
+Page | 257Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Are you coming or what?” said Ron beside him. 
+
+
+
+“Oh ... yeah,” said Harry quickly, and they joined the 
+crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. 
+
+The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and 
+echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the 
+flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, 
+leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast. 
+
+The four long House tables in the Great Hall were 
+filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was 
+just like the sky they could glimpse through the high 
+windows. Candles floated in midair all along the 
+tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were 
+dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students 
+talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer 
+news, shouting greetings at friends from other 
+Houses, eyeing one another’s new haircuts and robes. 
+Again Harry noticed people putting their heads 
+together to whisper as he passed; he gritted his teeth 
+and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor 
+cared. 
+
+Luna drifted away from them at the Ravenclaw table. 
+The moment they reached Gryffindor’s, Ginny was 
+hailed by some fellow fourth years and left to sit with 
+them; Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville found seats 
+together about halfway down the table between Nearly 
+Headless Nick, the Gryffindor House ghost, and 
+Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, the last two of 
+whom gave Harry airy, overly friendly greetings that 
+made him quite sure they had stopped talking about 
+him a split second before. He had more important 
+things to worry about, however: He was looking over 
+the students’ heads to the staff table that ran along 
+the top wall of the Hall. 
+
+“He’s not there.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron and Hermione scanned the staff table too, though 
+there was no real need; Hagrid’s size made him 
+instantly obvious in any lineup. 
+
+“He can’t have left,” said Ron, sounding slightly 
+anxious. 
+
+“Of course he hasn’t,” said Harry firmly. 
+
+“You don’t think he’s ... hurt, or anything, do you?” 
+said Hermione uneasily. 
+
+“No,” said Harry at once. 
+
+“But where is he, then?” 
+
+There was a pause, then Harry said very quietly, so 
+that Neville, Parvati, and Lavender could not hear, 
+“Maybe he’s not back yet. You know — from his 
+mission — the thing he was doing over the summer 
+for Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Yeah ... yeah, that’ll be it,” said Ron, sounding 
+reassured, but Hermione bit her lip, looking up and 
+down the staff table as though hoping for some 
+conclusive explanation of Hagrid’s absence. 
+
+“Who’s that?” she said sharply, pointing toward the 
+middle of the staff table. 
+
+Harry’s eyes followed hers. They lit first upon 
+Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his high-backed 
+golden chair at the center of the long staff table, 
+wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars 
+and a matching hat. Dumbledore’s head was inclined 
+toward the woman sitting next to him, who was 
+talking into his ear. She looked, Harry thought, like 
+somebody’s maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, 
+mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible 
+Page | 259Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan 
+she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face 
+slightly to take a sip from her goblet and he saw, with 
+a shock of recognition, a pallid, toadlike face and a 
+pair of prominent, pouchy eyes. 
+
+“It’s that Umbridge woman!” 
+
+“Who?” said Hermione. 
+
+“She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!” 
+
+“Nice cardigan,” said Ron, smirking. 
+
+“She works for Fudge?” Hermione repeated, frowning. 
+“What on earth’s she doing here, then?” 
+
+“Dunno ...” 
+
+Hermione scanned the staff table, her eyes narrowed. 
+
+“No,” she muttered, “no, surely not ...” 
+
+Harry did not understand what she was talking about 
+but did not ask; his attention had just been caught by 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank who had just appeared 
+behind the staff table; she worked her way along to 
+the very end and took the seat that ought to have 
+been Hagrid’s. That meant that the first years must 
+have crossed the lake and reached the castle, and 
+sure enough, a few seconds later, the doors from the 
+entrance hall opened. A long line of scared-looking 
+first years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who 
+was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard’s 
+hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near 
+the frayed brim. 
+
+The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The 
+first years lined up in front of the staff table facing the 
+
+Page | 260Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+rest of the students, and Professor McGonagall placed 
+the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back. 
+
+The first years’ faces glowed palely in the candlelight. 
+A small boy right in the middle of the row looked as 
+though he was trembling. Harry recalled, fleetingly, 
+how terrified he had felt when he had stood there, 
+waiting for the unknown test that would determine to 
+which House he belonged. 
+
+The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the 
+rip near the hat’s brim opened wide like a mouth and 
+the Sorting Hat burst into song: 
+
+In times of old when I was new 
+And Hogwarts barely started 
+The founders of our noble school 
+Thought never to be parted: 
+
+United by a common goal, 
+
+They had the selfsame yearning, 
+
+To make the world’s best magic school 
+And pass along their learning. 
+
+“Together we will build and teach!” 
+
+The four good friends decided 
+And never did they dream that they 
+Might someday be divided, 
+
+For were there such friends anywhere 
+As Slytherin and Gryffndor? 
+
+Unless it was the second pair 
+Of Huffepuff and Ravenclaw? 
+
+So how could it have gone so wrong? 
+
+How could such friendships fail? 
+
+Why, I was there and so can tell 
+The whole sad, sorry tale. 
+
+Said Slytherin, “We’ll teach just those 
+Whose ancestry is purest.” 
+
+Said Ravenclaw, “We’ll teach those whose 
+Intelligence is surest.” 
+
+Said Gryffindor, “We’ll teach all those 
+
+Page | 261Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+With brave deeds to their name,” 
+
+Said Hufflepuff, “111 teach the lot, 
+
+And treat them just the same.” 
+
+These differences caused little strife 
+When first they came to light, 
+
+For each of the four founders had 
+A House in which they might 
+Take only those they wanted, so, 
+
+For instance, Slytherin 
+Took only pure-blood wizards 
+Of great cunning, just like him, 
+
+And only those of sharpest mind 
+Were taught by Ravenclaw 
+While the bravest and the boldest 
+Went to daring Gryffindor. 
+
+Good Hufflepuff she took the rest, 
+
+And taught them all she knew, 
+
+Thus the Houses and their founders 
+Retained friendships firm and true. 
+
+So Hogwarts worked in harmony 
+For several happy years, 
+
+But then discord crept among us 
+Feeding on our faults and fears. 
+
+The Houses that, like pillars four, 
+
+Had once held up our school, 
+
+Now turned upon each other and, 
+
+Divided, sought to rule. 
+
+And for a while it seemed the school 
+Must meet an early end, 
+
+What with dueling and with fighting 
+And the clash of friend on friend 
+And at last there came a morning 
+When old Slytherin departed 
+And though the fighting then died out 
+He left us quite downhearted. 
+
+And never since the founders four 
+Were whittled down to three 
+Have the Houses been united 
+As they once were meant to be. 
+
+Page | 262Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And now the Sorting Hat is here 
+And you all know the score: 
+
+I sort you into Houses 
+Because that is what I’m for, 
+
+But this year I’ll go further, 
+
+Listen closely to my song: 
+
+Though condemned I am to split you 
+Still I worry that it’s wrong, 
+
+Though I must fulfill my duty 
+And must quarter every year 
+Still I wonder whether sorting 
+May not bring the end I fear. 
+
+Oh, know the perils, read the signs, 
+
+The warning history shows, 
+
+For our Hogwarts is in danger 
+From external, deadly foes 
+And we must unite inside her 
+Or we’ll crumble from within. 
+
+I have told you, I have warned you... 
+
+Let the Sorting now begin. 
+
+The hat became motionless once more; applause 
+broke out, though it was punctured, for the first time 
+in Harry’s memory, with muttering and whispers. All 
+across the Great Hall students were exchanging 
+remarks with their neighbors and Harry, clapping 
+along with everyone else, knew exactly what they were 
+talking about. 
+
+“Branched out a bit this year, hasn’t it?” said Ron, his 
+eyebrows raised. 
+
+“Too right it has,” said Harry. 
+
+The Sorting Hat usually confined itself to describing 
+the different qualities looked for by each of the four 
+Hogwarts Houses and its own role in sorting them; 
+Harry could not remember it ever trying to give the 
+school advice before. 
+
+Page | 263Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I wonder if it’s ever given warnings before?” said 
+Hermione, sounding slightly anxious. 
+
+
+
+“Yes, indeed,” said Nearly Headless Nick 
+knowledgeably, leaning across Neville toward her 
+(Neville winced, it was very uncomfortable to have a 
+ghost lean through you). “The hat feels itself honor- 
+bound to give the school due warning whenever it 
+feels — ” 
+
+But Professor McGonagall, who was waiting to read 
+out the list of first years’ names, was giving the 
+whispering students the sort of look that scorches. 
+Nearly Headless Nick placed a see-through finger to 
+his lips and sat primly upright again as the muttering 
+came to an abrupt end. With a last frowning look that 
+swept the four House tables, Professor McGonagall 
+lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and 
+called out, 
+
+“Abercrombie, Euan.” 
+
+The terrified-looking boy Harry had noticed earlier 
+stumbled forward and put the hat on his head; it was 
+only prevented from falling right down to his 
+shoulders by his very prominent ears. The hat 
+considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim 
+opened again and shouted, “ GR YFFIND OR ! ” 
+
+Harry clapped loudly with the rest of Gryffindor 
+House as Euan Abercrombie staggered to their table 
+and sat down, looking as though he would like very 
+much to sink through the floor and never be looked at 
+again. 
+
+Slowly the long line of first years thinned; in the 
+pauses between the names and the Sorting Hat’s 
+decisions, Harry could hear Ron’s stomach rumbling 
+loudly. Finally, “Zeller, Rose” was sorted into 
+
+Page | 264Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall picked up the 
+hat and stool and marched them away as Professor 
+Dumbledore rose to his feet. 
+
+Harry was somehow soothed to see Dumbledore 
+standing before them all, whatever his recent bitter 
+feelings toward his headmaster. Between the absence 
+of Hagrid and the presence of those dragonish horses, 
+he had felt that his return to Hogwarts, so long 
+anticipated, was full of unexpected surprises like 
+jarring notes in a familiar song. But this, at least, was 
+how it was supposed to be: their headmaster rising to 
+greet them all before the start-of-term feast. 
+
+“To our newcomers,” said Dumbledore in a ringing 
+voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile 
+on his lips, “welcome! To our old hands — welcome 
+back! There is a time for speech making, but this is 
+not it. Tuck in!” 
+
+There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of 
+applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw 
+his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of 
+the way of his plate — for food had appeared out of 
+nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning 
+under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread, 
+sauces, and flagons of pumpkin juice. 
+
+“Excellent,” said Ron, with a kind of groan of longing, 
+and he seized the nearest plate of chops and began 
+piling them onto his plate, watched wistfully by 
+Nearly Headless Nick. 
+
+“What were you saying before the Sorting?” Hermione 
+asked the ghost. “About the hat giving warnings?” 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Nick, who seemed glad of a reason to 
+turn away from Ron, who was now eating roast 
+potatoes with almost indecent enthusiasm. “Yes, I 
+
+Page | 265Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+have heard the hat give several warnings before, 
+always at times when it detects periods of great 
+danger for the school. And always, of course, its 
+advice is the same: Stand together, be strong from 
+within.” 
+
+“Ow kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?” said Ron. 
+
+His mouth was so full Harry thought it was quite an 
+achievement for him to make any noise at all. 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” said Nearly Headless Nick 
+politely, while Hermione looked revolted. Ron gave an 
+enormous swallow and said, “How can it know if the 
+school’s in danger if it’s a hat?” 
+
+“I have no idea,” said Nearly Headless Nick. “Of 
+course, it lives in Dumbledore’s office, so I daresay it 
+picks things up there.” 
+
+“And it wants all the Houses to be friends?” said 
+Harry, looking over at the Slytherin table, where 
+Draco Malfoy was holding court. “Fat chance.” 
+
+“Well, now, you shouldn’t take that attitude,” said 
+Nick reprovingly. “Peaceful cooperation, that’s the 
+key. We ghosts, though we belong to separate Houses, 
+maintain links of friendship. In spite of the 
+competitiveness between Gryffindor and Slytherin, I 
+would never dream of seeking an argument with the 
+Bloody Baron.” 
+
+“Only because you’re terrified of him,” said Ron. 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick looked highly affronted. 
+
+“Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy- 
+Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my 
+life! The noble blood that runs in my veins — ” 
+
+Page | 266Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What blood?” asked Ron. “Surely you haven’t still got 
+— ?” 
+
+“It’s a figure of speech!” said Nearly Headless Nick, 
+now so annoyed his head was trembling ominously on 
+his partially severed neck. “I assume I am still allowed 
+to enjoy the use of whichever words I like, even if the 
+pleasures of eating and drinking are denied me! But I 
+am quite used to students poking fun at my death, I 
+assure you!” 
+
+“Nick, he wasn’t really laughing at you!” said 
+Hermione, throwing a furious look at Ron. 
+
+Unfortunately, Ron’s mouth was packed to exploding 
+point again and all he could manage was “node 
+iddum eentup sechew,” which Nick did not seem to 
+think constituted an adequate apology. Rising into 
+the air, he straightened his feathered hat and swept 
+away from them to the other end of the table, coming 
+to rest between the Creevey brothers, Colin and 
+Dennis. 
+
+“Well done, Ron,” snapped Hermione. 
+
+“What?” said Ron indignantly, having managed, 
+finally, to swallow his food. “I’m not allowed to ask a 
+simple question?” 
+
+“Oh forget it,” said Hermione irritably, and the pair of 
+them spent the rest of the meal in huffy silence. 
+
+Harry was too used to their bickering to bother trying 
+to reconcile them; he felt it was a better use of his 
+time to eat his way steadily through his steak-and- 
+kidney pie, then a large plateful of his favorite treacle 
+tart. 
+
+
+
+Page | 267Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+When all the students had finished eating and the 
+noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward 
+again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking 
+ceased immediately as all turned to face the 
+headmaster. Harry was feeling pleasantly drowsy 
+now. His four-poster bed was waiting somewhere 
+above, wonderfully warm and soft... 
+
+“Well, now that we are all digesting another 
+magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your 
+attention for the usual start-of-term notices,” said 
+Dumbledore. “First years ought to know that the 
+forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students — 
+and a few of our older students ought to know by now 
+too.” (Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged smirks.) 
+
+“Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he 
+tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to 
+remind you all that magic is not permitted in 
+corridors between classes, nor are a number of other 
+things, all of which can be checked on the extensive 
+list now fastened to Mr. Filch’s office door. 
+
+“We have had two changes in staffing this year. We 
+are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly- 
+Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures 
+lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor 
+Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+teacher.” 
+
+There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic 
+applause during which Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+exchanged slightly panicked looks; Dumbledore had 
+not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be 
+teaching. 
+
+Dumbledore continued, “Tryouts for the House 
+Quidditch teams will take place on the — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 268Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor 
+Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than 
+sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood 
+why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then 
+Professor Umbridge said, “Hem, hem,” and it became 
+clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to 
+make a speech. 
+
+Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, 
+then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at 
+Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing 
+better than to listen to her talk. Other members of 
+staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. 
+Professor Sprout’s eyebrows had disappeared into her 
+flyaway hair, and Professor McGonagall’s mouth was 
+as thin as Harry had ever seen it. No new teacher had 
+ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the 
+students were smirking; this woman obviously did not 
+know how things were done at Hogwarts. 
+
+“Thank you, Headmaster,” Professor Umbridge 
+simpered, “for those kind words of welcome.” 
+
+Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish 
+and again, Harry felt a powerful rush of dislike that 
+he could not explain to himself; all he knew was that 
+he loathed everything about her, from her stupid 
+voice to her fluffy pink cardigan. She gave another 
+little throat-clearing cough (“Hem, hem”) and 
+continued: “Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I 
+must say!” She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. 
+“And to see such happy little faces looking back at 
+me!” 
+
+Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could see 
+looked happy; on the contrary, they all looked rather 
+taken aback at being addressed as though they were 
+five years old. 
+
+
+
+Page | 269Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I am very much looking forward to getting to know 
+you all, and I’m sure well be very good friends!” 
+
+Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were 
+barely concealing grins. 
+
+“I’ll be her friend as long as I don’t have to borrow 
+that cardigan,” Parvati whispered to Lavender, and 
+both of them lapsed into silent giggles. 
+
+Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again (“Hem, 
+hem”), but when she continued, some of the 
+breathiness had vanished from her voice. She 
+sounded much more businesslike and now her words 
+had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them. 
+
+“The Ministry of Magic has always considered the 
+education of young witches and wizards to be of vital 
+importance. The rare gifts with which you were born 
+may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by 
+careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the 
+Wizarding community must be passed down through 
+the generations lest we lose them forever. The 
+treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our 
+ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished 
+by those who have been called to the noble profession 
+of teaching.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little 
+bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed 
+back. Professor McGonagall’s dark eyebrows had 
+contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and 
+Harry distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance 
+with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little 
+“Hem, hem” and went on with her speech. 
+
+“Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has 
+brought something new to the weighty task of 
+governing this historic school, and that is as it should 
+
+Page | 270Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+be, for without progress there will be stagnation and 
+decay. There again, progress for progress’s sake must 
+be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions 
+often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between 
+old and new, between permanence and change, 
+between tradition and innovation ...” 
+
+Harry found his attentiveness ebbing, as though his 
+brain was slipping in and out of tune. The quiet that 
+always filled the Hall when Dumbledore was speaking 
+was breaking up as students put their heads 
+together, whispering and giggling. Over at the 
+Ravenclaw table, Cho Chang was chatting animatedly 
+with her friends. A few seats along from Cho, Luna 
+Lovegood had got out The Quibbler again. Meanwhile 
+at the Hufflepuff table, Ernie Macmillan was one of 
+the few still staring at Professor Umbridge, but he was 
+glassy-eyed and Harry was sure he was only 
+pretending to listen in an attempt to live up to the 
+new prefect’s badge gleaming on his chest. 
+
+Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice the 
+restlessness of her audience. Harry had the 
+impression that a full-scale riot could have broken 
+out under her nose and she would have plowed on 
+with her speech. The teachers, however, were still 
+listening very attentively, and Hermione seemed to be 
+drinking in every word Umbridge spoke, though 
+judging by her expression, they were not at all to her 
+taste. 
+
+"... because some changes will be for the better, while 
+others will come, in the fullness of time, to be 
+recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some 
+old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas 
+others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. 
+Let us move forward, then, into a new era of 
+openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on 
+preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting 
+Page | 271Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we 
+find practices that ought to be prohibited.” 
+
+She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed 
+his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them 
+brought their hands together only once or twice 
+before stopping. A few students joined in, but most 
+had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, 
+not having listened to more than a few words of it, 
+and before they could start applauding properly, 
+Dumbledore had stood up again. 
+
+“Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was 
+most illuminating,” he said, bowing to her. “Now — as 
+I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held ...” 
+
+“Yes, it certainly was illuminating,” said Hermione in 
+a low voice. 
+
+“You’re not telling me you enjoyed it?” Ron said 
+quietly, turning a glazed face upon Hermione. “That 
+was about the dullest speech I’ve ever heard, and I 
+grew up with Percy.” 
+
+“I said illuminating, not enjoyable,” said Hermione. “It 
+explained a lot.” 
+
+“Did it?” said Harry in surprise. “Sounded like a load 
+of waffle to me.” 
+
+“There was some important stuff hidden in the 
+waffle,” said Hermione grimly. 
+
+“Was there?” said Ron blankly. 
+
+“How about ‘progress for progress’s sake must be 
+discouraged’? How about ‘pruning wherever we find 
+practices that ought to be prohibited’?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 272Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, what does that mean?” said Ron impatiently. 
+
+
+
+“Ill tell you what it means,” said Hermione ominously. 
+“It means the Ministry’s interfering at Hogwarts.” 
+
+There was a great clattering and banging all around 
+them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the 
+school, because everyone was standing up ready to 
+leave the Hall. Hermione jumped up, looking 
+flustered. 
+
+“Ron, we’re supposed to show the first years where to 
+go!” 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Ron, who had obviously forgotten. 
+“Hey — hey you lot! Midgets!” 
+
+“Ron\” 
+
+“Well, they are, they’re titchy...” 
+
+“I know, but you can’t call them midgets... First 
+years!” Hermione called commandingly along the 
+table. “This way, please!” 
+
+A group of new students walked shyly up the gap 
+between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, all of 
+them trying hard not to lead the group. They did 
+indeed seem very small; Harry was sure he had not 
+appeared that young when he had arrived here. He 
+grinned at them. A blond boy next to Euan 
+Abercrombie looked petrified, nudged Euan, and 
+whispered something in his ear. Euan Abercrombie 
+looked equally frightened and stole a horrified look at 
+Harry, who felt the grin slide off his face like 
+Stinksap. 
+
+“See you later,” he said to Ron and Hermione and he 
+made his way out of the Great Hall alone, doing 
+
+Page | 273Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+everything he could to ignore more whispering, 
+staring, and pointing as he passed. He kept his eyes 
+fixed ahead as he wove his way through the crowd in 
+the entrance hall, then he hurried up the marble 
+staircase, took a couple of concealed shortcuts, and 
+had soon left most of the crowds behind. 
+
+He had been stupid not to expect this, he thought 
+angrily, as he walked through much emptier upstairs 
+corridors. Of course everyone was staring at him: He 
+had emerged from the Triwizard maze two months ago 
+clutching the dead body of a fellow student and 
+claiming to have seen Lord Voldemort return to 
+power. There had not been time last term to explain 
+himself before everyone went home, even if he had felt 
+up to giving the whole school a detailed account of the 
+terrible events in that graveyard. 
+
+He had reached the end of the corridor to the 
+Gryffindor common room and had come to a halt in 
+front of the portrait of the Fat Lady before he realized 
+that he did not know the new password. 
+
+“Er ...” he said glumly, staring up at the Fat Lady, 
+who smoothed the folds of her pink satin dress and 
+looked sternly back at him. 
+
+“No password, no entrance,” she said loftily. 
+
+“Harry, I know it!” someone panted from behind him, 
+and he turned to see Neville jogging toward him. 
+“Guess what it is? I’m actually going to be able to 
+remember it for once — ” He waved the stunted little 
+cactus he had shown them on the train. “Mimbulus 
+mimbletonio 1” 
+
+“Correct,” said the Fat Lady, and her portrait swung 
+open toward them like a door, revealing a circular 
+
+
+
+Page | 274Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hole in the wall behind, through which Harry and 
+Neville now climbed. 
+
+The Gryffindor common room looked as welcoming as 
+ever, a cozy circular tower room full of dilapidated 
+squashy armchairs and rickety old tables. A fire was 
+crackling merrily in the grate and a few people were 
+warming their hands before going up to their 
+dormitories; on the other side of the room Fred and 
+George Weasley were pinning something up on the 
+notice board. Harry waved good night to them and 
+headed straight for the door to the boys’ dormitories; 
+he was not in much of a mood for talking at the 
+moment. Neville followed him. 
+
+Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had reached the 
+dormitory first and were in the process of covering the 
+walls beside their beds with posters and photographs. 
+They had been talking as Harry pushed open the door 
+but stopped abruptly the moment they saw him. 
+
+Harry wondered whether they had been talking about 
+him, then whether he was being paranoid. 
+
+“Hi,” he said, moving across to his own trunk and 
+opening it. 
+
+“Hey, Harry,” said Dean, who was putting on a pair of 
+pajamas in the West Ham colors. “Good holiday?” 
+
+“Not bad,” muttered Harry, as a true account of his 
+holiday would have taken most of the night to relate 
+and he could not face it. “You?” 
+
+“Yeah, it was okay,” chuckled Dean. “Better than 
+Seamus’s anyway, he was just telling me.” 
+
+“Why, what happened, Seamus?” Neville asked as he 
+placed his Mimbulus mimbletonia tenderly on his 
+bedside cabinet. 
+
+Page | 275Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Seamus did not answer immediately; he was making 
+rather a meal of ensuring that his poster of the 
+Kenmare Kestrels Quidditch team was quite straight. 
+Then he said, with his back still turned to Harry, “Me 
+mam didn’t want me to come back.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry, pausing in the act of pulling off 
+his robes. 
+
+“She didn’t want me to come back to Hogwarts.” 
+
+Seamus turned away from his poster and pulled his 
+own pajamas out of his trunk, still not looking at 
+Harry. 
+
+“But — why?” said Harry, astonished. He knew that 
+Seamus’s mother was a witch and could not 
+understand, therefore, why she should have come 
+over so Dursley-ish. 
+
+Seamus did not answer until he had finished 
+buttoning his pajamas. 
+
+“Well,” he said in a measured voice, “I suppose ... 
+because of you.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry quickly. His heart was 
+beating rather fast. He felt vaguely as though 
+something was closing in on him. 
+
+“Well,” said Seamus again, still avoiding Harry’s eyes, 
+“she ... er ... well, it’s not just you, it’s Dumbledore 
+too ...” 
+
+“She believes the Daily Prophet?” said Harry. “She 
+thinks I’m a liar and Dumbledore ’s an old fool?” 
+
+Seamus looked up at him. “Yeah, something like 
+that.” 
+
+Page | 276Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry said nothing. He threw his wand down onto his 
+bedside table, pulled off his robes, stuffed them 
+angrily into his trunk, and pulled on his pajamas. He 
+was sick of it; sick of being the person who was stared 
+at and talked about all the time. If any of them knew, 
+if any of them had the faintest idea what it felt like to 
+be the one all these things had happened to ... Mrs. 
+Finnigan had no idea, the stupid woman, he thought 
+savagely. 
+
+He got into bed and made to pull the hangings closed 
+around him, but before he could do so, Seamus said, 
+“Look . . . what did happen that night when . . . you 
+know, when . . . with Cedric Diggory and all?” 
+
+Seamus sounded nervous and eager at the same time. 
+Dean, who had been bending over his trunk, trying to 
+retrieve a slipper, went oddly still and Harry knew he 
+was listening hard. 
+
+“What are you asking me for?” Harry retorted. “Just 
+read the Daily Prophet like your mother, why don’t 
+you? That’ll tell you all you need to know.” 
+
+“Don’t you have a go at my mother,” snapped 
+Seamus. 
+
+“I’ll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Don’t talk to me like that!” 
+
+“I’ll talk to you how I want,” said Harry, his temper 
+rising so fast he snatched his wand back from his 
+bedside table. “If you’ve got a problem sharing a 
+dormitory with me, go and ask McGonagall if you can 
+be moved, stop your mummy worrying — ” 
+
+“Leave my mother out of this, Potter!” 
+
+Page | 277Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What’s going on?” 
+
+Ron had appeared in the doorway. His wide eyes 
+traveled from Harry, who was kneeling on his bed 
+with his wand pointing at Seamus, to Seamus, who 
+was standing there with his fists raised. 
+
+“He’s having a go at my mother!” Seamus yelled. 
+
+“What?” said Ron. “Harry wouldn’t do that — we met 
+your mother, we liked her...” 
+
+“That’s before she started believing every word the 
+stinking Daily Prophet writes about me!” said Harry at 
+the top of his voice. 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, comprehension dawning across his 
+freckled face. “Oh ... right.” 
+
+“You know what?” said Seamus heatedly, casting 
+Harry a venomous look. “He’s right, I don’t want to 
+share a dormitory with him anymore, he’s a 
+madman.” 
+
+“That’s out of order, Seamus,” said Ron, whose ears 
+were starting to glow red, always a danger sign. 
+
+“Out of order, am I?” shouted Seamus, who in 
+contrast with Ron was turning paler. “You believe all 
+the rubbish he’s come out with about You-Know-Who, 
+do you, you reckon he’s telling the truth?” 
+
+“Yeah, I do!” said Ron angrily. 
+
+“Then you’re mad too,” said Seamus in disgust. 
+
+“Yeah? Well unfortunately for you, pal, I’m also a 
+prefect!” said Ron, jabbing himself in the chest with a 
+
+
+
+Page | 278Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+finger. “So unless you want detention, watch your 
+mouth!” 
+
+Seamus looked for a few seconds as though detention 
+would be a reasonable price to pay to say what was 
+going through his mind; but with a noise of contempt 
+he turned on his heel, vaulted into bed, and pulled 
+the hangings shut with such violence that they were 
+ripped from the bed and fell in a dusty pile to the 
+floor. Ron glared at Seamus, then looked at Dean and 
+Neville. 
+
+“Anyone else’s parents got a problem with Harry?” he 
+said aggressively. 
+
+“My parents are Muggles, mate,” said Dean, 
+shrugging. “They don’t know nothing about no deaths 
+at Hogwarts, because I’m not stupid enough to tell 
+them.” 
+
+“You don’t know my mother, she’ll weasel anything 
+out of anyone!” Seamus snapped at him. “Anyway, 
+your parents don’t get the Daily Prophet, they don’t 
+know our headmaster’s been sacked from the 
+Wizengamot and the International Confederation of 
+Wizards because he’s losing his marbles — ” 
+
+“My gran says that’s rubbish,” piped up Neville. “She 
+says it’s the Daily Prophet that’s going downhill, not 
+Dumbledore. She’s canceled our subscription. We 
+believe Harry,” he said simply. He climbed into bed 
+and pulled the covers up to his chin, looking owlishly 
+over them at Seamus. “My gran’s always said You- 
+Know-Who would come back one day. She says if 
+Dumbledore says he’s back, he’s back.” 
+
+Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward Neville. Nobody 
+else said anything. Seamus got out his wand, repaired 
+the bed hangings, and vanished behind them. Dean 
+
+Page | 279Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+got into bed, rolled over, and fell silent. Neville, who 
+appeared to have nothing more to say either, was 
+gazing fondly at his moonlit cactus. 
+
+Harry lay back on his pillows while Ron bustled 
+around the next bed, putting his things away. He felt 
+shaken by the argument with Seamus, whom he had 
+always liked very much. How many more people were 
+going to suggest that he was lying or unhinged? 
+
+Had Dumbledore suffered like this all summer, as 
+first the Wizengamot, then the International 
+Confederation of Wizards had thrown him from their 
+ranks? Was it anger at Harry, perhaps, that had 
+stopped Dumbledore getting in touch with him for 
+months? The two of them were in this together, after 
+all; Dumbledore had believed Harry, announced his 
+version of events to the whole school and then to the 
+wider Wizarding community. Anyone who thought 
+Harry was a liar had to think that Dumbledore was 
+too or else that Dumbledore had been hoodwinked... 
+
+They’ll know we’re right in the end, thought Harry 
+miserably, as Ron got into bed and extinguished the 
+last candle in the dormitory. But he wondered how 
+many attacks like Seamus’s he would have to endure 
+before that time came. 
+
+
+
+Page | 280Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PROFESSOR UMBRIDGE 
+
+Seamus dressed at top speed next morning and left 
+the dormitory before Harry had even put on his socks. 
+
+“Does he think hell turn into a nutter if he stays in a 
+room with me too long?” asked Harry loudly, as the 
+hem of Seamus’s robes whipped out of sight. 
+
+“Don’t worry about it, Harry,” Dean muttered, 
+hoisting his school-bag onto his shoulder. “He’s just 
+...” But apparently he was unable to say exactly what 
+Seamus was, and after a slightly awkward pause 
+followed him out of the room. 
+
+Neville and Ron both gave Harry it’s-his-problem-not- 
+yours looks, but Harry was not much consoled. How 
+much more of this was he going to have to take? 
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked Hermione five minutes 
+later, catching up with Harry and Ron halfway across 
+the common room as they all headed toward 
+
+
+
+Page | 281Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+breakfast. “You look absolutely — oh for heaven’s 
+sake.” 
+
+
+
+She was staring at the common room notice board, 
+where a large new sign had been put up. 
+
+GALLONS OF GALLEONS! 
+
+Pocket money failing to keep pace with your 
+outgoings? 
+
+Like to earn a little extra gold? 
+
+
+
+Contact Fred and George Weasley, 
+
+Gryffindor common room, 
+
+for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs 
+
+(WE REGRET THAT ALL WORK IS UNDERTAKEN AT 
+APPLICANT’S OWN RISK) 
+
+“They are the limit,” said Hermione grimly, taking 
+down the sign, which Fred and George had pinned up 
+over a poster giving the date of the first Hogsmeade 
+weekend in October. “We’ll have to talk to them, Ron.” 
+
+Ron looked positively alarmed. 
+
+“Why?” 
+
+“Because we’re prefects!” said Hermione, as they 
+climbed out through the portrait hole. “It’s up to us to 
+stop this kind of thing!” 
+
+Ron said nothing; Harry could tell from his glum 
+expression that the prospect of stopping Fred and 
+
+Page | 282Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+George doing exactly what they liked was not one that 
+he found inviting. 
+
+“Anyway, what’s up, Harry?” Hermione continued, as 
+they walked down a flight of stairs lined with portraits 
+of old witches and wizards, all of whom ignored them, 
+being engrossed in their own conversation. “You look 
+really angry about something.” 
+
+“Seamus reckons Harry’s lying about You-Know- 
+Who,” said Ron succinctly, when Harry did not 
+respond. 
+
+Hermione, whom Harry had expected to react angrily 
+on his behalf, sighed. 
+
+“Yes, Lavender thinks so too,” she said gloomily. 
+
+“Been having a nice little chat with her about whether 
+or not I’m a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?” 
+Harry said loudly. 
+
+“No,” said Hermione calmly, “I told her to keep her big 
+fat mouth shut about you, actually. And it would be 
+quite nice if you stopped jumping down Ron’s and my 
+throats, Harry, because if you haven’t noticed, we’re 
+on your side.” 
+
+There was a short pause. 
+
+“Sorry,” said Harry in a low voice. 
+
+“That’s quite all right,” said Hermione with dignity. 
+Then she shook her head. “Don’t you remember what 
+Dumbledore said at the end-of-term feast last year?” 
+
+Harry and Ron both looked at her blankly, and 
+Hermione sighed again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 283Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“About You-Know-Who. He said, ‘His gift for spreading 
+discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only 
+by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and 
+trust — ’ ” 
+
+“How do you remember stuff like that?” asked Ron, 
+looking at her in admiration. 
+
+“I listen, Ron,” said Hermione with a touch of 
+asperity. 
+
+“So do I, but I still couldn’t tell you exactly what — ” 
+
+“The point,” Hermione pressed on loudly, “is that this 
+sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking 
+about. You-Know- Who’s only been back two months, 
+and we’ve started fighting among ourselves. And the 
+Sorting Hat’s warning was the same — stand 
+together, be united — ” 
+
+“And Harry said it last night,” retorted Ron, “if that 
+means we’re supposed to get matey with the 
+Slytherins, fat chance.” 
+
+“Well, I think it’s a pity we’re not trying for a bit of 
+inter-House unity,” said Hermione crossly. 
+
+They had reached the foot of the marble staircase. A 
+line of fourth-year Ravenclaws was crossing the 
+entrance hall; they caught sight of Harry and hurried 
+to form a tighter group, as though frightened he 
+might attack stragglers. 
+
+“Yeah, we really ought to be trying to make friends 
+with people like that,” said Harry sarcastically. 
+
+They followed the Ravenclaws into the Great Hall, 
+looking instinctively at the staff table as they entered. 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank was chatting to Professor 
+
+Page | 284Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher, and Hagrid was once 
+again conspicuous only by his absence. The 
+enchanted ceiling above them echoed Harry’s mood; it 
+was a miserable rain-cloud gray. 
+
+“Dumbledore didn’t even mention how long that 
+Grubbly-Plank woman’s staying,” he said, as they 
+made their way across to the Gryffindor table. 
+
+“Maybe ...” said Hermione thoughtfully. 
+
+“What?” said both Harry and Ron together. 
+
+“Well ... maybe he didn’t want to draw attention to 
+Hagrid not being here.” 
+
+“What d’you mean, draw attention to it?” said Ron, 
+half laughing. “How could we not notice?” 
+
+Before Hermione could answer, a tall black girl with 
+long, braided hair had marched up to Harry. 
+
+“Hi, Angelina.” 
+
+“Hi,” she said briskly, “good summer?” And without 
+waiting for an answer, “Listen, I’ve been made 
+Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.” 
+
+“Nice one,” said Harry, grinning at her; he suspected 
+Angelina’s pep talks might not be as long-winded as 
+Oliver Wood’s had been, which could only be an 
+improvement. 
+
+“Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver’s left. 
+Tryouts are on Friday at five o’clock and I want the 
+whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the 
+new person’ll fit in.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 285Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, and she smiled at him and 
+departed. 
+
+“I’d forgotten Wood had left,” said Hermione vaguely, 
+sitting down beside Ron and pulling a plate of toast 
+toward her. “I suppose that will make quite a 
+difference to the team?” 
+
+“I s’pose,” said Harry, taking the bench opposite. “He 
+was a good Keeper...” 
+
+“Still, it won’t hurt to have some new blood, will it?” 
+said Ron. 
+
+With a whoosh and a clatter, hundreds of owls came 
+soaring in through the upper windows. They 
+descended all over the Hall, bringing letters and 
+packages to their owners and showering the 
+breakfasters with droplets of water; it was clearly 
+raining hard outside. Hedwig was nowhere to be seen, 
+but Harry was hardly surprised; his only 
+correspondent was Sirius, and he doubted Sirius 
+would have anything new to tell him after only 
+twenty-four hours apart. Hermione, however, had to 
+move her orange juice aside quickly to make way for a 
+large damp barn owl bearing a sodden Daily Prophet 
+in its beak. 
+
+“What are you still getting that for?” said Harry 
+irritably, thinking of Seamus, as Hermione placed a 
+Knut in the leather pouch on the owl’s leg and it took 
+off again. “I’m not bothering ... load of rubbish.” 
+
+“It’s best to know what the enemy are saying,” said 
+Hermione darkly, and she unfurled the newspaper 
+and disappeared behind it, not emerging until Harry 
+and Ron had finished eating. 
+
+
+
+Page | 286Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nothing,” she said simply, rolling up the newspaper 
+and laying it down by her plate. “Nothing about you 
+or Dumbledore or anything.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall was now moving along the table 
+handing out schedules. 
+
+“Look at today!” groaned Ron. “History of Magic, 
+double Potions, Divination, and double Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts ... Binns, Snape, Trelawney, 
+and that Umbridge woman all in one day! I wish Fred 
+and George ’d hurry up and get those Skiving 
+Snackboxes sorted...” 
+
+“Do mine ears deceive me?” said Fred, arriving with 
+George and squeezing onto the bench beside Harry. 
+“Hogwarts prefects surely don’t wish to skive off 
+lessons?” 
+
+“Look what we’ve got today,” said Ron grumpily, 
+shoving his schedule under Fred’s nose. “That’s the 
+worst Monday I’ve ever seen.” 
+
+“Fair point, little bro,” said Fred, scanning the 
+column. “You can have a bit of Nosebleed Nougat 
+cheap if you like.” 
+
+“Why’s it cheap?” said Ron suspiciously. 
+
+“Because you’ll keep bleeding till you shrivel up, we 
+haven’t got an antidote yet,” said George, helping 
+himself to a kipper. 
+
+“Cheers,” said Ron moodily, pocketing his schedule, 
+“but I think I’ll take the lessons.” 
+
+“And speaking of your Skiving Snackboxes,” said 
+Hermione, eyeing Fred and George beadily, “you can’t 
+advertise for testers on the Gryffindor notice board.” 
+
+Page | 287Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Says who?” said George, looking astonished. 
+
+“Says me,” said Hermione. “And Ron.” 
+
+“Leave me out of it,” said Ron hastily. 
+
+Hermione glared at him. Fred and George sniggered. 
+
+“You’ll be singing a different tune soon enough, 
+Hermione,” said Fred, thickly buttering a crumpet. 
+“You’re starting your fifth year, you’ll be begging us 
+for a Snackbox before long.” 
+
+“And why would starting fifth year mean I want a 
+Skiving Snackbox?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Fifth year’s O.W.L. year,” said George. 
+
+“So?” 
+
+“So you’ve got your exams coming up, haven’t you? 
+They’ll be keeping your noses so hard to that 
+grindstone they’ll be rubbed raw,” said Fred with 
+satisfaction. 
+
+“Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to 
+O.W.L.s,” said George happily. “Tears and tantrums 
+... Patricia Stimpson kept coming over faint...” 
+
+“Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d’you remember?” 
+said Fred reminiscently. 
+
+“That’s ’cause you put Bulbadox Powder in his 
+pajamas,” said George. 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Fred, grinning. “I’d forgotten... Hard 
+to keep track sometimes, isn’t it?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Anyway, it’s a nightmare of a year, the fifth,” said 
+George. “If you care about exam results anyway. Fred 
+and I managed to keep our spirits up somehow.” 
+
+“Yeah ... you got, what was it, three O.W.L.s each?” 
+said Ron. 
+
+“Yep,” said Fred unconcernedly. “But we feel our 
+futures lie outside the world of academic 
+achievement.” 
+
+“We seriously debated whether we were going to 
+bother coming back for our seventh year,” said 
+George brightly, “now that we’ve got — ” 
+
+He broke off at a warning look from Harry, who knew 
+George had been about to mention the Triwizard 
+winnings he had given them. 
+
+“ — now that we’ve got our O.W.L.s,” George said 
+hastily. “I mean, do we really need N.E.W.T.s? But we 
+didn’t think Mum could take us leaving school early, 
+not on top of Percy turning out to be the world’s 
+biggest prat.” 
+
+“We’re not going to waste our last year here, though,” 
+said Fred, looking affectionately around at the Great 
+Hall. “We’re going to use it to do a bit of market 
+research, find out exactly what the average Hogwarts 
+student requires from his joke shop, carefully 
+evaluate the results of our research, and then 
+produce the products to fit the demand.” 
+
+“But where are you going to get the gold to start a 
+joke shop?” asked Hermione skeptically. “You’re going 
+to need all the ingredients and materials — and 
+premises too, I suppose...” 
+
+
+
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+Harry did not look at the twins. His face felt hot; he 
+deliberately dropped his fork and dived down to 
+retrieve it. He heard Fred say overhead, “Ask us no 
+questions and well tell you no lies, Hermione. C’mon, 
+George, if we get there early we might be able to sell a 
+few Extendable Ears before Herbology.” 
+
+Harry emerged from under the table to see Fred and 
+George walking away, each carrying a stack of toast. 
+
+“What did that mean?” said Hermione, looking from 
+Harry to Ron. “ ‘Ask us no questions ...’ Does that 
+mean they’ve already got some gold to start a joke 
+shop?” 
+
+“You know, I’ve been wondering about that,” said 
+Ron, his brow furrowed. “They bought me a new set of 
+dress robes this summer, and I couldn’t understand 
+where they got the Galleons...” 
+
+Harry decided it was time to steer the conversation 
+out of these dangerous waters. 
+
+“D’you reckon it’s true this year’s going to be really 
+tough? Because of the exams?” 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Ron. “Bound to be, isn’t it? O.W.L.s 
+are really important, affect the jobs you can apply for 
+and everything. We get career advice too, later this 
+year, Bill told me. So you can choose what N.E.W.T.s 
+you want to do next year.” 
+
+“D’you know what you want to do after Hogwarts?” 
+Harry asked the other two, as they left the Great Hall 
+shortly afterward and set off toward their History of 
+Magic classroom. 
+
+“Not really,” said Ron slowly. “Except ... well ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He looked slightly sheepish. 
+
+
+
+“What?” Harry urged him. 
+
+“Well, it’d be cool to be an Auror,” said Ron in an 
+offhand voice. 
+
+“Yeah, it would,” said Harry fervently. 
+
+“But they’re, like, the elite,” said Ron. “You’ve got to 
+be really good. What about you, Hermione?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Hermione. “I think I’d really like 
+to do something worthwhile.” 
+
+“An Auror’s worthwhile!” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes, it is, but it’s not the only worthwhile thing,” said 
+Hermione thoughtfully. “I mean, if I could take 
+S.P.E.W. further ...” 
+
+Harry and Ron carefully avoided looking at each 
+other. 
+
+History of Magic was by common consent the most 
+boring subject ever devised by Wizard-kind. Professor 
+Binns, their ghost teacher, had a wheezy, droning 
+voice that was almost guaranteed to cause severe 
+drowsiness within ten minutes, five in warm weather. 
+He never varied the form of their lessons, but lectured 
+them without pausing while they took notes, or 
+rather, gazed sleepily into space. Harry and Ron had 
+so far managed to scrape passes in this subject only 
+by copying Hermione’s notes before exams; she alone 
+seemed able to resist the soporific power of Binns ’s 
+voice. 
+
+Today they suffered through three quarters of an 
+hour’s droning on the subject of giant wars. Harry 
+
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+
+
+
+
+heard just enough within the first ten minutes to 
+appreciate dimly that in another teacher’s hands this 
+subject might have been mildly interesting, but then 
+his brain disengaged, and he spent the remaining 
+thirty-five minutes playing hangman on a corner of 
+his parchment with Ron, while Hermione shot them 
+filthy looks out of the corner of her eye. 
+
+“How would it be,” she asked them coldly as they left 
+the classroom for break (Binns drifting away through 
+the blackboard), “if I refused to lend you my notes 
+this year?” 
+
+“We’d fail our O.W.L.s,” said Ron. “If you want that on 
+your conscience, Hermione ...” 
+
+“Well, you’d deserve it,” she snapped. “You don’t even 
+try to listen to him, do you?” 
+
+“We do try,” said Ron. “We just haven’t got your 
+brains or your memory or your concentration — 
+you’re just cleverer than we are — is it nice to rub it 
+in?” 
+
+
+
+“Oh, don’t give me that rubbish,” said Hermione, but 
+she looked slightly mollified as she led the way out 
+into the damp courtyard. 
+
+A fine misty drizzle was falling, so that the people 
+standing in huddles around the yard looked blurred 
+at the edges. Harry, Ron, and Hermione chose a 
+secluded corner under a heavily dripping balcony, 
+turning up the collars of their robes against the chilly 
+September air and talking about what Snape was 
+likely to set them in the first lesson of the year. They 
+had got as far as agreeing that it was likely to be 
+something extremely difficult, just to catch them off 
+guard after a two-month holiday, when someone 
+walked around the corner toward them. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Hello, Harry!” 
+
+
+
+It was Cho Chang and what was more, she was on 
+her own again. This was most unusual: Cho was 
+almost always surrounded by a gang of giggling girls; 
+Harry remembered the agony of trying to get her by 
+herself to ask her to the Yule Ball. 
+
+“Hi,” said Harry, feeling his face grow hot. At least 
+you’re not covered in Stinksap this time, he told 
+himself. Cho seemed to be thinking along the same 
+lines. 
+
+“You got that stuff off, then?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, trying to grin as though the 
+memory of their last meeting was funny as opposed to 
+mortifying. “So did you ... er ... have a good summer?” 
+
+The moment he had said this he wished he hadn’t: 
+Cedric had been Cho’s boyfriend and the memory of 
+his death must have affected her holiday almost as 
+badly as it had affected Harry’s... Something seemed 
+to tauten in her face, but she said, “Oh, it was all 
+right, you know...” 
+
+“Is that a Tornados badge?” Ron demanded suddenly, 
+pointing at the front of Cho’s robes, to which a sky- 
+blue badge emblazoned with a double gold T was 
+pinned. “You don’t support them, do you?” 
+
+“Yeah, I do,” said Cho. 
+
+“Have you always supported them, or just since they 
+started winning the league?” said Ron, in what Harry 
+considered an unnecessarily accusatory tone of voice. 
+
+“I’ve supported them since I was six,” said Cho coolly. 
+“Anyway ... see you, Harry.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+She walked away. Hermione waited until Cho was 
+halfway across the courtyard before rounding on Ron. 
+
+
+
+“You are so tactless!” 
+
+“What? I only asked her if — ” 
+
+“Couldn’t you tell she wanted to talk to Harry on her 
+own?” 
+
+“So? She could’ve done, I wasn’t stopping — ” 
+
+“What on earth were you attacking her about her 
+Quidditch team for?” 
+
+“Attacking? I wasn’t attacking her, I was only — ” 
+
+“Who cares if she supports the Tornados?” 
+
+“Oh, come on, half the people you see wearing those 
+badges only bought them last season — ” 
+
+“But what does it matter?” 
+
+“It means they’re not real fans, they’re just jumping 
+on the bandwagon — ” 
+
+“That’s the bell,” said Harry listlessly, because Ron 
+and Hermione were bickering too loudly to hear it. 
+They did not stop arguing all the way down to Snape’s 
+dungeon, which gave Harry plenty of time to reflect 
+that between Neville and Ron he would be lucky ever 
+to have two minutes’ conversation with Cho that he 
+could look back on without wanting to leave the 
+country. 
+
+And yet, he thought, as they joined the queue lining 
+up outside Snape’s classroom door, she had chosen 
+to come and talk to him, hadn’t she? She had been 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Cedric’s girlfriend; she could easily have hated Harry 
+for coming out of the Triwizard maze alive when 
+Cedric had died, yet she was talking to him in a 
+perfectly friendly way, not as though she thought him 
+mad, or a liar, or in some horrible way responsible for 
+Cedric’s death... Yes, she had definitely chosen to 
+come and talk to him, and that made the second time 
+in two days . . . and at this thought, Harry’s spirits 
+rose. Even the ominous sound of Snape’s dungeon 
+door creaking open did not puncture the small, 
+hopeful bubble that seemed to have swelled in his 
+chest. He filed into the classroom behind Ron and 
+Hermione and followed them to their usual table at 
+the back, ignoring the huffy, irritable noises now 
+issuing from both of them. 
+
+“Settle down,” said Snape coldly, shutting the door 
+behind him. 
+
+There was no real need for the call to order; the 
+moment the class had heard the door close, quiet had 
+fallen and all fidgeting stopped. Snape’s mere 
+presence was usually enough to ensure a class’s 
+silence. 
+
+“Before we begin today’s lesson,” said Snape, 
+sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them 
+all, “I think it appropriate to remind you that next 
+June you will be sitting an important examination, 
+during which you will prove how much you have 
+learned about the composition and use of magical 
+potions. Moronic though some of this class 
+undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 
+‘Acceptable’ in your O.W.L., or suffer my ... 
+displeasure.” 
+
+His gaze lingered this time upon Neville, who gulped. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“After this year, of course, many of you will cease 
+studying with me,” Snape went on. “I take only the 
+very best into my N.E.W.T. Potions class, which 
+means that some of us will certainly be saying good- 
+bye.” 
+
+His eyes rested on Harry and his lip curled. Harry 
+glared back, feeling a grim pleasure at the idea that 
+he would be able to give up Potions after fifth year. 
+
+“But we have another year to go before that happy 
+moment of farewell,” said Snape softly, “so whether 
+you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T. or not, I advise 
+all of you to concentrate your efforts upon 
+maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect 
+from my O.W.L. students. 
+
+“Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up 
+at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a 
+potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be 
+warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the 
+ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and 
+sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay 
+close attention to what you are doing.” On Harry’s 
+left, Hermione sat up a little straighter, her 
+expression one of the utmost attentiveness. “The 
+ingredients and method” — Snape flicked his wand — 
+“are on the blackboard” — (they appeared there) — 
+“you will find everything you need” — he flicked his 
+wand again — “in the store cupboard” — (the door of 
+the said cupboard sprang open) — “you have an hour 
+and a half... Start.” 
+
+Just as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had predicted, 
+Snape could hardly have set them a more difficult, 
+fiddly potion. The ingredients had to be added to the 
+cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; 
+the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number 
+of times, firstly in clockwise, then in counterclockwise 
+Page | 296Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+directions; the heat of the flames on which it was 
+simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level 
+for a specific number of minutes before the final 
+ingredient was added. 
+
+“A light silver vapor should now be rising from your 
+potion,” called Snape, with ten minutes left to go. 
+
+Harry, who was sweating profusely, looked 
+desperately around the dungeon. His own cauldron 
+was issuing copious amounts of dark gray steam; 
+Ron’s was spitting green sparks. Seamus was 
+feverishly prodding the flames at the base of his 
+cauldron with the tip of his wand, as they had gone 
+out. The surface of Hermione’s potion, however, was a 
+shimmering mist of silver vapor, and as Snape swept 
+by he looked down his hooked nose at it without 
+comment, which meant that he could find nothing to 
+criticize. At Harry’s cauldron, however, Snape 
+stopped, looking down at Harry with a horrible smirk 
+on his face. 
+
+“Potter, what is this supposed to be?” 
+
+The Slytherins at the front of the class all looked up 
+eagerly; they loved hearing Snape taunt Harry. 
+
+“The Draught of Peace,” said Harry tensely. 
+
+“Tell me, Potter,” said Snape softly, “can you read?” 
+
+Draco Malfoy laughed. 
+
+“Yes, I can,” said Harry, his fingers clenched tightly 
+around his wand. 
+
+“Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry squinted at the blackboard; it was not easy to 
+make out the instructions through the haze of 
+multicolored steam now filling the dungeon. 
+
+“ ‘Add powdered moonstone, stir three times 
+counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, 
+then add two drops of syrup of hellebore.’ ” 
+
+His heart sank. He had not added syrup of hellebore, 
+but had proceeded straight to the fourth line of the 
+instructions after allowing his potion to simmer for 
+seven minutes. 
+
+“Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry very quietly. 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, more loudly. “I forgot the 
+hellebore...” 
+
+“I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess 
+is utterly worthless. Evanesco.” 
+
+The contents of Harry’s potion vanished; he was left 
+standing foolishly beside an empty cauldron. 
+
+“Those of you who have managed to read the 
+instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your 
+potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up 
+to my desk for testing,” said Snape. “Homework: 
+twelve inches of parchment on the properties of 
+moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be 
+handed in on Thursday.” 
+
+While everyone around him filled their flagons, Harry 
+cleared away his things, seething. His potion had 
+been no worse than Ron’s, which was now giving off a 
+
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+
+
+
+
+foul odor of bad eggs, or Neville’s, which had achieved 
+the consistency of just-mixed cement and which 
+Neville was now having to gouge out of his cauldron, 
+yet it was he, Harry, who would be receiving zero 
+marks for the day’s work. He stuffed his wand back 
+into his bag and slumped down onto his seat, 
+watching everyone else march up to Snape’s desk 
+with filled and corked flagons. When at long last the 
+bell rang, Harry was first out of the dungeon and had 
+already started his lunch by the time Ron and 
+Hermione joined him in the Great Hall. The ceiling 
+had turned an even murkier gray during the morning. 
+Rain was lashing the high windows. 
+
+“That was really unfair,” said Hermione consolingly, 
+sitting down next to Harry and helping herself to 
+shepherd’s pie. “Your potion wasn’t nearly as bad as 
+Goyle’s, when he put it in his flagon the whole thing 
+shattered and set his robes on fire.” 
+
+“Yeah, well,” said Harry, glowering at his plate, “since 
+when has Snape ever been fair to me?” 
+
+Neither of the others answered; all three of them 
+knew that Snape and Harry’s mutual enmity had 
+been absolute from the moment Harry had set foot in 
+Hogwarts. 
+
+“I did think he might be a bit better this year,” said 
+Hermione in a disappointed voice. “I mean ... you 
+know ...” She looked carefully around; there were half 
+a dozen empty seats on either side of them and 
+nobody was passing the table. "... Now he’s in the 
+Order and everything.” 
+
+“Poisonous toadstools don’t change their spots,” said 
+Ron sagely. “Anyway, I’ve always thought Dumbledore 
+was cracked trusting Snape, where’s the evidence he 
+ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I think Dumbledore’s probably got plenty of evidence, 
+even if he doesn’t share it with you, Ron,” snapped 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Oh, shut up, the pair of you,” said Harry heavily, as 
+Ron opened his mouth to argue back. Hermione and 
+Ron both froze, looking angry and offended. “Can’t 
+you give it a rest?” he said. “You’re always having a go 
+at each other, it’s driving me mad.” And abandoning 
+his shepherd’s pie, he swung his schoolbag back over 
+his shoulder and left them sitting there. 
+
+He walked up the marble staircase two steps at a 
+time, past the many students hurrying toward lunch. 
+The anger that had just flared so unexpectedly still 
+blazed inside him, and the vision of Ron and 
+Hermione ’s shocked faces afforded him a sense of 
+deep satisfaction. Serve them right, he thought. Why 
+can’t they give it a rest? ... Bickering all the time ... It’s 
+enough to drive anyone up the wall. . . 
+
+He passed the large picture of Sir Cadogan the knight 
+on a landing; Sir Cadogan drew his sword and 
+brandished it fiercely at Harry, who ignored him. 
+
+“Come back, you scurvy dog, stand fast and fight!” 
+yelled Sir Cadogan in a muffled voice from behind his 
+visor, but Harry merely walked on, and when Sir 
+Cadogan attempted to follow him by running into a 
+neighboring picture, he was rebuffed by its 
+inhabitant, a large and angry-looking wolfhound. 
+
+Harry spent the rest of the lunch hour sitting alone 
+underneath the trapdoor at the top of North Tower, 
+and consequently he was the first to ascend the silver 
+ladder that led to Sibyll Trelawney’s classroom when 
+the bell rang. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Divination was Harry’s least favorite class after 
+Potions, which was due mainly to Professor 
+Trelawney’s habit of predicting his premature death 
+every few lessons. A thin woman, heavily draped in 
+shawls and glittering with strings of beads, she 
+always reminded Harry of some kind of insect, with 
+her glasses hugely magnifying her eyes. She was busy 
+putting copies of battered, leather-bound books on 
+each of the spindly little tables with which her room 
+was littered when Harry entered the room, but so dim 
+was the light cast by the lamps covered by scarves 
+and the low-burning, sickly-scented fire that she 
+appeared not to notice him as he took a seat in the 
+shadows. The rest of the class arrived over the next 
+five minutes. Ron emerged from the trapdoor, looked 
+around carefully, spotted Harry and made directly for 
+him, or as directly as he could while having to wend 
+his way between tables, chairs, and overstuffed poufs. 
+
+“Hermione and me have stopped arguing,” he said, 
+sitting down beside Harry. 
+
+“Good,” grunted Harry. 
+
+“But Hermione says she thinks it would be nice if you 
+stopped taking out your temper on us,” said Ron. 
+
+“I’m not — ” 
+
+“I’m just passing on the message,” said Ron, talking 
+over him. “But I reckon she’s right. It’s not our fault 
+how Seamus and Snape treat you.” 
+
+“I never said it — ” 
+
+“Good day,” said Professor Trelawney in her usual 
+misty, dreamy voice, and Harry broke off, feeling both 
+annoyed and slightly ashamed of himself again. “And 
+welcome back to Divination. I have, of course, been 
+
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+
+
+
+
+following your fortunes most carefully over the 
+holidays, and am delighted to see that you have all 
+returned to Hogwarts safely — as, of course, I knew 
+you would. 
+
+“You will find on the tables before you copies of The 
+Dream Oracle, by Inigo Imago. Dream interpretation is 
+a most important means of divining the future and 
+one that may very probably be tested in your O.W.L. 
+Not, of course, that I believe examination passes or 
+failures are of the remotest importance when it comes 
+to the sacred art of divination. If you have the Seeing 
+Eye, certificates and grades matter very little. 
+
+However, the headmaster likes you to sit the 
+examination, so ...” 
+
+Her voice trailed away delicately, leaving them all in 
+no doubt that Professor Trelawney considered her 
+subject above such sordid matters as examinations. 
+
+“Turn, please, to the introduction and read what 
+Imago has to say on the matter of dream 
+interpretation. Then divide into pairs. Use The Dream 
+Oracle to interpret each other’s most recent dreams. 
+Carry on.” 
+
+The one good thing to be said for this lesson was that 
+it was not a double period. By the time they had all 
+finished reading the introduction of the book, they 
+had barely ten minutes left for dream interpretation. 
+At the table next to Harry and Ron, Dean had paired 
+up with Neville, who immediately embarked on a long- 
+winded explanation of a nightmare involving a pair of 
+giant scissors wearing his grandmother’s best hat; 
+Harry and Ron merely looked at each other glumly. 
+
+“I never remember my dreams,” said Ron. “You say 
+one.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You must remember one of them,” said Harry 
+impatiently. 
+
+He was not going to share his dreams with anyone. 
+
+He knew perfectly well what his regular nightmare 
+about a graveyard meant, he did not need Ron or 
+Professor Trelawney or the stupid Dream Oracle to tell 
+him that... 
+
+“Well, I had one that I was playing Quidditch the 
+other night,” said Ron, screwing up his face in an 
+effort to remember. “What d’you reckon that means?” 
+
+“Probably that you’re going to be eaten by a giant 
+marshmallow or something,” said Harry, turning the 
+pages of The Dream Oracle without interest. 
+
+It was very dull work looking up bits of dreams in the 
+Oracle and Harry was not cheered up when Professor 
+Trelawney set them the task of keeping a dream diary 
+for a month as homework. When the bell went, he 
+and Ron led the way back down the ladder, Ron 
+grumbling loudly. 
+
+“D’you realize how much homework we’ve got 
+already? Binns set us a foot-and-a-half-long essay on 
+giant wars, Snape wants a foot on the use of 
+moonstones, and now we’ve got a month’s dream 
+diary from Trelawney! Fred and George weren’t wrong 
+about O.W.L. year, were they? That Umbridge woman 
+had better not give us any...” 
+
+When they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+classroom they found Professor Umbridge already 
+seated at the teacher’s desk, wearing the fluffy pink 
+cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow 
+on top of her head. Harry was again reminded forcibly 
+of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even 
+larger toad. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor 
+Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and 
+nobody knew yet how strict a disciplinarian she was 
+likely to be. 
+
+“Well, good afternoon!” she said when finally the 
+whole class had sat down. 
+
+A few people mumbled “Good afternoon,” in reply. 
+
+“Tut, tut,” said Professor Umbridge. “That won’t do, 
+now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply ‘Good 
+afternoon, Professor Umbridge.’ One more time, 
+please. Good afternoon, class!” 
+
+“Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge,” they chanted 
+back at her. 
+
+“There, now,” said Professor Umbridge sweetly. “That 
+wasn’t too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills 
+out, please.” 
+
+Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order 
+“wands away” had never yet been followed by a lesson 
+they had found interesting. Harry shoved his wand 
+back inside his bag and pulled out quill, ink, and 
+parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, 
+extracted her own wand, which was an unusually 
+short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; 
+words appeared on the board at once: 
+
+Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+
+A Return to Basic Principles. 
+
+“Well now, your teaching in this subject has been 
+rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn’t it?” stated 
+Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her 
+hands clasped neatly in front of her. “The constant 
+
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+
+
+
+
+changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to 
+have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has 
+unfortunately resulted in your being far below the 
+standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. 
+
+“You will be pleased to know, however, that these 
+problems are now to be rectified. We will be following 
+a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry- 
+approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy 
+down the following, please.” 
+
+She rapped the blackboard again; the first message 
+vanished and was replaced by: 
+
+Course aims: 
+
+1. Understanding the principles underlying 
+defensive magic. 
+
+2. Learning to recognize situations in which 
+defensive magic can legally be used. 
+
+3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context 
+for practical use. 
+
+For a couple of minutes the room was full of the 
+sound of scratching quills on parchment. When 
+everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge’s three 
+course aims she said, “Has everybody got a copy of 
+Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?” 
+
+There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the 
+class. 
+
+“I think well try that again,” said Professor Umbridge. 
+“When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 
+‘Yes, Professor Umbridge,’ or ‘No, Professor 
+Umbridge.’ So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive 
+Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?” 
+
+Page | 305Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, Professor Umbridge,” rang through the room. 
+
+
+
+“Good,” said Professor Umbridge. “I should like you to 
+turn to page five and read chapter one, ‘Basics for 
+Beginners.’ There will be no need to talk.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled 
+herself in the chair behind the teacher’s desk, 
+observing them all with those pouchy toad’s eyes. 
+Harry turned to page five of his copy of Defensive 
+Magical Theory and started to read. 
+
+It was desperately dull, quite as bad as listening to 
+Professor Binns. He felt his concentration sliding 
+away from him; he had soon read the same line half a 
+dozen times without taking in more than the first few 
+words. Several silent minutes passed. Next to him, 
+
+Ron was absent-mindedly turning his quill over and 
+over in his fingers, staring at the same spot on the 
+page. Harry looked right and received a surprise to 
+shake him out of his torpor. Hermione had not even 
+opened her copy of Defensive Magical Theory. She was 
+staring fixedly at Professor Umbridge with her hand 
+in the air. 
+
+Harry could not remember Hermione ever neglecting 
+to read when instructed to, or indeed resisting the 
+temptation to open any book that came under her 
+nose. He looked at her questioningly, but she merely 
+shook her head slightly to indicate that she was not 
+about to answer questions, and continued to stare at 
+Professor Umbridge, who was looking just as 
+resolutely in another direction. 
+
+After several more minutes had passed, however, 
+Harry was not the only one watching Hermione. The 
+chapter they had been instructed to read was so 
+tedious that more and more people were choosing to 
+watch Hermione’s mute attempt to catch Professor 
+Page | 306Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Umbridge’s eye than to struggle on with “Basics for 
+Beginners.” 
+
+When more than half the class were staring at 
+Hermione rather than at their books, Professor 
+Umbridge seemed to decide that she could ignore the 
+situation no longer. 
+
+“Did you want to ask something about the chapter, 
+dear?” she asked Hermione, as though she had only 
+just noticed her. 
+
+“Not about the chapter, no,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, we’re reading just now,” said Professor 
+Umbridge, showing her small, pointed teeth. “If you 
+have other queries we can deal with them at the end 
+of class.” 
+
+“I’ve got a query about your course aims,” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. 
+
+“And your name is — ?” 
+
+“Hermione Granger,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are 
+perfectly clear if you read them through carefully,” 
+said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined 
+sweetness. 
+
+“Well, I don’t,” said Hermione bluntly. “There’s 
+nothing written up there about using defensive 
+spells.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 307Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a short silence in which many members of 
+the class turned their heads to frown at the three 
+course aims still written on the blackboard. 
+
+“ Using defensive spells?” Professor Umbridge repeated 
+with a little laugh. “Why, I can’t imagine any situation 
+arising in my classroom that would require you to use 
+a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren’t 
+expecting to be attacked during class?” 
+
+“We’re not going to use magic?” Ron ejaculated loudly. 
+
+“Students raise their hands when they wish to speak 
+in my class, Mr. — ?” 
+
+“Weasley,” said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air. 
+
+Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned 
+her back on him. Harry and Hermione immediately 
+raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge’s pouchy 
+eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she 
+addressed Hermione. 
+
+“Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something 
+else?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione. “Surely the whole point of 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive 
+spells?” 
+
+“Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss 
+Granger?” asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely 
+sweet voice. 
+
+“No, but — ” 
+
+“Well then, I’m afraid you are not qualified to decide 
+what the Svhole point’ of any class is. Wizards much 
+older and cleverer than you have devised our new 
+
+Page | 308Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+program of study. You will be learning about 
+defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way — ” 
+
+“What use is that?” said Harry loudly. “If we’re going 
+to be attacked it won’t be in a — ” 
+
+“Hand, Mr. Potter!” sang Professor Umbridge. 
+
+Harry thrust his fist in the air. Professor Umbridge 
+promptly turned away from him again, but now 
+several other people had their hands up too. 
+
+“And your name is?” Professor Umbridge said to 
+Dean. 
+
+“Dean Thomas.” 
+
+“Well, Mr. Thomas?” 
+
+“Well, it’s like Harry said, isn’t it?” said Dean. “If we’re 
+going to be attacked, it won’t be risk-free — ” 
+
+“I repeat,” said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very 
+irritating fashion at Dean, “do you expect to be 
+attacked during my classes?” 
+
+“No, but — ” 
+
+Professor Umbridge talked over him. 
+
+“I do not wish to criticize the way things have been 
+run in this school,” she said, an unconvincing smile 
+stretching her wide mouth, “but you have been 
+exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this 
+class, very irresponsible indeed — not to mention,” 
+she gave a nasty little laugh, “extremely dangerous 
+half-breeds.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 309Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“If you mean Professor Lupin,” piped up Dean 
+Thomas angrily, “he was the best we ever — ” 
+
+“Hand, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying — you have been 
+introduced to spells that have been complex, 
+inappropriate to your age group, and potentially 
+lethal. You have been frightened into believing that 
+you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day — 
+
+
+
+“No we haven’t,” Hermione said, “we just — ” 
+
+“Your hand is not up, Miss Grangeii” 
+
+Hermione put up her hand; Professor Umbridge 
+turned away from her. 
+
+“It is my understanding that my predecessor not only 
+performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually 
+performed them on you — ” 
+
+“Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn’t he?” said 
+Dean Thomas hotly. “Mind you, we still learned loads 
+
+
+
+“Your hand is not up, Mr. ThomasY trilled Professor 
+Umbridge. “Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a 
+theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to 
+get you through your examination, which, after all, is 
+what school is all about. And your name is?” she 
+added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot 
+up. 
+
+“Parvati Patil, and isn’t there a practical bit in our 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren’t we 
+supposed to show that we can actually do the 
+countercurses and things?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 310Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, 
+there is no reason why you should not be able to 
+perform the spells under carefully controlled 
+examination conditions,” said Professor Umbridge 
+dismissively. 
+
+“Without ever practicing them before?” said Parvati 
+incredulously. “Are you telling us that the first time 
+we’ll get to do the spells will be during our exam?” 
+
+“I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard 
+enough — ” 
+
+“And what good’s theory going to be in the real 
+world?” said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again. 
+
+Professor Umbridge looked up. 
+
+“This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world,” she 
+said softly. 
+
+“So we’re not supposed to be prepared for what’s 
+waiting out there?” 
+
+“There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter.” 
+
+“Oh yeah?” said Harry. His temper, which seemed to 
+have been bubbling just beneath the surface all day, 
+was reaching boiling point. 
+
+“Who do you imagine wants to attack children like 
+yourselves?” inquired Professor Umbridge in a 
+horribly honeyed voice. 
+
+“Hmm, let’s think ...” said Harry in a mock thoughtful 
+voice, “maybe Lord Voldemort?” 
+
+Ron gasped; Lavender Brown uttered a little scream; 
+Neville slipped sideways off his stool. Professor 
+
+Page | 311Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at 
+Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face. 
+
+
+
+“Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter.” 
+
+The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was 
+staring at either Umbridge or Harry. 
+
+“Now, let me make a few things quite plain.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned toward 
+them, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk. 
+
+“You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has 
+returned from the dead — ” 
+
+“He wasn’t dead,” said Harry angrily, “but yeah, he’s 
+returned!” 
+
+“Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten- 
+points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself,” said 
+Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at 
+him. “As I was saying, you have been informed that a 
+certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a 
+lie.” 
+
+“It is NOT a lie!” said Harry. “I saw him, I fought him!” 
+
+“Detention, Mr. Potter!” said Professor Umbridge 
+triumphantly. “Tomorrow evening. Five o’clock. My 
+office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic 
+guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark 
+wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and 
+see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming 
+you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like 
+to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. 
+And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page 
+five, ‘Basics for Beginners.’ ” 
+
+Page | 312Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk again. 
+Harry, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at 
+him; Seamus looked half-scared, half-fascinated. 
+
+“Harry, no!” Hermione whispered in a warning voice, 
+tugging at his sleeve, but Harry jerked his arm out of 
+her reach. 
+
+“So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of 
+his own accord, did he?” Harry asked, his voice 
+shaking. 
+
+There was a collective intake of breath from the class, 
+for none of them, apart from Ron and Hermione, had 
+ever heard Harry talk about what had happened on 
+the night that Cedric had died. They stared avidly 
+from Harry to Professor Umbridge, who had raised 
+her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a 
+fake smile on her face. 
+
+“Cedric Diggory’s death was a tragic accident,” she 
+said coldly. 
+
+“It was murder,” said Harry. He could feel himself 
+shaking. He had hardly talked to anyone about this, 
+least of all thirty eagerly listening classmates. 
+“Voldemort killed him, and you know it.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge’s face was quite blank. For a 
+moment he thought she was going to scream at him. 
+Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish 
+voice, “Come here, Mr. Potter, dear.” 
+
+He kicked his chair aside, strode around Ron and 
+Hermione and up to the teacher’s desk. He could feel 
+the rest of the class holding its breath. He felt so 
+angry he did not care what happened next. 
+
+
+
+Page | 313Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink 
+parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the 
+desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started 
+scribbling, hunched over so that Harry could not see 
+what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute 
+or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with 
+her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could 
+not open it. 
+
+“Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear,” said 
+Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him. 
+
+He took it from her without saying a word and left the 
+room, not even looking back at Ron and Hermione, 
+and slamming the classroom door shut behind him. 
+He walked very fast along the corridor, the note to 
+McGonagall clutched tight in his hand, and turning a 
+corner walked slap into Peeves the Poltergeist, a wide- 
+faced little man floating on his back in midair, 
+juggling several inkwells. 
+
+“Why, it’s Potty Wee Potter!” cackled Peeves, allowing 
+two of the inkwells to fall to the ground where they 
+smashed and spattered the walls with ink; Harry 
+jumped backward out of the way with a snarl. 
+
+“Get out of it, Peeves.” 
+
+“Oooh, Crackpot’s feeling cranky,” said Peeves, 
+pursuing Harry along the corridor, leering as he 
+zoomed along above him. “What is it this time, my 
+fine Potty friend? Hearing voices? Seeing visions? 
+Speaking in” — Peeves blew a gigantic raspberry — 
+“tongues?” 
+
+“I said, leave me ALONE!” Harry shouted, running 
+down the nearest flight of stairs, but Peeves merely 
+slid down the banister on his back beside him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 314Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, most think he’s barking, the Potty wee lad, 
+
+But some are more kindly and think he’s just sad, 
+
+But Peevesy knows better and says that he’s mad — ” 
+“SHUT UP!” 
+
+A door to his left flew open and Professor McGonagall 
+emerged from her office looking grim and slightly 
+harassed. 
+
+“What on earth are you shouting about, Potter?” she 
+snapped, as Peeves cackled gleefully and zoomed out 
+of sight. “Why aren’t you in class?” 
+
+“I’ve been sent to see you,” said Harry stiffly. 
+
+“Sent? What do you mean, sent?” 
+
+He held out the note from Professor Umbridge. 
+Professor McGonagall took it from him, frowning, slit 
+it open with a tap of her wand, stretched it out, and 
+began to read. Her eyes zoomed from side to side 
+behind their square spectacles as she read what 
+Umbridge had written, and with each line they 
+became narrower. 
+
+“Come in here, Potter.” 
+
+He followed her inside her study. The door closed 
+automatically behind him. 
+
+“Well?” said Professor McGonagall, rounding on him. 
+“Is this true?” 
+
+“Is what true?” Harry asked, rather more aggressively 
+than he had intended. “Professor?” he added in an 
+attempt to sound more polite. 
+
+Page | 315Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?” 
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+“You called her a liar?” 
+
+“Yes.” 
+
+“You told her He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back?” 
+“Yes.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk, 
+frowning at Harry. Then she said, “Have a biscuit, 
+Potter.” 
+
+“Have — what?” 
+
+“Have a biscuit,” she repeated impatiently, indicating 
+a tartan tin of cookies lying on top of one of the piles 
+of papers on her desk. “And sit down.” 
+
+There had been a previous occasion when Harry, 
+expecting to be caned by Professor McGonagall, had 
+instead been appointed by her to the Gryffindor 
+Quidditch team. He sank into a chair opposite her 
+and helped himself to a Ginger Newt, feeling just as 
+confused and wrong-footed as he had done on that 
+occasion. 
+
+Professor McGonagall set down Professor Umbridge’s 
+note and looked very seriously at Harry. 
+
+“Potter, you need to be careful.” 
+
+Harry swallowed his mouthful of Ginger Newt and 
+stared at her. Her tone of voice was not at all what he 
+was used to; it was not brisk, crisp, and stern; it was 
+
+
+
+Page | 316Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+low and anxious and somehow much more human 
+than usual. 
+
+“Misbehavior in Dolores Umbridge’s class could cost 
+you much more than House points and a detention.” 
+
+“What do you — ?” 
+
+“Potter, use your common sense,” snapped Professor 
+McGonagall, with an abrupt return to her usual 
+manner. “You know where she comes from, you must 
+know to whom she is reporting.” 
+
+The bell rang for the end of the lesson. Overhead and 
+all around came the elephantine sounds of hundreds 
+of students on the move. 
+
+“It says here she’s given you detention every evening 
+this week, starting tomorrow,” Professor McGonagall 
+said, looking down at Umbridge’s note again. 
+
+“Every evening this week!” Harry repeated, horrified. 
+“But, Professor, couldn’t you — ?” 
+
+“No, I couldn’t,” said Professor McGonagall flatly. 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“She is your teacher and has every right to give you 
+detention. You will go to her room at five o’clock 
+tomorrow for the first one. Just remember: Tread 
+carefully around Dolores Umbridge.” 
+
+“But I was telling the truth!” said Harry, outraged. 
+“Voldemort’s back, you know he is, Professor 
+Dumbledore knows he is — ” 
+
+“For heaven’s sake, Potter!” said Professor 
+McGonagall, straightening her glasses angrily (she 
+
+Page | 317Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had winced horribly when he had used Voldemort’s 
+name). “Do you really think this is about truth or 
+lies? It’s about keeping your head down and your 
+temper under control!” 
+
+She stood up, nostrils wide and mouth very thin, and 
+he stood too. 
+
+“Have another biscuit,” she said irritably, thrusting 
+the tin at him. 
+
+“No, thanks,” said Harry coldly. 
+
+“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. 
+
+He took one. 
+
+“Thanks,” he said grudgingly. 
+
+“Didn’t you listen to Dolores Umbridge’s speech at the 
+start-of-term feast, Potter?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah ... she said ... progress will 
+be prohibited or ... well, it meant that ... that the 
+Ministry of Magic is trying to interfere at Hogwarts.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall eyed him for a moment, then 
+sniffed, walked around her desk, and held open the 
+door for him. 
+
+“Well, I’m glad you listen to Hermione Granger at any 
+rate,” she said, pointing him out of her office. 
+
+
+
+Page | 318Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+DETENTION WITH DOLORES 
+
+Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant 
+experience for Harry. The news about his shouting 
+match with Umbridge seemed to have traveled 
+exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts standards. He 
+heard whispers all around him as he sat eating 
+between Ron and Hermione. The funny thing was that 
+none of the whisperers seemed to mind him 
+overhearing what they were saying about him — on 
+the contrary, it was as though they were hoping he 
+would get angry and start shouting again, so that 
+they could hear his story firsthand. 
+
+“He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered...” 
+
+“He reckons he dueled with You-Know-Who...” 
+
+“Come off it...” 
+
+“Who does he think he’s kidding?” 
+
+“Pur - lease ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 319Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“What I don’t get,” said Harry in a shaking voice, 
+laying down his knife and fork (his hands were 
+trembling too much to hold them steady), “is why they 
+all believed the story two months ago when 
+Dumbledore told them...” 
+
+“The thing is, Harry, I’m not sure they did,” said 
+Hermione grimly. “Oh, let’s get out of here.” 
+
+She slammed down her own knife and fork; Ron 
+looked sadly at his half-finished apple pie but 
+followed suit. People stared at them all the way out of 
+the Hall. 
+
+“What d’you mean, you’re not sure they believed 
+Dumbledore?” Harry asked Hermione when they 
+reached the first-floor landing. 
+
+“Look, you don’t understand what it was like after it 
+happened,” said Hermione quietly. “You arrived back 
+in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric’s dead 
+body... None of us saw what happened in the maze... 
+We just had Dumbledore’s word for it that You-Know- 
+Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought 
+you.” 
+
+“Which is the truth!” said Harry loudly. 
+
+“I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my 
+head off?” said Hermione wearily. “It’s just that before 
+the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the 
+summer, where they spent two months reading about 
+how you’re a nutcase and Dumbledore’s going senile!” 
+
+Rain pounded on the windowpanes as they strode 
+along the empty corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. 
+Harry felt as though his first day had lasted a week, 
+but he still had a mountain of homework to do before 
+bed. A dull pounding pain was developing over his 
+Page | 320Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+right eye. He glanced out of a rain-washed window at 
+the dark grounds as they turned into the Fat Lady’s 
+corridor. There was still no light in Hagrid’s cabin. 
+
+“Mimbulus mimbletonia,” said Hermione, before the 
+Fat Lady could ask. The portrait swung open to reveal 
+the hole behind and the three of them scrambled 
+back through it. 
+
+The common room was almost empty; nearly everyone 
+was still down at dinner. Crookshanks uncoiled 
+himself from an armchair and trotted to meet them, 
+purring loudly, and when Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+took their three favorite chairs at the fireside he leapt 
+lightly into Hermione ’s lap and curled up there like a 
+furry ginger cushion. Harry gazed into the flames, 
+feeling drained and exhausted. 
+
+“How can Dumbledore have let this happen?” 
+Hermione cried suddenly, making Harry and Ron 
+jump; Crookshanks leapt off her, looking affronted. 
+She pounded the arms of her chair in fury, so that 
+bits of stuffing leaked out of the holes. “How can he 
+let that terrible woman teach us? And in our O.W.L. 
+year too!” 
+
+“Well, we’ve never had great Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts teachers, have we?” said Harry. “You know what 
+it’s like, Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job, they 
+say it’s jinxed.” 
+
+“Yes, but to employ someone who’s actually refusing 
+to let us do magic! What’s Dumbledore playing at?” 
+
+“And she’s trying to get people to spy for her,” said 
+Ron darkly. “Remember when she said she wanted us 
+to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You- 
+Know- Who’s back?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 321Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Of course she’s here to spy on us all, that’s obvious, 
+why else would Fudge have wanted her to come?” 
+snapped Hermione. 
+
+“Don’t start arguing again,” said Harry wearily, as 
+Ron opened his mouth to retaliate. “Can’t we just ... 
+Let’s just do that homework, get it out of the way...” 
+
+They collected their schoolbags from a corner and 
+returned to the chairs by the fire. People were coming 
+back from dinner now. Harry kept his face averted 
+from the portrait hole, but could still sense the stares 
+he was attracting. 
+
+“Shall we do Snape’s stuff first?” said Ron, dipping 
+his quill into his ink. “ ‘The properties ...of moonstone 
+... and its uses ...in potion-making ...’ ” he muttered, 
+writing the words across the top of his parchment as 
+he spoke them. “There.” He underlined the title, then 
+looked up expectantly at Hermione. 
+
+“So what are the properties of moonstone and its uses 
+in potion-making?” 
+
+But Hermione was not listening; she was squinting 
+over into the far corner of the room, where Fred, 
+George, and Lee Jordan were now sitting at the center 
+of a knot of innocent-looking first years, all of whom 
+were chewing something that seemed to have come 
+out of a large paper bag that Fred was holding. 
+
+“No, I’m sorry, they’ve gone too far,” she said, 
+standing up and looking positively furious. “Come on, 
+Ron.” 
+
+“I — what?” said Ron, plainly playing for time. “No — 
+come on, Hermione — we can’t tell them off for giving 
+out sweets...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 322Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You know perfectly well that those are bits of 
+Nosebleed Nougat or — or Puking Pastilles or — ” 
+
+“Fainting Fancies?” Harry suggested quietly. 
+
+One by one, as though hit over the heads with 
+invisible mallets, the first years were slumping 
+unconscious in their seats; some slid right onto the 
+floor, others merely hung over the arms of their 
+chairs, their tongues lolling out. Most of the people 
+watching were laughing; Hermione, however, squared 
+her shoulders and marched directly over to where 
+Fred and George now stood with clipboards, closely 
+observing the unconscious first years. Ron rose 
+halfway out of his chair, hovered uncertainly for a 
+moment or two, then muttered to Harry, “She’s got it 
+under control,” before sinking as low in his chair as 
+his lanky frame permitted. 
+
+“That’s enough!” Hermione said forcefully to Fred and 
+George, both of whom looked up in mild surprise. 
+
+“Yeah, you’re right,” said George, nodding, “this 
+dosage looks strong enough, doesn’t it?” 
+
+“I told you this morning, you can’t test your rubbish 
+on students!” 
+
+“We’re paying them!” said Fred indignantly. 
+
+“I don’t care, it could be dangerous!” 
+
+“Rubbish,” said Fred. 
+
+“Calm down, Hermione, they’re fine!” said Lee 
+reassuringly as he walked from first year to first year, 
+inserting purple sweets into their open mouths. 
+
+“Yeah, look, they’re coming round now,” said George. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+A few of the first years were indeed stirring. Several 
+looked so shocked to find themselves lying on the 
+floor, or dangling off their chairs, that Harry was sure 
+Fred and George had not warned them what the 
+sweets were going to do. 
+
+“Feel all right?” said George kindly to a small dark- 
+haired girl lying at his feet. 
+
+“I-I think so,” she said shakily. 
+
+“Excellent,” said Fred happily, but the next second 
+Hermione had snatched both his clipboard and the 
+paper bag of Fainting Fancies from his hands. 
+
+“It is NOT excellent!” 
+
+“ ’Course it is, they’re alive, aren’t they?” said Fred 
+angrily. 
+
+“You can’t do this, what if you made one of them 
+really ill?” 
+
+“We’re not going to make them ill, we’ve already tested 
+them all on ourselves, this is just to see if everyone 
+reacts the same — ” 
+
+“If you don’t stop doing it, I’m going to — ” 
+
+“Put us in detention?” said Fred in an I’d-like-to-see- 
+you-try-it voice. 
+
+“Make us write lines?” said George, smirking. 
+
+Onlookers all over the room were laughing. Hermione 
+drew herself up to her full height; her eyes were 
+narrowed and her bushy hair seemed to crackle with 
+electricity. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” she said, her voice quivering with anger, “but I 
+will write to your mother.” 
+
+
+
+“You wouldn’t,” said George, horrified, taking a step 
+back from her. 
+
+“Oh, yes, I would,” said Hermione grimly. “I can’t stop 
+you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you’re 
+not giving them to first years.” 
+
+Fred and George looked thunderstruck. It was clear 
+that as far as they were concerned, Hermione ’s threat 
+was way below the belt. With a last threatening look 
+at them, she thrust Fred’s clipboard and the bag of 
+Fancies back into his arms and stalked back to her 
+chair by the fire. 
+
+Ron was now so low in his seat that his nose was 
+roughly level with his knees. 
+
+“Thank you for your support, Ron,” Hermione said 
+acidly. 
+
+“You handled it fine by yourself,” Ron mumbled. 
+
+Hermione stared down at her blank piece of 
+parchment for a few seconds, then said edgily, “Oh, 
+it’s no good, I can’t concentrate now. I’m going to 
+bed.” 
+
+She wrenched her bag open; Harry thought she was 
+about to put her books away, but instead she pulled 
+out two misshapen woolly objects, placed them 
+carefully on a table by the fireplace, covered them 
+with a few screwed-up bits of parchment and a 
+broken quill, and stood back to admire the effect. 
+
+“What in the name of Merlin are you doing?” said 
+Ron, watching her as though fearful for her sanity. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“They’re hats for house-elves,” she said briskly, now 
+stuffing her books back into her bag. “I did them over 
+the summer. I’m a really slow knitter without magic, 
+but now I’m back at school I should be able to make 
+lots more.” 
+
+“You’re leaving out hats for the house-elves?” said 
+Ron slowly. “And you’re covering them up with 
+rubbish first?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione defiantly, swinging her bag onto 
+her back. 
+
+“That’s not on,” said Ron angrily. “You’re trying to 
+trick them into picking up the hats. You’re setting 
+them free when they might not want to be free.” 
+
+“Of course they want to be free!” said Hermione at 
+once, though her face was turning pink. “Don’t you 
+dare touch those hats, Ron!” 
+
+She left. Ron waited until she had disappeared 
+through the door to the girls’ dormitories, then 
+cleared the rubbish off the woolly hats. 
+
+“They should at least see what they’re picking up,” he 
+said firmly. “Anyway ...” He rolled up the parchment 
+on which he had written the title of Snape’s essay. 
+“There’s no point trying to finish this now, I can’t do it 
+without Hermione, I haven’t got a clue what you’re 
+supposed to do with moonstones, have you?” 
+
+Harry shook his head, noticing as he did so that the 
+ache in his right temple was getting worse. He 
+thought of the long essay on giant wars and the pain 
+stabbed at him sharply. Knowing perfectly well that 
+he would regret not finishing his homework tonight 
+when the morning came, he piled his books back into 
+his bag. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm going to bed too.” 
+
+He passed Seamus on the way to the door leading to 
+the dormitories, but did not look at him. Harry had a 
+fleeting impression that Seamus had opened his 
+mouth to speak, but sped up, and reached the 
+soothing peace of the stone spiral staircase without 
+having to endure any more provocation. 
+
+The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as 
+the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the 
+staff table at breakfast. 
+
+“But on the plus side, no Snape today,” said Ron 
+bracingly. 
+
+Hermione yawned widely and poured herself some 
+coffee. She looked mildly pleased about something, 
+and when Ron asked her what she had to be so happy 
+about, she simply said, “The hats have gone. Seems 
+the house-elves do want freedom after all.” 
+
+“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Ron told her cuttingly. “They 
+might not count as clothes. They didn’t look anything 
+like hats to me, more like woolly bladders.” 
+
+Hermione did not speak to him all morning. 
+
+Double Charms was succeeded by double 
+Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor 
+McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of 
+their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of 
+O.W.L.s. 
+
+“What you must remember,” said little Professor 
+Flitwick squeakily, perched as ever on a pile of books 
+so that he could see over the top of his desk, “is that 
+these examinations may influence your futures for 
+many years to come! If you have not already given 
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+
+
+
+
+serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do 
+so. And in the meantime, I’m afraid, we shall be 
+working harder than ever to ensure that you all do 
+yourselves justice!” 
+
+They then spent more than an hour reviewing 
+Summoning Charms, which according to Professor 
+Flitwick were bound to come up in their O.W.L., and 
+he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest 
+amount of Charms homework ever. 
+
+It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration. 
+
+“You cannot pass an O.W.L.,” said Professor 
+McGonagall grimly, “without serious application, 
+practice, and study. I see no reason why everybody in 
+this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in 
+Transfiguration as long as they put in the work.” 
+Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise. “Yes, you 
+too, Longbottom,” said Professor McGonagall. “There’s 
+nothing wrong with your work except lack of 
+confidence. So ... today we are starting Vanishing 
+Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which 
+you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T. level, 
+but they are still among the most difficult magic you 
+will be tested on in your O.W.L.” 
+
+She was quite right; Harry found the Vanishing Spells 
+horribly difficult. By the end of a double period, 
+neither he nor Ron had managed to vanish the snails 
+on which they were practicing, though Ron said 
+hopefully that he thought his looked a bit paler. 
+Hermione, on the other hand, successfully vanished 
+her snail on the third attempt, earning her a ten-point 
+bonus for Gryffindor from Professor McGonagall. She 
+was the only person not given homework; everybody 
+else was told to practice the spell overnight, ready for 
+a fresh attempt on their snails the following 
+afternoon. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Now panicking slightly about the amount of 
+homework they had to do, Harry and Ron spent their 
+lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of 
+moonstones in potion-making. Still angry about Ron’s 
+slur on her woolly hats, Hermione did not join them. 
+By the time they reached Care of Magical Creatures in 
+the afternoon, Harry’s head was aching again. 
+
+The day had become cool and breezy, and, as they 
+walked down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid’s cabin 
+on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the 
+occasional drop of rain on their faces. Professor 
+Grubbly-Plank stood waiting for the class some ten 
+yards from Hagrid’s front door, a long trestle table in 
+front of her laden with many twigs. As Harry and Ron 
+reached her, a loud shout of laughter sounded behind 
+them; turning, they saw Draco Malfoy striding toward 
+them, surrounded by his usual gang of Slytherin 
+cronies. He had clearly just said something highly 
+amusing, because Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, 
+and the rest continued to snigger heartily as they 
+gathered around the trestle table. Judging by the fact 
+that all of them kept looking over at Harry, he was 
+able to guess the subject of the joke without too much 
+difficulty. 
+
+“Everyone here?” barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, 
+once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived. 
+“Let’s crack on then — who can tell me what these 
+things are called?” 
+
+She indicated the heap of twigs in front of her. 
+Hermione ’s hand shot into the air. Behind her back, 
+Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping 
+up and down in eagerness to answer a question. 
+
+Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned 
+almost at once into a scream, as the twigs on the 
+table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be 
+what looked like tiny pixieish creatures made of wood, 
+Page | 329Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike 
+fingers at the end of each hand, and a funny, flat, 
+barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes 
+glittered. 
+
+“Oooooh!” said Parvati and Lavender, thoroughly 
+irritating Harry: Anyone would have thought that 
+Hagrid never showed them impressive creatures; 
+admittedly the flobberworms had been a bit dull, but 
+the salamanders and hippogriffs had been interesting 
+enough, and the Blast-Ended Skrewts perhaps too 
+much so. 
+
+“Kindly keep your voices down, girls!” said Professor 
+Grubbly-Plank sharply, scattering a handful of what 
+looked like brown rice among the stick-creatures, who 
+immediately fell upon the food. “So — anyone know 
+the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?” 
+
+“Bowtruckles,” said Hermione. “They’re tree- 
+guardians, usually live in wand-trees.” 
+
+“Five points for Gryffindor,” said Professor Grubbly- 
+Plank. “Yes, these are bowtruckles and, as Miss 
+Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees 
+whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what 
+they eat?” 
+
+“Wood lice,” said Hermione promptly, which explained 
+why what Harry had taken for grains of brown rice 
+were moving. “But fairy eggs if they can get them.” 
+
+“Good girl, take another five points. So whenever you 
+need leaves or wood from a tree in which a 
+bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice 
+ready to distract or placate it. They may not look 
+dangerous, but if angered they will gouge out human 
+eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are 
+very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. 
+Page | 330Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+So if you’d like to gather closer, take a few wood lice 
+and a bowtruckle — I have enough here for one 
+between three — you can study them more closely. I 
+want a sketch from each of you with all body parts 
+labeled by the end of the lesson.” 
+
+The class surged forward around the trestle table. 
+Harry deliberately circled around the back so that he 
+ended up right next to Professor Grubbly-Plank. 
+
+“Where’s Hagrid?” he asked her, while everyone else 
+was choosing bowtruckles. 
+
+“Never you mind,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank 
+repressively, which had been her attitude last time 
+Hagrid had failed to turn up for a class too. Smirking 
+all over his pointed face, Draco Malfoy leaned across 
+Harry and seized the largest bowtruckle. 
+
+“Maybe,” said Malfoy in an undertone, so that only 
+Harry could hear him, “the stupid great oaf’s got 
+himself badly injured.” 
+
+“Maybe you will if you don’t shut up,” said Harry out 
+of the side of his mouth. 
+
+“Maybe he’s been messing with stuff that’s too big for 
+him, if you get my drift.” 
+
+Malfoy walked away, smirking over his shoulder at 
+Harry, who suddenly felt sick. Did Malfoy know 
+something? His father was a Death Eater, after all; 
+what if he had information about Hagrid ’s fate that 
+had not yet reached the Order’s ears? He hurried 
+back around the table to Ron and Hermione, who 
+were squatting on the grass some distance away and 
+attempting to persuade a bowtruckle to remain still 
+long enough to draw it. Harry pulled out parchment 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+and quill, crouched down beside the others, and 
+related in a whisper what Malfoy had just said. 
+
+“Dumbledore would know if something had happened 
+to Hagrid,” said Hermione at once. “It’s just playing 
+into Malfoy’s hands to look worried, it tells him we 
+don’t know exactly what’s going on. We’ve got to 
+ignore him, Harry. Here, hold the bowtruckle for a 
+moment, just so I can draw its face...” 
+
+“Yes,” came Malfoy’s clear drawl from the group 
+nearest them, “Father was talking to the Minister just 
+a couple of days ago, you know, and it sounds as 
+though the Ministry’s really determined to crack down 
+on substandard teaching in this place. So even if that 
+overgrown moron does show up again, he’ll probably 
+be sent packing straight away.” 
+
+“OUCH!” 
+
+Harry had gripped the bowtruckle so hard that it had 
+almost snapped; it had just taken a great retaliatory 
+swipe at his hand with its sharp fingers, leaving two 
+long deep cuts there. Harry dropped it; Crabbe and 
+Goyle, who had already been guffawing at the idea of 
+Hagrid being sacked, laughed still harder as the 
+bowtruckle set off at full tilt toward the forest, a little, 
+moving stickman soon swallowed up by the tree roots. 
+When the bell echoed distantly over the grounds 
+Harry rolled up his bloodstained bowtruckle picture 
+and marched off to Herbology with his hand wrapped 
+in a handkerchief of Hermione ’s and Malfoy’s derisive 
+laughter still ringing in his ears. 
+
+“If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time ...” snarled 
+Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 332Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry, don’t go picking a row with Malfoy, don’t 
+forget, he’s a prefect now, he could make life difficult 
+for you...” 
+
+“Wow, I wonder what it’d be like to have a difficult 
+life?” said Harry sarcastically. Ron laughed, but 
+Hermione frowned. Together they traipsed across the 
+vegetable patch. The sky still appeared unable to 
+make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or not. 
+
+“I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, 
+that’s all,” said Harry in a low voice, as they reached 
+the greenhouses. “And don’t say that Grubbly-Plank 
+woman’s a better teacher!” he added threateningly. 
+
+“I wasn’t going to,” said Hermione calmly. 
+
+“Because she’ll never be as good as Hagrid,” said 
+Harry firmly, fully aware that he had just experienced 
+an exemplary Care of Magical Creatures lesson and 
+was thoroughly annoyed about it. 
+
+The door of the nearest greenhouse opened and some 
+fourth years spilled out of it, including Ginny. 
+
+“Hi,” she said brightly as she passed. A few seconds 
+later, Luna Lovegood emerged, trailing behind the rest 
+of the class, a smudge of earth on her nose and her 
+hair tied in a knot on the top of her head. When she 
+saw Harry, her prominent eyes seemed to bulge 
+excitedly and she made a beeline straight for him. 
+Many of his classmates turned curiously to watch. 
+Luna took a great breath and then said, without so 
+much as a preliminary hello: “I believe He-Who-Must- 
+Not-Be-Named is back, and I believe you fought him 
+and escaped from him.” 
+
+“Er — right,” said Harry awkwardly. Luna was 
+wearing what looked like a pair of orange radishes for 
+
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+
+
+
+
+earrings, a fact that Parvati and Lavender seemed to 
+have noticed, as they were both giggling and pointing 
+at her earlobes. 
+
+“You can laugh!” Luna said, her voice rising, 
+apparently under the impression that Parvati and 
+Lavender were laughing at what she had said rather 
+than what she was wearing. “But people used to 
+believe there were no such things as the Blibbering 
+Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!” 
+
+“Well, they were right, weren’t they?” said Hermione 
+impatiently. “There weren’t any such things as the 
+Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned 
+Snorkack.” 
+
+Luna gave her a withering look and flounced away, 
+radishes swinging madly. Parvati and Lavender were 
+not the only ones hooting with laughter now. 
+
+“D’you mind not offending the only people who believe 
+me?” Harry asked Hermione as they made their way 
+into class. 
+
+“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Harry, you can do better than 
+her,” said Hermione. “Ginny’s told me all about her, 
+apparently she’ll only believe in things as long as 
+there’s no proof at all. Well, I wouldn’t expect 
+anything else from someone whose father runs The 
+Quibbler.” 
+
+Harry thought of the sinister winged horses he had 
+seen on the night he had arrived and how Luna had 
+said she could see them too. His spirits sank slightly. 
+Had she been lying? But before he could devote much 
+more thought to the matter, Ernie Macmillan had 
+stepped up to him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I want you to know, Potter,” he said in a loud, 
+carrying voice, “that it’s not only weirdos who support 
+you. I personally believe you one hundred percent. My 
+family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, 
+and so do I.” 
+
+“Er — thanks very much, Ernie,” said Harry, taken 
+aback but pleased. Ernie might be pompous on 
+occasions like these, but Harry was in a mood to 
+deeply appreciate a vote of confidence from somebody 
+who was not wearing radishes in their ears. Ernie’s 
+words had certainly wiped the smile from Lavender 
+Brown’s face and, as he turned to talk to Ron and 
+Hermione, Harry caught Seamus’s expression, which 
+looked both confused and defiant. 
+
+To nobody’s surprise, Professor Sprout started their 
+lesson by lecturing them about the importance of 
+O.W.L.s. Harry wished all the teachers would stop 
+doing this; he was starting to get an anxious, twisted 
+feeling in his stomach every time he remembered how 
+much homework he had to do, a feeling that 
+worsened dramatically when Professor Sprout gave 
+them yet another essay at the end of class. Tired and 
+smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprout’s 
+preferred brand of fertilizer, the Gryffindors trooped 
+back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of 
+them talking very much; it had been another long 
+day. 
+
+As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention 
+with Umbridge at five o’clock, he headed straight for 
+dinner without dropping off his bag in Gryffindor 
+Tower so that he could bolt something down before 
+facing whatever she had in store for him. He had 
+barely reached the entrance of the Great Hall, 
+however, when a loud and angry voice said, “Oy, 
+Potter!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What now?” he muttered wearily, turning to face 
+Angelina Johnson, who looked as though she was in a 
+towering temper. 
+
+“I’ll tell you what now,” she said, marching straight 
+up to him and poking him hard in the chest with her 
+finger. “How come you’ve landed yourself in detention 
+for five o’clock on Friday?” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “Why ... oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!” 
+
+“Now he remembers!” snarled Angelina. “Didn’t I tell 
+you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and 
+find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn’t I tell 
+you I’d booked the Quidditch pitch specially? And 
+now you’ve decided you’re not going to be there!” 
+
+“I didn’t decide not to be there!” said Harry, stung by 
+the injustice of these words. “I got detention from that 
+Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth 
+about You-Know-Who — ” 
+
+“Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to 
+let you off on Friday,” said Angelina fiercely, “and I 
+don’t care how you do it, tell her You-Know-Who ’s a 
+figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure 
+you’re therel” 
+
+She stormed away. 
+
+“You know what?” Harry said to Ron and Hermione as 
+they entered the Great Hall. “I think we’d better check 
+with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood’s been 
+killed during a training session, because she seems to 
+be channeling his spirit.” 
+
+“What d’you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting 
+you off on Friday?” said Ron skeptically, as they sat 
+down at the Gryffindor table. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Less than zero,” said Harry glumly, tipping lamb 
+chops onto his plate and starting to eat. “Better try, 
+though, hadn’t I? I’ll offer to do two more detentions 
+or something, I dunno...” He swallowed a mouthful of 
+potato and added, “I hope she doesn’t keep me too 
+long this evening. You realize we’ve got to write three 
+essays, practice Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, 
+work out a countercharm for Flitwick, finish the 
+bowtruckle drawing, and start that stupid dream 
+diary for Trelawney?” 
+
+Ron moaned and for some reason glanced up at the 
+ceiling. 
+
+“And it looks like it’s going to rain.” 
+
+“What’s that got to do with our homework?” said 
+Hermione, her eyebrows raised. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Ron at once, his ears reddening. 
+
+At five to five Harry bade the other two good-bye and 
+set off for Umbridge’s office on the third floor. When 
+he knocked on the door she said, “Come in,” in a 
+sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around. 
+
+He had known this office under three of its previous 
+occupants. In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had 
+lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits 
+of its owner. When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely 
+you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a 
+cage or tank if you came to call. In the impostor 
+Moody’s days it had been packed with various 
+instruments and artifacts for the detection of 
+wrongdoing and concealment. 
+
+Now, however, it looked totally unrecognizable. The 
+surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and 
+cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+each residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls 
+was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated 
+with a large technicolor kitten wearing a different bow 
+around its neck. These were so foul that Harry stared 
+at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke 
+again. 
+
+“Good evening, Mr. Potter.” 
+
+Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed 
+her at first because she was wearing a luridly 
+flowered set of robes that blended only too well with 
+the tablecloth on the desk behind her. 
+
+“Evening,” Harry said stiffly. 
+
+“Well, sit down,” she said, pointing toward a small 
+table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a 
+straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay 
+on the table, apparently waiting for him. 
+
+“Er,” said Harry, without moving. “Professor 
+Umbridge? Er — before we start, I-I wanted to ask 
+you a ... a favor.” 
+
+Her bulging eyes narrowed. 
+
+“Oh yes?” 
+
+“Well I’m ... I’m on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 
+
+And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new 
+Keeper at five o’clock on Friday and I was — was 
+wondering whether I could skip detention that night 
+and do it — do it another night ... instead ...” 
+
+He knew long before he reached the end of his 
+sentence that it was no good. 
+
+
+
+Page | 338Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh no,” said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she 
+looked as though she had just swallowed a 
+particularly juicy fly. “Oh no, no, no. This is your 
+punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention- 
+seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments 
+certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one’s 
+convenience. No, you will come here at five o’clock 
+tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and 
+you will do your detentions as planned. I think it 
+rather a good thing that you are missing something 
+you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I 
+am trying to teach you.” 
+
+Harry felt the blood surge to his head and heard a 
+thumping noise in his ears. So he told evil, nasty, 
+attention-seeking stories, did he? 
+
+She was watching him with her head slightly to one 
+side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly 
+what he was thinking and was waiting to see whether 
+he would start shouting again. With a massive effort 
+Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag 
+beside the straight-backed chair, and sat down. 
+
+“There,” said Umbridge sweetly, “we’re getting better 
+at controlling our temper already, aren’t we? Now, you 
+are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Potter. 
+
+No, not with your quill,” she added, as Harry bent 
+down to open his bag. “You’re going to be using a 
+rather special one of mine. Here you are.” 
+
+She handed him a long, thin black quill with an 
+unusually sharp point. 
+
+“I want you to write ‘ I must not tell lies,’ ” she told him 
+softly. 
+
+“How many times?” Harry asked, with a creditable 
+imitation of politeness. 
+
+Page | 339Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,” 
+said Umbridge sweetly. “Off you go.” 
+
+She moved over to her desk, sat down, and bent over 
+a stack of parchment that looked like essays for 
+marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill and then 
+realized what was missing. 
+
+“You haven’t given me any ink,” he said. 
+
+“Oh, you won’t need ink,” said Professor Umbridge 
+with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice. 
+
+Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and 
+wrote: I must not tell lies. 
+
+He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on 
+the parchment in what appeared to be shining red 
+ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the 
+back of Harry’s right hand, cut into his skin as 
+though traced there by a scalpel — yet even as he 
+stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, 
+leaving the place where it had been slightly redder 
+than before but quite smooth. 
+
+Harry looked around at Umbridge. She was watching 
+him, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile. 
+
+“Yes?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill 
+upon it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt 
+the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second 
+time; once again the words had been cut into his 
+skin, once again they healed over seconds later. 
+
+
+
+Page | 340Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And on it went. Again and again Harry wrote the 
+words on the parchment in what he soon came to 
+realize was not ink, but his own blood. And again and 
+again the words were cut into the back of his hand, 
+healed, and then reappeared the next time he set quill 
+to parchment. 
+
+Darkness fell outside Umbridge’s window. Harry did 
+not ask when he would be allowed to stop. He did not 
+even check his watch. He knew she was watching him 
+for signs of weakness and he was not going to show 
+any, not even if he had to sit here all night, cutting 
+open his own hand with this quill... 
+
+“Come here,” she said, after what seemed hours. 
+
+He stood up. His hand was stinging painfully. When 
+he looked down at it he saw that the cut had healed, 
+but that the skin there was red raw. 
+
+“Hand,” she said. 
+
+He extended it. She took it in her own. Harry 
+repressed a shudder as she touched him with her 
+thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of 
+ugly old rings. 
+
+“Tut, tut, I don’t seem to have made much of an 
+impression yet,” she said, smiling. “Well, we’ll just 
+have to try again tomorrow evening, won’t we? You 
+may go.” 
+
+Harry left her office without a word. The school was 
+quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. He 
+walked slowly up the corridor then, when he had 
+turned the corner and was sure that she would not 
+hear him, broke into a run. 
+
+
+
+Page | 341Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He had not had time to practice Vanishing Spells, had 
+not written a single dream in his dream diary, and 
+had not finished the drawing of the bowtruckle, nor 
+had he written his essays. He skipped breakfast next 
+morning to scribble down a couple of made-up 
+dreams for Divination, their first lesson, and was 
+surprised to find a disheveled Ron keeping him 
+company. 
+
+“How come you didn’t do it last night?” Harry asked, 
+as Ron stared wildly around the common room for 
+inspiration. Ron, who had been fast asleep when 
+Harry got back to the dormitory, muttered something 
+about “doing other stuff,” bent low over his 
+parchment, and scrawled a few words. 
+
+“That’ll have to do,” he said, slamming the diary shut, 
+“I’ve said I dreamed I was buying a new pair of shoes, 
+she can’t make anything weird out of that, can she?” 
+
+They hurried off to North Tower together. 
+
+“How was detention with Umbridge, anyway? What 
+did she make you do?” 
+
+Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, 
+“Lines.” 
+
+“That’s not too bad, then, eh?” said Ron. 
+
+“Nope,” said Harry. 
+
+“Hey — I forgot — did she let you off for Friday?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+Ron groaned sympathetically. 
+
+
+
+Page | 342Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was another bad day for Harry; he was one of the 
+worst in Transfiguration, not having practiced 
+Vanishing Spells at all. He had to give up his lunch 
+hour to complete the picture of the bowtruckle, and 
+meanwhile, Professors McGonagall, Grubbly-Plank, 
+and Sinistra gave them yet more homework, which he 
+had no prospect of finishing that evening because of 
+his second detention with Umbridge. To cap it all, 
+Angelina Johnson tracked him down at dinner again 
+and, on learning that he would not be able to attend 
+Friday’s Keeper tryouts, told him she was not at all 
+impressed by his attitude and that she expected 
+players who wished to remain on the team to put 
+training before their other commitments. 
+
+“I’m in detention!” Harry yelled after her as she 
+stalked away. “D’you think I’d rather be stuck in a 
+room with that old toad or playing Quidditch?” 
+
+“At least it’s only lines,” said Hermione consolingly, as 
+Harry sank back onto his bench and looked down at 
+his steak-and-kidney pie, which he no longer fancied 
+very much. “It’s not as if it’s a dreadful punishment, 
+really...” 
+
+Harry opened his mouth, closed it again, and nodded. 
+He was not really sure why he was not telling Ron 
+and Hermione exactly what was happening in 
+Umbridge ’s room: He only knew that he did not want 
+to see their looks of horror; that would make the 
+whole thing seem worse and therefore more difficult 
+to face. He also felt dimly that this was between 
+himself and Umbridge, a private battle of wills, and he 
+was not going to give her the satisfaction of hearing 
+that he had complained about it. 
+
+“I can’t believe how much homework we’ve got,” said 
+Ron miserably. 
+
+
+
+Page | 343Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, why didn’t you do any last night?” Hermione 
+asked him. “Where were you anyway?” 
+
+
+
+“I was ... I fancied a walk,” said Ron shiftily. 
+
+Harry had the distinct impression that he was not 
+alone in concealing things at the moment. 
+
+k k k 
+
+
+
+The second detention was just as bad as the previous 
+one. The skin on the back of Harry’s hand became 
+irritated more quickly now, red and inflamed; Harry 
+thought it unlikely to keep healing as effectively for 
+long. Soon the cut would remain etched in his hand 
+and Umbridge would, perhaps, be satisfied. He let no 
+moan of pain escape him, however, and from the 
+moment of entering the room to the moment of his 
+dismissal, again past midnight, he said nothing but 
+“Good evening” and “Good night.” 
+
+His homework situation, however, was now desperate, 
+and when he returned to the Gryffindor common 
+room he did not, though exhausted, go to bed, but 
+opened his books and began Snape’s moonstone 
+essay. It was half-past two by the time he had 
+finished it. He knew he had done a poor job, but there 
+was no help for it; unless he had something to give in 
+he would be in detention with Snape next. He then 
+dashed off answers to the questions Professor 
+McGonagall had set them, cobbled together 
+something on the proper handling of bowtruckles for 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank, and staggered up to bed, 
+where he fell fully clothed on top of the bed covers 
+and fell asleep immediately. 
+
+Thursday passed in a haze of tiredness. Ron seemed 
+very sleepy too, though Harry could not see why he 
+
+Page | 344Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+should be. Harry’s third detention passed in the same 
+way as the previous two, except that after two hours 
+the words “I must not tell lies” did not fade from the 
+back of Harry’s hand, but remained scratched there, 
+oozing droplets of blood. The pause in the pointed 
+quill’s scratching made Professor Umbridge look up. 
+
+“Ah,” she said softly, moving around her desk to 
+examine his hand herself. “Good. That ought to serve 
+as a reminder to you, oughtn’t it? You may leave for 
+tonight.” 
+
+“Do I still have to come back tomorrow?” said Harry, 
+picking up his schoolbag with his left hand rather 
+than his smarting right. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Professor Umbridge, smiling widely as 
+before. “Yes, I think we can etch the message a little 
+deeper with another evening’s work.” 
+
+He had never before considered the possibility that 
+there might be another teacher in the world he hated 
+more than Snape, but as he walked back toward 
+Gryffindor Tower he had to admit he had found a 
+contender. She’s evil, he thought, as he climbed a 
+staircase to the seventh floor, she’s an evil, twisted, 
+mad, old — 
+
+“Ron?” 
+
+He had reached the top of the stairs, turned right, 
+and almost walked into Ron, who was lurking behind 
+a statue of Lachlan the Lanky, clutching his 
+broomstick. He gave a great leap of surprise when he 
+saw Harry and attempted to hide his new Cleansweep 
+Eleven behind his back. 
+
+“What are you doing?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 345Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Er — nothing. What are you doing?” 
+
+Harry frowned at him. 
+
+“Come on, you can tell me! What are you hiding here 
+for?” 
+
+“I’m — I’m hiding from Fred and George, if you must 
+know,” said Ron. “They just went past with a bunch 
+of first years, I bet they’re testing stuff on them again, 
+
+I mean, they can’t do it in the common room now, can 
+they, not with Hermione there.” 
+
+He was talking in a very fast, feverish way. 
+
+“But what have you got your broom for, you haven’t 
+been flying, have you?” Harry asked. 
+
+“I — well — well, okay, I’ll tell you, but don’t laugh, all 
+right?” Ron said defensively, turning redder with 
+every second. “I-I thought I’d try out for Gryffindor 
+Keeper now I’ve got a decent broom. There. Go on. 
+Laugh.” 
+
+“I’m not laughing,” said Harry. Ron blinked. “It’s a 
+brilliant idea! It’d be really cool if you got on the team! 
+I’ve never seen you play Keeper, are you good?” 
+
+“I’m not bad,” said Ron, who looked immensely 
+relieved at Harry’s reaction. “Charlie, Fred, and 
+George always made me Keep for them when they 
+were training during the holidays.” 
+
+“So you’ve been practicing tonight?” 
+
+“Every evening since Tuesday ... just on my own, 
+though, I’ve been trying to bewitch Quaffles to fly at 
+me, but it hasn’t been easy and I don’t know how 
+much use it’ll be.” Ron looked nervous and anxious. 
+
+Page | 346Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Fred and George are going to laugh themselves 
+stupid when I turn up for the tryouts. They haven’t 
+stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made 
+a prefect.” 
+
+“I wish I was going to be there,” said Harry bitterly, as 
+they set off together toward the common room. 
+
+“Yeah, so do — Harry, what’s that on the back of your 
+hand?” 
+
+Harry, who had just scratched his nose with his free 
+right hand, tried to hide it, but had as much success 
+as Ron with his Cleans weep. 
+
+“It’s just a cut — it’s nothing — it’s — ” 
+
+But Ron had grabbed Harry’s forearm and pulled the 
+back of Harry’s hand up level with his eyes. There 
+was a pause, during which he stared at the words 
+carved into the skin, then he released Harry, looking 
+sick. 
+
+“I thought you said she was giving you lines?” 
+
+Harry hesitated, but after all, Ron had been honest 
+with him, so he told Ron the truth about the hours he 
+had been spending in Umbridge’s office. 
+
+“The old hag!” Ron said in a revolted whisper as they 
+came to a halt in front of the Fat Lady, who was 
+dozing peacefully with her head against her frame. 
+“She’s sick! Go to McGonagall, say something!” 
+
+“No,” said Harry at once. “I’m not giving her the 
+satisfaction of knowing she’s got to me.” 
+
+“Got to you? You can’t let her get away with this!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 347Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I don’t know how much power McGonagall’s got over 
+her,” said Harry. 
+
+“Dumbledore, then, tell Dumbledore!” 
+
+“No,” said Harry flatly. 
+
+“Why not?” 
+
+“He’s got enough on his mind,” said Harry, but that 
+was not the true reason. He was not going to go to 
+Dumbledore for help when Dumbledore had not 
+spoken to him once since last June. 
+
+“Well, I reckon you should — ” Ron began, but he was 
+interrupted by the Fat Lady, who had been watching 
+them sleepily and now burst out, “Are you going to 
+give me the password or will I have to stay awake all 
+night waiting for you to finish your conversation?” 
+
+Friday dawned sullen and sodden as the rest of the 
+week. Though Harry glanced toward the staff table 
+automatically when he entered the Great Hall, it was 
+without real hope of seeing Hagrid and he turned his 
+mind immediately to his more pressing problems, 
+such as the mountainous pile of homework he had to 
+do and the prospect of yet another detention with 
+Umbridge. 
+
+Two things sustained Harry that day. One was the 
+thought that it was almost the weekend; the other 
+was that, dreadful though his final detention with 
+Umbridge was sure to be, he had a distant view of the 
+Quidditch pitch from her window and might, with 
+luck, be able to see something of Ron’s tryout. These 
+were rather feeble rays of light, it was true, but Harry 
+was grateful for anything that might lighten his 
+present darkness; he had never had a worse first 
+week of term at Hogwarts. 
+
+Page | 348Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+At five o’clock that evening he knocked on Professor 
+Umbridge’s office door for what he sincerely hoped 
+would be the final time, was told to enter and did so. 
+The blank parchment lay ready for him on the lace- 
+covered table, the pointed black quill beside it. 
+
+“You know what to do, Mr. Potter,” said Umbridge, 
+smiling sweetly over at him. 
+
+Harry picked up the quill and glanced through the 
+window. If he just shifted his chair an inch or so to 
+the right . . . On the pretext of shifting himself closer to 
+the table he managed it. He now had a distant view of 
+the Gryffindor Quidditch team soaring up and down 
+the pitch, while half a dozen black figures stood at the 
+foot of the three high goalposts, apparently awaiting 
+their turn to Keep. It was impossible to tell which one 
+was Ron at this distance. 
+
+I must not tell lies, Harry wrote. The cut in the back of 
+his right hand opened and began to bleed afresh. 
+
+I must not tell lies. The cut dug deeper, stinging and 
+smarting. 
+
+I must not tell lies. Blood trickled down his wrist. 
+
+He chanced another glance out of the window. 
+Whoever was defending the goalposts now was doing 
+a very poor job indeed. Katie Bell scored twice in the 
+few seconds Harry dared watch. Hoping very much 
+that the Keeper wasn’t Ron, he dropped his eyes back 
+to the parchment dotted with blood. 
+
+I must not tell lies. 
+
+I must not tell lies. 
+
+
+
+Page | 349Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He looked up whenever he thought he could risk it, 
+when he could hear the scratching of Umbridge’s quill 
+or the opening of a desk drawer. The third person to 
+try out was pretty good, the fourth was terrible, the 
+fifth dodged a Bludger exceptionally well but then 
+fumbled an easy save. The sky was darkening so that 
+Harry doubted he would be able to watch the sixth 
+and seventh people at all. 
+
+I must not tell lies. 
+
+I must not tell lies. 
+
+The parchment was now shining with drops of blood 
+from the back of his hand, which was searing with 
+pain. When he next looked up, night had fallen and 
+the Quidditch pitch was no longer visible. 
+
+“Let’s see if you’ve gotten the message yet, shall we?” 
+said Umbridge’s soft voice half an hour later. 
+
+She moved toward him, stretching out her short be- 
+ringed fingers for his arm. And then, as she took hold 
+of him to examine the words now cut into his skin, 
+pain seared, not across the back of his hand, but 
+across the scar on his forehead. At the same time, he 
+had a most peculiar sensation somewhere around his 
+midriff. 
+
+He wrenched his arm out of her grip and leapt to his 
+feet, staring at her. She looked back at him, a smile 
+stretching her wide, slack mouth. 
+
+“Yes, it hurts, doesn’t it?” she said softly. 
+
+He did not answer. His heart was thumping very hard 
+and fast. Was she talking about his hand or did she 
+know what he had just felt in his forehead? 
+
+
+
+Page | 350Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, I think I’ve made my point, Mr. Potter. You may 
+go.” 
+
+He caught up his schoolbag and left the room as 
+quickly as he could. 
+
+Stay calm, he told himself as he sprinted up the 
+stairs. Stay calm, it doesn’t necessarily mean what 
+you think it means... 
+
+“ Mimbulus mimbletoniaV ’ he gasped at the Fat Lady, 
+who swung forward once more. 
+
+A roar of sound greeted him. Ron came running 
+toward him, beaming all over his face and slopping 
+butterbeer down his front from the goblet he was 
+clutching. 
+
+“Harry, I did it, I’m in, I’m Keeper!” 
+
+“What? Oh — brilliant!” said Harry, trying to smile 
+naturally, while his heart continued to race and his 
+hand throbbed and bled. 
+
+“Have a butterbeer.” Ron pressed a bottle onto him. “I 
+can’t believe it — where’s Hermione gone?” 
+
+“She’s there,” said Fred, who was also swigging 
+butterbeer, and pointed to an armchair by the fire. 
+Hermione was dozing in it, her drink tipping 
+precariously in her hand. 
+
+“Well, she said she was pleased when I told her,” said 
+Ron, looking slightly put out. 
+
+“Let her sleep,” said George hastily. It was a few 
+moments before Harry noticed that several of the first 
+years gathered around them bore unmistakable signs 
+of recent nosebleeds. 
+
+Page | 351Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver’s old robes fit you,” 
+called Katie Bell. “We can take off his name and put 
+yours on instead...” 
+
+As Ron moved away, Angelina came striding up to 
+Harry. 
+
+“Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter,” she 
+said abruptly. “It’s stressful, this managing lark, you 
+know, I’m starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood 
+sometimes.” She was watching Ron over the rim of 
+her goblet with a slight frown on her face. 
+
+“Look, I know he’s your best mate, but he’s not 
+fabulous,” she said bluntly. “I think with a bit of 
+training he’ll be all right, though. He comes from a 
+family of good Quidditch players. I’m banking on him 
+turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed 
+today, to be honest. Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey 
+Hooper both flew better this evening, but Hooper’s a 
+real whiner, he’s always moaning about something or 
+other, and Vicky’s involved in all sorts of societies, 
+she admitted herself that if training clashed with her 
+Charm Club she’d put Charms first. Anyway, we’re 
+having a practice session at two o’clock tomorrow, so 
+just make sure you’re there this time. And do me a 
+favor and help Ron as much as you can, okay?” 
+
+He nodded and Angelina strolled back to Alicia 
+Spinnet. Harry moved over to sit next to Hermione, 
+who awoke with a jerk as he put down his bag. 
+
+“Oh, Harry, it’s you... Good about Ron, isn’t it?” she 
+said blearily. “I’m just so — so — so tired,” she 
+yawned. “I was up until one o’clock making more 
+hats. They’re disappearing like mad!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 352Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And sure enough, now that he looked, Harry saw that 
+there were woolly hats concealed all around the room 
+where unwary elves might accidentally pick them up. 
+
+“Great,” said Harry distractedly; if he did not tell 
+somebody soon, he would burst. “Listen, Hermione, I 
+was just up in Umbridge’s office and she touched my 
+arm ...” 
+
+Hermione listened closely. When Harry had finished 
+she said slowly, “You’re worried that You-Know- Who’s 
+controlling her like he controlled Quirrell?” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, dropping his voice, “it’s a 
+possibility, isn’t it?” 
+
+“I suppose so,” said Hermione, though she sounded 
+unconvinced. “But I don’t think he can be possessing 
+her the way he possessed Quirrell, I mean, he’s 
+properly alive again now, isn’t he, he’s got his own 
+body, he wouldn’t need to share someone else’s. He 
+could have her under the Imperius Curse, I 
+suppose...” 
+
+Harry watched Fred, George, and Lee Jordan juggling 
+empty butterbeer bottles for a moment. Then 
+Hermione said, “But last year your scar hurt when 
+nobody was touching you, and didn’t Dumbledore say 
+it had to do with what You- Know- Who was feeling at 
+the time? I mean, maybe this hasn’t got anything to 
+do with Umbridge at all, maybe it’s just coincidence it 
+happened while you were with her?” 
+
+“She’s evil,” said Harry flatly. “Twisted.” 
+
+“She’s horrible, yes, but ... Harry, I think you ought to 
+tell Dumbledore your scar hurt.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 353Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was the second time in two days he had been 
+advised to go to Dumbledore and his answer to 
+Hermione was just the same as his answer to Ron. 
+
+“I’m not bothering him with this. Like you just said, 
+it’s not a big deal. It’s been hurting on and off all 
+summer — it was just a bit worse tonight, that’s all — 
+
+
+
+“Harry, I’m sure Dumbledore would want to be 
+bothered by this — ” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, before he could stop himself, 
+“that’s the only bit of me Dumbledore cares about, 
+isn’t it, my scar?” 
+
+“Don’t say that, it’s not true!” 
+
+“I think I’ll write and tell Sirius about it, see what he 
+thinks — ” 
+
+“Harry, you can’t put something like that in a letter!” 
+said Hermione, looking alarmed. “Don’t you 
+remember, Moody told us to be careful what we put in 
+writing! We just can’t guarantee owls aren’t being 
+intercepted anymore!” 
+
+“All right, all right, I won’t tell him, then!” said Harry 
+irritably. He got to his feet. “I’m going to bed. Tell Ron 
+for me, will you?” 
+
+“Oh no,” said Hermione, looking relieved, “if you’re 
+going that means I can go without being rude too, I’m 
+absolutely exhausted and I want to make some more 
+hats tomorrow. Listen, you can help me if you like, 
+it’s quite fun, I’m getting better, I can do patterns and 
+bobbles and all sorts of things now.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 354Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry looked into her face, which was shining with 
+glee, and tried to look as though he was vaguely 
+tempted by this offer. 
+
+“Er ... no, I don’t think I will, thanks,” he said. “Er — 
+not tomorrow. I’ve got loads of homework to do...” 
+
+And he traipsed off to the boys’ stairs, leaving her 
+looking slightly disappointed behind him. 
+
+
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+PERCY AND PADFOOT 
+
+Harry was the first to awake in his dormitory next 
+morning. He lay for a moment watching dust swirl in 
+the chink of sunlight falling through the gap in his 
+four-poster’s hangings and savored the thought that 
+it was Saturday. The first week of term seemed to 
+have dragged on forever, like one gigantic History of 
+Magic lesson. 
+
+Judging by the sleepy silence and the freshly minted 
+look of that beam of sunlight, it was just after 
+daybreak. He pulled open the curtains around his 
+bed, got up, and started to dress. The only sound 
+apart from the distant twittering of birds was the 
+slow, deep breathing of his fellow Gryffindors. He 
+opened his schoolbag carefully, pulled out parchment 
+and quill, and headed out of the dormitory for the 
+common room. 
+
+Making straight for his favorite squashy old armchair 
+beside the now extinct fire, Harry settled himself 
+down comfortably and unrolled his parchment while 
+looking around the room. The detritus of crumpled-up 
+
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+
+
+bits of parchment, old Gobstones, empty ingredient 
+jars, and candy wrappers that usually covered the 
+common room at the end of each day was gone, as 
+were all Hermione’s elf hats. Wondering vaguely how 
+many elves had now been set free whether they 
+wanted to be or not, Harry uncorked his ink bottle, 
+dipped his quill into it, and then held it suspended an 
+inch above the smooth yellowish surface of his 
+parchment, thinking hard... But after a minute or so 
+he found himself staring into the empty grate, at a 
+complete loss for what to say. 
+
+He could now appreciate how hard it had been for 
+Ron and Hermione to write him letters over the 
+summer. How was he supposed to tell Sirius 
+everything that had happened over the past week and 
+pose all the questions he was burning to ask without 
+giving potential letter-thieves a lot of information he 
+did not want them to have? 
+
+He sat quite motionless for a while, gazing into the 
+fireplace, then, finally coming to a decision, he dipped 
+his quill into the ink bottle once more and set it 
+resolutely upon the parchment. 
+
+Dear Snuffles, 
+
+Hope you’re okay, the first week back here’s been 
+terrible, I’m really glad it’s the weekend. 
+
+We’ve got a new Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+teacher, Professor Umbridge. She’s nearly as nice as 
+your mum. I’m writing because that thing I wrote to 
+you about last summer happened again last night 
+when I was doing a detention with Umbridge. 
+
+We’re all missing our biggest friend, we hope he’ll be 
+back soon. 
+
+
+
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+Please write back quickly. 
+
+Best, 
+
+Harry 
+
+Harry reread this letter several times, trying to see it 
+from the point of view of an outsider. He could not see 
+how they would know what he was talking about — or 
+who he was talking to — just from reading this letter. 
+He did hope Sirius would pick up the hint about 
+Hagrid and tell them when he might be back: Harry 
+did not want to ask directly in case it drew too much 
+attention to what Hagrid might be up to while he was 
+not at Hogwarts. 
+
+Considering it was a very short letter it had taken a 
+long time to write; sunlight had crept halfway across 
+the room while he had been working on it, and he 
+could now hear distant sounds of movement from the 
+dormitories above. Sealing the parchment carefully he 
+climbed through the portrait hole and headed off for 
+the Owlery. 
+
+“I would not go that way if I were you,” said Nearly 
+Headless Nick, drifting disconcertingly through a wall 
+just ahead of him as he walked down the passage. 
+“Peeves is planning an amusing joke on the next 
+person to pass the bust of Paracelsus halfway down 
+the corridor.” 
+
+“Does it involve Paracelsus falling on top of the 
+person’s head?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Funnily enough, it does,” said Nearly Headless Nick 
+in a bored voice. “Subtlety has never been Peeves ’s 
+strong point. I’m off to try and find the Bloody 
+Baron... He might be able to put a stop to it... See 
+you, Harry...” 
+
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+“Yeah, ’bye,” said Harry and instead of turning right, 
+he turned left, taking a longer but safer route up to 
+the Owlery. His spirits rose as he walked past window 
+after window showing brilliantly blue sky; he had 
+training later, he would be back on the Quidditch 
+pitch at last — 
+
+Something brushed his ankles. He looked down and 
+saw the caretaker’s skeletal gray cat, Mrs. Norris, 
+slinking past him. She turned lamplike yellow eyes 
+upon him for a moment before disappearing behind a 
+statue of Wilfred the Wistful. 
+
+“I’m not doing anything wrong,” Harry called after 
+her. She had the unmistakable air of a cat that was 
+off to report to her boss, yet Harry could not see why; 
+he was perfectly entitled to walk up to the Owlery on 
+a Saturday morning. 
+
+The sun was high in the sky now and when Harry 
+entered the Owlery the glassless windows dazzled his 
+eyes; thick silvery beams of sunlight crisscrossed the 
+circular room in which hundreds of owls nestled on 
+rafters, a little restless in the early morning light, 
+some clearly just returned from hunting. The straw- 
+covered floor crunched a little as he stepped across 
+tiny animal bones, craning his neck for a sight of 
+Hedwig. 
+
+“There you are,” he said, spotting her somewhere near 
+the very top of the vaulted ceiling. “Get down here, 
+
+I’ve got a letter for you.” 
+
+With a low hoot she stretched her great white wings 
+and soared down onto his shoulder. 
+
+“Right, I know this says ‘Snuffles’ on the outside,” he 
+told her, giving her the letter to clasp in her beak and, 
+
+
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+without knowing exactly why, whispering, “but it’s for 
+Sirius, okay?” 
+
+She blinked her amber eyes once and he took that to 
+mean that she understood. 
+
+“Safe flight, then,” said Harry and he carried her to 
+one of the windows; with a moment’s pressure on his 
+arm Hedwig took off into the blindingly bright sky. He 
+watched her until she became a tiny black speck and 
+vanished, then switched his gaze to Hagrid’s hut, 
+clearly visible from this window, and just as clearly 
+uninhabited, the chimney smokeless, the curtains 
+drawn. 
+
+The treetops of the Forbidden Forest swayed in a light 
+breeze. Harry watched them, savoring the fresh air on 
+his face, thinking about Quidditch later ... and then 
+he saw it. A great, reptilian winged horse, just like the 
+ones pulling the Hogwarts carriages, with leathery 
+black wings spread wide like a pterodactyl’s, rose up 
+out of the trees like a grotesque, giant bird. It soared 
+in a great circle and then plunged once more into the 
+trees. The whole thing had happened so quickly Harry 
+could hardly believe what he had seen, except that 
+his heart was hammering madly. 
+
+The Owlery door opened behind him. He leapt in 
+shock, and turning quickly, saw Cho Chang holding a 
+letter and a parcel in her hands. 
+
+“Hi,” said Harry automatically. 
+
+“Oh ... hi,” she said breathlessly. “I didn’t think 
+anyone would be up here this early. . . I only 
+remembered five minutes ago, it’s my mum’s 
+birthday.” 
+
+
+
+She held up the parcel. 
+
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+
+“Right,” said Harry. His brain seemed to have 
+jammed. He wanted to say something funny and 
+interesting, but the memory of that terrible winged 
+horse was fresh in his mind. 
+
+“Nice day,” he said, gesturing to the windows. His 
+insides seemed to shrivel with embarrassment. The 
+weather. He was talking about the weather... 
+
+“Yeah,” said Cho, looking around for a suitable owl. 
+“Good Quidditch conditions. I haven’t been out all 
+week, have you?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+Cho had selected one of the school barn owls. She 
+coaxed it down onto her arm where it held out an 
+obliging leg so that she could attach the parcel. 
+
+“Hey, has Gryffindor got a new Keeper yet?” she 
+asked. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “It’s my friend Ron Weasley, d’you 
+know him?” 
+
+“The Tornado-hater?” said Cho rather coolly. “Is he 
+any good?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “I think so. I didn’t see his tryout, 
+though, I was in detention.” 
+
+Cho looked up, the parcel only half-attached to the 
+owl’s legs. 
+
+“That Umbridge woman’s foul,” she said in a low 
+voice. “Putting you in detention just because you told 
+the truth about how — how — how he died. Everyone 
+heard about it, it was all over the school. You were 
+really brave standing up to her like that.” 
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+Harry’s insides reinflated so rapidly he felt as though 
+he might actually float a few inches off the dropping- 
+strewn floor. Who cared about a stupid flying horse, 
+Cho thought he had been really brave... For a 
+moment he considered accidentally-on-purpose 
+showing her his cut hand as he helped her tie her 
+parcel onto her owl... But the very instant that this 
+thrilling thought occurred, the Owlery door opened 
+again. 
+
+Filch, the caretaker, came wheezing into the room. 
+There were purple patches on his sunken, veined 
+cheeks, his jowls were aquiver and his thin gray hair 
+disheveled; he had obviously run here. Mrs. Norris 
+came trotting at his heels, gazing up at the owls 
+overhead and mewing hungrily. There was a restless 
+shifting of wings from above, and a large brown owl 
+snapped his beak in a menacing fashion. 
+
+“Aha!” said Filch, taking a flat-footed step toward 
+Harry, his pouchy cheeks trembling with anger. “I’ve 
+had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive 
+order for Dungbombs!” 
+
+Harry folded his arms and stared at the caretaker. 
+
+“Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?” 
+
+Cho was looking from Harry to Filch, also frowning; 
+the barn owl on her arm, tired of standing on one leg, 
+gave an admonitory hoot but she ignored it. 
+
+“I have my sources,” said Filch in a self-satisfied hiss. 
+“Now hand over whatever it is you’re sending.” 
+
+Feeling immensely thankful that he had not dawdled 
+in posting off the letter, Harry said, “I can’t, it’s gone.” 
+
+“Gone?” said Filch, his face contorting with rage. 
+
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+
+“Gone,” said Harry calmly. 
+
+
+
+Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed for a few 
+seconds, then raked Harry’s robes with his eyes. “How 
+do I know you haven’t got it in your pocket?” 
+
+“Because — ” 
+
+“I saw him send it,” said Cho angrily. 
+
+Filch rounded on her. 
+
+“You saw him — ?” 
+
+“That’s right, I saw him,” she said fiercely. 
+
+There was a moment’s pause in which Filch glared at 
+Cho and Cho glared right back, then the caretaker 
+turned and shuffled back toward the door. He 
+stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back 
+at Harry. 
+
+“If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb ...” 
+
+He stumped off down the stairs. Mrs. Norris cast a 
+last longing look at the owls and followed him. 
+
+Harry and Cho looked at each other. 
+
+“Thanks,” Harry said. 
+
+“No problem,” said Cho, finally fixing the parcel to the 
+barn owl’s other leg, her face slightly pink. “You 
+weren’t ordering Dungbombs, were you?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“I wonder why he thought you were, then?” she said, 
+as she carried the owl to the window. 
+
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+
+Harry shrugged; he was quite as mystified by that as 
+she was, though, oddly, it was not bothering him very 
+much at the moment. 
+
+They left the Owlery together. At the entrance of a 
+corridor that led toward the west wing of the castle, 
+Cho said, “I’m going this way. Well, I’ll ... I’ll see you 
+around, Harry.” 
+
+“Yeah ... see you.” 
+
+She smiled at him and departed. He walked on, 
+feeling quietly elated. He had managed to have an 
+entire conversation with her and not embarrassed 
+himself once... You were really brave standing up to 
+her like that... She had called him brave... She did not 
+hate him for being alive... 
+
+Of course, she had preferred Cedric, he knew that... 
+Though if he’d only asked her to the ball before Cedric 
+had, things might have turned out differently... She 
+had seemed sincerely sorry that she had to refuse 
+when Harry had asked her. . . 
+
+“Morning,” Harry said brightly to Ron and Hermione, 
+joining them at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. 
+
+“What are you looking so pleased about?” said Ron, 
+eyeing Harry in surprise. 
+
+“Erm ... Quidditch later,” said Harry happily, pulling 
+a large platter of bacon and eggs toward him. 
+
+“Oh ... yeah ...” said Ron. He put down the bit of toast 
+he was eating and took a large swig of pumpkin juice. 
+Then he said, “Listen ... you don’t fancy going out a 
+bit earlier with me, do you? Just to — er — give me 
+some practice before training? So I can, you know, get 
+my eye in a bit ...” 
+
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+
+“Yeah, okay,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+“Look, I don’t think you should,” said Hermione 
+seriously, “you’re both really behind on homework as 
+
+
+
+it — ” 
+
+
+
+But she broke off; the morning post was arriving and, 
+as usual, the Daily Prophet was soaring toward her in 
+the beak of a screech owl, which landed perilously 
+close to the sugar bowl and held out a leg; Hermione 
+pushed a Knut into its leather pouch, took the 
+newspaper, and scanned the front page critically as 
+the owl took off again. 
+
+“Anything interesting?” said Ron; Harry smiled — he 
+knew Ron was keen to get her off the subject of 
+homework. 
+
+“No,” she sighed, “just some guff about the bass 
+player in the Weird Sisters getting married...” 
+
+She opened the paper and disappeared behind it. 
+Harry devoted himself to another helping of eggs and 
+bacon; Ron was staring up at the high windows, 
+looking slightly preoccupied. 
+
+“Wait a moment,” said Hermione suddenly. “Oh no ... 
+Sirius!” 
+
+“What’s happened?” said Harry, and he snatched at 
+the paper so violently that it ripped down the middle 
+so that he and Hermione were holding half each. 
+
+“ ‘The Ministry of Magic has received a tip-off from a 
+reliable source that Sirius Black, notorious mass 
+murderer . . . blah blah blah ...is currently hiding in 
+London\ ’ ” Hermione read from her half in an 
+anguished whisper. 
+
+
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+
+
+“Lucius Malfoy, I’ll bet anything,” said Harry in a low, 
+furious voice. “He did recognize Sirius on the 
+platform...” 
+
+“What?” said Ron, looking alarmed. “You didn’t say — 
+
+
+
+“Shh!” said the other two. 
+
+"... ‘Ministry warns Wizarding community that Black is 
+very dangerous . . . killed thirteen people . . . broke out of 
+Azkaban ...’ the usual rubbish,” Hermione concluded, 
+laying down her half of the paper and looking fearfully 
+at Harry and Ron. “Well, he just won’t be able to leave 
+the house again, that’s all,” she whispered. 
+“Dumbledore did warn him not to.” 
+
+Harry looked down glumly at the bit of the Prophet he 
+had torn off. Most of the page was devoted to an 
+advertisement for Madame Malkin’s Robes for All 
+Occasions, which was apparently having a sale. 
+
+“Hey!” he said, flattening it down so Hermione and 
+Ron could both see it. “Look at this!” 
+
+“I’ve got all the robes I want,” said Ron. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “look ... this little piece here ...” 
+
+Ron and Hermione bent closer to read it; the item was 
+barely an inch long and placed right at the bottom of 
+a column. It was headlined: 
+
+TRESPASS AT MINISTRY 
+
+Sturgis Podmore, 38, of number two, Laburnum 
+Gardens, Clapham, has appeared in front of the 
+Wizengamot charged with trespass and attempted 
+robbery at the Ministry of Magic on 31st August. 
+
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+
+Podmore was arrested by Ministry of Magic watch- 
+wizard Eric Munch, who found him attempting to 
+force his way through a top-security door at one 
+o’clock in the morning. Podmore, who refused to 
+speak in his own defense, was convicted on both 
+charges and sentenced to six months in Azkaban. 
+
+“Sturgis Podmore?” said Ron slowly, “but he’s that 
+bloke who looks like his head’s been thatched, isn’t 
+he? He’s one of the Ord — ” 
+
+“Ron, shh\” said Hermione, casting a terrified look 
+around them. 
+
+“Six months in Azkaban!” whispered Harry, shocked. 
+“Just for trying to get through a door!” 
+
+“Don’t be silly, it wasn’t just for trying to get through 
+a door — what on earth was he doing at the Ministry 
+of Magic at one o’clock in the morning?” breathed 
+Hermione. 
+
+“D’you reckon he was doing something for the Order?” 
+Ron muttered. 
+
+“Wait a moment...” said Harry slowly. “Sturgis was 
+supposed to come and see us off, remember?” 
+
+The other two looked at him. 
+
+“Yeah, he was supposed to be part of our guard going 
+to King’s Cross, remember? And Moody was all 
+annoyed because he didn’t turn up, so that doesn’t 
+seem like he was supposed to be on a iob for them, 
+does it?” 
+
+“Well, maybe they didn’t expect him to get caught,” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+
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+
+
+“It could be a frame-up!” Ron exclaimed excitedly. “No 
+— listen!” he went on, dropping his voice dramatically 
+at the threatening look on Hermione’s face. “The 
+Ministry suspects he’s one of Dumbledore’s lot so — I 
+dunno — they lured him to the Ministry, and he 
+wasn’t trying to get through a door at all! Maybe 
+they’ve just made something up to get him!” 
+
+There was a pause while Harry and Hermione 
+considered this. Harry thought it seemed far-fetched; 
+Hermione, on the other hand, looked rather 
+impressed and said, “Do you know, I wouldn’t be at 
+all surprised if that were true.” 
+
+She folded up her half of the newspaper thoughtfully. 
+When Harry laid down his knife and fork she seemed 
+to come out of a reverie. 
+
+“Right, well, I think we should tackle that essay for 
+Sprout on Self-Fertilizing Shrubs first, and if we’re 
+lucky we’ll be able to start McGonagall’s Inanimatus 
+Conjurus before lunch...” 
+
+Harry felt a small twinge of guilt at the thought of the 
+pile of homework awaiting him upstairs, but the sky 
+was a clear, exhilarating blue, and he had not been 
+on his Firebolt for a week... 
+
+“I mean, we can do it tonight,” said Ron, as he and 
+Harry walked down the sloping lawns toward the 
+Quidditch pitch, their broomsticks over their 
+shoulders, Hermione’s dire warnings that they would 
+fail all their O.W.L.s still ringing in their ears. “And 
+we’ve got tomorrow. She gets too worked up about 
+work, that’s her trouble...” There was a pause and he 
+added, in a slightly more anxious tone, “D’you think 
+she meant it when she said we weren’t copying from 
+her?” 
+
+
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+
+“Yeah, I do,” said Harry. “Still, this is important too, 
+we’ve got to practice if we want to stay on the 
+Quidditch team...” 
+
+“Yeah, that’s right,” said Ron in a heartened tone. 
+
+“And we have got plenty of time to do it all...” 
+
+Harry glanced over to his right as they approached 
+the Quidditch pitch, to where the trees of the 
+Forbidden Forest were swaying darkly. Nothing flew 
+out of them; the sky was empty but for a few distant 
+owls fluttering around the Owlery Tower. He had 
+enough to worry about; the flying horse wasn’t doing 
+him any harm: He pushed it out of his mind. 
+
+They collected balls from the cupboard in the 
+changing room and set to work, Ron guarding the 
+three tall goalposts, Harry playing Chaser and trying 
+to get the Quaffle past Ron. Harry thought Ron was 
+pretty good; he blocked three-quarters of the goals 
+Harry attempted to put past him and played better 
+the longer they practiced. After a couple of hours they 
+returned to the school, where they ate lunch, during 
+which Hermione made it quite clear that she thought 
+they were irresponsible, then returned to the 
+Quidditch pitch for the real training session. All their 
+teammates but Angelina were already in the changing 
+room when they entered. 
+
+“All right, Ron?” said George, winking at him. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, who had become quieter and 
+quieter all the way down to the pitch. 
+
+“Ready to show us all up, Ickle Prefect?” said Fred, 
+emerging tousle-haired from the neck of his Quidditch 
+robes, a slightly malicious grin on his face. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Shut up,” said Ron, stony-faced, pulling on his own 
+team robes for the first time. They fitted him well 
+considering they had been Oliver Wood’s, who was 
+rather broader in the shoulder. 
+
+“Okay everyone,” said Angelina, entering from the 
+Captain’s office, already changed. “Let’s get to it; 
+
+Alicia and Fred, if you can just bring the ball crate 
+out for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out 
+there watching but I want you to just ignore them, all 
+right?” 
+
+Something in her would-be casual voice made Harry 
+think he might know who the uninvited spectators 
+were, and sure enough, when they left the changing 
+room for the bright sunlight of the pitch it was to a 
+storm of catcalls and jeers from the Slytherin 
+Quidditch team and assorted hangers-on, who were 
+grouped halfway up the empty stands and whose 
+voices echoed loudly around the stadium. 
+
+“What’s that Weasley’s riding?” Malfoy called in his 
+sneering drawl. “Why would anyone put a Flying 
+Charm on a moldy old log like that?” 
+
+Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson guffawed and 
+shrieked with laughter. Ron mounted his broom and 
+kicked off from the ground and Harry followed him, 
+watching his ears turn red from behind. 
+
+“Ignore them,” he said, accelerating to catch up with 
+Ron. “We’ll see who’s laughing after we play them...” 
+
+“Exactly the attitude I want, Harry,” said Angelina 
+approvingly, soaring around them with the Quaffle 
+under her arm and slowing to hover on the spot in 
+front of her airborne team. “Okay everyone, we’re 
+going to start with some passes just to warm up, the 
+whole team please — ” 
+
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+
+
+“Hey, Johnson, what’s with that hairstyle anyway?” 
+shrieked Pansy Parkinson from below. “Why would 
+anyone want to look like they’ve got worms coming 
+out of their head?” 
+
+Angelina swept her long braided hair out of her face 
+and said calmly, “Spread out, then, and let’s see what 
+we can do...” 
+
+Harry reversed away from the others to the far side of 
+the pitch. Ron fell back toward the opposite goal. 
+Angelina raised the Quaffle with one hand and threw 
+it hard to Fred, who passed to George, who passed to 
+Harry, who passed to Ron, who dropped it. 
+
+The Slytherins, led by Malfoy, roared and screamed 
+with laughter. Ron, who had pelted toward the 
+ground to catch the Quaffle before it landed, pulled 
+out of the dive untidily, so that he slipped sideways 
+on his broom, and returned to playing height, 
+blushing. Harry saw Fred and George exchange looks, 
+but uncharacteristically neither of them said 
+anything, for which he was grateful. 
+
+“Pass it on, Ron,” called Angelina, as though nothing 
+had happened. 
+
+Ron threw the Quaffle to Alicia, who passed back to 
+Harry, who passed to George... 
+
+“Hey, Potter, how’s your scar feeling?” called Malfoy. 
+“Sure you don’t need a lie-down? It must be, what, a 
+whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that’s 
+a record for you, isn’t it?” 
+
+Fred passed to Angelina; she reverse passed to Harry, 
+who had not been expecting it, but caught it in the 
+very tips of his fingers and passed it quickly to Ron, 
+who lunged for it and missed by inches. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Come on now, Ron,” said Angelina crossly, as Ron 
+dived for the ground again, chasing the Quaffle. “Pay 
+attention.” 
+
+It would have been hard to say whether Ron’s face or 
+the Quaffle was a deeper scarlet when he returned 
+again to playing height. Malfoy and the rest of the 
+Slytherin team were howling with laughter. 
+
+On his third attempt, Ron caught the Quaffle; 
+perhaps out of relief he passed it on so 
+enthusiastically that it soared straight through Katie’s 
+outstretched hands and hit her hard in the face. 
+
+“Sorry!” Ron groaned, zooming forward to see whether 
+he had done any damage. 
+
+“Get back in position, she’s fine!” barked Angelina. 
+“But as you’re passing to a teammate, do try not to 
+knock her off her broom, won’t you? We’ve got 
+Bludgers for that!” 
+
+Katie’s nose was bleeding. Down below the Slytherins 
+were stamping their feet and jeering. Fred and George 
+converged on Katie. 
+
+“Here, take this,” Fred told her, handing her 
+something small and purple from out of his pocket. 
+“It’ll clear it up in no time.” 
+
+“All right,” called Angelina, “Fred, George, go and get 
+your bats and a Bludger; Ron, get up to the goalposts, 
+Harry, release the Snitch when I say so. We’re going 
+to aim for Ron’s goal, obviously.” 
+
+Harry zoomed off after the twins to fetch the Snitch. 
+
+“Ron’s making a right pig’s ear of things, isn’t he?” 
+muttered George, as the three of them landed at the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+crate containing the balls and opened it to extract one 
+of the Bludgers and the Snitch. 
+
+“He’s just nervous,” said Harry. “He was fine when I 
+was practicing with him this morning.” 
+
+“Yeah, well, I hope he hasn’t peaked too soon,” said 
+Fred gloomily. 
+
+They returned to the air. When Angelina blew her 
+whistle, Harry released the Snitch and Fred and 
+George let fly the Bludger; from that moment on, 
+
+Harry was barely aware of what the others were 
+doing. It was his job to recapture the tiny fluttering 
+golden ball that was worth a hundred and fifty points 
+to the Seeker’s team and doing so required enormous 
+speed and skill. He accelerated, rolling and swerving 
+in and out of the Chasers, the warm autumn air 
+whipping his face and the distant yells of the 
+Slytherins so much meaningless roaring in his ears... 
+But too soon, the whistle brought him to a halt again. 
+
+“Stop — stop - STOP!” screamed Angelina. “Ron — 
+you’re not covering your middle post!” 
+
+Harry looked around at Ron, who was hovering in 
+front of the left-hand hoop, leaving the other two 
+completely unprotected. 
+
+“Oh ... sorry ...” 
+
+“You keep shifting around while you’re watching the 
+Chasers!” said Angelina. “Either stay in center 
+position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or 
+else circle the hoops, but don’t drift vaguely off to one 
+side, that’s how you let in the last three goals!” 
+
+“Sorry ...” Ron repeated, his red face shining like a 
+beacon against the bright blue sky. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And Katie, can’t you do something about that 
+nosebleed?” 
+
+“It’s just getting worse!” said Katie thickly, attempting 
+to stem the flow with her sleeve. 
+
+Harry glanced around at Fred, who was looking 
+anxious and checking his pockets. He saw Fred pull 
+out something purple, examine it for a second, and 
+then look around at Katie, evidently horrorstruck. 
+
+“Well, let’s try again,” said Angelina. She was ignoring 
+the Slytherins, who had now set up a chant of 
+“ Gryffindor are losers, Gryffindor are losers,” but there 
+was a certain rigidity about her seat on the broom 
+nevertheless. 
+
+This time they had been flying for barely three 
+minutes when Angelina’s whistle sounded. Harry, 
+who had just sighted the Snitch circling the opposite 
+goalpost, pulled up feeling distinctly aggrieved. 
+
+“What now?” he said impatiently to Alicia, who was 
+nearest. 
+
+“Katie,” she said shortly. 
+
+Harry turned and saw Angelina, Fred, and George all 
+flying as fast as they could toward Katie. Harry and 
+Alicia sped toward her too. It was plain that Angelina 
+had stopped training just in time; Katie was now 
+chalk- white and covered in blood. 
+
+“She needs the hospital wing,” said Angelina. 
+
+“We’ll take her,” said Fred. “She — er — might have 
+swallowed a Blood Blisterpod by mistake — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, there’s no point continuing with no Beaters and 
+a Chaser gone,” said Angelina glumly, as Fred and 
+George zoomed off toward the castle supporting Katie 
+between them. “Come on, let’s go and get changed.” 
+
+The Slytherins continued to chant as they trailed 
+back into the changing rooms. 
+
+“How was practice?” asked Hermione rather coolly 
+half an hour later, as Harry and Ron climbed through 
+the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. 
+
+“It was — ” Harry began. 
+
+“Completely lousy,” said Ron in a hollow voice, 
+sinking into a chair beside Hermione. She looked up 
+at Ron and her frostiness seemed to melt. 
+
+“Well, it was only your first one,” she said consolingly, 
+“it’s bound to take time to — ” 
+
+“Who said it was me who made it lousy?” snapped 
+Ron. 
+
+“No one,” said Hermione, looking taken aback, “I 
+thought — ” 
+
+“You thought I was bound to be rubbish?” 
+
+“No, of course I didn’t! Look, you said it was lousy so I 
+just — ” 
+
+“I’m going to get started on some homework,” said 
+Ron angrily and stomped off to the staircase to the 
+boys’ dormitories and vanished from sight. Hermione 
+turned to Harry. 
+
+“ Was he lousy?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry loyally. 
+
+Hermione raised her eyebrows. 
+
+“Well, I suppose he could’ve played better,” Harry 
+muttered, “but it was only the first training session, 
+like you said...” 
+
+Neither Harry nor Ron seemed to make much 
+headway with their homework that night. Harry knew 
+Ron was too preoccupied with how badly he had 
+performed at Quidditch practice and he himself was 
+having difficulty in getting the chant of “Gryffindor are 
+losers” out of his head. 
+
+They spent the whole of Sunday in the common room, 
+buried in their books while the room around them 
+filled up, then emptied: It was another clear, fine day 
+and most of their fellow Gryffindors spent the day out 
+in the grounds, enjoying what might well be some of 
+the last sunshine that year. By the evening Harry felt 
+as though somebody had been beating his brain 
+against the inside of his skull. 
+
+“You know, we probably should try and get more 
+homework done during the week,” Harry muttered to 
+Ron, as they finally laid aside Professor McGonagall’s 
+long essay on the Inanimatus Conjurus spell and 
+turned miserably to Professor Sinistra ’s equally long 
+and difficult essay about Jupiter’s moons. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, rubbing slightly bloodshot eyes and 
+throwing his fifth spoiled bit of parchment into the 
+fire beside them. “Listen ... shall we just ask 
+Hermione if we can have a look at what she’s done?” 
+
+Harry glanced over at her; she was sitting with 
+Crookshanks on her lap and chatting merrily to 
+Ginny as a pair of knitting needles flashed in midair 
+
+Page | 376Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+in front of her, now knitting a pair of shapeless elf 
+socks. 
+
+
+
+“No,” he said heavily, “you know she won’t let us.” 
+
+And so they worked on while the sky outside the 
+windows became steadily darker; slowly, the crowd in 
+the common room began to thin again. At half-past 
+eleven, Hermione wandered over to them, yawning. 
+
+“Nearly done?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron shortly. 
+
+“Jupiter’s biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto,” 
+she said, pointing over Ron’s shoulder at a line in his 
+Astronomy essay, “and it’s Io that’s got the volcanos.” 
+
+“Thanks,” snarled Ron, scratching out the offending 
+sentences. 
+
+“Sorry, I only — ” 
+
+“Yeah, well, if you’ve just come over here to criticize — 
+
+
+
+“Ron — ” 
+
+“I haven’t got time to listen to a sermon, all right, 
+Hermione, I’m up to my neck in it here — ” 
+
+“No — look!” 
+
+Hermione was pointing to the nearest window. Harry 
+and Ron both looked over. A handsome screech owl 
+was standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room 
+at Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Isn’t that Hermes?” said Hermione, sounding 
+amazed. 
+
+“Blimey, it is!” said Ron quietly, throwing down his 
+quill and getting to his feet. “What’s Percy writing to 
+me for?” 
+
+He crossed to the window and opened it; Hermes flew 
+inside, landed upon Ron’s essay, and held out a leg to 
+which a letter was attached. Ron took it off and the 
+owl departed at once, leaving inky footprints across 
+Ron’s drawing of the moon Io. 
+
+“That’s definitely Percy’s handwriting,” said Ron, 
+sinking back into his chair and staring at the words 
+on the outside of the scroll: To Ronald Weasley, 
+Gryffindor House, Hogwarts. He looked up at the 
+other two. “What d’you reckon?” 
+
+“Open it!” said Hermione eagerly. Harry nodded. 
+
+Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. The farther 
+down the parchment his eyes traveled, the more 
+pronounced became his scowl. When he had finished 
+reading, he looked disgusted. He thrust the letter at 
+Harry and Hermione, who leaned toward each other 
+to read it together: 
+
+Dear Ron, 
+
+I have only just heard (from no less a person than the 
+Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your new 
+teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a 
+Hogwarts prefect 
+
+I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this 
+news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must 
+admit that I have always been afraid that you would 
+take what we might call the “Fred and George ” route, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+rather than following in my footsteps, so you can 
+imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped 
+flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some 
+real responsibility. 
+
+But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, 
+
+I want to give you some advice, which is why I am 
+sending this at night rather than by the usual morning 
+post Hopefully you will be able to read this away from 
+prying eyes and avoid awkward questions. 
+
+From something the Minister let slip when telling me 
+you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing 
+a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing 
+could put you in danger of losing your badge more than 
+continued fraternization with that boy. Yes, I am sure 
+you are surprised to hear this — no doubt you will say 
+that Potter has always been Dumbledore’s favorite — 
+but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be 
+in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who 
+count have a very different — and probably more 
+accurate — view of Potters behavior. I shall say no 
+more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet 
+tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind 
+is blowing — and see if you can spot yours truly! 
+
+Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the 
+same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to 
+your future prospects, and I am talking here about life 
+after school too. As you must be aware, given that our 
+father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary 
+hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot 
+and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got 
+off on a mere technicality if you ask me and many of 
+the people I’ve spoken to remain convinced of his guilt. 
+
+It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter 
+— I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I 
+know, violent — but if you have any worries about this, 
+
+Page | 379Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+or have spotted anything else in Potter’s behavior that 
+is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores 
+Umbridge, a really delightful woman, who I know will 
+be only too happy to advise you. 
+
+This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have 
+hinted above, Dumbledore’s regime at Hog warts may 
+soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, 
+but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to 
+hear that so far Professor Umbridge is encountering 
+very little cooperation from staff as she strives to make 
+those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the 
+Ministry so ardently desires (although she should find 
+this easier from next week — again, see the Prophet 
+tomorrow!). I shall say only this — a student who 
+shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now 
+may be very well placed for Head Boy ship in a couple 
+of years! 
+
+I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over 
+the summer. It pains me to criticize our parents, but I 
+am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while 
+they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd 
+around Dumbledore (if you are writing to Mother at any 
+point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, 
+who is a great friend of Dumbledore’s, has recently 
+been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. 
+Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty 
+criminals with whom they are currently rubbing 
+shoulders). I count myself very lucky to have escaped 
+the stigma of association with such people — the 
+Minister really could not be more gracious to me — and 
+I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to 
+blind you to the misguided nature of our parents’ 
+beliefs and actions either. I sincerely hope that, in time, 
+they will realize how mistaken they were and I shall, 
+of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that 
+day comes. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Please think over what I have said most carefully, 
+particularly the bit about Harry Potter, and 
+congratulations again on becoming prefect. 
+
+Your brother, 
+
+Percy 
+
+Harry looked up at Ron. 
+
+“Well,” he said, trying to sound as though he found 
+the whole thing a joke, “if you want to — er — what is 
+it?” (He checked Percy’s letter.) “Oh yeah — ‘sever ties’ 
+with me, I swear I won’t get violent.” 
+
+“Give it back,” said Ron, holding out his hand. “He is 
+— ” Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy’s letter in half, “the 
+world’s” — he tore it into quarters — “biggest” — he 
+tore it into eighths — “git.” He threw the pieces into 
+the fire. 
+
+“Come on, we’ve got to get this finished some time 
+before dawn,” he said briskly to Harry, pulling 
+Professor Sinistra ’s essay back toward him. 
+
+Hermione was looking at Ron with an odd expression 
+on her face. 
+
+“Oh, give them here,” she said abruptly. 
+
+“What?” said Ron. 
+
+“Give them to me, I’ll look through them and correct 
+them,” she said. 
+
+“Are you serious? Ah, Hermione, you’re a lifesaver,” 
+said Ron, “what can I — ?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What you can say is, ‘We promise well never leave 
+our homework this late again,’ ” she said, holding out 
+both hands for their essays, but she looked slightly 
+amused all the same. 
+
+“Thanks a million, Hermione,” said Harry weakly, 
+passing over his essay and sinking back into his 
+armchair, rubbing his eyes. 
+
+It was now past midnight and the common room was 
+deserted but for the three of them and Crookshanks. 
+The only sound was that of Hermione’s quill 
+scratching out sentences here and there on their 
+essays and the ruffle of pages as she checked various 
+facts in the reference books strewn across the table. 
+Harry was exhausted. He also felt an odd, sick, empty 
+feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with 
+tiredness and everything to do with the letter now 
+curling blackly in the heart of the fire. 
+
+He knew that half the people inside Hogwarts thought 
+him strange, even mad; he knew that the Daily 
+Prophet had been making snide allusions to him for 
+months, but there was something about seeing it 
+written down like that in Percy’s writing, about 
+knowing that Percy was advising Ron to drop him and 
+even to tell tales on him to Umbridge, that made his 
+situation real to him as nothing else had. He had 
+known Percy for four years, had stayed in his house 
+during the summers, shared a tent with him during 
+the Quidditch World Cup, had even been awarded full 
+marks by him in the second task of the Triwizard 
+Tournament last year, yet now, Percy thought him 
+unbalanced and possibly violent. 
+
+And with a surge of sympathy for his godfather, Harry 
+thought that Sirius was probably the only person he 
+knew who could really understand how he felt at the 
+moment, because Sirius was in the same situation; 
+
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+
+
+
+
+nearly everyone in the Wizarding world thought Sirius 
+a dangerous murderer and a great Voldemort 
+supporter and he had had to live with that knowledge 
+for fourteen years... 
+
+Harry blinked. He had just seen something in the fire 
+that could not have been there. It had flashed into 
+sight and vanished immediately. No ... it could not 
+have been... He had imagined it because he had been 
+thinking about Sirius... 
+
+“Okay, write that down,” Hermione said to Ron, 
+pushing his essay and a sheet covered in her own 
+writing back to Ron, “and then copy out this 
+conclusion that I’ve written for you.” 
+
+“Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful 
+person I’ve ever met,” said Ron weakly, “and if I’m 
+ever rude to you again — ” 
+
+“ — I’ll know you’re back to normal,” said Hermione. 
+“Harry, yours is okay except for this bit at the end, I 
+think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra, 
+Europa’s covered in ice, not mice — Harry?” 
+
+Harry had slid off his chair onto his knees and was 
+now crouching on the singed and threadbare 
+hearthrug, gazing into the flames. 
+
+“Er — Harry?” said Ron uncertainly. “Why are you 
+down there?” 
+
+“Because I’ve just seen Sirius’s head in the fire,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+He spoke quite calmly; after all, he had seen Sirius’s 
+head in this very fire the previous year and talked to 
+it too. Nevertheless, he could not be sure that he had 
+really seen it this time... It had vanished so quickly... 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sirius’s head?” Hermione repeated. “You mean like 
+when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard 
+Tournament? But he wouldn’t do that now, it would 
+be too — Siriusl” 
+
+She gasped, gazing at the fire; Ron dropped his quill. 
+There in the middle of the dancing flames sat Sirius’s 
+head, long dark hair falling around his grinning face. 
+
+“I was starting to think you’d go to bed before 
+everyone else had disappeared,” he said. “I’ve been 
+checking every hour.” 
+
+“You’ve been popping into the fire every hour?” Harry 
+said, half laughing. 
+
+“Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear 
+yet.” 
+
+“But what if you’d been seen?” said Hermione 
+anxiously. 
+
+“Well, I think a girl — first year by the look of her — 
+might’ve got a glimpse of me earlier, but don’t worry,” 
+Sirius said hastily, as Hermione clapped a hand to 
+her mouth. “I was gone the moment she looked back 
+at me and I’ll bet she just thought I was an oddly 
+shaped log or something.” 
+
+“But Sirius, this is taking an awful risk — ” Hermione 
+began. 
+
+“You sound like Molly,” said Sirius. “This was the only 
+way I could come up with of answering Harry’s letter 
+without resorting to a code — and codes are 
+breakable.” 
+
+At the mention of Harry’s letter, Hermione and Ron 
+had both turned to stare at him. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You didn’t say you’d written to Sirius!” said 
+Hermione accusingly. 
+
+
+
+“I forgot,” said Harry, which was perfectly true; his 
+meeting with Cho in the Owlery had driven everything 
+before it out of his mind. “Don’t look at me like that, 
+Hermione, there was no way anyone would have got 
+secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?” 
+
+“No, it was very good,” said Sirius, smiling. “Anyway, 
+we��d better be quick, just in case we’re disturbed — 
+your scar.” 
+
+“What about — ?” Ron began, but Hermione said 
+quickly, “We’ll tell you afterward, go on, Sirius.” 
+
+“Well, I know it can’t be fun when it hurts, but we 
+don’t think it’s anything to really worry about. It kept 
+aching all last year, didn’t it?” 
+
+“Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever 
+Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion,” said 
+Harry, ignoring, as usual, Ron and Hermione ’s 
+winces. “So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry 
+or something the night I had that detention.” 
+
+“Well, now he’s back it’s bound to hurt more often,” 
+said Sirius. 
+
+“So you don’t think it had anything to do with 
+Umbridge touching me when I was in detention with 
+her?” Harry asked. 
+
+“I doubt it,” said Sirius. “I know her by reputation and 
+I’m sure she’s no Death Eater — ” 
+
+“She’s foul enough to be one,” said Harry darkly and 
+Ron and Hermione nodded vigorously in agreement. 
+
+Page | 385Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, but the world isn’t split into good people and 
+Death Eaters,” said Sirius with a wry smile. “I know 
+she’s a nasty piece of work, though — you should 
+hear Remus talk about her.” 
+
+“Does Lupin know her?” asked Harry quickly, 
+remembering Umbridge’s comments about dangerous 
+half-breeds during her first lesson. 
+
+“No,” said Sirius, “but she drafted a bit of anti- 
+werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it 
+almost impossible for him to get a job.” 
+
+Harry remembered how much shabbier Lupin looked 
+these days and his dislike of Umbridge deepened even 
+further. 
+
+“What’s she got against werewolves?” said Hermione 
+angrily. 
+
+“Scared of them, I expect,” said Sirius, smiling at her 
+indignation. “Apparently she loathes part-humans; 
+she campaigned to have mer-people rounded up and 
+tagged last year too. Imagine wasting your time and 
+energy persecuting merpeople when there are little 
+toerags like Kreacher on the loose — ” 
+
+Ron laughed but Hermione looked upset. 
+
+“Sirius!” she said reproachfully. “Honestly, if you 
+made a bit of an effort with Kreacher I’m sure he’d 
+respond, after all, you are the only member of his 
+family he’s got left, and Professor Dumbledore said — ” 
+
+“So what are Umbridge’s lessons like?” Sirius 
+interrupted. “Is she training you all to kill half- 
+breeds?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry, ignoring Hermione’s affronted look 
+at being cut off in her defense of Kreacher. “She’s not 
+letting us use magic at all!” 
+
+“All we do is read the stupid textbook,” said Ron. 
+
+“Ah, well, that figures,” said Sirius. “Our information 
+from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn’t want 
+you trained in combat.” 
+
+“ Trained in combat?” repeated Harry incredulously. 
+“What does he think we’re doing here, forming some 
+sort of wizard army?” 
+
+“That’s exactly what he thinks you’re doing,” said 
+Sirius, “or rather, that’s exactly what he’s afraid 
+Dumbledore’s doing — forming his own private army, 
+with which he will be able to take on the Ministry of 
+Magic.” 
+
+There was a pause at this, then Ron said, “That’s the 
+stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, including all the stuff 
+that Luna Lovegood comes out with.” 
+
+“So we’re being prevented from learning Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts because Fudge is scared we’ll 
+use spells against the Ministry?” said Hermione, 
+looking furious. 
+
+“Yep,” said Sirius. “Fudge thinks Dumbledore will 
+stop at nothing to seize power. He’s getting more 
+paranoid about Dumbledore by the day. It’s a matter 
+of time before he has Dumbledore arrested on some 
+trumped-up charge.” 
+
+This reminded Harry of Percy’s letter. 
+
+
+
+Page | 387Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“D’you know if there’s going to be anything about 
+Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet tomorrow? Only 
+Ron’s brother Percy reckons there will be — ” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Sirius, “I haven’t seen anyone 
+from the Order all weekend, they’re all busy. It’s just 
+been Kreacher and me here...” 
+
+There was a definite note of bitterness in Sirius’s 
+voice. 
+
+“So you haven’t had any news about Hagrid, either?” 
+
+“Ah ...” said Sirius, “well, he was supposed to be back 
+by now, no one’s sure what’s happened to him.” Then, 
+seeing their stricken faces, he added quickly, “But 
+Dumbledore’s not worried, so don’t you three get 
+yourselves in a state; I’m sure Hagrid’s fine.” 
+
+“But if he was supposed to be back by now ...” said 
+Hermione in a small, worried voice. 
+
+“Madame Maxime was with him, we’ve been in touch 
+with her and she says they got separated on the 
+journey home — but there’s nothing to suggest he’s 
+hurt or — well, nothing to suggest he’s not perfectly 
+okay.” 
+
+Unconvinced, Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged 
+worried looks. 
+
+“Listen, don’t go asking too many questions about 
+Hagrid,” said Sirius hastily, “it’ll just draw even more 
+attention to the fact that he’s not back, and I know 
+Dumbledore doesn’t want that. Hagrid’s tough, he’ll 
+be okay.” And when they did not appear cheered by 
+this, Sirius added, “When’s your next Hogsmeade 
+weekend anyway? I was thinking, we got away with 
+
+
+
+Page | 388Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the dog disguise at the station, didn’t we? I thought I 
+could — ” 
+
+
+
+“NO!” said Harry and Hermione together, very loudly. 
+
+“Sirius, didn’t you see the Daily Prophet?” said 
+Hermione anxiously. 
+
+“Oh that,” said Sirius, grinning, “they’re always 
+guessing where I am, they haven’t really got a clue — ” 
+
+“Yeah, but we think this time they have,” said Harry. 
+“Something Malfoy said on the train made us think he 
+knew it was you, and his father was on the platform, 
+Sirius — you know, Lucius Malfoy — so don’t come 
+up here, whatever you do, if Malfoy recognizes you 
+again — ” 
+
+“All right, all right, I’ve got the point,” said Sirius. He 
+looked most displeased. “Just an idea, thought you 
+might like to get together — ” 
+
+“I would, I just don’t want you chucked back in 
+Azkaban!” said Harry. 
+
+There was a pause in which Sirius looked out of the 
+fire at Harry, a crease between his sunken eyes. 
+
+“You’re less like your father than I thought,” he said 
+finally, a definite coolness in his voice. “The risk 
+would’ve been what made it fun for James.” 
+
+“Look — ” 
+
+“Well, I’d better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming 
+down the stairs,” said Sirius, but Harry was sure he 
+was lying. “I’ll write to tell you a time I can make it 
+back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to 
+risk it?” 
+
+Page | 389Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a tiny pop, and the place where Sirius’s 
+head had been was flickering flame once more. 
+
+
+
+Page | 390Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HOGWARTS HIGH INQUISITOR 
+
+They had expected to have to comb Hermione’s Daily 
+Prophet carefully next morning to find the article 
+Percy had mentioned in his letter. However, the 
+departing delivery owl had barely cleared the top of 
+the milk jug when Hermione let out a huge gasp and 
+flattened the newspaper to reveal a large photograph 
+of Dolores Umbridge, smiling widely and blinking 
+slowly at them from beneath the headline: 
+
+MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM 
+
+DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER 
+“HIGH INQUISITOR” 
+
+“ “High Inquisitor’?” said Harry darkly, his half-eaten 
+bit of toast slipping from his fingers. “What does that 
+mean?” 
+
+Hermione read aloud: 
+
+“In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic 
+passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented 
+
+Page | 391Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
+Wizardry. 
+
+“ ‘The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings- 
+on at Hogwarts for some time,’ said Junior Assistant to 
+the Minister, Percy Weasley. ‘He is now responding to 
+concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the 
+school may be moving in a direction they do not 
+approve.’ 
+
+“This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has 
+used new laws to effect improvements at the 
+Wizarding school. As recently as August 30th 
+Educational Decree Twenty -two was passed, to ensure 
+that, in the event of the current headmaster being 
+unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the 
+Ministry should select an appropriate person. 
+
+“ ‘That’s how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed 
+to the teaching staff at Hogwarts,’ said Weasley last 
+night. ‘Dumbledore couldn’t find anyone, so the 
+Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she’s been an 
+immediate success — ’ ” 
+
+“She’s been a WHAT?” said Harry loudly. 
+
+“Wait, there’s more,” said Hermione grimly. 
+
+“ ‘ — an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the 
+teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and 
+providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback 
+about what’s really happening at Hogwarts.’ 
+
+“It is this last function that the Ministry has now 
+formalized with the passing of Educational Decree 
+Twenty-three, which creates the new position of 
+‘Hogwarts High Inquisitor.’ 
+
+
+
+Page | 392Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ‘This is an exciting new phase in the Minister’s plan 
+to get to grips with what some are calling the “falling 
+standards” at Hog warts,’ said Weasley. ‘The Inquisitor 
+will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and 
+make sure that they are coming up to scratch. 
+
+Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in 
+addition to her own teaching post, and we are 
+delighted to say that she has accepted.’ 
+
+“The Ministry’s new moves have received enthusiastic 
+support from parents of students at Hogwarts. 
+
+“ ‘I feel much easier in my mind now that I know that 
+Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective 
+evaluation,’ said Mr. Lucius Malfoy, 41, speaking from 
+his Wiltshire mansion last night. ‘Many of us with our 
+children’s best interests at heart have been concerned 
+about some of Dumbledore’s eccentric decisions in the 
+last few years and will be glad to know that the 
+Ministry is keeping an eye on the situation.’ 
+
+“Among those ‘eccentric decisions’ are undoubtedly the 
+controversial staff appointments previously described 
+in this newspaper, which have included the hiring of 
+werewolf Remus Lupin, half giant Rubeus Hagrid, and 
+delusional ex-Auror ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody. 
+
+“Rumors abound, of course, that Albus Dumbledore, 
+once Supreme Mugwump of the International 
+Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the 
+Wizengamot, is no longer up to the task of managing 
+the prestigious school of Hogwarts. 
+
+“ ‘I think the appointment of the Inquisitor is a first step 
+toward ensuring that Hogwarts has a headmaster in 
+whom we can all repose confidence,’ said a Ministry 
+insider last night. 
+
+
+
+Page | 393Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Wizengamot elders Gris elda M archbanks and Tiberius 
+Ogden have resigned in protest at the introduction of 
+the post of Inquisitor to Hogwarts. 
+
+“ ‘Hogwarts is a school, not an outpost of Cornelius 
+Fudge’s office,’ said Madam Marchbanks. ‘This is a 
+further disgusting attempt to discredit Albus 
+Dumbledore.’ (For a full account of Madam 
+Marchbanks’ alleged links to subversive goblin groups, 
+turn to page 17].” 
+
+Hermione finished reading and looked across the 
+table at the other two. 
+
+“So now we know how we ended up with Umbridge! 
+Fudge passed this ‘Educational Decree’ and forced 
+her on us! And now he’s given her the power to 
+inspect other teachers!” Hermione was breathing fast 
+and her eyes were very bright. “I can’t believe this. It’s 
+outrageous...” 
+
+“I know it is,” said Harry. He looked down at his right 
+hand, clenched upon the tabletop, and saw the faint 
+white outline of the words Umbridge had forced him 
+to cut into his skin. 
+
+But a grin was unfurling on Ron’s face. 
+
+“What?” said Harry and Hermione together, staring at 
+him. 
+
+“Oh, I can’t wait to see McGonagall inspected,” said 
+Ron happily. “Umbridge won’t know what’s hit her.” 
+
+“Well, come on,” said Hermione, jumping up, “we’d 
+better get going, if she’s inspecting Binns’s class we 
+don’t want to be late...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 394Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Professor Umbridge was not inspecting their 
+History of Magic lesson, which was just as dull as the 
+previous Monday, nor was she in Snape’s dungeon 
+when they arrived for double Potions, where Harry’s 
+moonstone essay was handed back to him with a 
+large, spiky black D scrawled in an upper corner. 
+
+“I have awarded you the grades you would have 
+received if you presented this work in your O.W.L,” 
+said Snape with a smirk, as he swept among them, 
+passing back their homework. “This should give you a 
+realistic idea of what to expect in your examination.” 
+
+Snape reached the front of the class and turned to 
+face them. 
+
+“The general standard of this homework was abysmal. 
+Most of you would have failed had this been your 
+examination. I expect to see a great deal more effort 
+for this week’s essay on the various varieties of venom 
+antidotes, or I shall have to start handing out 
+detentions to those dunces who get D’s.” 
+
+He smirked as Malfoy sniggered and said in a 
+carrying whisper, “Some people got D’s? Ha!” 
+
+Harry realized that Hermione was looking sideways to 
+see what grade he had received; he slid his 
+moonstone essay back into his bag as quickly as 
+possible, feeling that he would rather keep that 
+information private. 
+
+Determined not to give Snape an excuse to fail him 
+this lesson, Harry read and reread every line of the 
+instructions on the blackboard at least three times 
+before acting on them. His Strengthening Solution 
+was not precisely the clear turquoise shade of 
+Hermione ’s but it was at least blue rather than pink, 
+like Neville’s, and he delivered a flask of it to Snape’s 
+Page | 395Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+desk at the end of the lesson with a feeling of mingled 
+defiance and relief. 
+
+“Well, that wasn’t as bad as last week, was it?” said 
+Hermione, as they climbed the steps out of the 
+dungeon and made their way across the entrance hall 
+toward lunch. “And the homework didn’t go too badly 
+either, did it?” 
+
+When neither Ron nor Harry answered, she pressed 
+on, “I mean, all right, I didn’t expect the top grade, 
+not if he’s marking to O.W.L. standard, but a pass is 
+quite encouraging at this stage, wouldn’t you say?” 
+
+Harry made a noncommittal noise in his throat. 
+
+“Of course, a lot can happen between now and the 
+exam, we’ve got plenty of time to improve, but the 
+grades we’re getting now are a sort of baseline, aren’t 
+they? Something we can build on ...” 
+
+They sat down together at the Gryffindor table. 
+
+“Obviously, I’d have been thrilled if I’d gotten an O — ” 
+
+“Hermione,” said Ron sharply, “if you want to know 
+what grades we got, ask.” 
+
+“I don’t — I didn’t mean — well, if you want to tell me 
+
+
+
+“I got a P,” said Ron, ladling soup into his bowl. 
+“Happy?” 
+
+“Well, that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said Fred, 
+who had just arrived at the table with George and Lee 
+Jordan and was sitting down on Harry’s right. 
+“Nothing wrong with a good healthy P.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 396Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But,” said Hermione, “doesn’t P stand for ...” 
+
+“ Boor,’ yeah,” said Lee Jordan. “Still, better than D, 
+isn’t it? ‘Dreadful’?” 
+
+Harry felt his face grow warm and faked a small 
+coughing fit over his roll. When he emerged from this 
+he was sorry to find that Hermione was still in full 
+flow about O.W.L. grades. 
+
+“So top grade’s O for ‘Outstanding,’ ” she was saying, 
+“and then there’s A — ” 
+
+“No, E,” George corrected her, “E for ‘Exceeds 
+Expectations.’ And I’ve always thought Fred and I 
+should’ve got E in everything, because we exceeded 
+expectations just by turning up for the exams.” 
+
+They all laughed except Hermione, who plowed on, 
+
+“So after E, it’s A for ‘Acceptable,’ and that’s the last 
+pass grade, isn’t it?” 
+
+“Yep,” said Fred, dunking an entire roll in his soup, 
+transferring it to his mouth, and swallowing it whole. 
+
+“Then you get P for ‘Poor’ ” — Ron raised both his 
+arms in mock celebration — “and D for ‘Dreadful.’ ” 
+
+“And then T,” George reminded him. 
+
+“T?” asked Hermione, looking appalled. “Even lower 
+than a D? What on earth does that stand for?” 
+
+“ Troll,’ ” said George promptly. 
+
+Harry laughed again, though he was not sure whether 
+or not George was joking. He imagined trying to 
+conceal from Hermione that he had received T’s in all 
+
+
+
+Page | 397Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+his O.W.L.s and immediately resolved to work harder 
+from now on. 
+
+“You lot had an inspected lesson yet?” Fred asked 
+them. 
+
+“No,” said Hermione at once, “have you?” 
+
+“Just now, before lunch,” said George. “Charms.” 
+
+“What was it like?” Harry and Hermione asked 
+together. 
+
+Fred shrugged. 
+
+“Not that bad. Umbridge just lurked in the corner 
+making notes on a clipboard. You know what 
+Flitwick’s like, he treated her like a guest, didn’t seem 
+to bother him at all. She didn’t say much. Asked 
+Alicia a couple of questions about what the classes 
+are normally like, Alicia told her they were really 
+good, that was it.” 
+
+“I can’t see old Flitwick getting marked down,” said 
+George, “he usually gets everyone through their 
+exams all right.” 
+
+“Who’ve you got this afternoon?” Fred asked Harry. 
+“Trelawney — ” 
+
+“A T if ever I saw one — ” 
+
+“ — and Umbridge herself.” 
+
+“Well, be a good boy and keep your temper with 
+Umbridge today,” said George. “Angelina’ll do her nut 
+if you miss any more Quidditch practices.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 398Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Harry did not have to wait for Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts to meet Professor Umbridge. He was 
+pulling out his dream diary in a seat at the very back 
+of the shadowy Divination room when Ron elbowed 
+him in the ribs and, looking round, he saw Professor 
+Umbridge emerging through the trapdoor in the floor. 
+The class, which had been talking cheerily, fell silent 
+at once. The abrupt fall in the noise level made 
+Professor Trelawney, who had been wafting about 
+handing out Dream Oracles, look round. 
+
+“Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney,” said Professor 
+Umbridge with her wide smile. “You received my note, 
+
+I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?” 
+
+Professor Trelawney nodded curtly and, looking very 
+disgruntled, turned her back on Professor Umbridge 
+and continued to give out books. Still smiling, 
+Professor Umbridge grasped the back of the nearest 
+armchair and pulled it to the front of the class so that 
+it was a few inches behind Professor Trelawney’s seat. 
+She then sat down, took her clipboard from her 
+flowery bag, and looked up expectantly, waiting for 
+the class to begin. 
+
+Professor Trelawney pulled her shawls tight about her 
+with slightly trembling hands and surveyed the class 
+through her hugely magnifying lenses. “We shall be 
+continuing our study of prophetic dreams today,” she 
+said in a brave attempt at her usual mystic tones, 
+though her voice shook slightly. “Divide into pairs, 
+please, and interpret each other’s latest nighttime 
+visions with the aid of the Oracle.” 
+
+She made as though to sweep back to her seat, saw 
+Professor Umbridge sitting right beside it, and 
+immediately veered left toward Parvati and Lavender, 
+who were already deep in discussion about Parvati’s 
+most recent dream. 
+
+Page | 399Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry opened his copy of The Dream Oracle, watching 
+Umbridge covertly. She was making notes on her 
+clipboard now. After a few minutes she got to her feet 
+and began to pace the room in Trelawney’s wake, 
+listening to her conversations with students and 
+posing questions here and there. Harry bent his head 
+hurriedly over his book. 
+
+“Think of a dream, quick,” he told Ron, “in case the 
+old toad comes our way.” 
+
+“I did it last time,” Ron protested, “it’s your turn, you 
+tell me one.” 
+
+“Oh, I dunno ...” said Harry desperately, who could 
+not remember dreaming anything at all over the last 
+few days. “Let’s say I dreamed I was ... drowning 
+Snape in my cauldron. Yeah, that’ll do...” 
+
+Ron chortled as he opened his Dream Oracle. 
+
+“Okay, we’ve got to add your age to the date you had 
+the dream, the number of letters in the subject ... 
+would that be ‘drowning’ or ‘cauldron’ or ‘Snape’?” 
+
+“It doesn’t matter, pick any of them,” said Harry, 
+chancing a glance behind him. Professor Umbridge 
+was now standing at Professor Trelawney’s shoulder 
+making notes while the Divination teacher questioned 
+Neville about his dream diary. 
+
+“What night did you dream this again?” Ron said, 
+immersed in calculations. 
+
+“I dunno, last night, whenever you like,” Harry told 
+him, trying to listen to what Umbridge was saying to 
+Professor Trelawney. They were only a table away 
+from him and Ron now. Professor Umbridge was 
+
+
+
+Page | 400Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+making another note on her clipboard and Professor 
+Trelawney was looking extremely put out. 
+
+“Now,” said Umbridge, looking up at Trelawney, 
+“you’ve been in this post how long, exactly?” 
+
+Professor Trelawney scowled at her, arms crossed and 
+shoulders hunched as though wishing to protect 
+herself as much as possible from the indignity of the 
+inspection. After a slight pause in which she seemed 
+to decide that the question was not so offensive that 
+she could reasonably ignore it, she said in a deeply 
+resentful tone, “Nearly sixteen years.” 
+
+“Quite a period,” said Professor Umbridge, making a 
+note on her clipboard. “So it was Professor 
+Dumbledore who appointed you?” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Professor Trelawney shortly. 
+
+Professor Umbridge made another note. 
+
+“And you are a great-great-granddaughter of the 
+celebrated Seer Cassandra Trelawney?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Professor Trelawney, holding her head a 
+little higher. 
+
+Another note on the clipboard. 
+
+“But I think — correct me if I am mistaken — that 
+you are the first in your family since Cassandra to be 
+possessed of second sight?” 
+
+“These things often skip — er — three generations,” 
+said Professor Trelawney. 
+
+Professor Umbridge’s toadlike smile widened. 
+
+
+
+Page | 401Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Of course,” she said sweetly, making yet another 
+note. “Well, if you could just predict something for 
+me, then?” 
+
+She looked up inquiringly, still smiling. Professor 
+Trelawney had stiffened as though unable to believe 
+her ears. 
+
+“I don’t understand you,” said Professor Trelawney, 
+clutching convulsively at the shawl around her 
+scrawny neck. 
+
+“I’d like you to make a prediction for me,” said 
+Professor Umbridge very clearly. 
+
+Harry and Ron were not the only people watching and 
+listening sneakily from behind their books now; most 
+of the class were staring transfixed at Professor 
+Trelawney as she drew herself up to her full height, 
+her beads and bangles clinking. 
+
+“The Inner Eye does not See upon command!” she 
+said in scandalized tones. 
+
+“I see,” said Professor Umbridge softly, making yet 
+another note on her clipboard. 
+
+“I — but — but ... wait\” said Professor Trelawney 
+suddenly, in an attempt at her usual ethereal voice, 
+though the mystical effect was ruined somewhat by 
+the way it was shaking with anger. “I ... I think I do 
+see something ... something that concerns you... Why, 
+I sense something . . . something dark . . . some grave 
+peril ...” 
+
+Professor Trelawney pointed a shaking finger at 
+Professor Umbridge who continued to smile blandly at 
+her, eyebrows raised. 
+
+
+
+Page | 402Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I am afraid ... I am afraid that you are in grave 
+danger!” Professor Trelawney finished dramatically. 
+
+
+
+There was a pause. Professor Umbridge’s eyebrows 
+were still raised. 
+
+“Right,” she said softly, scribbling on her clipboard 
+once more. “Well, if that’s really the best you can do 
+
+
+
+She turned away, leaving Professor Trelawney 
+standing rooted to the spot, her chest heaving. Harry 
+caught Ron’s eye and knew that Ron was thinking 
+exactly the same as he was: They both knew that 
+Professor Trelawney was an old fraud, but on the 
+other hand, they loathed Umbridge so much that they 
+felt very much on Trelawney’s side — until she 
+swooped down on them a few seconds later, that was. 
+
+“Well?” she said, snapping her long fingers under 
+Harry’s nose, uncharacteristically brisk. “Let me see 
+the start you’ve made on your dream diary, please.” 
+
+And by the time she had interpreted Harry’s dreams 
+at the top of her voice (all of which, even the ones that 
+involved eating porridge, apparently foretold a 
+gruesome and early death), he was feeling much less 
+sympathetic toward her. All the while, Professor 
+Umbridge stood a few feet away, making notes on that 
+clipboard, and when the bell rang she descended the 
+silver ladder first so that she was waiting for them all 
+when they reached their Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts lesson ten minutes later. 
+
+She was humming and smiling to herself when they 
+entered the room. Harry and Ron told Hermione, who 
+had been in Arithmancy, exactly what had happened 
+in Divination while they all took out their copies of 
+Defensive Magical Theory, but before Hermione could 
+Page | 403Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ask any questions Professor Umbridge had called 
+them all to order and silence fell. 
+
+“Wands away,” she instructed them all smilingly, and 
+those people who had been hopeful enough to take 
+them out sadly returned them to their bags. “As we 
+finished chapter one last lesson, I would like you all 
+to turn to page nineteen today and commence chapter 
+two, ‘Common Defensive Theories and Their 
+Derivation. ’ There will be no need to talk.” 
+
+Still smiling her wide, self-satisfied smile, she sat 
+down at her desk. The class gave an audible sigh as it 
+turned, as one, to page nineteen. Harry wondered 
+dully whether there were enough chapters in the book 
+to keep them reading through all this year’s lessons 
+and was on the point of checking the contents when 
+he noticed that Hermione had her hand in the air 
+again. 
+
+Professor Umbridge had noticed too, and what was 
+more, she seemed to have worked out a strategy for 
+just such an eventuality. Instead of trying to pretend 
+she had not noticed Hermione, she got to her feet and 
+walked around the front row of desks until they were 
+face-to-face, then she bent down and whispered, so 
+that the rest of the class could not hear, “What is it 
+this time, Miss Granger?” 
+
+“I’ve already read chapter two,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well then, proceed to chapter three.” 
+
+“I’ve read that too. I’ve read the whole book.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge blinked but recovered her poise 
+almost instantly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 404Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, then, you should be able to tell me what 
+Slinkhard says about counterjinxes in chapter 
+fifteen.” 
+
+
+
+“He says that counterjinxes are improperly named,” 
+said Hermione promptly. “He says ‘counterjinx’ is just 
+a name people give their jinxes when they want to 
+make them sound more acceptable.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows, and Harry 
+knew she was impressed against her will. 
+
+“But I disagree,” Hermione continued. 
+
+Professor Umbridge’s eyebrows rose a little higher and 
+her gaze became distinctly colder. 
+
+“You disagree?” 
+
+“Yes, I do,” said Hermione, who, unlike Umbridge, 
+was not whispering, but speaking in a clear, carrying 
+voice that had by now attracted the rest of the class’s 
+attention. “Mr. Slinkhard doesn’t like jinxes, does he? 
+But I think they can be very useful when they’re used 
+defensively.” 
+
+“Oh, you do, do you?” said Professor Umbridge, 
+forgetting to whisper and straightening up. “Well, I’m 
+afraid it is Mr. Slinkhard ’s opinion, and not yours, 
+that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger.” 
+
+“But — ” Hermione began. 
+
+“That is enough,” said Professor Umbridge. She 
+walked back to the front of the class and stood before 
+them, all the jauntiness she had shown at the 
+beginning of the lesson gone. “Miss Granger, I am 
+going to take five points from Gryffindor House.” 
+
+Page | 405Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was an outbreak of muttering at this. 
+
+“What for?” said Harry angrily. 
+
+“Don’t you get involved!” Hermione whispered 
+urgently to him. 
+
+“For disrupting my class with pointless 
+interruptions,” said Professor Umbridge smoothly. “I 
+am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved 
+method that does not include inviting students to give 
+their opinions on matters about which they 
+understand very little. Your previous teachers in this 
+subject may have allowed you more license, but as 
+none of them — with the possible exception of 
+Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have 
+restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects — 
+would have passed a Ministry inspection — ” 
+
+“Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher,” said Harry 
+loudly, “there was just that minor drawback of him 
+having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his 
+head.” 
+
+This pronouncement was followed by one of the 
+loudest silences Harry had ever heard. Then — 
+
+“I think another week’s detentions would do you some 
+good, Mr. Potter,” said Umbridge sleekly. 
+
+k k k 
+
+
+
+The cut on the back of Harry’s hand had barely 
+healed and by the following morning, it was bleeding 
+again. He did not complain during the evening’s 
+detention; he was determined not to give Umbridge 
+the satisfaction; over and over again he wrote I must 
+
+
+
+Page | 406Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+not tell lies and not a sound escaped his lips, though 
+the cut deepened with every letter. 
+
+The very worst part of this second week’s worth of 
+detentions was, just as George had predicted, 
+Angelina’s reaction. She cornered him just as he 
+arrived at the Gryffindor table for breakfast on 
+Tuesday and shouted so loudly that Professor 
+McGonagall came sweeping down upon the pair of 
+them from the staff table. 
+
+“Miss Johnson, how dare you make such a racket in 
+the Great Hall! Five points from Gryffindor!” 
+
+“But Professor — he’s gone and landed himself in 
+detention again — ” 
+
+“What’s this, Potter?” said Professor McGonagall 
+sharply, rounding on Harry. “Detention? From 
+whom?” 
+
+“From Professor Umbridge,” muttered Harry, not 
+meeting Professor McGonagall’s beady, square-framed 
+eyes. 
+
+“Are you telling me,” she said, lowering her voice so 
+that the group of curious Ravenclaws behind them 
+could not hear, “that after the warning I gave you last 
+Monday you lost your temper in Professor Umbridge’s 
+class again?” 
+
+“Yes,” Harry muttered, speaking to the floor. 
+
+“Potter, you must get a grip on yourself! You are 
+heading for serious trouble! Another five points from 
+Gryffindor!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 407Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But — what? Professor, no!” Harry said, furious at 
+this injustice. “I’m already being punished by her, 
+why do you have to take points as well?” 
+
+“Because detentions do not appear to have any effect 
+on you whatsoever!” said Professor McGonagall tartly. 
+“No, not another word of complaint, Potter! And as for 
+you, Miss Johnson, you will confine your shouting 
+matches to the Quidditch pitch in future or risk 
+losing the team Captaincy!” 
+
+She strode back toward the staff table. Angelina gave 
+Harry a look of deepest disgust and stalked away, 
+upon which Harry flung himself onto the bench 
+beside Ron, fuming. 
+
+“She’s taken points off Gryffindor because I’m having 
+my hand sliced open every night! How is that fair, 
+how?” 
+
+“I know, mate,” said Ron sympathetically, tipping 
+bacon onto Harry’s plate, “she’s bang out of order.” 
+
+Hermione, however, merely rustled the pages of her 
+Daily Prophet and said nothing. 
+
+“You think McGonagall was right, do you?” said Harry 
+angrily to the picture of Cornelius Fudge obscuring 
+Hermione ’s face. 
+
+“I wish she hadn’t taken points from you, but I think 
+she’s right to warn you not to lose your temper with 
+Umbridge,” said Hermione’s voice, while Fudge 
+gesticulated forcefully from the front page, clearly 
+giving some kind of speech. 
+
+Harry did not speak to Hermione all through Charms, 
+but when they entered Transfiguration he forgot his 
+anger; Professor Umbridge and her clipboard were 
+
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+
+
+
+
+sitting in a corner and the sight of her drove the 
+memory of breakfast right out of his head. 
+
+“Excellent,” whispered Ron, as they sat down in their 
+usual seats. “Let’s see Umbridge get what she 
+deserves.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall marched into the room without 
+giving the slightest indication that she knew Professor 
+Umbridge was there. 
+
+“That will do,” she said and silence fell immediately. 
+“Mr. Finnigan, kindly come here and hand back the 
+homework — Miss Brown, please take this box of 
+mice — don’t be silly, girl, they won’t hurt you — and 
+hand one to each student — ” 
+
+“Hem, hem,” said Professor Umbridge, employing the 
+same silly little cough she had used to interrupt 
+Dumbledore on the first night of term. Professor 
+McGonagall ignored her. Seamus handed back 
+Harry’s essay; Harry took it without looking at him 
+and saw, to his relief, that he had managed an A. 
+
+“Right then, everyone, listen closely — Dean Thomas, 
+if you do that to the mouse again I shall put you in 
+detention — most of you have now successfully 
+vanished your snails and even those who were left 
+with a certain amount of shell have the gist of the 
+spell. Today we shall be — ” 
+
+“Hem, hem,” said Professor Umbridge. 
+
+“Yes?” said Professor McGonagall, turning round, her 
+eyebrows so close together they seemed to form one 
+long, severe line. 
+
+
+
+Page | 409Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I was just wondering, Professor, whether you 
+received my note telling you of the date and time of 
+your inspec — ” 
+
+“Obviously I received it, or I would have asked you 
+what you are doing in my classroom,” said Professor 
+McGonagall, turning her back firmly on Professor 
+Umbridge. Many of the students exchanged looks of 
+glee. “As I was saying, today we shall be practicing 
+the altogether more difficult vanishment of mice. Now, 
+the Vanishing Spell — ” 
+
+“Hem, hem.” 
+
+“I wonder,” said Professor McGonagall in cold fury, 
+turning on Professor Umbridge, “how you expect to 
+gain an idea of my usual teaching methods if you 
+continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally 
+permit people to talk when I am talking.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge looked as though she had just 
+been slapped in the face. She did not speak, but 
+straightened the parchment on her clipboard and 
+began scribbling furiously. Looking supremely 
+unconcerned, Professor McGonagall addressed the 
+class once more. 
+
+“As I was saying, the Vanishing Spell becomes more 
+difficult with the complexity of the animal to be 
+vanished. The snail, as an invertebrate, does not 
+present much of a challenge; the mouse, as a 
+mammal, offers a much greater one. This is not, 
+therefore, magic you can accomplish with your mind 
+on your dinner. So — you know the incantation, let 
+me see what you can do...” 
+
+“How she can lecture me about not losing my temper 
+with Umbridge!” Harry said to Ron under his voice, 
+
+
+
+Page | 410Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+but he was grinning; his anger with Professor 
+McGonagall had quite evaporated. 
+
+Professor Umbridge did not follow Professor 
+McGonagall around the class as she had followed 
+Professor Trelawney; perhaps she thought that 
+Professor McGonagall would not permit it. She did, 
+however, take many more notes while she sat in her 
+corner, and when Professor McGonagall finally told 
+them all to pack away, rose with a grim expression on 
+her face. 
+
+“Well, it’s a start,” said Ron, holding up a long, 
+wriggling mouse tail and dropping it back into the box 
+Lavender was passing around. 
+
+As they filed out of the classroom, Harry saw 
+Professor Umbridge approach the teacher’s desk; he 
+nudged Ron, who nudged Hermione in turn, and the 
+three of them deliberately fell back to eavesdrop. 
+
+“How long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?” 
+Professor Umbridge asked. 
+
+“Thirty-nine years this December,” said Professor 
+McGonagall brusquely, snapping her bag shut. 
+
+Professor Umbridge made a note. 
+
+“Very well,” she said, “you will receive the results of 
+your inspection in ten days’ time.” 
+
+“I can hardly wait,” said Professor McGonagall in a 
+coldly indifferent voice, and she strode off toward the 
+door. “Hurry up, you three,” she added, sweeping 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione before her. Harry could not 
+help giving her a faint smile and could have sworn he 
+received one in return. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He had thought that the next time he would see 
+Umbridge would be in his detention that evening, but 
+he was wrong. When they walked down the lawns 
+toward the forest for Care of Magical Creatures, they 
+found her and her clipboard waiting for them beside 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank. 
+
+“You do not usually take this class, is that correct?” 
+Harry heard her ask as they arrived at the trestle 
+table where the group of captive bowtruckles were 
+scrabbling around for wood lice like so many living 
+twigs. 
+
+“Quite correct,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank, hands 
+behind her back and bouncing on the balls of her 
+feet. “I am a substitute teacher standing in for 
+Professor Hagrid.” 
+
+Harry exchanged uneasy looks with Ron and 
+Hermione. Malfoy was whispering with Crabbe and 
+Goyle; he would surely love this opportunity to tell 
+tales on Hagrid to a member of the Ministry. 
+
+“Hmm,” said Professor Umbridge, dropping her voice, 
+though Harry could still hear her quite clearly, “I 
+wonder — the headmaster seems strangely reluctant 
+to give me any information on the matter — can you 
+tell me what is causing Professor Hagrid’s very 
+extended leave of absence?” 
+
+Harry saw Malfoy look up eagerly. 
+
+“ ’Fraid I can’t,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank 
+breezily. “Don’t know anything more about it than 
+you do. Got an owl from Dumbledore, would I like a 
+couple of weeks teaching work, accepted — that’s as 
+much as I know. Well ... shall I get started then?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 412Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, please do,” said Professor Umbridge, scribbling 
+upon her clipboard. 
+
+Umbridge took a different tack in this class and 
+wandered among the students, questioning them on 
+magical creatures. Most people were able to answer 
+well and Harry’s spirits lifted somewhat; at least the 
+class was not letting Hagrid down. 
+
+“Overall,” said Professor Umbridge, returning to 
+Professor Grubbly-Plank’s side after a lengthy 
+interrogation of Dean Thomas, “how do you, as a 
+temporary member of staff — an objective outsider, I 
+suppose you might say — how do you find Hogwarts? 
+Do you feel you receive enough support from the 
+school management?” 
+
+“Oh, yes, Dumbledore’s excellent,” said Professor 
+Grubbly-Plank heartily. “No, I’m very happy with the 
+way things are run, very happy indeed.” 
+
+Looking politely incredulous, Umbridge made a tiny 
+note on her clipboard and went on, “And what are you 
+planning to cover with this class this year — 
+assuming, of course, that Professor Hagrid does not 
+return?” 
+
+“Oh, I’ll take them through the creatures that most 
+often come up in O.W.L.,” said Professor Grubbly- 
+Plank. “Not much left to do — they’ve studied 
+unicorns and nifflers, I thought we’d cover porlocks 
+and kneazles, make sure they can recognize crups 
+and knarls, you know...” 
+
+“Well, you seem to know what you’re doing, at any 
+rate,” said Professor Umbridge, making a very obvious 
+tick on her clipboard. Harry did not like the emphasis 
+she put on “you” and liked it even less when she put 
+
+
+
+Page | 413Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+her next question to Goyle: “Now, I hear there have 
+been injuries in this class?” 
+
+Goyle gave a stupid grin. Malfoy hastened to answer 
+the question. 
+
+“That was me,” he said. “I was slashed by a 
+hippogriff.” 
+
+“A hippogriff?” said Professor Umbridge, now 
+scribbling frantically. 
+
+“Only because he was too stupid to listen to what 
+Hagrid told him to do,” said Harry angrily. 
+
+Both Ron and Hermione groaned. Professor Umbridge 
+turned her head slowly in Harry’s direction. 
+
+“Another night’s detention, I think,” she said softly. 
+“Well, thank you very much, Professor Grubbly-Plank, 
+I think that’s all I need here. You will be receiving the 
+results of your inspection within ten days.” 
+
+“Jolly good,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and 
+Professor Umbridge set off back across the lawn to 
+the castle. 
+
+
+
+ie ie ie 
+
+
+
+It was nearly midnight when Harry left Umbridge’s 
+office that night, his hand now bleeding so severely 
+that it was staining the scarf he had wrapped around 
+it. He expected the common room to be empty when 
+he returned, but Ron and Hermione had sat up 
+waiting for him. He was pleased to see them, 
+especially as Hermione was disposed to be 
+sympathetic rather than critical. 
+
+
+
+Page | 414Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Here,” she said anxiously, pushing a small bowl of 
+yellow liquid toward him, “soak your hand in that, it’s 
+a solution of strained and pickled murtlap tentacles, 
+it should help.” 
+
+Harry placed his bleeding, aching hand into the bowl 
+and experienced a wonderful feeling of relief. 
+Crookshanks curled around his legs, purring loudly, 
+and then leapt into his lap and settled down. 
+
+“Thanks,” he said gratefully, scratching behind 
+Crookshanks ’s ears with his left hand. 
+
+“I still reckon you should complain about this,” said 
+Ron in a low voice. 
+
+“No,” said Harry flatly. 
+
+“McGonagall would go nuts if she knew — ” 
+
+“Yeah, she probably would,” said Harry. “And how 
+long d’you reckon it’d take Umbridge to pass another 
+Decree saying anyone who complains about the High 
+Inquisitor gets sacked immediately?” 
+
+Ron opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out 
+and after a moment he closed it again in a defeated 
+sort of way. 
+
+“She’s an awful woman,” said Hermione in a small 
+voice. “Awful. You know, I was just saying to Ron 
+when you came in ... we’ve got to do something about 
+her.” " 
+
+“I suggested poison,” said Ron grimly. 
+
+“No ... I mean, something about what a dreadful 
+teacher she is, and how we’re not going to learn any 
+defense from her at all,” said Hermione. 
+
+Page | 415Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, what can we do about that?” said Ron, 
+yawning. “ ’S too late, isn’t it? She got the job, she’s 
+here to stay, Fudge’ll make sure of that.” 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione tentatively. “You know, I was 
+thinking today...” She shot a slightly nervous look at 
+Harry and then plunged on, “I was thinking that — 
+maybe the time’s come when we should just — just 
+do it ourselves.” 
+
+“Do what ourselves?” said Harry suspiciously, still 
+floating his hand in the essence of murtlap tentacles. 
+
+“Well — learn Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+ourselves,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Come off it,” groaned Ron. “You want us to do extra 
+work? D’you realize Harry and I are behind on 
+homework again and it’s only the second week?” 
+
+“But this is much more important than homework!” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+Harry and Ron goggled at her. 
+
+“I didn’t think there was anything in the universe 
+more important than homework,” said Ron. 
+
+“Don’t be silly, of course there is!” said Hermione, and 
+Harry saw, with an ominous feeling, that her face was 
+suddenly alight with the kind of fervor that S.P.E.W. 
+usually inspired in her. “It’s about preparing 
+ourselves, like Harry said in Umbridge’s first lesson, 
+for what’s waiting out there. It’s about making sure 
+we really can defend ourselves. If we don’t learn 
+anything for a whole year — ” 
+
+“We can’t do much by ourselves,” said Ron in a 
+defeated voice. “I mean, all right, we can go and look 
+
+Page | 416Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+jinxes up in the library and try and practice them, I 
+suppose — ” 
+
+“No, I agree, we’ve gone past the stage where we can 
+just learn things out of books,” said Hermione. “We 
+need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how 
+to use the spells and correct us if we’re going wrong.” 
+
+“If you’re talking about Lupin ...” Harry began. 
+
+“No, no, I’m not talking about Lupin,” said Hermione. 
+“He’s too busy with the Order and anyway, the most 
+we could see him is during Hogsmeade weekends and 
+that’s not nearly often enough.” 
+
+“Who, then?” said Harry, frowning at her. 
+
+Hermione heaved a very deep sigh. 
+
+“Isn’t it obvious?” she said. “I’m talking about you, 
+Harry.” 
+
+There was a moment’s silence. A light night breeze 
+rattled the windowpanes behind Ron and the fire 
+guttered. 
+
+“About me what?” said Harry. 
+
+“I’m talking about you teaching us Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts.” 
+
+Harry stared at her. Then he turned to Ron, ready to 
+exchange the exasperated looks they sometimes 
+shared when Hermione elaborated on far-fetched 
+schemes like S.P.E.W. To Harry’s consternation, 
+however, Ron did not look exasperated. He was 
+frowning slightly, apparently thinking. Then he said, 
+“That’s an idea.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 417Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What’s an idea?” said Harry. 
+
+“You,” said Ron. “Teaching us to do it.” 
+
+“But ...” 
+
+Harry was grinning now, sure the pair of them were 
+pulling his leg. 
+
+“But I’m not a teacher, I can’t — ” 
+
+“Harry, you’re the best in the year at Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Me?” said Harry, now grinning more broadly than 
+ever. “No I’m not, you’ve beaten me in every test — ” 
+
+“Actually, I haven’t,” said Hermione coolly. “You beat 
+me in our third year — the only year we both sat the 
+test and had a teacher who actually knew the subject 
+But I’m not talking about test results, Harry. Look 
+what you’ve done\” 
+
+“How d’you mean?” 
+
+“You know what, I’m not sure I want someone this 
+stupid teaching me,” Ron said to Hermione, smirking 
+slightly. He turned to Harry. “Let’s think,” he said, 
+pulling a face like Goyle concentrating. “Uh . . . first 
+year — you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who.” 
+
+“But that was luck,” said Harry, “that wasn’t skill — ” 
+
+“Second year,” Ron interrupted, “you killed the 
+basilisk and destroyed Riddle.” 
+
+“Yeah, but if Fawkes hadn’t turned up I — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 418Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Third year,” said Ron, louder still, “you fought off 
+about a hundred dementors at once — ” 
+
+“You know that was a fluke, if the Time-Turner hadn’t 
+?? 
+
+
+
+“Last year,” Ron said, almost shouting now, “you 
+fought off You-Know-Who again — ” 
+
+“Listen to me!” said Harry, almost angrily, because 
+Ron and Hermione were both smirking now. “Just 
+listen to me, all right? It sounds great when you say it 
+like that, but all that stuff was luck — I didn’t know 
+what I was doing half the time, I didn’t plan any of it, 
+
+I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly 
+always had help — ” 
+
+Ron and Hermione were still smirking and Harry felt 
+his temper rise; he wasn’t even sure why he was 
+feeling so angry. 
+
+“Don’t sit there grinning like you know better than I 
+do, I was there, wasn’t I?” he said heatedly. “I know 
+what went on, all right? And I didn’t get through any 
+of that because I was brilliant at Defense Against the 
+Dark Arts, I got through it all because — because 
+help came at the right time, or because I guessed 
+right — but I just blundered through it all, I didn’t 
+have a clue what I was doing — STOP LAUGHING!” 
+
+The bowl of murtlap essence fell to the floor and 
+smashed. He became aware that he was on his feet, 
+though he couldn’t remember standing up. 
+Crookshanks streaked away under a sofa; Ron and 
+Hermione ’s smiles had vanished. 
+
+“ You don’t know what it’s likel You — neither of you 
+— you’ve never had to face him, have you? You think 
+it’s just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing 
+
+Page | 419Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+them at him, like you’re in class or something? The 
+whole time you know there’s nothing between you 
+and dying except your own — your own brain or guts 
+or whatever — like you can think straight when you 
+know you’re about a second from being murdered, or 
+tortured, or watching your friends die — they’ve never 
+taught us that in their classes, what it’s like to deal 
+with things like that — and you two sit there acting 
+like I’m a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, 
+like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up — you just 
+don’t get it, that could just as easily have been me, it 
+would have been if Voldemort hadn’t needed me — ” 
+
+“We weren’t saying anything like that, mate,” said 
+Ron, looking aghast. “We weren’t having a go at 
+Diggory, we didn’t — you’ve got the wrong end of the 
+
+
+
+He looked helplessly at Hermione, whose face was 
+stricken. 
+
+“Harry,” she said timidly, “don’t you see? This ... this 
+is exactly why we need you... We need to know what 
+it’s r-really like ... facing him ... facing V-Voldemort.” 
+
+It was the first time she had ever said Voldemort’s 
+name, and it was this, more than anything else, that 
+calmed Harry. Still breathing hard, he sank back into 
+his chair, becoming aware as he did so that his hand 
+was throbbing horribly again. He wished he had not 
+smashed the bowl of murtlap essence. 
+
+“Well ... think about it,” said Hermione quietly. 
+“Please?” 
+
+Harry could not think of anything to say. He was 
+feeling ashamed of his outburst already. He nodded, 
+hardly aware of what he was agreeing to. 
+
+
+
+Page | 420Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione stood up. 
+
+“Well, I’m off to bed,” she said in a voice that was 
+clearly as natural as she could make it. “Erm ... 
+’night.” 
+
+Ron had gotten to his feet too. 
+
+“Coming?” he said awkwardly to Harry. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “In ... in a minute. I’ll just clear 
+this up.” 
+
+He indicated the smashed bowl on the floor. Ron 
+nodded and left. 
+
+“Reparo,” Harry muttered, pointing his wand at the 
+broken pieces of china. They flew back together, good 
+as new, but there was no returning the murtlap 
+essence to the bowl. 
+
+He was suddenly so tired that he was tempted to sink 
+back into his armchair and sleep there, but instead 
+he got to his feet and followed Ron upstairs. His 
+restless night was punctuated once more by dreams 
+of long corridors and locked doors, and he awoke next 
+day with his scar prickling again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 421Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+IN THE HOG’S HEAD 
+
+Hermione made no mention of Harry giving Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts lessons for two whole weeks 
+after her original suggestion. Harry’s detentions with 
+Umbridge were finally over (he doubted whether the 
+words now etched on the back of his hand would ever 
+fade entirely); Ron had had four more Quidditch 
+practices and not been shouted at during the last 
+two; and all three of them had managed to vanish 
+their mice in Transfiguration (Hermione had actually 
+progressed to vanishing kittens), before the subject 
+was broached again, on a wild, blustery evening at 
+the end of September, when the three of them were 
+sitting in the library, looking up potion ingredients for 
+Snape. 
+
+“I was wondering,” Hermione said suddenly, “whether 
+you’d thought any more about Defense Against the 
+Dark Arts, Harry.” 
+
+“ ’Course I have,” said Harry grumpily. “Can’t forget it, 
+can we, with that hag teaching us — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 422Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“I meant the idea Ron and I had” — Ron cast her an 
+alarmed, threatening kind of look; she frowned at him 
+— “oh, all right, the idea / had, then — about you 
+teaching us.” 
+
+Harry did not answer at once. He pretended to be 
+perusing a page of Asiatic Anti-Venoms, because he 
+did not want to say what was in his mind. 
+
+The fact was that he had given the matter a great deal 
+of thought over the past fortnight. Sometimes it 
+seemed an insane idea, just as it had on the night 
+Hermione had proposed it, but at others, he had 
+found himself thinking about the spells that had 
+served him best in his various encounters with Dark 
+creatures and Death Eaters — found himself, in fact, 
+subconsciously planning lessons... 
+
+“Well,” he said slowly, when he could not pretend to 
+find Asiatic anti-venoms interesting much longer, 
+“yeah, I — I’ve thought about it a bit.” 
+
+“And?” said Hermione eagerly. 
+
+“I dunno,” said Harry, playing for time. He looked up 
+at Ron. 
+
+“I thought it was a good idea from the start,” said 
+Ron, who seemed keener to join in this conversation 
+now that he was sure that Harry was not going to 
+start shouting again. 
+
+Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair. 
+
+“You did listen to what I said about a load of it being 
+luck, didn’t you?” 
+
+“Yes, Harry,” said Hermione gently, “but all the same, 
+there’s no point pretending that you’re not good at 
+
+Page | 423Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Defense Against the Dark Arts, because you are. You 
+were the only person last year who could throw off the 
+Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a 
+Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown 
+wizards can’t, Viktor always said — ” 
+
+Ron looked around at her so fast he appeared to crick 
+his neck; rubbing it, he said, “Yeah? What did Vicky 
+say?” 
+
+“Ho ho,” said Hermione in a bored voice. “He said 
+Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn’t, and he 
+was in the final year at Durmstrang.” 
+
+Ron was looking at Hermione suspiciously. 
+
+“You’re not still in contact with him, are you?” 
+
+“So what if I am?” said Hermione coolly, though her 
+face was a little pink. “I can have a pen pal if I — ” 
+
+“He didn’t only want to be your pen pal,” said Ron 
+accusingly. 
+
+Hermione shook her head exasperatedly and, ignoring 
+Ron, who was continuing to watch her, said to Harry, 
+“Well, what do you think? Will you teach us?” 
+
+“Just you and Ron, yeah?” 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione, now looking a mite anxious 
+again. “Well ... now, don’t fly off the handle again, 
+Harry, please... But I really think you ought to teach 
+anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we’re talking 
+about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort — oh, 
+don’t be pathetic, Ron — it doesn’t seem fair if we 
+don’t offer the chance to other people.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry considered this for a moment, then said, “Yeah, 
+but I doubt anyone except you two would want to be 
+taught by me. I’m a nutter, remember?” 
+
+“Well, I think you might be surprised how many 
+people would be interested in hearing what you’ve got 
+to say,” said Hermione seriously. “Look,” she leaned 
+toward him; Ron, who was still watching her with a 
+frown on his face, leaned forward to listen too, “you 
+know the first weekend in October’s a Hogsmeade 
+weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who’s 
+interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it 
+over?” 
+
+“Why do we have to do it outside school?” said Ron. 
+
+“Because,” said Hermione, returning to the diagram of 
+the Chinese Chomping Cabbage she was copying, “I 
+don’t think Umbridge would be very happy if she 
+found out what we were up to.” 
+
+Harry had been looking forward to the weekend trip 
+into Hogsmeade, but there was one thing worrying 
+him. Sirius had maintained a stony silence since he 
+had appeared in the fire at the beginning of 
+September; Harry knew they had made him angry by 
+saying that they did not want him to come — but he 
+still worried from time to time that Sirius might throw 
+caution to the winds and turn up anyway. What were 
+they going to do if the great black dog came bounding 
+up the street toward them in Hogsmeade, perhaps 
+under the nose of Draco Malfoy? 
+
+“Well, you can’t blame him for wanting to get out and 
+about,” said Ron, when Harry discussed his fears 
+with him and Hermione. “I mean, he’s been on the 
+run for over two years, hasn’t he, and I know that 
+can’t have been a laugh, but at least he was free, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+wasn’t he? And now he’s just shut up all the time 
+with that lunatic elf.” 
+
+Hermione scowled at Ron, but otherwise ignored the 
+slight on Kreacher. 
+
+“The trouble is,” she said to Harry, “until V-Voldemort 
+— oh for heaven’s sake, Ron — comes out into the 
+open, Sirius is going to have to stay hidden, isn’t he? I 
+mean, the stupid Ministry isn’t going to realize Sirius 
+is innocent until they accept that Dumbledore’s been 
+telling the truth about him all along. And once the 
+fools start catching real Death Eaters again it’ll be 
+obvious Sirius isn’t one ... I mean, he hasn’t got the 
+Mark, for one thing.” 
+
+“I don’t reckon he’d be stupid enough to turn up,” 
+said Ron bracingly. “Dumbledore’d go mad if he did 
+and Sirius listens to Dumbledore even if he doesn’t 
+like what he hears.” 
+
+When Harry continued to look worried, Hermione 
+said, “Listen, Ron and I have been sounding out 
+people who we thought might want to learn some 
+proper Defense Against the Dark Arts, and there are a 
+couple who seem interested. We’ve told them to meet 
+us in Hogsmeade.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry vaguely, his mind still on Sirius. 
+
+“Don’t worry, Harry,” Hermione said quietly. “You’ve 
+got enough on your plate without Sirius too.” 
+
+She was quite right, of course; he was barely keeping 
+up with his homework, though he was doing much 
+better now that he was no longer spending every 
+evening in detention with Umbridge. Ron was even 
+further behind with his work than Harry, because 
+while they both had Quidditch practices twice a week, 
+Page | 426Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron also had prefect duties. However, Hermione, who 
+was taking more subjects than either of them, had 
+not only finished all her homework but was also 
+finding time to knit more elf clothes. Harry had to 
+admit that she was getting better; it was now almost 
+always possible to distinguish between the hats and 
+the socks. 
+
+The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned bright 
+but windy. After breakfast they queued up in front of 
+Filch, who matched their names to the long list of 
+students who had permission from their parents or 
+guardian to visit the village. With a slight pang, Harry 
+remembered that if it hadn’t been for Sirius, he would 
+not have been going at all. 
+
+When Harry reached Filch, the caretaker gave a great 
+sniff as though trying to detect a whiff of something 
+from Harry. Then he gave a curt nod that set his jowls 
+aquiver again and Harry walked on, out onto the 
+stone steps and the cold, sunlit day. 
+
+“Er — why was Filch sniffing you?” asked Ron, as he, 
+Harry, and Hermione set off at a brisk pace down the 
+wide drive to the gates. 
+
+“I suppose he was checking for the smell of 
+Dungbombs,” said Harry with a small laugh. “I forgot 
+to tell you ...” 
+
+And he recounted the story of sending his letter to 
+Sirius and Filch bursting in seconds later, demanding 
+to see the letter. To his slight surprise, Hermione 
+found this story highly interesting, much more, 
+indeed, than he did himself. 
+
+“He said he was tipped off you were ordering 
+Dungbombs? But who had tipped him off?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I dunno,” said Harry, shrugging. “Maybe Malfoy, he’d 
+think it was a laugh.” 
+
+They walked between the tall stone pillars topped 
+with winged boars and turned left onto the road into 
+the village, the wind whipping their hair into their 
+eyes. 
+
+“Malfoy?” said Hermione, very skeptically. “Well ... yes 
+... maybe ...” 
+
+And she remained deep in thought all the way into 
+the outskirts of Hogsmeade. 
+
+“Where are we going anyway?” Harry asked. “The 
+Three Broomsticks?” 
+
+“Oh — no,” said Hermione, coming out of her reverie, 
+“no, it’s always packed and really noisy. I’ve told the 
+others to meet us in the Hog’s Head, that other pub, 
+you know the one, it’s not on the main road. I think 
+it’s a bit ... you know ... dodgy ... but students don’t 
+normally go in there, so I don’t think we’ll be 
+overheard.” 
+
+They walked down the main street past Zonko’s Joke 
+Shop, where they were unsurprised to see Fred, 
+George, and Lee Jordan, past the post office, from 
+which owls issued at regular intervals, and turned up 
+a side street at the top of which stood a small inn. A 
+battered wooden sign hung from a rusty bracket over 
+the door, with a picture upon it of a wild boar’s 
+severed head leaking blood onto the white cloth 
+around it. The sign creaked in the wind as they 
+approached. All three of them hesitated outside the 
+door. 
+
+“Well, come on,” said Hermione slightly nervously. 
+Harry led the way inside. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+It was not at all like the Three Broomsticks, whose 
+large bar gave an impression of gleaming warmth and 
+cleanliness. The Hog’s Head bar comprised one small, 
+dingy, and very dirty room that smelled strongly of 
+something that might have been goats. The bay 
+windows were so encrusted with grime that very little 
+daylight could permeate the room, which was lit 
+instead with the stubs of candles sitting on rough 
+wooden tables. The floor seemed at first glance to be 
+earthy, though as Harry stepped onto it he realized 
+that there was stone beneath what seemed to be the 
+accumulated filth of centuries. 
+
+Harry remembered Hagrid mentioning this pub in his 
+first year: “Yeh get a lot o’ funny folk in the Hog’s 
+Head,” he had said, explaining how he had won a 
+dragons egg from a hooded stranger there. At the time 
+Harry had wondered why Hagrid had not found it odd 
+that the stranger kept his face hidden throughout 
+their encounter; now he saw that keeping your face 
+hidden was something of a fashion in the Hog’s Head. 
+There was a man at the bar whose whole head was 
+wrapped in dirty gray bandages, though he was still 
+managing to gulp endless glasses of some smoking, 
+fiery substance through a slit over his mouth. Two 
+figures shrouded in hoods sat at a table in one of the 
+windows; Harry might have thought them dementors 
+if they had not been talking in strong Yorkshire 
+accents; in a shadowy corner beside the fireplace sat 
+a witch with a thick, black veil that fell to her toes. 
+They could just see the tip of her nose because it 
+caused the veil to protrude slightly. 
+
+“I don’t know about this, Hermione,” Harry muttered, 
+as they crossed to the bar. He was looking 
+particularly at the heavily veiled witch. “Has it 
+occurred to you Umbridge might be under that?” 
+
+Hermione cast an appraising eye at the veiled figure. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Umbridge is shorter than that woman,” she said 
+quietly. “And anyway, even if Umbridge does come in 
+here there’s nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, 
+because I’ve double- and triple-checked the school 
+rules. We’re not out-of-bounds; I specifically asked 
+Professor Flitwick whether students were allowed to 
+come in the Hog’s Head, and he said yes, but he 
+advised me strongly to bring our own glasses. And I’ve 
+looked up everything I can think of about study 
+groups and homework groups and they’re definitely 
+allowed. I just don’t think it’s a good idea if we parade 
+what we’re doing.” 
+
+“No,” said Harry dryly, “especially as it’s not exactly a 
+homework group you’re planning, is it?” 
+
+The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. 
+He was a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of 
+long gray hair and beard. He was tall and thin and 
+looked vaguely familiar to Harry. 
+
+“What?” he grunted. 
+
+“Three butterbeers, please,” said Hermione. 
+
+The man reached beneath the counter and pulled up 
+three very dusty, very dirty bottles, which he 
+slammed on the bar. 
+
+“Six Sickles,” he said. 
+
+“I’ll get them,” said Harry quickly, passing over the 
+silver. The barman’s eyes traveled over Harry, resting 
+for a fraction of a second on his scar. Then he turned 
+away and deposited Harry’s money in an ancient 
+wooden till whose drawer slid open automatically to 
+receive it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione retreated to the 
+farthest table from the bar and sat down, looking 
+around, while the man in the dirty gray bandages 
+Page | 430Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+rapped the counter with his knuckles and received 
+another smoking drink from the barman. 
+
+
+
+“You know what?” Ron murmured, looking over at the 
+bar with enthusiasm. “We could order anything we 
+liked in here, I bet that bloke would sell us anything, 
+he wouldn’t care. I’ve always wanted to try firewhisky 
+
+
+
+“You — are — a — prefect,” snarled Hermione. 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, the smile fading from his face. “Yeah 
+
+
+
+“So who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?” 
+Harry asked, wrenching open the rusty top of his 
+butterbeer and taking a swig. 
+
+“Just a couple of people,” Hermione repeated, 
+checking her watch and then looking anxiously 
+toward the door. “I told them to be here about now 
+and I’m sure they all know where it is — oh look, this 
+might be them now — ” 
+
+The door of the pub had opened. A thick band of 
+dusty sunlight split the room in two for a moment 
+and then vanished, blocked by the incoming rush of a 
+crowd of people. 
+
+First came Neville with Dean and Lavender, who were 
+closely followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with 
+(Harry’s stomach did a back flip) Cho and one of her 
+usually giggling girlfriends, then (on her own and 
+looking so dreamy that she might have walked in by 
+accident) Luna Lovegood; then Katie Bell, Alicia 
+Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson, Colin and Dennis 
+Creevey, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, 
+Hannah Abbott, and a Hufflepuff girl with a long plait 
+down her back whose name Harry did not know; 
+
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+
+
+
+
+three Ravenclaw boys he was pretty sure were called 
+Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot; 
+Ginny, followed by a tall skinny blond boy with an 
+upturned nose whom Harry recognized vaguely as 
+being a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and 
+bringing up the rear, Fred and George Weasley with 
+their friend Lee Jordan, all three of whom were 
+carrying large paper bags crammed with Zonko’s 
+merchandise. 
+
+“A couple of people?” said Harry hoarsely to 
+Hermione. “A couple of people ?” 
+
+“Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular,” said 
+Hermione happily. “Ron, do you want to pull up some 
+more chairs?” 
+
+The barman had frozen in the act of wiping out a 
+glass with a rag so filthy it looked as though it had 
+never been washed. Possibly he had never seen his 
+pub so full. 
+
+“Hi,” said Fred, reaching the bar first and counting 
+his companions quickly. “Could we have . . . twenty- 
+five butterbeers, please?” 
+
+The barman glared at him for a moment, then, 
+throwing down his rag irritably as though he had 
+been interrupted in something very important, he 
+started passing up dusty butterbeers from under the 
+bar. 
+
+“Cheers,” said Fred, handing them out. “Cough up, 
+everyone, I haven’t got enough gold for all of these...” 
+
+Harry watched numbly as the large chattering group 
+took their beers from Fred and rummaged in their 
+robes to find coins. He could not imagine what all 
+these people had turned up for until the horrible 
+
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+
+
+
+
+thought occurred to him that they might be expecting 
+some kind of speech, at which he rounded on 
+Hermione. 
+
+“What have you been telling people?” he said in a low 
+voice. “What are they expecting?” 
+
+“I’ve told you, they just want to hear what you’ve got 
+to say,” said Hermione soothingly; but Harry 
+continued to look at her so furiously that she added 
+quickly, “You don’t have to do anything yet, I’ll speak 
+to them first.” 
+
+“Hi, Harry,” said Neville, beaming and taking a seat 
+opposite Harry. 
+
+Harry tried to smile back, but did not speak; his 
+mouth was exceptionally dry. Cho had just smiled at 
+him and sat down on Ron’s right. Her friend, who had 
+curly reddish-blonde hair, did not smile, but gave 
+Harry a thoroughly mistrustful look that told Harry 
+plainly that, given her way, she would not be here at 
+all. 
+
+In twos and threes the new arrivals settled around 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione, some looking rather 
+excited, others curious, Luna Lovegood gazing 
+dreamily into space. When everybody had pulled up a 
+chair, the chatter died out. Every eye was upon 
+Harry. 
+
+“Er,” said Hermione, her voice slightly higher than 
+usual out of nerves. “Well — er — hi.” 
+
+The group focused its attention on her instead, 
+though eyes continued to dart back regularly to 
+Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 433Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well ... erm ... well, you know why you’re here. Erm 
+... well, Harry here had the idea — I mean” — Harry 
+had thrown her a sharp look — “I had the idea — that 
+it might be good if people who wanted to study 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts — and I mean, really 
+study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is 
+doing with us” — (Hermione’s voice became suddenly 
+much stronger and more confident) — “because 
+nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts” 
+— “Hear, hear,” said Anthony Goldstein, and 
+Hermione looked heartened — “well, I thought it 
+would be good if we, well, took matters into our own 
+hands.” 
+
+She paused, looked sideways at Harry, and went on, 
+“And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves 
+properly, not just theory but the real spells — ” 
+
+“You want to pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+O.W.L. too though, I bet?” said Michael Corner. 
+
+“Of course I do,” said Hermione at once. “But I want 
+more than that, I want to be properly trained in 
+Defense because ... because ...” She took a great 
+breath and finished, “Because Lord Voldemort’s 
+back.” 
+
+The reaction was immediate and predictable. Cho’s 
+friend shrieked and slopped butterbeer down herself, 
+Terry Boot gave a kind of involuntary twitch, Padma 
+Patil shuddered, and Neville gave an odd yelp that he 
+managed to turn into a cough. All of them, however, 
+looked fixedly, even eagerly, at Harry. 
+
+“Well ... that’s the plan anyway,” said Hermione. “If 
+you want to join us, we need to decide how we’re 
+going to — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Where’s the proof You-Know- Who’s back?” said the 
+blond Hufflepuff player in a rather aggressive voice. 
+
+“Well, Dumbledore believes it — ” Hermione began. 
+
+“You mean, Dumbledore believes him,” said the blond 
+boy, nodding at Harry. 
+
+“Who are you?” said Ron rather rudely. 
+
+“Zacharias Smith,” said the boy, “and I think we’ve 
+got the right to know exactly what makes him say 
+You-Know-Who’s back.” 
+
+“Look,” said Hermione, intervening swiftly, “that’s 
+really not what this meeting was supposed to be 
+about — ” 
+
+“It’s okay, Hermione,” said Harry. 
+
+It had just dawned upon him why there were so many 
+people there. He felt that Hermione should have seen 
+this coming. Some of these people — maybe even 
+most of them — had turned up in the hope of hearing 
+Harry’s story firsthand. 
+
+“What makes me say You-Know-Who’s back?” he 
+asked, looking Zacharias straight in the face. “I saw 
+him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what 
+happened last year, and if you didn’t believe him, you 
+don’t believe me, and I’m not wasting an afternoon 
+trying to convince anyone.” 
+
+The whole group seemed to have held its breath while 
+Harry spoke. Harry had the impression that even the 
+barman was listening in. He was wiping the same 
+glass with the filthy rag; it was becoming steadily 
+dirtier. 
+
+
+
+Page | 435Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Zacharias said dismissively, “All Dumbledore told us 
+last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You- 
+Know-Who and that you brought Diggory’s body back 
+to Hogwarts. He didn’t give us details, he didn’t tell us 
+exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we’d all 
+like to know — ” 
+
+“If you’ve come to hear exactly what it looks like when 
+Voldemort murders someone I can’t help you,” Harry 
+said. His temper, always so close to the surface these 
+days, was rising again. He did not take his eyes from 
+Zacharias Smith’s aggressive face, determined not to 
+look at Cho. “I don’t want to talk about Cedric 
+Diggory, all right? So if that’s what you’re here for, 
+you might as well clear out.” 
+
+He cast an angry look in Hermione’s direction. This 
+was, he felt, all her fault; she had decided to display 
+him like some sort of freak and of course they had all 
+turned up to see just how wild his story was... But 
+none of them left their seats, not even Zacharias 
+Smith, though he continued to gaze intently at Harry. 
+
+“So,” said Hermione, her voice very high-pitched 
+again. “So ... like I was saying ... if you want to learn 
+some defense, then we need to work out how we’re 
+going to do it, how often we’re going to meet, and 
+where we’re going to — ” 
+
+“Is it true,” interrupted the girl with the long plait 
+down her back, looking at Harry, “that you can 
+produce a Patronus?” 
+
+There was a murmur of interest around the group at 
+this. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry slightly defensively. 
+
+“A corporeal Patronus?” 
+
+Page | 436Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The phrase stirred something in Harry’s memory. 
+
+
+
+“Er — you don’t know Madam Bones, do you?” he 
+asked. 
+
+The girl smiled. 
+
+“She’s my auntie,” she said. “I’m Susan Bones. She 
+told me about your hearing. So — is it really true? 
+
+You make a stag Patronus?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+“Blimey, Harry!” said Lee, looking deeply impressed. “I 
+never knew that!” 
+
+“Mum told Ron not to spread it around,” said Fred, 
+grinning at Harry. “She said you got enough attention 
+as it was.” 
+
+“She’s not wrong,” mumbled Harry and a couple of 
+people laughed. The veiled witch sitting alone shifted 
+very slightly in her seat. 
+
+“And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in 
+Dumbledore’s office?” demanded Terry Boot. “That’s 
+what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I 
+was in there last year...” 
+
+“Er — yeah, I did, yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled, the Creevey brothers 
+exchanged awestruck looks, and Lavender Brown said 
+“wow” softly. Harry was feeling slightly hot around the 
+collar now; he was determinedly looking anywhere 
+but at Cho. 
+
+“And in our first year,” said Neville to the group at 
+large, “he saved that Sorcerous Stone — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sorcerer’s,” hissed Hermione. 
+
+“Yes, that, from You-Know-Who,” finished Neville. 
+
+Hannah Abbott’s eyes were as round as Galleons. 
+
+“And that’s not to mention,” said Cho (Harry’s eyes 
+snapped onto her, she was looking at him, smiling; 
+his stomach did another somersault), “all the tasks he 
+had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last 
+year — getting past dragons and merpeople and 
+acromantulas and things...” 
+
+There was a murmur of impressed agreement around 
+the table. 
+
+Harry’s insides were squirming. He was trying to 
+arrange his face so that he did not look too pleased 
+with himself. The fact that Cho had just praised him 
+made it much, much harder for him to say the thing 
+he had sworn to himself he would tell them. 
+
+“Look,” he said and everyone fell silent at once, “I ... I 
+don’t want to sound like I’m trying to be modest or 
+anything, but ... I had a lot of help with all that 
+stuff...” 
+
+“Not with the dragon, you didn’t,” said Michael Corner 
+at once. “That was a seriously cool bit of flying...” 
+
+“Yeah, well — ” said Harry, feeling it would be churlish 
+to disagree. 
+
+“And nobody helped you get rid of those dementors 
+this summer,” said Susan Bones. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “no, okay, I know I did bits of it 
+without help, but the point I’m trying to make is — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of 
+this stuff?” said Zacharias Smith. 
+
+“Here’s an idea,” said Ron loudly, before Harry could 
+speak, “why don’t you shut your mouth?” 
+
+Perhaps the word “weasel” had affected Ron 
+particularly strongly; in any case, he was now looking 
+at Zacharias as though he would like nothing better 
+than to thump him. Zacharias flushed. 
+
+“Well, we’ve all turned up to learn from him, and now 
+he’s telling us he can’t really do any of it,” he said. 
+
+“That’s not what he said,” snarled Fred Weasley. 
+
+“Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?” 
+inquired George, pulling a long and lethal-looking 
+metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko’s bags. 
+
+“Or any part of your body, really, we’re not fussy 
+where we stick this,” said Fred. 
+
+“Yes, well,” said Hermione hastily, “moving on ... the 
+point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from 
+Harry?” 
+
+There was a murmur of general agreement. Zacharias 
+folded his arms and said nothing, though perhaps 
+this was because he was too busy keeping an eye on 
+the instrument in George’s hand. 
+
+“Right,” said Hermione, looking relieved that 
+something had at last been settled. “Well, then, the 
+next question is how often we do it. I really don’t 
+think there’s any point in meeting less than once a 
+week — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Hang on,” said Angelina, “we need to make sure this 
+doesn’t clash with our Quidditch practice.” 
+
+“No,” said Cho, “nor with ours.” 
+
+“Nor ours,” added Zacharias Smith. 
+
+“I’m sure we can find a night that suits everyone,” 
+said Hermione, slightly impatiently, “but you know, 
+this is rather important, we’re talking about learning 
+to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort’s Death 
+Eaters — ” 
+
+“Well said!” barked Ernie Macmillan, whom Harry had 
+been expecting to speak long before this. “Personally I 
+think this is really important, possibly more 
+important than anything else we’ll do this year, even 
+with our O.W.L.s coming up!” 
+
+He looked around impressively, as though waiting for 
+people to cry, “Surely not!” When nobody spoke, he 
+went on, “I, personally, am at a loss to see why the 
+Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher upon us 
+at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial 
+about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a 
+teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from 
+using defensive spells — ” 
+
+“We think the reason Umbridge doesn’t want us 
+trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts,” said 
+Hermione, “is that she’s got some ... some mad idea 
+that Dumbledore could use the students in the school 
+as a kind of private army. She thinks he’d mobilize us 
+against the Ministry.” 
+
+Nearly everybody looked stunned at this news; 
+everybody except Luna Lovegood, who piped up, 
+
+“Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge 
+has got his own private army.” 
+
+Page | 440Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What?” said Harry, completely thrown by this 
+unexpected piece of information. 
+
+“Yes, he’s got an army of heliopaths,” said Luna 
+solemnly. 
+
+“No, he hasn’t,” snapped Hermione. 
+
+“Yes, he has,” said Luna. 
+
+“What are heliopaths?” asked Neville, looking blank. 
+
+“They’re spirits of fire,” said Luna, her protuberant 
+eyes widening so that she looked madder than ever. 
+“Great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the 
+ground burning everything in front of — ” 
+
+“They don’t exist, Neville,” said Hermione tartly. 
+
+“Oh yes they do!” said Luna angrily. 
+
+“I’m sorry, but where’s the proof of that?” snapped 
+Hermione. 
+
+“There are plenty of eyewitness accounts, just 
+because you’re so narrow-minded you need to have 
+everything shoved under your nose before you — ” 
+
+“Hem, hem,” said Ginny in such a good imitation of 
+Professor Umbridge that several people looked around 
+in alarm and then laughed. “Weren’t we trying to 
+decide how often we’re going to meet and get Defense 
+lessons?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione at once, “yes, we were, you’re 
+right...” 
+
+“Well, once a week sounds cool,” said Lee Jordan. 
+
+
+
+Page | 441Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“As long as — ” began Angelina. 
+
+
+
+“Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch,” said 
+Hermione in a tense voice. “Well, the other thing to 
+decide is where we’re going to meet...” 
+
+This was rather more difficult; the whole group fell 
+silent. 
+
+“Library?” suggested Katie Bell after a few moments. 
+
+“I can’t see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us 
+doing jinxes in the library,” said Harry. 
+
+“Maybe an unused classroom?” said Dean. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, “McGonagall might let us have hers, 
+she did when Harry was practicing for the 
+Tri wizard...” 
+
+But Harry was pretty certain that McGonagall would 
+not be so accommodating this time. For all that 
+Hermione had said about study and homework 
+groups being allowed, he had the distinct feeling this 
+one might be considered a lot more rebellious. 
+
+“Right, well, we’ll try to find somewhere,” said 
+Hermione. “We’ll send a message round to everybody 
+when we’ve got a time and a place for the first 
+meeting.” 
+
+She rummaged in her bag and produced parchment 
+and a quill, then hesitated, rather as though she was 
+steeling herself to say something. 
+
+“I-I think everybody should write their name down, 
+just so we know who was here. But I also think,” she 
+took a deep breath, “that we all ought to agree not to 
+shout about what we’re doing. So if you sign, you’re 
+
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+
+
+
+
+agreeing not to tell Umbridge — or anybody else 
+what we’re up to.” 
+
+
+
+Fred reached out for the parchment and cheerfully 
+put down his signature, but Harry noticed at once 
+that several people looked less than happy at the 
+prospect of putting their names on the list. 
+
+“Er ...” said Zacharias slowly, not taking the 
+parchment that George was trying to pass him. “Well 
+... I’m sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is.” 
+
+But Ernie was looking rather hesitant about signing 
+too. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. 
+
+“I — well, we are prefects,” Ernie burst out. “And if 
+this list was found ... well, I mean to say ... you said 
+yourself, if Umbridge finds out ...” 
+
+“You just said this group was the most important 
+thing you’d do this year,” Harry reminded him. 
+
+“I — yes,” said Ernie, “yes, I do believe that, it’s just 
+
+
+
+“Ernie, do you really think I’d leave that list lying 
+around?” said Hermione testily. 
+
+“No. No, of course not,” said Ernie, looking slightly 
+less anxious. “I — yes, of course I’ll sign.” 
+
+Nobody raised objections after Ernie, though Harry 
+saw Cho’s friend give her a rather reproachful look 
+before adding her name. When the last person — 
+Zacharias — had signed, Hermione took the 
+parchment back and slipped it carefully into her bag. 
+There was an odd feeling in the group now. It was as 
+though they had just signed some kind of contract. 
+
+Page | 443Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, time’s ticking on,” said Fred briskly, getting to 
+his feet. “George, Lee, and I have got items of a 
+sensitive nature to purchase, we’ll be seeing you all 
+later.” 
+
+In twos and threes the rest of the group took their 
+leave too. Cho made rather a business of fastening 
+the catch on her bag before leaving, her long dark 
+curtain of hair swinging forward to hide her face, but 
+her friend stood beside her, arms folded, clicking her 
+tongue, so that Cho had little choice but to leave with 
+her. As her friend ushered her through the door, Cho 
+looked back and waved at Harry. 
+
+“Well, I think that went quite well,” said Hermione 
+happily, as she, Harry, and Ron walked out of the 
+Hog’s Head into the bright sunlight a few moments 
+later, Harry and Ron still clutching their bottles of 
+butterbeer. 
+
+“That Zacharias bloke’s a wart,” said Ron, who was 
+glowering after the figure of Smith just discernible in 
+the distance. 
+
+“I don’t like him much either,” admitted Hermione, 
+“but he overheard me talking to Ernie and Hannah at 
+the Hufflepuff table and he seemed really interested 
+in coming, so what could I say? But the more people 
+the better really — I mean, Michael Corner and his 
+friends wouldn’t have come if he hadn’t been going 
+out with Ginny — ” 
+
+Ron, who had been draining the last few drops from 
+his butterbeer bottle, gagged and sprayed butterbeer 
+down his front. 
+
+“He’s WHAT?” said Ron, outraged, his ears now 
+resembling curls of raw beef. “She’s going out with — 
+
+
+
+Page | 444Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+my sister’s going — what d’you mean, Michael 
+Corner?” 
+
+“Well, that’s why he and his friends came, I think — 
+well, they’re obviously interested in learning defense, 
+but if Ginny hadn’t told Michael what was going on — 
+
+
+
+“When did this — when did she — ?” 
+
+“They met at the Yule Ball and they got together at 
+the end of last year,” said Hermione composedly. They 
+had turned into the High Street and she paused 
+outside Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop, where there was a 
+handsome display of pheasant-feather quills in the 
+window. “Hmm ... I could do with a new quill.” 
+
+She turned into the shop. Harry and Ron followed 
+her. 
+
+“Which one was Michael Corner?” Ron demanded 
+furiously. 
+
+“The dark one,” said Hermione. 
+
+“I didn’t like him,” said Ron at once. 
+
+“Big surprise,” said Hermione under her breath. 
+
+“But,” said Ron, following Hermione along a row of 
+quills in copper pots, “I thought Ginny fancied Harry!” 
+
+Hermione looked at him rather pityingly and shook 
+her head. 
+
+“Ginny used to fancy Harry, but she gave up on him 
+months ago. Not that she doesn’t like you, of course,” 
+she added kindly to Harry while she examined a long 
+black-and-gold quill. 
+
+Page | 445Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry, whose head was still full of Cho’s parting wave, 
+did not find this subject quite as interesting as Ron, 
+who was positively quivering with indignation, but it 
+did bring something home to him that until now he 
+had not really registered. 
+
+“So that’s why she talks now?” he asked Hermione. 
+“She never used to talk in front of me.” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Hermione. “Yes, I think I’ll have this 
+one...” 
+
+She went up to the counter and handed over fifteen 
+Sickles and two Knuts, Ron still breathing down her 
+neck. 
+
+“Ron,” she said severely as she turned and trod on his 
+feet, “this is exactly why Ginny hasn’t told you she’s 
+seeing Michael, she knew you’d take it badly. So don’t 
+harp on about it, for heaven’s sake.” 
+
+“What d’you mean, who’s taking anything badly? I’m 
+not going to harp on about anything ...” 
+
+Ron continued to chunter under his breath all the 
+way down the street. Hermione rolled her eyes at 
+Harry and then said in an undertone, while Ron was 
+muttering imprecations about Michael Corner, “And 
+talking about Michael and Ginny . . . what about Cho 
+and you?” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry quickly. 
+
+It was as though boiling water was rising rapidly 
+inside him; a burning sensation that was causing his 
+face to smart in the cold — had he been that obvious? 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione, smiling slightly, “she just 
+couldn’t keep her eyes off you, could she?” 
+
+Page | 446Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry had never before appreciated just how beautiful 
+the village of Hogsmeade was. 
+
+
+
+Page | 447Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+EDUCATIONAL DECREE NUMBER 
+TWENTY-FOUR 
+
+Harry felt happier for the rest of the weekend than he 
+had done all term. He and Ron spent much of Sunday 
+catching up with all their homework again, and 
+although this could hardly be called fun, the last 
+burst of autumn sunshine persisted, so rather than 
+sitting hunched over tables in the common room, they 
+took their work outside and lounged in the shade of a 
+large beech tree on the edge of the lake. Hermione, 
+who of course was up to date with all her work, 
+brought more wool outside with her and bewitched 
+her knitting needles so that they flashed and clicked 
+in midair beside her, producing more hats and 
+scarves. 
+
+The knowledge that they were doing something to 
+resist Umbridge and the Ministry, and that he was a 
+key part of the rebellion, gave Harry a feeling of 
+immense satisfaction. He kept reliving Saturday’s 
+meeting in his mind: all those people, coming to him 
+to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts . . . and the 
+looks on their faces as they had heard some of the 
+
+
+
+Page | 448Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+things he had done . . . and Cho praising his 
+performance in the Triwizard Tournament... The 
+knowledge that all those people did not think him a 
+lying weirdo, but someone to be admired, buoyed him 
+up so much that he was still cheerful on Monday 
+morning, despite the imminent prospect of all his 
+least favorite classes. 
+
+He and Ron headed downstairs from their dormitory 
+together, discussing Angelina’s idea that they were to 
+work on a new move called the Sloth Grip Roll during 
+that night’s Quidditch practice, and not until they 
+were halfway across the sunlit common room did they 
+notice the addition to the room that had already 
+attracted the attention of a small group of people. 
+
+A large sign had been affixed to the Gryffindor notice 
+board, so large that it covered everything else on there 
+— the lists of secondhand spellbooks for sale, the 
+regular reminders of school rules from Argus Filch, 
+the Quidditch team training schedule, the offers to 
+barter certain Chocolate Frog cards for others, the 
+Weasleys’ new advertisement for testers, the dates of 
+the Hogsmeade weekends, and the lost-and-found 
+notices. The new sign was printed in large black 
+letters and there was a highly official-looking seal at 
+the bottom beside a neat and curly signature. 
+
+
+
+— BY ORDER OF — 
+
+THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS 
+
+All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, 
+and Clubs are henceforth disbanded. 
+
+
+
+Page | 449Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is 
+hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more 
+students. 
+
+Permission to re-form may be sought from the High 
+Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge). 
+
+No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or 
+Club may exist without the knowledge and approval 
+of the High Inquisitor. 
+
+Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an 
+Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has 
+not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be 
+expelled. 
+
+The above is in accordance with 
+Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. 
+
+Signed: 
+
+Dolores Jane Umbridge 
+HIGH INQUISITOR 
+
+Harry and Ron read the notice over the heads of some 
+anxious-looking second years. 
+
+“Does this mean they’re going to shut down the 
+Gobstones Club?” one of them asked his friend. 
+
+“I reckon you’ll be okay with Gobstones,” Ron said 
+darkly, making the second year jump. “I don’t think 
+we’re going to be as lucky, though, do you?” he asked 
+Harry as the second years hurried away. 
+
+
+
+Page | 450Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry was reading the notice through again. The 
+happiness that had filled him since Saturday was 
+gone. His insides were pulsing with rage. 
+
+“This isn’t a coincidence,” he said, his hands forming 
+fists. “She knows.” 
+
+“She can’t,” said Ron at once. 
+
+“There were people listening in that pub. And let’s 
+face it, we don’t know how many of the people who 
+turned up we can trust... Any of them could have run 
+off and told Umbridge...” 
+
+And he had thought they believed him, thought they 
+even admired him . . . 
+
+“Zacharias Smith!” said Ron at once, punching a fist 
+into his hand. “Or — I thought that Michael Corner 
+had a really shifty look too — ” 
+
+“I wonder if Hermione’s seen this yet?” Harry said, 
+looking around at the door to the girls’ dormitories. 
+
+“Let’s go and tell her,” said Ron. He bounded forward, 
+pulled open the door, and set off up the spiral 
+staircase. 
+
+He was on the sixth stair when it happened. There 
+was a loud, wailing, klaxonlike sound and the steps 
+melted together to make a long, smooth stone slide. 
+There was a brief moment when Ron tried to keep 
+running, arms working madly like windmills, then he 
+toppled over backward and shot down the newly 
+created slide, coming to rest on his back at Harry’s 
+feet. 
+
+
+
+Page | 451Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Er — I don’t think we’re allowed in the girls’ 
+dormitories,” said Harry, pulling Ron to his feet and 
+trying not to laugh. 
+
+Two fourth-year girls came zooming gleefully down 
+the stone slide. 
+
+“Oooh, who tried to get upstairs?” they giggled 
+happily, leaping to their feet and ogling Harry and 
+Ron. 
+
+“Me,” said Ron, who was still rather disheveled. “I 
+didn’t realize that would happen. It’s not fair!” he 
+added to Harry, as the girls headed off for the portrait 
+hole, still giggling madly. “Hermione’s allowed in our 
+dormitory, how come we’re not allowed — ?” 
+
+“Well, it’s an old-fashioned rule,” said Hermione, who 
+had just slid neatly onto a rug in front of them and 
+was now getting to her feet, “but it says in Hogwarts, 
+A History that the founders thought boys were less 
+trustworthy than girls. Anyway, why were you trying 
+to get in there?” 
+
+“To see you — look at this!” said Ron, dragging her 
+over to the notice board. 
+
+Hermione’s eyes slid rapidly down the notice. Her 
+expression became stony. 
+
+“Someone must have blabbed to her!” Ron said 
+angrily. 
+
+“They can’t have done,” said Hermione in a low voice. 
+
+“You’re so naive,” said Ron, “you think just because 
+you’re all honorable and trustworthy — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 452Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, they can’t have done because I put a jinx on that 
+piece of parchment we all signed,” said Hermione 
+grimly. “Believe me, if anyone’s run off and told 
+Umbridge, well know exactly who they are and they 
+will really regret it.” 
+
+“What’ll happen to them?” said Ron eagerly. 
+
+“Well, put it this way,” said Hermione, “it’ll make 
+Eloise Midgen’s acne look like a couple of cute 
+freckles. Come on, let’s get down to breakfast and see 
+what the others think. . . I wonder whether this has 
+been put up in all the Houses?” 
+
+It was immediately apparent on entering the Great 
+Hall that Umbridge’s sign had not only appeared in 
+Gryffindor Tower. There was a peculiar intensity 
+about the chatter and an extra measure of movement 
+in the Hall as people scurried up and down their 
+tables conferring on what they had read. Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione had barely taken their seats when 
+Neville, Dean, Fred, George, and Ginny descended 
+upon them. 
+
+“Did you see it?” 
+
+“D’you reckon she knows?” 
+
+“What are we going to do?” 
+
+They were all looking at Harry. He glanced around to 
+make sure there were no teachers near them. 
+
+“We’re going to do it anyway, of course,” he said 
+quietly. 
+
+“Knew you’d say that,” said George, beaming and 
+thumping Harry on the arm. 
+
+
+
+Page | 453Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The prefects as well?” said Fred, looking quizzically 
+at Ron and Hermione. 
+
+���Of course,” said Hermione coolly. 
+
+“Here comes Ernie and Hannah Abbott,” said Ron, 
+looking over his shoulder. “And those Ravenclaw 
+blokes and Smith ... and no one looks very spotty.” 
+
+Hermione looked alarmed. 
+
+“Never mind spots, the idiots can’t come over here 
+now, it’ll look really suspicious — sit down!” she 
+mouthed to Ernie and Hannah, gesturing frantically 
+to them to rejoin the Hufflepuff table. “Later! We’ll — 
+talk — to — you — lateri” 
+
+“I’ll tell Michael,” said Ginny impatiently, swinging 
+herself off her bench. “The fool, honestly ...” 
+
+She hurried off toward the Ravenclaw table; Harry 
+watched her go. Cho was sitting not far away, talking 
+to the curly-haired friend she had brought along to 
+the Hog’s Head. Would Umbridge’s notice scare her off 
+meeting them again? 
+
+But the full repercussions of the sign were not felt 
+until they were leaving the Great Hall for History of 
+Magic. 
+
+“Harry! Ron\” 
+
+It was Angelina and she was hurrying toward them 
+looking perfectly desperate. 
+
+“It’s okay,” said Harry quietly, when she was near 
+enough to hear him. “We’re still going to — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 454Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You realize she’s including Quidditch in this?” 
+Angelina said over him. “We have to go and ask 
+permission to re-form the Gryffindor team!” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. 
+
+“No way,” said Ron, appalled. 
+
+“You read the sign, it mentions teams too! So listen, 
+Harry ... I am saying this for the last time... Please, 
+please don’t lose your temper with Umbridge again or 
+she might not let us play anymore!” 
+
+“Okay, okay,” said Harry, for Angelina looked as 
+though she was on the verge of tears. “Don’t worry, I’ll 
+behave myself...” 
+
+“Bet Umbridge is in History of Magic,” said Ron 
+grimly, as they set off for Binns’s lesson. “She hasn’t 
+inspected Binns yet... Bet you anything she’s there...” 
+
+But he was wrong; the only teacher present when 
+they entered was Professor Binns, floating an inch or 
+so above his chair as usual and preparing to continue 
+his monotonous drone on giant wars. Harry did not 
+even attempt to follow what he was saying today; he 
+doodled idly on his parchment ignoring Hermione’s 
+frequent glares and nudges, until a particularly 
+painful poke in the ribs made him look up angrily. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+She pointed at the window. Harry looked around. 
+Hedwig was perched on the narrow window ledge, 
+gazing through the thick glass at him, a letter tied to 
+her leg. Harry could not understand it; they had just 
+had breakfast, why on earth hadn’t she delivered the 
+letter then, as usual? Many of his classmates were 
+pointing out Hedwig to each other too. 
+
+Page | 455Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, I’ve always loved that owl, she’s so beautiful,” 
+Harry heard Lavender sigh to Parvati. 
+
+
+
+He glanced around at Professor Binns who continued 
+to read his notes, serenely unaware that the class’s 
+attention was even less focused upon him than usual. 
+Harry slipped quietly off his chair, crouched down, 
+and hurried along the row to the window, where he 
+slid the catch and opened it very slowly. 
+
+He had expected Hedwig to hold out her leg so that he 
+could remove the letter and then fly off to the Owlery, 
+but the moment the window was open wide enough 
+she hopped inside, hooting dolefully. He closed the 
+window with an anxious glance at Professor Binns, 
+crouched low again, and sped back to his seat with 
+Hedwig on his shoulder. He regained his seat, 
+transferred Hedwig to his lap, and made to remove 
+the letter tied to her leg. 
+
+It was only then that he realized that Hedwig’s 
+feathers were oddly ruffled; some were bent the wrong 
+way, and she was holding one of her wings at an odd 
+angle. 
+
+“She’s hurt!” Harry whispered, bending his head low 
+over her. Hermione and Ron leaned in closer; 
+Hermione even put down her quill. “Look — there’s 
+something wrong with her wing — ” 
+
+Hedwig was quivering; when Harry made to touch the 
+wing she gave a little jump, all her feathers on end as 
+though she was inflating herself, and gazed at him 
+reproachfully. 
+
+“Professor Binns,” said Harry loudly, and everyone in 
+the class turned to look at him. “I’m not feeling well.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor Binns raised his eyes from his notes, 
+looking amazed, as always, to find the room in front 
+of him full of people. 
+
+“Not feeling well?” he repeated hazily. 
+
+“Not at all well,” said Harry firmly, getting to his feet 
+while concealing Hedwig behind his back. “So I think 
+I’ll need to go to the hospital wing.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Professor Binns, clearly very much wrong- 
+footed. “Yes ... yes, hospital wing ... well, off you go, 
+then, Perkins ...” 
+
+Once outside the room Harry returned Hedwig to his 
+shoulder and hurried off up the corridor, pausing to 
+think only when he was out of sight of Binns’s door. 
+His first choice of somebody to cure Hedwig would 
+have been Hagrid, of course, but as he had no idea 
+where Hagrid was, his only remaining option was to 
+find Professor Grubbly-Plank and hope she would 
+help. 
+
+He peered out of a window at the blustery, overcast 
+grounds. There was no sign of her anywhere near 
+Hagrid’s cabin; if she was not teaching, she was 
+probably in the staffroom. He set off downstairs, 
+Hedwig hooting feebly as she swayed on his shoulder. 
+
+Two stone gargoyles flanked the staffroom door. As 
+Harry approached, one of them croaked, “You should 
+be in class, sunny Jim.” 
+
+“This is urgent,” said Harry curtly. 
+
+“Ooooh, urgent, is it?” said the other gargoyle in a 
+high-pitched voice. “Well, that’s put us in our place, 
+hasn’t it?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 457Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry knocked; he heard footsteps and then the door 
+opened and he found himself face-to-face with 
+Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“You haven’t been given another detention!” she said 
+at once, her square spectacles flashing alarmingly. 
+
+“No, Professor!” said Harry hastily. 
+
+“Well then, why are you out of class?” 
+
+“It’s urgent, apparently,” said the second gargoyle 
+snidely. 
+
+“I’m looking for Professor Grubbly-Plank,” Harry 
+explained. “It’s my owl, she’s injured.” 
+
+“Injured owl, did you say?” 
+
+Professor Grubbly-Plank appeared at Professor 
+McGonagall’s shoulder, smoking a pipe and holding a 
+copy of the Daily Prophet 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, lifting Hedwig carefully off his 
+shoulder, “she turned up after the other post owls 
+and her wing’s all funny, look — ” 
+
+Professor Grubbly-Plank stuck her pipe firmly 
+between her teeth and took Hedwig from Harry while 
+Professor McGonagall watched. 
+
+“Hmm,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank, her pipe 
+waggling slightly as she talked. “Looks like 
+something’s attacked her. Can’t think what would 
+have done it, though... Thestrals will sometimes go for 
+birds, of course, but Hagrid’s got the Hogwarts 
+thestrals well trained not to touch owls ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry neither knew nor cared what thestrals were, he 
+just wanted to know that Hedwig was going to be all 
+right. Professor McGonagall, however, looked sharply 
+at Harry and said, “Do you know how far this owl’s 
+traveled, Potter?” 
+
+“Er,” said Harry. “From London, I think.” 
+
+He met her eyes briefly and knew that she understood 
+“London” to mean “number twelve, Grimmauld Place” 
+by the way her eyebrows had joined in the middle. 
+
+Professor Grubbly-Plank pulled a monocle out of the 
+inside of her robes and screwed it into her eye to 
+examine Hedwig’s wing closely. “I should be able to 
+sort this out if you leave her with me, Potter,” she 
+said. “She shouldn’t be flying long distances for a few 
+days, in any case.” 
+
+“Er — right — thanks,” said Harry, just as the bell 
+rang for break. 
+
+“No problem,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank gruffly, 
+turning back into the staffroom. 
+
+“Just a moment, Wilhelmina!” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “Potter’s letter!” 
+
+“Oh yeah!” said Harry, who had momentarily 
+forgotten the scroll tied to Hedwig’s leg. Professor 
+Grubbly-Plank handed it over and then disappeared 
+into the staffroom carrying Hedwig, who was staring 
+at Harry as though unable to believe he would give 
+her away like this. Feeling slightly guilty, he turned to 
+go, but Professor McGonagall called him back. 
+
+“Potter!” 
+
+“Yes, Professor?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+She glanced up and down the corridor; there were 
+students coming from both directions. 
+
+“Bear in mind,” she said quickly and quietly, her eyes 
+on the scroll in his hand, “that channels of 
+communication in and out of Hogwarts may be being 
+watched, won’t you?” 
+
+“I — ” said Harry, but the flood of students rolling 
+along the corridor was almost upon him. Professor 
+McGonagall gave him a curt nod and retreated into 
+the staffroom, leaving Harry to be swept out into the 
+courtyard with the crowd. Here he spotted Ron and 
+Hermione already standing in a sheltered corner, 
+their cloak collars turned up against the wind. Harry 
+slit open the scroll as he hurried toward them and 
+found five words in Sirius’s handwriting: 
+
+Today, same time, same place. 
+
+“Is Hedwig okay?” asked Hermione anxiously, the 
+moment he was within earshot. 
+
+“Where did you take her?” asked Ron. 
+
+“To Grubbly-Plank,” said Harry. “And I met 
+McGonagall... Listen...” 
+
+And he told them what Professor McGonagall had 
+said. To his surprise, neither of the others looked 
+shocked; on the contrary, they exchanged significant 
+looks. 
+
+“What?” said Harry, looking from Ron to Hermione 
+and back again. 
+
+“Well, I was just saying to Ron ... what if someone 
+had tried to intercept Hedwig? I mean, she’s never 
+been hurt on a flight before, has she?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Who’s the letter from anyway?” asked Ron, taking 
+the note from Harry. 
+
+“Snuffles,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+“ ‘Same time, same place’? Does he mean the fire in 
+the common room?” 
+
+“Obviously,” said Hermione, also reading the note. 
+
+She looked uneasy. “I just hope nobody else has read 
+this...” 
+
+“But it was still sealed and everything,” said Harry, 
+trying to convince himself as much as her. “And 
+nobody would understand what it meant if they didn’t 
+know where we’d spoken to him before, would they?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Hermione anxiously, hitching her 
+bag back over her shoulder as the bell rang again. “It 
+wouldn’t be exactly difficult to reseal the scroll by 
+magic... And if anyone’s watching the Floo Network ... 
+but I don’t really see how we can warn him not to 
+come without that being intercepted too!” 
+
+They trudged down the stone steps to the dungeons 
+for Potions, all three of them lost in thought, but as 
+they reached the bottom of the stairs they were 
+recalled to themselves by the voice of Draco Malfoy, 
+who was standing just outside Snape’s classroom 
+door, waving around an official-looking piece of 
+parchment and talking much louder than was 
+necessary so that they could hear every word. 
+
+“Yeah, Umbridge gave the Slytherin Quidditch team 
+permission to continue playing straightaway, I went 
+to ask her first thing this morning. Well, it was pretty 
+much automatic, I mean, she knows my father really 
+well, he’s always popping in and out of the Ministry... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+It’ll be interesting to see whether Gryffindor are 
+allowed to keep playing, wont it?” 
+
+“Don’t rise,” Hermione whispered imploringly to Harry 
+and Ron, who were both watching Malfoy, faces set 
+and fists clenched. “It’s what he wants...” 
+
+“I mean,” said Malfoy, raising his voice a little more, 
+his gray eyes glittering malevolently in Harry and 
+Ron’s direction, “if it’s a question of influence with the 
+Ministry, I don’t think they’ve got much chance... 
+
+From what my father says, they’ve been looking for an 
+excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years... And as for 
+Potter ... My father says it’s a matter of time before 
+the Ministry has him carted off to St. Mungo’s... 
+apparently they’ve got a special ward for people whose 
+brains have been addled by magic...” 
+
+Malfoy made a grotesque face, his mouth sagging 
+open and his eyes rolling. Crabbe and Goyle gave 
+their usual grunts of laughter, Pansy Parkinson 
+shrieked with glee. 
+
+Something collided hard with Harry’s shoulder, 
+knocking him sideways. A split second later he 
+realized that Neville had just charged past him, 
+heading straight for Malfoy. 
+
+“Neville, no!” 
+
+Harry leapt forward and seized the back of Neville’s 
+robes; Neville struggled frantically, his fists flailing, 
+trying desperately to get at Malfoy who looked, for a 
+moment, extremely shocked. 
+
+“Help me!” Harry flung at Ron, managing to get an 
+arm around Neville’s neck and dragging him 
+backward, away from the Slytherins. Crabbe and 
+Goyle were now flexing their arms, closing in front of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Malfoy, ready for the fight. Ron hurried forward and 
+seized Neville’s arms; together, he and Harry 
+succeeded in dragging Neville back into the Gryffindor 
+line. Neville’s face was scarlet; the pressure Harry was 
+exerting on his throat rendered him quite 
+incomprehensible, but odd words spluttered from his 
+mouth. 
+
+“Not... funny ... don’t ... Mungo’s ... show ... him ...” 
+
+The dungeon door opened. Snape appeared there. His 
+black eyes swept up the Gryffindor line to the point 
+where Harry and Ron were wrestling with Neville. 
+
+“Fighting, Potter, Weasley, Longbottom?” Snape said 
+in his cold, sneering voice. “Ten points from 
+Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter, or it will be 
+detention. Inside, all of you.” 
+
+Harry let go of Neville, who stood panting and glaring 
+at him. 
+
+“I had to stop you,” Harry gasped, picking up his bag. 
+“Crabbe and Goyle would’ve torn you apart.” 
+
+Neville said nothing, he merely snatched up his own 
+bag and stalked off into the dungeon. 
+
+“What in the name of Merlin,” said Ron slowly, as 
+they followed Neville, “was that about?” 
+
+Harry did not answer. He knew exactly why the 
+subject of people who were in St. Mungo’s because of 
+magical damage to their brains was highly distressing 
+to Neville, but he had sworn to Dumbledore that he 
+would not tell anyone Neville’s secret. Even Neville did 
+not know that Harry knew. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their usual seats at 
+the back of the class and pulled out parchment, 
+quills, and their copies of One Thousand Magical 
+Herbs and Fungi. The class around them was 
+whispering about what Neville had just done, but 
+when Snape closed the dungeon door with an echoing 
+bang everybody fell silent immediately. 
+
+“You will notice,” said Snape in his low, sneering 
+voice, “that we have a guest with us today.” 
+
+He gestured toward the dim corner of the dungeon, 
+and Harry saw Professor Umbridge sitting there, 
+clipboard on her knee. He glanced sideways at Ron 
+and Hermione, his eyebrows raised. Snape and 
+Umbridge, the two teachers he hated most ... it was 
+hard to decide which he wanted to triumph over the 
+other. 
+
+“We are continuing with our Strengthening Solutions 
+today, you will find your mixtures as you left them 
+last lesson, if correctly made they should have 
+matured well over the weekend — instructions” — he 
+waved his wand again — “on the board. Carry on.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge spent the first half hour of the 
+lesson making notes in her corner. Harry was very 
+interested in hearing her question Snape, so 
+interested, that he was becoming careless with his 
+potion again. 
+
+“Salamander blood, Harry!” Hermione moaned, 
+grabbing his wrist to prevent him adding the wrong 
+ingredient for the third time. “Not pomegranate juice!” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry vaguely, putting down the bottle 
+and continuing to watch the corner. Umbridge had 
+just gotten to her feet. “Ha,” he said softly, as she 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+strode between two lines of desks toward Snape, who 
+was bending over Dean Thomas’s cauldron. 
+
+“Well, the class seems fairly advanced for their level,” 
+she said briskly to Snape ’s back. “Though I would 
+question whether it is advisable to teach them a 
+potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the 
+Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the 
+syllabus.” 
+
+Snape straightened up slowly and turned to look at 
+her. 
+
+“Now ... how long have you been teaching at 
+Hogwarts?” she asked, her quill poised over her 
+clipboard. 
+
+“Fourteen years,” Snape replied. His expression was 
+unfathomable. His eyes on Snape, Harry added a few 
+drops to his potion; it hissed menacingly and turned 
+from turquoise to orange. 
+
+“You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts post, I believe?” Professor Umbridge asked 
+Snape. 
+
+“Yes,” said Snape quietly. 
+
+“But you were unsuccessful?” 
+
+Snape ’s lip curled. 
+
+“Obviously.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard. 
+
+“And you have applied regularly for the Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the 
+school, I believe?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Snape quietly, barely moving his lips. He 
+looked very angry. 
+
+“Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has 
+consistently refused to appoint you?” asked 
+Umbridge. 
+
+“I suggest you ask him,” said Snape jerkily. 
+
+“Oh I shall,” said Professor Umbridge with a sweet 
+smile. 
+
+“I suppose this is relevant?” Snape asked, his black 
+eyes narrowed. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Professor Umbridge. “Yes, the Ministry 
+wants a thorough understanding of teachers’ — er — 
+backgrounds...” 
+
+She turned away, walked over to Pansy Parkinson 
+and began questioning her about the lessons. Snape 
+looked around at Harry and their eyes met for a 
+second. Harry hastily dropped his gaze to his potion, 
+which was now congealing foully and giving off a 
+strong smell of burned rubber. 
+
+“No marks again, then, Potter,” said Snape 
+maliciously, emptying Harry’s cauldron with a wave of 
+his wand. “You will write me an essay on the correct 
+composition of this potion, indicating how and why 
+you went wrong, to be handed in next lesson, do you 
+understand?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry furiously. Snape had already given 
+them homework, and he had Quidditch practice this 
+evening; this would mean another couple of sleepless 
+nights. It did not seem possible that he had awoken 
+that morning feeling very happy. All he felt now was a 
+fervent desire for this day to end as soon as possible. 
+Page | 466Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Maybe I’ll skive off Divination,” he said glumly as 
+they stood again in the courtyard after lunch, the 
+wind whipping at the hems of robes and brims of 
+hats. “I’ll pretend to be ill and do Snape’s essay 
+instead, then I won’t have to stay up half the night...” 
+
+“You can’t skive off Divination,” said Hermione 
+severely. 
+
+“Hark who’s talking, you walked out of Divination, 
+you hate Trelawney!” said Ron indignantly. 
+
+“I don’t hate her,” said Hermione loftily. “I just think 
+she’s an absolutely appalling teacher and a real old 
+fraud... But Harry’s already missed History of Magic 
+and I don’t think he ought to miss anything else 
+today!” 
+
+There was too much truth in this to ignore, so half an 
+hour later Harry took his seat in the hot, over- 
+perfumed atmosphere of the Divination classroom 
+feeling angry at everybody. Professor Trelawney was 
+handing out copies of The Dream Oracle yet again; he 
+would surely be much better employed doing Snape’s 
+punishment essay than sitting here trying to find 
+meaning in a lot of made-up dreams. 
+
+It seemed, however, that he was not the only person 
+in Divination who was in a temper. Professor 
+Trelawney slammed a copy of the Oracle down on the 
+table between Harry and Ron and swept away, her 
+lips pursed; she threw the next copy of the Oracle at 
+Seamus and Dean, narrowly avoiding Seamus’s head, 
+and thrust the final one into Neville’s chest with such 
+force that he slipped off his pouf. 
+
+“Well, carry on!” said Professor Trelawney loudly, her 
+voice high pitched and somewhat hysterical. “You 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+know what to do! Or am I such a substandard teacher 
+that you have never learned how to open a book?” 
+
+The class stared perplexedly at her and then at each 
+other. Harry, however, thought he knew what was the 
+matter. As Professor Trelawney flounced back to the 
+high-backed teacher’s chair, her magnified eyes full of 
+angry tears, he leaned his head closer to Ron’s and 
+muttered, “I think she’s got the results of her 
+inspection back.” 
+
+“Professor?” said Parvati Patil in a hushed voice (she 
+and Lavender had always rather admired Professor 
+Trelawney). “Professor, is there anything — er — 
+wrong?” 
+
+“Wrong!” cried Professor Trelawney in a voice 
+throbbing with emotion. “Certainly not! I have been 
+insulted, certainly... Insinuations have been made 
+against me... Unfounded accusations levelled ... but 
+no, there is nothing wrong, certainly not...” 
+
+She took a great shuddering breath and looked away 
+from Parvati, angry tears spilling from under her 
+glasses. 
+
+“I say nothing,” she choked, “of sixteen years’ devoted 
+service... It has passed, apparently, unnoticed... But I 
+shall not be insulted, no, I shall not!” 
+
+“But Professor, who’s insulting you?” asked Parvati 
+timidly. 
+
+“The establishment!” said Professor Trelawney in a 
+deep, dramatic, wavering voice. “Yes, those with eyes 
+too clouded by the Mundane to See as I See, to Know 
+as I Know ... Of course, we Seers have always been 
+feared, always persecuted... It is — alas — our fate...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+She gulped, dabbed at her wet cheeks with the end of 
+her shawl, and then pulled a small, embroidered 
+handkerchief from her sleeve, into which she blew her 
+nose very hard with a sound like Peeves blowing a 
+raspberry. Ron sniggered. Lavender shot him a 
+disgusted look. 
+
+“Professor,” said Parvati, “do you mean ... is it 
+something Professor Umbridge ... ?” 
+
+“Do not speak to me about that woman!” cried 
+Professor Trelawney, leaping to her feet, her beads 
+rattling and her spectacles flashing. “Kindly continue 
+with your work!” 
+
+And she spent the rest of the lesson striding among 
+them, tears still leaking from behind her glasses, 
+muttering what sounded like threats under her 
+breath. 
+
+"... may well choose to leave ... the indignity of it ... on 
+probation ... we shall see ... how she dares ...” 
+
+“You and Umbridge have got something in common,” 
+Harry told Hermione quietly when they met again in 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts. “She obviously 
+reckons Trelawney’s an old fraud too... Looks like 
+she’s put her on probation.” 
+
+Umbridge entered the room as he spoke, wearing her 
+black velvet bow and an expression of great 
+smugness. 
+
+“Good afternoon, class.” 
+
+“Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge,” they chanted 
+drearily. 
+
+“Wands away, please ...” 
+
+Page | 469Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But there was no answering flurry of movement this 
+time; nobody had bothered to take out their wands. 
+
+“Please turn to page thirty-four of Defensive Magical 
+Theory and read the third chapter, entitled The Case 
+for Non-Offensive Responses to Magical Attack.’ There 
+will be — ” 
+
+“ — no need to talk,” Harry, Ron, and Hermione said 
+together under their breaths. 
+
+“No Quidditch practice,” said Angelina in hollow tones 
+when Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the common 
+room that night after dinner. 
+
+“But I kept my temper!” said Harry, horrified. “I didn’t 
+say anything to her, Angelina, I swear, I — ” 
+
+“I know, I know,” said Angelina miserably. “She just 
+said she needed a bit of time to consider.” 
+
+“Consider what?” said Ron angrily. “She’s given the 
+Slytherins permission, why not us?” 
+
+But Harry could imagine how much Umbridge was 
+enjoying holding the threat of no Gryffindor Quidditch 
+team over their heads and could easily understand 
+why she would not want to relinquish that weapon 
+over them too soon. 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione, “look on the bright side — at 
+least now you’ll have time to do Snape’s essay!” 
+
+“That’s a bright side, is it?” snapped Harry, while Ron 
+stared incredulously at Hermione. “No Quidditch 
+practice and extra Potions?” 
+
+Harry slumped down into a chair, dragged his Potions 
+essay reluctantly from his bag, and set to work. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+It was very hard to concentrate; even though he knew 
+that Sirius was not due in the fire until much later he 
+could not help glancing into the flames every few 
+minutes just in case. There was also an incredible 
+amount of noise in the room: Fred and George 
+appeared finally to have perfected one type of Skiving 
+Snackbox, which they were taking turns to 
+demonstrate to a cheering and whooping crowd. 
+
+First, Fred would take a bite out of the orange end of 
+a chew, at which he would vomit spectacularly into a 
+bucket they had placed in front of them. Then he 
+would force down the purple end of the chew, at 
+which the vomiting would immediately cease. Lee 
+Jordan, who was assisting the demonstration, was 
+lazily vanishing the vomit at regular intervals with the 
+same Vanishing Spell Snape kept using on Harry’s 
+potions. 
+
+What with the regular sounds of retching, cheering, 
+and Fred and George taking advance orders from the 
+crowd, Harry was finding it exceptionally difficult to 
+focus on the correct method for Strengthening 
+Solutions. Hermione was not helping matters; the 
+cheers and sound of vomit hitting the bottom of Fred 
+and George’s bucket were punctuated by loud and 
+disapproving sniffs that Harry found, if anything, 
+more distracting. 
+
+“Just go and stop them, then!” he said irritably, after 
+crossing out the wrong weight of powdered griffin 
+claw for the fourth time. 
+
+“I can’t, they’re not technically doing anything wrong,” 
+said Hermione through gritted teeth. “They’re quite 
+within their rights to eat the foul things themselves, 
+and I can’t find a rule that says the other idiots aren’t 
+entitled to buy them, not unless they’re proven to be 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+dangerous in some way, and it doesn’t look as though 
+they are...” 
+
+She, Harry, and Ron watched George projectile-vomit 
+into the bucket, gulp down the rest of the chew, and 
+straighten up, beaming with his arms wide to 
+protracted applause. 
+
+“You know, I don’t get why Fred and George only got 
+three O.W.L.s each,” said Harry, watching as Fred, 
+George, and Lee collected gold from the eager crowd. 
+“They really know their stuff...” 
+
+“Oh, they only know flashy stuff that’s no real use to 
+anyone,” said Hermione disparagingly. 
+
+“No real use?” said Ron in a strained voice. 
+
+“Hermione, they’ve got about twenty-six Galleons 
+already...” 
+
+It was a long while before the crowd around the 
+Weasleys dispersed, and then Fred, Lee, and George 
+sat up counting their takings even longer, so that it 
+was well past midnight when Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione finally had the common room to themselves 
+again. At long last, Fred closed the doorway to the 
+boys’ dormitories behind him, rattling his box of 
+Galleons ostentatiously so that Hermione scowled. 
+Harry, who was making very little progress with his 
+Potions essay, decided to give it up for the night. As 
+he put his books away, Ron, who was dozing lightly in 
+an armchair, gave a muffled grunt, awoke, looked 
+blearily into the fire and said, “Sirius!” 
+
+Harry whipped around; Sirius’s untidy dark head was 
+sitting in the fire again. 
+
+“Hi,” he said, grinning. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Hi,” chorused Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all three 
+kneeling down upon the hearthrug. Crookshanks 
+purred loudly and approached the fire, trying, despite 
+the heat, to put his face close to Sirius’s. 
+
+“How’re things?” said Sirius. 
+
+“Not that good,” said Harry, as Hermione pulled 
+Crookshanks back to stop him singeing his whiskers. 
+“The Ministry’s forced through another decree, which 
+means we’re not allowed to have Quidditch teams — ” 
+
+“ — or secret Defense Against the Dark Arts groups?” 
+said Sirius. 
+
+There was a short pause. 
+
+“How did you know about that?” Harry demanded. 
+
+“You want to choose your meeting places more 
+carefully,” said Sirius, grinning still more broadly. 
+“The Hog’s Head, I ask you ...” 
+
+“Well, it was better than the Three Broomsticks!” said 
+Hermione defensively. “That’s always packed with 
+people — ” 
+
+��� — which means you’d have been harder to overhear,” 
+said Sirius. “You’ve got a lot to learn, Hermione.” 
+
+“Who overheard us?” Harry demanded. 
+
+“Mundungus, of course,” said Sirius, and when they 
+all looked puzzled he laughed. “He was the witch 
+under the veil.” 
+
+“That was Mundungus?” Harry said, stunned. “What 
+was he doing in the Hog’s Head?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What do you think he was doing?” said Sirius 
+impatiently. “Keeping an eye on you, of course.” 
+
+“I’m still being followed?” asked Harry angrily. 
+
+“Yeah, you are,” said Sirius, “and just as well, isn’t it, 
+if the first thing you’re going to do on your weekend 
+off is organize an illegal defense group.” 
+
+But he looked neither angry nor worried; on the 
+contrary, he was looking at Harry with distinct pride. 
+
+“Why was Dung hiding from us?” asked Ron, 
+sounding disappointed. “We’d’ve liked to’ve seen him.” 
+
+“He was banned from the Hog’s Head twenty years 
+ago,” said Sirius, “and that barman’s got a long 
+memory. We lost Moody’s spare Invisibility Cloak 
+when Sturgis was arrested, so Dung’s been dressing 
+as a witch a lot lately... Anyway ... First of all, Ron — 
+I’ve sworn to pass on a message from your mother.” 
+
+“Oh yeah?” said Ron, sounding apprehensive. 
+
+“She says on no account whatsoever are you to take 
+part in an illegal secret Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+group. She says you’ll be expelled for sure and your 
+future will be ruined. She says there will be plenty of 
+time to learn how to defend yourself later and that 
+you are too young to be worrying about that right 
+now. She also” — Sirius’s eyes turned to the other two 
+— “advises Harry and Hermione not to proceed with 
+the group, though she accepts that she has no 
+authority over either of them and simply begs them to 
+remember that she has their best interests at heart. 
+She would have written all this to you, but if the owl 
+had been intercepted you’d all have been in real 
+trouble, and she can’t say it for herself because she’s 
+on duty tonight.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“On duty doing what?” said Ron quickly. 
+
+“Never you mind, just stuff for the Order,” said Sirius. 
+“So it’s fallen to me to be the messenger and make 
+sure you tell her I passed it all on, because I don’t 
+think she trusts me to.” 
+
+There was another pause in which Crookshanks, 
+mewing, attempted to paw Sirius’s head, and Ron 
+fiddled with a hole in the hearthrug. 
+
+“So you want me to say I’m not going to take part in 
+the defense group?” he muttered finally. 
+
+“Me? Certainly not!” said Sirius, looking surprised. “I 
+think it’s an excellent idea!” 
+
+“You do?” said Harry, his heart lifting. 
+
+“Of course I do!” said Sirius. “D’you think your father 
+and I would’ve lain down and taken orders from an 
+old hag like Umbridge?” 
+
+“But — last term all you did was tell me to be careful 
+and not take risks — ” 
+
+“Last year all the evidence was that someone inside 
+Hogwarts was trying to kill you, Harry!” said Sirius 
+impatiently. “This year we know that there’s someone 
+outside Hogwarts who’d like to kill us all, so I think 
+learning to defend yourselves properly is a very good 
+idea!” 
+
+“And if we do get expelled?” Hermione asked, a 
+quizzical look on her face. 
+
+“Hermione, this whole thing was your idea!” said 
+Harry, staring at her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 475Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I know it was... I just wondered what Sirius 
+thought,” she said, shrugging. 
+
+“Well, better expelled and able to defend yourselves 
+than sitting safely in school without a clue,” said 
+Sirius. 
+
+“Hear, hear,” said Harry and Ron enthusiastically. 
+
+“So,” said Sirius, “how are you organizing this group? 
+Where are you meeting?” 
+
+“Well, that’s a bit of a problem now,” said Harry. 
+“Dunno where we’re going to be able to go...” 
+
+“How about the Shrieking Shack?” suggested Sirius. 
+
+“Hey, that’s an idea!” said Ron excitedly, but 
+Hermione made a skeptical noise and all three of 
+them looked at her, Sirius’s head turning in the 
+flames. 
+
+“Well, Sirius, it’s just that there were only four of you 
+meeting in the Shrieking Shack when you were at 
+school,” said Hermione, “and all of you could 
+transform into animals and I suppose you could all 
+have squeezed under a single Invisibility Cloak if 
+you’d wanted to. But there are twenty-eight of us and 
+none of us is an Animagus, so we wouldn’t need so 
+much an Invisibility Cloak as an Invisibility Marquee 
+
+
+
+“Fair point,” said Sirius, looking slightly crestfallen. 
+“Well, I’m sure you’ll come up with somewhere... 
+There used to be a pretty roomy secret passageway 
+behind that big mirror on the fourth floor, you might 
+have enough space to practice jinxes in there — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 476Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Fred and George told me it’s blocked,” said Harry, 
+shaking his head. “Caved in or something.” 
+
+“Oh ...” said Sirius, frowning. “Well, 111 have a think 
+and get back to — ” 
+
+He broke off. His face was suddenly tense, alarmed. 
+He turned sideways, apparently looking into the solid 
+brick wall of the fireplace. 
+
+“Sirius?” said Harry anxiously. 
+
+But he had vanished. Harry gaped at the flames for a 
+moment, then turned to look at Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“Why did he — ?” 
+
+Hermione gave a horrified gasp and leapt to her feet, 
+still staring at the fire. 
+
+A hand had appeared amongst the flames, groping as 
+though to catch hold of something; a stubby, short- 
+fingered hand covered in ugly old-fashioned rings... 
+
+The three of them ran for it; at the door of the boys’ 
+dormitory Harry looked back. Umbridge’s hand was 
+still making snatching movements amongst the 
+flames, as though she knew exactly where Sirius’s 
+hair had been moments before and was determined to 
+seize it. 
+
+
+
+Page | 477Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY 
+
+“Umbridge has been reading your mail, Harry. There’s 
+no other explanation.” 
+
+“You think Umbridge attacked Hedwig?” he said, 
+outraged. 
+
+“I’m almost certain of it,” said Hermione grimly. 
+
+“Watch your frog, it’s escaping.” 
+
+Harry pointed his wand at the bullfrog that had been 
+hopping hopefully toward the other side of the table 
+— “Acciol ” — and it zoomed gloomily back into his 
+hand. 
+
+Charms was always one of the best lessons in which 
+to enjoy a private chat: There was generally so much 
+movement and activity that the danger of being 
+overheard was very slight. Today, with the room full of 
+croaking bullfrogs and cawing ravens, and with a 
+heavy downpour of rain clattering and pounding 
+against the classroom windows, Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione ’s whispered discussion about how 
+Page | 478Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Umbridge had nearly caught Sirius went quite 
+unnoticed. 
+
+“I’ve been suspecting this ever since Filch accused 
+you of ordering Dungbombs, because it seemed such 
+a stupid lie,” Hermione whispered. “I mean, once your 
+letter had been read, it would have been quite clear 
+you weren’t ordering them, so you wouldn’t have been 
+in trouble at all — it’s a bit of a feeble joke, isn’t it? 
+But then I thought, what if somebody just wanted an 
+excuse to read your mail? Well then, it would be a 
+perfect way for Umbridge to manage it — tip off Filch, 
+let him do the dirty work and confiscate the letter, 
+then either find a way of stealing it from him or else 
+demand to see it — I don’t think Filch would object, 
+when’s he ever stuck up for a student’s rights? Harry, 
+you’re squashing your frog.” 
+
+Harry looked down; he was indeed squeezing his 
+bullfrog so tightly its eyes were popping; he replaced 
+it hastily upon the desk. 
+
+“It was a very, very close call last night,” said 
+Hermione. “I just wonder if Umbridge knows how 
+close it was. Silenciol” 
+
+The bullfrog on which she was practicing her 
+Silencing Charm was struck dumb mid-croak and 
+glared at her reproachfully. 
+
+“If she’d caught Snuffles ...” 
+
+Harry finished the sentence for her. 
+
+“He’d probably be back in Azkaban this morning.” He 
+waved his wand without really concentrating; his 
+bullfrog swelled like a green balloon and emitted a 
+high-pitched whistle. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Silenciol” said Hermione hastily, pointing her wand 
+at Harry’s frog, which deflated silently before them. 
+“Well, he mustn’t do it again, that’s all. I just don’t 
+know how we’re going to let him know. We can’t send 
+him an owl.” 
+
+“I don’t reckon he’ll risk it again,” said Ron. “He’s not 
+stupid, he knows she nearly got him. Silenciol” 
+
+The large and ugly raven in front of him let out a 
+derisive caw. 
+
+“ Silenciol SILENCIO” 
+
+The raven cawed more loudly. 
+
+“It’s the way you’re moving your wand,” said 
+Hermione, watching Ron critically. “You don’t want to 
+wave it, it’s more a sharp jab.” 
+
+“Ravens are harder than frogs,” said Ron testily. 
+
+“Fine, let’s swap,” said Hermione, seizing Ron’s raven 
+and replacing it with her own fat bullfrog. “Silencio\” 
+The raven continued to open and close its sharp beak, 
+but no sound came out. 
+
+“Very good, Miss Granger!” said Professor Flitwick’s 
+squeaky little voice and Harry, Ron, and Hermione all 
+jumped. “Now, let me see you try, Mr. Weasley!” 
+
+“Wha — ? Oh — oh, right,” said Ron, very flustered. 
+“Er — Silenciol” 
+
+He jabbed at the bullfrog so hard that he poked it in 
+the eye; the frog gave a deafening croak and leapt off 
+the desk. 
+
+
+
+Page | 480Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It came as no surprise to any of them that Harry and 
+Ron were given additional practice of the Silencing 
+Charm for homework. 
+
+They were allowed to remain inside over break due to 
+the downpour outside. They found seats in a noisy 
+and overcrowded classroom on the first floor in which 
+Peeves was floating dreamily up near the chandelier, 
+occasionally blowing an ink pellet at the top of 
+somebody’s head. They had barely sat down when 
+Angelina came struggling toward them through the 
+groups of gossiping students. 
+
+“I’ve got permission!” she said. “To re-form the 
+Quidditch team!” 
+
+“Excellent.” said Ron and Harry together. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Angelina, beaming. “I went to 
+McGonagall and I think she might have appealed to 
+Dumbledore — anyway, Umbridge had to give in. Ha! 
+So I want you down at the pitch at seven o’clock 
+tonight, all right, because we’ve got to make up time, 
+you realize we’re only three weeks away from our first 
+match?” 
+
+She squeezed away from them, narrowly dodged an 
+ink pellet from Peeves, which hit a nearby first year 
+instead, and vanished from sight. 
+
+Ron’s smile slipped slightly as he looked out of the 
+window, which was now opaque with hammering 
+rain. 
+
+“Hope this clears up ... What’s up with you, 
+Hermione?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 481Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She too was gazing at the window, but not as though 
+she really saw it. Her eyes were unfocused and there 
+was a frown on her face. 
+
+“Just thinking ...” she said, still frowning at the rain- 
+washed window. 
+
+“About Siri . . . Snuffles?” said Harry. 
+
+“No ... not exactly ...” said Hermione slowly. “More ... 
+wondering ... I suppose we’re doing the right thing ... 
+
+I think ... aren’t we? 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at each other. 
+
+“Well, that clears that up,” said Ron. “It would’ve been 
+really annoying if you hadn’t explained yourself 
+properly.” 
+
+Hermione looked at him as though she had only just 
+realized he was there. 
+
+“I was just wondering,” she said, her voice stronger 
+now, “whether we’re doing the right thing, starting 
+this Defense Against the Dark Arts group.” 
+
+“What!” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+“Hermione, it was your idea in the first place!” said 
+Ron indignantly. 
+
+“I know,” said Hermione, twisting her fingers together. 
+“But after talking to Snuffles ...” 
+
+“But he’s all for it!” said Harry. 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione, staring at the window again. 
+“Yes, that’s what made me think maybe it wasn’t a 
+good idea after all...” 
+
+Page | 482Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Peeves floated over them on his stomach, peashooter 
+at the ready; automatically all three of them lifted 
+their bags to cover their heads until he had passed. 
+
+“Let’s get this straight,” said Harry angrily, as they 
+put their bags back on the floor, “Sirius agrees with 
+us, so you don’t think we should do it anymore?” 
+
+Hermione looked tense and rather miserable. Now 
+staring at her own hands she said, “Do you honestly 
+trust his judgment?” 
+
+“Yes, I do!” said Harry at once. “He’s always given us 
+great advice!” 
+
+An ink pellet whizzed past them, striking Katie Bell 
+squarely in the ear. Hermione watched Katie leap to 
+her feet and start throwing things at Peeves; it was a 
+few moments before Hermione spoke again and it 
+sounded as though she was choosing her words very 
+carefully. 
+
+“You don’t think he has become ... sort of ... reckless 
+... since he’s been cooped up in Grimmauld Place? 
+
+You don’t think he’s ... kind of ... living through us?” 
+
+“What d’you mean, ‘living through us’?” Harry 
+retorted. 
+
+“I mean ... well, I think he’d love to be forming secret 
+defense societies right under the nose of someone 
+from the Ministry... I think he’s really frustrated at 
+how little he can do where he is ... so I think he’s 
+keen to kind of ... egg us on.” 
+
+Ron looked utterly perplexed. 
+
+“Sirius is right,” he said, “you do sound just like my 
+mother.” 
+
+Page | 483Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione bit her lip and did not answer. The bell 
+rang just as Peeves swooped down upon Katie and 
+emptied an entire ink bottle over her head. 
+
+The weather did not improve as the day wore on, so 
+that at seven o’clock that evening, when Harry and 
+Ron went down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, 
+they were soaked through within minutes, their feet 
+slipping and sliding on the sodden grass. The sky was 
+a deep, thundery gray and it was a relief to gain the 
+warmth and light of the changing rooms, even if they 
+knew the respite was only temporary. They found 
+Fred and George debating whether to use one of their 
+own Skiving Snackboxes to get out of flying. 
+
+“ — but I bet she’d know what we’d done,” Fred said 
+out of the corner of his mouth. “If only I hadn’t offered 
+to sell her some Puking Pastilles yesterday — ” 
+
+“We could try the Fever Fudge,” George muttered, “no 
+one’s seen that yet — ” 
+
+“Does it work?” inquired Ron hopefully, as the 
+hammering of rain on the roof intensified and wind 
+howled around the building. 
+
+“Well, yeah,” said Fred, “your temperature’ll go right 
+up — ” 
+
+
+
+“ — but you get these massive pus-filled boils too,” 
+said George, “and we haven’t worked out how to get 
+rid of them yet.” 
+
+“I can’t see any boils,” said Ron, staring at the twins. 
+
+“No, well, you wouldn’t,” said Fred darkly, “they’re not 
+in a place we generally display to the public — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 484Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — but they make sitting on a broom a right pain in 
+the — ” 
+
+
+
+“All right, everyone, listen up,” said Angelina loudly, 
+emerging from the Captain’s office. “I know it’s not 
+ideal weather, but there’s a good chance we’ll be 
+playing Slytherin in conditions like this so it’s a good 
+idea to work out how we’re going to cope with them. 
+Harry, didn’t you do something to your glasses to stop 
+the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff 
+in that storm?” 
+
+“Hermione did it,” said Harry. He pulled out his wand, 
+tapped his glasses and said, “Imperviusl” 
+
+“I think we all ought to try that,” said Angelina. “If we 
+could just keep the rain off our faces it would really 
+help visibility — all together, come on — Imperviusl 
+Okay. Let’s go.” 
+
+They all stowed their wands back in the inside 
+pockets of their robes, shouldered their brooms, and 
+followed Angelina out of the changing rooms. 
+
+They squelched through the deepening mud to the 
+middle of the pitch; visibility was still very poor even 
+with the Impervius Charm; light was fading fast and 
+curtains of rain were sweeping the grounds. 
+
+“All right, on my whistle,” shouted Angelina. 
+
+Harry kicked off from the ground, spraying mud in all 
+directions, and shot upward, the wind pulling him 
+slightly off course. He had no idea how he was going 
+to see the Snitch in this weather; he was having 
+enough difficulty seeing the one Bludger with which 
+they were practicing; a minute into the practice it 
+almost unseated him and he had to use the Sloth 
+Grip Roll to avoid it. Unfortunately Angelina did not 
+Page | 485Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+see this; in fact, she did not appear to be able to see 
+anything; none of them had a clue what the others 
+were doing. The wind was picking up; even at a 
+distance Harry could hear the swishing, pounding 
+sounds of the rain pummeling the surface of the lake. 
+
+Angelina kept them at it for nearly an hour before 
+conceding defeat. She led her sodden and disgruntled 
+team back into the changing rooms, insisting that the 
+practice had not been a waste of time, though without 
+any real conviction in her voice. Fred and George were 
+looking particularly annoyed; both were bandy-legged 
+and winced with every movement. Harry could hear 
+them complaining in low voices as he toweled his hair 
+dry. 
+
+“I think a few of mine have ruptured,” said Fred in a 
+hollow voice. 
+
+“Mine haven’t,” said George, wincing. “They’re 
+throbbing like mad ... feel bigger if anything ...” 
+
+“OUCH!” said Harry. 
+
+He pressed the towel to his face, his eyes screwed 
+tight with pain. The scar on his forehead had seared 
+again, more painfully than in months. 
+
+“What’s up?” said several voices. 
+
+Harry emerged from behind his towel; the changing 
+room was blurred because he was not wearing his 
+glasses; but he could still tell that everyone’s face was 
+turned toward him. 
+
+“Nothing,” he muttered, “I — poked myself in the eye, 
+that’s all...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 486Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But he gave Ron a significant look and the two of 
+them hung back as the rest of the team filed back 
+outside, muffled in their cloaks, their hats pulled low 
+over their ears. 
+
+“What happened?” said Ron, the moment that Alicia 
+had disappeared through the door. “Was it your 
+scar?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“But ...” Looking scared, Ron strode across to the 
+window and stared out into the rain, “He — he can’t 
+be near us now, can he?” 
+
+“No,” Harry muttered, sinking onto a bench and 
+rubbing his forehead. “He’s probably miles away. It 
+hurt because ... he’s ... angry.” 
+
+Harry had not meant to say that at all, and heard the 
+words as though a stranger had spoken them — yet 
+he knew at once that they were true. He did not know 
+how he knew it, but he did; Voldemort, wherever he 
+was, whatever he was doing, was in a towering 
+temper. 
+
+“Did you see him?” said Ron, looking horrified. “Did 
+you . . . get a vision, or something?” 
+
+Harry sat quite still, staring at his feet, allowing his 
+mind and his memory to relax in the aftermath of the 
+pain... 
+
+A confused tangle of shapes, a howling rush of voices 
+
+
+
+“He wants something done, and it’s not happening 
+fast enough,” he said. 
+
+
+
+Page | 487Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Again, he felt surprised to hear the words coming out 
+of his mouth, and yet quite certain that they were 
+true. 
+
+“But ... how do you know?” said Ron. 
+
+Harry shook his head and covered his eyes with his 
+hands, pressing down upon them with his palms. 
+Little stars erupted in them. He felt Ron sit down on 
+the bench beside him and knew Ron was staring at 
+him. 
+
+“Is this what it was about last time?” said Ron in a 
+hushed voice. “When your scar hurt in Umbridge’s 
+office? You-Know-Who was angry?” 
+
+Harry shook his head. 
+
+“What is it, then?” 
+
+Harry was thinking himself back. He had been 
+looking into Umbridge’s face... His scar had hurt ... 
+and he had had that odd feeling in his stomach ... a 
+strange, leaping feeling ... a happy feeling... But, of 
+course, he had not recognized it for what it was, as he 
+had been feeling so miserable himself. . . 
+
+“Last time, it was because he was pleased,” he said. 
+“Really pleased. 
+
+“He thought ... something good was going to happen. 
+And the night before we came back to Hogwarts ...” 
+
+He thought back to the moment when his scar had 
+hurt so badly in his and Ron’s bedroom in 
+Grimmauld Place. “He was furious...” 
+
+He looked around at Ron, who was gaping at him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 488Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You could take over from Trelawney, mate,” he said 
+in an awed voice. 
+
+“I’m not making prophecies,” said Harry. 
+
+“No, you know what you’re doing?” Ron said, 
+sounding both scared and impressed. “Harry, you’re 
+reading You-Know-Who’s mind...” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, shaking his head. “It’s more like ... 
+his mood, I suppose. I’m just getting flashes of what 
+mood he’s in... Dumbledore said something like this 
+was happening last year. . . He said that when 
+Voldemort was near me, or when he was feeling 
+hatred, I could tell. Well, now I’m feeling it when he’s 
+pleased too...” 
+
+There was a pause. The wind and rain lashed at the 
+building. 
+
+“You’ve got to tell someone,” said Ron. 
+
+“I told Sirius last time.” 
+
+“Well, tell him about this time!” 
+
+“Can’t, can I?” said Harry grimly. “Umbridge is 
+watching the owls and the fires, remember?” 
+
+“Well then, Dumbledore — ” 
+
+“I’ve just told you, he already knows,” said Harry 
+shortly, getting to his feet, taking his cloak off his peg, 
+and swinging it around himself. “There’s no point 
+telling him again.” 
+
+Ron did up the fastening of his own cloak, watching 
+Harry thoughtfully. 
+
+
+
+Page | 489Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Dumbledore’d want to know,” he said. 
+
+
+
+Harry shrugged. 
+
+“C’mon ... we’ve still got Silencing Charms to practice 
+
+
+
+They hurried back through the dark grounds, sliding 
+and stumbling up the muddy lawns, not talking. 
+
+Harry was thinking hard. What was it that Voldemort 
+wanted done that was not happening quickly enough? 
+
+“He’s got other plans ... plans he can put into operation 
+very quietly indeed . . . stuff he can only get by stealth 
+... like a weapon. Something he didn’t have last time.” 
+
+He had not thought about those words in weeks; he 
+had been too absorbed in what was going on at 
+Hogwarts, too busy dwelling on the ongoing battles 
+with Umbridge, the injustice of all the Ministry 
+interference... But now they came back to him and 
+made him wonder... Voldemort’s anger would make 
+sense if he was no nearer laying hands on the 
+weapon, whatever it was... Had the Order thwarted 
+him, stopped him from seizing it? Where was it kept? 
+Who had it now? 
+
+“Mimbulus mimbletonia,” said Ron’s voice and Harry 
+came back to his senses just in time to clamber 
+through the portrait hole into the common room. 
+
+It appeared that Hermione had gone to bed early, 
+leaving Crookshanks curled in a nearby chair and an 
+assortment of knobbly, knitted elf hats lying on a 
+table by the fire. Harry was rather grateful that she 
+was not around because he did not much want to 
+discuss his scar hurting and have her urge him to go 
+to Dumbledore too. Ron kept throwing him anxious 
+glances, but Harry pulled out his Potions book and 
+Page | 490Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+set to work to finish his essay, though he was only 
+pretending to concentrate and, by the time that Ron 
+said he was going to bed too, had written hardly 
+anything. 
+
+Midnight came and went while Harry was reading and 
+rereading a passage about the uses of scurvy-grass, 
+lovage, and sneezewort and not taking in a word of 
+it... 
+
+These plantes are moste efficacious in the inflaming 
+of the braine, and are therefore much used in 
+Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts, where the 
+wizard is desirous of producing hot-headedness and 
+recklessness... 
+
+... Hermione said Sirius was becoming reckless 
+cooped up in Grimmauld Place... 
+
+. . . moste efficacious in the inflaming of the braine, and 
+are therefore much used . . . 
+
+. . . the Daily Prophet would think his brain was 
+inflamed if they found out that he knew what 
+Voldemort was feeling ... 
+
+. . . therefore much used in Confusing and 
+Befuddlement Draughts . . . 
+
+. . . confusing was the word, all right; why did he know 
+what Voldemort was feeling? What was this weird 
+connection between them, which Dumbledore had 
+never been able to explain satisfactorily? 
+
+. . . where the wizard is desirous . . . 
+
+. . . how he would like to sleep . . . 
+
+...of producing hot-headedness . . . 
+
+Page | 491Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+... It was warm and comfortable in his armchair 
+before the fire, with the rain still beating heavily on 
+the windowpanes and Crookshanks purring and the 
+crackling of the flames... 
+
+The book slipped from Harry’s slack grip and landed 
+with a dull thud on the hearthrug. His head fell 
+sideways... 
+
+He was walking once more along a windowless 
+corridor, his footsteps echoing in the silence. As the 
+door at the end of the passage loomed larger his heart 
+beat fast with excitement... If he could only open it ... 
+enter beyond . . . 
+
+He stretched out his hand... His fingertips were 
+inches from it... 
+
+“Harry Potter, sir!” 
+
+He awoke with a start. The candles had all been 
+extinguished in the common room, but there was 
+something moving close by. 
+
+“Whozair?” said Harry, sitting upright in his chair. 
+
+The fire was almost extinguished, the room very dark. 
+
+“Dobby has your owl, sir!” said a squeaky voice. 
+
+“Dobby?” said Harry thickly, peering through the 
+gloom toward the source of the voice. 
+
+Dobby the house-elf was standing beside the table on 
+which Hermione had left her half a dozen knitted 
+hats. His large, pointed ears were now sticking out 
+from beneath what looked like all the hats that 
+Hermione had ever knitted; he was wearing one on 
+top of the other, so that his head seemed elongated by 
+
+
+
+Page | 492Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+two or three feet, and on the very topmost bobble sat 
+Hedwig, hooting serenely and obviously cured. 
+
+
+
+“Dobby volunteered to return Harry Potter’s owl!” said 
+the elf squeakily, with a look of positive adoration on 
+his face. “Professor Grubbly-Plank says she is all well 
+now, sir!” 
+
+He sank into a deep bow so that his pencil-like nose 
+brushed the threadbare surface of the hearthrug and 
+Hedwig gave an indignant hoot and fluttered onto the 
+arm of Harry’s chair. 
+
+“Thanks, Dobby!” said Harry, stroking Hedwig’s head 
+and blinking hard, trying to rid himself of the image 
+of the door in his dream... It had been very vivid... 
+Looking back at Dobby, he noticed that the elf was 
+also wearing several scarves and innumerable socks, 
+so that his feet looked far too big for his body. 
+
+“Er . . . have you been taking all the clothes 
+Hermione’s been leaving out?” 
+
+“Oh no, sir,” said Dobby happily, “Dobby has been 
+taking some for Winky too, sir.” 
+
+“Yeah, how is Winky?” asked Harry. 
+
+Dobby’s ears drooped slightly. 
+
+“Winky is still drinking lots, sir,” he said sadly, his 
+enormous round green eyes, large as tennis balls, 
+downcast. “She still does not care for clothes, Harry 
+Potter. Nor do the other house-elves. None of them 
+will clean Gryffindor Tower anymore, not with the 
+hats and socks hidden everywhere, they finds them 
+insulting, sir. Dobby does it all himself, sir, but 
+Dobby does not mind, sir, for he always hopes to meet 
+Harry Potter and tonight, sir, he has got his wish!” 
+Page | 493Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dobby sank into a deep bow again. “But Harry Potter 
+does not seem happy,” Dobby went on, straightening 
+up again and looking timidly at Harry. “Dobby heard 
+him muttering in his sleep. Was Harry Potter having 
+bad dreams?” 
+
+“Not really bad,” said Harry, yawning and rubbing his 
+eyes. “I’ve had worse.” 
+
+The elf surveyed Harry out of his vast, orblike eyes. 
+Then he said very seriously, his ears drooping, 
+
+“Dobby wishes he could help Harry Potter, for Harry 
+Potter set Dobby free and Dobby is much, much 
+happier now...” 
+
+Harry smiled. 
+
+“You can’t help me, Dobby, but thanks for the offer...” 
+
+He bent and picked up his Potions book. He’d have to 
+try and finish the essay tomorrow. He closed the book 
+and as he did so the firelight illuminated the thin 
+white scars on the back of his hand — the result of 
+his detention with Umbridge. 
+
+“Wait a moment — there is something you can do for 
+me, Dobby,” said Harry slowly. 
+
+The elf looked around, beaming. 
+
+“Name it, Harry Potter, sir!” 
+
+“I need to find a place where twenty-eight people can 
+practice Defense Against the Dark Arts without being 
+discovered by any of the teachers. Especially,” Harry 
+clenched his hand on the book, so that the scars 
+shone pearly white, “Professor Umbridge.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He expected the elf’s smile to vanish, his ears to 
+droop; he expected him to say that this was 
+impossible, or else that he would try, but his hopes 
+were not high... What he had not expected was for 
+Dobby to give a little skip, his ears waggling happily, 
+and clap his hands together. 
+
+“Dobby knows the perfect place, sir!” he said happily. 
+“Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves 
+when he came to Hogwarts, sir. It is known by us as 
+the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of 
+Requirement!” 
+
+“Why?” said Harry curiously. 
+
+“Because it is a room that a person can only enter,” 
+said Dobby seriously, “when they have real need of it. 
+Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but 
+when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker’s 
+needs. Dobby has used it, sir,” said the elf, dropping 
+his voice and looking guilty, “when Winky has been 
+very drunk. He has hidden her in the Room of 
+Requirement and he has found antidotes to 
+butterbeer there, and a nice elf-sized bed to settle her 
+on while she sleeps it off, sir... And Dobby knows Mr. 
+Filch has found extra cleaning materials there when 
+he has run short, sir, and — ” 
+
+“ — and if you really needed a bathroom,” said Harry, 
+suddenly remembering something Dumbledore had 
+said at the Yule Ball the previous Christmas, “would 
+it fill itself with chamber pots?” 
+
+“Dobby expects so, sir,” said Dobby, nodding 
+earnestly. “It is a most amazing room, sir.” 
+
+“How many people know about it?” said Harry, sitting 
+up straighter in his chair. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Very few, sir. Mostly people stumbles across it when 
+they needs it, sir, but often they never finds it again, 
+for they do not know that it is always there waiting to 
+be called into service, sir.” 
+
+“It sounds brilliant,” said Harry, his heart racing. “It 
+sounds perfect, Dobby. When can you show me where 
+it is?” 
+
+
+
+“Anytime, Harry Potter, sir,” said Dobby, looking 
+delighted at Harry’s enthusiasm. “We could go now, if 
+you like!” 
+
+For a moment Harry was tempted to go now; he was 
+halfway out of his seat, intending to hurry upstairs 
+for his Invisibility Cloak when, not for the first time, a 
+voice very much like Hermione’s whispered in his ear: 
+reckless. It was, after all, very late, he was exhausted 
+and had Snape’s essay to finish. 
+
+“Not tonight, Dobby,” said Harry reluctantly, sinking 
+back into his chair. “This is really important... I don’t 
+want to blow it, it’ll need proper planning... Listen, 
+can you just tell me exactly where this Room of 
+Requirement is and how to get in there?” 
+
+Their robes billowed and swirled around them as they 
+splashed across the flooded vegetable patch to double 
+Herbology, where they could hardly hear what 
+Professor Sprout was saying over the hammering of 
+raindrops hard as hailstones on the greenhouse roof. 
+The afternoon’s Care of Magical Creatures lesson was 
+to be relocated from the storm-swept grounds to a 
+free classroom on the ground floor and, to their 
+intense relief, Angelina sought out her team at lunch 
+to tell them that Quidditch practice was canceled. 
+
+“Good,” said Harry quietly, when she told him, 
+“because we’ve found somewhere to have our first 
+
+Page | 496Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Defense meeting. Tonight, eight o’clock, seventh floor 
+opposite that tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being 
+clubbed by those trolls. Can you tell Katie and 
+Alicia?” 
+
+She looked slightly taken aback but promised to tell 
+the others; Harry returned hungrily to his sausages 
+and mash. When he looked up to take a drink of 
+pumpkin juice, he found Hermione watching him. 
+
+“What?” he said thickly. 
+
+“Well ... it’s just that Dobby’s plans aren’t always that 
+safe. Don’t you remember when he lost you all the 
+bones in your arm?” 
+
+“This room isn’t just some mad idea of Dobby’s; 
+Dumbledore knows about it too, he mentioned it to 
+me at the Yule Ball.” 
+
+Hermione’s expression cleared. 
+
+“Dumbledore told you about it?” 
+
+“Just in passing,” said Harry, shrugging. 
+
+“Oh well, that’s all right then,” said Hermione briskly 
+and she raised no more objections. 
+
+Together with Ron they had spent most of the day 
+seeking out those people who had signed their names 
+to the list in the Hog���s Head and telling them where to 
+meet that evening. Somewhat to Harry’s 
+disappointment, it was Ginny who managed to find 
+Cho Chang and her friend first; however, by the end 
+of dinner he was confident that the news had been 
+passed to every one of the twenty-five people who had 
+turned up in the Hog’s Head. 
+
+
+
+Page | 497Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+At half-past seven Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the 
+Gryffindor common room, Harry clutching a certain 
+piece of aged parchment in his hand. Fifth years were 
+allowed to be out in the corridors until nine o’clock, 
+but all three of them kept looking around nervously 
+as they made their way up to the seventh floor. 
+
+“Hold it,” said Harry warningly, unfolding the piece of 
+parchment at the top of the last staircase, tapping it 
+with his wand, and muttering, “I solemnly swear that 
+I am up to no good.” 
+
+A map of Hogwarts appeared upon the blank surface 
+of the parchment. Tiny black moving dots, labeled 
+with names, showed where various people were. 
+
+“Filch is on the second floor,” said Harry, holding the 
+map close to his eyes and scanning it closely, “and 
+Mrs. Norris is on the fourth.” 
+
+“And Umbridge?” said Hermione anxiously. 
+
+“In her office,” said Harry, pointing. “Okay, let’s go.” 
+
+They hurried along the corridor to the place Dobby 
+had described to Harry, a stretch of blank wall 
+opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas 
+the Barmy’s foolish attempt to train trolls for the 
+ballet. 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry quietly, while a moth-eaten troll 
+paused in his relentless clubbing of the would-be 
+ballet teacher to watch. “Dobby said to walk past this 
+bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we 
+need.” 
+
+They did so, turning sharply at the window just 
+beyond the blank stretch of wall, then at the man-size 
+vase on its other side. Ron had screwed up his eyes in 
+
+Page | 498Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+concentration, Hermione was whispering something 
+under her breath, Harry’s fists were clenched as he 
+stared ahead of him. 
+
+We need somewhere to learn to fight... he thought. 
+
+Just give us a place to practice ... somewhere they 
+can’t find us ... 
+
+“Harry,” said Hermione sharply, as they wheeled 
+around after their third walk past. 
+
+A highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Ron 
+was staring at it, looking slightly wary. Harry reached 
+out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door, 
+and led the way into a spacious room lit with 
+flickering torches like those that illuminated the 
+dungeons eight floors below. 
+
+The walls were lined with wooden bookcases, and 
+instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the 
+floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room 
+carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, 
+Secrecy Sensors, and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that 
+Harry was sure had hung, the previous year, in the 
+fake Moody’s office. 
+
+“These will be good when we’re practicing Stunning,” 
+said Ron enthusiastically, prodding one of the 
+cushions with his foot. 
+
+“And just look at these books!” said Hermione 
+excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the 
+large leather-bound tomes. “A Compendium of 
+Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions ... The 
+Dark Arts Outsmarted ... Self-Defensive Spellwork ... 
+wow ...” She looked around at Harry, her face 
+glowing, and he saw that the presence of hundreds of 
+books had finally convinced Hermione that what they 
+
+
+
+Page | 499Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+were doing was right. “Harry, this is wonderful, 
+there’s everything we need here!” 
+
+And without further ado she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed 
+from its shelf, sank onto the nearest cushion, and 
+began to read. 
+
+There was a gentle knock on the door. Harry looked 
+around; Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean 
+had arrived. 
+
+“Whoa,” said Dean, staring around, impressed. “What 
+is this place?” 
+
+Harry began to explain, but before he had finished 
+more people had arrived, and he had to start all over 
+again. By the time eight o’clock arrived, every cushion 
+was occupied. Harry moved across to the door and 
+turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in 
+a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, 
+looking at him. Hermione carefully marked her page 
+of Jinxes for the Jinxed and set the book aside. 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, slightly nervously. “This is the 
+place we’ve found for practices, and you’ve — er — 
+obviously found it okay — ” 
+
+“It’s fantastic!” said Cho, and several people 
+murmured their agreement. 
+
+“It’s bizarre,” said Fred, frowning around at it. “We 
+once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it 
+was just a broom cupboard then...” 
+
+“Hey, Harry, what’s this stuff?” asked Dean from the 
+rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the 
+Foe-Glass. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Dark Detectors,” said Harry, stepping between the 
+cushions to reach them. “Basically they all show 
+when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you 
+don’t want to rely on them too much, they can be 
+fooled...” 
+
+He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass; 
+shadowy figures were moving around inside it, though 
+none was recognizable. He turned his back on it. 
+
+“Well, I’ve been thinking about the sort of stuff we 
+ought to do first and — er — ” He noticed a raised 
+hand. “What, Hermione?” 
+
+“I think we ought to elect a leader,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Harry’s leader,” said Cho at once, looking at 
+Hermione as though she were mad, and Harry’s 
+stomach did yet another back flip. 
+
+“Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly,” said 
+Hermione, unperturbed. “It makes it formal and it 
+gives him authority. So — everyone who thinks Harry 
+ought to be our leader?” 
+
+Everybody put up their hands, even Zacharias Smith, 
+though he did it very halfheartedly. 
+
+“Er — right, thanks,” said Harry, who could feel his 
+face burning. “And — what, Hermione?” 
+
+“I also think we ought to have a name,” she said 
+brightly, her hand still in the air. “It would promote a 
+feeling of team spirit and unity, don’t you think?” 
+
+“Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?” said Angelina 
+hopefully. 
+
+
+
+Page | 501Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?” 
+suggested Fred. 
+
+“I was thinking,” said Hermione, frowning at Fred, 
+“more of a name that didn’t tell everyone what we 
+were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside 
+meetings.” 
+
+“The Defense Association?” said Cho. “The D.A. for 
+short, so nobody knows what we’re talking about?” 
+
+“Yeah, the D.A.’s good,” said Ginny. “Only let’s make 
+it stand for Dumbledore’s Army because that’s the 
+Ministry’s worst fear, isn’t it?” 
+
+There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and 
+laughter at this. 
+
+“All in favor of the D.A.?” said Hermione bossily, 
+kneeling up on her cushion to count. “That’s a 
+majority — motion passed!” 
+
+She pinned the piece of paper with all of their names 
+on it on the wall and wrote DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY 
+across the top in large letters. 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, when she had sat down again, 
+“shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first 
+thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the 
+Disarming Charm. I know it’s pretty basic but I’ve 
+found it really useful — ” 
+
+“Oh please,” said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes 
+and folding his arms. “I don’t think Expelliarmus is 
+exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do 
+you?” 
+
+“I’ve used it against him,” said Harry quietly. “It saved 
+my life last June.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the 
+room was very quiet. 
+
+“But if you think it’s beneath you, you can leave,” 
+Harry said. 
+
+Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else. 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, his mouth slightly drier than 
+usual with all those eyes upon him, “I reckon we 
+should all divide into pairs and practice.” 
+
+It felt very odd to be issuing instructions, but not 
+nearly as odd as seeing them followed. Everybody got 
+to their feet at once and divided up. Predictably, 
+Neville was left partnerless. 
+
+“You can practice with me,” Harry told him. “Right — 
+on the count of three, then — one, two, three — ” 
+
+The room was suddenly full of shouts of 
+“Expelliarmusl”: Wands flew in all directions, missed 
+spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying into 
+the air. Harry was too quick for Neville, whose wand 
+went spinning out of his hand, hit the ceiling in a 
+shower of sparks, and landed with a clatter on top of 
+a bookshelf, from which Harry retrieved it with a 
+Summoning Charm. Glancing around he thought he 
+had been right to suggest that they practice the 
+basics first; there was a lot of shoddy spellwork going 
+on; many people were not succeeding in disarming 
+their opponents at all, but merely causing them to 
+jump backward a few paces or wince as the feeble 
+spell whooshed over them. 
+
+“Expelliarmusl” said Neville, and Harry, caught 
+unawares, felt his wand fly out of his hand. 
+
+
+
+Page | 503Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I DID IT!” said Neville gleefully. “I’ve never done it 
+before — I DID IT!” 
+
+
+
+“Good one!” said Harry encouragingly, deciding not to 
+point out that in a real duel situation Neville’s 
+opponent was unlikely to be staring in the opposite 
+direction with his wand held loosely at his side. 
+“Listen, Neville, can you take it in turns to practice 
+with Ron and Hermione for a couple of minutes so I 
+can walk around and see how the rest are doing?” 
+
+Harry moved off into the middle of the room. 
+Something very odd was happening to Zacharias 
+Smith; every time he opened his mouth to disarm 
+Anthony Goldstein, his own wand would fly out of his 
+hand, yet Anthony did not seem to be making a 
+sound. Harry did not have to look far for the solution 
+of the mystery, however; Fred and George were 
+several feet from Smith and taking it in turns to point 
+their wands at his back. 
+
+“Sorry, Harry,” said George hastily, when Harry 
+caught his eye. “Couldn’t resist ...” 
+
+Harry walked around the other pairs, trying to correct 
+those who were doing the spell wrong. Ginny was 
+teamed with Michael Corner; she was doing very well, 
+whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to 
+jinx her. Ernie Macmillan was flourishing his wand 
+unnecessarily, giving his partner time to get in under 
+his guard; the Creevey brothers were enthusiastic but 
+erratic and mainly responsible for all the books 
+leaping off the shelves around them. Luna Lovegood 
+was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin 
+Finch-Fletchley’s wand spinning out of his hand, at 
+other times merely causing his hair to stand on end. 
+
+“Okay, stop!” Harry shouted. “Stop\ STOP.” 
+
+Page | 504Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+I need a whistle, he thought, and immediately spotted 
+one lying on top of the nearest row of books. He 
+caught it up and blew hard. Everyone lowered their 
+wands. 
+
+“That wasn’t bad,” said Harry, “but there’s definite 
+room for improvement.” Zacharias Smith glared at 
+him. “Let’s try again...” 
+
+He moved off around the room again, stopping here 
+and there to make suggestions. Slowly the general 
+performance improved. He avoided going near Cho 
+and her friend for a while, but after walking twice 
+around every other pair in the room felt he could not 
+ignore them any longer. 
+
+“Oh no,” said Cho rather wildly as he approached. 
+
+“ Expelliarmiousl I mean, Exnellimellius\ I — oh, sorry, 
+Marietta!” 
+
+Her curly-haired friend’s sleeve had caught fire; 
+Marietta extinguished it with her own wand and 
+glared at Harry as though it was his fault. 
+
+“You made me nervous, I was doing all right before 
+then!” Cho told Harry ruefully. 
+
+“That was quite good,” Harry lied, but when she 
+raised her eyebrows he said, “Well, no, it was lousy, 
+but I know you can do it properly, I was watching 
+from over there...” 
+
+She laughed. Her friend Marietta looked at them 
+rather sourly and turned away. 
+
+“Don’t mind her,” Cho muttered. “She doesn’t really 
+want to be here but I made her come with me. Her 
+parents have forbidden her to do anything that might 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+upset Umbridge, you see — her mum works for the 
+Ministry.” 
+
+“What about your parents?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Well, they’ve forbidden me to get on the wrong side of 
+Umbridge too,” said Cho, drawing herself up proudly. 
+“But if they think I’m not going to fight You-Know- 
+Who after what happened to Cedric — ” 
+
+She broke off, looking rather confused, and an 
+awkward silence fell between them; Terry Boot’s wand 
+went whizzing past Harry’s ear and hit Alicia Spinnet 
+hard on the nose. 
+
+“Well, my father is very supportive of any anti- 
+Ministry action!” said Luna Lovegood proudly from 
+just behind Harry; evidently she had been 
+eavesdropping on his conversation while Justin 
+Finch-Fletchley attempted to disentangle himself from 
+the robes that had flown up over his head. “He’s 
+always saying he’d believe anything of Fudge, I mean, 
+the number of goblins Fudge has had assassinated! 
+And of course he uses the Department of Mysteries to 
+develop terrible poisons, which he feeds secretly to 
+anybody who disagrees with him. And then there’s his 
+Umgubular Slashkilter — ” 
+
+“Don’t ask,” Harry muttered to Cho as she opened her 
+mouth, looking puzzled. She giggled. 
+
+“Hey, Harry,” Hermione called from the other end of 
+the room, “have you checked the time?” 
+
+He looked down at his watch and received a shock — 
+it was already ten past nine, which meant they 
+needed to get back to their common rooms 
+immediately or risk being caught and punished by 
+Filch for being out-of-bounds. He blew his whistle; 
+Page | 506Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+everybody stopped shouting, “ Expelliarmusl” and the 
+last couple of wands clattered to the floor. 
+
+“Well, that was pretty good,” said Harry, “but we’ve 
+overrun, we’d better leave it here. Same time, same 
+place next week?” 
+
+“Sooner!” said Dean Thomas eagerly and many people 
+nodded in agreement. 
+
+Angelina, however, said quickly, “The Quidditch 
+season’s about to start, we need team practices too!” 
+
+“Let’s say next Wednesday night, then,” said Harry, 
+“and we can decide on additional meetings then... 
+Come on, we’d better get going...” 
+
+He pulled out the Marauder’s Map again and checked 
+it carefully for signs of teachers on the seventh floor. 
+He let them all leave in threes and fours, watching 
+their tiny dots anxiously to see that they returned 
+safely to their dormitories: the Hufflepuffs to the 
+basement corridor that also led to the kitchens, the 
+Ravenclaws to a tower on the west side of the castle, 
+and the Gryffindors along the corridor to the seventh 
+floor and the Fat Lady’s portrait. 
+
+“That was really, really good, Harry,” said Hermione, 
+when finally it was just her, Harry, and Ron left. 
+
+“Yeah, it was!” said Ron enthusiastically, as they 
+slipped out of the door and watched it melt back into 
+stone behind them. “Did you see me disarm 
+Hermione, Harry?” 
+
+“Only once,” said Hermione, stung. “I got you loads 
+more than you got me — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 507Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I did not only get you once, I got you at least three 
+times — ” 
+
+“Well, if you’re counting the one where you tripped 
+over your own feet and knocked the wand out of my 
+hand — ” 
+
+They argued all the way back to the common room, 
+but Harry was not listening to them. He had one eye 
+on the Marauder’s Map, but he was also thinking of 
+how Cho had said he made her nervous... 
+
+
+
+Page | 508Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LION AND THE SERPENT 
+
+Harry felt as though he were carrying some kind of 
+talisman inside his chest over the following two 
+weeks, a glowing secret that supported him through 
+Umbridge’s classes and even made it possible for him 
+to smile blandly as he looked into her horrible bulging 
+eyes. He and the D.A. were resisting her under her 
+very nose, doing the very thing that she and the 
+Ministry most feared, and whenever he was supposed 
+to be reading Wilbert Slinkhard’s book during her 
+lessons he dwelled instead on satisfying memories of 
+their most recent meetings, remembering how Neville 
+had successfully disarmed Hermione, how Colin 
+Creevey had mastered the Impediment Jinx after 
+three meetings’ hard effort, how Parvati Patil had 
+produced such a good Reductor Curse that she had 
+reduced the table carrying all the Sneakoscopes to 
+dust. 
+
+He was finding it almost impossible to fix a regular 
+night of the week for D.A. meetings, as they had to 
+accommodate three separate Quidditch teams’ 
+practices, which were often rearranged depending on 
+
+Page | 509Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+the weather conditions; but Harry was not sorry 
+about this, he had a feeling that it was probably 
+better to keep the timing of their meetings 
+unpredictable. If anyone was watching them, it would 
+be hard to make out a pattern. 
+
+Hermione soon devised a very clever method of 
+communicating the time and date of the next meeting 
+to all the members in case they needed to change it at 
+short notice, because it would look so suspicious if 
+people from different Houses were seen crossing the 
+Great Hall to talk to each other too often. She gave 
+each of the members of the D.A. a fake Galleon (Ron 
+became very excited when he saw the basket at first, 
+convinced that she was actually giving out gold). 
+
+“You see the numerals around the edge of the coins?” 
+Hermione said, holding one up for examination at the 
+end of their fourth meeting. The coin gleamed fat and 
+yellow in the light from the torches. “On real Galleons 
+that’s just a serial number referring to the goblin who 
+cast the coin. On these fake coins, though, the 
+numbers will change to reflect the time and date of 
+the next meeting. The coins will grow hot when the 
+date changes, so if you’re carrying them in a pocket 
+you’ll be able to feel them. We take one each, and 
+when Harry sets the date of the next meeting he’ll 
+change the numbers on his coin, and because I’ve put 
+a Protean Charm on them, they’ll all change to mimic 
+his.” 
+
+A blank silence greeted Hermione ’s words. She looked 
+around at all the faces upturned to her, rather 
+disconcerted. 
+
+“Well — I thought it was a good idea,” she said 
+uncertainly, “I mean, even if Umbridge asked us to 
+turn out our pockets, there’s nothing fishy about 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+carrying a Galleon, is there? But ... well, if you don’t 
+want to use them ...” 
+
+“You can do a Protean Charm?” said Terry Boot. 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione. 
+
+“But that’s ... that’s N.E.W.T. standard, that is,” he 
+said weakly. 
+
+“Oh,” said Hermione, trying to look modest. “Oh ... 
+well ... yes, I suppose it is...” 
+
+“How come you’re not in Ravenclaw?” he demanded, 
+staring at Hermione with something close to wonder. 
+“With brains like yours?” 
+
+“Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting 
+me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting,” said Hermione 
+brightly, “but it decided on Gryffindor in the end. So 
+does that mean we’re using the Galleons?” 
+
+There was a murmur of assent and everybody moved 
+forward to collect one from the basket. Harry looked 
+sideways at Hermione. 
+
+“You know what these remind me of?” 
+
+“No, what’s that?” 
+
+“The Death Eaters’ scars. Voldemort touches one of 
+them, and all their scars burn, and they know they’ve 
+got to join him.” 
+
+“Well ... yes,” said Hermione quietly. “That is where I 
+got the idea ... but you’ll notice I decided to engrave 
+the date on bits of metal rather than on our members’ 
+skin...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yeah ... I prefer your way,” said Harry, grinning, as 
+he slipped his Galleon into his pocket. “I suppose the 
+only danger with these is that we might accidentally 
+spend them.” 
+
+“Fat chance,” said Ron, who was examining his own 
+fake Galleon with a slightly mournful air. “I haven’t 
+got any real Galleons to confuse it with.” 
+
+As the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor 
+versus Slytherin, drew nearer, their D.A. meetings 
+were put on hold because Angelina insisted on almost 
+daily practices. The fact that the Quidditch Cup had 
+not been held for so long added considerably to the 
+interest and excitement surrounding the forthcoming 
+game. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were taking a 
+lively interest in the outcome, for they, of course, 
+would be playing both teams over the coming year; 
+and the Heads of House of the competing teams, 
+though they attempted to disguise it under a decent 
+pretense of sportsmanship, were determined to see 
+their side’s victory. Harry realized how much 
+Professor McGonagall cared about beating Slytherin 
+when she abstained from giving them homework in 
+the week leading up to the match. 
+
+“I think you’ve got enough to be getting on with at the 
+moment,” she said loftily. Nobody could quite believe 
+their ears until she looked directly at Harry and Ron 
+and said grimly, “I’ve become accustomed to seeing 
+the Quidditch Cup in my study, boys, and I really 
+don’t want to have to hand it over to Professor Snape, 
+so use the extra time to practice, won’t you?” 
+
+Snape was no less obviously partisan: He had booked 
+the Quidditch pitch for Slytherin practice so often 
+that the Gryffindors had difficulty getting on it to 
+play. He was also turning a deaf ear to the many 
+reports of Slytherin attempts to hex Gryffindor 
+Page | 512Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+players in the corridors. When Alicia Spinnet turned 
+up in the hospital wing with her eyebrows growing so 
+thick and fast that they obscured her vision and 
+obstructed her mouth, Snape insisted that she must 
+have attempted a Hair-Thickening Charm on herself 
+and refused to listen to the fourteen eyewitnesses who 
+insisted that they had seen the Slytherin Keeper, 
+
+Miles Bletchley, hit her from behind with a jinx while 
+she worked in the library. 
+
+Harry felt optimistic about Gryffindor’s chances; they 
+had, after all, never lost to Malfoy’s team. Admittedly 
+Ron was still not performing to Wood’s standard, but 
+he was working extremely hard to improve. His 
+greatest weakness was a tendency to lose confidence 
+when he made a blunder; if he let in one goal he 
+became flustered and was therefore likely to miss 
+more. On the other hand, Harry had seen Ron make 
+some truly spectacular saves when he was on form: 
+During one memorable practice, he had hung one- 
+handed from his broom and kicked the Quaffle so 
+hard away from the goal hoop that it soared the 
+length of the pitch and through the center hoop at the 
+other end. The rest of the team felt this save 
+compared favorably with one made recently by Barry 
+Ryan, the Irish International Keeper, against Poland’s 
+top Chaser, Ladislaw Zamojski. Even Fred had said 
+that Ron might yet make him and George proud, and 
+that they were seriously considering admitting that he 
+was related to them, something he assured Ron they 
+had been trying to deny for four years. 
+
+The only thing really worrying Harry was how much 
+Ron was allowing the tactics of the Slytherin team to 
+upset him before they even got onto the pitch. Harry, 
+of course, had endured their snide comments for 
+more than four years, so whispers of, “Hey, Potty, I 
+heard Warrington’s sworn to knock you off your 
+broom on Saturday,” far from chilling his blood, made 
+Page | 513Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+him laugh. “Warrington’s aim’s so pathetic I’d be 
+more worried if he was aiming for the person next to 
+me,” he retorted, which made Ron and Hermione 
+laugh and wiped the smirk off Pansy Parkinson’s face. 
+
+But Ron had never endured a relentless campaign of 
+insults, jeers, and intimidation. When Slytherins, 
+some of them seventh years and considerably larger 
+than he was, muttered as they passed in the 
+corridors, “Got your bed booked in the hospital wing, 
+Weasley?” he did not laugh, but turned a delicate 
+shade of green. When Draco Malfoy imitated Ron 
+dropping the Quaffle (which he did whenever they 
+were within sight of each other), Ron’s ears glowed 
+red and his hands shook so badly that he was likely 
+to drop whatever he was holding at the time too. 
+
+October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds 
+and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen 
+iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts 
+that bit at exposed hands and faces. The skies and 
+the ceiling of the Great Hall turned a pale, pearly 
+gray, the mountains around Hogwarts became 
+snowcapped, and the temperature in the castle 
+dropped so far that many students wore their thick 
+protective dragon skin gloves in the corridors between 
+lessons. 
+
+The morning of the match dawned bright and cold. 
+When Harry awoke he looked around at Ron’s bed 
+and saw him sitting bolt upright, his arms around his 
+knees, staring fixedly into space. 
+
+“You all right?” said Harry. 
+
+Ron nodded but did not speak. Harry was reminded 
+forcibly of the time that Ron had accidentally put a 
+slug- vomiting charm on himself. He looked just as 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+pale and sweaty as he had done then, not to mention 
+as reluctant to open his mouth. 
+
+
+
+“You just need some breakfast,” Harry said bracingly. 
+“C’mon.” 
+
+The Great Hall was filling up fast when they arrived, 
+the talk louder and the mood more exuberant than 
+usual. As they passed the Slytherin table there was 
+an upsurge of noise; Harry looked around and saw 
+that nearly everyone there was wearing, in addition to 
+the usual green-and-silver scarves and hats, silver 
+badges in the shape of what seemed to be crowns. For 
+some reason many of them waved at Ron, laughing 
+uproariously. Harry tried to see what was written on 
+the badges as he walked by, but he was too 
+concerned to get Ron past their table quickly to linger 
+long enough to read them. 
+
+They received a rousing welcome at the Gryffindor 
+table, where everyone was wearing red and gold, but 
+far from raising Ron’s spirits the cheers seemed to 
+sap the last of his morale; he collapsed onto the 
+nearest bench looking as though he were facing his 
+final meal. 
+
+“I must’ve been mental to do this,” he said in a croaky 
+whisper. “Mental.” 
+
+“Don’t be thick,” said Harry firmly, passing him a 
+choice of cereals. “You’re going to be fine. It’s normal 
+to be nervous.” 
+
+“I’m rubbish,” croaked Ron. “I’m lousy. I can’t play to 
+save my life. What was I thinking?” 
+
+“Get a grip,” said Harry sternly. “Look at that save 
+you made with your foot the other day, even Fred and 
+George said it was brilliant — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+Ron turned a tortured face to Harry. 
+
+
+
+“That was an accident,” he whispered miserably. “I 
+didn’t mean to do it — I slipped off my broom when 
+none of you were looking and I was trying to get back 
+on and I kicked the Quaffle by accident.” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, recovering quickly from this 
+unpleasant surprise, “a few more accidents like that 
+and the game’s in the bag, isn’t it?” 
+
+Hermione and Ginny sat down opposite them wearing 
+red-and-gold scarves, gloves, and rosettes. 
+
+“How’re you feeling?” Ginny asked Ron, who was now 
+staring into the dregs of milk at the bottom of his 
+empty cereal bowl as though seriously considering 
+attempting to drown himself in them. 
+
+“He’s just nervous,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, that’s a good sign, I never feel you perform as 
+well in exams if you’re not a bit nervous,” said 
+Hermione heartily. 
+
+“Hello,” said a vague and dreamy voice from behind 
+them. Harry looked up: Luna Lovegood had drifted 
+over from the Ravenclaw table. Many people were 
+staring at her and a few openly laughing and 
+pointing; she had managed to procure a hat shaped 
+like a life-size lion’s head, which was perched 
+precariously on her head. 
+
+“I’m supporting Gryffindor,” said Luna, pointing 
+unnecessarily at her hat. “Look what it does...” 
+
+She reached up and tapped the hat with her wand. It 
+opened its mouth wide and gave an extremely realistic 
+roar that made everyone in the vicinity jump. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s good, isn’t it?” said Luna happily. “I wanted to 
+have it chewing up a serpent to represent Slytherin, 
+you know, but there wasn’t time. Anyway ... good 
+luck, Ronald!” 
+
+She drifted away. They had not quite recovered from 
+the shock of Luna’s hat before Angelina came 
+hurrying toward them, accompanied by Katie and 
+Alicia, whose eyebrows had mercifully been returned 
+to normal by Madam Pomfrey. 
+
+“When you’re ready,” she said, “we’re going to go 
+straight down to the pitch, check out conditions and 
+change.” 
+
+“We’ll be there in a bit,” Harry assured her. “Ron’s 
+just got to have some breakfast.” 
+
+It became clear after ten minutes, however, that Ron 
+was not capable of eating anything more and Harry 
+thought it best to get him down to the changing 
+rooms. As they rose from the table, Hermione got up 
+too, and taking Harry’s arm, she drew him to one 
+side. 
+
+“Don’t let Ron see what’s on those Slytherins’ 
+badges,” she whispered urgently. 
+
+Harry looked questioningly at her, but she shook her 
+head warningly; Ron had just ambled over to them, 
+looking lost and desperate. 
+
+“Good luck, Ron,” said Hermione, standing on tiptoe 
+and kissing him on the cheek. “And you, Harry — ” 
+
+Ron seemed to come to himself slightly as they 
+walked back across the Great Hall. He touched the 
+spot on his face where Hermione had kissed him, 
+looking puzzled, as though he was not quite sure 
+
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+
+
+
+what had just happened. He seemed too distracted to 
+notice much around him, but Harry cast a curious 
+glance at the crown-shaped badges as they passed 
+the Slytherin table, and this time he made out the 
+words etched onto them: 
+
+WEASLEY 
+
+IS OUR KING 
+
+With an unpleasant feeling that this could mean 
+nothing good, he hurried Ron across the entrance 
+hall, down the stone steps, and out into the icy air. 
+
+The frosty grass crunched under their feet as they 
+hurried down the sloping lawns toward the stadium. 
+There was no wind at all and the sky was a uniform 
+pearly white, which meant that visibility would be 
+good without the drawback of direct sunlight in the 
+eyes. Harry pointed out these encouraging factors to 
+Ron as they walked, but he was not sure that Ron 
+was listening. 
+
+Angelina had changed already and was talking to the 
+rest of the team when they entered. Harry and Ron 
+pulled on their robes (Ron attempted to do his up 
+back-to-front for several minutes before Alicia took 
+pity on him and went to help) and then sat down to 
+listen to the pre-match talk while the babble of voices 
+outside grew steadily louder as the crowd came 
+pouring out of the castle toward the pitch. 
+
+“Okay, Eve only just found out the final lineup for 
+Slytherin,” said Angelina, consulting a piece of 
+parchment. “Last year’s Beaters, Derrick and Bole, 
+have left now, but it looks as though Montague’s 
+replaced them with the usual gorillas, rather than 
+anyone who can fly particularly well. They’re two 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+blokes called Crabbe and Goyle, I don’t know much 
+about them — ” 
+
+“We do,” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+“Well, they don’t look bright enough to tell one end of 
+a broom from another,” said Angelina, pocketing her 
+parchment, “but then I was always surprised Derrick 
+and Bole managed to find their way onto the pitch 
+without signposts.” 
+
+“Crabbe and Goyle are in the same mold,” Harry 
+assured her. 
+
+They could hear hundreds of footsteps mounting the 
+banked benches of the spectators’ stands now. Some 
+people were singing, though Harry could not make 
+out the words. He was starting to feel nervous, but he 
+knew his butterflies were as nothing to Ron’s, who 
+was clutching his stomach and staring straight ahead 
+again, his jaw set and his complexion pale gray. 
+
+“It’s time,” said Angelina in a hushed voice, looking at 
+her watch. “C’mon everyone ... good luck.” 
+
+The team rose, shouldered their brooms, and 
+marched in single file out of the changing room and 
+into the dazzling sunlight. A roar of sound greeted 
+them in which Harry could still hear singing, though 
+it was muffled by the cheers and whistles. 
+
+The Slytherin team were standing waiting for them. 
+They too were wearing those silver crown-shaped 
+badges. The new captain, Montague, was built along 
+the same lines as Dudley, with massive forearms like 
+hairy hams. Behind him lurked Crabbe and Goyle, 
+almost as large, blinking stupidly in the sunlight, 
+swinging their new Beaters’ bats. Malfoy stood to one 
+side, the sunlight gleaming on his white-blond head. 
+Page | 519Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He caught Harry’s eye and smirked, tapping the 
+crown-shaped badge on his chest. 
+
+“Captains shake hands,” ordered the umpire, Madam 
+Hooch, as Angelina and Montague reached each 
+other. Harry could tell that Montague was trying to 
+crush Angelina’s fingers, though she did not wince. 
+“Mount your brooms...” 
+
+Madam Hooch placed her whistle in her mouth and 
+blew. 
+
+The balls were released and the fourteen players shot 
+upward; out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Ron 
+streak off toward the goal hoops. He zoomed higher, 
+dodging a Bludger, and set off on a wide lap of the 
+pitch, gazing around for a glint of gold; on the other 
+side of the stadium, Draco Malfoy was doing exactly 
+the same. 
+
+“And it’s Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle, what a 
+player that girl is, I’ve been saying it for years but she 
+still won’t go out with me — ” 
+
+“JORDAN!” yelled Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest — 
+and she’s ducked Warrington, she’s passed 
+Montague, she’s — ouch — been hit from behind by a 
+Bludger from Crabbe... Montague catches the Quaffle, 
+Montague heading back up the pitch and — nice 
+Bludger there from George Weasley, that’s a Bludger 
+to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, 
+caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse 
+passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet’s away — ” 
+
+Lee Jordan’s commentary rang through the stadium 
+and Harry listened as hard as he could through the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+wind whistling in his ears and the din of the crowd, 
+all yelling and booing and singing — 
+
+“ — dodges Warrington, avoids a Bludger — close call, 
+Alicia — and the crowd are loving this, just listen to 
+them, what’s that they’re singing?” 
+
+And as Lee paused to listen the song rose loud and 
+clear from the sea of green and silver in the Slytherin 
+section of the stands: 
+
+Weasley cannot save a thing, 
+
+He cannot block a single ring, 
+
+That’s why Slytherins all sing: 
+
+Weasley is our King. 
+
+Weasley was born in a bin, 
+
+He always lets the Quaffle in, 
+
+Weasley will make sure we win, 
+
+Weasley is our King. 
+
+“ — and Alicia passes back to Angelina!” Lee shouted, 
+and as Harry swerved, his insides boiling at what he 
+had just heard, he knew Lee was trying to drown out 
+the sound of the singing. “Come on now, Angelina — 
+looks like she’s got just the Keeper to beat! — SHE 
+SHOOTS — SHE — aaaah ...” 
+
+Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper, had saved the goal; 
+he threw the Quaffle to Warrington who sped off with 
+it, zigzagging in between Alicia and Katie; the singing 
+from below grew louder and louder as he drew nearer 
+and nearer Ron — 
+
+Weasley is our King, 
+
+Weasley is our King, 
+
+He always lets the Quaffle in, 
+
+Weasley is our King. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry could not help himself: Abandoning his search 
+for the Snitch, he turned his Firebolt toward Ron, a 
+lone figure at the far end of the pitch, hovering before 
+the three goal hoops while the massive Warrington 
+pelted toward him ... 
+
+“ — and it’s Warrington with the Quaffle, Warrington 
+heading for goal, he’s out of Bludger range with just 
+the Keeper ahead — ” 
+
+A great swell of song rose from the Slytherin stands 
+below: 
+
+Weasley cannot save a thing, 
+
+He cannot block a single ring . . . 
+
+“ — so it’s the first test for new Gryffindor Keeper, 
+Weasley, brother of Beaters, Fred and George, and a 
+promising new talent on the team — come on, Ron!” 
+
+But the scream of delight came from the Slytherin 
+end: Ron had dived wildly, his arms wide, and the 
+Quaffle had soared between them, straight through 
+Ron’s central hoop. 
+
+“Slytherin score!” came Lee’s voice amid the cheering 
+and booing from the crowds below. “So that’s ten-nil 
+to Slytherin — bad luck, Ron ...” 
+
+The Slytherins sang even louder: 
+
+WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN, 
+
+HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN ... 
+
+“ — and Gryffindor back in possession and it’s Katie 
+Bell tanking up the pitch — ” cried Lee valiantly, 
+though the singing was now so deafening that he 
+could hardly make himself heard above it. 
+
+
+
+Page | 522Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN, 
+
+WEASLEY IS OUR KING . . . 
+
+“Harry, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” screamed Angelina, 
+soaring past him to keep up with Katie. “GET 
+GOING!” 
+
+Harry realized that he had been stationary in midair 
+for more than a minute, watching the progress of the 
+match without sparing a thought for the whereabouts 
+of the Snitch; horrified, he went into a dive and 
+started circling the pitch again, staring around, trying 
+to ignore the chorus now thundering through the 
+stadium: 
+
+WEASLEY IS OUR KING, 
+
+WEASLEY IS OUR KING . . . 
+
+There was no sign of the Snitch anywhere he looked; 
+Malfoy was still circling the stadium just like Harry. 
+They passed midway around the pitch going in 
+opposite directions and Harry heard Malfoy singing 
+loudly, 
+
+WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN . . . 
+
+“ — and it’s Warrington again,” bellowed Lee, “who 
+passes to Pucey, Pucey’s off past Spinnet, come on 
+now Angelina, you can take him — turns out you 
+can’t — but nice Bludger from Fred Weasley, I mean, 
+George Weasley, oh who cares, one of them anyway, 
+and Warrington drops the Quaffle and Katie Bell — er 
+— drops it too — so that’s Montague with the Quaffle, 
+Slytherin Captain Montague takes the Quaffle, and 
+he’s off up the pitch, come on now Gryffindor, block 
+him!” 
+
+Harry zoomed around the end of the stadium behind 
+the Slytherin goal hoops, willing himself not to look at 
+
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+
+
+
+
+what was going on at Ron’s end; as he sped past the 
+Slytherin Keeper, he heard Bletchley singing along 
+with the crowd below, 
+
+WEASLEY CANNOT SAVE A THING . . . 
+
+“ — and Pucey’s dodged Alicia again, and he’s heading 
+straight for goal, stop it, Ron!” 
+
+Harry did not have to look to see what had happened: 
+There was a terrible groan from the Gryffindor end, 
+coupled with fresh screams and applause from the 
+Slytherins. Looking down, Harry saw the pug-faced 
+Pansy Parkinson right at the front of the stands, her 
+back to the pitch as she conducted the Slytherin 
+supporters who were roaring: 
+
+THAT’S WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING: 
+
+WEASLEY IS OUR KING. 
+
+But twenty-nil was nothing, there was still time for 
+Gryffindor to catch up or catch the Snitch, a few goals 
+and they would be in the lead as usual, Harry 
+assured himself, bobbing and weaving through the 
+other players in pursuit of something shiny that 
+turned out to be Montague’s watch strap... 
+
+But Ron let in two more goals. There was an edge of 
+panic in Harry’s desire to find the Snitch now. If he 
+could just get it soon and finish the game quickly ... 
+
+“ — and Katie Bell of Gryffindor dodges Pucey, ducks 
+Montague, nice swerve, Katie, and she throws to 
+Johnson, Angelina Johnson takes the Quaffle, she’s 
+past Warrington, she’s heading for goal, come on now 
+Angelina — GRYFFINDOR SCORE! It’s forty-ten, forty- 
+ten to Slytherin and Pucey has the Quaffle...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry could hear Luna’s ludicrous lion hat roaring 
+amidst the Gryffindor cheers and felt heartened; only 
+thirty points in it, that was nothing, they could pull 
+back easily. Harry ducked a Bludger that Crabbe had 
+sent rocketing in his direction and resumed his 
+frantic scouring of the pitch for the Snitch, keeping 
+one eye on Malfoy in case he showed signs of having 
+spotted it, but Malfoy, like him, was continuing to 
+soar around the stadium, searching fruitlessly . . . 
+
+“ — Pucey throws to Warrington, Warrington to 
+Montague, Montague back to Pucey — Johnson 
+intervenes, Johnson takes the Quaffle, Johnson to 
+Bell, this looks good — I mean bad — Bell’s hit by a 
+Bludger from Goyle of Slytherin and it’s Pucey in 
+possession again ...” 
+
+WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN, 
+
+HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN, 
+
+WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN — 
+
+But Harry had seen it at last: The tiny fluttering 
+Golden Snitch was hovering feet from the ground at 
+the Slytherin end of the pitch. 
+
+He dived... 
+
+In a matter of seconds, Malfoy was streaking out of 
+the sky on Harry’s left, a green-and-silver blur lying 
+flat on his broom... 
+
+The Snitch skirted the foot of one of the goal hoops 
+and scooted off toward the other side of the stands; 
+its change of direction suited Malfoy, who was nearer. 
+Harry pulled his Firebolt around, he and Malfoy were 
+now neck and neck . . . 
+
+
+
+Page | 525Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Feet from the ground, Harry lifted his right hand from 
+his broom, stretching toward the Snitch ... to his 
+right, Malfoy’s arm extended too, reaching, groping ... 
+
+It was over in two breathless, desperate, windswept 
+seconds — Harry’s fingers closed around the tiny, 
+struggling ball — Malfoy’s fingernails scrabbled the 
+back of Harry’s hand hopelessly — Harry pulled his 
+broom upward, holding the struggling ball in his 
+hand and the Gryffindor spectators screamed their 
+approval... 
+
+They were saved, it did not matter that Ron had let in 
+those goals, nobody would remember as long as 
+Gryffindor had won — 
+
+WHAM 
+
+A Bludger hit Harry squarely in the small of the back 
+and he flew forward off his broom; luckily he was only 
+five or six feet above the ground, having dived so low 
+to catch the Snitch, but he was winded all the same 
+as he landed flat on his back on the frozen pitch. He 
+heard Madam Hooch’s shrill whistle, an uproar in the 
+stands compounded of catcalls, angry yells and 
+jeering, a thud, then Angelina’s frantic voice. 
+
+“Are you all right?” 
+
+“ ’Course I am,” said Harry grimly, taking her hand 
+and allowing her to pull him to his feet. Madam 
+Hooch was zooming toward one of the Slytherin 
+players above him, though he could not see who it 
+was at this angle. 
+
+“It was that thug, Crabbe,” said Angelina angrily. “He 
+whacked the Bludger at you the moment he saw you’d 
+got the Snitch — but we won, Harry, we won!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry heard a snort from behind him and turned 
+around, still holding the Snitch tightly in his hand: 
+Draco Malfoy had landed close by; white-faced with 
+fury, he was still managing to sneer. 
+
+“Saved Weasley’s neck, haven’t you?” he said to 
+Harry. “I’ve never seen a worse Keeper ... but then he 
+was born in a bin... Did you like my lyrics, Potter?” 
+
+Harry did not answer; he turned away to meet the 
+rest of the team who were now landing one by one, 
+yelling and punching the air in triumph, all except 
+Ron, who had dismounted from his broom over by the 
+goalposts and was making his way slowly back to the 
+changing rooms alone. 
+
+“We wanted to write another couple of verses!” Malfoy 
+called, as Katie and Alicia hugged Harry. “But we 
+couldn’t find rhymes for fat and ugly — we wanted to 
+sing about his mother, see — ” 
+
+“Talk about sour grapes,” said Angelina, casting 
+Malfoy a disgusted look. 
+
+“ — we couldn’t fit in useless loser either — for his 
+father, you know — ” 
+
+Fred and George had realized what Malfoy was talking 
+about. Halfway through shaking Harry’s hand they 
+stiffened, looking around at Malfoy. 
+
+“Leave it,” said Angelina at once, taking Fred by the 
+arm. “Leave it, Fred, let him yell, he’s just sore he 
+lost, the jumped-up little — ” 
+
+“ — but you like the Weasleys, don’t you, Potter?” said 
+Malfoy, sneering. “Spend holidays there and 
+everything, don’t you? Can’t see how you stand the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+stink, but I suppose when you’ve been dragged up by 
+Muggles even the Weasleys’ hovel smells okay — ” 
+
+Harry grabbed hold of George; meanwhile it was 
+taking the combined efforts of Angelina, Alicia, and 
+Katie to stop Fred leaping on Malfoy, who was 
+laughing openly. Harry looked around for Madam 
+Hooch, but she was still berating Crabbe for his illegal 
+Bludger attack. 
+
+“Or perhaps,” said Malfoy, leering as he backed away, 
+“you can remember what your mother’s house stank 
+like, Potter, and Weasley’s pigsty reminds you of it — ” 
+
+Harry was not aware of releasing George, all he knew 
+was that a second later both of them were sprinting at 
+Malfoy. He had completely forgotten the fact that all 
+the teachers were watching: All he wanted to do was 
+cause Malfoy as much pain as possible. With no time 
+to draw out his wand, he merely drew back the fist 
+clutching the Snitch and sank it as hard as he could 
+into Malfoy’s stomach — 
+
+“Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! 1VO!” 
+
+He could hear girls’ voices screaming, Malfoy yelling, 
+George swearing, a whistle blowing, and the bellowing 
+of the crowd around him, but he did not care, not 
+until somebody in the vicinity yelled “ IMPEDIMENTA !” 
+and only when he was knocked over backward by the 
+force of the spell did he abandon the attempt to 
+punch every inch of Malfoy he could reach... 
+
+“What do you think you’re doing?” screamed Madam 
+Hooch, as Harry leapt to his feet again; it was she 
+who had hit him with the Impediment Jinx. She was 
+holding her whistle in one hand and a wand in the 
+other, her broom lay abandoned several feet away. 
+Malfoy was curled up on the ground, whimpering and 
+Page | 528Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+moaning, his nose bloody; George was sporting a 
+swollen lip; Fred was still being forcibly restrained by 
+the three Chasers, and Crabbe was cackling in the 
+background. “I’ve never seen behavior like it — back 
+up to the castle, both of you, and straight to your 
+Head of House’s office! Go! Now\” 
+
+Harry and George marched off the pitch, both 
+panting, neither saying a word to each other. The 
+howling and jeering of the crowd grew fainter and 
+fainter until they reached the entrance hall, where 
+they could hear nothing except the sound of their own 
+footsteps. Harry became aware that something was 
+still struggling in his right hand, the knuckles of 
+which he had bruised against Malfoy’s jaw; looking 
+down he saw the Snitch’s silver wings protruding 
+from between his fingers, struggling for release. 
+
+They had barely reached the door of Professor 
+McGonagall’s office when she came marching along 
+the corridor behind them. She was wearing a 
+Gryffindor scarf, but tore it from her throat with 
+shaking hands as she strode toward them, looking 
+livid. 
+
+“In!” she said furiously, pointing to the door. Harry 
+and George entered. She strode around behind her 
+desk and faced them, quivering with rage as she 
+threw the Gryffindor scarf aside onto the floor. 
+
+“Well?” she said. “I have never seen such a disgraceful 
+exhibition. Two onto one! Explain yourselves!” 
+
+“Malfoy provoked us,” said Harry stiffly. 
+
+“Provoked you?” shouted Professor McGonagall, 
+slamming a fist onto her desk so that her tartan 
+biscuit tin slid sideways off it and burst open, littering 
+the floor with Ginger Newts. “He’d just lost, hadn’t he, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+of course he wanted to provoke you! But what on 
+earth he can have said that justified what you two — ” 
+
+“He insulted my parents,” snarled George. “And 
+Harry’s mother.” 
+
+“But instead of leaving it to Madam Hooch to sort out, 
+you two decided to give an exhibition of Muggle 
+dueling, did you?” bellowed Professor McGonagall. 
+“Have you any idea what you’ve — ?” 
+
+“Hem, hem.” 
+
+George and Harry both spun around. Dolores 
+Umbridge was standing in the doorway wrapped in a 
+green tweed cloak that greatly enhanced her 
+resemblance to a giant toad, and smiling in the 
+horribly sickly, ominous way that Harry had come to 
+associate with imminent misery. 
+
+“May I help, Professor McGonagall?” asked Professor 
+Umbridge in her most poisonously sweet voice. 
+
+Blood rushed into Professor McGonagall’s face. 
+
+“Help?” she repeated in a constricted voice. “What do 
+you mean, ‘help’?” 
+
+Professor Umbridge moved forward into the office, still 
+smiling her sickly smile. 
+
+“Why, I thought you might be grateful for a little extra 
+authority.” 
+
+Harry would not have been surprised to see sparks fly 
+from Professor McGonagall’s nostrils. 
+
+“You thought wrong,” she said, turning her back on 
+Umbridge. “Now, you two had better listen closely. I 
+
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+
+
+
+
+do not care what provocation Malfoy offered you, I do 
+not care if he insulted every family member you 
+possess, your behavior was disgusting and I am 
+giving each of you a week’s worth of detention! Do not 
+look at me like that, Potter, you deserve it! And if 
+either of you ever — ” 
+
+“Hem, hem.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall closed her eyes as though 
+praying for patience as she turned her face toward 
+Professor Umbridge again. 
+
+“ Yes?” 
+
+“I think they deserve rather more than detentions,” 
+said Umbridge, smiling still more broadly. 
+
+Professor McGonagall’s eyes flew open. “But 
+unfortunately,” she said, with an attempt at a 
+reciprocal smile that made her look as though she 
+had lockjaw, “it is what I think that counts, as they 
+are in my House, Dolores.” 
+
+“Well, actually, Minerva,” simpered Umbridge, “I think 
+you’ll find that what I think does count. Now, where 
+is it? Cornelius just sent it... I mean,” she gave a little 
+false laugh as she rummaged in her handbag, “the 
+Minister just sent it... Ah yes ...” 
+
+She had pulled out a piece of parchment that she now 
+unfurled, clearing her throat fussily before starting to 
+read what it said. 
+
+“Hem, hem ... ‘Educational Decree Number Twenty- 
+five ...’” 
+
+“Not another one!” exclaimed Professor McGonagall 
+violently. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, yes,” said Umbridge, still smiling. “As a matter 
+of fact, Minerva, it was you who made me see that we 
+needed a further amendment... You remember how 
+you overrode me, when I was unwilling to allow the 
+Gryffindor Quidditch team to re-form? How you took 
+the case to Dumbledore, who insisted that the team 
+be allowed to play? Well, now, I couldn’t have that. I 
+contacted the Minister at once, and he quite agreed 
+with me that the High Inquisitor has to have the 
+power to strip pupils of privileges, or she — that is to 
+say, I — would have less authority than common 
+teachers! And you see now, don’t you, Minerva, how 
+right I was in attempting to stop the Gryffindor team 
+re-forming? Dreadful tempers . . . Anyway, I was 
+reading out our amendment ... hem, hem ... The High 
+Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority 
+over all punishments, sanctions, and removal of 
+privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and 
+the power to alter such punishments, sanctions, and 
+removals of privileges as may have been ordered by 
+other staff members. Signed, Cornelius Fudge, 
+Minister of Magic, Order of Merlin First Class, etc., 
+etc...’” 
+
+She rolled up the parchment and put it back into her 
+handbag, still smiling. 
+
+“So ... I really think I will have to ban these two from 
+playing Quidditch ever again,” she said, looking from 
+Harry to George and back again. 
+
+Harry felt the Snitch fluttering madly in his hand. 
+
+“Ban us?” he said, and his voice sounded strangely 
+distant. “From playing ... ever again?” 
+
+“Yes, Mr. Potter, I think a lifelong ban ought to do the 
+trick,” said Umbridge, her smile widening still further 
+as she watched him struggle to comprehend what she 
+
+Page | 532Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had said. “You and Mr. Weasley here. And I think, to 
+be safe, this young man’s twin ought to be stopped 
+too — if his teammates had not restrained him, I feel 
+sure he would have attacked young Mr. Malfoy as 
+well. I will want their broomsticks confiscated, of 
+course; I shall keep them safely in my office, to make 
+sure there is no infringement of my ban. But I am not 
+unreasonable, Professor McGonagall,” she continued, 
+turning back to Professor McGonagall who was now 
+standing as still as though carved from ice, staring at 
+her. “The rest of the team can continue playing, I saw 
+no signs of violence from any of them. Well ... good 
+afternoon to you.” And with a look of the utmost 
+satisfaction Umbridge left the room, leaving a 
+horrified silence in her wake. 
+
+“Banned,” said Angelina in a hollow voice, late that 
+evening in the common room. “ Banned . No Seeker 
+and no Beaters . . . What on earth are we going to do?” 
+
+It did not feel as though they had won the match at 
+all. Everywhere Harry looked there were disconsolate 
+and angry faces; the team themselves were slumped 
+around the fire, all apart from Ron, who had not been 
+seen since the end of the match. 
+
+“It’s just so unfair,” said Alicia numbly. “I mean, what 
+about Crabbe and that Bludger he hit after the 
+whistle had been blown? Has she banned him?” 
+
+“No,” said Ginny miserably; she and Hermione were 
+sitting on either side of Harry. “He just got lines, I 
+heard Montague laughing about it at dinner.” 
+
+“And banning Fred when he didn’t even do anything!” 
+said Alicia furiously, pummeling her knee with her 
+fist. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s not my fault I didn’t,” said Fred, with a very ugly 
+look on his face. “I would’ve pounded the little 
+scumbag to a pulp if you three hadn’t been holding 
+me back.” 
+
+Harry stared miserably at the dark window. Snow was 
+falling. The Snitch he had caught earlier was now 
+zooming around and around the common room; 
+people were watching its progress as though 
+hypnotized and Crookshanks was leaping from chair 
+to chair, trying to catch it. 
+
+“I’m going to bed,” said Angelina, getting slowly to her 
+feet. 
+
+“Maybe this will all turn out to have been a bad 
+dream... Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and find we 
+haven’t played yet...” 
+
+She was soon followed by Alicia and Katie. Fred and 
+George sloped off to bed some time later, glowering at 
+everyone they passed, and Ginny went not long after 
+that. Only Harry and Hermione were left beside the 
+fire. 
+
+“Have you seen Ron?” Hermione asked in a low voice. 
+Harry shook his head. 
+
+“I think he’s avoiding us,” said Hermione. “Where do 
+you think he — ?” 
+
+But at that precise moment, there was a creaking 
+sound behind them as the Fat Lady swung forward 
+and Ron came clambering through the portrait hole. 
+He was very pale indeed and there was snow in his 
+hair. When he saw Harry and Hermione he stopped 
+dead in his tracks. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Where have you been?” said Hermione anxiously, 
+springing up. 
+
+
+
+“Walking,” Ron mumbled. He was still wearing his 
+Quidditch things. 
+
+“You look frozen,” said Hermione. “Come and sit 
+down!” 
+
+Ron walked to the fireside and sank into the chair 
+farthest from Harry’s, not looking at him. The stolen 
+Snitch zoomed over their heads. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” Ron mumbled, looking at his feet. 
+
+“What for?” said Harry. 
+
+“For thinking I can play Quidditch,” said Ron. “I’m 
+going to resign first thing tomorrow.” 
+
+“If you resign,” said Harry testily, “there’ll only be 
+three players left on the team.” And when Ron looked 
+puzzled, he said, “I’ve been given a lifetime ban. So’ve 
+Fred and George.” 
+
+“What?” Ron yelped. 
+
+Hermione told him the full story; Harry could not bear 
+to tell it again. When she had finished, Ron looked 
+more anguished than ever. 
+
+“This is all my fault — ” 
+
+“You didn’t make me punch Malfoy,” said Harry 
+angrily. 
+
+“ — if I wasn’t so lousy at Quidditch — ” 
+
+“ — it’s got nothing to do with that — ” 
+
+Page | 535Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — it was that song that wound me up — ” 
+
+“ — it would’ve wound anyone up — ” 
+
+Hermione got up and walked to the window, away 
+from the argument, watching the snow swirling down 
+against the pane. 
+
+“Look, drop it, will you!” Harry burst out. “It’s bad 
+enough without you blaming yourself for everything!” 
+
+Ron said nothing but sat gazing miserably at the 
+damp hem of his robes. After a while he said in a dull 
+voice, “This is the worst I’ve ever felt in my life.” 
+
+“Join the club,” said Harry bitterly. 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione, her voice trembling slightly. “I 
+can think of one thing that might cheer you both up.” 
+
+“Oh yeah?” said Harry skeptically. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hermione, turning away from the pitch- 
+black, snow-flecked window, a broad smile spreading 
+across her face. “Hagrid’s back.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+HAGRID’S TALE 
+
+Harry sprinted up to the boys’ dormitory to fetch the 
+Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder’s Map from his 
+trunk; he was so quick that he and Ron were ready to 
+leave at least five minutes before Hermione hurried 
+back down from the girls’ dormitories, wearing scarf, 
+gloves, and one of her own knobbly elf hats. 
+
+“Well, it’s cold out there!” she said defensively, as Ron 
+clicked his tongue impatiently. 
+
+They crept through the portrait hole and covered 
+themselves hastily in the cloak — Ron had grown so 
+much he now needed to crouch to prevent his feet 
+showing — then, moving slowly and cautiously, they 
+proceeded down the many staircases, pausing at 
+intervals to check the map for signs of Filch or Mrs. 
+Norris. They were lucky; they saw nobody but Nearly 
+Headless Nick, who was gliding along absentmindedly 
+humming something that sounded horribly like 
+“Weasley Is Our King.” They crept across the entrance 
+hall and then out into the silent, snowy grounds. 
+
+With a great leap of his heart, Harry saw little golden 
+squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from 
+
+Page | 537Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Hagrid’s chimney. He set off at a quick march, the 
+other two jostling and bumping along behind him, 
+and they crunched excitedly through the thickening 
+snow until at last they reached the wooden front door; 
+when Harry raised his fist and knocked three times, a 
+dog started barking frantically inside. 
+
+“Hagrid, it’s us!” Harry called through the keyhole. 
+
+“Shoulda known!” said a gruff voice. 
+
+They beamed at one another under the cloak; they 
+could tell that Hagrid’s voice was pleased. “Bin home 
+three seconds ... Out the way, Fang ... Out the way, 
+yeh dozy dog ...” 
+
+The bolt was drawn back, the door creaked open, and 
+Hagrid’s head appeared in the gap. 
+
+Hermione screamed. 
+
+“Merlin’s beard, keep it down!” said Hagrid hastily, 
+staring wildly over their heads. “Under that cloak, are 
+yeh? Well, get in, get in!” 
+
+“I’m sorry!” Hermione gasped, as the three of them 
+squeezed past Hagrid into the house and pulled the 
+cloak off themselves so he could see them. “I just — 
+oh, Hagrid).” 
+
+“It’s nuthin’, it’s nuthin’!” said Hagrid hastily, 
+shutting the door behind them and hurrying to close 
+all the curtains, but Hermione continued to gaze up 
+at him in horror. 
+
+Hagrid’s hair was matted with congealed blood, and 
+his left eye had been reduced to a puffy slit amid a 
+mass of purple-and-black bruises. There were many 
+cuts on his face and hands, some of them still 
+
+Page | 538Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bleeding, and he was moving gingerly, which made 
+Harry suspect broken ribs. It was obvious that he had 
+only just got home; a thick black traveling cloak lay 
+over the back of a chair and a haversack large enough 
+to carry several small children leaned against the wall 
+inside the door. Hagrid himself, twice the size of a 
+normal man and three times as broad, was now 
+limping over to the fire and placing a copper kettle 
+over it. 
+
+“What happened to you?” Harry demanded, while 
+Fang danced around them all, trying to lick their 
+faces. 
+
+“Told yeh, nuthin said Hagrid firmly. “Want a 
+cuppa?” 
+
+“Come off it,” said Ron, “you’re in a right state!” 
+
+“I’m tellin’yeh, I’m fine,” said Hagrid, straightening 
+up and turning to beam at them all, but wincing. 
+“Blimey, it’s good ter see you three again — had good 
+summers, did yeh?” 
+
+“Hagrid, you’ve been attacked!” said Ron. 
+
+“Fer the las’ time, it’s nuthin’!” said Hagrid firmly. 
+
+“Would you say it was nothing if one of us turned up 
+with a pound of mince instead of a face?” Ron 
+demanded. 
+
+“You ought to go and see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid,” 
+said Hermione anxiously. “Some of those cuts look 
+nasty.” 
+
+“I’m dealin’ with it, all righ’?” said Hagrid repressively. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He walked across to the enormous wooden table that 
+stood in the middle of his cabin and twitched aside a 
+tea towel that had been lying on it. Underneath was a 
+raw, bloody, green-tinged steak slightly larger than 
+the average car tire. 
+
+“You’re not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?” said 
+Ron, leaning in for a closer look. “It looks poisonous.” 
+
+“It’s s ’posed ter look like that, it’s dragon meat,” 
+Hagrid said. “An’ I didn’ get it ter eat.” 
+
+He picked up the steak and slapped it over the left 
+side of his face. Greenish blood trickled down into his 
+beard as he gave a soft moan of satisfaction. 
+
+“Tha’s better. It helps with the stingin’, yeh know.” 
+
+“So are you going to tell us what’s happened to you?” 
+Harry asked. 
+
+“Can’, Harry. Top secret. More’n me job’s worth ter 
+tell yeh that.” 
+
+“Did the giants beat you up, Hagrid?” asked Hermione 
+quietly. 
+
+Hagrid’s fingers slipped on the dragon steak, and it 
+slid squelchily onto his chest. 
+
+“Giants?” said Hagrid, catching the steak before it 
+reached his belt and slapping it back over his face. 
+“Who said anythin’ abou’ giants? Who yeh bin talkin’ 
+to? Who’s told yeh what I’ve — who’s said I’ve bin — 
+eh?” 
+
+“We guessed,” said Hermione apologetically. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh, yeh did, did yeh?” said Hagrid, fixing her sternly 
+with the eye that was not hidden by the steak. 
+
+“It was kind of ... obvious,” said Ron. Harry nodded. 
+
+Hagrid glared at them, then snorted, threw the steak 
+onto the table again and strode back to the kettle, 
+which was now whistling. 
+
+“Never known kids like you three fer knowin’ more’n 
+yeh oughta,” he muttered, splashing boiling water 
+into three of his bucket-shaped mugs. “An’ I’m not 
+complimentin’ yeh, neither. Nosy, some’d call it. 
+Interferin’.” 
+
+But his beard twitched. 
+
+“So you have been to look for giants?” said Harry, 
+grinning as he sat down at the table. 
+
+Hagrid set tea in front of each of them, sat down, 
+picked up his steak again, and slapped it back over 
+his face. 
+
+“Yeah, all righ’,” he grunted, “I have.” 
+
+“And you found them?” said Hermione in a hushed 
+voice. 
+
+“Well, they’re not that difficult ter find, ter be honest,” 
+said Hagrid. “Pretty big, see.” 
+
+“Where are they?” said Ron. 
+
+“Mountains,” said Hagrid unhelpfully. 
+
+“So why don’t Muggles — ?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“They do,” said Hagrid darkly. “O’ny their deaths are 
+always put down ter mountaineerin’ accidents, aren’ 
+they?” 
+
+He adjusted the steak a little so that it covered the 
+worst of the bruising. 
+
+“Come on, Hagrid, tell us what you’ve been up to!” 
+said Ron. “Tell us about being attacked by the giants 
+and Harry can tell you about being attacked by the 
+dementors — ” 
+
+Hagrid choked in his mug and dropped his steak at 
+the same time; a large quantity of spit, tea, and 
+dragon blood was sprayed over the table as Hagrid 
+coughed and spluttered and the steak slid, with a soft 
+splat, onto the floor. 
+
+“Whadda yeh mean, attacked by dementors?” growled 
+Hagrid. 
+
+“Didn’t you know?” Hermione asked him, wide-eyed. 
+
+“I don’ know anything that’s been happenin’ since I 
+left. I was on a secret mission, wasn’ I, didn’ wan’ 
+owls followin’ me all over the place — ruddy 
+dementors! Yeh’re not serious?” 
+
+“Yeah, I am, they turned up in Little Whinging and 
+attacked my cousin and me, and then the Ministry of 
+Magic expelled me — ” 
+
+“WHAT?” 
+
+“ — and I had to go to a hearing and everything, but 
+tell us about the giants first.” 
+
+“You were expelled?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 542Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Tell us about your summer and I’ll tell you about 
+mine.” 
+
+Hagrid glared at him through his one open eye. Harry 
+looked right back, an expression of innocent 
+determination on his face. 
+
+“Oh, all righ’,” Hagrid said in a resigned voice. 
+
+He bent down and tugged the dragon steak out of 
+Fang’s mouth. 
+
+“Oh, Hagrid, don’t, it’s not hygien — ” Hermione 
+began, but Hagrid had already slapped the meat back 
+over his swollen eye. He took another fortifying gulp of 
+tea and then said, “Well, we set off righ’ after term 
+ended — ” 
+
+“Madame Maxime went with you, then?” Hermione 
+interjected. 
+
+“Yeah, tha’s right,” said Hagrid, and a softened 
+expression appeared on the few inches of face that 
+were not obscured by beard or green steak. “Yeah, it 
+was jus’ the pair of us. An’ I’ll tell yeh this, she’s not 
+afraid of roughin’ it, Olympe. Yeh know, she’s a fine, 
+well-dressed woman, an’ knowin’ where we was goin’ I 
+wondered ’ow she’d feel abou’ clamberin’ over 
+boulders an’ sleepin’ in caves an’ tha’, bu’ she never 
+complained once.” 
+
+“You knew where you were going?” Harry asked. “You 
+knew where the giants were?” 
+
+“Well, Dumbledore knew, an’ he told us,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Are they hidden?” asked Ron. “Is it a secret, where 
+they are?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Not really,” said Hagrid, shaking his shaggy head. 
+
+“It’s jus’ that mos’ wizards aren’ bothered where they 
+are, s’ long as it’s a good long way away. But where 
+they are’s very difficult ter get ter, fer humans 
+anyway, so we needed Dumbledore’s instructions. 
+Took us abou’ a month ter get there — ” 
+
+“A month?” said Ron, as though he had never heard of 
+a journey lasting such a ridiculously long time. “But 
+— why couldn’t you just grab a Portkey or 
+something?” 
+
+There was an odd expression in Hagrid’s unobscured 
+eye as he squinted at Ron; it was almost pitying. 
+
+“We’re bein’ watched, Ron,” he said gruffly. 
+
+“What d’you mean?” 
+
+“Yeh don’ understand,” said Hagrid. “The Ministry’s 
+keepin’ an eye on Dumbledore an’ anyone they 
+reckon’s in league with him, an’ — ” 
+
+“We know about that,” said Harry quickly, keen to 
+hear the rest of Hagrid’s story. “We know about the 
+Ministry watching Dumbledore — ” 
+
+“So you couldn’t use magic to get there?” asked Ron, 
+looking thunderstruck. “You had to act like Muggles 
+all the way?” 
+
+“Well, not exactly all the way,” said Hagrid cagily. “We 
+jus’ had ter be careful, ’cause Olympe an’ me, we 
+stick out a bit — ” 
+
+Ron made a stifled noise somewhere between a snort 
+and a sniff and hastily took a gulp of tea. 
+
+
+
+Page | 544Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — so we’re not hard ter follow. We was pretendin’ we 
+was goin’ on holiday together, so we got inter France 
+an’ we made like we was headin’ fer where Olympe’s 
+school is, ’cause we knew we was bein’ tailed by 
+someone from the Ministry. We had to go slow, ’cause 
+I’m not really s ’posed ter use magic an’ we knew the 
+Ministry’d be lookin’ fer a reason ter run us in. But 
+we managed ter give the berk tailin’ us the slip round 
+abou’ Dee-John — ” 
+
+“Ooooh, Dijon?” said Hermione excitedly. “I’ve been 
+there on holiday, did you see — ?” 
+
+She fell silent at the look on Ron’s face. 
+
+“We chanced a bit o’ magic after that, and it wasn’ a 
+bad journey. Ran inter a couple o’ mad trolls on the 
+Polish border, an’ I had a sligh’ disagreement with a 
+vampire in a pub in Minsk, but apart from tha’, 
+couldn’t’a bin smoother. 
+
+“An’ then we reached the place, an’ we started 
+trekkin’ up through the mountains, lookin’ fer signs 
+of ’em . . . 
+
+“We had ter lay off the magic once we got near ’em. 
+Partly ’cause they don’ like wizards an’ we didn’ want 
+ter put their backs up too soon, and partly ’cause 
+Dumbledore had warned us You-Know-Who was 
+bound ter be after the giants an’ all. Said it was odds 
+on he’d sent a messenger off ter them already. Told us 
+ter be very careful of drawin’ attention ter ourselves 
+as we got nearer in case there was Death Eaters 
+around.” 
+
+Hagrid paused for a long draft of tea. 
+
+“Go on!” said Harry urgently. 
+
+
+
+Page | 545Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Found ’em,” said Hagrid baldly. “Went over a ridge 
+one nigh’ an’ there they was, spread ou’ underneath 
+us. Little fires burnin’ below an’ huge shadows ... It 
+was like watchin’ bits o’ the mountain movin’.” 
+
+“How big are they?” asked Ron in a hushed voice. 
+
+“ T3out twenty feet,” said Hagrid casually. “Some o’ 
+the bigger ones mighta bin twenty-five.” 
+
+“And how many were there?” asked Harry. 
+
+“I reckon abou’ seventy or eighty,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Is that all?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Yep,” said Hagrid sadly, “eighty left, an’ there was 
+loads once, musta bin a hundred diff’rent tribes from 
+all over the world. But they’ve bin dyin’ out fer ages. 
+Wizards killed a few, o’ course, but mostly they killed 
+each other, an’ now they’re dyin’ out faster than ever. 
+They’re not made ter live bunched up together like 
+tha’. Dumbledore says it’s our fault, it was the 
+wizards who forced ’em to go an’ made ’em live a good 
+long way from us an’ they had no choice but ter stick 
+together fer their own protection.” 
+
+“So,” said Harry, “you saw them and then what?” 
+
+“Well, we waited till morning, didn’ want ter go 
+sneakin’ up on ’em in the dark, fer our own safety,” 
+said Hagrid. “ ’Bout three in the mornin’ they fell 
+asleep jus’ where they was sittin’. We didn’ dare sleep. 
+Fer one thing, we wanted ter make sure none of ’em 
+woke up an’ came up where we were, an’ fer another, 
+the snorin’ was unbelievable. Caused an avalanche 
+near mornin’. 
+
+“Anyway, once it was light we wen’ down ter see ’em.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Just like that?” said Ron, looking awestruck. “You 
+just walked right into a giant camp?” 
+
+“Well, Dumbledore’d told us how ter do it,” said 
+Hagrid. “Give the Gurg gifts, show some respect, yeh 
+know.” 
+
+“Give the what gifts?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Oh, the Gurg — means the chief.” 
+
+“How could you tell which one was the Gurg?” asked 
+Ron. 
+
+Hagrid grunted in amusement. 
+
+“No problem,” he said. “He was the biggest, the 
+ugliest, an’ the laziest. Sittin’ there waitin’ ter be 
+brought food by the others. Dead goats an’ such like. 
+Name o’ Karkus. I’d put him at twenty-two, twenty- 
+three feet, an’ the weight of a couple o’ bull elephants. 
+Skin like rhino hide an’ all.” 
+
+“And you just walked up to him?” said Hermione 
+breathlessly. 
+
+“Well ... down ter him, where he was lyin’ in the 
+valley. They was in this dip between four pretty high 
+mountains, see, beside a mountain lake, an’ Karkus 
+was lyin’ by the lake roarin’ at the others ter feed him 
+an’ his wife. Olympe an’ I went down the 
+mountainside — ” 
+
+“But didn’t they try and kill you when they saw you?” 
+asked Ron incredulously. 
+
+“It was def’nitely on some of their minds,” said 
+Hagrid, shrugging, “but we did what Dumbledore told 
+us ter do, which was ter hold our gift up high an’ 
+
+Page | 547Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+keep our eyes on the Gurg an’ ignore the others. So 
+tha’s what we did. An’ the rest of ’em went quiet an’ 
+watched us pass an’ we got right up ter Karkus’s feet 
+an’ we bowed an’ put our present down in front o’ 
+him.” 
+
+“What do you give a giant?” asked Ron eagerly. 
+
+“Food?” 
+
+“Nah, he can get food all righ’ fer himself,” said 
+Hagrid. “We took him magic. Giants like magic, jus’ 
+don’t like us usin’ it against ’em. Anyway, that firs’ 
+day we gave him a branch o’ Gubraithian fire.” 
+
+Hermione said “wow” softly, but Harry and Ron both 
+frowned in puzzlement. 
+
+“A branch of — ?” 
+
+“Everlasting fire,” said Hermione irritably, “you ought 
+to know that by now, Professor Flitwick’s mentioned it 
+at least twice in class!” 
+
+“Well anyway,” said Hagrid quickly, intervening before 
+Ron could answer back, “Dumbledore’d bewitched 
+this branch to burn evermore, which isn’ somethin’ 
+any wizard could do, an’ so I lies it down in the snow 
+by Karkus’s feet and says, ‘A gift to the Gurg of the 
+giants from Albus Dumbledore, who sends his 
+respectful greetings.’ ” 
+
+“And what did Karkus say?” asked Harry eagerly. 
+“Nothin’,” said Hagrid. “Didn’ speak English.” 
+
+“You’re kidding!” 
+
+“Didn’ matter,” said Hagrid imperturbably, 
+“Dumbledore had warned us tha’ migh’ happen. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Karkus knew enough to yell fer a couple o’ giants who 
+knew our lingo an’ they translated fer us.” 
+
+
+
+“And did he like the present?” asked Ron. 
+
+“Oh yeah, it went down a storm once they understood 
+what it was,” said Hagrid, turning his dragon steak 
+over to press the cooler side to his swollen eye. “Very 
+pleased. So then I said, Altars Dumbledore asks the 
+Gurg to speak with his messenger when he returns 
+tomorrow with another gift.’ ” 
+
+“Why couldn’t you speak to them that day?” asked 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Dumbledore wanted us ter take it very slow,” said 
+Hagrid. “Let ’em see we kept our promises. We’ll come 
+back tomorrow with another present, an’ then we do 
+come back with another present — gives a good 
+impression, see? An’ gives them time ter test out the 
+firs’ present an’ find out it’s a good one, an’ get ’em 
+eager fer more. In any case, giants like Karkus — 
+overload ’em with information an’ they’ll kill yeh jus’ 
+to simplify things. So we bowed outta the way an’ 
+went off an’ found ourselves a nice little cave ter 
+spend that night in, an’ the followin’ mornin’ we went 
+back an’ this time we found Karkus sittin’ up waitin’ 
+fer us lookin’ all eager.” 
+
+“And you talked to him?” 
+
+“Oh yeah. Firs’ we presented him with a nice battle 
+helmet — goblin-made an’ indestructible, yeh know — 
+an’ then we sat down an’ we talked.” 
+
+“What did he say?” 
+
+“Not much,” said Hagrid. “Listened mostly. But there 
+were good signs. He’d heard o’ Dumbledore, heard 
+
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+
+
+
+
+he’d argued against the killin’ of the last giants in 
+Britain. Karkus seemed ter be quite int’rested in what 
+Dumbledore had ter say. An’ a few o’ the others, 
+’specially the ones who had some English, they 
+gathered round an’ listened too. We were hopeful 
+when we left that day. Promised ter come back next 
+day with another present. 
+
+“But that night it all wen’ wrong.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Ron quickly. 
+
+“Well, like I say, they’re not meant ter live together, 
+giants,” said Hagrid sadly. “Not in big groups like 
+that. They can’ help themselves, they half kill each 
+other every few weeks. The men fight each other an’ 
+the women fight each other, the remnants of the old 
+tribes fight each other, an’ that’s even without 
+squabbles over food an’ the best fires an’ sleepin’ 
+spots. Yeh’d think, seein’ as how their whole race is 
+abou’ finished, they’d lay off each other, but ...” 
+
+Hagrid sighed deeply 
+
+“That night a fight broke out, we saw it from the 
+mouth of our cave, lookin’ down on the valley. Went 
+on fer hours, yeh wouldn’ believe the noise. An’ when 
+the sun came up the snow was scarlet an’ his head 
+was lyin’ at the bottom o’ the lake.” 
+
+“Whose head?” gasped Hermione. 
+
+“Karkus’s,” said Hagrid heavily. “There was a new 
+Gurg, Golgomath.” He sighed deeply. “Well, we hadn’ 
+bargained on a new Gurg two days after we’d made 
+friendly contact with the firs’ one, an’ we had a funny 
+feelin’ Golgomath wouldn’ be so keen ter listen to us, 
+but we had ter try.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You went to speak to him?” asked Ron incredulously. 
+“After you’d watched him rip off another giant’s 
+head?” 
+
+“ ’Course we did,” said Hagrid, “we hadn’ gone all that 
+way ter give up after two days! We wen’ down with the 
+next present we’d meant ter give ter Karkus. 
+
+“I knew it was no go before I’d opened me mouth. He 
+was sitting there wearin’ Karkus ’s helmet, leerin’ at 
+us as we got nearer. He’s massive, one o’ the biggest 
+ones there. Black hair an’ matchin’ teeth an’ a 
+necklace o’ bones. Human-lookin’ bones, some of ’em. 
+Well, I gave it a go — held out a great roll o’ dragon 
+skin — an’ said A gift fer the Gurg of the giants — ’ 
+Nex’ thing I knew, I was hangin’ upside down in the 
+air by me feet, two of his mates had grabbed me.” 
+
+Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth. 
+
+“How did you get out of that?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Wouldn’ta done if Olympe hadn’ bin there,” said 
+Hagrid. “She pulled out her wand an’ did some o’ the 
+fastes’ spellwork I’ve ever seen. Ruddy marvelous. Hit 
+the two holdin’ me right in the eyes with 
+Conjunctivitus Curses an’ they dropped me 
+straightaway — bu’ we were in trouble then, ’cause 
+we’d used magic against ’em, an’ that’s what giants 
+hate abou’ wizards. We had ter leg it an’ we knew 
+there was no way we was going ter be able ter march 
+inter camp again.” 
+
+“Blimey, Hagrid,” said Ron quietly. 
+
+“So how come it’s taken you so long to get home if you 
+were only there for three days?” asked Hermione. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We didn’ leave after three days!” said Hagrid, looking 
+outraged. “Dumbledore was relyin’ on us!” 
+
+
+
+“But you’ve just said there was no way you could go 
+back!” 
+
+“Not by daylight, we couldn’, no. We just had ter 
+rethink a bit. Spent a couple o’ days lyin’ low up in 
+the cave an’ watchin’. An’ wha’ we saw wasn’ good.” 
+
+“Did he rip off more heads?” asked Hermione, 
+sounding squeamish. 
+
+“No,” said Hagrid. “I wish he had.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” 
+
+“I mean we soon found out he didn’ object ter all 
+wizards — just us.” 
+
+“Death Eaters?” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“Yep,” said Hagrid darkly. “Couple of ’em were visitin’ 
+him ev’ry day, bringin’ gifts ter the Gurg, an’ he wasn’ 
+dangling them upside down.” 
+
+“How d’you know they were Death Eaters?” said Ron. 
+
+“Because I recognized one of ’em,” Hagrid growled. 
+“Macnair, remember him? Bloke they sent ter kill 
+Buckbeak? Maniac, he is. Likes killin’ as much as 
+Golgomath, no wonder they were gettin’ on so well.” 
+
+“So Macnair’s persuaded the giants to join You-Know- 
+Who?” said Hermione desperately. 
+
+“Hold yer hippogriffs, I haven’ finished me story yet!” 
+said Hagrid indignantly, who, considering he had not 
+wanted to tell them anything in the first place, now 
+
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+
+
+
+
+seemed to be rather enjoying himself. “Me an’ Olympe 
+talked it over an’ we agreed, jus’ ’cause the Gurg 
+looked like favorin’ You-Know-Who didn’ mean all of 
+’em would. We had ter try an’ persuade some o’ the 
+others, the ones who hadn’ wanted Golgomath as 
+Gurg.” 
+
+“How could you tell which ones they were?” asked 
+Ron. 
+
+“Well, they were the ones bein’ beaten to a pulp, 
+weren’ they?” said Hagrid patiently. “The ones with 
+any sense were keepin’ outta Golgomath ’s way, hidin’ 
+out in caves roun’ the gully jus’ like we were. So we 
+decided we’d go pokin’ round the caves by night an’ 
+see if we couldn’ persuade a few o’ them.” 
+
+“You went poking around dark caves looking for 
+giants?” said Ron with awed respect in his voice. 
+
+“Well, it wasn’ the giants who worried us most,” said 
+Hagrid. “We were more concerned abou’ the Death 
+Eaters. Dumbledore had told us before we wen’ not 
+ter tangle with ’em if we could avoid it, an’ the trouble 
+was they knew we was around — ’spect Golgomath 
+told him abou’ us. At night when the giants were 
+sleepin’ an’ we wanted ter be creepin’ inter the caves, 
+Macnair an’ the other one were sneakin’ round the 
+mountains lookin’ fer us. I was hard put to stop 
+Olympe jumpin’ out at them,” said Hagrid, the 
+corners of his mouth lifting his wild beard. “She was 
+rarin’ ter attack ’em... she’s somethin’ when she’s 
+roused, Olympe... Fiery, yeh know ... ’spect it’s the 
+French in her ...” 
+
+Hagrid gazed misty-eyed into the fire. Harry allowed 
+him thirty seconds’ reminiscence before clearing his 
+throat loudly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“So what happened? Did you ever get near any of the 
+other giants?” 
+
+“What? Oh ... oh yeah, we did. Yeah, on the third 
+night after Karkus was killed, we crept outta the cave 
+we’d bin hidin’ in and headed back down inter the 
+gully, keepin’ our eyes skinned fer the Death Eaters. 
+Got inside a few o’ the caves, no go — then, in abou’ 
+the sixth one, we found three giants hidin’.” 
+
+“Cave must’ve been cramped,” said Ron. 
+
+“Wasn’ room ter swing a kneazle,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Didn’t they attack you when they saw you?” asked 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Probably woulda done if they’d bin in any condition,” 
+said Hagrid, “but they was badly hurt, all three o’ 
+them. Golgomath’s lot had beaten ’em unconscious; 
+they’d woken up an’ crawled inter the nearest shelter 
+they could find. Anyway, one o’ them had a bit of 
+English an’ ’e translated fer the others, an’ what we 
+had ter say didn’ seem ter go down too badly. So we 
+kep’ goin’ back, visitin’ the wounded... I reckon we 
+had abou’ six or seven o’ them convinced at one 
+poin’.” 
+
+“Six or seven?” said Ron eagerly. “Well that’s not bad 
+— are they going to come over here and start fighting 
+You-Know-Who with us?” 
+
+But Hermione said, “What do you mean ‘at one point,’ 
+Hagrid?” 
+
+Hagrid looked at her sadly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Golgomath’s lot raided the caves. The ones tha’ 
+survived didn’ wan’ no more ter to do with us after 
+that.” 
+
+“So ... so there aren’t any giants coming?” said Ron, 
+looking disappointed. 
+
+“Nope,” said Hagrid, heaving a deep sigh as he turned 
+over his steak again and applied the cooler side to his 
+face, “but we did wha’ we meant ter do, we gave ’em 
+Dumbledore’s message an’ some o’ them heard it an’ I 
+’spect some o’ them’ll remember it. Jus’ maybe, them 
+that don’ want ter stay around Golgomath’ll move 
+outta the mountains, an’ there’s gotta be a chance 
+they’ll remember Dumbledore’s friendly to ’em... 
+
+Could be they’ll come ...” 
+
+Snow was filling up the window now. Harry became 
+aware that the knees of his robes were soaked 
+through; Fang was drooling with his head in Harry’s 
+lap. 
+
+“Hagrid?” said Hermione quietly after a while. 
+
+“Mmm?” 
+
+“Did you ... was there any sign of ... did you hear 
+anything about your . . . your . . . mother while you were 
+there?” 
+
+Hagrid’s unobscured eye rested upon her, and 
+Hermione looked rather scared. 
+
+“I’m sorry ... I ... forget it — ” 
+
+“Dead,” Hagrid grunted. “Died years ago. They told 
+me.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 555Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh ... I’m ... I’m really sorry,” said Hermione in a 
+very small voice. 
+
+
+
+Hagrid shrugged his massive shoulders. “No need,” he 
+said shortly. “Can’ remember her much. Wasn’ a great 
+mother.” 
+
+They were silent again. Hermione glanced nervously 
+at Harry and Ron, plainly wanting them to speak. 
+
+“But you still haven’t explained how you got in this 
+state, Hagrid,” Ron said, gesturing toward Hagrid’s 
+bloodstained face. 
+
+“Or why you’re back so late,” said Harry. “Sirius says 
+Madame Maxime got back ages ago — ” 
+
+“Who attacked you?” said Ron. 
+
+“I haven’ bin attacked!” said Hagrid emphatically. “I — 
+
+
+
+But the rest of his words were drowned in a sudden 
+outbreak of rapping on the door. Hermione gasped; 
+her mug slipped through her fingers and smashed on 
+the floor; Fang yelped. All four of them stared at the 
+window beside the doorway. The shadow of somebody 
+small and squat rippled across the thin curtain. 
+
+“It’s her\” Ron whispered. 
+
+“Get under here!” Harry said quickly; seizing the 
+Invisibility Cloak he whirled it over himself and 
+Hermione while Ron tore around the table and dived 
+beneath the cloak as well. Huddled together they 
+backed away into a corner. Fang was barking madly 
+at the door. Hagrid looked thoroughly confused. 
+
+“Hagrid, hide our mugs!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid seized Harry’s and Ron’s mugs and shoved 
+them under the cushion in Fang’s basket. Fang was 
+now leaping up at the door; Hagrid pushed him out of 
+the way with his foot and pulled it open. 
+
+Professor Umbridge was standing in the doorway 
+wearing her green tweed cloak and a matching hat 
+with earflaps. Lips pursed, she leaned back so as to 
+see Hagrid’s face; she barely reached his navel. 
+
+“So,” she said slowly and loudly, as though speaking 
+to somebody deaf. “You’re Hagrid, are you?” 
+
+Without waiting for an answer she strolled into the 
+room, her bulging eyes rolling in every direction. 
+
+“Get away,” she snapped, waving her handbag at 
+Fang, who had bounded up to her and was 
+attempting to lick her face. 
+
+“Er — I don’ want ter be rude,” said Hagrid, staring at 
+her, “but who the ruddy hell are you?” 
+
+“My name is Dolores Umbridge.” 
+
+Her eyes were sweeping the cabin. Twice they stared 
+directly into the corner where Harry stood, 
+sandwiched between Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“Dolores Umbridge?” Hagrid said, sounding 
+thoroughly confused. “I thought you were one o’ them 
+Ministry — don’ you work with Fudge?” 
+
+“I was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, yes,” 
+said Umbridge, now pacing around the cabin, taking 
+in every tiny detail within, from the haversack against 
+the wall to the abandoned traveling cloak. “I am now 
+the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Tha’s brave of yeh,” said Hagrid, “there’s not many’d 
+take tha’ job anymore — ” 
+
+“ — and Hogwarts High Inquisitor,” said Umbridge, 
+giving no sign that she had heard him. 
+
+“Wha’s that?” said Hagrid, frowning. 
+
+“Precisely what I was going to ask,” said Umbridge, 
+pointing at the broken shards of china on the floor 
+that had been Hermione’s mug. 
+
+“Oh,” said Hagrid, with a most unhelpful glance 
+toward the corner where Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+stood hidden, “oh, tha’ was ... was Fang. He broke a 
+mug. So I had ter use this one instead.” 
+
+Hagrid pointed to the mug from which he had been 
+drinking, one hand still clamped over the dragon 
+steak pressed to his eye. Umbridge stood facing him 
+now, taking in every detail of his appearance instead 
+of the cabin’s. 
+
+“I heard voices,” she said quietly. 
+
+“I was talkin’ ter Fang,” said Hagrid stoutly. 
+
+“And was he talking back to you?” 
+
+“Well ... in a manner o’ speakin’,” said Hagrid, looking 
+uncomfortable. “I sometimes say Fang’s near enough 
+human — ” 
+
+“There are three sets of footprints in the snow leading 
+from the castle doors to your cabin,” said Umbridge 
+sleekly. 
+
+Hermione gasped; Harry clapped a hand over her 
+mouth. Luckily, Fang was sniffing loudly around the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+hem of Professor Umbridge’s robes, and she did not 
+appear to have heard. 
+
+“Well, I on’y jus’ got back,” said Hagrid, waving an 
+enormous hand at the haversack. “Maybe someone 
+came ter call earlier an’ I missed em. 
+
+“There are no footsteps leading away from your cabin 
+door.” 
+
+“Well I ... I don’ know why that’d be...” said Hagrid, 
+tugging nervously at his beard and again glancing 
+toward the corner where Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+stood, as though asking for help. “Erm ...” 
+
+Umbridge wheeled around and strode the length of 
+the cabin, looking around carefully. She bent and 
+peered under the bed. She opened Hagrid ’s 
+cupboards. She passed within two inches of where 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood pressed against the 
+wall; Harry actually pulled in his stomach as she 
+walked by. After looking carefully inside the 
+enormous cauldron Hagrid used for cooking she 
+wheeled around again and said, “What has happened 
+to you? How did you sustain those injuries?” 
+
+Hagrid hastily removed the dragon steak from his 
+face, which in Harry’s opinion was a mistake, because 
+the black-and-purple bruising all around his eye was 
+now clearly visible, not to mention the large amount 
+of fresh and congealed blood on his face. “Oh, I ... had 
+a bit of an accident,” he said lamely. 
+
+“What sort of accident?” 
+
+“I-I tripped.” 
+
+“You tripped,” she repeated coolly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, tha’s right. Over ... over a friends broomstick. I 
+don’ fly, meself. Well, look at the size o’ me, I don’ 
+reckon there’s a broomstick that’d hold me. Friend o’ 
+mine breeds Abraxan horses, I dunno if you’ve ever 
+seen ’em, big beasts, winged, yeh know, I’ve had a bit 
+of a ride on one o’ them an’ it was — ” 
+
+“Where have you been?” asked Umbridge, cutting 
+coolly through Hagrid’s babbling. 
+
+“Where ’ve I ... ?” 
+
+“Been, yes,” she said. “Term started more than two 
+months ago. Another teacher has had to cover your 
+classes. None of your colleagues has been able to give 
+me any information as to your whereabouts. You left 
+no address. Where have you been?” 
+
+There was a pause in which Hagrid stared at her with 
+his newly uncovered eye. Harry could almost hear his 
+brain working furiously. 
+
+“I — I’ve been away for me health,” he said. 
+
+“For your health,” said Umbridge. Her eyes traveled 
+over Hagrid’s discolored and swollen face; dragon 
+blood dripped gently onto his waistcoat in the silence. 
+“I see.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid, “bit o’ — o’ fresh air, yeh know — 
+
+
+
+“Yes, as gamekeeper fresh air must be so difficult to 
+come by,” said Umbridge sweetly. The small patch of 
+Hagrid’s face that was not black or purple flushed. 
+
+“Well — change o’ scene, yeh know — ” 
+
+“Mountain scenery?” said Umbridge swiftly. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+She knows, Harry thought desperately. 
+
+“Mountains?” Hagrid repeated, clearly thinking fast. 
+“Nope, South of France fer me. Bit o’ sun an’ ... an’ 
+sea.” 
+
+“Really?” said Umbridge. “You don’t have much of a 
+tan.” 
+
+“Yeah ... well ... sensitive skin,” said Hagrid, 
+attempting an ingratiating smile. Harry noticed that 
+two of his teeth had been knocked out. Umbridge 
+looked at him coldly; his smile faltered. Then she 
+hoisted her handbag a little higher into the crook of 
+her arm and said, “I shall, of course, be informing the 
+Minister of your late return.” 
+
+“Righ’,” said Hagrid, nodding. 
+
+“You ought to know too that as High Inquisitor it is 
+my unfortunate but necessary duty to inspect my 
+fellow teachers. So I daresay we shall meet again soon 
+enough.” 
+
+She turned sharply and marched back to the door. 
+
+“You’re inspectin’ us?” Hagrid echoed blankly, looking 
+after her. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Umbridge softly, looking back at him 
+with her hand on the door handle. “The Ministry is 
+determined to weed out unsatisfactory teachers, 
+Hagrid. Good night.” 
+
+She left, closing the door behind her with a snap. 
+Harry made to pull off the Invisibility Cloak but 
+Hermione seized his wrist. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Not yet,” she breathed in his ear. “She might not be 
+gone yet.” 
+
+Hagrid seemed to be thinking the same way; he 
+stumped across the room and pulled back the curtain 
+an inch or so. 
+
+“She’s goin’ back ter the castle,” he said in a low 
+voice. “Blimey ... inspectin’ people, is she?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, pulling the cloak off. “Trelawney’s 
+on probation already...” 
+
+“Um ... what sort of thing are you planning to do with 
+us in class, Hagrid?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Oh, don’ you worry abou’ that, I’ve got a great load o’ 
+lessons planned,” said Hagrid enthusiastically, 
+scooping up his dragon steak from the table and 
+slapping it over his eye again. “I’ve bin keepin’ a 
+couple o’ creatures saved fer yer O.W.L. year, you 
+wait, they’re somethin’ really special.” 
+
+“Erm . . . special in what way?” asked Hermione 
+tentatively. 
+
+“I’m not sayin’,” said Hagrid happily. “I don’ want ter 
+spoil the surprise.” 
+
+“Look, Hagrid,” said Hermione urgently, dropping all 
+pretense, “Professor Umbridge won’t be at all happy if 
+you bring anything to class that’s too dangerous — ” 
+
+“Dangerous?” said Hagrid, looking genially bemused. 
+“Don’ be silly, I wouldn’ give yeh anythin’ dangerous! I 
+mean, all righ’, they can look after themselves — ” 
+
+“Hagrid, you’ve got to pass Umbridge’s inspection, 
+and to do that it would really be better if she saw you 
+
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+
+
+
+
+teaching us how to look after porlocks, how to tell the 
+difference between knarls and hedgehogs, stuff like 
+that!” said Hermione earnestly. 
+
+“But tha’s not very interestin’, Hermione,” said 
+Hagrid. “The stuff I’ve got’s much more impressive, 
+
+I’ve bin bringin’ ’em on fer years, I reckon I’ve got the 
+on’y domestic herd in Britain — ” 
+
+“Hagrid ... please ...” said Hermione, a note of real 
+desperation in her voice. “Umbridge is looking for any 
+excuse to get rid of teachers she thinks are too close 
+to Dumbledore. Please, Hagrid, teach us something 
+dull that’s bound to come up in our O.W.L...” 
+
+But Hagrid merely yawned widely and cast a one-eyed 
+look of longing toward the vast bed in the corner. 
+
+“Lis’en, it’s bin a long day an’ it’s late,” he said, 
+patting Hermione gently on the shoulder, so that her 
+knees gave way and hit the floor with a thud. “Oh — 
+sorry — ” He pulled her back up by the neck of her 
+robes. “Look, don’ you go worryin’ abou’ me, I promise 
+yeh I’ve got really good stuff planned fer yer lessons 
+now I’m back... Now you lot had better get back up to 
+the castle, an’ don’ forget ter wipe yer footprints out 
+behind yeh!” 
+
+“I dunno if you got through to him,” said Ron a short 
+while later when, having checked that the coast was 
+clear, they walked back up to the castle through the 
+thickening snow, leaving no trace behind them due to 
+the Obliteration Charm Hermione was performing as 
+they went. 
+
+“Then I’ll go back again tomorrow,” said Hermione 
+determinedly. “I’ll plan his lessons for him if I have to. 
+I don’t care if she throws out Trelawney but she’s not 
+taking Hagrid!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE EYE OF THE SNAKE 
+
+Hermione plowed her way back to Hagrid’s cabin 
+through two feet of snow on Sunday morning. Harry 
+and Ron wanted to go with her, but their mountain of 
+homework had reached an alarming height again, so 
+they grudgingly remained in the common room, trying 
+to ignore the gleeful shouts drifting up from the 
+grounds outside, where students were enjoying 
+themselves skating on the frozen lake, tobogganing, 
+and worst of all, bewitching snowballs to zoom up to 
+Gryffindor Tower and rap hard on the windows. 
+
+“Oy!” bellowed Ron, finally losing patience and 
+sticking his head out of the window, “I am a prefect 
+and if one more snowball hits this window — OUCH!” 
+
+He withdrew his head sharply, his face covered in 
+snow. 
+
+“It’s Fred and George,” he said bitterly, slamming the 
+window behind him. “Gits ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Hermione returned from Hagrid’s just before lunch, 
+shivering slightly, her robes damp to the knees. 
+
+
+
+“So?” said Ron, looking up when she entered. “Got all 
+his lessons planned for him?” 
+
+“Well, I tried,” she said dully, sinking into a chair 
+beside Harry. She pulled out her wand and gave it a 
+complicated little wave so that hot air streamed out of 
+the tip; she then pointed this at her robes, which 
+began to steam as they dried out. “He wasn’t even 
+there when I arrived, I was knocking for at least half 
+an hour. And then he came stumping out of the forest 
+
+
+
+Harry groaned. The Forbidden Forest was teeming 
+with the kind of creatures most likely to get Hagrid 
+the sack. “What’s he keeping in there? Did he say?” 
+asked Harry. 
+
+“No,” said Hermione miserably. “He says he wants 
+them to be a surprise. I tried to explain about 
+Umbridge, but he just doesn’t get it. He kept saying 
+nobody in their right mind would rather study knarls 
+than chimaeras — oh I don’t think he’s got a 
+chimaera,” she added at the appalled look on Harry 
+and Ron’s faces, “but that’s not for lack of trying from 
+what he said about how hard it is to get eggs... I don’t 
+know how many times I told him he’d be better off 
+following Grubbly-Plank’s plan, I honestly don’t think 
+he listened to half of what I said. He’s in a bit of a 
+funny mood, you know. He still won’t say how he got 
+all those injuries...” 
+
+Hagrid’s reappearance at the staff table at breakfast 
+next day was not greeted by enthusiasm from all 
+students. Some, like Fred, George, and Lee, roared 
+with delight and sprinted up the aisle between the 
+Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to wring Hagrid’s 
+Page | 565Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+enormous hand; others, like Parvati and Lavender, 
+exchanged gloomy looks and shook their heads. Harry 
+knew that many of them preferred Professor Grubbly- 
+Plank’s lessons, and the worst of it was that a very 
+small, unbiased part of him knew that they had good 
+reason: Grubbly-Plank’s idea of an interesting class 
+was not one where there was a risk that somebody 
+might have their head ripped off. 
+
+It was with a certain amount of apprehension that 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed down to Hagrid’s 
+on Tuesday, heavily muffled against the cold. Harry 
+was worried, not only about what Hagrid might have 
+decided to teach them, but also about how the rest of 
+the class, particularly Malfoy and his cronies, would 
+behave if Umbridge was watching them. 
+
+However, the High Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen 
+as they struggled through the snow toward Hagrid, 
+who stood waiting for them on the edge of the forest. 
+He did not present a reassuring sight; the bruises 
+that had been purple on Saturday night were now 
+tinged with green and yellow and some of his cuts still 
+seemed to be bleeding. Harry could not understand 
+this: Had Hagrid perhaps been attacked by some 
+creature whose venom prevented the wounds it 
+inflicted from healing? As though to complete the 
+ominous picture, Hagrid was carrying what looked 
+like half a dead cow over his shoulder. 
+
+“We’re workin’ in here today!” Hagrid called happily to 
+the approaching students, jerking his head back at 
+the dark trees behind him. “Bit more sheltered! 
+Anyway, they prefer the dark...” 
+
+“What prefers the dark?” Harry heard Malfoy say 
+sharply to Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his 
+voice. “What did he say prefers the dark — did you 
+hear?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry remembered the only occasion on which Malfoy 
+had entered the forest before now; he had not been 
+very brave then either. He smiled to himself; after the 
+Quidditch match anything that caused Malfoy 
+discomfort was all right with him. 
+
+“Ready?” said Hagrid happily, looking around at the 
+class. “Right, well, I’ve bin savin’ a trip inter the forest 
+fer yer fifth year. Thought we’d go an’ see these 
+creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we’re 
+studyin’ today is pretty rare, I reckon I’m probably the 
+on’y person in Britain who’s managed ter train ’em — ” 
+
+“And you’re sure they’re trained, are you?” said 
+Malfoy, the panic in his voice even more pronounced 
+now. “Only it wouldn’t be the first time you’d brought 
+wild stuff to class, would it?” 
+
+The Slytherins murmured agreement and a few 
+Gryffindors looked as though they thought Malfoy had 
+a fair point too. 
+
+“ ’Course they’re trained,” said Hagrid, scowling and 
+hoisting the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder. 
+
+“So what happened to your face, then?” demanded 
+Malfoy. 
+
+“Mind yer own business!” said Hagrid, angrily. “Now if 
+yeh’ve finished askin’ stupid questions, follow me!” 
+
+He turned and strode straight into the forest. Nobody 
+seemed much disposed to follow. Harry glanced at 
+Ron and Hermione, who sighed but nodded, and the 
+three of them set off after Hagrid, leading the rest of 
+the class. 
+
+They walked for about ten minutes until they reached 
+a place where the trees stood so closely together that 
+
+Page | 567Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+it was as dark as twilight and there was no snow on 
+the ground at all. Hagrid deposited his half a cow with 
+a grunt on the ground, stepped back, and turned to 
+face his class again, most of whom were creeping 
+toward him from tree to tree, peering around 
+nervously as though expecting to be set upon at any 
+moment. 
+
+“Gather roun’, gather roun’,” said Hagrid 
+encouragingly. “Now, they’ll be attracted by the smell 
+o’ the meat but I’m goin’ ter give ’em a call anyway, 
+’cause they’ll like ter know it’s me...” 
+
+He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out 
+of his face, and gave an odd, shrieking cry that 
+echoed through the dark trees like the call of some 
+monstrous bird. Nobody laughed; most of them 
+looked too scared to make a sound. 
+
+Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again. A minute passed 
+in which the class continued to peer nervously over 
+their shoulders and around trees for a first glimpse of 
+whatever it was that was coming. And then, as Hagrid 
+shook his hair back for a third time and expanded his 
+enormous chest, Harry nudged Ron and pointed into 
+the black space between two gnarled yew trees. 
+
+A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing 
+larger through the gloom and a moment later the 
+dragonish face, neck, and then skeletal body of a 
+great, black, winged horse emerged from the 
+darkness. It looked around at the class for a few 
+seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its 
+head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with 
+its pointed fangs. 
+
+A great wave of relief broke over Harry. Here at last 
+was proof that he had not imagined these creatures, 
+that they were real: Hagrid knew about them too. He 
+
+Page | 568Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+looked eagerly at Ron, but Ron was still staring 
+around into the trees and after a few seconds he 
+whispered, “Why doesn’t Hagrid call again?” 
+
+Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions 
+as confused and nervously expectant as Ron’s and 
+were still gazing everywhere but at the horse standing 
+feet from them. There were only two other people who 
+seemed to be able to see them: a stringy Slytherin boy 
+standing just behind Goyle was watching the horse 
+eating with an expression of great distaste on his face, 
+and Neville, whose eyes were following the swishing 
+progress of the long black tail. 
+
+“Oh, an’ here comes another one!” said Hagrid 
+proudly, as a second black horse appeared out of the 
+dark trees, folded its leathery wings closer to its body, 
+and dipped its head to gorge on the meat. “Now ... put 
+yer hands up, who can see ’em?” 
+
+Immensely pleased to feel that he was at last going to 
+understand the mystery of these horses, Harry raised 
+his hand. Hagrid nodded at him. 
+
+“Yeah ... yeah, I knew you’d be able ter, Harry,” he 
+said seriously. “An’ you too, Neville, eh? An’ — ” 
+
+“Excuse me,” said Malfoy in a sneering voice, “but 
+what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?” 
+
+For answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on the 
+ground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, 
+then several people gasped and Parvati squealed. 
+Harry understood why: Bits of flesh stripping 
+themselves away from the bones and vanishing into 
+thin air had to look very odd indeed. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’s doing it?” Parvati demanded in a terrified 
+voice, retreating behind the nearest tree. “What’s 
+eating it?” 
+
+“Thestrals,” said Hagrid proudly and Hermione gave a 
+soft “oh!” of comprehension at Harry’s shoulder. 
+“Hogwarts has got a whole herd of ’em in here. Now, 
+who knows — ?” 
+
+“But they’re really, really unlucky!” interrupted 
+Parvati, looking alarmed. “They’re supposed to bring 
+all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see 
+them. Professor Trelawney told me once — ” 
+
+“No, no, no,” said Hagrid, chuckling, “tha’s jus’ 
+superstition, that is, they aren’ unlucky, they’re dead 
+clever an’ useful! ’Course, this lot don’ get a lot o’ 
+work, it’s mainly jus’ pullin’ the school carriages 
+unless Dumbledore’s takin’ a long journey an’ don’ 
+want ter Apparate — an’ here’s another couple, look 
+
+
+
+Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one of 
+them passing very close to Parvati, who shivered and 
+pressed herself closer to the tree, saying, “I think I felt 
+something, I think it’s near me!” 
+
+“Don’ worry, it won’ hurt yeh,” said Hagrid patiently. 
+“Righ’, now, who can tell me why some o’ you can see 
+them an’ some can’t?” 
+
+Hermione raised her hand. 
+
+“Go on then,” said Hagrid, beaming at her. 
+
+“The only people who can see thestrals,” she said, 
+
+“are people who have seen death.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Tha’s exactly right,” said Hagrid solemnly, “ten 
+points ter Gryffindor. Now, thestrals — ” 
+
+“Hem, hem.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge had arrived. She was standing a 
+few feet away from Harry, wearing her green hat and 
+cloak again, her clipboard at the ready. Hagrid, who 
+had never heard Umbridge ’s fake cough before, was 
+gazing in some concern at the closest thestral, 
+evidently under the impression that it had made the 
+sound. 
+
+“Hem, hem.” 
+
+“Oh hello!” Hagrid said, smiling, having located the 
+source of the noise. 
+
+“You received the note I sent to your cabin this 
+morning?” said Umbridge, in the same loud, slow 
+voice she had used with him earlier, as though she 
+was addressing somebody both foreign and very slow. 
+“Telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?” 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Hagrid brightly. “Glad yeh found the 
+place all righ’! Well, as you can see — or, I dunno — 
+can you? We’re doin’ thestrals today — ” 
+
+“I’m sorry?” said Umbridge loudly, cupping her hand 
+around her ear and frowning. “What did you say?” 
+
+Hagrid looked a little confused. 
+
+“Er — thestralsl” he said loudly. “Big — er — winged 
+horses, yeh know!” 
+
+He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully. Professor 
+Umbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+as she made a note on her clipboard, “ ‘has ... to ... 
+resort ... to ... crude . . . sign . . . language ” 
+
+“Well ... anyway ...” said Hagrid, turning back to the 
+class and looking slightly flustered. “Erm ... what was 
+I sayin’?” 
+
+“ ‘Appears ... to ... have . . . poor . . . short . . . term . . . 
+memory ” muttered Umbridge, loudly enough for 
+everyone to hear her. Draco Malfoy looked as though 
+Christmas had come a month early; Hermione, on the 
+other hand, had turned scarlet with suppressed rage. 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Hagrid, throwing an uneasy glance at 
+Umbridge’s clipboard, but plowing on valiantly. “Yeah, 
+I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. Yeah, 
+so, we started off with a male an’ five females. This 
+one,” he patted the first horse to have appeared, 
+
+“name o’ Tenebrus, he’s my special favorite, firs’ one 
+born here in the forest — ” 
+
+“Are you aware,” Umbridge said loudly, interrupting 
+him, “that the Ministry of Magic has classified 
+thestrals as ‘dangerous’?” 
+
+Harry’s heart sank like a stone, but Hagrid merely 
+chuckled. 
+
+“Thestrals aren’ dangerous! All righ, they might take a 
+bite outta you if yeh really annoy them — ” 
+
+“ ‘Shows . . . signs ... of ... pleasure ... at ... idea ...of 
+... violence ... ‘ ” muttered Umbridge, scribbling on her 
+clipboard again. 
+
+“No — come on!” said Hagrid, looking a little anxious 
+now. “I mean, a dog’ll bite if yeh bait it, won’ it — but 
+thestrals have jus’ got a bad reputation because o’ the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+death thing — people used ter think they were bad 
+omens, didn’ they? Jus’ didn’ understand, did they?” 
+
+
+
+Umbridge did not answer; she finished writing her 
+last note, then looked up at Hagrid and said, again 
+very loudly and slowly, “Please continue teaching as 
+usual. I am going to walk” — she mimed walking — 
+Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were having silent fits of 
+laughter — “among the students” — she pointed 
+around at individual members of the class — “and 
+ask them questions.” She pointed at her mouth to 
+indicate talking. 
+
+Hagrid stared at her, clearly at a complete loss to 
+understand why she was acting as though he did not 
+understand normal English. Hermione had tears of 
+fury in her eyes now. 
+
+“You hag, you evil hag!” she whispered, as Umbridge 
+walked toward Pansy Parkinson. “I know what you’re 
+doing, you awful, twisted, vicious — ” 
+
+“Erm ... anyway,” said Hagrid, clearly struggling to 
+regain the flow of his lesson, “so — thestrals. Yeah. 
+Well, there’s loads o’ good stuff abou’ them...” 
+
+“Do you find,” said Professor Umbridge in a ringing 
+voice to Pansy Parkinson, “that you are able to 
+understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?” 
+
+Just like Hermione, Pansy had tears in her eyes, but 
+these were tears of laughter; indeed, her answer was 
+almost incoherent because she was trying to suppress 
+her giggles. “No ... because ... well ... it sounds ... like 
+grunting a lot of the time...” 
+
+Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard. The few 
+unbruised bits of Hagrid ’s face flushed, but he tried 
+to act as though he had not heard Pansy’s answer. 
+
+Page | 573Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Er ... yeah ... good stuff abou’ thestrals. Well, once 
+they’re tamed, like this lot, yehll never be lost again. 
+‘Mazin’ senses o’ direction, jus’ tell ’em where yeh 
+want ter go — ” 
+
+“Assuming they can understand you, of course,” said 
+Malfoy loudly, and Pansy Parkinson collapsed in a fit 
+of renewed giggles. Professor Umbridge smiled 
+indulgently at them and then turned to Neville. 
+
+“You can see the thestrals, Longbottom, can you?” 
+she said. 
+
+Neville nodded. 
+
+“Whom did you see die?” she asked, her tone 
+indifferent. 
+
+“My ... my grandad,” said Neville. 
+
+“And what do you think of them?” she said, waving 
+her stubby hand at the horses, who by now had 
+stripped a great deal of the carcass down to bone. 
+
+“Erm,” said Neville nervously, with a glance at Hagrid. 
+“Well, they’re ... er ... okay...” 
+
+“ ‘Students ... are ... too ... intimidated ... to ... admit 
+... they ... are ... frightened...’ ” muttered Umbridge, 
+making another note on her clipboard. 
+
+“No!” said Neville, looking upset, “no, I’m not scared of 
+them — !” 
+
+“It’s quite all right,” said Umbridge, patting Neville on 
+the shoulder with what she evidently intended to be 
+an understanding smile, though it looked more like a 
+leer to Harry. “Well, Hagrid,” she turned to look up at 
+him again, speaking once more in that loud, slow 
+Page | 574Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+voice, “I think I’ve got enough to be getting along 
+with... You will receive” — she mimed taking 
+something from the air in front of her — “the results 
+of your inspection” — she pointed at the clipboard — 
+“in ten days’ time.” She held up ten stubby little 
+fingers, then, her smile wider and more toadlike than 
+ever before beneath her green hat, she bustled from 
+their midst, leaving Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson in 
+fits of laughter, Hermione actually shaking with fury, 
+and Neville looking confused and upset. 
+
+“That foul, lying, twisting old gargoyle!” stormed 
+Hermione half an hour later, as they made their way 
+back up to the castle through the channels they had 
+made earlier in the snow. “You see what she’s up to? 
+It’s her thing about half-breeds all over again — she’s 
+trying to make out Hagrid’s some kind of dim-witted 
+troll, just because he had a giantess for a mother — 
+and oh, it’s not fair, that really wasn’t a bad lesson at 
+all — I mean, all right, if it had been Blast-Ended 
+Skrewts again, but thestrals are fine — in fact, for 
+Hagrid, they’re really good!” 
+
+“Umbridge said they’re dangerous,” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, it’s like Hagrid said, they can look after 
+themselves,” said Hermione impatiently, “and I 
+suppose a teacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn’t 
+usually show them to us before N.E.W.T. level, but, 
+well, they are very interesting, aren’t they? The way 
+some people can see them and some can’t! I wish I 
+could.” 
+
+“Do you?” Harry asked her quietly. 
+
+She looked horrorstruck. 
+
+“Oh Harry — I’m sorry — no, of course I don’t — that 
+was a really stupid thing to say — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s okay,” he said quickly, “don’t worry...” 
+
+
+
+“I’m surprised so many people could see them,” said 
+Ron. “Three in a class — ” 
+
+“Yeah, Weasley, we were just wondering,” said a 
+malicious voice nearby. Unheard by any of them in 
+the muffling snow, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were 
+walking along right behind them. “D’you reckon if you 
+saw someone snuff it you’d be able to see the Quaffle 
+better?” 
+
+He, Crabbe, and Goyle roared with laughter as they 
+pushed past on their way to the castle and then broke 
+into a chorus of “Weasley Is Our King.” Ron’s ears 
+turned scarlet. 
+
+“Ignore them, just ignore them,” intoned Hermione, 
+pulling out her wand and performing the charm to 
+produce hot air again, so that she could melt them an 
+easier path through the untouched snow between 
+them and the greenhouses. 
+
+December arrived, bringing with it more snow and a 
+positive avalanche of homework for the fifth years. 
+
+Ron and Hermione ’s prefect duties also became more 
+and more onerous as Christmas approached. They 
+were called upon to supervise the decoration of the 
+castle (“You try putting up tinsel when Peeves has got 
+the other end and is trying to strangle you with it,” 
+said Ron), to watch over first and second years 
+spending their break times inside because of the 
+bitter cold (“And they’re cheeky little snotrags, you 
+know, we definitely weren’t that rude when we were in 
+first year,” said Ron), and to patrol the corridors in 
+shifts with Argus Filch, who suspected that the 
+holiday spirit might show itself in an outbreak of 
+wizard duels (“He’s got dung for brains, that one,” 
+said Ron furiously). They were so busy that Hermione 
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+
+
+
+
+had stopped knitting elf hats and was fretting that 
+she was down to her last three. 
+
+“All those poor elves I haven’t set free yet, having to 
+stay over during Christmas because there aren’t 
+enough hats!” 
+
+Harry, who had not had the heart to tell her that 
+Dobby was taking everything she made, bent lower 
+over his History of Magic essay. In any case, he did 
+not want to think about Christmas. For the first time 
+in his school career, he very much wanted to spend 
+the holidays away from Hogwarts. Between his 
+Quidditch ban and worry about whether or not 
+Hagrid was going to be put on probation, he felt 
+highly resentful toward the place at the moment. The 
+only thing he really looked forward to were the D.A. 
+meetings, and they would have to stop over the 
+holidays, as nearly everybody in the D.A. would be 
+spending the time with their families. Hermione was 
+going skiing with her parents, something that greatly 
+amused Ron, who had never before heard of Muggles 
+strapping narrow strips of wood to their feet to slide 
+down mountains. Ron, meanwhile, was going home to 
+the Burrow. Harry endured several days of jealousy 
+before Ron said, in response to Harry asking how Ron 
+was going to get home for Christmas, “But you’re 
+coming too! Didn’t I say? Mum wrote and told me to 
+invite you weeks ago!” 
+
+Hermione rolled her eyes, but Harry’s spirits soared: 
+The thought of Christmas at the Burrow was truly 
+wonderful, only slightly marred by Harry’s guilty 
+feeling that he would not be able to spend the holiday 
+with Sirius. He wondered whether he could possibly 
+persuade Mrs. Weasley to invite his godfather for the 
+festivities too, but apart from the fact that he doubted 
+whether Dumbledore would permit Sirius to leave 
+Grimmauld Place, he could not help but feel that Mrs. 
+Page | 577Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Weasley might not want him; they were so often at 
+loggerheads. Sirius had not contacted Harry at all 
+since his last appearance in the fire, and although 
+Harry knew that with Umbridge on the constant 
+watch it would be unwise to attempt to contact him, 
+he did not like to think of Sirius alone in his mother’s 
+old house, perhaps pulling a lonely cracker with 
+Kreacher. 
+
+Harry arrived early in the Room of Requirement for 
+the last D.A. meeting before the holidays and was 
+very glad he had, because when the lamps burst into 
+light he saw that Dobby had taken it upon himself to 
+decorate the place for Christmas. He could tell the elf 
+had done it, because nobody else would have strung a 
+hundred golden baubles from the ceiling, each 
+showing a picture of Harry’s face and bearing the 
+legend HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS! 
+
+Harry had only just managed to get the last of them 
+down before the door creaked open and Luna 
+Lovegood entered, looking dreamy as always. 
+
+“Hello,” she said vaguely, looking around at what 
+remained of the decorations. “These are nice, did you 
+put them up?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “it was Dobby the house-elf.” 
+
+“Mistletoe,” said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large 
+clump of white berries placed almost over Harry’s 
+head. He jumped out from under it. “Good thinking,” 
+said Luna very seriously. “It’s often infested with 
+nargles.” 
+
+Harry was saved the necessity of asking what nargles 
+were by the arrival of Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. All 
+three of them were breathless and looked very cold. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well,” said Angelina dully, pulling off her cloak and 
+throwing it into a corner, “we’ve replaced you.” 
+
+
+
+“Replaced me?” said Harry blankly. 
+
+“You and Fred and George,” she said impatiently. 
+“We’ve got another Seeker!” 
+
+“Who?” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“Ginny Weasley,” said Katie. 
+
+Harry gaped at her. 
+
+“Yeah, I know,” said Angelina, pulling out her wand 
+and flexing her arm. “But she’s pretty good, actually. 
+Nothing on you, of course,” she said, throwing him a 
+very dirty look, “but as we can’t have you ...” 
+
+Harry bit back the retort he was longing to utter: Did 
+she imagine for a second that he did not regret his 
+expulsion from the team a hundred times more than 
+she did? 
+
+“And what about the Beaters?” he asked, trying to 
+keep his voice even. 
+
+“Andrew Kirke,” said Alicia without enthusiasm, “and 
+Jack Sloper. Neither of them are brilliant, but 
+compared with the rest of the idiots who turned up 
+
+
+
+The arrival of Ron, Hermione, and Neville brought this 
+depressing discussion to an end and within five 
+minutes, the room was full enough to prevent him 
+seeing Angelina’s burning, reproachful looks. 
+
+“Okay,” he said, calling them all to order. “I thought 
+this evening we should just go over the things we’ve 
+
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+
+
+
+
+done so far, because it’s the last meeting before the 
+holidays and there’s no point starting anything new 
+right before a three-week break — ” 
+
+“We’re not doing anything new?” said Zacharias 
+Smith, in a disgruntled whisper loud enough to carry 
+through the room. “If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have 
+come...” 
+
+“We’re all really sorry Harry didn’t tell you, then,” said 
+Fred loudly. 
+
+Several people sniggered. Harry saw Cho laughing 
+and felt the familiar swooping sensation in his 
+stomach, as though he had missed a step going 
+downstairs. 
+
+“We can practice in pairs,” said Harry. “Well start 
+with the Impediment Jinx, just for ten minutes, then 
+we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again.” 
+
+They all divided up obediently; Harry partnered 
+Neville as usual. The room was soon full of 
+intermittent cries of “ Impedimental ” People froze for a 
+minute or so, during which their partners would stare 
+aimlessly around the room watching other pairs at 
+work, then would unfreeze and take their turn at the 
+jinx. 
+
+Neville had improved beyond all recognition. After a 
+while, when Harry had unfrozen three times in a row, 
+he had Neville join Ron and Hermione again so that 
+he could walk around the room and watch the others. 
+When he passed Cho she beamed at him; he resisted 
+the temptation to walk past her several more times. 
+
+After ten minutes on the Impediment Jinx, they laid 
+out cushions all over the floor and started practicing 
+Stunning again. Space was really too confined to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+allow them all to work this spell at once; half the 
+group observed the others for a while, then swapped 
+over. Harry felt himself positively swelling with pride 
+as he watched them all. True, Neville did Stun Padma 
+Patil rather than Dean, at whom he had been aiming, 
+but it was a much closer miss than usual, and 
+everybody else had made enormous progress. 
+
+At the end of an hour, Harry called a halt. 
+
+“You’re getting really good,” he said, beaming around 
+at them. “When we get back from the holidays we can 
+start doing some of the big stuff — maybe even 
+Patronuses.” 
+
+There was a murmur of excitement. The room began 
+to clear in the usual twos and threes; most people 
+wished Harry a Happy Christmas as they went. 
+
+Feeling cheerful, he collected up the cushions with 
+Ron and Hermione and stacked them neatly away. 
+
+Ron and Hermione left before he did; he hung back a 
+little, because Cho was still there and he was hoping 
+to receive a Merry Christmas from her. 
+
+“No, you go on,” he heard her say to her friend 
+Marietta, and his heart gave a jolt that seemed to take 
+it into the region of his Adam’s apple. 
+
+He pretended to be straightening the cushion pile. He 
+was quite sure they were alone now and waited for 
+her to speak. Instead, he heard a hearty sniff. 
+
+He turned and saw Cho standing in the middle of the 
+room, tears pouring down her face. 
+
+“Wha — ?” 
+
+
+
+He didn’t know what to do. She was simply standing 
+there, crying silently. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’s up?” he said feebly. 
+
+
+
+She shook her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. 
+“I’m — sorry,” she said thickly. “I suppose ... it’s just 
+... learning all this stuff... It just makes me ... wonder 
+whether ... if he’d known it all ... he’d still be alive...” 
+
+Harry’s heart sank right back past its usual spot and 
+settled somewhere around his navel. He ought to have 
+known. She wanted to talk about Cedric. 
+
+“He did know this stuff,” Harry said heavily. “He was 
+really good at it, or he could never have got to the 
+middle of that maze. But if Voldemort really wants to 
+kill you, you don’t stand a chance.” 
+
+She hiccuped at the sound of Voldemort’s name, but 
+stared at Harry without flinching. 
+
+“ You survived when you were just a baby,” she said 
+quietly. 
+
+“Yeah, well,” said Harry wearily, moving toward the 
+door, “I dunno why, nor does anyone else, so it’s 
+nothing to be proud of.” 
+
+“Oh don’t go!” said Cho, sounding tearful again. “I’m 
+really sorry to get all upset like this... I didn’t mean 
+to...” 
+
+She hiccuped again. She was very pretty even when 
+her eyes were red and puffy. Harry felt thoroughly 
+miserable. He’d have been so pleased just with a 
+Merry Christmas... 
+
+“I know it must be horrible for you,” she said, 
+mopping her eyes on her sleeve again. “Me 
+mentioning Cedric, when you saw him die... I suppose 
+you just want to forget about it...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry did not say anything to this; it was quite true, 
+but he felt heartless saying it. 
+
+“You’re a r-really good teacher, you know,” said Cho, 
+with a watery smile. “I’ve never been able to Stun 
+anything before.” 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry awkwardly. 
+
+They looked at each other for a long moment. Harry 
+felt a burning desire to run from the room and, at the 
+same time, a complete inability to move his feet. 
+
+“Mistletoe,” said Cho quietly, pointing at the ceiling 
+over his head. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. His mouth was very dry. “It’s 
+probably full of nargles, though.” 
+
+“What are nargles?” 
+
+“No idea,” said Harry. She had moved closer. His 
+brain seemed to have been Stunned. “You’d have to 
+ask Loony. Luna, I mean.” 
+
+Cho made a funny noise halfway between a sob and a 
+laugh. She was even nearer him now. He could have 
+counted the freckles on her nose. 
+
+“I really like you, Harry.” 
+
+He could not think. A tingling sensation was 
+spreading throughout him, paralyzing his arms, legs, 
+and brain. 
+
+She was much too close. He could see every tear 
+clinging to her eyelashes... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He returned to the common room half an hour later to 
+find Hermione and Ron in the best seats by the fire; 
+nearly everybody else had gone to bed. Hermione was 
+writing a very long letter; she had already filled half a 
+roll of parchment, which was dangling from the edge 
+of the table. Ron was lying on the hearthrug, trying to 
+finish his Transfiguration homework. 
+
+“What kept you?” he asked, as Harry sank into the 
+armchair next to Hermione ’s. 
+
+Harry did not answer. He was in a state of shock. Half 
+of him wanted to tell Ron and Hermione what had 
+just happened, but the other half wanted to take the 
+secret with him to the grave. 
+
+“Are you all right, Harry?” Hermione asked, peering at 
+him over the tip of her quill. 
+
+Harry gave a halfhearted shrug. In truth, he didn’t 
+know whether he was all right or not. “What’s up?” 
+said Ron, hoisting himself up on his elbow to get a 
+clearer view of Harry. “What’s happened?” 
+
+Harry didn’t quite know how to set about telling them, 
+and still wasn’t sure whether he wanted to. Just as he 
+had decided not to say anything, Hermione took 
+matters out of his hands. 
+
+“Is it Cho?” she asked in a businesslike way. “Did she 
+corner you after the meeting?” 
+
+Numbly surprised, Harry nodded. Ron sniggered, 
+breaking off when Hermione caught his eye. 
+
+“So — er — what did she want?” he asked in a mock 
+casual voice. 
+
+
+
+Page | 584Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She — ” Harry began, rather hoarsely; he cleared his 
+throat and tried again. “She — er — ” 
+
+
+
+“Did you kiss?” asked Hermione briskly. 
+
+Ron sat up so fast that he sent his ink bottle flying all 
+over the rug. Disregarding this completely he stared 
+avidly at Harry. 
+
+“Well?” he demanded. 
+
+Harry looked from Ron’s expression of mingled 
+curiosity and hilarity to Hermione’s slight frown, and 
+nodded. 
+
+“HA!” 
+
+Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and 
+went into a raucous peal of laughter that made 
+several timid-looking second years over beside the 
+window jump. A reluctant grin spread over Harry’s 
+face as he watched Ron rolling around on the 
+hearthrug. Hermione gave Ron a look of deep disgust 
+and returned to her letter. 
+
+“Well?” Ron said finally, looking up at Harry. “How 
+was it?” 
+
+Harry considered for a moment. 
+
+“Wet,” he said truthfully. 
+
+Ron made a noise that might have indicated 
+jubilation or disgust, it was hard to tell. 
+
+“Because she was crying,” Harry continued heavily. 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, his smile fading slightly. “Are you that 
+bad at kissing?” 
+
+Page | 585Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry, who hadn’t considered this, and 
+immediately felt rather worried. “Maybe I am.” 
+
+
+
+“Of course you���re not,” said Hermione absently, still 
+scribbling away at her letter. 
+
+“How do you know?” said Ron in a sharp voice. 
+
+“Because Cho spends half her time crying these 
+days,” said Hermione vaguely. “She does it at 
+mealtimes, in the loos, all over the place.” 
+
+“You’d think a bit of kissing would cheer her up,” said 
+Ron, grinning. 
+
+“Ron,” said Hermione in a dignified voice, dipping the 
+point of her quill into her ink pot, “you are the most 
+insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to 
+meet.” 
+
+“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Ron 
+indignantly. “What sort of person cries while 
+someone’s kissing them?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, slightly desperately, “who does?” 
+
+Hermione looked at the pair of them with an almost 
+pitying expression on her face. 
+
+“Don’t you understand how Cho’s feeling at the 
+moment?” she asked. 
+
+“No,” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+Hermione sighed and laid down her quill. 
+
+“Well, obviously, she’s feeling very sad, because of 
+Cedric dying. Then I expect she’s feeling confused 
+because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+and she can’t work out who she likes best. Then she’ll 
+be feeling guilty, thinking it’s an insult to Cedric’s 
+memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she’ll be 
+worrying about what everyone else might say about 
+her if she starts going out with Harry. And she 
+probably can’t work out what her feelings toward 
+Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was 
+with Cedric when Cedric died, so that’s all very mixed 
+up and painful. Oh, and she’s afraid she’s going to be 
+thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because 
+she’s been flying so badly.” 
+
+A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this 
+speech, then Ron said, “One person can’t feel all that 
+at once, they’d explode.” 
+
+“Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a 
+teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have,” said Hermione 
+nastily, picking up her quill again. 
+
+“She was the one who started it,” said Harry. “I 
+wouldn’t’ve — she just sort of came at me — and next 
+thing she’s crying all over me — I didn’t know what to 
+do — ” 
+
+
+
+“Don’t blame you, mate,” said Ron, looking alarmed at 
+the very thought. 
+
+“You just had to be nice to her,” said Hermione, 
+looking up anxiously. “You were, weren’t you?” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, an unpleasant heat creeping up 
+his face, “I sort of — patted her on the back a bit.” 
+
+Hermione looked as though she was restraining 
+herself from rolling her eyes with extreme difficulty. 
+
+“Well, I suppose it could have been worse,” she said. 
+“Are you going to see her again?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’ll have to, won’t I?” said Harry. “We’ve got D.A. 
+meetings, haven’t we?” 
+
+
+
+“You know what I mean,” said Hermione impatiently. 
+
+Harry said nothing. Hermione ’s words opened up a 
+whole new vista of frightening possibilities. He tried to 
+imagine going somewhere with Cho — Hogsmeade, 
+perhaps — and being alone with her for hours at a 
+time. Of course, she would have been expecting him 
+to ask her out after what had just happened... The 
+thought made his stomach clench painfully. 
+
+“Oh well,” said Hermione distantly, buried in her 
+letter once more, “you’ll have plenty of opportunities 
+to ask her...” 
+
+“What if he doesn’t want to ask her?” said Ron, who 
+had been watching Harry with an unusually shrewd 
+expression on his face. 
+
+“Don’t be silly,” said Hermione vaguely, “Harry’s liked 
+her for ages, haven’t you, Harry?” 
+
+He did not answer. Yes, he had liked Cho for ages, 
+but whenever he had imagined a scene involving the 
+two of them it had always featured a Cho who was 
+enjoying herself, as opposed to a Cho who was 
+sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. 
+
+“Who ’re you writing the novel to anyway?” Ron asked 
+Hermione, trying to read the bit of parchment now 
+trailing on the floor. Hermione hitched it up out of 
+sight. 
+
+“Viktor.” 
+
+“Krum?” 
+
+Page | 588Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How many other Viktors do we know?” 
+
+
+
+Ron said nothing, but looked disgruntled. They sat in 
+silence for another twenty minutes, Ron finishing his 
+Transfiguration essay with many snorts of impatience 
+and crossings-out, Hermione writing steadily to the 
+very end of the parchment, rolling it up carefully and 
+sealing it, and Harry staring into the fire, wishing 
+more than anything that Sirius’s head would appear 
+there and give him some advice about girls. But the 
+fire merely crackled lower and lower, until the red-hot 
+embers crumbled into ash and, looking around, Harry 
+saw that they were, yet again, the last in the common 
+room. 
+
+“Well, ’night,” said Hermione, yawning widely, and 
+she set off up the girls’ staircase. 
+
+“What does she see in Krum?” Ron demanded as he 
+and Harry climbed the boys’ stairs. 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, considering the matter, “I s’pose 
+he’s older, isn’t he ... and he’s an international 
+Quidditch player...” 
+
+“Yeah, but apart from that,” said Ron, sounding 
+aggravated. “I mean he’s a grouchy git, isn’t he?” 
+
+“Bit grouchy, yeah,” said Harry, whose thoughts were 
+still on Cho. 
+
+They pulled off their robes and put on pajamas in 
+silence; Dean, Seamus, and Neville were already 
+asleep. Harry put his glasses on his bedside table and 
+got into bed but did not pull the hangings closed 
+around his four-poster; instead he stared at the patch 
+of starry sky visible through the window next to 
+Neville’s bed. If he had known, this time last night, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+that in twenty-four hours’ time he would have kissed 
+Cho Chang ... 
+
+
+
+“ ’Night,” grunted Ron, from somewhere to his right. 
+
+“ ’Night,” said Harry. 
+
+Maybe next time ... if there was a next time ... she’d 
+be a bit happier. He ought to have asked her out; she 
+had probably been expecting it and was now really 
+angry with him ... or was she lying in bed, still crying 
+about Cedric? He did not know what to think. 
+Hermione’s explanation had made it all seem more 
+complicated rather than easier to understand. 
+
+That’s what they should teach us here, he thought, 
+turning over onto his side, how girls’ brains work ... 
+it’d be more useful than Divination anyway... 
+
+Neville snuffled in his sleep. An owl hooted 
+somewhere out in the night. 
+
+Harry dreamed he was back in the D.A. room. Cho 
+was accusing him of luring her there under false 
+pretenses; she said that he had promised her a 
+hundred and fifty Chocolate Frog cards if she showed 
+up. Harry protested... Cho shouted, “ Cedric gave me 
+loads of Chocolate Frog cards, look\” And she pulled 
+out fistfuls of cards from inside her robes and threw 
+them into the air, and then turned into Hermione, 
+who said, “You did promise her, you know, Harry... I 
+think you’d better give her something else instead... 
+How about your Firebolt?” And Harry was protesting 
+that he could not give Cho his Firebolt because 
+Umbridge had it, and anyway the whole thing was 
+ridiculous, he’d only come to the D.A. room to put up 
+some Christmas baubles shaped like Dobby’s head... 
+
+The dream changed... 
+
+Page | 590Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His body felt smooth, powerful, and flexible. He was 
+gliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold 
+stone... He was flat against the floor, sliding along on 
+his belly... It was dark, yet he could see objects 
+around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colors... 
+He was turning his head... At first glance, the corridor 
+was empty . . . but no ... a man was sitting on the floor 
+ahead, his chin drooping onto his chest, his outline 
+gleaming in the dark. . . 
+
+Harry put out his tongue... He tasted the man’s scent 
+on the air. . . He was alive but drowsing . . . sitting in 
+front of a door at the end of the corridor . . . 
+
+Harry longed to bite the man . . . but he must master 
+the impulse... He had more important work to do... 
+
+But the man was stirring ... a silvery cloak fell from 
+his legs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his 
+vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a 
+wand withdrawn from a belt... He had no choice... He 
+reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, 
+three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man’s 
+flesh, feeling his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling 
+the warm gush of blood... 
+
+The man was yelling in pain ... then he fell silent... He 
+slumped backward against the wall... Blood was 
+splattering onto the floor... 
+
+His forehead hurt terribly. . . It was aching fit to 
+burst... 
+
+“Harry! HARRY!” 
+
+He opened his eyes. Every inch of his body was 
+covered in icy sweat; his bedcovers were twisted all 
+around him like a straitjacket; he felt as though a 
+white-hot poker was being applied to his forehead. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harryl” 
+
+
+
+Ron was standing over him looking extremely 
+frightened. There were more figures at the foot of 
+Harry’s bed. He clutched his head in his hands; the 
+pain was blinding him... He rolled right over and 
+vomited over the edge of the mattress. 
+
+“He’s really ill,” said a scared voice. “Should we call 
+someone?” 
+
+“Harry! Harryl” 
+
+He had to tell Ron, it was very important that he tell 
+him... Taking great gulps of air, Harry pushed himself 
+up in bed, willing himself not to throw up again, the 
+pain half-blinding him. 
+
+“Your dad,” he panted, his chest heaving. “Your dad’s 
+... been attacked...” 
+
+“What?” said Ron uncomprehendingly. 
+
+“Your dad! He’s been bitten, it’s serious, there was 
+blood everywhere...” 
+
+“I’m going for help,” said the same scared voice, and 
+Harry heard footsteps running out of the dormitory. 
+
+“Harry, mate,” said Ron uncertainly, “you ... you were 
+just dreaming...” 
+
+“No!” said Harry furiously; it was crucial that Ron 
+understand. “It wasn’t a dream ... not an ordinary 
+dream... I was there, I saw it... I did it...” 
+
+He could hear Seamus and Dean muttering but did 
+not care. The pain in his forehead was subsiding 
+slightly, though he was still sweating and shivering 
+
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+
+
+
+
+feverishly. He retched again and Ron leapt backward 
+out of the way. 
+
+“Harry, you’re not well,” he said shakily. “Neville’s 
+gone for help...” 
+
+“I’m fine!” Harry choked, wiping his mouth on his 
+pajamas and shaking uncontrollably. “There’s nothing 
+wrong with me, it’s your dad you’ve got to worry 
+about — we need to find out where he is — he’s 
+bleeding like mad — I was — it was a huge snake...” 
+
+He tried to get out of bed but Ron pushed him back 
+into it; Dean and Seamus were still whispering 
+somewhere nearby. Whether one minute passed or 
+ten, Harry did not know; he simply sat there shaking, 
+feeling the pain recede very slowly from his scar. . . 
+Then there were hurried footsteps coming up the 
+stairs, and he heard Neville’s voice again. 
+
+“Over here, Professor ...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall came hurrying into the 
+dormitory in her tartan dressing gown, her glasses 
+perched lopsidedly on the bridge of her bony nose. 
+
+“What is it, Potter? Where does it hurt?” 
+
+He had never been so pleased to see her; it was a 
+member of the Order of the Phoenix he needed now, 
+not someone fussing over him and prescribing useless 
+potions. 
+
+“It’s Ron’s dad,” he said, sitting up again. “He’s been 
+attacked by a snake and it’s serious, I saw it happen.” 
+
+“What do you mean, you saw it happen?” said 
+Professor McGonagall, her dark eyebrows contracting. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I don’t know... I was asleep and then I was there...” 
+
+“You mean you dreamed this?” 
+
+“No!” said Harry angrily. Would none of them 
+understand? “I was having a dream at first about 
+something completely different, something stupid . . . 
+and then this interrupted it. It was real, I didn’t 
+imagine it, Mr. Weasley was asleep on the floor and 
+he was attacked by a gigantic snake, there was a load 
+of blood, he collapsed, someone’s got to find out 
+where he is...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall was gazing at him through her 
+lopsided spectacles as though horrified at what she 
+was seeing. 
+
+“I’m not lying, and I’m not mad!” Harry told her, his 
+voice rising to a shout. “I tell you, I saw it happen!” 
+
+“I believe you, Potter,” said Professor McGonagall 
+curtly. “Put on your dressing-gown — we’re going to 
+see the headmaster.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+& 
+
+
+
+ST. MUNGO’S HOSPITAL FOR 
+MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES 
+
+Harry was so relieved that she was taking him 
+seriously that he did not hesitate, but jumped out of 
+bed at once, pulled on his dressing gown, and pushed 
+his glasses back onto his nose. 
+
+“Weasley, you ought to come too,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+They followed Professor McGonagall past the silent 
+figures of Neville, Dean, and Seamus, out of the 
+dormitory, down the spiral stairs into the common 
+room, through the portrait hole, and off along the Fat 
+Lady’s moonlit corridor. Harry felt as though the 
+panic inside him might spill over at any moment; he 
+wanted to run, to yell for Dumbledore. Mr. Weasley 
+was bleeding as they walked along so sedately, and 
+what if those fangs (Harry tried hard not to think “my 
+fangs”) had been poisonous? They passed Mrs. Norris, 
+who turned her lamplike eyes upon them and hissed 
+faintly, but Professor McGonagall said, “Shoo!” Mrs. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Norris slunk away into the shadows, and in a few 
+minutes they had reached the stone gargoyle 
+guarding the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. 
+
+“Fizzing Whizbee,” said Professor McGonagall. 
+
+The gargoyle sprang to life and leapt aside; the wall 
+behind it split in two to reveal a stone staircase that 
+was moving continuously upward like a spiral 
+escalator. The three of them stepped onto the moving 
+stairs; the wall closed behind them with a thud, and 
+they were moving upward in tight circles until they 
+reached the highly polished oak door with the brass 
+knocker shaped like a griffin. 
+
+Though it was now well past midnight, there were 
+voices coming from inside the room, a positive babble 
+of them. It sounded as though Dumbledore was 
+entertaining at least a dozen people. 
+
+Professor McGonagall rapped three times with the 
+griffin knocker, and the voices ceased abruptly as 
+though someone had switched them all off. The door 
+opened of its own accord and Professor McGonagall 
+led Harry and Ron inside. 
+
+The room was in half darkness; the strange silver 
+instruments standing on tables were silent and still 
+rather than whirring and emitting puffs of smoke as 
+they usually did. The portraits of old headmasters 
+and headmistresses covering the walls were all 
+snoozing in their frames. Behind the door, a 
+magnificent red-and-gold bird the size of a swan 
+dozed on its perch with its head under its wing. 
+
+“Oh, it’s you, Professor McGonagall ... and ... ah.” 
+
+Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair 
+behind his desk; he leaned forward into the pool of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before 
+him. He was wearing a magnificently embroidered 
+purple-and-gold dressing gown over a snowy-white 
+nightshirt, but seemed wide awake, his penetrating 
+light-blue eyes fixed intently upon Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore, Potter has had a ... well, a 
+nightmare,” said Professor McGonagall. “He says ...” 
+
+“It wasn’t a nightmare,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+Professor McGonagall looked around at Harry, 
+frowning slightly. 
+
+“Very well, then, Potter, you tell the headmaster about 
+it.” ~ 
+
+“I ... well, I was asleep...” said Harry and even in his 
+terror and his desperation to make Dumbledore 
+understand he felt slightly irritated that the 
+headmaster was not looking at him, but examining 
+his own interlocked fingers. “But it wasn’t an ordinary 
+dream ... it was real... I saw it happen...” He took a 
+deep breath, “Ron’s dad — Mr. Weasley — has been 
+attacked by a giant snake.” 
+
+The words seemed to reverberate in the air after he 
+had said them, slightly ridiculous, even comic. There 
+was a pause in which Dumbledore leaned back and 
+stared meditatively at the ceiling. Ron looked from 
+Harry to Dumbledore, white-faced and shocked. 
+
+“How did you see this?” Dumbledore asked quietly, 
+still not looking at Harry. 
+
+“Well ... I don’t know,” said Harry, rather angrily — 
+what did it matter? “Inside my head, I suppose — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You misunderstand me,” said Dumbledore, still in 
+the same calm tone. “I mean ... can you remember — 
+er — where you were positioned as you watched this 
+attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside 
+the victim, or else looking down on the scene from 
+above?” 
+
+This was such a curious question that Harry gaped at 
+Dumbledore; it was almost as though he knew ... 
+
+“I was the snake,” he said. “I saw it all from the 
+snake’s point of view...” 
+
+Nobody else spoke for a moment, then Dumbledore, 
+now looking at Ron, who was still whey-faced, said in 
+a new and sharper voice, “Is Arthur seriously 
+injured?” 
+
+“ Yes” said Harry emphatically — why were they all so 
+slow on the uptake, did they not realize how much a 
+person bled when fangs that long pierced their side? 
+And why could Dumbledore not do him the courtesy 
+of looking at him? 
+
+But Dumbledore stood up so quickly that Harry 
+jumped, and addressed one of the old portraits 
+hanging very near the ceiling. 
+
+“Everard?” he said sharply. “And you too, Dilys!” 
+
+A sallow-faced wizard with short, black bangs and an 
+elderly witch with long silver ringlets in the frame 
+beside him, both of whom seemed to have been in the 
+deepest of sleeps, opened their eyes immediately. 
+
+“You were listening?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+The wizard nodded, the witch said, “Naturally.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The man has red hair and glasses,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Everard, you will need to raise the 
+alarm, make sure he is found by the right people — ” 
+
+Both nodded and moved sideways out of their frames, 
+but instead of emerging in neighboring pictures (as 
+usually happened at Hogwarts), neither reappeared; 
+one frame now contained nothing but a backdrop of 
+dark curtain, the other a handsome leather armchair. 
+Harry noticed that many of the other headmasters 
+and mistresses on the walls, though snoring and 
+drooling most convincingly, kept sneaking peeks at 
+him under their eyelids, and he suddenly understood 
+who had been talking when they had knocked. 
+
+“Everard and Dilys were two of Hogwarts ’s most 
+celebrated Heads,” Dumbledore said, now sweeping 
+around Harry, Ron, and Professor McGonagall and 
+approaching the magnificent sleeping bird on his 
+perch beside the door. “Their renown is such that 
+both have portraits hanging in other important 
+Wizarding institutions. As they are free to move 
+between their own portraits they can tell us what may 
+be happening elsewhere...” 
+
+“But Mr. Weasley could be anywhere!” said Harry. 
+
+“Please sit down, all three of you,” said Dumbledore, 
+as though Harry had not spoken. “Everard and Dilys 
+may not be back for several minutes... Professor 
+McGonagall, if you could draw up extra chairs ...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall pulled her wand from the 
+pocket of her dressing gown and waved it; three 
+chairs appeared out of thin air, straight-backed and 
+wooden, quite unlike the comfortable chintz 
+armchairs that Dumbledore had conjured back at 
+Harry’s hearing. Harry sat down, watching 
+Dumbledore over his shoulder. Dumbledore was now 
+Page | 599Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+stroking Fawkes’s plumed golden head with one 
+finger. The phoenix awoke immediately. He stretched 
+his beautiful head high and observed Dumbledore 
+through bright, dark eyes. 
+
+“We will need,” said Dumbledore very quietly to the 
+bird, “a warning.” 
+
+There was a flash of fire and the phoenix had gone. 
+
+Dumbledore now swooped down upon one of the 
+fragile silver instruments whose function Harry had 
+never known, carried it over to his desk, sat down 
+facing them again, and tapped it gently with the tip of 
+his wand. 
+
+The instrument tinkled into life at once with rhythmic 
+clinking noises. Tiny puffs of pale green smoke issued 
+from the minuscule silver tube at the top. 
+
+Dumbledore watched the smoke closely, his brow 
+furrowed, and after a few seconds, the tiny puffs 
+became a steady stream of smoke that thickened and 
+coiled in the air... A serpent’s head grew out of the 
+end of it, opening its mouth wide. Harry wondered 
+whether the instrument was confirming his story: He 
+looked eagerly at Dumbledore for a sign that he was 
+right, but Dumbledore did not look up. 
+
+“Naturally, naturally,” murmured Dumbledore 
+apparently to himself, still observing the stream of 
+smoke without the slightest sign of surprise. “But in 
+essence divided?” 
+
+Harry could make neither head nor tail of this 
+question. The smoke serpent, however, split itself 
+instantly into two snakes, both coiling and 
+undulating in the dark air. With a look of grim 
+satisfaction Dumbledore gave the instrument another 
+gentle tap with his wand: The clinking noise slowed 
+Page | 600Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and died, and the smoke serpents grew faint, became 
+a formless haze, and vanished. 
+
+Dumbledore replaced the instrument upon its spindly 
+little table; Harry saw many of the old headmasters in 
+the portraits follow him with their eyes, then, realizing 
+that Harry was watching them, hastily pretend to be 
+sleeping again. Harry wanted to ask what the strange 
+silver instrument was for, but before he could do so, 
+there was a shout from the top of the wall to their 
+right; the wizard called Everard had reappeared in his 
+portrait, panting slightly. 
+
+“Dumbledore!” 
+
+“What news?” said Dumbledore at once. 
+
+“I yelled until someone came running,” said the 
+wizard, who was mopping his brow on the curtain 
+behind him, “said I’d heard something moving 
+downstairs — they weren’t sure whether to believe me 
+but went down to check — you know there are no 
+portraits down there to watch from. Anyway, they 
+carried him up a few minutes later. He doesn’t look 
+good, he’s covered in blood, I ran along to Elfrida 
+Cragg’s portrait to get a good view as they left — ” 
+
+“Good,” said Dumbledore as Ron made a convulsive 
+movement, “I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive, 
+then — ” 
+
+And moments later, the silver-ringletted witch had 
+reappeared in her picture too; she sank, coughing, 
+into her armchair and said, “Yes, they’ve taken him to 
+St. Mungo’s, Dumbledore... They carried him past 
+under my portrait... He looks bad...” 
+
+“Thank you,” said Dumbledore. He looked around at 
+Professor McGonagall. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Minerva, I need you to go and wake the other 
+Weasley children.” 
+
+“Of course...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall got up and moved swiftly to the 
+door; Harry cast a sideways glance at Ron, who was 
+now looking terrified. 
+
+“And Dumbledore — what about Molly?” said 
+Professor McGonagall, pausing at the door. 
+
+“That will be a job for Fawkes when he has finished 
+keeping a lookout for anybody approaching,” said 
+Dumbledore. “But she may already know ... that 
+excellent clock of hers ...” 
+
+Harry knew Dumbledore was referring to the clock 
+that told, not the time, but the whereabouts and 
+conditions of the various Weasley family members, 
+and with a pang he thought that Mr. Weasley’s hand 
+must, even now, be pointing at “mortal peril.” But it 
+was very late... Mrs. Weasley was probably asleep, not 
+watching the clock. . . And he felt cold as he 
+remembered Mrs. Weasley’s boggart turning into Mr. 
+Weasley’s lifeless body, his glasses askew, blood 
+running down his face... But Mr. Weasley wasn’t 
+going to die... He couldn���t... 
+
+Dumbledore was now rummaging in a cupboard 
+behind Harry and Ron. He emerged from it carrying a 
+blackened old kettle, which he placed carefully upon 
+his desk. He raised his wand and murmured “Portus”; 
+for a moment the kettle trembled, glowing with an odd 
+blue light, then it quivered to a rest, as solidly black 
+as ever. 
+
+Dumbledore marched over to another portrait, this 
+time of a clever-looking wizard with a pointed beard, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+who had been painted wearing the Slytherin colors of 
+green and silver and was apparently sleeping so 
+deeply that he could not hear Dumbledore ’s voice 
+when he attempted to rouse him. 
+
+“Phineas. Phineas.” 
+
+And now the subjects of the portraits lining the room 
+were no longer pretending to be asleep; they were 
+shifting around in their frames, the better to watch 
+what was happening. When the clever-looking wizard 
+continued to feign sleep, some of them shouted his 
+name too. 
+
+“Phineas! Phineas ! PHINEAS!” 
+
+He could not pretend any longer; he gave a theatrical 
+jerk and opened his eyes wide. 
+
+“Did someone call?” 
+
+“I need you to visit your other portrait again, 
+Phineas,” said Dumbledore. “IVe got another 
+message.” 
+
+“Visit my other portrait?” said Phineas in a reedy 
+voice, giving a long, fake yawn (his eyes traveling 
+around the room and focusing upon Harry). “Oh no, 
+Dumbledore, I am too tired tonight...” 
+
+Something about Phineas ’s voice was familiar to 
+Harry. Where had he heard it before? But before he 
+could think, the portraits on the surrounding walls 
+broke into a storm of protest. 
+
+“Insubordination, sir!” roared a corpulent, red-nosed 
+wizard, brandishing his fists. “Dereliction of duty!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 603Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We are honor-bound to give service to the present 
+Headmaster of Hogwarts!” cried a frail-looking old 
+wizard whom Harry recognized as Dumbledore’s 
+predecessor, Armando Dippet. “Shame on you, 
+Phineas!” 
+
+“Shall I persuade him, Dumbledore?” called a gimlet- 
+eyed witch, raising an unusually thick wand that 
+looked not unlike a birch rod. 
+
+“Oh, very well,” said the wizard called Phineas, eyeing 
+this wand slightly apprehensively, “though he may 
+well have destroyed my picture by now, he’s done 
+most of the family — ” 
+
+“Sirius knows not to destroy your portrait,” said 
+Dumbledore, and Harry realized immediately where 
+he had heard Phineas ’s voice before: issuing from the 
+apparently empty frame in his bedroom in Grimmauld 
+Place. “You are to give him the message that Arthur 
+Weasley has been gravely injured and that his wife, 
+children, and Harry Potter will be arriving at his 
+house shortly. Do you understand?” 
+
+“Arthur Weasley, injured, wife and children and Harry 
+Potter coming to stay,” recited Phineas in a bored 
+voice. “Yes, yes ... very well...” 
+
+He sloped away into the frame of the portrait and 
+disappeared from view at the very moment that the 
+study door opened again. Fred, George, and Ginny 
+were ushered inside by Professor McGonagall, all 
+three of them looking disheveled and shocked, still in 
+their night things. 
+
+“Harry — what’s going on?” asked Ginny, who looked 
+frightened. “Professor McGonagall says you saw Dad 
+hurt — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Your father has been injured in the course of his 
+work for the Order of the Phoenix,” said Dumbledore 
+before Harry could speak. “He has been taken to St. 
+Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I 
+am sending you back to Sirius’s house, which is 
+much more convenient for the hospital than the 
+Burrow. You will meet your mother there.” 
+
+“How’re we going?” asked Fred, looking shaken. “Floo 
+powder?” 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore, “Floo powder is not safe at the 
+moment, the Network is being watched. You will be 
+taking a Portkey.” He indicated the old kettle lying 
+innocently on his desk. “We are just waiting for 
+Phineas Nigellus to report back... I wish to be sure 
+that the coast is clear before sending you — ” 
+
+There was a flash of flame in the very middle of the 
+office, leaving behind a single golden feather that 
+floated gently to the floor. 
+
+“It is Fawkes’s warning,” said Dumbledore, catching 
+the feather as it fell. “She must know you’re out of 
+your beds... Minerva, go and head her off — tell her 
+any story — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall was gone in a swish of tartan. 
+
+“He says he’ll be delighted,” said a bored voice behind 
+Dumbledore; the wizard called Phineas had 
+reappeared in front of his Slytherin banner. “My 
+great-great-grandson has always had odd taste in 
+houseguests...” 
+
+“Come here, then,” Dumbledore said to Harry and the 
+Weasleys. “And quickly, before anyone else joins us 
+
+
+
+Page | 605Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry and the others gathered around Dumbledore’s 
+desk. 
+
+“You have all used a Portkey before?” asked 
+Dumbledore, and they nodded, each reaching out to 
+touch some part of the blackened kettle. “Good. On 
+the count of three then ... one ... two ...” 
+
+It happened in a fraction of a second: In the 
+infinitesimal pause before Dumbledore said “three,” 
+Harry looked up at him — they were very close 
+together — and Dumbledore’s clear blue gaze moved 
+from the Portkey to Harry’s face. 
+
+At once, Harry’s scar burned white-hot, as though the 
+old wound had burst open again — and unbidden, 
+unwanted, but terrifyingly strong, there rose within 
+Harry a hatred so powerful he felt, for that instant, 
+that he would like nothing better than to strike — to 
+bite — to sink his fangs into the man before him — 
+
+“... three.” 
+
+He felt a powerful jerk behind his navel, the ground 
+vanished from beneath his feet, his hand was glued to 
+the kettle; he was banging into the others as all sped 
+forward in a swirl of colors and a rush of wind, the 
+kettle pulling them onward and then — 
+
+His feet hit the ground so hard that his knees 
+buckled, the kettle clattered to the ground and 
+somewhere close at hand a voice said, “Back again, 
+the blood traitor brats, is it true their father’s dying ... 
+?” 
+
+“OUT!” roared a second voice. 
+
+Harry scrambled to his feet and looked around; they 
+had arrived in the gloomy basement kitchen of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+number twelve, Grimmauld Place. The only sources of 
+light were the fire and one guttering candle, which 
+illuminated the remains of a solitary supper. Kreacher 
+was disappearing through the door to the hall, 
+looking back at them malevolently as he hitched up 
+his loincloth; Sirius was hurrying toward them all, 
+looking anxious. He was unshaven and still in his day 
+clothes; there was also a slightly Mundungus-like 
+whiff of stale drink about him. 
+
+“What’s going on?” he said, stretching out a hand to 
+help Ginny up. “Phineas Nigellus said Arthur’s been 
+badly injured — ” 
+
+“Ask Harry,” said Fred. 
+
+“Yeah, I want to hear this for myself,” said George. 
+
+The twins and Ginny were staring at him. Kreacher’s 
+footsteps had stopped on the stairs outside. 
+
+“It was — ” Harry began; this was even worse than 
+telling McGonagall and Dumbledore. “I had a — a 
+kind of — vision...” 
+
+And he told them all that he had seen, though he 
+altered the story so that it sounded as though he had 
+watched from the sidelines as the snake attacked, 
+rather than from behind the snake’s own eyes... Ron, 
+who was still very white, gave him a fleeting look, but 
+did not speak. When Harry had finished, Fred, 
+
+George, and Ginny continued to stare at him for a 
+moment. Harry did not know whether he was 
+imagining it or not, but he fancied there was 
+something accusatory in their looks. Well, if they were 
+going to blame him for just seeing the attack, he was 
+glad he had not told them that he had been inside the 
+snake at the time... 
+
+
+
+Page | 607Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Is Mum here?” said Fred, turning to Sirius. 
+
+
+
+“She probably doesn’t even know what’s happened 
+yet,” said Sirius. “The important thing was to get you 
+away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect 
+Dumbledore’s letting Molly know now.” 
+
+“We’ve got to go to St. Mungo’s,” said Ginny urgently. 
+She looked around at her brothers; they were of 
+course still in their pajamas. “Sirius, can you lend us 
+cloaks or anything — ?” 
+
+“Hang on, you can’t go tearing off to St. Mungo’s!” 
+said Sirius. 
+
+“ ’Course we can go to St. Mungo’s if we want,” said 
+Fred, with a mulish expression, “he’s our dad!” 
+
+“And how are you going to explain how you knew 
+Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his 
+wife know?” 
+
+“What does that matter?” said George hotly. 
+
+“It matters because we don’t want to draw attention 
+to the fact that Harry is having visions of things that 
+are happening hundreds of miles away!” said Sirius 
+angrily. “Have you any idea what the Ministry would 
+make of that information?” 
+
+Fred and George looked as though they could not care 
+less what the Ministry made of anything. Ron was still 
+white-faced and silent. Ginny said, “Somebody else 
+could have told us... We could have heard it 
+somewhere other than Harry...” 
+
+“Like who?” said Sirius impatiently. “Listen, your 
+dad’s been hurt while on duty for the Order and the 
+circumstances are fishy enough without his children 
+
+Page | 608Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+knowing about it seconds after it happened, you 
+could seriously damage the Order’s — ” 
+
+“We don’t care about the dumb Order!” shouted Fred. 
+
+“It’s our dad dying we’re talking about!” yelled George. 
+
+“Your father knew what he was getting into, and he 
+won’t thank you for messing things up for the Order!” 
+said Sirius angrily in his turn. “This is how it is — 
+this is why you’re not in the Order — you don’t 
+understand — there are things worth dying for!” 
+
+“Easy for you to say, stuck here!” bellowed Fred. “I 
+don’t see you risking your neck!” 
+
+The little color remaining in Sirius’s face drained from 
+it. He looked for a moment as though he would quite 
+like to hit Fred, but when he spoke, it was in a voice 
+of determined calm. “I know it’s hard, but we’ve all got 
+to act as though we don’t know anything yet. We’ve 
+got to stay put, at least until we hear from your 
+mother, all right?” 
+
+Fred and George still looked mutinous. Ginny, 
+however, took a few steps over to the nearest chair 
+and sank into it. Harry looked at Ron, who made a 
+funny movement somewhere between a nod and 
+shrug, and they sat down too. The twins glared at 
+Sirius for another minute, then took seats on either 
+side of Ginny. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Sirius encouragingly, “come on, 
+let’s all ... let’s all have a drink while we’re waiting. 
+Accio Butterbeeri” 
+
+He raised his wand as he spoke and half a dozen 
+bottles came flying toward them out of the pantry, 
+skidded along the table, scattering the debris of 
+
+Page | 609Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Sirius’s meal, and stopped neatly in front of the six of 
+them. They all drank, and for a while the only sounds 
+were those of the crackling of the kitchen fire and the 
+soft thud of their bottles on the table. 
+
+Harry was only drinking to have something to do with 
+his hands. His stomach was full of horrible hot, 
+bubbling guilt. They would not be here if it were not 
+for him; they would all still be asleep in bed. And it 
+was no good telling himself that by raising the alarm 
+he had ensured that Mr. Weasley was found, because 
+there was also the inescapable business of it being he 
+who had attacked Mr. Weasley in the first place... 
+
+Don’t be stupid, you haven’t got fangs, he told himself, 
+trying to keep calm, though the hand on his 
+butterbeer bottle was shaking. You were lying in bed, 
+you weren’t attacking anyone... 
+
+But then, what just happened in Dumbledore’s office ? 
+he asked himself. I felt like I wanted to attack 
+Dumbledore too... 
+
+He put the bottle down on the table a little harder 
+than he meant to, so that it slopped over onto the 
+table. No one took any notice. Then a burst of fire in 
+midair illuminated the dirty plates in front of them 
+and as they gave cries of shock, a scroll of parchment 
+fell with a thud onto the table, accompanied by a 
+single golden phoenix tail feather. 
+
+“Fawkes!” said Sirius at once, snatching up the 
+parchment. “That’s not Dumbledore’s writing — it 
+must be a message from your mother — here — ” 
+
+He thrust the letter into George’s hand, who ripped it 
+open and read aloud, “ Dad is still alive. I am setting 
+out for St. Mungo’s now. Stay where you are. I will 
+send news as soon as I can. Mum.” 
+
+Page | 610Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+George looked around the table. 
+
+
+
+“Still alive ...” he said slowly. “But that makes it 
+sound ...” 
+
+He did not need to finish the sentence. It sounded to 
+Harry too as though Mr. Weasley was hovering 
+somewhere between life and death. Still exceptionally 
+pale, Ron stared at the back of his mother’s letter as 
+though it might speak words of comfort to him. Fred 
+pulled the parchment out of George’s hands and read 
+it for himself, then looked up at Harry, who felt his 
+hand shaking on his butterbeer bottle again and 
+clenched it more tightly to stop the trembling. 
+
+If Harry had ever sat through a longer night than this 
+one he could not remember it. Sirius suggested once 
+that they all go to bed, but without any real 
+conviction, and the Weasleys’ looks of disgust were 
+answer enough. They mostly sat in silence around the 
+table, watching the candle wick sinking lower and 
+lower into liquid wax, now and then raising bottles to 
+their lips, speaking only to check the time, to wonder 
+aloud what was happening, and to reassure one 
+another that if there was bad news, they would know 
+straightaway, for Mrs. Weasley must long since have 
+arrived at St. Mungo’s. 
+
+Fred fell into a doze, his head sagging sideways onto 
+his shoulder. Ginny was curled like a cat on her 
+chair, but her eyes were open; Harry could see them 
+reflecting the firelight. Ron was sitting with his head 
+in his hands, whether awake or asleep it was 
+impossible to tell. And he and Sirius looked at each 
+other every so often, intruders upon the family grief, 
+waiting ... waiting ... 
+
+And then, at ten past five in the morning by Ron’s 
+watch, the kitchen door swung open and Mrs. 
+
+Page | 611Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Weasley entered the kitchen. She was extremely pale, 
+but when they all turned to look at her, Fred, Ron, 
+and Harry half-rising from their chairs, she gave a 
+wan smile. 
+
+“He’s going to be all right,” she said, her voice weak 
+with tiredness. “He’s sleeping. We can all go and see 
+him later. Bill’s sitting with him now, he’s going to 
+take the morning off work.” 
+
+Fred fell back into his chair with his hands over his 
+face. George and Ginny got up, walked swiftly over to 
+their mother, and hugged her. Ron gave a very shaky 
+laugh and downed the rest of his butterbeer in one. 
+
+“Breakfast!” said Sirius loudly and joyfully, jumping 
+to his feet. “Where’s that accursed house-elf? 
+
+Kreacher! KREACHER!” 
+
+But Kreacher did not answer the summons. 
+
+“Oh, forget it, then,” muttered Sirius, counting the 
+people in front of him. “So it’s breakfast for — let’s see 
+— seven ... Bacon and eggs, I think, and some tea, 
+and toast — ” 
+
+Harry hurried over to the stove to help. He did not 
+want to intrude upon the Weasleys’ happiness, and 
+he dreaded the moment when Mrs. Weasley would 
+ask him to recount his vision. However, he had barely 
+taken plates from the dresser when Mrs. Weasley 
+lifted them out of his hands and pulled him into a 
+hug. 
+
+“I don’t know what would have happened if it hadn’t 
+been for you, Harry,” she said in a muffled voice. 
+
+“They might not have found Arthur for hours, and 
+then it would have been too late, but thanks to you 
+he’s alive and Dumbledore’s been able to think up a 
+Page | 612Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+good cover story for Arthur being where he was, 
+you’ve no idea what trouble he would have been in 
+otherwise, look at poor Sturgis...” 
+
+Harry could hardly stand her gratitude, but 
+fortunately she soon released him to turn to Sirius 
+and thank him for looking after her children through 
+the night. Sirius said that he was very pleased to have 
+been able to help, and hoped they would all stay with 
+him as long as Mr. Weasley was in hospital. 
+
+“Oh, Sirius, I’m so grateful... They think hell be there 
+a little while and it would be wonderful to be nearer 
+...Of course, that might mean we’re here for 
+Christmas...” 
+
+“The more the merrier!” said Sirius with such obvious 
+sincerity that Mrs. Weasley beamed at him, threw on 
+an apron, and began to help with breakfast. 
+
+“Sirius,” Harry muttered, unable to stand it a moment 
+longer. “Can I have a quick word? Er — now?” 
+
+He walked into the dark pantry and Sirius followed. 
+Without preamble Harry told his godfather every 
+detail of the vision he had had, including the fact that 
+he himself had been the snake who had attacked Mr. 
+Weasley. 
+
+When he paused for breath, Sirius said, “Did you tell 
+Dumbledore this?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry impatiently, “but he didn’t tell me 
+what it meant. Well, he doesn’t tell me anything 
+anymore...” 
+
+“I’m sure he would have told you if it was anything to 
+worry about,” said Sirius steadily. 
+
+
+
+Page | 613Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But that’s not all,” said Harry in a voice only a little 
+above a whisper. “Sirius, I ... I think I’m going mad... 
+Back in Dumbledore’s office, just before we took the 
+Portkey . . . for a couple of seconds there I thought I 
+was a snake, I felt like one — my scar really hurt 
+when I was looking at Dumbledore — Sirius, I wanted 
+to attack him — ” 
+
+He could only see a sliver of Sirius’s face; the rest was 
+in darkness. 
+
+“It must have been the aftermath of the vision, that’s 
+all,” said Sirius. “You were still thinking of the dream 
+or whatever it was and — ” 
+
+“It wasn’t that,” said Harry, shaking his head. “It was 
+like something rose up inside me, like there’s a snake 
+inside me — ” 
+
+“You need to sleep,” said Sirius firmly. “You’re going 
+to have breakfast and then go upstairs to bed, and 
+then you can go and see Arthur after lunch with the 
+others. You’re in shock, Harry; you’re blaming 
+yourself for something you only witnessed, and it’s 
+lucky you did witness it or Arthur might have died. 
+Just stop worrying...” 
+
+He clapped Harry on the shoulder and left the pantry, 
+leaving Harry standing alone in the dark. 
+
+Everyone but Harry spent the rest of the morning 
+sleeping. He went up to the bedroom he had shared 
+with Ron over the summer, but while Ron crawled 
+into bed and was asleep within minutes, Harry sat 
+fully clothed, hunched against the cold metal bars of 
+the bedstead, keeping himself deliberately 
+uncomfortable, determined not to fall into a doze, 
+terrified that he might become the serpent again in 
+his sleep and awake to find that he had attacked Ron, 
+Page | 614Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+or else slithered through the house after one of the 
+others... 
+
+When Ron woke up, Harry pretended to have enjoyed 
+a refreshing nap too. Their trunks arrived from 
+Hogwarts while they were eating lunch, so that they 
+could dress as Muggles for the trip to St. Mungo’s. 
+Everybody except Harry was riotously happy and 
+talkative as they changed out of their robes into jeans 
+and sweatshirts, and they greeted Tonks and Mad- 
+Eye, who had turned up to escort them across 
+London, gleefully laughing at the bowler hat Mad-Eye 
+was wearing at an angle to conceal his magical eye 
+and assuring him, truthfully, that Tonks, whose hair 
+was short and bright pink again, would attract far 
+less attention on the underground. 
+
+Tonks was very interested in Harry’s vision of the 
+attack on Mr. Weasley, something he was not 
+remotely interested in discussing. 
+
+“There isn’t any Seer blood in your family, is there?” 
+she inquired curiously, as they sat side by side on a 
+train rattling toward the heart of the city. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, thinking of Professor Trelawney and 
+feeling insulted. 
+
+“No,” said Tonks musingly, “no, I suppose it’s not 
+really prophecy you’re doing, is it? I mean, you’re not 
+seeing the future, you’re seeing the present... It’s odd, 
+isn’t it? Useful, though ...” 
+
+Harry did not answer; fortunately they got out at the 
+next stop, a station in the very heart of London, and 
+in the bustle of leaving the train he was able to allow 
+Fred and George to get between himself and Tonks, 
+who was leading the way. They all followed her up the 
+escalator, Moody clunking along at the back of the 
+Page | 615Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+group, his bowler tilted low and one gnarled hand 
+stuck in between the buttons of his coat, clutching 
+his wand. Harry thought he sensed the concealed eye 
+staring hard at him; trying to deflect more questions 
+about his dream he asked Mad-Eye where St. 
+
+Mungo’s was hidden. 
+
+“Not far from here,” grunted Moody as they stepped 
+out into the wintry air on a broad store-lined street 
+packed with Christmas shoppers. He pushed Harry a 
+little ahead of him and stumped along just behind; 
+Harry knew the eye was rolling in all directions under 
+the tilted hat. “Wasn’t easy to find a good location for 
+a hospital. Nowhere in Diagon Alley was big enough 
+and we couldn’t have it underground like the Ministry 
+— unhealthy. In the end they managed to get hold of 
+a building up here. Theory was sick wizards could 
+come and go and just blend in with the crowd...” 
+
+He seized Harry’s shoulder to prevent them being 
+separated by a gaggle of shoppers plainly intent on 
+nothing but making it into a nearby shop full of 
+electrical gadgets. 
+
+“Here we go,” said Moody a moment later. 
+
+They had arrived outside a large, old-fashioned, red 
+brick department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd. 
+The place had a shabby, miserable air; the window 
+displays consisted of a few chipped dummies with 
+their wigs askew, standing at random and modeling 
+fashions at least ten years out of date. Large signs on 
+all the dusty doors read CLOSED FOR 
+REFURBISHMENT. Harry distinctly heard a large 
+woman laden with plastic shopping bags say to her 
+friend as they passed, “It’s never open, that place...” 
+
+“Right,” said Tonks, beckoning them forward to a 
+window displaying nothing but a particularly ugly 
+
+Page | 616Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+female dummy whose false eyelashes were hanging off 
+and who was modeling a green nylon pinafore dress. 
+“Everybody ready?” 
+
+They nodded, clustering around her; Moody gave 
+Harry another shove between the shoulder blades to 
+urge him forward and Tonks leaned close to the glass, 
+looking up at the very ugly dummy and said, her 
+breath steaming up the glass, “Wotcher ... We’re here 
+to see Arthur Weasley.” 
+
+For a split second, Harry thought how absurd it was 
+for Tonks to expect the dummy to hear her talking 
+that quietly through a sheet of glass, when there were 
+buses rumbling along behind her and all the racket of 
+a street full of shoppers. Then he reminded himself 
+that dummies could not hear anyway. Next second 
+his mouth opened in shock as the dummy gave a tiny 
+nod, beckoned its jointed finger, and Tonks had 
+seized Ginny and Mrs. Weasley by the elbows, 
+stepped right through the glass and vanished. 
+
+Fred, George, and Ron stepped after them; Harry 
+glanced around at the jostling crowd; not one of them 
+seemed to have a glance to spare for window displays 
+as ugly as Purge and Dowse Ltd.’s, nor did any of 
+them seem to have noticed that six people had just 
+melted into thin air in front of them. 
+
+“C’mon,” growled Moody, giving Harry yet another 
+poke in the back and together they stepped forward 
+through what felt like a sheet of cool water, emerging 
+quite warm and dry on the other side. 
+
+There was no sign of the ugly dummy or the space 
+where she had stood. They had arrived in what 
+seemed to be a crowded reception area where rows of 
+witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs, 
+some looking perfectly normal and perusing out-of- 
+P a g e | 617Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+date copies of Witch Weekly, others sporting gruesome 
+disfigurements such as elephant trunks or extra 
+hands sticking out of their chests. The room was 
+scarcely less quiet than the street outside, for many of 
+the patients were making very peculiar noises. A 
+sweaty-faced witch in the center of the front row, who 
+was fanning herself vigorously with a copy of the 
+Daily Prophet, kept letting off a high-pitched whistle 
+as steam came pouring out of her mouth, and a 
+grubby-looking warlock in the corner clanged like a 
+bell every time he moved, and with each clang his 
+head vibrated horribly, so that he had to seize himself 
+by the ears and hold it steady. 
+
+Witches and wizards in lime-green robes were walking 
+up and down the rows, asking questions and making 
+notes on clipboards like Umbridge’s. Harry noticed 
+the emblem embroidered on their chests: a wand and 
+bone, crossed. 
+
+“Are they doctors?” he asked Ron quietly. 
+
+“Doctors?” said Ron, looking startled. “Those Muggle 
+nutters that cut people up? Nah, they’re Healers.” 
+
+“Over here!” called Mrs. Weasley over the renewed 
+clanging of the warlock in the corner, and they 
+followed her to the queue in front of a plump blonde 
+witch seated at a desk marked inquiries. The wall 
+behind her was covered in notices and posters saying 
+things like A CLEAN CAULDRON KEEPS POTIONS 
+FROM BECOMING POISONS and ANTIDOTES ARE 
+ANTI-DONTS UNLESS APPROVED BY A QUALIFIED 
+HEALER. 
+
+There was also a large portrait of a witch with long 
+silver ringlets that was labelled 
+
+DILYS DERWENT 
+
+Page | 618Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ST. MUNGO’S HEALER 1722-1741 
+
+
+
+HEADMISTRESS OF HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF 
+
+WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY, I74I-I768 
+
+Dilys was eyeing the Weasley party as though 
+counting them; when Harry caught her eye she gave a 
+tiny wink, walked sideways out of her portrait, and 
+vanished. 
+
+Meanwhile, at the front of the queue, a young wizard 
+was performing an odd on-the-spot jig and trying, in 
+between yelps of pain, to explain his predicament to 
+the witch behind the desk. 
+
+“It’s these — ouch — shoes my brother gave me — ow 
+— they’re eating my — OUCH — feet — look at them, 
+there must be some kind of — AARGH — jinx on them 
+and I can’t — AAAAARGH — get them off — ” 
+
+He hopped from one foot to the other as though 
+dancing on hot coals. 
+
+“The shoes don’t prevent you reading, do they?” said 
+the blonde witch irritably, pointing at a large sign to 
+the left of her desk. “You want Spell Damage, fourth 
+floor. Just like it says on the floor guide. Next!” 
+
+The wizard hobbled and pranced sideways out of the 
+way, the Weasley party moved forward a few steps 
+and Harry read the floor guide: 
+
+ARTIFACT ACCIDENTS Ground Floor 
+
+(Cauldron explosion, wand backfiring, broom crashes, 
+etc.) 
+
+
+
+Page | 619Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+CREATURE-INDUCED INJURIES 
+
+
+
+First Floor 
+
+
+
+(Bites, stings, burns, embedded spines, etc.) 
+
+MAGICAL BUGS Second Floor 
+
+(Contagious maladies, e.g., dragon pox, vanishing 
+sickness, scrofungulus) 
+
+POTION AND PLANT POISONING .... Third Floor 
+
+(Rashes, regurgitation, uncontrollable giggling, etc.) 
+
+SPELL DAMAGE Fourth Floor 
+
+(Unliftable jinxes, hexes, and incorrectly applied 
+charms, etc.) 
+
+VISITORS’ TEAROOM AND HOSPITAL SHOP... .Fifth 
+Floor 
+
+If you are unsure where to go, incapable, of normal 
+speech, or unable to remember why you are here, our 
+Welcome Witch will be pleased to help. 
+
+A very old, stooped wizard with a hearing trumpet 
+had shuffled to the front of the queue now. 
+
+“I’m here to see Broderick Bode!” he wheezed. 
+
+“Ward forty-nine, but I’m afraid you’re wasting your 
+time,” said the witch dismissively “He’s completely 
+addled, you know, still thinks he’s a teapot... Next!” 
+
+A harassed-looking wizard was holding his small 
+daughter tightly by the ankle while she flapped 
+around his head using the immensely large, feathery 
+wings that had sprouted right out the back of her 
+romper suit. 
+
+Page | 620Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Fourth floor,” said the witch in a bored voice, without 
+asking, and the man disappeared through the double 
+doors beside the desk, holding his daughter like an 
+oddly shaped balloon. “Next!” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley moved forward to the desk. 
+
+“Hello,” she said. “My husband, Arthur Weasley, was 
+supposed to be moved to a different ward this 
+morning, could you tell us — ?” 
+
+“Arthur Weasley?” said the witch, running her finger 
+down a long list in front of her. “Yes, first floor, 
+second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn ward.” 
+
+“Thank you,” said Mrs. Weasley. “Come on, you lot.” 
+
+They followed through the double doors and along the 
+narrow corridor beyond, which was lined with more 
+portraits of famous Healers and lit by crystal bubbles 
+full of candles that floated up on the ceiling, looking 
+like giant soapsuds. More witches and wizards in 
+lime-green robes walked in and out of the doors they 
+passed; a foul-smelling yellow gas wafted into the 
+passageway as they passed one door, and every now 
+and then they heard distant wailing. They climbed a 
+flight of stairs and entered the “Creature-Induced 
+Injuries” corridor, where the second door on the right 
+bore the words “DANGEROUS” DAI LLEWELLYN 
+WARD: SERIOUS BITES. Underneath this was a card 
+in a brass holder on which had been handwritten 
+Healer-in-Charge: Hippocrates Smethwyck, Trainee 
+Healer: Augustus Pye. 
+
+“Well wait outside, Molly,” Tonks said. “Arthur won’t 
+want too many visitors at once... It ought to be just 
+the family first.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 621Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Mad-Eye growled his approval of this idea and set 
+himself with his back against the corridor wall, his 
+magical eye spinning in all directions. Harry drew 
+back too, but Mrs. Weasley reached out a hand and 
+pushed him through the door, saying, “Don’t be silly, 
+Harry, Arthur wants to thank you...” 
+
+The ward was small and rather dingy as the only 
+window was narrow and set high in the wall facing 
+the door. Most of the light came from more shining 
+crystal bubbles clustered in the middle of the ceiling. 
+The walls were of panelled oak and there was a 
+portrait of a rather vicious-looking wizard on the wall, 
+captioned URQUHART RACKHARROW, 1612-1697, 
+INVENTOR OF THE ENTRAIL- EXPELLING CURSE. 
+
+There were only three patients. Mr. Weasley was 
+occupying the bed at the far end of the ward beside 
+the tiny window. Harry was pleased and relieved to 
+see that he was propped up on several pillows and 
+reading the Daily Prophet by the solitary ray of 
+sunlight falling onto his bed. He looked around as 
+they walked toward him and, seeing whom it was, 
+beamed. 
+
+“Hello!” he called, throwing the Prophet aside. “Bill 
+just left, Molly, had to get back to work, but he says 
+he’ll drop in on you later...” 
+
+“How are you, Arthur?” asked Mrs. Weasley, bending 
+down to kiss his cheek and looking anxiously into his 
+face. “You’re still looking a bit peaky...” 
+
+“I feel absolutely fine,” said Mr. Weasley brightly, 
+holding out his good arm to give Ginny a hug. “If they 
+could only take the bandages off, I’d be fit to go 
+home.” 
+
+“Why can’t they take them off, Dad?” asked Fred. 
+
+Page | 622Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, I start bleeding like mad every time they try,” 
+said Mr. Weasley cheerfully, reaching across for his 
+wand, which lay on his bedside cabinet, and waving it 
+so that six extra chairs appeared at his bedside to 
+seat them all. “It seems there was some rather 
+unusual kind of poison in that snake’s fangs that 
+keeps wounds open... They’re sure they’ll find an 
+antidote, though, they say they’ve had much worse 
+cases than mine, and in the meantime I just have to 
+keep taking a Blood-Replenishing Potion every hour. 
+But that fellow over there,” he said, dropping his voice 
+and nodding toward the bed opposite in which a man 
+lay looking green and sickly and staring at the ceiling. 
+“Bitten by a werewolf, poor chap. No cure at all.” 
+
+“A werewolf?” whispered Mrs. Weasley, looking 
+alarmed. “Is he safe in a public ward? Shouldn’t he be 
+in a private room?” 
+
+“It’s two weeks till full moon,” Mr. Weasley reminded 
+her quietly. “They’ve been talking to him this 
+morning, the Healers, you know, trying to persuade 
+him he’ll be able to lead an almost normal life. I said 
+to him — didn’t mention names, of course — but I 
+said I knew a werewolf personally, very nice man, who 
+finds the condition quite easy to manage...” 
+
+“What did he say?” asked George. 
+
+“Said he’d give me another bite if I didn’t shut up,” 
+said Mr. Weasley sadly. “And that woman over there,” 
+he indicated the only other occupied bed, which was 
+right beside the door, “won’t tell the Healers what bit 
+her, which makes us all think it must have been 
+something she was handling illegally. Whatever it was 
+took a real chunk out of her leg, very nasty smell 
+when they take off the dressings.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 623Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So, you going to tell us what happened, Dad?” asked 
+Fred, pulling his chair closer to the bed. 
+
+“Well, you already know, don’t you?” said Mr. 
+
+Weasley, with a significant smile at Harry. “It’s very 
+simple — I’d had a very long day, dozed off, got 
+sneaked up on, and bitten.” 
+
+“Is it in the Prophet, you being attacked?” asked Fred, 
+indicating the newspaper Mr. Weasley had cast aside. 
+
+“No, of course not,” said Mr. Weasley, with a slightly 
+bitter smile, “the Ministry wouldn’t want everyone to 
+know a dirty great serpent got — ” 
+
+“Arthur!” said Mrs. Weasley warningly. 
+
+“ — got — er — me,” Mr. Weasley said hastily, though 
+Harry was quite sure that was not what he had meant 
+to say. 
+
+“So where were you when it happened, Dad?” asked 
+George. 
+
+“That’s my business,” said Mr. Weasley, though with 
+a small smile. He snatched up the Daily Prophet, 
+shook it open again and said, “I was just reading 
+about Willy Widdershins’s arrest when you arrived. 
+You know Willy turned out to be behind those 
+regurgitating toilets last summer? One of his jinxes 
+backfired, the toilet exploded, and they found him 
+lying unconscious in the wreckage covered from head 
+to foot in — ” 
+
+“When you say you were ‘on duty,’ ” Fred interrupted 
+in a low voice, “what were you doing?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 624Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You heard your father,” whispered Mrs. Weasley, “we 
+are not discussing this here! Go on about Willy 
+Widdershins, Arthur — ” 
+
+“Well, don’t ask me how, but he actually got off on the 
+toilet charge,” said Mr. Weasley grimly. “I can only 
+suppose gold changed hands — ” 
+
+“You were guarding it, weren’t you?” said George 
+quietly. “The weapon? The thing You-Know- Who’s 
+after?” 
+
+“George, be quiet!” snapped Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Anyway,” said Mr. Weasley in a raised voice, “this 
+time Willy’s been caught selling biting doorknobs to 
+Muggles, and I don’t think he’ll be able to worm his 
+way out of it because according to this article, two 
+Muggles have lost fingers and are now in St. Mungo’s 
+for emergency bone regrowth and memory 
+modification. Just think of it, Muggles in St. Mungo’s! 
+I wonder which ward they’re in?” 
+
+And he looked eagerly around as though hoping to 
+see a signpost. 
+
+“Didn’t you say You-Know- Who’s got a snake, Harry?” 
+asked Fred, looking at his father for a reaction. “A 
+massive one? You saw it the night he returned, didn’t 
+you?” 
+
+“That’s enough,” said Mrs. Weasley crossly. “Mad-Eye 
+and Tonks are outside, Arthur, they want to come 
+and see you. And you lot can wait outside,” she added 
+to her children and Harry. “You can come and say 
+good-bye afterward. Go on...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 625Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They trooped back into the corridor. Mad-Eye and 
+Tonks went in and closed the door of the ward behind 
+them. Fred raised his eyebrows. 
+
+“Fine,” he said coolly, rummaging in his pockets, “be 
+like that. Don’t tell us anything.” 
+
+“Looking for these?” said George, holding out what 
+looked like a tangle of flesh-colored string. 
+
+“You read my mind,” said Fred, grinning. “Let’s see if 
+St. Mungo’s puts Imperturbable Charms on its ward 
+doors, shall we?” 
+
+He and George disentangled the string and separated 
+five Extendable Ears from each other. Fred and 
+George handed them around. Harry hesitated to take 
+one. 
+
+“Go on, Harry, take it! You saved Dad’s life, if 
+anyone’s got the right to eavesdrop on him it’s you...” 
+
+Grinning in spite of himself, Harry took the end of the 
+string and inserted it into his ear as the twins had 
+done. 
+
+“Okay, go!” Fred whispered. 
+
+The flesh-colored strings wriggled like long skinny 
+worms, then snaked under the door. For a few 
+seconds Harry could hear nothing, then he heard 
+Tonks whispering as clearly as though she were 
+standing right beside him. 
+
+"... they searched the whole area but they couldn’t 
+find the snake anywhere, it just seems to have 
+vanished after it attacked you, Arthur... But You- 
+Know-Who can’t have expected a snake to get in, can 
+he?” 
+
+Page | 626Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I reckon he sent it as a lookout,” growled Moody, “ 
+’cause he’s not had any luck so far, has he? No, I 
+reckon he’s trying to get a clearer picture of what he’s 
+facing and if Arthur hadn’t been there the beast 
+would’ve had much more time to look around. So 
+Potter says he saw it all happen?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded rather uneasy. 
+“You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been 
+waiting for Harry to see something like this...” 
+
+“Yeah, well,” said Moody, “there’s something funny 
+about the Potter kid, we all know that.” 
+
+“Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I 
+spoke to him this morning,” whispered Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“ ’Course he’s worried,” growled Moody. “The boy’s 
+seeing things from inside You-Know- Who’s snake... 
+Obviously, Potter doesn’t realize what that means, but 
+if You- Know- Who’s possessing him — ” 
+
+Harry pulled the Extendable Ear out of his own, his 
+heart hammering very fast and heat rushing up his 
+face. He looked around at the others. They were all 
+staring at him, the strings still trailing from their 
+ears, looking suddenly fearful. 
+
+
+
+Page | 627Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHRISTMAS ON THE CLOSED WARD 
+
+Was this why Dumbledore would no longer meet 
+Harry’s eyes? Did he expect to see Voldemort staring 
+out of them, afraid, perhaps, that their vivid green 
+might turn suddenly to scarlet, with catlike slits for 
+pupils? Harry remembered how the snakelike face of 
+Voldemort had once forced itself out of the back of 
+Professor Quirrell’s head, and he ran his hand over 
+the back of his own, wondering what it would feel like 
+if Voldemort burst out of his skull... 
+
+He felt dirty, contaminated, as though he were 
+carrying some deadly germ, unworthy to sit on the 
+underground train back from the hospital with 
+innocent, clean people whose minds and bodies were 
+free of the taint of Voldemort... He had not merely 
+seen the snake, he had been the snake, he knew it 
+now. . . 
+
+And then a truly terrible thought occurred to him, a 
+memory bobbing to the surface of his mind, one that 
+made his insides writhe and squirm like serpents... 
+
+
+
+Page | 628Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“What’s he after apart from followers?” 
+
+“Stuff he can only get by stealth ... like a weapon. 
+Something he didn’t have last time.” 
+
+I’m the weapon, Harry thought, and it was as though 
+poison were pumping through his veins, chilling him, 
+bringing him out in a sweat as he swayed with the 
+train through the dark tunnel. I’m the one Voldemort’s 
+trying to use, that’s why they’ve got guards around me 
+everywhere I go, it’s not for my protection, it’s for other 
+people’s, only it’s not working, they can’t have 
+someone on me all the time at Hogwarts... I did attack 
+Mr. Weasley last night, it was me, Voldemort made me 
+do it and he could be inside me, listening to my 
+thoughts right now... 
+
+“Are you all right, Harry, dear?” whispered Mrs. 
+Weasley, leaning across Ginny to speak to him as the 
+train rattled along through its dark tunnel. “You don’t 
+look very well. Are you feeling sick?” 
+
+They were all watching him. He shook his head 
+violently and stared up at an advertisement for home 
+insurance. 
+
+“Harry, dear, are you sure you’re all right?” said Mrs. 
+Weasley in a worried voice, as they walked around the 
+unkempt patch of grass in the middle of Grimmauld 
+Place. “You look ever so pale... Are you sure you slept 
+this morning? You go upstairs to bed right now, and 
+you can have a couple of hours’ sleep before dinner, 
+all right?” 
+
+He nodded; here was a ready-made excuse not to talk 
+to any of the others, which was precisely what he 
+wanted, so when she opened the front door he 
+proceeded straight past the troll’s leg umbrella stand 
+
+
+
+Page | 629Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and up the stairs and hurried into his and Ron’s 
+bedroom. 
+
+Here he began to pace up and down, past the two 
+beds and Phineas Nigellus’s empty portrait, his brain 
+teeming and seething with questions and ever more 
+dreadful ideas... 
+
+How had he become a snake? Perhaps he was an 
+Animagus... No, he couldn’t be, he would know... 
+perhaps Voldemort was an Animagus... Yes, thought 
+Harry, that would fit, he would turn into a snake of 
+course ... and when he’s possessing me, then we both 
+transform... That still doesn’t explain how come I got to 
+London and back to my bed in the space of about five 
+minutes, though... But then Voldemort’ s about the most 
+powerful wizard in the world, apart from Dumbledore, 
+it’s probably no problem at all to him to transport 
+people like that... 
+
+And then, with a terrible stab of panic he thought, but 
+this is insane — if Voldemort’s possessing me, I’m 
+giving him a clear view into the headquarters of the 
+Order of the Phoenix right now! He’ll know who’s in the 
+Order and where Sirius is ... and I’ve heard loads of 
+stuff I shouldn’t have, everything Sirius told me the 
+first night I was here... 
+
+There was only one thing for it: He would have to 
+leave Grimmauld Place straightaway. He would spend 
+Christmas at Hogwarts without the others, which 
+would keep them safe over the holidays at least... But 
+no, that wouldn’t do, there were still plenty of people 
+at Hogwarts to maim and injure, what if it was 
+Seamus, Dean, or Neville next time? He stopped his 
+pacing and stood staring at Phineas Nigellus’s empty 
+frame. A leaden sensation was settling in the pit of his 
+stomach. He had no alternative: He was going to have 
+
+
+
+Page | 630Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to return to Privet Drive, cut himself off from other 
+wizards entirely... 
+
+
+
+Well, if he had to do it, he thought, there was no point 
+hanging around. Trying with all his might not to think 
+how the Dursleys were going to react when they found 
+him on their doorstep six months earlier than they 
+had expected, he strode over to his trunk, slammed 
+the lid shut and locked it, then glanced around 
+automatically for Hedwig before remembering that she 
+was still at Hogwarts — well, her cage would be one 
+less thing to carry — he seized one end of his trunk 
+and had dragged it halfway toward the door when a 
+sneaky voice said, “Running away, are we?” 
+
+He looked around. Phineas Nigellus had appeared 
+upon the canvas of his portrait and was leaning 
+against the frame, watching Harry with an amused 
+expression on his face. 
+
+“Not running away, no,” said Harry shortly, dragging 
+his trunk a few more feet across the room. 
+
+“I thought,” said Phineas Nigellus, stroking his 
+pointed beard, “that to belong in Gryffindor House 
+you were supposed to be brave? It looks to me as 
+though you would have been better off in my own 
+house. We Slytherins are brave, yes, but not stupid. 
+For instance, given the choice, we will always choose 
+to save our own necks.” 
+
+“It’s not my own neck I’m saving,” said Harry tersely, 
+tugging the trunk over a patch of particularly uneven, 
+moth-eaten carpet right in front of the door. 
+
+“Oh I see,” said Phineas Nigellus, still stroking his 
+beard. “This is no cowardly flight — you are being 
+noble.” 
+
+Page | 631Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry ignored him. His hand was on the doorknob 
+when Phineas Nigellus said lazily, “I have a message 
+for you from Albus Dumbledore.” 
+
+Harry spun around. 
+
+“What is it?” 
+
+“Stay where you are.” 
+
+“I haven’t moved!” said Harry, his hand still upon the 
+doorknob. “So what’s the message?” 
+
+“I have just given it to you, dolt,” said Phineas 
+Nigellus smoothly. “Dumbledore says, ‘Stay where 
+you are. ’ ” 
+
+“Why?” said Harry eagerly, dropping the end of his 
+trunk. “Why does he want me to stay? What else did 
+he say?” 
+
+“Nothing whatsoever,” said Phineas Nigellus, raising a 
+thin black eyebrow as though he found Harry 
+impertinent. 
+
+Harry’s temper rose to the surface like a snake 
+rearing from long grass. He was exhausted, he was 
+confused beyond measure, he had experienced terror, 
+relief, and then terror again in the last twelve hours, 
+and still Dumbledore did not want to talk to him! 
+
+“So that’s it, is it?” he said loudly. “Stay there? That’s 
+all anyone could tell me after I got attacked by those 
+dementors too! Just stay put while the grown-ups 
+sort it out, Harry! We won’t bother telling you 
+anything, though, because your tiny little brain might 
+not be able to cope with it!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 632Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You know,” said Phineas Nigellus, even more loudly 
+than Harry, “this is precisely why I loathed being a 
+teacher! Young people are so infernally convinced that 
+they are absolutely right about everything. Has it not 
+occurred to you, my poor puffed-up popinjay, that 
+there might be an excellent reason why the 
+headmaster of Hogwarts is not confiding every tiny 
+detail of his plans to you? Have you never paused, 
+while feeling hard-done-by, to note that following 
+Dumbledore ’s orders has never yet led you into harm? 
+No. No, like all young people, you are quite sure that 
+you alone feel and think, you alone recognize danger, 
+you alone are the only one clever enough to realize 
+what the Dark Lord may be planning...” 
+
+“He is planning something to do with me, then?” said 
+Harry swiftly. 
+
+“Did I say that?” said Phineas Nigellus, idly examining 
+his silk gloves. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have 
+better things to do than to listen to adolescent 
+agonizing... Good day to you...” 
+
+And he strolled into his frame and out of sight. 
+
+“Fine, go then!” Harry bellowed at the empty frame. 
+“And tell Dumbledore thanks for nothing!” 
+
+The empty canvas remained silent. Fuming, Harry 
+dragged his trunk back to the foot of his bed, then 
+threw himself facedown upon the moth-eaten covers, 
+his eyes shut, his body heavy and aching. . . 
+
+He felt he had journeyed miles and miles... It seemed 
+impossible that less than twenty-four hours ago Cho 
+Chang had been approaching him under the 
+mistletoe... He was so tired... He was scared to sleep 
+... yet he did not know how long he could fight it... 
+Dumbledore had told him to stay... That must mean 
+Page | 633Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he was allowed to sleep... But he was scared... What if 
+it happened again ... ? 
+
+He was sinking into shadows... 
+
+It was as though a film in his head had been waiting 
+to start. He was walking down a deserted corridor 
+toward a plain black door, past rough stone walls, 
+torches, and an open doorway onto a flight of stone 
+steps leading downstairs on the left... 
+
+He reached the black door but could not open it... He 
+stood gazing at it, desperate for entry. . . Something he 
+wanted with all his heart lay beyond... A prize beyond 
+his dreams... If only his scar would stop prickling ... 
+then he would be able to think more clearly. . . 
+
+“Harry,” said Ron’s voice, from far, far away, “Mum 
+says dinner’s ready, but she’ll save you something if 
+you want to stay in bed...” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes, but Ron had already left the 
+room. 
+
+He doesn’t want to be on his own with me, Harry 
+thought. Not after what he heard Moody say ... 
+
+He supposed none of them would want him there 
+anymore now that they knew what was inside him... 
+
+He would not go down to dinner; he would not inflict 
+his company upon them. He turned over onto his 
+other side and after a while dropped back off to sleep, 
+waking much later in the early hours of the morning, 
+with his insides aching with hunger, and Ron snoring 
+in the next bed. Squinting around the room he saw 
+the dark outline of Phineas Nigellus standing again in 
+his portrait and it occurred to Harry that Dumbledore 
+
+
+
+Page | 634Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+had probably set Phineas Nigellus to watch over him, 
+in case he attacked somebody else. 
+
+The feeling of being unclean intensified. He half 
+wished he had not obeyed Dumbledore and stayed... 
+
+If this was how life was going to be in Grimmauld 
+Place from now on, maybe he would be better off in 
+Privet Drive after all. 
+
+Everybody else spent the following morning putting 
+up Christmas decorations. Harry could not remember 
+Sirius ever being in such a good mood; he was 
+actually singing carols, apparently delighted that he 
+was to have company over Christmas. Harry could 
+hear his voice echoing up through the floor in the cold 
+and empty drawing room where he was sitting alone, 
+watching the sky outside the windows growing whiter, 
+threatening snow, all the time feeling a savage 
+pleasure that he was giving the others the 
+opportunity to keep talking about him, as they were 
+bound to be doing. When he heard Mrs. Weasley 
+calling his name softly up the stairs around 
+lunchtime he retreated farther upstairs and ignored 
+her. 
+
+It was around six o’clock in the evening that the 
+doorbell rang and Mrs. Black started screaming 
+again. Assuming that Mundungus or some other 
+Order member had come to call, Harry merely settled 
+himself more comfortably against the wall of 
+Buckbeak the hippogriff’s room where he was hiding, 
+trying to ignore how hungry he felt as he fed 
+Buckbeak dead rats. It came as a slight shock when 
+somebody hammered hard on the door a few minutes 
+later. 
+
+“I know you’re in there,” said Hermione’s voice. “Will 
+you please come out? I want to talk to you.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 635Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What are you doing here?” Harry asked her, pulling 
+open the door, as Buckbeak resumed his scratching 
+at the straw-strewn floor for any fragments of rat he 
+might have dropped. “I thought you were skiing with 
+your mum and dad.” 
+
+“Well, to tell the truth, skiing’s not really my thing,” 
+said Hermione. “So I’ve come for Christmas.” There 
+was snow in her hair and her face was pink with cold. 
+“But don’t tell Ron that, I told him it’s really good 
+because he kept laughing so much. Anyway, Mum 
+and Dad are a bit disappointed, but I’ve told them 
+that everyone who’s serious about the exams is 
+staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do 
+well, they’ll understand. Anyway,” she said briskly, 
+“let’s go to your bedroom, Ron’s mum’s lit a fire in 
+there and she’s sent up sandwiches.” 
+
+Harry followed her back to the second floor. When he 
+entered the bedroom he was rather surprised to see 
+both Ron and Ginny waiting for them, sitting on Ron’s 
+bed. 
+
+“I came on the Knight Bus,” said Hermione airily, 
+pulling off her jacket before Harry had time to speak. 
+“Dumbledore told me what had happened first thing 
+this morning, but I had to wait for term to end 
+officially before setting off. Umbridge is already livid 
+that you lot disappeared right under her nose, even 
+though Dumbledore told her Mr. Weasley was in St. 
+Mungo’s, and he’d given you all permission to visit. So 
+
+
+
+She sat down next to Ginny, and the two girls and 
+Ron looked up at Harry. 
+
+“How’re you feeling?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Fine,” said Harry stiffly. 
+
+Page | 636Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, don’t lie, Harry,” she said impatiently. “Ron and 
+Ginny say you’ve been hiding from everyone since you 
+got back from St. Mungo’s.” 
+
+“They do, do they?” said Harry, glaring at Ron and 
+Ginny. Ron looked down at his feet but Ginny seemed 
+quite unabashed. 
+
+“Well, you have!” she said. “And you won’t look at any 
+of us!” 
+
+“It’s you lot who won’t look at me!” said Harry angrily. 
+
+“Maybe you’re taking it in turns to look and keep 
+missing each other,” suggested Hermione, the corners 
+of her mouth twitching. 
+
+“Very funny,” snapped Harry, turning away. 
+
+“Oh, stop feeling all misunderstood,” said Hermione 
+sharply. “Look, the others have told me what you 
+overheard last night on the Extendable Ears — ” 
+
+“Yeah?” growled Harry, his hands deep in his pockets 
+as he watched the snow now falling thickly outside. 
+“All been talking about me, have you? Well, I’m 
+getting used to it...” 
+
+“We wanted to talk to you, Harry,” said Ginny, “but as 
+you’ve been hiding ever since we got back — ” 
+
+“I didn’t want anyone to talk to me,” said Harry, who 
+was feeling more and more nettled. 
+
+“Well, that was a bit stupid of you,” said Ginny 
+angrily, “seeing as you don’t know anyone but me 
+who’s been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can 
+tell you how it feels.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 637Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry remained quite still as the impact of these 
+words hit him. Then he turned on the spot to face 
+her. 
+
+
+
+“I forgot,” he said. 
+
+“Lucky you,” said Ginny coolly. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” Harry said, and he meant it. “So ... so do 
+you think I’m being possessed, then?” 
+
+“Well, can you remember everything you’ve been 
+doing?” Ginny asked. “Are there big blank periods 
+where you don’t know what you’ve been up to?” 
+
+Harry racked his brains. 
+
+“No,” he said. 
+
+“Then You-Know-Who hasn’t ever possessed you,” 
+said Ginny simply. “When he did it to me, I couldn’t 
+remember what I’d been doing for hours at a time. I’d 
+find myself somewhere and not know how I got there.” 
+
+Harry hardly dared believe her, yet his heart was 
+lightening almost in spite of himself. 
+
+“That dream I had about your dad and the snake, 
+though — ” 
+
+“Harry, you’ve had these dreams before,” Hermione 
+said. “You had flashes of what Voldemort was up to 
+last year.” 
+
+“This was different,” said Harry, shaking his head. “I 
+was inside that snake. It was like I was the snake... 
+What if Voldemort somehow transported me to 
+London — ?” 
+
+Page | 638Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“One day,” said Hermione, sounding thoroughly 
+exasperated, “you’ll read Hogwarts, A History, and 
+perhaps that will remind you that you can’t Apparate 
+or Disapparate inside Hogwarts. Even Voldemort 
+couldn’t just make you fly out of your dormitory, 
+Harry.” 
+
+“You didn’t leave your bed, mate,” said Ron. “I saw 
+you thrashing around in your sleep about a minute 
+before we could wake you up...” 
+
+Harry started pacing up and down the room again, 
+thinking. What they were all saying was not only 
+comforting, it made sense... Without really thinking 
+he took a sandwich from the plate on the bed and 
+crammed it hungrily into his mouth... 
+
+I’m not the weapon after all, thought Harry. His heart 
+swelled with happiness and relief, and he felt like 
+joining in as they heard Sirius tramping past their 
+door toward Buckbeak’s room, singing “God Rest Ye 
+Merry, Hippogriffs” at the top of his voice. 
+
+How could he have dreamed of returning to Privet 
+Drive for Christmas? Sirius’s delight at having the 
+house full again, and especially at having Harry back, 
+was infectious. He was no longer their sullen host of 
+the summer; now he seemed determined that 
+everyone should enjoy themselves as much, if not 
+more, than they would have done at Hogwarts, and he 
+worked tirelessly in the run-up to Christmas Day, 
+cleaning and decorating with their help, so that by 
+the time they all went to bed on Christmas Eve the 
+house was barely recognizable. The tarnished 
+chandeliers were no longer hung with cobwebs but 
+with garlands of holly and gold and silver streamers; 
+magical snow glittered in heaps over the threadbare 
+carpets; a great Christmas tree, obtained by 
+Mundungus and decorated with live fairies, blocked 
+Page | 639Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Sirius’s family tree from view; and even the stuffed elf 
+heads on the hall wall wore Father Christmas hats 
+and beards. 
+
+Harry awoke on Christmas morning to find a stack of 
+presents at the foot of his bed and Ron already 
+halfway through opening his own, rather larger, pile. 
+
+“Good haul this year,” he informed Harry through a 
+cloud of paper. “Thanks for the Broom Compass, it’s 
+excellent, beats Hermione’s — she’s got me a 
+homework planner — ” 
+
+Harry sorted through his presents and found one with 
+Hermione’s handwriting on it. She had given him too 
+a book that resembled a diary, except that it said 
+things like “Do it today or later you’ll pay\” every time 
+he opened a page. 
+
+Sirius and Lupin had given Harry a set of excellent 
+books entitled Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use 
+Against the Dark Arts, which had superb, moving 
+color illustrations of all the counterjinxes and hexes it 
+described. Harry flicked through the first volume 
+eagerly; he could see it was going to be highly useful 
+in his plans for the D.A. Hagrid had sent a furry 
+brown wallet that had fangs, which were presumably 
+supposed to be an antitheft device, but unfortunately 
+prevented Harry putting any money in without getting 
+his fingers ripped off. Tonks’s present was a small, 
+working model of a Firebolt, which Harry watched fly 
+around the room, wishing he still had his full-size 
+version; Ron had given him an enormous box of 
+Every-Flavor Beans; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley the usual 
+hand-knitted jumper and some mince pies; and 
+Dobby, a truly dreadful painting that Harry suspected 
+had been done by the elf himself. He had just turned 
+it upside down to see whether it looked better that 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+way when, with a loud crack, Fred and George 
+Apparated at the foot of his bed. 
+
+
+
+“Merry Christmas,” said George. “Don’t go downstairs 
+for a bit.” 
+
+“Why not?” said Ron. 
+
+“Mum’s crying again,” said Fred heavily. “Percy sent 
+back his Christmas jumper.” 
+
+“Without a note,” added George. “Hasn’t asked how 
+Dad is or visited him or anything...” 
+
+“We tried to comfort her,” said Fred, moving around 
+the bed to look at Harry’s portrait. “Told her Percy’s 
+nothing more than a humongous pile of rat droppings 
+
+
+
+“ — didn’t work,” said George, helping himself to a 
+Chocolate Frog. “So Lupin took over. Best let him 
+cheer her up before we go down for breakfast, I 
+reckon.” 
+
+“What’s that supposed to be anyway?” asked Fred, 
+squinting at Dobby’s painting. “Looks like a gibbon 
+with two black eyes.” 
+
+“It’s Harry!” said George, pointing at the back of the 
+picture. “Says so on the back!” 
+
+“Good likeness,” said Fred, grinning. Harry threw his 
+new homework diary at him; it hit the wall opposite 
+and fell to the floor where it said happily, “If you’ve 
+dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s then you may do 
+whatever you pleasel” 
+
+They got up and dressed; they could hear various 
+inhabitants of the house calling “Merry Christmas” to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+each other. On their way downstairs they met 
+Hermione. “Thanks for the book, Harry!” she said 
+happily. “I’ve been wanting that New Theory of 
+Numerology for ages! And that perfume is really 
+unusual, Ron.” 
+
+“No problem,” said Ron. “Who’s that for anyway?” he 
+added, nodding at the neatly wrapped present she 
+was carrying. 
+
+“Kreacher,” said Hermione brightly. 
+
+“It had better not be clothes!” said Ron warningly. 
+“You know what Sirius said, Kreacher knows too 
+much, we can’t set him free!” 
+
+“It isn’t clothes,” said Hermione, “although if I had my 
+way I’d certainly give him something to wear other 
+than that filthy old rag. No, it’s a patchwork quilt, I 
+thought it would brighten up his bedroom.” 
+
+“What bedroom?” said Harry, dropping his voice to a 
+whisper as they were passing the portrait of Sirius’s 
+mother. 
+
+“Well, Sirius says it’s not so much a bedroom, more a 
+kind of — den,” said Hermione. “Apparently he sleeps 
+under the boiler in that cupboard off the kitchen.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley was the only person in the basement 
+when they arrived there. She was standing at the 
+stove and sounded as though she had a bad head 
+cold when she wished them Merry Christmas, and 
+they all averted their eyes. 
+
+“So, this is Kreacher’s bedroom?” said Ron, strolling 
+over to a dingy door in the corner opposite the pantry 
+which Harry had never seen open. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione, now sounding a little nervous. 
+“Er ... I think we’d better knock ...” 
+
+Ron rapped the door with his knuckles but there was 
+no reply. 
+
+“He must be sneaking around upstairs,” he said, and 
+without further ado pulled open the door. “Urgh.” 
+
+Harry peered inside. Most of the cupboard was taken 
+up with a very large and old-fashioned boiler, but in 
+the foot’s space underneath the pipes Kreacher had 
+made himself something that looked like a nest. A 
+jumble of assorted rags and smelly old blankets were 
+piled on the floor and the small dent in the middle of 
+it showed where Kreacher curled up to sleep every 
+night. Here and there among the material were stale 
+bread crusts and moldy old bits of cheese. In a far 
+corner glinted small objects and coins that Harry 
+guessed Kreacher had saved, magpielike, from 
+Sirius’s purge of the house, and he had also managed 
+to retrieve the silver-framed family photographs that 
+Sirius had thrown away over the summer. Their glass 
+might be shattered, but still the little black-and-white 
+people inside them peered haughtily up at him, 
+including — he felt a little jolt in his stomach — the 
+dark, heavy-lidded woman whose trial he had 
+witnessed in Dumbledore’s Pensieve: Bellatrix 
+Lestrange. By the looks of it, hers was Kreacher ’s 
+favorite photograph; he had placed it to the fore of all 
+the others and had mended the glass clumsily with 
+Spellotape. 
+
+“I think I’ll just leave his present here,” said 
+Hermione, laying the package neatly in the middle of 
+the depression in the rags and blankets and closing 
+the door quietly. “He’ll find it later, that’ll be fine...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Come to think of it,” said Sirius, emerging from the 
+pantry carrying a large turkey as they closed the 
+cupboard door, “has anyone actually seen Kreacher 
+lately?” 
+
+“I haven’t seen him since the night we came back 
+here,” said Harry. “You were ordering him out of the 
+kitchen.” 
+
+“Yeah ...” said Sirius, frowning. “You know, I think 
+that’s the last time I saw him, too... He must be 
+hiding upstairs somewhere...” 
+
+“He couldn’t have left, could he?” said Harry. “I mean, 
+when you said ‘out,’ maybe he thought you meant, get 
+out of the house?” 
+
+“No, no, house-elves can’t leave unless they’re given 
+clothes, they’re tied to their family’s house,” said 
+Sirius. 
+
+“They can leave the house if they really want to,” 
+
+Harry contradicted him. “Dobby did, he left the 
+Malfoys’ to give me warnings two years ago. He had to 
+punish himself afterward, but he still managed it.” 
+
+Sirius looked slightly disconcerted for a moment, then 
+said, “I’ll look for him later, I expect I’ll find him 
+upstairs crying his eyes out over my mother’s old 
+bloomers or something... Of course, he might have 
+crawled into the airing cupboard and died... But I 
+mustn’t get my hopes up...” 
+
+Fred, George, and Ron laughed; Hermione, however, 
+looked reproachful. 
+
+Once they had had their Christmas lunch, the 
+Weasleys and Harry and Hermione were planning to 
+pay Mr. Weasley another visit, escorted by Mad-Eye 
+
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+
+
+
+
+and Lupin. Mundungus turned up in time for 
+Christmas pudding and trifle, having managed to 
+“borrow” a car for the occasion, as the Underground 
+did not run on Christmas Day. The car, which Harry 
+doubted very much had been taken with the 
+knowledge or consent of its owner, had had a similar 
+Enlarging Spell put upon it as the Weasleys’ old Ford 
+Anglia; although normally proportioned outside, ten 
+people with Mundungus driving were able to fit into it 
+quite comfortably. Mrs. Weasley hesitated at the point 
+of getting inside; Harry knew that her disapproval of 
+Mundungus was battling with her dislike of traveling 
+without magic; finally the cold outside and her 
+children’s pleading triumphed, and she settled herself 
+into the backseat between Fred and Bill with good 
+grace. 
+
+The journey to St. Mungo’s was quite quick, as there 
+was very little traffic on the roads. A small trickle of 
+witches and wizards were creeping furtively up the 
+otherwise deserted street to visit the hospital. Harry 
+and the others got out of the car, and Mundungus 
+drove off around the corner to wait for them; they 
+strolled casually toward the window where the 
+dummy in green nylon stood, then, one by one, 
+stepped through the glass. 
+
+The reception area looked pleasantly festive: The 
+crystal orbs that illuminated St. Mungo’s had been 
+turned to red and gold so that they became gigantic, 
+glowing Christmas baubles; holly hung around every 
+doorway, and shining white Christmas trees covered 
+in magical snow and icicles glittered in every corner, 
+each topped with a gleaming gold star. It was less 
+crowded than the last time they had been there, 
+although halfway across the room Harry found 
+himself shunted aside by a witch with a walnut 
+jammed up her left nostril. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Family argument, eh?” smirked the blonde witch 
+behind the desk. “You’re the third I’ve seen today ... 
+Spell Damage, fourth floor ...” 
+
+They found Mr. Weasley propped up in bed with the 
+remains of his turkey dinner on a tray in his lap and 
+a rather sheepish expression on his face. 
+
+“Everything all right, Arthur?” asked Mrs. Weasley, 
+after they had all greeted Mr. Weasley and handed 
+over their presents. 
+
+“Fine, fine,” said Mr. Weasley, a little too heartily. 
+
+“You — er — haven’t seen Healer Smethwyck, have 
+you?” 
+
+“No,” said Mrs. Weasley suspiciously, “why?” 
+
+“Nothing, nothing,” said Mr. Weasley airily, starting to 
+unwrap his pile of gifts. “Well, everyone had a good 
+day? What did you all get for Christmas? Oh, Harry — 
+this is absolutely wonderful — ” 
+
+For he had just opened Harry’s gift of fuse-wire and 
+screwdrivers. Mrs. Weasley did not seem entirely 
+satisfied with Mr. Weasley’s answer. As her husband 
+leaned over to shake Harry’s hand, she peered at the 
+bandaging under his nightshirt. 
+
+“Arthur,” she said, with a snap in her voice like a 
+mousetrap, “you’ve had your bandages changed. Why 
+have you had your bandages changed a day early, 
+Arthur? They told me they wouldn’t need doing until 
+tomorrow.” 
+
+“What?” said Mr. Weasley, looking rather frightened 
+and pulling the bed covers higher up his chest. “No, 
+no — it’s nothing — it’s — I — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+He seemed to deflate under Mrs. Weasley’s piercing 
+gaze. 
+
+“Well — now don’t get upset, Molly, but Augustus Pye 
+had an idea... He’s the Trainee Healer, you know, 
+lovely young chap and very interested in . . . um . . . 
+complementary medicine... I mean, some of these old 
+Muggle remedies ... well, they’re called stitches, Molly, 
+and they work very well on — on Muggle wounds — ” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley let out an ominous noise somewhere 
+between a shriek and a snarl. Lupin strolled away 
+from the bed and over to the werewolf, who had no 
+visitors and was looking rather wistfully at the crowd 
+around Mr. Weasley; Bill muttered something about 
+getting himself a cup of tea and Fred and George leapt 
+up to accompany him, grinning. 
+
+“Do you mean to tell me,” said Mrs. Weasley, her 
+voice growing louder with every word and apparently 
+unaware that her fellow visitors were scurrying for 
+cover, “that you have been messing about with 
+Muggle remedies?” 
+
+“Not messing about, Molly, dear,” said Mr. Weasley 
+imploringly. “It was just — just something Pye and I 
+thought we’d try — only, most unfortunately — well, 
+with these particular kinds of wounds — it doesn’t 
+seem to work as well as we’d hoped — ” 
+
+“Meaning?” 
+
+“Well ... well, I don’t know whether you know what — 
+what stitches are?” 
+
+“It sounds as though you’ve been trying to sew your 
+skin back together,” said Mrs. Weasley with a snort of 
+mirthless laughter, “but even you, Arthur, wouldn’t 
+be that stupid — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I fancy a cup of tea too,” said Harry, jumping to his 
+feet. 
+
+
+
+Hermione, Ron, and Ginny almost sprinted to the 
+door with him. As it swung closed behind them, they 
+heard Mrs. Weasley shriek, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 
+THAT’S THE GENERAL IDEA?” 
+
+“Typical Dad,” said Ginny, shaking her head as they 
+set off up the corridor. “Stitches ... I ask you ...” 
+
+“Well, you know, they do work well on non-magical 
+wounds,” said Hermione fairly. “I suppose something 
+in that snake’s venom dissolves them or something... 
+I wonder where the tearoom is?” 
+
+“Fifth floor,” said Harry, remembering the sign over 
+the Welcome Witch’s desk. 
+
+They walked along the corridor through a set of 
+double doors and found a rickety staircase lined with 
+more portraits of brutal-looking Healers. As they 
+climbed it, the various Healers called out to them, 
+diagnosing odd complaints and suggesting horrible 
+remedies. Ron was seriously affronted when a 
+medieval wizard called out that he clearly had a bad 
+case of spattergroit. 
+
+“And what’s that supposed to be?” he asked angrily, 
+as the Healer pursued him through six more 
+portraits, shoving the occupants out of the way. 
+
+“ Tis a most grievous affliction of the skin, young 
+master, that will leave you pockmarked and more 
+gruesome even than you are now — ” 
+
+“Watch who you’re calling gruesome!” said Ron, his 
+ears turning red. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The only remedy is to take the liver of a toad, bind it 
+tight about your throat, stand naked by the full moon 
+in a barrel of eels’ eyes — ” 
+
+“I have not got spattergroit!” 
+
+“But the unsightly blemishes upon your visage, young 
+master — ” 
+
+“They’re freckles!” said Ron furiously. “Now get back 
+in your own picture and leave me alone!” 
+
+He rounded on the others, who were all keeping 
+determinedly straight faces. 
+
+“What floor’s this?” 
+
+“I think it’s the fifth,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Nah, it’s the fourth,” said Harry, “one more — ” 
+
+But as he stepped onto the landing he came to an 
+abrupt halt, staring at the small window set into the 
+double doors that marked the start of a corridor 
+signposted SPELL DAMAGE. A man was peering out 
+at them all with his nose pressed against the glass. 
+
+He had wavy blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a 
+broad vacant smile that revealed dazzlingly white 
+teeth. 
+
+“Blimey!” said Ron, also staring at the man. 
+
+“Oh my goodness,” said Hermione suddenly, sounding 
+breathless. “Professor Lockhart!” 
+
+Their ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher 
+pushed open the doors and moved toward them, 
+wearing a long lilac dressing gown. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, hello there!” he said. “I expect you’d like my 
+autograph, would you?” 
+
+“Hasn’t changed much, has he?” Harry muttered to 
+Ginny, who grinned. 
+
+“Er — how are you, Professor?” said Ron, sounding 
+slightly guilty. It had been Ron’s malfunctioning wand 
+that had damaged Professor Lockhart’s memory so 
+badly that he had landed here in the first place, 
+though, as Lockhart had been attempting to 
+permanently wipe Harry and Ron’s memories at the 
+time, Harry’s sympathy was limited. 
+
+“I’m very well indeed, thank you!” said Lockhart 
+exuberantly, pulling a rather battered peacock-feather 
+quill from his pocket. “Now, how many autographs 
+would you like? I can do joined-up writing now, you 
+know!” 
+
+“Er — we don’t want any at the moment, thanks,” 
+said Ron, raising his eyebrows at Harry, who asked, 
+“Professor, should you be wandering around the 
+corridors? Shouldn’t you be in a ward?” 
+
+The smile faded slowly from Lockhart’s face. For a few 
+moments he gazed intently at Harry, then he said, 
+“Haven’t we met?” 
+
+“Er ... yeah, we have,” said Harry. “You used to teach 
+us at Hogwarts, remember?” 
+
+“Teach?” repeated Lockhart, looking faintly unsettled. 
+“Me? Did I?” 
+
+And then the smile reappeared upon his face so 
+suddenly it was rather alarming. “Taught you 
+everything you know, I expect, did I? Well, how about 
+those autographs, then? Shall we say a round dozen, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+you can give them to all your little friends then and 
+nobody will be left out!” 
+
+
+
+But just then a head poked out of a door at the far 
+end of the corridor and a voice said, “Gilderoy, you 
+naughty boy, where have you wandered off to?” 
+
+A motherly looking Healer wearing a tinsel wreath in 
+her hair came bustling up the corridor, smiling 
+warmly at Harry and the others. 
+
+“Oh Gilderoy, you’ve got visitors! How lovely, and on 
+Christmas Day too! Do you know, he never gets 
+visitors, poor lamb, and I can’t think why, he’s such a 
+sweetie, aren’t you?” 
+
+“We’re doing autographs!” Gilderoy told the Healer 
+with another glittering smile. “They want loads of 
+them, won’t take no for an answer! I just hope we’ve 
+got enough photographs!” 
+
+“Listen to him,” said the Healer, taking Lockhart’s 
+arm and beaming fondly at him as though he were a 
+precocious two-year-old. “He was rather well known a 
+few years ago; we very much hope that this liking for 
+giving autographs is a sign that his memory might be 
+coming back a little bit. Will you step this way? He’s 
+in a closed ward, you know, he must have slipped out 
+while I was bringing in the Christmas presents, the 
+door’s usually kept locked ... not that he’s dangerous! 
+But,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “bit of a 
+danger to himself, bless him... Doesn’t know who he 
+is, you see, wanders off and can’t remember how to 
+get back. . . It is nice of you to have come to see him — 
+
+
+
+“Er,” said Ron, gesturing uselessly at the floor above, 
+“actually, we were just — er — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+But the Healer was smiling expectantly at them, and 
+Ron’s feeble mutter of “going to have a cup of tea” 
+trailed away into nothingness. They looked at one 
+another rather hopelessly and then followed Lockhart 
+and his Healer along the corridor. 
+
+“Let’s not stay long,” Ron said quietly. 
+
+The Healer pointed her wand at the door of the Janus 
+Thickey ward and muttered “Alohomora.” The door 
+swung open and she led the way inside, keeping a 
+firm grasp on Gilderoy’s arm until she had settled 
+him into an armchair beside his bed. 
+
+“This is our long-term resident ward,” she informed 
+Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in a low voice. “For 
+permanent spell damage, you know. Of course, with 
+intensive remedial potions and charms and a bit of 
+luck, we can produce some improvement... Gilderoy 
+does seem to be getting back some sense of himself, 
+and we’ve seen a real improvement in Mr. Bode, he 
+seems to be regaining the power of speech very well, 
+though he isn’t speaking any language we recognize 
+yet... Well, I must finish giving out the Christmas 
+presents, I’ll leave you all to chat...” 
+
+Harry looked around; this ward bore unmistakable 
+signs of being a permanent home to its residents. 
+
+They had many more personal effects around their 
+beds than in Mr. Weasley’s ward; the wall around 
+Gilderoy’s headboard, for instance, was papered with 
+pictures of himself, all beaming toothily and waving at 
+the new arrivals. He had autographed many of them 
+to himself in disjointed, childish writing. The moment 
+he had been deposited in his chair by the Healer, 
+Gilderoy pulled a fresh stack of photographs toward 
+him, seized a quill, and started signing them all 
+feverishly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You can put them in envelopes,” he said to Ginny, 
+throwing the signed pictures into her lap one by one 
+as he finished them. “I am not forgotten, you know, 
+no, I still receive a very great deal of fan mail... Gladys 
+Gudgeon writes weekly... I just wish I knew why...” 
+
+He paused, looking faintly puzzled, then beamed 
+again and returned to his signing with renewed vigor. 
+“I suspect it is simply my good looks...” 
+
+A sallow-skinned, mournful-looking wizard lay in the 
+bed opposite, staring at the ceiling; he was mumbling 
+to himself and seemed quite unaware of anything 
+around him. Two beds along was a woman whose 
+entire head was covered in fur; Harry remembered 
+something similar happening to Hermione during 
+their second year, although fortunately the damage, 
+in her case, had not been permanent. At the far end 
+of the ward flowery curtains had been drawn around 
+two beds to give the occupants and their visitors some 
+privacy. 
+
+“Here you are, Agnes,” said the Healer brightly to the 
+furry-faced woman, handing her a small pile of 
+Christmas presents. “See, not forgotten, are you? And 
+your son’s sent an owl to say he’s visiting tonight, so 
+that’s nice, isn’t it?” 
+
+Agnes gave several loud barks. 
+
+“And look, Broderick, you’ve been sent a potted plant 
+and a lovely calendar with a different fancy hippogriff 
+for each month, they’ll brighten things up, won’t 
+they?” said the Healer, bustling along to the 
+mumbling man, setting a rather ugly plant with long, 
+swaying tentacles on the bedside cabinet and fixing 
+the calendar to the wall with her wand. “And — oh, 
+Mrs. Longbottom, are you leaving already?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s head spun round. The curtains had been 
+drawn back from the two beds at the end of the ward 
+and two visitors were walking back down the aisle 
+between the beds: a formidable-looking old witch 
+wearing a long green dress, a moth-eaten fox fur, and 
+a pointed hat decorated with what was unmistakably 
+a stuffed vulture and, trailing behind her looking 
+thoroughly depressed — Neville. 
+
+With a sudden rush of understanding, Harry realized 
+who the people in the end beds must be. He cast 
+around wildly for some means of distracting the 
+others so that Neville could leave the ward unnoticed 
+and unquestioned, but Ron had looked up at the 
+sound of the name “Longbottom” too, and before 
+Harry could stop him had called, “Neville\” 
+
+Neville jumped and cowered as though a bullet had 
+narrowly missed him. 
+
+“It’s us, Neville!” said Ron brightly, getting to his feet. 
+“Have you seen? Lockhart’s here! Who’ve you been 
+visiting?” 
+
+“Friends of yours, Neville, dear?” said Neville’s 
+grandmother graciously, bearing down upon them all. 
+
+Neville looked as though he would rather be anywhere 
+in the world but here. A dull purple flush was 
+creeping up his plump face and he was not making 
+eye contact with any of them. 
+
+“Ah, yes,” said his grandmother, looking closely at 
+Harry and sticking out a shriveled, clawlike hand for 
+him to shake. “Yes, yes, I know who you are, of 
+course. Neville speaks most highly of you.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Er — thanks,” said Harry, shaking hands. Neville did 
+not look at him, but stared at his own feet, the color 
+deepening in his face all the while. 
+
+“And you two are clearly Weasleys,” Mrs. Longbottom 
+continued, proffering her hand regally to Ron and 
+Ginny in turn. “Yes, I know your parents — not well, 
+of course — but fine people, fine people ... and you 
+must be Hermione Granger?” 
+
+Hermione looked rather startled that Mrs. 
+
+Longbottom knew her name, but shook hands all the 
+same. 
+
+“Yes, Neville’s told me all about you. Helped him out 
+of a few sticky spots, haven’t you? He’s a good boy,” 
+she said, casting a sternly appraising look down her 
+rather bony nose at Neville, “but he hasn’t got his 
+father’s talent, I’m afraid to say...” And she jerked her 
+head in the direction of the two beds at the end of the 
+ward, so that the stuffed vulture on her hat trembled 
+alarmingly. 
+
+“What?” said Ron, looking amazed (Harry wanted to 
+stamp on Ron’s foot, but that sort of thing was much 
+harder to bring off unnoticed when you were wearing 
+jeans rather than robes). “Is that your dad down the 
+end, Neville?” 
+
+“What’s this?” said Mrs. Longbottom sharply. “Haven’t 
+you told your friends about your parents, Neville?” 
+
+Neville took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling, 
+and shook his head. Harry could not remember ever 
+feeling sorrier for anyone, but he could not think of 
+any way of helping Neville out of the situation. 
+
+“Well, it’s nothing to be ashamed of!” said Mrs. 
+Longbottom angrily. “You should be proud, Neville, 
+
+Page | 655Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+proud). They didn’t give their health and their sanity 
+so their only son would be ashamed of them, you 
+know!” 
+
+“I’m not ashamed,” said Neville very faintly, still 
+looking anywhere but at Harry and the others. Ron 
+was now standing on tiptoe to look over at the 
+inhabitants of the two beds. 
+
+“Well, you’ve got a funny way of showing it!” said Mrs. 
+Longbottom. “My son and his wife,” she said, turning 
+haughtily to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, “were 
+tortured into insanity by You-Know- Who’s followers.” 
+
+Hermione and Ginny both clapped their hands over 
+their mouths. Ron stopped craning his neck to catch 
+a glimpse of Neville’s parents and looked mortified. 
+
+“They were Aurors, you know, and very well respected 
+within the Wizarding community,” Mrs. Longbottom 
+went on. “Highly gifted, the pair of them. I — yes, 
+
+Alice dear, what is it?” 
+
+Neville’s mother had come edging down the ward in 
+her nightdress. She no longer had the plump, happy- 
+looking face Harry had seen in Moody’s old 
+photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix. Her 
+face was thin and worn now, her eyes seemed 
+overlarge, and her hair, which had turned white, was 
+wispy and dead-looking. She did not seem to want to 
+speak, or perhaps she was not able to, but she made 
+timid motions toward Neville, holding something in 
+her outstretched hand. 
+
+“Again?” said Mrs. Longbottom, sounding slightly 
+weary. “Very well, Alice dear, very well — Neville, take 
+it, whatever it is...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 656Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Neville had already stretched out his hand, into 
+which his mother dropped an empty Droobles 
+Blowing Gum wrapper. 
+
+“Very nice, dear,” said Neville’s grandmother in a 
+falsely cheery voice, patting his mother on the 
+shoulder. But Neville said quietly, “Thanks Mum.” 
+
+His mother tottered away, back up the ward, 
+humming to herself. Neville looked around at the 
+others, his expression defiant, as though daring them 
+to laugh, but Harry did not think he’d ever found 
+anything less funny in his life. 
+
+“Well, we’d better get back,” sighed Mrs. Longbottom, 
+drawing on long green gloves. “Very nice to have met 
+you all. Neville, put that wrapper in the bin, she must 
+have given you enough of them to paper your 
+bedroom by now...” 
+
+But as they left, Harry was sure he saw Neville slip 
+the wrapper into his pocket. 
+
+The door closed behind them. 
+
+“I never knew,” said Hermione, who looked tearful. 
+“Nor did I,” said Ron rather hoarsely. 
+
+“Nor me,” whispered Ginny. 
+
+They all looked at Harry. 
+
+“I did,” he said glumly. “Dumbledore told me but I 
+promised I wouldn’t mention it ... that’s what 
+Bellatrix Lestrange got sent to Azkaban for, using the 
+Cruciatus Curse on Neville’s parents until they lost 
+their minds.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Bellatrix Lestrange did that?” whispered Hermione, 
+horrified. “That woman Kreacher’s got a photo of in 
+his den?” 
+
+
+
+There was a long silence, broken by Lockhart’s angry 
+voice. “Look, I didn’t learn joined-up writing for 
+nothing, you know!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 658Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+OCCLUMENCY 
+
+Kreacher, it transpired, had been lurking in the attic. 
+Sirius said he had found him up there, covered in 
+dust, no doubt looking for more relics of the Black 
+family to hide in his cupboard. Though Sirius seemed 
+satisfied with this story, it made Harry uneasy. 
+Kreacher seemed to be in a better mood on his 
+reappearance, his bitter muttering had subsided 
+somewhat, and he submitted to orders more docilely 
+than usual, though once or twice Harry caught the 
+house-elf staring avidly at him, always looking quickly 
+away when he saw that Harry had noticed. 
+
+Harry did not mention his vague suspicions to Sirius, 
+whose cheerfulness was evaporating fast now that 
+Christmas was over. As the date of their departure 
+back to Hogwarts drew nearer, he became more and 
+more prone to what Mrs. Weasley called “fits of the 
+sullens,” in which he would become taciturn and 
+grumpy, often withdrawing to Buckbeak’s room for 
+hours at a time. His gloom seeped through the house, 
+oozing under doorways like some noxious gas, so that 
+all of them became infected by it. 
+
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+
+
+
+Harry did not want to leave Sirius all alone again with 
+only Kreacher for company. In fact, for the first time 
+in his life, he was not looking forward to returning to 
+Hogwarts. Going back to school would mean placing 
+himself once again under the tyranny of Dolores 
+Umbridge, who had no doubt managed to force 
+through another dozen decrees in their absence. Then 
+there was no Quidditch to look forward to now that he 
+had been banned; there was every likelihood that 
+their burden of homework would increase as the 
+exams drew even nearer; Dumbledore remained as 
+remote as ever; in fact, if it had not been for the D.A., 
+Harry felt he might have gone to Sirius and begged 
+him to let him leave Hogwarts and remain in 
+Grimmauld Place. 
+
+Then, on the very last day of the holidays, something 
+happened that made Harry positively dread his return 
+to school. 
+
+“Harry dear,” said Mrs. Weasley, poking her head into 
+his and Ron’s bedroom, where the pair of them were 
+playing wizard chess watched by Hermione, Ginny, 
+and Crookshanks, “could you come down to the 
+kitchen? Professor Snape would like a word with 
+you.” 
+
+Harry did not immediately register what she had said; 
+one of his castles was engaged in a violent tussle with 
+a pawn of Ron’s, and he was egging it on 
+enthusiastically. 
+
+“Squash him — squash him, he’s only a pawn, you 
+idiot — sorry, Mrs. Weasley, what did you say?” 
+
+“Professor Snape, dear. In the kitchen. He’d like a 
+word.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s mouth fell open in horror. He looked around 
+at Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, all of whom were 
+gaping back at him. Crookshanks, whom Hermione 
+had been restraining with difficulty for the past 
+quarter of an hour, leapt gleefully upon the board and 
+set the pieces running for cover, squealing at the top 
+of their voices. 
+
+“Snape?” said Harry blankly. 
+
+“Professor Snape, dear,” said Mrs. Weasley 
+reprovingly. “Now come on, quickly, he says he can’t 
+stay long.” 
+
+“What’s he want with you?” said Ron, looking 
+unnerved as Mrs. Weasley withdrew from the room. 
+
+“You haven’t done anything, have you?” 
+
+“No!” said Harry indignantly, racking his brains to 
+think what he could have done that would make 
+Snape pursue him to Grimmauld Place. Had his last 
+piece of homework perhaps earned a T? 
+
+He pushed open the kitchen door a minute or two 
+later to find Sirius and Snape both seated at the long 
+kitchen table, glaring in opposite directions. The 
+silence between them was heavy with mutual dislike. 
+
+A letter lay open on the table in front of Sirius. 
+
+“Er,” said Harry to announce his presence. 
+
+Snape looked around at him, his face framed between 
+curtains of greasy black hair. 
+
+“Sit down, Potter.” 
+
+“You know,” said Sirius loudly, leaning back on his 
+rear chair legs and speaking to the ceiling, “I think I’d 
+
+Page | 661Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+prefer it if you didn’t give orders here, Snape. It’s my 
+house, you see.” 
+
+An ugly flush suffused Snape ’s pallid face. Harry sat 
+down in a chair beside Sirius, facing Snape across the 
+table. 
+
+“I was supposed to see you alone, Potter,” said Snape, 
+the familiar sneer curling his mouth, “but Black — ” 
+
+“I’m his godfather,” said Sirius, louder than ever. 
+
+“I am here on Dumbledore’s orders,” said Snape, 
+whose voice, by contrast, was becoming more and 
+more quietly waspish, “but by all means stay, Black, I 
+know you like to feel ... involved.” 
+
+“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Sirius, letting 
+his chair fall back onto all four legs with a loud bang. 
+
+“Merely that I am sure you must feel — ah — 
+frustrated by the fact that you can do nothing useful,” 
+Snape laid a delicate stress on the word, “for the 
+Order.” 
+
+It was Sirius’s turn to flush. Snape ’s lip curled in 
+triumph as he turned to Harry. 
+
+“The headmaster has sent me to tell you, Potter, that 
+it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this term.” 
+
+“Study what?” said Harry blankly. 
+
+Snape’s sneer became more pronounced. 
+
+“Occlumency, Potter. The magical defense of the mind 
+against external penetration. An obscure branch of 
+magic, but a highly useful one.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s heart began to pump very fast indeed. 
+
+Defense against external penetration? But he was not 
+being possessed, they had all agreed on that... 
+
+“Why do I have to study Occlu — thing?” he blurted 
+out. 
+
+“Because the headmaster thinks it a good idea,” said 
+Snape smoothly. “You will receive private lessons 
+once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you 
+are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. You 
+understand?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “Who’s going to be teaching me?” 
+Snape raised an eyebrow. 
+
+“I am,” he said. 
+
+Harry had the horrible sensation that his insides were 
+melting. Extra lessons with Snape — what on earth 
+had he done to deserve this? He looked quickly 
+around at Sirius for support. 
+
+“Why can’t Dumbledore teach Harry?” asked Sirius 
+aggressively. “Why you?” 
+
+“I suppose because it is a headmaster’s privilege to 
+delegate less enjoyable tasks,” said Snape silkily. “I 
+assure you I did not beg for the job.” He got to his 
+feet. “I will expect you at six o’clock on Monday 
+evening, Potter. My office. If anybody asks, you are 
+taking Remedial Potions. Nobody who has seen you in 
+my classes could deny you need them.” 
+
+He turned to leave, his black traveling cloak billowing 
+behind him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Wait a moment,” said Sirius, sitting up straighter in 
+his chair. 
+
+Snape turned back to face them, sneering. 
+
+“I am in rather a hurry, Black ... unlike you, I do not 
+have unlimited leisure time...” 
+
+“I’ll get to the point, then,” said Sirius, standing up. 
+
+He was rather taller than Snape who, Harry noticed, 
+had balled his fist in the pocket of his cloak over what 
+Harry was sure was the handle of his wand. “If I hear 
+you’re using these Occlumency lessons to give Harry 
+a hard time, you’ll have me to answer to.” 
+
+“How touching,” Snape sneered. “But surely you have 
+noticed that Potter is very like his father?” 
+
+“Yes, I have,” said Sirius proudly. 
+
+“Well then, you’ll know he’s so arrogant that criticism 
+simply bounces off him,” Snape said sleekly. 
+
+Sirius pushed his chair roughly aside and strode 
+around the table toward Snape, pulling out his wand 
+as he went; Snape whipped out his own. They were 
+squaring up to each other, Sirius looking livid, Snape 
+calculating, his eyes darting from Sirius’s wand tip to 
+his face. 
+
+“Sirius!” said Harry loudly, but Sirius appeared not to 
+hear him. 
+
+“I’ve warned you, Snivellus,” said Sirius, his face 
+barely a foot from Snape ’s, “I don’t care if Dumbledore 
+thinks you’ve reformed, I know better — ” 
+
+“Oh, but why don’t you tell him so?” whispered 
+Snape. “Or are you afraid he might not take the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+advice of a man who has been hiding inside his 
+mother’s house for six months very seriously?” 
+
+“Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect 
+he’s delighted his lapdog’s working at Hogwarts, isn’t 
+he?” 
+
+“Speaking of dogs,” said Snape softly, “did you know 
+that Lucius Malfoy recognized you last time you 
+risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, 
+getting yourself seen on a safe station platform . . . 
+gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey- 
+hole in future, didn’t it?” 
+
+Sirius raised his wand. 
+
+“NO!” Harry yelled, vaulting over the table and trying 
+to get in between them, “Sirius, don’t — ” 
+
+“Are you calling me a coward?” roared Sirius, trying to 
+push Harry out of the way, but Harry would not 
+budge. 
+
+“Why, yes, I suppose I am,” said Snape. 
+
+“Harry — get — out — of — it!” snarled Sirius, 
+pushing him out of the way with his free hand. 
+
+The kitchen door opened and the entire Weasley 
+family, plus Hermione, came inside, all looking very 
+happy, with Mr. Weasley walking proudly in their 
+midst dressed in a pair of striped pajamas covered by 
+a mackintosh. 
+
+“Cured!” he announced brightly to the kitchen at 
+large. “Completely cured!” 
+
+He and all the other Weasleys froze on the threshold, 
+gazing at the scene in front of them, which was also 
+
+Page | 665Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+suspended in mid-action, both Sirius and Snape 
+looking toward the door with their wands pointing 
+into each other’s faces and Harry immobile between 
+them, a hand stretched out to each of them, trying to 
+force them apart. 
+
+“Merlin’s beard,” said Mr. Weasley, the smile sliding 
+off his face, “what’s going on here?” 
+
+Both Sirius and Snape lowered their wands. Harry 
+looked from one to the other. Each wore an 
+expression of utmost contempt, yet the unexpected 
+entrance of so many witnesses seemed to have 
+brought them to their senses. Snape pocketed his 
+wand and swept back across the kitchen, passing the 
+Weasleys without comment. At the door he looked 
+back. 
+
+“Six o’clock Monday evening, Potter.” 
+
+He was gone. Sirius glared after him, his wand at his 
+side. 
+
+“But what’s been going on?” asked Mr. Weasley again. 
+
+“Nothing, Arthur,” said Sirius, who was breathing 
+heavily as though he had just run a long distance. 
+“Just a friendly little chat between two old school 
+friends...” With what looked like an enormous effort, 
+he smiled. “So ... you’re cured? That’s great news, 
+really great...” 
+
+“Yes, isn’t it?” said Mrs. Weasley, leading her 
+husband forward into a chair. “Healer Smethwyck 
+worked his magic in the end, found an antidote to 
+whatever that snake’s got in its fangs, and Arthur’s 
+learned his lesson about dabbling in Muggle 
+medicine, haven’t you, dear?” she added, rather 
+menacingly. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes, Molly dear,” said Mr. Weasley meekly. 
+
+That night’s meal should have been a cheerful one 
+with Mr. Weasley back amongst them; Harry could 
+tell Sirius was trying to make it so, yet when his 
+godfather was not forcing himself to laugh loudly at 
+Fred and George’s jokes or offering everyone more 
+food, his face fell back into a moody, brooding 
+expression. Harry was separated from him by 
+Mundungus and Mad-Eye, who had dropped in to 
+offer Mr. Weasley their congratulations; he wanted to 
+talk to Sirius, to tell him that he should not listen to a 
+word Snape said, that Snape was goading him 
+deliberately and that the rest of them did not think 
+Sirius was a coward for doing as Dumbledore told 
+him and remaining in Grimmauld Place, but he had 
+no opportunity to do so, and wondered occasionally, 
+eyeing the ugly look on Sirius’s face, whether he 
+would have dared to even if he had the chance. 
+
+Instead he told Ron and Hermione under his voice 
+about having to take Occlumency lessons with Snape. 
+
+“Dumbledore wants to stop you having those dreams 
+about Voldemort,” said Hermione at once. “Well, you 
+won’t be sorry not to have them anymore, will you?” 
+
+“Extra lessons with Snape?” said Ron, sounding 
+aghast. “I’d rather have the nightmares!” 
+
+They were to return to Hogwarts on the Knight Bus 
+the following day, escorted once again by Tonks and 
+Lupin, both of whom were eating breakfast in the 
+kitchen when Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived there 
+next morning. The adults seemed to have been 
+midway through a whispered conversation when the 
+door opened; all of them looked around hastily and 
+fell silent. 
+
+
+
+Page | 667Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+After a hurried breakfast they pulled on jackets and 
+scarves against the chilly gray January morning. 
+
+Harry had an unpleasant constricted sensation in his 
+chest; he did not want to say good-bye to Sirius. He 
+had a bad feeling about this parting; he did not know 
+when they would next see each other and felt that it 
+was incumbent upon him to say something to Sirius 
+to stop him doing anything stupid — Harry was 
+worried that Snape’s accusation of cowardice had 
+stung Sirius so badly he might even now be planning 
+some foolhardy trip beyond Grimmauld Place. Before 
+he could think of what to say, however, Sirius had 
+beckoned him to his side. 
+
+“I want you to take this,” he said quietly, thrusting a 
+badly wrapped package roughly the size of a 
+paperback book into Harry’s hands. 
+
+“What is it?” Harry asked. 
+
+“A way of letting me know if Snape’s giving you a hard 
+time. No, don’t open it in here!” said Sirius, with a 
+wary look at Mrs. Weasley, who was trying to 
+persuade the twins to wear hand-knitted mittens. “I 
+doubt Molly would approve — but I want you to use it 
+if you need me, all right?” 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, stowing the package away in the 
+inside pocket of his jacket, but he knew he would 
+never use whatever it was. It would not be he, Harry, 
+who lured Sirius from his place of safety, no matter 
+how foully Snape treated him in their forthcoming 
+Occlumency classes. 
+
+“Let’s go, then,” said Sirius, clapping Harry on the 
+shoulder and smiling grimly, and before Harry could 
+say anything else, they were heading upstairs, 
+stopping before the heavily chained and bolted front 
+door, surrounded by Weasleys. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Good-bye, Harry, take care,” said Mrs. Weasley, 
+hugging him. 
+
+“See you Harry, and keep an eye out for snakes for 
+me!” said Mr. Weasley genially, shaking his hand. 
+
+“Right — yeah,” said Harry distractedly. It was his 
+last chance to tell Sirius to be careful; he turned, 
+looked into his godfather’s face and opened his mouth 
+to speak, but before he could do so Sirius was giving 
+him a brief, one-armed hug. He said gruffly, “Look 
+after yourself, Harry,” and next moment Harry found 
+himself being shunted out into the icy winter air, with 
+Tonks (today heavily disguised as a tall, tweedy 
+woman with iron-gray hair) chivvying him down the 
+steps. 
+
+The door of number twelve slammed shut behind 
+them. They followed Lupin down the front steps. As 
+he reached the pavement, Harry looked around. 
+Number twelve was shrinking rapidly as those on 
+either side of it stretched sideways, squeezing it out of 
+sight; one blink later, it had gone. 
+
+“Come on, the quicker we get on the bus the better,” 
+said Tonks, and Harry thought there was 
+nervousness in the glance she threw around the 
+square. Lupin flung out his right arm. 
+
+BANG. 
+
+A violently purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out 
+of thin air in front of them, narrowly avoiding the 
+nearest lamppost, which jumped backward out of its 
+way. 
+
+A thin, pimply, jug-eared youth in a purple uniform 
+leapt down onto the pavement and said, “Welcome to 
+the — ” 
+
+Page | 669Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, yes, we know, thank you,” said Tonks swiftly. 
+“On, on, get on — 
+
+And she shoved Harry forward toward the steps, past 
+the conductor, who goggled at Harry as he passed. 
+
+“ ’Ere — it’s ’Arry — !” 
+
+
+
+“If you shout his name I will curse you into oblivion,” 
+muttered Tonks menacingly, now shunting Ginny and 
+Hermione forward. 
+
+“I’ve always wanted to go on this thing,” said Ron 
+happily, joining Harry on board and looking around. 
+
+It had been evening the last time Harry had traveled 
+by Knight Bus and its three decks had been full of 
+brass bedsteads. Now, in the early morning, it was 
+crammed with an assortment of mismatched chairs 
+grouped haphazardly around windows. Some of these 
+appeared to have fallen over when the bus stopped 
+abruptly in Grimmauld Place; a few witches and 
+wizards were still getting to their feet, grumbling, and 
+somebody’s shopping bag had slid the length of the 
+bus; an unpleasant mixture of frog spawn, 
+cockroaches, and custard creams was scattered all 
+over the floor. 
+
+“Looks like we’ll have to split up,” said Tonics briskly, 
+looking around for empty chairs. “Fred, George, and 
+Ginny, if you just take those seats at the back ... 
+Remus can stay with you...” 
+
+She, Harry, Ron, and Hermione proceeded up to the 
+very top deck, where there were two chairs at the very 
+front of the bus and two at the back. Stan Shunpike, 
+the conductor, followed Harry and Ron eagerly to the 
+back. Heads turned as Harry passed and when he sat 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+down, he saw all the faces flick back to the front 
+again. 
+
+As Harry and Ron handed Stan eleven Sickles each, 
+the bus set off again, swaying ominously. It rumbled 
+around Grimmauld Square, weaving on and off the 
+pavement, then, with another tremendous BANG, 
+they were all flung backward; Ron’s chair toppled 
+right over and Pigwidgeon, who had been on his lap, 
+burst out of his cage and flew twittering wildly up to 
+the front of the bus where he fluttered down upon 
+Hermione’s shoulder instead. Harry, who had 
+narrowly avoided falling by seizing a candle bracket, 
+looked out of the window: they were now speeding 
+down what appeared to be a motorway. 
+
+“Just outside Birmingham,” said Stan happily, 
+answering Harry’s unasked question as Ron struggled 
+up from the floor. “You keepin’ well, then, ’Arry? I 
+seen your name in the paper loads over the summer, 
+but it weren’t never nuffink very nice... I said to Ern, I 
+said, ‘’e didn’t seem like a nutter when we met ’im, 
+just goes to show, dunnit?’ ” 
+
+He handed over their tickets and continued to gaze, 
+enthralled, at Harry; apparently Stan did not care 
+how nutty somebody was if they were famous enough 
+to be in the paper. The Knight Bus swayed 
+alarmingly, overtaking a line of cars on the inside. 
+Looking toward the front of the bus Harry saw 
+Hermione cover her eyes with her hands, Pigwidgeon 
+still swaying happily on her shoulder. 
+
+BANG. 
+
+Chairs slid backward again as the Knight Bus jumped 
+from the Birmingham motorway to a quiet country 
+lane full of hairpin bends. Hedgerows on either side of 
+the road were leaping out of their way as they 
+
+Page | 671Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+mounted the verges. From here they moved to a main 
+street in the middle of a busy town, then to a viaduct 
+surrounded by tall hills, then to a windswept road 
+between high-rise flats, each time with a loud BANG. 
+
+“I’ve changed my mind,” muttered Ron, picking 
+himself up from the floor for the sixth time, “I never 
+want to ride on here again.” 
+
+“Listen, it’s ’Ogwarts stop after this,” said Stan 
+brightly, swaying toward them. “That bossy woman 
+up front ’oo got on with you, she’s given us a little tip 
+to move you up the queue. We’re just gonna let 
+Madam Marsh off first, though — ” There was more 
+retching from downstairs, followed by a horrible 
+spattering sound. “She’s not feeling ’er best.” 
+
+A few minutes later the Knight Bus screeched to a 
+halt outside a small pub, which squeezed itself out of 
+the way to avoid a collision. They could hear Stan 
+ushering the unfortunate Madam Marsh out of the 
+bus and the relieved murmurings of her fellow 
+passengers on the second deck. The bus moved on 
+again, gathering speed, until — 
+
+BANG. 
+
+They were rolling through a snowy Hogsmeade. Harry 
+caught a glimpse of the Hog’s Head down its side 
+street, the severed boar’s head sign creaking in the 
+wintry wind. Flecks of snow hit the large window at 
+the front of the bus. At last they rolled to a halt 
+outside the gates to Hogwarts. 
+
+Lupin and Tonks helped them off the bus with their 
+luggage and then got off to say good-bye. Harry 
+glanced up at the three decks of the Knight Bus and 
+saw all the passengers staring down at them, noses 
+flat against the windows. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’ll be safe once you’re in the grounds,” said 
+Tonks, casting a careful eye around at the deserted 
+road. “Have a good term, okay?” 
+
+“Look after yourselves,” said Lupin, shaking hands all 
+round and reaching Harry last. “And listen ...” He 
+lowered his voice while the rest of them exchanged 
+last-minute good-byes with Tonks, “Harry, I know you 
+don’t like Snape, but he is a superb Occlumens and 
+we all — Sirius included — want you to learn to 
+protect yourself, so work hard, all right?” 
+
+“Yeah, all right,” said Harry heavily, looking up into 
+Lupin’s prematurely lined face. “See you, then ...” 
+
+The six of them struggled up the slippery drive toward 
+the castle dragging their trunks. Hermione was 
+already talking about knitting a few elf hats before 
+bedtime. Harry glanced back when they reached the 
+oak front doors; the Knight Bus had already gone, 
+and he half-wished, given what was coming the 
+following day, that he was still on board. 
+
+Harry spent most of the next day dreading the 
+evening. His morning Potions lesson did nothing to 
+dispel his trepidation, as Snape was as unpleasant as 
+ever, and Harry’s mood was further lowered by the 
+fact that members of the D.A. were continually 
+approaching him in the corridors between classes, 
+asking hopefully whether there would be a meeting 
+that night. 
+
+“I’ll let you know when the next one is,” Harry said 
+over and over again, “but I can’t do it tonight, I’ve got 
+to go to — er — Remedial Potions...” 
+
+“You take Remedial Potions?” asked Zacharias Smith 
+superciliously, having cornered Harry in the entrance 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+hall after lunch. “Good Lord, you must be terrible, 
+Snape doesn’t usually give extra lessons, does he?” 
+
+As Smith strode away in an annoyingly buoyant 
+fashion, Ron glared after him. 
+
+“Shall I jinx him? I can still get him from here,” he 
+said, raising his wand and taking aim between 
+Smith’s shoulder blades. 
+
+“Forget it,” said Harry dismally. “It’s what everyone’s 
+going to think, isn’t it? That I’m really stup — ” 
+
+“Hi, Harry,” said a voice behind him. He turned 
+around and found Cho standing there. 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry as his stomach leapt uncomfortably. 
+“Hi.” 
+
+“We’ll be in the library, Harry,” said Hermione firmly, 
+and she seized Ron above the elbow and dragged him 
+off toward the marble staircase. 
+
+“Had a good Christmas?” asked Cho. 
+
+“Yeah, not bad,” said Harry. 
+
+“Mine was pretty quiet,” said Cho. For some reason, 
+she was looking rather embarrassed. “Erm ... there’s 
+another Hogsmeade trip next month, did you see the 
+notice?” 
+
+“What? Oh no, I haven’t checked the notice board 
+since I got back...” 
+
+“Yes, it’s on Valentine’s Day...” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, wondering why she was telling 
+him this. “Well, I suppose you want to — ?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Only if you do,” she said eagerly. 
+
+Harry stared. He had been about to say “I suppose 
+you want to know when the next D.A. meeting is?” 
+but her response did not seem to fit. 
+
+“I — er — ” he said. 
+
+“Oh, it’s okay if you don’t,” she said, looking 
+mortified. “Don’t worry. I-I’ll see you around.” 
+
+She walked away. Harry stood staring after her, his 
+brain working frantically. Then something clunked 
+into place. 
+
+“Cho! Hey — CHO!” 
+
+He ran after her, catching her halfway up the marble 
+staircase. 
+
+“Er — d’you want to come into Hogsmeade with me on 
+Valentine’s Day?” 
+
+“Oooh, yes!” she said, blushing crimson and beaming 
+at him. 
+
+“Right ... well ... that’s settled then,” said Harry, and 
+feeling that the day was not going to be a complete 
+loss after all, he headed off to the library to pick up 
+Ron and Hermione before their afternoon lessons, 
+walking in a rather bouncy way himself. 
+
+By six o’clock that evening, however, even the glow of 
+having successfully asked out Cho Chang was 
+insufficient to lighten the ominous feelings that 
+intensified with every step Harry took toward Snape’s 
+office. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He paused outside the door when he reached it, 
+wishing he were almost anywhere else, then, taking a 
+deep breath, knocked, and entered. 
+
+It was a shadowy room lined with shelves bearing 
+hundreds of glass jars in which floated slimy bits of 
+animals and plants, suspended in variously colored 
+potions. In a corner stood the cupboard full of 
+ingredients that Snape had once accused Harry — not 
+without reason — of robbing. Harry’s attention was 
+drawn toward the desk, however, where a shallow 
+stone basin engraved with runes and symbols lay in a 
+pool of candlelight. Harry recognized it at once — 
+Dumbledore’s Pensieve. Wondering what on earth it 
+was doing here, he jumped when Snape’s cold voice 
+came out of the corner. 
+
+“Shut the door behind you, Potter.” 
+
+Harry did as he was told with the horrible feeling that 
+he was imprisoning himself as he did so. When he 
+turned back to face the room Snape had moved into 
+the light and was pointing silently at the chair 
+opposite his desk. Harry sat down and so did Snape, 
+his cold black eyes fixed unblinkingly upon Harry, 
+dislike etched in every line of his face. 
+
+“Well, Potter, you know why you are here,” he said. 
+“The headmaster has asked me to teach you 
+Occlumency. I can only hope that you prove more 
+adept at it than Potions.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry tersely. 
+
+“This may not be an ordinary class, Potter,” said 
+Snape, his eyes narrowed malevolently, “but I am still 
+your teacher and you will therefore call me ‘sir’ or 
+‘Professor’ at all times.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes ... sir,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+“Now, Occlumency. As I told you back in your dear 
+godfather’s kitchen, this branch of magic seals the 
+mind against magical intrusion and influence.” 
+
+“And why does Professor Dumbledore think I need it, 
+sir?” said Harry, looking directly into Snape’s dark, 
+cold eyes and wondering whether he would answer. 
+
+Snape looked back at him for a moment and then 
+said contemptuously, “Surely even you could have 
+worked that out by now, Potter? The Dark Lord is 
+highly skilled at Legilimency — ” 
+
+“What’s that? Sir?” 
+
+“It is the ability to extract feelings and memories from 
+another person’s mind — ” 
+
+“He can read minds?” said Harry quickly, his worst 
+fears confirmed. 
+
+“You have no subtlety, Potter,” said Snape, his dark 
+eyes glittering. “You do not understand fine 
+distinctions. It is one of the shortcomings that makes 
+you such a lamentable potion-maker.” 
+
+Snape paused for a moment, apparently to savor the 
+pleasure of insulting Harry, before continuing, “Only 
+Muggles talk of ‘mind reading. ’ The mind is not a 
+book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. 
+Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be 
+perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and 
+many-layered thing, Potter ... or at least, most minds 
+are...” He smirked. “It is true, however, that those 
+who have mastered Legilimency are able, under 
+certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their 
+victims and to interpret their findings correctly. The 
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+
+
+
+
+Dark Lord, for instance, almost always knows when 
+somebody is lying to him. Only those skilled at 
+Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and 
+memories that contradict the lie, and so utter 
+falsehoods in his presence without detection.” 
+
+Whatever Snape said, Legilimency sounded like mind 
+reading to Harry and he did not like the sound of it at 
+all. 
+
+“So he could know what we’re thinking right now? 
+Sir?” 
+
+“The Dark Lord is at a considerable distance and the 
+walls and grounds of Hogwarts are guarded by many 
+ancient spells and charms to ensure the bodily and 
+mental safety of those who dwell within them,” said 
+Snape. “Time and space matter in magic, Potter. Eye 
+contact is often essential to Legilimency.” 
+
+“Well then, why do I have to learn Occlumency?” 
+
+Snape eyed Harry, tracing his mouth with one long, 
+thin finger as he did so. 
+
+“The usual rules do not seem to apply with you, 
+Potter. The curse that failed to kill you seems to have 
+forged some kind of connection between you and the 
+Dark Lord. The evidence suggests that at times, when 
+your mind is most relaxed and vulnerable — when 
+you are asleep, for instance — you are sharing the 
+Dark Lord’s thoughts and emotions. The headmaster 
+thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes 
+me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark 
+Lord.” 
+
+Harry’s heart was pumping fast again. None of this 
+added up. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But why does Professor Dumbledore want to stop it?” 
+he asked abruptly. “I don’t like it much, but it’s been 
+useful, hasn’t it? I mean ... I saw that snake attack 
+Mr. Weasley and if I hadn’t, Professor Dumbledore 
+wouldn’t have been able to save him, would he? Sir?” 
+
+Snape stared at Harry for a few moments, still tracing 
+his mouth with his finger. When he spoke again, it 
+was slowly and deliberately, as though he weighed 
+every word. 
+
+“It appears that the Dark Lord has been unaware of 
+the connection between you and himself until very 
+recently. Up till now it seems that you have been 
+experiencing his emotions and sharing his thoughts 
+without his being any the wiser. However, the vision 
+you had shortly before Christmas — ” 
+
+“The one with the snake and Mr. Weasley?” 
+
+“Do not interrupt me, Potter,�� said Snape in a 
+dangerous voice. “As I was saying ... the vision you 
+had shortly before Christmas represented such a 
+powerful incursion upon the Dark Lord’s thoughts — ” 
+
+“I saw inside the snake’s head, not his!” 
+
+“I thought I just told you not to interrupt me, Potter?” 
+
+But Harry did not care if Snape was angry; at last he 
+seemed to be getting to the bottom of this business. 
+
+He had moved forward in his chair so that, without 
+realizing it, he was perched on the very edge, tense as 
+though poised for flight. 
+
+“How come I saw through the snake’s eyes if it’s 
+Voldemort’s thoughts I’m sharing?” 
+
+“Do not say the Dark Lord’s name\” spat Snape. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a nasty silence. They glared at each other 
+across the Pensieve. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore says his name,” said Harry 
+quietly. 
+
+“Dumbledore is an extremely powerful wizard,” Snape 
+muttered. “While he may feel secure enough to use 
+the name ... the rest of us ...” He rubbed his left 
+forearm, apparently unconsciously, on the spot where 
+Harry knew the Dark Mark was burned into his skin. 
+
+“I just wanted to know,” Harry began again, forcing 
+his voice back to politeness, “why — ” 
+
+“You seem to have visited the snake’s mind because 
+that was where the Dark Lord was at that particular 
+moment,” snarled Snape. “He was possessing the 
+snake at the time and so you dreamed you were 
+inside it too...” 
+
+“And Vol — he — realized I was there?” 
+
+“It seems so,” said Snape coolly. 
+
+“How do you know?” said Harry urgently. “Is this just 
+Professor Dumbledore guessing, or — ?” 
+
+“I told you,” said Snape, rigid in his chair, his eyes 
+slits, “to call me ‘sir.’ ” 
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Harry impatiently, “but how do you 
+know — ?” 
+
+“It is enough that we know,” said Snape repressively. 
+“The important point is that the Dark Lord is now 
+aware that you are gaining access to his thoughts and 
+feelings. He has also deduced that the process is 
+likely to work in reverse; that is to say, he has 
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+
+
+
+
+realized that he might be able to access your thoughts 
+and feelings in return — ” 
+
+“And he might try and make me do things?” asked 
+Harry. “Sir?” he added hurriedly. 
+
+“He might,” said Snape, sounding cold and 
+unconcerned. “Which brings us back to Occlumency.” 
+
+Snape pulled out his wand from an inside pocket of 
+his robes and Harry tensed in his chair, but Snape 
+merely raised the wand to his temple and placed its 
+tip into the greasy roots of his hair. When he 
+withdrew it, some silvery substance came away, 
+stretching from temple to wand like a thick gossamer 
+strand, which broke as he pulled the wand away from 
+it and fell gracefully into the Pensieve, where it 
+swirled silvery white, neither gas nor liquid. Twice 
+more Snape raised the wand to his temple and 
+deposited the silvery substance into the stone basin, 
+then, without offering any explanation of his behavior, 
+he picked up the Pensieve carefully, removed it to a 
+shelf out of their way and returned to face Harry with 
+his wand held at the ready. 
+
+“Stand up and take out your wand, Potter.” 
+
+Harry got to his feet feeling nervous. They faced each 
+other with the desk between them. 
+
+“You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or 
+defend yourself in any other way you can think of,” 
+said Snape. 
+
+“And what are you going to do?” Harry asked, eyeing 
+Snape ’s wand apprehensively. 
+
+“I am about to attempt to break into your mind,” said 
+Snape softly. “We are going to see how well you resist. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+I have been told that you have already shown 
+aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse... You will 
+find that similar powers are needed for this... Brace 
+yourself, now... LegilimensV’ 
+
+Snape had struck before Harry was ready, before 
+Harry had even begun to summon any force of 
+resistance: the office swam in front of his eyes and 
+vanished, image after image was racing through his 
+mind like a flickering film so vivid it blinded him to 
+his surroundings... 
+
+He was five, watching Dudley riding a new red bicycle, 
+and his heart was bursting with jealousy... He was 
+nine, and Ripper the bulldog was chasing him up a 
+tree and the Dursleys were laughing below on the 
+lawn. . . He was sitting under the Sorting Hat, and it 
+was telling him he would do well in Slytherin... 
+Hermione was lying in the hospital wing, her face 
+covered with thick black hair. . . A hundred dementors 
+were closing in on him beside the dark lake... Cho 
+Chang was drawing nearer to him under the 
+mistletoe... 
+
+No, said a voice in Harry’s head, as the memory of 
+Cho drew nearer, you’re not watching that, you’re not 
+watching it, it’s private — 
+
+He felt a sharp pain in his knee. Snape ’s office had 
+come back into view and he realized that he had 
+fallen to the floor; one of his knees had collided 
+painfully with the leg of Snape ’s desk. He looked up at 
+Snape, who had lowered his wand and was rubbing 
+his wrist. There was an angry weal there, like a 
+scorch mark. 
+
+“Did you mean to produce a Stinging Hex?” asked 
+Snape coolly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry bitterly, getting up from the floor. 
+
+“I thought not,” said Snape contemptuously. “You let 
+me get in too far. You lost control.” 
+
+“Did you see everything I saw?” Harry asked, unsure 
+whether he wanted to hear the answer. 
+
+“Flashes of it,” said Snape, his lip curling. “To whom 
+did the dog belong?” 
+
+“My Aunt Marge,” Harry muttered, hating Snape. 
+
+“Well, for a first attempt that was not as poor as it 
+might have been,” said Snape, raising his wand once 
+more. “You managed to stop me eventually, though 
+you wasted time and energy shouting. You must 
+remain focused. Repel me with your brain and you 
+will not need to resort to your wand.” 
+
+“I’m trying,” said Harry angrily, “but you’re not telling 
+me how!” 
+
+“Manners, Potter,” said Snape dangerously. “Now, I 
+want you to close your eyes.” 
+
+Harry threw him a filthy look before doing as he was 
+told. He did not like the idea of standing there with 
+his eyes shut while Snape faced him, carrying a 
+wand. 
+
+“Clear your mind, Potter,” said Snape ’s cold voice. 
+“Let go of all emotion...” 
+
+But Harry’s anger at Snape continued to pound 
+through his veins like venom. Let go of his anger? He 
+could as easily detach his legs... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’re not doing it, Potter... You will need more 
+discipline than this... Focus, now...” 
+
+Harry tried to empty his mind, tried not to think, or 
+remember, or feel... 
+
+“Let’s go again ... on the count of three ... one — two 
+— three — Legilimensl” 
+
+A great black dragon was rearing in front of him... His 
+father and mother were waving at him out of an 
+enchanted mirror. . . Cedric Diggory was lying on the 
+ground with blank eyes staring at him... 
+
+“NOOOOOOO!” 
+
+He was on his knees again, his face buried in his 
+hands, his brain aching as though someone had been 
+trying to pull it from his skull. 
+
+“Get up!” said Snape sharply. “Get up! You are not 
+trying, you are making no effort, you are allowing me 
+access to memories you fear, handing me weapons!” 
+
+Harry stood up again, his heart thumping wildly as 
+though he had really just seen Cedric dead in the 
+graveyard. Snape looked paler than usual, and 
+angrier, though not nearly as angry as Harry was. 
+
+“I — am — making — an — effort,” he said through 
+clenched teeth. 
+
+“I told you to empty yourself of emotion!” 
+
+“Yeah? Well, I’m finding that hard at the moment,” 
+Harry snarled. 
+
+“Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark 
+Lord!” said Snape savagely. “Fools who wear their 
+
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+
+
+
+
+hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control 
+their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and 
+allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak 
+people, in other words — they stand no chance 
+against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with 
+absurd ease, Potter!” 
+
+“I am not weak,” said Harry in a low voice, fury now 
+pumping through him so that he thought he might 
+attack Snape in a moment. 
+
+“Then prove it! Master yourself!” spat Snape. “Control 
+your anger, discipline your mind! We shall try again! 
+Get ready, now! Legilimens\” 
+
+He was watching Uncle Vernon hammering the letter 
+box shut... A hundred dementors were drifting across 
+the lake in the grounds toward him... He was running 
+along a windowless passage with Mr. Weasley... They 
+were drawing nearer to the plain black door at the 
+end of the corridor. . . Harry expected to go through it 
+. . . but Mr. Weasley led him off to the left, down a 
+flight of stone steps... 
+
+“I KNOW! I KNOW!” 
+
+He was on all fours again on Snape’s office floor, his 
+scar was prickling unpleasantly, but the voice that 
+had just issued from his mouth was triumphant. He 
+pushed himself up again to find Snape staring at him, 
+his wand raised. It looked as though, this time, Snape 
+had lifted the spell before Harry had even tried to 
+fight back. 
+
+“What happened then, Potter?” he asked, eyeing 
+Harry intently. 
+
+“I saw — I remembered,” Harry panted. “I’ve just 
+realized ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Realized what?” asked Snape sharply. 
+
+Harry did not answer at once; he was still savoring 
+the moment of blinding realization as he rubbed his 
+forehead... 
+
+He had been dreaming about a windowless corridor 
+ending in a locked door for months, without once 
+realizing that it was a real place. Now, seeing the 
+memory again, he knew that all along he had been 
+dreaming about the corridor down which he had run 
+with Mr. Weasley on the twelfth of August as they 
+hurried to the courtrooms in the Ministry. It was the 
+corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries, and 
+Mr. Weasley had been there the night that he had 
+been attacked by Voldemort’s snake... 
+
+He looked up at Snape. 
+
+“What’s in the Department of Mysteries?” 
+
+“What did you say?” Snape asked quietly and Harry 
+saw, with deep satisfaction, that Snape was 
+unnerved. 
+
+“I said, what’s in the Department of Mysteries, sir?” 
+Harry said. 
+
+“And why,” said Snape slowly, “would you ask such a 
+thing?” 
+
+“Because,” said Harry, watching Snape closely for a 
+reaction, “that corridor I’ve just seen — I’ve been 
+dreaming about it for months — I’ve just recognized it 
+— it leads to the Department of Mysteries . . . and I 
+think Voldemort wants something from — ” 
+
+“I have told you not to say the Dark Lord’s name\” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+They glared at each other. Harry’s scar seared again, 
+but he did not care. Snape looked agitated. When he 
+spoke again he sounded as though he was trying to 
+appear cool and unconcerned. 
+
+“There are many things in the Department of 
+Mysteries, Potter, few of which you would understand 
+and none of which concern you, do I make myself 
+plain?” 
+
+“Yes,” Harry said, still rubbing his prickling scar, 
+which was becoming more painful. 
+
+“I want you back here same time on Wednesday, and 
+we will continue work then.” 
+
+“Fine,” said Harry. He was desperate to get out of 
+Snape ’s office and find Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“You are to rid your mind of all emotion every night 
+before sleep — empty it, make it blank and calm, you 
+understand?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, who was barely listening. 
+
+“And be warned, Potter ... I shall know if you have not 
+practiced ...” 
+
+“Right,” Harry mumbled. He picked up his schoolbag, 
+swung it over his shoulder, and hurried toward the 
+office door. As he opened it he glanced back at Snape, 
+who had his back to Harry and was scooping his own 
+thoughts out of the Pensieve with the tip of his wand 
+and replacing them carefully inside his own head. 
+Harry left without another word, closing the door 
+carefully behind him, his scar still throbbing 
+painfully. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry found Ron and Hermione in the library, where 
+they were working on Umbridge’s most recent ream of 
+homework. Other students, nearly all of them fifth 
+years, sat at lamp-lit tables nearby, noses close to 
+books, quills scratching feverishly, while the sky 
+outside the mullioned windows grew steadily blacker. 
+The only other sound was the slight squeaking of one 
+of Madam Pince’s shoes as the librarian prowled the 
+aisles menacingly, breathing down the necks of those 
+touching her precious books. 
+
+Harry felt shivery; his scar was still aching, he felt 
+almost feverish. When he sat down opposite Ron and 
+Hermione he caught sight of himself in the window 
+opposite. He was very white, and his scar seemed to 
+be showing up more clearly than usual. 
+
+“How did it go?” Hermione whispered, and then, 
+looking concerned, “Are you all right, Harry?” 
+
+“Yeah ... fine ... I dunno,” said Harry impatiently, 
+wincing as pain shot through his scar again. “Listen 
+... I’ve just realized something...” 
+
+And he told them what he had just seen and deduced. 
+
+“So ... so, are you saying ...” whispered Ron, as 
+Madam Pince swept past, squeaking slightly, “that the 
+weapon — the thing You-Know- Who’s after — is in 
+the Ministry of Magic?” 
+
+“In the Department of Mysteries, it’s got to be,” Harry 
+whispered. “I saw that door when your dad took me 
+down to the courtrooms for my hearing and it’s 
+definitely the same one he was guarding when the 
+snake bit him.” 
+
+Hermione let out a long, slow sigh. “Of course,” she 
+breathed. 
+
+Page | 688Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Of course what?” said Ron rather impatiently. 
+
+“Ron, think about it... Sturgis Podmore was trying to 
+get through a door at the Ministry of Magic... It must 
+have been that one, it’s too much of a coincidence!” 
+
+“How come Sturgis was trying to break in when he’s 
+on our side?” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, I don’t know,” Hermione admitted. “That is a bit 
+odd...” 
+
+“So what’s in the Department of Mysteries?” Harry 
+asked Ron. “Has your dad ever mentioned anything 
+about it?” 
+
+“I know they call the people who work in there 
+‘Unspeakables,’ ” said Ron, frowning. “Because no one 
+really seems to know what they do in there... Weird 
+place to have a weapon ...” 
+
+“It’s not weird at all, it makes perfect sense,” said 
+Hermione. “It will be something top secret that the 
+Ministry has been developing, I expect... Harry, are 
+you sure you’re all right?” 
+
+For Harry had just run both his hands hard over his 
+forehead as though trying to iron it. 
+
+“Yeah ... fine ...” he said, lowering his hands, which 
+were trembling. “I just feel a bit ... I don’t like 
+Occlumency much...” 
+
+“I expect anyone would feel shaky if they’d had their 
+mind attacked over and over again,” said Hermione 
+sympathetically. “Look, let’s get back to the common 
+room, well be a bit more comfortable there...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 689Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But the common room was packed and full of shrieks 
+of laughter and excitement; Fred and George were 
+demonstrating their latest bit of joke shop 
+merchandise. 
+
+“Headless Hats!” shouted George, as Fred waved a 
+pointed hat decorated with a fluffy pink feather at the 
+watching students. “Two Galleons each — watch 
+Fred, now!” 
+
+Fred swept the hat onto his head, beaming. For a 
+second he merely looked rather stupid, then both hat 
+and head vanished. 
+
+Several girls screamed, but everyone else was roaring 
+with laughter. 
+
+“And off again!” shouted George, and Fred’s hand 
+groped for a moment in what seemed to be thin air 
+over his shoulder; then his head reappeared as he 
+swept the pink-feathered hat from it again. 
+
+“How do those hats work, then?” said Hermione, 
+distracted from her homework and watching Fred and 
+George. “I mean, obviously it’s some kind of 
+Invisibility Spell, but it’s rather clever to have 
+extended the field of invisibility beyond the 
+boundaries of the charmed object... I’d imagine the 
+charm wouldn’t have a very long life though...” 
+
+Harry did not answer; he was still feeling ill. 
+
+“I’m going to have to do this tomorrow,” he muttered, 
+pushing the books he had just taken out of his bag 
+back inside it. 
+
+“Well, write it in your homework planner then!” said 
+Hermione encouragingly. “So you don’t forget!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 690Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry and Ron exchanged looks as he reached into 
+his bag, withdrew the planner and opened it 
+tentatively. 
+
+“ Don’t leave it till later, you big second-rateri” chided 
+the book as Harry scribbled down Umbridge’s 
+homework. Hermione beamed at it. 
+
+“I think 111 go to bed,” said Harry, stuffing the 
+homework planner back into his bag and making a 
+mental note to drop it in the fire the first opportunity 
+he got. 
+
+He walked across the common room, dodging George, 
+who tried to put a Headless Hat on him, and reached 
+the peace and cool of the stone staircase to the boys’ 
+dormitories. He was feeling sick again, just as he had 
+the night he had had the vision of the snake, but 
+thought that if he could just lie down for a while he 
+would be all right. 
+
+He opened the door of his dormitory and was one step 
+inside it when he experienced pain so severe he 
+thought that someone must have sliced into the top of 
+his head. He did not know where he was, whether he 
+was standing or lying down, he did not even know his 
+own name... 
+
+Maniacal laughter was ringing in his ears... He was 
+happier than he had been in a very long time... 
+Jubilant, ecstatic, triumphant ... A wonderful, 
+wonderful thing had happened... 
+
+“Harry? HARRY!” 
+
+Someone had hit him around the face. The insane 
+laughter was punctuated with a cry of pain. The 
+happiness was draining out of him, but the laughter 
+continued... 
+
+Page | 691Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He opened his eyes and as he did so, he became 
+aware that the wild laughter was coming out of his 
+own mouth. The moment he realized this, it died 
+away; Harry lay panting on the floor, staring up at the 
+ceiling, the scar on his forehead throbbing horribly. 
+Ron was bending over him, looking very worried. 
+
+“What happened?” he said. 
+
+“I ... dunno ...” Harry gasped, sitting up again. “He’s 
+really happy ... really happy ...” 
+
+“You-Know-Who is?” 
+
+“Something good’s happened,” mumbled Harry. He 
+was shaking as badly as he had done after seeing the 
+snake attack Mr. Weasley and felt very sick. 
+“Something he’s been hoping for.” 
+
+The words came, just as they had back in the 
+Gryffindor changing room, as though a stranger was 
+speaking them through Harry’s mouth, yet he knew 
+they were true. He took deep breaths, willing himself 
+not to vomit all over Ron. He was very glad that Dean 
+and Seamus were not here to watch this time. 
+
+“Hermione told me to come and check on you,” said 
+Ron in a low voice, helping Harry to his feet. “She 
+says your defenses will be low at the moment, after 
+Snape’s been fiddling around with your mind... Still, I 
+suppose it’ll help in the long run, won’t it?” 
+
+He looked doubtfully at Harry as he helped him 
+toward bed. Harry nodded without any conviction and 
+slumped back on his pillows, aching all over from 
+having fallen to the floor so often that evening, his 
+scar still prickling painfully. He could not help feeling 
+that his first foray into Occlumency had weakened his 
+mind’s resistance rather than strengthening it, and 
+Page | 692Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he wondered, with a feeling of great trepidation, what 
+had happened to make Lord Voldemort the happiest 
+he had been in fourteen years. 
+
+
+
+Page | 693Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BEETLE AT BAY 
+
+Harry’s question was answered the very next 
+morning. When Hermione’s Daily Prophet arrived she 
+smoothed it out, gazed for a moment at the front 
+page, and then gave a yelp that caused everyone in 
+the vicinity to stare at her. 
+
+“What?” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+For an answer she spread the newspaper on the table 
+in front of them and pointed at ten black-and-white 
+photographs that filled the whole of the front page, 
+nine showing wizards’ faces and the tenth, a witch’s. 
+Some of the people in the photographs were silently 
+jeering; others were tapping their fingers on the frame 
+of their pictures, looking insolent. Each picture was 
+captioned with a name and the crime for which the 
+person had been sent to Azkaban. 
+
+Antonin Dolohov, read the legend beneath a wizard 
+with a long, pale, twisted face who was sneering up at 
+Harry, convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and 
+Fabian Prewett. 
+
+Page | 694Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Augustus Rookwood, said the caption beneath a 
+pockmarked man with greasy hair who was leaning 
+against the edge of his picture, looking bored, 
+convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic Secrets to He- 
+Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. 
+
+But Harry’s eyes were drawn to the picture of the 
+witch. Her face had leapt out at him the moment he 
+had seen the page. She had long, dark hair that 
+looked unkempt and straggly in the picture, though 
+he had seen it sleek, thick, and shining. She glared 
+up at him through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant, 
+disdainful smile playing around her thin mouth. Like 
+Sirius, she retained vestiges of great good looks, but 
+something — perhaps Azkaban — had taken most of 
+her beauty. 
+
+Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and 
+permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice 
+Longbottom. 
+
+Hermione nudged Harry and pointed at the headline 
+over the pictures, which Harry, concentrating on 
+Bellatrix, had not yet read. 
+
+MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN 
+
+MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS “RALLYING POINT” 
+
+FOR OLD DEATH EATERS 
+
+“Black?” said Harry loudly. “Not — ?” 
+
+“ Shhh\ ” whispered Hermione desperately. “Not so loud 
+— just read it!” 
+
+The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that 
+there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban. 
+
+
+
+Page | 695Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius 
+Fudge, Minister of Magic, confirmed that ten high- 
+security prisoners escaped in the early hours of 
+yesterday evening, and that he has already informed 
+the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of 
+these individuals. 
+
+“We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same 
+position we were two and a half years ago when the 
+murderer Sirius Black escaped, ” said Fudge last night. 
+“Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. An 
+escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, and 
+we must remember that Black, as the first person ever 
+to break out of Azkaban, would be ideally placed to 
+help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely 
+that these individuals, who include Black’s cousin, 
+Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their 
+leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up 
+the criminals and beg the magical community to remain 
+alert and cautious. On no account should any of these 
+individuals be approached. ” 
+
+“There you are, Harry,” said Ron, looking awestruck. 
+“That’s why he was happy last night...” 
+
+“I don’t believe this,” snarled Harry, “Fudge is blaming 
+the breakout on Sirius?” 
+
+“What other options does he have?” said Hermione 
+bitterly. “He can hardly say, ‘Sorry everyone, 
+Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the 
+Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort’ — stop 
+whimpering, Ron — ‘and now Voldemort’s worst 
+supporters have broken out too.’ I mean, he’s spent a 
+good six months telling everyone you and Dumbledore 
+are liars, hasn’t he?” 
+
+Hermione ripped open the newspaper and began to 
+read the report inside while Harry looked around the 
+
+Page | 696Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Great Hall. He could not understand why his fellow 
+students were not looking scared or at least 
+discussing the terrible piece of news on the front 
+page, but very few of them took the newspaper every 
+day like Hermione. There they all were, talking about 
+homework and Quidditch and who knew what other 
+rubbish, and outside these walls ten more Death 
+Eaters had swollen Voldemort’s ranks... 
+
+He glanced up at the staff table. It was a different 
+story here: Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall 
+were deep in conversation, both looking extremely 
+grave. Professor Sprout had the Prophet propped 
+against a bottle of ketchup and was reading the front 
+page with such concentration that she was not 
+noticing the gentle drip of egg yolk falling into her lap 
+from her stationary spoon. Meanwhile, at the far end 
+of the table, Professor Umbridge was tucking into a 
+bowl of porridge. For once her pouchy toad’s eyes 
+were not sweeping the Great Hall looking for 
+misbehaving students. She scowled as she gulped 
+down her food and every now and then she shot a 
+malevolent glance up the table to where Dumbledore 
+and McGonagall were talking so intently. 
+
+“Oh my — ” said Hermione wonderingly, still staring at 
+the newspaper. 
+
+“What now?” said Harry quickly; he was feeling 
+jumpy. 
+
+“It’s ... horrible,” said Hermione, looking shaken. She 
+folded back page ten of the newspaper and handed it 
+back to Harry and Ron. 
+
+TRAGIC DEMISE OF 
+
+MINISTRY OF MAGIC WORKER 
+
+
+
+Page | 697Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+St. Mungo’s Hospital promised a full inquiry last 
+night after Ministry of Magic worker Broderick Bode, 
+49, was discovered dead in his bed, strangled by a 
+potted-plant. Healers called to the scene were unable 
+to revive Mr. Bode, who had been injured in a 
+workplace accident some weeks prior to his death. 
+
+Healer Miriam Strout, who was in charge of Mr. 
+
+Bode’s ward at the time of the incident, has been 
+suspended on full pay and was unavailable for 
+comment yesterday, but a spokeswizard for the 
+hospital said in a statement, “St. Mungo’s deeply 
+regrets the death of Mr. Bode, whose health was 
+improving steadily prior to this tragic accident. 
+
+“We have strict guidelines on the decorations 
+permitted on our wards but it appears that Healer 
+Strout, busy over the Christmas period, overlooked 
+the dangers of the plant on Mr. Bode’s bedside table. 
+As his speech and mobility improved, Healer Strout 
+encouraged Mr. Bode to look after the plant himself, 
+unaware that it was not an innocent Flitterbloom, but 
+a cutting of Devil’s Snare, which, when touched by 
+the convalescent Mr. Bode, throttled him instantly. 
+
+“St. Mungo’s is as yet unable to account for the 
+presence of the plant on the ward and asks any witch 
+or wizard with information to come forward.” 
+
+“Bode ...” said Ron. “Bode. It rings a bell...” 
+
+“We saw him,” Hermione whispered. “In St. Mungo’s, 
+remember? He was in the bed opposite Lockhart’s, 
+just lying there, staring at the ceiling. And we saw the 
+Devil’s Snare arrive. She — the Healer — said it was a 
+Christmas present...” 
+
+Harry looked back at the story. A feeling of horror was 
+rising like bile in his throat. 
+
+Page | 698Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How come we didn’t recognize Devil’s Snare ... ? 
+We’ve seen it before ... we could’ve stopped this from 
+happening ...” 
+
+“Who expects Devil’s Snare to turn up in a hospital 
+disguised as a potted plant?” said Ron sharply. “It’s 
+not our fault, whoever sent it to the bloke is to blame! 
+They must be a real prat, why didn’t they check what 
+they were buying?” 
+
+“Oh come on, Ron!” said Hermione shakily, “I don’t 
+think anyone could put Devil’s Snare in a pot and not 
+realize it tries to kill whoever touches it? This — this 
+was murder... A clever murder, as well... If the plant 
+was sent anonymously, how’s anyone ever going to 
+find out who did it?” 
+
+Harry was not thinking about Devil’s Snare. He was 
+remembering taking the lift down to the ninth level of 
+the Ministry on the day of his hearing, and the 
+sallow-faced man who had got in on the Atrium level. 
+
+“I met Bode,” he said slowly. “I saw him at the 
+Ministry with your dad ...” 
+
+Ron’s mouth fell open. 
+
+“I’ve heard Dad talk about him at home! He was an 
+Unspeakable — he worked in the Department of 
+Mysteries!” 
+
+They looked at one another for a moment, then 
+Hermione pulled the newspaper back toward her, 
+closed it, glared for a moment at the pictures of the 
+ten escaped Death Eaters on the front, then leapt to 
+her feet. 
+
+“Where are you going?” said Ron, startled. 
+
+
+
+Page | 699Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“To send a letter,” said Hermione, swinging her bag 
+onto her shoulder. “It ... well, I don’t know whether ... 
+but it’s worth trying ... and I’m the only one who can 
+
+
+
+“I hate it when she does that,” grumbled Ron as he 
+and Harry got up from the table and made their own, 
+slower way out of the Great Hall. “Would it kill her to 
+tell us what she’s up to for once? It’d take her about 
+ten more seconds — hey, Hagrid!” 
+
+Hagrid was standing beside the doors into the 
+entrance hall, waiting for a crowd of Ravenclaws to 
+pass. He was still as heavily bruised as he had been 
+on the day he had come back from his mission to the 
+giants and there was a new cut right across the 
+bridge of his nose. 
+
+“All righ’, you two?” he said, trying to muster a smile 
+but managing only a kind of pained grimace. 
+
+“Are you okay, Hagrid?” asked Harry, following him as 
+he lumbered after the Ravenclaws. 
+
+“Fine, fine,” said Hagrid with a feeble assumption of 
+airiness; he waved a hand and narrowly missed 
+concussing a frightened-looking Professor Vector, who 
+was passing. “Jus’ busy, yeh know, usual stuff — 
+lessons ter prepare — couple o’ salamanders got scale 
+rot — an’ I’m on probation,” he mumbled. 
+
+“ You’re on probation?” said Ron very loudly, so that 
+many students passing looked around curiously. 
+“Sorry — I mean — you’re on probation?” he 
+whispered. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid. “ ’S’no more’n I expected, ter tell 
+yeh the truth. Yeh migh’ not’ve picked up on it, bu’ 
+that inspection didn’ go too well, yeh know ... 
+
+Page | 700Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+anyway,” he sighed deeply. “Bes’ go an mb a bit more 
+chili powder on them salamanders or their tails’ll be 
+hangin’ off ’em next. See yeh, Harry ... Ron ...” 
+
+He trudged away, out the front doors and down the 
+stone steps into the damp grounds. Harry watched 
+him go, wondering how much more bad news he 
+could stand. 
+
+The fact that Hagrid was now on probation became 
+common knowledge within the school over the next 
+few days, but to Harry’s indignation, hardly anybody 
+appeared to be upset about it; indeed, some people, 
+Draco Malfoy prominent among them, seemed 
+positively gleeful. As for the freakish death of an 
+obscure Department of Mysteries employee in St. 
+Mungo’s, Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed to be the 
+only people who knew or cared. There was only one 
+topic of conversation in the corridors now: the ten 
+escaped Death Eaters, whose story had finally filtered 
+through the school from those few people who read 
+the newspapers. Rumors were flying that some of the 
+convicts had been spotted in Hogsmeade, that they 
+were supposed to be hiding out in the Shrieking 
+Shack and that they were going to break into 
+Hogwarts, just as Sirius Black had done. 
+
+Those who came from Wizarding families had grown 
+up hearing the names of these Death Eaters spoken 
+with almost as much fear as Voldemort’s; the crimes 
+they had committed during the days of Voldemort’s 
+reign of terror were legendary. There were relatives of 
+their victims among the Hogwarts students, who now 
+found themselves the unwilling objects of a gruesome 
+sort of reflected fame as they walked the corridors: 
+Susan Bones, who had an uncle, aunt, and cousins 
+who had all died at the hands of one of the ten, said 
+miserably during Herbology that she now had a good 
+idea what it felt like to be Harry. 
+
+Page | 701Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And I don’t know how you stand it, it’s horrible,” she 
+said bluntly, dumping far too much dragon manure 
+on her tray of Screechsnap seedlings, causing them to 
+wriggle and squeak in discomfort. 
+
+It was true that Harry was the subject of much 
+renewed muttering and pointing in the corridors these 
+days, yet he thought he detected a slight difference in 
+the tone of the whisperers’ voices. They sounded 
+curious rather than hostile now, and once or twice he 
+was sure he overheard snatches of conversation that 
+suggested that the speakers were not satisfied with 
+the Prophet’s version of how and why ten Death 
+Eaters had managed to break out of Azkaban fortress. 
+In their confusion and fear, these doubters now 
+seemed to be turning to the only other explanation 
+available to them, the one that Harry and 
+Dumbledore had been expounding since the previous 
+year. 
+
+It was not only the students’ mood that had changed. 
+It was now quite common to come across two or three 
+teachers conversing in low, urgent whispers in the 
+corridors, breaking off their conversations the 
+moment they saw students approaching. 
+
+“They obviously can’t talk freely in the staffroom 
+anymore,” said Hermione in a low voice, as she, 
+
+Harry, and Ron passed Professors McGonagall, 
+Flitwick, and Sprout huddled together outside the 
+Charms classroom one day. “Not with Umbridge 
+there.” 
+
+“Reckon they know anything new?” said Ron, gazing 
+back over his shoulder at the three teachers. 
+
+“If they do, we’re not going to hear about it, are we?” 
+said Harry angrily. “Not after Decree ... What number 
+are we on now?” 
+
+Page | 702Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+For new signs had appeared on the house notice 
+boards the morning after news of the Azkaban 
+breakout: 
+
+— BY ORDER OF — 
+
+THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS 
+
+Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any 
+information that is not strictly related to the subjects 
+they are paid to teach. 
+
+The above is in accordance with 
+
+Educational Decree Number Twenty-six. 
+
+Signed: 
+
+Dolores Jane Umbridge 
+HIGH INQUISITOR 
+
+This latest decree had been the subject of a great 
+number of jokes among the students. Lee Jordan had 
+pointed out to Umbridge that by the terms of the new 
+rule she was not allowed to tell Fred and George off 
+for playing Exploding Snap in the back of the class. 
+
+“Exploding Snap’s got nothing to do with Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts, Professor! That’s not 
+information relating to your subject!” 
+
+When Harry next saw Lee, the back of his hand was 
+bleeding rather badly. Harry recommended essence of 
+murtlap. 
+
+Harry had thought that the breakout from Azkaban 
+might have humbled Umbridge a little, that she might 
+
+
+
+Page | 703Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+have been abashed at the catastrophe that had 
+occurred right under her beloved Fudge’s nose. It 
+seemed, however, to have only intensified her furious 
+desire to bring every aspect of life at Hogwarts under 
+her personal control. She seemed determined at the 
+very least to achieve a sacking before long, and the 
+only question was whether it would be Professor 
+Trelawney or Hagrid who went first. 
+
+Every single Divination and Care of Magical Creatures 
+lesson was now conducted in the presence of 
+Umbridge and her clipboard. She lurked by the fire in 
+the heavily perfumed tower room, interrupting 
+Professor Trelawney’s increasingly hysterical talks 
+with difficult questions about Ornithomancy and 
+Heptomology, insisting that she predict students’ 
+answers before they gave them and demanding that 
+she demonstrate her skill at the crystal ball, the tea 
+leaves, and the rune stones in turn. Harry thought 
+that Professor Trelawney might soon crack under the 
+strain; several times he passed her in the corridors (in 
+itself a very unusual occurrence as she generally 
+remained in her tower room), muttering wildly to 
+herself, wringing her hands, and shooting terrified 
+glances over her shoulder, all the time giving off a 
+powerful smell of cooking sherry. If he had not been 
+so worried about Hagrid, he would have felt sorry for 
+her — but if one of them was to be ousted out of a 
+job, there could be only one choice for Harry as to 
+who should remain. 
+
+Unfortunately, Harry could not see that Hagrid was 
+putting up a better show than Trelawney. Though he 
+seemed to be following Hermione’s advice and had 
+shown them nothing more frightening than a crup, a 
+creature indistinguishable from a Jack Russell terrier 
+except for its forked tail, since before Christmas, he 
+also seemed to have lost his nerve. He was oddly 
+distracted and jumpy in lessons, losing the thread of 
+Page | 704Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+what he was saying while talking to the class, 
+answering questions wrongly and glancing anxiously 
+at Umbridge all the time. He was also more distant 
+with Harry, Ron, and Hermione than he had ever 
+been before, expressly forbidding them to visit him 
+after dark. 
+
+“If she catches yeh, it’ll be all of our necks on the 
+line,” he told them flatly, and with no desire to do 
+anything that jeopardized his job further, they 
+abstained from walking down to his hut in the 
+evenings. It seemed to Harry that Umbridge was 
+steadily depriving him of everything that made his life 
+at Hogwarts worth living: visits to Hagrid’s house, 
+letters from Sirius, his Firebolt, and Quidditch. He 
+took his revenge the only way he had: redoubling his 
+efforts for the D.A. 
+
+Harry was pleased to see that all of them, even 
+Zacharias Smith, had been spurred to work harder 
+than ever by the news that ten more Death Eaters 
+were now on the loose, but in nobody was this 
+improvement more pronounced than in Neville. The 
+news of his parents’ attacker’s escape had wrought a 
+strange and even slightly alarming change in him. He 
+had not once mentioned his meeting with Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione on the closed ward in St. Mungo’s, and 
+taking their lead from him, they had kept quiet about 
+it too. Nor had he said anything on the subject of 
+Bellatrix and her fellow torturers’ escape; in fact, he 
+barely spoke during D.A. meetings anymore, but 
+worked relentlessly on every new jinx and 
+countercurse Harry taught them, his plump face 
+screwed up in concentration, apparently indifferent to 
+injuries or accidents, working harder than anyone 
+else in the room. He was improving so fast it was 
+quite unnerving and when Harry taught them the 
+Shield Charm, a means of deflecting minor jinxes so 
+
+
+
+Page | 705Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that they rebounded upon the attacker, only 
+Hermione mastered the charm faster than Neville. 
+
+In fact Harry would have given a great deal to be 
+making as much progress at Occlumency as Neville 
+was making during D.A. meetings. Harry’s sessions 
+with Snape, which had started badly enough, were 
+not improving; on the contrary, Harry felt he was 
+getting worse with every lesson. 
+
+Before he had started studying Occlumency, his scar 
+had prickled occasionally, usually during the night, or 
+else following one of those strange flashes of 
+Voldemort’s thoughts or moods that he experienced 
+every now and then. Nowadays, however, his scar 
+hardly ever stopped prickling, and he often felt 
+lurches of annoyance or cheerfulness that were 
+unrelated to what was happening to him at the time, 
+which were always accompanied by a particularly 
+painful twinge from his scar. He had the horrible 
+impression that he was slowly turning into a kind of 
+aerial that was tuned in to tiny fluctuations in 
+Voldemort’s mood, and he was sure he could date this 
+increased sensitivity firmly from his first Occlumency 
+lesson with Snape. What was more, he was now 
+dreaming about walking down the corridor toward the 
+entrance to the Department of Mysteries almost every 
+night, dreams that always culminated in him 
+standing longingly in front of the plain black door. 
+
+“Maybe it’s a bit like an illness,” said Hermione, 
+looking concerned when Harry confided in her and 
+Ron. “A fever or something. It has to get worse before 
+it gets better.” 
+
+“It’s lessons with Snape that are making it worse,” 
+said Harry flatly. “I’m getting sick of my scar hurting, 
+and I’m getting bored walking down that corridor 
+every night.” He rubbed his forehead angrily. “I just 
+
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+
+
+
+
+wish the door would open, I’m sick of standing staring 
+at it — ” 
+
+“That’s not funny,” said Hermione sharply. 
+“Dumbledore doesn’t want you to have dreams about 
+that corridor at all, or he wouldn’t have asked Snape 
+to teach you Occlumency. You’re just going to have to 
+work a bit harder in your lessons.” 
+
+“I am working!” said Harry, nettled. “You try it 
+sometime, Snape trying to get inside your head, it’s 
+not a bundle of laughs, you know!” 
+
+“Maybe ...” said Ron slowly. 
+
+“Maybe what?” said Hermione rather snappishly. 
+
+“Maybe it’s not Harry’s fault he can’t close his mind,” 
+said Ron darkly. 
+
+“What do you mean?” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, maybe Snape isn’t really trying to help Harry...” 
+
+Harry and Hermione stared at him. Ron looked darkly 
+and meaningfully from one to the other. 
+
+“Maybe,” he said again in a lower voice, “he’s actually 
+trying to open Harry’s mind a bit wider . . . make it 
+easier for You-Know — ” 
+
+“Shut up, Ron,” said Hermione angrily. “How many 
+times have you suspected Snape, and when have you 
+ever been right? Dumbledore trusts him, he works for 
+the Order, that ought to be enough.” 
+
+“He used to be a Death Eater,” said Ron stubbornly. 
+“And we’ve never seen proof that he really swapped 
+sides...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Dumbledore trusts him,” Hermione repeated. “And if 
+we can’t trust Dumbledore, we can’t trust anyone.” 
+
+With so much to worry about and so much to do — 
+startling amounts of homework that frequently kept 
+the fifth years working until past midnight, secret 
+D.A. meetings, and regular classes with Snape — 
+January seemed to be passing alarmingly fast. Before 
+Harry knew it, February had arrived, bringing with it 
+wetter and warmer weather and the prospect of the 
+second Hogsmeade visit of the year. Harry had had 
+very little time to spare on conversations with Cho 
+since they had agreed to visit the village together, but 
+suddenly found himself facing a Valentine’s Day 
+spent entirely in her company. 
+
+On the morning of the fourteenth he dressed 
+particularly carefully. He and Ron arrived at breakfast 
+just in time for the arrival of the post owls. Hedwig 
+was not there — not that he had expected her — but 
+Hermione was tugging a letter from the beak of an 
+unfamiliar brown owl as they sat down. 
+
+“And about time! If it hadn’t come today ...” she said 
+eagerly, tearing open the envelope and pulling out a 
+small piece of parchment. Her eyes sped from left to 
+right as she read through the message and a grimly 
+pleased expression spread across her face. 
+
+“Listen, Harry,” she said, looking up at him. “This is 
+really important... Do you think you could meet me in 
+the Three Broomsticks around midday?” 
+
+“Well ... I dunno,” said Harry dubiously. “Cho might 
+be expecting me to spend the whole day with her. We 
+never said what we were going to do.” 
+
+“Well, bring her along if you must,” said Hermione 
+urgently. ���But will you come?” 
+
+Page | 708Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well ... all right, but why?” 
+
+
+
+“I haven’t got time to tell you now, I’ve got to answer 
+this quickly — ” 
+
+And she hurried out of the Great Hall, the letter 
+clutched in one hand and a piece of uneaten toast in 
+the other. 
+
+“Are you coming?” Harry asked Ron, but he shook his 
+head, looking glum. 
+
+“I can’t come into Hogsmeade at all, Angelina wants a 
+full day’s training. Like it’s going to help — we’re the 
+worst team I’ve ever seen. You should see Sloper and 
+Kirke, they’re pathetic, even worse than I am.” He 
+heaved a great sigh. “I dunno why Angelina won’t just 
+let me resign...” 
+
+“It’s because you’re good when you’re on form, that’s 
+why,” said Harry irritably. 
+
+He found it very hard to be sympathetic to Ron’s 
+plight when he himself would have given almost 
+anything to be playing in the forthcoming match 
+against Hufflepuff. Ron seemed to notice Harry’s tone, 
+because he did not mention Quidditch again during 
+breakfast, and there was a slight frostiness in the way 
+they said good-bye to each other shortly afterward. 
+Ron departed for the Quidditch pitch and Harry, after 
+attempting to flatten his hair while staring at his 
+reflection in the back of a teaspoon, proceeded alone 
+to the entrance hall to meet Cho, feeling very 
+apprehensive and wondering what on earth they were 
+going to talk about. 
+
+She was waiting for him a little to the side of the oak 
+front doors, looking very pretty with her hair tied 
+back in a long ponytail. Harry’s feet seemed to be too 
+
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+
+
+
+
+big for his body as he walked toward her, and he was 
+suddenly horribly aware of his arms and how stupid 
+they looked swinging at his sides. 
+
+“Hi,” said Cho slightly breathlessly. 
+
+“Hi,” said Harry. 
+
+They stared at each other for a moment, then Harry 
+said, “Well — er — shall we go, then?” 
+
+“Oh — yes ...” 
+
+They joined the queue of people being signed out by 
+Filch, occasionally catching each other’s eye and 
+grinning shiftily, but not talking to each other. Harry 
+was relieved when they reached the fresh air, finding 
+it easier to walk along in silence than just stand there 
+looking awkward. It was a fresh, breezy sort of day 
+and as they passed the Quidditch stadium, Harry 
+glimpsed Ron and Ginny skimming over the stands 
+and felt a horrible pang that he was not up there with 
+them... 
+
+“You really miss it, don’t you?” said Cho. 
+
+He looked around and saw her watching him. 
+
+“Yeah,” sighed Harry. “I do.” 
+
+“Remember the first time we played against each 
+other, in the third year?” she asked him. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, grinning. “You kept blocking me.” 
+
+“And Wood told you not to be a gentleman and knock 
+me off my broom if you had to,” said Cho, smiling 
+reminiscently. “I heard he got taken on by Pride of 
+Portree, is that right?” 
+
+Page | 710Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Nah, it was Puddlemere United, I saw him at the 
+World Cup last year.” 
+
+“Oh, I saw you there too, remember? We were on the 
+same campsite. It was really good, wasn’t it?” 
+
+The subject of the Quidditch World Cup carried them 
+all the way down the drive and out through the gates. 
+Harry could hardly believe how easy it was to talk to 
+her, no more difficult, in fact, than talking to Ron and 
+Hermione, and he was just starting to feel confident 
+and cheerful when a large gang of Slytherin girls 
+passed them, including Pansy Parkinson. 
+
+“Potter and Chang!” screeched Pansy to a chorus of 
+snide giggles. “Urgh, Chang, I don’t think much of 
+your taste... At least Diggory was good-looking!” 
+
+They sped up, talking and shrieking in a pointed 
+fashion with many exaggerated glances back at Harry 
+and Cho, leaving an embarrassed silence in their 
+wake. Harry could think of nothing else to say about 
+Quidditch, and Cho, slightly flushed, was watching 
+her feet. 
+
+“So ... where d’you want to go?” Harry asked as they 
+entered Hogsmeade. The High Street was full of 
+students ambling up and down, peering into the shop 
+windows and messing about together on the 
+pavements. 
+
+“Oh ... I don’t mind,” said Cho, shrugging. “Um ... 
+shall we just have a look in the shops or something?” 
+
+They wandered toward Dervish and Banges. A large 
+poster had been stuck up in the window and a few 
+Hogsmeaders were looking at it. They moved aside 
+when Harry and Cho approached and Harry found 
+himself staring once more at the ten pictures of the 
+Page | 711Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+escaped Death Eaters. The poster (“By Order of the 
+Ministry of Magic”) offered a thousand-Galleon reward 
+to any witch or wizard with information relating to the 
+recapture of any of the convicts pictured. 
+
+“It’s funny, isn’t it,” said Cho in a low voice, also 
+gazing up at the pictures of the Death Eaters. 
+“Remember when that Sirius Black escaped, and 
+there were dementors all over Hogsmeade looking for 
+him? And now ten Death Eaters are on the loose and 
+there aren’t dementors anywhere...” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, tearing his eyes away from 
+Bellatrix Lestrange’s face to glance up and down the 
+High Street. “Yeah, it is weird...” 
+
+He was not sorry that there were no dementors 
+nearby, but now he came to think of it, their absence 
+was highly significant. They had not only let the 
+Death Eaters escape, they were not bothering to look 
+for them... It looked as though they really were 
+outside Ministry control now. 
+
+The ten escaped Death Eaters were staring out of 
+every shop window he and Cho passed. It started to 
+rain as they passed Scrivenshaft’s; cold, heavy drops 
+of water kept hitting Harry’s face and the back of his 
+neck. 
+
+“Um ... d’you want to get a coffee?” said Cho 
+tentatively, as the rain began to fall more heavily. 
+
+“Yeah, all right,” said Harry, looking around. “Where 
+— ?” 
+
+“Oh, there’s a really nice place just up here, haven’t 
+you ever been to Madam Puddifoot’s?” she said 
+brightly, and she led him up a side road and into a 
+small tea shop that Harry had never noticed before. It 
+
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+
+
+
+
+was a cramped, steamy little place where everything 
+seemed to have been decorated with frills or bows. 
+Harry was reminded unpleasantly of Umbridge’s 
+office. 
+
+“Cute, isn’t it?” said Cho happily. 
+
+“Er ... yeah,” said Harry untruthfully. 
+
+“Look, she’s decorated it for Valentine’s Day!” said 
+Cho, indicating a number of golden cherubs that were 
+hovering over each of the small, circular tables, 
+occasionally throwing pink confetti over the 
+occupants. 
+
+“Aaah ...” 
+
+They sat down at the last remaining table, which was 
+situated in the steamy window. Roger Davies, the 
+Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, was sitting about a 
+foot and a half away with a pretty blonde girl. They 
+were holding hands. The sight made Harry feel 
+uncomfortable, particularly when, looking around the 
+tea shop, he saw that it was full of nothing but 
+couples, all of them holding hands. Perhaps Cho 
+would expect him to hold her hand. 
+
+“What can I get you, m’dears?” said Madam 
+Puddifoot, a very stout woman with a shiny black 
+bun, squeezing between their table and Roger 
+Davies’s with great difficulty. 
+
+“Two coffees, please,” said Cho. 
+
+In the time it took for their coffees to arrive, Roger 
+Davies and his girlfriend started kissing over their 
+sugar bowl. Harry wished they wouldn’t; he felt that 
+Davies was setting a standard with which Cho would 
+soon expect him to compete. He felt his face growing 
+Page | 713Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hot and tried staring out of the window, but it was so 
+steamed up he could not see the street outside. To 
+postpone the moment when he had to look at Cho he 
+stared up at the ceiling as though examining the 
+paintwork and received a handful of confetti in the 
+face from their hovering cherub. 
+
+After a few more painful minutes Cho mentioned 
+Umbridge; Harry seized on the subject with relief and 
+they passed a few happy moments abusing her, but 
+the subject had already been so thoroughly canvassed 
+during D.A. meetings it did not last very long. Silence 
+fell again. Harry was very conscious of the slurping 
+noises coming from the table next door and cast 
+wildly around for something else to say. 
+
+“Er ... listen, d’you want to come with me to the Three 
+Broomsticks at lunchtime? I’m meeting Hermione 
+Granger there.” 
+
+Cho raised her eyebrows. 
+
+“You’re meeting Hermione Granger? Today?” 
+
+“Yeah. Well, she asked me to, so I thought I would. 
+D’you want to come with me? She said it wouldn’t 
+matter if you did.” 
+
+“Oh ... well ... that was nice of her.” 
+
+But Cho did not sound as though she thought it was 
+nice at all; on the contrary, her tone was cold and all 
+of a sudden she looked rather forbidding. 
+
+A few more minutes passed in total silence, Harry 
+drinking his coffee so fast that he would soon need a 
+fresh cup. Next door, Roger Davies and his girlfriend 
+seemed glued together by the lips. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Cho’s hand was lying on the table beside her coffee, 
+and Harry was feeling a mounting pressure to take 
+hold of it. Just do it, he told himself, as a fount of 
+mingled panic and excitement surged up inside his 
+chest. Just reach out and grab it... Amazing how much 
+more difficult it was to extend his arm twelve inches 
+and touch her hand than to snatch a speeding Snitch 
+from midair ... 
+
+But just as he moved his hand forward, Cho took 
+hers off the table. She was now watching Roger 
+Davies kissing his girlfriend with a mildly interested 
+expression. 
+
+“He asked me out, you know,” she said in a quiet 
+voice. “A couple of weeks ago. Roger. I turned him 
+down, though.” 
+
+Harry, who had grabbed the sugar bowl to excuse his 
+sudden lunging movement across the table, could not 
+think why she was telling him this. If she wished she 
+were sitting at the table next door being heartily 
+kissed by Roger Davies, why had she agreed to come 
+out with him? 
+
+He said nothing. Their cherub threw another handful 
+of confetti over them; some of it landed in the last 
+cold dregs of coffee Harry had been about to drink. 
+
+“I came in here with Cedric last year,” said Cho. 
+
+In the second or so it took for him to take in what she 
+had said, Harry’s insides had become glacial. He 
+could not believe she wanted to talk about Cedric 
+now, while kissing couples surrounded them and a 
+cherub floated over their heads. 
+
+Cho’s voice was rather higher when she spoke again. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’ve been meaning to ask you for ages... Did Cedric — 
+did he m-m-mention me at all before he died?” 
+
+This was the very last subject on earth Harry wanted 
+to discuss, and least of all with Cho. 
+
+“Well — no — ” he said quietly. “There — there wasn’t 
+time for him to say anything. Erm ... so ... d’you ... 
+d’you get to see a lot of Quidditch in the holidays? 
+
+You support the Tornados, right?” 
+
+His voice sounded falsely bright and cheery. To his 
+horror, he saw that her eyes were swimming with 
+tears again, just as they had been after the last D.A. 
+meeting before Christmas. 
+
+“Look,” he said desperately, leaning in so that nobody 
+else could overhear, “let’s not talk about Cedric right 
+now... Let’s talk about something else...” 
+
+But this, apparently, was quite the wrong thing to 
+say. 
+
+“I thought,” she said, tears spattering down onto the 
+table. “I thought you’d u-u-understand! I need to talk 
+about it! Surely you n-need to talk about it t-too! I 
+mean, you saw it happen, d-didn’t you?” 
+
+Everything was going nightmarishly wrong; Roger 
+Davies’ girlfriend had even unglued herself to look 
+around at Cho crying. 
+
+“Well — I have talked about it,” Harry said in a 
+whisper, “to Ron and Hermione, but — ” 
+
+“Oh, you’ll talk to Hermione Granger!” she said 
+shrilly, her face now shining with tears, and several 
+more kissing couples broke apart to stare. “But you 
+won’t talk to me! P-perhaps it would be best if we just 
+
+Page | 716Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+... just p-paid and you went and met up with 
+Hermione G-Granger, like you obviously want to!” 
+
+Harry stared at her, utterly bewildered, as she seized 
+a frilly napkin and dabbed at her shining face with it. 
+
+“Cho?” he said weakly, wishing Roger would seize his 
+girlfriend and start kissing her again to stop her 
+goggling at him and Cho. 
+
+“Go on, leave!” she said, now crying into the napkin. 
+
+“I don’t know why you asked me out in the first place 
+if you’re going to make arrangements to meet other 
+girls right after me... How many are you meeting after 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“It’s not like that!” said Harry, and he was so relieved 
+at finally understanding what she was annoyed about 
+that he laughed, which he realized a split second too 
+late was a mistake. 
+
+Cho sprang to her feet. The whole tearoom was quiet, 
+and everybody was watching them now. 
+
+“I’ll see you around, Harry,” she said dramatically, 
+and hiccuping slightly she dashed to the door, 
+wrenched it open, and hurried off into the pouring 
+rain. 
+
+“Cho!” Harry called after her, but the door had 
+already swung shut behind her with a tuneful tinkle. 
+
+There was total silence within the tea shop. Every eye 
+was upon Harry. He threw a Galleon down onto the 
+table, shook pink confetti out of his eyes, and 
+followed Cho out of the door. 
+
+It was raining hard now, and she was nowhere to be 
+seen. He simply did not understand what had 
+
+Page | 717Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+happened; half an hour ago they had been getting 
+along fine. 
+
+“Women!” he muttered angrily, sloshing down the 
+rain-washed street with his hands in his pockets. 
+“What did she want to talk about Cedric for anyway? 
+Why does she always want to drag up a subject that 
+makes her act like a human hosepipe?” 
+
+He turned right and broke into a splashy run, and 
+within minutes he was turning into the doorway of 
+the Three Broomsticks. He knew he was too early to 
+meet Hermione, but he thought it likely there would 
+be someone in here with whom he could spend the 
+intervening time. He shook his wet hair out of his 
+eyes and looked around. Hagrid was sitting alone in a 
+corner, looking morose. 
+
+“Hi, Hagrid!” he said, when he had squeezed through 
+the crammed tables and pulled up a chair beside him. 
+
+Hagrid jumped and looked down at Harry as though 
+he barely recognized him. Harry saw that he had two 
+fresh cuts on his face and several new bruises. 
+
+“Oh, it’s you, Harry,” said Hagrid. “You all righ’?” 
+
+“Yeah, I’m fine,” lied Harry; in fact, next to this 
+battered and mournful-looking Hagrid, he felt he did 
+not have much to complain about. “Er — are you 
+okay?” 
+
+“Me?” said Hagrid. “Oh yeah, I’m grand, Harry, 
+grand...” 
+
+He gazed into the depths of his pewter tankard, which 
+was the size of a large bucket, and sighed. Harry did 
+not know what to say to him. They sat side by side in 
+
+
+
+Page | 718Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+silence for a moment. Then Hagrid said abruptly, “In 
+the same boat, you an’ me, aren’ we, Harry?” 
+
+“Er — ” said Harry. 
+
+“Yeah ... I’ve said it before... Both outsiders, like,” 
+said Hagrid, nodding wisely. “An’ both orphans. Yeah 
+... both orphans.” 
+
+He took a great swig from his tankard. 
+
+“Makes a diff’rence, havin’ a decent family,” he said. 
+“Me dad was decent. An’ your mum an’ dad were 
+decent. If they’d lived, life woulda bin diff’rent, eh?” 
+
+“Yeah ... I s’pose,” said Harry cautiously. Hagrid 
+seemed to be in a very strange mood. 
+
+“Family,” said Hagrid gloomily. “Whatever yeh say, 
+blood’s important...” 
+
+And he wiped a trickle of it out of his eye. 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Harry, unable to stop himself, “where 
+are you getting all these injuries?” 
+
+“Eh?” said Hagrid, looking startled. “Wha’ injuries?” 
+
+“All those!” said Harry, pointing at Hagrid ’s face. 
+
+“Oh ... tha’s jus’ normal bumps an’ bruises, Harry,” 
+said Hagrid dismissively. “I got a rough job.” 
+
+He drained his tankard, set it back upon the table, 
+and got to his feet. 
+
+“I’ll be seein’yeh, Harry... Take care now...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 719Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+And he lumbered out of the pub looking wretched and 
+then disappeared into the torrential rain. Harry 
+watched him go, feeling miserable. Hagrid was 
+unhappy and he was hiding something, but he 
+seemed determined not to accept help. What was 
+going on? But before Harry could think about the 
+matter any further, he heard a voice calling his name. 
+
+“Harry! Harry, over here!” 
+
+Hermione was waving at him from the other side of 
+the room. He got up and made his way toward her 
+through the crowded pub. He was still a few tables 
+away when he realized that Hermione was not alone; 
+she was sitting at a table with the unlikeliest pair of 
+drinking mates he could ever have imagined: Luna 
+Lovegood and none other than Rita Skeeter, ex- 
+journalist on the Daily Prophet and one of Hermione’s 
+least favorite people in the world. 
+
+“You’re early!” said Hermione, moving along to give 
+him room to sit down. “I thought you were with Cho, I 
+wasn’t expecting you for another hour at least!” 
+
+“Cho?” said Rita at once, twisting around in her seat 
+to stare avidly at Harry. “A girl?” 
+
+She snatched up her crocodile-skin handbag and 
+groped within it. 
+
+“It’s none of your business if Harry’s been with a 
+hundred girls,” Hermione told Rita coolly. “So you can 
+put that away right now.” 
+
+Rita had been on the point of withdrawing an acid- 
+green quill from her bag. Looking as though she had 
+been forced to swallow Stinksap, she snapped her bag 
+shut again. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“What are you up to?” Harry asked, sitting down and 
+staring from Rita to Luna to Hermione. 
+
+
+
+“Little Miss Perfect was just about to tell me when you 
+arrived,” said Rita, taking a large slurp of her drink. “I 
+suppose I’m allowed to talk to him, am I?” she shot at 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Yes, I suppose you are,” said Hermione coldly. 
+
+Unemployment did not suit Rita. The hair that had 
+once been set in elaborate curls now hung lank and 
+unkempt around her face. The scarlet paint on her 
+two-inch talons was chipped and there were a couple 
+of false jewels missing from her winged glasses. She 
+took another great gulp of her drink and said out of 
+the corner of her mouth, “Pretty girl, is she, Harry?” 
+
+“One more word about Harry’s love life and the deal’s 
+off and that’s a promise,” said Hermione irritably. 
+
+“What deal?” said Rita, wiping her mouth on the back 
+of her hand. “You haven’t mentioned a deal yet, Miss 
+Prissy, you just told me to turn up. Oh, one of these 
+days ...” She took a deep shuddering breath. 
+
+“Yes, yes, one of these days you’ll write more horrible 
+stories about Harry and me,” said Hermione 
+indifferently. “Find someone who cares, why don’t 
+you?” 
+
+“They’ve run plenty of horrible stories about Harry 
+this year without my help,” said Rita, shooting a 
+sideways look at him over the top of her glass and 
+adding in a rough whisper, “How has that made you 
+feel, Harry? Betrayed? Distraught? Misunderstood?” 
+
+“He feels angry, of course,” said Hermione in a hard, 
+clear voice. “Because he’s told the Minister of Magic 
+
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+
+the truth and the Minister’s too much of an idiot to 
+believe him.” 
+
+“So you actually stick to it, do you, that He-Who- 
+Must-Not-Be-Named is back?” said Rita, lowering her 
+glass and subjecting Harry to a piercing stare while 
+her finger strayed longingly to the clasp of the 
+crocodile bag. “You stand by all this garbage 
+Dumbledore’s been telling everybody about You- 
+Know-Who returning and you being the sole witness 
+— ?” 
+
+“I wasn’t the sole witness,” snarled Harry. “There were 
+a dozen-odd Death Eaters there as well. Want their 
+names?” 
+
+“I’d love them,” breathed Rita, now fumbling in her 
+bag once more and gazing at him as though he was 
+the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. “A great 
+bold headline: ‘Potter Accuses ...’A subheading: 
+
+‘Harry Potter Names Death Eaters Still Among Us.’ And 
+then, beneath a nice big photograph of you: 
+
+‘Disturbed teenage survivor of You-Know-Who’s attack, 
+Harry Potter, 1 5, caused outrage yesterday by 
+accusing respectable and prominent members of the 
+Wizarding community of being Death Eaters...’ ” 
+
+The Quick-Quotes Quill was actually in her hand and 
+halfway to her mouth when the rapturous expression 
+died out of her face. 
+
+“But of course,” she said, lowering the quill and 
+looking daggers at Hermione, “Little Miss Perfect 
+wouldn’t want that story out there, would she?” 
+
+“As a matter of fact,” said Hermione sweetly, “that’s 
+exactly what Little Miss Perfect does want.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 722Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Rita stared at her. So did Harry. Luna, on the other 
+hand, sang, “Weasley Is Our King” dreamily under her 
+breath and stirred her drink with a cocktail onion on 
+a stick. 
+
+“You want me to report what he says about He-Who- 
+Must-Not-Be-Named?” Rita asked Hermione in a 
+hushed voice. 
+
+“Yes, I do,” said Hermione. “The true story. All the 
+facts. Exactly as Harry reports them. Hell give you all 
+the details, hell tell you the names of the 
+undiscovered Death Eaters he saw there, hell tell you 
+what Voldemort looks like now — oh, get a grip on 
+yourself,” she added contemptuously, throwing a 
+napkin across the table, for at the sound of 
+Voldemort’s name, Rita had jumped so badly that she 
+had slopped half her glass of firewhisky down herself. 
+
+Rita blotted the front of her grubby raincoat, still 
+staring at Hermione. Then she said baldly, “The 
+Prophet wouldn’t print it. In case you haven’t noticed, 
+nobody believes his cock-and-bull story. Everyone 
+thinks he’s delusional. Now, if you let me write the 
+story from that angle — ” 
+
+“We don’t need another story about how Harry’s lost 
+his marbles!” said Hermione angrily. “We’ve had 
+plenty of those already, thank you! I want him given 
+the opportunity to tell the truth!” 
+
+“There’s no market for a story like that,” said Rita 
+coldly. 
+
+“You mean the Prophet won’t print it because Fudge 
+won’t let them,” said Hermione irritably. 
+
+Rita gave Hermione a long, hard look. Then, leaning 
+forward across the table toward her, she said in a 
+
+Page | 723Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+businesslike tone, “All right, Fudge is leaning on the 
+Prophet, but it comes to the same thing. They won’t 
+print a story that shows Harry in a good light. Nobody 
+wants to read it. It’s against the public mood. This 
+last Azkaban breakout has got people quite worried 
+enough. People just don’t want to believe You-Know- 
+Who’s back.” 
+
+“So the Daily Prophet exists to tell people what they 
+want to hear, does it?” said Hermione scathingly. 
+
+Rita sat up straight again, her eyebrows raised, and 
+drained her glass of firewhisky. 
+
+“The Prophet exists to sell itself, you silly girl,” she 
+said coldly. 
+
+“My dad thinks it’s an awful paper,” said Luna, 
+chipping into the conversation unexpectedly. Sucking 
+on her cocktail onion, she gazed at Rita with her 
+enormous, protuberant, slightly mad eyes. “He 
+publishes important stories that he thinks the public 
+needs to know. He doesn’t care about making money.” 
+
+Rita looked disparagingly at Luna. 
+
+“I’m guessing your father runs some stupid little 
+village newsletter?” she said. “ Twenty-five Ways to 
+Mingle with Muggles’ and the dates of the next Bring- 
+and-Fly Sale?” 
+
+“No,” said Luna, dipping her onion back into her 
+gillywater, “he’s the editor of The Quibbler.” 
+
+Rita snorted so loudly that people at a nearby table 
+looked around in alarm. 
+
+
+
+Page | 724Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ‘Important stories he thinks the public needs to 
+know’?” she said witheringly. “I could manure my 
+garden with the contents of that rag.” 
+
+“Well, this is your chance to raise the tone of it a bit, 
+isn’t it?” said Hermione pleasantly. “Luna says her 
+father’s quite happy to take Harry’s interview. That’s 
+who’ll be publishing it.” 
+
+Rita stared at them both for a moment and then let 
+out a great whoop of laughter. 
+
+“ The Quibbleii” she said, cackling. “You think people 
+will take him seriously if he’s published in The 
+Quibbler?” 
+
+“Some people won’t,” said Hermione in a level voice. 
+“But the Daily Prophet’s version of the Azkaban 
+breakout had some gaping holes in it. I think a lot of 
+people will be wondering whether there isn’t a better 
+explanation of what happened, and if there’s an 
+alternative story available, even if it is published in a” 
+— she glanced sideways at Luna, “in a — well, an 
+unusual magazine — I think they might be rather 
+keen to read it.” 
+
+Rita did not say anything for a while, but eyed 
+Hermione shrewdly, her head a little to one side. 
+
+“All right, let’s say for a moment I’ll do it,” she said 
+abruptly. “What kind of fee am I going to get?” 
+
+“I don’t think Daddy exactly pays people to write for 
+the magazine,” said Luna dreamily. “They do it 
+because it’s an honor, and, of course, to see their 
+names in print.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 725Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Rita Skeeter looked as though the taste of Stinksap 
+was strong in her mouth again as she rounded on 
+Hermione. “I’m supposed to do this for free?” 
+
+“Well, yes,” said Hermione calmly, taking a sip of her 
+drink. “Otherwise, as you very well know, I will inform 
+the authorities that you are an unregistered 
+Animagus. Of course, the Prophet might give you 
+rather a lot for an insider’s account of life in 
+Azkaban...” 
+
+Rita looked as though she would have liked nothing 
+better than to seize the paper umbrella sticking out of 
+Hermione ’s drink and thrust it up her nose. 
+
+“I don’t suppose I’ve got any choice, have I?” said Rita, 
+her voice shaking slightly. She opened her crocodile 
+bag once more, withdrew a piece of parchment, and 
+raised her Quick-Quotes Quill. 
+
+“Daddy will be pleased,” said Luna brightly. A muscle 
+twitched in Rita’s jaw. 
+
+“Okay, Harry?” said Hermione, turning to him. “Ready 
+to tell the public the truth?” 
+
+“I suppose,” said Harry, watching Rita balancing the 
+Quick-Quotes Quill at the ready on the parchment 
+between them. 
+
+“Fire away, then, Rita,” said Hermione serenely, 
+fishing a cherry out of the bottom of her glass. 
+
+
+
+Page | 726Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SEEN AND UNFORESEEN 
+
+Luna said vaguely that she did not know how soon 
+Rita’s interview with Harry would appear in The 
+Quibbler, that her father was expecting a lovely long 
+article on recent sightings of Crumple-Horned 
+Snorkacks. “And, of course, that’ll be a very 
+important story, so Harry’s might have to wait for the 
+following issue,” said Luna. 
+
+Harry had not found it an easy experience to talk 
+about the night when Voldemort had returned. Rita 
+had pressed him for every little detail, and he had 
+given her everything he could remember, knowing 
+that this was his one big opportunity to tell the world 
+the truth. He wondered how people would react to the 
+story. He guessed that it would confirm a lot of people 
+in the view that he was completely insane, not least 
+because his story would be appearing alongside utter 
+rubbish about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. But the 
+breakout of Bellatrix Lestrange and her fellow Death 
+Eaters had given Harry a burning desire to do 
+something, whether it worked or not... 
+
+
+
+Page | 727Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Can’t wait to see what Umbridge thinks of you going 
+public,” said Dean, sounding awestruck at dinner on 
+Monday night. Seamus was shoveling down large 
+amounts of chicken-and-ham pie on Dean’s other 
+side, but Harry knew he was listening. 
+
+“It’s the right thing to do, Harry,” said Neville, who 
+was sitting opposite him. He was rather pale, but 
+went on in a low voice, “It must have been ... tough ... 
+talking about it... Was it?” 
+
+“Yeah,” mumbled Harry, “but people have got to know 
+what Voldemort’s capable of, haven’t they?” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Neville, nodding, “and his Death 
+Eaters too ... People should know...” 
+
+Neville left his sentence hanging and returned to his 
+baked potato. Seamus looked up, but when he caught 
+Harry’s eye he looked quickly back at his plate again. 
+After a while Dean, Seamus, and Neville departed for 
+the common room, leaving Harry and Hermione at the 
+table waiting for Ron, who had not yet had dinner 
+because of Quidditch practice. 
+
+Cho Chang walked into the hall with her friend 
+Marietta. Harry’s stomach gave an unpleasant lurch, 
+but she did not look over at the Gryffindor table and 
+sat down with her back to him. 
+
+“Oh, I forgot to ask you,” said Hermione brightly, 
+glancing over at the Ravenclaw table, “what happened 
+on your date with Cho? How come you were back so 
+early?” 
+
+“Er ... well, it was ...” said Harry, pulling a dish of 
+rhubarb crumble toward him and helping himself to 
+seconds, “a complete fiasco, now that you mention it.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 728Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And he told her what had happened in Madam 
+Puddifoot’s Tea Shop. 
+
+
+
+"... so then,” he finished several minutes later, as the 
+final bit of crumble disappeared, “she jumps up, 
+right, and says ‘111 see you around, Harry,’ and runs 
+out of the place!” He put down his spoon and looked 
+at Hermione. “I mean, what was all that about? What 
+was going on?” 
+
+Hermione glanced over at the back of Cho’s head and 
+sighed. “Oh, Harry,” she said sadly. “Well, I’m sorry, 
+but you were a bit tactless.” 
+
+“Me, tactless?” said Harry, outraged. “One minute we 
+were getting on fine, next minute she was telling me 
+that Roger Davies asked her out, and how she used to 
+go and snog Cedric in that stupid tea shop — how 
+was I supposed to feel about that?” 
+
+“Well, you see,” said Hermione, with the patient air of 
+one explaining that one plus one equals two to an 
+overemotional toddler, “you shouldn’t have told her 
+that you wanted to meet me halfway through your 
+date.” 
+
+“But, but,” spluttered Harry, “but — you told me to 
+meet you at twelve and to bring her along, how was I 
+supposed to do that without telling her — ?” 
+
+“You should have told her differently” said Hermione, 
+still with that maddeningly patient air. “You should 
+have said it was really annoying, but I’d made you 
+promise to come along to the Three Broomsticks, and 
+you really didn’t want to go, you’d much rather spend 
+the whole day with her, but unfortunately you 
+thought you really ought to meet me and would she 
+please, please come along with you, and hopefully 
+you’d be able to get away more quickly? And it might 
+Page | 729Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+have been a good idea to mention how ugly you think 
+I am too,” Hermione added as an afterthought. 
+
+“But I don’t think you’re ugly,” said Harry, bemused. 
+
+Hermione laughed. 
+
+“Harry, you’re worse than Ron... Well, no, you’re not,” 
+she sighed, as Ron himself came stumping into the 
+Hall splattered with mud and looking grumpy. “Look 
+— you upset Cho when you said you were going to 
+meet me, so she tried to make you jealous. It was her 
+way of trying to find out how much you liked her.” 
+
+“Is that what she was doing?” said Harry as Ron 
+dropped onto the bench opposite them and pulled 
+every dish within reach toward himself. “Well, 
+wouldn’t it have been easier if she’d just asked me 
+whether I liked her better than you?” 
+
+“Girls don’t often ask questions like that,” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Well, they should!” said Harry forcefully. “Then I 
+could’ve just told her I fancy her, and she wouldn’t 
+have had to get herself all worked up again about 
+Cedric dying!” 
+
+“I’m not saying what she did was sensible,” said 
+Hermione, as Ginny joined them, just as muddy as 
+Ron and looking equally disgruntled. “I’m just trying 
+to make you see how she was feeling at the time.” 
+
+“You should write a book,” Ron told Hermione as he 
+cut up his potatoes, “translating mad things girls do 
+so boys can understand them.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry fervently, looking over at the 
+Ravenclaw table. Cho had just got up; still not looking 
+
+Page | 730Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+at him, she left the Great Hall. Feeling rather 
+depressed, he looked back at Ron and Ginny. “So, 
+how was Quidditch practice?” 
+
+“It was a nightmare,” said Ron in a surly voice. 
+
+“Oh come on,” said Hermione, looking at Ginny, “I’m 
+sure it wasn’t that — ” 
+
+“Yes, it was,” said Ginny. “It was appalling. Angelina 
+was nearly in tears by the end of it.” 
+
+Ron and Ginny went off for baths after dinner; Harry 
+and Hermione returned to the busy Gryffindor 
+common room and their usual pile of homework. 
+Harry had been struggling with a new star chart for 
+Astronomy for half an hour when Fred and George 
+turned up. 
+
+“Ron and Ginny not here?” asked Fred, looking 
+around as he pulled up a chair and, when Harry 
+shook his head, he said, “Good. We were watching 
+their practice. They’re going to be slaughtered. They’re 
+complete rubbish without us.” 
+
+“Come on, Ginny’s not bad,” said George fairly, sitting 
+down next to Fred. “Actually, I dunno how she got so 
+good, seeing how we never let her play with us...” 
+
+“She’s been breaking into your broom shed in the 
+garden since the age of six and taking each of your 
+brooms out in turn when you weren’t looking,” said 
+Hermione from behind her tottering pile of Ancient 
+Rune books. 
+
+“Oh,” said George, looking mildly impressed. “Well — 
+that’d explain it.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 731Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Has Ron saved a goal yet?” asked Hermione, peering 
+over the top of Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms. 
+
+“Well, he can do it if he doesn’t think anyone’s 
+watching him,” said Fred, rolling his eyes. “So all we 
+have to do is ask the crowd to turn their backs and 
+talk among themselves every time the Quaffle goes up 
+his end on Saturday.” 
+
+He got up again and moved restlessly to the window, 
+staring out across the dark grounds. 
+
+“You know, Quidditch was about the only thing in 
+this place worth staying for.” 
+
+Hermione cast him a stern look. 
+
+“You’ve got exams coming!” 
+
+“Told you already, we’re not fussed about N.E.W.T.s,” 
+said Fred. “The Snackboxes are ready to roll, we 
+found out how to get rid of those boils, just a couple 
+of drops of murtlap essence sorts them, Lee put us 
+onto it...” 
+
+George yawned widely and looked out disconsolately 
+at the cloudy night sky. 
+
+“I dunno if I even want to watch this match. If 
+Zacharias Smith beats us I might have to kill myself.” 
+
+“Kill him, more like,” said Fred firmly. 
+
+“That’s the trouble with Quidditch,” said Hermione 
+absentmindedly, once again bent over her Rune 
+translation, “it creates all this bad feeling and tension 
+between the Houses.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 732Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She looked up to find her copy of Spellman’s 
+Syllabary and caught Fred, George, and Harry looking 
+at her with expressions of mingled disgust and 
+incredulity on their faces. 
+
+“Well, it does!” she said impatiently. “It’s only a game, 
+isn’t it?” 
+
+“Hermione,” said Harry, shaking his head, “you’re 
+good on feelings and stuff, but you just don’t 
+understand about Quidditch.” 
+
+“Maybe not,” she said darkly, returning to her 
+translation again, “but at least my happiness doesn’t 
+depend on Ron’s goalkeeping ability.” 
+
+And though Harry would rather have jumped off the 
+Astronomy Tower than admit it to her, by the time he 
+had watched the game the following Saturday he 
+would have given any number of Galleons not to care 
+about Quidditch either. 
+
+The very best thing you could say about the match 
+was that it was short; the Gryffindor spectators had 
+to endure only twenty-two minutes of agony. It was 
+hard to say what the worst thing was: Harry thought 
+it was a close-run contest between Ron’s fourteenth 
+failed save, Sloper missing the Bludger but hitting 
+Angelina in the mouth with his bat, and Kirke 
+shrieking and falling backward off his broom as 
+Zacharias Smith zoomed at him carrying the Quaffle. 
+The miracle was that Gryffindor only lost by ten 
+points: Ginny managed to snatch the Snitch from 
+right under Hufflepuff Seeker Summerby’s nose, so 
+that the final score was two hundred and forty versus 
+two hundred and thirty. 
+
+
+
+Page | 733Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Good catch,” Harry told Ginny back in the common 
+room, where the atmosphere closely resembled that of 
+a particularly dismal funeral. 
+
+“I was lucky,” she shrugged. “It wasn’t a very fast 
+Snitch and Summerby’s got a cold, he sneezed and 
+closed his eyes at exactly the wrong moment. Anyway, 
+once you’re back on the team — ” 
+
+“Ginny, I’ve got a lifelong ban.” 
+
+“You’re banned as long as Umbridge is in the school,” 
+Ginny corrected him. “There’s a difference. Anyway, 
+once you’re back, I think I’ll try out for Chaser. 
+Angelina and Alicia are both leaving next year and I 
+prefer goal-scoring to Seeking anyway.” 
+
+Harry looked over at Ron, who was hunched in a 
+corner, staring at his knees, a bottle of butterbeer 
+clutched in his hand. 
+
+“Angelina still won’t let him resign,” Ginny said, as 
+though reading Harry’s mind. “She says she knows 
+he’s got it in him.” 
+
+Harry liked Angelina for the faith she was showing in 
+Ron, but at the same time thought it would really be 
+kinder to let him leave the team. Ron had left the 
+pitch to another booming chorus of “Weasley Is Our 
+King” sung with great gusto by the Slytherins, who 
+were now favorites to win the Quidditch Cup. 
+
+Fred and George wandered over. 
+
+“I haven’t got the heart to take the mickey out of him, 
+even,” said Fred, looking over at Ron’s crumpled 
+figure. “Mind you ... when he missed the fourteenth 
+
+
+
+Page | 734Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He made wild motions with his arms as though doing 
+an upright doggy-paddle. 
+
+
+
+“Well, I’ll save it for parties, eh?” 
+
+Ron dragged himself up to bed shortly after this. Out 
+of respect for his feelings, Harry waited a while before 
+going up to the dormitory himself, so that Ron could 
+pretend to be asleep if he wanted to. Sure enough, 
+when Harry finally entered the room Ron was snoring 
+a little too loudly to be entirely plausible. 
+
+Harry got into bed, thinking about the match. It had 
+been immensely frustrating watching from the 
+sidelines. He was quite impressed by Ginny’s 
+performance but he felt that if he had been playing he 
+could have caught the Snitch sooner... There had 
+been a moment when it had been fluttering near 
+Kirke’s ankle; if she hadn’t hesitated, she might have 
+been able to scrape a win for Gryffindor. . . 
+
+Umbridge had been sitting a few rows below Harry 
+and Hermione. Once or twice she had turned squatly 
+in her seat to look at him, her wide toad’s mouth 
+stretched in what he thought had been a gloating 
+smile. The memory of it made him feel hot with anger 
+as he lay there in the dark. After a few minutes, 
+however, he remembered that he was supposed to be 
+emptying his mind of all emotion before he slept, as 
+Snape kept instructing him at the end of every 
+Occlumency lesson. 
+
+He tried for a moment or two, but the thought of 
+Snape on top of memories of Umbridge merely 
+increased his sense of grumbling resentment, and he 
+found himself focusing instead on how much he 
+loathed the pair of them. Slowly, Ron’s snores died 
+away, replaced by the sound of deep, slow breathing. 
+
+It took Harry much longer to get to sleep; his body 
+Page | 735Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was tired, but it took his brain a long time to close 
+down. 
+
+
+
+He dreamed that Neville and Professor Sprout were 
+waltzing around the Room of Requirement while 
+Professor McGonagall played the bagpipes. He 
+watched them happily for a while, then decided to go 
+and find the other members of the D.A... 
+
+But when he left the room he found himself facing, 
+not the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, but a torch 
+burning in its bracket on a stone wall. He turned his 
+head slowly to the left. There, at the far end of the 
+windowless passage, was a plain, black door. 
+
+He walked toward it with a sense of mounting 
+excitement. He had the strangest feeling that this 
+time he was going to get lucky at last, and find the 
+way to open it... He was feet from it and saw with a 
+leap of excitement that there was a glowing strip of 
+faint blue light down the right-hand side... The door 
+was ajar... He stretched out his hand to push it wide 
+and — 
+
+Ron gave a loud, rasping, genuine snore, and Harry 
+awoke abruptly with his right hand stretched in front 
+of him in the darkness, to open a door that was 
+hundreds of miles away. He let it fall with a feeling of 
+mingled disappointment and guilt. He knew he 
+should not have seen the door, but at the same time, 
+felt so consumed with curiosity about what was 
+behind it that he could not help feeling annoyed with 
+Ron... If he could have saved his snore for just 
+another minute . . . 
+
+
+
+k k k 
+
+
+
+Page | 736Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They entered the Great Hall for breakfast at exactly 
+the same moment as the post owls on Monday 
+morning. Hermione was not the only person eagerly 
+awaiting her Daily Prophet: Nearly everyone was eager 
+for more news about the escaped Death Eaters, who, 
+despite many reported sightings, had still not been 
+caught. She gave the delivery owl a Knut and 
+unfolded the newspaper eagerly while Harry helped 
+himself to orange juice; as he had only received one 
+note during the entire year he was sure, when the 
+first owl landed with a thud in front of him, that it 
+had made a mistake. 
+
+“Who ’re you after?” he asked it, languidly removing 
+his orange juice from underneath its beak and 
+leaning forward to see the recipient’s name and 
+address: 
+
+Harry Potter 
+
+Great Hall 
+
+Hogwarts School 
+
+Frowning, he made to take the letter from the owl, but 
+before he could do so, three, four, five more owls had 
+fluttered down beside it and were jockeying for 
+position, treading in the butter, knocking over the 
+salt, and each attempting to give him their letters 
+first. 
+
+“What’s going on?” Ron asked in amazement, as the 
+whole of Gryffindor table leaned forward to watch as 
+another seven owls landed amongst the first ones, 
+screeching, hooting, and flapping their wings. 
+
+“Harry!” said Hermione breathlessly, plunging her 
+hands into the feathery mass and pulling out a 
+
+
+
+Page | 737Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+screech owl bearing a long, cylindrical package. “I 
+think I know what this means — open this one first!” 
+
+
+
+Harry ripped off the brown packaging. Out rolled a 
+tightly furled copy of March’s edition of The Quibbler. 
+He unrolled it to see his own face grinning sheepishly 
+at him from the front cover. In large red letters across 
+his picture were the words: 
+
+HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST: 
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE- 
+NAMED 
+
+AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN 
+
+“It’s good, isn’t it?” said Luna, who had drifted over to 
+the Gryffindor table and now squeezed herself onto 
+the bench between Fred and Ron. “It came out 
+yesterday, I asked Dad to send you a free copy. I 
+expect all these,” she waved a hand at the assembled 
+owls still scrabbling around on the table in front of 
+Harry, “are letters from readers.” 
+
+“That’s what I thought,” said Hermione eagerly, 
+“Harry, d’you mind if we — ?” 
+
+“Help yourself,” said Harry, feeling slightly bemused. 
+
+Ron and Hermione both started ripping open 
+envelopes. 
+
+“This one’s from a bloke who thinks you’re off your 
+rocker,” said Ron, glancing down his letter. “Ah well 
+
+
+
+“This woman recommends you try a good course of 
+Shock Spells at St. Mungo’s,” said Hermione, looking 
+disappointed and crumpling up a second. 
+
+Page | 738Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“This one looks okay, though,” said Harry slowly, 
+scanning a long letter from a witch in Paisley. “Hey, 
+she says she believes me!” 
+
+“This one’s in two minds,” said Fred, who had joined 
+in the letter-opening with enthusiasm. “Says you 
+don’t come across as a mad person, but he really 
+doesn’t want to believe You-Know- Who’s back so he 
+doesn’t know what to think now... Blimey, what a 
+waste of parchment ...” 
+
+“Here’s another one you’ve convinced, Harry!” said 
+Hermione excitedly. “ ‘Having read your side of the 
+story I am forced to the conclusion that the Daily 
+Prophet has treated you very unfairly. . . Little though I 
+want to think that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has 
+returned, I am forced to accept that you are telling 
+the truth...’ Oh this is wonderful!” 
+
+“Another one who thinks you’re barking,” said Ron, 
+throwing a crumpled letter over his shoulder, “but 
+this one says you’ve got her converted, and she now 
+thinks you’re a real hero — she’s put in a photograph 
+too — wow — ” 
+
+“What is going on here?” said a falsely sweet, girlish 
+voice. 
+
+Harry looked up with his hands full of envelopes. 
+Professor Umbridge was standing behind Fred and 
+Luna, her bulging toad’s eyes scanning the mess of 
+owls and letters on the table in front of Harry. Behind 
+her he saw many of the students watching them 
+avidly. 
+
+“Why have you got all these letters, Mr. Potter?” she 
+asked slowly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 739Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Is that a crime now?” said Fred loudly. “Getting 
+mail?” 
+
+“Be careful, Mr. Weasley, or I shall have to put you in 
+detention,” said Umbridge. “Well, Mr. Potter?” 
+
+Harry hesitated, but he did not see how he could keep 
+what he had done quiet; it was surely only a matter of 
+time before a copy of The Quibbler came to Umbridge’s 
+attention. 
+
+“People have written to me because I gave an 
+interview,” said Harry. “About what happened to me 
+last June.” 
+
+For some reason he glanced up at the staff table as he 
+said this. He had the strangest feeling that 
+Dumbledore had been watching him a second before, 
+but when he looked, Dumbledore seemed to be 
+absorbed in conversation with Professor Flitwick. 
+
+“An interview?” repeated Umbridge, her voice thinner 
+and higher than ever. “What do you mean?” 
+
+“I mean a reporter asked me questions and I 
+answered them,” said Harry. “Here — ” 
+
+And he threw the copy of The Quibbler at her. She 
+caught it and stared down at the cover. Her pale, 
+doughy face turned an ugly, patchy violet. 
+
+“When did you do this?” she asked, her voice 
+trembling slightly. 
+
+“Last Hogsmeade weekend,” said Harry. 
+
+She looked up at him, incandescent with rage, the 
+magazine shaking in her stubby fingers. 
+
+
+
+Page | 740Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you, Mr. 
+Potter,” she whispered. “How you dare ... how you 
+could ...” She took a deep breath. “I have tried again 
+and again to teach you not to tell lies. The message, 
+apparently, has still not sunk in. Fifty points from 
+Gryffindor and another week’s worth of detentions.” 
+
+She stalked away, clutching The Quibbler to her 
+chest, the eyes of many students following her. 
+
+By mid-morning enormous signs had been put up all 
+over the school, not just on House notice boards, but 
+in the corridors and classrooms too. 
+
+— BY ORDER OF — 
+
+THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS 
+
+Any student found in possession of the magazine The 
+Quibbler will be expelled. 
+
+The above is in accordance with 
+
+Educational Decree Number Twenty-seven. 
+
+Signed: 
+
+Dolores Jane Umbridge 
+HIGH INQUISITOR 
+
+For some reason, every time Hermione caught sight of 
+one of these signs she beamed with pleasure. 
+
+“What exactly are you so happy about?” Harry asked 
+her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 741Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh Harry, don’t you see?” Hermione breathed. “If she 
+could have done one thing to make absolutely sure 
+that every single person in this school will read your 
+interview, it was banning it!” 
+
+And it seemed that Hermione was quite right. By the 
+end of that day, though Harry had not seen so much 
+as a corner of The Quibbler anywhere in the school, 
+the whole place seemed to be quoting the interview at 
+each other; Harry heard them whispering about it as 
+they queued up outside classes, discussing it over 
+lunch and in the back of lessons, while Hermione 
+even reported that every occupant of the cubicles in 
+the girls’ toilets had been talking about it when she 
+nipped in there before Ancient Runes. 
+
+“And then they spotted me, and obviously they know I 
+know you, so they were bombarding me with 
+questions,” Hermione told Harry, her eyes shining, 
+“and Harry, I think they believe you, I really do, I 
+think you’ve finally got them convinced!” 
+
+Meanwhile Professor Umbridge was stalking the 
+school, stopping students at random and demanding 
+that they turn out their books and pockets. Harry 
+knew she was looking for copies of The Quibbler, but 
+the students were several steps ahead of her. The 
+pages carrying Harry’s interview had been bewitched 
+to resemble extracts from textbooks if anyone but 
+themselves read it, or else wiped magically blank until 
+they wanted to peruse it again. Soon it seemed that 
+every single person in the school had read it. 
+
+The teachers were, of course, forbidden from 
+mentioning the interview by Educational Decree 
+Number Twenty-six, but they found ways to express 
+their feelings about it all the same. Professor Sprout 
+awarded Gryffindor twenty points when Harry passed 
+her a watering can; a beaming Professor Flitwick 
+Page | 742Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+pressed a box of squeaking sugar mice on him at the 
+end of Charms, said “Shh\” and hurried away; and 
+Professor Trelawney broke into hysterical sobs during 
+Divination and announced to the startled class, and a 
+very disapproving Umbridge, that Harry was not going 
+to suffer an early death after all, but would live to a 
+ripe old age, become Minister of Magic, and have 
+twelve children. 
+
+But what made Harry happiest was Cho catching up 
+with him as he was hurrying along to Transfiguration 
+the next day. Before he knew what had happened her 
+hand was in his and she was breathing in his ear, 
+
+“I’m really, really sorry. That interview was so brave 
+...it made me cry.” 
+
+He was sorry to hear she had shed even more tears 
+over it, but very glad they were on speaking terms 
+again, and even more pleased when she gave him a 
+swift kiss on the cheek and hurried off again. And 
+unbelievably, no sooner had he arrived outside 
+Transfiguration than something just as good 
+happened: Seamus stepped out of the queue to face 
+him. 
+
+“I just wanted to say,” he mumbled, squinting at 
+Harry’s left knee, “I believe you. And I’ve sent a copy 
+of that magazine to me mam.” 
+
+If anything more was needed to complete Harry’s 
+happiness, it was Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle’s 
+reactions. He saw them with their heads together 
+later that afternoon in the library, together with a 
+weedy-looking boy Hermione whispered was called 
+Theodore Nott. They looked around at Harry as he 
+browsed the shelves for the book he needed on Partial 
+Vanishment, and Goyle cracked his knuckles 
+threateningly and Malfoy whispered something 
+undoubtedly malevolent to Crabbe. Harry knew 
+Page | 743Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+perfectly well why they were acting like this: He had 
+named all of their fathers as Death Eaters. 
+
+“And the best bit is,” whispered Hermione gleefully as 
+they left the library, “they can’t contradict you, 
+because they can’t admit they’ve read the article!” 
+
+To cap it all, Luna told him over dinner that no copy 
+of The Quibbler had ever sold out faster. 
+
+“Dad’s reprinting!” she told Harry, her eyes popping 
+excitedly. “He can’t believe it, he says people seem 
+even more interested in this than the Crumple- 
+Horned Snorkacks!” 
+
+Harry was a hero in the Gryffindor common room that 
+night; daringly, Fred and George had put an 
+Enlargement Charm on the front cover of The 
+Quibbler and hung it on the wall, so that Harry’s giant 
+head gazed down upon the proceedings, occasionally 
+saying things like “The Ministry are morons” and “Eat 
+dung, Umbridge” in a booming voice. Hermione did 
+not find this very amusing; she said it interfered with 
+her concentration, and ended up going to bed early 
+out of irritation. Harry had to admit that the poster 
+was not quite as funny after an hour or two, 
+especially when the talking spell had started to wear 
+off, so that it merely shouted disconnected words like 
+“Dung” and “Umbridge” at more and more frequent 
+intervals in a progressively higher voice. In fact it 
+started to make his head ache and his scar began 
+prickling uncomfortably again. To disappointed 
+moans from the many people who were sitting around 
+him, asking him to relive his interview for the 
+umpteenth time, he announced that he too needed an 
+early night. 
+
+The dormitory was empty when he reached it. He 
+rested his forehead for a moment against the cool 
+
+Page | 744Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+glass of the window beside his bed; it felt soothing 
+against his scar. Then he undressed and got into bed, 
+wishing his headache would go away. He also felt 
+slightly sick. He rolled over onto his side, closed his 
+eyes, and fell asleep almost at once... 
+
+He was standing in a dark, curtained room lit by a 
+single branch of candles. His hands were clenched on 
+the back of a chair in front of him. They were long- 
+fingered and white as though they had not seen 
+sunlight for years and looked like large, pale spiders 
+against the dark velvet of the chair. 
+
+Beyond the chair, in a pool of light cast upon the floor 
+by the candles, knelt a man in black robes. 
+
+“I have been badly advised, it seems,” said Harry, in a 
+high, cold voice that pulsed with anger. 
+
+“Master, I crave your pardon...” croaked the man 
+kneeling on the floor. The back of his head glimmered 
+in the candlelight. He seemed to be trembling. 
+
+“I do not blame you, Rookwood,” said Harry in that 
+cold, cruel voice. 
+
+He relinquished his grip upon the chair and walked 
+around it, closer to the man cowering upon the floor, 
+until he stood directly over him in the darkness, 
+looking down from a far greater height than usual. 
+
+“You are sure of your facts, Rookwood?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Yes, My Lord, yes ... I used to work in the 
+department after — after all...” 
+
+“Avery told me Bode would be able to remove it.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Bode could never have taken it, Master. . . Bode would 
+have known he could not... Undoubtedly that is why 
+he fought so hard against Malfoy’s Imperius Curse...” 
+
+“Stand up, Rookwood,” whispered Harry. 
+
+The kneeling man almost fell over in his haste to 
+obey. His face was pockmarked; the scars were 
+thrown into relief by the candlelight. He remained a 
+little stooped when standing, as though halfway 
+through a bow, and he darted terrified looks up at 
+Harry’s face. 
+
+“You have done well to tell me this,” said Harry. “Very 
+well ... I have wasted months on fruitless schemes, it 
+seems... But no matter ... We begin again, from now. 
+You have Lord Voldemort’s gratitude, Rookwood...” 
+
+“My Lord ... yes, My Lord,” gasped Rookwood, his 
+voice hoarse with relief. 
+
+“I shall need your help. I shall need all the 
+information you can give me.” 
+
+“Of course, My Lord, of course ... anything ...” 
+
+“Very well ... you may go. Send Avery to me.” 
+
+Rookwood scurried backward, bowing, and 
+disappeared through a door. 
+
+Left alone in the dark room, Harry turned toward the 
+wall. A cracked, age-spotted mirror hung on the wall 
+in the shadows. Harry moved toward it. His reflection 
+grew larger and clearer in the darkness... A face 
+whiter than a skull . . . red eyes with slits for pupils . . . 
+
+“NOOOOOOOOO!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 746Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What?” yelled a voice nearby. 
+
+
+
+Harry flailed around madly, became entangled in the 
+hangings, and fell out of his bed. For a few seconds 
+he did not know where he was; he was convinced that 
+he was about to see the white, skull-like face looming 
+at him out of the dark again, then Ron’s voice spoke 
+very near to him. 
+
+“Will you stop acting like a maniac, and I can get you 
+out of here!” 
+
+Ron wrenched the hangings apart, and Harry stared 
+up at him in the moonlight, as he lay flat on his back, 
+his scar searing with pain. Ron looked as though he 
+had just been getting ready for bed; one arm was out 
+of his robes. 
+
+“Has someone been attacked again?” asked Ron, 
+pulling Harry roughly to his feet. “Is it Dad? Is it that 
+snake?” 
+
+“No — everyone’s fine — ” gasped Harry, whose 
+forehead felt as though it was on fire again. “Well ... 
+Avery isn’t... He’s in trouble... He gave him the wrong 
+information... He’s really angry...” 
+
+Harry groaned and sank, shaking, onto his bed, 
+rubbing his scar. 
+
+“But Rookwood’s going to help him now... He’s on the 
+right track again...” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” said Ron, sounding 
+scared. “D’you mean ... did you just see You-Know- 
+Who?” 
+
+“I was You-Know-Who,” said Harry, and he stretched 
+out his hands in the darkness and held them up to 
+
+Page | 747Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+his face to check that they were no longer deathly 
+white and long-fingered. “He was with Rookwood, he’s 
+one of the Death Eaters who escaped from Azkaban, 
+remember? Rookwood’s just told him Bode couldn’t 
+have done it...” 
+
+“Done what?” 
+
+“Remove something. . . He said Bode would have 
+known he couldn’t have done it... Bode was under the 
+Imperius Curse... I think he said Malfoy’s dad put it 
+on him...” 
+
+“Bode was bewitched to remove something?” Ron 
+said. “But — Harry, that’s got to be — ” 
+
+“The weapon,” Harry finished the sentence for him. “I 
+know.” 
+
+The dormitory door opened; Dean and Seamus came 
+in. Harry swung his legs back into bed. He did not 
+want to look as though anything odd had just 
+happened, seeing as Seamus had only just stopped 
+thinking Harry was a nutter. 
+
+“Did you say,” murmured Ron, putting his head close 
+to Harry’s on the pretense of helping himself to water 
+from the jug on his bedside table, “that you were You- 
+Know-Who?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+Ron took an unnecessarily large gulp of water. Harry 
+saw it spill over his chin onto his chest. 
+
+“Harry,” he said, as Dean and Seamus clattered 
+around noisily, pulling off their robes, and talking, 
+“you’ve got to tell — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 748Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I haven’t got to tell anyone,” said Harry shortly. “I 
+wouldn’t have seen it at all if I could do Occlumency. 
+I’m supposed to have learned to shut this stuff out. 
+That’s what they want.” 
+
+By “they” he meant Dumbledore. He got back into bed 
+and rolled over onto his side with his back to Ron and 
+after a while he heard Ron’s mattress creak as he lay 
+back down too. His scar began to burn; he bit hard on 
+his pillow to stop himself making a noise. Somewhere, 
+he knew, Avery was being punished... 
+
+Harry and Ron waited until break next morning to tell 
+Hermione exactly what had happened. They wanted 
+to be absolutely sure they could not be overheard. 
+Standing in their usual corner of the cool and breezy 
+courtyard, Harry told her every detail of the dream he 
+could remember. When he had finished, she said 
+nothing at all for a few moments, but stared with a 
+kind of painful intensity at Fred and George, who 
+were both headless and selling their magical hats 
+from under their cloaks on the other side of the yard. 
+
+“So that’s why they killed him,” she said quietly, 
+withdrawing her gaze from Fred and George at last. 
+“When Bode tried to steal this weapon, something 
+funny happened to him. I think there must be 
+defensive spells on it, or around it, to stop people 
+from touching it. That’s why he was in St. Mungo’s, 
+his brain had gone all funny and he couldn’t talk. But 
+remember what the Healer told us? He was 
+recovering. And they couldn’t risk him getting better, 
+could they? I mean, the shock of whatever happened 
+when he touched that weapon probably made the 
+Imperius Curse lift. Once he’d got his voice back, he’d 
+explain what he’d been doing, wouldn’t he? They 
+would have known he’d been sent to steal the 
+weapon. Of course, it would have been easy for 
+
+
+
+Page | 749Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lucius Malfoy to put the curse on him. Never out of 
+the Ministry, is he?” 
+
+“He was even hanging around that day I had my 
+hearing,” said Harry. “In the — hang on ...” he said 
+slowly. “He was in the Department of Mysteries 
+corridor that day! Your dad said he was probably 
+trying to sneak down and find out what happened in 
+my hearing, but what if — ” 
+
+“Sturgis,” gasped Hermione, looking thunderstruck. 
+
+“Sorry?” said Ron, looking bewildered. 
+
+“Sturgis Podmore,” said Hermione, breathlessly. 
+“Arrested for trying to get through a door. Lucius 
+Malfoy got him too. I bet he did it the day you saw 
+him there, Harry. Sturgis had Moody’s Invisibility 
+Cloak, right? So what if he was standing guard by the 
+door, invisible, and Malfoy heard him move, or 
+guessed he was there, or just did the Imperius Curse 
+on the off chance that a guard was there? So when 
+Sturgis next had an opportunity — probably when it 
+was his turn on guard duty again — he tried to get 
+into the department to steal the weapon for Voldemort 
+— Ron, be quiet — but he got caught and sent to 
+Azkaban...” 
+
+She gazed at Harry. 
+
+“And now Rookwood’s told Voldemort how to get the 
+weapon?” 
+
+“I didn’t hear all the conversation, but that’s what it 
+sounded like,” said Harry. “Rookwood used to work 
+there... Maybe Voldemort’ll send Rookwood to do it?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 750Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione nodded, apparently still lost in thought. 
+Then, quite abruptly, she said, “But you shouldn’t 
+have seen this at all, Harry.” 
+
+“What?” he said, taken aback. 
+
+“You’re supposed to be learning how to close your 
+mind to this sort of thing,” said Hermione, suddenly 
+stern. 
+
+“I know I am,” said Harry. “But — ” 
+
+“Well, I think we should just try and forget what you 
+saw,” said Hermione firmly. “And you ought to put in 
+a bit more effort on your Occlumency from now on.” 
+
+Harry was so angry with her that he did not talk to 
+her for the rest of the day, which proved to be another 
+bad one. When people were not discussing the 
+escaped Death Eaters in the corridors today, they 
+were laughing at Gryffindor’s abysmal performance in 
+their match against Hufflepuff; the Slytherins were 
+singing “Weasley Is Our King” so loudly and 
+frequently that by sundown Filch had banned it from 
+the corridors out of sheer irritation. 
+
+The week did not improve as it progressed: Harry 
+received two more D’s in Potions, was still on 
+tenterhooks that Hagrid might get the sack, and 
+could not stop himself from dwelling on the dream in 
+which he had seen Voldemort, though he did not 
+bring it up with Ron and Hermione again because he 
+did not want another telling-off from Hermione. He 
+wished very much that he could have talked to Sirius 
+about it, but that was out of the question, so he tried 
+to push the matter to the back of his mind. 
+
+Unfortunately, the back of his mind was no longer the 
+secure place it had once been. 
+
+Page | 751Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Get up, Potter.” 
+
+
+
+A couple of weeks after his dream of Rookwood, Harry 
+was to be found, yet again, kneeling on the floor of 
+Snape’s office, trying to clear his head. He had just 
+been forced, yet again, to relive a stream of very early 
+memories he had not even realized he still had, most 
+of them concerning humiliations Dudley and his gang 
+had inflicted upon him in primary school. 
+
+“That last memory,” said Snape. “What was it?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Harry, getting wearily to his feet. 
+He was finding it increasingly difficult to disentangle 
+separate memories from the rush of images and 
+sound that Snape kept calling forth. “You mean the 
+one where my cousin tried to make me stand in the 
+toilet?” 
+
+“No,” said Snape softly. “I mean the one concerning a 
+man kneeling in the middle of a darkened room...” 
+
+“It’s ... nothing,” said Harry. 
+
+Snape’s dark eyes bored into Harry’s. Remembering 
+what Snape had said about eye contact being crucial 
+to Legilimency, Harry blinked and looked away. 
+
+“How do that man and that room come to be inside 
+your head, Potter?” said Snape. 
+
+“It — ” said Harry, looking everywhere but at Snape, 
+
+“it was — just a dream I had.” 
+
+“A dream,” repeated Snape. 
+
+There was a pause during which Harry stared fixedly 
+at a large dead frog suspended in a purple liquid in 
+its jar. 
+
+Page | 752Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You do know why we are here, don’t you, Potter?” 
+said Snape in a low, dangerous voice. “You do know 
+why I am giving up my evenings to this tedious job?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry stiffly. 
+
+“Remind me why we are here, Potter.” 
+
+“So I can learn Occlumency,” said Harry, now glaring 
+at a dead eel. 
+
+“Correct, Potter. And dim though you may be” — 
+Harry looked back at Snape, hating him — “I would 
+have thought that after two months’ worth of lessons 
+you might have made some progress. How many other 
+dreams about the Dark Lord have you had?” 
+
+“Just that one,” lied Harry. 
+
+“Perhaps,” said Snape, his dark, cold eyes narrowing 
+slightly, “perhaps you actually enjoy having these 
+visions and dreams, Potter. Maybe they make you feel 
+special — important?” 
+
+“No, they don’t,” said Harry, his jaw set and his 
+fingers clenched tightly around the handle of his 
+wand. 
+
+“That is just as well, Potter,” said Snape coldly, 
+“because you are neither special nor important, and it 
+is not up to you to find out what the Dark Lord is 
+saying to his Death Eaters.” 
+
+“No — that’s your job, isn’t it?” Harry shot at him. 
+
+He had not meant to say it; it had burst out of him in 
+temper. For a long moment they stared at each other, 
+Harry convinced he had gone too far. But there was a 
+
+
+
+Page | 753Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+curious, almost satisfied expression on Snape’s face 
+when he answered. 
+
+
+
+“Yes, Potter,” he said, his eyes glinting. “That is my 
+job. Now, if you are ready, we will start again...” 
+
+He raised his wand. “One — two — three — 
+LegilimensV’ 
+
+A hundred dementors were swooping toward Harry 
+across the lake in the grounds... He screwed up his 
+face in concentration... They were coming closer... He 
+could see the dark holes beneath their hoods . . . yet 
+he could also see Snape standing in front of him, his 
+eyes fixed upon Harry’s face, muttering under his 
+breath... And somehow, Snape was growing clearer, 
+and the dementors were growing fainter . . . 
+
+Harry raised his own wand. 
+
+“Protegol” 
+
+Snape staggered; his wand flew upward, away from 
+Harry — and suddenly Harry’s mind was teeming 
+with memories that were not his — a hook-nosed man 
+was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small 
+dark-haired boy cried in a corner. . . A greasy-haired 
+teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his 
+wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies... A girl was 
+laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking 
+broomstick — 
+
+“ENOUGH!” 
+
+Harry felt as though he had been pushed hard in the 
+chest; he took several staggering steps backward, hit 
+some of the shelves covering Snape’s walls and heard 
+something crack. Snape was shaking slightly, very 
+white in the face. 
+
+Page | 754Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The back of Harry’s robes were damp. One of the jars 
+behind him had broken when he fell against it; the 
+pickled slimy thing within was swirling in its draining 
+potion. 
+
+“Reparo\” hissed Snape, and the jar sealed itself once 
+more. “Well, Potter ... that was certainly an 
+improvement...” Panting slightly, Snape straightened 
+the Pensieve in which he had again stored some of his 
+thoughts before starting the lesson, almost as though 
+checking that they were still there. “I don’t remember 
+telling you to use a Shield Charm . . . but there is no 
+doubt that it was effective...” 
+
+Harry did not speak; he felt that to say anything 
+might be dangerous. He was sure he had just broken 
+into Snape’s memories, that he had just seen scenes 
+from Snape’s childhood, and it was unnerving to 
+think that the crying little boy who had watched his 
+parents shouting was actually standing in front of 
+him with such loathing in his eyes... 
+
+“Let’s try again, shall we?” said Snape. 
+
+Harry felt a thrill of dread: He was about to pay for 
+what had just happened, he was sure of it. They 
+moved back into position with the desk between 
+them, Harry feeling he was going to find it much 
+harder to empty his mind this time... 
+
+“On the count of three, then,” said Snape, raising his 
+wand once more. “One — two — ” 
+
+Harry did not have time to gather himself together 
+and attempt to clear his mind, for Snape had already 
+cried “ Legilimens\” 
+
+He was hurtling along the corridor toward the 
+Department of Mysteries, past the blank stone walls, 
+
+Page | 755Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+past the torches — the plain black door was growing 
+ever larger; he was moving so fast he was going to 
+collide with it, he was feet from it and he could see 
+that chink of faint blue light again — 
+
+The door had flown open! He was through it at last, 
+inside a black-walled, black-floored circular room lit 
+with blue-flamed candles, and there were more doors 
+all around him — he needed to go on — but which 
+door ought he to take — ? 
+
+“POTTER!” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes. He was flat on his back again 
+with no memory of having gotten there; he was also 
+panting as though he really had run the length of the 
+Department of Mysteries corridor, really had sprinted 
+through the black door and found the circular room... 
+
+“Explain yourself!” said Snape, who was standing over 
+him, looking furious. 
+
+“I ... dunno what happened,” said Harry truthfully, 
+standing up. There was a lump on the back of his 
+head from where he had hit the ground and he felt 
+feverish. “I’ve never seen that before. I mean, I told 
+you, I’ve dreamed about the door ... but it’s never 
+opened before...” 
+
+“You are not working hard enough!” 
+
+For some reason, Snape seemed even angrier than he 
+had done two minutes before, when Harry had seen 
+into his own memories. 
+
+“You are lazy and sloppy, Potter, it is small wonder 
+that the Dark Lord — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Can you tell me something, sir?” said Harry, firing up 
+again. “Why do you call Voldemort the Dark Lord, I’ve 
+only ever heard Death Eaters call him that — ” 
+
+Snape opened his mouth in a snarl — and a woman 
+screamed from somewhere outside the room. 
+
+Snape’s head jerked upward; he was gazing at the 
+ceiling. 
+
+“What the — ?” he muttered. 
+
+Harry could hear a muffled commotion coming from 
+what he thought might be the entrance hall. Snape 
+looked around at him, frowning. 
+
+“Did you see anything unusual on your way down 
+here, Potter?” 
+
+Harry shook his head. Somewhere above them, the 
+woman screamed again. Snape strode to his office 
+door, his wand still held at the ready, and swept out 
+of sight. Harry hesitated for a moment, then followed. 
+
+The screams were indeed coming from the entrance 
+hall; they grew louder as Harry ran toward the stone 
+steps leading up from the dungeons. When he 
+reached the top he found the entrance hall packed. 
+Students had come flooding out of the Great Hall, 
+where dinner was still in progress, to see what was 
+going on. Others had crammed themselves onto the 
+marble staircase. Harry pushed forward through a 
+knot of tall Slytherins and saw that the onlookers had 
+formed a great ring, some of them looking shocked, 
+others even frightened. Professor McGonagall was 
+directly opposite Harry on the other side of the hall; 
+she looked as though what she was watching made 
+her feel faintly sick. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor Trelawney was standing in the middle of the 
+entrance hall with her wand in one hand and an 
+empty sherry bottle in the other, looking utterly mad. 
+Her hair was sticking up on end, her glasses were 
+lopsided so that one eye was magnified more than the 
+other; her innumerable shawls and scarves were 
+trailing haphazardly from her shoulders, giving the 
+impression that she was falling apart at the seams. 
+Two large trunks lay on the floor beside her, one of 
+them upside down; it looked very much as though it 
+had been thrown down the stairs after her. Professor 
+Trelawney was staring, apparently terrified, at 
+something Harry could not see but that seemed to be 
+standing at the foot of the stairs. 
+
+“No!” she shrieked. “NO! This cannot be happening... 
+
+It cannot ... I refuse to accept it!” 
+
+“You didn’t realize this was coming?” said a high 
+girlish voice, sounding callously amused, and Harry, 
+moving slightly to his right, saw that Trelawney’s 
+terrifying vision was nothing other than Professor 
+Umbridge. “Incapable though you are of predicting 
+even tomorrow’s weather, you must surely have 
+realized that your pitiful performance during my 
+inspections, and lack of any improvement, would 
+make it inevitable you would be sacked?” 
+
+“You c-can’t!” howled Professor Trelawney, tears 
+streaming down her face from behind her enormous 
+lenses, “you c-can’t sack me! I’ve b-been here sixteen 
+years! H-Hogwarts is m-my h-home!” 
+
+“It was your home,” said Professor Umbridge, and 
+Harry was revolted to see the enjoyment stretching 
+her toadlike face as she watched Professor Trelawney 
+sink, sobbing uncontrollably, onto one of her trunks, 
+“until an hour ago, when the Minister of Magic 
+countersigned the order for your dismissal. Now 
+Page | 758Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+kindly remove yourself from this hall. You are 
+embarrassing us.” 
+
+But she stood and watched, with an expression of 
+gloating enjoyment, as Professor Trelawney 
+shuddered and moaned, rocking backward and 
+forward on her trunk in paroxysms of grief. Harry 
+heard a sob to his left and looked around. Lavender 
+and Parvati were both crying silently, their arms 
+around each other. Then he heard footsteps. 
+
+Professor McGonagall had broken away from the 
+spectators, marched straight up to Professor 
+Trelawney and was patting her firmly on the back 
+while withdrawing a large handkerchief from within 
+her robes. 
+
+“There, there, Sibyll ... Calm down... Blow your nose 
+on this... It’s not as bad as you think, now... You are 
+not going to have to leave Hogwarts...” 
+
+“Oh really, Professor McGonagall?” said Umbridge in 
+a deadly voice, taking a few steps forward. “And your 
+authority for that statement is . . . ?” 
+
+“That would be mine,” said a deep voice. 
+
+The oak front doors had swung open. Students beside 
+them scuttled out of the way as Dumbledore appeared 
+in the entrance. What he had been doing out in the 
+grounds Harry could not imagine, but there was 
+something impressive about the sight of him framed 
+in the doorway against an oddly misty night. Leaving 
+the doors wide behind him, he strode forward through 
+the circle of onlookers toward the place where 
+Professor Trelawney sat, tearstained and trembling, 
+upon her trunk, Professor McGonagall alongside her. 
+
+“Yours, Professor Dumbledore?” said Umbridge with a 
+singularly unpleasant little laugh. “I’m afraid you do 
+
+Page | 759Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+not understand the position. I have here” — she 
+pulled a parchment scroll from within her robes — 
+
+“an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the 
+Minister of Magic. Under the terms of Educational 
+Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of 
+Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon 
+probation, and sack any teacher she — that is to say, 
+
+I — feel is not performing up to the standard required 
+by the Ministry of Magic. I have decided that Professor 
+Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her.” 
+
+To Harry’s very great surprise, Dumbledore continued 
+to smile. He looked down at Professor Trelawney, who 
+was still sobbing and choking on her trunk, and said, 
+“You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. 
+
+As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my 
+teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to 
+send them away from the castle. I am afraid,” he went 
+on, with a courteous little bow, “that the power to do 
+that still resides with the headmaster, and it is my 
+wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+At this, Professor Trelawney gave a wild little laugh in 
+which a hiccup was barely hidden. 
+
+“No — no, I’ll g-go, Dumbledore! I sh-shall 1-leave 
+Hogwarts and s-seek my fortune elsewhere — ” 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore sharply. “It is my wish that 
+you remain, Sibyll.” 
+
+He turned to Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“Might I ask you to escort Sibyll back upstairs, 
+Professor McGonagall?” 
+
+“Of course,” said McGonagall. “Up you get, Sibyll...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor Sprout came hurrying forward out of the 
+crowd and grabbed Professor Trelawney’s other arm. 
+Together they guided her past Umbridge and up the 
+marble stairs. Professor Flitwick went scurrying after 
+them, his wand held out before him; he squeaked, 
+“Locomotor trunksl” and Professor Trelawney’s luggage 
+rose into the air and proceeded up the staircase after 
+her, Professor Flitwick bringing up the rear. 
+
+Professor Umbridge was standing stock-still, staring 
+at Dumbledore, who continued to smile benignly. 
+
+“And what,” she said in a whisper that nevertheless 
+carried all around the entrance hall, “are you going to 
+do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher 
+who needs her lodgings?” 
+
+“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” said Dumbledore 
+pleasantly. “You see, I have already found us a new 
+Divination teacher, and he will prefer lodgings on the 
+ground floor.” 
+
+“You’ve found — ?” said Umbridge shrilly. “You’ve 
+found? Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under 
+Educational Decree Twenty-two — ” 
+
+“ — the Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable 
+candidate if — and only if — the headmaster is 
+unable to find one,” said Dumbledore. “And I am 
+happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. 
+May I introduce you?” 
+
+He turned to face the open front doors, through which 
+night mist was now drifting. Harry heard hooves. 
+There was a shocked murmur around the hall and 
+those nearest the doors hastily moved even farther 
+backward, some of them tripping over in their haste 
+to clear a path for the newcomer. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Through the mist came a face Harry had seen once 
+before on a dark, dangerous night in the Forbidden 
+Forest: white-blond hair and astonishingly blue eyes, 
+the head and torso of a man joined to the palomino 
+body of a horse. 
+
+“This is Firenze,” said Dumbledore happily to a 
+thunderstruck Umbridge. “I think you 11 find him 
+suitable.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 762Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CENTAUR AND THE SNEAK 
+
+“I’ll bet you wish you hadn’t given up Divination now, 
+don’t you, Hermione?” asked Parvati, smirking. 
+
+It was breakfast time a few days after the sacking of 
+Professor Trelawney, and Parvati was curling her 
+eyelashes around her wand and examining the effect 
+in the back of her spoon. They were to have their first 
+lesson with Firenze that morning. 
+
+“Not really,” said Hermione indifferently, who was 
+reading the Daily Prophet “I’ve never really liked 
+horses.” 
+
+She turned a page of the newspaper, scanning its 
+columns. 
+
+“He’s not a horse, he’s a centaur!” said Lavender, 
+sounding shocked. 
+
+“A gorgeous centaur ...” sighed Parvati. 
+
+
+
+Page | 763Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Either way, he’s still got four legs,” said Hermione 
+coolly. “Anyway, I thought you two were all upset that 
+Trelawney had gone?” 
+
+“We are!” Lavender assured her. “We went up to her 
+office to see her, we took her some daffodils — not the 
+honking ones that Sprout’s got, nice ones...” 
+
+“How is she?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Not very good, poor thing,” said Lavender 
+sympathetically. “She was crying and saying she’d 
+rather leave the castle forever than stay here if 
+Umbridge is still here, and I don’t blame her. 
+
+Umbridge was horrible to her, wasn’t she?” 
+
+“I’ve got a feeling Umbridge has only just started 
+being horrible,” said Hermione darkly. 
+
+“Impossible,” said Ron, who was tucking into a large 
+plate of eggs and bacon. “She can’t get any worse 
+than she’s been already.” 
+
+“You mark my words, she’s going to want revenge on 
+Dumbledore for appointing a new teacher without 
+consulting her,” said Hermione, closing the 
+newspaper. “Especially another part-human. You saw 
+the look on her face when she saw Firenze...” 
+
+After breakfast Hermione departed for her Arithmancy 
+class and Harry and Ron followed Parvati and 
+Lavender into the entrance hall, heading for 
+Divination. 
+
+“Aren’t we going up to North Tower?” asked Ron, 
+looking puzzled, as Parvati bypassed the marble 
+staircase. 
+
+Parvati looked scornfully over her shoulder at him. 
+
+Page | 764Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How d’you expect Firenze to climb that ladder? We’re 
+in classroom eleven now, it was on the notice board 
+yesterday.” 
+
+Classroom eleven was situated in the ground-floor 
+corridor leading off the entrance hall on the opposite 
+side to the Great Hall. Harry knew it to be one of 
+those classrooms that were never used regularly, and 
+that it therefore had the slightly neglected feeling of a 
+cupboard or storeroom. When he entered it right 
+behind Ron, and found himself right in the middle of 
+a forest clearing, he was therefore momentarily 
+stunned. 
+
+“What the — ?” 
+
+The classroom floor had become springily mossy and 
+trees were growing out of it; their leafy branches 
+fanned across the ceiling and windows, so that the 
+room was full of slanting shafts of soft, dappled, green 
+light. The students who had already arrived were 
+sitting on the earthy floor with their backs resting 
+against tree trunks or boulders, arms wrapped 
+around their knees or folded tightly across their 
+chests, looking rather nervous. In the middle of the 
+room, where there were no trees, stood Firenze. 
+
+“Harry Potter,” he said, holding out a hand when 
+Harry entered. 
+
+“Er — hi,” said Harry, shaking hands with the 
+centaur, who surveyed him unblinkingly through 
+those astonishingly blue eyes but did not smile. “Er — 
+good to see you ...” 
+
+“And you,” said the centaur, inclining his white-blond 
+head. “It was foretold that we would meet again.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry noticed that there was the shadow of a hoof- 
+shaped bruise on Firenze’s chest. As he turned to join 
+the rest of the class upon the floor, he saw that they 
+were all looking at him with awe, apparently deeply 
+impressed that he was on speaking terms with 
+Firenze, whom they seemed to find intimidating. 
+
+When the door was closed and the last student had 
+sat down upon a tree stump beside the wastepaper 
+basket, Firenze gestured around the room. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore has kindly arranged this 
+classroom for us,” said Firenze, when everyone had 
+settled down, “in imitation of my natural habitat. I 
+would have preferred to teach you in the Forbidden 
+Forest, which was — until Monday — my home ... but 
+this is not possible.” 
+
+“Please — er — sir — ” said Parvati breathlessly, 
+raising her hand, “why not? We’ve been in there with 
+Hagrid, we’re not frightened!” 
+
+“It is not a question of your bravery,” said Firenze, 
+“but of my position. I can no longer return to the 
+forest. My herd has banished me.” 
+
+“Herd?” said Lavender in a confused voice, and Harry 
+knew she was thinking of cows. “What — oh!” 
+Comprehension dawned on her face. “There are more 
+of you?” she said, stunned. 
+
+“Did Hagrid breed you, like the thestrals?” asked 
+Dean eagerly. 
+
+Firenze turned his head very slowly to face Dean, who 
+seemed to realize at once that he had said something 
+very offensive. 
+
+
+
+Page | 766Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I didn’t — I meant — sorry,” he finished in a hushed 
+voice. 
+
+“Centaurs are not the servants or playthings of 
+humans,” said Firenze quietly. There was a pause, 
+then Parvati raised her hand again. 
+
+“Please, sir ... why have the other centaurs banished 
+you?” 
+
+“Because I have agreed to work for Professor 
+Dumbledore,” said Firenze. “They see this as a 
+betrayal of our kind.” 
+
+Harry remembered how, nearly four years ago, the 
+centaur Bane had shouted at Firenze for allowing 
+Harry to ride to safety upon his back, calling him a 
+“common mule.” He wondered whether it had been 
+Bane who had kicked Firenze in the chest. 
+
+“Let us begin,” said Firenze. He swished his long 
+palomino tail, raised his hand toward the leafy 
+canopy overhead then lowered it slowly, and as he did 
+so, the light in the room dimmed, so that they now 
+seemed to be sitting in a forest clearing by twilight, 
+and stars emerged upon the ceiling. There were oohs 
+and gasps, and Ron said audibly, “Blimey!” 
+
+“Lie back upon the floor,” said Firenze in his calm 
+voice, “and observe the heavens. Here is written, for 
+those who can see, the fortune of our races.” 
+
+Harry stretched out on his back and gazed upward at 
+the ceiling. A twinkling red star winked at him from 
+overhead. 
+
+“I know that you have learned the names of the 
+planets and their moons in Astronomy,” said Firenze’s 
+calm voice, “and that you have mapped the stars’ 
+
+Page | 767Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+progress through the heavens. Centaurs have 
+unraveled the mysteries of these movements over 
+centuries. Our findings teach us that the future may 
+be glimpsed in the sky above us...” 
+
+“Professor Trelawney did Astrology with us!” said 
+Parvati excitedly, raising her hand in front of her so 
+that it stuck up in the air as she lay on her back. 
+“Mars causes accidents and burns and things like 
+that, and when it makes an angle to Saturn, like now” 
+— she drew a right angle in the air above her — “that 
+means that people need to be extra careful when 
+handling hot things — ” 
+
+“That,” said Firenze calmly, “is human nonsense.” 
+
+Parvati’s hand fell limply to her side. 
+
+“Trivial hurts, tiny human accidents,” said Firenze, as 
+his hooves thudded over the mossy floor. “These are 
+of no more significance than the scurryings of ants to 
+the wide universe, and are unaffected by planetary 
+movements.” 
+
+“Professor Trelawney — ” began Parvati, in a hurt and 
+indignant voice. 
+
+“ — is a human,” said Firenze simply. “And is 
+therefore blinkered and fettered by the limitations of 
+your kind.” 
+
+Harry turned his head very slightly to look at Parvati. 
+She looked very offended, as did several of the people 
+surrounding her. 
+
+“Sibyll Trelawney may have Seen, I do not know,” 
+continued Firenze, and Harry heard the swishing of 
+his tail again as he walked up and down before them, 
+“but she wastes her time, in the main, on the self- 
+
+P a g e | 768Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+flattering nonsense humans call fortune-telling. I, 
+however, am here to explain the wisdom of centaurs, 
+which is impersonal and impartial. We watch the 
+skies for the great tides of evil or change that are 
+sometimes marked there. It may take ten years to be 
+sure of what we are seeing.” 
+
+Firenze pointed to the red star directly above Harry. 
+
+“In the past decade, the indications have been that 
+Wizard-kind is living through nothing more than a 
+brief calm between two wars. Mars, bringer of battle, 
+shines brightly above us, suggesting that the fight 
+must break out again soon. How soon, centaurs may 
+attempt to divine by the burning of certain herbs and 
+leaves, by the observation of fume and flame...” 
+
+It was the most unusual lesson Harry had ever 
+attended. They did indeed burn sage and mallowsweet 
+there on the classroom floor, and Firenze told them to 
+look for certain shapes and symbols in the pungent 
+fumes, but he seemed perfectly unconcerned that not 
+one of them could see any of the signs he described, 
+telling them that humans were hardly ever good at 
+this, that it took centaurs years and years to become 
+competent, and finished by telling them that it was 
+foolish to put too much faith in such things anyway, 
+because even centaurs sometimes read them wrongly. 
+He was nothing like any human teacher Harry had 
+ever had. His priority did not seem to be to teach 
+them what he knew, but rather to impress upon them 
+that nothing, not even centaurs’ knowledge, was 
+foolproof. 
+
+“He’s not very definite on anything, is he?” said Ron 
+in a low voice, as they put out their mallowsweet fire. 
+“I mean, I could do with a few more details about this 
+war we’re about to have, couldn’t you?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 769Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The bell rang right outside the classroom door and 
+everyone jumped; Harry had completely forgotten that 
+they were still inside the castle, quite convinced that 
+he was really in the forest. The class filed out, looking 
+slightly perplexed; Harry and Ron were on the point of 
+following them when Firenze called, “Harry Potter, a 
+word, please.” 
+
+Harry turned. The centaur advanced a little toward 
+him. Ron hesitated. 
+
+“You may stay,” Firenze told him. “But close the door, 
+please.” 
+
+Ron hastened to obey. 
+
+“Harry Potter, you are a friend of Hagrid’s, are you 
+not?” said the centaur. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+“Then give him a warning from me. His attempt is not 
+working. He would do better to abandon it.” 
+
+“His attempt is not working?” Harry repeated blankly. 
+
+“And he would do better to abandon it,” said Firenze, 
+nodding. “I would warn Hagrid myself, but I am 
+banished — it would be unwise for me to go too near 
+the forest now — Hagrid has troubles enough, 
+without a centaurs’ battle.” 
+
+“But — what’s Hagrid attempting to do?” said Harry 
+nervously. 
+
+Firenze looked at Harry impassively. 
+
+“Hagrid has recently rendered me a great service,” 
+said Firenze, “and he has long since earned my 
+
+Page | 770Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+respect for the care he shows all living creatures. I 
+shall not betray his secret. But he must be brought to 
+his senses. The attempt is not working. Tell him, 
+Harry Potter. Good day to you.” 
+
+
+
+The happiness Harry had felt in the aftermath of The 
+Quibbler interview had long since evaporated. As a 
+dull March blurred into a squally April, his life 
+seemed to have become one long series of worries and 
+problems again. 
+
+Umbridge had continued attending all Care of Magical 
+Creatures lessons, so it had been very difficult to 
+deliver Firenze’s warning to Hagrid. At last Harry had 
+managed it by pretending he had lost his copy of 
+Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and 
+doubling back after class one day. When he passed on 
+Firenze’s message, Hagrid gazed at him for a moment 
+through his puffy, blackened eyes, apparently taken 
+aback. Then he seemed to pull himself together. 
+
+“Nice bloke, Firenze,” he said gruffly, “but he don’ 
+know what he’s talkin’ abou’ on this. The attemp’s 
+cornin’ on fine.” 
+
+“Hagrid, what’re you up to?” asked Harry seriously. 
+“Because you’ve got to be careful, Umbridge has 
+already sacked Trelawney and if you ask me, she’s on 
+a roll. If you’re doing anything you shouldn’t be — ” 
+
+“There’s things more importan’ than keepin’ a job,” 
+said Hagrid, though his hands shook slightly as he 
+said this and a basin full of knarl droppings crashed 
+to the floor. “Don’ worry abou’ me, Harry, jus’ get 
+along now, there’s a good lad...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry had no choice but to leave Hagrid mopping up 
+the dung all over his floor, but he felt thoroughly 
+dispirited as he trudged back up to the castle. 
+
+Meanwhile, as the teachers and Hermione persisted 
+in reminding them, the O.W.L.s were drawing ever 
+nearer. All the fifth years were suffering from stress to 
+some degree, but Hannah Abbott became the first to 
+receive a Calming Draught from Madam Pomfrey after 
+she burst into tears during Herbology and sobbed 
+that she was too stupid to take exams and wanted to 
+leave school now. 
+
+If it had not been for the D.A. lessons, Harry thought 
+he would have been extremely unhappy. He 
+sometimes felt that he was living for the hours he 
+spent in the Room of Requirement, working hard but 
+thoroughly enjoying himself at the same time, 
+swelling with pride as he looked around at his fellow 
+D.A. members and saw how far they had come. 
+
+Indeed, Harry sometimes wondered how Umbridge 
+was going to react when all the members of the D.A. 
+received “Outstanding” in their Defense Against the 
+Dark Arts O.W.L.s. 
+
+They had finally started work on Patronuses, which 
+everybody had been very keen to practice, though as 
+Harry kept reminding them, producing a Patronus in 
+the middle of a brightly lit classroom when they were 
+not under threat was very different to producing it 
+when confronted by something like a dementor. 
+
+“Oh, don’t be such a killjoy,” said Cho brightly, 
+watching her silvery swan-shaped Patronus soar 
+around the Room of Requirement during their last 
+lesson before Easter. “They’re so pretty!” 
+
+“They’re not supposed to be pretty, they’re supposed 
+to protect you,” said Harry patiently. “What we really 
+
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+
+
+
+
+need is a boggart or something; that’s how I learned, I 
+had to conjure a Patronus while the boggart was 
+pretending to be a dementor — ” 
+
+“But that would be really scary!” said Lavender, who 
+was shooting puffs of silver vapor out of the end of 
+her wand. “And I still — can’t — do it!” she added 
+angrily. 
+
+Neville was having trouble too. His face was screwed 
+up in concentration, but only feeble wisps of silver 
+smoke issued from his wand tip. 
+
+“You’ve got to think of something happy,” Harry 
+reminded him. 
+
+“I’m trying,” said Neville miserably, who was trying so 
+hard his round face was actually shining with sweat. 
+
+“Harry, I think I’m doing it!” yelled Seamus, who had 
+been brought along to his first ever D.A. meeting by 
+Dean. “Look — ah — it’s gone... But it was definitely 
+something hairy, Harry!” 
+
+Hermione’s Patronus, a shining silver otter, was 
+gamboling around her. 
+
+“They are sort of nice, aren’t they?” she said, looking 
+at it fondly. 
+
+The door of the Room of Requirement opened and 
+then closed again; Harry looked around to see who 
+had entered, but there did not seem to be anybody 
+there. It was a few moments before he realized that 
+the people close to the door had fallen silent. Next 
+thing he knew, something was tugging at his robes 
+somewhere near the knee. He looked down and saw, 
+to his very great astonishment, Dobby the house-elf 
+peering up at him from beneath his usual eight hats. 
+Page | 773Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hi, Dobby!” he said. “What are you — what’s wrong?” 
+
+For the elf’s eyes were wide with terror and he was 
+shaking. The members of the D.A. closest to Harry 
+had fallen silent now: Everybody in the room was 
+watching Dobby. The few Patronuses people had 
+managed to conjure faded away into silver mist, 
+leaving the room looking much darker than before. 
+
+“Harry Potter, sir ...” squeaked the elf, trembling from 
+head to foot, “Harry Potter, sir ... Dobby has come to 
+warn you . . . but the house-elves have been warned 
+not to tell ...” 
+
+He ran headfirst at the wall: Harry, who had some 
+experience of Dobby’s habits of self-punishment, 
+made to seize him, but Dobby merely bounced off the 
+stone, cushioned by his eight hats. Hermione and a 
+few of the other girls let out squeaks of fear and 
+sympathy. 
+
+“What’s happened, Dobby?” Harry asked, grabbing 
+the elf’s tiny arm and holding him away from 
+anything with which he might seek to hurt himself. 
+
+“Harry Potter ... she ... she ...” 
+
+Dobby hit himself hard on the nose with his free fist: 
+Harry seized that too. 
+
+“Who’s ‘she,’ Dobby?” 
+
+But he thought he knew — surely only one “she” 
+could induce such fear in Dobby? The elf looked up at 
+him, slightly cross-eyed, and mouthed wordlessly. 
+
+“Umbridge?” asked Harry, horrified. 
+
+
+
+Page | 774Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dobby nodded, then tried to bang his head off Harry’s 
+knees; Harry held him at bay. 
+
+
+
+“What about her? Dobby — she hasn’t found out 
+about this — about us — about the D.A.?” 
+
+He read the answer in the elf’s stricken face. His 
+hands held fast by Harry, the elf tried to kick himself 
+and fell to the floor. 
+
+“Is she coming?” Harry asked quietly. 
+
+Dobby let out a howl, and began beating his bare feet 
+hard on the floor. “Yes, Harry Potter, yes!” 
+
+Harry straightened up and looked around at the 
+motionless, terrified people gazing at the thrashing 
+elf. 
+
+“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” Harry bellowed. 
+“RUN!” 
+
+They all pelted toward the exit at once, forming a 
+scrum at the door, then people burst through; Harry 
+could hear them sprinting along the corridors and 
+hoped they had the sense not to try and make it all 
+the way to their dormitories. It was only ten to nine, if 
+they just took refuge in the library or the Owlery, 
+which were both nearer — 
+
+“Harry, come on!” shrieked Hermione from the center 
+of the knot of people now fighting to get out. 
+
+He scooped up Dobby, who was still attempting to do 
+himself serious injury, and ran with the elf in his 
+arms to join the back of the queue. 
+
+“Dobby — this is an order — get back down to the 
+kitchen with the other elves, and if she asks you 
+
+Page | 775Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+whether you warned me, lie and say no!” said Harry. 
+“And I forbid you to hurt yourself!” he added, 
+dropping the elf as he made it over the threshold at 
+last and slamming the door behind him. 
+
+“Thank you, Harry Potter!” squeaked Dobby, and he 
+streaked off. Harry glanced left and right, the others 
+were all moving so fast that he caught only glimpses 
+of flying heels at either end of the corridor before they 
+vanished. He started to run right; there was a boys’ 
+bathroom up ahead, he could pretend he’d been in 
+there all the time if he could just reach it — 
+
+“AAARGH!” 
+
+Something caught him around the ankles and he fell 
+spectacularly, skidding along on his front for six feet 
+before coming to a halt. Someone behind him was 
+laughing. He rolled over onto his back and saw Malfoy 
+concealed in a niche beneath an ugly dragon-shaped 
+vase. 
+
+“Trip Jinx, Potter!” he said. “Hey, Professor — 
+PROFESSOR! I’ve got one!” 
+
+Umbridge came bustling around the far corner, 
+breathless but wearing a delighted smile. 
+
+“It’s him!” she said jubilantly at the sight of Harry on 
+the floor. “Excellent, Draco, excellent, oh, very good — 
+fifty points to Slytherin! I’ll take him from here... 
+
+Stand up, Potter!” 
+
+Harry got to his feet, glaring at the pair of them. He 
+had never seen Umbridge looking so happy. She 
+seized his arm in a vicelike grip and turned, beaming 
+broadly, to Malfoy. “You hop along and see if you can 
+round up anymore of them, Draco,” she said. “Tell the 
+others to look in the library — anybody out of breath 
+Page | 776Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+— check the bathrooms, Miss Parkinson can do the 
+girls’ ones — off you go — and you,” she added in her 
+softest, most dangerous voice, as Malfoy walked away. 
+“You can come with me to the headmaster’s office, 
+Potter.” 
+
+They were at the stone gargoyle within minutes. Harry 
+wondered how many of the others had been caught. 
+
+He thought of Ron — Mrs. Weasley would kill him — 
+and of how Hermione would feel if she was expelled 
+before she could take her O.W.L.s. And it had been 
+Seamus’s very first meeting ... and Neville had been 
+getting so good... 
+
+“Fizzing Whizbee,” sang Umbridge, and the stone 
+gargoyle jumped aside, the wall behind split open, 
+and they ascended the moving stone staircase. They 
+reached the polished door with the griffin knocker, 
+but Umbridge did not bother to knock, she strode 
+straight inside, still holding tight to Harry. 
+
+The office was full of people. Dumbledore was sitting 
+behind his desk, his expression serene, the tips of his 
+long fingers together. Professor McGonagall stood 
+rigidly beside him, her face extremely tense. Cornelius 
+Fudge, Minister of Magic, was rocking backward and 
+forward on his toes beside the fire, apparently 
+immensely pleased with the situation. Kingsley 
+Shacklebolt and a tough-looking wizard Harry did not 
+recognize with very short, wiry hair were positioned 
+on either side of the door like guards, and the 
+freckled, bespectacled form of Percy Weasley hovered 
+excitedly beside the wall, a quill and a heavy scroll of 
+parchment in his hands, apparently poised to take 
+notes. 
+
+The portraits of old headmasters and mistresses were 
+not shamming sleep tonight. All of them were 
+watching what was happening below, alert and 
+
+Page | 777Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+serious. As Harry entered, a few flitted into 
+neighboring frames and whispered urgently into their 
+neighbors’ ears. 
+
+Harry pulled himself free of Umbridge’s grasp as the 
+door swung shut behind them. Cornelius Fudge was 
+glaring at him with a kind of vicious satisfaction upon 
+his face. 
+
+“Well,” he said. “Well, well, well ...” 
+
+Harry replied with the dirtiest look he could muster. 
+His heart drummed madly inside him, but his brain 
+was oddly cool and clear. 
+
+“He was heading back to Gryffindor Tower,” said 
+Umbridge. There was an indecent excitement in her 
+voice, the same callous pleasure Harry had heard as 
+she watched Professor Trelawney dissolving with 
+misery in the entrance hall. “The Malfoy boy cornered 
+him.” 
+
+“Did he, did he?” said Fudge appreciatively. “I must 
+remember to tell Lucius. Well, Potter ... I expect you 
+know why you are here?” 
+
+Harry fully intended to respond with a defiant “yes”: 
+His mouth had opened and the word was half formed 
+when he caught sight of Dumbledore’s face. 
+Dumbledore was not looking directly at Harry; his 
+eyes were fixed upon a point just over his shoulder, 
+but as Harry stared at him, he shook his head a 
+fraction of an inch to each side. 
+
+Harry changed direction mid- word. 
+
+“Yeh — no.” 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” said Fudge. 
+
+Page | 778Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry, firmly. 
+
+“You don’t know why you are here?” 
+
+“No, I don’t,” said Harry. 
+
+Fudge looked incredulously from Harry to Professor 
+Umbridge; Harry took advantage of his momentary 
+inattention to steal another quick look at 
+Dumbledore, who gave the carpet the tiniest of nods 
+and the shadow of a wink. 
+
+“So you have no idea,” said Fudge in a voice positively 
+sagging with sarcasm, “why Professor Umbridge has 
+brought you to this office? You are not aware that you 
+have broken any school rules?” 
+
+“School rules?” said Harry. “No.” 
+
+“Or Ministry decrees?” amended Fudge angrily. 
+
+“Not that I’m aware of,” said Harry blandly. 
+
+His heart was still hammering very fast. It was almost 
+worth telling these lies to watch Fudge’s blood 
+pressure rising, but he could not see how on earth he 
+would get away with them. If somebody had tipped off 
+Umbridge about the D.A. then he, the leader, might 
+as well be packing his trunk right now. 
+
+“So it’s news to you, is it,” said Fudge, his voice now 
+thick with anger, “that an illegal student organization 
+has been discovered within this school?” 
+
+“Yes, it is,” said Harry, hoisting an unconvincing look 
+of innocent surprise onto his face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 779Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I think, Minister,” said Umbridge silkily from beside 
+him, “we might make better progress if I fetch our 
+informant.” 
+
+“Yes, yes, do,” said Fudge, nodding, and he glanced 
+maliciously at Dumbledore as Umbridge left the room. 
+“There’s nothing like a good witness, is there, 
+Dumbledore?” 
+
+“Nothing at all, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore gravely, 
+inclining his head. 
+
+There was a wait of several minutes, in which nobody 
+looked at each other, then Harry heard the door open 
+behind him. Umbridge moved past him into the room, 
+gripping by the shoulder Cho’s curly-haired friend 
+Marietta, who was hiding her face in her hands. 
+
+“Don’t be scared, dear, don’t be frightened,” said 
+Professor Umbridge softly, patting her on the back, 
+“it’s quite all right, now. You have done the right 
+thing. The minister is very pleased with you. He’ll be 
+telling your mother what a good girl you’ve been. 
+Marietta’s mother, Minister,” she added, looking up at 
+Fudge, “is Madam Edgecombe from the Department of 
+Magical Transportation. Floo Network office — she’s 
+been helping us police the Hogwarts fires, you know.” 
+
+“Jolly good, jolly good!” said Fudge heartily. “Like 
+mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, 
+look up, don’t be shy, let’s hear what you’ve got to — 
+galloping gargoyles!” 
+
+As Marietta raised her head, Fudge leapt backward in 
+shock, nearly landing himself in the fire. He cursed 
+and stamped on the hem of his cloak, which had 
+started to smoke, and Marietta gave a wail and pulled 
+the neck of her robes right up to her eyes, but not 
+before the whole room had seen that her face was 
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+
+
+
+
+horribly disfigured by a series of close- set purple 
+pustules that had spread across her nose and cheeks 
+to form the word “SNEAK.” 
+
+
+
+“Never mind the spots now, dear,” said Umbridge 
+impatiently, “just take your robes away from your 
+mouth and tell the Minister — ” 
+
+But Marietta gave another muffled wail and shook her 
+head frantically. 
+
+“Oh, very well, you silly girl, I’ll tell him,” snapped 
+Umbridge. She hitched her sickly smile back onto her 
+face and said, “Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here 
+came to my office shortly after dinner this evening 
+and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. 
+She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the 
+seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of 
+Requirement, I would find out something to my 
+advantage. I questioned her a little further and she 
+admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting 
+there. Unfortunately at that point this hex,” she 
+waved impatiently at Marietta’s concealed face, “came 
+into operation and upon catching sight of her face in 
+my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me 
+any more.” 
+
+“Well, now,” said Fudge, fixing Marietta with what he 
+evidently imagined was a kind and fatherly look. “It is 
+very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor 
+Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will 
+you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was 
+its purpose? Who was there?” 
+
+But Marietta would not speak. She merely shook her 
+head again, her eyes wide and fearful. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Haven’t we got a counterjinx for this?” Fudge asked 
+Umbridge impatiently, gesturing at Marietta’s face. 
+
+“So she can speak freely?” 
+
+“I have not yet managed to find one,” Umbridge 
+admitted grudgingly, and Harry felt a surge of pride in 
+Hermione’s jinxing ability. “But it doesn’t matter if 
+she won’t speak, I can take up the story from here. 
+
+“You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report 
+back in October that Potter had met a number of 
+fellow students in the Hog’s Head in Hogsmeade — ” 
+
+“And what is your evidence for that?” cut in Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, 
+who happened to be in the bar at the time. He was 
+heavily bandaged, it is true, but his hearing was quite 
+unimpaired,” said Umbridge smugly. “He heard every 
+word Potter said and hastened straight to the school 
+to report to me — ” 
+
+“Oh, so that’s why he wasn’t prosecuted for setting up 
+all those regurgitating toilets!” said Professor 
+McGonagall, raising her eyebrows. “What an 
+interesting insight into our justice system!” 
+
+“Blatant corruption!” roared the portrait of the 
+corpulent, red-nosed wizard on the wall behind 
+Dumbledore’s desk. “The Ministry did not cut deals 
+with petty criminals in my day, no sir, they did not!” 
+
+“Thank you, Fortescue, that will do,” said 
+Dumbledore softly. 
+
+“The purpose of Potter’s meeting with these students,” 
+continued Professor Umbridge, “was to persuade 
+them to join an illegal society, whose aim was to learn 
+
+Page | 782Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+spells and curses the Ministry has decided are 
+inappropriate for school-age — ” 
+
+“I think you 11 find you’re wrong there, Dolores,” said 
+Dumbledore quietly, peering at her over the half- 
+moon spectacles perched halfway down his crooked 
+nose. 
+
+Harry stared at him. He could not see how 
+Dumbledore was going to talk him out of this one; if 
+Willy Widdershins had indeed heard every word he 
+said in the Hog’s Head there was simply no escaping 
+it. 
+
+“Oho!” said Fudge, bouncing up and down on the 
+balls of his feet again. “Yes, do let’s hear the latest 
+cock-and-bull story designed to pull Potter out of 
+trouble! Go on, then, Dumbledore, go on — Willy 
+Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was it Potter’s 
+identical twin in the Hog’s Head that day? Or is there 
+the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of 
+time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of 
+invisible dementors?” 
+
+Percy Weasley let out a hearty laugh. 
+
+“Oh, very good, Minister, very good!” 
+
+Harry could have kicked him. Then he saw, to his 
+astonishment, that Dumbledore was smiling gently 
+too. 
+
+“Cornelius, I do not deny — and nor, I am sure, does 
+Harry — that he was in the Hog’s Head that day, nor 
+that he was trying to recruit students to a Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts group. I am merely pointing out 
+that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a 
+group was, at that time, illegal. If you remember, the 
+Ministry decree banning all student societies was not 
+Page | 783Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+put into effect until two days after Harry’s Hogsmeade 
+meeting, so he was not breaking any rules in the 
+Hog’s Head at all.” 
+
+Percy looked as though he had been struck in the 
+face by something very heavy. Fudge remained 
+motionless in mid-bounce, his mouth hanging open. 
+
+Umbridge recovered first. 
+
+“That’s all very fine, Headmaster,” she said, smiling 
+sweetly. “But we are now nearly six months on from 
+the introduction of Educational Decree Number 
+Twenty-four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all 
+those that have happened since most certainly are.” 
+
+“Well,” said Dumbledore, surveying her with polite 
+interest over the top of his interlocked fingers, “they 
+certainly would be, if they had continued after the 
+decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence 
+that these meetings continued?” 
+
+As Dumbledore spoke, Harry heard a rustle behind 
+him and rather thought Kingsley whispered 
+something. He could have sworn too that he felt 
+something brush against his side, a gentle something 
+like a draft or bird wings, but looking down he saw 
+nothing there. 
+
+“Evidence?” repeated Umbridge with that horrible 
+wide toadlike smile. “Have you not been listening, 
+Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe is 
+here?” 
+
+“Oh, can she tell us about six months’ worth of 
+meetings?” said Dumbledore, raising his eyebrows. “I 
+was under the impression that she was merely 
+reporting a meeting tonight.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Miss Edgecombe,” said Umbridge at once, “tell us 
+how long these meetings have been going on, dear. 
+You can simply nod or shake your head, I’m sure that 
+won’t make the spots worse. Have they been 
+happening regularly over the last six months?” 
+
+Harry felt a horrible plummeting in his stomach. This 
+was it, they had hit a dead end of solid evidence that 
+not even Dumbledore would be able to shift aside... 
+
+“Just nod or shake your head, dear,” Umbridge said 
+coaxingly to Marietta. “Come on, now, that won’t 
+activate the jinx further...” 
+
+Everyone in the room was gazing at the top of 
+Marietta’s face. Only her eyes were visible between 
+the pulled up robes and her curly fringe. Perhaps it 
+was a trick of the firelight, but her eyes looked oddly 
+blank. And then — to Harry’s utter amazement — 
+Marietta shook her head. 
+
+Umbridge looked quickly at Fudge and then back at 
+Marietta. 
+
+“I don’t think you understood the question, did you, 
+dear? I’m asking whether you’ve been going to these 
+meetings for the past six months? You have, haven’t 
+you?” 
+
+Again, Marietta shook her head. 
+
+“What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?” 
+said Umbridge in a testy voice. 
+
+“I would have thought her meaning was quite clear,” 
+said Professor McGonagall harshly. “There have been 
+no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that 
+correct, Miss Edgecombe?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Marietta nodded. 
+
+
+
+“But there was a meeting tonight!” said Umbridge 
+furiously. “There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, 
+you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! 
+
+And Potter was the leader, was he not, Potter 
+organized it, Potter — why are you shaking your head, 
+girl?” 
+
+“Well, usually when a person shakes their head,” said 
+McGonagall coldly, “they mean ‘no.’ So unless Miss 
+Edgecombe is using a form of sign language as yet 
+unknown to humans — ” 
+
+Professor Umbridge seized Marietta, pulled her 
+around to face her, and began shaking her very hard. 
+A split second later Dumbledore was on his feet, his 
+wand raised. Kingsley started forward and Umbridge 
+leapt back from Marietta, waving her hands in the air 
+as though they had been burned. 
+
+“I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, 
+Dolores,” said Dumbledore, and for the first time, he 
+looked angry. 
+
+“You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge,” said 
+Kingsley in his deep, slow voice. “You don’t want to 
+get yourself into trouble now.” 
+
+“No,” said Umbridge breathlessly, glancing up at the 
+towering figure of Kingsley. “I mean, yes — you’re 
+right, Shacklebolt — I — I forgot myself.” 
+
+Marietta was standing exactly where Umbridge had 
+released her. She seemed neither perturbed by 
+Umbridge’s sudden attack, nor relieved by her 
+release. She was still clutching her robe up to her 
+oddly blank eyes, staring straight ahead of her. A 
+sudden suspicion connected to Kingsley’s whisper 
+Page | 786Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and the thing he had felt shoot past him sprang into 
+Harry’s mind. 
+
+
+
+���Dolores,” said Fudge, with the air of trying to settle 
+something once and for all, “the meeting tonight — 
+the one we know definitely happened — ” 
+
+“Yes,” said Umbridge, pulling herself together, “yes ... 
+well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded 
+at once to the seventh floor, accompanied by certain 
+trustworthy students, so as to catch those in the 
+meeting red-handed. It appears that they were 
+forewarned of my arrival, however, because when we 
+reached the seventh floor they were running in every 
+direction. It does not matter, however. I have all their 
+names here, Miss Parkinson ran into the Room of 
+Requirement for me to see if they had left anything 
+behind... We needed evidence and the room provided 
+
+
+
+And to Harry’s horror, she withdrew from her pocket 
+the list of names that had been pinned upon the 
+Room of Requirement’s wall and handed it to Fudge. 
+
+“The moment I saw Potter’s name on the list, I knew 
+what we were dealing with,” she said softly. 
+
+“Excellent,” said Fudge, a smile spreading across his 
+face. “Excellent, Dolores. And ... by thunder ...” 
+
+He looked up at Dumbledore, who was still standing 
+beside Marietta, his wand held loosely in his hand. 
+
+“See what they’ve named themselves?” said Fudge 
+quietly. “Dumbledore’sArmy.” 
+
+Dumbledore reached out and took the piece of 
+parchment from Fudge. He gazed at the heading 
+scribbled by Hermione months before and for a 
+
+Page | 787Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+moment seemed unable to speak. Then he looked up, 
+smiling. 
+
+
+
+“Well, the game is up,” he said simply. “Would you 
+like a written confession from me, Cornelius — or will 
+a statement before these witnesses suffice?” 
+
+Harry saw McGonagall and Kingsley look at each 
+other. There was fear in both faces. He did not 
+understand what was going on, and neither, 
+apparently, did Fudge. 
+
+“Statement?” said Fudge slowly. “What — I don’t — ?” 
+
+“Dumbledore’s Army, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore, 
+still smiling as he waved the list of names before 
+Fudge’s face. “Not Potter’s Army. Dumbledore’s Army.” 
+
+“But — but — ” 
+
+Understanding blazed suddenly in Fudge’s face. He 
+took a horrified step backward, yelped, and jumped 
+out of the fire again. 
+
+“You?” he whispered, stamping again on his 
+smoldering cloak. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Dumbledore pleasantly. 
+
+“You organized this?” 
+
+“I did,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“You recruited these students for — for your army?” 
+
+“Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting,” said 
+Dumbledore, nodding. “Merely to see whether they 
+would be interested in joining me. I see now that it 
+was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe, of course.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Marietta nodded. Fudge looked from her to 
+Dumbledore, his chest swelling. 
+
+
+
+“Then you have been plotting against me!” he yelled. 
+“That’s right,” said Dumbledore cheerfully. 
+
+“NO!” shouted Harry. 
+
+Kingsley flashed a look of warning at him, 
+
+McGonagall widened her eyes threateningly, but it 
+had suddenly dawned upon Harry what Dumbledore 
+was about to do, and he could not let it happen. 
+
+“No — Professor Dumbledore!” 
+
+“Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave 
+my office,” said Dumbledore calmly. 
+
+“Yes, shut up, Potter!” barked Fudge, who was still 
+ogling Dumbledore with a kind of horrified delight. 
+“Well, well, well — I came here tonight expecting to 
+expel Potter and instead — ” 
+
+“Instead you get to arrest me,” said Dumbledore, 
+smiling. “It’s like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, 
+isn’t it?” 
+
+“Weasley!” cried Fudge, now positively quivering with 
+delight, “Weasley, have you written it all down, 
+everything he’s said, his confession, have you got it?” 
+
+“Yes, sir, I think so, sir!” said Percy eagerly, whose 
+nose was splattered with ink from the speed of his 
+note-taking. 
+
+“The bit about how he’s been trying to build up an 
+army against the Ministry, how he’s been working to 
+destabilize me?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes, sir, I’ve got it, yes!” said Percy, scanning his 
+notes joyfully. 
+
+“Very well, then,” said Fudge, now radiant with glee. 
+“Duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to 
+the Daily Prophet at once. If we send a fast owl we 
+should make the morning edition!” Percy dashed from 
+the room, slamming the door behind him, and Fudge 
+turned back to Dumbledore. “You will now be 
+escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be 
+formally charged and then sent to Azkaban to await 
+trial!” 
+
+“Ah,” said Dumbledore gently, “yes. Yes, I thought we 
+might hit that little snag.” 
+
+“Snag?” said Fudge, his voice still vibrating with joy. 
+
+“I see no snag, Dumbledore!” 
+
+“Well,” said Dumbledore apologetically, “I’m afraid I 
+do.” 
+
+“Oh really?” 
+
+“Well — it’s just that you seem to be laboring under 
+the delusion that I am going to — what is the phrase? 
+‘Come quietly. ’ I am afraid I am not going to come 
+quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no 
+intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, 
+of course — but what a waste of time, and frankly, I 
+can think of a whole host of things I would rather be 
+doing.” 
+
+Umbridge’s face was growing steadily redder, she 
+looked as though she was being filled with boiling 
+water. Fudge stared at Dumbledore with a very silly 
+expression on his face, as though he had just been 
+stunned by a sudden blow and could not quite believe 
+it had happened. He made a small choking noise and 
+Page | 790Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+then looked around at Kingsley and the man with 
+short gray hair, who alone of everyone in the room 
+had remained entirely silent so far. The latter gave 
+Fudge a reassuring nod and moved forward a little, 
+away from the wall. Harry saw his hand drift, almost 
+casually, toward his pocket. 
+
+“Don’t be silly, Dawlish,” said Dumbledore kindly. 
+
+“I’m sure you are an excellent Auror, I seem to 
+remember that you achieved ‘Outstanding’ in all your 
+N.E.W.T.s, but if you attempt to — er — ‘bring me in’ 
+by force, I will have to hurt you.” 
+
+The man called Dawlish blinked, looking rather 
+foolish. He looked toward Fudge again, but this time 
+seemed to be hoping for a clue as to what to do next. 
+
+“So,” sneered Fudge, recovering himself, “you intend 
+to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores, and myself 
+single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?” 
+
+“Merlin’s beard, no,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “Not 
+unless you are foolish enough to force me to.” 
+
+“He will not be single-handed!” said Professor 
+McGonagall loudly, plunging her hand inside her 
+robes. 
+
+“Oh yes he will, Minerva!” said Dumbledore sharply. 
+“Hogwarts needs you!” 
+
+“Enough of this rubbish!” said Fudge, pulling out his 
+own wand. “Dawlish! Shacklebolt! Take him ). ” 
+
+A streak of silver light flashed around the room. There 
+was a bang like a gunshot, and the floor trembled. A 
+hand grabbed the scruff of Harry’s neck and forced 
+him down on the floor as a second silver flash went 
+off — several of the portraits yelled, Fawkes 
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+
+
+
+
+screeched, and a cloud of dust filled the air. Coughing 
+in the dust, Harry saw a dark figure fall to the ground 
+with a crash in front of him. There was a shriek and a 
+thud and somebody cried, “No!” Then the sound of 
+breaking glass, frantically scuffling footsteps, a groan 
+
+— and silence. 
+
+Harry struggled around to see who was half- 
+strangling him and saw Professor McGonagall 
+crouched beside him. She had forced both him and 
+Marietta out of harm’s way. Dust was still floating 
+gently down through the air onto them. Panting 
+slightly, Harry saw a very tall figure moving toward 
+them. 
+
+“Are you all right?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Yes!” said Professor McGonagall, getting up and 
+dragging Harry and Marietta with her. 
+
+The dust was clearing. The wreckage of the office 
+loomed into view: Dumbledore’s desk had been 
+overturned, all of the spindly tables had been 
+knocked to the floor, their silver instruments in 
+pieces. Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley, and Dawlish lay 
+motionless on the floor. Fawkes the phoenix soared in 
+wide circles above them, singing softly. 
+
+“Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, or it would 
+have looked very suspicious,” said Dumbledore in a 
+low voice. “He was remarkably quick on the uptake, 
+modifying Miss Edgecombe’s memory like that while 
+everyone was looking the other way — thank him for 
+me, won’t you, Minerva? 
+
+“Now, they will all awake very soon and it will be best 
+if they do not know that we had time to communicate 
+
+— you must act as though no time has passed, as 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+though they were merely knocked to the ground, they 
+will not remember — ” 
+
+“Where will you go, Dumbledore?” whispered 
+Professor McGonagall. “Grimmauld Place?” 
+
+“Oh no,” said Dumbledore with a grim smile. “I am 
+not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish 
+he’d never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise 
+you...” 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore ...” Harry began. 
+
+He did not know what to say first: how sorry he was 
+that he had started the D.A. in the first place and 
+caused all this trouble, or how terrible he felt that 
+Dumbledore was leaving to save him from expulsion? 
+But Dumbledore cut him off before he could say 
+another word. 
+
+“Listen to me, Harry,” he said urgently, “you must 
+study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you 
+understand me? Do everything Professor Snape tells 
+you and practice it particularly every night before 
+sleeping so that you can close your mind to bad 
+dreams — you will understand why soon enough, but 
+you must promise me — ” 
+
+The man called Dawlish was stirring. Dumbledore 
+seized Harry’s wrist. 
+
+“Remember — close your mind — ” 
+
+But as Dumbledore ’s fingers closed over Harry’s skin, 
+a pain shot through the scar on his forehead, and he 
+felt again that terrible, snakelike longing to strike 
+Dumbledore, to bite him, to hurt him — 
+
+“ — you will understand,” whispered Dumbledore. 
+
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+
+
+
+Fawkes circled the office and swooped low over him. 
+Dumbledore released Harry, raised his hand, and 
+grasped the phoenix’s long golden tail. There was a 
+flash of fire and the pair of them had gone. 
+
+“Where is he?” yelled Fudge, pushing himself up from 
+the ground. “Where is he?” 
+
+“I don’t know!” shouted Kingsley, also leaping to his 
+feet. 
+
+“Well, he can’t have Disapparated!” cried Umbridge. 
+“You can’t inside this school — ” 
+
+“The stairs!” cried Dawlish, and he flung himself upon 
+the door, wrenched it open, and disappeared, followed 
+closely by Kingsley and Umbridge. Fudge hesitated, 
+then got to his feet slowly, brushing dust from his 
+front. There was a long and painful silence. 
+
+“Well, Minerva,” said Fudge nastily, straightening his 
+torn shirtsleeve, “I’m afraid this is the end of your 
+friend Dumbledore.” 
+
+“You think so, do you?” said Professor McGonagall 
+scornfully. 
+
+Fudge seemed not to hear her. He was looking around 
+at the wrecked office. A few of the portraits hissed at 
+him; one or two even made rude hand gestures. 
+
+“You’d better get those two off to bed,” said Fudge, 
+looking back at Professor McGonagall with a 
+dismissive nod toward Harry and Marietta. 
+
+She said nothing, but marched Harry and Marietta to 
+the door. As it swung closed behind them, Harry 
+heard Phineas Nigellus’s voice. 
+
+
+
+Page | 794Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on 
+many counts ... but you cannot deny he’s got style...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+SNAPE’S WORST MEMORY 
+
+— BY ORDER OF — 
+
+THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC 
+
+Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced 
+Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of 
+Witchcraft and Wizardry. 
+
+The above is in accordance with 
+
+Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight. 
+
+Signed: 
+
+Cornelius Oswald Fudge 
+MINISTER OF MAGIC 
+
+The notices had gone up all over the school overnight, 
+but they did not explain how every single person 
+within the castle seemed to know that Dumbledore 
+
+
+
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+
+
+had overcome two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the 
+Minister of Magic, and his Junior Assistant to escape. 
+No matter where Harry went within the castle next 
+day, the sole topic of conversation was Dumbledore’s 
+flight, and though some of the details might have 
+gone awry in the retelling (Harry overheard one 
+second-year girl assuring another that Fudge was 
+now lying in St. Mungo’s with a pumpkin for a head), 
+it was surprising how accurate the rest of their 
+information was. Everybody seemed aware, for 
+instance, that Harry and Marietta were the only 
+students to have witnessed the scene in Dumbledore’s 
+office, and as Marietta was now in the hospital wing, 
+Harry found himself besieged with requests to give a 
+firsthand account wherever he went. 
+
+“Dumbledore will be back before long,” said Ernie 
+Macmillan confidently on the way back from 
+Herbology after listening intently to Harry’s story. 
+“They couldn’t keep him away in our second year and 
+they won’t be able to this time. The Fat Friar told me 
+...” He dropped his voice conspiratorially, so that 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to lean closer to him 
+to hear, "... that Umbridge tried to get back into his 
+office last night after they’d searched the castle and 
+grounds for him. Couldn’t get past the gargoyle. The 
+Head’s office has sealed itself against her.” Ernie 
+smirked. “Apparently she had a right little tantrum...” 
+
+“Oh, I expect she really fancied herself sitting up 
+there in the Head’s office,” said Hermione viciously, as 
+they walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall. 
+“Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid 
+puffed-up, power-crazy old — ” 
+
+“Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, 
+Granger?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Draco Malfoy had slid out from behind the door, 
+followed by Crabbe and Goyle. His pale, pointed face 
+was alight with malice. 
+
+“Afraid I’m going to have to dock a few points from 
+Gryffindor and Hufflepuff,” he drawled. 
+
+“It’s only teachers that can dock points from Houses, 
+Malfoy,” said Ernie at once. 
+
+“Yeah, we’re prefects too, remember?” snarled Ron. 
+
+“I know prefects can’t dock points, Weasel King,” 
+sneered Malfoy; Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. “But 
+members of the Inquisitorial Squad — ” 
+
+“The what?” said Hermione sharply. 
+
+“The Inquisitorial Squad, Granger,” said Malfoy, 
+pointing toward a tiny silver I upon his robes just 
+beneath his prefect’s badge. “A select group of 
+students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic, 
+hand-picked by Professor Umbridge. Anyway, 
+members of the Inquisitorial Squad do have the power 
+to dock points... So, Granger, I’ll have five from you 
+for being rude about our new headmistress... 
+Macmillan, five for contradicting me... Five because I 
+don’t like you, Potter ... Weasley, your shirt’s 
+untucked, so I’ll have another five for that... Oh yeah, 
+
+I forgot, you’re a Mudblood, Granger, so ten for 
+that...” 
+
+Ron pulled out his wand, but Hermione pushed it 
+away, whispering, “Don’t!” 
+
+“Wise move, Granger,” breathed Malfoy. “New Head, 
+new times ... Be good now, Potty ... Weasel King ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+He strode away, laughing heartily with Crabbe and 
+Goyle. 
+
+“He was bluffing,” said Ernie, looking appalled. “He 
+can’t be allowed to dock points ... that would be 
+ridiculous... It would completely undermine the 
+prefect system...” 
+
+But Harry, Ron, and Hermione had turned 
+automatically toward the giant hourglasses set in 
+niches along the wall behind them, which recorded 
+the House points. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had been 
+neck and neck in the lead that morning. Even as they 
+watched, stones flew upward, reducing the amounts 
+in the lower bulbs. In fact, the only glass that seemed 
+unchanged was the emerald-filled one of Slytherin. 
+
+“Noticed, have you?” said Fred’s voice. 
+
+He and George had just come down the marble 
+staircase and joined Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ernie 
+in front of the hourglasses. 
+
+“Malfoy just docked us all about fifty points,” said 
+Harry furiously, as they watched several more stones 
+fly upward from the Gryffindor hourglass. 
+
+“Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break,” said 
+George. 
+
+“What do you mean, ‘tried’?” said Ron quickly. 
+
+“He never managed to get all the words out,” said 
+Fred, “due to the fact that we forced him headfirst 
+into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor.” 
+
+Hermione looked very shocked. 
+
+“But you’ll get into terrible trouble!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Not until Montague reappears, and that could take 
+weeks, I dunno where we sent him,” said Fred coolly. 
+“Anyway ... we’ve decided we don’t care about getting 
+into trouble anymore.” 
+
+“Have you ever?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“ ’Course we have,” said George. “Never been expelled, 
+have we?” 
+
+“We’ve always known where to draw the line,” said 
+Fred. 
+
+“We might have put a toe across it occasionally,” said 
+George. 
+
+“But we’ve always stopped short of causing real 
+mayhem,” said Fred. 
+
+“But now?” said Ron tentatively. 
+
+“Well, now — ” said George. 
+
+“ — what with Dumbledore gone — ” said Fred. 
+
+“ — we reckon a bit of mayhem — ” said George. 
+
+“ — is exactly what our dear new Head deserves,” said 
+Fred. 
+
+“You mustn’t!” whispered Hermione. “You really 
+mustn’t! She’d love a reason to expel you!” 
+
+“You don’t get it, Hermione, do you?” said Fred, 
+smiling at her. “We don’t care about staying anymore. 
+We’d walk out right now if we weren’t determined to 
+do our bit for Dumbledore first. So anyway,” he 
+checked his watch, “phase one is about to begin. I’d 
+get in the Great Hall for lunch if I were you, that way 
+
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+
+
+
+
+the teachers will see you can’t have had anything to 
+do with it.” 
+
+“Anything to do with what?” said Hermione anxiously. 
+
+“You’ll see,” said George. “Run along, now.” 
+
+Fred and George turned away and disappeared in the 
+swelling crowd descending the stairs toward lunch. 
+Looking highly disconcerted, Ernie muttered 
+something about unfinished Transfiguration 
+homework and scurried away. 
+
+“I think we should get out of here, you know,” said 
+Hermione nervously. “Just in case ...” 
+
+“Yeah, all right,” said Ron, and the three of them 
+moved toward the doors to the Great Hall, but Harry 
+had barely glimpsed today’s ceiling of scudding white 
+clouds when somebody tapped him on the shoulder 
+and, turning, he found himself almost nose to nose 
+with Filch, the caretaker. He took several hasty steps 
+backward; Filch was best viewed at a distance. 
+
+“The headmistress would like to see you, Potter,” he 
+leered. 
+
+“I didn’t do it,” said Harry stupidly, thinking of 
+whatever Fred and George were planning. Filch’s 
+jowls wobbled with silent laughter. 
+
+“Guilty conscience, eh?” he wheezed. “Follow me...” 
+
+Harry glanced back at Ron and Hermione, who were 
+both looking worried. He shrugged and followed Filch 
+back into the entrance hall, against the tide of hungry 
+students. 
+
+
+
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+
+Filch seemed to be in an extremely good mood; he 
+hummed creakily under his breath as they climbed 
+the marble staircase. As they reached the first landing 
+he said, “Things are changing around here, Potter.” 
+
+“I’ve noticed,” said Harry coldly. 
+
+“Yerse ... I’ve been telling Dumbledore for years and 
+years he’s too soft with you all,” said Filch, chuckling 
+nastily. “You filthy little beasts would never have 
+dropped Stinkpellets if you’d known I had it in my 
+power to whip you raw, would you, now? Nobody 
+would have thought of throwing Fanged Frisbees 
+down the corridors if I could’ve strung you up by the 
+ankles in my office, would they? But when 
+Educational Decree Twenty-nine comes in, Potter, I’ll 
+be allowed to do them things... And she’s asked the 
+Minister to sign an order for the expulsion of Peeves... 
+Oh, things are going to be very different around here 
+with her in charge...” 
+
+Umbridge had obviously gone to some lengths to get 
+Filch on her side, Harry thought, and the worst of it 
+was that he would probably prove an important 
+weapon; his knowledge of the school’s secret 
+passageways and hiding places was probably second 
+only to the Weasley twins. 
+
+“Here we are,” he said, leering down at Harry as he 
+rapped three times upon Professor Umbridge’s door 
+and pushed it open. “The Potter boy to see you, 
+ma’am.” 
+
+Umbridge’s office, so very familiar to Harry from his 
+many detentions, was the same as usual except for 
+the large wooden block lying across the front of her 
+desk on which golden letters spelled the word 
+HEADMISTRESS; also his Firebolt, and Fred’s and 
+George’s Clean-sweeps, which he saw with a pang 
+Page | 802Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+were now chained and padlocked to a stout iron peg 
+in the wall behind the desk. Umbridge was sitting 
+behind the desk, busily scribbling upon some of her 
+pink parchment, but looked up and smiled widely at 
+their entrance. 
+
+“Thank you, Argus,” she said sweetly. 
+
+“Not at all, ma’am, not at all,” said Filch, bowing as 
+low as his rheumatism would permit, and exiting 
+backward. 
+
+“Sit,” said Umbridge curtly, pointing toward a chair, 
+and Harry sat. She continued to scribble for a few 
+moments. He watched some of the foul kittens 
+gamboling around the plates over her head, 
+wondering what fresh horror she had in store for him. 
+
+“Well now,” she said finally, setting down her quill 
+and looking like a toad about to swallow a 
+particularly juicy fly. “What would you like to drink?” 
+
+“What?” said Harry, quite sure he had misheard her. 
+
+“To drink, Mr. Potter,” she said, smiling still more 
+widely. “Tea? Coffee? Pumpkin juice?” 
+
+As she named each drink, she gave her short wand a 
+wave, and a cup or glass of it appeared upon her 
+desk. 
+
+“Nothing, thank you,” said Harry. 
+
+“I wish you to have a drink with me,” she said, her 
+voice becoming more dangerously sweet. “Choose 
+one.” 
+
+“Fine ... tea then,” said Harry, shrugging. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+She got up and made quite a performance of adding 
+milk with her back to him. She then bustled around 
+the desk with it, smiling in sinisterly sweet fashion. 
+
+“There,” she said, handing it to him. “Drink it before it 
+gets cold, won’t you? Well, now, Mr. Potter ... I 
+thought we ought to have a little chat, after the 
+distressing events of last night.” 
+
+He said nothing. She settled herself back into her seat 
+and waited. When several long moments had passed 
+in silence, she said gaily, “You’re not drinking up!” 
+
+He raised the cup to his lips and then, just as 
+suddenly, lowered it. One of the horrible painted 
+kittens behind Umbridge had great round blue eyes 
+just like Mad-Eye Moody’s magical one, and it had 
+just occurred to Harry what Mad-Eye would say if he 
+ever heard that Harry had drunk anything offered by 
+a known enemy. 
+
+“What’s the matter?” said Umbridge, who was still 
+watching him. “Do you want sugar?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+He raised the cup to his lips again and pretended to 
+take a sip, though keeping his mouth tightly closed. 
+Umbridge’s smile widened. 
+
+“Good,” she whispered. “Very good. Now then ...” She 
+leaned forward a little. “Where is Albus Dumbledore?” 
+
+“No idea,” said Harry promptly. 
+
+“Drink up, drink up,” she said, still smiling. “Now, 
+
+Mr. Potter, let us not play childish games. I know that 
+you know where he has gone. You and Dumbledore 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+have been in this together from the beginning. 
+Consider your position, Mr. Potter...” 
+
+“I don’t know where he is.” 
+
+Harry pretended to drink again. 
+
+“Very well,” said Umbridge, looking displeased. “In 
+that case, you will kindly tell me the whereabouts of 
+Sirius Black.” 
+
+Harry’s stomach turned over and his hand holding 
+the teacup shook so that the cup rattled in its saucer. 
+He tilted the cup to his mouth with his lips pressed 
+together, so that some of the hot liquid trickled down 
+onto his robes. 
+
+“I don’t know,” he said a little too quickly. 
+
+“Mr. Potter,” said Umbridge, “let me remind you that 
+it was I who almost caught the criminal Black in the 
+Gryffindor fire in October. I know perfectly well it was 
+you he was meeting and if I had had any proof neither 
+of you would be at large today, I promise you. I 
+repeat, Mr. Potter ... Where is Sirius Black?” 
+
+“No idea,” said Harry loudly. “Haven’t got a clue.” 
+
+They stared at each other so long that Harry felt his 
+eyes watering. Then she stood up. 
+
+“Very well, Potter, I will take your word for it this 
+time, but be warned: The might of the Ministry stands 
+behind me. All channels of communication in and out 
+of this school are being monitored. A Floo Network 
+Regulator is keeping watch over every fire in Hogwarts 
+— except my own, of course. My Inquisitorial Squad 
+is opening and reading all owl post entering and 
+leaving the castle. And Mr. Filch is observing all 
+Page | 805Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+secret passages in and out of the castle. If I find a 
+shred of evidence ...” 
+
+
+
+BOOM! 
+
+The very floor of the office shook; Umbridge slipped 
+sideways, clutching her desk for support, looking 
+shocked. 
+
+“What was — ?” 
+
+She was gazing toward the door; Harry took the 
+opportunity to empty his almost full cup of tea into 
+the nearest vase of dried flowers. He could hear 
+people running and screaming several floors below. 
+
+“Back to lunch with you, Potter!” cried Umbridge, 
+raising her wand and dashing out of the office. Harry 
+gave her a few seconds’ start then hurried after her to 
+see what the source of all the uproar was. 
+
+It was not difficult to find. One floor down, 
+pandemonium reigned. Somebody (and Harry had a 
+very shrewd idea who) had set off what seemed to be 
+an enormous crate of enchanted fireworks. 
+
+Dragons comprised entirely of green-and-gold sparks 
+were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting 
+loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went. Shocking- 
+pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter were 
+whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying 
+saucers. Rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars 
+were ricocheting off the walls. Sparklers were writing 
+swearwords in midair of their own accord. 
+
+Firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere 
+Harry looked, and instead of burning themselves out, 
+fading from sight, or fizzling to a halt, these 
+pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy 
+and momentum the longer he watched. 
+
+Page | 806Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Filch and Umbridge were standing, apparently 
+transfixed with horror, halfway down the stairs. As 
+Harry watched, one of the larger Catherine wheels 
+seemed to decide that what it needed was more room 
+to maneuver; it whirled toward Umbridge and Filch 
+with a sinister voheeeeeeeeee. Both adults yelled with 
+fright and ducked and it soared straight out of the 
+window behind them and off across the grounds. 
+Meanwhile, several of the dragons and a large purple 
+bat that was smoking ominously took advantage of 
+the open door at the end of the corridor to escape 
+toward the second floor. 
+
+“Hurry, Filch, hurry!” shrieked Umbridge. “They’ll be 
+all over the school unless we do something — 
+
+Stupefy]” 
+
+A jet of red light shot out of the end of her wand and 
+hit one of the rockets. Instead of freezing in midair, it 
+exploded with such force that it blasted a hole in a 
+painting of a soppy-looking witch in the middle of a 
+meadow — she ran for it just in time, reappearing 
+seconds later squashed into the painting next door, 
+where a couple of wizards playing cards stood up 
+hastily to make room for her. 
+
+“Don’t Stun them, Filch!” shouted Umbridge angrily, 
+for all the world as though it had been his suggestion. 
+
+“Right you are, Headmistress!” wheezed Filch, who 
+was a Squib and could no more have Stunned the 
+fireworks than swallowed them. He dashed to a 
+nearby cupboard, pulled out a broom, and began 
+swatting at the fireworks in midair; within seconds 
+the head of the broom was ablaze. 
+
+Harry had seen enough. Laughing, he ducked down 
+low, ran to a door he knew was concealed behind a 
+tapestry a little way along the corridor and slipped 
+
+Page | 807Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+through it to find Fred and George hiding just behind 
+it, listening to Umbridge’s and Filch’s yells and 
+quaking with suppressed mirth. 
+
+“Impressive,” Harry said quietly, grinning. “Very 
+impressive ... You’ll put Dr. Filibuster out of business, 
+no problem...” 
+
+“Cheers,” whispered George, wiping tears of laughter 
+from his face. “Oh, I hope she tries Vanishing them 
+next... They multiply by ten every time you try...” 
+
+The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all 
+over the school that afternoon. Though they caused 
+plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the 
+other teachers did not seem to mind them very much. 
+
+“Dear, dear,” said Professor McGonagall sardonically, 
+as one of the dragons soared around her classroom, 
+emitting loud bangs and exhaling flame. “Miss Brown, 
+would you mind running along to the headmistress 
+and informing her that we have an escaped firework 
+in our classroom?” 
+
+The upshot of it all was that Professor Umbridge 
+spent her first afternoon as headmistress running all 
+over the school answering the summonses of the 
+other teachers, none of whom seemed able to rid their 
+rooms of the fireworks without her. When the final 
+bell rang and the students were heading back to 
+Gryffindor Tower with their bags, Harry saw, with 
+immense satisfaction, a disheveled and soot- 
+blackened Umbridge tottering sweaty-faced from 
+Professor Flitwick’s classroom. 
+
+“Thank you so much, Professor!” said Professor 
+Flitwick in his squeaky little voice. “I could have got 
+rid of the sparklers myself, of course, but I wasn’t 
+sure whether I had the authority...” 
+
+Page | 808Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Beaming, he closed his classroom door in her snarling 
+face. 
+
+Fred and George were heroes that night in the 
+Gryffindor common room. Even Hermione fought her 
+way through the excited crowd around them to 
+congratulate them. 
+
+“They were wonderful fireworks,” she said admiringly. 
+
+“Thanks,” said George, looking both surprised and 
+pleased. “Weasleys’ Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. Only thing 
+is, we used our whole stock, we’re going to have to 
+start again from scratch now...” 
+
+“It was worth it, though,” said Fred, who was taking 
+orders from clamoring Gryffindors. “If you want to 
+add your name to the waiting list, Hermione, it’s five 
+Galleons for your Basic Blaze box and twenty for the 
+Deflagration Deluxe...” 
+
+Hermione returned to the table where Harry and Ron 
+were sitting staring at their schoolbags as though 
+hoping their homework might spring out of it and 
+start doing itself. 
+
+“Oh, why don’t we have a night off?” said Hermione 
+brightly, as a silver-tailed Weasley rocket zoomed past 
+the window. “After all, the Easter holidays start on 
+Friday, we’ll have plenty of time then...” 
+
+“Are you feeling all right?” Ron asked, staring at her 
+in disbelief. 
+
+“Now you mention it,” said Hermione happily, “d’you 
+know ... I think I’m feeling a bit ... rebellious.” 
+
+Harry could still hear the distant bangs of escaped 
+firecrackers when he and Ron went up to bed an hour 
+
+Page | 809Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+later, and as he got undressed a sparkler floated past 
+the tower, still resolutely spelling out the word POO. 
+
+He got into bed, yawning. With his glasses off, the 
+occasional fire-work still passing the window became 
+blurred, looking like sparkling clouds, beautiful and 
+mysterious against the black sky. He turned onto his 
+side, wondering how Umbridge was feeling about her 
+first day in Dumbledore’s job, and how Fudge would 
+react when he heard that the school had spent most 
+of the day in a state of advanced disruption... Smiling 
+to himself, he closed his eyes... 
+
+The whizzes and bangs of escaped fireworks in the 
+grounds seemed to be growing more distant ... or 
+perhaps he, Harry, was simply speeding away from 
+them... 
+
+He had fallen right into the corridor leading to the 
+Department of Mysteries. He was speeding toward the 
+plain black door... Let it open... Let it open... 
+
+It did. He was inside the circular room lined with 
+doors... He crossed it, placed his hand upon an 
+identical door, and it swung inward... 
+
+Now he was in a long, rectangular room full of an odd, 
+mechanical clicking. There were dancing flecks of 
+light on the walls but he did not pause to 
+investigate... He had to go on... 
+
+There was a door at the far end... It too opened at his 
+touch... 
+
+And now he was in a dimly lit room as high and wide 
+as a church, full of nothing but rows and rows of 
+towering shelves, each laden with small, dusty, spun- 
+glass spheres... Now Harry’s heart was beating fast 
+with excitement... He knew where to go... He ran 
+Page | 810Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+forward, but his footsteps made no noise in the 
+enormous, deserted room... 
+
+There was something in this room he wanted very, 
+very much... 
+
+Something he wanted... or somebody else wanted... 
+
+His scar was hurting. . . 
+
+BANG! Harry awoke instantly, confused and angry. 
+The dark dormitory was full of the sound of laughter. 
+
+“Cool!” said Seamus, who was silhouetted against the 
+window. 
+
+“I think one of those Catherine wheels hit a rocket 
+and it’s like they mated, come and see!” 
+
+Harry heard Ron and Dean scramble out of bed for a 
+better look. He lay quite still and silent while the pain 
+in his scar subsided and disappointment washed over 
+him. He felt as though a wonderful treat had been 
+snatched from him at the very last moment... He had 
+got so close that time... 
+
+Glittering, pink-and-silver winged piglets were now 
+soaring past the windows of Gryffindor Tower. Harry 
+lay and listened to the appreciative whoops of 
+Gryffindors in the dormitories below them. His 
+stomach gave a sickening jolt as he remembered that 
+he had Occlumency the following evening. . . 
+
+Harry spent the whole of the next day dreading what 
+Snape was going to say if he found out how much 
+farther into the Department of Mysteries he had 
+penetrated during his last dream. With a surge of 
+guilt he realized that he had not practiced 
+Occlumency once since their last lesson: There had 
+Page | 811Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+been too much going on since Dumbledore had left. 
+
+He was sure he would not have been able to empty 
+his mind even if he had tried. He doubted, however, 
+whether Snape would accept that excuse... 
+
+He attempted a little last-minute practice during 
+classes that day, but it was no good, Hermione kept 
+asking him what was wrong whenever he fell silent 
+trying to rid himself of all thought and emotion and, 
+after all, the best moment to empty his brain was not 
+while teachers were firing review questions at the 
+class. 
+
+Resigned to the worst, he set off for Snape ’s office 
+after dinner. Halfway across the entrance hall, 
+however, Cho came hurrying up to him. 
+
+“Over here,” said Harry, glad of a reason to postpone 
+his meeting with Snape and beckoning her across to 
+the corner of the entrance hall where the giant 
+hourglasses stood. Gryffindor’s was now almost 
+empty. “Are you okay? Umbridge hasn’t been asking 
+you about the D.A., has she?” 
+
+“Oh no,” said Cho hurriedly. “No, it was only ... Well, I 
+just wanted to say ... Harry, I never dreamed Marietta 
+would tell...” 
+
+“Yeah, well,” said Harry moodily. He did feel Cho 
+might have chosen her friends a bit more carefully. It 
+was small consolation that the last he had heard, 
+Marietta was still up in the hospital wing and Madam 
+Pomfrey had not been able to make the slightest 
+improvement to her pimples. 
+
+“She’s a lovely person really,” said Cho. “She just 
+made a mistake — ” 
+
+
+
+Harry looked at her incredulously. 
+
+Page | 812Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“A lovely person who made a mistake? She sold us all 
+out, including you!” 
+
+“Well ... we all got away, didn’t we?” said Cho 
+pleadingly. “You know, her mum works for the 
+Ministry, it’s really difficult for her — ” 
+
+“Ron’s dad works for the Ministry too!” Harry said 
+furiously. “And in case you hadn’t noticed, he hasn’t 
+got ‘sneak’ written across his face — ” 
+
+“That was a really horrible trick of Hermione 
+Granger’s,” said Cho fiercely. “She should have told 
+us she’d jinxed that list — ” 
+
+“I think it was a brilliant idea,” said Harry coldly. Cho 
+flushed and her eyes grew brighter. 
+
+“Oh yes, I forgot — of course, if it was darling 
+Hermione’s idea — ” 
+
+“Don’t start crying again,” said Harry warningly. 
+
+“I wasn’t going to!” she shouted. 
+
+“Yeah ... well ... good,” he said. “I’ve got enough to 
+cope with at the moment.” 
+
+“Go and cope with it then!” she said furiously, turning 
+on her heel and stalking off. 
+
+Fuming, Harry descended the stairs to Snape’s 
+dungeon, and though he knew from experience how 
+much easier it would be for Snape to penetrate his 
+mind if he arrived angry and resentful, he succeeded 
+in nothing but thinking of a few more good things he 
+should have said to Cho about Marietta before 
+reaching the dungeon door. 
+
+
+
+Page | 813Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You’re late, Potter,” said Snape coldly, as Harry 
+closed the door behind him. 
+
+Snape was standing with his back to Harry, removing, 
+as usual, certain of his thoughts and placing them 
+carefully in Dumbledore’s Pensieve. He dropped the 
+last silvery strand into the stone basin and turned to 
+face Harry. 
+
+“So,” he said. “Have you been practicing?” 
+
+“Yes,” Harry lied, looking carefully at one of the legs of 
+Snape’s desk. 
+
+“Well, we’ll soon find out, won’t we?” said Snape 
+smoothly. “Wand out, Potter.” 
+
+Harry moved into his usual position, facing Snape 
+with the desk between them. His heart was pumping 
+fast with anger at Cho and anxiety about how much 
+Snape was about to extract from his mind. 
+
+“On the count of three then,” said Snape lazily. “One 
+— two — ” 
+
+Snape’s office door banged open and Draco Malfoy 
+sped in. 
+
+“Professor Snape, sir — oh — sorry — ” 
+
+Malfoy was looking at Snape and Harry in some 
+surprise. 
+
+“It’s all right, Draco,” said Snape, lowering his wand. 
+“Potter is here for a little Remedial Potions.” 
+
+Harry had not seen Malfoy look so gleeful since 
+Umbridge had turned up to inspect Hagrid. 
+
+
+
+Page | 814Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I didn’t know,” he said, leering at Harry, who knew 
+his face was burning. He would have given a great 
+deal to be able to shout the truth at Malfoy — or, even 
+better, to hit him with a good curse. 
+
+“Well, Draco, what is it?” asked Snape. 
+
+“It’s Professor Umbridge, sir — she needs your help,” 
+said Malfoy. “They’ve found Montague, sir. He’s 
+turned up jammed inside a toilet on the fourth floor.” 
+
+“How did he get in there?” demanded Snape. 
+
+“I don’t know, sir, he’s a bit confused...” 
+
+“Very well, very well — Potter,” said Snape, “we shall 
+resume this lesson tomorrow evening instead.” 
+
+He turned and swept from his office. Malfoy mouthed 
+“Remedial Potions?” at Harry behind Snape ’s back 
+before following him. 
+
+Seething, Harry replaced his wand inside his robes 
+and made to leave the room. At least he had twenty- 
+four more hours in which to practice; he knew he 
+ought to feel grateful for the narrow escape, though it 
+was hard that it came at the expense of Malfoy telling 
+the whole school that he needed Remedial Potions... 
+
+He was at the office door when he saw it: a patch of 
+shivering light dancing on the door frame. He 
+stopped, looking at it, reminded of something... Then 
+he remembered: It was a little like the lights he had 
+seen in his dream last night, the lights in the second 
+room he had walked through on his journey through 
+the Department of Mysteries. 
+
+He turned around. The light was coming from the 
+Pensieve sitting on Snape ’s desk. The silver- white 
+
+Page | 815Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+contents were ebbing and swirling within. Snape’s 
+thoughts . . . things he did not want Harry to see if he 
+broke through Snape’s defenses accidentally... 
+
+Harry gazed at the Pensieve, curiosity welling inside 
+him... What was it that Snape was so keen to hide 
+from Harry? 
+
+The silvery lights shivered on the wall... Harry took 
+two steps toward the desk, thinking hard. Could it 
+possibly be information about the Department of 
+Mysteries that Snape was determined to keep from 
+him? 
+
+Harry looked over his shoulder, his heart now 
+pumping harder and faster than ever. How long would 
+it take Snape to release Montague from the toilet? 
+Would he come straight back to his office afterward, 
+or accompany Montague to the hospital wing? Surely 
+the latter . . . Montague was Captain of the Slytherin 
+Quidditch team, Snape would want to make sure he 
+was all right... 
+
+Harry walked the remaining few feet to the Pensieve 
+and stood over it, gazing into its depths. He hesitated, 
+listening, then pulled out his wand again. The office 
+and the corridor beyond were completely silent. He 
+gave the contents of the Pensieve a small prod with 
+the end of his wand. 
+
+The silvery stuff within began to swirl very fast. Harry 
+leaned forward over it and saw that it had become 
+transparent. He was, once again, looking down into a 
+room as though through a circular window in the 
+ceiling... In fact, unless he was much mistaken, he 
+was looking down upon the Great Hall... 
+
+His breath was actually fogging the surface of Snape’s 
+thoughts... His brain seemed to be in limbo... It would 
+
+Page | 816Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+be insane to do the thing that he was so strongly 
+tempted to do... He was trembling... Snape could be 
+back at any moment ... but Harry thought of Cho’s 
+anger, of Malfoy’s jeering face, and a reckless daring 
+seized him. 
+
+He took a great gulp of breath and plunged his face 
+into the surface of Snape’s thoughts. At once, the 
+floor of the office lurched, tipping Harry headfirst into 
+the Pensieve... 
+
+He was falling through cold blackness, spinning 
+furiously as he went, and then — 
+
+He was standing in the middle of the Great Hall, but 
+the four House tables were gone. Instead there were 
+more than a hundred smaller tables, all facing the 
+same way, at each of which sat a student, head bent 
+low, scribbling on a roll of parchment. The only sound 
+was the scratching of quills and the occasional rustle 
+as somebody adjusted their parchment. It was clearly 
+exam time. 
+
+Sunshine was streaming through the high windows 
+onto the bent heads, which shone chestnut and 
+copper and gold in the bright light. Harry looked 
+around carefully. Snape had to be here somewhere... 
+This was his memory. . . 
+
+And there he was, at a table right behind Harry. 
+
+Harry stared. Snape-the-teenager had a stringy, pallid 
+look about him, like a plant kept in the dark. His hair 
+was lank and greasy and was flopping onto the table, 
+his hooked nose barely half an inch from the surface 
+of the parchment as he scribbled. Harry moved 
+around behind Snape and read the heading of the 
+examination paper: 
+
+DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS — 
+
+Page | 817Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL 
+
+
+
+So Snape had to be fifteen or sixteen, around Harry’s 
+own age. His hand was flying across the parchment; 
+he had written at least a foot more than his closest 
+neighbors, and yet his writing was minuscule and 
+cramped. 
+
+“Five more minutes!” 
+
+The voice made Harry jump; turning, he saw the top 
+of Professor Flitwick’s head moving between the desks 
+a short distance away. Professor Flitwick was walking 
+past a boy with untidy black hair . . . very untidy black 
+hair. . . 
+
+Harry moved so quickly that, had he been solid, he 
+would have knocked desks flying. Instead he seemed 
+to slide, dreamlike, across two aisles and up a third. 
+The back of the black-haired boy’s head drew nearer 
+and nearer. . . He was straightening up now, putting 
+down his quill, pulling his roll of parchment toward 
+him so as to reread what he had written... 
+
+Harry stopped in front of the desk and gazed down at 
+his fifteen-year- old father. 
+
+Excitement exploded in the pit of his stomach: It was 
+as though he was looking at himself but with 
+deliberate mistakes. James’s eyes were hazel, his 
+nose was slightly longer than Harry’s, and there was 
+no scar on his forehead, but they had the same thin 
+face, same mouth, same eyebrows. James’s hair 
+stuck up at the back exactly as Harry’s did, his hands 
+could have been Harry’s, and Harry could tell that 
+when James stood up, they would be within an inch 
+of each other’s heights. 
+
+
+
+Page | 818Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+James yawned hugely and rumpled up his hair, 
+making it even messier than it had been. Then, with a 
+glance toward Professor Flitwick, he turned in his 
+seat and grinned at a boy sitting four seats behind 
+him. 
+
+With another shock of excitement, Harry saw Sirius 
+give James the thumbs-up. Sirius was lounging in his 
+chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. He was 
+very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with 
+a sort of casual elegance neither James’s nor Harry’s 
+could ever have achieved, and a girl sitting behind 
+him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn’t seem 
+to have noticed. And two seats along from this girl — 
+Harry’s stomach gave another pleasurable squirm — 
+was Remus Lupin. He looked rather pale and peaky 
+(was the full moon approaching?) and was absorbed 
+in the exam: As he reread his answers he scratched 
+his chin with the end of his quill, frowning slightly. 
+
+So that meant Wormtail had to be around here 
+somewhere too . . . and sure enough, Harry spotted 
+him within seconds: a small, mousy-haired boy with a 
+pointed nose. Wormtail looked anxious; he was 
+chewing his fingernails, staring down at his paper, 
+scuffing the ground with his toes. Every now and then 
+he glanced hopefully at his neighbor’s paper. Harry 
+stared at Wormtail for a moment, then back at 
+James, who was now doodling on a bit of scrap 
+parchment. He had drawn a Snitch and was now 
+tracing the letters L. E. What did they stand for? 
+
+“Quills down, please!” squeaked Professor Flitwick. 
+“That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated 
+while I collect your parchment! Acciol” 
+
+More than a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed into 
+the air and into Professor Flitwick’s outstretched 
+arms, knocking him backward off his feet. Several 
+
+Page | 819Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+people laughed. A couple of students at the front 
+desks got up, took hold of Professor Flitwick beneath 
+the elbows, and lifted him onto his feet again. 
+
+“Thank you ... thank you,” panted Professor Flitwick. 
+“Very well, everybody, you’re free to go!” 
+
+Harry looked down at his father, who had hastily 
+crossed out the L. E. he had been embellishing, 
+jumped to his feet, stuffed his quill and the exam 
+question paper into his bag, which he slung over his 
+back, and stood waiting for Sirius to join him. 
+
+Harry looked around and glimpsed Snape a short way 
+away, moving between the tables toward the doors 
+into the entrance hall, still absorbed in his own 
+examination paper. Round-shouldered yet angular, he 
+walked in a twitchy manner that recalled a spider, his 
+oily hair swinging about his face. 
+
+A gang of chattering girls separated Snape from 
+James and Sirius, and by planting himself in the 
+midst of this group, Harry managed to keep Snape in 
+sight while straining his ears to catch the voices of 
+James and his friends. 
+
+“Did you like question ten, Moony?” asked Sirius as 
+they emerged into the entrance hall. 
+
+“Loved it,” said Lupin briskly. “ ‘Give five signs that 
+identify the werewolf.’ Excellent question.” 
+
+“D’you think you managed to get all the signs?” said 
+James in tones of mock concern. 
+
+“Think I did,” said Lupin seriously, as they joined the 
+crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get 
+out into the sunlit grounds. “One: He’s sitting on my 
+
+
+
+Page | 820Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+chair. Two: He’s wearing my clothes. Three: His 
+name’s Remus Lupin ...” 
+
+
+
+Wormtail was the only one who didn’t laugh. 
+
+“I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the 
+tufted tail,” he said anxiously, “but I couldn’t think 
+what else — ” 
+
+“How thick are you, Wormtail?” said James 
+impatiently. “You run round with a werewolf once a 
+month — ” 
+
+“Keep your voice down,” implored Lupin. 
+
+Harry looked anxiously behind him again. Snape 
+remained close by, still buried in his examination 
+questions; but this was Snape’s memory, and Harry 
+was sure that if Snape chose to wander off in a 
+different direction once outside in the grounds, he, 
+Harry, would not be able to follow James any farther. 
+To his intense relief, however, when James and his 
+three friends strode off down the lawn toward the 
+lake, Snape followed, still poring over the paper and 
+apparently with no fixed idea of where he was going. 
+By jogging a little ahead of him, Harry managed to 
+maintain a close watch on James and the others. 
+
+“Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake,” he 
+heard Sirius say. “I’ll be surprised if I don’t get 
+Outstanding on it at least.” 
+
+“Me too,” said James. He put his hand in his pocket 
+and took out a struggling Golden Snitch. 
+
+“Where ’d you get that?” 
+
+“Nicked it,” said James casually. He started playing 
+with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot 
+
+Page | 821Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+away and seizing it again; his reflexes were excellent. 
+Wormtail watched him in awe. 
+
+They stopped in the shade of the very same beech tree 
+on the edge of the lake where Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione had spent a Sunday finishing their 
+homework, and threw themselves down on the grass. 
+
+Harry looked over his shoulder yet again and saw, to 
+his delight, that Snape had settled himself on the 
+grass in the dense shadows of a clump of bushes. He 
+was as deeply immersed in the O.W.L. paper as ever, 
+which left Harry free to sit down on the grass between 
+the beech and the bushes and watch the foursome 
+under the tree. 
+
+The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of 
+the lake, on the bank of which the group of laughing 
+girls who had just left the Great Hall were sitting with 
+shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water. 
+
+Lupin had pulled out a book and was reading. Sirius 
+stared around at the students milling over the grass, 
+looking rather haughty and bored, but very 
+handsomely so. James was still playing with the 
+Snitch, letting it zoom farther and farther away, 
+almost escaping but always grabbed at the last 
+second. Wormtail was watching him with his mouth 
+open. Every time James made a particularly difficult 
+catch, Wormtail gasped and applauded. After five 
+minutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn’t 
+tell Wormtail to get a grip on himself, but James 
+seemed to be enjoying the attention. Harry noticed his 
+father had a habit of rumpling up his hair as though 
+to make sure it did not get too tidy, and also that he 
+kept looking over at the girls by the water’s edge. 
+
+“Put that away, will you?” said Sirius finally, as 
+James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a 
+
+Page | 822Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+cheer. “Before Wormtail wets himself from 
+excitement.” 
+
+Wormtail turned slightly pink but James grinned. 
+
+“If it bothers you,” he said, stuffing the Snitch back in 
+his pocket. Harry had the distinct impression that 
+Sirius was the only one for whom James would have 
+stopped showing off. 
+
+“I’m bored,” said Sirius. “Wish it was full moon.” 
+
+“You might,” said Lupin darkly from behind his book. 
+“We’ve still got Transfiguration, if you’re bored you 
+could test me... Here.” He held out his book. 
+
+Sirius snorted. “I don’t need to look at that rubbish, I 
+know it all.” 
+
+“This’ll liven you up, Padfoot,” said James quietly. 
+“Look who it is...” 
+
+Sirius’s head turned. He had become very still, like a 
+dog that has scented a rabbit. 
+
+“Excellent,” he said softly. “ Snivellus.” 
+
+Harry turned to see what Sirius was looking at. 
+
+Snape was on his feet again, and was stowing the 
+O.W.L. paper in his bag. As he emerged from the 
+shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, 
+Sirius and James stood up. Lupin and Wormtail 
+remained sitting: Lupin was still staring down at his 
+book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint 
+frown line had appeared between his eyebrows. 
+Wormtail was looking from Sirius and James to 
+Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 823Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“All right, Snivellus?” said James loudly. 
+
+
+
+Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been 
+expecting an attack: Dropping his bag, he plunged his 
+hand inside his robes, and his wand was halfway into 
+the air when James shouted, “ ExpelliarmusV’ 
+
+Snape ’s wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with 
+a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a 
+bark of laughter. 
+
+“ Impedimental ” he said, pointing his wand at Snape, 
+who was knocked off his feet, halfway through a dive 
+toward his own fallen wand. 
+
+Students all around had turned to watch. Some of 
+them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer 
+to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others 
+entertained. 
+
+Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius 
+advanced on him, wands up, James glancing over his 
+shoulder at the girls at the water’s edge as he went. 
+Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, 
+edging around Lupin to get a clearer view. 
+
+“How’d the exam go, Snivelly?” said James. 
+
+“I was watching him, his nose was touching the 
+parchment,” said Sirius viciously. “There’ll be great 
+grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a 
+word.” 
+
+Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly 
+unpopular. Wormtail sniggered shrilly. Snape was 
+trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on 
+him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible 
+ropes. 
+
+Page | 824Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You — wait,” he panted, staring up at James with an 
+expression of purest loathing. “You — wait...” 
+
+“Wait for what?” said Sirius coolly. “What’re you going 
+to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?” 
+
+Snape let out a stream of mixed swearwords and 
+hexes, but his wand being ten feet away nothing 
+happened. 
+
+“Wash out your mouth,” said James coldly. 
+
+“ Scourgifyl” 
+
+Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape’s mouth at 
+once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, 
+choking him — 
+
+“Leave him ALONE!” 
+
+James and Sirius looked around. James’s free hand 
+jumped to his hair again. 
+
+It was one of the girls from the lake edge. She had 
+thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and 
+startlingly green almond-shaped eyes — Harry’s eyes. 
+
+Harry’s mother ... 
+
+“All right, Evans?” said James, and the tone of his 
+voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature. 
+
+“Leave him alone,” Lily repeated. She was looking at 
+James with every sign of great dislike. “What’s he 
+done to you?” 
+
+“Well,” said James, appearing to deliberate the point, 
+“it’s more the fact that he exists, if you know what I 
+mean...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Many of the surrounding watchers laughed, Sirius 
+and Wormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently 
+intent on his book, didn’t, and neither did Lily. 
+
+“You think you’re funny,” she said coldly. “But you’re 
+just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him 
+alone.” 
+
+“I will if you go out with me, Evans,” said James 
+quickly. “Go on ... Go out with me, and I’ll never lay a 
+wand on old Snivelly again.” 
+
+Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. 
+Snape was beginning to inch toward his fallen wand, 
+spitting out soapsuds as he crawled. 
+
+“I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between 
+you and the giant squid,” said Lily. 
+
+“Bad luck, Prongs,” said Sirius briskly, turning back 
+to Snape. “OY!” 
+
+But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at 
+James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared 
+on the side of James’s face, spattering his robes with 
+blood. James whirled about; a second flash of light 
+later, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his 
+robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs 
+and a pair of graying underpants. 
+
+Many people in the small crowd watching cheered. 
+Sirius, James, and Wormtail roared with laughter. 
+
+Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an 
+instant as though she was going to smile, said, “Let 
+him down!” 
+
+“Certainly,” said James and he jerked his wand 
+upward. Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+ground. Disentangling himself from his robes, he got 
+quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” and Snape keeled over again at 
+once, rigid as a board. 
+
+“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Lily shouted. She had her own 
+wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily. 
+
+“Ah, Evans, don’t make me hex you,” said James 
+earnestly. 
+
+“Take the curse off him, then!” 
+
+James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and 
+muttered the countercurse. 
+
+“There you go,” he said, as Snape struggled to his feet 
+again, “you’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus — ” 
+
+“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like 
+her!” 
+
+Lily blinked. “Fine,” she said coolly. “I won’t bother in 
+future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you, 
+Snivellus.” 
+
+“Apologize to Evans!” James roared at Snape, his 
+wand pointed threateningly at him. 
+
+“I don’t want you to make him apologize,” Lily 
+shouted, rounding on James. “You’re as bad as he 
+is...” 
+
+“What?” yelped James. “I’d NEVER call you a — you- 
+know-what!” 
+
+“Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool 
+to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, 
+showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down 
+
+Page | 827Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just 
+because you can — I’m surprised your broomstick 
+can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You 
+make me SICK.” 
+
+She turned on her heel and hurried away. 
+
+“Evans!” James shouted after her, “Hey, EVANS!” 
+
+But she didn’t look back. 
+
+“What is it with her?” said James, trying and failing to 
+look as though this was a throwaway question of no 
+real importance to him. 
+
+“Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re 
+a bit conceited, mate,” said Sirius. 
+
+“Right,” said James, who looked furious now, “right — 
+
+
+
+There was another flash of light, and Snape was once 
+again hanging upside down in the air. 
+
+“Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?” 
+
+But whether James really did take off Snape’s pants, 
+Harry never found out. A hand had closed tight over 
+his upper arm, closed with a pincerlike grip. Wincing, 
+Harry looked around to see who had hold of him, and 
+saw, with a thrill of horror, a fully grown, adult-sized 
+Snape standing right beside him, white with rage. 
+
+“Having fun?” 
+
+Harry felt himself rising into the air. The summer’s 
+day evaporated around him, he was floating upward 
+through icy blackness, Snape’s hand still tight upon 
+his upper arm. Then, with a swooping feeling as 
+
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+
+
+
+
+though he had turned head over heels in midair, his 
+feet hit the stone floor of Snape’s dungeon, and he 
+was standing again beside the Pensieve on Snape’s 
+desk in the shadowy, present-day Potions master’s 
+study. 
+
+“So,” said Snape, gripping Harry’s arm so tightly 
+Harry’s hand was starting to feel numb. “So ... been 
+enjoying yourself, Potter?” 
+
+“N-no ...” said Harry, trying to free his arm. 
+
+It was scary: Snape’s lips were shaking, his face was 
+white, his teeth were bared. 
+
+“Amusing man, your father, wasn’t he?” said Snape, 
+shaking Harry so hard that his glasses slipped down 
+his nose. 
+
+“I — didn’t — ” 
+
+Snape threw Harry from him with all his might. Harry 
+fell hard onto the dungeon floor. 
+
+“You will not tell anybody what you saw!” Snape 
+bellowed. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, getting to his feet as far from Snape 
+as he could. “No, of course I w — ” 
+
+“Get out, get out, I don’t want to see you in this office 
+ever again!” 
+
+And as Harry hurtled toward the door, ajar of dead 
+cockroaches exploded over his head. He wrenched the 
+door open and flew away up the corridor, stopping 
+only when he had put three floors between himself 
+and Snape. There he leaned against the wall, panting, 
+and rubbing his bruised arm. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He had no desire at all to return to Gryffindor Tower 
+so early, nor to tell Ron and Hermione what he had 
+just seen. What was making Harry feel so horrified 
+and unhappy was not being shouted at or having jars 
+thrown at him — it was that he knew how it felt to be 
+humiliated in the middle of a circle of onlookers, knew 
+exactly how Snape had felt as his father had taunted 
+him, and that judging from what he had just seen, his 
+father had been every bit as arrogant as Snape had 
+always told him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+CAREER ADVICE 
+
+“But why haven’t you got Occlumency lessons 
+anymore?” said Hermione, frowning. 
+
+“I’ve told you,” Harry muttered. “Snape reckons I can 
+carry on by myself now I’ve got the basics...” 
+
+“So you’ve stopped having funny dreams?” said 
+Hermione skeptically. 
+
+“Pretty much,” said Harry, not looking at her. 
+
+“Well, I don’t think Snape should stop until you’re 
+absolutely sure you can control them!” said Hermione 
+indignantly. “Harry, I think you should go back to 
+him and ask — ” 
+
+“No,” said Harry forcefully. “Just drop it, Hermione, 
+okay?” 
+
+It was the first day of the Easter holidays and 
+Hermione, as was her custom, had spent a large part 
+of the day drawing up study schedules for the three of 
+
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+
+
+
+them. Harry and Ron had let her do it — it was easier 
+than arguing with her and, in any case, they might 
+come in useful. 
+
+Ron had been startled to discover that there were only 
+six weeks left until their exams. 
+
+“How can that come as a shock?” Hermione 
+demanded, as she tapped each little square on Ron’s 
+schedule with her wand so that it flashed a different 
+color according to its subject. 
+
+“I dunno ...” said Ron, “there’s been a lot going on...” 
+
+“Well, there you are,” she said, handing him his 
+schedule, “if you follow that you should do fine.” 
+
+Ron looked down it gloomily, but then brightened. 
+
+“You’ve given me an evening off every week!” 
+
+“That’s for Quidditch practice,” said Hermione. 
+
+The smile faded from Ron’s face. 
+
+“What’s the point?” he said. “We’ve got about as much 
+chance of winning the Quidditch Cup this year as 
+Dad’s got of becoming Minister of Magic...” 
+
+Hermione said nothing. She was looking at Harry, 
+who was staring blankly at the opposite wall of the 
+common room while Crookshanks pawed at his hand, 
+trying to get his ears scratched. 
+
+“What’s wrong, Harry?” 
+
+“What?” he said quickly. “Nothing ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He seized his copy of Defensive Magical Theory and 
+pretended to be looking something up in the index. 
+Crookshanks gave him up as a bad job and slunk 
+away under Hermione’s chair. 
+
+“I saw Cho earlier,” said Hermione tentatively, “and 
+she looked really miserable too... Have you two had a 
+row again?” 
+
+“Wha — oh yeah, we have,” said Harry, seizing 
+gratefully on the excuse. 
+
+“What about?” 
+
+“That sneak friend of hers, Marietta,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yeah, well, I don’t blame you!” said Ron angrily, 
+setting down his study schedule. “If it hadn’t been for 
+her ...” 
+
+Ron went into a rant about Marietta Edgecombe, 
+which Harry found helpful. All he had to do was look 
+angry, nod, and say “yeah” and “that’s right” 
+whenever Ron drew breath, leaving his mind free to 
+dwell, ever more miserably, on what he had seen in 
+the Pensieve. 
+
+He felt as though the memory of it was eating him 
+from inside. He had been so sure that his parents had 
+been wonderful people that he never had the slightest 
+difficulty in disbelieving Snape’s aspersions on his 
+father’s character. Hadn’t people like Hagrid and 
+Sirius told Harry how wonderful his father had been? 
+
+( Yeah, well, look what Sirius was like himself, said a 
+nagging voice inside Harry’s head... He was as bad, 
+wasn’t he?) Yes, he had once overheard Professor 
+McGonagall saying that his father and Sirius had 
+been troublemakers at school, but she had described 
+them as forerunners of the Weasley twins, and Harry 
+Page | 833Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+could not imagine Fred and George dangling someone 
+upside down for the fun of it ... not unless they really 
+loathed them . . . Perhaps Malfoy, or somebody who 
+really deserved it . . . 
+
+Harry tried to make a case for Snape having deserved 
+what he had suffered at James’s hands — but hadn’t 
+Lily asked, “What’s he done to you?” And hadn’t 
+James replied, “It’s more the fact that he exists, if you 
+know what I mean?” Hadn’t James started it all 
+simply because Sirius said he was bored? Harry 
+remembered Lupin saying back in Grimmauld Place 
+that Dumbledore had made him prefect in the hope 
+that he would be able to exercise some control over 
+James and Sirius... But in the Pensieve, he had sat 
+there and let it all happen... 
+
+Harry reminded himself that Lily had intervened; his 
+mother had been decent, yet the memory of the look 
+on her face as she had shouted at James disturbed 
+him quite as much as anything else. She had clearly 
+loathed James and Harry simply could not 
+understand how they could have ended up married. 
+Once or twice he even wondered whether James had 
+forced her into it... 
+
+For nearly five years the thought of his father had 
+been a source of comfort, of inspiration. Whenever 
+someone had told him he was like James he had 
+glowed with pride inside. And now ... now he felt cold 
+and miserable at the thought of him. 
+
+The weather grew breezier, brighter, and warmer as 
+the holidays passed, but Harry was stuck with the 
+rest of the fifth and seventh years, who were all 
+trapped inside, traipsing back and forth to the library. 
+Harry pretended that his bad mood had no other 
+cause but the approaching exams, and as his fellow 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Gryffindors were sick of studying themselves, his 
+excuse went unchallenged. 
+
+“Harry, I’m talking to you, can you hear me?” 
+
+“Huh?” 
+
+He looked around. Ginny Weasley, looking very 
+windswept, had joined him at the library table where 
+he had been sitting alone. It was late on Sunday 
+evening; Hermione had gone back to Gryffindor Tower 
+to review Ancient Runes; Ron had Quidditch practice. 
+
+“Oh hi,” said Harry, pulling his books back toward 
+him. “How come you’re not at practice?” 
+
+“It’s over,” said Ginny. “Ron had to take Jack Sloper 
+up to the hospital wing.” 
+
+“Why?” 
+
+“Well, we’re not sure, but we think he knocked himself 
+out with his own bat.” She sighed heavily. “Anyway ... 
+a package just arrived, it’s only just got through 
+Umbridge’s new screening process...” 
+
+She hoisted a box wrapped in brown paper onto the 
+table; it had clearly been unwrapped and carelessly 
+rewrapped, and there was a scribbled note across it in 
+red ink, reading INSPECTED AND PASSED BY THE 
+HOGWARTS HIGH INQUISITOR. 
+
+“It’s Easter eggs from Mum,” said Ginny. “There’s one 
+for you... There you go...” 
+
+She handed him a handsome chocolate egg decorated 
+with small, iced Snitches and, according to the 
+packaging, containing a bag of Fizzing Whizbees. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry looked at it for a moment, then, to his horror, 
+felt a hard lump rise in his throat. 
+
+
+
+“Are you okay, Harry?” asked Ginny quietly. 
+
+“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Harry gruffly. The lump in his 
+throat was painful. He did not understand why an 
+Easter egg should have made him feel like this. 
+
+“You seem really down lately,” Ginny persisted. “You 
+know, I’m sure if you just talked to Cho ...” 
+
+“It’s not Cho I want to talk to,” said Harry brusquely. 
+
+“Who is it, then?” asked Ginny. 
+
+
+
+He glanced around to make quite sure that nobody 
+was listening; Madam Pince was several shelves away, 
+stamping out a pile of books for a frantic-looking 
+Hannah Abbott. 
+
+“I wish I could talk to Sirius,” he muttered. “But I 
+know I can’t.” 
+
+More to give himself something to do than because he 
+really wanted any, Harry unwrapped his Easter egg, 
+broke off a large bit, and put it into his mouth. 
+
+“Well,” said Ginny slowly, helping herself to a bit of 
+egg too, “if you really want to talk to Sirius, I expect 
+we could think of a way to do it...” 
+
+“Come on,” said Harry hopelessly. “With Umbridge 
+policing the fires and reading all our mail?” 
+
+“The thing about growing up with Fred and George,” 
+said Ginny thoughtfully, “is that you sort of start 
+
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+
+
+
+
+thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough 
+nerve.” 
+
+Harry looked at her. Perhaps it was the effect of the 
+chocolate — Lupin had always advised eating some 
+after encounters with dementors — or simply because 
+he had finally spoken aloud the wish that had been 
+burning inside him for a week, but he felt a bit more 
+hopeful... 
+
+“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?” 
+
+“Oh damn,” whispered Ginny, jumping to her feet. “I 
+forgot—” 
+
+Madam Pince was swooping down upon them, her 
+shriveled face contorted with rage. 
+
+“ Chocolate in the library\” she screamed. “Out — out 
+— OUT!” 
+
+And whipping out her wand, she caused Harry’s 
+books, bag, and ink bottle to chase him and Ginny 
+from the library, whacking them repeatedly over the 
+head as they ran. 
+
+As though to underline the importance of their 
+upcoming examinations, a batch of pamphlets, 
+leaflets, and notices concerning various Wizarding 
+careers appeared on the tables in Gryffindor Tower 
+shortly before the end of the holidays, along with yet 
+another notice on the board, which read: 
+
+CAREER ADVICE 
+
+All fifth years will be required to attend a short 
+meeting with their Head of House during the first 
+week of the Summer term, in which they will be given 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+the opportunity to discuss their future careers. Times 
+of individual appointments are listed below. 
+
+
+
+Harry looked down the list and found that he was 
+expected in Professor McGonagall’s office at half-past 
+two on Monday, which would mean missing most of 
+Divination. He and the other fifth years spent a 
+considerable part of the final weekend of the Easter 
+break reading all the career information that had 
+been left there for their perusal. 
+
+“Well, I don’t fancy Healing,” said Ron on the last 
+evening of the holidays. He was immersed in a leaflet 
+that carried the crossed bone-and-wand emblem of 
+St. Mungo’s on its front. “It says here you need at 
+least an E at N.E.W.T. level in Potions, Herbology, 
+Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the 
+Dark Arts. I mean ... blimey... Don’t want much, do 
+they?” 
+
+“Well, it’s a very responsible job, isn’t it?” said 
+Hermione absently. She was poring over a bright 
+pink-and-orange leaflet that was headed SO YOU 
+THINK YOU’D LIKE TO WORK IN MUGGLE 
+RELATIONS? “You don’t seem to need many 
+qualifications to liaise with Muggles... All they want is 
+an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies... ‘Much more important 
+is your enthusiasm, patience, and a good sense offunV 
+
+
+
+“You’d need more than a good sense of fun to liaise 
+with my uncle,” said Harry darkly. “Good sense of 
+when to duck, more like ...” He was halfway through 
+a pamphlet on Wizard banking. “Listen to this: 
+
+“ ‘Are you seeking a challenging career involving travel, 
+adventure, and substantial, danger-related treasure 
+bonuses? Then consider a position with Gringotts 
+Wizarding Bank, who are currently recruiting Curse- 
+
+P a g e | 838Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Breakers for thrilling opportunities abroad...’ They 
+want Arithmancy, though... You could do it, 
+Hermione!” 
+
+“I don’t much fancy banking,” said Hermione vaguely, 
+now immersed in HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES 
+TO TRAIN SECURITY TROLLS? 
+
+“Hey,” said a voice in Harry’s ear. He looked around; 
+Fred and George had come to join them. “Ginny’s had 
+a word with us about you,” said Fred, stretching out 
+his legs on the table in front of them and causing 
+several booklets on careers with the Ministry of Magic 
+to slide off onto the floor. “She says you need to talk 
+to Sirius?” 
+
+“What?” said Hermione sharply, freezing with her 
+hand halfway toward picking up MAKE A BANG AT 
+THE DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL ACCIDENTS AND 
+CATASTROPHES. 
+
+“Yeah ...” said Harry, trying to sound casual, “yeah, I 
+thought I’d like — ” 
+
+“Don’t be so ridiculous,” said Hermione, straightening 
+up and looking at him as though she could not 
+believe her eyes. “With Umbridge groping around in 
+the fires and frisking all the owls?” 
+
+“Well, we think we can find a way around that,” said 
+George, stretching and smiling. “It’s a simple matter 
+of causing a diversion. Now, you might have noticed 
+that we have been rather quiet on the mayhem front 
+during the Easter holidays?” 
+
+“What was the point, we asked ourselves, of 
+disrupting leisure time?” continued Fred. “No point at 
+all, we answered ourselves. And of course, we’d have 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+messed up people’s studying too, which would be the 
+very last thing we’d want to do.” 
+
+He gave Hermione a sanctimonious little nod. She 
+looked rather taken aback by this thoughtfulness. 
+
+“But it’s business as usual from tomorrow,” Fred 
+continued briskly. “And if we’re going to be causing a 
+bit of uproar, why not do it so that Harry can have his 
+chat with Sirius?” 
+
+“Yes, but still,” said Hermione with an air of 
+explaining something very simple to somebody very 
+obtuse, “even if you do cause a diversion, how is 
+Harry supposed to talk to him?” 
+
+“Umbridge’s office,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+He had been thinking about it for a fortnight and 
+could think of no alternative; Umbridge herself had 
+told him that the only fire that was not being watched 
+was her own. 
+
+“Are — you — insane?” said Hermione in a hushed 
+voice. 
+
+Ron had lowered his leaflet on jobs in the cultivated 
+fungus trade and was watching the conversation 
+warily. 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Harry, shrugging. 
+
+“And how are you going to get in there in the first 
+place?” 
+
+Harry was ready for this question. 
+
+“Sirius’s knife,” he said. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Excuse me?” 
+
+
+
+“Christmas before last Sirius gave me a knife that’ll 
+open any lock,” said Harry. “So even if she’s 
+bewitched the door so Alohomora won’t work, which I 
+bet she has — ” 
+
+“What do you think about this?” Hermione demanded 
+of Ron, and Harry was reminded irresistibly of Mrs. 
+Weasley appealing to her husband during Harry’s first 
+dinner in Grimmauld Place. 
+
+“I dunno,” said Ron, looking alarmed at being asked 
+to give an opinion. “If Harry wants to do it, it’s up to 
+him, isn’t it?” 
+
+“Spoken like a true friend and Weasley,” said Fred, 
+clapping Ron hard on the back. “Right, then. We’re 
+thinking of doing it tomorrow, just after lessons, 
+because it should cause maximum impact if 
+everybody’s in the corridors — Harry, we’ll set it off in 
+the east wing somewhere, draw her right away from 
+her own office — I reckon we should be able to 
+guarantee you, what, twenty minutes?” he said, 
+looking at George. 
+
+“Easy,” said George. 
+
+“What sort of diversion is it?” asked Ron. 
+
+“You’ll see, little bro,” said Fred, as he and George got 
+up again. “At least, you will if you trot along to 
+Gregory the Smarmy’s corridor round about five 
+o’clock tomorrow.” 
+
+Harry awoke very early the next day, feeling almost as 
+anxious as he had done on the morning of his hearing 
+at the Ministry of Magic. It was not only the prospect 
+of breaking into Umbridge’s office and using her fire 
+
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+
+
+
+
+to speak to Sirius that was making him feel nervous, 
+though that was certainly bad enough — today also 
+happened to be the first time he would be in close 
+proximity with Snape since Snape had thrown him 
+out of his office, as they had Potions that day. 
+
+After lying in bed for a while thinking about the day 
+ahead, Harry got up very quietly and moved across to 
+the window beside Neville’s bed, staring out on a truly 
+glorious morning. The sky was a clear, misty, 
+opalescent blue. Directly ahead of him, Harry could 
+see the towering beech tree below which his father 
+had once tormented Snape. He was not sure what 
+Sirius could possibly say to him that would make up 
+for what he had seen in the Pensieve, but he was 
+desperate to hear Sirius’s own account of what had 
+happened, to know of any mitigating factors there 
+might have been, any excuse at all for his father’s 
+behavior. . . 
+
+Something caught Harry’s attention: movement on 
+the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry squinted into 
+the sun and saw Hagrid emerging from between the 
+trees. He seemed to be limping. As Harry watched, 
+Hagrid staggered to the door of his cabin and 
+disappeared inside it. Harry watched the cabin for 
+several minutes. Hagrid did not emerge again, but 
+smoke furled from the chimney, so Hagrid could not 
+be so badly injured that he was unequal to stoking 
+the fire... 
+
+Harry turned away from the window, headed back to 
+his trunk, and started to dress. 
+
+With the prospect of forcing entry into Umbridge’s 
+office ahead, Harry had never expected the day to be a 
+restful one, but he had not reckoned on Hermione’s 
+almost continual attempts to dissuade him from what 
+he was planning to do at five o’clock. For the first time 
+Page | 842Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ever, she was at least as inattentive to Professor 
+Binns in History of Magic as Harry and Ron were, 
+keeping up a stream of whispered admonitions that 
+Harry tried very hard to ignore. 
+
+"... and if she does catch you there, apart from being 
+expelled, shell be able to guess you’ve been talking to 
+Snuffles and this time I expect she’ll force you to 
+drink Veritaserum and answer her questions...” 
+
+“Hermione,” said Ron in a low and indignant voice, 
+“are you going to stop telling Harry off and listen to 
+Binns, or am I going to have to take notes instead?” 
+
+“You take notes for a change, it won’t kill you!” 
+
+By the time they reached the dungeons, neither Harry 
+nor Ron was speaking to Hermione any longer. 
+Undeterred, she took advantage of their silence to 
+maintain an uninterrupted flow of dire warnings, all 
+uttered under her breath in a vehement hiss that 
+caused Seamus to waste five whole minutes checking 
+his cauldron for leaks. 
+
+Snape, meanwhile, seemed to have decided to act as 
+though Harry were invisible. Harry was, of course, 
+well used to this tactic, as it was one of Uncle 
+Vernon’s favorites, and on the whole was grateful he 
+had to suffer nothing worse. In fact, compared to 
+what he usually had to endure from Snape in the way 
+of taunts and snide remarks, he found the new 
+approach something of an improvement and was 
+pleased to find that when left well alone, he was able 
+to concoct an Invigoration Draught quite easily. At the 
+end of the lesson he scooped some of the potion into a 
+flask, corked it, and took it up to Snape’s desk for 
+marking, feeling that he might at last have scraped an 
+E. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He had just turned away when he heard a smashing 
+noise; Malfoy gave a gleeful yell of laughter. Harry 
+whipped around again. His potion sample lay in 
+pieces on the floor, and Snape was watching him with 
+a look of gloating pleasure. 
+
+“Whoops,” he said softly. “Another zero, then, Potter 
+
+
+
+Harry was too incensed to speak. He strode back to 
+his cauldron, intending to fill another flask and force 
+Snape to mark it, but saw to his horror that the rest 
+of the contents had vanished. 
+
+“I’m sorry!” said Hermione with her hands over her 
+mouth. “I’m really sorry, Harry, I thought you’d 
+finished, so I cleared up!” 
+
+Harry could not bring himself to answer. When the 
+bell rang he hurried out of the dungeon without a 
+backward glance and made sure that he found 
+himself a seat between Neville and Seamus for lunch 
+so that Hermione could not start nagging him about 
+using Umbridge’s office again. 
+
+He was in such a bad mood by the time that he got to 
+Divination that he had quite forgotten his career 
+appointment with Professor McGonagall, 
+remembering only when Ron asked him why he 
+wasn’t in her office. He hurtled back upstairs and 
+arrived out of breath, only a few minutes late. 
+
+“Sorry, Professor,” he panted, as he closed the door. “I 
+forgot...” 
+
+“No matter, Potter,” she said briskly, but as she 
+spoke, somebody else sniffed from the corner. Harry 
+looked around. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor Umbridge was sitting there, a clipboard on 
+her knee, a fussy little pie-frill around her neck, and a 
+small, horribly smug smile on her face. 
+
+“Sit down, Potter,” said Professor McGonagall tersely. 
+Her hands shook slightly as she shuffled the many 
+pamphlets littering her desk. 
+
+Harry sat down with his back to Umbridge and did 
+his best to pretend he could not hear the scratching 
+of her quill on her clipboard. 
+
+“Well, Potter, this meeting is to talk over any career 
+ideas you might have, and to help you decide which 
+subjects you should continue into sixth and seventh 
+years,” said Professor McGonagall. “Have you had any 
+thoughts about what you would like to do after you 
+leave Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Er,” said Harry. 
+
+He was finding the scratching noise from behind him 
+very distracting. 
+
+“Yes?” Professor McGonagall prompted Harry. 
+
+“Well, I thought of, maybe, being an Auror,” Harry 
+mumbled. 
+
+“You’d need top grades for that,” said Professor 
+McGonagall, extracting a small, dark leaflet from 
+under the mass on her desk and opening it. “They ask 
+for a minimum of five N.E.W.T.s, and nothing under 
+‘Exceeds Expectations’ grade, I see. Then you would 
+be required to undergo a stringent series of character 
+and aptitude tests at the Auror office. It’s a difficult 
+career path, Potter; they only take the best. In fact, I 
+don’t think anybody has been taken on in the last 
+three years.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+At this moment Professor Umbridge gave a very tiny 
+cough, as though she was trying to see how quietly 
+she could do it. Professor McGonagall ignored her. 
+
+“You’ll want to know which subjects you ought to 
+take, I suppose?” she went on, talking a little more 
+loudly than before. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “Defense Against the Dark Arts, I 
+suppose?” 
+
+“Naturally,” said Professor McGonagall crisply. “I 
+would also advise — ” 
+
+Professor Umbridge gave another cough, a little more 
+audible this time. Professor McGonagall closed her 
+eyes for a moment, opened them again, and 
+continued as though nothing had happened. 
+
+“I would also advise Transfiguration, because Aurors 
+frequently need to Transfigure or Untransfigure in 
+their work. And I ought to tell you now, Potter, that I 
+do not accept students into my N.E.W.T. classes 
+unless they have achieved ‘Exceeds Expectations’ or 
+higher at Ordinary Wizarding Level. I’d say you’re 
+averaging ‘Acceptable’ at the moment, so you’ll need 
+to put in some good hard work before the exams to 
+stand a chance of continuing. Then you ought to do 
+Charms, always useful, and Potions. Yes, Potter, 
+Potions,” she added, with the merest flicker of a smile. 
+“Poisons and antidotes are essential study for Aurors. 
+And I must tell you that Professor Snape absolutely 
+refuses to take students who get anything other than 
+‘Outstanding’ in their O.W.L.s, so — ” 
+
+Professor Umbridge gave her most pronounced cough 
+yet. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“May I offer you a cough drop, Dolores?” Professor 
+McGonagall asked curtly, without looking at Professor 
+Umbridge. 
+
+“Oh no, thank you very much,” said Umbridge, with 
+that simpering laugh Harry hated so much. “I just 
+wondered whether I could make the teensiest 
+interruption, Minerva?” 
+
+“I daresay you 11 find you can,” said Professor 
+McGonagall through tightly gritted teeth. 
+
+“I was just wondering whether Mr. Potter has quite 
+the temperament for an Auror?” said Professor 
+Umbridge sweetly. 
+
+“Were you?” said Professor McGonagall haughtily. 
+“Well, Potter,” she continued, as though there had 
+been no interruption, “if you are serious in this 
+ambition, I would advise you to concentrate hard on 
+bringing your Transfiguration and Potions up to 
+scratch. I see Professor Flitwick has graded you 
+between Acceptable’ and ‘Exceeds Expectations’ for 
+the last two years, so your Charm work seems 
+satisfactory; as for Defense Against the Dark Arts, 
+your marks have been generally high, Professor Lupin 
+in particular thought you — are you quite sure you 
+wouldn’t like a cough drop, Dolores?” 
+
+“Oh, no need, thank you, Minerva,” simpered 
+Professor Umbridge, who had just coughed her 
+loudest yet. “I was just concerned that you might not 
+have Harry’s most recent Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts marks in front of you. I’m quite sure I slipped in 
+a note ...” 
+
+“What, this thing?” said Professor McGonagall in a 
+tone of revulsion, as she pulled a sheet of pink 
+parchment from between the leaves of Harry’s folder. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+She glanced down it, her eyebrows slightly raised, 
+then placed it back into the folder without comment. 
+
+“Yes, as I was saying, Potter, Professor Lupin thought 
+you showed a pronounced aptitude for the subject, 
+and obviously for an Auror — ” 
+
+“Did you not understand my note, Minerva?” asked 
+Professor Umbridge in honeyed tones, quite forgetting 
+to cough. 
+
+“Of course I understood it,” said Professor 
+McGonagall, her teeth clenched so tightly that the 
+words came out a little muffled. 
+
+“Well, then, I am confused... I’m afraid I don’t quite 
+understand how you can give Mr. Potter false hope 
+that — ” 
+
+“False hope?” repeated Professor McGonagall, still 
+refusing to look round at Professor Umbridge. “He has 
+achieved high marks in all his Defense Against the 
+Dark Arts tests — ” 
+
+“I’m terribly sorry to have to contradict you, Minerva, 
+but as you will see from my note, Harry has been 
+achieving very poor results in his classes with me — ” 
+
+“I should have made my meaning plainer,” said 
+Professor McGonagall, turning at last to look 
+Umbridge directly in the eyes. “He has achieved high 
+marks in all Defense Against the Dark Arts tests set 
+by a competent teacher.” 
+
+Professor Umbridge’s smile vanished as suddenly as a 
+lightbulb blowing. She sat back in her chair, turned a 
+sheet on her clipboard, and began scribbling very fast 
+indeed, her bulging eyes rolling from side to side. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor McGonagall turned back to Harry, her thin 
+nostrils flared, her eyes burning. 
+
+“Any questions, Potter?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “What sort of character and 
+aptitude tests do the Ministry do on you, if you get 
+enough N.E.W.T.s?” 
+
+“Well, you’ll need to demonstrate the ability to react 
+well to pressure and so forth,” said Professor 
+McGonagall, “perseverance and dedication, because 
+Auror training takes a further three years, not to 
+mention very high skills in practical defense. It will 
+mean a lot more study even after you’ve left school, so 
+unless you’re prepared to — ” 
+
+“I think you’ll also find,” said Umbridge, her voice 
+very cold now, “that the Ministry looks into the 
+records of those applying to be Aurors. Their criminal 
+records.” 
+
+“ — unless you’re prepared to take even more exams 
+after Hogwarts, you should really look at another — ” 
+
+“ — which means that this boy has as much chance of 
+becoming an Auror as Dumbledore has of ever 
+returning to this school.” 
+
+“A very good chance, then,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“Potter has a criminal record,” said Umbridge loudly. 
+
+“Potter has been cleared of all charges,” said Professor 
+McGonagall, even more loudly. 
+
+Professor Umbridge stood up. She was so short that 
+this did not make a great deal of difference, but her 
+
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+
+
+
+
+fussy, simpering demeanor had given place to a hard 
+fury that made her broad, flabby face look oddly 
+sinister. 
+
+“Potter has no chance whatsoever of becoming an 
+Auror!” 
+
+Professor McGonagall got to her feet too, and in her 
+case this was a much more impressive move. She 
+towered over Professor Umbridge. 
+
+“Potter,” she said in ringing tones, “I will assist you to 
+become an Auror if it is the last thing I do! If I have to 
+coach you nightly I will make sure you achieve the 
+required results!” 
+
+“The Minister of Magic will never employ Harry 
+Potter!” said Umbridge, her voice rising furiously. 
+
+“There may well be a new Minister of Magic by the 
+time Potter is ready to join!” shouted Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“Aha!” shrieked Professor Umbridge, pointing a 
+stubby finger at McGonagall. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Of 
+course! That’s what you want, isn’t it, Minerva 
+McGonagall? You want Cornelius Fudge replaced by 
+Albus Dumbledore! You think you’ll be where I am, 
+don’t you, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and 
+headmistress to boot!” 
+
+“You are raving,” said Professor McGonagall, superbly 
+disdainful. “Potter, that concludes our career 
+consultation.” 
+
+Harry swung his bag over his shoulder and hurried 
+out of the room, not daring to look at Umbridge. He 
+could hear her and Professor McGonagall continuing 
+
+
+
+Page | 850Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to shout at each other all the way back along the 
+corridor. 
+
+Professor Umbridge was still breathing as though she 
+had just run a race when she strode into their 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that afternoon. 
+
+“I hope you’ve thought better of what you were 
+planning to do, Harry,” Hermione whispered, the 
+moment they had opened their books to chapter 
+thirty- four (“Non-Retaliation and Negotiation”). 
+“Umbridge looks like she’s in a really bad mood 
+already...” 
+
+Every now and then Umbridge shot glowering looks at 
+Harry, who kept his head down, staring at Defensive 
+Magical Theory, his eyes unfocused, thinking... 
+
+He could just imagine Professor McGonagall’s 
+reaction if he were caught trespassing in Professor 
+Umbridge’s office mere hours after she had vouched 
+for him. . . There was nothing to stop him simply going 
+back to Gryffindor Tower and hoping that sometime 
+during the next summer holiday he would have a 
+chance to ask Sirius about the scene he had 
+witnessed in the Pensieve... Nothing, except that the 
+thought of taking this sensible course of action made 
+him feel as though a lead weight had dropped into his 
+stomach... And then there was the matter of Fred and 
+George, whose diversion was already planned, not to 
+mention the knife Sirius had given him, which was 
+currently residing in his schoolbag along with his 
+father’s old Invisibility Cloak... 
+
+But the fact remained that if he were caught . . . 
+
+“Dumbledore sacrificed himself to keep you in school, 
+Harry!” whispered Hermione, raising her book to hide 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+her face from Umbridge. “And if you get thrown out 
+today it will all have been for nothing!” 
+
+
+
+He could abandon the plan and simply learn to live 
+with the memory of what his father had done on a 
+summer’s day more than twenty years ago... 
+
+And then he remembered Sirius in the fire upstairs in 
+the Gryffindor common room... ’’You ’re less like your 
+father than I thought... The risk would’ve been what 
+made it fun for James...” 
+
+But did he want to be like his father anymore? 
+
+“Harry, don’t do it, please don’t do it!” Hermione said 
+in anguished tones as the bell rang at the end of the 
+class. 
+
+He did not answer; he did not know what to do. Ron 
+seemed determined to give neither his opinion nor his 
+advice. He would not look at Harry, though when 
+Hermione opened her mouth to try dissuading Harry 
+some more, he said in a low voice, “Give it a rest, 
+okay? He can make up his own mind.” 
+
+Harry’s heart beat very fast as he left the classroom. 
+He was halfway along the corridor outside when he 
+heard the unmistakable sounds of a diversion going 
+off in the distance. There were screams and yells 
+reverberating from somewhere above them. People 
+exiting the classrooms all around Harry were stopping 
+in their tracks and looking up at the ceiling fearfully 
+
+
+
+Then Umbridge came pelting out of her classroom as 
+fast as her short legs would carry her. Pulling out her 
+wand, she hurried off in the opposite direction: It was 
+now or never. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harry — please!” said Hermione weakly. 
+
+
+
+But he had made up his mind — hitching his bag 
+more securely onto his shoulder he set off at a run, 
+weaving in and out of students now hurrying in the 
+opposite direction, off to see what all the fuss was 
+about in the east wing... 
+
+Harry reached the corridor where Umbridge’s office 
+was situated and found it deserted. Dashing behind a 
+large suit of armor whose helmet creaked around to 
+watch him, he pulled open his bag, seized Sirius’s 
+knife, and donned the Invisibility Cloak. He then 
+crept slowly and carefully back out from behind the 
+suit of armor and along the corridor until he reached 
+Umbridge’s door. 
+
+He inserted the blade of the magical knife into the 
+crack around it and moved it gently up and down, 
+then withdrew it. There was a tiny click, and the door 
+swung open. He ducked inside the office, closed the 
+door quickly behind him, and looked around. 
+
+It was empty; nothing was moving except the horrible 
+kittens on the plates continuing to frolic on the wall 
+above the confiscated broomsticks. 
+
+Harry pulled off his cloak and, striding over to the 
+fireplace, found what he was looking for within 
+seconds: a small box containing glittering Floo 
+powder. 
+
+He crouched down in front of the empty grate, his 
+hands shaking. He had never done this before, 
+though he thought he knew how it must work. 
+Sticking his head into the fireplace, he took a large 
+pinch of powder and dropped it onto the logs stacked 
+neatly beneath him. They exploded at once into 
+emerald-green flames. 
+
+Page | 853Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!” Harry said loudly 
+and clearly. 
+
+
+
+It was one of the most curious sensations he had ever 
+experienced; he had traveled by Floo powder before, of 
+course, but then it had been his entire body that had 
+spun around and around in the flames through the 
+network of Wizarding fireplaces that stretched over 
+the country: This time, his knees remained firm upon 
+the cold floor of Umbridge’s office, and only his head 
+hurtled through the emerald fire... 
+
+And then, abruptly as it had begun, the spinning 
+stopped. Feeling rather sick and as though he was 
+wearing an exceptionally hot muffler around his head, 
+Harry opened his eyes to find that he was looking up 
+out of the kitchen fireplace at the long, wooden table, 
+where a man sat poring over a piece of parchment. 
+
+“Sirius?” 
+
+The man jumped and looked around. It was not 
+Sirius, but Lupin. 
+
+“Harry!” he said, looking thoroughly shocked. “What 
+are you — what’s happened, is everything all right?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “I just wondered — I mean, I just 
+fancied a — a chat with Sirius.” 
+
+“I’ll call him,” said Lupin, getting to his feet, still 
+looking perplexed. “He went upstairs to look for 
+Kreacher, he seems to be hiding in the attic again...” 
+
+And Harry saw Lupin hurry out of the kitchen. Now 
+he was left with nothing to look at but the chair and 
+table legs. He wondered why Sirius had never 
+mentioned how very uncomfortable it was to speak 
+out of the fire — his knees were already objecting 
+Page | 854Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+painfully to their prolonged contact with Umbridge’s 
+hard stone floor. 
+
+
+
+Lupin returned with Sirius at his heels moments 
+later. 
+
+“What is it?” said Sirius urgently, sweeping his long 
+dark hair out of his eyes and dropping to the ground 
+in front of the fire, so that he and Harry were on a 
+level; Lupin knelt down too, looking very concerned. 
+“Are you all right? Do you need help?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “it’s nothing like that... I just wanted 
+to talk ... about my dad...” 
+
+They exchanged a look of great surprise, but Harry 
+did not have time to feel awkward or embarrassed; his 
+knees were becoming sorer by the second, and he 
+guessed that five minutes had already passed from 
+the start of the diversion — George had only 
+guaranteed him twenty. He therefore plunged 
+immediately into the story of what he had seen in the 
+Pensieve. 
+
+When he had finished, neither Sirius nor Lupin spoke 
+for a moment. Then Lupin said quietly, “I wouldn’t 
+like you to judge your father on what you saw there, 
+Harry. He was only fifteen — ” 
+
+“I’m fifteen!” said Harry heatedly. 
+
+“Look, Harry,” said Sirius placatingly, “James and 
+Snape hated each other from the moment they set 
+eyes on each other, it was just one of those things, 
+you can understand that, can’t you? I think James 
+was everything Snape wanted to be — he was 
+popular, he was good at Quidditch, good at pretty 
+much everything. And Snape was just this little 
+oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts and 
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+
+
+
+
+James — whatever else he may have appeared to you, 
+Harry — always hated the Dark Arts.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “but he just attacked Snape for no 
+good reason, just because — well, just because you 
+said you were bored,” he finished with a slightly 
+apologetic note in his voice. 
+
+“I’m not proud of it,” said Sirius quickly. 
+
+Lupin looked sideways at Sirius and then said, “Look, 
+Harry, what you’ve got to understand is that your 
+father and Sirius were the best in the school at 
+whatever they did — everyone thought they were the 
+height of cool — if they sometimes got a bit carried 
+away — ” 
+
+“If we were sometimes arrogant little berks, you 
+mean,” said Sirius. 
+
+Lupin smiled. 
+
+“He kept messing up his hair,” said Harry in a pained 
+voice. 
+
+Sirius and Lupin laughed. 
+
+“I’d forgotten he used to do that,” said Sirius 
+affectionately. 
+
+“Was he playing with the Snitch?” said Lupin eagerly. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, watching uncomprehendingly as 
+Sirius and Lupin beamed reminiscently. “Well ... I 
+thought he was a bit of an idiot.” 
+
+“Of course he was a bit of an idiot!” said Sirius 
+bracingly. “We were all idiots! Well — not Moony so 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+much,” he said fairly, looking at Lupin, but Lupin 
+shook his head. 
+
+“Did I ever tell you to lay off Snape?” he said. “Did I 
+ever have the guts to tell you I thought you were out 
+of order?” 
+
+“Yeah, well,” said Sirius, “you made us feel ashamed 
+of ourselves sometimes... That was something...” 
+
+“And,” said Harry doggedly, determined to say 
+everything that was on his mind now he was here, “he 
+kept looking over at the girls by the lake, hoping they 
+were watching him!” 
+
+“Oh, well, he always made a fool of himself whenever 
+Lily was around,” said Sirius, shrugging. “He couldn’t 
+stop himself showing off whenever he got near her.” 
+
+“How come she married him?” Harry asked miserably. 
+“She hated him!” 
+
+“Nah, she didn’t,” said Sirius. 
+
+“She started going out with him in seventh year,” said 
+Lupin. 
+
+“Once James had deflated his head a bit,” said Sirius. 
+
+“And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it,” said 
+Lupin. 
+
+“Even Snape?” said Harry. 
+
+“Well,” said Lupin slowly, “Snape was a special case. I 
+mean, he never lost an opportunity to curse James, 
+so you couldn’t really expect James to take that lying 
+down, could you?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And my mum was okay with that?” 
+
+“She didn’t know too much about it, to tell you the 
+truth,” said Sirius. “I mean, James didn’t take Snape 
+on dates with her and jinx him in front of her, did 
+he?” 
+
+Sirius frowned at Harry, who was still looking 
+unconvinced. 
+
+“Look,” he said, “your father was the best friend I ever 
+had, and he was a good person. A lot of people are 
+idiots at the age of fifteen. He grew out of it.” 
+
+“Yeah, okay,” said Harry heavily. “I just never thought 
+I’d feel sorry for Snape.” 
+
+“Now you mention it,” said Lupin, a faint crease 
+between his eyebrows, “how did Snape react when he 
+found you’d seen all this?” 
+
+“He told me he’d never teach me Occlumency again,” 
+said Harry indifferently, “like that’s a big disappoint 
+
+
+
+“He WHAT?” shouted Sirius, causing Harry to jump 
+and inhale a mouthful of ashes. 
+
+“Are you serious, Harry?” said Lupin quickly. “He’s 
+stopped giving you lessons?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, surprised at what he considered a 
+great overreaction. “But it’s okay, I don’t care, it’s a 
+bit of a relief to tell you the — ” 
+
+“I’m coming up there to have a word with Snape!” said 
+Sirius forcefully and he actually made to stand up, 
+but Lupin wrenched him back down again. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“If anyone’s going to tell Snape it will be me!” he said 
+firmly. “But Harry, first of all, you’re to go back to 
+Snape and tell him that on no account is he to stop 
+giving you lessons — when Dumbledore hears — ” 
+
+“I can’t tell him that, he’d kill me!” said Harry, 
+outraged. “You didn’t see him when we got out of the 
+Pensieve — ” 
+
+“Harry, there is nothing so important as you learning 
+Occlumency!” said Lupin sternly. “Do you understand 
+me? Nothing!” 
+
+“Okay, okay,” said Harry, thoroughly discomposed, 
+not to mention annoyed. “I’ll ... I’ll try and say 
+something to him... But it won’t be ...” 
+
+He fell silent. He could hear distant footsteps. 
+
+“Is that Kreacher coming downstairs?” 
+
+“No,” said Sirius, glancing behind him. “It must be 
+somebody your end ...” 
+
+Harry’s heart skipped several beats. 
+
+“I’d better go!” he said hastily and he pulled his head 
+backward out of Grimmauld Place’s fire. For a 
+moment his head seemed to be revolving on his 
+shoulders, and then he found himself kneeling in 
+front of Umbridge’s fire with his head firmly back on, 
+watching the emerald flames flicker and die. 
+
+“Quickly, quickly!” he heard a wheezy voice mutter 
+right outside the office door. “Ah, she’s left it open...” 
+
+Harry dived for the Invisibility Cloak and had just 
+managed to pull it back over himself when Filch burst 
+into the office. He looked absolutely delighted about 
+
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+
+
+
+
+something and was talking to himself feverishly as he 
+crossed the room, pulled open a drawer in Umbridge’s 
+desk, and began rifling through the papers inside it. 
+
+“Approval for Whipping . . . Approval for Whipping ... I 
+can do it at last... They’ve had it coming to them for 
+years...” 
+
+He pulled out a piece of parchment, kissed it, then 
+shuffled rapidly back out of the door, clutching it to 
+his chest. 
+
+Harry leapt to his feet and, making sure that he had 
+his bag and the Invisibility Cloak was completely 
+covering him, he wrenched open the door and hurried 
+out of the office after Filch, who was hobbling along 
+faster than Harry had ever seen him go. 
+
+One landing down from Umbridge’s office and Harry 
+thought it was safe to become visible again; he pulled 
+off the cloak, shoved it in his bag and hurried 
+onward. There was a great deal of shouting and 
+movement coming from the entrance hall. He ran 
+down the marble staircase and found what looked like 
+most of the school assembled there. 
+
+It was just like the night when Trelawney had been 
+sacked. Students were standing all around the walls 
+in a great ring (some of them, Harry noticed, covered 
+in a substance that looked very like Stinksap); 
+teachers and ghosts were also in the crowd. 
+
+Prominent among the onlookers were members of the 
+Inquisitorial Squad, who were all looking 
+exceptionally pleased with themselves, and Peeves, 
+who was bobbing overhead, gazed down upon Fred 
+and George, who stood in the middle of the floor with 
+the unmistakable look of two people who had just 
+been cornered. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“So!” said Umbridge triumphantly, whom Harry 
+realized was standing just a few stairs in front of him, 
+once more looking down upon her prey. “So . . . you 
+think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a 
+swamp, do you?” 
+
+“Pretty amusing, yeah,” said Fred, looking back up at 
+her without the slightest sign of fear. 
+
+Filch elbowed his way closer to Umbridge, almost 
+crying with happiness. 
+
+“I’ve got the form, Headmistress,” he said hoarsely, 
+waving the piece of parchment Harry had just seen 
+him take from her desk. “I’ve got the form and I’ve got 
+the whips waiting... Oh, let me do it now...” 
+
+“Very good, Argus,” she said. “You two,” she went on, 
+gazing down at Fred and George, “are about to learn 
+what happens to wrongdoers in my school.” 
+
+“You know what?” said Fred. “I don’t think we are.” 
+
+He turned to his twin. 
+
+“George,” said Fred, “I think we’ve outgrown full-time 
+education.” 
+
+“Yeah, I’ve been feeling that way myself,” said George 
+lightly. 
+
+“Time to test our talents in the real world, d’you 
+reckon?” asked Fred. 
+
+“Definitely,” said George. 
+
+And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised 
+their wands and said together, “Accio BroomsV’ 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry heard a loud crash somewhere in the distance. 
+Looking to his left he ducked just in time — Fred and 
+George’s broomsticks, one still trailing the heavy 
+chain and iron peg with which Umbridge had fastened 
+them to the wall, were hurtling along the corridor 
+toward their owners. They turned left, streaked down 
+the stairs, and stopped sharply in front of the twins, 
+the chain clattering loudly on the flagged stone floor. 
+
+“We won’t be seeing you,” Fred told Professor 
+Umbridge, swinging his leg over his broomstick. 
+
+“Yeah, don’t bother to keep in touch,” said George, 
+mounting his own. 
+
+Fred looked around at the assembled students, and 
+at the silent, watchful crowd. 
+
+“If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as 
+demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, 
+Diagon Alley — Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes,” he 
+said in a loud voice. “Our new premises!” 
+
+“Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear 
+they’re going to use our products to get rid of this old 
+bat,” added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge. 
+
+“STOP THEM!” shrieked Umbridge, but it was too late. 
+As the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, Fred and George 
+kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet into the 
+air, the iron peg swinging dangerously below. Fred 
+looked across the hall at the poltergeist bobbing on 
+his level above the crowd. 
+
+“Give her hell from us, Peeves.” 
+
+And Peeves, whom Harry had never seen take an 
+order from a student before, swept his belled hat from 
+his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George 
+
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+
+
+
+
+wheeled about to tumultuous applause from the 
+students below and sped out of the open front doors 
+into the glorious sunset. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+GRAWP 
+
+The story of Fred and George’s flight to freedom was 
+retold so often over the next few days that Harry 
+could tell it would soon become the stuff of Hogwarts 
+legend. Within a week, even those who had been 
+eyewitnesses were half- convinced that they had seen 
+the twins dive-bomb Umbridge on their brooms, 
+pelting her with Dungbombs before zooming out of 
+the doors. In the immediate aftermath of their 
+departure there was a great wave of talk about 
+copying them, so that Harry frequently heard 
+students saying things like, “Honestly, some days I 
+just feel like jumping on my broom and leaving this 
+place,” or else, “One more lesson like that and I might 
+just do a Weasley...” 
+
+Fred and George had made sure that nobody was 
+likely to forget them very soon. For one thing, they 
+had not left instructions on how to remove the swamp 
+that now filled the corridor on the fifth floor of the 
+east wing. Umbridge and Filch had been observed 
+trying different means of removing it but without 
+success. Eventually the area was roped off and Filch, 
+Page | 864Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+gnashing his teeth furiously, was given the task of 
+punting students across it to their classrooms. Harry 
+was certain that teachers like McGonagall or Flitwick 
+could have removed the swamp in an instant, but just 
+as in the case of Fred and George’s Wildfire Whiz- 
+Bangs, they seemed to prefer to watch Umbridge 
+struggle. 
+
+Then there were the two large broom-shaped holes in 
+Umbridge ’s office door, through which Fred and 
+George’s Cleansweeps had smashed to rejoin their 
+masters. Filch fitted a new door and removed Harry’s 
+Firebolt to the dungeons where, it was rumored, 
+Umbridge had set an armed security troll to guard it. 
+However, her troubles were far from over. 
+
+Inspired by Fred and George’s example, a great 
+number of students were now vying for the newly 
+vacant positions of Troublemakers-in-Chief. In spite 
+of the new door, somebody managed to slip a hairy- 
+snouted niffler into Umbridge ’s office, which promptly 
+tore the place apart in its search for shiny objects, 
+leapt on Umbridge on her re-entrance, and tried to 
+gnaw the rings off her stubby fingers. Dungbombs 
+and Stinkpellets were dropped so frequently in the 
+corridors that it became the new fashion for students 
+to perform Bubble-Head Charms on themselves 
+before leaving lessons, which ensured them a supply 
+of fresh clean air, even though it gave them all the 
+peculiar appearance of wearing upside-down goldfish 
+bowls on their heads. 
+
+Filch prowled the corridors with a horsewhip ready in 
+his hands, desperate to catch miscreants, but the 
+problem was that there were now so many of them 
+that he did not know which way to turn. The 
+Inquisitorial Squad were attempting to help him, but 
+odd things kept happening to its members. 
+
+Warrington of the Slytherin Quidditch team reported 
+Page | 865Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to the hospital wing with a horrible skin complaint 
+that made him look as though he had been coated in 
+cornflakes. Pansy Parkinson, to Hermione’s delight, 
+missed all her lessons the following day, as she had 
+sprouted antlers. 
+
+Meanwhile it became clear just how many Skiving 
+Snackboxes Fred and George had managed to sell 
+before leaving Hogwarts. Umbridge only had to enter 
+her classroom for the students assembled there to 
+faint, vomit, develop dangerous fevers, or else spout 
+blood from both nostrils. Shrieking with rage and 
+frustration she attempted to trace the mysterious 
+symptoms to their source, but the students told her 
+stubbornly they were suffering “Umbridge-itis.” After 
+putting four successive classes in detention and 
+failing to discover their secret she was forced to give 
+up and allow the bleeding, swooning, sweating, and 
+vomiting students to leave her classes in droves. 
+
+But not even the users of the Snackboxes could 
+compete with that master of chaos, Peeves, who 
+seemed to have taken Fred’s parting words deeply to 
+heart. Cackling madly, he soared through the school, 
+upending tables, bursting out of blackboards, and 
+toppling statues and vases. Twice he shut Mrs. Norris 
+inside suits of armor, from which she was rescued, 
+yowling loudly, by the furious caretaker. He smashed 
+lanterns and snuffed out candles, juggled burning 
+torches over the heads of screaming students, caused 
+neatly stacked piles of parchment to topple into fires 
+or out of windows, flooded the second floor when he 
+pulled off all the taps in the bathrooms, dropped a 
+bag of tarantulas in the middle of the Great Hall 
+during breakfast and, whenever he fancied a break, 
+spent hours at a time floating along after Umbridge 
+and blowing loud raspberries every time she spoke. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+None of the staff but Filch seemed to be stirring 
+themselves to help her. Indeed, a week after Fred and 
+George’s departure Harry witnessed Professor 
+McGonagall walking right past Peeves, who was 
+determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and 
+could have sworn he heard her tell the poltergeist out 
+of the corner of her mouth, “It unscrews the other 
+way.” 
+
+To cap matters, Montague had still not recovered from 
+his sojourn in the toilet. He remained confused and 
+disorientated and his parents were to be observed one 
+Tuesday morning striding up the front drive, looking 
+extremely angry. 
+
+“Should we say something?” said Hermione in a 
+worried voice, pressing her cheek against the Charms 
+window so that she could see Mr. and Mrs. Montague 
+marching inside. “About what happened to him? In 
+case it helps Madam Pomfrey cure him?” 
+
+“ ’Course not, he’ll recover,” said Ron indifferently. 
+
+“Anyway, more trouble for Umbridge, isn’t it?” said 
+Harry in a satisfied voice. 
+
+He and Ron both tapped the teacups they were 
+supposed to be charming with their wands. Harry’s 
+spouted four very short legs that would not reach the 
+desk and wriggled pointlessly in midair. Ron’s grew 
+four very thin spindly legs that hoisted the cup off the 
+desk with great difficulty, trembled for a few seconds, 
+then folded, causing the cup to crack into two. 
+
+“Reparo\” said Hermione quickly, mending Ron’s cup 
+with a wave of her wand. “That’s all very well, but 
+what if Montague’s permanently injured?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Who cares?” said Ron irritably, while his teacup 
+stood drunkenly again, trembling violently at the 
+knees. “Montague shouldn’t have tried to take all 
+those points from Gryffindor, should he? If you want 
+to worry about anyone, Hermione, worry about me!” 
+
+“You?” she said, catching her teacup as it scampered 
+happily away across the desk on four sturdy little 
+willow-patterned legs and replacing it in front of her. 
+“Why should I be worried about you?” 
+
+“When Mum’s next letter finally gets through 
+Umbridge’s screening process,” said Ron bitterly, now 
+holding his cup up while its frail legs tried feebly to 
+support its weight, “I’m going to be in deep trouble. I 
+wouldn’t be surprised if she’s sent a Howler again.” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“It’ll be my fault Fred and George left, you wait,” said 
+Ron darkly. “She’ll say I should’ve stopped them 
+leaving, I should’ve grabbed the ends of their brooms 
+and hung on or something... Yeah, it’ll be all my 
+fault...” 
+
+“Well, if she does say that it’ll be very unfair, you 
+couldn’t have done anything! But I’m sure she won’t, I 
+mean, if it’s really true they’ve got premises in Diagon 
+Alley now, they must have been planning this for 
+ages...” 
+
+“Yeah, but that’s another thing, how did they get 
+premises?” said Ron, hitting his teacup so hard with 
+his wand that its legs collapsed again and it lay 
+twitching before him. “It’s a bit dodgy, isn’t it? They’ll 
+need loads of Galleons to afford the rent on a place in 
+Diagon Alley, she’ll want to know what they’ve been 
+up to, to get their hands on that sort of gold...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, yes, that occurred to me too,” said Hermione, 
+allowing her teacup to jog in neat little circles around 
+Harry’s, whose stubby little legs were still unable to 
+touch the desktop. “I’ve been wondering whether 
+Mundungus has persuaded them to sell stolen goods 
+or something awful...” 
+
+“He hasn’t,” said Harry curtly. 
+
+“How do you know?” said Ron and Hermione together. 
+
+“Because — ” Harry hesitated, but the moment to 
+confess finally seemed to have come. There was no 
+good to be gained in keeping silent if it meant anyone 
+suspected that Fred and George were criminals. 
+“Because they got the gold from me. I gave them my 
+Triwizard winnings last June.” 
+
+There was a shocked silence, then Hermione’s teacup 
+jogged right over the edge of the desk and smashed on 
+the floor. 
+
+“Oh, Harry, you didn’t” she said. 
+
+“Yes, I did,” said Harry mutinously. “And I don’t regret 
+it either — I didn’t need the gold, and they’ll be great 
+at a joke shop...” 
+
+“But this is excellent!” said Ron, looking thrilled. “It’s 
+all your fault, Harry — Mum can’t blame me at all! 
+
+Can I tell her?” 
+
+“Yeah, I suppose you’d better,” said Harry dully. “ 
+’Specially if she thinks they’re receiving stolen 
+cauldrons or something...” 
+
+Hermione said nothing at all for the rest of the lesson, 
+but Harry had a shrewd suspicion that her self- 
+restraint was bound to crack before long. Sure 
+
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+
+
+
+
+enough, once they had left the castle for break and 
+were standing around in the weak May sunshine, she 
+fixed Harry with a beady eye and opened her mouth 
+with a determined air. 
+
+Harry interrupted her before she had even started. 
+
+“It’s no good nagging me, it’s done,” he said firmly. 
+“Fred and George have got the gold — spent a good 
+bit of it too, by the sounds of it — and I can’t get it 
+back from them and I don’t want to. So save your 
+breath, Hermione.” 
+
+“I wasn’t going to say anything about Fred and 
+George!” she said in an injured voice. 
+
+Ron snorted disbelievingly and Hermione threw him a 
+very dirty look. 
+
+“No, I wasn’t!” she said angrily. “As a matter of fact, I 
+was going to ask Harry when he’s going to go back to 
+Snape and ask for Occlumency lessons again!” 
+
+Harry’s heart sank. Once they had exhausted the 
+subject of Fred and George’s dramatic departure, 
+which admittedly had taken many hours, Ron and 
+Hermione had wanted to hear news of Sirius. As 
+Harry had not confided in them the reason he had 
+wanted to talk to Sirius in the first place, it had been 
+hard to think of things to tell them. He had ended up 
+saying to them truthfully that Sirius wanted Harry to 
+resume Occlumency lessons. He had been regretting 
+this ever since; Hermione would not let the subject 
+drop and kept reverting to it when Harry least 
+expected it. 
+
+“You can’t tell me you’ve stopped having funny 
+dreams,” Hermione said now, “because Ron told me 
+last night you were muttering in your sleep again...” 
+
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+
+
+Harry threw Ron a furious look. Ron had the grace to 
+look ashamed of himself. 
+
+“You were only muttering a bit,” he mumbled 
+apologetically. “Something about ‘just a bit farther.’ ” 
+
+“I dreamed I was watching you lot play Quidditch,” 
+Harry lied brutally. “I was trying to get you to stretch 
+out a bit farther to grab the Quaffle.” 
+
+Ron’s ears went red. Harry felt a kind of vindictive 
+pleasure: He had not, of course, dreamed anything of 
+the sort. 
+
+Last night he had once again made the journey along 
+the Department of Mysteries corridor. He had passed 
+through the circular room, then the room full of 
+clicking and dancing light, until he found himself 
+again inside that cavernous room full of shelves on 
+which were ranged dusty glass spheres... 
+
+He had hurried straight toward row number ninety- 
+seven, turned left, and ran along it... It had probably 
+been then that he had spoken aloud... Just a bit 
+farther . . . for he could feel his conscious self 
+struggling to wake . . . and before he had reached the 
+end of the row, he had found himself lying in bed 
+again, gazing up at the canopy of his four-poster. 
+
+“You are trying to block your mind, aren’t you?” said 
+Hermione, looking beadily at Harry. “You are keeping 
+going with your Occlumency?” 
+
+“Of course I am,” said Harry, trying to sound as 
+though this question was insulting, but not quite 
+meeting her eye. The truth was that he was so 
+intensely curious about what was hidden in that 
+room full of dusty orbs that he was quite keen for the 
+dreams to continue. 
+
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+
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+
+The problem was that with just under a month to go 
+until the exams and every free moment devoted to 
+studying, his mind seemed saturated with 
+information when he went to bed so that he found it 
+very difficult to get to sleep at all. When he did, his 
+overwrought brain presented him most nights with 
+stupid dreams about the exams. He also suspected 
+that part of his mind — the part that often spoke in 
+Hermione’s voice — now felt guilty on the occasions it 
+strayed down that corridor ending in the black door, 
+and sought to wake him before he could reach 
+journey’s end. 
+
+“You know,” said Ron, whose ears were still flaming 
+red, “if Montague doesn’t recover before Slytherin play 
+Hufflepuff, we might be in with a chance of winning 
+the Cup.” 
+
+“Yeah, I s’pose so,” said Harry, glad of a change of 
+subject. 
+
+“I mean, we’ve won one, lost one — if Slytherin lose to 
+Hufflepuff next Saturday — ” 
+
+“Yeah, that’s right,” said Harry, losing track of what 
+he was agreeing to: Cho Chang had just walked 
+across the courtyard, determinedly not looking at 
+him. 
+
+The final match of the Quidditch season, Gryffindor 
+versus Ravenclaw, was to take place on the last 
+weekend of May. Although Slytherin had been 
+narrowly defeated by Hufflepuff in their last match, 
+Gryffindor was not daring to hope for victory, due 
+mainly (though of course nobody said it to him) to 
+Ron’s abysmal goalkeeping record. He, however, 
+seemed to have found a new optimism. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I mean, I can’t get any worse, can I?” he told Harry 
+and Hermione grimly over breakfast on the morning 
+of the match. “Nothing to lose now, is there?” 
+
+“You know,” said Hermione, as she and Harry walked 
+down to the pitch a little later in the midst of a very 
+excitable crowd, “I think Ron might do better without 
+Fred and George around. They never exactly gave him 
+a lot of confidence...” 
+
+Luna Lovegood overtook them with what appeared to 
+be a live eagle perched on top of her head. 
+
+“Oh gosh, I forgot!” said Hermione, watching the eagle 
+flapping its wings as Luna walked serenely past a 
+group of cackling and pointing Slytherins. “Cho will 
+be playing, won’t she?” 
+
+Harry, who had not forgotten this, merely grunted. 
+
+They found seats in the topmost row of the stands. It 
+was a fine, clear day. Ron could not wish for better, 
+and Harry found himself hoping against hope that 
+Ron would not give the Slytherins cause for more 
+rousing choruses of “Weasley Is Our King.” 
+
+Lee Jordan, who had been very dispirited since Fred 
+and George had left, was commentating as usual. As 
+the teams zoomed out onto the pitches he named the 
+players with something less than his usual gusto. 
+
+"... Bradley ... Davies ... Chang,” he said, and Harry 
+felt his stomach perform, less of a back flip, more a 
+feeble lurch as Cho walked out onto the pitch, her 
+shiny black hair rippling in the slight breeze. He was 
+not sure what he wanted to happen anymore, except 
+that he could not stand any more rows. Even the 
+sight of her chatting animatedly to Roger Davies as 
+
+
+
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+they prepared to mount their brooms caused him only 
+a slight twinge of jealousy. 
+
+“And they’re off!” said Lee. “And Davies takes the 
+Quaffle immediately, Ravenclaw Captain Davies with 
+the Quaffle, he dodges Johnson, he dodges Bell, he 
+dodges Spinnet as well... He’s going straight for goal! 
+He’s going to shoot — and — and — ” Lee swore very 
+loudly. “And he’s scored.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione groaned with the rest of the 
+Gryffindors. Predictably, horribly, the Slytherins on 
+the other side of the stands began to sing: 
+
+Weasley cannot save a thing, 
+
+He cannot block a single ring . . . 
+
+“Harry,” said a hoarse voice in Harry’s ear. “Hermione 
+
+
+
+Harry looked around and saw Hagrid’s enormous 
+bearded face sticking between the seats; apparently 
+he had squeezed his way all along the row behind, for 
+the first and second years he had just passed had a 
+ruffled, flattened look about them. For some reason, 
+Hagrid was bent double as though anxious not to be 
+seen, though he was still at least four feet taller than 
+everybody else. 
+
+“Listen,” he whispered, “can yeh come with me? Now? 
+While ev’ryone’s watchin’ the match?” 
+
+“Er ... can’t it wait, Hagrid?” asked Harry. “Till the 
+match is over? 
+
+“No,” said Hagrid. “No, Harry, it’s gotta be now ... 
+while ev’ryone’s lookin’ the other way... Please?” 
+
+
+
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+Hagrid’s nose was gently dripping blood. His eyes 
+were both blackened. Harry had not seen him this 
+close up since his return to the school; he looked 
+utterly woebegone. 
+
+“ ’Course,” said Harry at once, “ ’course we’ll come...” 
+
+He and Hermione edged back along their row of seats, 
+causing much grumbling among the students who 
+had to stand up for them. The people in Hagrid’s row 
+were not complaining, merely attempting to make 
+themselves as small as possible. 
+
+“I ’ppreciate this, you two, I really do,” said Hagrid as 
+they reached the stairs. He kept looking around 
+nervously as they descended toward the lawn below. 
+
+“I jus’ hope she doesn’ notice us goin’...” 
+
+“You mean Umbridge?” said Harry. “She won’t, she’s 
+got her whole Inquisitorial Squad sitting with her, 
+didn’t you see? She must be expecting trouble at the 
+match.” 
+
+“Yeah, well, a bit o’ trouble wouldn’ hurt,” said 
+Hagrid, pausing to peer around the edge of the stands 
+to make sure the stretch of lawn between there and 
+his cabin was deserted. “Give us more time ...” 
+
+“What is it, Hagrid?” said Hermione, looking up at 
+him with a concerned expression on her face as they 
+hurried across the lawn toward the edge of the forest. 
+
+“Yeh — yeh’ll see in a mo’,” said Hagrid, looking over 
+his shoulder as a great roar rose from the stands 
+behind them. “Hey — did someone jus’ score?” 
+
+“It’ll be Ravenclaw,” said Harry heavily. 
+
+
+
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+“Good ... good ...” said Hagrid distractedly. “Tha’s 
+good...” 
+
+They had to jog to keep up with him as he strode 
+across the lawn, looking around with every other step. 
+When they reached his cabin, Hermione turned 
+automatically left toward the front door; Hagrid, 
+however, walked straight past it into the shade of the 
+trees on the outermost edge of the forest, where he 
+picked up a crossbow that was leaning against a tree. 
+When he realized they were no longer with him, he 
+turned. 
+
+“We’re goin’ in here,” he said, jerking his shaggy head 
+behind him. 
+
+“Into the forest?” said Hermione, perplexed. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid. “C’mon now, quick, before we’re 
+spotted!” 
+
+Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then 
+ducked into the cover of the trees behind Hagrid, who 
+was already striding away from them into the green 
+gloom, his crossbow over his arm. Harry and 
+Hermione ran to catch up with him. 
+
+“Hagrid, why are you armed?” said Harry. 
+
+“Jus’ a precaution,” said Hagrid, shrugging his 
+massive shoulders. 
+
+“You didn’t bring your crossbow the day you showed 
+us the thestrals,” said Hermione timidly. 
+
+“Nah, well, we weren’ goin’ in so far then,” said 
+Hagrid. “An’ anyway, tha’ was before Firenze left the 
+forest, wasn’ it?” 
+
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+“Why does Firenze leaving make a difference?” asked 
+Hermione curiously. 
+
+
+
+“ ’Cause the other centaurs are good an’ riled at me, 
+tha’s why,” said Hagrid quietly, glancing around. 
+“They used ter be — well, yeh couldn’ call ’em friendly 
+— but we got on all righ’. Kept ’emselves to ’emselves, 
+bu’ always turned up if I wanted a word. Not anymore 
+
+
+
+He sighed deeply. 
+
+“Firenze said that they’re angry because he went to 
+work for Dumbledore?” Harry asked, tripping on a 
+protruding root because he was busy watching 
+Hagrid ’s profile. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid heavily. “Well, angry doesn’ cover 
+it. Ruddy livid. If I hadn’ stepped in, I reckon they’d ’ve 
+kicked Firenze ter death — ” 
+
+“They attacked him?” said Hermione, sounding 
+shocked. 
+
+“Yep,” said Hagrid gruffly, forcing his way through 
+several low-hanging branches. “He had half the herd 
+onto him — ” 
+
+“And you stopped it?” said Harry, amazed and 
+impressed. “By yourself?” 
+
+“ ’Course I did, couldn’t stand by an’ watch ’em kill 
+him, could I?” said Hagrid. “Lucky I was passin’, 
+really ... an’ I’d’ve thought Firenze mighta 
+remembered tha’ before he started sendin’ me stupid 
+warnin’s!” he added hotly and unexpectedly. 
+
+Harry and Hermione looked at each other, startled, 
+but Hagrid, scowling, did not elaborate. 
+
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+
+“Anyway,” he said, breathing a little more heavily 
+than usual, “since then the other centaurs Ve bin livid 
+with me an’ the trouble is, they’ve got a lot of 
+influence in the forest... Cleverest creatures in here 
+
+
+
+“Is that why we’re here, Hagrid?” asked Hermione. 
+“The centaurs?” 
+
+“Ah no,” said Hagrid, shaking his head dismissively, 
+“no, it’s not them... Well, o’ course, they could 
+complicate the problem, yeah... But yeh’ll see what I 
+mean in a bit...” 
+
+On this incomprehensible note he fell silent and 
+forged a little ahead, taking one stride for every three 
+of theirs, so that they had great trouble keeping up 
+with him. 
+
+The path was becoming increasingly overgrown and 
+the trees grew so closely together as they walked 
+farther and farther into the forest that it was as dark 
+as dusk. They were soon a long way past the clearing 
+where Hagrid had shown them the thestrals, but 
+Harry felt no sense of unease until Hagrid stepped 
+unexpectedly off the path and began wending his way 
+in and out of trees toward the dark heart of the forest. 
+
+“Hagrid?” said Harry, fighting his way through thickly 
+knotted brambles over which Hagrid had stepped 
+easily and remembering very vividly what had 
+happened to him on the other occasions he had 
+stepped off the forest path. “Where are we going?” 
+
+“Bit further,” said Hagrid over his shoulder. “C’mon, 
+Harry... We need ter keep together now...” 
+
+It was a great struggle to keep up with Hagrid, what 
+with branches and thickets of thorn through which 
+
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+Hagrid marched as easily as though they were 
+cobwebs, but which snagged Harry and Hermione’s 
+robes, frequently entangling them so severely that 
+they had to stop for minutes at a time to free 
+themselves. Harry’s arms and legs were soon covered 
+in small cuts and scratches. They were so deep in the 
+forest now that sometimes all Harry could see of 
+Hagrid in the gloom was a massive dark shape ahead 
+of him. Any sound seemed threatening in the muffled 
+silence. The breaking of a twig echoed loudly and the 
+tiniest rustle of movement, though it might have been 
+made by an innocent sparrow, caused Harry to peer 
+through the gloom for a culprit. It occurred to him 
+that he had never managed to get this far into the 
+forest without meeting some kind of creature — their 
+absence struck him as rather ominous. 
+
+“Hagrid, would it be all right if we lit our wands?” said 
+Hermione quietly. 
+
+“Er ... all righ’,” Hagrid whispered back. “In fact ...” 
+
+He stopped suddenly and turned around; Hermione 
+walked right into him and was knocked over 
+backward. Harry caught her just before she hit the 
+forest floor. 
+
+“Maybe we bes’ jus’ stop fer a momen’, so I can ... fill 
+yeh in,” said Hagrid. “Before we ge’ there, like.” 
+
+“Good!” said Hermione, as Harry set her back on her 
+feet. They both murmured “Lumos\” and their wand 
+tips ignited. Hagrid ’s face swam through the gloom by 
+the light of the two wavering beams and Harry saw 
+that he looked nervous and sad again. 
+
+“Righ,” said Hagrid. “Well ... see ... the thing is ...” 
+
+He took a great breath. 
+
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+
+“Well, there’s a good chance I’m goin’ ter be gettin’ the 
+sack any day now,” he said. 
+
+
+
+Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then back 
+at him. 
+
+“But you’ve lasted this long — ” Hermione said 
+tentatively. “What makes you think — ” 
+
+“Umbridge reckons it was me that put tha’ niffler in 
+her office.” 
+
+“And was it?” said Harry, before he could stop 
+himself. 
+
+“No, it ruddy well wasn’!” said Hagrid indignantly. 
+“On’y anythin’ ter do with magical creatures an’ she 
+thinks it’s got somethin’ ter do with me. Yeh know 
+she’s bin lookin’ fer a chance ter get rid of me ever 
+since I got back. I don’ wan’ ter go, o’ course, but if it 
+wasn’ fer ... well ... the special circumstances I’m 
+abou’ ter explain to yeh, I’d leave righ now, before 
+she’s go’ the chance ter do it in front o’ the whole 
+school, like she did with Trelawney.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione both made noises of protest, but 
+Hagrid overrode them with a wave of one of his 
+enormous hands. 
+
+“It’s not the end o’ the world, I’ll be able ter help 
+Dumbledore once I’m outta here, I can be useful ter 
+the Order. An’ you lot’ll have Grubbly-Plank, yeh’ll — 
+yeh’ll get through yer exams fine...” His voice 
+trembled and broke. 
+
+“Don’ worry abou’ me,” he said hastily, as Hermione 
+made to pat his arm. He pulled his enormous spotted 
+handkerchief from the pocket of his waistcoat and 
+mopped his eyes with it. “Look, I wouldn’ be tellin’ yer 
+
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+this at all if I didn’ have ter. See, if I go ... well, I can’ 
+leave withou’ ... withou’ fellin’ someone ... because I’ll 
+— I’ll need you two ter help me. An’ Ron, if he’s 
+willin’.” 
+
+“Of course well help you,” said Harry at once. “What 
+do you want us to do?” 
+
+Hagrid gave a great sniff and patted Harry wordlessly 
+on the shoulder with such force that Harry was 
+knocked sideways into a tree. 
+
+“I knew yeh’d say yes,” said Hagrid into his 
+handkerchief, “but I won’ ... never ... forget ... Well ... 
+c’mon ... jus’ a little bit further through here ... Watch 
+yerselves, now, there’s nettles...” 
+
+They walked on in silence for another fifteen minutes. 
+Harry had opened his mouth to ask how much farther 
+they had to go when Hagrid threw out his right arm to 
+signal that they should stop. 
+
+“Really easy,” he said softly. “Very quiet, now ...” 
+
+They crept forward and Harry saw that they were 
+facing a large, smooth mound of earth nearly as tall 
+as Hagrid that he thought, with a jolt of dread, was 
+sure to be the lair of some enormous animal. Trees 
+had been ripped up at the roots all around the 
+mound, so that it stood on a bare patch of ground 
+surrounded by heaps of trunks and boughs that 
+formed a kind of fence or barricade, behind which 
+Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid now stood. 
+
+“Sleepin’,” breathed Hagrid. 
+
+Sure enough, Harry could hear a distant, rhythmic 
+rumbling that sounded like a pair of enormous lungs 
+at work. He glanced sideways at Hermione, who was 
+
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+gazing at the mound with her mouth slightly open. 
+
+She looked utterly terrified. 
+
+“Hagrid,” she said in a whisper barely audible over 
+the sound of the sleeping creature, “who is he?” 
+
+Harry found this an odd question... “What is it?” was 
+the one he had been planning on asking. 
+
+“Hagrid, you told us,” said Hermione, her wand now 
+shaking in her hand, “you told us none of them 
+wanted to come!” 
+
+Harry looked from her to Hagrid and then, as 
+realization hit him, he looked back at the mound with 
+a small gasp of horror. 
+
+The great mound of earth, on which he, Hermione, 
+and Hagrid could easily have stood, was moving 
+slowly up and down in time with the deep, grunting 
+breathing. It was not a mound at all. It was the 
+curved back of what was clearly . . . 
+
+“Well — no — he didn’ want ter come,” said Hagrid, 
+sounding desperate. “But I had ter bring him, 
+Hermione, I had ter!” 
+
+“But why?” asked Hermione, who sounded as though 
+she wanted to cry. “Why — what — oh, Hagrid\” 
+
+“I knew if I jus’ got him back,” said Hagrid, sounding 
+close to tears himself, “an’ — an’ taught him a few 
+manners — I’d be able ter take him outside an’ show 
+ev’ryone he’s harmless!” 
+
+“Harmless!” said Hermione shrilly, and Hagrid made 
+frantic hushing noises with his hands as the 
+enormous creature before them grunted loudly and 
+shifted in its sleep. “He’s been hurting you all this 
+
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+time, hasn’t he? That’s why you’ve had all these 
+injuries!” 
+
+“He don’ know his own strength!” said Hagrid 
+earnestly. “An’ he’s gettin’ better, he’s not fightin’ so 
+much anymore — ” 
+
+“So this is why it took you two months to get home!” 
+said Hermione distractedly. “Oh Hagrid, why did you 
+bring him back if he didn’t want to come, wouldn’t he 
+have been happier with his own people?” 
+
+“They were all bullyin’ him, Hermione, ’cause he’s so 
+small!” said Hagrid. 
+
+“Small?” said Hermione. “Small?” 
+
+“Hermione, I couldn’ leave him,” said Hagrid, tears 
+now trickling down his bruised face into his beard. 
+“See — he’s my brother!” 
+
+Hermione simply stared at him, her mouth open. 
+
+“Hagrid, when you say ‘brother,’ ” said Harry slowly, 
+“do you mean — ?” 
+
+“Well — half-brother,” amended Hagrid. “Turns out 
+me mother took up with another giant when she left 
+me dad, an’ she went an’ had Grawp here — ” 
+
+“Grawp?” said Harry. 
+
+“Yeah ... well, tha’s what it sounds like when he says 
+his name,” said Hagrid anxiously. “He don’ speak a lot 
+of English... I’ve bin tryin’ ter teach him... Anyway, 
+she don’ seem ter have liked him much more’n she 
+liked me... See, with giantesses, what counts is 
+producin’ good big kids, and he’s always been a bit on 
+the runty side fer a giant — on’y sixteen foot — ” 
+
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+“Oh yes, tiny!” said Hermione, with a kind of 
+hysterical sarcasm. “Absolutely minuscule!” 
+
+“He was bein’ kicked around by all o’ them — I jus’ 
+couldn’ leave him — ” 
+
+“Did Madame Maxime want to bring him back?” 
+asked Harry. 
+
+“She — well, she could see it was right importan’ ter 
+me,” said Hagrid, twisting his enormous hands. “Bu’ 
+— bu’ she got a bit tired of him after a while, I must 
+admit ... so we split up on the journey home... She 
+promised not ter tell anyone though...” 
+
+“How on earth did you get him back without anyone 
+noticing?” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, tha’s why it took so long, see,” said Hagrid. 
+“Could on’y travel by nigh an’ through wild country 
+an’ stuff. ’Course, he covers the ground pretty well 
+when he wants ter, but he kep’ wantin’ ter go back...” 
+
+“Oh Hagrid, why on earth didn’t you let him!” said 
+Hermione, flopping down onto a ripped-up tree and 
+burying her face in her hands. “What do you think 
+you’re going to do with a violent giant who doesn’t 
+even want to be here!” 
+
+“Well, now — Violent’ — tha’s a bit harsh,” said 
+Hagrid, still twisting his hands agitatedly. “I’ll admit 
+he mighta taken a couple o’ swings at me when he’s 
+bin in a bad mood, but he’s gettin’ better, loads 
+better, settlin’ down well...” 
+
+“What are those ropes for, then?” Harry asked. 
+
+He had just noticed ropes thick as saplings stretching 
+from around the trunks of the largest nearby trees 
+
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+toward the place where Grawp lay curled on the 
+ground with his back to them. 
+
+“You have to keep him tied up?” said Hermione 
+faintly. 
+
+“Well ... yeah ...” said Hagrid, looking anxious. “See — 
+it’s like I say — he doesn’ really know his strength — ” 
+
+Harry understood now why there had been such a 
+suspicious lack of any other living creature in this 
+part of the forest. 
+
+“So what is it you want Harry and Ron and me to do?” 
+Hermione asked apprehensively. 
+
+“Look after him,” said Hagrid croakily. “After I’m 
+gone.” 
+
+Harry and Hermione exchanged miserable looks, 
+
+Harry uncomfortably aware that he had already 
+promised Hagrid that he would do whatever he asked. 
+
+“What — what does that involve, exactly?” Hermione 
+inquired. 
+
+“Not food or anythin’!” said Hagrid eagerly. “He can 
+get his own food, no problem. Birds an’ deer an’ stuff 
+... No, it’s company he needs. If I jus’ knew someone 
+was carryin’ on tryin’ ter help him a bit ... teachin’ 
+him, yeh know ...” 
+
+Harry said nothing, but turned to look back at the 
+gigantic form lying asleep on the ground in front of 
+them. Grawp had his back to them. Unlike Hagrid, 
+who simply looked like a very oversize human, Grawp 
+looked strangely misshapen. What Harry had taken to 
+be a vast mossy boulder to the left of the great 
+earthen mound he now recognized as Grawp ’s head. 
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+It was much larger in proportion to the body than a 
+human head, almost perfectly round and covered with 
+tightly curling, close-growing hair the color of 
+bracken. The rim of a single large, fleshy ear was 
+visible on top of the head, which seemed to sit, rather 
+like Uncle Vernon’s, directly upon the shoulders with 
+little or no neck in between. The back, under what 
+looked like a dirty brownish smock comprised of 
+animal skins sewn roughly together, was very broad, 
+and as Grawp slept, it seemed to strain a little at the 
+rough seams of the skins. The legs were curled up 
+under the body; Harry could see the soles of 
+enormous, filthy, bare feet, large as sledges, resting 
+one on top of the other on the earthy forest floor. 
+
+“You want us to teach him,” Harry said in a hollow 
+voice. He now understood what Firenze’s warning had 
+meant. His attempt is not working. He would do better 
+to abandon it. Of course, the other creatures who lived 
+in the forest would have heard Hagrid’s fruitless 
+attempts to teach Grawp English... 
+
+“Yeah — even if yeh jus’ talk ter him a bit,” said 
+Hagrid hopefully. “ ’Cause I reckon, if he can talk ter 
+people, he’ll understand more that we all like him 
+really, an’ want him to stay...” 
+
+Harry looked at Hermione, who peered back at him 
+from between the fingers over her face. 
+
+“Kind of makes you wish we had Norbert back, 
+doesn’t it?” he said and she gave a very shaky laugh. 
+
+“Yeh’ll do it, then?” said Hagrid, who did not seem to 
+have caught what Harry had just said. 
+
+“We’ll ...” said Harry, already bound by his promise. 
+“We’ll try, Hagrid...” 
+
+
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+“I knew I could count on yeh, Harry,” Hagrid said, 
+beaming in a very watery way and dabbing at his face 
+with his handkerchief again. “An’ I don’ wan’ yeh ter 
+put yerself out too much, like... I know yeh’ve got 
+exams... If yeh could jus’ nip down here in yer 
+Invisibility Cloak maybe once a week an’ have a little 
+chat with him ... I’ll wake him up, then — introduce 
+you — ” 
+
+“Wha — no!” said Hermione, jumping up, “Hagrid, no, 
+don’t wake him, really, we don’t need — ” 
+
+But Hagrid had already stepped over the great trunk 
+in front of them and was proceeding toward Grawp. 
+When he was around ten feet away, he lifted a long, 
+broken bough from the ground, smiled reassuringly 
+over his shoulder at Harry and Hermione, and then 
+poked Grawp hard in the middle of the back with the 
+end of the bough. 
+
+The giant gave a roar that echoed around the silent 
+forest. Birds in the treetops overhead rose twittering 
+from their perches and soared away. In front of Harry 
+and Hermione, meanwhile, the gigantic Grawp was 
+rising from the ground, which shuddered as he placed 
+an enormous hand upon it to push himself onto his 
+knees and turned his head to see who and what had 
+disturbed him. 
+
+“All righ’, Grawpy?” said Hagrid in a would-be cheery 
+voice, backing away with the long bough raised, ready 
+to poke Grawp again. “Had a nice sleep, eh?” 
+
+Harry and Hermione retreated as far as they could 
+while still keeping the giant within their sights. Grawp 
+knelt between two trees he had not yet uprooted. 
+
+They looked up into his startlingly huge face, which 
+resembled a gray full moon swimming in the gloom of 
+the clearing. It was as though the features had been 
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+hewn onto a great stone ball. The nose was stubby 
+and shapeless, the mouth lopsided and full of 
+misshapen yellow teeth the size of half-bricks. The 
+small eyes were a muddy greenish-brown and just 
+now were half gummed together with sleep. Grawp 
+raised dirty knuckles as big as cricket balls to his 
+eyes, rubbed vigorously, then, without warning, 
+pushed himself to his feet with surprising speed and 
+agility. 
+
+“Oh my ...” Harry heard Hermione squeal, terrified, 
+beside him. 
+
+The trees to which the other ends of the ropes around 
+Grawp’s wrists and ankles were attached creaked 
+ominously. He was, as Hagrid had said, at least 
+sixteen feet tall. Gazing blearily around, he reached 
+out a hand the size of a beach umbrella, seized a 
+bird’s nest from the upper branches of a towering 
+pine and turned it upside down with a roar of 
+apparent displeasure that there was no bird in it — 
+eggs fell like grenades toward the ground and Hagrid 
+threw his arms over his head to protect himself. 
+
+“Anyway, Grawpy,” shouted Hagrid, looking up 
+apprehensively in case of further falling eggs, “I’ve 
+brought some friends ter meet yeh. Remember, I told 
+yeh I might? Remember, when I said I might have ter 
+go on a little trip an’ leave them ter look after yeh fer 
+a bit? Remember that, Grawpy?” 
+
+But Grawp merely gave another low roar; it was hard 
+to say whether he was listening to Hagrid or whether 
+he even recognized the sounds Hagrid was making as 
+speech. He had now seized the top of the pine tree 
+and was pulling it toward him, evidently for the 
+simple pleasure of seeing how far it would spring 
+back when he let go. 
+
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+
+
+“Now, Grawpy, don’ do that!” shouted Hagrid. “Tha’s 
+how you ended up pullin’ up the others — ” 
+
+And sure enough, Harry could see the earth around 
+the tree’s roots beginning to crack. 
+
+“I got company fer yeh!” Hagrid shouted. “Company, 
+see! Look down, yeh big buffoon, I brought yeh some 
+friends!” 
+
+“Oh Hagrid, don’t,” moaned Hermione, but Hagrid 
+had already raised the bough again and gave Grawp’s 
+knee a sharp poke. 
+
+The giant let go of the top of the pine tree, which 
+swayed menacingly and deluged Hagrid with a rain of 
+needles, and looked down. 
+
+“This,” said Hagrid, hastening over to where Harry 
+and Hermione stood, “is Harry, Grawp! Harry Potter! 
+He migh’ be cornin’ ter visit yeh if I have ter go away, 
+understand?” 
+
+The giant had only just realized that Harry and 
+Hermione were there. They watched, in great 
+trepidation, as he lowered his huge boulder of a head 
+so that he could peer blearily at them. 
+
+“An’ this is Hermione, see? Her — ” Hagrid hesitated. 
+Turning to Hermione he said, “Would yeh mind if he 
+called yeh Hermy, Hermione? On’y it’s a difficult 
+name fer him ter remember...” 
+
+“No, not at all,” squeaked Hermione. 
+
+“This is Hermy, Grawp! An’ she’s gonna be cornin’ an’ 
+all! Is’n tha’ nice? Eh? Two friends fer yeh ter — 
+GRAWPY, NO!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Grawp’s hand had shot out of nowhere toward 
+Hermione — Harry seized her and pulled her 
+backward behind the tree, so that Grawp’s fist 
+scraped the trunk but closed on thin air. 
+
+“BAD BOY, GRAWPY!” Harry heard Hagrid yelling, as 
+Hermione clung to Harry behind the tree, shaking 
+and whimpering. “VERY BAD BOY! YEH DON’ GRAB 
+
+— OUCH!” 
+
+Harry poked his head out from around the trunk and 
+saw Hagrid lying on his back, his hand over his nose. 
+Grawp, apparently losing interest, had straightened 
+up again and was again engaged in pulling back the 
+pine as far as it would go. 
+
+“Righ’,” said Hagrid thickly, getting up with one hand 
+pinching his bleeding nose and the other grasping his 
+crossbow. “Well ... there yeh are... Yeh’ve met him an’ 
+
+— an’ now he’ll know yeh when yeh come back. Yeah 
+...well...” 
+
+He looked up at Grawp, who was now pulling back 
+the pine with an expression of detached pleasure on 
+his boulderish face; the roots were creaking as he 
+ripped them away from the ground... 
+
+“Well, I reckon tha’s enough fer one day,” said Hagrid. 
+“We’ll — er — we’ll go back now, shall we?” 
+
+Harry and Hermione nodded. Hagrid shouldered his 
+crossbow again and, still pinching his nose, led the 
+way back into the trees. 
+
+Nobody spoke for a while, not even when they heard 
+the distant crash that meant Grawp had pulled over 
+the pine tree at last. Hermione’s face was pale and 
+set. Harry could not think of a single thing to say. 
+What on earth was going to happen when somebody 
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+
+
+
+
+found out that Hagrid had hidden Grawp in the 
+forest? And he had promised that he, Ron, and 
+Hermione would continue Hagrid’s totally pointless 
+attempts to civilize the giant... How could Hagrid, 
+even with his immense capacity to delude himself 
+that fanged monsters were lovably harmless, fool 
+himself that Grawp would ever be fit to mix with 
+humans? 
+
+“Hold it,” said Hagrid abruptly, just as Harry and 
+Hermione were struggling through a patch of thick 
+knotgrass behind him. He pulled an arrow out of the 
+quiver over his shoulder and fitted it into the 
+crossbow. Harry and Hermione raised their wands; 
+now that they had stopped walking, they too could 
+hear movement close by. 
+
+“Oh blimey,” said Hagrid quietly. 
+
+“I thought that we told you, Hagrid,” said a deep male 
+voice, “that you are no longer welcome here?” 
+
+A man’s naked torso seemed for an instant to be 
+floating toward them through the dappled green half- 
+light. Then they saw that his waist joined smoothly 
+with a horse’s chestnut body. This centaur had a 
+proud, high-cheekboned face and long black hair. 
+
+Like Hagrid, he was armed: A quiverful of arrows and 
+a long bow were slung over his shoulders. 
+
+“How are yeh, Magorian?” said Hagrid warily. 
+
+The trees behind the centaur rustled and four or five 
+more emerged behind him. Harry recognized the 
+black-bodied and bearded Bane, whom he had met 
+nearly four years ago on the same night he had met 
+Firenze. Bane gave no sign that he had ever seen 
+Harry before. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“So,” he said, with a nasty inflection in his voice, 
+before turning immediately to Magorian. “We agreed, I 
+think, what we would do if this human showed his 
+face in the forest again?” 
+
+“ This human’ now, am I?” said Hagrid testily. “Jus’ 
+fer stoppin’ all of yeh committin’ murder?” 
+
+“You ought not to have meddled, Hagrid,” said 
+Magorian. “Our ways are not yours, nor are our laws. 
+Firenze has betrayed and dishonored us.” 
+
+“I dunno how yeh work that out,” said Hagrid 
+impatiently. “He’s done nothin’ except help Albus 
+Dumbledore — ” 
+
+“Firenze has entered into servitude to humans,” said 
+a gray centaur with a hard, deeply lined face. 
+
+“ Servitude !” said Hagrid scathingly. “He’s doin’ 
+Dumbledore a favor is all — ” 
+
+“He is peddling our knowledge and secrets among 
+humans,” said Magorian quietly. “There can be no 
+return from such disgrace.” 
+
+“If yeh say so,” said Hagrid, shrugging, “but 
+personally I think yeh ’re makin’ a big mistake — ” 
+
+“As are you, human,” said Bane, “coming back into 
+our forest when we warned you — ” 
+
+“Now, you listen ter me,” said Hagrid angrily. “I’ll have 
+less of the ‘our’ forest, if it’s all the same ter you. It’s 
+not up ter you who comes an’ goes in here — ” 
+
+“No more is it up to you, Hagrid,” said Magorian 
+smoothly. “I shall let you pass today because you are 
+accompanied by your young — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“They’re not his!” interrupted Bane contemptuously. 
+“Students, Magorian, from up at the school! They 
+have probably already profited from the traitor 
+F irenze ’s teachings ...” 
+
+“Nevertheless,” said Magorian calmly, “the slaughter 
+of foals is a terrible crime... We do not touch the 
+innocent. Today, Hagrid, you pass. Henceforth, stay 
+away from this place. You forfeited the friendship of 
+the centaurs when you helped the traitor Firenze 
+escape us.” 
+
+“I won’ be kept outta the fores’ by a bunch of mules 
+like you!” said Hagrid loudly. 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Hermione in a high-pitched and 
+terrified voice, as both Bane and the gray centaur 
+pawed at the ground, “let’s go, please lets go! 
+
+Hagrid moved forward, but his crossbow was still 
+raised and his eyes were still fixed threateningly upon 
+Magorian. 
+
+“We know what you are keeping in the forest, Hagrid!” 
+Magorian called after them, as the centaurs slipped 
+out of sight. “And our tolerance is waning!” 
+
+Hagrid turned and gave every appearance of wanting 
+to walk straight back to Magorian again. 
+
+“You’ll tolerate him as long as he’s here, it’s as much 
+his forest as yours!” he yelled, while Harry and 
+Hermione both pushed with all their might against 
+Hagrid ’s moleskin waistcoat in an effort to keep him 
+moving forward. Still scowling, he looked down; his 
+expression changed to mild surprise at the sight of 
+them both pushing him. He seemed not to have felt it. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Calm down, you two,” he said, turning to walk on 
+while they panted along behind him. “Ruddy old nags 
+though, eh?” 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Hermione breathlessly, skirting the 
+patch of nettles they had passed on their way there, 
+“if the centaurs don’t want humans in the forest, it 
+doesn’t really look as though Harry and I will be able 
+
+
+
+“Ah, you heard what they said,” said Hagrid 
+dismissively “They wouldn’t hurt foals — I mean, 
+kids. Anyway, we can’ let ourselves be pushed around 
+by that lot...” 
+
+“Nice try,” Harry murmured to Hermione, who looked 
+crestfallen. 
+
+At last they rejoined the path and after another ten 
+minutes, the trees began to thin. They were able to 
+see patches of clear blue sky again and hear, in the 
+distance, the definite sounds of cheering and 
+shouting. 
+
+“Was that another goal?” asked Hagrid, pausing in 
+the shelter of the trees as the Quidditch stadium 
+came into view. “Or d’you reckon the match is over?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Hermione miserably. Harry saw 
+that she looked much the worse for wear; her hair 
+was full of bits of twig and leaves, her robes were 
+ripped in several places and there were numerous 
+scratches on her face and arms. He knew he could 
+look little better. 
+
+“I reckon it’s over, yeh know!” said Hagrid, still 
+squinting toward the stadium. “Look — there’s people 
+cornin’ out already — if you two hurry yeh ’ll be able 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+ter blend in with the crowd an’ no one’ll know you 
+weren’t there!” 
+
+
+
+“Good idea,” said Harry. “Well ... see you later, then, 
+Hagrid...” 
+
+“I don’t believe him,” said Hermione in a very 
+unsteady voice, the moment they were out of earshot 
+of Hagrid. “I don’t believe him. I really don’t believe 
+him...” 
+
+“Calm down,” said Harry. 
+
+“Calm down!” she said feverishly. “A giant! A giant in 
+the forest! And we’re supposed to give him English 
+lessons! Always assuming, of course, we can get past 
+the herd of murderous centaurs on the way in and 
+out! I — don’t — believe — him!” 
+
+“We haven’t got to do anything yet!” Harry tried to 
+reassure her in a quiet voice, as they joined a stream 
+of jabbering Hufflepuffs heading back toward the 
+castle. “He’s not asking us to do anything unless he 
+gets chucked out and that might not even happen — ” 
+
+“Oh come off it, Harry!” said Hermione angrily, 
+stopping dead in her tracks so that the people behind 
+her had to swerve to avoid her. “Of course he’s going 
+to be chucked out and to be perfectly honest, after 
+what we’ve just seen, who can blame Umbridge?” 
+
+There was a pause in which Harry glared at her, and 
+her eyes filled slowly with tears. 
+
+“You didn’t mean that,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+“No ... well ... all right ... I didn’t,” she said, wiping 
+her eyes angrily. “But why does he have to make life 
+so difficult for himself — for us?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I dunno — ” 
+
+
+
+Weasley is our King, 
+
+Weasley is our King, 
+
+He didn’t let the Quaffle in, 
+
+Weasley is our King . . . 
+
+“And I wish they’d stop singing that stupid song,” said 
+Hermione miserably, “haven’t they gloated enough?” 
+
+A great tide of students was moving up the sloping 
+lawns from the pitch. 
+
+“Oh, let’s get in before we have to meet the 
+Slytherins,” said Hermione. 
+
+Weasley can save anything, 
+
+He never leaves a single ring 
+That’s why Gryffindors all sing: 
+
+Weasley is our King. 
+
+“Hermione ...” said Harry slowly. 
+
+The song was growing louder, but it was issuing not 
+from a crowd of green-and-silver-clad Slytherins, but 
+from a mass of red and gold moving slowly toward the 
+castle, which was bearing a solitary figure upon its 
+many shoulders... 
+
+Weasley is our King, 
+
+Weasley is our King, 
+
+He didn’t let the Quaffle in, 
+
+Weasley is our King . . . 
+
+“No!” said Hermione in a hushed voice. 
+
+“YES!” said Harry loudly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“HARRY! HERMIONE!” yelled Ron, waving the silver 
+Quidditch Cup in the air and looking quite beside 
+himself. “WE DID IT! WE WON!” 
+
+
+
+They beamed up at him as he passed; there was a 
+scrum at the door of the castle and Ron’s head got 
+rather badly bumped on the lintel, but nobody 
+seemed to want to put him down. Still singing, the 
+crowd squeezed itself into the entrance hall and out of 
+sight. Harry and Hermione watched them go, 
+beaming, until the last echoing strains of “Weasley Is 
+Our King” died away. Then they turned to each other, 
+their smiles fading. 
+
+“We’ll save our news till tomorrow, shall we?” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Yes, all right,” said Hermione wearily. “I’m not in any 
+hurry...” 
+
+They climbed the steps together. At the front doors 
+both instinctively looked back at the Forbidden 
+Forest. Harry was not sure whether it was his 
+imagination or not, but he rather thought he saw a 
+small cloud of birds erupting into the air over the 
+treetops in the distance, almost as though the tree in 
+which they had been nesting had just been pulled up 
+by the roots. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+O.W.L.S 
+
+
+
+Ron’s euphoria at helping Gryffindor scrape the 
+Quidditch Cup was such that he could not settle to 
+anything next day. All he wanted to do was talk over 
+the match and Harry and Hermione found it very 
+difficult to find an opening in which to mention 
+Grawp — not that either of them tried very hard; 
+neither was keen to be the one to bring Ron back to 
+reality in quite such a brutal fashion. As it was 
+another fine, warm day, they persuaded him to join 
+them in studying under the beech tree on the edge of 
+the lake, where they stood less chance of being 
+overheard than in the common room. Ron was not 
+particularly keen on this idea at first; he was 
+thoroughly enjoying being patted on the back by 
+Gryffindors walking past his chair, not to mention the 
+occasional outbursts of “Weasley Is Our King,” but 
+agreed after a while that some fresh air might do him 
+good. 
+
+They spread their books out in the shade of the beech 
+tree and sat down while Ron talked them through his 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+first save of the match for what felt like the dozenth 
+time. 
+
+“Well, I mean, I’d already let in that one of Davies’s, 
+so I wasn’t feeling that confident, but I dunno, when 
+Bradley came toward me, just out of nowhere, I 
+thought — you can do this\ And I had about a second 
+to decide which way to fly, you know, because he 
+looked like he was aiming for the right goal hoop — 
+my right, obviously, his left — but I had a funny 
+feeling that he was feinting, and so I took the chance 
+and flew left — his right, I mean — and — well — you 
+saw what happened,” he concluded modestly, 
+sweeping his hair back quite unnecessarily so that it 
+looked interestingly windswept and glancing around 
+to see whether the people nearest to them — a bunch 
+of gossiping third-year Hufflepuffs — had heard him. 
+“And then, when Chambers came at me about five 
+minutes later — what?” Ron said, stopping mid- 
+sentence at the look on Harry’s face. “Why are you 
+grinning?” 
+
+“I’m not,” said Harry quickly, looking down at his 
+Transfiguration notes and attempting to straighten 
+his face. The truth was that Ron had just reminded 
+Harry forcibly of another Gryffindor Quidditch player 
+who had once sat rumpling his hair under this very 
+tree. “I’m just glad we won, that’s all.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron slowly, savoring the words, “we won. 
+Did you see the look on Chang’s face when Ginny got 
+the Snitch right out from under her nose?” 
+
+“I suppose she cried, did she?” said Harry bitterly. 
+
+“Well, yeah — more out of temper than anything, 
+though ...” Ron frowned slightly. “But you saw her 
+chuck her broom away when she got back to the 
+ground, didn’t you?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Er — ” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, actually ... no, Ron,” said Hermione with a 
+heavy sigh, putting down her book and looking at him 
+apologetically. “As a matter of fact, the only bit of the 
+match Harry and I saw was Davies’s first goal.” 
+
+Ron’s carefully ruffled hair seemed to wilt with 
+disappointment. 
+
+“You didn’t watch?” he said faintly, looking from one 
+to the other. “You didn’t see me make any of those 
+saves?” 
+
+“Well — no,” said Hermione, stretching out a 
+placatory hand toward him. “But Ron, we didn’t want 
+to leave — we had to!” 
+
+“Yeah?” said Ron, whose face was growing rather red. 
+“How come?” 
+
+“It was Hagrid,” said Harry. “He decided to tell us why 
+he’s been covered in injuries ever since he got back 
+from the giants. He wanted us to go into the forest 
+with him, we had no choice, you know how he gets... 
+Anyway ...” 
+
+The story was told in five minutes, by the end of 
+which Ron’s indignation had been replaced by a look 
+of total incredulity. 
+
+“He brought one back and hid it in the forest?” 
+
+“Yep,” said Harry grimly. 
+
+“No,” said Ron, as though by saying this he could 
+make it untrue. “No, he can’t have...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, he has,” said Hermione firmly. “Grawp’s about 
+sixteen feet tall, enjoys ripping up twenty-foot pine 
+trees, and knows me,” she snorted, “as Hermy.” 
+
+Ron gave a nervous laugh. 
+
+“And Hagrid wants us to . . . ?” 
+
+“Teach him English, yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“He’s lost his mind,” said Ron in an almost awed 
+voice. 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione irritably, turning a page of 
+Intermediate Transfiguration and glaring at a series of 
+diagrams showing an owl turning into a pair of opera 
+glasses. “Yes, I’m starting to think he has. But 
+unfortunately, he made Harry and me promise.” 
+
+“Well, you’re just going to have to break your promise, 
+that’s all,” said Ron firmly. “I mean, come on ... We’ve 
+got exams and we’re about that far,” he held up his 
+hand to show thumb and forefinger a millimeter 
+apart, “from being chucked out as it is. And anyway 
+... remember Norbert? Remember Aragog? Have we 
+ever come off better for mixing with any of Hagrid ’s 
+monster mates?” 
+
+“I know, it’s just that — we promised,” said Hermione 
+in a small voice. 
+
+Ron smoothed his hair flat again, looking 
+preoccupied. 
+
+“Well,” he sighed, “Hagrid hasn’t been sacked yet, has 
+he? He’s hung on this long, maybe he’ll hang on till 
+the end of term and we won’t have to go near Grawp 
+at all.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as 
+though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at 
+itself in the smoothly sparkling lake, the satin-green 
+lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze: June 
+had arrived, but to the fifth years this meant only one 
+thing: Their O.W.L.s were upon them at last. 
+
+Their teachers were no longer setting them 
+homework; lessons were devoted to reviewing those 
+topics their teachers thought most likely to come up 
+in the exams. The purposeful, feverish atmosphere 
+drove nearly everything but the O.W.L.s from Harry’s 
+mind, though he did wonder occasionally during 
+Potions lessons whether Lupin had ever told Snape 
+that he must continue giving Harry Occlumency 
+tuition: If he had, then Snape had ignored Lupin as 
+thoroughly as he was now ignoring Harry. This suited 
+Harry very well; he was quite busy and tense enough 
+without extra classes with Snape, and to his relief 
+Hermione was much too preoccupied these days to 
+badger him about Occlumency. She was spending a 
+lot of time muttering to herself and had not laid out 
+any elf clothes for days. 
+
+She was not the only person acting oddly as the 
+O.W.L.s drew steadily nearer. Ernie Macmillan had 
+developed an irritating habit of interrogating people 
+about their study habits. 
+
+“How many hours d’you think you’re doing a day?” he 
+demanded of Harry and Ron as they queued outside 
+Herbology, a manic gleam in his eyes. 
+
+“I dunno,” said Ron. “A few ...” 
+
+“More or less than eight?” 
+
+“Less, I s’pose,” said Ron, looking slightly alarmed. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+‘Tm doing eight,” said Ernie, puffing out his chest. 
+“Eight or nine. I’m getting an hour in before breakfast 
+every day. Eight’s my average. I can do ten on a good 
+weekend day. I did nine and a half on Monday. Not so 
+good on Tuesday — only seven and a quarter. Then 
+on Wednesday — ■” 
+
+Harry was deeply thankful that Professor Sprout 
+ushered them into greenhouse three at that point, 
+forcing Ernie to abandon his recital. 
+
+Meanwhile Draco Malfoy had found a different way to 
+induce panic. 
+
+“Of course, it’s not what you know,” he was heard to 
+tell Crabbe and Goyle loudly outside Potions a few 
+days before the exams were to start, “it’s who you 
+know. Now, Father���s been friendly with the head of 
+the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years — old 
+Griselda Marchbanks — we’ve had her round for 
+dinner and everything...” 
+
+“Do you think that’s true?” Hermione whispered to 
+Harry and Ron, looking frightened. 
+
+“Nothing we can do about it if it is,” said Ron 
+gloomily. 
+
+“I don’t think it’s true,” said Neville quietly from 
+behind them. “Because Griselda Marchbanks is a 
+friend of my gran’s, and she’s never mentioned the 
+Malfoys.” 
+
+“What’s she like, Neville?” asked Hermione at once. 
+
+“Is she strict?” 
+
+“Bit like Gran, really,” said Neville in a subdued voice. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Knowing her won’t hurt your chances though, will 
+it?” Ron told him encouragingly. 
+
+“Oh, I don’t think it will make any difference,” said 
+Neville, still more miserably. “Gran’s always telling 
+Professor Marchbanks I’m not as good as my dad... 
+Well ... you saw what she’s like at St. Mungo’s...” 
+
+Neville looked fixedly at the floor. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione glanced at one another, but didn’t know 
+what to say. It was the first time that Neville had 
+acknowledged that they had met at the Wizarding 
+hospital. 
+
+Meanwhile a flourishing black-market trade in aids to 
+concentration, mental agility, and wakefulness had 
+sprung up among the fifth and seventh years. Harry 
+and Ron were much tempted by the bottle of 
+Baruffio’s Brain Elixir offered to them by Ravenclaw 
+sixth year Eddie Carmichael, who swore it was solely 
+responsible for the nine “Outstanding” O.W.L.s he 
+had gained the previous summer and was offering the 
+whole pint for a mere twelve Galleons. Ron assured 
+Harry he would reimburse him for his half the 
+moment he left Hogwarts and got a job, but before 
+they could close the deal, Hermione had confiscated 
+the bottle from Carmichael and poured the contents 
+down a toilet. 
+
+“Hermione, we wanted to buy that!” shouted Ron. 
+
+“Don’t be stupid,” she snarled. “You might as well 
+take Harold Dingle’s powdered dragon claw and have 
+done with it.” 
+
+“Dingle’s got powdered dragon claw?” said Ron 
+eagerly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Not anymore,” said Hermione. “I confiscated that too. 
+None of these things actually works you know — ” 
+
+“Dragon claw does work!” said Ron. “It’s supposed to 
+be incredible, really gives your brain a boost, you 
+come over all cunning for a few hours — Hermione, 
+let me have a pinch, go on, it can’t hurt — ” 
+
+“This stuff can,” said Hermione grimly. “I’ve had a 
+look at it, and it’s actually dried doxy droppings.” 
+
+This information took the edge off Harry and Ron’s 
+desire for brain stimulants. 
+
+They received their examination schedules and details 
+of the procedure for O.W.L.s during their next 
+Transfiguration lesson. 
+
+“As you can see,” Professor McGonagall told the class 
+while they copied down the dates and times of their 
+exams from the blackboard, “your O.W.L.s are spread 
+over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory 
+exams in the mornings and the practice in the 
+afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination 
+will, of course, take place at night. 
+
+“Now, I must warn you that the most stringent Anti- 
+Cheating Charms have been applied to your 
+examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned 
+from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, 
+Detachable Cribbing Cuffs, and Self- Correcting Ink. 
+Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbor at 
+least one student who thinks that he or she can get 
+around the Wizarding Examinations Authority’s rules. 
+I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our 
+new — headmistress” — Professor McGonagall 
+pronounced the word with the same look on her face 
+that Aunt Petunia had whenever she was 
+contemplating a particularly stubborn bit of dirt — 
+Page | 905Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“has asked the Heads of House to tell their students 
+that cheating will be punished most severely — 
+because, of course, your examination results will 
+reflect upon the headmistress’s new regime at the 
+school...” 
+
+Professor McGonagall gave a tiny sigh. Harry saw the 
+nostrils of her sharp nose flare. 
+
+“However, that is no reason not to do your very best. 
+You have your own futures to think about.” 
+
+“Please, Professor,” said Hermione, her hand in the 
+air, “when will we find out our results?” 
+
+“An owl will be sent to you some time in July,” said 
+Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“Excellent,” said Dean Thomas in an audible whisper, 
+“so we don’t have to worry about it till the holidays...” 
+
+Harry imagined sitting in his bedroom in Privet Drive 
+in six weeks’ time, waiting for his O.W.L. results. 
+
+Well, he thought, at least he would be sure of one bit 
+of post next summer... 
+
+Their first exam, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for 
+Monday morning. Harry agreed to test Hermione after 
+lunch on Sunday but regretted it almost at once. She 
+was very agitated and kept snatching the book back 
+from him to check that she had gotten the answer 
+completely right, finally hitting him hard on the nose 
+with the sharp edge of Achievements in Charming. 
+
+“Why don’t you just do it yourself?” he said firmly, 
+handing the book back to her, his eyes watering. 
+
+Meanwhile Ron was reading two years of Charms 
+notes with his fingers in his ears, his lips moving 
+
+Page | 906Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+soundlessly; Seamus was lying flat on his back on the 
+floor, reciting the definition of a Substantive Charm, 
+while Dean checked it against The Standard Book of 
+Spells, Grade 5; and Parvati and Lavender, who were 
+practicing basic locomotion charms, were making 
+their pencil cases race each other around the edge of 
+the table. 
+
+Dinner was a subdued affair that night. Harry and 
+Ron did not talk much, but ate with gusto, having 
+studied hard all day. Hermione on the other hand 
+kept putting down her knife and fork and diving 
+under the table for her bag, from which she would 
+seize a book to check some fact or figure. Ron was 
+just telling her that she ought to eat a decent meal or 
+she would not sleep that night, when her fork slid 
+from her limp fingers and landed with a loud tinkle on 
+her plate. 
+
+“Oh, my goodness,” she said faintly, staring into the 
+entrance hall. “Is that them? Is that the examiners?” 
+
+Harry and Ron whipped around on their bench. 
+Through the doors to the Great Hall they could see 
+Umbridge standing with a small group of ancient- 
+looking witches and wizards. Umbridge, Harry was 
+pleased to see, looked rather nervous. 
+
+“Shall we go and have a closer look?” said Ron. 
+
+Harry and Hermione nodded and they hastened 
+toward the double doors into the entrance hall, 
+slowing down as they stepped over the threshold to 
+walk sedately past the examiners. Harry thought 
+Professor Marchbanks must be the tiny, stooped 
+witch with a face so lined it looked as though it had 
+been draped in cobwebs; Umbridge was speaking to 
+her very deferentially. Professor Marchbanks seemed 
+
+
+
+Page | 907Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to be a little deaf; she was answering Umbridge very 
+loudly considering that they were only a foot apart. 
+
+“Journey was fine, journey was fine, we’ve made it 
+plenty of times before!” she said impatiently. “Now, I 
+haven’t heard from Dumbledore lately!” she added, 
+peering around the hall as though hopeful he might 
+suddenly emerge from a broom cupboard. “No idea 
+where he is, I suppose?” 
+
+“None at all,” said Umbridge, shooting a malevolent 
+look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were now 
+dawdling around the foot of the stairs as Ron 
+pretended to do up his shoelace. “But I daresay the 
+Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough...” 
+
+“I doubt it,” shouted tiny Professor Marchbanks, “not 
+if Dumbledore doesn’t want to be found! I should 
+know... Examined him personally in Transfiguration 
+and Charms when he did N.E.W.T.s ... Did things 
+with a wand I’d never seen before ...” 
+
+“Yes ... well ...” said Professor Umbridge as Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione dragged their feet up the marble 
+staircase as slowly as they dared, “let me show you to 
+the staffroom ... I daresay you’d like a cup of tea after 
+your journey...” 
+
+It was an uncomfortable sort of an evening. Everyone 
+was trying to do some last-minute studying but 
+nobody seemed to be getting very far. Harry went to 
+bed early but then lay awake for what felt like hours. 
+He remembered his careers consultation and 
+McGonagall’s furious declaration that she would help 
+him become an Auror if it was the last thing she did... 
+He wished he had expressed a more achievable 
+ambition now that exam time was here... He knew 
+that he was not the only one lying awake, but none of 
+
+
+
+Page | 908Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the others in the dormitory spoke and finally, one by 
+one, they fell asleep. 
+
+None of the fifth years talked very much at breakfast 
+next day either. Parvati was practicing incantations 
+under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her 
+twitched, Hermione was rereading Achievement in 
+Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred, and 
+Neville kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking 
+over the marmalade. 
+
+Once breakfast was over, the fifth and seventh years 
+milled around in the entrance hall while the other 
+students went off to lessons. Then, at half-past nine, 
+they were called forward class by class to reenter the 
+Great Hall, which was now arranged exactly as Harry 
+had seen it in the Pensieve when his father, Sirius, 
+and Snape had been taking their O.W.L.s. The four 
+House tables had been removed and replaced instead 
+with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end 
+of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing 
+them. When they were all seated and quiet she said, 
+“You may begin,” and turned over an enormous 
+hourglass on the desk beside her, on which were also 
+spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment. 
+
+Harry turned over his paper, his heart thumping 
+hard... Three rows to his right and four seats ahead, 
+Hermione was already scribbling. . . He lowered his 
+eyes to the first question: a) Give the incantation, and 
+b) describe the wand movement required to make 
+objects fly... 
+
+Harry had a fleeting memory of a club soaring high 
+into the air and landing loudly on the thick skull of a 
+troll... Smiling slightly, he bent over the paper and 
+began to write... 
+
+
+
+Page | 909Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, it wasn’t too bad, was it?” asked Hermione 
+anxiously in the entrance hall two hours later, still 
+clutching the exam paper. “I’m not sure I did myself 
+justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time — 
+did you put in the countercharm for hiccups? I wasn’t 
+sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much — and 
+on question twenty-three — ” 
+
+“Hermione,” said Ron sternly, “we’ve been through 
+this before... We’re not going through every exam 
+afterward, it’s bad enough doing them once.” 
+
+The fifth years ate lunch with the rest of the school 
+(the four House tables reappeared over the lunch 
+hour) and then trooped off into the small chamber 
+beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until 
+called for their practical examination. As small groups 
+of students were called forward in alphabetical order, 
+those left behind muttered incantations and practiced 
+wand movements, occasionally poking one another in 
+the back or eye by mistake. 
+
+Hermione’s name was called. Trembling, she left the 
+chamber with Anthony Goldstein, Gregory Goyle, and 
+Daphne Greengrass. Students who had already been 
+tested did not return afterward, so Harry and Ron 
+had no idea how Hermione had done. 
+
+“She’ll be fine — remember she got a hundred and 
+twelve percent on one of our Charms tests?” said Ron. 
+
+Ten minutes later, Professor Flitwick called, 
+“Parkinson, Pansy — Patil, Padma — Patil, Parvati — 
+Potter, Harry.” 
+
+“Good luck,” said Ron quietly. Harry walked into the 
+Great Hall, clutching his wand so tightly his hand 
+shook. 
+
+
+
+Page | 910Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Professor Tofty is free, Potter,” squeaked Professor 
+Flitwick, who was standing just inside the door. He 
+pointed Harry toward what looked like the very oldest 
+and baldest examiner, who was sitting behind a small 
+table in a far corner, a short distance from Professor 
+Marchbanks, who was halfway through testing Draco 
+Malfoy. 
+
+“Potter, is it?” said Professor Tofty, consulting his 
+notes and peering over his pince-nez at Harry as he 
+approached. “The famous Potter?” 
+
+Out of the corner of his eye, Harry distinctly saw 
+Malfoy throw a scathing look over at him; the wine 
+glass Malfoy had been levitating fell to the floor and 
+smashed. Harry could not suppress a grin. Professor 
+Tofty smiled back at him encouragingly. 
+
+“That’s it,” he said in his quavery old voice, “no need 
+to be nervous... Now, if I could ask you to take this 
+eggcup and make it do some cartwheels for me...” 
+
+On the whole Harry thought it went rather well; his 
+Levitation Charm was certainly much better than 
+Malfoy’s had been, though he wished he had not 
+mixed up the incantations for Color- Change and 
+Growth Charms, so that the rat he was supposed to 
+be turning orange swelled shockingly and was the size 
+of a badger before Harry could rectify his mistake. He 
+was glad Hermione had not been in the Hall at the 
+time and neglected to mention it to her afterward. He 
+could tell Ron, though; Ron had caused a dinner plate 
+to mutate into a large mushroom and had no idea 
+how it had happened. 
+
+There was no time to relax that night — they went 
+straight to the common room after dinner and 
+submerged themselves in studying for Transfiguration 
+
+
+
+Page | 911Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+next day. Harry went to bed, his head buzzing with 
+complex spell models and theories. 
+
+He forgot the definition of a Switching Spell during his 
+written exam next morning, but thought his practical 
+could have been a lot worse. At least he managed to 
+vanish the whole of his iguana, whereas poor Hannah 
+Abbott lost her head completely at the next table and 
+somehow managed to multiply her ferret into a flock 
+of flamingos, causing the examination to be halted for 
+ten minutes while the birds were captured and 
+carried out of the Hall. 
+
+They had their Herbology exam on Wednesday (other 
+than a small bite from a Fanged Geranium, Harry felt 
+he had done reasonably well) and then, on Thursday, 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts. Here, for the first 
+time, Harry felt sure he had passed. He had no 
+problem with any of the written questions and took 
+particular pleasure, during the practical examination, 
+in performing all the counterjinxes and defensive 
+spells right in front of Umbridge, who was watching 
+coolly from near the doors into the entrance hall. 
+
+“Oh bravo!” cried Professor Tofty, who was examining 
+Harry again, when Harry demonstrated a perfect 
+boggart banishing spell. “Very good indeed! Well, I 
+think that’s all, Potter ... unless ...” 
+
+He leaned forward a little. 
+
+“I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that 
+you can produce a Patronus? For a bonus point ... ?” 
+
+Harry raised his wand, looked directly at Umbridge, 
+and imagined her being sacked. 
+
+“Expecto Patronum).” 
+
+
+
+Page | 912Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The silver stag erupted from the end of his wand and 
+cantered the length of the hall. All of the examiners 
+looked around to watch its progress and when it 
+dissolved into silver mist, Professor Tofty clapped his 
+veined and knotted hands enthusiastically. 
+
+“Excellent!” he said. “Very well, Potter, you may go!” 
+
+As Harry passed Umbridge beside the door their eyes 
+met. There was a nasty smile playing around her 
+wide, slack mouth, but he did not care. Unless he was 
+very much mistaken (and he was not planning on 
+saying it to anybody, in case he was), he had just 
+achieved an “Outstanding” O.W.L. 
+
+On Friday, Harry and Ron had a day off while 
+Hermione sat her Ancient Runes exam, and as they 
+had the whole weekend in front of them, they 
+permitted themselves a break from studying. They 
+stretched and yawned beside the open window, 
+through which warm summer air wafted over them as 
+they played a desultory game of wizard chess. Harry 
+could see Hagrid in the distance, teaching a class on 
+the edge of the forest. He was trying to guess what 
+creatures they were examining — he thought it must 
+be unicorns, because the boys seemed to be standing 
+back a little — when the portrait hole opened and 
+Hermione clambered in, looking thoroughly bad 
+tempered. 
+
+“How were the runes?” said Ron, yawning and 
+stretching. 
+
+“I mistranslated ‘ehwaz,’ ” said Hermione furiously. “It 
+means ‘partnership,’ not ‘defense,’ I mixed it up with 
+‘eihwaz.’ ” 
+
+“Ah well,” said Ron lazily, “that’s only one mistake, 
+isn’t it, you’ll still get — ” 
+
+Page | 913Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh shut up,” said Hermione angrily, “it could be the 
+one mistake that makes the difference between a pass 
+and a fail. And what’s more, someone’s put another 
+niffler in Umbridge’s office, I don’t know how they got 
+it through that new door, but I just walked past there 
+and Umbridge is shrieking her head off — by the 
+sound of it, it tried to take a chunk out of her leg — ” 
+
+“Good,” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+“It is not good!” said Hermione hotly. “She thinks it’s 
+Hagrid doing it, remember? And we do not want 
+Hagrid chucked out!” 
+
+“He’s teaching at the moment, she can’t blame him,” 
+said Harry, gesturing out of the window. 
+
+“Oh, you’re so naive sometimes, Harry, you really 
+think Umbridge will wait for proof?” said Hermione, 
+who seemed determined to be in a towering temper, 
+and she swept off toward the girls’ dormitories, 
+banging the door behind her. 
+
+“Such a lovely, sweet-tempered girl,” said Ron, very 
+quietly, prodding his queen forward so that she could 
+begin beating up one of Harry’s knights. 
+
+Hermione ’s bad mood persisted for most of the 
+weekend, though Harry and Ron found it quite easy 
+to ignore as they spent most of Saturday and Sunday 
+studying for Potions on Monday, the exam to which 
+Harry was looking forward least and which he was 
+sure would be the one that would be the downfall of 
+his ambitions to become an Auror. Sure enough, he 
+found the written exam difficult, though he thought 
+he might have got full marks on the question about 
+Polyjuice Potion: He could describe its effects 
+extremely accurately, having taken it illegally in his 
+second year. 
+
+Page | 914Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The afternoon practical was not as dreadful as he had 
+expected it to be. With Snape absent from the 
+proceedings he found that he was much more relaxed 
+than he usually was while making potions. Neville, 
+who was sitting very near Harry, also looked happier 
+than Harry had ever seen him during a Potions class. 
+When Professor Marchbanks said, “Step away from 
+your cauldrons, please, the examination is over,” 
+Harry corked his sample flask feeling that he might 
+not have achieved a good grade but that he had, with 
+luck, avoided a fail. 
+
+“Only four exams left,” said Parvati Patil wearily as 
+they headed back to Gryffindor common room. 
+
+��Only!” said Hermione snappishly. “I’ve got 
+Arithmancy and it’s probably the toughest subject 
+there is!” 
+
+Nobody was foolish enough to snap back, so she was 
+unable to vent her spleen on any of them and was 
+reduced to telling off some first years for giggling too 
+loudly in the common room. 
+
+Harry was determined to perform well in Tuesday’s 
+Care of Magical Creatures exam so as not to let 
+Hagrid down. The practical examination took place in 
+the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the 
+Forbidden Forest, where students were required to 
+correctly identify the knarl hidden among a dozen 
+hedgehogs (the trick was to offer them all milk in 
+turn: knarls, highly suspicious creatures whose quills 
+had many magical properties, generally went berserk 
+at what they saw as an attempt to poison them); then 
+demonstrate correct handling of a bowtruckle, feed 
+and clean a fire-crab without sustaining serious 
+burns, and choose, from a wide selection of food, the 
+diet they would give a sick unicorn. 
+
+
+
+Page | 915Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry could see Hagrid watching anxiously out of his 
+cabin window. When Harry’s examiner, a plump little 
+witch this time, smiled at him and told him he could 
+leave, Harry gave Hagrid a fleeting thumbs-up before 
+heading back up to the castle. 
+
+The Astronomy theory exam on Wednesday morning 
+went well enough; Harry was not convinced he had 
+got the names of all of Jupiter’s moons right, but was 
+at least confident that none of them was inhabited by 
+mice. They had to wait until evening for their practical 
+Astronomy; the afternoon was devoted instead to 
+Divination. 
+
+Even by Harry’s low standards in Divination, the 
+exam went very badly. He might as well have tried to 
+see moving pictures in the desktop as in the 
+stubbornly blank crystal ball; he lost his head 
+completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to 
+him as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly 
+be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and 
+rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and 
+head lines on her palm and informing her that she 
+ought to have died the previous Tuesday. 
+
+“Well, we were always going to fail that one,” said Ron 
+gloomily as they ascended the marble staircase. He 
+had just made Harry feel rather better by telling him 
+how he told the examiner in detail about the ugly 
+man with a wart on his nose in his crystal ball, only 
+to look up and realize he had been describing his 
+examiner’s reflection. 
+
+“We shouldn’t have taken the stupid subject in the 
+first place,” said Harry. 
+
+“Still, at least we can give it up now.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 916Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “No more pretending we care what 
+happens when Jupiter and Uranus get too friendly ...” 
+
+“And from now on, I don’t care if my tea leaves spell 
+die, Ron, die — I’m just chucking them in the bin 
+where they belong.” 
+
+Harry laughed just as Hermione came running up 
+behind them. He stopped laughing at once, in case it 
+annoyed her. 
+
+“Well, I think I’ve done all right in Arithmancy,” she 
+said, and Harry and Ron both sighed with relief. “Just 
+time for a quick look over our star charts before 
+dinner, then ...” 
+
+When they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at 
+eleven o’clock they found a perfect night for 
+stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were 
+bathed in silvery moonlight, and there was a slight 
+chill in the air. Each of them set up his or her 
+telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the 
+word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart he or 
+she had been given. 
+
+Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among 
+them, watching as they entered the precise positions 
+of the stars and planets they were observing. All was 
+quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the 
+occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on 
+its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an 
+hour passed, then an hour; the little squares of 
+reflected gold light flickering on the ground below 
+started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were 
+extinguished. 
+
+As Harry completed the constellation Orion on his 
+chart, however, the front doors of the castle opened 
+directly below the parapet where he was standing, so 
+
+Page | 917Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that light spilled down the stone steps a little way 
+across the lawn. Harry glanced down as he made a 
+slight adjustment to the position of his telescope and 
+saw five or six elongated shadows moving over the 
+brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the 
+lawn became a sea of darkness once more. 
+
+Harry put his eye back to his telescope and refocused 
+it, now examining Venus. He looked down at his chart 
+to enter the planet there, but something distracted 
+him. Pausing with his quill suspended over the 
+parchment, he squinted down into the shadowy 
+grounds and saw half a dozen figures walking over 
+the lawn. If they had not been moving, and the 
+moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their 
+heads, they would have been indistinguishable from 
+the dark ground on which they stood. Even at this 
+distance, Harry had a funny feeling that he 
+recognized the walk of the squattest among them, 
+who seemed to be leading the group. 
+
+He could not think why Umbridge would be taking a 
+stroll outside past midnight, much less accompanied 
+by five others. Then somebody coughed behind him, 
+and he remembered that he was halfway through an 
+exam. He had quite forgotten Venus’s position — 
+jamming his eye to his telescope, he found it again 
+and was again on the point of entering it on his chart 
+when, alert for any odd sound, he heard a distant 
+knock that echoed through the deserted grounds, 
+followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large 
+dog. 
+
+He looked up, his heart hammering. There were lights 
+on in Hagrid’s windows and the people he had 
+observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted 
+against them. The door opened and he distinctly saw 
+six tiny but sharply defined figures walk over the 
+
+
+
+Page | 918Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+threshold. The door closed again and there was 
+silence. 
+
+Harry felt very uneasy. He glanced around to see 
+whether Ron or Hermione had noticed what he had, 
+but Professor Marchbanks came walking behind him 
+at that moment, and not wanting to appear as though 
+he was sneaking looks at anyone else’s work, he 
+hastily bent over his star chart and pretended to be 
+adding notes to it while really peering over the top of 
+the parapet toward Hagrid’s cabin. Figures were now 
+moving across the cabin windows, temporarily 
+blocking the light. 
+
+He could feel Professor Marchbanks’s eyes on the 
+back of his neck and pressed his eye again to his 
+telescope, staring up at the moon though he had 
+marked its position an hour ago, but as Professor 
+Marchbanks moved on he heard a roar from the 
+distant cabin that echoed through the darkness right 
+to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Several of the 
+people around Harry ducked out from behind their 
+telescopes and peered instead in the direction of 
+Hagrid’s cabin. 
+
+Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough. 
+
+“Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls,” he said 
+softly. 
+
+Most people returned to their telescopes. Harry looked 
+to his left. Hermione was gazing transfixed at 
+Hagrid’s. 
+
+“Ahem — twenty minutes to go,” said Professor Tofty. 
+
+Hermione jumped and returned at once to her star 
+chart; Harry looked down at his own and noticed that 
+
+
+
+Page | 919Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he had mislabelled Venus as Mars. He bent to correct 
+it. 
+
+There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several 
+people said “Ouch!” as they poked themselves in the 
+face with the ends of their telescopes, hastening to 
+see what was going on below. 
+
+Hagrid’s door had burst open and by the light flooding 
+out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive 
+figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded 
+by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads 
+of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed 
+to be attempting to Stun him. 
+
+“No!” cried Hermione. 
+
+“My dear!” said Professor Tofty in a scandalized voice. 
+“This is an examination!” 
+
+But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their 
+star charts anymore: Jets of red light were still flying 
+beside Hagrid’s cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be 
+bouncing off him. He was still upright and still, as far 
+as Harry could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed 
+across the grounds; a man yelled, “Be reasonable, 
+Hagrid!” and Hagrid roared, “Reasonable be damned, 
+yeh won’ take me like this, Dawlish!” 
+
+Harry could see the tiny outline of Fang, attempting 
+to defend Hagrid, leaping at the wizards surrounding 
+him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to 
+the ground. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the 
+culprit bodily from the ground, and threw him: The 
+man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up 
+again. Hermione gasped, both hands over her mouth; 
+Harry looked around at Ron and saw that he too was 
+looking scared. None of them had ever seen Hagrid in 
+a real temper before... 
+
+Page | 920Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Look!” squealed Parvati, who was leaning over the 
+parapet and pointing to the foot of the castle where 
+the front doors seemed to have opened again; more 
+light had spilled out onto the dark lawn and a single 
+long black shadow was now rippling across the lawn. 
+
+“Now, really!” said Professor Tofty anxiously. “Only 
+sixteen minutes left, you know!” 
+
+But nobody paid him the slightest attention: They 
+were watching the person now sprinting toward the 
+battle beside Hagrid’s cabin. 
+
+“How dare you!” the figure shouted as she ran. “How 
+dare you!” 
+
+“It’s McGonagall!” whispered Hermione. 
+
+“Leave him alone! Alone, I say!” said Professor 
+McGonagall’s voice through the darkness. “On what 
+grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, 
+nothing to warrant such — ” 
+
+Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender all screamed. No 
+fewer than four Stunners had shot from the figures 
+around the cabin toward Professor McGonagall. 
+Halfway between cabin and castle the red beams 
+collided with her. For a moment she looked luminous, 
+illuminated by an eerie red glow, then was lifted right 
+off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no 
+more. 
+
+“Galloping gargoyles!” shouted Professor Tofty, who 
+seemed to have forgotten the exam completely. “Not 
+so much as a warning! Outrageous behavior!” 
+
+“COWARDS!” bellowed Hagrid, his voice carrying 
+clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights 
+
+
+
+Page | 921Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+flickered back on inside the castle. “RUDDY 
+COWARDS! HAVE SOME O’ THAT — AN’ THAT — ” 
+
+“Oh my — ” gasped Hermione. 
+
+Hagrid took two massive swipes at his closest 
+attackers; judging by their immediate collapse, they 
+had been knocked cold. Harry saw him double over 
+and thought for a moment that he had finally been 
+overcome by a spell, but on the contrary, next 
+moment Hagrid was standing again with what 
+appeared to be a sack on his back — then Harry 
+realized that Fang’s limp body was draped around his 
+shoulders. 
+
+“Get him, get him!” screamed Umbridge, but her 
+remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to go within 
+reach of Hagrid ’s fists. Indeed, he was backing away 
+so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious 
+colleagues and fell over. Hagrid had turned and 
+begun to run with Fang still hung around his neck; 
+Umbridge sent one last Stunning Spell after him but 
+it missed, and Hagrid, running full-pelt toward the 
+distant gates, disappeared into the darkness. 
+
+There was a long minute’s quivering silence, 
+everybody gazing openmouthed into the grounds. 
+Then Professor Tofty’s voice said feebly, “Um ... five 
+minutes to go, everybody ...” 
+
+Though he had only filled in two-thirds of his chart, 
+Harry was desperate for the end of the exam. When it 
+came at last he, Ron, and Hermione forced their 
+telescopes haphazardly back into their holders and 
+dashed back down the spiral staircase. None of the 
+students were going to bed — they were all talking 
+loudly and excitedly at the foot of the stairs about 
+what they had witnessed. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That evil woman!” gasped Hermione, who seemed to 
+be having difficulty talking due to rage. “Trying to 
+sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!” 
+
+“She clearly wanted to avoid another scene like 
+Trelawney’s,” said Ernie Macmillan sagely, squeezing 
+over to join them. 
+
+“Hagrid did well, didn’t he?” said Ron, who looked 
+more alarmed than impressed. “How come all the 
+spells bounced off him?” 
+
+“It’ll be his giant blood,” said Hermione shakily. “It’s 
+very hard to Stun a giant, they’re like trolls, really 
+tough... But poor Professor McGonagall... Four 
+Stunners straight in the chest, and she’s not exactly 
+young, is she?” 
+
+“Dreadful, dreadful,” said Ernie, shaking his head 
+pompously. “Well, I’m off to bed... ’Night, all ...” 
+
+People around them were drifting away, still talking 
+excitedly about what they had just seen. 
+
+“At least they didn’t get to take Hagrid off to 
+Azkaban,” said Ron. “I ’spect he’s gone to join 
+Dumbledore, hasn’t he?” 
+
+“I suppose so,” said Hermione, who looked tearful. 
+“Oh, this is awful, I really thought Dumbledore would 
+be back before long, but now we’ve lost Hagrid too...” 
+
+They traipsed back to the Gryffindor common room to 
+find it full. The commotion out in the grounds had 
+woken several people, who had hastened to rouse 
+their friends. Seamus and Dean, who had arrived 
+ahead of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, were now telling 
+everyone what they had heard from the top of the 
+Astronomy Tower. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But why sack Hagrid now?” asked Angelina Johnson, 
+shaking her head. “It’s not like Trelawney, he’s been 
+teaching much better than usual this year!” 
+
+“Umbridge hates part-humans,” said Hermione 
+bitterly, flopping down into an armchair. “She was 
+always going to try and get Hagrid out.” 
+
+“And she thought Hagrid was putting nifflers in her 
+office,” piped up Katie Bell. 
+
+“Oh blimey,” said Lee Jordan, covering his mouth. 
+
+“It’s me’s been putting the nifflers in her office, Fred 
+and George left me a couple, I’ve been levitating them 
+in through her window...” 
+
+“She’d have sacked him anyway,” said Dean. “He was 
+too close to Dumbledore.” 
+
+“That’s true,��� said Harry, sinking into an armchair 
+beside Hermione ’s. 
+
+“I just hope Professor McGonagall’s all right,” said 
+Lavender tearfully. 
+
+“They carried her back up to the castle, we watched 
+through the dormitory window,” said Colin Creevey. 
+“She didn’t look very well...” 
+
+“Madam Pomfrey will sort her out,” said Alicia 
+Spinnet firmly. “She’s never failed yet.” 
+
+It was nearly four in the morning before the common 
+room cleared. Harry felt wide awake — the image of 
+Hagrid sprinting away into the dark was haunting 
+him. He was so angry with Umbridge he could not 
+think of a punishment bad enough for her, though 
+Ron’s suggestion of having her fed to a box of starving 
+Blast-Ended Skrewts had its merits. He fell asleep 
+Page | 924Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+contemplating hideous revenges and arose from bed 
+three hours later feeling distinctly unrested. 
+
+
+
+Their final exam, History of Magic, was not to take 
+place until that afternoon. Harry would very much 
+have liked to go back to bed after breakfast, but he 
+had been counting on the morning for a spot of last- 
+minute studying, so instead he sat with his head in 
+his hands by the common room window, trying hard 
+not to doze off as he read through some of the notes 
+stacked three-and-a-half feet high that Hermione had 
+lent him. 
+
+The fifth years entered the Great Hall at two o’clock 
+and took their places in front of their overturned 
+examination papers. Harry felt exhausted. He just 
+wanted this to be over so that he could go and sleep. 
+Then tomorrow, he and Ron were going to go down to 
+the Quidditch pitch — he was going to have a fly on 
+Ron’s broom and savor their freedom from studying... 
+
+“Turn over your papers,” said Professor Marchbanks 
+from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant 
+hourglass. “You may begin...” 
+
+Harry stared fixedly at the first question. It was 
+several seconds before it occurred to him that he had 
+not taken in a word of it; there was a wasp buzzing 
+distractingly against one of the high windows. Slowly, 
+tortuously, he began to write an answer. 
+
+He was finding it very difficult to remember names 
+and kept confusing dates. He simply skipped question 
+four: In your opinion, did wand legislation contribute 
+to, or lead to better control of, goblin riots of the 
+eighteenth century? thinking that he would go back to 
+it if he had time at the end. He had a stab at question 
+five: How was the Statute of Secrecy breached in 1 749 
+and what measures were introduced to prevent a 
+Page | 925Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+recurrence? but had a nagging suspicion that he had 
+missed several important points. He had a feeling 
+vampires had come into the story somewhere... 
+
+He looked ahead for a question he could definitely 
+answer and his eyes alighted upon number ten. 
+
+Describe the circumstances that led to the Formation 
+of the International Confederation of Wizards and 
+explain why the warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to 
+join. 
+
+I know this, Harry thought, though his brain felt 
+torpid and slack. He could visualize a heading, in 
+Hermione’s handwriting: The Formation of the 
+International Confederation of Wizards. . . He had read 
+these notes only this morning... 
+
+He began to write, looking up now and again to check 
+the large hourglass on the desk beside Professor 
+Marchbanks. He was sitting right behind Parvati 
+Patil, whose long dark hair fell below the back of her 
+chair. Once or twice he found himself staring at the 
+tiny golden lights that glistened in it when she moved 
+her head very slightly and had to give his own head a 
+little shake to clear it. 
+
+... the first Supreme Mugwump of the International 
+Confederation of Wizards was Pierre Bonaccord, but 
+his appointment was contested by the Wizarding 
+community of Liechtenstein, because — 
+
+All around Harry quills were scratching on parchment 
+like scurrying, burrowing rats. The sun was very hot 
+on the back of his head. What was it that Bonaccord 
+had done to offend the wizards of Liechtenstein? 
+
+Harry had a feeling it had something to do with 
+trolls... He gazed blankly at the back of Parvati ’s head 
+again. If he could only perform Legilimency and open 
+Page | 926Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+a window in the back of her head and see what it was 
+about trolls that had caused the breach between 
+Pierre Bonaccord and Liechtenstein... 
+
+
+
+Harry closed his eyes and buried his face in his 
+hands, so that the glowing red of his eyelids grew 
+dark and cool. Bonaccord had wanted to stop troll- 
+hunting and give the trolls rights . . . but Liechtenstein 
+was having problems with a tribe of particularly 
+vicious mountain trolls... That was it... 
+
+He opened his eyes; they stung and watered at the 
+sight of the blazing- white parchment. Slowly he wrote 
+two lines about the trolls then read through what he 
+had done so far. It did not seem very informative or 
+detailed, yet he was sure Hermione’s notes on the 
+confederation had gone on for pages and pages... 
+
+He closed his eyes again, trying to see them, trying to 
+remember. . . The confederation had met for the first 
+time in France, yes, he had written that already... 
+
+Goblins had tried to attend and been ousted... He had 
+written that too... 
+
+And nobody from Liechtenstein had wanted to come 
+
+
+
+Think, he told himself, his face in his hands, while all 
+around him quills scratched out never-ending 
+answers and the sand trickled through the hourglass 
+at the front... 
+
+He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the 
+Department of Mysteries again, walking with a firm 
+and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a 
+run, determined to reach his destination at last... The 
+black door swung open for him as usual, and here he 
+was in the circular room with its many doors... 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Straight across the stone floor and through the 
+second door . . . patches of dancing light on the walls 
+and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no 
+time to explore, he must hurry... 
+
+He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which 
+swung open just like the others... 
+
+Once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of 
+shelves and glass spheres... His heart was beating 
+very fast now... He was going to get there this time... 
+When he reached number ninety-seven he turned left 
+and hurried along the aisle between two rows... 
+
+But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a 
+black shape moving upon the floor like a wounded 
+animal... Harry’s stomach contracted with fear ... with 
+excitement... 
+
+A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice 
+empty of any human kindness, “Take it for me... Lift it 
+down, now... I cannot touch it ... but you can...” 
+
+The black shape upon the floor shifted a little. Harry 
+saw a long-fingered white hand clutching a wand rise 
+on the end of his own arm . . . heard the high, cold 
+voice say, “ Cruciol ” 
+
+The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, 
+attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was 
+laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted, and 
+the figure groaned and became motionless. 
+
+“Lord Voldemort is waiting...” 
+
+Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the 
+ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted 
+his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, 
+twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance... 
+
+Page | 928Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You’ll have to kill me,” whispered Sirius. 
+
+“Undoubtedly I shall in the end,” said the cold voice. 
+“But you will fetch it for me first, Black... You think 
+you have felt pain thus far? Think again... We have 
+hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream...” 
+
+But somebody screamed as Voldemort lowered his 
+wand again; somebody yelled and fell sideways off a 
+hot desk onto the cold stone floor. Harry hit the 
+ground and awoke, still yelling, his scar on fire, as the 
+Great Hall erupted all around him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+OUT OF THE FIRE 
+
+“I’m not going... I don’t need the hospital wing... I 
+don’t want ...” 
+
+He was gibbering, trying to pull away from Professor 
+Tofty, who was looking at him with much concern, 
+and who had just helped Harry out into the entrance 
+hall while the students all around them stared. 
+
+“I’m — I’m fine, sir,” Harry stammered, wiping the 
+sweat from his face. “Really ... I just fell asleep... Had 
+a nightmare ...” 
+
+“Pressure of examinations!” said the old wizard 
+sympathetically, patting Harry shakily on the 
+shoulder. “It happens, young man, it happens! Now, a 
+cooling drink of water, and perhaps you will be ready 
+to return to the Great Hall? The examination is nearly 
+over, but you may be able to round off your last 
+answer nicely?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry wildly. “I mean ... no ... I’ve done — 
+done as much as I can, I think...” 
+
+Page | 930Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Very well, very well,” said the old wizard gently. “I 
+shall go and collect your examination paper, and I 
+suggest that you go and have a nice lie down...” 
+
+“I’ll do that,” said Harry, nodding vigorously. “Thanks 
+very much.” 
+
+He waited for the second when the old man’s heels 
+disappeared over the threshold into the Great Hall, 
+then ran up the marble staircase and then more 
+staircases toward the hospital wing, hurtling along 
+the corridors so fast that the portraits he passed 
+muttered reproaches, and burst through the double 
+doors like a hurricane, causing Madam Pomfrey, who 
+had been spooning some bright blue liquid into 
+Montague’s open mouth, to shriek in alarm. 
+
+“Potter, what do you think you’re doing?” 
+
+“I need to see Professor McGonagall,” gasped Harry, 
+the breath tearing his lungs. “Now ... It’s urgent...” 
+
+“She’s not here, Potter,” said Madam Pomfrey sadly. 
+“She was transferred to St. Mungo’s this morning. 
+Four Stunning Spells straight to the chest at her age? 
+It’s a wonder they didn’t kill her.” 
+
+“She’s ... gone?” said Harry, stunned. 
+
+The bell rang just outside the dormitory, and he 
+heard the usual distant rumbling of students starting 
+to flood out into the corridors above and below him. 
+He remained quite still, looking at Madam Pomfrey. 
+Terror was rising inside him. 
+
+There was nobody left to tell. Dumbledore had gone, 
+Hagrid had gone, but he had always expected 
+Professor McGonagall to be there, irascible and 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+inflexible, perhaps, but always dependably, solidly 
+present... 
+
+“I don’t wonder you’re shocked, Potter,” said Madam 
+Pomfrey with a kind of fierce approval in her face. “As 
+if one of them could have Stunned Minerva 
+McGonagall face on by daylight! Cowardice, that’s 
+what it was... Despicable cowardice ... If I wasn’t 
+worried what would happen to you students without 
+me, I’d resign in protest...” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry blankly. 
+
+He strode blindly from the hospital wing into the 
+teeming corridor where he stood, buffeted by the 
+crowd, the panic expanding inside him like poison gas 
+so that his head swam and he could not think what to 
+do... 
+
+Ron and Hermione, said a voice in his head. 
+
+He was running again, pushing students out of the 
+way, oblivious to their angry protests and shouts. He 
+sprinted back down two floors and was at the top of 
+the marble staircase when he saw them hurrying 
+toward him. 
+
+“Harry!” said Hermione at once, looking very 
+frightened. “What happened? Are you all right? Are 
+you ill?” 
+
+“Where have you been?” demanded Ron. 
+
+“Come with me,” Harry said quickly. “Come on, I’ve 
+got to tell you something...” 
+
+He led them along the first-floor corridor, peering 
+through doorways, and at last found an empty 
+classroom into which he dived, closing the door 
+
+Page | 932Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+behind Ron and Hermione the moment they were 
+inside and leaning against it, facing them. 
+
+“Voldemort’s got Sirius.” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“How d’you — ?” 
+
+“Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam.” 
+
+“But — but where? How?” said Hermione, whose face 
+was white. 
+
+“I dunno how,” said Harry. “But I know exactly where. 
+There’s a room in the Department of Mysteries full of 
+shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they’re 
+at the end of row ninety-seven ... He’s trying to use 
+Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there... 
+He’s torturing him... Says he’ll end by killing him ...” 
+
+Harry found his voice was shaking, as were his knees. 
+He moved over to a desk and sat down on it, trying to 
+master himself. 
+
+“How’re we going to get there?” he asked them. 
+
+There was a moment’s silence. Then Ron said, “G-get 
+there?” 
+
+“Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue 
+Sirius!” Harry said loudly. 
+
+“But — Harry ...” said Ron weakly. 
+
+“What? What?” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 933Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He could not understand why they were both gaping 
+at him as though he was asking them something 
+unreasonable. 
+
+“Harry,” said Hermione in a rather frightened voice, 
+
+“er . . . how . . . how did Voldemort get into the Ministry 
+of Magic without anybody realizing he was there?” 
+
+“How do I know?” bellowed Harry. “The question is 
+how we’re going to get in there!” 
+
+“But ... Harry, think about this,” said Hermione, 
+taking a step toward him, “it’s five o’clock in the 
+afternoon... The Ministry of Magic must be full of 
+workers... How would Voldemort and Sirius have got 
+in without being seen? Harry . . . they’re probably the 
+two most wanted wizards in the world... You think 
+they could get into a building full of Aurors 
+undetected?” 
+
+“I dunno, Voldemort used an Invisibility Cloak or 
+something!” Harry shouted. “Anyway, the Department 
+of Mysteries has always been completely empty 
+whenever I’ve been — ” 
+
+“You’ve never been there, Harry,” said Hermione 
+quietly. “You’ve dreamed about the place, that’s all.” 
+
+“They’re not normal dreams!” Harry shouted in her 
+face, standing up and taking a step closer to her in 
+turn. He wanted to shake her. “How d’you explain 
+Ron’s dad then, what was all that about, how come I 
+knew what had happened to him?” 
+
+“He’s got a point,” said Ron quietly, looking at 
+Hermione. 
+
+“But this is just — just so unlikely\” said Hermione 
+desperately. “Harry, how on earth could Voldemort 
+
+Page | 934Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+have got hold of Sirius when he’s been in Grimmauld 
+Place all the time?” 
+
+“Sirius might’ve cracked and just wanted some fresh 
+air,” said Ron, sounding worried. “He’s been 
+desperate to get out of that house for ages — ” 
+
+“But why,” Hermione persisted, “why on earth would 
+Voldemort want to use Sirius to get the weapon, or 
+whatever the thing is?” 
+
+“I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!” Harry 
+yelled at her. “Maybe Sirius is just someone 
+Voldemort doesn’t care about seeing hurt — ” 
+
+“You know what, I’ve just thought of something,” said 
+Ron in a hushed voice. “Sirius’s brother was a Death 
+Eater, wasn’t he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of 
+how to get the weapon!” 
+
+“Yeah — and that’s why Dumbledore’s been so keen 
+to keep Sirius locked up all the time!” said Harry. 
+
+“Look, I’m sorry,” cried Hermione, “but neither of you 
+are making sense, and we’ve got no proof for any of 
+this, no proof Voldemort and Sirius are even there — ” 
+
+“Hermione, Harry’s seen them!” said Ron, rounding 
+on her. 
+
+“Okay,” she said, looking frightened yet determined, 
+“I’ve just got to say this...” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“You ... This isn’t a criticism, Harry! But you do ... 
+sort of ... I mean — don’t you think you’ve got a bit of 
+a — a — saving-people-thing?” she said. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+He glared at her. “And what’s that supposed to mean, 
+a ‘saving-people-thing’?” 
+
+“Well ... you ...” She looked more apprehensive than 
+ever. “I mean . . . last year, for instance ... in the lake 
+... during the Tournament ... you shouldn’t have ... I 
+mean, you didn’t need to save that little Delacour 
+girl... You got a bit ... carried away ...” 
+
+A wave of hot, prickly anger swept Harry’s body — 
+how could she remind him of that blunder now? 
+
+"... I mean, it was really great of you and everything,” 
+said Hermione quickly, looking positively petrified at 
+the look on Harry’s face. “Everyone thought it was a 
+wonderful thing to do — ” 
+
+“That’s funny,” said Harry in a trembling voice, 
+“because I definitely remember Ron saying I’d wasted 
+time acting the hero... Is that what you think this is? 
+You reckon I want to act the hero again?” 
+
+“No, no, no!” said Hermione, looking aghast. “That’s 
+not what I mean at all!” 
+
+“Well, spit out what you’ve got to say, because we’re 
+wasting time here!” Harry shouted. 
+
+“I’m trying to say — Voldemort knows you, Harry! He 
+took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure 
+you there, it’s the kind of thing he does, he knows 
+you’re the — the sort of person who’d go to Sirius’s 
+aid! What if he’s just trying to get you into the 
+Department of Myst — ?” 
+
+“Hermione, it doesn’t matter if he’s done it to get me 
+there or not — they’ve taken McGonagall to St. 
+Mungo’s, there isn’t anyone left from the Order at 
+
+
+
+Page | 936Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don’t go, Sirius is 
+dead!” 
+
+
+
+“But Harry — what if your dream was — was just 
+that, a dream?” 
+
+Harry let out a roar of frustration. Hermione actually 
+stepped back from him, looking alarmed. 
+
+“You don’t get it!” Harry shouted at her. “I’m not 
+having nightmares, I’m not just dreaming! What d’you 
+think all the Occlumency was for, why d’you think 
+Dumbledore wanted me prevented from seeing these 
+things? Because they’re REAL, Hermione — Sirius is 
+trapped — I’ve seen him — Voldemort’s got him, and 
+no one else knows, and that means we’re the only 
+ones who can save him, and if you don’t want to do it, 
+fine, but I’m going, understand? And if I remember 
+rightly, you didn’t have a problem with my saving - 
+people-thing when it was you I was saving from the 
+dementors, or” — he rounded on Ron — “when it was 
+your sister I was saving from the basilisk — ” 
+
+“I never said I had a problem!” said Ron heatedly. 
+
+“But Harry, you’ve just said it,” said Hermione 
+fiercely. “Dumbledore wanted you to learn to shut 
+these things out of your mind, if you’d done 
+Occlumency properly you’d never have seen this — ” 
+
+“IF YOU THINK I’M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I 
+HAVEN T SEEN — ” 
+
+“Sirius told you there was nothing more important 
+than you learning to close your mind!” 
+
+“WELL, I EXPECT HE’D SAY SOMETHING 
+DIFFERENT IF HE KNEW WHAT I’D JUST — ” 
+
+Page | 937Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The classroom door opened. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione whipped around. Ginny walked in, looking 
+curious, followed by Luna, who as usual looked as 
+though she had drifted in accidentally. 
+
+“Hi,” said Ginny uncertainly. “We recognized Harry’s 
+voice — what are you yelling about?” 
+
+“Never you mind,” said Harry roughly. 
+
+Ginny raised her eyebrows. 
+
+“There’s no need to take that tone with me,” she said 
+coolly. “I was only wondering whether I could help.” 
+
+“Well, you can’t,” said Harry shortly. 
+
+“You’re being rather rude, you know,” said Luna 
+serenely. 
+
+Harry swore and turned away. The very last thing he 
+wanted now was a conversation with Luna Lovegood. 
+
+“Wait,” said Hermione suddenly. “Wait ... Harry, they 
+can help.” 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at her. 
+
+“Listen,” she said urgently, “Harry, we need to 
+establish whether Sirius really has left headquarters 
+
+
+
+“I’ve told you, I saw — ” 
+
+“Harry, I’m begging you, please!” said Hermione 
+desperately. “Please let’s just check that Sirius isn’t at 
+home before we go charging off to London — if we find 
+out he’s not there then I swear I won’t try and stop 
+
+
+
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+
+you, I’ll come, I’ll d-do whatever it takes to try and 
+save him — ” 
+
+“Sirius is being tortured NOW!” shouted Harry. “We 
+haven’t got time to waste — ” 
+
+“But if this is a trick of V-Voldemort’s — Harry, we’ve 
+got to check, we’ve got to — ” 
+
+“How?” Harry demanded. “How’re we going to check?” 
+
+“We’ll have to use Umbridge’s fire and see if we can 
+contact him,” said Hermione, who looked positively 
+terrified at the thought. “Well draw Umbridge away 
+again, but we’ll need lookouts, and that’s where we 
+can use Ginny and Luna.” 
+
+Though clearly struggling to understand what was 
+going on, Ginny said immediately, “Yeah, well do it,” 
+and Luna said, “When you say ‘Sirius,’ are you 
+talking about Stubby Boardman?” 
+
+Nobody answered her. 
+
+“Okay,” Harry said aggressively to Hermione, “Okay, if 
+you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I’m with 
+you, otherwise I’m going to the Department of 
+Mysteries right now — ” 
+
+“The Department of Mysteries?” said Luna, looking 
+mildly surprised. “But how are you going to get 
+there?” 
+
+Again, Harry ignored her. 
+
+“Right,” said Hermione, twisting her hands together 
+and pacing up and down between the desks. “Right ... 
+well ... One of us has to go and find Umbridge and — 
+and send her off in the wrong direction, keep her 
+
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+
+
+
+
+away from her office. They could tell her — I don’t 
+know — that Peeves is up to something awful as 
+usual...” 
+
+
+
+“I’ll do it,” said Ron at once. “I’ll tell her Peeves is 
+smashing up the Transfiguration department or 
+something, it’s miles away from her office. Come to 
+think of it, I could probably persuade Peeves to do it if 
+I met him on the way...” 
+
+It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that 
+Hermione made no objection to the smashing up of 
+the Transfiguration department. 
+
+“Okay,” she said, her brow furrowed as she continued 
+to pace. “Now, we need to keep students away from 
+her office while we force entry, or some Slytherin’s 
+bound to go and tip her off...” 
+
+“Luna and I can stand at either end of the corridor,” 
+said Ginny promptly, “and warn people not to go 
+down there because someone’s let off a load of 
+Garroting Gas.” Hermione looked surprised at the 
+readiness with which Ginny had come up with this 
+lie. Ginny shrugged and said, “Fred and George were 
+planning to do it before they left.” 
+
+“Okay,” said Hermione, “well then, Harry, you and I 
+will be under the Invisibility Cloak, and we’ll sneak 
+into the office and you can talk to Sirius — ” 
+
+“He’s not there, Hermione!” 
+
+“I mean, you can — can check whether Sirius is at 
+home or not while I keep watch, I don’t think you 
+should be in there alone, Lee’s already proved the 
+window’s a weak spot, sending those nifflers through 
+it.” 
+
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+
+Even through his anger and impatience Harry 
+recognized Hermione ’s offer to accompany him into 
+Umbridge’s office as a sign of solidarity and loyalty. 
+
+“I ... okay, thanks,” he muttered. 
+
+“Right, well, even if we do all of that, I don’t think 
+we’re going to be able to bank on more than five 
+minutes,” said Hermione, looking relieved that Harry 
+seemed to have accepted the plan, “not with Filch and 
+the wretched Inquisitorial Squad floating around.” 
+
+“Five minutes’ll be enough,” said Harry. “C’mon, let’s 
+go 
+
+
+
+“Now?” said Hermione, looking shocked. 
+
+“Of course now!” said Harry angrily. “What did you 
+think, we’re going to wait until after dinner or 
+something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right 
+now\” 
+
+“I — oh all right,” she said desperately. “You go and 
+get the Invisibility Cloak and we’ll meet you at the end 
+of Umbridge’s corridor, okay?” 
+
+Harry did not answer, but flung himself out of the 
+room and began to fight his way through the milling 
+crowds outside. Two floors up he met Seamus and 
+Dean, who hailed him jovially and told him they were 
+planning a dusk-till-dawn end-of-exams celebration 
+in the common room. Harry barely heard them. He 
+scrambled through the portrait hole while they were 
+still arguing about how many black-market 
+butterbeers they would need and was climbing back 
+out of it, the Invisibility Cloak and Sirius’s knife 
+secure in his bag, before they noticed he had left 
+them. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Harry, d’you want to chip in a couple of Galleons? 
+Harold Dingle reckons he could sell us some 
+firewhisky...” 
+
+But Harry was already tearing away back along the 
+corridor, and a couple of minutes later was jumping 
+the last few stairs to join Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and 
+Luna, who were huddled together at the end of 
+Umbridge’s corridor. 
+
+“Got it,” he panted. “Ready to go, then?” 
+
+“All right,” whispered Hermione as a gang of loud 
+sixth years passed them. “So Ron — you go and head 
+Umbridge off... Ginny, Luna, if you can start moving 
+people out of the corridor. . . Harry and I will get the 
+cloak on and wait until the coast is clear...” 
+
+Ron strode away, his bright red hair visible right to 
+the end of the passage. Meanwhile, Ginny’s equally 
+vivid head bobbed between the jostling students 
+surrounding them in the other direction, trailed by 
+Luna’s blonde one. 
+
+“Get over here,” muttered Hermione, tugging at 
+Harry’s wrist and pulling him back into a recess 
+where the ugly stone head of a medieval wizard stood 
+muttering to itself on a column. “Are — are you sure 
+you’re okay, Harry? You’re still very pale...” 
+
+“I’m fine,” he said shortly, tugging the Invisibility 
+Cloak from out of his bag. In truth, his scar was 
+aching, but not so badly that he thought Voldemort 
+had yet dealt Sirius a fatal blow. It had hurt much 
+worse than this when Voldemort had been punishing 
+Avery. . . 
+
+
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+
+“Here,” he said. He threw the Invisibility Cloak over 
+both of them and they stood listening carefully over 
+the Latin mumblings of the bust in front of them. 
+
+“You can’t come down here!” Ginny was calling to the 
+crowd. “No, sorry, you’re going to have to go round by 
+the swiveling staircase, someone’s let off Garroting 
+Gas just along here — ” 
+
+They could hear people complaining; one surly voice 
+said, “I can’t see no gas ...” 
+
+“That’s because it’s colorless,” said Ginny in a 
+convincingly exasperated voice, “but if you want to 
+walk through it, carry on, then we’ll have your body 
+as proof for the next idiot who didn’t believe us...” 
+
+Slowly the crowd thinned. The news about the 
+Garroting Gas seemed to have spread — people were 
+not coming this way anymore. When at last the 
+surrounding area was quite clear, Hermione said 
+quietly, “I think that’s as good as we’re going to get, 
+Harry — come on, let’s do it.” 
+
+Together they moved forward, covered by the cloak. 
+Luna was standing with her back to them at the far 
+end of the corridor. As they passed Ginny, Hermione 
+whispered, “Good one ... don’t forget the signal ...” 
+
+“What’s the signal?” muttered Harry, as they 
+approached Umbridge’s door. 
+
+“A loud chorus of Weasley Is Our King’ if they see 
+Umbridge coming,” replied Hermione, as Harry 
+inserted the blade of Sirius’s knife in the crack 
+between door and wall. The lock clicked open, and 
+they entered the office. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+The garish kittens were basking in the late afternoon 
+sunshine warming their plates, but otherwise the 
+office was as still and empty as last time. Hermione 
+breathed a sigh of relief. 
+
+“I thought she might have added extra security after 
+the second niffler...” 
+
+They pulled off the cloak. Hermione hurried over to 
+the window and stood out of sight, peering down into 
+the grounds with her wand out. Harry dashed over to 
+the fireplace, seized the pot of Floo powder, and threw 
+a pinch into the grate, causing emerald flames to 
+burst into life there. He knelt down quickly, thrust his 
+head into the dancing fire, and cried, “Number twelve, 
+Grimmauld Place!” 
+
+His head began to spin as though he had just got off a 
+fairground ride though his knees remained firmly 
+planted upon the cold office floor. He kept his eyes 
+screwed up against the whirling ash, and when the 
+spinning stopped, he opened them to find himself 
+looking out upon the long, cold kitchen of Grimmauld 
+Place. 
+
+There was nobody there. He had expected this, yet 
+was not prepared for the molten wave of dread and 
+panic that seemed to burst through his stomach floor 
+at the sight of the deserted room. 
+
+“Sirius?” he shouted. “Sirius, are you there?” 
+
+His voice echoed around the room, but there was no 
+answer except a tiny scuffing sound to the right of the 
+fire. 
+
+“Who’s there?” he called, wondering whether it was 
+just a mouse. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Kreacher the house-elf came creeping into view. He 
+looked highly delighted about something, though he 
+seemed to have recently sustained a nasty injury to 
+both hands, which were heavily bandaged. 
+
+“It’s the Potter boy’s head in the fire,” Kreacher 
+informed the empty kitchen, stealing furtive, oddly 
+triumphant glances at Harry. “What has he come for, 
+Kreacher wonders?” 
+
+“Where’s Sirius, Kreacher?” Harry demanded. 
+
+The house-elf gave a wheezy chuckle. “Master has 
+gone out, Harry Potter.” 
+
+“Where’s he gone? Where’s he gone, Kreacher?” 
+Kreacher merely cackled. 
+
+“I’m warning you!” said Harry, fully aware that his 
+scope for inflicting punishment upon Kreacher was 
+almost nonexistent in this position. “What about 
+Lupin? Mad-Eye? Any of them, are any of them here?” 
+
+“Nobody here but Kreacher!” said the elf gleefully, and 
+turning away from Harry he began to walk slowly 
+toward the door at the end of the kitchen. “Kreacher 
+thinks he will have a little chat with his Mistress now, 
+yes, he hasn’t had a chance in a long time, Kreacher’s 
+Master has been keeping him away from her — ” 
+
+“Where has Sirius gone?” Harry yelled after the elf. 
+“Kreacher, has he gone to the Department of 
+Mysteries?” 
+
+Kreacher stopped in his tracks. Harry could just 
+make out the back of his bald head through the forest 
+of chair legs before him. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Master does not tell poor Kreacher where he is 
+going,” said the elf quietly. 
+
+“But you know!” shouted Harry. “Don’t you? You 
+know where he is!” 
+
+There was a moment’s silence, then the elf let out his 
+loudest cackle yet. “Master will not come back from 
+the Department of Mysteries!” he said gleefully. 
+“Kreacher and his Mistress are alone again!” 
+
+And he scurried forward and disappeared through the 
+door to the hall. 
+
+“You — !” 
+
+
+
+But before he could utter a single curse or insult, 
+Harry felt a great pain at the top of his head. He 
+inhaled a lot of ash and, choking, found himself being 
+dragged backward through the flames until, with a 
+horrible abruptness, he was staring up into the wide, 
+pallid face of Professor Umbridge, who had dragged 
+him backward out of the fire by the hair and was now 
+bending his neck back as far as it would go as though 
+she was going to slit his throat. 
+
+“You think,” she whispered, bending Harry’s neck 
+back even farther, so that he was looking up at the 
+ceiling above him, “that after two nifflers I was going 
+to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter 
+my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth 
+Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after 
+the last one got in, you foolish boy. Take his wand,” 
+she barked at someone he could not see, and he felt a 
+hand grope inside the chest pocket of his robes and 
+remove the wand. “Hers too ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Harry heard a scuffle over by the door and knew that 
+Hermione had just had her wand wrested from her as 
+well. 
+
+“I want to know why you are in my office,” said 
+Umbridge, shaking the fist clutching his hair so that 
+he staggered. 
+
+“I was — trying to get my Firebolt!” Harry croaked. 
+
+“Liar.” She shook his head again. “Your Firebolt is 
+under strict guard in the dungeons, as you very well 
+know, Potter. You had your head in my fire. With 
+whom have you been communicating?” 
+
+“No one — ” said Harry, trying to pull away from her. 
+He felt several hairs part company with his scalp. 
+
+“LiaA” shouted Umbridge. She threw him from her, 
+and he slammed into the desk. Now he could see 
+Hermione pinioned against the wall by Millicent 
+Bulstrode. Malfoy was leaning on the windowsill, 
+smirking as he threw Harry’s wand into the air one- 
+handed and then caught it again. 
+
+There was a commotion outside and several large 
+Slytherins entered, each gripping Ron, Ginny, Luna, 
+and — to Harry’s bewilderment — Neville, who was 
+trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe and looked in 
+imminent danger of suffocation. All four of them had 
+been gagged. 
+
+“Got ’em all,” said Warrington, shoving Ron roughly 
+forward into the room. “ That one.” he poked a thick 
+finger at Neville, “tried to stop me taking her,” he 
+pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the shins of 
+the large Slytherin girl holding her, “so I brought him 
+along too.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Good, good,” said Umbridge, watching Ginny’s 
+struggles. “Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will 
+shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn’t it?” 
+
+Malfoy laughed loudly and sycophantically. Umbridge 
+gave her wide, complacent smile and settled herself 
+into a chintz-covered armchair, blinking up at her 
+captives like a toad in a flowerbed. 
+
+“So, Potter,” she said. “You stationed lookouts around 
+my office and you sent this buffoon,” she nodded at 
+Ron, and Malfoy laughed even louder, “to tell me the 
+poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration 
+department when I knew perfectly well that he was 
+busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school 
+telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so. 
+
+“Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to 
+somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half- 
+breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I 
+hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone...” 
+
+Malfoy and a few of the other members of the 
+Inquisitorial Squad laughed some more at that. Harry 
+found he was so full of rage and hatred he was 
+shaking. 
+
+“It’s none of your business who I talk to,” he snarled. 
+
+Umbridge’s slack face seemed to tighten. 
+
+“Very well,” she said in her most dangerous and 
+falsely sweet voice. “Very well, Mr. Potter ... I offered 
+you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have 
+no alternative but to force you. Draco — fetch 
+Professor Snape.” 
+
+Malfoy stowed Harry’s wand inside his robes and left 
+the room smirking, but Harry hardly noticed. He had 
+
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+
+
+
+just realized something; he could not believe he had 
+been so stupid as to forget it. He had thought that all 
+the members of the Order, all those who could help 
+him save Sirius, were gone — but he had been wrong. 
+There was still a member of the Order of the Phoenix 
+at Hogwarts — Snape. 
+
+There was silence in the office except for the 
+fidgetings and scufflings resultant from the 
+Slytherins’ efforts to keep Ron and the others under 
+control. Ron’s lip was bleeding onto Umbridge’s carpet 
+as he struggled against Warrington’s half nelson. 
+Ginny was still trying to stamp on the feet of the 
+sixth-year girl who had both her upper arms in a tight 
+grip. Neville was turning steadily more purple in the 
+face while tugging at Crabbe’s arms, and Hermione 
+was attempting vainly to throw Millicent Bulstrode off 
+her. Luna, however, stood limply by the side of her 
+captor, gazing vaguely out of the window as though 
+rather bored by the proceedings. 
+
+Harry looked back at Umbridge, who was watching 
+him closely. He kept his face deliberately smooth and 
+blank as footsteps were heard in the corridor outside 
+and Draco Malfoy came back into the room, holding 
+open the door for Snape. 
+
+“You wanted to see me, Headmistress?” said Snape, 
+looking around at all the pairs of struggling students 
+with an expression of complete indifference. 
+
+“Ah, Professor Snape,” said Umbridge, smiling widely 
+and standing up again. “Yes, I would like another 
+bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please.” 
+
+“You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter,” he 
+said, observing her coolly through his greasy curtains 
+of black hair. “Surely you did not use it all? I told you 
+that three drops would be sufficient.” 
+
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+
+Umbridge flushed. 
+
+“You can make some more, can’t you?” she said, her 
+voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did 
+when she was furious. 
+
+“Certainly,” said Snape, his lip curling. “It takes a full 
+moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for 
+you in around a month.” 
+
+“A month?” squawked Umbridge, swelling toadishly. 
+
+“A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have 
+just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a 
+person or persons unknown!” 
+
+“Really?” said Snape, showing his first, faint sign of 
+interest as he looked around at Harry. “Well, it 
+doesn’t surprise me. Potter has never shown much 
+inclination to follow school rules.” 
+
+His cold, dark eyes were boring into Harry’s, who met 
+his gaze unflinchingly, concentrating hard on what he 
+had seen in his dream, willing Snape to read it in his 
+mind, to understand . . . 
+
+“I wish to interrogate him!” shouted Umbridge angrily, 
+and Snape looked away from Harry back into her 
+furiously quivering face. “I wish you to provide me 
+with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!” 
+
+“I have already told you,” said Snape smoothly, “that I 
+have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you 
+wish to poison Potter — and I assure you I would 
+have the greatest sympathy with you if you did — I 
+cannot help you. The only trouble is that most 
+venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for 
+truth-telling...” 
+
+
+
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+
+Snape looked back at Harry, who stared at him, 
+frantic to communicate without words. 
+
+Voldemort’s got Sirius in the Department of Mysteries, 
+he thought desperately. Voldemort’s got Sirius — 
+
+“You are on probation!” shrieked Professor Umbridge, 
+and Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly 
+raised. “You are being deliberately unhelpful! I 
+expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most 
+highly of you! Now get out of my office!” 
+
+Snape gave her an ironic bow and turned to leave. 
+Harry knew his last chance of letting the Order know 
+what was going on was walking out of the door. 
+
+“He’s got Padfoot!” he shouted. “He’s got Padfoot at 
+the place where it’s hidden!” 
+
+Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridge’s door 
+handle. 
+
+“Padfoot?” cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly 
+from Harry to Snape. “What is Padfoot? Where what is 
+hidden? What does he mean, Snape?” 
+
+Snape looked around at Harry. His face was 
+inscrutable. Harry could not tell whether he had 
+understood or not, but he did not dare speak more 
+plainly in front of Umbridge. 
+
+“I have no idea,” said Snape coldly. “Potter, when I 
+want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a 
+Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a 
+little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of 
+tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to 
+mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a 
+job.” 
+
+
+
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+
+He closed the door behind him with a snap, leaving 
+Harry in a state of worse turmoil than before: Snape 
+had been his very last hope. He looked at Umbridge, 
+who seemed to be feeling the same way; her chest was 
+heaving with rage and frustration. 
+
+“Very well,” she said, and she pulled out her wand. 
+“Very well ... I am left with no alternative... This is 
+more than a matter of school discipline... This is an 
+issue of Ministry security... Yes ... yes ...” 
+
+She seemed to be talking herself into something. She 
+was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot, 
+staring at Harry, beating her wand against her empty 
+palm and breathing heavily. Harry felt horribly 
+powerless without his own wand as he watched her. 
+
+“You are forcing me, Potter... I do not want to,” said 
+Umbridge, still moving restlessly on the spot, “but 
+sometimes circumstances justify the use ... I am sure 
+the Minister will understand that I had no choice...” 
+
+Malfoy was watching her with a hungry expression on 
+his face. 
+
+“The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue,” 
+said Umbridge quietly. 
+
+“No!” shrieked Hermione. “Professor Umbridge — it’s 
+illegal” — but Umbridge took no notice. There was a 
+nasty, eager, excited look on her face that Harry had 
+never seen before. She raised her wand. 
+
+“The Minister wouldn’t want you to break the law, 
+Professor Umbridge!” cried Hermione. 
+
+“What Cornelius doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” said 
+Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she 
+pointed her wand at different parts of Harry’s body in 
+
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+
+turn, apparently trying to decide what would hurt the 
+most. “He never knew I ordered dementors after 
+Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given 
+the chance to expel him, all the same...” 
+
+“It was you?” gasped Harry. “ You sent the dementors 
+after me?” 
+
+“ Somebody had to act,” breathed Umbridge, as her 
+wand came to rest pointing directly at Harry’s 
+forehead. “They were all bleating about silencing you 
+somehow — discrediting you — but I was the one who 
+actually did something about it... Only you wriggled 
+out of that one, didn’t you, Potter? Not today, though, 
+not now ...” 
+
+And taking a deep breath, she cried, “Cruc — ” 
+
+“NO!” shouted Hermione in a cracked voice from 
+behind Millicent Bulstrode. “No — Harry — Harry, 
+well have to tell her!” 
+
+“No way!” yelled Harry, staring at the little of 
+Hermione he could see. 
+
+“We’ll have to, Harry, shell force it out of you anyway, 
+what’s ... what’s the point... ?” 
+
+And Hermione began to cry weakly into the back of 
+Millicent Bulstrode ’s robes. Millicent stopped trying to 
+squash her against the wall immediately and dodged 
+out of her way looking disgusted. 
+
+“Well, well, well!” said Umbridge, looking triumphant. 
+“Little Miss Question-All is going to give us some 
+answers! Come on then, girl, come on!” 
+
+“Er — my — nee — no!” shouted Ron through his gag. 
+
+
+
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+
+Ginny was staring at Hermione as though she had 
+never seen her before; Neville, still choking for breath, 
+was gazing at her too. But Harry had just noticed 
+something. Though Hermione was sobbing 
+desperately into her hands, there was no trace of a 
+tear... 
+
+“I’m — I’m sorry everyone,” said Hermione. “But — I 
+can’t stand it — ■” 
+
+“That’s right, that’s right, girl!” said Umbridge, seizing 
+Hermione by the shoulders, thrusting her into the 
+abandoned chintz chair and leaning over her. “Now 
+then ... with whom was Potter communicating just 
+now?” 
+
+“Well,” gulped Hermione into her hands, “well, he was 
+trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore...” 
+
+Ron froze, his eyes wide; Ginny stopped trying to 
+stamp on her Slytherin captor’s toes; even Luna 
+looked mildly surprised. Fortunately, the attention of 
+Umbridge and her minions was focused too 
+exclusively upon Hermione to notice these suspicious 
+signs. 
+
+“Dumbledore?” said Umbridge eagerly. “You know 
+where Dumbledore is, then?” 
+
+“Well ... no!” sobbed Hermione. “We’ve tried the Leaky 
+Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks 
+and even the Hog’s Head — ” 
+
+“Idiot girl, Dumbledore won’t be sitting in a pub when 
+the whole Ministry’s looking for him!” shouted 
+Umbridge, disappointment etched in every sagging 
+line of her face. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But — but we needed to tell him something 
+important!” wailed Hermione, holding her hands more 
+tightly over her face, not, Harry knew, out of anguish, 
+but to disguise the continued absence of tears. 
+
+“Yes?” said Umbridge with a sudden resurgence of 
+excitement. “What was it you wanted to tell him?” 
+
+“We ... we wanted to tell him it’s r-ready!” choked 
+Hermione. 
+
+“What’s ready?” demanded Umbridge, and now she 
+grabbed Hermione ’s shoulders again and shook her 
+slightly. “What’s ready, girl?” 
+
+“The ... the weapon,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Weapon? Weapon?” said Umbridge, and her eyes 
+seemed to pop with excitement. “You have been 
+developing some method of resistance? A weapon you 
+could use against the Ministry? On Professor 
+Dumbledore’s orders, of course?” 
+
+“Y-y-yes,” gasped Hermione. “But he had to leave 
+before it was finished and n-n-now we’ve finished it 
+for him, and we c-c-can’t find him t-t-to tell him!” 
+
+“What kind of weapon is it?” said Umbridge harshly, 
+her stubby hands still tight on Hermione ’s shoulders. 
+
+“We don’t r-r-really understand it,” said Hermione, 
+sniffing loudly. “We j-j-just did what P-P-Professor 
+Dumbledore told us t-t-to do ...” 
+
+Umbridge straightened up, looking exultant. 
+
+“Lead me to the weapon,” she said. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm not showing ... them,” said Hermione shrilly, 
+looking around at the Slytherins through her fingers. 
+
+“It is not for you to set conditions,” said Professor 
+Umbridge harshly. 
+
+“Fine,” said Hermione, now sobbing into her hands 
+again, “fine ... let them see it, I hope they use it on 
+you! In fact, I wish you’d invite loads and loads of 
+people to come and see! Th-that would serve you right 
+— oh, I’d love it if the wh-whole school knew where it 
+was, and how to u-use it, and then if you annoy any 
+of them they’ll be able to s-sort you out!” 
+
+These words had a powerful impact on Umbridge. She 
+glanced swiftly and suspiciously around at her 
+Inquisitorial Squad, her bulging eyes resting for a 
+moment on Malfoy, who was too slow to disguise the 
+look of eagerness and greed that had appeared on his 
+face. 
+
+Umbridge contemplated Hermione for another long 
+moment and then spoke in what she clearly thought 
+was a motherly voice. “All right, dear, let’s make it 
+just you and me ... and we’ll take Potter too, shall we? 
+Get up, now — ” 
+
+“Professor,” said Malfoy eagerly, “Professor Umbridge, 
+
+I think some of the squad should come with you to 
+look after — ” 
+
+“I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you 
+really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers 
+alone?” asked Umbridge sharply. “In any case, it does 
+not sound as though this weapon is something that 
+schoolchildren should see. You will remain here until 
+I return and make sure none of these” — she gestured 
+around at Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna — “escape.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“All right,” said Malfoy, looking sulky and 
+disappointed. 
+
+“And you two can go ahead of me and show me the 
+way,” said Umbridge, pointing at Harry and Hermione 
+with her wand. “Lead on...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+FIGHT AND FLIGHT 
+
+Harry had no idea what Hermione was planning, or 
+even whether she had a plan. He walked half a pace 
+behind her as they headed down the corridor outside 
+Umb ridge’s office, knowing it would look very 
+suspicious if he appeared not to know where they 
+were going. He did not dare attempt to talk to her; 
+Umbridge was walking so closely behind them that he 
+could hear her ragged breathing. 
+
+Hermione led the way down the stairs into the 
+entrance hall. The din of loud voices and the clatter of 
+cutlery on plates echoed from out of the double doors 
+to the Great Hall. It seemed incredible to Harry that 
+twenty feet away were people who were enjoying 
+dinner, celebrating the end of exams, not a care in the 
+world... 
+
+Hermione walked straight out of the oak front doors 
+and down the stone steps into the balmy evening air. 
+The sun was falling toward the tops of the trees in the 
+Forbidden Forest now as Hermione marched 
+purposefully across the grass, Umbridge jogging to 
+Page | 958Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+keep up. Their long dark shadows rippled over the 
+grass behind them like cloaks. 
+
+
+
+“It’s hidden in Hagrid’s hut, is it?” said Umbridge 
+eagerly in Harry’s ear. 
+
+“Of course not,” said Hermione scathingly. “Hagrid 
+might have set it off accidentally.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Umbridge, whose excitement seemed to be 
+mounting. “Yes, he would have done, of course, the 
+great half-breed oaf...” 
+
+She laughed. Harry felt a strong urge to swing around 
+and seize her by the throat, but resisted. His scar was 
+throbbing in the soft evening air but it had not yet 
+burned white-hot, as he knew it would if Voldemort 
+had moved in for the kill... 
+
+“Then ... where is it?” asked Umbridge, with a hint of 
+uncertainty in her voice as Hermione continued to 
+stride toward the forest. 
+
+“In there, of course,” said Hermione, pointing into the 
+dark trees. “It had to be somewhere that students 
+weren’t going to find it accidentally, didn’t it?” 
+
+“Of course,” said Umbridge, though she sounded a 
+little apprehensive now. “Of course ... very well, then 
+... you two stay ahead of me.” 
+
+“Can we have your wand, then, if we’re going first?” 
+Harry asked her. 
+
+“No, I don’t think so, Mr. Potter,” said Umbridge 
+sweetly, poking him in the back with it. “The Ministry 
+places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I’m 
+afraid.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+As they reached the cool shade of the first trees, 
+
+Harry tried to catch Hermione ’s eye; walking into the 
+forest without wands seemed to him to be more 
+foolhardy than anything they had done so far this 
+evening. She, however, merely gave Umbridge a 
+contemptuous glance and plunged straight into the 
+trees, moving at such a pace that Umbridge, with her 
+shorter legs, had difficulty in keeping up. 
+
+“Is it very far in?” Umbridge asked, as her robe ripped 
+on a bramble. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Hermione. “Yes, it’s well hidden.” 
+
+Harry’s misgivings increased. Hermione was not 
+taking the path they had followed to visit Grawp, but 
+the one he had followed three years ago to the lair of 
+the monster Aragog. Hermione had not been with him 
+on that occasion; he doubted she had any idea what 
+danger lay at the end of it. 
+
+“Er — are you sure this is the right way?” he asked 
+her pointedly. 
+
+“Oh yes,” she said in a steely voice, crashing through 
+the undergrowth with what he thought was a wholly 
+unnecessary amount of noise. Behind them, 
+
+Umbridge tripped over a fallen sapling. Neither of 
+them paused to help her up again; Hermione merely 
+strode on, calling loudly over her shoulder, “It’s a bit 
+further in!” 
+
+“Hermione, keep your voice down,” Harry muttered, 
+hurrying to catch up with her. “Anything could be 
+listening in here — ” 
+
+“I want us heard,” she answered quietly, as Umbridge 
+jogged noisily after them. “You’ll see...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+They walked on for what seemed a long time, until 
+they were once again so deep into the forest that the 
+dense tree canopy blocked out all light. Harry had the 
+feeling he had had before in the forest, one of being 
+watched by unseen eyes... 
+
+“How much further?” demanded Umbridge angrily 
+from behind him. 
+
+“Not far now!” shouted Hermione, as they emerged 
+into a dim, dank clearing. “Just a little bit — ” 
+
+An arrow flew through the air and landed with a 
+menacing thud in the tree just over her head. The air 
+was suddenly full of the sound of hooves. Harry could 
+feel the forest floor trembling; Umbridge gave a little 
+scream and pushed him in front of her like a shield — 
+
+He wrenched himself free of her and turned. Around 
+fifty centaurs were emerging on every side, their bows 
+raised and loaded, pointing at Harry, Hermione, and 
+Umbridge, who backed slowly into the center of the 
+clearing, Umbridge uttering odd little whimpers of 
+terror. Harry looked sideways at Hermione. She was 
+wearing a triumphant smile. 
+
+“Who are you?” said a voice. 
+
+Harry looked left. The chestnut-bodied centaur called 
+Magorian was walking toward them out of the circle; 
+his bow, like the others’, was raised. On Harry’s right, 
+Umbridge was still whimpering, her wand trembling 
+violently as she pointed it at the advancing centaur. 
+
+“I asked you who are you, human,” said Magorian 
+roughly. 
+
+“I am Dolores Umbridge!” said Umbridge in a high- 
+pitched, terrified voice. “Senior Undersecretary to the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Minister of Magic and Headmistress and High 
+Inquisitor of Hogwarts!” 
+
+
+
+“You are from the Ministry of Magic?” said Magorian, 
+as many of the centaurs in the surrounding circle 
+shifted restlessly. 
+
+“That’s right!” said Umbridge in an even higher voice. 
+“So be very careful! By the laws laid down by the 
+Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical 
+Creatures, any attack by half-breeds such as 
+yourselves on a human — ” 
+
+“ What did you call us?” shouted a wild-looking black 
+centaur, whom Harry recognized as Bane. There was 
+a great deal of angry muttering and tightening of 
+bowstrings around them. 
+
+“Don’t call them that!” Hermione said furiously, but 
+Umbridge did not appear to have heard her. Still 
+pointing her shaking wand at Magorian, she 
+continued, “Law Fifteen B states clearly that ‘Any 
+attack by a magical creature who is deemed to have 
+near-human intelligence, and therefore considered 
+responsible for its actions — ’ ” 
+
+“ ‘Near-human intelligence’?” repeated Magorian, as 
+Bane and several others roared with rage and pawed 
+the ground. “We consider that a great insult, human! 
+Our intelligence, thankfully, far outstrips your own — 
+
+
+
+“What are you doing in our forest?” bellowed the 
+hard-faced gray centaur whom Harry and Hermione 
+had seen on their last trip into the forest. “Why are 
+you here?” 
+
+“Your forest?” said Umbridge, shaking now not only 
+with fright but also, it seemed, with indignation. “I 
+
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+
+
+
+
+would remind you that you live here only because the 
+Ministry of Magic permits you certain areas of land — 
+
+
+
+An arrow flew so close to her head that it caught at 
+her mousy hair in passing. She let out an earsplitting 
+scream and threw her hands over her head while 
+some of the centaurs bellowed their approval and 
+others laughed raucously. The sound of their wild, 
+neighing laughter echoing around the dimly lit 
+clearing and the sight of their pawing hooves was 
+extremely unnerving. 
+
+“Whose forest is it now, human?” bellowed Bane. 
+
+“Filthy half-breeds!” she screamed, her hands still 
+tight over her head. “Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!” 
+
+“Be quiet!” shouted Hermione, but it was too late — 
+Umbridge pointed her wand at Magorian and 
+screamed, “ Incarcerousl” 
+
+Ropes flew out of midair like thick snakes, wrapping 
+themselves tightly around the centaur’s torso and 
+trapping his arms. He gave a cry of rage and reared 
+onto his hind legs, attempting to free himself, while 
+the other centaurs charged. 
+
+Harry grabbed Hermione and pulled her to the 
+ground. Facedown on the forest floor he knew a 
+moment of terror as hooves thundered around him, 
+but the centaurs leapt over and around them, 
+bellowing and screaming with rage. 
+
+“Nooooo!” he heard Umbridge shriek. “Noooooo ... I 
+am Senior Undersecretary ... you cannot ... unhand 
+me, you animals ... nooooo!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He saw a flash of red light and knew that she had 
+attempted to Stun one of them — then she screamed 
+very loudly. Lifting his head a few inches, Harry saw 
+that Umbridge had been seized from behind by Bane 
+and lifted high into the air, wriggling and yelling with 
+fright. Her wand fell from her hand to the ground and 
+Harry’s heart leapt, if he could just reach it — 
+
+But as he stretched out a hand toward it, a centaur’s 
+hoof descended upon the wand and it broke cleanly in 
+half. 
+
+“Now!” roared a voice in Harry’s ear and a thick hairy 
+arm descended from thin air and dragged him 
+upright; Hermione too had been pulled to her feet. 
+Over the plunging, many-colored backs and heads of 
+the centaurs Harry saw Umbridge being borne away 
+through the trees by Bane, still screaming nonstop; 
+her voice grew fainter and fainter until they could no 
+longer hear it over the trampling of hooves 
+surrounding them. 
+
+“And these?” said the hard-faced, gray centaur 
+holding Hermione. 
+
+“They are young,” said a slow, doleful voice from 
+behind Harry. “We do not attack foals.” 
+
+“They brought her here, Ronan,” replied the centaur 
+who had such a firm grip on Harry. “And they are not 
+so young... He is nearing manhood, this one...” 
+
+He shook Harry by the neck of his robes. 
+
+“Please,” said Hermione breathlessly, “please, don’t 
+attack us, we don’t think like her, we aren’t Ministry 
+of Magic employees! We only came in here because we 
+hoped you’d drive her off for us — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry knew at once from the look on the face of the 
+gray centaur holding Hermione that she had made a 
+terrible mistake in saying this. The gray centaur 
+threw back his head, his back legs stamping 
+furiously, and bellowed, “You see, Ronan? They 
+already have the arrogance of their kind! So we were 
+to do your dirty work, were we, human girl? We were 
+to act as your servants, drive away your enemies like 
+obedient hounds?” 
+
+“No!” said Hermione in a horrorstruck squeak. “Please 
+— I didn’t mean that! I just hoped you’d be able to — 
+to help us — ” 
+
+But she seemed to be going from bad to worse. 
+
+“We do not help humans!” snarled the centaur 
+holding Harry, tightening his grip and rearing a little 
+at the same time, so that Harry’s feet left the ground 
+momentarily. “We are a race apart and proud to be 
+so... We will not permit you to walk from here, 
+boasting that we did your bidding!” 
+
+“We’re not going to say anything like that!” Harry 
+shouted. “We know you didn’t do anything because 
+we wanted you to — ” 
+
+But nobody seemed to be listening to him. A bearded 
+centaur toward the back of the crowd shouted, “They 
+came here unasked, they must pay the 
+consequences!” 
+
+A roar of approval met these words and a dun-colored 
+centaur shouted, “They can join the woman!” 
+
+“You said you didn’t hurt the innocent!” shouted 
+Hermione, real tears sliding down her face now. “We 
+haven’t done anything to hurt you, we haven’t used 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+wands or threats, we just want to go back to school, 
+please let us go back — ” 
+
+“We are not all like the traitor Firenze, human girl!” 
+shouted the gray centaur, to more neighing roars of 
+approval from his fellows. “Perhaps you thought us 
+pretty talking horses? We are an ancient people who 
+will not stand wizard invasions and insults! We do not 
+recognize your laws, we do not acknowledge your 
+superiority, we are — ” 
+
+But they did not hear what else centaurs were, for at 
+that moment there came a crashing noise on the edge 
+of the clearing so loud that all of them — Harry, 
+Hermione, and the fifty or so centaurs filling the 
+clearing — looked around. Harry’s centaur let him fall 
+to the ground again as his hands flew to his bow and 
+quiver of arrows; Hermione had been dropped too, 
+and Harry hurried toward her as two thick tree 
+trunks parted ominously and the monstrous form of 
+Grawp the giant appeared in the gap. 
+
+The centaurs nearest him backed into those behind. 
+The clearing was now a forest of bows and arrows 
+waiting to be fired, all pointing upward at the 
+enormous grayish face now looming over them from 
+just beneath the thick canopy of branches. Grawp ’s 
+lopsided mouth was gaping stupidly. They could see 
+his bricklike yellow teeth glimmering in the half-light, 
+his dull sludge-colored eyes narrowed as he squinted 
+down at the creatures at his feet. Broken ropes trailed 
+from both ankles. 
+
+He opened his mouth even wider. 
+
+“Hagger.” 
+
+Harry did not know what “hagger” meant, or what 
+language it was from, nor did he much care — he was 
+
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+
+
+
+
+watching Grawp ’s feet, which were almost as long as 
+Harry’s whole body. Hermione gripped his arm tightly; 
+the centaurs were quite silent, staring up at the giant, 
+whose huge, round head moved from side to side as 
+he continued to peer amongst them as though looking 
+for something he had dropped. 
+
+“Haggeii” he said again, more insistently. 
+
+“Get away from here, giant!” called Magorian. “You 
+are not welcome among us!” 
+
+These words seemed to make no impression 
+whatsoever on Grawp. He stooped a little (the 
+centaurs’ arms tensed on their bows) and then 
+bellowed, “HAGGER!” 
+
+A few of the centaurs looked worried now. Hermione, 
+however, gave a gasp. 
+
+“Harry!” she whispered. “I think he’s trying to say 
+‘Hagrid’!” 
+
+
+
+At this precise moment Grawp caught sight of them, 
+the only two humans in a sea of centaurs. He lowered 
+his head another foot or so, staring intently at them. 
+Harry could feel Hermione shaking as Grawp opened 
+his mouth wide again and said, in a deep, rumbling 
+voice, “Hermy.” 
+
+“Goodness,” said Hermione, gripping Harry’s arm so 
+tightly it was growing numb and looking as though 
+she was about to faint, “he — he remembered!” 
+
+“HERMY!” roared Grawp. “WHERE HAGGER?” 
+
+“I don’t know!” squealed Hermione, terrified. “I’m 
+sorry, Grawp, I don’t know!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 967Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“GRAWP WANT HAGGER!” 
+
+
+
+One of the giant’s massive hands swooped down upon 
+them — Hermione let out a real scream, ran a few 
+steps backward and fell over. Wandless, Harry braced 
+himself to punch, kick, bite, or whatever else it took 
+as the hand flew toward him and knocked a snow- 
+white centaur off his legs. 
+
+It was what the centaurs had been waiting for — 
+Grawp’s outstretched fingers were a foot from Harry 
+when fifty arrows went soaring through the air at the 
+giant, peppering his enormous face, causing him to 
+howl with pain and rage and straighten up again, 
+rubbing his face with his enormous hands, breaking 
+off the arrow shafts but forcing the heads in still 
+deeper. 
+
+He yelled and stamped his enormous feet and the 
+centaurs scattered out of the way. Pebble-sized 
+droplets of Grawp’s blood showered Harry as he 
+pulled Hermione to her feet and the pair of them ran 
+as fast as they could for the shelter of the trees. Once 
+there they looked back — Grawp was snatching 
+blindly at the centaurs as blood ran all down his face; 
+they were retreating in disorder, galloping away 
+through the trees on the other side of the clearing. As 
+Harry and Hermione watched, Grawp gave another 
+roar of fury and plunged after them, smashing more 
+trees aside as he went. 
+
+“Oh no,” said Hermione, quaking so badly that her 
+knees gave way. “Oh, that was horrible. And he might 
+kill them all...” 
+
+“I’m not that fussed, to be honest,” said Harry 
+bitterly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+The sounds of the galloping centaurs and the 
+blundering giant were growing fainter and fainter. As 
+Harry listened to them his scar gave another great 
+throb and a wave of terror swept over him. 
+
+They had wasted so much time — they were even 
+further from rescuing Sirius than they had been when 
+he had had the vision. Not only had Harry managed 
+to lose his wand but they were stuck in the middle of 
+the Forbidden Forest with no means of transport 
+whatsoever. 
+
+“Smart plan,” he spat at Hermione, keen to release 
+some of his fury. “Really smart plan. Where do we go 
+from here?” 
+
+“We need to get back up to the castle,” said Hermione 
+faintly. 
+
+“By the time we’ve done that, Sirius 11 probably be 
+dead!” said Harry, kicking a nearby tree in temper; 
+there was a high-pitched chattering overhead and he 
+looked up to see an angry bowtruckle flexing its long 
+twiglike fingers at him. 
+
+“Well, we can’t do anything without wands,” said 
+Hermione hopelessly, dragging herself up again. 
+“Anyway, Harry, how exactly were you planning to get 
+all the way to London?” 
+
+“Yeah, we were just wondering that,” said a familiar 
+voice from behind her. 
+
+Harry and Hermione moved instinctively together, 
+peering through the trees, as Ron came into sight, 
+with Ginny, Neville, and Luna hurrying along behind 
+him. All of them looked a little the worse for wear — 
+there were several long scratches running the length 
+of Ginny’s cheek, a large purple lump was swelling 
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+
+
+
+
+above Neville’s right eye, Ron’s lip was bleeding worse 
+than ever — but all were looking rather pleased with 
+themselves. 
+
+“So,” said Ron, pushing aside a low-hanging branch 
+and holding out Harry’s wand, “had any ideas?” 
+
+“How did you get away?” asked Harry in amazement, 
+taking his wand from Ron. 
+
+“Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville 
+brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx,” said 
+Ron airily, now handing back Hermione’s wand too. 
+“But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy — Bat-Bogey Hex 
+— it was superb, his whole face was covered in the 
+great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading 
+into the forest out of the window and followed. 
+
+What’ve you done with Umbridge?” 
+
+“She got carried away,” said Harry. “By a herd of 
+centaurs.” 
+
+“And they left you behind?” asked Ginny, looking 
+astonished. 
+
+“No, they got chased off by Grawp,” said Harry. 
+
+“Who’s Grawp?” Luna asked interestedly. 
+
+“Hagrid’s little brother,” said Ron promptly. “Anyway, 
+never mind that now. Harry, what did you find out in 
+the fire? Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or — ?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, as his scar gave another painful 
+prickle, “and I’m sure Sirius is still alive, but I can’t 
+see how we’re going to get there to help him.” 
+
+They all fell silent, looking rather scared. The problem 
+facing them seemed insurmountable. 
+
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+
+
+
+“Well, we’ll have to fly, won’t we?” said Luna in the 
+closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice Harry had ever 
+heard her use. 
+
+
+
+“Okay,” said Harry irritably, rounding on her, “first of 
+all, “we’ aren’t doing anything if you’re including 
+yourself in that, and second of all, Ron’s the only one 
+with a broomstick that isn’t being guarded by a 
+security troll, so — ” 
+
+“I’ve got a broom!” said Ginny. 
+
+“Yeah, but you’re not coming,” said Ron angrily. 
+
+“Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as 
+much as you do!” said Ginny, her jaw set so that her 
+resemblance to Fred and George was suddenly 
+striking. 
+
+“You’re too — ” Harry began. 
+
+“I’m three years older than you were when you fought 
+You-Know-Who over the Sorcerer’s Stone,” she said 
+fiercely, “and it’s because of me Malfoy’s stuck back 
+in Umbridge’s office with giant flying bogeys attacking 
+him — ” 
+
+
+
+“Yeah, but — ” 
+
+“We were all in the D.A. together,” said Neville quietly. 
+“It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know- 
+Who, wasn’t it? And this is the first chance we’ve had 
+to do something real — or was that all just a game or 
+something?” 
+
+“No — of course it wasn’t — ” said Harry impatiently. 
+
+“Then we should come too,” said Neville simply. “We 
+want to help.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That’s right,” said Luna, smiling happily. 
+
+
+
+Harry’s eyes met Ron’s. He knew that Ron was 
+thinking exactly what he was: If he could have chosen 
+any members of the D.A. in addition to himself, Ron, 
+and Hermione to join him in the attempt to rescue 
+Sirius, he would not have picked Ginny, Neville, or 
+Luna. 
+
+“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway,” said Harry 
+frustratedly, “because we still don’t know how to get 
+there — ” 
+
+“I thought we’d settled that?” said Luna maddeningly. 
+“We’re flying!” 
+
+“Look,” said Ron, barely containing his anger, “you 
+might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest 
+of us can’t sprout wings whenever we — ” 
+
+“There are other ways of flying than with 
+broomsticks,” said Luna serenely. 
+
+“I s’pose we’re going to ride on the back of the Kacky 
+Snorgle or whatever it is?” Ron demanded. 
+
+“The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can’t fly,” said Luna 
+in a dignified voice, “but they can, and Hagrid says 
+they’re very good at finding places their riders are 
+looking for.” 
+
+Harry whirled around. Standing between two trees, 
+their white eyes gleaming eerily, were two thestrals, 
+watching the whispered conversation as though they 
+understood every word. 
+
+“Yes!” he whispered, moving toward them. They 
+tossed their reptilian heads, throwing back long black 
+manes, and Harry stretched out his hand eagerly and 
+
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+
+
+
+
+patted the nearest one’s shining neck. How could he 
+ever have thought them ugly? 
+
+“Is it those mad horse things?” said Ron uncertainly, 
+staring at a point slightly to the left of the thestral 
+Harry was patting. “Those ones you can’t see unless 
+you’ve watched someone snuff it?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“How many?” 
+
+“Just two.” 
+
+“Well, we need three,” said Hermione, who was still 
+looking a little shaken, but determined just the same. 
+
+“Four, Hermione,” said Ginny, scowling. 
+
+“I think there are six of us, actually,” said Luna 
+calmly, counting. 
+
+“Don’t be stupid, we can’t all go!” said Harry angrily. 
+“Look, you three” — he pointed at Neville, Ginny, and 
+Luna — “you’re not involved in this, you’re not — ” 
+
+They burst into more protests. His scar gave another, 
+more painful, twinge. Every moment they delayed was 
+precious; he did not have time to argue. 
+
+“Okay, fine, it’s your choice,” he said curtly. “But 
+unless we can find more thestrals you’re not going to 
+be able — ” 
+
+“Oh, more of them will come,” said Ginny confidently, 
+who like Ron was squinting in quite the wrong 
+direction, apparently under the impression that she 
+was looking at the horses. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What makes you think that?” 
+
+“Because in case you hadn’t noticed, you and 
+Hermione are both covered in blood,” she said coolly, 
+“and we know Hagrid lures thestrals with raw meat, 
+so that’s probably why these two turned up in the 
+first place...” 
+
+Harry felt a soft tug on his robes at that moment and 
+looked down to see the closest thestral licking his 
+sleeve, which was damp with Grawp’s blood. 
+
+“Okay, then,” he said, a bright idea occurring. “Ron 
+and I will take these two and go ahead, and Hermione 
+can stay here with you three and she’ll attract more 
+thestrals — ” 
+
+“I’m not staying behind!” said Hermione furiously. 
+
+“There’s no need,” said Luna, smiling. “Look, here 
+come more now... You two must really smell...” 
+
+Harry turned. No fewer than six or seven thestrals 
+were picking their way through the trees now, their 
+great leathery wings folded tight to their bodies, their 
+eyes gleaming through the darkness. He had no 
+excuse now... 
+
+“All right,” he said angrily, “pick one and get on, 
+then.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+THE DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES 
+
+Harry wound his hand tightly into the mane of the 
+nearest thestral, placed a foot on a stump nearby, 
+and scrambled clumsily onto the horse’s silken back. 
+It did not object, but twisted its head around, fangs 
+bared, and attempted to continue its eager licking of 
+his robes. 
+
+He found there was a way of lodging his knees behind 
+the wing joints that made him feel more secure and 
+looked around at the others. Neville had heaved 
+himself over the back of the next thestral and was 
+now attempting to swing one short leg over the 
+creature’s back. Luna was already in place, sitting 
+sidesaddle and adjusting her robes as though she did 
+this every day. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, however, 
+were still standing motionless on the spot, 
+openmouthed and staring. 
+
+“What?” he said. 
+
+“How’re we supposed to get on?” said Ron faintly. 
+“When we can’t see the things?” 
+
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+
+
+
+“Oh it’s easy,” said Luna, sliding obligingly from her 
+thestral and marching over to him, Hermione, and 
+Ginny. “Come here...” 
+
+She pulled them over to the other thestrals standing 
+around and one by one managed to help them onto 
+the backs of their mounts. All three looked extremely 
+nervous as she wound their hands into the horses’ 
+manes and told them to grip tightly before getting 
+back onto her own steed. 
+
+“This is mad,” Ron said faintly, moving his free hand 
+gingerly up and down his horse’s neck. “Mad ... if I 
+could just see it — ” 
+
+“You’d better hope it stays invisible,” said Harry 
+darkly. “We all ready, then?” 
+
+They all nodded and he saw five pairs of knees tighten 
+beneath their robes. 
+
+“Okay ...” 
+
+He looked down at the back of his thestral’s glossy 
+black head and swallowed. “Ministry of Magic, 
+visitors’ entrance, London, then,” he said uncertainly. 
+“Er ... if you know ... where to go ...” 
+
+For a moment his thestral did nothing at all. Then, 
+with a sweeping movement that nearly unseated him, 
+the wings on either side extended, the horse crouched 
+slowly and then rocketed upward so fast and so 
+steeply that Harry had to clench his arms and legs 
+tightly around the horse to avoid sliding backward 
+over its bony rump. He closed his eyes and put his 
+face down into the horse’s silky mane as they burst 
+through the topmost branches of the trees and soared 
+out into a bloodred sunset. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Harry did not think he had ever moved so fast: The 
+thestral streaked over the castle, its wide wings 
+hardly beating. The cooling air was slapping Harry’s 
+face; eyes screwed up against the rushing wind, he 
+looked around and saw his five fellows soaring along 
+behind him, each of them bent as low as possible into 
+the neck of their thestral to protect themselves from 
+its slipstream. 
+
+They were over the Hogwarts grounds, they had 
+passed Hogsmeade. Harry could see mountains and 
+gullies below them. In the falling darkness Harry saw 
+small collections of lights as they passed over more 
+villages, then a winding road on which a single car 
+was beetling its way home through the hills... 
+
+“This is bizarre!” Harry heard Ron yell from 
+somewhere behind him, and he imagined how it must 
+feel to be speeding along at this height with no visible 
+means of support... 
+
+Twilight fell: The sky turned to a light, dusky purple 
+littered with tiny silver stars, and soon it was only the 
+lights of Muggle towns that gave them any clue of how 
+far from the ground they were or how very fast they 
+were traveling. Harry’s arms were wrapped tightly 
+around his horse’s neck as he willed it to go even 
+faster. How much time had elapsed since he had seen 
+Sirius lying on the Department of Mysteries floor? 
+
+How much longer would he be able to resist 
+Voldemort? All Harry knew for sure was that Sirius 
+had neither done as Voldemort wanted, nor died, for 
+he was convinced that either outcome would cause 
+him to feel Voldemort’s jubilation or fury course 
+through his own body, making his scar sear as 
+painfully as it had on the night Mr. Weasley was 
+attacked... 
+
+
+
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+
+On they flew through the gathering darkness; Harry’s 
+face felt stiff and cold, his legs numb from gripping 
+the thestral’s sides so tightly, but he did not dare 
+shift positions lest he slip... He was deaf from the 
+thundering in his ears and his mouth was dry and 
+frozen from the rush of cold night air. He had lost all 
+sense of how far they had come; all his faith was in 
+the beast below him, still streaking purposefully 
+through the night, barely flapping its wings as it sped 
+ever onward... 
+
+If they were too late . . . 
+
+He’s still alive, he’s still fighting, I can feel it... 
+
+If Voldemort decided Sirius was not going to crack ... 
+I’d know... 
+
+Harry’s stomach gave a jolt. The thestral’s head was 
+suddenly pointing toward the ground and he had 
+actually slid forward a few inches along its neck. They 
+were descending at last... He heard one of the girls 
+shriek behind him and twisted around dangerously 
+but could see no sign of a falling body. . . Presumably 
+they had received a shock from the change of 
+position, just as he had... 
+
+And now bright orange lights were growing larger and 
+rounder on all sides. They could see the tops of 
+buildings, streams of headlights like luminous insect 
+eyes, squares of pale yellow that were windows. Quite 
+suddenly, it seemed, they were hurtling toward the 
+pavement. Harry gripped the thestral with every last 
+ounce of his strength, braced for a sudden impact, 
+but the horse touched the dark ground as lightly as a 
+shadow and Harry slid from his back, looking around 
+at the street where the overflowing dumpster still 
+stood a short way from the vandalized telephone box, 
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+
+
+
+both drained of color in the flat orange glare of the 
+streetlights. 
+
+Ron landed a short way away and toppled 
+immediately off his thestral onto the pavement. 
+
+“Never again,” he said, struggling to his feet. He made 
+as though to stride away from his thestral, but, 
+unable to see it, collided with its hindquarters and 
+almost fell over again. “Never, ever again ... that was 
+the worst — ” 
+
+Hermione and Ginny touched down on either side of 
+him. Both slid off their mounts a little more gracefully 
+than Ron, though with similar expressions of relief at 
+being back on firm ground. Neville jumped down, 
+shaking, but Luna dismounted smoothly. 
+
+“Where do we go from here, then?” she asked Harry in 
+a politely interested voice, as though this was all a 
+rather interesting day- trip. 
+
+“Over here,” he said. He gave his thestral a quick, 
+grateful pat, then led the way quickly to the battered 
+telephone box and opened the door. “Come on\” he 
+urged the others as they hesitated. 
+
+Ron and Ginny marched in obediently; Hermione, 
+Neville, and Luna squashed themselves in after them; 
+Harry took one glance back at the thestrals, now 
+foraging for scraps of rotten food inside the dumpster, 
+then forced himself into the box after Luna. 
+
+“Whoever’s nearest the receiver, dial six two four four 
+two!” he said. 
+
+Ron did it, his arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial. As 
+it whirred back into place the cool female voice 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+sounded inside the box, “Welcome to the Ministry of 
+Magic. Please state your name and business.” 
+
+“Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger,” 
+
+Harry said very quickly, “Ginny Weasley, Neville 
+Longbottom, Luna Lovegood ... We’re here to save 
+someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!” 
+
+“Thank you,” said the cool female voice. “Visitors, 
+please take the badges and attach them to the front of 
+your robes.” 
+
+Half a dozen badges slid out of the metal chute where 
+returned coins usually appeared. Hermione scooped 
+them up and handed them mutely to Harry over 
+Ginny ’s head; he glanced at the topmost one. 
+
+HARRY POTTER 
+RESCUE MISSION 
+
+“Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to 
+a search and present your wand for registration at the 
+security desk, which is located at the far end of the 
+Atrium.” 
+
+“Fine!” Harry said loudly, as his scar gave another 
+throb. “Now can we move?” 
+
+The floor of the telephone box shuddered and the 
+pavement rose up past the glass windows of the 
+telephone box. The scavenging thestrals were sliding 
+out of sight, blackness closed over their heads, and 
+with a dull grinding noise they sank down into the 
+depths of the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+A chink of soft golden light hit their feet and, 
+widening, rose up their bodies. Harry bent his knees 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+and held his wand as ready as he could in such 
+cramped conditions, peering through the glass to see 
+whether anybody was waiting for them in the Atrium, 
+but it seemed to be completely empty. The light was 
+dimmer than it had been by day. There were no fires 
+burning under the mantelpieces set into the walls, 
+but he saw as the lift slid smoothly to a halt that 
+golden symbols continued to twist sinuously in the 
+dark blue ceiling. 
+
+“The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant 
+evening,” said the woman’s voice. 
+
+The door of the telephone box burst open; Harry 
+toppled out of it, followed by Neville and Luna. The 
+only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of 
+water from the golden fountain, where jets from the 
+wands of the witch and wizard, the point of the 
+centaur’s arrow, the tip of the goblin’s hat, and the 
+house-elf’s ears continued to gush into the 
+surrounding pool. 
+
+“Come on,” said Harry quietly and the six of them 
+sprinted off down the hall, Harry in the lead, past the 
+fountain, toward the desk where the security man 
+who had weighed Harry’s wand had sat and which 
+was now deserted. 
+
+Harry felt sure that there ought to be a security 
+person there, sure that their absence was an ominous 
+sign, and his feeling of foreboding increased as they 
+passed through the golden gates to the lifts. He 
+pressed the nearest down button and a lift clattered 
+into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid 
+apart with a great, echoing clanking, and they dashed 
+inside. Harry stabbed the number nine button, the 
+grilles closed with a bang, and the lift began to 
+descend, jangling and rattling. Harry had not realized 
+how noisy the lifts were on the day that he had come 
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+
+
+
+
+with Mr. Weasley — he was sure that the din would 
+raise every security person within the building, yet 
+when the lift halted, the cool female voice said, 
+“Department of Mysteries,” and the grilles slid open 
+again, they stepped out into the corridor where 
+nothing was moving but the nearest torches, 
+flickering in the rush of air from the lift. 
+
+Harry turned toward the plain black door. After 
+months and months of dreaming about it, he was 
+here at last... 
+
+“Let’s go,” he whispered, and he led the way down the 
+corridor, Luna right behind him, gazing around with 
+her mouth slightly open. 
+
+“Okay, listen,” said Harry, stopping again within six 
+feet of the door. “Maybe . . . maybe a couple of people 
+should stay here as a — as a lookout, and — ” 
+
+“And how’re we going to let you know something’s 
+coming?” asked Ginny, her eyebrows raised. “You 
+could be miles away.” 
+
+“We’re coming with you, Harry,” said Neville. 
+
+“Let’s get on with it,” said Ron firmly. 
+
+Harry still did not want to take them all with him, but 
+it seemed he had no choice. He turned to face the 
+door and walked forward. Just as it had in his dream, 
+it swung open and he marched forward, leading the 
+others over the threshold. 
+
+They were standing in a large, circular room. 
+Everything in here was black including the floor and 
+ceiling — identical, unmarked, handle-less black 
+doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, 
+interspersed with branches of candles whose flames 
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+
+
+
+
+burned blue, their cool, shimmering light reflected in 
+the shining marble floor so that it looked as though 
+there was dark water underfoot. 
+
+“Someone shut the door,” Harry muttered. 
+
+He regretted giving this order the moment Neville had 
+obeyed it. Without the long chink of light from the 
+torch-lit corridor behind them, the place became so 
+dark that for a moment the only things they could see 
+were the bunches of shivering blue flames on the 
+walls and their ghostly reflections in the floor below. 
+
+In his dream, Harry had always walked purposefully 
+across this room to the door immediately opposite the 
+entrance and walked on. But there were around a 
+dozen doors here. Just as he was gazing ahead at the 
+doors opposite him, trying to decide which was the 
+right one, there was a great rumbling noise and the 
+candles began to move sideways. The circular wall 
+was rotating. 
+
+Hermione grabbed Harry’s arm as though frightened 
+the floor might move too, but it did not. For a few 
+seconds the blue flames around them were blurred to 
+resemble neon lines as the wall sped around and 
+then, quite as suddenly as it had started, the 
+rumbling stopped and everything became stationary 
+once again. 
+
+Harry’s eyes had blue streaks burned into them; it 
+was all he could see. 
+
+“What was that about?” whispered Ron fearfully. 
+
+“I think it was to stop us knowing which door we 
+came in from,” said Ginny in a hushed voice. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Harry realized at once that she was right: He could no 
+sooner have picked the exit from the other doors than 
+located an ant upon the jet-black floor. Meanwhile, 
+the door through which they needed to proceed could 
+be any of the dozen surrounding them. 
+
+“How’re we going to get back out?” said Neville 
+uncomfortably. 
+
+“Well, that doesn’t matter now,” said Harry forcefully, 
+blinking to try and erase the blue lines from his 
+vision, and clutching his wand tighter than ever. “We 
+won’t need to get out till we’ve found Sirius — ” 
+
+“Don’t go calling for him, though!” Hermione said 
+urgently, but Harry had never needed her advice less; 
+his instinct was to keep as quiet as possible for the 
+time being. 
+
+“Where do we go, then, Harry?” Ron asked. 
+
+“I don’t — ” Harry began. He swallowed. “In the 
+dreams I went through the door at the end of the 
+corridor from the lifts into a dark room — that’s this 
+one — and then I went through another door into a 
+room that kind of ... glitters. We should try a few 
+doors,” he said hastily. “I’ll know the right way when I 
+see it. C’mon.” 
+
+He marched straight at the door now facing him, the 
+others following close behind him, set his left hand 
+against its cool, shining surface, raised his wand, 
+ready to strike the moment it opened, and pushed. It 
+swung open easily. 
+
+After the darkness of the first room, the lamps 
+hanging low on golden chains from this ceiling gave 
+the impression that this long rectangular room was 
+much brighter, though there were no glittering, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+shimmering lights such as Harry had seen in his 
+dreams. The place was quite empty except for a few 
+desks and, in the very middle of the room, an 
+enormous glass tank of deep-green water, big enough 
+for all of them to swim in, which contained a number 
+of pearly white objects that were drifting around lazily 
+in the liquid. 
+
+“What’re those things?” whispered Ron. 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry. 
+
+“Are they fish?” breathed Ginny. 
+
+“Aquavirius maggots!” said Luna excitedly. “Dad said 
+the Ministry were breeding — ” 
+
+“No,” said Hermione. She sounded odd. She moved 
+forward to look through the side of the tank. “They’re 
+brains.” 
+
+“Brains?” 
+
+“Yes ... I wonder what they’re doing with them?” 
+
+Harry joined her at the tank. Sure enough, there 
+could be no mistake now that he saw them at close 
+quarters. Glimmering eerily they drifted in and out of 
+sight in the depths of the green water, looking 
+something like slimy cauliflowers. 
+
+“Let’s get out of here,” said Harry. “This isn’t right, we 
+need to try another door — ” 
+
+“There are doors here too,” said Ron, pointing around 
+the walls. Harry’s heart sank; how big was this place? 
+
+
+
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+
+“In my dream I went through that dark room into the 
+second one,” he said. “I think we should go back and 
+try from there.” 
+
+So they hurried back into the dark, circular room; the 
+ghostly shapes of the brains were now swimming 
+before Harry’s eyes instead of the blue candle flames. 
+
+“Wait!” said Hermione sharply, as Luna made to close 
+the door of the brain room behind them. “ FlagrateV’ 
+
+She drew with her wand in midair and a fiery X 
+appeared on the door. No sooner had the door clicked 
+shut behind them than there was a great rumbling, 
+and once again the wall began to revolve very fast, but 
+now there was a great red-gold blur in amongst the 
+faint blue, and when all became still again, the fiery 
+cross still burned, showing the door they had already 
+tried. 
+
+“Good thinking,” said Harry. “Okay, let’s try this one 
+
+
+
+Again he strode directly at the door facing him and 
+pushed it open, his wand still raised, the others at his 
+heels. 
+
+This room was larger than the last, dimly lit and 
+rectangular, and the center of it was sunken, forming 
+a great stone pit some twenty feet below them. They 
+were standing on the topmost tier of what seemed to 
+be stone benches running all around the room and 
+descending in steep steps like an amphitheater, or the 
+courtroom in which Harry had been tried by the 
+Wizengamot. Instead of a chained chair, however, 
+there was a raised stone dais in the center of the 
+lowered floor, and upon this dais stood a stone 
+archway that looked so ancient, cracked, and 
+crumbling that Harry was amazed the thing was still 
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+
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+
+standing. Unsupported by any surrounding wall, the 
+archway was hung with a tattered black curtain or 
+veil which, despite the complete stillness of the cold 
+surrounding air, was fluttering very slightly as though 
+it had just been touched. 
+
+“Who’s there?” said Harry, jumping down onto the 
+bench below. There was no answering voice, but the 
+veil continued to flutter and sway. 
+
+“Careful!” whispered Hermione. 
+
+Harry scrambled down the benches one by one until 
+he reached the stone bottom of the sunken pit. His 
+footsteps echoed loudly as he walked slowly toward 
+the dais. The pointed archway looked much taller 
+from where he stood now than when he had been 
+looking down on it from above. Still the veil swayed 
+gently, as though somebody had just passed through 
+it. 
+
+“Sirius?” Harry spoke again, but much more quietly 
+now that he was nearer. 
+
+He had the strangest feeling that there was someone 
+standing right behind the veil on the other side of the 
+archway. Gripping his wand very tightly, he edged 
+around the dais, but there was nobody there. All that 
+could be seen was the other side of the tattered black 
+veil. 
+
+“Let’s go,” called Hermione from halfway up the stone 
+steps. “This isn’t right, Harry, come on, let’s go...” 
+
+She sounded scared, much more scared than she had 
+in the room where the brains swam, yet Harry 
+thought the archway had a kind of beauty about it, 
+old though it was. The gently rippling veil intrigued 
+
+
+
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+him; he felt a very strong inclination to climb up on 
+the dais and walk through it. 
+
+“Harry, let’s go, okay?” said Hermione more forcefully. 
+
+“Okay,” he said, but he did not move. He had just 
+heard something. There were faint whispering, 
+murmuring noises coming from the other side of the 
+veil. 
+
+“What are you saying?” he said very loudly, so that 
+the words echoed all around the surrounding stone 
+benches. 
+
+“Nobody’s talking, Harry!” said Hermione, now moving 
+over to him. 
+
+“Someone’s whispering behind there,” he said, moving 
+out of her reach and continuing to frown at the veil. 
+
+“Is that you, Ron?” 
+
+“I’m here, mate,” said Ron, appearing around the side 
+of the archway. 
+
+“Can’t anyone else hear it?” Harry demanded, for the 
+whispering and murmuring was becoming louder; 
+without really meaning to put it there, he found his 
+foot was on the dais. 
+
+“I can hear them too,” breathed Luna, joining them 
+around the side of the archway and gazing at the 
+swaying veil. “There are people in there\” 
+
+“What do you mean, ‘in there’?” demanded Hermione, 
+jumping down from the bottom step and sounding 
+much angrier than the occasion warranted. “There 
+isn’t any ‘in there,’ it’s just an archway, there’s no 
+room for anybody to be there — Harry, stop it, come 
+away — ” 
+
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+
+She grabbed his arm and pulled, but he resisted. 
+
+“Harry, we are supposed to be here for Sirius!” she 
+said in a high-pitched, strained voice. 
+
+“Sirius,” Harry repeated, still gazing, mesmerized, at 
+the continuously swaying veil. “Yeah ...” 
+
+And then something slid back into place in his brain: 
+Sirius, captured, bound, and tortured, and he was 
+staring at this archway. . . 
+
+He took several paces back from the dais and 
+wrenched his eyes from the veil. 
+
+“Let’s go,” he said. 
+
+“That’s what I’ve been trying to — well, come on, 
+then!” said Hermione, and she led the way back 
+around the dais. On the other side, Ginny and Neville 
+were staring, apparently entranced, at the veil too. 
+Without speaking, Hermione took hold of Ginny’s 
+arm, Ron Neville’s, and they marched them firmly 
+back to the lowest stone bench and clambered all the 
+way back up to the door. 
+
+“What d’you reckon that arch was?” Harry asked 
+Hermione as they regained the dark circular room. 
+
+“I don’t know, but whatever it was, it was dangerous,” 
+she said firmly, again inscribing a fiery cross upon 
+the door. 
+
+Once more the wall spun and became still again. 
+Harry approached a door at random and pushed. It 
+did not move. 
+
+“What’s wrong?” said Hermione. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s ... locked ...” said Harry, throwing his weight at 
+the door, but it did not budge. 
+
+
+
+“This is it, then, isn’t it?” said Ron excitedly, joining 
+Harry in the attempt to force the door open. “Bound 
+to be!” 
+
+“Get out of the way!” said Hermione sharply. She 
+pointed her wand at the place where a lock would 
+have been on an ordinary door and said, “Alohomora\” 
+
+Nothing happened. 
+
+“Sirius’s knife!” said Harry, and he pulled it out from 
+inside his robes and slid it into the crack between the 
+door and the wall. The others all watched eagerly as 
+he ran it from top to bottom, withdrew it, and then 
+flung his shoulder again at the door. It remained as 
+firmly shut as ever. What was more, when Harry 
+looked down at the knife, he saw that the blade had 
+melted. 
+
+“Right, we’re leaving that room,” said Hermione 
+decisively. 
+
+“But what if that’s the one?” said Ron, staring at it 
+with a mixture of apprehension and longing. 
+
+“It can’t be, Harry could get through all the doors in 
+his dream,” said Hermione, marking the door with 
+another fiery cross as Harry replaced the now-useless 
+handle of Sirius’s knife in his pocket. 
+
+“You know what could be in there?” said Luna 
+eagerly, as the wall started to spin yet again. 
+
+“Something blibbering, no doubt,” said Hermione 
+under her breath, and Neville gave a nervous little 
+laugh. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The wall slid back to a halt and Harry, with a feeling 
+of increasing desperation, pushed the next door open. 
+
+“This is it!” 
+
+He knew it at once by the beautiful, dancing, 
+diamond-sparkling light. As Harry’s eyes became 
+more accustomed to the brilliant glare he saw clocks 
+gleaming from every surface, large and small, 
+grandfather and carriage, hanging in spaces between 
+the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the 
+length of the room, so that a busy, relentless ticking 
+filled the place like thousands of minuscule, 
+marching footsteps. The source of the dancing, 
+diamond-bright light was a towering crystal bell jar 
+that stood at the far end of the room. 
+
+“This way!” 
+
+Harry’s heart was pumping frantically now that he 
+knew they were on the right track. He led the way 
+forward down the narrow space between the lines of 
+the desks, heading, as he had done in his dream, for 
+the source of the light, the crystal bell jar quite as tall 
+as he was that stood on a desk and appeared to be 
+full of a billowing, glittering wind. 
+
+“Oh look).” said Ginny, as they drew nearer, pointing 
+at the very heart of the bell jar. 
+
+Drifting along in the sparkling current inside was a 
+tiny, jewel-bright egg. As it rose in the jar it cracked 
+open and a hummingbird emerged, which was carried 
+to the very top of the jar, but as it fell on the draft, its 
+feathers became bedraggled and damp again, and by 
+the time it had been borne back to the bottom of the 
+jar it had been enclosed once more in its egg. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Keep going!” said Harry sharply, because Ginny 
+showed signs of wanting to stop and watch the egg’s 
+progress back into a bird. 
+
+“You dawdled enough by that old arch!” she said 
+crossly, but followed him past the bell jar to the only 
+door behind it. 
+
+“This is it,” Harry said again, and his heart was now 
+pumping so hard and fast he felt it must interfere 
+with his speech. “It’s through here — ” 
+
+He glanced around at them all. They had their wands 
+out and looked suddenly serious and anxious. He 
+looked back at the door and pushed. It swung open. 
+
+They were there, they had found the place: high as a 
+church and full of nothing but towering shelves 
+covered in small, dusty, glass orbs. They glimmered 
+dully in the light issuing from more candle brackets 
+set at intervals along the shelves. Like those in the 
+circular room behind them, their flames were burning 
+blue. The room was very cold. 
+
+Harry edged forward and peered down one of the 
+shadowy aisles between two rows of shelves. He could 
+not hear anything nor see the slightest sign of 
+movement. 
+
+“You said it was row ninety-seven,” whispered 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Yeah,” breathed Harry, looking up at the end of the 
+closest row. Beneath the branch of blue-glowing 
+candles protruding from it glimmered the silver figure 
+53 . 
+
+“We need to go right, I think,” whispered Hermione, 
+squinting to the next row. “Yes ... that’s fifty-four...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Keep your wands out,” Harry said softly. 
+
+They crept forward, staring behind them as they went 
+on down the long alleys of shelves, the farther ends of 
+which were in near total darkness. Tiny, yellowing 
+labels had been stuck beneath each glass orb on the 
+shelf. Some of them had a weird, liquid glow; others 
+were as dull and dark within as blown lightbulbs. 
+
+They passed row eighty-four ... eighty-five ... Harry 
+was listening hard for the slightest sound of 
+movement, but Sirius might be gagged now, or else 
+unconscious ... or, said an unbidden voice inside his 
+head, he might already be dead... 
+
+I’d have felt it, he told himself, his heart now 
+hammering against his Adam’s apple. I’d already 
+know... 
+
+“Ninety-seven!” whispered Hermione. 
+
+They stood grouped around the end of the row, gazing 
+down the alley beside it. There was nobody there. 
+
+“He’s right down at the end,” said Harry, whose 
+mouth had become slightly dry. “You can’t see 
+properly from here...” 
+
+And he led them forward, between the towering rows 
+of glass balls, some of which glowed softly as they 
+passed... 
+
+“He should be near here,” whispered Harry, convinced 
+that every step was going to bring the ragged form of 
+Sirius into view upon the darkened floor. “Anywhere 
+here ... really close ...” 
+
+“Harry?” said Hermione tentatively, but he did not 
+want to respond. His mouth was very dry now. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Somewhere about ... here ...” he said. 
+
+
+
+They had reached the end of the row and emerged 
+into more dim candlelight. There was nobody there at 
+all. All was echoing, dusty silence. 
+
+“He might be ...” Harry whispered hoarsely, peering 
+down the alley next door. “Or maybe ...” He hurried to 
+look down the one beyond that. 
+
+“Harry?” said Hermione again. 
+
+“What?” he snarled. 
+
+“I ... I don’t think Sirius is here.” 
+
+Nobody spoke. Harry did not want to look at any of 
+them. He felt sick. He did not understand why Sirius 
+was not here. He had to be here. This was where he, 
+Harry, had seen him... 
+
+He ran up the space at the end of the rows, staring 
+down them. Empty aisle after empty aisle flickered 
+past. He ran the other way, back past his staring 
+companions. There was no sign of Sirius anywhere, 
+nor any hint of a struggle. 
+
+“Harry?” Ron called. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+He did not want to hear what Ron had to say, did not 
+want to hear Ron tell him he had been stupid, or 
+suggest that they ought to go back to Hogwarts. But 
+the heat was rising in his face and he felt as though 
+he would like to skulk down here in the darkness for 
+a long while before facing the brightness of the Atrium 
+above and the others’ accusing stares... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Have you seen this?” said Ron. 
+
+
+
+“What?” said Harry, but eagerly this time — it had to 
+be a sign that Sirius had been there, a clue — he 
+strode back to where they were all standing, a little 
+way down row ninety-seven, but found nothing except 
+Ron staring at one of the dusty glass spheres on the 
+shelves. 
+
+“What?” Harry repeated glumly. 
+
+“It’s — it’s got your name on,” said Ron. 
+
+Harry moved a little closer. Ron was pointing at one of 
+the small glass spheres that glowed with a dull inner 
+light, though it was very dusty and appeared not to 
+have been touched for many years. 
+
+“My name?” said Harry blankly. 
+
+He stepped forward. Not as tall as Ron, he had to 
+crane his neck to read the yellowish label affixed to 
+the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery 
+writing was written a date of some sixteen years 
+previously, and below that: 
+
+S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D. 
+
+Dark Lord 
+
+and (?) Harry Potter 
+
+Harry stared at it. 
+
+“What is it?” Ron asked, sounding unnerved. “What’s 
+your name doing down here?” 
+
+He glanced along at the other labels on that stretch of 
+shelf. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm not here,” he said, sounding perplexed. “None of 
+the rest of us are here...” 
+
+“Harry, I don’t think you should touch it,” said 
+Hermione sharply, as he stretched out his hand. 
+
+“Why not?” he said. “It’s something to do with me, 
+isn’t it?” 
+
+“Don’t, Harry,” said Neville suddenly. Harry looked 
+around at him. Neville’s round face was shining 
+slightly with sweat. He looked as though he could not 
+take much more suspense. 
+
+“It’s got my name on,” said Harry. 
+
+And feeling slightly reckless, he closed his fingers 
+around the dusty ball’s surface. He had expected it to 
+feel cold, but it did not. On the contrary, it felt as 
+though it had been lying in the sun for hours, as 
+though the glow of light within was warming it. 
+Expecting, even hoping, that something dramatic was 
+going to happen, something exciting that might make 
+their long and dangerous journey worthwhile after all, 
+he lifted the glass ball down from its shelf and stared 
+at it. 
+
+Nothing whatsoever happened. The others moved in 
+closer around Harry, gazing at the orb as he brushed 
+it free of the clogging dust. 
+
+And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice 
+said, “Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and 
+slowly, and give that to me.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+35 
+
+
+
+
+BEYOND THE VEIL 
+
+Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around 
+them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted 
+through slits in hoods, a dozen lit wand tips were 
+pointing directly at their hearts. Ginny gave a gasp of 
+horror. 
+
+“To me, Potter,” repeated the drawling voice of Lucius 
+Malfoy as he held out his hand, palm up. 
+
+Harry’s insides plummeted sickeningly. They were 
+trapped and outnumbered two to one. 
+
+“To me,” said Malfoy yet again. 
+
+“Where’s Sirius?” Harry said. 
+
+Several of the Death Eaters laughed. A harsh female 
+voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to Harry’s 
+left said triumphantly, “The Dark Lord always 
+knows!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 997Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Always,” echoed Malfoy softly. “Now, give me the 
+prophecy, Potter.” 
+
+
+
+“I want to know where Sirius is!” 
+
+“I want to know where Sirius is!” mimicked the woman 
+to his left. 
+
+She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that 
+they were mere feet away from Harry and the others, 
+the light from their wands dazzling Harry’s eyes. 
+
+“You’ve got him,” said Harry, ignoring the rising panic 
+in his chest, the dread he had been fighting since 
+they had first entered the ninety-seventh row. “He’s 
+here. I know he is.” 
+
+“The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it 
+dweamed was twoo,” said the woman in a horrible, 
+mock-baby voice. Harry felt Ron stir beside him. 
+
+“Don’t do anything,” he muttered. “Not yet — ” 
+
+The woman who had mimicked him let out a raucous 
+scream of laughter. 
+
+“You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to 
+the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!” 
+
+“Oh, you don’t know Potter as I do, Bellatrix,” said 
+Malfoy softly. “He has a great weakness for heroics; 
+the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give 
+me the prophecy, Potter.” 
+
+“I know Sirius is here,” said Harry, though panic was 
+causing his chest to constrict and he felt as though 
+he could not breathe properly. “I know you’ve got 
+him!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+More of the Death Eaters laughed, though the woman 
+still laughed loudest of all. 
+
+“It’s time you learned the difference between life and 
+dreams, Potter,” said Malfoy. “Now give me the 
+prophecy, or we start using wands.” 
+
+“Go on, then,” said Harry, raising his own wand to 
+chest height. As he did so, the five wands of Ron, 
+Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna rose on either 
+side of him. The knot in Harry’s stomach tightened. If 
+Sirius really was not here, he had led his friends to 
+their deaths for no reason at all... 
+
+But the Death Eaters did not strike. 
+
+“Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt,” 
+said Malfoy coolly. 
+
+It was Harry’s turn to laugh. 
+
+“Yeah, right!” he said. “I give you this — prophecy, is 
+it? And you’ll just let us skip off home, will you?” 
+
+The words were hardly out of his mouth when the 
+female Death Eater shrieked, “Accio Proph — ” 
+
+Harry was just ready for her. He shouted “Protego\” 
+before she had finished her spell, and though the 
+glass sphere slipped to the tips of his fingers he 
+managed to cling on to it. 
+
+“Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter,” 
+she said, her mad eyes staring through the slits in 
+her hood. “Very well, then — ” 
+
+“I TOLD YOU, NO!” Lucius Malfoy roared at the 
+woman. “If you smash it — !” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s mind was racing. The Death Eaters wanted 
+this dusty spun-glass sphere. He had no interest in it. 
+He just wanted to get them all out of this alive, make 
+sure that none of his friends paid a terrible price for 
+his stupidity ... 
+
+The woman stepped forward, away from her fellows, 
+and pulled off her hood. Azkaban had hollowed 
+Bellatrix Lestrange’s face, making it gaunt and skull- 
+like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow. 
+
+“You need more persuasion?” she said, her chest 
+rising and falling rapidly. “Very well — take the 
+smallest one,” she ordered the Death Eaters beside 
+her. “Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I’ll 
+do it.” 
+
+Harry felt the others close in around Ginny. He 
+stepped sideways so that he was right in front of her, 
+the prophecy held up to his chest. 
+
+“You’ll have to smash this if you want to attack any of 
+us,” he told Bellatrix. “I don’t think your boss will be 
+too pleased if you come back without it, will he?” 
+
+She did not move; she merely stared at him, the tip of 
+her tongue moistening her thin mouth. 
+
+“So,” said Harry, “what kind of prophecy are we 
+talking about anyway?” 
+
+He could not think what to do but to keep talking. 
+Neville’s arm was pressed against his, and he could 
+feel him shaking. He could feel one of the other’s 
+quickened breath on the back of his head. He was 
+hoping they were all thinking hard about ways to get 
+out of this, because his mind was blank. 
+
+
+
+Page | lOOOHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What kind of prophecy?” repeated Bellatrix, the grin 
+fading from her face. “You jest, Harry Potter.” 
+
+
+
+“Nope, not jesting,” said Harry, his eyes flicking from 
+Death Eater to Death Eater, looking for a weak link, a 
+space through which they could escape. “How come 
+Voldemort wants it?” 
+
+Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses. 
+
+“You dare speak his name?” whispered Bellatrix. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, maintaining his tight grip on the 
+glass ball, expecting another attempt to bewitch it 
+from him. “Yeah, IVe got no problem saying Vol — ” 
+
+“Shut your mouth!” Bellatrix shrieked. “You dare 
+speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare 
+besmirch it with your half-blood’s tongue, you dare — 
+
+
+
+“Did you know he’s a half-blood too?” said Harry 
+recklessly. Hermione gave a little moan in his ear. 
+“Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his 
+dad was a Muggle — or has he been telling you lot 
+he’s pureblood?” 
+
+“STUPEF — ” 
+
+“iVO!” 
+
+A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix 
+Lestrange’s wand, but Malfoy had deflected it. His 
+spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of 
+Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered. 
+
+Two figures, pearly white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, 
+unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken 
+glass upon the floor and each began to speak. Their 
+
+Page | lOOlHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of 
+what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and 
+Bellatrix’s shouts. 
+
+
+
+"... at the Solstice will come a new ...” said the figure 
+of an old, bearded man. 
+
+“DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!” 
+
+“He dared — he dares — ” shrieked Bellatrix 
+incoherently. “ — He stands there — filthy half-blood 
+
+
+
+“WAIT UNTIL WEVE GOT THE PROPHECY!” bawled 
+Malfoy. 
+
+"... and none will come after ...” said the figure of a 
+young woman. 
+
+The two figures that had burst from the shattered 
+spheres had melted into thin air. Nothing remained of 
+them or their erstwhile homes but fragments of glass 
+upon the floor. They had, however, given Harry an 
+idea. The problem was going to be conveying it to the 
+others. 
+
+“You haven’t told me what’s so special about this 
+prophecy I’m supposed to be handing over,” he said, 
+playing for time. He moved his foot slowly sideways, 
+feeling around for someone else’s. 
+
+“Do not play games with us, Potter,” said Malfoy. 
+
+“I’m not playing games,” said Harry, half his mind on 
+the conversation, half on his wandering foot. And 
+then he found someone’s toes and pressed down upon 
+them. A sharp intake of breath behind him told him 
+they were Hermione’s. 
+
+Page | 1002Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What?” she whispered. 
+
+“Dumbledore never told you that the reason you bear 
+that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department 
+of Mysteries?” said Malfoy sneeringly. 
+
+“I — what?” said Harry, and for a moment he quite 
+forgot his plan. “What about my scar?” 
+
+“ What?” whispered Hermione more urgently behind 
+him. 
+
+“Can this be?” said Malfoy, sounding maliciously 
+delighted; some of the Death Eaters were laughing 
+again, and under cover of their laughter, Harry hissed 
+to Hermione, moving his lips as little as possible, 
+“Smash shelves — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore never told you?” Malfoy repeated. “Well, 
+this explains why you didn’t come earlier, Potter, the 
+Dark Lord wondered why — ” 
+
+“ — when I say go — ” 
+
+“ — you didn’t come running when he showed you the 
+place where it was hidden in your dreams. He 
+thought natural curiosity would make you want to 
+hear the exact wording...” 
+
+“Did he?” said Harry. Behind him he felt rather than 
+heard Hermione passing his message to the others 
+and he sought to keep talking, to distract the Death 
+Eaters. “So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? 
+Why?” 
+
+“Why?” Malfoy sounded incredulously delighted. 
+“Because the only people who are permitted to 
+retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, 
+Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use 
+others to steal it for him.” 
+
+“And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?” 
+
+“About both of you, Potter, about both of you ... 
+Haven’t you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to 
+kill you as a baby?” 
+
+Harry stared into the slitted eyeholes through which 
+Malfoy’s gray eyes were gleaming. Was this prophecy 
+the reason Harry’s parents had died, the reason he 
+carried his lightning-bolt scar? Was the answer to all 
+of this clutched in his hand? 
+
+“Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and 
+me?” he said quietly, gazing at Lucius Malfoy, his 
+fingers tightening over the warm glass sphere in his 
+hand. It was hardly larger than a Snitch and still 
+gritty with dust. “And he’s made me come and get it 
+for him? Why couldn’t he come and get it himself?” 
+
+“Get it himself?” shrieked Bellatrix on a cackle of mad 
+laughter. “The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of 
+Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? 
+The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at 
+the moment they are wasting their time on my dear 
+cousin?” 
+
+“So he’s got you doing his dirty work for him, has 
+he?” said Harry. “Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it 
+— and Bode?” 
+
+“Very good, Potter, very good ...” said Malfoy slowly. 
+“But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell — ” 
+
+“NOW!” yelled Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 1004Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Five different voices behind him bellowed “REDUCTOl” 
+Five curses flew in five different directions and the 
+shelves opposite them exploded as they hit. The 
+towering structure swayed as a hundred glass 
+spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurled 
+into the air and floated there, their voices echoing 
+from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent 
+of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining 
+down upon the floor — 
+
+“RUN!” Harry yelled, and as the shelves swayed 
+precariously and more glass spheres began to pour 
+from above, he seized a handful of Hermione’s robes 
+and dragged her forward, one arm over his head as 
+chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down 
+upon them. A Death Eater lunged forward through 
+the cloud of dust and Harry elbowed him hard in the 
+masked face. They were all yelling, there were cries of 
+pain, thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed 
+upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the 
+Seers unleashed from their spheres — 
+
+Harry found the way ahead clear and saw Ron, 
+
+Ginny, and Luna sprint past him, their arms over 
+their heads. Something heavy struck him on the side 
+of the face but he merely ducked his head and 
+sprinted onward; a hand caught him by the shoulder; 
+he heard Hermione shout “Stupefy\” and the hand 
+released him at once. 
+
+They were at the end of row ninety-seven; Harry 
+turned right and began to sprint in earnest. He could 
+hear footsteps right behind him and Hermione’s voice 
+urging Neville on. The door through which they had 
+come was ajar straight ahead, Harry could see the 
+glittering light of the bell jar, he pelted through it, the 
+prophecy still clutched tight and safe in his hand, 
+waited for the others to hurtle over the threshold 
+before slamming the door behind them — 
+
+Page | 1005Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ Colloportus\” gasped Hermione and the door sealed 
+itself with an odd squelching noise. 
+
+“Where — where are the others?” gasped Harry. 
+
+He had thought that Ron, Luna, and Ginny had been 
+ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this 
+room, but there was nobody there. 
+
+“They must have gone the wrong way!” whispered 
+Hermione, terror in her face. 
+
+“Listen!” whispered Neville. 
+
+Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door 
+they had just sealed. Harry put his ear close to the 
+door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar: “Leave 
+Nott, leave him, I say, the Dark Lord will not care for 
+Nott’s injuries as much as losing that prophecy — 
+Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! Well 
+split into pairs and search, and don’t forget, be gentle 
+with Potter until we’ve got the prophecy, you can kill 
+the others if necessary — Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you 
+take the left, Crabbe, Rabastan, go right — Jugson, 
+Dolohov, the door straight ahead — Macnair and 
+Avery, through here — Rookwood, over there — 
+Mulciber, come with me!” 
+
+“What do we do?” Hermione asked Harry, trembling 
+from head to foot. 
+
+“Well, we don’t stand here waiting for them to find us, 
+for a start,” said Harry. “Let’s get away from this 
+door...” 
+
+They ran, quietly as they could, past the shimmering 
+bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and 
+unhatching, toward the exit into the circular hallway 
+at the far end of the room. They were almost there 
+
+Page | 1006Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+when Harry heard something large and heavy collide 
+with the door Hermione had charmed shut. 
+
+“Stand aside!” said a rough voice. “Alohomora\” 
+
+As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione, and Neville 
+dived under desks. They could see the bottom of the 
+two Death Eaters’ robes drawing nearer, their feet 
+moving rapidly. 
+
+“They might’ve run straight through to the hall,” said 
+the rough voice. 
+
+“Check under the desks,” said another. 
+
+Harry saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend. Poking 
+his wand out from under the desk he shouted, 
+“STUPEFY]” 
+
+A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell 
+backward into a grandfather clock and knocked it 
+over. The second Death Eater, however, had leapt 
+aside to avoid Harry’s spell and now pointed his own 
+wand at Hermione, who had crawled out from under 
+the desk to get a better aim. 
+
+“Avada — ” 
+
+Harry launched himself across the floor and grabbed 
+the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to 
+topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned his 
+desk in his anxiety to help; pointing his wand wildly 
+at the struggling pair he cried, “EXPELLIARMUS\” 
+
+Both Harry’s and the Death Eater’s wands flew out of 
+their hands and soared back toward the entrance to 
+the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to their feet and 
+charged after them, the Death Eater in front and 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry hot on his heels, Neville bringing up the rear, 
+plainly horrors truck at what he had done. 
+
+
+
+“Get out of the way, Harry!” yelled Neville, clearly 
+determined to repair the damage. 
+
+Harry flung himself sideways as Neville took aim 
+again and shouted, “ STUPEFY !” 
+
+The jet of red light flew right over the Death Eater’s 
+shoulder and hit a glass-fronted cabinet on the wall 
+full of variously shaped hourglasses. The cabinet fell 
+to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere, 
+then sprang back up onto the wall, fully mended, 
+then fell down again, and shattered — 
+
+The Death Eater had snatched up his wand, which 
+lay on the floor beside the glittering bell jar. Harry 
+ducked down behind another desk as the man turned 
+— his mask had slipped so that he could not see, he 
+ripped it off with his free hand and shouted, “STUP — 
+
+
+
+“STUPEFY]” screamed Hermione, who had just caught 
+up with them. The jet of red light hit the Death Eater 
+in the middle of his chest; he froze, his arm still 
+raised, his wand fell to the floor with a clatter and he 
+collapsed backward toward the bell jar. Harry 
+expected to hear a clunk, for the man to hit solid glass 
+and slide off the jar onto the floor, but instead, his 
+head sank through the surface of the bell jar as 
+though it was nothing but a soap bubble and he came 
+to rest, sprawled on his back on the table, with his 
+head lying inside the jar full of glittering wind. 
+
+“Accio Wand\” cried Hermione. Harry’s wand flew from 
+a dark corner into her hand and she threw it to him. 
+
+“Thanks,” he said, “right, let’s get out of — ” 
+
+Page | 1008Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Look out!” said Neville, horrified, staring at the Death 
+Eater’s head in the bell jar. 
+
+All three of them raised their wands again, but none 
+of them struck. They were all gazing, openmouthed, 
+appalled, at what was happening to the man’s head. 
+
+It was shrinking very fast, growing balder and balder, 
+the black hair and stubble retracting into his skull, 
+his cheeks smooth, his skull round and covered with 
+a peachlike fuzz... 
+
+A baby’s head now sat grotesquely on top of the thick, 
+muscled neck of the Death Eater as he struggled to 
+get up again. But even as they watched, their mouths 
+open, the head began to swell to its previous 
+proportions again, thick black hair was sprouting 
+from the pate and chin... 
+
+“It’s time,” said Hermione in an awestruck voice. 
+
+“ Time ...” 
+
+The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to 
+clear it, but before he could pull himself together 
+again, it began to shrink back to babyhood once 
+more... 
+
+There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash 
+and a scream. 
+
+“RON?” Harry yelled, turning quickly from the 
+monstrous transformation taking place before them. 
+“GINNY? LUNA?” 
+
+“Harry!” Hermione screamed. 
+
+The Death Eater had pulled his head out of the bell 
+jar. His appearance was utterly bizarre, his tiny 
+baby’s head bawling loudly while his thick arms 
+
+Page | 1009Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+flailed dangerously in all directions, narrowly missing 
+Harry, who ducked. Harry raised his wand but to his 
+amazement Hermione seized his arm. 
+
+“You can’t hurt a baby!” 
+
+There was no time to argue the point. Harry could 
+hear more footsteps growing louder from the Hall of 
+Prophecy they had just left and knew, too late, that 
+he ought not to have shouted and given away their 
+position. 
+
+“Come on!” he said again, and leaving the ugly baby- 
+headed Death Eater staggering behind them, they 
+took off for the door that stood ajar at the other end of 
+the room, leading back into the black hallway. 
+
+They had run halfway toward it when Harry saw 
+through the open door two more Death Eaters 
+running across the black room toward them. Veering 
+left he burst instead into a small, dark, cluttered 
+office and slammed the door behind them. 
+
+“Collo — ” began Hermione, but before she could 
+complete the spell the door had burst open again and 
+the two Death Eaters had come hurtling inside. With 
+a cry of triumph, both yelled, “ IMPEDIMENT A\” 
+
+Harry, Hermione, and Neville were all knocked 
+backward off their feet. Neville was thrown over the 
+desk and disappeared from view, Hermione smashed 
+into a bookcase and was promptly deluged in a 
+cascade of heavy books; the back of Harry’s head 
+slammed into the stone wall behind him, tiny lights 
+burst in front of his eyes, and for a moment he was 
+too dizzy and bewildered to react. 
+
+“WEVE GOT HIM!” yelled the Death Eater nearest 
+Harry, “IN AN OFFICE OFF — ” 
+
+Page | lOlOHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+“ Silenciol ” cried Hermione, and the man’s voice was 
+extinguished. He continued to mouth through the 
+hole in his mask, but no sound came out; he was 
+thrust aside by his fellow. 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” shouted Harry, as the second 
+Death Eater raised his wand. His arms and legs 
+snapped together and he fell forward, facedown onto 
+the rug at Harry’s feet, stiff as a board and unable to 
+move at all. 
+
+“Well done, Ha — ” 
+
+But the Death Eater Hermione had just struck dumb 
+made a sudden slashing movement with his wand 
+from which flew a streak of what looked like purple 
+flame. It passed right across Hermione’s chest; she 
+gave a tiny “oh!” as though of surprise and then 
+crumpled onto the floor where she lay motionless. 
+
+“HERMIONE!” 
+
+Harry fell to his knees beside her as Neville crawled 
+rapidly toward her from under the desk, his wand 
+held up in front of him. The Death Eater kicked out 
+hard at Neville’s head as he emerged — his foot broke 
+Neville’s wand in two and connected with his face — 
+Neville gave a howl of pain and recoiled, clutching his 
+mouth and nose. Harry twisted around, his own wand 
+held high, and saw that the Death Eater had ripped 
+off his mask and was pointing his wand directly at 
+Harry, who recognized the long, pale, twisted face 
+from the Daily Prophet: Antonin Dolohov, the wizard 
+who had murdered the Prewetts. 
+
+Dolohov grinned. With his free hand, he pointed from 
+the prophecy still clutched in Harry’s hand, to 
+himself, then at Hermione. Though he could no longer 
+
+
+
+Page | lOUHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+speak his meaning could not have been clearer: Give 
+me the prophecy, or you get the same as her... 
+
+
+
+“Like you won’t kill us all the moment I hand it over 
+anyway!” said Harry. 
+
+A whine of panic inside his head was preventing him 
+thinking properly. He had one hand on Hermione’s 
+shoulder, which was still warm, yet did not dare look 
+at her properly. Don’t let her be dead, don’t let her be 
+dead, it’s my fault if she’s dead... 
+
+“Whaddever you do, Harry,” said Neville fiercely from 
+under the desk, lowering his hands to show a clearly 
+broken nose and blood pouring down his mouth and 
+chin, “don’d gib it to him!” 
+
+Then there was a crash outside the door, and Dolohov 
+looked over his shoulder — the baby-headed Death 
+Eater had appeared in the doorway, his head bawling, 
+his great fists still flailing uncontrollably at everything 
+around him. 
+
+Harry seized his chance: “PETRIFICUS TOT ALU S\” 
+
+The spell hit Dolohov before he could block it, and he 
+toppled forward across his comrade, both of them 
+rigid as boards and unable to move an inch. 
+
+“Hermione,” Harry said at once, shaking her as the 
+baby-headed Death Eater blundered out of sight 
+again. “Hermione, wake up...” 
+
+“Whaddid he do to her?” said Neville, crawling out 
+from under the desk again to kneel at her other side, 
+blood streaming from his rapidly swelling nose. “I 
+dunno...” 
+
+Neville groped for Hermione’s wrist. 
+
+Page | 1012Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Dat’s a pulse, Harry, I’b sure id is...” 
+
+
+
+Such a powerful wave of relief swept through Harry 
+that for a moment he felt light-headed. 
+
+“She’s alive?” 
+
+“Yeah, I dink so...” 
+
+There was a pause in which Harry listened hard for 
+the sounds of more footsteps, but all he could hear 
+were the whimpers and blunderings of the baby 
+Death Eater in the next room. 
+
+“Neville, we’re not far from the exit,” Harry whispered. 
+“We’re right next to that circular room... If we can just 
+get you across it and find the right door before any 
+more Death Eaters come, I’ll bet you can get 
+Hermione up the corridor and into the lift... Then you 
+could find someone... Raise the alarm ...” 
+
+“And whad are you going do do?” said Neville, 
+mopping his bleeding nose with his sleeve and 
+frowning at Harry. 
+
+“I’ve got to find the others,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, I’b going do find dem wid you,” said Neville 
+firmly. 
+
+“But Hermione — ” 
+
+“We’ll dake her wid us,” said Neville firmly. “I’ll carry 
+her — you’re bedder at fighding dem dan I ab — ” 
+
+He stood up and seized one of Hermione’s arms, 
+glared at Harry, who hesitated, then grabbed the 
+other and helped hoist Hermione’s limp form over 
+Neville’s shoulders. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Wait,” said Harry, snatching up Hermione’s wand 
+from the floor and shoving it into Nevilles hand, 
+
+“you’d better take this...” 
+
+Neville kicked aside the broken fragments of his own 
+wand as they walked slowly toward the door. 
+
+“My gran’s going do kill be,” said Neville thickly, blood 
+spattering from his nose as he spoke, “dat was by 
+dad’s old wand...” 
+
+Harry stuck his head out of the door and looked 
+around cautiously. The baby-headed Death Eater was 
+screaming and banging into things, toppling 
+grandfather clocks and overturning desks, bawling 
+and confused, while the glass cabinet that Harry now 
+suspected had contained Time-Turners continued to 
+fall, shatter, and repair itself on the wall behind them. 
+
+“He’s never going to notice us,” he whispered. “C’mon 
+... keep close behind me...” 
+
+They crept out of the office and back toward the door 
+into the black hallway, which now seemed completely 
+deserted. They walked a few steps forward, Neville 
+tottering slightly due to Hermione’s weight. The door 
+of the Time Room swung shut behind them, and the 
+walls began to rotate once more. The recent blow on 
+the back of Harry’s head seemed to have unsteadied 
+him; he narrowed his eyes, swaying slightly, until the 
+walls stopped moving again. With a sinking heart 
+Harry saw that Hermione’s fiery crosses had faded 
+from the doors. 
+
+“So which way d’you reck — ?” 
+
+But before they could make a decision as to which 
+way to try, a door to their right sprang open and three 
+people fell out of it. 
+
+Page | 1014Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ron!” croaked Harry, dashing toward them. “Ginny 
+— are you all — ?” 
+
+“Harry,” said Ron, giggling weakly, lurching forward, 
+seizing the front of Harry’s robes and gazing at him 
+with unfocused eyes. “There you are... Ha ha ha ... 
+You look funny, Harry... You’re all messed up... 
+
+Ron’s face was very white and something dark was 
+trickling from the corner of his mouth. Next moment 
+his knees had given way, but he still clutched the 
+front of Harry’s robes, so that Harry was pulled into a 
+kind of bow. 
+
+“Ginny?” Harry said fearfully. “What happened?” 
+
+But Ginny shook her head and slid down the wall into 
+a sitting position, panting and holding her ankle. 
+
+“I think her ankle’s broken, I heard something crack,” 
+whispered Luna, who was bending over her and who 
+alone seemed to be unhurt. “Four of them chased us 
+into a dark room full of planets, it was a very odd 
+place, some of the time we were just floating in the 
+dark — ” 
+
+“Harry, we saw Uranus up close!” said Ron, still 
+giggling feebly. “Get it, Harry? We saw Uranus — ha 
+ha ha — ” 
+
+A bubble of blood grew at the corner of Ron’s mouth 
+and burst. 
+
+“Anyway, one of them grabbed Ginny’s foot, I used the 
+Reductor Curse and blew up Pluto in his face, but ...” 
+
+Luna gestured hopelessly at Ginny, who was 
+breathing in a very shallow way, her eyes still closed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 1015Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And what about Ron?” said Harry fearfully, as Ron 
+continued to giggle, still hanging off the front of 
+Harry’s robes. 
+
+“I don’t know what they hit him with,” said Luna 
+sadly, “but he’s gone a bit funny, I could hardly get 
+him along at all...” 
+
+“Harry,” said Ron, pulling Harry’s ear down to his 
+mouth and still giggling weakly, “you know who this 
+girl is, Harry? She’s Loony ... Loony Lovegood ... ha 
+ha ha...” 
+
+“We’ve got to get out of here,” said Harry firmly. 
+
+“Luna, can you help Ginny?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Luna, sticking her wand behind her ear for 
+safekeeping, putting an arm around Ginny’s waist 
+and pulling her up. 
+
+“It’s only my ankle, I can do it myself!” said Ginny 
+impatiently, but next moment she had collapsed 
+sideways and grabbed Luna for support. Harry pulled 
+Ron’s arm over his shoulder just as, so many months 
+ago, he had pulled Dudley’s. He looked around: They 
+had a one-in-twelve chance of getting the exit right 
+the first time — 
+
+He heaved Ron toward a door; they were within a few 
+feet of it when another door across the hall burst 
+open and three Death Eaters sped into the hall, led by 
+Bellatrix Lestrange. 
+
+“ There they are!” she shrieked. 
+
+Stunning Spells shot across the room: Harry smashed 
+his way through the door ahead, flung Ron 
+unceremoniously from him, and ducked back to help 
+Neville in with Hermione. They were all over the 
+
+Page | 1016Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+threshold just in time to slam the door against 
+Bellatrix. 
+
+
+
+“ Colloportus\” shouted Harry, and he heard three 
+bodies slam into the door on the other side. 
+
+“It doesn’t matter!” said a man’s voice. “There are 
+other ways in — WEVE GOT THEM, THEY’RE HERE!” 
+
+Harry spun around. They were back in the Brain 
+Room and, sure enough, there were doors all around 
+the walls. He could hear footsteps in the hall behind 
+them as more Death Eaters came running to join the 
+first. 
+
+“Luna — Neville — help me!” 
+
+The three of them tore around the room, sealing the 
+doors as they went: Harry crashed into a table and 
+rolled over the top of it in his haste to reach the next 
+door. 
+
+“ Colloportusl” 
+
+There were footsteps running along behind the doors; 
+
+every now and then another heavy body would launch 
+
+itself against one, so it creaked and shuddered. Luna 
+
+and Neville were bewitching the doors along the 
+
+opposite wall — then, as Harry reached the very top of 
+
+the room, he heard Luna cry, “Collo — aaaaaaaaargh 
+?? 
+
+
+
+He turned in time to see her flying through the air. 
+
+Five Death Eaters were surging into the room through 
+the door she had not reached in time; Luna hit a 
+desk, slid over its surface and onto the floor on the 
+other side where she lay sprawled, as still as 
+Hermione. 
+
+Page | 1017Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Get Potter!” shrieked Bellatrix, and she ran at him. 
+He dodged her and sprinted back up the room; he 
+was safe as long as they thought they might hit the 
+prophecy — 
+
+“Hey!” said Ron, who had staggered to his feet and 
+was now tottering drunkenly toward Harry, giggling. 
+“Hey, Harry, there are brains in here, ha ha ha, isn’t 
+that weird, Harry?” 
+
+“Ron, get out of the way, get down — ” 
+
+But Ron had already pointed his wand at the tank. 
+
+“Honest, Harry, they’re brains — look — Accio Brain\” 
+
+The scene seemed momentarily frozen. Harry, Ginny, 
+and Neville and each of the Death Eaters turned in 
+spite of themselves to watch the top of the tank as a 
+brain burst from the green liquid like a leaping fish. 
+For a moment it seemed suspended in midair, then it 
+soared toward Ron, spinning as it came, and what 
+looked like ribbons of moving images flew from it, 
+unraveling like rolls of film — 
+
+“Ha ha ha, Harry, look at it — ” said Ron, watching it 
+disgorge its gaudy innards. “Harry, come and touch 
+it, bet it’s weird — ” 
+
+“RON, NO!” 
+
+Harry did not know what would happen if Ron 
+touched the tentacles of thought now flying behind 
+the brain, but he was sure it would not be anything 
+good. He darted forward but Ron had already caught 
+the brain in his outstretched hands. 
+
+
+
+Page | 1018Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The moment they made contact with his skin, the 
+tentacles began wrapping themselves around Ron’s 
+arms like ropes. 
+
+“Harry, look what’s happen — no — no, I don’t like it 
+— no, stop — stop — ” 
+
+But the thin ribbons were spinning around Ron’s 
+chest now. He tugged and tore at them as the brain 
+was pulled tight against him like an octopus’s body. 
+
+“Diffindol” yelled Harry, trying to sever the feelers 
+wrapping themselves tightly around Ron before his 
+eyes, but they would not break. Ron fell over, still 
+thrashing against his bonds. 
+
+“Harry, it’ll suffocate him!” screamed Ginny, 
+immobilized by her broken ankle on the floor — then 
+a jet of red light flew from one of the Death Eater’s 
+wands and hit her squarely in the face. She keeled 
+over sideways and lay there unconscious. 
+
+“ STUBEFYl” shouted Neville, wheeling around and 
+waving Hermione’s wand at the oncoming Death 
+Eaters. “STUBEFY, STUBEFYl” 
+
+But nothing happened — one of the Death Eaters 
+shot their own Stunning Spell at Neville; it missed 
+him by inches. Harry and Neville were now the only 
+two left fighting the five Death Eaters, two of whom 
+sent streams of silver light like arrows past them that 
+left craters in the wall behind them. Harry ran for it 
+as Bellatrix Lestrange sprinted right at him. Holding 
+the prophecy high above his head he sprinted back 
+up the room; all he could think of doing was to draw 
+the Death Eaters away from the others. 
+
+It seemed to have worked. They streaked after him, 
+knocking chairs and tables flying but not daring to 
+
+Page | 1019Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bewitch him in case they hurt the prophecy, and he 
+dashed through the only door still open, the one 
+through which the Death Eaters themselves had 
+come. Inwardly praying that Neville would stay with 
+Ron — find some way of releasing him — he ran a few 
+feet into the new room and felt the floor vanish — 
+
+He was falling down steep stone step after steep stone 
+step, bouncing on every tier until at last, with a crash 
+that knocked all the breath out of his body, he landed 
+flat on his back in the sunken pit where the stone 
+archway stood on its dais. The whole room was 
+ringing with the Death Eaters’ laughter. He looked up 
+and saw the five who had been in the Brain Room 
+descending toward him, while as many more emerged 
+through other doorways and began leaping from 
+bench to bench toward him. Harry got to his feet 
+though his legs were trembling so badly they barely 
+supported him. The prophecy was still miraculously 
+unbroken in his left hand, his wand clutched tightly 
+in his right. He backed away, looking around, trying 
+to keep all the Death Eaters within his sights. The 
+back of his legs hit something solid; he had reached 
+the dais where the archway stood. He climbed 
+backward onto it. 
+
+The Death Eaters all halted, gazing at him. Some were 
+panting as hard as he was. One was bleeding badly; 
+Dolohov, freed of the full Body-Bind, was leering, his 
+wand pointing straight at Harry’s face. 
+
+“Potter, your race is run,” drawled Lucius Malfoy, 
+pulling off his mask. “Now hand me the prophecy like 
+a good boy...” 
+
+“Let — let the others go, and I’ll give it to you!” said 
+Harry desperately. 
+
+A few of the Death Eaters laughed. 
+
+Page | 1020Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You are not in a position to bargain, Potter,” said 
+Lucius Malfoy, his pale face flushed with pleasure. 
+
+“You see, there are ten of us and only one of you ... or 
+hasn’t Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?” 
+
+“He’s dot alone!” shouted a voice from above them. 
+
+“He’s still god be!” 
+
+Harry’s heart sank. Neville was scrambling down the 
+stone benches toward them, Hermione’s wand held 
+fast in his trembling hand. 
+
+“Neville — no — go back to Ron — ” 
+
+“STUBEFYl” Neville shouted again, pointing his wand 
+at each Death Eater in turn, “STUBEFYl. STUBE — ” 
+
+One of the largest Death Eaters seized Neville from 
+behind, pinioning his arms to his sides. He struggled 
+and kicked; several of the Death Eaters laughed. 
+
+“It’s Longbottom, isn’t it?” sneered Lucius Malfoy. 
+
+“Well, your grandmother is used to losing family 
+members to our cause... Your death will not come as 
+a great shock...” 
+
+“Longbottom?” repeated Bellatrix, and a truly evil 
+smile lit her gaunt face. “Why, I have had the 
+pleasure of meeting your parents, boy...” 
+
+“I DOE YOU HAB!” roared Neville, and he fought so 
+hard against his captor’s encircling grip that the 
+Death Eater shouted, “Someone Stun him!” 
+
+“No, no, no,” said Bellatrix. She looked transported, 
+alive with excitement as she glanced at Harry, then 
+back at Neville. “No, let’s see how long Longbottom 
+lasts before he cracks like his parents... Unless Potter 
+wants to give us the prophecy — ” 
+
+Page | 1021Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“DON’D GIB ID DO DEM!” roared Neville, who seemed 
+beside himself, kicking and writhing as Bellatrix drew 
+nearer to him and his captor, her wand raised. 
+
+“DON’D GIB ID DO DEM, HARRY!” 
+
+Bellatrix raised her wand. “Cruciol” 
+
+Neville screamed, his legs drawn up to his chest so 
+that the Death Eater holding him was momentarily 
+holding him off the ground. The Death Eater dropped 
+him and he fell to the floor, twitching and screaming 
+in agony. 
+
+“That was just a taster!” said Bellatrix, raising her 
+wand so that Neville’s screams stopped and he lay 
+sobbing at her feet. She turned and gazed up at 
+Harry. “Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or 
+watch your little friend die the hard way!” 
+
+Harry did not have to think; there was no choice. The 
+prophecy was hot with the heat from his clutching 
+hand as he held it out. Malfoy jumped forward to take 
+it. 
+
+Then, high above them, two more doors burst open 
+and five more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, 
+Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley. 
+
+Malfoy turned and raised his wand, but Tonks had 
+already sent a Stunning Spell right at him. Harry did 
+not wait to see whether it had made contact, but 
+dived off the dais out of the way. The Death Eaters 
+were completely distracted by the appearance of the 
+members of the Order, who were now raining spells 
+down upon them as they jumped from step to step 
+toward the sunken floor: Through the darting bodies, 
+the flashes of light, Harry could see Neville crawling 
+along. He dodged another jet of red light and flung 
+himself flat on the ground to reach Neville. 
+
+Page | 1022Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Are you okay?” he yelled, as another spell soared 
+inches over their heads. 
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Neville, trying to pull himself up. 
+
+“And Ron?” 
+
+“I dink he’s all right — he was still fighding the brain 
+when I left — ” 
+
+The stone floor between them exploded as a spell hit 
+it, leaving a crater right where Neville’s hand had 
+been seconds before. Both scrambled away from the 
+spot, then a thick arm came out of nowhere, seized 
+Harry around the neck and pulled him upright, so 
+that his toes were barely touching the floor. 
+
+“Give it to me,” growled a voice in his ear, “give me the 
+prophecy — ” 
+
+The man was pressing so tightly on Harry’s windpipe 
+that he could not breathe — through watering eyes he 
+saw Sirius dueling with a Death Eater some ten feet 
+away. Kingsley was fighting two at once; Tonks, still 
+halfway up the tiered seats, was firing spells down at 
+Bellatrix — nobody seemed to realize that Harry was 
+dying... He turned his wand backward toward the 
+man’s side, but had no breath to utter an incantation, 
+and the man’s free hand was groping toward the hand 
+in which Harry was grasping the prophecy — 
+
+“AARGH!” 
+
+Neville had come lunging out of nowhere: Unable to 
+articulate a spell, he had jabbed Hermione’s wand 
+hard into the eyehole of the Death Eater’s mask. The 
+man relinquished Harry at once with a howl of pain 
+and Harry whirled around to face him and gasped, 
+“STUPEFY]” 
+
+Page | 1023Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Death Eater keeled over backward and his mask 
+slipped off. It was Macnair, Buckbeak’s would-be 
+killer, one of his eyes now swollen and bloodshot. 
+
+“Thanks!” Harry said to Neville, pulling him aside as 
+Sirius and his Death Eater lurched past, dueling so 
+fiercely that their wands were blurs. Then Harry’s foot 
+made contact with something round and hard and he 
+slipped — for a moment he thought he had dropped 
+the prophecy, then saw Moody’s magic eye spinning 
+away across the floor. 
+
+Its owner was lying on his side, bleeding from the 
+head, and his attacker was now bearing down upon 
+Harry and Neville: Dolohov, his long pale face twisted 
+with glee. 
+
+“Tarantallegrcd” he shouted, his wand pointing at 
+Neville, whose legs went immediately into a kind of 
+frenzied tap dance, unbalancing him and causing him 
+to fall to the floor again. “Now, Potter — ” 
+
+He made the same slashing movement with his wand 
+that he had used on Hermione just as Harry yelled, 
+“Protego\” 
+
+Harry felt something streak across his face like a 
+blunt knife but the force of it knocked him sideways, 
+and he fell over Neville’s jerking legs, but the Shield 
+Charm had stopped the worst of the spell. 
+
+Dolohov raised his wand again. “Accio Proph — ” 
+
+Sirius hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with 
+his shoulder, and sent him flying out of the way. The 
+prophecy had again flown to the tips of Harry’s fingers 
+but he had managed to cling to it. Now Sirius and 
+Dolohov were dueling, their wands flashing like 
+swords, sparks flying from their wand tips — 
+
+Page | 1024Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dolohov drew back his wand to make the same 
+slashing movement he had used on Harry and 
+Hermione. Springing up, Harry yelled, “Petrificus 
+Totalusl” Once again, Dolohov’s arms and legs 
+snapped together and he keeled over backward, 
+landing with a crash on his back. 
+
+“Nice one!” shouted Sirius, forcing Harry’s head down 
+as a pair of Stunning Spells flew toward them. “Now I 
+want you to get out of — ” 
+
+They both ducked again. A jet of green light had 
+narrowly missed Sirius; across the room Harry saw 
+Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp 
+form toppling from stone seat to stone seat, and 
+Bellatrix, triumphant, running back toward the fray. 
+
+“Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville, and run!” 
+Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix. Harry did not 
+see what happened next: Kingsley swayed across his 
+field of vision, battling with the pockmarked 
+Rookwood, now mask-less; another jet of green light 
+flew over Harry’s head as he launched himself toward 
+Neville — 
+
+“Can you stand?” he bellowed in Neville’s ear, as 
+Neville’s legs jerked and twitched uncontrollably. “Put 
+your arm round my neck — ” 
+
+Neville did so — Harry heaved — Neville’s legs were 
+still flying in every direction, they would not support 
+him and then, out of nowhere, a man lunged at them. 
+Both fell backward, Neville’s legs waving wildly like an 
+overturned beetle’s, Harry with his left arm held up in 
+the air to try and save the small glass ball from being 
+smashed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 1025Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!” snarled 
+Lucius Malfoy’s voice in his ear, and Harry felt the tip 
+of Malfoy’s wand pressing hard between his ribs. 
+
+“No — get — off — me ... Neville — catch it!” 
+
+Harry flung the prophecy across the floor, Neville 
+spun himself around on his back and scooped the 
+ball to his chest. Malfoy pointed the wand instead at 
+Neville, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his 
+shoulder and yelled, “Impedimental” 
+
+Malfoy was blasted off his back. As Harry scrambled 
+up again he looked around and saw Malfoy smash 
+into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now 
+dueling. Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry and Neville 
+again, but before he could draw breath to strike, 
+Lupin had jumped between them. 
+
+“Harry, round up the others and GO!” 
+
+Harry seized Neville by the shoulder of his robes and 
+lifted him bodily onto the first tier of stone steps. 
+Neville’s legs twitched and jerked and would not 
+support his weight. Harry heaved again with all the 
+strength he possessed and they climbed another step 
+
+
+
+A spell hit the stone bench at Harry’s heel. It 
+crumbled away and he fell back to the step below: 
+Neville sank to the ground, his legs still jerking and 
+thrashing, and thrust the prophecy into his pocket. 
+
+“Come on!” said Harry desperately, hauling at 
+Neville’s robes. “Just try and push with your legs — ” 
+
+He gave another stupendous heave and Neville’s robes 
+tore all along the left seam — the small spun-glass 
+ball dropped from his pocket and before either of 
+
+Page | 1026Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+them could catch it, one of Neville’s floundering feet 
+kicked it. It flew some ten feet to their right and 
+smashed on the step beneath them. As both of them 
+stared at the place where it had broken, appalled at 
+what had happened, a pearly-white figure with hugely 
+magnified eyes rose into the air, unnoticed by any but 
+them. Harry could see its mouth moving, but in all 
+the crashes and screams and yells surrounding them, 
+not one word of the prophecy could he hear. The 
+figure stopped speaking and dissolved into 
+nothingness. 
+
+“Harry, I’b sorry!” cried Neville, his face anguished as 
+his legs continued to flounder, “I’b so sorry, Harry, I 
+didn’d bean do — ■” 
+
+“It doesn’t matter!” Harry shouted. “Just try and 
+stand, let’s get out of — ” 
+
+“ Dubbledorel” said Neville, his sweaty face suddenly 
+transported, staring over Harry’s shoulder. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“DUBBLEDORE!” 
+
+Harry turned to look where Neville was staring. 
+
+Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the 
+Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, 
+his face white and furious. Harry felt a kind of electric 
+charge surge through every particle of his body — 
+they were saved. 
+
+Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and 
+Harry, who had no more thought of leaving. 
+Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when 
+the Death Eaters nearest realized he was there. There 
+were yells; one of the Death Eaters ran for it, 
+scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. 
+Page | 1027Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore’s spell pulled him back as easily and 
+effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an 
+invisible line — 
+
+
+
+Only one couple were still battling, apparently 
+unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck 
+Bellatrix’s jet of red light: He was laughing at her. 
+“Come on, you can do better than that!” he yelled, his 
+voice echoing around the cavernous room. 
+
+The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. 
+
+The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his 
+eyes widened in shock. 
+
+Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of 
+doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, 
+pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the 
+dais too. 
+
+It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body 
+curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through 
+the ragged veil hanging from the arch... 
+
+And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise 
+on his godfather’s wasted, once-handsome face as he 
+fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared 
+behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as 
+though in a high wind and then fell back into place. 
+
+Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange’s triumphant scream, 
+but knew it meant nothing — Sirius had only just 
+fallen through the archway, he would reappear from 
+the other side any second... 
+
+But Sirius did not reappear. 
+
+“SIRIUS!” Harry yelled, “SIRIUS!” 
+
+Page | 1028Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He had reached the floor, his breath coming in 
+searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, 
+he, Harry, would pull him back out again... 
+
+But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward 
+the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, 
+holding him back. 
+
+“There’s nothing you can do, Harry — ” 
+
+“Get him, save him, he’s only just gone through!” 
+
+“It’s too late, Harry — ” 
+
+“We can still reach him — ” 
+
+Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would 
+not let go... 
+
+“There’s nothing you can do, Harry ... nothing... He’s 
+gone.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 1029Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ONLY ONE HE EVER FEARED 
+
+“He hasn’t gone!” Harry yelled. 
+
+He did not believe it, he would not believe it; still he 
+fought Lupin with every bit of strength he had: Lupin 
+did not understand, people hid behind that curtain, 
+he had heard them whispering the first time he had 
+entered the room — Sirius was hiding, simply lurking 
+out of sight — 
+
+“SIRIUS!” he bellowed, “SIRIUS!” 
+
+“He can’t come back, Harry,” said Lupin, his voice 
+breaking as he struggled to contain Harry. “He can’t 
+come back, because he’s d — ” 
+
+“HE — IS — NOT — DEAD!” roared Harry. “SIRIUS!” 
+
+There was movement going on around them, pointless 
+bustling, the flashes of more spells. To Harry it was 
+meaningless noise, the deflected curses flying past 
+them did not matter, nothing mattered except that 
+Lupin stop pretending that Sirius, who was standing 
+Page | 1030Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+feet from them behind that old curtain, was not going 
+to emerge at any moment, shaking back his dark hair 
+and eager to reenter the battle — 
+
+Lupin dragged Harry away from the dais, Harry still 
+staring at the archway, angry at Sirius now for 
+keeping him waiting — 
+
+But some part of him realized, even as he fought to 
+break free from Lupin, that Sirius had never kept him 
+waiting before... Sirius had risked everything, always, 
+to see Harry, to help him... If Sirius was not 
+reappearing out of that archway when Harry was 
+yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the 
+only possible explanation was that he could not come 
+back. . . That he really was . . . 
+
+Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death Eaters 
+grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly 
+immobilized by invisible ropes. Mad-Eye Moody had 
+crawled across the room to where Tonks lay and was 
+attempting to revive her. Behind the dais there were 
+still flashes of light, grunts, and cries — Kingsley had 
+run forward to continue Sirius’s duel with Bellatrix. 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+Neville had slid down the stone benches one by one to 
+the place where Harry stood. Harry was no longer 
+struggling against Lupin, who maintained a 
+precautionary grip on his arm nevertheless. 
+
+“Harry ... I’b really sorry...” said Neville. His legs were 
+still dancing uncontrollably. “Was dat man — was 
+Sirius Black a — a friend of yours?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+
+
+Page | 1031Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Here,” said Lupin quietly, and pointing his wand at 
+Neville’s legs he said, “Finite.” The spell was lifted. 
+Neville’s legs fell back onto the floor and remained 
+still. Lupin’s face was pale. “Let’s — let’s find the 
+others. Where are they all, Neville?” 
+
+Lupin turned away from the archway as he spoke. It 
+sounded as though every word was causing him pain. 
+
+“Dey’re all back dere,” said Neville. “A brain addacked 
+Ron bud I dink he’s all righd — and Herbione’s 
+unconscious, bud we could feel a bulse — ” 
+
+There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the 
+dais. Harry saw Kingsley, yelling in pain, hit the 
+ground. Bellatrix Lestrange turned tail and ran as 
+Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her 
+but she deflected it. She was halfway up the steps 
+now — 
+
+“Harry — no!” cried Lupin, but Harry had already 
+ripped his arm from Lupin’s slackened grip. 
+
+“SHE KILLED SIRIUS!” bellowed Harry. “SHE KILLED 
+HIM — I’LL KILL HER!” 
+
+And he was off, scrambling up the stone benches. 
+People were shouting behind him but he did not care. 
+The hem of Bellatrix’s robes whipped out of sight 
+ahead and they were back in the room where the 
+brains were swimming. . . 
+
+She aimed a curse over her shoulder. The tank rose 
+into the air and tipped. Harry was deluged in the foul- 
+smelling potion within. The brains slipped and slid 
+over him and began spinning their long, colored 
+tentacles, but he shouted, “Wingardium Levioscd” and 
+they flew into the air away from him. Slipping and 
+sliding he ran on toward the door. He leapt over Luna, 
+Page | 1032Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+who was groaning on the floor, past Ginny, who said, 
+“Harry — what — ?” past Ron, who giggled feebly, and 
+Hermione, who was still unconscious. He wrenched 
+open the door into the circular black hall and saw 
+Bellatrix disappearing through a door on the other 
+side of the room — beyond her was the corridor 
+leading back to the lifts. 
+
+He ran, but she had slammed the door behind her 
+and the walls had begun to rotate again. Once more 
+he was surrounded by streaks of blue light from the 
+whirling candelabra. 
+
+“Where’s the exit?” he shouted desperately, as the 
+wall rumbled to a halt again. “Where’s the way out?” 
+
+The room seemed to have been waiting for him to ask. 
+The door right behind him flew open, and the corridor 
+toward the lifts stretched ahead of him, torch- lit and 
+empty. He ran... 
+
+He could hear a lift clattering ahead of him. He 
+sprinted up the passageway, swung around the 
+corner, and slammed his fist onto the button to call a 
+second lift. It jangled and banged lower and lower; the 
+grilles slid open and Harry dashed inside, now 
+hammering the button marked Atrium. The doors slid 
+shut and he was rising. . . 
+
+He forced his way out of the lift before the grilles were 
+fully open and looked around. Bellatrix was almost at 
+the telephone lift at the other end of the hall, but she 
+looked back as he sprinted toward her, and aimed 
+another spell at him. He dodged behind the Fountain 
+of Magical Brethren; the spell zoomed past him and 
+hit the wrought gold gates at the other end of the 
+Atrium so that they rang like bells. There were no 
+more footsteps. She had stopped running. He 
+crouched behind the statues, listening. 
+
+Page | 1033Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ Come out, come out, little HarryV’ she called in her 
+mock-baby voice, which echoed off the polished 
+wooden floors. “What did you come after me for, then? 
+
+I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!” 
+
+“I am!” shouted Harry, and a score of ghostly Harry’s 
+seemed to chorus I am\ I am\ I am\ all around the 
+room. 
+
+“Aaaaaah . . . did you love him, little baby Potter?” 
+
+Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known 
+before. He flung himself out from behind the fountain 
+and bellowed “CrucioV’ 
+
+Bellatrix screamed. The spell had knocked her off her 
+feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as 
+Neville had — she was already on her feet again, 
+breathless, no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind 
+the golden fountain again — her counterspell hit the 
+head of the handsome wizard, which was blown off 
+and landed twenty feet away, gouging long scratches 
+into the wooden floor. 
+
+“Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, 
+boy?” she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice 
+now. “You need to mean them, Potter! You need to 
+really want to cause pain — to enjoy it — righteous 
+anger won’t hurt me for long — I’ll show you how it is 
+done, shall I? I’ll give you a lesson — ” 
+
+Harry had been edging around the fountain on the 
+other side. She screamed, “Cruciol” and he was forced 
+to duck down again as the centaur’s arm, holding its 
+bow, spun off and landed with a crash on the floor a 
+short distance from the golden wizard’s head. 
+
+“Potter, you cannot win against me!” she cried. He 
+could hear her moving to the right, trying to get a 
+
+Page | 1034Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+clear shot of him. He backed around the statue away 
+from her, crouching behind the centaur’s legs, his 
+head level with the house-elf’s. “I was and am the 
+Dark Lord’s most loyal servant, I learned the Dark 
+Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that 
+you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete — ” 
+
+“Stupefy\” yelled Harry. He had edged right around to 
+where the goblin stood beaming up at the now 
+headless wizard and taken aim at her back as she 
+peered around the fountain for him. She reacted so 
+fast he barely had time to duck. 
+
+“Protegol” 
+
+The jet of red light, his own Stunning Spell, bounced 
+back at him. Harry scrambled back behind the 
+fountain, and one of the goblin’s ears went flying 
+across the room. 
+
+“Potter, I am going to give you one chance!” shouted 
+Bellatrix. “Give me the prophecy — roll it out toward 
+me now — and I may spare your life!” 
+
+“Well, you’re going to have to kill me, because it’s 
+gone!” Harry roared — and as he shouted it, pain 
+seared across his forehead. His scar was on fire 
+again, and he felt a surge of fury that was quite 
+unconnected with his own rage. “And he knows!” said 
+Harry with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix ’s own. 
+
+“Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it’s gone! He’s 
+not going to be happy with you, is he?” 
+
+“What? What do you mean?” she cried, and for the 
+first time there was fear in her voice. 
+
+“The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get 
+Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort’ll 
+say about that, then?” 
+
+Page | 1035Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His scar seared and burned... The pain of it was 
+making his eyes stream... 
+
+
+
+“LIAR!” she shrieked, but he could hear the terror 
+behind the anger now. “YOU’VE GOT IT, POTTER, 
+AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME — Accio Prophecy ! 
+ACCIO PROPHECY !” 
+
+Harry laughed again because he knew it would 
+incense her, the pain building in his head so badly he 
+thought his skull might burst. He waved his empty 
+hand from behind the one-eared goblin and withdrew 
+it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying 
+at him. 
+
+“Nothing there!” he shouted. “Nothing to summon! It 
+smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your 
+boss that — ” 
+
+“No!” she screamed. “It isn’t true, you’re lying — 
+MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED — DO NOT PUNISH ME 
+
+
+
+“Don’t waste your breath!” yelled Harry, his eyes 
+screwed up against the pain in his scar, now more 
+terrible than ever. “He can’t hear you from here!” 
+
+“Can’t I, Potter?” said a high, cold voice. 
+
+Harry opened his eyes. 
+
+Tall, thin, and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike 
+face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupiled eyes 
+staring ... Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle 
+of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stood 
+frozen, quite unable to move. 
+
+“So you smashed my prophecy?” said Voldemort 
+softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. 
+
+Page | 1036Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+“No, Bella, he is not lying... I see the truth looking at 
+me from within his worthless mind... Months of 
+preparation, months of effort . . . and my Death Eaters 
+have let Harry Potter thwart me again...” 
+
+“Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the 
+Animagus Black!” sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself 
+down at Voldemort’s feet as he paced slowly nearer. 
+“Master, you should know — ” 
+
+“Be quiet, Bella,” said Voldemort dangerously. “I shall 
+deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have 
+entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling 
+apologies?” 
+
+“But Master — he is here — he is below — ” 
+
+Voldemort paid no attention. 
+
+“I have nothing more to say to you, Potter,” he said 
+quietly. “You have irked me too often, for too long. 
+AVADA KEDAVRAl” 
+
+Harry had not even opened his mouth to resist. His 
+mind was blank, his wand pointing uselessly at the 
+floor. 
+
+But the headless golden statue of the wizard in the 
+fountain had sprung alive, leaping from its plinth, 
+and landed on the floor with a crash between Harry 
+and Voldemort. The spell merely glanced off its chest 
+as the statue flung out its arms, protecting Harry. 
+
+“What — ?” said Voldemort, staring around. And then 
+he breathed, “Dumbledore!” 
+
+Harry looked behind him, his heart pounding. 
+Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates. 
+
+
+
+Page | 1037Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+Voldemort raised his wand and sent another jet of 
+green light at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone 
+in a whirling of his cloak; next second he had 
+reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand 
+toward the remnants of the fountain; the other 
+statues sprang to life too. The statue of the witch ran 
+at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming 
+uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning 
+her to the floor. Meanwhile, the goblin and the house- 
+elf scuttled toward the fireplaces set along the wall, 
+and the one-armed centaur galloped at Voldemort, 
+who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The 
+headless statue thrust Harry backward, away from 
+the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort and 
+the golden centaur cantered around them both. 
+
+“It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom,” said 
+Dumbledore calmly. “The Aurors are on their way — ” 
+
+“By which time I shall be gone, and you dead!” spat 
+Voldemort. He sent another Killing Curse at 
+Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security 
+guards desk, which burst into flame. 
+
+Dumbledore flicked his own wand. The force of the 
+spell that emanated from it was such that Harry, 
+though shielded by his stone guard, felt his hair 
+stand on end as it passed, and this time Voldemort 
+was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of 
+thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, 
+caused no visible damage to the shield, though a 
+deep, gonglike note reverberated from it, an oddly 
+chilling sound... 
+
+“You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?” called 
+Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of 
+the shield. “Above such brutality, are you?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 1038Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+“We both know that there are other ways of 
+destroying a man, Tom,” Dumbledore said calmly, 
+continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he 
+had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had 
+happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. “Merely 
+taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit — ” 
+
+“There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!” 
+snarled Voldemort. 
+
+“You are quite wrong,” said Dumbledore, still closing 
+in upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though 
+they were discussing the matter over drinks. Harry 
+felt scared to see him walking along, undefended, 
+shieldless. He wanted to cry out a warning, but his 
+headless guard kept shunting him backward toward 
+the wall, blocking his every attempt to get out from 
+behind it. “Indeed, your failure to understand that 
+there are things much worse than death has always 
+been your greatest weakness — ” 
+
+Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver 
+shield. This time it was the one-armed centaur, 
+galloping in front of Dumbledore, that took the blast 
+and shattered into a hundred pieces, but before the 
+fragments had even hit the floor, Dumbledore had 
+drawn back his wand and waved it as though 
+brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the 
+tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. 
+For a moment, it seemed Dumbledore had won, but 
+then the fiery rope became a serpent, which 
+relinquished its hold upon Voldemort at once and 
+turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore. 
+
+Voldemort vanished. The snake reared from the floor, 
+ready to strike — 
+
+
+
+There was a burst of flame in midair above 
+Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared, standing 
+
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+
+
+
+
+on the plinth in the middle of the pool where so 
+recently the five statues had stood. 
+
+
+
+“Look outi” Harry yelled. 
+
+But even as he shouted, one more jet of green light 
+had flown at Dumbledore from Voldemort’s wand and 
+the snake had struck — 
+
+Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, 
+opened his beak wide, and swallowed the jet of green 
+light whole. He burst into flame and fell to the floor, 
+small, wrinkled, and flightless. At the same moment, 
+Dumbledore brandished his wand in one, long, fluid 
+movement — the snake, which had been an instant 
+from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air 
+and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; the water in 
+the pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon 
+of molten glass — 
+
+For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a 
+dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and 
+indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw 
+off the suffocating mass — 
+
+Then he was gone, and the water fell with a crash 
+back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, 
+drenching the polished floor. 
+
+“MASTER!” screamed Bellatrix. 
+
+Sure it was over, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, 
+Harry made to run out from behind his statue guard, 
+but Dumbledore bellowed, “Stay where you are, 
+
+Harry!” 
+
+For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. 
+Harry could not see why. The hall was quite empty 
+but for themselves, the sobbing Bellatrix still trapped 
+
+Page | 1040Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+under her statue, and the tiny baby Fawkes croaking 
+feebly on the floor — 
+
+And then Harry’s scar burst open. He knew he was 
+dead: it was pain beyond imagining, pain past 
+endurance — 
+
+He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils 
+of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that 
+Harry did not know where his body ended and the 
+creature’s began. They were fused together, bound by 
+pain, and there was no escape — 
+
+And when the creature spoke, it used Harry’s mouth, 
+so that in his agony he felt his jaw move... 
+
+“ Kill me now, Dumbledore...” 
+
+Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for 
+release, Harry felt the creature use him again... 
+
+“If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy...” 
+
+Let the pain stop, thought Harry. Let him kill us... End 
+it, Dumbledore... Death is nothing compared to this... 
+
+And I’ll see Sirius again... 
+
+And as Harry’s heart filled with emotion, the 
+creature’s coils loosened, the pain was gone, Harry 
+was lying facedown on the floor, his glasses gone, 
+shivering as though he lay upon ice, not wood... 
+
+And there were voices echoing through the hall, more 
+voices than there should have been: Harry opened his 
+eyes, saw his glasses lying at the heel of the headless 
+statue that had been guarding him, but which now 
+lay flat on its back, cracked and immobile. He put 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+them on and raised his head an inch to find 
+Dumbledore’s crooked nose inches from his own. 
+
+
+
+“Are you all right, Harry?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, shaking so violently he could not 
+hold his head up properly. “Yeah, I’m — where’s 
+Voldemort, where — who are all these — what’s — ” 
+
+The Atrium was full of people. The floor was reflecting 
+emerald-green flames that had burst into life in all 
+the fireplaces along one wall, and a stream of witches 
+and wizards was emerging from them. As Dumbledore 
+pulled him back to his feet, Harry saw the tiny gold 
+statues of the house-elf and the goblin leading a 
+stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge forward. 
+
+“He was there!” shouted a scarlet-robed man with a 
+ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble 
+on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain 
+trapped moments before. “I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I 
+swear, it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman 
+and Disapparated!” 
+
+“I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!” gibbered 
+Fudge, who was wearing pajamas under his 
+pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had 
+just run miles. “Merlin’s beard — here — here! — in 
+the Ministry of Magic! — great heavens above — it 
+doesn’t seem possible — my word — how can this 
+be?” 
+
+“If you proceed downstairs into the Department of 
+Mysteries, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore, apparently 
+satisfied that Harry was all right, and walking forward 
+so that the newcomers realized he was there for the 
+first time (a few of them raised their wands, others 
+simply looked amazed; the statues of the elf and 
+goblin applauded and Fudge jumped so much that 
+Page | 1042Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+his slipper-clad feet left the floor), “you will find 
+several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death 
+Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and 
+awaiting your decision as to what to do with them.” 
+
+“Dumbledore!” gasped Fudge, apparently beside 
+himself with amazement. “You — here — I — I — ” 
+
+He looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought 
+with him, and it could not have been clearer that he 
+was in half a mind to cry, “Seize him!” 
+
+“Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men — and win 
+again!” said Dumbledore in a thunderous voice. “But 
+a few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, 
+that I have been telling you the truth for a year. Lord 
+Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the 
+wrong men for twelve months, and it is time you 
+listened to sense!” 
+
+“I — don’t — well — ” blustered Fudge, looking around 
+as though hoping somebody was going to tell him 
+what to do. When nobody did, he said, “Very well — 
+Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of 
+Mysteries and see ... Dumbledore, you — you will 
+need to tell me exactly — the Fountain of Magical 
+Brethren — what happened?” he added in a kind of 
+whimper, staring around at the floor, where the 
+remains of the statues of the witch, wizard, and 
+centaur now lay scattered. 
+
+“We can discuss that after I have sent Harry back to 
+Hogwarts,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Harry — Harry Potter?” 
+
+Fudge spun around and stared at Harry, who was 
+still standing against the wall beside the fallen statue 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+that had been guarding him during Dumbledore and 
+Voldemort’s duel. 
+
+“He-here?” said Fudge. “Why — what’s all this 
+about?” 
+
+“I shall explain everything,” repeated Dumbledore, 
+“when Harry is back at school.” 
+
+He walked away from the pool to the place where the 
+golden wizard’s head lay on the floor. He pointed his 
+wand at it and muttered, “Portus.” The head glowed 
+blue and trembled noisily against the wooden floor for 
+a few seconds, then became still once more. 
+
+“Now see here, Dumbledore!” said Fudge, as 
+Dumbledore picked up the head and walked back to 
+Harry carrying it. “You haven’t got authorization for 
+that Portkey! You can’t do things like that right in 
+front of the Minister of Magic, you — you — ” 
+
+His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him 
+magisterially over his half-moon spectacles. 
+
+“You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge 
+from Hogwarts,” said Dumbledore. “You will tell your 
+Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical 
+Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will 
+give you ...” Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve 
+hands from his pocket and glanced at it, “half an 
+hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be 
+more than able to cover the important points of what 
+has happened here. After that, I shall need to return 
+to my school. If you need more help from me you are, 
+of course, more than welcome to contact me at 
+Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the headmaster will 
+find me.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Fudge goggled worse than ever. His mouth was open 
+and his round face grew pinker under his rumpled 
+gray hair. 
+
+“I — you — ” 
+
+Dumbledore turned his back on him. 
+
+“Take this Portkey, Harry.” 
+
+He held out the golden head of the statue, and Harry 
+placed his hand upon it, past caring what he did next 
+or where he went. 
+
+“I shall see you in half an hour,” said Dumbledore 
+quietly. “One ... two ... three ...” 
+
+Harry felt the familiar sensation of a hook being 
+jerked behind his navel. The polished wooden floor 
+was gone from beneath his feet; the Atrium, Fudge, 
+and Dumbledore had all disappeared, and he was 
+flying forward in a whirlwind of color and sound. . . 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LOST PROPHECY 
+
+Harry’s feet hit solid ground again; his knees buckled 
+a little and the golden wizard’s head fell with a 
+resounding clunk to the floor. He looked around and 
+saw that he had arrived in Dumbledore’s office. 
+
+Everything seemed to have repaired itself during the 
+headmaster’s absence. The delicate silver instruments 
+stood again upon the spindle-legged tables, puffing 
+and whirring serenely. The portraits of the 
+headmasters and headmistresses were snoozing in 
+their frames, heads lolling back in armchairs or 
+against the edge of their pictures. Harry looked 
+through the window. There was a cool line of pale 
+green along the horizon: Dawn was approaching. 
+
+The silence and the stillness, broken only by the 
+occasional grunt or snuffle of a sleeping portrait, was 
+unbearable to him. If his surroundings could have 
+reflected the feelings inside him, the pictures would 
+have been screaming in pain. He walked around the 
+quiet, beautiful office, breathing quickly, trying not to 
+think. But he had to think... There was no escape... 
+Page | 1046Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+It was his fault Sirius had died; it was all his fault. If 
+he, Harry, had not been stupid enough to fall for 
+Voldemort’s trick, if he had not been so convinced 
+that what he had seen in his dream was real, if he 
+had only opened his mind to the possibility that 
+Voldemort was, as Hermione had said, banking on 
+Harry’s love of playing the hero . . . 
+
+It was unbearable, he would not think about it, he 
+could not stand it... There was a terrible hollow inside 
+him he did not want to feel or examine, a dark hole 
+where Sirius had been, where Sirius had vanished. 
+
+He did not want to have to be alone with that great, 
+silent space, he could not stand it — 
+
+A picture behind him gave a particularly loud 
+grunting snore, and a cool voice said, “Ah ... Harry 
+Potter ...” 
+
+Phineas Nigellus gave a long yawn, stretching his 
+arms as he watched Harry with shrewd, narrow eyes. 
+
+“And what brings you here in the early hours of the 
+morning?” said Phineas. “This office is supposed to be 
+barred to all but the rightful headmaster. Or has 
+Dumbledore sent you here? Oh, don’t tell me ...” He 
+gave another shuddering yawn. “Another message for 
+my worthless great-great-grandson?” 
+
+Harry could not speak. Phineas Nigellus did not know 
+that Sirius was dead, but Harry could not tell him. To 
+say it aloud would be to make it final, absolute, 
+irretrievable. 
+
+A few more of the portraits had stirred now. Terror of 
+being interrogated made Harry stride across the room 
+and seize the doorknob. 
+
+
+
+It would not turn. He was shut in. 
+
+Page | 1047Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I hope this means,” said the corpulent, red-nosed 
+wizard who hung on the wall behind Dumbledore’s 
+desk, “that Dumbledore will soon be back with us?” 
+
+Harry turned. The wizard was eyeing him with great 
+interest. Harry nodded. He tugged again on the 
+doorknob behind his back, but it remained 
+immovable. 
+
+“Oh good,” said the wizard. “It has been very dull 
+without him, very dull indeed.” 
+
+He settled himself on the thronelike chair on which he 
+had been painted and smiled benignly upon Harry. 
+
+“Dumbledore thinks very highly of you, as I am sure 
+you know,” he said comfortably. “Oh yes. Holds you 
+in great esteem.” 
+
+The guilt filling the whole of Harry’s chest like some 
+monstrous, weighty parasite now writhed and 
+squirmed. Harry could not stand this, he could not 
+stand being Harry anymore... He had never felt more 
+trapped inside his own head and body, never wished 
+so intensely that he could be somebody — anybody — 
+else... 
+
+The empty fireplace burst into emerald-green flame, 
+making Harry leap away from the door, staring at the 
+man spinning inside the grate. As Dumbledore’s tall 
+form unfolded itself from the fire, the wizards and 
+witches on the surrounding walls jerked awake. Many 
+of them gave cries of welcome. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Dumbledore softly. 
+
+He did not look at Harry at first, but walked over to 
+the perch beside the door and withdrew, from an 
+inside pocket of his robes, the tiny, ugly, featherless 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Fawkes, whom he placed gently on the tray of soft 
+ashes beneath the golden post where the full-grown 
+Fawkes usually stood. 
+
+“Well, Harry,” said Dumbledore, finally turning away 
+from the baby bird, “you will be pleased to hear that 
+none of your fellow students are going to suffer 
+lasting damage from the night’s events.” 
+
+Harry tried to say “Good,” but no sound came out. It 
+seemed to him that Dumbledore was reminding him 
+of the amount of damage he had caused by his 
+actions tonight, and although Dumbledore was for 
+once looking at him directly, and though his 
+expression was kindly rather than accusatory, Harry 
+could not bear to meet his eyes. 
+
+“Madam Pomfrey is patching everybody up now,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Nymphadora Tonks may need to spend 
+a little time in St. Mungo’s, but it seems that she will 
+make a full recovery.” 
+
+Harry contented himself with nodding at the carpet, 
+which was growing lighter as the sky outside grew 
+paler. He was sure that all the portraits around the 
+room were listening eagerly to every word Dumbledore 
+spoke, wondering where Dumbledore and Harry had 
+been and why there had been injuries. 
+
+“I know how you are feeling, Harry,” said Dumbledore 
+very quietly. 
+
+“No, you don’t,” said Harry, and his voice was 
+suddenly loud and strong. White-hot anger leapt 
+inside him. Dumbledore knew nothing about his 
+feelings. 
+
+“You see, Dumbledore?” said Phineas Nigellus slyly. 
+“Never try to understand the students. They hate it. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+They would much rather be tragically misunderstood, 
+wallow in self-pity, stew in their own — ” 
+
+“That’s enough, Phineas,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+Harry turned his back on Dumbledore and stared 
+determinedly out of the opposite window. He could 
+see the Quidditch stadium in the distance. Sirius had 
+appeared there once, disguised as the shaggy black 
+dog, so he could watch Harry play. . . He had probably 
+come to see whether Harry was as good as James had 
+been... Harry had never asked him... 
+
+“There is no shame in what you are feeling, Harry,” 
+said Dumbledore ’s voice. “On the contrary ... the fact 
+that you can feel pain like this is your greatest 
+strength.” 
+
+Harry felt the white-hot anger lick his insides, blazing 
+in the terrible emptiness, filling him with the desire to 
+hurt Dumbledore for his calmness and his empty 
+words. 
+
+“My greatest strength, is it?” said Harry, his voice 
+shaking as he stared out at the Quidditch stadium, 
+no longer seeing it. “You haven’t got a clue... You 
+don’t know ...” 
+
+“What don’t I know?” asked Dumbledore calmly. 
+
+It was too much. Harry turned around, shaking with 
+rage. 
+
+“I don’t want to talk about how I feel, all right?” 
+
+“Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! 
+This pain is part of being human — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“THEN — I — DONT — WANT — TO-BE — 
+HUMAN!” Harry roared, and he seized one of the 
+delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged 
+table beside him and flung it across the room. It 
+shattered into a hundred tiny pieces against the wall. 
+Several of the pictures let out yells of anger and 
+fright, and the portrait of Armando Dippet said, 
+a Reallyl” 
+
+“I DONT CARE!” Harry yelled at them, snatching up a 
+lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace. “I’VE 
+HAD ENOUGH, IVE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I 
+WANT IT TO END, I DONT CARE ANYMORE — ” 
+
+He seized the table on which the silver instrument 
+had stood and threw that too. It broke apart on the 
+floor and the legs rolled in different directions. 
+
+“You do care,” said Dumbledore. He had not flinched 
+or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his 
+office. His expression was calm, almost detached. 
+
+“You care so much you feel as though you will bleed 
+to death with the pain of it.” 
+
+“I — DONT!” Harry screamed, so loudly that he felt 
+his throat might tear, and for a second he wanted to 
+rush at Dumbledore and break him too; shatter that 
+calm old face, shake him, hurt him, make him feel 
+some tiny part of the horror inside Harry. 
+
+“Oh yes, you do,” said Dumbledore, still more calmly. 
+“You have now lost your mother, your father, and the 
+closest thing to a parent you have ever known. Of 
+course you care.” 
+
+“YOU DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL!” Harry roared. 
+
+“YOU — STANDING THERE — YOU — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+But words were no longer enough, smashing things 
+was no more help. He wanted to run, he wanted to 
+keep running and never look back, he wanted to be 
+somewhere he could not see the clear blue eyes 
+staring at him, that hatefully calm old face. He ran to 
+the door, seized the doorknob again, and wrenched at 
+it. 
+
+But the door would not open. 
+
+Harry turned back to Dumbledore. 
+
+“Let me out,” he said. He was shaking from head to 
+foot. 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore simply. 
+
+For a few seconds they stared at each other. 
+
+“Let me out,” Harry said again. 
+
+“No,” Dumbledore repeated. 
+
+“If you don’t — if you keep me in here — if you don’t 
+let me — ” 
+
+“By all means continue destroying my possessions,” 
+said Dumbledore serenely. “I daresay I have too 
+many.” 
+
+He walked around his desk and sat down behind it, 
+watching Harry. 
+
+“Let me out,” Harry said yet again, in a voice that was 
+cold and almost as calm as Dumbledore ’s. 
+
+“Not until I have had my say,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Do you — do you think I want to — do you think I 
+give a — I DONT CARE WHAT YOUVE GOT TO SAY!” 
+Harry roared. “I don’t want to hear anything you’ve 
+got to say!” 
+
+“You will,” said Dumbledore sadly. “Because you are 
+not nearly as angry with me as you ought to be. If you 
+are to attack me, as I know you are close to doing, I 
+would like to have thoroughly earned it.” 
+
+“What are you talking — ?” 
+
+“It is my fault that Sirius died,” said Dumbledore 
+clearly. “Or I should say almost entirely my fault — I 
+will not be so arrogant as to claim responsibility for 
+the whole. Sirius was a brave, clever, and energetic 
+man, and such men are not usually content to sit at 
+home in hiding while they believe others to be in 
+danger. Nevertheless, you should never have believed 
+for an instant that there was any necessity for you to 
+go to the Department of Mysteries tonight. If I had 
+been open with you, Harry, as I should have been, 
+you would have known a long time ago that 
+Voldemort might try and lure you to the Department 
+of Mysteries, and you would never have been tricked 
+into going there tonight. And Sirius would not have 
+had to come after you. That blame lies with me, and 
+with me alone.” 
+
+Harry was still standing with his hand on the 
+doorknob but he was unaware of it. He was gazing at 
+Dumbledore, hardly breathing, listening yet barely 
+understanding what he was hearing. 
+
+“Please sit down,” said Dumbledore. It was not an 
+order, it was a request. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry hesitated, then walked slowly across the room 
+now littered with silver cogs and fragments of wood 
+and took the seat facing Dumbledore ’s desk. 
+
+“Am I to understand,” said Phineas Nigellus slowly 
+from Harry’s left, “that my great-great-grandson — 
+the last of the Blacks — is dead?” 
+
+“Yes, Phineas,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“I don’t believe it,” said Phineas brusquely. 
+
+Harry turned his head in time to see Phineas 
+marching out of his portrait and knew that he had 
+gone to visit his other painting in Grimmauld Place. 
+He would walk, perhaps, from portrait to portrait, 
+calling for Sirius through the house... 
+
+“Harry, I owe you an explanation,” said Dumbledore. 
+“An explanation of an old man’s mistakes. For I see 
+now that what I have done, and not done, with regard 
+to you, bears all the hallmarks of the failings of age. 
+Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old 
+men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young 
+... and I seem to have forgotten lately...” 
+
+The sun was rising properly now. There was a rim of 
+dazzling orange visible over the mountains and the 
+sky above it was colorless and bright. The light fell 
+upon Dumbledore, upon the silver of his eyebrows 
+and beard, upon the lines gouged deeply into his face. 
+
+“I guessed, fifteen years ago,” said Dumbledore, 
+
+“when I saw the scar upon your forehead, what it 
+might mean. I guessed that it might be the sign of a 
+connection forged between you and Voldemort.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“You’ve told me this before, Professor,” said Harry 
+bluntly. He did not care about being rude. He did not 
+care about anything very much anymore. 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore apologetically. “Yes, but you 
+see — it is necessary to start with your scar. For it 
+became apparent, shortly after you rejoined the 
+magical world, that I was correct, and that your scar 
+was giving you warnings when Voldemort was close to 
+you, or else feeling powerful emotion.” 
+
+“I know,” said Harry wearily. 
+
+“And this ability of yours — to detect Voldemort’s 
+presence, even when he is disguised, and to know 
+what he is feeling when his emotions are roused — 
+has become more and more pronounced since 
+Voldemort returned to his own body and his full 
+powers.” 
+
+Harry did not bother to nod. He knew all of this 
+already. 
+
+“More recently,” said Dumbledore, “I became 
+concerned that Voldemort might realize that this 
+connection between you exists. Sure enough, there 
+came a time when you entered so far into his mind 
+and thoughts that he sensed your presence. I am 
+speaking, of course, of the night when you witnessed 
+the attack on Mr. Weasley.” 
+
+“Yeah, Snape told me,” Harry muttered. 
+
+“Professor Snape, Harry,” Dumbledore corrected him 
+quietly. “But did you not wonder why it was not I who 
+explained this to you? Why I did not teach you 
+Occlumency? Why I had not so much as looked at 
+you for months?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry looked up. He could see now that Dumbledore 
+looked sad and tired. 
+
+“Yeah,” Harry mumbled. “Yeah, I wondered.” 
+
+“You see,” continued Dumbledore heavily. “I believed 
+it could not be long before Voldemort attempted to 
+force his way into your mind, to manipulate and 
+misdirect your thoughts, and I was not eager to give 
+him more incentives to do so. I was sure that if he 
+realized that our relationship was — or had ever been 
+— closer than that of headmaster and pupil, he would 
+seize his chance to use you as a means to spy on me. 
+
+I feared the uses to which he would put you, the 
+possibility that he might try and possess you. Harry, I 
+believe I was right to think that Voldemort would have 
+made use of you in such a way. On those rare 
+occasions when we had close contact, I thought I saw 
+a shadow of him stir behind your eyes... I was trying, 
+in distancing myself from you, to protect you. An old 
+man’s mistake ...” 
+
+Harry remembered the feeling that a dormant snake 
+had risen in him, ready to strike, on those occasions 
+when he and Dumbledore made eye contact. 
+
+“Voldemort’s aim in possessing you, as he 
+demonstrated tonight, would not have been my 
+destruction. It would have been yours. He hoped, 
+when he possessed you briefly a short while ago, that 
+I would sacrifice you in the hope of killing him.” 
+
+He sighed deeply. Harry was letting the words wash 
+over him. He would have been so interested to know 
+all this a few months ago, and now it was 
+meaningless compared to the gaping chasm inside 
+him that was the loss of Sirius, none of it mattered ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sirius told me that you felt Voldemort awake inside 
+you the very night that you had the vision of Arthur 
+Weasley’s attack. I knew at once that my worst fears 
+were correct: Voldemort from that point had realized 
+he could use you. In an attempt to arm you against 
+Voldemort’s assaults on your mind, I arranged 
+Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape.” 
+
+He paused. Harry watched the sunlight, which was 
+sliding slowly across the polished surface of 
+Dumbledore’s desk, illuminate a silver ink pot and a 
+handsome scarlet quill. Harry could tell that the 
+portraits all around them were awake and listening 
+raptly to Dumbledore’s explanation. He could hear 
+the occasional rustle of robes, the slight clearing of a 
+throat. Phineas Nigellus had still not returned... 
+
+“Professor Snape discovered,” Dumbledore resumed, 
+“that you had been dreaming about the door to the 
+Department of Mysteries for months. Voldemort, of 
+course, had been obsessed with the possibility of 
+hearing the prophecy ever since he regained his body, 
+and as he dwelled on the door, so did you, though 
+you did not know what it meant. 
+
+“And then you saw Rookwood, who worked in the 
+Department of Mysteries before his arrest, telling 
+Voldemort what we had known all along — that the 
+prophecies held in the Ministry of Magic are heavily 
+protected. Only the people to whom they refer can lift 
+them from the shelves without suffering madness. In 
+this case, either Voldemort himself would have to 
+enter the Ministry of Magic and risk revealing himself 
+at last — or else you would have to take it for him. It 
+became a matter of even greater urgency that you 
+should master Occlumency.” 
+
+“But I didn’t,” muttered Harry. He said it aloud to try 
+and ease the dead weight of guilt inside him; a 
+
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+
+
+
+
+confession must surely relieve some of the terrible 
+pressure squeezing his heart. “I didn’t practice, I 
+didn’t bother, I could’ve stopped myself having those 
+dreams, Hermione kept telling me to do it, if I had 
+he’d never have been able to show me where to go, 
+and — Sirius wouldn’t — Sirius wouldn’t — ” 
+
+Something was erupting inside Harry’s head: a need 
+to justify himself, to explain — 
+
+“I tried to check if he’d really taken Sirius, I went to 
+Umbridge’s office, I spoke to Kreacher in the fire, and 
+he said Sirius wasn’t there, he said he’d gone!” 
+
+“Kreacher lied,” said Dumbledore calmly. “You are not 
+his master, he could lie to you without even needing 
+to punish himself. Kreacher intended you to go to the 
+Ministry of Magic.” 
+
+“He — he sent me on purpose?” 
+
+“Oh yes. Kreacher, I am afraid, has been serving more 
+than one master for months.” 
+
+“How?” said Harry blankly. “He hasn’t been out of 
+Grimmauld Place for years.” 
+
+“Kreacher seized his opportunity shortly before 
+Christmas,” said Dumbledore, “when Sirius, 
+apparently, shouted at him to ‘get out.’ He took Sirius 
+at his word and interpreted this as an order to leave 
+the house. He went to the only Black family member 
+for whom he had any respect left... Black’s cousin 
+Narcissa, sister of Bellatrix and wife of Lucius 
+Malfoy.” 
+
+“How do you know all this?” Harry said. His heart was 
+beating very fast. He felt sick. He remembered 
+worrying about Kreacher’s odd absence over 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Christmas, remembered him turning up again in the 
+attic... 
+
+“Kreacher told me last night,” said Dumbledore. “You 
+see, when you gave Professor Snape that cryptic 
+warning, he realized that you had had a vision of 
+Sirius trapped in the bowels of the Department of 
+Mysteries. He, like you, attempted to contact Sirius at 
+once. I should explain that members of the Order of 
+the Phoenix have more reliable methods of 
+communicating than the fire in Dolores Umbridge’s 
+office. Professor Snape found that Sirius was alive 
+and safe in Grimmauld Place. 
+
+“When, however, you did not return from your trip 
+into the forest with Dolores Umbridge, Professor 
+Snape grew worried that you still believed Sirius to be 
+a captive of Lord Voldemort’s. He alerted certain 
+Order members at once.” 
+
+Dumbledore heaved a great sigh and then said, 
+“Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley 
+Shacklebolt, and Remus Lupin were at headquarters 
+when he made contact. All agreed to go to your aid at 
+once. Professor Snape requested that Sirius remain 
+behind, as he needed somebody to remain at 
+headquarters to tell me what had happened, for I was 
+due there at any moment. In the meantime he, 
+Professor Snape, intended to search the forest for 
+you. 
+
+“But Sirius did not wish to remain behind while the 
+others went to search for you. He delegated to 
+Kreacher the task of telling me what had happened. 
+And so it was that when I arrived in Grimmauld Place 
+shortly after they had all left for the Ministry, it was 
+the elf who told me — laughing fit to burst — where 
+Sirius had gone.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“He was laughing?” said Harry in a hollow voice. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Dumbledore. “You see, Kreacher was 
+not able to betray us totally. He is not Secret-Keeper 
+for the Order, he could not give the Malfoys our 
+whereabouts or tell them any of the Order’s 
+confidential plans that he had been forbidden to 
+reveal. He was bound by the enchantments of his 
+kind, which is to say that he could not disobey a 
+direct order from his master, Sirius. But he gave 
+Narcissa information of the sort that is very valuable 
+to Voldemort, yet must have seemed much too trivial 
+for Sirius to think of banning him from repeating it.” 
+
+“Like what?” said Harry. 
+
+“Like the fact that the person Sirius cared most about 
+in the world was you,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Like 
+the fact that you were coming to regard Sirius as a 
+mixture of father and brother. Voldemort knew 
+already, of course, that Sirius was in the Order, that 
+you knew where he was — but Kreacher’s information 
+made him realize that the one person whom you 
+would go to any lengths to rescue was Sirius Black.” 
+
+Harry’s lips were cold and numb. 
+
+“So . . . when I asked Kreacher if Sirius was there last 
+night ...” 
+
+“The Malfoys — undoubtedly on Voldemort’s 
+instructions — had told him he must find a way of 
+keeping Sirius out of the way once you had seen the 
+vision of Sirius being tortured. Then, if you decided to 
+check whether Sirius was at home or not, Kreacher 
+would be able to pretend he was not. Kreacher 
+injured Buckbeak the hippogriff yesterday, and at the 
+moment when you made your appearance in the fire, 
+Sirius was upstairs trying to tend to him.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There seemed to be very little air in Harry’s lungs, his 
+breathing was quick and shallow. 
+
+“And Kreacher told you all this . . . and laughed?” he 
+croaked. 
+
+“He did not wish to tell me,” said Dumbledore. “But I 
+am a sufficiently accomplished Legilimens myself to 
+know when I am being lied to and I — persuaded him 
+
+— to tell me the full story, before I left for the 
+Department of Mysteries.” 
+
+“And,” whispered Harry, his hands curled in cold fists 
+on his knees, “and Hermione kept telling us to be nice 
+to him — ” 
+
+“She was quite right, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “I 
+warned Sirius when we adopted twelve Grimmauld 
+Place as our headquarters that Kreacher must be 
+treated with kindness and respect. I also told him 
+that Kreacher could be dangerous to us. I do not 
+think that Sirius took me very seriously, or that he 
+ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as 
+a humans — ” 
+
+“Don’t you blame — don’t you — talk — about Sirius 
+like — ” Harry’s breath was constricted, he could not 
+get the words out properly. But the rage that had 
+subsided so briefly had flared in him again; he would 
+not let Dumbledore criticize Sirius. “Kreacher ’s a lying 
+
+— foul — he deserved — ” 
+
+“Kreacher is what he has been made by wizards, 
+Harry,” said Dumbledore. “Yes, he is to be pitied. His 
+existence has been as miserable as your friend 
+Dobby’s. He was forced to do Sirius’s bidding, 
+because Sirius was the last of the family to which he 
+was enslaved, but he felt no true loyalty to him. And 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+whatever Kreacher’s faults, it must be admitted that 
+Sirius did nothing to make Kreacher’s lot easier — ” 
+
+“DON’T TALK ABOUT SIRIUS LIKE THAT!” Harry 
+yelled. 
+
+He was on his feet again, furious, ready to fly at 
+Dumbledore, who had plainly not understood Sirius 
+at all, how brave he was, how much he had suffered 
+
+
+
+“What about Snape?” Harry spat. “You’re not talking 
+about him, are you? When I told him Voldemort had 
+Sirius he just sneered at me as usual — ” 
+
+“Harry, you know that Professor Snape had no choice 
+but to pretend not to take you seriously in front of 
+Dolores Umbridge,” said Dumbledore steadily, “but as 
+I have explained, he informed the Order as soon as 
+possible about what you had said. It was he who 
+deduced where you had gone when you did not return 
+from the forest. It was he too who gave Professor 
+Umbridge fake Veritaserum when she was attempting 
+to force you to tell of Sirius’s whereabouts...” 
+
+Harry disregarded this; he felt a savage pleasure in 
+blaming Snape, it seemed to be easing his own sense 
+of dreadful guilt, and he wanted to hear Dumbledore 
+agree with him. 
+
+“Snape — Snape g-goaded Sirius about staying in the 
+house — he made out Sirius was a coward — ” 
+
+“Sirius was much too old and clever to have allowed 
+such feeble taunts to hurt him,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Snape stopped giving me Occlumency lessons!” 
+
+Harry snarled. “He threw me out of his office!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I am aware of it,” said Dumbledore heavily. “I have 
+already said that it was a mistake for me not to teach 
+you myself, though I was sure, at the time, that 
+nothing could have been more dangerous than to 
+open your mind even further to Voldemort while in 
+my presence — ” 
+
+“Snape made it worse, my scar always hurt worse 
+after lessons with him — ” Harry remembered Ron’s 
+thoughts on the subject and plunged on. “How do you 
+know he wasn’t trying to soften me up for Voldemort, 
+make it easier for him to get inside my — ” 
+
+“I trust Severus Snape,” said Dumbledore simply. 
+
+“But I forgot — another old man’s mistake — that 
+some wounds run too deep for the healing. I thought 
+Professor Snape could overcome his feelings about 
+your father — I was wrong.” 
+
+“But that’s okay, is it?” yelled Harry, ignoring the 
+scandalized faces and disapproving mutterings of the 
+portraits covering the walls. “It’s okay for Snape to 
+hate my dad, but it’s not okay for Sirius to hate 
+Kreacher?” 
+
+“Sirius did not hate Kreacher,” said Dumbledore. “He 
+regarded him as a servant unworthy of much interest 
+or notice. Indifference and neglect often do much 
+more damage than outright dislike... The fountain we 
+destroyed tonight told a lie. We wizards have 
+mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and 
+we are now reaping our reward.” 
+
+“SO SIRIUS DESERVED WHAT HE GOT, DID HE?” 
+Harry yelled. 
+
+“I did not say that, nor will you ever hear me say it,” 
+Dumbledore replied quietly. “Sirius was not a cruel 
+man, he was kind to house-elves in general. He had 
+
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+
+
+
+no love for Kreacher, because Kreacher was a living 
+reminder of the home Sirius had hated.” 
+
+“Yeah, he did hate it!” said Harry, his voice cracking, 
+turning his back on Dumbledore and walking away. 
+The sun was bright inside the room now, and the eyes 
+of all the portraits followed him as he walked, without 
+realizing what he was doing, without seeing the office 
+at all. “You made him stay shut up in that house and 
+he hated it, that’s why he wanted to get out last night 
+
+
+
+“I was trying to keep Sirius alive,” said Dumbledore 
+quietly. 
+
+“People don’t like being locked up!” Harry said 
+furiously, rounding on him. “You did it to me all last 
+summer — ” 
+
+Dumbledore closed his eyes and buried his face in his 
+long-fingered hands. Harry watched him, but this 
+uncharacteristic sign of exhaustion, or sadness, or 
+whatever it was from Dumbledore, did not soften him. 
+On the contrary, he felt even angrier that Dumbledore 
+was showing signs of weakness. He had no business 
+being weak when Harry wanted to rage and storm at 
+him. 
+
+Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed Harry 
+through his half-moon glasses. 
+
+“It is time,” he said, “for me to tell you what I should 
+have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I 
+am going to tell you everything. I ask only a little 
+patience. You will have your chance to rage at me — 
+to do whatever you like — when I have finished. I will 
+not stop you.” 
+
+
+
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+
+Harry glared at him for a moment, then flung himself 
+back into the chair opposite Dumbledore and waited. 
+Dumbledore stared for a moment at the sunlit 
+grounds outside the window, then looked back at 
+Harry and said, “Five years ago you arrived at 
+Hogwarts, Harry, safe and whole, as I had planned 
+and intended. Well — not quite whole. You had 
+suffered. I knew you would when I left you on your 
+aunt and uncle’s doorstep. I knew I was condemning 
+you to ten dark and difficult years.” 
+
+He paused. Harry said nothing. 
+
+“You might ask — and with good reason — why it had 
+to be so. Why could some Wizarding family not have 
+taken you in? Many would have done so more than 
+gladly, would have been honored and delighted to 
+raise you as a son. 
+
+“My answer is that my priority was to keep you alive. 
+You were in more danger than perhaps anyone but 
+myself realized. Voldemort had been vanquished 
+hours before, but his supporters — and many of them 
+are almost as terrible as he — were still at large, 
+angry, desperate, and violent. And I had to make my 
+decision too with regard to the years ahead. Did I 
+believe that Voldemort was gone forever? No. I knew 
+not whether it would be ten, twenty, or fifty years 
+before he returned, but I was sure he would do so, 
+and I was sure too, knowing him as I have done, that 
+he would not rest until he killed you. 
+
+“I knew that Voldemort ’s knowledge of magic is 
+perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive. I knew 
+that even my most complex and powerful protective 
+spells and charms were unlikely to be invincible if he 
+ever returned to full power. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“But I knew too where Voldemort was weak. And so I 
+made my decision. You would be protected by an 
+ancient magic of which he knows, which he despises, 
+and which he has always, therefore, underestimated 
+— to his cost. I am speaking, of course, of the fact 
+that your mother died to save you. She gave you a 
+lingering protection he never expected, a protection 
+that flows in your veins to this day. I put my trust, 
+therefore, in your mother’s blood. I delivered you to 
+her sister, her only remaining relative.” 
+
+“She doesn’t love me,” said Harry at once. “She 
+doesn’t give a damn — ” 
+
+“But she took you,” Dumbledore cut across him. “She 
+may have taken you grudgingly, furiously, 
+unwillingly, bitterly, yet still she took you, and in 
+doing so, she sealed the charm I placed upon you. 
+
+Your mother’s sacrifice made the bond of blood the 
+strongest shield I could give you.” 
+
+“I still don’t — ” 
+
+“While you can still call home the place where your 
+mother’s blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or 
+harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives 
+on in you and her sister. Her blood became your 
+refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as 
+long as you can still call it home, there he cannot 
+hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I 
+had done in the letter I left, with you, on her 
+doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom 
+may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen 
+years.” 
+
+“Wait,” said Harry. “Wait a moment.” 
+
+He sat up straighter in his chair, staring at 
+Dumbledore. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You sent that Howler. You told her to remember — it 
+was your voice — ” 
+
+“I thought,” said Dumbledore, inclining his head 
+slightly, “that she might need reminding of the pact 
+she had sealed by taking you. I suspected the 
+dementor attack might have awoken her to the 
+dangers of having you as a surrogate son.” 
+
+“It did,” said Harry quietly. “Well — my uncle more 
+than her. He wanted to chuck me out, but after the 
+Howler came she — she said I had to stay.” He stared 
+at the floor for a moment, then said, “But what’s this 
+got to do with ...” 
+
+He could not say Sirius’s name. 
+
+“Five years ago, then,” continued Dumbledore, as 
+though he had not paused in his story, “you arrived 
+at Hogwarts, neither as happy nor as well nourished 
+as I would have liked, perhaps, yet alive and healthy. 
+You were not a pampered little prince, but as normal 
+a boy as I could have hoped under the circumstances. 
+Thus far, my plan was working well. 
+
+“And then ... well, you will remember the events of 
+your first year at Hogwarts quite as clearly as I do. 
+
+You rose magnificently to the challenge that faced 
+you, and sooner — much sooner — than I had 
+anticipated, you found yourself face-to-face with 
+Voldemort. You survived again. You did more. You 
+delayed his return to full power and strength. You 
+fought a man’s fight. I was ... prouder of you than I 
+can say. 
+
+“Yet there was a flaw in this wonderful plan of mine,” 
+said Dumbledore. “An obvious flaw that I knew, even 
+then, might be the undoing of it all. And yet, knowing 
+how important it was that my plan should succeed, I 
+
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+
+
+
+told myself that I would not permit this flaw to min it. 
+
+I alone could prevent this, so I alone must be strong. 
+And here was my first test, as you lay in the hospital 
+wing, weak from your struggle with Voldemort.” 
+
+“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” said Harry. 
+
+“Don’t you remember asking me, as you lay in the 
+hospital wing, why Voldemort had tried to kill you 
+when you were a baby?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“Ought I to have told you then?” 
+
+Harry stared into the blue eyes and said nothing, but 
+his heart was racing again. 
+
+“You do not see the flaw in the plan yet? No ... 
+perhaps not. Well, as you know, I decided not to 
+answer you. Eleven, I told myself, was much too 
+young to know. I had never intended to tell you when 
+you were eleven. The knowledge would be too much at 
+such a young age. 
+
+“I should have recognized the danger signs then. I 
+should have asked myself why I did not feel more 
+disturbed that you had already asked me the question 
+to which I knew, one day, I must give a terrible 
+answer. I should have recognized that I was too happy 
+to think that I did not have to do it on that particular 
+day. . . You were too young, much too young. 
+
+“And so we entered your second year at Hogwarts. 
+
+And once again you met challenges even grown 
+wizards have never faced. Once again you acquitted 
+yourself beyond my wildest dreams. You did not ask 
+me again, however, why Voldemort had left that mark 
+upon you. We discussed your scar, oh yes... We came 
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+
+
+
+
+very, very close to the subject. Why did I not tell you 
+everything? 
+
+“Well, it seemed to me that twelve was, after all, 
+hardly better than eleven to receive such information. 
+
+I allowed you to leave my presence, bloodstained, 
+exhausted but exhilarated, and if I felt a twinge of 
+unease that I ought, perhaps, have told you then, it 
+was swiftly silenced. You were still so young, you see, 
+and I could not find it in me to spoil that night of 
+triumph... 
+
+“Do you see, Harry? Do you see the flaw in my 
+brilliant plan now? I had fallen into the trap I had 
+foreseen, that I had told myself I could avoid, that I 
+must avoid.” 
+
+“I don’t — ” 
+
+“I cared about you too much,” said Dumbledore 
+simply. “I cared more for your happiness than your 
+knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than 
+my plan, more for your life than the lives that might 
+be lost if the plan failed. In other words, I acted 
+exactly as Voldemort expects we fools who love to act. 
+
+“Is there a defense? I defy anyone who has watched 
+you as I have — and I have watched you more closely 
+than you can have imagined — not to want to save 
+you more pain than you had already suffered. What 
+did I care if numbers of nameless and faceless people 
+and creatures were slaughtered in the vague future, if 
+in the here and now you were alive, and well, and 
+happy? I never dreamed that I would have such a 
+person on my hands. 
+
+“We entered your third year. I watched from afar as 
+you struggled to repel dementors, as you found 
+Sirius, learned what he was and rescued him. Was I 
+
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+
+
+
+to tell you then, at the moment when you had 
+triumphantly snatched your godfather from the jaws 
+of the Ministry? But now, at the age of thirteen, my 
+excuses were running out. Young you might be, but 
+you had proved you were exceptional. My conscience 
+was uneasy, Harry. I knew the time must come 
+soon... 
+
+“But you came out of the maze last year, having 
+watched Cedric Diggory die, having escaped death so 
+narrowly yourself . . . and I did not tell you, though I 
+knew, now Voldemort had returned, I must do it 
+soon. And now, tonight, I know you have long been 
+ready for the knowledge I have kept from you for so 
+long, because you have proved that I should have 
+placed the burden upon you before this. My only 
+defense is this: I have watched you struggling under 
+more burdens than any student who has ever passed 
+through this school, and I could not bring myself to 
+add another — the greatest one of all.” 
+
+Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not speak. 
+
+“I still don’t understand.” 
+
+“Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child 
+because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. 
+He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did 
+not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when 
+you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the 
+terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that 
+he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you 
+backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and 
+particularly since your extraordinary escape from him 
+last year, he has been determined to hear that 
+prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has 
+been seeking so assiduously since his return: the 
+knowledge of how to destroy you.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+The sun had risen fully now. Dumbledore’s office was 
+bathed in it. The glass case in which the sword of 
+Godric Gryffindor resided gleamed white and opaque, 
+the fragments of the instruments Harry had thrown to 
+the floor glistened like raindrops, and behind him, the 
+baby Fawkes made soft chirruping noises in his nest 
+of ashes. 
+
+“The prophecy’s smashed,” Harry said blankly. “I was 
+pulling Neville up those benches in the — the room 
+where the archway was, and I ripped his robes and it 
+fell...” 
+
+“The thing that smashed was merely the record of the 
+prophecy kept by the Department of Mysteries. But 
+the prophecy was made to somebody, and that person 
+has the means of recalling it perfectly.” 
+
+“Who heard it?” asked Harry, though he thought he 
+knew the answer already. 
+
+“I did,” said Dumbledore. “On a cold, wet night 
+sixteen years ago, in a room above the bar at the 
+Hog’s Head Inn. I had gone there to see an applicant 
+for the post of Divination teacher, though it was 
+against my inclination to allow the subject of 
+Divination to continue at all. The applicant, however, 
+was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous, 
+very gifted Seer, and I thought it common politeness 
+to meet her. I was disappointed. It seemed to me that 
+she had not a trace of the gift herself. I told her, 
+courteously I hope, that I did not think she would be 
+suitable for the post. I turned to leave.” 
+
+Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Harry to 
+the black cabinet that stood beside Fawkes’s perch. 
+
+He bent down, slid back a catch, and took from inside 
+it the shallow stone basin, carved with runes around 
+the edges, in which Harry had seen his father 
+Page | 1071Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+tormenting Snape. Dumbledore walked back to the 
+desk, placed the Pensieve upon it, and raised his 
+wand to his own temple. From it, he withdrew silvery, 
+gossamer-fine strands of thought clinging to the 
+wand, and deposited them in the basin. He sat back 
+down behind his desk and watched his thoughts swirl 
+and drift inside the Pensieve for a moment. Then, 
+with a sigh, he raised his wand and prodded the 
+silvery substance with its tip. 
+
+A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes 
+magnified to enormous size behind her glasses, and 
+she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. But when 
+Sibyll Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual 
+ethereal, mystic voice, but in the harsh, hoarse tones 
+Harry had heard her use once before. 
+
+“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord 
+approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied 
+him, born as the seventh month dies . . . and the Dark 
+Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have 
+power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die 
+at the hand of the other for neither can live while the 
+other survives... The one with the power to vanquish 
+the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month 
+dies...” 
+
+The slowly revolving Professor Trelawney sank back 
+into the silver mass below and vanished. 
+
+The silence within the office was absolute. Neither 
+Dumbledore nor Harry nor any of the portraits made 
+a sound. Even Fawkes had fallen silent. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore?” Harry said very quietly, for 
+Dumbledore, still staring at the Pensieve, seemed 
+completely lost in thought. “It ... did that mean ... 
+What did that mean?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It meant,” said Dumbledore, “that the person who 
+has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for 
+good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years 
+ago. This boy would be born to parents who had 
+already defied Voldemort three times.” 
+
+Harry felt as though something was closing in upon 
+him. His breathing seemed difficult again. 
+
+“It means — me?” 
+
+Dumbledore surveyed him for a moment through his 
+glasses. 
+
+“The odd thing is, Harry,” he said softly, “that it may 
+not have meant you at all. Sibyll’s prophecy could 
+have applied to two wizard boys, both born at the end 
+of July that year, both of whom had parents in the 
+Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having 
+narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One, of 
+course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom.” 
+
+“But then . . . but then, why was it my name on the 
+prophecy and not Neville’s?” 
+
+“The official record was relabeled after Voldemort ’s 
+attack on you as a child,” said Dumbledore. “It 
+seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy 
+that Voldemort could only have tried to kill you 
+because he knew you to be the one to whom Sibyll 
+was referring.” 
+
+“Then — it might not be me?” said Harry. 
+
+“I am afraid,” said Dumbledore slowly, looking as 
+though every word cost him a great effort, “that there 
+is no doubt that it is you.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But you said — Neville was born at the end of July 
+too — and his mum and dad — ” 
+
+“You are forgetting the next part of the prophecy, the 
+final identifying feature of the boy who could 
+vanquish Voldemort... Voldemort himself would ‘mark 
+him as his equal.’ And so he did, Harry. He chose 
+you, not Neville. He gave you the scar that has proved 
+both blessing and curse.” 
+
+“But he might have chosen wrong!” said Harry. “He 
+might have marked the wrong person!” 
+
+“He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a 
+danger to him,” said Dumbledore. “And notice this, 
+Harry. He chose, not the pureblood (which, according 
+to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or 
+knowing), but the half-blood, like himself. He saw 
+himself in you before he had ever seen you, and in 
+marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as he 
+intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which 
+have fitted you to escape him not once, but four times 
+so far — something that neither your parents, nor 
+Neville’s parents, ever achieved.” 
+
+“Why did he do it, then?” said Harry, who felt numb 
+and cold. “Why did he try and kill me as a baby? He 
+should have waited to see whether Neville or I looked 
+more dangerous when we were older and tried to kill 
+whoever it was then — ” 
+
+“That might, indeed, have been the more practical 
+course,” said Dumbledore, “except that Voldemort’s 
+information about the prophecy was incomplete. The 
+Hog’s Head Inn, which Sibyll chose for its cheapness, 
+has long attracted, shall we say, a more interesting 
+clientele than the Three Broomsticks. As you and 
+your friends found out to your cost, and I to mine 
+that night, it is a place where it is never safe to 
+Page | 1074Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+assume you are not being overheard. Of course, I had 
+not dreamed, when I set out to meet Sibyll Trelawney, 
+that I would hear anything worth overhearing. My — 
+our — one stroke of good fortune was that the 
+eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the 
+prophecy and thrown from the building.” 
+
+“So he only heard ... ?” 
+
+“He heard only the first part, the part foretelling the 
+birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied 
+Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn his 
+master that to attack you would be to risk 
+transferring power to you — again marking you as his 
+equal. So Voldemort never knew that there might be 
+danger in attacking you, that it might be wise to wait 
+or to learn more. He did not know that you would 
+have ‘power the Dark Lord knows not’ — ” 
+
+“But I don’t!” said Harry in a strangled voice. “I 
+haven’t any powers he hasn’t got, I couldn’t fight the 
+way he did tonight, I can’t possess people or — or kill 
+them — ” 
+
+“There is a room in the Department of Mysteries,” 
+interrupted Dumbledore, “that is kept locked at all 
+times. It contains a force that is at once more 
+wonderful and more terrible than death, than human 
+intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, 
+the most mysterious of the many subjects for study 
+that reside there. It is the power held within that 
+room that you possess in such quantities and which 
+Voldemort has not at all. That power took you to save 
+Sirius tonight. That power also saved you from 
+possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear 
+to reside in a body so full of the force he detests. In 
+the end, it mattered not that you could not close your 
+mind. It was your heart that saved you.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry closed his eyes. If he had not gone to save 
+Sirius, Sirius would not have died... More to stave off 
+the moment when he would have to think of Sirius 
+again, Harry asked, without caring much about the 
+answer, “The end of the prophecy ... it was something 
+about ... ‘neither can live...’ ” 
+
+“ ‘... while the other survives,’ ” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“So,” said Harry, dredging up the words from what felt 
+like a deep well of despair inside him, “so does that 
+mean that . . . that one of us has got to kill the other 
+one ... in the end?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+For a long time, neither of them spoke. Somewhere 
+far beyond the office walls, Harry could hear the 
+sound of voices, students heading down to the Great 
+Hall for an early breakfast, perhaps. It seemed 
+impossible that there could be people in the world 
+who still desired food, who laughed, who neither knew 
+nor cared that Sirius Black was gone forever. Sirius 
+seemed a million miles away already, even if a part of 
+Harry still believed that if he had only pulled back 
+that veil, he would have found Sirius looking back at 
+him, greeting him, perhaps, with his laugh like a 
+bark. . . 
+
+“I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry,” said 
+Dumbledore hesitantly. “You may, perhaps, have 
+wondered why I never chose you as a prefect? I must 
+confess ... that I rather thought ... you had enough 
+responsibility to be going on with.” 
+
+Harry looked up at him and saw a tear trickling down 
+Dumbledore ’s face into his long silver beard. 
+
+
+
+Page | 1076Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND WAR BEGINS 
+
+HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED RETURNS 
+
+In a brief statement Friday night, Minister of Magic 
+Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be 
+Named has returned to this country and is active 
+once more. 
+
+“It is with great regret that I must confirm that the 
+wizard styling himself Lord — well, you know who I 
+mean — is alive and among us again,” said Fudge, 
+looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters. 
+“It is with almost equal regret that we report the mass 
+revolt of the dementors of Azkaban, who have shown 
+themselves averse to continuing in the Ministry’s 
+employ. We believe that the dementors are currently 
+taking direction from Lord — Thingy. 
+
+“We urge the magical population to remain vigilant The 
+Ministry is currently publishing guides to elementary 
+home and personal defense that will be delivered free 
+to all Wizarding homes within the coming month. ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+The Minister’s statement was met with dismay and 
+alarm from the Wizarding community, which as 
+recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry 
+assurances that there was “no truth whatsoever in 
+these persistent rumors that You-Know-Who is 
+operating amongst us once more.” 
+
+Details of the events that led to the Ministry 
+turnaround are still hazy, though it is believed that 
+He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and a select band of 
+followers (known as Death Eaters) gained entry to the 
+Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening. 
+
+Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated headmaster of 
+Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 
+reinstated member of the International Confederation 
+of Wizards, and reinstated Chief Warlock of the 
+Wizengamot, was unavailable for comment last night. 
+He has insisted for a year that You-Know-Who was 
+not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but 
+recruiting followers once more for a fresh attempt to 
+seize power. Meanwhile the Boy Who Lived — 
+
+“There you are, Harry, I knew they’d drag you into it 
+somehow,” said Hermione, looking over the top of the 
+paper at him. 
+
+They were in the hospital wing. Harry was sitting on 
+the end of Ron’s bed and they were both listening to 
+Hermione read the front page of the Sunday Prophet. 
+Ginny, whose ankle had been mended in a trice by 
+Madam Pomfrey, was curled up at the foot of 
+Hermione’s bed; Neville, whose nose had likewise 
+been returned to its normal size and shape, was in a 
+chair between the two beds; and Luna, who had 
+dropped in to visit clutching the latest edition of The 
+Quibbler, was reading the magazine upside down and 
+apparently not taking in a word Hermione was saying. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He’s ‘the Boy Who Lived’ again now, though, isn’t 
+he?” said Ron darkly. “Not such a show-off maniac 
+anymore, eh?” 
+
+He helped himself to a handful of Chocolate Frogs 
+from the immense pile on his bedside cabinet, threw a 
+few to Harry, Ginny, and Neville, and ripped off the 
+wrapper of his own with his teeth. There were still 
+deep welts on his forearms where the brain’s tentacles 
+had wrapped around him. According to Madam 
+Pomfrey, thoughts could leave deeper scarring than 
+almost anything else, though since she had started 
+applying copious amounts of Dr. Ubbly’s Oblivious 
+Unction, there seemed to be some improvement. 
+
+“Yes, they’re very complimentary about you now, 
+Harry,” said Hermione, now scanning down the 
+article. “ ‘A lone voice of truth ... perceived as 
+unbalanced, yet never wavered in his story . . . forced to 
+bear ridicule and slander ...’ Hmmm,” said Hermione, 
+frowning, “I notice they don’t mention the fact that it 
+was them doing all the ridiculing and slandering, 
+though...” 
+
+She winced slightly and put a hand to her ribs. The 
+curse Dolohov had used on her, though less effective 
+than it would have been had he been able to say the 
+incantation aloud, had nevertheless caused, in 
+Madam Pomfrey’s words, “quite enough damage to be 
+going on with.” Hermione was having to take ten 
+different types of potion every day and although she 
+was improving greatly, was already bored with the 
+hospital wing. 
+
+“ ‘You-Know- Who’s Last Attempt to Take Over, pages 
+two to four, What the Ministry Should Have Told Us, 
+page five, Why Nobody Listened to Albus Dumbledore, 
+pages six to eight, Exclusive Interview with Harry 
+Potter, page nine ...’ Well,” said Hermione, folding up 
+Page | 1079Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the newspaper and throwing it aside, “it’s certainly 
+given them lots to write about. And that interview 
+with Harry isn’t exclusive, it’s the one that was in The 
+Quibbler months ago...” 
+
+“Daddy sold it to them,” said Luna vaguely, turning a 
+page of The Quibbler. “He got a very good price for it 
+too, so we’re going to go on an expedition to Sweden 
+this summer and see if we can catch a Crumple- 
+Horned Snorkack.” 
+
+Hermione seemed to struggle with herself for a 
+moment, then said, “That sounds lovely.” 
+
+Ginny caught Harry’s eye and looked away quickly, 
+grinning. 
+
+“So anyway,” said Hermione, sitting up a little 
+straighter and wincing again, “what’s going on in 
+school?” 
+
+“Well, Flitwick’s got rid of Fred and George’s swamp,” 
+said Ginny. “He did it in about three seconds. But he 
+left a tiny patch under the window and he’s roped it 
+off—” 
+
+“Why?” said Hermione, looking startled. 
+
+“Oh, he just says it was a really good bit of magic,” 
+said Ginny, shrugging. 
+
+“I think he left it as a monument to Fred and George,” 
+said Ron through a mouthful of chocolate. “They sent 
+me all these, you know,” he told Harry, pointing at 
+the small mountain of Frogs beside him. “Must be 
+doing all right out of that joke shop, eh?” 
+
+Hermione looked rather disapproving and asked, “So 
+has all the trouble stopped now Dumbledore’s back?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Neville, “everything’s settled right back 
+down again.” 
+
+“I s’pose Filch is happy, is he?” asked Ron, propping a 
+Chocolate Frog card featuring Dumbledore against his 
+water jug. 
+
+“Not at all,” said Ginny. “He’s really, really miserable, 
+actually...” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “He 
+keeps saying Umbridge was the best thing that ever 
+happened to Hogwarts...” 
+
+All six of them looked around. Professor Umbridge 
+was lying in a bed opposite them, gazing up at the 
+ceiling. Dumbledore had strode alone into the forest 
+to rescue her from the centaurs. How he had done it 
+— how he had emerged from the trees supporting 
+Professor Umbridge without so much as a scratch on 
+him — nobody knew, and Umbridge was certainly not 
+telling. Since she had returned to the castle she had 
+not, as far as any of them knew, uttered a single 
+word. Nobody really knew what was wrong with her 
+either. Her usually neat mousy hair was very untidy 
+and there were bits of twig and leaf in it, but 
+otherwise she seemed to be quite unscathed. 
+
+“Madam Pomfrey says she’s just in shock,” whispered 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Sulking, more like,” said Ginny 
+
+“Yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this,” said 
+Ron, and with his tongue he made soft clip-clopping 
+noises. Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking wildly 
+around. 
+
+“Anything wrong, Professor?” called Madam Pomfrey, 
+poking her head around her office door. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No ... no ...” said Umbridge, sinking back into her 
+pillows, “no, I must have been dreaming...” 
+
+Hermione and Ginny muffled their laughter in the 
+bedclothes. 
+
+“Speaking of centaurs,” said Hermione, when she had 
+recovered a little, “who’s Divination teacher now? Is 
+Firenze staying?” 
+
+“He’s got to,” said Harry, “the other centaurs won’t 
+take him back, will they?” 
+
+“It looks like he and Trelawney are both going to 
+teach,” said Ginny. 
+
+“Bet Dumbledore wishes he could’ve got rid of 
+Trelawney for good,” said Ron, now munching on his 
+fourteenth Frog. “Mind you, the whole subjects 
+useless if you ask me, Firenze isn’t a lot better...” 
+
+“How can you say that?” Hermione demanded. “After 
+we’ve just found out that there are real prophecies?” 
+
+Harry’s heart began to race. He had not told Ron, 
+Hermione, or anyone else what the prophecy had 
+contained. Neville had told them it had smashed while 
+Harry was pulling him up the steps in the Death 
+Room, and Harry had not yet corrected this 
+impression. He was not ready to see their expressions 
+when he told them that he must be either murderer 
+or victim, there was no other way... 
+
+“It is a pity it broke,” said Hermione quietly, shaking 
+her head. 
+
+“Yeah, it is,” said Ron. “Still, at least You-Know-Who 
+never found out what was in it either — where are 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+you going?” he added, looking both surprised and 
+disappointed as Harry stood up. 
+
+“Er — Hagrid’s,” said Harry. “You know, he just got 
+back and I promised I’d go down and see him and tell 
+him how you two are...” 
+
+“Oh all right then,” said Ron grumpily, looking out of 
+the dormitory window at the patch of bright blue sky 
+beyond. “Wish we could come ...” 
+
+“Say hello to him for us!” called Hermione, as Harry 
+proceeded down the ward. “And ask him what’s 
+happening about ... about his little friend!” 
+
+Harry gave a wave of his hand to show he had heard 
+and understood as he left the dormitory. 
+
+The castle seemed very quiet even for a Sunday. 
+Everybody was clearly out in the sunny grounds, 
+enjoying the end of their exams and the prospect of a 
+last few days of term unhampered by studying or 
+homework. Harry walked slowly along the deserted 
+corridor, peering out of windows as he went. He could 
+see people messing around in the air over the 
+Quidditch pitch and a couple of students swimming 
+in the lake, accompanied by the giant squid. 
+
+He was finding it hard at the moment to decide 
+whether he wanted to be with people or not. 
+
+Whenever he was in company he wanted to get away, 
+and whenever he was alone he wanted company. He 
+thought he might really go and visit Hagrid, though; 
+he had not talked to him properly since he had 
+returned... 
+
+Harry had just descended the last marble step into 
+the entrance hall when Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle 
+emerged from a door on the right that Harry knew led 
+
+Page | 1083Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+down to the Slytherin common room. Harry stopped 
+dead; so did Malfoy and the others. For a few 
+moments, the only sounds were the shouts, laughter, 
+and splashes drifting into the hall from the grounds 
+through the open front doors. 
+
+Malfoy glanced around. Harry knew he was checking 
+for signs of teachers. Then he looked back at Harry 
+and said in a low voice, “You’re dead, Potter.” 
+
+Harry raised his eyebrows. “Funny,” he said, “you’d 
+think I’d have stopped walking around...” 
+
+Malfoy looked angrier than Harry had ever seen him. 
+He felt a kind of detached satisfaction at the sight of 
+his pale, pointed face contorted with rage. 
+
+“You’re going to pay,” said Malfoy in a voice barely 
+louder than a whisper. “I’m going to make you pay for 
+what you’ve done to my father...” 
+
+“Well, I’m terrified now,” said Harry sarcastically. “I 
+s’pose Lord Voldemort’s just a warm-up act compared 
+to you three — what’s the matter?” he said, for 
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had all looked stricken at 
+the sound of the name. “He’s your dad’s mate, isn’t 
+he? Not scared of him, are you?” 
+
+“You think you’re such a big man, Potter,” said 
+Malfoy, advancing now, Crabbe and Goyle flanking 
+him. “You wait. I’ll have you. You can’t land my father 
+in prison — ” 
+
+“I thought I just had,” said Harry. 
+
+“The dementors have left Azkaban,” said Malfoy 
+quietly. “Dad and the others’ll be out in no time...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, I expect they will,” said Harry. “Still, at least 
+everyone knows what scumbags they are now — ” 
+
+Malfoy’s hand flew toward his wand, but Harry was 
+too quick for him. He had drawn his own wand before 
+Malfoy’s fingers had even entered the pocket of his 
+robes. 
+
+“Potter!” 
+
+The voice rang across the entrance hall; Snape had 
+emerged from the staircase leading down to his office, 
+and at the sight of him Harry felt a great rush of 
+hatred beyond anything he felt toward Malfoy . . . 
+Whatever Dumbledore said, he would never forgive 
+Snape ... never ... 
+
+“What are you doing, Potter?” said Snape coldly as 
+ever, as he strode over to the four of them. 
+
+“I’m trying to decide what curse to use on Malfoy, sir,” 
+said Harry fiercely. 
+
+Snape stared at him. 
+
+“Put that wand away at once,” he said curtly. “Ten 
+points from Gryff — ” 
+
+Snape looked toward the giant hourglasses on the 
+walls and gave a sneering smile. 
+
+“Ah. I see there are no longer any points left in the 
+Gryffindor hourglass to take away. In that case, 
+
+Potter, we will simply have to — ” 
+
+“Add some more?” 
+
+Professor McGonagall had just stumped up the stone 
+steps into the castle. She was carrying a tartan 
+
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+
+
+
+
+carpetbag in one hand and leaning heavily on a 
+walking stick with her other, but otherwise looked 
+quite well. 
+
+“Professor McGonagall!” said Snape, striding forward. 
+“Out of St. Mungo’s, I see!” 
+
+“Yes, Professor Snape,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+shrugging off her traveling cloak, “I’m quite as good as 
+new. You two — Crabbe — Goyle — ” 
+
+She beckoned them forward imperiously and they 
+came, shuffling their large feet and looking awkward. 
+
+“Here,” said Professor McGonagall, thrusting her 
+carpetbag into Crabbe ’s chest and her cloak into 
+Goyle’s, “take these up to my office for me.” 
+
+They turned and stumped away up the marble 
+staircase. 
+
+“Right then,” said Professor McGonagall, looking up 
+at the hourglasses on the wall, “well, I think Potter 
+and his friends ought to have fifty points apiece for 
+alerting the world to the return of You- Know- Who! 
+What say you, Professor Snape?” 
+
+“What?” snapped Snape, though Harry knew he had 
+heard perfectly well. “Oh — well — I suppose ...” 
+
+“So that’s fifty each for Potter, the two Weasleys, 
+Longbottom, and Miss Granger,” said Professor 
+McGonagall, and a shower of rubies fell down into the 
+bottom bulb of Gryffindor’s hourglass as she spoke. 
+
+“Oh — and fifty for Miss Lovegood, I suppose,” she 
+added, and a number of sapphires fell into 
+Ravenclaw’s glass. “Now, you wanted to take ten from 
+Mr. Potter, I think, Professor Snape — so there we 
+are...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+A few rubies retreated into the upper bulb, leaving a 
+respectable amount below nevertheless. 
+
+
+
+“Well, Potter, Malfoy, I think you ought to be outside 
+on a glorious day like this,” Professor McGonagall 
+continued briskly. 
+
+Harry did not need telling twice. He thrust his wand 
+back inside his robes and headed straight for the 
+front doors without another glance at Snape and 
+Malfoy. 
+
+The hot sun hit him with a blast as he walked across 
+the lawns toward Hagrid’s cabin. Students lying 
+around on the grass sunbathing, talking, reading the 
+Sunday Prophet, and eating sweets looked up at him 
+as he passed. Some called out to him, or else waved, 
+clearly eager to show that they, like the Prophet, had 
+decided he was something of a hero. Harry said 
+nothing to any of them. He had no idea how much 
+they knew of what had happened three days ago, but 
+he had so far avoided being questioned and preferred 
+it that way. 
+
+He thought at first when he knocked on Hagrid’s 
+cabin door that he was out, but then Fang came 
+charging around the corner and almost bowled him 
+over with the enthusiasm of his welcome. Hagrid, it 
+transpired, was picking runner beans in his back 
+garden. 
+
+“All righ’, Harry!” he said, beaming, when Harry 
+approached the fence. “Come in, come in, we’ll have a 
+cup o’ dandelion juice... 
+
+“How’s things?” Hagrid asked him, as they settled 
+down at his wooden table with a glass apiece of iced 
+juice. “You — er — feelin’ all righ’, are yeh?” 
+
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+
+Harry knew from the look of concern on Hagrid’s face 
+that he was not referring to Harry’s physical well- 
+being. 
+
+“I’m fine,” Harry said quickly, because he could not 
+bear to discuss the thing that he knew was in 
+Hagrid’s mind. “So, where’ve you been?” 
+
+“Bin hidin’ out in the mountains,” said Hagrid. “Up in 
+a cave, like Sirius did when he — ” 
+
+Hagrid broke off, cleared his throat gruffly, looked at 
+Harry, and took a long draft of juice. 
+
+“Anyway, back now,” he said feebly. 
+
+“You — you look better,” said Harry, who was 
+determined to keep the conversation moving away 
+from Sirius. 
+
+“Wha?” said Hagrid, raising a massive hand and 
+feeling his face. “Oh — oh yeah. Well, Grawpy’s loads 
+better behaved now, loads. Seemed right pleased ter 
+see me when I got back, ter tell yeh the truth. He’s a 
+good lad, really... I’ve bin thinkin’ abou’ tryin’ ter find 
+him a lady friend, actually...” 
+
+Harry would normally have tried to persuade Hagrid 
+out of this idea at once. The prospect of a second 
+giant taking up residence in the forest, possibly even 
+wilder and more brutal than Grawp, was positively 
+alarming, but somehow Harry could not muster the 
+energy necessary to argue the point. He was starting 
+to wish he was alone again, and with the idea of 
+hastening his departure he took several large gulps of 
+his dandelion juice, half emptying his glass. 
+
+
+
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+
+“Ev’ryone knows you’ve bin tellin’ the truth now, 
+Harry,” said Hagrid softly and unexpectedly. “Tha’s 
+gotta be better, hasn’ it?” 
+
+Harry shrugged. 
+
+“Look ...” Hagrid leaned toward him across the table, 
+“I knew Sirius longer ’n you did... He died in battle, 
+an’ tha’s the way he’d’ve wanted ter go — ” 
+
+“He didn’t want to go at all!” said Harry angrily. 
+
+Hagrid bowed his great shaggy head. 
+
+“Nah, I don’ reckon he did,” he said quietly. “But still, 
+Harry ... he was never one ter sit around at home an’ 
+let other people do the fightin’. He couldn’ have lived 
+with himself if he hadn’ gone ter help — ” 
+
+Harry leapt up again. 
+
+“I’ve got to go and visit Ron and Hermione in the 
+hospital wing,” he said mechanically. 
+
+“Oh,” said Hagrid, looking rather upset. “Oh ... all 
+righ then, Harry ... Take care of yerself then, an’ drop 
+back in if yeh’ve got a mo...” 
+
+“Yeah ... right ...” 
+
+Harry crossed to the door as fast as he could and 
+pulled it open. He was out in the sunshine again 
+before Hagrid had finished saying goodbye and 
+walked away across the lawn. Once again, people 
+called out to him as he passed. He closed his eyes for 
+a few moments, wishing they would all vanish, that 
+he could open his eyes and find himself alone in the 
+grounds... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+A few days ago, before his exams had finished and he 
+had seen the vision Voldemort had planted in his 
+mind, he would have given almost anything for the 
+Wizarding world to know that he had been telling the 
+truth, for them to believe that Voldemort was back 
+and know that he was neither a liar nor mad. Now, 
+however ... 
+
+He walked a short way around the lake, sat down on 
+its bank, sheltered from the gaze of passersby behind 
+a tangle of shrubs, and stared out over the gleaming 
+water, thinking... 
+
+Perhaps the reason he wanted to be alone was 
+because he had felt isolated from everybody since his 
+talk with Dumbledore. An invisible barrier separated 
+him from the rest of the world. He was — he had 
+always been — a marked man. It was just that he had 
+never really understood what that meant... 
+
+And yet sitting here on the edge of the lake, with the 
+terrible weight of grief dragging at him, with the loss 
+of Sirius so raw and fresh inside, he could not muster 
+any great sense of fear. It was sunny and the grounds 
+around him were full of laughing people, and even 
+though he felt as distant from them as though he 
+belonged to a different race, it was still very hard to 
+believe as he sat here that his life must include, or 
+end in, murder... 
+
+He sat there for a long time, gazing out at the water, 
+trying not to think about his godfather or to 
+remember that it was directly across from here, on 
+the opposite bank, that Sirius had collapsed trying to 
+fend off a hundred dementors... 
+
+The sun had fallen before he realized that he was 
+cold. He got up and returned to the castle, wiping his 
+face on his sleeve as he went. 
+
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+
+Ron and Hermione left the hospital wing completely 
+cured three days before the end of term. Hermione 
+showed signs of wanting to talk about Sirius, but Ron 
+tended to make hushing noises every time she 
+mentioned his name. Harry was not sure whether or 
+not he wanted to talk about his godfather yet; his 
+wishes varied with his mood. He knew one thing, 
+though: Unhappy as he felt at the moment, he would 
+greatly miss Hogwarts in a few days’ time when he 
+was back at number four, Privet Drive. Even though 
+he now understood exactly why he had to return 
+there every summer, he did not feel any better about 
+it. Indeed, he had never dreaded his return more. 
+
+Professor Umbridge left Hogwarts the day before the 
+end of term. It seemed that she had crept out of the 
+hospital wing during dinnertime, evidently hoping to 
+depart undetected, but unfortunately for her, she met 
+Peeves on the way, who seized his last chance to do 
+as Fred had instructed and chased her gleefully from 
+the premises, whacking her alternately with a walking 
+stick and a sock full of chalk. Many students ran out 
+into the entrance hall to watch her running away 
+down the path, and the Heads of Houses tried only 
+halfheartedly to restrain their pupils. Indeed, 
+
+Professor McGonagall sank back into her chair at the 
+staff table after a few feeble remonstrances and was 
+clearly heard to express a regret that she could not 
+run cheering after Umbridge herself, because Peeves 
+had borrowed her walking stick. 
+
+Their last evening at school arrived; most people had 
+finished packing and were already heading down to 
+the end-of-term feast, but Harry had not even started. 
+
+“Just do it tomorrow!” said Ron, who was waiting by 
+the door of their dormitory. “Come on, I’m starving...” 
+
+“I won’t be long... Look, you go ahead...” 
+
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+
+But when the dormitory door closed behind Ron, 
+Harry made no effort to speed up his packing. The 
+very last thing he wanted to do was to attend the end- 
+of-term feast. He was worried that Dumbledore would 
+make some reference to him in his speech. He was 
+sure to mention Voldemort’s return; he had talked to 
+them about it last year, after all... 
+
+Harry pulled some crumpled robes out of the very 
+bottom of his trunk to make way for folded ones and, 
+as he did so, noticed a badly wrapped package lying 
+in a corner of it. He could not think what it was doing 
+there. He bent down, pulled it out from underneath 
+his trainers, and examined it. 
+
+He realized what it was within seconds. Sirius had 
+given it to him just inside the front door of twelve 
+Grimmauld Place. Use it if you need me, all right? 
+
+Harry sank down onto his bed and unwrapped the 
+package. Out fell a small, square mirror. It looked old; 
+it was certainly dirty. Harry held it up to his face and 
+saw his own reflection looking back at him. 
+
+He turned the mirror over. There on the reverse side 
+was a scribbled note from Sirius. 
+
+This is a two-way mirror. I’ve got the other. If you need 
+to speak to me, just say my name into it; you’ll appear 
+in my mirror and I’ll be able to talk in yours. James 
+and I used to use them when we were in separate 
+detentions. 
+
+And Harry’s heart began to race. He remembered 
+seeing his dead parents in the Mirror of Erised four 
+years ago. He was going to be able to talk to Sirius 
+again, right now, he knew it — 
+
+
+
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+
+He looked around to make sure there was nobody else 
+there; the dormitory was quite empty. He looked back 
+at the mirror, raised it in front of his face with 
+trembling hands, and said, loudly and clearly, 
+
+“Sirius.” 
+
+His breath misted the surface of the glass. He held 
+the mirror even closer, excitement flooding through 
+him, but the eyes blinking back at him through the 
+fog were definitely his own. 
+
+He wiped the mirror clear again and said, so that 
+every syllable rang clearly through the room, “Sirius 
+Black!” 
+
+Nothing happened. The frustrated face looking back 
+out of the mirror was still, definitely, his own... 
+
+Sirius didn’t have his mirror on him when he went 
+through the archway, said a small voice in Harry’s 
+head. That’s why it’s not working... 
+
+Harry remained quite still for a moment, then hurled 
+the mirror back into the trunk where it shattered. He 
+had been convinced, for a whole, shining minute, that 
+he was going to see Sirius, talk to him again... 
+
+Disappointment was burning in his throat. He got up 
+and began throwing his things pell-mell into the 
+trunk on top of the broken mirror — 
+
+But then an idea struck him... A better idea than a 
+mirror ... A much bigger, more important idea . . . How 
+had he never thought of it before — why had he never 
+asked? 
+
+He was sprinting out of the dormitory and down the 
+spiral staircase, hitting the walls as he ran and barely 
+noticing. He hurtled across the empty common room, 
+
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+
+through the portrait hole and off along the corridor, 
+ignoring the Fat Lady, who called after him, “The feast 
+is about to start, you know, you’re cutting it very 
+fine!” 
+
+But Harry had no intention of going to the feast . . . 
+
+How could it be that the place was full of ghosts 
+whenever you didn’t need one, yet now ... 
+
+He ran down staircases and along corridors and met 
+nobody either alive or dead. They were all, clearly, in 
+the Great Hall. Outside his Charms classroom he 
+came to a halt, panting and thinking disconsolately 
+that he would have to wait until later, until after the 
+end of the feast . . . 
+
+But just as he had given up hope he saw it — a 
+translucent somebody drifting across the end of the 
+corridor. 
+
+“Hey — hey Nick! NICK!” 
+
+The ghost stuck its head back out of the wall, 
+revealing the extravagantly plumed hat and 
+dangerously wobbling head of Sir Nicholas de Mimsy- 
+Porpington. 
+
+“Good evening,” he said, withdrawing the rest of his 
+body from the solid stone and smiling at Harry. “I am 
+not the only one who is late, then? Though,” he 
+sighed, “in rather different senses, of course ...” 
+
+“Nick, can I ask you something?” 
+
+A most peculiar expression stole over Nearly Headless 
+Nick’s face as he inserted a finger in the stiff ruff at 
+his neck and tugged it a little straighter, apparently to 
+give himself thinking time. He desisted only when his 
+
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+
+
+
+partially severed neck seemed about to give way 
+completely. 
+
+
+
+“Er — now, Harry?” said Nick, looking discomforted. 
+“Can’t it wait until after the feast?” 
+
+“No — Nick — please,” said Harry, “I really need to 
+talk to you. Can we go in here?” 
+
+Harry opened the door of the nearest classroom and 
+Nearly Headless Nick sighed. 
+
+“Oh very well,” he said, looking resigned. “I can’t 
+pretend I haven’t been expecting it.” 
+
+Harry was holding the door open for him, but he 
+drifted through the wall instead. 
+
+“Expecting what?” Harry asked, as he closed the door. 
+
+“You to come and find me,” said Nick, now gliding 
+over to the window and looking out at the darkening 
+grounds. “It happens, sometimes ... when somebody 
+has suffered a ... loss.” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, refusing to be deflected. “You were 
+right, I’ve — I’ve come to find you.” 
+
+Nick said nothing. 
+
+“It’s — ” said Harry, who was finding this more 
+awkward than he had anticipated, “it’s just — you’re 
+dead. But you’re still here, aren’t you?” 
+
+Nick sighed and continued to gaze out at the grounds. 
+
+“That’s right, isn’t it?” Harry urged him. “You died, 
+but I’m talking to you... You can walk around 
+Hogwarts and everything, can’t you?” 
+
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+
+
+“Yes,” said Nearly Headless Nick quietly, “I walk and 
+talk, yes.” 
+
+“So, you came back, didn’t you?” said Harry urgently. 
+“People can come back, right? As ghosts. They don’t 
+have to disappear completely. Well?” he added 
+impatiently, when Nick continued to say nothing. 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick hesitated, then said, “Not 
+everyone can come back as a ghost.” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“Only ... only wizards.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry, and he almost laughed with relief. 
+“Well, that’s okay then, the person I’m asking about is 
+a wizard. So he can come back, right?” 
+
+Nick turned away from the window and looked 
+mournfully at Harry. “He won’t come back.” 
+
+“Who?” 
+
+“Sirius Black,” said Nick. 
+
+“But you did!” said Harry angrily. “You came back — 
+you’re dead and you didn’t disappear — ” 
+
+“Wizards can leave an imprint of themselves upon the 
+earth, to walk palely where their living selves once 
+trod,” said Nick miserably. “But very few wizards 
+choose that path.” 
+
+“Why not?” said Harry. “Anyway — it doesn’t matter 
+— Sirius won’t care if it’s unusual, he’ll come back, I 
+know he will!” 
+
+
+
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+And so strong was his belief that Harry actually 
+turned his head to check the door, sure, for a split 
+second, that he was going to see Sirius, pearly white 
+and transparent but beaming, walking through it 
+toward him. 
+
+“He will not come back,” repeated Nick quietly. “He 
+will have ... gone on.” 
+
+“What d’you mean, ‘gone on’?” said Harry quickly. 
+“Gone on where? Listen — what happens when you 
+die, anyway? Where do you go? Why doesn’t everyone 
+come back? Why isn’t this place full of ghosts? Why 
+— ?” 
+
+“I cannot answer,” said Nick. 
+
+“You’re dead, aren’t you?” said Harry exasperatedly. 
+“Who can answer better than you?” 
+
+“I was afraid of death,” said Nick. “I chose to remain 
+behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn’t to 
+have ... Well, that is neither here nor there... In fact, I 
+am neither here nor there...” He gave a small sad 
+chuckle. “I know nothing of the secrets of death, 
+
+Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead. I 
+believe learned wizards study the matter in the 
+Department of Mysteries — ” 
+
+“Don’t talk to me about that place!” said Harry 
+fiercely. 
+
+“I am sorry not to have been more help,” said Nick 
+gently. “Well ... well, do excuse me ... the feast, you 
+know ...” 
+
+And he left the room, leaving Harry there alone, 
+gazing blankly at the wall through which Nick had 
+disappeared. 
+
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+
+Harry felt almost as though he had lost his godfather 
+all over again in losing the hope that he might be able 
+to see or speak to him once more. He walked slowly 
+and miserably back up through the empty castle, 
+wondering whether he would ever feel cheerful again. 
+
+He had turned the corner toward the Fat Lady’s 
+corridor when he saw somebody up ahead fastening a 
+note to a board on the wall. A second glance showed 
+him that it was Luna. There were no good hiding 
+places nearby, she was bound to have heard his 
+footsteps, and in any case, Harry could hardly muster 
+the energy to avoid anyone at the moment. 
+
+“Hello,” said Luna vaguely, glancing around at him as 
+she stepped back from the notice. 
+
+“How come you’re not at the feast?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Well, I’ve lost most of my possessions,” said Luna 
+serenely. “People take them and hide them, you know. 
+But as it’s the last night, I really do need them back, 
+so I’ve been putting up signs.” 
+
+She gestured toward the notice board, upon which, 
+sure enough, she had pinned a list of all her missing 
+books and clothes, with a plea for their return. 
+
+An odd feeling rose in Harry — an emotion quite 
+different from the anger and grief that had filled him 
+since Sirius’s death. It was a few moments before he 
+realized that he was feeling sorry for Luna. 
+
+“How come people hide your stuff?” he asked her, 
+frowning. 
+
+“Oh ... well ...” She shrugged. “I think they think I’m a 
+bit odd, you know. Some people call me ‘Loony’ 
+Lovegood, actually.” 
+
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+Harry looked at her and the new feeling of pity 
+intensified rather painfully. 
+
+“That’s no reason for them to take your things,” he 
+said flatly. “D’you want help finding them?” 
+
+“Oh no,” she said, smiling at him. “They’ll come back, 
+they always do in the end. It was just that I wanted to 
+pack tonight. Anyway ... why aren’t you at the feast?” 
+
+Harry shrugged. “Just didn’t feel like it.” 
+
+“No,” said Luna, observing him with those oddly 
+misty, protuberant eyes. “I don’t suppose you do. 
+
+That man the Death Eaters killed was your godfather, 
+wasn’t he? Ginny told me.” 
+
+Harry nodded curtly, but found that for some reason 
+he did not mind Luna talking about Sirius. He had 
+just remembered that she too could see thestrals. 
+
+“Have you ...” he began. “I mean, who ... has anyone 
+you’ve known ever died?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Luna simply, “my mother. She was a quite 
+extraordinary witch, you know, but she did like to 
+experiment and one of her spells went rather badly 
+wrong one day. I was nine.” 
+
+“I’m sorry,” Harry mumbled. 
+
+“Yes, it was rather horrible,” said Luna 
+conversationally. “I still feel very sad about it 
+sometimes. But I’ve still got Dad. And anyway, it’s not 
+as though I’ll never see Mum again, is it?” 
+
+“Er — isn’t it?” said Harry uncertainly. 
+
+
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+She shook her head in disbelief. “Oh, come on. You 
+heard them, just behind the veil, didn’t you?” 
+
+“You mean ...” 
+
+“In that room with the archway. They were just 
+lurking out of sight, that’s all. You heard them.” 
+
+They looked at each other. Luna was smiling slightly. 
+Harry did not know what to say, or to think. Luna 
+believed so many extraordinary things . . . yet he had 
+been sure he had heard voices behind the veil too... 
+
+“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you look for 
+your stuff?” he said. 
+
+“Oh no,” said Luna. “No, I think I’ll just go down and 
+have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up... It 
+always does in the end... Well, have a nice holiday, 
+Harry.” 
+
+“Yeah ... yeah, you too.” 
+
+She walked away from him, and as he watched her 
+go, he found that the terrible weight in his stomach 
+seemed to have lessened slightly. 
+
+The journey home on the Hogwarts Express next day 
+was eventful in several ways. Firstly, Malfoy, Crabbe, 
+and Goyle, who had clearly been waiting all week for 
+the opportunity to strike without teacher witnesses, 
+attempted to ambush Harry halfway down the train 
+as he made his way back from the toilet. The attack 
+might have succeeded had it not been for the fact that 
+they unwittingly chose to stage the attack right 
+outside a compartment full of D.A. members, who saw 
+what was happening through the glass and rose as 
+one to rush to Harry’s aid. By the time Ernie 
+Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Justin 
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+
+Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot 
+had finished using a wide variety of the hexes and 
+jinxes Harry had taught them, Malfoy, Crabbe, and 
+Goyle resembled nothing so much as three gigantic 
+slugs squeezed into Hogwarts uniforms as Harry, 
+
+Ernie, and Justin hoisted them into the luggage rack 
+and left them there to ooze. 
+
+“I must say, I’m looking forward to seeing Malfoy’s 
+mother’s face when he gets off the train,” said Ernie 
+with some satisfaction, as he watched Malfoy squirm 
+above him. Ernie had never quite got over the 
+indignity of Malfoy docking points from Hufflepuff 
+during his brief spell as a member of the Inquisitorial 
+Squad. 
+
+“Goyle’s mum’ll be really pleased, though,” said Ron, 
+who had come to investigate the source of the 
+commotion. “He’s loads betterlooking now... Anyway, 
+Harry, the food trolley’s just stopped if you want 
+anything...” 
+
+Harry thanked the others and accompanied Ron back 
+to their compartment, where he bought a large pile of 
+Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties. Hermione was 
+reading the Daily Prophet again, Ginny was doing a 
+quiz in The Quibbler, and Neville was stroking his 
+Mimbulus mimbletonia, which had grown a great deal 
+over the year and now made odd crooning noises 
+when touched. 
+
+Harry and Ron whiled away most of the journey 
+playing wizard chess while Hermione read out 
+snippets from the Prophet It was now full of articles 
+about how to repel dementors, attempts by the 
+Ministry to track down Death Eaters, and hysterical 
+letters claiming that the writer had seen Lord 
+Voldemort walking past their house that very 
+morning. . . 
+
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+
+“It hasn’t really started yet,” sighed Hermione 
+gloomily, folding up the newspaper again. “But it 
+won’t be long now...” 
+
+“Hey, Harry,” said Ron, nodding toward the glass 
+window onto the corridor. 
+
+Harry looked around. Cho was passing, accompanied 
+by Marietta Edgecombe, who was wearing a balaclava. 
+His and Cho’s eyes met for a moment. Cho blushed 
+and kept walking. Harry looked back down at the 
+chessboard just in time to see one of his pawns 
+chased off its square by Ron’s knight. 
+
+“What’s — er — going on with you and her anyway?” 
+Ron asked quietly. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry truthfully. 
+
+“I — er — heard she’s going out with someone else 
+now,” said Hermione tentatively. 
+
+Harry was surprised to find that this information did 
+not hurt at all. Wanting to impress Cho seemed to 
+belong to a past that was no longer quite connected 
+with him. So much of what he had wanted before 
+Sirius’s death felt that way these days... The week 
+that had elapsed since he had last seen Sirius seemed 
+to have lasted much, much longer: It stretched across 
+two universes, the one with Sirius in it, and the one 
+without. 
+
+“You’re well out of it, mate,” said Ron forcefully. “I 
+mean, she’s quite good-looking and all that, but you 
+want someone a bit more cheerful.” 
+
+“She’s probably cheerful enough with someone else,” 
+said Harry, shrugging. 
+
+
+
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+“Who’s she with now anyway?” Ron asked Hermione, 
+but it was Ginny who answered. 
+
+“Michael Corner,” she said. 
+
+“Michael — but — ” said Ron, craning around in his 
+seat to stare at her. “But you were going out with 
+him!” 
+
+“Not anymore,” said Ginny resolutely. “He didn’t like 
+Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch and got 
+really sulky, so I ditched him and he ran off to 
+comfort Cho instead.” She scratched her nose 
+absently with the end of her quill, turned The 
+Quibbler upside down, and began marking her 
+answers. Ron looked highly delighted. 
+
+“Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot,” he 
+said, prodding his queen forward toward Harry’s 
+quivering castle. “Good for you. Just choose someone 
+— better — next time.” 
+
+He cast Harry an oddly furtive look as he said it. 
+
+“Well, I’ve chosen Dean Thomas, would you say he’s 
+better?” asked Ginny vaguely. 
+
+“WHAT?” shouted Ron, upending the chessboard. 
+Crookshanks went plunging after the pieces and 
+Hedwig and Pigwidgeon twittered and hooted angrily 
+from overhead. 
+
+As the train slowed down in the approach to King’s 
+Cross, Harry thought he had never wanted to leave it 
+less. He even wondered fleetingly what would happen 
+if he simply refused to get off, but remained 
+stubbornly sitting there until the first of September, 
+when it would take him back to Hogwarts. When it 
+finally puffed to a standstill, however, he lifted down 
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+
+Hedwig’s cage and prepared to drag his trunk from 
+the train as usual. 
+
+When the ticket inspector signaled to him, Ron, and 
+Hermione that it was safe to walk through the 
+magical barrier between platforms nine and ten, 
+however, he found a surprise awaiting him on the 
+other side: a group of people standing there to greet 
+him whom he had not expected at all. 
+
+There was Mad-Eye Moody, looking quite as sinister 
+with his bowler hat pulled low over his magical eye as 
+he would have done without it, his gnarled hands 
+clutching a long staff, his body wrapped in a 
+voluminous traveling cloak. Tonks stood just behind 
+him, her bright bubble-gum-pink hair gleaming in the 
+sunlight filtering through the dirty glass station 
+ceiling, wearing heavily patched jeans and a bright 
+purple T-shirt bearing the legend THE WEIRD 
+SISTERS. Next to Tonks was Lupin, his face pale, his 
+hair graying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering 
+a shabby jumper and trousers. At the front of the 
+group stood Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, dressed in their 
+Muggle best, and Fred and George, who were both 
+wearing brand-new jackets in some lurid green, scaly 
+material. 
+
+“Ron, Ginny!” called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying forward 
+and hugging her children tightly. “Oh, and Harry dear 
+— how are you?” 
+
+“Fine,” lied Harry, as she pulled him into a tight 
+embrace. Over her shoulder he saw Ron goggling at 
+the twins’ new clothes. 
+
+“What are they supposed to be?” he asked, pointing at 
+the jackets. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Finest dragon skin, little bro,” said Fred, giving his 
+zip a little tweak. “Business is booming and we 
+thought we’d treat ourselves.” 
+
+“Hello, Harry,” said Lupin, as Mrs. Weasley let go of 
+Harry and turned to greet Hermione. 
+
+“Hi,” said Harry. “I didn’t expect ... what are you all 
+doing here?” 
+
+“Well,” said Lupin with a slight smile, “we thought we 
+might have a little chat with your aunt and uncle 
+before letting them take you home.” 
+
+“I dunno if that’s a good idea,” said Harry at once. 
+
+“Oh, I think it is,” growled Moody, who had limped a 
+little closer. “That’ll be them, will it, Potter?” 
+
+He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder; his 
+magical eye was evidently peering through the back of 
+his head and his bowler hat. Harry leaned an inch or 
+so to the left to see where Mad-Eye was pointing and 
+there, sure enough, were the three Dursleys, who 
+looked positively appalled to see Harry’s reception 
+committee. 
+
+“Ah, Harry!” said Mr. Weasley, turning from 
+Hermione’s parents, whom he had been greeting 
+enthusiastically, and who were taking it in turns to 
+hug Hermione. “Well — shall we do it, then?” 
+
+“Yeah, I reckon so, Arthur,” said Moody. 
+
+He and Mr. Weasley took the lead across the station 
+toward the place where the Dursleys stood, 
+apparently rooted to the floor. Hermione disengaged 
+herself gently from her mother to join the group. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Good afternoon,” said Mr. Weasley pleasantly to 
+Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt right in front of him. 
+“You might remember me, my name’s Arthur 
+Weasley.” 
+
+As Mr. Weasley had singlehandedly demolished most 
+of the Dursleys’ living room two years previously, 
+
+Harry would have been very surprised if Uncle Vernon 
+had forgotten him. Sure enough, Uncle Vernon turned 
+a deeper shade of puce and glared at Mr. Weasley, 
+but chose not to say anything, partly, perhaps, 
+because the Dursleys were outnumbered two to one. 
+Aunt Petunia looked both frightened and 
+embarrassed. She kept glancing around, as though 
+terrified somebody she knew would see her in such 
+company. Dudley, meanwhile, seemed to be trying to 
+look small and insignificant, a feat at which he was 
+failing extravagantly. 
+
+“We thought we’d just have a few words with you 
+about Harry,” said Mr. Weasley, still smiling. 
+
+“Yeah,” growled Moody. “About how he’s treated when 
+he’s at your place.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon’s mustache seemed to bristle with 
+indignation. Possibly because the bowler hat gave him 
+the entirely mistaken impression that he was dealing 
+with a kindred spirit, he addressed himself to Moody. 
+
+“I am not aware that it is any of your business what 
+goes on in my house — ” 
+
+“I expect what you’re not aware of would fill several 
+books, Dursley,” growled Moody. 
+
+“Anyway, that’s not the point,” interjected Tonks, 
+whose pink hair seemed to offend Aunt Petunia more 
+than all the rest put together, for she closed her eyes 
+
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+
+
+
+
+rather than look at her. “The point is, if we find out 
+you’ve been horrible to Harry — ” 
+
+“ — and make no mistake, we’ll hear about it,” added 
+Lupin pleasantly. 
+
+“Yes,” said Mr. Weasley, “even if you won’t let Harry 
+use the fellytone — ” 
+
+“ Telephone ,” whispered Hermione. 
+
+“Yeah, if we get any hint that Potter’s been mistreated 
+in any way, you’ll have us to answer to,” said Moody. 
+
+Uncle Vernon swelled ominously. His sense of outrage 
+seemed to outweigh even his fear of this bunch of 
+oddballs. 
+
+“Are you threatening me, sir?” he said, so loudly that 
+passersby actually turned to stare. 
+
+“Yes, I am,” said Mad-Eye, who seemed rather pleased 
+that Uncle Vernon had grasped this fact so quickly. 
+
+“And do I look like the kind of man who can be 
+intimidated?” barked Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“Well ...” said Moody, pushing back his bowler hat to 
+reveal his sinisterly revolving magical eye. Uncle 
+Vernon leapt backward in horror and collided 
+painfully with a luggage trolley. “Yes, I’d have to say 
+you do, Dursley.” 
+
+He turned from Uncle Vernon to Harry. “So, Potter ... 
+give us a shout if you need us. If we don’t hear from 
+you for three days in a row, well send someone 
+along...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Aunt Petunia whimpered piteously. It could not have 
+been plainer that she was thinking of what the 
+neighbors would say if they caught sight of these 
+people marching up the garden path. 
+
+“ T3ye, then, Potter,” said Moody, grasping Harry’s 
+shoulder for a moment with a gnarled hand. 
+
+“Take care, Harry,” said Lupin quietly. “Keep in 
+touch.” 
+
+“Harry, we’ll have you away from there as soon as we 
+can,” Mrs. Weasley whispered, hugging him again. 
+
+“We’ll see you soon, mate,” said Ron anxiously, 
+shaking Harry’s hand. 
+
+“Really soon, Harry,” said Hermione earnestly. “We 
+promise.” 
+
+Harry nodded. He somehow could not find words to 
+tell them what it meant to him, to see them all ranged 
+there, on his side. Instead he smiled, raised a hand in 
+farewell, turned around, and led the way out of the 
+station toward the sunlit street, with Uncle Vernon, 
+Aunt Petunia, and Dudley hurrying along in his wake. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+* J 
+
+
+
+/ 
+
+
+
+
+THE OTHER MINISTER 
+
+It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was 
+sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that 
+was slipping through his brain without leaving the 
+slightest trace of meaning behind. He was waiting for 
+a call from the President of a far distant country, and 
+between wondering when the wretched man would 
+telephone, and trying to suppress unpleasant 
+memories of what had been a very long, tiring, and 
+difficult week, there was not much space in his head 
+for anything else. The more he attempted to focus on 
+the print on the page before him, the more clearly the 
+Prime Minister could see the gloating face of one of 
+his political opponents. This particular opponent had 
+appeared on the news that very day, not only to 
+enumerate all the terrible things that had happened 
+in the last week (as though anyone needed reminding) 
+but also to explain why each and every one of them 
+was the government’s fault. 
+
+The Prime Minister’s pulse quickened at the very 
+thought of these accusations, for they were neither 
+fair nor true. How on earth was his government 
+
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+
+
+
+supposed to have stopped that bridge collapsing? It 
+was outrageous for anybody to suggest that they were 
+not spending enough on bridges. The bridge was 
+fewer than ten years old, and the best experts were at 
+a loss to explain why it had snapped cleanly in two, 
+sending a dozen cars into the watery depths of the 
+river below. And how dare anyone suggest that it was 
+lack of policemen that had resulted in those two very 
+nasty and well-publicized murders? Or that the 
+government should have somehow foreseen the freak 
+hurricane in the West Country that had caused so 
+much damage to both people and property? And was 
+it his fault that one of his Junior Ministers, Herbert 
+Chorley, had chosen this week to act so peculiarly 
+that he was now going to be spending a lot more time 
+with his family? 
+
+“A grim mood has gripped the country,” the opponent 
+had concluded, barely concealing his own broad grin. 
+
+And unfortunately, this was perfectly true. The Prime 
+Minister felt it himself; people really did seem more 
+miserable than usual. Even the weather was dismal; 
+all this chilly mist in the middle of July. ... It wasn’t 
+right, it wasn’t normal. ... 
+
+He turned over the second page of the memo, saw 
+how much longer it went on, and gave it up as a bad 
+job. Stretching his arms above his head he looked 
+around his office mournfully. It was a handsome 
+room, with a fine marble fireplace facing the long sash 
+windows, firmly closed against the unseasonable 
+chill. With a slight shiver, the Prime Minister got up 
+and moved over to the window, looking out at the thin 
+mist that was pressing itself against the glass. It was 
+then, as he stood with his back to the room, that he 
+heard a soft cough behind him. 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He froze, nose to nose with his own scared-looking 
+reflection in the dark glass. He knew that cough. He 
+had heard it before. He turned very slowly to face the 
+empty room. 
+
+“Hello?” he said, trying to sound braver than he felt. 
+
+For a brief moment he allowed himself the impossible 
+hope that nobody would answer him. However, a 
+voice responded at once, a crisp, decisive voice that 
+sounded as though it were reading a prepared 
+statement. It was coming — as the Prime Minister 
+had known at the first cough — from the froglike little 
+man wearing a long silver wig who was depicted in a 
+small, dirty oil painting in the far corner of the room. 
+
+“To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Urgent we meet. 
+Kindly respond immediately. Sincerely, Fudge.” 
+
+The man in the painting looked inquiringly at the 
+Prime Minister. 
+
+“Er,” said the Prime Minister, “listen. ... It’s not a very 
+good time for me. ... I’m waiting for a telephone call, 
+you see . . . from the President of — ” 
+
+“That can be rearranged,” said the portrait at once. 
+The Prime Minister’s heart sank. He had been afraid 
+of that. 
+
+“But I really was rather hoping to speak — ” 
+
+“We shall arrange for the President to forget to call. 
+
+He will telephone tomorrow night instead,” said the 
+little man. “Kindly respond immediately to Mr. 
+
+Fudge.” 
+
+“I ... oh ... very well,” said the Prime Minister weakly. 
+“Yes, I’ll see Fudge.” 
+
+Page | 4 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He hurried back to his desk, straightening his tie as 
+he went. He had barely resumed his seat, and 
+arranged his face into what he hoped was a relaxed 
+and unfazed expression, when bright green flames 
+burst into life in the empty grate beneath his marble 
+mantelpiece. He watched, trying not to betray a flicker 
+of surprise or alarm, as a portly man appeared within 
+the flames, spinning as fast as a top. Seconds later, 
+he had climbed out onto a rather fine antique rug, 
+brushing ash from the sleeves of his long pin-striped 
+cloak, a lime-green bowler hat in his hand. 
+
+“Ah ... Prime Minister,” said Cornelius Fudge, striding 
+forward with his hand outstretched. “Good to see you 
+again.” 
+
+The Prime Minister could not honestly return this 
+compliment, so said nothing at all. He was not 
+remotely pleased to see Fudge, whose occasional 
+appearances, apart from being downright alarming in 
+themselves, generally meant that he was about to 
+hear some very bad news. Furthermore, Fudge was 
+looking distinctly careworn. He was thinner, balder, 
+and grayer, and his face had a crumpled look. The 
+Prime Minister had seen that kind of look in 
+politicians before, and it never boded well. 
+
+“How can I help you?” he said, shaking Fudge’s hand 
+very briefly and gesturing toward the hardest of the 
+chairs in front of the desk. 
+
+“Difficult to know where to begin,” muttered Fudge, 
+pulling up the chair, sitting down, and placing his 
+green bowler upon his knees. “What a week, what a 
+week ...” 
+
+“Had a bad one too, have you?” asked the Prime 
+Minister stiffly, hoping to convey by this that he had 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
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+quite enough on his plate already without any extra 
+helpings from Fudge. 
+
+
+
+“Yes, of course,” said Fudge, rubbing his eyes wearily 
+and looking morosely at the Prime Minister. “I’ve been 
+having the same week you have, Prime Minister. The 
+Brockdale Bridge ... the Bones and Vance murders ... 
+not to mention the ruckus in the West Country ...” 
+
+“You — er — your — I mean to say, some of your 
+people were — were involved in those — those things, 
+were they?” 
+
+Fudge fixed the Prime Minister with a rather stern 
+look. “Of course they were,” he said. “Surely you’ve 
+realized what’s going on?” 
+
+“I ...” hesitated the Prime Minister. 
+
+It was precisely this sort of behavior that made him 
+dislike Fudge’s visits so much. He was, after all, the 
+Prime Minister and did not appreciate being made to 
+feel like an ignorant schoolboy. But of course, it had 
+been like this from his very first meeting with Fudge 
+on his very first evening as Prime Minister. He 
+remembered it as though it were yesterday and knew 
+it would haunt him until his dying day. 
+
+He had been standing alone in this very office, 
+savoring the triumph that was his after so many 
+years of dreaming and scheming, when he had heard 
+a cough behind him, just like tonight, and turned to 
+find that ugly little portrait talking to him, 
+announcing that the Minister of Magic was about to 
+arrive and introduce himself. 
+
+Naturally, he had thought that the long campaign and 
+the strain of the election had caused him to go mad. 
+He had been utterly terrified to find a portrait talking 
+
+Page | 6 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to him, though this had been nothing to how he felt 
+when a self-proclaimed wizard had bounced out of the 
+fireplace and shaken his hand. He had remained 
+speechless throughout Fudge’s kindly explanation 
+that there were witches and wizards still living in 
+secret all over the world and his reassurances that he 
+was not to bother his head about them as the 
+Ministry of Magic took responsibility for the whole 
+Wizarding community and prevented the non-magical 
+population from getting wind of them. It was, said 
+Fudge, a difficult job that encompassed everything 
+from regulations on responsible use of broomsticks to 
+keeping the dragon population under control (the 
+Prime Minister remembered clutching the desk for 
+support at this point). Fudge had then patted the 
+shoulder of the still-dumbstruck Prime Minister in a 
+fatherly sort of way. 
+
+“Not to worry,” he had said, “it’s odds-on you’ll never 
+see me again. I’ll only bother you if there’s something 
+really serious going on our end, something that’s 
+likely to affect the Muggles — the non-magical 
+population, I should say. Otherwise, it’s live and let 
+live. And I must say, you’re taking it a lot better than 
+your predecessor. He tried to throw me out the 
+window, thought I was a hoax planned by the 
+opposition.” 
+
+At this, the Prime Minister had found his voice at last. 
+“You’re — you’re not a hoax, then?” 
+
+It had been his last, desperate hope. 
+
+“No,” said Fudge gently. “No, I’m afraid I’m not. Look.” 
+
+And he had turned the Prime Minister’s teacup into a 
+gerbil. 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+“But,” said the Prime Minister breathlessly, watching 
+his teacup chewing on the corner of his next speech, 
+“but why — why has nobody told me — ?” 
+
+“The Minister of Magic only reveals him- or herself to 
+the Muggle Prime Minister of the day,” said Fudge, 
+poking his wand back inside his jacket. “We find it 
+the best way to maintain secrecy.” 
+
+“But then,” bleated the Prime Minister, “why hasn’t a 
+former Prime Minister warned me — ?” 
+
+At this, Fudge had actually laughed. 
+
+“My dear Prime Minister, are you ever going to tell 
+anybody?” 
+
+Still chortling, Fudge had thrown some powder into 
+the fireplace, stepped into the emerald flames, and 
+vanished with a whooshing sound. The Prime 
+Minister had stood there, quite motionless, and 
+realized that he would never, as long as he lived, dare 
+mention this encounter to a living soul, for who in the 
+wide world would believe him? 
+
+The shock had taken a little while to wear off. For a 
+time, he had tried to convince himself that Fudge had 
+indeed been a hallucination brought on by lack of 
+sleep during his grueling election campaign. In a vain 
+attempt to rid himself of all reminders of this 
+uncomfortable encounter, he had given the gerbil to 
+his delighted niece and instructed his private 
+secretary to take down the portrait of the ugly little 
+man who had announced Fudge’s arrival. To the 
+Prime Minister’s dismay, however, the portrait had 
+proved impossible to remove. When several 
+carpenters, a builder or two, an art historian, and the 
+Chancellor of the Exchequer had all tried 
+unsuccessfully to prise it from the wall, the Prime 
+Page | 8 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Minister had abandoned the attempt and simply 
+resolved to hope that the thing remained motionless 
+and silent for the rest of his term in office. 
+Occasionally he could have sworn he saw out of the 
+corner of his eye the occupant of the painting 
+yawning, or else scratching his nose; even, once or 
+twice, simply walking out of his frame and leaving 
+nothing but a stretch of muddy-brown canvas behind. 
+However, he had trained himself not to look at the 
+picture very much, and always to tell himself firmly 
+that his eyes were playing tricks on him when 
+anything like this happened. 
+
+Then, three years ago, on a night very like tonight, the 
+Prime Minister had been alone in his office when the 
+portrait had once again announced the imminent 
+arrival of Fudge, who had burst out of the fireplace, 
+sopping wet and in a state of considerable panic. 
+Before the Prime Minister could ask why he was 
+dripping all over the Axminster, Fudge had started 
+ranting about a prison the Prime Minister had never 
+heard of, a man named “Serious” Black, something 
+that sounded like “Hogwarts,” and a boy called Harry 
+Potter, none of which made the remotest sense to the 
+Prime Minister. 
+
+"... Fve just come from Azkaban,” Fudge had panted, 
+tipping a large amount of water out of the rim of his 
+bowler hat into his pocket. “Middle of the North Sea, 
+you know, nasty flight . . . the dementors are in 
+uproar” — he shuddered — “they’ve never had a 
+breakout before. Anyway, I had to come to you, Prime 
+Minister. Black’s a known Muggle killer and may be 
+planning to rejoin You-Know-Who. ... But of course, 
+you don’t even know who You-Know-Who is!” He had 
+gazed hopelessly at the Prime Minister for a moment, 
+then said, “Well, sit down, sit down, I’d better fill you 
+in. ... Have a whiskey ...” 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+The Prime Minister rather resented being told to sit 
+down in his own office, let alone offered his own 
+whiskey, but he sat nevertheless. Fudge pulled out 
+his wand, conjured two large glasses full of amber 
+liquid out of thin air, pushed one of them into the 
+Prime Minister’s hand, and drew up a chair. 
+
+Fudge had talked for more than an hour. At one 
+point, he had refused to say a certain name aloud and 
+wrote it instead on a piece of parchment, which he 
+had thrust into the Prime Minister’s whiskey-free 
+hand. When at last Fudge had stood up to leave, the 
+Prime Minister had stood up too. 
+
+“So you think that ...” He had squinted down at the 
+name in his left hand. “Lord Vol — ” 
+
+“ He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named\” snarled Fudge. 
+
+“I’m sorry. ... You think that He-Who-Must-Not-Be- 
+Named is still alive, then?” 
+
+“Well, Dumbledore says he is,” said Fudge, as he had 
+fastened his pin-striped cloak under his chin, “but 
+we’ve never found him. If you ask me, he’s not 
+dangerous unless he’s got support, so it’s Black we 
+ought to be worrying about. You’ll put out that 
+warning, then? Excellent. Well, I hope we don’t see 
+each other again, Prime Minister! Good night.” 
+
+But they had seen each other again. Less than a year 
+later a harassed-looking Fudge had appeared out of 
+thin air in the cabinet room to inform the Prime 
+Minister that there had been a spot of bother at the 
+Kwidditch (or that was what it had sounded like) 
+World Cup and that several Muggles had been 
+“involved,” but that the Prime Minister was not to 
+worry, the fact that You-Know- Who’s Mark had been 
+seen again meant nothing; Fudge was sure it was an 
+Page | 10 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+isolated incident, and the Muggle Liaison Office was 
+dealing with all memory modifications as they spoke. 
+
+“Oh, and I almost forgot,” Fudge had added. “We’re 
+importing three foreign dragons and a sphinx for the 
+Triwizard Tournament, quite routine, but the 
+Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical 
+Creatures tells me that it’s down in the rule book that 
+we have to notify you if we’re bringing highly 
+dangerous creatures into the country.” 
+
+“I — what — dragons?” spluttered the Prime Minister. 
+
+“Yes, three,” said Fudge. “And a sphinx. Well, good 
+day to you.” 
+
+The Prime Minister had hoped beyond hope that 
+dragons and sphinxes would be the worst of it, but 
+no. Less than two years later, Fudge had erupted out 
+of the fire yet again, this time with the news that 
+there had been a mass breakout from Azkaban. 
+
+“A mass breakout?” repeated the Prime Minister 
+hoarsely. 
+
+“No need to worry, no need to worry!” shouted Fudge, 
+already with one foot in the flames. “We’ll have them 
+rounded up in no time — just thought you ought to 
+know!” 
+
+And before the Prime Minister could shout, “Now, wait 
+just one moment!” Fudge had vanished in a shower of 
+green sparks. 
+
+Whatever the press and the opposition might say, the 
+Prime Minister was not a foolish man. It had not 
+escaped his notice that, despite Fudge’s assurances 
+at their first meeting, they were now seeing rather a 
+lot of each other, nor that Fudge was becoming more 
+Page | 11 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+flustered with each visit. Little though he liked to 
+think about the Minister of Magic (or, as he always 
+called Fudge in his head, the Other Minister), the 
+Prime Minister could not help but fear that the next 
+time Fudge appeared it would be with graver news 
+still. The sight, therefore, of Fudge stepping out of the 
+fire once more, looking disheveled and fretful and 
+sternly surprised that the Prime Minister did not 
+know exactly why he was there, was about the worst 
+thing that had happened in the course of this 
+extremely gloomy week. 
+
+“How should I know what’s going on in the — er — 
+Wizarding community?” snapped the Prime Minister 
+now. “I have a country to run and quite enough 
+concerns at the moment without — ” 
+
+“We have the same concerns,” Fudge interrupted. 
+
+“The Brockdale Bridge didn’t wear out. That wasn’t 
+really a hurricane. Those murders were not the work 
+of Muggles. And Herbert Chorley’s family would be 
+safer without him. We are currently making 
+arrangements to have him transferred to St. Mungo’s 
+Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The move 
+should be effected tonight.” 
+
+“What do you ... I’m afraid I ... What?” blustered the 
+Prime Minister. 
+
+Fudge took a great, deep breath and said, “Prime 
+Minister, I am very sorry to have to tell you that he’s 
+back. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back.” 
+
+“Back? When you say ‘back’ ... he’s alive? I mean — ” 
+
+The Prime Minister groped in his memory for the 
+details of that horrible conversation of three years 
+previously, when Fudge had told him about the 
+wizard who was feared above all others, the wizard 
+
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+
+
+
+
+who had committed a thousand terrible crimes before 
+his mysterious disappearance fifteen years earlier. 
+
+“Yes, alive,” said Fudge. “That is — I don’t know — is 
+a man alive if he can’t be killed? I don’t really 
+understand it, and Dumbledore won’t explain 
+properly — but anyway, he’s certainly got a body and 
+is walking and talking and killing, so I suppose, for 
+the purposes of our discussion, yes, he’s alive.” 
+
+The Prime Minister did not know what to say to this, 
+but a persistent habit of wishing to appear well- 
+informed on any subject that came up made him cast 
+around for any details he could remember of their 
+previous conversations. 
+
+“Is Serious Black with — er — He-Who-Must-Not-Be- 
+Named?” 
+
+“Black? Black?” said Fudge distractedly, turning his 
+bowler rapidly in his fingers. “Sirius Black, you 
+mean? Merlin’s beard, no. Black’s dead. Turns out we 
+were — er — mistaken about Black. He was innocent 
+after all. And he wasn’t in league with He-Who-Must- 
+Not-Be-Named either. I mean,” he added defensively, 
+spinning the bowler hat still faster, “all the evidence 
+pointed — we had more than fifty eyewitnesses — but 
+anyway, as I say, he’s dead. Murdered, as a matter of 
+fact. On Ministry of Magic premises. There’s going to 
+be an inquiry, actually. ...” 
+
+To his great surprise, the Prime Minister felt a fleeting 
+stab of pity for Fudge at this point. It was, however, 
+eclipsed almost immediately by a glow of smugness at 
+the thought that, deficient though he himself might 
+be in the area of materializing out of fireplaces, there 
+had never been a murder in any of the government 
+departments under his charge. ... Not yet, anyway ... 
+
+
+
+Page | 13 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+While the Prime Minister surreptitiously touched the 
+wood of his desk, Fudge continued, “But Black’s by- 
+the-by now. The point is, we’re at war, Prime Minister, 
+and steps must be taken.” 
+
+“At war?” repeated the Prime Minister nervously. 
+“Surely that’s a little bit of an overstatement?” 
+
+“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has now been joined by 
+those of his followers who broke out of Azkaban in 
+January,” said Fudge, speaking more and more 
+rapidly and twirling his bowler so fast that it was a 
+lime-green blur. “Since they have moved into the 
+open, they have been wreaking havoc. The Brockdale 
+Bridge — he did it, Prime Minister, he threatened a 
+mass Muggle killing unless I stood aside for him and 
+
+
+
+“Good grief, so it’s your fault those people were killed 
+and I’m having to answer questions about rusted 
+rigging and corroded expansion joints and I don’t 
+know what else!” said the Prime Minister furiously. 
+
+“My fault!” said Fudge, coloring up. “Are you saying 
+you would have caved in to blackmail like that?” 
+
+“Maybe not,” said the Prime Minister, standing up 
+and striding about the room, “but I would have put all 
+my efforts into catching the blackmailer before he 
+committed any such atrocity!” 
+
+“Do you really think I wasn’t already making every 
+effort?” demanded Fudge heatedly. “Every Auror in 
+the Ministry was — and is — trying to find him and 
+round up his followers, but we happen to be talking 
+about one of the most powerful wizards of all time, a 
+wizard who has eluded capture for almost three 
+decades!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 14 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So I suppose you’re going to tell me he caused the 
+hurricane in the West Country too?” said the Prime 
+Minister, his temper rising with every pace he took. It 
+was infuriating to discover the reason for all these 
+terrible disasters and not to be able to tell the public, 
+almost worse than it being the government’s fault 
+after all. 
+
+“That was no hurricane,” said Fudge miserably. 
+
+“Excuse me!” barked the Prime Minister, now 
+positively stamping up and down. “Trees uprooted, 
+roofs ripped off, lampposts bent, horrible injuries — ” 
+
+“It was the Death Eaters,” said Fudge. “He-Who-Must- 
+Not-Be-Named’s followers. And ... and we suspect 
+giant involvement.” 
+
+The Prime Minister stopped in his tracks as though 
+he had hit an invisible wall. “ What involvement?” 
+
+Fudge grimaced. “He used giants last time, when he 
+wanted to go for the grand effect,” he said. “The Office 
+of Misinformation has been working around the clock, 
+we’ve had teams of Obliviators out trying to modify 
+the memories of all the Muggles who saw what really 
+happened, we’ve got most of the Department for the 
+Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures running 
+around Somerset, but we can’t find the giant — it’s 
+been a disaster.” 
+
+“You don’t say!” said the Prime Minister furiously. 
+
+“I won’t deny that morale is pretty low at the 
+Ministry,” said Fudge. “What with all that, and then 
+losing Amelia Bones.” 
+
+“Losing who?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 15 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Amelia Bones. Head of the Department of Magical 
+Law Enforcement. We think He-Who-Must-Not-Be- 
+Named may have murdered her in person, because 
+she was a very gifted witch and — and all the 
+evidence was that she put up a real fight.” 
+
+Fudge cleared his throat and, with an effort, it 
+seemed, stopped spinning his bowler hat. 
+
+“But that murder was in the newspapers,” said the 
+Prime Minister, momentarily diverted from his anger. 
+“Our newspapers. Amelia Bones ... it just said she 
+was a middle-aged woman who lived alone. It was a — 
+a nasty killing, wasn’t it? It’s had rather a lot of 
+publicity. The police are baffled, you see.” 
+
+Fudge sighed. “Well, of course they are,” he said. 
+“Killed in a room that was locked from the inside, 
+wasn’t she? We, on the other hand, know exactly who 
+did it, not that that gets us any further toward 
+catching him. And then there was Emmeline Vance, 
+maybe you didn’t hear about that one — ” 
+
+“Oh yes I did!” said the Prime Minister. “It happened 
+just around the corner from here, as a matter of fact. 
+The papers had a field day with it, ‘breakdown of law 
+and order in the Prime Minister’s backyard — ’ ” 
+
+“And as if all that wasn’t enough,” said Fudge, barely 
+listening to the Prime Minister, “we’ve got dementors 
+swarming all over the place, attacking people left, 
+right, and center. ...” 
+
+Once upon a happier time this sentence would have 
+been unintelligible to the Prime Minister, but he was 
+wiser now. 
+
+“I thought dementors guard the prisoners in 
+Azkaban,” he said cautiously. 
+
+Page | 16 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“They did,” said Fudge wearily. “But not anymore. 
+They’ve deserted the prison and joined He-Who-Must- 
+Not-Be-Named. I won’t pretend that wasn’t a blow.” 
+
+“But,” said the Prime Minister, with a sense of 
+dawning horror, “didn’t you tell me they’re the 
+creatures that drain hope and happiness out of 
+people?” 
+
+“That’s right. And they’re breeding. That’s what’s 
+causing all this mist.” 
+
+The Prime Minister sank, weak-kneed, into the 
+nearest chair. The idea of invisible creatures swooping 
+through the towns and countryside, spreading 
+despair and hopelessness in his voters, made him feel 
+quite faint. 
+
+“Now see here, Fudge — you’ve got to do something! 
+It’s your responsibility as Minister of Magic!” 
+
+“My dear Prime Minister, you can’t honestly think I’m 
+still Minister of Magic after all this? I was sacked 
+three days ago! The whole Wizarding community has 
+been screaming for my resignation for a fortnight. I’ve 
+never known them so united in my whole term of 
+office!” said Fudge, with a brave attempt at a smile. 
+
+The Prime Minister was momentarily lost for words. 
+Despite his indignation at the position into which he 
+had been placed, he still rather felt for the shrunken- 
+looking man sitting opposite him. 
+
+“I’m very sorry,” he said finally. “If there’s anything I 
+can do?” 
+
+“It’s very kind of you, Prime Minister, but there is 
+nothing. I was sent here tonight to bring you up to 
+date on recent events and to introduce you to my 
+
+Page | 17 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+successor. I rather thought he’d be here by now, but 
+of course, he’s very busy at the moment, with so 
+much going on.” 
+
+Fudge looked around at the portrait of the ugly little 
+man wearing the long curly silver wig, who was 
+digging in his ear with the point of a quill. Catching 
+Fudge’s eye, the portrait said, “He’ll be here in a 
+moment, he’s just finishing a letter to Dumbledore.” 
+
+“I wish him luck,” said Fudge, sounding bitter for the 
+first time. “I’ve been writing to Dumbledore twice a 
+day for the past fortnight, but he won’t budge. If he’d 
+just been prepared to persuade the boy, I might still 
+be ... Well, maybe Scrimgeour will have more 
+success.” 
+
+Fudge subsided into what was clearly an aggrieved 
+silence, but it was broken almost immediately by the 
+portrait, which suddenly spoke in its crisp, official 
+voice. 
+
+“To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Requesting a 
+meeting. Urgent. Kindly respond immediately. Rufus 
+Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic.” 
+
+“Yes, yes, fine,” said the Prime Minister distractedly, 
+and he barely flinched as the flames in the grate 
+turned emerald green again, rose up, and revealed a 
+second spinning wizard in their heart, disgorging him 
+moments later onto the antique rug. 
+
+Fudge got to his feet and, after a moment’s hesitation, 
+the Prime Minister did the same, watching the new 
+arrival straighten up, dust down his long black robes, 
+and look around. 
+
+The Prime Minister’s first, foolish thought was that 
+Rufus Scrimgeour looked rather like an old lion. 
+
+Page | 18 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There were streaks of gray in his mane of tawny hair 
+and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes 
+behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain 
+rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a 
+slight limp. There was an immediate impression of 
+shrewdness and toughness; the Prime Minister 
+thought he understood why the Wizarding community 
+preferred Scrimgeour to Fudge as a leader in these 
+dangerous times. 
+
+“How do you do?” said the Prime Minister politely, 
+holding out his hand. 
+
+Scrimgeour grasped it briefly, his eyes scanning the 
+room, then pulled out a wand from under his robes. 
+
+“Fudge told you everything?” he asked, striding over 
+to the door and tapping the keyhole with his wand. 
+The Prime Minister heard the lock click. 
+
+“Er — yes,” said the Prime Minister. “And if you don’t 
+mind, I’d rather that door remained unlocked.” 
+
+“I’d rather not be interrupted,” said Scrimgeour 
+shortly, “or watched,” he added, pointing his wand at 
+the windows, so that the curtains swept across them. 
+“Right, well, I’m a busy man, so let’s get down to 
+business. First of all, we need to discuss your 
+security.” 
+
+The Prime Minister drew himself up to his fullest 
+height and replied, “I am perfectly happy with the 
+security I’ve already got, thank you very — ” 
+
+“Well, we’re not,” Scrimgeour cut in. “It’ll be a poor 
+lookout for the Muggles if their Prime Minister gets 
+put under the Imperius Curse. The new secretary in 
+your outer office — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 19 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+‘Tm not getting rid of Kingsley Shacklebolt, if that’s 
+what you’re suggesting!” said the Prime Minister 
+hotly. “He’s highly efficient, gets through twice the 
+work the rest of them — ” 
+
+“That’s because he’s a wizard,” said Scrimgeour, 
+without a flicker of a smile. “A highly trained Auror, 
+who has been assigned to you for your protection.” 
+
+“Now, wait a moment!” declared the Prime Minister. 
+“You can’t just put your people into my office, I decide 
+who works for me — ” 
+
+“I thought you were happy with Shacklebolt?” said 
+Scrimgeour coldly. 
+
+“I am — that’s to say, I was — ” 
+
+“Then there’s no problem, is there?” said Scrimgeour. 
+
+“I ... well, as long as Shacklebolt’s work continues to 
+be ... er ... excellent,” said the Prime Minister lamely, 
+but Scrimgeour barely seemed to hear him. 
+
+“Now, about Herbert Chorley, your Junior Minister,” 
+he continued. “The one who has been entertaining the 
+public by impersonating a duck.” 
+
+“What about him?” asked the Prime Minister. 
+
+“He has clearly reacted to a poorly performed 
+Imperius Curse,” said Scrimgeour. “It’s addled his 
+brains, but he could still be dangerous.” 
+
+“He’s only quacking!” said the Prime Minister weakly. 
+“Surely a bit of a rest . . . Maybe go easy on the drink 
+
+
+
+Page | 20 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“A team of Healers from St. Mungo’s Hospital for 
+Magical Maladies and Injuries are examining him as 
+we speak. So far he has attempted to strangle three of 
+them,” said Scrimgeour. “I think it best that we 
+remove him from Muggle society for a while.” 
+
+“I ... well ... He’ll be all right, won’t he?” said the 
+Prime Minister anxiously. 
+
+Scrimgeour merely shrugged, already moving back 
+toward the fireplace. 
+
+“Well, that’s really all I had to say. I will keep you 
+posted of developments, Prime Minister — or, at least, 
+I shall probably be too busy to come personally, in 
+which case I shall send Fudge here. He has consented 
+to stay on in an advisory capacity.” 
+
+Fudge attempted to smile, but was unsuccessful; he 
+merely looked as though he had a toothache. 
+Scrimgeour was already rummaging in his pocket for 
+the mysterious powder that turned the fire green. The 
+Prime Minister gazed hopelessly at the pair of them 
+for a moment, then the words he had fought to 
+suppress all evening burst from him at last. 
+
+“But for heaven’s sake — you’re wizards'. You can do 
+magic ! Surely you can sort out — well — anything !” 
+
+Scrimgeour turned slowly on the spot and exchanged 
+an incredulous look with Fudge, who really did 
+manage a smile this time as he said kindly, “The 
+trouble is, the other side can do magic too, Prime 
+Minister.” 
+
+And with that, the two wizards stepped one after the 
+other into the bright green fire and vanished. 
+
+
+
+Page | 21 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SPINNER’S END 
+
+Many miles away the chilly mist that had pressed 
+against the Prime Minister’s windows drifted over a 
+dirty river that wound between overgrown, rubbish- 
+strewn banks. An immense chimney, relic of a 
+disused mill, reared up, shadowy and ominous. There 
+was no sound apart from the whisper of the black 
+water and no sign of life apart from a scrawny fox that 
+had slunk down the bank to nose hopefully at some 
+old fish-and-chip wrappings in the tall grass. 
+
+But then, with a very faint pop, a slim, hooded figure 
+appeared out of thin air on the edge of the river. The 
+fox froze, wary eyes fixed upon this strange new 
+phenomenon. The figure seemed to take its bearings 
+for a few moments, then set off with light, quick 
+strides, its long cloak rustling over the grass. 
+
+With a second and louder pop, another hooded figure 
+materialized. 
+
+“Wait!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 22 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+The harsh cry startled the fox, now crouching almost 
+flat in the undergrowth. It leapt from its hiding place 
+and up the bank. There was a flash of green light, a 
+yelp, and the fox fell back to the ground, dead. 
+
+The second figure turned over the animal with its toe. 
+
+“Just a fox,” said a woman’s voice dismissively from 
+under the hood. “I thought perhaps an Auror — 
+
+Cissy, wait!” 
+
+But her quarry, who had paused and looked back at 
+the flash of light, was already scrambling up the bank 
+the fox had just fallen down. 
+
+“Cissy — Narcissa — listen to me — ” 
+
+The second woman caught the first and seized her 
+arm, but the other wrenched it away. 
+
+“Go back, Bella!” 
+
+“You must listen to me!” 
+
+“I’ve listened already. I’ve made my decision. Leave me 
+alone!” 
+
+The woman named Narcissa gained the top of the 
+bank, where a line of old railings separated the river 
+from a narrow, cobbled street. The other woman, 
+
+Bella, followed at once. Side by side they stood 
+looking across the road at the rows and rows of 
+dilapidated brick houses, their windows dull and 
+blind in the darkness. 
+
+“He lives here?” asked Bella in a voice of contempt. 
+“Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first 
+of our kind ever to set foot — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 23 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Narcissa was not listening; she had slipped 
+through a gap in the rusty railings and was already 
+hurrying across the road. 
+
+“Cissy, wait\” 
+
+Bella followed, her cloak streaming behind, and saw 
+Narcissa darting through an alley between the houses 
+into a second, almost identical street. Some of the 
+streetlamps were broken; the two women were 
+running between patches of light and deep darkness. 
+The pursuer caught up with her prey just as she 
+turned another corner, this time succeeding in 
+catching hold of her arm and swinging her around so 
+that they faced each other. 
+
+“Cissy, you must not do this, you can’t trust him — ” 
+
+“The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn’t he?” 
+
+“The Dark Lord is ... I believe ... mistaken,” Bella 
+panted, and her eyes gleamed momentarily under her 
+hood as she looked around to check that they were 
+indeed alone. “In any case, we were told not to speak 
+of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark 
+Lord’s — ” 
+
+“Let go, Bella!” snarled Narcissa, and she drew a 
+wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly 
+in the other’s face. Bella merely laughed. 
+
+“Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn’t — ” 
+
+“There is nothing I wouldn’t do anymore!” Narcissa 
+breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice, and as she 
+brought down the wand like a knife, there was 
+another flash of light. Bella let go of her sister’s arm 
+as though burned. 
+
+
+
+Page | 24 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Narcisscd” 
+
+
+
+But Narcissa had rushed ahead. Rubbing her hand, 
+her pursuer followed again, keeping her distance now, 
+as they moved deeper into the deserted labyrinth of 
+brick houses. At last, Narcissa hurried up a street 
+named Spinner’s End, over which the towering mill 
+chimney seemed to hover like a giant admonitory 
+finger. Her footsteps echoed on the cobbles as she 
+passed boarded and broken windows, until she 
+reached the very last house, where a dim light 
+glimmered through the curtains in a downstairs 
+room. 
+
+She had knocked on the door before Bella, cursing 
+under her breath, had caught up. Together they stood 
+waiting, panting slightly, breathing in the smell of the 
+dirty river that was carried to them on the night 
+breeze. After a few seconds, they heard movement 
+behind the door and it opened a crack. A sliver of a 
+man could be seen looking out at them, a man with 
+long black hair parted in curtains around a sallow 
+face and black eyes. 
+
+Narcissa threw back her hood. She was so pale that 
+she seemed to shine in the darkness; the long blonde 
+hair streaming down her back gave her the look of a 
+drowned person. 
+
+“Narcissa!” said the man, opening the door a little 
+wider, so that the light fell upon her and her sister 
+too. “What a pleasant surprise!” 
+
+“Severus,” she said in a strained whisper. “May I 
+speak to you? It’s urgent.” 
+
+“But of course.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 25 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He stood back to allow her to pass him into the 
+house. Her still-hooded sister followed without 
+invitation. 
+
+“Snape,” she said curtly as she passed him. 
+
+“Bellatrix,” he replied, his thin mouth curling into a 
+slightly mocking smile as he closed the door with a 
+snap behind them. 
+
+They had stepped directly into a tiny sitting room, 
+which had the feeling of a dark, padded cell. The walls 
+were completely covered in books, most of them 
+bound in old black or brown leather; a threadbare 
+sofa, an old armchair, and a rickety table stood 
+grouped together in a pool of dim light cast by a 
+candle-filled lamp hung from the ceiling. The place 
+had an air of neglect, as though it was not usually 
+inhabited. 
+
+Snape gestured Narcissa to the sofa. She threw off 
+her cloak, cast it aside, and sat down, staring at her 
+white and trembling hands clasped in her lap. 
+
+Bellatrix lowered her hood more slowly. Dark as her 
+sister was fair, with heavily lidded eyes and a strong 
+jaw, she did not take her gaze from Snape as she 
+moved to stand behind Narcissa. 
+
+“So, what can I do for you?” Snape asked, settling 
+himself in the armchair opposite the two sisters. 
+
+“We ... we are alone, aren’t we?” Narcissa asked 
+quietly. 
+
+“Yes, of course. Well, Wormtail’s here, but we’re not 
+counting vermin, are we?” 
+
+He pointed his wand at the wall of books behind him 
+and with a bang, a hidden door flew open, revealing a 
+
+Page | 26 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+narrow staircase upon which a small man stood 
+frozen. 
+
+“As you have clearly realized, Wormtail, we have 
+guests,” said Snape lazily. 
+
+The man crept, hunchbacked, down the last few steps 
+and moved into the room. He had small, watery eyes, 
+a pointed nose, and wore an unpleasant simper. His 
+left hand was caressing his right, which looked as 
+though it was encased in a bright silver glove. 
+
+“Narcissa!” he said, in a squeaky voice. “And Bellatrix! 
+How charming — ” 
+
+“Wormtail will get us drinks, if you’d like them,” said 
+Snape. “And then he will return to his bedroom.” 
+
+Wormtail winced as though Snape had thrown 
+something at him. 
+
+“I am not your servant!” he squeaked, avoiding 
+Snape ’s eye. 
+
+“Really? I was under the impression that the Dark 
+Lord placed you here to assist me.” 
+
+“To assist, yes — but not to make you drinks and — 
+and clean your house!” 
+
+“I had no idea, Wormtail, that you were craving more 
+dangerous assignments,” said Snape silkily. “This can 
+be easily arranged: I shall speak to the Dark Lord — ” 
+
+“I can speak to him myself if I want to!” 
+
+“Of course you can,” said Snape, sneering. “But in the 
+meantime, bring us drinks. Some of the elf-made wine 
+will do.” 
+
+Page | 27 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Wormtail hesitated for a moment, looking as though 
+he might argue, but then turned and headed through 
+a second hidden door. They heard banging and a 
+clinking of glasses. Within seconds he was back, 
+bearing a dusty bottle and three glasses upon a tray. 
+He dropped these on the rickety table and scurried 
+from their presence, slamming the book-covered door 
+behind him. 
+
+Snape poured out three glasses of bloodred wine and 
+handed two of them to the sisters. Narcissa 
+murmured a word of thanks, whilst Bellatrix said 
+nothing, but continued to glower at Snape. This did 
+not seem to discompose him; on the contrary, he 
+looked rather amused. 
+
+“The Dark Lord,” he said, raising his glass and 
+draining it. 
+
+The sisters copied him. Snape refilled their glasses. 
+
+As Narcissa took her second drink she said in a rush, 
+“Severus, I’m sorry to come here like this, but I had to 
+see you. I think you are the only one who can help me 
+
+
+
+Snape held up a hand to stop her, then pointed his 
+wand again at the concealed staircase door. There 
+was a loud bang and a squeal, followed by the sound 
+of Wormtail scurrying back up the stairs. 
+
+“My apologies,” said Snape. “He has lately taken to 
+listening at doors, I don’t know what he means by it. 
+
+... You were saying, Narcissa?” 
+
+She took a great, shuddering breath and started 
+again. 
+
+“Severus, I know I ought not to be here, I have been 
+told to say nothing to anyone, but — ” 
+
+Page | 28 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Then you ought to hold your tongue!” snarled 
+Bellatrix. “Particularly in present company!” 
+
+“ ‘Present company’?” repeated Snape sardonically. 
+“And what am I to understand by that, Bellatrix?” 
+
+“That I don’t trust you, Snape, as you very well 
+know!” 
+
+Narcissa let out a noise that might have been a dry 
+sob and covered her face with her hands. Snape set 
+his glass down upon the table and sat back again, his 
+hands upon the arms of his chair, smiling into 
+Bellatrix’s glowering face. 
+
+“Narcissa, I think we ought to hear what Bellatrix is 
+bursting to say; it will save tedious interruptions. 
+
+Well, continue, Bellatrix,” said Snape. “Why is it that 
+you do not trust me?” 
+
+“A hundred reasons!” she said loudly, striding out 
+from behind the sofa to slam her glass upon the table. 
+“Where to start! Where were you when the Dark Lord 
+fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him 
+when he vanished? What have you been doing all 
+these years that you’ve lived in Dumbledore’s pocket? 
+Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the 
+Sorcerer’s Stone? Why did you not return at once 
+when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a 
+few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the 
+prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is 
+Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at 
+your mercy for five years?” 
+
+She paused, her chest rising and falling rapidly, the 
+color high in her cheeks. Behind her, Narcissa sat 
+motionless, her face still hidden in her hands. 
+
+Snape smiled. 
+
+Page | 29 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Before I answer you — oh yes, Bellatrix, I am going 
+to answer! You can carry my words back to the others 
+who whisper behind my back, and carry false tales of 
+my treachery to the Dark Lord! Before I answer you, I 
+say, let me ask a question in turn. Do you really think 
+that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every 
+one of those questions? And do you really think that, 
+had I not been able to give satisfactory answers, I 
+would be sitting here talking to you?” 
+
+She hesitated. 
+
+“I know he believes you, but ...” 
+
+“You think he is mistaken? Or that I have somehow 
+hoodwinked him? Fooled the Dark Lord, the greatest 
+wizard, the most accomplished Legilimens the world 
+has ever seen?” 
+
+Bellatrix said nothing, but looked, for the first time, a 
+little discomfited. Snape did not press the point. He 
+picked up his drink again, sipped it, and continued, 
+“You ask where I was when the Dark Lord fell. I was 
+where he had ordered me to be, at Hogwarts School of 
+Witchcraft and Wizardry, because he wished me to 
+spy upon Albus Dumbledore. You know, I presume, 
+that it was on the Dark Lord’s orders that I took up 
+the post?” 
+
+She nodded almost imperceptibly and then opened 
+her mouth, but Snape forestalled her. 
+
+“You ask why I did not attempt to find him when he 
+vanished. For the same reason that Avery, Yaxley, the 
+Carrows, Greyback, Lucius” — he inclined his head 
+slightly to Narcissa — “and many others did not 
+attempt to find him. I believed him finished. I am not 
+proud of it, I was wrong, but there it is. ... If he had 
+
+
+
+Page | 30 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+not forgiven we who lost faith at that time, he would 
+have very few followers left.” 
+
+“He’d have me!” said Bellatrix passionately. “I, who 
+spent many years in Azkaban for him!” 
+
+“Yes, indeed, most admirable,” said Snape in a bored 
+voice. “Of course, you weren’t a lot of use to him in 
+prison, but the gesture was undoubtedly fine — ” 
+
+“Gesture!” she shrieked; in her fury she looked 
+slightly mad. “While I endured the dementors, you 
+remained at Hogwarts, comfortably playing 
+Dumbledore’s pet!” 
+
+“Not quite,” said Snape calmly. “He wouldn’t give me 
+the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, you know. 
+Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse . . . 
+tempt me into my old ways.” 
+
+“This was your sacrifice for the Dark Lord, not to 
+teach your favorite subject?” she jeered. “Why did you 
+stay there all that time, Snape? Still spying on 
+Dumbledore for a master you believed dead?” 
+
+“Hardly,” said Snape, “although the Dark Lord is 
+pleased that I never deserted my post: I had sixteen 
+years of information on Dumbledore to give him when 
+he returned, a rather more useful welcome-back 
+present than endless reminiscences of how 
+unpleasant Azkaban is. ...” 
+
+“But you stayed — ” 
+
+“Yes, Bellatrix, I stayed,” said Snape, betraying a hint 
+of impatience for the first time. “I had a comfortable 
+job that I preferred to a stint in Azkaban. They were 
+rounding up the Death Eaters, you know. 
+Dumbledore’s protection kept me out of jail; it was 
+Page | 31 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+most convenient and I used it. I repeat: The Dark 
+Lord does not complain that I stayed, so I do not see 
+why you do. 
+
+“I think you next wanted to know,” he pressed on, a 
+little more loudly, for Bellatrix showed every sign of 
+interrupting, “why I stood between the Dark Lord and 
+the Sorcerer’s Stone. That is easily answered. He did 
+not know whether he could trust me. He thought, like 
+you, that I had turned from faithful Death Eater to 
+Dumbledore’s stooge. He was in a pitiable condition, 
+very weak, sharing the body of a mediocre wizard. He 
+did not dare reveal himself to a former ally if that ally 
+might turn him over to Dumbledore or the Ministry. I 
+deeply regret that he did not trust me. He would have 
+returned to power three years sooner. As it was, I saw 
+only greedy and unworthy Quirrell attempting to steal 
+the stone and, I admit, I did all I could to thwart him.” 
+
+Bellatrix’s mouth twisted as though she had taken an 
+unpleasant dose of medicine. 
+
+“But you didn’t return when he came back, you didn’t 
+fly back to him at once when you felt the Dark Mark 
+burn — ” 
+
+“Correct. I returned two hours later. I returned on 
+Dumbledore’s orders.” 
+
+“On Dumbledore’s — ?” she began, in tones of 
+outrage. 
+
+“Think!” said Snape, impatient again. “Think! By 
+waiting two hours, just two hours, I ensured that I 
+could remain at Hogwarts as a spy! By allowing 
+Dumbledore to think that I was only returning to the 
+Dark Lord’s side because I was ordered to, I have 
+been able to pass information on Dumbledore and the 
+Order of the Phoenix ever since! Consider, Bellatrix: 
+Page | 32 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Dark Mark had been growing stronger for 
+months. I knew he must be about to return, all the 
+Death Eaters knew! I had plenty of time to think 
+about what I wanted to do, to plan my next move, to 
+escape like Karkaroff, didn’t I? 
+
+“The Dark Lord’s initial displeasure at my lateness 
+vanished entirely, I assure you, when I explained that 
+I remained faithful, although Dumbledore thought I 
+was his man. Yes, the Dark Lord thought that I had 
+left him forever, but he was wrong.” 
+
+“But what use have you been?” sneered Bellatrix. 
+“What useful information have we had from you?” 
+
+“My information has been conveyed directly to the 
+Dark Lord,” said Snape. “If he chooses not to share it 
+with you — ” 
+
+“He shares everything with me!” said Bellatrix, firing 
+up at once. “He calls me his most loyal, his most 
+faithful — ” 
+
+“Does he?” said Snape, his voice delicately inflected to 
+suggest his disbelief. “Does he still, after the fiasco at 
+the Ministry?” 
+
+“That was not my fault!” said Bellatrix, flushing. “The 
+Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his 
+most precious — if Lucius hadn’t — ” 
+
+“Don’t you dare — don’t you dare blame my 
+husband!” said Narcissa, in a low and deadly voice, 
+looking up at her sister. 
+
+“There is no point apportioning blame,” said Snape 
+smoothly. “What is done, is done.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 33 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But not by you!” said Bellatrix furiously. “No, you 
+were once again absent while the rest of us ran 
+dangers, were you not, Snape?” 
+
+“My orders were to remain behind,” said Snape. 
+“Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord, perhaps 
+you think that Dumbledore would not have noticed if 
+I had joined forces with the Death Eaters to fight the 
+Order of the Phoenix? And — forgive me — you speak 
+of dangers ... you were facing six teenagers, were you 
+not?” 
+
+“They were joined, as you very well know, by half of 
+the Order before long!” snarled Bellatrix. “And, while 
+we are on the subject of the Order, you still claim you 
+cannot reveal the whereabouts of their headquarters, 
+don’t you?” 
+
+“I am not the Secret-Keeper; I cannot speak the name 
+of the place. You understand how the enchantment 
+works, I think? The Dark Lord is satisfied with the 
+information I have passed him on the Order. It led, as 
+perhaps you have guessed, to the recent capture and 
+murder of Emmeline Vance, and it certainly helped 
+dispose of Sirius Black, though I give you full credit 
+for finishing him off.” 
+
+He inclined his head and toasted her. Her expression 
+did not soften. 
+
+“You are avoiding my last question, Snape. Harry 
+Potter. You could have killed him at any point in the 
+past five years. You have not done it. Why?” 
+
+“Have you discussed this matter with the Dark Lord?” 
+asked Snape. 
+
+“He ... lately, we ... I am asking you, Snape!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 34 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could 
+not have used his blood to regenerate, making him 
+invincible — ” 
+
+“You claim you foresaw his use of the boy!” she 
+jeered. 
+
+“I do not claim it; I had no idea of his plans; I have 
+already confessed that I thought the Dark Lord dead. 
+
+I am merely trying to explain why the Dark Lord is 
+not sorry that Potter survived, at least until a year 
+ago. ...” 
+
+“But why did you keep him alive?” 
+
+“Have you not understood me? It was only 
+Dumbledore’s protection that was keeping me out of 
+Azkaban! Do you disagree that murdering his favorite 
+student might have turned him against me? But there 
+was more to it than that. I should remind you that 
+when Potter first arrived at Hogwarts there were still 
+many stories circulating about him, rumors that he 
+himself was a great Dark wizard, which was how he 
+had survived the Dark Lord���s attack. Indeed, many of 
+the Dark Lord’s old followers thought Potter might be 
+a standard around which we could all rally once 
+more. I was curious, I admit it, and not at all inclined 
+to murder him the moment he set foot in the castle. 
+
+“Of course, it became apparent to me very quickly 
+that he had no extraordinary talent at all. He has 
+fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a 
+simple combination of sheer luck and more talented 
+friends. He is mediocre to the last degree, though as 
+obnoxious and self-satisfied as was his father before 
+him. I have done my utmost to have him thrown out 
+of Hogwarts, where I believe he scarcely belongs, but 
+kill him, or allow him to be killed in front of me? I 
+
+
+
+Page | 35 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+would have been a fool to risk it with Dumbledore 
+close at hand.” 
+
+“And through all this we are supposed to believe 
+Dumbledore has never suspected you?” asked 
+Bellatrix. “He has no idea of your true allegiance, he 
+trusts you implicitly still?” 
+
+“I have played my part well,” said Snape. “And you 
+overlook Dumbledore’s greatest weakness: He has to 
+believe the best of people. I spun him a tale of deepest 
+remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death 
+Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms — 
+though, as I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark 
+Arts than he could help. Dumbledore has been a 
+great wizard — oh yes, he has,” (for Bellatrix had 
+made a scathing noise), “the Dark Lord acknowledges 
+it. I am pleased to say, however, that Dumbledore is 
+growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month 
+shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury 
+because his reactions are slower than they once were. 
+But through all these years, he has never stopped 
+trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great 
+value to the Dark Lord.” 
+
+Bellatrix still looked unhappy, though she appeared 
+unsure how best to attack Snape next. Taking 
+advantage of her silence, Snape turned to her sister. 
+
+“Now ... you came to ask me for help, Narcissa?” 
+
+Narcissa looked up at him, her face eloquent with 
+despair. 
+
+“Yes, Severus. I — I think you are the only one who 
+can help me, I have nowhere else to turn. Lucius is in 
+jail and ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 36 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She closed her eyes and two large tears seeped from 
+beneath her eyelids. 
+
+“The Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it,” 
+Narcissa continued, her eyes still closed. “He wishes 
+none to know of the plan. It is ... very secret. But — ” 
+
+“If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak,” said 
+Snape at once. “The Dark Lord’s word is law.” 
+
+Narcissa gasped as though he had doused her with 
+cold water. Bellatrix looked satisfied for the first time 
+since she had entered the house. 
+
+“There!” she said triumphantly to her sister. “Even 
+Snape says so: You were told not to talk, so hold your 
+silence!” 
+
+But Snape had gotten to his feet and strode to the 
+small window, peered through the curtains at the 
+deserted street, then closed them again with a jerk. 
+
+He turned around to face Narcissa, frowning. 
+
+“It so happens that I know of the plan,” he said in a 
+low voice. “I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. 
+Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, 
+
+Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great 
+treachery to the Dark Lord.” 
+
+“I thought you must know about it!” said Narcissa, 
+breathing more freely. “He trusts you so, Severus. ...” 
+
+“You know about the plan?” said Bellatrix, her fleeting 
+expression of satisfaction replaced by a look of 
+outrage. “ You know?” 
+
+“Certainly,” said Snape. “But what help do you 
+require, Narcissa? If you are imagining I can persuade 
+
+
+
+Page | 37 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is 
+no hope, none at all.” 
+
+“Severus,” she whispered, tears sliding down her pale 
+cheeks. “My son ... my only son ...” 
+
+“Draco should be proud,” said Bellatrix indifferently. 
+“The Dark Lord is granting him a great honor. And I 
+will say this for Draco: He isn’t shrinking away from 
+his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, 
+excited at the prospect — ” 
+
+Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly 
+all the while at Snape. 
+
+“That’s because he is sixteen and has no idea what 
+lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too 
+dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius’s mistake, I 
+know it!” 
+
+Snape said nothing. He looked away from the sight of 
+her tears as though they were indecent, but he could 
+not pretend not to hear her. 
+
+“That’s why he’s chosen Draco, isn’t it?” she 
+persisted. “To punish Lucius?” 
+
+“If Draco succeeds,” said Snape, still looking away 
+from her, “he will be honored above all others.” 
+
+“But he won’t succeed!” sobbed Narcissa. “How can 
+he, when the Dark Lord himself — ?” 
+
+Bellatrix gasped; Narcissa seemed to lose her nerve. 
+
+“I only meant ... that nobody has yet succeeded. ... 
+Severus ... please ... You are, you have always been, 
+Draco’s favorite teacher. ... You are Lucius’s old 
+friend. ... I beg you. ... You are the Dark Lord’s 
+
+Page | 38 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+favorite, his most trusted advisor. ... Will you speak to 
+him, persuade him — ?” 
+
+“The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not 
+stupid enough to attempt it,” said Snape flatly. “I 
+cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with 
+Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got 
+himself captured, along with how many others, and 
+failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, 
+the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed.” 
+
+“Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge!” 
+choked Narcissa. “He does not mean him to succeed, 
+he wants him to be killed trying!” 
+
+When Snape said nothing, Narcissa seemed to lose 
+what little self-restraint she still possessed. Standing 
+up, she staggered to Snape and seized the front of his 
+robes. Her face close to his, her tears falling onto his 
+chest, she gasped, “You could do it. You could do it 
+instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of 
+course you would, and he would reward you beyond 
+all of us — ” 
+
+Snape caught hold of her wrists and removed her 
+clutching hands. Looking down into her tears tained 
+face, he said slowly, “He intends me to do it in the 
+end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should 
+try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco 
+succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little 
+longer, fulfilling my useful role as spy.” 
+
+“In other words, it doesn’t matter to him if Draco is 
+killed!” 
+
+“The Dark Lord is very angry,” repeated Snape 
+quietly. “He failed to hear the prophecy. You know as 
+well as I do, Narcissa, that he does not forgive easily.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 39 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She crumpled, falling at his feet, sobbing and 
+moaning on the floor. 
+
+
+
+“My only son ... my only son ...” 
+
+“You should be proud!” said Bellatrix ruthlessly. “If I 
+had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the 
+service of the Dark Lord!” 
+
+Narcissa gave a little scream of despair and clutched 
+at her long blonde hair. Snape stooped, seized her by 
+the arms, lifted her up, and steered her back onto the 
+sofa. He then poured her more wine and forced the 
+glass into her hand. 
+
+“Narcissa, that’s enough. Drink this. Listen to me.” 
+
+She quieted a little; slopping wine down herself, she 
+took a shaky sip. 
+
+“It might be possible ... for me to help Draco.” 
+
+She sat up, her face paper-white, her eyes huge. 
+
+“Severus — oh, Severus — you would help him? 
+
+Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?” 
+
+“I can try.” 
+
+She flung away her glass; it skidded across the table 
+as she slid off the sofa into a kneeling position at 
+Snape ’s feet, seized his hand in both of hers, and 
+pressed her lips to it. 
+
+“If you are there to protect him ... Severus, will you 
+swear it? Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?” 
+
+“The Unbreakable Vow?” 
+
+Page | 40 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Snape’s expression was blank, unreadable. Bellatrix, 
+however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter. 
+
+“Aren’t you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he’ll try, I’m sure. 
+... The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of 
+action ... oh, on the Dark Lord’s orders, of course!” 
+
+Snape did not look at Bellatrix. His black eyes were 
+fixed upon Narcissa’s tear-filled blue ones as she 
+continued to clutch his hand. 
+
+“Certainly, Narcissa, I shall make the Unbreakable 
+Vow,” he said quietly. “Perhaps your sister will 
+consent to be our Bonder.” 
+
+Bellatrix’s mouth fell open. Snape lowered himself so 
+that he was kneeling opposite Narcissa. Beneath 
+Bellatrix’s astonished gaze, they grasped right hands. 
+
+“You will need your wand, Bellatrix,” said Snape 
+coldly. 
+
+She drew it, still looking astonished. 
+
+“And you will need to move a little closer,” he said. 
+
+She stepped forward so that she stood over them, and 
+placed the tip of her wand on their linked hands. 
+
+Narcissa spoke. 
+
+“Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he 
+attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord’s wishes?” 
+
+“I will,” said Snape. 
+
+A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand 
+and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot 
+wire. 
+
+Page | 41 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him 
+from harm?” 
+
+“I will,” said Snape. 
+
+A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and 
+interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing 
+chain. 
+
+“And, should it prove necessary ... if it seems Draco 
+will fail ...” whispered Narcissa (Snape’s hand 
+twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), “will 
+you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has 
+ordered Draco to perform?” 
+
+There was a moment’s silence. Bellatrix watched, her 
+wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide. 
+
+“I will,” said Snape. 
+
+Bellatrix’s astounded face glowed red in the blaze of a 
+third tongue of flame, which shot from the wand, 
+twisted with the others, and bound itself thickly 
+around their clasped hands, like a rope, like a fiery 
+snake. 
+
+
+
+Page | 42 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+3 
+
+
+
+
+WILL AND WON’T 
+
+Harry Potter was snoring loudly. He had been sitting 
+in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best 
+part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, 
+and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face 
+pressed against the cold windowpane, his glasses 
+askew and his mouth wide open. The misty fug his 
+breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange 
+glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light 
+drained his face of all color, so that he looked ghostly 
+beneath his shock of untidy black hair. 
+
+The room was strewn with various possessions and a 
+good smattering of rubbish. Owl feathers, apple cores, 
+and sweet wrappers littered the floor, a number of 
+spellbooks lay higgledy-piggledy among the tangled 
+robes on his bed, and a mess of newspapers sat in a 
+puddle of light on his desk. The headline of one 
+blared: 
+
+HARRY POTTER: THE CHOSEN ONE? 
+
+
+
+Page | 43 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Rumors continue to fly about the mysterious recent 
+disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which 
+He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was sighted once more. 
+
+“We’re not allowed to talk about it, don’t ask me 
+anything,” said one agitated Obliviator, who refused 
+to give his name as he left the Ministry last night. 
+
+Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the 
+Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance 
+centered on the fabled Hall of Prophecy. 
+
+Though Ministry spokeswizards have hitherto refused 
+even to confirm the existence of such a place, a 
+growing number of the Wizarding community believe 
+that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in 
+Azkaban for trespass and attempted theft were 
+attempting to steal a prophecy. The nature of that 
+prophecy is unknown, although speculation is rife 
+that it concerns Harry Potter, the only person ever 
+known to have survived the Killing Curse, and who is 
+also known to have been at the Ministry on the night 
+in question. Some are going so far as to call Potter 
+“the Chosen One,” believing that the prophecy names 
+him as the only one who will be able to rid us of He- 
+Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. 
+
+The current whereabouts of the prophecy, if it exists, 
+are unknown, although (ctd. page 2, column 5) 
+
+A second newspaper lay beside the first. This one bore 
+the headline: 
+
+SCRIMGEOUR SUCCEEDS FUDGE 
+
+Most of this front page was taken up with a large 
+black-and-white picture of a man with a lionlike mane 
+of thick hair and a rather ravaged face. The picture 
+was moving — the man was waving at the ceiling. 
+
+Page | 44 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Rufus Scrimgeour, previously Head of the Auror office 
+in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has 
+succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic. The 
+appointment has largely been greeted with 
+enthusiasm by the Wizarding community, though 
+rumors of a rift between the new Minister and Albus 
+Dumbledore, newly reinstated Chief Warlock of the 
+Wizengamot, surfaced within hours of Scrimgeour 
+taking office. 
+
+Scrimgeour’s representatives admitted that he had met 
+with Dumbledore at once upon taking possession of the 
+top job, but refused to comment on the topics under 
+discussion. Albus Dumbledore is known to (ctd. page 
+3, column 2) 
+
+To the left of this paper sat another, which had been 
+folded so that a story bearing the title MINISTRY 
+GUARANTEES STUDENTS’ SAFETY was visible. 
+
+Newly appointed Minister of Magic, Rufus 
+Scrimgeour, spoke today of the tough new measures 
+taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students 
+returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
+Wizardry this autumn. 
+
+“For obvious reasons, the Ministry will not be going 
+into detail about its stringent new security plans,” 
+said the Minister, although an insider confirmed that 
+measures include defensive spells and charms, a 
+complex array of countercurses, and a small task 
+force of Aurors dedicated solely to the protection of 
+Hogwarts School. 
+
+Most seem reassured by the new Minister’s tough 
+stand on student safety. Said Mrs. Augusta 
+Longbottom, “My grandson, Neville — a good friend of 
+Harry Potter’s, incidentally, who fought the Death 
+Eaters alongside him at the Ministry in June and — 
+Page | 45 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But the rest of this story was obscured by the large 
+birdcage standing on top of it. Inside it was a 
+magnificent snowy owl. Her amber eyes surveyed the 
+room imperiously, her head swiveling occasionally to 
+gaze at her snoring master. Once or twice she clicked 
+her beak impatiently, but Harry was too deeply asleep 
+to hear her. 
+
+A large trunk stood in the very middle of the room. Its 
+lid was open; it looked expectant; yet it was almost 
+empty but for a residue of old underwear, sweets, 
+empty ink bottles, and broken quills that coated the 
+very bottom. Nearby, on the floor, lay a purple leaflet 
+emblazoned with the words: 
+
+— ISSUED ON BEHALF OF — 
+
+THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC 
+
+PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY 
+
+AGAINST DARK FORCES 
+
+The Wizarding community is currently under threat 
+from an organization calling itself the Death Eaters. 
+Observing the following simple security guidelines will 
+help protect you, your family, and your home from 
+attack. 
+
+1. You are advised not to leave the house alone. 
+
+2. Particular care should be taken during the 
+hours of darkness. Wherever possible, arrange to 
+complete journeys before night has fallen. 
+
+3. Review the security arrangements around your 
+house, making sure that all family members are 
+aware of emergency measures such as Shield and 
+
+
+
+Page | 46 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Disillusionment Charms, and, in the case of underage 
+family members, Side-Along-Apparition. 
+
+4. Agree on security questions with close friends 
+and family so as to detect Death Eaters masquerading 
+as others by use of the Polyjuice Potion (see page 2). 
+
+5. Should you feel that a family member, 
+colleague, friend, or neighbor is acting in a strange 
+manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad 
+at once. They may have been put under the Imperius 
+Curse (see page 4). 
+
+6. Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling 
+place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact 
+the Auror office immediately. 
+
+7. Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death 
+Eaters may now be using Inferi (see page 10). Any 
+sighting of an Inferius, or encounter with same, 
+should be reported to the Ministry IMMEDIATELY. 
+
+Harry grunted in his sleep and his face slid down the 
+window an inch or so, making his glasses still more 
+lopsided, but he did not wake up. An alarm clock, 
+repaired by Harry several years ago, ticked loudly on 
+the sill, showing one minute to eleven. Beside it, held 
+in place by Harry’s relaxed hand, was a piece of 
+parchment covered in thin, slanting writing. Harry 
+had read this letter so often since its arrival three 
+days ago that although it had been delivered in a 
+tightly furled scroll, it now lay quite flat. 
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+If it is convenient to you, I shall call at number four, 
+Privet Drive this coming Friday at eleven p.m. to escort 
+you to the Burrow, where you have been invited to 
+spend the remainder of your school holidays. 
+
+Page | 47 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+If you are agreeable, I should also be glad of your 
+assistance in a matter to which I hope to attend on the 
+way to the Burrow. I shall explain this more fully when 
+I see you. 
+
+Kindly send your answer by return of this owl. Hoping 
+to see you this Friday, 
+
+I am, yours most sincerely, 
+
+Albus Dumbledore 
+
+Though he already knew it by heart, Harry had been 
+stealing glances at this missive every few minutes 
+since seven o’clock that evening, when he had first 
+taken up his position beside his bedroom window, 
+which had a reasonable view of both ends of Privet 
+Drive. He knew it was pointless to keep rereading 
+Dumbledore ’s words; Harry had sent back his “yes” 
+with the delivering owl, as requested, and all he could 
+do now was wait: Either Dumbledore was going to 
+come, or he was not. 
+
+But Harry had not packed. It just seemed too good to 
+be true that he was going to be rescued from the 
+Dursleys after a mere fortnight of their company. He 
+could not shrug off the feeling that something was 
+going to go wrong — his reply to Dumbledore ’s letter 
+might have gone astray; Dumbledore could be 
+prevented from collecting him; the letter might turn 
+out not to be from Dumbledore at all, but a trick or 
+joke or trap. Harry had not been able to face packing 
+and then being let down and having to unpack again. 
+The only gesture he had made to the possibility of a 
+journey was to shut his snowy owl, Hedwig, safely in 
+her cage. 
+
+
+
+Page | 48 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The minute hand on the alarm clock reached the 
+number twelve and, at that precise moment, the 
+streetlamp outside the window went out. 
+
+Harry awoke as though the sudden darkness were an 
+alarm. Hastily straightening his glasses and 
+unsticking his cheek from the glass, he pressed his 
+nose against the window instead and squinted down 
+at the pavement. A tall figure in a long, billowing 
+cloak was walking up the garden path. 
+
+Harry jumped up as though he had received an 
+electric shock, knocked over his chair, and started 
+snatching anything and everything within reach from 
+the floor and throwing it into the trunk. Even as he 
+lobbed a set of robes, two spellbooks, and a packet of 
+crisps across the room, the doorbell rang. Downstairs 
+in the living room his Uncle Vernon shouted, “Who 
+the blazes is calling at this time of night?” 
+
+Harry froze with a brass telescope in one hand and a 
+pair of trainers in the other. He had completely 
+forgotten to warn the Dursleys that Dumbledore 
+might be coming. Feeling both panicky and close to 
+laughter, he clambered over the trunk and wrenched 
+open his bedroom door in time to hear a deep voice 
+say, “Good evening. You must be Mr. Dursley. I 
+daresay Harry has told you I would be coming for 
+him?” 
+
+Harry ran down the stairs two at a time, coming to an 
+abrupt halt several steps from the bottom, as long 
+experience had taught him to remain out of arm’s 
+reach of his uncle whenever possible. There in the 
+doorway stood a tall, thin man with waist-length 
+silver hair and beard. Half-moon spectacles were 
+perched on his crooked nose, and he was wearing a 
+long black traveling cloak and a pointed hat. Vernon 
+Dursley, whose mustache was quite as bushy as 
+Page | 49 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore ’s, though black, and who was wearing a 
+puce dressing gown, was staring at the visitor as 
+though he could not believe his tiny eyes. 
+
+“Judging by your look of stunned disbelief, Harry did 
+not warn you that I was coming,” said Dumbledore 
+pleasantly. “However, let us assume that you have 
+invited me warmly into your house. It is unwise to 
+linger overlong on doorsteps in these troubled times.” 
+
+He stepped smartly over the threshold and closed the 
+front door behind him. 
+
+“It is a long time since my last visit,” said 
+Dumbledore, peering down his crooked nose at Uncle 
+Vernon. “I must say, your agapanthus are 
+flourishing.” 
+
+Vernon Dursley said nothing at all. Harry did not 
+doubt that speech would return to him, and soon — 
+the vein pulsing in his uncle’s temple was reaching 
+danger point — but something about Dumbledore 
+seemed to have robbed him temporarily of breath. It 
+might have been the blatant wizardishness of his 
+appearance, but it might, too, have been that even 
+Uncle Vernon could sense that here was a man whom 
+it would be very difficult to bully. 
+
+“Ah, good evening Harry,” said Dumbledore, looking 
+up at him through his half-moon glasses with a most 
+satisfied expression. “Excellent, excellent.” 
+
+These words seemed to rouse Uncle Vernon. It was 
+clear that as far as he was concerned, any man who 
+could look at Harry and say “excellent” was a man 
+with whom he could never see eye to eye. 
+
+“I don’t mean to be rude — ” he began, in a tone that 
+threatened rudeness in every syllable. 
+
+Page | 50 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly 
+often,” Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely. 
+“Best to say nothing at all, my dear man. Ah, and this 
+must be Petunia.” 
+
+The kitchen door had opened, and there stood Harry’s 
+aunt, wearing rubber gloves and a housecoat over her 
+nightdress, clearly halfway through her usual pre- 
+bedtime wipe-down of all the kitchen surfaces. Her 
+rather horsey face registered nothing but shock. 
+
+“Albus Dumbledore,” said Dumbledore, when Uncle 
+Vernon failed to effect an introduction. “We have 
+corresponded, of course.” Harry thought this an odd 
+way of reminding Aunt Petunia that he had once sent 
+her an exploding letter, but Aunt Petunia did not 
+challenge the term. “And this must be your son, 
+Dudley?” 
+
+Dudley had that moment peered round the living 
+room door. His large, blond head rising out of the 
+stripy collar of his pajamas looked oddly disembodied, 
+his mouth gaping in astonishment and fear. 
+Dumbledore waited a moment or two, apparently to 
+see whether any of the Dursleys were going to say 
+anything, but as the silence stretched on he smiled. 
+
+“Shall we assume that you have invited me into your 
+sitting room? 
+
+Dudley scrambled out of the way as Dumbledore 
+passed him. Harry, still clutching the telescope and 
+trainers, jumped the last few stairs and followed 
+Dumbledore, who had settled himself in the armchair 
+nearest the fire and was taking in the surroundings 
+with an expression of benign interest. He looked quite 
+extraordinarily out of place. 
+
+
+
+Page | 51 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Aren’t — aren’t we leaving, sir?” Harry asked 
+anxiously. 
+
+“Yes, indeed we are, but there are a few matters we 
+need to discuss first,” said Dumbledore. “And I would 
+prefer not to do so in the open. We shall trespass 
+upon your aunt and uncle’s hospitality only a little 
+longer.” 
+
+“You will, will you?” 
+
+Vernon Dursley had entered the room, Petunia at his 
+shoulder, and Dudley skulking behind them both. 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore simply, “I shall.” 
+
+He drew his wand so rapidly that Harry barely saw it; 
+with a casual flick, the sofa zoomed forward and 
+knocked the knees out from under all three of the 
+Dursley s so that they collapsed upon it in a heap. 
+Another flick of the wand and the sofa zoomed back 
+to its original position. 
+
+“We may as well be comfortable,” said Dumbledore 
+pleasantly. 
+
+As he replaced his wand in his pocket, Harry saw that 
+his hand was blackened and shriveled; it looked as 
+though his flesh had been burned away. 
+
+“Sir — what happened to your — ?” 
+
+“Later, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “Please sit down.” 
+
+Harry took the remaining armchair, choosing not to 
+look at the Dursleys, who seemed stunned into 
+silence. 
+
+
+
+Page | 52 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I would assume that you were going to offer me 
+refreshment,” Dumbledore said to Uncle Vernon, “but 
+the evidence so far suggests that that would be 
+optimistic to the point of foolishness.” 
+
+A third twitch of the wand, and a dusty bottle and five 
+glasses appeared in midair. The bottle tipped and 
+poured a generous measure of honey-colored liquid 
+into each of the glasses, which then floated to each 
+person in the room. 
+
+“Madam Rosmerta’s finest oak-matured mead,” said 
+Dumbledore, raising his glass to Harry, who caught 
+hold of his own and sipped. He had never tasted 
+anything like it before, but enjoyed it immensely. The 
+Dursleys, after quick, scared looks at one another, 
+tried to ignore their glasses completely, a difficult feat, 
+as they were nudging them gently on the sides of their 
+heads. Harry could not suppress a suspicion that 
+Dumbledore was rather enjoying himself. 
+
+“Well, Harry,” said Dumbledore, turning toward him, 
+“a difficulty has arisen which I hope you will be able 
+to solve for us. By us, I mean the Order of the 
+Phoenix. But first of all I must tell you that Sirius’s 
+will was discovered a week ago and that he left you 
+everything he owned.” 
+
+Over on the sofa, Uncle Vernon’s head turned, but 
+Harry did not look at him, nor could he think of 
+anything to say except, “Oh. Right.” 
+
+“This is, in the main, fairly straightforward,” 
+Dumbledore went on. “You add a reasonable amount 
+of gold to your account at Gringotts, and you inherit 
+all of Sirius’s personal possessions. The slightly 
+problematic part of the legacy — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 53 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“His godfather’s dead?” said Uncle Vernon loudly from 
+the sofa. Dumbledore and Harry both turned to look 
+at him. The glass of mead was now knocking quite 
+insistently on the side of Vernon’s head; he attempted 
+to beat it away. “He’s dead? His godfather?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. He did not ask Harry why he 
+had not confided in the Dursleys. “Our problem,” he 
+continued to Harry, as if there had been no 
+interruption, “is that Sirius also left you number 
+twelve, Grimmauld Place.” 
+
+“He’s been left a house?” said Uncle Vernon greedily, 
+his small eyes narrowing, but nobody answered him. 
+
+“You can keep using it as headquarters,” said Harry. 
+
+“I don’t care. You can have it, I don’t really want it.” 
+Harry never wanted to set foot in number twelve, 
+Grimmauld Place again if he could help it. He thought 
+he would be haunted forever by the memory of Sirius 
+prowling its dark musty rooms alone, imprisoned 
+within the place he had wanted so desperately to 
+leave. 
+
+“That is generous,” said Dumbledore. “We have, 
+however, vacated the building temporarily.” 
+
+“Why?” 
+
+“Well,” said Dumbledore, ignoring the mutterings of 
+Uncle Vernon, who was now being rapped smartly 
+over the head by the persistent glass of mead, “Black 
+family tradition decreed that the house was handed 
+down the direct line, to the next male with the name 
+of ‘Black. ’ Sirius was the very last of the line as his 
+younger brother, Regulus, predeceased him and both 
+were childless. While his will makes it perfectly plain 
+that he wants you to have the house, it is 
+nevertheless possible that some spell or enchantment 
+Page | 54 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+has been set upon the place to ensure that it cannot 
+be owned by anyone other than a pureblood.” 
+
+
+
+A vivid image of the shrieking, spitting portrait of 
+Sirius’s mother that hung in the hall of number 
+twelve, Grimmauld Place flashed into Harry’s mind. “I 
+bet there has,” he said. 
+
+“Quite,” said Dumbledore. “And if such an 
+enchantment exists, then the ownership of the house 
+is most likely to pass to the eldest of Sirius’s living 
+relatives, which would mean his cousin, Bellatrix 
+Lestrange.” 
+
+Without realizing what he was doing, Harry sprang to 
+his feet; the telescope and trainers in his lap rolled 
+across the floor. Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius’s killer, 
+inherit his house? 
+
+“No,” he said. 
+
+“Well, obviously we would prefer that she didn’t get it 
+either,” said Dumbledore calmly. “The situation is 
+fraught with complications. We do not know whether 
+the enchantments we ourselves have placed upon it, 
+for example, making it Unplottable, will hold now that 
+ownership has passed from Sirius’s hands. It might 
+be that Bellatrix will arrive on the doorstep at any 
+moment. Naturally we had to move out until such 
+time as we have clarified the position.” 
+
+“But how are you going to find out if I’m allowed to 
+own it?” 
+
+“Fortunately,” said Dumbledore, “there is a simple 
+test.” 
+
+He placed his empty glass on a small table beside his 
+chair, but before he could do anything else, Uncle 
+
+Page | 55 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Vernon shouted, “ Will you get these ruddy things off 
+us?” 
+
+Harry looked around; all three of the Dursleys were 
+cowering with their arms over their heads as their 
+glasses bounced up and down on their skulls, their 
+contents flying everywhere. 
+
+“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Dumbledore politely, and he 
+raised his wand again. All three glasses vanished. 
+
+“But it would have been better manners to drink it, 
+you know.” 
+
+It looked as though Uncle Vernon was bursting with 
+any number of unpleasant retorts, but he merely 
+shrank back into the cushions with Aunt Petunia and 
+Dudley and said nothing, keeping his small piggy eyes 
+on Dumbledore ’s wand. 
+
+“You see,” Dumbledore said, turning back to Harry 
+and again speaking as though Uncle Vernon had not 
+uttered, “if you have indeed inherited the house, you 
+have also inherited — ” 
+
+He flicked his wand for a fifth time. There was a loud 
+crack, and a house-elf appeared, with a snout for a 
+nose, giant bat’s ears, and enormous bloodshot eyes, 
+crouching on the Dursleys’ shag carpet and covered 
+in grimy rags. Aunt Petunia let out a hair-raising 
+shriek; nothing this filthy had entered her house in 
+living memory. Dudley drew his large, bare, pink feet 
+off the floor and sat with them raised almost above 
+his head, as though he thought the creature might 
+run up his pajama trousers, and Uncle Vernon 
+bellowed, “What the hell is that?” 
+
+“Kreacher,” finished Dumbledore. 
+
+
+
+Page | 56 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Kreacher won’t, Kreacher won’t, Kreacher won’t!” 
+croaked the house-elf, quite as loudly as Uncle 
+Vernon, stamping his long, gnarled feet and pulling 
+his ears. “Kreacher belongs to Miss Bellatrix, oh yes, 
+Kreacher belongs to the Blacks, Kreacher wants his 
+new mistress, Kreacher won’t go to the Potter brat, 
+Kreacher won’t, won’t, won’t — ” 
+
+“As you can see, Harry,” said Dumbledore loudly, over 
+Kreacher’s continued croaks of “won’t, won’t, won’t,” 
+“Kreacher is showing a certain reluctance to pass into 
+your ownership.” 
+
+“I don’t care,” said Harry again, looking with disgust 
+at the writhing, stamping house-elf. “I don’t want 
+him.” 
+
+“Won’t, won’t, won’t, won’t — ” 
+
+“You would prefer him to pass into the ownership of 
+Bellatrix Lestrange? Bearing in mind that he has lived 
+at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for 
+the past year?” 
+
+“Won’t, won’t, won’t, won’t — ” 
+
+Harry stared at Dumbledore. He knew that Kreacher 
+could not be permitted to go and live with Bellatrix 
+Lestrange, but the idea of owning him, of having 
+responsibility for the creature that had betrayed 
+Sirius, was repugnant. 
+
+“Give him an order,” said Dumbledore. “If he has 
+passed into your ownership, he will have to obey. If 
+not, then we shall have to think of some other means 
+of keeping him from his rightful mistress.” 
+
+“Won’t, won’t, won’t, WON’T.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 57 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Kreacher’s voice had risen to a scream. Harry could 
+think of nothing to say, except, “Kreacher, shut up!” 
+
+It looked for a moment as though Kreacher was going 
+to choke. He grabbed his throat, his mouth still 
+working furiously, his eyes bulging. After a few 
+seconds of frantic gulping, he threw himself face 
+forward onto the carpet (Aunt Petunia whimpered) 
+and beat the floor with his hands and feet, giving 
+himself over to a violent, but entirely silent, tantrum. 
+
+“Well, that simplifies matters,” said Dumbledore 
+cheerfully. “It seems that Sirius knew what he was 
+doing. You are the rightful owner of number twelve, 
+Grimmauld Place and of Kreacher.” 
+
+“Do I — do I have to keep him with me?” Harry asked, 
+aghast, as Kreacher thrashed around at his feet. 
+
+“Not if you don’t want to,” said Dumbledore. “If I 
+might make a suggestion, you could send him to 
+Hogwarts to work in the kitchen there. In that way, 
+the other house-elves could keep an eye on him.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry in relief, “yeah, I’ll do that. Er — 
+Kreacher — I want you to go to Hogwarts and work in 
+the kitchens there with the other house-elves.” 
+
+Kreacher, who was now lying flat on his back with his 
+arms and legs in the air, gave Harry one upside-down 
+look of deepest loathing and, with another loud crack, 
+vanished. 
+
+“Good,” said Dumbledore. “There is also the matter of 
+the hippogriff, Buckbeak. Hagrid has been looking 
+after him since Sirius died, but Buckbeak is yours 
+now, so if you would prefer to make different 
+arrangements — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 58 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry at once, “he can stay with Hagrid. I 
+think Buckbeak would prefer that.” 
+
+“Hagrid will be delighted,” said Dumbledore, smiling. 
+“He was thrilled to see Buckbeak again. Incidentally, 
+we have decided, in the interests of Buckbeak’s 
+safety, to rechristen him ‘Witherwings’ for the time 
+being, though I doubt that the Ministry would ever 
+guess he is the hippogriff they once sentenced to 
+death. Now, Harry, is your trunk packed?” 
+
+“Erm ...” 
+
+“Doubtful that I would turn up?” Dumbledore 
+suggested shrewdly. 
+
+“I’ll just go and — er — finish off,” said Harry hastily, 
+hurrying to pick up his fallen telescope and trainers. 
+
+It took him a little over ten minutes to track down 
+everything he needed; at last he had managed to 
+extract his Invisibility Cloak from under the bed, 
+screwed the top back on his jar of color-change ink, 
+and forced the lid of his trunk shut on his cauldron. 
+Then, heaving his trunk in one hand and holding 
+Hedwig’s cage in the other, he made his way back 
+downstairs. 
+
+He was disappointed to discover that Dumbledore was 
+not waiting in the hall, which meant that he had to 
+return to the living room. 
+
+Nobody was talking. Dumbledore was humming 
+quietly, apparently quite at his ease, but the 
+atmosphere was thicker than cold custard, and Harry 
+did not dare look at the Dursleys as he said, 
+
+“Professor — I’m ready now.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 59 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Good,” said Dumbledore. “Just one last thing, then.” 
+And he turned to speak to the Dursleys once more. 
+
+“As you will no doubt be aware, Harry comes of age in 
+a year’s time — ” 
+
+“No,” said Aunt Petunia, speaking for the first time 
+since Dumbledore’s arrival. 
+
+“I’m sorry?” said Dumbledore politely. 
+
+“No, he doesn’t. He’s a month younger than Dudley, 
+and Dudders doesn’t turn eighteen until the year after 
+next.” 
+
+“Ah,” said Dumbledore pleasantly, “but in the 
+Wizarding world, we come of age at seventeen.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon muttered, “Preposterous,” but 
+Dumbledore ignored him. 
+
+“Now, as you already know, the wizard called Lord 
+Voldemort has returned to this country. The 
+Wizarding community is currently in a state of open 
+warfare. Harry, whom Lord Voldemort has already 
+attempted to kill on a number of occasions, is in even 
+greater danger now than the day when I left him upon 
+your doorstep fifteen years ago, with a letter 
+explaining about his parents’ murder and expressing 
+the hope that you would care for him as though he 
+were your own.” 
+
+Dumbledore paused, and although his voice remained 
+light and calm, and he gave no obvious sign of anger, 
+Harry felt a kind of chill emanating from him and 
+noticed that the Dursleys drew very slightly closer 
+together. 
+
+
+
+Page | 60 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You did not do as I asked. You have never treated 
+Harry as a son. He has known nothing but neglect 
+and often cruelty at your hands. The best that can be 
+said is that he has at least escaped the appalling 
+damage you have inflicted upon the unfortunate boy 
+sitting between you.” 
+
+Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked around 
+instinctively, as though expecting to see someone 
+other than Dudley squeezed between them. 
+
+“Us — mistreat Dudders? What d’you — ?” began 
+Uncle Vernon furiously, but Dumbledore raised his 
+finger for silence, a silence which fell as though he 
+had struck Uncle Vernon dumb. 
+
+“The magic I evoked fifteen years ago means that 
+Harry has powerful protection while he can still call 
+this house ‘home.’ However miserable he has been 
+here, however unwelcome, however badly treated, you 
+have at least, grudgingly, allowed him houseroom. 
+This magic will cease to operate the moment that 
+Harry turns seventeen; in other words, at the moment 
+he becomes a man. I ask only this: that you allow 
+Harry to return, once more, to this house, before his 
+seventeenth birthday, which will ensure that the 
+protection continues until that time.” 
+
+None of the Dursleys said anything. Dudley was 
+frowning slightly, as though he was still trying to 
+work out when he had ever been mistreated. Uncle 
+Vernon looked as though he had something stuck in 
+his throat; Aunt Petunia, however, was oddly flushed. 
+
+“Well, Harry ... time for us to be off,” said Dumbledore 
+at last, standing up and straightening his long black 
+cloak. “Until we meet again,” he said to the Dursleys, 
+who looked as though that moment could wait forever 
+
+
+
+Page | 61 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+as far as they were concerned, and after doffing his 
+hat, he swept from the room. 
+
+“Bye,” said Harry hastily to the Dursleys, and followed 
+Dumbledore, who paused beside Harry’s trunk, upon 
+which Hedwig’s cage was perched. 
+
+“We do not want to be encumbered by these just 
+now,” he said, pulling out his wand again. “I shall 
+send them to the Burrow to await us there. However, I 
+would like you to bring your Invisibility Cloak ... just 
+in case.” 
+
+Harry extracted his cloak from his trunk with some 
+difficulty, trying not to show Dumbledore the mess 
+within. When he had stuffed it into an inside pocket 
+of his jacket, Dumbledore waved his wand and the 
+trunk, cage, and Hedwig vanished. Dumbledore then 
+waved his wand again, and the front door opened 
+onto cool, misty darkness. 
+
+“And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and 
+pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 62 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+HORACE SLUGHORN 
+
+Despite the fact that he had spent every waking 
+moment of the past few days hoping desperately that 
+Dumbledore would indeed come to fetch him, Harry 
+felt distinctly awkward as they set off down Privet 
+Drive together. He had never had a proper 
+conversation with the headmaster outside of 
+Hogwarts before; there was usually a desk between 
+them. The memory of their last face-to-face encounter 
+kept intruding too, and it rather heightened Harry’s 
+sense of embarrassment; he had shouted a lot on that 
+occasion, not to mention done his best to smash 
+several of Dumbledore ’s most prized possessions. 
+
+Dumbledore, however, seemed completely relaxed. 
+
+“Keep your wand at the ready, Harry,” he said 
+brightly. 
+
+“But I thought I’m not allowed to use magic outside 
+school, sir?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“If there is an attack,” said Dumbledore, “I give you 
+permission to use any counterjinx or curse that might 
+occur to you. However, I do not think you need worry 
+about being attacked tonight.” 
+
+“Why not, sir?” 
+
+“You are with me,” said Dumbledore simply. “This will 
+do, Harry.” 
+
+He came to an abrupt halt at the end of Privet Drive. 
+
+“You have not, of course, passed your Apparition 
+Test,” he said. 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “I thought you had to be seventeen?” 
+
+“You do,” said Dumbledore. “So you will need to hold 
+on to my arm very tightly. My left, if you don’t mind — 
+as you have noticed, my wand arm is a little fragile at 
+the moment.” 
+
+Harry gripped Dumbledore’s proffered forearm. 
+
+“Very good,” said Dumbledore. “Well, here we go.” 
+
+Harry felt Dumbledore’s arm twist away from him and 
+redoubled his grip; the next thing he knew, everything 
+went black; he was being pressed very hard from all 
+directions; he could not breathe, there were iron 
+bands tightening around his chest; his eyeballs were 
+being forced back into his head; his eardrums were 
+being pushed deeper into his skull and then — 
+
+He gulped great lungfuls of cold night air and opened 
+his streaming eyes. He felt as though he had just 
+been forced through a very tight rubber tube. It was a 
+few seconds before he realized that Privet Drive had 
+vanished. He and Dumbledore were now standing in 
+Page | 64 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+what appeared to be a deserted village square, in the 
+center of which stood an old war memorial and a few 
+benches. His comprehension catching up with his 
+senses, Harry realized that he had just Apparated for 
+the first time in his life. 
+
+“Are you all right?” asked Dumbledore, looking down 
+at him solicitously. “The sensation does take some 
+getting used to.” 
+
+“I’m fine,” said Harry, rubbing his ears, which felt as 
+though they had left Privet Drive rather reluctantly. 
+“But I think I might prefer brooms. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled, drew his traveling cloak a little 
+more tightly around his neck, and said, “This way.” 
+
+He set off at a brisk pace, past an empty inn and a 
+few houses. According to a clock on a nearby church, 
+it was almost midnight. 
+
+“So tell me, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “Your scar ... 
+has it been hurting at all?” 
+
+Harry raised a hand unconsciously to his forehead 
+and rubbed the lightning-shaped mark. 
+
+“No,” he said, “and IVe been wondering about that. I 
+thought it would be burning all the time now 
+Voldemort’s getting so powerful again.” 
+
+He glanced up at Dumbledore and saw that he was 
+wearing a satisfied expression. 
+
+“I, on the other hand, thought otherwise,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Lord Voldemort has finally realized the 
+dangerous access to his thoughts and feelings you 
+have been enjoying. It appears that he is now 
+employing Occlumency against you.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, I’m not complaining,” said Harry, who missed 
+neither the disturbing dreams nor the startling 
+flashes of insight into Voldemort’s mind. 
+
+They turned a corner, passing a telephone box and a 
+bus shelter. Harry looked sideways at Dumbledore 
+again. “Professor?” 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+“Er — where exactly are we?” 
+
+“This, Harry, is the charming village of Budleigh 
+Babberton.” 
+
+“And what are we doing here?” 
+
+“Ah yes, of course, I haven’t told you,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Well, I have lost count of the number of 
+times I have said this in recent years, but we are, 
+once again, one member of staff short. We are here to 
+persuade an old colleague of mine to come out of 
+retirement and return to Hogwarts.” 
+
+“How can I help with that, sir?” 
+
+“Oh, I think we’ll find a use for you,” said Dumbledore 
+vaguely. “Left here, Harry.” 
+
+They proceeded up a steep, narrow street lined with 
+houses. All the windows were dark. The odd chill that 
+had lain over Privet Drive for two weeks persisted here 
+too. Thinking of dementors, Harry cast a look over his 
+shoulder and grasped his wand reassuringly in his 
+pocket. 
+
+“Professor, why couldn’t we just Apparate directly into 
+your old colleague’s house?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Because it would be quite as rude as kicking down 
+the front door,” said Dumbledore. “Courtesy dictates 
+that we offer fellow wizards the opportunity of denying 
+us entry. In any case, most Wizarding dwellings are 
+magically protected from unwanted Apparators. At 
+Hogwarts, for instance — ” 
+
+“ — you can’t Apparate anywhere inside the buildings 
+or grounds,” said Harry quickly. “Hermione Granger 
+told me.” 
+
+“And she is quite right. We turn left again.” 
+
+The church clock chimed midnight behind them. 
+
+Harry wondered why Dumbledore did not consider it 
+rude to call on his old colleague so late, but now that 
+conversation had been established, he had more 
+pressing questions to ask. 
+
+“Sir, I saw in the Daily Prophet that Fudge has been 
+sacked. ...” 
+
+“Correct,” said Dumbledore, now turning up a steep 
+side street. “He has been replaced, as I am sure you 
+also saw, by Rufus Scrimgeour, who used to be Head 
+of the Auror office.” 
+
+“Is he ... Do you think he’s good?” asked Harry. 
+
+“An interesting question,” said Dumbledore. “He is 
+able, certainly. A more decisive and forceful 
+personality than Cornelius.” 
+
+“Yes, but I meant — ” 
+
+“I know what you meant. Rufus is a man of action 
+and, having fought Dark wizards for most of his 
+working life, does not underestimate Lord Voldemort.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not say anything 
+about the disagreement with Scrimgeour that the 
+Daily Prophet had reported, and he did not have the 
+nerve to pursue the subject, so he changed it. “And ... 
+sir ... I saw about Madam Bones.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore quietly. “A terrible loss. She 
+was a great witch. Just up here, I think — ouch.” 
+
+He had pointed with his injured hand. 
+
+“Professor, what happened to your — ?” 
+
+“I have no time to explain now,” said Dumbledore. “It 
+is a thrilling tale, I wish to do it justice.” 
+
+He smiled at Harry, who understood that he was not 
+being snubbed, and that he had permission to keep 
+asking questions. 
+
+“Sir — I got a Ministry of Magic leaflet by owl, about 
+security measures we should all take against the 
+Death Eaters. ...” 
+
+“Yes, I received one myself,” said Dumbledore, still 
+smiling. “Did you find it useful?” 
+
+“Not really.” 
+
+“No, I thought not. You have not asked me, for 
+instance, what is my favorite flavor of jam, to check 
+that I am indeed Professor Dumbledore and not an 
+impostor.” 
+
+“I didn’t ...” Harry began, not entirely sure whether he 
+was being reprimanded or not. 
+
+“For future reference, Harry, it is raspberry ... 
+although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would 
+
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+
+
+
+
+have been sure to research my own jam preferences 
+before impersonating myself.” 
+
+“Er ... right,” said Harry. “Well, on that leaflet, it said 
+something about Inferi. What exactly are they? The 
+leaflet wasn’t very clear.” 
+
+“They are corpses,” said Dumbledore calmly. “Dead 
+bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark 
+wizard’s bidding. Inferi have not been seen for a long 
+time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful. 
+
+. . . He killed enough people to make an army of them, 
+of course. This is the place, Harry, just here. ...” 
+
+They were nearing a small, neat stone house set in its 
+own garden. Harry was too busy digesting the horrible 
+idea of Inferi to have much attention left for anything 
+else, but as they reached the front gate, Dumbledore 
+stopped dead and Harry walked into him. 
+
+“Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.” 
+
+Harry followed his gaze up the carefully tended front 
+path and felt his heart sink. The front door was 
+hanging off its hinges. 
+
+Dumbledore glanced up and down the street. It 
+seemed quite deserted. 
+
+“Wand out and follow me, Harry,” he said quietly. 
+
+He opened the gate and walked swiftly and silently up 
+the garden path, Harry at his heels, then pushed the 
+front door very slowly, his wand raised and at the 
+ready. 
+
+“Lumos.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore ’s wand tip ignited, casting its light up a 
+narrow hallway. To the left, another door stood open. 
+Holding his illuminated wand aloft, Dumbledore 
+walked into the sitting room with Harry right behind 
+him. 
+
+A scene of total devastation met their eyes. A 
+grandfather clock lay splintered at their feet, its face 
+cracked, its pendulum lying a little farther away like a 
+dropped sword. A piano was on its side, its keys 
+strewn across the floor. The wreckage of a fallen 
+chandelier glittered nearby. Cushions lay deflated, 
+feathers oozing from slashes in their sides; fragments 
+of glass and china lay like powder over everything. 
+Dumbledore raised his wand even higher, so that its 
+light was thrown upon the walls, where something 
+darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the 
+wallpaper. Harry’s small intake of breath made 
+Dumbledore look around. 
+
+“Not pretty, is it?” he said heavily. “Yes, something 
+horrible has happened here.” 
+
+Dumbledore moved carefully into the middle of the 
+room, scrutinizing the wreckage at his feet. Harry 
+followed, gazing around, half-scared of what he might 
+see hidden behind the wreck of the piano or the 
+overturned sofa, but there was no sign of a body. 
+
+“Maybe there was a fight and — and they dragged him 
+off, Professor?” Harry suggested, trying not to imagine 
+how badly wounded a man would have to be to leave 
+those stains spattered halfway up the walls. 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore quietly, peering 
+behind an overstuffed armchair lying on its side. 
+
+“You mean he’s — ?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Still here somewhere? Yes.” 
+
+
+
+And without warning, Dumbledore swooped, plunging 
+the tip of his wand into the seat of the overstuffed 
+armchair, which yelled, “Ouch!” 
+
+“Good evening, Horace,” said Dumbledore, 
+straightening up again. 
+
+Harry’s jaw dropped. Where a split second before 
+there had been an armchair, there now crouched an 
+enormously fat, bald, old man who was massaging his 
+lower belly and squinting up at Dumbledore with an 
+aggrieved and watery eye. 
+
+“There was no need to stick the wand in that hard,” 
+he said gruffly, clambering to his feet. “It hurt.” 
+
+The wandlight sparkled on his shiny pate, his 
+prominent eyes, his enormous, silver, walruslike 
+mustache, and the highly polished buttons on the 
+maroon velvet jacket he was wearing over a pair of 
+lilac silk pajamas. The top of his head barely reached 
+Dumbledore ’s chin. 
+
+“What gave it away?” he grunted as he staggered to 
+his feet, still rubbing his lower belly. He seemed 
+remarkably unabashed for a man who had just been 
+discovered pretending to be an armchair. 
+
+“My dear Horace,” said Dumbledore, looking amused, 
+“if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark 
+Mark would have been set over the house.” 
+
+The wizard clapped a pudgy hand to his vast 
+forehead. 
+
+“The Dark Mark,” he muttered. “Knew there was 
+something ... ah well. Wouldn’t have had time 
+
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+
+
+
+
+anyway, I’d only just put the finishing touches to my 
+upholstery when you entered the room.” 
+
+He heaved a great sigh that made the ends of his 
+mustache flutter. 
+
+“Would you like my assistance clearing up?” asked 
+Dumbledore politely. 
+
+“Please,” said the other. 
+
+They stood back to back, the tall thin wizard and the 
+short round one, and waved their wands in one 
+identical sweeping motion. 
+
+The furniture flew back to its original places; 
+ornaments reformed in midair, feathers zoomed into 
+their cushions; torn books repaired themselves as 
+they landed upon their shelves; oil lanterns soared 
+onto side tables and reignited; a vast collection of 
+splintered silver picture frames flew glittering across 
+the room and alighted, whole and untarnished, upon 
+a desk; rips, cracks, and holes healed everywhere, 
+and the walls wiped themselves clean. 
+
+“What kind of blood was that, incidentally?” asked 
+Dumbledore loudly over the chiming of the newly 
+unsmashed grandfather clock. 
+
+“On the walls? Dragon,” shouted the wizard called 
+Horace, as, with a deafening grinding and tinkling, 
+the chandelier screwed itself back into the ceiling. 
+
+There was a final plunk from the piano, and silence. 
+
+“Yes, dragon,” repeated the wizard conversationally. 
+“My last bottle, and prices are sky-high at the 
+moment. Still, it might be reusable.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He stumped over to a small crystal bottle standing on 
+top of a sideboard and held it up to the light, 
+examining the thick liquid within. 
+
+“Hmm. Bit dusty.” 
+
+He set the bottle back on the sideboard and sighed. It 
+was then that his gaze fell upon Harry. 
+
+“Oho,” he said, his large round eyes flying to Harry’s 
+forehead and the lightning-shaped scar it bore. “Ohol” 
+
+“This,” said Dumbledore, moving forward to make the 
+introduction, “is Harry Potter. Harry, this is an old 
+friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn.” 
+
+Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression 
+shrewd. “So that’s how you thought you’d persuade 
+me, is it? Well, the answer’s no, Albus.” 
+
+He pushed past Harry, his face turned resolutely 
+away with the air of a man trying to resist temptation. 
+
+“I suppose we can have a drink, at least?” asked 
+Dumbledore. “For old time’s sake?” 
+
+Slughorn hesitated. 
+
+“All right then, one drink,” he said ungraciously. 
+
+Dumbledore smiled at Harry and directed him toward 
+a chair not unlike the one that Slughorn had so 
+recently impersonated, which stood right beside the 
+newly burning fire and a brightly glowing oil lamp. 
+Harry took the seat with the distinct impression that 
+Dumbledore, for some reason, wanted to keep him as 
+visible as possible. Certainly when Slughorn, who had 
+been busy with decanters and glasses, turned to face 
+the room again, his eyes fell immediately upon Harry. 
+Page | 73 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hmpf,” he said, looking away quickly as though 
+frightened of hurting his eyes. “Here — ” He gave a 
+drink to Dumbledore, who had sat down without 
+invitation, thrust the tray at Harry, and then sank 
+into the cushions of the repaired sofa and a 
+disgruntled silence. His legs were so short they did 
+not touch the floor. 
+
+“Well, how have you been keeping, Horace?” 
+Dumbledore asked. 
+
+“Not so well,” said Slughorn at once. “Weak chest. 
+Wheezy. Rheumatism too. Can’t move like I used to. 
+Well, that’s to be expected. Old age. Fatigue.” 
+
+“And yet you must have moved fairly quickly to 
+prepare such a welcome for us at such short notice,” 
+said Dumbledore. “You can’t have had more than 
+three minutes’ warning?” 
+
+Slughorn said, half irritably, half proudly, “Two. 
+
+Didn’t hear my Intruder Charm go off, I was taking a 
+bath. Still,” he added sternly, seeming to pull himself 
+back together again, “the fact remains that I’m an old 
+man, Albus. A tired old man who’s earned the right to 
+a quiet life and a few creature comforts.” 
+
+He certainly had those, thought Harry, looking 
+around the room. It was stuffy and cluttered, yet 
+nobody could say it was uncomfortable; there were 
+soft chairs and footstools, drinks and books, boxes of 
+chocolates and plump cushions. If Harry had not 
+known who lived there, he would have guessed at a 
+rich, fussy old lady. 
+
+“You’re not yet as old as I am, Horace,” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, maybe you ought to think about retirement 
+yourself,” said Slughorn bluntly. His pale gooseberry 
+eyes had found Dumbledore ’s injured hand. 
+
+“Reactions not what they were, I see.” 
+
+“You’re quite right,” said Dumbledore serenely, 
+shaking back his sleeve to reveal the tips of those 
+burned and blackened fingers; the sight of them made 
+the back of Harry’s neck prickle unpleasantly. “I am 
+undoubtedly slower than I was. But on the other 
+hand ...” 
+
+He shrugged and spread his hands wide, as though to 
+say that age had its compensations, and Harry 
+noticed a ring on his uninjured hand that he had 
+never seen Dumbledore wear before: It was large, 
+rather clumsily made of what looked like gold, and 
+was set with a heavy black stone that had cracked 
+down the middle. Slughorn’s eyes lingered for a 
+moment on the ring too, and Harry saw a tiny frown 
+momentarily crease his wide forehead. 
+
+“So, all these precautions against intruders, Horace 
+... are they for the Death Eaters’ benefit, or mine?” 
+asked Dumbledore. 
+
+“What would the Death Eaters want with a poor 
+broken-down old buffer like me?” demanded 
+Slughorn. 
+
+“I imagine that they would want you to turn your 
+considerable talents to coercion, torture, and 
+murder,” said Dumbledore. “Are you really telling me 
+that they haven’t come recruiting yet?” 
+
+Slughorn eyed Dumbledore balefully for a moment, 
+then muttered, “I haven’t given them the chance. I’ve 
+been on the move for a year. Never stay in one place 
+more than a week. Move from Muggle house to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Muggle house — the owners of this place are on 
+holiday in the Canary Islands — it’s been very 
+pleasant, I’ll be sorry to leave. It’s quite easy once you 
+know how, one simple Freezing Charm on these 
+absurd burglar alarms they use instead of 
+Sneakoscopes and make sure the neighbors don’t 
+spot you bringing in the piano.” 
+
+“Ingenious,” said Dumbledore. “But it sounds a rather 
+tiring existence for a broken-down old buffer in 
+search of a quiet life. Now, if you were to return to 
+Hogwarts — ” 
+
+“If you’re going to tell me my life would be more 
+peaceful at that pestilential school, you can save your 
+breath, Albus! I might have been in hiding, but some 
+funny rumors have reached me since Dolores 
+Umbridge left! If that’s how you treat teachers these 
+days — ” 
+
+“Professor Umbridge ran afoul of our centaur herd,” 
+said Dumbledore. “I think you, Horace, would have 
+known better than to stride into the forest and call a 
+horde of angry centaurs ‘filthy half-breeds.’ ” 
+
+“That’s what she did, did she?” said Slughorn. “Idiotic 
+woman. Never liked her.” 
+
+Harry chuckled and both Dumbledore and Slughorn 
+looked round at him. 
+
+“Sorry,” Harry said hastily. “It’s just — I didn’t like 
+her either.” 
+
+Dumbledore stood up rather suddenly. 
+
+“Are you leaving?” asked Slughorn at once, looking 
+hopeful. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No, I was wondering whether I might use your 
+bathroom,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Oh,” said Slughorn, clearly disappointed. “Second on 
+the left down the hall.” 
+
+Dumbledore strode from the room. Once the door had 
+closed behind him, there was silence. After a few 
+moments, Slughorn got to his feet but seemed 
+uncertain what to do with himself. He shot a furtive 
+look at Harry, then crossed to the fire and turned his 
+back on it, warming his wide behind. 
+
+“Don’t think I don’t know why he’s brought you,” he 
+said abruptly. 
+
+Harry merely looked at Slughorn. Slughorn ’s watery 
+eyes slid over Harry’s scar, this time taking in the rest 
+of his face. 
+
+“You look very like your father.” 
+
+“Yeah, I’ve been told,” said Harry. 
+
+“Except for your eyes. You’ve got — ” 
+
+“My mother’s eyes, yeah.” Harry had heard it so often 
+he found it a bit wearing. 
+
+“Hmpf. Yes, well. You shouldn’t have favorites as a 
+teacher, of course, but she was one of mine. Your 
+mother,” Slughorn added, in answer to Harry’s 
+questioning look. “Lily Evans. One of the brightest I 
+ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl. I 
+used to tell her she ought to have been in my House. 
+Very cheeky answers I used to get back too.” 
+
+“Which was your House?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I was Head of Slytherin,” said Slughorn. “Oh, now,” 
+he went on quickly, seeing the expression on Harry’s 
+face and wagging a stubby finger at him, “don’t go 
+holding that against me! You’ll be Gryffindor like her, 
+
+I suppose? Yes, it usually goes in families. Not 
+always, though. Ever heard of Sirius Black? You must 
+have done — been in the papers for the last couple of 
+years — died a few weeks ago — ” 
+
+It was as though an invisible hand had twisted 
+Harry’s intestines and held them tight. 
+
+“Well, anyway, he was a big pal of your father’s at 
+school. The whole Black family had been in my 
+House, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor! Shame — 
+he was a talented boy. I got his brother, Regulus, 
+when he came along, but I’d have liked the set.” 
+
+He sounded like an enthusiastic collector who had 
+been outbid at auction. Apparently lost in memories, 
+he gazed at the opposite wall, turning idly on the spot 
+to ensure an even heat on his backside. 
+
+“Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn’t 
+believe it when I found out. Thought she must have 
+been pure-blood, she was so good.” 
+
+“One of my best friends is Muggle-born,” said Harry, 
+“and she’s the best in our year.” 
+
+“Funny how that sometimes happens, isn’t it?” said 
+Slughorn. 
+
+“Not really,” said Harry coldly. 
+
+Slughorn looked down at him in surprise. “You 
+mustn’t think I’m prejudiced!” he said. “No, no, no! 
+Haven’t I just said your mother was one of my all-time 
+favorite students? And there was Dirk Cresswell in 
+
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+
+
+
+
+the year after her too — now Head of the Goblin 
+Liaison Office, of course — another Muggle-born, a 
+very gifted student, and still gives me excellent inside 
+information on the goings-on at Gringotts!” 
+
+He bounced up and down a little, smiling in a self- 
+satisfied way, and pointed at the many glittering 
+photograph frames on the dresser, each peopled with 
+tiny moving occupants. 
+
+“All ex-students, all signed. You’ll notice Barnabas 
+Cuffe, editor of the Daily Prophet, he’s always 
+interested to hear my take on the day’s news. And 
+Ambrosius Flume, of Honeydukes — a hamper every 
+birthday, and all because I was able to give him an 
+introduction to Ciceron Harkiss, who gave him his 
+first job! And at the back — you’ll see her if you just 
+crane your neck — that’s Gwenog Jones, who of 
+course captains the Holyhead Harpies. ... People are 
+always astonished to hear I’m on first-name terms 
+with the Harpies, and free tickets whenever I want 
+them!” 
+
+This thought seemed to cheer him up enormously. 
+
+“And all these people know where to find you, to send 
+you stuff?” asked Harry, who could not help 
+wondering why the Death Eaters had not yet tracked 
+down Slughorn if hampers of sweets, Quidditch 
+tickets, and visitors craving his advice and opinions 
+could find him. 
+
+The smile slid from Slughorn ’s face as quickly as the 
+blood from his walls. 
+
+“Of course not,” he said, looking down at Harry. “I 
+have been out of touch with everybody for a year.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry had the impression that the words shocked 
+Slughorn himself; he looked quite unsettled for a 
+moment. Then he shrugged. 
+
+“Still . . . the prudent wizard keeps his head down in 
+such times. All very well for Dumbledore to talk, but 
+taking up a post at Hogwarts just now would be 
+tantamount to declaring my public allegiance to the 
+Order of the Phoenix! And while I’m sure they’re very 
+admirable and brave and all the rest of it, I don’t 
+personally fancy the mortality rate — ” 
+
+“You don’t have to join the Order to teach at 
+Hogwarts,” said Harry, who could not quite keep a 
+note of derision out of his voice: It was hard to 
+sympathize with Slughorn ’s cosseted existence when 
+he remembered Sirius, crouching in a cave and living 
+on rats. “Most of the teachers aren’t in it, and none of 
+them has ever been killed — well, unless you count 
+Quirrell, and he got what he deserved seeing as he 
+was working with Voldemort.” 
+
+Harry had been sure Slughorn would be one of those 
+wizards who could not bear to hear Voldemort’s name 
+spoken aloud, and was not disappointed: Slughorn 
+gave a shudder and a squawk of protest, which Harry 
+ignored. 
+
+“I reckon the staff are safer than most people while 
+Dumbledore ’s headmaster; he’s supposed to be the 
+only one Voldemort ever feared, isn’t he?” Harry went 
+on. 
+
+Slughorn gazed into space for a moment or two: He 
+seemed to be thinking over Harry’s words. 
+
+“Well, yes, it is true that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named 
+has never sought a fight with Dumbledore,” he 
+muttered grudgingly. “And I suppose one could argue 
+
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+
+
+
+
+that as I have not joined the Death Eaters, He-Who- 
+Must-Not-Be-Named can hardly count me a friend ... 
+in which case, I might well be safer a little closer to 
+Albus. ... I cannot pretend that Amelia Bones’s death 
+did not shake me. ... If she, with all her Ministry 
+contacts and protection ...” 
+
+Dumbledore reentered the room and Slughorn 
+jumped as though he had forgotten he was in the 
+house. 
+
+“Oh, there you are, Albus,” he said. “You’ve been a 
+very long time. Upset stomach?” 
+
+“No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines,” 
+said Dumbledore. “I do love knitting patterns. Well, 
+Harry, we have trespassed upon Horace’s hospitality 
+quite long enough; I think it is time for us to leave.” 
+
+Not at all reluctant to obey, Harry jumped to his feet. 
+Slughorn seemed taken aback. 
+
+“You’re leaving?” 
+
+“Yes, indeed. I think I know a lost cause when I see 
+one.” 
+
+“Lost... ?” 
+
+Slughorn seemed agitated. He twiddled his fat 
+thumbs and fidgeted as he watched Dumbledore 
+fasten his traveling cloak, and Harry zip up his jacket. 
+
+“Well, I’m sorry you don’t want the job, Horace,” said 
+Dumbledore, raising his uninjured hand in a farewell 
+salute. “Hogwarts would have been glad to see you 
+back again. Our greatly increased security 
+notwithstanding, you will always be welcome to visit, 
+should you wish to.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes ... well ... very gracious ... as I say ...” 
+
+
+
+“Good-bye, then.” 
+
+“Bye,” said Harry. 
+
+They were at the front door when there was a shout 
+from behind them. 
+
+“All right, all right, 111 do it!” 
+
+Dumbledore turned to see Slughorn standing 
+breathless in the doorway to the sitting room. 
+
+“You will come out of retirement?” 
+
+“Yes, yes,” said Slughorn impatiently. “I must be mad, 
+but yes.��� 
+
+“Wonderful,” said Dumbledore, beaming. “Then, 
+Horace, we shall see you on the first of September.” 
+
+“Yes, I daresay you will,” grunted Slughorn. 
+
+As they set off down the garden path, Slughorn ’s voice 
+floated after them, “111 want a pay rise, Dumbledore!” 
+
+Dumbledore chuckled. The garden gate swung shut 
+behind them, and they set off back down the hill 
+through the dark and the swirling mist. 
+
+“Well done, Harry,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“I didn’t do anything,” said Harry in surprise. 
+
+“Oh yes you did. You showed Horace exactly how 
+much he stands to gain by returning to Hogwarts. Did 
+you like him?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Er ...” 
+
+
+
+Harry wasn’t sure whether he liked Slughorn or not. 
+He supposed he had been pleasant in his way, but he 
+had also seemed vain and, whatever he said to the 
+contrary, much too surprised that a Muggle-born 
+should make a good witch. 
+
+“Horace,” said Dumbledore, relieving Harry of the 
+responsibility to say any of this, “likes his comfort. He 
+also likes the company of the famous, the successful, 
+and the powerful. He enjoys the feeling that he 
+influences these people. He has never wanted to 
+occupy the throne himself; he prefers the backseat — 
+more room to spread out, you see. He used to 
+handpick favorites at Hogwarts, sometimes for their 
+ambition or their brains, sometimes for their charm 
+or their talent, and he had an uncanny knack for 
+choosing those who would go on to become 
+outstanding in their various fields. Horace formed a 
+kind of club of his favorites with himself at the center, 
+making introductions, forging useful contacts 
+between members, and always reaping some kind of 
+benefit in return, whether a free box of his favorite 
+crystalized pineapple or the chance to recommend the 
+next junior member of the Goblin Liaison Office.” 
+
+Harry had a sudden and vivid mental image of a great 
+swollen spider, spinning a web around it, twitching a 
+thread here and there to bring its large and juicy flies 
+a little closer. 
+
+“I tell you all this,” Dumbledore continued, “not to 
+turn you against Horace — or, as we must now call 
+him, Professor Slughorn — but to put you on your 
+guard. He will undoubtedly try to collect you, Harry. 
+You would be the jewel of his collection; ‘the Boy Who 
+Lived’ ... or, as they call you these days, ‘the Chosen 
+One.’” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+At these words, a chill that had nothing to do with the 
+surrounding mist stole over Harry. He was reminded 
+of words he had heard a few weeks ago, words that 
+had a horrible and particular meaning to him: Neither 
+can live while the other survives . . . 
+
+Dumbledore had stopped walking, level with the 
+church they had passed earlier. 
+
+“This will do, Harry. If you will grasp my arm.” 
+
+Braced this time, Harry was ready for the Apparition, 
+but still found it unpleasant. When the pressure 
+disappeared and he found himself able to breathe 
+again, he was standing in a country lane beside 
+Dumbledore and looking ahead to the crooked 
+silhouette of his second favorite building in the world: 
+the Burrow. In spite of the feeling of dread that had 
+just swept through him, his spirits could not help but 
+lift at the sight of it. Ron was in there ... and so was 
+Mrs. Weasley, who could cook better than anyone he 
+knew. ... 
+
+“If you don’t mind, Harry,” said Dumbledore, as they 
+passed through the gate, “I’d like a few words with 
+you before we part. In private. Perhaps in here?” 
+
+Dumbledore pointed toward a run-down stone 
+outhouse where the Weasleys kept their broomsticks. 
+A little puzzled, Harry followed Dumbledore through 
+the creaking door into a space a little smaller than the 
+average cupboard. Dumbledore illuminated the tip of 
+his wand, so that it glowed like a torch, and smiled 
+down at Harry. 
+
+“I hope you will forgive me for mentioning it, Harry, 
+but I am pleased and a little proud at how well you 
+seem to be coping after everything that happened at 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+the Ministry. Permit me to say that I think Sirius 
+would have been proud of you.” 
+
+Harry swallowed; his voice seemed to have deserted 
+him. He did not think he could stand to discuss 
+Sirius; it had been painful enough to hear Uncle 
+Vernon say “His godfather’s dead?” and even worse to 
+hear Sirius’s name thrown out casually by Slughorn. 
+
+“It was cruel,” said Dumbledore softly, “that you and 
+Sirius had such a short time together. A brutal 
+ending to what should have been a long and happy 
+relationship.” 
+
+Harry nodded, his eyes fixed resolutely on the spider 
+now climbing Dumbledore’s hat. He could tell that 
+Dumbledore understood, that he might even suspect 
+that until his letter arrived, Harry had spent nearly all 
+his time at the Dursleys’ lying on his bed, refusing 
+meals, and staring at the misted window, full of the 
+chill emptiness that he had come to associate with 
+dementors. 
+
+“It’s just hard,” Harry said finally, in a low voice, “to 
+realize he won’t write to me again.” 
+
+His eyes burned suddenly and he blinked. He felt 
+stupid for admitting it, but the fact that he had had 
+someone outside Hogwarts who cared what happened 
+to him, almost like a parent, had been one of the best 
+things about discovering his godfather . . . and now the 
+post owls would never bring him that comfort again. 
+
+
+
+“Sirius represented much to you that you had never 
+known before,” said Dumbledore gently. “Naturally, 
+the loss is devastating. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But while I was at the Dursleys’ ...” interrupted 
+Harry, his voice growing stronger, “I realized I can’t 
+shut myself away or — or crack up. Sirius wouldn’t 
+have wanted that, would he? And anyway, life’s too 
+short. ... Look at Madam Bones, look at Emmeline 
+Vance. ... It could be me next, couldn’t it? But if it is,” 
+he said fiercely, now looking straight into 
+Dumbledore’s blue eyes gleaming in the wandlight, 
+
+“I’ll make sure I take as many Death Eaters with me 
+as I can, and Voldemort too if I can manage it.” 
+
+“Spoken both like your mother and father’s son and 
+Sirius’s true godson!” said Dumbledore, with an 
+approving pat on Harry’s back. “I take my hat off to 
+you — or I would, if I were not afraid of showering you 
+in spiders. 
+
+“And now, Harry, on a closely related subject ... I 
+gather that you have been taking the Daily Prophet 
+over the last two weeks?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, and his heart beat a little faster. 
+
+“Then you will have seen that there have been not so 
+much leaks as floods concerning your adventure in 
+the Hall of Prophecy?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry again. “And now everyone knows 
+that I’m the one — ” 
+
+“No, they do not,” interrupted Dumbledore. “There are 
+only two people in the whole world who know the full 
+contents of the prophecy made about you and Lord 
+Voldemort, and they are both standing in this smelly, 
+spidery broom shed. It is true, however, that many 
+have guessed, correctly, that Voldemort sent his 
+Death Eaters to steal a prophecy, and that the 
+prophecy concerned you. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Now, I think I am correct in saying that you have not 
+told anybody that you know what the prophecy said?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“A wise decision, on the whole,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Although I think you ought to relax it in favor of your 
+friends, Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione 
+Granger. Yes,” he continued, when Harry looked 
+startled, “I think they ought to know. You do them a 
+disservice by not confiding something this important 
+to them.” 
+
+“I didn’t want — ” 
+
+“ — to worry or frighten them?” said Dumbledore, 
+surveying Harry over the top of his half-moon 
+spectacles. “Or perhaps, to confess that you yourself 
+are worried and frightened? You need your friends, 
+Harry. As you so rightly said, Sirius would not have 
+wanted you to shut yourself away.” 
+
+Harry said nothing, but Dumbledore did not seem to 
+require an answer. He continued, “On a different, 
+though related, subject, it is my wish that you take 
+private lessons with me this year.” 
+
+“Private — with you?” said Harry, surprised out of his 
+preoccupied silence. 
+
+“Yes. I think it is time that I took a greater hand in 
+your education.” 
+
+“What will you be teaching me, sir?” 
+
+“Oh, a little of this, a little of that,” said Dumbledore 
+airily. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry waited hopefully, but Dumbledore did not 
+elaborate, so he asked something else that had been 
+bothering him slightly. 
+
+“If I’m having lessons with you, I won’t have to do 
+Occlumency lessons with Snape, will I?” 
+
+“Professor Snape, Harry — and no, you will not.” 
+
+“Good,” said Harry in relief, “because they were a — ” 
+
+He stopped, careful not to say what he really thought. 
+
+“I think the word ‘fiasco’ would be a good one here,” 
+said Dumbledore, nodding. 
+
+Harry laughed. 
+
+“Well, that means I won’t see much of Professor 
+Snape from now on,” he said, “because he won’t let 
+me carry on Potions unless I get ‘Outstanding’ in my 
+O.W.L., which I know I haven’t.” 
+
+“Don’t count your owls before they are delivered,” said 
+Dumbledore gravely. “Which, now I think of it, ought 
+to be some time later today. Now, two more things, 
+Harry, before we part. 
+
+“Firstly, I wish you to keep your Invisibility Cloak with 
+you at all times from this moment onward. Even 
+within Hogwarts itself. Just in case, you understand 
+me?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“And lastly, while you stay here, the Burrow has been 
+given the highest security the Ministry of Magic can 
+provide. These measures have caused a certain 
+amount of inconvenience to Arthur and Molly — all 
+
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+
+
+
+
+their post, for instance, is being searched at the 
+Ministry before being sent on. They do not mind in 
+the slightest, for their only concern is your safety. 
+However, it would be poor repayment if you risked 
+your neck while staying with them.” 
+
+“I understand,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“Very well, then,” said Dumbledore, pushing open the 
+broom shed door and stepping out into the yard. “I 
+see a light in the kitchen. Let us not deprive Molly 
+any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+AN EXCESS OF PHLEGM 
+
+Harry and Dumbledore approached the back door of 
+the Burrow, which was surrounded by the familiar 
+litter of old Wellington boots and rusty cauldrons; 
+Harry could hear the soft clucking of sleepy chickens 
+coming from a distant shed. Dumbledore knocked 
+three times and Harry saw sudden movement behind 
+the kitchen window. 
+
+“Who’s there?” said a nervous voice he recognized as 
+Mrs. Weasley’s. “Declare yourself!” 
+
+“It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry.” 
+
+The door opened at once. There stood Mrs. Weasley, 
+short, plump, and wearing an old green dressing 
+gown. 
+
+“Harry, dear! Gracious, Albus, you gave me a fright, 
+you said not to expect you before morning!” 
+
+“We were lucky,” said Dumbledore, ushering Harry 
+over the threshold. “Slughorn proved much more 
+
+Page | 90 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+persuadable than I had expected. Harry’s doing, of 
+course. Ah, hello, Nymphadora!” 
+
+Harry looked around and saw that Mrs. Weasley was 
+not alone, despite the lateness of the hour. A young 
+witch with a pale, heart-shaped face and mousy 
+brown hair was sitting at the table clutching a large 
+mug between her hands. 
+
+“Hello, Professor,” she said. “Wotcher, Harry.” 
+
+“Hi, Tonks.” 
+
+Harry thought she looked drawn, even ill, and there 
+was something forced in her smile. Certainly her 
+appearance was less colorful than usual without her 
+customary shade of bubble-gum-pink hair. 
+
+“I’d better be off,” she said quickly, standing up and 
+pulling her cloak around her shoulders. “Thanks for 
+the tea and sympathy, Molly.” 
+
+“Please don’t leave on my account,” said Dumbledore 
+courteously, “I cannot stay, I have urgent matters to 
+discuss with Rufus Scrimgeour.” 
+
+“No, no, I need to get going,” said Tonks, not meeting 
+Dumbledore’s eyes. “ ’Night — ” 
+
+“Dear, why not come to dinner at the weekend, 
+
+Remus and Mad-Eye are coming — ?” 
+
+“No, really, Molly ... thanks anyway ... Good night, 
+everyone.” 
+
+Tonks hurried past Dumbledore and Harry into the 
+yard; a few paces beyond the doorstep, she turned on 
+the spot and vanished into thin air. Harry noticed 
+that Mrs. Weasley looked troubled. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, I shall see you at Hogwarts, Harry,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Take care of yourself. Molly, your 
+servant.” 
+
+He made Mrs. Weasley a bow and followed Tonks, 
+vanishing at precisely the same spot. Mrs. Weasley 
+closed the door on the empty yard and then steered 
+Harry by the shoulders into the full glow of the 
+lantern on the table to examine his appearance. 
+
+“You’re like Ron,” she sighed, looking him up and 
+down. “Both of you look as though you’ve had 
+Stretching Jinxes put on you. I swear Ron’s grown 
+four inches since I last bought him school robes. Are 
+you hungry, Harry?” 
+
+“Yeah, I am,” said Harry, suddenly realizing just how 
+hungry he was. 
+
+“Sit down, dear, I’ll knock something up.” 
+
+As Harry sat down, a furry ginger cat with a squashed 
+face jumped onto his knees and settled there, 
+purring. 
+
+“So Hermione’s here?” he asked happily as he tickled 
+Crookshanks behind the ears. 
+
+“Oh yes, she arrived the day before yesterday,” said 
+Mrs. Weasley, rapping a large iron pot with her wand. 
+It bounced onto the stove with a loud clang and began 
+to bubble at once. “Everyone’s in bed, of course, we 
+didn’t expect you for hours. Here you are — ” 
+
+She tapped the pot again; it rose into the air, flew 
+toward Harry, and tipped over; Mrs. Weasley slid a 
+bowl neatly beneath it just in time to catch the 
+stream of thick, steaming onion soup. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Bread, dear?” 
+
+
+
+“Thanks, Mrs. Weasley.” 
+
+She waved her wand over her shoulder; a loaf of 
+bread and a knife soared gracefully onto the table; as 
+the loaf sliced itself and the soup pot dropped back 
+onto the stove, Mrs. Weasley sat down opposite him. 
+
+“So you persuaded Horace Slughorn to take the job?” 
+
+Harry nodded, his mouth so full of hot soup that he 
+could not speak. 
+
+“He taught Arthur and me,” said Mrs. Weasley. “He 
+was at Hogwarts for ages, started around the same 
+time as Dumbledore, I think. Did you like him?” 
+
+His mouth now full of bread, Harry shrugged and 
+gave a noncommittal jerk of the head. 
+
+“I know what you mean,” said Mrs. Weasley, nodding 
+wisely. “Of course he can be charming when he wants 
+to be, but Arthur’s never liked him much. The 
+Ministry’s littered with Slughorn’s old favorites, he 
+was always good at giving leg ups, but he never had 
+much time for Arthur — didn’t seem to think he was 
+enough of a highflier. Well, that just shows you, even 
+Slughorn makes mistakes. I don’t know whether 
+Ron’s told you in any of his letters — it’s only just 
+happened — but Arthur’s been promoted!” 
+
+It could not have been clearer that Mrs. Weasley had 
+been bursting to say this. 
+
+Harry swallowed a large amount of very hot soup and 
+thought he could feel his throat blistering. “That’s 
+great!” he gasped. 
+
+
+
+Page | 93 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You are sweet,” beamed Mrs. Weasley, possibly 
+taking his watering eyes for emotion at the news. 
+
+“Yes, Rufus Scrimgeour has set up several new offices 
+in response to the present situation, and Arthur’s 
+heading the Office for the Detection and Confiscation 
+of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. 
+It’s a big job, he’s got ten people reporting to him 
+now!” 
+
+“What exactly — ?” 
+
+“Well, you see, in all the panic about You-Know-Who, 
+odd things have been cropping up for sale 
+everywhere, things that are supposed to guard 
+against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. You 
+can imagine the kind of thing — so-called protective 
+potions that are really gravy with a bit of bubotuber 
+pus added, or instructions for defensive jinxes that 
+actually make your ears fall off. ... Well, in the main 
+the perpetrators are just people like Mundungus 
+Fletcher, who’ve never done an honest day’s work in 
+their lives and are taking advantage of how frightened 
+everybody is, but every now and then something 
+really nasty turns up. The other day Arthur 
+confiscated a box of cursed Sneakoscopes that were 
+almost certainly planted by a Death Eater. So you 
+see, it’s a very important job, and I tell him it’s just 
+silly to miss dealing with spark plugs and toasters 
+and all the rest of that Muggle rubbish.” Mrs. Weasley 
+ended her speech with a stern look, as if it had been 
+Harry suggesting that it was natural to miss spark 
+plugs. 
+
+“Is Mr. Weasley still at work?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Yes, he is. As a matter of fact, he’s a tiny bit late. ... 
+He said he’d be back around midnight. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+She turned to look at a large clock that was perched 
+awkwardly on top of a pile of sheets in the washing 
+basket at the end of the table. Harry recognized it at 
+once: It had nine hands, each inscribed with the 
+name of a family member, and usually hung on the 
+Weasleys’ sitting room wall, though its current 
+position suggested that Mrs. Weasley had taken to 
+carrying it around the house with her. Every single 
+one of its nine hands was now pointing at “mortal 
+peril.” 
+
+“It’s been like that for a while now,” said Mrs. 
+
+Weasley, in an unconvincingly casual voice, “ever 
+since You-Know-Who came back into the open. I 
+suppose everybody’s in mortal danger now. ... I don’t 
+think it can be just our family ... but I don’t know 
+anyone else who’s got a clock like this, so I can’t 
+check. Oh!” 
+
+With a sudden exclamation she pointed at the clock’s 
+face. Mr. Weasley’s hand had switched to “traveling.” 
+
+“He’s coming!” 
+
+And sure enough, a moment later there was a knock 
+on the back door. Mrs. Weasley jumped up and 
+hurried to it; with one hand on the doorknob and her 
+face pressed against the wood she called softly, 
+“Arthur, is that you?” 
+
+“Yes,” came Mr. Weasley’s weary voice. “But I would 
+say that even if I were a Death Eater, dear. Ask the 
+question!” 
+
+“Oh, honestly ...” 
+
+“Molly!” 
+
+“All right, all right . . . What is your dearest ambition?” 
+
+Page | 95 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“To find out how airplanes stay up.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley nodded and turned the doorknob, but 
+apparently Mr. Weasley was holding tight to it on the 
+other side, because the door remained firmly shut. 
+
+“Molly! I’ve got to ask you your question first!” 
+
+“Arthur, really, this is just silly. ...” 
+
+“What do you like me to call you when we’re alone 
+together?” 
+
+Even by the dim light of the lantern Harry could tell 
+that Mrs. Weasley had turned bright red; he himself 
+felt suddenly warm around the ears and neck, and 
+hastily gulped soup, clattering his spoon as loudly as 
+he could against the bowl. 
+
+“Mollywobbles,” whispered a mortified Mrs. Weasley 
+into the crack at the edge of the door. 
+
+“Correct,” said Mr. Weasley. “Now you can let me in.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley opened the door to reveal her husband, 
+a thin, balding, red-haired wizard wearing horn- 
+rimmed spectacles and a long and dusty traveling 
+cloak. 
+
+“I still don’t see why we have to go through that every 
+time you come home,” said Mrs. Weasley, still pink in 
+the face as she helped her husband out of his cloak. 
+
+“I mean, a Death Eater might have forced the answer 
+out of you before impersonating you!” 
+
+“I know, dear, but it’s Ministry procedure, and I have 
+to set an example. Something smells good — onion 
+soup?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Mr. Weasley turned hopefully in the direction of the 
+table. 
+
+“Harry! We didn’t expect you until morning!” 
+
+They shook hands, and Mr. Weasley dropped into the 
+chair beside Harry as Mrs. Weasley set a bowl of soup 
+in front of him too. 
+
+“Thanks, Molly. It’s been a tough night. Some idiot’s 
+started selling Metamorph-Medals. Just sling them 
+around your neck and you’ll be able to change your 
+appearance at will. A hundred thousand disguises, all 
+for ten Galleons!” 
+
+“And what really happens when you put them on?” 
+
+“Mostly you just turn a fairly unpleasant orange color, 
+but a couple of people have also sprouted tentaclelike 
+warts all over their bodies. As if St. Mungo’s didn’t 
+have enough to do already!” 
+
+“It sounds like the sort of thing Fred and George 
+would find funny,” said Mrs. Weasley hesitantly. “Are 
+you sure — ?” 
+
+“Of course I am!” said Mr. Weasley. “The boys 
+wouldn’t do anything like that now, not when people 
+are desperate for protection!” 
+
+“So is that why you’re late, Metamorph-Medals?” 
+
+“No, we got wind of a nasty backfiring jinx down in 
+Elephant and Castle, but luckily the Magical Law 
+Enforcement Squad had sorted it out by the time we 
+got there. ...” 
+
+Harry stifled a yawn behind his hand. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Bed,” said an undeceived Mrs. Weasley at once. “I’ve 
+got Fred and George’s room all ready for you, you’ll 
+have it to yourself.” 
+
+“Why, where are they?” 
+
+“Oh, they’re in Diagon Alley, sleeping in the little flat 
+over their joke shop as they’re so busy,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley. “I must say, I didn’t approve at first, but 
+they do seem to have a bit of a flair for business! 
+
+Come on, dear, your trunk’s already up there.” 
+
+“ ’Night, Mr. Weasley,” said Harry, pushing back his 
+chair. Crookshanks leapt lightly from his lap and 
+slunk out of the room. 
+
+“G’night, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley. 
+
+Harry saw Mrs. Weasley glance at the clock in the 
+washing basket as they left the kitchen. All the hands 
+were once again at “mortal peril.” 
+
+Fred and George’s bedroom was on the second floor. 
+Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at a lamp on the 
+bedside table and it ignited at once, bathing the room 
+in a pleasant golden glow. Though a large vase of 
+flowers had been placed on a desk in front of the 
+small window, their perfume could not disguise the 
+lingering smell of what Harry thought was 
+gunpowder. A considerable amount of floor space was 
+devoted to a vast number of unmarked, sealed 
+cardboard boxes, amongst which stood Harry’s school 
+trunk. The room looked as though it was being used 
+as a temporary warehouse. 
+
+Hedwig hooted happily at Harry from her perch on top 
+of a large wardrobe, then took off through the 
+window; Harry knew she had been waiting to see him 
+before going hunting. Harry bade Mrs. Weasley good 
+
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+
+
+
+
+night, put on pajamas, and got into one of the beds. 
+There was something hard inside the pillowcase. He 
+groped inside it and pulled out a sticky purple-and- 
+orange sweet, which he recognized as a Puking 
+Pastille. Smiling to himself, he rolled over and was 
+instantly asleep. 
+
+Seconds later, or so it seemed to Harry, he was 
+awakened by what sounded like cannon fire as the 
+door burst open. Sitting bolt upright, he heard the 
+rasp of the curtains being pulled back: The dazzling 
+sunlight seemed to poke him hard in both eyes. 
+Shielding them with one hand, he groped hopelessly 
+for his glasses with the other. 
+
+“Wuzzgoinon?” 
+
+“We didn’t know you were here already!” said a loud 
+and excited voice, and he received a sharp blow to the 
+top of the head. 
+
+“Ron, don’t hit him!” said a girl’s voice reproachfully. 
+
+Harry’s hand found his glasses and he shoved them 
+on, though the light was so bright he could hardly see 
+anyway. A long, looming shadow quivered in front of 
+him for a moment; he blinked and Ron Weasley came 
+into focus, grinning down at him. 
+
+“All right?” 
+
+“Never been better,” said Harry, rubbing the top of his 
+head and slumping back onto his pillows. “You?” 
+
+“Not bad,” said Ron, pulling over a cardboard box and 
+sitting on it. “When did you get here? Mum’s only just 
+told us!” 
+
+“About one o’clock this morning.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Were the Muggles all right? Did they treat you okay?” 
+
+“Same as usual,” said Harry, as Hermione perched 
+herself on the edge of his bed, “they didn’t talk to me 
+much, but I like it better that way. How’re you, 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“Oh, I’m fine,” said Hermione, who was scrutinizing 
+Harry as though he was sickening for something. He 
+thought he knew what was behind this, and as he 
+had no wish to discuss Sirius’s death or any other 
+miserable subject at the moment, he said, “What’s the 
+time? Have I missed breakfast?” 
+
+“Don’t worry about that, Mum’s bringing you up a 
+tray; she reckons you look underfed,” said Ron, 
+rolling his eyes. “So, what’s been going on?” 
+
+“Nothing much, I’ve just been stuck at my aunt and 
+uncle’s, haven’t I?” 
+
+“Come off it!” said Ron. “You’ve been off with 
+Dumbledore!” 
+
+“It wasn’t that exciting. He just wanted me to help 
+him persuade this old teacher to come out of 
+retirement. His name’s Horace Slughorn.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, looking disappointed. “We thought — ” 
+
+Hermione flashed a warning look at Ron, and Ron 
+changed tack at top speed. 
+
+“ — we thought it’d be something like that.” 
+
+“You did?” said Harry, amused. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yeah ... yeah, now Umbridge has left, obviously we 
+need a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, 
+don’t we? So, er, what’s he like?” 
+
+“He looks a bit like a walrus, and he used to be Head 
+of Slytherin,” said Harry. “Something wrong, 
+Hermione?” 
+
+She was watching him as though expecting strange 
+symptoms to manifest themselves at any moment. 
+
+She rearranged her features hastily in an 
+unconvincing smile. 
+
+“No, of course not! So, um, did Slughorn seem like 
+he’ll be a good teacher?” 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry. “He can’t be worse than 
+Umbridge, can he?” 
+
+“I know someone who’s worse than Umbridge,” said a 
+voice from the doorway. Ron’s younger sister slouched 
+into the room, looking irritable. “Hi, Harry.” 
+
+“What’s up with you?” Ron asked. 
+
+“It’s her,” said Ginny, plonking herself down on 
+Harry’s bed. “She’s driving me mad.” 
+
+“What’s she done now?” asked Hermione 
+sympathetically. 
+
+“It’s the way she talks to me — you’d think I was 
+about three!” 
+
+“I know,” said Hermione, dropping her voice. “She’s so 
+full of herself.” 
+
+Harry was astonished to hear Hermione talking about 
+Mrs. Weasley like this and could not blame Ron for 
+
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+
+
+
+
+saying angrily, “Can’t you two lay off her for five 
+seconds?” 
+
+“Oh, that’s right, defend her,” snapped Ginny. “We all 
+know you can’t get enough of her.” 
+
+This seemed an odd comment to make about Ron’s 
+mother. Starting to feel that he was missing 
+something, Harry said, “Who are you — ?” 
+
+But his question was answered before he could finish 
+it. The bedroom door flew open again, and Harry 
+instinctively yanked the bedcovers up to his chin so 
+hard that Hermione and Ginny slid off the bed onto 
+the floor. 
+
+A young woman was standing in the doorway, a 
+woman of such breathtaking beauty that the room 
+seemed to have become strangely airless. She was tall 
+and willowy with long blonde hair and appeared to 
+emanate a faint, silvery glow. To complete this vision 
+of perfection, she was carrying a heavily laden 
+breakfast tray. 
+
+“ ’Arry,” she said in a throaty voice. “Eet ’as been too 
+long!” 
+
+As she swept over the threshold toward him, Mrs. 
+Weasley was revealed, bobbing along in her wake, 
+looking rather cross. 
+
+“There was no need to bring up the tray, I was just 
+about to do it myself!” 
+
+“Eet was no trouble,” said Fleur Delacour, setting the 
+tray across Harry’s knees and then swooping to kiss 
+him on each cheek: He felt the places where her 
+mouth had touched him burn. “I ’ave been longing to 
+see ’im. You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She 
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+
+
+
+
+never stops talking about ’Ariy Potter. She will be 
+delighted to see you again.” 
+
+
+
+“Oh ... is she here too?” Harry croaked. 
+
+“No, no, silly boy,” said Fleur with a tinkling laugh, “I 
+mean next summer, when we — but do you not 
+know?” 
+
+Her great blue eyes widened and she looked 
+reproachfully at Mrs. Weasley, who said, “We hadn’t 
+got around to telling him yet.” 
+
+Fleur turned back to Harry, swinging her silvery sheet 
+of hair so that it whipped Mrs. Weasley across the 
+face. 
+
+“Bill and I are going to be married!” 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry blankly. He could not help noticing 
+how Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny were all 
+determinedly avoiding one another’s gaze. “Wow. Er 
+— congratulations!” 
+
+She swooped down upon him and kissed him again. 
+
+“Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very ’ard, 
+and I only work part-time at Gringotts for my 
+Eenglish, so he brought me ’ere for a few days to get 
+to know ’is family properly. I was so pleased to ’ear 
+you would be coming — zere isn’t much to do ’ere, 
+unless you like cooking and chickens! Well — enjoy 
+your breakfast, ’Arry!” 
+
+With these words she turned gracefully and seemed to 
+float out of the room, closing the door quietly behind 
+her. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley made a noise that sounded like “tchah!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Mum hates her,” said Ginny quietly. 
+
+“I do not hate her!” said Mrs. Weasley in a cross 
+whisper. “I just think they’ve hurried into this 
+engagement, that’s all!” 
+
+“They’ve known each other a year,” said Ron, who 
+looked oddly groggy and was staring at the closed 
+door. 
+
+“Well, that’s not very long! I know why it’s happened, 
+of course. It’s all this uncertainty with You-Know-Who 
+coming back, people think they might be dead 
+tomorrow, so they’re rushing all sorts of decisions 
+they’d normally take time over. It was the same last 
+time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, and 
+center — ” 
+
+“Including you and Dad,” said Ginny slyly. 
+
+“Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, 
+what was the point in waiting?” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+“Whereas Bill and Fleur . . . well . . . what have they 
+really got in common? He’s a hardworking, down-to- 
+earth sort of person, whereas she’s — ” 
+
+“A cow,” said Ginny, nodding. “But Bill’s not that 
+down-to-earth. He’s a Curse-Breaker, isn’t he, he 
+likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour. ... I expect 
+that’s why he’s gone for Phlegm.” 
+
+“Stop calling her that, Ginny,” said Mrs. Weasley 
+sharply, as Harry and Hermione laughed. “Well, I’d 
+better get on. ... Eat your eggs while they’re warm, 
+Harry.” 
+
+Looking careworn, she left the room. Ron still seemed 
+slightly punch-drunk; he was shaking his head 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+experimentally like a dog trying to rid its ears of 
+water. 
+
+“Don’t you get used to her if she’s staying in the same 
+house?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Well, you do,” said Ron, “but if she jumps out at you 
+unexpectedly, like then ...” 
+
+“It’s pathetic,” said Hermione furiously, striding away 
+from Ron as far as she could go and turning to face 
+him with her arms folded once she had reached the 
+wall. 
+
+“You don’t really want her around forever?” Ginny 
+asked Ron incredulously. When he merely shrugged, 
+she said, “Well, Mum’s going to put a stop to it if she 
+can, I bet you anything.” 
+
+“How’s she going to manage that?” asked Harry. 
+
+“She keeps trying to get Tonks round for dinner. I 
+think she’s hoping Bill will fall for Tonks instead. I 
+hope he does, I’d much rather have her in the family.” 
+
+“Yeah, that’ll work,” said Ron sarcastically. “Listen, 
+no bloke in his right mind’s going to fancy Tonks 
+when Fleur’s around. I mean, Tonks is okay-looking 
+when she isn’t doing stupid things to her hair and her 
+nose, but — ” 
+
+“She’s a damn sight nicer than Phlegm,” said Ginny 
+
+“And she’s more intelligent, she’s an Auror!” said 
+Hermione from the corner. 
+
+“Fleur’s not stupid, she was good enough to enter the 
+Triwizard Tournament,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Not you as well!” said Hermione bitterly. 
+
+
+
+“I suppose you like the way Phlegm says ‘’Arry,’ do 
+you?” asked Ginny scornfully. 
+
+“No,” said Harry, wishing he hadn’t spoken, “I was 
+just saying, Phlegm — I mean, Fleur — ” 
+
+“I’d much rather have Tonks in the family,” said 
+Ginny. “At least she’s a laugh.” 
+
+“She hasn’t been much of a laugh lately,” said Ron. 
+“Every time I’ve seen her she’s looked more like 
+Moaning Myrtle.” 
+
+“That’s not fair,” snapped Hermione. “She still hasn’t 
+got over what happened . . . you know ... I mean, he 
+was her cousin!” 
+
+Harry’s heart sank. They had arrived at Sirius. He 
+picked up a fork and began shoveling scrambled eggs 
+into his mouth, hoping to deflect any invitation to join 
+in this part of the conversation. 
+
+“Tonks and Sirius barely knew each other!” said Ron. 
+“Sirius was in Azkaban half her life and before that 
+their families never met — ” 
+
+“That’s not the point,” said Hermione. “She thinks it 
+was her fault he died!” 
+
+“How does she work that one out?” asked Harry, in 
+spite of himself. 
+
+“Well, she was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, wasn’t 
+she? I think she feels that if only she had finished her 
+off, Bellatrix couldn’t have killed Sirius.” 
+
+“That’s stupid,” said Ron. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s survivor’s guilt,” said Hermione. “I know Lupin’s 
+tried to talk her round, but she’s still really down. 
+She’s actually having trouble with her 
+Metamorphosing! ” 
+
+“With her — ?” 
+
+“She can’t change her appearance like she used to,” 
+explained Hermione. “I think her powers must have 
+been affected by shock, or something.” 
+
+“I didn’t know that could happen,” said Harry. 
+
+“Nor did I,” said Hermione, “but I suppose if you’re 
+really depressed ...” 
+
+The door opened again and Mrs. Weasley popped her 
+head in. “Ginny,” she whispered, “come downstairs 
+and help me with the lunch.” 
+
+“I’m talking to this lot!” said Ginny, outraged. 
+
+“Now!” said Mrs. Weasley, and withdrew. 
+
+“She only wants me there so she doesn’t have to be 
+alone with Phlegm!” said Ginny crossly. She swung 
+her long red hair around in a very good imitation of 
+Fleur and pranced across the room with her arms 
+held aloft like a ballerina. 
+
+“You lot had better come down quickly too,” she said 
+as she left. 
+
+Harry took advantage of the temporary silence to eat 
+more breakfast. Hermione was peering into Fred and 
+George’s boxes, though every now and then she cast 
+sideways looks at Harry. Ron, who was now helping 
+himself to Harry’s toast, was still gazing dreamily at 
+the door. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’s this?” Hermione asked eventually, holding up 
+what looked like a small telescope. 
+
+“Dunno,” said Ron, “but if Fred and George’ve left it 
+here, it’s probably not ready for the joke shop yet, so 
+be careful.” 
+
+“Your mum said the shop’s going well,” said Harry. 
+“Said Fred and George have got a real flair for 
+business.” 
+
+“That’s an understatement,” said Ron. “They’re raking 
+in the Galleons! I can’t wait to see the place, we 
+haven’t been to Diagon Alley yet, because Mum says 
+Dad’s got to be there for extra security and he’s been 
+really busy at work, but it sounds excellent.” 
+
+“And what about Percy?” asked Harry; the third- 
+eldest Weasley brother had fallen out with the rest of 
+the family. “Is he talking to your mum and dad 
+again?” 
+
+“Nope,” said Ron. 
+
+“But he knows your dad was right all along now 
+about Voldemort being back — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive 
+others for being wrong than being right,” said 
+Hermione. “I heard him telling your mum, Ron.” 
+
+“Sounds like the sort of mental thing Dumbledore 
+would say,” said Ron. 
+
+“He’s going to be giving me private lessons this year,” 
+said Harry conversationally. 
+
+Ron choked on his bit of toast, and Hermione gasped. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You kept that quiet!” said Ron. 
+
+“I only just remembered,” said Harry honestly. “He 
+told me last night in your broom shed.” 
+
+“Blimey ... private lessons with Dumbledore!” said 
+Ron, looking impressed. “I wonder why he’s ... ?” 
+
+His voice tailed away. Harry saw him and Hermione 
+exchange looks. Harry laid down his knife and fork, 
+his heart beating rather fast considering that all he 
+was doing was sitting in bed. Dumbledore had said to 
+do it. ... Why not now? He fixed his eyes on his fork, 
+which was gleaming in the sunlight streaming into his 
+lap, and said, “I don’t know exactly why he’s going to 
+be giving me lessons, but I think it must be because 
+of the prophecy.” 
+
+Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke. Harry had the 
+impression that both had frozen. He continued, still 
+speaking to his fork, “You know, the one they were 
+trying to steal at the Ministry.” 
+
+“Nobody knows what it said, though,” said Hermione 
+quickly. “It got smashed.” 
+
+“Although the Prophet says — ” began Ron, but 
+Hermione said, “Shh!” 
+
+“The Prophet’s got it right,” said Harry, looking up at 
+them both with a great effort: Hermione seemed 
+frightened and Ron amazed. “That glass ball that 
+smashed wasn’t the only record of the prophecy. I 
+heard the whole thing in Dumbledore ’s office, he was 
+the one the prophecy was made to, so he could tell 
+me. From what it said,” Harry took a deep breath, “it 
+looks like I’m the one who’s got to finish off 
+Voldemort. ... At least, it said neither of us could live 
+while the other survives.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The three of them gazed at one another in silence for 
+a moment. Then there was a loud bang and Hermione 
+vanished behind a puff of black smoke. 
+
+“Hermione!” shouted Harry and Ron; the breakfast 
+tray slid to the floor with a crash. 
+
+Hermione emerged, coughing, out of the smoke, 
+clutching the telescope and sporting a brilliantly 
+purple black eye. 
+
+“I squeezed it and it — it punched me!” she gasped. 
+
+And sure enough, they now saw a tiny fist on a long 
+spring protruding from the end of the telescope. 
+
+“Don’t worry,” said Ron, who was plainly trying not to 
+laugh, “Mumll fix that, she’s good at healing minor 
+injuries — ” 
+
+“Oh well, never mind that now!” said Hermione 
+hastily. “Harry, oh, Harry ...” 
+
+She sat down on the edge of his bed again. 
+
+“We wondered, after we got back from the Ministry ... 
+Obviously, we didn’t want to say anything to you, but 
+from what Lucius Malfoy said about the prophecy, 
+how it was about you and Voldemort, well, we 
+thought it might be something like this. ... Oh, Harry 
+...” She stared at him, then whispered, “Are you 
+scared?” 
+
+“Not as much as I was,” said Harry. “When I first 
+heard it, I was . . . but now, it seems as though I 
+always knew I’d have to face him in the end. ...” 
+
+“When we heard Dumbledore was collecting you in 
+person, we thought he might be telling you something 
+
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+
+
+
+
+or showing you something to do with the prophecy,” 
+said Ron eagerly. “And we were kind of right, weren’t 
+we? He wouldn’t be giving you lessons if he thought 
+you were a goner, wouldn’t waste his time — he must 
+think you’ve got a chance!” 
+
+“That’s true,” said Hermione. “I wonder what he’ll 
+teach you, Harry? Really advanced defensive magic, 
+probably ... powerful countercurses ... anti-jinxes ...” 
+
+Harry did not really listen. A warmth was spreading 
+through him that had nothing to do with the sunlight; 
+a tight obstruction in his chest seemed to be 
+dissolving. He knew that Ron and Hermione were 
+more shocked than they were letting on, but the mere 
+fact that they were still there on either side of him, 
+speaking bracing words of comfort, not shrinking 
+from him as though he were contaminated or 
+dangerous, was worth more than he could ever tell 
+them. 
+
+"... and evasive enchantments generally,” concluded 
+Hermione. “Well, at least you know one lesson you’ll 
+be having this year, that’s one more than Ron and 
+me. I wonder when our O.W.L. results will come?” 
+
+“Can’t be long now, it’s been a month,” said Ron. 
+
+“Hang on,” said Harry, as another part of last night’s 
+conversation came back to him. “I think Dumbledore 
+said our O.W.L. results would be arriving today!” 
+
+“Today?” shrieked Hermione. “Today? But why didn’t 
+you — oh my God — you should have said — ” 
+
+She leapt to her feet. 
+
+“I’m going to see whether any owls have come. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+But when Harry arrived downstairs ten minutes later, 
+fully dressed and carrying his empty breakfast tray, it 
+was to find Hermione sitting at the kitchen table in 
+great agitation, while Mrs. Weasley tried to lessen her 
+resemblance to half a panda. 
+
+“It just won’t budge,” Mrs. Weasley was saying 
+anxiously, standing over Hermione with her wand in 
+her hand and a copy of The Healer’s Helpmate open at 
+“Bruises, Cuts, and Abrasions.” “This has always 
+worked before, I just can’t understand it.” 
+
+“It’ll be Fred and George’s idea of a funny joke, 
+making sure it can’t come off,” said Ginny 
+
+“But it’s got to come off!” squeaked Hermione. “I can’t 
+go around looking like this forever!” 
+
+“You won’t, dear, we’ll find an antidote, don’t worry,” 
+said Mrs. Weasley soothingly. 
+
+“Bill told me ’ow Fred and George are very amusing!” 
+said Fleur, smiling serenely. 
+
+“Yes, I can hardly breathe for laughing,” snapped 
+Hermione. 
+
+She jumped up and started walking round and round 
+the kitchen, twisting her fingers together. 
+
+“Mrs. Weasley, you’re quite, quite sure no owls have 
+arrived this morning?” 
+
+“Yes, dear, I’d have noticed,” said Mrs. Weasley 
+patiently. “But it’s barely nine, there’s still plenty of 
+time. ...” 
+
+“I know I messed up Ancient Runes,” muttered 
+Hermione feverishly, “I definitely made at least one 
+
+Page | 112 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+serious mistranslation. And the Defense Against the 
+Dark Arts practical was no good at all. I thought 
+Transfiguration went all right at the time, but looking 
+back — ” 
+
+“Hermione, will you shut up, you’re not the only one 
+who’s nervous!” barked Ron. “And when you’ve got 
+your eleven ‘Outstanding’ O.W.L.s ...” 
+
+“Don’t, don’t, don’t!” said Hermione, flapping her 
+hands hysterically. “I know I’ve failed everything!” 
+
+“What happens if we fail?” Harry asked the room at 
+large, but it was again Hermione who answered. 
+
+“We discuss our options with our Head of House, I 
+asked Professor McGonagall at the end of last term.” 
+
+Harry’s stomach squirmed. He wished he had eaten 
+less breakfast. 
+
+“At Beauxbatons,” said Fleur complacently, “we ’ad a 
+different way of doing things. I think eet was better. 
+We sat our examinations after six years of study, not 
+five, and then — ” 
+
+Fleur’s words were drowned in a scream. Hermione 
+was pointing through the kitchen window. Three 
+black specks were clearly visible in the sky, growing 
+larger all the time. 
+
+“They’re definitely owls,” said Ron hoarsely, jumping 
+up to join Hermione at the window. 
+
+“And there are three of them,” said Harry, hastening 
+to her other side. 
+
+“One for each of us,” said Hermione in a terrified 
+whisper. “Oh no ... oh no ... oh no ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+She gripped both Harry and Ron tightly around the 
+elbows. 
+
+
+
+The owls were flying directly at the Burrow, three 
+handsome tawnies, each of which, it became clear as 
+they flew lower over the path leading up to the house, 
+was carrying a large square envelope. 
+
+“Oh no\” squealed Hermione. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley squeezed past them and opened the 
+kitchen window. One, two, three, the owls soared 
+through it and landed on the table in a neat line. All 
+three of them lifted their right legs. 
+
+Harry moved forward. The letter addressed to him 
+was tied to the leg of the owl in the middle. He untied 
+it with fumbling fingers. To his left, Ron was trying to 
+detach his own results; to his right, Hermione’s 
+hands were shaking so much she was making her 
+whole owl tremble. 
+
+Nobody in the kitchen spoke. At last, Harry managed 
+to detach the envelope. He slit it open quickly and 
+unfolded the parchment inside. 
+
+ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS 
+
+
+
+Pass Grades Fail Grades 
+
+Outstanding (O) Poor (P) 
+
+Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D) 
+
+Acceptable (A) Troll (T) 
+
+Harry James Potter has achieved: 
+
+Astronomy A 
+
+Care of Magical Creatures E 
+
+Page | 114 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Charms E 
+
+Defense Against the Dark ArtsO 
+Divination P 
+
+Herbology E 
+
+History of Magic D 
+
+Potions E 
+
+Transfiguration E 
+
+
+
+Harry read the parchment through several times, his 
+breathing becoming easier with each reading. It was 
+all right: He had always known that he would fail 
+Divination, and he had had no chance of passing 
+History of Magic, given that he had collapsed halfway 
+through the examination, but he had passed 
+everything else! He ran his finger down the grades ... 
+he had passed well in Transfiguration and Herbology, 
+he had even exceeded expectations at Potions! And 
+best of all, he had achieved “Outstanding” at Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts! 
+
+He looked around. Hermione had her back to him and 
+her head bent, but Ron was looking delighted. 
+
+“Only failed Divination and History of Magic, and who 
+cares about them?” he said happily to Harry. “Here — 
+swap — ” 
+
+Harry glanced down Ron’s grades: There were no 
+“Outstandings” there. ... 
+
+“Knew you’d be top at Defense Against the Dark Arts,” 
+said Ron, punching Harry on the shoulder. “We’ve 
+done all right, haven’t we?” 
+
+“Well done!” said Mrs. Weasley proudly, ruffling Ron’s 
+hair. “Seven O.W.L.s, that’s more than Fred and 
+George got together!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 115 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hermione?” said Ginny tentatively, for Hermione still 
+hadn’t turned around. “How did you do?” 
+
+“I — not bad,” said Hermione in a small voice. 
+
+“Oh, come off it,” said Ron, striding over to her and 
+whipping her results out of her hand. “Yep — nine 
+‘Outstandings’ and one ‘Exceeds Expectations’ at 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts.” He looked down at 
+her, half-amused, half-exasperated. “You’re actually 
+disappointed, aren’t you?” 
+
+Hermione shook her head, but Harry laughed. 
+
+“Well, we’re N.E.W.T. students now!” grinned Ron. 
+“Mum, are there any more sausages?” 
+
+Harry looked back down at his results. They were as 
+good as he could have hoped for. He felt just one tiny 
+twinge of regret. ... This was the end of his ambition 
+to become an Auror. He had not secured the required 
+Potions grade. He had known all along that he 
+wouldn’t, but he still felt a sinking in his stomach as 
+he looked again at that small black E. 
+
+It was odd, really, seeing that it had been a Death 
+Eater in disguise who had first told Harry he would 
+make a good Auror, but somehow the idea had taken 
+hold of him, and he couldn’t really think of anything 
+else he would like to be. Moreover, it had seemed the 
+right destiny for him since he had heard the prophecy 
+a few weeks ago. ... Neither can live while the other 
+survives. ... Wouldn’t he be living up to the prophecy, 
+and giving himself the best chance of survival, if he 
+joined those highly trained wizards whose job it was 
+to find and kill Voldemort? 
+
+
+
+Page | 116 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+6 
+
+
+
+
+DRACO’S DETOUR 
+
+Harry remained within the confines of the Burrow’s 
+garden over the next few weeks. He spent most of his 
+days playing two-a-side Quidditch in the Weasleys’ 
+orchard (he and Hermione against Ron and Ginny; 
+Hermione was dreadful and Ginny good, so they were 
+reasonably well matched) and his evenings eating 
+triple helpings of everything Mrs. Weasley put in front 
+of him. 
+
+It would have been a happy, peaceful holiday had it 
+not been for the stories of disappearances, odd 
+accidents, even of deaths now appearing almost daily 
+in the Prophet Sometimes Bill and Mr. Weasley 
+brought home news before it even reached the paper. 
+To Mrs. Weasley’s displeasure, Harry’s sixteenth 
+birthday celebrations were marred by grisly tidings 
+brought to the party by Remus Lupin, who was 
+looking gaunt and grim, his brown hair streaked 
+liberally with gray, his clothes more ragged and 
+patched than ever. 
+
+
+
+Page | 117 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“There have been another couple of dementor 
+attacks,” he announced, as Mrs. Weasley passed him 
+a large slice of birthday cake. “And they’ve found Igor 
+Karkaroff’s body in a shack up north. The Dark Mark 
+had been set over it — well, frankly, I’m surprised he 
+stayed alive for even a year after deserting the Death 
+Eaters; Sirius’s brother, Regulus, only managed a few 
+days as far as I can remember.” 
+
+“Yes, well,” said Mrs. Weasley, frowning, “perhaps we 
+should talk about something diff — ” 
+
+“Did you hear about Florean Fortescue, Remus?” 
+asked Bill, who was being plied with wine by Fleur. 
+“The man who ran — ” 
+
+“ — the ice-cream place in Diagon Alley?” Harry 
+interrupted, with an unpleasant, hollow sensation in 
+the pit of his stomach. “He used to give me free ice 
+creams. What’s happened to him?” 
+
+“Dragged off, by the look of his place.” 
+
+“Why?” asked Ron, while Mrs. Weasley pointedly 
+glared at Bill. 
+
+“Who knows? He must’ve upset them somehow. He 
+was a good man, Florean.” 
+
+“Talking of Diagon Alley,” said Mr. Weasley, “looks 
+like Ollivander’s gone too.” 
+
+“The wandmaker?” said Ginny, looking startled. 
+
+“That’s the one. Shop’s empty. No sign of a struggle. 
+No one knows whether he left voluntarily or was 
+kidnapped.” 
+
+“But wands — what’ll people do for wands?” 
+
+Page | 118 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“They’ll make do with other makers,” said Lupin. “But 
+Ollivander was the best, and if the other side have got 
+him it’s not so good for us.” 
+
+The day after this rather gloomy birthday tea, their 
+letters and booklists arrived from Hogwarts. Harry’s 
+included a surprise: He had been made Quidditch 
+Captain. 
+
+“That gives you equal status with prefects!” cried 
+Hermione happily. “You can use our special bathroom 
+now and everything!” 
+
+“Wow, I remember when Charlie wore one of these,” 
+said Ron, examining the badge with glee. “Harry, this 
+is so cool, you’re my Captain — if you let me back on 
+the team, I suppose, ha ha. ...” 
+
+“Well, I don’t suppose we can put off a trip to Diagon 
+Alley much longer now you’ve got these,” sighed Mrs. 
+Weasley, looking down Ron’s booklist. “We’ll go on 
+Saturday as long as your father doesn’t have to go 
+into work again. I’m not going there without him.” 
+
+“Mum, d’you honestly think You-Know- Who’s going to 
+be hiding behind a bookshelf in Flourish and Blotts?” 
+sniggered Ron. 
+
+“Fortescue and Ollivander went on holiday, did they?” 
+said Mrs. Weasley, firing up at once. “If you think 
+security’s a laughing matter you can stay behind and 
+I’ll get your things myself — ” 
+
+“No, I wanna come, I want to see Fred and George’s 
+shop!” said Ron hastily. 
+
+“Then you just buck up your ideas, young man, 
+before I decide you’re too immature to come with us!” 
+said Mrs. Weasley angrily, snatching up her clock, all 
+
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+
+
+
+
+nine hands of which were still pointing at “mortal 
+peril,” and balancing it on top of a pile of just- 
+laundered towels. “And that goes for returning to 
+Hogwarts as well!” 
+
+Ron turned to stare incredulously at Harry as his 
+mother hoisted the laundry basket and the teetering 
+clock into her arms and stormed out of the room. 
+
+“Blimey ... you can’t even make a joke round here 
+anymore. ...” 
+
+But Ron was careful not to be flippant about 
+Voldemort over the next few days. Saturday dawned 
+without any more outbursts from Mrs. Weasley, 
+though she seemed very tense at breakfast. Bill, who 
+would be staying at home with Fleur (much to 
+Hermione and Ginny’s pleasure), passed a full money 
+bag across the table to Harry. 
+
+“Where’s mine?” demanded Ron at once, his eyes 
+wide. 
+
+“That’s already Harry’s, idiot,” said Bill. “I got it out of 
+your vault for you, Harry, because it’s taking about 
+five hours for the public to get to their gold at the 
+moment, the goblins have tightened security so 
+much. Two days ago Arkie Philpott had a Probity 
+Probe stuck up his ... Well, trust me, this way’s 
+easier.” 
+
+“Thanks, Bill,” said Harry, pocketing his gold. 
+
+“ ’E is always so thoughtful,” purred Fleur adoringly, 
+stroking Bill’s nose. Ginny mimed vomiting into her 
+cereal behind Fleur. Harry choked over his 
+cornflakes, and Ron thumped him on the back. 
+
+
+
+Page | 120 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was an overcast, murky day. One of the special 
+Ministry of Magic cars, in which Harry had ridden 
+once before, was awaiting them in the front yard 
+when they emerged from the house, pulling on their 
+cloaks. 
+
+“It’s good Dad can get us these again,” said Ron 
+appreciatively, stretching luxuriously as the car 
+moved smoothly away from the Burrow, Bill and Fleur 
+waving from the kitchen window. He, Harry, 
+
+Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting in roomy 
+comfort in the wide backseat. 
+
+“Don’t get used to it, it’s only because of Harry,” said 
+Mr. Weasley over his shoulder. He and Mrs. Weasley 
+were in front with the Ministry driver; the front 
+passenger seat had obligingly stretched into what 
+resembled a two-seater sofa. “He’s been given top- 
+grade security status. And we’ll be joining up with 
+additional security at the Leaky Cauldron too.” 
+
+Harry said nothing; he did not much fancy doing his 
+shopping while surrounded by a battalion of Aurors. 
+He had stowed his Invisibility Cloak in his backpack 
+and felt that, if that was good enough for 
+Dumbledore, it ought to be good enough for the 
+Ministry, though now he came to think of it, he was 
+not sure the Ministry knew about his cloak. 
+
+“Here you are, then,” said the driver, a surprisingly 
+short while later, speaking for the first time as he 
+slowed in Charing Cross Road and stopped outside 
+the Leaky Cauldron. “I’m to wait for you, any idea 
+how long you 11 be?” 
+
+“A couple of hours, I expect,” said Mr. Weasley. “Ah, 
+good, he’s here!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 121 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry imitated Mr. Weasley and peered through the 
+window; his heart leapt. There were no Aurors waiting 
+outside the inn, but instead the gigantic, black- 
+bearded form of Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts 
+gamekeeper, wearing a long beaverskin coat, beaming 
+at the sight of Harry’s face and oblivious to the 
+startled stares of passing Muggles. 
+
+“Harry!” he boomed, sweeping Harry into a bone- 
+crushing hug the moment Harry had stepped out of 
+the car. “Buckbeak — Witherwings, I mean — yeh 
+should see him, Harry, he’s so happy ter be back in 
+the open air — ” 
+
+“Glad he’s pleased,” said Harry, grinning as he 
+massaged his ribs. “We didn’t know ‘security’ meant 
+you!” 
+
+“I know, jus’ like old times, innit? See, the Ministry 
+wanted ter send a bunch o’ Aurors, but Dumbledore 
+said I’d do,” said Hagrid proudly, throwing out his 
+chest and tucking his thumbs into his pockets. “Let’s 
+get goin’ then — after yeh, Molly, Arthur — ” 
+
+The Leaky Cauldron was, for the first time in Harry’s 
+memory, completely empty. Only Tom the landlord, 
+wizened and toothless, remained of the old crowd. He 
+looked up hopefully as they entered, but before he 
+could speak, Hagrid said importantly, “Jus’ passin’ 
+through today, Tom, sure yeh understand, Hogwarts 
+business, yeh know.” 
+
+Tom nodded gloomily and returned to wiping glasses; 
+Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, and the Weasleys walked 
+through the bar and out into the chilly little courtyard 
+at the back where the dustbins stood. Hagrid raised 
+his pink umbrella and rapped a certain brick in the 
+wall, which opened at once to form an archway onto a 
+
+
+
+Page | 122 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+winding cobbled street. They stepped through the 
+entrance and paused, looking around. 
+
+Diagon Alley had changed. The colorful, glittering 
+window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, 
+and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the 
+large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted 
+over them. Most of these somber purple posters 
+carried blown-up versions of the security advice on 
+the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over 
+the summer, but others bore moving black-and-white 
+photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the 
+loose. Bellatrix Lestrange was sneering from the front 
+of the nearest apothecary. A few windows were 
+boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue’s Ice 
+Cream Parlor. On the other hand, a number of 
+shabby-looking stalls had sprung up along the street. 
+The nearest one, which had been erected outside 
+Flourish and Blotts, under a striped, stained awning, 
+had a cardboard sign pinned to its front: 
+
+AMULETS 
+
+Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors, and Inferi 
+
+A seedy-looking little wizard was rattling armfuls of 
+silver symbols on chains at passersby. 
+
+“One for your little girl, madam?” he called at Mrs. 
+Weasley as they passed, leering at Ginny. “Protect her 
+pretty neck?” 
+
+“If I were on duty ...” said Mr. Weasley, glaring angrily 
+at the amulet seller. 
+
+“Yes, but don’t go arresting anyone now, dear, we’re 
+in a hurry,” said Mrs. Weasley, nervously consulting a 
+list. “I think we’d better do Madam Malkin’s first, 
+Hermione wants new dress robes, and Ron’s showing 
+
+Page | 123 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+much too much ankle in his school robes, and you 
+must need new ones too, Harry, you’ve grown so 
+much — come on, everyone — ” 
+
+“Molly, it doesn’t make sense for all of us to go to 
+Madam Malkin’s,” said Mr. Weasley. “Why don’t those 
+three go with Hagrid, and we can go to Flourish and 
+Blotts and get everyone’s schoolbooks?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Weasley anxiously, clearly 
+torn between a desire to finish the shopping quickly 
+and the wish to stick together in a pack. “Hagrid, do 
+you think — ?” 
+
+“Don’ fret, they’ll be fine with me, Molly,” said Hagrid 
+soothingly, waving an airy hand the size of a dustbin 
+lid. Mrs. Weasley did not look entirely convinced, but 
+allowed the separation, scurrying off toward Flourish 
+and Blotts with her husband and Ginny while Harry, 
+Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid set off for Madam 
+Malkin’s. 
+
+Harry noticed that many of the people who passed 
+them had the same harried, anxious look as Mrs. 
+Weasley, and that nobody was stopping to talk 
+anymore; the shoppers stayed together in their own 
+tightly knit groups, moving intently about their 
+business. Nobody seemed to be shopping alone. 
+
+“Migh’ be a bit of a squeeze in there with all of us,” 
+said Hagrid, stopping outside Madam Malkin’s and 
+bending down to peer through the window. “I’ll stand 
+guard outside, all right?” 
+
+So Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the little shop 
+together. It appeared, at first glance, to be empty, but 
+no sooner had the door swung shut behind them than 
+they heard a familiar voice issuing from behind a rack 
+of dress robes in spangled green and blue. 
+
+Page | 124 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+"... not a child, in case you haven’t noticed, Mother. I 
+am perfectly capable of doing my shopping alone.” 
+
+There was a clucking noise and a voice Harry 
+recognized as that of Madam Malkin, the owner, said, 
+“Now, dear, your mother’s quite right, none of us is 
+supposed to go wandering around on our own 
+anymore, it’s nothing to do with being a child — ” 
+
+“Watch where you’re sticking that pin, will you!” 
+
+A teenage boy with a pale, pointed face and white- 
+blond hair appeared from behind the rack, wearing a 
+handsome set of dark green robes that glittered with 
+pins around the hem and the edges of the sleeves. He 
+strode to the mirror and examined himself; it was a 
+few moments before he noticed Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione reflected over his shoulder. His light gray 
+eyes narrowed. 
+
+“If you’re wondering what the smell is, Mother, a 
+Mudblood just walked in,” said Draco Malfoy. 
+
+“I don’t think there’s any need for language like that!” 
+said Madam Malkin, scurrying out from behind the 
+clothes rack holding a tape measure and a wand. 
+“And I don’t want wands drawn in my shop either!” 
+she added hastily, for a glance toward the door had 
+shown her Harry and Ron both standing there with 
+their wands out and pointing at Malfoy. Hermione, 
+who was standing slightly behind them, whispered, 
+“No, don’t, honestly, it’s not worth it. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, like you’d dare do magic out of school,” 
+sneered Malfoy. “Who blacked your eye, Granger? I 
+want to send them flowers.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That’s quite enough!” said Madam Malkin sharply, 
+looking over her shoulder for support. “Madam — 
+please — ” 
+
+Narcissa Malfoy strolled out from behind the clothes 
+rack. 
+
+“Put those away,” she said coldly to Harry and Ron. 
+
+“If you attack my son again, I shall ensure that it is 
+the last thing you ever do.” 
+
+“Really?” said Harry, taking a step forward and gazing 
+into the smoothly arrogant face that, for all its pallor, 
+still resembled her sister’s. He was as tall as she was 
+now. “Going to get a few Death Eater pals to do us in, 
+are you?” 
+
+Madam Malkin squealed and clutched at her heart. 
+
+“Really, you shouldn’t accuse — dangerous thing to 
+say — wands away, please!” 
+
+But Harry did not lower his wand. Narcissa Malfoy 
+smiled unpleasantly. 
+
+“I see that being Dumbledore’s favorite has given you 
+a false sense of security, Harry Potter. But 
+Dumbledore won’t always be there to protect you.” 
+
+Harry looked mockingly all around the shop. “Wow ... 
+look at that ... he’s not here now! So why not have a 
+go? They might be able to find you a double cell in 
+Azkaban with your loser of a husband!” 
+
+Malfoy made an angry movement toward Harry, but 
+stumbled over his overlong robe. Ron laughed loudly. 
+
+“Don’t you dare talk to my mother like that, Potter!” 
+Malfoy snarled. 
+
+Page | 126 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s all right, Draco,” said Narcissa, restraining him 
+with her thin white fingers upon his shoulder. “I 
+expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I 
+am reunited with Lucius.” 
+
+Harry raised his wand higher. 
+
+“Harry, no!” moaned Hermione, grabbing his arm and 
+attempting to push it down by his side. “Think. ... 
+
+You mustn’t. ... You’ll be in such trouble. ...” 
+
+Madam Malkin dithered for a moment on the spot, 
+then seemed to decide to act as though nothing was 
+happening in the hope that it wouldn’t. She bent 
+toward Malfoy, who was still glaring at Harry. 
+
+“I think this left sleeve could come up a little bit more, 
+dear, let me just — ” 
+
+“Ouch!” bellowed Malfoy, slapping her hand away. 
+“Watch where you’re putting your pins, woman! 
+Mother — I don’t think I want these anymore — ” 
+
+He pulled the robes over his head and threw them 
+onto the floor at Madam Malkin’s feet. 
+
+“You’re right, Draco,” said Narcissa, with a 
+contemptuous glance at Hermione, “now I know the 
+kind of scum that shops here. ... We’ll do better at 
+Twilfitt and Tatting’s.” 
+
+And with that, the pair of them strode out of the 
+shop, Malfoy taking care to bang as hard as he could 
+into Ron on the way out. 
+
+“Well, reallyl” said Madam Malkin, snatching up the 
+fallen robes and moving the tip of her wand over them 
+like a vacuum cleaner, so that it removed all the dust. 
+
+
+
+Page | 127 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She was distracted all through the fitting of Ron’s and 
+Harry’s new robes, tried to sell Hermione wizard’s 
+dress robes instead of witch’s, and when she finally 
+bowed them out of the shop it was with an air of 
+being glad to see the back of them. 
+
+“Got ev’rything?” asked Hagrid brightly when they 
+reappeared at his side. 
+
+“Just about,” said Harry. “Did you see the Malfoys?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Hagrid, unconcerned. “Bu’ they wouldn’ 
+dare make trouble in the middle o’ Diagon Alley, 
+Harry. Don’ worry abou’ them.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks, but 
+before they could disabuse Hagrid of this comfortable 
+notion, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny appeared, all 
+clutching heavy packages of books. 
+
+“Everyone all right?” said Mrs. Weasley. “Got your 
+robes? Right then, we can pop in at the Apothecary 
+and Eeylops on the way to Fred and George’s — stick 
+close, now. ...” 
+
+Neither Harry nor Ron bought any ingredients at the 
+Apothecary, seeing that they were no longer studying 
+Potions, but both bought large boxes of owl nuts for 
+Hedwig and Pigwidgeon at Eeylops Owl Emporium. 
+Then, with Mrs. Weasley checking her watch every 
+minute or so, they headed farther along the street in 
+search of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop 
+run by Fred and George. 
+
+“We really haven’t got too long,” Mrs. Weasley said. 
+
+“So we’ll just have a quick look around and then back 
+to the car. We must be close, that’s number ninety- 
+two ... ninety-four ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Whoa,” said Ron, stopping in his tracks. 
+
+Set against the dull, poster-muffled shop fronts 
+around them, Fred and George’s windows hit the eye 
+like a firework display. Casual passersby were looking 
+back over their shoulders at the windows, and a few 
+rather stunned-looking people had actually come to a 
+halt, transfixed. The left-hand window was dazzlingly 
+full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, 
+flashed, bounced, and shrieked; Harry’s eyes began to 
+water just looking at it. The right-hand window was 
+covered with a gigantic poster, purple like those of the 
+Ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters: 
+
+WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT 
+
+YOU-KNOW-WHO? 
+
+YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT 
+U-NO-POO— 
+
+THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION 
+THAT’S GRIPPING THE NATION! 
+
+Harry started to laugh. He heard a weak sort of moan 
+beside him and looked around to see Mrs. Weasley 
+gazing, dumbfounded, at the poster. Her lips moved 
+silently, mouthing the name “U-No-Poo.” 
+
+“They’ll be murdered in their beds!” she whispered. 
+
+“No they won’t!” said Ron, who, like Harry, was 
+laughing. “This is brilliant!” 
+
+And he and Harry led the way into the shop. It was 
+packed with customers; Harry could not get near the 
+
+Page | 129 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+shelves. He stared around, looking up at the boxes 
+piled to the ceiling: Here were the Skiving Snackboxes 
+that the twins had perfected during their last, 
+unfinished year at Hogwarts; Harry noticed that the 
+Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one 
+battered box left on the shelf. There were bins full of 
+trick wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber 
+chickens or pairs of briefs when waved, the most 
+expensive beating the unwary user around the head 
+and neck, and boxes of quills, which came in Self- 
+Inking, Spell-Checking, and Smart-Answer varieties. 
+
+A space cleared in the crowd, and Harry pushed his 
+way toward the counter, where a gaggle of delighted 
+ten-year-olds was watching a tiny little wooden man 
+slowly ascending the steps to a real set of gallows, 
+both perched on a box that read: REUSABLE 
+HANGMAN — SPELL IT OR HE’LL SWING! 
+
+“ ‘Patented Daydream Charms . . . ’ ” 
+
+Hermione had managed to squeeze through to a large 
+display near the counter and was reading the 
+information on the back of a box bearing a highly 
+colored picture of a handsome youth and a swooning 
+girl who were standing on the deck of a pirate ship. 
+
+“ ‘One simple incantation and you will enter a top- 
+quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy 
+to fit into the average school lesson and virtually 
+undetectable (side effects include vacant expression 
+and minor drooling). Not for sale to under-sixteens.’ 
+You know,” said Hermione, looking up at Harry, “that 
+really is extraordinary magic!” 
+
+“For that, Hermione,” said a voice behind them, “you 
+can have one for free.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 130 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A beaming Fred stood before them, wearing a set of 
+magenta robes that clashed magnificently with his 
+flaming hair. 
+
+“How are you, Harry?” They shook hands. “And 
+what’s happened to your eye, Hermione?” 
+
+“Your punching telescope,” she said ruefully. 
+
+“Oh blimey, I forgot about those,” said Fred. “Here — ” 
+
+He pulled a tub out of his pocket and handed it to 
+her; she unscrewed it gingerly to reveal a thick yellow 
+paste. 
+
+“Just dab it on, that bruise’ll be gone within the 
+hour,” said Fred. “We had to find a decent bruise 
+remover. We’re testing most of our products on 
+ourselves.” 
+
+Hermione looked nervous. “It is safe, isn’t it?” she 
+asked. 
+
+“ ’Course it is,” said Fred bracingly. “Come on, Harry, 
+I’ll give you a tour.” 
+
+Harry left Hermione dabbing her black eye with paste 
+and followed Fred toward the back of the shop, where 
+he saw a stand of card and rope tricks. 
+
+“Muggle magic tricks!” said Fred happily, pointing 
+them out. “For freaks like Dad, you know, who love 
+Muggle stuff. It’s not a big earner, but we do fairly 
+steady business, they’re great novelties. ... Oh, here’s 
+George. ...” 
+
+Fred’s twin shook Harry’s hand energetically. 
+
+
+
+Page | 131 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Giving him the tour? Come through the back, Harry, 
+that’s where we’re making the real money — pocket 
+anything, you, and you’ll pay in more than GalleonsV’ 
+he added warningly to a small boy who hastily 
+whipped his hand out of the tub labeled EDIBLE 
+DARK MARKS — THEY’LL MAKE ANYONE SICK! 
+
+George pushed back a curtain beside the Muggle 
+tricks and Harry saw a darker, less crowded room. 
+The packaging on the products lining these shelves 
+was more subdued. 
+
+“We’ve just developed this more serious line,” said 
+Fred. “Funny how it happened ...” 
+
+“You wouldn’t believe how many people, even people 
+who work at the Ministry, can’t do a decent Shield 
+Charm,” said George. “ ’Course, they didn’t have you 
+teaching them, Harry.” 
+
+“That’s right. ... Well, we thought Shield Hats were a 
+bit of a laugh, you know, challenge your mate to jinx 
+you while wearing it and watch his face when the jinx 
+just bounces off. But the Ministry bought five 
+hundred for all its support staff! And we’re still 
+getting massive orders!” 
+
+“So we’ve expanded into a range of Shield Cloaks, 
+Shield Gloves ...” 
+
+"... I mean, they wouldn’t help much against the 
+Unforgivable Curses, but for minor to moderate hexes 
+or jinxes ...” 
+
+“And then we thought we’d get into the whole area of 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts, because it’s such a 
+money spinner,” continued George enthusiastically. 
+“This is cool. Look, Instant Darkness Powder, we’re 
+
+
+
+Page | 132 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+importing it from Peru. Handy if you want to make a 
+quick escape.” 
+
+“And our Decoy Detonators are just walking off the 
+shelves, look,” said Fred, pointing at a number of 
+weird-looking black horn-type objects that were 
+indeed attempting to scurry out of sight. “You just 
+drop one surreptitiously and it’ll run off and make a 
+nice loud noise out of sight, giving you a diversion if 
+you need one. 
+
+“Handy,” said Harry, impressed. 
+
+“Here,” said George, catching a couple and throwing 
+them to Harry. 
+
+A young witch with short blonde hair poked her head 
+around the curtain; Harry saw that she too was 
+wearing magenta staff robes. 
+
+“There’s a customer out here looking for a joke 
+cauldron, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley,” she said. 
+
+Harry found it very odd to hear Fred and George 
+called “Mr. Weasley,” but they took it in their stride. 
+
+“Right you are, Verity, I’m coming,” said George 
+promptly. “Harry, you help yourself to anything you 
+want, all right? No charge.” 
+
+“I can’t do that!” said Harry, who had already pulled 
+out his money bag to pay for the Decoy Detonators. 
+
+“You don’t pay here,” said Fred firmly, waving away 
+Harry’s gold. 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 133 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You gave us our start-up loan, we haven’t forgotten,” 
+said George sternly. “Take whatever you like, and just 
+remember to tell people where you got it, if they ask.” 
+
+George swept off through the curtain to help with the 
+customers, and Fred led Harry back into the main 
+part of the shop to find Hermione and Ginny still 
+poring over the Patented Daydream Charms. 
+
+“Haven’t you girls found our special WonderWitch 
+products yet?” asked Fred. “Follow me, ladies. ...” 
+
+Near the window was an array of violently pink 
+products around which a cluster of excited girls was 
+giggling enthusiastically. Hermione and Ginny both 
+hung back, looking wary. 
+
+“There you go,” said Fred proudly. “Best range of love 
+potions you’ll find anywhere.” 
+
+Ginny raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Do they work?” 
+she asked. 
+
+“Certainly they work, for up to twenty-four hours at a 
+time depending on the weight of the boy in question 
+
+
+
+“ — and the attractiveness of the girl,” said George, 
+reappearing suddenly at their side. “But we’re not 
+selling them to our sister,” he added, becoming 
+suddenly stern, “not when she’s already got about five 
+boys on the go from what we’ve — ” 
+
+“Whatever you’ve heard from Ron is a big fat lie,” said 
+Ginny calmly, leaning forward to take a small pink 
+pot off the shelf. “What’s this?” 
+
+“Guaranteed ten-second pimple vanisher,” said Fred. 
+“Excellent on everything from boils to blackheads, but 
+
+Page | 134 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+don’t change the subject. Are you or are you not 
+currently going out with a boy called Dean Thomas?” 
+
+“Yes, I am,” said Ginny. “And last time I looked, he 
+was definitely one boy, not five. What are those?” 
+
+She was pointing at a number of round balls of fluff 
+in shades of pink and purple, all rolling around the 
+bottom of a cage and emitting high-pitched squeaks. 
+
+“Pygmy Puffs,” said George. “Miniature puffskeins, we 
+can’t breed them fast enough. So what about Michael 
+Corner?” 
+
+“I dumped him, he was a bad loser,” said Ginny, 
+putting a finger through the bars of the cage and 
+watching the Pygmy Puffs crowd around it. “They’re 
+really cute!” 
+
+“They’re fairly cuddly, yes,” conceded Fred. “But 
+you’re moving through boyfriends a bit fast, aren’t 
+you?” 
+
+Ginny turned to look at him, her hands on her hips. 
+There was such a Mrs. Weasley-ish glare on her face 
+that Harry was surprised Fred didn’t recoil. 
+
+“It’s none of your business. And I’ll thank you,” she 
+added angrily to Ron, who had just appeared at 
+George’s elbow, laden with merchandise, “not to tell 
+tales about me to these two!” 
+
+“That’s three Galleons, nine Sickles, and a Knut,” said 
+Fred, examining the many boxes in Ron’s arms. 
+“Cough up.” 
+
+“I’m your brother!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 135 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And that’s our stuff you’re nicking. Three Galleons, 
+nine Sickles. I’ll knock off the Knut.” 
+
+“But I haven’t got three Galleons, nine Sickles!” 
+
+“You’d better put it back then, and mind you put it on 
+the right shelves.” 
+
+Ron dropped several boxes, swore, and made a rude 
+hand gesture at Fred that was unfortunately spotted 
+by Mrs. Weasley, who had chosen that moment to 
+appear. 
+
+“If I see you do that again I’ll jinx your fingers 
+together,” she said sharply. 
+
+“Mum, can I have a Pygmy Puff?” said Ginny at once. 
+“A what?” said Mrs. Weasley warily. 
+
+“Look, they’re so sweet. ...” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley moved aside to look at the Pygmy Puffs, 
+and Harry, Ron, and Hermione momentarily had an 
+unimpeded view out of the window. Draco Malfoy was 
+hurrying up the street alone. As he passed Weasleys’ 
+Wizard Wheezes, he glanced over his shoulder. 
+Seconds later, he moved beyond the scope of the 
+window and they lost sight of him. 
+
+“Wonder where his mummy is?” said Harry, frowning. 
+
+“Given her the slip by the looks of it,” said Ron. 
+
+“Why, though?” said Hermione. 
+
+Harry said nothing; he was thinking too hard. 
+
+Narcissa Malfoy would not have let her precious son 
+out of her sight willingly; Malfoy must have made a 
+
+Page | 136 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+real effort to free himself from her clutches. Harry, 
+knowing and loathing Malfoy, was sure the reason 
+could not be innocent. 
+
+He glanced around. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were 
+bending over the Pygmy Puffs. Mr. Weasley was 
+delightedly examining a pack of Muggle marked 
+playing cards. Fred and George were both helping 
+customers. On the other side of the glass, Hagrid was 
+standing with his back to them, looking up and down 
+the street. 
+
+“Get under here, quick,” said Harry, pulling his 
+Invisibility Cloak out of his bag. 
+
+“Oh — I don’t know, Harry,” said Hermione, looking 
+uncertainly toward Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Come on\” said Ron. 
+
+She hesitated for a second longer, then ducked under 
+the cloak with Harry and Ron. Nobody noticed them 
+vanish; they were all too interested in Fred and 
+George’s products. Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+squeezed their way out of the door as quickly as they 
+could, but by the time they gained the street, Malfoy 
+had disappeared just as successfully as they had. 
+
+“He was going in that direction,” murmured Harry as 
+quietly as possible, so that the humming Hagrid 
+would not hear them. “C’mon.” 
+
+They scurried along, peering left and right, through 
+shop windows and doors, until Hermione pointed 
+ahead. 
+
+“That’s him, isn’t it?” she whispered. “Turning left?” 
+“Big surprise,” whispered Ron. 
+
+Page | 137 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+For Malfoy had glanced around, then slid into 
+Knockturn Alley and out of sight. 
+
+
+
+“Quick, or we’ll lose him,” said Harry, speeding up. 
+
+“Our feet’ll be seen!” said Hermione anxiously, as the 
+cloak flapped a little around their ankles; it was much 
+more difficult hiding all three of them under the cloak 
+nowadays. 
+
+“It doesn’t matter,” said Harry impatiently. “Just 
+hurry!” 
+
+But Knockturn Alley, the side street devoted to the 
+Dark Arts, looked completely deserted. They peered 
+into windows as they passed, but none of the shops 
+seemed to have any customers at all. Harry supposed 
+it was a bit of a giveaway in these dangerous and 
+suspicious times to buy Dark artifacts — or at least, 
+to be seen buying them. 
+
+Hermione gave his arm a hard pinch. 
+
+“Ouch!” 
+
+“Shh! Look! He’s in there!” she breathed in Harry’s 
+ear. 
+
+They had drawn level with the only shop in 
+Knockturn Alley that Harry had ever visited, Borgin 
+and Burkes, which sold a wide variety of sinister 
+objects. There in the midst of the cases full of skulls 
+and old bottles stood Draco Malfoy with his back to 
+them, just visible beyond the very same large black 
+cabinet in which Harry had once hidden to avoid 
+Malfoy and his father. Judging by the movements of 
+Malfoy’s hands, he was talking animatedly. The 
+proprietor of the shop, Mr. Borgin, an oily-haired, 
+
+
+
+Page | 138 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+stooping man, stood facing Malfoy. He was wearing a 
+curious expression of mingled resentment and fear. 
+
+
+
+“If only we could hear what they’re saying!” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“We can!” said Ron excitedly. “Hang on — damn — ” 
+
+He dropped a couple more of the boxes he was still 
+clutching as he fumbled with the largest. 
+
+“Extendable Ears, look!” 
+
+“Fantastic!” said Hermione, as Ron unraveled the 
+long, fleshcolored strings and began to feed them 
+toward the bottom of the door. “Oh, I hope the door 
+isn’t Imperturbable — ” 
+
+“No!” said Ron gleefully. “Listen!” 
+
+They put their heads together and listened intently to 
+the ends of the strings, through which Malfoy’s voice 
+could be heard loud and clear, as though a radio had 
+been turned on. 
+
+"... you know how to fix it?” 
+
+“Possibly,” said Borgin, in a tone that suggested he 
+was unwilling to commit himself. “I’ll need to see it, 
+though. Why don’t you bring it into the shop?” 
+
+“I can’t,” said Malfoy. “It’s got to stay put. I just need 
+you to tell me how to do it.” 
+
+Harry saw Borgin lick his lips nervously. 
+
+“Well, without seeing it, I must say it will be a very 
+difficult job, perhaps impossible. I couldn’t guarantee 
+anything.” 
+
+Page | 139 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No?” said Malfoy, and Harry knew, just by his tone, 
+that Malfoy was sneering. “Perhaps this will make you 
+more confident.” 
+
+He moved toward Borgin and was blocked from view 
+by the cabinet. Harry, Ron, and Hermione shuffled 
+sideways to try and keep him in sight, but all they 
+could see was Borgin, looking very frightened. 
+
+“Tell anyone,” said Malfoy, “and there will be 
+retribution. You know Fenrir Greyback? He’s a family 
+friend. He’ll be dropping in from time to time to make 
+sure you’re giving the problem your full attention.” 
+
+“There will be no need for — ” 
+
+“I’ll decide that,” said Malfoy. “Well, I’d better be off. 
+And don’t forget to keep that one safe, I’ll need it.” 
+
+“Perhaps you’d like to take it now?” 
+
+“No, of course I wouldn’t, you stupid little man, how 
+would I look carrying that down the street? Just don’t 
+sell it.” 
+
+“Of course not ... sir.” 
+
+Borgin made a bow as deep as the one Harry had 
+once seen him give Lucius Malfoy. 
+
+“Not a word to anyone, Borgin, and that includes my 
+mother, understand?” 
+
+“Naturally, naturally,” murmured Borgin, bowing 
+again. 
+
+Next moment, the bell over the door tinkled loudly as 
+Malfoy stalked out of the shop looking very pleased 
+with himself. He passed so close to Harry, Ron, and 
+
+Page | 140 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione that they felt the cloak flutter around their 
+knees again. Inside the shop, Borgin remained frozen; 
+his unctuous smile had vanished; he looked worried. 
+
+“What was that about?” whispered Ron, reeling in the 
+Extendable Ears. 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry, thinking hard. “He wants 
+something mended . . . and he wants to reserve 
+something in there. ... Could you see what he pointed 
+at when he said ‘that one’?” 
+
+“No, he was behind that cabinet — ” 
+
+“You two stay here,” whispered Hermione. 
+
+“What are you — ?” 
+
+But Hermione had already ducked out from under the 
+cloak. She checked her hair in the reflection in the 
+glass, then marched into the shop, setting the bell 
+tinkling again. Ron hastily fed the Extendable Ears 
+back under the door and passed one of the strings to 
+Harry. 
+
+“Hello, horrible morning, isn’t it?” Hermione said 
+brightly to Borgin, who did not answer, but cast her a 
+suspicious look. Humming cheerily, Hermione strolled 
+through the jumble of objects on display. 
+
+“Is this necklace for sale?” she asked, pausing beside 
+a glass-fronted case. 
+
+“If you’ve got one and a half thousand Galleons,” said 
+Mr. Borgin coldly. 
+
+“Oh — er — no, I haven’t got quite that much,” said 
+Hermione, walking on. “And ... what about this lovely 
+— um — skull?” 
+
+Page | 141 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sixteen Galleons.” 
+
+
+
+“So it’s for sale, then? It isn’t being ... kept for 
+anyone?” 
+
+Mr. Borgin squinted at her. Harry had the nasty 
+feeling he knew exactly what Hermione was up to. 
+Apparently Hermione felt she had been rumbled too 
+because she suddenly threw caution to the winds. 
+
+“The thing is, that — er — boy who was in here just 
+now, Draco Malfoy, well, he’s a friend of mine, and I 
+want to get him a birthday present, but if he’s already 
+reserved anything, I obviously don’t want to get him 
+the same thing, so ... um ...” 
+
+It was a pretty lame story in Harry’s opinion, and 
+apparently Borgin thought so too. 
+
+“Out,” he said sharply. “Get out!” 
+
+Hermione did not wait to be asked twice, but hurried 
+to the door with Borgin at her heels. As the bell 
+tinkled again, Borgin slammed the door behind her 
+and put up the closed sign. 
+
+“Ah well,” said Ron, throwing the cloak back over 
+Hermione. “Worth a try, but you were a bit obvious — 
+
+
+
+“Well, next time you can show me how it’s done, 
+Master of Mystery!” she snapped. 
+
+Ron and Hermione bickered all the way back to 
+Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, where they were forced to 
+stop so that they could dodge undetected around a 
+very anxious-looking Mrs. Weasley and Hagrid, who 
+had clearly noticed their absence. Once in the shop, 
+Harry whipped off the Invisibility Cloak, hid it in his 
+Page | 142 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bag, and joined in with the other two when they 
+insisted, in answer to Mrs. Weasley’s accusations, 
+that they had been in the back room all along, and 
+that she could not have looked properly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 143 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+7 
+
+
+
+
+THE SLUG CLUB 
+
+Harry spent a lot of the last week of the holidays 
+pondering the meaning of Malfoy’s behavior in 
+Knockturn Alley. What disturbed him most was the 
+satisfied look on Malfoy’s face as he had left the shop. 
+Nothing that made Malfoy look that happy could be 
+good news. To his slight annoyance, however, neither 
+Ron nor Hermione seemed quite as curious about 
+Malfoy’s activities as he was; or at least, they seemed 
+to get bored of discussing it after a few days. 
+
+“Yes, I’ve already agreed it was fishy, Harry,” said 
+Hermione a little impatiently. She was sitting on the 
+windowsill in Fred and George’s room with her feet up 
+on one of the cardboard boxes and had only 
+grudgingly looked up from her new copy of Advanced 
+Rune Translation. “But haven’t we agreed there could 
+be a lot of explanations?” 
+
+“Maybe he’s broken his Hand of Glory,” said Ron 
+vaguely, as he attempted to straighten his 
+
+
+
+Page | 144 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+broomstick’s bent tail twigs. “Remember that 
+shriveled-up arm Malfoy had?” 
+
+“But what about when he said, ‘Don’t forget to keep 
+that one safe’?” asked Harry for the umpteenth time. 
+“That sounded to me like Borgin’s got another one of 
+the broken objects, and Malfoy wants both.” 
+
+“You reckon?” said Ron, now trying to scrape some 
+dirt off his broom handle. 
+
+“Yeah, I do,” said Harry. When neither Ron nor 
+Hermione answered, he said, “Malfoy’s father’s in 
+Azkaban. Don’t you think Malfoy’d like revenge?” 
+
+Ron looked up, blinking. 
+
+“Malfoy, revenge? What can he do about it?” 
+
+“That’s my point, I don’t know!” said Harry, 
+frustrated. “But he’s up to something and I think we 
+should take it seriously. His father’s a Death Eater 
+and — ” 
+
+Harry broke off, his eyes fixed on the window behind 
+Hermione, his mouth open. A startling thought had 
+just occurred to him. 
+
+“Harry?” said Hermione in an anxious voice. “What’s 
+wrong?” 
+
+“Your scar’s not hurting again, is it?” asked Ron 
+nervously. 
+
+“He’s a Death Eater,” said Harry slowly. “He’s 
+replaced his father as a Death Eater!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 145 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a silence; then Ron erupted in laughter. 
+“Malfoy? He’s sixteen, Harry! You think You-Know- 
+Who would let Malfoy join?” 
+
+“It seems very unlikely, Harry,” said Hermione in a 
+repressive sort of voice. “What makes you think — ?” 
+
+“In Madam Malkin’s. She didn’t touch him, but he 
+yelled and jerked his arm away from her when she 
+went to roll up his sleeve. It was his left arm. He’s 
+been branded with the Dark Mark.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione looked at each other. 
+
+“Well ...” said Ron, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. 
+
+“I think he just wanted to get out of there, Harry,” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+“He showed Borgin something we couldn’t see,” Harry 
+pressed on stubbornly. “Something that seriously 
+scared Borgin. It was the Mark, I know it — he was 
+showing Borgin who he was dealing with, you saw 
+how seriously Borgin took him!” 
+
+Ron and Hermione exchanged another look. 
+
+“I’m not sure, Harry. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, I still don’t reckon You-Know-Who would let 
+Malfoy join. ...” 
+
+Annoyed, but absolutely convinced he was right, 
+
+Harry snatched up a pile of filthy Quidditch robes and 
+left the room; Mrs. Weasley had been urging them for 
+days not to leave their washing and packing until the 
+last moment. On the landing he bumped into Ginny, 
+who was returning to her room carrying a pile of 
+freshly laundered clothes. 
+
+Page | 146 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I wouldn’t go in the kitchen just now,” she warned 
+him. “There’s a lot of Phlegm around.” 
+
+
+
+“I’ll be careful not to slip in it.” Harry smiled. 
+
+Sure enough, when he entered the kitchen it was to 
+find Fleur sitting at the kitchen table, in full flow 
+about plans for her wedding to Bill, while Mrs. 
+Weasley kept watch over a pile of self-peeling sprouts, 
+looking bad-tempered. 
+
+“... Bill and I ’ave almost decided on only two 
+bridesmaids, Ginny and Gabrielle will look very sweet 
+togezzer. I am theenking of dressing zem in pale gold 
+— pink would of course be ’orrible with Ginny’s ’air — 
+
+
+
+“Ah, Harry!” said Mrs. Weasley loudly, cutting across 
+Fleur’s monologue. “Good, I wanted to explain about 
+the security arrangements for the journey to 
+Hogwarts tomorrow. We’ve got Ministry cars again, 
+and there will be Aurors waiting at the station — ” 
+
+“Is Tonks going to be there?” asked Harry, handing 
+over his Quidditch things. 
+
+“No, I don’t think so, she’s been stationed somewhere 
+else from what Arthur said.” 
+
+“She has let ’erself go, zat Tonks,” Fleur mused, 
+examining her own stunning reflection in the back of 
+a teaspoon. “A big mistake if you ask — ” 
+
+“Yes, thank you,” said Mrs. Weasley tartly, cutting 
+across Fleur again. “You’d better get on, Harry, I want 
+the trunks ready tonight, if possible, so we don’t have 
+the usual last-minute scramble.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 147 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And in fact, their departure the following morning was 
+smoother than usual. The Ministry cars glided up to 
+the front of the Burrow to find them waiting, trunks 
+packed; Hermione’s cat, Crookshanks, safely enclosed 
+in his traveling basket; and Hedwig; Ron’s owl, 
+Pigwidgeon; and Ginny’s new purple Pygmy Puff, 
+Arnold, in cages. 
+
+“Au revoir, ’Ariy,” said Fleur throatily, kissing him 
+good-bye. Ron hurried forward, looking hopeful, but 
+Ginny stuck out her foot and Ron fell, sprawling in 
+the dust at Fleur’s feet. Furious, red-faced, and dirt- 
+spattered, he hurried into the car without saying 
+good-bye. 
+
+There was no cheerful Hagrid waiting for them at 
+King’s Cross Station. Instead, two grim-faced, 
+bearded Aurors in dark Muggle suits moved forward 
+the moment the cars stopped and, flanking the party, 
+marched them into the station without speaking. 
+
+“Quick, quick, through the barrier,” said Mrs. 
+
+Weasley, who seemed a little flustered by this austere 
+efficiency. “Harry had better go first, with — ” 
+
+She looked inquiringly at one of the Aurors, who 
+nodded briefly, seized Harry’s upper arm, and 
+attempted to steer him toward the barrier between 
+platforms nine and ten. 
+
+“I can walk, thanks,” said Harry irritably, jerking his 
+arm out of the Auror’s grip. He pushed his trolley 
+directly at the solid barrier, ignoring his silent 
+companion, and found himself, a second later, 
+standing on platform nine and three-quarters, where 
+the scarlet Hogwarts Express stood belching steam 
+over the crowd. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hermione and the Weasleys joined him within 
+seconds. Without waiting to consult his grim-faced 
+Auror, Harry motioned to Ron and Hermione to follow 
+him up the platform, looking for an empty 
+compartment. 
+
+“We can’t, Harry,” said Hermione, looking apologetic. 
+“Ron and I’ve got to go to the prefects’ carriage first 
+and then patrol the corridors for a bit.” 
+
+“Oh yeah, I forgot,” said Harry. 
+
+“You’d better get straight on the train, all of you, 
+you’ve only got a few minutes to go,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, consulting her watch. “Well, have a lovely 
+term, Ron. ...” 
+
+“Mr. Weasley, can I have a quick word?” said Harry, 
+making up his mind on the spur of the moment. 
+
+“Of course,” said Mr. Weasley, who looked slightly 
+surprised, but followed Harry out of earshot of the 
+others nevertheless. 
+
+Harry had thought it through carefully and come to 
+the conclusion that, if he was to tell anyone, Mr. 
+Weasley was the right person; firstly, because he 
+worked at the Ministry and was therefore in the best 
+position to make further investigations, and secondly, 
+because he thought that there was not too much risk 
+of Mr. Weasley exploding with anger. 
+
+He could see Mrs. Weasley and the grim-faced Auror 
+casting the pair of them suspicious looks as they 
+moved away. 
+
+“When we were in Diagon Alley,” Harry began, but Mr. 
+Weasley forestalled him with a grimace. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Am I about to discover where you, Ron, and 
+Hermione disappeared to while you were supposed to 
+be in the back room of Fred and George’s shop?” 
+
+“How did you — ?” 
+
+“Harry, please. You’re talking to the man who raised 
+Fred and George.” 
+
+“Er ... yeah, all right, we weren’t in the back room.” 
+
+“Very well, then, let’s hear the worst.” 
+
+“Well, we followed Draco Malfoy. We used my 
+Invisibility Cloak.” 
+
+“Did you have any particular reason for doing so, or 
+was it a mere whim?” 
+
+“Because I thought Malfoy was up to something,” said 
+Harry, disregarding Mr. Weasley’s look of mingled 
+exasperation and amusement. “He’d given his mother 
+the slip and I wanted to know why.” 
+
+“Of course you did,” said Mr. Weasley, sounding 
+resigned. “Well? Did you find out why?” 
+
+“He went into Borgin and Burkes,” said Harry, “and 
+started bullying the bloke in there, Borgin, to help 
+him fix something. And he said he wanted Borgin to 
+keep something else for him. He made it sound like it 
+was the same kind of thing that needed fixing. Like 
+they were a pair. And ...” 
+
+Harry took a deep breath. 
+
+“There’s something else. We saw Malfoy jump about a 
+mile when Madam Malkin tried to touch his left arm. I 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+think he’s been branded with the Dark Mark. I think 
+he’s replaced his father as a Death Eater.” 
+
+Mr. Weasley looked taken aback. After a moment he 
+said, “Harry, I doubt whether You-Know-Who would 
+allow a sixteen-year-old — ” 
+
+“Does anyone really know what You-Know-Who would 
+or wouldn’t do?” asked Harry angrily. “Mr. Weasley, 
+I’m sorry, but isn’t it worth investigating? If Malfoy 
+wants something fixing, and he needs to threaten 
+Borgin to get it done, it’s probably something Dark or 
+dangerous, isn’t it?” 
+
+“I doubt it, to be honest, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley 
+slowly. “You see, when Lucius Malfoy was arrested, 
+we raided his house. We took away everything that 
+might have been dangerous.” 
+
+“I think you missed something,” said Harry 
+stubbornly. 
+
+“Well, maybe,” said Mr. Weasley, but Harry could tell 
+that Mr. Weasley was humoring him. 
+
+There was a whistle behind them; nearly everyone 
+had boarded the train and the doors were closing. 
+
+“You’d better hurry,” said Mr. Weasley, as Mrs. 
+Weasley cried, “Harry, quickly!” 
+
+He hurried forward and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley helped 
+him load his trunk onto the train. 
+
+“Now, dear, you’re coming to us for Christmas, it’s all 
+fixed with Dumbledore, so we’ll see you quite soon,” 
+said Mrs. Weasley through the window, as Harry 
+slammed the door shut behind him and the train 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+began to move. “You make sure you look after 
+yourself and — ” 
+
+
+
+The train was gathering speed. 
+
+“ — be good and — ” 
+
+She was jogging to keep up now. 
+stay safe!” 
+
+Harry waved until the train had turned a corner and 
+Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were lost to view, then turned 
+to see where the others had got to. He supposed Ron 
+and Hermione were cloistered in the prefects’ 
+carriage, but Ginny was a little way along the 
+corridor, chatting to some friends. He made his way 
+toward her, dragging his trunk. 
+
+People stared shamelessly as he approached. They 
+even pressed their faces against the windows of their 
+compartments to get a look at him. He had expected 
+an upswing in the amount of gaping and gawping he 
+would have to endure this term after all the “Chosen 
+One” rumors in the Daily Prophet, but he did not 
+enjoy the sensation of standing in a very bright 
+spotlight. He tapped Ginny on the shoulder. 
+
+“Fancy trying to find a compartment?” 
+
+“I can’t, Harry, I said I’d meet Dean,” said Ginny 
+brightly. “See you later.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry. He felt a strange twinge of 
+annoyance as she walked away, her long red hair 
+dancing behind her; he had become so used to her 
+presence over the summer that he had almost 
+forgotten that Ginny did not hang around with him, 
+Ron, and Hermione while at school. Then he blinked 
+Page | 152 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and looked around: He was surrounded by 
+mesmerized girls. 
+
+“Hi, Harry!” said a familiar voice from behind him. 
+
+“Neville!” said Harry in relief, turning to see a round- 
+faced boy struggling toward him. 
+
+“Hello, Harry,” said a girl with long hair and large 
+misty eyes, who was just behind Neville. 
+
+“Luna, hi, how are you?” 
+
+“Very well, thank you,” said Luna. She was clutching 
+a magazine to her chest; large letters on the front 
+announced that there was a pair of free Spectrespecs 
+inside. 
+
+“Quibbler still going strong, then?” asked Harry, who 
+felt a certain fondness for the magazine, having given 
+it an exclusive interview the previous year. 
+
+“Oh yes, circulation’s well up,” said Luna happily. 
+
+“Let’s find seats,” said Harry, and the three of them 
+set off along the train through hordes of silently 
+staring students. At last they found an empty 
+compartment, and Harry hurried inside gratefully. 
+
+“They’re even staring at us!” said Neville, indicating 
+himself and Luna. “Because we’re with you!” 
+
+“They’re staring at you because you were at the 
+Ministry too,” said Harry, as he hoisted his trunk into 
+the luggage rack. “Our little adventure there was all 
+over the Daily Prophet, you must’ve seen it.” 
+
+“Yes, I thought Gran would be angry about all the 
+publicity,” said Neville, “but she was really pleased. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Says I’m starting to live up to my dad at long last. She 
+bought me a new wand, look!” 
+
+
+
+He pulled it out and showed it to Harry. 
+
+“Cherry and unicorn hair,” he said proudly. “We think 
+it was one of the last Ollivander ever sold, he 
+vanished next day — oi, come back here, Trevor!” 
+
+And he dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it 
+made one of its frequent bids for freedom. 
+
+“Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Harry?” 
+asked Luna, who was detaching a pair of psychedelic 
+spectacles from the middle of The Quibbler. 
+
+“No point now we’ve got rid of Umbridge, is there?” 
+said Harry, sitting down. Neville bumped his head 
+against the seat as he emerged from under it. He 
+looked most disappointed. 
+
+“I liked the D.A.! I learned loads with you!” 
+
+“I enjoyed the meetings too,” said Luna serenely. “It 
+was like having friends.” 
+
+This was one of those uncomfortable things Luna 
+often said and which made Harry feel a squirming 
+mixture of pity and embarrassment. Before he could 
+respond, however, there was a disturbance outside 
+their compartment door; a group of fourth-year girls 
+was whispering and giggling together on the other 
+side of the glass. 
+
+“You ask him!” 
+
+“No, you!” 
+
+“I’ll do it!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+And one of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark 
+eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed 
+her way through the door. 
+
+“Hi, Harry, I’m Romilda, Romilda Vane,” she said 
+loudly and confidently. “Why don’t you join us in our 
+compartment? You don’t have to sit with them,” she 
+added in a stage whisper, indicating Neville’s bottom, 
+which was sticking out from under the seat again as 
+he groped around for Trevor, and Luna, who was now 
+wearing her free Spectrespecs, which gave her the 
+look of a demented, multicolored owl. 
+
+“They’re friends of mine,” said Harry coldly. 
+
+“Oh,” said the girl, looking very surprised. “Oh. 
+
+Okay.” 
+
+And she withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her. 
+
+“People expect you to have cooler friends than us,” 
+said Luna, once again displaying her knack for 
+embarrassing honesty. 
+
+“You are cool,” said Harry shortly. “None of them was 
+at the Ministry. They didn’t fight with me.” 
+
+“That’s a very nice thing to say,” beamed Luna. Then 
+she pushed her Spectrespecs farther up her nose and 
+settled down to read The Quibbler. 
+
+“We didn’t face him, though,” said Neville, emerging 
+from under the seat with fluff and dust in his hair 
+and a resigned-looking Trevor in his hand. “You did. 
+You should hear my gran talk about you. ‘That Harry 
+Potter’s got more backbone than the whole Ministry of 
+Magic put together*.’ She’d give anything to have you 
+as a grandson. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry laughed uncomfortably and changed the 
+subject to O.W.L. results as soon as he could. While 
+Neville recited his grades and wondered aloud 
+whether he would be allowed to take a 
+Transfiguration N.E.W.T. with only an “Acceptable,” 
+Harry watched him without really listening. 
+
+Neville’s childhood had been blighted by Voldemort 
+just as much as Harry’s had, but Neville had no idea 
+how close he had come to having Harry’s destiny. The 
+prophecy could have referred to either of them, yet, 
+for his own inscrutable reasons, Voldemort had 
+chosen to believe that Harry was the one meant. 
+
+Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville 
+sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped 
+scar and the weight of the prophecy. ... Or would it? 
+Would Neville’s mother have died to save him, as Lily 
+had died for Harry? Surely she would. ... But what if 
+she had been unable to stand between her son and 
+Voldemort? Would there then have been no “Chosen 
+One” at all? An empty seat where Neville now sat and 
+a scarless Harry who would have been kissed good- 
+bye by his own mother, not Ron’s? 
+
+“You all right, Harry? You look funny,” said Neville. 
+
+Harry started. “Sorry — I — ” 
+
+“Wrackspurt got you?” asked Luna sympathetically, 
+peering at Harry through her enormous colored 
+spectacles. 
+
+“I — what?” 
+
+“A Wrackspurt ... They’re invisible. They float in 
+through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy,” she 
+said. “I thought I felt one zooming around in here.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+She flapped her hands at thin air, as though beating 
+off large invisible moths. Harry and Neville caught 
+each other’s eyes and hastily began to talk of 
+Quidditch. 
+
+The weather beyond the train windows was as patchy 
+as it had been all summer; they passed through 
+stretches of the chilling mist, then out into weak, 
+clear sunlight. It was during one of the clear spells, 
+when the sun was visible almost directly overhead, 
+that Ron and Hermione entered the compartment at 
+last. 
+
+“Wish the lunch trolley would hurry up, I’m starving,” 
+said Ron longingly, slumping into the seat beside 
+Harry and rubbing his stomach. “Hi, Neville. Hi, 
+
+Luna. Guess what?” he added, turning to Harry. 
+“Malfoy’s not doing prefect duty. He’s just sitting in 
+his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw 
+him when we passed.” 
+
+Harry sat up straight, interested. It was not like 
+Malfoy to pass up the chance to demonstrate his 
+power as prefect, which he had happily abused all the 
+previous year. 
+
+“What did he do when he saw you?” 
+
+“The usual,” said Ron indifferently, demonstrating a 
+rude hand gesture. “Not like him, though, is it? Well 
+— that is” — he did the hand gesture again — “but 
+why isn’t he out there bullying first years? 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry, but his mind was racing. Didn’t 
+this look as though Malfoy had more important things 
+on his mind than bullying younger students? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Maybe he preferred the Inquisitorial Squad,” said 
+Hermione. “Maybe being a prefect seems a bit tame 
+after that.” 
+
+
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Harry. “I think he’s — ” 
+
+But before he could expound on his theory, the 
+compartment door slid open again and a breathless 
+third -year girl stepped inside. 
+
+“I’m supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom 
+and Harry P-Potter,” she faltered, as her eyes met 
+Harry’s and she turned scarlet. She was holding out 
+two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon. 
+Perplexed, Harry and Neville took the scroll addressed 
+to each of them and the girl stumbled back out of the 
+compartment. 
+
+“What is it?” Ron demanded, as Harry unrolled his. 
+“An invitation,” said Harry. 
+
+Harry, 
+
+I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of 
+lunch in compartment C. 
+
+Sincerely, 
+
+Professor H. E. F. Slug horn 
+
+“Who’s Professor Slughorn?” asked Neville, looking 
+perplexedly at his own invitation. 
+
+“New teacher,” said Harry. “Well, I suppose we’ll have 
+to go, won’t we?” 
+
+“But what does he want me for?” asked Neville 
+nervously, as though he was expecting detention. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No idea,” said Harry, which was not entirely true, 
+though he had no proof yet that his hunch was 
+correct. “Listen,” he added, seized by a sudden brain 
+wave, “let’s go under the Invisibility Cloak, then we 
+might get a good look at Malfoy on the way, see what 
+he’s up to.” 
+
+This idea, however, came to nothing: The corridors, 
+which were packed with people on the lookout for the 
+lunch trolley, were impossible to negotiate while 
+wearing the cloak. Harry stowed it regretfully back in 
+his bag, reflecting that it would have been nice to 
+wear it just to avoid all the staring, which seemed to 
+have increased in intensity even since he had last 
+walked down the train. Every now and then, students 
+would hurtle out of their compartments to get a better 
+look at him. The exception was Cho Chang, who 
+darted into her compartment when she saw Harry 
+coming. As Harry passed the window, he saw her 
+deep in determined conversation with her friend 
+Marietta, who was wearing a very thick layer of 
+makeup that did not entirely obscure the odd 
+formation of pimples still etched across her face. 
+Smirking slightly, Harry pushed on. 
+
+When they reached compartment C, they saw at once 
+that they were not Slughorn’s only invitees, although 
+judging by the enthusiasm of Slughorn’s welcome, 
+Harry was the most warmly anticipated. 
+
+“Harry, m’boy!” said Slughorn, jumping up at the 
+sight of him so that his great velvet-covered belly 
+seemed to fill all the remaining space in the 
+compartment. His shiny bald head and great silvery 
+mustache gleamed as brightly in the sunlight as the 
+golden buttons on his waistcoat. “Good to see you, 
+good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Neville nodded, looking scared. At a gesture from 
+Slughorn, they sat down opposite each other in the 
+only two empty seats, which were nearest the door. 
+Harry glanced around at their fellow guests. He 
+recognized a Slytherin from their year, a tall black boy 
+with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes; there 
+were also two seventh-year boys Harry did not know 
+and, squashed in the corner beside Slughorn and 
+looking as though she was not entirely sure how she 
+had got there, Ginny. 
+
+“Now, do you know everyone?” Slughorn asked Harry 
+and Neville. “Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course — 
+
+
+
+Zabini did not make any sign of recognition or 
+greeting, nor did Harry or Neville: Gryffindor and 
+Slytherin students loathed each other on principle. 
+
+“This is Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you’ve come 
+across each other — ? No?” 
+
+McLaggen, a large, wiry-haired youth, raised a hand, 
+and Harry and Neville nodded back at him. 
+
+“ — and this is Marcus Belby, I don’t know whether — 
+?” 
+
+Belby, who was thin and nervous-looking, gave a 
+strained smile. 
+
+“ — and this charming young lady tells me she knows 
+you!” Slughorn finished. 
+
+Ginny grimaced at Harry and Neville from behind 
+Slughorn’s back. 
+
+“Well now, this is most pleasant,” said Slughorn 
+cozily. “A chance to get to know you all a little better. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Here, take a napkin. I’ve packed my own lunch; the 
+trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, 
+and a poor old man’s digestive system isn’t quite up 
+to such things. ... Pheasant, Belby?” 
+
+Belby started and accepted what looked like half a 
+cold pheasant. 
+
+“I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the 
+pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles,” Slughorn 
+told Harry and Neville, now passing around a basket 
+of rolls. “Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his 
+Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much 
+of your uncle, Marcus?” 
+
+Unfortunately, Belby had just taken a large mouthful 
+of pheasant; in his haste to answer Slughorn he 
+swallowed too fast, turned purple, and began to 
+choke. 
+
+“Anapneo,” said Slughorn calmly, pointing his wand 
+at Belby, whose airway seemed to clear at once. 
+
+“Not ... not much of him, no,” gasped Belby, his eyes 
+streaming. 
+
+“Well, of course, I daresay he’s busy,” said Slughorn, 
+looking questioningly at Belby. “I doubt he invented 
+the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard 
+work!” 
+
+“I suppose ...” said Belby, who seemed afraid to take 
+another bite of pheasant until he was sure that 
+Slughorn had finished with him. “Er ... he and my 
+dad don’t get on very well, you see, so I don’t really 
+know much about ...” 
+
+His voice tailed away as Slughorn gave him a cold 
+smile and turned to McLaggen instead. 
+
+Page | 161 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Now, you, Cormac,” said Slughorn, “I happen to 
+know you see a lot of your Uncle Tiberius, because he 
+has a rather splendid picture of the two of you 
+hunting nogtails in, I think, Norfolk?” 
+
+“Oh, yeah, that was fun, that was,” said McLaggen. 
+“We went with Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour — 
+this was before he became Minister, obviously — ” 
+
+“Ah, you know Bertie and Rufus too?” beamed 
+Slughorn, now offering around a small tray of pies; 
+somehow, Belby was missed out. “Now tell me ...” 
+
+It was as Harry had suspected. Everyone here seemed 
+to have been invited because they were connected to 
+somebody well-known or influential — everyone 
+except Ginny. Zabini, who was interrogated after 
+McLaggen, turned out to have a famously beautiful 
+witch for a mother (from what Harry could make out, 
+she had been married seven times, each of her 
+husbands dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds 
+of gold). It was Neville’s turn next: This was a very 
+uncomfortable ten minutes, for Neville’s parents, well- 
+known Aurors, had been tortured into insanity by 
+Bellatrix Lestrange and a couple of Death Eater 
+cronies. At the end of Neville’s interview, Harry had 
+the impression that Slughorn was reserving judgment 
+on Neville, yet to see whether he had any of his 
+parents’ flair. 
+
+“And now,” said Slughorn, shifting massively in his 
+seat with the air of a compere introducing his star 
+act. “Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely 
+scratched the surface when we met over the summer!” 
+He contemplated Harry for a moment as though he 
+was a particularly large and succulent piece of 
+pheasant, then said, “ The Chosen One,’ they’re 
+calling you now!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry said nothing. Belby, McLaggen, and Zabini 
+were all staring at him. 
+
+
+
+“Of course,” said Slughorn, watching Harry closely, 
+“there have been rumors for years. ... I remember 
+when — well — after that terrible night — Lily — 
+James — and you survived — and the word was that 
+you must have powers beyond the ordinary — ” 
+
+Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly 
+supposed to indicate amused skepticism. An angry 
+voice burst out from behind Slughorn. 
+
+“Yeah, Zabini, because you’re so talented ... at posing. 
+
+
+
+“Oh dear!” chuckled Slughorn comfortably, looking 
+around at Ginny, who was glaring at Zabini around 
+Slughorn ’s great belly. “You want to be careful, Blaise! 
+I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous 
+Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I 
+wouldn’t cross her!” 
+
+Zabini merely looked contemptuous. 
+
+“Anyway,” said Slughorn, turning back to Harry. 
+
+“Such rumors this summer. Of course, one doesn’t 
+know what to believe, the Prophet has been known to 
+print inaccuracies, make mistakes — but there seems 
+little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there 
+was quite a disturbance at the Ministry and that you 
+were there in the thick of it all!” 
+
+Harry, who could not see any way out of this without 
+flatly lying, nodded but still said nothing. Slughorn 
+beamed at him. 
+
+“So modest, so modest, no wonder Dumbledore is so 
+fond — you were there, then? But the rest of the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+stories — so sensational, of course, one doesn’t know 
+quite what to believe — this fabled prophecy, for 
+instance — ” 
+
+“We never heard a prophecy,” said Neville, turning 
+geranium pink as he said it. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Ginny staunchly. “Neville and I 
+were both there too, and all this ‘Chosen One’ rubbish 
+is just the Prophet making things up as usual.” 
+
+“You were both there too, were you?” said Slughorn 
+with great interest, looking from Ginny to Neville, but 
+both of them sat clamlike before his encouraging 
+smile. 
+
+“Yes . . . well ... it is true that the Prophet often 
+exaggerates, of course. ...” Slughorn said, sounding a 
+little disappointed. “I remember dear Gwenog telling 
+me (Gwenog Jones, I mean, of course, Captain of the 
+Holyhead Harpies) — ” 
+
+He meandered off into a long-winded reminiscence, 
+but Harry had the distinct impression that Slughorn 
+had not finished with him, and that he had not been 
+convinced by Neville and Ginny. 
+
+The afternoon wore on with more anecdotes about 
+illustrious wizards Slughorn had taught, all of whom 
+had been delighted to join what he called the “Slug 
+Club” at Hogwarts. Harry could not wait to leave, but 
+couldn’t see how to do so politely. Finally the train 
+emerged from yet another long misty stretch into a 
+red sunset, and Slughorn looked around, blinking in 
+the twilight. 
+
+“Good gracious, it’s getting dark already! I didn’t 
+notice that they’d lit the lamps! You’d better go and 
+change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you 
+
+Page | 164 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. 
+
+Harry, Blaise — any time you’re passing. Same goes 
+for you, miss,” he twinkled at Ginny. “Well, off you go, 
+off you go!” 
+
+As he pushed past Harry into the darkening corridor, 
+Zabini shot him a filthy look that Harry returned with 
+interest. He, Ginny, and Neville followed Zabini back 
+along the train. 
+
+“I’m glad that’s over,” muttered Neville. “Strange man, 
+isn’t he?” 
+
+“Yeah, he is a bit,” said Harry, his eyes on Zabini. 
+“How come you ended up in there, Ginny?” 
+
+“He saw me hex Zacharias Smith,” said Ginny. “You 
+remember that idiot from Hufflepuff who was in the 
+D.A.? He kept on and on asking about what happened 
+at the Ministry and in the end he annoyed me so 
+much I hexed him — when Slughorn came in I 
+thought I was going to get detention, but he just 
+thought it was a really good hex and invited me to 
+lunch! Mad, eh?” 
+
+“Better reason for inviting someone than because 
+their mother’s famous,” said Harry, scowling at the 
+back of Zabini ’s head, “or because their uncle — ” 
+
+But he broke off. An idea had just occurred to him, a 
+reckless but potentially wonderful idea. ... In a 
+minute’s time, Zabini was going to reenter the 
+Slytherin sixth-year compartment and Malfoy would 
+be sitting there, thinking himself unheard by anybody 
+except fellow Slytherins. ... If Harry could only enter, 
+unseen, behind him, what might he not see or hear? 
+True, there was little of the journey left — Hogsmeade 
+Station had to be less than half an hour away, 
+judging by the wildness of the scenery flashing by the 
+Page | 165 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+windows — but nobody else seemed prepared to take 
+Harry’s suspicions seriously, so it was down to him to 
+prove them. 
+
+“I’ll see you two later,” said Harry under his breath, 
+pulling out his Invisibility Cloak and flinging it over 
+himself. 
+
+“But what’re you — ?” asked Neville. 
+
+“Later!” whispered Harry, darting after Zabini as 
+quietly as possible, though the rattling of the train 
+made such caution almost pointless. 
+
+The corridors were almost completely empty now. 
+Nearly everyone had returned to their carriages to 
+change into their school robes and pack up their 
+possessions. Though he was as close as he could get 
+to Zabini without touching him, Harry was not quick 
+enough to slip into the compartment when Zabini 
+opened the door. Zabini was already sliding it shut 
+when Harry hastily stuck out his foot to prevent it 
+closing. 
+
+“What’s wrong with this thing?” said Zabini angrily as 
+he smashed the sliding door repeatedly into Harry’s 
+foot. 
+
+Harry seized the door and pushed it open, hard; 
+Zabini, still clinging on to the handle, toppled over 
+sideways into Gregory Goyle’s lap, and in the ensuing 
+ruckus, Harry darted into the compartment, leapt 
+onto Zabini’s temporarily empty seat, and hoisted 
+himself up into the luggage rack. It was fortunate that 
+Goyle and Zabini were snarling at each other, drawing 
+all eyes onto them, for Harry was quite sure his feet 
+and ankles had been revealed as the cloak had 
+flapped around them; indeed, for one horrible 
+moment he thought he saw Malfoy’s eyes follow his 
+Page | 166 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+trainer as it whipped upward out of sight. But then 
+Goyle slammed the door shut and flung Zabini off 
+him; Zabini collapsed into his own seat looking 
+ruffled, Vincent Crabbe returned to his comic, and 
+Malfoy, sniggering, lay back down across two seats 
+with his head in Pansy Parkinson’s lap. Harry lay 
+curled uncomfortably under the cloak to ensure that 
+every inch of him remained hidden, and watched 
+Pansy stroke the sleek blond hair off Malfoy’s 
+forehead, smirking as she did so, as though anyone 
+would have loved to have been in her place. The 
+lanterns swinging from the carriage ceiling cast a 
+bright light over the scene: Harry could read every 
+word of Crabbe’s comic directly below him. 
+
+“So, Zabini,” said Malfoy, “what did Slughorn want?” 
+
+“Just trying to make up to well-connected people,” 
+said Zabini, who was still glowering at Goyle. “Not 
+that he managed to find many.” 
+
+This information did not seem to please Malfoy. 
+
+��Who else had he invited?” he demanded. 
+
+“McLaggen from Gryffindor,” said Zabini. 
+
+“Oh yeah, his uncle’s big in the Ministry,” said 
+Malfoy. 
+
+“ — someone else called Belby, from Ravenclaw — ” 
+
+“Not him, he’s a prat!” said Pansy. 
+
+“ — and Longbottom, Potter, and that Weasley girl,” 
+finished Zabini. 
+
+Malfoy sat up very suddenly, knocking Pansy’s hand 
+aside. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He invited Longbottom?” 
+
+“Well, I assume so, as Longbottom was there,” said 
+Zabini indifferently. 
+
+“What’s Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?” 
+
+Zabini shrugged. 
+
+“Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at 
+‘the Chosen One,’ ” sneered Malfoy, “but that Weasley 
+girl! What’s so special about her?” 
+
+“A lot of boys like her,” said Pansy, watching Malfoy 
+out of the corner of her eyes for his reaction. “Even 
+you think she’s good-looking, don’t you, Blaise, and 
+we all know how hard you are to please!” 
+
+“I wouldn’t touch a filthy little blood traitor like her 
+whatever she looked like,” said Zabini coldly, and 
+Pansy looked pleased. Malfoy sank back across her 
+lap and allowed her to resume the stroking of his 
+hair. 
+
+“Well, I pity Slughorn’s taste. Maybe he’s going a bit 
+senile. Shame, my father always said he was a good 
+wizard in his day. My father used to be a bit of a 
+favorite of his. Slughorn probably hasn’t heard I’m on 
+the train, or — ” 
+
+“I wouldn’t bank on an invitation,” said Zabini. “He 
+asked me about Nott’s father when I first arrived. 
+
+They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he 
+heard he’d been caught at the Ministry he didn’t look 
+happy, and Nott didn’t get an invitation, did he? I 
+don’t think Slughorn’s interested in Death Eaters.” 
+
+Malfoy looked angry, but forced out a singularly 
+humorless laugh. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, who cares what he’s interested in? What is he, 
+when you come down to it? Just some stupid 
+teacher.” Malfoy yawned ostentatiously. “I mean, I 
+might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what’s it 
+matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or 
+not?” 
+
+“What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts 
+next year?” said Pansy indignantly, ceasing grooming 
+Malfoy at once. 
+
+“Well, you never know,” said Malfoy with the ghost of 
+a smirk. “I might have — er — moved on to bigger and 
+better things.” 
+
+Crouched in the luggage rack under his cloak, Harry’s 
+heart began to race. What would Ron and Hermione 
+say about this? Crabbe and Goyle were gawping at 
+Malfoy; apparently they had had no inkling of any 
+plans to move on to bigger and better things. Even 
+Zabini had allowed a look of curiosity to mar his 
+haughty features. Pansy resumed the slow stroking of 
+Malfoy’s hair, looking dumbfounded. 
+
+“Do you mean — Him?” 
+
+Malfoy shrugged. 
+
+“Mother wants me to complete my education, but 
+personally, I don’t see it as that important these days. 
+I mean, think about it. ... When the Dark Lord takes 
+over, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or 
+N.E.W.T.s anyone’s got? Of course he isn’t. ... It’ll be 
+all about the kind of service he received, the level of 
+devotion he was shown.” 
+
+“And you think you’ll be able to do something for 
+him?” asked Zabini scathingly. “Sixteen years old and 
+not even fully qualified yet?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’ve just said, haven’t I? Maybe he doesn’t care if I’m 
+qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn’t 
+something that you need to be qualified for,” said 
+Malfoy quietly. 
+
+Crabbe and Goyle were both sitting with their mouths 
+open like gargoyles. Pansy was gazing down at Malfoy 
+as though she had never seen anything so awe- 
+inspiring. 
+
+“I can see Hogwarts,” said Malfoy, clearly relishing the 
+effect he had created as he pointed out of the 
+blackened window. “We’d better get our robes on.” 
+
+Harry was so busy staring at Malfoy, he did not notice 
+Goyle reaching up for his trunk; as he swung it down, 
+it hit Harry hard on the side of the head. He let out an 
+involuntary gasp of pain, and Malfoy looked up at the 
+luggage rack, frowning. 
+
+Harry was not afraid of Malfoy, but he still did not 
+much like the idea of being discovered hiding under 
+his Invisibility Cloak by a group of unfriendly 
+Slytherins. Eyes still watering and head still 
+throbbing, he drew his wand, careful not to 
+disarrange the cloak, and waited, breath held. To his 
+relief, Malfoy seemed to decide that he had imagined 
+the noise; he pulled on his robes like the others, 
+locked his trunk, and as the train slowed to a jerky 
+crawl, fastened a thick new traveling cloak round his 
+neck. 
+
+Harry could see the corridors filling up again and 
+hoped that Hermione and Ron would take his things 
+out onto the platform for him; he was stuck where he 
+was until the compartment had quite emptied. At last, 
+with a final lurch, the train came to a complete halt. 
+Goyle threw the door open and muscled his way out 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+into a crowd of second years, punching them aside; 
+Crabbe and Zabini followed. 
+
+“You go on,” Malfoy told Pansy, who was waiting for 
+him with her hand held out as though hoping he 
+would hold it. “I just want to check something.” 
+
+Pansy left. Now Harry and Malfoy were alone in the 
+compartment. People were filing past, descending 
+onto the dark platform. Malfoy moved over to the 
+compartment door and let down the blinds, so that 
+people in the corridor beyond could not peer in. He 
+then bent down over his trunk and opened it again. 
+
+Harry peered down over the edge of the luggage rack, 
+his heart pumping a little faster. What had Malfoy 
+wanted to hide from Pansy? Was he about to see the 
+mysterious broken object it was so important to 
+mend? 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” 
+
+Without warning, Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry, 
+who was instantly paralyzed. As though in slow 
+motion, he toppled out of the luggage rack and fell, 
+with an agonizing, floor-shaking crash, at Malfoy’s 
+feet, the Invisibility Cloak trapped beneath him, his 
+whole body revealed with his legs still curled absurdly 
+into the cramped kneeling position. He couldn’t move 
+a muscle; he could only gaze up at Malfoy, who 
+smiled broadly. 
+
+“I thought so,” he said jubilantly. “I heard Goyle’s 
+trunk hit you. And I thought I saw something white 
+flash through the air after Zabini came back. ...” 
+
+His eyes lingered for a moment upon Harry’s trainers. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You didn’t hear anything I care about, Potter. But 
+while I’ve got you here ...” 
+
+And he stamped, hard, on Harry’s face. Harry felt his 
+nose break; blood spurted everywhere. 
+
+“That’s from my father. Now, let’s see. ...” 
+
+Malfoy dragged the cloak out from under Harry’s 
+immobilized body and threw it over him. 
+
+“I don’t reckon they’ll find you till the train’s back in 
+London,” he said quietly. “See you around, Potter ... 
+or not.” 
+
+And taking care to tread on Harry’s fingers, Malfoy 
+left the compartment. 
+
+
+
+Page | 172 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SNAPE VICTORIOUS 
+
+Harry could not move a muscle. He lay there beneath 
+the Invisibility Cloak feeling the blood from his nose 
+flow, hot and wet, over his face, listening to the voices 
+and footsteps in the corridor beyond. His immediate 
+thought was that someone, surely, would check the 
+compartments before the train departed again. But at 
+once came the dispiriting realization that even if 
+somebody looked into the compartment, he would be 
+neither seen nor heard. His best hope was that 
+somebody else would walk in and step on him. 
+
+Harry had never hated Malfoy more than as he lay 
+there, like an absurd turtle on its back, blood 
+dripping sickeningly into his open mouth. What a 
+stupid situation to have landed himself in . . . and now 
+the last few footsteps were dying away; everyone was 
+shuffling along the dark platform outside; he could 
+hear the scraping of trunks and the loud babble of 
+talk. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Ron and Hermione would think that he had left the 
+train without them. Once they arrived at Hogwarts 
+and took their places in the Great Hall, looked up and 
+down the Gryffindor table a few times, and finally 
+realized that he was not there, he, no doubt, would be 
+halfway back to London. 
+
+He tried to make a sound, even a grunt, but it was 
+impossible. Then he remembered that some wizards, 
+like Dumbledore, could perform spells without 
+speaking, so he tried to summon his wand, which had 
+fallen out of his hand, by saying the words “Accio 
+Wand\” over and over again in his head, but nothing 
+happened. 
+
+He thought he could hear the rustling of the trees 
+that surrounded the lake, and the far-off hoot of an 
+owl, but no hint of a search being made or even (he 
+despised himself slightly for hoping it) panicked 
+voices wondering where Harry Potter had gone. A 
+feeling of hopelessness spread through him as he 
+imagined the convoy of thestral-drawn carriages 
+trundling up to the school and the muffled yells of 
+laughter issuing from whichever carriage Malfoy was 
+riding in, where he could be recounting his attack on 
+Harry to Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson. 
+
+The train lurched, causing Harry to roll over onto his 
+side. Now he was staring at the dusty underside of 
+the seats instead of the ceiling. The floor began to 
+vibrate as the engine roared into life. The Express was 
+leaving and nobody knew he was still on it. ... 
+
+Then he felt his Invisibility Cloak fly off him and a 
+voice overhead said, “Wotcher, Harry.” 
+
+There was a flash of red light and Harry’s body 
+unfroze; he was able to push himself into a more 
+dignified sitting position, hastily wipe the blood off his 
+
+Page | 174 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bruised face with the back of his hand, and raise his 
+head to look up at Tonks, who was holding the 
+Invisibility Cloak she had just pulled away. 
+
+“We’d better get out of here, quickly,” she said, as the 
+train windows became obscured with steam and they 
+began to move out of the station. “Come on, we’ll 
+jump.” 
+
+Harry hurried after her into the corridor. She pulled 
+open the train door and leapt onto the platform, 
+which seemed to be sliding underneath them as the 
+train gathered momentum. He followed her, staggered 
+a little on landing, then straightened up in time to see 
+the gleaming scarlet steam engine pick up speed, 
+round the corner, and disappear from view. 
+
+The cold night air was soothing on his throbbing 
+nose. Tonks was looking at him; he felt angry and 
+embarrassed that he had been discovered in such a 
+ridiculous position. Silently she handed him back the 
+Invisibility Cloak. 
+
+“Who did it?” 
+
+“Draco Malfoy,” said Harry bitterly. “Thanks for ... 
+well ...” 
+
+“No problem,” said Tonks, without smiling. From 
+what Harry could see in the darkness, she was as 
+mousy-haired and miserable-looking as she had been 
+when he had met her at the Burrow. “I can fix your 
+nose if you stand still.” 
+
+Harry did not think much of this idea; he had been 
+intending to visit Madam Pomfrey, the matron, in 
+whom he had a little more confidence when it came to 
+Healing Spells, but it seemed rude to say this, so he 
+stayed stock-still and closed his eyes. 
+
+Page | 175 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Episkey,” said Tonks. 
+
+
+
+Harry’s nose felt very hot, and then very cold. He 
+raised a hand and felt it gingerly. It seemed to be 
+mended. 
+
+“Thanks a lot!” 
+
+“You’d better put that cloak back on, and we can walk 
+up to the school,” said Tonks, still unsmiling. As 
+Harry swung the cloak back over himself, she waved 
+her wand; an immense silvery four-legged creature 
+erupted from it and streaked off into the darkness. 
+
+“Was that a Patronus?” asked Harry, who had seen 
+Dumbledore send messages like this. 
+
+“Yes, I’m sending word to the castle that I’ve got you 
+or they’ll worry. Come on, we’d better not dawdle.” 
+
+They set off toward the lane that led to the school. 
+
+“How did you find me?” 
+
+“I noticed you hadn’t left the train and I knew you 
+had that cloak. I thought you might be hiding for 
+some reason. When I saw the blinds were drawn 
+down on that compartment I thought I’d check.” 
+
+“But what are you doing here, anyway?” Harry asked. 
+
+“I’m stationed in Hogsmeade now, to give the school 
+extra protection,” said Tonks. 
+
+“Is it just you who’s stationed up here, or — ?” 
+
+“No, Proudfoot, Savage, and Dawlish are here too.” 
+
+“Dawlish, that Auror Dumbledore attacked last year?” 
+
+Page | 176 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“That’s right.” 
+
+
+
+They trudged up the dark, deserted lane, following the 
+freshly made carriage tracks. Harry looked sideways 
+at Tonks under his cloak. Last year she had been 
+inquisitive (to the point of being a little annoying at 
+times), she had laughed easily, she had made jokes. 
+Now she seemed older and much more serious and 
+purposeful. Was this all the effect of what had 
+happened at the Ministry? He reflected uncomfortably 
+that Hermione would have suggested he say 
+something consoling about Sirius to her, that it 
+hadn’t been her fault at all, but he couldn’t bring 
+himself to do it. He was far from blaming her for 
+Sirius’s death; it was no more her fault than anyone 
+else’s (and much less than his), but he did not like 
+talking about Sirius if he could avoid it. And so they 
+tramped on through the cold night in silence, Tonks ’s 
+long cloak whispering on the ground behind them. 
+
+Having always traveled there by carriage, Harry had 
+never before appreciated just how far Hogwarts was 
+from Hogsmeade Station. With great relief he finally 
+saw the tall pillars on either side of the gates, each 
+topped with a winged boar. He was cold, he was 
+hungry, and he was quite keen to leave this new, 
+gloomy Tonks behind. But when he put out a hand to 
+push open the gates, he found them chained shut. 
+
+“Alohomora\” he said confidently, pointing his wand at 
+the padlock, but nothing happened. 
+
+“That won’t work on these,” said Tonks. “Dumbledore 
+bewitched them himself.” 
+
+Harry looked around. 
+
+“I could climb a wall,” he suggested. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No, you couldn’t,” said Tonks flatly. “Anti-intruder 
+jinxes on all of them. Security’s been tightened a 
+hundredfold this summer.” 
+
+“Well then,” said Harry, starting to feel annoyed at her 
+lack of helpfulness, “I suppose I’ll just have to sleep 
+out here and wait for morning.” 
+
+“Someone’s coming down for you,” said Tonks. “Look.” 
+
+A lantern was bobbing at the distant foot of the 
+castle. Harry was so pleased to see it he felt he could 
+even endure Filch’s wheezy criticisms of his tardiness 
+and rants about how his timekeeping would improve 
+with the regular application of thumbscrews. It was 
+not until the glowing yellow light was ten feet away 
+from them, and Harry had pulled off his Invisibility 
+Cloak so that he could be seen, that he recognized, 
+with a rush of pure loathing, the uplit hooked nose 
+and long, black, greasy hair of Severus Snape. 
+
+“Well, well, well,” sneered Snape, taking out his wand 
+and tapping the padlock once, so that the chains 
+snaked backward and the gates creaked open. “Nice 
+of you to turn up, Potter, although you have evidently 
+decided that the wearing of school robes would 
+detract from your appearance.” 
+
+“I couldn’t change, I didn’t have my — ” Harry began, 
+but Snape cut across him. 
+
+“There is no need to wait, Nymphadora, Potter is quite 
+— ah — safe in my hands.” 
+
+“I meant Hagrid to get the message,” said Tonks, 
+frowning. 
+
+“Hagrid was late for the start-of-term feast, just like 
+Potter here, so I took it instead. And incidentally,” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+said Snape, standing back to allow Harry to pass him, 
+“I was interested to see your new Patronus.” 
+
+He shut the gates in her face with a loud clang and 
+tapped the chains with his wand again, so that they 
+slithered, clinking, back into place. 
+
+“I think you were better off with the old one,” said 
+Snape, the malice in his voice unmistakable. “The 
+new one looks weak.” 
+
+As Snape swung the lantern about, Harry saw, 
+fleetingly, a look of shock and anger on Tonks’s face. 
+Then she was covered in darkness once more. 
+
+“Good night,” Harry called to her over his shoulder, as 
+he began the walk up to the school with Snape. 
+“Thanks for ... everything.” 
+
+“See you, Harry.” 
+
+Snape did not speak for a minute or so. Harry felt as 
+though his body was generating waves of hatred so 
+powerful that it seemed incredible that Snape could 
+not feel them burning him. He had loathed Snape 
+from their first encounter, but Snape had placed 
+himself forever and irrevocably beyond the possibility 
+of Harry’s forgiveness by his attitude toward Sirius. 
+Whatever Dumbledore said, Harry had had time to 
+think over the summer, and had concluded that 
+Snape ’s snide remarks to Sirius about remaining 
+safely hidden while the rest of the Order of the 
+Phoenix were off fighting Voldemort had probably 
+been a powerful factor in Sirius rushing off to the 
+Ministry the night that he had died. Harry clung to 
+this notion, because it enabled him to blame Snape, 
+which felt satisfying, and also because he knew that if 
+anyone was not sorry that Sirius was dead, it was the 
+man now striding next to him in the darkness. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Fifty points from Gryffindor for lateness, I think,” 
+said Snape. “And, let me see, another twenty for your 
+Muggle attire. You know, I don’t believe any House 
+has ever been in negative figures this early in the 
+term: We haven’t even started pudding. You might 
+have set a record, Potter.” 
+
+The fury and hatred bubbling inside Harry seemed to 
+blaze white-hot, but he would rather have been 
+immobilized all the way back to London than tell 
+Snape why he was late. 
+
+“I suppose you wanted to make an entrance, did 
+you?” Snape continued. “And with no flying car 
+available you decided that bursting into the Great 
+Hall halfway through the feast ought to create a 
+dramatic effect.” 
+
+Still Harry remained silent, though he thought his 
+chest might explode. He knew that Snape had come 
+to fetch him for this, for the few minutes when he 
+could needle and torment Harry without anyone else 
+listening. 
+
+They reached the castle steps at last and as the great 
+oaken front doors swung open into the vast flagged 
+entrance hall, a burst of talk and laughter and of 
+tinkling plates and glasses greeted them through the 
+doors standing open into the Great Hall. Harry 
+wondered whether he could slip his Invisibility Cloak 
+back on, thereby gaining his seat at the long 
+Gryffindor table (which, inconveniently, was the 
+farthest from the entrance hall) without being noticed. 
+As though he had read Harry’s mind, however, Snape 
+said, “No cloak. You can walk in so that everyone sees 
+you, which is what you wanted, I’m sure.” 
+
+Harry turned on the spot and marched straight 
+through the open doors: anything to get away from 
+
+Page | 180 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Snape. The Great Hall, with its four long House tables 
+and its staff table set at the top of the room, was 
+decorated as usual with floating candles that made 
+the plates below glitter and glow. It was all a 
+shimmering blur to Harry, however, who walked so 
+fast that he was passing the Hufflepuff table before 
+people really started to stare, and by the time they 
+were standing up to get a good look at him, he had 
+spotted Ron and Hermione, sped along the benches 
+toward them, and forced his way in between them. 
+
+“Where’ve you — blimey, what’ve you done to your 
+face?” said Ron, goggling at him along with everyone 
+else in the vicinity. 
+
+“Why, what’s wrong with it?” said Harry, grabbing a 
+spoon and squinting at his distorted reflection. 
+
+“You’re covered in blood!” said Hermione. “Come here 
+
+
+
+She raised her wand, said “Tergeol” and siphoned off 
+the dried blood. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, feeling his now clean face. 
+“How’s my nose looking?” 
+
+“Normal,” said Hermione anxiously. “Why shouldn’t 
+it? Harry, what happened? We’ve been terrified!” 
+
+“I’ll tell you later,” said Harry curtly. He was very 
+conscious that Ginny, Neville, Dean, and Seamus 
+were listening in; even Nearly Headless Nick, the 
+Gryffindor ghost, had come floating along the bench 
+to eavesdrop. 
+
+“But — ” said Hermione. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Not now, Hermione,” said Harry, in a darkly 
+significant voice. He hoped very much that they would 
+all assume he had been involved in something heroic, 
+preferably involving a couple of Death Eaters and a 
+dementor. Of course, Malfoy would spread the story 
+as far and wide as he could, but there was always a 
+chance it wouldn’t reach too many Gryffindor ears. 
+
+He reached across Ron for a couple of chicken legs 
+and a handful of chips, but before he could take them 
+they vanished, to be replaced with puddings. 
+
+“You missed the Sorting, anyway,” said Hermione, as 
+Ron dived for a large chocolate gateau. 
+
+“Hat say anything interesting?” asked Harry, taking a 
+piece of treacle tart. 
+
+“More of the same, really ... advising us all to unite in 
+the face of our enemies, you know.” 
+
+“Dumbledore mentioned Voldemort at all?” 
+
+“Not yet, but he always saves his proper speech for 
+after the feast, doesn’t he? It can’t be long now.” 
+
+“Snape said Hagrid was late for the feast — ” 
+
+“You’ve seen Snape? How come?” said Ron between 
+frenzied mouthfuls of gateau. 
+
+“Bumped into him,” said Harry evasively. 
+
+“Hagrid was only a few minutes late,” said Hermione. 
+“Look, he’s waving at you, Harry.” 
+
+Harry looked up at the staff table and grinned at 
+Hagrid, who was indeed waving at him. Hagrid had 
+never quite managed to comport himself with the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+dignity of Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor 
+House, the top of whose head came up to somewhere 
+between Hagrid’s elbow and shoulder as they were 
+sitting side by side, and who was looking 
+disapprovingly at this enthusiastic greeting. Harry 
+was surprised to see the Divination teacher, Professor 
+Trelawney, sitting on Hagrid’s other side; she rarely 
+left her tower room, and he had never seen her at the 
+start-of-term feast before. She looked as odd as ever, 
+glittering with beads and trailing shawls, her eyes 
+magnified to enormous size by her spectacles. Having 
+always considered her a bit of a fraud, Harry had 
+been shocked to discover at the end of the previous 
+term that it had been she who had made the 
+prediction that caused Lord Voldemort to kill Harry’s 
+parents and attack Harry himself. The knowledge had 
+made him even less eager to find himself in her 
+company, but thankfully, this year he would be 
+dropping Divination. Her great beaconlike eyes 
+swiveled in his direction; he hastily looked away 
+toward the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy was miming 
+the shattering of a nose to raucous laughter and 
+applause. Harry dropped his gaze to his treacle tart, 
+his insides burning again. What he would not give to 
+fight Malfoy one-on-one . . . 
+
+“So what did Professor Slughorn want?” Hermione 
+asked. 
+
+“To know what really happened at the Ministry,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Him and everyone else here,” sniffed Hermione. 
+“People were interrogating us about it on the train, 
+weren’t they, Ron?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron. “All wanting to know if you really 
+are ‘the Chosen One’ — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“There has been much talk on that very subject even 
+amongst the ghosts,” interrupted Nearly Headless 
+Nick, inclining his barely connected head toward 
+Harry so that it wobbled dangerously on its ruff. “I am 
+considered something of a Potter authority; it is 
+widely known that we are friendly. I have assured the 
+spirit community that I will not pester you for 
+information, however. ‘Harry Potter knows that he 
+can confide in me with complete confidence/ I told 
+them. ‘I would rather die than betray his trust.’ ” 
+
+“That’s not saying much, seeing as you’re already 
+dead,” Ron observed. 
+
+“Once again, you show all the sensitivity of a blunt 
+axe,” said Nearly Headless Nick in affronted tones, 
+and he rose into the air and glided back toward the 
+far end of the Gryffindor table just as Dumbledore got 
+to his feet at the staff table. The talk and laughter 
+echoing around the Hall died away almost instantly. 
+
+“The very best of evenings to you!” he said, smiling 
+broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace 
+the whole room. 
+
+“What happened to his hand?” gasped Hermione. 
+
+She was not the only one who had noticed. 
+Dumbledore ’s right hand was as blackened and dead- 
+looking as it had been on the night he had come to 
+fetch Harry from the Dursleys. Whispers swept the 
+room; Dumbledore, interpreting them correctly, 
+merely smiled and shook his purple-and-gold sleeve 
+over his injury. 
+
+“Nothing to worry about,” he said airily. “Now ... to 
+our new students, welcome, to our old students, 
+welcome back! Another year full of magical education 
+awaits you ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“His hand was like that when I saw him over the 
+summer,” Harry whispered to Hermione. “I thought 
+he’d have cured it by now, though ... or Madam 
+Pomfrey would’ve done.” 
+
+“It looks as if it’s died,” said Hermione, with a 
+nauseated expression. “But there are some injuries 
+you can’t cure ... old curses ... and there are poisons 
+without antidotes. ...” 
+
+"... and Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say 
+that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought 
+at the shop called Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. 
+
+“Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch 
+teams should give their names to their Heads of 
+House as usual. We are also looking for new 
+Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise. 
+
+“We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff 
+this year. Professor Slughorn” — Slughorn stood up, 
+his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his big 
+waistcoated belly casting the table below into shadow 
+— “is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to 
+resume his old post of Potions master.” 
+
+“Potions?” 
+
+“Potions?” 
+
+The word echoed all over the Hall as people wondered 
+whether they had heard right. 
+
+“Potions?” said Ron and Hermione together, turning 
+to stare at Harry. “But you said — ” 
+
+“Professor Snape, meanwhile,” said Dumbledore, 
+raising his voice so that it carried over all the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+muttering, “will be taking over the position of Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts teacher.” 
+
+
+
+“No!” said Harry, so loudly that many heads turned in 
+his direction. He did not care; he was staring up at 
+the staff table, incensed. How could Snape be given 
+the Defense Against the Dark Arts job after all this 
+time? Hadn’t it been widely known for years that 
+Dumbledore did not trust him to do it? 
+
+“But Harry, you said that Slughorn was going to be 
+teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts!” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“I thought he was!” said Harry, racking his brains to 
+remember when Dumbledore had told him this, but 
+now that he came to think of it, he was unable to 
+recall Dumbledore ever telling him what Slughorn 
+would be teaching. 
+
+Snape, who was sitting on Dumbledore’s right, did 
+not stand up at the mention of his name; he merely 
+raised a hand in lazy acknowledgment of the applause 
+from the Slytherin table, yet Harry was sure he could 
+detect a look of triumph on the features he loathed so 
+much. 
+
+“Well, there’s one good thing,” he said savagely. 
+
+“Snape ’ll be gone by the end of the year.” 
+
+“What do you mean?” asked Ron. 
+
+“That job’s jinxed. No one’s lasted more than a year. 
+
+... Quirrell actually died doing it. ... Personally, I’m 
+going to keep my fingers crossed for another death. 
+
+
+
+“Harry!” said Hermione, shocked and reproachful. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He might just go back to teaching Potions at the end 
+of the year,” said Ron reasonably. “That Slughorn 
+bloke might not want to stay long-term. Moody 
+didn’t.” 
+
+Dumbledore cleared his throat. Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione were not the only ones who had been 
+talking; the whole Hall had erupted in a buzz of 
+conversation at the news that Snape had finally 
+achieved his heart’s desire. Seemingly oblivious to the 
+sensational nature of the news he had just imparted, 
+Dumbledore said nothing more about staff 
+appointments, but waited a few seconds to ensure 
+that the silence was absolute before continuing. 
+
+“Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord 
+Voldemort and his followers are once more at large 
+and gaining in strength.” 
+
+The silence seemed to tauten and strain as 
+Dumbledore spoke. Harry glanced at Malfoy. Malfoy 
+was not looking at Dumbledore, but making his fork 
+hover in midair with his wand, as though he found 
+the headmaster’s words unworthy of his attention. 
+
+“I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous 
+the present situation is, and how much care each of 
+us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain 
+safe. The castle’s magical fortifications have been 
+strengthened over the summer, we are protected in 
+new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard 
+scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any 
+student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to 
+abide by any security restrictions that your teachers 
+might impose upon you, however irksome you might 
+find them — in particular, the rule that you are not to 
+be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you 
+notice anything strange or suspicious within or 
+outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff 
+Page | 187 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, 
+always, with the utmost regard for your own and 
+others’ safety.” 
+
+Dumbledore’s blue eyes swept over the students 
+before he smiled once more. 
+
+“But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable 
+as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top 
+priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. 
+Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip!” 
+
+With the usual deafening scraping noise, the benches 
+were moved back and the hundreds of students began 
+to file out of the Great Hall toward their dormitories. 
+Harry, who was in no hurry at all to leave with the 
+gawping crowd, nor to get near enough to Malfoy to 
+allow him to retell the story of the nose-stamping, 
+lagged behind, pretending to retie the lace on his 
+trainer, allowing most of the Gryffindors to draw 
+ahead of him. Hermione had darted ahead to fulfill 
+her prefect’s duty of shepherding the first years, but 
+Ron remained with Harry. 
+
+“What really happened to your nose?” he asked, once 
+they were at the very back of the throng pressing out 
+of the Hall, and out of earshot of anyone else. 
+
+Harry told him. It was a mark of the strength of their 
+friendship that Ron did not laugh. 
+
+“I saw Malfoy miming something to do with a nose,” 
+he said darkly. 
+
+“Yeah, well, never mind that,” said Harry bitterly. 
+“Listen to what he was saying before he found out I 
+was there. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry had expected Ron to be stunned by Malfoy’s 
+boasts. With what Harry considered pure 
+pigheadedness, however, Ron was unimpressed. 
+
+“Come on, Harry, he was just showing off for 
+Parkinson. ... What kind of mission would You-Know- 
+Who have given him?” 
+
+“How d’you know Voldemort doesn’t need someone at 
+Hogwarts? It wouldn’t be the first — ” 
+
+“I wish yeh’d stop sayin’ tha’ name, Harry,” said a 
+reproachful voice behind them. Harry looked over his 
+shoulder to see Hagrid shaking his head. 
+
+“Dumbledore uses that name,” said Harry stubbornly. 
+
+“Yeah, well, tha’s Dumbledore, innit?” said Hagrid 
+mysteriously. “So how come yeh were late, Harry? I 
+was worried.” 
+
+“Got held up on the train,” said Harry. “Why were you 
+late?” 
+
+“I was with Grawp,” said Hagrid happily. “Los’ track o’ 
+the time. He’s got a new home up in the mountains 
+now, Dumbledore fixed it — nice big cave. He’s much 
+happier than he was in the forest. We were havin’ a 
+good chat.” 
+
+“Really?” said Harry, taking care not to catch Ron’s 
+eye; the last time he had met Hagrid’s half-brother, a 
+vicious giant with a talent for ripping up trees by the 
+roots, his vocabulary had comprised five words, two of 
+which he was unable to pronounce properly. 
+
+“Oh yeah, he’s really come on,” said Hagrid proudly. 
+“Yeh’ll be amazed. I’m thinkin’ o’ trainin’ him up as 
+me assistant.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron snorted loudly, but managed to pass it off as a 
+violent sneeze. They were now standing beside the 
+oak front doors. 
+
+“Anyway, I’ll see yeh tomorrow, firs’ lesson’s straight 
+after lunch. Come early an’ yeh can say hello ter Buck 
+— I mean, Witherwings!” 
+
+Raising an arm in cheery farewell, he headed out of 
+the front doors into the darkness. 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at each other. Harry could tell 
+that Ron was experiencing the same sinking feeling as 
+himself. 
+
+“You’re not taking Care of Magical Creatures, are 
+you?” 
+
+Ron shook his head. “And you’re not either, are you?” 
+
+Harry shook his head too. 
+
+“And Hermione,” said Ron, “she’s not, is she?” 
+
+Harry shook his head again. Exactly what Hagrid 
+would say when he realized his three favorite 
+students had given up his subject, he did not like to 
+think. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+9 
+
+
+
+
+THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE 
+
+Harry and Ron met Hermione in the common room 
+before breakfast next morning. Hoping for some 
+support for his theory, Harry lost no time in telling 
+Hermione what he had overheard Malfoy saying on 
+the Hogwarts Express. 
+
+“But he was obviously showing off for Parkinson, 
+wasn’t he?” interjected Ron quickly, before Hermione 
+could say anything. 
+
+“Well,” she said uncertainly, “I don’t know. ... It would 
+be like Malfoy to make himself seem more important 
+than he is ... but that’s a big lie to tell. ...” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Harry, but he could not press the 
+point, because so many people were trying to listen in 
+to his conversation, not to mention staring at him and 
+whispering behind their hands. 
+
+“It’s rude to point,” Ron snapped at a particularly 
+minuscule first-year boy as they joined the queue to 
+climb out of the portrait hole. The boy, who had been 
+
+Page | 191 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+muttering something about Harry behind his hand to 
+his friend, promptly turned scarlet and toppled out of 
+the hole in alarm. Ron sniggered. 
+
+“I love being a sixth year. And we’re going to be 
+getting free time this year. Whole periods when we 
+can just sit up here and relax.” 
+
+“We’re going to need that time for studying, Ron!” said 
+Hermione, as they set off down the corridor. 
+
+“Yeah, but not today,” said Ron. “Today’s going to be 
+a real doss, I reckon.” 
+
+“Hold it!” said Hermione, throwing out an arm and 
+halting a passing fourth year, who was attempting to 
+push past her with a lime-green disk clutched tightly 
+in his hand. “Fanged Frisbees are banned, hand it 
+over,” she told him sternly. The scowling boy handed 
+over the snarling Frisbee, ducked under her arm, and 
+took off after his friends. Ron waited for him to 
+vanish, then tugged the Frisbee from Hermione ’s grip. 
+
+“Excellent, I’ve always wanted one of these.” 
+
+Hermione ’s remonstration was drowned by a loud 
+giggle; Lavender Brown had apparently found Ron’s 
+remark highly amusing. She continued to laugh as 
+she passed them, glancing back at Ron over her 
+shoulder. Ron looked rather pleased with himself. 
+
+The ceiling of the Great Hall was serenely blue and 
+streaked with frail, wispy clouds, just like the squares 
+of sky visible through the high mullioned windows. 
+While they tucked into porridge and eggs and bacon, 
+Harry and Ron told Hermione about their 
+embarrassing conversation with Hagrid the previous 
+evening. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But he can’t really think we’d continue Care of 
+Magical Creatures!” she said, looking distressed. “I 
+mean, when has any of us expressed ... you know ... 
+any enthusiasm?” 
+
+“That’s it, though, innit?” said Ron, swallowing an 
+entire fried egg whole. “We were the ones who made 
+the most effort in classes because we like Hagrid. But 
+he thinks we liked the stupid subject D’you reckon 
+anyone’s going to go on to N.E.W.T.?” 
+
+Neither Harry nor Hermione answered; there was no 
+need. They knew perfectly well that nobody in their 
+year would want to continue Care of Magical 
+Creatures. They avoided Hagrid’s eye and returned 
+his cheery wave only halfheartedly when he left the 
+staff table ten minutes later. 
+
+After they had eaten, they remained in their places, 
+awaiting Professor McGonagall’s descent from the 
+staff table. The distribution of class schedules was 
+more complicated than usual this year, for Professor 
+McGonagall needed first to confirm that everybody 
+had achieved the necessary O.W.L. grades to continue 
+with their chosen N.E.W.T.s. 
+
+Hermione was immediately cleared to continue with 
+Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, 
+Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient 
+Runes, and Potions, and shot off to a first-period 
+Ancient Runes class without further ado. Neville took 
+a little longer to sort out; his round face was anxious 
+as Professor McGonagall looked down his application 
+and then consulted his O.W.L. results. 
+
+“Herbology, fine,” she said. “Professor Sprout will be 
+delighted to see you back with an ‘Outstanding’ 
+
+O.W.L. And you qualify for Defense Against the Dark 
+Arts with ‘Exceeds Expectations.’ But the problem is 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Transfiguration. I’m sorry, Longbottom, but an 
+Acceptable’ really isn’t good enough to continue to 
+N.E.W.T level. I just don’t think you’d be able to cope 
+with the coursework.” 
+
+Neville hung his head. Professor McGonagall peered 
+at him through her square spectacles. 
+
+“Why do you want to continue with Transfiguration, 
+anyway? I’ve never had the impression that you 
+particularly enjoyed it.” 
+
+Neville looked miserable and muttered something 
+about “my grandmother wants.” 
+
+“Hmph,” snorted Professor McGonagall. “It’s high time 
+your grandmother learned to be proud of the 
+grandson she’s got, rather than the one she thinks 
+she ought to have — particularly after what happened 
+at the Ministry.” 
+
+Neville turned very pink and blinked confusedly; 
+Professor McGonagall had never paid him a 
+compliment before. 
+
+“I’m sorry, Longbottom, but I cannot let you into my 
+N.E.W.T. class. I see that you have an ‘Exceeds 
+Expectations’ in Charms, however — why not try for a 
+N.E.W.T. in Charms?” 
+
+“My grandmother thinks Charms is a soft option,” 
+mumbled Neville. 
+
+“Take Charms,” said Professor McGonagall, “and I 
+shall drop Augusta a line reminding her that just 
+because she failed her Charms O.W.L., the subject is 
+not necessarily worthless.” Smiling slightly at the look 
+of delighted incredulity on Neville’s face, Professor 
+McGonagall tapped a blank schedule with the tip of 
+Page | 194 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+her wand and handed it, now carrying details of his 
+new classes, to Neville. 
+
+Professor McGonagall turned next to Parvati Patil, 
+whose first question was whether Firenze, the 
+handsome centaur, was still teaching Divination. 
+
+“He and Professor Trelawney are dividing classes 
+between them this year,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+a hint of disapproval in her voice; it was common 
+knowledge that she despised the subject of 
+Divination. “The sixth year is being taken by Professor 
+Trelawney.” 
+
+Parvati set off for Divination five minutes later looking 
+slightly crestfallen. 
+
+“So, Potter, Potter ...” said Professor McGonagall, 
+consulting her notes as she turned to Harry. 
+
+“Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, 
+Transfiguration ... all fine. I must say, I was pleased 
+with your Transfiguration mark, Potter, very pleased. 
+Now, why haven’t you applied to continue with 
+Potions? I thought it was your ambition to become an 
+Auror?” 
+
+“It was, but you told me I had to get an ‘Outstanding’ 
+in my O.W.L., Professor.” 
+
+“And so you did when Professor Snape was teaching 
+the subject. Professor Slughorn, however, is perfectly 
+happy to accept N.E.W.T students with ‘Exceeds 
+Expectations’ at O.W.L. Do you wish to proceed with 
+Potions?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, “but I didn’t buy the books or any 
+ingredients or anything — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’m sure Professor Slughorn will be able to lend you 
+some,” said Professor McGonagall. “Very well, Potter, 
+here is your schedule. Oh, by the way — twenty 
+hopefuls have already put down their names for the 
+Gryffindor Quidditch team. I shall pass the list to you 
+in due course and you can fix up trials at your 
+leisure.” 
+
+A few minutes later, Ron was cleared to do the same 
+subjects as Harry, and the two of them left the table 
+together. 
+
+“Look,” said Ron delightedly, gazing at his schedule, 
+“we’ve got a free period now ... and a free period after 
+break ... and after lunch ... excellent.” 
+
+They returned to the common room, which was empty 
+apart from a half dozen seventh years, including Katie 
+Bell, the only remaining member of the original 
+Gryffindor Quidditch team that Harry had joined in 
+his first year. 
+
+“I thought you’d get that, well done,” she called over, 
+pointing at the Captain’s badge on Harry’s chest. “Tell 
+me when you call trials!” 
+
+“Don’t be stupid,” said Harry, “you don’t need to try 
+out, I’ve watched you play for five years. ...” 
+
+“You mustn’t start off like that,” she said warningly. 
+“For all you know, there’s someone much better than 
+me out there. Good teams have been ruined before 
+now because Captains just kept playing the old faces, 
+or letting in their friends. ...” 
+
+Ron looked a little uncomfortable and began playing 
+with the Fanged Frisbee Hermione had taken from the 
+fourth-year student. It zoomed around the common 
+room, snarling and attempting to take bites of the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+tapestry. Crookshanks’s yellow eyes followed it and he 
+hissed when it came too close. 
+
+An hour later they reluctantly left the sunlit common 
+room for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom 
+four floors below. Hermione was already queuing 
+outside, carrying an armful of heavy books and 
+looking put-upon. 
+
+“We got so much homework for Runes,” she said 
+anxiously, when Harry and Ron joined her. “A fifteen- 
+inch essay, two translations, and I’ve got to read 
+these by Wednesday!” 
+
+“Shame,” yawned Ron. 
+
+“You wait,” she said resentfully. “I bet Snape gives us 
+loads.” 
+
+The classroom door opened as she spoke, and Snape 
+stepped into the corridor, his sallow face framed as 
+ever by two curtains of greasy black hair. Silence fell 
+over the queue immediately. 
+
+“Inside,” he said. 
+
+Harry looked around as they entered. Snape had 
+imposed his personality upon the room already; it 
+was gloomier than usual, as curtains had been drawn 
+over the windows, and was lit by candlelight. New 
+pictures adorned the walls, many of them showing 
+people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly 
+injuries or strangely contorted body parts. Nobody 
+spoke as they settled down, looking around at the 
+shadowy, gruesome pictures. 
+
+“I have not asked you to take out your books,” said 
+Snape, closing the door and moving to face the class 
+from behind his desk; Hermione hastily dropped her 
+
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+
+
+
+
+copy of Confronting the Faceless back into her bag 
+and stowed it under her chair. “I wish to speak to 
+you, and I want your fullest attention.” 
+
+His black eyes roved over their upturned faces, 
+lingering for a fraction of a second longer on Harry’s 
+than anyone else’s. 
+
+“You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I 
+believe.” 
+
+You believe ... like you haven’t watched them all come 
+and go, Snape, hoping you’d be next, thought Harry 
+scathingly. 
+
+“Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own 
+methods and priorities. Given this confusion I am 
+surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this 
+subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you 
+manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will 
+be much more advanced.” 
+
+Snape set off around the edge of the room, speaking 
+now in a lower voice; the class craned their necks to 
+keep him in view. 
+
+“The Dark Arts,” said Snape, “are many, varied, ever- 
+changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a 
+many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is 
+severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than 
+before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, 
+mutating, indestructible.” 
+
+Harry stared at Snape. It was surely one thing to 
+respect the Dark Arts as a dangerous enemy, another 
+to speak of them, as Snape was doing, with a loving 
+caress in his voice? 
+
+
+
+Page | 198 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Your defenses,” said Snape, a little louder, “must 
+therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you 
+seek to undo. These pictures” — he indicated a few of 
+them as he swept past — “give a fair representation of 
+what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the 
+Cruciatus Curse” — he waved a hand toward a witch 
+who was clearly shrieking in agony — “feel the 
+Dementor’s Kiss” — a wizard lying huddled and 
+blank-eyed, slumped against a wall — “or provoke the 
+aggression of the Inferius” — a bloody mass upon the 
+ground. 
+
+“Has an Inferius been seen, then?” said Parvati Patil 
+in a high-pitched voice. “Is it definite, is he using 
+them?” 
+
+“The Dark Lord has used Inferi in the past,” said 
+Snape, “which means you would be well-advised to 
+assume he might use them again. Now ...” 
+
+He set off again around the other side of the 
+classroom toward his desk, and again, they watched 
+him as he walked, his dark robes billowing behind 
+him. 
+
+"... you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of 
+nonverbal spells. What is the advantage of a 
+nonverbal spell?” 
+
+Hermione’s hand shot into the air. Snape took his 
+time looking around at everybody else, making sure 
+he had no choice, before saying curtly, “Very well — 
+Miss Granger?” 
+
+“Your adversary has no warning about what kind of 
+magic you’re about to perform,” said Hermione, 
+
+“which gives you a split-second advantage.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 199 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“An answer copied almost word for word from The 
+Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six,” said Snape 
+dismissively (over in the corner, Malfoy sniggered), 
+“but correct in essentials. Yes, those who progress to 
+using magic without shouting incantations gain an 
+element of surprise in their spell-casting. Not all 
+wizards can do this, of course; it is a question of 
+concentration and mind power which some” — his 
+gaze lingered maliciously upon Harry once more — 
+“lack.” 
+
+Harry knew Snape was thinking of their disastrous 
+Occlumency lessons of the previous year. He refused 
+to drop his gaze, but glowered at Snape until Snape 
+looked away. 
+
+“You will now divide,” Snape went on, “into pairs. One 
+partner will attempt to jinx the other without 
+speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in 
+equal silence. Carry on.” 
+
+Although Snape did not know it, Harry had taught at 
+least half the class (everyone who had been a member 
+of the D.A.) how to perform a Shield Charm the 
+previous year. None of them had ever cast the charm 
+without speaking, however. A reasonable amount of 
+cheating ensued; many people were merely 
+whispering the incantation instead of saying it aloud. 
+Typically, ten minutes into the lesson Hermione 
+managed to repel Neville’s muttered Jelly-Legs Jinx 
+without uttering a single word, a feat that would 
+surely have earned her twenty points for Gryffindor 
+from any reasonable teacher, thought Harry bitterly, 
+but which Snape ignored. He swept between them as 
+they practiced, looking just as much like an 
+overgrown bat as ever, lingering to watch Harry and 
+Ron struggling with the task. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron, who was supposed to be jinxing Harry, was 
+purple in the face, his lips tightly compressed to save 
+himself from the temptation of muttering the 
+incantation. Harry had his wand raised, waiting on 
+tenterhooks to repel a jinx that seemed unlikely ever 
+to come. 
+
+“Pathetic, Weasley,” said Snape, after a while. “Here 
+— let me show you — ” 
+
+He turned his wand on Harry so fast that Harry 
+reacted instinctively; all thought of nonverbal spells 
+forgotten, he yelled, “Protegol” 
+
+His Shield Charm was so strong Snape was knocked 
+off-balance and hit a desk. The whole class had 
+looked around and now watched as Snape righted 
+himself, scowling. 
+
+“Do you remember me telling you we are practicing 
+nonverbal spells, Potter?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry stiffly. 
+
+“Yes, sir.” 
+
+“There’s no need to call me ‘sir,’ Professor.” 
+
+The words had escaped him before he knew what he 
+was saying. Several people gasped, including 
+Hermione. Behind Snape, however, Ron, Dean, and 
+Seamus grinned appreciatively. 
+
+“Detention, Saturday night, my office,” said Snape. “I 
+do not take cheek from anyone, Potter ... not even ‘the 
+Chosen One. ’ ” 
+
+“That was brilliant, Harry!” chortled Ron, once they 
+were safely on their way to break a short while later. 
+
+Page | 201 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You really shouldn’t have said it,” said Hermione, 
+frowning at Ron. “What made you?” 
+
+
+
+“He tried to jinx me, in case you didn’t notice!” fumed 
+Harry. “I had enough of that during those 
+Occlumency lessons! Why doesn’t he use another 
+guinea pig for a change? What’s Dumbledore playing 
+at, anyway, letting him teach Defense? Did you hear 
+him talking about the Dark Arts? He loves them! All 
+that unfixed, indestructible stuff — ” 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione, “I thought he sounded a bit 
+like you.” 
+
+“Like me?” 
+
+“Yes, when you were telling us what it’s like to face 
+Voldemort. You said it wasn’t just memorizing a 
+bunch of spells, you said it was just you and your 
+brains and your guts — well, wasn’t that what Snape 
+was saying? That it really comes down to being brave 
+and quick-thinking?” 
+
+Harry was so disarmed that she had thought his 
+words as well worth memorizing as The Standard 
+Book of Spells that he did not argue. 
+
+“Harry! Hey, Harry!” 
+
+Harry looked around; Jack Sloper, one of the Beaters 
+on last year’s Gryffindor Quidditch team, was 
+hurrying toward him holding a roll of parchment. 
+
+“For you,” panted Sloper. “Listen, I heard you’re the 
+new Captain. When’re you holding trials?” 
+
+“I’m not sure yet,” said Harry, thinking privately that 
+Sloper would be very lucky to get back on the team. 
+“I’ll let you know.” 
+
+Page | 202 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, right. I was hoping it’d be this weekend — ” 
+
+
+
+But Harry was not listening; he had just recognized 
+the thin, slanting writing on the parchment. Leaving 
+Sloper in mid-sentence, he hurried away with Ron 
+and Hermione, unrolling the parchment as he went. 
+
+Dear Harry, 
+
+I would like to start our private lessons this Saturday. 
+Kindly come along to my office at 8 p.m. I hope you are 
+enjoying your first day back at school. 
+
+Yours sincerely, 
+
+Albus Dumbledore 
+
+P. S. I enjoy Acid Pops. 
+
+“He enjoys Acid Pops?” said Ron, who had read the 
+message over Harry’s shoulder and was looking 
+perplexed. 
+
+“It’s the password to get past the gargoyle outside his 
+study,” said Harry in a low voice. “Ha! Snape’s not 
+going to be pleased. ... I won’t be able to do his 
+detention!” 
+
+He, Ron, and Hermione spent the whole of break 
+speculating on what Dumbledore would teach Harry. 
+Ron thought it most likely to be spectacular jinxes 
+and hexes of the type the Death Eaters would not 
+know. Hermione said such things were illegal, and 
+thought it much more likely that Dumbledore wanted 
+to teach Harry advanced Defensive magic. After 
+break, she went off to Arithmancy while Harry and 
+Ron returned to the common room, where they 
+grudgingly started Snape’s homework. This turned 
+out to be so complex that they still had not finished 
+Page | 203 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+when Hermione joined them for their after-lunch free 
+period (though she considerably speeded up the 
+process). They had only just finished when the bell 
+rang for the afternoon’s double Potions and they beat 
+the familiar path down to the dungeon classroom that 
+had, for so long, been Snape’s. 
+
+When they arrived in the corridor they saw that there 
+were only a dozen people progressing to N.E.W.T. 
+level. Crabbe and Goyle had evidently failed to achieve 
+the required O.W.L. grade, but four Slytherins had 
+made it through, including Malfoy. Four Ravenclaws 
+were there, and one Hufflepuff, Ernie Macmillan, 
+whom Harry liked despite his rather pompous 
+manner. 
+
+“Harry,” Ernie said portentously, holding out his hand 
+as Harry approached, “didn’t get a chance to speak in 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning. Good 
+lesson, I thought, but Shield Charms are old hat, of 
+course, for us old D.A. lags ... And how are you, Ron 
+— Hermione?” 
+
+Before they could say more than “fine,” the dungeon 
+door opened and Slughorn’s belly preceded him out of 
+the door. As they filed into the room, his great walrus 
+mustache curved above his beaming mouth, and he 
+greeted Harry and Zabini with particular enthusiasm. 
+
+The dungeon was, most unusually, already full of 
+vapors and odd smells. Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+sniffed interestedly as they passed large, bubbling 
+cauldrons. The four Slytherins took a table together, 
+as did the four Ravenclaws. This left Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione to share a table with Ernie. They chose the 
+one nearest a gold-colored cauldron that was emitting 
+one of the most seductive scents Harry had ever 
+inhaled: Somehow it reminded him simultaneously of 
+treacle tart, the woody smell of a broomstick handle, 
+Page | 204 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and something flowery he thought he might have 
+smelled at the Burrow. He found that he was 
+breathing very slowly and deeply and that the potion’s 
+fumes seemed to be filling him up like drink. A great 
+contentment stole over him; he grinned across at Ron, 
+who grinned back lazily. 
+
+“Now then, now then, now then,” said Slughorn, 
+whose massive outline was quivering through the 
+many shimmering vapors. “Scales out, everyone, and 
+potion kits, and don’t forget your copies of Advanced 
+Potion-Making. ...” 
+
+“Sir?” said Harry, raising his hand. 
+
+“Harry, m’boy?” 
+
+“I haven’t got a book or scales or anything — nor’s 
+Ron — we didn’t realize we’d be able to do the 
+N.E.W.T., you see — ” 
+
+“Ah, yes, Professor McGonagall did mention ... not to 
+worry, my dear boy, not to worry at all. You can use 
+ingredients from the store cupboard today, and I’m 
+sure we can lend you some scales, and we’ve got a 
+small stock of old books here, they’ll do until you can 
+write to Flourish and Blotts. ...” 
+
+Slughorn strode over to a corner cupboard and, after 
+a moment’s foraging, emerged with two very battered- 
+looking copies of Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius 
+Borage, which he gave to Harry and Ron along with 
+two sets of tarnished scales. 
+
+“Now then,” said Slughorn, returning to the front of 
+the class and inflating his already bulging chest so 
+that the buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst 
+off, “I’ve prepared a few potions for you to have a look 
+at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind 
+Page | 205 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of thing you ought to be able to make after completing 
+your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of ’em, even 
+if you haven’t made ’em yet. Anyone tell me what this 
+one is?” 
+
+He indicated the cauldron nearest the Slytherin table. 
+Harry raised himself slightly in his seat and saw what 
+looked like plain water boiling away inside it. 
+
+Hermione’s well-practiced hand hit the air before 
+anybody else’s; Slughorn pointed at her. 
+
+“It’s Veritaserum, a colorless, odorless potion that 
+forces the drinker to tell the truth,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Very good, very good!” said Slughorn happily. “Now,” 
+he continued, pointing at the cauldron nearest the 
+Ravenclaw table, “this one here is pretty well known. 
+... Featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately too ... Who 
+can — ?” 
+
+Hermione’s hand was fastest once more. 
+
+“It’s Polyjuice Potion, sir,” she said. 
+
+Harry too had recognized the slow-bubbling, mudlike 
+substance in the second cauldron, but did not resent 
+Hermione getting the credit for answering the 
+question; she, after all, was the one who had 
+succeeded in making it, back in their second year. 
+
+“Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here ... yes, my 
+dear?” said Slughorn, now looking slightly bemused, 
+as Hermione’s hand punched the air again. 
+
+“It’s Amortentia!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 206 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask,” said 
+Slughorn, who was looking mightily impressed, “but I 
+assume you know what it does?” 
+
+“It’s the most powerful love potion in the world!” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Quite right! You recognized it, I suppose, by its 
+distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?” 
+
+“And the steam rising in characteristic spirals,” said 
+Hermione enthusiastically, “and it’s supposed to 
+smell differently to each of us, according to what 
+attracts us, and I can smell freshly mown grass and 
+new parchment and — ” 
+
+But she turned slightly pink and did not complete the 
+sentence. 
+
+“May I ask your name, my dear?” said Slughorn, 
+ignoring Hermione’s embarrassment. 
+
+“Hermione Granger, sir.” 
+
+“Granger? Granger? Can you possibly be related to 
+Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most 
+Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?” 
+
+“No, I don’t think so, sir. I’m Muggle-born, you see.” 
+
+Harry saw Malfoy lean close to Nott and whisper 
+something; both of them sniggered, but Slughorn 
+showed no dismay; on the contrary, he beamed and 
+looked from Hermione to Harry, who was sitting next 
+to her. 
+
+“Oho! ‘One of my best friends is Muggle-born, and 
+she’s the best in our yeah’ I’m assuming this is the 
+very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?” 
+
+Page | 207 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+“Well, well, take twenty well-earned points for 
+Gryffindor, Miss Granger,” said Slughorn genially. 
+
+Malfoy looked rather as he had done the time 
+Hermione had punched him in the face. Hermione 
+turned to Harry with a radiant expression and 
+whispered, “Did you really tell him I’m the best in the 
+year? Oh, Harry!” 
+
+“Well, what’s so impressive about that?” whispered 
+Ron, who for some reason looked annoyed. “You are 
+the best in the year — I’d’ve told him so if he’d asked 
+me!” 
+
+Hermione smiled but made a “shhing” gesture, so that 
+they could hear what Slughorn was saying. Ron 
+looked slightly disgruntled. 
+
+“Amortentia doesn’t really create love, of course. It is 
+impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this 
+will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. 
+It is probably the most dangerous and powerful 
+potion in this room — oh yes,” he said, nodding 
+gravely at Malfoy and Nott, both of whom were 
+smirking skeptically. “When you have seen as much 
+of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power 
+of obsessive love. ... 
+
+“And now,” said Slughorn, “it is time for us to start 
+work.” 
+
+“Sir, you haven’t told us what’s in this one,” said 
+Ernie Macmillan, pointing at a small black cauldron 
+standing on Slughorn ’s desk. The potion within was 
+splashing about merrily; it was the color of molten 
+gold, and large drops were leaping like goldfish above 
+the surface, though not a particle had spilled. 
+
+Page | 208 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oho,” said Slughorn again. Harry was sure that 
+Slughorn had not forgotten the potion at all, but had 
+waited to be asked for dramatic effect. “Yes. That. 
+Well, that one, ladies and gentlemen, is a most 
+curious little potion called Felix Felicis. I take it,” he 
+turned, smiling, to look at Hermione, who had let out 
+an audible gasp, “that you know what Felix Felicis 
+does, Miss Granger?” 
+
+“It’s liquid luck,” said Hermione excitedly. “It makes 
+you lucky!” 
+
+The whole class seemed to sit up a little straighter. 
+Now all Harry could see of Malfoy was the back of his 
+sleek blond head, because he was at last giving 
+Slughorn his full and undivided attention. 
+
+“Quite right, take another ten points for Gryffindor. 
+Yes, it’s a funny little potion, Felix Felicis,” said 
+Slughorn. “Desperately tricky to make, and 
+disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, 
+as this has been, you will find that all your endeavors 
+tend to succeed ... at least until the effects wear off.” 
+
+“Why don’t people drink it all the time, sir?” said 
+Terry Boot eagerly. 
+
+“Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, 
+recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence,” said 
+Slughorn. “Too much of a good thing, you know ... 
+highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly, 
+and very occasionally ...” 
+
+“Have you ever taken it, sir?” asked Michael Corner 
+with great interest. 
+
+“Twice in my life,” said Slughorn. “Once when I was 
+twenty-four, once when I was fifty-seven. Two 
+
+
+
+Page | 209 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+tablespoonfuls taken with breakfast. Two perfect 
+days.” 
+
+He gazed dreamily into the distance. Whether he was 
+playacting or not, thought Harry, the effect was good. 
+
+“And that,” said Slughorn, apparently coming back to 
+earth, “is what I shall be offering as a prize in this 
+lesson.” 
+
+There was silence in which every bubble and gurgle of 
+the surrounding potions seemed magnified tenfold. 
+
+“One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis,” said Slughorn, taking 
+a minuscule glass bottle with a cork in it out of his 
+pocket and showing it to them all. “Enough for twelve 
+hours’ luck. From dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in 
+everything you attempt. 
+
+“Now, I must give you warning that Felix Felicis is a 
+banned substance in organized competitions . . . 
+sporting events, for instance, examinations, or 
+elections. So the winner is to use it on an ordinary 
+day only . . . and watch how that ordinary day becomes 
+extraordinary! 
+
+“So,” said Slughorn, suddenly brisk, “how are you to 
+win my fabulous prize? Well, by turning to page ten of 
+Advanced Potion-Making. We have a little over an hour 
+left to us, which should be time for you to make a 
+decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. I know 
+it is more complex than anything you have attempted 
+before, and I do not expect a perfect potion from 
+anybody. The person who does best, however, will win 
+little Felix here. Off you go!” 
+
+There was a scraping as everyone drew their 
+cauldrons toward them and some loud clunks as 
+people began adding weights to their scales, but 
+
+Page | 210 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+nobody spoke. The concentration within the room was 
+almost tangible. Harry saw Malfoy riffling feverishly 
+through his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. It could 
+not have been clearer that Malfoy really wanted that 
+lucky day. Harry bent swiftly over the tattered book 
+Slughorn had lent him. 
+
+To his annoyance he saw that the previous owner had 
+scribbled all over the pages, so that the margins were 
+as black as the printed portions. Bending low to 
+decipher the ingredients (even here, the previous 
+owner had made annotations and crossed things out) 
+Harry hurried off toward the store cupboard to find 
+what he needed. As he dashed back to his cauldron, 
+he saw Malfoy cutting up valerian roots as fast as he 
+could. 
+
+Everyone kept glancing around at what the rest of the 
+class was doing; this was both an advantage and a 
+disadvantage of Potions, that it was hard to keep your 
+work private. Within ten minutes, the whole place 
+was full of bluish steam. Hermione, of course, seemed 
+to have progressed furthest. Her potion already 
+resembled the “smooth, black currant-colored liquid” 
+mentioned as the ideal halfway stage. 
+
+Having finished chopping his roots, Harry bent low 
+over his book again. It was really very irritating, 
+having to try and decipher the directions under all the 
+stupid scribbles of the previous owner, who for some 
+reason had taken issue with the order to cut up the 
+sopophorous bean and had written in the alternative 
+instruction: 
+
+Crush with flat side of silver dagger, 
+releases juice better than cutting. 
+
+
+
+Page | 211 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas 
+Malfoy?” 
+
+Harry looked up; Slughorn was just passing the 
+Slytherin table. 
+
+“Yes,” said Slughorn, without looking at Malfoy, “I 
+was sorry to hear he had died, although of course it 
+wasn’t unexpected, dragon pox at his age. ...” 
+
+And he walked away. Harry bent back over his 
+cauldron, smirking. He could tell that Malfoy had 
+expected to be treated like Harry or Zabini; perhaps 
+even hoped for some preferential treatment of the type 
+he had learned to expect from Snape. It looked as 
+though Malfoy would have to rely on nothing but 
+talent to win the bottle of Felix Felicis. 
+
+The sopophorous bean was proving very difficult to 
+cut up. Harry turned to Hermione. 
+
+“Can I borrow your silver knife?” 
+
+She nodded impatiently, not taking her eyes off her 
+potion, which was still deep purple, though according 
+to the book ought to be turning a light shade of lilac 
+by now. 
+
+Harry crushed his bean with the flat side of the 
+dagger. To his astonishment, it immediately exuded 
+so much juice he was amazed the shriveled bean 
+could have held it all. Hastily scooping it all into the 
+cauldron he saw, to his surprise, that the potion 
+immediately turned exactly the shade of lilac 
+described by the textbook. 
+
+His annoyance with the previous owner vanishing on 
+the spot, Harry now squinted at the next line of 
+instructions. According to the book, he had to stir 
+
+Page | 212 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+counterclockwise until the potion turned clear as 
+water. According to the addition the previous owner 
+had made, however, he ought to add a clockwise stir 
+after every seventh counterclockwise stir. Could the 
+old owner be right twice? 
+
+Harry stirred counterclockwise, held his breath, and 
+stirred once clockwise. The effect was immediate. The 
+potion turned palest pink. 
+
+“How are you doing that?” demanded Hermione, who 
+was red-faced and whose hair was growing bushier 
+and bushier in the fumes from her cauldron; her 
+potion was still resolutely purple. 
+
+“Add a clockwise stir — ” 
+
+“No, no, the book says counterclockwise!” she 
+snapped. 
+
+Harry shrugged and continued what he was doing. 
+Seven stirs counterclockwise, one clockwise, pause ... 
+seven stirs counterclockwise, one stir clockwise ... 
+
+Across the table, Ron was cursing fluently under his 
+breath; his potion looked like liquid licorice. Harry 
+glanced around. As far as he could see, no one else’s 
+potion had turned as pale as his. He felt elated, 
+something that had certainly never happened before 
+in this dungeon. 
+
+“And time’s ... up!” called Slughorn. “Stop stirring, 
+please!” 
+
+Slughorn moved slowly among the tables, peering into 
+cauldrons. He made no comment, but occasionally 
+gave the potions a stir or a sniff. At last he reached 
+the table where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ernie 
+were sitting. He smiled ruefully at the tarlike 
+Page | 213 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+substance in Ron’s cauldron. He passed over Ernie’s 
+navy concoction. Hermione’s potion he gave an 
+approving nod. Then he saw Harry’s, and a look of 
+incredulous delight spread over his face. 
+
+“The clear winner!” he cried to the dungeon. 
+
+“Excellent, excellent, Harry! Good lord, it’s clear 
+you’ve inherited your mother’s talent. She was a dab 
+hand at Potions, Lily was! Here you are, then, here 
+you are — one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, and 
+use it well!” 
+
+Harry slipped the tiny bottle of golden liquid into his 
+inner pocket, feeling an odd combination of delight at 
+the furious looks on the Slytherins’ faces and guilt at 
+the disappointed expression on Hermione’s. Ron 
+looked simply dumbfounded. 
+
+“How did you do that?” he whispered to Harry as they 
+left the dungeon. 
+
+“Got lucky, I suppose,” said Harry, because Malfoy 
+was within earshot. 
+
+Once they were securely ensconced at the Gryffindor 
+table for dinner, however, he felt safe enough to tell 
+them. Hermione’s face became stonier with every 
+word he uttered. 
+
+“I s’pose you think I cheated?” he finished, aggravated 
+by her expression. 
+
+“Well, it wasn’t exactly your own work, was it?” she 
+said stiffly. 
+
+“He only followed different instructions to ours,” said 
+Ron. “Could’ve been a catastrophe, couldn’t it? But he 
+took a risk and it paid off.” He heaved a sigh. 
+“Slughorn could’ve handed me that book, but no, I get 
+
+Page | 214 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the one no one’s ever written on. Puked on, by the 
+look of page fifty-two, but — ” 
+
+“Hang on,” said a voice close by Harry’s left ear and 
+he caught a sudden waft of that flowery smell he had 
+picked up in Slughorn’s dungeon. He looked around 
+and saw that Ginny had joined them. “Did I hear 
+right? You’ve been taking orders from something 
+someone wrote in a book, Harry?” 
+
+She looked alarmed and angry. Harry knew what was 
+on her mind at once. 
+
+“It’s nothing,” he said reassuringly, lowering his voice. 
+“It’s not like, you know, Riddle’s diary. It’s just an old 
+textbook someone’s scribbled on.” 
+
+“But you’re doing what it says?” 
+
+“I just tried a few of the tips written in the margins, 
+honestly, Ginny, there’s nothing funny — ” 
+
+“Ginny’s got a point,” said Hermione, perking up at 
+once. “We ought to check that there’s nothing odd 
+about it. I mean, all these funny instructions, who 
+knows?” 
+
+“Hey!” said Harry indignantly, as she pulled his copy 
+of Advanced Potion-Making out of his bag and raised 
+her wand. 
+
+“ Specialis Revelio\” she said, rapping it smartly on the 
+front cover. 
+
+Nothing whatsoever happened. The book simply lay 
+there, looking old and dirty and dog-eared. 
+
+“Finished?” said Harry irritably. “Or d’you want to 
+wait and see if it does a few backflips?” 
+
+Page | 215 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It seems all right,” said Hermione, still staring at the 
+book suspiciously. “I mean, it really does seem to be 
+... just a textbook.” 
+
+“Good. Then I’ll have it back,” said Harry, snatching it 
+off the table, but it slipped from his hand and landed 
+open on the floor. 
+
+Nobody else was looking. Harry bent low to retrieve 
+the book, and as he did so, he saw something 
+scribbled along the bottom of the back cover in the 
+same small, cramped handwriting as the instructions 
+that had won him his bottle of Felix Felicis, now 
+safely hidden inside a pair of socks in his trunk 
+upstairs. 
+
+This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince. 
+
+
+
+Page | 216 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+10 
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUSE OF GAUNT 
+
+For the rest of the week’s Potions lessons Harry 
+continued to follow the Half-Blood Prince’s 
+instructions wherever they deviated from Libatius 
+Borage’s, with the result that by their fourth lesson 
+Slughorn was raving about Harry’s abilities, saying 
+that he had rarely taught anyone so talented. Neither 
+Ron nor Hermione was delighted by this. Although 
+Harry had offered to share his book with both of 
+them, Ron had more difficulty deciphering the 
+handwriting than Harry did, and could not keep 
+asking Harry to read aloud or it might look 
+suspicious. Hermione, meanwhile, was resolutely 
+plowing on with what she called the “official” 
+instructions, but becoming increasingly bad-tempered 
+as they yielded poorer results than the Prince’s. 
+
+Harry wondered vaguely who the Half-Blood Prince 
+had been. Although the amount of homework they 
+had been given prevented him from reading the whole 
+of his copy of Advanced Potion-Making, he had 
+skimmed through it sufficiently to see that there was 
+
+Page | 217 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+barely a page on which the Prince had not made 
+additional notes, not all of them concerned with 
+potion-making. Here and there were directions for 
+what looked like spells that the Prince had made up 
+himself. 
+
+“Or herself,” said Hermione irritably, overhearing 
+Harry pointing some of these out to Ron in the 
+common room on Saturday evening. “It might have 
+been a girl. I think the handwriting looks more like a 
+girl’s than a boy’s.” 
+
+“The Half-Blood Prince, he was called,” Harry said. 
+“How many girls have been Princes?” 
+
+Hermione seemed to have no answer to this. She 
+merely scowled and twitched her essay on The 
+Principles of Re materialization away from Ron, who 
+was trying to read it upside down. 
+
+Harry looked at his watch and hurriedly put the old 
+copy of Advanced Potion-Making back into his bag. 
+
+“It’s five to eight, I’d better go, I’ll be late for 
+Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Ooooh!” gasped Hermione, looking up at once. “Good 
+luck! We’ll wait up, we want to hear what he teaches 
+you!” 
+
+“Hope it goes okay,” said Ron, and the pair of them 
+watched Harry leave through the portrait hole. 
+
+Harry proceeded through deserted corridors, though 
+he had to step hastily behind a statue when Professor 
+Trelawney appeared around a corner, muttering to 
+herself as she shuffled a pack of dirty-looking playing 
+cards, reading them as she walked. 
+
+
+
+Page | 218 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Two of spades: conflict,” she murmured, as she 
+passed the place where Harry crouched, hidden. 
+“Seven of spades: an ill omen. Ten of spades: violence. 
+Knave of spades: a dark young man, possibly 
+troubled, one who dislikes the questioner — ” 
+
+She stopped dead, right on the other side of Harry’s 
+statue. 
+
+“Well, that can’t be right,” she said, annoyed, and 
+Harry heard her reshuffling vigorously as she set off 
+again, leaving nothing but a whiff of cooking sherry 
+behind her. Harry waited until he was quite sure she 
+had gone, then hurried off again until he reached the 
+spot in the seventh-floor corridor where a single 
+gargoyle stood against the wall. 
+
+“Acid Pops,” said Harry, and the gargoyle leapt aside; 
+the wall behind it slid apart, and a moving spiral 
+stone staircase was revealed, onto which Harry 
+stepped, so that he was carried in smooth circles up 
+to the door with the brass knocker that led to 
+Dumbledore’s office. 
+
+Harry knocked. 
+
+“Come in,” said Dumbledore’s voice. 
+
+“Good evening, sir,” said Harry, walking into the 
+headmaster’s office. 
+
+“Ah, good evening, Harry. Sit down,” said 
+Dumbledore, smiling. “I hope you’ve had an enjoyable 
+first week back at school?” 
+
+“Yes, thanks, sir,” said Harry. 
+
+“You must have been busy, a detention under your 
+belt already!” 
+
+Page | 219 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Er,” began Harry awkwardly, but Dumbledore did 
+not look too stern. 
+
+“I have arranged with Professor Snape that you will 
+do your detention next Saturday instead.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, who had more pressing matters 
+on his mind than S nape’s detention, and now looked 
+around surreptitiously for some indication of what 
+Dumbledore was planning to do with him this 
+evening. The circular office looked just as it always 
+did; the delicate silver instruments stood on spindle- 
+legged tables, puffing smoke and whirring; portraits of 
+previous headmasters and headmistresses dozed in 
+their frames, and Dumbledore’s magnificent phoenix, 
+Fawkes, stood on his perch behind the door, watching 
+Harry with bright interest. It did not even look as 
+though Dumbledore had cleared a space for dueling 
+practice. 
+
+“So, Harry,” said Dumbledore, in a businesslike voice. 
+“You have been wondering, I am sure, what I have 
+planned for you during these — for want of a better 
+word — lessons?” 
+
+“Yes, sir.” 
+
+“Well, I have decided that it is time, now that you 
+know what prompted Lord Voldemort to try and kill 
+you fifteen years ago, for you to be given certain 
+information.” 
+
+There was a pause. 
+
+“You said, at the end of last term, you were going to 
+tell me everything,” said Harry. It was hard to keep a 
+note of accusation from his voice. “Sir,” he added. 
+
+
+
+Page | 220 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And so I did,” said Dumbledore placidly. “I told you 
+everything I know. From this point forth, we shall be 
+leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying 
+together through the murky marshes of memory into 
+thickets of wildest guesswork. From here on in, 
+
+Harry, I may be as woefully wrong as Humphrey 
+Belcher, who believed the time was ripe for a cheese 
+cauldron.” 
+
+“But you think you’re right?” said Harry. 
+
+“Naturally I do, but as I have already proven to you, I 
+make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being — 
+forgive me — rather cleverer than most men, my 
+mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.” 
+
+“Sir,” said Harry tentatively, “does what you’re going 
+to tell me have anything to do with the prophecy? Will 
+it help me . . . survive?” 
+
+“It has a very great deal to do with the prophecy,” said 
+Dumbledore, as casually as if Harry had asked him 
+about the next day’s weather, “and I certainly hope 
+that it will help you to survive.” 
+
+Dumbledore got to his feet and walked around the 
+desk, past Harry, who turned eagerly in his seat to 
+watch Dumbledore bending over the cabinet beside 
+the door. When Dumbledore straightened up, he was 
+holding a familiar shallow stone basin etched with 
+odd markings around its rim. He placed the Pensieve 
+on the desk in front of Harry. 
+
+“You look worried.” 
+
+Harry had indeed been eyeing the Pensieve with some 
+apprehension. His previous experiences with the odd 
+device that stored and revealed thoughts and 
+memories, though highly instructive, had also been 
+
+Page | 221 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+uncomfortable. The last time he had disturbed its 
+contents, he had seen much more than he would 
+have wished. But Dumbledore was smiling. 
+
+“This time, you enter the Pensieve with me ... and, 
+even more unusually, with permission.” 
+
+“Where are we going, sir?” 
+
+“For a trip down Bob Ogden’s memory lane,” said 
+Dumbledore, pulling from his pocket a crystal bottle 
+containing a swirling silvery- white substance. 
+
+“Who was Bob Ogden?” 
+
+“He was employed by the Department of Magical Law 
+Enforcement,” said Dumbledore. “He died some time 
+ago, but not before I had tracked him down and 
+persuaded him to confide these recollections to me. 
+
+We are about to accompany him on a visit he made in 
+the course of his duties. If you will stand, Harry ...” 
+
+But Dumbledore was having difficulty pulling out the 
+stopper of the crystal bottle: His injured hand seemed 
+stiff and painful. 
+
+“Shall — shall I, sir?” 
+
+“No matter, Harry — ” 
+
+Dumbledore pointed his wand at the bottle and the 
+cork flew out. 
+
+“Sir — how did you injure your hand?” Harry asked 
+again, looking at the blackened fingers with a mixture 
+of revulsion and pity. 
+
+“Now is not the moment for that story, Harry. Not yet. 
+We have an appointment with Bob Ogden.” 
+
+Page | 222 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore tipped the silvery contents of the bottle 
+into the Pensieve, where they swirled and shimmered, 
+neither liquid nor gas. 
+
+“After you,” said Dumbledore, gesturing toward the 
+bowl. 
+
+Harry bent forward, took a deep breath, and plunged 
+his face into the silvery substance. He felt his feet 
+leave the office floor; he was falling, falling through 
+whirling darkness and then, quite suddenly, he was 
+blinking in dazzling sunlight. Before his eyes had 
+adjusted, Dumbledore landed beside him. 
+
+They were standing in a country lane bordered by 
+high, tangled hedgerows, beneath a summer sky as 
+bright and blue as a forget-me-not. Some ten feet in 
+front of them stood a short, plump man wearing 
+enormously thick glasses that reduced his eyes to 
+molelike specks. He was reading a wooden signpost 
+that was sticking out of the brambles on the left-hand 
+side of the road. Harry knew this must be Ogden; he 
+was the only person in sight, and he was also wearing 
+the strange assortment of clothes so often chosen by 
+inexperienced wizards trying to look like Muggles: in 
+this case, a frock coat and spats over a striped one- 
+piece bathing costume. Before Harry had time to do 
+more than register his bizarre appearance, however, 
+Ogden had set off at a brisk walk down the lane. 
+
+Dumbledore and Harry followed. As they passed the 
+wooden sign, Harry looked up at its two arms. The 
+one pointing back the way they had come read: 
+
+GREAT HANGLETON, 5 MILES. The arm pointing 
+after Ogden said LITTLE HANGLETON, 1 MILE. 
+
+They walked a short way with nothing to see but the 
+hedgerows, the wide blue sky overhead and the 
+swishing, frock-coated figure ahead. Then the lane 
+
+Page | 223 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+curved to the left and fell away, sloping steeply down 
+a hillside, so that they had a sudden, unexpected 
+view of a whole valley laid out in front of them. Harry 
+could see a village, undoubtedly Little Hangleton, 
+nestled between two steep hills, its church and 
+graveyard clearly visible. Across the valley, set on the 
+opposite hillside, was a handsome manor house 
+surrounded by a wide expanse of velvety green lawn. 
+
+Ogden had broken into a reluctant trot due to the 
+steep downward slope. Dumbledore lengthened his 
+stride, and Harry hurried to keep up. He thought 
+Little Hangleton must be their final destination and 
+wondered, as he had done on the night they had 
+found Slughorn, why they had to approach it from 
+such a distance. He soon discovered that he was 
+mistaken in thinking that they were going to the 
+village, however. The lane curved to the right and 
+when they rounded the corner, it was to see the very 
+edge of Ogden’s frock coat vanishing through a gap in 
+the hedge. 
+
+Dumbledore and Harry followed him onto a narrow 
+dirt track bordered by higher and wilder hedgerows 
+than those they had left behind. The path was 
+crooked, rocky, and potholed, sloping downhill like 
+the last one, and it seemed to be heading for a patch 
+of dark trees a little below them. Sure enough, the 
+track soon opened up at the copse, and Dumbledore 
+and Harry came to a halt behind Ogden, who had 
+stopped and drawn his wand. 
+
+Despite the cloudless sky, the old trees ahead cast 
+deep, dark, cool shadows, and it was a few seconds 
+before Harry’s eyes discerned the building half-hidden 
+amongst the tangle of trunks. It seemed to him a very 
+strange location to choose for a house, or else an odd 
+decision to leave the trees growing nearby, blocking 
+all light and the view of the valley below. He wondered 
+Page | 224 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+whether it was inhabited; its walls were mossy and so 
+many tiles had fallen off the roof that the rafters were 
+visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips 
+reaching the windows, which were tiny and thick with 
+grime. Just as he had concluded that nobody could 
+possibly live there, however, one of the windows was 
+thrown open with a clatter, and a thin trickle of steam 
+or smoke issued from it, as though somebody was 
+cooking. 
+
+Ogden moved forward quietly and, it seemed to Harry, 
+rather cautiously. As the dark shadows of the trees 
+slid over him, he stopped again, staring at the front 
+door, to which somebody had nailed a dead snake. 
+
+Then there was a rustle and a crack, and a man in 
+rags dropped from the nearest tree, landing on his 
+feet right in front of Ogden, who leapt backward so 
+fast he stood on the tails of his frock coat and 
+stumbled. 
+
+“ You’re not welcome.” 
+
+The man standing before them had thick hair so 
+matted with dirt it could have been any color. Several 
+of his teeth were missing. His eyes were small and 
+dark and stared in opposite directions. He might have 
+looked comical, but he did not; the effect was 
+frightening, and Harry could not blame Ogden for 
+backing away several more paces before he spoke. 
+
+“Er — good morning. I’m from the Ministry of Magic 
+
+
+
+“ You’re not welcome.” 
+
+“Er — I’m sorry — I don’t understand you,” said 
+Ogden nervously. 
+
+
+
+Page | 225 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry thought Ogden was being extremely dim; the 
+stranger was making himself very clear in Harry’s 
+opinion, particularly as he was brandishing a wand in 
+one hand and a short and rather bloody knife in the 
+other. 
+
+“You understand him, I’m sure, Harry?” said 
+Dumbledore quietly. 
+
+“Yes, of course,” said Harry, slightly nonplussed. 
+
+“Why can’t Ogden — ?” 
+
+But as his eyes found the dead snake on the door 
+again, he suddenly understood. 
+
+“He’s speaking Parseltongue?” 
+
+“Very good,” said Dumbledore, nodding and smiling. 
+
+The man in rags was now advancing on Ogden, knife 
+in one hand, wand in the other. 
+
+“Now, look — ” Ogden began, but too late: There was a 
+bang, and Ogden was on the ground, clutching his 
+nose, while a nasty yellowish goo squirted from 
+between his fingers. 
+
+“Morfin!” said a loud voice. 
+
+An elderly man had come hurrying out of the cottage, 
+banging the door behind him so that the dead snake 
+swung pathetically. This man was shorter than the 
+first, and oddly proportioned; his shoulders were very 
+broad and his arms overlong, which, with his bright 
+brown eyes, short scrubby hair, and wrinkled face, 
+gave him the look of a powerful, aged monkey. He 
+came to a halt beside the man with the knife, who 
+was now cackling with laughter at the sight of Ogden 
+on the ground. 
+
+Page | 226 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ministry, is it?” said the older man, looking down at 
+Ogden. 
+
+“Correct!” said Ogden angrily, dabbing his face. “And 
+you, I take it, are Mr. Gaunt?” 
+
+“S’right,” said Gaunt. “Got you in the face, did he?” 
+
+“Yes, he did!” snapped Ogden. 
+
+“Should’ve made your presence known, shouldn’t 
+you?” said Gaunt aggressively. “This is private 
+property. Can’t just walk in here and not expect my 
+son to defend himself.” 
+
+“Defend himself against what, man?” said Ogden, 
+clambering back to his feet. 
+
+“Busybodies. Intruders. Muggles and filth.” 
+
+Ogden pointed his wand at his own nose, which was 
+still issuing large amounts of what looked like yellow 
+pus, and the flow stopped at once. Mr. Gaunt spoke 
+out of the corner of his mouth to Morfin. 
+
+“Get in the house. Don’t argue.” 
+
+This time, ready for it, Harry recognized Parseltongue; 
+even while he could understand what was being said, 
+he distinguished the weird hissing noise that was all 
+Ogden could hear. Morfin seemed to be on the point 
+of disagreeing, but when his father cast him a 
+threatening look he changed his mind, lumbering 
+away to the cottage with an odd rolling gait and 
+slamming the front door behind him, so that the 
+snake swung sadly again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 227 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s your son I’m here to see, Mr. Gaunt,” said Ogden, 
+as he mopped the last of the pus from the front of his 
+coat. “That was Morfin, wasn’t it?” 
+
+“Ar, that was Morfin,” said the old man indifferently. 
+“Are you pure-blood?” he asked, suddenly aggressive. 
+
+“That’s neither here nor there,” said Ogden coldly, 
+and Harry felt his respect for Ogden rise. Apparently 
+Gaunt felt rather differently. He squinted into Ogden’s 
+face and muttered, in what was clearly supposed to 
+be an offensive tone, “Now I come to think about it, 
+
+I’ve seen noses like yours down in the village.” 
+
+“I don’t doubt it, if your son’s been let loose on them,” 
+said Ogden. “Perhaps we could continue this 
+discussion inside?” 
+
+“Inside?” 
+
+“Yes, Mr. Gaunt. I’ve already told you. I’m here about 
+Morfin. We sent an owl — ” 
+
+“I’ve no use for owls,” said Gaunt. “I don’t open 
+letters.” 
+
+“Then you can hardly complain that you get no 
+warning of visitors,” said Ogden tartly. “I am here 
+following a serious breach of Wizarding law, which 
+occurred here in the early hours of this morning — ” 
+
+“All right, all right, all right!” bellowed Gaunt. “Come 
+in the bleeding house, then, and much good it’ll do 
+you!” 
+
+The house seemed to contain three tiny rooms. Two 
+doors led off the main room, which served as kitchen 
+and living room combined. Morfin was sitting in a 
+filthy armchair beside the smoking fire, twisting a live 
+
+Page | 228 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+adder between his thick fingers and crooning softly at 
+it in Parseltongue: 
+
+Hissy, hissy, little snakey, 
+
+Slither on the floor, 
+
+You be good to Morfin 
+Or hell nail you to the door. 
+
+There was a scuffling noise in the corner beside the 
+open window, and Harry realized that there was 
+somebody else in the room, a girl whose ragged gray 
+dress was the exact color of the dirty stone wall 
+behind her. She was standing beside a steaming pot 
+on a grimy black stove, and was fiddling around with 
+the shelf of squalid-looking pots and pans above it. 
+Her hair was lank and dull and she had a plain, pale, 
+rather heavy face. Her eyes, like her brother’s, stared 
+in opposite directions. She looked a little cleaner than 
+the two men, but Harry thought he had never seen a 
+more defeated-looking person. 
+
+“M’daughter, Merope,” said Gaunt grudgingly, as 
+Ogden looked inquiringly toward her. 
+
+“Good morning,” said Ogden. 
+
+She did not answer, but with a frightened glance at 
+her father turned her back on the room and 
+continued shifting the pots on the shelf behind her. 
+
+“Well, Mr. Gaunt,” said Ogden, “to get straight to the 
+point, we have reason to believe that your son, 
+
+Morfin, performed magic in front of a Muggle late last 
+night.” 
+
+There was a deafening clang. Merope had dropped 
+one of the pots. 
+
+
+
+Page | 229 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Pick it up\” Gaunt bellowed at her. “That’s it, grub on 
+the floor like some filthy Muggle, what’s your wand 
+for, you useless sack of muck?” 
+
+“Mr. Gaunt, please!” said Ogden in a shocked voice, 
+as Merope, who had already picked up the pot, 
+flushed blotchily scarlet, lost her grip on the pot 
+again, drew her wand shakily from her pocket, 
+pointed it at the pot, and muttered a hasty, inaudible 
+spell that caused the pot to shoot across the floor 
+away from her, hit the opposite wall, and crack in 
+two. 
+
+Morfin let out a mad cackle of laughter. Gaunt 
+screamed, “Mend it, you pointless lump, mend it!” 
+
+Merope stumbled across the room, but before she had 
+time to raise her wand, Ogden had lifted his own and 
+said firmly, “Reparo.” The pot mended itself instantly. 
+
+Gaunt looked for a moment as though he was going to 
+shout at Ogden, but seemed to think better of it: 
+Instead, he jeered at his daughter, “Lucky the nice 
+man from the Ministry’s here, isn’t it? Perhaps he’ll 
+take you off my hands, perhaps he doesn’t mind dirty 
+Squibs. ...” 
+
+Without looking at anybody or thanking Ogden, 
+Merope picked up the pot and returned it, hands 
+trembling, to its shelf. She then stood quite still, her 
+back against the wall between the filthy window and 
+the stove, as though she wished for nothing more 
+than to sink into the stone and vanish. 
+
+“Mr. Gaunt,” Ogden began again, “as I’ve said: the 
+reason for my visit — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 230 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I heard you the first time!” snapped Gaunt. “And so 
+what? Morfin gave a Muggle a bit of what was coming 
+to him — what about it, then?” 
+
+“Morfin has broken Wizarding law,” said Ogden 
+sternly. 
+
+“ ‘Morfin has broken Wizarding law.’ ” Gaunt imitated 
+Ogden’s voice, making it pompous and singsong. 
+Morfin cackled again. “He taught a filthy Muggle a 
+lesson, that’s illegal now, is it?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Ogden. “I’m afraid it is.” 
+
+He pulled from an inside pocket a small scroll of 
+parchment and unrolled it. 
+
+“What’s that, then, his sentence?” said Gaunt, his 
+voice rising angrily. 
+
+“It is a summons to the Ministry for a hearing — ” 
+
+“Summons! Summons? Who do you think you are, 
+summoning my son anywhere?” 
+
+“I’m Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad,” 
+said Ogden. 
+
+“And you think we’re scum, do you?” screamed 
+Gaunt, advancing on Ogden now, with a dirty yellow- 
+nailed finger pointing at his chest. “Scum who’ll come 
+running when the Ministry tells ’em to? Do you know 
+who you’re talking to, you filthy little Mudblood, do 
+you? 
+
+“I was under the impression that I was speaking to 
+Mr. Gaunt,” said Ogden, looking wary, but standing 
+his ground. 
+
+
+
+Page | 231 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“That’s right!” roared Gaunt. For a moment, Harry 
+thought Gaunt was making an obscene hand gesture, 
+but then realized that he was showing Ogden the 
+ugly, black- stoned ring he was wearing on his middle 
+finger, waving it before Ogden’s eyes. “See this? See 
+this? Know what it is? Know where it came from? 
+Centuries it’s been in our family, that’s how far back 
+we go, and pure-blood all the way! Know how much 
+I’ve been offered for this, with the Peverell coat of 
+arms engraved on the stone?” 
+
+“I’ve really no idea,” said Ogden, blinking as the ring 
+sailed within an inch of his nose, “and it’s quite 
+beside the point, Mr. Gaunt. Your son has committed 
+
+
+
+With a howl of rage, Gaunt ran toward his daughter. 
+For a split second, Harry thought he was going to 
+throttle her as his hand flew to her throat; next 
+moment, he was dragging her toward Ogden by a gold 
+chain around her neck. 
+
+“See this?” he bellowed at Ogden, shaking a heavy 
+gold locket at him, while Merope spluttered and 
+gasped for breath. 
+
+“I see it, I see it!” said Ogden hastily. 
+
+“Slytherin’sl” yelled Gaunt. “Salazar Slytherin’s! We’re 
+his last living descendants, what do you say to that, 
+eh?” 
+
+“Mr. Gaunt, your daughter!” said Ogden in alarm, but 
+Gaunt had already released Merope; she staggered 
+away from him, back to her corner, massaging her 
+neck and gulping for air. 
+
+“So!” said Gaunt triumphantly, as though he had just 
+proved a complicated point beyond all possible 
+
+Page | 232 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+dispute. “Don’t you go talking to us as if we’re dirt on 
+your shoes! Generations of purebloods, wizards all — 
+more than you can say, I don’t doubt!” 
+
+And he spat on the floor at Ogden’s feet. Morfin 
+cackled again. Merope, huddled beside the window, 
+her head bowed and her face hidden by her lank hair, 
+said nothing. 
+
+“Mr. Gaunt,” said Ogden doggedly, “I am afraid that 
+neither your ancestors nor mine have anything to do 
+with the matter in hand. I am here because of Morfin, 
+Morfin and the Muggle he accosted late last night. 
+
+Our information” — he glanced down at his scroll of 
+parchment — “is that Morfin performed a jinx or hex 
+on the said Muggle, causing him to erupt in highly 
+painful hives.” 
+
+Morfin giggled. 
+
+“ Be quiet, boy,” snarled Gaunt in Parseltongue, and 
+Morfin fell silent again. 
+
+“And so what if he did, then?” Gaunt said defiantly to 
+Ogden. “I expect you’ve wiped the Muggle ’s filthy face 
+clean for him, and his memory to boot — ” 
+
+“That’s hardly the point, is it, Mr. Gaunt?” said 
+Ogden. “This was an unprovoked attack on a 
+defenseless — ” 
+
+“Ar, I had you marked out as a Muggle-lover the 
+moment I saw you,” sneered Gaunt, and he spat on 
+the floor again. 
+
+“This discussion is getting us nowhere,” said Ogden 
+firmly. “It is clear from your son’s attitude that he 
+feels no remorse for his actions.” He glanced down at 
+his scroll of parchment again. “Morfin will attend a 
+
+Page | 233 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hearing on the fourteenth of September to answer the 
+charges of using magic in front of a Muggle and 
+causing harm and distress to that same Mugg — ” 
+
+Ogden broke off. The jingling, clopping sounds of 
+horses and loud, laughing voices were drifting in 
+through the open window. Apparently the winding 
+lane to the village passed very close to the copse 
+where the house stood. Gaunt froze, listening, his 
+eyes wide. Morfin hissed and turned his face toward 
+the sounds, his expression hungry. Merope raised her 
+head. Her face, Harry saw, was starkly white. 
+
+“My God, what an eyesore!” rang out a girl’s voice, as 
+clearly audible through the open window as if she had 
+stood in the room beside them. “Couldn’t your father 
+have that hovel cleared away, Tom?” 
+
+“It’s not ours,” said a young man’s voice. “Everything 
+on the other side of the valley belongs to us, but that 
+cottage belongs to an old tramp called Gaunt, and his 
+children. The son’s quite mad, you should hear some 
+of the stories they tell in the village — ” 
+
+The girl laughed. The jingling, clopping noises were 
+growing louder and louder. Morfin made to get out of 
+his armchair. 
+
+“Keep your seat,” said his father warningly, in 
+Parseltongue. 
+
+“Tom,” said the girl’s voice again, now so close they 
+were clearly right beside the house, “I might be wrong 
+— but has somebody nailed a snake to that door?” 
+
+“Good lord, you’re right!” said the man’s voice. “That’ll 
+be the son, I told you he’s not right in the head. Don’t 
+look at it, Cecilia, darling.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 234 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The jingling and clopping sounds were now growing 
+fainter again. 
+
+“ ‘Darling,’ ” whispered Morfin in Parseltongue, 
+looking at his sister. “ ‘Darling,’ he called her. So he 
+wouldn’t have you anyway.” 
+
+Merope was so white Harry felt sure she was going to 
+faint. 
+
+“What’s that?” said Gaunt sharply, also in 
+Parseltongue, looking from his son to his daughter. 
+
+“ What did you say, Morfin?” 
+
+“She likes looking at that Muggle,” said Morfin, a 
+vicious expression on his face as he stared at his 
+sister, who now looked terrified. “Always in the 
+garden when he passes, peering through the hedge at 
+him, isn’t she? And last night — ” 
+
+Merope shook her head jerkily, imploringly, but 
+Morfin went on ruthlessly, “Hanging out of the 
+window waiting for him to ride home, wasn’t she?” 
+
+“Hanging out of the window to look at a Muggle?” said 
+Gaunt quietly. 
+
+All three of the Gaunts seemed to have forgotten 
+Ogden, who was looking both bewildered and irritated 
+at this renewed outbreak of incomprehensible hissing 
+and rasping. 
+
+“Is it true?” said Gaunt in a deadly voice, advancing a 
+step or two toward the terrified girl. “My daughter — 
+pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin — 
+hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?” 
+
+Merope shook her head frantically, pressing herself 
+into the wall, apparently unable to speak. 
+
+Page | 235 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But I got him, FatheA” cackled Morfin. “I got him as 
+he went by and he didn’t look so pretty with hives all 
+over him, did he, Merope?” 
+
+“You disgusting little Squib, you filthy little blood 
+traitoA.” roared Gaunt, losing control, and his hands 
+closed around his daughter’s throat. 
+
+Both Harry and Ogden yelled “No!” at the same time; 
+Ogden raised his wand and cried, “Relashiol” Gaunt 
+was thrown backward, away from his daughter; he 
+tripped over a chair and fell flat on his back. With a 
+roar of rage, Morfin leapt out of his chair and ran at 
+Ogden, brandishing his bloody knife and firing hexes 
+indiscriminately from his wand. 
+
+Ogden ran for his life. Dumbledore indicated that they 
+ought to follow and Harry obeyed, Merope ’s screams 
+echoing in his ears. 
+
+Ogden hurtled up the path and erupted onto the main 
+lane, his arms over his head, where he collided with 
+the glossy chestnut horse ridden by a very handsome, 
+dark-haired young man. Both he and the pretty girl 
+riding beside him on a gray horse roared with 
+laughter at the sight of Ogden, who bounced off the 
+horse’s flank and set off again, his frock coat flying, 
+covered from head to foot in dust, running pell-mell 
+up the lane. 
+
+“I think that will do, Harry,” said Dumbledore. He 
+took Harry by the elbow and tugged. Next moment, 
+they were both soaring weightlessly through 
+darkness, until they landed squarely on their feet, 
+back in Dumbledore ’s now twilit office. 
+
+“What happened to the girl in the cottage?” said Harry 
+at once, as Dumbledore lit extra lamps with a flick of 
+his wand. “Merope, or whatever her name was?” 
+
+Page | 236 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, she survived,” said Dumbledore, reseating 
+himself behind his desk and indicating that Harry 
+should sit down too. “Ogden Apparated back to the 
+Ministry and returned with reinforcements within 
+fifteen minutes. Morfin and his father attempted to 
+fight, but both were overpowered, removed from the 
+cottage, and subsequently convicted by the 
+Wizengamot. Morfin, who already had a record of 
+Muggle attacks, was sentenced to three years in 
+Azkaban. Marvolo, who had injured several Ministry 
+employees in addition to Ogden, received six months.” 
+
+“Marvolo?” Harry repeated wonderingly. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Dumbledore, smiling in approval. 
+
+“I am glad to see you’re keeping up.” 
+
+“That old man was — ?” 
+
+“Voldemort’s grandfather, yes,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Marvolo, his son, Morfin, and his daughter, Merope, 
+were the last of the Gaunts, a very ancient Wizarding 
+family noted for a vein of instability and violence that 
+flourished through the generations due to their habit 
+of marrying their own cousins. Lack of sense coupled 
+with a great liking for grandeur meant that the family 
+gold was squandered several generations before 
+Marvolo was born. He, as you saw, was left in squalor 
+and poverty, with a very nasty temper, a fantastic 
+amount of arrogance and pride, and a couple of 
+family heirlooms that he treasured just as much as 
+his son, and rather more than his daughter.” 
+
+“So Merope,” said Harry, leaning forward in his chair 
+and staring at Dumbledore, “so Merope was ... Sir, 
+does that mean she was ... Voldemort’s mother?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 237 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It does,” said Dumbledore. “And it so happens that 
+we also had a glimpse of Voldemort’s father. I wonder 
+whether you noticed?” 
+
+“The Muggle Morfin attacked? The man on the 
+horse?” 
+
+“Very good indeed,” said Dumbledore, beaming. “Yes, 
+that was Tom Riddle senior, the handsome Muggle 
+who used to go riding past the Gaunt cottage and for 
+whom Merope Gaunt cherished a secret, burning 
+passion.” 
+
+“And they ended up married?” Harry said in disbelief, 
+unable to imagine two people less likely to fall in love. 
+
+“I think you are forgetting,” said Dumbledore, “that 
+Merope was a witch. I do not believe that her magical 
+powers appeared to their best advantage when she 
+was being terrorized by her father. Once Marvolo and 
+Morfin were safely in Azkaban, once she was alone 
+and free for the first time in her life, then, I am sure, 
+she was able to give full rein to her abilities and to 
+plot her escape from the desperate life she had led for 
+eighteen years. 
+
+“Can you not think of any measure Merope could 
+have taken to make Tom Riddle forget his Muggle 
+companion, and fall in love with her instead?” 
+
+“The Imperius Curse?” Harry suggested. “Or a love 
+potion?” 
+
+“Very good. Personally, I am inclined to think that she 
+used a love potion. I am sure it would have seemed 
+more romantic to her, and I do not think it would 
+have been very difficult, some hot day, when Riddle 
+was riding alone, to persuade him to take a drink of 
+water. In any case, within a few months of the scene 
+Page | 238 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+we have just witnessed, the village of Little Hangleton 
+enjoyed a tremendous scandal. You can imagine the 
+gossip it caused when the squire’s son ran off with 
+the tramp’s daughter, Merope. 
+
+“But the villagers’ shock was nothing to Marvolo’s. He 
+returned from Azkaban, expecting to find his 
+daughter dutifully awaiting his return with a hot meal 
+ready on his table. Instead, he found a clear inch of 
+dust and her note of farewell, explaining what she 
+had done. 
+
+“From all that I have been able to discover, he never 
+mentioned her name or existence from that time 
+forth. The shock of her desertion may have 
+contributed to his early death — or perhaps he had 
+simply never learned to feed himself. Azkaban had 
+greatly weakened Marvolo, and he did not live to see 
+Morfin return to the cottage.” 
+
+“And Merope? She ... she died, didn’t she? Wasn’t 
+Voldemort brought up in an orphanage?” 
+
+“Yes, indeed,” said Dumbledore. “We must do a 
+certain amount of guessing here, although I do not 
+think it is difficult to deduce what happened. You see, 
+within a few months of their runaway marriage, Tom 
+Riddle reappeared at the manor house in Little 
+Hangleton without his wife. The rumor flew around 
+the neighborhood that he was talking of being 
+‘hoodwinked’ and ‘taken in.’ What he meant, I am 
+sure, is that he had been under an enchantment that 
+had now lifted, though I daresay he did not dare use 
+those precise words for fear of being thought insane. 
+When they heard what he was saying, however, the 
+villagers guessed that Merope had lied to Tom Riddle, 
+pretending that she was going to have his baby, and 
+that he had married her for this reason.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 239 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But she did have his baby.” 
+
+
+
+“But not until a year after they were married. Tom 
+Riddle left her while she was still pregnant.” 
+
+“What went wrong?” asked Harry. “Why did the love 
+potion stop working?” 
+
+“Again, this is guesswork,” said Dumbledore, “but I 
+believe that Merope, who was deeply in love with her 
+husband, could not bear to continue enslaving him by 
+magical means. I believe that she made the choice to 
+stop giving him the potion. Perhaps, besotted as she 
+was, she had convinced herself that he would by now 
+have fallen in love with her in return. Perhaps she 
+thought he would stay for the baby’s sake. If so, she 
+was wrong on both counts. He left her, never saw her 
+again, and never troubled to discover what became of 
+his son.” 
+
+The sky outside was inky black and the lamps in 
+Dumbledore ’s office seemed to glow more brightly 
+than before. 
+
+“I think that will do for tonight, Harry,” said 
+Dumbledore after a moment or two. 
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Harry. 
+
+He got to his feet, but did not leave. 
+
+“Sir ... is it important to know all this about 
+Voldemort’s past?” 
+
+“Very important, I think,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“And it ... it’s got something to do with the prophecy?” 
+
+“It has everything to do with the prophecy.” 
+
+Page | 240 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Right,” said Harry, a little confused, but reassured 
+all the same. 
+
+He turned to go, then another question occurred to 
+him, and he turned back again. “Sir, am I allowed to 
+tell Ron and Hermione everything you’ve told me?” 
+
+Dumbledore considered him for a moment, then said, 
+“Yes, I think Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger have 
+proved themselves trustworthy. But Harry, I am going 
+to ask you to ask them not to repeat any of this to 
+anybody else. It would not be a good idea if word got 
+around how much I know, or suspect, about Lord 
+Voldemort’s secrets.” 
+
+“No, sir, I’ll make sure it’s just Ron and Hermione. 
+Good night.” 
+
+He turned away again, and was almost at the door 
+when he saw it. Sitting on one of the little spindle- 
+legged tables that supported so many frail-looking 
+silver instruments, was an ugly gold ring set with a 
+large, cracked, black stone. 
+
+“Sir,” said Harry, staring at it. “That ring — ” 
+
+“Yes?” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“You were wearing it when we visited Professor 
+Slughorn that night.” 
+
+“So I was,” Dumbledore agreed. 
+
+“But isn’t it ... sir, isn’t it the same ring Marvolo 
+Gaunt showed Ogden?” 
+
+Dumbledore bowed his head. “The very same.” 
+
+“But how come — ? Have you always had it?” 
+
+Page | 241 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, I acquired it very recently,” said Dumbledore. “A 
+few days before I came to fetch you from your aunt 
+and uncle’s, in fact.” 
+
+“That would be around the time you injured your 
+hand, then, sir?” 
+
+“Around that time, yes, Harry.” 
+
+Harry hesitated. Dumbledore was smiling. 
+
+“Sir, how exactly — ?” 
+
+“Too late, Harry! You shall hear the story another 
+time. Good night.” 
+
+“Good night, sir.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 242 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+HERMIONE’S HELPING HAND 
+
+As Hermione had predicted, the sixth years’ free 
+periods were not the hours of blissful relaxation Ron 
+had anticipated, but times in which to attempt to 
+keep up with the vast amount of homework they were 
+being set. Not only were they studying as though they 
+had exams every day, but the lessons themselves had 
+become more demanding than ever before. Harry 
+barely understood half of what Professor McGonagall 
+said to them these days; even Hermione had had to 
+ask her to repeat instructions once or twice. 
+Incredibly, and to Hermione ’s increasing resentment, 
+Harry’s best subject had suddenly become Potions, 
+thanks to the Half-Blood Prince. 
+
+Nonverbal spells were now expected, not only in 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts, but in Charms and 
+Transfiguration too. Harry frequently looked over at 
+his classmates in the common room or at mealtimes 
+to see them purple in the face and straining as 
+though they had overdosed on U-No-Poo; but he knew 
+that they were really struggling to make spells work 
+
+
+
+Page | 243 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+without saying incantations aloud. It was a relief to 
+get outside into the greenhouses; they were dealing 
+with more dangerous plants than ever in Herbology, 
+but at least they were still allowed to swear loudly if 
+the Venomous Tentacula seized them unexpectedly 
+from behind. 
+
+One result of their enormous workload and the frantic 
+hours of practicing nonverbal spells was that Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione had so far been unable to find 
+time to go and visit Hagrid. He had stopped coming to 
+meals at the staff table, an ominous sign, and on the 
+few occasions when they had passed him in the 
+corridors or out in the grounds, he had mysteriously 
+failed to notice them or hear their greetings. 
+
+“We’ve got to go and explain,” said Hermione, looking 
+up at Hagrid ’s huge empty chair at the staff table the 
+following Saturday at breakfast. 
+
+“We’ve got Quidditch tryouts this morning!” said Ron. 
+“And we’re supposed to be practicing that Aguamenti 
+Charm from Flitwick! Anyway, explain what? How are 
+we going to tell him we hated his stupid subject?” 
+
+“We didn’t hate it!” said Hermione. 
+
+“Speak for yourself, I haven’t forgotten the skrewts,” 
+said Ron darkly. “And I’m telling you now, we’ve had a 
+narrow escape. You didn’t hear him going on about 
+his gormless brother — we’d have been teaching 
+Grawp how to tie his shoelaces if we’d stayed.” 
+
+“I hate not talking to Hagrid,” said Hermione, looking 
+upset. 
+
+“Well go down after Quidditch,” Harry assured her. 
+
+He too was missing Hagrid, although like Ron he 
+thought that they were better off without Grawp in 
+
+Page | 244 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+their lives. “But trials might take all morning, the 
+number of people who have applied.” He felt slightly 
+nervous at confronting the first hurdle of his 
+Captaincy. “I dunno why the team’s this popular all of 
+a sudden.” 
+
+“Oh, come on, Harry,” said Hermione, suddenly 
+impatient. “It’s not Quidditch that’s popular, it’s you! 
+You’ve never been more interesting, and frankly, 
+you’ve never been more fanciable.” 
+
+Ron gagged on a large piece of kipper. Hermione 
+spared him one look of disdain before turning back to 
+Harry. 
+
+“Everyone knows you’ve been telling the truth now, 
+don’t they? The whole Wizarding world has had to 
+admit that you were right about Voldemort being back 
+and that you really have fought him twice in the last 
+two years and escaped both times. And now they’re 
+calling you ‘the Chosen One’ — well, come on, can’t 
+you see why people are fascinated by you?” 
+
+Harry was finding the Great Hall very hot all of a 
+sudden, even though the ceiling still looked cold and 
+rainy. 
+
+“And you’ve been through all that persecution from 
+the Ministry when they were trying to make out you 
+were unstable and a liar. You can still see the marks 
+on the back of your hand where that evil woman 
+made you write with your own blood, but you stuck to 
+your story anyway. ...” 
+
+“You can still see where those brains got hold of me in 
+the Ministry, look,” said Ron, shaking back his 
+sleeves. 
+
+
+
+Page | 245 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And it doesn’t hurt that you’ve grown about a foot 
+over the summer either,” Hermione finished, ignoring 
+Ron. 
+
+“I’m tall,” said Ron inconsequentially. 
+
+The post owls arrived, swooping down through rain- 
+flecked windows, scattering everyone with droplets of 
+water. Most people were receiving more post than 
+usual; anxious parents were keen to hear from their 
+children and to reassure them, in turn, that all was 
+well at home. Harry had received no mail since the 
+start of term; his only regular correspondent was now 
+dead and although he had hoped that Lupin might 
+write occasionally, he had so far been disappointed. 
+He was very surprised, therefore, to see the snowy 
+white Hedwig circling amongst all the brown and gray 
+owls. She landed in front of him carrying a large, 
+square package. A moment later, an identical package 
+landed in front of Ron, crushing beneath it his 
+minuscule and exhausted owl, Pigwidgeon. 
+
+“Ha!” said Harry, unwrapping the parcel to reveal a 
+new copy of Advanced Potion-Making, fresh from 
+Flourish and Blotts. 
+
+“Oh good,” said Hermione, delighted. “Now you can 
+give that graffitied copy back.” 
+
+“Are you mad?” said Harry. “I’m keeping it! Look, I’ve 
+thought it out — ” 
+
+He pulled the old copy of Advanced Potion-Making out 
+of his bag and tapped the cover with his wand, 
+muttering, “Diffindol” The cover fell off. He did the 
+same thing with the brand-new book (Hermione 
+looked scandalized). He then swapped the covers, 
+tapped each, and said, “Reparo\” 
+
+
+
+Page | 246 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There sat the Prince’s copy, disguised as a new book, 
+and there sat the fresh copy from Flourish and Blotts, 
+looking thoroughly secondhand. 
+
+“I’ll give Slughorn back the new one, he can’t 
+complain, it cost nine Galleons.” 
+
+Hermione pressed her lips together, looking angry 
+and disapproving, but was distracted by a third owl 
+landing in front of her carrying that day’s copy of the 
+Daily Prophet. She unfolded it hastily and scanned 
+the front page. 
+
+“Anyone we know dead?” asked Ron in a determinedly 
+casual voice; he posed the same question every time 
+Hermione opened her paper. 
+
+“No, but there have been more dementor attacks,” 
+said Hermione. “And an arrest.” 
+
+“Excellent, who?” said Harry, thinking of Bellatrix 
+Lestrange. 
+
+“Stan Shunpike,” said Hermione. 
+
+“What?” said Harry, startled. 
+
+“ ‘Stanley Shunpike , conductor on the popular 
+Wizarding conveyance the Knight Bus, has been 
+arrested on suspicion of Death Eater activity. Mr. 
+Shunpike, 21, was taken into custody late last night 
+after a raid on his Clapham home ...’ ” 
+
+“Stan Shunpike, a Death Eater?” said Harry, 
+remembering the spotty youth he had first met three 
+years before. “No way!” 
+
+“He might have been put under the Imperius Curse,” 
+said Ron reasonably. “You never can tell.” 
+
+Page | 247 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It doesn’t look like it,” said Hermione, who was still 
+reading. “It says here he was arrested after he was 
+overheard talking about the Death Eaters’ secret 
+plans in a pub.” She looked up with a troubled 
+expression on her face. “If he was under the Imperius 
+Curse, he’d hardly stand around gossiping about 
+their plans, would he?” 
+
+“It sounds like he was trying to make out he knew 
+more than he did,” said Ron. “Isn’t he the one who 
+claimed he was going to become Minister of Magic 
+when he was trying to chat up those veela?” 
+
+“Yeah, that’s him,” said Harry. “I dunno what they’re 
+playing at, taking Stan seriously.” 
+
+“They probably want to look as though they’re doing 
+something,” said Hermione, frowning. “People are 
+terrified — you know the Patil twins’ parents want 
+them to go home? And Eloise Midgen has already 
+been withdrawn. Her father picked her up last night.” 
+
+“What!” said Ron, goggling at Hermione. “But 
+Hogwarts is safer than their homes, bound to be! 
+We’ve got Aurors, and all those extra protective spells, 
+and we’ve got Dumbledore!” 
+
+“I don’t think we’ve got him all the time,” said 
+Hermione very quietly, glancing toward the staff table 
+over the top of the Prophet “Haven’t you noticed? His 
+seat’s been empty as often as Hagrid’s this past 
+week.” 
+
+Harry and Ron looked up at the staff table. The 
+headmaster’s chair was indeed empty. Now Harry 
+came to think of it, he had not seen Dumbledore 
+since their private lesson a week ago. 
+
+
+
+Page | 248 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I think he’s left the school to do something with the 
+Order,” said Hermione in a low voice. “I mean ... it’s 
+all looking serious, isn’t it? 
+
+Harry and Ron did not answer, but Harry knew that 
+they were all thinking the same thing. There had been 
+a horrible incident the day before, when Hannah 
+Abbott had been taken out of Herbology to be told her 
+mother had been found dead. They had not seen 
+Hannah since. 
+
+When they left the Gryffindor table five minutes later 
+to head down to the Quidditch pitch, they passed 
+Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Remembering what 
+Hermione had said about the Patil twins’ parents 
+wanting them to leave Hogwarts, Harry was 
+unsurprised to see that the two best friends were 
+whispering together, looking distressed. What did 
+surprise him was that when Ron drew level with 
+them, Parvati suddenly nudged Lavender, who looked 
+around and gave Ron a wide smile. Ron blinked at 
+her, then returned the smile uncertainly. His walk 
+instantly became something more like a strut. Harry 
+resisted the temptation to laugh, remembering that 
+Ron had refrained from doing so after Malfoy had 
+broken Harry’s nose; Hermione, however, looked cold 
+and distant all the way down to the stadium through 
+the cool, misty drizzle, and departed to find a place in 
+the stands without wishing Ron good luck. 
+
+As Harry had expected, the trials took most of the 
+morning. Half of Gryffindor House seemed to have 
+turned up, from first years who were nervously 
+clutching a selection of the dreadful old school 
+brooms, to seventh years who towered over the rest, 
+looking coolly intimidating. The latter included a 
+large, wiry-haired boy Harry recognized immediately 
+from the Hogwarts Express. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We met on the train, in old Sluggy’s compartment,” 
+he said confidently, stepping out of the crowd to 
+shake Harry’s hand. “Cormac McLaggen, Keeper.” 
+
+“You didn’t try out last year, did you?” asked Harry, 
+taking note of the breadth of McLaggen and thinking 
+that he would probably block all three goal hoops 
+without even moving. 
+
+“I was in the hospital wing when they held the trials,” 
+said McLaggen, with something of a swagger. “Ate a 
+pound of doxy eggs for a bet.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry. “Well ... if you wait over there ...” 
+
+He pointed over to the edge of the pitch, close to 
+where Hermione was sitting. He thought he saw a 
+flicker of annoyance pass over McLaggen’s face and 
+wondered whether McLaggen expected preferential 
+treatment because they were both “old Sluggy’s” 
+favorites. 
+
+Harry decided to start with a basic test, asking all 
+applicants for the team to divide into groups of ten 
+and fly once around the pitch. This was a good 
+decision: The first ten was made up of first years and 
+it could not have been plainer that they had hardly 
+ever flown before. Only one boy managed to remain 
+airborne for more than a few seconds, and he was so 
+surprised he promptly crashed into one of the goal 
+posts. 
+
+The second group was comprised of ten of the silliest 
+girls Harry had ever encountered, who, when he blew 
+his whistle, merely fell about giggling and clutching 
+one another. Romilda Vane was amongst them. When 
+he told them to leave the pitch, they did so quite 
+cheerfully and went to sit in the stands to heckle 
+everyone else. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The third group had a pileup halfway around the 
+pitch. Most of the fourth group had come without 
+broomsticks. The fifth group were Hufflepuffs. 
+
+“If there’s anyone else here who’s not from 
+Gryffindor,” roared Harry, who was starting to get 
+seriously annoyed, “leave now, please!” 
+
+There was a pause, then a couple of little Ravenclaws 
+went sprinting off the pitch, snorting with laughter. 
+
+After two hours, many complaints, and several 
+tantrums, one involving a crashed Comet Two Sixty 
+and several broken teeth, Harry had found himself 
+three Chasers: Katie Bell, returned to the team after 
+an excellent trial; a new find called Demelza Robins, 
+who was particularly good at dodging Bludgers; and 
+Ginny Weasley, who had outflown all the competition 
+and scored seventeen goals to boot. Pleased though 
+he was with his choices, Harry had also shouted 
+himself hoarse at the many complainers and was now 
+enduring a similar battle with the rejected Beaters. 
+
+“That’s my final decision and if you don’t get out of 
+the way for the Keepers I’ll hex you,” he bellowed. 
+
+Neither of his chosen Beaters had the old brilliance of 
+Fred and George, but he was still reasonably pleased 
+with them: Jimmy Peakes, a short but broad-chested 
+third-year boy who had managed to raise a lump the 
+size of an egg on the back of Harry’s head with a 
+ferociously hit Bludger, and Ritchie Coote, who looked 
+weedy but aimed well. They now joined Katie, 
+
+Demelza, and Ginny in the stands to watch the 
+selection of their last team member. 
+
+Harry had deliberately left the trial of the Keepers 
+until last, hoping for an emptier stadium and less 
+pressure on all concerned. Unfortunately, however, all 
+
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+
+
+
+
+the rejected players and a number of people who had 
+come down to watch after a lengthy breakfast had 
+joined the crowd by now, so that it was larger than 
+ever. As each Keeper flew up to the goal hoops, the 
+crowd roared and jeered in equal measure. Harry 
+glanced over at Ron, who had always had a problem 
+with nerves; Harry had hoped that winning their final 
+match last term might have cured it, but apparently 
+not: Ron was a delicate shade of green. 
+
+None of the first five applicants saved more than two 
+goals apiece. To Harry’s great disappointment, 
+
+Cormac McLaggen saved four penalties out of five. On 
+the last one, however, he shot off in completely the 
+wrong direction; the crowd laughed and booed and 
+McLaggen returned to the ground grinding his teeth. 
+
+Ron looked ready to pass out as he mounted his 
+Cleansweep Eleven. “Good luck!” cried a voice from 
+the stands. Harry looked around, expecting to see 
+Hermione, but it was Lavender Brown. He would have 
+quite liked to have hidden his face in his hands, as 
+she did a moment later, but thought that as the 
+Captain he ought to show slightly more grit, and so 
+turned to watch Ron do his trial. 
+
+Yet he need not have worried: Ron saved one, two, 
+three, four, five penalties in a row. Delighted, and 
+resisting joining in the cheers of the crowd with 
+difficulty, Harry turned to McLaggen to tell him that, 
+most unfortunately, Ron had beaten him, only to find 
+McLaggen’s red face inches from his own. He stepped 
+back hastily. 
+
+“His sister didn’t really try,” said McLaggen 
+menacingly. There was a vein pulsing in his temple 
+like the one Harry had often admired in Uncle 
+Vernon’s. “She gave him an easy save.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Rubbish,” said Harry coldly. “That was the one he 
+nearly missed.” 
+
+McLaggen took a step nearer Harry, who stood his 
+ground this time. 
+
+“Give me another go.” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “You’ve had your go. You saved four. 
+Ron saved five. Ron’s Keeper, he won it fair and 
+square. Get out of my way.” 
+
+He thought for a moment that McLaggen might punch 
+him, but he contented himself with an ugly grimace 
+and stormed away, growling what sounded like 
+threats to thin air. 
+
+Harry turned around to find his new team beaming at 
+him. 
+
+“Well done,” he croaked. “You flew really well — ” 
+
+“You did brilliantly, Ron!” 
+
+This time it really was Hermione running toward 
+them from the stands; Harry saw Lavender walking 
+off the pitch, arm in arm with Parvati, a rather 
+grumpy expression on her face. Ron looked extremely 
+pleased with himself and even taller than usual as he 
+grinned at the team and at Hermione. 
+
+After fixing the time of their first full practice for the 
+following Thursday, Harry, Ron, and Hermione bade 
+good-bye to the rest of the team and headed off 
+toward Hagrid’s. A watery sun was trying to break 
+through the clouds now and it had stopped drizzling 
+at last. Harry felt extremely hungry; he hoped there 
+would be something to eat at Hagrid’s. 
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I thought I was going to miss that fourth penalty,” 
+Ron was saying happily. “Tricky shot from Demelza, 
+did you see, had a bit of spin on it — ” 
+
+“Yes, yes, you were magnificent,” said Hermione, 
+looking amused. 
+
+“I was better than that McLaggen anyway,” said Ron 
+in a highly satisfied voice. “Did you see him 
+lumbering off in the wrong direction on his fifth? 
+Looked like he’d been Confunded. ...” 
+
+To Harry’s surprise, Hermione turned a very deep 
+shade of pink at these words. Ron noticed nothing; he 
+was too busy describing each of his other penalties in 
+loving detail. 
+
+The great gray hippogriff, Buckbeak, was tethered in 
+front of Hagrid’s cabin. He clicked his razor-sharp 
+beak at their approach and turned his huge head 
+toward them. 
+
+“Oh dear,” said Hermione nervously. “He’s still a bit 
+scary, isn’t he?” 
+
+“Come off it, you’ve ridden him, haven’t you?” said 
+Ron. 
+
+Harry stepped forward and bowed low to the 
+hippogriff without breaking eye contact or blinking. 
+After a few seconds, Buckbeak sank into a bow too. 
+
+“How are you?” Harry asked him in a low voice, 
+moving forward to stroke the feathery head. “Missing 
+him? But you’re okay here with Hagrid, aren’t you?” 
+
+“Oi!” said a loud voice. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid had come striding around the corner of his 
+cabin wearing a large flowery apron and carrying a 
+sack of potatoes. His enormous boarhound, Fang, 
+was at his heels; Fang gave a booming bark and 
+bounded forward. 
+
+“Git away from him! Hell have yer fingers — oh. It’s 
+yeh lot.” 
+
+Fang was jumping up at Hermione and Ron, 
+attempting to lick their ears. Hagrid stood and looked 
+at them all for a split second, then turned and strode 
+into his cabin, slamming the door behind him. 
+
+“Oh dear!” said Hermione, looking stricken. 
+
+“Don’t worry about it,” said Harry grimly. He walked 
+over to the door and knocked loudly. 
+
+“Hagrid! Open up, we want to talk to you!” 
+
+There was no sound from within. 
+
+“If you don’t open the door, we’ll blast it open!” Harry 
+said, pulling out his wand. 
+
+“Harry!” said Hermione, sounding shocked. “You can’t 
+possibly — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I can!” said Harry. “Stand back — ” 
+
+But before he could say anything else, the door flew 
+open again as Harry had known it would, and there 
+stood Hagrid, glowering down at him and looking, 
+despite the flowery apron, positively alarming. 
+
+“I’m a teacher!” he roared at Harry. “A teacher, Potter! 
+How dare yeh threaten ter break down my door!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm sorry, sir,” said Harry, emphasizing the last word 
+as he stowed his wand inside his robes. 
+
+Hagrid looked stunned. “Since when have yeh called 
+me ‘sir’?” 
+
+
+
+“Since when have you called me ‘Potter’?” 
+
+“Oh, very clever,” growled Hagrid. “Very amusin’. 
+That’s me outsmarted, innit? All righ’, come in then, 
+yeh ungrateful little ...” 
+
+Mumbling darkly, he stood back to let them pass. 
+Hermione scurried in after Harry, looking rather 
+frightened. 
+
+“Well?” said Hagrid grumpily, as Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione sat down around his enormous wooden 
+table, Fang laying his head immediately upon Harry’s 
+knee and drooling all over his robes. “What’s this? 
+Feelin’ sorry for me? Reckon I’m lonely or summat?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry at once. “We wanted to see you.” 
+
+“We’ve missed you!” said Hermione tremulously. 
+
+“Missed me, have yeh?” snorted Hagrid. “Yeah. Righ’.” 
+
+He stomped around, brewing up tea in his enormous 
+copper kettle, muttering all the while. Finally he 
+slammed down three bucket-sized mugs of 
+mahogany-brown tea in front of them and a plate of 
+his rock cakes. Harry was hungry enough even for 
+Hagrid’s cooking, and took one at once. 
+
+“Hagrid,” said Hermione timidly, when he joined them 
+at the table and started peeling his potatoes with a 
+brutality that suggested that each tuber had done 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
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+him a great personal wrong, “we really wanted to 
+carry on with Care of Magical Creatures, you know.” 
+
+
+
+Hagrid gave another great snort. Harry rather thought 
+some bogeys landed on the potatoes, and was 
+inwardly thankful that they were not staying for 
+dinner. 
+
+“We did!” said Hermione. “But none of us could fit it 
+into our schedules!” 
+
+“Yeah. Righ’,” said Hagrid again. 
+
+There was a funny squelching sound and they all 
+looked around: Hermione let out a tiny shriek, and 
+Ron leapt out of his seat and hurried around the table 
+away from the large barrel standing in the corner that 
+they had only just noticed. It was full of what looked 
+like foot-long maggots, slimy, white, and writhing. 
+
+“What are they, Hagrid?” asked Harry, trying to sound 
+interested rather than revolted, but putting down his 
+rock cake all the same. 
+
+“Jus’ giant grubs,” said Hagrid. 
+
+“And they grow into ... ?” said Ron, looking 
+apprehensive. 
+
+“They won’ grow inter nuthin’,” said Hagrid. “I got ’em 
+ter feed ter Aragog.” 
+
+And without warning, he burst into tears. 
+
+“Hagrid!” cried Hermione, leaping up, hurrying 
+around the table the long way to avoid the barrel of 
+maggots, and putting an arm around his shaking 
+shoulders. “What is it?” 
+
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+
+
+
+“It’s ... him ...” gulped Hagrid, his beetle-black eyes 
+streaming as he mopped his face with his apron. “It’s 
+... Aragog. ... I think he’s dyin’. ... He got ill over the 
+summer an’ he’s not gettin’ better. ... I don’ know 
+what I’ll do if he ... if he ... We’ve bin tergether so 
+long. ...” 
+
+Hermione patted Hagrid’s shoulder, looking at a 
+complete loss for anything to say. Harry knew how 
+she felt. He had known Hagrid to present a vicious 
+baby dragon with a teddy bear, seen him croon over 
+giant scorpions with suckers and stingers, attempt to 
+reason with his brutal giant of a half-brother, but this 
+was perhaps the most incomprehensible of all his 
+monster fancies: the gigantic talking spider, Aragog, 
+who dwelled deep in the Forbidden Forest and which 
+he and Ron had only narrowly escaped four years 
+previously. 
+
+“Is there — is there anything we can do?” Hermione 
+asked, ignoring Ron’s frantic grimaces and head- 
+shakings. 
+
+“I don’ think there is, Hermione,” choked Hagrid, 
+attempting to stem the flood of his tears. “See, the 
+rest o’ the tribe ... Aragog’s family ... they’re gettin’ a 
+bit funny now he’s ill ... bit restive ...” 
+
+“Yeah, I think we saw a bit of that side of them,” said 
+Ron in an undertone. 
+
+"... I don’ reckon it’d be safe fer anyone but me ter go 
+near the colony at the mo’,” Hagrid finished, blowing 
+his nose hard on his apron and looking up. “But 
+thanks fer offerin’, Hermione. ... It means a lot. ...” 
+
+After that, the atmosphere lightened considerably, for 
+although neither Harry nor Ron had shown any 
+inclination to go and feed giant grubs to a murderous, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+gargantuan spider, Hagrid seemed to take it for 
+granted that they would have liked to have done and 
+became his usual self once more. 
+
+“Ar, I always knew yeh’d find it hard ter squeeze me 
+inter yer timetables,” he said gruffly, pouring them 
+more tea. “Even if yeh applied fer Time-Turners — ” 
+
+“We couldn’t have done,” said Hermione. “We 
+smashed the entire stock of Ministry Time-Turners 
+when we were there last summer. It was in the Daily 
+Prophet.” 
+
+“Ar, well then,” said Hagrid. “There’s no way yeh 
+could’ve done it. ... I’m sorry I’ve bin — yeh know — 
+I’ve jus’ bin worried abou’ Aragog ... an’ I did wonder 
+whether, if Professor Grubbly-Plank had bin teachin’ 
+yeh 
+
+At which all three of them stated categorically and 
+untruthfully that Professor Grubbly-Plank, who had 
+substituted for Hagrid a few times, was a dreadful 
+teacher, with the result that by the time Hagrid waved 
+them off the premises at dusk, he looked quite 
+cheerful. 
+
+“I’m starving,” said Harry, once the door had closed 
+behind them and they were hurrying through the 
+dark and deserted grounds; he had abandoned the 
+rock cake after an ominous cracking noise from one 
+of his back teeth. “And I’ve got that detention with 
+Snape tonight, I haven’t got much time for dinner. ...” 
+
+As they came into the castle they spotted Cormac 
+McLaggen entering the Great Hall. It took him two 
+attempts to get through the doors; he ricocheted off 
+the frame on the first attempt. Ron merely guffawed 
+gloatingly and strode off into the Hall after him, but 
+Harry caught Hermione ’s arm and held her back. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What?” said Hermione defensively. 
+
+
+
+“If you ask me,” said Harry quietly, “McLaggen looks 
+like he was Confunded this morning. And he was 
+standing right in front of where you were sitting.” 
+
+Hermione blushed. 
+
+“Oh, all right then, I did it,” she whispered. “But you 
+should have heard the way he was talking about Ron 
+and Ginny! Anyway, he’s got a nasty temper, you saw 
+how he reacted when he didn’t get in — you wouldn’t 
+have wanted someone like that on the team.” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “No, I suppose that’s true. But 
+wasn’t that dishonest, Hermione? I mean, you’re a 
+prefect, aren’t you?” 
+
+“Oh, be quiet,” she snapped, as he smirked. 
+
+“What are you two doing?” demanded Ron, 
+reappearing in the doorway to the Great Hall and 
+looking suspicious. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry and Hermione together, and 
+they hurried after Ron. The smell of roast beef made 
+Harry’s stomach ache with hunger, but they had 
+barely taken three steps toward the Gryffindor table 
+when Professor Slughorn appeared in front of them, 
+blocking their path. 
+
+“Harry, Harry, just the man I was hoping to see!” he 
+boomed genially, twiddling the ends of his walrus 
+mustache and puffing out his enormous belly. “I was 
+hoping to catch you before dinner! What do you say to 
+a spot of supper tonight in my rooms instead? We’re 
+having a little party, just a few rising stars, I’ve got 
+McLaggen coming and Zabini, the charming Melinda 
+Bobbin — I don’t know whether you know her? Her 
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+
+
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+family owns a large chain of apothecaries — and, of 
+course, I hope very much that Miss Granger will favor 
+me by coming too.” 
+
+Slughorn made Hermione a little bow as he finished 
+speaking. It was as though Ron was not present; 
+Slughorn did not so much as look at him. 
+
+“I can’t come, Professor,” said Harry at once. “I’ve got 
+a detention with Professor Snape.” 
+
+“Oh dear!” said Slughorn, his face falling comically. 
+“Dear, dear, I was counting on you, Harry! Well, now, 
+I’ll just have to have a word with Severus and explain 
+the situation. I’m sure I’ll be able to persuade him to 
+postpone your detention. Yes, I’ll see you both later!” 
+
+He bustled away out of the Hall. 
+
+“He’s got no chance of persuading Snape,” said Harry, 
+the moment Slughorn was out of earshot. “This 
+detention’s already been postponed once; Snape did it 
+for Dumbledore, but he won’t do it for anyone else.” 
+
+“Oh, I wish you could come, I don’t want to go on my 
+own!” said Hermione anxiously; Harry knew that she 
+was thinking about McLaggen. 
+
+“I doubt you’ll be alone, Ginny’ll probably be invited,” 
+snapped Ron, who did not seem to have taken kindly 
+to being ignored by Slughorn. 
+
+After dinner they made their way back to Gryffindor 
+Tower. The common room was very crowded, as most 
+people had finished dinner by now, but they managed 
+to find a free table and sat down; Ron, who had been 
+in a bad mood ever since the encounter with 
+Slughorn, folded his arms and frowned at the ceiling. 
+Hermione reached out for a copy of the Evening 
+Page | 261 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Prophet, which somebody had left abandoned on a 
+chair. 
+
+“Anything new?” said Harry. 
+
+“Not really ...” Hermione had opened the newspaper 
+and was scanning the inside pages. “Oh, look, your 
+dad’s in here, Ron — he’s all right!” she added 
+quickly, for Ron had looked around in alarm. “It just 
+says he’s been to visit the Malfoys’ house. ‘This 
+second search of the Death Eater’s residence does not 
+seem to have yielded any results. Arthur Weasley of 
+the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of 
+Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects 
+said that his team had been acting upon a confidential 
+tip-off’” 
+
+“Yeah, mine!” said Harry. “I told him at King’s Cross 
+about Malfoy and that thing he was trying to get 
+Borgin to fix! Well, if it’s not at their house, he must 
+have brought whatever it is to Hogwarts with him — ” 
+
+“But how can he have done, Harry?” said Hermione, 
+putting down the newspaper with a surprised look. 
+“We were all searched when we arrived, weren’t we?” 
+
+“Were you?” said Harry, taken aback. “I wasn’t!” 
+
+“Oh no, of course you weren’t, I forgot you were late. 
+
+... Well, Filch ran over all of us with Secrecy Sensors 
+when we got into the entrance hall. Any Dark object 
+would have been found, I know for a fact Crabbe had 
+a shrunken head confiscated. So you see, Malfoy can’t 
+have brought in anything dangerous!” 
+
+Momentarily stymied, Harry watched Ginny Weasley 
+playing with Arnold the Pygmy Puff for a while before 
+seeing a way around this objection. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Someone’s sent it to him by owl, then,” he said. “His 
+mother or someone.” 
+
+“All the owls are being checked too,” said Hermione. 
+“Filch told us so when he was jabbing those Secrecy 
+Sensors everywhere he could reach.” 
+
+Really stumped this time, Harry found nothing else to 
+say. There did not seem to be any way Malfoy could 
+have brought a dangerous or Dark object into the 
+school. He looked hopefully at Ron, who was sitting 
+with his arms folded, staring over at Lavender Brown. 
+
+“Can you think of any way Malfoy — ?” 
+
+“Oh, drop it, Harry,” said Ron. 
+
+“Listen, it’s not my fault Slughorn invited Hermione 
+and me to his stupid party, neither of us wanted to 
+go, you know!” said Harry, firing up. 
+
+“Well, as I’m not invited to any parties,” said Ron, 
+getting to his feet again, “I think I’ll go to bed.” 
+
+He stomped off toward the door to the boys’ 
+dormitories, leaving Harry and Hermione staring after 
+him. 
+
+“Harry?” said the new Chaser, Demelza Robins, 
+appearing suddenly at his shoulder. “I’ve got a 
+message for you.” 
+
+“From Professor Slughorn?” asked Harry, sitting up 
+hopefully. 
+
+“No ... from Professor Snape,” said Demelza. Harry’s 
+heart sank. “He says you’re to come to his office at 
+half past eight tonight to do your detention — er — no 
+matter how many party invitations you’ve received. 
+
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+
+
+And he wanted you to know you’ll be sorting out 
+rotten flobberworms from good ones, to use in Potions 
+and — and he says there’s no need to bring protective 
+gloves.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry grimly. “Thanks a lot, Demelza.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+SILVER AND OPALS 
+
+Where was Dumbledore, and what was he doing? 
+Harry caught sight of the headmaster only twice over 
+the next few weeks. He rarely appeared at meals 
+anymore, and Harry was sure Hermione was right in 
+thinking that he was leaving the school for days at a 
+time. Had Dumbledore forgotten the lessons he was 
+supposed to be giving Harry? Dumbledore had said 
+that the lessons were leading to something to do with 
+the prophecy; Harry had felt bolstered, comforted, 
+and now he felt slightly abandoned. 
+
+Halfway through October came their first trip of the 
+term to Hogsmeade. Harry had wondered whether 
+these trips would still be allowed, given the 
+increasingly tight security measures around the 
+school, but was pleased to know that they were going 
+ahead; it was always good to get out of the castle 
+grounds for a few hours. 
+
+Harry woke early on the morning of the trip, which 
+was proving stormy, and whiled away the time until 
+
+
+
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+
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+breakfast by reading his copy of Advanced Potion- 
+Making. He did not usually lie in bed reading his 
+textbooks; that sort of behavior, as Ron rightly said, 
+was indecent in anybody except Hermione, who was 
+simply weird that way. Harry felt, however, that the 
+Half-Blood Prince’s copy of Advanced Potion-Making 
+hardly qualified as a textbook. The more Harry pored 
+over the book, the more he realized how much was in 
+there, not only the handy hints and shortcuts on 
+potions that were earning him such a glowing 
+reputation with Slughorn, but also the imaginative 
+little jinxes and hexes scribbled in the margins, which 
+Harry was sure, judging by the crossings-out and 
+revisions, that the Prince had invented himself. 
+
+Harry had already attempted a few of the Prince’s self- 
+invented spells. There had been a hex that caused 
+toenails to grow alarmingly fast (he had tried this on 
+Crabbe in the corridor, with very entertaining results); 
+a jinx that glued the tongue to the roof of the mouth 
+(which he had twice used, to general applause, on an 
+unsuspecting Argus Filch); and, perhaps most useful 
+of all, Muffliato, a spell that filled the ears of anyone 
+nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing, so that lengthy 
+conversations could be held in class without being 
+overheard. The only person who did not find these 
+charms amusing was Hermione, who maintained a 
+rigidly disapproving expression throughout and 
+refused to talk at all if Harry had used the Muffliato 
+spell on anyone in the vicinity. 
+
+Sitting up in bed, Harry turned the book sideways so 
+as to examine more closely the scribbled instructions 
+for a spell that seemed to have caused the Prince 
+some trouble. There were many crossings-out and 
+alterations, but finally, crammed into a corner of the 
+page, the scribble: 
+
+Levicorpus (nvbl) 
+
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+
+
+
+
+While the wind and sleet pounded relentlessly on the 
+windows, and Neville snored loudly, Harry stared at 
+the letters in brackets. Nvbl ... that had to mean 
+“nonverbal.” Harry rather doubted he would be able 
+to bring off this particular spell; he was still having 
+difficulty with nonverbal spells, something Snape had 
+been quick to comment on in every D.A.D.A. class. On 
+the other hand, the Prince had proved a much more 
+effective teacher than Snape so far. 
+
+Pointing his wand at nothing in particular, he gave it 
+an upward flick and said Levicorpusl inside his head. 
+
+“ Aaaaaaaargh ! ” 
+
+There was a flash of light and the room was full of 
+voices: Everyone had woken up as Ron had let out a 
+yell. Harry sent Advanced Potion-Making flying in 
+panic; Ron was dangling upside down in midair as 
+though an invisible hook had hoisted him up by the 
+ankle. 
+
+“Sorry!” yelled Harry, as Dean and Seamus roared 
+with laughter, and Neville picked himself up from the 
+floor, having fallen out of bed. “Hang on — I’ll let you 
+down — ” 
+
+He groped for the potion book and riffled through it in 
+a panic, trying to find the right page; at last he 
+located it and deciphered one cramped word 
+underneath the spell: Praying that this was the 
+counter-jinx, Harry thought Liberacorpus\ with all his 
+might. 
+
+There was another flash of light, and Ron fell in a 
+heap onto his mattress. 
+
+“Sorry,” repeated Harry weakly, while Dean and 
+Seamus continued to roar with laughter. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Tomorrow,” said Ron in a muffled voice, “I’d rather 
+you set the alarm clock.” 
+
+By the time they had got dressed, padding themselves 
+out with several of Mrs. Weasley’s hand-knitted 
+sweaters and carrying cloaks, scarves, and gloves, 
+Ron’s shock had subsided and he had decided that 
+Harry’s new spell was highly amusing; so amusing, in 
+fact, that he lost no time in regaling Hermione with 
+the story as they sat down for breakfast. 
+
+"... and then there was another flash of light and I 
+landed on the bed again!” Ron grinned, helping 
+himself to sausages. 
+
+Hermione had not cracked a smile during this 
+anecdote, and now turned an expression of wintry 
+disapproval upon Harry. 
+
+“Was this spell, by any chance, another one from that 
+potion book of yours?” she asked. 
+
+Harry frowned at her. 
+
+“Always jump to the worst conclusion, don’t you?” 
+“Was it?” 
+
+“Well ... yeah, it was, but so what?” 
+
+“So you just decided to try out an unknown, 
+handwritten incantation and see what would 
+happen?” 
+
+“Why does it matter if it’s handwritten?” said Harry, 
+preferring not to answer the rest of the question. 
+
+“Because it’s probably not Ministry of Magic- 
+approved,” said Hermione. “And also,” she added, as 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry and Ron rolled their eyes, “because I’m starting 
+to think this Prince character was a bit dodgy.” 
+
+
+
+Both Harry and Ron shouted her down at once. 
+
+“It was a laugh!” said Ron, upending a ketchup bottle 
+over his sausages. “Just a laugh, Hermione, that’s 
+all!” 
+
+“Dangling people upside down by the ankle?” said 
+Hermione. “Who puts their time and energy into 
+making up spells like that?” 
+
+“Fred and George,” said Ron, shrugging, “it’s their 
+kind of thing. And, er — ” 
+
+“My dad,” said Harry. He had only just remembered. 
+
+“What?” said Ron and Hermione together. 
+
+“My dad used this spell,” said Harry. “I — Lupin told 
+me.” 
+
+This last part was not true; in fact, Harry had seen 
+his father use the spell on Snape, but he had never 
+told Ron and Hermione about that particular 
+excursion into the Pensieve. Now, however, a 
+wonderful possibility occurred to him. Could the Half- 
+Blood Prince possibly be — ? 
+
+“Maybe your dad did use it, Harry,” said Hermione, 
+“but he’s not the only one. We’ve seen a whole bunch 
+of people use it, in case you’ve forgotten. Dangling 
+people in the air. Making them float along, asleep, 
+helpless.” 
+
+Harry stared at her. With a sinking feeling, he too 
+remembered the behavior of the Death Eaters at the 
+Quidditch World Cup. Ron came to his aid. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That was different,” he said robustly. “They were 
+abusing it. Harry and his dad were just having a 
+laugh. You don’t like the Prince, Hermione,” he added, 
+pointing a sausage at her sternly, “because he’s better 
+than you at Potions — ” 
+
+“It’s got nothing to do with that!” said Hermione, her 
+cheeks reddening. “I just think it’s very irresponsible 
+to start performing spells when you don’t even know 
+what they’re for, and stop talking about ‘the Prince’ as 
+if it’s his title, I bet it’s just a stupid nickname, and it 
+doesn’t seem as though he was a very nice person to 
+me!” 
+
+“I don’t see where you get that from,” said Harry 
+heatedly. “If he’d been a budding Death Eater he 
+wouldn’t have been boasting about being ‘half-blood,’ 
+would he?” 
+
+Even as he said it, Harry remembered that his father 
+had been pure-blood, but he pushed the thought out 
+of his mind; he would worry about that later. ... 
+
+“The Death Eaters can’t all be pure-blood, there aren’t 
+enough pure-blood wizards left,” said Hermione 
+stubbornly. “I expect most of them are half-bloods 
+pretending to be pure. It’s only Muggle-borns they 
+hate, they’d be quite happy to let you and Ron join 
+up.” 
+
+“There is no way they’d let me be a Death Eater!” said 
+Ron indignantly, a bit of sausage flying off the fork he 
+was now brandishing at Hermione and hitting Ernie 
+Macmillan on the head. “My whole family are blood 
+traitors! That’s as bad as Muggle-borns to Death 
+Eaters!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And they’d love to have me,” said Harry sarcastically. 
+“We’d be best pals if they didn’t keep trying to do me 
+
+
+
+in. 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+This made Ron laugh; even Hermione gave a grudging 
+smile, and a distraction arrived in the shape of Ginny. 
+
+“Hey, Harry, I’m supposed to give you this.” 
+
+It was a scroll of parchment with Harry’s name 
+written upon it in familiar thin, slanting writing. 
+
+“Thanks, Ginny ... It’s Dumbledore’s next lesson!” 
+Harry told Ron and Hermione, pulling open the 
+parchment and quickly reading its contents. “Monday 
+evening!” He felt suddenly light and happy. “Want to 
+join us in Hogsmeade, Ginny?” he asked. 
+
+“I’m going with Dean — might see you there,” she 
+replied, waving at them as she left. 
+
+Filch was standing at the oak front doors as usual, 
+checking off the names of people who had permission 
+to go into Hogsmeade. The process took even longer 
+than normal as Filch was triple-checking everybody 
+with his Secrecy Sensor. 
+
+“What does it matter if we’re smuggling Dark stuff 
+OUT?” demanded Ron, eyeing the long thin Secrecy 
+Sensor with apprehension. “Surely you ought to be 
+checking what we bring back IN?” 
+
+His cheek earned him a few extra jabs with the 
+Sensor, and he was still wincing as they stepped out 
+into the wind and sleet. 
+
+The walk into Hogsmeade was not enjoyable. Harry 
+wrapped his scarf over his lower face; the exposed 
+part soon felt both raw and numb. The road to the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+village was full of students bent double against the 
+bitter wind. More than once Harry wondered whether 
+they might not have had a better time in the warm 
+common room, and when they finally reached 
+Hogsmeade and saw that Zonko’s Joke Shop had 
+been boarded up, Harry took it as confirmation that 
+this trip was not destined to be fun. Ron pointed, with 
+a thickly gloved hand, toward Honeydukes, which was 
+mercifully open, and Harry and Hermione staggered 
+in his wake into the crowded shop. 
+
+“Thank God,” shivered Ron as they were enveloped by 
+warm, toffee-scented air. “Let’s stay here all 
+afternoon.” 
+
+“Harry, m’boy!” said a booming voice from behind 
+them. 
+
+“Oh no,” muttered Harry. The three of them turned to 
+see Professor Slughorn, who was wearing an 
+enormous furry hat and an overcoat with matching 
+fur collar, clutching a large bag of crystalized 
+pineapple, and occupying at least a quarter of the 
+shop. 
+
+“Harry, that’s three of my little suppers you’ve missed 
+now!” said Slughorn, poking him genially in the chest. 
+“It won’t do, m’boy, I’m determined to have you! Miss 
+Granger loves them, don’t you?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione helplessly, “they’re really — ” 
+
+“So why don’t you come along, Harry?” demanded 
+Slughorn. 
+
+“Well, I’ve had Quidditch practice, Professor,” said 
+Harry, who had indeed been scheduling practices 
+every time Slughorn had sent him a little, violet 
+ribbon-adorned invitation. This strategy meant that 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron was not left out, and they usually had a laugh 
+with Ginny, imagining Hermione shut up with 
+McLaggen and Zabini. 
+
+“Well, I certainly expect you to win your first match 
+after all this hard work!” said Slughorn. “But a little 
+recreation never hurt anybody. Now, how about 
+Monday night, you can’t possibly want to practice in 
+this weather. ...” 
+
+“I can’t, Professor, I’ve got — er — an appointment 
+with Professor Dumbledore that evening.” 
+
+“Unlucky again!” cried Slughorn dramatically. “Ah, 
+well ... you can’t evade me forever, Harry!” 
+
+And with a regal wave, he waddled out of the shop, 
+taking as little notice of Ron as though he had been a 
+display of Cockroach Clusters. 
+
+“I can’t believe you’ve wriggled out of another one,” 
+said Hermione, shaking her head. “They’re not that 
+bad, you know. ... They’re even quite fun sometimes. 
+...” But then she caught sight of Ron’s expression. 
+
+“Oh, look — they’ve got deluxe sugar quills — those 
+would last hours!” 
+
+Glad that Hermione had changed the subject, Harry 
+showed much more interest in the new extra-large 
+sugar quills than he would normally have done, but 
+Ron continued to look moody and merely shrugged 
+when Hermione asked him where he wanted to go 
+next. 
+
+“Let’s go to the Three Broomsticks,” said Harry. “It’ll 
+be warm.” 
+
+They bundled their scarves back over their faces and 
+left the sweetshop. The bitter wind was like knives on 
+
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+
+
+
+
+their faces after the sugary warmth of Honeydukes. 
+The street was not very busy; nobody was lingering to 
+chat, just hurrying toward their destinations. The 
+exceptions were two men a little ahead of them, 
+standing just outside the Three Broomsticks. One was 
+very tall and thin; squinting through his rain-washed 
+glasses Harry recognized the barman who worked in 
+the other Hogsmeade pub, the Hog’s Head. As Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione drew closer, the barman drew his 
+cloak more tightly around his neck and walked away, 
+leaving the shorter man to fumble with something in 
+his arms. They were barely feet from him when Harry 
+realized who the man was. 
+
+“Mundungus!” 
+
+The squat, bandy-legged man with long, straggly, 
+ginger hair jumped and dropped an ancient suitcase, 
+which burst open, releasing what looked like the 
+entire contents of a junk shop window. 
+
+“Oh, ’ello, ’Arry,” said Mundungus Fletcher, with a 
+most unconvincing stab at airiness. “Well, don’t let 
+me keep ya.” 
+
+And he began scrabbling on the ground to retrieve the 
+contents of his suitcase with every appearance of a 
+man eager to be gone. 
+
+“Are you selling this stuff?” asked Harry, watching 
+Mundungus grab an assortment of grubby-looking 
+objects from the ground. 
+
+“Oh, well, gotta scrape a living,” said Mundungus. 
+“Gimme that!” 
+
+Ron had stooped down and picked up something 
+silver. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Hang on,” Ron said slowly. “This looks familiar — ” 
+
+
+
+“Thank you!” said Mundungus, snatching the goblet 
+out of Ron’s hand and stuffing it back into the case. 
+“Well, I’ll see you all — OUCH!” 
+
+Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the 
+pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he 
+pulled out his wand. 
+
+“Harry!” squealed Hermione. 
+
+“You took that from Sirius’s house,” said Harry, who 
+was almost nose to nose with Mundungus and was 
+breathing in an unpleasant smell of old tobacco and 
+spirits. “That had the Black family crest on it.” 
+
+“I — no — what — ?” spluttered Mundungus, who 
+was slowly turning purple. 
+
+“What did you do, go back the night he died and strip 
+the place?” snarled Harry. 
+
+“I — no — ” 
+
+“Give it to me!” 
+
+“Harry, you mustn’t!” shrieked Hermione, as 
+Mundungus started to turn blue. 
+
+There was a bang, and Harry felt his hands fly off 
+Mundungus’s throat. Gasping and spluttering, 
+Mundungus seized his fallen case, then — CRACK — 
+he Disapparated. 
+
+Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the 
+spot to see where Mundungus had gone. 
+
+“COME BACK, YOU THIEVING — !” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“There’s no point, Harry.” 
+
+
+
+Tonks had appeared out of nowhere, her mousy hair 
+wet with sleet. 
+
+“Mundungus will probably be in London by now. 
+There’s no point yelling.” 
+
+“He’s nicked Sirius’s stuff! Nicked it!” 
+
+“Yes, but still,” said Tonks, who seemed perfectly 
+untroubled by this piece of information. “You should 
+get out of the cold.” 
+
+She watched them go through the door of the Three 
+Broomsticks. 
+
+The moment he was inside, Harry burst out, “He was 
+nicking Sirius’s stuff.” 
+
+“I know, Harry, but please don’t shout, people are 
+staring,” whispered Hermione. “Go and sit down, I’ll 
+get you a drink.” 
+
+Harry was still fuming when Hermione returned to 
+their table a few minutes later holding three bottles of 
+butterbeer. 
+
+“Can’t the Order control Mundungus?” Harry 
+demanded of the other two in a furious whisper. 
+
+“Can’t they at least stop him stealing everything that’s 
+not fixed down when he’s at headquarters?” 
+
+“Shh!” said Hermione desperately, looking around to 
+make sure nobody was listening; there were a couple 
+of warlocks sitting close by who were staring at Harry 
+with great interest, and Zabini was lolling against a 
+pillar not far away. “Harry, I’d be annoyed too, I know 
+it’s your things he’s stealing — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry gagged on his butterbeer; he had momentarily 
+forgotten that he owned number twelve, Grimmauld 
+Place. 
+
+“Yeah, it’s my stuff!” he said. “No wonder he wasn’t 
+pleased to see me! Well, I’m going to tell Dumbledore 
+what’s going on, he’s the only one who scares 
+Mundungus.” 
+
+“Good idea,” whispered Hermione, clearly pleased that 
+Harry was calming down. “Ron, what are you staring 
+at?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Ron, hastily looking away from the 
+bar, but Harry knew he was trying to catch the eye of 
+the curvy and attractive barmaid, Madam Rosmerta, 
+for whom he had long nursed a soft spot. 
+
+“I expect ‘nothing’s’ in the back getting more 
+firewhisky,” said Hermione waspishly. 
+
+Ron ignored this jibe, sipping his drink in what he 
+evidently considered to be a dignified silence. Harry 
+was thinking about Sirius, and how he had hated 
+those silver goblets anyway. Hermione drummed her 
+fingers on the table, her eyes flickering between Ron 
+and the bar. The moment Harry drained the last 
+drops in his bottle she said, “Shall we call it a day 
+and go back to school, then?” 
+
+The other two nodded; it had not been a fun trip and 
+the weather was getting worse the longer they stayed. 
+Once again they drew their cloaks tightly around 
+them, rearranged their scarves, pulled on their gloves, 
+then followed Katie Bell and a friend out of the pub 
+and back up the High Street. Harry’s thoughts 
+strayed to Ginny as they trudged up the road to 
+Hogwarts through the frozen slush. They had not met 
+up with her, undoubtedly, thought Harry, because 
+Page | 277 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+she and Dean were cozily closeted in Madam 
+Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, that haunt of happy couples. 
+Scowling, he bowed his head against the swirling sleet 
+and trudged on. 
+
+It was a little while before Harry became aware that 
+the voices of Katie Bell and her friend, which were 
+being carried back to him on the wind, had become 
+shriller and louder. Harry squinted at their indistinct 
+figures. The two girls were having an argument about 
+something Katie was holding in her hand. “It’s 
+nothing to do with you, Leanne!” Harry heard Katie 
+say. 
+
+They rounded a corner in the lane, sleet coming thick 
+and fast, blurring Harry’s glasses. Just as he raised a 
+gloved hand to wipe them, Leanne made to grab hold 
+of the package Katie was holding; Katie tugged it back 
+and the package fell to the ground. 
+
+At once, Katie rose into the air, not as Ron had done, 
+suspended comically by the ankle, but gracefully, her 
+arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly. 
+
+Yet there was something wrong, something eerie. ... 
+Her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, 
+but her eyes were closed and her face was quite 
+empty of expression. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and 
+Leanne had all halted in their tracks, watching. 
+
+Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a 
+terrible scream. Her eyes flew open but whatever she 
+could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly 
+causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and 
+screamed; Leanne started to scream too and seized 
+Katie’s ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward to help, 
+but even as they grabbed Katie’s legs, she fell on top 
+of them; Harry and Ron managed to catch her but she 
+was writhing so much they could hardly hold her. 
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+
+
+
+
+Instead they lowered her to the ground where she 
+thrashed and screamed, apparently unable to 
+recognize any of them. 
+
+Harry looked around; the landscape seemed deserted. 
+
+“Stay there!” he shouted at the others over the 
+howling wind. “I’m going for help!” 
+
+He began to sprint toward the school; he had never 
+seen anyone behave as Katie had just behaved and 
+could not think what had caused it; he hurtled 
+around a bend in the lane and collided with what 
+seemed to be an enormous bear on its hind legs. 
+
+“Hagrid!” he panted, disentangling himself from the 
+hedgerow into which he had fallen. 
+
+“Harry!” said Hagrid, who had sleet trapped in his 
+eyebrows and beard, and was wearing his great, 
+shaggy beaverskin coat. “Jus’ bin visitin’ Grawp, he’s 
+cornin’ on so well yeh wouldn’ — ” 
+
+“Hagrid, someone’s hurt back there, or cursed, or 
+something — ” 
+
+“Wha?” said Hagrid, bending lower to hear what 
+Harry was saying over the raging wind. 
+
+“Someone’s been cursed!” bellowed Harry. 
+
+“Cursed? Who’s bin cursed — not Ron? Hermione?” 
+
+“No, it’s not them, it’s Katie Bell — this way ...” 
+
+Together they ran back along the lane. It took them 
+no time to find the little group of people around Katie, 
+who was still writhing and screaming on the ground; 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron, Hermione, and Leanne were all trying to quiet 
+her. 
+
+“Get back!” shouted Hagrid. “Lemme see her!” 
+
+“Something’s happened to her!” sobbed Leanne. “I 
+don’t know what — ” 
+
+Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then without a 
+word, bent down, scooped her into his arms, and ran 
+off toward the castle with her. Within seconds, Katie’s 
+piercing screams had died away and the only sound 
+was the roar of the wind. 
+
+Hermione hurried over to Katie’s wailing friend and 
+put an arm around her. 
+
+“It’s Leanne, isn’t it?” 
+
+The girl nodded. 
+
+“Did it just happen all of a sudden, or — ?” 
+
+“It was when that package tore,” sobbed Leanne, 
+pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on 
+the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish 
+glitter. Ron bent down, his hand outstretched, but 
+Harry seized his arm and pulled him back. 
+
+“Don’t touch if!” 
+
+He crouched down. An ornate opal necklace was 
+visible, poking out of the paper. 
+
+“I’ve seen that before,” said Harry, staring at the 
+thing. “It was on display in Borgin and Burkes ages 
+ago. The label said it was cursed. Katie must have 
+touched it.” He looked up at Leanne, who had started 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+to shake uncontrollably. “How did Katie get hold of 
+this?” 
+
+
+
+“Well, that’s why we were arguing. She came back 
+from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding 
+it, said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts 
+and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when 
+she said it. ... Oh no, oh no, I bet she’d been 
+Imperiused and I didn’t realize!” 
+
+Leanne shook with renewed sobs. Hermione patted 
+her shoulder gently. 
+
+“She didn’t say who’d given it to her, Leanne?” 
+
+“No ... she wouldn’t tell me ... and I said she was 
+being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she 
+just wouldn’t listen and ... and then I tried to grab it 
+from her . . . and — and — ” 
+
+Leanne let out a wail of despair. 
+
+“We’d better get up to school,” said Hermione, her 
+arm still around Leanne. “We’ll be able to find out 
+how she is. Come on. ...” 
+
+Harry hesitated for a moment, then pulled his scarf 
+from around his face and, ignoring Ron’s gasp, 
+carefully covered the necklace in it and picked it up. 
+
+“Well need to show this to Madam Pomfrey,” he said. 
+
+As they followed Hermione and Leanne up the road, 
+Harry was thinking furiously. They had just entered 
+the grounds when he spoke, unable to keep his 
+thoughts to himself any longer. 
+
+“Malfoy knows about this necklace. It was in a case at 
+Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a 
+
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+
+
+
+
+good look at it while I was hiding from him and his 
+dad. This is what he was buying that day when we 
+followed him! He remembered it and he went back for 
+it!” 
+
+
+
+“I — I dunno, Harry,” said Ron hesitantly. “Loads of 
+people go to Borgin and Burkes ... and didn’t that girl 
+say Katie got it in the girls’ bathroom?” 
+
+“She said she came back from the bathroom with it, 
+she didn’t necessarily get it in the bathroom itself — ” 
+
+“McGonagall!” said Ron warningly. 
+
+Harry looked up. Sure enough, Professor McGonagall 
+was hurrying down the stone steps through swirling 
+sleet to meet them. 
+
+“Hagrid says you four saw what happened to Katie 
+Bell — upstairs to my office at once, please! What’s 
+that you’re holding, Potter?” 
+
+“It’s the thing she touched,” said Harry. 
+
+“Good lord,” said Professor McGonagall, looking 
+alarmed as she took the necklace from Harry. “No, no, 
+Filch, they’re with me!” she added hastily, as Filch 
+came shuffling eagerly across the entrance hall 
+holding his Secrecy Sensor aloft. “Take this necklace 
+to Professor Snape at once, but be sure not to touch 
+it, keep it wrapped in the scarf!” 
+
+Harry and the others followed Professor McGonagall 
+upstairs and into her office. The sleet-spattered 
+windows were rattling in their frames, and the room 
+was chilly despite the fire crackling in the grate. 
+Professor McGonagall closed the door and swept 
+around her desk to face Harry, Ron, Hermione, and 
+the still sobbing Leanne. 
+
+Page | 282 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well?” she said sharply. “What happened?” 
+
+
+
+Haltingly, and with many pauses while she attempted 
+to control her crying, Leanne told Professor 
+McGonagall how Katie had gone to the bathroom in 
+the Three Broomsticks and returned holding the 
+unmarked package, how Katie had seemed a little 
+odd, and how they had argued about the advisability 
+of agreeing to deliver unknown objects, the argument 
+culminating in the tussle over the parcel, which tore 
+open. At this point, Leanne was so overcome, there 
+was no getting another word out of her. 
+
+“All right,” said Professor McGonagall, not unkindly, 
+“go up to the hospital wing, please, Leanne, and get 
+Madam Pomfrey to give you something for shock.” 
+
+When she had left the room, Professor McGonagall 
+turned back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 
+
+“What happened when Katie touched the necklace?” 
+
+“She rose up in the air,” said Harry, before either Ron 
+or Hermione could speak, “and then began to scream, 
+and collapsed. Professor, can I see Professor 
+Dumbledore, please?” 
+
+“The headmaster is away until Monday, Potter,” said 
+Professor McGonagall, looking surprised. 
+
+“Away?” Harry repeated angrily. 
+
+“Yes, Potter, away!” said Professor McGonagall tartly. 
+“But anything you have to say about this horrible 
+business can be said to me, I’m sure!” 
+
+For a split second, Harry hesitated. Professor 
+McGonagall did not invite confidences; Dumbledore, 
+though in many ways more intimidating, still seemed 
+
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+
+
+
+
+less likely to scorn a theory, however wild. This was a 
+life-and-death matter, though, and no moment to 
+worry about being laughed at. 
+
+“I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, 
+Professor.” 
+
+On one side of him, Ron rubbed his nose in apparent 
+embarrassment; on the other, Hermione shuffled her 
+feet as though quite keen to put a bit of distance 
+between herself and Harry. 
+
+“That is a very serious accusation, Potter,” said 
+Professor McGonagall, after a shocked pause. “Do you 
+have any proof?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “but ...” and he told her about 
+following Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes and the 
+conversation they had overheard between him and 
+Mr. Borgin. 
+
+When he had finished speaking, Professor 
+McGonagall looked slightly confused. 
+
+“Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes for 
+repair?” 
+
+“No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how 
+to mend something, he didn’t have it with him. But 
+that’s not the point, the thing is that he bought 
+something at the same time, and I think it was that 
+necklace — ” 
+
+“You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar 
+package?” 
+
+“No, Professor, he told Borgin to keep it in the shop 
+for him — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 284 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But Harry,” Hermione interrupted, “Borgin asked 
+him if he wanted to take it with him, and Malfoy said 
+
+
+
+no — 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+“Because he didn’t want to touch it, obviously!” said 
+Harry angrily. 
+
+“What he actually said was, ‘How would I look 
+carrying that down the street?’ ” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, he would look a bit of a prat carrying a 
+necklace,” interjected Ron. 
+
+“Oh, Ron,” said Hermione despairingly, “it would be 
+all wrapped up, so he wouldn’t have to touch it, and 
+quite easy to hide inside a cloak, so nobody would see 
+it! I think whatever he reserved at Borgin and Burkes 
+was noisy or bulky, something he knew would draw 
+attention to him if he carried it down the street — and 
+in any case,” she pressed on loudly, before Harry 
+could interrupt, “I asked Borgin about the necklace, 
+don’t you remember? When I went in to try and find 
+out what Malfoy had asked him to keep, I saw it 
+there. And Borgin just told me the price, he didn’t say 
+it was already sold or anything — ” 
+
+“Well, you were being really obvious, he realized what 
+you were up to within about five seconds, of course 
+he wasn’t going to tell you — anyway, Malfoy could’ve 
+sent off for it since — ” 
+
+“That’s enough!” said Professor McGonagall, as 
+Hermione opened her mouth to retort, looking 
+furious. “Potter, I appreciate you telling me this, but 
+we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr. Malfoy 
+purely because he visited the shop where this 
+necklace might have been purchased. The same is 
+probably true of hundreds of people — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 285 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — that’s what I said — ” muttered Ron. 
+
+
+
+“ — and in any case, we have put stringent security 
+measures in place this year. I do not believe that 
+necklace can possibly have entered this school 
+without our knowledge — ” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“ — and what is more,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+with an air of awful finality, “Mr. Malfoy was not in 
+Hogsmeade today.” 
+
+Harry gaped at her, deflating. 
+
+“How do you know, Professor?” 
+
+“Because he was doing detention with me. He has 
+now failed to complete his Transfiguration homework 
+twice in a row. So, thank you for telling me your 
+suspicions, Potter,” she said as she marched past 
+them, “but I need to go up to the hospital wing now to 
+check on Katie Bell. Good day to you all.” 
+
+She held open her office door. They had no choice but 
+to file past her without another word. 
+
+Harry was angry with the other two for siding with 
+McGonagall; nevertheless, he felt compelled to join in 
+once they started discussing what had happened. 
+
+“So who do you reckon Katie was supposed to give the 
+necklace to?” asked Ron, as they climbed the stairs to 
+the common room. 
+
+“Goodness only knows,” said Hermione. “But whoever 
+it was has had a narrow escape. No one could have 
+opened that package without touching the necklace.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 286 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It could’ve been meant for loads of people,” said 
+Harry. “Dumbledore — the Death Eaters would love to 
+get rid of him, he must be one of their top targets. Or 
+Slughorn — Dumbledore reckons Voldemort really 
+wanted him and they can’t be pleased that he’s sided 
+with Dumbledore. Or — ” 
+
+“Or you,” said Hermione, looking troubled. 
+
+“Couldn’t have been,” said Harry, “or Katie would’ve 
+just turned around in the lane and given it to me, 
+wouldn’t she? I was behind her all the way out of the 
+Three Broomsticks. It would have made much more 
+sense to deliver the parcel outside Hogwarts, what 
+with Filch searching everyone who goes in and out. I 
+wonder why Malfoy told her to take it into the castle?” 
+
+“Harry, Malfoy wasn’t in Hogsmeade!” said Hermione, 
+actually stamping her foot in frustration. 
+
+“He must have used an accomplice, then,” said Harry. 
+“Crabbe or Goyle — or, come to think of it, another 
+Death Eater, he’ll have loads better cronies than 
+Crabbe and Goyle now he’s joined up — ” 
+
+Ron and Hermione exchanged looks that plainly said 
+There’s no point arguing with him. 
+
+“Dilligrout,” said Hermione firmly as they reached the 
+Fat Lady. 
+
+The portrait swung open to admit them to the 
+common room. It was quite full and smelled of damp 
+clothing; many people seemed to have returned from 
+Hogsmeade early because of the bad weather. There 
+was no buzz of fear or speculation, however: Clearly, 
+the news of Katie’s fate had not yet spread. 
+
+
+
+Page | 287 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It wasn’t a very slick attack, really, when you stop 
+and think about it,” said Ron, casually turfing a first 
+year out of one of the good armchairs by the fire so 
+that he could sit down. “The curse didn’t even make it 
+into the castle. Not what you’d call foolproof.” 
+
+“You’re right,” said Hermione, prodding Ron out of the 
+chair with her foot and offering it to the first year 
+again. “It wasn’t very well thought-out at all.” 
+
+“But since when has Malfoy been one of the world’s 
+great thinkers?” asked Harry. 
+
+Neither Ron nor Hermione answered him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 288 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SECRET RIDDLE 
+
+Katie was removed to St. Mungo’s Hospital for 
+Magical Maladies and Injuries the following day, by 
+which time the news that she had been cursed had 
+spread all over the school, though the details were 
+confused and nobody other than Harry, Ron, 
+Hermione, and Leanne seemed to know that Katie 
+herself had not been the intended target. 
+
+“Oh, and Malfoy knows, of course,” said Harry to Ron 
+and Hermione, who continued their new policy of 
+feigning deafness whenever Harry mentioned his 
+Malfoy-Is-a-Death-Eater theory. 
+
+Harry had wondered whether Dumbledore would 
+return from wherever he had been in time for Monday 
+night’s lesson, but having had no word to the 
+contrary, he presented himself outside Dumbledore ’s 
+office at eight o’clock, knocked, and was told to enter. 
+There sat Dumbledore looking unusually tired; his 
+hand was as black and burned as ever, but he smiled 
+when he gestured to Harry to sit down. The Pensieve 
+
+
+
+Page | 289 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+was sitting on the desk again, casting silvery specks 
+of light over the ceiling. 
+
+
+
+“You have had a busy time while I have been away,” 
+Dumbledore said. “I believe you witnessed Katie’s 
+accident.” 
+
+“Yes, sir. How is she?” 
+
+“Still very unwell, although she was relatively lucky. 
+She appears to have brushed the necklace with the 
+smallest possible amount of skin: There was a tiny 
+hole in her glove. Had she put it on, had she even 
+held it in her ungloved hand, she would have died, 
+perhaps instantly. Luckily Professor Snape was able 
+to do enough to prevent a rapid spread of the curse — 
+
+
+
+“Why him?” asked Harry quickly. “Why not Madam 
+Pomfrey?” 
+
+“Impertinent,” said a soft voice from one of the 
+portraits on the wall, and Phineas Nigellus Black, 
+Sirius’s great-great-grandfather, raised his head from 
+his arms where he had appeared to be sleeping. “I 
+would not have permitted a student to question the 
+way Hogwarts operated in my day.” 
+
+“Yes, thank you, Phineas,” said Dumbledore 
+quellingly. “Professor Snape knows much more about 
+the Dark Arts than Madam Pomfrey, Harry. Anyway, 
+the St. Mungo’s staff are sending me hourly reports, 
+and I am hopeful that Katie will make a full recovery 
+in time.” 
+
+“Where were you this weekend, sir?” Harry asked, 
+disregarding a strong feeling that he might be 
+pushing his luck, a feeling apparently shared by 
+Phineas Nigellus, who hissed softly. 
+
+Page | 290 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I would rather not say just now,” said Dumbledore. 
+“However, I shall tell you in due course.” 
+
+“You will?” said Harry, startled. 
+
+“Yes, I expect so,” said Dumbledore, withdrawing a 
+fresh bottle of silver memories from inside his robes 
+and uncorking it with a prod of his wand. 
+
+“Sir,” said Harry tentatively, “I met Mundungus in 
+Hogsmeade.” 
+
+“Ah yes, I am already aware that Mundungus has 
+been treating your inheritance with light-fingered 
+contempt,” said Dumbledore, frowning a little. “He 
+has gone to ground since you accosted him outside 
+the Three Broomsticks; I rather think he dreads 
+facing me. However, rest assured that he will not be 
+making away with any more of Sirius’s old 
+possessions.” 
+
+“That mangy old half-blood has been stealing Black 
+heirlooms?” said Phineas Nigellus, incensed; and he 
+stalked out of his frame, undoubtedly to visit his 
+portrait in number twelve, Grimmauld Place. 
+
+“Professor,” said Harry, after a short pause, “did 
+Professor McGonagall tell you what I told her after 
+Katie got hurt? About Draco Malfoy?” 
+
+“She told me of your suspicions, yes,” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“And do you — ?” 
+
+“I shall take all appropriate measures to investigate 
+anyone who might have had a hand in Katie’s 
+accident,” said Dumbledore. “But what concerns me 
+now, Harry, is our lesson.” 
+
+Page | 291 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry felt slightly resentful at this: If their lessons 
+were so very important, why had there been such a 
+long gap between the first and second? However, he 
+said no more about Draco Malfoy, but watched as 
+Dumbledore poured the fresh memories into the 
+Pensieve and began swirling the stone basin once 
+more between his long-fingered hands. 
+
+“You will remember, I am sure, that we left the tale of 
+Lord Voldemort’s beginnings at the point where the 
+handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle, had abandoned his 
+witch wife, Merope, and returned to his family home 
+in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London, 
+expecting the baby who would one day become Lord 
+Voldemort.” 
+
+“How do you know she was in London, sir?” 
+
+“Because of the evidence of one Caractacus Burke,” 
+said Dumbledore, “who, by an odd coincidence, 
+helped found the very shop whence came the 
+necklace we have just been discussing.” 
+
+He swilled the contents of the Pensieve as Harry had 
+seen him swill them before, much as a gold 
+prospector sifts for gold. Up out of the swirling, silvery 
+mass rose a little old man revolving slowly in the 
+Pensieve, silver as a ghost but much more solid, with 
+a thatch of hair that completely covered his eyes. 
+
+“Yes, we acquired it in curious circumstances. It was 
+brought in by a young witch just before Christmas, 
+oh, many years ago now. She said she needed the 
+gold badly, well, that much was obvious. Covered in 
+rags and pretty far along ... Going to have a baby, see. 
+She said the locket had been Slytherin’s. Well, we 
+hear that sort of story all the time, ‘Oh, this was 
+Merlin’s, this was, his favorite teapot,’ but when I 
+looked at it, it had his mark all right, and a few 
+Page | 292 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+simple spells were enough to tell me the truth. Of 
+course, that made it near enough priceless. She didn’t 
+seem to have any idea how much it was worth. Happy 
+to get ten Galleons for it. Best bargain we ever made!” 
+
+Dumbledore gave the Pensieve an extra-vigorous 
+shake and Caractacus Burke descended back into the 
+swirling mass of memory from whence he had come. 
+
+“He only gave her ten Galleons?” said Harry 
+indignantly. 
+
+“Caractacus Burke was not famed for his generosity,” 
+said Dumbledore. “So we know that, near the end of 
+her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in 
+desperate need of gold, desperate enough to sell her 
+one and only valuable possession, the locket that was 
+one of Marvolo’s treasured family heirlooms.” 
+
+“But she could do magic!” said Harry impatiently. 
+
+“She could have got food and everything for herself by 
+magic, couldn’t she?” 
+
+“Ah,” said Dumbledore, “perhaps she could. But it is 
+my belief — I am guessing again, but I am sure I am 
+right — that when her husband abandoned her, 
+Merope stopped using magic. I do not think that she 
+wanted to be a witch any longer. Of course, it is also 
+possible that her unrequited love and the attendant 
+despair sapped her of her powers; that can happen. 
+
+In any case, as you are about to see, Merope refused 
+to raise her wand even to save her own life.” 
+
+“She wouldn’t even stay alive for her son?” 
+
+Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. “Could you possibly 
+be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 293 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry quickly, “but she had a choice, didn’t 
+she, not like my mother — ” 
+
+“Your mother had a choice too,” said Dumbledore 
+gently. “Yes, Merope Riddle chose death in spite of a 
+son who needed her, but do not judge her too 
+harshly, Harry. She was greatly weakened by long 
+suffering and she never had your mother��s courage. 
+And now, if you will stand ...” 
+
+“Where are we going?” Harry asked, as Dumbledore 
+joined him at the front of the desk. 
+
+“This time,” said Dumbledore, “we are going to enter 
+my memory. I think you will find it both rich in detail 
+and satisfyingly accurate. After you, Harry ...” 
+
+Harry bent over the Pensieve; his face broke the cool 
+surface of the memory and then he was falling 
+through darkness again. ... Seconds later, his feet hit 
+firm ground; he opened his eyes and found that he 
+and Dumbledore were standing in a bustling, old- 
+fashioned London street. 
+
+“There I am,” said Dumbledore brightly, pointing 
+ahead of them to a tall figure crossing the road in 
+front of a horse-drawn milk cart. 
+
+This younger Albus Dumbledore ’s long hair and beard 
+were auburn. Having reached their side of the street, 
+he strode off along the pavement, drawing many 
+curious glances due to the flamboyantly cut suit of 
+plum velvet that he was wearing. 
+
+“Nice suit, sir,” said Harry, before he could stop 
+himself, but Dumbledore merely chuckled as they 
+followed his younger self a short distance, finally 
+passing through a set of iron gates into a bare 
+courtyard that fronted a rather grim, square building 
+Page | 294 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+surrounded by high railings. He mounted the few 
+steps leading to the front door and knocked once. 
+After a moment or two, the door was opened by a 
+scruffy girl wearing an apron. 
+
+“Good afternoon. I have an appointment with a Mrs. 
+Cole, who, I believe, is the matron here?” 
+
+“Oh,” said the bewildered-looking girl, taking in 
+Dumbledore ’s eccentric appearance. “Um ... just a 
+mo’ ... MRS. COLE!” she bellowed over her shoulder. 
+
+Harry heard a distant voice shouting something in 
+response. The girl turned back to Dumbledore. “Come 
+in, she’s on ’er way.” 
+
+Dumbledore stepped into a hallway tiled in black and 
+white; the whole place was shabby but spotlessly 
+clean. Harry and the older Dumbledore followed. 
+Before the front door had closed behind them, a 
+skinny, harassed-looking woman came scurrying 
+toward them. She had a sharp-featured face that 
+appeared more anxious than unkind, and she was 
+talking over her shoulder to another aproned helper 
+as she walked toward Dumbledore. 
+
+"... and take the iodine upstairs to Martha, Billy 
+Stubbs has been picking his scabs and Eric Whalley’s 
+oozing all over his sheets — chicken pox on top of 
+everything else,” she said to nobody in particular, and 
+then her eyes fell upon Dumbledore and she stopped 
+dead in her tracks, looking as astonished as if a 
+giraffe had just crossed her threshold. 
+
+“Good afternoon,” said Dumbledore, holding out his 
+hand. 
+
+Mrs. Cole simply gaped. 
+
+
+
+Page | 295 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“My name is Albus Dumbledore. I sent you a letter 
+requesting an appointment and you very kindly 
+invited me here today.” 
+
+Mrs. Cole blinked. Apparently deciding that 
+Dumbledore was not a hallucination, she said feebly, 
+“Oh yes. Well — well then — you’d better come into 
+my room. Yes.” 
+
+She led Dumbledore into a small room that seemed 
+part sitting room, part office. It was as shabby as the 
+hallway and the furniture was old and mismatched. 
+She invited Dumbledore to sit on a rickety chair and 
+seated herself behind a cluttered desk, eyeing him 
+nervously. 
+
+“I am here, as I told you in my letter, to discuss Tom 
+Riddle and arrangements for his future,” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“Are you family?” asked Mrs. Cole. 
+
+“No, I am a teacher,” said Dumbledore. “I have come 
+to offer Tom a place at my school.” 
+
+“What school’s this, then?” 
+
+“It is called Hogwarts,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“And how come you’re interested in Tom?” 
+
+“We believe he has qualities we are looking for.” 
+
+“You mean he’s won a scholarship? How can he have 
+done? He’s never been entered for one.” 
+
+“Well, his name has been down for our school since 
+birth — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 296 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Who registered him? His parents?” 
+
+
+
+There was no doubt that Mrs. Cole was an 
+inconveniently sharp woman. Apparently Dumbledore 
+thought so too, for Harry now saw him slip his wand 
+out of the pocket of his velvet suit, at the same time 
+picking up a piece of perfectly blank paper from Mrs. 
+Cole’s desktop. 
+
+“Here,” said Dumbledore, waving his wand once as he 
+passed her the piece of paper, “I think this will make 
+everything clear.” 
+
+Mrs. Cole’s eyes slid out of focus and back again as 
+she gazed intently at the blank paper for a moment. 
+
+“That seems perfectly in order,” she said placidly, 
+handing it back. Then her eyes fell upon a bottle of 
+gin and two glasses that had certainly not been 
+present a few seconds before. 
+
+“Er — may I offer you a glass of gin?” she said in an 
+extra-refined voice. 
+
+“Thank you very much,” said Dumbledore, beaming. 
+
+It soon became clear that Mrs. Cole was no novice 
+when it came to gin drinking. Pouring both of them a 
+generous measure, she drained her own glass in one 
+gulp. Smacking her lips frankly, she smiled at 
+Dumbledore for the first time, and he didn’t hesitate 
+to press his advantage. 
+
+“I was wondering whether you could tell me anything 
+of Tom Riddle’s history? I think he was born here in 
+the orphanage?” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Mrs. Cole, helping herself to more 
+gin. “I remember it clear as anything, because I’d just 
+
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+
+
+
+
+started here myself. New Year’s Eve and bitter cold, 
+snowing, you know. Nasty night. And this girl, not 
+much older than I was myself at the time, came 
+staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn’t the 
+first. We took her in, and she had the baby within the 
+hour. And she was dead in another hour.” 
+
+Mrs. Cole nodded impressively and took another 
+generous gulp of gin. 
+
+“Did she say anything before she died?” asked 
+Dumbledore. “Anything about the boy’s father, for 
+instance?” 
+
+“Now, as it happens, she did,” said Mrs. Cole, who 
+seemed to be rather enjoying herself now, with the gin 
+in her hand and an eager audience for her story. “I 
+remember she said to me, ‘I hope he looks like his 
+papa,’ and I won’t lie, she was right to hope it, 
+because she was no beauty — and then she told me 
+he was to be named Tom, for his father, and Marvolo, 
+for her father — yes, I know, funny name, isn’t it? We 
+wondered whether she came from a circus — and she 
+said the boy’s surname was to be Riddle. And she 
+died soon after that without another word. 
+
+“Well, we named him just as she’d said, it seemed so 
+important to the poor girl, but no Tom nor Marvolo 
+nor any kind of Riddle ever came looking for him, nor 
+any family at all, so he stayed in the orphanage and 
+he’s been here ever since.” 
+
+Mrs. Cole helped herself, almost absentmindedly, to 
+another healthy measure of gin. Two pink spots had 
+appeared high on her cheekbones. Then she said, 
+“He’s a funny boy.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “I thought he might be.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 298 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried, you 
+know. And then, when he got a little older, he was . . . 
+odd.” 
+
+
+
+“Odd in what way?” asked Dumbledore gently. 
+
+“Well, he — ” 
+
+But Mrs. Cole pulled up short, and there was nothing 
+blurry or vague about the inquisitorial glance she 
+shot Dumbledore over her gin glass. 
+
+“He’s definitely got a place at your school, you say?” 
+
+“Definitely,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“And nothing I say can change that?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“You’ll be taking him away, whatever?” 
+
+“Whatever,” repeated Dumbledore gravely. 
+
+She squinted at him as though deciding whether or 
+not to trust him. Apparently she decided she could, 
+because she said in a sudden rush, “He scares the 
+other children.” 
+
+“You mean he is a bully?” asked Dumbledore. 
+
+“I think he must be,” said Mrs. Cole, frowning 
+slightly, “but it’s very hard to catch him at it. There 
+have been incidents. ... Nasty things ...” 
+
+Dumbledore did not press her, though Harry could 
+tell that he was interested. She took yet another gulp 
+of gin and her rosy cheeks grew rosier still. 
+
+Page | 299 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Billy Stubbs’s rabbit ... well, Tom said he didn’t do it 
+and I don’t see how he could have done, but even so, 
+it didn’t hang itself from the rafters, did it?” 
+
+“I shouldn’t think so, no,” said Dumbledore quietly. 
+
+“But I’m jiggered if I know how he got up there to do 
+it. All I know is he and Billy had argued the day 
+before. And then” — Mrs. Cole took another swig of 
+gin, slopping a little over her chin this time — “on the 
+summer outing — we take them out, you know, once 
+a year, to the countryside or to the seaside — well, 
+Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite 
+right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was 
+that they’d gone into a cave with Tom Riddle. He 
+swore they’d just gone exploring, but something 
+happened in there, I’m sure of it. And, well, there 
+have been a lot of things, funny things. ...” 
+
+She looked around at Dumbledore again, and though 
+her cheeks were flushed, her gaze was steady. “I don’t 
+think many people will be sorry to see the back of 
+him.” 
+
+“You understand, I’m sure, that we will not be 
+keeping him permanently?” said Dumbledore. “He will 
+have to return here, at the very least, every summer.” 
+
+“Oh, well, that’s better than a whack on the nose with 
+a rusty poker,” said Mrs. Cole with a slight hiccup. 
+
+She got to her feet, and Harry was impressed to see 
+that she was quite steady, even though two-thirds of 
+the gin was now gone. “I suppose you’d like to see 
+him?” 
+
+“Very much,” said Dumbledore, rising too. 
+
+She led him out of her office and up the stone stairs, 
+calling out instructions and admonitions to helpers 
+
+Page | 300 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and children as she passed. The orphans, Harry saw, 
+were all wearing the same kind of grayish tunic. They 
+looked reasonably well-cared for, but there was no 
+denying that this was a grim place in which to grow 
+up. 
+
+“Here we are,” said Mrs. Cole, as they turned off the 
+second landing and stopped outside the first door in a 
+long corridor. She knocked twice and entered. 
+
+“Tom? You’ve got a visitor. This is Mr. Dumberton — 
+sorry, Dunderbore. He’s come to tell you — well, I’ll 
+let him do it.” 
+
+Harry and the two Dumbledores entered the room, 
+and Mrs. Cole closed the door on them. It was a small 
+bare room with nothing in it except an old wardrobe, 
+a wooden chair, and an iron bedstead. A boy was 
+sitting on top of the gray blankets, his legs stretched 
+out in front of him, holding a book. 
+
+There was no trace of the Gaunts in Tom Riddle’s 
+face. Merope had got her dying wish: He was his 
+handsome father in miniature, tall for eleven years 
+old, dark-haired, and pale. His eyes narrowed slightly 
+as he took in Dumbledore’s eccentric appearance. 
+There was a moment’s silence. 
+
+“How do you do, Tom?” said Dumbledore, walking 
+forward and holding out his hand. 
+
+The boy hesitated, then took it, and they shook 
+hands. Dumbledore drew up the hard wooden chair 
+beside Riddle, so that the pair of them looked rather 
+like a hospital patient and visitor. 
+
+“I am Professor Dumbledore.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 301 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ‘Professor?” repeated Riddle. He looked wary. “Is 
+that like ‘doctor? What are you here for? Did she get 
+you in to have a look at me?” 
+
+He was pointing at the door through which Mrs. Cole 
+had just left. 
+
+“No, no,” said Dumbledore, smiling. 
+
+“I don’t believe you,” said Riddle. “She wants me 
+looked at, doesn’t she? Tell the truth!” 
+
+He spoke the last three words with a ringing force 
+that was almost shocking. It was a command, and it 
+sounded as though he had given it many times 
+before. His eyes had widened and he was glaring at 
+Dumbledore, who made no response except to 
+continue smiling pleasantly. After a few seconds 
+Riddle stopped glaring, though he looked, if anything, 
+warier still. 
+
+“Who are you?” 
+
+“I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore 
+and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come 
+to offer you a place at my school — your new school, 
+if you would like to come.” 
+
+Riddle’s reaction to this was most surprising. He leapt 
+from the bed and backed away from Dumbledore, 
+looking furious. 
+
+“You can’t kid me! The asylum, that’s where you’re 
+from, isn’t it? ‘Professor,’ yes, of course — well, I’m 
+not going, see? That old cat’s the one who should be 
+in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy 
+Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, 
+they’ll tell you!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 302 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I am not from the asylum,” said Dumbledore 
+patiently. “I am a teacher and, if you will sit down 
+calmly, I shall tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if 
+you would rather not come to the school, nobody will 
+force you — ” 
+
+“I’d like to see them try,” sneered Riddle. 
+
+“Hogwarts,” Dumbledore went on, as though he had 
+not heard Riddle’s last words, “is a school for people 
+with special abilities — ” 
+
+“I’m not mad!” 
+
+“I know that you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a 
+school for mad people. It is a school of magic.” 
+
+There was silence. Riddle had frozen, his face 
+expressionless, but his eyes were flickering back and 
+forth between each of Dumbledore’s, as though trying 
+to catch one of them lying. 
+
+“Magic?” he repeated in a whisper. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“It’s ... it’s magic, what I can do?” 
+
+“What is it that you can do?” 
+
+“All sorts,” breathed Riddle. A flush of excitement was 
+rising up his neck into his hollow cheeks; he looked 
+fevered. “I can make things move without touching 
+them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, 
+without training them. I can make bad things happen 
+to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I 
+want to.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 303 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His legs were trembling. He stumbled forward and sat 
+down on the bed again, staring at his hands, his head 
+bowed as though in prayer. 
+
+“I knew I was different,” he whispered to his own 
+quivering fingers. “I knew I was special. Always, I 
+knew there was something.” 
+
+“Well, you were quite right,” said Dumbledore, who 
+was no longer smiling, but watching Riddle intently. 
+“You are a wizard.” 
+
+Riddle lifted his head. His face was transfigured: 
+
+There was a wild happiness upon it, yet for some 
+reason it did not make him better looking; on the 
+contrary, his finely carved features seemed somehow 
+rougher, his expression almost bestial. 
+
+“Are you a wizard too?” 
+
+“Yes, I am.” 
+
+“Prove it,” said Riddle at once, in the same 
+commanding tone he had used when he had said, 
+
+“Tell the truth.” 
+
+Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. “If, as I take it, you 
+are accepting your place at Hogwarts — ” 
+
+“Of course I am!” 
+
+“Then you will address me as ‘Professor’ or ‘sir.’ ” 
+
+Riddle’s expression hardened for the most fleeting 
+moment before he said, in an unrecognizably polite 
+voice, “I’m sorry, sir. I meant — please, Professor, 
+could you show me — ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 304 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry was sure that Dumbledore was going to refuse, 
+that he would tell Riddle there would be plenty of time 
+for practical demonstrations at Hogwarts, that they 
+were currently in a building full of Muggles and must 
+therefore be cautious. To his great surprise, however, 
+Dumbledore drew his wand from an inside pocket of 
+his suit jacket, pointed it at the shabby wardrobe in 
+the corner, and gave the wand a casual flick. 
+
+The wardrobe burst into flames. 
+
+Riddle jumped to his feet; Harry could hardly blame 
+him for howling in shock and rage; all his worldly 
+possessions must be in there. But even as Riddle 
+rounded on Dumbledore, the flames vanished, leaving 
+the wardrobe completely undamaged. 
+
+Riddle stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore; then, 
+his expression greedy, he pointed at the wand. 
+
+“Where can I get one of them?” 
+
+“All in good time,” said Dumbledore. “I think there is 
+something trying to get out of your wardrobe.” 
+
+And sure enough, a faint rattling could be heard from 
+inside it. For the first time, Riddle looked frightened. 
+
+“Open the door,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+Riddle hesitated, then crossed the room and threw 
+open the wardrobe door. On the topmost shelf, above 
+a rail of threadbare clothes, a small cardboard box 
+was shaking and rattling as though there were several 
+frantic mice trapped inside it. 
+
+“Take it out,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+Riddle took down the quaking box. He looked 
+unnerved. 
+
+Page | 305 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Is there anything in that box that you ought not to 
+have?” asked Dumbledore. 
+
+Riddle threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating 
+look. “Yes, I suppose so, sir,” he said finally, in an 
+expressionless voice. 
+
+“Open it,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+Riddle took off the lid and tipped the contents onto 
+his bed without looking at them. Harry, who had 
+expected something much more exciting, saw a mess 
+of small, everyday objects: a yo-yo, a silver thimble, 
+and a tarnished mouth organ among them. Once free 
+of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still 
+upon the thin blankets. 
+
+“You will return them to their owners with your 
+apologies,” said Dumbledore calmly, putting his wand 
+back into his jacket. “I shall know whether it has 
+been done. And be warned: Thieving is not tolerated 
+at Hogwarts.” 
+
+Riddle did not look remotely abashed; he was still 
+staring coldly and appraisingly at Dumbledore. At last 
+he said in a colorless voice, “Yes, sir.” 
+
+“At Hogwarts,” Dumbledore went on, “we teach you 
+not only to use magic, but to control it. You have — 
+inadvertently, I am sure — been using your powers in 
+a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our 
+school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, 
+to allow your magic to run away with you. But you 
+should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and 
+the Ministry of Magic — yes, there is a Ministry — will 
+punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new 
+wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they 
+abide by our laws.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 306 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Riddle again. 
+
+
+
+It was impossible to tell what he was thinking; his 
+face remained quite blank as he put the little cache of 
+stolen objects back into the cardboard box. When he 
+had finished, he turned to Dumbledore and said 
+baldly, “I haven’t got any money.” 
+
+“That is easily remedied,” said Dumbledore, drawing a 
+leather money-pouch from his pocket. “There is a 
+fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to 
+buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of 
+your spellbooks and so on secondhand, but — ” 
+
+“Where do you buy spellbooks?” interrupted Riddle, 
+who had taken the heavy money bag without 
+thanking Dumbledore, and was now examining a fat 
+gold Galleon. 
+
+“In Diagon Alley,” said Dumbledore. “I have your list 
+of books and school equipment with me. I can help 
+you find everything — ” 
+
+“You’re coming with me?” asked Riddle, looking up. 
+“Certainly, if you — ” 
+
+“I don’t need you,” said Riddle. “I’m used to doing 
+things for myself, I go round London on my own all 
+the time. How do you get to this Diagon Alley — sir?” 
+he added, catching Dumbledore ’s eye. 
+
+Harry thought that Dumbledore would insist upon 
+accompanying Riddle, but once again he was 
+surprised. Dumbledore handed Riddle the envelope 
+containing his list of equipment, and after telling 
+Riddle exactly how to get to the Leaky Cauldron from 
+the orphanage, he said, “You will be able to see it, 
+although Muggles around you — non-magical people, 
+Page | 307 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that is — will not. Ask for Tom the barman — easy 
+enough to remember, as he shares your name — ” 
+
+Riddle gave an irritable twitch, as though trying to 
+displace an irksome fly. 
+
+“You dislike the name Tom’?” 
+
+“There are a lot of Toms,” muttered Riddle. Then, as 
+though he could not suppress the question, as 
+though it burst from him in spite of himself, he 
+asked, “Was my father a wizard? He was called Tom 
+Riddle too, they’ve told me.” 
+
+“I’m afraid I don’t know,” said Dumbledore, his voice 
+gentle. 
+
+“My mother can’t have been magic, or she wouldn’t 
+have died,” said Riddle, more to himself than 
+Dumbledore. “It must’ve been him. So — when I’ve got 
+all my stuff — when do I come to this Hogwarts?” 
+
+“All the details are on the second piece of parchment 
+in your envelope,” said Dumbledore. “You will leave 
+from King’s Cross Station on the first of September. 
+There is a train ticket in there too.” 
+
+Riddle nodded. Dumbledore got to his feet and held 
+out his hand again. Taking it, Riddle said, “I can 
+speak to snakes. I found out when we’ve been to the 
+country on trips — they find me, they whisper to me. 
+Is that normal for a wizard?” 
+
+Harry could tell that he had withheld mention of this 
+strangest power until that moment, determined to 
+impress. 
+
+“It is unusual,” said Dumbledore, after a moment’s 
+hesitation, “but not unheard of.” 
+
+Page | 308 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His tone was casual but his eyes moved curiously 
+over Riddle’s face. They stood for a moment, man and 
+boy, staring at each other. Then the handshake was 
+broken; Dumbledore was at the door. 
+
+“Good-bye, Tom. I shall see you at Hogwarts.” 
+
+“I think that will do,” said the white-haired 
+Dumbledore at Harry’s side, and seconds later, they 
+were soaring weightlessly through darkness once 
+more, before landing squarely in the present-day 
+office. 
+
+“Sit down,” said Dumbledore, landing beside Harry. 
+
+Harry obeyed, his mind still full of what he had just 
+seen. 
+
+“He believed it much quicker than I did — I mean, 
+when you told him he was a wizard,” said Harry. “I 
+didn’t believe Hagrid at first, when he told me.” 
+
+“Yes, Riddle was perfectly ready to believe that he was 
+— to use his word — ‘special,’ ” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“Did you know — then?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous 
+Dark wizard of all time?” said Dumbledore. “No, I had 
+no idea that he was to grow up to be what he is. 
+However, I was certainly intrigued by him. I returned 
+to Hogwarts intending to keep an eye upon him, 
+something I should have done in any case, given that 
+he was alone and friendless, but which, already, I felt 
+I ought to do for others’ sake as much as his. 
+
+“His powers, as you heard, were surprisingly well- 
+developed for such a young wizard and — most 
+interestingly and ominously of all — he had already 
+
+Page | 309 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+discovered that he had some measure of control over 
+them, and begun to use them consciously. And as 
+you saw, they were not the random experiments 
+typical of young wizards: He was already using magic 
+against other people, to frighten, to punish, to 
+control. The little stories of the strangled rabbit and 
+the young boy and girl he lured into a cave were most 
+suggestive. ... ‘I can make them hurt if I want to. ...”’ 
+
+“And he was a Parselmouth,” interjected Harry. 
+
+“Yes, indeed; a rare ability, and one supposedly 
+connected with the Dark Arts, although as we know, 
+there are Parselmouths among the great and the good 
+too. In fact, his ability to speak to serpents did not 
+make me nearly as uneasy as his obvious instincts for 
+cruelty, secrecy, and domination. 
+
+“Time is making fools of us again,” said Dumbledore, 
+indicating the dark sky beyond the windows. “But 
+before we part, I want to draw your attention to 
+certain features of the scene we have just witnessed, 
+for they have a great bearing on the matters we shall 
+be discussing in future meetings. 
+
+“Firstly, I hope you noticed Riddle���s reaction when I 
+mentioned that another shared his first name, Tom’?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“There he showed his contempt for anything that tied 
+him to other people, anything that made him 
+ordinary. Even then, he wished to be different, 
+separate, notorious. He shed his name, as you know, 
+within a few short years of that conversation and 
+created the mask of ‘Lord Voldemort’ behind which he 
+has been hidden for so long. 
+
+
+
+Page | 310 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I trust that you also noticed that Tom Riddle was 
+already highly self-sufficient, secretive, and, 
+apparently, friendless? He did not want help or 
+companionship on his trip to Diagon Alley. He 
+preferred to operate alone. The adult Voldemort is the 
+same. You will hear many of his Death Eaters 
+claiming that they are in his confidence, that they 
+alone are close to him, even understand him. They 
+are deluded. Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, 
+nor do I believe that he has ever wanted one. 
+
+“And lastly — I hope you are not too sleepy to pay 
+attention to this, Harry — the young Tom Riddle liked 
+to collect trophies. You saw the box of stolen articles 
+he had hidden in his room. These were taken from 
+victims of his bullying behavior, souvenirs, if you will, 
+of particularly unpleasant bits of magic. Bear in mind 
+this magpie-like tendency, for this, particularly, will 
+be important later. 
+
+“And now, it really is time for bed.” 
+
+Harry got to his feet. As he walked across the room, 
+his eyes fell upon the little table on which Marvolo 
+Gaunt’s ring had rested last time, but the ring was no 
+longer there. 
+
+“Yes, Harry?” said Dumbledore, for Harry had come to 
+a halt. 
+
+“The ring’s gone,” said Harry, looking around. “But I 
+thought you might have the mouth organ or 
+something.” 
+
+Dumbledore beamed at him, peering over the top of 
+his half-moon spectacles. 
+
+“Very astute, Harry, but the mouth organ was only 
+ever a mouth organ.” 
+
+Page | 311 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And on that enigmatic note he waved to Harry, who 
+understood himself to be dismissed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 312 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+FELIX FELICIS 
+
+Harry had Herbology first thing the following 
+morning. He had been unable to tell Ron and 
+Hermione about his lesson with Dumbledore over 
+breakfast for fear of being overheard, but he filled 
+them in as they walked across the vegetable patch 
+toward the greenhouses. The weekend’s brutal wind 
+had died out at last; the weird mist had returned and 
+it took them a little longer than usual to find the 
+correct greenhouse. 
+
+“Wow, scary thought, the boy You-Know-Who,” said 
+Ron quietly, as they took their places around one of 
+the gnarled Snargaluff stumps that formed this term’s 
+project, and began pulling on their protective gloves. 
+“But I still don’t get why Dumbledore’s showing you 
+all this. I mean, it’s really interesting and everything, 
+but what’s the point?” 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry, inserting a gum shield. “But he 
+says it’s all important and it’ll help me survive.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 313 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“I think it’s fascinating,” said Hermione earnestly. “It 
+makes absolute sense to know as much about 
+Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his 
+weaknesses?” 
+
+“So how was Slughorn’s latest party?” Harry asked 
+her thickly through the gum shield. 
+
+“Oh, it was quite fun, really,” said Hermione, now 
+putting on protective goggles. “I mean, he drones on 
+about famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely 
+fawns on McLaggen because he’s so well-connected, 
+but he gave us some really nice food and he 
+introduced us to Gwenog Jones.” 
+
+“Gwenog Jones?” said Ron, his eyes widening under 
+his own goggles. “The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the 
+Holyhead Harpies?” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Hermione. “Personally, I thought 
+she was a bit full of herself, but — ” 
+
+“Quite enough chat over here!” said Professor Sprout 
+briskly, bustling over and looking stern. “You’re 
+lagging behind, everybody else has started, and 
+Neville’s already got his first pod!” 
+
+They looked around; sure enough, there sat Neville 
+with a bloody lip and several nasty scratches along 
+the side of his face, but clutching an unpleasantly 
+pulsating green object about the size of a grapefruit. 
+
+“Okay, Professor, we’re starting now!” said Ron, 
+adding quietly, when she had turned away again, 
+“should’ve used Muffliato, Harry.” 
+
+“No, we shouldn’t!” said Hermione at once, looking, as 
+she always did, intensely cross at the thought of the 
+
+
+
+Page | 314 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Half-Blood Prince and his spells. “Well, come on ... 
+we’d better get going. ...” 
+
+
+
+She gave the other two an apprehensive look; they all 
+took deep breaths and then dived at the gnarled 
+stump between them. 
+
+It sprang to life at once; long, prickly, bramblelike 
+vines flew out of the top and whipped through the air. 
+One tangled itself in Hermione’s hair, and Ron beat it 
+back with a pair of secateurs; Harry succeeded in 
+trapping a couple of vines and knotting them 
+together; a hole opened in the middle of all the 
+tentaclelike branches; Hermione plunged her arm 
+bravely into this hole, which closed like a trap around 
+her elbow; Harry and Ron tugged and wrenched at 
+the vines, forcing the hole to open again, and 
+Hermione snatched her arm free, clutching in her 
+fingers a pod just like Neville’s. At once, the prickly 
+vines shot back inside, and the gnarled stump sat 
+there looking like an innocently dead lump of wood. 
+
+“You know, I don’t think I’ll be having any of these in 
+my garden when I’ve got my own place,” said Ron, 
+pushing his goggles up onto his forehead and wiping 
+sweat from his face. 
+
+“Pass me a bowl,” said Hermione, holding the 
+pulsating pod at arm’s length; Harry handed one over 
+and she dropped the pod into it with a look of disgust 
+on her face. 
+
+“Don’t be squeamish, squeeze it out, they’re best 
+when they’re fresh!” called Professor Sprout. 
+
+“Anyway,” said Hermione, continuing their 
+interrupted conversation as though a lump of wood 
+had not just attacked them, “Slughorn’s going to have 
+a Christmas party, Harry, and there’s no way you’ll be 
+
+Page | 315 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+able to wriggle out of this one because he actually 
+asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be 
+sure to have it on a night you can come.” 
+
+Harry groaned. Meanwhile, Ron, who was attempting 
+to burst the pod in the bowl by putting both hands on 
+it, standing up, and squashing it as hard as he could, 
+said angrily, “And this is another party just for 
+Slughorn’s favorites, is it?” 
+
+“Just for the Slug Club, yes,” said Hermione. 
+
+The pod flew out from under Ron’s fingers and hit the 
+greenhouse glass, rebounding onto the back of 
+Professor Sprout’s head and knocking off her old, 
+patched hat. Harry went to retrieve the pod; when he 
+got back, Hermione was saying, “Look, / didn’t make 
+up the name ‘Slug Club’ — ” 
+
+“ ‘Slug Club,’ ” repeated Ron with a sneer worthy of 
+Malfoy. “It’s pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your 
+party. Why don’t you try hooking up with McLaggen, 
+then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug — 
+
+
+
+“We’re allowed to bring guests,” said Hermione, who 
+for some reason had turned a bright, boiling scarlet, 
+“and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think 
+it’s that stupid then I won’t bother!” 
+
+Harry suddenly wished the pod had flown a little 
+farther, so that he need not have been sitting here 
+with the pair of them. Unnoticed by either, he seized 
+the bowl that contained the pod and began to try and 
+open it by the noisiest and most energetic means he 
+could think of; unfortunately, he could still hear every 
+word of their conversation. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You were going to ask me?” asked Ron, in a 
+completely different voice. 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione angrily. “But obviously if you’d 
+rather I hooked up with McLaggen ...” 
+
+There was a pause while Harry continued to pound 
+the resilient pod with a trowel. 
+
+“No, I wouldn’t,” said Ron, in a very quiet voice. 
+
+Harry missed the pod, hit the bowl, and shattered it. 
+
+“Reparo,” he said hastily, poking the pieces with his 
+wand, and the bowl sprang back together again. The 
+crash, however, appeared to have awoken Ron and 
+Hermione to Harry’s presence. Hermione looked 
+flustered and immediately started fussing about for 
+her copy of Flesh-Eating Trees of the World to find out 
+the correct way to juice Snargaluff pods; Ron, on the 
+other hand, looked sheepish but also rather pleased 
+with himself. 
+
+“Hand that over, Harry,” said Hermione hurriedly. “It 
+says we’re supposed to puncture them with 
+something sharp. ...” 
+
+Harry passed her the pod in the bowl; he and Ron 
+both snapped their goggles back over their eyes and 
+dived, once more, for the stump. 
+
+It was not as though he was really surprised, thought 
+Harry, as he wrestled with a thorny vine intent upon 
+throttling him; he had had an inkling that this might 
+happen sooner or later. But he was not sure how he 
+felt about it. ... He and Cho were now too 
+embarrassed to look at each other, let alone talk to 
+each other; what if Ron and Hermione started going 
+out together, then split up? Could their friendship 
+Page | 317 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+survive it? Harry remembered the few weeks when 
+they had not been talking to each other in the third 
+year; he had not enjoyed trying to bridge the distance 
+between them. And then, what if they didn’t split up? 
+What if they became like Bill and Fleur, and it 
+became excruciatingly embarrassing to be in their 
+presence, so that he was shut out for good? 
+
+“Gotcha!” yelled Ron, pulling a second pod from the 
+stump just as Hermione managed to burst the first 
+one open, so that the bowl was full of tubers wriggling 
+like pale green worms. 
+
+The rest of the lesson passed without further mention 
+of Slughorn’s party. Although Harry watched his two 
+friends more closely over the next few days, Ron and 
+Hermione did not seem any different except that they 
+were a little politer to each other than usual. Harry 
+supposed he would just have to wait to see what 
+happened under the influence of butterbeer in 
+Slughorn’s dimly lit room on the night of the party. In 
+the meantime, however, he had more pressing 
+worries. 
+
+Katie Bell was still in St. Mungo’s Hospital with no 
+prospect of leaving, which meant that the promising 
+Gryffindor team Harry had been training so carefully 
+since September was one Chaser short. He kept 
+putting off replacing Katie in the hope that she would 
+return, but their opening match against Slytherin was 
+looming, and he finally had to accept that she would 
+not be back in time to play. 
+
+Harry did not think he could stand another full- 
+House tryout. With a sinking feeling that had little to 
+do with Quidditch, he cornered Dean Thomas after 
+Transfiguration one day. Most of the class had 
+already left, although several twittering yellow birds 
+were still zooming around the room, all of Hermione ’s 
+Page | 318 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+creation; nobody else had succeeded in conjuring so 
+much as a feather from thin air. 
+
+“Are you still interested in playing Chaser?” 
+
+“Wha — ? Yeah, of course!” said Dean excitedly. Over 
+Dean’s shoulder, Harry saw Seamus Finnigan 
+slamming his books into his bag, looking sour. One of 
+the reasons why Harry would have preferred not to 
+have to ask Dean to play was that he knew Seamus 
+would not like it. On the other hand, he had to do 
+what was best for the team, and Dean had outflown 
+Seamus at the tryouts. 
+
+“Well then, you’re in,” said Harry. “There’s a practice 
+tonight, seven o’clock.” 
+
+“Right,” said Dean. “Cheers, Harry! Blimey, I can’t 
+wait to tell Ginny!” 
+
+He sprinted out of the room, leaving Harry and 
+Seamus alone together, an uncomfortable moment 
+made no easier when a bird dropping landed on 
+Seamus’s head as one of Hermione’s canaries whizzed 
+over them. 
+
+Seamus was not the only person disgruntled by the 
+choice of Katie’s substitute. There was much 
+muttering in the common room about the fact that 
+Harry had now chosen two of his classmates for the 
+team. As Harry had endured much worse mutterings 
+than this in his school career, he was not particularly 
+bothered, but all the same, the pressure was 
+increasing to provide a win in the upcoming match 
+against Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, Harry knew that 
+the whole House would forget that they had criticized 
+him and swear that they had always known it was a 
+great team. If they lost ... well, Harry thought wryly, 
+he had still endured worse mutterings. ... 
+
+Page | 319 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry had no reason to regret his choice once he saw 
+Dean fly that evening; he worked well with Ginny and 
+Demelza. The Beaters, Peakes and Coote, were getting 
+better all the time. The only problem was Ron. 
+
+Harry had known all along that Ron was an 
+inconsistent player who suffered from nerves and a 
+lack of confidence, and unfortunately, the looming 
+prospect of the opening game of the season seemed to 
+have brought out all his old insecurities. After letting 
+in half a dozen goals, most of them scored by Ginny, 
+his technique became wilder and wilder, until he 
+finally punched an oncoming Demelza Robins in the 
+mouth. 
+
+“It was an accident, I’m sorry, Demelza, really sorry!” 
+Ron shouted after her as she zigzagged back to the 
+ground, dripping blood everywhere. “I just — ” 
+
+“Panicked,” Ginny said angrily, landing next to 
+Demelza and examining her fat lip. “You prat, Ron, 
+look at the state of her!” 
+
+“I can fix that,” said Harry, landing beside the two 
+girls, pointing his wand at Demelza’s mouth, and 
+saying “Episkey.” “And Ginny, don’t call Ron a prat, 
+you’re not the Captain of this team — ” 
+
+“Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I 
+thought someone should — ” 
+
+Harry forced himself not to laugh. 
+
+“In the air, everyone, let’s go. ...” 
+
+Overall it was one of the worst practices they had had 
+all term, though Harry did not feel that honesty was 
+the best policy when they were this close to the 
+match. 
+
+Page | 320 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Good work, everyone, I think we’ll flatten Slytherin,” 
+he said bracingly and the Chasers and Beaters left 
+the changing room looking reasonably happy with 
+themselves. 
+
+“I played like a sack of dragon dung,” said Ron in a 
+hollow voice when the door had swung shut behind 
+Ginny. 
+
+“No, you didn’t,” said Harry firmly. “You’re the best 
+Keeper I tried out, Ron. Your only problem is nerves.” 
+
+He kept up a relentless flow of encouragement all the 
+way back to the castle, and by the time they reached 
+the second floor, Ron was looking marginally more 
+cheerful. When Harry pushed open the tapestry to 
+take their usual shortcut up to Gryffindor Tower, 
+however, they found themselves looking at Dean and 
+Ginny, who were locked in a close embrace and 
+kissing fiercely as though glued together. 
+
+It was as though something large and scaly erupted 
+into life in Harry’s stomach, clawing at his insides: 
+
+Hot blood seemed to flood his brain, so that all 
+thought was extinguished, replaced by a savage urge 
+to jinx Dean into a jelly. Wrestling with this sudden 
+madness, he heard Ron’s voice as though from a great 
+distance away. 
+
+“Oi!” 
+
+
+
+Dean and Ginny broke apart and looked around. 
+“What?” said Ginny. 
+
+“I don’t want to find my own sister snogging people in 
+public!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“This was a deserted corridor till you came butting 
+in!” said Ginny. 
+
+Dean was looking embarrassed. He gave Harry a 
+shifty grin that Harry did not return, as the newborn 
+monster inside him was roaring for Dean’s instant 
+dismissal from the team. 
+
+“Er ... c’mon, Ginny,” said Dean, “let’s go back to the 
+common room. ...” 
+
+“You go!” said Ginny. “I want a word with my dear 
+brother!” 
+
+Dean left, looking as though he was not sorry to 
+depart the scene. 
+
+“Right,” said Ginny, tossing her long red hair out of 
+her face and glaring at Ron, “let’s get this straight 
+once and for all. It is none of your business who I go 
+out with or what I do with them, Ron — ” 
+
+“Yeah, it is!” said Ron, just as angrily. “D’you think I 
+want people saying my sister’s a — ” 
+
+“A what?” shouted Ginny, drawing her wand. “A what, 
+exactly?” 
+
+“He doesn’t mean anything, Ginny — ” said Harry 
+automatically, though the monster was roaring its 
+approval of Ron’s words. 
+
+“Oh yes he does!” she said, flaring up at Harry. “Just 
+because he’s never snogged anyone in his life, just 
+because the best kiss he’s ever had is from our Auntie 
+Muriel — ” 
+
+“Shut your mouth!” bellowed Ron, bypassing red and 
+turning maroon. 
+
+Page | 322 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, I will not!” yelled Ginny, beside herself. “I’ve seen 
+you with Phlegm, hoping shell kiss you on the cheek 
+every time you see her, it’s pathetic! If you went out 
+and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn’t 
+mind so much that everyone else does it!” 
+
+Ron had pulled out his wand too; Harry stepped 
+swiftly between them. 
+
+“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Ron 
+roared, trying to get a clear shot at Ginny around 
+Harry, who was now standing in front of her with his 
+arms outstretched. “Just because I don’t do it in 
+public — !” 
+
+Ginny screamed with derisive laughter, trying to push 
+Harry out of the way. 
+
+“Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or have you got 
+a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your 
+pillow?” 
+
+“You—” 
+
+A streak of orange light flew under Harry’s left arm 
+and missed Ginny by inches; Harry pushed Ron up 
+against the wall. 
+
+“Don’t be stupid — ” 
+
+“Harry’s snogged Cho Chang!” shouted Ginny, who 
+sounded close to tears now. “And Hermione snogged 
+Viktor Krum, it’s only you who acts like it’s something 
+disgusting, Ron, and that’s because you’ve got about 
+as much experience as a twelve-year-old!” 
+
+And with that, she stormed away. Harry quickly let go 
+of Ron; the look on his face was murderous. They 
+both stood there, breathing heavily, until Mrs. Norris, 
+
+Page | 323 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Filch ’s cat, appeared around the corner, which broke 
+the tension. 
+
+
+
+“C’mon,” said Harry, as the sound of Filch ’s shuffling 
+feet reached their ears. 
+
+They hurried up the stairs and along a seventh-floor 
+corridor. “Oi, out of the way!” Ron barked at a small 
+girl who jumped in fright and dropped a bottle of 
+toadspawn. 
+
+Harry hardly noticed the sound of shattering glass; he 
+felt disoriented, dizzy; being struck by a lightning bolt 
+must be something like this. It’s just because she’s 
+Ron’s sister, he told himself. You just didn’t like seeing 
+her kissing Dean because she’s Ron’s sister. ... 
+
+But unbidden into his mind came an image of that 
+same deserted corridor with himself kissing Ginny 
+instead. ... The monster in his chest purred ... but 
+then he saw Ron ripping open the tapestry curtain 
+and drawing his wand on Harry, shouting things like 
+“betrayal of trust” . . . “supposed to be my friend” . . . 
+
+“D’you think Hermione did snog Krum?” Ron asked 
+abruptly, as they approached the Fat Lady. Harry 
+gave a guilty start and wrenched his imagination 
+away from a corridor in which no Ron intruded, in 
+which he and Ginny were quite alone — 
+
+“What?” he said confusedly. “Oh ... er ...” 
+
+The honest answer was “yes,” but he did not want to 
+give it. However, Ron seemed to gather the worst from 
+the look on Harry’s face. 
+
+“Dilligrout,” he said darkly to the Fat Lady, and they 
+climbed through the portrait hole into the common 
+room. 
+
+Page | 324 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Neither of them mentioned Ginny or Hermione again; 
+indeed, they barely spoke to each other that evening 
+and got into bed in silence, each absorbed in his own 
+thoughts. 
+
+Harry lay awake for a long time, looking up at the 
+canopy of his four-poster and trying to convince 
+himself that his feelings for Ginny were entirely elder- 
+brotherly. They had lived, had they not, like brother 
+and sister all summer, playing Quidditch, teasing 
+Ron, and having a laugh about Bill and Phlegm? He 
+had known Ginny for years now. ... It was natural 
+that he should feel protective . . . natural that he 
+should want to look out for her . . . want to rip Dean 
+limb from limb for kissing her ... No ... he would have 
+to control that particular brotherly feeling. . . . 
+
+Ron gave a great grunting snore. 
+
+She’s Ron’s sister, Harry told himself firmly. Ron’s 
+sister. She’s out-of-bounds. He would not risk his 
+friendship with Ron for anything. He punched his 
+pillow into a more comfortable shape and waited for 
+sleep to come, trying his utmost not to allow his 
+thoughts to stray anywhere near Ginny. 
+
+Harry awoke next morning feeling slightly dazed and 
+confused by a series of dreams in which Ron had 
+chased him with a Beater’s bat, but by midday he 
+would have happily exchanged the dream Ron for the 
+real one, who was not only cold-shouldering Ginny 
+and Dean, but also treating a hurt and bewildered 
+Hermione with an icy, sneering indifference. What 
+was more, Ron seemed to have become, overnight, as 
+touchy and ready to lash out as the average Blast- 
+Ended Skrewt. Harry spent the day attempting to 
+keep the peace between Ron and Hermione with no 
+success; finally, Hermione departed for bed in high 
+dudgeon, and Ron stalked off to the boys’ dormitory 
+Page | 325 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+after swearing angrily at several frightened first years 
+for looking at him. 
+
+To Harry’s dismay, Ron’s new aggression did not wear 
+off over the next few days. Worse still, it coincided 
+with an even deeper dip in his Keeping skills, which 
+made him still more aggressive, so that during the 
+final Quidditch practice before Saturday’s match, he 
+failed to save every single goal the Chasers aimed at 
+him, but bellowed at everybody so much that he 
+reduced Demelza Robins to tears. 
+
+“You shut up and leave her alone!” shouted Peakes, 
+who was about two-thirds Ron’s height, though 
+admittedly carrying a heavy bat. 
+
+“ENOUGH!” bellowed Harry, who had seen Ginny 
+glowering in Ron’s direction and, remembering her 
+reputation as an accomplished caster of the Bat- 
+Bogey Hex, soared over to intervene before things got 
+out of hand. “Peakes, go and pack up the Bludgers. 
+Demelza, pull yourself together, you played really well 
+today. Ron ...” he waited until the rest of the team 
+were out of earshot before saying it, “you’re my best 
+mate, but carry on treating the rest of them like this 
+and I’m going to kick you off the team.” 
+
+He really thought for a moment that Ron might hit 
+him, but then something much worse happened: Ron 
+seemed to sag on his broom; all the fight went out of 
+him and he said, “I resign. I’m pathetic.” 
+
+“You’re not pathetic and you’re not resigning!” said 
+Harry fiercely, seizing Ron by the front of his robes. 
+“You can save anything when you’re on form, it’s a 
+mental problem you’ve got!” 
+
+“You calling me mental?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 326 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, maybe I am!” 
+
+They glared at each other for a moment, then Ron 
+shook his head wearily. “I know you haven’t got any 
+time to find another Keeper, so I’ll play tomorrow, but 
+if we lose, and we will, I’m taking myself off the team.” 
+
+Nothing Harry said made any difference. He tried 
+boosting Ron’s confidence all through dinner, but Ron 
+was too busy being grumpy and surly with Hermione 
+to notice. Harry persisted in the common room that 
+evening, but his assertion that the whole team would 
+be devastated if Ron left was somewhat undermined 
+by the fact that the rest of the team was sitting in a 
+huddle in a distant corner, clearly muttering about 
+Ron and casting him nasty looks. Finally Harry tried 
+getting angry again in the hope of provoking Ron into 
+a defiant, and hopefully goal-saving, attitude, but this 
+strategy did not appear to work any better than 
+encouragement; Ron went to bed as dejected and 
+hopeless as ever. 
+
+Harry lay awake for a very long time in the darkness. 
+He did not want to lose the upcoming match; not only 
+was it his first as Captain, but he was determined to 
+beat Draco Malfoy at Quidditch even if he could not 
+yet prove his suspicions about him. Yet if Ron played 
+as he had done in the last few practices, their 
+chances of winning were very slim. ... 
+
+If only there was something he could do to make Ron 
+pull himself together . . . make him play at the top of 
+his form . . . something that would ensure that Ron 
+had a really good day. ... 
+
+And the answer came to Harry in one, sudden, 
+glorious stroke of inspiration. 
+
+
+
+Page | 327 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Breakfast was the usual excitable affair next morning; 
+the Slytherins hissed and booed loudly as every 
+member of the Gryffindor team entered the Great 
+Hall. Harry glanced at the ceiling and saw a clear, 
+pale blue sky: a good omen. 
+
+The Gryffindor table, a solid mass of red and gold, 
+cheered as Harry and Ron approached. Harry grinned 
+and waved; Ron grimaced weakly and shook his head. 
+
+“Cheer up, Ron!” called Lavender. “I know you’ll be 
+brilliant!” 
+
+Ron ignored her. 
+
+“Tea?” Harry asked him. “Coffee? Pumpkin juice?” 
+
+“Anything,” said Ron glumly, taking a moody bite of 
+toast. 
+
+A few minutes later Hermione, who had become so 
+tired of Ron’s recent unpleasant behavior that she 
+had not come down to breakfast with them, paused 
+on her way up the table. 
+
+“How are you both feeling?” she asked tentatively, her 
+eyes on the back of Ron’s head. 
+
+“Fine,” said Harry, who was concentrating on handing 
+Ron a glass of pumpkin juice. “There you go, Ron. 
+Drink up.” 
+
+Ron had just raised the glass to his lips when 
+Hermione spoke sharply. 
+
+“Don’t drink that, Ron!” 
+
+Both Harry and Ron looked up at her. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Why not?” said Ron. 
+
+
+
+Hermione was now staring at Harry as though she 
+could not believe her eyes. 
+
+“You just put something in that drink.” 
+
+“Excuse me?” said Harry. 
+
+“You heard me. I saw you. You just tipped something 
+into Ron’s drink. You’ve got the bottle in your hand 
+right now!” 
+
+“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Harry, 
+stowing the little bottle hastily in his pocket. 
+
+“Ron, I warn you, don’t drink it!” Hermione said 
+again, alarmed, but Ron picked up the glass, drained 
+it in one gulp, and said, “Stop bossing me around, 
+Hermione.” 
+
+She looked scandalized. Bending low so that only 
+Harry could hear her, she hissed, “You should be 
+expelled for that. I’d never have believed it of you, 
+Harry!” 
+
+“Hark who’s talking,” he whispered back. “Confunded 
+anyone lately?” 
+
+She stormed up the table away from them. Harry 
+watched her go without regret. Hermione had never 
+really understood what a serious business Quidditch 
+was. He then looked around at Ron, who was 
+smacking his lips. 
+
+“Nearly time,” said Harry blithely. 
+
+The frosty grass crunched underfoot as they strode 
+down to the stadium. 
+
+Page | 329 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Pretty lucky the weather’s this good, eh?” Harry 
+asked Ron. 
+
+
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, who was pale and sick-looking. 
+
+Ginny and Demelza were already wearing their 
+Quidditch robes and waiting in the changing room. 
+
+“Conditions look ideal,” said Ginny, ignoring Ron. 
+
+“And guess what? That Slytherin Chaser Vaisey — he 
+took a Bludger in the head yesterday during their 
+practice, and he’s too sore to play! And even better 
+than that — Malfoy’s gone off sick too!” 
+
+“ What?” said Harry, wheeling around to stare at her. 
+“He’s ill? What’s wrong with him?” 
+
+“No idea, but it’s great for us,” said Ginny brightly. 
+“They’re playing Harper instead; he’s in my year and 
+he’s an idiot.” 
+
+Harry smiled back vaguely, but as he pulled on his 
+scarlet robes his mind was far from Quidditch. Malfoy 
+had once before claimed he could not play due to 
+injury, but on that occasion he had made sure the 
+whole match was rescheduled for a time that suited 
+the Slytherins better. Why was he now happy to let a 
+substitute go on? Was he really ill, or was he faking? 
+
+“Fishy, isn’t it?” he said in an undertone to Ron. 
+“Malfoy not playing?” 
+
+“Lucky, I call it,” said Ron, looking slightly more 
+animated. “And Vaisey off too, he’s their best goal 
+scorer, I didn’t fancy — hey!” he said suddenly, 
+freezing halfway through pulling on his Keeper’s 
+gloves and staring at Harry. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+Page | 330 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I ... you ...” Ron had dropped his voice, he looked 
+both scared and excited. “My drink ... my pumpkin 
+juice ... you didn’t ... ?” 
+
+Harry raised his eyebrows, but said nothing except, 
+“Well be starting in about five minutes, you’d better 
+get your boots on.” 
+
+They walked out onto the pitch to tumultuous roars 
+and boos. One end of the stadium was solid red and 
+gold; the other, a sea of green and silver. Many 
+Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had taken sides too: 
+Amidst all the yelling and clapping Harry could 
+distinctly hear the roar of Luna Lovegood’s famous 
+lion-topped hat. 
+
+Harry stepped up to Madam Hooch, the referee, who 
+was standing ready to release the balls from the crate. 
+
+“Captains shake hands,” she said, and Harry had his 
+hand crushed by the new Slytherin Captain, 
+
+Urquhart. “Mount your brooms. On the whistle ... 
+three ... two ... one ...” 
+
+The whistle sounded, Harry and the others kicked off 
+hard from the frozen ground, and they were away. 
+
+Harry soared around the perimeter of the grounds, 
+looking around for the Snitch and keeping one eye on 
+Harper, who was zigzagging far below him. Then a 
+voice that was jarringly different to the usual 
+commentator’s started up. 
+
+“Well, there they go, and I think we’re all surprised to 
+see the team that Potter’s put together this year. 
+
+Many thought, given Ronald Weasley’s patchy 
+performance as Keeper last year, that he might be off 
+the team, but of course, a close personal friendship 
+with the Captain does help. ...” 
+
+Page | 331 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+These words were greeted with jeers and applause 
+from the Slytherin end of the pitch. Harry craned 
+around on his broom to look toward the 
+commentator’s podium. A tall, skinny blond boy with 
+an upturned nose was standing there, talking into the 
+magical megaphone that had once been Lee Jordan’s; 
+Harry recognized Zacharias Smith, a Hufflepuff player 
+whom he heartily disliked. 
+
+“Oh, and here comes Slytherin ’s first attempt on goal, 
+it’s Urquhart streaking down the pitch and — ” 
+
+Harry’s stomach turned over. 
+
+“ — Weasley saves it, well, he’s bound to get lucky 
+sometimes, I suppose. ...” 
+
+“That’s right, Smith, he is,” muttered Harry, grinning 
+to himself, as he dived amongst the Chasers with his 
+eyes searching all around for some hint of the elusive 
+Snitch. 
+
+With half an hour of the game gone, Gryffindor were 
+leading sixty points to zero, Ron having made some 
+truly spectacular saves, some by the very tips of his 
+gloves, and Ginny having scored four of Gryffindor’s 
+six goals. This effectively stopped Zacharias 
+wondering loudly whether the two Weasleys were only 
+there because Harry liked them, and he started on 
+Peakes and Coote instead. 
+
+“Of course, Coote isn’t really the usual build for a 
+Beater,” said Zacharias loftily, “they’ve generally got a 
+bit more muscle — ” 
+
+“Hit a Bludger at him!” Harry called to Coote as he 
+zoomed past, but Coote, grinning broadly, chose to 
+aim the next Bludger at Harper instead, who was just 
+passing Harry in the opposite direction. Harry was 
+
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+
+
+
+
+pleased to hear the dull thunk that meant the 
+Bludger had found its mark. 
+
+It seemed as though Gryffindor could do no wrong. 
+Again and again they scored, and again and again, at 
+the other end of the pitch, Ron saved goals with 
+apparent ease. He was actually smiling now, and 
+when the crowd greeted a particularly good save with 
+a rousing chorus of the old favorite “Weasley Is Our 
+King,” he pretended to conduct them from on high. 
+
+“Thinks he’s something special today, doesn’t he?” 
+said a snide voice, and Harry was nearly knocked off 
+his broom as Harper collided with him hard and 
+deliberately. “Your blood-traitor pal ...” 
+
+Madam Hooch’s back was turned, and though 
+Gryffindors below shouted in anger, by the time she 
+looked around, Harper had already sped off. His 
+shoulder aching, Harry raced after him, determined to 
+ram him back. . . . 
+
+“And I think Harper of Slytherin’s seen the Snitch!” 
+said Zacharias Smith through his megaphone. “Yes, 
+he’s certainly seen something Potter hasn’t!” 
+
+Smith really was an idiot, thought Harry, hadn’t he 
+noticed them collide? But next moment, his stomach 
+seemed to drop out of the sky — Smith was right and 
+Harry was wrong: Harper had not sped upward at 
+random; he had spotted what Harry had not: The 
+Snitch was speeding along high above them, glinting 
+brightly against the clear blue sky. 
+
+Harry accelerated; the wind was whistling in his ears 
+so that it drowned all sound of Smith’s commentary 
+or the crowd, but Harper was still ahead of him, and 
+Gryffindor was only a hundred points up; if Harper 
+
+
+
+Page | 333 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+got there first Gryffindor had lost . . . and now Harper 
+was feet from it, his hand outstretched. ... 
+
+“Oi, Harper!” yelled Harry in desperation. “How much 
+did Malfoy pay you to come on instead of him?” 
+
+He did not know what made him say it, but Harper 
+did a double-take; he fumbled the Snitch, let it slip 
+through his fingers, and shot right past it. Harry 
+made a great swipe for the tiny, fluttering ball and 
+caught it. 
+
+“YES!” Harry yelled. Wheeling around, he hurtled 
+back toward the ground, the Snitch held high in his 
+hand. As the crowd realized what had happened, a 
+great shout went up that almost drowned the sound 
+of the whistle that signaled the end of the game. 
+
+“Ginny, where ’re you going?” yelled Harry, who had 
+found himself trapped in the midst of a mass midair 
+hug with the rest of the team, but Ginny sped right 
+on past them until, with an almighty crash, she 
+collided with the commentator’s podium. As the 
+crowd shrieked and laughed, the Gryffindor team 
+landed beside the wreckage of wood under which 
+Zacharias was feebly stirring; Harry heard Ginny 
+saying blithely to an irate Professor McGonagall, 
+“Forgot to brake, Professor, sorry.” 
+
+Laughing, Harry broke free of the rest of the team and 
+hugged Ginny, but let go very quickly. Avoiding her 
+gaze, he clapped a cheering Ron on the back instead 
+as, all enmity forgotten, the Gryffindor team left the 
+pitch arm in arm, punching the air and waving to 
+their supporters. 
+
+The atmosphere in the changing room was jubilant. 
+
+
+
+Page | 334 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Party up in the common room, Seamus said!” yelled 
+Dean exuberantly. “C’mon, Ginny, Demelza!” 
+
+Ron and Harry were the last two in the changing 
+room. They were just about to leave when Hermione 
+entered. She was twisting her Gryffindor scarf in her 
+hands and looked upset but determined. 
+
+“I want a word with you, Harry.” She took a deep 
+breath. “You shouldn’t have done it. You heard 
+Slughorn, it’s illegal.” 
+
+“What are you going to do, turn us in?” demanded 
+Ron. 
+
+“What are you two talking about?” asked Harry, 
+turning away to hang up his robes so that neither of 
+them would see him grinning. 
+
+“You know perfectly well what we’re talking about!” 
+said Hermione shrilly. “You spiked Ron’s juice with 
+lucky potion at breakfast! Felix Felicis!” 
+
+“No, I didn’t,” said Harry, turning back to face them 
+both. 
+
+“Yes you did, Harry, and that’s why everything went 
+right, there were Slytherin players missing and Ron 
+saved everything!” 
+
+“I didn’t put it in!” said Harry, grinning broadly. He 
+slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket and drew 
+out the tiny bottle that Hermione had seen in his 
+hand that morning. It was full of golden potion and 
+the cork was still tightly sealed with wax. “I wanted 
+Ron to think I’d done it, so I faked it when I knew you 
+were looking.” He looked at Ron. “You saved 
+everything because you felt lucky. You did it all 
+yourself.” 
+
+Page | 335 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He pocketed the potion again. 
+
+
+
+“There really wasn’t anything in my pumpkin juice?” 
+Ron said, astounded. “But the weather’s good ... and 
+Vaisey couldn’t play. ... I honestly haven’t been given 
+lucky potion?” 
+
+Harry shook his head. Ron gaped at him for a 
+moment, then rounded on Hermione, imitating her 
+voice. “ You added Felix Felicis to Ron’s juice this 
+morning, that’s why he saved every thing\ See! I can 
+save goals without help, Hermione!” 
+
+“I never said you couldn’t — Ron, you thought you’d 
+been given it too!” 
+
+But Ron had already strode past her out of the door 
+with his broomstick over his shoulder. 
+
+“Er,” said Harry into the sudden silence; he had not 
+expected his plan to backfire like this, “shall ... shall 
+we go up to the party, then?” 
+
+“You go!” said Hermione, blinking back tears. “I’m 
+sick of Ron at the moment, I don’t know what I’m 
+supposed to have done. ...” 
+
+And she stormed out of the changing room too. 
+
+Harry walked slowly back up the grounds toward the 
+castle through the crowd, many of whom shouted 
+congratulations at him, but he felt a great sense of 
+letdown; he had been sure that if Ron won the match, 
+he and Hermione would be friends again immediately. 
+He did not see how he could possibly explain to 
+Hermione that what she had done to offend Ron was 
+kiss Viktor Krum, not when the offense had occurred 
+so long ago. 
+
+
+
+Page | 336 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry could not see Hermione at the Gryffindor 
+celebration party, which was in full swing when he 
+arrived. Renewed cheers and clapping greeted his 
+appearance, and he was soon surrounded by a mob of 
+people congratulating him. What with trying to shake 
+off the Creevey brothers, who wanted a blow-by-blow 
+match analysis, and the large group of girls that 
+encircled him, laughing at his least amusing 
+comments and batting their eyelids, it was some time 
+before he could try and find Ron. At last, he 
+extricated himself from Romilda Vane, who was 
+hinting heavily that she would like to go to Slughorn’s 
+Christmas party with him. As he was ducking toward 
+the drinks table, he walked straight into Ginny, 
+
+Arnold the Pygmy Puff riding on her shoulder and 
+Crookshanks mewing hopefully at her heels. 
+
+“Looking for Ron?” she asked, smirking. “He’s over 
+there, the filthy hypocrite.” 
+
+Harry looked into the corner she was indicating. 
+
+There, in full view of the whole room, stood Ron 
+wrapped so closely around Lavender Brown it was 
+hard to tell whose hands were whose. 
+
+“It looks like he’s eating her face, doesn’t it?” said 
+Ginny dispassionately. “But I suppose he’s got to 
+refine his technique somehow. Good game, Harry.” 
+
+She patted him on the arm; Harry felt a swooping 
+sensation in his stomach, but then she walked off to 
+help herself to more butterbeer. Crookshanks trotted 
+after her, his yellow eyes fixed upon Arnold. 
+
+Harry turned away from Ron, who did not look like he 
+would be surfacing soon, just as the portrait hole was 
+closing. With a sinking feeling, he thought he saw a 
+mane of bushy brown hair whipping out of sight. 
+
+
+
+Page | 337 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He darted forward, sidestepped Romilda Vane again, 
+and pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady. The 
+corridor outside seemed to be deserted. 
+
+“Hermione?” 
+
+He found her in the first unlocked classroom he tried. 
+She was sitting on the teacher’s desk, alone except for 
+a small ring of twittering yellow birds circling her 
+head, which she had clearly just conjured out of 
+midair. Harry could not help admiring her spell-work 
+at a time like this. 
+
+“Oh, hello, Harry,” she said in a brittle voice. “I was 
+just practicing.” 
+
+“Yeah ... they’re — er — really good. ...” said Harry. 
+
+He had no idea what to say to her. He was just 
+wondering whether there was any chance that she 
+had not noticed Ron, that she had merely left the 
+room because the party was a little too rowdy, when 
+she said, in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, “Ron 
+seems to be enjoying the celebrations.” 
+
+“Er . . . does he?” said Harry. 
+
+“Don’t pretend you didn’t see him,” said Hermione. 
+
+“He wasn’t exactly hiding it, was — ?” 
+
+The door behind them burst open. To Harry’s horror, 
+Ron came in, laughing, pulling Lavender by the hand. 
+
+“Oh,” he said, drawing up short at the sight of Harry 
+and Hermione. 
+
+“Oops!” said Lavender, and she backed out of the 
+room, giggling. The door swung shut behind her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 338 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There was a horrible, swelling, billowing silence. 
+Hermione was staring at Ron, who refused to look at 
+her, but said with an odd mixture of bravado and 
+awkwardness, “Hi, Harry! Wondered where you’d got 
+to!” 
+
+Hermione slid off the desk. The little flock of golden 
+birds continued to twitter in circles around her head 
+so that she looked like a strange, feathery model of 
+the solar system. 
+
+“You shouldn’t leave Lavender waiting outside,” she 
+said quietly. “She’ll wonder where you’ve gone.” 
+
+She walked very slowly and erectly toward the door. 
+Harry glanced at Ron, who was looking relieved that 
+nothing worse had happened. 
+
+“ Oppugno\” came a shriek from the doorway. 
+
+Harry spun around to see Hermione pointing her 
+wand at Ron, her expression wild: The little flock of 
+birds was speeding like a hail of fat golden bullets 
+toward Ron, who yelped and covered his face with his 
+hands, but the birds attacked, pecking and clawing at 
+every bit of flesh they could reach. 
+
+“Gerremoffme!” he yelled, but with one last look of 
+vindictive fury, Hermione wrenched open the door 
+and disappeared through it. Harry thought he heard a 
+sob before it slammed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 339 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE UNBREAKABLE VOW 
+
+Snow was swirling against the icy windows once 
+more; Christmas was approaching fast. Hagrid had 
+already single-handedly delivered the usual twelve 
+Christmas trees for the Great Hall; garlands of holly 
+and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of 
+the stairs; everlasting candles glowed from inside the 
+helmets of suits of armor and great bunches of 
+mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the 
+corridors. Large groups of girls tended to converge 
+underneath the mistletoe bunches every time Harry 
+went past, which caused blockages in the corridors; 
+fortunately, however, Harry’s frequent nighttime 
+wanderings had given him an unusually good 
+knowledge of the castle’s secret passageways, so that 
+he was able, without too much difficulty, to navigate 
+mistletoe-free routes between classes. 
+
+Ron, who might once have found the necessity of 
+these detours a cause for jealousy rather than 
+hilarity, simply roared with laughter about it all. 
+Although Harry much preferred this new laughing, 
+
+
+
+Page | 340 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+joking Ron to the moody, aggressive model he had 
+been enduring for the last few weeks, the improved 
+Ron came at a heavy price. Firstly, Harry had to put 
+up with the frequent presence of Lavender Brown, 
+who seemed to regard any moment that she was not 
+kissing Ron as a moment wasted; and secondly, 
+
+Harry found himself once more the best friend of two 
+people who seemed unlikely ever to speak to each 
+other again. 
+
+Ron, whose hands and forearms still bore scratches 
+and cuts from Hermione’s bird attack, was taking a 
+defensive and resentful tone. 
+
+“She can’t complain,” he told Harry. “She snogged 
+Krum. So she’s found out someone wants to snog me 
+too. Well, it’s a free country. I haven’t done anything 
+wrong.” 
+
+Harry did not answer, but pretended to be absorbed 
+in the book they were supposed to have read before 
+Charms next morning (Quintessence: A Quest). 
+Determined as he was to remain friends with both 
+Ron and Hermione, he was spending a lot of time with 
+his mouth shut tight. 
+
+“I never promised Hermione anything,” Ron mumbled. 
+“I mean, all right, I was going to go to Slughorn’s 
+Christmas party with her, but she never said ... just 
+as friends ... I’m a free agent. ...” 
+
+Harry turned a page of Quintessence, aware that Ron 
+was watching him. Ron’s voice tailed away in mutters, 
+barely audible over the loud crackling of the fire, 
+though Harry thought he caught the words “Krum” 
+and “can’t complain” again. 
+
+Hermione’s schedule was so full that Harry could only 
+talk to her properly in the evenings, when Ron was, in 
+
+Page | 341 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+any case, so tightly wrapped around Lavender that he 
+did not notice what Harry was doing. Hermione 
+refused to sit in the common room while Ron was 
+there, so Harry generally joined her in the library, 
+which meant that their conversations were held in 
+whispers. 
+
+“He’s at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he likes,” 
+said Hermione, while the librarian, Madam Pince, 
+prowled the shelves behind them. “I really couldn’t 
+care less.” 
+
+She raised her quill and dotted an i so ferociously 
+that she punctured a hole in her parchment. Harry 
+said nothing. He thought his voice might soon vanish 
+from lack of use. He bent a little lower over Advanced 
+Potion-Making and continued to make notes on 
+Everlasting Elixirs, occasionally pausing to decipher 
+the Prince’s useful additions to Libatius Borage’s text. 
+
+“And incidentally,” said Hermione, after a few 
+moments, “you need to be careful.” 
+
+“For the last time,” said Harry, speaking in a slightly 
+hoarse whisper after three-quarters of an hour of 
+silence, “I am not giving back this book, I’ve learned 
+more from the Half-Blood Prince than Snape or 
+Slughorn have taught me in — ” 
+
+“I’m not talking about your stupid so-called Prince,” 
+said Hermione, giving his book a nasty look as though 
+it had been rude to her. “I’m talking about earlier. I 
+went into the girls’ bathroom just before I came in 
+here and there were about a dozen girls in there, 
+including that Romilda Vane, trying to decide how to 
+slip you a love potion. They’re all hoping they’re going 
+to get you to take them to Slughorn ’s party, and they 
+all seem to have bought Fred and George’s love 
+potions, which I’m afraid to say probably work — ” 
+Page | 342 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Why didn’t you confiscate them then?” demanded 
+Harry. It seemed extraordinary that Hermione’s mania 
+for upholding rules could have abandoned her at this 
+crucial juncture. 
+
+“They didn’t have the potions with them in the 
+bathroom,” said Hermione scornfully. “They were just 
+discussing tactics. As I doubt whether even the Half- 
+Blood Prince ” — she gave the book another nasty look 
+— “could dream up an antidote for a dozen different 
+love potions at once, I’d just invite someone to go with 
+you, thatll stop all the others thinking they’ve still got 
+a chance. It’s tomorrow night, they’re getting 
+desperate.” 
+
+“There isn’t anyone I want to invite,” mumbled Harry, 
+who was still trying not to think about Ginny any 
+more than he could help, despite the fact that she 
+kept cropping up in his dreams in ways that made 
+him devoutly thankful that Ron could not perform 
+Legilimency. 
+
+“Well, just be careful what you drink, because 
+Romilda Vane looked like she meant business,” said 
+Hermione grimly. 
+
+She hitched up the long roll of parchment on which 
+she was writing her Arithmancy essay and continued 
+to scratch away with her quill. Harry watched her 
+with his mind a long way away. 
+
+“Hang on a moment,” he said slowly. “I thought Filch 
+had banned anything bought at Weasleys’ Wizard 
+Wheezes?” 
+
+“And when has anyone ever paid attention to what 
+Filch has banned?” asked Hermione, still 
+concentrating on her essay. 
+
+
+
+Page | 343 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But I thought all the owls were being searched. So 
+how come these girls are able to bring love potions 
+into school?” 
+
+“Fred and George send them disguised as perfumes 
+and cough potions,” said Hermione. “It’s part of their 
+Owl Order Service.” 
+
+“You know a lot about it.” 
+
+Hermione gave him the kind of nasty look she had 
+just given his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. 
+
+“It was all on the back of the bottles they showed 
+Ginny and me in the summer,” she said coldly. “I 
+don’t go around putting potions in people’s drinks ... 
+or pretending to, either, which is just as bad. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, well, never mind that,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“The point is, Filch is being fooled, isn’t he? These 
+girls are getting stuff into the school disguised as 
+something else! So why couldn’t Malfoy have brought 
+the necklace into the school — ?” 
+
+“Oh, Harry ... not that again ...” 
+
+“Come on, why not?” demanded Harry. 
+
+“Look,” sighed Hermione, “Secrecy Sensors detect 
+jinxes, curses, and concealment charms, don’t they? 
+They’re used to find Dark Magic and Dark objects. 
+They’d have picked up a powerful curse, like the one 
+on that necklace, within seconds. But something 
+that’s just been put in the wrong bottle wouldn’t 
+register — and anyway, love potions aren’t Dark or 
+dangerous — ” 
+
+“Easy for you to say,” muttered Harry, thinking of 
+Romilda Vane. 
+
+Page | 344 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — so it would be down to Filch to realize it wasn’t a 
+cough potion, and he’s not a very good wizard, I doubt 
+he can tell one potion from — ” 
+
+Hermione stopped dead; Harry had heard it too. 
+Somebody had moved close behind them among the 
+dark bookshelves. They waited, and a moment later 
+the vulturelike countenance of Madam Pince 
+appeared around the corner, her sunken cheeks, her 
+skin like parchment, and her long hooked nose 
+illuminated unflatteringly by the lamp she was 
+carrying. 
+
+“The library is now closed,” she said. “Mind you 
+return anything you have borrowed to the correct — 
+what have you been doing to that book, you depraved 
+boy?” 
+
+“It isn’t the library’s, it’s mine!” said Harry hastily, 
+snatching his copy of Advanced Potion-Making off the 
+table as she lunged at it with a clawlike hand. 
+
+“Despoiled!” she hissed. “Desecrated! Befouled!” 
+
+“It’s just a book that’s been written on!” said Harry, 
+tugging it out of her grip. 
+
+She looked as though she might have a seizure; 
+Hermione, who had hastily packed her things, 
+grabbed Harry by the arm and frogmarched him 
+away. 
+
+“She’ll ban you from the library if you’re not careful. 
+Why did you have to bring that stupid book?” 
+
+“It’s not my fault she’s barking mad, Hermione. Or 
+d’you think she overheard you being rude about 
+Filch? I’ve always thought there might be something 
+going on between them. ...” 
+
+Page | 345 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, ha ha ...” 
+
+
+
+Enjoying the fact that they could speak normally 
+again, they made their way along the deserted, lamp- 
+lit corridors back to the common room, arguing about 
+whether or not Filch and Madam Pince were secretly 
+in love with each other. 
+
+“Baubles,” said Harry to the Fat Lady, this being the 
+new, festive password. 
+
+“Same to you,” said the Fat Lady with a roguish grin, 
+and she swung forward to admit them. 
+
+“Hi, Harry!” said Romilda Vane, the moment he had 
+climbed through the portrait hole. “Fancy a 
+gillywater?” 
+
+Hermione gave him a “what-did-I-tell-you?” look over 
+her shoulder. 
+
+“No thanks,” said Harry quickly. “I don’t like it much.” 
+
+“Well, take these anyway,” said Romilda, thrusting a 
+box into his hands. “Chocolate Cauldrons, they’ve got 
+firewhisky in them. My gran sent them to me, but I 
+don’t like them.” 
+
+“Oh — right — thanks a lot,” said Harry, who could 
+not think what else to say. “Er — I’m just going over 
+here with ...” 
+
+He hurried off behind Hermione, his voice tailing 
+away feebly. 
+
+“Told you,” said Hermione succinctly. “Sooner you ask 
+someone, sooner they’ll all leave you alone and you 
+can — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 346 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But her face suddenly turned blank; she had just 
+spotted Ron and Lavender, who were entwined in the 
+same armchair. 
+
+“Well, good night, Harry,” said Hermione, though it 
+was only seven o’clock in the evening, and she left for 
+the girls’ dormitory without another word. 
+
+Harry went to bed comforting himself that there was 
+only one more day of lessons to struggle through, 
+plus Slughorn’s party, after which he and Ron would 
+depart together for the Burrow. It now seemed 
+impossible that Ron and Hermione would make up 
+with each other before the holidays began, but 
+perhaps, somehow, the break would give them time to 
+calm down, think better of their behavior. . . . 
+
+But his hopes were not high, and they sank still lower 
+after enduring a Transfiguration lesson with them 
+both next day. They had just embarked upon the 
+immensely difficult topic of human Transfiguration; 
+working in front of mirrors, they were supposed to be 
+changing the color of their own eyebrows. Hermione 
+laughed unkindly at Ron’s disastrous first attempt, 
+during which he somehow managed to give himself a 
+spectacular handlebar mustache; Ron retaliated by 
+doing a cruel but accurate impression of Hermione 
+jumping up and down in her seat every time Professor 
+McGonagall asked a question, which Lavender and 
+Parvati found deeply amusing and which reduced 
+Hermione to the verge of tears again. She raced out of 
+the classroom on the bell, leaving half her things 
+behind; Harry, deciding that her need was greater 
+than Ron’s just now, scooped up her remaining 
+possessions and followed her. 
+
+He finally tracked her down as she emerged from a 
+girls’ bathroom on the floor below. She was 
+
+
+
+Page | 347 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+accompanied by Luna Lovegood, who was patting her 
+vaguely on the back. 
+
+“Oh, hello, Harry,” said Luna. “Did you know one of 
+your eyebrows is bright yellow?” 
+
+“Hi, Luna. Hermione, you left your stuff. ...” 
+
+He held out her books. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Hermione in a choked voice, taking her 
+things and turning away quickly to hide the fact that 
+she was wiping her eyes on her pencil case. “Thank 
+you, Harry. Well, I’d better get going. ...” 
+
+And she hurried off, without giving Harry any time to 
+offer words of comfort, though admittedly he could 
+not think of any. 
+
+“She’s a bit upset,” said Luna. “I thought at first it 
+was Moaning Myrtle in there, but it turned out to be 
+Hermione. She said something about that Ron 
+Weasley. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, they’ve had a row,” said Harry. 
+
+“He says very funny things sometimes, doesn’t he?” 
+said Luna, as they set off down the corridor together. 
+“But he can be a bit unkind. I noticed that last year.” 
+
+“I s’pose,” said Harry. Luna was demonstrating her 
+usual knack of speaking uncomfortable truths; he 
+had never met anyone quite like her. “So have you 
+had a good term?” 
+
+“Oh, it’s been all right,” said Luna. “A bit lonely 
+without the D.A. Ginny’s been nice, though. She 
+stopped two boys in our Transfiguration class calling 
+me ‘Loony’ the other day — ” 
+
+Page | 348 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“How would you like to come to Slughorn’s party with 
+me tonight?” 
+
+The words were out of Harry’s mouth before he could 
+stop them; he heard himself say them as though it 
+were a stranger speaking. 
+
+Luna turned her protuberant eyes upon him in 
+surprise. 
+
+“Slughorn’s party? With you?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “We’re supposed to bring guests, 
+so I thought you might like ... I mean ...” He was keen 
+to make his intentions perfectly clear. “I mean, just as 
+friends, you know. But if you don’t want to ...” 
+
+He was already half hoping that she didn’t want to. 
+
+“Oh, no, I’d love to go with you as friends!” said Luna, 
+beaming as he had never seen her beam before. 
+“Nobody’s ever asked me to a party before, as a friend! 
+Is that why you dyed your eyebrow, for the party? 
+Should I do mine too?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry firmly, “that was a mistake. I’ll get 
+Hermione to put it right for me. So, I’ll meet you in 
+the entrance hall at eight o’clock then.” 
+
+“AHA!” screamed a voice from overhead and both of 
+them jumped; unnoticed by either of them, they had 
+just passed right underneath Peeves, who was 
+hanging upside down from a chandelier and grinning 
+maliciously at them. 
+
+“ Potty asked Loony to go to the partyl Potty lurves 
+Loony ! Potty luuuuurves LooooooonyV’ 
+
+
+
+Page | 349 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And he zoomed away, cackling and shrieking, “Potty 
+loves Loony!” 
+
+“Nice to keep these things private,” said Harry. And 
+sure enough, in no time at all the whole school 
+seemed to know that Harry Potter was taking Luna 
+Lovegood to Slughorn’s party. 
+
+“You could’ve taken anyonel” said Ron in disbelief 
+over dinner. “Anyonel And you chose Loony 
+Lovegood?” 
+
+“Don’t call her that, Ron,” snapped Ginny, pausing 
+behind Harry on her way to join friends. “I’m really 
+glad you’re taking her, Harry, she’s so excited.” 
+
+And she moved on down the table to sit with Dean. 
+Harry tried to feel pleased that Ginny was glad he was 
+taking Luna to the party, but could not quite manage 
+it. A long way along the table, Hermione was sitting 
+alone, playing with her stew. Harry noticed Ron 
+looking at her furtively. 
+
+“You could say sorry,” suggested Harry bluntly. 
+
+“What, and get attacked by another flock of 
+canaries?” muttered Ron. 
+
+“What did you have to imitate her for?” 
+
+“She laughed at my mustache!” 
+
+“So did I, it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.” 
+
+But Ron did not seem to have heard; Lavender had 
+just arrived with Parvati. Squeezing herself in 
+between Harry and Ron, Lavender flung her arms 
+around Ron’s neck. 
+
+
+
+Page | 350 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hi, Harry,” said Parvati who, like him, looked faintly 
+embarrassed and bored by the behavior of their two 
+friends. 
+
+“Hi,” said Harry. “How’re you? You’re staying at 
+Hogwarts, then? I heard your parents wanted you to 
+leave.” 
+
+“I managed to talk them out of it for the time being,” 
+said Parvati. “That Katie thing really freaked them 
+out, but as there hasn’t been anything since ... Oh, 
+hi, Hermione!” 
+
+Parvati positively beamed. Harry could tell that she 
+was feeling guilty for having laughed at Hermione in 
+Transfiguration. He looked around and saw that 
+Hermione was beaming back, if possible even more 
+brightly. Girls were very strange sometimes. 
+
+“Hi, Parvati!” said Hermione, ignoring Ron and 
+Lavender completely. “Are you going to Slughorn’s 
+party tonight?” 
+
+“No invite,” said Parvati gloomily. “I’d love to go, 
+though, it sounds like it’s going to be really good. ... 
+You’re going, aren’t you?” 
+
+“Yes, I’m meeting Cormac at eight, and we’re — ” 
+
+There was a noise like a plunger being withdrawn 
+from a blocked sink and Ron surfaced. Hermione 
+acted as though she had not seen or heard anything. 
+
+“ — we’re going up to the party together.” 
+
+“Cormac?” said Parvati. “Cormac McLaggen, you 
+mean?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 351 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“That’s right,” said Hermione sweetly. “The one who 
+almost ’ — she put a great deal of emphasis on the 
+word — “became Gryffindor Keeper.” 
+
+“Are you going out with him, then?” asked Parvati, 
+wide-eyed. 
+
+“Oh — yes — didn’t you know?” said Hermione, with a 
+most un-Hermione-ish giggle. 
+
+“No!” said Parvati, looking positively agog at this piece 
+of gossip. “Wow, you like your Quidditch players, 
+don’t you? First Krum, then McLaggen ...” 
+
+“I like really good Quidditch players,” Hermione 
+corrected her, still smiling. “Well, see you ... Got to go 
+and get ready for the party. ...” 
+
+She left. At once Lavender and Parvati put their heads 
+together to discuss this new development, with 
+everything they had ever heard about McLaggen, and 
+all they had ever guessed about Hermione. Ron 
+looked strangely blank and said nothing. Harry was 
+left to ponder in silence the depths to which girls 
+would sink to get revenge. 
+
+When he arrived in the entrance hall at eight o’clock 
+that night, he found an unusually large number of 
+girls lurking there, all of whom seemed to be staring 
+at him resentfully as he approached Luna. She was 
+wearing a set of spangled silver robes that were 
+attracting a certain amount of giggles from the 
+onlookers, but otherwise she looked quite nice. Harry 
+was glad, in any case, that she had left off her radish 
+earrings, her butterbeer cork necklace, and her 
+Spectrespecs. 
+
+“Hi,” he said. “Shall we get going then?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 352 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh yes,” she said happily. “Where is the party?” 
+
+
+
+“Slughorn’s office,” said Harry, leading her up the 
+marble staircase away from all the staring and 
+muttering. “Did you hear, there’s supposed to be a 
+vampire coming?” 
+
+“Rufus Scrimgeour?” asked Luna. 
+
+“I — what?” said Harry, disconcerted. “You mean the 
+Minister of Magic?” 
+
+“Yes, he’s a vampire,” said Luna matter-of-factly. 
+“Father wrote a very long article about it when 
+Scrimgeour first took over from Cornelius Fudge, but 
+he was forced not to publish by somebody from the 
+Ministry. Obviously, they didn’t want the truth to get 
+out!” 
+
+Harry, who thought it most unlikely that Rufus 
+Scrimgeour was a vampire, but who was used to Luna 
+repeating her father’s bizarre views as though they 
+were fact, did not reply; they were already 
+approaching Slughorn’s office and the sounds of 
+laughter, music, and loud conversation were growing 
+louder with every step they took. 
+
+Whether it had been built that way, or because he 
+had used magical trickery to make it so, Slughorn’s 
+office was much larger than the usual teacher’s 
+study. The ceiling and walls had been draped with 
+emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, so that it 
+looked as though they were all inside a vast tent. The 
+room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red 
+light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the 
+center of the ceiling in which real fairies were 
+fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing 
+accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued 
+from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over 
+Page | 353 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a 
+number of house-elves were negotiating their way 
+squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by 
+the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so 
+that they looked like little roving tables. 
+
+“Harry, m’boy!” boomed Slughorn, almost as soon as 
+Harry and Luna had squeezed in through the door. 
+“Come in, come in, so many people I’d like you to 
+meet!” 
+
+Slughorn was wearing a tasseled velvet hat to match 
+his smoking jacket. Gripping Harry’s arm so tightly he 
+might have been hoping to Disapparate with him, 
+Slughorn led him purposefully into the party; Harry 
+seized Luna’s hand and dragged her along with him. 
+
+“Harry, I’d like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old 
+student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life 
+Amongst the Vampires — and, of course, his friend 
+Sanguini.” 
+
+Worple, who was a small, stout, bespectacled man, 
+grabbed Harry’s hand and shook it enthusiastically; 
+the vampire Sanguini, who was tall and emaciated 
+with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He 
+looked rather bored. A gaggle of girls was standing 
+close to him, looking curious and excited. 
+
+“Harry Potter, I am simply delighted!” said Worple, 
+peering shortsightedly up into Harry’s face. “I was 
+saying to Professor Slughorn only the other day, 
+‘Where is the biography of Harry Potter for which we 
+have all been waiting?’ ” 
+
+“Er,” said Harry, “were you?” 
+
+“Just as modest as Horace described!” said Worple. 
+“But seriously” — his manner changed; it became 
+
+Page | 354 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+suddenly businesslike — “I would be delighted to 
+write it myself — people are craving to know more 
+about you, dear boy, craving! If you were prepared to 
+grant me a few interviews, say in four- or five-hour 
+sessions, why, we could have the book finished within 
+months. And all with very little effort on your part, I 
+assure you — ask Sanguini here if it isn’t quite — 
+Sanguini, stay here\” added Worple, suddenly stern, 
+for the vampire had been edging toward the nearby 
+group of girls, a rather hungry look in his eye. “Here, 
+have a pasty,” said Worple, seizing one from a passing 
+elf and stuffing it into Sanguini’s hand before turning 
+his attention back to Harry. 
+
+“My dear boy, the gold you could make, you have no 
+idea — ” 
+
+“I’m definitely not interested,” said Harry firmly, “and 
+I’ve just seen a friend of mine, sorry.” 
+
+He pulled Luna after him into the crowd; he had 
+indeed just seen a long mane of brown hair disappear 
+between what looked like two members of the Weird 
+Sisters. 
+
+“Hermione! HermioneV’ 
+
+“Harry! There you are, thank goodness! Hi, Luna!” 
+
+“What’s happened to you?” asked Harry, for Hermione 
+looked distinctly disheveled, rather as though she had 
+just fought her way out of a thicket of Devil’s Snare. 
+
+“Oh, I’ve just escaped — I mean, I’ve just left 
+Cormac,” she said. “Under the mistletoe,” she added 
+in explanation, as Harry continued to look 
+questioningly at her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 355 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Serves you right for coming with him,” he told her 
+severely. 
+
+
+
+“I thought he’d annoy Ron most,” said Hermione 
+dispassionately. “I debated for a while about 
+Zacharias Smith, but I thought, on the whole — ” 
+
+“ You considered Smith?” said Harry, revolted. 
+
+“Yes, I did, and I’m starting to wish I’d chosen him, 
+McLaggen makes Grawp look a gentleman. Let’s go 
+this way, we’ll be able to see him coming, he’s so tall. 
+
+
+
+The three of them made their way over to the other 
+side of the room, scooping up goblets of mead on the 
+way, realizing too late that Professor Trelawney was 
+standing there alone. 
+
+“Hello,” said Luna politely to Professor Trelawney. 
+
+“Good evening, my dear,” said Professor Trelawney, 
+focusing upon Luna with some difficulty. Harry could 
+smell cooking sherry again. “I haven’t seen you in my 
+classes lately. ...” 
+
+“No, I’ve got Firenze this year,” said Luna. 
+
+“Oh, of course,” said Professor Trelawney with an 
+angry, drunken titter. “Or Dobbin, as I prefer to think 
+of him. You would have thought, would you not, that 
+now I am returned to the school Professor 
+Dumbledore might have got rid of the horse? But no 
+... we share classes. ... It’s an insult, frankly, an 
+insult. Do you know ...” 
+
+Professor Trelawney seemed too tipsy to have 
+recognized Harry. Under cover of her furious 
+criticisms of Firenze, Harry drew closer to Hermione 
+
+Page | 356 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and said, “Let’s get something straight. Are you 
+planning to tell Ron that you interfered at Keeper 
+tryouts?” 
+
+Hermione raised her eyebrows. “Do you really think 
+I’d stoop that low?” 
+
+Harry looked at her shrewdly. “Hermione, if you can 
+ask out McLaggen — ” 
+
+“There’s a difference,” said Hermione with dignity. 
+
+“I’ve got no plans to tell Ron anything about what 
+might, or might not, have happened at Keeper 
+tryouts.” 
+
+“Good,” said Harry fervently. “Because he’ll just fall 
+apart again, and we’ll lose the next match — ” 
+
+“Quidditch!” said Hermione angrily. “Is that all boys 
+care about? Cormac hasn’t asked me one single 
+question about myself, no, I’ve just been treated to ‘A 
+Hundred Great Saves Made by Cormac McLaggen’ 
+nonstop ever since — oh no, here he comes!” 
+
+She moved so fast it was as though she had 
+Disapparated; one moment she was there, the next, 
+she had squeezed between two guffawing witches and 
+vanished. 
+
+“Seen Hermione?” asked McLaggen, forcing his way 
+through the throng a minute later. 
+
+“No, sorry,” said Harry, and he turned quickly to join 
+in Luna’s conversation, forgetting for a split second to 
+whom she was talking. 
+
+“Harry Potter!” said Professor Trelawney in deep, 
+vibrant tones, noticing him for the first time. 
+
+
+
+Page | 357 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, hello,” said Harry unenthusiastically. 
+
+
+
+“My dear boy!” she said in a very carrying whisper. 
+“The rumors! The stories! The Chosen One’! Of 
+course, I have known for a very long time. ... The 
+omens were never good, Harry. . . . But why have you 
+not returned to Divination? For you, of all people, the 
+subject is of the utmost importance!” 
+
+“Ah, Sybill, we all think our subject’s most 
+important!” said a loud voice, and Slughorn appeared 
+at Professor Trelawney’s other side, his face very red, 
+his velvet hat a little askew, a glass of mead in one 
+hand and an enormous mince pie in the other. “But I 
+don’t think I’ve ever known such a natural at 
+Potions!” said Slughorn, regarding Harry with a fond, 
+if bloodshot, eye. “Instinctive, you know — like his 
+mother! I’ve only ever taught a few with this kind of 
+ability, I can tell you that, Sybill — why even Severus 
+
+
+
+And to Harry’s horror, Slughorn threw out an arm 
+and seemed to scoop Snape out of thin air toward 
+them. 
+
+“Stop skulking and come and join us, Severus!” 
+hiccuped Slughorn happily. “I was just talking about 
+Harry’s exceptional potion-making! Some credit must 
+go to you, of course, you taught him for five years!” 
+
+Trapped, with Slughorn’s arm around his shoulders, 
+Snape looked down his hooked nose at Harry, his 
+black eyes narrowed. 
+
+“Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to 
+teach Potter anything at all.” 
+
+“Well, then, it’s natural ability!” shouted Slughorn. 
+“You should have seen what he gave me, first lesson, 
+
+Page | 358 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Draught of Living Death — never had a student 
+produce finer on a first attempt, I don’t think even 
+you, Severus — ” 
+
+“Really?” said Snape quietly, his eyes still boring into 
+Harry, who felt a certain disquiet. The last thing he 
+wanted was for Snape to start investigating the 
+source of his newfound brilliance at Potions. 
+
+“Remind me what other subjects you’re taking, 
+
+Harry?” asked Slughorn. 
+
+“Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, 
+Transfiguration, Herbology ...” 
+
+“All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror,” said 
+Snape, with the faintest sneer. 
+
+“Yeah, well, that’s what I’d like to do,” said Harry 
+defiantly. 
+
+“And a great one you’ll make too!” boomed Slughorn. 
+
+“I don’t think you should be an Auror, Harry,” said 
+Luna unexpectedly. Everybody looked at her. “The 
+Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought 
+everyone knew that. They’re working to bring down 
+the Ministry of Magic from within using a 
+combination of Dark Magic and gum disease.” 
+
+Harry inhaled half his mead up his nose as he started 
+to laugh. Really, it had been worth bringing Luna just 
+for this. Emerging from his goblet, coughing, sopping 
+wet but still grinning, he saw something calculated to 
+raise his spirits even higher: Draco Malfoy being 
+dragged by the ear toward them by Argus Filch. 
+
+“Professor Slughorn,” wheezed Filch, his jowls aquiver 
+and the maniacal light of mischief-detection in his 
+
+Page | 359 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bulging eyes, “I discovered this boy lurking in an 
+upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to 
+your party and to have been delayed in setting out. 
+
+Did you issue him with an invitation?” 
+
+Malfoy pulled himself free of Filch ’s grip, looking 
+furious. 
+
+“All right, I wasn’t invited!” he said angrily. “I was 
+trying to gatecrash, happy?” 
+
+“No, I’m not!” said Filch, a statement at complete odds 
+with the glee on his face. “You’re in trouble, you are! 
+Didn’t the headmaster say that nighttime prowling’s 
+out, unless you’ve got permission, didn’t he, eh?” 
+
+“That’s all right, Argus, that’s all right,” said 
+Slughorn, waving a hand. “It’s Christmas, and it’s not 
+a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, 
+we’ll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco.” 
+
+Filch ’s expression of outraged disappointment was 
+perfectly predictable; but why, Harry wondered, 
+watching him, did Malfoy look almost equally 
+unhappy? And why was Snape looking at Malfoy as 
+though both angry and . . . was it possible? ... a little 
+afraid? 
+
+But almost before Harry had registered what he had 
+seen, Filch had turned and shuffled away, muttering 
+under his breath; Malfoy had composed his face into 
+a smile and was thanking Slughorn for his generosity, 
+and Snape’s face was smoothly inscrutable again. 
+
+“It’s nothing, nothing,” said Slughorn, waving away 
+Malfoy ’s thanks. “I did know your grandfather, after 
+all. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 360 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He always spoke very highly of you, sir,” said Malfoy 
+quickly. “Said you were the best potion-maker he’d 
+ever known. ...” 
+
+Harry stared at Malfoy. It was not the sucking-up that 
+intrigued him; he had watched Malfoy do that to 
+Snape for a long time. It was the fact that Malfoy did, 
+after all, look a little ill. This was the first time he had 
+seen Malfoy close up for ages; he now saw that Malfoy 
+had dark shadows under his eyes and a distinctly 
+grayish tinge to his skin. 
+
+“I’d like a word with you, Draco,” said Snape 
+suddenly. 
+
+“Oh, now, Severus,” said Slughorn, hiccuping again, 
+“it’s Christmas, don’t be too hard — ” 
+
+“I’m his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, 
+or otherwise, to be,” said Snape curtly. “Follow me, 
+Draco.” 
+
+They left, Snape leading the way, Malfoy looking 
+resentful. Harry stood there for a moment, irresolute, 
+then said, “I’ll be back in a bit, Luna — er — 
+bathroom.” 
+
+“All right,” she said cheerfully, and he thought he 
+heard her, as he hurried off into the crowd, resume 
+the subject of the Rotfang Conspiracy with Professor 
+Trelawney, who seemed sincerely interested. 
+
+It was easy, once out of the party, to pull his 
+Invisibility Cloak out of his pocket and throw it over 
+himself, for the corridor was quite deserted. What was 
+more difficult was finding Snape and Malfoy. Harry 
+ran down the corridor, the noise of his feet masked by 
+the music and loud talk still issuing from Slughorn ’s 
+office behind him. Perhaps Snape had taken Malfoy to 
+Page | 361 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+his office in the dungeons ... or perhaps he was 
+escorting him back to the Slytherin common room. ... 
+Harry pressed his ear against door after door as he 
+dashed down the corridor until, with a great jolt of 
+excitement, he crouched down to the keyhole of the 
+last classroom in the corridor and heard voices. 
+
+"... cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are 
+expelled — ” 
+
+“I didn’t have anything to do with it, all right?” 
+
+“I hope you are telling the truth, because it was both 
+clumsy and foolish. Already you are suspected of 
+having a hand in it.” 
+
+“Who suspects me?” said Malfoy angrily. “For the last 
+time, I didn’t do it, okay? That Bell girl must’ve had 
+an enemy no one knows about — don’t look at me like 
+that! I know what you’re doing, I’m not stupid, but it 
+won’t work — I can stop you!” 
+
+There was a pause and then Snape said quietly, “Ah 
+. . . Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, 
+
+I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from 
+your master, Draco?” 
+
+“I’m not trying to conceal anything from him, I just 
+don’t want you butting in!” 
+
+Harry pressed his ear still more closely against the 
+keyhole. ... What had happened to make Malfoy speak 
+to Snape like this — Snape, toward whom he had 
+always shown respect, even liking? 
+
+“So that is why you have been avoiding me this term? 
+You have feared my interference? You realize that, 
+had anybody else failed to come to my office when I 
+had told them repeatedly to be there, Draco — ” 
+
+Page | 362 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So put me in detention! Report me to Dumbledore!” 
+jeered Malfoy. 
+
+There was another pause. Then Snape said, “You 
+know perfectly well that I do not wish to do either of 
+those things.” 
+
+“You’d better stop telling me to come to your office 
+then!” 
+
+“Listen to me,��� said Snape, his voice so low now that 
+Harry had to push his ear very hard against the 
+keyhole to hear. “I am trying to help you. I swore to 
+your mother I would protect you. I made the 
+Unbreakable Vow, Draco — ” 
+
+“Looks like you 11 have to break it, then, because I 
+don’t need your protection! It’s my job, he gave it to 
+me and I’m doing it, I’ve got a plan and it’s going to 
+work, it’s just taking a bit longer than I thought it 
+would!” 
+
+“What is your plan?” 
+
+“It’s none of your business!” 
+
+“If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist 
+you — ” 
+
+“I’ve got all the assistance I need, thanks, I’m not 
+alone!” 
+
+“You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish 
+in the extreme, wandering the corridors without 
+lookouts or backup, these are elementary mistakes — 
+
+
+
+“I would’ve had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you 
+hadn’t put them in detention!” 
+
+Page | 363 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Keep your voice down!” spat Snape, for Malfoy’s voice 
+had risen excitedly. “If your friends Crabbe and Goyle 
+intend to pass their Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+O.W.L. this time around, they will need to work a 
+little harder than they are doing at pres — ” 
+
+“What does it matter?” said Malfoy. “Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts — it’s all just a joke, isn’t it, an act? 
+Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts 
+
+
+
+“It is an act that is crucial to success, Draco!” said 
+Snape. “Where do you think I would have been all 
+these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen 
+to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at 
+night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing 
+your reliance in assistants like Crabbe and Goyle — ” 
+
+“They’re not the only ones, I’ve got other people on my 
+side, better people!” 
+
+“Then why not confide in me, and I can — ” 
+
+“I know what you’re up to! You want to steal my 
+glory!” 
+
+There was another pause, then Snape said coldly, 
+“You are speaking like a child. I quite understand 
+that your father’s capture and imprisonment has 
+upset you, but — ” 
+
+Harry had barely a second’s warning; he heard 
+Malfoy’s footsteps on the other side of the door and 
+flung himself out of the way just as it burst open; 
+Malfoy was striding away down the corridor, past the 
+open door of Slughorn’s office, around the distant 
+corner, and out of sight. 
+
+
+
+Page | 364 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hardly daring to breathe, Harry remained crouched 
+down as Snape emerged slowly from the classroom. 
+His expression unfathomable, he returned to the 
+party. Harry remained on the floor, hidden beneath 
+the cloak, his mind racing. 
+
+
+
+Page | 365 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A VERY FROSTY CHRISTMAS 
+
+“So Snape was offering to help him? He was definitely 
+offering to help him?” 
+
+“If you ask that once more,” said Harry, “I’m going to 
+stick this sprout — ” 
+
+“I’m only checking!” said Ron. They were standing 
+alone at the Burrow’s kitchen sink, peeling a 
+mountain of sprouts for Mrs. Weasley. Snow was 
+drifting past the window in front of them. 
+
+“Yes, Snape was offering to help himl” said Harry. “He 
+said he’d promised Malfoy’s mother to protect him, 
+that he’d made an Unbreakable Oath or something — 
+
+
+
+“An Unbreakable Vow?” said Ron, looking stunned. 
+“Nah, he can’t have. ... Are you sure?” 
+
+“Yes, I’m sure,” said Harry. “Why, what does it 
+mean?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Well, you can’t break an Unbreakable Vow. ...” 
+
+“I’d worked that much out for myself, funnily enough. 
+What happens if you break it, then?” 
+
+“You die,” said Ron simply. “Fred and George tried to 
+get me to make one when I was about five. I nearly 
+did too, I was holding hands with Fred and everything 
+when Dad found us. He went mental,” said Ron, with 
+a reminiscent gleam in his eyes. “Only time I’ve ever 
+seen Dad as angry as Mum. Fred reckons his left 
+buttock has never been the same since.” 
+
+“Yeah, well, passing over Fred’s left buttock — ” 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” said Fred’s voice as the twins 
+entered the kitchen. 
+
+“Aaah, George, look at this. They’re using knives and 
+everything. Bless them.” 
+
+“I’ll be seventeen in two and a bit months’ time,” said 
+Ron grumpily, “and then I’ll be able to do it by magic!” 
+
+“But meanwhile,” said George, sitting down at the 
+kitchen table and putting his feet up on it, “we can 
+enjoy watching you demonstrate the correct use of a 
+— whoops-a-daisy!” 
+
+“You made me do that!” said Ron angrily, sucking his 
+cut thumb. “You wait, when I’m seventeen — ” 
+
+“I’m sure you’ll dazzle us all with hitherto 
+unsuspected magical skills,” yawned Fred. 
+
+“And speaking of hitherto unsuspected skills, 
+
+Ronald,” said George, “what is this we hear from 
+Ginny about you and a young lady called — unless 
+our information is faulty — Lavender Brown?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron turned a little pink, but did not look displeased 
+as he turned back to the sprouts. “Mind your own 
+business.” 
+
+“What a snappy retort,” said Fred. “I really don’t know 
+how you think of them. No, what we wanted to know 
+was . . . how did it happen?” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” 
+
+“Did she have an accident or something?” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Well, how did she sustain such extensive brain 
+damage? Careful, now!” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley entered the room just in time to see Ron 
+throw the sprout knife at Fred, who had turned it into 
+a paper airplane with one lazy flick of his wand. 
+
+“Ronl” she said furiously. “Don’t you ever let me see 
+you throwing knives again!” 
+
+“I won’t,” said Ron, “let you see,” he added under his 
+breath, as he turned back to the sprout mountain. 
+
+“Fred, George, I’m sorry, dears, but Remus is arriving 
+tonight, so Bill will have to squeeze in with you two.” 
+
+“No problem,” said George. 
+
+“Then, as Charlie isn’t coming home, that just leaves 
+Harry and Ron in the attic, and if Fleur shares with 
+Ginny — ” 
+
+“ — that’ll make Ginny’s Christmas — ” muttered Fred. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — everyone should be comfortable. Well, they’ll have 
+a bed, anyway,” said Mrs. Weasley, sounding slightly 
+harassed. 
+
+
+
+“Percy definitely not showing his ugly face, then?” 
+asked Fred. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley turned away before she answered. “No, 
+he’s busy, I expect, at the Ministry.” 
+
+“Or he’s the world’s biggest prat,” said Fred, as Mrs. 
+Weasley left the kitchen. “One of the two. Well, let’s 
+get going, then, George.” 
+
+“What are you two up to?” asked Ron. “Can’t you help 
+us with these sprouts? You could just use your wand 
+and then well be free too!” 
+
+“No, I don’t think we can do that,” said Fred seriously. 
+“It’s very character-building stuff, learning to peel 
+sprouts without magic, makes you appreciate how 
+difficult it is for Muggles and Squibs — ” 
+
+“ — and if you want people to help you, Ron,” added 
+George, throwing the paper airplane at him, “I 
+wouldn’t chuck knives at them. Just a little hint. 
+We’re off to the village, there’s a very pretty girl 
+working in the paper shop who thinks my card tricks 
+are something marvelous ... almost like real magic. 
+
+
+
+“Gits,” said Ron darkly, watching Fred and George 
+setting off across the snowy yard. “Would’ve only 
+taken them ten seconds and then we could’ve gone 
+too.” 
+
+“I couldn’t,” said Harry. “I promised Dumbledore I 
+wouldn’t wander off while I’m staying here.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Ron. He peeled a few more sprouts 
+and then said, “Are you going to tell Dumbledore what 
+you heard Snape and Malfoy saying to each other?” 
+
+“Yep,” said Harry. “I’m going to tell anyone who can 
+put a stop to it, and Dumbledore’s top of the list. I 
+might have another word with your dad too.” 
+
+“Pity you didn’t hear what Malfoy’s actually doing, 
+though.” 
+
+“I couldn’t have done, could I? That was the whole 
+point, he was refusing to tell Snape.” 
+
+There was silence for a moment or two, then Ron 
+said, “ ’Course, you know what they’ll all say? Dad 
+and Dumbledore and all of them? They’ll say Snape 
+isn’t really trying to help Malfoy, he was just trying to 
+find out what Malfoy’s up to.” 
+
+“They didn’t hear him,” said Harry flatly. “No one’s 
+that good an actor, not even Snape.” 
+
+“Yeah ... I’m just saying, though,” said Ron. 
+
+Harry turned to face him, frowning. “You think I’m 
+right, though?” 
+
+“Yeah, I do!” said Ron hastily. “Seriously, I do! But 
+they’re all convinced Snape’s in the Order, aren’t 
+they?” 
+
+Harry said nothing. It had already occurred to him 
+that this would be the most likely objection to his new 
+evidence; he could hear Hermione now: Obviously, 
+Harry, he was pretending to offer help so he could trick 
+Malfoy into telling him what he’s doing. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+This was pure imagination, however, as he had had 
+no opportunity to tell Hermione what he had 
+overheard. She had disappeared from Slughorn’s 
+parry before he returned to it, or so he had been 
+informed by an irate McLaggen, and she had already 
+gone to bed by the time he returned to the common 
+room. As he and Ron had left for the Burrow early the 
+next day, he had barely had time to wish her a happy 
+Christmas and to tell her that he had some very 
+important news when they got back from the 
+holidays. He was not entirely sure that she had heard 
+him, though; Ron and Lavender had been saying a 
+thoroughly nonverbal good-bye just behind him at the 
+time. 
+
+Still, even Hermione would not be able to deny one 
+thing: Malfoy was definitely up to something, and 
+Snape knew it, so Harry felt fully justified in saying “I 
+told you so,” which he had done several times to Ron 
+already. 
+
+Harry did not get the chance to speak to Mr. Weasley, 
+who was working very long hours at the Ministry, 
+until Christmas Eve night. The Weasleys and their 
+guests were sitting in the living room, which Ginny 
+had decorated so lavishly that it was rather like 
+sitting in a paper-chain explosion. Fred, George, 
+
+Harry, and Ron were the only ones who knew that the 
+angel on top of the tree was actually a garden gnome 
+that had bitten Fred on the ankle as he pulled up 
+carrots for Christmas dinner. Stupefied, painted gold, 
+stuffed into a miniature tutu and with small wings 
+glued to its back, it glowered down at them all, the 
+ugliest angel Harry had ever seen, with a large bald 
+head like a potato and rather hairy feet. 
+
+They were all supposed to be listening to a Christmas 
+broadcast by Mrs. Weasley’s favorite singer, Celestina 
+Warbeck, whose voice was warbling out of the large 
+
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+
+
+
+
+wooden wireless set. Fleur, who seemed to find 
+Celestina very dull, was talking so loudly in the 
+corner that a scowling Mrs. Weasley kept pointing her 
+wand at the volume control, so that Celestina grew 
+louder and louder. Under cover of a particularly jazzy 
+number called “A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love,” 
+Fred and George started a game of Exploding Snap 
+with Ginny. Ron kept shooting Bill and Fleur covert 
+looks, as though hoping to pick up tips. Meanwhile, 
+Remus Lupin, who was thinner and more ragged- 
+looking than ever, was sitting beside the fire, staring 
+into its depths as though he could not hear 
+Celestina’s voice. 
+
+Oh, come and stir my cauldron, 
+
+And if you do it right, 
+
+I’ll boil you up some hot strong love 
+To keep you warm tonight. 
+
+“We danced to this when we were eighteen!” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, wiping her eyes on her knitting. “Do you 
+remember, Arthur?” 
+
+“Mphf?” said Mr. Weasley, whose head had been 
+nodding over the satsuma he was peeling. “Oh yes . . . 
+marvelous tune ...” 
+
+With an effort, he sat up a little straighter and looked 
+around at Harry, who was sitting next to him. 
+
+“Sorry about this,” he said, jerking his head toward 
+the wireless as Celestina broke into the chorus. “Be 
+over soon.” 
+
+“No problem,” said Harry, grinning. “Has it been busy 
+at the Ministry?” 
+
+“Very,” said Mr. Weasley. “I wouldn’t mind if we were 
+getting anywhere, but of the three arrests we’ve made 
+
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+
+
+
+
+in the last couple of months, I doubt that one of them 
+is a genuine Death Eater — only don’t repeat that, 
+Harry,” he added quickly, looking much more awake 
+all of a sudden. 
+
+“They’re not still holding Stan Shunpike, are they?” 
+asked Harry. 
+
+“I’m afraid so,” said Mr. Weasley. “I know 
+Dumbledore’s tried appealing directly to Scrimgeour 
+about Stan. ... I mean, anybody who has actually 
+interviewed him agrees that he’s about as much a 
+Death Eater as this satsuma . . . but the top levels 
+want to look as though they’re making some progress, 
+and ‘three arrests’ sounds better than ‘three mistaken 
+arrests and releases’... but again, this is all top 
+secret. ...” 
+
+“I won’t say anything,” said Harry. He hesitated for a 
+moment, wondering how best to embark on what he 
+wanted to say; as he marshaled his thoughts, 
+Celestina Warbeck began a ballad called “You 
+Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me.” 
+
+“Mr. Weasley, you know what I told you at the station 
+when we were setting off for school?” 
+
+“I checked, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley at once. “I went 
+and searched the Malfoys’ house. There was nothing, 
+either broken or whole, that shouldn’t have been 
+there.” 
+
+“Yeah, I know, I saw in the Prophet that you’d looked 
+... but this is something different. ... Well, something 
+more ...” 
+
+And he told Mr. Weasley everything he had overheard 
+between Malfoy and Snape. As Harry spoke, he saw 
+Lupin’s head turn a little toward him, taking in every 
+
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+
+
+
+
+word. When he had finished, there was silence, except 
+for Celestina’s crooning. 
+
+Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone? 
+
+It’s left me for a spell . . . 
+
+“Has it occurred to you, Harry,” said Mr. Weasley, 
+“that Snape was simply pretending — ?” 
+
+“Pretending to offer help, so that he could find out 
+what Malfoy’s up to?” said Harry quickly. “Yeah, I 
+thought you’d say that. But how do we know?” 
+
+“It isn’t our business to know,” said Lupin 
+unexpectedly. He had turned his back on the fire now 
+and faced Harry across Mr. Weasley. “It’s 
+Dumbledore’s business. Dumbledore trusts Severus, 
+and that ought to be good enough for all of us.” 
+
+“But,” said Harry, “just say — just say Dumbledore’s 
+wrong about Snape — ” 
+
+“People have said it, many times. It comes down to 
+whether or not you trust Dumbledore’s judgment. I 
+do; therefore, I trust Severus.” 
+
+“But Dumbledore can make mistakes,” argued Harry. 
+“He says it himself. And you” — he looked Lupin 
+straight in the eye — “do you honestly like Snape?” 
+
+“I neither like nor dislike Severus,” said Lupin. “No, 
+Harry, I am speaking the truth,” he added, as Harry 
+pulled a skeptical expression. “We shall never be 
+bosom friends, perhaps; after all that happened 
+between James and Sirius and Severus, there is too 
+much bitterness there. But I do not forget that during 
+the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the 
+Wolfsbane Potion for me every month, made it 
+Page | 374 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+perfectly, so that I did not have to suffer as I usually 
+do at the full moon.” 
+
+“But he ‘accidentally’ let it slip that you’re a werewolf, 
+so you had to leave!” said Harry angrily. 
+
+Lupin shrugged. “The news would have leaked out 
+anyway. We both know he wanted my job, but he 
+could have wreaked much worse damage on me by 
+tampering with the potion. He kept me healthy. I 
+must be grateful.” 
+
+“Maybe he didn’t dare mess with the potion with 
+Dumbledore watching him!” said Harry. 
+
+“You are determined to hate him, Harry,” said Lupin 
+with a faint smile. “And I understand; with James as 
+your father, with Sirius as your godfather, you have 
+inherited an old prejudice. By all means tell 
+Dumbledore what you have told Arthur and me, but 
+do not expect him to share your view of the matter; do 
+not even expect him to be surprised by what you tell 
+him. It might have been on Dumbledore’s orders that 
+Severus questioned Draco.” 
+
+... and now you’ve torn it quite apart 
+
+I’ll thank you to give back my heart! 
+
+Celestina ended her song on a very long, high-pitched 
+note and loud applause issued out of the wireless, 
+which Mrs. Weasley joined in with enthusiastically. 
+
+“Eez eet over?” said Fleur loudly. “Thank goodness, 
+what an ’orrible — ” 
+
+“Shall we have a nightcap, then?” asked Mr. Weasley 
+loudly, leaping to his feet. “Who wants eggnog?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What have you been up to lately?” Harry asked 
+Lupin, as Mr. Weasley bustled off to fetch the eggnog, 
+and everybody else stretched and broke into 
+conversation. 
+
+“Oh, I’ve been underground,” said Lupin. “Almost 
+literally. That’s why I haven’t been able to write, 
+
+Harry; sending letters to you would have been 
+something of a giveaway.” 
+
+“What do you mean?” 
+
+“I’ve been living among my fellows, my equals,” said 
+Lupin. “Werewolves,” he added, at Harry’s look of 
+incomprehension. “Nearly all of them are on 
+Voldemort’s side. Dumbledore wanted a spy and here 
+I was ... ready-made.” 
+
+He sounded a little bitter, and perhaps realized it, for 
+he smiled more warmly as he went on, “I am not 
+complaining; it is necessary work and who can do it 
+better than I? However, it has been difficult gaining 
+their trust. I bear the unmistakable signs of having 
+tried to live among wizards, you see, whereas they 
+have shunned normal society and live on the margins, 
+stealing — and sometimes killing — to eat.” 
+
+“How come they like Voldemort?” 
+
+“They think that, under his rule, they will have a 
+better life,” said Lupin. “And it is hard to argue with 
+Grey back out there. ...” 
+
+“Who’s Grey back?” 
+
+“You haven’t heard of him?” Lupin’s hands closed 
+convulsively in his lap. “Fenrir Greyback is, perhaps, 
+the most savage werewolf alive today. He regards it as 
+his mission in life to bite and to contaminate as many 
+
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+
+
+
+
+people as possible; he wants to create enough 
+werewolves to overcome the wizards. Voldemort has 
+promised him prey in return for his services. 
+
+Greyback specializes in children. ... Bite them young, 
+he says, and raise them away from their parents, 
+raise them to hate normal wizards. Voldemort has 
+threatened to unleash him upon people’s sons and 
+daughters; it is a threat that usually produces good 
+results.” 
+
+Lupin paused and then said, “It was Greyback who 
+bit me.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry, astonished. “When — when you 
+were a kid, you mean?” 
+
+“Yes. My father had offended him. I did not know, for 
+a very long time, the identity of the werewolf who had 
+attacked me; I even felt pity for him, thinking that he 
+had had no control, knowing by then how it felt to 
+transform. But Greyback is not like that. At the full 
+moon, he positions himself close to victims, ensuring 
+that he is near enough to strike. He plans it all. And 
+this is the man Voldemort is using to marshal the 
+werewolves. I cannot pretend that my particular 
+brand of reasoned argument is making much 
+headway against Greyback’s insistence that we 
+werewolves deserve blood, that we ought to revenge 
+ourselves on normal people.” 
+
+“But you are normal!” said Harry fiercely. “You’ve just 
+got a — a problem — ” 
+
+Lupin burst out laughing. “Sometimes you remind me 
+a lot of James. He called it my ‘furry little problem’ in 
+company. Many people were under the impression 
+that I owned a badly behaved rabbit.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He accepted a glass of eggnog from Mr. Weasley with 
+a word of thanks, looking slightly more cheerful. 
+Harry, meanwhile, felt a rush of excitement: This last 
+mention of his father had reminded him that there 
+was something he had been looking forward to asking 
+Lupin. 
+
+“Have you ever heard of someone called the Half- 
+Blood Prince?” 
+
+“The Half-Blood what?” 
+
+“Prince,” said Harry, watching him closely for signs of 
+recognition. 
+
+“There are no Wizarding princes,” said Lupin, now 
+smiling. “Is this a title you’re thinking of adopting? I 
+should have thought being ‘the Chosen One’ would be 
+enough.” 
+
+“It’s nothing to do with me!” said Harry indignantly. 
+“The Half-Blood Prince is someone who used to go to 
+Hogwarts, I’ve got his old Potions book. He wrote 
+spells all over it, spells he invented. One of them was 
+Levicorpus — ” 
+
+“Oh, that one had a great vogue during my time at 
+Hogwarts,” said Lupin reminiscently. “There were a 
+few months in my fifth year when you couldn’t move 
+for being hoisted into the air by your ankle.” 
+
+“My dad used it,” said Harry. “I saw him in the 
+Pensieve, he used it on Snape.” 
+
+He tried to sound casual, as though this was a 
+throwaway comment of no real importance, but he 
+was not sure he had achieved the right effect; Lupin’s 
+smile was a little too understanding. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” he said, “but he wasn’t the only one. As I say, it 
+was very popular. ... You know how these spells come 
+and go. ...” 
+
+“But it sounds like it was invented while you were at 
+school,” Harry persisted. 
+
+“Not necessarily,” said Lupin. “Jinxes go in and out of 
+fashion like everything else.” 
+
+He looked into Harry’s face and then said quietly, 
+“James was a pureblood, Harry, and I promise you, 
+he never asked us to call him ‘Prince.’ ” 
+
+Abandoning pretense, Harry said, “And it wasn’t 
+Sirius? Or you?” 
+
+“Definitely not.” 
+
+“Oh.” Harry stared into the fire. “I just thought — 
+well, he’s helped me out a lot in Potions classes, the 
+Prince has.” 
+
+“How old is this book, Harry?” 
+
+“I dunno, I’ve never checked.” 
+
+“Well, perhaps that will give you some clue as to when 
+the Prince was at Hogwarts,” said Lupin. 
+
+Shortly after this, Fleur decided to imitate Celestina 
+singing “A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love,” which 
+was taken by everyone, once they had glimpsed Mrs. 
+Weasley’s expression, to be the cue to go to bed. 
+
+Harry and Ron climbed all the way up to Ron’s attic 
+bedroom, where a camp bed had been added for 
+Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron fell asleep almost immediately, but Harry delved 
+into his trunk and pulled out his copy of Advanced 
+Potion-Making before getting into bed. There he turned 
+its pages, searching, until he finally found, at the 
+front of the book, the date that it had been published. 
+It was nearly fifty years old. Neither his father, nor his 
+father’s friends, had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago. 
+Feeling disappointed, Harry threw the book back into 
+his trunk, turned off the lamp, and rolled over, 
+thinking of werewolves and Snape, Stan Shunpike 
+and the Half-Blood Prince, and finally falling into an 
+uneasy sleep full of creeping shadows and the cries of 
+bitten children. ... 
+
+“She’s got to be joking. ...” 
+
+Harry woke with a start to find a bulging stocking 
+lying over the end of his bed. He put on his glasses 
+and looked around; the tiny window was almost 
+completely obscured with snow and, in front of it, Ron 
+was sitting bolt upright in bed and examining what 
+appeared to be a thick gold chain. 
+
+“What’s that?” asked Harry. 
+
+“It’s from Lavender,” said Ron, sounding revolted. 
+
+“She can’t honestly think I’d wear ...” 
+
+Harry looked more closely and let out a shout of 
+laughter. Dangling from the chain in large gold letters 
+were the words: 
+
+My Sweetheart 
+
+“Nice,” he said. “Classy. You should definitely wear it 
+in front of Fred and George.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“If you tell them,” said Ron, shoving the necklace out 
+of sight under his pillow, “I — I — 111 — ” 
+
+“Stutter at me?” said Harry, grinning. “Come on, 
+would I?” 
+
+“How could she think I’d like something like that, 
+though?” Ron demanded of thin air, looking rather 
+shocked. 
+
+“Well, think back,” said Harry. “Have you ever let it 
+slip that you’d like to go out in public with the words 
+‘My Sweetheart’ round your neck?” 
+
+“Well ... we don’t really talk much,” said Ron. “It’s 
+mainly ...” 
+
+“Snogging,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, yeah,” said Ron. He hesitated a moment, then 
+said, “Is Hermione really going out with McLaggen?” 
+
+“I dunno,” said Harry. “They were at Slughorn’s party 
+together, but I don’t think it went that well.” 
+
+Ron looked slightly more cheerful as he delved deeper 
+into his stocking. 
+
+Harry’s presents included a sweater with a large 
+Golden Snitch worked onto the front, hand-knitted by 
+Mrs. Weasley, a large box of Weasleys’ Wizard 
+Wheezes products from the twins, and a slightly 
+damp, moldy-smelling package that came with a label 
+reading TO MASTER, FROM KREACHER. 
+
+Harry stared at it. “D’you reckon this is safe to open?” 
+he asked. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Can’t be anything dangerous, all our mail’s still 
+being searched at the Ministry,” replied Ron, though 
+he was eyeing the parcel suspiciously. 
+
+“I didn’t think of giving Kreacher anything. Do people 
+usually give their house-elves Christmas presents?” 
+asked Harry, prodding the parcel cautiously. 
+
+“Hermione would,” said Ron. “But let’s wait and see 
+what it is before you start feeling guilty.” 
+
+A moment later, Harry had given a loud yell and leapt 
+out of his camp bed; the package contained a large 
+number of maggots. 
+
+“Nice,” said Ron, roaring with laughter. “Very 
+thoughtful.” 
+
+“I’d rather have them than that necklace,” said Harry, 
+which sobered Ron up at once. 
+
+Everybody was wearing new sweaters when they all 
+sat down for Christmas lunch, everyone except Fleur 
+(on whom, it appeared, Mrs. Weasley had not wanted 
+to waste one) and Mrs. Weasley herself, who was 
+sporting a brand-new midnight blue witch’s hat 
+glittering with what looked like tiny starlike 
+diamonds, and a spectacular golden necklace. 
+
+“Fred and George gave them to me! Aren’t they 
+beautiful?” 
+
+“Well, we find we appreciate you more and more, 
+Mum, now we’re washing our own socks,” said 
+George, waving an airy hand. “Parsnips, Remus?” 
+
+“Harry, you’ve got a maggot in your hair,” said Ginny 
+cheerfully, leaning across the table to pick it out; 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry felt goose bumps erupt up his neck that had 
+nothing to do with the maggot. 
+
+“ ’Ow ’orrible,” said Fleur, with an affected little 
+shudder. 
+
+“Yes, isn’t it?” said Ron. “Gravy, Fleur?” 
+
+In his eagerness to help her, he knocked the gravy 
+boat flying; Bill waved his wand and the gravy soared 
+up in the air and returned meekly to the boat. 
+
+“You are as bad as zat Tonks,” said Fleur to Ron, 
+when she had finished kissing Bill in thanks. “She is 
+always knocking — ” 
+
+“I invited dear Tonks to come along today,” said Mrs. 
+Weasley, setting down the carrots with unnecessary 
+force and glaring at Fleur. “But she wouldn’t come. 
+Have you spoken to her lately, Remus?” 
+
+“No, I haven’t been in contact with anybody very 
+much,” said Lupin. “But Tonks has got her own 
+family to go to, hasn’t she?” 
+
+“Hmmm,” said Mrs. Weasley. “Maybe. I got the 
+impression she was planning to spend Christmas 
+alone, actually.” 
+
+She gave Lupin an annoyed look, as though it was all 
+his fault she was getting Fleur for a daughter-in-law 
+instead of Tonks, but Harry, glancing across at Fleur, 
+who was now feeding Bill bits of turkey off her own 
+fork, thought that Mrs. Weasley was fighting a long- 
+lost battle. He was, however, reminded of a question 
+he had with regard to Tonks, and who better to ask 
+than Lupin, the man who knew all about Patronuses? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Tonks’s Patronus has changed its form,” he told him. 
+“Snape said so anyway. I didn’t know that could 
+happen. Why would your Patronus change?” 
+
+Lupin took his time chewing his turkey and 
+swallowing before saying slowly, “Sometimes ... a 
+great shock ... an emotional upheaval ...” 
+
+“It looked big, and it had four legs,” said Harry, 
+struck by a sudden thought and lowering his voice. 
+“Hey ... it couldn’t be — ?” 
+
+“Arthur!” said Mrs. Weasley suddenly. She had risen 
+from her chair; her hand was pressed over her heart 
+and she was staring out of the kitchen window. 
+“Arthur — it’s Percy!” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+Mr. Weasley looked around. Everybody looked quickly 
+at the window; Ginny stood up for a better look. 
+
+There, sure enough, was Percy Weasley, striding 
+across the snowy yard, his horn-rimmed glasses 
+glinting in the sunlight. He was not, however, alone. 
+
+“Arthur, he’s — he’s with the Minister!” 
+
+And sure enough, the man Harry had seen in the 
+Daily Prophet was following along in Percy’s wake, 
+limping slightly, his mane of graying hair and his 
+black cloak flecked with snow. Before any of them 
+could say anything, before Mr. and Mrs. Weasley 
+could do more than exchange stunned looks, the back 
+door opened and there stood Percy. 
+
+There was a moment’s painful silence. Then Percy 
+said rather stiffly, “Merry Christmas, Mother.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh, Percy\” said Mrs. Weasley, and she threw herself 
+into his arms. 
+
+
+
+Rufus Scrimgeour paused in the doorway, leaning on 
+his walking stick and smiling as he observed this 
+affecting scene. 
+
+“You must forgive this intrusion,” he said, when Mrs. 
+Weasley looked around at him, beaming and wiping 
+her eyes. “Percy and I were in the vicinity — working, 
+you know — and he couldn’t resist dropping in and 
+seeing you all.” 
+
+But Percy showed no sign of wanting to greet any of 
+the rest of the family. He stood, poker-straight and 
+awkward-looking, and stared over everybody else’s 
+heads. Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George were all 
+observing him, stony-faced. 
+
+“Please, come in, sit down, Minister!” fluttered Mrs. 
+Weasley, straightening her hat. “Have a little purkey, 
+or some tooding. ... I mean — ” 
+
+“No, no, my dear Molly,” said Scrimgeour. Harry 
+guessed that he had checked her name with Percy 
+before they entered the house. “I don’t want to 
+intrude, wouldn’t be here at all if Percy hadn’t wanted 
+to see you all so badly. ...” 
+
+“Oh, Perce!” said Mrs. Weasley tearfully, reaching up 
+to kiss him. 
+
+"... We’ve only looked in for five minutes, so I’ll have a 
+stroll around the yard while you catch up with Percy. 
+No, no, I assure you I don’t want to butt in! Well, if 
+anybody cared to show me your charming garden . . . 
+Ah, that young man’s finished, why doesn’t he take a 
+stroll with me?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The atmosphere around the table changed 
+perceptibly. Everybody looked from Scrimgeour to 
+Harry. Nobody seemed to find Scrimgeour s pretense 
+that he did not know Harry’s name convincing, or find 
+it natural that he should be chosen to accompany the 
+Minister around the garden when Ginny, Fleur, and 
+George also had clean plates. 
+
+“Yeah, all right,” said Harry into the silence. 
+
+He was not fooled; for all Scrimgeour’s talk that they 
+had just been in the area, that Percy wanted to look 
+up his family, this must be the real reason that they 
+had come, so that Scrimgeour could speak to Harry 
+alone. 
+
+“It’s fine,” he said quietly, as he passed Lupin, who 
+had half risen from his chair. “Fine,” he added, as Mr. 
+Weasley opened his mouth to speak. 
+
+“Wonderful!” said Scrimgeour, standing back to let 
+Harry pass through the door ahead of him. “We’ll just 
+take a turn around the garden, and Percy and I’ll be 
+off. Carry on, everyone!” 
+
+Harry walked across the yard toward the Weasleys’ 
+overgrown, snow-covered garden, Scrimgeour limping 
+slightly at his side. He had, Harry knew, been Head of 
+the Auror office; he looked tough and battle-scarred, 
+very different from portly Fudge in his bowler hat. 
+
+“Charming,” said Scrimgeour, stopping at the garden 
+fence and looking out over the snowy lawn and the 
+indistinguishable plants. “Charming.” 
+
+Harry said nothing. He could tell that Scrimgeour was 
+watching him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’ve wanted to meet you for a very long time,” said 
+Scrimgeour, after a few moments. “Did you know 
+that?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry truthfully. 
+
+“Oh yes, for a very long time. But Dumbledore has 
+been very protective of you,” said Scrimgeour. 
+“Natural, of course, natural, after what you’ve been 
+through. ... Especially what happened at the Ministry 
+
+
+
+He waited for Harry to say something, but Harry did 
+not oblige, so he went on, “I have been hoping for an 
+occasion to talk to you ever since I gained office, but 
+Dumbledore has — most understandably, as I say — 
+prevented this.” 
+
+Still, Harry said nothing, waiting. 
+
+“The rumors that have flown around!” said 
+Scrimgeour. “Well, of course, we both know how these 
+stories get distorted ... all these whispers of a 
+prophecy ... of you being ‘the Chosen One’...” 
+
+They were getting near it now, Harry thought, the 
+reason Scrimgeour was here. 
+
+"... I assume that Dumbledore has discussed these 
+matters with you?” 
+
+Harry deliberated, wondering whether he ought to lie 
+or not. He looked at the little gnome prints all around 
+the flowerbeds, and the scuffed-up patch that marked 
+the spot where Fred had caught the gnome now 
+wearing the tutu at the top of the Christmas tree. 
+Finally, he decided on the truth ... or a bit of it. 
+
+“Yeah, we’ve discussed it.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Have you, have you ...” said Scrimgeour. Harry could 
+see, out of the corner of his eye, Scrimgeour squinting 
+at him, so he pretended to be very interested in a 
+gnome that had just poked its head out from 
+underneath a frozen rhododendron. “And what has 
+Dumbledore told you, Harry?” 
+
+“Sorry, but that’s between us,” said Harry. He kept 
+his voice as pleasant as he could, and Scrimgeour’s 
+tone, too, was light and friendly as he said, “Oh, of 
+course, if it’s a question of confidences, I wouldn’t 
+want you to divulge ... no, no ... and in any case, does 
+it really matter whether you are ‘the Chosen One’ or 
+not?” ” 
+
+Harry had to mull that one over for a few seconds 
+before responding. “I don’t really know what you 
+mean, Minister.” 
+
+“Well, of course, to you it will matter enormously,” 
+said Scrimgeour with a laugh. “But to the Wizarding 
+community at large ... it’s all perception, isn’t it? It’s 
+what people believe that’s important.” 
+
+Harry said nothing. He thought he saw, dimly, where 
+they were heading, but he was not going to help 
+Scrimgeour get there. The gnome under the 
+rhododendron was now digging for worms at its roots, 
+and Harry kept his eyes fixed upon it. 
+
+“People believe you are ‘the Chosen One,’ you see,” 
+said Scrimgeour. “They think you quite the hero — 
+which, of course, you are, Harry, chosen or not! How 
+many times have you faced He-Who-Must-Not-Be- 
+Named now? Well, anyway,” he pressed on, without 
+waiting for a reply, “the point is, you are a symbol of 
+hope for many, Harry. The idea that there is 
+somebody out there who might be able, who might 
+even be destined, to destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be- 
+Page | 388 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Named — well, naturally, it gives people a lift. And I 
+can’t help but feel that, once you realize this, you 
+might consider it, well, almost a duty, to stand 
+alongside the Ministry, and give everyone a boost.” 
+
+The gnome had just managed to get hold of a worm. It 
+was now tugging very hard on it, trying to get it out of 
+the frozen ground. Harry was silent so long that 
+Scrimgeour said, looking from Harry to the gnome, 
+“Funny little chaps, aren’t they? But what say you, 
+Harry?” 
+
+“I don’t exactly understand what you want,” said 
+Harry slowly. “ ‘Stand alongside the Ministry’ ... What 
+does that mean?” 
+
+“Oh, well, nothing at all onerous, I assure you,” said 
+Scrimgeour. “If you were to be seen popping in and 
+out of the Ministry from time to time, for instance, 
+that would give the right impression. And of course, 
+while you were there, you would have ample 
+opportunity to speak to Gawain Robards, my 
+successor as Head of the Auror office. Dolores 
+Umbridge has told me that you cherish an ambition 
+to become an Auror. Well, that could be arranged very 
+easily. ...” 
+
+Harry felt anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach: So 
+Dolores Umbridge was still at the Ministry, was she? 
+
+“So basically,” he said, as though he just wanted to 
+clarify a few points, “you’d like to give the impression 
+that I’m working for the Ministry?” 
+
+“It would give everyone a lift to think you were more 
+involved, Harry,” said Scrimgeour, sounding relieved 
+that Harry had cottoned on so quickly. “ The Chosen 
+One,’ you know ... It’s all about giving people hope, 
+the feeling that exciting things are happening. ...” 
+Page | 389 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But if I keep running in and out of the Ministry,” 
+said Harry, still endeavoring to keep his voice friendly, 
+“won’t that seem as though I approve of what the 
+Ministry’s up to?” 
+
+“Well,” said Scrimgeour, frowning slightly, “well, yes, 
+that’s partly why we’d like — ” 
+
+“No, I don’t think that’ll work,” said Harry pleasantly. 
+“You see, I don’t like some of the things the Ministry’s 
+doing. Locking up Stan Shunpike, for instance.” 
+
+Scrimgeour did not speak for a moment but his 
+expression hardened instantly. “I would not expect 
+you to understand,” he said, and he was not as 
+successful at keeping anger out of his voice as Harry 
+had been. “These are dangerous times, and certain 
+measures need to be taken. You are sixteen years old 
+
+
+
+“Dumbledore’s a lot older than sixteen, and he doesn’t 
+think Stan should be in Azkaban either,” said Harry. 
+“You’re making Stan a scapegoat, just like you want 
+to make me a mascot.” 
+
+They looked at each other, long and hard. Finally 
+Scrimgeour said, with no pretense at warmth, “I see. 
+You prefer — like your hero, Dumbledore — to 
+disassociate yourself from the Ministry?” 
+
+“I don’t want to be used,” said Harry. 
+
+“Some would say it’s your duty to be used by the 
+Ministry!” 
+
+“Yeah, and others might say it’s your duty to check 
+that people really are Death Eaters before you chuck 
+them in prison,” said Harry, his temper rising now. 
+“You’re doing what Barty Crouch did. You never get it 
+
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+
+
+
+
+right, you people, do you? Either we’ve got Fudge, 
+pretending everything’s lovely while people get 
+murdered right under his nose, or we’ve got you, 
+chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to 
+pretend you’ve got ‘the Chosen One’ working for you!” 
+
+“So you’re not ‘the Chosen One’?” said Scrimgeour. 
+
+“I thought you said it didn’t matter either way?” said 
+Harry, with a bitter laugh. “Not to you anyway.” 
+
+“I shouldn’t have said that,” said Scrimgeour quickly. 
+“It was tactless — ” 
+
+“No, it was honest,” said Harry. “One of the only 
+honest things you’ve said to me. You don’t care 
+whether I live or die, but you do care that I help you 
+convince everyone you’re winning the war against 
+Voldemort. I haven’t forgotten, Minister. ...” 
+
+He raised his right fist. There, shining white on the 
+back of his cold hand, were the scars which Dolores 
+Umbridge had forced him to carve into his own flesh: / 
+must not tell lies. 
+
+“I don’t remember you rushing to my defense when I 
+was trying to tell everyone Voldemort was back. The 
+Ministry wasn’t so keen to be pals last year.” 
+
+They stood in silence as icy as the ground beneath 
+their feet. The gnome had finally managed to extricate 
+his worm and was now sucking on it happily, leaning 
+against the bottommost branches of the 
+rhododendron bush. 
+
+“What is Dumbledore up to?” said Scrimgeour 
+brusquely. “Where does he go when he is absent from 
+Hogwarts?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No idea,” said Harry. 
+
+“And you wouldn’t tell me if you knew,” said 
+Scrimgeour, “would you?” 
+
+“No, I wouldn’t,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, then, I shall have to see whether I can’t find out 
+by other means.” 
+
+“You can try,” said Harry indifferently. “But you seem 
+cleverer than Fudge, so I’d have thought you’d have 
+learned from his mistakes. He tried interfering at 
+Hogwarts. You might have noticed he’s not Minister 
+anymore, but Dumbledore’s still headmaster. I’d leave 
+Dumbledore alone, if I were you.” 
+
+There was a long pause. 
+
+“Well, it is clear to me that he has done a very good 
+job on you,” said Scrimgeour, his eyes cold and hard 
+behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “Dumbledore’s man 
+through and through, aren’t you, Potter?” 
+
+“Yeah, I am,” said Harry. “Glad we straightened that 
+out.” 
+
+And turning his back on the Minister of Magic, he 
+strode back toward the house. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+A SLUGGISH MEMORY 
+
+Late in the afternoon, a few days after New Year, 
+Harry, Ron, and Ginny lined up beside the kitchen 
+fire to return to Hogwarts. The Ministry had arranged 
+this one-off connection to the Floo Network to return 
+students quickly and safely to the school. Only Mrs. 
+Weasley was there to say good-bye, as Mr. Weasley, 
+Fred, George, Bill, and Fleur were all at work. Mrs. 
+Weasley dissolved into tears at the moment of parting. 
+Admittedly, it took very little to set her off lately; she 
+had been crying on and off ever since Percy had 
+stormed from the house on Christmas Day with his 
+glasses splattered with mashed parsnip (for which 
+Fred, George, and Ginny all claimed credit). 
+
+“Don’t cry, Mum,” said Ginny, patting her on the back 
+as Mrs. Weasley sobbed into her shoulder. “It’s okay. 
+
+
+
+“Yeah, don’t worry about us,” said Ron, permitting his 
+mother to plant a very wet kiss on his cheek, “or 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+about Percy. He’s such a prat, it’s not really a loss, is 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever as she 
+enfolded Harry in her arms. 
+
+“Promise me you’ll look after yourself. ... Stay out of 
+trouble. ...” 
+
+“I always do, Mrs. Weasley,” said Harry. “I like a quiet 
+life, you know me.” 
+
+She gave a watery chuckle and stood back. “Be good, 
+then, all of you. ...” 
+
+Harry stepped into the emerald fire and shouted 
+“Hogwarts!” He had one last fleeting view of the 
+Weasleys’ kitchen and Mrs. Weasley’s tearful face 
+before the flames engulfed him; spinning very fast, he 
+caught blurred glimpses of other Wizarding rooms, 
+which were whipped out of sight before he could get a 
+proper look; then he was slowing down, finally 
+stopping squarely in the fireplace in Professor 
+McGonagall’s office. She barely glanced up from her 
+work as he clambered out over the grate. 
+
+“Evening, Potter. Try not to get too much ash on the 
+carpet.” 
+
+“No, Professor.” 
+
+Harry straightened his glasses and flattened his hair 
+as Ron came spinning into view. When Ginny had 
+arrived, all three of them trooped out of McGonagall’s 
+office and off toward Gryffindor Tower. Harry glanced 
+out of the corridor windows as they passed; the sun 
+was already sinking over grounds carpeted in deeper 
+snow than had lain over the Burrow garden. In the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+distance, he could see Hagrid feeding Buckbeak in 
+front of his cabin. 
+
+
+
+“Baubles,” said Ron confidently, when they reached 
+the Fat Lady, who was looking rather paler than 
+usual and winced at his loud voice. 
+
+“No,” she said. 
+
+“What d’you mean, ‘no’?” 
+
+“There is a new password,” she said. “And please 
+don’t shout.” 
+
+“But we’ve been away, how’re we supposed to — ?” 
+“Harry! Ginny!” 
+
+Hermione was hurrying toward them, very pink-faced 
+and wearing a cloak, hat, and gloves. 
+
+“I got back a couple of hours ago, I’ve just been down 
+to visit Hagrid and Buck — I mean Witherwings,” she 
+said breathlessly. “Did you have a good Christmas?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron at once, “pretty eventful, Rufus 
+Scrim — ” 
+
+“I’ve got something for you, Harry,” said Hermione, 
+neither looking at Ron nor giving any sign that she 
+had heard him. “Oh, hang on — password. 
+Abstinence.” 
+
+“Precisely,” said the Fat Lady in a feeble voice, and 
+swung forward to reveal the portrait hole. 
+
+“What’s up with her?” asked Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Overindulged over Christmas, apparently,” said 
+Hermione, rolling her eyes as she led the way into the 
+packed common room. “She and her friend Violet 
+drank their way through all the wine in that picture of 
+drunk monks down by the Charms corridor. Anyway 
+
+
+
+She rummaged in her pocket for a moment, then 
+pulled out a scroll of parchment with Dumbledore’s 
+writing on it. 
+
+“Great,” said Harry, unrolling it at once to discover 
+that his next lesson with Dumbledore was scheduled 
+for the following night. “I’ve got loads to tell him — 
+and you. Let’s sit down — ” 
+
+But at that moment there was a loud squeal of “Won- 
+Won!” and Lavender Brown came hurtling out of 
+nowhere and flung herself into Ron’s arms. Several 
+onlookers sniggered; Hermione gave a tinkling laugh 
+and said, “There’s a table over here. ... Coming, 
+Ginny?” 
+
+“No, thanks, I said I’d meet Dean,” said Ginny, 
+though Harry could not help noticing that she did not 
+sound very enthusiastic. Leaving Ron and Lavender 
+locked in a kind of vertical wrestling match, Harry led 
+Hermione over to the spare table. 
+
+“So how was your Christmas?” 
+
+“Oh, fine,” she shrugged. “Nothing special. How was it 
+at Won-Won’s?” 
+
+“I’ll tell you in a minute,” said Harry. “Look, 
+
+Hermione, can’t you — ?” 
+
+“No, I can’t,” she said flatly. “So don’t even ask.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 396 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I thought maybe, you know, over Christmas — ” 
+
+
+
+“It was the Fat Lady who drank a vat of five-hundred- 
+year- old wine, Harry, not me. So what was this 
+important news you wanted to tell me?” 
+
+She looked too fierce to argue with at that moment, so 
+Harry dropped the subject of Ron and recounted all 
+that he had overheard between Malfoy and Snape. 
+When he had finished, Hermione sat in thought for a 
+moment and then said, “Don’t you think — ?” 
+
+“ — he was pretending to offer help so that he could 
+trick Malfoy into telling him what he’s doing?” 
+
+“Well, yes,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Ron’s dad and Lupin think so,” Harry said 
+grudgingly. “But this definitely proves Malfoy’s 
+planning something, you can’t deny that.” 
+
+“No, I can’t,” she answered slowly. 
+
+“And he’s acting on Voldemort’s orders, just like I 
+said!” 
+
+“Hmm . . . did either of them actually mention 
+Voldemort’s name?” 
+
+Harry frowned, trying to remember. “I’m not sure ... 
+Snape definitely said your master,’ and who else 
+would that be?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Hermione, biting her lip. “Maybe 
+his father?” 
+
+She stared across the room, apparently lost in 
+thought, not even noticing Lavender tickling Ron. 
+“How’s Lupin?” 
+
+Page | 397 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Not great,” said Harry, and he told her all about 
+Lupin’s mission among the werewolves and the 
+difficulties he was facing. “Have you heard of this 
+Fenrir Grey back?” 
+
+“Yes, I have!” said Hermione, sounding startled. “And 
+so have you, Harry!” 
+
+“When, History of Magic? You know full well I never 
+listened ...” 
+
+“No, no, not History of Magic — Malfoy threatened 
+Borgin with him!” said Hermione. “Back in Knockturn 
+Alley, don’t you remember? He told Borgin that 
+Grey back was an old family friend and that he’d be 
+checking up on Borgin’s progress!” 
+
+Harry gaped at her. “I forgot! But this proves Malfoy’s 
+a Death Eater, how else could he be in contact with 
+Greyback and telling him what to do?” 
+
+“It is pretty suspicious,” breathed Hermione. “Unless 
+
+
+
+“Oh, come on,” said Harry in exasperation, “you can’t 
+get round this one!” 
+
+“Well ... there is the possibility it was an empty 
+threat.” 
+
+“You’re unbelievable, you are,” said Harry, shaking 
+his head. “We’ll see who’s right. ... You’ll be eating 
+your words, Hermione, just like the Ministry. Oh 
+yeah, I had a row with Rufus Scrimgeour as well. ...” 
+
+And the rest of the evening passed amicably with both 
+of them abusing the Minister of Magic, for Hermione, 
+like Ron, thought that after all the Ministry had put 
+
+
+
+Page | 398 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry through the previous year, they had a great 
+deal of nerve asking him for help now. 
+
+The new term started next morning with a pleasant 
+surprise for the sixth years: a large sign had been 
+pinned to the common room notice boards overnight. 
+
+APPARITION LESSONS 
+
+If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn 
+seventeen on or before the 31st August next, you are 
+eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons 
+from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor. Please 
+sign below if you would like to participate. Cost: 12 
+Galleons. 
+
+Harry and Ron joined the crowd that was jostling 
+around the notice and taking it in turns to write their 
+names at the bottom. Ron was just taking out his 
+quill to sign after Hermione when Lavender crept up 
+behind him, slipped her hands over his eyes, and 
+trilled, “Guess who, Won-Won?” Harry turned to see 
+Hermione stalking off; he caught up with her, having 
+no wish to stay behind with Ron and Lavender, but to 
+his surprise, Ron caught up with them only a little 
+way beyond the portrait hole, his ears bright red and 
+his expression disgruntled. Without a word, Hermione 
+sped up to walk with Neville. 
+
+“So — Apparition,” said Ron, his tone making it 
+perfectly plain that Harry was not to mention what 
+had just happened. “Should be a laugh, eh?” 
+
+“I dunno,” said Harry. “Maybe it’s better when you do 
+it yourself, I didn’t enjoy it much when Dumbledore 
+took me along for the ride.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I forgot you’d already done it. ... I’d better pass my 
+test first time,” said Ron, looking anxious. “Fred and 
+George did.” 
+
+“Charlie failed, though, didn’t he?” 
+
+“Yeah, but Charlie’s bigger than me” — Ron held his 
+arms out from his body as though he was a gorilla — 
+“so Fred and George didn’t go on about it much ... not 
+to his face anyway ...” 
+
+“When can we take the actual test?” 
+
+“Soon as we’re seventeen. That’s only March for me!” 
+
+“Yeah, but you wouldn’t be able to Apparate in here, 
+not in the castle ...” 
+
+“Not the point, is it? Everyone would know I could 
+Apparate if I wanted.” 
+
+Ron was not the only one to be excited at the prospect 
+of Apparition. All that day there was much talk about 
+the forthcoming lessons; a great deal of store was set 
+by being able to vanish and reappear at will. 
+
+“How cool will it be when we can just — ” Seamus 
+clicked his fingers to indicate disappearance. “Me 
+cousin Fergus does it just to annoy me, you wait till I 
+can do it back ... He’ll never have another peaceful 
+moment. ...” 
+
+Lost in visions of this happy prospect, he flicked his 
+wand a little too enthusiastically, so that instead of 
+producing the fountain of pure water that was the 
+object of today’s Charms lesson, he let out a hoselike 
+jet that ricocheted off the ceiling and knocked 
+Professor Flitwick flat on his face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 400 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry’s already Apparated,” Ron told a slightly 
+abashed Seamus, after Professor Flitwick had dried 
+himself off with a wave of his wand and set Seamus 
+lines: “I am a wizard, not a baboon brandishing a 
+stick.” “Dum — er — someone took him. Side-Along- 
+Apparition, you know.” 
+
+“Whoa!” whispered Seamus, and he, Dean, and 
+Neville put their heads a little closer to hear what 
+Apparition felt like. For the rest of the day, Harry was 
+besieged with requests from the other sixth years to 
+describe the sensation of Apparition. All of them 
+seemed awed, rather than put off, when he told them 
+how uncomfortable it was, and he was still answering 
+detailed questions at ten to eight that evening, when 
+he was forced to lie and say that he needed to return 
+a book to the library, so as to escape in time for his 
+lesson with Dumbledore. 
+
+The lamps in Dumbledore ’s office were lit, the 
+portraits of previous headmasters were snoring gently 
+in their frames, and the Pensieve was ready upon the 
+desk once more. Dumbledore ’s hands lay on either 
+side of it, the right one as blackened and burnt- 
+looking as ever. It did not seem to have healed at all 
+and Harry wondered, for perhaps the hundredth time, 
+what had caused such a distinctive injury, but did 
+not ask; Dumbledore had said that he would know 
+eventually and there was, in any case, another 
+subject he wanted to discuss. But before Harry could 
+say anything about Snape and Malfoy, Dumbledore 
+spoke. 
+
+“I hear that you met the Minister of Magic over 
+Christmas?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “He’s not very happy with me.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” sighed Dumbledore. “He is not very happy with 
+me either. We must try not to sink beneath our 
+anguish, Harry, but battle on.” 
+
+Harry grinned. 
+
+“He wanted me to tell the Wizarding community that 
+the Ministry’s doing a wonderful job.” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled. 
+
+“It was Fudge’s idea originally, you know. During his 
+last days in office, when he was trying desperately to 
+cling to his post, he sought a meeting with you, 
+hoping that you would give him your support — ” 
+
+“After everything Fudge did last year?” said Harry 
+angrily. “After Umbridge?” 
+
+“I told Cornelius there was no chance of it, but the 
+idea did not die when he left office. Within hours of 
+Scrimgeour’s appointment we met and he demanded 
+that I arrange a meeting with you — ” 
+
+“So that’s why you argued!” Harry blurted out. “It was 
+in the Daily Prophet” 
+
+“The Prophet is bound to report the truth 
+occasionally,” said Dumbledore, “if only accidentally. 
+Yes, that was why we argued. Well, it appears that 
+Rufus found a way to corner you at last.” 
+
+“He accused me of being ‘Dumbledore ’s man through 
+and through.’ ” 
+
+“How very rude of him.” 
+
+“I told him I was.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then 
+closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let 
+out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intense 
+embarrassment, he suddenly realized that 
+Dumbledore ’s bright blue eyes looked rather watery, 
+and stared hastily at his own knees. When 
+Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite 
+steady. 
+
+“I am very touched, Harry.” 
+
+“Scrimgeour wanted to know where you go when 
+you’re not at Hogwarts,” said Harry, still looking 
+fixedly at his knees. 
+
+“Yes, he is very nosy about that,” said Dumbledore, 
+now sounding cheerful, and Harry thought it safe to 
+look up again. “He has even attempted to have me 
+followed. Amusing, really. He set Dawlish to tail me. It 
+wasn’t kind. I have already been forced to jinx 
+Dawlish once; I did it again with the greatest regret.” 
+
+“So they still don’t know where you go?” asked Harry, 
+hoping for more information on this intriguing 
+subject, but Dumbledore merely smiled over the top 
+of his half-moon spectacles. 
+
+“No, they don’t, and the time is not quite right for you 
+to know either. Now, I suggest we press on, unless 
+there’s anything else — ?” 
+
+“There is, actually, sir,” said Harry. “It’s about Malfoy 
+and Snape.” 
+
+“Professor Snape, Harry.” 
+
+“Yes, sir. I overheard them during Professor 
+Slughorn’s party ... well, I followed them, actually. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore listened to Harry’s story with an 
+impassive face. When Harry had finished he did not 
+speak for a few moments, then said, “Thank you for 
+telling me this, Harry, but I suggest that you put it 
+out of your mind. I do not think that it is of great 
+importance.” 
+
+“Not of great importance?” repeated Harry 
+incredulously. “Professor, did you understand — ?” 
+
+“Yes, Harry, blessed as I am with extraordinary 
+brainpower, I understood everything you told me,” 
+said Dumbledore, a little sharply. “I think you might 
+even consider the possibility that I understood more 
+than you did. Again, I am glad that you have confided 
+in me, but let me reassure you that you have not told 
+me anything that causes me disquiet.” 
+
+Harry sat in seething silence, glaring at Dumbledore. 
+What was going on? Did this mean that Dumbledore 
+had indeed ordered Snape to find out what Malfoy 
+was doing, in which case he had already heard 
+everything Harry had just told him from Snape? Or 
+was he really worried by what he had heard, but 
+pretending not to be? 
+
+“So, sir,” said Harry, in what he hoped was a polite, 
+calm voice, “you definitely still trust — ?” 
+
+“I have been tolerant enough to answer that question 
+already,” said Dumbledore, but he did not sound very 
+tolerant anymore. “My answer has not changed.” 
+
+“I should think not,” said a snide voice; Phineas 
+Nigellus was evidently only pretending to be asleep. 
+Dumbledore ignored him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And now, Harry, I must insist that we press on. I 
+have more important things to discuss with you this 
+evening.” 
+
+Harry sat there feeling mutinous. How would it be if 
+he refused to permit the change of subject, if he 
+insisted upon arguing the case against Malfoy? As 
+though he had read Harry’s mind, Dumbledore shook 
+his head. 
+
+“Ah, Harry, how often this happens, even between the 
+best of friends! Each of us believes that what he has 
+to say is much more important than anything the 
+other might have to contribute!” 
+
+“I don’t think what you’ve got to say is unimportant, 
+sir,” said Harry stiffly. 
+
+“Well, you are quite right, because it is not,” said 
+Dumbledore briskly. “I have two more memories to 
+show you this evening, both obtained with enormous 
+difficulty, and the second of them is, I think, the most 
+important I have collected.” 
+
+Harry did not say anything to this; he still felt angry 
+at the reception his confidences had received, but 
+could not see what was to be gained by arguing 
+further. 
+
+“So,” said Dumbledore, in a ringing voice, “we meet 
+this evening to continue the tale of Tom Riddle, whom 
+we left last lesson poised on the threshold of his years 
+at Hogwarts. You will remember how excited he was 
+to hear that he was a wizard, that he refused my 
+company on a trip to Diagon Alley, and that I, in turn, 
+warned him against continued thievery when he 
+arrived at school. 
+
+
+
+Page | 405 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, the start of the school year arrived and with it 
+came Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his secondhand 
+robes, who lined up with the other first years to be 
+sorted. He was placed in Slytherin House almost the 
+moment that the Sorting Hat touched his head,” 
+continued Dumbledore, waving his blackened hand 
+toward the shelf over his head where the Sorting Hat 
+sat, ancient and unmoving. “How soon Riddle learned 
+that the famous founder of the House could talk to 
+snakes, I do not know — perhaps that very evening. 
+The knowledge can only have excited him and 
+increased his sense of self-importance. 
+
+“However, if he was frightening or impressing fellow 
+Slytherins with displays of Parseltongue in their 
+common room, no hint of it reached the staff. He 
+showed no sign of outward arrogance or aggression at 
+all. As an unusually talented and very good-looking 
+orphan, he naturally drew attention and sympathy 
+from the staff almost from the moment of his arrival. 
+He seemed polite, quiet, and thirsty for knowledge. 
+Nearly all were most favorably impressed by him.” 
+
+“Didn’t you tell them, sir, what he’d been like when 
+you met him at the orphanage?” asked Harry. 
+
+“No, I did not. Though he had shown no hint of 
+remorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how he 
+had behaved before and was resolved to turn over a 
+fresh leaf. I chose to give him that chance.” 
+
+Dumbledore paused and looked inquiringly at Harry, 
+who had opened his mouth to speak. Here, again, was 
+Dumbledore ’s tendency to trust people in spite of 
+overwhelming evidence that they did not deserve it! 
+But then Harry remembered something. . . . 
+
+“But you didn’t really trust him, sir, did you? He told 
+me . . . the Riddle who came out of that diary said, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the 
+other teachers did.’ ” 
+
+“Let us say that I did not take it for granted that he 
+was trustworthy,” said Dumbledore. “I had, as I have 
+already indicated, resolved to keep a close eye upon 
+him, and so I did. I cannot pretend that I gleaned a 
+great deal from my observations at first. He was very 
+guarded with me; he felt, I am sure, that in the thrill 
+of discovering his true identity he had told me a little 
+too much. He was careful never to reveal as much 
+again, but he could not take back what he had let slip 
+in his excitement, nor what Mrs. Cole had confided in 
+me. However, he had the sense never to try and 
+charm me as he charmed so many of my colleagues. 
+
+“As he moved up the school, he gathered about him a 
+group of dedicated friends; I call them that, for want 
+of a better term, although as I have already indicated, 
+Riddle undoubtedly felt no affection for any of them. 
+This group had a kind of dark glamour within the 
+castle. They were a motley collection; a mixture of the 
+weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some 
+shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a 
+leader who could show them more refined forms of 
+cruelty. In other words, they were the forerunners of 
+the Death Eaters, and indeed some of them became 
+the first Death Eaters after leaving Hogwarts. 
+
+“Rigidly controlled by Riddle, they were never detected 
+in open wrongdoing, although their seven years at 
+Hogwarts were marked by a number of nasty 
+incidents to which they were never satisfactorily 
+linked, the most serious of which was, of course, the 
+opening of the Chamber of Secrets, which resulted in 
+the death of a girl. As you know, Hagrid was wrongly 
+accused of that crime. 
+
+
+
+Page | 407 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I have not been able to find many memories of Riddle 
+at Hogwarts,” said Dumbledore, placing his withered 
+hand on the Pensieve. “Few who knew him then are 
+prepared to talk about him; they are too terrified. 
+What I know, I found out after he had left Hogwarts, 
+after much painstaking effort, after tracing those few 
+who could be tricked into speaking, after searching 
+old records and questioning Muggle and wizard 
+witnesses alike. 
+
+“Those whom I could persuade to talk told me that 
+Riddle was obsessed with his parentage. This is 
+understandable, of course; he had grown up in an 
+orphanage and naturally wished to know how he 
+came to be there. It seems that he searched in vain 
+for some trace of Tom Riddle senior on the shields in 
+the trophy room, on the lists of prefects in the old 
+school records, even in the books of Wizarding 
+history. Finally he was forced to accept that his father 
+had never set foot in Hogwarts. I believe that it was 
+then that he dropped the name forever, assumed the 
+identity of Lord Voldemort, and began his 
+investigations into his previously despised mother’s 
+family — the woman whom, you will remember, he 
+had thought could not be a witch if she had 
+succumbed to the shameful human weakness of 
+death. 
+
+“All he had to go upon was the single name ‘Marvolo,’ 
+which he knew from those who ran the orphanage 
+had been his mother’s father’s name. Finally, after 
+painstaking research through old books of Wizarding 
+families, he discovered the existence of Slytherin’s 
+surviving line. In the summer of his sixteenth year, he 
+left the orphanage to which he returned annually and 
+set off to find his Gaunt relatives. And now, Harry, if 
+you will stand ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 408 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore rose, and Harry saw that he was again 
+holding a small crystal bottle filled with swirling, 
+pearly memory. 
+
+“I was very lucky to collect this,” he said, as he 
+poured the gleaming mass into the Pensieve. “As you 
+will understand when we have experienced it. Shall 
+we?” 
+
+Harry stepped up to the stone basin and bowed 
+obediently until his face sank through the surface of 
+the memory; he felt the familiar sensation of falling 
+through nothingness and then landed upon a dirty 
+stone floor in almost total darkness. 
+
+It took him several seconds to recognize the place, by 
+which time Dumbledore had landed beside him. The 
+Gaunts’ house was now more indescribably filthy 
+than anywhere Harry had ever seen. The ceiling was 
+thick with cobwebs, the floor coated in grime; moldy 
+and rotting food lay upon the table amidst a mass of 
+crusted pots. The only light came from a single 
+guttering candle placed at the feet of a man with hair 
+and beard so overgrown Harry could see neither eyes 
+nor mouth. He was slumped in an armchair by the 
+fire, and Harry wondered for a moment whether he 
+was dead. But then there came a loud knock on the 
+door and the man jerked awake, raising a wand in his 
+right hand and a short knife in his left. 
+
+The door creaked open. There on the threshold, 
+holding an old-fashioned lamp, stood a boy Harry 
+recognized at once: tall, pale, dark-haired, and 
+handsome — the teenage Voldemort. 
+
+Voldemort’s eyes moved slowly around the hovel and 
+then found the man in the armchair. For a few 
+seconds they looked at each other, then the man 
+
+
+
+Page | 409 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+staggered upright, the many empty bottles at his feet 
+clattering and tinkling across the floor. 
+
+“YOU!” he bellowed. “YOU!” 
+
+And he hurtled drunkenly at Riddle, wand and knife 
+held aloft. 
+
+“Stop.” 
+
+Riddle spoke in Parseltongue. The man skidded into 
+the table, sending moldy pots crashing to the floor. He 
+stared at Riddle. There was a long silence while they 
+contemplated each other. The man broke it. 
+
+“ You speak it?” 
+
+“Yes, I speak it,” said Riddle. He moved forward into 
+the room, allowing the door to swing shut behind 
+him. Harry could not help but feel a resentful 
+admiration for Voldemort’s complete lack of fear. His 
+face merely expressed disgust and, perhaps, 
+disappointment. 
+
+“Where is Marvolo?” he asked. 
+
+“Dead,” said the other. “Died years ago, didn’t he?” 
+Riddle frowned. 
+
+“ Who are you, then?” 
+
+“I’m Morfin, ain’t 1?” 
+
+“ Marvolo’ s son?” 
+
+“ ’Course I am, then ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 410 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Morfin pushed the hair out of his dirty face, the better 
+to see Riddle, and Harry saw that he wore Marvolo’s 
+black-stoned ring on his right hand. 
+
+“I thought you was that Muggle,” whispered Morfin. 
+
+“ You look mighty like that Muggle .” 
+
+“What Muggle?” said Riddle sharply. 
+
+“That Muggle what my sister took a fancy to, that 
+Muggle what lives in the big house over the way,” said 
+Morfin, and he spat unexpectedly upon the floor 
+between them. “You look right like him. Riddle. But 
+he’s older now, in ’e? He’s older’n you, now I think on 
+it. ...” 
+
+Morfin looked slightly dazed and swayed a little, still 
+clutching the edge of the table for support. “He come 
+back, see,” he added stupidly. 
+
+Voldemort was gazing at Morfin as though appraising 
+his possibilities. Now he moved a little closer and 
+said, “Riddle came back?” 
+
+“Ar, he left her, and serve her right, marrying filth\” 
+said Morfin, spitting on the floor again. “Robbed us, 
+mind, before she ran off! Where’s the locket, eh, 
+where’s Slytherin’s locket?” 
+
+Voldemort did not answer. Morfin was working 
+himself into a rage again; he brandished his knife and 
+shouted, “Dishonored us, she did, that little slut! And 
+who’re you, coming here and asking questions about 
+all that? It’s over, innit. ... It’s over. ...” 
+
+He looked away, staggering slightly, and Voldemort 
+moved forward. As he did so, an unnatural darkness 
+fell, extinguishing Voldemort’s lamp and Morfin ’s 
+candle, extinguishing everything. ... 
+
+Page | 411 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore’s fingers closed tightly around Harry’s 
+arm and they were soaring back into the present 
+again. The soft golden light in Dumbledore’s office 
+seemed to dazzle Harry’s eyes after that impenetrable 
+darkness. 
+
+“Is that all?” said Harry at once. “Why did it go dark, 
+what happened?” 
+
+“Because Morfin could not remember anything from 
+that point onward,” said Dumbledore, gesturing Harry 
+back into his seat. “When he awoke next morning, he 
+was lying on the floor, quite alone. Marvolo’s ring had 
+gone. 
+
+“Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, a maid 
+was running along the High Street, screaming that 
+there were three bodies lying in the drawing room of 
+the big house: Tom Riddle Senior and his mother and 
+father. 
+
+“The Muggle authorities were perplexed. As far as I 
+am aware, they do not know to this day how the 
+Riddles died, for the Avada Kedavra curse does not 
+usually leave any sign of damage. ... The exception 
+sits before me,” Dumbledore added, with a nod to 
+Harry’s scar. “The Ministry, on the other hand, knew 
+at once that this was a wizard’s murder. They also 
+knew that a convicted Muggle-hater lived across the 
+valley from the Riddle house, a Muggle-hater who had 
+already been imprisoned once for attacking one of the 
+murdered people. 
+
+“So the Ministry called upon Morfin. They did not 
+need to question him, to use Veritaserum or 
+Legilimency. He admitted to the murder on the spot, 
+giving details only the murderer could know. He was 
+proud, he said, to have killed the Muggles, had been 
+awaiting his chance all these years. He handed over 
+Page | 412 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+his wand, which was proved at once to have been 
+used to kill the Riddles. And he permitted himself to 
+be led off to Azkaban without a fight. All that 
+disturbed him was the fact that his father’s ring had 
+disappeared. ‘He’ll kill me for losing it,’ he told his 
+captors over and over again. ‘He’ll kill me for losing 
+his ring. ’ And that, apparently, was all he ever said 
+again. He lived out the remainder of his life in 
+Azkaban, lamenting the loss of Marvolo’s last 
+heirloom, and is buried beside the prison, alongside 
+the other poor souls who have expired within its 
+walls.” 
+
+“So Voldemort stole Morfin’s wand and used it?” said 
+Harry, sitting up straight. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Dumbledore. “We have no 
+memories to show us this, but I think we can be fairly 
+sure what happened. Voldemort Stupefied his uncle, 
+took his wand, and proceeded across the valley to ‘the 
+big house over the way. ’ There he murdered the 
+Muggle man who had abandoned his witch mother, 
+and, for good measure, his Muggle grandparents, 
+thus obliterating the last of the unworthy Riddle line 
+and revenging himself upon the father who never 
+wanted him. Then he returned to the Gaunt hovel, 
+performed the complex bit of magic that would 
+implant a false memory in his uncle’s mind, laid 
+Morfin’s wand beside its unconscious owner, 
+pocketed the ancient ring he wore, and departed.” 
+
+“And Morfin never realized he hadn’t done it?” 
+
+“Never,” said Dumbledore. “He gave, as I say, a full 
+and boastful confession.” 
+
+“But he had this real memory in him all the time!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 413 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, but it took a great deal of skilled Legilimency to 
+coax it out of him,” said Dumbledore, “and why 
+should anybody delve further into Morfin’s mind 
+when he had already confessed to the crime? 
+
+However, I was able to secure a visit to Morfin in the 
+last weeks of his life, by which time I was attempting 
+to discover as much as I could about Voldemort’s 
+past. I extracted this memory with difficulty. When I 
+saw what it contained, I attempted to use it to secure 
+Morfin’s release from Azkaban. Before the Ministry 
+reached their decision, however, Morfin had died.” 
+
+“But how come the Ministry didn’t realize that 
+Voldemort had done all that to Morfin?” Harry asked 
+angrily. “He was underage at the time, wasn’t he? I 
+thought they could detect underage magic!” 
+
+“You are quite right — they can detect magic, but not 
+the perpetrator: You will remember that you were 
+blamed by the Ministry for the Hover Charm that was, 
+in fact, cast by — ” 
+
+“Dobby,” growled Harry; this injustice still rankled. 
+
+“So if you’re underage and you do magic inside an 
+adult witch or wizard’s house, the Ministry won’t 
+know?” 
+
+“They will certainly be unable to tell who performed 
+the magic,” said Dumbledore, smiling slightly at the 
+look of great indignation on Harry’s face. “They rely 
+on witch and wizard parents to enforce their 
+offspring’s obedience while within their walls.” 
+
+“Well, that’s rubbish,” snapped Harry. “Look what 
+happened here, look what happened to Morfin!” 
+
+“I agree,” said Dumbledore. “Whatever Morfin was, he 
+did not deserve to die as he did, blamed for murders 
+
+
+
+Page | 414 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he had not committed. But it is getting late, and I 
+want you to see this other memory before we part. ...” 
+
+
+
+Dumbledore took from an inside pocket another 
+crystal phial and Harry fell silent at once, 
+remembering that Dumbledore had said it was the 
+most important one he had collected. Harry noticed 
+that the contents proved difficult to empty into the 
+Pensieve, as though they had congealed slightly; did 
+memories go bad? 
+
+“This will not take long,” said Dumbledore, when he 
+had finally emptied the phial. “We shall be back 
+before you know it. Once more into the Pensieve, then 
+
+
+
+And Harry fell again through the silver surface, 
+landing this time right in front of a man he recognized 
+at once. 
+
+It was a much younger Horace Slughorn. Harry was 
+so used to him bald that he found the sight of 
+Slughorn with thick, shiny, straw-colored hair quite 
+disconcerting; it looked as though he had had his 
+head thatched, though there was already a shiny 
+Galleon-sized bald patch on his crown. His mustache, 
+less massive than it was these days, was gingery- 
+blond. He was not quite as rotund as the Slughorn 
+Harry knew, though the golden buttons on his richly 
+embroidered waistcoat were taking a fair amount of 
+strain. His little feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, he 
+was sitting well back in a comfortable winged 
+armchair, one hand grasping a small glass of wine, 
+the other searching through a box of crystalized 
+pineapple. 
+
+Harry looked around as Dumbledore appeared beside 
+him and saw that they were standing in Slughorn ’s 
+office. Half a dozen boys were sitting around 
+
+Page | 415 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Slughorn, all on harder or lower seats than his, and 
+all in their mid-teens. Harry recognized Voldemort at 
+once. His was the most handsome face and he looked 
+the most relaxed of all the boys. His right hand lay 
+negligently upon the arm of his chair; with a jolt, 
+Harry saw that he was wearing Marvolo’s gold-and- 
+black ring; he had already killed his father. 
+
+“Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is 
+retiring?” he asked. 
+
+“Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn’t tell you,” said 
+Slughorn, wagging a reproving, sugar-covered finger 
+at Riddle, though ruining the effect slightly by 
+winking. “I must say, I’d like to know where you get 
+your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half 
+the staff, you are.” 
+
+Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him 
+admiring looks. 
+
+“What with your uncanny ability to know things you 
+shouldn’t, and your careful flattery of the people who 
+matter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way, 
+you’re quite right, it is my favorite — ” 
+
+As several of the boys tittered, something very odd 
+happened. The whole room was suddenly filled with a 
+thick white fog, so that Harry could see nothing but 
+the face of Dumbledore, who was standing beside 
+him. Then Slughorn ’s voice rang out through the 
+mist, unnaturally loudly, “ You’ll go wrong, boy, mark 
+my words.” 
+
+The fog cleared as suddenly as it had appeared and 
+yet nobody made any allusion to it, nor did anybody 
+look as though anything unusual had just happened. 
+Bewildered, Harry looked around as a small golden 
+
+
+
+Page | 416 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+clock standing upon Slughorn’s desk chimed eleven 
+o’clock. 
+
+“Good gracious, is it that time already?” said 
+Slughorn. “You’d better get going, boys, or we’ll all be 
+in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow 
+or it’s detention. Same goes for you, Avery.” 
+
+Slughorn pulled himself out of his armchair and 
+carried his empty glass over to his desk as the boys 
+filed out. Voldemort, however, stayed behind. Harry 
+could tell he had dawdled deliberately, wanting to be 
+last in the room with Slughorn. 
+
+“Look sharp, Tom,” said Slughorn, turning around 
+and finding him still present. “You don’t want to be 
+caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect ...” 
+
+“Sir, I wanted to ask you something.” 
+
+“Ask away, then, m’boy, ask away. ...” 
+
+“Sir, I wondered what you know about . . . about 
+Horcruxes?” 
+
+And it happened all over again: The dense fog filled 
+the room so that Harry could not see Slughorn or 
+Voldemort at all; only Dumbledore, smiling serenely 
+beside him. Then Slughorn’s voice boomed out again, 
+just as it had done before. 
+
+“I don’t know anything about Horcruxes and I wouldn’t 
+tell you if I did! Now get out of here at once and don’t 
+let me catch you mentioning them again\” 
+
+“Well, that’s that,” said Dumbledore placidly beside 
+Harry. “Time to go.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 417 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And Harry’s feet left the floor to fall, seconds later, 
+back onto the mg in front of Dumbledore’s desk. 
+
+
+
+“That’s all there is?” said Harry blankly. 
+
+Dumbledore had said that this was the most 
+important memory of all, but he could not see what 
+was so significant about it. Admittedly the fog, and 
+the fact that nobody seemed to have noticed it, was 
+odd, but other than that nothing seemed to have 
+happened except that Voldemort had asked a 
+question and failed to get an answer. 
+
+“As you might have noticed,” said Dumbledore, 
+reseating himself behind his desk, “that memory has 
+been tampered with.” 
+
+“Tampered with?” repeated Harry, sitting back down 
+too. 
+
+“Certainly,” said Dumbledore. “Professor Slughorn 
+has meddled with his own recollections.” 
+
+“But why would he do that?” 
+
+“Because, I think, he is ashamed of what he 
+remembers,” said Dumbledore. “He has tried to 
+rework the memory to show himself in a better light, 
+obliterating those parts which he does not wish me to 
+see. It is, as you will have noticed, very crudely done, 
+and that is all to the good, for it shows that the true 
+memory is still there beneath the alterations. 
+
+“And so, for the first time, I am giving you homework, 
+Harry. It will be your job to persuade Professor 
+Slughorn to divulge the real memory, which will 
+undoubtedly be our most crucial piece of information 
+of all.” 
+
+Page | 418 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry stared at him. 
+
+“But surely, sir,” he said, keeping his voice as 
+respectful as possible, “you don’t need me — you 
+could use Legilimency ... or Veritaserum. ...” 
+
+“Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard who 
+will be expecting both,” said Dumbledore. “He is 
+much more accomplished at Occlumency than poor 
+Morfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he has 
+not carried an antidote to Veritaserum with him ever 
+since I coerced him into giving me this travesty of a 
+recollection. 
+
+“No, I think it would be foolish to attempt to wrest the 
+truth from Professor Slughorn by force, and might do 
+much more harm than good; I do not wish him to 
+leave Hogwarts. However, he has his weaknesses like 
+the rest of us, and I believe that you are the one 
+person who might be able to penetrate his defenses. It 
+is most important that we secure the true memory, 
+Harry. ... How important, we will only know when we 
+have seen the real thing. So, good luck ... and good 
+night.” 
+
+A little taken aback by the abrupt dismissal, Harry 
+got to his feet quickly. “Good night, sir.” 
+
+As he closed the study door behind him, he distinctly 
+heard Phineas Nigellus say, “I can’t see why the boy 
+should be able to do it better than you, Dumbledore.” 
+
+“I wouldn’t expect you to, Phineas,” replied 
+Dumbledore, and Fawkes gave another low, musical 
+cry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 419 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BIRTHDAY SURPRISES 
+
+The next day Harry confided in both Ron and 
+Hermione the task that Dumbledore had set him, 
+though separately, for Hermione still refused to 
+remain in Ron’s presence longer than it took to give 
+him a contemptuous look. 
+
+Ron thought that Harry was unlikely to have any 
+trouble with Slughorn at all. 
+
+“He loves you,” he said over breakfast, waving an airy 
+forkful of fried egg. “Won’t refuse you anything, will 
+he? Not his little Potions Prince. Just hang back after 
+class this afternoon and ask him.” 
+
+Hermione, however, took a gloomier view. “He must 
+be determined to hide what really happened if 
+Dumbledore couldn’t get it out of him,” she said in a 
+low voice, as they stood in the deserted, snowy 
+courtyard at break. “Horcruxes ... Horcruxes ... I’ve 
+never even heard of them. ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 420 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“You haven’t?” Harry was disappointed; he had hoped 
+that Hermione might have been able to give him a 
+clue as to what Horcruxes were. 
+
+
+
+“They must be really advanced Dark Magic, or why 
+would Voldemort have wanted to know about them? I 
+think it’s going to be difficult to get the information, 
+Harry, you’ll have to be very careful about how you 
+approach Slughorn, think out a strategy. ...” 
+
+“Ron reckons I should just hang back after Potions 
+this afternoon. ...” 
+
+“Oh, well, if Won-Won thinks that, you’d better do it,” 
+she said, flaring up at once. “After all, when has Won- 
+Won’s judgment ever been faulty?” 
+
+“Hermione, can’t you — ?” 
+
+“iVo!” she said angrily, and stormed away, leaving 
+Harry alone and ankle-deep in snow. 
+
+Potions lessons were uncomfortable enough these 
+days, seeing as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to 
+share a desk. Today, Hermione moved her cauldron 
+around the table so that she was close to Ernie, and 
+ignored both Harry and Ron. 
+
+“What’ve you done?” Ron muttered to Harry, looking 
+at Hermione ’s haughty profile. 
+
+But before Harry could answer, Slughorn was calling 
+for silence from the front of the room. 
+
+“Settle down, settle down, please! Quickly, now, lots 
+of work to get through this afternoon! Golpalott’s 
+Third Law ... who can tell me — ? But Miss Granger 
+can, of course!” 
+
+Page | 421 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione recited at top speed: “Golpalott’s-Third- 
+Law-states-that-the-antidote-for-a-blended-poison- 
+will-be-equal-to-more-than-the-sum-of-the-antidotes- 
+for-each-of-the-separate-components.” 
+
+“Precisely!” beamed Slughorn. “Ten points for 
+Gryffindor! Now, if we accept Golpalott’s Third Law as 
+true ...” 
+
+Harry was going to have to take Slughorn ’s word for it 
+that Golpalott’s Third Law was true, because he had 
+not understood any of it. Nobody apart from 
+Hermione seemed to be following what Slughorn said 
+next either. 
+
+"... which means, of course, that assuming we have 
+achieved correct identification of the potion’s 
+ingredients by Scarpin’s Revelaspell, our primary aim 
+is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes 
+to those ingredients in and of themselves, but to find 
+that added component that will, by an almost 
+alchemical process, transform these disparate 
+elements — ” 
+
+Ron was sitting beside Harry with his mouth half 
+open, doodling absently on his new copy of Advanced 
+Potion-Making. Ron kept forgetting that he could no 
+longer rely on Hermione to help him out of trouble 
+when he failed to grasp what was going on. 
+
+"... and so,” finished Slughorn, “I want each of you to 
+come and take one of these phials from my desk. You 
+are to create an antidote for the poison within it 
+before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don’t 
+forget your protective gloves!” 
+
+Hermione had left her stool and was halfway toward 
+Slughorn ’s desk before the rest of the class had 
+realized it was time to move, and by the time Harry, 
+
+Page | 422 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron, and Ernie returned to the table, she had already 
+tipped the contents of her phial into her cauldron and 
+was kindling a fire underneath it. 
+
+“It’s a shame that the Prince won’t be able to help you 
+much with this, Harry,” she said brightly as she 
+straightened up. “You have to understand the 
+principles involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats!” 
+
+Annoyed, Harry uncorked the poison he had taken 
+from Slughorn’s desk, which was a garish shade of 
+pink, tipped it into his cauldron, and lit a fire 
+underneath it. He did not have the faintest idea what 
+he was supposed to do next. He glanced around at 
+Ron, who was now standing there looking rather 
+gormless, having copied everything Harry had done. 
+
+“You sure the Prince hasn’t got any tips?” Ron 
+muttered to Harry. 
+
+Harry pulled out his trusty copy of Advanced Potion- 
+Making and turned to the chapter on antidotes. There 
+was Golpalott’s Third Law, stated word for word as 
+Hermione had recited it, but not a single illuminating 
+note in the Prince’s hand to explain what it meant. 
+Apparently the Prince, like Hermione, had had no 
+difficulty understanding it. 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry gloomily. 
+
+Hermione was now waving her wand enthusiastically 
+over her cauldron. Unfortunately, they could not copy 
+the spell she was doing because she was now so good 
+at nonverbal incantations that she did not need to say 
+the words aloud. Ernie Macmillan, however, was 
+muttering, “Specialis Reveliol” over his cauldron, 
+which sounded impressive, so Harry and Ron 
+hastened to imitate him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 423 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It took Harry only five minutes to realize that his 
+reputation as the best potion-maker in the class was 
+crashing around his ears. Slughorn had peered 
+hopefully into his cauldron on his first circuit of the 
+dungeon, preparing to exclaim in delight as he 
+usually did, and instead had withdrawn his head 
+hastily, coughing, as the smell of bad eggs 
+overwhelmed him. Hermione’s expression could not 
+have been any smugger; she had loathed being 
+outperformed in every Potions class. She was now 
+decanting the mysteriously separated ingredients of 
+her poison into ten different crystal phials. More to 
+avoid watching this irritating sight than anything 
+else, Harry bent over the Half-Blood Prince’s book and 
+turned a few pages with unnecessary force. 
+
+And there it was, scrawled right across a long list of 
+antidotes: 
+
+Just shove a bezoar down their throats. 
+
+Harry stared at these words for a moment. Hadn’t he 
+once, long ago, heard of bezoars? Hadn’t Snape 
+mentioned them in their first-ever Potions lesson? “A 
+stone taken from the stomach of a goat, which will 
+protect from most poisons.” 
+
+It was not an answer to the Golpalott problem, and 
+had Snape still been their teacher, Harry would not 
+have dared do it, but this was a moment for desperate 
+measures. He hastened toward the store cupboard 
+and rummaged within it, pushing aside unicorn 
+horns and tangles of dried herbs until he found, at 
+the very back, a small cardboard box on which had 
+been scribbled the word bezoars. 
+
+He opened the box just as Slughorn called, “Two 
+minutes left, everyone!” Inside were half a dozen 
+
+
+
+Page | 424 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+shriveled brown objects, looking more like dried-up 
+kidneys than real stones. Harry seized one, put the 
+box back in the cupboard, and hurried back to his 
+cauldron. 
+
+“Time’s ... UP!” called Slughorn genially. “Well, let’s 
+see how you’ve done! Blaise ... what have you got for 
+me?” 
+
+Slowly, Slughorn moved around the room, examining 
+the various antidotes. Nobody had finished the task, 
+although Hermione was trying to cram a few more 
+ingredients into her bottle before Slughorn reached 
+her. Ron had given up completely, and was merely 
+trying to avoid breathing in the putrid fumes issuing 
+from his cauldron. Harry stood there waiting, the 
+bezoar clutched in a slightly sweaty hand. 
+
+Slughorn reached their table last. He sniffed Ernie’s 
+potion and passed on to Ron’s with a grimace. He did 
+not linger over Ron’s cauldron, but backed away 
+swiftly, retching slightly. 
+
+“And you, Harry,” he said. “What have you got to 
+show me?” 
+
+Harry held out his hand, the bezoar sitting on his 
+palm. 
+
+Slughorn looked down at it for a full ten seconds. 
+Harry wondered, for a moment, whether he was going 
+to shout at him. Then he threw back his head and 
+roared with laughter. 
+
+“You’ve got nerve, boy!” he boomed, taking the bezoar 
+and holding it up so that the class could see it. “Oh, 
+you’re like your mother. ... Well, I can’t fault you. ... A 
+bezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all these 
+potions!” 
+
+Page | 425 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione, who was sweaty-faced and had soot on her 
+nose, looked livid. Her half-finished antidote, 
+comprising fifty-two ingredients, including a chunk of 
+her own hair, bubbled sluggishly behind Slughorn, 
+who had eyes for nobody but Harry. 
+
+“And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, 
+Harry?” she asked through gritted teeth. 
+
+“That’s the individual spirit a real potion-maker 
+needs!” said Slughorn happily, before Harry could 
+reply. “Just like his mother, she had the same 
+intuitive grasp of potion-making, it’s undoubtedly 
+from Lily he gets it. ... Yes, Harry, yes, if you’ve got a 
+bezoar to hand, of course that would do the trick . . . 
+although as they don’t work on everything, and are 
+pretty rare, it’s still worth knowing how to mix 
+antidotes. ...” 
+
+The only person in the room looking angrier than 
+Hermione was Malfoy, who, Harry was pleased to see, 
+had spilled something that looked like cat-sick over 
+himself. Before either of them could express their fury 
+that Harry had come top of the class by not doing any 
+work, however, the bell rang. 
+
+“Time to pack up!” said Slughorn. “And an extra ten 
+points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek!” 
+
+Still chuckling, he waddled back to his desk at the 
+front of the dungeon. 
+
+Harry dawdled behind, taking an inordinate amount 
+of time to do up his bag. Neither Ron nor Hermione 
+wished him luck as they left; both looked rather 
+annoyed. At last Harry and Slughorn were the only 
+two left in the room. 
+
+
+
+Page | 426 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Come on, now, Harry, you’ll be late for your next 
+lesson,” said Slughorn affably, snapping the gold 
+clasps shut on his dragon- skin briefcase. 
+
+“Sir,” said Harry, reminding himself irresistibly of 
+Voldemort, “I wanted to ask you something.” 
+
+“Ask away, then, my dear boy, ask away. ...” 
+
+“Sir, I wondered what you know about . . . about 
+Horcruxes?” 
+
+Slughorn froze. His round face seemed to sink in 
+upon itself. He licked his lips and said hoarsely, 
+
+“What did you say?” 
+
+“I asked whether you know anything about 
+Horcruxes, sir. You see — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore put you up to this,” whispered 
+Slughorn. His voice had changed completely. It was 
+not genial anymore, but shocked, terrified. He 
+fumbled in his breast pocket and pulled out a 
+handkerchief, mopping his sweating brow. 
+“Dumbledore’s shown you that — that memory. Well? 
+Hasn’t he?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, deciding on the spot that it was 
+best not to lie. 
+
+“Yes, of course,” said Slughorn quietly, still dabbing 
+at his white face. “Of course ... well, if you’ve seen 
+that memory, Harry, you’ll know that I don’t know 
+anything — anything” — he repeated the word 
+forcefully — “about Horcruxes.” 
+
+He seized his dragon-skin briefcase, stuffed his 
+handkerchief back into his pocket, and marched to 
+the dungeon door. 
+
+Page | 427 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Sir,” said Harry desperately, “I just thought there 
+might be a bit more to the memory — ” 
+
+“Did you?” said Slughorn. “Then you were wrong, 
+weren’t you? WRONG!” 
+
+He bellowed the last word and, before Harry could say 
+another word, slammed the dungeon door behind 
+him. 
+
+Neither Ron nor Hermione was at all sympathetic 
+when Harry told them of this disastrous interview. 
+Hermione was still seething at the way Harry had 
+triumphed without doing the work properly. Ron was 
+resentful that Harry hadn’t slipped him a bezoar too. 
+
+“It would’ve just looked stupid if we’d both done it!” 
+said Harry irritably. “Look, I had to try and soften him 
+up so I could ask him about Voldemort, didn’t I? Oh, 
+will you get a grip\” he added in exasperation, as Ron 
+winced at the sound of the name. 
+
+Infuriated by his failure and by Ron’s and Hermione’s 
+attitudes, Harry brooded for the next few days over 
+what to do next about Slughorn. He decided that, for 
+the time being, he would let Slughorn think that he 
+had forgotten all about Horcruxes; it was surely best 
+to lull him into a false sense of security before 
+returning to the attack. 
+
+When Harry did not question Slughorn again, the 
+Potions master reverted to his usual affectionate 
+treatment of him, and appeared to have put the 
+matter from his mind. Harry awaited an invitation to 
+one of his little evening parties, determined to accept 
+this time, even if he had to reschedule Quidditch 
+practice. Unfortunately, however, no such invitation 
+arrived. Harry checked with Hermione and Ginny: 
+Neither of them had received an invitation and nor, as 
+Page | 428 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+far as they knew, had anybody else. Harry could not 
+help wondering whether this meant that Slughorn 
+was not quite as forgetful as he appeared, simply 
+determined to give Harry no additional opportunities 
+to question him. 
+
+Meanwhile, the Hogwarts library had failed Hermione 
+for the first time in living memory. She was so 
+shocked, she even forgot that she was annoyed at 
+Harry for his trick with the bezoar. 
+
+“I haven’t found one single explanation of what 
+Horcruxes do!” she told him. “Not a single one! I’ve 
+been right through the restricted section and even in 
+the most horrible books, where they tell you how to 
+brew the most gruesome potions — nothing! All I 
+could find was this, in the introduction to Magick 
+Moste Evile — listen — ‘Of the Horcrux, wickedest of 
+magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give 
+direction. ...’I mean, why mention it then?” she said 
+impatiently, slamming the old book shut; it let out a 
+ghostly wail. “Oh, shut up,” she snapped, stuffing it 
+back into her bag. 
+
+The snow melted around the school as February 
+arrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. 
+Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle and a 
+constant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slippery 
+and muddy. The upshot of this was that the sixth 
+years’ first Apparition lesson, which was scheduled 
+for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons 
+would be missed, took place in the Great Hall instead 
+of in the grounds. 
+
+When Harry and Hermione arrived in the Hall (Ron 
+had come down with Lavender), they found that the 
+tables had disappeared. Rain lashed against the high 
+windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly 
+above them as they assembled in front of Professors 
+Page | 429 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout — the 
+Heads of Houses — and a small wizard whom Harry 
+took to be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry. 
+He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, 
+wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though a 
+single gust of wind might blow him away. Harry 
+wondered whether constant disappearances and 
+reappearances had somehow diminished his 
+substance, or whether this frail build was ideal for 
+anyone wishing to vanish. 
+
+“Good morning,” said the Ministry wizard, when all 
+the students had arrived and the Heads of Houses 
+had called for quiet. “My name is Wilkie Twycross and 
+I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the 
+next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for 
+your Apparition Tests in this time — ” 
+
+“Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!” barked Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+Everybody looked around. Malfoy had flushed a dull 
+pink; he looked furious as he stepped away from 
+Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having 
+a whispered argument. Harry glanced quickly at 
+Snape, who also looked annoyed, though Harry 
+strongly suspected that this was less because of 
+Malfoy’s rudeness than the fact that McGonagall had 
+reprimanded one of his House. 
+
+“ — by which time, many of you may be ready to take 
+your tests,” Twycross continued, as though there had 
+been no interruption. 
+
+“As you may know, it is usually impossible to 
+Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The 
+headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely 
+within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable 
+you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be 
+Page | 430 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and 
+that you would be unwise to try. 
+
+“I would like each of you to place yourselves now so 
+that you have a clear five feet of space in front of 
+you.” 
+
+There was a great scrambling and jostling as people 
+separated, banged into each other, and ordered 
+others out of their space. The Heads of Houses moved 
+among the students, marshaling them into position 
+and breaking up arguments. 
+
+“Harry, where are you going?” demanded Hermione. 
+
+But Harry did not answer; he was moving quickly 
+through the crowd, past the place where Professor 
+Flitwick was making squeaky attempts to position a 
+few Ravenclaws, all of whom wanted to be near the 
+front, past Professor Sprout, who was chivying the 
+Hufflepuffs into line, until, by dodging around Ernie 
+Macmillan, he managed to position himself right at 
+the back of the crowd, directly behind Malfoy, who 
+was taking advantage of the general upheaval to 
+continue his argument with Crabbe, standing five feet 
+away and looking mutinous. 
+
+“I don’t know how much longer, all right?” Malfoy 
+shot at him, oblivious to Harry standing right behind 
+him. “It’s taking longer than I thought it would.” 
+
+Crabbe opened his mouth, but Malfoy appeared to 
+second-guess what he was going to say. “Look, it’s 
+none of your business what I’m doing, Crabbe, you 
+and Goyle just do as you’re told and keep a lookout!” 
+
+“I tell my friends what I’m up to, if I want them to 
+keep a lookout for me,” Harry said, just loud enough 
+for Malfoy to hear him. 
+
+Page | 431 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Malfoy spun around on the spot, his hand flying to 
+his wand, but at that precise moment the four Heads 
+of House shouted, “Quiet!” and silence fell again. 
+Malfoy turned slowly to face the front again. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Twycross. “Now then ...” 
+
+He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops 
+instantly appeared on the floor in front of every 
+student. 
+
+“The important things to remember when Apparating 
+are the three D’s!” said Twycross. “Destination, 
+Determination, Deliberation! 
+
+“Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired 
+destination,” said Twycross. “In this case, the interior 
+of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that 
+destination now.” 
+
+Everybody looked around furtively to check that 
+everyone else was staring into their hoop, then hastily 
+did as they were told. Harry gazed at the circular 
+patch of dusty floor enclosed by his hoop and tried 
+hard to think of nothing else. This proved impossible, 
+as he couldn’t stop puzzling over what Malfoy was 
+doing that needed lookouts. 
+
+“Step two,” said Twycross, “focus your determination 
+to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to 
+enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your 
+body!” 
+
+Harry glanced around surreptitiously. A little way to 
+his left, Ernie Macmillan was contemplating his hoop 
+so hard that his face had turned pink; it looked as 
+though he was straining to lay a Quaffle-sized egg. 
+Harry bit back a laugh and hastily returned his gaze 
+to his own hoop. 
+
+Page | 432 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Step three,” called Twycross, “and only when I give 
+the command ... Turn on the spot, feeling your way 
+into nothingness, moving with deliberation ,! On my 
+command, now . . . one — ” 
+
+Harry glanced around again; lots of people were 
+looking positively alarmed at being asked to Apparate 
+so quickly. 
+
+“— two — ” 
+
+Harry tried to fix his thoughts on his hoop again; he 
+had already forgotten what the three D’s stood for. 
+
+THREE!” 
+
+Harry spun on the spot, lost balance, and nearly fell 
+over. He was not the only one. The whole Hall was 
+suddenly full of staggering people; Neville was flat on 
+his back; Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, had 
+done a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop and 
+looked momentarily thrilled, until he caught sight of 
+Dean Thomas roaring with laughter at him. 
+
+“Never mind, never mind,” said Twycross dryly, who 
+did not seem to have expected anything better. 
+
+“Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original 
+positions. ...” 
+
+The second attempt was no better than the first. The 
+third was just as bad. Not until the fourth did 
+anything exciting happen. There was a horrible 
+screech of pain and everybody looked around, 
+terrified, to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in 
+her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away 
+where she had started. 
+
+The Heads of House converged on her; there was a 
+great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared 
+
+Page | 433 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to reveal Susan sobbing, reunited with her leg but 
+looking horrified. 
+
+
+
+“Splinching, or the separation of random body parts,” 
+said Wilkie Twycross dispassionately, “occurs when 
+the mind is insufficiently determined. You must 
+concentrate continuously upon your destination , and 
+move, without haste, but with deliberation ... thus.” 
+
+Twycross stepped forward, turned gracefully on the 
+spot with his arms outstretched, and vanished in a 
+swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the Hall. 
+
+“Remember the three D’s,” he said, “and try again ... 
+one — two — three — ” 
+
+But an hour later, Susan’s Splinching was still the 
+most interesting thing that had happened. Twycross 
+did not seem discouraged. Fastening his cloak at his 
+neck, he merely said, “Until next Saturday, 
+everybody, and do not forget: Destination. 
+Determination. Deliberation.” 
+
+With that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops, 
+and walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor 
+McGonagall. Talk broke out at once as people began 
+moving toward the entrance hall. 
+
+“How did you do?” asked Ron, hurrying toward Harry. 
+“I think I felt something the last time I tried — a kind 
+of tingling in my feet.” 
+
+“I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won,” said 
+a voice behind them, and Hermione stalked past, 
+smirking. 
+
+“I didn’t feel anything,” said Harry, ignoring this 
+interruption. “But I don’t care about that now — ” 
+
+Page | 434 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What d’you mean, you don’t care? Don’t you want to 
+learn to Apparate?” said Ron incredulously. 
+
+“I’m not fussed, really, I prefer flying,” said Harry, 
+glancing over his shoulder to see where Malfoy was, 
+and speeding up as they came into the entrance hall. 
+“Look, hurry up, will you, there’s something I want to 
+do. ...” 
+
+Perplexed, Ron followed Harry back to the Gryffindor 
+Tower at a run. They were temporarily detained by 
+Peeves, who had jammed a door on the fourth floor 
+shut and was refusing to let anyone pass until they 
+set fire to their own pants, but Harry and Ron simply 
+turned back and took one of their trusted shortcuts. 
+Within five minutes, they were climbing through the 
+portrait hole. 
+
+“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing, then?” 
+asked Ron, panting slightly. 
+
+“Up here,” said Harry, and he crossed the common 
+room and led the way through the door to the boys’ 
+staircase. 
+
+Their dormitory was, as Harry had hoped, empty. He 
+flung open his trunk and began to rummage in it, 
+while Ron watched impatiently. 
+
+“Harry ...” 
+
+“Malfoy ’s using Crabbe and Goyle as lookouts. He was 
+arguing with Crabbe just now. I want to know — 
+aha.” 
+
+He had found it, a folded square of apparently blank 
+parchment, which he now smoothed out and tapped 
+with the tip of his wand. 
+
+
+
+Page | 435 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good ... or Malfoy 
+is anyway.” 
+
+At once, the Marauder’s Map appeared on the 
+parchment’s surface. Here was a detailed plan of 
+every one of the castle’s floors and, moving around it, 
+the tiny, labeled black dots that signified each of the 
+castle’s occupants. 
+
+“Help me find Malfoy,” said Harry urgently. 
+
+He laid the map upon his bed, and he and Ron leaned 
+over it, searching. 
+
+“There!” said Ron, after a minute or so. “He’s in the 
+Slytherin common room, look . . . with Parkinson and 
+Zabini and Crabbe and Goyle ...” 
+
+Harry looked down at the map, disappointed, but 
+rallied almost at once. 
+
+“Well, I’m keeping an eye on him from now on,” he 
+said firmly. “And the moment I see him lurking 
+somewhere with Crabbe and Goyle keeping watch 
+outside, it’ll be on with the old Invisibility Cloak and 
+off to find out what he’s — ” 
+
+He broke off as Neville entered the dormitory, bringing 
+with him a strong smell of singed material, and began 
+rummaging in his trunk for a fresh pair of pants. 
+
+Despite his determination to catch Malfoy out, Harry 
+had no luck at all over the next couple of weeks. 
+Although he consulted the map as often as he could, 
+sometimes making unnecessary visits to the 
+bathroom between lessons to search it, he did not 
+once see Malfoy anywhere suspicious. Admittedly, he 
+spotted Crabbe and Goyle moving around the castle 
+on their own more often than usual, sometimes 
+Page | 436 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+remaining stationary in deserted corridors, but at 
+these times Malfoy was not only nowhere near them, 
+but impossible to locate on the map at all. This was 
+most mysterious. Harry toyed with the possibility that 
+Malfoy was actually leaving the school grounds, but 
+could not see how he could be doing it, given the very 
+high level of security now operating within the castle. 
+He could only suppose that he was missing Malfoy 
+amongst the hundreds of tiny black dots upon the 
+map. As for the fact that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle 
+appeared to be going their different ways when they 
+were usually inseparable, these things happened as 
+people got older — Ron and Hermione, Harry reflected 
+sadly, were living proof. 
+
+February moved toward March with no change in the 
+weather except that it became windy as well as wet. 
+
+To general indignation, a sign went up on all common 
+room notice boards that the next trip into Hogsmeade 
+had been canceled. Ron was furious. 
+
+“It was on my birthday!” he said. “I was looking 
+forward to that!” 
+
+“Not a big surprise, though, is it?” said Harry. “Not 
+after what happened to Katie.” 
+
+She had still not returned from St. Mungo’s. What 
+was more, further disappearances had been reported 
+in the Daily Prophet, including several relatives of 
+students at Hogwarts. 
+
+“But now all I’ve got to look forward to is stupid 
+Apparition!” said Ron grumpily. “Big birthday treat ...” 
+
+Three lessons on, Apparition was proving as difficult 
+as ever, though a few more people had managed to 
+Splinch themselves. Frustration was running high 
+and there was a certain amount of ill-feeling toward 
+
+Page | 437 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Wilkie Twycross and his three D’s, which had inspired 
+a number of nicknames for him, the politest of which 
+were Dogbreath and Dunghead. 
+
+“Happy birthday, Ron,” said Harry, when they were 
+woken on the first of March by Seamus and Dean 
+leaving noisily for breakfast. “Have a present.” 
+
+He threw the package across onto Ron’s bed, where it 
+joined a small pile of them that must, Harry assumed, 
+have been delivered by house-elves in the night. 
+
+“Cheers,” said Ron drowsily and, as he ripped off the 
+paper, Harry got out of bed, opened his own trunk, 
+and began rummaging in it for the Marauder’s Map, 
+which he hid after every use. He turfed out half the 
+contents of his trunk before he found it hiding 
+beneath the rolled-up socks in which he was still 
+keeping his bottle of lucky potion, Felix Felicis. 
+
+“Right,” he murmured, taking it back to bed with him, 
+tapping it quietly and murmuring, “ I solemnly swear 
+that I am up to no good,” so that Neville, who was 
+passing the foot of his bed at the time, would not 
+hear. 
+
+“Nice one, Harry!” said Ron enthusiastically, waving 
+the new pair of Quidditch Keeper’s gloves Harry had 
+given him. 
+
+“No problem,” said Harry absentmindedly, as he 
+searched the Slytherin dormitory closely for Malfoy. 
+“Hey ... I don’t think he’s in his bed. ...” 
+
+Ron did not answer; he was too busy unwrapping 
+presents, every now and then letting out an 
+exclamation of pleasure. 
+
+
+
+Page | 438 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Seriously good haul this year!” he announced, 
+holding up a heavy gold watch with odd symbols 
+around the edge and tiny moving stars instead of 
+hands. “See what Mum and Dad got me? Blimey, I 
+think I’ll come of age next year too. ...” 
+
+“Cool,” muttered Harry, sparing the watch a glance 
+before peering more closely at the map. Where was 
+Malfoy? He did not seem to be at the Slytherin table 
+in the Great Hall, eating breakfast. ... He was 
+nowhere near Snape, who was sitting in his study. ... 
+He wasn’t in any of the bathrooms or in the hospital 
+wing. ... 
+
+“Want one?” said Ron thickly, holding out a box of 
+Chocolate Cauldrons. 
+
+“No thanks,” said Harry, looking up. “Malfoy’s gone 
+again!” 
+
+“Can’t have done,” said Ron, stuffing a second 
+Cauldron into his mouth as he slid out of bed to get 
+dressed. “Come on, if you don’t hurry up, you’ll have 
+to Apparate on an empty stomach. ... Might make it 
+easier, I suppose ...” Ron looked thoughtfully at the 
+box of Chocolate Cauldrons, then shrugged and 
+helped himself to a third. 
+
+Harry tapped the map with his wand, muttered, 
+“Mischief managed,” though it hadn’t been, and got 
+dressed, thinking hard. There had to be an 
+explanation for Malfoy’s periodic disappearances, but 
+he simply could not think what it could be. The best 
+way of finding out would be to tail him, but even with 
+the Invisibility Cloak this was an impractical idea: 
+Harry had lessons, Quidditch practice, homework, 
+and Apparition; he could not follow Malfoy around 
+school all day without his absence being remarked 
+upon. 
+
+Page | 439 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ready?” he said to Ron. 
+
+He was halfway to the dormitory door when he 
+realized that Ron had not moved, but was leaning on 
+his bedpost, staring out of the rain-washed window 
+with a strangely unfocused look on his face. 
+
+“Ron? Breakfast.” 
+
+“I’m not hungry.” 
+
+Harry stared at him. 
+
+“I thought you just said — ?” 
+
+“Well, all right, I’ll come down with you,” sighed Ron, 
+“but I don’t want to eat.” 
+
+Harry scrutinized him suspiciously. 
+
+“You’ve just eaten half a box of Chocolate Cauldrons, 
+haven’t you?” 
+
+“It’s not that,” Ron sighed again. “You ... you wouldn’t 
+understand.” 
+
+“Fair enough,” said Harry, albeit puzzled, as he 
+turned to open the door. 
+
+“Harry!” said Ron suddenly. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Harry, I can’t stand it!” 
+
+“You can’t stand what?” asked Harry, now starting to 
+feel definitely alarmed. Ron was rather pale and 
+looked as though he was about to be sick. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I can’t stop thinking about her!” said Ron hoarsely. 
+
+Harry gaped at him. He had not expected this and 
+was not sure he wanted to hear it. Friends they might 
+be, but if Ron started calling Lavender “Lav-Lav,” he 
+would have to put his foot down. 
+
+“Why does that stop you having breakfast?” Harry 
+asked, trying to inject a note of common sense into 
+the proceedings. 
+
+“I don’t think she knows I exist,” said Ron with a 
+desperate gesture. 
+
+“She definitely knows you exist,” said Harry, 
+bewildered. “She keeps snogging you, doesn’t she?” 
+
+Ron blinked. “Who are you talking about?” 
+
+“Who are you talking about?” said Harry, with an 
+increasing sense that all reason had dropped out of 
+the conversation. 
+
+“Romilda Vane,” said Ron softly, and his whole face 
+seemed to illuminate as he said it, as though hit by a 
+ray of purest sunlight. 
+
+They stared at each other for almost a whole minute, 
+before Harry said, “This is a joke, right? You’re 
+joking.” 
+
+“I think ... Harry, I think I love her,” said Ron in a 
+strangled voice. 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry, walking up to Ron to get a better 
+look at the glazed eyes and the pallid complexion, 
+“okay... Say that again with a straight face.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 441 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I love her,” repeated Ron breathlessly. “Have you 
+seen her hair, it’s all black and shiny and silky ... and 
+her eyes? Her big dark eyes? And her — ” 
+
+“This is really funny and everything,” said Harry 
+impatiently, “but joke’s over, all right? Drop it.” 
+
+He turned to leave; he had got two steps toward the 
+door when a crashing blow hit him on the right ear. 
+Staggering, he looked around. Ron’s fist was drawn 
+right back; his face was contorted with rage; he was 
+about to strike again. 
+
+Harry reacted instinctively; his wand was out of his 
+pocket and the incantation sprang to mind without 
+conscious thought: Levicorpus\ 
+
+Ron yelled as his heel was wrenched upward once 
+more; he dangled helplessly, upside down, his robes 
+hanging off him. 
+
+“ What was that for?” Harry bellowed. 
+
+“You insulted her, Harry! You said it was a joke!” 
+shouted Ron, who was slowly turning purple in the 
+face as all the blood rushed to his head. 
+
+“This is insane!” said Harry. “What’s got into — ?” 
+
+And then he saw the box lying open on Ron’s bed, 
+and the truth hit him with the force of a stampeding 
+troll. 
+
+“Where did you get those Chocolate Cauldrons?” 
+
+“They were a birthday present!” shouted Ron, 
+revolving slowly in midair as he struggled to get free. 
+
+“I offered you one, didn’t I?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You just picked them up off the floor, didn’t you?” 
+
+
+
+“They’d fallen off my bed, all right? Let me go!” 
+
+“They didn’t fall off your bed, you prat, don’t you 
+understand? They were mine, I chucked them out of 
+my trunk when I was looking for the map, they’re the 
+Chocolate Cauldrons Romilda gave me before 
+Christmas, and they’re all spiked with love potion!” 
+
+But only one word of this seemed to have registered 
+with Ron. 
+
+“Romilda?” he repeated. “Did you say Romilda? Harry 
+— do you know her? Can you introduce me?” 
+
+Harry stared at the dangling Ron, whose face now 
+looked tremendously hopeful, and fought a strong 
+desire to laugh. A part of him — the part closest to 
+his throbbing right ear — was quite keen on the idea 
+of letting Ron down and watching him run amok until 
+the effects of the potion wore off. . . . But on the other 
+hand, they were supposed to be friends, Ron had not 
+been himself when he had attacked, and Harry 
+thought that he would deserve another punching if he 
+permitted Ron to declare undying love for Romilda 
+Vane. 
+
+“Yeah, I’ll introduce you,” said Harry, thinking fast. 
+“I’m going to let you down now, okay?” 
+
+He sent Ron crashing back to the floor (his ear did 
+hurt quite a lot), but Ron simply bounded to his feet 
+again, grinning. 
+
+“She’ll be in Slughorn’s office,” said Harry confidently, 
+leading the way to the door. 
+
+
+
+Page | 443 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Why will she be in there?” asked Ron anxiously, 
+hurrying to keep up. 
+
+“Oh, she has extra Potions lessons with him,” said 
+Harry, inventing wildly. 
+
+“Maybe I could ask if I can have them with her?” said 
+Ron eagerly. 
+
+“Great idea,” said Harry. 
+
+Lavender was waiting beside the portrait hole, a 
+complication Harry had not foreseen. 
+
+“You’re late, Won-Won!” she pouted. “I’ve got you a 
+birthday — ” 
+
+“Leave me alone,” said Ron impatiently. “Harry’s going 
+to introduce me to Romilda Vane.” 
+
+And without another word to her, he pushed his way 
+out of the portrait hole. Harry tried to make an 
+apologetic face to Lavender, but it might have turned 
+out simply amused, because she looked more 
+offended than ever as the Fat Lady swung shut 
+behind them. 
+
+Harry had been slightly worried that Slughorn might 
+be at breakfast, but he answered his office door at the 
+first knock, wearing a green velvet dressing gown and 
+matching nightcap and looking rather bleary-eyed. 
+
+“Harry,” he mumbled. “This is very early for a call. ... I 
+generally sleep late on a Saturday. ...” 
+
+“Professor, I’m really sorry to disturb you,” said Harry 
+as quietly as possible, while Ron stood on tiptoe, 
+attempting to see past Slughorn into his room, “but 
+my friend Ron’s swallowed a love potion by mistake. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+You couldn’t make him an antidote, could you? I’d 
+take him to Madam Pomfrey, but we’re not supposed 
+to have anything from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and, 
+you know ... awkward questions ...” 
+
+“I’d have thought you could have whipped him up a 
+remedy, Harry, an expert potioneer like you?” asked 
+Slughorn. 
+
+“Er,” said Harry, somewhat distracted by the fact that 
+Ron was now elbowing him in the ribs in an attempt 
+to force his way into the room, “well, I’ve never mixed 
+an antidote for a love potion, sir, and by the time I get 
+it right, Ron might’ve done something serious — ” 
+
+Helpfully, Ron chose this moment to moan, “I can’t 
+see her, Harry — is he hiding her?” 
+
+“Was this potion within date?” asked Slughorn, now 
+eyeing Ron with professional interest. “They can 
+strengthen, you know, the longer they’re kept.” 
+
+“That would explain a lot,” panted Harry, now 
+positively wrestling with Ron to keep him from 
+knocking Slughorn over. “It’s his birthday, Professor,” 
+he added imploringly. 
+
+“Oh, all right, come in, then, come in,” said Slughorn, 
+relenting. “I’ve got the necessary here in my bag, it’s 
+not a difficult antidote. ...” 
+
+Ron burst through the door into Slughorn ’s 
+overheated, crowded study, tripped over a tasseled 
+footstool, regained his balance by seizing Harry 
+around the neck, and muttered, “She didn’t see that, 
+did she?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 445 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She’s not here yet,” said Harry, watching Slughorn 
+opening his potion kit and adding a few pinches of 
+this and that to a small crystal bottle. 
+
+“That’s good,” said Ron fervently. “How do I look?” 
+
+“Very handsome,” said Slughorn smoothly, handing 
+Ron a glass of clear liquid. “Now drink that up, it’s a 
+tonic for the nerves, keep you calm when she arrives, 
+you know.” 
+
+“Brilliant,” said Ron eagerly, and he gulped the 
+antidote down noisily. 
+
+Harry and Slughorn watched him. For a moment, Ron 
+beamed at them. Then, very slowly, his grin sagged 
+and vanished, to be replaced by an expression of 
+utmost horror. 
+
+“Back to normal, then?” said Harry, grinning. 
+Slughorn chuckled. “Thanks a lot, Professor.” 
+
+“Don’t mention it, m’boy, don’t mention it,” said 
+Slughorn, as Ron collapsed into a nearby armchair, 
+looking devastated. “Pick-me-up, that’s what he 
+needs,” Slughorn continued, now bustling over to a 
+table loaded with drinks. “I’ve got butterbeer, I’ve got 
+wine, I’ve got one last bottle of this oak-matured mead 
+. . . hmm . . . meant to give that to Dumbledore for 
+Christmas ... ah, well ...” He shrugged. “He can’t miss 
+what he’s never had! Why don’t we open it now and 
+celebrate Mr. Weasley’s birthday? Nothing like a fine 
+spirit to chase away the pangs of disappointed love. 
+
+
+
+He chortled again, and Harry joined in. This was the 
+first time he had found himself almost alone with 
+Slughorn since his disastrous first attempt to extract 
+the true memory from him. Perhaps, if he could just 
+
+Page | 446 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+keep Slughorn in a good mood . . . perhaps if they got 
+through enough of the oak-matured mead . . . 
+
+“There you are then,” said Slughorn, handing Harry 
+and Ron a glass of mead each before raising his own. 
+“Well, a very happy birthday, Ralph — ” 
+
+“Ron — ” whispered Harry. 
+
+But Ron, who did not appear to be listening to the 
+toast, had already thrown the mead into his mouth 
+and swallowed it. 
+
+There was one second, hardly more than a heartbeat, 
+in which Harry knew there was something terribly 
+wrong and Slughorn, it seemed, did not. 
+
+“ — and may you have many more — ” 
+
+“Ron\” 
+
+Ron had dropped his glass; he half-rose from his 
+chair and then crumpled, his extremities jerking 
+uncontrollably. Foam was dribbling from his mouth, 
+and his eyes were bulging from their sockets. 
+
+“Professor!” Harry bellowed. “Do something!” 
+
+But Slughorn seemed paralyzed by shock. Ron 
+twitched and choked: His skin was turning blue. 
+
+“What — but — ” spluttered Slughorn. 
+
+Harry leapt over a low table and sprinted toward 
+Slughorn ’s open potion kit, pulling out jars and 
+pouches, while the terrible sound of Ron’s gargling 
+breath filled the room. Then he found it — the 
+shriveled kidneylike stone Slughorn had taken from 
+him in Potions. 
+
+Page | 447 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He hurtled back to Ron’s side, wrenched open his 
+jaw, and thrust the bezoar into his mouth. Ron gave a 
+great shudder, a rattling gasp, and his body became 
+limp and still. 
+
+
+
+Page | 448 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ELF TAILS 
+
+“So, all in all, not one of Ron’s better birthdays?” said 
+Fred. 
+
+It was evening; the hospital wing was quiet, the 
+windows curtained, the lamps lit. Ron’s was the only 
+occupied bed. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were 
+sitting around him; they had spent all day waiting 
+outside the double doors, trying to see inside 
+whenever somebody went in or out. Madam Pomfrey 
+had only let them enter at eight o’clock. Fred and 
+George had arrived at ten past. 
+
+“This isn’t how we imagined handing over our 
+present,” said George grimly, putting down a large 
+wrapped gift on Ron’s bedside cabinet and sitting 
+beside Ginny. 
+
+“Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was 
+conscious,” said Fred. 
+
+“There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise 
+him — ” said George. 
+
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+
+
+
+“You were in Hogsmeade?” asked Ginny, looking up. 
+
+“We were thinking of buying Zonko’s,” said Fred 
+gloomily. “A Hogsmeade branch, you know, but a fat 
+lot of good it’ll do us if you lot aren’t allowed out at 
+weekends to buy our stuff anymore. ... But never 
+mind that now.” 
+
+He drew up a chair beside Harry and looked at Ron’s 
+pale face. 
+
+“How exactly did it happen, Harry?” 
+
+Harry retold the story he had already recounted, it felt 
+like a hundred times to Dumbledore, to McGonagall, 
+to Madam Pomfrey, to Hermione, and to Ginny. 
+
+"... and then I got the bezoar down his throat and his 
+breathing eased up a bit, Slughorn ran for help, 
+McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned up, and they 
+brought Ron up here. They reckon he’ll be all right. 
+Madam Pomfrey says hell have to stay here a week or 
+so ... keep taking essence of rue ...” 
+
+“Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar,” said 
+George in a low voice. 
+
+“Lucky there was one in the room,” said Harry, who 
+kept turning cold at the thought of what would have 
+happened if he had not been able to lay hands on the 
+little stone. 
+
+Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff. She had 
+been exceptionally quiet all day. Having hurtled, 
+white-faced, up to Harry outside the hospital wing 
+and demanded to know what had happened, she had 
+taken almost no part in Harry and Ginny’s obsessive 
+discussion about how Ron had been poisoned, but 
+merely stood beside them, clench-jawed and 
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+
+
+
+
+frightened-looking, until at last they had been allowed 
+in to see him. 
+
+“Do Mum and Dad know?” Fred asked Ginny. 
+
+“They’ve already seen him, they arrived an hour ago 
+— they’re in Dumbledore’s office now, but they’ll be 
+back soon. ...” 
+
+There was a pause while they all watched Ron 
+mumble a little in his sleep. 
+
+“So the poison was in the drink?” said Fred quietly. 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry at once; he could think of nothing 
+else and was glad for the opportunity to start 
+discussing it again. “Slughorn poured it out — ” 
+
+“Would he have been able to slip something into Ron’s 
+glass without you seeing?” 
+
+“Probably,” said Harry, “but why would Slughorn 
+want to poison Ron?” 
+
+“No idea,” said Fred, frowning. “You don’t think he 
+could have mixed up the glasses by mistake? Meaning 
+to get you?” 
+
+“Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?” asked 
+Ginny. 
+
+“I dunno,” said Fred, “but there must be loads of 
+people who’d like to poison Harry, mustn’t there? The 
+Chosen One’ and all that?” 
+
+“So you think Slughorn ’s a Death Eater?” said Ginny. 
+“Anything’s possible,” said Fred darkly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He could be under the Imperius Curse,” said George. 
+
+“Or he could be innocent,” said Ginny. “The poison 
+could have been in the bottle, in which case it was 
+probably meant for Slughorn himself.” 
+
+“Who’d want to kill Slughorn?” 
+
+“Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on 
+his side,” said Harry. “Slughorn was in hiding for a 
+year before he came to Hogwarts. And ...” He thought 
+of the memory Dumbledore had not yet been able to 
+extract from Slughorn. “And maybe Voldemort wants 
+him out of the way, maybe he thinks he could be 
+valuable to Dumbledore.” 
+
+“But you said Slughorn had been planning to give 
+that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas,” Ginny 
+reminded him. “So the poisoner could just as easily 
+have been after Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Then the poisoner didn’t know Slughorn very well,” 
+said Hermione, speaking for the first time in hours 
+and sounding as though she had a bad head cold. 
+“Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there 
+was a good chance he’d keep something that tasty for 
+himself.” 
+
+“Er-my-nee,” croaked Ron unexpectedly from between 
+them. 
+
+They all fell silent, watching him anxiously, but after 
+muttering incomprehensibly for a moment he merely 
+started snoring. 
+
+The dormitory doors flew open, making them all 
+jump: Hagrid came striding toward them, his hair 
+rain-flecked, his bearskin coat flapping behind him, a 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+crossbow in his hand, leaving a trail of muddy 
+dolphin-sized footprints all over the floor. 
+
+“Bin in the forest all day!” he panted. “Aragog’s worse, 
+I bin readin’ to him — didn’ get up ter dinner till jus’ 
+now an’ then Professor Sprout told me abou’ Ron! 
+
+How is he?” 
+
+“Not bad,” said Harry. “They say he’ll be okay.” 
+
+“No more than six visitors at a time!” said Madam 
+Pomfrey, hurrying out of her office. 
+
+“Hagrid makes six,” George pointed out. 
+
+“Oh ... yes ...” said Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to 
+have been counting Hagrid as several people due to 
+his vastness. To cover her confusion, she hurried off 
+to clear up his muddy footprints with her wand. 
+
+“I don’ believe this,” said Hagrid hoarsely, shaking his 
+great shaggy head as he stared down at Ron. “Jus’ 
+don’ believe it ... Look at him lyin’ there. ... Who’d 
+want ter hurt him, eh?” 
+
+“That’s just what we were discussing,” said Harry. 
+
+“We don’t know.” 
+
+“Someone couldn’ have a grudge against the 
+Gryffindor Quidditch team, could they?” said Hagrid 
+anxiously. “Firs’ Katie, now Ron ...” 
+
+“I can’t see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch 
+team,” said George. 
+
+“Wood might’ve done the Slytherins if he could’ve got 
+away with it,” said Fred fairly. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, I don’t think it’s Quidditch, but I think there’s a 
+connection between the attacks,” said Hermione 
+quietly. 
+
+“How d’you work that out?” asked Fred. 
+
+“Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been 
+fatal and weren’t, although that was pure luck. And 
+for another, neither the poison nor the necklace 
+seems to have reached the person who was supposed 
+to be killed. Of course,” she added broodingly, “that 
+makes the person behind this even more dangerous 
+in a way, because they don’t seem to care how many 
+people they finish off before they actually reach their 
+victim.” 
+
+Before anybody could respond to this ominous 
+pronouncement, the dormitory doors opened again 
+and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried up the ward. They 
+had done no more than satisfy themselves that Ron 
+would make a full recovery on their last visit to the 
+ward; now Mrs. Weasley seized hold of Harry and 
+hugged him very tightly. “Dumbledore’s told us how 
+you saved him with the bezoar,” she sobbed. “Oh, 
+Harry, what can we say? You saved Ginny ... you 
+saved Arthur ... now you’ve saved Ron ...” 
+
+“Don’t be ... I didn’t ...” muttered Harry awkwardly. 
+
+“Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now 
+I stop and think about it,” Mr. Weasley said in a 
+constricted voice. “Well, all I can say is that it was a 
+lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in 
+your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry.” 
+
+Harry could not think of any reply to this and was 
+almost glad when Madam Pomfrey reminded them 
+that there were only supposed to be six visitors 
+around Ron’s bed; he and Hermione rose at once to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+leave and Hagrid decided to go with them, leaving Ron 
+with his family. 
+
+“It’s terrible,” growled Hagrid into his beard, as the 
+three of them walked back along the corridor to the 
+marble staircase. “All this new security, an’ kids are 
+still gettin’ hurt. ... Dumbledore’s worried sick. ... He 
+don’ say much, but I can tell. ...” 
+
+“Hasn’t he got any ideas, Hagrid?” asked Hermione 
+desperately. 
+
+“I ’spect he’s got hundreds of ideas, brain like his,” 
+said Hagrid. “But he doesn’ know who sent that 
+necklace nor put poison in that wine, or they’d ’ve bin 
+caught, wouldn’ they? Wha’ worries me,” said Hagrid, 
+lowering his voice and glancing over his shoulder 
+(Harry, for good measure, checked the ceiling for 
+Peeves), “is how long Hogwarts can stay open if kids 
+are bein’ attacked. Chamber o’ Secrets all over again, 
+isn’ it? There’ll be panic, more parents takin’ their 
+kids outta school, an’ nex’ thing yeh know the board 
+o’ governors ...” 
+
+Hagrid stopped talking as the ghost of a long-haired 
+woman drifted serenely past, then resumed in a 
+hoarse whisper, "... the board o’ governors’ll be talkin’ 
+about shuttin’ us up fer good.” 
+
+“Surely not?” said Hermione, looking worried. 
+
+“Gotta see it from their point o’ view,” said Hagrid 
+heavily. “I mean, it’s always bin a bit of a risk sendin’ 
+a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn’ it? Yer expect accidents, 
+don’ yeh, with hundreds of underage wizards all 
+locked up tergether, but attempted murder, tha’s 
+diff’rent. ’S’no wonder Dumbledore’s angry with Sn — 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid stopped in his tracks, a familiar, guilty 
+expression on what was visible of his face above his 
+tangled black beard. 
+
+“What?” said Harry quickly. “Dumbledore’s angry with 
+Snape?” 
+
+“I never said tha’,” said Hagrid, though his look of 
+panic could not have been a bigger giveaway. “Look at 
+the time, it’s gettin’ on fer midnight, I need ter — ” 
+
+“Hagrid, why is Dumbledore angry with Snape?” 
+
+Harry asked loudly. 
+
+“Shhhh!” said Hagrid, looking both nervous and 
+angry. “Don’ shout stuff like that, Harry, d’yeh wan’ 
+me ter lose me job? Mind, I don’ suppose yeh’d care, 
+would yeh, not now yeh’ve given up Care of Mag — ” 
+
+“Don’t try and make me feel guilty, it won’t work!” 
+said Harry forcefully. “What’s Snape done?” 
+
+“I dunno, Harry, I shouldn’ta heard it at all! I — well, I 
+was cornin’ outta the forest the other evenin’ an’ I 
+overheard ’em talking — well, arguin’. Didn’t like ter 
+draw attention to meself, so I sorta skulked an’ tried 
+not ter listen, but it was a — well, a heated discussion 
+an’ it wasn’ easy ter block it out.” 
+
+“Well?” Harry urged him, as Hagrid shuffled his 
+enormous feet uneasily. 
+
+“Well — I jus’ heard Snape sayin’ Dumbledore took 
+too much fer granted an’ maybe he — Snape — didn’ 
+wan’ ter do it anymore — ” 
+
+“Do what?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin’ a 
+bit overworked, tha’s all — anyway, Dumbledore told 
+him flat out he’d agreed ter do it an’ that was all there 
+was to it. Pretty firm with him. An’ then he said 
+summat abou’ Snape makin’ investigations in his 
+House, in Slytherin. Well, there’s nothin’ strange 
+abou’ that!” Hagrid added hastily, as Harry and 
+Hermione exchanged looks full of meaning. “All the 
+Heads o’ Houses were asked ter look inter that 
+necklace business — ” 
+
+“Yeah, but Dumbledore ’s not having rows with the 
+rest of them, is he?” said Harry. 
+
+“Look,” Hagrid twisted his crossbow uncomfortably in 
+his hands; there was a loud splintering sound and it 
+snapped in two. “I know what yeh’re like abou’ Snape, 
+Harry, an’ I don’ want yeh ter go readin’ more inter 
+this than there is.” 
+
+“Look out,” said Hermione tersely. 
+
+They turned just in time to see the shadow of Argus 
+Filch looming over the wall behind them before the 
+man himself turned the corner, hunchbacked, his 
+jowls aquiver. 
+
+“Oho!” he wheezed. “Out of bed so late, this’ll mean 
+detention!” 
+
+“No it won’, Filch,” said Hagrid shortly. “They’re with 
+me, aren’ they?” 
+
+“And what difference does that make?” asked Filch 
+obnoxiously. 
+
+“I’m a ruddy teacher, aren’ I, yeh sneakin’ Squib!” 
+said Hagrid, firing up at once. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a nasty hissing noise as Filch swelled with 
+fury; Mrs. Norris had arrived, unseen, and was 
+twisting herself sinuously around Filch’s skinny 
+ankles. 
+
+“Get goin’,” said Hagrid out of the corner of his 
+mouth. 
+
+Harry did not need telling twice; he and Hermione 
+both hurried off; Hagrid’s and Filch’s raised voices 
+echoed behind them as they ran. They passed Peeves 
+near the turning into Gryffindor Tower, but he was 
+streaking happily toward the source of the yelling, 
+cackling and calling, 
+
+When there’s strife and when there’s trouble 
+Call on Peevsie, he’ll make double! 
+
+The Fat Lady was snoozing and not pleased to be 
+woken, but swung forward grumpily to allow them to 
+clamber into the mercifully peaceful and empty 
+common room. It did not seem that people knew 
+about Ron yet; Harry was very relieved: He had been 
+interrogated enough that day. Hermione bade him 
+good night and set off for the girls’ dormitory. Harry, 
+however, remained behind, taking a seat beside the 
+fire and looking down into the dying embers. 
+
+So Dumbledore had argued with Snape. In spite of all 
+he had told Harry, in spite of his insistence that he 
+trusted Snape completely, he had lost his temper with 
+him. ... He did not think that Snape had tried hard 
+enough to investigate the Slytherins ... or, perhaps, to 
+investigate a single Slytherin: Malfoy? 
+
+Was it because Dumbledore did not want Harry to do 
+anything foolish, to take matters into his own hands, 
+that he had pretended there was nothing in Harry’s 
+suspicions? That seemed likely. It might even be that 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore did not want anything to distract Harry 
+from their lessons, or from procuring that memory 
+from Slughorn. Perhaps Dumbledore did not think it 
+right to confide suspicions about his staff to sixteen- 
+year-olds. ... 
+
+“There you are, Potter!” 
+
+Harry jumped to his feet in shock, his wand at the 
+ready. He had been quite convinced that the common 
+room was empty; he had not been at all prepared for 
+a hulking figure to rise suddenly out of a distant 
+chair. A closer look showed him that it was Cormac 
+McLaggen. 
+
+“I’ve been waiting for you to come back,” said 
+McLaggen, disregarding Harry’s drawn wand. 
+
+“Must’ve fallen asleep. Look, I saw them taking 
+Weasley up to the hospital wing earlier. Didn’t look 
+like he’ll be fit for next week’s match.” 
+
+It took Harry a few moments to realize what 
+McLaggen was talking about. 
+
+“Oh ... right ... Quidditch,” he said, putting his wand 
+back into the belt of his jeans and running a hand 
+wearily through his hair. “Yeah ... he might not make 
+it.” 
+
+“Well, then, I’ll be playing Keeper, won’t I?” said 
+McLaggen. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah, I suppose so. ...” 
+
+He could not think of an argument against it; after 
+all, McLaggen had certainly performed second-best in 
+the trials. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Excellent,” said McLaggen in a satisfied voice. “So 
+when’s practice?” 
+
+“What? Oh ... there’s one tomorrow evening.” 
+
+“Good. Listen, Potter, we should have a talk 
+beforehand. I’ve got some ideas on strategy you might 
+find useful.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry unenthusiastically. “Well, I’ll hear 
+them tomorrow, then. I’m pretty tired now ... see you 
+
+
+
+The news that Ron had been poisoned spread quickly 
+next day, but it did not cause the sensation that 
+Katie’s attack had done. People seemed to think that 
+it might have been an accident, given that he had 
+been in the Potions master’s room at the time, and 
+that as he had been given an antidote immediately 
+there was no real harm done. In fact, the Gryffindors 
+were generally much more interested in the upcoming 
+Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, for many of them 
+wanted to see Zacharias Smith, who played Chaser on 
+the Hufflepuff team, punished soundly for his 
+commentary during the opening match against 
+Slytherin. 
+
+Harry, however, had never been less interested in 
+Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with 
+Draco Malfoy. Still checking the Marauder’s Map 
+whenever he got a chance, he sometimes made 
+detours to wherever Malfoy happened to be, but had 
+not yet detected him doing anything out of the 
+ordinary. And still there were those inexplicable times 
+when Malfoy simply vanished from the map. ... 
+
+But Harry did not get a lot of time to consider the 
+problem, what with Quidditch practice, homework, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+and the fact that he was now being dogged wherever 
+he went by Cormac McLaggen and Lavender Brown. 
+
+He could not decide which of them was more 
+annoying. McLaggen kept up a constant stream of 
+hints that he would make a better permanent Keeper 
+for the team than Ron, and that now that Harry was 
+seeing him play regularly he would surely come 
+around to this way of thinking too; he was also keen 
+to criticize the other players and provide Harry with 
+detailed training schemes, so that more than once 
+Harry was forced to remind him who was Captain. 
+
+Meanwhile, Lavender kept sidling up to Harry to 
+discuss Ron, which Harry found almost more wearing 
+than McLaggen’s Quidditch lectures. At first, 
+
+Lavender had been very annoyed that nobody had 
+thought to tell her that Ron was in the hospital wing 
+— “I mean, I am his girlfriend!” — but unfortunately 
+she had now decided to forgive Harry this lapse of 
+memory and was keen to have lots of in-depth chats 
+with him about Ron’s feelings, a most uncomfortable 
+experience that Harry would have happily forgone. 
+
+“Look, why don’t you talk to Ron about all this?” 
+
+Harry asked, after a particularly long interrogation 
+from Lavender that took in everything from precisely 
+what Ron had said about her new dress robes to 
+whether or not Harry thought that Ron considered his 
+relationship with Lavender to be “serious.” 
+
+“Well, I would, but he’s always asleep when I go and 
+see him!” said Lavender fretfully. 
+
+“Is he?” said Harry, surprised, for he had found Ron 
+perfectly alert every time he had been up to the 
+hospital wing, both highly interested in the news of 
+Dumbledore and Snape’s row and keen to abuse 
+McLaggen as much as possible. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Is Hermione Granger still visiting him?” Lavender 
+demanded suddenly. 
+
+“Yeah, I think so. Well, they’re friends, aren’t they?” 
+said Harry uncomfortably. 
+
+“Friends, don’t make me laugh,” said Lavender 
+scornfully. “She didn’t talk to him for weeks after he 
+started going out with me! But I suppose she wants to 
+make up with him now he’s all interesting. ...” 
+
+“Would you call getting poisoned being interesting?” 
+asked Harry. “Anyway — sorry, got to go — there’s 
+McLaggen coming for a talk about Quidditch,” said 
+Harry hurriedly, and he dashed sideways through a 
+door pretending to be solid wall and sprinted down 
+the shortcut that would take him off to Potions where, 
+thankfully, neither Lavender nor McLaggen could 
+follow him. 
+
+On the morning of the Quidditch match against 
+Hufflepuff, Harry dropped in on the hospital wing 
+before heading down to the pitch. Ron was very 
+agitated; Madam Pomfrey would not let him go down 
+to watch the match, feeling it would overexcite him. 
+
+“So how’s McLaggen shaping up?” he asked Harry 
+nervously, apparently forgetting that he had already 
+asked the same question twice. 
+
+“I’ve told you,” said Harry patiently, “he could be 
+world-class and I wouldn’t want to keep him. He 
+keeps trying to tell everyone what to do, he thinks he 
+could play every position better than the rest of us. I 
+can’t wait to be shot of him. And speaking of getting 
+shot of people,” Harry added, getting to his feet and 
+picking up his Firebolt, “will you stop pretending to 
+be asleep when Lavender comes to see you? She’s 
+driving me mad as well.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, looking sheepish. “Yeah. All right.” 
+
+“If you don’t want to go out with her anymore, just tell 
+her,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yeah ... well ... it’s not that easy, is it?” said Ron. He 
+paused. “Hermione going to look in before the 
+match?” he added casually. 
+
+“No, she’s already gone down to the pitch with 
+Ginny.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron, looking rather glum. “Right. Well, 
+good luck. Hope you hammer McLag — I mean, 
+Smith.” 
+
+“I’ll try,” said Harry, shouldering his broom. “See you 
+after the match.” 
+
+He hurried down through the deserted corridors; the 
+whole school was outside, either already seated in the 
+stadium or heading down toward it. He was looking 
+out of the windows he passed, trying to gauge how 
+much wind they were facing, when a noise ahead 
+made him glance up and he saw Malfoy walking 
+toward him, accompanied by two girls, both of whom 
+looked sulky and resentful. 
+
+Malfoy stopped short at the sight of Harry, then gave 
+a short, humorless laugh and continued walking. 
+
+“Where ’re you going?” Harry demanded. 
+
+“Yeah, I’m really going to tell you, because it’s your 
+business, Potter,” sneered Malfoy. “You’d better hurry 
+up, they’ll be waiting for ‘the Chosen Captain’ — ‘the 
+Boy Who Scored’ — whatever they call you these 
+days.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+One of the girls gave an unwilling giggle. Harry stared 
+at her. She blushed. Malfoy pushed past Harry and 
+she and her friend followed at a trot, turning the 
+corner and vanishing from view. 
+
+Harry stood rooted on the spot and watched them 
+disappear. This was infuriating; he was already 
+cutting it fine to get to the match on time and yet 
+there was Malfoy, skulking off while the rest of the 
+school was absent: Harry’s best chance yet of 
+discovering what Malfoy was up to. The silent seconds 
+trickled past, and Harry remained where he was, 
+frozen, gazing at the place where Malfoy had 
+vanished. ... 
+
+“Where have you been?” demanded Ginny, as Harry 
+sprinted into the changing rooms. The whole team 
+was changed and ready; Coote and Peakes, the 
+Beaters, were both hitting their clubs nervously 
+against their legs. 
+
+“I met Malfoy,” Harry told her quietly, as he pulled his 
+scarlet robes over his head. 
+
+“So?” 
+
+“So I wanted to know how come he’s up at the castle 
+with a couple of girlfriends while everyone else is 
+down here. ...” 
+
+“Does it matter right now?” 
+
+“Well, I’m not likely to find out, am I?” said Harry, 
+seizing his Firebolt and pushing his glasses straight. 
+“Come on then!” 
+
+And without another word, he marched out onto the 
+pitch to deafening cheers and boos. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was little wind; the clouds were patchy; every 
+now and then there were dazzling flashes of bright 
+sunlight. 
+
+“Tricky conditions!” McLaggen said bracingly to the 
+team. “Coote, Peakes, you’ll want to fly out of the sun, 
+so they don’t see you coming — ” 
+
+“I’m the Captain, McLaggen, shut up giving them 
+instructions,” said Harry angrily. “Just get up by the 
+goal posts!” 
+
+Once McLaggen had marched off, Harry turned to 
+Coote and Peakes. 
+
+“Make sure you do fly out of the sun,” he told them 
+grudgingly. 
+
+He shook hands with the Hufflepuff Captain, and 
+then, on Madam Hooch’s whistle, kicked off and rose 
+into the air, higher than the rest of his team, 
+streaking around the pitch in search of the Snitch. If 
+he could catch it good and early, there might be a 
+chance he could get back up to the castle, seize the 
+Marauder’s Map, and find out what Malfoy was doing. 
+
+
+
+“And that’s Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle,” said 
+a dreamy voice, echoing over the grounds. “He did the 
+commentary last time, of course, and Ginny Weasley 
+flew into him, I think probably on purpose, it looked 
+like it. Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor, I 
+expect he regrets that now he’s playing them — oh, 
+look, he’s lost the Quaffle, Ginny took it from him, I 
+do like her, she’s very nice. ...” 
+
+Harry stared down at the commentator’s podium. 
+Surely nobody in their right mind would have let 
+Luna Lovegood commentate? But even from above 
+
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+
+
+
+
+there was no mistaking that long, dirty-blonde hair, 
+nor the necklace of butterbeer corks. ... Beside Luna, 
+Professor McGonagall was looking slightly 
+uncomfortable, as though she was indeed having 
+second thoughts about this appointment. 
+
+"... but now that big Hufflepuff player’s got the 
+Quaffle from her, I can’t remember his name, it’s 
+something like Bibble — no, Buggins — ” 
+
+“It’s Cadwallader!” said Professor McGonagall loudly 
+from beside Luna. The crowd laughed. 
+
+Harry stared around for the Snitch; there was no sign 
+of it. Moments later, Cadwallader scored. McLaggen 
+had been shouting criticism at Ginny for allowing the 
+Quaffle out of her possession, with the result that he 
+had not noticed the large red ball soaring past his 
+right ear. 
+
+“McLaggen, will you pay attention to what you’re 
+supposed to be doing and leave everyone else alone!” 
+bellowed Harry, wheeling around to face his Keeper. 
+
+“You’re not setting a great example!” McLaggen 
+shouted back, red-faced and furious. 
+
+“And Harry Potter’s now having an argument with his 
+Keeper,” said Luna serenely, while both Hufflepuffs 
+and Slytherins below in the crowd cheered and jeered. 
+“I don’t think that’ll help him find the Snitch, but 
+maybe it’s a clever ruse. ...” 
+
+Swearing angrily, Harry spun round and set off 
+around the pitch again, scanning the skies for some 
+sign of the tiny, winged golden ball. 
+
+Ginny and Demelza scored a goal apiece, giving the 
+red-and-gold-clad supporters below something to 
+
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+
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+
+
+cheer about. Then Cadwallader scored again, making 
+things level, but Luna did not seem to have noticed; 
+she appeared singularly uninterested in such 
+mundane things as the score, and kept attempting to 
+draw the crowd’s attention to such things as 
+interestingly shaped clouds and the possibility that 
+Zacharias Smith, who had so far failed to maintain 
+possession of the Quaffle for longer than a minute, 
+was suffering from something called “Loser’s Lurgy.” 
+
+“Seventy-forty to Hufflepuff!” barked Professor 
+McGonagall into Luna’s megaphone. 
+
+“Is it, already?” said Luna vaguely. “Oh, look! The 
+Gryffindor Keeper’s got hold of one of the Beater’s 
+bats.” 
+
+Harry spun around in midair. Sure enough, 
+
+McLaggen, for reasons best known to himself, had 
+pulled Peakes ’s bat from him and appeared to be 
+demonstrating how to hit a Bludger toward an 
+oncoming Cadwallader. 
+
+“ Will you give him back his bat and get back to the goal 
+posts!” roared Harry, pelting toward McLaggen just as 
+McLaggen took a ferocious swipe at the Bludger and 
+mishit it. 
+
+A blinding, sickening pain ... a flash of light . . . distant 
+screams . . . and the sensation of falling down a long 
+tunnel ... 
+
+And the next thing Harry knew, he was lying in a 
+remarkably warm and comfortable bed and looking 
+up at a lamp that was throwing a circle of golden light 
+onto a shadowy ceiling. He raised his head 
+awkwardly. There on his left was a familiar-looking, 
+freckly, red-haired person. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Nice of you to drop in,” said Ron, grinning. 
+
+Harry blinked and looked around. Of course: He was 
+in the hospital wing. The sky outside was indigo 
+streaked with crimson. The match must have finished 
+hours ago ... as had any hope of cornering Malfoy. 
+Harry’s head felt strangely heavy; he raised a hand 
+and felt a stiff turban of bandages. 
+
+“What happened?” 
+
+“Cracked skull,” said Madam Pomfrey, bustling up 
+and pushing him back against his pillows. “Nothing to 
+worry about, I mended it at once, but I’m keeping you 
+in overnight. You shouldn’t overexert yourself for a 
+few hours.” 
+
+“I don’t want to stay here overnight,” said Harry 
+angrily, sitting up and throwing back his covers. “I 
+want to find McLaggen and kill him.” 
+
+“I’m afraid that would come under the heading of 
+‘overexertion,’ ” said Madam Pomfrey, pushing him 
+firmly back onto the bed and raising her wand in a 
+threatening manner. “You will stay here until I 
+discharge you, Potter, or I shall call the headmaster.” 
+
+She bustled back into her office, and Harry sank back 
+into his pillows, fuming. 
+
+“D’you know how much we lost by?” he asked Ron 
+through clenched teeth. 
+
+“Well, yeah I do,” said Ron apologetically. “Final score 
+was three hundred and twenty to sixty.” 
+
+“Brilliant,” said Harry savagely. “Really brilliant! 
+
+When I get hold of McLaggen — ” 
+
+
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+
+
+“You don’t want to get hold of him, he’s the size of a 
+troll,” said Ron reasonably. “Personally, I think there’s 
+a lot to be said for hexing him with that toenail thing 
+of the Prince’s. Anyway, the rest of the team might’ve 
+dealt with him before you get out of here, they’re not 
+happy. ...” 
+
+There was a note of badly suppressed glee in Ron’s 
+voice; Harry could tell he was nothing short of thrilled 
+that McLaggen had messed up so badly. Harry lay 
+there, staring up at the patch of light on the ceiling, 
+his recently mended skull not hurting, precisely, but 
+feeling slightly tender underneath all the bandaging. 
+
+“I could hear the match commentary from here,” said 
+Ron, his voice now shaking with laughter. “I hope 
+Luna always commentates from now on. ... Loser’s 
+Lurgy ...” 
+
+But Harry was still too angry to see much humor in 
+the situation, and after a while Ron’s snorts subsided. 
+
+“Ginny came in to visit while you were unconscious,” 
+he said, after a long pause, and Harry’s imagination 
+zoomed into overdrive, rapidly constructing a scene in 
+which Ginny, weeping over his lifeless form, confessed 
+her feelings of deep attraction to him while Ron gave 
+them his blessing. ... “She reckons you only just 
+arrived on time for the match. How come? You left 
+here early enough.” 
+
+“Oh ...” said Harry, as the scene in his mind’s eye 
+imploded. “Yeah ... well, I saw Malfoy sneaking off 
+with a couple of girls who didn’t look like they wanted 
+to be with him, and that’s the second time he’s made 
+sure he isn’t down on the Quidditch pitch with the 
+rest of the school; he skipped the last match too, 
+remember?” Harry sighed. “Wish I’d followed him 
+now, the match was such a fiasco. ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Don’t be stupid,” said Ron sharply. “You couldn’t 
+have missed a Quidditch match just to follow Malfoy, 
+you’re the Captain!” 
+
+“I want to know what he’s up to,” said Harry. “And 
+don’t tell me it’s all in my head, not after what I 
+overheard between him and Snape — ” 
+
+“I never said it was all in your head,” said Ron, 
+hoisting himself up on an elbow in turn and frowning 
+at Harry, “but there’s no rule saying only one person 
+at a time can be plotting anything in this place! You’re 
+getting a bit obsessed with Malfoy, Harry. I mean, 
+thinking about missing a match just to follow him ...” 
+
+“I want to catch him at it!” said Harry in frustration. 
+
+“I mean, where’s he going when he disappears off the 
+map?” 
+
+“I dunno . . . Hogsmeade?” suggested Ron, yawning. 
+
+“I’ve never seen him going along any of the secret 
+passageways on the map. I thought they were being 
+watched now anyway?” 
+
+“Well then, I dunno,” said Ron. 
+
+Silence fell between them. Harry stared up at the 
+circle of lamplight above him, thinking. . . . 
+
+If only he had Rufus Scrimgeour’s power, he would 
+have been able to set a tail upon Malfoy, but 
+unfortunately Harry did not have an office full of 
+Aurors at his command. ... He thought fleetingly of 
+trying to set something up with the D.A., but there 
+again was the problem that people would be missed 
+from lessons; most of them, after all, still had full 
+schedules. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a low, rumbling snore from Ron’s bed. 
+
+After a while Madam Pomfrey came out of her office, 
+this time wearing a thick dressing gown. It was 
+easiest to feign sleep; Harry rolled over onto his side 
+and listened to all the curtains closing themselves as 
+she waved her wand. The lamps dimmed, and she 
+returned to her office; he heard the door click behind 
+her and knew that she was off to bed. 
+
+This was, Harry reflected in the darkness, the third 
+time that he had been brought to the hospital wing 
+because of a Quidditch injury. Last time he had fallen 
+off his broom due to the presence of dementors 
+around the pitch, and the time before that, all the 
+bones had been removed from his arm by the 
+incurably inept Professor Lockhart. ... That had been 
+his most painful injury by far ... he remembered the 
+agony of regrowing an armful of bones in one night, a 
+discomfort not eased by the arrival of an unexpected 
+visitor in the middle of the — 
+
+Harry sat bolt upright, his heart pounding, his 
+bandage turban askew. He had the solution at last: 
+There was a way to have Malfoy followed — how could 
+he have forgotten, why hadn’t he thought of it before? 
+
+But the question was, how to call him? What did you 
+do? 
+
+Quietly, tentatively, Harry spoke into the darkness. 
+“Kreacher?” 
+
+There was a very loud crack, and the sounds of 
+scuffling and squeaks filled the silent room. Ron 
+awoke with a yelp. 
+
+“What’s going — ?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Harry pointed his wand hastily at the door of Madam 
+Pomfrey’s office and muttered, “MuffliatoV’ so that she 
+would not come running. Then he scrambled to the 
+end of his bed for a better look at what was going on. 
+
+Two house-elves were rolling around on the floor in 
+the middle of the dormitory, one wearing a shrunken 
+maroon jumper and several woolly hats, the other, a 
+filthy old rag strung over his hips like a loincloth. 
+Then there was another loud bang, and Peeves the 
+Poltergeist appeared in midair above the wrestling 
+elves. 
+
+“I was watching that, Potty!” he told Harry 
+indignantly, pointing at the fight below, before letting 
+out a loud cackle. “Look at the ickle creatures 
+squabbling, bitey bitey, punchy punchy — ” 
+
+“Kreacher will not insult Harry Potter in front of 
+Dobby, no he won’t, or Dobby will shut Kreacher’s 
+mouth for him!” cried Dobby in a high-pitched voice. 
+
+“ — kicky, scratchy!” cried Peeves happily, now pelting 
+bits of chalk at the elves to enrage them further. 
+“Tweaky, pokey!” 
+
+“Kreacher will say what he likes about his master, oh 
+yes, and what a master he is, filthy friend of 
+Mudbloods, oh, what would poor Kreacher’s mistress 
+say — ?” 
+
+Exactly what Kreacher’s mistress would have said 
+they did not find out, for at that moment Dobby sank 
+his knobbly little fist into Kreacher’s mouth and 
+knocked out half of his teeth. Harry and Ron both 
+leapt out of their beds and wrenched the two elves 
+apart, though they continued to try and kick and 
+punch each other, egged on by Peeves, who swooped 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+around the lamp squealing, “Stick your fingers up his 
+nosey, draw his cork and pull his earsies — ” 
+
+Harry aimed his wand at Peeves and said, “Langlockl” 
+Peeves clutched at his throat, gulped, then swooped 
+from the room making obscene gestures but unable to 
+speak, owing to the fact that his tongue had just 
+glued itself to the roof of his mouth. 
+
+“Nice one,” said Ron appreciatively, lifting Dobby into 
+the air so that his flailing limbs no longer made 
+contact with Kreacher. “That was another Prince hex, 
+wasn’t it?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, twisting Kreacher’s wizened arm 
+into a half nelson. “Right — I’m forbidding you to fight 
+each other! Well, Kreacher, you’re forbidden to fight 
+Dobby. Dobby, I know I’m not allowed to give you 
+orders — ” 
+
+“Dobby is a free house-elf and he can obey anyone he 
+likes and Dobby will do whatever Harry Potter wants 
+him to do!” said Dobby, tears now streaming down his 
+shriveled little face onto his jumper. 
+
+“Okay then,” said Harry, and he and Ron both 
+released the elves, who fell to the floor but did not 
+continue fighting. 
+
+“Master called me?” croaked Kreacher, sinking into a 
+bow even as he gave Harry a look that plainly wished 
+him a painful death. 
+
+“Yeah, I did,” said Harry, glancing toward Madam 
+Pomfrey’s office door to check that the Muffliato spell 
+was still working; there was no sign that she had 
+heard any of the commotion. “I’ve got a job for you.” 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+“Kreacher will do whatever Master wants,” said 
+Kreacher, sinking so low that his lips almost touched 
+his gnarled toes, “because Kreacher has no choice, 
+but Kreacher is ashamed to have such a master, yes 
+
+
+
+“Dobby will do it, Harry Potter!” squeaked Dobby, his 
+tennis-ball-sized eyes still swimming in tears. “Dobby 
+would be honored to help Harry Potter!” 
+
+“Come to think of it, it would be good to have both of 
+you,” said Harry. “Okay then ... I want you to tail 
+Draco Malfoy.” 
+
+Ignoring the look of mingled surprise and 
+exasperation on Ron’s face, Harry went on, “I want to 
+know where he’s going, who he’s meeting, and what 
+he’s doing. I want you to follow him around the 
+clock.” 
+
+“Yes, Harry Potter!” said Dobby at once, his great eyes 
+shining with excitement. “And if Dobby does it wrong, 
+Dobby will throw himself off the topmost tower, Harry 
+Potter!” 
+
+“There won’t be any need for that,” said Harry hastily. 
+
+“Master wants me to follow the youngest of the 
+Malfoys?” croaked Kreacher. “Master wants me to spy 
+upon the pure-blood great-nephew of my old 
+mistress?” 
+
+“That’s the one,” said Harry, foreseeing a great danger 
+and determining to prevent it immediately. “And 
+you’re forbidden to tip him off, Kreacher, or to show 
+him what you’re up to, or to talk to him at all, or to 
+write him messages or ... or to contact him in any 
+way. Got it?” 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+He thought he could see Kreacher struggling to see a 
+loophole in the instructions he had just been given 
+and waited. After a moment or two, and to Harry’s 
+great satisfaction, Kreacher bowed deeply again and 
+said, with bitter resentment, “Master thinks of 
+everything, and Kreacher must obey him even though 
+Kreacher would much rather be the servant of the 
+Malfoy boy, oh yes. ...” 
+
+“That’s settled, then,” said Harry. “I’ll want regular 
+reports, but make sure I’m not surrounded by people 
+when you turn up. Ron and Hermione are okay. And 
+don’t tell anyone what you’re doing. Just stick to 
+Malfoy like a couple of wart plasters.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+LORD VOLDEMORT’S REQUEST 
+
+Harry and Ron left the hospital wing first thing on 
+Monday morning, restored to full health by the 
+ministrations of Madam Pomfrey and now able to 
+enjoy the benefits of having been knocked out and 
+poisoned, the best of which was that Hermione was 
+friends with Ron again. Hermione even escorted them 
+down to breakfast, bringing with her the news that 
+Ginny had argued with Dean. The drowsing creature 
+in Harry’s chest suddenly raised its head, sniffing the 
+air hopefully. 
+
+“What did they row about?” he asked, trying to sound 
+casual as they turned onto a seventh-floor corridor 
+that was deserted but for a very small girl who had 
+been examining a tapestry of trolls in tutus. She 
+looked terrified at the sight of the approaching sixth 
+years and dropped the heavy brass scales she was 
+carrying. 
+
+“It’s all right!” said Hermione kindly, hurrying forward 
+to help her. “Here ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+She tapped the broken scales with her wand and 
+said, “Reparo.” The girl did not say thank you, but 
+remained rooted to the spot as they passed and 
+watched them out of sight; Ron glanced back at her. 
+
+“I swear they’re getting smaller,” he said. 
+
+“Never mind her,” said Harry, a little impatiently. 
+“What did Ginny and Dean row about, Hermione?” 
+
+“Oh, Dean was laughing about McLaggen hitting that 
+Bludger at you,” said Hermione. 
+
+“It must’ve looked funny,” said Ron reasonably. 
+
+“It didn’t look funny at all!” said Hermione hotly. “It 
+looked terrible and if Coote and Peakes hadn’t caught 
+Harry he could have been very badly hurt!” 
+
+“Yeah, well, there was no need for Ginny and Dean to 
+split up over it,” said Harry, still trying to sound 
+casual. “Or are they still together?” 
+
+“Yes, they are — but why are you so interested?” 
+asked Hermione, giving Harry a sharp look. 
+
+“I just don’t want my Quidditch team messed up 
+again!” he said hastily, but Hermione continued to 
+look suspicious, and he was most relieved when a 
+voice behind them called, “Harry!” giving him an 
+excuse to turn his back on her. 
+
+“Oh, hi, Luna.” 
+
+“I went to the hospital wing to find you,” said Luna, 
+rummaging in her bag. “But they said you’d left. ...” 
+
+She thrust what appeared to be a green onion, a large 
+spotted toadstool, and a considerable amount of what 
+
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+
+
+
+
+looked like cat litter into Ron’s hands, finally pulling 
+out a rather grubby scroll of parchment that she 
+handed to Harry. 
+
+"... I’ve been told to give you this.” 
+
+It was a small roll of parchment, which Harry 
+recognized at once as another invitation to a lesson 
+with Dumbledore. 
+
+“Tonight,” he told Ron and Hermione, once he had 
+unrolled it. 
+
+“Nice commentary last match!” said Ron to Luna as 
+she took back the green onion, the toadstool, and the 
+cat litter. Luna smiled vaguely. 
+
+“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” she said. 
+“Everyone says I was dreadful.” 
+
+“No, I’m serious!” said Ron earnestly. “I can’t 
+remember enjoying commentary more! What is this, 
+by the way?” he added, holding the onionlike object 
+up to eye level. 
+
+“Oh, it’s a Gurdyroot,” she said, stuffing the cat litter 
+and the toadstool back into her bag. “You can keep it 
+if you like, I’ve got a few of them. They’re really 
+excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies.” 
+
+And she walked away, leaving Ron chortling, still 
+clutching the Gurdyroot. 
+
+“You know, she’s grown on me, Luna,” he said, as 
+they set off again for the Great Hall. “I know she’s 
+insane, but it’s in a good — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+He stopped talking very suddenly. Lavender Brown 
+was standing at the foot of the marble staircase 
+looking thunderous. 
+
+“Hi,” said Ron nervously. 
+
+“C’mon,” Harry muttered to Hermione, and they sped 
+past, though not before they had heard Lavender say, 
+“Why didn’t you tell me you were getting out today? 
+And why was she with you?” 
+
+Ron looked both sulky and annoyed when he 
+appeared at breakfast half an hour later, and though 
+he sat with Lavender, Harry did not see them 
+exchange a word all the time they were together. 
+Hermione was acting as though she was quite 
+oblivious to all of this, but once or twice Harry saw an 
+inexplicable smirk cross her face. All that day she 
+seemed to be in a particularly good mood, and that 
+evening in the common room she even consented to 
+look over (in other words, finish writing) Harry’s 
+Herbology essay, something she had been resolutely 
+refusing to do up to this point, because she had 
+known that Harry would then let Ron copy his work. 
+
+“Thanks a lot, Hermione,” said Harry, giving her a 
+hasty pat on the back as he checked his watch and 
+saw that it was nearly eight o’clock. “Listen, I’ve got to 
+hurry or I’ll be late for Dumbledore. ...” 
+
+She did not answer, but merely crossed out a few of 
+his feebler sentences in a weary sort of way. Grinning, 
+Harry hurried out through the portrait hole and off to 
+the headmaster’s office. The gargoyle leapt aside at 
+the mention of toffee eclairs, and Harry took the spiral 
+staircase two steps at a time, knocking on the door 
+just as a clock within chimed eight. 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+“Enter,” called Dumbledore, but as Harry put out a 
+hand to push the door, it was wrenched open from 
+inside. There stood Professor Trelawney. 
+
+“Aha!” she cried, pointing dramatically at Harry as 
+she blinked at him through her magnifying 
+spectacles. “So this is the reason I am to be thrown 
+unceremoniously from your office, Dumbledore!” 
+
+“My dear Sybill,” said Dumbledore in a slightly 
+exasperated voice, “there is no question of throwing 
+you unceremoniously from anywhere, but Harry does 
+have an appointment, and I really don’t think there is 
+any more to be said — ” 
+
+“Very well,” said Professor Trelawney, in a deeply 
+wounded voice. “If you will not banish the usurping 
+nag, so be it. ... Perhaps I shall find a school where 
+my talents are better appreciated. ...” 
+
+She pushed past Harry and disappeared down the 
+spiral staircase; they heard her stumble halfway 
+down, and Harry guessed that she had tripped over 
+one of her trailing shawls. 
+
+“Please close the door and sit down, Harry,” said 
+Dumbledore, sounding rather tired. 
+
+Harry obeyed, noticing as he took his usual seat in 
+front of Dumbledore ’s desk that the Pensieve lay 
+between them once more, as did two more tiny crystal 
+bottles full of swirling memory. 
+
+“Professor Trelawney still isn’t happy Firenze is 
+teaching, then?” Harry asked. 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore, “Divination is turning out to 
+be much more trouble than I could have foreseen, 
+never having studied the subject myself. I cannot ask 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Firenze to return to the forest, where he is now an 
+outcast, nor can I ask Sybill Trelawney to leave. 
+Between ourselves, she has no idea of the danger she 
+would be in outside the castle. She does not know — 
+and I think it would be unwise to enlighten her — 
+that she made the prophecy about you and 
+Voldemort, you see.” 
+
+Dumbledore heaved a deep sigh, then said, “But 
+never mind my staffing problems. We have much 
+more important matters to discuss. Firstly — have 
+you managed the task I set you at the end of our 
+previous lesson?” 
+
+“Ah,” said Harry, brought up short. What with 
+Apparition lessons and Quidditch and Ron being 
+poisoned and getting his skull cracked and his 
+determination to find out what Draco Malfoy was up 
+to, Harry had almost forgotten about the memory 
+Dumbledore had asked him to extract from Professor 
+Slughorn. “Well, I asked Professor Slughorn about it 
+at the end of Potions, sir, but, er, he wouldn’t give it 
+to me.” 
+
+There was a little silence. 
+
+“I see,” said Dumbledore eventually, peering at Harry 
+over the top of his half-moon spectacles and giving 
+Harry the usual sensation that he was being X-rayed. 
+“And you feel that you have exerted your very best 
+efforts in this matter, do you? That you have 
+exercised all of your considerable ingenuity? That you 
+have left no depth of cunning unplumbed in your 
+quest to retrieve the memory?” 
+
+“Well,” Harry stalled, at a loss for what to say next. 
+
+His single attempt to get hold of the memory suddenly 
+seemed embarrassingly feeble. “Well ... the day Ron 
+swallowed love potion by mistake I took him to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor Slughorn. I thought maybe if I got Professor 
+Slughorn in a good enough mood — ” 
+
+“And did that work?” asked Dumbledore. 
+
+“Well, no, sir, because Ron got poisoned — ” 
+
+“ — which, naturally, made you forget all about trying 
+to retrieve the memory; I would have expected nothing 
+else, while your best friend was in danger. Once it 
+became clear that Mr. Weasley was going to make a 
+full recovery, however, I would have hoped that you 
+returned to the task I set you. I thought I made it 
+clear to you how very important that memory is. 
+Indeed, I did my best to impress upon you that it is 
+the most crucial memory of all and that we will be 
+wasting our time without it.” 
+
+A hot, prickly feeling of shame spread from the top of 
+Harry’s head all the way down his body. Dumbledore 
+had not raised his voice, he did not even sound angry, 
+but Harry would have preferred him to yell; this cold 
+disappointment was worse than anything. 
+
+“Sir,” he said, a little desperately, “it isn’t that I wasn’t 
+bothered or anything, I’ve just had other — other 
+things ...” 
+
+“Other things on your mind,” Dumbledore finished 
+the sentence for him. “I see.” 
+
+Silence fell between them again, the most 
+uncomfortable silence Harry had ever experienced 
+with Dumbledore; it seemed to go on and on, 
+punctuated only by the little grunting snores of the 
+portrait of Armando Dippet over Dumbledore ’s head. 
+Harry felt strangely diminished, as though he had 
+shrunk a little since he had entered the room. When 
+he could stand it no longer he said, “Professor 
+Page | 482 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore, I’m really sorry. I should have done 
+more. ... I should have realized you wouldn’t have 
+asked me to do it if it wasn’t really important.” 
+
+“Thank you for saying that, Harry,” said Dumbledore 
+quietly. “May I hope, then, that you will give this 
+matter higher priority from now on? There will be 
+little point in our meeting after tonight unless we 
+have that memory.” 
+
+“I’ll do it, sir, I’ll get it from him,” he said earnestly. 
+
+“Then we shall say no more about it just now,” said 
+Dumbledore more kindly, “but continue with our 
+story where we left off. You remember where that 
+was?” 
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Harry quickly. “Voldemort killed his 
+father and his grandparents and made it look as 
+though his Uncle Morfin did it. Then he went back to 
+Hogwarts and he asked ... he asked Professor 
+Slughorn about Horcruxes,” he mumbled 
+shamefacedly. 
+
+“Very good,” said Dumbledore. “Now, you will 
+remember, I hope, that I told you at the very outset of 
+these meetings of ours that we would be entering the 
+realms of guesswork and speculation?” 
+
+“Yes, sir.” 
+
+“Thus far, as I hope you agree, I have shown you 
+reasonably firm sources of fact for my deductions as 
+to what Voldemort did until the age of seventeen?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“But now, Harry,” said Dumbledore, “now things 
+become murkier and stranger. If it was difficult to find 
+
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+
+
+
+
+evidence about the boy Riddle, it has been almost 
+impossible to find anyone prepared to reminisce 
+about the man Voldemort. In fact, I doubt whether 
+there is a soul alive, apart from himself, who could 
+give us a full account of his life since he left 
+Hogwarts. However, I have two last memories that I 
+would like to share with you.” Dumbledore indicated 
+the two little crystal bottles gleaming beside the 
+Pensieve. “I shall then be glad of your opinion as to 
+whether the conclusions I have drawn from them 
+seem likely.” 
+
+The idea that Dumbledore valued his opinion this 
+highly made Harry feel even more deeply ashamed 
+that he had failed in the task of retrieving the Horcrux 
+memory, and he shifted guiltily in his seat as 
+Dumbledore raised the first of the two bottles to the 
+light and examined it. 
+
+“I hope you are not tired of diving into other people’s 
+memories, for they are curious recollections, these 
+two,” he said. “This first one came from a very old 
+house-elf by the name of Hokey. Before we see what 
+Hokey witnessed, I must quickly recount how Lord 
+Voldemort left Hogwarts. 
+
+“He reached the seventh year of his schooling with, as 
+you might have expected, top grades in every 
+examination he had taken. All around him, his 
+classmates were deciding which jobs they were to 
+pursue once they had left Hogwarts. Nearly everybody 
+expected spectacular things from Tom Riddle, prefect, 
+Head Boy, winner of the Award for Special Services to 
+the School. I know that several teachers, Professor 
+Slughorn amongst them, suggested that he join the 
+Ministry of Magic, offered to set up appointments, put 
+him in touch with useful contacts. He refused all 
+offers. The next thing the staff knew, Voldemort was 
+working at Borgin and Burkes.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“At Borgin and Burkes?” Harry repeated, stunned. 
+
+
+
+“At Borgin and Burkes,” repeated Dumbledore calmly. 
+“I think you will see what attractions the place held 
+for him when we have entered Hokey’s memory. But 
+this was not Voldemort’s first choice of job. Hardly 
+anyone knew of it at the time — I was one of the few 
+in whom the then headmaster confided — but 
+Voldemort first approached Professor Dippet and 
+asked whether he could remain at Hogwarts as a 
+teacher.” 
+
+“He wanted to stay here? Why?” asked Harry, more 
+amazed still. 
+
+“I believe he had several reasons, though he confided 
+none of them to Professor Dippet,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Firstly, and very importantly, Voldemort was, I 
+believe, more attached to this school than he has ever 
+been to a person. Hogwarts was where he had been 
+happiest; the first and only place he had felt at 
+home.” 
+
+Harry felt slightly uncomfortable at these words, for 
+this was exactly how he felt about Hogwarts too. 
+
+“Secondly, the castle is a stronghold of ancient magic. 
+Undoubtedly Voldemort had penetrated many more of 
+its secrets than most of the students who pass 
+through the place, but he may have felt that there 
+were still mysteries to unravel, stores of magic to tap. 
+
+“And thirdly, as a teacher, he would have had great 
+power and influence over young witches and wizards. 
+Perhaps he had gained the idea from Professor 
+Slughorn, the teacher with whom he was on best 
+terms, who had demonstrated how influential a role a 
+teacher can play. I do not imagine for an instant that 
+Voldemort envisaged spending the rest of his life at 
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+
+
+
+
+Hogwarts, but I do think that he saw it as a useful 
+recruiting ground, and a place where he might begin 
+to build himself an army.” 
+
+“But he didn’t get the job, sir?” 
+
+“No, he did not. Professor Dippet told him that he was 
+too young at eighteen, but invited him to reapply in a 
+few years, if he still wished to teach.” 
+
+“How did you feel about that, sir?” asked Harry 
+hesitantly. 
+
+“Deeply uneasy,” said Dumbledore. “I had advised 
+Armando against the appointment — I did not give 
+the reasons I have given you, for Professor Dippet was 
+very fond of Voldemort and convinced of his honesty. 
+But I did not want Lord Voldemort back at this 
+school, and especially not in a position of power.” 
+
+“Which job did he want, sir? What subject did he 
+want to teach?” 
+
+Somehow, Harry knew the answer even before 
+Dumbledore gave it. 
+
+“Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was being taught at 
+the time by an old Professor by the name of Galatea 
+Merrythought, who had been at Hogwarts for nearly 
+fifty years. 
+
+“So Voldemort went off to Borgin and Burkes, and all 
+the staff who had admired him said what a waste it 
+was, a brilliant young wizard like that, working in a 
+shop. However, Voldemort was no mere assistant. 
+Polite and handsome and clever, he was soon given 
+particular jobs of the type that only exist in a place 
+like Borgin and Burkes, which specializes, as you 
+know, Harry, in objects with unusual and powerful 
+Page |486 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+properties. Voldemort was sent to persuade people to 
+part with their treasures for sale by the partners, and 
+he was, by all accounts, unusually gifted at doing 
+this.” 
+
+“I’ll bet he was,” said Harry, unable to contain 
+himself. 
+
+“Well, quite,” said Dumbledore, with a faint smile. 
+“And now it is time to hear from Hokey the house-elf, 
+who worked for a very old, very rich witch by the 
+name of Hepzibah Smith.” 
+
+Dumbledore tapped a bottle with his wand, the cork 
+flew out, and he tipped the swirling memory into the 
+Pensieve, saying as he did so, “After you, Harry.” 
+
+Harry got to his feet and bent once more over the 
+rippling silver contents of the stone basin until his 
+face touched them. He tumbled through dark 
+nothingness and landed in a sitting room in front of 
+an immensely fat old lady wearing an elaborate ginger 
+wig and a brilliant pink set of robes that flowed all 
+around her, giving her the look of a melting iced cake. 
+She was looking into a small jeweled mirror and 
+dabbing rouge onto her already scarlet cheeks with a 
+large powder puff, while the tiniest and oldest house- 
+elf Harry had ever seen laced her fleshy feet into tight 
+satin slippers. 
+
+“Hurry up, Hokey!” said Hepzibah imperiously. “He 
+said he’d come at four, it’s only a couple of minutes to 
+and he’s never been late yet!” 
+
+She tucked away her powder puff as the house-elf 
+straightened up. The top of the elf’s head barely 
+reached the seat of Hepzibah ’s chair, and her papery 
+skin hung off her frame just like the crisp linen sheet 
+she wore draped like a toga. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“How do I look?” said Hepzibah, turning her head to 
+admire the various angles of her face in the mirror. 
+
+“Lovely, madam,” squeaked Hokey. 
+
+Harry could only assume that it was down in Hokey’s 
+contract that she must lie through her teeth when 
+asked this question, because Hepzibah Smith looked 
+a long way from lovely in his opinion. 
+
+A tinkling doorbell rang and both mistress and elf 
+jumped. 
+
+“Quick, quick, he’s here, Hokey!” cried Hepzibah and 
+the elf scurried out of the room, which was so 
+crammed with objects that it was difficult to see how 
+anybody could navigate their way across it without 
+knocking over at least a dozen things: There were 
+cabinets full of little lacquered boxes, cases full of 
+gold-embossed books, shelves of orbs and celestial 
+globes, and many flourishing potted plants in brass 
+containers. In fact, the room looked like a cross 
+between a magical antique shop and a conservatory. 
+
+The house-elf returned within minutes, followed by a 
+tall young man Harry had no difficulty whatsoever in 
+recognizing as Voldemort. He was plainly dressed in a 
+black suit; his hair was a little longer than it had 
+been at school and his cheeks were hollowed, but all 
+of this suited him; he looked more handsome than 
+ever. He picked his way through the cramped room 
+with an air that showed he had visited many times 
+before and bowed low over Hepzibah ’s fat little hand, 
+brushing it with his lips. 
+
+“I brought you flowers,” he said quietly, producing a 
+bunch of roses from nowhere. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You naughty boy, you shouldn’t have!” squealed old 
+Hepzibah, though Harry noticed that she had an 
+empty vase standing ready on the nearest little table. 
+“You do spoil this old lady, Tom. ... Sit down, sit 
+down. ... Where’s Hokey? Ah ...” 
+
+The house-elf had come dashing back into the room 
+carrying a tray of little cakes, which she set at her 
+mistress’s elbow. 
+
+“Help yourself, Tom,” said Hepzibah, “I know how you 
+love my cakes. Now, how are you? You look pale. They 
+overwork you at that shop, I’ve said it a hundred 
+times. ...” 
+
+Voldemort smiled mechanically and Hepzibah 
+simpered. 
+
+“Well, what’s your excuse for visiting this time?” she 
+asked, batting her lashes. 
+
+“Mr. Burke would like to make an improved offer for 
+the goblin-made armor,” said Voldemort. “Five 
+hundred Galleons, he feels it is a more than fair — ” 
+
+“Now, now, not so fast, or I’ll think you’re only here 
+for my trinkets!” pouted Hepzibah. 
+
+“I am ordered here because of them,” said Voldemort 
+quietly. “I am only a poor assistant, madam, who 
+must do as he is told. Mr. Burke wishes me to inquire 
+
+
+
+“Oh, Mr. Burke, phooey!” said Hepzibah, waving a 
+little hand. “I’ve something to show you that I’ve never 
+shown Mr. Burke! Can you keep a secret, Tom? Will 
+you promise you won’t tell Mr. Burke I’ve got it? He’d 
+never let me rest if he knew I’d shown it to you, and 
+I’m not selling, not to Burke, not to anyone! But you, 
+Page | 489 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Tom, you’ll appreciate it for its history, not how many 
+Galleons you can get for it.” 
+
+“I’d be glad to see anything Miss Hepzibah shows me,” 
+said Voldemort quietly, and Hepzibah gave another 
+girlish giggle. 
+
+“I had Hokey bring it out for me. ... Hokey, where are 
+you? I want to show Mr. Riddle our finest treasure. ... 
+In fact, bring both, while you’re at it. ...” 
+
+“Here, madam,” squeaked the house-elf, and Harry 
+saw two leather boxes, one on top of the other, 
+moving across the room as if of their own volition, 
+though he knew the tiny elf was holding them over 
+her head as she wended her way between tables, 
+pouffes, and footstools. 
+
+“Now,” said Hepzibah happily, taking the boxes from 
+the elf, laying them in her lap, and preparing to open 
+the topmost one, “I think you’ll like this, Tom. ... Oh, 
+if my family knew I was showing you. ... They can’t 
+wait to get their hands on this!” 
+
+She opened the lid. Harry edged forward a little to get 
+a better view and saw what looked like a small golden 
+cup with two finely wrought handles. 
+
+“I wonder whether you know what it is, Tom? Pick it 
+up, have a good look!” whispered Hepzibah, and 
+Voldemort stretched out a long-fingered hand and 
+lifted the cup by one handle out of its snug silken 
+wrappings. Harry thought he saw a red gleam in his 
+dark eyes. His greedy expression was curiously 
+mirrored on Hepzibah’s face, except that her tiny eyes 
+were fixed upon Voldemort’s handsome features. 
+
+“A badger,” murmured Voldemort, examining the 
+engraving upon the cup. “Then this was ... ?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Helga Hufflepuff’s, as you very well know, you clever 
+boy!” said Hepzibah, leaning forward with a loud 
+creaking of corsets and actually pinching his hollow 
+cheek. “Didn’t I tell you I was distantly descended? 
+This has been handed down in the family for years 
+and years. Lovely, isn’t it? And all sorts of powers it’s 
+supposed to possess too, but I haven’t tested them 
+thoroughly, I just keep it nice and safe in here. ...” 
+
+She hooked the cup back off Voldemort’s long 
+forefinger and restored it gently to its box, too intent 
+upon settling it carefully back into position to notice 
+the shadow that crossed Voldemort’s face as the cup 
+was taken away. 
+
+“Now then,” said Hepzibah happily, “where’s Hokey? 
+Oh yes, there you are — take that away now, Hokey.” 
+
+The elf obediently took the boxed cup, and Hepzibah 
+turned her attention to the much flatter box in her 
+lap. 
+
+“I think you’ll like this even more, Tom,” she 
+whispered. “Lean in a little, dear boy, so you can see. 
+...Of course, Burke knows I’ve got this one, I bought 
+it from him, and I daresay he’d love to get it back 
+when I’m gone. ...” 
+
+She slid back the fine filigree clasp and flipped open 
+the box. There upon the smooth crimson velvet lay a 
+heavy golden locket. 
+
+Voldemort reached out his hand, without invitation 
+this time, and held it up to the light, staring at it. 
+
+“Slytherin’s mark,” he said quietly, as the light played 
+upon an ornate, serpentine S. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That’s right!” said Hepzibah, delighted, apparently, at 
+the sight of Voldemort gazing at her locket, transfixed. 
+“I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I couldn’t let 
+it pass, not a real treasure like that, had to have it for 
+my collection. Burke bought it, apparently, from a 
+ragged-looking woman who seemed to have stolen it, 
+but had no idea of its true value — ” 
+
+There was no mistaking it this time: Voldemort’s eyes 
+flashed scarlet at the words, and Harry saw his 
+knuckles whiten on the locket’s chain. 
+
+“ — I daresay Burke paid her a pittance but there you 
+are. ... Pretty, isn’t it? And again, all kinds of powers 
+attributed to it, though I just keep it nice and safe. ...” 
+
+She reached out to take the locket back. For a 
+moment, Harry thought Voldemort was not going to 
+let go of it, but then it had slid through his fingers 
+and was back in its red velvet cushion. 
+
+“So there you are, Tom, dear, and I hope you enjoyed 
+that!” 
+
+She looked him full in the face and for the first time, 
+Harry saw her foolish smile falter. 
+
+“Are you all right, dear?” 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Voldemort quietly. “Yes, I’m very well. 
+
+
+
+“I thought — but a trick of the light, I suppose — ” 
+said Hepzibah, looking unnerved, and Harry guessed 
+that she too had seen the momentary red gleam in 
+Voldemort’s eyes. “Here, Hokey, take these away and 
+lock them up again. ... The usual enchantments ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Time to leave, Harry,” said Dumbledore quietly, and 
+as the little elf bobbed away bearing the boxes, 
+Dumbledore grasped Harry once again above the 
+elbow and together they rose up through oblivion and 
+back to Dumbledore ’s office. 
+
+“Hepzibah Smith died two days after that little scene,” 
+said Dumbledore, resuming his seat and indicating 
+that Harry should do the same. “Hokey the house-elf 
+was convicted by the Ministry of poisoning her 
+mistress’s evening cocoa by accident.” 
+
+“No way!” said Harry angrily. 
+
+“I see we are of one mind,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Certainly, there are many similarities between this 
+death and that of the Riddles. In both cases, 
+somebody else took the blame, someone who had a 
+clear memory of having caused the death — ” 
+
+“Hokey confessed?” 
+
+“She remembered putting something in her mistress’s 
+cocoa that turned out not to be sugar, but a lethal 
+and little-known poison,” said Dumbledore. “It was 
+concluded that she had not meant to do it, but being 
+old and confused — ” 
+
+“Voldemort modified her memory, just like he did with 
+Morfin!” 
+
+“Yes, that is my conclusion too,” said Dumbledore. 
+“And, just as with Morfin, the Ministry was 
+predisposed to suspect Hokey — ” 
+
+“ — because she was a house-elf,” said Harry. He had 
+rarely felt more in sympathy with the society 
+Hermione had set up, S.P.E.W. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Precisely,” said Dumbledore. “She was old, she 
+admitted to having tampered with the drink, and 
+nobody at the Ministry bothered to inquire further. As 
+in the case of Morfin, by the time I traced her and 
+managed to extract this memory, her life was almost 
+over — but her memory, of course, proves nothing 
+except that Voldemort knew of the existence of the 
+cup and the locket. 
+
+“By the time Hokey was convicted, Hepzibah’s family 
+had realized that two of her greatest treasures were 
+missing. It took them a while to be sure of this, for 
+she had many hiding places, having always guarded 
+her collection most jealously. But before they were 
+sure beyond doubt that the cup and the locket were 
+both gone, the assistant who had worked at Borgin 
+and Burkes, the young man who had visited 
+Hepzibah so regularly and charmed her so well, had 
+resigned his post and vanished. His superiors had no 
+idea where he had gone; they were as surprised as 
+anyone at his disappearance. And that was the last 
+that was seen or heard of Tom Riddle for a very long 
+time. 
+
+“Now,” said Dumbledore, “if you don’t mind, Harry, I 
+want to pause once more to draw your attention to 
+certain points of our story. Voldemort had committed 
+another murder; whether it was his first since he 
+killed the Riddles, I do not know, but I think it was. 
+This time, as you will have seen, he killed not for 
+revenge, but for gain. He wanted the two fabulous 
+trophies that poor, besotted, old woman showed him. 
+Just as he had once robbed the other children at his 
+orphanage, just as he had stolen his Uncle Morfin ’s 
+ring, so he ran off now with Hepzibah’s cup and 
+locket.” 
+
+“But,” said Harry, frowning, “it seems mad. ... Risking 
+everything, throwing away his job, just for those ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Mad to you, perhaps, but not to Voldemort,” said 
+Dumbledore. “I hope you will understand in due 
+course exactly what those objects meant to him, 
+Harry, but you must admit that it is not difficult to 
+imagine that he saw the locket, at least, as rightfully 
+his.” 
+
+“The locket maybe,” said Harry, “but why take the 
+cup as well?” 
+
+“It had belonged to another of Hogwarts’s founders,” 
+said Dumbledore. “I think he still felt a great pull 
+toward the school and that he could not resist an 
+object so steeped in Hogwarts history. There were 
+other reasons, I think. ... I hope to be able to 
+demonstrate them to you in due course. 
+
+“And now for the very last recollection I have to show 
+you, at least until you manage to retrieve Professor 
+Slughorn’s memory for us. Ten years separates 
+Hokey’s memory and this one, ten years during which 
+we can only guess at what Lord Voldemort was doing. 
+
+
+
+Harry got to his feet once more as Dumbledore 
+emptied the last memory into the Pensieve. 
+
+“Whose memory is it?” he asked. 
+
+“Mine,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+And Harry dived after Dumbledore through the 
+shifting silver mass, landing in the very office he had 
+just left. There was Fawkes slumbering happily on his 
+perch, and there behind the desk was Dumbledore, 
+who looked very similar to the Dumbledore standing 
+beside Harry, though both hands were whole and 
+undamaged and his face was, perhaps, a little less 
+lined. The one difference between the present-day 
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+
+
+
+
+office and this one was that it was snowing in the 
+past; bluish flecks were drifting past the window in 
+the dark and building up on the outside ledge. 
+
+The younger Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for 
+something, and sure enough, moments after their 
+arrival, there was a knock on the door and he said, 
+“Enter.” 
+
+Harry let out a hastily stifled gasp. Voldemort had 
+entered the room. His features were not those Harry 
+had seen emerge from the great stone cauldron 
+almost two years ago: They were not as snakelike, the 
+eyes were not yet scarlet, the face not yet masklike, 
+and yet he was no longer handsome Tom Riddle. It 
+was as though his features had been burned and 
+blurred; they were waxy and oddly distorted, and the 
+whites of the eyes now had a permanently bloody 
+look, though the pupils were not yet the slits that 
+Harry knew they would become. He was wearing a 
+long black cloak, and his face was as pale as the 
+snow glistening on his shoulders. 
+
+The Dumbledore behind the desk showed no sign of 
+surprise. Evidently this visit had been made by 
+appointment. 
+
+“Good evening, Tom,” said Dumbledore easily. “Won’t 
+you sit down?” 
+
+“Thank you,” said Voldemort, and he took the seat to 
+which Dumbledore had gestured — the very seat, by 
+the looks of it, that Harry had just vacated in the 
+present. “I heard that you had become headmaster,” 
+he said, and his voice was slightly higher and colder 
+than it had been. “A worthy choice.” 
+
+“I am glad you approve,” said Dumbledore, smiling. 
+“May I offer you a drink?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That would be welcome,” said Voldemort. “I have 
+come a long way.” 
+
+Dumbledore stood and swept over to the cabinet 
+where he now kept the Pensieve, but which then was 
+full of bottles. Having handed Voldemort a goblet of 
+wine and poured one for himself, he returned to the 
+seat behind his desk. 
+
+“So, Tom ... to what do I owe the pleasure?” 
+
+Voldemort did not answer at once, but merely sipped 
+his wine. 
+
+“They do not call me Tom’ anymore,” he said. “These 
+days, I am known as — ” 
+
+“I know what you are known as,” said Dumbledore, 
+smiling pleasantly. “But to me, I’m afraid, you will 
+always be Tom Riddle. It is one of the irritating things 
+about old teachers. I am afraid that they never quite 
+forget their charges’ youthful beginnings.” 
+
+He raised his glass as though toasting Voldemort, 
+whose face remained expressionless. Nevertheless, 
+Harry felt the atmosphere in the room change subtly: 
+Dumbledore’s refusal to use Voldemort’s chosen 
+name was a refusal to allow Voldemort to dictate the 
+terms of the meeting, and Harry could tell that 
+Voldemort took it as such. 
+
+“I am surprised you have remained here so long,” said 
+Voldemort after a short pause. “I always wondered 
+why a wizard such as yourself never wished to leave 
+school.” 
+
+“Well,” said Dumbledore, still smiling, “to a wizard 
+such as myself, there can be nothing more important 
+than passing on ancient skills, helping hone young 
+
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+
+
+
+
+minds. If I remember correctly, you once saw the 
+attraction of teaching too.” 
+
+“I see it still,” said Voldemort. “I merely wondered why 
+you — who are so often asked for advice by the 
+Ministry, and who have twice, I think, been offered 
+the post of Minister — ” 
+
+“Three times at the last count, actually,” said 
+Dumbledore. “But the Ministry never attracted me as 
+a career. Again, something we have in common, I 
+think.” 
+
+Voldemort inclined his head, unsmiling, and took 
+another sip of wine. Dumbledore did not break the 
+silence that stretched between them now, but waited, 
+with a look of pleasant expectancy, for Voldemort to 
+talk first. 
+
+“I have returned,” he said, after a little while, “later, 
+perhaps, than Professor Dippet expected ... but I have 
+returned, nevertheless, to request again what he once 
+told me I was too young to have. I have come to you to 
+ask that you permit me to return to this castle, to 
+teach. I think you must know that I have seen and 
+done much since I left this place. I could show and 
+tell your students things they can gain from no other 
+wizard.” 
+
+Dumbledore considered Voldemort over the top of his 
+own goblet for a while before speaking. 
+
+“Yes, I certainly do know that you have seen and done 
+much since leaving us,” he said quietly. “Rumors of 
+your doings have reached your old school, Tom. I 
+should be sorry to believe half of them.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Voldemort ’s expression remained impassive as he 
+said, “Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, 
+spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore.” 
+
+“You call it ‘greatness,’ what you have been doing, do 
+you?” asked Dumbledore delicately. 
+
+“Certainly,” said Voldemort, and his eyes seemed to 
+burn red. “I have experimented; I have pushed the 
+boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have 
+ever been pushed — ” 
+
+“Of some kinds of magic,” Dumbledore corrected him 
+quietly. “Of some. Of others, you remain ... forgive me 
+... woefully ignorant.” 
+
+For the first time, Voldemort smiled. It was a taut 
+leer, an evil thing, more threatening than a look of 
+rage. 
+
+“The old argument,” he said softly. “But nothing I 
+have seen in the world has supported your famous 
+pronouncements that love is more powerful than my 
+kind of magic, Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places,” 
+suggested Dumbledore. 
+
+“Well, then, what better place to start my fresh 
+researches than here, at Hogwarts?” said Voldemort. 
+“Will you let me return? Will you let me share my 
+knowledge with your students? I place myself and my 
+talents at your disposal. I am yours to command.” 
+
+Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. “And what will 
+become of those whom you command? What will 
+happen to those who call themselves — or so rumor 
+has it — the Death Eaters?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry could tell that Voldemort had not expected 
+Dumbledore to know this name; he saw Voldemort’s 
+eyes flash red again and the slitlike nostrils flare. 
+
+“My friends,” he said, after a moment’s pause, “will 
+carry on without me, I am sure.” 
+
+“I am glad to hear that you consider them friends,” 
+said Dumbledore. “I was under the impression that 
+they are more in the order of servants.” 
+
+“You are mistaken,” said Voldemort. 
+
+“Then if I were to go to the Hog’s Head tonight, I 
+would not find a group of them — Nott, Rosier, 
+Mulciber, Dolohov — awaiting your return? Devoted 
+friends indeed, to travel this far with you on a snowy 
+night, merely to wish you luck as you attempted to 
+secure a teaching post.” 
+
+There could be no doubt that Dumbledore ’s detailed 
+knowledge of those with whom he was traveling was 
+even less welcome to Voldemort; however, he rallied 
+almost at once. 
+
+“You are omniscient as ever, Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Oh no, merely friendly with the local barmen,” said 
+Dumbledore lightly. “Now, Tom ...” 
+
+Dumbledore set down his empty glass and drew 
+himself up in his seat, the tips of his fingers together 
+in a very characteristic gesture. 
+
+“Let us speak openly. Why have you come here 
+tonight, surrounded by henchmen, to request a job 
+we both know you do not want?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Voldemort looked coldly surprised. “A job I do not 
+want? On the contrary, Dumbledore, I want it very 
+much.” 
+
+
+
+“Oh, you want to come back to Hogwarts, but you do 
+not want to teach any more than you wanted to when 
+you were eighteen. What is it you’re after, Tom? Why 
+not try an open request for once?” 
+
+Voldemort sneered. “If you do not want to give me a 
+job -” 
+
+
+
+“Of course I don’t,” said Dumbledore. “And I don’t 
+think for a moment you expected me to. Nevertheless, 
+you came here, you asked, you must have had a 
+purpose.” 
+
+Voldemort stood up. He looked less like Tom Riddle 
+than ever, his features thick with rage. “This is your 
+final word?” 
+
+“It is,” said Dumbledore, also standing. 
+
+“Then we have nothing more to say to each other.” 
+
+“No, nothing,” said Dumbledore, and a great sadness 
+filled his face. “The time is long gone when I could 
+frighten you with a burning wardrobe and force you 
+to make repayment for your crimes. But I wish I 
+could, Tom. ... I wish I could. ...” 
+
+For a second, Harry was on the verge of shouting a 
+pointless warning: He was sure that Voldemort’s hand 
+had twitched toward his pocket and his wand; but 
+then the moment had passed, Voldemort had turned 
+away, the door was closing, and he was gone. 
+
+Harry felt Dumbledore ’s hand close over his arm 
+again and moments later, they were standing together 
+
+Page | 501 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+on almost the same spot, but there was no snow 
+building on the window ledge, and Dumbledore’s 
+hand was blackened and dead-looking once more. 
+
+“Why?” said Harry at once, looking up into 
+Dumbledore’s face. “Why did he come back? Did you 
+ever find out?” 
+
+��I have ideas,” said Dumbledore, “but no more than 
+that.” 
+
+“What ideas, sir?” 
+
+“I shall tell you, Harry, when you have retrieved that 
+memory from Professor Slughorn,” said Dumbledore. 
+“When you have that last piece of the jigsaw, 
+everything will, I hope, be clear ... to both of us.” 
+
+Harry was still burning with curiosity and even 
+though Dumbledore had walked to the door and was 
+holding it open for him, he did not move at once. 
+
+“Was he after the Defense Against the Dark Arts job 
+again, sir? He didn’t say. ...” 
+
+“Oh, he definitely wanted the Defense Against the 
+Dark Arts job,” said Dumbledore. “The aftermath of 
+our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never 
+been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post 
+to Lord Voldemort.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE UNKNOWABLE ROOM 
+
+Harry wracked his brains over the next week as to 
+how he was to persuade Slughorn to hand over the 
+true memory, but nothing in the nature of a brain 
+wave occurred and he was reduced to doing what he 
+did increasingly these days when at a loss: poring 
+over his Potions book, hoping that the Prince would 
+have scribbled something useful in a margin, as he 
+had done so many times before. 
+
+“You won’t find anything in there,” said Hermione 
+firmly, late on Sunday evening. 
+
+“Don’t start, Hermione,” said Harry. “If it hadn’t been 
+for the Prince, Ron wouldn’t be sitting here now.” 
+
+“He would if you’d just listened to Snape in our first 
+year,” said Hermione dismissively. 
+
+Harry ignored her. He had just found an incantation 
+(“ Sectumsempral”) scrawled in a margin above the 
+intriguing words “For Enemies,” and was itching to 
+
+
+
+Page | 503 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+try it out, but thought it best not to in front of 
+Hermione. Instead, he surreptitiously folded down the 
+corner of the page. 
+
+They were sitting beside the fire in the common room; 
+the only other people awake were fellow sixth years. 
+There had been a certain amount of excitement earlier 
+when they had come back from dinner to find a new 
+sign on the notice board that announced the date for 
+their Apparition Test. Those who would be seventeen 
+on or before the first test date, the twenty-first of 
+April, had the option of signing up for additional 
+practice sessions, which would take place (heavily 
+supervised) in Hogsmeade. 
+
+Ron had panicked on reading this notice; he had still 
+not managed to Apparate and feared he would not be 
+ready for the test. Hermione, who had now achieved 
+Apparition twice, was a little more confident, but 
+Harry, who would not be seventeen for another four 
+months, could not take the test whether ready or not. 
+
+“At least you can Apparate, though!” said Ron tensely. 
+“You’ll have no trouble come July!” 
+
+“I’ve only done it once,” Harry reminded him; he had 
+finally managed to disappear and rematerialize inside 
+his hoop during their previous lesson. 
+
+Having wasted a lot of time worrying aloud about 
+Apparition, Ron was now struggling to finish a 
+viciously difficult essay for Snape that Harry and 
+Hermione had already completed. Harry fully 
+expected to receive low marks on his, because he had 
+disagreed with Snape on the best way to tackle 
+dementors, but he did not care: Slughorn’s memory 
+was the most important thing to him now. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm telling you, the stupid Prince isn’t going to be 
+able to help you with this, Harry!” said Hermione, 
+more loudly. “There’s only one way to force someone 
+to do what you want, and that’s the Imperius Curse, 
+which is illegal — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I know that, thanks,” said Harry, not looking 
+up from the book. “That’s why I’m looking for 
+something different. Dumbledore says Veritaserum 
+won’t do it, but there might be something else, a 
+potion or a spell. ...” 
+
+“You’re going about it the wrong way,” said Hermione. 
+“Only you can get the memory, Dumbledore says. 
+
+That must mean you can persuade Slughorn where 
+other people can’t. It’s not a question of slipping him 
+a potion, anyone could do that — ” 
+
+“How d’you spell ‘belligerent’?” said Ron, shaking his 
+quill very hard while staring at his parchment. “It 
+can’t be B — U — M — ” 
+
+“No, it isn’t,” said Hermione, pulling Ron’s essay 
+toward her. “And ‘augury’ doesn’t begin O — R — G 
+either. What kind of quill are you using?” 
+
+“It’s one of Fred and George’s Spell-Check ones ... but 
+I think the charm must be wearing off. ...” 
+
+“Yes, it must,” said Hermione, pointing at the title of 
+his essay, “because we were asked how we’d deal with 
+dementors, not ‘Dugbogs,’ and I don’t remember you 
+changing your name to ‘Roonil Wazlib’ either.” 
+
+“Ah no!” said Ron, staring horror-struck at the 
+parchment. “Don’t say I’ll have to write the whole 
+thing out again!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s okay, we can fix it,” said Hermione, pulling the 
+essay toward her and taking out her wand. 
+
+“I love you, Hermione,” said Ron, sinking back in his 
+chair, rubbing his eyes wearily. 
+
+Hermione turned faintly pink, but merely said, “Don’t 
+let Lavender hear you saying that.” 
+
+“I won’t,” said Ron into his hands. “Or maybe I will ... 
+then she’ll ditch me ...” 
+
+“Why don’t you ditch her if you want to finish it?” 
+asked Harry. 
+
+“You haven’t ever chucked anyone, have you?” said 
+Ron. “You and Cho just — ” 
+
+“Sort of fell apart, yeah,” said Harry 
+
+“Wish that would happen with me and Lavender,” 
+said Ron gloomily, watching Hermione silently 
+tapping each of his misspelled words with the end of 
+her wand, so that they corrected themselves on the 
+page. “But the more I hint I want to finish it, the 
+tighter she holds on. It’s like going out with the giant 
+squid.” 
+
+“There,” said Hermione, some twenty minutes later, 
+handing back Ron’s essay. 
+
+“Thanks a million,” said Ron. “Can I borrow your quill 
+for the conclusion?” 
+
+Harry, who had found nothing useful in the Half- 
+Blood Prince’s notes so far, looked around; the three 
+of them were now the only ones left in the common 
+room, Seamus having just gone up to bed cursing 
+Snape and his essay. The only sounds were the 
+Page | 506 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+crackling of the fire and Ron scratching out one last 
+paragraph on dementors using Hermione’s quill. 
+
+Harry had just closed the Half-Blood Prince’s book, 
+yawning, when — 
+
+Crack. 
+
+Hermione let out a little shriek; Ron spilled ink all 
+over his freshly completed essay, and Harry said, 
+“Kreacher!” 
+
+The house-elf bowed low and addressed his own 
+gnarled toes. 
+
+“Master said he wanted regular reports on what the 
+Malfoy boy is doing, so Kreacher has come to give — ” 
+
+Crack. 
+
+Dobby appeared alongside Kreacher, his tea-cozy hat 
+askew. 
+
+“Dobby has been helping too, Harry Potter!” he 
+squeaked, casting Kreacher a resentful look. “And 
+Kreacher ought to tell Dobby when he is coming to 
+see Harry Potter so they can make their reports 
+together!” 
+
+“What is this?” asked Hermione, still looking shocked 
+by these sudden appearances. “What’s going on, 
+Harry?” 
+
+Harry hesitated before answering, because he had not 
+told Hermione about setting Kreacher and Dobby to 
+tail Malfoy; house-elves were always such a touchy 
+subject with her. 
+
+“Well ... they’ve been following Malfoy for me,” he 
+said. 
+
+Page | 507 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Night and day,” croaked Kreacher. 
+
+“Dobby has not slept for a week, Harry Potter!” said 
+Dobby proudly, swaying where he stood. 
+
+Hermione looked indignant. 
+
+“You haven’t slept, Dobby? But surely, Harry, you 
+didn’t tell him not to — ” 
+
+“No, of course I didn’t,” said Harry quickly. “Dobby, 
+you can sleep, all right? But has either of you found 
+out anything?” he hastened to ask, before Hermione 
+could intervene again. 
+
+“Master Malfoy moves with a nobility that befits his 
+pure blood,” croaked Kreacher at once. “His features 
+recall the fine bones of my mistress and his manners 
+are those of — ” 
+
+“Draco Malfoy is a bad boy!” squeaked Dobby angrily. 
+“A bad boy who — who — ” 
+
+He shuddered from the tassel of his tea cozy to the 
+toes of his socks and then ran at the fire, as though 
+about to dive into it; Harry, to whom this was not 
+entirely unexpected, caught him around the middle 
+and held him fast. For a few seconds Dobby 
+struggled, then went limp. 
+
+“Thank you, Harry Potter,” he panted. “Dobby still 
+finds it difficult to speak ill of his old masters. ...” 
+
+Harry released him; Dobby straightened his tea cozy 
+and said defiantly to Kreacher, “But Kreacher should 
+know that Draco Malfoy is not a good master to a 
+house-elf!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 508 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, we don’t need to hear about you being in love 
+with Malfoy,” Harry told Kreacher. “Let’s fast forward 
+to where he’s actually been going.” 
+
+Kreacher bowed again, looking furious, and then said, 
+“Master Malfoy eats in the Great Hall, he sleeps in a 
+dormitory in the dungeons, he attends his classes in 
+a variety of — ” 
+
+“Dobby, you tell me,” said Harry, cutting across 
+Kreacher. “Has he been going anywhere he shouldn’t 
+have?” 
+
+“Harry Potter, sir,” squeaked Dobby, his great orblike 
+eyes shining in the firelight, “the Malfoy boy is 
+breaking no rules that Dobby can discover, but he is 
+still keen to avoid detection. He has been making 
+regular visits to the seventh floor with a variety of 
+other students, who keep watch for him while he 
+enters — ” 
+
+“The Room of Requirement!” said Harry, smacking 
+himself hard on the forehead with Advanced Potion- 
+Making. Hermione and Ron stared at him. “That’s 
+where he’s been sneaking off to! That’s where he’s 
+doing ... whatever he’s doing! And I bet that’s why 
+he’s been disappearing off the map — come to think 
+of it, I’ve never seen the Room of Requirement on 
+there!” 
+
+“Maybe the Marauders never knew the room was 
+there,” said Ron. 
+
+“I think it’ll be part of the magic of the room,” said 
+Hermione. “If you need it to be Unplottable, it will be.” 
+
+“Dobby, have you managed to get in to have a look at 
+what Malfoy’s doing?” said Harry eagerly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 509 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, Harry Potter, that is impossible,” said Dobby. 
+
+
+
+“No, it’s not,” said Harry at once. “Malfoy got into our 
+headquarters there last year, so I’ll be able to get in 
+and spy on him, no problem.” 
+
+“But I don’t think you will, Harry,” said Hermione 
+slowly. “Malfoy already knew exactly how we were 
+using the room, didn’t he, because that stupid 
+Marietta had blabbed. He needed the room to become 
+the headquarters of the D.A., so it did. But you don’t 
+know what the room becomes when Malfoy goes in 
+there, so you don’t know what to ask it to transform 
+into.” 
+
+“There’ll be a way around that,” said Harry 
+dismissively. “You’ve done brilliantly, Dobby.” 
+
+“Kreacher’s done well too,” said Hermione kindly; but 
+far from looking grateful, Kreacher averted his huge, 
+bloodshot eyes and croaked at the ceiling, “The 
+Mudblood is speaking to Kreacher, Kreacher will 
+pretend he cannot hear — ” 
+
+“Get out of it,” Harry snapped at him, and Kreacher 
+made one last deep bow and Disapparated. “You’d 
+better go and get some sleep too, Dobby.” 
+
+“Thank you, Harry Potter, sir!” squeaked Dobby 
+happily, and he too vanished. 
+
+“How good’s this?” said Harry enthusiastically, 
+turning to Ron and Hermione the moment the room 
+was elf-free again. “We know where Malfoy’s going! 
+We’ve got him cornered now!” 
+
+“Yeah, it’s great,” said Ron glumly, who was 
+attempting to mop up the sodden mass of ink that 
+had recently been an almost completed essay. 
+
+Page | 510 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione pulled it toward her and began siphoning 
+the ink off with her wand. 
+
+“But what’s all this about him going up there with a 
+Variety of students’?” said Hermione. “How many 
+people are in on it? You wouldn’t think he’d trust lots 
+of them to know what he’s doing. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, that is weird,” said Harry, frowning. “I heard 
+him telling Crabbe it wasn’t Crabbe’s business what 
+he was doing ... so what’s he telling all these ... all 
+these ...” 
+
+Harry’s voice tailed away; he was staring at the fire. 
+
+“God, I’ve been stupid,” he said quietly. “It’s obvious, 
+isn’t it? There was a great vat of it down in the 
+dungeon. ... He could’ve nicked some any time during 
+that lesson. ...” 
+
+“Nicked what?” said Ron. 
+
+“Polyjuice Potion. He stole some of the Polyjuice 
+Potion Slughorn showed us in our first Potions 
+lesson. ... There aren’t a whole variety of students 
+standing guard for Malfoy ... it’s just Crabbe and 
+Goyle as usual. ... Yeah, it all fits!” said Harry, 
+jumping up and starting to pace in front of the fire. 
+“They’re stupid enough to do what they’re told even if 
+he won’t tell them what he’s up to ... but he doesn’t 
+want them to be seen lurking around outside the 
+Room of Requirement, so he’s got them taking 
+Polyjuice to make them look like other people. ... 
+Those two girls I saw him with when he missed 
+Quidditch — ha! Crabbe and Goyle!” 
+
+“Do you mean to say,” said Hermione in a hushed 
+voice, “that that little girl whose scales I repaired — ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 511 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, of course!” said Harry loudly, staring at her. 
+“Of course! Malfoy must’ve been inside the room at 
+the time, so she — what am I talking about? — he 
+dropped the scales to tell Malfoy not to come out, 
+because there was someone there! And there was that 
+girl who dropped the toadspawn too! We’ve been 
+walking past him all the time and not realizing it!” 
+
+“He’s got Crabbe and Goyle transforming into girls?” 
+guffawed Ron. “Blimey ... No wonder they don’t look 
+too happy these days. ... I’m surprised they don’t tell 
+him to stuff it. ...” 
+
+“Well, they wouldn’t, would they, if he’s shown them 
+his Dark Mark?” said Harry. 
+
+“Hmmm ... the Dark Mark we don’t know exists,” said 
+Hermione skeptically, rolling up Ron’s dried essay 
+before it could come to any more harm and handing it 
+to him. 
+
+“Well see,” said Harry confidently. 
+
+“Yes, we will,” Hermione said, getting to her feet and 
+stretching. “But, Harry, before you get all excited, I 
+still don’t think you’ll be able to get into the Room of 
+Requirement without knowing what’s there first. And 
+I don’t think you should forget” — she heaved her bag 
+onto her shoulder and gave him a very serious look — 
+“that what you’re supposed to be concentrating on is 
+getting that memory from Slughorn. Good night.” 
+
+Harry watched her go, feeling slightly disgruntled. 
+Once the door to the girls’ dormitories had closed 
+behind her he rounded on Ron. 
+
+“What d’you think?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 512 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Wish I could Disapparate like a house-elf,” said Ron, 
+staring at the spot where Dobby had vanished. “I’d 
+have that Apparition Test in the bag.” 
+
+Harry did not sleep well that night. He lay awake for 
+what felt like hours, wondering how Malfoy was using 
+the Room of Requirement and what he, Harry, would 
+see when he went in there the following day, for 
+whatever Hermione said, Harry was sure that if 
+Malfoy had been able to see the headquarters of the 
+D.A., he would be able to see Malfoy ’s ... what could it 
+be? A meeting place? A hideout? A storeroom? A 
+workshop? Harry’s mind worked feverishly and his 
+dreams, when he finally fell asleep, were broken and 
+disturbed by images of Malfoy, who turned into 
+Slughorn, who turned into Snape. ... 
+
+Harry was in a state of great anticipation over 
+breakfast the following morning; he had a free period 
+before Defense Against the Dark Arts and was 
+determined to spend it trying to get into the Room of 
+Requirement. Hermione was rather ostentatiously 
+showing no interest in his whispered plans for forcing 
+entry into the room, which irritated Harry, because he 
+thought she might be a lot of help if she wanted to. 
+
+“Look,” he said quietly, leaning forward and putting a 
+hand on the Daily Prophet, which she had just 
+removed from a post owl, to stop her from opening it 
+and vanishing behind it. “I haven’t forgotten about 
+Slughorn, but I haven’t got a clue how to get that 
+memory off him, and until I get a brain wave why 
+shouldn’t I find out what Malfoy’s doing?” 
+
+“I’ve already told you, you need to persuade 
+Slughorn,” said Hermione. “It’s not a question of 
+tricking him or bewitching him, or Dumbledore could 
+have done it in a second. Instead of messing around 
+outside the Room of Requirement” — she jerked the 
+Page | 513 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Prophet out from under Harry’s hand and unfolded it 
+to look at the front page — “you should go and find 
+Slughorn and start appealing to his better nature.” 
+
+“Anyone we know — ?” asked Ron, as Hermione 
+scanned the headlines. 
+
+“Yes!” said Hermione, causing both Harry and Ron to 
+gag on their breakfast. “But it’s all right, he’s not 
+dead — it’s Mundungus, he’s been arrested and sent 
+to Azkaban! Something to do with impersonating an 
+Inferius during an attempted burglary . . . and 
+someone called Octavius Pepper has vanished. ... Oh, 
+and how horrible, a nine-year-old boy has been 
+arrested for trying to kill his grandparents, they think 
+he was under the Imperius Curse. ...” 
+
+They finished their breakfast in silence. Hermione set 
+off immediately for Ancient Runes; Ron for the 
+common room, where he still had to finish his 
+conclusion on Snape’s dementor essay; and Harry for 
+the corridor on the seventh floor and the stretch of 
+wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy 
+teaching trolls to do ballet. 
+
+Harry slipped on his Invisibility Cloak once he had 
+found an empty passage, but he need not have 
+bothered. When he reached his destination he found 
+it deserted. Harry was not sure whether his chances 
+of getting inside the room were better with Malfoy 
+inside it or out, but at least his first attempt was not 
+going to be complicated by the presence of Crabbe or 
+Goyle pretending to be an eleven-year-old girl. 
+
+He closed his eyes as he approached the place where 
+the Room of Requirement’s door was concealed. He 
+knew what he had to do; he had become most 
+accomplished at it last year. Concentrating with all 
+his might he thought, I need to see what Malfoy ’s 
+Page | 514 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+doing in here. ... I need to see what Malfoy’s doing in 
+here. ... I need to see what Malfoy’s doing in here. ... 
+
+Three times he walked past the door; then, his heart 
+pounding with excitement, he opened his eyes and 
+faced it — 
+
+But he was still looking at a stretch of mundanely 
+blank wall. 
+
+He moved forward and gave it an experimental push. 
+The stone remained solid and unyielding. 
+
+“Okay,” said Harry aloud. “Okay ... I thought the 
+wrong thing. ...” 
+
+He pondered for a moment then set off again, eyes 
+closed, concentrating as hard as he could. 
+
+I need to see the place where Malfoy keeps coming 
+secretly. ... I need to see the place where Malfoy keeps 
+coming secretly. . . . 
+
+After three walks past, he opened his eyes 
+expectantly. 
+
+There was no door. 
+
+“Oh, come off it,” he told the wall irritably. “That was 
+a clear instruction. ... Fine ...” 
+
+He thought hard for several minutes before striding 
+off once more. 
+
+I need you to become the place you become for Draco 
+Malfoy. ... 
+
+He did not immediately open his eyes when he had 
+finished his patrolling; he was listening hard, as 
+
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+
+
+
+
+though he might hear the door pop into existence. He 
+heard nothing, however, except the distant twittering 
+of birds outside. He opened his eyes. 
+
+There was still no door. 
+
+Harry swore. Someone screamed. He looked around to 
+see a gaggle of first years running back around the 
+corner, apparently under the impression that they 
+had just encountered a particularly foulmouthed 
+ghost. 
+
+Harry tried every variation of “I need to see what 
+Draco Malfoy is doing inside you” that he could think 
+of for a whole hour, at the end of which he was forced 
+to concede that Hermione might have had a point: 
+
+The room simply did not want to open for him. 
+Frustrated and annoyed, he set off for Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts, pulling off his Invisibility Cloak 
+and stuffing it into his bag as he went. 
+
+“Late again, Potter,” said Snape coldly, as Harry 
+hurried into the candlelit classroom. “Ten points from 
+Gryffindor.” 
+
+Harry scowled at Snape as he flung himself into the 
+seat beside Ron; half the class was still on its feet, 
+taking out books and organizing their things; he 
+could not be much later than any of them. 
+
+“Before we start, I want your dementor essays,” said 
+Snape, waving his wand carelessly, so that twenty- 
+five scrolls of parchment soared into the air and 
+landed in a neat pile on his desk. “And I hope for your 
+sakes they are better than the tripe I had to endure 
+on resisting the Imperius Curse. Now, if you will all 
+open your books to page — what is it, Mr. Finnigan?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sir,” said Seamus, “I’ve been wondering, how do you 
+tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost? 
+Because there was something in the paper about an 
+Inferius — ” 
+
+“No, there wasn’t,” said Snape in a bored voice. 
+
+“But sir, I heard people talking — ” 
+
+“If you had actually read the article in question, Mr. 
+Finnigan, you would have known that the so-called 
+Inferius was nothing but a smelly sneak thief by the 
+name of Mundungus Fletcher.” 
+
+“I thought Snape and Mundungus were on the same 
+side,” muttered Harry to Ron and Hermione. 
+“Shouldn’t he be upset Mundungus has been arrest 
+
+
+
+“But Potter seems to have a lot to say on the subject,” 
+said Snape, pointing suddenly at the back of the 
+room, his black eyes fixed on Harry “Let us ask Potter 
+how we would tell the difference between an Inferius 
+and a ghost.” 
+
+The whole class looked around at Harry, who hastily 
+tried to recall what Dumbledore had told him the 
+night that they had gone to visit Slughorn. 
+
+“Er — well — ghosts are transparent — ” he said. 
+
+“Oh, very good,” interrupted Snape, his lip curling. 
+“Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical 
+education have not been wasted on you, Potter. 
+‘Ghosts are transparent.’ ” 
+
+Pansy Parkinson let out a high-pitched giggle. Several 
+other people were smirking. Harry took a deep breath 
+and continued calmly, though his insides were 
+
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+
+
+
+
+boiling, “Yeah, ghosts are transparent, but Inferi are 
+dead bodies, aren’t they? So they’d be solid — ” 
+
+“A five-year-old could have told us as much,” sneered 
+Snape. “The Inferius is a corpse that has been 
+reanimated by a Dark wizard’s spells. It is not alive, it 
+is merely used like a puppet to do the wizard’s 
+bidding. A ghost, as I trust that you are all aware by 
+now, is the imprint of a departed soul left upon the 
+earth ... and of course, as Potter so wisely tells us, 
+transparent.” 
+
+“Well, what Harry said is the most useful if we’re 
+trying to tell them apart!” said Ron. “When we come 
+face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we’re going to 
+be having a shufti to see if it’s solid, aren’t we, we’re 
+not going to be asking, ‘Excuse me, are you the 
+imprint of a departed soul?’ ” 
+
+There was a ripple of laughter, instantly quelled by 
+the look Snape gave the class. 
+
+“Another ten points from Gryffindor,” said Snape. “I 
+would expect nothing more sophisticated from you, 
+Ronald Weasley, the boy so solid he cannot Apparate 
+half an inch across a room.” 
+
+“IVo!” whispered Hermione, grabbing Harry’s arm as 
+he opened his mouth furiously. “There’s no point, 
+you’ll just end up in detention again, leave it!” 
+
+“Now open your books to page two hundred and 
+thirteen,” said Snape, smirking a little, “and read the 
+first two paragraphs on the Cruciatus Curse. ...” 
+
+Ron was very subdued all through the class. When 
+the bell sounded at the end of the lesson, Lavender 
+caught up with Ron and Harry (Hermione 
+mysteriously melted out of sight as she approached) 
+
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+
+
+
+
+and abused Snape hotly for his jibe about Ron’s 
+Apparition, but this seemed to merely irritate Ron, 
+and he shook her off by making a detour into the 
+boys’ bathroom with Harry. 
+
+“Snape’s right, though, isn’t he?” said Ron, after 
+staring into a cracked mirror for a minute or two. “I 
+dunno whether it’s worth me taking the test. I just 
+can’t get the hang of Apparition.” 
+
+“You might as well do the extra practice sessions in 
+Hogsmeade and see where they get you,” said Harry 
+reasonably. “It’ll be more interesting than trying to get 
+into a stupid hoop anyway. Then, if you’re still not — 
+you know — as good as you’d like to be, you can 
+postpone the test, do it with me over the summ — 
+Myrtle, this is the boys’ bathroom!” 
+
+The ghost of a girl had risen out of the toilet in a 
+cubicle behind them and was now floating in midair, 
+staring at them through thick, white, round glasses. 
+
+“Oh,” she said glumly. “It’s you two.” 
+
+“Who were you expecting?” said Ron, looking at her in 
+the mirror. 
+
+“Nobody,” said Myrtle, picking moodily at a spot on 
+her chin. “He said he’d come back and see me, but 
+then you said you’d pop in and visit me too” — she 
+gave Harry a reproachful look — “and I haven’t seen 
+you for months and months. I’ve learned not to expect 
+too much from boys.” 
+
+“I thought you lived in that girls’ bathroom?” said 
+Harry, who had been careful to give the place a wide 
+berth for some years now. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I do,” she said, with a sulky little shrug, “but that 
+doesn’t mean I can’t visit other places. I came and 
+saw you in your bath once, remember?” 
+
+“Vividly,” said Harry. 
+
+“But I thought he liked me,” she said plaintively. 
+“Maybe if you two left, he’d come back again. ... We 
+had lots in common. ... I’m sure he felt it. ...” 
+
+And she looked hopefully toward the door. 
+
+“When you say you had lots in common,” said Ron, 
+sounding rather amused now, “d’you mean he lives in 
+an S-bend too?” 
+
+“No,” said Myrtle defiantly, her voice echoing loudly 
+around the old tiled bathroom. “I mean he’s sensitive, 
+people bully him too, and he feels lonely and hasn’t 
+got anybody to talk to, and he’s not afraid to show his 
+feelings and cry!” 
+
+“There’s been a boy in here crying?” said Harry 
+curiously. “A young boy?” 
+
+“Never you mind!” said Myrtle, her small, leaky eyes 
+fixed on Ron, who was now definitely grinning. “I 
+promised I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I’ll take his 
+secret to the — ” 
+
+“ — not the grave, surely?” said Ron with a snort. “The 
+sewers, maybe ...” 
+
+Myrtle gave a howl of rage and dived back into the 
+toilet, causing water to slop over the sides and onto 
+the floor. Goading Myrtle seemed to have put fresh 
+heart into Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’re right,” he said, swinging his schoolbag back 
+over his shoulder, “I’ll do the practice sessions in 
+Hogsmeade before I decide about taking the test.” 
+
+And so the following weekend, Ron joined Hermione 
+and the rest of the sixth years who would turn 
+seventeen in time to take the test in a fortnight. Harry 
+felt rather jealous watching them all get ready to go 
+into the village; he missed making trips there, and it 
+was a particularly fine spring day, one of the first 
+clear skies they had seen in a long time. However, he 
+had decided to use the time to attempt another 
+assault on the Room of Requirement. 
+
+“You’d do better,” said Hermione, when he confided 
+this plan to Ron and her in the entrance hall, “to go 
+straight to Slughorn’s office and try and get that 
+memory from him.” 
+
+“I’ve been trying!” said Harry crossly, which was 
+perfectly true. He had lagged behind after every 
+Potions lesson that week in an attempt to corner 
+Slughorn, but the Potions master always left the 
+dungeon so fast that Harry had not been able to catch 
+him. Twice, Harry had gone to his office and knocked, 
+but received no reply, though on the second occasion 
+he was sure he had heard the quickly stifled sounds 
+of an old gramophone. 
+
+“He doesn’t want to talk to me, Hermione! He can tell 
+I’ve been trying to get him on his own again, and he’s 
+not going to let it happen!” 
+
+“Well, you’ve just got to keep at it, haven’t you?” 
+
+The short queue of people waiting to file past Filch, 
+who was doing his usual prodding act with the 
+Secrecy Sensor, moved forward a few steps and Harry 
+did not answer in case he was overheard by the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+caretaker. He wished Ron and Hermione both luck, 
+then turned and climbed the marble staircase again, 
+determined, whatever Hermione said, to devote an 
+hour or two to the Room of Requirement. 
+
+Once out of sight of the entrance hall, Harry pulled 
+the Marauder’s Map and his Invisibility Cloak from 
+his bag. Having concealed himself, he tapped the 
+map, murmured, “ I solemnly swear that I am up to no 
+good,” and scanned it carefully. 
+
+As it was Sunday morning, nearly all the students 
+were inside their various common rooms, the 
+Gryffindors in one tower, the Ravenclaws in another, 
+the Slytherins in the dungeons, and the Hufflepuffs in 
+the basement near the kitchens. Here and there a 
+stray person meandered around the library or up a 
+corridor. . . . There were a few people out in the 
+grounds ... and there, alone in the seventh-floor 
+corridor, was Gregory Goyle. There was no sign of the 
+Room of Requirement, but Harry was not worried 
+about that; if Goyle was standing guard outside it, the 
+room was open, whether the map was aware of it or 
+not. He therefore sprinted up the stairs, slowing down 
+only when he reached the corner into the corridor, 
+when he began to creep, very slowly, toward the very 
+same little girl, clutching her heavy brass scales, that 
+Hermione had so kindly helped a fortnight before. He 
+waited until he was right behind her before bending 
+very low and whispering, “Hello ... you’re very pretty, 
+aren’t you?” 
+
+Goyle gave a high-pitched scream of terror, threw the 
+scales up into the air, and sprinted away, vanishing 
+from sight long before the sound of the scales 
+smashing had stopped echoing around the corridor. 
+Laughing, Harry turned to contemplate the blank wall 
+behind which, he was sure, Draco Malfoy was now 
+standing frozen, aware that someone unwelcome was 
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+
+
+
+
+out there, but not daring to make an appearance. It 
+gave Harry a most agreeable feeling of power as he 
+tried to remember what form of words he had not yet 
+tried. 
+
+Yet this hopeful mood did not last long. Half an hour 
+later, having tried many more variations of his 
+request to see what Malfoy was up to, the wall was 
+just as doorless as ever. Harry felt frustrated beyond 
+belief; Malfoy might be just feet away from him, and 
+there was still not the tiniest shred of evidence as to 
+what he was doing in there. Losing his patience 
+completely, Harry ran at the wall and kicked it. 
+
+“OUCH!” 
+
+He thought he might have broken his toe; as he 
+clutched it and hopped on one foot, the Invisibility 
+Cloak slipped off him. 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+He spun around, one-legged, and toppled over. There, 
+to his utter astonishment, was Tonks, walking toward 
+him as though she frequently strolled up this 
+corridor. 
+
+“What’re you doing here?” he said, scrambling to his 
+feet again; why did she always have to find him lying 
+on the floor? 
+
+“I came to see Dumbledore,” said Tonks. 
+
+Harry thought she looked terrible: thinner than 
+usual, her mouse-colored hair lank. 
+
+“His office isn’t here,” said Harry, “it’s round the other 
+side of the castle, behind the gargoyle — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I know,” said Tonks. “He’s not there. Apparently he’s 
+gone away again.” 
+
+“Has he?” said Harry, putting his bruised foot gingerly 
+back on the floor. “Hey — you don’t know where he 
+goes, I suppose?” 
+
+“No,” said Tonks. 
+
+“What did you want to see him about?” 
+
+“Nothing in particular,” said Tonks, picking, 
+apparently unconsciously, at the sleeve of her robe. “I 
+just thought he might know what’s going on. ... I’ve 
+heard rumors ... people getting hurt ...” 
+
+“Yeah, I know, it’s all been in the papers,” said Harry. 
+“That little kid trying to kill his — ” 
+
+“The Prophet’s often behind the times,” said Tonks, 
+who didn’t seem to be listening to him. “You haven’t 
+had any letters from anyone in the Order recently?” 
+
+“No one from the Order writes to me anymore,” said 
+Harry, “not since Sirius — ” 
+
+He saw that her eyes had filled with tears. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” he muttered awkwardly. “I mean ... I miss 
+him, as well. ...” 
+
+“What?” said Tonks blankly, as though she had not 
+heard him. “Well ... I’ll see you around, Harry ...” 
+
+And she turned abruptly and walked back down the 
+corridor, leaving Harry to stare after her. After a 
+minute or so, he pulled the Invisibility Cloak on again 
+and resumed his efforts to get into the Room of 
+Requirement, but his heart was not in it. Finally, a 
+Page | 524 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hollow feeling in his stomach and the knowledge that 
+Ron and Hermione would soon be back for lunch 
+made him abandon the attempt and leave the corridor 
+to Malfoy who, hopefully, would be too afraid to leave 
+for some hours to come. 
+
+He found Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall, 
+already halfway through an early lunch. 
+
+“I did it — well, kind of!” Ron told Harry 
+enthusiastically when he caught sight of him. “I was 
+supposed to be Apparating to outside Madam 
+Puddifoot’s Tea Shop and I overshot it a bit, ended up 
+near Scrivenshaft’s, but at least I moved!” 
+
+“Good one,” said Harry. “How’d you do, Hermione?” 
+
+“Oh, she was perfect, obviously,” said Ron, before 
+Hermione could answer. “Perfect deliberation, 
+divination, and desperation or whatever the hell it is 
+— we all went for a quick drink in the Three 
+Broomsticks after and you should’ve heard Twycross 
+going on about her — I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t 
+pop the question soon — ” 
+
+“And what about you?” asked Hermione, ignoring 
+Ron. “Have you been up at the Room of Requirement 
+all this time?” 
+
+“Yep,” said Harry. “And guess who I ran into up 
+there? Tonks!” 
+
+“Tonks?” repeated Ron and Hermione together, 
+looking surprised. 
+
+“Yeah, she said she’d come to visit Dumbledore. ...” 
+
+“If you ask me,” said Ron once Harry had finished 
+describing his conversation with Tonks, “she’s 
+
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+
+
+
+
+cracking up a bit. Losing her nerve after what 
+happened at the Ministry.” 
+
+“It’s a bit odd,” said Hermione, who for some reason 
+looked very concerned. “She’s supposed to be 
+guarding the school, why’s she suddenly abandoning 
+her post to come and see Dumbledore when he’s not 
+even here?” 
+
+“I had a thought,” said Harry tentatively. He felt 
+strange about voicing it; this was much more 
+Hermione’s territory than his. “You don’t think she 
+can have been . . . you know ... in love with Sirius?” 
+
+Hermione stared at him. 
+
+“What on earth makes you say that?” 
+
+“I dunno,” said Harry, shrugging, “but she was nearly 
+crying when I mentioned his name . . . and her 
+Patronus is a big four-legged thing now. ... I wondered 
+whether it hadn’t become ... you know ... him.” 
+
+“It’s a thought,” said Hermione slowly. “But I still 
+don’t know why she’d be bursting into the castle to 
+see Dumbledore, if that’s really why she was here. ...” 
+
+“Goes back to what I said, doesn’t it?” said Ron, who 
+was now shoveling mashed potato into his mouth. 
+“She’s gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve. Women,” he 
+said wisely to Harry, “they’re easily upset.” 
+
+“And yet,” said Hermione, coming out of her reverie, “I 
+doubt you’d find a woman who sulked for half an 
+hour because Madam Rosmerta didn’t laugh at their 
+joke about the hag, the Healer, and the Mimbulus 
+mimbletonia.” 
+
+Ron scowled. 
+
+Page | 526 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+AFTER THE BURIAL 
+
+Patches of bright blue sky were beginning to appear 
+over the castle turrets, but these signs of approaching 
+summer did not lift Harry’s mood. He had been 
+thwarted, both in his attempts to find out what 
+Malfoy was doing, and in his efforts to start a 
+conversation with Slughorn that might lead, 
+somehow, to Slughorn handing over the memory he 
+had apparently suppressed for decades. 
+
+“For the last time, just forget about Malfoy,” Hermione 
+told Harry firmly. 
+
+They were sitting with Ron in a sunny corner of the 
+courtyard after lunch. Hermione and Ron were both 
+clutching a Ministry of Magic leaflet — Common 
+Apparition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them — for 
+they were taking their tests that very afternoon, but 
+by and large the leaflets had not proved soothing to 
+the nerves. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Ron gave a start and tried to hide behind Hermione as 
+a girl came around the corner. 
+
+“It isn’t Lavender,” said Hermione wearily. 
+
+“Oh, good,” said Ron, relaxing. 
+
+“Harry Potter?” said the girl. “I was asked to give you 
+this.” 
+
+“Thanks ...” 
+
+Harry’s heart sank as he took the small scroll of 
+parchment. Once the girl was out of earshot he said, 
+“Dumbledore said we wouldn’t be having any more 
+lessons until I got the memory!” 
+
+“Maybe he wants to check on how you’re doing?” 
+suggested Hermione, as Harry unrolled the 
+parchment; but rather than finding Dumbledore ’s 
+long, narrow, slanted writing he saw an untidy 
+sprawl, very difficult to read due to the presence of 
+large blotches on the parchment where the ink had 
+run. 
+
+
+
+Dear Harry, Ron, and Hermione, 
+
+Aragog died last night Harry and Ron, you met him, 
+and you know how special he was. Hermione, I know 
+you’d have liked him. It would mean a lot to me if 
+you’d nip down for the burial later this evening. I’m 
+planning on doing it round dusk, that was his favorite 
+time of day. I know you’re not supposed to be out that 
+late, but you can use the cloak. Wouldn’t ask, but I 
+can’t face it alone. 
+
+
+
+Hagrid 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Look at this,” said Harry, handing the note to 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she said, scanning it quickly 
+and passing it to Ron, who read it through looking 
+increasingly incredulous. 
+
+“He’s mentaft” he said furiously. “That thing told its 
+mates to eat Harry and me! Told them to help 
+themselves! And now Hagrid expects us to go down 
+there and cry over its horrible hairy body!” 
+
+“It’s not just that,” said Hermione. “He’s asking us to 
+leave the castle at night and he knows security’s a 
+million times tighter and how much trouble we’d be in 
+if we were caught.” 
+
+“We’ve been down to see him by night before,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Yes, but for something like this?” said Hermione. 
+“We’ve risked a lot to help Hagrid out, but after all — 
+Aragog’s dead. If it were a question of saving him — ” 
+
+“ — I’d want to go even less,” said Ron firmly. “You 
+didn’t meet him, Hermione. Believe me, being dead 
+will have improved him a lot.” 
+
+Harry took the note back and stared down at all the 
+inky blotches all over it. Tears had clearly fallen thick 
+and fast upon the parchment. ... 
+
+“Harry, you can’t be thinking of going,” said 
+Hermione. “It’s such a pointless thing to get detention 
+for.” 
+
+Harry sighed. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “I s’pose 
+Hagrid ’ll have to bury Aragog without us.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes, he will,” said Hermione, looking relieved. “Look, 
+Potions will be almost empty this afternoon, with us 
+all off doing our tests. ... Try and soften Slughorn up 
+a bit then!” 
+
+“Fifty-seventh time lucky, you think?” said Harry 
+bitterly. 
+
+“Lucky,” said Ron suddenly. “Harry, that’s it — get 
+lucky!” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” 
+
+“Use your lucky potion!” 
+
+“Ron, that’s — that’s it!” said Hermione, sounding 
+stunned. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of it?” 
+
+Harry stared at them both. “Felix Felicis?” he said. “I 
+dunno ... I was sort of saving it. ...” 
+
+“What for?” demanded Ron incredulously. 
+
+“What on earth is more important than this memory, 
+Harry?” asked Hermione. 
+
+Harry did not answer. The thought of that little golden 
+bottle had hovered on the edges of his imagination for 
+some time; vague and unformulated plans that 
+involved Ginny splitting up with Dean, and Ron 
+somehow being happy to see her with a new 
+boyfriend, had been fermenting in the depths of his 
+brain, unacknowledged except during dreams or the 
+twilight time between sleeping and waking. . . . 
+
+“Harry? Are you still with us?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Wha — ? Yeah, of course,” he said, pulling himself 
+together. “Well ... okay. If I can’t get Slughorn to talk 
+
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+
+
+
+
+this afternoon, I’ll take some Felix and have another 
+go this evening.” 
+
+“That’s decided, then,” said Hermione briskly, getting 
+to her feet and performing a graceful pirouette. 
+“Destination ... determination ... deliberation ...” she 
+murmured. 
+
+“Oh, stop that,” Ron begged her, “I feel sick enough as 
+it is — quick, hide me!” 
+
+“It isn’t Lavender!” said Hermione impatiently, as 
+another couple of girls appeared in the courtyard and 
+Ron dived behind her. 
+
+“Cool,” said Ron, peering over Hermione’s shoulder to 
+check. “Blimey, they don’t look happy, do they?” 
+
+“They’re the Montgomery sisters and of course they 
+don’t look happy, didn’t you hear what happened to 
+their little brother?” said Hermione. 
+
+“I’m losing track of what’s happening to everyone’s 
+relatives, to be honest,” said Ron. 
+
+“Well, their brother was attacked by a werewolf. The 
+rumor is that their mother refused to help the Death 
+Eaters. Anyway, the boy was only five and he died in 
+St. Mungo’s, they couldn’t save him.” 
+
+“He died?” repeated Harry, shocked. “But surely 
+werewolves don’t kill, they just turn you into one of 
+them?” 
+
+“They sometimes kill,” said Ron, who looked 
+unusually grave now. “I’ve heard of it happening 
+when the werewolf gets carried away.” 
+
+“What was the werewolf’s name?” said Harry quickly. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, the rumor is that it was that Fenrir Greyback,” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+“I knew it — the maniac who likes attacking kids, the 
+one Lupin told me about!” said Harry angrily. 
+
+Hermione looked at him bleakly. 
+
+“Harry, you’ve got to get that memory,” she said. “It’s 
+all about stopping Voldemort, isn’t it? These dreadful 
+things that are happening are all down to him. ...” 
+
+The bell rang overhead in the castle and both 
+Hermione and Ron jumped to their feet, looking 
+terrified. 
+
+“You’ll do fine,” Harry told them both, as they headed 
+toward the entrance hall to meet the rest of the people 
+taking their Apparition Test. “Good luck.” 
+
+“And you too!” said Hermione with a significant look, 
+as Harry headed off to the dungeons. 
+
+There were only three of them in Potions that 
+afternoon: Harry, Ernie, and Draco Malfoy. 
+
+“All too young to Apparate just yet?” said Slughorn 
+genially. “Not turned seventeen yet?” 
+
+They shook their heads. 
+
+“Ah well,” said Slughorn cheerily, “as we’re so few, 
+we’ll do something fun. I want you all to brew me up 
+something amusing!” 
+
+“That sounds good, sir,” said Ernie sycophantically, 
+rubbing his hands together. Malfoy, on the other 
+hand, did not crack a smile. 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+“What do you mean, ‘something amusing?” he said 
+irritably. 
+
+“Oh, surprise me,” said Slughorn airily. 
+
+Malfoy opened his copy of Advanced Potion-Making 
+with a sulky expression. It could not have been 
+plainer that he thought this lesson was a waste of 
+time. Undoubtedly, Harry thought, watching him over 
+the top of his own book, Malfoy was begrudging the 
+time he could otherwise be spending in the Room of 
+Requirement. 
+
+Was it his imagination, or did Malfoy, like Tonks, look 
+thinner? Certainly he looked paler; his skin still had 
+that grayish tinge, probably because he so rarely saw 
+daylight these days. But there was no air of 
+smugness, excitement, or superiority; none of the 
+swagger that he had had on the Hogwarts Express, 
+when he had boasted openly of the mission he had 
+been given by Voldemort. ... There could be only one 
+conclusion, in Harry’s opinion: The mission, whatever 
+it was, was going badly. 
+
+Cheered by this thought, Harry skimmed through his 
+copy of Advanced Potion-Making and found a heavily 
+corrected Half-Blood Prince’s version of “An Elixir to 
+Induce Euphoria,” which seemed not only to meet 
+Slughorn ’s instructions, but which might (Harry’s 
+heart leapt as the thought struck him) put Slughorn 
+into such a good mood that he would be prepared to 
+hand over that memory if Harry could persuade him 
+to taste some. ... 
+
+“Well, now, this looks absolutely wonderful,” said 
+Slughorn an hour and a half later, clapping his hands 
+together as he stared down into the sunshine yellow 
+contents of Harry’s cauldron. “Euphoria, I take it? And 
+what’s that I smell? Mmmm ... you’ve added just a 
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+
+
+
+
+sprig of peppermint, haven’t you? Unorthodox, but 
+what a stroke of inspiration, Harry, of course, that 
+would tend to counterbalance the occasional side 
+effects of excessive singing and nose-tweaking. ... I 
+really don’t know where you get these brain waves, 
+my boy . . . unless — ” 
+
+Harry pushed the Half-Blood Prince’s book deeper 
+into his bag with his foot. 
+
+“ — it’s just your mother’s genes coming out in you!” 
+
+“Oh ... yeah, maybe,” said Harry, relieved. 
+
+Ernie was looking rather grumpy; determined to 
+outshine Harry for once, he had most rashly invented 
+his own potion, which had curdled and formed a kind 
+of purple dumpling at the bottom of his cauldron. 
+Malfoy was already packing up, sour-faced; Slughorn 
+had pronounced his Hiccuping Solution merely 
+“passable.” 
+
+The bell rang and both Ernie and Malfoy left at once. 
+
+“Sir,” Harry began, but Slughorn immediately glanced 
+over his shoulder; when he saw that the room was 
+empty but for himself and Harry, he hurried away as 
+fast as he could. 
+
+“Professor — Professor, don’t you want to taste my po 
+— ?” called Harry desperately. 
+
+But Slughorn had gone. Disappointed, Harry emptied 
+the cauldron, packed up his things, left the dungeon, 
+and walked slowly back upstairs to the common 
+room. 
+
+Ron and Hermione returned in the late afternoon. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Harry!” cried Hermione as she climbed through the 
+portrait hole. “Harry, I passed!” 
+
+“Well done!” he said. “And Ron?” 
+
+“He — he just failed,” whispered Hermione, as Ron 
+came slouching into the room looking most morose. 
+“It was really unlucky, a tiny thing, the examiner just 
+spotted that he’d left half an eyebrow behind. ... How 
+did it go with Slughorn?” 
+
+“No joy,” said Harry, as Ron joined them. “Bad luck, 
+mate, but you’ll pass next time — we can take it 
+together.” 
+
+“Yeah, I s’pose,” said Ron grumpily. “But half an 
+eyebrow\ Like that matters!” 
+
+“I know,” said Hermione soothingly, “it does seem 
+really harsh. ...” 
+
+They spent most of their dinner roundly abusing the 
+Apparition examiner, and Ron looked fractionally 
+more cheerful by the time they set off back to the 
+common room, now discussing the continuing 
+problem of Slughorn and the memory. 
+
+“So, Harry — you going to use the Felix Felicis or 
+what?” Ron demanded. 
+
+“Yeah, I s’pose I’d better,” said Harry. “I don’t reckon 
+I’ll need all of it, not twelve hours’ worth, it can’t take 
+all night. ... I’ll just take a mouthful. Two or three 
+hours should do it.” 
+
+“It’s a great feeling when you take it,” said Ron 
+reminiscently. “Like you can’t do anything wrong.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What are you talking about?” said Hermione, 
+laughing. “You’ve never taken any!” 
+
+“Yeah, but I thought I had, didn’t I?” said Ron, as 
+though explaining the obvious. “Same difference 
+really ...” 
+
+As they had only just seen Slughorn enter the Great 
+Hall and knew that he liked to take time over meals, 
+they lingered for a while in the common room, the 
+plan being that Harry should go to Slughorn ’s office 
+once the teacher had had time to get back there. 
+When the sun had sunk to the level of the treetops in 
+the Forbidden Forest, they decided the moment had 
+come, and after checking carefully that Neville, Dean, 
+and Seamus were all in the common room, sneaked 
+up to the boys’ dormitory. 
+
+Harry took out the rolled-up socks at the bottom of 
+his trunk and extracted the tiny, gleaming bottle. 
+
+“Well, here goes,” said Harry, and he raised the little 
+bottle and took a carefully measured gulp. 
+
+“What does it feel like?” whispered Hermione. 
+
+Harry did not answer for a moment. Then, slowly but 
+surely, an exhilarating sense of infinite opportunity 
+stole through him; he felt as though he could have 
+done anything, anything at all ... and getting the 
+memory from Slughorn seemed suddenly not only 
+possible, but positively easy. ... 
+
+He got to his feet, smiling, brimming with confidence. 
+
+“Excellent,” he said. “Really excellent. Right ... I’m 
+going down to Hagrid’s.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What?” said Ron and Hermione together, looking 
+aghast. 
+
+“No, Harry — you’ve got to go and see Slughorn, 
+remember?” said Hermione. 
+
+“No,” said Harry confidently. “I’m going to Hagrid’s, 
+
+I’ve got a good feeling about going to Hagrid’s.” 
+
+“You’ve got a good feeling about burying a giant 
+spider?” asked Ron, looking stunned. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of 
+his bag. “I feel like it’s the place to be tonight, you 
+know what I mean?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron and Hermione together, both looking 
+positively alarmed now. 
+
+“This is Felix Felicis, I suppose?” said Hermione 
+anxiously, holding up the bottle to the light. “You 
+haven’t got another little bottle full of — I don’t know 
+
+
+
+“Essence of Insanity?” suggested Ron, as Harry 
+swung his cloak over his shoulders. 
+
+Harry laughed, and Ron and Hermione looked even 
+more alarmed. 
+
+“Trust me,” he said. “I know what I’m doing ... or at 
+least” — he strolled confidently to the door — “Felix 
+does.” 
+
+He pulled the Invisibility Cloak over his head and set 
+off down the stairs, Ron and Hermione hurrying along 
+behind him. At the foot of the stairs, Harry slid 
+through the open door. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“What were you doing up there with her?” shrieked 
+Lavender Brown, staring right through Harry at Ron 
+and Hermione emerging together from the boys’ 
+dormitories. Harry heard Ron spluttering behind him 
+as he darted across the room away from them. 
+
+Getting through the portrait hole was simple; as he 
+approached it, Ginny and Dean came through it, and 
+Harry was able to slip between them. As he did so, he 
+brushed accidentally against Ginny. 
+
+“Don’t push me, please, Dean,” she said, sounding 
+annoyed. “You’re always doing that, I can get through 
+perfectly well on my own. ...” 
+
+The portrait swung closed behind Harry, but not 
+before he had heard Dean make an angry retort. ... 
+
+His feeling of elation increasing, Harry strode off 
+through the castle. He did not have to creep along, for 
+he met nobody on his way, but this did not surprise 
+him in the slightest: This evening, he was the luckiest 
+person at Hogwarts. 
+
+Why he knew that going to Hagrid’s was the right 
+thing to do, he had no idea. It was as though the 
+potion was illuminating a few steps of the path at a 
+time: He could not see the final destination, he could 
+not see where Slughorn came in, but he knew that he 
+was going the right way to get that memory. When he 
+reached the entrance hall he saw that Filch had 
+forgotten to lock the front door. Beaming, Harry threw 
+it open and breathed in the smell of clean air and 
+grass for a moment before walking down the steps 
+into the dusk. 
+
+It was when he reached the bottom step that it 
+occurred to him how very pleasant it would be to pass 
+the vegetable patch on his walk to Hagrid’s. It was not 
+strictly on the way, but it seemed clear to Harry that 
+
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+this was a whim on which he should act, so he 
+directed his feet immediately toward the vegetable 
+patch, where he was pleased, but not altogether 
+surprised, to find Professor Slughorn in conversation 
+with Professor Sprout. Harry lurked behind a low 
+stone wall, feeling at peace with the world and 
+listening to their conversation. 
+
+“I do thank you for taking the time, Pomona,” 
+Slughorn was saying courteously, “most authorities 
+agree that they are at their most efficacious if picked 
+at twilight.” 
+
+“Oh, I quite agree,” said Professor Sprout warmly. 
+“That enough for you?” 
+
+“Plenty, plenty,” said Slughorn, who, Harry saw, was 
+carrying an armful of leafy plants. “This should allow 
+for a few leaves for each of my third years, and some 
+to spare if anybody over-stews them. ... Well, good 
+evening to you, and many thanks again!” 
+
+Professor Sprout headed off into the gathering 
+darkness in the direction of her greenhouses, and 
+Slughorn directed his steps to the spot where Harry 
+stood, invisible. 
+
+Seized with an immediate desire to reveal himself, 
+Harry pulled off the cloak with a flourish. 
+
+“Good evening, Professor.” 
+
+“Merlin’s beard, Harry, you made me jump,” said 
+Slughorn, stopping dead in his tracks and looking 
+wary. “How did you get out of the castle?” 
+
+“I think Filch must’ve forgotten to lock the doors,” 
+said Harry cheerfully, and was delighted to see 
+Slughorn scowl. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I’ll be reporting that man, he’s more concerned about 
+litter than proper security if you ask me. ... But why 
+are you out here, Harry?” 
+
+“Well, sir, it’s Hagrid,” said Harry, who knew that the 
+right thing to do just now was to tell the truth. “He’s 
+pretty upset. ... But you won’t tell anyone, Professor? 
+
+I don’t want trouble for him. ...” 
+
+Slughorn’s curiosity was evidently aroused. “Well, I 
+can’t promise that,” he said gruffly. “But I know that 
+Dumbledore trusts Hagrid to the hilt, so I’m sure he 
+can’t be up to anything very dreadful. ...” 
+
+“Well, it’s this giant spider, he’s had it for years. ... It 
+lived in the forest. ... It could talk and everything — ” 
+
+“I heard rumors there were acromantulas in the 
+forest,” said Slughorn softly, looking over at the mass 
+of black trees. “It’s true, then?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “But this one, Aragog, the first one 
+Hagrid ever got, it died last night. He’s devastated. He 
+wants company while he buries it and I said I’d go.” 
+
+“Touching, touching,” said Slughorn absentmindedly, 
+his large droopy eyes fixed upon the distant lights of 
+Hagrid ’s cabin. “But acromantula venom is very 
+valuable ... If the beast only just died it might not yet 
+have dried out. ... Of course, I wouldn’t want to do 
+anything insensitive if Hagrid is upset . . . but if there 
+was any way to procure some ... I mean, it’s almost 
+impossible to get venom from an acromantula while 
+it’s alive. ...” 
+
+Slughorn seemed to be talking more to himself than 
+Harry now. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+"... seems an awful waste not to collect it ... might get 
+a hundred Galleons a pint. ... To be frank, my salary 
+is not large. ...” 
+
+And now Harry saw clearly what was to be done. 
+
+“Well,” he said, with a most convincing hesitancy, 
+“well, if you wanted to come, Professor, Hagrid would 
+probably be really pleased. ... Give Aragog a better 
+send-off, you know ...” 
+
+“Yes, of course,” said Slughorn, his eyes now 
+gleaming with enthusiasm. “I tell you what, Harry, I’ll 
+meet you down there with a bottle or two. ... We’ll 
+drink the poor beast’s — well — not health — but 
+we’ll send it off in style, anyway, once it’s buried. And 
+I’ll change my tie, this one is a little exuberant for the 
+occasion. ...” 
+
+He bustled back into the castle, and Harry sped off to 
+Hagrid ’s, delighted with himself. 
+
+“Yeh came,” croaked Hagrid, when he opened the door 
+and saw Harry emerging from the Invisibility Cloak in 
+front of him. 
+
+“Yeah — Ron and Hermione couldn’t, though,” said 
+Harry. “They’re really sorry.” 
+
+“Don’ — don’ matter ... He’d’ve bin touched yeh’re 
+here, though, Harry. ...” 
+
+Hagrid gave a great sob. He had made himself a black 
+armband out of what looked like a rag dipped in boot 
+polish, and his eyes were puffy, red, and swollen. 
+Harry patted him consolingly on the elbow, which was 
+the highest point of Hagrid he could easily reach. 
+
+“Where are we burying him?” he asked. “The forest?” 
+
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+
+
+“Blimey, no,” said Hagrid, wiping his streaming eyes 
+on the bottom of his shirt. “The other spiders won’ let 
+me anywhere near their webs now Aragog’s gone. 
+Turns out it was on’y on his orders they didn’ eat me! 
+Can yeh believe that, Harry?” 
+
+The honest answer was “yes”; Harry recalled with 
+painful ease the scene when he and Ron had come 
+face-to-face with the acromantulas: They had been 
+quite clear that Aragog was the only thing that 
+stopped them from eating Hagrid. 
+
+“Never bin an area o’ the forest I couldn’ go before!” 
+said Hagrid, shaking his head. “It wasn’ easy, gettin’ 
+Aragog’s body out o’ there, I can tell yeh — they 
+usually eat their dead, see. ... But I wanted ter give 
+’im a nice burial ... a proper send-off ...” 
+
+He broke into sobs again and Harry resumed the 
+patting of his elbow, saying as he did so (for the 
+potion seemed to indicate that it was the right thing 
+to do), “Professor Slughorn met me coming down 
+here, Hagrid.” 
+
+“Not in trouble, are yeh?” said Hagrid, looking up, 
+alarmed. “Yeh shouldn’ be outta the castle in the 
+evenin’, I know it, it’s my fault — ” 
+
+“No, no, when he heard what I was doing he said he’d 
+like to come and pay his last respects to Aragog too,” 
+said Harry. “He’s gone to change into something more 
+suitable, I think ... and he said he’d bring some 
+bottles so we can drink to Aragog’s memory. . . . 
+
+“Did he?” said Hagrid, looking both astonished and 
+touched. “Tha’s — tha’s righ’ nice of him, that is, an’ 
+not turnin’ yeh in either. I’ve never really had a lot ter 
+do with Horace Slughorn before. ... Cornin’ ter see old 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Aragog off, though, eh? Well ... he ’d’ve liked that, 
+Aragog would. ...” 
+
+Harry thought privately that what Aragog would have 
+liked most about Slughorn was the ample amount of 
+edible flesh he provided, but he merely moved to the 
+rear window of Hagrid ’s hut, where he saw the rather 
+horrible sight of the enormous dead spider lying on its 
+back outside, its legs curled and tangled. 
+
+“Are we going to bury him here, Hagrid, in your 
+garden?” 
+
+“Jus’ beyond the pumpkin patch, I thought,” said 
+Hagrid in a choked voice. “I’ve already dug the — yeh 
+know — grave. Jus’ thought we’d say a few nice 
+things over him — happy memories, yeh know — ” 
+
+His voice quivered and broke. There was a knock on 
+the door, and he turned to answer it, blowing his nose 
+on his great spotted handkerchief as he did so. 
+Slughorn hurried over the threshold, several bottles 
+in his arms, and wearing a somber black cravat. 
+
+“Hagrid,” he said, in a deep, grave voice. “So very 
+sorry to hear of your loss.” 
+
+“Tha’s very nice of yeh,” said Hagrid. “Thanks a lot. 
+
+An’ thanks fer not givin’ Harry detention neither. ...” 
+
+“Wouldn’t have dreamed of it,” said Slughorn. “Sad 
+night, sad night ... Where is the poor creature?” 
+
+“Out here,” said Hagrid in a shaking voice. “Shall we 
+— shall we do it, then?” 
+
+The three of them stepped out into the back garden. 
+The moon was glistening palely through the trees 
+now, and its rays mingled with the light spilling from 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hagrid’s window to illuminate Aragog’s body lying on 
+the edge of a massive pit beside a ten-foot-high 
+mound of freshly dug earth. 
+
+“Magnificent,” said Slughorn, approaching the 
+spider’s head, where eight milky eyes stared blankly 
+at the sky and two huge, curved pincers shone, 
+motionless, in the moonlight. Harry thought he heard 
+the tinkle of bottles as Slughorn bent over the 
+pincers, apparently examining the enormous hairy 
+head. 
+
+“It’s not ev’ryone appreciates how beau’iful they are,” 
+said Hagrid to Slughorn ’s back, tears leaking from the 
+corners of his crinkled eyes. “I didn’ know yeh were 
+int’rested in creatures like Aragog, Horace.” 
+
+“Interested? My dear Hagrid, I revere them,” said 
+Slughorn, stepping back from the body. Harry saw 
+the glint of a bottle disappear beneath his cloak, 
+though Hagrid, mopping his eyes once more, noticed 
+nothing. “Now ... shall we proceed to the burial?” 
+
+Hagrid nodded and moved forward. He heaved the 
+gigantic spider into his arms and, with an enormous 
+grunt, rolled it into the dark pit. It hit the bottom with 
+a rather horrible, crunchy thud. Hagrid started to cry 
+again. 
+
+“Of course, it’s difficult for you, who knew him best,” 
+said Slughorn, who like Harry could reach no higher 
+than Hagrid’s elbow, but patted it all the same. “Why 
+don’t I say a few words?” 
+
+He must have got a lot of good quality venom from 
+Aragog, Harry thought, for Slughorn wore a satisfied 
+smirk as he stepped up to the rim of the pit and said, 
+in a slow, impressive voice, “Farewell, Aragog, king of 
+arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship those 
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+
+who knew you won’t forget! Though your body will 
+decay, your spirit lingers on in the quiet, web-spun 
+places of your forest home. May your many-eyed 
+descendants ever flourish and your human friends 
+find solace for the loss they have sustained.” 
+
+“Tha’ was ... tha’ was ... beau’iful!” howled Hagrid, 
+and he collapsed onto the compost heap, crying 
+harder than ever. 
+
+“There, there,” said Slughorn, waving his wand so 
+that the huge pile of earth rose up and then fell, with 
+a muffled sort of crash, onto the dead spider, forming 
+a smooth mound. “Let’s get inside and have a drink. 
+Get on his other side, Harry. ... That’s it. ... Up you 
+come, Hagrid ... Well done ...” 
+
+They deposited Hagrid in a chair at the table. Fang, 
+who had been skulking in his basket during the 
+burial, now came padding softly across to them and 
+put his heavy head into Harry’s lap as usual. 
+
+Slughorn uncorked one of the bottles of wine he had 
+brought. 
+
+“I have had it all tested for poison,” he assured Harry, 
+pouring most of the first bottle into one of Hagrid ’s 
+bucket- sized mugs and handing it to Hagrid. “Had a 
+house-elf taste every bottle after what happened to 
+your poor friend Rupert.” 
+
+Harry saw, in his mind’s eye, the expression on 
+Hermione’s face if she ever heard about this abuse of 
+house-elves, and decided never to mention it to her. 
+
+“One for Harry ...” said Slughorn, dividing a second 
+bottle between two mugs, "... and one for me. Well” — 
+he raised his mug high — “to Aragog.” 
+
+“Aragog,” said Harry and Hagrid together. 
+
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+
+Both Slughorn and Hagrid drank deeply. Harry, 
+however, with the way ahead illuminated for him by 
+Felix Felicis, knew that he must not drink, so he 
+merely pretended to take a gulp and then set the mug 
+back on the table before him. 
+
+“I had him from an egg, yeh know,” said Hagrid 
+morosely. “Tiny little thing he was when he hatched. 
+Bout the size of a Pekingese.” 
+
+“Sweet,” said Slughorn. 
+
+“Used ter keep him in a cupboard up at the school 
+until ... well ...” 
+
+Hagrid ’s face darkened and Harry knew why: Tom 
+Riddle had contrived to have Hagrid thrown out of 
+school, blamed for opening the Chamber of Secrets. 
+Slughorn, however, did not seem to be listening; he 
+was looking up at the ceiling, from which a number of 
+brass pots hung, and also a long, silky skein of bright 
+white hair. 
+
+“That’s never unicorn hair, Hagrid?” 
+
+“Oh, yeah,” said Hagrid indifferently. “Gets pulled out 
+of their tails, they catch it on branches an’ stuff in the 
+forest, yeh know ...” 
+
+“But my dear chap, do you know how much that’s 
+worth?” 
+
+“I use it fer bindin’ on bandages an’ stuff if a creature 
+gets injured,” said Hagrid, shrugging. “It’s dead useful 
+... very strong, see.” 
+
+Slughorn took another deep draught from his mug, 
+his eyes moving carefully around the cabin now, 
+looking, Harry knew, for more treasures that he might 
+
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+be able to convert into a plentiful supply of oak- 
+matured mead, crystalized pineapple, and velvet 
+smoking jackets. He refilled Hagrid’s mug and his 
+own, and questioned him about the creatures that 
+lived in the forest these days and how Hagrid was 
+able to look after them all. Hagrid, becoming 
+expansive under the influence of the drink and 
+Slughorn ’s flattering interest, stopped mopping his 
+eyes and entered happily into a long explanation of 
+bowtruckle husbandry. 
+
+The Felix Felicis gave Harry a little nudge at this 
+point, and he noticed that the supply of drink that 
+Slughorn had brought was running out fast. Harry 
+had not yet managed to bring off the Refilling Charm 
+without saying the incantation aloud, but the idea 
+that he might not be able to do it tonight was 
+laughable: Indeed, Harry grinned to himself as, 
+unnoticed by either Hagrid or Slughorn (now 
+swapping tales of the illegal trade in dragon eggs) he 
+pointed his wand under the table at the emptying 
+bottles and they immediately began to refill. 
+
+After an hour or so, Hagrid and Slughorn began 
+making extravagant toasts: to Hogwarts, to 
+Dumbledore, to elf-made wine, and to — 
+
+“Harry Potter!” bellowed Hagrid, slopping some of his 
+fourteenth bucket of wine down his chin as he 
+drained it. 
+
+“Yes, indeed,” cried Slughorn a little thickly, “Parry 
+Otter, the Chosen Boy Who — well — something of 
+that sort,” he mumbled, and drained his mug too. 
+
+Not long after this, Hagrid became tearful again and 
+pressed the whole unicorn tail upon Slughorn, who 
+pocketed it with cries of, “To friendship! To generosity! 
+To ten Galleons a hair!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+And for a while after that, Hagrid and Slughorn were 
+sitting side by side, arms around each other, singing 
+a slow sad song about a dying wizard called Odo. 
+
+“Aaargh, the good die young,” muttered Hagrid, 
+slumping low onto the table, a little cross-eyed, while 
+Slughorn continued to warble the refrain. “Me dad 
+was no age ter go ... nor were yer mum an’ dad, 
+Harry...” 
+
+Great fat tears oozed out of the corners of Hagrid ’s 
+crinkled eyes again; he grasped Harry’s arm and 
+shook it. 
+
+“Bes’ wiz and witchard o’ their age I never knew ... 
+terrible thing ... terrible thing ...” 
+
+And Odo the hero, they bore him back home 
+To the place that he’d known as a lad, 
+
+sang Slughorn plaintively. 
+
+They laid him to rest with his hat inside out 
+And his wand snapped in two, which was sad. 
+
+"... terrible,” Hagrid grunted, and his great shaggy 
+head rolled sideways onto his arms and he fell asleep, 
+snoring deeply. 
+
+“Sorry,” said Slughorn with a hiccup. “Can’t carry a 
+tune to save my life.” 
+
+“Hagrid wasn’t talking about your singing,” said Harry 
+quietly. “He was talking about my mum and dad 
+dying.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Slughorn, repressing a large belch. “Oh 
+dear. Yes, that was — was terrible indeed. Terrible ... 
+terrible ...” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He looked quite at a loss for what to say, and resorted 
+to refilling their mugs. 
+
+
+
+“I don’t — don’t suppose you remember it, Harry?” he 
+asked awkwardly. 
+
+“No — well, I was only one when they died,” said 
+Harry, his eyes on the flame of the candle flickering in 
+Hagrid’s heavy snores. “But I’ve found out pretty 
+much what happened since. My dad died first. Did 
+you know that?” 
+
+“I — I didn’t,” said Slughorn in a hushed voice. 
+
+“Yeah . . . Voldemort murdered him and then stepped 
+over his body toward my mum,” said Harry. 
+
+Slughorn gave a great shudder, but he did not seem 
+able to tear his horrified gaze away from Harry’s face. 
+
+“He told her to get out of the way,” said Harry 
+remorselessly. “He told me she needn’t have died. He 
+only wanted me. She could have run.” 
+
+“Oh dear,” breathed Slughorn. “She could have ... she 
+needn’t ... That’s awful. ...” 
+
+“It is, isn’t it?” said Harry, in a voice barely more than 
+a whisper. “But she didn’t move. Dad was already 
+dead, but she didn’t want me to go too. She tried to 
+plead with Voldemort ... but he just laughed. ...” 
+
+“That’s enough!” said Slughorn suddenly, raising a 
+shaking hand. “Really, my dear boy, enough ... I’m an 
+old man ... I don’t need to hear ... I don’t want to hear 
+
+
+
+“I forgot,” lied Harry, Felix Felicis leading him on. 
+
+“You liked her, didn’t you?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Liked her?” said Slughorn, his eyes brimming with 
+tears once more. “I don’t imagine anyone who met her 
+wouldn’t have liked her. ... Very brave ... Very funny 
+...It was the most horrible thing. ...” 
+
+“But you won’t help her son,” said Harry. “She gave 
+me her life, but you won’t give me a memory.” 
+
+Hagrid’s rumbling snores filled the cabin. Harry 
+looked steadily into Slughorn ’s tear-filled eyes. The 
+Potions master seemed unable to look away. 
+
+“Don’t say that,” he whispered. “It isn’t a question ... 
+
+If it were to help you, of course ... but no purpose can 
+be served ...” 
+
+“It can,” said Harry clearly. “Dumbledore needs 
+information. I need information.” 
+
+He knew he was safe: Felix was telling him that 
+Slughorn would remember nothing of this in the 
+morning. Looking Slughorn straight in the eye, Harry 
+leaned forward a little. 
+
+“I am the Chosen One. I have to kill him. I need that 
+memory.” 
+
+Slughorn turned paler than ever; his shiny forehead 
+gleamed with sweat. 
+
+“You are the Chosen One?” 
+
+“Of course I am,” said Harry calmly. 
+
+“But then ... my dear boy ... you’re asking a great deal 
+... you’re asking me, in fact, to aid you in your 
+attempt to destroy — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You don’t want to get rid of the wizard who killed Lily 
+Evans?” 
+
+“Harry, Harry, of course I do, but — ” 
+
+“You’re scared he’ll find out you helped me?” 
+
+Slughorn said nothing; he looked terrified. 
+
+“Be brave like my mother, Professor. ...” 
+
+Slughorn raised a pudgy hand and pressed his 
+shaking fingers to his mouth; he looked for a moment 
+like an enormously overgrown baby. 
+
+“I am not proud ...” he whispered through his fingers. 
+“I am ashamed of what — of what that memory 
+shows. ... I think I may have done great damage that 
+day. ...” 
+
+“You’d cancel out anything you did by giving me the 
+memory,” said Harry. “It would be a very brave and 
+noble thing to do.” 
+
+Hagrid twitched in his sleep and snored on. Slughorn 
+and Harry stared at each other over the guttering 
+candle. There was a long, long silence, but Felix 
+Felicis told Harry not to break it, to wait. 
+
+Then, very slowly, Slughorn put his hand in his 
+pocket and pulled out his wand. He put his other 
+hand inside his cloak and took out a small, empty 
+bottle. Still looking into Harry’s eyes, Slughorn 
+touched the tip of his wand to his temple and 
+withdrew it, so that a long, silver thread of memory 
+came away too, clinging to the wand tip. Longer and 
+longer the memory stretched until it broke and 
+swung, silvery bright, from the wand. Slughorn 
+lowered it into the bottle where it coiled, then spread, 
+Page | 551 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+swirling like gas. He corked the bottle with a 
+trembling hand and then passed it across the table to 
+Harry. 
+
+“Thank you very much, Professor.” 
+
+“You’re a good boy,” said Professor Slughorn, tears 
+trickling down his fat cheeks into his walrus 
+mustache. “And you’ve got her eyes. ... Just don’t 
+think too badly of me once you’ve seen it. ...” 
+
+And he too put his head on his arms, gave a deep 
+sigh, and fell asleep. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+HORCRUXES 
+
+Harry could feel the Felix Felicis wearing off as he 
+crept back into the castle. The front door had 
+remained unlocked for him, but on the third floor he 
+met Peeves and only narrowly avoided detection by 
+diving sideways through one of his shortcuts. By the 
+time he got up to the portrait of the Fat Lady and 
+pulled off his Invisibility Cloak, he was not surprised 
+to find her in a most unhelpful mood. 
+
+“What sort of time do you call this?” 
+
+“I’m really sorry — I had to go out for something 
+important — ” 
+
+“Well, the password changed at midnight, so you’ll 
+just have to sleep in the corridor, won’t you?” 
+
+“You’re joking!” said Harry. “Why did it have to 
+change at midnight?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“That’s the way it is,” said the Fat Lady. “If you’re 
+angry, go and take it up with the headmaster, he’s the 
+one who’s tightened security.” 
+
+“Fantastic,” said Harry bitterly, looking around at the 
+hard floor. “Really brilliant. Yeah, I would go and take 
+it up with Dumbledore if he was here, because he’s 
+the one who wanted me to — ” 
+
+“He is here,” said a voice behind Harry. “Professor 
+Dumbledore returned to the school an hour ago.” 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick was gliding toward Harry, his 
+head wobbling as usual upon his ruff. 
+
+“I had it from the Bloody Baron, who saw him arrive,” 
+said Nick. “He appeared, according to the Baron, to be 
+in good spirits, though a little tired, of course.” 
+
+“Where is he?” said Harry, his heart leaping. 
+
+“Oh, groaning and clanking up on the Astronomy 
+Tower, it’s a favorite pastime of his — ” 
+
+“Not the Bloody Baron — Dumbledore!” 
+
+“Oh — in his office,” said Nick. “I believe, from what 
+the Baron said, that he had business to attend to 
+before turning in — ” 
+
+“Yeah, he has,” said Harry, excitement blazing in his 
+chest at the prospect of telling Dumbledore he had 
+secured the memory. He wheeled about and sprinted 
+off again, ignoring the Fat Lady who was calling after 
+him. 
+
+“Come back! All right, I lied! I was annoyed you woke 
+me up! The password’s still ‘tapeworm’!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+But Harry was already hurtling back along the 
+corridor and within minutes, he was saying “toffee 
+eclairs” to Dumbledore’s gargoyle, which leapt aside, 
+permitting Harry entrance onto the spiral staircase. 
+
+“Enter,” said Dumbledore when Harry knocked. He 
+sounded exhausted. 
+
+Harry pushed open the door. There was Dumbledore’s 
+office, looking the same as ever, but with black, star- 
+strewn skies beyond the windows. 
+
+“Good gracious, Harry,” said Dumbledore in surprise. 
+“To what do I owe this very late pleasure?” 
+
+“Sir — I’ve got it. I’ve got the memory from Slughorn.” 
+
+Harry pulled out the tiny glass bottle and showed it to 
+Dumbledore. For a moment or two, the headmaster 
+looked stunned. Then his face split in a wide smile. 
+
+“Harry, this is spectacular news! Very well done 
+indeed! I knew you could do it!” 
+
+All thought of the lateness of the hour apparently 
+forgotten, he hurried around his desk, took the bottle 
+with Slughorn’s memory in his uninjured hand, and 
+strode over to the cabinet where he kept the Pensieve. 
+
+“And now,” said Dumbledore, placing the stone basin 
+upon his desk and emptying the contents of the bottle 
+into it. “Now, at last, we shall see. Harry, quickly ...” 
+
+Harry bowed obediently over the Pensieve and felt his 
+feet leave the office floor. . . . Once again he fell 
+through darkness and landed in Horace Slughorn’s 
+office many years before. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was the much younger Slughorn, with his 
+thick, shiny, straw-colored hair and his gingery-blond 
+mustache, sitting again in the comfortable winged 
+armchair in his office, his feet resting upon a velvet 
+pouffe, a small glass of wine in one hand, the other 
+rummaging in a box of crystalized pineapple. And 
+there were the half-dozen teenage boys sitting around 
+Slughorn with Tom Riddle in the midst of them, 
+Marvolo’s gold-and-black ring gleaming on his finger. 
+
+Dumbledore landed beside Harry just as Riddle 
+asked, “Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is 
+retiring?” 
+
+“Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn’t tell you,” said 
+Slughorn, wagging his finger reprovingly at Riddle, 
+though winking at the same time. “I must say, I’d like 
+to know where you get your information, boy, more 
+knowledgeable than half the staff, you are.” 
+
+Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him 
+admiring looks. 
+
+“What with your uncanny ability to know things you 
+shouldn’t, and your careful flattery of the people who 
+matter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way, 
+you’re quite right, it is my favorite — ” 
+
+Several of the boys tittered again. 
+
+“ — I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of 
+Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep 
+sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the 
+Ministry.” 
+
+Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed 
+again. Harry noticed that he was by no means the 
+eldest of the group of boys, but that they all seemed 
+to look to him as their leader. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I don’t know that politics would suit me, sir,” he said 
+when the laughter had died away. “I don’t have the 
+right kind of background, for one thing.” 
+
+A couple of the boys around him smirked at each 
+other. Harry was sure they were enjoying a private 
+joke, undoubtedly about what they knew, or 
+suspected, regarding their gang leader’s famous 
+ancestor. 
+
+“Nonsense,” said Slughorn briskly, “couldn’t be 
+plainer you come from decent Wizarding stock, 
+abilities like yours. No, you’ll go far, Tom, I’ve never 
+been wrong about a student yet.” 
+
+The small golden clock standing upon Slughorn ’s 
+desk chimed eleven o’clock behind him and he looked 
+around. 
+
+“Good gracious, is it that time already? You’d better 
+get going, boys, or we’ll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I 
+want your essay by tomorrow or it’s detention. Same 
+goes for you, Avery.” 
+
+One by one, the boys filed out of the room. Slughorn 
+heaved himself out of his armchair and carried his 
+empty glass over to his desk. A movement behind him 
+made him look around; Riddle was still standing 
+there. 
+
+“Look sharp, Tom, you don’t want to be caught out of 
+bed out of hours, and you a prefect ...” 
+
+“Sir, I wanted to ask you something.” 
+
+“Ask away, then, m’boy, ask away. ...” 
+
+“Sir, I wondered what you know about . . . about 
+Horcruxes?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Slughorn stared at him, his thick fingers 
+absentmindedly caressing the stem of his wine glass. 
+
+“Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?” 
+
+But Harry could tell that Slughorn knew perfectly well 
+that this was not schoolwork. 
+
+“Not exactly, sir,” said Riddle. “I came across the term 
+while reading and I didn’t fully understand it.” 
+
+“No ... well ... you’d be hard-pushed to find a book at 
+Hogwarts that’ll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, 
+that’s very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed,” said 
+Slughorn. 
+
+“But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, 
+a wizard like you — sorry, I mean, if you can’t tell me, 
+obviously — I just knew if anyone could tell me, you 
+could — so I just thought I’d ask — ” 
+
+It was very well done, thought Harry, the hesitancy, 
+the casual tone, the careful flattery, none of it 
+overdone. He, Harry, had had too much experience of 
+trying to wheedle information out of reluctant people 
+not to recognize a master at work. He could tell that 
+Riddle wanted the information very, very much; 
+perhaps had been working toward this moment for 
+weeks. 
+
+“Well,” said Slughorn, not looking at Riddle, but 
+fiddling with the ribbon on top of his box of 
+crystalized pineapple, “well, it can’t hurt to give you 
+an overview, of course. Just so that you understand 
+the term. A Horcrux is the word used for an object in 
+which a person has concealed part of their soul.” 
+
+“I don’t quite understand how that works, though, 
+sir,” said Riddle. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+His voice was carefully controlled, but Harry could 
+sense his excitement. 
+
+“Well, you split your soul, you see,” said Slughorn, 
+“and hide part of it in an object outside the body. 
+Then, even if one’s body is attacked or destroyed, one 
+cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound 
+and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a 
+form ...” 
+
+Slughorn ’s face crumpled and Harry found himself 
+remembering words he had heard nearly two years 
+before: “ I was ripped from my body, I was less than 
+spirit, less than the meanest ghost . . . but still, I was 
+alive.” 
+
+“... few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be 
+preferable.” 
+
+But Riddle’s hunger was now apparent; his 
+expression was greedy, he could no longer hide his 
+longing. 
+
+“How do you split your soul?” 
+
+“Well,” said Slughorn uncomfortably, “you must 
+understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact 
+and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is 
+against nature.” 
+
+“But how do you do it?” 
+
+“By an act of evil — the supreme act of evil. By 
+committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The 
+wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the 
+damage to his advantage: He would encase the torn 
+portion — ” 
+
+“Encase? But how — ?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“There is a spell, do not ask me, I don’t know!” said 
+Slughorn, shaking his head like an old elephant 
+bothered by mosquitoes. “Do I look as though I have 
+tried it — do I look like a killer?” 
+
+“No, sir, of course not,” said Riddle quickly. “I’m sorry 
+...I didn’t mean to offend ...” 
+
+“Not at all, not at all, not offended,” said Slughorn 
+gruffly. “It’s natural to feel some curiosity about these 
+things. ... Wizards of a certain caliber have always 
+been drawn to that aspect of magic. ...” 
+
+“Yes, sir,” said Riddle. “What I don’t understand, 
+though — just out of curiosity — I mean, would one 
+Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul 
+once? Wouldn’t it be better, make you stronger, to 
+have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, 
+isn’t seven the most powerfully magical number, 
+wouldn’t seven — ?” 
+
+“Merlin’s beard, Tom!” yelped Slughorn. “Seven! Isn’t 
+it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in 
+any case . . . bad enough to divide the soul . . . but to 
+rip it into seven pieces ...” 
+
+Slughorn looked deeply troubled now: He was gazing 
+at Riddle as though he had never seen him plainly 
+before, and Harry could tell that he was regretting 
+entering into the conversation at all. 
+
+“Of course,” he muttered, “this is all hypothetical, 
+what we’re discussing, isn’t it? All academic ...” 
+
+“Yes, sir, of course,” said Riddle quickly. 
+
+“But all the same, Tom ... keep it quiet, what I’ve told 
+— that’s to say, what we’ve discussed. People 
+wouldn’t like to think we’ve been chatting about 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Horcruxes. It’s a banned subject at Hogwarts, you 
+know. ... Dumbledore’s particularly fierce about it. ...” 
+
+“I won’t say a word, sir,” said Riddle, and he left, but 
+not before Harry had glimpsed his face, which was 
+full of that same wild happiness it had worn when he 
+had first found out that he was a wizard, the sort of 
+happiness that did not enhance his handsome 
+features, but made them, somehow, less human. ... 
+
+“Thank you, Harry,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Let us 
+go. ...” ' 
+
+When Harry landed back on the office floor 
+Dumbledore was already sitting down behind his 
+desk. Harry sat too and waited for Dumbledore to 
+speak. 
+
+“I have been hoping for this piece of evidence for a 
+very long time,” said Dumbledore at last. “It confirms 
+the theory on which I have been working, it tells me 
+that I am right, and also how very far there is still to 
+go. ...” 
+
+Harry suddenly noticed that every single one of the 
+old headmasters and headmistresses in the portraits 
+around the walls was awake and listening in on their 
+conversation. A corpulent, red-nosed wizard had 
+actually taken out an ear trumpet. 
+
+“Well, Harry,” said Dumbledore, “I am sure you 
+understood the significance of what we just heard. At 
+the same age as you are now, give or take a few 
+months, Tom Riddle was doing all he could to find out 
+how to make himself immortal.” 
+
+“You think he succeeded then, sir?” asked Harry. “He 
+made a Horcrux? And that’s why he didn’t die when 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+he attacked me? He had a Horcrux hidden 
+somewhere? A bit of his soul was safe?” 
+
+“A bit ... or more,” said Dumbledore. “You heard 
+Voldemort: What he particularly wanted from Horace 
+was an opinion on what would happen to the wizard 
+who created more than one Horcrux, what would 
+happen to the wizard so determined to evade death 
+that he would be prepared to murder many times, rip 
+his soul repeatedly, so as to store it in many, 
+separately concealed Horcruxes. No book would have 
+given him that information. As far as I know — as far, 
+I am sure, as Voldemort knew — no wizard had ever 
+done more than tear his soul in two.” 
+
+Dumbledore paused for a moment, marshaling his 
+thoughts, and then said, “Four years ago, I received 
+what I considered certain proof that Voldemort had 
+split his soul.” 
+
+“Where?” asked Harry “How?” 
+
+“You handed it to me, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “The 
+diary, Riddle’s diary, the one giving instructions on 
+how to reopen the Chamber of Secrets.” 
+
+“I don’t understand, sir,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, although I did not see the Riddle who came out 
+of the diary, what you described to me was a 
+phenomenon I had never witnessed. A mere memory 
+starting to act and think for itself? A mere memory, 
+sapping the life out of the girl into whose hands it had 
+fallen? No, something much more sinister had lived 
+inside that book. ... a fragment of soul, I was almost 
+sure of it. The diary had been a Horcrux. But this 
+raised as many questions as it answered. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What intrigued and alarmed me most was that that 
+diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a 
+safeguard.” 
+
+“I still don’t understand,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, it worked as a Horcrux is supposed to work — 
+in other words, the fragment of soul concealed inside 
+it was kept safe and had undoubtedly played its part 
+in preventing the death of its owner. But there could 
+be no doubt that Riddle really wanted that diary read, 
+wanted the piece of his soul to inhabit or possess 
+somebody else, so that Slytherin’s monster would be 
+unleashed again.” 
+
+“Well, he didn’t want his hard work to be wasted,” 
+said Harry. “He wanted people to know he was 
+Slytherin’s heir, because he couldn’t take credit at the 
+time.” 
+
+“Quite correct,” said Dumbledore, nodding. “But don’t 
+you see, Harry, that if he intended the diary to be 
+passed to, or planted on, some future Hogwarts 
+student, he was being remarkably blase about that 
+precious fragment of his soul concealed within it. The 
+point of a Horcrux is, as Professor Slughorn 
+explained, to keep part of the self hidden and safe, 
+not to fling it into somebody else’s path and run the 
+risk that they might destroy it — as indeed happened: 
+That particular fragment of soul is no more; you saw 
+to that. 
+
+“The careless way in which Voldemort regarded this 
+Horcrux seemed most ominous to me. It suggested 
+that he must have made — or been planning to make 
+— more Horcruxes, so that the loss of his first would 
+not be so detrimental. I did not wish to believe it, but 
+nothing else seemed to make sense. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Then you told me, two years later, that on the night 
+that Voldemort returned to his body, he made a most 
+illuminating and alarming statement to his Death 
+Eaters. % who have gone further than anybody along 
+the path that leads to immortality.’ That was what you 
+told me he said. ‘Further than anybody,’ And I thought 
+I knew what that meant, though the Death Eaters did 
+not. He was referring to his Horcruxes, Horcruxes in 
+the plural, Harry, which I do not believe any other 
+wizard has ever had. Yet it fitted: Lord Voldemort has 
+seemed to grow less human with the passing years, 
+and the transformation he has undergone seemed to 
+me to be only explicable if his soul was mutilated 
+beyond the realms of what we might call ‘usual evil’ 
+
+
+
+“So he’s made himself impossible to kill by murdering 
+other people?” said Harry. “Why couldn’t he make a 
+Sorcerer’s Stone, or steal one, if he was so interested 
+in immortality?” 
+
+“Well, we know that he tried to do just that, five years 
+ago,” said Dumbledore. “But there are several reasons 
+why, I think, a Sorcerer’s Stone would appeal less 
+than Horcruxes to Lord Voldemort. 
+
+“While the Elixir of Life does indeed extend life, it 
+must be drunk regularly, for all eternity, if the drinker 
+is to maintain their immortality. Therefore, Voldemort 
+would be entirely dependent on the Elixir, and if it 
+ran out, or was contaminated, or if the Stone was 
+stolen, he would die just like any other man. 
+Voldemort likes to operate alone, remember. I believe 
+that he would have found the thought of being 
+dependent, even on the Elixir, intolerable. Of course 
+he was prepared to drink it if it would take him out of 
+the horrible part-life to which he was condemned 
+after attacking you, but only to regain a body. 
+Thereafter, I am convinced, he intended to continue to 
+Page | 564 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+rely on his Horcruxes: He would need nothing more, if 
+only he could regain a human form. He was already 
+immortal, you see ... or as close to immortal as any 
+man can be. 
+
+“But now, Harry, armed with this information, the 
+crucial memory you have succeeded in procuring for 
+us, we are closer to the secret of finishing Lord 
+Voldemort than anyone has ever been before. You 
+heard him, Harry: ‘Wouldn’t it be better, make you 
+stronger, to have your soul in more pieces ... isn’t 
+seven the most powerfully magical number ...’ Isn’t 
+seven the most powerfully magical number. Yes, I 
+think the idea of a seven-part soul would greatly 
+appeal to Lord Voldemort.” 
+
+“He made seven Horcruxes?” said Harry, horror- 
+struck, while several of the portraits on the walls 
+made similar noises of shock and outrage. “But they 
+could be anywhere in the world — hidden — buried or 
+invisible — ” 
+
+“I am glad to see you appreciate the magnitude of the 
+problem,” said Dumbledore calmly. “But firstly, no, 
+Harry, not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of 
+his soul, however maimed, resides inside his 
+regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived 
+a spectral existence for so many years during his 
+exile; without that, he has no self at all. That seventh 
+piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to 
+kill Voldemort must attack — the piece that lives in 
+his body.” 
+
+“But the six Horcruxes, then,” said Harry, a little 
+desperately, “how are we supposed to find them?” 
+
+“You are forgetting . . . you have already destroyed one 
+of them. And I have destroyed another.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You have?” said Harry eagerly. 
+
+
+
+“Yes indeed,” said Dumbledore, and he raised his 
+blackened, burned-looking hand. “The ring, Harry. 
+Marvolo’s ring. And a terrible curse there was upon it 
+too. Had it not been — forgive me the lack of seemly 
+modesty — for my own prodigious skill, and for 
+Professor Snape’s timely action when I returned to 
+Hogwarts, desperately injured, I might not have lived 
+to tell the tale. However, a withered hand does not 
+seem an unreasonable exchange for a seventh of 
+Voldemort’s soul. The ring is no longer a Horcrux.” 
+
+“But how did you find it?” 
+
+“Well, as you now know, for many years I have made 
+it my business to discover as much as I can about 
+Voldemort’s past life. I have traveled widely, visiting 
+those places he once knew. I stumbled across the ring 
+hidden in the ruin of the Gaunts’ house. It seems that 
+once Voldemort had succeeded in sealing a piece of 
+his soul inside it, he did not want to wear it anymore. 
+He hid it, protected by many powerful enchantments, 
+in the shack where his ancestors had once lived 
+(Morfin having been carted off to Azkaban, of course), 
+never guessing that I might one day take the trouble 
+to visit the ruin, or that I might be keeping an eye 
+open for traces of magical concealment. 
+
+“However, we should not congratulate ourselves too 
+heartily. You destroyed the diary and I the ring, but if 
+we are right in our theory of a seven-part soul, four 
+Horcruxes remain.” 
+
+“And they could be anything?” said Harry. “They 
+could be old tin cans or, I dunno, empty potion 
+bottles. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You are thinking of Portkeys, Harry, which must be 
+ordinary objects, easy to overlook. But would Lord 
+Voldemort use tin cans or old potion bottles to guard 
+his own precious soul? You are forgetting what I have 
+showed you. Lord Voldemort liked to collect trophies, 
+and he preferred objects with a powerful magical 
+history. His pride, his belief in his own superiority, 
+his determination to carve for himself a startling place 
+in magical history; these things suggest to me that 
+Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with 
+some care, favoring objects worthy of the honor.” 
+
+“The diary wasn’t that special.” 
+
+“The diary, as you have said yourself, was proof that 
+he was the Heir of Slytherin; I am sure that 
+Voldemort considered it of stupendous importance.” 
+
+“So, the other Horcruxes?” said Harry. “Do you think 
+you know what they are, sir?” 
+
+“I can only guess,” said Dumbledore. “For the reasons 
+I have already given, I believe that Lord Voldemort 
+would prefer objects that, in themselves, have a 
+certain grandeur. I have therefore trawled back 
+through Voldemort’s past to see if I can find evidence 
+that such artifacts have disappeared around him.” 
+
+“The locket!” said Harry loudly. “Hufflepuff’s cup!” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore, smiling, “I would be prepared 
+to bet — perhaps not my other hand — but a couple 
+of fingers, that they became Horcruxes three and 
+four. The remaining two, assuming again that he 
+created a total of six, are more of a problem, but I will 
+hazard a guess that, having secured objects from 
+Hufflepuff and Slytherin, he set out to track down 
+objects owned by Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Four 
+objects from the four founders would, I am sure, have 
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+
+
+
+
+exerted a powerful pull over Voldemort’s imagination. 
+
+I cannot answer for whether he ever managed to find 
+anything of Ravenclaw’s. I am confident, however, 
+that the only known relic of Gryffindor remains safe.” 
+
+Dumbledore pointed his blackened fingers to the wall 
+behind him, where a ruby-encrusted sword reposed 
+within a glass case. 
+
+“Do you think that’s why he really wanted to come 
+back to Hogwarts, sir?” said Harry. “To try and find 
+something from one of the other founders?” 
+
+“My thoughts precisely,” said Dumbledore. “But 
+unfortunately, that does not advance us much 
+further, for he was turned away, or so I believe, 
+without the chance to search the school. I am forced 
+to conclude that he never fulfilled his ambition of 
+collecting four founders’ objects. He definitely had two 
+— he may have found three — that is the best we can 
+do for now.” 
+
+“Even if he got something of Ravenclaw’s or of 
+Gryffindor’s, that leaves a sixth Horcrux,” said Harry, 
+counting on his fingers. “Unless he got both?” 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore. “I think I know 
+what the sixth Horcrux is. I wonder what you will say 
+when I confess that I have been curious for a while 
+about the behavior of the snake, Nagini?” 
+
+“The snake?” said Harry, startled. “You can use 
+animals as Horcruxes?” 
+
+“Well, it is inadvisable to do so,” said Dumbledore, 
+“because to confide a part of your soul to something 
+that can think and move for itself is obviously a very 
+risky business. However, if my calculations are 
+correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short 
+Page | 568 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of his goal of six when he entered your parents’ house 
+with the intention of killing you. 
+
+
+
+“He seems to have reserved the process of making 
+Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You 
+would certainly have been that. He believed that in 
+killing you, he was destroying the danger the 
+prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making 
+himself invincible. I am sure that he was intending to 
+make his final Horcrux with your death. 
+
+“As we know, he failed. After an interval of some 
+years, however, he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle 
+man, and it might then have occurred to him to turn 
+her into his last Horcrux. She underlines the 
+Slytherin connection, which enhances Lord 
+Voldemort’s mystique; I think he is perhaps as fond of 
+her as he can be of anything; he certainly likes to 
+keep her close, and he seems to have an unusual 
+amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth.” 
+
+“So,” said Harry, “the diary’s gone, the ring’s gone. 
+
+The cup, the locket, and the snake are still intact, 
+and you think there might be a Horcrux that was 
+once Ravenclaw’s or Gryffindor’s?” 
+
+“An admirably succinct and accurate summary, yes,” 
+said Dumbledore, bowing his head. 
+
+“So . . . are you still looking for them, sir? Is that where 
+you’ve been going when you’ve been leaving the 
+school?” 
+
+“Correct,” said Dumbledore. “I have been looking for a 
+very long time. I think ... perhaps ... I may be close to 
+finding another one. There are hopeful signs.” 
+
+“And if you do,” said Harry quickly, “can I come with 
+you and help get rid of it?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore looked at Harry very intently for a 
+moment before saying, “Yes, I think so.” 
+
+“I can?” said Harry, thoroughly taken aback. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Dumbledore, smiling slightly. “I think 
+you have earned that right.” 
+
+Harry felt his heart lift. It was very good not to hear 
+words of caution and protection for once. The 
+headmasters and headmistresses around the walls 
+seemed less impressed by Dumbledore’s decision; 
+Harry saw a few of them shaking their heads and 
+Phineas Nigellus actually snorted. 
+
+“Does Voldemort know when a Horcrux is destroyed, 
+sir? Can he feel it?” Harry asked, ignoring the 
+portraits. 
+
+“A very interesting question, Harry. I believe not. I 
+believe that Voldemort is now so immersed in evil, 
+and these crucial parts of himself have been detached 
+for so long, he does not feel as we do. Perhaps, at the 
+point of death, he might be aware of his loss . . . but he 
+was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been 
+destroyed until he forced the truth out of Lucius 
+Malfoy. When Voldemort discovered that the diary 
+had been mutilated and robbed of all its powers, I am 
+told that his anger was terrible to behold.” 
+
+“But I thought he meant Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it 
+into Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Yes, he did, years ago, when he was sure he would 
+be able to create more Horcruxes, but still Lucius was 
+supposed to wait for Voldemort’s say-so, and he never 
+received it, for Voldemort vanished shortly after giving 
+him the diary. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No doubt he thought that Lucius would not dare do 
+anything with the Horcrux other than guard it 
+carefully, but he was counting too much upon 
+Lucius’s fear of a master who had been gone for years 
+and whom Lucius believed dead. Of course, Lucius 
+did not know what the diary really was. I understand 
+that Voldemort had told him the diary would cause 
+the Chamber of Secrets to reopen because it was 
+cleverly enchanted. Had Lucius known he held a 
+portion of his master’s soul in his hands, he would 
+undoubtedly have treated it with more reverence — 
+but instead he went ahead and carried out the old 
+plan for his own ends: By planting the diary upon 
+Arthur Weasley’s daughter, he hoped to discredit 
+Arthur and get rid of a highly incriminating magical 
+object in one stroke. Ah, poor Lucius ... what with 
+Voldemort ’s fury about the fact that he threw away 
+the Horcrux for his own gain, and the fiasco at the 
+Ministry last year, I would not be surprised if he is 
+not secretly glad to be safe in Azkaban at the 
+moment.” 
+
+Harry sat in thought for a moment, then asked, “So if 
+all of his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort could be 
+killed?” 
+
+“Yes, I think so,” said Dumbledore. “Without his 
+Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a 
+maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, 
+that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, 
+his brain and his magical powers remain intact. It will 
+take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like 
+Voldemort even without his Horcruxes.” 
+
+“But I haven’t got uncommon skill and power,” said 
+Harry, before he could stop himself. 
+
+“Yes, you have,” said Dumbledore firmly. “You have a 
+power that Voldemort has never had. You can — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I know!” said Harry impatiently. “I can love!” It was 
+only with difficulty that he stopped himself adding, 
+“Big deal!” 
+
+“Yes, Harry, you can love,” said Dumbledore, who 
+looked as though he knew perfectly well what Harry 
+had just refrained from saying. “Which, given 
+everything that has happened to you, is a great and 
+remarkable thing. You are still too young to 
+understand how unusual you are, Harry.” 
+
+“So, when the prophecy says that I’ll have ‘power the 
+Dark Lord knows not,’ it just means — love?” asked 
+Harry, feeling a little let down. 
+
+“Yes — just love,” said Dumbledore. “But Harry, never 
+forget that what the prophecy says is only significant 
+because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the 
+end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the 
+person who would be most dangerous to him — and 
+in doing so, he made you the person who would be 
+most dangerous to him!” 
+
+“But it comes to the same — ” 
+
+“No, it doesn’t!” said Dumbledore, sounding impatient 
+now. Pointing at Harry with his black, withered hand, 
+he said, “You are setting too much store by the 
+prophecy!” 
+
+“But,” spluttered Harry, “but you said the prophecy 
+means — ” 
+
+“If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would 
+it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? 
+Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the 
+Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But,” said Harry, bewildered, “but last year, you said 
+one of us would have to kill the other — ” 
+
+“Harry, Harry, only because Voldemort made a grave 
+error, and acted on Professor Trelawney’s words! If 
+Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he 
+have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of 
+course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for 
+you, would he have given you a magical protection he 
+could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! Don’t you 
+see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just 
+as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how 
+much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of 
+them realize that, one day, amongst their many 
+victims, there is sure to be one who rises against 
+them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! 
+Always he was on the lookout for the one who would 
+challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt 
+into action, with the result that he not only 
+handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he 
+handed him uniquely deadly weapons!” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“It is essential that you understand this!” said 
+Dumbledore, standing up and striding about the 
+room, his glittering robes swooshing in his wake; 
+Harry had never seen him so agitated. “By attempting 
+to kill you, Voldemort himself singled out the 
+remarkable person who sits here in front of me, and 
+gave him the tools for the job! It is Voldemort ’s fault 
+that you were able to see into his thoughts, his 
+ambitions, that you even understand the snakelike 
+language in which he gives orders, and yet, Harry, 
+despite your privileged insight into Voldemort’s world 
+(which, incidentally, is a gift any Death Eater would 
+kill to have), you have never been seduced by the 
+Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+slightest desire to become one of Voldemort’s 
+followers!” 
+
+“Of course I haven’t!” said Harry indignantly. “He 
+killed my mum and dad!” 
+
+“You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!” 
+said Dumbledore loudly. “The only protection that can 
+possibly work against the lure of power like 
+Voldemort’s! In spite of all the temptation you have 
+endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart, 
+just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when 
+you stared into a mirror that reflected your heart’s 
+desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord 
+Voldemort, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have 
+you any idea how few wizards could have seen what 
+you saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have 
+known then what he was dealing with, but he did not! 
+
+“But he knows it now. You have flitted into Lord 
+Voldemort’s mind without damage to yourself, but he 
+cannot possess you without enduring mortal agony, 
+as he discovered in the Ministry. I do not think he 
+understands why, Harry, but then, he was in such a 
+hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to 
+understand the incomparable power of a soul that is 
+untarnished and whole.” 
+
+“But, sir,” said Harry, making valiant efforts not to 
+sound argumentative, “it all comes to the same thing, 
+doesn’t it? I’ve got to try and kill him, or — ” 
+
+“Got to?” said Dumbledore. “Of course you’ve got to! 
+But not because of the prophecy! Because you, 
+yourself, will never rest until you’ve tried! We both 
+know it! Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you 
+had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel 
+about Voldemort now? Think!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry watched Dumbledore striding up and down in 
+front of him, and thought. He thought of his mother, 
+his father, and Sirius. He thought of Cedric Diggory. 
+He thought of all the terrible deeds he knew Lord 
+Voldemort had done. A flame seemed to leap inside 
+his chest, searing his throat. 
+
+“I’d want him finished,” said Harry quietly. “And I’d 
+want to do it.” 
+
+“Of course you would!” cried Dumbledore. “You see, 
+the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything! 
+But the prophecy caused Lord Voldemort to mark you 
+as his equal. ... In other words, you are free to choose 
+your way, quite free to turn your back on the 
+prophecy! But Voldemort continues to set store by the 
+prophecy. He will continue to hunt you . . . which 
+makes it certain, really, that — ” 
+
+“That one of us is going to end up killing the other,” 
+said Harry. “Yes.” 
+
+But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been 
+trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference 
+between being dragged into the arena to face a battle 
+to the death and walking into the arena with your 
+head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that 
+there was little to choose between the two ways, but 
+Dumbledore knew — and so do I, thought Harry, with 
+a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents — that 
+there was all the difference in the world. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+SECTUMSEMPRA 
+
+Exhausted but delighted with his night’s work, Harry 
+told Ron and Hermione everything that had happened 
+during next morning’s Charms lesson (having first 
+cast the Muffliato spell upon those nearest them). 
+They were both satisfyingly impressed by the way he 
+had wheedled the memory out of Slughorn and 
+positively awed when he told them about Voldemort’s 
+Horcruxes and Dumbledore’s promise to take Harry 
+along, should he find another one. 
+
+“Wow,” said Ron, when Harry had finally finished 
+telling them everything; Ron was waving his wand 
+very vaguely in the direction of the ceiling without 
+paying the slightest bit of attention to what he was 
+doing. “Wow. You’re actually going to go with 
+Dumbledore ... and try and destroy ... wow.” 
+
+“Ron, you’re making it snow,” said Hermione 
+patiently, grabbing his wrist and redirecting his wand 
+away from the ceiling from which, sure enough, large 
+white flakes had started to fall. Lavender Brown, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry noticed, glared at Hermione from a neighboring 
+table through very red eyes, and Hermione 
+immediately let go of Ron’s arm. 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Ron, looking down at his shoulders in 
+vague surprise. “Sorry ... looks like we’ve all got 
+horrible dandruff now. ...” 
+
+He brushed some of the fake snow off Hermione ’s 
+shoulder. Lavender burst into tears. Ron looked 
+immensely guilty and turned his back on her. 
+
+“We split up,” he told Harry out of the corner of his 
+mouth. “Last night. When she saw me coming out of 
+the dormitory with Hermione. Obviously she couldn’t 
+see you, so she thought it had just been the two of 
+us.” 
+
+
+
+“Ah,” said Harry. “Well — you don’t mind it’s over, do 
+you?” 
+
+“No,” Ron admitted. “It was pretty bad while she was 
+yelling, but at least I didn’t have to finish it.” 
+
+“Coward,” said Hermione, though she looked amused. 
+“Well, it was a bad night for romance all around. 
+Ginny and Dean split up too, Harry.” 
+
+Harry thought there was a rather knowing look in her 
+eye as she told him that, but she could not possibly 
+know that his insides were suddenly dancing the 
+conga. Keeping his face as immobile and his voice as 
+indifferent as he could, he asked, “How come?” 
+
+“Oh, something really silly . . . She said he was always 
+trying to help her through the portrait hole, like she 
+couldn’t climb in herself ... but they’ve been a bit 
+rocky for ages.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry glanced over at Dean on the other side of the 
+classroom. He certainly looked unhappy. 
+
+“Of course, this puts you in a bit of a dilemma, 
+doesn’t it?” said Hermione. 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry quickly. 
+
+“The Quidditch team,” said Hermione. “If Ginny and 
+Dean aren’t speaking ...” 
+
+“Oh — oh yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“Flitwick,” said Ron in a warning tone. The tiny little 
+Charms master was bobbing his way toward them, 
+and Hermione was the only one who had managed to 
+turn vinegar into wine; her glass flask was full of deep 
+crimson liquid, whereas the contents of Harry’s and 
+Ron’s were still murky brown. 
+
+“Now, now, boys,” squeaked Professor Flitwick 
+reproachfully. “A little less talk, a little more action ... 
+Let me see you try. ...” 
+
+Together they raised their wands, concentrating with 
+all their might, and pointed them at their flasks. 
+Harry’s vinegar turned to ice; Ron’s flask exploded. 
+
+“Yes ... for homework,” said Professor Flitwick, 
+reemerging from under the table and pulling shards 
+of glass out of the top of his hat, “practice.” 
+
+They had one of their rare joint free periods after 
+Charms and walked back to the common room 
+together. Ron seemed to be positively lighthearted 
+about the end of his relationship with Lavender, and 
+Hermione seemed cheery too, though when asked 
+what she was grinning about she simply said, “It’s a 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+nice day.” Neither of them seemed to have noticed 
+that a fierce battle was raging inside Harry’s brain: 
+
+She’s Ron’s sister. 
+
+But she’s ditched Dean! 
+
+She’s still Ron’s sister. 
+
+I’m his best mate! 
+
+That’ll make it worse. 
+
+If I talked to him first — 
+
+He’d hit you. 
+
+What if I don’t care? 
+
+He’s your best mate\ 
+
+Harry barely noticed that they were climbing through 
+the portrait hole into the sunny common room, and 
+only vaguely registered the small group of seventh 
+years clustered together there, until Hermione cried, 
+“Katie! You’re back! Are you okay?” 
+
+Harry stared: It was indeed Katie Bell, looking 
+completely healthy and surrounded by her jubilant 
+friends. 
+
+“I’m really well!” she said happily. “They let me out of 
+St. Mungo’s on Monday, I had a couple of days at 
+home with Mum and Dad and then came back here 
+this morning. Leanne was just telling me about 
+McLaggen and the last match, Harry. ...” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “well, now you’re back and Ron’s 
+fit, we’ll have a decent chance of thrashing 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ravenclaw, which means we could still be in the 
+running for the Cup. Listen, Katie ...” 
+
+He had to put the question to her at once; his 
+curiosity even drove Ginny temporarily from his 
+brain. He dropped his voice as Katie’s friends started 
+gathering up their things; apparently they were late 
+for Transfiguration. 
+
+"... that necklace ... can you remember who gave it to 
+you now?” 
+
+“No,” said Katie, shaking her head ruefully. 
+“Everyone’s been asking me, but I haven’t got a clue. 
+The last thing I remember was walking into the ladies’ 
+in the Three Broomsticks.” 
+
+“You definitely went into the bathroom, then?” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Well, I know I pushed open the door,” said Katie, “so 
+I suppose whoever Imperiused me was standing just 
+behind it. After that, my memory’s a blank until 
+about two weeks ago in St. Mungo’s. Listen, I’d better 
+go, I wouldn’t put it past McGonagall to give me lines 
+even if it is my first day back. ...” 
+
+She caught up her bag and books and hurried after 
+her friends, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to sit 
+down at a window table and ponder what she had told 
+them. 
+
+“So it must have been a girl or a woman who gave 
+Katie the necklace,” said Hermione, “to be in the 
+ladies’ bathroom.” 
+
+“Or someone who looked like a girl or a woman,” said 
+Harry. “Don’t forget, there was a cauldron full of 
+
+
+
+Page | 580 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Polyjuice Potion at Hogwarts. We know some of it got 
+stolen. ...” 
+
+In his mind’s eye, he watched a parade of Crabbes 
+and Goyles prance past, all transformed into girls. 
+
+“I think I’m going to take another swig of Felix,” said 
+Harry, “and have a go at the Room of Requirement 
+again.” 
+
+“That would be a complete waste of potion,” said 
+Hermione flatly, putting down the copy of Spellman’s 
+Syllabary she had just taken out of her bag. “Luck 
+can only get you so far, Harry. The situation with 
+Slughorn was different; you always had the ability to 
+persuade him, you just needed to tweak the 
+circumstances a bit. Luck isn’t enough to get you 
+through a powerful enchantment, though. Don’t go 
+wasting the rest of that potion! You’ll need all the luck 
+you can get if Dumbledore takes you along with him 
+...” She dropped her voice to a whisper. 
+
+“Couldn’t we make some more?” Ron asked Harry, 
+ignoring Hermione. “It’d be great to have a stock of it. 
+... Have a look in the book ...” 
+
+Harry pulled his copy of Advanced Potion-Making out 
+of his bag and looked up Felix Felicis. 
+
+“Blimey, it’s seriously complicated,” he said, running 
+an eye down the list of ingredients. “And it takes six 
+months ... You’ve got to let it stew. ...” 
+
+“Typical,” said Ron. 
+
+Harry was about to put his book away again when he 
+noticed the corner of a page folded down; turning to 
+it, he saw the Sectumsempra spell, captioned “For 
+Enemies,” that he had marked a few weeks 
+
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+
+
+
+
+previously. He had still not found out what it did, 
+mainly because he did not want to test it around 
+Hermione, but he was considering trying it out on 
+McLaggen next time he came up behind him 
+unawares. 
+
+The only person who was not particularly pleased to 
+see Katie Bell back at school was Dean Thomas, 
+because he would no longer be required to fill her 
+place as Chaser. He took the blow stoically enough 
+when Harry told him, merely grunting and shrugging, 
+but Harry had the distinct feeling as he walked away 
+that Dean and Seamus were muttering mutinously 
+behind his back. 
+
+The following fortnight saw the best Quidditch 
+practices Harry had known as Captain. His team was 
+so pleased to be rid of McLaggen, so glad to have 
+Katie back at last, that they were flying extremely 
+well. 
+
+Ginny did not seem at all upset about the breakup 
+with Dean; on the contrary, she was the life and soul 
+of the team. Her imitations of Ron anxiously bobbing 
+up and down in front of the goal posts as the Quaffle 
+sped toward him, or of Harry bellowing orders at 
+McLaggen before being knocked out cold, kept them 
+all highly amused. Harry, laughing with the others, 
+was glad to have an innocent reason to look at Ginny; 
+he had received several more Bludger injuries during 
+practice because he had not been keeping his eyes on 
+the Snitch. 
+
+The battle still raged inside his head: Ginny or Ron? 
+Sometimes he thought that the post-Lavender Ron 
+might not mind too much if he asked Ginny out, but 
+then he remembered Ron’s expression when he had 
+seen her kissing Dean, and was sure that Ron would 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+consider it base treachery if Harry so much as held 
+her hand. ... 
+
+Yet Harry could not help himself talking to Ginny, 
+laughing with her, walking back from practice with 
+her; however much his conscience ached, he found 
+himself wondering how best to get her on her own. It 
+would have been ideal if Slughorn had given another 
+of his little parties, for Ron would not be around — 
+but unfortunately, Slughorn seemed to have given 
+them up. Once or twice Harry considered asking for 
+Hermione’s help, but he did not think he could stand 
+seeing the smug look on her face; he thought he 
+caught it sometimes when Hermione spotted him 
+staring at Ginny or laughing at her jokes. And to 
+complicate matters, he had the nagging worry that if 
+he didn’t do it, somebody else was sure to ask Ginny 
+out soon: He and Ron were at least agreed on the fact 
+that she was too popular for her own good. 
+
+All in all, the temptation to take another gulp of Felix 
+Felicis was becoming stronger by the day, for surely 
+this was a case for, as Hermione put it, “tweaking the 
+circumstances”? The balmy days slid gently through 
+May, and Ron seemed to be there at Harry’s shoulder 
+every time he saw Ginny. Harry found himself longing 
+for a stroke of luck that would somehow cause Ron to 
+realize that nothing would make him happier than his 
+best friend and his sister falling for each other and to 
+leave them alone together for longer than a few 
+seconds. There seemed no chance of either while the 
+final Quidditch game of the season was looming; Ron 
+wanted to talk tactics with Harry all the time and had 
+little thought for anything else. 
+
+Ron was not unique in this respect; interest in the 
+Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game was running extremely 
+high throughout the school, for the match would 
+decide the Championship, which was still wide open. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+If Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw by a margin of three 
+hundred points (a tall order, and yet Harry had never 
+known his team to fly better) then they would win the 
+Championship. If they won by less than three 
+hundred points, they would come second to 
+Ravenclaw; if they lost by a hundred points they 
+would be third behind Hufflepuff and if they lost by 
+more than a hundred, they would be in fourth place 
+and nobody, Harry thought, would ever, ever let him 
+forget that it had been he who had captained 
+Gryffindor to their first bottom-of-the-table defeat in 
+two centuries. 
+
+The run-up to this crucial match had all the usual 
+features: members of rival Houses attempting to 
+intimidate opposing teams in the corridors; 
+unpleasant chants about individual players being 
+rehearsed loudly as they passed; the team members 
+themselves either swaggering around enjoying all the 
+attention or else dashing into bathrooms between 
+classes to throw up. Somehow, the game had become 
+inextricably linked in Harry’s mind with success or 
+failure in his plans for Ginny. He could not help 
+feeling that if they won by more than three hundred 
+points, the scenes of euphoria and a nice loud after- 
+match party might be just as good as a hearty swig of 
+Felix Felicis. 
+
+In the midst of all his preoccupations, Harry had not 
+forgotten his other ambition: finding out what Malfoy 
+was up to in the Room of Requirement. He was still 
+checking the Marauder’s Map, and as he was unable 
+to locate Malfoy on it, deduced that Malfoy was still 
+spending plenty of time within the room. Although 
+Harry was losing hope that he would ever succeed in 
+getting inside the Room of Requirement, he attempted 
+it whenever he was in the vicinity, but no matter how 
+he reworded his request, the wall remained firmly 
+doorless. 
+
+Page | 584 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+A few days before the match against Ravenclaw, 
+
+Harry found himself walking down to dinner alone 
+from the common room, Ron having rushed off into a 
+nearby bathroom to throw up yet again, and 
+Hermione having dashed off to see Professor Vector 
+about a mistake she thought she might have made in 
+her last Arithmancy essay. More out of habit than 
+anything, Harry made his usual detour along the 
+seventh-floor corridor, checking the Marauder’s Map 
+as he went. For a moment he could not find Malfoy 
+anywhere and assumed he must indeed be inside the 
+Room of Requirement again, but then he saw Malfoy’s 
+tiny, labeled dot standing in a boys’ bathroom on the 
+floor below, accompanied, not by Crabbe or Goyle, 
+but by Moaning Myrtle. 
+
+Harry only stopped staring at this unlikely coupling 
+when he walked right into a suit of armor. The loud 
+crash brought him out of his reverie; hurrying from 
+the scene lest Filch turn up, he dashed down the 
+marble staircase and along the passageway below. 
+Outside the bathroom, he pressed his ear against the 
+door. He could not hear anything. He very quietly 
+pushed the door open. 
+
+Draco Malfoy was standing with his back to the door, 
+his hands clutching either side of the sink, his white- 
+blond head bowed. 
+
+“Don’t,” crooned Moaning Myrtle’s voice from one of 
+the cubicles. “Don’t ... tell me what’s wrong ... I can 
+help you. ...” 
+
+“No one can help me,” said Malfoy. His whole body 
+was shaking. “I can’t do it. ... I can’t. ... It won’t work 
+... and unless I do it soon ... he says he’ll kill me. ...” 
+
+And Harry realized, with a shock so huge it seemed to 
+root him to the spot, that Malfoy was crying — 
+
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+
+
+
+
+actually crying — tears streaming down his pale face 
+into the grimy basin. Malfoy gasped and gulped and 
+then, with a great shudder, looked up into the 
+cracked mirror and saw Harry staring at him over his 
+shoulder. 
+
+Malfoy wheeled around, drawing his wand. 
+Instinctively, Harry pulled out his own. Malfoy’s hex 
+missed Harry by inches, shattering the lamp on the 
+wall beside him; Harry threw himself sideways, 
+thought Levicorpus\ and flicked his wand, but Malfoy 
+blocked the jinx and raised his wand for another — 
+
+“No! No! Stop it!” squealed Moaning Myrtle, her voice 
+echoing loudly around the tiled room. “Stop! STOP!” 
+
+There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harry 
+exploded; Harry attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that 
+backfired off the wall behind Malfoy’s ear and 
+smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who 
+screamed loudly; water poured everywhere and Harry 
+slipped as Malfoy, his face contorted, cried, “Cruci — ” 
+
+“ SECTUMSEMPRAl” bellowed Harry from the floor, 
+waving his wand wildly. 
+
+Blood spurted from Malfoy’s face and chest as though 
+he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He 
+staggered backward and collapsed onto the 
+waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling 
+from his limp right hand. 
+
+“No — ” gasped Harry. 
+
+Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and 
+plunged toward Malfoy, whose face was now shining 
+scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood- 
+soaked chest. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No — I didn’t — ” 
+
+
+
+Harry did not know what he was saying; he fell to his 
+knees beside Malfoy, who was shaking uncontrollably 
+in a pool of his own blood. Moaning Myrtle let out a 
+deafening scream: “MURDER! MURDER IN THE 
+BATHROOM! MURDER!” 
+
+The door banged open behind Harry and he looked 
+up, terrified: Snape had burst into the room, his face 
+livid. Pushing Harry roughly aside, he knelt over 
+Malfoy, drew his wand, and traced it over the deep 
+wounds Harry’s curse had made, muttering an 
+incantation that sounded almost like song. The flow 
+of blood seemed to ease; Snape wiped the residue 
+from Malfoy’s face and repeated his spell. Now the 
+wounds seemed to be knitting. 
+
+Harry was still watching, horrified by what he had 
+done, barely aware that he too was soaked in blood 
+and water. Moaning Myrtle was still sobbing and 
+wailing overhead. When Snape had performed his 
+countercurse for the third time, he half-lifted Malfoy 
+into a standing position. 
+
+“You need the hospital wing. There may be a certain 
+amount of scarring, but if you take dittany 
+immediately we might avoid even that. ... Come. ...” 
+
+He supported Malfoy across the bathroom, turning at 
+the door to say in a voice of cold fury, “And you, 
+
+Potter ... You wait here for me.” 
+
+It did not occur to Harry for a second to disobey. He 
+stood up slowly, shaking, and looked down at the wet 
+floor. There were bloodstains floating like crimson 
+flowers across its surface. He could not even find it in 
+himself to tell Moaning Myrtle to be quiet, as she 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+continued to wail and sob with increasingly evident 
+enjoyment. 
+
+
+
+Snape returned ten minutes later. He stepped into the 
+bathroom and closed the door behind him. 
+
+“Go,” he said to Myrtle, and she swooped back into 
+her toilet at once, leaving a ringing silence behind 
+her. 
+
+“I didn’t mean it to happen,” said Harry at once. His 
+voice echoed in the cold, watery space. “I didn’t know 
+what that spell did.” 
+
+But Snape ignored this. “Apparently I underestimated 
+you, Potter,” he said quietly. “Who would have 
+thought you knew such Dark Magic? Who taught you 
+that spell?” 
+
+“I — read about it somewhere.” 
+
+“Where?” 
+
+“It was — a library book,” Harry invented wildly. “I 
+can’t remember what it was call — ” 
+
+“Liar,” said Snape. Harry’s throat went dry. He knew 
+what Snape was going to do and he had never been 
+able to prevent it. ... 
+
+The bathroom seemed to shimmer before his eyes; he 
+struggled to block out all thought, but try as he 
+might, the Half-Blood Prince’s copy of Advanced 
+Potion-Making swam hazily to the forefront of his 
+mind. 
+
+And then he was staring at Snape again, in the midst 
+of this wrecked, soaked bathroom. He stared into 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Snape’s black eyes, hoping against hope that Snape 
+had not seen what he feared, but — 
+
+“Bring me your schoolbag,” said Snape softly, “and all 
+of your schoolbooks. All of them. Bring them to me 
+here. Now!” 
+
+There was no point arguing. Harry turned at once and 
+splashed out of the bathroom. Once in the corridor, 
+he broke into a run toward Gryffindor Tower. Most 
+people were walking the other way; they gaped at him, 
+drenched in water and blood, but he answered none 
+of the questions fired at him as he ran past. 
+
+He felt stunned; it was as though a beloved pet had 
+turned suddenly savage; what had the Prince been 
+thinking to copy such a spell into his book? And what 
+would happen when Snape saw it? Would he tell 
+Slughorn — Harry’s stomach churned — how Harry 
+had been achieving such good results in Potions all 
+year? Would he confiscate or destroy the book that 
+had taught Harry so much . . . the book that had 
+become a kind of guide and friend? Harry could not 
+let it happen. ... He could not ... 
+
+“Where Ve you — ? Why are you soaking — ? Is that 
+blood?” 
+
+Ron was standing at the top of the stairs, looking 
+bewildered at the sight of Harry. 
+
+“I need your book,” Harry panted. “Your Potions book. 
+Quick ... give it to me ...” 
+
+“But what about the Half-Blood — ” 
+
+“I’ll explain later!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron pulled his copy of Advanced Potion-Making out of 
+his bag and handed it over; Harry sprinted off past 
+him and back to the common room. Here, he seized 
+his schoolbag, ignoring the amazed looks of several 
+people who had already finished their dinner, threw 
+himself back out of the portrait hole, and hurtled off 
+along the seventh-floor corridor. 
+
+He skidded to a halt beside the tapestry of dancing 
+trolls, closed his eyes, and began to walk. 
+
+I need a place to hide my book. ... I need a place to 
+hide my book. ... I need a place to hide my book. . . . 
+
+Three times he walked up and down in front of the 
+stretch of blank wall. When he opened his eyes, there 
+it was at last: the door to the Room of Requirement. 
+Harry wrenched it open, flung himself inside, and 
+slammed it shut. 
+
+He gasped. Despite his haste, his panic, his fear of 
+what awaited him back in the bathroom, he could not 
+help but be overawed by what he was looking at. He 
+was standing in a room the size of a large cathedral, 
+whose high windows were sending shafts of light 
+down upon what looked like a city with towering 
+walls, built of what Harry knew must be objects 
+hidden by generations of Hogwarts inhabitants. There 
+were alleyways and roads bordered by teetering piles 
+of broken and damaged furniture, stowed away, 
+perhaps, to hide the evidence of mishandled magic, or 
+else hidden by castle-proud house-elves. There were 
+thousands and thousands of books, no doubt banned 
+or graffitied or stolen. There were winged catapults 
+and Fanged Frisbees, some still with enough life in 
+them to hover halfheartedly over the mountains of 
+other forbidden items; there were chipped bottles of 
+congealed potions, hats, jewels, cloaks; there were 
+what looked like dragon eggshells, corked bottles 
+Page | 590 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+whose contents still shimmered evilly, several rusting 
+swords, and a heavy, bloodstained axe. 
+
+Harry hurried forward into one of the many alleyways 
+between all this hidden treasure. He turned right past 
+an enormous stuffed troll, ran on a short way, took a 
+left at the broken Vanishing Cabinet in which 
+Montague had got lost the previous year, finally 
+pausing beside a large cupboard that seemed to have 
+had acid thrown at its blistered surface. He opened 
+one of the cupboard’s creaking doors: It had already 
+been used as a hiding place for something in a cage 
+that had long since died; its skeleton had five legs. He 
+stuffed the Half-Blood Prince’s book behind the cage 
+and slammed the door. He paused for a moment, his 
+heart thumping horribly, gazing around at all the 
+clutter. ... Would he be able to find this spot again 
+amidst all this junk? Seizing the chipped bust of an 
+ugly old warlock from on top of a nearby crate, he 
+stood it on top of the cupboard where the book was 
+now hidden, perched a dusty old wig and a tarnished 
+tiara on the statue’s head to make it more distinctive, 
+then sprinted back through the alleyways of hidden 
+junk as fast as he could go, back to the door, back 
+out onto the corridor, where he slammed the door 
+behind him, and it turned at once back into stone. 
+
+Harry ran flat-out toward the bathroom on the floor 
+below, cramming Ron’s copy of Advanced Potion- 
+Making into his bag as he did so. A minute later, he 
+was back in front of Snape, who held out his hand 
+wordlessly for Harry’s schoolbag. Harry handed it 
+over, panting, a searing pain in his chest, and waited. 
+
+One by one, Snape extracted Harry’s books and 
+examined them. Finally, the only book left was the 
+Potions book, which he looked at very carefully before 
+speaking. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“This is your copy of Advanced Potion-Making, is it, 
+Potter?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, still breathing hard. 
+
+“You’re quite sure of that, are you, Potter?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, with a touch more defiance. 
+
+“This is the copy of Advanced Potion-Making that you 
+purchased from Flourish and Blotts?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry firmly. 
+
+“Then why,” asked Snape, “does it have the name 
+‘Roonil Wazlib’ written inside the front cover?” 
+
+Harry’s heart missed a beat. “That’s my nickname,” 
+he said. 
+
+“Your nickname,” repeated Snape. 
+
+“Yeah ... that’s what my friends call me,” said Harry. 
+
+“I understand what a nickname is,” said Snape. The 
+cold, black eyes were boring once more into Harry’s; 
+he tried not to look into them. Close your mind. ... 
+Close your mind. . . . But he had never learned how to 
+do it properly. . . . 
+
+“Do you know what I think, Potter?” said Snape, very 
+quietly. “I think that you are a liar and a cheat and 
+that you deserve detention with me every Saturday 
+until the end of term. What do you think, Potter?” 
+
+“I — I don’t agree, sir,” said Harry, still refusing to 
+look into Snape ’s eyes. 
+
+
+
+Page | 592 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, we shall see how you feel after your 
+detentions,” said Snape. “Ten o’clock Saturday 
+morning, Potter. My office.” 
+
+“But sir ...” said Harry, looking up desperately. 
+“Quidditch ... the last match of the ...” 
+
+“Ten o’clock,” whispered Snape, with a smile that 
+showed his yellow teeth. “Poor Gryffindor ... fourth 
+place this year, I fear ...” 
+
+And he left the bathroom without another word, 
+leaving Harry to stare into the cracked mirror, feeling 
+sicker, he was sure, than Ron had ever felt in his life. 
+
+“I won’t say ‘I told you so,’ ” said Hermione, an hour 
+later in the common room. 
+
+“Leave it, Hermione,” said Ron angrily. 
+
+Harry had never made it to dinner; he had no appetite 
+at all. He had just finished telling Ron, Hermione, and 
+Ginny what had happened, not that there seemed to 
+have been much need. The news had traveled very 
+fast: Apparently Moaning Myrtle had taken it upon 
+herself to pop up in every bathroom in the castle to 
+tell the story; Malfoy had already been visited in the 
+hospital wing by Pansy Parkinson, who had lost no 
+time in vilifying Harry far and wide, and Snape had 
+told the staff precisely what had happened. Harry had 
+already been called out of the common room to 
+endure fifteen highly unpleasant minutes in the 
+company of Professor McGonagall, who had told him 
+he was lucky not to have been expelled and that she 
+supported wholeheartedly Snape ’s punishment of 
+detention every Saturday until the end of term. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I told you there was something wrong with that 
+Prince person,” Hermione said, evidently unable to 
+stop herself. “And I was right, wasn’t I?” 
+
+“No, I don’t think you were,” said Harry stubbornly. 
+
+He was having a bad enough time without Hermione 
+lecturing him; the looks on the Gryffindor team’s 
+faces when he had told them he would not be able to 
+play on Saturday had been the worst punishment of 
+all. He could feel Ginny’s eyes on him now but did not 
+meet them; he did not want to see disappointment or 
+anger there. He had just told her that she would be 
+playing Seeker on Saturday and that Dean would be 
+rejoining the team as Chaser in her place. Perhaps, if 
+they won, Ginny and Dean would make up during the 
+post-match euphoria. ... The thought went through 
+Harry like an icy knife. ... 
+
+“Harry,” said Hermione, “how can you still stick up 
+for that book when that spell — ” 
+
+“Will you stop harping on about the book!” snapped 
+Harry. “The Prince only copied it out! It’s not like he 
+was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he 
+was making a note of something that had been used 
+against him!” 
+
+“I don’t believe this,” said Hermione. “You’re actually 
+defending — ” 
+
+“I’m not defending what I did!” said Harry quickly. “I 
+wish I hadn’t done it, and not just because I’ve got 
+about a dozen detentions. You know I wouldn’t’ve 
+used a spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you 
+can’t blame the Prince, he hadn’t written ‘try this out, 
+it’s really good’ — he was just making notes for 
+himself, wasn’t he, not for anyone else. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Are you telling me,” said Hermione, “that you’re 
+going to go back — ?” 
+
+“And get the book? Yeah, I am,” said Harry forcefully. 
+“Listen, without the Prince I’d never have won the 
+Felix Felicis. I’d never have known how to save Ron 
+from poisoning, I’d never have — ” 
+
+“ — got a reputation for Potions brilliance you don’t 
+deserve,” said Hermione nastily. 
+
+“Give it a rest, Hermione!” said Ginny, and Harry was 
+so amazed, so grateful, he looked up. “By the sound 
+of it, Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, 
+you should be glad Harry had something good up his 
+sleeve!” 
+
+“Well, of course I’m glad Harry wasn’t cursed!” said 
+Hermione, clearly stung. “But you can’t call that 
+Sectumsempra spell good, Ginny, look where it’s 
+landed him! And I’d have thought, seeing what this 
+has done to your chances in the match — ” 
+
+“Oh, don’t start acting as though you understand 
+Quidditch,” snapped Ginny, “you’ll only embarrass 
+yourself.” 
+
+Harry and Ron stared: Hermione and Ginny, who had 
+always got on together very well, were now sitting 
+with their arms folded, glaring in opposite directions. 
+Ron looked nervously at Harry, then snatched up a 
+book at random and hid behind it. Harry, however, 
+little though he knew he deserved it, felt unbelievably 
+cheerful all of a sudden, even though none of them 
+spoke again for the rest of the evening. 
+
+His lightheartedness was short-lived. There were 
+Slytherin taunts to be endured next day, not to 
+mention much anger from fellow Gryffindors, who 
+
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+
+
+
+
+were most unhappy that their Captain had got 
+himself banned from the final match of the season. By 
+Saturday morning, whatever he might have told 
+Hermione, Harry would have gladly exchanged all the 
+Felix Felicis in the world to be walking down to the 
+Quidditch pitch with Ron, Ginny, and the others. It 
+was almost unbearable to turn away from the mass of 
+students streaming out into the sunshine, all of them 
+wearing rosettes and hats and brandishing banners 
+and scarves, to descend the stone steps into the 
+dungeons and walk until the distant sounds of the 
+crowd were quite obliterated, knowing that he would 
+not be able to hear a word of commentary or a cheer 
+or groan. 
+
+“Ah, Potter,” said Snape, when Harry had knocked on 
+his door and entered the unpleasantly familiar office 
+that Snape, despite teaching floors above now, had 
+not vacated; it was as dimly lit as ever and the same 
+slimy dead objects were suspended in colored potions 
+all around the walls. Ominously, there were many 
+cobwebbed boxes piled on a table where Harry was 
+clearly supposed to sit; they had an aura of tedious, 
+hard, and pointless work about them. 
+
+“Mr. Filch has been looking for someone to clear out 
+these old files,” said Snape softly. “They are the 
+records of other Hogwarts wrongdoers and their 
+punishments. Where the ink has grown faint, or the 
+cards have suffered damage from mice, we would like 
+you to copy out the crimes and punishments afresh 
+and, making sure that they are in alphabetical order, 
+replace them in the boxes. You will not use magic.” 
+
+“Right, Professor,” said Harry, with as much contempt 
+as he could put into the last three syllables. 
+
+“I thought you could start,” said Snape, a malicious 
+smile on his lips, “with boxes one thousand and 
+
+Page | 596 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+twelve to one thousand and fifty-six. You will find 
+some familiar names in there, which should add 
+interest to the task. Here, you see ...” 
+
+He pulled out a card from one of the topmost boxes 
+with a flourish and read, “ ‘James Potter and Sirius 
+Black. Apprehended using an illegal hex upon Bertram 
+Aubrey. Aubrey’s head twice normal size. Double 
+detention.’ ” Snape sneered. “It must be such a 
+comfort to think that, though they are gone, a record 
+of their great achievements remains. ...” 
+
+Harry felt the familiar boiling sensation in the pit of 
+his stomach. Biting his tongue to prevent himself 
+retaliating, he sat down in front of the boxes and 
+pulled one toward him. 
+
+It was, as Harry had anticipated, useless, boring 
+work, punctuated (as Snape had clearly planned) with 
+the regular jolt in the stomach that meant he had just 
+read his father or Sirius’s names, usually coupled 
+together in various petty misdeeds, occasionally 
+accompanied by those of Remus Lupin and Peter 
+Pettigrew. And while he copied out all their various 
+offenses and punishments, he wondered what was 
+going on outside, where the match would have just 
+started . . . Ginny playing Seeker against Cho . . . 
+
+Harry glanced again and again at the large clock 
+ticking on the wall. It seemed to be moving half as 
+fast as a regular clock; perhaps Snape had bewitched 
+it to go extra slowly? He could not have been here for 
+only half an hour ... an hour ... an hour and a half. . . . 
+
+Harry’s stomach started rumbling when the clock 
+showed half past twelve. Snape, who had not spoken 
+at all since setting Harry his task, finally looked up at 
+ten past one. 
+
+
+
+Page | 597 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I think that will do,” he said coldly. “Mark the place 
+you have reached. You will continue at ten o’clock 
+next Saturday.” 
+
+“Yes, sir.” 
+
+Harry stuffed a bent card into the box at random and 
+hurried out of the door before Snape could change his 
+mind, racing back up the stone steps, straining his 
+ears to hear a sound from the pitch, but all was quiet. 
+...It was over, then. ... 
+
+He hesitated outside the crowded Great Hall, then ran 
+up the marble staircase; whether Gryffindor had won 
+or lost, the team usually celebrated or commiserated 
+in their own common room. 
+
+“ Quid agis?” he said tentatively to the Fat Lady, 
+wondering what he would find inside. 
+
+Her expression was unreadable as she replied, “You’ll 
+see.” 
+
+And she swung forward. 
+
+A roar of celebration erupted from the hole behind 
+her. Harry gaped as people began to scream at the 
+sight of him; several hands pulled him into the room. 
+
+“We won!” yelled Ron, bounding into sight and 
+brandishing the silver Cup at Harry. “We won! Four 
+hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!” 
+
+Harry looked around; there was Ginny running 
+toward him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face 
+as she threw her arms around him. And without 
+thinking, without planning it, without worrying about 
+the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed 
+her. 
+
+Page | 598 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+After several long moments — or it might have been 
+half an hour — or possibly several sunlit days — they 
+broke apart. The room had gone very quiet. Then 
+several people wolf-whistled and there was an 
+outbreak of nervous giggling. Harry looked over the 
+top of Ginny’s head to see Dean Thomas holding a 
+shattered glass in his hand, and Romilda Vane 
+looking as though she might throw something. 
+Hermione was beaming, but Harry’s eyes sought Ron. 
+At last he found him, still clutching the Cup and 
+wearing an expression appropriate to having been 
+clubbed over the head. For a fraction of a second they 
+looked at each other, then Ron gave a tiny jerk of the 
+head that Harry understood to mean, Well — if you 
+must. 
+
+The creature in his chest roaring in triumph, he 
+grinned down at Ginny and gestured wordlessly out of 
+the portrait hole. A long walk in the grounds seemed 
+indicated, during which — if they had time — they 
+might discuss the match. 
+
+
+
+Page | 599 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SEER OVERHEARD 
+
+The fact that Harry Potter was going out with Ginny 
+Weasley seemed to interest a great number of people, 
+most of them girls, yet Harry found himself newly and 
+happily impervious to gossip over the next few weeks. 
+After all, it made a very nice change to be talked 
+about because of something that was making him 
+happier than he could remember being for a very long 
+time, rather than because he had been involved in 
+horrific scenes of Dark Magic. 
+
+“You’d think people had better things to gossip 
+about,” said Ginny, as she sat on the common room 
+floor, leaning against Harry’s legs and reading the 
+Daily Prophet “Three dementor attacks in a week, and 
+all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it’s true you’ve got 
+a hippogriff tattooed across your chest.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione both roared with laughter. Harry 
+ignored them. 
+
+“What did you tell her?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 600 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“I told her it’s a Hungarian Horntail,” said Ginny, 
+turning a page of the newspaper idly. “Much more 
+macho.” 
+
+
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, grinning. “And what did you tell 
+her Ron’s got?” 
+
+“A Pygmy Puff, but I didn’t say where.” 
+
+Ron scowled as Hermione rolled around laughing. 
+
+“Watch it,” he said, pointing warningly at Harry and 
+Ginny. “Just because I’ve given my permission doesn’t 
+mean I can’t withdraw it — ” 
+
+“ ‘Your permission,’ ” scoffed Ginny. “Since when did 
+you give me permission to do anything? Anyway, you 
+said yourself you’d rather it was Harry than Michael 
+or Dean.” 
+
+“Yeah, I would,” said Ron grudgingly. “And just as 
+long as you don’t start snogging each other in public 
+
+
+
+“You filthy hypocrite! What about you and Lavender, 
+thrashing around like a pair of eels all over the 
+place?” demanded Ginny. 
+
+But Ron’s tolerance was not to be tested much as 
+they moved into June, for Harry and Ginny’s time 
+together was becoming increasingly restricted. 
+
+Ginny’s O.W.L.s were approaching and she was 
+therefore forced to study for hours into the night. On 
+one such evening, when Ginny had retired to the 
+library, and Harry was sitting beside the window in 
+the common room, supposedly finishing his 
+Herbology homework but in reality reliving a 
+particularly happy hour he had spent down by the 
+lake with Ginny at lunchtime, Hermione dropped into 
+Page | 601 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the seat between him and Ron with an unpleasantly 
+purposeful look on her face. 
+
+“I want to talk to you, Harry.” 
+
+“What about?” said Harry suspiciously. Only the 
+previous day, Hermione had told him off for 
+distracting Ginny when she ought to be working hard 
+for her examinations. 
+
+“The so-called Half-Blood Prince.” 
+
+“Oh, not again,” he groaned. “Will you please drop it?” 
+
+He had not dared to return to the Room of 
+Requirement to retrieve his book, and his 
+performance in Potions was suffering accordingly 
+(though Slughorn, who approved of Ginny, had 
+jocularly attributed this to Harry being lovesick). But 
+Harry was sure that Snape had not yet given up hope 
+of laying hands on the Prince’s book, and was 
+determined to leave it where it was while Snape 
+remained on the lookout. 
+
+“I’m not dropping it,” said Hermione firmly, “until 
+you’ve heard me out. Now, I’ve been trying to find out 
+a bit about who might make a hobby of inventing 
+Dark spells — ” 
+
+“He didn’t make a hobby of it — ” 
+
+“He, he — who says it’s a he?” 
+
+“We’ve been through this,” said Harry crossly. ��Prince, 
+Hermione, PrinceV’ 
+
+“Right!” said Hermione, red patches blazing in her 
+cheeks as she pulled a very old piece of newsprint out 
+
+
+
+Page | 602 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of her pocket and slammed it down on the table in 
+front of Harry. “Look at that! Look at the picture!” 
+
+
+
+Harry picked up the crumbling piece of paper and 
+stared at the moving photograph, yellowed with age; 
+Ron leaned over for a look too. The picture showed a 
+skinny girl of around fifteen. She was not pretty; she 
+looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy 
+brows and a long, pallid face. Underneath the 
+photograph was the caption: EILEEN PRINCE, 
+CAPTAIN OF THE HOGWARTS GOBSTONES TEAM. 
+
+“So?” said Harry, scanning the short news item to 
+which the picture belonged; it was a rather dull story 
+about interschool competitions. 
+
+“Her name was Eileen Prince. Prince, Harry.” 
+
+They looked at each other, and Harry realized what 
+Hermione was trying to say. He burst out laughing. 
+
+“No way.” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“You think she was the Half-Blood ... ? Oh, come on.” 
+
+“Well, why not? Harry, there aren’t any real princes in 
+the Wizarding world! It’s either a nickname, a made- 
+up title somebody’s given themselves, or it could be 
+their actual name, couldn’t it? No, listen! If, say, her 
+father was a wizard whose surname was Prince, and 
+her mother was a Muggle, then that would make her 
+a “half-blood Prince’!” 
+
+“Yeah, very ingenious, Hermione ...” 
+
+“But it would! Maybe she was proud of being half a 
+Prince!” 
+
+Page | 603 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Listen, Hermione, I can tell it’s not a girl. I can just 
+tell.” 
+
+
+
+“The truth is that you don’t think a girl would have 
+been clever enough,” said Hermione angrily. 
+
+“How can I have hung round with you for five years 
+and not think girls are clever?” said Harry, stung by 
+this. “It’s the way he writes, I just know the Prince 
+was a bloke, I can tell. This girl hasn’t got anything to 
+do with it. Where did you get this anyway?” 
+
+“The library,” said Hermione predictably. “There’s a 
+whole collection of old Prophets up there. Well, I’m 
+going to find out more about Eileen Prince if I can.” 
+
+“Enjoy yourself,” said Harry irritably. 
+
+“I will,” said Hermione. “And the first place I’ll look,” 
+she shot at him, as she reached the portrait hole, “is 
+records of old Potions awards!” 
+
+Harry scowled after her for a moment, then continued 
+his contemplation of the darkening sky. 
+
+“She’s just never got over you outperforming her in 
+Potions,” said Ron, returning to his copy of A 
+Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. 
+
+“You don’t think I’m mad, wanting that book back, do 
+you?” 
+
+“ ’Course not,” said Ron robustly. “He was a genius, 
+the Prince. Anyway ... without his bezoar tip ...” He 
+drew his finger significantly across his own throat. “I 
+wouldn’t be here to discuss it, would I? I mean, I’m 
+not saying that spell you used on Malfoy was great — ” 
+
+“Nor am I,” said Harry quickly. 
+
+Page | 604 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But he healed all right, didn’t he? Back on his feet in 
+no time.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry; this was perfectly true, although 
+his conscience squirmed slightly all the same. 
+
+“Thanks to Snape ...” 
+
+“You still got detention with Snape this Saturday?” 
+Ron continued. 
+
+“Yeah, and the Saturday after that, and the Saturday 
+after that,” sighed Harry. “And he’s hinting now that if 
+I don’t get all the boxes done by the end of term, we’ll 
+carry on next year.” 
+
+He was finding these detentions particularly irksome 
+because they cut into the already limited time he 
+could have been spending with Ginny. Indeed, he had 
+frequently wondered lately whether Snape did not 
+know this, for he was keeping Harry later and later 
+every time, while making pointed asides about Harry 
+having to miss the good weather and the varied 
+opportunities it offered. 
+
+Harry was shaken from these bitter reflections by the 
+appearance at his side of Jimmy Peakes, who was 
+holding out a scroll of parchment. 
+
+“Thanks, Jimmy ... Hey, it’s from Dumbledore!” said 
+Harry excitedly, unrolling the parchment and 
+scanning it. “He wants me to go to his office as quick 
+as I can!” 
+
+They stared at each other. 
+
+“Blimey,” whispered Ron. “You don’t reckon ... he 
+hasn’t found ... ?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 605 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Better go and see, hadn’t I?” said Harry, jumping to 
+his feet. 
+
+He hurried out of the common room and along the 
+seventh floor as fast as he could, passing nobody but 
+Peeves, who swooped past in the opposite direction, 
+throwing bits of chalk at Harry in a routine sort of 
+way and cackling loudly as he dodged Harry’s 
+defensive jinx. Once Peeves had vanished, there was 
+silence in the corridors; with only fifteen minutes left 
+until curfew, most people had already returned to 
+their common rooms. 
+
+And then Harry heard a scream and a crash. He 
+stopped in his tracks, listening. 
+
+“How — dare — you — aaaaargh!” 
+
+The noise was coming from a corridor nearby; Harry 
+sprinted toward it, his wand at the ready, hurtled 
+around another corner, and saw Professor Trelawney 
+sprawled upon the floor, her head covered in one of 
+her many shawls, several sherry bottles lying beside 
+her, one broken. 
+
+“Professor — ” 
+
+Harry hurried forward and helped Professor 
+Trelawney to her feet. Some of her glittering beads 
+had become entangled with her glasses. She hiccuped 
+loudly, patted her hair, and pulled herself up on 
+Harry’s helping arm. 
+
+“What happened, Professor?” 
+
+“You may well ask!” she said shrilly. “I was strolling 
+along, brooding upon certain dark portents I happen 
+to have glimpsed ...” 
+
+
+
+Page | 606 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+But Harry was not paying much attention. He had 
+just noticed where they were standing: There on the 
+right was the tapestry of dancing trolls, and on the 
+left, that smoothly impenetrable stretch of stone wall 
+that concealed — 
+
+“Professor, were you trying to get into the Room of 
+Requirement?” 
+
+"... omens I have been vouchsafed — what?” She 
+looked suddenly shifty. 
+
+“The Room of Requirement,” repeated Harry. “Were 
+you trying to get in there?” 
+
+“I — well — I didn’t know students knew about — ” 
+
+“Not all of them do,” said Harry. “But what happened? 
+You screamed. ... It sounded as though you were 
+hurt. ...” 
+
+“I — well,” said Professor Trelawney, drawing her 
+shawls around her defensively and staring down at 
+him with her vastly magnified eyes. “I wished to — ah 
+— deposit certain — um — personal items in the 
+room. ...” And she muttered something about “nasty 
+accusations.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry, glancing down at the sherry 
+bottles. “But you couldn’t get in and hide them?” 
+
+He found this very odd; the room had opened for him, 
+after all, when he had wanted to hide the Half-Blood 
+Prince’s book. 
+
+“Oh, I got in all right,” said Professor Trelawney, 
+glaring at the wall. “But there was somebody already 
+in there.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 607 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Somebody in — ? Who?” demanded Harry. “Who was 
+in there?” 
+
+“I have no idea,” said Professor Trelawney, looking 
+slightly taken aback at the urgency in Harry’s voice. “I 
+walked into the room and I heard a voice, which has 
+never happened before in all my years of hiding — of 
+using the room, I mean.” 
+
+“A voice? Saying what?” 
+
+“I don’t know that it was saying anything,” said 
+Professor Trelawney. “It was ... whooping.” 
+
+“ Whooping?” 
+
+“Gleefully,” she said, nodding. 
+
+Harry stared at her. 
+
+“Was it male or female?” 
+
+“I would hazard a guess at male,” said Professor 
+Trelawney. 
+
+“And it sounded happy?” 
+
+“Very happy,” said Professor Trelawney sniffily. 
+
+“As though it was celebrating?” 
+
+“Most definitely.” 
+
+“And then — ?” 
+
+“And then I called out Who’s there?’ ” 
+
+“You couldn’t have found out who it was without 
+asking?” Harry asked her, slightly frustrated. 
+
+Page | 608 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The Inner Eye,” said Professor Trelawney with 
+dignity, straightening her shawls and many strands of 
+glittering beads, “was fixed upon matters well outside 
+the mundane realms of whooping voices.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry hastily; he had heard about 
+Professor Trelawney’s Inner Eye all too often before. 
+“And did the voice say who was there?” 
+
+“No, it did not,” she said. “Everything went pitch- 
+black and the next thing I knew, I was being hurled 
+headfirst out of the room!” 
+
+“And you didn’t see that coming?” said Harry, unable 
+to help himself. 
+
+“No, I did not, as I say, it was pitch — ” She stopped 
+and glared at him suspiciously. 
+
+“I think you’d better tell Professor Dumbledore,” said 
+Harry. “He ought to know Malfoy’s celebrating — I 
+mean, that someone threw you out of the room.” 
+
+To his surprise, Professor Trelawney drew herself up 
+at this suggestion, looking haughty. 
+
+“The headmaster has intimated that he would prefer 
+fewer visits from me,” she said coldly. “I am not one to 
+press my company upon those who do not value it. If 
+Dumbledore chooses to ignore the warnings the cards 
+show — ” Her bony hand closed suddenly around 
+Harry’s wrist. “Again and again, no matter how I lay 
+them out — ” And she pulled a card dramatically from 
+underneath her shawls. “ — the lightning-struck 
+tower,” she whispered. “Calamity. Disaster. Coming 
+nearer all the time ...” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry again. “Well ... I still think you 
+should tell Dumbledore about this voice, and 
+
+Page | 609 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+everything going dark and being thrown out of the 
+room. ...” 
+
+“You think so?” Professor Trelawney seemed to 
+consider the matter for a moment, but Harry could 
+tell that she liked the idea of retelling her little 
+adventure. 
+
+“I’m going to see him right now,” said Harry. “I’ve got 
+a meeting with him. We could go together.” 
+
+“Oh, well, in that case,” said Professor Trelawney with 
+a smile. She bent down, scooped up her sherry 
+bottles, and dumped them unceremoniously in a large 
+blue-and-white vase standing in a nearby niche. 
+
+“I miss having you in my classes, Harry,” she said 
+soulfully as they set off together. “You were never 
+much of a Seer ... but you were a wonderful Object 
+
+
+
+Harry did not reply; he had loathed being the Object 
+of Professor Trelawney’s continual predictions of 
+doom. 
+
+“I am afraid,” she went on, “that the nag — I’m sorry, 
+the centaur — knows nothing of cartomancy. I asked 
+him — one Seer to another — had he not, too, sensed 
+the distant vibrations of coming catastrophe? But he 
+seemed to find me almost comical. Yes, comical!” 
+
+Her voice rose rather hysterically, and Harry caught a 
+powerful whiff of sherry even though the bottles had 
+been left behind. 
+
+“Perhaps the horse has heard people say that I have 
+not inherited my great-great-grandmother’s gift. 
+
+Those rumors have been bandied about by the jealous 
+for years. You know what I say to such people, Harry? 
+
+Page | 610 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Would Dumbledore have let me teach at this great 
+school, put so much trust in me all these years, had I 
+not proved myself to him?” 
+
+Harry mumbled something indistinct. 
+
+“I well remember my first interview with Dumbledore,” 
+went on Professor Trelawney, in throaty tones. “He 
+was deeply impressed, of course, deeply impressed. ... 
+I was staying at the Hog’s Head, which I do not 
+advise, incidentally — bedbugs, dear boy — but funds 
+were low. Dumbledore did me the courtesy of calling 
+upon me in my room. He questioned me. ... I must 
+confess that, at first, I thought he seemed ill-disposed 
+toward Divination . . . and I remember I was starting to 
+feel a little odd, I had not eaten much that day ... but 
+then ...” 
+
+And now Harry was paying attention properly for the 
+first time, for he knew what had happened then: 
+Professor Trelawney had made the prophecy that had 
+altered the course of his whole life, the prophecy 
+about him and Voldemort. 
+
+"... but then we were rudely interrupted by Severus 
+Snape!” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Yes, there was a commotion outside the door and it 
+flew open, and there was that rather uncouth barman 
+standing with Snape, who was waffling about having 
+come the wrong way up the stairs, although I’m afraid 
+that I myself rather thought he had been 
+apprehended eavesdropping on my interview with 
+Dumbledore — you see, he himself was seeking a job 
+at the time, and no doubt hoped to pick up tips! Well, 
+after that, you know, Dumbledore seemed much more 
+disposed to give me a job, and I could not help 
+Page | 611 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+thinking, Harry, that it was because he appreciated 
+the stark contrast between my own unassuming 
+manners and quiet talent, compared to the pushing, 
+thrusting young man who was prepared to listen at 
+keyholes — Harry, dear?” 
+
+She looked back over her shoulder, having only just 
+realized that Harry was no longer with her; he had 
+stopped walking and they were now ten feet from each 
+other. 
+
+“Harry?” she repeated uncertainly. 
+
+Perhaps his face was white to make her look so 
+concerned and frightened. Harry was standing stock- 
+still as waves of shock crashed over him, wave after 
+wave, obliterating everything except the information 
+that had been kept from him for so long. . . . 
+
+It was Snape who had overheard the prophecy. It was 
+Snape who had carried the news of the prophecy to 
+Voldemort. Snape and Peter Pettigrew together had 
+sent Voldemort hunting after Lily and James and 
+their son. ... 
+
+Nothing else mattered to Harry just now. 
+
+“Harry?” said Professor Trelawney again. “Harry — I 
+thought we were going to see the headmaster 
+together?” 
+
+“You stay here,” said Harry through numb lips. 
+
+“But dear ... I was going to tell him how I was 
+assaulted in the Room of — ” 
+
+“You stay here!” Harry repeated angrily. 
+
+
+
+Page | 612 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She looked alarmed as he ran past her, around the 
+corner into Dumbledore’s corridor, where the lone 
+gargoyle stood sentry. Harry shouted the password at 
+the gargoyle and ran up the moving spiral staircase 
+three steps at a time. He did not knock upon 
+Dumbledore’s door, he hammered; and the calm voice 
+answered, “Enter” after Harry had already flung 
+himself into the room. 
+
+Fawkes the phoenix looked around, his bright black 
+eyes gleaming with reflected gold from the sunset 
+beyond the windows. Dumbledore was standing at the 
+window looking out at the grounds, a long, black 
+traveling cloak in his arms. 
+
+“Well, Harry, I promised that you could come with 
+me.” 
+
+For a moment or two, Harry did not understand; the 
+conversation with Trelawney had driven everything 
+else out of his head and his brain seemed to be 
+moving very slowly. 
+
+“Come . . . with you ... ?” 
+
+“Only if you wish it, of course.” 
+
+“If I ...” 
+
+And then Harry remembered why he had been eager 
+to come to Dumbledore’s office in the first place. 
+“You’ve found one? You’ve found a Horcrux?” 
+
+“I believe so.” 
+
+Rage and resentment fought shock and excitement: 
+For several moments, Harry could not speak. 
+
+“It is natural to be afraid,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+Page | 613 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+‘Tm not scared!” said Harry at once, and it was 
+perfectly true; fear was one emotion he was not 
+feeling at all. “Which Horcrux is it? Where is it?” 
+
+“I am not sure which it is — though I think we can 
+rule out the snake — but I believe it to be hidden in a 
+cave on the coast many miles from here, a cave I have 
+been trying to locate for a very long time: the cave in 
+which Tom Riddle once terrorized two children from 
+his orphanage on their annual trip; you remember?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “How is it protected?” 
+
+“I do not know; I have suspicions that may be entirely 
+wrong.” Dumbledore hesitated, then said, “Harry, I 
+promised you that you could come with me, and I 
+stand by that promise, but it would be very wrong of 
+me not to warn you that this will be exceedingly 
+dangerous.” 
+
+“I’m coming,” said Harry, almost before Dumbledore 
+had finished speaking. Boiling with anger at Snape, 
+his desire to do something desperate and risky had 
+increased tenfold in the last few minutes. This 
+seemed to show on Harry’s face, for Dumbledore 
+moved away from the window and looked more closely 
+at Harry, a slight crease between his silver eyebrows. 
+
+“What has happened to you?” 
+
+“Nothing,” lied Harry promptly. 
+
+“What has upset you?” 
+
+“I’m not upset.” 
+
+“Harry, you were never a good Occlumens — ” 
+
+
+
+The word was the spark that ignited Harry’s fury. 
+
+Page | 614 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Snape!” he said, very loudly, and Fawkes gave a soft 
+squawk behind them. “Snape’s what’s happened! He 
+told Voldemort about the prophecy, it was him, he 
+listened outside the door, Trelawney told me!” 
+
+Dumbledore’s expression did not change, but Harry 
+thought his face whitened under the bloody tinge cast 
+by the setting sun. For a long moment, Dumbledore 
+said nothing. “When did you find out about this?” he 
+asked at last. 
+
+“Just now!” said Harry, who was refraining from 
+yelling with enormous difficulty. And then, suddenly, 
+he could not stop himself. “AND YOU LET HIM 
+TEACH HERE AND HE TOLD VOLDEMORT TO GO 
+AFTER MY MUM AND DAD!” 
+
+Breathing hard as though he was fighting, Harry 
+turned away from Dumbledore, who still had not 
+moved a muscle, and paced up and down the study, 
+rubbing his knuckles in his hand and exercising 
+every last bit of restraint to prevent himself knocking 
+things over. He wanted to rage and storm at 
+Dumbledore, but he also wanted to go with him to try 
+and destroy the Horcrux; he wanted to tell him that 
+he was a foolish old man for trusting Snape, but he 
+was terrified that Dumbledore would not take him 
+along unless he mastered his anger. ... 
+
+“Harry,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Please listen to 
+me.” 
+
+It was as difficult to stop his relentless pacing as to 
+refrain from shouting. Harry paused, biting his lip, 
+and looked into Dumbledore’s lined face. 
+
+“Professor Snape made a terrible — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 615 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t tell me it was a mistake, sir, he was listening 
+at the door!” 
+
+“Please let me finish.” Dumbledore waited until Harry 
+had nodded curtly, then went on. “Professor Snape 
+made a terrible mistake. He was still in Lord 
+Voldemort’s employ on the night he heard the first 
+half of Professor Trelawney’s prophecy. Naturally, he 
+hastened to tell his master what he had heard, for it 
+concerned his master most deeply. But he did not 
+know — he had no possible way of knowing — which 
+boy Voldemort would hunt from then onward, or that 
+the parents he would destroy in his murderous quest 
+were people that Professor Snape knew, that they 
+were your mother and father — ” 
+
+Harry let out a yell of mirthless laughter. 
+
+“He hated my dad like he hated Sirius! Haven���t you 
+noticed, Professor, how the people Snape hates tend 
+to end up dead?” 
+
+“You have no idea of the remorse Professor Snape felt 
+when he realized how Lord Voldemort had interpreted 
+the prophecy, Harry. I believe it to be the greatest 
+regret of his life and the reason that he returned — ” 
+
+“But he’s a very good Occlumens, isn’t he, sir?” said 
+Harry, whose voice was shaking with the effort of 
+keeping it steady. “And isn’t Voldemort convinced that 
+Snape’s on his side, even now? Professor ... how can 
+you be sure Snape’s on our side?” 
+
+Dumbledore did not speak for a moment; he looked as 
+though he was trying to make up his mind about 
+something. At last he said, “I am sure. I trust Severus 
+Snape completely.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 616 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry breathed deeply for a few moments in an effort 
+to steady himself. It did not work. 
+
+“Well, I don’t!” he said, as loudly as before. “He’s up to 
+something with Draco Malfoy right now, right under 
+your nose, and you still — ” 
+
+“We have discussed this, Harry,” said Dumbledore, 
+and now he sounded stern again. “I have told you my 
+views.” 
+
+“You’re leaving the school tonight, and I’ll bet you 
+haven’t even considered that Snape and Malfoy might 
+decide to — ” 
+
+“To what?” asked Dumbledore, his eyebrows raised. 
+“What is it that you suspect them of doing, precisely?” 
+
+“I ... they’re up to something!” said Harry, and his 
+hands curled into fists as he said it. “Professor 
+Trelawney was just in the Room of Requirement, 
+trying to hide her sherry bottles, and she heard 
+Malfoy whooping, celebrating! He’s trying to mend 
+something dangerous in there and if you ask me, he’s 
+fixed it at last and you’re about to just walk out of 
+school without — ” 
+
+“Enough,” said Dumbledore. He said it quite calmly, 
+and yet Harry fell silent at once; he knew that he had 
+finally crossed some invisible line. “Do you think that 
+I have once left the school unprotected during my 
+absences this year? I have not. Tonight, when I leave, 
+there will again be additional protection in place. 
+Please do not suggest that I do not take the safety of 
+my students seriously, Harry.” 
+
+“I didn’t — ” mumbled Harry, a little abashed, but 
+Dumbledore cut across him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 617 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I do not wish to discuss the matter any further.” 
+
+Harry bit back his retort, scared that he had gone too 
+far, that he had ruined his chance of accompanying 
+Dumbledore, but Dumbledore went on, “Do you wish 
+to come with me tonight?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry at once. 
+
+“Very well, then: Listen.” Dumbledore drew himself up 
+to his full height. “I take you with me on one 
+condition: that you obey any command I might give 
+you at once, and without question.” 
+
+“Of course.” 
+
+“Be sure to understand me, Harry. I mean that you 
+must follow even such orders as ‘run,’ ‘hide,’ or ‘go 
+back.’ Do I have your word?” 
+
+“I — yes, of course.” 
+
+“If I tell you to hide, you will do so?” 
+
+“Yes.” 
+
+“If I tell you to flee, you will obey?” 
+
+“Yes.” 
+
+“If I tell you to leave me and save yourself, you will do 
+as I tell you? 
+
+
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+They looked at each other for a moment. 
+
+
+
+Page | 618 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, sir.” 
+
+
+
+“Very good. Then I wish you to go and fetch your 
+Invisibility Cloak and meet me in the entrance hall in 
+five minutes’ time.” 
+
+Dumbledore turned back to look out of the fiery 
+window; the sun was now a ruby red glare along the 
+horizon. Harry walked quickly from the office and 
+down the spiral staircase. His mind was oddly clear 
+all of a sudden. He knew what to do. 
+
+Ron and Hermione were sitting together in the 
+common room when he came back. “What does he 
+want?” Hermione said at once. “Harry, are you okay?” 
+she added anxiously. 
+
+“I’m fine,” said Harry shortly, racing past them. He 
+dashed up the stairs and into his dormitory, where he 
+flung open his trunk and pulled out the Marauder’s 
+Map and a pair of balled-up socks. Then he sped back 
+down the stairs and into the common room, skidding 
+to a halt where Ron and Hermione sat, looking 
+stunned. 
+
+“I’ve got to be quick,” Harry panted. “Dumbledore 
+thinks I’m getting my Invisibility Cloak. Listen. ...” 
+
+Quickly he told them where he was going and why. He 
+did not pause either for Hermione ’s gasps of horror or 
+for Ron’s hasty questions; they could work out the 
+finer details for themselves later. 
+
+“... so you see what this means?” Harry finished at a 
+gallop. “Dumbledore won’t be here tonight, so 
+Malfoy’s going to have another clear shot at whatever 
+he’s up to. No, listen to me!” he hissed angrily, as both 
+Ron and Hermione showed every sign of interrupting. 
+“I know it was Malfoy celebrating in the Room of 
+Page | 619 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Requirement. Here — ” He shoved the Marauder’s Map 
+into Hermione’s hands. “You’ve got to watch him and 
+you’ve got to watch Snape too. Use anyone else who 
+you can rustle up from the D.A., Hermione, those 
+contact Galleons will still work, right? Dumbledore 
+says he’s put extra protection in the school, but if 
+Snape ’s involved, he’ll know what Dumbledore ’s 
+protection is, and how to avoid it — but he won’t be 
+expecting you lot to be on the watch, will he?” 
+
+“Harry — ” began Hermione, her eyes huge with fear. 
+
+“I haven’t got time to argue,” said Harry curtly. “Take 
+this as well — ” 
+
+He thrust the socks into Ron’s hands. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Ron. “Er — why do I need socks?” 
+
+“You need what’s wrapped in them, it’s the Felix 
+Felicis. Share it between yourselves and Ginny too. 
+Say good-bye to her for me. I’d better go, 
+
+Dumbledore ’s waiting — ” 
+
+“No!” said Hermione, as Ron unwrapped the tiny little 
+bottle of golden potion, looking awestruck. “We don’t 
+want it, you take it, who knows what you’re going to 
+be facing?” 
+
+“I’ll be fine, I’ll be with Dumbledore,” said Harry. “I 
+want to know you lot are okay. ... Don’t look like that, 
+Hermione, I’ll see you later. ...” 
+
+And he was off, hurrying back through the portrait 
+hole and toward the entrance hall. 
+
+Dumbledore was waiting beside the oaken front 
+doors. He turned as Harry came skidding out onto the 
+
+
+
+Page | 620 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+topmost stone step, panting hard, a searing stitch in 
+his side. 
+
+“I would like you to wear your cloak, please,” said 
+Dumbledore, and he waited until Harry had thrown it 
+on before saying, “Very good. Shall we go?” 
+
+Dumbledore set off at once down the stone steps, his 
+own traveling cloak barely stirring in the still summer 
+air. Harry hurried alongside him under the Invisibility 
+Cloak, still panting and sweating rather a lot. 
+
+“But what will people think when they see you 
+leaving, Professor?” Harry asked, his mind on Malfoy 
+and Snape. 
+
+“That I am off into Hogsmeade for a drink,” said 
+Dumbledore lightly. “I sometimes offer Rosmerta my 
+custom, or else visit the Hog’s Head ... or I appear to. 
+It is as good a way as any of disguising one’s true 
+destination.” 
+
+They made their way down the drive in the gathering 
+twilight. The air was full of the smells of warm grass, 
+lake water, and wood smoke from Hagrid’s cabin. It 
+was difficult to believe that they were heading for 
+anything dangerous or frightening. 
+
+“Professor,” said Harry quietly, as the gates at the 
+bottom of the drive came into view, “will we be 
+Apparating?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “You can Apparate now, I 
+believe?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, “but I haven’t got a license.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 621 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He felt it best to be honest; what if he spoiled 
+everything by turning up a hundred miles from where 
+he was supposed to go? 
+
+“No matter,” said Dumbledore, “I can assist you 
+again.” 
+
+They turned out of the gates into the twilit, deserted 
+lane to Hogsmeade. Darkness descended fast as they 
+walked, and by the time they reached the High Street 
+night was falling in earnest. Lights twinkled from 
+windows over shops and as they neared the Three 
+Broomsticks they heard raucous shouting. 
+
+“ — and stay out!” shouted Madam Rosmerta, forcibly 
+ejecting a grubby-looking wizard. “Oh, hello, Albus ... 
+You’re out late ...” 
+
+“Good evening, Rosmerta, good evening ... forgive me, 
+I’m off to the Hog’s Head. ... No offense, but I feel like 
+a quieter atmosphere tonight. ...” 
+
+A minute later they turned the corner into the side 
+street where the Hog’s Head’s sign creaked a little, 
+though there was no breeze. In contrast to the Three 
+Broomsticks, the pub appeared to be completely 
+empty. 
+
+“It will not be necessary for us to enter,” muttered 
+Dumbledore, glancing around. “As long as nobody 
+sees us go ... now place your hand upon my arm, 
+Harry. There is no need to grip too hard, I am merely 
+guiding you. On the count of three ... One ... two ... 
+three ...” 
+
+Harry turned. At once, there was that horrible 
+sensation that he was being squeezed through a thick 
+rubber tube; he could not draw breath, every part of 
+him was being compressed almost past endurance 
+
+Page | 622 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and then, just when he thought he must suffocate, 
+the invisible bands seemed to burst open, and he was 
+standing in cool darkness, breathing in lungfuls of 
+fresh, salty air. 
+
+
+
+Page | 623 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CAVE 
+
+Harry could smell salt and hear rushing waves; a 
+light, chilly breeze ruffled his hair as he looked out at 
+moonlit sea and star-strewn sky. He was standing 
+upon a high outcrop of dark rock, water foaming and 
+churning below him. He glanced over his shoulder. A 
+towering cliff stood behind them, a sheer drop, black 
+and faceless. A few large chunks of rock, such as the 
+one upon which Harry and Dumbledore were 
+standing, looked as though they had broken away 
+from the cliff face at some point in the past. It was a 
+bleak, harsh view, the sea and the rock unrelieved by 
+any tree or sweep of grass or sand. 
+
+“What do you think?” asked Dumbledore. He might 
+have been asking Harry’s opinion on whether it was a 
+good site for a picnic. 
+
+“They brought the kids from the orphanage here?” 
+asked Harry, who could not imagine a less cozy spot 
+for a day trip. 
+
+
+
+Page | 624 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Not here, precisely,” said Dumbledore. “There is a 
+village of sorts about halfway along the cliffs behind 
+us. I believe the orphans were taken there for a little 
+sea air and a view of the waves. No, I think it was only 
+ever Tom Riddle and his youthful victims who visited 
+this spot. No Muggle could reach this rock unless 
+they were uncommonly good mountaineers, and boats 
+cannot approach the cliffs, the waters around them 
+are too dangerous. I imagine that Riddle climbed 
+down; magic would have served better than ropes. 
+
+And he brought two small children with him, 
+probably for the pleasure of terrorizing them. I think 
+the journey alone would have done it, don’t you?” 
+
+Harry looked up at the cliff again and felt goose 
+bumps. 
+
+“But his final destination — and ours — lies a little 
+farther on. Come.” 
+
+Dumbledore beckoned Harry to the very edge of the 
+rock where a series of jagged niches made footholds 
+leading down to boulders that lay half-submerged in 
+water and closer to the cliff. It was a treacherous 
+descent and Dumbledore, hampered slightly by his 
+withered hand, moved slowly. The lower rocks were 
+slippery with seawater. Harry could feel flecks of cold 
+salt spray hitting his face. 
+
+“Lumos,” said Dumbledore, as he reached the boulder 
+closest to the cliff face. A thousand flecks of golden 
+light sparkled upon the dark surface of the water a 
+few feet below where he crouched; the black wall of 
+rock beside him was illuminated too. 
+
+“You see?” said Dumbledore quietly, holding his wand 
+a little higher. Harry saw a fissure in the cliff into 
+which dark water was swirling. 
+
+
+
+Page | 625 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You will not object to getting a little wet?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“Then take off your Invisibility Cloak — there is no 
+need for it now — and let us take the plunge.” 
+
+And with the sudden agility of a much younger man, 
+Dumbledore slid from the boulder, landed in the sea, 
+and began to swim, with a perfect breaststroke, 
+toward the dark slit in the rock face, his lit wand held 
+in his teeth. Harry pulled off his cloak, stuffed it into 
+his pocket, and followed. 
+
+The water was icy; Harry’s waterlogged clothes 
+billowed around him and weighed him down. Taking 
+deep breaths that filled his nostrils with the tang of 
+salt and seaweed, he struck out for the shimmering, 
+shrinking light now moving deeper into the cliff. 
+
+The fissure soon opened into a dark tunnel that Harry 
+could tell would be filled with water at high tide. The 
+slimy walls were barely three feet apart and 
+glimmered like wet tar in the passing light of 
+Dumbledore ’s wand. A little way in, the passageway 
+curved to the left, and Harry saw that it extended far 
+into the cliff. He continued to swim in Dumbledore ’s 
+wake, the tips of his benumbed fingers brushing the 
+rough, wet rock. 
+
+Then he saw Dumbledore rising out of the water 
+ahead, his silver hair and dark robes gleaming. When 
+Harry reached the spot he found steps that led into a 
+large cave. He clambered up them, water streaming 
+from his soaking clothes, and emerged, shivering 
+uncontrollably, into the still and freezing air. 
+
+
+
+Page | 626 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the cave, 
+his wand held high as he turned slowly on the spot, 
+examining the walls and ceiling. 
+
+“Yes, this is the place,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“How can you tell?” Harry spoke in a whisper. 
+
+“It has known magic,” said Dumbledore simply. 
+
+Harry could not tell whether the shivers he was 
+experiencing were due to his spine-deep coldness or 
+to the same awareness of enchantments. He watched 
+as Dumbledore continued to revolve on the spot, 
+evidently concentrating on things Harry could not see. 
+
+“This is merely the antechamber, the entrance hall,” 
+said Dumbledore after a moment or two. “We need to 
+penetrate the inner place. ... Now it is Lord 
+Voldemort’s obstacles that stand in our way, rather 
+than those nature made. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore approached the wall of the cave and 
+caressed it with his blackened fingertips, murmuring 
+words in a strange tongue that Harry did not 
+understand. Twice Dumbledore walked right around 
+the cave, touching as much of the rough rock as he 
+could, occasionally pausing, running his fingers 
+backward and forward over a particular spot, until 
+finally he stopped, his hand pressed flat against the 
+wall. 
+
+“Here,” he said. “We go on through here. The entrance 
+is concealed.” 
+
+Harry did not ask how Dumbledore knew. He had 
+never seen a wizard work things out like this, simply 
+by looking and touching; but Harry had long since 
+
+
+
+Page | 627 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+learned that bangs and smoke were more often the 
+marks of ineptitude than expertise. 
+
+Dumbledore stepped back from the cave wall and 
+pointed his wand at the rock. For a moment, an 
+arched outline appeared there, blazing white as 
+though there was a powerful light behind the crack. 
+
+“You’ve d-done it!” said Harry through chattering 
+teeth, but before the words had left his lips the 
+outline had gone, leaving the rock as bare and solid 
+as ever. Dumbledore looked around. 
+
+“Harry, I’m so sorry, I forgot,” he said; he now pointed 
+his wand at Harry and at once, Harry’s clothes were 
+as warm and dry as if they had been hanging in front 
+of a blazing fire. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Harry gratefully, but Dumbledore 
+had already turned his attention back to the solid 
+cave wall. He did not try any more magic, but simply 
+stood there staring at it intently, as though something 
+extremely interesting was written on it. Harry stayed 
+quite still; he did not want to break Dumbledore’s 
+concentration. Then, after two solid minutes, 
+Dumbledore said quietly, “Oh, surely not. So crude.” 
+
+“What is it, Professor?” 
+
+“I rather think,” said Dumbledore, putting his 
+uninjured hand inside his robes and drawing out a 
+short silver knife of the kind Harry used to chop 
+potion ingredients, “that we are required to make 
+payment to pass.” 
+
+“Payment?” said Harry. “You’ve got to give the door 
+something?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 628 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “Blood, if I am not much 
+mistaken.” 
+
+“Blood?” 
+
+“I said it was crude,” said Dumbledore, who sounded 
+disdainful, even disappointed, as though Voldemort 
+had fallen short of the standards Dumbledore 
+expected. “The idea, as I am sure you will have 
+gathered, is that your enemy must weaken him- or 
+herself to enter. Once again, Lord Voldemort fails to 
+grasp that there are much more terrible things than 
+physical injury.” 
+
+“Yeah, but still, if you can avoid it ...” said Harry, who 
+had experienced enough pain not to be keen for more. 
+
+“Sometimes, however, it is unavoidable,” said 
+Dumbledore, shaking back the sleeve of his robes and 
+exposing the forearm of his injured hand. 
+
+“Professor!” protested Harry, hurrying forward as 
+Dumbledore raised his knife. “Ill do it, I’m — ” 
+
+He did not know what he was going to say — younger, 
+fitter? But Dumbledore merely smiled. There was a 
+flash of silver, and a spurt of scarlet; the rock face 
+was peppered with dark, glistening drops. 
+
+“You are very kind, Harry,” said Dumbledore, now 
+passing the tip of his wand over the deep cut he had 
+made in his own arm, so that it healed instantly, just 
+as Snape had healed Malfoy’s wounds. “But your 
+blood is worth more than mine. Ah, that seems to 
+have done the trick, doesn’t it?” 
+
+The blazing silver outline of an arch had appeared in 
+the wall once more, and this time it did not fade 
+away: The blood-spattered rock within it simply 
+
+Page | 629 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+vanished, leaving an opening into what seemed total 
+darkness. 
+
+“After me, I think,” said Dumbledore, and he walked 
+through the archway with Harry on his heels, lighting 
+his own wand hastily as he went. 
+
+An eerie sight met their eyes: They were standing on 
+the edge of a great black lake, so vast that Harry 
+could not make out the distant banks, in a cavern so 
+high that the ceiling too was out of sight. A misty 
+greenish light shone far away in what looked like the 
+middle of the lake; it was reflected in the completely 
+still water below. The greenish glow and the light from 
+the two wands were the only things that broke the 
+otherwise velvety blackness, though their rays did not 
+penetrate as far as Harry would have expected. The 
+darkness was somehow denser than normal 
+darkness. 
+
+“Let us walk,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Be very 
+careful not to step into the water. Stay close to me.” 
+
+He set off around the edge of the lake, and Harry 
+followed close behind him. Their footsteps made 
+echoing, slapping sounds on the narrow rim of rock 
+that surrounded the water. On and on they walked, 
+but the view did not vary: on one side of them, the 
+rough cavern wall, on the other, the boundless 
+expanse of smooth, glassy blackness, in the very 
+middle of which was that mysterious greenish glow. 
+Harry found the place and the silence oppressive, 
+unnerving. 
+
+“Professor?” he said finally. “Do you think the 
+Horcrux is here?” 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Dumbledore. “Yes, I’m sure it is. The 
+question is, how do we get to it?” 
+
+Page | 630 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We couldn’t ... we couldn’t just try a Summoning 
+Charm?” Harry said, sure that it was a stupid 
+suggestion. But he was much keener than he was 
+prepared to admit on getting out of this place as soon 
+as possible. 
+
+“Certainly we could,” said Dumbledore, stopping so 
+suddenly that Harry almost walked into him. “Why 
+don’t you do it?” 
+
+“Me? Oh ... okay ...” 
+
+Harry had not expected this, but cleared his throat 
+and said loudly, wand aloft, “Accio Horcruxl” 
+
+With a noise like an explosion, something very large 
+and pale erupted out of the dark water some twenty 
+feet away; before Harry could see what it was, it had 
+vanished again with a crashing splash that made 
+great, deep ripples on the mirrored surface. Harry 
+leapt backward in shock and hit the wall; his heart 
+was still thundering as he turned to Dumbledore. 
+
+“What was that?” 
+
+“Something, I think, that is ready to respond should 
+we attempt to seize the Horcrux.” 
+
+Harry looked back at the water. The surface of the 
+lake was once more shining black glass: The ripples 
+had vanished unnaturally fast; Harry’s heart, 
+however, was still pounding. 
+
+“Did you think that would happen, sir?” 
+
+“I thought something would happen if we made an 
+obvious attempt to get our hands on the Horcrux. 
+
+That was a very good idea, Harry; much the simplest 
+way of finding out what we are facing.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But we don’t know what the thing was,” said Harry, 
+looking at the sinisterly smooth water. 
+
+
+
+“What the things are, you mean,” said Dumbledore. “I 
+doubt very much that there is only one of them. Shall 
+we walk on?” 
+
+“Professor?” 
+
+“Yes, Harry?” 
+
+“Do you think we’re going to have to go into the lake?” 
+
+“Into it? Only if we are very unfortunate.” 
+
+“You don’t think the Horcrux is at the bottom?” 
+
+“Oh no ... I think the Horcrux is in the middle.” 
+
+And Dumbledore pointed toward the misty green light 
+in the center of the lake. 
+
+“So we’re going to have to cross the lake to get to it?” 
+“Yes, I think so.” 
+
+Harry did not say anything. His thoughts were all of 
+water monsters, of giant serpents, of demons, kelpies, 
+and sprites. ... 
+
+“Aha,” said Dumbledore, and he stopped again; this 
+time, Harry really did walk into him; for a moment he 
+toppled on the edge of the dark water, and 
+Dumbledore’s uninjured hand closed tightly around 
+his upper arm, pulling him back. “So sorry, Harry, I 
+should have given warning. Stand back against the 
+wall, please; I think I have found the place.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry had no idea what Dumbledore meant; this 
+patch of dark bank was exactly like every other bit as 
+far as he could tell, but Dumbledore seemed to have 
+detected something special about it. This time he was 
+running his hand, not over the rocky wall, but 
+through the thin air, as though expecting to find and 
+grip something invisible. 
+
+“Oho,” said Dumbledore happily, seconds later. His 
+hand had closed in midair upon something Harry 
+could not see. Dumbledore moved closer to the water; 
+Harry watched nervously as the tips of Dumbledore ’s 
+buckled shoes found the utmost edge of the rock rim. 
+Keeping his hand clenched in midair, Dumbledore 
+raised his wand with the other and tapped his fist 
+with the point. 
+
+Immediately a thick coppery green chain appeared 
+out of thin air, extending from the depths of the water 
+into Dumbledore ’s clenched hand. Dumbledore 
+tapped the chain, which began to slide through his 
+fist like a snake, coiling itself on the ground with a 
+clinking sound that echoed noisily off the rocky walls, 
+pulling something from the depths of the black water. 
+Harry gasped as the ghostly prow of a tiny boat broke 
+the surface, glowing as green as the chain, and 
+floated, with barely a ripple, toward the place on the 
+bank where Harry and Dumbledore stood. 
+
+“How did you know that was there?” Harry asked in 
+astonishment. 
+
+“Magic always leaves traces,” said Dumbledore, as the 
+boat hit the bank with a gentle bump, “sometimes 
+very distinctive traces. I taught Tom Riddle. I know 
+his style.” 
+
+“Is ... is this boat safe?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh yes, I think so. Voldemort needed to create a 
+means to cross the lake without attracting the wrath 
+of those creatures he had placed within it in case he 
+ever wanted to visit or remove his Horcrux.” 
+
+“So the things in the water won’t do anything to us if 
+we cross in Voldemort’s boat?” 
+
+“I think we must resign ourselves to the fact that they 
+will, at some point, realize we are not Lord Voldemort. 
+Thus far, however, we have done well. They have 
+allowed us to raise the boat.” 
+
+“But why have they let us?” asked Harry, who could 
+not shake off the vision of tentacles rising out of the 
+dark water the moment they were out of sight of the 
+bank. 
+
+“Voldemort would have been reasonably confident 
+that none but a very great wizard would have been 
+able to find the boat,” said Dumbledore. “I think he 
+would have been prepared to risk what was, to his 
+mind, the most unlikely possibility that somebody 
+else would find it, knowing that he had set other 
+obstacles ahead that only he would be able to 
+penetrate. We shall see whether he is right.” 
+
+Harry looked down into the boat. It really was very 
+small. 
+
+“It doesn’t look like it was built for two people. Will it 
+hold both of us? Will we be too heavy together?” 
+
+Dumbledore chuckled. 
+
+“Voldemort will not have cared about the weight, but 
+about the amount of magical power that crossed his 
+lake. I rather think an enchantment will have been 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+placed upon this boat so that only one wizard at a 
+time will be able to sail in it.” 
+
+
+
+“But then — ?” 
+
+“I do not think you will count, Harry: You are 
+underage and unqualified. Voldemort would never 
+have expected a sixteen-year-old to reach this place: I 
+think it unlikely that your powers will register 
+compared to mine.” 
+
+These words did nothing to raise Harry’s morale; 
+perhaps Dumbledore knew it, for he added, 
+“Voldemort’s mistake, Harry, Voldemort’s mistake ... 
+Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates 
+youth. ... Now, you first this time, and be careful not 
+to touch the water.” 
+
+Dumbledore stood aside and Harry climbed carefully 
+into the boat. Dumbledore stepped in too, coiling the 
+chain onto the floor. They were crammed in together; 
+Harry could not comfortably sit, but crouched, his 
+knees jutting over the edge of the boat, which began 
+to move at once. There was no sound other than the 
+silken rustle of the boat’s prow cleaving the water; it 
+moved without their help, as though an invisible rope 
+was pulling it onward toward the light in the center. 
+Soon they could no longer see the walls of the cavern; 
+they might have been at sea except that there were no 
+waves. 
+
+Harry looked down and saw the reflected gold of his 
+wandlight sparkling and glittering on the black water 
+as they passed. The boat was carving deep ripples 
+upon the glassy surface, grooves in the dark mirror. 
+
+
+
+And then Harry saw it, marble white, floating inches 
+below the surface. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Professor!” he said, and his startled voice echoed 
+loudly over the silent water. 
+
+
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+“I think I saw a hand in the water — a human hand!” 
+
+“Yes, I am sure you did,” said Dumbledore calmly. 
+
+Harry stared down into the water, looking for the 
+vanished hand, and a sick feeling rose in his throat. 
+
+“So that thing that jumped out of the water — ?” 
+
+But Harry had his answer before Dumbledore could 
+reply; the wandlight had slid over a fresh patch of 
+water and showed him, this time, a dead man lying 
+faceup inches beneath the surface, his open eyes 
+misted as though with cobwebs, his hair and his 
+robes swirling around him like smoke. 
+
+“There are bodies in here!” said Harry, and his voice 
+sounded much higher than usual and most unlike his 
+own. 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore placidly, “but we do not need 
+to worry about them at the moment.” 
+
+“At the moment?” Harry repeated, tearing his gaze 
+from the water to look at Dumbledore. 
+
+“Not while they are merely drifting peacefully below 
+us,” said Dumbledore. “There is nothing to be feared 
+from a body, Harry, any more than there is anything 
+to be feared from the darkness. Lord Voldemort, who 
+of course secretly fears both, disagrees. But once 
+again he reveals his own lack of wisdom. It is the 
+unknown we fear when we look upon death and 
+darkness, nothing more.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry said nothing; he did not want to argue, but he 
+found the idea that there were bodies floating around 
+them and beneath them horrible and, what was more, 
+he did not believe that they were not dangerous. 
+
+“But one of them jumped,” he said, trying to make his 
+voice as level and calm as Dumbledore ’s. “When I 
+tried to Summon the Horcrux, a body leapt out of the 
+lake.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Dumbledore. “I am sure that once we take 
+the Horcrux, we shall find them less peaceable. 
+However, like many creatures that dwell in cold and 
+darkness, they fear light and warmth, which we shall 
+therefore call to our aid should the need arise. Fire, 
+Harry,” Dumbledore added with a smile, in response 
+to Harry’s bewildered expression. 
+
+“Oh ... right ...” said Harry quickly. He turned his 
+head to look at the greenish glow toward which the 
+boat was still inexorably sailing. He could not pretend 
+now that he was not scared. The great black lake, 
+teeming with the dead ... It seemed hours and hours 
+ago that he had met Professor Trelawney, that he had 
+given Ron and Hermione Felix Felicis. ... He suddenly 
+wished he had said a better good-bye to them . . . and 
+he hadn’t seen Ginny at all. ... 
+
+“Nearly there,” said Dumbledore cheerfully. 
+
+Sure enough, the greenish light seemed to be growing 
+larger at last, and within minutes, the boat had come 
+to a halt, bumping gently into something that Harry 
+could not see at first, but when he raised his 
+illuminated wand he saw that they had reached a 
+small island of smooth rock in the center of the lake. 
+
+
+
+“Careful not to touch the water,” said Dumbledore 
+again as Harry climbed out of the boat. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The island was no larger than Dumbledore ’s office, an 
+expanse of flat dark stone on which stood nothing but 
+the source of that greenish light, which looked much 
+brighter when viewed close to. Harry squinted at it; at 
+first, he thought it was a lamp of some kind, but then 
+he saw that the light was coming from a stone basin 
+rather like the Pensieve, which was set on top of a 
+pedestal. 
+
+Dumbledore approached the basin and Harry 
+followed. Side by side, they looked down into it. The 
+basin was full of an emerald liquid emitting that 
+phosphorescent glow. 
+
+“What is it?” asked Harry quietly. 
+
+“I am not sure,” said Dumbledore. “Something more 
+worrisome than blood and bodies, however.” 
+
+Dumbledore pushed back the sleeve of his robe over 
+his blackened hand, and stretched out the tips of his 
+burned fingers toward the surface of the potion. 
+
+“Sir, no, don’t touch — !” 
+
+“I cannot touch,” said Dumbledore, smiling faintly. 
+“See? I cannot approach any nearer than this. You 
+try.” 
+
+Staring, Harry put his hand into the basin and 
+attempted to touch the potion. He met an invisible 
+barrier that prevented him coming within an inch of 
+it. No matter how hard he pushed, his fingers 
+encountered nothing but what seemed to be solid and 
+inflexible air. 
+
+“Out of the way, please, Harry,” said Dumbledore. He 
+raised his wand and made complicated movements 
+over the surface of the potion, murmuring 
+
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+
+
+
+
+soundlessly. Nothing happened, except perhaps that 
+the potion glowed a little brighter. Harry remained 
+silent while Dumbledore worked, but after a while 
+Dumbledore withdrew his wand, and Harry felt it was 
+safe to talk again. 
+
+“You think the Horcrux is in there, sir?” 
+
+“Oh yes.” Dumbledore peered more closely into the 
+basin. Harry saw his face reflected, upside down, in 
+the smooth surface of the green potion. “But how to 
+reach it? This potion cannot be penetrated by hand, 
+Vanished, parted, scooped up, or siphoned away, nor 
+can it be Transfigured, Charmed, or otherwise made 
+to change its nature.” 
+
+Almost absentmindedly, Dumbledore raised his wand 
+again, twirled it once in midair, and then caught the 
+crystal goblet that he had conjured out of nowhere. 
+
+“I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to 
+be drunk.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry. “No!” 
+
+“Yes, I think so: Only by drinking it can I empty the 
+basin and see what lies in its depths.” 
+
+“But what if — what if it kills you?” 
+
+“Oh, I doubt that it would work like that,” said 
+Dumbledore easily. “Lord Voldemort would not want 
+to kill the person who reached this island.” 
+
+Harry couldn’t believe it. Was this more of 
+Dumbledore ’s insane determination to see good in 
+everyone? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sir,” said Harry, trying to keep his voice reasonable, 
+“sir, this is Voldemort we’re — ” 
+
+“I’m sorry, Harry; I should have said, he would not 
+want to immediately kill the person who reached this 
+island,” Dumbledore corrected himself. “He would 
+want to keep them alive long enough to find out how 
+they managed to penetrate so far through his 
+defenses and, most importantly of all, why they were 
+so intent upon emptying the basin. Do not forget that 
+Lord Voldemort believes that he alone knows about 
+his Horcruxes.” 
+
+Harry made to speak again, but this time Dumbledore 
+raised his hand for silence, frowning slightly at the 
+emerald liquid, evidently thinking hard. 
+
+“Undoubtedly,” he said, finally, “this potion must act 
+in a way that will prevent me taking the Horcrux. It 
+might paralyze me, cause me to forget what I am here 
+for, create so much pain I am distracted, or render me 
+incapable in some other way. This being the case, 
+Harry, it will be your job to make sure I keep 
+drinking, even if you have to tip the potion into my 
+protesting mouth. You understand?” 
+
+Their eyes met over the basin, each pale face lit with 
+that strange, green light. Harry did not speak. Was 
+this why he had been invited along — so that he 
+could force-feed Dumbledore a potion that might 
+cause him unendurable pain? 
+
+“You remember,” said Dumbledore, “the condition on 
+which I brought you with me?” 
+
+Harry hesitated, looking into the blue eyes that had 
+turned green in the reflected light of the basin. 
+
+“But what if — ?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You swore, did you not, to follow any command I 
+gave you?” 
+
+“Yes, but — ” 
+
+“I warned you, did I not, that there might be danger?” 
+“Yes,” said Harry, “but — ” 
+
+“Well, then,” said Dumbledore, shaking back his 
+sleeves once more and raising the empty goblet, “you 
+have my orders.” 
+
+“Why can’t I drink the potion instead?” asked Harry 
+desperately. 
+
+“Because I am much older, much cleverer, and much 
+less valuable,” said Dumbledore. “Once and for all, 
+Harry, do I have your word that you will do all in your 
+power to make me keep drinking?” 
+
+“Couldn’t — ?” 
+
+“Do I have it?” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“ Your word, Harry.” 
+
+“I — all right, but — ” 
+
+Before Harry could make any further protest, 
+Dumbledore lowered the crystal goblet into the 
+potion. For a split second, Harry hoped that he would 
+not be able to touch the potion with the goblet, but 
+the crystal sank into the surface as nothing else had; 
+when the glass was full to the brim, Dumbledore lifted 
+it to his mouth. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Your good health, Harry.” 
+
+And he drained the goblet. Harry watched, terrified, 
+his hands gripping the rim of the basin so hard that 
+his fingertips were numb. 
+
+“Professor?” he said anxiously, as Dumbledore 
+lowered the empty glass. “How do you feel?” 
+
+Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes closed. Harry 
+wondered whether he was in pain. Dumbledore 
+plunged the glass blindly back into the basin, refilled 
+it, and drank once more. 
+
+In silence, Dumbledore drank three gobletsful of the 
+potion. Then, halfway through the fourth goblet, he 
+staggered and fell forward against the basin. His eyes 
+were still closed, his breathing heavy. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore?” said Harry, his voice 
+strained. “Can you hear me?” 
+
+Dumbledore did not answer. His face was twitching 
+as though he was deeply asleep, but dreaming a 
+horrible dream. His grip on the goblet was slackening; 
+the potion was about to spill from it. Harry reached 
+forward and grasped the crystal cup, holding it 
+steady. 
+
+“Professor, can you hear me?” he repeated loudly, his 
+voice echoing around the cavern. 
+
+Dumbledore panted and then spoke in a voice Harry 
+did not recognize, for he had never heard Dumbledore 
+frightened like this. 
+
+“I don’t want ... Don’t make me ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry stared into the whitened face he knew so well, 
+at the crooked nose and half-moon spectacles, and 
+did not know what to do. 
+
+"... don’t like ... want to stop ...” moaned Dumbledore. 
+
+“You ... you can’t stop, Professor,” said Harry. “You’ve 
+got to keep drinking, remember? You told me you had 
+to keep drinking. Here ...” 
+
+Hating himself, repulsed by what he was doing, Harry 
+forced the goblet back toward Dumbledore ’s mouth 
+and tipped it, so that Dumbledore drank the 
+remainder of the potion inside. 
+
+“No ...” he groaned, as Harry lowered the goblet back 
+into the basin and refilled it for him. “I don’t want to. 
+...I don’t want to. ... Let me go. ...” 
+
+“It’s all right, Professor,” said Harry, his hand 
+shaking. “It’s all right, I’m here — ” 
+
+“Make it stop, make it stop,” moaned Dumbledore. 
+
+“Yes ... yes, this’ll make it stop,” lied Harry. He tipped 
+the contents of the goblet into Dumbledore ’s open 
+mouth. 
+
+Dumbledore screamed; the noise echoed all around 
+the vast chamber, across the dead black water. 
+
+“No, no, no, no, I can’t, I can’t, don’t make me, I don’t 
+want to. ...” 
+
+“It’s all right, Professor, it’s all right!” said Harry 
+loudly, his hands shaking so badly he could hardly 
+scoop up the sixth gobletful of potion; the basin was 
+now half empty. “Nothing’s happening to you, you’re 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+safe, it isn’t real, I swear it isn’t real — take this, now, 
+take this. ...” 
+
+And obediently, Dumbledore drank, as though it was 
+an antidote Harry offered him, but upon draining the 
+goblet, he sank to his knees, shaking uncontrollably. 
+
+“It’s all my fault, all my fault,” he sobbed. “Please 
+make it stop, I know I did wrong, oh please make it 
+stop and I’ll never, never again ...” 
+
+“This will make it stop, Professor,” Harry said, his 
+voice cracking as he tipped the seventh glass of 
+potion into Dumbledore’s mouth. 
+
+Dumbledore began to cower as though invisible 
+torturers surrounded him; his flailing hand almost 
+knocked the refilled goblet from Harry’s trembling 
+hands as he moaned, “Don’t hurt them, don’t hurt 
+them, please, please, it’s my fault, hurt me instead ...” 
+
+“Here, drink this, drink this, you’ll be all right,” said 
+Harry desperately, and once again Dumbledore 
+obeyed him, opening his mouth even as he kept his 
+eyes tight shut and shook from head to foot. 
+
+And now he fell forward, screaming again, hammering 
+his fists upon the ground, while Harry filled the ninth 
+goblet. 
+
+“Please, please, please, no ... not that, not that, I’ll do 
+anything ...” 
+
+“Just drink, Professor, just drink ...” 
+
+Dumbledore drank like a child dying of thirst, but 
+when he had finished, he yelled again as though his 
+insides were on fire. “No more, please, no more ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry scooped up a tenth gobletful of potion and felt 
+the crystal scrape the bottom of the basin. 
+
+
+
+“We’re nearly there, Professor. Drink this, drink it. ...” 
+
+He supported Dumbledore’s shoulders and again, 
+Dumbledore drained the glass; then Harry was on his 
+feet once more, refilling the goblet as Dumbledore 
+began to scream in more anguish than ever, “I want 
+to die! I want to die! Make it stop, make it stop, I want 
+to die!” 
+
+“Drink this, Professor. Drink this. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore drank, and no sooner had he finished 
+than he yelled, “KILL ME!” 
+
+“This — this one will!” gasped Harry. “Just drink this 
+... It’ll be over ... all over!” 
+
+Dumbledore gulped at the goblet, drained every last 
+drop, and then, with a great, rattling gasp, rolled over 
+onto his face. 
+
+“No!” shouted Harry, who had stood to refill the goblet 
+again; instead he dropped the cup into the basin, 
+flung himself down beside Dumbledore, and heaved 
+him over onto his back; Dumbledore’s glasses were 
+askew, his mouth agape, his eyes closed. “No,” said 
+Harry, shaking Dumbledore, “no, you’re not dead, you 
+said it wasn’t poison, wake up, wake up — 
+Rennervatel” he cried, his wand pointing at 
+Dumbledore’s chest; there was a flash of red light but 
+nothing happened. “Renneruate — sir — please — ” 
+
+Dumbledore’s eyelids flickered; Harry’s heart leapt. 
+
+“Sir, are you — ?” 
+
+Page | 645 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Water,” croaked Dumbledore. 
+
+“Water,” panted Harry. “Yes — ” 
+
+He leapt to his feet and seized the goblet he had 
+dropped in the basin; he barely registered the golden 
+locket lying curled beneath it. 
+
+“Aguamenti\” he shouted, jabbing the goblet with his 
+wand. 
+
+The goblet filled with clear water; Harry dropped to 
+his knees beside Dumbledore, raised his head, and 
+brought the glass to his lips — but it was empty. 
+Dumbledore groaned and began to pant. 
+
+“But I had some — wait — AguamentiV’ said Harry 
+again, pointing his wand at the goblet. Once more, for 
+a second, clear water gleamed within it, but as he 
+approached Dumbledore ’s mouth, the water vanished 
+again. 
+
+“Sir, I’m trying, I’m trying!” said Harry desperately, 
+but he did not think that Dumbledore could hear 
+him; he had rolled onto his side and was drawing 
+great, rattling breaths that sounded agonizing. 
+“Aguamenti — Aguamenti — A GUAMENTP. ” 
+
+The goblet filled and emptied once more. And now 
+Dumbledore ’s breathing was fading. His brain 
+whirling in panic, Harry knew, instinctively, the only 
+way left to get water, because Voldemort had planned 
+it so ... 
+
+He flung himself over to the edge of the rock and 
+plunged the goblet into the lake, bringing it up full to 
+the brim of icy water that did not vanish. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Sir — here!” Harry yelled, and lunging forward, he 
+tipped the water clumsily over Dumbledore’s face. 
+
+It was the best he could do, for the icy feeling on his 
+arm not holding the cup was not the lingering chill of 
+the water. A slimy white hand had gripped his wrist, 
+and the creature to whom it belonged was pulling 
+him, slowly, backward across the rock. The surface of 
+the lake was no longer mirror-smooth; it was 
+churning, and everywhere Harry looked, white heads 
+and hands were emerging from the dark water, men 
+and women and children with sunken, sightless eyes 
+were moving toward the rock: an army of the dead 
+rising from the black water. 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” yelled Harry, struggling to cling to 
+the smooth, soaked surface of the island as he 
+pointed his wand at the Inferius that had his arm: It 
+released him, falling backward into the water with a 
+splash; he scrambled to his feet, but many more Inferi 
+were already climbing onto the rock, their bony hands 
+clawing at its slippery surface, their blank, frosted 
+eyes upon him, trailing waterlogged rags, sunken 
+faces leering. 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” Harry bellowed again, backing 
+away as he swiped his wand through the air; six or 
+seven of them crumpled, but more were coming 
+toward him. “Impedimental Incarcerousl ” 
+
+A few of them stumbled, one or two of them bound in 
+ropes, but those climbing onto the rock behind them 
+merely stepped over or on the fallen bodies. Still 
+slashing at the air with his wand, Harry yelled, 
+
+“ Sectumsempral SECTUMSEMPRAl” 
+
+But though gashes appeared in their sodden rags and 
+their icy skin, they had no blood to spill: They walked 
+on, unfeeling, their shrunken hands outstretched 
+
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+
+
+
+
+toward him, and as he backed away still farther, he 
+felt arms enclose him from behind, thin, fleshless 
+arms cold as death, and his feet left the ground as 
+they lifted him and began to carry him, slowly and 
+surely, back to the water, and he knew there would 
+be no release, that he would be drowned, and become 
+one more dead guardian of a fragment of Voldemort’s 
+shattered soul. ... 
+
+But then, through the darkness, fire erupted: crimson 
+and gold, a ring of fire that surrounded the rock so 
+that the Inferi holding Harry so tightly stumbled and 
+faltered; they did not dare pass through the flames to 
+get to the water. They dropped Harry; he hit the 
+ground, slipped on the rock, and fell, grazing his 
+arms, but scrambled back up, raising his wand and 
+staring around. 
+
+Dumbledore was on his feet again, pale as any of the 
+surrounding Inferi, but taller than any too, the fire 
+dancing in his eyes; his wand was raised like a torch 
+and from its tip emanated the flames, like a vast 
+lasso, encircling them all with warmth. 
+
+The Inferi bumped into each other, attempting, 
+blindly, to escape the fire in which they were 
+enclosed. ... 
+
+Dumbledore scooped the locket from the bottom of 
+the stone basin and stowed it inside his robes. 
+Wordlessly, he gestured to Harry to come to his side. 
+Distracted by the flames, the Inferi seemed unaware 
+that their quarry was leaving as Dumbledore led 
+Harry back to the boat, the ring of fire moving with 
+them, around them, the bewildered Inferi 
+accompanying them to the water’s edge, where they 
+slipped gratefully back into their dark waters. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry, who was shaking all over, thought for a 
+moment that Dumbledore might not be able to climb 
+into the boat; he staggered a little as he attempted it; 
+all his efforts seemed to be going into maintaining the 
+ring of protective flame around them. Harry seized 
+him and helped him back to his seat. Once they were 
+both safely jammed inside again, the boat began to 
+move back across the black water, away from the 
+rock, still encircled by that ring of fire, and it seemed 
+that the Inferi swarming below them did not dare 
+resurface. 
+
+“Sir,” panted Harry, “sir, I forgot — about fire — they 
+were coming at me and I panicked — ” 
+
+“Quite understandable,” murmured Dumbledore. 
+Harry was alarmed to hear how faint his voice was. 
+
+They reached the bank with a little bump and Harry 
+leapt out, then turned quickly to help Dumbledore. 
+The moment that Dumbledore reached the bank he 
+let his wand hand fall; the ring of fire vanished, but 
+the Inferi did not emerge again from the water. The 
+little boat sank into the water once more; clanking 
+and tinkling, its chain slithered back into the lake 
+too. Dumbledore gave a great sigh and leaned against 
+the cavern wall. 
+
+“I am weak. ...” he said. 
+
+“Don’t worry, sir,” said Harry at once, anxious about 
+Dumbledore ’s extreme pallor and by his air of 
+exhaustion. “Don’t worry, I’ll get us back. ... Lean on 
+me, sir. ...” 
+
+And pulling Dumbledore ’s uninjured arm around his 
+shoulders, Harry guided his headmaster back around 
+the lake, bearing most of his weight. 
+
+
+
+Page | 649 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The protection was ... after all ... well-designed,” said 
+Dumbledore faintly. “One alone could not have done 
+it. ... You did well, very well, Harry. ...” 
+
+“Don’t talk now,” said Harry, fearing how slurred 
+Dumbledore’s voice had become, how much his feet 
+dragged. “Save your energy, sir. ... We’ll soon be out 
+of here. ...” 
+
+“The archway will have sealed again. ... My knife ...” 
+
+“There’s no need, I got cut on the rock,” said Harry 
+firmly. “Just tell me where. ...” 
+
+“Here ...” 
+
+Harry wiped his grazed forearm upon the stone: 
+Having received its tribute of blood, the archway 
+reopened instantly. They crossed the outer cave, and 
+Harry helped Dumbledore back into the icy seawater 
+that filled the crevice in the cliff. 
+
+“It’s going to be all right, sir,” Harry said over and 
+over again, more worried by Dumbledore’s silence 
+than he had been by his weakened voice. “We’re 
+nearly there. ... I can Apparate us both back. ... Don’t 
+worry. ...” 
+
+“I am not worried, Harry,” said Dumbledore, his voice 
+a little stronger despite the freezing water. “I am with 
+you.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 650 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LIGHTNING-STRUCK TOWER 
+
+Once back under the starry sky, Harry heaved 
+Dumbledore onto the top of the nearest boulder and 
+then to his feet. Sodden and shivering, Dumbledore’s 
+weight still upon him, Harry concentrated harder 
+than he had ever done upon his destination: 
+Hogsmeade. Closing his eyes, gripping Dumbledore’s 
+arm as tightly as he could, he stepped forward into 
+that feeling of horrible compression. 
+
+He knew it had worked before he opened his eyes: The 
+smell of salt, the sea breeze had gone. He and 
+Dumbledore were shivering and dripping in the 
+middle of the dark High Street in Hogsmeade. For one 
+horrible moment Harry’s imagination showed him 
+more Inferi creeping toward him around the sides of 
+shops, but he blinked and saw that nothing was 
+stirring; all was still, the darkness complete but for a 
+few streetlamps and lit upper windows. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“We did it, Professor!” Harry whispered with difficulty; 
+he suddenly realized that he had a searing stitch in 
+his chest. “We did it! We got the Horcrux!” 
+
+Dumbledore staggered against him. For a moment, 
+Harry thought that his inexpert Apparition had 
+thrown Dumbledore off balance; then he saw his face, 
+paler and damper than ever in the distant light of a 
+streetlamp. 
+
+“Sir, are you all right?” 
+
+“I’ve been better,” said Dumbledore weakly, though 
+the corners of his mouth twitched. “That potion ... 
+was no health drink. ...” 
+
+And to Harry’s horror, Dumbledore sank onto the 
+ground. 
+
+“Sir — it’s okay, sir, you’re going to be all right, don’t 
+worry — ” 
+
+He looked around desperately for help, but there was 
+nobody to be seen and all he could think was that he 
+must somehow get Dumbledore quickly to the 
+hospital wing. 
+
+“We need to get you up to the school, sir. ... Madam 
+Pomfrey ...” 
+
+“No,” said Dumbledore. “It is ... Professor Snape 
+whom I need. ... But I do not think ... I can walk very 
+far just yet. ...” 
+
+“Right — sir, listen — I’m going to knock on a door, 
+find a place you can stay — then I can run and get 
+Madam — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Severus,” said Dumbledore clearly. “I need Severus. 
+
+
+
+“All right then, Snape — but I’m going to have to leave 
+you for a moment so I can — ” 
+
+Before Harry could make a move, however, he heard 
+running footsteps. His heart leapt: Somebody had 
+seen, somebody knew they needed help — and 
+looking around he saw Madam Rosmerta scurrying 
+down the dark street toward them on high-heeled, 
+fluffy slippers, wearing a silk dressing gown 
+embroidered with dragons. 
+
+“I saw you Apparate as I was pulling my bedroom 
+curtains! Thank goodness, thank goodness, I couldn’t 
+think what to — but what’s wrong with Albus?” 
+
+She came to a halt, panting, and stared down, wide- 
+eyed, at Dumbledore. 
+
+“He’s hurt,” said Harry. “Madam Rosmerta, can he 
+come into the Three Broomsticks while I go up to the 
+school and get help for him?” 
+
+“You can’t go up there alone! Don’t you realize — 
+haven’t you seen — ? 
+
+“If you help me support him,” said Harry, not 
+listening to her, “I think we can get him inside — ” 
+
+“What has happened?” asked Dumbledore. 
+
+“Rosmerta, what’s wrong?” 
+
+“The — the Dark Mark, Albus.” 
+
+And she pointed into the sky, in the direction of 
+Hogwarts. Dread flooded Harry at the sound of the 
+words. ... He turned and looked. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There it was, hanging in the sky above the school: the 
+blazing green skull with a serpent tongue, the mark 
+Death Eaters left behind whenever they had entered a 
+building ... wherever they had murdered. ... 
+
+“When did it appear?” asked Dumbledore, and his 
+hand clenched painfully upon Harry’s shoulder as he 
+struggled to his feet. 
+
+“Must have been minutes ago, it wasn’t there when I 
+put the cat out, but when I got upstairs — ” 
+
+“We need to return to the castle at once,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Rosmerta” — and though he staggered 
+a little, he seemed wholly in command of the situation 
+— “we need transport — brooms — ” 
+
+“I’ve got a couple behind the bar,” she said, looking 
+very frightened. “Shall I run and fetch — ?” 
+
+“No, Harry can do it.” 
+
+Harry raised his wand at once. 
+
+“Accio Rosmerta’s Broomsl” 
+
+A second later they heard a loud bang as the front 
+door of the pub burst open; two brooms had shot out 
+into the street and were racing each other to Harry’s 
+side, where they stopped dead, quivering slightly at 
+waist height. 
+
+“Rosmerta, please send a message to the Ministry,” 
+said Dumbledore, as he mounted the broom nearest 
+him. “It might be that nobody within Hogwarts has 
+yet realized anything is wrong. . . . Harry, put on your 
+Invisibility Cloak.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 654 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry pulled his Cloak out of his pocket and threw it 
+over himself before mounting his broom: Madam 
+Rosmerta was already tottering back toward her pub 
+as Harry and Dumbledore kicked off from the ground 
+and rose up into the air. As they sped toward the 
+castle, Harry glanced sideways at Dumbledore, ready 
+to grab him should he fall, but the sight of the Dark 
+Mark seemed to have acted upon Dumbledore like a 
+stimulant: He was bent low over his broom, his eyes 
+fixed upon the Mark, his long silver hair and beard 
+flying behind him on the night air. And Harry too 
+looked ahead at the skull, and fear swelled inside him 
+like a venomous bubble, compressing his lungs, 
+driving all other discomfort from his mind. ... 
+
+How long had they been away? Had Ron, Hermione, 
+and Ginny’s luck run out by now? Was it one of them 
+who had caused the Mark to be set over the school, or 
+was it Neville, or Luna, or some other member of the 
+D.A.? And if it was ... he was the one who had told 
+them to patrol the corridors, he had asked them to 
+leave the safety of their beds. ... Would he be 
+responsible, again, for the death of a friend? 
+
+As they flew over the dark, twisting lane down which 
+they had walked earlier, Harry heard, over the 
+whistling of the night air in his ears, Dumbledore 
+muttering in some strange language again. He 
+thought he understood why as he felt his broom 
+shudder when they flew over the boundary wall into 
+the grounds: Dumbledore was undoing the 
+enchantments he himself had set around the castle 
+so they could enter at speed. The Dark Mark was 
+glittering directly above the Astronomy Tower, the 
+highest of the castle. Did that mean the death had 
+occurred there? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore had already crossed the crenellated 
+ramparts and was dismounting; Harry landed next to 
+him seconds later and looked around. 
+
+The ramparts were deserted. The door to the spiral 
+staircase that led back into the castle was closed. 
+There was no sign of a struggle, of a fight to the 
+death, of a body. 
+
+“What does it mean?” Harry asked Dumbledore, 
+looking up at the green skull with its serpent’s tongue 
+glinting evilly above them. “Is it the real Mark? Has 
+someone definitely been — Professor?” 
+
+In the dim green glow from the Mark, Harry saw 
+Dumbledore clutching at his chest with his blackened 
+hand. 
+
+“Go and wake Severus,” said Dumbledore faintly but 
+clearly. “Tell him what has happened and bring him 
+to me. Do nothing else, speak to nobody else, and do 
+not remove your cloak. I shall wait here.” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“You swore to obey me, Harry — go!” 
+
+Harry hurried over to the door leading to the spiral 
+staircase, but his hand had only just closed upon the 
+iron ring of the door when he heard running footsteps 
+on the other side. He looked around at Dumbledore, 
+who gestured him to retreat. Harry backed away, 
+drawing his wand as he did so. 
+
+The door burst open and somebody erupted through 
+it and shouted, “Expelliarmus\” 
+
+Harry’s body became instantly rigid and immobile, 
+and he felt himself fall back against the tower wall, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+propped like an unsteady statue, unable to move or 
+speak. He could not understand how it had happened 
+— Expelliarmus was not a Freezing Charm — 
+
+Then, by the light of the Mark, he saw Dumbledore ’s 
+wand flying in an arc over the edge of the ramparts 
+and understood. ... Dumbledore had wordlessly 
+immobilized Harry, and the second he had taken to 
+perform the spell had cost him the chance of 
+defending himself. 
+
+Standing against the ramparts, very white in the face, 
+Dumbledore still showed no sign of panic or distress. 
+He merely looked across at his disarmer and said, 
+“Good evening, Draco.” 
+
+Malfoy stepped forward, glancing around quickly to 
+check that he and Dumbledore were alone. His eyes 
+fell upon the second broom. 
+
+“Who else is here?” 
+
+“A question I might ask you. Or are you acting alone?” 
+
+Harry saw Malfoy’s pale eyes shift back to 
+Dumbledore in the greenish glare of the Mark. 
+
+“No,” he said. “I’ve got backup. There are Death 
+Eaters here in your school tonight.” 
+
+“Well, well,” said Dumbledore, as though Malfoy was 
+showing him an ambitious homework project. “Very 
+good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did 
+you?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Malfoy, who was panting. “Right under 
+your nose and you never realized!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Ingenious,” said Dumbledore. “Yet ... forgive me ... 
+where are they now? You seem unsupported.” 
+
+“They met some of your guards. They’re having a fight 
+down below. They won’t be long. ... I came on ahead. I 
+— I’ve got a job to do.” 
+
+“Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy,” 
+said Dumbledore softly. 
+
+There was silence. Harry stood imprisoned within his 
+own invisible, paralyzed body, staring at the two of 
+them, his ears straining to hear sounds of the Death 
+Eaters’ distant fight, and in front of him, Draco 
+Malfoy did nothing but stare at Albus Dumbledore, 
+who, incredibly, smiled. 
+
+“Draco, Draco, you are not a killer.” 
+
+“How do you know?” said Malfoy at once. 
+
+He seemed to realize how childish the words had 
+sounded; Harry saw him flush in the Mark’s greenish 
+light. 
+
+“You don’t know what I’m capable of,” said Malfoy 
+more forcefully. “You don’t know what I’ve done!” 
+
+“Oh yes, I do,” said Dumbledore mildly. “You almost 
+killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been 
+trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. 
+Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble 
+attempts. ... So feeble, to be honest, that I wonder 
+whether your heart has been really in it.” 
+
+“It has been in it!” said Malfoy vehemently. “I’ve been 
+working on it all year, and tonight — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Somewhere in the depths of the castle below Harry 
+heard a muffled yell. Malfoy stiffened and glanced 
+over his shoulder. 
+
+“Somebody is putting up a good fight,” said 
+Dumbledore conversationally. “But you were saying ... 
+yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters 
+into my school, which, I admit, I thought impossible. 
+
+. . . How did you do it?” 
+
+But Malfoy said nothing: He was still listening to 
+whatever was happening below and seemed almost as 
+paralyzed as Harry was. 
+
+“Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone,” 
+suggested Dumbledore. “What if your backup has 
+been thwarted by my guard? As you have perhaps 
+realized, there are members of the Order of the 
+Phoenix here tonight too. And after all, you don’t 
+really need help. ... I have no wand at the moment. ... 
+
+I cannot defend myself.” 
+
+Malfoy merely stared at him. 
+
+“I see,” said Dumbledore kindly, when Malfoy neither 
+moved nor spoke. “You are afraid to act until they join 
+you.” 
+
+“I’m not afraid!” snarled Malfoy, though he still made 
+no move to hurt Dumbledore. “It’s you who should be 
+scared!” 
+
+“But why? I don’t think you will kill me, Draco. Killing 
+is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe. ... So tell 
+me, while we wait for your friends ... how did you 
+smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a 
+long time to work out how to do it.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Malfoy looked as though he was fighting down the 
+urge to shout, or to vomit. He gulped and took several 
+deep breaths, glaring at Dumbledore, his wand 
+pointing directly at the latter’s heart. Then, as though 
+he could not help himself, he said, “I had to mend 
+that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one’s used for 
+years. The one Montague got lost in last year.” 
+
+“Aaaah.” Dumbledore’s sigh was half a groan. He 
+closed his eyes for a moment. “That was clever. ... 
+There is a pair, I take it?” 
+
+“In Borgin and Burkes,” said Malfoy, “and they make 
+a kind of passage between them. Montague told me 
+that when he was stuck in the Hogwarts one, he was 
+trapped in limbo but sometimes he could hear what 
+was going on at school, and sometimes what was 
+going on in the shop, as if the cabinet was traveling 
+between them, but he couldn’t make anyone hear 
+him. ... In the end, he managed to Apparate out, even 
+though he’d never passed his test. He nearly died 
+doing it. Everyone thought it was a really good story, 
+but I was the only one who realized what it meant — 
+even Borgin didn’t know — I was the one who realized 
+there could be a way into Hogwarts through the 
+cabinets if I fixed the broken one.” 
+
+“Very good,” murmured Dumbledore. “So the Death 
+Eaters were able to pass from Borgin and Burkes into 
+the school to help you. ... A clever plan, a very clever 
+plan ... and, as you say, right under my nose.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Malfoy, who bizarrely seemed to draw 
+courage and comfort from Dumbledore’s praise. 
+
+“Yeah, it was!” 
+
+“But there were times,” Dumbledore went on, “weren’t 
+there, when you were not sure you would succeed in 
+mending the cabinet? And you resorted to crude and 
+
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+
+
+
+
+badly judged measures such as sending me a cursed 
+necklace that was bound to reach the wrong hands . . 
+poisoning mead there was only the slightest chance I 
+might drink. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, well, you still didn’t realize who was behind 
+that stuff, did you?” sneered Malfoy, as Dumbledore 
+slid a little down the ramparts, the strength in his 
+legs apparently fading, and Harry struggled 
+fruitlessly, mutely, against the enchantment binding 
+him. 
+
+“As a matter of fact, I did,” said Dumbledore. “I was 
+sure it was you. 
+
+“Why didn’t you stop me, then?” Malfoy demanded. 
+
+“I tried, Draco. Professor Snape has been keeping 
+watch over you on my orders — ” 
+
+“He hasn’t been doing your orders, he promised my 
+mother — ” 
+
+“Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco, but 
+
+
+
+“He’s a double agent, you stupid old man, he isn’t 
+working for you, you just think he is!” 
+
+“We must agree to differ on that, Draco. It so happens 
+that I trust Professor Snape — ” 
+
+“Well, you’re losing your grip, then!” sneered Malfoy. 
+“He’s been offering me plenty of help — wanting all 
+the glory for himself — wanting a bit of the action — 
+What are you doing?’ ‘Did you do the necklace, that 
+was stupid, it could have blown everything — ’ But I 
+haven’t told him what I’ve been doing in the Room of 
+Requirement, he’s going to wake up tomorrow and it’ll 
+Page | 661 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+all be over and he won’t be the Dark Lord’s favorite 
+anymore, he’ll be nothing compared to me, nothing!” 
+
+
+
+“Very gratifying,” said Dumbledore mildly. “We all like 
+appreciation for our own hard work, of course. But 
+you must have had an accomplice, all the same ... 
+someone in Hogsmeade, someone who was able to 
+slip Katie the — the — aaaah ...” 
+
+Dumbledore closed his eyes again and nodded, as 
+though he was about to fall asleep. "... of course ... 
+Rosmerta. How long has she been under the Imperius 
+Curse?” 
+
+“Got there at last, have you?” Malfoy taunted. 
+
+There was another yell from below, rather louder than 
+the last. Malfoy looked nervously over his shoulder 
+again, then back at Dumbledore, who went on: “So 
+poor Rosmerta was forced to lurk in her own 
+bathroom and pass that necklace to any Hogwarts 
+student who entered the room unaccompanied? And 
+the poisoned mead ... well, naturally, Rosmerta was 
+able to poison it for you before she sent the bottle to 
+Slughorn, believing that it was to be my Christmas 
+present. ... Yes, very neat ... very neat ... Poor Mr. 
+Filch would not, of course, think to check a bottle of 
+Rosmerta’s. Tell me, how have you been 
+communicating with Rosmerta? I thought we had all 
+methods of communication in and out of the school 
+monitored.” 
+
+“Enchanted coins,” said Malfoy, as though he was 
+compelled to keep talking, though his wand hand was 
+shaking badly. “I had one and she had the other and I 
+could send her messages — ” 
+
+“Isn’t that the secret method of communication the 
+group that called themselves Dumbledore ’s Army 
+
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+
+
+
+
+used last year?” asked Dumbledore. His voice was 
+light and conversational, but Harry saw him slip an 
+inch lower down the wall as he said it. 
+
+“Yeah, I got the idea from them,” said Malfoy, with a 
+twisted smile. “I got the idea of poisoning the mead 
+from the Mudblood Granger as well, I heard her 
+talking in the library about Filch not recognizing 
+potions.” 
+
+“Please do not use that offensive word in front of me,” 
+said Dumbledore. 
+
+Malfoy gave a harsh laugh. “You care about me saying 
+‘Mudblood’ when I’m about to kill you?” 
+
+“Yes, I do,” said Dumbledore, and Harry saw his feet 
+slide a little on the floor as he struggled to remain 
+upright. “But as for being about to kill me, Draco, you 
+have had several long minutes now, we are quite 
+alone, I am more defenseless than you can have 
+dreamed of finding me, and still you have not acted. 
+
+
+
+Malfoy’s mouth contorted involuntarily, as though he 
+had tasted something very bitter. 
+
+“Now, about tonight,” Dumbledore went on, “I am a 
+little puzzled about how it happened. ... You knew 
+that I had left the school? But of course,” he 
+answered his own question, “Rosmerta saw me 
+leaving, she tipped you off using your ingenious 
+coins, I’m sure.” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Malfoy. “But she said you were 
+just going for a drink, you’d be back. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, I certainly did have a drink ... and I came back 
+... after a fashion,�� mumbled Dumbledore. “So you 
+decided to spring a trap for me?” 
+
+“We decided to put the Dark Mark over the tower and 
+get you to hurry up here, to see who’d been killed,” 
+said Malfoy. “And it worked!” 
+
+“Well ... yes and no ...” said Dumbledore. “But am I to 
+take it, then, that nobody has been murdered?” 
+
+“Someone’s dead,” said Malfoy, and his voice seemed 
+to go up an octave as he said it. “One of your people 
+...I don’t know who, it was dark. ... I stepped over the 
+body. ... I was supposed to be waiting up here when 
+you got back, only your Phoenix lot got in the way. ...” 
+
+“Yes, they do that,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+There was a bang and shouts from below, louder than 
+ever; it sounded as though people were fighting on the 
+actual spiral staircase that led to where Dumbledore, 
+Malfoy, and Harry stood, and Harry’s heart thundered 
+unheard in his invisible chest. ... Someone was dead. 
+
+. . . Malfoy had stepped over the body . . . but who was 
+it? 
+
+
+
+“There is little time, one way or another,” said 
+Dumbledore. “So let us discuss your options, Draco.” 
+
+“My options!” said Malfoy loudly. “I’m standing here 
+with a wand — I’m about to kill you — ” 
+
+“My dear boy, let us have no more pretense about 
+that. If you were going to kill me, you would have 
+done it when you first disarmed me, you would not 
+have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and 
+means.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I haven’t got any options!” said Malfoy, and he was 
+suddenly white as Dumbledore. “I’ve got to do it! He’ll 
+kill me! He’ll kill my whole family!” 
+
+“I appreciate the difficulty of your position,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Why else do you think I have not 
+confronted you before now? Because I knew that you 
+would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realized 
+that I suspected you.” 
+
+Malfoy winced at the sound of the name. 
+
+“I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which 
+I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used 
+Legilimency against you,” continued Dumbledore. 
+
+“But now at last we can speak plainly to each other. 
+
+... No harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, 
+though you are very lucky that your unintentional 
+victims survived. ... I can help you, Draco.” 
+
+“No, you can’t,” said Malfoy, his wand hand shaking 
+very badly indeed. “Nobody can. He told me to do it or 
+he’ll kill me. I’ve got no choice.” 
+
+“Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide 
+you more completely than you can possibly imagine. 
+What is more, I can send members of the Order to 
+your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Your father 
+is safe at the moment in Azkaban. ... When the time 
+comes, we can protect him too. Come over to the right 
+side, Draco ... you are not a killer. ...” 
+
+Malfoy stared at Dumbledore. 
+
+“But I got this far, didn’t I?” he said slowly. “They 
+thought I’d die in the attempt, but I’m here ... and 
+you’re in my power. ... I’m the one with the wand. ... 
+You’re at my mercy. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No, Draco,” said Dumbledore quietly. “It is my mercy, 
+and not yours, that matters now.” 
+
+Malfoy did not speak. His mouth was open, his wand 
+hand still trembling. Harry thought he saw it drop by 
+a fraction — 
+
+But suddenly footsteps were thundering up the stairs, 
+and a second later Malfoy was buffeted out of the way 
+as four people in black robes burst through the door 
+onto the ramparts. Still paralyzed, his eyes staring 
+unblinkingly, Harry gazed in terror upon four 
+strangers: It seemed the Death Eaters had won the 
+fight below. 
+
+A lumpy-looking man with an odd lopsided leer gave a 
+wheezy giggle. 
+
+“Dumbledore cornered!” he said, and he turned to a 
+stocky little woman who looked as though she could 
+be his sister and who was grinning eagerly. 
+“Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone! Well done, 
+Draco, well done!” 
+
+“Good evening, Amycus,” said Dumbledore calmly, as 
+though welcoming the man to a tea party. “And you’ve 
+brought Alecto too. ... Charming ...” 
+
+The woman gave an angry little titter. “Think your 
+little jokes’ll help you on your deathbed then?” she 
+jeered. 
+
+“Jokes? No, no, these are manners,” replied 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“Do it,” said the stranger standing nearest to Harry, a 
+big, rangy man with matted gray hair and whiskers, 
+whose black Death Eater’s robes looked 
+uncomfortably tight. He had a voice like none that 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry had ever heard: a rasping bark of a voice. Harry 
+could smell a powerful mixture of dirt, sweat, and, 
+unmistakably, of blood coming from him. His filthy 
+hands had long yellowish nails. 
+
+“Is that you, Fenrir?” asked Dumbledore. 
+
+“That’s right,” rasped the other. “Pleased to see me, 
+Dumbledore?” 
+
+“No, I cannot say that I am.” 
+
+Greyback grinned, showing pointed teeth. Blood 
+trickled down his chin and he licked his lips slowly, 
+obscenely. 
+
+“But you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore.” 
+
+“Am I to take it that you are attacking even without 
+the full moon now? This is most unusual. ... You have 
+developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be 
+satisfied once a month?” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Fenrir Greyback. “Shocks you 
+that, does it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?” 
+
+“Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little,” 
+said Dumbledore. “And, yes, I am a little shocked that 
+Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school 
+where his friends live. ...” 
+
+“I didn’t,” breathed Malfoy. He was not looking at 
+Fenrir; he did not seem to want to even glance at him. 
+“I didn’t know he was going to come — ” 
+
+“I wouldn’t want to miss a trip to Hogwarts, 
+Dumbledore,” rasped Greyback. “Not when there are 
+throats to be ripped out... Delicious, delicious ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+And he raised a yellow fingernail and picked at his 
+front teeth, leering at Dumbledore. “I could do you for 
+afters, Dumbledore.” 
+
+“No,” said the fourth Death Eater sharply. He had a 
+heavy, brutal-looking face. “We’ve got orders. Draco’s 
+got to do it. Now, Draco, and quickly.” 
+
+Malfoy was showing less resolution than ever. He 
+looked terrified as he stared into Dumbledore ’s face, 
+which was even paler, and rather lower than usual, 
+as he had slid so far down the rampart wall. 
+
+“He’s not long for this world anyway, if you ask me!” 
+said the lopsided man, to the accompaniment of his 
+sister’s wheezing giggles. “Look at him — what’s 
+happened to you, then, Dumby?” 
+
+“Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus,” 
+said Dumbledore. “Old age, in short ... One day, 
+perhaps, it will happen to you ... if you are lucky. ...” 
+
+“What’s that mean, then, what’s that mean?” yelled 
+the Death Eater, suddenly violent. “Always the same, 
+weren’t yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, 
+nothing. I don’t even know why the Dark Lord’s 
+bothering to kill yer! Come on, Draco, do it!” 
+
+But at that moment there were renewed sounds of 
+scuffling from below and a voice shouted, “ They’ve 
+blocked the stairs — Reductol REDUCTOl” 
+
+Harry’s heart leapt: So these four had not eliminated 
+all opposition, but merely broken through the fight to 
+the top of the tower, and, by the sound of it, created a 
+barrier behind them — 
+
+“Now, Draco, quickly!” said the brutal-faced man 
+angrily. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+But Malfoy’s hand was shaking so badly that he could 
+barely aim. 
+
+“I’ll do it,” snarled Fenrir, moving toward Dumbledore 
+with his hands outstretched, his teeth bared. 
+
+“I said no!” shouted the brutal-faced man; there was a 
+flash of light and the werewolf was blasted out of the 
+way; he hit the ramparts and staggered, looking 
+furious. Harry’s heart was hammering so hard it 
+seemed impossible that nobody could hear him 
+standing there, imprisoned by Dumbledore ’s spell — 
+if he could only move, he could aim a curse from 
+under the cloak — 
+
+“Draco, do it or stand aside so one of us — ” screeched 
+the woman, but at that precise moment, the door to 
+the ramparts burst open once more and there stood 
+Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black 
+eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore slumped 
+against the wall, to the four Death Eaters, including 
+the enraged werewolf, and Malfoy. 
+
+“We’ve got a problem, Snape,” said the lumpy 
+Amycus, whose eyes and wand were fixed alike upon 
+Dumbledore, “the boy doesn’t seem able — ” 
+
+But somebody else had spoken Snape’s name, quite 
+softly. 
+
+“Severus ...” 
+
+The sound frightened Harry beyond anything he had 
+experienced all evening. For the first time, 
+
+Dumbledore was pleading. 
+
+Snape said nothing, but walked forward and pushed 
+Malfoy roughly out of the way. The three Death Eaters 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+fell back without a word. Even the werewolf seemed 
+cowed. 
+
+Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there 
+was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of 
+his face. 
+
+“Severus ... please ...” 
+
+Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“Avada KedavraV’ 
+
+A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape’s wand 
+and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry’s 
+scream of horror never left him; silent and unmoving, 
+he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted 
+into the air. For a split second, he seemed to hang 
+suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he fell 
+slowly backward, like a great rag doll, over the 
+battlements and out of sight. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+FLIGHT OF THE PRINCE 
+
+Harry felt as though he too were hurtling through 
+space; it had not happened. ...It could not have 
+happened. ... 
+
+“Out of here, quickly,” said Snape. 
+
+He seized Malfoy by the scruff of the neck and forced 
+him through the door ahead of the rest; Greyback and 
+the squat brother and sister followed, the latter both 
+panting excitedly. As they vanished through the door, 
+Harry realized he could move again. What was now 
+holding him paralyzed against the wall was not magic, 
+but horror and shock. He threw the Invisibility Cloak 
+aside as the brutal-faced Death Eater, last to leave 
+the tower top, was disappearing through the door. 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” 
+
+The Death Eater buckled as though hit in the back 
+with something solid and fell to the ground, rigid as a 
+waxwork, but he had barely hit the floor when Harry 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+was clambering over him and running down the 
+darkened staircase. 
+
+Terror tore at Harry’s heart. ... He had to get to 
+Dumbledore and he had to catch Snape. ... Somehow 
+the two things were linked. ... He could reverse what 
+had happened if he had them both together. . . . 
+Dumbledore could not have died. ... 
+
+He leapt the last ten steps of the spiral staircase and 
+stopped where he landed, his wand raised: The dimly 
+lit corridor was full of dust; half the ceiling seemed to 
+have fallen in; and a battle was raging before him, but 
+even as he attempted to make out who was fighting 
+whom, he heard the hated voice shout, “It’s over, time 
+to go\” and saw Snape disappearing around the corner 
+at the far end of the corridor; he and Malfoy seemed 
+to have forced their way through the fight unscathed. 
+As Harry plunged after them, one of the fighters 
+detached themselves from the fray and flew at him: It 
+was the werewolf, Fenrir. He was on top of Harry 
+before Harry could raise his wand: Harry fell 
+backward, with filthy matted hair in his face, the 
+stench of sweat and blood filling his nose and mouth, 
+hot greedy breath at his throat — 
+
+“Petrificus Totalusl” 
+
+Harry felt Fenrir collapse against him; with a 
+stupendous effort he pushed the werewolf off and 
+onto the floor as a jet of green light came flying 
+toward him; he ducked and ran, headfirst, into the 
+fight. His feet met something squashy and slippery on 
+the floor and he stumbled: There were two bodies 
+lying there, lying facedown in a pool of blood, but 
+there was no time to investigate. Harry now saw red 
+hair flying like flames in front of him: Ginny was 
+locked in combat with the lumpy Death Eater, 
+Amycus, who was throwing hex after hex at her while 
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+
+
+
+
+she dodged them: Amycus was giggling, enjoying the 
+sport: “Crucio — Crucio — you can’t dance forever, 
+pretty — ” 
+
+“Impedimenta).” yelled Harry. 
+
+His jinx hit Amycus in the chest: He gave a piglike 
+squeal of pain, was lifted off his feet and slammed 
+into the opposite wall, slid down it, and fell out of 
+sight behind Ron, Professor McGonagall, and Lupin, 
+each of whom was battling a separate Death Eater. 
+Beyond them, Harry saw Tonks fighting an enormous 
+blond wizard who was sending curses flying in all 
+directions, so that they ricocheted off the walls 
+around them, cracking stone, shattering the nearest 
+window — 
+
+“Harry, where did you come from?” Ginny cried, but 
+there was no time to answer her. He put his head 
+down and sprinted forward, narrowly avoiding a blast 
+that erupted over his head, showering them all in bits 
+of wall. Snape must not escape, he must catch up 
+with Snape — 
+
+“Take that\” shouted Professor McGonagall, and Harry 
+glimpsed the female Death Eater, Alecto, sprinting 
+away down the corridor with her arms over her head, 
+her brother right behind her. He launched himself 
+after them but his foot caught on something, and next 
+moment he was lying across someone’s legs. Looking 
+around, he saw Neville’s pale, round face flat against 
+the floor. 
+
+“Neville, are you — ?” 
+
+“M’all right,” muttered Neville, who was clutching his 
+stomach, “Harry ... Snape ’n’ Malfoy ... ran past ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I know, I’m on it!” said Harry, aiming a hex from the 
+floor at the enormous blond Death Eater who was 
+causing most of the chaos. The man gave a howl of 
+pain as the spell hit him in the face: He wheeled 
+around, staggered, and then pounded away after the 
+brother and sister. Harry scrambled up from the floor 
+and began to sprint along the corridor, ignoring the 
+bangs issuing from behind him, the yells of the others 
+to come back, and the mute call of the figures on the 
+ground whose fate he did not yet know. ... 
+
+He skidded around the corner, his trainers slippery 
+with blood; Snape had an immense head start. Was it 
+possible that he had already entered the cabinet in 
+the Room of Requirement, or had the Order made 
+steps to secure it, to prevent the Death Eaters 
+retreating that way? He could hear nothing but his 
+own pounding feet, his own hammering heart as he 
+sprinted along the next empty corridor, but then 
+spotted a bloody footprint that showed at least one of 
+the fleeing Death Eaters was heading toward the front 
+doors — perhaps the Room of Requirement was 
+indeed blocked — 
+
+He skidded around another corner and a curse flew 
+past him; he dived behind a suit of armor that 
+exploded. He saw the brother and sister running 
+down the marble staircase ahead and aimed jinxes at 
+them, but merely hit several bewigged witches in a 
+portrait on the landing, who ran screeching into 
+neighboring paintings. As he leapt the wreckage of 
+armor, Harry heard more shouts and screams; other 
+people within the castle seemed to have awoken. ... 
+
+He pelted toward a shortcut, hoping to overtake the 
+brother and sister and close in on Snape and Malfoy, 
+who must surely have reached the grounds by now. 
+Remembering to leap the vanishing step halfway 
+down the concealed staircase, he burst through a 
+Page | 674 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+tapestry at the bottom and out into a corridor where a 
+number of bewildered and pajama-clad Hufflepuffs 
+stood. 
+
+“Harry! We heard a noise, and someone said 
+something about the Dark Mark — ” began Ernie 
+Macmillan. 
+
+“Out of the way!” yelled Harry, knocking two boys 
+aside as he sprinted toward the landing and down the 
+remainder of the marble staircase. The oak front 
+doors had been blasted open, there were smears of 
+blood on the flagstones, and several terrified students 
+stood huddled against the walls, one or two still 
+cowering with their arms over their faces. The giant 
+Gryffindor hourglass had been hit by a curse, and the 
+rubies within were still falling, with a loud rattle, onto 
+the flagstones below. 
+
+Harry flew across the entrance hall and out into the 
+dark grounds: He could just make out three figures 
+racing across the lawn, heading for the gates beyond 
+which they could Disapparate — by the looks of them, 
+the huge blond Death Eater and, some way ahead of 
+him, Snape and Malfoy ... 
+
+The cold night air ripped at Harry’s lungs as he tore 
+after them; he saw a flash of light in the distance that 
+momentarily silhouetted his quarry. He did not know 
+what it was but continued to run, not yet near 
+enough to get a good aim with a curse — 
+
+Another flash, shouts, retaliatory jets of light, and 
+Harry understood: Hagrid had emerged from his 
+cabin and was trying to stop the Death Eaters 
+escaping, and though every breath seemed to shred 
+his lungs and the stitch in his chest was like fire, 
+Harry sped up as an unbidden voice in his head said: 
+not Hagrid . . . not Hagrid too . . . 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Something caught Harry hard in the small of the back 
+and he fell forward, his face smacking the ground, 
+blood pouring out of both nostrils: He knew, even as 
+he rolled over, his wand ready, that the brother and 
+sister he had overtaken using his shortcut were 
+closing in behind him. ... 
+
+“Impedimenta).” he yelled as he rolled over again, 
+crouching close to the dark ground, and miraculously 
+his jinx hit one of them, who stumbled and fell, 
+tripping up the other; Harry leapt to his feet and 
+sprinted on after Snape. 
+
+And now he saw the vast outline of Hagrid, 
+illuminated by the light of the crescent moon revealed 
+suddenly behind clouds; the blond Death Eater was 
+aiming curse after curse at the gamekeeper; but 
+Hagrid’s immense strength and the toughened skin 
+he had inherited from his giantess mother seemed to 
+be protecting him. Snape and Malfoy, however, were 
+still running; they would soon be beyond the gates, 
+able to Disapparate — 
+
+Harry tore past Hagrid and his opponent, took aim at 
+Snape’s back, and yelled, “Stupefy\” 
+
+He missed; the jet of red light soared past Snape’s 
+head; Snape shouted, “Run, Draco\” and turned. 
+Twenty yards apart, he and Harry looked at each 
+other before raising their wands simultaneously. 
+
+“Cruc — ” 
+
+But Snape parried the curse, knocking Harry 
+backward off his feet before he could complete it; 
+Harry rolled over and scrambled back up again as the 
+huge Death Eater behind him yelled, “Incendiol” Harry 
+heard an explosive bang and a dancing orange light 
+spilled over all of them: Hagrid’s house was on fire. 
+Page | 676 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Fang’s in there, yer evil — !” Hagrid bellowed. 
+
+“Cruc — ” yelled Harry for the second time, aiming for 
+the figure ahead illuminated in the dancing firelight, 
+but Snape blocked the spell again. Harry could see 
+him sneering. 
+
+“No Unforgivable Curses from you, Potter!” he 
+shouted over the rushing of the flames, Hagrid’s yells, 
+and the wild yelping of the trapped Fang. “You haven’t 
+got the nerve or the ability — ” 
+
+“Incarc — ” Harry roared, but Snape deflected the spell 
+with an almost lazy flick of his arm. 
+
+“Fight back!” Harry screamed at him. “Fight back, you 
+cowardly — ” 
+
+“Coward, did you call me, Potter?” shouted Snape. 
+“Your father would never attack me unless it was four 
+on one, what would you call him, I wonder?” 
+
+“ Stupe — ” 
+
+“Blocked again and again and again until you learn to 
+keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!” 
+sneered Snape, deflecting the curse once more. “Now 
+come!” he shouted at the huge Death Eater behind 
+Harry. “It is time to be gone, before the Ministry turns 
+up — ” 
+
+
+
+“Impedi — ” 
+
+But before he could finish this jinx, excruciating pain 
+hit Harry; he keeled over in the grass. Someone was 
+screaming, he would surely die of this agony, Snape 
+was going to torture him to death or madness — 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No!” roared Snape’s voice and the pain stopped as 
+suddenly as it had started; Harry lay curled on the 
+dark grass, clutching his wand and panting; 
+somewhere overhead Snape was shouting, “Have you 
+forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord 
+— we are to leave him! Go! Go!” 
+
+And Harry felt the ground shudder under his face as 
+the brother and sister and the enormous Death Eater 
+obeyed, running toward the gates. Harry uttered an 
+inarticulate yell of rage: In that instant, he cared not 
+whether he lived or died. Pushing himself to his feet 
+again, he staggered blindly toward Snape, the man he 
+now hated as much as he hated Voldemort himself — 
+
+“Sectum — !” 
+
+Snape flicked his wand and the curse was repelled yet 
+again; but Harry was mere feet away now and he 
+could see Snape’s face clearly at last: He was no 
+longer sneering or jeering; the blazing flames showed 
+a face full of rage. Mustering all his powers of 
+concentration, Harry thought, Levi — 
+
+“No, Potter!” screamed Snape. There was a loud BANG 
+and Harry was soaring backward, hitting the ground 
+hard again, and this time his wand flew out of his 
+hand. He could hear Hagrid yelling and Fang howling 
+as Snape closed in and looked down on him where he 
+lay, wandless and defenseless as Dumbledore had 
+been. Snape’s pale face, illuminated by the flaming 
+cabin, was suffused with hatred just as it had been 
+before he had cursed Dumbledore. 
+
+“You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It 
+was I who invented them — I, the Half-Blood Prince! 
+And you’d turn my inventions on me, like your filthy 
+father, would you? I don’t think so ... no!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry had dived for his wand; Snape shot a hex at it 
+and it flew feet away into the darkness and out of 
+sight. 
+
+“Kill me then,” panted Harry, who felt no fear at all, 
+but only rage and contempt. “Kill me like you killed 
+him, you coward — ” 
+
+“DONT — ” screamed Snape, and his face was 
+suddenly demented, inhuman, as though he was in 
+as much pain as the yelping, howling dog stuck in the 
+burning house behind them — “CALL ME COWARD!” 
+
+And he slashed at the air: Harry felt a white-hot, 
+whiplike something hit him across the face and was 
+slammed backward into the ground. Spots of light 
+burst in front of his eyes and for a moment all the 
+breath seemed to have gone from his body, then he 
+heard a rush of wings above him and something 
+enormous obscured the stars. Buckbeak had flown at 
+Snape, who staggered backward as the razor-sharp 
+claws slashed at him. As Harry raised himself into a 
+sitting position, his head still swimming from its last 
+contact with the ground, he saw Snape running as 
+hard as he could, the enormous beast flapping behind 
+him and screeching as Harry had never heard him 
+screech — 
+
+Harry struggled to his feet, looking around groggily for 
+his wand, hoping to give chase again, but even as his 
+fingers fumbled in the grass, discarding twigs, he 
+knew it would be too late, and sure enough, by the 
+time he had located his wand, he turned only to see 
+the hippogriff circling the gates. Snape had managed 
+to Disapparate just beyond the school’s boundaries. 
+
+“Hagrid,” muttered Harry, still dazed, looking around. 
+“HAGRID?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He stumbled toward the burning house as an 
+enormous figure emerged from out of the flames 
+carrying Fang on his back. With a cry of 
+thankfulness, Harry sank to his knees; he was 
+shaking in every limb, his body ached all over, and 
+his breath came in painful stabs. 
+
+“Yeh all righ’, Harry? Yeh all righ’? Speak ter me, 
+Harry. ...” 
+
+Hagrid’s huge, hairy face was swimming above Harry, 
+blocking out the stars. Harry could smell burnt wood 
+and dog hair; he put out a hand and felt Fang’s 
+reassuringly warm and alive body quivering beside 
+him. 
+
+“I’m all right,” panted Harry. “Are you?” 
+
+“ ’Course I am ... take more’n that ter finish me.” 
+
+Hagrid put his hands under Harry’s arms and raised 
+him up with such force that Harry’s feet momentarily 
+left the ground before Hagrid set him upright again. 
+
+He could see blood trickling down Hagrid’s cheek 
+from a deep cut under one eye, which was swelling 
+rapidly. 
+
+“We should put out your house,” said Harry, “the 
+charm’s ‘Aguamenti’ ...” 
+
+“Knew it was summat like that,” mumbled Hagrid, 
+and he raised a smoldering pink, flowery umbrella 
+and said, “Aguamenti\” 
+
+A jet of water flew out of the umbrella tip. Harry 
+raised his wand arm, which felt like lead, and 
+murmured “Aguamenti’ too: Together, he and Hagrid 
+poured water on the house until the last flame was 
+extinguished. 
+
+Page | 680 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“S’not too bad,” said Hagrid hopefully a few minutes 
+later, looking at the smoking wreck. “Nothin’ 
+Dumbledore won’ be able to put righ’ ...” 
+
+Harry felt a searing pain in his stomach at the sound 
+of the name. In the silence and the stillness, horror 
+rose inside him. 
+
+“Hagrid ...” 
+
+“I was bindin’ up a couple o’ bowtruckle legs when I 
+heard ’em cornin’,” said Hagrid sadly, still staring at 
+his wrecked cabin. “They’ll’ve bin burnt ter twigs, 
+poor little things. ...” 
+
+“Hagrid ...” 
+
+“But what happened, Harry? I jus’ saw them Death 
+Eaters runnin’ down from the castle, but what the 
+ruddy hell was Snape doin’ with ’em? Where’s he gone 
+— was he chasin’ them?” 
+
+“He ...” Harry cleared his throat; it was dry from panic 
+and the smoke. “Hagrid, he killed ...” 
+
+“Killed?” said Hagrid loudly, staring down at Harry. 
+“Snape killed? What’re yeh on abou’, Harry?” 
+
+“Dumbledore,” said Harry. “Snape killed ... 
+Dumbledore.” 
+
+Hagrid simply looked at him, the little of his face that 
+could be seen completely blank, uncomprehending. 
+
+“Dumbledore wha’, Harry?” 
+
+“He’s dead. Snape killed him. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Don’ say that,” said Hagrid roughly. “Snape kill 
+Dumbledore — don’ be stupid, Harry. Wha’s made 
+yeh say tha’?” 
+
+“I saw it happen.” 
+
+“Yeh couldn’ have.” 
+
+“I saw it, Hagrid.” 
+
+Hagrid shook his head; his expression was 
+disbelieving but sympathetic, and Harry knew that 
+Hagrid thought he had sustained a blow to the head, 
+that he was confused, perhaps by the aftereffects of a 
+jinx. ... 
+
+“What musta happened was, Dumbledore musta told 
+Snape ter go with them Death Eaters,” Hagrid said 
+confidently. “I suppose he’s gotta keep his cover. 
+
+Look, let’s get yeh back up ter the school. Come on, 
+Harry. ...” 
+
+Harry did not attempt to argue or explain. He was still 
+shaking uncontrollably. Hagrid would find out soon 
+enough, too soon. ... As they directed their steps back 
+toward the castle, Harry saw that many of its 
+windows were lit now. He could imagine, clearly, the 
+scenes inside as people moved from room to room, 
+telling each other that Death Eaters had got in, that 
+the Mark was shining over Hogwarts, that somebody 
+must have been killed. ... 
+
+The oak front doors stood open ahead of them, light 
+flooding out onto the drive and the lawn. Slowly, 
+uncertainly, dressing-gowned people were creeping 
+down the steps, looking around nervously for some 
+sign of the Death Eaters who had fled into the night. 
+Harry’s eyes, however, were fixed upon the ground at 
+the foot of the tallest tower. He imagined that he 
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+
+
+
+could see a black, huddled mass lying in the grass 
+there, though he was really too far away to see 
+anything of the sort. Even as he stared wordlessly at 
+the place where he thought Dumbledore ’s body must 
+lie, however, he saw people beginning to move toward 
+it. 
+
+“What’re they all lookin’ at?” said Hagrid, as he and 
+Harry approached the castle front, Fang keeping as 
+close as he could to their ankles. “Wha’s tha’, lyin’ on 
+the grass?” Hagrid added sharply, heading now 
+toward the foot of the Astronomy Tower, where a 
+small crowd was congregating. “See it, Harry? Righ’ at 
+the foot o’ the tower? Under where the Mark ... Blimey 
+... yeh don’ think someone got thrown — ?” 
+
+Hagrid fell silent, the thought apparently too horrible 
+to express aloud. Harry walked alongside him, feeling 
+the aches and pains in his face and his legs where the 
+various hexes of the last half hour had hit him, 
+though in an oddly detached way, as though 
+somebody near him was suffering them. What was 
+real and inescapable was the awful pressing feeling in 
+his chest. ... 
+
+He and Hagrid moved, dreamlike, through the 
+murmuring crowd to the very front, where the 
+dumbstruck students and teachers had left a gap. 
+
+Harry heard Hagrid ’s moan of pain and shock, but he 
+did not stop; he walked slowly forward until he 
+reached the place where Dumbledore lay and 
+crouched down beside him. He had known there was 
+no hope from the moment that the full Body-Bind 
+Curse Dumbledore had placed upon him lifted, 
+known that it could have happened only because its 
+caster was dead, but there was still no preparation for 
+seeing him here, spread-eagled, broken: the greatest 
+wizard Harry had ever, or would ever, meet. 
+
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+
+Dumbledore’s eyes were closed; but for the strange 
+angle of his arms and legs, he might have been 
+sleeping. Harry reached out, straightened the half- 
+moon spectacles upon the crooked nose, and wiped a 
+trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. 
+Then he gazed down at the wise old face and tried to 
+absorb the enormous and incomprehensible truth: 
+that never again would Dumbledore speak to him, 
+never again could he help. ... 
+
+The crowd murmured behind Harry. After what 
+seemed like a long time, he became aware that he was 
+kneeling upon something hard and looked down. 
+
+The locket they had managed to steal so many hours 
+before had fallen out of Dumbledore’s pocket. It had 
+opened, perhaps due to the force with which it hit the 
+ground. And although he could not feel more shock or 
+horror or sadness than he felt already, Harry knew, 
+as he picked it up, that there was something wrong. 
+
+
+
+He turned the locket over in his hands. This was 
+neither as large as the locket he remembered seeing 
+in the Pensieve, nor were there any markings upon it, 
+no sign of the ornate S that was supposed to be 
+Slytherin’s mark. Moreover, there was nothing inside 
+but for a scrap of folded parchment wedged tightly 
+into the place where a portrait should have been. 
+
+Automatically, without really thinking about what he 
+was doing, Harry pulled out the fragment of 
+parchment, opened it, and read by the light of the 
+many wands that had now been lit behind him: 
+
+To the Dark Lord 
+
+I know I will be dead long before you read this 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+but I want you to know that it was I who discovered 
+your secret 
+
+I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it 
+as soon as I can. 
+
+I face death in the hope that when you meet your 
+match, 
+
+you will be mortal once more. 
+
+R.A.B. 
+
+Harry neither knew nor cared what the message 
+meant. Only one thing mattered: This was not a 
+Horcrux. Dumbledore had weakened himself by 
+drinking that terrible potion for nothing. Harry 
+crumpled the parchment in his hand, and his eyes 
+burned with tears as behind him Fang began to howl. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+z? 
+
+
+
+
+THE PHOENIX LAMENT 
+
+“C’mere, Harry ...” 
+
+“No.” 
+
+“Yeh can’ stay here, Harry. ... Come on, now. ...” 
+
+“No.” 
+
+He did not want to leave Dumbledore’s side, he did 
+not want to move anywhere. Hagrid’s hand on his 
+shoulder was trembling. Then another voice said, 
+“Harry, come on.” 
+
+A much smaller and warmer hand had enclosed his 
+and was pulling him upward. He obeyed its pressure 
+without really thinking about it. Only as he walked 
+blindly back through the crowd did he realize, from a 
+trace of flowery scent on the air, that it was Ginny 
+who was leading him back into the castle. 
+Incomprehensible voices battered him, sobs and 
+shouts and wails stabbed the night, but Harry and 
+Ginny walked on, back up the steps into the entrance 
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+
+
+
+hall. Faces swam on the edges of Harry’s vision, 
+people were peering at him, whispering, wondering, 
+and Gryffindor rubies glistened on the floor like drops 
+of blood as they made their way toward the marble 
+staircase. 
+
+“We’re going to the hospital wing,” said Ginny. 
+
+“I’m not hurt,” said Harry. 
+
+“It’s McGonagall’s orders,” said Ginny. “Everyone’s up 
+there, Ron and Hermione and Lupin and everyone — ” 
+
+Fear stirred in Harry’s chest again: He had forgotten 
+the inert figures he had left behind. 
+
+“Ginny, who else is dead?” 
+
+“Don’t worry, none of us.” 
+
+“But the Dark Mark — Malfoy said he stepped over a 
+body — ” 
+
+“He stepped over Bill, but it’s all right, he’s alive.” 
+
+There was something in her voice, however, that 
+Harry knew boded ill. 
+
+“Are you sure?” 
+
+“Of course I’m sure ... he’s a — a bit of a mess, that’s 
+all. Greyback attacked him. Madam Pomfrey says he 
+won’t — won’t look the same anymore. ...” 
+
+Ginny ’s voice trembled a little. 
+
+“We don’t really know what the aftereffects will be — I 
+mean, Greyback being a werewolf, but not 
+transformed at the time.” 
+
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+
+
+“But the others . . . There were other bodies on the 
+ground. ...” 
+
+“Neville and Professor Flitwick are both hurt, but 
+Madam Pomfrey says they’ll be all right. And a Death 
+Eater’s dead, he got hit by a Killing Curse that huge 
+blond one was firing off everywhere — Harry, if we 
+hadn’t had your Felix potion, I think we’d all have 
+been killed, but everything seemed to just miss us — ” 
+
+They had reached the hospital wing. Pushing open 
+the doors, Harry saw Neville lying, apparently asleep, 
+in a bed near the door. Ron, Hermione, Luna, Tonks, 
+and Lupin were gathered around another bed near 
+the far end of the ward. At the sound of the doors 
+opening, they all looked up. Hermione ran to Harry 
+and hugged him; Lupin moved forward too, looking 
+anxious. 
+
+“Are you all right, Harry?” 
+
+“I’m fine. ... How’s Bill?” 
+
+Nobody answered. Harry looked over Hermione’s 
+shoulder and saw an unrecognizable face lying on 
+Bill’s pillow, so badly slashed and ripped that he 
+looked grotesque. Madam Pomfrey was dabbing at his 
+wounds with some harsh-smelling green ointment. 
+Harry remembered how Snape had mended Malfoy’s 
+Sectumsempra wounds so easily with his wand. 
+
+“Can’t you fix them with a charm or something?” he 
+asked the matron. 
+
+“No charm will work on these,” said Madam Pomfrey. 
+“I’ve tried everything I know, but there is no cure for 
+werewolf bites.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“But he wasn’t bitten at the full moon,” said Ron, who 
+was gazing down into his brother’s face as though he 
+could somehow force him to mend just by staring. 
+“Greyback hadn’t transformed, so surely Bill won’t be 
+a — a real — ?” 
+
+He looked uncertainly at Lupin. 
+
+“No, I don’t think that Bill will be a true werewolf,” 
+said Lupin, “but that does not mean that there won’t 
+be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. 
+They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and — and Bill 
+might have some wolfish characteristics from now 
+on.” 
+
+“Dumbledore might know something that’d work, 
+though,” Ron said. “Where is he? Bill fought those 
+maniacs on Dumbledore’s orders, Dumbledore owes 
+him, he can’t leave him in this state — ” 
+
+“Ron — Dumbledore’s dead,” said Ginny. 
+
+“No!” Lupin looked wildly from Ginny to Harry, as 
+though hoping the latter might contradict her, but 
+when Harry did not, Lupin collapsed into a chair 
+beside Bill’s bed, his hands over his face. Harry had 
+never seen Lupin lose control before; he felt as though 
+he was intruding upon something private, indecent. 
+
+He turned away and caught Ron’s eye instead, 
+exchanging in silence a look that confirmed what 
+Ginny had said. 
+
+“How did he die?” whispered Tonks. “How did it 
+happen?” 
+
+“Snape killed him,” said Harry. “I was there, I saw it. 
+We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because 
+that’s where the Mark was. ... Dumbledore was ill, he 
+was weak, but I think he realized it was a trap when 
+
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+we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He 
+immobilized me, I couldn’t do anything, I was under 
+the Invisibility Cloak — and then Malfoy came 
+through the door and disarmed him — ” 
+
+Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and Ron 
+groaned. Luna’s mouth trembled. 
+
+“ — more Death Eaters arrived — and then Snape — 
+and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra.” Harry couldn’t 
+go on. 
+
+Madam Pomfrey burst into tears. Nobody paid her 
+any attention except Ginny, who whispered, “Shh! 
+Listen!” 
+
+Gulping, Madam Pomfrey pressed her fingers to her 
+mouth, her eyes wide. Somewhere out in the 
+darkness, a phoenix was singing in a way Harry had 
+never heard before: a stricken lament of terrible 
+beauty. And Harry felt, as he had felt about phoenix 
+song before, that the music was inside him, not 
+without: It was his own grief turned magically to song 
+that echoed across the grounds and through the 
+castle windows. 
+
+How long they all stood there, listening, he did not 
+know, nor why it seemed to ease their pain a little to 
+listen to the sound of their mourning, but it felt like a 
+long time later that the hospital door opened again 
+and Professor McGonagall entered the ward. Like all 
+the rest, she bore marks of the recent battle: There 
+were grazes on her face and her robes were ripped. 
+
+“Molly and Arthur are on their way,” she said, and the 
+spell of the music was broken: Everyone roused 
+themselves as though coming out of trances, turning 
+again to look at Bill, or else to rub their own eyes, 
+shake their heads. “Harry, what happened? According 
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+
+
+
+to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when 
+he — when it happened. He says Professor Snape was 
+involved in some — ” 
+
+“Snape killed Dumbledore,” said Harry. 
+
+She stared at him for a moment, then swayed 
+alarmingly; Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have 
+pulled herself together, ran forward, conjuring a chair 
+from thin air, which she pushed under McGonagall. 
+
+“Snape,” repeated McGonagall faintly, falling into the 
+chair. “We all wondered ... but he trusted ... always ... 
+Snape ... I can’t believe it. ...” 
+
+“Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens,” said 
+Lupin, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. “We 
+always knew that.” 
+
+“But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!” 
+whispered Tonks. “I always thought Dumbledore 
+must know something about Snape that we didn’t. ...” 
+
+“He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for 
+trusting Snape,” muttered Professor McGonagall, now 
+dabbing at the corners of her leaking eyes with a 
+tartan- edged handkerchief. “I mean ... with Snape ’s 
+history ... of course people were bound to wonder . . . 
+but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape ’s 
+repentance was absolutely genuine. ... Wouldn’t hear 
+a word against him!” 
+
+“I’d love to know what Snape told him to convince 
+him,” said Tonks. 
+
+“I know,” said Harry, and they all turned to look at 
+him. “Snape passed Voldemort the information that 
+made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then 
+Snape told Dumbledore he hadn’t realized what he 
+
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+was doing, he was really sorry he’d done it, sorry that 
+they were dead.” 
+
+They all stared at him. 
+
+“And Dumbledore believed that?” said Lupin 
+incredulously. “Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry 
+James was dead? Snape hated James. ...” 
+
+“And he didn’t think my mother was worth a damn 
+either,” said Harry, “because she was Muggle-born. ... 
+‘Mudblood,’ he called her. ...” 
+
+Nobody asked how Harry knew this. All of them 
+seemed to be lost in horrified shock, trying to digest 
+the monstrous truth of what had happened. 
+
+“This is all my fault,” said Professor McGonagall 
+suddenly. She looked disoriented, twisting her wet 
+handkerchief in her hands. “My fault. I sent Filius to 
+fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come 
+and help us! If I hadn’t alerted Snape to what was 
+going on, he might never have joined forces with the 
+Death Eaters. I don’t think he knew they were there 
+before Filius told him, I don’t think he knew they were 
+coming.” 
+
+“It isn’t your fault, Minerva,” said Lupin firmly. “We 
+all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape 
+was on his way. ...” 
+
+“So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the 
+Death Eaters’ side?” asked Harry, who wanted every 
+detail of Snape ’s duplicity and infamy, feverishly 
+collecting more reasons to hate him, to swear 
+vengeance. 
+
+“I don’t know exactly how it happened,” said Professor 
+McGonagall distractedly. “It’s all so confusing. ... 
+
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+
+
+Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the 
+school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the 
+corridors just in case ... Remus, Bill, and 
+Nymphadora were to join us ... and so we patrolled. 
+
+All seemed quiet. Every secret passageway out of the 
+school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in. 
+There were powerful enchantments on every entrance 
+into the castle. I still don’t know how the Death 
+Eaters can possibly have entered. ...” 
+
+“I do,” said Harry, and he explained, briefly, about the 
+pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway 
+they formed. “So they got in through the Room of 
+Requirement.” 
+
+Almost against his will he glanced from Ron to 
+Hermione, both of whom looked devastated. 
+
+“I messed up, Harry,” said Ron bleakly. “We did like 
+you told us: We checked the Marauder’s Map and we 
+couldn’t see Malfoy on it, so we thought he must be in 
+the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny, and Neville 
+went to keep watch on it ... but Malfoy got past us.” 
+
+“He came out of the room about an hour after we 
+started keeping watch,” said Ginny. “He was on his 
+own, clutching that awful shriveled arm — ” 
+
+“His Hand of Glory,” said Ron. “Gives light only to the 
+holder, remember?” 
+
+“Anyway,” Ginny went on, “he must have been 
+checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death 
+Eaters out, because the moment he saw us he threw 
+something into the air and it all went pitch-black — ” 
+
+“ — Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder,” said Ron 
+bitterly. “Fred and George’s. I’m going to be having a 
+
+
+
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+word with them about who they let buy their 
+products.” 
+
+“We tried everything, Lumos, Incendio,” said Ginny. 
+“Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could 
+do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and 
+meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. 
+Obviously Malfoy could see because of that hand 
+thing and was guiding them, but we didn’t dare use 
+any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and 
+by the time we’d reached a corridor that was light, 
+they’d gone.” 
+
+“Luckily,” said Lupin hoarsely, “Ron, Ginny, and 
+Neville ran into us almost immediately and told us 
+what had happened. We found the Death Eaters 
+minutes later, heading in the direction of the 
+Astronomy Tower. Malfoy obviously hadn’t expected 
+more people to be on the watch; he seemed to have 
+exhausted his supply of Darkness Powder, at any 
+rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave 
+chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed 
+up the tower stairs — ” 
+
+“To set off the Mark?” asked Harry. 
+
+“He must have done, yes, they must have arranged 
+that before they left the Room of Requirement,” said 
+Lupin. “But I don’t think Gibbon liked the idea of 
+waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he 
+came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and 
+was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me.” 
+
+“So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement 
+with Ginny and Neville,” said Harry, turning to 
+Hermione, “were you — ?” 
+
+“Outside Snape’s office, yes,” whispered Hermione, 
+her eyes sparkling with tears, “with Luna. We hung 
+
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+
+
+
+around for ages outside it and nothing happened. ... 
+We didn’t know what was going on upstairs, Ron had 
+taken the map. ... It was nearly midnight when 
+Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the 
+dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in 
+the castle, I don’t think he really registered that Luna 
+and I were there at all, he just burst his way into 
+Snape’s office and we heard him saying that Snape 
+had to go back with him and help and then we heard 
+a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his 
+room and he saw us and — and — ” 
+
+“What?” Harry urged her. 
+
+“I was so stupid, Harry!” said Hermione in a high- 
+pitched whisper. “He said Professor Flitwick had 
+collapsed and that we should go and take care of him 
+while he — while he went to help fight the Death 
+Eaters — ” She covered her face in shame and 
+continued to talk into her fingers, so that her voice 
+was muffled. “We went into his office to see if we 
+could help Professor Flitwick and found him 
+unconscious on the floor ... and oh, it’s so obvious 
+now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we 
+didn’t realize, Harry, we didn’t realize, we just let 
+Snape go!” 
+
+“It’s not your fault,” said Lupin firmly. “Hermione, 
+had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he 
+probably would have killed you and Luna.” 
+
+“So then he came upstairs,” said Harry, who was 
+watching Snape running up the marble staircase in 
+his mind’s eye, his black robes billowing behind him 
+as ever, pulling his wand from under his cloak as he 
+ascended, “and he found the place where you were all 
+fighting. ...” 
+
+
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+
+“We were in trouble, we were losing,” said Tonks in a 
+low voice. “Gibbon was down, but the rest of the 
+Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. 
+Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by 
+Greyback ... It was all dark . . . curses flying 
+everywhere ... The Malfoy boy had vanished, he must 
+have slipped past, up the stairs ... then more of them 
+ran after him, but one of them blocked the stair 
+behind them with some kind of curse. ... Neville ran 
+at it and got thrown up into the air — ” 
+
+“None of us could break through,” said Ron, “and that 
+massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over 
+the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely 
+missing us. ...” 
+
+“And then Snape was there,” said Tonks, “and then 
+he wasn’t — ” 
+
+“I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death 
+Eater’s jinx just missed me right afterward and I 
+ducked and lost track of things,” said Ginny. 
+
+“I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as 
+though it wasn’t there,” said Lupin. “I tried to follow 
+him, but was thrown back just like Neville. ...” 
+
+“He must have known a spell we didn’t,” whispered 
+McGonagall. “After all — he was the Defense Against 
+the Dark Arts teacher. ... I just assumed that he was 
+in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who’d 
+escaped up to the tower. ...” 
+
+“He was,” said Harry savagely, “but to help them, not 
+to stop them ... and I’ll bet you had to have a Dark 
+Mark to get through that barrier — so what happened 
+when he came back down?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that 
+caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the 
+curse blocking the stairs,” said Lupin. “We all ran 
+forward — those of us who were still standing anyway 
+— and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the 
+dust — obviously, none of us attacked them — ” 
+
+“We just let them pass,” said Tonks in a hollow voice. 
+“We thought they were being chased by the Death 
+Eaters — and next thing, the other Death Eaters and 
+Greyback were back and we were fighting again — I 
+thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don’t 
+know what — ” 
+
+“He shouted, ‘It’s over,’ ” said Harry. “He’d done what 
+he’d meant to do.” 
+
+They all fell silent. Fawkes’s lament was still echoing 
+over the dark grounds outside. As the music 
+reverberated upon the air, unbidden, unwelcome 
+thoughts slunk into Harry’s mind. ... Had they taken 
+Dumbledore’s body from the foot of the tower yet? 
+What would happen to it next? Where would it rest? 
+He clenched his fists tightly in his pockets. He could 
+feel the small cold lump of the fake Horcrux against 
+the knuckles of his right hand. 
+
+The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making 
+them all jump: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were striding up 
+the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face 
+terrified. 
+
+“Molly — Arthur — ” said Professor McGonagall, 
+jumping up and hurrying to greet them. “I am so 
+sorry — ” 
+
+“Bill,” whispered Mrs. Weasley, darting past Professor 
+McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill’s mangled face. 
+“Oh, Bill'.” 
+
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+Lupin and Tonks had got up hastily and retreated so 
+that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could get nearer to the 
+bed. Mrs. Weasley bent over her son and pressed her 
+lips to his bloody forehead. 
+
+“You said Greyback attacked him?” Mr. Weasley 
+asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. “But he 
+hadn’t transformed? So what does that mean? What 
+will happen to Bill?” 
+
+“We don’t yet know,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+looking helplessly at Lupin. 
+
+“There will probably be some contamination, Arthur,” 
+said Lupin. “It is an odd case, possibly unique. ... We 
+don’t know what his behavior might be like when he 
+awakens. ...” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from 
+Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill’s wounds. 
+
+“And Dumbledore ...” said Mr. Weasley. “Minerva, is it 
+true ... Is he really ... ?” 
+
+As Professor McGonagall nodded, Harry felt Ginny 
+move beside him and looked at her. Her slightly 
+narrowed eyes were fixed upon Fleur, who was gazing 
+down at Bill with a frozen expression on her face. 
+
+“Dumbledore gone,” whispered Mr. Weasley, but Mrs. 
+Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began 
+to sob, tears falling onto Bill’s mutilated face. 
+
+“Of course, it doesn’t matter how he looks. ... It’s not 
+r-really important . . . but he was a very handsome 
+little b-boy . . . always very handsome . . . and he was g- 
+going to be married!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And what do you mean by zat?” said Fleur suddenly 
+and loudly. “What do you mean, ‘’e was going to be 
+married?’ ” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley raised her tear-stained face, looking 
+startled. “Well — only that — ” 
+
+“You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore?” 
+demanded Fleur. “You theenk, because of these bites, 
+he will not love me?” 
+
+“No, that’s not what I — ” 
+
+“Because ’e will!” said Fleur, drawing herself up to her 
+full height and throwing back her long mane of silver 
+hair. “It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill 
+loving me!” 
+
+“Well, yes, I’m sure,” said Mrs. Weasley, “but I 
+thought perhaps — given how — how he — ” 
+
+“You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or 
+per’aps, you hoped?” said Fleur, her nostrils flaring. 
+“What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking 
+enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show 
+is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!” she 
+added fiercely, pushing Mrs. Weasley aside and 
+snatching the ointment from her. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley fell back against her husband and 
+watched Fleur mopping up Bill’s wounds with a most 
+curious expression upon her face. Nobody said 
+anything; Harry did not dare move. Like everybody 
+else, he was waiting for the explosion. 
+
+“Our Great-Auntie Muriel,” said Mrs. Weasley after a 
+long pause, “has a very beautiful tiara — goblin-made 
+— which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, 
+and it would look lovely with your hair.” 
+
+
+
+“Thank you,” said Fleur stiffly. “I am sure zat will be 
+lovely.” 
+
+And then, Harry did not quite see how it happened, 
+both women were crying and hugging each other. 
+Completely bewildered, wondering whether the world 
+had gone mad, he turned around: Ron looked as 
+stunned as he felt and Ginny and Hermione were 
+exchanging startled looks. 
+
+“You see!” said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at 
+Lupin. “She still wants to marry him, even though 
+he’s been bitten! She doesn’t care!” 
+
+“It’s different,” said Lupin, barely moving his lips and 
+looking suddenly tense. “Bill will not be a full 
+werewolf. The cases are completely — ” 
+
+“But I don’t care either, I don’t care!” said Tonks, 
+seizing the front of Lupin’s robes and shaking them. 
+“I’ve told you a million times. ...” 
+
+And the meaning of Tonks’s Patronus and her mouse- 
+colored hair, and the reason she had come running to 
+find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumor 
+someone had been attacked by Greyback, all 
+suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been 
+Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all. 
+
+“And I’ve told you a million times,” said Lupin, 
+refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, “that I 
+am too old for you, too poor ... too dangerous. ...” 
+
+“I’ve said all along you’re taking a ridiculous line on 
+this, Remus,” said Mrs. Weasley over Fleur’s shoulder 
+as she patted her on the back. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I am not being ridiculous,” said Lupin steadily. 
+“Tonks deserves somebody young and whole.” 
+
+“But she wants you,” said Mr. Weasley, with a small 
+smile. “And after all, Remus, young and whole men do 
+not necessarily remain so.” 
+
+He gestured sadly at his son, lying between them. 
+
+“This is ... not the moment to discuss it,” said Lupin, 
+avoiding everybody’s eyes as he looked around 
+distractedly. “Dumbledore is dead. ...” 
+
+“Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody 
+to think that there was a little more love in the world,” 
+said Professor McGonagall curtly, just as the hospital 
+doors opened again and Hagrid walked in. 
+
+The little of his face that was not obscured by hair or 
+beard was soaking and swollen; he was shaking with 
+tears, a vast, spotted handkerchief in his hand. 
+
+“I’ve ... I’ve done it, Professor,” he choked. “M-moved 
+him. Professor Sprout’s got the kids back in bed. 
+Professor Flitwick’s lyin’ down, but he says he’ll be all 
+righ’ in a jiffy, an’ Professor Slughorn says the 
+Ministry’s bin informed.” 
+
+“Thank you, Hagrid,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+standing up at once and turning to look at the group 
+around Bill’s bed. “I shall have to see the Ministry 
+when they get here. Hagrid, please tell the Heads of 
+Houses — Slughorn can represent Slytherin — that I 
+want to see them in my office forthwith. I would like 
+you to join us too.” 
+
+As Hagrid nodded, turned, and shuffled out of the 
+room again, she looked down at Harry. “Before I meet 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+them I would like a quick word with you, Harry. If 
+you’ll come with me. ...” 
+
+Harry stood up, murmured “See you in a bit” to Ron, 
+Hermione, and Ginny, and followed Professor 
+McGonagall back down the ward. The corridors 
+outside were deserted and the only sound was the 
+distant phoenix song. It was several minutes before 
+Harry became aware that they were not heading for 
+Professor McGonagall’s office, but for Dumbledore’s, 
+and another few seconds before he realized that of 
+course, she had been deputy headmistress. ... 
+Apparently she was now headmistress ... so the room 
+behind the gargoyle was now hers. 
+
+In silence they ascended the moving spiral staircase 
+and entered the circular office. He did not know what 
+he had expected: that the room would be draped in 
+black, perhaps, or even that Dumbledore’s body 
+might be lying there. In fact, it looked almost exactly 
+as it had done when he and Dumbledore had left it 
+mere hours previously: the silver instruments 
+whirring and puffing on their spindle-legged tables, 
+Gryffindor’s sword in its glass case gleaming in the 
+moonlight, the Sorting Hat on a shelf behind the 
+desk. But Fawkes’s perch stood empty, he was still 
+crying his lament to the grounds. And a new portrait 
+had joined the ranks of the dead headmasters and 
+headmistresses of Hogwarts: Dumbledore was 
+slumbering in a golden frame over the desk, his half- 
+moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose, 
+looking peaceful and untroubled. 
+
+After glancing once at this portrait, Professor 
+McGonagall made an odd movement as though 
+steeling herself, then rounded the desk to look at 
+Harry, her face taut and lined. 
+
+
+
+Page | 702 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry,” she said, “I would like to know what you and 
+Professor Dumbledore were doing this evening when 
+you left the school.” 
+
+“I can’t tell you that, Professor,” said Harry. He had 
+expected the question and had his answer ready. It 
+had been here, in this very room, that Dumbledore 
+had told him that he was to confide the contents of 
+their lessons to nobody but Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“Harry, it might be important,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“It is,” said Harry, “very, but he didn’t want me to tell 
+anyone.” 
+
+Professor McGonagall glared at him. “Potter” — Harry 
+registered the renewed use of his surname — “in the 
+light of Professor Dumbledore’s death, I think you 
+must see that the situation has changed somewhat — 
+
+
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Harry, shrugging. “Professor 
+Dumbledore never told me to stop following his orders 
+if he died.” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“There’s one thing you should know before the 
+Ministry gets here, though. Madam Rosmerta’s under 
+the Imperius Curse, she was helping Malfoy and the 
+Death Eaters, that’s how the necklace and the 
+poisoned mead — ” 
+
+“Rosmerta?” said Professor McGonagall incredulously, 
+but before she could go on, there was a knock on the 
+door behind them and Professors Sprout, Flitwick, 
+and Slughorn traipsed into the room, followed by 
+
+
+
+Page | 703 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hagrid, who was still weeping copiously, his huge 
+frame trembling with grief. 
+
+“Snape!” ejaculated Slughorn, who looked the most 
+shaken, pale and sweating. “Snape! I taught him! I 
+thought I knew him!” 
+
+But before any of them could respond to this, a sharp 
+voice spoke from high on the wall: A sallow-faced 
+wizard with a short black fringe had just walked back 
+into his empty canvas. 
+
+“Minerva, the Minister will be here within seconds, he 
+has just Disapparated from the Ministry.” 
+
+“Thank you, Everard,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+and she turned quickly to her teachers. 
+
+“I want to talk about what happens to Hogwarts 
+before he gets here,” she said quickly. “Personally, I 
+am not convinced that the school should reopen next 
+year. The death of the headmaster at the hands of one 
+of our colleagues is a terrible stain upon Hogwarts ’s 
+history. It is horrible.” 
+
+“I am sure Dumbledore would have wanted the school 
+to remain open,” said Professor Sprout. “I feel that if a 
+single pupil wants to come, then the school ought to 
+remain open for that pupil.” 
+
+“But will we have a single pupil after this?” said 
+Slughorn, now dabbing his sweating brow with a 
+silken handkerchief. “Parents will want to keep their 
+children at home and I can’t say I blame them. 
+Personally, I don’t think we’re in more danger at 
+Hogwarts than we are anywhere else, but you can’t 
+expect mothers to think like that. They’ll want to keep 
+their families together, it’s only natural.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I agree,” said Professor McGonagall. “And in any 
+case, it is not true to say that Dumbledore never 
+envisaged a situation in which Hogwarts might close. 
+When the Chamber of Secrets reopened he considered 
+the closure of the school — and I must say that 
+Professor Dumbledore’s murder is more disturbing to 
+me than the idea of Slytherin’s monster living 
+undetected in the bowels of the castle. ...” 
+
+“We must consult the governors,” said Professor 
+Flitwick in his squeaky little voice; he had a large 
+bruise on his forehead but seemed otherwise 
+unscathed by his collapse in Snape’s office. “We must 
+follow the established procedures. A decision should 
+not be made hastily.” 
+
+“Hagrid, you haven’t said anything,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “What are your views, ought Hogwarts to 
+remain open?” 
+
+Hagrid, who had been weeping silently into his large, 
+spotted handkerchief throughout this conversation, 
+now raised puffy red eyes and croaked, “I dunno, 
+Professor ... that’s fer the Heads of House an’ the 
+headmistress ter decide ...” 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore always valued your views,” 
+said Professor McGonagall kindly, “and so do I.” 
+
+“Well, I’m stayin’,” said Hagrid, fat tears still leaking 
+out of the corners of his eyes and trickling down into 
+his tangled beard. “It’s me home, it’s bin me home 
+since I was thirteen. An’ if there’s kids who wan’ me 
+ter teach ’em, I’ll do it. But ... I dunno ... Hogwarts 
+without Dumbledore ...” He gulped and disappeared 
+behind his handkerchief once more, and there was 
+silence. 
+
+
+
+Page | 705 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Very well,” said Professor McGonagall, glancing out 
+of the window at the grounds, checking to see 
+whether the Minister was yet approaching, “then I 
+must agree with Filius that the right thing to do is to 
+consult the governors, who will make the final 
+decision. 
+
+“Now, as to getting students home ... there is an 
+argument for doing it sooner rather than later. We 
+could arrange for the Hogwarts Express to come 
+tomorrow if necessary — ” 
+
+“What about Dumbledore’s funeral?” said Harry, 
+speaking at last. 
+
+“Well ...” said Professor McGonagall, losing a little of 
+her briskness as her voice shook. “I — I know that it 
+was Dumbledore’s wish to be laid to rest here, at 
+Hogwarts — ” 
+
+“Then that’s what’ll happen, isn’t it?” said Harry 
+fiercely. 
+
+“If the Ministry thinks it appropriate,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “No other headmaster or headmistress 
+has ever been — ” 
+
+“No other headmaster or headmistress ever gave more 
+to this school,” growled Hagrid. 
+
+“Hogwarts should be Dumbledore’s final resting 
+place,” said Professor Flitwick. 
+
+“Absolutely,” said Professor Sprout. 
+
+“And in that case,” said Harry, “you shouldn’t send 
+the students home until the funeral’s over. They’ll 
+want to say — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The last word caught in his throat, but Professor 
+Sprout completed the sentence for him. 
+
+
+
+“Good-bye.” 
+
+“Well said,” squeaked Professor Flitwick. “Well said 
+indeed! Our students should pay tribute, it is fitting. 
+We can arrange transport home afterward.” 
+
+“Seconded,” barked Professor Sprout. 
+
+“I suppose ... yes ...” said Slughorn in a rather 
+agitated voice, while Hagrid let out a strangled sob of 
+assent. 
+
+“He’s coming,” said Professor McGonagall suddenly, 
+gazing down into the grounds. “The Minister ... and 
+by the looks of it, he’s brought a delegation ...” 
+
+“Can I leave, Professor?” said Harry at once. 
+
+He had no desire at all to see, or be interrogated by, 
+Rufus Scrimgeour tonight. 
+
+“You may,” said Professor McGonagall. “And quickly.” 
+
+She strode toward the door and held it open for him. 
+He sped down the spiral staircase and off along the 
+deserted corridor; he had left his Invisibility Cloak at 
+the top of the Astronomy Tower, but it did not matter; 
+there was nobody in the corridors to see him pass, 
+not even Filch, Mrs. Norris, or Peeves. He did not 
+meet another soul until he turned into the passage 
+leading to the Gryffindor common room. 
+
+“Is it true?” whispered the Fat Lady as he approached 
+her. “It is really true? Dumbledore — dead?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 707 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She let out a wail and, without waiting for the 
+password, swung forward to admit him. 
+
+
+
+As Harry had suspected it would be, the common 
+room was jam-packed. The room fell silent as he 
+climbed through the portrait hole. He saw Dean and 
+Seamus sitting in a group nearby: This meant that 
+the dormitory must be empty, or nearly so. Without 
+speaking to anybody, without making eye contact at 
+all, Harry walked straight across the room and 
+through the door to the boys’ dormitories. 
+
+As he had hoped, Ron was waiting for him, still fully 
+dressed, sitting on his bed. Harry sat down on his 
+own four-poster and for a moment, they simply stared 
+at each other. 
+
+“They’re talking about closing the school,” said Harry. 
+“Lupin said they would,” said Ron. 
+
+There was a pause. 
+
+“So?” said Ron in a very low voice, as though he 
+thought the furniture might be listening in. “Did you 
+find one? Did you get it? A — a Horcrux?” 
+
+Harry shook his head. All that had taken place 
+around that black lake seemed like an old nightmare 
+now; had it really happened, and only hours ago? 
+
+“You didn’t get it?” said Ron, looking crestfallen. “It 
+wasn’t there?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “Someone had already taken it and 
+left a fake in its place.” 
+
+“Already taken — ?” 
+
+Page | 708 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Wordlessly, Harry pulled the fake locket from his 
+pocket, opened it, and passed it to Ron. The full story 
+could wait. ... It did not matter tonight ... nothing 
+mattered except the end, the end of their pointless 
+adventure, the end of Dumbledore’s life. ... 
+
+“R.A.B.,” whispered Ron, “but who was that?” 
+
+“Dunno,” said Harry, lying back on his bed fully 
+clothed and staring blankly upwards. He felt no 
+curiosity at all about R.A.B.: He doubted that he 
+would ever feel curious again. As he lay there, he 
+became aware suddenly that the grounds were silent. 
+Fawkes had stopped singing. 
+
+And he knew, without knowing how he knew it, that 
+the phoenix had gone, had left Hogwarts for good, just 
+as Dumbledore had left the school, had left the world 
+. . . had left Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 709 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WHITE TOMB 
+
+All lessons were suspended, all examinations 
+postponed. Some students were hurried away from 
+Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of 
+days — the Patil twins were gone before breakfast on 
+the morning following Dumbledore’s death, and 
+Zacharias Smith was escorted from the castle by his 
+haughty-looking father. Seamus Finnigan, on the 
+other hand, refused point-blank to accompany his 
+mother home; they had a shouting match in the 
+entrance hall that was resolved when she agreed that 
+he could remain behind for the funeral. She had 
+difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade, Seamus told 
+Harry and Ron, for wizards and witches were pouring 
+into the village, preparing to pay their last respects to 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+Some excitement was caused among the younger 
+students, who had never seen it before, when a 
+powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a 
+dozen giant winged palominos, came soaring out of 
+the sky in the late afternoon before the funeral and 
+
+
+
+Page | 710 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+landed on the edge of the forest. Harry watched from 
+a window as a gigantic and handsome olive-skinned, 
+black-haired woman descended the carriage steps 
+and threw herself into the waiting Hagrid’s arms. 
+Meanwhile a delegation of Ministry officials, including 
+the Minister of Magic himself, was being 
+accommodated within the castle. Harry was diligently 
+avoiding contact with any of them; he was sure that, 
+sooner or later, he would be asked again to account 
+for Dumbledore’s last excursion from Hogwarts. 
+
+Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were spending all 
+of their time together. The beautiful weather seemed 
+to mock them; Harry could imagine how it would have 
+been if Dumbledore had not died, and they had had 
+this time together at the very end of the year, Ginny’s 
+examinations finished, the pressure of homework 
+lifted . . . and hour by hour, he put off saying the thing 
+that he knew he must say, doing what he knew was 
+right to do, because it was too hard to forgo his best 
+source of comfort. 
+
+They visited the hospital wing twice a day: Neville had 
+been discharged, but Bill remained under Madam 
+Pomfrey’s care. His scars were as bad as ever — in 
+truth, he now bore a distinct resemblance to Mad-Eye 
+Moody, though thankfully with both eyes and legs — 
+but in personality he seemed just the same as ever. 
+
+All that appeared to have changed was that he now 
+had a great liking for very rare steaks. 
+
+"... so eet ees lucky ’e is marrying me,” said Fleur 
+happily, plumping up Bill’s pillows, “because ze 
+British overcook their meat, I ’ave always said this.” 
+
+“I suppose I’m just going to have to accept that he 
+really is going to marry her,” sighed Ginny later that 
+evening, as she, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat beside 
+
+
+
+Page | 711 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the open window of the Gryffindor common room, 
+looking out over the twilit grounds. 
+
+“She’s not that bad,” said Harry. “Ugly, though,” he 
+added hastily, as Ginny raised her eyebrows, and she 
+let out a reluctant giggle. 
+
+“Well, I suppose if Mum can stand it, I can.” 
+
+“Anyone else we know died?” Ron asked Hermione, 
+who was perusing the Evening Prophet. 
+
+Hermione winced at the forced toughness in his voice. 
+“No,” she said reprovingly, folding up the newspaper. 
+“They’re still looking for Snape but no sign ...” 
+
+“Of course there isn’t,” said Harry, who became angry 
+every time this subject cropped up. “They won’t find 
+Snape till they find Voldemort, and seeing as they’ve 
+never managed to do that in all this time ...” 
+
+“I’m going to go to bed,” yawned Ginny. “I haven’t 
+been sleeping that well since . . . well ... I could do with 
+some sleep.” 
+
+She kissed Harry (Ron looked away pointedly), waved 
+at the other two, and departed for the girls’ 
+dormitories. The moment the door had closed behind 
+her, Hermione leaned forward toward Harry with a 
+most Hermione-ish look on her face. 
+
+“Harry, I found something out this morning, in the 
+library.” 
+
+“R.A.B.?” said Harry, sitting up straight. 
+
+He did not feel the way he had so often felt before, 
+excited, curious, burning to get to the bottom of a 
+mystery; he simply knew that the task of discovering 
+
+Page | 712 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the truth about the real Horcrux had to be completed 
+before he could move a little farther along the dark 
+and winding path stretching ahead of him, the path 
+that he and Dumbledore had set out upon together, 
+and which he now knew he would have to journey 
+alone. There might still be as many as four Horcruxes 
+out there somewhere, and each would need to be 
+found and eliminated before there was even a 
+possibility that Voldemort could be killed. He kept 
+reciting their names to himself, as though by listing 
+them he could bring them within reach: the locket ... 
+the cup . . . the snake . . . something of Gryffindor’s or 
+Ravenclaw’s . . . the locket . . . the cup . . . the snake . . . 
+something of Gryffindor’s or Ravenclaw’s ... 
+
+This mantra seemed to pulse through Harry’s mind as 
+he fell asleep at night, and his dreams were thick with 
+cups, lockets, and mysterious objects that he could 
+not quite reach, though Dumbledore helpfully offered 
+Harry a rope ladder that turned to snakes the 
+moment he began to climb. ... 
+
+He had shown Hermione the note inside the locket 
+the morning after Dumbledore ’s death, and although 
+she had not immediately recognized the initials as 
+belonging to some obscure wizard about whom she 
+had been reading, she had since been rushing off to 
+the library a little more often than was strictly 
+necessary for somebody who had no homework to do. 
+
+“No,” she said sadly, “I’ve been trying, Harry, but I 
+haven’t found anything. ... There are a couple of 
+reasonably well-known wizards with those initials — 
+Rosalind Antigone Bungs . . . Rupert ‘Axebanger’ 
+Brookstanton ... but they don’t seem to fit at all. 
+Judging by that note, the person who stole the 
+Horcrux knew Voldemort, and I can’t find a shred of 
+evidence that Bungs or Axebanger ever had anything 
+
+
+
+Page | 713 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to do with him. ... No, actually, it’s about ... well, 
+Snape.” 
+
+She looked nervous even saying the name again. 
+
+“What about him?” asked Harry heavily, slumping 
+back in his chair. 
+
+“Well, it’s just that I was sort of right about the Half- 
+Blood Prince business,” she said tentatively. 
+
+“D’you have to rub it in, Hermione? How d’you think I 
+feel about that now?” 
+
+“No — no — Harry, I didn’t mean that!” she said 
+hastily, looking around to check that they were not 
+being overheard. “It’s just that I was right about 
+Eileen Prince once owning the book. You see ... she 
+was Snape ’s mother!” 
+
+“I thought she wasn’t much of a looker,” said Ron. 
+Hermione ignored him. 
+
+“I was going through the rest of the old Prophets and 
+there was a tiny announcement about Eileen Prince 
+marrying a man called Tobias Snape, and then later 
+an announcement saying that she’d given birth to a 
+
+
+
+“ — murderer,” spat Harry. 
+
+“Well ... yes,” said Hermione. “So ... I was sort of 
+right. Snape must have been proud of being ‘half a 
+Prince,’ you see? Tobias Snape was a Muggle from 
+what it said in the Prophet” 
+
+“Yeah, that fits,” said Harry. “He’d play up the pure- 
+blood side so he could get in with Lucius Malfoy and 
+the rest of them. ... He’s just like Voldemort. Pure- 
+
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+
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+blood mother, Muggle father . . . ashamed of his 
+parentage, trying to make himself feared using the 
+Dark Arts, gave himself an impressive new name — 
+Lord Voldemort — the Half-Blood Prince — how could 
+Dumbledore have missed — ?” 
+
+He broke off, looking out the window. He could not 
+stop himself dwelling upon Dumbledore ’s inexcusable 
+trust in Snape ... but as Hermione had just 
+inadvertently reminded him, he, Harry, had been 
+taken in just the same. ... In spite of the increasing 
+nastiness of those scribbled spells, he had refused to 
+believe ill of the boy who had been so clever, who had 
+helped him so much. ... 
+
+Helped him ... it was an almost unendurable thought 
+now. 
+
+“I still don’t get why he didn’t turn you in for using 
+that book,” said Ron. “He must’ve known where you 
+were getting it all from.” 
+
+“He knew,” said Harry bitterly. “He knew when I used 
+Sectumsempra. He didn’t really need Legilimency. ... 
+He might even have known before then, with 
+Slughorn talking about how brilliant I was at Potions. 
+... Shouldn’t have left his old book in the bottom of 
+that cupboard, should he?” 
+
+“But why didn’t he turn you in?” 
+
+“I don’t think he wanted to associate himself with that 
+book,” said Hermione. “I don’t think Dumbledore 
+would have liked it very much if he’d known. And 
+even if Snape pretended it hadn’t been his, Slughorn 
+would have recognized his writing at once. Anyway, 
+the book was left in Snape’s old classroom, and I’ll bet 
+Dumbledore knew his mother was called ‘Prince.’ ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“I should’ve shown the book to Dumbledore,” said 
+Harry. “All that time he was showing me how 
+Voldemort was evil even when he was at school, and I 
+had proof Snape was too — ” 
+
+“ ‘Evil’ is a strong word,” said Hermione quietly. 
+
+“You were the one who kept telling me the book was 
+dangerous!” 
+
+“I’m trying to say, Harry, that you’re putting too much 
+blame on yourself. I thought the Prince seemed to 
+have a nasty sense of humor, but I would never have 
+guessed he was a potential killer. ...” 
+
+“None of us could’ve guessed Snape would ... you 
+know,” said Ron. 
+
+Silence fell between them, each of them lost in their 
+own thoughts, but Harry was sure that they, like him, 
+were thinking about the following morning, when 
+Dumbledore’s body would be laid to rest. He had 
+never attended a funeral before; there had been no 
+body to bury when Sirius had died. He did not know 
+what to expect and was a little worried about what he 
+might see, about how he would feel. He wondered 
+whether Dumbledore’s death would be more real to 
+him once it was over. Though he had moments when 
+the horrible fact of it threatened to overwhelm him, 
+there were blank stretches of numbness where, 
+despite the fact that nobody was talking about 
+anything else in the whole castle, he still found it 
+difficult to believe that Dumbledore had really gone. 
+Admittedly he had not, as he had with Sirius, looked 
+desperately for some kind of loophole, some way that 
+Dumbledore would come back. . . . He felt in his pocket 
+for the cold chain of the fake Horcrux, which he now 
+carried with him everywhere, not as a talisman, but 
+
+
+
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+as a reminder of what it had cost and what remained 
+still to do. 
+
+Harry rose early to pack the next day; the Hogwarts 
+Express would be leaving an hour after the funeral. 
+Downstairs, he found the mood in the Great Hall 
+subdued. Everybody was wearing their dress robes 
+and no one seemed very hungry. Professor 
+McGonagall had left the thronelike chair in the middle 
+of the staff table empty. Hagrid’s chair was deserted 
+too; Harry thought that perhaps he had not been able 
+to face breakfast, but Snape’s place had been 
+unceremoniously filled by Rufus Scrimgeour. Harry 
+avoided his yellowish eyes as they scanned the Hall; 
+Harry had the uncomfortable feeling that Scrimgeour 
+was looking for him. Among Scrimgeour’s entourage 
+Harry spotted the red hair and horn-rimmed glasses 
+of Percy Weasley. Ron gave no sign that he was aware 
+of Percy, apart from stabbing pieces of kipper with 
+unwonted venom. 
+
+Over at the Slytherin table Crabbe and Goyle were 
+muttering together. Hulking boys though they were, 
+they looked oddly lonely without the tall, pale figure of 
+Malfoy between them, bossing them around. Harry 
+had not spared Malfoy much thought. His animosity 
+was all for Snape, but he had not forgotten the fear in 
+Malfoy’s voice on that tower top, nor the fact that he 
+had lowered his wand before the other Death Eaters 
+arrived. Harry did not believe that Malfoy would have 
+killed Dumbledore. He despised Malfoy still for his 
+infatuation with the Dark Arts, but now the tiniest 
+drop of pity mingled with his dislike. Where, Harry 
+wondered, was Malfoy now, and what was Voldemort 
+making him do under threat of killing him and his 
+parents? 
+
+Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by a nudge in the 
+ribs from Ginny. Professor McGonagall had risen to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+her feet, and the mournful hum in the Hall died away 
+at once. 
+
+“It is nearly time,” she said. “Please follow your Heads 
+of Houses out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after 
+me.” 
+
+They filed out from behind their benches in near 
+silence. Harry glimpsed Slughorn at the head of the 
+Slytherin column, wearing magnificent, long, emerald 
+green robes embroidered with silver. He had never 
+seen Professor Sprout, Head of the Hufflepuffs, 
+looking so clean; there was not a single patch on her 
+hat, and when they reached the entrance hall, they 
+found Madam Pince standing beside Filch, she in a 
+thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient 
+black suit and tie reeking of mothballs. 
+
+They were heading, as Harry saw when he stepped 
+out onto the stone steps from the front doors, toward 
+the lake. The warmth of the sun caressed his face as 
+they followed Professor McGonagall in silence to the 
+place where hundreds of chairs had been set out in 
+rows. An aisle ran down the center of them: There 
+was a marble table standing at the front, all chairs 
+facing it. It was the most beautiful summer’s day. 
+
+An extraordinary assortment of people had already 
+settled into half of the chairs; shabby and smart, old 
+and young. Most Harry did not recognize, but a few 
+he did, including members of the Order of the 
+Phoenix: Kingsley Shacklebolt; Mad-Eye Moody; 
+Tonks, her hair miraculously returned to vividest 
+pink; Remus Lupin, with whom she seemed to be 
+holding hands; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley; Bill supported 
+by Fleur and followed by Fred and George, who were 
+wearing jackets of black dragon skin. Then there was 
+Madame Maxime, who took up two and a half chairs 
+on her own; Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron 
+Page | 718 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+in London; Arabella Figg, Harry’s Squib neighbor; the 
+hairy bass player from the Wizarding group the Weird 
+Sisters; Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus; Madam 
+Malkin, of the robe shop in Diagon Alley; and some 
+people whom Harry merely knew by sight, such as the 
+barman of the Hog’s Head and the witch who pushed 
+the trolley on the Hogwarts Express. The castle ghosts 
+were there too, barely visible in the bright sunlight, 
+discernible only when they moved, shimmering 
+insubstantially on the gleaming air. 
+
+Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny filed into seats at 
+the end of a row beside the lake. People were 
+whispering to each other; it sounded like a breeze in 
+the grass, but the birdsong was louder by far. The 
+crowd continued to swell; with a great rush of 
+affection for both of them, Harry saw Neville being 
+helped into a seat by Luna. Neville and Luna alone of 
+the D.A. had responded to Hermione ’s summons the 
+night that Dumbledore had died, and Harry knew 
+why: They were the ones who had missed the D.A. 
+most . . . probably the ones who had checked their 
+coins regularly in the hope that there would be 
+another meeting. 
+
+Cornelius Fudge walked past toward the front rows, 
+his expression miserable, twirling his green bowler 
+hat as usual; Harry next recognized Rita Skeeter, 
+who, he was infuriated to see, had a notebook 
+clutched in her red-taloned hand, and then, with a 
+worse jolt of fury, Dolores Umbridge, an unconvincing 
+expression of grief upon her toadlike face, a black 
+velvet bow set atop her iron-colored curls. At the sight 
+of the centaur Firenze, who was standing like a 
+sentinel near the water’s edge, she gave a start and 
+scurried hastily into a seat a good distance away. 
+
+The staff was seated at last. Harry could see 
+Scrimgeour looking grave and dignified in the front 
+
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+
+row with Professor McGonagall. He wondered whether 
+Scrimgeour or any of these important people were 
+really sorry that Dumbledore was dead. But then he 
+heard music, strange, otherworldly music, and he 
+forgot his dislike of the Ministry in looking around for 
+the source of it. He was not the only one: Many heads 
+were turning, searching, a little alarmed. 
+
+“In there,” whispered Ginny in Harry’s ear. 
+
+And he saw them in the clear green sunlit water, 
+inches below the surface, reminding him horribly of 
+the Inferi: a chorus of merpeople singing in a strange 
+language he did not understand, their pallid faces 
+rippling, their purplish hair flowing all around them. 
+The music made the hair on Harry’s neck stand up, 
+and yet it was not unpleasant. It spoke very clearly of 
+loss and of despair. As he looked down into the wild 
+faces of the singers, he had the feeling that they, at 
+least, were sorry for Dumbledore’s passing. Then 
+Ginny nudged him again and he looked around. 
+
+Hagrid was walking slowly up the aisle between the 
+chairs. He was crying quite silently, his face gleaming 
+with tears, and in his arms, wrapped in purple velvet 
+spangled with golden stars, was what Harry knew to 
+be Dumbledore’s body. A sharp pain rose in Harry’s 
+throat at this sight: For a moment, the strange music 
+and the knowledge that Dumbledore’s body was so 
+close seemed to take all warmth from the day. Ron 
+looked white and shocked. Tears were falling thick 
+and fast into both Ginny ’s and Hermione’s laps. 
+
+They could not see clearly what was happening at the 
+front. Hagrid seemed to have placed the body 
+carefully upon the table. Now he retreated down the 
+aisle, blowing his nose with loud trumpeting noises 
+that drew scandalized looks from some, including, 
+Harry saw, Dolores Umbridge ... but Harry knew that 
+Page | 720 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore would not have cared. He tried to make a 
+friendly gesture to Hagrid as he passed, but Hagrid’s 
+eyes were so swollen it was a wonder he could see 
+where he was going. Harry glanced at the back row to 
+which Hagrid was heading and realized what was 
+guiding him, for there, dressed in a jacket and 
+trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the 
+giant Grawp, his great ugly boulderlike head bowed, 
+docile, almost human. Hagrid sat down next to his 
+half-brother, and Grawp patted Hagrid hard on the 
+head, so that his chair legs sank into the ground. 
+Harry had a wonderful momentary urge to laugh. But 
+then the music stopped, and he turned to face the 
+front again. 
+
+A little tufty-haired man in plain black robes had got 
+to his feet and stood now in front of Dumbledore ’s 
+body. Harry could not hear what he was saying. Odd 
+words floated back to them over the hundreds of 
+heads. “Nobility of spirit” ... “intellectual contribution” 
+... “greatness of heart” ... It did not mean very much. 
+
+It had little to do with Dumbledore as Harry had 
+known him. He suddenly remembered Dumbledore ’s 
+idea of a few words, “nitwit,” “oddment,” “blubber,” 
+and “tweak,” and again had to suppress a grin. ... 
+What was the matter with him? 
+
+There was a soft splashing noise to his left and he 
+saw that the merpeople had broken the surface to 
+listen too. He remembered Dumbledore crouching at 
+the water’s edge two years ago, very close to where 
+Harry now sat, and conversing in Mermish with the 
+Merchieftainess. Harry wondered where Dumbledore 
+had learned Mermish. There was so much he had 
+never asked him, so much he should have said. ... 
+
+And then, without warning, it swept over him, the 
+dreadful truth, more completely and undeniably than 
+it had until now. Dumbledore was dead, gone. ... He 
+
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+
+clutched the cold locket in his hand so tightly that it 
+hurt, but he could not prevent hot tears spilling from 
+his eyes: He looked away from Ginny and the others 
+and stared out over the lake, toward the forest, as the 
+little man in black droned on. ... There was movement 
+among the trees. The centaurs had come to pay their 
+respects too. They did not move into the open but 
+Harry saw them standing quite still, half hidden in 
+shadow, watching the wizards, their bows hanging at 
+their sides. And Harry remembered his first 
+nightmarish trip into the forest, the first time he had 
+ever encountered the thing that was then Voldemort, 
+and how he had faced him, and how he and 
+Dumbledore had discussed fighting a losing battle not 
+long thereafter. It was important, Dumbledore said, to 
+fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then 
+could evil be kept at bay, though never quite 
+eradicated. ... 
+
+And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the 
+hot sun how people who cared about him had stood 
+in front of him one by one, his mother, his father, his 
+godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to 
+protect him; but now that was over. He could not let 
+anybody else stand between him and Voldemort; he 
+must abandon forever the illusion he ought to have 
+lost at the age of one, that the shelter of a parent’s 
+arms meant that nothing could hurt him. There was 
+no waking from his nightmare, no comforting whisper 
+in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in 
+his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors 
+had died, and he was more alone than he had ever 
+been before. 
+
+The little man in black had stopped speaking at last 
+and resumed his seat. Harry waited for somebody else 
+to get to their feet; he expected speeches, probably 
+from the Minister, but nobody moved. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Then several people screamed. Bright, white flames 
+had erupted around Dumbledore’s body and the table 
+upon which it lay: Higher and higher they rose, 
+obscuring the body. White smoke spiraled into the air 
+and made strange shapes: Harry thought, for one 
+heart- stopping moment, that he saw a phoenix fly 
+joyfully into the blue, but next second the fire had 
+vanished. In its place was a white marble tomb, 
+encasing Dumbledore’s body and the table on which 
+he had rested. 
+
+There were a few more cries of shock as a shower of 
+arrows soared through the air, but they fell far short 
+of the crowd. It was, Harry knew, the centaurs’ 
+tribute: He saw them turn tail and disappear back 
+into the cool trees. Likewise, the merpeople sank 
+slowly back into the green water and were lost from 
+view. 
+
+Harry looked at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione: Ron’s 
+face was screwed up as though the sunlight were 
+blinding him. Hermione ’s face was glazed with tears, 
+but Ginny was no longer crying. She met Harry’s gaze 
+with the same hard, blazing look that he had seen 
+when she had hugged him after winning the 
+Quidditch Cup in his absence, and he knew that at 
+that moment they understood each other perfectly, 
+and that when he told her what he was going to do 
+now, she would not say, “Be careful,” or “Don’t do it,” 
+but accept his decision, because she would not have 
+expected anything less of him. And so he steeled 
+himself to say what he had known he must say ever 
+since Dumbledore had died. 
+
+“Ginny, listen ...” he said very quietly, as the buzz of 
+conversation grew louder around them and people 
+began to get to their feet, “I can’t be involved with you 
+anymore. We’ve got to stop seeing each other. We 
+can’t be together.” 
+
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+
+She said, with an oddly twisted smile, “It’s for some 
+stupid, noble reason, isn’t it?” 
+
+“It’s been like ... like something out of someone else’s 
+life, these last few weeks with you,” said Harry. “But I 
+can’t ... we can’t ... I’ve got things to do alone now.” 
+
+She did not cry, she simply looked at him. 
+
+“Voldemort uses people his enemies are close to. He’s 
+already used you as bait once, and that was just 
+because you’re my best friend’s sister. Think how 
+much danger you’ll be in if we keep this up. He’ll 
+know, hell find out. He’ll try and get to me through 
+you.” 
+
+“What if I don’t care?” said Ginny fiercely. 
+
+“I care,” said Harry. “How do you think I’d feel if this 
+was your funeral ... and it was my fault. ...” 
+
+She looked away from him, over the lake. 
+
+“I never really gave up on you,” she said. “Not really. I 
+always hoped. ... Hermione told me to get on with life, 
+maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit 
+around you, because I never used to be able to talk if 
+you were in the room, remember? And she thought 
+you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more — 
+myself.” 
+
+“Smart girl, that Hermione,” said Harry, trying to 
+smile. “I just wish I’d asked you sooner. We could’ve 
+had ages ... months ... years maybe. ...” 
+
+“But you’ve been too busy saving the Wizarding 
+world,” said Ginny, half laughing. “Well ... I can’t say 
+I’m surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I 
+
+
+
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+knew you wouldn’t be happy unless you were hunting 
+Voldemort. Maybe that’s why I like you so much.” 
+
+Harry could not bear to hear these things, nor did he 
+think his resolution would hold if he remained sitting 
+beside her. Ron, he saw, was now holding Hermione 
+and stroking her hair while she sobbed into his 
+shoulder, tears dripping from the end of his own long 
+nose. With a miserable gesture, Harry got up, turned 
+his back on Ginny and on Dumbledore’s tomb, and 
+walked away around the lake. Moving felt much more 
+bearable than sitting still, just as setting out as soon 
+as possible to track down the Horcruxes and kill 
+Voldemort would feel better than waiting to do it. ... 
+
+“Harry!” 
+
+He turned. Rufus Scrimgeour was limping rapidly 
+toward him around the bank, leaning on his walking 
+stick. 
+
+“I’ve been hoping to have a word ... do you mind if I 
+walk a little way with you?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry indifferently, and set off again. 
+
+“Harry, this was a dreadful tragedy,” said Scrimgeour 
+quietly. “I cannot tell you how appalled I was to hear 
+of it. Dumbledore was a very great wizard. We had our 
+disagreements, as you know, but no one knows better 
+than I — ” 
+
+“What do you want?” asked Harry flatly. 
+
+Scrimgeour looked annoyed, but as before, hastily 
+modified his expression to one of sorrowful 
+understanding. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“You are, of course, devastated,” he said. “I know that 
+you were very close to Dumbledore. I think you may 
+have been his favorite pupil ever. The bond between 
+the two of you — ” 
+
+“What do you want?” Harry repeated, coming to a 
+halt. 
+
+Scrimgeour stopped too, leaned on his stick, and 
+stared at Harry, his expression shrewd now. 
+
+“The word is that you were with him when he left the 
+school the night that he died.” 
+
+“Whose word?” said Harry. 
+
+“Somebody Stupefied a Death Eater on top of the 
+tower after Dumbledore died. There were also two 
+broomsticks up there. The Ministry can add two and 
+two, Harry.” 
+
+“Glad to hear it,” said Harry. “Well, where I went with 
+Dumbledore and what we did is my business. He 
+didn’t want people to know.” 
+
+“Such loyalty is admirable, of course,” said 
+Scrimgeour, who seemed to be restraining his 
+irritation with difficulty, “but Dumbledore is gone, 
+Harry. He’s gone.” 
+
+“He will only be gone from the school when none here 
+are loyal to him,” said Harry, smiling in spite of 
+himself. 
+
+“My dear boy . . . even Dumbledore cannot return from 
+the — ” 
+
+“I am not saying he can. You wouldn’t understand. 
+
+But I’ve got nothing to tell you.” 
+
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+
+
+Scrimgeour hesitated, then said, in what was 
+evidently supposed to be a tone of delicacy, “The 
+Ministry can offer you all sorts of protection, you 
+know, Harry. I would be delighted to place a couple of 
+my Aurors at your service — ” 
+
+Harry laughed. “Voldemort wants to kill me himself, 
+and Aurors won’t stop him. So thanks for the offer, 
+but no thanks.” 
+
+“So,” said Scrimgeour, his voice cold now, “the 
+request I made of you at Christmas — ” 
+
+“What request? Oh yeah . . . the one where I tell the 
+world what a great job you’re doing in exchange for — ” 
+
+“ — for raising everyone’s morale!” snapped 
+Scrimgeour. 
+
+Harry considered him for a moment. 
+
+“Released Stan Shunpike yet?” 
+
+Scrimgeour turned a nasty purple color highly 
+reminiscent of Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“I see you are — ” 
+
+“Dumbledore’s man through and through,” said 
+Harry. “That’s right.” 
+
+Scrimgeour glared at him for another moment, then 
+turned and limped away without another word. Harry 
+could see Percy and the rest of the Ministry delegation 
+waiting for him, casting nervous glances at the 
+sobbing Hagrid and Grawp, who were still in their 
+seats. Ron and Hermione were hurrying toward 
+Harry, passing Scrimgeour going in the opposite 
+direction. Harry turned and walked slowly on, waiting 
+Page | 727 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
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+for them to catch up, which they finally did in the 
+shade of a beech tree under which they had sat in 
+happier times. 
+
+“What did Scrimgeour want?” Hermione whispered. 
+
+“Same as he wanted at Christmas,” shrugged Harry. 
+“Wanted me to give him inside information on 
+Dumbledore and be the Ministry’s new poster boy.” 
+
+Ron seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, 
+then he said loudly to Hermione, “Look, let me go 
+back and hit Percy!” 
+
+“No,” she said firmly, grabbing his arm. 
+
+“It’ll make me feel better!” 
+
+Harry laughed. Even Hermione grinned a little, 
+though her smile faded as she looked up at the castle. 
+
+“I can’t bear the idea that we might never come back,” 
+she said softly. “How can Hogwarts close?” 
+
+“Maybe it won’t,” said Ron. “We’re not in any more 
+danger here than we are at home, are we? 
+Everywhere’s the same now. I’d even say Hogwarts is 
+safer, there are more wizards inside to defend the 
+place. What d’you reckon, Harry?” 
+
+“I’m not coming back even if it does reopen,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+Ron gaped at him, but Hermione said sadly, “I knew 
+you were going to say that. But then what will you 
+do?” 
+
+
+
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+
+‘Tm going back to the Dursleys’ once more, because 
+Dumbledore wanted me to,” said Harry. “But it’ll be a 
+short visit, and then I’ll be gone for good.” 
+
+“But where will you go if you don’t come back to 
+school?” 
+
+“I thought I might go back to Godric’s Hollow,” Harry 
+muttered. He had had the idea in his head ever since 
+the night of Dumbledore’s death. “For me, it started 
+there, all of it. I’ve just got a feeling I need to go there. 
+And I can visit my parents’ graves, I’d like that.” 
+
+“And then what?” said Ron. 
+
+“Then I’ve got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, 
+haven’t I?” said Harry, his eyes upon Dumbledore’s 
+white tomb, reflected in the water on the other side of 
+the lake. “That’s what he wanted me to do, that’s why 
+he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right — 
+and I’m sure he was — there are still four of them out 
+there. I’ve got to find them and destroy them, and 
+then I’ve got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort’s 
+soul, the bit that’s still in his body, and I’m the one 
+who’s going to kill him. And if I meet Severus Snape 
+along the way,” he added, “so much the better for me, 
+so much the worse for him.” 
+
+There was a long silence. The crowd had almost 
+dispersed now, the stragglers giving the monumental 
+figure of Grawp a wide berth as he cuddled Hagrid, 
+whose howls of grief were still echoing across the 
+water. 
+
+“Well be there, Harry,” said Ron. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“At your aunt and uncle’s house,” said Ron. “And 
+then well go with you wherever you’re going.” 
+
+“No — ” said Harry quickly; he had not counted on 
+this, he had meant them to understand that he was 
+undertaking this most dangerous journey alone. 
+
+“You said to us once before,” said Hermione quietly, 
+“that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. 
+We’ve had time, haven’t we? 
+
+“We’re with you whatever happens,” said Ron. “But 
+mate, you’re going to have to come round my mum 
+and dad’s house before we do anything else, even 
+Godric’s Hollow.” 
+
+“Why?” 
+
+“Bill and Fleur’s wedding, remember?” 
+
+Harry looked at him, startled; the idea that anything 
+as normal as a wedding could still exist seemed 
+incredible and yet wonderful. 
+
+“Yeah, we shouldn’t miss that,” he said finally. 
+
+His hand closed automatically around the fake 
+Horcrux, but in spite of everything, in spite of the 
+dark and twisting path he saw stretching ahead for 
+himself, in spite of the final meeting with Voldemort 
+he knew must come, whether in a month, in a year, 
+or in ten, he felt his heart lift at the thought that 
+there was still one last golden day of peace left to 
+enjoy with Ron and Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Page | 730 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+I 
+
+
+
+* 
+
+THE DARK LORD ASCENDING 
+
+The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards 
+apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they 
+stood quite still, wands directed at each other’s 
+chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed 
+their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking 
+briskly in the same direction. 
+
+“News?” asked the taller of the two. 
+
+“The best,” replied Severus Snape. 
+
+The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low- 
+growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly 
+manicured hedge. The men’s long cloaks flapped 
+around their ankles as they marched. 
+
+“Thought I might be late,” said Yaxley, his blunt 
+features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of 
+overhanging trees broke the moonlight. “It was a little 
+trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be 
+satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will 
+be good?” 
+
+Page | 2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned 
+right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The 
+high hedge curved with them, running off into the 
+distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron 
+gates barring the men’s way. Neither of them broke 
+step: In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of 
+salute and passed straight through, as though the 
+dark metal were smoke. 
+
+The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men’s 
+footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their 
+right: Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his 
+companion’s head, but the source of the noise proved 
+to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, 
+strutting majestically along the top of the hedge. 
+
+“He always did himself well, Lucius. Peacocks ...” 
+Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a 
+snort. 
+
+A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at 
+the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the 
+diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in 
+the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was 
+playing. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape 
+and Yaxley sped toward the front door, which swung 
+inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly 
+opened it. 
+
+The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously 
+decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of 
+the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on 
+the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode 
+past. The two men halted at a heavy wooden door 
+leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of 
+a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle. 
+
+The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a 
+long and ornate table. The room’s usual furniture had 
+
+Page | 3 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+been pushed carelessly up against the walls. 
+Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a 
+handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a 
+gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a 
+moment on the threshold. As their eyes grew 
+accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn 
+upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an 
+apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside 
+down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended 
+by an invisible rope, and reflected in the mirror and in 
+the bare, polished surface of the table below. None of 
+the people seated underneath this singular sight was 
+looking at it except for a pale young man sitting 
+almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent 
+himself from glancing upward every minute or so. 
+
+“Yaxley. Snape,” said a high, clear voice from the head 
+of the table. “You are very nearly late.” 
+
+The speaker was seated directly in front of the 
+fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new 
+arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they 
+drew nearer, however, his face shone through the 
+gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and 
+gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was 
+so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow. 
+
+“Severus, here,” said Voldemort, indicating the seat 
+on his immediate right. “Yaxley — beside Dolohov.” 
+
+The two men took their allotted places. Most of the 
+eyes around the table followed Snape, and it was to 
+him that Voldemort spoke first. 
+
+“So?” 
+
+“My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move 
+Harry Potter from his current place of safety on 
+Saturday next, at nightfall.” 
+
+Page | 4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The interest around the table sharpened palpably: 
+Some stiffened, others fidgeted, all gazing at Snape 
+and Voldemort. 
+
+“Saturday ... at nightfall,” repeated Voldemort. His 
+red eyes fastened upon Snape ’s black ones with such 
+intensity that some of the watchers looked away, 
+apparently fearful that they themselves would be 
+scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, 
+looked calmly back into Voldemort’s face and, after a 
+moment or two, Voldemort’s lipless mouth curved into 
+something like a smile. 
+
+“Good. Very good. And this information comes — ” 
+
+“ — from the source we discussed,” said Snape. 
+
+“My Lord.” 
+
+Yaxley had leaned forward to look down the long table 
+at Voldemort and Snape. All faces turned to him. 
+
+“My Lord, I have heard differently.” 
+
+Yaxley waited, but Voldemort did not speak, so he 
+went on, “Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will 
+not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the 
+boy turns seventeen.” 
+
+Snape was smiling. 
+
+“My source told me that there are plans to lay a false 
+trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm 
+has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the 
+first time; he is known to be susceptible.” 
+
+“I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite 
+certain,” said Yaxley. 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain,” 
+said Snape. “I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror Office 
+will play no further part in the protection of Harry 
+Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the 
+Ministry.” 
+
+“The Order’s got one thing right, then, eh?” said a 
+squat man sitting a short distance from Yaxley; he 
+gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there 
+along the table. 
+
+Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had wandered 
+upward to the body revolving slowly overhead, and he 
+seemed to be lost in thought. 
+
+“My Lord,” Yaxley went on, “Dawlish believes an 
+entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy 
+
+
+
+Voldemort held up a large white hand, and Yaxley 
+subsided at once, watching resentfully as Voldemort 
+turned back to Snape. 
+
+“Where are they going to hide the boy next?” 
+
+“At the home of one of the Order,” said Snape. “The 
+place, according to the source, has been given every 
+protection that the Order and Ministry together could 
+provide. I think that there is little chance of taking 
+him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the 
+Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might 
+give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough 
+of the enchantments to break through the rest.” 
+
+“Well, Yaxley?” Voldemort called down the table, the 
+firelight glinting strangely in his red eyes. “Will the 
+Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his 
+shoulders. 
+
+“My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have — 
+with difficulty, and after great effort — suceeded in 
+placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse.” 
+
+Many of those sitting around Yaxley looked 
+impressed; his neighbor, Dolohov, a man with a long, 
+twisted face, clapped him on the back. 
+
+“It is a start,” said Voldemort. “But Thicknesse is only 
+one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our 
+people before I act. One failed attempt on the 
+Minister’s life will set me back a long way.” 
+
+“Yes — my Lord, that is true — but you know, as 
+Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, 
+Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the 
+Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the 
+other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy 
+now that we have such a high-ranking official under 
+our control, to subjugate the others, and then they 
+can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down.” 
+
+“As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered 
+before he has converted the rest,” said Voldemort. “At 
+any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be 
+mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the 
+boy at his destination, then it must be done while he 
+travels.” 
+
+“We are at an advantage there, my Lord,” said Yaxley, 
+who seemed determined to receive some portion of 
+approval. “We now have several people planted within 
+the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter 
+Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know 
+immediately.” 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He will not do either,” said Snape. “The Order is 
+eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or 
+regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to 
+do with the place.” 
+
+“All the better,” said Voldemort. “He will have to move 
+in the open. Easier to take, by far.” 
+
+Again, Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving 
+body as he went on, “I shall attend to the boy in 
+person. There have been too many mistakes where 
+Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been 
+my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors 
+than to his triumphs.” 
+
+The company around the table watched Voldemort 
+apprehensively, each of them, by his or her 
+expression, afraid that they might be blamed for 
+Harry Potter’s continued existence. Voldemort, 
+however, seemed to be speaking more to himself than 
+to any of them, still addressing the unconscious body 
+above him. 
+
+“I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by 
+luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best- 
+laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those 
+things that I did not understand before. I must be the 
+one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be.” 
+
+At these words, seemingly in response to them, a 
+sudden wail sounded, a terrible, drawn-out cry of 
+misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked 
+downward, startled, for the sound had seemed to 
+issue from below their feet. 
+
+“Wormtail,” said Voldemort, with no change in his 
+quiet, thoughtful tone, and without removing his eyes 
+from the revolving body above, “have I not spoken to 
+you about keeping our prisoner quiet?” 
+
+Page | 8 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yes, m-my Lord,” gasped a small man halfway down 
+the table, who had been sitting so low in his chair 
+that it had appeared, at first glance, to be 
+unoccupied. Now he scrambled from his seat and 
+scurried from the room, leaving nothing behind him 
+but a curious gleam of silver. 
+
+“As I was saying,” continued Voldemort, looking again 
+at the tense faces of his followers, “I understand 
+better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a 
+wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter.” 
+
+The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; 
+he might have announced that he wanted to borrow 
+one of their arms. 
+
+“No volunteers?” said Voldemort. “Let’s see ... Lucius, 
+I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore.” 
+
+Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin appeared yellowish 
+and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken 
+and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. 
+
+“My Lord?” 
+
+“Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand.” 
+
+
+
+Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring 
+straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, her long 
+blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath the 
+table her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At 
+her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, 
+withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort, 
+who held it up in front of his red eyes, examining it 
+closely. 
+
+“What is it?” 
+
+Page | 9 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Elm, my Lord,” whispered Malfoy. 
+
+
+
+“And the core?” 
+
+“Dragon — dragon heartstring.” 
+
+“Good,” said Voldemort. He drew out his own wand 
+and compared the lengths. Lucius Malfoy made an 
+involuntary movement; for a fraction of a second, it 
+seemed he expected to receive Voldemort’s wand in 
+exchange for his own. The gesture was not missed by 
+Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously. 
+
+“Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?” 
+
+Some of the throng sniggered. 
+
+“I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not 
+enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your 
+family seem less than happy of late. ... What is it 
+about my presence in your home that displeases you, 
+Lucius?” 
+
+“Nothing — nothing, my Lord!” 
+
+“Such lies, Lucius ...” 
+
+The soft voice seemed to hiss on even after the cruel 
+mouth had stopped moving. One or two of the wizards 
+barely repressed a shudder as the hissing grew 
+louder; something heavy could be heard sliding 
+across the floor beneath the table. 
+
+The huge snake emerged to climb slowly up 
+Voldemort’s chair. It rose, seemingly endlessly, and 
+came to rest across Voldemort’s shoulders: its neck 
+the thickness of a man’s thigh; its eyes, with their 
+vertical slits for pupils, unblinking. Voldemort stroked 
+
+Page | 10 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the creature absently with long thin fingers, still 
+looking at Lucius Malfoy. 
+
+“Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? 
+
+Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they 
+professed to desire for so many years?” 
+
+“Of course, my Lord,” said Lucius Malfoy. His hand 
+shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. “We did 
+desire it — we do.” 
+
+To Malfoy’s left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her 
+eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his 
+right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing up at the 
+inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort 
+and away again, terrified to make eye contact. 
+
+“My Lord,” said a dark woman halfway down the 
+table, her voice constricted with emotion, “it is an 
+honor to have you here, in our family’s house. There 
+can be no higher pleasure.” 
+
+She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with 
+her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in 
+bearing and demeanor; where Narcissa sat rigid and 
+impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for 
+mere words could not demonstrate her longing for 
+closeness. 
+
+“No higher pleasure,” repeated Voldemort, his head 
+tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. 
+“That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you.” 
+
+Her face flooded with color; her eyes welled with tears 
+of delight. 
+
+“My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!” 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No higher pleasure ... even compared with the happy 
+event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this 
+week?” 
+
+
+
+She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused. 
+
+“I don’t know what you mean, my Lord.” 
+
+“I’m talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And yours, 
+Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the 
+werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud.” 
+
+There was an eruption of jeering laughter from 
+around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange 
+gleeful looks; a few thumped the table with their fists. 
+The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its 
+mouth wide and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters 
+did not hear it, so jubilant were they at Bellatrix and 
+the Malfoys’ humiliation. Bellatrix’s face, so recently 
+flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy 
+red. 
+
+“She is no niece of ours, my Lord,” she cried over the 
+outpouring of mirth. “We — Narcissa and I — have 
+never set eyes on our sister since she married the 
+Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of 
+us, nor any beast she marries.” 
+
+“What say you, Draco?” asked Voldemort, and though 
+his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the 
+catcalls and jeers. “Will you babysit the cubs?” 
+
+The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at 
+his father, who was staring down into his own lap, 
+then caught his mother’s eye. She shook her head 
+almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan 
+stare at the opposite wall. 
+
+
+
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+
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Enough,” said Voldemort, stroking the angry snake. 
+“Enough.” 
+
+And the laughter died at once. 
+
+“Many of our oldest family trees become a little 
+diseased over time,” he said as Bellatrix gazed at him, 
+breathless and imploring. “You must prune yours, 
+must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those 
+parts that threaten the health of the rest.” 
+
+“Yes, my Lord,” whispered Bellatrix, and her eyes 
+swam with tears of gratitude again. “At the first 
+chance!” 
+
+“You shall have it,” said Voldemort. “And in your 
+family, so in the world . . . we shall cut away the 
+canker that infects us until only those of the true 
+blood remain. ...” 
+
+Voldemort raised Lucius Malfoy’s wand, pointed it 
+directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over 
+the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came to 
+life with a groan and began to struggle against 
+invisible bonds. 
+
+“Do you recognize our guest, Severus?” asked 
+Voldemort. 
+
+Snape raised his eyes to the upside-down face. All of 
+the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, 
+as though they had been given permission to show 
+curiosity. As she revolved to face the firelight, the 
+woman said in a cracked and terrified voice, “Severus! 
+Help me!” 
+
+“Ah, yes,” said Snape as the prisoner turned slowly 
+away again. 
+
+
+
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+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And you, Draco?” asked Voldemort, stroking the 
+snake’s snout with his wand-free hand. Draco shook 
+his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he 
+seemed unable to look at her anymore. 
+
+“But you would not have taken her classes,” said 
+Voldemort. “For those of you who do not know, we are 
+joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until 
+recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
+Wizardry.” 
+
+There were small noises of comprehension around the 
+table. A broad, hunched woman with pointed teeth 
+cackled. 
+
+“Yes . . . Professor Burbage taught the children of 
+witches and wizards all about Muggles . . . how they 
+are not so different from us ...” 
+
+One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor. Charity 
+Burbage revolved to face Snape again. 
+
+“Severus ... please ... please ...” 
+
+“Silence,” said Voldemort, with another twitch of 
+Malfoy’s wand, and Charity fell silent as if gagged. 
+
+“Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds 
+of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage 
+wrote an impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the 
+Daily Prophet Wizards, she says, must accept these 
+thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling 
+of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most 
+desirable circumstance. ... She would have us all 
+mate with Muggles ... or, no doubt, werewolves. ...” 
+
+Nobody laughed this time: There was no mistaking 
+the anger and contempt in Voldemort’s voice. For the 
+third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. 
+Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape 
+
+Page | 14 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned 
+slowly away from him again. 
+
+“Avada Kedavra.” 
+
+The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the 
+room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the 
+table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of 
+the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell 
+out of his onto the floor. 
+
+“Dinner, Nagini,” said Voldemort softly, and the great 
+snake swayed and slithered from his shoulders onto 
+the polished wood. 
+
+
+
+Page | 15 
+
+
+
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+IN MEMORIAM 
+
+Harry was bleeding. Clutching his right hand in his 
+left and swearing under his breath, he shouldered 
+open his bedroom door. There was a crunch of 
+breaking china: He had trodden on a cup of cold tea 
+that had been sitting on the floor outside his bedroom 
+door. 
+
+“What the — ?” 
+
+He looked around; the landing of number four, Privet 
+Drive, was deserted. Possibly the cup of tea was 
+Dudley’s idea of a clever booby trap. Keeping his 
+bleeding hand elevated, Harry scraped the fragments 
+of cup together with the other hand and threw them 
+into the already crammed bin just visible inside his 
+bedroom door. Then he tramped across to the 
+bathroom to run his finger under the tap. 
+
+It was stupid, pointless, irritating beyond belief that 
+he still had four days left of being unable to perform 
+magic . . . but he had to admit to himself that this 
+jagged cut in his finger would have defeated him. He 
+
+Page | 16 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+had never learned how to repair wounds, and now he 
+came to think of it — particularly in light of his 
+immediate plans — this seemed a serious flaw in his 
+magical education. Making a mental note to ask 
+Hermione how it was done, he used a large wad of 
+toilet paper to mop up as much of the tea as he could, 
+before returning to his bedroom and slamming the 
+door behind him. 
+
+Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his 
+school trunk for the first time since he had packed it 
+six years ago. At the start of the intervening school 
+years, he had merely skimmed off the topmost three 
+quarters of the contents and replaced or updated 
+them, leaving a layer of general debris at the bottom 
+— old quills, desiccated beetle eyes, single socks that 
+no longer fit. Minutes previously, Harry had plunged 
+his hand into this mulch, experienced a stabbing pain 
+in the fourth finger of his right hand, and withdrawn 
+it to see a lot of blood. 
+
+He now proceeded a little more cautiously. Kneeling 
+down beside the trunk again, he groped around in the 
+bottom and, after retrieving an old badge that 
+flickered feebly between Support CEDRIC DIGGORY 
+and POTTER STINKS , a cracked and worn-out 
+Sneakoscope, and a gold locket inside which a note 
+signed R.A.B. had been hidden, he finally discovered 
+the sharp edge that had done the damage. He 
+recognized it at once. It was a two-inch-long fragment 
+of the enchanted mirror that his dead godfather, 
+Sirius, had given him. Harry laid it aside and felt 
+cautiously around the trunk for the rest, but nothing 
+more remained of his godfather’s last gift except 
+powdered glass, which clung to the deepest layer of 
+debris like glittering grit. 
+
+Harry sat up and examined the jagged piece on which 
+he had cut himself, seeing nothing but his own bright 
+
+Page | 17 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+green eye reflected back at him. Then he placed the 
+fragment on top of that morning’s Daily Prophet, 
+which lay unread on the bed, and attempted to stem 
+the sudden upsurge of bitter memories, the stabs of 
+regret and of longing the discovery of the broken 
+mirror had occasioned, by attacking the rest of the 
+rubbish in the trunk. 
+
+It took another hour to empty it completely, throw 
+away the useless items, and sort the remainder in 
+piles according to whether or not he would need them 
+from now on. His school and Quidditch robes, 
+cauldron, parchment, quills, and most of his 
+textbooks were piled in a corner, to be left behind. He 
+wondered what his aunt and uncle would do with 
+them; burn them in the dead of night, probably, as if 
+they were the evidence of some dreadful crime. His 
+Muggle clothing, Invisibility Cloak, potion-making kit, 
+certain books, the photograph album Hagrid had once 
+given him, a stack of letters, and his wand had been 
+repacked into an old rucksack. In a front pocket were 
+the Marauder’s Map and the locket with the note 
+signed R.A.B. inside it. The locket was accorded this 
+place of honor not because it was valuable — in all 
+usual senses it was worthless — but because of what 
+it had cost to attain it. 
+
+This left a sizable stack of newspapers sitting on his 
+desk beside his snowy owl, Hedwig: one for each of 
+the days Harry had spent at Privet Drive this 
+summer. 
+
+He got up off the floor, stretched, and moved across to 
+his desk. Hedwig made no movement as he began to 
+flick through the newspapers, throwing them onto the 
+rubbish pile one by one. The owl was asleep, or else 
+faking; she was angry with Harry about the limited 
+amount of time she was allowed out of her cage at the 
+moment. 
+
+Page | 18 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+As he neared the bottom of the pile of newspapers, 
+Harry slowed down, searching for one particular issue 
+that he knew had arrived shortly after he had 
+returned to Privet Drive for the summer; he 
+remembered that there had been a small mention on 
+the front about the resignation of Charity Burbage, 
+the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts. At last he 
+found it. Turning to page ten, he sank into his desk 
+chair and reread the article he had been looking for. 
+
+ALBUS DUMBLEDORE REMEMBERED 
+
+by Elphias Doge 
+
+I met Albus Dumbledore at the age of eleven, on our 
+first day at Hogwarts. Our mutual attraction was 
+undoubtedly due to the fact that we both felt 
+ourselves to be outsiders. I had contracted dragon 
+pox shortly before arriving at school, and while I was 
+no longer contagious, my pockmarked visage and 
+greenish hue did not encourage many to approach 
+me. For his part, Albus had arrived at Hogwarts 
+under the burden of unwanted notoriety. Scarcely a 
+year previously, his father, Percival, had been 
+convicted of a savage and well-publicized attack upon 
+three young Muggles. 
+
+Albus never attempted to deny that his father (who 
+was to die in Azkaban) had committed this crime; on 
+the contrary, when I plucked up courage to ask him, he 
+assured me that he knew his father to be guilty. 
+Beyond that, Dumbledore refused to speak of the sad 
+business, though many attempted to make him do so. 
+Some, indeed, were disposed to praise his father’s 
+action and assumed that Albus too was a Muggle- 
+hater. They could not have been more mistaken: As 
+anybody who knew Albus would attest, he never 
+revealed the remotest anti-Muggle tendency. Indeed, 
+
+
+
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+his determined support for Muggle rights gained him 
+many enemies in subsequent years. 
+
+In a matter of months, however, Albus’s own fame 
+had begun to eclipse that of his father. By the end of 
+his first year he would never again be known as the 
+son of a Muggle-hater, but as nothing more or less 
+than the most brilliant student ever seen at the 
+school. Those of us who were privileged to be his 
+friends benefited from his example, not to mention his 
+help and encouragement, with which he was always 
+generous. He confessed to me in later life that he 
+knew even then that his greatest pleasure lay in 
+teaching. 
+
+He not only won every prize of note that the school 
+offered, he was soon in regular correspondence with 
+the most notable magical names of the day, including 
+Nicolas Flamel, the celebrated alchemist ; Bathilda 
+Bagshot, the noted historian; and Adalbert Waffling, 
+the magical theoretician. Several of his papers found 
+their way into learned publications such as 
+Transfiguration Today, Challenges in Charming, and 
+The Practical Potioneer. Dumbledore’s future career 
+seemed likely to be meteoric, and the only question 
+that remained was when he would become Minister of 
+Magic. Though it was often predicted in later years that 
+he was on the point of taking the job, however, he 
+never had Ministerial ambitions. 
+
+Three years after we had started at Hogwarts, Albus’s 
+brother, Aberforth, arrived at school. They were not 
+alike; Aberforth was never bookish and, unlike Albus, 
+preferred to settle arguments by dueling rather than 
+through reasoned discussion. However, it is quite 
+wrong to suggest, as some have, that the brothers 
+were not friends. They rubbed along as comfortably as 
+two such different boys could do. In fairness to 
+Aberforth, it must be admitted that living in Albus’s 
+Page | 20 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
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+shadow cannot have been an altogether comfortable 
+experience. Being continually outshone was an 
+occupational hazard of being his friend and cannot 
+have been any more pleasurable as a brother. 
+
+When Albus and I left Hogwarts we intended to take 
+the then- traditional tour of the world together, visiting 
+and observing foreign wizards, before pursuing our 
+separate careers. However, tragedy intervened. On the 
+very eve of our trip, Albus’s mother, Kendra, died, 
+leaving Albus the head, and sole breadwinner, of the 
+family. I postponed my departure long enough to pay 
+my respects at Kendra’s funeral, then left for what 
+was now to be a solitary journey. With a younger 
+brother and sister to care for, and little gold left to 
+them, there could no longer be any question of Albus 
+accompanying me. 
+
+That was the period of our lives when we had least 
+contact. I wrote to Albus, describing, perhaps 
+insensitively, the wonders of my journey, from narrow 
+escapes from chimaeras in Greece to the experiments 
+of the Egyptian alchemists. His letters told me little of 
+his day-to-day life, which I guessed to be frustratingly 
+dull for such a brilliant wizard. Immersed in my own 
+experiences, it was with horror that I heard, toward 
+the end of my year’s travels, that yet another tragedy 
+had struck the Dumbledores: the death of his sister, 
+Ariana. 
+
+Though Ariana had been in poor health for a long 
+time, the blow, coming so soon after the loss of their 
+mother, had a profound effect on both of her 
+brothers. All those closest to Albus — and I count 
+myself one of that lucky number — agree that 
+Ariana ’s death, and Albus’s feeling of personal 
+responsibility for it (though, of course, he was 
+guiltless), left their mark upon him forevermore. 
+
+
+
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+I returned home to find a young man who had 
+experienced a much older person’s suffering. Albus 
+was more reserved than before, and much less light- 
+hearted. To add to his misery, the loss of Ariana had 
+led, not to a renewed closeness between Albus and 
+Aberforth, but to an estrangement. (In time this would 
+lift — in later years they reestablished, if not a close 
+relationship, then certainly a cordial one.) However, 
+he rarely spoke of his parents or of Ariana from then 
+on, and his friends learned not to mention them. 
+
+Other quills will describe the triumphs of the following 
+years. Dumbledore’s innumerable contributions to the 
+store of Wizarding knowledge, including his discovery 
+of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, will benefit 
+generations to come, as will the wisdom he displayed 
+in the many judgments he made while Chief Warlock of 
+the Wizengamot. They say, still, that no Wizarding duel 
+ever matched that between Dumbledore and 
+Grindelwald in 1 945. Those who witnessed it have 
+written of the terror and the awe they felt as they 
+watched these two extraordinary wizards do battle. 
+Dumbledore’s triumph, and its consequences for the 
+Wizarding world, are considered a turning point in 
+magical history to match the introduction of the 
+International Statute of Secrecy or the downfall of He- 
+Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. 
+
+Albus Dumbledore was never proud or vain; he could 
+find something to value in anyone, however 
+apparently insignificant or wretched, and I believe 
+that his early losses endowed him with great 
+humanity and sympathy. I shall miss his friendship 
+more than I can say, but my loss is as nothing 
+compared to the Wizarding world’s. That he was the 
+most inspiring and the best loved of all Hogwarts 
+headmasters cannot be in question. He died as he 
+lived: working always for the greater good and, to his 
+last hour, as willing to stretch out a hand to a small 
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+
+
+
+
+boy with dragon pox as he was on the day that I met 
+him. 
+
+Harry finished reading but continued to gaze at the 
+picture accompanying the obituary. Dumbledore was 
+wearing his familiar, kindly smile, but as he peered 
+over the top of his half-moon spectacles, he gave the 
+impression, even in newsprint, of X-raying Harry, 
+whose sadness mingled with a sense of humiliation. 
+
+He had thought he knew Dumbledore quite well, but 
+ever since reading this obituary he had been forced to 
+recognize that he had barely known him at all. Never 
+once had he imagined Dumbledore ’s childhood or 
+youth; it was as though he had sprung into being as 
+Harry had known him, venerable and silver-haired 
+and old. The idea of a teenage Dumbledore was 
+simply odd, like trying to imagine a stupid Hermione 
+or a friendly Blast-Ended Skrewt. 
+
+He had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his 
+past. No doubt it would have felt strange, impertinent 
+even, but after all, it had been common knowledge 
+that Dumbledore had taken part in that legendary 
+duel with Grindelwald, and Harry had not thought to 
+ask Dumbledore what that had been like, nor about 
+any of his other famous achievements. No, they had 
+always discussed Harry, Harry’s past, Harry’s future, 
+Harry’s plans ... and it seemed to Harry now, despite 
+the fact that his future was so dangerous and so 
+uncertain, that he had missed irreplaceable 
+opportunities when he had failed to ask Dumbledore 
+more about himself, even though the only personal 
+question he had ever asked his headmaster was also 
+the only one he suspected that Dumbledore had not 
+answered honestly: 
+
+“ What do you see when you look in the mirror?” 
+
+
+
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+“/? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.” 
+
+After several minutes’ thought, Harry tore the 
+obituary out of the Prophet, folded it carefully, and 
+tucked it inside the first volume of Practical Defensive 
+Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts. Then he 
+threw the rest of the newspaper onto the rubbish pile 
+and turned to face the room. It was much tidier. The 
+only things left out of place were today’s Daily 
+Prophet, still lying on the bed, and on top of it, the 
+piece of broken mirror. 
+
+Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror 
+fragment off today’s Prophet, and unfolded the 
+newspaper. He had merely glanced at the headline 
+when he had taken the rolled-up paper from the 
+delivery owl early that morning and thrown it aside, 
+after noting that it said nothing about Voldemort. 
+Harry was sure that the Ministry was leaning on the 
+Prophet to suppress news about Voldemort. It was 
+only now, therefore, that he saw what he had missed. 
+
+Across the bottom half of the front page a smaller 
+headline was set over a picture of Dumbledore 
+striding along looking harried: 
+
+DUMBLEDORE — THE TRUTH AT LAST? 
+
+Coming next week, the shocking story of the flawed 
+genius considered by many to be the greatest wizard 
+of his generation. Stripping away the popular image of 
+serene, silver-bearded wisdom, Rita Skeeter reveals 
+the disturbed childhood, the lawless youth, the 
+lifelong feuds, and the guilty secrets that Dumbledore 
+carried to his grave. WHY was the man tipped to be 
+Minister of Magic content to remain a mere 
+headmaster? WHAT was the real purpose of the secret 
+organization known as the Order of the Phoenix? 
+
+HOW did Dumbledore really meet his end? 
+
+Page | 24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The answers to these and many more questions are 
+explored in the explosive new biography, The Life and 
+Lies of Albus Dumbledore, by Rita Skeeter, exclusively 
+interviewed by Betty Braithwaite, page 13, inside. 
+
+Harry ripped open the paper and found page thirteen. 
+The article was topped with a picture showing 
+another familiar face: a woman wearing jeweled 
+glasses with elaborately curled blonde hair, her teeth 
+bared in what was clearly supposed to be a winning 
+smile, wiggling her fingers up at him. Doing his best 
+to ignore this nauseating image, Harry read on. 
+
+In person, Rita Skeeter is much warmer and softer 
+than her famously ferocious quill-portraits might 
+suggest. Greeting me in the hallway of her cozy home, 
+she leads me straight into the kitchen for a cup of tea, 
+a slice of pound cake and, it goes without saying, a 
+steaming vat of freshest gossip. 
+
+“Well, of course, Dumbledore is a biographer’s dream,” 
+says Skeeter. “Such a long, full life. I’m sure my book 
+will be the first of very, very many.” 
+
+Skeeter was certainly quick off the mark. Her nine- 
+hundred-page book was completed a mere four weeks 
+after Dumbledore ’s mysterious death in June. I ask 
+her how she managed this superfast feat. 
+
+“Oh, when you’ve been a journalist as long as I have, 
+working to a deadline is second nature. I knew that 
+the Wizarding world was clamoring for the full story 
+and I wanted to be the first to meet that need.” 
+
+I mention the recent, widely publicized remarks of 
+Elphias Doge, Special Advisor to the Wizengamot and 
+longstanding friend of Albus Dumbledore’s, that 
+“Skeeter’s book contains less fact than a Chocolate 
+Frog card. ” 
+
+Page | 25 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Skeeter throws back her head and laughs. 
+
+
+
+“Darling Dodgy! I remember interviewing him a few 
+years back about merpeople rights, bless him. 
+Completely gaga, seemed to think we were sitting at 
+the bottom of Lake Windermere, kept telling me to 
+watch out for trout.” 
+
+And yet Elphias Doge’s accusations of inaccuracy 
+have been echoed in many places. Does Skeeter really 
+feel that four short weeks have been enough to gain a 
+full picture of Dumbledore’s long and extraordinary 
+life? 
+
+“Oh, my dear,” beams Skeeter, rapping me 
+affectionately across the knuckles, “you know as well 
+as I do how much information can be generated by a 
+fat bag of Galleons, a refusal to hear the word ‘no,’ 
+and a nice sharp Quick-Quotes Quill! People were 
+queuing to dish the dirt on Dumbledore anyway. Not 
+everyone thought he was so wonderful, you know — 
+he trod on an awful lot of important toes. But old 
+Dodgy Doge can get off his high hippogriff, because 
+I’ve had access to a source most journalists would 
+swap their wands for, one who has never spoken in 
+public before and who was close to Dumbledore 
+during the most turbulent and disturbing phase of 
+his youth.” 
+
+The advance publicity for Skeeter’ s biography has 
+certainly suggested that there will be shocks in store 
+for those who believe Dumbledore to have led a 
+blameless life. What were the biggest surprises she 
+uncovered, I ask? 
+
+“Now, come off it, Betty, I’m not giving away all the 
+highlights before anybody’s bought the book!” laughs 
+Skeeter. “But I can promise that anybody who still 
+thinks Dumbledore was white as his beard is in for a 
+
+Page | 26 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+rude awakening! Let’s just say that nobody hearing 
+him rage against You-Know-Who would have dreamed 
+that he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth! 
+And for a wizard who spent his later years pleading 
+for tolerance, he wasn’t exactly broad-minded when 
+he was younger! Yes, Albus Dumbledore had an 
+extremely murky past, not to mention that very fishy 
+family, which he worked so hard to keep hushed up.” 
+
+I ask whether Skeeter is referring to Dumbledore ’s 
+brother, Aberforth, whose conviction by the 
+Wizengamot for misuse of magic caused a minor 
+scandal fifteen years ago. 
+
+“Oh, Aberforth is just the tip of the dung heap, ” laughs 
+Skeeter. “No, no, I’m talking about much worse than a 
+brother with a fondness for fiddling about with goats, 
+worse even than the Muggle-maiming father — 
+Dumbledore couldn’t keep either of them quiet anyway, 
+they were both charged by the Wizengamot. No, it’s the 
+mother and the sister that intrigued me, and a little 
+digging uncovered a positive nest of nastiness — but, 
+as I say, you’ll have to wait for chapters nine to twelve 
+for full details. All I can say now is, it’s no wonder 
+Dumbledore never talked about how his nose got 
+broken. ” 
+
+Family skeletons notwithstanding, does Skeeter deny 
+the brilliance that led to Dumbledore ’s many magical 
+discoveries? 
+
+“He had brains,” she concedes, “although many now 
+question whether he could really take full credit for all 
+of his supposed achievements. As I reveal in chapter 
+sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already 
+discovered eight uses of dragon’s blood when 
+Dumbledore ‘borrowed’ his papers.” 
+
+
+
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+But the importance of some of Dumbledore’s 
+achievements cannot, I venture, be denied. What of 
+his famous defeat of Grindelwald? 
+
+“Oh, now, I’m glad you mentioned Grindelwald,” says 
+Skeeter with a tantalizing smile. “I’m afraid those who 
+go dewy-eyed over Dumbledore’s spectacular victory 
+must brace themselves for a bombshell — or perhaps 
+a Dungbomb. Very dirty business indeed. All I’ll say 
+is, don’t be so sure that there really was the 
+spectacular duel of legend. After they’ve read my 
+book, people may be forced to conclude that 
+Grindelwald simply conjured a white handkerchief 
+from the end of his wand and came quietly!” 
+
+Skeeter refuses to give any more away on this 
+intriguing subject, so we turn instead to the 
+relationship that will undoubtedly fascinate her 
+readers more than any other. 
+
+“Oh yes,” says Skeeter, nodding briskly, “I devote an 
+entire chapter to the whole Potter-Dumbledore 
+relationship. It’s been called unhealthy, even sinister. 
+Again, your readers will have to buy my book for the 
+whole story, but there is no question that 
+Dumbledore took an unnatural interest in Potter from 
+the word go. Whether that was really in the boy’s best 
+interests — well, we’ll see. It’s certainly an open secret 
+that Potter has had a most troubled adolescence.” 
+
+I ask whether Skeeter is still in touch with Harry 
+Potter, whom she so famously interviewed last year: a 
+breakthrough piece in which Potter spoke exclusively 
+of his conviction that You-Know-Who had returned. 
+
+“Oh, yes, we’ve developed a close bond,” says Skeeter. 
+“Poor Potter has few real friends, and we met at one of 
+the most testing moments of his life — the Triwizard 
+Tournament. I am probably one of the only people 
+
+Page | 28 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+alive who can say that they know the real Harry 
+Potter.” 
+
+Which leads us neatly to the many rumors still 
+circulating about Dumbledore’s final hours. Does 
+Skeeter believe that Potter was there when 
+Dumbledore died? 
+
+“Well, I don’t want to say too much — it’s all in the 
+book — but eyewitnesses inside Hogwarts castle saw 
+Potter running away from the scene moments after 
+Dumbledore fell, jumped, or was pushed. Potter later 
+gave evidence against Severus Snape, a man against 
+whom he has a notorious grudge. Is everything as it 
+seems? That is for the Wizarding community to decide 
+— once they’ve read my book.” 
+
+On that intriguing note, I take my leave. There can be 
+no doubt that Skeeter has quilled an instant 
+bestseller. Dumbledore’s legions of admirers, 
+meanwhile, may well be trembling at what is soon to 
+emerge about their hero. 
+
+Harry reached the bottom of the article, but 
+continued to stare blankly at the page. Revulsion and 
+fury rose in him like vomit; he balled up the 
+newspaper and threw it, with all his force, at the wall, 
+where it joined the rest of the rubbish heaped around 
+his overflowing bin. 
+
+He began to stride blindly around the room, opening 
+empty drawers and picking up books only to replace 
+them on the same piles, barely conscious of what he 
+was doing, as random phrases from Rita’s article 
+echoed in his head: An entire chapter to the whole 
+Potter-Dumbledore relationship . . . It’s been called 
+unhealthy, even sinister. . . . He dabbled in the Dark 
+Arts himself in his youth . . . I’ve had access to a source 
+most journalists would swap their wands for ... 
+
+Page | 29 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Lies!” Harry bellowed, and through the window he 
+saw the next-door neighbor, who had paused to 
+restart his lawn mower, look up nervously. 
+
+Harry sat down hard on the bed. The broken bit of 
+mirror danced away from him; he picked it up and 
+turned it over in his fingers, thinking, thinking of 
+Dumbledore and the lies with which Rita Skeeter was 
+defaming him. ... 
+
+A flash of brightest blue. Harry froze, his cut finger 
+slipping on the jagged edge of the mirror again. He 
+had imagined it, he must have done. He glanced over 
+his shoulder, but the wall was a sickly peach color of 
+Aunt Petunia’s choosing: There was nothing blue 
+there for the mirror to reflect. He peered into the 
+mirror fragment again, and saw nothing but his own 
+bright green eye looking back at him. 
+
+He had imagined it, there was no other explanation; 
+imagined it, because he had been thinking of his dead 
+headmaster. If anything was certain, it was that the 
+bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore would never 
+pierce him again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 30 
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+3 
+
+
+
+
+THE DURSLEYS DEPARTING 
+
+The sound of the front door slamming echoed up the 
+stairs and a voice yelled, “Oi! You!” 
+
+Sixteen years of being addressed thus left Harry in no 
+doubt whom his uncle was calling; nevertheless, he 
+did not immediately respond. He was still gazing at 
+the mirror fragment in which, for a split second, he 
+had thought he saw Dumbledore’s eye. It was not 
+until his uncle bellowed, “BOY!” that Harry got slowly 
+to his feet and headed for the bedroom door, pausing 
+to add the piece of broken mirror to the rucksack 
+filled with things he would be taking with him. 
+
+“You took your time!” roared Vernon Dursley when 
+Harry appeared at the top of the stairs. “Get down 
+here, I want a word!” 
+
+Harry strolled downstairs, his hands deep in his jeans 
+pockets. When he reached the living room he found 
+all three Dursleys. They were dressed for traveling: 
+Uncle Vernon in a fawn zip-up jacket, Aunt Petunia in 
+
+
+
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+a neat salmon-colored coat, and Dudley, Harry’s 
+large, blond, muscular cousin, in his leather jacket. 
+
+
+
+“Yes?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Sit down!” said Uncle Vernon. Harry raised his 
+eyebrows. “Please!” added Uncle Vernon, wincing 
+slightly as though the word was sharp in his throat. 
+
+Harry sat. He thought he knew what was coming. His 
+uncle began to pace up and down, Aunt Petunia and 
+Dudley following his movements with anxious 
+expressions. Finally, his large purple face crumpled 
+with concentration, Uncle Vernon stopped in front of 
+Harry and spoke. 
+
+“I’ve changed my mind,” he said. 
+
+“What a surprise,” said Harry. 
+
+“Don’t you take that tone — ” began Aunt Petunia in a 
+shrill voice, but Vernon Dursley waved her down. 
+
+“It’s all a lot of claptrap,” said Uncle Vernon, glaring 
+at Harry with piggy little eyes. “I’ve decided I don’t 
+believe a word of it. We’re staying put, we’re not going 
+anywhere.” 
+
+Harry looked up at his uncle and felt a mixture of 
+exasperation and amusement. Vernon Dursley had 
+been changing his mind every twenty-four hours for 
+the past four weeks, packing and unpacking and 
+repacking the car with every change of heart. Harry’s 
+favorite moment had been the one when Uncle 
+Vernon, unaware that Dudley had added his 
+dumbbells to his case since the last time it had been 
+unpacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the 
+boot and collapsed with roars of pain and much 
+swearing. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“According to you,” Vernon Dursley said now, 
+resuming his pacing up and down the living room, 
+“we — Petunia, Dudley, and I — are in danger. From 
+
+
+
+— from — ” 
+
+
+
+“Some of ‘my lot,’ right,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, I don’t believe it,” repeated Uncle Vernon, 
+coming to a halt in front of Harry again. “I was awake 
+half the night thinking it all over, and I believe it’s a 
+plot to get the house.” 
+
+“The house?” repeated Harry. “What house?” 
+
+“ This house!” shrieked Uncle Vernon, the vein in his 
+forehead starting to pulse. “Our house! House prices 
+are skyrocketing around here! You want us out of the 
+way and then you’re going to do a bit of hocus-pocus 
+and before we know it the deeds will be in your name 
+and — ” 
+
+“Are you out of your mind?” demanded Harry. “A plot 
+to get this house? Are you actually as stupid as you 
+look?” 
+
+“Don’t you dare — !” squealed Aunt Petunia, but 
+again, Vernon waved her down: Slights on his 
+personal appearance were, it seemed, as nothing to 
+the danger he had spotted. 
+
+“Just in case you’ve forgotten,” said Harry, “I’ve 
+already got a house, my godfather left me one. So why 
+would I want this one? All the happy memories?” 
+
+There was silence. Harry thought he had rather 
+impressed his uncle with this argument. 
+
+“You claim,” said Uncle Vernon, starting to pace yet 
+again, “that this Lord Thing — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+“ — Voldemort,” said Harry impatiently, “and we’ve 
+been through this about a hundred times already. 
+
+This isn’t a claim, it’s fact, Dumbledore told you last 
+year, and Kingsley and Mr. Weasley — ” 
+
+Vernon Dursley hunched his shoulders angrily, and 
+Harry guessed that his uncle was attempting to ward 
+off recollections of the unannounced visit, a few days 
+into Harry’s summer holidays, of two fully grown 
+wizards. The arrival on the doorstep of Kingsley 
+Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had come as a most 
+unpleasant shock to the Dursleys. Harry had to 
+admit, however, that as Mr. Weasley had once 
+demolished half of the living room, his reappearance 
+could not have been expected to delight Uncle 
+Vernon. 
+
+“ — Kingsley and Mr. Weasley explained it all as well,” 
+Harry pressed on remorselessly. “Once I’m seventeen, 
+the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, 
+and that exposes you as well as me. The Order is sure 
+Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to 
+try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by 
+holding you hostage I’d come and try to rescue you.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon’s and Harry’s eyes met. Harry was sure 
+that in that instant they were both wondering the 
+same thing. Then Uncle Vernon walked on and Harry 
+resumed, “You’ve got to go into hiding and the Order 
+wants to help. You’re being offered serious protection, 
+the best there is.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon said nothing, but continued to pace up 
+and down. Outside the sun hung low over the privet 
+hedges. The next-door neighbor’s lawn mower stalled 
+again. 
+
+“I thought there was a Ministry of Magic?” asked 
+Vernon Dursley abruptly. 
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+“There is,” said Harry, surprised. 
+
+
+
+“Well, then, why can’t they protect us? It seems to me 
+that, as innocent victims, guilty of nothing more than 
+harboring a marked man, we ought to qualify for 
+government protection!” 
+
+Harry laughed; he could not help himself. It was so 
+very typical of his uncle to put his hopes in the 
+establishment, even within this world that he 
+despised and mistrusted. 
+
+“You heard what Mr. Weasley and Kingsley said,” 
+Harry replied. “We think the Ministry has been 
+infiltrated.” 
+
+Uncle Vernon strode to the fireplace and back, 
+breathing so heavily that his great black mustache 
+rippled, his face still purple with concentration. 
+
+“All right,” he said, stopping in front of Harry yet 
+again. “All right, let’s say, for the sake of argument, 
+we accept this protection. I still don’t see why we can’t 
+have that Kingsley bloke.” 
+
+Harry managed not to roll his eyes, but with difficulty. 
+This question had also been addressed half a dozen 
+times. 
+
+“As I’ve told you,” he said through gritted teeth, 
+“Kingsley is protecting the Mug — I mean, your Prime 
+Minister.” 
+
+“Exactly — he’s the best!” said Uncle Vernon, pointing 
+at the blank television screen. The Dursleys had 
+spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along 
+discreetly behind the Muggle Prime Minister as he 
+visited a hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had 
+mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to 
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+mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, 
+deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take to 
+Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done 
+with any other wizard, although it was true that they 
+had never seen him with his earring in. 
+
+“Well, he’s taken,” said Harry. “But Hestia Jones and 
+Dedalus Diggle are more than up to the job — ” 
+
+“If we’d even seen CVs ...” began Uncle Vernon, but 
+Harry lost patience. Getting to his feet, he advanced 
+on his uncle, now pointing at the TV set himself. 
+
+“These accidents aren’t accidents — the crashes and 
+explosions and derailments and whatever else has 
+happened since we last watched the news. People are 
+disappearing and dying and he’s behind it — 
+Voldemort. I’ve told you this over and over again, he 
+kills Muggles for fun. Even the fogs — they’re caused 
+by dementors, and if you can’t remember what they 
+are, ask your son!” 
+
+Dudley’s hands jerked upward to cover his mouth. 
+With his parents’ and Harry’s eyes upon him, he 
+slowly lowered them again and asked, “There are . . . 
+more of them?” 
+
+“More?” laughed Harry. “More than the two that 
+attacked us, you mean? Of course there are, there are 
+hundreds, maybe thousands by this time, seeing as 
+they feed off fear and despair — ” 
+
+“All right, all right,” blustered Vernon Dursley. 
+
+“You’ve made your point — ” 
+
+“I hope so,” said Harry, “because once I’m seventeen, 
+all of them — Death Eaters, dementors, maybe even 
+Inferi — which means dead bodies enchanted by a 
+Dark wizard — will be able to find you and will 
+
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+certainly attack you. And if you remember the last 
+time you tried to outrun wizards, I think you 11 agree 
+you need help.” 
+
+There was a brief silence in which the distant echo of 
+Hagrid smashing down a wooden front door seemed 
+to reverberate through the intervening years. Aunt 
+Petunia was looking at Uncle Vernon; Dudley was 
+staring at Harry. Finally Uncle Vernon blurted out, 
+“But what about my work? What about Dudley’s 
+school? I don’t suppose those things matter to a 
+bunch of layabout wizards — ” 
+
+“Don’t you understand?” shouted Harry. “They will 
+torture and kill you like they did my parents !” 
+
+“Dad,” said Dudley in a loud voice, “Dad — I’m going 
+with these Order people.” 
+
+“Dudley,” said Harry, “for the first time in your life, 
+you’re talking sense.” 
+
+He knew that the battle was won. If Dudley was 
+frightened enough to accept the Order’s help, his 
+parents would accompany him: There could be no 
+question of being separated from their Diddykins. 
+Harry glanced at the carriage clock on the 
+mantelpiece. 
+
+“They’ll be here in about five minutes,” he said, and 
+when none of the Dursleys replied, he left the room. 
+The prospect of parting — probably forever — from 
+his aunt, uncle, and cousin was one that he was able 
+to contemplate quite cheerfully, but there was 
+nevertheless a certain awkwardness in the air. What 
+did you say to one another at the end of sixteen years’ 
+solid dislike? 
+
+
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+Back in his bedroom, Harry fiddled aimlessly with his 
+rucksack, then poked a couple of owl nuts through 
+the bars of Hedwig’s cage. They fell with dull thuds to 
+the bottom, where she ignored them. 
+
+“We’re leaving soon, really soon,” Harry told her. “And 
+then you’ll be able to fly again.” 
+
+The doorbell rang. Harry hesitated, then headed back 
+out of his room and downstairs. It was too much to 
+expect Hestia and Dedalus to cope with the Dursleys 
+on their own. 
+
+“Harry Potter!” squeaked an excited voice, the 
+moment Harry had opened the door; a small man in a 
+mauve top hat was sweeping him a deep bow. “An 
+honor, as ever!” 
+
+“Thanks, Dedalus,” said Harry, bestowing a small and 
+embarrassed smile upon the dark-haired Hestia. “It’s 
+really good of you to do this. ... They’re through here, 
+my aunt and uncle and cousin. ...” 
+
+“Good day to you, Harry Potter’s relatives!” said 
+Dedalus happily, striding into the living room. The 
+Dursleys did not look at all happy to be addressed 
+thus; Harry half expected another change of mind. 
+Dudley shrank nearer to his mother at the sight of 
+the witch and wizard. 
+
+“I see you are packed and ready. Excellent! The plan, 
+as Harry has told you, is a simple one,” said Dedalus, 
+pulling an immense pocket watch out of his waistcoat 
+and examining it. “We shall be leaving before Harry 
+does. Due to the danger of using magic in your house 
+— Harry being still underage, it could provide the 
+Ministry with an excuse to arrest him — we shall be 
+driving, say, ten miles or so, before Disapparating to 
+the safe location we have picked out for you. You 
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+
+
+
+know how to drive, I take it?” he asked Uncle Vernon 
+politely. 
+
+“Know how to — ? Of course I ruddy well know how to 
+drive!” spluttered Uncle Vernon. 
+
+“Very clever of you, sir, very clever, I personally would 
+be utterly bamboozled by all those buttons and 
+knobs,” said Dedalus. He was clearly under the 
+impression that he was flattering Vernon Dursley, 
+who was visibly losing confidence in the plan with 
+every word Dedalus spoke. 
+
+“Can’t even drive,” he muttered under his breath, his 
+mustache rippling indignantly, but fortunately neither 
+Dedalus nor Hestia seemed to hear him. 
+
+“You, Harry,” Dedalus continued, “will wait here for 
+your guard. There has been a little change in the 
+arrangements — ” 
+
+“What d’you mean?” said Harry at once. “I thought 
+Mad-Eye was going to come and take me by Side- 
+Along- Apparition?” 
+
+“Can’t do it,” said Hestia tersely. “Mad-Eye will 
+explain.” 
+
+The Dursleys, who had listened to all of this with 
+looks of utter incomprehension on their faces, jumped 
+as a loud voice screeched, “Hurry up\” Harry looked 
+all around the room before realizing that the voice 
+had issued from Dedalus’s pocket watch. 
+
+“Quite right, we’re operating to a very tight schedule,” 
+said Dedalus, nodding at his watch and tucking it 
+back into his waistcoat. “We are attempting to time 
+your departure from the house with your family’s 
+Disapparition, Harry; thus, the charm breaks at the 
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+
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+
+moment you all head for safety.” He turned to the 
+Dursleys. “Well, are we all packed and ready to go?” 
+
+None of them answered him. Uncle Vernon was still 
+staring, appalled, at the bulge in Dedalus’s waistcoat 
+pocket. 
+
+“Perhaps we should wait outside in the hall, 
+
+Dedalus,” murmured Hestia. She clearly felt that it 
+would be tactless for them to remain in the room 
+while Harry and the Dursleys exchanged loving, 
+possibly tearful farewells. 
+
+“There’s no need,” Harry muttered, but Uncle Vernon 
+made any further explanation unnecessary by saying 
+loudly, 
+
+“Well, this is good-bye, then, boy.” 
+
+He swung his right arm upward to shake Harry’s 
+hand, but at the last moment seemed unable to face 
+it, and merely closed his fist and began swinging it 
+backward and forward like a metronome. 
+
+“Ready, Diddy?” asked Aunt Petunia, fussily checking 
+the clasp of her handbag so as to avoid looking at 
+Harry altogether. 
+
+Dudley did not answer, but stood there with his 
+mouth slightly ajar, reminding Harry a little of the 
+giant, Grawp. 
+
+“Come along, then,” said Uncle Vernon. 
+
+He had already reached the living room door when 
+Dudley mumbled, “I don’t understand.” 
+
+“What don’t you understand, popkin?” asked Aunt 
+Petunia, looking up at her son. 
+
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+Dudley raised a large, hamlike hand to point at 
+Harry. 
+
+“Why isn’t he coming with us?” 
+
+Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they 
+stood, staring at Dudley as though he had just 
+expressed a desire to become a ballerina. 
+
+“What?” said Uncle Vernon loudly. 
+
+“Why isn’t he coming too?” asked Dudley. 
+
+“Well, he — he doesn’t want to,” said Uncle Vernon, 
+turning to glare at Harry and adding, “You don’t want 
+to, do you?” 
+
+“Not in the slightest,” said Harry. 
+
+“There you are,” Uncle Vernon told Dudley. “Now 
+come on, we’re off.” 
+
+He marched out of the room. They heard the front 
+door open, but Dudley did not move and after a few 
+faltering steps Aunt Petunia stopped too. 
+
+“What now?” barked Uncle Vernon, reappearing in the 
+doorway. 
+
+It seemed that Dudley was struggling with concepts 
+too difficult to put into words. After several moments 
+of apparently painful internal struggle he said, “But 
+where’s he going to go?” 
+
+Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked at each other. 
+It was clear that Dudley was frightening them. Hestia 
+Jones broke the silence. 
+
+
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+“But . . . surely you know where your nephew is 
+going?” she asked, looking bewildered. 
+
+“Certainly we know,” said Vernon Dursley. “He’s off 
+with some of your lot, isn’t he? Right, Dudley, let’s get 
+in the car, you heard the man, we’re in a hurry.” 
+
+Again, Vernon Dursley marched as far as the front 
+door, but Dudley did not follow. 
+
+“Off with some of our lot?” 
+
+Hestia looked outraged. Harry had met this attitude 
+before: Witches and wizards seemed stunned that his 
+closest living relatives took so little interest in the 
+famous Harry Potter. 
+
+“It’s fine,” Harry assured her. “It doesn’t matter, 
+honestly.” 
+
+“Doesn’t matter?” repeated Hestia, her voice rising 
+ominously. “Don’t these people realize what you’ve 
+been through? What danger you are in? The unique 
+position you hold in the hearts of the anti-Voldemort 
+movement?” 
+
+“Er — no, they don’t,” said Harry. “They think I’m a 
+waste of space, actually, but I’m used to — ” 
+
+“I don’t think you’re a waste of space.” 
+
+If Harry had not seen Dudley’s lips move, he might 
+not have believed it. As it was, he stared at Dudley for 
+several seconds before accepting that it must have 
+been his cousin who had spoken; for one thing, 
+
+Dudley had turned red. Harry was embarrassed and 
+astonished himself. 
+
+“Well ... er ... thanks, Dudley.” 
+
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+Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too 
+unwieldy for expression before mumbling, “You saved 
+my life.” 
+
+“Not really,” said Harry. “It was your soul the 
+dementor would have taken. ...” 
+
+He looked curiously at his cousin. They had had 
+virtually no contact during this summer or last, as 
+Harry had come back to Privet Drive so briefly and 
+kept to his room so much. It now dawned on Harry, 
+however, that the cup of cold tea on which he had 
+trodden that morning might not have been a booby 
+trap at all. Although rather touched, he was 
+nevertheless quite relieved that Dudley appeared to 
+have exhausted his ability to express his feelings. 
+After opening his mouth once or twice more, Dudley 
+subsided into scarlet-faced silence. 
+
+Aunt Petunia burst into tears. Hestia Jones gave her 
+an approving look that changed to outrage as Aunt 
+Petunia ran forward and embraced Dudley rather 
+than Harry. 
+
+“S-so sweet, Dudders ...” she sobbed into his massive 
+chest. “S-such a lovely b-boy ... s-saying thank you 
+
+
+
+“But he hasn’t said thank you at all!” said Hestia 
+indignantly. “He only said he didn’t think Harry was a 
+waste of space!” 
+
+“Yeah, but coming from Dudley that’s like ‘I love you,’ 
+” said Harry, torn between annoyance and a desire to 
+laugh as Aunt Petunia continued to clutch at Dudley 
+as if he had just saved Harry from a burning building. 
+
+
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+“Are we going or not?” roared Uncle Vernon, 
+reappearing yet again at the living room door. “I 
+thought we were on a tight schedule!” 
+
+“Yes — yes, we are,” said Dedalus Diggle, who had 
+been watching these exchanges with an air of 
+bemusement and now seemed to pull himself 
+together. “We really must be off. Harry — ” 
+
+He tripped forward and wrung Harry’s hand with both 
+of his own. 
+
+“ — good luck. I hope we meet again. The hopes of the 
+Wizarding world rest upon your shoulders.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry, “right. Thanks.” 
+
+“Farewell, Harry,” said Hestia, also clasping his hand. 
+“Our thoughts go with you.” 
+
+“I hope everything’s okay,” said Harry with a glance 
+toward Aunt Petunia and Dudley. 
+
+“Oh, I’m sure we shall end up the best of chums,” 
+said Diggle brightly, waving his hat as he left the 
+room. Hestia followed him. 
+
+Dudley gently released himself from his mother’s 
+clutches and walked toward Harry, who had to 
+repress an urge to threaten him with magic. Then 
+Dudley held out his large, pink hand. 
+
+“Blimey, Dudley,” said Harry over Aunt Petunia’s 
+renewed sobs, “did the dementors blow a different 
+personality into you?” 
+
+“Dunno,” muttered Dudley. “See you, Harry.” 
+
+
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+“Yeah ...” said Harry, taking Dudley’s hand and 
+shaking it. “Maybe. Take care, Big D.” 
+
+Dudley nearly smiled, then lumbered from the room. 
+Harry heard his heavy footfalls on the graveled drive, 
+and then a car door slammed. 
+
+Aunt Petunia, whose face had been buried in her 
+handkerchief, looked around at the sound. She did 
+not seem to have expected to find herself alone with 
+Harry. Hastily stowing her wet handkerchief into her 
+pocket, she said, “Well — good-bye,” and marched 
+toward the door without looking at him. 
+
+“Good-bye,” said Harry. 
+
+She stopped and looked back. For a moment Harry 
+had the strangest feeling that she wanted to say 
+something to him: She gave him an odd, tremulous 
+look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but 
+then, with a little jerk of her head, she bustled out of 
+the room after her husband and son. 
+
+
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+
+THE SEVEN POTTERS 
+
+Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom, arriving at 
+the window just in time to see the Dursleys’ car 
+swinging out of the drive and off up the road. 
+Dedalus’s top hat was visible between Aunt Petunia 
+and Dudley in the backseat. The car turned right at 
+the end of Privet Drive, its windows burned scarlet for 
+a moment in the now setting sun, and then it was 
+gone. 
+
+Harry picked up Hedwig’s cage, his Firebolt, and his 
+rucksack, gave his unnaturally tidy bedroom one last 
+sweeping look, and then made his ungainly way back 
+downstairs to the hall, where he deposited cage, 
+broomstick, and bag near the foot of the stairs. The 
+light was fading rapidly now, the hall full of shadows 
+in the evening light. It felt most strange to stand here 
+in the silence and know that he was about to leave 
+the house for the last time. Long ago, when he had 
+been left alone while the Dursleys went out to enjoy 
+themselves, the hours of solitude had been a rare 
+treat: Pausing only to sneak something tasty from the 
+fridge, he had rushed upstairs to play on Dudley’s 
+
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+computer, or put on the television and flicked through 
+the channels to his heart’s content. It gave him an 
+odd, empty feeling to remember those times; it was 
+like remembering a younger brother whom he had 
+lost. 
+
+“Don’t you want to take a last look at the place?” he 
+asked Hedwig, who was still sulking with her head 
+under her wing. “We’ll never be here again. Don’t you 
+want to remember all the good times? I mean, look at 
+this doormat. What memories ... Dudley puked on it 
+after I saved him from the dementors. ... Turns out he 
+was grateful after all, can you believe it? ... And last 
+summer, Dumbledore walked through that front door. 
+
+
+
+Harry lost the thread of his thoughts for a moment 
+and Hedwig did nothing to help him retrieve it, but 
+continued to sit with her head under her wing. Harry 
+turned his back on the front door. 
+
+“And under here, Hedwig” — Harry pulled open a door 
+under the stairs — “is where I used to sleep! You 
+never knew me then — Blimey, it’s small, I’d 
+forgotten. ...” 
+
+Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and 
+umbrellas, remembering how he used to wake every 
+morning looking up at the underside of the staircase, 
+which was more often than not adorned with a spider 
+or two. Those had been the days before he had known 
+anything about his true identity; before he had found 
+out how his parents had died or why such strange 
+things often happened around him. But Harry could 
+still remember the dreams that had dogged him, even 
+in those days: confused dreams involving flashes of 
+green light and once — Uncle Vernon had nearly 
+crashed the car when Harry had recounted it — a 
+flying motorbike . . . 
+
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+There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere 
+nearby. Harry straightened up with a jerk and 
+smacked the top of his head on the low door frame. 
+Pausing only to employ a few of Uncle Vernon’s 
+choicest swear words, he staggered back into the 
+kitchen, clutching his head and staring out of the 
+window into the back garden. 
+
+The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself 
+quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into 
+sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. 
+Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet 
+and goggles and sitting astride an enormous 
+motorbike with a black sidecar attached. All around 
+him other people were dismounting from brooms and, 
+in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses. 
+
+Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into 
+their midst. There was a general cry of greeting as 
+Hermione flung her arms around him, Ron clapped 
+him on the back, and Hagrid said, “All righ’, Harry? 
+Ready fer the off?” 
+
+“Definitely,” said Harry, beaming around at them all. 
+“But I wasn’t expecting this many of you!” 
+
+“Change of plan,” growled Mad-Eye, who was holding 
+two enormous, bulging sacks, and whose magical eye 
+was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden 
+with dizzying rapidity. “Let’s get undercover before we 
+talk you through it.” 
+
+Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, 
+laughing and chattering, they settled on chairs, sat 
+themselves upon Aunt Petunia’s gleaming work 
+surfaces, or leaned up against her spotless 
+appliances: Ron, long and lanky; Hermione, her 
+bushy hair tied back in a long plait; Fred and George, 
+grinning identically; Bill, badly scarred and long- 
+P a g e | 48 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
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+
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+haired; Mr. Weasley, kind-faced, balding, his 
+spectacles a little awry; Mad-Eye, battle-worn, one- 
+legged, his bright blue magical eye whizzing in its 
+socket; Tonks, whose short hair was her favorite 
+shade of bright pink; Lupin, grayer, more lined; Fleur, 
+slender and beautiful, with her long silvery blonde 
+hair; Kingsley, bald, black, broad-shouldered; Hagrid, 
+with his wild hair and beard, standing hunchbacked 
+to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling; and 
+Mundungus Fletcher, small, dirty, and hangdog, with 
+his droopy basset hound’s eyes and matted hair. 
+Harry’s heart seemed to expand and glow at the sight: 
+He felt incredibly fond of all of them, even 
+Mundungus, whom he had tried to strangle the last 
+time they had met. 
+
+“Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle 
+Prime Minister?” he called across the room. 
+
+“He can get along without me for one night,” said 
+Kingsley. “You’re more important.” 
+
+“Harry, guess what?” said Tonks from her perch on 
+top of the washing machine, and she wiggled her left 
+hand at him; a ring glittered there. 
+
+“You got married?” Harry yelped, looking from her to 
+Lupin. 
+
+“I’m sorry you couldn’t be there, Harry, it was very 
+quiet.” 
+
+“That’s brilliant, congrat — ” 
+
+“All right, all right, we’ll have time for a cozy catch-up 
+later!” roared Moody over the hubbub, and silence fell 
+in the kitchen. Moody dropped his sacks at his feet 
+and turned to Harry. “As Dedalus probably told you, 
+we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone 
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+over, which gives us a big problem. He’s made it an 
+imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo 
+Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. 
+All done in the name of your protection, to prevent 
+You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely 
+pointless, seeing as your mother’s charm does that 
+already. What he’s really done is to stop you getting 
+out of here safely. 
+
+“Second problem: You’re underage, which means 
+you’ve still got the Trace on you.” 
+
+“I don’t — ” 
+
+“The Trace, the Trace!” said Mad-Eye impatiently. 
+
+“The charm that detects magical activity around 
+under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out 
+about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, 
+casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is 
+going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. 
+
+“We can’t wait for the Trace to break, because the 
+moment you turn seventeen you’ll lose all the 
+protection your mother gave you. In short: Pius 
+Thicknesse thinks he’s got you cornered good and 
+proper.” 
+
+Harry could not help but agree with the unknown 
+Thicknesse. 
+
+“So what are we going to do?” 
+
+“We’re going to use the only means of transport left to 
+us, the only ones the Trace can’t detect, because we 
+don’t need to cast spells to use them: brooms, 
+thestrals, and Hagrid’s motorbike.” 
+
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+Harry could see flaws in this plan; however, he held 
+his tongue to give Mad-Eye the chance to address 
+them. 
+
+“Now, your mother’s charm will only break under two 
+conditions: when you come of age, or” — Moody 
+gestured around the pristine kitchen — “you no 
+longer call this place home. You and your aunt and 
+uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full 
+understanding that you’re never going to live together 
+again, correct?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“So this time, when you leave, there’ll be no going 
+back, and the charm will break the moment you get 
+outside its range. We’re choosing to break it early, 
+because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who 
+to come and seize you the moment you turn 
+seventeen. 
+
+“The one thing we’ve got on our side is that You- 
+Know-Who doesn’t know we’re moving you tonight. 
+We’ve leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: They think 
+you’re not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is 
+You-Know-Who we’re dealing with, so we can’t just 
+rely on him getting the date wrong; he’s bound to 
+have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in 
+this general area, just in case. So, we’ve given a dozen 
+different houses every protection we can throw at 
+them. They all look like they could be the place we’re 
+going to hide you, they’ve all got some connection 
+with the Order: my house, Kingsley’s place, Molly’s 
+Auntie Muriel’s — you get the idea.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, not entirely truthfully, because he 
+could still spot a gaping hole in the plan. 
+
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+“You’ll be going to Tonks’s parents. Once you’re 
+within the boundaries of the protective enchantments 
+we’ve put on their house, you’ll be able to use a 
+Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?” 
+
+“Er — yes,” said Harry. “Maybe they won’t know 
+which of the twelve secure houses I’m heading for at 
+first, but won’t it be sort of obvious once” — he 
+performed a quick headcount — “fourteen of us fly off 
+toward Tonks’s parents’?” 
+
+“Ah,” said Moody, “I forgot to mention the key point. 
+Fourteen of us won’t be flying to Tonks’s parents’. 
+There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the 
+skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each 
+pair heading for a different safe house.” 
+
+From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of 
+what looked like mud. There was no need for him to 
+say another word; Harry understood the rest of the 
+plan immediately. 
+
+“No!” he said loudly, his voice ringing through the 
+kitchen. “No way!” 
+
+“I told them you’d take it like this,” said Hermione 
+with a hint of complacency. 
+
+“If you think I’m going to let six people risk their lives 
+
+— !” 
+
+“ — because it’s the first time for all of us,” said Ron. 
+
+“This is different, pretending to be me — ” 
+
+“Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry,” said Fred 
+earnestly. “Imagine if something went wrong and we 
+were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever.” 
+
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+Harry did not smile. 
+
+
+
+“You can’t do it if I don’t cooperate, you need me to 
+give you some hair.” 
+
+“Well, that’s that plan scuppered,” said George. 
+“Obviously there’s no chance at all of us getting a bit 
+of your hair unless you cooperate.” 
+
+“Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who’s not 
+allowed to use magic; we’ve got no chance,” said Fred. 
+
+“Funny,” said Harry, “really amusing.” 
+
+“If it has to come to force, then it will,” growled 
+Moody, his magical eye now quivering a little in its 
+socket as he glared at Harry. “Everyone here’s 
+overage, Potter, and they’re all prepared to take the 
+risk.” 
+
+Mundungus shrugged and grimaced; the magical eye 
+swerved sideways to glare at him out of the side of 
+Moody’s head. 
+
+“Let’s have no more arguments. Time’s wearing on. I 
+want a few of your hairs, boy, now.” 
+
+“But this is mad, there’s no need — ” 
+
+“No need!” snarled Moody. “With You-Know-Who out 
+there and half the Ministry on his side? Potter, if 
+we’re lucky hell have swallowed the fake bait and 
+he’ll be planning to ambush you on the thirtieth, but 
+he’d be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping 
+an eye out, it’s what I’d do. They might not be able to 
+get at you or this house while your mother’s charm 
+holds, but it’s about to break and they know the 
+rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use 
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+decoys. Even You-Know-Who can’t split himself into 
+seven.” 
+
+Harry caught Hermione’s eye and looked away at 
+once. 
+
+“So, Potter — some of your hair, if you please.” 
+
+Harry glanced at Ron, who grimaced at him in a just- 
+do-it sort of way. 
+
+“Now!” barked Moody. 
+
+With all of their eyes upon him, Harry reached up to 
+the top of his head, grabbed a hank of hair, and 
+pulled. 
+
+“Good,” said Moody, limping forward as he pulled the 
+stopper out of the flask of potion. “Straight in here, if 
+you please.” 
+
+Harry dropped the hair into the mudlike liquid. The 
+moment it made contact with its surface, the potion 
+began to froth and smoke, then, all at once, it turned 
+a clear, bright gold. 
+
+“Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, 
+Harry,” said Hermione, before catching sight of Ron’s 
+raised eyebrows, blushing slightly, and saying, “Oh, 
+you know what I mean — Goyle ’s potion looked like 
+bogies.” 
+
+“Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please,” 
+said Moody. 
+
+Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Fleur lined up in 
+front of Aunt Petunia’s gleaming sink. 
+
+“We’re one short,” said Lupin. 
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+“Here,” said Hagrid gruffly, and he lifted Mundungus 
+by the scruff of the neck and dropped him down 
+beside Fleur, who wrinkled her nose pointedly and 
+moved along to stand between Fred and George 
+instead. 
+
+“I’ve toldjer, I’d sooner be a protector,” said 
+Mundungus. 
+
+“Shut it,” growled Moody. “As I’ve already told you, 
+you spineless worm, any Death Eaters we run into 
+will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. 
+Dumbledore always said You-Know-Who would want 
+to finish Potter in person. It’ll be the protectors who 
+have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters’ll 
+want to kill them.” 
+
+Mundungus did not look particularly reassured, but 
+Moody was already pulling half a dozen eggcup-sized 
+glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, 
+before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one. 
+
+“Altogether, then ...” 
+
+Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus 
+drank. All of them gasped and grimaced as the potion 
+hit their throats: At once, their features began to 
+bubble and distort like hot wax. Hermione and 
+Mundungus were shooting upward; Ron, Fred, and 
+George were shrinking; their hair was darkening, 
+Hermione’s and Fleur’s appearing to shoot backward 
+into their skulls. 
+
+Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the 
+ties of the large sacks he had brought with him. When 
+he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potters 
+gasping and panting in front of him. 
+
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+Fred and George turned to each other and said 
+together, “Wow — we’re identical!” 
+
+“I dunno, though, I think I’m still better-looking,” said 
+Fred, examining his reflection in the kettle. 
+
+“Bah,” said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave 
+door, “Bill, don’t look at me — I’m ’ideous.” 
+
+“Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I’ve got smaller 
+here,” said Moody, indicating the first sack, “and vice 
+versa. Don’t forget the glasses, there’s six pairs in the 
+side pocket. And when you’re dressed, there’s luggage 
+in the other sack.” 
+
+The real Harry thought that this might just be the 
+most bizarre thing he had ever seen, and he had seen 
+some extremely odd things. He watched as his six 
+doppelgangers rummaged in the sacks, pulling out 
+sets of clothes, putting on glasses, stuffing their own 
+things away. He felt like asking them to show a little 
+more respect for his privacy as they all began 
+stripping off with impunity, clearly much more at ease 
+with displaying his body than they would have been 
+with their own. 
+
+“I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo,” said Ron, 
+looking down at his bare chest. 
+
+“Harry, your eyesight really is awful,” said Hermione, 
+as she put on glasses. 
+
+Once dressed, the fake Harrys took rucksacks and 
+owl cages, each containing a stuffed snowy owl, from 
+the second sack. 
+
+“Good,” said Moody, as at last seven dressed, 
+bespectacled, and luggage-laden Harrys faced him. 
+
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+“The pairs will be as follows: Mundungus will be 
+traveling with me, by broom — ” 
+
+“Why’m I with you?” grunted the Harry nearest the 
+back door. 
+
+“Because you’re the one that needs watching,” 
+growled Moody, and sure enough, his magical eye did 
+not waver from Mundungus as he continued, “Arthur 
+and Fred — ” 
+
+“I’m George,” said the twin at whom Moody was 
+pointing. “Can’t you even tell us apart when we’re 
+Harry?” 
+
+“Sorry, George — ” 
+
+“I’m only yanking your wand, I’m Fred really — ” 
+
+“Enough messing around!” snarled Moody. “The other 
+one — George or Fred or whoever you are — you’re 
+with Remus. Miss Delacour — ” 
+
+“I’m taking Fleur on a thestral,” said Bill. “She’s not 
+that fond of brooms.” 
+
+Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a 
+soppy, slavish look that Harry hoped with all his 
+heart would never appear on his face again. 
+
+“Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral — ” 
+
+Hermione looked reassured as she answered 
+Kingsley’s smile; Harry knew that Hermione too 
+lacked confidence on a broomstick. 
+
+“Which leaves you and me, Ron!” said Tonks brightly, 
+knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him. 
+
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+Ron did not look quite as pleased as Hermione. 
+
+
+
+“An’ you’re with me, Harry. That all righ’?” said 
+Hagrid, looking a little anxious. “We’ll be on the bike, 
+brooms an’ thestrals can’t take me weight, see. Not a 
+lot o’ room on the seat with me on it, though, so you’ll 
+be in the sidecar.” 
+
+“That’s great,” said Harry, not altogether truthfully. 
+
+“We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a 
+broom,” said Moody, who seemed to guess how Harry 
+was feeling. “Snape’s had plenty of time to tell them 
+everything about you he’s never mentioned before, so 
+if we do run into any Death Eaters, we’re betting 
+they’ll choose one of the Potters who look at home on 
+a broomstick. All right then,” he went on, tying up the 
+sack with the fake Potters’ clothes in it and leading 
+the way back to the door, “I make it three minutes 
+until we’re supposed to leave. No point locking the 
+back door, it won’t keep the Death Eaters out when 
+they come looking. ... Come on. ...” 
+
+Harry hurried into the hall to fetch his rucksack, 
+Firebolt, and Hedwig’s cage before joining the others 
+in the dark back garden. On every side broomsticks 
+were leaping into hands; Hermione had already been 
+helped up onto a great black thestral by Kingsley, 
+Fleur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing 
+ready beside the motorbike, goggles on. 
+
+“Is this it? Is this Sirius’s bike?” 
+
+“The very same,” said Hagrid, beaming down at Harry. 
+“An’ the last time yeh was on it, Harry, I could fit yeh 
+in one hand!” 
+
+Harry could not help but feel a little humiliated as he 
+got into the sidecar. It placed him several feet below 
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+everybody else: Ron smirked at the sight of him 
+sitting there like a child in a bumper car. Harry 
+stuffed his rucksack and broomstick down by his feet 
+and rammed Hedwig’s cage between his knees. It was 
+extremely uncomfortable. 
+
+“Arthur’s done a bit o’ tinkerin’,” said Hagrid, quite 
+oblivious to Harry’s discomfort. He settled himself 
+astride the motorcycle, which creaked slightly and 
+sank inches into the ground. “It’s got a few tricks up 
+its handlebars now. Tha’ one was my idea.” 
+
+He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the 
+speedometer. 
+
+“Please be careful, Hagrid,” said Mr. Weasley, who 
+was standing beside them, holding his broomstick. 
+“I’m still not sure that was advisable and it’s certainly 
+only to be used in emergencies.” 
+
+“All right then,” said Moody. “Everyone ready, please; 
+
+I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the 
+whole point of the diversion’s lost.” 
+
+Everybody mounted their brooms. 
+
+“Hold tight now, Ron,” said Tonks, and Harry saw 
+Ron throw a furtive, guilty look at Lupin before 
+placing his hands on either side of her waist. Hagrid 
+kicked the motorbike into life: It roared like a dragon, 
+and the sidecar began to vibrate. 
+
+“Good luck, everyone,” shouted Moody. “See you all in 
+about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. 
+One ... two ... THREE.” 
+
+There was a great roar from the motorbike, and Harry 
+felt the sidecar give a nasty lurch: He was rising 
+through the air fast, his eyes watering slightly, hair 
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+whipped back off his face. Around him brooms were 
+soaring upward too; the long black tail of a thestral 
+flicked past. His legs, jammed into the sidecar by 
+Hedwig’s cage and his rucksack, were already sore 
+and starting to go numb. So great was his discomfort 
+that he almost forgot to take a last glimpse of number 
+four, Privet Drive; by the time he looked over the edge 
+of the sidecar he could no longer tell which one it 
+was. Higher and higher they climbed into the sky — 
+
+And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were 
+surrounded. At least thirty hooded figures, suspended 
+in midair, formed a vast circle in the midst of which 
+the Order members had risen, oblivious — 
+
+Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid 
+gave a yell and the motorbike rolled over. Harry lost 
+any sense of where they were: Streetlights above him, 
+yells around him, he was clinging to the sidecar for 
+dear life. Hedwig’s cage, the Firebolt, and his 
+rucksack slipped from beneath his knees — 
+
+“No — HEDWIG!” 
+
+The broomstick spun to earth, but he just managed 
+to seize the strap of his rucksack and the top of the 
+cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. 
+A second’s relief, and then another burst of green 
+light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of the 
+cage. 
+
+“No — NO!” 
+
+The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed 
+hooded Death Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted 
+through their circle. 
+
+“Hedwig — Hedwig — ” 
+
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+But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on 
+the floor of her cage. He could not take it in, and his 
+terror for the others was paramount. He glanced over 
+his shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares 
+of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring 
+off into the distance, but he could not tell who they 
+were — 
+
+“Hagrid, we’ve got to go back, we’ve got to go back!” he 
+yelled over the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling 
+out his wand, ramming Hedwig’s cage onto the floor, 
+refusing to believe that she was dead. “Hagrid, TURN 
+AROUND!” 
+
+“My job’s ter get you there safe, Harry!” bellowed 
+Hagrid, and he opened the throttle. 
+
+“Stop — STOP!” Harry shouted, but as he looked back 
+again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four 
+Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and 
+were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid ’s broad back. 
+Hagrid swerved, but the Death Eaters were keeping 
+up with the bike; more curses shot after them, and 
+Harry had to sink low into the sidecar to avoid them. 
+Wriggling around he cried, “Stupefy\” and a red bolt of 
+light shot from his own wand, cleaving a gap between 
+the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to 
+avoid it. 
+
+“Hold on, Harry, this’ll do for ’em!” roared Hagrid, and 
+Harry looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming 
+a thick finger into a green button near the fuel gauge. 
+
+A wall, a solid brick wall, erupted out of the exhaust 
+pipe. Craning his neck, Harry saw it expand into 
+being in midair. Three of the Death Eaters swerved 
+and avoided it, but the fourth was not so lucky: He 
+vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder 
+from behind it, his broomstick broken into pieces. 
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+One of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they 
+and the airborne wall were swallowed by darkness as 
+Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars and sped up. 
+
+More Killing Curses flew past Harry’s head from the 
+two remaining Death Eaters’ wands; they were aiming 
+for Hagrid. Harry responded with further Stunning 
+Spells: Red and green collided in midair in a shower 
+of multicolored sparks, and Harry thought wildly of 
+fireworks, and the Muggles below who would have no 
+idea what was happening — 
+
+“Here we go again, Harry, hold on!” yelled Hagrid, and 
+he jabbed at a second button. This time a great net 
+burst from the bike’s exhaust, but the Death Eaters 
+were ready for it. Not only did they swerve to avoid it, 
+but the companion who had slowed to save their 
+unconscious friend had caught up. He bloomed 
+suddenly out of the darkness and now three of them 
+were pursuing the motorbike, all shooting curses after 
+it. 
+
+“This’ll do it, Harry, hold on tight!” yelled Hagrid, and 
+Harry saw him slam his whole hand onto the purple 
+button beside the speedometer. 
+
+With an unmistakable bellowing roar, dragon fire 
+burst from the exhaust, white-hot and blue, and the 
+motorbike shot forward like a bullet with a sound of 
+wrenching metal. Harry saw the Death Eaters swerve 
+out of sight to avoid the deadly trail of flame, and at 
+the same time felt the sidecar sway ominously: Its 
+metal connections to the bike had splintered with the 
+force of acceleration. 
+
+“It’s all righ’, Harry!” bellowed Hagrid, now thrown flat 
+onto his back by the surge of speed; nobody was 
+steering now, and the sidecar was starting to twist 
+violently in the bike’s slipstream. 
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+‘Tm on it, Harry, don’ worry!” Hagrid yelled, and from 
+inside his jacket pocket he pulled his flowery pink 
+umbrella. 
+
+“Hagrid! No! Let me!” 
+
+“REPAROl” 
+
+There was a deafening bang and the sidecar broke 
+away from the bike completely: Harry sped forward, 
+propelled by the impetus of the bike’s flight, then the 
+sidecar began to lose height — 
+
+In desperation Harry pointed his wand at the sidecar 
+and shouted, “Wingardium Leviosal” 
+
+The sidecar rose like a cork, unsteerable but at least 
+still airborne: He had but a split second’s relief, 
+however, as more curses streaked past him: The three 
+Death Eaters were closing in. 
+
+“I’m cornin’, Harry!” Hagrid yelled from out of the 
+darkness, but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning 
+to sink again: Crouching as low as he could, he 
+pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures and 
+yelled, “Impedimental” 
+
+The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest: For 
+a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in 
+midair as though he had hit an invisible barrier: One 
+of his fellows almost collided with him — 
+
+Then the sidecar began to fall in earnest, and the 
+remaining Death Eater shot a curse so close to Harry 
+that he had to duck below the rim of the car, 
+knocking out a tooth on the edge of his seat — 
+
+“I’m cornin’, Harry, I’m cornin’!” 
+
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+A huge hand seized the back of Harry’s robes and 
+hoisted him out of the plummeting sidecar; Harry 
+pulled his rucksack with him as he dragged himself 
+onto the motorbike’s seat and found himself back-to- 
+back with Hagrid. As they soared upward, away from 
+the two remaining Death Eaters, Harry spat blood out 
+of his mouth, pointed his wand at the falling sidecar, 
+and yelled, “Confringo\” 
+
+He knew a dreadful, gut-wrenching pang for Hedwig 
+as it exploded; the Death Eater nearest it was blasted 
+off his broom and fell from sight; his companion fell 
+back and vanished. 
+
+“Harry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” moaned Hagrid, “I 
+shouldn’ta tried ter repair it meself — yeh’ve got no 
+room — ” 
+
+“It’s not a problem, just keep flying!” Harry shouted 
+back, as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the 
+darkness, drawing closer. 
+
+As the curses came shooting across the intervening 
+space again, Hagrid swerved and zigzagged: Harry 
+knew that Hagrid did not dare use the dragon-fire 
+button again, with Harry seated so insecurely. Harry 
+sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell back at their 
+pursuers, barely holding them off. He shot another 
+blocking jinx at them: The closest Death Eater 
+swerved to avoid it and his hood slipped, and by the 
+red light of his next Stunning Spell, Harry saw the 
+strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike — Stan — 
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ Harry yelled. 
+
+“That’s him, it’s him, it’s the real one!” 
+
+The hooded Death Eater’s shout reached Harry even 
+above the thunder of the motorbike’s engine: Next 
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+moment, both pursuers had fallen back and 
+disappeared from view. 
+
+
+
+“Harry, what’s happened?” bellowed Hagrid. 
+
+“Where Ve they gone?” 
+
+“I don’t know!” 
+
+But Harry was afraid: The hooded Death Eater had 
+shouted “It’s the real one!”; how had he known? He 
+gazed around at the apparently empty darkness and 
+felt its menace. Where were they? 
+
+He clambered around on the seat to face forward and 
+seized hold of the back of Hagrid ’s jacket. 
+
+“Hagrid, do the dragon-fire thing again, let’s get out of 
+here!” 
+
+“Hold on tight, then, Harry!” 
+
+There was a deafening, screeching roar again and the 
+white-blue fire shot from the exhaust: Harry felt 
+himself slipping backward off what little of the seat he 
+had, Hagrid flung backward upon him, barely 
+maintaining his grip on the handlebars — 
+
+“I think we’ve lost ’em Harry, I think we’ve done it!” 
+yelled Hagrid. 
+
+But Harry was not convinced: Fear lapped at him as 
+he looked left and right for pursuers he was sure 
+would come. ... Why had they fallen back? One of 
+them had still had a wand. ... It’s him ... it’s the real 
+one. . . . They had said it right after he had tried to 
+Disarm Stan. ... 
+
+“We’re nearly there, Harry, we’ve nearly made it!” 
+shouted Hagrid. 
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+Harry felt the bike drop a little, though the lights 
+down on the ground still seemed remote as stars. 
+
+Then the scar on his forehead burned like fire; as a 
+Death Eater appeared on either side of the bike, two 
+Killing Curses missed Harry by millimeters, cast from 
+behind — 
+
+And then Harry saw him. Voldemort was flying like 
+smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to 
+hold him, his snakelike face gleaming out of the 
+blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again — 
+
+Hagrid let out a bellow of fear and steered the 
+motorbike into a vertical dive. Clinging on for dear 
+life, Harry sent Stunning Spells flying at random into 
+the whirling night. He saw a body fly past him and 
+knew he had hit one of them, but then he heard a 
+bang and saw sparks from the engine; the motorbike 
+spiraled through the air, completely out of control — 
+
+Green jets of light shot past them again. Harry had no 
+idea which way was up, which down: His scar was 
+still burning; he expected to die at any second. A 
+hooded figure on a broomstick was feet from him, he 
+saw it raise its arm — 
+
+“NO!” 
+
+With a shout of fury Hagrid launched himself off the 
+bike at the Death Eater; to his horror, Harry saw both 
+Hagrid and the Death Eater falling out of sight, their 
+combined weight too much for the broomstick — 
+
+Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, 
+Harry heard Voldemort scream, “Mine\” 
+
+
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+It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort 
+was; he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out 
+of the way and heard, “Avada — ” 
+
+As the pain from Harry’s scar forced his eyes shut, 
+his wand acted of its own accord. He felt it drag his 
+hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of 
+golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a 
+crack and a scream of fury. The remaining Death 
+Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, “ No\ Somehow, 
+Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire 
+button. He punched it with his wand-free hand and 
+the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling 
+straight toward the ground. 
+
+“Hagrid!” Harry called, holding on to the bike for dear 
+life. “Hagrid — Accio Hagridl” 
+
+The motorbike sped up, sucked toward the earth. 
+
+Face level with the handlebars, Harry could see 
+nothing but distant lights growing nearer and nearer: 
+He was going to crash and there was nothing he could 
+do about it. Behind him came another scream, “Your 
+wand, Selwyn, give me your wand\” 
+
+He felt Voldemort before he saw him. Looking 
+sideways, he stared into the red eyes and was sure 
+they would be the last thing he ever saw: Voldemort 
+preparing to curse him once more — 
+
+And then Voldemort vanished. Harry looked down 
+and saw Hagrid spread-eagled on the ground below 
+him. He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting 
+him, groped for the brake, but with an earsplitting, 
+ground-trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy 
+pond. 
+
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+FALLEN WARRIOR 
+
+
+
+“Hagrid?” 
+
+Harry struggled to raise himself out of the debris of 
+metal and leather that surrounded him; his hands 
+sank into inches of muddy water as he tried to stand. 
+He could not understand where Voldemort had gone 
+and expected him to swoop out of the darkness at any 
+moment. Something hot and wet was trickling down 
+his chin and from his forehead. He crawled out of the 
+pond and stumbled toward the great dark mass on 
+the ground that was Hagrid. 
+
+“Hagrid? Hagrid, talk to me — ” 
+
+But the dark mass did not stir. 
+
+“Who’s there? Is it Potter? Are you Harry Potter?” 
+
+Harry did not recognize the man’s voice. Then a 
+woman shouted, “They’ve crashed, Ted! Crashed in 
+the garden!” 
+
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+Harry’s head was swimming. 
+
+
+
+“Hagrid,” he repeated stupidly, and his knees 
+buckled. 
+
+The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on 
+what felt like cushions, with a burning sensation in 
+his ribs and right arm. His missing tooth had been 
+regrown. The scar on his forehead was still throbbing. 
+
+“Hagrid?” 
+
+He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on a 
+sofa in an unfamiliar, lamplit sitting room. His 
+rucksack lay on the floor a short distance away, wet 
+and muddy. A fair-haired, big-bellied man was 
+watching Harry anxiously. 
+
+“Hagrid’s fine, son,” said the man, “the wife’s seeing 
+to him now. How are you feeling? Anything else 
+broken? I’ve fixed your ribs, your tooth, and your 
+arm. I’m Ted, by the way, Ted Tonks — Dora’s father.” 
+
+Harry sat up too quickly: Lights popped in front of his 
+eyes and he felt sick and giddy. 
+
+“Voldemort — ” 
+
+“Easy, now,” said Ted Tonks, placing a hand on 
+Harry’s shoulder and pushing him back against the 
+cushions. “That was a nasty crash you just had. What 
+happened, anyway? Something go wrong with the 
+bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him 
+and his Muggle contraptions?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, as his scar pulsed like an open 
+wound. “Death Eaters, loads of them — we were 
+chased — ” 
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+“Death Eaters?” said Ted sharply. “What d’you mean, 
+Death Eaters? I thought they didn’t know you were 
+being moved tonight, I thought — ” 
+
+“They knew,” said Harry. 
+
+Ted Tonks looked up at the ceiling as though he could 
+see through it to the sky above. 
+
+“Well, we know our protective charms hold, then, 
+don’t we? They shouldn’t be able to get within a 
+hundred yards of the place in any direction.” 
+
+Now Harry understood why Voldemort had vanished; 
+it had been at the point when the motorbike crossed 
+the barrier of the Order’s charms. He only hoped they 
+would continue to work: He imagined Voldemort, a 
+hundred yards above them as they spoke, looking for 
+a way to penetrate what Harry visualized as a great 
+transparent bubble. 
+
+He swung his legs off the sofa; he needed to see 
+Hagrid with his own eyes before he would believe that 
+he was alive. He had barely stood up, however, when 
+a door opened and Hagrid squeezed through it, his 
+face covered in mud and blood, limping a little but 
+miraculously alive. 
+
+“Harry!” 
+
+Knocking over two delicate tables and an aspidistra, 
+he covered the floor between them in two strides and 
+pulled Harry into a hug that nearly cracked his newly 
+repaired ribs. “Blimey, Harry, how did yeh get out o’ 
+that? I thought we were both goners.” 
+
+“Yeah, me too. I can’t believe — ” 
+
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+Harry broke off. He had just noticed the woman who 
+had entered the room behind Hagrid. 
+
+“You!” he shouted, and he thrust his hand into his 
+pocket, but it was empty. 
+
+“Your wand’s here, son,” said Ted, tapping it on 
+Harry’s arm. “It fell right beside you, I picked it up. 
+And that’s my wife you’re shouting at.” 
+
+“Oh, I’m — I’m sorry.” 
+
+As she moved forward into the room, Mrs. Tonks’s 
+resemblance to her sister Bellatrix became much less 
+pronounced: Her hair was a light, soft brown and her 
+eyes were wider and kinder. Nevertheless, she looked 
+a little haughty after Harry’s exclamation. 
+
+“What happened to our daughter?” she asked. “Hagrid 
+said you were ambushed; where is Nymphadora?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Harry. “We don’t know what 
+happened to anyone else.” 
+
+She and Ted exchanged looks. A mixture of fear and 
+guilt gripped Harry at the sight of their expressions; if 
+any of the others had died, it was his fault, all his 
+fault. He had consented to the plan, given them his 
+hair. ... 
+
+“The Portkey,” he said, remembering all of a sudden. 
+“We’ve got to get back to the Burrow and find out — 
+then well be able to send you word, or — or Tonks 
+will, once she’s — ” 
+
+“Dora’ll be okay, ’Dromeda,” said Ted. “She knows her 
+stuff, she’s been in plenty of tight spots with the 
+Aurors. The Portkey ’s through here,” he added to 
+
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+Harry. “It’s supposed to leave in three minutes, if you 
+want to take it.” 
+
+
+
+“Yeah, we do,” said Harry. He seized his rucksack, 
+swung it onto his shoulders. “I — ” 
+
+He looked at Mrs. Tonks, wanting to apologize for the 
+state of fear in which he left her and for which he felt 
+so terribly responsible, but no words occurred to him 
+that did not seem hollow and insincere. 
+
+“Ill tell Tonks — Dora — to send word, when she ... 
+Thanks for patching us up, thanks for everything. I — 
+
+
+
+He was glad to leave the room and follow Ted Tonks 
+along a short hallway and into a bedroom. Hagrid 
+came after them, bending low to avoid hitting his 
+head on the door lintel. 
+
+“There you go, son. That’s the Portkey.” 
+
+Mr. Tonks was pointing to a small, silver-backed 
+hairbrush lying on the dressing table. 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry, reaching out to place a finger 
+on it, ready to leave. 
+
+“Wait a moment,” said Hagrid, looking around. 
+
+“Harry, where’s Hedwig?” 
+
+“She ... she got hit,” said Harry. 
+
+The realization crashed over him: He felt ashamed of 
+himself as the tears stung his eyes. The owl had been 
+his companion, his one great link with the magical 
+world whenever he had been forced to return to the 
+Dursleys. 
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+Hagrid reached out a great hand and patted him 
+painfully on the shoulder. 
+
+“Never mind,” he said gruffly. “Never mind. She had a 
+great old life — ” 
+
+“Hagrid!” said Ted Tonks warningly, as the hairbrush 
+glowed bright blue, and Hagrid only just got his 
+forefinger to it in time. 
+
+With a jerk behind the navel as though an invisible 
+hook and line had dragged him forward, Harry was 
+pulled into nothingness, spinning uncontrollably, his 
+finger glued to the Portkey as he and Hagrid hurtled 
+away from Mr. Tonks. Seconds later Harry’s feet 
+slammed onto hard ground and he fell onto his hands 
+and knees in the yard of the Burrow. He heard 
+screams. Throwing aside the no longer glowing 
+hairbrush, Harry stood up, swaying slightly, and saw 
+Mrs. Weasley and Ginny running down the steps by 
+the back door as Hagrid, who had also collapsed on 
+landing, clambered laboriously to his feet. 
+
+“Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? 
+Where are the others?” cried Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“What d’you mean? Isn’t anyone else back?” Harry 
+panted. 
+
+The answer was clearly etched in Mrs. Weasley ’s pale 
+face. 
+
+“The Death Eaters were waiting for us,” Harry told 
+her. “We were surrounded the moment we took off — 
+they knew it was tonight — I don’t know what 
+happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it 
+was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort 
+caught up with us — ” 
+
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+He could hear the self-justifying note in his voice, the 
+plea for her to understand why he did not know what 
+had happened to her sons, but — 
+
+“Thank goodness you’re all right,” she said, pulling 
+him into a hug he did not feel he deserved. 
+
+“Haven’t go’ any brandy, have yeh, Molly?” asked 
+Hagrid a little shakily. “Fer medicinal purposes?” 
+
+She could have summoned it by magic, but as she 
+hurried back toward the crooked house, Harry knew 
+that she wanted to hide her face. He turned to Ginny 
+and she answered his unspoken plea for information 
+at once. 
+
+“Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they 
+missed their Portkey, it came back without them,” she 
+said, pointing at a rusty oil can lying on the ground 
+nearby. “And that one,” she pointed at an ancient 
+sneaker, “should have been Dad and Fred’s, they 
+were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were 
+third and,” she checked her watch, “if they made it, 
+George and Lupin ought to be back in about a 
+minute.” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley reappeared carrying a bottle of brandy, 
+which she handed to Hagrid. He uncorked it and 
+drank it straight down in one. 
+
+“Mum!” shouted Ginny, pointing to a spot several feet 
+away. 
+
+A blue light had appeared in the darkness: It grew 
+larger and brighter, and Lupin and George appeared, 
+spinning and then falling. Harry knew immediately 
+that there was something wrong: Lupin was 
+supporting George, who was unconscious and whose 
+face was covered in blood. 
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+Harry ran forward and seized George’s legs. Together, 
+he and Lupin carried George into the house and 
+through the kitchen to the sitting room, where they 
+laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell across 
+George’s head, Ginny gasped and Harry’s stomach 
+lurched: One of George’s ears was missing. The side 
+of his head and neck were drenched in wet, 
+shockingly scarlet blood. 
+
+No sooner had Mrs. Weasley bent over her son than 
+Lupin grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged 
+him, none too gently, back into the kitchen, where 
+Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through 
+the back door. 
+
+“Oi!” said Hagrid indignantly. “Le’ go of him! Le’ go of 
+Harry!” 
+
+Lupin ignored him. 
+
+“What creature sat in the corner the first time that 
+Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?” he said, 
+giving Harry a small shake. “Answer me!” 
+
+“A — a grindylow in a tank, wasn’t it?” 
+
+Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen 
+cupboard. 
+
+“Wha’ was tha’ about?” roared Hagrid. 
+
+“I’m sorry, Harry, but I had to check,” said Lupin 
+tersely. “We’ve been betrayed. Voldemort knew that 
+you were being moved tonight and the only people 
+who could have told him were directly involved in the 
+plan. You might have been an impostor.” 
+
+“So why aren’ you checkin’ me?” panted Hagrid, still 
+struggling to fit through the door. 
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+“You’re half-giant,” said Lupin, looking up at Hagrid. 
+“The Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use 
+only.” 
+
+“None of the Order would have told Voldemort we 
+were moving tonight,” said Harry. The idea was 
+dreadful to him, he could not believe it of any of them. 
+“Voldemort only caught up with me toward the end, 
+he didn’t know which one I was in the beginning. If 
+he’d been in on the plan he’d have known from the 
+start I was the one with Hagrid.” 
+
+“Voldemort caught up with you?” said Lupin sharply. 
+“What happened? How did you escape?” 
+
+Harry explained briefly how the Death Eaters 
+pursuing them had seemed to recognize him as the 
+true Harry, how they had abandoned the chase, how 
+they must have summoned Voldemort, who had 
+appeared just before he and Hagrid had reached the 
+sanctuary of Tonks’s parents. 
+
+“They recognized you? But how? What had you 
+done?” 
+
+“I ...” Harry tried to remember; the whole journey 
+seemed like a blur of panic and confusion. “I saw 
+Stan Shunpike. ... You know, the bloke who was the 
+conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried to Disarm 
+him instead of — well, he doesn’t know what he’s 
+doing, does he? He must be Imperiused!” 
+
+Lupin looked aghast. 
+
+“Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people 
+are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you 
+aren’t prepared to kill!” 
+
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+“We were hundreds of feet up! Stan’s not himself, and 
+if I Stunned him and he’d fallen, he’d have died the 
+same as if I’d used Avada Kedavra! Expelliarmus 
+saved me from Voldemort two years ago,” Harry added 
+defiantly. Lupin was reminding him of the sneering 
+Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry 
+for wanting to teach Dumbledore’s Army how to 
+Disarm. 
+
+“Yes, Harry,” said Lupin with painful restraint, “and a 
+great number of Death Eaters witnessed that 
+happening! Forgive me, but it was a very unusual 
+move then, under imminent threat of death. 
+
+Repeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who 
+either witnessed or heard about the first occasion was 
+close to suicidal!” 
+
+“So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?” 
+said Harry angrily. 
+
+“Of course not,” said Lupin, “but the Death Eaters — 
+frankly, most people! — would have expected you to 
+attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but 
+the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature 
+move, and I urge you not to let it become so!” 
+
+Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there 
+was still a grain of defiance inside him. 
+
+“I won’t blast people out of my way just because 
+they’re there,” said Harry. “That’s Voldemort’s job.” 
+
+Lupin’s retort was lost: Finally succeeding in 
+squeezing through the door, Hagrid staggered to a 
+chair and sat down; it collapsed beneath him. 
+
+Ignoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry 
+addressed Lupin again. 
+
+���Will George be okay?” 
+
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+All Lupin’s frustration with Harry seemed to drain 
+away at the question. 
+
+“I think so, although there’s no chance of replacing 
+his ear, not when it’s been cursed off — ” 
+
+There was a scuffling from outside. Lupin dived for 
+the back door; Harry leapt over Hagrid’s legs and 
+sprinted into the yard. 
+
+Two figures had appeared in the yard, and as Harry 
+ran toward them he realized they were Hermione, now 
+returning to her normal appearance, and Kingsley, 
+both clutching a bent coat hanger. Hermione flung 
+herself into Harry’s arms, but Kingsley showed no 
+pleasure at the sight of any of them. Over Hermione ’s 
+shoulder Harry saw him raise his wand and point it 
+at Lupin’s chest. 
+
+“The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair 
+of us?” 
+
+“ ‘Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,’ ” said 
+Lupin calmly. 
+
+Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Lupin said, 
+“It’s him, I’ve checked!” 
+
+“All right, all right!” said Kingsley, stowing his wand 
+back beneath his cloak. “But somebody betrayed us! 
+They knew, they knew it was tonight!” 
+
+“So it seems,” replied Lupin, “but apparently they did 
+not realize that there would be seven Harrys.” 
+
+“Small comfort!” snarled Kingsley. “Who else is back?” 
+
+“Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me.” 
+
+
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+Hermione stifled a little moan behind her hand. 
+
+
+
+“What happened to you?” Lupin asked Kingsley. 
+
+“Followed by five, injured two, might’ve killed one,” 
+Kingsley reeled off, “and we saw You-Know-Who as 
+well, he joined the chase halfway through but 
+vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can — ” 
+
+“Fly,” supplied Harry. “I saw him too, he came after 
+Hagrid and me.” 
+
+“So that’s why he left, to follow you!” said Kingsley. “I 
+couldn’t understand why he’d vanished. But what 
+made him change targets?” 
+
+“Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike,” 
+said Lupin. 
+
+“Stan?” repeated Hermione. “But I thought he was in 
+Azkaban?” 
+
+Kingsley let out a mirthless laugh. 
+
+“Hermione, there’s obviously been a mass breakout 
+which the Ministry has hushed up. Travers’s hood fell 
+off when I cursed him, he’s supposed to be inside too. 
+But what happened to you, Remus? Where’s George?” 
+
+“He lost an ear,” said Lupin. 
+
+“Lost an — ?” repeated Hermione in a high voice. 
+
+“Snape’s work,” said Lupin. 
+
+“ Snape ?” shouted Harry. “You didn’t say — ” 
+
+“He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra 
+was always a specialty of Snape’s. I wish I could say 
+
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+I’d paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to 
+keep George on the broom after he was injured, he 
+was losing so much blood.” 
+
+Silence fell between the four of them as they looked 
+up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the 
+stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, 
+unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where 
+were Fred and Mr. Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, 
+Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus? 
+
+“Harry, give us a hand!” called Hagrid hoarsely from 
+the door, in which he was stuck again. Glad of 
+something to do, Harry pulled him free, then headed 
+through the empty kitchen and back into the sitting 
+room, where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were still 
+tending to George. Mrs. Weasley had staunched his 
+bleeding now, and by the lamplight Harry saw a 
+clean, gaping hole where George’s ear had been. 
+
+“How is he?” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley looked around and said, “I can’t make it 
+grow back, not when it’s been removed by Dark 
+Magic. But it could have been so much worse. ... He’s 
+alive.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Thank God.” 
+
+“Did I hear someone else in the yard?” Ginny asked. 
+
+“Hermione and Kingsley,” said Harry. 
+
+“Thank goodness,” Ginny whispered. They looked at 
+each other; Harry wanted to hug her, hold on to her; 
+he did not even care much that Mrs. Weasley was 
+there, but before he could act on the impulse there 
+was a great crash from the kitchen. 
+
+
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+“I’ll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I’ve seen my son, 
+now back off if you know what’s good for you!” 
+
+Harry had never heard Mr. Weasley shout like that 
+before. He burst into the living room, his bald patch 
+gleaming with sweat, his spectacles askew, Fred right 
+behind him, both pale but uninjured. 
+
+“Arthur!” sobbed Mrs. Weasley. “Oh thank goodness!” 
+
+“How is he?” 
+
+Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside George. For 
+the first time since Harry had known him, Fred 
+seemed to be lost for words. He gaped over the back 
+of the sofa at his twin’s wound as if he could not 
+believe what he was seeing. 
+
+Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred and their 
+father’s arrival, George stirred. 
+
+“How do you feel, Georgie?” whispered Mrs. Weasley. 
+George’s fingers groped for the side of his head. 
+“Saintlike,” he murmured. 
+
+“What’s wrong with him?” croaked Fred, looking 
+terrified. “Is his mind affected?” 
+
+“Saintlike,” repeated George, opening his eyes and 
+looking up at his brother. “You see ... I’m holy. Hole v, 
+Fred, geddit?” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Color flooded 
+Fred’s pale face. 
+
+
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+
+“Pathetic,” he told George. “Pathetic! With the whole 
+wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for 
+holey?” 
+
+“Ah well,” said George, grinning at his tear-soaked 
+mother. “You’ll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, 
+Mum.” 
+
+He looked around. 
+
+“Hi, Harry — you are Harry, right?” 
+
+“Yeah, I am,” said Harry, moving closer to the sofa. 
+
+“Well, at least we got you back okay,” said George. 
+“Why aren’t Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?” 
+
+“They’re not back yet, George,” said Mrs. Weasley. 
+George’s grin faded. 
+
+Harry glanced at Ginny and motioned to her to 
+accompany him back outside. As they walked through 
+the kitchen she said in a low voice, “Ron and Tonks 
+should be back by now. They didn’t have a long 
+journey; Auntie Muriel’s not that far from here.” 
+
+Harry said nothing. He had been trying to keep fear at 
+bay ever since reaching the Burrow, but now it 
+enveloped him, seeming to crawl over his skin, 
+throbbing in his chest, clogging his throat. As they 
+walked down the back steps into the dark yard, Ginny 
+took his hand. 
+
+Kingsley was striding backward and forward, glancing 
+up at the sky every time he turned. Harry was 
+reminded of Uncle Vernon pacing the living room a 
+million years ago. Hagrid, Hermione, and Lupin stood 
+shoulder to shoulder, gazing upward in silence. None 
+
+
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+of them looked around when Harry and Ginny joined 
+their silent vigil. 
+
+The minutes stretched into what might as well have 
+been years. The slightest breath of wind made them 
+all jump and turn toward the whispering bush or tree 
+in the hope that one of the missing Order members 
+might leap unscathed from its leaves — 
+
+And then a broom materialized directly above them 
+and streaked toward the ground — 
+
+“It’s them!” screamed Hermione. 
+
+Tonks landed in a long skid that sent earth and 
+pebbles everywhere. 
+
+“Remus!” Tonks cried as she staggered off the broom 
+into Lupin’s arms. His face was set and white: He 
+seemed unable to speak. Ron tripped dazedly toward 
+Harry and Hermione. 
+
+“You’re okay,” he mumbled, before Hermione flew at 
+him and hugged him tightly. 
+
+“I thought — I thought — ” 
+
+“ ’M all right,” said Ron, patting her on the back. “ ’M 
+fine.” 
+
+“Ron was great,” said Tonks warmly, relinquishing 
+her hold on Lupin. “Wonderful. Stunned one of the 
+Death Eaters, straight to the head, and when you’re 
+aiming at a moving target from a flying broom — ” 
+
+“You did?” said Hermione, gazing up at Ron with her 
+arms still around his neck. 
+
+
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+
+“Always the tone of surprise,” he said a little 
+grumpily, breaking free. “Are we the last back?” 
+
+“No,” said Ginny, “we’re still waiting for Bill and Fleur 
+and Mad-Eye and Mundungus. I’m going to tell Mum 
+and Dad you’re okay, Ron — ” 
+
+She ran back inside. 
+
+“So what kept you? What happened?” Lupin sounded 
+almost angry at Tonks. 
+
+“Bellatrix,” said Tonks. “She wants me quite as much 
+as she wants Harry, Remus, she tried very hard to kill 
+me. I just wish I’d got her, I owe Bellatrix. But we 
+definitely injured Rodolphus. ... Then we got to Ron’s 
+Auntie Muriel’s and we’d missed our Portkey and she 
+was fussing over us — ” 
+
+A muscle was jumping in Lupin’s jaw. He nodded, but 
+seemed unable to say anything else. 
+
+“So what happened to you lot?” Tonks asked, turning 
+to Harry, Hermione, and Kingsley. 
+
+They recounted the stories of their own journeys, but 
+all the time the continued absence of Bill, Fleur, Mad- 
+Eye, and Mundungus seemed to lie upon them like a 
+frost, its icy bite harder and harder to ignore. 
+
+“I’m going to have to get back to Downing Street, I 
+should have been there an hour ago,” said Kingsley 
+finally, after a last sweeping gaze at the sky. “Let me 
+know when they’re back.” 
+
+Lupin nodded. With a wave to the others, Kingsley 
+walked away into the darkness toward the gate. Harry 
+thought he heard the faintest pop as Kingsley 
+Disapparated just beyond the Burrow’s boundaries. 
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+Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came racing down the back 
+steps, Ginny behind them. Both parents hugged Ron 
+before turning to Lupin and Tonks. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Mrs. Weasley, “for our sons.” 
+
+“Don’t be silly, Molly,” said Tonks at once. 
+
+“How’s George?” asked Lupin. 
+
+“What’s wrong with him?” piped up Ron. 
+
+“He’s lost — ” 
+
+But the end of Mrs. Weasley ’s sentence was drowned 
+in a general outcry: A thestral had just soared into 
+sight and landed a few feet from them. Bill and Fleur 
+slid from its back, windswept but unhurt. 
+
+“Bill! Thank God, thank God — ” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley ran forward, but the hug Bill bestowed 
+upon her was perfunctory. Looking directly at his 
+father, he said, “Mad-Eye’s dead.” 
+
+Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Harry felt as though 
+something inside him was falling, falling through the 
+earth, leaving him forever. 
+
+“We saw it,” said Bill; Fleur nodded, tear tracks 
+glittering on her cheeks in the light from the kitchen 
+window. “It happened just after we broke out of the 
+circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were 
+heading north too. Voldemort — he can fly — went 
+straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry 
+out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he Disapparated. 
+Voldemort’s curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell 
+backward off his broom and — there was nothing we 
+
+
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+could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our 
+own tail — ” 
+
+
+
+Bill’s voice broke. 
+
+“Of course you couldn’t have done anything,” said 
+Lupin. 
+
+They all stood looking at each other. Harry could not 
+quite comprehend it. Mad-Eye dead; it could not be. 
+
+... Mad-Eye, so tough, so brave, the consummate 
+survivor ... 
+
+At last it seemed to dawn on everyone, though nobody 
+said it, that there was no point waiting in the yard 
+anymore, and in silence they followed Mr. and Mrs. 
+Weasley back into the Burrow, and into the living 
+room, where Fred and George were laughing together. 
+
+“What’s wrong?” said Fred, scanning their faces as 
+they entered. “What’s happened? Who’s — ?” 
+
+“Mad-Eye,” said Mr. Weasley. “Dead.” 
+
+The twins’ grins turned to grimaces of shock. Nobody 
+seemed to know what to do. Tonks was crying silently 
+into a handkerchief: She had been close to Mad-Eye, 
+Harry knew, his favorite and his protegee at the 
+Ministry of Magic. Hagrid, who had sat down on the 
+floor in the corner where he had most space, was 
+dabbing at his eyes with his tablecloth-sized 
+handkerchief. 
+
+Bill walked over to the sideboard and pulled out a 
+bottle of fire-whisky and some glasses. 
+
+“Here,” he said, and with a wave of his wand he sent 
+twelve full glasses soaring through the room to each 
+of them, holding the thirteenth aloft. “Mad-Eye.” 
+
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+“Mad-Eye,” they all said, and drank. 
+
+“Mad-Eye,” echoed Hagrid, a little late, with a hiccup. 
+
+The firewhisky seared Harry’s throat. It seemed to 
+burn feeling back into him, dispelling the numbness 
+and sense of unreality, firing him with something that 
+was like courage. 
+
+“So Mundungus disappeared?” said Lupin, who had 
+drained his own glass in one. 
+
+The atmosphere changed at once. Everybody looked 
+tense, watching Lupin, both wanting him to go on, it 
+seemed to Harry, and slightly afraid of what they 
+might hear. 
+
+“I know what you’re thinking,” said Bill, “and I 
+wondered that too, on the way back here, because 
+they seemed to be expecting us, didn’t they? But 
+Mundungus can’t have betrayed us. They didn’t know 
+there would be seven Harrys, that confused them the 
+moment we appeared, and in case you’ve forgotten, it 
+was Mundungus who suggested that little bit of 
+skullduggery. Why wouldn’t he have told them the 
+essential point? I think Dung panicked, it’s as simple 
+as that. He didn’t want to come in the first place, but 
+Mad-Eye made him, and You-Know-Who went 
+straight for them. It was enough to make anyone 
+panic.” 
+
+“You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected 
+him to,” sniffed Tonks. “Mad-Eye said he’d expect the 
+real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled 
+Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when 
+Mundungus gave them away he switched to Kingsley. 
+
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+“Yes, and zat eez all very good,” snapped Fleur, “but 
+still eet does not explain ’ow zey knew we were moving 
+’Arry tonight, does eet? Somebody must ’ave been 
+careless. Somebody let slip ze date to an outsider. It is 
+ze only explanation for zem knowing ze date but not 
+ze ’ole plan.” 
+
+She glared around at them all, tear tracks still etched 
+on her beautiful face, silently daring any of them to 
+contradict her. Nobody did. The only sound to break 
+the silence was that of Hagrid hiccuping from behind 
+his handkerchief. Harry glanced at Hagrid, who had 
+just risked his own life to save Harry’s — Hagrid, 
+whom he loved, whom he trusted, who had once been 
+tricked into giving Voldemort crucial information in 
+exchange for a dragon’s egg. ... 
+
+“No,” Harry said aloud, and they all looked at him, 
+surprised: The firewhisky seemed to have amplified 
+his voice. “I mean ... if somebody made a mistake,” 
+Harry went on, “and let something slip, I know they 
+didn’t mean to do it. It’s not their fault,” he repeated, 
+again a little louder than he would usually have 
+spoken. “We’ve got to trust each other. I trust all of 
+you, I don’t think anyone in this room would ever sell 
+me to Voldemort.” 
+
+More silence followed his words. They were all looking 
+at him; Harry felt a little hot again, and drank some 
+more firewhisky for something to do. As he drank, he 
+thought of Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye had always been 
+scathing about Dumbledore’s willingness to trust 
+people. 
+
+“Well said, Harry,” said Fred unexpectedly. 
+
+“Yeah, ’ear, ’ear,” said George, with half a glance at 
+Fred, the corner of whose mouth twitched. 
+
+
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+
+Lupin was wearing an odd expression as he looked at 
+Harry. It was close to pitying. 
+
+“You think I’m a fool?” demanded Harry. 
+
+“No, I think you’re like James,” said Lupin, “who 
+would have regarded it as the height of dishonor to 
+mistrust his friends.” 
+
+Harry knew what Lupin was getting at: that his father 
+had been betrayed by his friend, Peter Pettigrew. He 
+felt irrationally angry. He wanted to argue, but Lupin 
+had turned away from him, set down his glass upon a 
+side table, and addressed Bill, “There’s work to do. I 
+can ask Kingsley whether — ” 
+
+“No,” said Bill at once, “I’ll do it, I’ll come.” 
+
+“Where are you going?” said Tonks and Fleur 
+together. 
+
+“Mad-Eye’s body,” said Lupin. “We need to recover it.” 
+
+“Can’t it — ?” began Mrs. Weasley with an appealing 
+look at Bill. 
+
+“Wait?” said Bill. “Not unless you’d rather the Death 
+Eaters took it?” 
+
+Nobody spoke. Lupin and Bill said good-bye and left. 
+
+The rest of them now dropped into chairs, all except 
+for Harry, who remained standing. The suddenness 
+and completeness of death was with them like a 
+presence. 
+
+“I’ve got to go too,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+Ten pairs of startled eyes looked at him. 
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+
+“Don’t be silly, Harry,” said Mrs. Weasley. “What are 
+you talking about?” 
+
+“I can’t stay here.” 
+
+He rubbed his forehead; it was prickling again, it had 
+not hurt like this for more than a year. 
+
+“You’re all in danger while I’m here. I don’t want — ” 
+
+“But don’t be so silly!” said Mrs. Weasley. “The whole 
+point of tonight was to get you here safely, and thank 
+goodness it worked. And Fleur’s agreed to get married 
+here rather than in France, we’ve arranged everything 
+so that we can all stay together and look after you — ” 
+
+She did not understand; she was making him feel 
+worse, not better. 
+
+“If Voldemort finds out I’m here — ” 
+
+“But why should he?” asked Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“There are a dozen places you might be now, Harry,” 
+said Mr. Weasley. “He’s got no way of knowing which 
+safe house you’re in.” 
+
+“It’s not me I’m worried for!” said Harry. 
+
+“We know that,” said Mr. Weasley quietly, “but it 
+would make our efforts tonight seem rather pointless 
+if you left.” 
+
+“Yer not goin’ anywhere,” growled Hagrid. “Blimey, 
+Harry, after all we wen’ through ter get you here?” 
+
+“Yeah, what about my bleeding ear?” said George, 
+hoisting himself up on his cushions. 
+
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+“I know that — ” 
+
+
+
+“Mad-Eye wouldn’t want — ” 
+
+“I KNOW!” Harry bellowed. 
+
+He felt beleaguered and blackmailed: Did they think 
+he did not know what they had done for him, didn’t 
+they understand that it was for precisely that reason 
+that he wanted to go now, before they had to suffer 
+any more on his behalf? There was a long and 
+awkward silence in which his scar continued to 
+prickle and throb, and which was broken at last by 
+Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Where’s Hedwig, Harry?” she said coaxingly. “We can 
+put her up with Pigwidgeon and give her something to 
+eat.” 
+
+His insides clenched like a fist. He could not tell her 
+the truth. He drank the last of his firewhisky to avoid 
+answering. 
+
+“Wait till it gets out yeh did it again, Harry,” said 
+Hagrid. “Escaped him, fought him off when he was 
+right on top of yeh!” 
+
+“It wasn’t me,” said Harry flatly. “It was my wand. My 
+wand acted of its own accord.” 
+
+After a few moments, Hermione said gently, “But 
+that’s impossible, Harry. You mean that you did 
+magic without meaning to; you reacted instinctively.” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “The bike was falling, I couldn’t have 
+told you where Voldemort was, but my wand spun in 
+my hand and found him and shot a spell at him, and 
+it wasn’t even a spell I recognized. I’ve never made 
+gold flames appear before.” 
+
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+
+“Often,” said Mr. Weasley, “when you’re in a 
+pressured situation you can produce magic you never 
+dreamed of. Small children often find, before they’re 
+trained — ” 
+
+“It wasn’t like that,” said Harry through gritted teeth. 
+His scar was burning: He felt angry and frustrated; he 
+hated the idea that they were all imagining him to 
+have power to match Voldemort’s. 
+
+No one said anything. He knew that they did not 
+believe him. Now that he came to think of it, he had 
+never heard of a wand performing magic on its own 
+before. 
+
+His scar seared with pain; it was all he could do not 
+to moan aloud. Muttering about fresh air, he set 
+down his glass and left the room. 
+
+As he crossed the dark yard, the great skeletal 
+thestral looked up, rustled its enormous batlike 
+wings, then resumed its grazing. Harry stopped at the 
+gate into the garden, staring out at its overgrown 
+plants, rubbing his pounding forehead and thinking 
+of Dumbledore. 
+
+Dumbledore would have believed him, he knew it. 
+Dumbledore would have known how and why Harry’s 
+wand had acted independently, because Dumbledore 
+always had the answers; he had known about wands, 
+had explained to Harry the strange connection that 
+existed between his wand and Voldemort’s. ... But 
+Dumbledore, like Mad-Eye, like Sirius, like his 
+parents, like his poor owl, all were gone where Harry 
+could never talk to them again. He felt a burning in 
+his throat that had nothing to do with firewhisky . . . 
+
+
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+And then, out of nowhere, the pain in his scar 
+peaked. As he clutched his forehead and closed his 
+eyes, a voice screamed inside his head. 
+
+
+
+“ You told me the problem would be solved by using 
+another’s wand\” 
+
+And into his mind burst the vision of an emaciated 
+old man lying in rags upon a stone floor, screaming, a 
+horrible, drawn-out scream, a scream of unendurable 
+agony. ... 
+
+“No! No! I beg you, I beg you. ...” 
+
+“You lied to Lord Voldemort, Ollivander!” 
+
+“I did not. ... I swear I did not. ...” 
+
+“You sought to help Potter, to help him escape me!” 
+
+“I swear I did not. ... I believed a different wand would 
+work. ...” 
+
+“Explain, then, what happened. Lucius’s wand is 
+destroyed!” 
+
+“I cannot understand. ... The connection ... exists 
+only ... between your two wands. ...” 
+
+“Lies!” 
+
+“Please ... I beg you. ...” 
+
+And Harry saw the white hand raise its wand and felt 
+Voldemort ’s surge of vicious anger, saw the frail old 
+man on the floor writhe in agony — 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
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+It was over as quickly as it had come: Harry stood 
+shaking in the darkness, clutching the gate into the 
+garden, his heart racing, his scar still tingling. It was 
+several moments before he realized that Ron and 
+Hermione were at his side. 
+
+“Harry, come back in the house,” Hermione 
+whispered. “You aren’t still thinking of leaving?” 
+
+“Yeah, you’ve got to stay, mate,” said Ron, thumping 
+Harry on the back. 
+
+“Are you all right?” Hermione asked, close enough 
+now to look into Harry’s face. “You look awful!” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry shakily, “I probably look better 
+than Ollivander. ...” 
+
+When he had finished telling them what he had seen, 
+Ron looked appalled, but Hermione downright 
+terrified. 
+
+“But it was supposed to have stopped! Your scar — it 
+wasn’t supposed to do this anymore! You mustn’t let 
+that connection open up again — Dumbledore wanted 
+you to close your mind!” 
+
+When he did not reply, she gripped his arm. 
+
+“Harry, he’s taking over the Ministry and the 
+newspapers and half the Wizarding world! Don’t let 
+him inside your head too!” 
+
+
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+THE GHOUL IN PAJAMAS 
+
+The shock of losing Mad-Eye hung over the house in 
+the days that followed; Harry kept expecting to see 
+him stumping in through the back door like the other 
+Order members, who passed in and out to relay news. 
+Harry felt that nothing but action would assuage his 
+feelings of guilt and grief and that he ought to set out 
+on his mission to find and destroy Horcruxes as soon 
+as possible. 
+
+“Well, you can’t do anything about the” — Ron 
+mouthed the word Horcruxes — “till you’re seventeen. 
+You’ve still got the Trace on you. And we can plan 
+here as well as anywhere, can’t we? Or,” he dropped 
+his voice to a whisper, “d’you reckon you already 
+know where the You-Know-Whats are?” 
+
+“No,” Harry admitted. 
+
+“I think Hermione’s been doing a bit of research,” said 
+Ron. “She said she was saving it for when you got 
+here.” 
+
+
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+They were sitting at the breakfast table; Mr. Weasley 
+and Bill had just left for work. Mrs. Weasley had gone 
+upstairs to wake Hermione and Ginny, while Fleur 
+had drifted off to take a bath. 
+
+“The Trace’ll break on the thirty- first,” said Harry. 
+“That means I only need to stay here four days. Then 
+I can — ” 
+
+“Five days,” Ron corrected him firmly. “We’ve got to 
+stay for the wedding. They’ll kill us if we miss it.” 
+
+Harry understood “they” to mean Fleur and Mrs. 
+Weasley. 
+
+“It’s one extra day,” said Ron, when Harry looked 
+mutinous. 
+
+“Don’t they realize how important — ?” 
+
+“ ’Course they don’t,” said Ron. “They haven’t got a 
+clue. And now you mention it, I wanted to talk to you 
+about that.” 
+
+Ron glanced toward the door into the hall to check 
+that Mrs. Weasley was not returning yet, then leaned 
+in closer to Harry. 
+
+“Mum’s been trying to get it out of Hermione and me. 
+What we’re off to do. She’ll try you next, so brace 
+yourself. Dad and Lupin ’ve both asked as well, but 
+when we said Dumbledore told you not to tell anyone 
+except us, they dropped it. Not Mum, though. She’s 
+determined.” 
+
+Ron’s prediction came true within hours. Shortly 
+before lunch, Mrs. Weasley detached Harry from the 
+others by asking him to help identify a lone man’s 
+sock that she thought might have come out of his 
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+rucksack. Once she had him cornered in the tiny 
+scullery off the kitchen, she started. 
+
+“Ron and Hermione seem to think that the three of 
+you are dropping out of Hogwarts,” she began in a 
+light, casual tone. 
+
+“Oh,” said Harry. “Well, yeah. We are.” 
+
+The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, 
+wringing out what looked like one of Mr. Weasley’s 
+vests. 
+
+“May I ask why you are abandoning your education?” 
+said Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Well, Dumbledore left me ... stuff to do,” mumbled 
+Harry. “Ron and Hermione know about it, and they 
+want to come too.” 
+
+“What sort of ‘stuff’?” 
+
+“I’m sorry, I can’t — ” 
+
+“Well, frankly, I think Arthur and I have a right to 
+know, and I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Granger would 
+agree!” said Mrs. Weasley. Harry had been afraid of 
+the “concerned parent” attack. He forced himself to 
+look directly into her eyes, noticing as he did so that 
+they were precisely the same shade of brown as 
+Ginny’s. This did not help. 
+
+“Dumbledore didn’t want anyone else to know, Mrs. 
+Weasley. I’m sorry. Ron and Hermione don’t have to 
+come, it’s their choice — ” 
+
+“I don’t see that you have to go either!” she snapped, 
+dropping all pretense now. “You’re barely of age, any 
+of you! It’s utter nonsense, if Dumbledore needed 
+
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+work doing, he had the whole Order at his command! 
+Harry, you must have misunderstood him. Probably 
+he was telling you something he wanted done, and 
+you took it to mean that he wanted you — ” 
+
+“I didn’t misunderstand,” said Harry flatly. “It’s got to 
+be me.” 
+
+He handed her back the single sock he was supposed 
+to be identifying, which was patterned with golden 
+bulrushes. 
+
+“And that’s not mine, I don’t support Puddlemere 
+United.” 
+
+“Oh, of course not,” said Mrs. Weasley with a sudden 
+and rather unnerving return to her casual tone. “I 
+should have realized. Well, Harry, while we’ve still got 
+you here, you won’t mind helping with the 
+preparations for Bill and Fleur’s wedding, will you? 
+There’s still so much to do.” 
+
+“No — I — of course not,” said Harry, disconcerted by 
+this sudden change of subject. 
+
+“Sweet of you,” she replied, and she smiled as she left 
+the scullery. 
+
+From that moment on, Mrs. Weasley kept Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione so busy with preparations for the 
+wedding that they hardly had any time to think. The 
+kindest explanation of this behavior would have been 
+that Mrs. Weasley wanted to distract them all from 
+thoughts of Mad-Eye and the terrors of their recent 
+journey. After two days of nonstop cutlery cleaning, of 
+color-matching favors, ribbons, and flowers, of de- 
+gnoming the garden and helping Mrs. Weasley cook 
+vast batches of canapes, however, Harry started to 
+suspect her of a different motive. All the jobs she 
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+handed out seemed to keep him, Ron, and Hermione 
+away from one another; he had not had a chance to 
+speak to the two of them alone since the first night, 
+when he had told them about Voldemort torturing 
+Ollivander. 
+
+“I think Mum thinks that if she can stop the three of 
+you getting together and planning, she’ll be able to 
+delay you leaving,” Ginny told Harry in an undertone, 
+as they laid the table for dinner on the third night of 
+his stay. 
+
+“And then what does she think’s going to happen?” 
+Harry muttered. “Someone else might kill off 
+Voldemort while she’s holding us here making vol-au- 
+vents?” 
+
+He had spoken without thinking, and saw Ginny’s 
+face whiten. 
+
+“So it’s true?” she said. “That’s what you’re trying to 
+do?” 
+
+“I — not — I was joking,” said Harry evasively. 
+
+They stared at each other, and there was something 
+more than shock in Ginny’s expression. Suddenly 
+Harry became aware that this was the first time that 
+he had been alone with her since those stolen hours 
+in secluded corners of the Hogwarts grounds. He was 
+sure she was remembering them too. Both of them 
+jumped as the door opened, and Mr. Weasley, 
+Kingsley, and Bill walked in. 
+
+They were often joined by other Order members for 
+dinner now, because the Burrow had replaced 
+number twelve, Grimmauld Place as the 
+headquarters. Mr. Weasley had explained that after 
+the death of Dumbledore, their Secret-Keeper, each of 
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+
+
+the people to whom Dumbledore had confided 
+Grimmauld Place’s location had become a Secret- 
+Keeper in turn. 
+
+“And as there are around twenty of us, that greatly 
+dilutes the power of the Fidelius Charm. Twenty times 
+as many opportunities for the Death Eaters to get the 
+secret out of somebody. We can’t expect it to hold 
+much longer.” 
+
+“But surely Snape will have told the Death Eaters the 
+address by now?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Well, Mad-Eye set up a couple of curses against 
+Snape in case he turns up there again. We hope 
+they’ll be strong enough both to keep him out and to 
+bind his tongue if he tries to talk about the place, but 
+we can’t be sure. It would have been insane to keep 
+using the place as headquarters now that its 
+protection has become so shaky.” 
+
+The kitchen was so crowded that evening it was 
+difficult to maneuver knives and forks. Harry found 
+himself crammed beside Ginny; the unsaid things 
+that had just passed between them made him wish 
+they had been separated by a few more people. He 
+was trying so hard to avoid brushing her arm he 
+could barely cut his chicken. 
+
+“No news about Mad-Eye?” Harry asked Bill. 
+
+“Nothing,” replied Bill. 
+
+They had not been able to hold a funeral for Moody, 
+because Bill and Lupin had failed to recover his body. 
+It had been difficult to know where he might have 
+fallen, given the darkness and the confusion of the 
+battle. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The Daily Prophet hasn’t said a word about him 
+dying or about finding the body,” Bill went on. “But 
+that doesn’t mean much. It’s keeping a lot quiet these 
+days.” 
+
+“And they still haven’t called a hearing about all the 
+underage magic I used escaping the Death Eaters?” 
+Harry called across the table to Mr. Weasley, who 
+shook his head. 
+
+“Because they know I had no choice or because they 
+don’t want me to tell the world Voldemort attacked 
+me?” 
+
+“The latter, I think. Scrimgeour doesn’t want to admit 
+that You-Know-Who is as powerful as he is, nor that 
+Azkaban’s seen a mass breakout.” 
+
+“Yeah, why tell the public the truth?” said Harry, 
+clenching his knife so tightly that the faint scars on 
+the back of his right hand stood out, white against his 
+skin: I must not tell lies. 
+
+“Isn’t anyone at the Ministry prepared to stand up to 
+him?” asked Ron angrily. 
+
+“Of course, Ron, but people are terrified,” Mr. Weasley 
+replied, “terrified that they will be next to disappear, 
+their children the next to be attacked! There are nasty 
+rumors going around; I for one don’t believe the 
+Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts resigned. She 
+hasn’t been seen for weeks now. Meanwhile 
+Scrimgeour remains shut up in his office all day: I 
+just hope he’s working on a plan.” 
+
+There was a pause in which Mrs. Weasley magicked 
+the empty plates onto the work surface and served 
+apple tart. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We must decide ’ow you will be disguised, ’Arry,” said 
+Fleur, once everyone had pudding. “For ze wedding,” 
+she added, when he looked confused. “Of course, 
+none of our guests are Death Eaters, but we cannot 
+guarantee zat zey will not let something slip after zey 
+’ave ’ad champagne.” 
+
+From this, Harry gathered that she still suspected 
+Hagrid. 
+
+“Yes, good point,” said Mrs. Weasley from the top of 
+the table, where she sat, spectacles perched on the 
+end of her nose, scanning an immense list of jobs that 
+she had scribbled on a very long piece of parchment. 
+“Now, Ron, have you cleaned out your room yet?” 
+
+“ Why?” exclaimed Ron, slamming his spoon down and 
+glaring at his mother. “Why does my room have to be 
+cleaned out? Harry and I are fine with it the way it is!” 
+
+“We are holding your brother’s wedding here in a few 
+days’ time, young man — ” 
+
+“And are they getting married in my bedroom?” asked 
+Ron furiously. “No! So why in the name of Merlin’s 
+saggy left — ” 
+
+“Don’t talk to your mother like that,” said Mr. Weasley 
+firmly. “And do as you’re told.” 
+
+Ron scowled at both his parents, then picked up his 
+spoon and attacked the last few mouthfuls of his 
+apple tart. 
+
+“I can help, some of it’s my mess,” Harry told Ron, 
+but Mrs. Weasley cut across him. 
+
+“No, Harry, dear, I’d much rather you helped Arthur 
+muck out the chickens, and Hermione, I’d be ever so 
+
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+
+
+
+
+grateful if you’d change the sheets for Monsieur and 
+Madame Delacour; you know they’re arriving at 
+eleven tomorrow morning.” 
+
+But as it turned out, there was very little to do for the 
+chickens. “There’s no need to, er, mention it to Molly,” 
+Mr. Weasley told Harry, blocking his access to the 
+coop, “but, er, Ted Tonks sent me most of what was 
+left of Sirius’s bike and, er, I’m hiding — that’s to say, 
+keeping — it in here. Fantastic stuff: There’s an 
+exhaust gaskin, as I believe it’s called, the most 
+magnificent battery, and it’ll be a great opportunity to 
+find out how brakes work. I’m going to try and put it 
+all back together again when Molly’s not — I mean, 
+when I’ve got time.” 
+
+When they returned to the house, Mrs. Weasley was 
+nowhere to be seen, so Harry slipped upstairs to 
+Ron’s attic bedroom. 
+
+“I’m doing it, I’m doing — ! Oh, it’s you,” said Ron in 
+relief, as Harry entered the room. Ron lay back down 
+on the bed, which he had evidently just vacated. The 
+room was just as messy as it had been all week; the 
+only change was that Hermione was now sitting in the 
+far corner, her fluffy ginger cat, Crookshanks, at her 
+feet, sorting books, some of which Harry recognized 
+as his own, into two enormous piles. 
+
+“Hi, Harry,” she said, as he sat down on his camp 
+bed. 
+
+“And how did you manage to get away?” 
+
+“Oh, Ron’s mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me 
+to change the sheets yesterday,” said Hermione. She 
+threw Numerology and Grammatica onto one pile and 
+The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts onto the other. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We were just talking about Mad-Eye,” Ron told 
+Harry. “I reckon he might have survived.” 
+
+“But Bill saw him hit by the Killing Curse,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Yeah, but Bill was under attack too,” said Ron. “How 
+can he be sure what he saw?” 
+
+“Even if the Killing Curse missed, Mad-Eye still fell 
+about a thousand feet,” said Hermione, now weighing 
+Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland in her hand. 
+
+“He could have used a Shield Charm — ” 
+
+“Fleur said his wand was blasted out of his hand,” 
+said Harry. 
+
+“Well, all right, if you want him to be dead,” said Ron 
+grumpily, punching his pillow into a more 
+comfortable shape. 
+
+“Of course we don’t want him to be dead!” said 
+Hermione, looking shocked. “It’s dreadful that he’s 
+dead! But we’re being realistic!” 
+
+For the first time, Harry imagined Mad-Eye’s body, 
+broken as Dumbledore’s had been, yet with that one 
+eye still whizzing in its socket. He felt a stab of 
+revulsion mixed with a bizarre desire to laugh. 
+
+“The Death Eaters probably tidied up after 
+themselves, that’s why no one’s found him,” said Ron 
+wisely. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “Like Barty Crouch, turned into a 
+bone and buried in Hagrid’s front garden. They 
+probably transfigured Moody and stuffed him — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Don’t!” squealed Hermione. Startled, Harry looked 
+over just in time to see her burst into tears over her 
+copy of Spellman’s Syllabary. 
+
+“Oh no,” said Harry, struggling to get up from the old 
+camp bed. “Hermione, I wasn’t trying to upset — ” 
+
+But with a great creaking of rusty bedsprings, Ron 
+bounded off the bed and got there first. One arm 
+around Hermione, he fished in his jeans pocket and 
+withdrew a revolting-looking handkerchief that he 
+had used to clean out the oven earlier. Hastily pulling 
+out his wand, he pointed it at the rag and said, 
+
+“ Tergeo .” 
+
+The wand siphoned off most of the grease. Looking 
+rather pleased with himself, Ron handed the slightly 
+smoking handkerchief to Hermione. 
+
+“Oh ... thanks, Ron. ... I’m sorry. ...” She blew her 
+nose and hiccuped. “It’s just so awf-ful, isn’t it? R- 
+right after Dumbledore ... I j-just n-never imagined 
+Mad-Eye dying, somehow, he seemed so tough!” 
+
+“Yeah, I know,” said Ron, giving her a squeeze. “But 
+you know what he’d say to us if he was here?” 
+
+“ ‘C-constant vigilance,’ ” said Hermione, mopping her 
+eyes. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Ron, nodding. “He’d tell us to learn 
+from what happened to him. And what I’ve learned is 
+not to trust that cowardly little squit, Mundungus.” 
+
+Hermione gave a shaky laugh and leaned forward to 
+pick up two more books. A second later, Ron had 
+snatched his arm back from around her shoulders; 
+she had dropped The Monster Book of Monsters on his 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+foot. The book had broken free from its restraining 
+belt and snapped viciously at Ron’s ankle. 
+
+
+
+“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Hermione cried as Harry 
+wrenched the book from Ron’s leg and retied it shut. 
+
+“What are you doing with all those books anyway?” 
+Ron asked, limping back to his bed. 
+
+“Just trying to decide which ones to take with us,” 
+said Hermione. “When we’re looking for the 
+Horcruxes.” 
+
+“Oh, of course,” said Ron, clapping a hand to his 
+forehead. “I forgot we’ll be hunting down Voldemort in 
+a mobile library.” 
+
+“Ha ha,” said Hermione, looking down at Spellman’s 
+Syllabary. “I wonder ... will we need to translate 
+runes? It’s possible. ... I think we’d better take it, to 
+be safe.” 
+
+She dropped the syllabary onto the larger of the two 
+piles and picked up Hogwarts, A History. 
+
+“Listen,” said Harry. 
+
+He had sat up straight. Ron and Hermione looked at 
+him with similar mixtures of resignation and defiance. 
+
+“I know you said after Dumbledore’s funeral that you 
+wanted to come with me,” Harry began. 
+
+“Here he goes,” Ron said to Hermione, rolling his eyes. 
+
+“As we knew he would,” she sighed, turning back to 
+the books. “You know, I think I will take Hogwarts, A 
+History. Even if we’re not going back there, I don’t 
+think I’d feel right if I didn’t have it with — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Listen!” said Harry again. 
+
+
+
+“No, Harry, you listen,” said Hermione. “We’re coming 
+with you. That was decided months ago — years, 
+really.” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“Shut up,” Ron advised him. 
+
+“ — are you sure you’ve thought this through?” Harry 
+persisted. 
+
+“Let’s see,” said Hermione, slamming Travels with 
+Trolls onto the discarded pile with a rather fierce look. 
+“I’ve been packing for days, so we’re ready to leave at 
+a moment’s notice, which for your information has 
+included doing some pretty difficult magic, not to 
+mention smuggling Mad-Eye’s whole stock of 
+Polyjuice Potion right under Ron’s mum’s nose. 
+
+“I’ve also modified my parents’ memories so that 
+they’re convinced they’re really called Wendell and 
+Monica Wilkins, and that their life’s ambition is to 
+move to Australia, which they have now done. That’s 
+to make it more difficult for Voldemort to track them 
+down and interrogate them about me — or you, 
+because unfortunately, I’ve told them quite a bit 
+about you. 
+
+“Assuming I survive our hunt for the Horcruxes, I’ll 
+find Mum and Dad and lift the enchantment. If I don’t 
+— well, I think I’ve cast a good enough charm to keep 
+them safe and happy. Wendell and Monica Wilkins 
+don’t know that they’ve got a daughter, you see.” 
+
+Hermione’s eyes were swimming with tears again. Ron 
+got back off the bed, put his arm around her once 
+more, and frowned at Harry as though reproaching 
+
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+
+
+
+
+him for lack of tact. Harry could not think of anything 
+to say, not least because it was highly unusual for 
+Ron to be teaching anyone else tact. 
+
+“I — Hermione, I’m sorry — I didn’t — ” 
+
+“Didn’t realize that Ron and I know perfectly well 
+what might happen if we come with you? Well, we do. 
+Ron, show Harry what you’ve done.” 
+
+“Nah, he’s just eaten,” said Ron. 
+
+“Go on, he needs to know!” 
+
+“Oh, all right. Harry, come here.” 
+
+For the second time Ron withdrew his arm from 
+around Hermione and stumped over to the door. 
+
+“C’mon.” 
+
+“Why?” Harry asked, following Ron out of the room 
+onto the tiny landing. 
+
+“ Descendo,” muttered Ron, pointing his wand at the 
+low ceiling. A hatch opened right over their heads and 
+a ladder slid down to their feet. A horrible, half- 
+sucking, half-moaning sound came out of the square 
+hole, along with an unpleasant smell like open drains. 
+
+“That’s your ghoul, isn’t it?” asked Harry, who had 
+never actually met the creature that sometimes 
+disrupted the nightly silence. 
+
+“Yeah, it is,” said Ron, climbing the ladder. “Come 
+and have a look at him.” 
+
+Harry followed Ron up the few short steps into the 
+tiny attic space. His head and shoulders were in the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+room before he caught sight of the creature curled up 
+a few feet from him, fast asleep in the gloom with its 
+large mouth wide open. 
+
+“But it ... it looks ... do ghouls normally wear 
+pajamas?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron. “Nor have they usually got red hair or 
+that number of pustules.” 
+
+Harry contemplated the thing, slightly revolted. It was 
+human in shape and size, and was wearing what, now 
+that Harry’s eyes became used to the darkness, was 
+clearly an old pair of Ron’s pajamas. He was also sure 
+that ghouls were generally rather slimy and bald, 
+rather than distinctly hairy and covered in angry 
+purple blisters. 
+
+“He’s me, see?” said Ron. 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “I don’t.” 
+
+“I’ll explain it back in my room, the smell’s getting to 
+me,” said Ron. They climbed back down the ladder, 
+which Ron returned to the ceiling, and rejoined 
+Hermione, who was still sorting books. 
+
+“Once we’ve left, the ghoul’s going to come and live 
+down here in my room,” said Ron. “I think he’s really 
+looking forward to it — well, it’s hard to tell, because 
+all he can do is moan and drool — but he nods a lot 
+when you mention it. Anyway, he’s going to be me 
+with spattergroit. Good, eh?” 
+
+Harry merely looked his confusion. 
+
+“It is!” said Ron, clearly frustrated that Harry had not 
+grasped the brilliance of the plan. “Look, when we 
+three don’t turn up at Hogwarts again, everyone’s 
+
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+
+
+
+
+going to think Hermione and I must be with you, 
+right? Which means the Death Eaters will go straight 
+for our families to see if they’ve got information on 
+where you are.” 
+
+“But hopefully it’ll look like I’ve gone away with Mum 
+and Dad; a lot of Muggle-borns are talking about 
+going into hiding at the moment,” said Hermione. 
+
+“We can’t hide my whole family, it’ll look too fishy and 
+they can’t all leave their jobs,” said Ron. “So we’re 
+going to put out the story that I’m seriously ill with 
+spattergroit, which is why I can’t go back to school. If 
+anyone comes calling to investigate, Mum or Dad can 
+show them the ghoul in my bed, covered in pustules. 
+Spattergroit ’s really contagious, so they’re not going 
+to want to go near him. It won’t matter that he can’t 
+say anything, either, because apparently you can’t 
+once the fungus has spread to your uvula.” 
+
+“And your mum and dad are in on this plan?” asked 
+Harry. 
+
+“Dad is. He helped Fred and George transform the 
+ghoul. Mum ... well, you’ve seen what she’s like. She 
+won’t accept we’re going till we’ve gone.” 
+
+There was silence in the room, broken only by gentle 
+thuds as Hermione continued to throw books onto 
+one pile or the other. Ron sat watching her, and Harry 
+looked from one to the other, unable to say anything. 
+The measures they had taken to protect their families 
+made him realize, more than anything else could have 
+done, that they really were going to come with him 
+and that they knew exactly how dangerous that would 
+be. He wanted to tell them what that meant to him, 
+but he simply could not find words important enough. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Through the silence came the muffled sounds of Mrs. 
+Weasley shouting from four floors below. 
+
+“Ginny’s probably left a speck of dust on a poxy 
+napkin ring,” said Ron. “I dunno why the Delacours 
+have got to come two days before the wedding.” 
+
+“Fleur’s sister’s a bridesmaid, she needs to be here for 
+the rehearsal, and she’s too young to come on her 
+own,” said Hermione, as she pored indecisively over 
+Break with a Banshee. 
+
+“Well, guests aren’t going to help Mum’s stress levels,” 
+said Ron. 
+
+“What we really need to decide,” said Hermione, 
+tossing Defensive Magical Theory into the bin without 
+a second glance and picking up An Appraisal of 
+Magical Education in Europe, “is where we’re going 
+after we leave here. I know you said you wanted to go 
+to Godric’s Hollow first, Harry, and I understand why, 
+but ... well ... shouldn’t we make the Horcruxes our 
+priority?” 
+
+“If we knew where any of the Horcruxes were, I’d 
+agree with you,” said Harry, who did not believe that 
+Hermione really understood his desire to return to 
+Godric’s Hollow. His parents’ graves were only part of 
+the attraction: He had a strong, though inexplicable, 
+feeling that the place held answers for him. Perhaps it 
+was simply because it was there that he had survived 
+Voldemort’s Killing Curse; now that he was facing the 
+challenge of repeating the feat, Harry was drawn to 
+the place where it had happened, wanting to 
+understand. 
+
+“Don’t you think there’s a possibility that Voldemort’s 
+keeping a watch on Godric’s Hollow?” Hermione 
+asked. “He might expect you to go back and visit your 
+
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+
+
+
+
+parents’ graves once you’re free to go wherever you 
+like?” 
+
+
+
+This had not occurred to Harry. While he struggled to 
+find a counterargument, Ron spoke up, evidently 
+following his own train of thought. 
+
+“This R.A.B. person,” he said. “You know, the one who 
+stole the real locket?” 
+
+Hermione nodded. 
+
+“He said in his note he was going to destroy it, didn’t 
+he?” 
+
+Harry dragged his rucksack toward him and pulled 
+out the fake Horcrux in which R.A.B. ’s note was still 
+folded. 
+
+“ ‘ I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy 
+it as soon as I can,’ ” Harry read out. 
+
+“Well, what if he did finish it off?” said Ron. 
+
+“Or she,” interposed Hermione. 
+
+“Whichever,” said Ron, “it’d be one less for us to do!” 
+
+“Yes, but we’re still going to have to try and trace the 
+real locket, aren’t we?” said Hermione, “to find out 
+whether or not it’s destroyed.” 
+
+“And once we get hold of it, how do you destroy a 
+Horcrux?” asked Ron. 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione, “I’ve been researching that.” 
+
+“How?” asked Harry. “I didn’t think there were any 
+books on Horcruxes in the library?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“There weren’t,” said Hermione, who had turned pink. 
+“Dumbledore removed them all, but he — he didn’t 
+destroy them.” 
+
+Ron sat up straight, wide-eyed. 
+
+“How in the name of Merlin’s pants have you 
+managed to get your hands on those Horcrux books?” 
+
+“It — it wasn’t stealing!” said Hermione, looking from 
+Harry to Ron with a kind of desperation. “They were 
+still library books, even if Dumbledore had taken 
+them off the shelves. Anyway, if he really didn’t want 
+anyone to get at them, I’m sure he would have made 
+it much harder to — ” 
+
+“Get to the point!” said Ron. 
+
+“Well ... it was easy,” said Hermione in a small voice. 
+
+“I just did a Summoning Charm. You know — Accio. 
+And — they zoomed out of Dumbledore ’s study 
+window right into the girls’ dormitory.” 
+
+“But when did you do this?” Harry asked, regarding 
+Hermione with a mixture of admiration and 
+incredulity. 
+
+“Just after his — Dumbledore’s — funeral,” said 
+Hermione in an even smaller voice. “Right after we 
+agreed we’d leave school and go and look for the 
+Horcruxes. When I went back upstairs to get my 
+things it — it just occurred to me that the more we 
+knew about them, the better it would be ... and I was 
+alone in there ... so I tried ... and it worked. They flew 
+straight in through the open window and I — I packed 
+them.” 
+
+She swallowed and then said imploringly, “I can’t 
+believe Dumbledore would have been angry, it’s not 
+
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+
+
+
+
+as though we’re going to use the information to make 
+a Horcrux, is it?” 
+
+“Can you hear us complaining?” said Ron. “Where are 
+these books anyway?” 
+
+Hermione rummaged for a moment and then 
+extracted from the pile a large volume, bound in faded 
+black leather. She looked a little nauseated and held 
+it as gingerly as if it were something recently dead. 
+
+“This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how 
+to make a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art — it’s a 
+horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic. I wonder 
+when Dumbledore removed it from the library. ... If he 
+didn’t do it until he was headmaster, I bet Voldemort 
+got all the instruction he needed from here.” 
+
+“Why did he have to ask Slughorn how to make a 
+Horcrux, then, if he’d already read that?” asked Ron. 
+
+“He only approached Slughorn to find out what would 
+happen if you split your soul into seven,” said Harry. 
+“Dumbledore was sure Riddle already knew how to 
+make a Horcrux by the time he asked Slughorn about 
+them. I think you’re right, Hermione, that could easily 
+have been where he got the information.” 
+
+“And the more I’ve read about them,” said Hermione, 
+“the more horrible they seem, and the less I can 
+believe that he actually made six. It warns in this 
+book how unstable you make the rest of your soul by 
+ripping it, and that’s just by making one Horcrux!” 
+
+Harry remembered what Dumbledore had said about 
+Voldemort moving beyond “usual evil.” 
+
+“Isn’t there any way of putting yourself back 
+together?” Ron asked. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione with a hollow smile, “but it 
+would be excruciatingly painful.” 
+
+“Why? How do you do it?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Remorse,” said Hermione. “You’ve got to really feel 
+what you’ve done. There’s a footnote. Apparently the 
+pain of it can destroy you. I can’t see Voldemort 
+attempting it somehow, can you?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron, before Harry could answer. “So does it 
+say how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione, now turning the fragile pages as 
+if examining rotting entrails, “because it warns Dark 
+wizards how strong they have to make the 
+enchantments on them. From all that I’ve read, what 
+Harry did to Riddle’s diary was one of the few really 
+foolproof ways of destroying a Horcrux.” 
+
+“What, stabbing it with a basilisk fang?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Oh well, lucky we’ve got such a large supply of 
+basilisk fangs, then,” said Ron. “I was wondering 
+what we were going to do with them.” 
+
+“It doesn’t have to be a basilisk fang,” said Hermione 
+patiently. “It has to be something so destructive that 
+the Horcrux can’t repair itself. Basilisk venom only 
+has one antidote, and it’s incredibly rare — -□ 
+
+“ — phoenix tears,” said Harry, nodding. 
+
+“Exactly,” said Hermione. “Our problem is that there 
+are very few substances as destructive as basilisk 
+venom, and they’re all dangerous to carry around 
+with you. That’s a problem we’re going to have to 
+solve, though, because ripping, smashing, or 
+
+
+
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+
+
+crushing a Horcrux won’t do the trick. You’ve got to 
+put it beyond magical repair.” 
+
+“But even if we wreck the thing it lives in,” said Ron, 
+“why can’t the bit of soul in it just go and live in 
+something else?” 
+
+“Because a Horcrux is the complete opposite of a 
+human being.” 
+
+Seeing that Harry and Ron looked thoroughly 
+confused, Hermione hurried on, “Look, if I picked up 
+a sword right now, Ron, and ran you through with it, 
+
+I wouldn’t damage your soul at all.” 
+
+“Which would be a real comfort to me, I’m sure,” said 
+Ron. Harry laughed. 
+
+“It should be, actually! But my point is that whatever 
+happens to your body, your soul will survive, 
+untouched,” said Hermione. “But it’s the other way 
+round with a Horcrux. The fragment of soul inside it 
+depends on its container, its enchanted body, for 
+survival. It can’t exist without it.” 
+
+“That diary sort of died when I stabbed it,” said Harry, 
+remembering ink pouring like blood from the 
+punctured pages, and the screams of the piece of 
+Voldemort’s soul as it vanished. 
+
+“And once the diary was properly destroyed, the bit of 
+soul trapped in it could no longer exist. Ginny tried to 
+get rid of the diary before you did, flushing it away, 
+but obviously it came back good as new.” 
+
+“Hang on,” said Ron, frowning. “The bit of soul in that 
+diary was possessing Ginny, wasn’t it? How does that 
+work, then?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 116 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“While the magical container is still intact, the bit of 
+soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get 
+too close to the object. I don’t mean holding it for too 
+long, it’s nothing to do with touching it,” she added 
+before Ron could speak. “I mean close emotionally. 
+Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made 
+herself incredibly vulnerable. You’re in trouble if you 
+get too fond of or dependent on the Horcrux.” 
+
+“I wonder how Dumbledore destroyed the ring?” said 
+Harry. “Why didn’t I ask him? I never really ...” 
+
+His voice tailed away: He was thinking of all the 
+things he should have asked Dumbledore, and of 
+how, since the headmaster had died, it seemed to 
+Harry that he had wasted so many opportunities 
+when Dumbledore had been alive, to find out more ... 
+to find out everything. . . . 
+
+The silence was shattered as the bedroom door flew 
+open with a wall-shaking crash. Hermione shrieked 
+and dropped Secrets of the Darkest Art; Crookshanks 
+streaked under the bed, hissing indignantly; Ron 
+jumped off the bed, skidded on a discarded Chocolate 
+Frog wrapper, and smacked his head on the opposite 
+wall; and Harry instinctively dived for his wand before 
+realizing that he was looking up at Mrs. Weasley, 
+whose hair was disheveled and whose face was 
+contorted with rage. 
+
+“I’m so sorry to break up this cozy little gathering,” 
+she said, her voice trembling. “I’m sure you all need 
+your rest . . . but there are wedding presents stacked 
+in my room that need sorting out and I was under the 
+impression that you had agreed to help.” 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Hermione, looking terrified as she leapt 
+to her feet, sending books flying in every direction, 
+
+“we will ... we’re sorry ...” 
+
+Page | 117 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+With an anguished look at Harry and Ron, Hermione 
+hurried out of the room after Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“It’s like being a house-elf,” complained Ron in an 
+undertone, still massaging his head as he and Harry 
+followed. “Except without the job satisfaction. The 
+sooner this wedding’s over, the happier I’ll be.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “then we’ll have nothing to do 
+except find Horcruxes. ... It’ll be like a holiday, won’t 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+Ron started to laugh, but at the sight of the enormous 
+pile of wedding presents waiting for them in Mrs. 
+Weasley’s room, stopped quite abruptly. 
+
+The Delacours arrived the following morning at eleven 
+o’clock. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were feeling 
+quite resentful toward Fleur’s family by this time, and 
+it was with ill grace that Ron stumped back upstairs 
+to put on matching socks, and Harry attempted to 
+flatten his hair. Once they had all been deemed smart 
+enough, they trooped out into the sunny backyard to 
+await the visitors. 
+
+Harry had never seen the place looking so tidy. The 
+rusty cauldrons and old Wellington boots that usually 
+littered the steps by the back door were gone, 
+replaced by two new Flutterby bushes standing either 
+side of the door in large pots; though there was no 
+breeze, the leaves waved lazily, giving an attractive 
+rippling effect. The chickens had been shut away, the 
+yard had been swept, and the nearby garden had 
+been pruned, plucked, and generally spruced up, 
+although Harry, who liked it in its overgrown state, 
+thought that it looked rather forlorn without its usual 
+contingent of capering gnomes. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He had lost track of how many security enchantments 
+had been placed upon the Burrow by both the Order 
+and the Ministry; all he knew was that it was no 
+longer possible for anybody to travel by magic directly 
+into the place. Mr. Weasley had therefore gone to 
+meet the Delacours on top of a nearby hill, where they 
+were to arrive by Portkey. The first sound of their 
+approach was an unusually high-pitched laugh, 
+which turned out to be coming from Mr. Weasley, who 
+appeared at the gate moments later, laden with 
+luggage and leading a beautiful blonde woman in 
+long, leaf-green robes, who could only be Fleur’s 
+mother. 
+
+“Maman!” cried Fleur, rushing forward to embrace 
+her. “Papa!” 
+
+Monsieur Delacour was nowhere near as attractive as 
+his wife; he was a head shorter and extremely plump, 
+with a little, pointed black beard. However, he looked 
+good-natured. Bouncing toward Mrs. Weasley on 
+high-heeled boots, he kissed her twice on each cheek, 
+leaving her flustered. 
+
+“You ’ave been to much trouble,” he said in a deep 
+voice. “Fleur tells us you ’ave been working very ’ard.” 
+
+“Oh, it’s been nothing, nothing!” trilled Mrs. Weasley. 
+“No trouble at all!” 
+
+Ron relieved his feelings by aiming a kick at a gnome 
+who was peering out from behind one of the new 
+Flutterby bushes. 
+
+“Dear lady!” said Monsieur Delacour, still holding 
+Mrs. Weasley’s hand between his own two plump 
+ones and beaming. “We are most honored at the 
+approaching union of our two families! Let me present 
+my wife, Apolline.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Madame Delacour glided forward and stooped to kiss 
+Mrs. Weasley too. 
+
+“ Enchantee,” she said. “Your ’usband ’as been telling 
+us such amusing stories!” 
+
+Mr. Weasley gave a maniacal laugh; Mrs. Weasley 
+threw him a look, upon which he became immediately 
+silent and assumed an expression appropriate to the 
+sickbed of a close friend. 
+
+“And, of course, you ’ave met my leetle daughter, 
+Gabrielle!” said Monsieur Delacour. Gabrielle was 
+Fleur in miniature; eleven years old, with waist-length 
+hair of pure, silvery blonde, she gave Mrs. Weasley a 
+dazzling smile and hugged her, then threw Harry a 
+glowing look, batting her eyelashes. Ginny cleared her 
+throat loudly. 
+
+“Well, come in, do!” said Mrs. Weasley brightly, and 
+she ushered the Delacours into the house, with many 
+“No, please!”s and “After you!”s and “Not at all!”s. 
+
+The Delacours, it soon transpired, were helpful, 
+pleasant guests. They were pleased with everything 
+and keen to assist with the preparations for the 
+wedding. Monsieur Delacour pronounced everything 
+from the seating plan to the bridesmaids’ shoes 
+“Charmanti” Madame Delacour was most 
+accomplished at household spells and had the oven 
+properly cleaned in a trice; Gabrielle followed her 
+elder sister around, trying to assist in any way she 
+could and jabbering away in rapid French. 
+
+On the downside, the Burrow was not built to 
+accommodate so many people. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley 
+were now sleeping in the sitting room, having shouted 
+down Monsieur and Madame Delacour’s protests and 
+insisted they take their bedroom. Gabrielle was 
+Page | 120 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+sleeping with Fleur in Percy’s old room, and Bill 
+would be sharing with Charlie, his best man, once 
+Charlie arrived from Romania. Opportunities to make 
+plans together became virtually nonexistent, and it 
+was in desperation that Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+took to volunteering to feed the chickens just to 
+escape the overcrowded house. 
+
+“But she still won’t leave us alone!” snarled Ron, as 
+their second attempt at a meeting in the yard was 
+foiled by the appearance of Mrs. Weasley carrying a 
+large basket of laundry in her arms. 
+
+“Oh, good, you’ve fed the chickens,” she called as she 
+approached them. “We’d better shut them away again 
+before the men arrive tomorrow ... to put up the tent 
+for the wedding,” she explained, pausing to lean 
+against the henhouse. She looked exhausted. 
+“Millamant’s Magic Marquees ... they’re very good, 
+Bill’s escorting them. ... You’d better stay inside while 
+they’re here, Harry. I must say it does complicate 
+organizing a wedding, having all these security spells 
+around the place.” 
+
+“I’m sorry,” said Harry humbly. 
+
+“Oh, don’t be silly, dear!” said Mrs. Weasley at once. “I 
+didn’t mean — well, your safety’s much more 
+important! Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask you how 
+you want to celebrate your birthday, Harry. 
+
+Seventeen, after all, it’s an important day. ...” 
+
+“I don’t want a fuss,” said Harry quickly, envisaging 
+the additional strain this would put on them all. 
+“Really, Mrs. Weasley, just a normal dinner would be 
+fine. ... It’s the day before the wedding. ...” 
+
+“Oh, well, if you’re sure, dear. I’ll invite Remus and 
+Tonks, shall I? And how about Hagrid?” 
+
+Page | 121 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“That’d be great,” said Harry. “But please don’t go to 
+loads of trouble.” 
+
+“Not at all, not at all ... It’s no trouble. ...” 
+
+She looked at him, a long, searching look, then smiled 
+a little sadly, straightened up, and walked away. 
+
+Harry watched as she waved her wand near the 
+washing line, and the damp clothes rose into the air 
+to hang themselves up, and suddenly he felt a great 
+wave of remorse for the inconvenience and the pain 
+he was giving her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 122 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+7 
+
+
+
+
+THE WILL OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE 
+
+He was walking along a mountain road in the cool 
+blue light of dawn. Far below, swathed in mist, was 
+the shadow of a small town. Was the man he sought 
+down there, the man he needed so badly he could 
+think of little else, the man who held the answer, the 
+answer to his problem . . . ? 
+
+“Oi, wake up.” 
+
+Harry opened his eyes. He was lying again on the 
+camp bed in Ron’s dingy attic room. The sun had not 
+yet risen and the room was still shadowy. Pigwidgeon 
+was asleep with his head under his tiny wing. The 
+scar on Harry’s forehead was prickling. 
+
+“You were muttering in your sleep.” 
+
+“Was I?” 
+
+“Yeah. ‘Gregorovitch.’ You kept saying ‘Gregorovitch.’ 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry was not wearing his glasses; Ron’s face 
+appeared slightly blurred. 
+
+
+
+“Who’s Gregorovitch?” 
+
+“I dunno, do I? You were the one saying it.” 
+
+Harry rubbed his forehead, thinking. He had a vague 
+idea he had heard the name before, but he could not 
+think where. 
+
+“I think Voldemort’s looking for him.” 
+
+“Poor bloke,” said Ron fervently. 
+
+Harry sat up, still rubbing his scar, now wide awake. 
+He tried to remember exactly what he had seen in the 
+dream, but all that came back was a mountainous 
+horizon and the outline of the little village cradled in a 
+deep valley. 
+
+“I think he’s abroad.” 
+
+“Who, Gregorovitch?” 
+
+“Voldemort. I think he’s somewhere abroad, looking 
+for Gregorovitch. It didn’t look like anywhere in 
+Britain.” 
+
+“You reckon you were seeing into his mind again?” 
+Ron sounded worried. 
+
+“Do me a favor and don’t tell Hermione,” said Harry. 
+“Although how she expects me to stop seeing stuff in 
+my sleep ...” 
+
+He gazed up at little Pigwidgeon’s cage, thinking ... 
+Why was the name “Gregorovitch” familiar? 
+
+Page | 124 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I think,” he said slowly, “he’s got something to do 
+with Quidditch. There’s some connection, but I can’t 
+— I can’t think what it is.” 
+
+“Quidditch?” said Ron. “Sure you’re not thinking of 
+Gorgovitch?” 
+
+“Who?” 
+
+“Dragomir Gorgovitch, Chaser, transferred to the 
+Chudley Cannons for a record fee two years ago. 
+Record holder for most Quaffle drops in a season.” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “I’m definitely not thinking of 
+Gorgovitch.” 
+
+“I try not to either,” said Ron. “Well, happy birthday 
+anyway.” 
+
+“Wow — that’s right, I forgot! I’m seventeen!” 
+
+Harry seized the wand lying beside his camp bed, 
+pointed it at the cluttered desk where he had left his 
+glasses, and said, “Accio Glasses!” Although they were 
+only around a foot away, there was something 
+immensely satisfying about seeing them zoom toward 
+him, at least until they poked him in the eye. 
+
+“Slick,” snorted Ron. 
+
+Reveling in the removal of his Trace, Harry sent Ron’s 
+possessions flying around the room, causing 
+Pigwidgeon to wake up and flutter excitedly around 
+his cage. Harry also tried tying the laces of his 
+trainers by magic (the resultant knot took several 
+minutes to untie by hand) and, purely for the 
+pleasure of it, turned the orange robes on Ron’s 
+Chudley Cannons posters bright blue. 
+
+
+
+Page | 125 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’d do your fly by hand, though,” Ron advised Harry, 
+sniggering when Harry immediately checked it. 
+
+“Here’s your present. Unwrap it up here, it’s not for 
+my mother’s eyes.” 
+
+“A book?” said Harry as he took the rectangular 
+parcel. “Bit of a departure from tradition, isn’t it?” 
+
+“This isn’t your average book,” said Ron. “It’s pure 
+gold: Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. 
+Explains everything you need to know about girls. If 
+only I’d had this last year I’d have known exactly how 
+to get rid of Lavender and I would’ve known how to 
+get going with ... Well, Fred and George gave me a 
+copy, and I’ve learned a lot. You’d be surprised, it’s 
+not all about wandwork, either.” 
+
+When they arrived in the kitchen they found a pile of 
+presents waiting on the table. Bill and Monsieur 
+Delacour were finishing their breakfasts, while Mrs. 
+Weasley stood chatting to them over the frying pan. 
+
+“Arthur told me to wish you a happy seventeenth, 
+Harry,” said Mrs. Weasley, beaming at him. “He had 
+to leave early for work, but hell be back for dinner. 
+That’s our present on top.” 
+
+Harry sat down, took the square parcel she had 
+indicated, and unwrapped it. Inside was a watch very 
+like the one Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given Ron for 
+his seventeenth; it was gold, with stars circling 
+around the face instead of hands. 
+
+“It’s traditional to give a wizard a watch when he 
+comes of age,” said Mrs. Weasley, watching him 
+anxiously from beside the cooker. “I’m afraid that one 
+isn’t new like Ron’s, it was actually my brother 
+Fabian’s and he wasn’t terribly careful with his 
+possessions, it’s a bit dented on the back, but — ” 
+Page | 126 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The rest of her speech was lost; Harry had got up and 
+hugged her. He tried to put a lot of unsaid things into 
+the hug and perhaps she understood them, because 
+she patted his cheek clumsily when he released her, 
+then waved her wand in a slightly random way, 
+causing half a pack of bacon to flop out of the frying 
+pan onto the floor. 
+
+“Happy birthday, Harry!” said Hermione, hurrying 
+into the kitchen and adding her own present to the 
+top of the pile. “It’s not much, but I hope you like it. 
+What did you get him?” she added to Ron, who 
+seemed not to hear her. 
+
+“Come on, then, open Hermione’s!” said Ron. 
+
+She had bought him a new Sneakoscope. The other 
+packages contained an enchanted razor from Bill and 
+Fleur (“Ah yes, zis will give you ze smoothest shave 
+you will ever ’ave,” Monsieur Delacour assured him, 
+“but you must tell it clearly what you want . . . 
+ozzerwise you might find you ’ave a leetle less hair 
+zan you would like. ...”), chocolates from the 
+Delacours, and an enormous box of the latest 
+Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes merchandise from Fred 
+and George. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not linger at the table, 
+as the arrival of Madame Delacour, Fleur, and 
+Gabrielle made the kitchen uncomfortably crowded. 
+
+“I’ll pack these for you,” Hermione said brightly, 
+taking Harry’s presents out of his arms as the three of 
+them headed back upstairs. “I’m nearly done, I’m just 
+waiting for the rest of your underpants to come out of 
+the wash, Ron — ” 
+
+Ron’s splutter was interrupted by the opening of a 
+door on the first-floor landing. 
+
+Page | 127 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry, will you come in here a moment?” 
+
+It was Ginny. Ron came to an abrupt halt, but 
+Hermione took him by the elbow and tugged him on 
+up the stairs. Feeling nervous, Harry followed Ginny 
+into her room. 
+
+He had never been inside it before. It was small, but 
+bright. There was a large poster of the Wizarding 
+band the Weird Sisters on one wall, and a picture of 
+Gwenog Jones, Captain of the all-witch Quidditch 
+team the Holyhead Harpies, on the other. A desk 
+stood facing the open window, which looked out over 
+the orchard where he and Ginny had once played 
+two-a-side Quidditch with Ron and Hermione, and 
+which now housed a large, pearly white marquee. The 
+golden flag on top was level with Ginny’s window. 
+
+Ginny looked up into Harry’s face, took a deep breath, 
+and said, “Happy seventeenth.” 
+
+“Yeah ... thanks.” 
+
+She was looking at him steadily; he, however, found it 
+difficult to look back at her; it was like gazing into a 
+brilliant light. 
+
+“Nice view,” he said feebly, pointing toward the 
+window. 
+
+She ignored this. He could not blame her. 
+
+“I couldn’t think what to get you,” she said. 
+
+“You didn’t have to get me anything.” 
+
+She disregarded this too. 
+
+
+
+Page | 128 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I didn’t know what would be useful. Nothing too big, 
+because you wouldn’t be able to take it with you.” 
+
+He chanced a glance at her. She was not tearful; that 
+was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, 
+she was rarely weepy. He had sometimes thought that 
+having six brothers must have toughened her up. 
+
+She took a step closer to him. 
+
+“So then I thought, I’d like you to have something to 
+remember me by, you know, if you meet some veela 
+when you’re off doing whatever you’re doing.” 
+
+“I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty 
+thin on the ground, to be honest.” 
+
+“There’s the silver lining I’ve been looking for,” she 
+whispered, and then she was kissing him as she had 
+never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her 
+back, and it was blissful oblivion, better than 
+firewhisky; she was the only real thing in the world, 
+Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one 
+in her long, sweet-smelling hair — 
+
+The door banged open behind them and they jumped 
+apart. 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron pointedly. “Sorry.” 
+
+“Ron!” Hermione was just behind him, slightly out of 
+breath. There was a strained silence, then Ginny said 
+in a flat little voice, 
+
+“Well, happy birthday anyway, Harry.” 
+
+Ron’s ears were scarlet; Hermione looked nervous. 
+Harry wanted to slam the door in their faces, but it 
+felt as though a cold draft had entered the room when 
+
+Page | 129 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the door opened, and his shining moment had popped 
+like a soap bubble. All the reasons for ending his 
+relationship with Ginny, for staying well away from 
+her, seemed to have slunk inside the room with Ron, 
+and all happy forgetfulness was gone. 
+
+He looked at Ginny, wanting to say something, 
+though he hardly knew what, but she had turned her 
+back on him. He thought that she might have 
+succumbed, for once, to tears. He could not do 
+anything to comfort her in front of Ron. 
+
+“I’ll see you later,” he said, and followed the other two 
+out of the bedroom. 
+
+Ron marched downstairs, through the still-crowded 
+kitchen and into the yard, and Harry kept pace with 
+him all the way, Hermione trotting along behind them 
+looking scared. 
+
+Once he reached the seclusion of the freshly mown 
+lawn, Ron rounded on Harry. 
+
+“You ditched her. What are you doing now, messing 
+her around?” 
+
+“I’m not messing her around,” said Harry, as 
+Hermione caught up with them. 
+
+“Ron — ” 
+
+But Ron held up a hand to silence her. 
+
+“She was really cut up when you ended it — ” 
+
+“So was I. You know why I stopped it, and it wasn’t 
+because I wanted to.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 130 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, but you go snogging her now and she’s just 
+going to get her hopes up again — ” 
+
+“She’s not an idiot, she knows it can’t happen, she’s 
+not expecting us to — to end up married, or — ” 
+
+As he said it, a vivid picture formed in Harry’s mind of 
+Ginny in a white dress, marrying a tall, faceless, and 
+unpleasant stranger. In one spiraling moment it 
+seemed to hit him: Her future was free and 
+unencumbered, whereas his ... he could see nothing 
+but Voldemort ahead. 
+
+“If you keep groping her every chance you get — ” 
+
+“It won’t happen again,” said Harry harshly. The day 
+was cloudless, but he felt as though the sun had gone 
+in. “Okay?” 
+
+Ron looked half resentful, half sheepish; he rocked 
+backward and forward on his feet for a moment, then 
+said, “Right then, well, that’s ... yeah.” 
+
+Ginny did not seek another one-to-one meeting with 
+Harry for the rest of the day, nor by any look or 
+gesture did she show that they had shared more than 
+polite conversation in her room. Nevertheless, 
+
+Charlie’s arrival came as a relief to Harry. It provided 
+a distraction, watching Mrs. Weasley force Charlie 
+into a chair, raise her wand threateningly, and 
+announce that he was about to get a proper haircut. 
+
+As Harry’s birthday dinner would have stretched the 
+Burrow’s kitchen to breaking point even before the 
+arrival of Charlie, Lupin, Tonks, and Hagrid, several 
+tables were placed end to end in the garden. Fred and 
+George bewitched a number of purple lanterns, all 
+emblazoned with a large number 17, to hang in 
+midair over the guests. Thanks to Mrs. Weasley’s 
+Page | 131 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ministrations, George’s wound was neat and clean, 
+but Harry was not yet used to the dark hole in the 
+side of his head, despite the twins’ many jokes about 
+it. 
+
+Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from 
+the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically 
+over the trees and bushes. 
+
+“Nice,” said Ron, as with one final flourish of her 
+wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crabapple 
+tree to gold. “You’ve really got an eye for that sort of 
+thing.” 
+
+“Thank you, Ron!” said Hermione, looking both 
+pleased and a little confused. Harry turned away, 
+smiling to himself. He had a funny notion that he 
+would find a chapter on compliments when he found 
+time to peruse his copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to 
+Charm Witches; he caught Ginny’s eye and grinned at 
+her before remembering his promise to Ron and 
+hurriedly striking up a conversation with Monsieur 
+Delacour. 
+
+“Out of the way, out of the way!” sang Mrs. Weasley, 
+coming through the gate with what appeared to be a 
+giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch floating in front of her. 
+Seconds later Harry realized that it was his birthday 
+cake, which Mrs. Weasley was suspending with her 
+wand, rather than risk carrying it over the uneven 
+ground. When the cake had finally landed in the 
+middle of the table, Harry said, “That looks amazing, 
+Mrs. Weasley.” 
+
+“Oh, it’s nothing, dear,” she said fondly. Over her 
+shoulder, Ron gave Harry the thumbs-up and 
+mouthed, Good one. 
+
+
+
+Page | 132 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+By seven o’clock all the guests had arrived, led into 
+the house by Fred and George, who had waited for 
+them at the end of the lane. Hagrid had honored the 
+occasion by wearing his best, and horrible, hairy 
+brown suit. Although Lupin smiled as he shook 
+Harry’s hand, Harry thought he looked rather 
+unhappy. It was all very odd; Tonks, beside him, 
+looked simply radiant. 
+
+“Happy birthday, Harry,” she said, hugging him 
+tightly. 
+
+“Seventeen, eh!” said Hagrid as he accepted a bucket- 
+sized glass of wine from Fred. “Six years ter the day 
+since we met, Harry, d’yeh remember it?” 
+
+“Vaguely,” said Harry, grinning up at him. “Didn’t you 
+smash down the front door, give Dudley a pig’s tail, 
+and tell me I was a wizard?” 
+
+“I forge’ the details,” Hagrid chortled. “All righ’, Ron, 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“We’re fine,” said Hermione. “How are you?” 
+
+“Ar, not bad. Bin busy, we got some newborn 
+unicorns, I’ll show yeh when yeh get back — ” Harry 
+avoided Ron’s and Hermione’s gazes as Hagrid 
+rummaged in his pocket. “Here, Harry — couldn’ 
+think what ter get yeh, but then I remembered this.” 
+He pulled out a small, slightly furry drawstring pouch 
+with a long string, evidently intended to be worn 
+around the neck. “Mokeskin. Hide anythin’ in there 
+an’ no one but the owner can get it out. They’re rare, 
+them.” 
+
+“Hagrid, thanks!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ ’S’nothin’,” said Hagrid with a wave of a dustbin-lid- 
+sized hand. “An’ there’s Charlie! Always liked him — 
+hey! Charlie!” 
+
+Charlie approached, running his hand slightly 
+ruefully over his new, brutally short haircut. He was 
+shorter than Ron, thickset, with a number of burns 
+and scratches up his muscley arms. 
+
+“Hi, Hagrid, how’s it going?” 
+
+“Bin meanin’ ter write fer ages. How’s Norbert doin’?” 
+
+“Norbert?” Charlie laughed. “The Norwegian 
+Ridgeback? We call her Norberta now.” 
+
+“Wha — Norbert’s a girl?” 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Charlie. 
+
+“How can you tell?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“They’re a lot more vicious,” said Charlie. He looked 
+over his shoulder and dropped his voice. “Wish Dad 
+would hurry up and get here. Mum’s getting edgy.” 
+
+They all looked over at Mrs. Weasley. She was trying 
+to talk to Madame Delacour while glancing repeatedly 
+at the gate. 
+
+“I think we’d better start without Arthur,” she called 
+to the garden at large after a moment or two. “He 
+must have been held up at — oh!” 
+
+They all saw it at the same time: a streak of light that 
+came flying across the yard and onto the table, where 
+it resolved itself into a bright silver weasel, which 
+stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr. Weasley’s 
+voice. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Minister of Magic coming with me.” 
+
+The Patronus dissolved into thin air, leaving Fleur’s 
+family peering in astonishment at the place where it 
+had vanished. 
+
+“We shouldn’t be here,” said Lupin at once. “Harry — 
+I’m sorry — I’ll explain another time — ” 
+
+He seized Tonks’s wrist and pulled her away; they 
+reached the fence, climbed over it, and vanished from 
+sight. Mrs. Weasley looked bewildered. 
+
+“The Minister — but why — ? I don’t understand — ” 
+
+But there was no time to discuss the matter; a second 
+later, Mr. Weasley had appeared out of thin air at the 
+gate, accompanied by Rufus Scrimgeour, instantly 
+recognizable by his mane of grizzled hair. 
+
+The two newcomers marched across the yard toward 
+the garden and the lantern- lit table, where everybody 
+sat in silence, watching them draw closer. As 
+Scrimgeour came within range of the lantern light, 
+Harry saw that he looked much older than the last 
+time they had met, scraggy and grim. 
+
+“Sorry to intrude,” said Scrimgeour, as he limped to a 
+halt before the table. “Especially as I can see that I 
+am gate-crashing a party.” 
+
+His eyes lingered for a moment on the giant Snitch 
+cake. 
+
+“Many happy returns.” 
+
+“Thanks,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I require a private word with you,” Scrimgeour went 
+on. “Also with Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss 
+Hermione Granger.” 
+
+“Us?” said Ron, sounding surprised. “Why us?” 
+
+“I shall tell you that when we are somewhere more 
+private,” said Scrimgeour. “Is there such a place?” he 
+demanded of Mr. Weasley. 
+
+“Yes, of course,” said Mr. Weasley, who looked 
+nervous. “The, er, sitting room, why don’t you use 
+that?” 
+
+“You can lead the way,” Scrimgeour said to Ron. 
+“There will be no need for you to accompany us, 
+Arthur.” 
+
+Harry saw Mr. Weasley exchange a worried look with 
+Mrs. Weasley as he, Ron, and Hermione stood up. As 
+they led the way back to the house in silence, Harry 
+knew that the other two were thinking the same as he 
+was: Scrimgeour must, somehow, have learned that 
+the three of them were planning to drop out of 
+Hogwarts. 
+
+Scrimgeour did not speak as they all passed through 
+the messy kitchen and into the Burrow’s sitting room. 
+Although the garden had been full of soft golden 
+evening light, it was already dark in here: Harry 
+flicked his wand at the oil lamps as he entered and 
+they illuminated the shabby but cozy room. 
+Scrimgeour sat himself in the sagging armchair that 
+Mr. Weasley normally occupied, leaving Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione to squeeze side by side onto the sofa. 
+Once they had done so, Scrimgeour spoke. 
+
+“I have some questions for the three of you, and I 
+think it will be best if we do it individually. If you two” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+— he pointed at Harry and Hermione — “can wait 
+upstairs, I will start with Ronald.” 
+
+“We’re not going anywhere,” said Harry, while 
+Hermione nodded vigorously. “You can speak to us 
+together, or not at all.” 
+
+Scrimgeour gave Harry a cold, appraising look. Harry 
+had the impression that the Minister was wondering 
+whether it was worthwhile opening hostilities this 
+early. 
+
+“Very well then, together,” he said, shrugging. He 
+cleared his throat. “I am here, as I’m sure you know, 
+because of Albus Dumbledore’s will.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another. 
+
+“A surprise, apparently! You were not aware then that 
+Dumbledore had left you anything?” 
+
+“A-all of us?” said Ron. “Me and Hermione too?” 
+
+“Yes, all of—” 
+
+But Harry interrupted. 
+
+“Dumbledore died over a month ago. Why has it taken 
+this long to give us what he left us?” 
+
+“Isn’t it obvious?” said Hermione, before Scrimgeour 
+could answer. “They wanted to examine whatever he’s 
+left us. You had no right to do that!” she said, and her 
+voice trembled slightly. 
+
+“I had every right,” said Scrimgeour dismissively. “The 
+Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry 
+the power to confiscate the contents of a will — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That law was created to stop wizards passing on 
+Dark artifacts,” said Hermione, “and the Ministry is 
+supposed to have powerful evidence that the 
+deceased’s possessions are illegal before seizing them! 
+Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was 
+trying to pass us something cursed?” 
+
+“Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, 
+Miss Granger?” asked Scrimgeour. 
+
+“No, I’m not,” retorted Hermione. “I’m hoping to do 
+some good in the world!” 
+
+Ron laughed. Scrimgeour ’s eyes flickered toward him 
+and away again as Harry spoke. 
+
+“So why have you decided to let us have our things 
+now? Can’t think of a pretext to keep them?” 
+
+“No, it’ll be because the thirty-one days are up,” said 
+Hermione at once. “They can’t keep the objects longer 
+than that unless they can prove they’re dangerous. 
+Right?” 
+
+“Would you say you were close to Dumbledore, 
+Ronald?” asked Scrimgeour, ignoring Hermione. Ron 
+looked startled. 
+
+“Me? Not — not really ... It was always Harry who ...” 
+
+Ron looked around at Harry and Hermione, to see 
+Hermione giving him a stop-talking-now\ sort of look, 
+but the damage was done: Scrimgeour looked as 
+though he had heard exactly what he had expected, 
+and wanted, to hear. He swooped like a bird of prey 
+upon Ron’s answer. 
+
+“If you were not very close to Dumbledore, how do you 
+account for the fact that he remembered you in his 
+
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+
+
+
+
+will? He made exceptionally few personal bequests. 
+The vast majority of his possessions — his private 
+library, his magical instruments, and other personal 
+effects — were left to Hogwarts. Why do you think you 
+were singled out?” 
+
+“I ... dunno,” said Ron. “I ... when I say we weren’t 
+close ... I mean, I think he liked me. ...” 
+
+“You’re being modest, Ron,” said Hermione. 
+“Dumbledore was very fond of you.” 
+
+This was stretching the truth to breaking point; as far 
+as Harry knew, Ron and Dumbledore had never been 
+alone together, and direct contact between them had 
+been negligible. However, Scrimgeour did not seem to 
+be listening. He put his hand inside his cloak and 
+drew out a drawstring pouch much larger than the 
+one Hagrid had given Harry. From it, he removed a 
+scroll of parchment which he unrolled and read 
+aloud. 
+
+“ ‘The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival 
+Wulfric Brian Dumbledore’ ... Yes, here we are. ... ‘To 
+Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in the 
+hope that he will remember me when he uses it.’ ” 
+
+Scrimgeour took from the bag an object that Harry 
+had seen before: It looked something like a silver 
+cigarette lighter, but it had, he knew, the power to 
+suck all light from a place, and restore it, with a 
+simple click. Scrimgeour leaned forward and passed 
+the Deluminator to Ron, who took it and turned it 
+over in his fingers, looking stunned. 
+
+“That is a valuable object,” said Scrimgeour, watching 
+Ron. “It may even be unique. Certainly it is of 
+Dumbledore’s own design. Why would he have left 
+you an item so rare?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron shook his head, looking bewildered. 
+
+“Dumbledore must have taught thousands of 
+students,” Scrimgeour persevered. “Yet the only ones 
+he remembered in his will are you three. Why is that? 
+To what use did he think you would put his 
+Deluminator, Mr. Weasley?” 
+
+“Put out lights, I s’pose,” mumbled Ron. “What else 
+could I do with it?” 
+
+Evidently Scrimgeour had no suggestions. After 
+squinting at Ron for a moment or two, he turned back 
+to Dumbledore’s will. 
+
+“ To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of 
+The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will 
+find it entertaining and instructive.’ ” 
+
+Scrimgeour now pulled out of the bag a small book 
+that looked as ancient as the copy of Secrets of the 
+Darkest Art upstairs. Its binding was stained and 
+peeling in places. Hermione took it from Scrimgeour 
+without a word. She held the book in her lap and 
+gazed at it. Harry saw that the title was in runes; he 
+had never learned to read them. As he looked, a tear 
+splashed onto the embossed symbols. 
+
+“Why do you think Dumbledore left you that book, 
+Miss Granger?” asked Scrimgeour. 
+
+“He ... he knew I liked books,” said Hermione in a 
+thick voice, mopping her eyes with her sleeve. 
+
+“But why that particular book?” 
+
+“I don’t know. He must have thought I’d enjoy it.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Did you ever discuss codes, or any means of passing 
+secret messages, with Dumbledore?” 
+
+
+
+“No, I didn’t,” said Hermione, still wiping her eyes on 
+her sleeve. “And if the Ministry hasn’t found any 
+hidden codes in this book in thirty-one days, I doubt 
+that I will.” 
+
+She suppressed a sob. They were wedged together so 
+tightly that Ron had difficulty extracting his arm to 
+put it around Hermione ’s shoulders. Scrimgeour 
+turned back to the will. 
+
+“ ‘To Harry James Potter,’ ” he read, and Harry’s 
+insides contracted with a sudden excitement, “ ‘I leave 
+the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at 
+Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of 
+perseverance and skill.’ ” 
+
+As Scrimgeour pulled out the tiny, walnut-sized 
+golden ball, its silver wings fluttered rather feebly, 
+and Harry could not help feeling a definite sense of 
+anticlimax. 
+
+“Why did Dumbledore leave you this Snitch?” asked 
+Scrimgeour. 
+
+“No idea,” said Harry. “For the reasons you just read 
+out, I suppose ... to remind me what you can get if 
+you ... persevere and whatever it was.” 
+
+“You think this a mere symbolic keepsake, then?” 
+
+“I suppose so,” said Harry. “What else could it be?” 
+
+“I’m asking the questions,” said Scrimgeour, shifting 
+his chair a little closer to the sofa. Dusk was really 
+falling outside now; the marquee beyond the windows 
+towered ghostly white over the hedge. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I notice that your birthday cake is in the shape of a 
+Snitch,” Scrimgeour said to Harry. “Why is that?” 
+
+Hermione laughed derisively. 
+
+“Oh, it can’t be a reference to the fact Harry’s a great 
+Seeker, that’s way too obvious,” she said. “There must 
+be a secret message from Dumbledore hidden in the 
+icing!” 
+
+“I don’t think there’s anything hidden in the icing,” 
+said Scrimgeour, “but a Snitch would be a very good 
+hiding place for a small object. You know why, I’m 
+sure?” 
+
+Harry shrugged. Hermione, however, answered: Harry 
+thought that answering questions correctly was such 
+a deeply ingrained habit she could not suppress the 
+urge. 
+
+“Because Snitches have flesh memories,” she said. 
+
+“What?” said Harry and Ron together; both 
+considered Hermione ’s Quidditch knowledge 
+negligible. 
+
+“Correct,” said Scrimgeour. “A Snitch is not touched 
+by bare skin before it is released, not even by the 
+maker, who wears gloves. It carries an enchantment 
+by which it can identify the first human to lay hands 
+upon it, in case of a disputed capture. This Snitch” — 
+he held up the tiny golden ball — “will remember your 
+touch, Potter. It occurs to me that Dumbledore, who 
+had prodigious magical skill, whatever his other 
+faults, might have enchanted this Snitch so that it 
+will open only for you.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s heart was beating rather fast. He was sure 
+that Scrimgeour was right. How could he avoid taking 
+the Snitch with his bare hand in front of the Minister? 
+
+
+
+“You don’t say anything,” said Scrimgeour. “Perhaps 
+you already know what the Snitch contains?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, still wondering how he could appear 
+to touch the Snitch without really doing so. If only he 
+knew Legilimency, really knew it, and could read 
+Hermione’s mind; he could practically hear her brain 
+whirring beside him. 
+
+“Take it,” said Scrimgeour quietly. 
+
+Harry met the Minister’s yellow eyes and knew he had 
+no option but to obey. He held out his hand, and 
+Scrimgeour leaned forward again and placed the 
+Snitch, slowly and deliberately, into Harry’s palm. 
+
+Nothing happened. As Harry’s fingers closed around 
+the Snitch, its tired wings fluttered and were still. 
+Scrimgeour, Ron, and Hermione continued to gaze 
+avidly at the now partially concealed ball, as if still 
+hoping it might transform in some way. 
+
+“That was dramatic,” said Harry coolly. Both Ron and 
+Hermione laughed. 
+
+“That’s all, then, is it?” asked Hermione, making to 
+prise herself off the sofa. 
+
+“Not quite,” said Scrimgeour, who looked bad- 
+tempered now. “Dumbledore left you a second 
+bequest, Potter.” 
+
+“What is it?” asked Harry, excitement rekindling. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Scrimgeour did not bother to read from the will this 
+time. 
+
+“The sword of Godric Gryffindor,” he said. 
+
+Hermione and Ron both stiffened. Harry looked 
+around for a sign of the ruby-encrusted hilt, but 
+Scrimgeour did not pull the sword from the leather 
+pouch, which in any case looked much too small to 
+contain it. 
+
+“So where is it?” Harry asked suspiciously. 
+
+“Unfortunately,” said Scrimgeour, “that sword was 
+not Dumbledore ’s to give away. The sword of Godric 
+Gryffindor is an important historical artifact, and as 
+such, belongs — ” 
+
+“It belongs to Harry!” said Hermione hotly. “It chose 
+him, he was the one who found it, it came to him out 
+of the Sorting Hat — ” 
+
+“According to reliable historical sources, the sword 
+may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor,” said 
+Scrimgeour. “That does not make it the exclusive 
+property of Mr. Potter, whatever Dumbledore may 
+have decided.” Scrimgeour scratched his badly 
+shaven cheek, scrutinizing Harry. “Why do you think 
+— ?” 
+
+“ — Dumbledore wanted to give me the sword?” said 
+Harry, struggling to keep his temper. “Maybe he 
+thought it would look nice on my wall.” 
+
+“This is not a joke, Potter!” growled Scrimgeour. “Was 
+it because Dumbledore believed that only the sword of 
+Godric Gryffindor could defeat the Heir of Slytherin? 
+Did he wish to give you that sword, Potter, because he 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+believed, as do many, that you are the one destined to 
+destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?” 
+
+“Interesting theory,” said Harry. “Has anyone ever 
+tried sticking a sword in Voldemort? Maybe the 
+Ministry should put some people onto that, instead of 
+wasting their time stripping down Deluminators or 
+covering up breakouts from Azkaban. So is this what 
+you’ve been doing, Minister, shut up in your office, 
+trying to break open a Snitch? People are dying — I 
+was nearly one of them — Voldemort chased me 
+across three counties, he killed Mad-Eye Moody, but 
+there’s been no word about any of that from the 
+Ministry, has there? And you still expect us to 
+cooperate with you!” 
+
+“You go too far!” shouted Scrimgeour, standing up; 
+Harry jumped to his feet too. Scrimgeour limped 
+toward Harry and jabbed him hard in the chest with 
+the point of his wand: It singed a hole in Harry’s T- 
+shirt like a lit cigarette. 
+
+“Oi!” said Ron, jumping up and raising his own wand, 
+but Harry said, 
+
+“No! D’you want to give him an excuse to arrest us?” 
+
+“Remembered you’re not at school, have you?” said 
+Scrimgeour, breathing hard into Harry’s face. 
+“Remembered that I am not Dumbledore, who forgave 
+your insolence and insubordination? You may wear 
+that scar like a crown, Potter, but it is not up to a 
+seventeen-year-old boy to tell me how to do my job! 
+
+It’s time you learned some respect!” 
+
+“It’s time you earned it,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The floor trembled; there was a sound of running 
+footsteps, then the door to the sitting room burst 
+open and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran in. 
+
+“We — we thought we heard — ” began Mr. Weasley, 
+looking thoroughly alarmed at the sight of Harry and 
+the Minister virtually nose to nose. 
+
+“ — raised voices,” panted Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Scrimgeour took a couple of steps back from Harry, 
+glancing at the hole he had made in Harry’s T-shirt. 
+He seemed to regret his loss of temper. 
+
+“It — it was nothing,” he growled. “I ... regret your 
+attitude,” he said, looking Harry full in the face once 
+more. “You seem to think that the Ministry does not 
+desire what you — what Dumbledore — desired. We 
+ought to be working together.” 
+
+“I don’t like your methods, Minister,” said Harry. 
+“Remember?” 
+
+For the second time, he raised his right fist and 
+displayed to Scrimgeour the scars that still showed 
+white on the back of it, spelling I must not tell lies. 
+Scrimgeour ’s expression hardened. He turned away 
+without another word and limped from the room. Mrs. 
+Weasley hurried after him; Harry heard her stop at 
+the back door. After a minute or so she called, “He’s 
+gone!” 
+
+“What did he want?” Mr. Weasley asked, looking 
+around at Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Mrs. Weasley 
+came hurrying back to them. 
+
+“To give us what Dumbledore left us,” said Harry. 
+“They’ve only just released the contents of his will.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Outside in the garden, over the dinner tables, the 
+three objects Scrimgeour had given them were passed 
+from hand to hand. Everyone exclaimed over the 
+Deluminator and The Tales of Beedle the Bard and 
+lamented the fact that Scrimgeour had refused to 
+pass on the sword, but none of them could offer any 
+suggestion as to why Dumbledore would have left 
+Harry an old Snitch. As Mr. Weasley examined the 
+Deluminator for the third or fourth time, Mrs. 
+
+Weasley said tentatively, “Harry, dear, everyone’s 
+awfully hungry, we didn’t like to start without you. ... 
+Shall I serve dinner now?” 
+
+They all ate rather hurriedly and then, after a hasty 
+chorus of “Happy Birthday” and much gulping of 
+cake, the party broke up. Hagrid, who was invited to 
+the wedding the following day, but was far too bulky 
+to sleep in the overstretched Burrow, left to set up a 
+tent for himself in a neighboring field. 
+
+“Meet us upstairs,” Harry whispered to Hermione, 
+while they helped Mrs. Weasley restore the garden to 
+its normal state. “After everyone’s gone to bed.” 
+
+Up in the attic room, Ron examined his Deluminator, 
+and Harry filled Hagrid’s mokeskin purse, not with 
+gold, but with those items he most prized, apparently 
+worthless though some of them were: the Marauder’s 
+Map, the shard of Sirius’s enchanted mirror, and 
+R.A.B.’s locket. He pulled the strings tight and slipped 
+the purse around his neck, then sat holding the old 
+Snitch and watching its wings flutter feebly. At last, 
+Hermione tapped on the door and tiptoed inside. 
+
+“ Muffliato,” she whispered, waving her wand in the 
+direction of the stairs. 
+
+“Thought you didn’t approve of that spell?” said Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Times change,” said Hermione. “Now, show us that 
+Deluminator.” 
+
+Ron obliged at once. Holding it up in front of him, he 
+clicked it. The solitary lamp they had lit went out at 
+once. 
+
+“The thing is,” whispered Hermione through the dark, 
+“we could have achieved that with Peruvian Instant 
+Darkness Powder.” 
+
+There was a small click, and the ball of light from the 
+lamp flew back to the ceiling and illuminated them all 
+once more. 
+
+“Still, it’s cool,” said Ron, a little defensively. “And 
+from what they said, Dumbledore invented it himself!” 
+
+“I know, but surely he wouldn’t have singled you out 
+in his will just to help us turn out the lights!” 
+
+“D’you think he knew the Ministry would confiscate 
+his will and examine everything he’d left us?” asked 
+Harry. 
+
+“Definitely,” said Hermione. “He couldn’t tell us in the 
+will why he was leaving us these things, but that still 
+doesn’t explain ...” 
+
+"... why he couldn’t have given us a hint when he was 
+alive?” asked Ron. 
+
+“Well, exactly,” said Hermione, now flicking through 
+The Tales of Beedle the Bard. “If these things are 
+important enough to pass on right under the nose of 
+the Ministry, you’d think he’d have let us know why 
+... unless he thought it was obvious?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Thought wrong, then, didn’t he?” said Ron. “I always 
+said he was mental. Brilliant and everything, but 
+cracked. Leaving Harry an old Snitch — what the hell 
+was that about?” 
+
+“I’ve no idea,” said Hermione. “When Scrimgeour 
+made you take it, Harry, I was so sure that something 
+was going to happen!” 
+
+“Yeah, well,” said Harry, his pulse quickening as he 
+raised the Snitch in his fingers. “I wasn’t going to try 
+too hard in front of Scrimgeour, was I?” 
+
+“What do you mean?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“The Snitch I caught in my first ever Quidditch 
+match?” said Harry. “Don’t you remember?” 
+
+Hermione looked simply bemused. Ron, however, 
+gasped, pointing frantically from Harry to the Snitch 
+and back again until he found his voice. 
+
+“That was the one you nearly swallowed!” 
+
+“Exactly,” said Harry, and with his heart beating fast, 
+he pressed his mouth to the Snitch. 
+
+It did not open. Frustration and bitter disappointment 
+welled up inside him: He lowered the golden sphere, 
+but then Hermione cried out. 
+
+“Writing! There’s writing on it, quick, look!” 
+
+He nearly dropped the Snitch in surprise and 
+excitement. Hermione was quite right. Engraved upon 
+the smooth golden surface, where seconds before 
+there had been nothing, were five words written in the 
+thin, slanting handwriting that Harry recognized as 
+Dumbledore’s: 
+
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+
+
+
+
+I open at the close. 
+
+He had barely read them when the words vanished 
+again. 
+
+“ ‘I open at the close ...’ What’s that supposed to 
+mean?” 
+
+Hermione and Ron shook their heads, looking blank. 
+
+“I open at the close ... at the close ... I open at the 
+close ...” 
+
+But no matter how often they repeated the words, 
+with many different inflections, they were unable to 
+wring any more meaning from them. 
+
+“And the sword,” said Ron finally, when they had at 
+last abandoned their attempts to divine meaning in 
+the Snitch’s inscription. “Why did he want Harry to 
+have the sword?” 
+
+“And why couldn’t he just have told me?” Harry said 
+quietly. “It was there, it was right there on the wall of 
+his office during all our talks last year! If he wanted 
+me to have it, why didn’t he just give it to me then?” 
+
+He felt as though he were sitting in an examination 
+with a question he ought to have been able to answer 
+in front of him, his brain slow and unresponsive. Was 
+there something he had missed in the long talks with 
+Dumbledore last year? Ought he to know what it all 
+meant? Had Dumbledore expected him to 
+understand? 
+
+“And as for this book,” said Hermione, “The Tales of 
+Beedle the Bard ... I’ve never even heard of them!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’ve never heard of The Tales of Beedle the Bard?” 
+said Ron incredulously. “You’re kidding, right?” 
+
+
+
+“No, I’m not!” said Hermione in surprise. “Do you 
+know them, then?” 
+
+“Well, of course I do!” 
+
+Harry looked up, diverted. The circumstance of Ron 
+having read a book that Hermione had not was 
+unprecedented. Ron, however, looked bemused by 
+their surprise. 
+
+“Oh come on! All the old kids’ stories are supposed to 
+be Beedle ’s, aren’t they? The Fountain of Fair 
+Fortune’ ... The Wizard and the Hopping Pot’ ... 
+‘Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump’ ...” 
+
+“Excuse me?” said Hermione, giggling. “What was that 
+last one? 
+
+“Come off it!” said Ron, looking in disbelief from Harry 
+to Hermione. “You must’ve heard of Babbitty Rabbitty 
+
+
+
+“Ron, you know full well Harry and I were brought up 
+by Muggles!” said Hermione. “We didn’t hear stories 
+like that when we were little, we heard ‘Snow White 
+and the Seven Dwarfs’ and ‘Cinderella’ — ” 
+
+“What’s that, an illness?” asked Ron. 
+
+“So these are children’s stories?” asked Hermione, 
+bending again over the runes. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron uncertainly, “I mean, that’s just 
+what you hear, you know, that all these old stories 
+came from Beedle. I dunno what they’re like in the 
+original versions.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But I wonder why Dumbledore thought I should read 
+them?” 
+
+
+
+Something creaked downstairs. 
+
+“Probably just Charlie, now Mum’s asleep, sneaking 
+off to regrow his hair,” said Ron nervously. 
+
+“All the same, we should get to bed,” whispered 
+Hermione. “It wouldn’t do to oversleep tomorrow.” 
+
+“No,” agreed Ron. “A brutal triple murder by the 
+bridegroom’s mother might put a bit of a damper on 
+the wedding. I’ll get the lights.” 
+
+And he clicked the Deluminator once more as 
+Hermione left the room. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WEDDING 
+
+
+
+Three o’clock on the following afternoon found Harry, 
+Ron, Fred, and George standing outside the great 
+white marquee in the orchard, awaiting the arrival of 
+the wedding guests. Harry had taken a large dose of 
+Polyjuice Potion and was now the double of a 
+redheaded Muggle boy from the local village, Ottery 
+St. Catchpole, from whom Fred had stolen hairs using 
+a Summoning Charm. The plan was to introduce 
+Harry as “Cousin Barny” and trust to the great 
+number of Weasley relatives to camouflage him. 
+
+All four of them were clutching seating plans, so that 
+they could help show people to the right seats. A host 
+of white-robed waiters had arrived an hour earlier, 
+along with a golden-jacketed band, and all of these 
+wizards were currently sitting a short distance away 
+under a tree; Harry could see a blue haze of pipe 
+smoke issuing from the spot. 
+
+Behind Harry, the entrance to the marquee revealed 
+rows and rows of fragile golden chairs set on either 
+side of a long purple carpet. The supporting poles 
+
+Page | 153 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+were entwined with white and gold flowers. Fred and 
+George had fastened an enormous bunch of golden 
+balloons over the exact point where Bill and Fleur 
+would shortly become husband and wife. Outside, 
+butterflies and bees were hovering lazily over the 
+grass and hedgerow. Harry was rather uncomfortable. 
+The Muggle boy whose appearance he was affecting 
+was slightly fatter than him, and his dress robes felt 
+hot and tight in the full glare of a summer’s day. 
+
+“When I get married,” said Fred, tugging at the collar 
+of his own robes, “I won’t be bothering with any of 
+this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I’ll 
+put a full Body-Bind Curse on Mum until it’s all 
+over.” 
+
+“She wasn’t too bad this morning, considering,” said 
+George. “Cried a bit about Percy not being here, but 
+who wants him? Oh blimey, brace yourselves — here 
+they come, look.” 
+
+Brightly colored figures were appearing, one by one, 
+out of nowhere at the distant boundary of the yard. 
+Within minutes a procession had formed, which 
+began to snake its way up through the garden toward 
+the marquee. Exotic flowers and bewitched birds 
+fluttered on the witches’ hats, while precious gems 
+glittered from many of the wizards’ cravats; a hum of 
+excited chatter grew louder and louder, drowning the 
+sound of the bees as the crowd approached the tent. 
+
+“Excellent, I think I see a few veela cousins,” said 
+George, craning his neck for a better look. “They’ll 
+need help understanding our English customs, I’ll 
+look after them. ...” 
+
+“Not so fast, Your Holeyness,” said Fred, and darting 
+past the gaggle of middle-aged witches heading the 
+procession, he said, “Here — permettez-moi to assister 
+
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+
+
+
+
+vous,” to a pair of pretty French girls, who giggled and 
+allowed him to escort them inside. George was left to 
+deal with the middle-aged witches and Ron took 
+charge of Mr. Weasley’s old Ministry colleague 
+Perkins, while a rather deaf old couple fell to Harry’s 
+lot. 
+
+“Wotcher,” said a familiar voice as he came out of the 
+marquee again and found Tonks and Lupin at the 
+front of the queue. She had turned blonde for the 
+occasion. “Arthur told us you were the one with the 
+curly hair. Sorry about last night,” she added in a 
+whisper as Harry led them up the aisle. “The 
+Ministry’s being very anti-werewolf at the moment 
+and we thought our presence might not do you any 
+favors.” 
+
+“It’s fine, I understand,” said Harry, speaking more to 
+Lupin than Tonks. Lupin gave him a swift smile, but 
+as they turned away, Harry saw Lupin’s face fall again 
+into lines of misery. He did not understand it, but 
+there was no time to dwell on the matter: Hagrid was 
+causing a certain amount of disruption. Having 
+misunderstood Fred’s directions he had sat himself, 
+not upon the magically enlarged and reinforced seat 
+set aside for him in the back row, but on five seats 
+that now resembled a large pile of golden 
+matchsticks. 
+
+While Mr. Weasley repaired the damage and Hagrid 
+shouted apologies to anybody who would listen, Harry 
+hurried back to the entrance to find Ron face-to-face 
+with a most eccentric-looking wizard. Slightly cross- 
+eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of 
+candyfloss, he wore a cap whose tassel dangled in 
+front of his nose and robes of an eye-watering shade 
+of egg-yolk yellow. An odd symbol, rather like a 
+triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around 
+his neck. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Xenophilius Lovegood,” he said, extending a hand to 
+Harry, “my daughter and I live just over the hill, so 
+kind of the good Weasleys to invite us. But I think 
+you know my Luna?” he added to Ron. 
+
+“Yes,” said Ron. “Isn’t she with you?” 
+
+“She lingered in that charming little garden to say 
+hello to the gnomes, such a glorious infestation! How 
+few wizards realize just how much we can learn from 
+the wise little gnomes — or, to give them their correct 
+name, the Gernumbli gardensi.” 
+
+“Ours do know a lot of excellent swear words,” said 
+Ron, “but I think Fred and George taught them 
+those.” 
+
+He led a party of warlocks into the marquee as Luna 
+rushed up. 
+
+“Hello, Harry!” she said. 
+
+“Er — my name’s Barny,” said Harry, flummoxed. 
+
+“Oh, have you changed that too?” she asked brightly. 
+
+“How did you know — ?” 
+
+“Oh, just your expression,” she said. 
+
+Like her father, Luna was wearing bright yellow 
+robes, which she had accessorized with a large 
+sunflower in her hair. Once you got over the 
+brightness of it all, the general effect was quite 
+pleasant. At least there were no radishes dangling 
+from her ears. 
+
+Xenophilius, who was deep in conversation with an 
+acquaintance, had missed the exchange between 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Luna and Harry. Bidding the wizard farewell, he 
+turned to his daughter, who held up her finger and 
+said, “Daddy, look — one of the gnomes actually bit 
+me!” 
+
+“How wonderful! Gnome saliva is enormously 
+beneficial!” said Mr. Lovegood, seizing Luna’s 
+outstretched finger and examining the bleeding 
+puncture marks. “Luna, my love, if you should feel 
+any burgeoning talent today — perhaps an 
+unexpected urge to sing opera or to declaim in 
+Mermish — do not repress it! You may have been 
+gifted by the Gernumblies!” 
+
+Ron, passing them in the opposite direction, let out a 
+loud snort. 
+
+“Ron can laugh,” said Luna serenely as Harry led her 
+and Xenophilius toward their seats, “but my father 
+has done a lot of research on Gernumbli magic.” 
+
+“Really?” said Harry, who had long since decided not 
+to challenge Luna or her father’s peculiar views. “Are 
+you sure you don’t want to put anything on that bite, 
+though?” 
+
+“Oh, it’s fine,” said Luna, sucking her finger in a 
+dreamy fashion and looking Harry up and down. “You 
+look smart. I told Daddy most people would probably 
+wear dress robes, but he believes you ought to wear 
+sun colors to a wedding, for luck, you know.” 
+
+As she drifted off after her father, Ron reappeared 
+with an elderly witch clutching his arm. Her beaky 
+nose, red-rimmed eyes, and feathery pink hat gave 
+her the look of a bad-tempered flamingo. 
+
+"... and your hair’s much too long, Ronald, for a 
+moment I thought you were Ginevra. Merlin’s beard, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like 
+an omelet. And who are you?” she barked at Harry. 
+
+“Oh yeah, Auntie Muriel, this is our cousin Barny.” 
+
+“Another Weasley? You breed like gnomes. Isn’t Harry 
+Potter here? I was hoping to meet him. I thought he 
+was a friend of yours, Ronald, or have you merely 
+been boasting?” 
+
+“No — he couldn’t come — ” 
+
+“Hmm. Made an excuse, did he? Not as gormless as 
+he looks in press photographs, then. I’ve just been 
+instructing the bride on how best to wear my tiara,” 
+she shouted at Harry. “Goblin-made, you know, and 
+been in my family for centuries. She’s a good-looking 
+girl, but still — French. Well, well, find me a good 
+seat, Ronald, I am a hundred and seven and I ought 
+not to be on my feet too long.” 
+
+Ron gave Harry a meaningful look as he passed and 
+did not reappear for some time: When next they met 
+at the entrance, Harry had shown a dozen more 
+people to their places. The marquee was nearly full 
+now, and for the first time there was no queue 
+outside. 
+
+“Nightmare, Muriel is,” said Ron, mopping his 
+forehead on his sleeve. “She used to come for 
+Christmas every year, then, thank God, she took 
+offense because Fred and George set off a Dung-bomb 
+under her chair at dinner. Dad always says she’ll 
+have written them out of her will — like they care, 
+they’re going to end up richer than anyone in the 
+family, rate they’re going. ... Wow,” he added, blinking 
+rather rapidly as Hermione came hurrying toward 
+them. “You look great!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Always the tone of surprise,” said Hermione, though 
+she smiled. She was wearing a floaty, lilac-colored 
+dress with matching high heels; her hair was sleek 
+and shiny. “Your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn’t agree, I 
+just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the 
+tiara. She said, ‘Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born?’ 
+and then, ‘Bad posture and skinny ankles.’ ” 
+
+“Don’t take it personally, she’s rude to everyone,” said 
+Ron. 
+
+“Talking about Muriel?” inquired George, reemerging 
+from the marquee with Fred. “Yeah, she’s just told me 
+my ears are lopsided. Old bat. I wish old Uncle Bilius 
+was still with us, though; he was a right laugh at 
+weddings.” 
+
+“Wasn’t he the one who saw a Grim and died twenty- 
+four hours later?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end,” 
+conceded George. 
+
+“But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of 
+the party,” said Fred. “He used to down an entire 
+bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, 
+hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of 
+flowers out of his — ” 
+
+“Yes, he sounds a real charmer,” said Hermione, 
+while Harry roared with laughter. 
+
+“Never married, for some reason,” said Ron. 
+
+“You amaze me,” said Hermione. 
+
+They were all laughing so much that none of them 
+noticed the latecomer, a dark-haired young man with 
+a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows, until 
+
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+
+
+
+
+he held out his invitation to Ron and said, with his 
+eyes on Hermione, “You look vunderful.” 
+
+“Viktor!” she shrieked, and dropped her small beaded 
+bag, which made a loud thump quite disproportionate 
+to its size. As she scrambled, blushing, to pick it up, 
+she said, “I didn’t know you were — goodness — it’s 
+lovely to see — how are you?” 
+
+Ron’s ears had turned bright red again. After glancing 
+at Krum’s invitation as if he did not believe a word of 
+it, he said, much too loudly, “How come you’re here?” 
+
+“Fleur invited me,” said Krum, eyebrows raised. 
+
+Harry, who had no grudge against Krum, shook 
+hands; then, feeling that it would be prudent to 
+remove Krum from Ron’s vicinity, offered to show him 
+his seat. 
+
+“Your friend is not pleased to see me,” said Krum as 
+they entered the now packed marquee. “Or is he a 
+relative?” he added with a glance at Harry’s red curly 
+hair. 
+
+“Cousin,” Harry muttered, but Krum was not really 
+listening. His appearance was causing a stir, 
+particularly amongst the veela cousins: He was, after 
+all, a famous Quidditch player. While people were still 
+craning their necks to get a good look at him, Ron, 
+Hermione, Fred, and George came hurrying down the 
+aisle. 
+
+“Time to sit down,” Fred told Harry, “or we’re going to 
+get run over by the bride.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats in the 
+second row behind Fred and George. Hermione looked 
+rather pink and Ron’s ears were still scarlet. After a 
+
+Page | 160 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+few moments he muttered to Harry, “Did you see he’s 
+grown a stupid little beard?” 
+
+Harry gave a noncommittal grunt. 
+
+A sense of jittery anticipation had filled the warm 
+tent, the general murmuring broken by occasional 
+spurts of excited laughter. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley 
+strolled up the aisle, smiling and waving at relatives; 
+Mrs. Weasley was wearing a brand-new set of 
+amethyst-colored robes with a matching hat. 
+
+A moment later Bill and Charlie stood up at the front 
+of the marquee, both wearing dress robes, with large 
+white roses in their buttonholes; Fred wolf-whistled 
+and there was an outbreak of giggling from the veela 
+cousins. Then the crowd fell silent as music swelled 
+from what seemed to be the golden balloons. 
+
+“Ooooh!” said Hermione, swiveling around in her seat 
+to look at the entrance. 
+
+A great collective sigh issued from the assembled 
+witches and wizards as Monsieur Delacour and Fleur 
+came walking up the aisle, Fleur gliding, Monsieur 
+Delacour bouncing and beaming. Fleur was wearing a 
+very simple white dress and seemed to be emitting a 
+strong, silvery glow. While her radiance usually 
+dimmed everyone else by comparison, today it 
+beautified everybody it fell upon. Ginny and Gabrielle, 
+both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier 
+than usual, and once Fleur had reached him, Bill did 
+not look as though he had ever met Fenrir Greyback. 
+
+“Ladies and gentlemen,” said a slightly singsong 
+voice, and with a slight shock, Harry saw the same 
+small, tufty-haired wizard who had presided at 
+Dumbledore’s funeral, now standing in front of Bill 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+and Fleur. “We are gathered here today to celebrate 
+the union of two faithful souls ...” 
+
+“Yes, my tiara sets off the whole thing nicely,” said 
+Auntie Muriel in a rather carrying whisper. “But I 
+must say, Ginevra’s dress is far too low cut.” 
+
+Ginny glanced around, grinning, winked at Harry, 
+then quickly faced the front again. Harry’s mind 
+wandered a long way from the marquee, back to 
+afternoons spent alone with Ginny in lonely parts of 
+the school grounds. They seemed so long ago; they 
+had always seemed too good to be true, as though he 
+had been stealing shining hours from a normal 
+person’s life, a person without a lightning-shaped 
+scar on his forehead. ... 
+
+“Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle ... ?” 
+
+In the front row, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Delacour 
+were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace. 
+Trumpetlike sounds from the back of the marquee 
+told everyone that Hagrid had taken out one of his 
+own tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs. Hermione turned 
+and beamed at Harry; her eyes too were full of tears. 
+
+"... then I declare you bonded for life.” 
+
+The tufty-haired wizard waved his wand high over the 
+heads of Bill and Fleur and a shower of silver stars 
+fell upon them, spiraling around their now entwined 
+figures. As Fred and George led a round of applause, 
+the golden balloons overhead burst: Birds of paradise 
+and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them, 
+adding their songs and chimes to the din. 
+
+“Ladies and gentlemen!” called the tufty-haired 
+wizard. “If you would please stand up!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+They all did so, Auntie Muriel grumbling audibly; he 
+waved his wand again. The seats on which they had 
+been sitting rose gracefully into the air as the canvas 
+walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood 
+beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a 
+glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding 
+countryside. Next, a pool of molten gold spread from 
+the center of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; 
+the hovering chairs grouped themselves around 
+small, white-clothed tables, which all floated 
+gracefully back to earth around it, and the golden- 
+jacketed band trooped toward a podium. 
+
+“Smooth,” said Ron approvingly as the waiters popped 
+up on all sides, some bearing silver trays of pumpkin 
+juice, butterbeer, and firewhisky, others tottering 
+piles of tarts and sandwiches. 
+
+“We should go and congratulate them!” said 
+Hermione, standing on tiptoe to see the place where 
+Bill and Fleur had vanished amid a crowd of well- 
+wishers. 
+
+“Well have time later,” shrugged Ron, snatching three 
+butter-beers from a passing tray and handing one to 
+Harry. “Hermione, cop hold, let’s grab a table. ... Not 
+there! Nowhere near Muriel — ” 
+
+Ron led the way across the empty dance floor, 
+glancing left and right as he went: Harry felt sure that 
+he was keeping an eye out for Krum. By the time they 
+had reached the other side of the marquee, most of 
+the tables were occupied: The emptiest was the one 
+where Luna sat alone. 
+
+“All right if we join you?” asked Ron. 
+
+“Oh yes,” she said happily. “Daddy’s just gone to give 
+Bill and Fleur our present.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What is it, a lifetime’s supply of Gurdyroots?” asked 
+Ron. 
+
+Hermione aimed a kick at him under the table, but 
+caught Harry instead. Eyes watering in pain, Harry 
+lost track of the conversation for a few moments. 
+
+The band had begun to play. Bill and Fleur took to 
+the dance floor first, to great applause; after a while, 
+Mr. Weasley led Madame Delacour onto the floor, 
+followed by Mrs. Weasley and Fleur’s father. 
+
+“I like this song,” said Luna, swaying in time to the 
+waltzlike tune, and a few seconds later she stood up 
+and glided onto the dance floor, where she revolved 
+on the spot, quite alone, eyes closed and waving her 
+arms. 
+
+“She’s great, isn’t she?” said Ron admiringly. “Always 
+good value.” 
+
+But the smile vanished from his face at once: Viktor 
+Krum had dropped into Luna’s vacant seat. Hermione 
+looked pleasurably flustered, but this time Krum had 
+not come to compliment her. With a scowl on his face 
+he said, “Who is that man in the yellow?” 
+
+“That’s Xenophilius Lovegood, he’s the father of a 
+friend of ours,” said Ron. His pugnacious tone 
+indicated that they were not about to laugh at 
+Xenophilius, despite the clear provocation. “Come and 
+dance,” he added abruptly to Hermione. 
+
+She looked taken aback, but pleased too, and got up. 
+They vanished together into the growing throng on 
+the dance floor. 
+
+“Ah, they are together now?” asked Krum, 
+momentarily distracted. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Er — sort of,” said Harry. 
+
+“Who are you?” Krum asked. 
+
+“Barny Weasley.” 
+
+They shook hands. 
+
+“You, Barny — you know this man Lovegood veil?” 
+
+“No, I only met him today. Why?” 
+
+Krum glowered over the top of his drink, watching 
+Xenophilius, who was chatting to several warlocks on 
+the other side of the dance floor. 
+
+“Because,” said Krum, “if he vos not a guest of 
+Fleur’s, I vould duel him, here and now, for vearing 
+that filthy sign upon his chest.” 
+
+“Sign?” said Harry, looking over at Xenophilius too. 
+The strange triangular eye was gleaming on his chest. 
+“Why? What’s wrong with it?” 
+
+“Grindelvald. That is Grindelvald’s sign.” 
+
+“Grindelwald . . . the Dark wizard Dumbledore 
+defeated?” 
+
+“Exactly.” 
+
+Krum’s jaw muscles worked as if he were chewing, 
+then he said, “Grindelvald killed many people, my 
+grandfather, for instance. Of course, he vos never 
+poverful in this country, they said he feared 
+Dumbledore — and rightly, seeing how he vos 
+finished. But this” — he pointed a finger at 
+Xenophilius — “this is his symbol, I recognized it at 
+vunce: Grindelvald carved it into a vail at Durmstrang 
+
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+
+
+
+
+ven he vos a pupil there. Some idiots copied it onto 
+their books and clothes, thinking to shock, make 
+themselves impressive — until those of us who had 
+lost family members to Grindelvald taught them 
+better.” 
+
+Krum cracked his knuckles menacingly and glowered 
+at Xenophilius. Harry felt perplexed. It seemed 
+incredibly unlikely that Luna’s father was a supporter 
+of the Dark Arts, and nobody else in the tent seemed 
+to have recognized the triangular, runelike shape. 
+
+“Are you — er — quite sure it’s Grindelwald’s — ?” 
+
+“I am not mistaken,” said Krum coldly. “I valked past 
+that sign for several years, I know it veil.” 
+
+“Well, there’s a chance,” said Harry, “that Xenophilius 
+doesn’t actually know what the symbol means. The 
+Lovegoods are quite ... unusual. He could easily have 
+picked it up somewhere and think it’s a cross section 
+of the head of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or 
+something.” 
+
+“The cross section of a vot?” 
+
+“Well, I don’t know what they are, but apparently he 
+and his daughter go on holiday looking for them. ...” 
+
+Harry felt he was doing a bad job explaining Luna and 
+her father. 
+
+“That’s her,” he said, pointing at Luna, who was still 
+dancing alone, waving her arms around her head like 
+someone attempting to beat off midges. 
+
+“Vy is she doing that?” asked Krum. 
+
+
+
+Page | 166 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Probably trying to get rid of a Wrackspurt,” said 
+Harry, who recognized the symptoms. 
+
+Krum did not seem to know whether or not Harry was 
+making fun of him. He drew his wand from inside his 
+robes and tapped it menacingly on his thigh; sparks 
+flew out of the end. 
+
+“Gregorovitch!” said Harry loudly, and Krum started, 
+but Harry was too excited to care; the memory had 
+come back to him at the sight of Krum’s wand: 
+Ollivander taking it and examining it carefully before 
+the Triwizard Tournament. 
+
+“Vot about him?” asked Krum suspiciously. 
+
+“He’s a wandmaker!” 
+
+“I know that,” said Krum. 
+
+“He made your wand! That’s why I thought — 
+Quidditch — ” 
+
+Krum was looking more and more suspicious. 
+
+“How do you know Gregorovitch made my vand?” 
+
+“I ... I read it somewhere, I think,” said Harry. “In a — 
+a fan magazine,” he improvised wildly and Krum 
+looked mollified. 
+
+“I had not realized I ever discussed my vand with 
+fans,” he said. 
+
+“So ... er ... where is Gregorovitch these days?” 
+
+Krum looked puzzled. 
+
+
+
+Page | 167 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“He retired several years ago. I vos one of the last to 
+purchase a Gregorovitch vand. They are the best — 
+although I know, of course, that you Britons set much 
+store by Ollivander.” 
+
+Harry did not answer. He pretended to watch the 
+dancers, like Krum, but he was thinking hard. So 
+Voldemort was looking for a celebrated wandmaker, 
+and Harry did not have to search far for a reason: It 
+was surely because of what Harry’s wand had done 
+on the night that Voldemort had pursued him across 
+the skies. The holly and phoenix feather wand had 
+conquered the borrowed wand, something that 
+Ollivander had not anticipated or understood. Would 
+Gregorovitch know better? Was he truly more skilled 
+than Ollivander, did he know secrets of wands that 
+Ollivander did not? 
+
+“This girl is very nice-looking,” Krum said, recalling 
+Harry to his surroundings. Krum was pointing at 
+Ginny, who had just joined Luna. “She is also a 
+relative of yours?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, suddenly irritated, “and she’s 
+seeing someone. Jealous type. Big bloke. You 
+wouldn’t want to cross him.” 
+
+Krum grunted. 
+
+“Vot,” he said, draining his goblet and getting to his 
+feet again, “is the point of being an international 
+Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are 
+taken?” 
+
+And he strode off, leaving Harry to take a sandwich 
+from a passing waiter and make his way around the 
+edge of the crowded dance floor. He wanted to find 
+Ron, to tell him about Gregorovitch, but Ron was 
+dancing with Hermione out in the middle of the floor. 
+Page | 168 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry leaned up against one of the golden pillars and 
+watched Ginny, who was now dancing with Fred and 
+George’s friend Lee Jordan, trying not to feel resentful 
+about the promise he had given Ron. 
+
+He had never been to a wedding before, so he could 
+not judge how Wizarding celebrations differed from 
+Muggle ones, though he was pretty sure that the 
+latter would not involve a wedding cake topped with 
+two model phoenixes that took flight when the cake 
+was cut, or bottles of champagne that floated 
+unsupported through the crowd. As evening drew in, 
+and moths began to swoop under the canopy, now lit 
+with floating golden lanterns, the revelry became 
+more and more uncontained. Fred and George had 
+long since disappeared into the darkness with a pair 
+of Fleur’s cousins; Charlie, Hagrid, and a squat 
+wizard in a purple porkpie hat were singing “Odo the 
+Hero” in a corner. 
+
+Wandering through the crowd so as to escape a 
+drunken uncle of Ron’s who seemed unsure whether 
+or not Harry was his son, Harry spotted an old wizard 
+sitting alone at a table. His cloud of white hair made 
+him look rather like an aged dandelion clock and was 
+topped by a moth-eaten fez. He was vaguely familiar: 
+Racking his brains, Harry suddenly realized that this 
+was Elphias Doge, member of the Order of the 
+Phoenix and the writer of Dumbledore’s obituary. 
+
+Harry approached him. 
+
+“May I sit down?” 
+
+“Of course, of course,” said Doge; he had a rather 
+high-pitched, wheezy voice. 
+
+Harry leaned in. 
+
+
+
+Page | 169 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Mr. Doge, I’m Harry Potter.” 
+
+Doge gasped. 
+
+“My dear boy! Arthur told me you were here, 
+disguised. ... I am so glad, so honored!” 
+
+In a flutter of nervous pleasure Doge poured Harry a 
+goblet of champagne. 
+
+“I thought of writing to you,” he whispered, “after 
+Dumbledore ... the shock ... and for you, I am sure 
+
+
+
+Doge’s tiny eyes filled with sudden tears. 
+
+“I saw the obituary you wrote for the Daily Prophet,” 
+said Harry. “I didn’t realize you knew Professor 
+Dumbledore so well.” 
+
+“As well as anyone,” said Doge, dabbing his eyes with 
+a napkin. “Certainly I knew him longest, if you don’t 
+count Aberforth — and somehow, people never do 
+seem to count Aberforth.” 
+
+“Speaking of the Daily Prophet ... I don’t know 
+whether you saw, Mr. Doge — ?” 
+
+“Oh, please call me Elphias, dear boy.” 
+
+“Elphias, I don’t know whether you saw the interview 
+Rita Skeeter gave about Dumbledore?” 
+
+Doge’s face flooded with angry color. 
+
+“Oh yes, Harry, I saw it. That woman, or vulture 
+might be a more accurate term, positively pestered me 
+to talk to her. I am ashamed to say that I became 
+rather rude, called her an interfering trout, which 
+
+Page | 170 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+resulted, as you may have seen, in aspersions cast 
+upon my sanity.” 
+
+“Well, in that interview,” Harry went on, “Rita Skeeter 
+hinted that Professor Dumbledore was involved in the 
+Dark Arts when he was young.” 
+
+“Don’t believe a word of it!” said Doge at once. “Not a 
+word, Harry! Let nothing tarnish your memories of 
+Albus Dumbledore!” 
+
+Harry looked into Doge’s earnest, pained face and felt, 
+not reassured, but frustrated. Did Doge really think it 
+was that easy, that Harry could simply choose not to 
+believe? Didn’t Doge understand Harry’s need to be 
+sure, to know everything? 
+
+Perhaps Doge suspected Harry’s feelings, for he 
+looked concerned and hurried on, “Harry, Rita 
+Skeeter is a dreadful — ” 
+
+But he was interrupted by a shrill cackle. 
+
+“Rita Skeeter? Oh, I love her, always read her!” 
+
+Harry and Doge looked up to see Auntie Muriel 
+standing there, the plumes dancing on her hat, a 
+goblet of champagne in her hand. “She’s written a 
+book about Dumbledore, you know!” 
+
+“Hello, Muriel,” said Doge. “Yes, we were just 
+discussing — ” 
+
+“You there! Give me your chair, I’m a hundred and 
+seven!” 
+
+Another redheaded Weasley cousin jumped off his 
+seat, looking alarmed, and Auntie Muriel swung it 
+
+
+
+Page | 171 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+around with surprising strength and plopped herself 
+down upon it between Doge and Harry. 
+
+“Hello again, Barry, or whatever your name is,” she 
+said to Harry. “Now, what were you saying about Rita 
+Skeeter, Elphias? You know she’s written a biography 
+of Dumbledore? I can’t wait to read it, I must 
+remember to place an order at Flourish and Blotts!” 
+
+Doge looked stiff and solemn at this, but Auntie 
+Muriel drained her goblet and clicked her bony fingers 
+at a passing waiter for a replacement. She took 
+another large gulp of champagne, belched, and then 
+said, “There’s no need to look like a pair of stuffed 
+frogs! Before he became so respected and respectable 
+and all that tosh, there were some mighty funny 
+rumors about Albus!” 
+
+“Ill-informed sniping,” said Doge, turning radish- 
+colored again. 
+
+“You would say that, Elphias,” cackled Auntie Muriel. 
+“I noticed how you skated over the sticky patches in 
+that obituary of yours!” 
+
+“I’m sorry you think so,” said Doge, more coldly still. 
+
+“I assure you I was writing from the heart.” 
+
+“Oh, we all know you worshipped Dumbledore; I 
+daresay you’ll still think he was a saint even if it does 
+turn out that he did away with his Squib sister!” 
+
+“Muriell” exclaimed Doge. 
+
+A chill that had nothing to do with the iced 
+champagne was stealing through Harry’s chest. 
+
+“What do you mean?” he asked Muriel. “Who said his 
+sister was a Squib? I thought she was ill?” 
+
+Page | 172 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Thought wrong, then, didn’t you, Barry!” said Auntie 
+Muriel, looking delighted at the effect she had 
+produced. “Anyway, how could you expect to know 
+anything about it? It all happened years and years 
+before you were even thought of, my dear, and the 
+truth is that those of us who were alive then never 
+knew what really happened. That’s why I can’t wait to 
+find out what Skeeter’s unearthed! Dumbledore kept 
+that sister of his quiet for a long time!” 
+
+“Untrue!” wheezed Doge. “Absolutely untrue!” 
+
+“He never told me his sister was a Squib,” said Harry, 
+without thinking, still cold inside. 
+
+“And why on earth would he tell you?” screeched 
+Muriel, swaying a little in her seat as she attempted 
+to focus upon Harry. 
+
+“The reason Albus never spoke about Ariana,” began 
+Elphias in a voice stiff with emotion, “is, I should have 
+thought, quite clear. He was so devastated by her 
+death — ” 
+
+“Why did nobody ever see her, Elphias?” squawked 
+Muriel. “Why did half of us never even know she 
+existed, until they carried the coffin out of the house 
+and held a funeral for her? Where was saintly Albus 
+while Ariana was locked in the cellar? Off being 
+brilliant at Hogwarts, and never mind what was going 
+on in his own house!” 
+
+“What d’you mean, locked in the cellar?” asked Harry. 
+“What is this?” 
+
+Doge looked wretched. Auntie Muriel cackled again 
+and answered Harry. 
+
+
+
+Page | 173 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Dumbledore’s mother was a terrifying woman, simply 
+terrifying. Muggle-born, though I heard she pretended 
+otherwise — ” 
+
+“She never pretended anything of the sort! Kendra 
+was a fine woman,” whispered Doge miserably, but 
+Auntie Muriel ignored him. 
+
+“ — proud and very domineering, the sort of witch who 
+would have been mortified to produce a Squib — ” 
+
+“Ariana was not a Squib!” wheezed Doge. 
+
+“So you say, Elphias, but explain, then, why she 
+never attended Hogwarts!” said Auntie Muriel. She 
+turned back to Harry. “In our day, Squibs were often 
+hushed up, though to take it to the extreme of 
+actually imprisoning a little girl in the house and 
+pretending she didn’t exist — ” 
+
+“I tell you, that’s not what happened!” said Doge, but 
+Auntie Muriel steamrollered on, still addressing 
+Harry. 
+
+“Squibs were usually shipped off to Muggle schools 
+and encouraged to integrate into the Muggle 
+community . . . much kinder than trying to find them a 
+place in the Wizarding world, where they must always 
+be second class; but naturally Kendra Dumbledore 
+wouldn’t have dreamed of letting her daughter go to a 
+Muggle school — ” 
+
+“Ariana was delicate!” said Doge desperately. “Her 
+health was always too poor to permit her — ” 
+
+“ — to permit her to leave the house?” cackled Muriel. 
+“And yet she was never taken to St. Mungo’s and no 
+Healer was ever summoned to see her!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 174 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Really, Muriel, how you can possibly know whether 
+
+
+
+“For your information, Elphias, my cousin Lancelot 
+was a Healer at St. Mungo’s at the time, and he told 
+my family in strictest confidence that Ariana had 
+never been seen there. All most suspicious, Lancelot 
+thought!” 
+
+Doge looked to be on the verge of tears. Auntie Muriel, 
+who seemed to be enjoying herself hugely, snapped 
+her fingers for more champagne. Numbly Harry 
+thought of how the Dursleys had once shut him up, 
+locked him away, kept him out of sight, all for the 
+crime of being a wizard. Had Dumbledore’s sister 
+suffered the same fate in reverse: imprisoned for her 
+lack of magic? And had Dumbledore truly left her to 
+her fate while he went off to Hogwarts, to prove 
+himself brilliant and talented? 
+
+“Now, if Kendra hadn’t died first,” Muriel resumed, 
+
+“I’d have said that it was she who finished off Ariana 
+
+
+
+“How can you, Muriel?” groaned Doge. “A mother kill 
+her own daughter? Think what you are saying!” 
+
+“If the mother in question was capable of imprisoning 
+her daughter for years on end, why not?” shrugged 
+Auntie Muriel. “But as I say, it doesn’t fit, because 
+Kendra died before Ariana — of what, nobody ever 
+seemed sure — ” 
+
+“Oh, no doubt Ariana murdered her,” said Doge with 
+a brave attempt at scorn. “Why not?” 
+
+“Yes, Ariana might have made a desperate bid for 
+freedom and killed Kendra in the struggle,” said 
+Auntie Muriel thoughtfully. “Shake your head all you 
+
+Page | 175 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+like, Elphias! You were at Ariana’s funeral, were you 
+not?” 
+
+“Yes I was,” said Doge, through trembling lips. “And a 
+more desperately sad occasion I cannot remember. 
+Albus was heartbroken — ” 
+
+“His heart wasn’t the only thing. Didn’t Aberforth 
+break Albus ’s nose halfway through the service?” 
+
+If Doge had looked horrified before this, it was 
+nothing to how he looked now. Muriel might have 
+stabbed him. She cackled loudly and took another 
+swig of champagne, which dribbled down her chin. 
+
+“How do you — ?” croaked Doge. 
+
+“My mother was friendly with old Bathilda Bagshot,” 
+said Auntie Muriel happily. “Bathilda described the 
+whole thing to Mother while I was listening at the 
+door. A coffin-side brawl! The way Bathilda told it, 
+Aberforth shouted that it was all Albus ’s fault that 
+Ariana was dead and then punched him in the face. 
+According to Bathilda, Albus did not even defend 
+himself, and that’s odd enough in itself, Albus could 
+have destroyed Aberforth in a duel with both hands 
+tied behind his back.” 
+
+Muriel swigged yet more champagne. The recitation of 
+these old scandals seemed to elate her as much as 
+they horrified Doge. Harry did not know what to 
+think, what to believe: He wanted the truth, and yet 
+all Doge did was sit there and bleat feebly that Ariana 
+had been ill. Harry could hardly believe that 
+Dumbledore would not have intervened if such 
+cruelty was happening inside his own house, and yet 
+there was undoubtedly something odd about the 
+story. 
+
+
+
+Page | 176 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And I’ll tell you something else,” Muriel said, 
+hiccuping slightly as she lowered her goblet. “I think 
+Bathilda has spilled the beans to Rita Skeeter. All 
+those hints in Skeeter’s interview about an important 
+source close to the Dumbledores — goodness knows 
+she was there all through the Ariana business, and it 
+would fit!” 
+
+“Bathilda would never talk to Rita Skeeter!” whispered 
+Doge. 
+
+“Bathilda Bagshot?” Harry said. “The author of A 
+History of Magic?” 
+
+The name was printed on the front of one of Harry’s 
+textbooks, though admittedly not one of the ones he 
+had read most attentively. 
+
+“Yes,” said Doge, clutching at Harry’s question like a 
+drowning man at a life belt. “A most gifted magical 
+historian and an old friend of Albus’s.” 
+
+“Quite gaga these days, I’ve heard,” said Auntie 
+Muriel cheerfully. 
+
+“If that is so, it is even more dishonorable for Skeeter 
+to have taken advantage of her,” said Doge, “and no 
+reliance can be placed on anything Bathilda may have 
+said!” 
+
+“Oh, there are ways of bringing back memories, and 
+I’m sure Rita Skeeter knows them all,” said Auntie 
+Muriel. “But even if Bathilda’s completely cuckoo, I’m 
+sure she’d still have old photographs, maybe even 
+letters. She knew the Dumbledores for years. ... Well 
+worth a trip to Godric’s Hollow, I’d have thought.” 
+
+Harry, who had been taking a sip of butterbeer, 
+choked. Doge banged him on the back as Harry 
+
+Page | 177 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+coughed, looking at Auntie Muriel through streaming 
+eyes. Once he had control of his voice again, he 
+asked, “Bathilda Bagshot lives in Godric’s Hollow?” 
+
+“Oh yes, she’s been there forever! The Dumbledores 
+moved there after Percival was imprisoned, and she 
+was their neighbor.” 
+
+“The Dumbledores lived in Godric’s Hollow?” 
+
+“Yes, Barry, that’s what I just said,” said Auntie 
+Muriel testily. 
+
+Harry felt drained, empty. Never once, in six years, 
+had Dumbledore told Harry that they had both lived 
+and lost loved ones in Godric’s Hollow. Why? Were 
+Lily and James buried close to Dumbledore ’s mother 
+and sister? Had Dumbledore visited their graves, 
+perhaps walked past Lily’s and James’s to do so? And 
+he had never once told Harry . . . never bothered to say 
+
+
+
+And why it was so important, Harry could not explain 
+even to himself, yet he felt it had been tantamount to 
+a lie not to tell him that they had this place and these 
+experiences in common. He stared ahead of him, 
+barely noticing what was going on around him, and 
+did not realize that Hermione had appeared out of the 
+crowd until she drew up a chair beside him. 
+
+“I simply can’t dance anymore,” she panted, slipping 
+off one of her shoes and rubbing the sole of her foot. 
+“Ron’s gone looking to find more butterbeers. It’s a bit 
+odd, I’ve just seen Viktor storming away from Luna’s 
+father, it looked like they’d been arguing — ” She 
+dropped her voice, staring at him. “Harry, are you 
+okay?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 178 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry did not know where to begin, but it did not 
+matter. At that moment, something large and silver 
+came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. 
+Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the 
+middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as 
+those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then 
+the Patronus’s mouth opened wide and it spoke in the 
+loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt. 
+
+“The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are 
+coming.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 179 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+9 
+
+
+
+
+A PLACE TO HIDE 
+
+Everything seemed fuzzy, slow. Harry and Hermione 
+jumped to their feet and drew their wands. Many 
+people were only just realizing that something strange 
+had happened; heads were still turning toward the 
+silver cat as it vanished. Silence spread outward in 
+cold ripples from the place where the Patronus had 
+landed. Then somebody screamed. 
+
+Harry and Hermione threw themselves into the 
+panicking crowd. Guests were sprinting in all 
+directions; many were Disapparating; the protective 
+enchantments around the Burrow had broken. 
+
+“Ron!” Hermione cried. “Ron, where are you?” 
+
+As they pushed their way across the dance floor, 
+Harry saw cloaked and masked figures appearing in 
+the crowd; then he saw Lupin and Tonks, their wands 
+raised, and heard both of them shout, “Protego\”, a 
+cry that was echoed on all sides — 
+
+
+
+Page | 180 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Ron! Ron!” Hermione called, half sobbing as she and 
+Harry were buffeted by terrified guests: Harry seized 
+her hand to make sure they weren’t separated as a 
+streak of light whizzed over their heads, whether a 
+protective charm or something more sinister he did 
+not know — 
+
+And then Ron was there. He caught hold of 
+Hermione ’s free arm, and Harry felt her turn on the 
+spot; sight and sound were extinguished as darkness 
+pressed in upon him; all he could feel was Hermione’s 
+hand as he was squeezed through space and time, 
+away from the Burrow, away from the descending 
+Death Eaters, away, perhaps, from Voldemort 
+himself. ... 
+
+“Where are we?” said Ron’s voice. 
+
+Harry opened his eyes. For a moment he thought they 
+had not left the wedding after all: They still seemed to 
+be surrounded by people. 
+
+“Tottenham Court Road,” panted Hermione. “Walk, 
+just walk, we need to find somewhere for you to 
+change.” 
+
+Harry did as she asked. They half walked, half ran up 
+the wide dark street thronged with late-night revelers 
+and lined with closed shops, stars twinkling above 
+them. A double-decker bus rumbled by and a group 
+of merry pub-goers ogled them as they passed; Harry 
+and Ron were still wearing dress robes. 
+
+“Hermione, we haven’t got anything to change into,” 
+Ron told her, as a young woman burst into raucous 
+giggles at the sight of him. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Why didn’t I make sure I had the Invisibility Cloak 
+with me?” said Harry, inwardly cursing his own 
+stupidity. “All last year I kept it on me and — ” 
+
+“It’s okay, I’ve got the Cloak, I’ve got clothes for both 
+of you,” said Hermione. “Just try and act naturally 
+until — this will do.” 
+
+She led them down a side street, then into the shelter 
+of a shadowy alleyway. 
+
+“When you say you’ve got the Cloak, and clothes ...” 
+said Harry, frowning at Hermione, who was carrying 
+nothing except her small beaded handbag, in which 
+she was now rummaging. 
+
+“Yes, they’re here,” said Hermione, and to Harry and 
+Ron’s utter astonishment, she pulled out a pair of 
+jeans, a sweatshirt, some maroon socks, and finally 
+the silvery Invisibility Cloak. 
+
+“How the ruddy hell — ?” 
+
+“Undetectable Extension Charm,” said Hermione. 
+“Tricky, but I think I’ve done it okay; anyway, I 
+managed to fit everything we need in here.” She gave 
+the fragile-looking bag a little shake and it echoed like 
+a cargo hold as a number of heavy objects rolled 
+around inside it. “Oh, damn, that’ll be the books,” she 
+said, peering into it, “and I had them all stacked by 
+subject. ... Oh well. ... Harry, you’d better take the 
+Invisibility Cloak. Ron, hurry up and change. ...” 
+
+“When did you do all this?” Harry asked as Ron 
+stripped off his robes. 
+
+“I told you at the Burrow, I’ve had the essentials 
+packed for days, you know, in case we needed to 
+make a quick getaway. I packed your rucksack this 
+
+Page | 182 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+morning, Harry, after you changed, and put it in here. 
+... I just had a feeling. ...” 
+
+“You’re amazing, you are,” said Ron, handing her his 
+bundled-up robes. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Hermione, managing a small smile 
+as she pushed the robes into the bag. “Please, Harry, 
+get that Cloak on!” 
+
+Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak around his 
+shoulders and pulled it up over his head, vanishing 
+from sight. He was only just beginning to appreciate 
+what had happened. 
+
+“The others — everyone at the wedding — ” 
+
+“We can’t worry about that now,” whispered 
+Hermione. “It’s you they’re after, Harry, and we’ll just 
+put everyone in even more danger by going back.” 
+
+“She’s right,” said Ron, who seemed to know that 
+Harry was about to argue, even if he could not see his 
+face. “Most of the Order was there, they’ll look after 
+everyone.” 
+
+Harry nodded, then remembered that they could not 
+see him, and said, “Yeah.” But he thought of Ginny, 
+and fear bubbled like acid in his stomach. 
+
+“Come on, I think we ought to keep moving,” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+They moved back up the side street and onto the 
+main road again, where a group of men on the 
+opposite side was singing and weaving across the 
+pavement. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Just as a matter of interest, why Tottenham Court 
+Road?” Ron asked Hermione. 
+
+
+
+“I’ve no idea, it just popped into my head, but I’m 
+sure we’re safer out in the Muggle world, it’s not 
+where they’ll expect us to be.” 
+
+“True,” said Ron, looking around, “but don’t you feel a 
+bit — exposed?” 
+
+“Where else is there?” asked Hermione, cringing as 
+the men on the other side of the road started wolf- 
+whistling at her. “We can hardly book rooms at the 
+Leaky Cauldron, can we? And Grimmauld Place is out 
+if Snape can get in there. ... I suppose we could try 
+my parents’ house, though I think there’s a chance 
+they might check there. ... Oh, I wish they’d shut up!” 
+
+“All right, darling?” the drunkest of the men on the 
+other pavement was yelling. “Fancy a drink? Ditch 
+ginger and come and have a pint!” 
+
+“Let’s sit down somewhere,” Hermione said hastily as 
+Ron opened his mouth to shout back across the road. 
+“Look, this will do, in here!” 
+
+It was a small and shabby all-night cafe. A light layer 
+of grease lay on all the Formica- topped tables, but it 
+was at least empty. Harry slipped into a booth first 
+and Ron sat next to him opposite Hermione, who had 
+her back to the entrance and did not like it: She 
+glanced over her shoulder so frequently she appeared 
+to have a twitch. Harry did not like being stationary; 
+walking had given the illusion that they had a goal. 
+Beneath the Cloak he could feel the last vestiges of 
+Polyjuice leaving him, his hands returning to their 
+usual length and shape. He pulled his glasses out of 
+his pocket and put them on again. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+After a minute or two, Ron said, “You know, we’re not 
+far from the Leaky Cauldron here, it’s only in Charing 
+Cross — ” 
+
+“Ron, we can’t!” said Hermione at once. 
+
+“Not to stay there, but to find out what’s going on!” 
+
+“We know what’s going on! Voldemort’s taken over the 
+Ministry, what else do we need to know?” 
+
+“Okay, okay, it was just an idea!” 
+
+They relapsed into a prickly silence. The gum-chewing 
+waitress shuffled over and Hermione ordered two 
+cappuccinos: As Harry was invisible, it would have 
+looked odd to order him one. A pair of burly workmen 
+entered the cafe and squeezed into the next booth. 
+Hermione dropped her voice to a whisper. 
+
+“I say we find a quiet place to Disapparate and head 
+for the countryside. Once we’re there, we could send a 
+message to the Order.” 
+
+“Can you do that talking Patronus thing, then?” 
+asked Ron. 
+
+“I’ve been practicing and I think so,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, as long as it doesn’t get them into trouble, 
+though they might’ve been arrested already. God, 
+that’s revolting,” Ron added after one sip of the 
+foamy, grayish coffee. The waitress had heard; she 
+shot Ron a nasty look as she shuffled off to take the 
+new customers’ orders. The larger of the two 
+workmen, who was blond and quite huge, now that 
+Harry came to look at him, waved her away. She 
+stared, affronted. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Let’s get going, then, I don’t want to drink this 
+muck,” said Ron. “Hermione, have you got Muggle 
+money to pay for this?” 
+
+“Yes, I took out all my Building Society savings before 
+I came to the Burrow. I’ll bet all the change is at the 
+bottom,” sighed Hermione, reaching for her beaded 
+bag. 
+
+The two workmen made identical movements, and 
+Harry mirrored them without conscious thought: All 
+three of them drew their wands. Ron, a few seconds 
+late in realizing what was going on, lunged across the 
+table, pushing Hermione sideways onto her bench. 
+
+The force of the Death Eaters’ spells shattered the 
+tiled wall where Ron’s head had just been, as Harry, 
+still invisible, yelled, “Stupefyl” 
+
+The great blond Death Eater was hit in the face by a 
+jet of red light: He slumped sideways, unconscious. 
+His companion, unable to see who had cast the spell, 
+fired another at Ron: Shining black ropes flew from 
+his wand-tip and bound Ron head to foot — the 
+waitress screamed and ran for the door — Harry sent 
+another Stunning Spell at the Death Eater with the 
+twisted face who had tied up Ron, but the spell 
+missed, rebounded on the window, and hit the 
+waitress, who collapsed in front of the door. 
+
+“Expulsol” bellowed the Death Eater, and the table 
+behind which Harry was standing blew up: The force 
+of the explosion slammed him into the wall and he felt 
+his wand leave his hand as the Cloak slipped off him. 
+
+“Petrificus TotalusV’ screamed Hermione from out of 
+sight, and the Death Eater fell forward like a statue to 
+land with a crunching thud on the mess of broken 
+china, table, and coffee. Hermione crawled out from 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+underneath the bench, shaking bits of glass ashtray 
+out of her hair and trembling all over. 
+
+“D-diffindo,” she said, pointing her wand at Ron, who 
+roared in pain as she slashed open the knee of his 
+jeans, leaving a deep cut. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Ron, my 
+hand’s shaking! Diffindol” 
+
+The severed ropes fell away. Ron got to his feet, 
+shaking his arms to regain feeling in them. Harry 
+picked up his wand and climbed over all the debris to 
+where the large blond Death Eater was sprawled 
+across the bench. 
+
+“I should’ve recognized him, he was there the night 
+Dumbledore died,” he said. He turned over the darker 
+Death Eater with his foot; the man’s eyes moved 
+rapidly between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 
+
+“That’s Dolohov,” said Ron. “I recognize him from the 
+old wanted posters. I think the big one’s Thorfinn 
+Rowle.” 
+
+“Never mind what they’re called!” said Hermione a 
+little hysterically. “How did they find us? What are we 
+going to do?” 
+
+Somehow her panic seemed to clear Harry’s head. 
+
+“Lock the door,” he told her, “and Ron, turn out the 
+lights.” 
+
+He looked down at the paralyzed Dolohov, thinking 
+fast as the lock clicked and Ron used the 
+Deluminator to plunge the cafe into darkness. Harry 
+could hear the men who had jeered at Hermione 
+earlier, yelling at another girl in the distance. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What are we going to do with them?” Ron whispered 
+to Harry through the dark; then, even more quietly, 
+“Kill them? They’d kill us. They had a good go just 
+now.” 
+
+Hermione shuddered and took a step backward. 
+Harry shook his head. 
+
+“We just need to wipe their memories,” said Harry. 
+“It’s better like that, it’ll throw them off the scent. If 
+we killed them it’d be obvious we were here.” 
+
+“You’re the boss,” said Ron, sounding profoundly 
+relieved. “But I’ve never done a Memory Charm.” 
+
+“Nor have I,” said Hermione, “but I know the theory.” 
+
+She took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her 
+wand at Dolohov’s forehead and said, “Obliviate.” 
+
+At once, Dolohov’s eyes became unfocused and 
+dreamy. 
+
+“Brilliant!” said Harry, clapping her on the back. 
+“Take care of the other one and the waitress while 
+Ron and I clear up.” 
+
+“Clear up?” said Ron, looking around at the partly 
+destroyed cafe. “Why?” 
+
+“Don’t you think they might wonder what’s happened 
+if they wake up and find themselves in a place that 
+looks like it’s just been bombed?” 
+
+“Oh right, yeah ...” 
+
+Ron struggled for a moment before managing to 
+extract his wand from his pocket. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s no wonder I can’t get it out, Hermione, you 
+packed my old jeans, they’re tight.” 
+
+“Oh, I’m so sorry,” hissed Hermione, and as she 
+dragged the waitress out of sight of the windows, 
+Harry heard her mutter a suggestion as to where Ron 
+could stick his wand instead. 
+
+Once the cafe was restored to its previous condition, 
+they heaved the Death Eaters back into their booth 
+and propped them up facing each other. 
+
+“But how did they find us?” Hermione asked, looking 
+from one inert man to the other. “How did they know 
+where we were?” 
+
+She turned to Harry. 
+
+“You — you don’t think you’ve still got your Trace on 
+you, do you, Harry?” 
+
+“He can’t have,” said Ron. “The Trace breaks at 
+seventeen, that’s Wizarding law, you can’t put it on 
+an adult.” 
+
+“As far as you know,” said Hermione. “What if the 
+Death Eaters have found a way to put it on a 
+seventeen-year-old?” 
+
+“But Harry hasn’t been near a Death Eater in the last 
+twenty-four hours. Who’s supposed to have put a 
+Trace back on him?” 
+
+Hermione did not reply. Harry felt contaminated, 
+tainted: Was that really how the Death Eaters had 
+found them? 
+
+“If I can’t use magic, and you can’t use magic near 
+me, without us giving away our position — ” he began. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We’re not splitting up!” said Hermione firmly. 
+
+
+
+“We need a safe place to hide,” said Ron. “Give us 
+time to think things through.” 
+
+“Grimmauld Place,” said Harry. 
+
+The other two gaped. 
+
+“Don’t be silly, Harry, Snape can get in there!” 
+
+“Ron’s dad said they’ve put up jinxes against him — 
+and even if they haven’t worked,” he pressed on as 
+Hermione began to argue, “so what? I swear, I’d like 
+nothing better than to meet Snape!” 
+
+“But — ” 
+
+“Hermione, where else is there? It’s the best chance 
+we’ve got. Snape’s only one Death Eater. If I’ve still 
+got the Trace on me, we’ll have whole crowds of them 
+on us wherever else we go.” 
+
+She could not argue, though she looked as if she 
+would have liked to. While she unlocked the cafe 
+door, Ron clicked the Deluminator to release the 
+cafe’s light. Then, on Harry’s count of three, they 
+reversed the spells upon their three victims, and 
+before the waitress or either of the Death Eaters could 
+do more than stir sleepily, Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+had turned on the spot and vanished into the 
+compressing darkness once more. 
+
+Seconds later Harry’s lungs expanded gratefully and 
+he opened his eyes: They were now standing in the 
+middle of a familiar small and shabby square. Tall, 
+dilapidated houses looked down on them from every 
+side. Number twelve was visible to them, for they had 
+been told of its existence by Dumbledore, its Secret- 
+P a g e | 190 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Keeper, and they rushed toward it, checking every few 
+yards that they were not being followed or observed. 
+They raced up the stone steps, and Harry tapped the 
+front door once with his wand. They heard a series of 
+metallic clicks and the clatter of a chain, then the 
+door swung open with a creak and they hurried over 
+the threshold. 
+
+As Harry closed the door behind them, the old- 
+fashioned gas lamps sprang into life, casting 
+flickering light along the length of the hallway. It 
+looked just as Harry remembered it: eerie, 
+cobwebbed, the outlines of the house-elf heads on the 
+wall throwing odd shadows up the staircase. Long 
+dark curtains concealed the portrait of Sirius’s 
+mother. The only thing that was out of place was the 
+troll’s leg umbrella stand, which was lying on its side 
+as if Tonks had just knocked it over again. 
+
+“I think somebody’s been in here,” Hermione 
+whispered, pointing toward it. 
+
+“That could’ve happened as the Order left,” Ron 
+murmured back. 
+
+“So where are these jinxes they put up against 
+Snape?” Harry asked. 
+
+“Maybe they’re only activated if he shows up?” 
+suggested Ron. 
+
+Yet they remained close together on the doormat, 
+backs against the door, scared to move farther into 
+the house. 
+
+“Well, we can’t stay here forever,” said Harry, and he 
+took a step forward. 
+
+“Severus Snape?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Mad-Eye Moody’s voice whispered out of the 
+darkness, making all three of them jump back in 
+fright. “We’re not Snape!” croaked Harry, before 
+something whooshed over him like cold air and his 
+tongue curled backward on itself, making it 
+impossible to speak. Before he had time to feel inside 
+his mouth, however, his tongue had unraveled again. 
+
+The other two seemed to have experienced the same 
+unpleasant sensation. Ron was making retching 
+noises; Hermione stammered, “That m-must have b- 
+been the T-Tongue-Tying Curse Mad-Eye set up for 
+Snape!” 
+
+Gingerly Harry took another step forward. Something 
+shifted in the shadows at the end of the hall, and 
+before any of them could say another word, a figure 
+had risen up out of the carpet, tall, dust-colored, and 
+terrible: Hermione screamed and so did Mrs. Black, 
+her curtains flying open; the gray figure was gliding 
+toward them, faster and faster, its waist-length hair 
+and beard streaming behind it, its face sunken, 
+fleshless, with empty eye sockets: Horribly familiar, 
+dreadfully altered, it raised a wasted arm, pointing at 
+Harry. 
+
+“No!” Harry shouted, and though he had raised his 
+wand no spell occurred to him. “No! It wasn’t us! We 
+didn’t kill you — ” 
+
+On the word kill, the figure exploded in a great cloud 
+of dust: Coughing, his eyes watering, Harry looked 
+around to see Hermione crouched on the floor by the 
+door with her arms over her head, and Ron, who was 
+shaking from head to foot, patting her clumsily on the 
+shoulder and saying, “It’s all r-right. ... It’s g-gone. ...” 
+
+Dust swirled around Harry like mist, catching the 
+blue gaslight, as Mrs. Black continued to scream. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Mudbloods, filth, stains of dishonor, taint of shame on 
+the house of my fathers — ” 
+
+“SHUT UP!” Harry bellowed, directing his wand at her, 
+and with a bang and a burst of red sparks, the 
+curtains swung shut again, silencing her. 
+
+“That ... that was ...” Hermione whimpered, as Ron 
+helped her to her feet. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry, “but it wasn’t really him, was it? 
+Just something to scare Snape.” 
+
+Had it worked, Harry wondered, or had Snape already 
+blasted the horror-figure aside as casually as he had 
+killed the real Dumbledore? Nerves still tingling, he 
+led the other two up the hall, half-expecting some new 
+terror to reveal itself, but nothing moved except for a 
+mouse skittering along the skirting board. 
+
+“Before we go any farther, I think we’d better check,” 
+whispered Hermione, and she raised her wand and 
+said, “Homenum revelio.” 
+
+Nothing happened. 
+
+“Well, you’ve just had a big shock,” said Ron kindly. 
+“What was that supposed to do?” 
+
+“It did what I meant it to do!” said Hermione rather 
+crossly. “That was a spell to reveal human presence, 
+and there’s nobody here except us!” 
+
+“And old Dusty,” said Ron, glancing at the patch of 
+carpet from which the corpse-figure had risen. 
+
+“Let’s go up,” said Hermione with a frightened look at 
+the same spot, and she led the way up the creaking 
+stairs to the drawing room on the first floor. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hermione waved her wand to ignite the old gas lamps, 
+then, shivering slightly in the drafty room, she 
+perched on the sofa, her arms wrapped tightly around 
+her. Ron crossed to the window and moved the heavy 
+velvet curtain aside an inch. 
+
+“Can’t see anyone out there,” he reported. “And you’d 
+think, if Harry still had a Trace on him, they’d have 
+followed us here. I know they can’t get in the house, 
+but — what’s up, Harry?” 
+
+Harry had given a cry of pain: His scar had burned 
+again as something flashed across his mind like a 
+bright light on water. He saw a large shadow and felt 
+a fury that was not his own pound through his body, 
+violent and brief as an electric shock. 
+
+“What did you see?” Ron asked, advancing on Harry. 
+“Did you see him at my place?” 
+
+“No, I just felt anger — he’s really angry — ” 
+
+“But that could be at the Burrow,” said Ron loudly. 
+“What else? Didn’t you see anything? Was he cursing 
+someone?” 
+
+“No, I just felt anger — I couldn’t tell — ” 
+
+Harry felt badgered, confused, and Hermione did not 
+help as she said in a frightened voice, “Your scar, 
+again? But what’s going on? I thought that 
+connection had closed!” 
+
+“It did, for a while,” muttered Harry; his scar was still 
+painful, which made it hard to concentrate. “I — I 
+think it’s started opening again whenever he loses 
+control, that’s how it used to — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But then you’ve got to close your mind!” said 
+Hermione shrilly. “Harry, Dumbledore didn’t want you 
+to use that connection, he wanted you to shut it 
+down, that’s why you were supposed to use 
+Occlumency! Otherwise Voldemort can plant false 
+images in your mind, remember — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I do remember, thanks,” said Harry through 
+gritted teeth; he did not need Hermione to tell him 
+that Voldemort had once used this selfsame 
+connection between them to lead him into a trap, nor 
+that it had resulted in Sirius’s death. He wished that 
+he had not told them what he had seen and felt; it 
+made Voldemort more threatening, as though he were 
+pressing against the window of the room, and still the 
+pain in his scar was building and he fought it: It was 
+like resisting the urge to be sick. 
+
+He turned his back on Ron and Hermione, pretending 
+to examine the old tapestry of the Black family tree on 
+the wall. Then Hermione shrieked: Harry drew his 
+wand again and spun around to see a silver Patronus 
+soar through the drawing room window and land 
+upon the floor in front of them, where it solidified into 
+the weasel that spoke with the voice of Ron’s father. 
+
+“Family safe, do not reply, we are being watched.” 
+
+The Patronus dissolved into nothingness. Ron let out 
+a noise between a whimper and a groan and dropped 
+onto the sofa: Hermione joined him, gripping his arm. 
+
+“They’re all right, they’re all right!” she whispered, 
+and Ron half laughed and hugged her. 
+
+“Harry,” he said over Hermione’s shoulder, “I — ” 
+
+“It’s not a problem,” said Harry, sickened by the pain 
+in his head. “It’s your family, ’course you’re worried. 
+
+Page | 195 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+I’d feel the same way.” He thought of Ginny. “I do feel 
+the same way.” 
+
+The pain in his scar was reaching a peak, burning as 
+it had done in the garden of the Burrow. Faintly he 
+heard Hermione say, “I don’t want to be on my own. 
+Could we use the sleeping bags I’ve brought and 
+camp in here tonight?” 
+
+He heard Ron agree. He could not fight the pain much 
+longer: He had to succumb. 
+
+“Bathroom,” he muttered, and he left the room as fast 
+as he could without running. 
+
+He barely made it: Bolting the door behind him with 
+trembling hands, he grasped his pounding head and 
+fell to the floor, then in an explosion of agony, he felt 
+the rage that did not belong to him possess his soul, 
+saw a long room lit only by firelight, and the great 
+blond Death Eater on the floor, screaming and 
+writhing, and a slighter figure standing over him, 
+wand outstretched, while Harry spoke in a high, cold, 
+merciless voice. 
+
+“More, Rowle, or shall we end it and feed you to 
+Nagini? Lord Voldemort is not sure that he will forgive 
+this time. ... You called me back for this, to tell me 
+that Harry Potter has escaped again? Draco, give 
+Rowle another taste of our displeasure. ... Do it, or 
+feel my wrath yourself!” 
+
+A log fell in the fire: Flames reared, their light darting 
+across a terrified, pointed white face — with a sense 
+of emerging from deep water, Harry drew heaving 
+breaths and opened his eyes. 
+
+He was spread-eagled on the cold black marble floor, 
+his nose inches from one of the silver serpent tails 
+
+Page | 196 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that supported the large bathtub. He sat up. Malfoy’s 
+gaunt, petrified face seemed branded on the inside of 
+his eyes. Harry felt sickened by what he had seen, by 
+the use to which Draco was now being put by 
+Voldemort. 
+
+There was a sharp rap on the door, and Harry jumped 
+as Hermione’s voice rang out. 
+
+“Harry, do you want your toothbrush? I’ve got it 
+here.” 
+
+“Yeah, great, thanks,” he said, fighting to keep his 
+voice casual as he stood up to let her in. 
+
+
+
+Page | 197 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+10 
+
+
+
+
+KREACHER’S TALE 
+
+Harry woke early next morning, wrapped in a sleeping 
+bag on the drawing room floor. A chink of sky was 
+visible between the heavy curtains: It was the cool, 
+clear blue of watered ink, somewhere between night 
+and dawn, and everything was quiet except for Ron 
+and Hermione’s slow, deep breathing. Harry glanced 
+over at the dark shapes they made on the floor beside 
+him. Ron had had a fit of gallantry and insisted that 
+Hermione sleep on the cushions from the sofa, so that 
+her silhouette was raised above his. Her arm curved 
+to the floor, her fingers inches from Ron’s. Harry 
+wondered whether they had fallen asleep holding 
+hands. The idea made him feel strangely lonely. 
+
+He looked up at the shadowy ceiling, the cobwebbed 
+chandelier. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he had 
+been standing in the sunlight at the entrance to the 
+marquee, waiting to show in wedding guests. It 
+seemed a lifetime away. What was going to happen 
+now? He lay on the floor and he thought of the 
+Horcruxes, of the daunting, complex mission 
+Dumbledore had left him. ... Dumbledore ... 
+
+Page | 198 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+The grief that had possessed him since Dumbledore’s 
+death felt different now. The accusations he had 
+heard from Muriel at the wedding seemed to have 
+nested in his brain like diseased things, infecting his 
+memories of the wizard he had idolized. Could 
+Dumbledore have let such things happen? Had he 
+been like Dudley, content to watch neglect and abuse 
+as long as it did not affect him? Could he have turned 
+his back on a sister who was being imprisoned and 
+hidden? 
+
+Harry thought of Godric’s Hollow, of graves 
+Dumbledore had never mentioned there; he thought 
+of mysterious objects left without explanation in 
+Dumbledore’s will, and resentment swelled in the 
+darkness. Why hadn’t Dumbledore told him? Why 
+hadn’t he explained? Had Dumbledore actually cared 
+about Harry at all? Or had Harry been nothing more 
+than a tool to be polished and honed, but not trusted, 
+never confided in? 
+
+Harry could not stand lying there with nothing but 
+bitter thoughts for company. Desperate for something 
+to do, for distraction, he slipped out of his sleeping 
+bag, picked up his wand, and crept out of the room. 
+On the landing he whispered, “Lumos,” and started to 
+climb the stairs by wandlight. 
+
+On the second landing was the bedroom in which he 
+and Ron had slept last time they had been here; he 
+glanced into it. The wardrobe doors stood open and 
+the bedclothes had been ripped back. Harry 
+remembered the overturned troll leg downstairs. 
+Somebody had searched the house since the Order 
+had left. Snape? Or perhaps Mundungus, who had 
+pilfered plenty from this house both before and after 
+Sirius died? Harry’s gaze wandered to the portrait 
+that sometimes contained Phineas Nigellus Black, 
+Sirius’s great-great-grandfather, but it was empty, 
+Page | 199 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+showing nothing but a stretch of muddy backdrop. 
+Phineas Nigellus was evidently spending the night in 
+the headmaster’s study at Hogwarts. 
+
+Harry continued up the stairs until he reached the 
+topmost landing, where there were only two doors. 
+
+The one facing him bore a nameplate reading SIRIUS. 
+Harry had never entered his godfather’s bedroom 
+before. He pushed open the door, holding his wand 
+high to cast light as widely as possible. The room was 
+spacious and must once have been handsome. There 
+was a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, a 
+tall window obscured by long velvet curtains, and a 
+chandelier thickly coated in dust with candle stubs 
+still resting in its sockets, solid wax hanging in 
+frostlike drips. A fine film of dust covered the pictures 
+on the walls and the bed’s headboard; a spider’s web 
+stretched between the chandelier and the top of the 
+large wooden wardrobe, and as Harry moved deeper 
+into the room, he heard a scurrying of disturbed mice. 
+
+The teenage Sirius had plastered the walls with so 
+many posters and pictures that little of the walls’ 
+silvery-gray silk was visible. Harry could only assume 
+that Sirius’s parents had been unable to remove the 
+Permanent Sticking Charm that kept them on the 
+wall, because he was sure they would not have 
+appreciated their eldest son’s taste in decoration. 
+Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy 
+his parents. There were several large Gryffindor 
+banners, faded scarlet and gold, just to underline his 
+difference from all the rest of the Slytherin family. 
+There were many pictures of Muggle motorcycles, and 
+also (Harry had to admire Sirius’s nerve) several 
+posters of bikini-clad Muggle girls; Harry could tell 
+that they were Muggles because they remained quite 
+stationary within their pictures, faded smiles and 
+glazed eyes frozen on the paper. This was in contrast 
+to the only Wizarding photograph on the walls, which 
+Page | 200 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was a picture of four Hogwarts students standing arm 
+in arm, laughing at the camera. 
+
+
+
+With a leap of pleasure, Harry recognized his father; 
+his untidy black hair stuck up at the back like 
+Harry’s, and he too wore glasses. Beside him was 
+Sirius, carelessly handsome, his slightly arrogant face 
+so much younger and happier than Harry had ever 
+seen it alive. To Sirius’s right stood Pettigrew, more 
+than a head shorter, plump and watery-eyed, flushed 
+with pleasure at his inclusion in this coolest of gangs, 
+with the much-admired rebels that James and Sirius 
+had been. On James’s left was Lupin, even then a 
+little shabby-looking, but he had the same air of 
+delighted surprise at finding himself liked and 
+included ... or was it simply because Harry knew how 
+it had been, that he saw these things in the picture? 
+He tried to take it from the wall; it was his now, after 
+all, Sirius had left him everything, but it would not 
+budge. Sirius had taken no chances in preventing his 
+parents from redecorating his room. 
+
+Harry looked around at the floor. The sky outside was 
+growing brighter: A shaft of light revealed bits of 
+paper, books, and small objects scattered over the 
+carpet. Evidently Sirius’s bedroom had been searched 
+too, although its contents seemed to have been 
+judged mostly, if not entirely, worthless. A few of the 
+books had been shaken roughly enough to part 
+company with their covers, and sundry pages littered 
+the floor. 
+
+Harry bent down, picked up a few of the pieces of 
+paper, and examined them. He recognized one as part 
+of an old edition of A History of Magic, by Bathilda 
+Bagshot, and another as belonging to a motorcycle 
+maintenance manual. The third was handwritten and 
+crumpled. He smoothed it out. 
+
+
+
+Page | 201 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dear Padfoot, 
+
+
+
+Thank you, thank you, for Harry’s birthday present! It 
+was his favorite by far. One year old and already 
+zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so 
+pleased with himself, I’m enclosing a picture so you 
+can see. You know it only rises about two feet off the 
+ground, but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a 
+horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no 
+complaints there). Of course, James thought it was so 
+funny, says he’s going to be a great Quidditch player, 
+but we’ve had to pack away all the ornaments and 
+make sure we don’t take our eyes off him when he gets 
+going. 
+
+We had a very quiet birthday tea, just us and old 
+Bathilda, who has always been sweet to us and who 
+dotes on Harry. We were so sorry you couldn’t come, 
+but the Order’s got to come first, and Harry’s not old 
+enough to know it’s his birthday anyway! James is 
+getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to 
+show it but I can tell — also, Dumbledore’s still got his 
+Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions. If 
+you could visit, it would cheer him up so much. Wormy 
+was here last weekend, I thought he seemed down, 
+but that was probably the news about the McKinnons; 
+
+I cried all evening when I heard. 
+
+Bathilda drops in most days, she’s a fascinating old 
+thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore, 
+I’m not sure he’d be pleased if he knew! I don’t know 
+how much to believe, actually, because it seems 
+incredible that Dumbledore 
+
+Harry’s extremities seemed to have gone numb. He 
+stood quite still, holding the miraculous paper in his 
+nerveless fingers while inside him a kind of quiet 
+eruption sent joy and grief thundering in equal 
+
+Page | 202 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+measure through his veins. Lurching to the bed, he 
+sat down. 
+
+
+
+He read the letter again, but could not take in any 
+more meaning than he had done the first time, and 
+was reduced to staring at the handwriting itself. She 
+had made her “g”s the same way he did: He searched 
+through the letter for every one of them, and each felt 
+like a friendly little wave glimpsed from behind a veil. 
+The letter was an incredible treasure, proof that Lily 
+Potter had lived, really lived, that her warm hand had 
+once moved across this parchment, tracing ink into 
+these letters, these words, words about him, Harry, 
+her son. 
+
+Impatiently brushing away the wetness in his eyes, he 
+reread the letter, this time concentrating on the 
+meaning. It was like listening to a half-remembered 
+voice. 
+
+They had had a cat . . . perhaps it had perished, like 
+his parents, at Godric’s Hollow ... or else fled when 
+there was nobody left to feed it. ... Sirius had bought 
+him his first broomstick. . . . His parents had known 
+Bathilda Bagshot; had Dumbledore introduced them? 
+DumblecLore’s still got his Invisibility Cloak ... There 
+was something funny there. ... 
+
+Harry paused, pondering his mother’s words. Why 
+had Dumbledore taken James’s Invisibility Cloak? 
+Harry distinctly remembered his headmaster telling 
+him years before, “I don’t need a cloak to become 
+invisible.” Perhaps some less gifted Order member 
+had needed its assistance, and Dumbledore had acted 
+as carrier? Harry passed on. ... 
+
+Wormy was here . . . Pettigrew, the traitor, had seemed 
+“down,” had he? Was he aware that he was seeing 
+James and Lily alive for the last time? 
+
+Page | 203 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And finally Bathilda again, who told incredible stories 
+about Dumbledore. It seems incredible that 
+Dumbledore — 
+
+That Dumbledore what? But there were any number 
+of things that would seem incredible about 
+Dumbledore; that he had once received bottom marks 
+in a Transfiguration test, for instance, or had taken 
+up goat-charming like Aberforth. ... 
+
+Harry got to his feet and scanned the floor: Perhaps 
+the rest of the letter was here somewhere. He seized 
+papers, treating them, in his eagerness, with as little 
+consideration as the original searcher; he pulled open 
+drawers, shook out books, stood on a chair to run his 
+hand over the top of the wardrobe, and crawled under 
+the bed and armchair. 
+
+At last, lying facedown on the floor, he spotted what 
+looked like a torn piece of paper under the chest of 
+drawers. When he pulled it out, it proved to be most 
+of the photograph Lily had described in her letter. A 
+black-haired baby was zooming in and out of the 
+picture on a tiny broom, roaring with laughter, and a 
+pair of legs that must have belonged to James was 
+chasing after him. Harry tucked the photograph into 
+his pocket with Lily’s letter and continued to look for 
+the second sheet. 
+
+After another quarter of an hour, however, he was 
+forced to conclude that the rest of his mother’s letter 
+was gone. Had it simply been lost in the sixteen years 
+that had elapsed since it had been written, or had it 
+been taken by whoever had searched the room? Harry 
+read the first sheet again, this time looking for clues 
+as to what might have made the second sheet 
+valuable. His toy broomstick could hardly be 
+considered interesting to the Death Eaters. ... The 
+only potentially useful thing he could see here was 
+Page | 204 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+possible information on Dumbledore. It seems 
+incredible that Dumbledore — what? 
+
+“Harry? Harry! HarryV’ 
+
+“I’m here!” he called. “What’s happened?” 
+
+There was a clatter of footsteps outside the door, and 
+Hermione burst inside. 
+
+“We woke up and didn’t know where you were!” she 
+said breathlessly. She turned and shouted over her 
+shoulder, “Ron! I’ve found him!” 
+
+Ron’s annoyed voice echoed distantly from several 
+floors below. 
+
+“Good! Tell him from me he’s a git!” 
+
+“Harry, don’t just disappear, please, we were terrified! 
+Why did you come up here anyway?” She gazed 
+around the ransacked room. “What have you been 
+doing?” 
+
+“Look what I’ve just found.” 
+
+He held out his mother’s letter. Hermione took it and 
+read it while Harry watched her. When she reached 
+the end of the page she looked up at him. 
+
+“Oh, Harry ...” 
+
+“And there’s this too.” 
+
+He handed her the torn photograph, and Hermione 
+smiled at the baby zooming in and out of sight on the 
+toy broom. 
+
+
+
+Page | 205 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I’ve been looking for the rest of the letter,” Harry 
+said, “but it’s not here.” 
+
+Hermione glanced around. 
+
+“Did you make all this mess, or was some of it done 
+when you got here?” 
+
+“Someone had searched before me,” said Harry. 
+
+“I thought so. Every room I looked into on the way up 
+had been disturbed. What were they after, do you 
+think?” 
+
+“Information on the Order, if it was Snape.” 
+
+“But you’d think he’d already have all he needed, I 
+mean, he was in the Order, wasn’t he?” 
+
+“Well then,” said Harry, keen to discuss his theory, 
+“what about information on Dumbledore? The second 
+page of this letter, for instance. You know this 
+Bathilda my mum mentions, you know who she is?” 
+
+“Who?” 
+
+“Bathilda Bagshot, the author of — ” 
+
+“A History of Magic,” said Hermione, looking 
+interested. “So your parents knew her? She was an 
+incredible magical historian.” 
+
+“And she’s still alive,” said Harry, “and she lives in 
+Godric’s Hollow, Ron’s Auntie Muriel was talking 
+about her at the wedding. She knew Dumbledore ’s 
+family too. Be pretty interesting to talk to, wouldn’t 
+she?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a little too much understanding in the 
+smile Hermione gave him for Harry’s liking. He took 
+back the letter and the photograph and tucked them 
+inside the pouch around his neck, so as not to have 
+to look at her and give himself away. 
+
+“I understand why you’d love to talk to her about your 
+mum and dad, and Dumbledore too,” said Hermione. 
+“But that wouldn’t really help us in our search for the 
+Horcruxes, would it?” Harry did not answer, and she 
+rushed on, “Harry, I know you really want to go to 
+Godric’s Hollow, but I’m scared, I’m scared at how 
+easily those Death Eaters found us yesterday. It just 
+makes me feel more than ever that we ought to avoid 
+the place where your parents are buried, I’m sure 
+they’d be expecting you to visit it.” 
+
+“It’s not just that,” Harry said, still avoiding looking at 
+her. “Muriel said stuff about Dumbledore at the 
+wedding. I want to know the truth. ...” 
+
+He told Hermione everything that Muriel had told 
+him. When he had finished, Hermione said, “Of 
+course, I can see why that’s upset you, Harry — ” 
+
+“I’m not upset,” he lied, “I’d just like to know whether 
+or not it’s true or — ” 
+
+“Harry, do you really think you’ll get the truth from a 
+malicious old woman like Muriel, or from Rita 
+Skeeter? How can you believe them? You knew 
+Dumbledore!” 
+
+“I thought I did,” he muttered. 
+
+“But you know how much truth there was in 
+everything Rita wrote about you! Doge is right, how 
+can you let these people tarnish your memories of 
+Dumbledore?” 
+
+Page | 207 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He looked away, trying not to betray the resentment 
+he felt. There it was again: Choose what to believe. He 
+wanted the truth. Why was everybody so determined 
+that he should not get it? 
+
+“Shall we go down to the kitchen?” Hermione 
+suggested after a little pause. “Find something for 
+breakfast?” 
+
+He agreed, but grudgingly, and followed her out onto 
+the landing and past the second door that led off it. 
+There were deep scratch marks in the paintwork 
+below a small sign that he had not noticed in the 
+dark. He paused at the top of the stairs to read it. It 
+was a pompous little sign, neatly lettered by hand, 
+the sort of thing that Percy Weasley might have stuck 
+on his bedroom door: 
+
+Do Not Enter 
+
+Without the Express Permission of 
+Regulus Arcturus Black 
+
+Excitement trickled through Harry, but he was not 
+immediately sure why. He read the sign again. 
+Hermione was already a flight of stairs below him. 
+
+“Hermione,” he said, and he was surprised that his 
+voice was so calm. “Come back up here.” 
+
+“What’s the matter?” 
+
+“R.A.B. I think I’ve found him.” 
+
+There was a gasp, and then Hermione ran back up 
+the stairs. 
+
+“In your mum’s letter? But I didn’t see — ” 
+
+Page | 208 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry shook his head, pointing at Regulus’s sign. She 
+read it, then clutched Harry’s arm so tightly that he 
+winced. 
+
+“Sirius’s brother?” she whispered. 
+
+“He was a Death Eater,” said Harry, “Sirius told me 
+about him, he joined up when he was really young 
+and then got cold feet and tried to leave — so they 
+killed him.” 
+
+“That fits!” gasped Hermione. “If he was a Death Eater 
+he had access to Voldemort, and if he became 
+disenchanted, then he would have wanted to bring 
+Voldemort down!” 
+
+She released Harry, leaned over the banister, and 
+screamed, “Ron! RON! Get up here, quick!” 
+
+Ron appeared, panting, a minute later, his wand 
+ready in his hand. 
+
+“What’s up? If it’s massive spiders again I want 
+breakfast before I — ” 
+
+He frowned at the sign on Regulus’s door, to which 
+Hermione was silently pointing. 
+
+“What? That was Sirius’s brother, wasn’t it? Regulus 
+Arcturus ... Regulus ... R.A.B.l The locket — you don’t 
+reckon — ?” 
+
+“Let’s find out,” said Harry. He pushed the door: It 
+was locked. Hermione pointed her wand at the handle 
+and said, “Alohomora.” There was a click, and the 
+door swung open. 
+
+They moved over the threshold together, gazing 
+around. Regulus’s bedroom was slightly smaller than 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Sirius’s, though it had the same sense of former 
+grandeur. Whereas Sirius had sought to advertise his 
+difference from the rest of the family, Regulus had 
+striven to emphasize the opposite. The Slytherin 
+colors of emerald and silver were everywhere, draping 
+the bed, the walls, and the windows. The Black family 
+crest was painstakingly painted over the bed, along 
+with its motto, TOU JOURS PUR. Beneath this was a 
+collection of yellow newspaper cuttings, all stuck 
+together to make a ragged collage. Hermione crossed 
+the room to examine them. 
+
+“They’re all about Voldemort,” she said. “Regulus 
+seems to have been a fan for a few years before he 
+joined the Death Eaters. ...” 
+
+A little puff of dust rose from the bedcovers as she sat 
+down to read the clippings. Harry, meanwhile, had 
+noticed another photograph; a Hogwarts Quidditch 
+team was smiling and waving out of the frame. He 
+moved closer and saw the snakes emblazoned on 
+their chests: Slytherins. Regulus was instantly 
+recognizable as the boy sitting in the middle of the 
+front row: He had the same dark hair and slightly 
+haughty look of his brother, though he was smaller, 
+slighter, and rather less handsome than Sirius had 
+been. 
+
+“He played Seeker,” said Harry. 
+
+“What?” said Hermione vaguely; she was still 
+immersed in Voldemort’s press clippings. 
+
+“He’s sitting in the middle of the front row, that’s 
+where the Seeker ... Never mind,” said Harry, realizing 
+that nobody was listening: Ron was on his hands and 
+knees, searching under the wardrobe. Harry looked 
+around the room for likely hiding places and 
+approached the desk. Yet again, somebody had 
+Page | 210 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+searched before them. The drawers’ contents had 
+been turned over recently, the dust disturbed, but 
+there was nothing of value there: old quills, out-of- 
+date textbooks that bore evidence of being roughly 
+handled, a recently smashed ink bottle, its sticky 
+residue covering the contents of the drawer. 
+
+“There’s an easier way,” said Hermione, as Harry 
+wiped his inky fingers on his jeans. She raised her 
+wand and said, “Accio Locked.” 
+
+Nothing happened. Ron, who had been searching the 
+folds of the faded curtains, looked disappointed. 
+
+“Is that it, then? It’s not here?” 
+
+“Oh, it could still be here, but under counter- 
+enchantments,” said Hermione. “Charms to prevent it 
+being summoned magically, you know.” 
+
+“Like Voldemort put on the stone basin in the cave,” 
+said Harry, remembering how he had been unable to 
+Summon the fake locket. 
+
+“How are we supposed to find it then?” asked Ron. 
+
+“We search manually,” said Hermione. 
+
+“That’s a good idea,” said Ron, rolling his eyes, and he 
+resumed his examination of the curtains. 
+
+They combed every inch of the room for more than an 
+hour, but were forced, finally, to conclude that the 
+locket was not there. 
+
+The sun had risen now; its light dazzled them even 
+through the grimy landing windows. 
+
+
+
+Page | 211 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It could be somewhere else in the house, though,” 
+said Hermione in a rallying tone as they walked back 
+downstairs: As Harry and Ron had become more 
+discouraged, she seemed to have become more 
+determined. “Whether he’d managed to destroy it or 
+not, he’d want to keep it hidden from Voldemort, 
+wouldn’t he? Remember all those awful things we had 
+to get rid of when we were here last time? That clock 
+that shot bolts at everyone and those old robes that 
+tried to strangle Ron; Regulus might have put them 
+there to protect the locket’s hiding place, even though 
+we didn’t realize it at ... at ...” 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at her. She was standing with 
+one foot in midair, with the dumbstruck look of one 
+who had just been Obliviated; her eyes had even 
+drifted out of focus. 
+
+"... at the time,” she finished in a whisper. 
+
+“Something wrong?” asked Ron. 
+
+“There was a locket.” 
+
+“What?” said Harry and Ron together. 
+
+“In the cabinet in the drawing room. Nobody could 
+open it. And we ... we ...” 
+
+Harry felt as though a brick had slid down through 
+his chest into his stomach. He remembered: He had 
+even handled the thing as they passed it around, each 
+trying in turn to prise it open. It had been tossed into 
+a sack of rubbish, along with the snuffbox of Wartcap 
+powder and the music box that had made everyone 
+sleepy. ... 
+
+“Kreacher nicked loads of things back from us,” said 
+Harry. It was the only chance, the only slender hope 
+
+Page | 212 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+left to them, and he was going to cling to it until 
+forced to let go. “He had a whole stash of stuff in his 
+cupboard in the kitchen. C’mon.” 
+
+He ran down the stairs taking two steps at a time, the 
+other two thundering along in his wake. They made 
+so much noise that they woke the portrait of Sirius’s 
+mother as they passed through the hall. 
+
+“Filth). Mudbloods\ Scum)” she screamed after them as 
+they dashed down into the basement kitchen and 
+slammed the door behind them. 
+
+Harry ran the length of the room, skidded to a halt at 
+the door of Kreacher’s cupboard, and wrenched it 
+open. There was the nest of dirty old blankets in 
+which the house-elf had once slept, but they were no 
+longer glittering with the trinkets Kreacher had 
+salvaged. The only thing there was an old copy of 
+Nature’s Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. Refusing to 
+believe his eyes, Harry snatched up the blankets and 
+shook them. A dead mouse fell out and rolled 
+dismally across the floor. Ron groaned as he threw 
+himself into a kitchen chair; Hermione closed her 
+eyes. 
+
+“It’s not over yet,” said Harry, and he raised his voice 
+and called, “ Kreacherl” 
+
+There was a loud crack and the house-elf that Harry 
+had so reluctantly inherited from Sirius appeared out 
+of nowhere in front of the cold and empty fireplace: 
+tiny, half human-sized, his pale skin hanging off him 
+in folds, white hair sprouting copiously from his 
+batlike ears. He was still wearing the filthy rag in 
+which they had first met him, and the contemptuous 
+look he bent upon Harry showed that his attitude to 
+his change of ownership had altered no more than his 
+outfit. 
+
+Page | 213 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Master,” croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog’s voice, and 
+he bowed low, muttering to his knees, “back in my 
+Mistress’s old house with the blood-traitor Weasley 
+and the Mudblood — ” 
+
+“I forbid you to call anyone ‘blood traitor’ or 
+‘Mudblood,’ ” growled Harry. He would have found 
+Kreacher, with his snoutlike nose and bloodshot eyes, 
+a distinctly unlovable object even if the elf had not 
+betrayed Sirius to Voldemort. 
+
+“I’ve got a question for you,” said Harry, his heart 
+beating rather fast as he looked down at the elf, “and 
+I order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?” 
+
+“Yes, Master,” said Kreacher, bowing low again: Harry 
+saw his lips moving soundlessly, undoubtedly framing 
+the insults he was now forbidden to utter. 
+
+“Two years ago,” said Harry, his heart now 
+hammering against his ribs, “there was a big gold 
+locket in the drawing room upstairs. We threw it out. 
+Did you steal it back?” 
+
+There was a moment’s silence, during which Kreacher 
+straightened up to look Harry full in the face. Then he 
+said, “Yes.” 
+
+“Where is it now?” asked Harry jubilantly as Ron and 
+Hermione looked gleeful. 
+
+Kreacher closed his eyes as though he could not bear 
+to see their reactions to his next word. 
+
+“Gone.” 
+
+“Gone?” echoed Harry, elation flooding out of him. 
+“What do you mean, it’s gone?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 214 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The elf shivered. He swayed. 
+
+
+
+“Kreacher,” said Harry fiercely, “I order you — ” 
+
+“Mundungus Fletcher,” croaked the elf, his eyes still 
+tight shut. “Mundungus Fletcher stole it all: Miss 
+Bella’s and Miss Cissy’s pictures, my Mistress’s 
+gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets 
+with the family crest, and — and — ” 
+
+Kreacher was gulping for air: His hollow chest was 
+rising and falling rapidly, then his eyes flew open and 
+he uttered a bloodcurdling scream. 
+
+“ — and the locket, Master Regulus’s locket, Kreacher 
+did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!” 
+
+Harry reacted instinctively: As Kreacher lunged for 
+the poker standing in the grate, he launched himself 
+upon the elf, flattening him. Hermione’s scream 
+mingled with Kreacher’s, but Harry bellowed louder 
+than both of them: “Kreacher, I order you to stay 
+still!” 
+
+He felt the elf freeze and released him. Kreacher lay 
+flat on the cold stone floor, tears gushing from his 
+sagging eyes. 
+
+“Harry, let him up!” Hermione whispered. 
+
+“So he can beat himself up with the poker?” snorted 
+Harry, kneeling beside the elf. “I don’t think so. Right, 
+Kreacher, I want the truth: How do you know 
+Mundungus Fletcher stole the locket?” 
+
+“Kreacher saw him!” gasped the elf as tears poured 
+over his snout and into his mouth full of graying 
+teeth. “Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher’s 
+cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher’s treasures. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Kreacher told the sneak thief to stop, but Mundungus 
+Fletcher laughed and r-ran. ...” 
+
+“You called the locket ‘Master Regulus ’s,’ ” said Harry. 
+“Why? Where did it come from? What did Regulus 
+have to do with it? Kreacher, sit up and tell me 
+everything you know about that locket, and 
+everything Regulus had to do with it!” 
+
+The elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face 
+between his knees, and began to rock backward and 
+forward. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but 
+quite distinct in the silent, echoing kitchen. 
+
+“Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a 
+bad boy and broke my Mistress’s heart with his 
+lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper pride; 
+he knew what was due to the name of Black and the 
+dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the 
+Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of 
+hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns . . . 
+and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus 
+joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to 
+serve ... 
+
+“And one day, a year after he had joined, Master 
+Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. 
+Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master 
+Regulus said ... he said ...” 
+
+The old elf rocked faster than ever. 
+
+"... he said that the Dark Lord required an elf.” 
+
+“Voldemort needed an elf?” Harry repeated, looking 
+around at Ron and Hermione, who looked just as 
+puzzled as he did. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh yes,” moaned Kreacher. “And Master Regulus had 
+volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master 
+Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who 
+must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered 
+him to do ... and then to c-come home.” 
+
+Kreacher rocked still faster, his breath coming in 
+sobs. 
+
+“So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord 
+did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took 
+Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And 
+beyond the cave there was a cavern, and in the 
+cavern was a great black lake ...” 
+
+The hairs on the back of Harry’s neck stood up. 
+Kreacher’s croaking voice seemed to come to him from 
+across that dark water. He saw what had happened 
+as clearly as though he had been present. 
+
+"... There was a boat ...” 
+
+Of course there had been a boat; Harry knew the 
+boat, ghostly green and tiny, bewitched so as to carry 
+one wizard and one victim toward the island in the 
+center. This, then, was how Voldemort had tested the 
+defenses surrounding the Horcrux: by borrowing a 
+disposable creature, a house-elf ... 
+
+“There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The 
+D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it. ...” 
+
+The elf quaked from head to foot. 
+
+“Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible 
+things. ... Kreacher’s insides burned. ... Kreacher 
+cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his 
+Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed. ... 
+
+He made Kreacher drink all the potion. ... He dropped 
+Page | 217 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+a locket into the empty basin. ... He filled it with more 
+potion. 
+
+“And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving 
+Kreacher on the island. ...” 
+
+Harry could see it happening. He watched 
+Voldemort’s white, snakelike face vanishing into 
+darkness, those red eyes fixed pitilessly on the 
+thrashing elf whose death would occur within 
+minutes, whenever he succumbed to the desperate 
+thirst that the burning potion caused its victim. ... 
+
+But here, Harry’s imagination could go no further, for 
+he could not see how Kreacher had escaped. 
+
+“Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island’s 
+edge and he drank from the black lake ... and hands, 
+dead hands, came out of the water and dragged 
+Kreacher under the surface. ...” 
+
+“How did you get away?” Harry asked, and he was not 
+surprised to hear himself whispering. 
+
+Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked at Harry 
+with his great, bloodshot eyes. 
+
+“Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back,” he 
+said. 
+
+“I know — but how did you escape the Inferi?” 
+
+Kreacher did not seem to understand. 
+
+“Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back,” he 
+repeated. 
+
+“I know, but — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it, Harry?” said Ron. “He 
+Disapparated!” 
+
+“But ... you couldn’t Apparate in and out of that 
+cave,” said Harry, “otherwise Dumbledore — ” 
+
+“Elf magic isn’t like wizard’s magic, is it?” said Ron. “I 
+mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out 
+of Hogwarts when we can’t.” 
+
+There was silence as Harry digested this. How could 
+Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as he 
+thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy. 
+
+“Of course, Voldemort would have considered the 
+ways of house-elves far beneath his notice, just like 
+all the purebloods who treat them like animals. ... It 
+would never have occurred to him that they might 
+have magic that he didn’t.” 
+
+“The house-elf’s highest law is his Master’s bidding,” 
+intoned Kreacher. “Kreacher was told to come home, 
+so Kreacher came home. ...” 
+
+“Well, then, you did what you were told, didn’t you?” 
+said Hermione kindly. “You didn’t disobey orders at 
+all!” 
+
+Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever. 
+
+“So what happened when you got back?” Harry asked. 
+“What did Regulus say when you told him what had 
+happened?” 
+
+“Master Regulus was very worried, very worried,” 
+croaked Kreacher. “Master Regulus told Kreacher to 
+stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then ... it 
+was a little while later . . . Master Regulus came to find 
+Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master 
+Page | 219 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, 
+disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell . . . and he 
+asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave 
+where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord. ...” 
+
+And so they had set off. Harry could visualize them 
+quite clearly, the frightened old elf and the thin, dark 
+Seeker who had so resembled Sirius. ... Kreacher 
+knew how to open the concealed entrance to the 
+underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat; 
+this time it was his beloved Regulus who sailed with 
+him to the island with its basin of poison. ... 
+
+“And he made you drink the potion?” said Harry, 
+disgusted. 
+
+But Kreacher shook his head and wept. Hermione’s 
+hands leapt to her mouth: She seemed to have 
+understood something. 
+
+“M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like 
+the one the Dark Lord had,” said Kreacher, tears 
+pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose. “And 
+he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was 
+empty, to switch the lockets. ...” 
+
+Kreacher’s sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had 
+to concentrate hard to understand him. 
+
+“And he ordered — Kreacher to leave — without him. 
+And he told Kreacher — to go home — and never to 
+tell my Mistress — what he had done — but to 
+destroy — the first locket. And he drank — all the 
+potion — and Kreacher swapped the lockets — and 
+watched ... as Master Regulus . . . was dragged 
+beneath the water ... and ...” 
+
+“Oh, Kreacher!” wailed Hermione, who was crying. 
+
+She dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to 
+
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+
+
+
+
+hug him. At once he was on his feet, cringing away 
+from her, quite obviously repulsed. 
+
+“The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, 
+what would his Mistress say?” 
+
+“I told you not to call her ‘Mudblood’!” snarled Harry, 
+but the elf was already punishing himself: He fell to 
+the ground and banged his forehead on the floor. 
+
+“Stop him — stop him!” Hermione cried. “Oh, don’t 
+you see now how sick it is, the way they’ve got to 
+obey?” 
+
+“Kreacher — stop, stop!” shouted Harry. 
+
+The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green 
+mucus glistening around his snout, a bruise already 
+blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck 
+himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and 
+swimming in tears. Harry had never seen anything so 
+pitiful. 
+
+“So you brought the locket home,” he said 
+relentlessly, for he was determined to know the full 
+story. “And you tried to destroy it?” 
+
+“Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it,” 
+moaned the elf. “Kreacher tried everything, everything 
+he knew, but nothing, nothing would work. ... So 
+many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was 
+sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it 
+would not open. . . . Kreacher punished himself, he 
+tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. 
+Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not 
+destroy the locket! And his Mistress was mad with 
+grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared, and 
+Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell 
+any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave. ...” 
+
+Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no 
+more coherent words. Tears flowed down Hermione’s 
+cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare 
+touch him again. Even Ron, who was no fan of 
+Kreacher’s, looked troubled. Harry sat back on his 
+heels and shook his head, trying to clear it. 
+
+“I don’t understand you, Kreacher,” he said finally. 
+“Voldemort tried to kill you, Regulus died to bring 
+Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray 
+Sirius to Voldemort? You were happy to go to 
+Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to 
+Voldemort through them. ...” 
+
+“Harry, Kreacher doesn’t think like that,” said 
+Hermione, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. 
+“He’s a slave; house-elves are used to bad, even 
+brutal treatment; what Voldemort did to Kreacher 
+wasn’t that far out of the common way. What do 
+wizard wars mean to an elf like Kreacher? He’s loyal 
+to people who are kind to him, and Mrs. Black must 
+have been, and Regulus certainly was, so he served 
+them willingly and parroted their beliefs. I know what 
+you’re going to say,” she went on as Harry began to 
+protest, “that Regulus changed his mind . . . but he 
+doesn’t seem to have explained that to Kreacher, does 
+he? And I think I know why. Kreacher and Regulus ’s 
+family were all safer if they kept to the old pure-blood 
+line. Regulus was trying to protect them all.” 
+
+“Sirius — ” 
+
+“Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it’s no 
+good looking like that, you know it’s true. Kreacher 
+had been alone for a long time when Sirius came to 
+live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+affection. I’m sure ‘Miss Cissy’ and ‘Miss Bella’ were 
+perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he 
+did them a favor and told them everything they 
+wanted to know. I’ve said all along that wizards would 
+pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort 
+did ... and so did Sirius.” 
+
+Harry had no retort. As he watched Kreacher sobbing 
+on the floor, he remembered what Dumbledore had 
+said to him, mere hours after Sirius’s death: I do not 
+think Sirius ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings 
+as acute as a human’s. ... 
+
+“Kreacher,” said Harry after a while, “when you feel 
+up to it, er ... please sit up.” 
+
+It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccuped 
+himself into silence. Then he pushed himself into a 
+sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his 
+eyes like a small child. 
+
+“Kreacher, I am going to ask you to do something,” 
+said Harry. He glanced at Hermione for assistance. He 
+wanted to give the order kindly, but at the same time, 
+he could not pretend that it was not an order. 
+However, the change in his tone seemed to have 
+gained her approval: She smiled encouragingly. 
+
+“Kreacher, I want you, please, to go and find 
+Mundungus Fletcher. We need to find out where the 
+locket — where Master Regulus’s locket is. It’s really 
+important. We want to finish the work Master 
+Regulus started, we want to — er — ensure that he 
+didn’t die in vain.” 
+
+Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at Harry. 
+“Find Mundungus Fletcher?” he croaked. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place,” said 
+Harry. “Do you think you could do that for us?” 
+
+As Kreacher nodded and got to his feet, Harry had a 
+sudden inspiration. He pulled out Hagrid’s purse and 
+took out the fake Horcrux, the substitute locket in 
+which Regulus had placed the note to Voldemort. 
+
+“Kreacher, I’d, er, like you to have this,” he said, 
+pressing the locket into the elf’s hand. “This belonged 
+to Regulus and I’m sure he’d want you to have it as a 
+token of gratitude for what you — ” 
+
+“Overkill, mate,” said Ron as the elf took one look at 
+the locket, let out a howl of shock and misery, and 
+threw himself back onto the ground. 
+
+It took them nearly half an hour to calm down 
+Kreacher, who was so overcome to be presented with 
+a Black family heirloom for his very own that he was 
+too weak at the knees to stand properly. When finally 
+he was able to totter a few steps they all accompanied 
+him to his cupboard, watched him tuck up the locket 
+safely in his dirty blankets, and assured him that 
+they would make its protection their first priority 
+while he was away. He then made two low bows to 
+Harry and Ron, and even gave a funny little spasm in 
+Hermione’s direction that might have been an attempt 
+at a respectful salute, before Disapparating with the 
+usual loud crack. 
+
+
+
+Page | 224 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BRIBE 
+
+If Kreacher could escape a lake full of Inferi, Harry 
+was confident that the capture of Mundungus would 
+take a few hours at most, and he prowled the house 
+all morning in a state of high anticipation. However, 
+Kreacher did not return that morning or even that 
+afternoon. By nightfall, Harry felt discouraged and 
+anxious, and a supper composed largely of moldy 
+bread, upon which Hermione had tried a variety of 
+unsuccessful Transfigurations, did nothing to help. 
+
+Kreacher did not return the following day, nor the day 
+after that. However, two cloaked men had appeared in 
+the square outside number twelve, and they remained 
+there into the night, gazing in the direction of the 
+house that they could not see. 
+
+“Death Eaters, for sure,” said Ron, as he, Harry, and 
+Hermione watched from the drawing room windows. 
+“Reckon they know we’re in here?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Hermione, though she looked 
+frightened, “or they’d have sent Snape in after us, 
+wouldn’t they?” 
+
+“D’you reckon he’s been in here and had his tongue 
+tied by Moody’s curse?” asked Ron. 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione, “otherwise he’d have been able 
+to tell that lot how to get in, wouldn’t he? But they’re 
+probably watching to see whether we turn up. They 
+know that Harry owns the house, after all.” 
+
+“How do they — ?” began Harry. 
+
+“Wizarding wills are examined by the Ministry, 
+remember? They’ll know Sirius left you the place.” 
+
+The presence of the Death Eaters outside increased 
+the ominous mood inside number twelve. They had 
+not heard a word from anyone beyond Grimmauld 
+Place since Mr. Weasley’s Patronus, and the strain 
+was starting to tell. Restless and irritable, Ron had 
+developed an annoying habit of playing with the 
+Deluminator in his pocket: This particularly 
+infuriated Hermione, who was whiling away the wait 
+for Kreacher by studying The Tales of Beedle the Bard 
+and did not appreciate the way the lights kept 
+flashing on and off. 
+
+“Will you stop it!” she cried on the third evening of 
+Kreacher’s absence, as all light was sucked from the 
+drawing room yet again. 
+
+“Sorry, sorry!” said Ron, clicking the Deluminator and 
+restoring the lights. “I don’t know I’m doing it!” 
+
+“Well, can’t you find something useful to occupy 
+yourself?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What, like reading kids’ stories?” 
+
+“Dumbledore left me this book, Ron — ” 
+
+“ — and he left me the Deluminator, maybe I’m 
+supposed to use it!” 
+
+Unable to stand the bickering, Harry slipped out of 
+the room unnoticed by either of them. He headed 
+downstairs toward the kitchen, which he kept visiting 
+because he was sure that was where Kreacher was 
+most likely to reappear. Halfway down the flight of 
+stairs into the hall, however, he heard a tap on the 
+front door, then metallic clicks and the grinding of the 
+chain. 
+
+Every nerve in his body seemed to tauten: He pulled 
+out his wand, moved into the shadows beside the 
+decapitated elf heads, and waited. The door opened: 
+He saw a glimpse of the lamplit square outside, and a 
+cloaked figure edged into the hall and closed the door 
+behind it. The intruder took a step forward, and 
+Moody’s voice asked, “Severus Snape ?” Then the dust 
+figure rose from the end of the hall and rushed him, 
+raising its dead hand. 
+
+“It was not I who killed you, Albus,” said a quiet voice. 
+
+The jinx broke: The dust-figure exploded again, and it 
+was impossible to make out the newcomer through 
+the dense gray cloud it left behind. 
+
+Harry pointed his wand into the middle of it. 
+
+“Don’t move!” 
+
+He had forgotten the portrait of Mrs. Black: At the 
+sound of his yell, the curtains hiding her flew open 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+and she began to scream, “Mudbloods and filth 
+dishonoring my house — ” 
+
+Ron and Hermione came crashing down the stairs 
+behind Harry, wands pointing, like his, at the 
+unknown man now standing with his arms raised in 
+the hall below. 
+
+“Hold your fire, it’s me, Remus!” 
+
+“Oh, thank goodness,” said Hermione weakly, 
+pointing her wand at Mrs. Black instead; with a bang, 
+the curtains swished shut again and silence fell. Ron 
+too lowered his wand, but Harry did not. 
+
+“Show yourself!” he called back. 
+
+Lupin moved forward into the lamplight, hands still 
+held high in a gesture of surrender. 
+
+“I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known 
+as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder’s 
+Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as 
+Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, 
+Harry, which takes the form of a stag.” 
+
+“Oh, all right,” said Harry, lowering his wand, “but I 
+had to check, didn’t I?” 
+
+“Speaking as your ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts 
+teacher, I quite agree that you had to check. Ron, 
+Hermione, you shouldn’t be quite so quick to lower 
+your defenses.” 
+
+They ran down the stairs toward him. Wrapped in a 
+thick black traveling cloak, he looked exhausted, but 
+pleased to see them. 
+
+“No sign of Severus, then?” he asked. 
+
+Page | 228 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry. “What’s going on? Is everyone 
+okay?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Lupin, “but we’re all being watched. There 
+are a couple of Death Eaters in the square outside — ” 
+
+“We know — ” 
+
+“I had to Apparate very precisely onto the top step 
+outside the front door to be sure that they would not 
+see me. They can’t know you’re in here or I’m sure 
+they’d have more people out there; they’re staking out 
+everywhere that’s got any connection with you, Harry. 
+Let’s go downstairs, there’s a lot to tell you, and I 
+want to know what happened after you left the 
+Burrow.” 
+
+They descended into the kitchen, where Hermione 
+pointed her wand at the grate. A fire sprang up 
+instantly: It gave the illusion of coziness to the stark 
+stone walls and glistened off the long wooden table. 
+Lupin pulled a few butterbeers from beneath his 
+traveling cloak and they sat down. 
+
+“I’d have been here three days ago but I needed to 
+shake off the Death Eater tailing me,” said Lupin. “So, 
+you came straight here after the wedding?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, “only after we ran into a couple of 
+Death Eaters in a cafe on Tottenham Court Road.” 
+
+Lupin slopped most of his butterbeer down his front. 
+
+“ What ?” 
+
+They explained what had happened; when they had 
+finished, Lupin looked aghast. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But how did they find you so quickly? It’s impossible 
+to track anyone who Apparates, unless you grab hold 
+of them as they disappear!” 
+
+“And it doesn’t seem likely they were just strolling 
+down Tottenham Court Road at the time, does it?” 
+said Harry. 
+
+“We wondered,” said Hermione tentatively, “whether 
+Harry could still have the Trace on him?” 
+
+“Impossible,” said Lupin. Ron looked smug, and 
+Harry felt hugely relieved. “Apart from anything else, 
+they’d know for sure Harry was here if he still had the 
+Trace on him, wouldn’t they? But I can’t see how they 
+could have tracked you to Tottenham Court Road, 
+that’s worrying, really worrying.” 
+
+He looked disturbed, but as far as Harry was 
+concerned, that question could wait. 
+
+“Tell us what happened after we left, we haven’t heard 
+a thing since Ron’s dad told us the family were safe.” 
+
+“Well, Kingsley saved us,” said Lupin. “Thanks to his 
+warning most of the wedding guests were able to 
+Disapparate before they arrived.” 
+
+“Were they Death Eaters or Ministry people?” 
+interjected Hermione. 
+
+“A mixture; but to all intents and purposes they’re the 
+same thing now,” said Lupin. “There were about a 
+dozen of them, but they didn’t know you were there, 
+Harry. Arthur heard a rumor that they tried to torture 
+your whereabouts out of Scrimgeour before they killed 
+him; if it’s true, he didn’t give you away.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry looked at Ron and Hermione; their expressions 
+reflected the mingled shock and gratitude he felt. He 
+had never liked Scrimgeour much, but if what Lupin 
+said was true, the man’s final act had been to try to 
+protect Harry. 
+
+“The Death Eaters searched the Burrow from top to 
+bottom,” Lupin went on. “They found the ghoul, but 
+didn’t want to get too close — and then they 
+interrogated those of us who remained for hours. 
+
+They were trying to get information on you, Harry, but 
+of course nobody apart from the Order knew that you 
+had been there. 
+
+“At the same time that they were smashing up the 
+wedding, more Death Eaters were forcing their way 
+into every Order-connected house in the country. No 
+deaths,” he added quickly, forestalling the question, 
+“but they were rough. They burned down Dedalus 
+Diggle’s house, but as you know he wasn’t there, and 
+they used the Cruciatus Curse on Tonks’s family. 
+Again, trying to find out where you went after you 
+visited them. They’re all right — shaken, obviously, 
+but otherwise okay.” 
+
+“The Death Eaters got through all those protective 
+charms?” Harry asked, remembering how effective 
+these had been on the night he had crashed in 
+Tonks’s parents’ garden. 
+
+“What you’ve got to realize, Harry, is that the Death 
+Eaters have got the full might of the Ministry on their 
+side now,” said Lupin. “They’ve got the power to 
+perform brutal spells without fear of identification or 
+arrest. They managed to penetrate every defensive 
+spell we’d cast against them, and once inside, they 
+were completely open about why they’d come.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“And are they bothering to give an excuse for 
+torturing Harry’s whereabouts out of people?” asked 
+Hermione, an edge to her voice. 
+
+“Well,” said Lupin. He hesitated, then pulled out a 
+folded copy of the Daily Prophet 
+
+“Here,” he said, pushing it across the table to Harry, 
+“you’ll know sooner or later anyway. That’s their 
+pretext for going after you.” 
+
+Harry smoothed out the paper. A huge photograph of 
+his own face filled the front page. He read the 
+headline over it: 
+
+WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT 
+
+THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE 
+
+Ron and Hermione gave roars of outrage, but Harry 
+said nothing. He pushed the newspaper away; he did 
+not want to read any more: He knew what it would 
+say. Nobody but those who had been on top of the 
+tower when Dumbledore died knew who had really 
+killed him and, as Rita Skeeter had already told the 
+Wizarding world, Harry had been seen running from 
+the place moments after Dumbledore had fallen. 
+
+“I’m sorry, Harry,” Lupin said. 
+
+“So Death Eaters have taken over the Daily Prophet 
+too?” asked Hermione furiously. 
+
+Lupin nodded. 
+
+“But surely people realize what’s going on?” 
+
+“The coup has been smooth and virtually silent,” said 
+Lupin. “The official version of Scrimgeour’s murder is 
+
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+
+
+
+
+that he resigned; he has been replaced by Pius 
+Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse.” 
+
+“Why didn’t Voldemort declare himself Minister of 
+Magic?” asked Ron. 
+
+Lupin laughed. 
+
+“He doesn’t need to, Ron. Effectively he is the 
+Minister, but why should he sit behind a desk at the 
+Ministry? His puppet, Thicknesse, is taking care of 
+everyday business, leaving Voldemort free to extend 
+his power beyond the Ministry. 
+
+“Naturally many people have deduced what has 
+happened: There has been such a dramatic change in 
+Ministry policy in the last few days, and many are 
+whispering that Voldemort must be behind it. 
+However, that is the point: They whisper. They daren’t 
+confide in each other, not knowing whom to trust; 
+they are scared to speak out, in case their suspicions 
+are true and their families are targeted. Yes, 
+
+Voldemort is playing a very clever game. Declaring 
+himself might have provoked open rebellion: 
+Remaining masked has created confusion, 
+uncertainty, and fear.” 
+
+“And this dramatic change in Ministry policy,” said 
+Harry, “involves warning the Wizarding world against 
+me instead of Voldemort?” 
+
+“That’s certainly part of it,” said Lupin, “and it is a 
+masterstroke. Now that Dumbledore is dead, you — 
+the Boy Who Lived — were sure to be the symbol and 
+rallying point for any resistance to Voldemort. But by 
+suggesting that you had a hand in the old hero’s 
+death, Voldemort has not only set a price upon your 
+head, but sown doubt and fear amongst many who 
+would have defended you. 
+
+Page | 233 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Meanwhile, the Ministry has started moving against 
+Muggle-borns.” 
+
+Lupin pointed at the Daily Prophet 
+“Look at page two.” 
+
+Hermione turned the pages with much the same 
+expression of distaste she had worn when handling 
+Secrets of the Darkest Art 
+
+“ ‘Muggle-born Register,’ ” she read aloud. “ ‘The 
+Ministry of Magic is undertaking a survey of so-called 
+“Muggle-borns,” the better to understand how they 
+came to possess magical secrets. 
+
+“ ‘Recent research undertaken by the Department of 
+Mysteries reveals that magic can only be passed from 
+person to person when Wizards reproduce. Where no 
+proven Wizarding ancestry exists, therefore, the so- 
+called Muggle-born is likely to have obtained magical 
+power by theft or force. 
+
+“ ‘The Ministry is determined to root out such usurpers 
+of magical power, and to this end has issued an 
+invitation to every so-called Muggle-born to present 
+themselves for interview by the newly appointed 
+Muggle-born Registration Commission.’ ” 
+
+“People won’t let this happen,” said Ron. 
+
+“It is happening, Ron,” said Lupin. “Muggle-borns are 
+being rounded up as we speak.” 
+
+“But how are they supposed to have ‘stolen’ magic?” 
+said Ron. “It’s mental, if you could steal magic there 
+wouldn’t be any Squibs, would there?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 234 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I know,” said Lupin. “Nevertheless, unless you can 
+prove that you have at least one close Wizarding 
+relative, you are now deemed to have obtained your 
+magical power illegally and must suffer the 
+punishment.” 
+
+Ron glanced at Hermione, then said, “What if 
+purebloods and half-bloods swear a Muggle-born’s 
+part of their family? I’ll tell everyone Hermione ’s my 
+cousin — ” 
+
+Hermione covered Ron’s hand with hers and squeezed 
+it. 
+
+“Thank you, Ron, but I couldn’t let you — ” 
+
+“You won’t have a choice,” said Ron fiercely, gripping 
+her hand back. “I’ll teach you my family tree so you 
+can answer questions on it. 
+
+Hermione gave a shaky laugh. 
+
+“Ron, as we’re on the run with Harry Potter, the most 
+wanted person in the country, I don’t think it matters. 
+If I was going back to school it would be different. 
+What’s Voldemort planning for Hogwarts?” she asked 
+Lupin. 
+
+“Attendance is now compulsory for every young witch 
+and wizard,” he replied. “That was announced 
+yesterday. It’s a change, because it was never 
+obligatory before. Of course, nearly every witch and 
+wizard in Britain has been educated at Hogwarts, but 
+their parents had the right to teach them at home or 
+send them abroad if they preferred. This way, 
+Voldemort will have the whole Wizarding population 
+under his eye from a young age. And it’s also another 
+way of weeding out Muggle-borns, because students 
+must be given Blood Status — meaning that they 
+Page | 235 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+have proven to the Ministry that they are of Wizard 
+descent — before they are allowed to attend.” 
+
+Harry felt sickened and angry: At this moment, 
+excited eleven-year-olds would be poring over stacks 
+of newly purchased spell-books, unaware that they 
+would never see Hogwarts, perhaps never see their 
+families again either. 
+
+“It’s ... it’s ...” he muttered, struggling to find words 
+that did justice to the horror of his thoughts, but 
+Lupin said quietly, 
+
+“I know.” 
+
+Lupin hesitated. 
+
+“I’ll understand if you can’t confirm this, Harry, but 
+the Order is under the impression that Dumbledore 
+left you a mission.” 
+
+“He did,” Harry replied, “and Ron and Hermione are 
+in on it and they’re coming with me.” 
+
+“Can you confide in me what the mission is?” 
+
+Harry looked into the prematurely lined face, framed 
+in thick but graying hair, and wished that he could 
+return a different answer. 
+
+“I can’t, Remus, I’m sorry. If Dumbledore didn’t tell 
+you I don’t think I can.” 
+
+“I thought you’d say that,” said Lupin, looking 
+disappointed. “But I might still be of some use to you. 
+You know what I am and what I can do. I could come 
+with you to provide protection. There would be no 
+need to tell me exactly what you were up to.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 236 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry hesitated. It was a very tempting offer, though 
+how they would be able to keep their mission secret 
+from Lupin if he were with them all the time he could 
+not imagine. 
+
+Hermione, however, looked puzzled. 
+
+“But what about Tonks?” she asked. 
+
+“What about her?” said Lupin. 
+
+“Well,” said Hermione, frowning, “you’re married! How 
+does she feel about you going away with us?” 
+
+“Tonks will be perfectly safe,” said Lupin. “She’ll be at 
+her parents’ house.” 
+
+There was something strange in Lupin’s tone; it was 
+almost cold. There was also something odd in the idea 
+of Tonks remaining hidden at her parents’ house; she 
+was, after all, a member of the Order and, as far as 
+Harry knew, was likely to want to be in the thick of 
+the action. 
+
+“Remus,” said Hermione tentatively, “is everything all 
+right . . . you know . . . between you and — ” 
+
+“Everything is fine, thank you,” said Lupin pointedly. 
+
+Hermione turned pink. There was another pause, an 
+awkward and embarrassed one, and then Lupin said, 
+with an air of forcing himself to admit something 
+unpleasant, “Tonks is going to have a baby.” 
+
+“Oh, how wonderful!” squealed Hermione. 
+
+“Excellent!” said Ron enthusiastically. 
+
+“Congratulations,” said Harry. 
+
+Page | 237 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Lupin gave an artificial smile that was more like a 
+grimace, then said, “So ... do you accept my offer? 
+
+Will three become four? I cannot believe that 
+Dumbledore would have disapproved, he appointed 
+me your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, after 
+all. And I must tell you that I believe that we are 
+facing magic many of us have never encountered or 
+imagined.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione both looked at Harry. 
+
+“Just — just to be clear,” he said. “You want to leave 
+Tonks at her parents’ house and come away with us?” 
+
+“She’ll be perfectly safe there, they’ll look after her,” 
+said Lupin. He spoke with a finality bordering on 
+indifference. “Harry, I’m sure James would have 
+wanted me to stick with you.” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry slowly, “I’m not. I’m pretty sure my 
+father would have wanted to know why you aren’t 
+sticking with your own kid, actually.” 
+
+Lupin’s face drained of color. The temperature in the 
+kitchen might have dropped ten degrees. Ron stared 
+around the room as though he had been bidden to 
+memorize it, while Hermione ’s eyes swiveled 
+backward and forward from Harry to Lupin. 
+
+“You don’t understand,” said Lupin at last. 
+
+“Explain, then,” said Harry. 
+
+Lupin swallowed. 
+
+“I — I made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks. I did 
+it against my better judgment and I have regretted it 
+very much ever since.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 238 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I see,” said Harry, “so you’re just going to dump her 
+and the kid and run off with us?” 
+
+Lupin sprang to his feet: His chair toppled over 
+backward, and he glared at them so fiercely that 
+Harry saw, for the first time ever, the shadow of the 
+wolf upon his human face. 
+
+“Don’t you understand what I’ve done to my wife and 
+my unborn child? I should never have married her, 
+I’ve made her an outcast!” 
+
+Lupin kicked aside the chair he had overturned. 
+
+“You have only ever seen me amongst the Order, or 
+under Dumbledore’s protection at Hogwarts! You 
+don’t know how most of the Wizarding world sees 
+creatures like me! When they know of my affliction, 
+they can barely talk to me! Don’t you see what I’ve 
+done? Even her own family is disgusted by our 
+marriage, what parents want their only daughter to 
+marry a werewolf? And the child — the child — ” 
+
+Lupin actually seized handfuls of his own hair; he 
+looked quite deranged. 
+
+“My kind don’t usually breed! It will be like me, I am 
+convinced of it — how can I forgive myself, when I 
+knowingly risked passing on my own condition to an 
+innocent child? And if, by some miracle, it is not like 
+me, then it will be better off, a hundred times so, 
+without a father of whom it must always be 
+ashamed!” 
+
+“Remus!” whispered Hermione, tears in her eyes. 
+“Don’t say that — how could any child be ashamed of 
+you?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 239 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Oh, I don’t know, Hermione,” said Harry. “I’d be 
+pretty ashamed of him.” 
+
+Harry did not know where his rage was coming from, 
+but it had propelled him to his feet too. Lupin looked 
+as though Harry had hit him. 
+
+“If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad,” 
+Harry said, “what will they do to a half-werewolf 
+whose father’s in the Order? My father died trying to 
+protect my mother and me, and you reckon he’d tell 
+you to abandon your kid to go on an adventure with 
+us?” 
+
+“How — how dare you?” said Lupin. “This is not about 
+a desire for — for danger or personal glory — how 
+dare you suggest such a — ” 
+
+“I think you’re feeling a bit of a daredevil,” Harry said. 
+“You fancy stepping into Sirius’s shoes — ” 
+
+“Harry, no!” Hermione begged him, but he continued 
+to glare into Lupin’s livid face. 
+
+“I’d never have believed this,” Harry said. “The man 
+who taught me to fight dementors — a coward.” 
+
+Lupin drew his wand so fast that Harry had barely 
+reached for his own; there was a loud bang and he 
+felt himself flying backward as if punched; as he 
+slammed into the kitchen wall and slid to the floor, he 
+glimpsed the tail of Lupin’s cloak disappearing 
+around the door. 
+
+“Remus, Remus, come back!” Hermione cried, but 
+Lupin did not respond. A moment later they heard the 
+front door slam. 
+
+“Harry!” wailed Hermione. “How could you?” 
+
+Page | 240 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It was easy,” said Harry. He stood up; he could feel a 
+lump swelling where his head had hit the wall. He 
+was still so full of anger he was shaking. 
+
+“Don’t look at me like that!” he snapped at Hermione. 
+
+“Don’t you start on her!” snarled Ron. 
+
+“No — no — we mustn’t fight!” said Hermione, 
+launching herself between them. 
+
+“You shouldn’t have said that stuff to Lupin,” Ron 
+told Harry. 
+
+“He had it coming to him,” said Harry. Broken images 
+were racing each other through his mind: Sirius 
+falling through the veil; Dumbledore suspended, 
+broken, in midair; a flash of green light and his 
+mother’s voice, begging for mercy ... 
+
+“Parents,” said Harry, “shouldn’t leave their kids 
+unless — unless they’ve got to.” 
+
+“Harry — ” said Hermione, stretching out a consoling 
+hand, but he shrugged it off and walked away, his 
+eyes on the fire Hermione had conjured. He had once 
+spoken to Lupin out of that fireplace, seeking 
+reassurance about James, and Lupin had consoled 
+him. Now Lupin’s tortured white face seemed to swim 
+in the air before him. He felt a sickening surge of 
+remorse. Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke, but Harry 
+felt sure that they were looking at each other behind 
+his back, communicating silently. 
+
+He turned around and caught them turning hurriedly 
+away from each other. 
+
+“I know I shouldn’t have called him a coward.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 241 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No, you shouldn’t,” said Ron at once. 
+
+
+
+“But he’s acting like one.” 
+
+“All the same ...” said Hermione. 
+
+“I know,” said Harry. “But if it makes him go back to 
+Tonks, it’ll be worth it, won’t it?” 
+
+He could not keep the plea out of his voice. Hermione 
+looked sympathetic, Ron uncertain. Harry looked 
+down at his feet, thinking of his father. Would James 
+have backed Harry in what he had said to Lupin, or 
+would he have been angry at how his son had treated 
+his old friend? 
+
+The silent kitchen seemed to hum with the shock of 
+the recent scene and with Ron and Hermione ’s 
+unspoken reproaches. The Daily Prophet Lupin had 
+brought was still lying on the table, Harry’s own face 
+staring up at the ceiling from the front page. He 
+walked over to it and sat down, opened the paper at 
+random, and pretended to read. He could not take in 
+the words; his mind was still too full of the encounter 
+with Lupin. He was sure that Ron and Hermione had 
+resumed their silent communications on the other 
+side of the Prophet He turned a page loudly, and 
+Dumbledore’s name leapt out at him. It was a 
+moment or two before he took in the meaning of the 
+photograph, which showed a family group. Beneath 
+the photograph were the words: The Dumbledore 
+family, left to right: Albus; Percival, holding newborn 
+Ariana; Kendra; and Aberforth. 
+
+His attention caught, Harry examined the picture 
+more carefully. Dumbledore’s father, Percival, was a 
+good-looking man with eyes that seemed to twinkle 
+even in this faded old photograph. The baby, Ariana, 
+was little longer than a loaf of bread and no more 
+Page | 242 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+distinctive-looking. The mother, Kendra, had jet-black 
+hair pulled into a high bun. Her face had a carved 
+quality about it. Harry thought of photos of Native 
+Americans he’d seen as he studied her dark eyes, 
+high cheekbones, and straight nose, formally 
+composed above a high-necked silk gown. Albus and 
+Aberforth wore matching lacy collared jackets and 
+had identical, shoulder-length hairstyles. Albus 
+looked several years older, but otherwise the two boys 
+looked very alike, for this was before Albus ’s nose had 
+been broken and before he started wearing glasses. 
+
+The family looked quite happy and normal, smiling 
+serenely up out of the newspaper. Baby Ariana’s arm 
+waved vaguely out of her shawl. Harry looked above 
+the picture and saw the headline: 
+
+EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM THE UPCOMING 
+BIOGRAPHY OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE 
+
+by Rita Skeeter 
+
+Thinking that it could hardly make him feel any worse 
+than he already did, Harry began to read: 
+
+Proud and haughty, Kendra Dumbledore could not 
+bear to remain in Mould-on-the-Wold after her 
+husband Percival’s well-publicized arrest and 
+imprisonment in Azkaban. She therefore decided to 
+uproot the family and relocate to Godric’s Hollow, the 
+village that was later to gain fame as the scene of 
+Harry Potter’s strange escape from You-Know-Who. 
+
+Like Mould-on-the-Wold, Godric’s Hollow was home to 
+a number of Wizarding families, but as Kendra knew 
+none of them, she would be spared the curiosity 
+about her husband’s crime she had faced in her 
+former village. By repeatedly rebuffing the friendly 
+
+
+
+Page | 243 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+advances of her new Wizarding neighbors, she soon 
+ensured that her family was left well alone. 
+
+“Slammed the door in my face when I went around to 
+welcome her with a batch of homemade Cauldron 
+Cakes,” says Bathilda Bagshot. “The first year they 
+were there I only ever saw the two boys. Wouldn’t 
+have known there was a daughter if I hadn’t been 
+picking Plangentines by moonlight the winter after they 
+moved in, and saw Kendra leading Ariana out into the 
+back garden. Walked her round the lawn once, keeping 
+a firm grip on her, then took her back inside. Didn’t 
+know what to make of it. ” 
+
+It seems that Kendra thought the move to Godric’s 
+Hollow was the perfect opportunity to hide Ariana 
+once and for all, something she had probably been 
+planning for years. The timing was significant. Ariana 
+was barely seven years old when she vanished from 
+sight, and seven is the age by which most experts 
+agree that magic will have revealed itself, if present. 
+Nobody now alive remembers Ariana ever 
+demonstrating even the slightest sign of magical 
+ability. It seems clear, therefore, that Kendra made a 
+decision to hide her daughter’s existence rather than 
+suffer the shame of admitting that she had produced 
+a Squib. Moving away from the friends and neighbors 
+who knew Ariana would, of course, make imprisoning 
+her all the easier. The tiny number of people who 
+henceforth knew of Ariana’s existence could be 
+counted upon to keep the secret, including her two 
+brothers, who deflected awkward questions with the 
+answer their mother had taught them: “My sister is 
+too frail for school.” 
+
+Next week: Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts — the 
+Prizes and the Pretense. 
+
+
+
+Page | 244 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry had been wrong: What he had read had indeed 
+made him feel worse. He looked back at the 
+photograph of the apparently happy family. Was it 
+true? How could he find out? He wanted to go to 
+Godric’s Hollow, even if Bathilda was in no fit state to 
+talk to him; he wanted to visit the place where he and 
+Dumbledore had both lost loved ones. He was in the 
+process of lowering the newspaper, to ask Ron’s and 
+Hermione’s opinions, when a deafening crack echoed 
+around the kitchen. 
+
+For the first time in three days Harry had forgotten all 
+about Kreacher. His immediate thought was that 
+Lupin had burst back into the room, and for a split 
+second, he did not take in the mass of struggling 
+limbs that had appeared out of thin air right beside 
+his chair. He hurried to his feet as Kreacher 
+disentangled himself and, bowing low to Harry, 
+croaked, “Kreacher has returned with the thief 
+Mundungus Fletcher, Master.” 
+
+Mundungus scrambled up and pulled out his wand; 
+Hermione, however, was too quick for him. 
+
+“Expelliarmusl” 
+
+Mundungus ’s wand soared into the air, and Hermione 
+caught it. Wild-eyed, Mundungus dived for the stairs: 
+Ron rugby-tackled him and Mundungus hit the stone 
+floor with a muffled crunch. 
+
+“What?” he bellowed, writhing in his attempts to free 
+himself from Ron’s grip. “Wha’ve I done? Setting a 
+bleedin’ ’ouse-elf on me, what are you playing at, 
+wha’ve I done, lemme go, lemme go, or — ” 
+
+“You’re not in much of a position to make threats,” 
+said Harry. He threw aside the newspaper, crossed 
+the kitchen in a few strides, and dropped to his knees 
+
+Page | 245 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+beside Mundungus, who stopped struggling and 
+looked terrified. Ron got up, panting, and watched as 
+Harry pointed his wand deliberately at Mundungus ’s 
+nose. Mundungus stank of stale sweat and tobacco 
+smoke: His hair was matted and his robes stained. 
+
+“Kreacher apologizes for the delay in bringing the 
+thief, Master,” croaked the elf. “Fletcher knows how to 
+avoid capture, has many hidey-holes and 
+accomplices. Nevertheless, Kreacher cornered the 
+thief in the end.” 
+
+“You’ve done really well, Kreacher,” said Harry, and 
+the elf bowed low. 
+
+“Right, we’ve got a few questions for you,” Harry told 
+Mundungus, who shouted at once, 
+
+“I panicked, okay? I never wanted to come along, no 
+offense, mate, but I never volunteered to die for you, 
+an’ that was bleedin’ You-Know-Who come flying at 
+me, anyone woulda got outta there, I said all along I 
+didn’t wanna do it — ” 
+
+“For your information, none of the rest of us 
+Disapparated,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, you’re a bunch of bleedin’ ’eroes then, aren’t 
+you, but I never pretended I was up for killing meself 
+
+
+
+“We’re not interested in why you ran out on Mad- 
+Eye,” said Harry, moving his wand a little closer to 
+Mundungus’s baggy, bloodshot eyes. “We already 
+knew you were an unreliable bit of scum.” 
+
+“Well then, why the ’ell am I being ’unted down by 
+’ouse-elves? Or is this about them goblets again? I 
+ain’t got none of ’em left, or you could ’ave ’em — ” 
+
+Page | 246 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It’s not about the goblets either, although you’re 
+getting warmer,” said Harry. “Shut up and listen.” 
+
+It felt wonderful to have something to do, someone of 
+whom he could demand some small portion of truth. 
+Harry’s wand was now so close to the bridge of 
+Mundungus’s nose that Mundungus had gone cross- 
+eyed trying to keep it in view. 
+
+“When you cleaned out this house of anything 
+valuable,” Harry began, but Mundungus interrupted 
+him again. 
+
+“Sirius never cared about any of the junk — ” 
+
+There was the sound of pattering feet, a blaze of 
+shining copper, an echoing clang, and a shriek of 
+agony: Kreacher had taken a run at Mundungus and 
+hit him over the head with a saucepan. 
+
+“Call ’im off, call ’im off, ’e should be locked up!” 
+screamed Mundungus, cowering as Kreacher raised 
+the heavy-bottomed pan again. 
+
+“Kreacher, no!” shouted Harry. 
+
+Kreacher’s thin arms trembled with the weight of the 
+pan, still held aloft. 
+
+“Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?” 
+
+Ron laughed. 
+
+“We need him conscious, Kreacher, but if he needs 
+persuading you can do the honors,” said Harry. 
+
+“Thank you very much, Master,” said Kreacher with a 
+bow, and he retreated a short distance, his great pale 
+eyes still fixed upon Mundungus with loathing. 
+
+Page | 247 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“When you stripped this house of all the valuables 
+you could find,” Harry began again, “you took a 
+bunch of stuff from the kitchen cupboard. There was 
+a locket there.” Harry’s mouth was suddenly dry: He 
+could sense Ron and Hermione’s tension and 
+excitement too. “What did you do with it?” 
+
+“Why?” asked Mundungus. “Is it valuable?” 
+
+“You’ve still got it!” cried Hermione. 
+
+“No, he hasn’t,” said Ron shrewdly. “He’s wondering 
+whether he should have asked more money for it.” 
+
+“More?” said Mundungus. “That wouldn’t have been 
+effing difficult ... bleedin’ gave it away, di’n’ I? No 
+choice.” 
+
+“What do you mean?” 
+
+“I was selling in Diagon Alley and she come up to me 
+and asks if I’ve got a license for trading in magical 
+artifacts. Bleedin’ snoop. She was gonna fine me, but 
+she took a fancy to the locket an’ told me she’d take it 
+and let me off that time, and to fink meself lucky.” 
+
+“Who was this woman?��� asked Harry. 
+
+“I dunno, some Ministry hag.” 
+
+Mundungus considered for a moment, brow wrinkled. 
+
+“Little woman. Bow on top of ’er head.” 
+
+He frowned and then added, “Looked like a toad.” 
+
+Harry dropped his wand: It hit Mundungus on the 
+nose and shot red sparks into his eyebrows, which 
+ignited. 
+
+Page | 248 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Aguamenti\” screamed Hermione, and a jet of water 
+streamed from her wand, engulfing a spluttering and 
+choking Mundungus. 
+
+Harry looked up and saw his own shock reflected in 
+Ron’s and Hermione’s faces. The scars on the back of 
+his right hand seemed to be tingling again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 249 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MAGIC IS MIGHT 
+
+As August wore on, the square of unkempt grass in 
+the middle of Grimmauld Place shriveled in the sun 
+until it was brittle and brown. The inhabitants of 
+number twelve were never seen by anybody in the 
+surrounding houses, and nor was number twelve 
+itself. The Muggles who lived in Grimmauld Place had 
+long since accepted the amusing mistake in the 
+numbering that had caused number eleven to sit 
+beside number thirteen. 
+
+And yet the square was now attracting a trickle of 
+visitors who seemed to find the anomaly most 
+intriguing. Barely a day passed without one or two 
+people arriving in Grimmauld Place with no other 
+purpose, or so it seemed, than to lean against the 
+railings facing numbers eleven and thirteen, watching 
+the join between the two houses. The lurkers were 
+never the same two days running, although they all 
+seemed to share a dislike for normal clothing. Most of 
+the Londoners who passed them were used to 
+eccentric dressers and took little notice, though 
+occasionally one of them might glance back, 
+
+Page | 250 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+wondering why anyone would wear such long cloaks 
+in this heat. 
+
+The watchers seemed to be gleaning little satisfaction 
+from their vigil. Occasionally one of them started 
+forward excitedly, as if they had seen something 
+interesting at last, only to fall back looking 
+disappointed. 
+
+On the first day of September there were more people 
+lurking in the square than ever before. Half a dozen 
+men in long cloaks stood silent and watchful, gazing 
+as ever at houses eleven and thirteen, but the thing 
+for which they were waiting still appeared elusive. As 
+evening drew in, bringing with it an unexpected gust 
+of chilly rain for the first time in weeks, there 
+occurred one of those inexplicable moments when 
+they appeared to have seen something interesting. 
+
+The man with the twisted face pointed and his closest 
+companion, a podgy, pallid man, started forward, but 
+a moment later they had relaxed into their previous 
+state of inactivity, looking frustrated and 
+disappointed. 
+
+Meanwhile, inside number twelve, Harry had just 
+entered the hall. He had nearly lost his balance as he 
+Apparated onto the top step just outside the front 
+door, and thought that the Death Eaters might have 
+caught a glimpse of his momentarily exposed elbow. 
+Shutting the front door carefully behind him, he 
+pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, draped it over his 
+arm, and hurried along the gloomy hallway toward 
+the door that led to the basement, a stolen copy of the 
+Daily Prophet clutched in his hand. 
+
+The usual low whisper of “Severus Snape?” greeted 
+him, the chill wind swept him, and his tongue rolled 
+up for a moment. 
+
+
+
+Page | 251 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I didn’t kill you,” he said, once it had unrolled, then 
+held his breath as the dusty jinx-figure exploded. He 
+waited until he was halfway down the stairs to the 
+kitchen, out of earshot of Mrs. Black and clear of the 
+dust cloud, before calling, “I’ve got news, and you 
+won’t like it.” 
+
+The kitchen was almost unrecognizable. Every surface 
+now shone: Copper pots and pans had been 
+burnished to a rosy glow; the wooden tabletop 
+gleamed; the goblets and plates already laid for 
+dinner glinted in the light from a merrily blazing fire, 
+on which a cauldron was simmering. Nothing in the 
+room, however, was more dramatically different than 
+the house-elf who now came hurrying toward Harry, 
+dressed in a snowy-white towel, his ear hair as clean 
+and fluffy as cotton wool, Regulus’s locket bouncing 
+on his thin chest. 
+
+“Shoes off, if you please, Master Harry, and hands 
+washed before dinner,” croaked Kreacher, seizing the 
+Invisibility Cloak and slouching off to hang it on a 
+hook on the wall, beside a number of old-fashioned 
+robes that had been freshly laundered. 
+
+“What’s happened?” Ron asked apprehensively. He 
+and Hermione had been poring over a sheaf of 
+scribbled notes and hand-drawn maps that littered 
+the end of the long kitchen table, but now they 
+watched Harry as he strode toward them and threw 
+down the newspaper on top of their scattered 
+parchment. 
+
+A large picture of a familiar, hook-nosed, black-haired 
+man stared up at them all, beneath a headline that 
+read: 
+
+SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS 
+HEADMASTER 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No!” said Ron and Hermione loudly. 
+
+Hermione was quickest; she snatched up the 
+newspaper and began to read the accompanying story 
+out loud. 
+
+“ ‘Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at 
+Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was 
+today appointed headmaster in the most important of 
+several staffing changes at the ancient school. 
+Following the resignation of the previous Muggle 
+Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post 
+while her brother, Amycus, fills the position of Defense 
+Against the Dark Arts professor. 
+
+“ 7 welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest 
+Wizarding traditions and values — ’ Like committing 
+murder and cutting off people’s ears, I suppose! 
+
+Snape, headmaster! Snape in Dumbledore’s study — 
+Merlin’s pants!” she shrieked, making both Harry and 
+Ron jump. She leapt up from the table and hurtled 
+from the room, shouting as she went, “I’ll be back in a 
+minute!” 
+
+“ ‘Merlin’s pants?” repeated Ron, looking amused. 
+“She must be upset.” He pulled the newspaper toward 
+him and perused the article about Snape. 
+
+“The other teachers won’t stand for this. McGonagall 
+and Flitwick and Sprout all know the truth, they 
+know how Dumbledore died. They won’t accept Snape 
+as headmaster. And who are these Carrows?” 
+
+“Death Eaters,” said Harry. “There are pictures of 
+them inside. They were at the top of the tower when 
+Snape killed Dumbledore, so it’s all friends together. 
+And,” Harry went on bitterly, drawing up a chair, “I 
+can’t see that the other teachers have got any choice 
+but to stay. If the Ministry and Voldemort are behind 
+Page | 253 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Snape it’ll be a choice between staying and teaching, 
+or a nice few years in Azkaban — and that’s if they’re 
+lucky. I reckon they’ll stay to try and protect the 
+students.” 
+
+Kreacher came bustling to the table with a large 
+tureen in his hands, and ladled out soup into pristine 
+bowls, whistling between his teeth as he did so. 
+
+“Thanks, Kreacher,” said Harry, flipping over the 
+Prophet so as not to have to look at Snape ’s face. 
+
+“Well, at least we know exactly where Snape is now.” 
+
+He began to spoon soup into his mouth. The quality 
+of Kreacher’s cooking had improved dramatically ever 
+since he had been given Regulus’s locket: Today’s 
+French onion was as good as Harry had ever tasted. 
+
+“There are still a load of Death Eaters watching the 
+house,” he told Ron as he ate, “more than usual. It’s 
+like they’re hoping we’ll march out carrying our 
+school trunks and head off for the Hogwarts Express.” 
+
+Ron glanced at his watch. 
+
+“I’ve been thinking about that all day. It left nearly six 
+hours ago. Weird, not being on it, isn’t it?” 
+
+In his mind’s eye Harry seemed to see the scarlet 
+steam engine as he and Ron had once followed it by 
+air, shimmering between fields and hills, a rippling 
+scarlet caterpillar. He was sure Ginny, Neville, and 
+Luna were sitting together at this moment, perhaps 
+wondering where he, Ron, and Hermione were, or 
+debating how best to undermine Snape ’s new regime. 
+
+“They nearly saw me coming back in just now,” Harry 
+said. “I landed badly on the top step, and the Cloak 
+slipped.” 
+
+Page | 254 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I do that every time. Oh, here she is,” Ron added, 
+craning around in his seat to watch Hermione 
+reentering the kitchen. “And what in the name of 
+Merlin’s most baggy Y Fronts was that about?” 
+
+“I remembered this,” Hermione panted. 
+
+She was carrying a large, framed picture, which she 
+now lowered to the floor before seizing her small, 
+beaded bag from the kitchen sideboard. Opening it, 
+she proceeded to force the painting inside, and 
+despite the fact that it was patently too large to fit 
+inside the tiny bag, within a few seconds it had 
+vanished, like so much else, into the bag’s capacious 
+depths. 
+
+“Phineas Nigellus,” Hermione explained as she threw 
+the bag onto the kitchen table with the usual 
+sonorous, clanking crash. 
+
+“Sorry?” said Ron, but Harry understood. The painted 
+image of Phineas Nigellus Black was able to flit 
+between his portrait in Grimmauld Place and the one 
+that hung in the headmaster’s office at Hogwarts: the 
+circular tower-top room where Snape was no doubt 
+sitting right now, in triumphant possession of 
+Dumbledore’s collection of delicate, silver magical 
+instruments, the stone Pensieve, the Sorting Hat and, 
+unless it had been moved elsewhere, the sword of 
+Gryffindor. 
+
+“Snape could send Phineas Nigellus to look inside this 
+house for him,” Hermione explained to Ron as she 
+resumed her seat. “But let him try it now, all Phineas 
+Nigellus will be able to see is the inside of my 
+handbag.” 
+
+“Good thinking!” said Ron, looking impressed. 
+
+
+
+Page | 255 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Thank you,” smiled Hermione, pulling her soup 
+toward her. “So, Harry, what else happened today?” 
+
+“Nothing,” said Harry. “Watched the Ministry entrance 
+for seven hours. No sign of her. Saw your dad, 
+though, Ron. He looks fine.” 
+
+Ron nodded his appreciation of this news. They had 
+agreed that it was far too dangerous to try and 
+communicate with Mr. Weasley while he walked in 
+and out of the Ministry, because he was always 
+surrounded by other Ministry workers. It was, 
+however, reassuring to catch these glimpses of him, 
+even if he did look very strained and anxious. 
+
+“Dad always told us most Ministry people use the 
+Floo Network to get to work,” Ron said. “That’s why 
+we haven’t seen Umbridge, she’d never walk, she’d 
+think she’s too important.” 
+
+“And what about that funny old witch and that little 
+wizard in the navy robes?” Hermione asked. 
+
+“Oh yeah, the bloke from Magical Maintenance,” said 
+Ron. 
+
+“How do you know he works for Magical 
+Maintenance?” Hermione asked, her soupspoon 
+suspended in midair. 
+
+“Dad said everyone from Magical Maintenance wears 
+navy blue robes.” 
+
+“But you never told us that!” 
+
+Hermione dropped her spoon and pulled toward her 
+the sheaf of notes and maps that she and Ron had 
+been examining when Harry had entered the kitchen. 
+
+
+
+Page | 256 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“There’s nothing in here about navy blue robes, 
+nothing!” she said, flipping feverishly through the 
+pages. 
+
+“Well, does it really matter?” 
+
+“Ron, it all matters! If we’re going to get into the 
+Ministry and not give ourselves away when they’re 
+bound to be on the lookout for intruders, every little 
+detail matters! We’ve been over and over this, I mean, 
+what’s the point of all these reconnaissance trips if 
+you aren’t even bothering to tell us — ” 
+
+“Blimey, Hermione, I forget one little thing — ” 
+
+“You do realize, don’t you, that there’s probably no 
+more dangerous place in the whole world for us to be 
+right now than the Ministry of — ” 
+
+“I think we should do it tomorrow,” said Harry. 
+
+Hermione stopped dead, her jaw hanging; Ron choked 
+a little over his soup. 
+
+“Tomorrow?” repeated Hermione. “You aren’t serious, 
+Harry?” 
+
+“I am,” said Harry. “I don’t think we’re going to be 
+much better prepared than we are now even if we 
+skulk around the Ministry entrance for another 
+month. The longer we put it off, the farther away that 
+locket could be. There’s already a good chance 
+Umbridge has chucked it away; the thing doesn’t 
+open.” 
+
+“Unless,” said Ron, “she’s found a way of opening it 
+and she’s now possessed.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 257 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Wouldn’t make any difference to her, she was so evil 
+in the first place,” Harry shrugged. 
+
+Hermione was biting her lip, deep in thought. 
+
+“We know everything important,” Harry went on, 
+addressing Hermione. “We know they’ve stopped 
+Apparition in and out of the Ministry. We know only 
+the most senior Ministry members are allowed to 
+connect their homes to the Floo Network now, 
+because Ron heard those two Unspeakables 
+complaining about it. And we know roughly where 
+Umbridge’s office is, because of what you heard that 
+bearded bloke saying to his mate — ” 
+
+“ ‘I’ll be up on level one, Dolores wants to see me,’ ” 
+Hermione recited immediately. 
+
+“Exactly,” said Harry. “And we know you get in using 
+those funny coins, or tokens, or whatever they are, 
+because I saw that witch borrowing one from her 
+friend — ” 
+
+“But we haven’t got any!” 
+
+“If the plan works, we will have,” Harry continued 
+calmly. 
+
+“I don’t know, Harry, I don’t know. ... There are an 
+awful lot of things that could go wrong, so much 
+relies on chance. ...” 
+
+“That’ll be true even if we spend another three 
+months preparing,” said Harry. “It’s time to act.” 
+
+He could tell from Ron’s and Hermione’s faces that 
+they were scared; he was not particularly confident 
+himself, and yet he was sure the time had come to 
+put their plan into operation. 
+
+Page | 258 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They had spent the previous four weeks taking it in 
+turns to don the Invisibility Cloak and spy on the 
+official entrance to the Ministry, which Ron, thanks to 
+Mr. Weasley, had known since childhood. They had 
+tailed Ministry workers on their way in, eavesdropped 
+on their conversations, and learned by careful 
+observation which of them could be relied upon to 
+appear, alone, at the same time every day. 
+Occasionally there had been a chance to sneak a 
+Daily Prophet out of somebody’s briefcase. Slowly they 
+had built up the sketchy maps and notes now stacked 
+in front of Hermione. 
+
+“All right,” said Ron slowly, “let’s say we go for it 
+tomorrow. ... I think it should just be me and Harry.” 
+
+“Oh, don’t start that again!” sighed Hermione. “I 
+thought we’d settled this.” 
+
+“It’s one thing hanging around the entrances under 
+the Cloak, but this is different, Hermione.” Ron 
+jabbed a finger at a copy of the Daily Prophet dated 
+ten days previously. “You’re on the list of Muggle- 
+borns who didn’t present themselves for 
+interrogation!” 
+
+“And you’re supposed to be dying of spattergroit at 
+the Burrow! If anyone shouldn’t go, it’s Harry, he’s got 
+a ten-thousand-Galleon price on his head — ” 
+
+“Fine, I’ll stay here,” said Harry. “Let me know if you 
+ever defeat Voldemort, won’t you?” 
+
+As Ron and Hermione laughed, pain shot through the 
+scar on Harry’s forehead. His hand jumped to it: He 
+saw Hermione’s eyes narrow, and he tried to pass off 
+the movement by brushing his hair out of his eyes. 
+
+
+
+Page | 259 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, if all three of us go well have to Disapparate 
+separately,” Ron was saying. “We can’t all fit under 
+the Cloak anymore.” 
+
+Harry’s scar was becoming more and more painful. 
+
+He stood up. At once, Kreacher hurried forward. 
+
+“Master has not finished his soup, would Master 
+prefer the savory stew, or else the treacle tart to 
+which Master is so partial?” 
+
+“Thanks, Kreacher, but I’ll be back in a minute — er 
+— bathroom.” 
+
+Aware that Hermione was watching him suspiciously, 
+Harry hurried up the stairs to the hall and then to the 
+first landing, where he dashed into the bathroom and 
+bolted the door again. Grunting with pain, he 
+slumped over the black basin with its taps in the form 
+of open-mouthed serpents and closed his eyes. ... 
+
+He was gliding along a twilit street. The buildings on 
+either side of him had high, timbered gables; they 
+looked like gingerbread houses. 
+
+He approached one of them, then saw the whiteness 
+of his own long-fingered hand against the door. He 
+knocked. He felt a mounting excitement. ... 
+
+The door opened: A laughing woman stood there. Her 
+face fell as she looked into Harry’s face: humor gone, 
+terror replacing it. ... 
+
+“Gregorovitch?” said a high, cold voice. 
+
+She shook her head: She was trying to close the door. 
+A white hand held it steady, prevented her shutting 
+him out. ... 
+
+
+
+Page | 260 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I want Gregorovitch.” 
+
+“Er wohnt hier nicht mehr\” she cried, shaking her 
+head. “He no live here! He no live here! I know him 
+not!” 
+
+Abandoning the attempt to close the door, she began 
+to back away down the dark hall, and Harry followed, 
+gliding toward her, and his long-fingered hand had 
+drawn his wand. 
+
+“Where is he?” 
+
+“Das weifi ich nichti He move! I know not, I know not!” 
+
+He raised the wand. She screamed. Two young 
+children came running into the hall. She tried to 
+shield them with her arms. There was a flash of green 
+light — 
+
+“Harry! HARRY!” 
+
+He opened his eyes; he had sunk to the floor. 
+Hermione was pounding on the door again. 
+
+“Harry, open up!” 
+
+He had shouted out, he knew it. He got up and 
+unbolted the door; Hermione toppled inside at once, 
+regained her balance, and looked around 
+suspiciously. Ron was right behind her, looking 
+unnerved as he pointed his wand into the corners of 
+the chilly bathroom. 
+
+“What were you doing?” asked Hermione sternly. 
+
+“What d’you think I was doing?” asked Harry with 
+feeble bravado. 
+
+
+
+Page | 261 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You were yelling your head off!” said Ron. 
+
+“Oh yeah ... I must’ve dozed off or — ” 
+
+“Harry, please don’t insult our intelligence,” said 
+Hermione, taking deep breaths. “We know your scar 
+hurt downstairs, and you’re white as a sheet.” 
+
+Harry sat down on the edge of the bath. 
+
+“Fine. I’ve just seen Voldemort murdering a woman. 
+By now he’s probably killed her whole family. And he 
+didn’t need to. It was Cedric all over again, they were 
+just there. ...” 
+
+“Harry, you aren’t supposed to let this happen 
+anymore!” Hermione cried, her voice echoing through 
+the bathroom. “Dumbledore wanted you to use 
+Occlumency! He thought the connection was 
+dangerous — Voldemort can use it, Harry! What good 
+is it to watch him kill and torture, how can it help?” 
+
+“Because it means I know what he’s doing,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“So you’re not even going to try to shut him out?” 
+
+“Hermione, I can’t. You know I’m lousy at 
+Occlumency, I never got the hang of it.” 
+
+“You never really tried!” she said hotly. “I don’t get it, 
+Harry — do you like having this special connection or 
+relationship or what — whatever — ” 
+
+She faltered under the look he gave her as he stood 
+
+up. 
+
+
+
+“Like it?” he said quietly. “Would you like it?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 262 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I — no — I’m sorry, Harry, I didn’t mean — ” 
+
+“I hate it, I hate the fact that he can get inside me, 
+that I have to watch him when he’s most dangerous. 
+But I’m going to use it.” 
+
+“Dumbledore — ” 
+
+“Forget Dumbledore. This is my choice, nobody else’s. 
+I want to know why he’s after Gregorovitch.” 
+
+“Who?” 
+
+“He’s a foreign wandmaker,” said Harry. “He made 
+Krum’s wand and Krum reckons he’s brilliant.” 
+
+“But according to you,” said Ron, “Voldemort’s got 
+Ollivander locked up somewhere. If he’s already got a 
+wandmaker, what does he need another one for?” 
+
+“Maybe he agrees with Krum, maybe he thinks 
+Gregorovitch is better ... or else he thinks 
+Gregorovitch will be able to explain what my wand did 
+when he was chasing me, because Ollivander didn’t 
+know.” 
+
+Harry glanced into the cracked, dusty mirror and saw 
+Ron and Hermione exchanging skeptical looks behind 
+his back. 
+
+“Harry, you keep talking about what your wand did,” 
+said Hermione, “but you made it happen! Why are 
+you so determined not to take responsibility for your 
+own power?” 
+
+“Because I know it wasn’t me! And so does Voldemort, 
+Hermione! We both know what really happened!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 263 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They glared at each other: Harry knew that he had 
+not convinced Hermione and that she was marshaling 
+counterarguments, against both his theory on his 
+wand and the fact that he was permitting himself to 
+see into Voldemort’s mind. To his relief, Ron 
+intervened. 
+
+“Drop it,” he advised her. “It’s up to him. And if we’re 
+going to the Ministry tomorrow, don’t you reckon we 
+should go over the plan?” 
+
+Reluctantly, as the other two could tell, Hermione let 
+the matter rest, though Harry was quite sure she 
+would attack again at the first opportunity. In the 
+meantime, they returned to the basement kitchen, 
+where Kreacher served them all stew and treacle tart. 
+
+They did not get to bed until late that night, after 
+spending hours going over and over their plan until 
+they could recite it, word perfect, to each other. 
+
+Harry, who was now sleeping in Sirius’s room, lay in 
+bed with his wandlight trained on the old photograph 
+of his father, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew, and 
+muttered the plan to himself for another ten minutes. 
+As he extinguished his wand, however, he was 
+thinking not of Polyjuice Potion, Puking Pastilles, or 
+the navy blue robes of Magical Maintenance; he 
+thought of Gregorovitch the wandmaker, and how 
+long he could hope to remain hidden while Voldemort 
+sought him so determinedly. 
+
+Dawn seemed to follow midnight with indecent haste. 
+
+“You look terrible,” was Ron’s greeting as he entered 
+the room to wake Harry. 
+
+“Not for long,” said Harry, yawning. 
+
+
+
+Page | 264 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They found Hermione downstairs in the kitchen. She 
+was being served coffee and hot rolls by Kreacher and 
+wearing the slightly manic expression that Harry 
+associated with exam review. 
+
+“Robes,” she said under her breath, acknowledging 
+their presence with a nervous nod and continuing to 
+poke around in her beaded bag, “Polyjuice Potion ... 
+Invisibility Cloak ... Decoy Detonators ... You should 
+each take a couple just in case. ... Puking Pastilles, 
+Nosebleed Nougat, Extendable Ears ...” 
+
+They gulped down their breakfast, then set off 
+upstairs, Kreacher bowing them out and promising to 
+have a steak-and-kidney pie ready for them when 
+they returned. 
+
+“Bless him,” said Ron fondly, “and when you think I 
+used to fantasize about cutting off his head and 
+sticking it on the wall.” 
+
+They made their way onto the front step with 
+immense caution: They could see a couple of puffy- 
+eyed Death Eaters watching the house from across 
+the misty square. 
+
+Hermione Disapparated with Ron first, then came 
+back for Harry. 
+
+After the usual brief spell of darkness and near 
+suffocation, Harry found himself in the tiny alleyway 
+where the first phase of their plan was scheduled to 
+take place. It was as yet deserted, except for a couple 
+of large bins; the first Ministry workers did not 
+usually appear here until at least eight o’clock. 
+
+“Right then,” said Hermione, checking her watch. 
+
+“She ought to be here in about five minutes. When 
+I’ve Stunned her — ” 
+
+Page | 265 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hermione, we know,” said Ron sternly. “And I 
+thought we were supposed to open the door before 
+she got here?” 
+
+Hermione squealed. 
+
+“I nearly forgot! Stand back — ” 
+
+She pointed her wand at the padlocked and heavily 
+graffitied fire door beside them, which burst open 
+with a crash. The dark corridor behind it led, as they 
+knew from their careful scouting trips, into an empty 
+theater. Hermione pulled the door back toward her, to 
+make it look as though it was still closed. 
+
+“And now,” she said, turning back to face the other 
+two in the alleyway, “we put on the Cloak again — ” 
+
+“ — and we wait,” Ron finished, throwing it over 
+Hermione ’s head like a blanket over a birdcage and 
+rolling his eyes at Harry. 
+
+Little more than a minute later, there was a tiny pop 
+and a little Ministry witch with flyaway gray hair 
+Apparated feet from them, blinking a little in the 
+sudden brightness; the sun had just come out from 
+behind a cloud. She barely had time to enjoy the 
+unexpected warmth, however, before Hermione ’s 
+silent Stunning Spell hit her in the chest and she 
+toppled over. 
+
+“Nicely done, Hermione,” said Ron, emerging from 
+behind a bin beside the theater door as Harry took off 
+the Invisibility Cloak. Together they carried the little 
+witch into the dark passageway that led backstage. 
+Hermione plucked a few hairs from the witch’s head 
+and added them to a flask of muddy Polyjuice Potion 
+she had taken from the beaded bag. Ron was 
+rummaging through the little witch’s handbag. 
+
+Page | 266 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She’s Mafalda Hopkirk,” he said, reading a small 
+card that identified their victim as an assistant in the 
+Improper Use of Magic Office. “You’d better take this, 
+Hermione, and here are the tokens.” 
+
+He passed her several small golden coins, all 
+embossed with the letters M.O.M., which he had 
+taken from the witch’s purse. 
+
+Hermione drank the Polyjuice Potion, which was now 
+a pleasant heliotrope color, and within seconds stood 
+before them, the double of Mafalda Hopkirk. As she 
+removed Mafalda’s spectacles and put them on, Harry 
+checked his watch. 
+
+“We’re running late, Mr. Magical Maintenance will be 
+here any second.” 
+
+They hurried to close the door on the real Mafalda; 
+Harry and Ron threw the Invisibility Cloak over 
+themselves but Hermione remained in view, waiting. 
+Seconds later there was another pop, and a small, 
+ferrety-looking wizard appeared before them. 
+
+“Oh, hello, Mafalda.” 
+
+“Hello!” said Hermione in a quavery voice. “How are 
+you today?” 
+
+“Not so good, actually,” replied the little wizard, who 
+looked thoroughly downcast. 
+
+As Hermione and the wizard headed for the main 
+road, Harry and Ron crept along behind them. 
+
+“I’m sorry to hear you’re under the weather,” said 
+Hermione, talking firmly over the little wizard as he 
+tried to expound upon his problems; it was essential 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+to stop him from reaching the street. “Here, have a 
+sweet.” 
+
+“Eh? Oh, no thanks — ” 
+
+“I insist!” said Hermione aggressively, shaking the bag 
+of pastilles in his face. Looking rather alarmed, the 
+little wizard took one. 
+
+The effect was instantaneous. The moment the 
+pastille touched his tongue, the little wizard started 
+vomiting so hard that he did not even notice as 
+Hermione yanked a handful of hairs from the top of 
+his head. 
+
+“Oh dear!” she said, as he splattered the alley with 
+sick. “Perhaps you’d better take the day off!” 
+
+“No — no!” He choked and retched, trying to continue 
+on his way despite being unable to walk straight. “I 
+must — today — must go — ” 
+
+“But that’s just silly!” said Hermione, alarmed. “You 
+can’t go to work in this state — I think you ought to 
+go to St. Mungo’s and get them to sort you out!” 
+
+The wizard had collapsed, heaving, onto all fours, still 
+trying to crawl toward the main street. 
+
+“You simply can’t go to work like this!” cried 
+Hermione. 
+
+At last he seemed to accept the truth of her words. 
+Using a repulsed Hermione to claw his way back into 
+a standing position, he turned on the spot and 
+vanished, leaving nothing behind but the bag Ron 
+had snatched from his hand as he went and some 
+flying chunks of vomit. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Urgh,” said Hermione, holding up the skirts of her 
+robe to avoid the puddles of sick. “It would have made 
+much less mess to Stun him too.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron, emerging from under the cloak 
+holding the wizard’s bag, “but I still think a whole pile 
+of unconscious bodies would have drawn more 
+attention. Keen on his job, though, isn’t he? Chuck us 
+the hair and the potion, then.” 
+
+Within two minutes, Ron stood before them, as small 
+and ferrety as the sick wizard, and wearing the navy 
+blue robes that had been folded in his bag. 
+
+“Weird he wasn’t wearing them today, wasn’t it, 
+seeing how much he wanted to go? Anyway, I’m Reg 
+Cattermole, according to the label in the back.” 
+
+“Now wait here,” Hermione told Harry, who was still 
+under the Invisibility Cloak, “and we’ll be back with 
+some hairs for you.” 
+
+He had to wait ten minutes, but it seemed much 
+longer to Harry, skulking alone in the sick-splattered 
+alleyway beside the door concealing the Stunned 
+Mafalda. Finally Ron and Hermione reappeared. 
+
+“We don’t know who he is,” Hermione said, passing 
+Harry several curly black hairs, “but he’s gone home 
+with a dreadful nosebleed! Here, he’s pretty tall, you’ll 
+need bigger robes. ...” 
+
+She pulled out a set of the old robes Kreacher had 
+laundered for them, and Harry retired to take the 
+potion and change. 
+
+Once the painful transformation was complete he was 
+more than six feet tall and, from what he could tell 
+from his well-muscled arms, powerfully built. He also 
+
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+
+
+
+
+had a beard. Stowing the Invisibility Cloak and his 
+glasses inside his new robes, he rejoined the other 
+two. 
+
+“Blimey, that’s scary,” said Ron, looking up at Harry, 
+who now towered over him. 
+
+“Take one of Mafalda’s tokens,” Hermione told Harry, 
+“and let’s go, it’s nearly nine.” 
+
+They stepped out of the alleyway together. Fifty yards 
+along the crowded pavement there were spiked black 
+railings flanking two flights of steps, one labeled 
+GENTLEMEN, the other LADIES. 
+
+“See you in a moment, then,” said Hermione 
+nervously, and she tottered off down the steps to 
+LADIES. Harry and Ron joined a number of oddly 
+dressed men descending into what appeared to be an 
+ordinary underground public toilet, tiled in grimy 
+black and white. 
+
+“Morning, Reg!” called another wizard in navy blue 
+robes as he let himself into a cubicle by inserting his 
+golden token into a slot in the door. “Blooming pain in 
+the bum, this, eh? Forcing us all to get to work this 
+way! Who are they expecting to turn up, Harry 
+Potter?” 
+
+The wizard roared with laughter at his own wit. Ron 
+gave a forced chuckle. 
+
+“Yeah,” he said, “stupid, isn’t it?” 
+
+And he and Harry let themselves into adjoining 
+cubicles. 
+
+To Harry’s left and right came the sound of flushing. 
+He crouched down and peered through the gap at the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+bottom of the cubicle, just in time to see a pair of 
+booted feet climbing into the toilet next door. He 
+looked left and saw Ron blinking at him. 
+
+“We have to flush ourselves in?” he whispered. 
+
+“Looks like it,” Harry whispered back; his voice came 
+out deep and gravelly. 
+
+They both stood up. Feeling exceptionally foolish, 
+Harry clambered into the toilet. 
+
+He knew at once that he had done the right thing; 
+though he appeared to be standing in water, his 
+shoes, feet, and robes remained quite dry. He reached 
+up, pulled the chain, and next moment had zoomed 
+down a short chute, emerging out of a fireplace into 
+the Ministry of Magic. 
+
+He got up clumsily; there was a lot more of his body 
+than he was accustomed to. The great Atrium seemed 
+darker than Harry remembered it. Previously a golden 
+fountain had filled the center of the hall, casting 
+shimmering spots of light over the polished wooden 
+floor and walls. Now a gigantic statue of black stone 
+dominated the scene. It was rather frightening, this 
+vast sculpture of a witch and a wizard sitting on 
+ornately carved thrones, looking down at the Ministry 
+workers toppling out of fireplaces below them. 
+Engraved in foot-high letters at the base of the statue 
+were the words MAGIC IS MIGHT. 
+
+Harry received a heavy blow on the back of the legs: 
+Another wizard had just flown out of the fireplace 
+behind him. 
+
+“Out of the way, can’t y — oh, sorry, Runcorn!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Clearly frightened, the balding wizard hurried away. 
+Apparently the man whom Harry was impersonating, 
+Runcorn, was intimidating. 
+
+“Psst!” said a voice, and he looked around to see a 
+wispy little witch and the ferrety wizard from Magical 
+Maintenance gesturing to him from over beside the 
+statue. Harry hastened to join them. 
+
+“You got in all right, then?” Hermione whispered to 
+Harry. 
+
+“No, he’s still stuck in the bog,” said Ron. 
+
+“Oh, very funny ... It’s horrible, isn’t it?” she said to 
+Harry, who was staring up at the statue. “Have you 
+seen what they’re sitting on? 
+
+Harry looked more closely and realized that what he 
+had thought were decoratively carved thrones were 
+actually mounds of carved humans: hundreds and 
+hundreds of naked bodies, men, women, and 
+children, all with rather stupid, ugly faces, twisted 
+and pressed together to support the weight of the 
+handsomely robed wizards. 
+
+“Muggles,” whispered Hermione. “In their rightful 
+place. Come on, let’s get going.” 
+
+They joined the stream of witches and wizards moving 
+toward the golden gates at the end of the hall, looking 
+around as surreptitiously as possible, but there was 
+no sign of the distinctive figure of Dolores Umbridge. 
+They passed through the gates and into a smaller 
+hall, where queues were forming in front of twenty 
+golden grilles housing as many lifts. They had barely 
+joined the nearest one when a voice said, 
+
+“Cattermole!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+They looked around: Harry’s stomach turned over. 
+One of the Death Eaters who had witnessed 
+Dumbledore’s death was striding toward them. The 
+Ministry workers beside them fell silent, their eyes 
+downcast; Harry could feel fear rippling through 
+them. The man’s scowling, slightly brutish face was 
+somehow at odds with his magnificent, sweeping 
+robes, which were embroidered with much gold 
+thread. Someone in the crowd around the lifts called 
+sycophantically, “Morning, Yaxley!” Yaxley ignored 
+them. 
+
+“I requested somebody from Magical Maintenance to 
+sort out my office, Cattermole. It’s still raining in 
+there.” 
+
+Ron looked around as though hoping somebody else 
+would intervene, but nobody spoke. 
+
+“Raining ... in your office? That’s — that’s not good, is 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+Ron gave a nervous laugh. Yaxley’s eyes widened. 
+
+“You think it’s funny, Cattermole, do you?” 
+
+A pair of witches broke away from the queue for the 
+lift and bustled off. 
+
+“No,” said Ron, “no, of course — ” 
+
+“You realize that I am on my way downstairs to 
+interrogate your wife, Cattermole? In fact, I’m quite 
+surprised you’re not down there holding her hand 
+while she waits. Already given her up as a bad job, 
+have you? Probably wise. Be sure and marry a 
+pureblood next time.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hermione had let out a little squeak of horror. Yaxley 
+looked at her. She coughed feebly and turned away. 
+
+“I — I — ” stammered Ron. 
+
+“But if my wife were accused of being a Mudblood,” 
+said Yaxley, “ — not that any woman I married would 
+ever be mistaken for such filth — and the Head of the 
+Department of Magical Law Enforcement needed a job 
+doing, I would make it my priority to do that job, 
+Cattermole. Do you understand me?” 
+
+“Yes,” whispered Ron. 
+
+“Then attend to it, Cattermole, and if my office is not 
+completely dry within an hour, your wife’s Blood 
+Status will be in even graver doubt than it is now.” 
+
+The golden grille before them clattered open. With a 
+nod and unpleasant smile to Harry, who was 
+evidently expected to appreciate this treatment of 
+Cattermole, Yaxley swept away toward another lift. 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered theirs, but nobody 
+followed them: It was as if they were infectious. The 
+grilles shut with a clang and the lift began to move 
+upward. 
+
+“What am I going to do?” Ron asked the other two at 
+once; he looked stricken. “If I don’t turn up, my wife 
+— I mean, Cattermole ’s wife — ” 
+
+“Well come with you, we should stick together — ” 
+began Harry, but Ron shook his head feverishly. 
+
+“That’s mental, we haven’t got much time. You two 
+find Umbridge, I’ll go and sort out Yaxley’s office — 
+but how do I stop it raining?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Try Finite Incantatem,” said Hermione at once, “that 
+should stop the rain if it’s a hex or curse; if it doesn’t, 
+something’s gone wrong with an Atmospheric Charm, 
+which will be more difficult to fix, so as an interim 
+measure try Impervius to protect his belongings — ” 
+
+“Say it again, slowly — ” said Ron, searching his 
+pockets desperately for a quill, but at that moment 
+the lift juddered to a halt. A disembodied female voice 
+said, “Level four, Department for the Regulation and 
+Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, 
+Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and 
+Pest Advisory Bureau,” and the grilles slid open again, 
+admitting a couple of wizards and several pale violet 
+paper airplanes that fluttered around the lamp in the 
+ceiling of the lift. 
+
+“Morning, Albert,” said a bushily whiskered man, 
+smiling at Harry. He glanced over at Ron and 
+Hermione as the lift creaked upward once more; 
+Hermione was now whispering frantic instructions to 
+Ron. The wizard leaned toward Harry, leering, and 
+muttered, “Dirk Cresswell, eh? From Goblin Liaison? 
+Nice one, Albert. I’m pretty confident I’ll get his job 
+now!” 
+
+He winked. Harry smiled back, hoping that this would 
+suffice. The lift stopped; the grilles opened once more. 
+
+“Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, 
+including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror 
+Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration 
+Services,” said the disembodied witch’s voice. 
+
+Harry saw Hermione give Ron a little push and he 
+hurried out of the lift, followed by the other wizards, 
+leaving Harry and Hermione alone. The moment the 
+golden door had closed Hermione said, very fast, 
+“Actually, Harry, I think I’d better go after him, I don’t 
+Page | 275 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+think he knows what he’s doing and if he gets caught 
+the whole thing — ” 
+
+
+
+“Level one, Minister of Magic and Support Staff.” 
+
+The golden grilles slid apart again and Hermione 
+gasped. Four people stood before them, two of them 
+deep in conversation: a longhaired wizard wearing 
+magnificent robes of black and gold, and a squat, 
+toadlike witch wearing a velvet bow in her short hair 
+and clutching a clipboard to her chest. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MUGGLE-BORN REGISTRATION 
+COMMISSION 
+
+“Ah, Mafalda!” said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. 
+“Travers sent you, did he?” 
+
+“Y-yes,” squeaked Hermione. 
+
+“Good, youll do perfectly well.” Umbridge spoke to the 
+wizard in black and gold. “That’s that problem solved, 
+Minister, if Mafalda can be spared for record-keeping 
+we shall be able to start straightaway.” She consulted 
+her clipboard. “Ten people today and one of them the 
+wife of a Ministry employee! Tut, tut ... even here, in 
+the heart of the Ministry!” She stepped into the lift 
+beside Hermione, as did the two wizards who had 
+been listening to Umbridge’s conversation with the 
+Minister. “We’ll go straight down, Mafalda, you’ll find 
+everything you need in the courtroom. Good morning, 
+Albert, aren’t you getting out?” 
+
+“Yes, of course,” said Harry in Runcorn’s deep voice. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Harry stepped out of the lift. The golden grilles 
+clanged shut behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, 
+Harry saw Hermione’s anxious face sinking back out 
+of sight, a tall wizard on either side of her, Umbridge’s 
+velvet hair-bow level with her shoulder. 
+
+“What brings you up here, Runcorn?” asked the new 
+Minister of Magic. His long black hair and beard were 
+streaked with silver, and a great overhanging 
+forehead shadowed his glinting eyes, putting Harry in 
+mind of a crab looking out from beneath a rock. 
+
+“Needed a quick word with,” Harry hesitated for a 
+fraction of a second, “Arthur Weasley. Someone said 
+he was up on level one.” 
+
+“Ah,” said Pius Thicknesse. “Has he been caught 
+having contact with an Undesirable?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry, his throat dry. “No, nothing like 
+that.” 
+
+“Ah, well. It’s only a matter of time,” said Thicknesse. 
+“If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the 
+Mudbloods. Good day, Runcorn.” 
+
+“Good day, Minister.” 
+
+Harry watched Thicknesse march away along the 
+thickly carpeted corridor. The moment the Minister 
+had passed out of sight, Harry tugged the Invisibility 
+Cloak out from under his heavy black cloak, threw it 
+over himself, and set off along the corridor in the 
+opposite direction. Runcorn was so tall that Harry 
+was forced to stoop to make sure his big feet were 
+hidden. 
+
+Panic pulsed in the pit of his stomach. As he passed 
+gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+each bearing a small plaque with the owner’s name 
+and occupation upon it, the might of the Ministry, its 
+complexity, its impenetrability, seemed to force itself 
+upon him so that the plan he had been carefully 
+concocting with Ron and Hermione over the past four 
+weeks seemed laughably childish. They had 
+concentrated all their efforts on getting inside without 
+being detected: They had not given a moment’s 
+thought to what they would do if they were forced to 
+separate. Now Hermione was stuck in court 
+proceedings, which would undoubtedly last hours; 
+
+Ron was struggling to do magic that Harry was sure 
+was beyond him, a woman’s liberty possibly 
+depending on the outcome; and he, Harry, was 
+wandering around on the top floor when he knew 
+perfectly well that his quarry had just gone down in 
+the lift. 
+
+He stopped walking, leaned against a wall, and tried 
+to decide what to do. The silence pressed upon him: 
+There was no bustling or talk or swift footsteps here; 
+the purple-carpeted corridors were as hushed as 
+though the Muffliato charm had been cast over the 
+place. 
+
+Her office must be up here, Harry thought. 
+
+It seemed most unlikely that Umbridge would keep 
+her jewelry in her office, but on the other hand it 
+seemed foolish not to search it to make sure. He 
+therefore set off along the corridor again, passing 
+nobody but a frowning wizard who was murmuring 
+instructions to a quill that floated in front of him, 
+scribbling on a trail of parchment. 
+
+Now paying attention to the names on the doors, 
+
+Harry turned a corner. Halfway along the next 
+corridor he emerged into a wide, open space where a 
+dozen witches and wizards sat in rows at small desks 
+
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+
+
+
+
+not unlike school desks, though much more highly 
+polished and free from graffiti. Harry paused to watch 
+them, for the effect was quite mesmerizing. They were 
+all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and 
+squares of colored paper were flying in every direction 
+like little pink kites. After a few seconds, Harry 
+realized that there was a rhythm to the proceedings, 
+that the papers all formed the same pattern; and after 
+a few more seconds he realized that what he was 
+watching was the creation of pamphlets — that the 
+paper squares were pages, which, when assembled, 
+folded, and magicked into place, fell into neat stacks 
+beside each witch or wizard. 
+
+Harry crept closer, although the workers were so 
+intent on what they were doing that he doubted they 
+would notice a carpet-muffled footstep, and he slid a 
+completed pamphlet from the pile beside a young 
+witch. He examined it beneath the Invisibility Cloak. 
+Its pink cover was emblazoned with a golden title: 
+
+MUDBLOODS 
+
+and the Dangers They Pose to 
+a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society 
+
+Beneath the title was a picture of a red rose with a 
+simpering face in the middle of its petals, being 
+strangled by a green weed with fangs and a scowl. 
+There was no author’s name upon the pamphlet, but 
+again, the scars on the back of his right hand seemed 
+to tingle as he examined it. Then the young witch 
+beside him confirmed his suspicion as she said, still 
+waving and twirling her wand, “Will the old hag be 
+interrogating Mudbloods all day, does anyone know?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Careful,” said the wizard beside her, glancing around 
+nervously; one of his pages slipped and fell to the 
+floor. 
+
+“What, has she got magic ears as well as an eye, 
+now?” 
+
+The witch glanced toward the shining mahogany door 
+facing the space full of pamphlet-makers; Harry 
+looked too, and rage reared in him like a snake. 
+
+Where there might have been a peephole on a Muggle 
+front door, a large, round eye with a bright blue iris 
+had been set into the wood — an eye that was 
+shockingly familiar to anybody who had known 
+Alastor Moody. 
+
+For a split second Harry forgot where he was and 
+what he was doing there: He even forgot that he was 
+invisible. He strode straight over to the door to 
+examine the eye. It was not moving: It gazed blindly 
+upward, frozen. The plaque beneath it read: 
+
+DOLORES UMBRIDGE 
+
+SENIOR UNDERSECRETARY TO THE MINISTER 
+
+Below that, a slightly shinier new plaque read: 
+
+HEAD OF THE MUGGLE-BORN 
+
+REGISTRATION COMMISSION 
+
+Harry looked back at the dozen pamphlet-makers: 
+Though they were intent upon their work, he could 
+hardly suppose that they would not notice if the door 
+of an empty office opened in front of them. He 
+therefore withdrew from an inner pocket an odd 
+object with little waving legs and a rubber-bulbed 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+horn for a body. Crouching down beneath the Cloak, 
+he placed the Decoy Detonator on the ground. 
+
+It scuttled away at once through the legs of the 
+witches and wizards in front of him. A few moments 
+later, during which Harry waited with his hand upon 
+the doorknob, there came a loud bang and a great 
+deal of acrid black smoke billowed from a corner. The 
+young witch in the front row shrieked: Pink pages 
+flew everywhere as she and her fellows jumped up, 
+looking around for the source of the commotion. 
+
+Harry turned the doorknob, stepped into Umbridge’s 
+office, and closed the door behind him. 
+
+He felt he had stepped back in time. The room was 
+exactly like Umbridge’s office at Hogwarts: Lace 
+draperies, doilies, and dried flowers covered every 
+available surface. The walls bore the same 
+ornamental plates, each featuring a highly colored, 
+beribboned kitten, gamboling and frisking with 
+sickening cuteness. The desk was covered with a 
+flouncy, flowered cloth. Behind Mad-Eye’s eye, a 
+telescopic attachment enabled Umbridge to spy on 
+the workers on the other side of the door. Harry took 
+a look through it and saw that they were all still 
+gathered around the Decoy Detonator. He wrenched 
+the telescope out of the door, leaving a hole behind, 
+pulled the magical eyeball out of it, and placed it in 
+his pocket. Then he turned to face the room again, 
+raised his wand, and murmured, “Accio Locket.” 
+
+Nothing happened, but he had not expected it to; no 
+doubt Umbridge knew all about protective charms 
+and spells. He therefore hurried behind her desk and 
+began pulling open the drawers. He saw quills and 
+notebooks and Spellotape; enchanted paper clips that 
+coiled snakelike from their drawer and had to be 
+beaten back; a fussy little lace box full of spare hair 
+bows and clips; but no sign of a locket. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a filing cabinet behind the desk: Harry set 
+to searching it. Like Filch ’s filing cabinets at 
+Hogwarts, it was full of folders, each labeled with a 
+name. It was not until Harry reached the bottommost 
+drawer that he saw something to distract him from 
+his search: Mr. Weasley’s file. 
+
+He pulled it out and opened it. 
+
+ARTHUR WEASLEY 
+
+BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood, but with unacceptable 
+pro-Muggle leanings. Known member of the Order of 
+the Phoenix. 
+
+FAMILY: Wife (pureblood), seven children, two 
+youngest at Hogwarts. NB: Youngest son currently at 
+home, seriously ill, Ministry inspectors have 
+confirmed. 
+
+SECURITY STATUS: TRACKED. All movements are 
+being monitored. Strong likelihood Undesirable No. 1 
+will contact (has stayed with Weasley family 
+previously) 
+
+
+
+“Undesirable Number One,” Harry muttered under his 
+breath as he replaced Mr. Weasley’s folder and shut 
+the drawer. He had an idea he knew who that was, 
+and sure enough, as he straightened up and glanced 
+around the office for fresh hiding places, he saw a 
+poster of himself on the wall, with the words 
+undesirable no. 1 emblazoned across his chest. A 
+little pink note was stuck to it with a picture of a 
+kitten in the corner. Harry moved across to read it 
+and saw that Umbridge had written, “To be punished.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Angrier than ever, he proceeded to grope in the 
+bottoms of the vases and baskets of dried flowers, but 
+was not at all surprised that the locket was not there. 
+He gave the office one last sweeping look, and his 
+heart skipped a beat. Dumbledore was staring at him 
+from a small rectangular mirror, propped up on a 
+bookcase beside the desk. 
+
+Harry crossed the room at a run and snatched it up, 
+but realized the moment he touched it that it was not 
+a mirror at all. Dumbledore was smiling wistfully out 
+of the front cover of a glossy book. Harry had not 
+immediately noticed the curly green writing across his 
+hat — The Life and Lies ofAlbus Dumbledore — nor 
+the slightly smaller writing across his chest: “by Rita 
+Skeeter, bestselling author of Armando Dippet: Master 
+or Moron?” 
+
+Harry opened the book at random and saw a full-page 
+photograph of two teenage boys, both laughing 
+immoderately with their arms around each other’s 
+shoulders. Dumbledore, now with elbow-length hair, 
+had grown a tiny wispy beard that recalled the one on 
+Krum’s chin that had so annoyed Ron. The boy who 
+roared in silent amusement beside Dumbledore had a 
+gleeful, wild look about him. His golden hair fell in 
+curls to his shoulders. Harry wondered whether it 
+was a young Doge, but before he could check the 
+caption, the door of the office opened. 
+
+If Thicknesse had not been looking over his shoulder 
+as he entered, Harry would not have had time to pull 
+the Invisibility Cloak over himself. As it was, he 
+thought Thicknesse might have caught a glimpse of 
+movement, because for a moment or two he remained 
+quite still, staring curiously at the place where Harry 
+had just vanished. Perhaps deciding that all he had 
+seen was Dumbledore scratching his nose on the 
+front of the book, for Harry had hastily replaced it 
+Page | 284 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+upon the shelf, Thicknesse finally walked to the desk 
+and pointed his wand at the quill standing ready in 
+the ink pot. It sprang out and began scribbling a note 
+to Umbridge. Very slowly, hardly daring to breathe, 
+Harry backed out of the office into the open area 
+beyond. 
+
+The pamphlet-makers were still clustered around the 
+remains of the Decoy Detonator, which continued to 
+hoot feebly as it smoked. Harry hurried off up the 
+corridor as the young witch said, “I bet it sneaked up 
+here from Experimental Charms, they’re so careless, 
+remember that poisonous duck?” 
+
+Speeding back toward the lifts, Harry reviewed his 
+options. It had never been likely that the locket was 
+here at the Ministry, and there was no hope of 
+bewitching its whereabouts out of Umbridge while she 
+was sitting in a crowded court. Their priority now had 
+to be to leave the Ministry before they were exposed, 
+and try again another day. The first thing to do was to 
+find Ron, and then they could work out a way of 
+extracting Hermione from the courtroom. 
+
+The lift was empty when it arrived. Harry jumped in 
+and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak as it started its 
+descent. To his enormous relief, when it rattled to a 
+halt at level two, a soaking-wet and wild-eyed Ron got 
+in. 
+
+
+
+“M-morning,” he stammered to Harry as the lift set off 
+again. 
+
+“Ron, it’s me, Harry!” 
+
+“Harry! Blimey, I forgot what you looked like — why 
+isn’t Hermione with you?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 285 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“She had to go down to the courtrooms with 
+Umbridge, she couldn’t refuse, and — ” 
+
+But before Harry could finish the lift had stopped 
+again: The doors opened and Mr. Weasley walked 
+inside, talking to an elderly witch whose blonde hair 
+was teased so high it resembled an anthill. 
+
+"... I quite understand what you’re saying, Wakanda, 
+but I’m afraid I cannot be party to — ” 
+
+Mr. Weasley broke off; he had noticed Harry. It was 
+very strange to have Mr. Weasley glare at him with 
+that much dislike. The lift doors closed and the four 
+of them trundled downward once more. 
+
+“Oh, hello, Reg,” said Mr. Weasley, looking around at 
+the sound of steady dripping from Ron’s robes. “Isn’t 
+your wife in for questioning today? Er — what’s 
+happened to you? Why are you so wet?” 
+
+“Yaxley’s office is raining,” said Ron. He addressed 
+Mr. Weasley’s shoulder, and Harry felt sure he was 
+scared that his father might recognize him if they 
+looked directly into each other’s eyes. “I couldn’t stop 
+it, so they’ve sent me to get Bernie — Pillsworth, I 
+think they said — ” 
+
+“Yes, a lot of offices have been raining lately,” said Mr. 
+Weasley. “Did you try Meteolojinx Recanto? It worked 
+for Bletchley.” 
+
+“Meteolojinx Recanto?” whispered Ron. “No, I didn’t. 
+Thanks, D — I mean, thanks, Arthur.” 
+
+The lift doors opened; the old witch with the anthill 
+hair left, and Ron darted past her out of sight. Harry 
+made to follow him, but found his path blocked as 
+
+
+
+Page | 286 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Percy Weasley strode into the lift, his nose buried in 
+some papers he was reading. 
+
+
+
+Not until the doors had clanged shut again did Percy 
+realize he was in a lift with his father. He glanced up, 
+saw Mr. Weasley, turned radish red, and left the lift 
+the moment the doors opened again. For the second 
+time, Harry tried to get out, but this time found his 
+way blocked by Mr. Weasley’s arm. 
+
+“One moment, Runcorn.” 
+
+The lift doors closed and as they clanked down 
+another floor, Mr. Weasley said, “I hear you laid 
+information about Dirk Cresswell.” 
+
+Harry had the impression that Mr. Weasley’s anger 
+was no less because of the brush with Percy. He 
+decided his best chance was to act stupid. 
+
+“Sorry?” he said. 
+
+“Don’t pretend, Runcorn,” said Mr. Weasley fiercely. 
+“You tracked down the wizard who faked his family 
+tree, didn’t you?” 
+
+“I — so what if I did?” said Harry. 
+
+“So Dirk Cresswell is ten times the wizard you are,” 
+said Mr. Weasley quietly, as the lift sank ever lower. 
+“And if he survives Azkaban, you 11 have to answer to 
+him, not to mention his wife, his sons, and his friends 
+
+
+
+“Arthur,” Harry interrupted, “you know you’re being 
+tracked, don’t you?” 
+
+“Is that a threat, Runcorn?” said Mr. Weasley loudly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 287 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry, “it’s a fact! They’re watching your 
+every move — ” 
+
+The lift doors opened. They had reached the Atrium. 
+Mr. Weasley gave Harry a scathing look and swept 
+from the lift. Harry stood there, shaken. He wished he 
+was impersonating somebody other than Runcorn. ... 
+The lift doors clanged shut. 
+
+Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and put it back 
+on. He would try to extricate Hermione on his own 
+while Ron was dealing with the raining office. When 
+the doors opened, he stepped out into a torch-lit 
+stone passageway quite different from the wood- 
+paneled and carpeted corridors above. As the lift 
+rattled away again, Harry shivered slightly, looking 
+toward the distant black door that marked the 
+entrance to the Department of Mysteries. 
+
+He set off, his destination not the black door, but the 
+doorway he remembered on the left-hand side, which 
+opened onto the flight of stairs down to the court 
+chambers. His mind grappled with possibilities as he 
+crept down them: He still had a couple of Decoy 
+Detonators, but perhaps it would be better to simply 
+knock on the courtroom door, enter as Runcorn, and 
+ask for a quick word with Mafalda? Of course, he did 
+not know whether Runcorn was sufficiently important 
+to get away with this, and even if he managed it, 
+Hermione ’s non-reappearance might trigger a search 
+before they were clear of the Ministry. . . . 
+
+Lost in thought, he did not immediately register the 
+unnatural chill that was creeping over him, as if he 
+were descending into fog. It was becoming colder and 
+colder with every step he took: a cold that reached 
+right down into his throat and tore at his lungs. And 
+then he felt that stealing sense of despair, of 
+hopelessness, filling him, expanding inside him. ... 
+Page | 288 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dementors, he thought. 
+
+
+
+And as he reached the foot of the stairs and turned to 
+his right he saw a dreadful scene. The dark passage 
+outside the courtrooms was packed with tall, black- 
+hooded figures, their faces completely hidden, their 
+ragged breathing the only sound in the place. The 
+petrified Muggle-borns brought in for questioning sat 
+huddled and shivering on hard wooden benches. Most 
+of them were hiding their faces in their hands, 
+perhaps in an instinctive attempt to shield themselves 
+from the dementors’ greedy mouths. Some were 
+accompanied by families, others sat alone. The 
+dementors were gliding up and down in front of them, 
+and the cold, and the hopelessness, and the despair 
+of the place laid themselves upon Harry like a curse. 
+
+
+
+Fight it, he told himself, but he knew that he could 
+not conjure a Patronus here without revealing himself 
+instantly. So he moved forward as silently as he 
+could, and with every step he took numbness seemed 
+to steal over his brain, but he forced himself to think 
+of Hermione and of Ron, who needed him. 
+
+Moving through the towering black figures was 
+terrifying: The eyeless faces hidden beneath their 
+hoods turned as he passed, and he felt sure that they 
+sensed him, sensed, perhaps, a human presence that 
+still had some hope, some resilience. ... 
+
+And then, abruptly and shockingly amid the frozen 
+silence, one of the dungeon doors on the left of the 
+corridor was flung open and screams echoed out of it. 
+
+“No, no, I’m half-blood, I’m half-blood, I tell you! My 
+father was a wizard, he was, look him up, Arkie 
+Alderton, he’s a well-known broomstick designer, look 
+
+Page | 289 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+him up, I tell you — get your hands off me, get your 
+hands off—” 
+
+
+
+“This is your final warning,” said Umbridge’s soft 
+voice, magically magnified so that it sounded clearly 
+over the man’s desperate screams. “If you struggle, 
+you will be subjected to the Dementor’s Kiss.” 
+
+The man’s screams subsided, but dry sobs echoed 
+through the corridor. 
+
+“Take him away,” said Umbridge. 
+
+Two dementors appeared in the doorway of the 
+courtroom, their rotting, scabbed hands clutching the 
+upper arms of a wizard who appeared to be fainting. 
+They glided away down the corridor with him, and the 
+darkness they trailed behind them swallowed him 
+from sight. 
+
+“Next — Mary Cattermole,” called Umbridge. 
+
+A small woman stood up; she was trembling from 
+head to foot. Her dark hair was smoothed back into a 
+bun and she wore long, plain robes. Her face was 
+completely bloodless. As she passed the dementors, 
+Harry saw her shudder. 
+
+He did it instinctively, without any sort of plan, 
+because he hated the sight of her walking alone into 
+the dungeon: As the door began to swing closed, he 
+slipped into the courtroom behind her. 
+
+It was not the same room in which he had once been 
+interrogated for improper use of magic. This one was 
+much smaller, though the ceiling was quite as high; it 
+gave the claustrophobic sense of being stuck at the 
+bottom of a deep well. 
+
+Page | 290 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There were more dementors in here, casting their 
+freezing aura over the place; they stood like faceless 
+sentinels in the corners farthest from the high, raised 
+platform. Here, behind a balustrade, sat Umbridge, 
+with Yaxley on one side of her, and Hermione, quite 
+as white-faced as Mrs. Cattermole, on the other. At 
+the foot of the platform, a bright-silver, long-haired 
+cat prowled up and down, up and down, and Harry 
+realized that it was there to protect the prosecutors 
+from the despair that emanated from the dementors: 
+That was for the accused to feel, not the accusers. 
+
+“Sit down,” said Umbridge in her soft, silky voice. 
+
+Mrs. Cattermole stumbled to the single seat in the 
+middle of the floor beneath the raised platform. The 
+moment she had sat down, chains clinked out of the 
+arms of the chair and bound her there. 
+
+“You are Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?” asked 
+Umbridge. 
+
+Mrs. Cattermole gave a single, shaky nod. 
+
+“Married to Reginald Cattermole of the Magical 
+Maintenance Department?” 
+
+Mrs. Cattermole burst into tears. 
+
+“I don’t know where he is, he was supposed to meet 
+me here!” 
+
+Umbridge ignored her. 
+
+“Mother to Maisie, Ellie, and Alfred Cattermole?” 
+
+Mrs. Cattermole sobbed harder than ever. 
+
+
+
+Page | 291 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“They’re frightened, they think I might not come home 
+
+
+
+“Spare us,” spat Yaxley. “The brats of Mudbloods do 
+not stir our sympathies.” 
+
+Mrs. Cattermole’s sobs masked Harry’s footsteps as 
+he made his way carefully toward the steps that led 
+up to the raised platform. The moment he had passed 
+the place where the Patronus cat patrolled, he felt the 
+change in temperature: It was warm and comfortable 
+here. The Patronus, he was sure, was Umbridge’s, 
+and it glowed brightly because she was so happy 
+here, in her element, upholding the twisted laws she 
+had helped to write. Slowly and very carefully he 
+edged his way along the platform behind Umbridge, 
+Yaxley, and Hermione, taking a seat behind the latter. 
+He was worried about making Hermione jump. He 
+thought of casting the Muffliato charm upon 
+Umbridge and Yaxley, but even murmuring the word 
+might cause Hermione alarm. Then Umbridge raised 
+her voice to address Mrs. Cattermole, and Harry 
+seized his chance. 
+
+“I’m behind you,” he whispered into Hermione’s ear. 
+
+As he had expected, she jumped so violently she 
+nearly overturned the bottle of ink with which she 
+was supposed to be recording the interview, but both 
+Umbridge and Yaxley were concentrating upon Mrs. 
+Cattermole, and this went unnoticed. 
+
+“A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the 
+Ministry today, Mrs. Cattermole,” Umbridge was 
+saying. “Eight-and-three-quarter inches, cherry, 
+unicorn-hair core. Do you recognize that description?” 
+
+Mrs. Cattermole nodded, mopping her eyes on her 
+sleeve. 
+
+Page | 292 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Could you please tell us from which witch or wizard 
+you took that wand?” 
+
+
+
+“T-took?” sobbed Mrs. Cattermole. “I didn’t t-take it 
+from anybody. I b-bought it when I was eleven years 
+old. It — it — it — chose me.” 
+
+She cried harder than ever. 
+
+Umbridge laughed a soft girlish laugh that made 
+Harry want to attack her. She leaned forward over the 
+barrier, the better to observe her victim, and 
+something gold swung forward too, and dangled over 
+the void: the locket. 
+
+Hermione had seen it; she let out a little squeak, but 
+Umbridge and Yaxley, still intent upon their prey, 
+were deaf to everything else. 
+
+“No,” said Umbridge, “no, I don’t think so, Mrs. 
+Cattermole. Wands only choose witches or wizards. 
+You are not a witch. I have your responses to the 
+questionnaire that was sent to you here — Mafalda, 
+pass them to me.” 
+
+Umbridge held out a small hand: She looked so 
+toadlike at that moment that Harry was quite 
+surprised not to see webs between the stubby fingers. 
+Hermione ’s hands were shaking with shock. She 
+fumbled in a pile of documents balanced on the chair 
+beside her, finally withdrawing a sheaf of parchment 
+with Mrs. Cattermole’s name on it. 
+
+“That’s — that’s pretty, Dolores,” she said, pointing at 
+the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of 
+Umbridge’s blouse. 
+
+“What?” snapped Umbridge, glancing down. “Oh yes 
+— an old family heirloom,” she said, patting the locket 
+
+Page | 293 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+lying on her large bosom. “The S stands for Selwyn. ... 
+I am related to the Selwyns. ... Indeed, there are few 
+pure-blood families to whom I am not related. ... A 
+pity,” she continued in a louder voice, flicking 
+through Mrs. Cattermole’s questionnaire, “that the 
+same cannot be said for you. ‘Parents’ professions: 
+greengrocers.’ ” 
+
+Yaxley laughed jeeringly. Below, the fluffy silver cat 
+patrolled up and down, and the dementors stood 
+waiting in the corners. 
+
+It was Umbridge’s lie that brought the blood surging 
+into Harry’s brain and obliterated his sense of caution 
+— that the locket she had taken as a bribe from a 
+petty criminal was being used to bolster her own 
+pure-blood credentials. He raised his wand, not even 
+troubling to keep it concealed beneath the Invisibility 
+Cloak, and said, “Stupefyl” 
+
+There was a flash of red light; Umbridge crumpled 
+and her forehead hit the edge of the balustrade: Mrs. 
+Cattermole’s papers slid off her lap onto the floor and, 
+down below, the prowling silver cat vanished. Ice-cold 
+air hit them like an oncoming wind: Yaxley, confused, 
+looked around for the source of the trouble and saw 
+Harry’s disembodied hand and wand pointing at him. 
+He tried to draw his own wand, but too late: 
+
+“Stupefyl” 
+
+Yaxley slid to the ground to lie curled on the floor. 
+“Harry!” 
+
+“Hermione, if you think I was going to sit here and let 
+her pretend — ” 
+
+“Harry, Mrs. Cattermole!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 294 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry whirled around, throwing off the Invisibility 
+Cloak; down below, the dementors had moved out of 
+their corners; they were gliding toward the woman 
+chained to the chair: Whether because the Patronus 
+had vanished or because they sensed that their 
+masters were no longer in control, they seemed to 
+have abandoned restraint. Mrs. Cattermole let out a 
+terrible scream of fear as a slimy, scabbed hand 
+grasped her chin and forced her face back. 
+
+“EXPECTO PATRONUM” 
+
+The silver stag soared from the tip of Harry’s wand 
+and leaped toward the dementors, which fell back and 
+melted into the dark shadows again. The stag’s light, 
+more powerful and more warming than the cat’s 
+protection, filled the whole dungeon as it cantered 
+around and around the room. 
+
+“Get the Horcrux,” Harry told Hermione. 
+
+He ran back down the steps, stuffing the Invisibility 
+Cloak back into his bag, and approached Mrs. 
+Cattermole. 
+
+“You?” she whispered, gazing into his face. “But — 
+but Reg said you were the one who submitted my 
+name for questioning!” 
+
+“Did I?” muttered Harry, tugging at the chains 
+binding her arms. “Well, I’ve had a change of heart. 
+Diffindol” Nothing happened. “Hermione, how do I get 
+rid of these chains?” 
+
+“Wait, I’m trying something up here — ” 
+
+“Hermione, we’re surrounded by dementors!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 295 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I know that, Harry, but if she wakes up and the 
+locket’s gone — I need to duplicate it — Geminio\ 
+There ... That should fool her. ...” 
+
+
+
+Hermione came running downstairs. 
+
+“Let’s see. ... Relashiol” 
+
+The chains clinked and withdrew into the arms of the 
+chair. Mrs. Cattermole looked just as frightened as 
+ever before. 
+
+“I don’t understand,” she whispered. 
+
+“You’re going to leave here with us,” said Harry, 
+pulling her to her feet. “Go home, grab your children, 
+and get out, get out of the country if you’ve got to. 
+Disguise yourselves and run. You’ve seen how it is, 
+you won’t get anything like a fair hearing here.” 
+
+“Harry,” said Hermione, “how are we going to get out 
+of here with all those dementors outside the door?” 
+
+“Patronuses,” said Harry, pointing his wand at his 
+own: The stag slowed and walked, still gleaming 
+brightly, toward the door. “As many as we can 
+muster; do yours, Hermione.” 
+
+“Expec — Expecto patronum,” said Hermione. Nothing 
+happened. 
+
+“It’s the only spell she ever has trouble with,” Harry 
+told a completely bemused Mrs. Cattermole. “Bit 
+unfortunate, really ... Come on, Hermione. ...” 
+
+“Expecto patronum).” 
+
+A silver otter burst from the end of Hermione ’s wand 
+and swam gracefully through the air to join the stag. 
+
+Page | 296 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“C’mon,” said Harry, and he led Hermione and Mrs. 
+Cattermole to the door. 
+
+When the Patronuses glided out of the dungeon there 
+were cries of shock from the people waiting outside. 
+Harry looked around; the dementors were falling back 
+on both sides of them, melding into the darkness, 
+scattering before the silver creatures. 
+
+“It’s been decided that you should all go home and go 
+into hiding with your families,” Harry told the waiting 
+Muggle-borns, who were dazzled by the light of the 
+Patronuses and still cowering slightly. “Go abroad if 
+you can. Just get well away from the Ministry. That’s 
+the — er — new official position. Now, if you’ll just 
+follow the Patronuses, you’ll be able to leave from the 
+Atrium.” 
+
+They managed to get up the stone steps without being 
+intercepted, but as they approached the lifts Harry 
+started to have misgivings. If they emerged into the 
+Atrium with a silver stag, an otter soaring alongside 
+it, and twenty or so people, half of them accused 
+Muggle-borns, he could not help feeling that they 
+would attract unwanted attention. He had just 
+reached this unwelcome conclusion when the lift 
+clanged to a halt in front of them. 
+
+“Reg!” screamed Mrs. Cattermole, and she threw 
+herself into Ron’s arms. “Runcorn let me out, he 
+attacked Umbridge and Yaxley, and he’s told all of us 
+to leave the country, I think we’d better do it, Reg, I 
+really do, let’s hurry home and fetch the children and 
+— why are you so wet?” 
+
+“Water,” muttered Ron, disengaging himself. “Harry, 
+they know there are intruders inside the Ministry, 
+something about a hole in Umbridge’s office door, I 
+reckon we’ve got five minutes if that — ” 
+
+Page | 297 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione ’s Patronus vanished with a pop as she 
+turned a horror-struck face to Harry. 
+
+“Harry, if we’re trapped here — !” 
+
+“We won’t be if we move fast,” said Harry. He 
+addressed the silent group behind them, who were all 
+gawping at him. 
+
+“Who’s got wands?” 
+
+About half of them raised their hands. 
+
+“Okay, all of you who haven’t got wands need to 
+attach yourself to somebody who has. We’ll need to be 
+fast before they stop us. Come on.” 
+
+They managed to cram themselves into two lifts. 
+Harry’s Patronus stood sentinel before the golden 
+grilles as they shut and the lifts began to rise. 
+
+“Level eight,” said the witch’s cool voice, “Atrium.” 
+
+Harry knew at once that they were in trouble. The 
+Atrium was full of people moving from fireplace to 
+fireplace, sealing them off. 
+
+“Harry!” squeaked Hermione. “What are we going to — 
+?” 
+
+“STOP!” Harry thundered, and the powerful voice of 
+Runcorn echoed through the Atrium: The wizards 
+sealing the fireplaces froze. “Follow me,” he whispered 
+to the group of terrified Muggle-borns, who moved 
+forward in a huddle, shepherded by Ron and 
+Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Page | 298 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What’s up, Albert?” said the same balding wizard 
+who had followed Harry out of the fireplace earlier. He 
+looked nervous. 
+
+
+
+“This lot need to leave before you seal the exits,” said 
+Harry with all the authority he could muster. 
+
+The group of wizards in front of him looked at one 
+another. 
+
+“We’ve been told to seal all exits and not let anyone — 
+
+
+
+“ Are you contradicting me?” Harry blustered. “Would 
+you like me to have your family tree examined, like I 
+had Dirk Cresswell’s?” 
+
+“Sorry!” gasped the balding wizard, backing away. “I 
+didn’t mean nothing, Albert, but I thought ... I 
+thought they were in for questioning and ...” 
+
+“Their blood is pure,” said Harry, and his deep voice 
+echoed impressively through the hall. “Purer than 
+many of yours, I daresay. Off you go,” he boomed to 
+the Muggle-borns, who scurried forward into the 
+fireplaces and began to vanish in pairs. The Ministry 
+wizards hung back, some looking confused, others 
+scared and resentful. Then: 
+
+“Mary!” 
+
+Mrs. Cattermole looked over her shoulder. The real 
+Reg Cattermole, no longer vomiting but pale and wan, 
+had just come running out of a lift. 
+
+“R-Reg?” 
+
+She looked from her husband to Ron, who swore 
+loudly. 
+
+Page | 299 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The balding wizard gaped, his head turning 
+ludicrously from one Reg Cattermole to the other. 
+
+
+
+“Hey — what’s going on? What is this?” 
+
+“Seal the exit! SEAL IT!” 
+
+Yaxley had burst out of another lift and was running 
+toward the group beside the fireplaces, into which all 
+of the Muggle-borns but Mrs. Cattermole had now 
+vanished. As the balding wizard lifted his wand, Harry 
+raised an enormous fist and punched him, sending 
+him flying through the air. 
+
+“He’s been helping Muggle-borns escape, Yaxley!” 
+Harry shouted. 
+
+The balding wizard’s colleagues set up an uproar, 
+under cover of which Ron grabbed Mrs. Cattermole, 
+pulled her into the still-open fireplace, and 
+disappeared. Confused, Yaxley looked from Harry to 
+the punched wizard, while the real Reg Cattermole 
+screamed, “My wife! Who was that with my wife? 
+What’s going on?” 
+
+Harry saw Yaxley’s head turn, saw an inkling of the 
+truth dawn in that brutish face. 
+
+“Come on!” Harry shouted at Hermione; he seized her 
+hand and they jumped into the fireplace together as 
+Yaxley’s curse sailed over Harry’s head. They spun for 
+a few seconds before shooting up out of a toilet into a 
+cubicle. Harry flung open the door; Ron was standing 
+there beside the sinks, still wrestling with Mrs. 
+Cattermole. 
+
+“Reg, I don’t understand — ” 
+
+“Let go, I’m not your husband, you’ve got to go home!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a noise in the cubicle behind them; Harry 
+looked around; Yaxley had just appeared. 
+
+“LET’S GO!” Harry yelled. He seized Hermione by the 
+hand and Ron by the arm and turned on the spot. 
+
+Darkness engulfed them, along with the sensation of 
+compressing bands, but something was wrong. ... 
+Hermione ’s hand seemed to be sliding out of his grip. 
+
+
+
+He wondered whether he was going to suffocate; he 
+could not breathe or see and the only solid things in 
+the world were Ron’s arm and Hermione ’s fingers, 
+which were slowly slipping away. . . . 
+
+And then he saw the door of number twelve, 
+Grimmauld Place, with its serpent door knocker, but 
+before he could draw breath, there was a scream and 
+a flash of purple light; Hermione ’s hand was suddenly 
+vicelike upon his and everything went dark again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 301 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE THIEF 
+
+Harry opened his eyes and was dazzled by gold and 
+green; he had no idea what had happened, he only 
+knew that he was lying on what seemed to be leaves 
+and twigs. Struggling to draw breath into lungs that 
+felt flattened, he blinked and realized that the gaudy 
+glare was sunlight streaming through a canopy of 
+leaves far above him. Then an object twitched close to 
+his face. He pushed himself onto his hands and 
+knees, ready to face some small, fierce creature, but 
+saw that the object was Ron’s foot. Looking around, 
+Harry saw that they and Hermione were lying on a 
+forest floor, apparently alone. 
+
+Harry’s first thought was of the Forbidden Forest, and 
+for a moment, even though he knew how foolish and 
+dangerous it would be for them to appear in the 
+grounds of Hogwarts, his heart leapt at the thought of 
+sneaking through the trees to Hagrid’s hut. However, 
+in the few moments it took for Ron to give a low groan 
+and Harry to start crawling toward him, he realized 
+that this was not the Forbidden Forest: The trees 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+looked younger, they were more widely spaced, the 
+ground clearer. 
+
+
+
+He met Hermione, also on her hands and knees, at 
+Ron’s head. The moment his eyes fell upon Ron, all 
+other concerns fled Harry’s mind, for blood drenched 
+the whole of Ron’s left side and his face stood out, 
+grayish- white, against the leaf-strewn earth. The 
+Polyjuice Potion was wearing off now: Ron was 
+halfway between Cattermole and himself in 
+appearance, his hair turning redder and redder as his 
+face drained of the little color it had left. 
+
+“What’s happened to him?” 
+
+“Splinched,” said Hermione, her fingers already busy 
+at Ron’s sleeve, where the blood was wettest and 
+darkest. 
+
+Harry watched, horrified, as she tore open Ron’s 
+shirt. He had always thought of Splinching as 
+something comical, but this . . . His insides crawled 
+unpleasantly as Hermione laid bare Ron’s upper arm, 
+where a great chunk of flesh was missing, scooped 
+cleanly away as though by a knife. 
+
+“Harry, quickly, in my bag, there’s a small bottle 
+labeled ‘Essence of Dittany’ — ” 
+
+“Bag — right — ” 
+
+Harry sped to the place where Hermione had landed, 
+seized the tiny beaded bag, and thrust his hand 
+inside it. At once, object after object began presenting 
+itself to his touch: He felt the leather spines of books, 
+woolly sleeves of jumpers, heels of shoes — 
+
+“Quickly\” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He grabbed his wand from the ground and pointed it 
+into the depths of the magical bag. 
+
+“Accio Dittany\” 
+
+A small brown bottle zoomed out of the bag; he 
+caught it and hastened back to Hermione and Ron, 
+whose eyes were now half-closed, strips of white 
+eyeball all that were visible between his lids. 
+
+“He’s fainted,” said Hermione, who was also rather 
+pale; she no longer looked like Mafalda, though her 
+hair was still gray in places. “Unstopper it for me, 
+Harry, my hands are shaking.” 
+
+Harry wrenched the stopper off the little bottle, 
+Hermione took it and poured three drops of the potion 
+onto the bleeding wound. Greenish smoke billowed 
+upward and when it had cleared, Harry saw that the 
+bleeding had stopped. The wound now looked several 
+days old; new skin stretched over what had just been 
+open flesh. 
+
+“Wow,” said Harry. 
+
+“It’s all I feel safe doing,” said Hermione shakily. 
+“There are spells that would put him completely right, 
+but I daren’t try in case I do them wrong and cause 
+more damage. ... He’s lost so much blood already. ...” 
+
+“How did he get hurt? I mean” — Harry shook his 
+head, trying to clear it, to make sense of whatever had 
+just taken place — “why are we here? I thought we 
+were going back to Grimmauld Place?” 
+
+Hermione took a deep breath. She looked close to 
+tears. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harry, I don’t think we’re going to be able to go back 
+there.” 
+
+“What d’you — ?” 
+
+“As we Disapparated, Yaxley caught hold of me and I 
+couldn’t get rid of him, he was too strong, and he was 
+still holding on when we arrived at Grimmauld Place, 
+and then — well, I think he must have seen the door, 
+and thought we were stopping there, so he slackened 
+his grip and I managed to shake him off and I brought 
+us here instead!” 
+
+“But then, where’s he? Hang on. ... You don’t mean 
+he’s at Grimmauld Place? He can’t get in there?” 
+
+Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she nodded. 
+
+“Harry, I think he can. I — I forced him to let go with 
+a Revulsion Jinx, but I’d already taken him inside the 
+Fidelius Charm’s protection. Since Dumbledore died, 
+we’re Secret-Keepers, so I’ve given him the secret, 
+haven’t I?” 
+
+There was no pretending; Harry was sure she was 
+right. It was a serious blow. If Yaxley could now get 
+inside the house, there was no way that they could 
+return. Even now, he could be bringing other Death 
+Eaters in there by Apparition. Gloomy and oppressive 
+though the house was, it had been their one safe 
+refuge: even, now that Kreacher was so much happier 
+and friendlier, a kind of home. With a twinge of regret 
+that had nothing to do with food, Harry imagined the 
+house-elf busying himself over the steak-and-kidney 
+pie that Harry, Ron, and Hermione would never eat. 
+
+“Harry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Don’t be stupid, it wasn’t your fault! If anything, it 
+was mine. ...” 
+
+Harry put his hand in his pocket and drew out Mad- 
+Eye’s eye. Hermione recoiled, looking horrified. 
+
+“Umbridge had stuck it to her office door, to spy on 
+people. I couldn’t leave it there ... but that’s how they 
+knew there were intruders.” 
+
+Before Hermione could answer, Ron groaned and 
+opened his eyes. He was still gray and his face 
+glistened with sweat. 
+
+“How d’you feel?” Hermione whispered. 
+
+“Lousy,” croaked Ron, wincing as he felt his injured 
+arm. “Where are we?” 
+
+“In the woods where they held the Quidditch World 
+Cup,” said Hermione. “I wanted somewhere enclosed, 
+undercover, and this was — ” 
+
+“ — the first place you thought of,” Harry finished for 
+her, glancing around at the apparently deserted 
+glade. He could not help remembering what had 
+happened the last time they had Apparated to the 
+first place Hermione had thought of — how Death 
+Eaters had found them within minutes. Had it been 
+Legilimency? Did Voldemort or his henchmen know, 
+even now, where Hermione had taken them? 
+
+“D’you reckon we should move on?” Ron asked Harry, 
+and Harry could tell by the look on Ron’s face that he 
+was thinking the same. 
+
+“I dunno.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron still looked pale and clammy. He had made no 
+attempt to sit up and it looked as though he was too 
+weak to do so. The prospect of moving him was 
+daunting. 
+
+“Let’s stay here for now,” Harry said. 
+
+Looking relieved, Hermione sprang to her feet. 
+
+“Where are you going?” asked Ron. 
+
+“If we’re staying, we should put some protective 
+enchantments around the place,” she replied, and 
+raising her wand, she began to walk in a wide circle 
+around Harry and Ron, murmuring incantations as 
+she went. Harry saw little disturbances in the 
+surrounding air: It was as if Hermione had cast a 
+heat haze upon their clearing. 
+
+“Salvio Hexia ... Protego Totalum ... Repello Muggletum 
+... Muffliato ... You could get out the tent, Harry. ...” 
+
+“Tent?” 
+
+“In the bag!” 
+
+“In the ... of course,” said Harry. 
+
+He did not bother to grope inside it this time, but 
+used another Summoning Charm. The tent emerged 
+in a lumpy mass of canvas, rope, and poles. Harry 
+recognized it, partly because of the smell of cats, as 
+the same tent in which they had slept on the night of 
+the Quidditch World Cup. 
+
+“I thought this belonged to that bloke Perkins at the 
+Ministry?” he asked, starting to disentangle the tent 
+pegs. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Apparently he didn’t want it back, his lumbago’s so 
+bad,” said Hermione, now performing complicated 
+figure-of-eight movements with her wand, “so Ron’s 
+dad said I could borrow it. ErectoV’ she added, 
+pointing her wand at the misshapen canvas, which in 
+one fluid motion rose into the air and settled, fully 
+constructed, onto the ground before Harry, out of 
+whose startled hands a tent peg soared, to land with 
+a final thud at the end of a guy rope. 
+
+“ Cave Inimicum,” Hermione finished with a skyward 
+flourish. “That’s as much as I can do. At the very 
+least, we should know they’re coming, I can’t 
+guarantee it will keep out Vol — ” 
+
+“Don’t say the name!” Ron cut across her, his voice 
+harsh. 
+
+Harry and Hermione looked at each other. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” Ron said, moaning a little as he raised 
+himself to look at them, “but it feels like a — a jinx or 
+something. Can’t we call him You-Know-Who — 
+please?” 
+
+“Dumbledore said fear of a name — ” began Harry. 
+
+“In case you hadn’t noticed, mate, calling You-Know- 
+Who by his name didn’t do Dumbledore much good in 
+the end,” Ron snapped back. “Just — just show You- 
+Know-Who some respect, will you?” 
+
+“Respect?” Harry repeated, but Hermione shot him a 
+warning look; apparently he was not to argue with 
+Ron while the latter was in such a weakened 
+condition. 
+
+Harry and Hermione half carried, half dragged Ron 
+through the entrance of the tent. The interior was 
+
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+
+
+
+
+exactly as Harry remembered it: a small flat, complete 
+with bathroom and tiny kitchen. He shoved aside an 
+old armchair and lowered Ron carefully onto the lower 
+berth of a bunk bed. Even this very short journey had 
+turned Ron whiter still, and once they had settled him 
+on the mattress he closed his eyes again and did not 
+speak for a while. 
+
+“I’ll make some tea,” said Hermione breathlessly, 
+pulling kettle and mugs from the depths of her bag 
+and heading toward the kitchen. 
+
+Harry found the hot drink as welcome as the 
+firewhisky had been on the night that Mad-Eye had 
+died; it seemed to burn away a little of the fear 
+fluttering in his chest. After a minute or two, Ron 
+broke the silence. 
+
+“What d’you reckon happened to the Cattermoles?” 
+
+“With any luck, they’ll have got away,” said Hermione, 
+clutching her hot mug for comfort. “As long as Mr. 
+Cattermole had his wits about him, he’ll have 
+transported Mrs. Cattermole by Side-Along- Apparition 
+and they’ll be fleeing the country right now with their 
+children. That’s what Harry told her to do.” 
+
+“Blimey, I hope they escaped,” said Ron, leaning back 
+on his pillows. The tea seemed to be doing him good; 
+a little of his color had returned. “I didn’t get the 
+feeling Reg Cattermole was all that quick-witted, 
+though, the way everyone was talking to me when I 
+was him. God, I hope they made it. ... If they both end 
+up in Azkaban because of us ...” 
+
+Harry looked over at Hermione and the question he 
+had been about to ask — about whether Mrs. 
+Cattermole ’s lack of a wand would prevent her 
+Apparating alongside her husband — died in his 
+
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+
+
+
+
+throat. Hermione was watching Ron fret over the fate 
+of the Cattermoles, and there was such tenderness in 
+her expression that Harry felt almost as if he had 
+surprised her in the act of kissing him. 
+
+“So, have you got it?” Harry asked her, partly to 
+remind her that he was there. 
+
+“Got — got what?” she said with a little start. 
+
+“What did we just go through all that for? The locket! 
+Where’s the locket?” 
+
+“ You got it?” shouted Ron, raising himself a little 
+higher on his pillows. “No one tells me anything! 
+Blimey, you could have mentioned it!” 
+
+“Well, we were running for our lives from the Death 
+Eaters, weren’t we?” said Hermione. “Here.” 
+
+And she pulled the locket out of the pocket of her 
+robes and handed it to Ron. 
+
+It was as large as a chicken’s egg. An ornate letter S, 
+inlaid with many small green stones, glinted dully in 
+the diffused light shining through the tent’s canvas 
+roof. 
+
+“There isn’t any chance someone’s destroyed it since 
+Kreacher had it?” asked Ron hopefully. “I mean, are 
+we sure it’s still a Horcrux?” 
+
+“I think so,” said Hermione, taking it back from him 
+and looking at it closely. “There ’d be some sign of 
+damage if it had been magically destroyed.” 
+
+She passed it to Harry, who turned it over in his 
+fingers. The thing looked perfect, pristine. He 
+remembered the mangled remains of the diary, and 
+
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+
+
+
+
+how the stone in the Horcrux ring had been cracked 
+open when Dumbledore destroyed it. 
+
+
+
+“I reckon Kreacher’s right,” said Harry. “We’re going to 
+have to work out how to open this thing before we can 
+destroy it.” 
+
+Sudden awareness of what he was holding, of what 
+lived behind the little golden doors, hit Harry as he 
+spoke. Even after all their efforts to find it, he felt a 
+violent urge to fling the locket from him. Mastering 
+himself again, he tried to prise the locket apart with 
+his fingers, then attempted the charm Hermione had 
+used to open Regulus’s bedroom door. Neither 
+worked. He handed the locket back to Ron and 
+Hermione, each of whom did their best, but were no 
+more successful at opening it than he had been. 
+
+“Can you feel it, though?” Ron asked in a hushed 
+voice, as he held it tight in his clenched fist. 
+
+“What d’you mean?” 
+
+Ron passed the Horcrux to Harry. After a moment or 
+two, Harry thought he knew what Ron meant. Was it 
+his own blood pulsing through his veins that he could 
+feel, or was it something beating inside the locket, like 
+a tiny metal heart? 
+
+“What are we going to do with it?” Hermione asked. 
+
+“Keep it safe till we work out how to destroy it,” Harry 
+replied, and, little though he wanted to, he hung the 
+chain around his own neck, dropping the locket out 
+of sight beneath his robes, where it rested against his 
+chest beside the pouch Hagrid had given him. 
+
+“I think we should take it in turns to keep watch 
+outside the tent,” he added to Hermione, standing up 
+
+Page | 311 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and stretching. “And we’ll need to think about some 
+food as well. You stay there,” he added sharply, as 
+Ron attempted to sit up and turned a nasty shade of 
+green. 
+
+With the Sneakoscope Hermione had given Harry for 
+his birthday set carefully upon the table in the tent, 
+Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day sharing 
+the role of lookout. However, the Sneakoscope 
+remained silent and still upon its point all day, and 
+whether because of the protective enchantments and 
+Muggle-repelling charms Hermione had spread 
+around them, or because people rarely ventured this 
+way, their patch of wood remained deserted, apart 
+from occasional birds and squirrels. Evening brought 
+no change; Harry lit his wand as he swapped places 
+with Hermione at ten o’clock, and looked out upon a 
+deserted scene, noting the bats fluttering high above 
+him across the single patch of starry sky visible from 
+their protected clearing. 
+
+He felt hungry now, and a little light-headed. 
+
+Hermione had not packed any food in her magical 
+bag, as she had assumed that they would be 
+returning to Grimmauld Place that night, so they had 
+had nothing to eat except some wild mushrooms that 
+Hermione had collected from amongst the nearest 
+trees and stewed in a billycan. After a couple of 
+mouthfuls Ron had pushed his portion away, looking 
+queasy; Harry had only persevered so as not to hurt 
+Hermione ’s feelings. 
+
+The surrounding silence was broken by odd rustlings 
+and what sounded like crackings of twigs: Harry 
+thought that they were caused by animals rather than 
+people, yet he kept his wand held tight at the ready. 
+His insides, already uncomfortable due to their 
+inadequate helping of rubbery mushrooms, tingled 
+with unease. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He had thought that he would feel elated if they 
+managed to steal back the Horcrux, but somehow he 
+did not; all he felt as he sat looking out at the 
+darkness, of which his wand lit only a tiny part, was 
+worry about what would happen next. It was as 
+though he had been hurtling toward this point for 
+weeks, months, maybe even years, but now he had 
+come to an abrupt halt, run out of road. 
+
+There were other Horcruxes out there somewhere, but 
+he did not have the faintest idea where they could be. 
+He did not even know what all of them were. 
+Meanwhile he was at a loss to know how to destroy 
+the only one that they had found, the Horcrux that 
+currently lay against the bare flesh of his chest. 
+Curiously, it had not taken heat from his body, but 
+lay so cold against his skin it might just have 
+emerged from icy water. From time to time Harry 
+thought, or perhaps imagined, that he could feel the 
+tiny heartbeat ticking irregularly alongside his own. 
+
+Nameless forebodings crept upon him as he sat there 
+in the dark: He tried to resist them, push them away, 
+yet they came at him relentlessly. Neither can live 
+while the other survives. Ron and Hermione, now 
+talking softly behind him in the tent, could walk away 
+if they wanted to: He could not. And it seemed to 
+Harry as he sat there trying to master his own fear 
+and exhaustion, that the Horcrux against his chest 
+was ticking away the time he had left. ... Stupid idea, 
+he told himself, don’t think that. ... 
+
+His scar was starting to prickle again. He was afraid 
+that he was making it happen by having these 
+thoughts, and tried to direct them into another 
+channel. He thought of poor Kreacher, who had 
+expected them home and had received Yaxley instead. 
+Would the elf keep silent or would he tell the Death 
+Eater everything he knew? Harry wanted to believe 
+Page | 313 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that Kreacher had changed toward him in the past 
+month, that he would be loyal now, but who knew 
+what would happen? What if the Death Eaters 
+tortured the elf? Sick images swarmed into Harry’s 
+head and he tried to push these away too, for there 
+was nothing he could do for Kreacher: He and 
+Hermione had already decided against trying to 
+summon him; what if someone from the Ministry 
+came too? They could not count on elfish Apparition 
+being free from the same flaw that had taken Yaxley 
+to Grimmauld Place on the hem of Hermione ’s sleeve. 
+
+Harry’s scar was burning now. He thought that there 
+was so much they did not know: Lupin had been right 
+about magic they had never encountered or imagined. 
+Why hadn’t Dumbledore explained more? Had he 
+thought that there would be time; that he would live 
+for years, for centuries perhaps, like his friend Nicolas 
+Flamel? If so, he had been wrong. ... Snape had seen 
+to that. ... Snape, the sleeping snake, who had struck 
+at the top of the tower . . . 
+
+And Dumbledore had fallen ... fallen ... 
+
+“ Give it to me, Gregorovitch.” 
+
+Harry’s voice was high, clear, and cold, his wand held 
+in front of him by a long-fingered white hand. The 
+man at whom he was pointing was suspended upside 
+down in midair, though there were no ropes holding 
+him; he swung there, invisibly and eerily bound, his 
+limbs wrapped about him, his terrified face, on a level 
+with Harry’s, ruddy due to the blood that had rushed 
+to his head. He had pure-white hair and a thick, 
+bushy beard: a trussed-up Father Christmas. 
+
+“I have it not, I have it no more! It was, many years 
+ago, stolen from me!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Gregorovitch. He 
+knows. ... He always knows.” 
+
+The hanging man’s pupils were wide, dilated with 
+fear, and they seemed to swell, bigger and bigger until 
+their blackness swallowed Harry whole — 
+
+And now Harry was hurrying along a dark corridor in 
+stout little Gregorovitch ’s wake as he held a lantern 
+aloft: Gregorovitch burst into the room at the end of 
+the passage and his lantern illuminated what looked 
+like a workshop; wood shavings and gold gleamed in 
+the swinging pool of light, and there on the window 
+ledge sat perched, like a giant bird, a young man with 
+golden hair. In the split second that the lantern’s light 
+illuminated him, Harry saw the delight upon his 
+handsome face, then the intruder shot a Stunning 
+Spell from his wand and jumped neatly backward out 
+of the window with a crow of laughter. 
+
+And Harry was hurtling back out of those wide, 
+tunnellike pupils and Gregorovitch ’s face was stricken 
+with terror. 
+
+“Who was the thief, Gregorovitch?” said the high cold 
+voice. 
+
+“I do not know, I never knew, a young man — no ��� 
+please — PLEASE !” 
+
+A scream that went on and on and then a burst of 
+green light — 
+
+“ Harryl ” 
+
+He opened his eyes, panting, his forehead throbbing. 
+He had passed out against the side of the tent, had 
+slid sideways down the canvas, and was sprawled on 
+the ground. He looked up at Hermione, whose bushy 
+
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+
+
+
+
+hair obscured the tiny patch of sky visible through 
+the dark branches high above them. 
+
+“Dream,” he said, sitting up quickly and attempting to 
+meet Hermione ’s glower with a look of innocence. 
+“Must’ve dozed off, sorry.” 
+
+“I know it was your scar! I can tell by the look on your 
+face! You were looking into Vol — ” 
+
+“Don’t say his name!” came Ron’s angry voice from 
+the depths of the tent. 
+
+“Fine,” retorted Hermione. “You-Know-Who’s mind, 
+then!” 
+
+“I didn’t mean it to happen!” Harry said. “It was a 
+dream! Can you control what you dream about, 
+Hermione?” 
+
+“If you just learned to apply Occlumency — ” 
+
+But Harry was not interested in being told off; he 
+wanted to discuss what he had just seen. 
+
+“He’s found Gregorovitch, Hermione, and I think he’s 
+killed him, but before he killed him he read 
+Gregorovitch ’s mind and I saw — ” 
+
+“I think I’d better take over the watch if you’re so tired 
+you’re falling asleep,” said Hermione coldly. 
+
+“I can finish the watch!” 
+
+“No, you’re obviously exhausted. Go and lie down.” 
+
+She dropped down in the mouth of the tent, looking 
+stubborn. Angry, but wishing to avoid a row, Harry 
+ducked back inside. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron’s still-pale face was poking out from the lower 
+bunk; Harry climbed into the one above him, lay 
+down, and looked up at the dark canvas ceiling. After 
+several moments, Ron spoke in a voice so low that it 
+would not carry to Hermione, huddled in the 
+entrance. 
+
+“What’s You-Know-Who doing?” 
+
+Harry screwed up his eyes in the effort to remember 
+every detail, then whispered into the darkness. 
+
+“He found Gregorovitch. He had him tied up, he was 
+torturing him.” 
+
+“How’s Gregorovitch supposed to make him a new 
+wand if he’s tied up?” 
+
+“I dunno. ... It’s weird, isn’t it?” 
+
+Harry closed his eyes, thinking of all he had seen and 
+heard. The more he recalled, the less sense it made. 
+
+... Voldemort had said nothing about Harry’s wand, 
+nothing about the twin cores, nothing about 
+Gregorovitch making a new and more powerful wand 
+to beat Harry’s. ... 
+
+“He wanted something from Gregorovitch,” Harry 
+said, eyes still closed tight. “He asked him to hand it 
+over, but Gregorovitch said it had been stolen from 
+him ... and then ... then ...” 
+
+He remembered how he, as Voldemort, had seemed to 
+hurtle through Gregorovitch ’s eyes, into his 
+memories. ... 
+
+“He read Gregorovitch ’s mind, and I saw this young 
+bloke perched on a windowsill, and he fired a curse at 
+Gregorovitch and jumped out of sight. He stole it, he 
+
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+
+
+
+
+stole whatever You-Know-Who’s after. And I ... I think 
+I’ve seen him somewhere. ...” 
+
+Harry wished he could have another glimpse of the 
+laughing boy’s face. The theft had happened many 
+years ago, according to Gregorovitch. Why did the 
+young thief look familiar? 
+
+The noises of the surrounding woods were muffled 
+inside the tent; all Harry could hear was Ron’s 
+breathing. After a while, Ron whispered, “Couldn’t 
+you see what the thief was holding?” 
+
+“No ... it must’ve been something small.” 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+The wooden slats of Ron’s bunk creaked as he 
+repositioned himself in bed. 
+
+“Harry, you don’t reckon You-Know-Who’s after 
+something else to turn into a Horcrux?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” said Harry slowly. “Maybe. But 
+wouldn’t it be dangerous for him to make another 
+one? Didn’t Hermione say he had pushed his soul to 
+the limit already?” 
+
+“Yeah, but maybe he doesn’t know that.” 
+
+“Yeah ... maybe,” said Harry. 
+
+He had been sure that Voldemort had been looking 
+for a way around the problem of the twin cores, sure 
+that Voldemort sought a solution from the old 
+wandmaker . . . and yet he had killed him, apparently 
+without asking him a single question about wandlore. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+What was Voldemort trying to find? Why, with the 
+Ministry of Magic and the Wizarding world at his feet, 
+was he far away, intent on the pursuit of an object 
+that Gregorovitch had once owned, and which had 
+been stolen by the unknown thief? 
+
+Harry could still see the blond-haired youth’s face; it 
+was merry, wild; there was a Fred and George-ish air 
+of triumphant trickery about him. He had soared from 
+the windowsill like a bird, and Harry had seen him 
+before, but he could not think where. ... 
+
+With Gregorovitch dead, it was the merry-faced thief 
+who was in danger now, and it was on him that 
+Harry’s thoughts dwelled, as Ron’s snores began to 
+rumble from the lower bunk and as he himself drifted 
+slowly into sleep once more. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GOBLIN’S REVENGE 
+
+Early next morning, before the other two were awake, 
+Harry left the tent to search the woods around them 
+for the oldest, most gnarled, and resilient-looking tree 
+he could find. There in its shadow he buried Mad-Eye 
+Moody’s eye and marked the spot by gouging a small 
+cross in the bark with his wand. It was not much, but 
+Harry felt that Mad-Eye would have much preferred 
+this to being stuck on Dolores Umbridge’s door. Then 
+he returned to the tent to wait for the others to wake, 
+and discuss what they were going to do next. 
+
+Harry and Hermione felt that it was best not to stay 
+anywhere too long, and Ron agreed, with the sole 
+proviso that their next move took them within reach 
+of a bacon sandwich. Hermione therefore removed the 
+enchantments she had placed around the clearing, 
+while Harry and Ron obliterated all the marks and 
+impressions on the ground that might show they had 
+camped there. Then they Disapparated to the 
+outskirts of a small market town. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Once they had pitched the tent in the shelter of a 
+small copse of trees and surrounded it with freshly 
+cast defensive enchantments, Harry ventured out 
+under the Invisibility Cloak to find sustenance. This, 
+however, did not go as planned. He had barely 
+entered the town when an unnatural chill, a 
+descending mist, and a sudden darkening of the skies 
+made him freeze where he stood. 
+
+“But you can make a brilliant Patronus!” protested 
+Ron, when Harry arrived back at the tent empty- 
+handed, out of breath, and mouthing the single word, 
+dementors. 
+
+“I couldn’t ... make one,” he panted, clutching the 
+stitch in his side. “Wouldn’t ... come.” 
+
+Their expressions of consternation and 
+disappointment made Harry feel ashamed. It had 
+been a nightmarish experience, seeing the dementors 
+gliding out of the mist in the distance and realizing, 
+as the paralyzing cold choked his lungs and a distant 
+screaming filled his ears, that he was not going to be 
+able to protect himself. It had taken all Harry’s 
+willpower to uproot himself from the spot and run, 
+leaving the eyeless dementors to glide amongst the 
+Muggles who might not be able to see them, but 
+would assuredly feel the despair they cast wherever 
+they went. 
+
+“So we still haven’t got any food.” 
+
+“Shut up, Ron,” snapped Hermione. “Harry, what 
+happened? Why do you think you couldn’t make your 
+Patronus? You managed perfectly yesterday!” 
+
+“I don’t know.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+He sat low in one of Perkins’s old armchairs, feeling 
+more humiliated by the moment. He was afraid that 
+something had gone wrong inside him. Yesterday 
+seemed a long time ago: Today he might have been 
+thirteen years old again, the only one who collapsed 
+on the Hogwarts Express. 
+
+Ron kicked a chair leg. 
+
+“What?” he snarled at Hermione. “I’m starving! All I’ve 
+had since I bled half to death is a couple of 
+toadstools!” 
+
+“You go and fight your way through the dementors, 
+then,” said Harry, stung. 
+
+“I would, but my arm’s in a sling, in case you hadn’t 
+noticed!” 
+
+“That’s convenient.” 
+
+“And what’s that supposed to — ?” 
+
+“Of course!” cried Hermione, clapping a hand to her 
+forehead and startling both of them into silence. 
+“Harry, give me the locket! Come on,” she said 
+impatiently, clicking her fingers at him when he did 
+not react, “the Horcrux, Harry, you’re still wearing it!” 
+
+She held out her hands, and Harry lifted the golden 
+chain over his head. The moment it parted contact 
+with Harry’s skin he felt free and oddly light. He had 
+not even realized that he was clammy or that there 
+was a heavy weight pressing on his stomach until 
+both sensations lifted. 
+
+“Better?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Yeah, loads better!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harry,” she said, crouching down in front of him and 
+using the kind of voice he associated with visiting the 
+very sick, “you don’t think you’ve been possessed, do 
+you?” 
+
+“What? No!” he said defensively. “I remember 
+everything we’ve done while I’ve been wearing it. I 
+wouldn’t know what I’d done if I’d been possessed, 
+would I? Ginny told me there were times when she 
+couldn’t remember anything.” 
+
+“Hmm,” said Hermione, looking down at the heavy 
+gold locket. “Well, maybe we ought not to wear it. We 
+can just keep it in the tent.” 
+
+“We are not leaving that Horcrux lying around,” Harry 
+stated firmly. “If we lose it, if it gets stolen — ” 
+
+“Oh, all right, all right,” said Hermione, and she 
+placed it around her own neck and tucked it out of 
+sight down the front of her shirt. “But we’ll take turns 
+wearing it, so nobody keeps it on too long.” 
+
+“Great,” said Ron irritably, “and now we’ve sorted that 
+out, can we please get some food?” 
+
+“Fine, but we’ll go somewhere else to find it,” said 
+Hermione with half a glance at Harry. “There’s no 
+point staying where we know dementors are swooping 
+around.” 
+
+In the end they settled down for the night in a far- 
+flung field belonging to a lonely farm, from which they 
+had managed to obtain eggs and bread. 
+
+“It’s not stealing, is it?” asked Hermione in a troubled 
+voice, as they devoured scrambled eggs on toast. “Not 
+if I left some money under the chicken coop?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron rolled his eyes and said, with his cheeks bulging, 
+
+“ ’Er-my-nee, ’oo worry ’oo much. ’Elax!” 
+
+And, indeed, it was much easier to relax when they 
+were comfortably well fed: The argument about the 
+dementors was forgotten in laughter that night, and 
+Harry felt cheerful, even hopeful, as he took the first 
+of the three night watches. 
+
+This was their first encounter with the fact that a full 
+stomach meant good spirits; an empty one, bickering 
+and gloom. Harry was least surprised by this, 
+because he had suffered periods of near starvation at 
+the Dursleys’. Hermione bore up reasonably well on 
+those nights when they managed to scavenge nothing 
+but berries or stale biscuits, her temper perhaps a 
+little shorter than usual and her silences rather dour. 
+Ron, however, had always been used to three 
+delicious meals a day, courtesy of his mother or of the 
+Hogwarts house-elves, and hunger made him both 
+unreasonable and irascible. Whenever lack of food 
+coincided with Ron’s turn to wear the Horcrux, he 
+became downright unpleasant. 
+
+“So where next?” was his constant refrain. He did not 
+seem to have any ideas himself, but expected Harry 
+and Hermione to come up with plans while he sat and 
+brooded over the low food supplies. Accordingly Harry 
+and Hermione spent fruitless hours trying to decide 
+where they might find the other Horcruxes, and how 
+to destroy the one they had already got, their 
+conversations becoming increasingly repetitive as 
+they had no new information. 
+
+As Dumbledore had told Harry that he believed 
+Voldemort had hidden the Horcruxes in places 
+important to him, they kept reciting, in a sort of 
+dreary litany, those locations they knew that 
+Voldemort had lived or visited. The orphanage where 
+Page | 324 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he had been born and raised; Hogwarts, where he had 
+been educated; Borgin and Burkes, where he had 
+worked after completing school; then Albania, where 
+he had spent his years of exile: These formed the 
+basis of their speculations. 
+
+“Yeah, let’s go to Albania. Shouldn’t take more than 
+an afternoon to search an entire country,” said Ron 
+sarcastically. 
+
+“There can’t be anything there. He’d already made five 
+of his Horcruxes before he went into exile, and 
+Dumbledore was certain the snake is the sixth,” said 
+Hermione. “We know the snake’s not in Albania, it’s 
+usually with Vol — ” 
+
+“Didn’t I ask you to stop saying that?” 
+
+“Fine! The snake is usually with You-Knotu-Who — 
+happy?” 
+
+“Not particularly.” 
+
+“I can’t see him hiding anything at Borgin and 
+Burkes,” said Harry, who had made this point many 
+times before, but said it again simply to break the 
+nasty silence. “Borgin and Burke were experts at 
+Dark objects, they would’ve recognized a Horcrux 
+straightaway.” 
+
+Ron yawned pointedly. Repressing a strong urge to 
+throw something at him, Harry plowed on, “I still 
+reckon he might have hidden something at 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+Hermione sighed. 
+
+“But Dumbledore would have found it, Harry!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry repeated the argument he kept bringing out in 
+favor of this theory. 
+
+“Dumbledore said in front of me that he never 
+assumed he knew all of Hogwarts’s secrets. I’m telling 
+you, if there was one place Vol — ” 
+
+“Oi!” 
+
+
+
+“YOU-KNOW-WHO, then!” Harry shouted, goaded 
+past endurance. “If there was one place that was 
+really important to You-Know-Who, it was Hogwarts!” 
+
+“Oh, come on,” scoffed Ron. “His school?” 
+
+“Yeah, his school! It was his first real home, the place 
+that meant he was special; it meant everything to 
+him, and even after he left — ” 
+
+“This is You-Know-Who we’re talking about, right? 
+
+Not you?” inquired Ron. He was tugging at the chain 
+of the Horcrux around his neck: Harry was visited by 
+a desire to seize it and throttle him. 
+
+“You told us that You-Know-Who asked Dumbledore 
+to give him a job after he left,” said Hermione. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Harry. 
+
+“And Dumbledore thought he only wanted to come 
+back to try and find something, probably another 
+founder’s object, to make into another Horcrux?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. 
+
+“But he didn’t get the job, did he?” said Hermione. “So 
+he never got the chance to find a founder’s object 
+there and hide it in the school!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Okay, then,” said Harry, defeated. “Forget Hogwarts.” 
+
+Without any other leads, they traveled into London 
+and, hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, searched 
+for the orphanage in which Voldemort had been 
+raised. Hermione stole into a library and discovered 
+from their records that the place had been 
+demolished many years before. They visited its site 
+and found a tower block of offices. 
+
+“We could try digging in the foundations?” Hermione 
+suggested halfheartedly. 
+
+“He wouldn’t have hidden a Horcrux here,” Harry 
+said. He had known it all along: The orphanage had 
+been the place Voldemort had been determined to 
+escape; he would never have hidden a part of his soul 
+there. Dumbledore had shown Harry that Voldemort 
+sought grandeur or mystique in his hiding places; 
+this dismal gray corner of London was as far removed 
+as you could imagine from Hogwarts or the Ministry 
+or a building like Gringotts, the Wizarding bank, with 
+its golden doors and marble floors. 
+
+Even without any new ideas, they continued to move 
+through the countryside, pitching the tent in a 
+different place each night for security. Every morning 
+they made sure that they had removed all clues to 
+their presence, then set off to find another lonely and 
+secluded spot, traveling by Apparition to more woods, 
+to the shadowy crevices of cliffs, to purple moors, 
+gorse-covered mountainsides, and once a sheltered 
+and pebbly cove. Every twelve hours or so they 
+passed the Horcrux between them as though they 
+were playing some perverse, slow-motion game of 
+pass-the-parcel, where they dreaded the music 
+stopping because the reward was twelve hours of 
+increased fear and anxiety. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry’s scar kept prickling. It happened most often, 
+he noticed, when he was wearing the Horcrux. 
+Sometimes he could not stop himself reacting to the 
+pain. 
+
+“What? What did you see?” demanded Ron, whenever 
+he noticed Harry wince. 
+
+“A face,” muttered Harry, every time. “The same face. 
+The thief who stole from Gregorovitch.” 
+
+And Ron would turn away, making no effort to hide 
+his disappointment. Harry knew that Ron was hoping 
+to hear news of his family or of the rest of the Order of 
+the Phoenix, but after all, he, Harry, was not a 
+television aerial; he could only see what Voldemort 
+was thinking at the time, not tune in to whatever took 
+his fancy. Apparently Voldemort was dwelling 
+endlessly on the unknown youth with the gleeful face, 
+whose name and whereabouts, Harry felt sure, 
+Voldemort knew no better than he did. As Harry’s 
+scar continued to burn and the merry, blond-haired 
+boy swam tantalizingly in his memory, he learned to 
+suppress any sign of pain or discomfort, for the other 
+two showed nothing but impatience at the mention of 
+the thief. He could not entirely blame them, when 
+they were so desperate for a lead on the Horcruxes. 
+
+As the days stretched into weeks, Harry began to 
+suspect that Ron and Hermione were having 
+conversations without, and about, him. Several times 
+they stopped talking abruptly when Harry entered the 
+tent, and twice he came accidentally upon them, 
+huddled a little distance away, heads together and 
+talking fast; both times they fell silent when they 
+realized he was approaching them and hastened to 
+appear busy collecting wood or water. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry could not help wondering whether they had 
+only agreed to come on what now felt like a pointless 
+and rambling journey because they thought he had 
+some secret plan that they would learn in due course. 
+Ron was making no effort to hide his bad mood, and 
+Harry was starting to fear that Hermione too was 
+disappointed by his poor leadership. In desperation 
+he tried to think of further Horcrux locations, but the 
+only one that continued to occur to him was 
+Hogwarts, and as neither of the others thought this at 
+all likely, he stopped suggesting it. 
+
+Autumn rolled over the countryside as they moved 
+through it: They were now pitching the tent on 
+mulches of fallen leaves. Natural mists joined those 
+cast by the dementors; wind and rain added to their 
+troubles. The fact that Hermione was getting better at 
+identifying edible fungi could not altogether 
+compensate for their continuing isolation, the lack of 
+other people’s company, or their total ignorance of 
+what was going on in the war against Voldemort. 
+
+“My mother,” said Ron one night, as they sat in the 
+tent on a riverbank in Wales, “can make good food 
+appear out of thin air.” 
+
+He prodded moodily at the lumps of charred gray fish 
+on his plate. Harry glanced automatically at Ron’s 
+neck and saw, as he had expected, the golden chain 
+of the Horcrux glinting there. He managed to fight 
+down the impulse to swear at Ron, whose attitude 
+would, he knew, improve slightly when the time came 
+to take off the locket. 
+
+“Your mother can’t produce food out of thin air,” said 
+Hermione. “No one can. Food is the first of the five 
+Principal Exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental 
+Transfigur — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh, speak English, can’t you?” Ron said, prising a 
+fish bone out from between his teeth. 
+
+“It’s impossible to make good food out of nothing! You 
+can Summon it if you know where it is, you can 
+transform it, you can increase the quantity if you’ve 
+already got some — ” 
+
+“Well, don’t bother increasing this, it’s disgusting,” 
+said Ron. 
+
+“Harry caught the fish and I did my best with it! I 
+notice I’m always the one who ends up sorting out the 
+food, because I’m a girl, I suppose!” 
+
+“No, it’s because you’re supposed to be the best at 
+magic!” shot back Ron. 
+
+Hermione jumped up and bits of roast pike slid off 
+her tin plate onto the floor. 
+
+“ You can do the cooking tomorrow, Ron, you can find 
+the ingredients and try and charm them into 
+something worth eating, and I’ll sit here and pull 
+faces and moan and you can see how you — ” 
+
+“Shut up!” said Harry, leaping to his feet and holding 
+up both hands. “Shut up now\” 
+
+Hermione looked outraged. 
+
+“How can you side with him, he hardly ever does the 
+cook — ” 
+
+“Hermione, be quiet, I can hear someone!” 
+
+He was listening hard, his hands still raised, warning 
+them not to talk. Then, over the rush and gush of the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+dark river beside them, he heard voices again. He 
+looked around at the Sneakoscope. It was not moving. 
+
+“You cast the Muffliato charm over us, right?” he 
+whispered to Hermione. 
+
+“I did everything,” she whispered back, “Muffliato, 
+Muggle-Repelling and Disillusionment Charms, all of 
+it. They shouldn’t be able to hear or see us, whoever 
+they are.” 
+
+Heavy scuffing and scraping noises, plus the sound of 
+dislodged stones and twigs, told them that several 
+people were clambering down the steep, wooded slope 
+that descended to the narrow bank where they had 
+pitched the tent. They drew their wands, waiting. The 
+enchantments they had cast around themselves 
+ought to be sufficient, in the near total darkness, to 
+shield them from the notice of Muggles and normal 
+witches and wizards. If these were Death Eaters, then 
+perhaps their defenses were about to be tested by 
+Dark Magic for the first time. 
+
+The voices became louder but no more intelligible as 
+the group of men reached the bank. Harry estimated 
+that their owners were fewer than twenty feet away, 
+but the cascading river made it impossible to tell for 
+sure. Hermione snatched up the beaded bag and 
+started to rummage; after a moment she drew out 
+three Extendable Ears and threw one each to Harry 
+and Ron, who hastily inserted the ends of the flesh- 
+colored strings into their ears and fed the other ends 
+out of the tent entrance. 
+
+Within seconds Harry heard a weary male voice. 
+
+“There ought to be a few salmon in here, or d’you 
+reckon it’s too early in the season? Accio Salmon).” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There were several distinct splashes and then the 
+slapping sounds of fish against flesh. Somebody 
+grunted appreciatively. Harry pressed the Extendable 
+Ear deeper into his own: Over the murmur of the river 
+he could make out more voices, but they were not 
+speaking English or any human language he had ever 
+heard. It was a rough and unmelodious tongue, a 
+string of rattling, guttural noises, and there seemed to 
+be two speakers, one with a slightly lower, slower 
+voice than the other. 
+
+A fire danced into life on the other side of the canvas; 
+large shadows passed between tent and flames. The 
+delicious smell of baking salmon wafted tantalizingly 
+in their direction. Then came the clinking of cutlery 
+on plates, and the first man spoke again. 
+
+“Here, Griphook, Gornuk.” 
+
+Goblins\ Hermione mouthed at Harry, who nodded. 
+
+“Thank you,” said the goblins together in English. 
+
+“So, you three have been on the run how long?” asked 
+a new, mellow, and pleasant voice; it was vaguely 
+familiar to Harry, who pictured a round-bellied, 
+cheerful-faced man. 
+
+“Six weeks ... seven ... I forget,” said the tired man. 
+“Met up with Griphook in the first couple of days and 
+joined forces with Gornuk not long after. Nice to have 
+a bit of company.” There was a pause, while knives 
+scraped plates and tin mugs were picked up and 
+replaced on the ground. “What made you leave, Ted?” 
+continued the man. 
+
+“Knew they were coming for me,” replied mellow- 
+voiced Ted, and Harry suddenly knew who he was: 
+Tonks’s father. “Heard Death Eaters were in the area 
+
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+
+
+
+
+last week and decided I’d better run for it. Refused to 
+register as a Muggle-born on principle, see, so I knew 
+it was a matter of time, knew I’d have to leave in the 
+end. My wife should be okay, she’s pure-blood. And 
+then I met Dean here, what, a few days ago, son?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said another voice, and Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione stared at each other, silent but beside 
+themselves with excitement, sure they recognized the 
+voice of Dean Thomas, their fellow Gryffindor. 
+
+“Muggle-born, eh?” asked the first man. 
+
+“Not sure,” said Dean. “My dad left my mum when I 
+was a kid. I’ve got no proof he was a wizard, though.” 
+
+There was silence for a while, except for the sounds of 
+munching; then Ted spoke again. 
+
+“I’ve got to say, Dirk, I’m surprised to run into you. 
+Pleased, but surprised. Word was you’d been caught.” 
+
+“I was,” said Dirk. “I was halfway to Azkaban when I 
+made a break for it, Stunned Dawlish, and nicked his 
+broom. It was easier than you’d think; I don’t reckon 
+he’s quite right at the moment. Might be Confunded. 
+
+If so, I’d like to shake the hand of the witch or wizard 
+who did it, probably saved my life.” 
+
+There was another pause in which the fire crackled 
+and the river rushed on. Then Ted said, “And where 
+do you two fit in? I, er, had the impression the goblins 
+were for You-Know-Who, on the whole.” 
+
+“You had a false impression,” said the higher-voiced 
+of the goblins. “We take no sides. This is a wizards’ 
+war.” 
+
+“How come you’re in hiding, then?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I deemed it prudent,” said the deeper-voiced goblin. 
+“Having refused what I considered an impertinent 
+request, I could see that my personal safety was in 
+jeopardy.” 
+
+“What did they ask you to do?” asked Ted. 
+
+“Duties ill-befitting the dignity of my race,” replied the 
+goblin, his voice rougher and less human as he said 
+it. “I am not a house-elf.” 
+
+“What about you, Griphook?” 
+
+“Similar reasons,” said the higher-voiced goblin. 
+“Gringotts is no longer under the sole control of my 
+race. I recognize no Wizarding master.” 
+
+He added something under his breath in 
+Gobbledegook, and Gornuk laughed. 
+
+“What’s the joke?” asked Dean. 
+
+“He said,” replied Dirk, “that there are things wizards 
+don’t recognize, either.” 
+
+There was a short pause. 
+
+“I don’t get it,” said Dean. 
+
+“I had my small revenge before I left,” said Griphook 
+in English. 
+
+“Good man — goblin, I should say,” amended Ted 
+hastily. “Didn’t manage to lock a Death Eater up in 
+one of the old high-security vaults, I suppose?” 
+
+“If I had, the sword would not have helped him break 
+out,” replied Griphook. Gornuk laughed again and 
+even Dirk gave a dry chuckle. 
+
+Page | 334 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Dean and I are still missing something here,” said 
+Ted. 
+
+
+
+“So is Severus Snape, though he does not know it,” 
+said Griphook, and the two goblins roared with 
+malicious laughter. Inside the tent Harry’s breathing 
+was shallow with excitement: He and Hermione stared 
+at each other, listening as hard as they could. 
+
+“Didn’t you hear about that, Ted?” asked Dirk. “About 
+the kids who tried to steal Gryffindor’s sword out of 
+Snape ’s office at Hogwarts?” 
+
+An electric current seemed to course through Harry, 
+jangling his every nerve as he stood rooted to the 
+spot. 
+
+“Never heard a word,” said Ted. “Not in the Prophet, 
+was it?” 
+
+“Hardly,” chortled Dirk. “Griphook here told me, he 
+heard about it from Bill Weasley who works for the 
+bank. One of the kids who tried to take the sword was 
+Bill’s younger sister.” 
+
+Harry glanced toward Hermione and Ron, both of 
+whom were clutching the Extendable Ears as tightly 
+as lifelines. 
+
+“She and a couple of friends got into Snape ’s office 
+and smashed open the glass case where he was 
+apparently keeping the sword. Snape caught them as 
+they were trying to smuggle it down the staircase.” 
+
+“Ah, God bless ’em,” said Ted. “What did they think, 
+that they’d be able to use the sword on You-Know- 
+Who? Or on Snape himself?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, whatever they thought they were going to do 
+with it, Snape decided the sword wasn’t safe where it 
+was,” said Dirk. “Couple of days later, once he’d got 
+the say-so from You-Know-Who, I imagine, he sent it 
+down to London to be kept in Gringotts instead.” 
+
+The goblins started to laugh again. 
+
+“I’m still not seeing the joke,” said Ted. 
+
+“It’s a fake,” rasped Griphook. 
+
+“The sword of Gryffindor!” 
+
+“Oh yes. It is a copy — an excellent copy, it is true — 
+but it was Wizard-made. The original was forged 
+centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties 
+only goblin-made armor possesses. Wherever the 
+genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at 
+Gringotts bank.” 
+
+“I see,” said Ted. “And I take it you didn’t bother 
+telling the Death Eaters this?” 
+
+“I saw no reason to trouble them with the 
+information,” said Griphook smugly, and now Ted and 
+Dean joined in Gornuk and Dirk’s laughter. 
+
+Inside the tent, Harry closed his eyes, willing someone 
+to ask the question he needed answered, and after a 
+minute that seemed ten, Dean obliged; he was (Harry 
+remembered with a jolt) an ex-boyfriend of Ginny’s 
+too. 
+
+“What happened to Ginny and the others? The ones 
+who tried to steal it?” 
+
+“Oh, they were punished, and cruelly,” said Griphook 
+indifferently. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“They’re okay, though?” asked Ted quickly. “I mean, 
+the Weasleys don’t need any more of their kids 
+injured, do they?” 
+
+“They suffered no serious injury, as far as I am 
+aware,” said Griphook. 
+
+“Lucky for them,” said Ted. “With Snape’s track 
+record I suppose we should just be glad they’re still 
+alive.” 
+
+“You believe that story, then, do you, Ted?” asked 
+Dirk. “You believe Snape killed Dumbledore?” 
+
+“ ’Course I do,” said Ted. “You’re not going to sit there 
+and tell me you think Potter had anything to do with 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+“Hard to know what to believe these days,” muttered 
+Dirk. 
+
+“I know Harry Potter,” said Dean. “And I reckon he’s 
+the real thing — the Chosen One, or whatever you 
+want to call it.” 
+
+“Yeah, there’s a lot would like to believe he’s that, 
+son,” said Dirk, “me included. But where is he? Run 
+for it, by the looks of things. You’d think, if he knew 
+anything we don’t, or had anything special going for 
+him, he’d be out there now fighting, rallying 
+resistance, instead of hiding. And you know, the 
+Prophet made a pretty good case against him — ” 
+
+“The Prophet?” scoffed Ted. “You deserve to be lied to 
+if you’re still reading that muck, Dirk. You want the 
+facts, try the Quibbler.” 
+
+There was a sudden explosion of choking and 
+retching, plus a good deal of thumping; by the sound 
+
+Page | 337 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of it, Dirk had swallowed a fish bone. At last he 
+spluttered, “The Quibbler? That lunatic rag of Xeno 
+Lovegood’s?” 
+
+“It’s not so lunatic these days,” said Ted. “You want to 
+give it a look. Xeno is printing all the stuff the 
+Prophet’s ignoring, not a single mention of Crumple- 
+Horned Snorkacks in the last issue. How long they’ll 
+let him get away with it, mind, I don’t know. But Xeno 
+says, front page of every issue, that any wizard who’s 
+against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry 
+Potter their number-one priority.” 
+
+“Hard to help a boy who’s vanished off the face of the 
+earth,” said Dirk. 
+
+“Listen, the fact that they haven’t caught him yet’s 
+one hell of an achievement,” said Ted. “I’d take tips 
+from him gladly; it’s what we’re trying to do, stay free, 
+isn’t it?” 
+
+“Yeah, well, you’ve got a point there,” said Dirk 
+heavily. “With the whole of the Ministry and all their 
+informers looking for him I’d have expected him to be 
+caught by now. Mind, who’s to say they haven’t 
+already caught and killed him without publicizing it?” 
+
+“Ah, don’t say that, Dirk,” murmured Ted. 
+
+There was a long pause filled with more clattering of 
+knives and forks. When they spoke again it was to 
+discuss whether they ought to sleep on the bank or 
+retreat back up the wooded slope. Deciding the trees 
+would give better cover, they extinguished their fire, 
+then clambered back up the incline, their voices 
+fading away. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione reeled in the Extendable 
+Ears. Harry, who had found the need to remain silent 
+
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+
+
+
+
+increasingly difficult the longer they eavesdropped, 
+now found himself unable to say more than, “Ginny 
+— the sword — ” 
+
+“I know!” said Hermione. 
+
+She lunged for the tiny beaded bag, this time sinking 
+her arm in it right up to the armpit. 
+
+“Here ... we ... are ...” she said between gritted teeth, 
+and she pulled at something that was evidently in the 
+depths of the bag. Slowly the edge of an ornate 
+picture frame came into sight. Harry hurried to help 
+her. As they lifted the empty portrait of Phineas 
+Nigellus free of Hermione’s bag, she kept her wand 
+pointing at it, ready to cast a spell at any moment. 
+
+“If somebody swapped the real sword for the fake 
+while it was in Dumbledore’s office,” she panted, as 
+they propped the painting against the side of the tent, 
+“Phineas Nigellus would have seen it happen, he 
+hangs right beside the case!” 
+
+“Unless he was asleep,” said Harry, but he still held 
+his breath as Hermione knelt down in front of the 
+empty canvas, her wand directed at its center, cleared 
+her throat, then said: 
+
+“Er — Phineas? Phineas Nigellus?” 
+
+Nothing happened. 
+
+“Phineas Nigellus?” said Hermione again. “Professor 
+Black? Please could we talk to you? Please?” 
+
+“ ‘Please’ always helps,” said a cold, snide voice, and 
+Phineas Nigellus slid into his portrait. At once, 
+Hermione cried: 
+
+
+
+Page | 339 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Obscuro\” 
+
+
+
+A black blindfold appeared over Phineas Nigellus’s 
+clever, dark eyes, causing him to bump into the frame 
+and shriek with pain. 
+
+“What — how dare — what are you — ?” 
+
+“I’m very sorry, Professor Black,” said Hermione, “but 
+it’s a necessary precaution!” 
+
+“Remove this foul addition at once! Remove it, I say! 
+You are ruining a great work of art! Where am I? 
+
+What is going on?” 
+
+“Never mind where we are,” said Harry, and Phineas 
+Nigellus froze, abandoning his attempts to peel off the 
+painted blindfold. 
+
+“Can that possibly be the voice of the elusive Mr. 
+Potter?” 
+
+“Maybe,” said Harry, knowing that this would keep 
+Phineas Nigellus’s interest. “We’ve got a couple of 
+questions to ask you — about the sword of 
+Gryffindor.” 
+
+“Ah,” said Phineas Nigellus, now turning his head this 
+way and that in an effort to catch sight of Harry, “yes. 
+That silly girl acted most unwisely there — ” 
+
+“Shut up about my sister,” said Ron roughly. Phineas 
+Nigellus raised supercilious eyebrows. 
+
+“Who else is here?” he asked, turning his head from 
+side to side. “Your tone displeases me! The girl and 
+her friends were foolhardy in the extreme. Thieving 
+from the headmaster!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“They weren’t thieving,” said Harry. “That sword isn’t 
+Snape’s.” 
+
+“It belongs to Professor Snape’s school,” said Phineas 
+Nigellus. “Exactly what claim did the Weasley girl 
+have upon it? She deserved her punishment, as did 
+the idiot Longbottom and the Lovegood oddity!” 
+
+“Neville is not an idiot and Luna is not an oddity!” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+“Where am I?” repeated Phineas Nigellus, starting to 
+wrestle with the blindfold again. “Where have you 
+brought me? Why have you removed me from the 
+house of my forebears?” 
+
+“Never mind that! How did Snape punish Ginny, 
+Neville, and Luna?” asked Harry urgently. 
+
+“Professor Snape sent them into the Forbidden Forest, 
+to do some work for the oaf, Hagrid.” 
+
+“Hagrid’s not an oaf!” said Hermione shrilly. 
+
+“And Snape might’ve thought that was a 
+punishment,” said Harry, “but Ginny, Neville, and 
+Luna probably had a good laugh with Hagrid. The 
+Forbidden Forest ... they’ve faced plenty worse than 
+the Forbidden Forest, big deal!” 
+
+He felt relieved; he had been imagining horrors, the 
+Cruciatus Curse at the very least. 
+
+“What we really wanted to know, Professor Black, is 
+whether anyone else has, um, taken out the sword at 
+all? Maybe it’s been taken away for cleaning or — or 
+something?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Phineas Nigellus paused again in his struggles to free 
+his eyes and sniggered. 
+
+“ Muggle-borns,” he said. “Goblin-made armor does not 
+require cleaning, simple girl. Goblins’ silver repels 
+mundane dirt, imbibing only that which strengthens 
+it.” 
+
+“Don’t call Hermione simple,” said Harry. 
+
+“I grow weary of contradiction,” said Phineas Nigellus. 
+“Perhaps it is time for me to return to the 
+headmaster’s office?” 
+
+Still blindfolded, he began groping the side of his 
+frame, trying to feel his way out of his picture and 
+back into the one at Hogwarts. Harry had a sudden 
+inspiration. 
+
+“Dumbledore! Can’t you bring us Dumbledore?” 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” asked Phineas Nigellus. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore’s portrait — couldn’t you bring 
+him along, here, into yours?” 
+
+Phineas Nigellus turned his face in the direction of 
+Harry’s voice. 
+
+“Evidently it is not only Muggle-borns who are 
+ignorant, Potter. The portraits of Hogwarts may 
+commune with each other, but they cannot travel 
+outside the castle except to visit a painting of 
+themselves hanging elsewhere. Dumbledore cannot 
+come here with me, and after the treatment I have 
+received at your hands, I can assure you that I shall 
+not be making a return visit!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Slightly crestfallen, Harry watched Phineas redouble 
+his attempts to leave his frame. 
+
+“Professor Black,” said Hermione, “couldn’t you just 
+tell us, please, when was the last time the sword was 
+taken out of its case? Before Ginny took it out, I 
+mean?” 
+
+Phineas snorted impatiently. 
+
+“I believe that the last time I saw the sword of 
+Gryffindor leave its case was when Professor 
+Dumbledore used it to break open a ring.” 
+
+Hermione whipped around to look at Harry. Neither of 
+them dared say more in front of Phineas Nigellus, who 
+had at last managed to locate the exit. 
+
+“Well, good night to you,” he said a little waspishly, 
+and he began to move out of sight again. Only the 
+edge of his hat brim remained in view when Harry 
+gave a sudden shout. 
+
+“Wait! Have you told Snape you saw this?” 
+
+Phineas Nigellus stuck his blindfolded head back into 
+the picture. 
+
+“Professor Snape has more important things on his 
+mind than the many eccentricities of Albus 
+Dumbledore. Good-bye, Potter!” 
+
+And with that, he vanished completely, leaving behind 
+him nothing but his murky backdrop. 
+
+“Harry!” Hermione cried. 
+
+“I know!” Harry shouted. Unable to contain himself, 
+he punched the air; it was more than he had dared to 
+
+Page | 343 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+hope for. He strode up and down the tent, feeling that 
+he could have run a mile; he did not even feel hungry 
+anymore. Hermione was squashing Phineas Nigellus’s 
+portrait back into the beaded bag; when she had 
+fastened the clasp she threw the bag aside and raised 
+a shining face to Harry. 
+
+“The sword can destroy Horcruxes! Goblin-made 
+blades imbibe only that which strengthen them — 
+Harry, that sword’s impregnated with basilisk 
+venom!” 
+
+“And Dumbledore didn’t give it to me because he still 
+needed it, he wanted to use it on the locket — ” 
+
+“ — and he must have realized they wouldn’t let you 
+have it if he put it in his will — ” 
+
+“ — so he made a copy — ” 
+
+“ — and put a fake in the glass case — ” 
+
+“ — and he left the real one — where?” 
+
+They gazed at each other; Harry felt that the answer 
+was dangling invisibly in the air above them, 
+tantalizingly close. Why hadn’t Dumbledore told him? 
+Or had he, in fact, told Harry, but Harry had not 
+realized it at the time? 
+
+“Think!” whispered Hermione. “Think! Where would 
+he have left it?” 
+
+“Not at Hogwarts,” said Harry, resuming his pacing. 
+
+“Somewhere in Hogsmeade?” suggested Hermione. 
+
+“The Shrieking Shack?” said Harry. “Nobody ever goes 
+in there.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But Snape knows how to get in, wouldn’t that be a 
+bit risky?” 
+
+“Dumbledore trusted Snape,” Harry reminded her. 
+
+“Not enough to tell him that he had swapped the 
+swords,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Yeah, you’re right!” said Harry, and he felt even more 
+cheered at the thought that Dumbledore had had 
+some reservations, however faint, about Snape ’s 
+trustworthiness. “So, would he have hidden the sword 
+well away from Hogsmeade, then? What d’you reckon, 
+Ron? Ron?” 
+
+Harry looked around. For one bewildered moment he 
+thought that Ron had left the tent, then realized that 
+Ron was lying in the shadow of a lower bunk, looking 
+stony. 
+
+“Oh, remembered me, have you?” he said. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+Ron snorted as he stared up at the underside of the 
+upper bunk. 
+
+“You two carry on. Don’t let me spoil your fun.” 
+
+Perplexed, Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she 
+shook her head, apparently as nonplussed as he was. 
+
+“What’s the problem?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Problem? There’s no problem,” said Ron, still 
+refusing to look at Harry. “Not according to you, 
+anyway.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 345 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There were several plunks on the canvas over their 
+heads. It had started to rain. 
+
+
+
+“Well, you’ve obviously got a problem,” said Harry. 
+“Spit it out, will you?” 
+
+Ron swung his long legs off the bed and sat up. He 
+looked mean, unlike himself. 
+
+“All right, I’ll spit it out. Don’t expect me to skip up 
+and down the tent because there’s some other damn 
+thing we’ve got to find. Just add it to the list of stuff 
+you don’t know.” 
+
+“I don’t know?” repeated Harry, “I don’t know?” 
+
+Plunk, plunk, plunk. The rain was falling harder and 
+heavier; it pattered on the leaf-strewn bank all around 
+them and into the river chattering through the dark. 
+Dread doused Harry’s jubilation: Ron was saying 
+exactly what he had suspected and feared him to be 
+thinking. 
+
+“It’s not like I’m not having the time of my life here,” 
+said Ron, “you know, with my arm mangled and 
+nothing to eat and freezing my backside off every 
+night. I just hoped, you know, after we’d been 
+running round a few weeks, we’d have achieved 
+something.” 
+
+“Ron,” Hermione said, but in such a quiet voice that 
+Ron could pretend not to have heard it over the loud 
+tattoo the rain was now beating on the tent. 
+
+“I thought you knew what you’d signed up for,” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Yeah, I thought I did too.” 
+
+Page | 346 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So what part of it isn’t living up to your 
+expectations?” asked Harry. Anger was coming to his 
+defense now. “Did you think we’d be staying in five- 
+star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did 
+you think you’d be back to Mummy by Christmas?” 
+
+“We thought you knew what you were doing!” shouted 
+Ron, standing up, and his words pierced Harry like 
+scalding knives. “We thought Dumbledore had told 
+you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!” 
+
+“Ron!” said Hermione, this time clearly audible over 
+the rain thundering on the tent roof, but again, he 
+ignored her. 
+
+“Well, sorry to let you down,” said Harry, his voice 
+quite calm even though he felt hollow, inadequate. 
+
+“I’ve been straight with you from the start, I told you 
+everything Dumbledore told me. And in case you 
+haven’t noticed, we’ve found one Horcrux — ” 
+
+“Yeah, and we’re about as near getting rid of it as we 
+are to finding the rest of them — nowhere effing near, 
+in other words!” 
+
+“Take off the locket, Ron,” Hermione said, her voice 
+unusually high. “Please take it off. You wouldn’t be 
+talking like this if you hadn’t been wearing it all day.” 
+
+“Yeah, he would,” said Harry, who did not want 
+excuses made for Ron. “D’you think I haven’t noticed 
+the two of you whispering behind my back? D’you 
+think I didn’t guess you were thinking this stuff?” 
+
+“Harry, we weren’t — ” 
+
+“Don’t lie!” Ron hurled at her. “You said it too, you 
+said you were disappointed, you said you’d thought 
+he had a bit more to go on than — ” 
+
+Page | 347 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I didn’t say it like that — Harry, I didn’t!” she cried. 
+
+
+
+The rain was pounding the tent, tears were pouring 
+down Hermione’s face, and the excitement of a few 
+minutes before had vanished as if it had never been, a 
+short-lived firework that had flared and died, leaving 
+everything dark, wet, and cold. The sword of 
+Gryffindor was hidden they knew not where, and they 
+were three teenagers in a tent whose only 
+achievement was not, yet, to be dead. 
+
+“So why are you still here?” Harry asked Ron. 
+
+“Search me,” said Ron. 
+
+“Go home then,” said Harry. 
+
+“Yeah, maybe I will!” shouted Ron, and he took 
+several steps toward Harry, who did not back away. 
+“Didn’t you hear what they said about my sister? But 
+you don’t give a rat’s fart, do you, it’s only the 
+Forbidden Forest, Harry I’ve-Faced-Worse Potter 
+doesn’t care what happens to her in here — well, I do, 
+all right, giant spiders and mental stuff — ” 
+
+“I was only saying — she was with the others, they 
+were with Hagrid — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I get it, you don’t care! And what about the 
+rest of my family, ‘the Weasleys don’t need another 
+kid injured,’ did you hear that?” 
+
+“Yeah, I — ” 
+
+“Not bothered what it meant, though?” 
+
+“Ron!” said Hermione, forcing her way between them. 
+“I don’t think it means anything new has happened, 
+anything we don’t know about; think, Ron, Bill’s 
+
+Page | 348 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+already scarred, plenty of people must have seen that 
+George has lost an ear by now, and you’re supposed 
+to be on your deathbed with spattergroit, I’m sure 
+that’s all he meant — ” 
+
+“Oh, you’re sure, are you? Right then, well, I won’t 
+bother myself about them. It’s all right for you two, 
+isn’t it, with your parents safely out of the way — ” 
+
+“My parents are dead).” Harry bellowed. 
+
+“And mine could be going the same way!” yelled Ron. 
+
+“Then GO!” roared Harry. “Go back to them, pretend 
+you’ve got over your spattergroit and Mummy’ll be 
+able to feed you up and — ” 
+
+Ron made a sudden movement: Harry reacted, but 
+before either wand was clear of its owner’s pocket, 
+Hermione had raised her own. 
+
+“Protego\” she cried, and an invisible shield expanded 
+between her and Harry on the one side and Ron on 
+the other; all of them were forced backward a few 
+steps by the strength of the spell, and Harry and Ron 
+glared from either side of the transparent barrier as 
+though they were seeing each other clearly for the 
+first time. Harry felt a corrosive hatred toward Ron: 
+Something had broken between them. 
+
+“Leave the Horcrux,” Harry said. 
+
+Ron wrenched the chain from over his head and cast 
+the locket into a nearby chair. He turned to 
+Hermione. 
+
+“What are you doing?” 
+
+“What do you mean?” 
+
+Page | 349 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Are you staying, or what?” 
+
+“I ...” She looked anguished. “Yes — yes, I’m staying. 
+Ron, we said we’d go with Harry, we said we’d help — ” 
+
+“I get it. You choose him.” 
+
+“Ron, no — please — come back, come back!” 
+
+She was impeded by her own Shield Charm; by the 
+time she had removed it he had already stormed into 
+the night. Harry stood quite still and silent, listening 
+to her sobbing and calling Ron’s name amongst the 
+trees. 
+
+After a few minutes she returned, her sopping hair 
+plastered to her face. 
+
+“He’s g-g-gone! Disapparated!” 
+
+She threw herself into a chair, curled up, and started 
+to cry. 
+
+Harry felt dazed. He stooped, picked up the Horcrux, 
+and placed it around his own neck. He dragged 
+blankets off Ron’s bunk and threw them over 
+Hermione. Then he climbed onto his own bed and 
+stared up at the dark canvas roof, listening to the 
+pounding of the rain. 
+
+
+
+Page | 350 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+GODRIC’S HOLLOW 
+
+When Harry woke the following day it was several 
+seconds before he remembered what had happened. 
+Then he hoped, childishly, that it had been a dream, 
+that Ron was still there and had never left. Yet by 
+turning his head on his pillow he could see Ron’s 
+deserted bunk. It was like a dead body in the way it 
+seemed to draw his eyes. Harry jumped down from 
+his own bed, keeping his eyes averted from Ron’s. 
+Hermione, who was already busy in the kitchen, did 
+not wish Harry good morning, but turned her face 
+away quickly as he went by. 
+
+He’s gone, Harry told himself. He’s gone. He had to 
+keep thinking it as he washed and dressed, as though 
+repetition would dull the shock of it. He’s gone and 
+he’s not coming back. And that was the simple truth 
+of it, Harry knew, because their protective 
+enchantments meant that it would be impossible, 
+once they vacated this spot, for Ron to find them 
+again. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+He and Hermione ate breakfast in silence. Hermione ’s 
+eyes were puffy and red; she looked as if she had not 
+slept. They packed up their things, Hermione 
+dawdling. Harry knew why she wanted to spin out 
+their time on the riverbank; several times he saw her 
+look up eagerly, and he was sure she had deluded 
+herself into thinking that she heard footsteps through 
+the heavy rain, but no red-haired figure appeared 
+between the trees. Every time Harry imitated her, 
+looked around (for he could not help hoping a little, 
+himself) and saw nothing but rain-swept woods, 
+another little parcel of fury exploded inside him. He 
+could hear Ron saying, “ We thought you knew what 
+you were doing \” , and he resumed packing with a 
+hard knot in the pit of his stomach. 
+
+The muddy river beside them was rising rapidly and 
+would soon spill over onto their bank. They had 
+lingered a good hour after they would usually have 
+departed their campsite. Finally having entirely 
+repacked the beaded bag three times, Hermione 
+seemed unable to find any more reasons to delay: She 
+and Harry grasped hands and Disapparated, 
+reappearing on a windswept heather-covered hillside. 
+
+The instant they arrived, Hermione dropped Harry’s 
+hand and walked away from him, finally sitting down 
+on a large rock, her face on her knees, shaking with 
+what he knew were sobs. He watched her, supposing 
+that he ought to go and comfort her, but something 
+kept him rooted to the spot. Everything inside him felt 
+cold and tight: Again he saw the contemptuous 
+expression on Ron’s face. Harry strode off through the 
+heather, walking in a large circle with the distraught 
+Hermione at its center, casting the spells she usually 
+performed to ensure their protection. 
+
+They did not discuss Ron at all over the next few 
+days. Harry was determined never to mention his 
+
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+
+
+
+
+name again, and Hermione seemed to know that it 
+was no use forcing the issue, although sometimes at 
+night when she thought he was sleeping, he would 
+hear her crying. Meanwhile Harry had started 
+bringing out the Marauder’s Map and examining it by 
+wandlight. He was waiting for the moment when 
+Ron’s labeled dot would reappear in the corridors of 
+Hogwarts, proving that he had returned to the 
+comfortable castle, protected by his status of 
+pureblood. However, Ron did not appear on the map, 
+and after a while Harry found himself taking it out 
+simply to stare at Ginny’s name in the girls’ 
+dormitory, wondering whether the intensity with 
+which he gazed at it might break into her sleep, that 
+she would somehow know he was thinking about her, 
+hoping that she was all right. 
+
+By day, they devoted themselves to trying to 
+determine the possible locations of Gryffindor’s 
+sword, but the more they talked about the places in 
+which Dumbledore might have hidden it, the more 
+desperate and far-fetched their speculation became. 
+Cudgel his brains though he might, Harry could not 
+remember Dumbledore ever mentioning a place in 
+which he might hide something. There were moments 
+when he did not know whether he was angrier with 
+Ron or with Dumbledore. We thought you knew what 
+you were doing. . . . We thought Dumbledore had told 
+you what to do. . . . We thought you had a real plan\ 
+
+He could not hide it from himself: Ron had been right. 
+Dumbledore had left him with virtually nothing. They 
+had discovered one Horcrux, but they had no means 
+of destroying it: The others were as unattainable as 
+they had ever been. Hopelessness threatened to 
+engulf him. He was staggered now to think of his own 
+presumption in accepting his friends’ offers to 
+accompany him on this meandering, pointless 
+journey. He knew nothing, he had no ideas, and he 
+Page | 353 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was constantly, painfully on the alert for any 
+indication that Hermione too was about to tell him 
+that she had had enough, that she was leaving. 
+
+They were spending many evenings in near silence, 
+and Hermione took to bringing out Phineas Nigellus’s 
+portrait and propping it up in a chair, as though he 
+might fill part of the gaping hole left by Ron’s 
+departure. Despite his previous assertion that he 
+would never visit them again, Phineas Nigellus did not 
+seem able to resist the chance to find out more about 
+what Harry was up to, and consented to reappear, 
+blindfolded, every few days or so. Harry was even glad 
+to see him, because he was company, albeit of a snide 
+and taunting kind. They relished any news about 
+what was happening at Hogwarts, though Phineas 
+Nigellus was not an ideal informer. He venerated 
+Snape, the first Slytherin headmaster since he 
+himself had controlled the school, and they had to be 
+careful not to criticize or ask impertinent questions 
+about Snape, or Phineas Nigellus would instantly 
+leave his painting. 
+
+However, he did let drop certain snippets. Snape 
+seemed to be facing a constant, low level of mutiny 
+from a hard core of students. Ginny had been banned 
+from going into Hogsmeade. Snape had reinstated 
+Umbridge’s old decree forbidding gatherings of three 
+or more students or any unofficial student societies. 
+
+From all of these things, Harry deduced that Ginny, 
+and probably Neville and Luna along with her, had 
+been doing their best to continue Dumbledore’s Army. 
+This scant news made Harry want to see Ginny so 
+badly it felt like a stomachache; but it also made him 
+think of Ron again, and of Dumbledore, and of 
+Hogwarts itself, which he missed nearly as much as 
+his ex-girlfriend. Indeed, as Phineas Nigellus talked 
+about Snape ’s crackdown, Harry experienced a split 
+Page | 354 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+second of madness when he imagined simply going 
+back to school to join the destabilization of Snape’s 
+regime: Being fed, and having a soft bed, and other 
+people being in charge, seemed the most wonderful 
+prospect in the world at that moment. But then he 
+remembered that he was Undesirable Number One, 
+that there was a ten-thousand-Galleon price on his 
+head, and that to walk into Hogwarts these days was 
+just as dangerous as walking into the Ministry of 
+Magic. Indeed, Phineas Nigellus inadvertently 
+emphasized this fact by slipping in leading questions 
+about Harry and Hermione’s whereabouts. Hermione 
+shoved him back inside the beaded bag every time he 
+did this, and Phineas Nigellus invariably refused to 
+reappear for several days after these unceremonious 
+good-byes. 
+
+The weather grew colder and colder. They did not 
+dare remain in any one area too long, so rather than 
+staying in the south of England, where a hard ground 
+frost was the worst of their worries, they continued to 
+meander up and down the country, braving a 
+mountainside, where sleet pounded the tent; a wide, 
+flat marsh, where the tent was flooded with chill 
+water; and a tiny island in the middle of a Scottish 
+loch, where snow half buried the tent in the night. 
+
+They had already spotted Christmas trees twinkling 
+from several sitting room windows before there came 
+an evening when Harry resolved to suggest, again, 
+what seemed to him the only unexplored avenue left 
+to them. They had just eaten an unusually good meal: 
+Hermione had been to a supermarket under the 
+Invisibility Cloak (scrupulously dropping the money 
+into an open till as she left), and Harry thought that 
+she might be more persuadable than usual on a 
+stomach full of spaghetti Bolognese and tinned pears. 
+He had also had the foresight to suggest that they 
+take a few hours’ break from wearing the Horcrux, 
+Page | 355 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+which was hanging over the end of the bunk beside 
+him. 
+
+
+
+“Hermione?” 
+
+“Hmm?” She was curled up in one of the sagging 
+armchairs with The Tales of Beedle the Bard. He could 
+not imagine how much more she could get out of the 
+book, which was not, after all, very long; but evidently 
+she was still deciphering something in it, because 
+Spellman’s Syllabary lay open on the arm of the chair. 
+
+Harry cleared his throat. He felt exactly as he had 
+done on the occasion, several years previously, when 
+he had asked Professor McGonagall whether he could 
+go into Hogsmeade, despite the fact that he had not 
+persuaded the Dursleys to sign his permission slip. 
+
+“Hermione, I’ve been thinking, and — ” 
+
+“Harry, could you help me with something?” 
+
+Apparently she had not been listening to him. She 
+leaned forward and held out The Tales of Beedle the 
+Bard. 
+
+“Look at that symbol,” she said, pointing to the top of 
+a page. Above what Harry assumed was the title of 
+the story (being unable to read runes, he could not be 
+sure) , there was a picture of what looked like a 
+triangular eye, its pupil crossed with a vertical line. 
+
+“I never took Ancient Runes, Hermione.” 
+
+“I know that, but it isn’t a rune and it’s not in the 
+syllabary, either. All along I thought it was a picture 
+of an eye, but I don’t think it is! It’s been inked in, 
+look, somebody’s drawn it there, it isn’t really part of 
+the book. Think, have you ever seen it before?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No ... No, wait a moment.” Harry looked closer. “Isn’t 
+it the same symbol Luna’s dad was wearing round his 
+neck?” 
+
+
+
+“Well, that’s what I thought too!” 
+
+“Then it’s Grindelwald’s mark.” 
+
+She stared at him, openmouthed. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Krum told me ...” 
+
+He recounted the story that Viktor Krum had told him 
+at the wedding. Hermione looked astonished. 
+
+“ Grindelwald’s mark?” 
+
+She looked from Harry to the weird symbol and back 
+again. “I’ve never heard that Grindelwald had a mark. 
+There’s no mention of it in anything I’ve ever read 
+about him.” 
+
+“Well, like I say, Krum reckoned that symbol was 
+carved on a wall at Durmstrang, and Grindelwald put 
+it there.” 
+
+She fell back into the old armchair, frowning. 
+
+“That’s very odd. If it’s a symbol of Dark Magic, what’s 
+it doing in a book of children’s stories?” 
+
+“Yeah, it is weird,” said Harry. “And you’d think 
+Scrimgeour would have recognized it. He was 
+Minister, he ought to have been expert on Dark stuff.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I know. ... Perhaps he thought it was an eye, just like 
+I did. All the other stories have little pictures over the 
+titles.” 
+
+
+
+She did not speak, but continued to pore over the 
+strange mark. Harry tried again. 
+
+“Hermione?” 
+
+“Hmm?” 
+
+“I’ve been thinking. I — I want to go to Godric’s 
+Hollow.” 
+
+She looked up at him, but her eyes were unfocused, 
+and he was sure she was still thinking about the 
+mysterious mark on the book. 
+
+“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’ve been wondering that too. I 
+really think we’ll have to.” 
+
+“Did you hear me right?” he asked. 
+
+“Of course I did. You want to go to Godric’s Hollow. I 
+agree, I think we should. I mean, I can’t think of 
+anywhere else it could be either. It’ll be dangerous, 
+but the more I think about it, the more likely it seems 
+it’s there.” 
+
+“Er — what’s there?” asked Harry. 
+
+At that, she looked just as bewildered as he felt. 
+
+“Well, the sword, Harry! Dumbledore must have 
+known you’d want to go back there, and I mean, 
+Godric’s Hollow is Godric Gryffindor’s birthplace — ” 
+
+“Really? Gryffindor came from Godric’s Hollow?” 
+
+Page | 358 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry, did you ever even open A History of Magic?” 
+
+
+
+“Erm,” he said, smiling for what felt like the first time 
+in months: The muscles in his face felt oddly stiff. “I 
+might’ve opened it, you know, when I bought it ... just 
+the once. ...” 
+
+“Well, as the village is named after him I’d have 
+thought you might have made the connection,” said 
+Hermione. She sounded much more like her old self 
+than she had done of late; Harry half expected her to 
+announce that she was off to the library. “There’s a 
+bit about the village in A History of Magic, wait ...” 
+
+She opened the beaded bag and rummaged for a 
+while, finally extracting her copy of their old school 
+textbook, A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, 
+which she thumbed through until finding the page 
+she wanted. 
+
+“ ‘Upon the signature of the International Statute of 
+Secrecy in 1689, wizards went into hiding for good. It 
+was natural, perhaps, that they formed their own 
+small communities within a community. Many small 
+villages and hamlets attracted several magical 
+families, who banded together for mutual support and 
+protection. The villages of Tinworth in Cornwall, Upper 
+Flagley in Yorkshire, and Ottery St. Catchpole on the 
+south coast of England were notable homes to knots of 
+Wizarding families who lived alongside tolerant and 
+sometimes Confunded Muggles. Most celebrated of 
+these half-magical dwelling places is, perhaps, 
+
+Godric’s Hollow, the West Country village where the 
+great wizard Godric Gryffindor was born, and where 
+Bowman Wright, Wizarding smith, forged the first 
+Golden Snitch. The graveyard is full of the names of 
+ancient magical families, and this accounts, no doubt, 
+for the stories of hauntings that have dogged the little 
+church beside it for many centuries.’ 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You and your parents aren’t mentioned,” Hermione 
+said, closing the book, “because Professor Bagshot 
+doesn’t cover anything later than the end of the 
+nineteenth century. But you see? Godric’s Hollow, 
+Godric Gryffindor, Gryffindor’s sword; don’t you think 
+Dumbledore would have expected you to make the 
+connection?” 
+
+“Oh yeah ...” 
+
+Harry did not want to admit that he had not been 
+thinking about the sword at all when he suggested 
+they go to Godric’s Hollow. For him, the lure of the 
+village lay in his parents’ graves, the house where he 
+had narrowly escaped death, and in the person of 
+Bathilda Bagshot. 
+
+“Remember what Muriel said?” he asked eventually. 
+“Who?” 
+
+“You know,” he hesitated: He did not want to say 
+Ron’s name. “Ginny’s great-aunt. At the wedding. The 
+one who said you had skinny ankles.” 
+
+“Oh,” said Hermione. It was a sticky moment: Harry 
+knew that she had sensed Ron’s name in the offing. 
+He rushed on: 
+
+“She said Bathilda Bagshot still lives in Godric’s 
+Hollow.” 
+
+“Bathilda Bagshot,” murmured Hermione, running 
+her index finger over Bathilda’s embossed name on 
+the front cover of A History of Magic. “Well, I suppose 
+
+
+
+She gasped so dramatically that Harry’s insides 
+turned over; he drew his wand, looking around at the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+entrance, half expecting to see a hand forcing its way 
+through the entrance flap, but there was nothing 
+there. 
+
+“What?” he said, half angry, half relieved. “What did 
+you do that for? I thought you’d seen a Death Eater 
+unzipping the tent, at least — ” 
+
+“Harry, what if Bathilda’ s got the sword? What if 
+Dumbledore entrusted it to her?” 
+
+Harry considered this possibility. Bathilda would be 
+an extremely old woman by now, and according to 
+Muriel, she was “gaga.” Was it likely that Dumbledore 
+would have hidden the sword of Gryffindor with her? 
+
+If so, Harry felt that Dumbledore had left a great deal 
+to chance: Dumbledore had never revealed that he 
+had replaced the sword with a fake, nor had he so 
+much as mentioned a friendship with Bathilda. Now, 
+however, was not the moment to cast doubt on 
+Hermione’s theory, not when she was so surprisingly 
+willing to fall in with Harry’s dearest wish. 
+
+“Yeah, he might have done! So, are we going to go to 
+Godric’s Hollow?” 
+
+“Yes, but we’ll have to think it through carefully, 
+Harry.” She was sitting up now, and Harry could tell 
+that the prospect of having a plan again had lifted her 
+mood as much as his. “We’ll need to practice 
+Disapparating together under the Invisibility Cloak for 
+a start, and perhaps Disillusionment Charms would 
+be sensible too, unless you think we should go the 
+whole hog and use Polyjuice Potion? In that case we’ll 
+need to collect hair from somebody. I actually think 
+we’d better do that, Harry, the thicker our disguises 
+the better. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry let her talk, nodding and agreeing whenever 
+there was a pause, but his mind had left the 
+conversation. For the first time since he had 
+discovered that the sword in Gringotts was a fake, he 
+felt excited. 
+
+He was about to go home, about to return to the place 
+where he had had a family. It was in Godric’s Hollow 
+that, but for Voldemort, he would have grown up and 
+spent every school holiday. He could have invited 
+friends to his house. ... He might even have had 
+brothers and sisters. ... It would have been his 
+mother who had made his seventeenth birthday cake. 
+The life he had lost had hardly ever seemed so real to 
+him as at this moment, when he knew he was about 
+to see the place where it had been taken from him. 
+After Hermione had gone to bed that night, Harry 
+quietly extracted his rucksack from Hermione ’s 
+beaded bag, and from inside it, the photograph album 
+Hagrid had given him so long ago. For the first time in 
+months, he perused the old pictures of his parents, 
+smiling and waving up at him from the images, which 
+were all he had left of them now. 
+
+Harry would gladly have set out for Godric’s Hollow 
+the following day, but Hermione had other ideas. 
+Convinced as she was that Voldemort would expect 
+Harry to return to the scene of his parents’ deaths, 
+she was determined that they would set off only after 
+they had ensured that they had the best disguises 
+possible. It was therefore a full week later — once 
+they had surreptitiously obtained hairs from innocent 
+Muggles who were Christmas shopping, and had 
+practiced Apparating and Disapparating while 
+underneath the Invisibility Cloak together — that 
+Hermione agreed to make the journey. 
+
+They were to Apparate to the village under cover of 
+darkness, so it was late afternoon when they finally 
+
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+
+
+
+
+swallowed Polyjuice Potion, Harry transforming into a 
+balding, middle-aged Muggle man, Hermione into his 
+small and rather mousy wife. The beaded bag 
+containing all of their possessions (apart from the 
+Horcrux, which Harry was wearing around his neck) 
+was tucked into an inside pocket of Hermione ’s 
+buttoned-up coat. Harry lowered the Invisibility Cloak 
+over them, then they turned into the suffocating 
+darkness once again. 
+
+Heart beating in his throat, Harry opened his eyes. 
+They were standing hand in hand in a snowy lane 
+under a dark blue sky, in which the night’s first stars 
+were already glimmering feebly. Cottages stood on 
+either side of the narrow road, Christmas decorations 
+twinkling in their windows. A short way ahead of 
+them, a glow of golden streetlights indicated the 
+center of the village. 
+
+“All this snow!” Hermione whispered beneath the 
+cloak. “Why didn’t we think of snow? After all our 
+precautions, we’ll leave prints! We’ll just have to get 
+rid of them — you go in front, I’ll do it — ” 
+
+Harry did not want to enter the village like a 
+pantomime horse, trying to keep themselves 
+concealed while magically covering their traces. 
+
+“Let’s take off the Cloak,” said Harry, and when she 
+looked frightened, “Oh, come on, we don’t look like us 
+and there’s no one around.” 
+
+He stowed the Cloak under his jacket and they made 
+their way forward unhampered, the icy air stinging 
+their faces as they passed more cottages: Any one of 
+them might have been the one in which James and 
+Lily had once lived or where Bathilda lived now. Harry 
+gazed at the front doors, their snow-burdened roofs, 
+and their front porches, wondering whether he 
+Page | 363 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+remembered any of them, knowing deep inside that it 
+was impossible, that he had been little more than a 
+year old when he had left this place forever. He was 
+not even sure whether he would be able to see the 
+cottage at all; he did not know what happened when 
+the subjects of a Fidelius Charm died. Then the little 
+lane along which they were walking curved to the left 
+and the heart of the village, a small square, was 
+revealed to them. 
+
+Strung all around with colored lights, there was what 
+looked like a war memorial in the middle, partly 
+obscured by a windblown Christmas tree. There were 
+several shops, a post office, a pub, and a little church 
+whose stained-glass windows were glowing jewel- 
+bright across the square. 
+
+The snow here had become impacted: It was hard and 
+slippery where people had trodden on it all day. 
+Villagers were crisscrossing in front of them, their 
+figures briefly illuminated by streetlamps. They heard 
+a snatch of laughter and pop music as the pub door 
+opened and closed; then they heard a carol start up 
+inside the little church. 
+
+“Harry, I think it’s Christmas Eve!” said Hermione. 
+
+“Is it?” 
+
+He had lost track of the date; they had not seen a 
+newspaper for weeks. 
+
+“I’m sure it is,” said Hermione, her eyes upon the 
+church. “They ... they’ll be in there, won’t they? Your 
+mum and dad? I can see the graveyard behind it.” 
+
+Harry felt a thrill of something that was beyond 
+excitement, more like fear. Now that he was so near, 
+he wondered whether he wanted to see after all. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Perhaps Hermione knew how he was feeling, because 
+she reached for his hand and took the lead for the 
+first time, pulling him forward. Halfway across the 
+square, however, she stopped dead. 
+
+“Harry, look!” 
+
+She was pointing at the war memorial. As they had 
+passed it, it had transformed. Instead of an obelisk 
+covered in names, there was a statue of three people: 
+a man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with 
+long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy 
+sitting in his mother’s arms. Snow lay upon all their 
+heads, like fluffy white caps. 
+
+Harry drew closer, gazing up into his parents’ faces. 
+He had never imagined that there would be a statue. 
+
+. . . How strange it was to see himself represented in 
+stone, a happy baby without a scar on his forehead. 
+
+
+
+“C’mon,” said Harry, when he had looked his fill, and 
+they turned again toward the church. As they crossed 
+the road, he glanced over his shoulder; the statue had 
+turned back into the war memorial. 
+
+The singing grew louder as they approached the 
+church. It made Harry’s throat constrict, it reminded 
+him so forcefully of Hogwarts, of Peeves bellowing 
+rude versions of carols from inside suits of armor, of 
+the Great Hall’s twelve Christmas trees, of 
+Dumbledore wearing a bonnet he had won in a 
+cracker, of Ron in a hand-knitted sweater. . . . 
+
+There was a kissing gate at the entrance to the 
+graveyard. Hermione pushed it open as quietly as 
+possible and they edged through it. On either side of 
+the slippery path to the church doors, the snow lay 
+deep and untouched. They moved off through the 
+Page | 365 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+snow, carving deep trenches behind them as they 
+walked around the building, keeping to the shadows 
+beneath the brilliant windows. 
+
+Behind the church, row upon row of snowy 
+tombstones protruded from a blanket of pale blue 
+that was flecked with dazzling red, gold, and green 
+wherever the reflections from the stained glass hit the 
+snow. Keeping his hand closed tightly on the wand in 
+his jacket pocket, Harry moved toward the nearest 
+grave. 
+
+“Look at this, it’s an Abbott, could be some long-lost 
+relation of Hannah’s!” 
+
+“Keep your voice down,” Hermione begged him. 
+
+They waded deeper and deeper into the graveyard, 
+gouging dark tracks into the snow behind them, 
+stooping to peer at the words on old headstones, 
+every now and then squinting into the surrounding 
+darkness to make absolutely sure that they were 
+unaccompanied . 
+
+“Harry, here!” 
+
+Hermione was two rows of tombstones away; he had 
+to wade back to her, his heart positively banging in 
+his chest. 
+
+“Is it — ?” 
+
+
+
+“No, but look!” 
+
+She pointed to the dark stone. Harry stooped down 
+and saw, upon the frozen, lichen-spotted granite, the 
+words KENDRA DUMBLEDORE and, a short way 
+below her dates of birth and death, AND HER 
+DAUGHTER ARIANA. There was also a quotation: 
+Page | 366 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 
+
+
+
+So Rita Skeeter and Muriel had got some of their facts 
+right. The Dumbledore family had indeed lived here, 
+and part of it had died here. 
+
+Seeing the grave was worse than hearing about it. 
+Harry could not help thinking that he and 
+Dumbledore both had deep roots in this graveyard, 
+and that Dumbledore ought to have told him so, yet 
+he had never thought to share the connection. They 
+could have visited the place together; for a moment 
+Harry imagined coming here with Dumbledore, of 
+what a bond that would have been, of how much it 
+would have meant to him. But it seemed that to 
+Dumbledore, the fact that their families lay side by 
+side in the same graveyard had been an unimportant 
+coincidence, irrelevant, perhaps, to the job he wanted 
+Harry to do. 
+
+Hermione was looking at Harry, and he was glad that 
+his face was hidden in shadow. He read the words on 
+the tombstone again. Where your treasure is, there 
+will your heart be also. He did not understand what 
+these words meant. Surely Dumbledore had chosen 
+them, as the eldest member of the family once his 
+mother had died. 
+
+“Are you sure he never mentioned — ?” Hermione 
+began. 
+
+“No,” said Harry curtly, then, “let’s keep looking,” and 
+he turned away, wishing he had not seen the stone: 
+
+He did not want his excited trepidation tainted with 
+resentment. 
+
+“Here!” cried Hermione again a few moments later 
+from out of the darkness. “Oh no, sorry! I thought it 
+said Potter.” 
+
+Page | 367 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She was rubbing at a crumbling, mossy stone, gazing 
+down at it, a little frown on her face. 
+
+
+
+“Harry, come back a moment.” 
+
+He did not want to be sidetracked again, and only 
+grudgingly made his way back through the snow 
+toward her. 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“Look at this!” 
+
+The grave was extremely old, weathered so that Harry 
+could hardly make out the name. Hermione showed 
+him the symbol beneath it. 
+
+“Harry, that’s the mark in the book!” 
+
+He peered at the place she indicated: The stone was 
+so worn that it was hard to make out what was 
+engraved there, though there did seem to be a 
+triangular mark beneath the nearly illegible name. 
+
+“Yeah ... it could be. ...” 
+
+Hermione lit her wand and pointed it at the name on 
+the headstone. 
+
+“It says Ig — Ignotus, I think. ...” 
+
+“I’m going to keep looking for my parents, all right?” 
+Harry told her, a slight edge to his voice, and he set 
+off again, leaving her crouched beside the old grave. 
+
+Every now and then he recognized a surname that, 
+like Abbott, he had met at Hogwarts. Sometimes there 
+were several generations of the same Wizarding family 
+represented in the graveyard: Harry could tell from 
+
+Page | 368 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the dates that it had either died out, or the current 
+members had moved away from Godric’s Hollow. 
+Deeper and deeper amongst the graves he went, and 
+every time he reached a new headstone he felt a little 
+lurch of apprehension and anticipation. 
+
+The darkness and the silence seemed to become, all of 
+a sudden, much deeper. Harry looked around, 
+worried, thinking of dementors, then realized that the 
+carols had finished, that the chatter and flurry of 
+churchgoers were fading away as they made their way 
+back into the square. Somebody inside the church 
+had just turned off the lights. 
+
+Then Hermione’s voice came out of the blackness for 
+the third time, sharp and clear from a few yards 
+away. 
+
+“Harry, they’re here ... right here.” 
+
+And he knew by her tone that it was his mother and 
+father this time: He moved toward her, feeling as if 
+something heavy were pressing on his chest, the 
+same sensation he had had right after Dumbledore 
+had died, a grief that had actually weighed on his 
+heart and lungs. 
+
+The headstone was only two rows behind Kendra and 
+Ariana’s. It was made of white marble, just like 
+Dumbledore’s tomb, and this made it easy to read, as 
+it seemed to shine in the dark. Harry did not need to 
+kneel or even approach very close to it to make out 
+the words engraved upon it. 
+
+JAMES POTTER 
+BORN 27 MARCH 1960 
+
+LILY POTTER 
+
+BORN 30 JANUARY 1960 
+
+Page | 369 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981 
+
+
+
+The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 
+
+Harry read the words slowly, as though he would 
+have only one chance to take in their meaning, and 
+he read the last of them aloud. 
+
+“ The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death’...” 
+
+A horrible thought came to him, and with it a kind of 
+panic. “Isn’t that a Death Eater idea? Why is that 
+there?” 
+
+“It doesn’t mean defeating death in the way the Death 
+Eaters mean it, Harry,” said Hermione, her voice 
+gentle. “It means ... you know ... living beyond death. 
+Living after death.” 
+
+But they were not living, thought Harry: They were 
+gone. The empty words could not disguise the fact 
+that his parents’ moldering remains lay beneath snow 
+and stone, indifferent, unknowing. And tears came 
+before he could stop them, boiling hot then instantly 
+freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping 
+them off or pretending? He let them fall, his lips 
+pressed hard together, looking down at the thick 
+snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of 
+Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not 
+knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, 
+his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice 
+and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was 
+sleeping under the snow with them. 
+
+Hermione had taken his hand again and was gripping 
+it tightly. He could not look at her, but returned the 
+pressure, now taking deep, sharp gulps of the night 
+air, trying to steady himself, trying to regain control. 
+He should have brought something to give them, and 
+he had not thought of it, and every plant in the 
+Page | 370 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+graveyard was leafless and frozen. But Hermione 
+raised her wand, moved it in a circle through the air, 
+and a wreath of Christmas roses blossomed before 
+them. Harry caught it and laid it on his parents’ 
+grave. 
+
+As soon as he stood up he wanted to leave: He did not 
+think he could stand another moment there. He put 
+his arm around Hermione’s shoulders, and she put 
+hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and 
+walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore’s 
+mother and sister, back toward the dark church and 
+the out-of-sight kissing gate. 
+
+
+
+Page | 371 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BATHILDA’S SECRET 
+
+“Harry, stop.” 
+
+“What’s wrong?” 
+
+They had only just reached the grave of the unknown 
+Abbott. 
+
+“There’s someone there. Someone watching us. I can 
+tell. There, over by the bushes.” 
+
+They stood quite still, holding on to each other, gazing 
+at the dense black boundary of the graveyard. Harry 
+could not see anything. 
+
+“Are you sure?” 
+
+“I saw something move, I could have sworn I did. ...” 
+She broke from him to free her wand arm. 
+
+“We look like Muggles,” Harry pointed out. 
+
+
+
+Page | 372 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Muggles who ’ve just been laying flowers on your 
+parents’ grave! Harry, I’m sure there’s someone over 
+there!” 
+
+
+
+Harry thought of A History of Magic ; the graveyard 
+was supposed to be haunted: what if — ? But then he 
+heard a rustle and saw a little eddy of dislodged snow 
+in the bush to which Hermione had pointed. Ghosts 
+could not move snow. 
+
+“It’s a cat,” said Harry, after a second or two, “or a 
+bird. If it was a Death Eater we’d be dead by now. But 
+let’s get out of here, and we can put the Cloak back 
+on.” 
+
+They glanced back repeatedly as they made their way 
+out of the graveyard. Harry, who did not feel as 
+sanguine as he had pretended when reassuring 
+Hermione, was glad to reach the gate and the slippery 
+pavement. They pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over 
+themselves. The pub was fuller than before: Many 
+voices inside it were now singing the carol that they 
+had heard as they approached the church. For a 
+moment Harry considered suggesting they take refuge 
+inside it, but before he could say anything Hermione 
+murmured, “Let’s go this way,” and pulled him down 
+the dark street leading out of the village in the 
+opposite direction from which they had entered. Harry 
+could make out the point where the cottages ended 
+and the lane turned into open country again. They 
+walked as quickly as they dared, past more windows 
+sparkling with multicolored lights, the outlines of 
+Christmas trees dark through the curtains. 
+
+“How are we going to find Bathilda’s house?” asked 
+Hermione, who was shivering a little and kept 
+glancing back over her shoulder. “Harry? What do you 
+think? Harry?” 
+
+Page | 373 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She tugged at his arm, but Harry was not paying 
+attention. He was looking toward the dark mass that 
+stood at the very end of this row of houses. Next 
+moment he had sped up, dragging Hermione along 
+with him; she slipped a little on the ice. 
+
+“Harry — ” 
+
+“Look. ... Look at it, Hermione. ...” 
+
+“I don’t ... oh!” 
+
+He could see it; the Fidelius Charm must have died 
+with James and Lily. The hedge had grown wild in the 
+sixteen years since Hagrid had taken Harry from the 
+rubble that lay scattered amongst the waist-high 
+grass. Most of the cottage was still standing, though 
+entirely covered in dark ivy and snow, but the right 
+side of the top floor had been blown apart; that, Harry 
+was sure, was where the curse had backfired. He and 
+Hermione stood at the gate, gazing up at the wreck of 
+what must once have been a cottage just like those 
+that flanked it. 
+
+“I wonder why nobody’s ever rebuilt it?” whispered 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Maybe you can’t rebuild it?” Harry replied. “Maybe 
+it’s like the injuries from Dark Magic and you can’t 
+repair the damage?” 
+
+He slipped a hand from beneath the Cloak and 
+grasped the snowy and thickly rusted gate, not 
+wishing to open it, but simply to hold some part of the 
+house. 
+
+“You’re not going to go inside? It looks unsafe, it 
+might — oh, Harry, look!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 374 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His touch on the gate seemed to have done it. A sign 
+had risen out of the ground in front of them, up 
+through the tangles of nettles and weeds, like some 
+bizarre, fast-growing flower, and in golden letters 
+upon the wood it said: 
+
+
+
+On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1 981, Lily and 
+James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains 
+the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. 
+This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its 
+ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a 
+reminder of the violence that tore apart their family. 
+
+And all around these neatly lettered words, scribbles 
+had been added by other witches and wizards who 
+had come to see the place where the Boy Who Lived 
+had escaped. Some had merely signed their names in 
+Everlasting Ink; others had carved their initials into 
+the wood, still others had left messages. The most 
+recent of these, shining brightly over sixteen years’ 
+worth of magical graffiti, all said similar things. 
+
+Good luck, Harry, wherever you are. 
+
+If you read this, Harry, we’re all behind you! 
+
+Long live Harry Potter. 
+
+“They shouldn’t have written on the sign!” said 
+Hermione, indignant. 
+
+But Harry beamed at her. 
+
+“It’s brilliant. I’m glad they did. I ...” 
+
+He broke off. A heavily muffled figure was hobbling up 
+the lane toward them, silhouetted by the bright lights 
+
+Page | 375 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+in the distant square. Harry thought, though it was 
+hard to judge, that the figure was a woman. She was 
+moving slowly, possibly frightened of slipping on the 
+snowy ground. Her stoop, her stoutness, her shuffling 
+gait all gave an impression of extreme age. They 
+watched in silence as she drew nearer. Harry was 
+waiting to see whether she would turn into any of the 
+cottages she was passing, but he knew instinctively 
+that she would not. At last she came to a halt a few 
+yards from them and simply stood there in the middle 
+of the frozen road, facing them. 
+
+He did not need Hermione’s pinch to his arm. There 
+was next to no chance that this woman was a Muggle: 
+She was standing there gazing at a house that ought 
+to have been completely invisible to her, if she was 
+not a witch. Even assuming that she was a witch, 
+however, it was odd behavior to come out on a night 
+this cold, simply to look at an old ruin. By all the 
+rules of normal magic, meanwhile, she ought not to 
+be able to see Hermione and him at all. Nevertheless, 
+Harry had the strangest feeling that she knew that 
+they were there, and also who they were. Just as he 
+had reached this uneasy conclusion, she raised a 
+gloved hand and beckoned. 
+
+Hermione moved closer to him under the Cloak, her 
+arm pressed against his. 
+
+“How does she know?” 
+
+He shook his head. The woman beckoned again, more 
+vigorously. Harry could think of many reasons not to 
+obey the summons, and yet his suspicions about her 
+identity were growing stronger every moment that 
+they stood facing each other in the deserted street. 
+
+Was it possible that she had been waiting for them all 
+these long months? That Dumbledore had told her to 
+
+Page | 376 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+wait, and that Harry would come in the end? Was it 
+not likely that it was she who had moved in the 
+shadows in the graveyard and had followed them to 
+this spot? Even her ability to sense them suggested 
+some Dumbledore-ish power that he had never 
+encountered before. 
+
+Finally Harry spoke, causing Hermione to gasp and 
+jump. 
+
+“Are you Bathilda?” 
+
+The muffled figure nodded and beckoned again. 
+
+Beneath the Cloak Harry and Hermione looked at 
+each other. Harry raised his eyebrows; Hermione gave 
+a tiny, nervous nod. 
+
+They stepped toward the woman and, at once, she 
+turned and hobbled off back the way they had come. 
+Leading them past several houses, she turned in at a 
+gate. They followed her up the front path through a 
+garden nearly as overgrown as the one they had just 
+left. She fumbled for a moment with a key at the front 
+door, then opened it and stepped back to let them 
+pass. 
+
+She smelled bad, or perhaps it was her house: Harry 
+wrinkled his nose as they sidled past her and pulled 
+off the Cloak. Now that he was beside her, he realized 
+how tiny she was; bowed down with age, she came 
+barely level with his chest. She closed the door behind 
+them, her knuckles blue and mottled against the 
+peeling paint, then turned and peered into Harry’s 
+face. Her eyes were thick with cataracts and sunken 
+into folds of transparent skin, and her whole face was 
+dotted with broken veins and liver spots. He 
+wondered whether she could make him out at all; 
+
+
+
+Page | 377 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+even if she could, it was the balding Muggle whose 
+identity he had stolen that she would see. 
+
+The odor of old age, of dust, of unwashed clothes and 
+stale food intensified as she unwound a moth-eaten 
+black shawl, revealing a head of scant white hair 
+through which the scalp showed clearly. 
+
+“Bathilda?” Harry repeated. 
+
+She nodded again. Harry became aware of the locket 
+against his skin; the thing inside it that sometimes 
+ticked or beat had woken; he could feel it pulsing 
+through the cold gold. Did it know, could it sense, 
+that the thing that would destroy it was near? 
+
+Bathilda shuffled past them, pushing Hermione aside 
+as though she had not seen her, and vanished into 
+what seemed to be a sitting room. 
+
+“Harry, I’m not sure about this,” breathed Hermione. 
+
+“Look at the size of her; I think we could overpower 
+her if we had to,” said Harry. “Listen, I should have 
+told you, I knew she wasn’t all there. Muriel called her 
+‘gaga.’ ” 
+
+“Come!” called Bathilda from the next room. 
+
+Hermione jumped and clutched Harry’s arm. 
+
+“It’s okay,” said Harry reassuringly, and he led the 
+way into the sitting room. 
+
+Bathilda was tottering around the place lighting 
+candles, but it was still very dark, not to mention 
+extremely dirty. Thick dust crunched beneath their 
+feet, and Harry’s nose detected, underneath the dank 
+and mildewed smell, something worse, like meat gone 
+Page | 378 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+bad. He wondered when was the last time anyone had 
+been inside Bathilda’s house to check whether she 
+was coping. She seemed to have forgotten that she 
+could do magic, too, for she lit the candles clumsily 
+by hand, her trailing lace cuff in constant danger of 
+catching fire. 
+
+“Let me do that,” offered Harry, and he took the 
+matches from her. She stood watching him as he 
+finished lighting the candle stubs that stood on 
+saucers around the room, perched precariously on 
+stacks of books and on side tables crammed with 
+cracked and moldy cups. 
+
+The last surface on which Harry spotted a candle was 
+a bow-fronted chest of drawers on which there stood 
+a large number of photographs. When the flame 
+danced into life, its reflection wavered on their dusty 
+glass and silver. He saw a few tiny movements from 
+the pictures. As Bathilda fumbled with logs for the 
+fire, he muttered “ Tergeo ”: The dust vanished from 
+the photographs, and he saw at once that half a 
+dozen were missing from the largest and most ornate 
+frames. He wondered whether Bathilda or somebody 
+else had removed them. Then the sight of a 
+photograph near the back of the collection caught his 
+eye, and he snatched it up. 
+
+It was the golden-haired, merry-faced thief, the young 
+man who had perched on Gregorovitch’s windowsill, 
+smiling lazily up at Harry out of the silver frame. And 
+it came to Harry instantly where he had seen the boy 
+before: in The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, arm 
+in arm with the teenage Dumbledore, and that must 
+be where all the missing photographs were: in Rita’s 
+book. 
+
+“Mrs. — Miss — Bagshot?” he said, and his voice 
+shook slightly. “Who is this?” 
+
+Page | 379 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Bathilda was standing in the middle of the room 
+watching Hermione light the fire for her. 
+
+“Miss Bagshot?” Harry repeated, and he advanced 
+with the picture in his hands as the flames burst into 
+life in the fireplace. Bathilda looked up at his voice, 
+and the Horcrux beat faster upon his chest. 
+
+“Who is this person?” Harry asked her, pushing the 
+picture forward. 
+
+She peered at it solemnly, then up at Harry. 
+
+“Do you know who this is?” he repeated in a much 
+slower and louder voice than usual. “This man? Do 
+you know him? What’s he called?” 
+
+Bathilda merely looked vague. Harry felt an awful 
+frustration. How had Rita Skeeter unlocked Bathilda’s 
+memories? 
+
+“Who is this man?” he repeated loudly. 
+
+“Harry, what are you doing?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“This picture, Hermione, it’s the thief, the thief who 
+stole from Gregorovitch! Please!” he said to Bathilda. 
+“Who is this?” 
+
+But she only stared at him. 
+
+“Why did you ask us to come with you, Mrs. — Miss 
+— Bagshot?” asked Hermione, raising her own voice. 
+“Was there something you wanted to tell us?” 
+
+Giving no sign that she had heard Hermione, Bathilda 
+now shuffled a few steps closer to Harry. With a little 
+jerk of her head she looked back into the hall. 
+
+
+
+Page | 380 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You want us to leave?” he asked. 
+
+
+
+She repeated the gesture, this time pointing firstly at 
+him, then at herself, then at the ceiling. 
+
+“Oh, right ... Hermione, I think she wants me to go 
+upstairs with her.” 
+
+“All right,” said Hermione, “let’s go.” 
+
+But when Hermione moved, Bathilda shook her head 
+with surprising vigor, once more pointing first at 
+Harry, then to herself. 
+
+“She wants me to go with her, alone.” 
+
+“Why?” asked Hermione, and her voice rang out sharp 
+and clear in the candlelit room; the old lady shook her 
+head a little at the loud noise. 
+
+“Maybe Dumbledore told her to give the sword to me, 
+and only to me?” 
+
+“Do you really think she knows who you are?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry, looking down into the milky eyes 
+fixed upon his own, “I think she does.” 
+
+“Well, okay then, but be quick, Harry.” 
+
+“Lead the way,” Harry told Bathilda. 
+
+She seemed to understand, because she shuffled 
+around him toward the door. Harry glanced back at 
+Hermione with a reassuring smile, but he was not 
+sure she had seen it; she stood hugging herself in the 
+midst of the candlelit squalor, looking toward the 
+bookcase. As Harry walked out of the room, unseen 
+by both Hermione and Bathilda, he slipped the silver- 
+
+P a g e | 381 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+framed photograph of the unknown thief inside his 
+jacket. 
+
+The stairs were steep and narrow: Harry was half 
+tempted to place his hands on stout Bathilda’s 
+backside to ensure that she did not topple over 
+backward on top of him, which seemed only too likely. 
+Slowly, wheezing a little, she climbed to the upper 
+landing, turned immediately right, and led him into a 
+low-ceilinged bedroom. 
+
+It was pitch-black and smelled horrible: Harry had 
+just made out a chamber pot protruding from under 
+the bed before Bathilda closed the door and even that 
+was swallowed by the darkness. 
+
+“Lumos,” said Harry, and his wand ignited. He gave a 
+start: Bathilda had moved close to him in those few 
+seconds of darkness, and he had not heard her 
+approach. 
+
+“You are Potter?” she whispered. 
+
+“Yes, I am.” 
+
+She nodded slowly, solemnly. Harry felt the Horcrux 
+beating fast, faster than his own heart: It was an 
+unpleasant, agitating sensation. 
+
+“Have you got anything for me?” Harry asked, but she 
+seemed distracted by his lit wand-tip. 
+
+“Have you got anything for me?” he repeated. 
+
+Then she closed her eyes and several things 
+happened at once: Harry’s scar prickled painfully; the 
+Horcrux twitched so that the front of his sweater 
+actually moved; the dark, fetid room dissolved 
+
+
+
+Page | 382 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+momentarily. He felt a leap of joy and spoke in a high, 
+cold voice: Hold him). 
+
+Harry swayed where he stood: The dark, foul-smelling 
+room seemed to close around him again; he did not 
+know what had just happened. 
+
+“Have you got anything for me?” he asked for a third 
+time, much louder. 
+
+“Over here,” she whispered, pointing to the corner. 
+Harry raised his wand and saw the outline of a 
+cluttered dressing table beneath the curtained 
+window. 
+
+This time she did not lead him. Harry edged between 
+her and the unmade bed, his wand raised. He did not 
+want to look away from her. 
+
+“What is it?” he asked as he reached the dressing 
+table, which was heaped high with what looked and 
+smelled like dirty laundry. 
+
+“There,” she said, pointing at the shapeless mass. 
+
+And in the instant that he looked away, his eyes 
+raking the tangled mess for a sword hilt, a ruby, she 
+moved weirdly: He saw it out of the corner of his eye; 
+panic made him turn and horror paralyzed him as he 
+saw the old body collapsing and the great snake 
+pouring from the place where her neck had been. 
+
+The snake struck as he raised his wand: The force of 
+the bite to his forearm sent the wand spinning up 
+toward the ceiling; its light swung dizzyingly around 
+the room and was extinguished: Then a powerful blow 
+from the tail to his midriff knocked the breath out of 
+him: He fell backward onto the dressing table, into 
+the mound of filthy clothing — 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the snake’s tail, 
+which thrashed down upon the table where he had 
+been a second earlier: Fragments of the glass surface 
+rained upon him as he hit the floor. From below he 
+heard Hermione call, “Harry?” 
+
+He could not get enough breath into his lungs to call 
+back: Then a heavy smooth mass smashed him to the 
+floor and he felt it slide over him, powerful, muscular 
+
+
+
+“No!” he gasped, pinned to the floor. 
+
+“Yes,” whispered the voice. “Yesss ... hold you ... hold 
+you ...” 
+
+“Accio ... Accio Wand ...” 
+
+But nothing happened and he needed his hands to try 
+to force the snake from him as it coiled itself around 
+his torso, squeezing the air from him, pressing the 
+Horcrux hard into his chest, a circle of ice that 
+throbbed with life, inches from his own frantic heart, 
+and his brain was flooding with cold, white light, all 
+thought obliterated, his own breath drowned, distant 
+footsteps, everything going. ... 
+
+A metal heart was banging outside his chest, and now 
+he was flying, flying with triumph in his heart, 
+without need of broomstick or thestral. ... 
+
+He was abruptly awake in the sour-smelling 
+darkness; Nagini had released him. He scrambled up 
+and saw the snake outlined against the landing light: 
+It struck, and Hermione dived aside with a shriek; her 
+deflected curse hit the curtained window, which 
+shattered. Frozen air filled the room as Harry ducked 
+to avoid another shower of broken glass and his foot 
+slipped on a pencil-like something — his wand — 
+Page | 384 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He bent and snatched it up, but now the room was 
+full of the snake, its tail thrashing; Hermione was 
+nowhere to be seen and for a moment Harry thought 
+the worst, but then there was a loud bang and a flash 
+of red light, and the snake flew into the air, smacking 
+Harry hard in the face as it went, coil after heavy coil 
+rising up to the ceiling. Harry raised his wand, but as 
+he did so, his scar seared more painfully, more 
+powerfully than it had done in years. 
+
+“He’s coming! Hermione, he’s comingl” 
+
+As he yelled the snake fell, hissing wildly. Everything 
+was chaos: It smashed shelves from the wall, and 
+splintered china flew everywhere as Harry jumped 
+over the bed and seized the dark shape he knew to be 
+Hermione — 
+
+She shrieked with pain as he pulled her back across 
+the bed: The snake reared again, but Harry knew that 
+worse than the snake was coming, was perhaps 
+already at the gate, his head was going to split open 
+with the pain from his scar — 
+
+The snake lunged as he took a running leap, dragging 
+Hermione with him; as it struck, Hermione screamed, 
+
+“ ConfringoV’ and her spell flew around the room, 
+exploding the wardrobe mirror and ricocheting back 
+at them, bouncing from floor to ceiling; Harry felt the 
+heat of it sear the back of his hand. Glass cut his 
+cheek as, pulling Hermione with him, he leapt from 
+bed to broken dressing table and then straight out of 
+the smashed window into nothingness, her scream 
+reverberating through the night as they twisted in 
+midair. ... 
+
+And then his scar burst open and he was Voldemort 
+and he was running across the fetid bedroom, his 
+long white hands clutching at the windowsill as he 
+
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+
+
+
+
+glimpsed the bald man and the little woman twist and 
+vanish, and he screamed with rage, a scream that 
+mingled with the girl’s, that echoed across the dark 
+gardens over the church bells ringing in Christmas 
+Day. ... 
+
+And his scream was Harry’s scream, his pain was 
+Harry’s pain ... that it could happen here, where it 
+had happened before ... here, within sight of that 
+house where he had come so close to knowing what it 
+was to die ... to die. ... The pain was so terrible ... 
+ripped from his body. ... But if he had no body, why 
+did his head hurt so badly; if he was dead, how could 
+he feel so unbearably, didn’t pain cease with death, 
+didn’t it go ... 
+
+The night wet and windy, two children dressed as 
+pumpkins waddling across the square, and the shop 
+windows covered in paper spiders, all the tawdry 
+Muggle trappings of a world in which they did not 
+believe. ... And he was gliding along, that sense of 
+purpose and power and rightness in him that he 
+always knew on these occasions. . . . Not anger . . . that 
+was for weaker souls than he ... but triumph, yes. ... 
+He had waited for this, he had hoped for it. ... 
+
+“Nice costume, mister!” 
+
+He saw the small boy’s smile falter as he ran near 
+enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the 
+fear cloud his painted face: Then the child turned and 
+ran away. ... Beneath the robe he fingered the handle 
+of his wand. ... One simple movement and the child 
+would never reach his mother . . . but unnecessary, 
+quite unnecessary. . . . 
+
+And along a new and darker street he moved, and 
+now his destination was in sight at last, the Fidelius 
+Charm broken, though they did not know it yet. ... 
+
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+
+
+
+
+And he made less noise than the dead leaves 
+slithering along the pavement as he drew level with 
+the dark hedge, and stared over it. ... 
+
+They had not drawn the curtains; he saw them quite 
+clearly in their little sitting room, the tall black-haired 
+man in his glasses, making puffs of colored smoke 
+erupt from his wand for the amusement of the small 
+black-haired boy in his blue pajamas. The child was 
+laughing and trying to catch the smoke, to grab it in 
+his small fist. ... 
+
+A door opened and the mother entered, saying words 
+he could not hear, her long dark-red hair falling over 
+her face. Now the father scooped up the son and 
+handed him to the mother. He threw his wand down 
+upon the sofa and stretched, yawning. . . . 
+
+The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, but 
+James Potter did not hear. His white hand pulled out 
+the wand beneath his cloak and pointed it at the 
+door, which burst open. 
+
+He was over the threshold as James came sprinting 
+into the hall. It was easy, too easy, he had not even 
+picked up his wand. ... 
+
+“Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! Ill hold 
+him off!” 
+
+Hold him off, without a wand in his hand! . . . He 
+laughed before casting the curse. . . . 
+
+“Avada Kedavra!” 
+
+The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the 
+pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters 
+glare like lightning rods, and James Potter fell like a 
+marionette whose strings were cut. ... 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He could hear her screaming from the upper floor, 
+trapped, but as long as she was sensible, she, at 
+least, had nothing to fear. ... He climbed the steps, 
+listening with faint amusement to her attempts to 
+barricade herself in. ... She had no wand upon her 
+either. ... How stupid they were, and how trusting, 
+thinking that their safety lay in friends, that weapons 
+could be discarded even for moments. ... 
+
+He forced the door open, cast aside the chair and 
+boxes hastily piled against it with one lazy wave of his 
+wand ... and there she stood, the child in her arms. At 
+the sight of him, she dropped her son into the crib 
+behind her and threw her arms wide, as if this would 
+help, as if in shielding him from sight she hoped to be 
+chosen instead. . . . 
+
+“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!” 
+
+“Stand aside, you silly girl . . . stand aside, now. ” 
+
+“Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead — ” 
+
+“This is my last warning — ” 
+
+“Not Harry! Please . . . have mercy . . . have mercy. . . . 
+
+Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I’ll do anything — ” 
+
+“Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!” 
+
+He could have forced her away from the crib, but it 
+seemed more prudent to finish them all. ... 
+
+The green light flashed around the room and she 
+dropped like her husband. The child had not cried all 
+this time: He could stand, clutching the bars of his crib, 
+and he looked up into the intruder’s face with a kind of 
+bright interest, perhaps thinking that it was his father 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+who hid beneath the cloak, making more pretty lights, 
+and his mother would pop up any moment, laughing — 
+
+He pointed the wand very carefully into the boy’s face: 
+He wanted to see it happen, the destruction of this one, 
+inexplicable danger. The child began to cry: It had seen 
+that he was not James. He did not like it crying, he 
+had never been able to stomach the small ones 
+whining in the orphanage — 
+
+“Avada Kedavra!” 
+
+And then he broke: He was nothing, nothing but pain 
+and terror, and he must hide himself, not here in the 
+rubble of the ruined house, where the child was 
+trapped and screaming, but far away . . . far away. . . . 
+
+“No,” he moaned. 
+
+The snake rustled on the filthy, cluttered floor, and he 
+had killed the boy, and yet he was the boy. . . . 
+
+“No ...” 
+
+And now he stood at the broken window of Bathilda’s 
+house, immersed in memories of his greatest loss, and 
+at his feet the great snake slithered over broken china 
+and glass. ... He looked down and saw something ... 
+something incredible. . . . 
+
+“No ...” 
+
+“Harry, it’s all right, you’re all right!” 
+
+He stooped down and picked up the smashed 
+photograph. There he was, the unknown thief, the 
+thief he was seeking. . . . 
+
+“No ... I dropped it. ... I dropped it. ...” 
+
+Page | 389 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry, it’s okay, wake up, wake up!” 
+
+
+
+He was Harry. ... Harry, not Voldemort ... and the 
+thing that was rustling was not a snake. ... He opened 
+his eyes. 
+
+“Harry,” Hermione whispered. “Do you feel all — all 
+right?” 
+
+“Yes,” he lied. 
+
+He was in the tent, lying on one of the lower bunks 
+beneath a heap of blankets. He could tell that it was 
+almost dawn by the stillness and the quality of the 
+cold, flat light beyond the canvas ceiling. He was 
+drenched in sweat; he could feel it on the sheets and 
+blankets. 
+
+“We got away.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Hermione. “I had to use a Hover Charm to 
+get you into your bunk, I couldn’t lift you. You’ve 
+been ... Well, you haven’t been quite ...” 
+
+There were purple shadows under her brown eyes and 
+he noticed a small sponge in her hand: She had been 
+wiping his face. 
+
+“You’ve been ill,” she finished. “Quite ill.” 
+
+“How long ago did we leave?” 
+
+“Hours ago. It’s nearly morning.” 
+
+“And I’ve been ... what, unconscious?” 
+
+“Not exactly,” said Hermione uncomfortably. “You’ve 
+been shouting and moaning and ... things,” she 
+added in a tone that made Harry feel uneasy. What 
+
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+
+
+
+
+had he done? Screamed curses like Voldemort, cried 
+like the baby in the crib? 
+
+“I couldn’t get the Horcrux off you,” Hermione said, 
+and he knew she wanted to change the subject. “It 
+was stuck, stuck to your chest. You’ve got a mark; I’m 
+sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. 
+The snake bit you too, but I’ve cleaned the wound and 
+put some dittany on it. ...” 
+
+He pulled the sweaty T-shirt he was wearing away 
+from himself and looked down. There was a scarlet 
+oval over his heart where the locket had burned him. 
+He could also see the half-healed puncture marks to 
+his forearm. 
+
+“Where Ve you put the Horcrux?” 
+
+“In my bag. I think we should keep it off for a while.” 
+
+He lay back on his pillows and looked into her 
+pinched gray face. 
+
+“We shouldn’t have gone to Godric’s Hollow. It’s my 
+fault, it’s all my fault, Hermione, I’m sorry.” 
+
+“It’s not your fault. I wanted to go too; I really thought 
+Dumbledore might have left the sword there for you.” 
+
+“Yeah, well ... we got that wrong, didn’t we?” 
+
+“What happened, Harry? What happened when she 
+took you upstairs? Was the snake hiding somewhere? 
+Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?” 
+
+“No,” he said. “She was the snake ... or the snake was 
+her ... all along.” 
+
+“W-what?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He closed his eyes. He could still smell Bathilda’s 
+house on him: It made the whole thing horribly vivid. 
+
+“Bathilda must’ve been dead a while. The snake was 
+... was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in 
+Godric’s Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I’d 
+go back.” 
+
+“The snake was inside her?” 
+
+He opened his eyes again: Hermione looked revolted, 
+nauseated. 
+
+“Lupin said there would be magic we’d never 
+imagined,” Harry said. “She didn’t want to talk in 
+front of you, because it was Parseltongue, all 
+Parseltongue, and I didn’t realize, but of course I 
+could understand her. Once we were up in the room, 
+the snake sent a message to You-Know-Who, I heard 
+it happen inside my head, I felt him get excited, he 
+said to keep me there ... and then ...” 
+
+He remembered the snake coming our of Bathilda’s 
+neck: Hermione did not need to know the details. 
+
+"... she changed, changed into the snake, and 
+attacked.” 
+
+He looked down at the puncture marks. 
+
+“It wasn’t supposed to kill me, just keep me there till 
+You-Know-Who came.” 
+
+If he had only managed to kill the snake, it would 
+have been worth it, all of it. ... Sick at heart, he sat up 
+and threw back the covers. 
+
+“Harry, no, I’m sure you ought to rest!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’re the one who needs sleep. No offense, but you 
+look terrible. I’m fine. I’ll keep watch for a while. 
+Where’s my wand?” 
+
+She did not answer, she merely looked at him. 
+“Where’s my wand, Hermione?” 
+
+She was biting her lip, and tears swam in her eyes. 
+“Harry ...” 
+
+“ Where’s my wand?” 
+
+She reached down beside the bed and held it out to 
+him. 
+
+The holly and phoenix wand was nearly severed in 
+two. One fragile strand of phoenix feather kept both 
+pieces hanging together. The wood had splintered 
+apart completely. Harry took it into his hands as 
+though it was a living thing that had suffered a 
+terrible injury. He could not think properly: 
+Everything was a blur of panic and fear. Then he held 
+out the wand to Hermione. 
+
+“Mend it. Please.” 
+
+“Harry, I don’t think, when it’s broken like this — ” 
+“Please, Hermione, try!” 
+
+“R-Reparo.” 
+
+The dangling half of the wand resealed itself. Harry 
+held it up. 
+
+“Lumosl” 
+
+
+
+Page | 393 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The wand sparked feebly, then went out. Harry 
+pointed it at Hermione. 
+
+“ Expelliarmusl” 
+
+Hermione ’s wand gave a little jerk, but did not leave 
+her hand. The feeble attempt at magic was too much 
+for Harry’s wand, which split into two again. He 
+stared at it, aghast, unable to take in what he was 
+seeing . . . the wand that had survived so much . . . 
+
+“Harry,” Hermione whispered so quietly he could 
+hardly hear her. “I’m so, so sorry. I think it was me. 
+
+As we were leaving, you know, the snake was coming 
+for us, and so I cast a Blasting Curse, and it 
+rebounded everywhere, and it must have — must 
+have hit — ” 
+
+“It was an accident,” said Harry mechanically. He felt 
+empty, stunned. “We’ll — we’ll find a way to repair it.” 
+
+“Harry, I don’t think we’re going to be able to,” said 
+Hermione, the tears trickling down her face. 
+“Remember . . . remember Ron? When he broke his 
+wand, crashing the car? It was never the same again, 
+he had to get a new one.” 
+
+Harry thought of Ollivander, kidnapped and held 
+hostage by Voldemort; of Gregorovitch, who was dead. 
+How was he supposed to find himself a new wand? 
+
+“Well,” he said, in a falsely matter-of-fact voice, “well, 
+I’ll just borrow yours for now, then. While I keep 
+watch.” 
+
+Her face glazed with tears, Hermione handed over her 
+wand, and he left her sitting beside his bed, desiring 
+nothing more than to get away from her. 
+
+
+
+Page | 394 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE AND LIES OF ALBUS 
+DUMBLEDORE 
+
+The sun was coming up: The pure, colorless vastness 
+of the sky stretched over him, indifferent to him and 
+his suffering. Harry sat down in the tent entrance and 
+took a deep breath of clean air. Simply to be alive to 
+watch the sun rise over the sparkling snowy hillside 
+ought to have been the greatest treasure on earth, yet 
+he could not appreciate it: His senses had been 
+spiked by the calamity of losing his wand. He looked 
+out over a valley blanketed in snow, distant church 
+bells chiming through the glittering silence. 
+
+Without realizing it, he was digging his fingers into 
+his arms as if he were trying to resist physical pain. 
+
+He had spilled his own blood more times than he 
+could count; he had lost all the bones in his right arm 
+once; this journey had already given him scars to his 
+chest and forearm to join those on his hand and 
+forehead, but never, until this moment, had he felt 
+himself to be fatally weakened, vulnerable, and 
+naked, as though the best part of his magical power 
+had been torn from him. He knew exactly what 
+Page | 395 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Hermione would say if he expressed any of this: The 
+wand is only as good as the wizard. But she was 
+wrong, his case was different. She had not felt the 
+wand spin like the needle of a compass and shoot 
+golden flames at his enemy. He had lost the 
+protection of the twin cores, and only now that it was 
+gone did he realize how much he had been counting 
+upon it. 
+
+He pulled the pieces of the broken wand out of his 
+pocket and, without looking at them, tucked them 
+away in Hagrid’s pouch around his neck. The pouch 
+was now too full of broken and useless objects to take 
+any more. Harry’s hand brushed the old Snitch 
+through the mokeskin and for a moment he had to 
+fight the temptation to pull it out and throw it away. 
+Impenetrable, unhelpful, useless, like everything else 
+Dumbledore had left behind — 
+
+And his fury at Dumbledore broke over him now like 
+lava, scorching him inside, wiping out every other 
+feeling. Out of sheer desperation they had talked 
+themselves into believing that Godric’s Hollow held 
+answers, convinced themselves that they were 
+supposed to go back, that it was all part of some 
+secret path laid out for them by Dumbledore; but 
+there was no map, no plan. Dumbledore had left them 
+to grope in the darkness, to wrestle with unknown 
+and undreamed-of terrors, alone and unaided: 
+
+Nothing was explained, nothing was given freely, they 
+had no sword, and now, Harry had no wand. And he 
+had dropped the photograph of the thief, and it would 
+surely be easy now for Voldemort to find out who he 
+was. ... Voldemort had all the information now. ... 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+Hermione looked frightened that he might curse her 
+with her own wand. Her face streaked with tears, she 
+
+Page | 396 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+crouched down beside him, two cups of tea trembling 
+in her hands and something bulky under her arm. 
+
+“Thanks,” he said, taking one of the cups. 
+
+“Do you mind if I talk to you?” 
+
+“No,” he said because he did not want to hurt her 
+feelings. 
+
+“Harry, you wanted to know who that man in the 
+picture was. Well ... I’ve got the book.” 
+
+Timidly she pushed it onto his lap, a pristine copy of 
+The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. 
+
+“Where — how — ?” 
+
+“It was in Bathilda’s sitting room, just lying there. ... 
+This note was sticking out of the top of it.” 
+
+Hermione read the few lines of spiky, acid-green 
+writing aloud. 
+
+“ ‘Dear Batty, Thanks for your help. Here’s a copy of 
+the book, hope you like it. You said everything, even if 
+you don’t remember it. Rita.’ I think it must have 
+arrived while the real Bathilda was alive, but perhaps 
+she wasn’t in any fit state to read it?” 
+
+“No, she probably wasn’t.” 
+
+Harry looked down upon Dumbledore ’s face and 
+experienced a surge of savage pleasure: Now he would 
+know all the things that Dumbledore had never 
+thought it worth telling him, whether Dumbledore 
+wanted him to or not. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’re still really angry at me, aren’t you?” said 
+Hermione; he looked up to see fresh tears leaking out 
+of her eyes, and knew that his anger must have 
+shown in his face. 
+
+“No,” he said quietly. “No, Hermione, I know it was an 
+accident. You were trying to get us out of there alive, 
+and you were incredible. I’d be dead if you hadn’t 
+been there to help me.” 
+
+He tried to return her watery smile, then turned his 
+attention to the book. Its spine was stiff; it had clearly 
+never been opened before. He riffled through the 
+pages, looking for photographs. He came across the 
+one he sought almost at once, the young Dumbledore 
+and his handsome companion, roaring with laughter 
+at some long-forgotten joke. Harry dropped his eyes to 
+the caption. 
+
+Albus Dumbledore, shortly after his mother’s death, 
+with his friend Gellert Grindelwald. 
+
+Harry gaped at the last word for several long 
+moments. Grindelwald. His friend Grindelwald. He 
+looked sideways at Hermione, who was still 
+contemplating the name as though she could not 
+believe her eyes. Slowly she looked up at Harry. 
+
+“ Grindelwald?” 
+
+Ignoring the remainder of the photographs, Harry 
+searched the pages around them for a recurrence of 
+that fatal name. He soon discovered it and read 
+greedily, but became lost: It was necessary to go 
+further back to make sense of it all, and eventually he 
+found himself at the start of a chapter entitled “The 
+Greater Good.” Together, he and Hermione started to 
+read: 
+
+
+
+Page | 398 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Now approaching his eighteenth birthday, 
+
+Dumbledore left Hogwarts in a blaze of glory — Head 
+Boy, Prefect, Winner of the Barnabus Finkley Prize for 
+Exceptional Spell-Casting, British Youth 
+Representative to the Wizengamot, Gold Medal- 
+Winner for Ground-Breaking Contribution to the 
+International Alchemical Conference in Cairo. 
+Dumbledore intended, next, to take a Grand Tour 
+with Elphias “Dogbreath” Doge, the dim-witted but 
+devoted sidekick he had picked up at school. 
+
+The two young men were staying at the Leaky 
+Cauldron in London, preparing to depart for Greece the 
+following morning, when an owl arrived bearing news 
+of Dumbledore’ s mother’s death. “Dogbreath” Doge, 
+who refused to be interviewed for this book, has given 
+the public his own sentimental version of what 
+happened next. He represents Kendra’s death as a 
+tragic blow, and Dumbledore’s decision to give up his 
+expedition as an act of noble self-sacrifice. 
+
+Certainly Dumbledore returned to Godric’s Hollow at 
+once, supposedly to “care” for his younger brother 
+and sister. But how much care did he actually give 
+them? 
+
+“He were a head case, that Aberforth,” says Enid 
+Smeek, whose family lived on the outskirts of Godric’s 
+Hollow at that time. “Ran wild. ’Course, with his mum 
+and dad gone you’d have felt sorry for him, only he 
+kept chucking goat dung at my head. I don’t think 
+Albus was fussed about him, I never saw them 
+together, anyway.” 
+
+So what was Albus doing, if not comforting his wild 
+young brother? The answer, it seems, is ensuring the 
+continued imprisonment of his sister. For, though her 
+first jailer had died, there was no change in the pitiful 
+condition of Ariana Dumbledore. Her very existence 
+Page | 399 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+continued to be known only to those few outsiders 
+who, like “Dogbreath” Doge, could be counted upon to 
+believe in the story of her “ill health.” 
+
+Another such easily satisfied friend of the family was 
+Bathilda Bagshot, the celebrated magical historian 
+who has lived in Godric’s Hollow for many years. 
+Kendra, of course, had rebuffed Bathilda when she 
+first attempted to welcome the family to the village. 
+Several years later, however, the author sent an owl to 
+Albus at Hog warts, having been favorably impressed 
+by his paper on trans-species transformation in 
+Transfiguration Today. This initial contact led to 
+acquaintance with the entire Dumbledore family . At 
+the time of Kendra’s death, Bathilda was the only 
+person in Godric’s Hollow who was on speaking terms 
+with Dumbledore’s mother. 
+
+Unfortunately, the brilliance that Bathilda exhibited 
+earlier in her life has now dimmed. “The fire’s lit, but 
+the cauldron’s empty,” as Ivor Dillonsby put it to me, 
+or, in Enid Smeek’s slightly earthier phrase, “She’s 
+nutty as squirrel poo.” Nevertheless, a combination of 
+tried-and-tested reporting techniques enabled me to 
+extract enough nuggets of hard fact to string together 
+the whole scandalous story. 
+
+Like the rest of the Wizarding world, Bathilda puts 
+Kendra’s premature death down to a backfiring 
+charm, a story repeated by Albus and Aberforth in 
+later years. Bathilda also parrots the family line on 
+Ariana, calling her “frail” and “delicate.” On one 
+subject, however, Bathilda is well worth the effort I 
+put into procuring Veritaserum, for she, and she 
+alone, knows the full story of the best-kept secret of 
+Albus Dumbledore’s life. Now revealed for the first 
+time, it calls into question everything that his 
+admirers believed of Dumbledore: his supposed 
+hatred of the Dark Arts, his opposition to the 
+Page | 400 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+oppression of Muggles, even his devotion to his own 
+family. 
+
+The very same summer that Dumbledore went home 
+to Godric’s Hollow, now an orphan and head of the 
+family, Bathilda Bagshot agreed to accept into her 
+home her great-nephew, Gellert Grindelwald. 
+
+The name of Grindelwald is justly famous: In a list of 
+Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of All Time, he would 
+miss out on the top spot only because You-Know-Who 
+arrived, a generation later, to steal his crown. As 
+Grindelwald never extended his campaign of terror to 
+Britain, however, the details of his rise to power are 
+not widely known here. 
+
+Educated at Durmstrang, a school famous even then 
+for its unfortunate tolerance of the Dark Arts, 
+Grindelwald showed himself quite as precociously 
+brilliant as Dumbledore. Rather than channel his 
+abilities into the attainment of awards and prizes, 
+however, Gellert Grindelwald devoted himself to other 
+pursuits. At sixteen years old, even Durmstrang felt it 
+could no longer turn a blind eye to the twisted 
+experiments of Gellert Grindelwald, and he was 
+expelled. 
+
+Hitherto, all that has been known of Grindelwald ’s 
+next movements is that he “traveled abroad for some 
+months.” It can now be revealed that Grindelwald 
+chose to visit his great-aunt in Godric’s Hollow, and 
+that there, intensely shocking though it will be for 
+many to hear it, he struck up a close friendship with 
+none other than Albus Dumbledore. 
+
+“He seemed a charming boy to me,” babbles Bathilda, 
+“whatever he became later. Naturally I introduced him 
+to poor Albus, who was missing the company of lads 
+his own age. The boys took to each other at once.” 
+
+Page | 401 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+They certainly did. Bathilda shows me a letter, kept 
+by her, that Albus Dumbledore sent Gellert 
+Grindelwald in the dead of night. 
+
+“Yes, even after they’d spent all day in discussion — 
+both such brilliant young boys, they got on like a 
+cauldron on fire — I’d sometimes hear an owl tapping 
+at Gellert’s bedroom window, delivering a letter from 
+Albus! An idea would have struck him, and he had to 
+let Gellert know immediately!” 
+
+And what ideas they were. Profoundly shocking 
+though Albus Dumbledore’ s fans will find it, here are 
+the thoughts of their seventeen-year-old hero, as 
+relayed to his new best friend. (A copy of the original 
+letter may be seen on page 463.) 
+
+Gellert — 
+
+Your point about Wizard dominance being FOR THE 
+MUGGLES’ OWN GOOD — this, I think , is the crucial 
+point. Yes, we have been given power and yes, that 
+power gives us the right to rule, but it also gives us 
+responsibilities over the ruled. We must stress this 
+point, it will be the foundation stone upon which we 
+build. Where we are opposed, as we surely will be, this 
+must be the basis of all our counterarguments. We 
+seize control FOR THE GREATER GOOD. And from this 
+it follows that where we meet resistance, we must use 
+only the force that is necessary and no more. (This was 
+your mistake at Durmstrang! But I do not complain, 
+because if you had not been expelled, we would never 
+have met.) 
+
+Albus 
+
+Astonished and appalled though his many admirers 
+will be, this letter constitutes proof that Albus 
+Dumbledore once dreamed of overthrowing the Statute 
+
+Page | 402 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+of Secrecy and establishing Wizard rule over Muggles. 
+What a blow for those who have always portrayed 
+Dumbledore as the Muggle-boms’ greatest champion! 
+How hollow those speeches promoting Muggle rights 
+seem in the light of this damning new evidence! How 
+despicable does Albus Dumbledore appear, busy 
+plotting his rise to power when he should have been 
+mourning his mother and caring for his sister! 
+
+No doubt those determined to keep Dumbledore on 
+his crumbling pedestal will bleat that he did not, after 
+all, put his plans into action, that he must have 
+suffered a change of heart, that he came to his 
+senses. However, the truth seems altogether more 
+shocking. 
+
+Barely two months into their great new friendship, 
+Dumbledore and Grindelwald parted, never to see each 
+other again until they met for their legendary duel (for 
+more, see chapter 22). What caused this abrupt 
+rupture? Had Dumbledore come to his senses? Had he 
+told Grindelwald he wanted no more part in his plans? 
+Alas, no. 
+
+“It was poor little Ariana dying, I think, that did it,” 
+says Bathilda. “It came as an awful shock. Gellert was 
+there in the house when it happened, and he came 
+back to my house all of a dither, told me he wanted to 
+go home the next day. Terribly distressed, you know. 
+So I arranged a Portkey and that was the last I saw of 
+him. 
+
+“Albus was beside himself at Ariana’s death. It was so 
+dreadful for those two brothers. They had lost 
+everybody except each other. No wonder tempers ran 
+a little high. Aberforth blamed Albus, you know, as 
+people will under these dreadful circumstances. But 
+Aberforth always talked a little madly, poor boy. All 
+the same, breaking Albus’s nose at the funeral was 
+Page | 403 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+not decent. It would have destroyed Kendra to see her 
+sons fighting like that, across her daughter’s body. A 
+shame Gellert could not have stayed for the funeral. 
+
+... He would have been a comfort to Albus, at least. 
+
+
+
+This dreadful coffin- side brawl, known only to those 
+few who attended Ariana Dumbledore’s funeral, raises 
+several questions. Why exactly did Aberforth 
+Dumbledore blame Albus for his sister’s death? Was 
+it, as “Batty” pretends, a mere effusion of grief? Or 
+could there have been some more concrete reason for 
+his fury? Grindelwald, expelled from Durmstrang for 
+near-fatal attacks upon fellow students, fled the 
+country hours after the girl’s death, and Albus (out of 
+shame or fear?) never saw him again, not until forced 
+to do so by the pleas of the Wizarding world. 
+
+Neither Dumbledore nor Grindelwald ever seems to 
+have referred to this brief boyhood friendship in later 
+life. However, there can be no doubt that Dumbledore 
+delayed, for some five years of turmoil, fatalities, and 
+disappearances, his attack upon Gellert Grindelwald. 
+Was it lingering affection for the man or fear of 
+exposure as his once best friend that caused 
+Dumbledore to hesitate? Was it only reluctantly that 
+Dumbledore set out to capture the man he was once 
+so delighted he had met? 
+
+And how did the mysterious Ariana die? Was she the 
+inadvertent victim of some Dark rite? Did she stumble 
+across something she ought not to have done, as the 
+two young men sat practicing for their attempt at 
+glory and domination? Is it possible that Ariana 
+Dumbledore was the first person to die “for the 
+greater good”? 
+
+
+
+Page | 404 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The chapter ended here and Harry looked up. 
+Hermione had reached the bottom of the page before 
+him. She tugged the book out of Harry’s hands, 
+looking a little alarmed by his expression, and closed 
+it without looking at it, as though hiding something 
+indecent. 
+
+“Harry — ” 
+
+But he shook his head. Some inner certainty had 
+crashed down inside him; it was exactly as he had felt 
+after Ron left. He had trusted Dumbledore, believed 
+him the embodiment of goodness and wisdom. All was 
+ashes: How much more could he lose? Ron, 
+Dumbledore, the phoenix wand ... 
+
+“Harry.” She seemed to have heard his thoughts. 
+“Listen to me. It — it doesn’t make very nice reading 
+
+
+
+“Yeah, you could say that — ” 
+
+“ — but don’t forget, Harry, this is Rita Skeeter 
+writing.” 
+
+“You did read that letter to Grindelwald, didn’t you?” 
+
+“Yes, I — I did.” She hesitated, looking upset, cradling 
+her tea in her cold hands. “I think that’s the worst bit. 
+I know Bathilda thought it was all just talk, but ‘For 
+the Greater Good’ became Grindelwald ’s slogan, his 
+justification for all the atrocities he committed later. 
+And . . . from that ... it looks like Dumbledore gave him 
+the idea. They say ‘For the Greater Good’ was even 
+carved over the entrance to Nurmengard.” 
+
+“What’s Nurmengard?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 405 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The prison Grindelwald had built to hold his 
+opponents. He ended up in there himself, once 
+Dumbledore had caught him. Anyway, it’s — it’s an 
+awful thought that Dumbledore ’s ideas helped 
+Grindelwald rise to power. But on the other hand, 
+even Rita can’t pretend that they knew each other for 
+more than a few months one summer when they were 
+both really young, and — ” 
+
+“I thought you’d say that,” said Harry. He did not 
+want to let his anger spill out at her, but it was hard 
+to keep his voice steady. “I thought you’d say They 
+were young. ’ They were the same age as we are now. 
+And here we are, risking our lives to fight the Dark 
+Arts, and there he was, in a huddle with his new best 
+friend, plotting their rise to power over the Muggles.” 
+
+His temper would not remain in check much longer: 
+He stood up and walked around, trying to work some 
+of it off. 
+
+“I’m not trying to defend what Dumbledore wrote,” 
+said Hermione. “All that ‘right to rule’ rubbish, it’s 
+‘Magic Is Might’ all over again. But Harry, his mother 
+had just died, he was stuck alone in the house — ” 
+
+“Alone? He wasn’t alone! He had his brother and 
+sister for company, his Squib sister he was keeping 
+locked up — ” 
+
+“I don’t believe it,” said Hermione. She stood up too. 
+“Whatever was wrong with that girl, I don’t think she 
+was a Squib. The Dumbledore we knew would never, 
+ever have allowed — ” 
+
+“The Dumbledore we thought we knew didn’t want to 
+conquer Muggles by force!” Harry shouted, his voice 
+echoing across the empty hilltop, and several 
+
+
+
+Page | 406 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+blackbirds rose into the air, squawking and spiraling 
+against the pearly sky. 
+
+“He changed, Harry, he changed! It’s as simple as 
+that! Maybe he did believe these things when he was 
+seventeen, but the whole of the rest of his life was 
+devoted to fighting the Dark Arts! Dumbledore was 
+the one who stopped Grindelwald, the one who always 
+voted for Muggle protection and Muggle-born rights, 
+who fought You-Know-Who from the start, and who 
+died trying to bring him down!” 
+
+Rita’s book lay on the ground between them, so that 
+the face of Albus Dumbledore smiled dolefully at 
+both. 
+
+“Harry, I’m sorry, but I think the real reason you’re so 
+angry is that Dumbledore never told you any of this 
+himself.” 
+
+“Maybe I am!” Harry bellowed, and he flung his arms 
+over his head, hardly knowing whether he was trying 
+to hold in his anger or protect himself from the weight 
+of his own disillusionment. “Look what he asked from 
+me, Hermione! Risk your life, Harry! And again! And 
+again! And don’t expect me to explain everything, just 
+trust me blindly, trust that I know what I’m doing, 
+trust me even though I don’t trust you! Never the 
+whole truth! Never!” 
+
+His voice cracked with the strain, and they stood 
+looking at each other in the whiteness and the 
+emptiness, and Harry felt they were as insignificant 
+as insects beneath that wide sky. 
+
+“He loved you,” Hermione whispered. “I know he loved 
+you.” 
+
+
+
+Harry dropped his arms. 
+
+Page | 407 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I don’t know who he loved, Hermione, but it was 
+never me. This isn’t love, the mess he’s left me in. He 
+shared a damn sight more of what he was really 
+thinking with Gellert Grindelwald than he ever shared 
+with me.” 
+
+Harry picked up Hermione ’s wand, which he had 
+dropped in the snow, and sat back down in the 
+entrance of the tent. 
+
+“Thanks for the tea. I’ll finish the watch. You get back 
+in the warm.” 
+
+She hesitated, but recognized the dismissal. She 
+picked up the book and then walked back past him 
+into the tent, but as she did so, she brushed the top 
+of his head lightly with her hand. He closed his eyes 
+at her touch, and hated himself for wishing that what 
+she said was true: that Dumbledore had really cared. 
+
+
+
+Page | 408 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SILVER DOE 
+
+It was snowing by the time Hermione took over the 
+watch at midnight. Harry’s dreams were confused and 
+disturbing: Nagini wove in and out of them, first 
+through a gigantic, cracked ring, then through a 
+wreath of Christmas roses. He woke repeatedly, 
+panicky, convinced that somebody had called out to 
+him in the distance, imagining that the wind 
+whipping around the tent was footsteps or voices. 
+
+Finally he got up in the darkness and joined 
+Hermione, who was huddled in the entrance to the 
+tent reading A History of Magic by the light of her 
+wand. The snow was still falling thickly, and she 
+greeted with relief his suggestion of packing up early 
+and moving on. 
+
+“Well go somewhere more sheltered,” she agreed, 
+shivering as she pulled on a sweatshirt over her 
+pajamas. “I kept thinking I could hear people moving 
+outside. I even thought I saw somebody once or 
+twice.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 409 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Harry paused in the act of pulling on a jumper and 
+glanced at the silent, motionless Sneakoscope on the 
+table. 
+
+“I’m sure I imagined it,” said Hermione, looking 
+nervous. “The snow in the dark, it plays tricks on 
+your eyes. ... But perhaps we ought to Disapparate 
+under the Invisibility Cloak, just in case?” 
+
+Half an hour later, with the tent packed, Harry 
+wearing the Horcrux, and Hermione clutching the 
+beaded bag, they Disapparated. The usual tightness 
+engulfed them; Harry’s feet parted company with the 
+snowy ground, then slammed hard onto what felt like 
+frozen earth covered with leaves. 
+
+“Where are we?” he asked, peering around at a fresh 
+mass of trees as Hermione opened the beaded bag 
+and began tugging out tent poles. 
+
+“The Forest of Dean,” she said. “I came camping here 
+once with my mum and dad.” 
+
+Here too snow lay on the trees all around and it was 
+bitterly cold, but they were at least protected from the 
+wind. They spent most of the day inside the tent, 
+huddled for warmth around the useful bright blue 
+flames that Hermione was so adept at producing, and 
+which could be scooped up and carried around in a 
+jar. Harry felt as though he was recuperating from 
+some brief but severe illness, an impression 
+reinforced by Hermione ’s solicitousness. That 
+afternoon fresh flakes drifted down upon them, so 
+that even their sheltered clearing had a fresh dusting 
+of powdery snow. 
+
+After two nights of little sleep, Harry’s senses seemed 
+more alert than usual. Their escape from Godric’s 
+Hollow had been so narrow that Voldemort seemed 
+
+Page | 410 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+somehow closer than before, more threatening. As 
+darkness drew in again Harry refused Hermione’s 
+offer to keep watch and told her to go to bed. 
+
+Harry moved an old cushion into the tent mouth and 
+sat down, wearing all the sweaters he owned but even 
+so, still shivery. The darkness deepened with the 
+passing hours until it was virtually impenetrable. He 
+was on the point of taking out the Marauder’s Map, so 
+as to watch Ginny’s dot for a while, before he 
+remembered that it was the Christmas holidays and 
+that she would be back at the Burrow. 
+
+Every tiny movement seemed magnified in the 
+vastness of the forest. Harry knew that it must be full 
+of living creatures, but he wished they would all 
+remain still and silent so that he could separate their 
+innocent scurryings and prowlings from noises that 
+might proclaim other, sinister movements. He 
+remembered the sound of a cloak slithering over dead 
+leaves many years ago, and at once thought he heard 
+it again before mentally shaking himself. Their 
+protective enchantments had worked for weeks; why 
+should they break now? And yet he could not throw 
+off the feeling that something was different tonight. 
+
+Several times he jerked upright, his neck aching 
+because he had fallen asleep, slumped at an awkward 
+angle against the side of the tent. The night reached 
+such a depth of velvety blackness that he might have 
+been suspended in limbo between Disapparition and 
+Apparition. He had just held up a hand in front of his 
+face to see whether he could make out his fingers 
+when it happened. 
+
+A bright silver light appeared right ahead of him, 
+moving through the trees. Whatever the source, it was 
+moving soundlessly. The light seemed simply to drift 
+toward him. 
+
+Page | 411 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He jumped to his feet, his voice frozen in his throat, 
+and raised Hermione’s wand. He screwed up his eyes 
+as the light became blinding, the trees in front of it 
+pitch-black in silhouette, and still the thing came 
+closer. ... 
+
+And then the source of the light stepped out from 
+behind an oak. It was a silver- white doe, moon-bright 
+and dazzling, picking her way over the ground, still 
+silent, and leaving no hoofprints in the fine powdering 
+of snow. She stepped toward him, her beautiful head 
+with its wide, long-lashed eyes held high. 
+
+Harry stared at the creature, filled with wonder, not 
+at her strangeness, but at her inexplicable familiarity. 
+He felt that he had been waiting for her to come, but 
+that he had forgotten, until this moment, that they 
+had arranged to meet. His impulse to shout for 
+Hermione, which had been so strong a moment ago, 
+had gone. He knew, he would have staked his life on 
+it, that she had come for him, and him alone. 
+
+They gazed at each other for several long moments 
+and then she turned and walked away. 
+
+“No,” he said, and his voice was cracked with lack of 
+use. “Come back!” 
+
+She continued to step deliberately through the trees, 
+and soon her brightness was striped by their thick 
+black trunks. For one trembling second he hesitated. 
+Caution murmured it could be a trick, a lure, a trap. 
+But instinct, overwhelming instinct, told him that this 
+was not Dark Magic. He set off in pursuit. 
+
+Snow crunched beneath his feet, but the doe made no 
+noise as she passed through the trees, for she was 
+nothing but light. Deeper and deeper into the forest 
+she led him, and Harry walked quickly, sure that 
+
+Page | 412 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+when she stopped, she would allow him to approach 
+her properly. And then she would speak and the voice 
+would tell him what he needed to know. 
+
+At last, she came to a halt. She turned her beautiful 
+head toward him once more, and he broke into a run, 
+a question burning in him, but as he opened his lips 
+to ask it, she vanished. 
+
+Though the darkness had swallowed her whole, her 
+burnished image was still imprinted on his retinas; it 
+obscured his vision, brightening when he lowered his 
+eyelids, disorienting him. Now fear came: Her 
+presence had meant safety. 
+
+“Lumos\” he whispered, and the wand-tip ignited. 
+
+The imprint of the doe faded away with every blink of 
+his eyes as he stood there, listening to the sounds of 
+the forest, to distant crackles of twigs, soft swishes of 
+snow. Was he about to be attacked? Had she enticed 
+him into an ambush? Was he imagining that 
+somebody stood beyond the reach of the wandlight, 
+watching him? 
+
+He held the wand higher. Nobody ran out at him, no 
+flash of green light burst from behind a tree. Why, 
+then, had she led him to this spot? 
+
+Something gleamed in the light of the wand, and 
+Harry spun about, but all that was there was a small, 
+frozen pool, its cracked black surface glittering as he 
+raised the wand higher to examine it. 
+
+He moved forward rather cautiously and looked down. 
+The ice reflected his distorted shadow and the beam 
+of wandlight, but deep below the thick, misty gray 
+carapace, something else glinted. A great silver cross 
+
+Page | 413 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His heart skipped into his mouth: He dropped to his 
+knees at the pool’s edge and angled the wand so as to 
+flood the bottom of the pool with as much light as 
+possible. A glint of deep red ... It was a sword with 
+glittering rubies in its hilt. ... The sword of Gryffindor 
+was lying at the bottom of the forest pool. 
+
+Barely breathing, he stared down at it. How was this 
+possible? How could it have come to be lying in a 
+forest pool, this close to the place where they were 
+camping? Had some unknown magic drawn Hermione 
+to this spot, or was the doe, which he had taken to be 
+a Patronus, some kind of guardian of the pool? Or 
+had the sword been put into the pool after they had 
+arrived, precisely because they were here? In which 
+case, where was the person who had wanted to pass 
+it to Harry? Again he directed the wand at the 
+surrounding trees and bushes, searching for a 
+human outline, for the glint of an eye, but he could 
+not see anyone there. All the same, a little more fear 
+leavened his exhilaration as he returned his attention 
+to the sword reposing upon the bottom of the frozen 
+pool. 
+
+He pointed the wand at the silvery shape and 
+murmured, “Accio Sword.” 
+
+It did not stir. He had not expected it to. If it had been 
+that easy, the sword would have lain on the ground 
+for him to pick up, not in the depths of a frozen pool. 
+He set off around the circle of ice, thinking hard 
+about the last time the sword had delivered itself to 
+him. He had been in terrible danger then, and had 
+asked for help. 
+
+“Help,” he murmured, but the sword remained upon 
+the pool bottom, indifferent, motionless. 
+
+
+
+Page | 414 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+What was it, Harry asked himself (walking again), 
+that Dumbledore had told him the last time he had 
+retrieved the sword? Only a true Gryffindor could have 
+pulled that out of the hat. And what were the qualities 
+that defined a Gryffindor? A small voice inside Harry’s 
+head answered him: Their daring, nerve, and chivalry 
+set Gryffindors apart. 
+
+Harry stopped walking and let out a long sigh, his 
+smoky breath dispersing rapidly upon the frozen air. 
+He knew what he had to do. If he was honest with 
+himself, he had thought it might come to this from 
+the moment he had spotted the sword through the 
+ice. 
+
+He glanced around at the surrounding trees again, 
+but was convinced now that nobody was going to 
+attack him. They had had their chance as he walked 
+alone through the forest, had had plenty of 
+opportunity as he examined the pool. The only reason 
+to delay at this point was because the immediate 
+prospect was so deeply uninviting. 
+
+With fumbling fingers Harry started to remove his 
+many layers of clothing. Where “chivalry” entered into 
+this, he thought ruefully, he was not entirely sure, 
+unless it counted as chivalrous that he was not 
+calling for Hermione to do it in his stead. 
+
+An owl hooted somewhere as he stripped off, and he 
+thought with a pang of Hedwig. He was shivering 
+now, his teeth chattering horribly, and yet he 
+continued to strip off until at last he stood there in 
+his underwear, barefooted in the snow. He placed the 
+pouch containing his wand, his mother’s letter, the 
+shard of Sirius’s mirror, and the old Snitch on top of 
+his clothes, then he pointed Hermione’s wand at the 
+ice. 
+
+
+
+Page | 415 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Diffindo.” 
+
+
+
+It cracked with a sound like a bullet in the silence: 
+
+The surface of the pool broke and chunks of dark ice 
+rocked on the ruffled water. As far as Harry could 
+judge, it was not deep, but to retrieve the sword he 
+would have to submerge himself completely. 
+
+Contemplating the task ahead would not make it 
+easier or the water warmer. He stepped to the pool’s 
+edge and placed Hermione’s wand on the ground, still 
+lit. Then, trying not to imagine how much colder he 
+was about to become or how violently he would soon 
+be shivering, he jumped. 
+
+Every pore of his body screamed in protest: The very 
+air in his lungs seemed to freeze solid as he was 
+submerged to his shoulders in the frozen water. He 
+could hardly breathe; trembling so violently the water 
+lapped over the edges of the pool, he felt for the blade 
+with his numb feet. He only wanted to dive once. 
+
+Harry put off the moment of total submersion from 
+second to second, gasping and shaking, until he told 
+himself that it must be done, gathered all his courage, 
+and dived. 
+
+The cold was agony: It attacked him like fire. His 
+brain itself seemed to have frozen as he pushed 
+through the dark water to the bottom and reached 
+out, groping for the sword. His fingers closed around 
+the hilt; he pulled it upward. 
+
+Then something closed tight around his neck. He 
+thought of water weeds, though nothing had brushed 
+him as he dived, and raised his empty hand to free 
+himself. It was not weed: The chain of the Horcrux 
+had tightened and was slowly constricting his 
+windpipe. 
+
+Page | 416 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry kicked out wildly, trying to push himself back 
+to the surface, but merely propelled himself into the 
+rocky side of the pool. Thrashing, suffocating, he 
+scrabbled at the strangling chain, his frozen fingers 
+unable to loosen it, and now little lights were popping 
+inside his head, and he was going to drown, there was 
+nothing left, nothing he could do, and the arms that 
+closed around his chest were surely Death’s. ... 
+
+Choking and retching, soaking and colder than he 
+had ever been in his life, he came to facedown in the 
+snow. Somewhere close by, another person was 
+panting and coughing and staggering around. 
+Hermione had come again, as she had come when the 
+snake attacked. ... Yet it did not sound like her, not 
+with those deep coughs, not judging by the weight of 
+the footsteps. ... 
+
+Harry had no strength to lift his head and see his 
+savior’s identity. All he could do was raise a shaking 
+hand to his throat and feel the place where the locket 
+had cut tightly into his flesh. It was gone: Someone 
+had cut him free. Then a panting voice spoke from 
+over his head. 
+
+“Are — you — mental?” 
+
+Nothing but the shock of hearing that voice could 
+have given Harry the strength to get up. Shivering 
+violently, he staggered to his feet. There before him 
+stood Ron, fully dressed but drenched to the skin, his 
+hair plastered to his face, the sword of Gryffindor in 
+one hand and the Horcrux dangling from its broken 
+chain in the other. 
+
+“Why the hell,” panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, 
+which swung backward and forward on its shortened 
+chain in some parody of hypnosis, “didn’t you take 
+this thing off before you dived?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry could not answer. The silver doe was nothing, 
+nothing compared with Ron’s reappearance; he could 
+not believe it. Shuddering with cold, he caught up the 
+pile of clothes still lying at the water’s edge and began 
+to pull them on. As he dragged sweater after sweater 
+over his head, Harry stared at Ron, half expecting him 
+to have disappeared every time he lost sight of him, 
+and yet he had to be real: He had just dived into the 
+pool, he had saved Harry’s life. 
+
+“It was y-you?” Harry said at last, his teeth 
+chattering, his voice weaker than usual due to his 
+near-strangulation. 
+
+“Well, yeah,” said Ron, looking slightly confused. 
+“Y-you cast that doe?” 
+
+“What? No, of course not! I thought it was you doing 
+it!” 
+
+
+
+“My Patronus is a stag.” 
+
+“Oh yeah. I thought it looked different. No antlers.” 
+
+Harry put Hagrid’s pouch back around his neck, 
+pulled on a final sweater, stooped to pick up 
+Hermione’s wand, and faced Ron again. 
+
+“How come you’re here?” 
+
+Apparently Ron had hoped that this point would come 
+up later, if at all. 
+
+“Well, I’ve — you know — I’ve come back. If — ” He 
+cleared his throat. “You know. You still want me.” 
+
+There was a pause, in which the subject of Ron’s 
+departure seemed to rise like a wall between them. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Yet he was here. He had returned. He had just saved 
+Harry’s life. 
+
+Ron looked down at his hands. He seemed 
+momentarily surprised to see the things he was 
+holding. 
+
+“Oh yeah, I got it out,” he said, rather unnecessarily, 
+holding up the sword for Harry’s inspection. “That’s 
+why you jumped in, right?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “But I don’t understand. How did 
+you get here? How did you find us?” 
+
+“Long story,” said Ron. “I’ve been looking for you for 
+hours, it’s a big forest, isn’t it? And I was just 
+thinking I’d have to kip under a tree and wait for 
+morning when I saw that deer coming and you 
+following.” 
+
+“You didn’t see anyone else?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron. “I — ” 
+
+But he hesitated, glancing at two trees growing close 
+together some yards away. 
+
+“I did think I saw something move over there, but I 
+was running to the pool at the time, because you’d 
+gone in and you hadn’t come up, so I wasn’t going to 
+make a detour to — hey!” 
+
+Harry was already hurrying to the place Ron had 
+indicated. The two oaks grew close together; there 
+was a gap of only a few inches between the trunks at 
+eye level, an ideal place to see but not be seen. The 
+ground around the roots, however, was free of snow, 
+and Harry could see no sign of footprints. He walked 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+back to where Ron stood waiting, still holding the 
+sword and the Horcrux. 
+
+
+
+“Anything there?” Ron asked. 
+
+“No,” said Harry. 
+
+“So how did the sword get in that pool?” 
+
+“Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there.” 
+
+They both looked at the ornate silver sword, its rubied 
+hilt glinting a little in the light from Hermione’s wand. 
+
+“You reckon this is the real one?” asked Ron. 
+
+“One way to find out, isn’t there?” said Harry. 
+
+The Horcrux was still swinging from Ron’s hand. The 
+locket was twitching slightly. Harry knew that the 
+thing inside it was agitated again. It had sensed the 
+presence of the sword and had tried to kill Harry 
+rather than let him possess it. Now was not the time 
+for long discussions; now was the moment to destroy 
+the locket once and for all. Harry looked around, 
+holding Hermione’s wand high, and saw the place: a 
+flattish rock lying in the shadow of a sycamore tree. 
+
+“Come here,” he said, and he led the way, brushed 
+snow from the rock’s surface, and held out his hand 
+for the Horcrux. When Ron offered the sword, 
+however, Harry shook his head. 
+
+“No, you should do it.” 
+
+“Me?” said Ron, looking shocked. “Why?” 
+
+“Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it’s 
+supposed to be you.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He was not being kind or generous. As certainly as he 
+had known that the doe was benign, he knew that 
+Ron had to be the one to wield the sword. 
+
+Dumbledore had at least taught Harry something 
+about certain kinds of magic, of the incalculable 
+power of certain acts. 
+
+“I’m going to open it,” said Harry, “and you stab it. 
+Straightaway, okay? Because whatever’s in there will 
+put up a fight. The bit of Riddle in the diary tried to 
+kill me.” 
+
+“How are you going to open it?” asked Ron. He looked 
+terrified. 
+
+“I’m going to ask it to open, using Parseltongue,” said 
+Harry. The answer came so readily to his lips that he 
+thought that he had always known it deep down: 
+Perhaps it had taken his recent encounter with Nagini 
+to make him realize it. He looked at the serpentine S, 
+inlaid with glittering green stones: It was easy to 
+visualize it as a minuscule snake, curled upon the 
+cold rock. 
+
+“No!” said Ron. “No, don’t open it! I’m serious!” 
+
+“Why not?” asked Harry. “Let’s get rid of the damn 
+thing, it’s been months — ” 
+
+“I can’t, Harry, I’m serious — you do it — ” 
+
+“But why?” 
+
+“Because that thing’s bad for me!” said Ron, backing 
+away from the locket on the rock. “I can’t handle it! 
+
+I’m not making excuses, Harry, for what I was like, 
+but it affects me worse than it affected you and 
+Hermione, it made me think stuff — stuff I was 
+thinking anyway, but it made everything worse, I 
+Page | 421 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+can’t explain it, and then I’d take it off and I’d get my 
+head on straight again, and then I’d have to put the 
+effing thing back on — I can’t do it, Harry!” 
+
+He had backed away, the sword dragging at his side, 
+shaking his head. 
+
+“You can do it,” said Harry, “you can! You’ve just got 
+the sword, I know it’s supposed to be you who uses it. 
+Please, just get rid of it, Ron.” 
+
+The sound of his name seemed to act like a stimulant. 
+Ron swallowed, then, still breathing hard through his 
+long nose, moved back toward the rock. 
+
+“Tell me when,” he croaked. 
+
+“On three,” said Harry, looking back down at the 
+locket and narrowing his eyes, concentrating on the 
+letter S, imagining a serpent, while the contents of the 
+locket rattled like a trapped cockroach. It would have 
+been easy to pity it, except that the cut around 
+Harry’s neck still burned. 
+
+“One ... two ... three ... open.” 
+
+The last word came as a hiss and a snarl and the 
+golden doors of the locket swung wide with a little 
+click. 
+
+Behind both of the glass windows within blinked a 
+living eye, dark and handsome as Tom Riddle’s eyes 
+had been before he turned them scarlet and slit- 
+pupiled. 
+
+“Stab,” said Harry, holding the locket steady on the 
+rock. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron raised the sword in his shaking hands: The point 
+dangled over the frantically swiveling eyes, and Harry 
+gripped the locket tightly, bracing himself, already 
+imagining blood pouring from the empty windows. 
+
+Then a voice hissed from out of the Horcrux. 
+
+“I have seen your heart, and it is mine.” 
+
+“Don’t listen to it!” Harry said harshly. “Stab it!” 
+
+“I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have 
+seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that 
+you dread is also possible. ...” 
+
+“Stab!” shouted Harry; his voice echoed off the 
+surrounding trees, the sword point trembled, and Ron 
+gazed down into Riddle’s eyes. 
+
+“ Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a 
+daughter . . . Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers 
+your friend . . . Second best, always, eternally 
+overshadowed ...” 
+
+“Ron, stab it now!” Harry bellowed: He could feel the 
+locket quivering in his grip and was scared of what 
+was coming. Ron raised the sword still higher, and as 
+he did so, Riddle’s eyes gleamed scarlet. 
+
+Out of the locket’s two windows, out of the eyes, there 
+bloomed, like two grotesque bubbles, the heads of 
+Harry and Hermione, weirdly distorted. 
+
+Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures 
+blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, 
+then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side 
+like trees with a common root, swaying over Ron and 
+the real Harry, who had snatched his fingers away 
+from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot. 
+Page | 423 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Ron!” he shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now 
+speaking with Voldemort’s voice and Ron was gazing, 
+mesmerized, into its face. 
+
+“ Why return? We were better without you, happier 
+without you, glad of your absence. . . . We laughed at 
+your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption — ” 
+
+“ Presumption?’ echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was 
+more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real 
+Hermione: She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who 
+looked horrified yet transfixed, the sword hanging 
+pointlessly at his side. “ Who could look at you, who 
+would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What 
+have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? 
+What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?” 
+
+“Ron, stab it, STAB IT!” Harry yelled, but Ron did not 
+move: His eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Harry and 
+the Riddle-Hermione were reflected in them, their hair 
+swirling like flames, their eyes shining red, their 
+voices lifted in an evil duet. 
+
+“ Your mother confessed,” sneered Riddle-Harry, while 
+Riddle-Hermione jeered, “that she would have 
+preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange ...” 
+
+“Who wouldn’t prefer him, what woman would take 
+you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him,” crooned 
+Riddle-Hermione, and she stretched like a snake and 
+entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him 
+in a close embrace: Their lips met. 
+
+On the ground in front of them, Ron’s face filled with 
+anguish. He raised the sword high, his arms shaking. 
+
+“Do it, Ron!” Harry yelled. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ron looked toward him, and Harry thought he saw a 
+trace of scarlet in his eyes. 
+
+“Ron — ?” 
+
+The sword flashed, plunged: Harry threw himself out 
+of the way, there was a clang of metal and a long, 
+drawn-out scream. Harry whirled around, slipping in 
+the snow, wand held ready to defend himself: but 
+there was nothing to fight. 
+
+The monstrous versions of himself and Hermione 
+were gone: There was only Ron, standing there with 
+the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at 
+the shattered remains of the locket on the flat rock. 
+
+Slowly, Harry walked back to him, hardly knowing 
+what to say or do. Ron was breathing heavily: His 
+eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue; 
+they were also wet. 
+
+Harry stooped, pretending he had not seen, and 
+picked up the broken Horcrux. Ron had pierced the 
+glass in both windows: Riddle’s eyes were gone, and 
+the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking 
+slightly. The thing that had lived in the Horcrux had 
+vanished; torturing Ron had been its final act. 
+
+The sword clanged as Ron dropped it. He had sunk to 
+his knees, his head in his arms. He was shaking, but 
+not, Harry realized, from cold. Harry crammed the 
+broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, 
+and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulder. He 
+took it as a good sign that Ron did not throw it off. 
+
+“After you left,” he said in a low voice, grateful for the 
+fact that Ron’s face was hidden, “she cried for a week. 
+Probably longer, only she didn’t want me to see. There 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+were loads of nights when we never even spoke to 
+each other. With you gone ...” 
+
+He could not finish; it was only now that Ron was 
+here again that Harry fully realized how much his 
+absence had cost them. 
+
+“She’s like my sister,” he went on. “I love her like a 
+sister and I reckon she feels the same way about me. 
+It’s always been like that. I thought you knew.” 
+
+Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from 
+Harry and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve. Harry 
+got to his feet again and walked to where Ron’s 
+enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron 
+had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowning. 
+He hoisted it onto his own back and walked back to 
+Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, 
+eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” he said in a thick voice. “I’m sorry I left. I 
+know I was a — a — ” 
+
+He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad 
+enough word would swoop down upon him and claim 
+him. 
+
+“You’ve sort of made up for it tonight,” said Harry. 
+“Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving 
+my life.” 
+
+“That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was,” Ron 
+mumbled. 
+
+“Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really 
+was,” said Harry. “I’ve been trying to tell you that for 
+years.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Simultaneously they walked forward and hugged, 
+Harry gripping the still-sopping back of Ron’s jacket. 
+
+“And now,” said Harry as they broke apart, “all we’ve 
+got to do is find the tent again.” 
+
+But it was not difficult. Though the walk through the 
+dark forest with the doe had seemed lengthy, with 
+Ron by his side the journey back seemed to take a 
+surprisingly short time. Harry could not wait to wake 
+Hermione, and it was with quickening excitement that 
+he entered the tent, Ron lagging a little behind him. 
+
+It was gloriously warm after the pool and the forest, 
+the only illumination the bluebell flames still 
+shimmering in a bowl on the floor. Hermione was fast 
+asleep, curled up under her blankets, and did not 
+move until Harry had said her name several times. 
+
+“Hermionel” 
+
+She stirred, then sat up quickly, pushing her hair out 
+of her face. 
+
+“What’s wrong? Harry? Are you all right?” 
+
+“It’s okay, everything’s fine. More than fine. I’m great. 
+There’s someone here.” 
+
+“What do you mean? Who — ?” 
+
+She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword and 
+dripping onto the threadbare carpet. Harry backed 
+into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron’s rucksack, 
+and attempted to blend in with the canvas. 
+
+Hermione slid out of her bunk and moved like a 
+sleepwalker toward Ron, her eyes upon his pale face. 
+She stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly 
+
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+
+
+
+
+parted, her eyes wide. Ron gave a weak, hopeful smile 
+and half raised his arms. 
+
+Hermione launched herself forward and started 
+punching every inch of him that she could reach. 
+
+“Ouch — ow — gerroff! What the — ? Hermione — 
+OW!” 
+
+“You — complete — arse — Ronald — Weasley!” 
+
+She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed 
+away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced. 
+
+“You — crawl — back — here — after — weeks — and 
+— weeks — oh, where’s my wand?” 
+
+She looked as though ready to wrestle it out of 
+Harry’s hands and he reacted instinctively. 
+
+“Protegol” 
+
+The invisible shield erupted between Ron and 
+Hermione: The force of it knocked her backward onto 
+the floor. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she leapt up 
+again. 
+
+“Hermione!” said Harry. “Calm — ” 
+
+“I will not calm down!” she screamed. Never before 
+had he seen her lose control like this; she looked 
+quite demented. “Give me back my wand! Give it back 
+to me\” 
+
+“Hermione, will you please — ” 
+
+“Don’t you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!” she 
+screeched. “Don’t you dare! Give it back now! And 
+YOU!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+She was pointing at Ron in dire accusation: It was 
+like a malediction, and Harry could not blame Ron for 
+retreating several steps. 
+
+“I came running after you! I called you! I begged you 
+to come back!” 
+
+“I know,” Ron said, “Hermione, I’m sorry, I’m really — 
+
+
+
+“Oh, you’re sorry!” 
+
+She laughed, a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; 
+Ron looked at Harry for help, but Harry merely 
+grimaced his helplessness. 
+
+“You come back after weeks — weeks — and you 
+think it’s all going to be all right if you just say 
+sorry?” 
+
+“Well, what else can I say?” Ron shouted, and Harry 
+was glad that Ron was fighting back. 
+
+“Oh, I don’t know!” yelled Hermione with awful 
+sarcasm. “Rack your brains, Ron, that should only 
+take a couple of seconds — ” 
+
+“Hermione,” interjected Harry, who considered this a 
+low blow, “he just saved my — ” 
+
+“I don’t care!” she screamed. “I don’t care what he’s 
+done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for 
+all he knew — ” 
+
+“I knew you weren’t dead!” bellowed Ron, drowning 
+her voice for the first time, and approaching as close 
+as he could with the Shield Charm between them. 
+“Harry’s all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they’re 
+looking for you everywhere, all these rumors and 
+Page | 429 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+mental stories, I knew I’d hear straight off if you were 
+dead, you don’t know what it’s been like — ” 
+
+
+
+“What it’s been like for you?” 
+
+Her voice was now so shrill only bats would be able to 
+hear it soon, but she had reached a level of 
+indignation that rendered her temporarily speechless, 
+and Ron seized his opportunity. 
+
+“I wanted to come back the minute I’d Disapparated, 
+but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, 
+Hermione, and I couldn’t go anywhere!” 
+
+“A gang of what?” asked Harry, as Hermione threw 
+herself down into a chair with her arms and legs 
+crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely that she would 
+unravel them for several years. 
+
+“Snatchers,” said Ron. “They’re everywhere — gangs 
+trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and 
+blood traitors, there’s a reward from the Ministry for 
+everyone captured. I was on my own and I look like I 
+might be school age; they got really excited, thought I 
+was a Muggle-born in hiding. I had to talk fast to get 
+out of being dragged to the Ministry.” 
+
+“What did you say to them?” 
+
+“Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could 
+think of.” 
+
+“And they believed that?” 
+
+“They weren’t the brightest. One of them was 
+definitely part troll, the smell off him. ...” 
+
+Ron glanced at Hermione, clearly hopeful she might 
+soften at this small instance of humor, but her 
+
+Page | 430 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+expression remained stony above her tightly knotted 
+limbs. 
+
+“Anyway, they had a row about whether I was Stan or 
+not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were 
+still five of them and only one of me and they’d taken 
+my wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while 
+the others were distracted I managed to hit the one 
+holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, 
+Disarmed the bloke holding mine, and Disapparated. 
+
+I didn’t do it so well, Splinched myself again” — Ron 
+held up his right hand to show two missing 
+fingernails; Hermione raised her eyebrows coldly — 
+“and I came out miles from where you were. By the 
+time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we’d 
+been ... you’d gone.” 
+
+“Gosh, what a gripping story,” Hermione said in the 
+lofty voice she adopted when wishing to wound. “You 
+must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile we went 
+to Godric’s Hollow and, let’s think, what happened 
+there, Harry? Oh yes, You-Know- Who’s snake turned 
+up, it nearly killed both of us, and then You-Know- 
+Who himself arrived and missed us by about a 
+second.” 
+
+“What?” Ron said, gaping from her to Harry, but 
+Hermione ignored him. 
+
+“Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts 
+our sufferings into perspective, doesn’t it?” 
+
+“Hermione,” said Harry quietly, “Ron just saved my 
+life.” 
+
+She appeared not to have heard him. 
+
+“One thing I would like to know, though,” she said, 
+fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron’s head. “How 
+
+Page | 431 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+exactly did you find us tonight? That’s important. 
+
+Once we know, we’ll be able to make sure we’re not 
+visited by anyone else we don’t want to see.” 
+
+Ron glared at her, then pulled a small silver object 
+from his jeans pocket. 
+
+“This.” 
+
+She had to look at Ron to see what he was showing 
+them. 
+
+“The Deluminator?” she asked, so surprised she 
+forgot to look cold and fierce. 
+
+“It doesn’t just turn the lights on and off,” said Ron. “I 
+don’t know how it works or why it happened then and 
+not any other time, because I’ve been wanting to come 
+back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio 
+really early on Christmas morning and I heard ... I 
+heard you.” 
+
+He was looking at Hermione. 
+
+“You heard me on the radio?” she asked 
+incredulously. 
+
+“No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your 
+voice,” he held up the Deluminator again, “came out 
+of this.” 
+
+“And what exactly did I say?” asked Hermione, her 
+tone somewhere between skepticism and curiosity. 
+
+“My name. ‘Ron.’ And you said ... something about a 
+wand. ...” 
+
+Hermione turned a fiery shade of scarlet. Harry 
+remembered: It had been the first time Ron’s name 
+
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+
+
+
+
+had been said aloud by either of them since the day 
+he had left; Hermione had mentioned it when talking 
+about repairing Harry’s wand. 
+
+“So I took it out,” Ron went on, looking at the 
+Deluminator, “and it didn’t seem different or 
+anything, but I was sure I’d heard you. So I clicked it. 
+And the light went out in my room, but another light 
+appeared right outside the window.” 
+
+Ron raised his empty hand and pointed in front of 
+him, his eyes focused on something neither Harry nor 
+Hermione could see. 
+
+“It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like 
+that light you get around a Portkey, you know?” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry and Hermione together 
+automatically. 
+
+“I knew this was it,” said Ron. “I grabbed my stuff and 
+packed it, then I put on my rucksack and went out 
+into the garden. 
+
+“The little ball of light was hovering there, waiting for 
+me, and when I came out it bobbed along a bit and I 
+followed it behind the shed and then it ... well, it went 
+inside me.” 
+
+“Sorry?” said Harry, sure he had not heard correctly. 
+
+“It sort of floated toward me,” said Ron, illustrating 
+the movement with his free index finger, “right to my 
+chest, and then — it just went straight through. It 
+was here,” he touched a point close to his heart, “I 
+could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me I 
+knew what I was supposed to do, I knew it would take 
+me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated and came 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere. 
+
+
+
+“We were there,” said Harry. “We spent two nights 
+there, and the second night I kept thinking I could 
+hear someone moving around in the dark and calling 
+out!” 
+
+“Yeah, well, that would’ve been me,” said Ron. “Your 
+protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn’t see 
+you and I couldn’t hear you. I was sure you were 
+around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag 
+and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you’d 
+have to show yourselves when you packed up the 
+tent.” 
+
+“No, actually,” said Hermione. “We’ve been 
+Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra 
+precaution. And we left really early, because, as Harry 
+says, we’d heard somebody blundering around.” 
+
+“Well, I stayed on that hill all day,” said Ron. “I kept 
+hoping you’d appear. But when it started to get dark I 
+knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the 
+Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went 
+inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in 
+these woods. I still couldn’t see you, so I just had to 
+hope one of you would show yourselves in the end — 
+and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously.” 
+
+“You saw the what?” said Hermione sharply. 
+
+They explained what had happened, and as the story 
+of the silver doe and the sword in the pool unfolded, 
+Hermione frowned from one to the other of them, 
+concentrating so hard she forgot to keep her limbs 
+locked together. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But it must have been a Patronus!” she said. 
+“Couldn’t you see who was casting it? Didn’t you see 
+anyone? And it led you to the sword! I can’t believe 
+this! Then what happened?” 
+
+Ron explained how he had watched Harry jump into 
+the pool and had waited for him to resurface; how he 
+had realized that something was wrong, dived in, and 
+saved Harry, then returned for the sword. He got as 
+far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and 
+Harry cut in. 
+
+“ — and Ron stabbed it with the sword.” 
+
+“And ... and it went? Just like that?” she whispered. 
+
+“Well, it — it screamed,” said Harry with half a glance 
+at Ron. “Here.” 
+
+He threw the locket into her lap; gingerly she picked it 
+up and examined its punctured windows. 
+
+Deciding that it was at last safe to do so, Harry 
+removed the Shield Charm with a wave of Hermione’s 
+wand and turned to Ron. 
+
+“Did you just say you got away from the Snatchers 
+with a spare wand?” 
+
+“What?” said Ron, who had been watching Hermione 
+examining the locket. “Oh — oh yeah.” 
+
+He tugged open a buckle on his rucksack and pulled 
+a short, dark wand out of its pocket. “Here. I figured 
+it’s always handy to have a backup.” 
+
+“You were right,” said Harry, holding out his hand. 
+“Mine’s broken.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’re kidding?” Ron said, but at that moment 
+Hermione got to her feet, and he looked apprehensive 
+again. 
+
+Hermione put the vanquished Horcrux into the 
+beaded bag, then climbed back into her bed and 
+settled down without another word. 
+
+Ron passed Harry the new wand. 
+
+“About the best you could hope for, I think,” 
+murmured Harry. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron. “Could’ve been worse. Remember 
+those birds she set on me?” 
+
+“I still haven’t ruled it out,” came Hermione’s muffled 
+voice from beneath her blankets, but Harry saw Ron 
+smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pajamas out 
+of his rucksack. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+XEN OPHILIUS LOVEGOOD 
+
+Harry had not expected Hermione’s anger to abate 
+overnight, and was therefore unsurprised that she 
+communicated mainly by dirty looks and pointed 
+silences the next morning. Ron responded by 
+maintaining an unnaturally somber demeanor in her 
+presence as an outward sign of continuing remorse. 
+
+In fact, when all three of them were together Harry 
+felt like the only non-mourner at a poorly attended 
+funeral. During those few moments he spent alone 
+with Harry, however (collecting water and searching 
+the undergrowth for mushrooms), Ron became 
+shamelessly cheery. 
+
+“Someone helped us,” he kept saying. “Someone sent 
+that doe. Someone’s on our side. One Horcrux down, 
+mate!” 
+
+Bolstered by the destruction of the locket, they set to 
+debating the possible locations of the other 
+Horcruxes, and even though they had discussed the 
+matter so often before, Harry felt optimistic, certain 
+that more breakthroughs would succeed the first. 
+
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+
+
+
+Hermione’s sulkiness could not mar his buoyant 
+spirits: The sudden upswing in their fortunes, the 
+appearance of the mysterious doe, the recovery of 
+Gryffindor’s sword, and above all, Ron’s return, made 
+Harry so happy that it was quite difficult to maintain 
+a straight face. 
+
+Late in the afternoon he and Ron escaped Hermione’s 
+baleful presence again, and under the pretense of 
+scouring the bare hedges for nonexistent 
+blackberries, they continued their ongoing exchange 
+of news. Harry had finally managed to tell Ron the 
+whole story of his and Hermione’s various 
+wanderings, right up to the full story of what had 
+happened at Godric’s Hollow; Ron was now filling 
+Harry in on everything he had discovered about the 
+wider Wizarding world during his weeks away. 
+
+"... and how did you find out about the Taboo?” he 
+asked Harry after explaining the many desperate 
+attempts of Muggle-borns to evade the Ministry. 
+
+“The what?” 
+
+“You and Hermione have stopped saying You-Know- 
+Who’s name!” 
+
+“Oh, yeah. Well, it’s just a bad habit we’ve slipped 
+into,” said Harry. “But I haven’t got a problem calling 
+him V — ” 
+
+“NO!” roared Ron, causing Harry to jump into the 
+hedge and Hermione (nose buried in a book at the 
+tent entrance) to scowl over at them. “Sorry,” said 
+Ron, wrenching Harry back out of the brambles, “but 
+the name’s been jinxed, Harry, that’s how they track 
+people! Using his name breaks protective 
+enchantments, it causes some kind of magical 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+disturbance — it’s how they found us in Tottenham 
+Court Road!” 
+
+
+
+“Because we used his name?” 
+
+“Exactly! You’ve got to give them credit, it makes 
+sense. It was only people who were serious about 
+standing up to him, like Dumbledore, who ever dared 
+use it. Now they’ve put a Taboo on it, anyone who 
+says it is trackable — quick-and-easy way to find 
+Order members! They nearly got Kingsley — ” 
+
+“You’re kidding?” 
+
+“Yeah, a bunch of Death Eaters cornered him, Bill 
+said, but he fought his way out. He’s on the run now, 
+just like us.” Ron scratched his chin thoughtfully with 
+the end of his wand. “You don’t reckon Kingsley could 
+have sent that doe?” 
+
+“His Patronus is a lynx, we saw it at the wedding, 
+remember?” 
+
+“Oh yeah ...” 
+
+They moved farther along the hedge, away from the 
+tent and Hermione. 
+
+“Harry ... you don’t reckon it could’ve been 
+Dumbledore?” 
+
+“Dumbledore what?” 
+
+Ron looked a little embarrassed, but said in a low 
+voice, “Dumbledore ... the doe? I mean,” Ron was 
+watching Harry out of the corners of his eyes, “he had 
+the real sword last, didn’t he?” 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+Harry did not laugh at Ron, because he understood 
+too well the longing behind the question. The idea 
+that Dumbledore had managed to come back to them, 
+that he was watching over them, would have been 
+inexpressibly comforting. He shook his head. 
+
+“Dumbledore’s dead,” he said. “I saw it happen, I saw 
+the body. He’s definitely gone. Anyway, his Patronus 
+was a phoenix, not a doe.” 
+
+“Patronuses can change, though, can’t they?” said 
+Ron. “Tonks’s changed, didn’t it?” 
+
+“Yeah, but if Dumbledore was alive, why wouldn’t he 
+show himself? Why wouldn’t he just hand us the 
+sword?” 
+
+“Search me,” said Ron. “Same reason he didn’t give it 
+to you while he was alive? Same reason he left you an 
+old Snitch and Hermione a book of kids’ stories?” 
+
+“Which is what?” asked Harry, turning to look Ron 
+full in the face, desperate for the answer. 
+
+“I dunno,” said Ron. “Sometimes I’ve thought, when 
+I’ve been a bit hacked off, he was having a laugh or — 
+or he just wanted to make it more difficult. But I don’t 
+think so, not anymore. He knew what he was doing 
+when he gave me the Deluminator, didn’t he? He — 
+well,” Ron’s ears turned bright red and he became 
+engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he 
+prodded with his toe, “he must’ve known I’d run out 
+on you.” 
+
+“No,” Harry corrected him. “He must’ve known you’d 
+always want to come back.” 
+
+Ron looked grateful, but still awkward. Partly to 
+change the subject, Harry said, “Speaking of 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore, have you heard what Skeeter wrote 
+about him?” 
+
+“Oh yeah,” said Ron at once, “people are talking about 
+it quite a lot. ’Course, if things were different, it’d be 
+huge news, Dumbledore being pals with Grindelwald, 
+but now it’s just something to laugh about for people 
+who didn’t like Dumbledore, and a bit of a slap in the 
+face for everyone who thought he was such a good 
+bloke. I don’t know that it’s such a big deal, though. 
+He was really young when they — ” 
+
+“Our age,” said Harry, just as he had retorted to 
+Hermione, and something in his face seemed to 
+decide Ron against pursuing the subject. 
+
+A large spider sat in the middle of a frosted web in the 
+brambles. Harry took aim at it with the wand Ron had 
+given him the previous night, which Hermione had 
+since condescended to examine, and had decided was 
+made of blackthorn. 
+
+“Engorgio.” 
+
+The spider gave a little shiver, bouncing slightly in the 
+web. Harry tried again. This time the spider grew 
+slightly larger. 
+
+“Stop that,” said Ron sharply. “I’m sorry I said 
+Dumbledore was young, okay?” 
+
+Harry had forgotten Ron’s hatred of spiders. 
+
+“Sorry — Reducio.” 
+
+The spider did not shrink. Harry looked down at the 
+blackthorn wand. Every minor spell he had cast with 
+it so far that day had seemed less powerful than those 
+he had produced with his phoenix wand. The new one 
+
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+
+
+
+
+felt intrusively unfamiliar, like having somebody else’s 
+hand sewn to the end of his arm. 
+
+“You just need to practice,” said Hermione, who had 
+approached them noiselessly from behind and had 
+stood watching anxiously as Harry tried to enlarge 
+and reduce the spider. “It’s all a matter of confidence, 
+Harry.” 
+
+He knew why she wanted it to be all right: She still 
+felt guilty about breaking his wand. He bit back the 
+retort that sprang to his lips, that she could take the 
+blackthorn wand if she thought it made no difference, 
+and he would have hers instead. Keen for them all to 
+be friends again, however, he agreed; but when Ron 
+gave Hermione a tentative smile, she stalked off and 
+vanished behind her book once more. 
+
+All three of them returned to the tent when darkness 
+fell, and Harry took first watch. Sitting in the 
+entrance, he tried to make the blackthorn wand 
+levitate small stones at his feet; but his magic still 
+seemed clumsier and less powerful than it had done 
+before. Hermione was lying on her bunk reading, 
+while Ron, after many nervous glances up at her, had 
+taken a small wooden wireless out of his rucksack 
+and started to try and tune it. 
+
+“There’s this one program,” he told Harry in a low 
+voice, “that tells the news like it really is. All the 
+others are on You- Know- Who’s side and are following 
+the Ministry line, but this one ... you wait till you 
+hear it, it’s great. Only they can’t do it every night, 
+they have to keep changing locations in case they’re 
+raided, and you need a password to tune in. ... 
+
+Trouble is, I missed the last one. ...” 
+
+He drummed lightly on the top of the radio with his 
+wand, muttering random words under his breath. He 
+
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+
+
+
+
+threw Hermione many covert glances, plainly fearing 
+an angry outburst, but for all the notice she took of 
+him he might not have been there. For ten minutes or 
+so Ron tapped and muttered, Hermione turned the 
+pages of her book, and Harry continued to practice 
+with the blackthorn wand. 
+
+Finally Hermione climbed down from her bunk. Ron 
+ceased his tapping at once. 
+
+“If it’s annoying you, 111 stop!” he told Hermione 
+nervously. 
+
+Hermione did not deign to respond, but approached 
+Harry. 
+
+“We need to talk,” she said. 
+
+He looked at the book still clutched in her hand. It 
+was The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. 
+
+“What?” he said apprehensively. It flew through his 
+mind that there was a chapter on him in there; he 
+was not sure he felt up to hearing Rita’s version of his 
+relationship with Dumbledore. Hermione ’s answer, 
+however, was completely unexpected. 
+
+“I want to go and see Xenophilius Lovegood.” 
+
+He stared at her. 
+
+“Sorry?” 
+
+“Xenophilius Lovegood. Luna’s father. I want to go 
+and talk to him!” 
+
+“Er — why?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+She took a deep breath, as though bracing herself, 
+and said, “It’s that mark, the mark in Beedle the 
+Bard. Look at this!” 
+
+She thrust The Life and Lies ofAlbus Dumbledore 
+under Harry’s unwilling eyes and he saw a 
+photograph of the original letter that Dumbledore had 
+written Grindelwald, with Dumbledore ’s familiar thin, 
+slanting handwriting. He hated seeing absolute proof 
+that Dumbledore really had written those words, that 
+they had not been Rita’s invention. 
+
+“The signature,” said Hermione. “Look at the 
+signature, Harry!” 
+
+He obeyed. For a moment he had no idea what she 
+was talking about, but, looking more closely with the 
+aid of his lit wand, he saw that Dumbledore had 
+replaced the A of Albus with a tiny version of the 
+same triangular mark inscribed upon The Tales of 
+Beedle the Bard. 
+
+“Er — what are you — ?” said Ron tentatively, but 
+Hermione quelled him with a look and turned back to 
+Harry. 
+
+“It keeps cropping up, doesn’t it?” she said. “I know 
+Viktor said it was Grindelwald ’s mark, but it was 
+definitely on that old grave in Godric’s Hollow, and 
+the dates on the headstone were long before 
+Grindelwald came along! And now this! Well, we can’t 
+ask Dumbledore or Grindelwald what it means — I 
+don’t even know whether Grindelwald’s still alive — 
+but we can ask Mr. Lovegood. He was wearing the 
+symbol at the wedding. I’m sure this is important, 
+Harry!” 
+
+Harry did not answer immediately. He looked into her 
+intense, eager face and then out into the surrounding 
+
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+
+
+
+
+darkness, thinking. After a long pause he said, 
+“Hermione, we don’t need another Godric’s Hollow. 
+
+We talked ourselves into going there, and — ” 
+
+“But it keeps appearing, Harry! Dumbledore left me 
+The Tales of Beedle the Bard, how do you know we’re 
+not supposed to find out about the sign?” 
+
+“Here we go again!” Harry felt slightly exasperated. 
+
+“We keep trying to convince ourselves Dumbledore left 
+us secret signs and clues — ” 
+
+“The Deluminator turned out to be pretty useful,” 
+piped up Ron. “I think Hermione’s right, I think we 
+ought to go and see Lovegood.” 
+
+Harry threw him a dark look. He was quite sure that 
+Ron’s support of Hermione had little to do with a 
+desire to know the meaning of the triangular rune. 
+
+“It won’t be like Godric’s Hollow,” Ron added, 
+“Lovegood’s on your side, Harry, The Quibbler’s been 
+for you all along, it keeps telling everyone they’ve got 
+to help you!” 
+
+“I’m sure this is important!” said Hermione earnestly. 
+
+“But don’t you think if it was, Dumbledore would 
+have told me about it before he died?” 
+
+“Maybe ... maybe it’s something you need to find out 
+for yourself,” said Hermione with a faint air of 
+clutching at straws. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Ron sycophantically, “that makes sense.” 
+
+“No, it doesn’t,” snapped Hermione, “but I still think 
+we ought to talk to Mr. Lovegood. A symbol that links 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Godric’s Hollow? 
+Harry, I’m sure we ought to know about this!” 
+
+
+
+“I think we should vote on it,” said Ron. “Those in 
+favor of going to see Lovegood — ” 
+
+His hand flew into the air before Hermione’s. Her lips 
+quivered suspiciously as she raised her own. 
+
+“Outvoted, Harry, sorry,” said Ron, clapping him on 
+the back. 
+
+“Fine,” said Harry, half amused, half irritated. “Only, 
+once we’ve seen Lovegood, let’s try and look for some 
+more Horcruxes, shall we? Where do the Lovegoods 
+live, anyway? Do either of you know?” 
+
+“Yeah, they’re not far from my place,” said Ron. “I 
+dunno exactly where, but Mum and Dad always point 
+toward the hills whenever they mention them. 
+Shouldn’t be hard to find.” 
+
+When Hermione had returned to her bunk, Harry 
+lowered his voice. 
+
+“You only agreed to try and get back in her good 
+books.” 
+
+“All’s fair in love and war,” said Ron brightly, “and 
+this is a bit of both. Cheer up, it’s the Christmas 
+holidays, Luna ’ll be home!” 
+
+They had an excellent view of the village of Ottery St. 
+Catchpole from the breezy hillside to which they 
+Disapparated next morning. From their high vantage 
+point the village looked like a collection of toy houses 
+in the great slanting shafts of sunlight stretching to 
+earth in the breaks between clouds. They stood for a 
+minute or two looking toward the Burrow, their hands 
+Page | 446 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+shadowing their eyes, but all they could make out 
+were the high hedges and trees of the orchard, which 
+afforded the crooked little house protection from 
+Muggle eyes. 
+
+“It’s weird, being this near, but not going to visit,” 
+said Ron. 
+
+“Well, it’s not like you haven’t just seen them. You 
+were there for Christmas,” said Hermione coldly. 
+
+“I wasn’t at the Burrow!” said Ron with an 
+incredulous laugh. “Do you think I was going to go 
+back there and tell them all I’d walked out on you? 
+Yeah, Fred and George would’ve been great about it. 
+And Ginny, she’d have been really understanding.” 
+
+“But where have you been, then?” asked Hermione, 
+surprised. 
+
+“Bill and Fleur’s new place. Shell Cottage. Bill’s 
+always been decent to me. He — he wasn’t impressed 
+when he heard what I’d done, but he didn’t go on 
+about it. He knew I was really sorry. None of the rest 
+of the family know I was there. Bill told Mum he and 
+Fleur weren’t going home for Christmas because they 
+wanted to spend it alone. You know, first holiday after 
+they were married. I don’t think Fleur minded. You 
+know how much she hates Celestina Warbeck.” 
+
+Ron turned his back on the Burrow. 
+
+“Let’s try up here,” he said, leading the way over the 
+top of the hill. 
+
+They walked for a few hours, Harry, at Hermione ’s 
+insistence, hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak. The 
+cluster of low hills appeared to be uninhabited apart 
+from one small cottage, which seemed deserted. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Do you think it’s theirs, and they’ve gone away for 
+Christmas?” said Hermione, peering through the 
+window at a neat little kitchen with geraniums on the 
+windowsill. Ron snorted. 
+
+“Listen, I’ve got a feeling you’d be able to tell who lived 
+there if you looked through the Lovegoods’ window. 
+Let’s try the next lot of hills.” 
+
+So they Disapparated a few miles farther north. 
+
+“Aha!” shouted Ron, as the wind whipped their hair 
+and clothes. Ron was pointing upward, toward the top 
+of the hill on which they had appeared, where a most 
+strange-looking house rose vertically against the sky, 
+a great black cylinder with a ghostly moon hanging 
+behind it in the afternoon sky. “That’s got to be 
+Luna’s house, who else would live in a place like that? 
+It looks like a giant rook!” 
+
+“It’s nothing like a bird,” said Hermione, frowning at 
+the tower. 
+
+“I was talking about a chess rook,” said Ron. “A castle 
+to you.” 
+
+Ron’s legs were the longest and he reached the top of 
+the hill first. When Harry and Hermione caught up 
+with him, panting and clutching stitches in their 
+sides, they found him grinning broadly. 
+
+“It’s theirs,” said Ron. “Look.” 
+
+Three hand-painted signs had been tacked to a 
+broken-down gate. The first read, 
+
+THE QUIBBLER. EDITOR: X. LOVEGOOD 
+
+the second, 
+
+Page | 448 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+PICK YOUR OWN MISTLETOE 
+
+
+
+the third, 
+
+KEEP OFF THE DIRIGIBLE PLUMS 
+
+The gate creaked as they opened it. The zigzagging 
+path leading to the front door was overgrown with a 
+variety of odd plants, including a bush covered in the 
+orange radishlike fruit Luna sometimes wore as 
+earrings. Harry thought he recognized a Snargaluff 
+and gave the wizened stump a wide berth. Two aged 
+crab apple trees, bent with the wind, stripped of 
+leaves but still heavy with berry-sized red fruits and 
+bushy crowns of white-beaded mistletoe, stood 
+sentinel on either side of the front door. A little owl 
+with a slightly flattened, hawklike head peered down 
+at them from one of the branches. 
+
+“You’d better take off the Invisibility Cloak, Harry,” 
+said Hermione. “It’s you Mr. Lovegood wants to help, 
+not us.” 
+
+He did as she suggested, handing her the Cloak to 
+stow in the beaded bag. She then rapped three times 
+on the thick black door, which was studded with iron 
+nails and bore a knocker shaped like an eagle. 
+
+Barely ten seconds passed, then the door was flung 
+open and there stood Xenophilius Lovegood, barefoot 
+and wearing what appeared to be a stained nightshirt 
+His long white candyfloss hair was dirty and 
+unkempt. Xenophilius had been positively dapper at 
+Bill and Fleur’s wedding by comparison. 
+
+“What? What is it? Who are you? What do you want?” 
+he cried in a high-pitched, querulous voice, looking 
+first at Hermione, then at Ron, and finally at Harry, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+upon which his mouth fell open in a perfect, comical 
+
+O. 
+
+
+
+“Hello, Mr. Lovegood,” said Harry, holding out his 
+hand. “I’m Harry, Harry Potter.” 
+
+Xenophilius did not take Harry’s hand, although the 
+eye that was not pointing inward at his nose slid 
+straight to the scar on Harry’s forehead. 
+
+“Would it be okay if we came in?” asked Harry. 
+“There’s something we’d like to ask you.” 
+
+“I ... I’m not sure that’s advisable,” whispered 
+Xenophilius. He swallowed and cast a quick look 
+around the garden. “Rather a shock ... My word ... I 
+... I’m afraid I don’t really think I ought to — ” 
+
+“It won’t take long,” said Harry, slightly disappointed 
+by this less-than-warm welcome. 
+
+“I — oh, all right then. Come in, quickly. QuicklyV’ 
+
+They were barely over the threshold when Xenophilius 
+slammed the door shut behind them. They were 
+standing in the most peculiar kitchen Harry had ever 
+seen. The room was perfectly circular, so that it felt 
+like being inside a giant pepper pot. Everything was 
+curved to fit the walls — the stove, the sink, and the 
+cupboards — and all of it had been painted with 
+flowers, insects, and birds in bright primary colors. 
+Harry thought he recognized Luna’s style: The effect, 
+in such an enclosed space, was slightly 
+overwhelming. 
+
+In the middle of the floor, a wrought-iron spiral 
+staircase led to the upper levels. There was a great 
+deal of clattering and banging coming from overhead: 
+Harry wondered what Luna could be doing. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’d better come up,” said Xenophilius, still looking 
+extremely uncomfortable, and he led the way. 
+
+The room above seemed to be a combination of living 
+room and workplace, and as such, was even more 
+cluttered than the kitchen. Though much smaller and 
+entirely round, the room somewhat resembled the 
+Room of Requirement on the unforgettable occasion 
+that it had transformed itself into a gigantic labyrinth 
+comprised of centuries of hidden objects. There were 
+piles upon piles of books and papers on every surface. 
+Delicately made models of creatures Harry did not 
+recognize, all flapping wings or snapping jaws, hung 
+from the ceiling. 
+
+Luna was not there: The thing that was making such 
+a racket was a wooden object covered in magically 
+turning cogs and wheels. It looked like the bizarre 
+offspring of a workbench and a set of old shelves, but 
+after a moment Harry deduced that it was an old- 
+fashioned printing press, due to the fact that it was 
+churning out Quibblers. 
+
+“Excuse me,” said Xenophilius, and he strode over to 
+the machine, seized a grubby tablecloth from beneath 
+an immense number of books and papers, which all 
+tumbled onto the floor, and threw it over the press, 
+somewhat muffling the loud bangs and clatters. He 
+then faced Harry. 
+
+“Why have you come here?” 
+
+Before Harry could speak, however, Hermione let out 
+a small cry of shock. 
+
+“Mr. Lovegood — what’s that?” 
+
+She was pointing at an enormous, gray spiral horn, 
+not unlike that of a unicorn, which had been 
+
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+
+
+
+
+mounted on the wall, protruding several feet into the 
+room. 
+
+“It is the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack,” said 
+Xenophilius. 
+
+“No it isn’t!” said Hermione. 
+
+“Hermione,” muttered Harry, embarrassed, “now’s not 
+the moment — ” 
+
+“But Harry, it’s an Erumpent horn! It’s a Class B 
+Tradeable Material and it’s an extraordinarily 
+dangerous thing to have in a house!” 
+
+“How d’you know it’s an Erumpent horn?” asked Ron, 
+edging away from the horn as fast as he could, given 
+the extreme clutter of the room. 
+
+“There’s a description in Fantastic Beasts and Where 
+to Find Them .! Mr. Lovegood, you need to get rid of it 
+straightaway, don’t you know it can explode at the 
+slightest touch?” 
+
+“The Crumple-Horned Snorkack,” said Xenophilius 
+very clearly, a mulish look upon his face, “is a shy 
+and highly magical creature, and its horn — ” 
+
+���Mr. Lovegood, I recognize the grooved markings 
+around the base, that’s an Erumpent horn and it’s 
+incredibly dangerous — I don’t know where you got it 
+
+
+
+“I bought it,” said Xenophilius dogmatically, “two 
+weeks ago, from a delightful young wizard who knew 
+of my interest in the exquisite Snorkack. A Christmas 
+surprise for my Luna. Now,” he said, turning to 
+Harry, “why exactly have you come here, Mr. Potter?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We need some help,” said Harry, before Hermione 
+could start again. 
+
+
+
+“Ah,” said Xenophilius. “Help. Hmm.” 
+
+His good eye moved again to Harry’s scar. He seemed 
+simultaneously terrified and mesmerized. 
+
+“Yes. The thing is ... helping Harry Potter ... rather 
+dangerous ...” 
+
+“Aren’t you the one who keeps telling everyone it’s 
+their first duty to help Harry?” said Ron. “In that 
+magazine of yours?” 
+
+Xenophilius glanced behind him at the concealed 
+printing press, still banging and clattering beneath 
+the tablecloth. 
+
+“Er — yes, I have expressed that view. However — ” 
+
+“That’s for everyone else to do, not you personally?” 
+said Ron. 
+
+Xenophilius did not answer. He kept swallowing, his 
+eyes darting between the three of them. Harry had the 
+impression that he was undergoing some painful 
+internal struggle. 
+
+“Where’s Luna?” asked Hermione. “Let’s see what she 
+thinks.” 
+
+Xenophilius gulped. He seemed to be steeling himself. 
+Finally he said in a shaky voice difficult to hear over 
+the noise of the printing press, “Luna is down at the 
+stream, fishing for Freshwater Plimpies. She ... she 
+will like to see you. I’ll go and call her and then — 
+yes, very well. I shall try to help you.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+He disappeared down the spiral staircase and they 
+heard the front door open and close. They looked at 
+each other. 
+
+“Cowardly old wart,” said Ron. “Luna’s got ten times 
+his guts.” 
+
+“He’s probably worried about what’ll happen to them 
+if the Death Eaters find out I was here,” said Harry. 
+
+“Well, I agree with Ron,” said Hermione. “Awful old 
+hypocrite, telling everyone else to help you and trying 
+to worm out of it himself. And for heaven’s sake keep 
+away from that horn.” 
+
+Harry crossed to the window on the far side of the 
+room. He could see a stream, a thin, glittering ribbon 
+lying far below them at the base of the hill. They were 
+very high up; a bird fluttered past the window as he 
+stared in the direction of the Burrow, now invisible 
+beyond another line of hills. Ginny was over there 
+somewhere. They were closer to each other today than 
+they had been since Bill and Fleur’s wedding, but she 
+could have no idea he was gazing toward her now, 
+thinking of her. He supposed he ought to be glad of it; 
+anyone he came into contact with was in danger, 
+Xenophilius’s attitude proved that. 
+
+He turned away from the window and his gaze fell 
+upon another peculiar object standing upon the 
+cluttered, curved sideboard: a stone bust of a 
+beautiful but austere-looking witch wearing a most 
+bizarre-looking headdress. Two objects that 
+resembled golden ear trumpets curved out from the 
+sides. A tiny pair of glittering blue wings was stuck to 
+a leather strap that ran over the top of her head, 
+while one of the orange radishes had been stuck to a 
+second strap around her forehead. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Look at this,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+“Fetching,” said Ron. “Surprised he didn’t wear that 
+to the wedding.” 
+
+They heard the front door close, and a moment later 
+Xenophilius had climbed back up the spiral staircase 
+into the room, his thin legs now encased in 
+Wellington boots, bearing a tray of ill-assorted 
+teacups and a steaming teapot. 
+
+“Ah, you have spotted my pet invention,” he said, 
+shoving the tray into Hermione’s arms and joining 
+Harry at the statue’s side. “Modeled, fittingly enough, 
+upon the head of the beautiful Rowena Ravenclaw. 
+
+‘Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasureV ” 
+
+He indicated the objects like ear trumpets. 
+
+“These are the Wrackspurt siphons — to remove all 
+sources of distraction from the thinker’s immediate 
+area. Here,” he pointed out the tiny wings, “a billywig 
+propeller, to induce an elevated frame of mind. 
+Finally,” he pointed to the orange radish, “the 
+Dirigible Plum, so as to enhance the ability to accept 
+the extraordinary.” 
+
+Xenophilius strode back to the tea tray, which 
+Hermione had managed to balance precariously on 
+one of the cluttered side tables. 
+
+“May I offer you all an infusion of Gurdyroots?” said 
+Xenophilius. “We make it ourselves.” As he started to 
+pour out the drink, which was as deeply purple as 
+beetroot juice, he added, “Luna is down beyond 
+Bottom Bridge, she is most excited that you are here. 
+She ought not to be too long, she has caught nearly 
+enough Plimpies to make soup for all of us. Do sit 
+down and help yourselves to sugar. 
+
+Page | 455 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Now,” he removed a tottering pile of papers from an 
+armchair and sat down, his Wellingtoned legs 
+crossed, “how may I help you, Mr. Potter?” 
+
+“Well,” said Harry, glancing at Hermione, who nodded 
+encouragingly, “it’s about that symbol you were 
+wearing around your neck at Bill and Fleur’s 
+wedding, Mr. Lovegood. We wondered what it meant.” 
+
+Xenophilius raised his eyebrows. 
+
+“Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 456 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TALE OF THE THREE 
+BROTHERS 
+
+Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione. Neither of 
+them seemed to have understood what Xenophilius 
+had said either. 
+
+“The Deathly Hallows?” 
+
+“That’s right,” said Xenophilius. “You haven’t heard of 
+them? I’m not surprised. Very, very few wizards 
+believe. Witness that knuckle-headed young man at 
+your brother’s wedding,” he nodded at Ron, “who 
+attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well-known 
+Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark 
+about the Hallows — at least, not in that crude sense. 
+One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other 
+believers, in the hope that they might help one with 
+the Quest.” 
+
+He stirred several lumps of sugar into his Gurdyroot 
+infusion and drank some. 
+
+
+
+Page | 457 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“I’m sorry,” said Harry. “I still don’t really 
+understand.” 
+
+To be polite, he took a sip from his cup too, and 
+almost gagged: The stuff was quite disgusting, as 
+though someone had liquidized bogey-flavored Every 
+Flavor Beans. 
+
+“Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows,” 
+said Xenophilius, smacking his lips in apparent 
+appreciation of the Gurdyroot infusion. 
+
+“But what are the Deathly Hallows?” asked Hermione. 
+
+Xenophilius set aside his empty teacup. 
+
+“I assume that you are all familiar with “The Tale of 
+the Three Brothers’?” 
+
+Harry said, “No,” but Ron and Hermione both said, 
+“Yes.” Xenophilius nodded gravely. 
+
+“Well, well, Mr. Potter, the whole thing starts with 
+The Tale of the Three Brothers’ ... I have a copy 
+somewhere. ...” 
+
+He glanced vaguely around the room, at the piles of 
+parchment and books, but Hermione said, “I’ve got a 
+copy, Mr. Lovegood, I’ve got it right here.” 
+
+And she pulled out The Tales of Beedle the Bard from 
+the small, beaded bag. 
+
+“The original?” inquired Xenophilius sharply, and 
+when she nodded, he said, “Well then, why don’t you 
+read it aloud? Much the best way to make sure we all 
+understand.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Er ... all right,” said Hermione nervously. She opened 
+the book, and Harry saw that the symbol they were 
+investigating headed the top of the page as she gave a 
+little cough, and began to read. 
+
+“ ‘There were once three brothers who were traveling 
+along a lonely, winding road at twilight — ’ ” 
+
+“Midnight, our mum always told us,” said Ron, who 
+had stretched out, arms behind his head, to listen. 
+Hermione shot him a look of annoyance. 
+
+“Sorry, I just think it’s a bit spookier if it’s midnight!” 
+said Ron. 
+
+“Yeah, because we really need a bit more fear in our 
+lives,” said Harry before he could stop himself. 
+Xenophilius did not seem to be paying much 
+attention, but was staring out of the window at the 
+sky. “Go on, Hermione.” 
+
+“ ‘In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to 
+wade through and too dangerous to swim across. 
+However, these brothers were learned in the magical 
+arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made 
+a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They 
+were halfway across it when they found their path 
+blocked by a hooded figure. 
+
+“ ‘And Death spoke to them — ’ ” 
+
+“Sorry,” interjected Harry, “but Death spoke to them?” 
+“It’s a fairy tale, Harry!” 
+
+“Right, sorry. Go on.” 
+
+“ ‘And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had 
+been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers 
+
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+
+
+
+
+usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. 
+He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon 
+their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for 
+having been clever enough to evade him. 
+
+“ ‘So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, 
+asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: 
+a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a 
+wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! 
+
+So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the 
+river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, 
+and gave it to the oldest brother. 
+
+“ ‘Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, 
+decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, 
+and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So 
+Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it 
+to the second brother, and told him that the stone 
+would have the power to bring back the dead. 
+
+“ ‘And then Death asked the third and youngest 
+brother what he would like. The youngest brother was 
+the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and 
+he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that 
+would enable him to go forth from that place without 
+being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, 
+handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.’ ” 
+
+“Death’s got an Invisibility Cloak?” Harry interrupted 
+again. 
+
+“So he can sneak up on people,” said Ron. 
+
+“Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, 
+flapping his arms and shrieking ... sorry, Hermione.” 
+
+“ ‘Then Death stood aside and allowed the three 
+brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, 
+talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, 
+and admiring Death’s gifts. 
+
+Page | 460 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ‘In due course the brothers separated, each for his 
+own destination. 
+
+“ ‘The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and 
+reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard 
+with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder 
+Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel 
+that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, 
+the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he 
+boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched 
+from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible. 
+
+“ ‘That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest 
+brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief 
+took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest 
+brother’s throat. 
+
+“ ‘And so Death took the first brother for his own. 
+
+“ ‘Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own 
+home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone 
+that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it 
+thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, 
+the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, 
+before her untimely death, appeared at once before 
+him. 
+
+“ ‘Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by 
+a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, 
+she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the 
+second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, 
+killed himself so as truly to join her. 
+
+“ ‘And so Death took the second brother for his own. 
+
+“ ‘But though Death searched for the third brother for 
+many years, he was never able to find him. It was only 
+when he had attained a great age that the youngest 
+brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and 
+
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+
+
+
+
+gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old 
+friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they 
+departed this life. ’ ” 
+
+Hermione closed the book. It was a moment or two 
+before Xenophilius seemed to realize that she had 
+stopped reading, then he withdrew his gaze from the 
+window and said, “Well, there you are.” 
+
+“Sorry?” said Hermione, sounding confused. 
+
+“Those are the Deathly Hallows,” said Xenophilius. 
+
+He picked up a quill from a packed table at his elbow, 
+and pulled a torn piece of parchment from between 
+more books. 
+
+“The Elder Wand,” he said, and he drew a straight 
+vertical line upon the parchment. “The Resurrection 
+Stone,” he said, and he added a circle on top of the 
+line. “The Cloak of Invisibility,” he finished, enclosing 
+both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbol 
+that so intrigued Hermione. “Together,” he said, “the 
+Deathly Hallows.” 
+
+“But there’s no mention of the words ‘Deathly 
+Hallows’ in the story,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Well, of course not,” said Xenophilius, maddeningly 
+smug. “That is a children’s tale, told to amuse rather 
+than to instruct. Those of us who understand these 
+matters, however, recognize that the ancient story 
+refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, 
+will make the possessor master of Death.” 
+
+There was a short silence in which Xenophilius 
+glanced out of the window. Already the sun was low 
+in the sky. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Luna ought to have enough Plimpies soon,” he said 
+quietly. 
+
+“When you say ‘master of Death’ — ” said Ron. 
+
+“Master,” said Xenophilius, waving an airy hand. 
+“Conqueror. Vanquisher. Whichever term you prefer.” 
+
+“But then ... do you mean ...” said Hermione slowly, 
+and Harry could tell that she was trying to keep any 
+trace of skepticism out of her voice, “that you believe 
+these objects — these Hallows — actually exist?” 
+
+Xenophilius raised his eyebrows again. 
+
+“Well, of course.” 
+
+“But,” said Hermione, and Harry could hear her 
+restraint starting to crack, “Mr. Lovegood, how can 
+you possibly believe — ?” 
+
+“Luna has told me all about you, young lady,” said 
+Xenophilius. “You are, I gather, not unintelligent, but 
+painfully limited. Narrow. Close-minded.” 
+
+“Perhaps you ought to try on the hat, Hermione,” said 
+Ron, nodding toward the ludicrous headdress. His 
+voice shook with the strain of not laughing. 
+
+“Mr. Lovegood,” Hermione began again. “We all know 
+that there are such things as Invisibility Cloaks. They 
+are rare, but they exist. But — ” 
+
+“Ah, but the Third Hallow is a true Cloak of 
+Invisibility, Miss Granger! I mean to say, it is not a 
+traveling cloak imbued with a Disillusionment Charm, 
+or carrying a Bedazzling Hex, or else woven from 
+Demiguise hair, which will hide one initially but fade 
+with the years until it turns opaque. We are talking 
+Page | 463 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer 
+completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving 
+constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter 
+what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you 
+ever seen like that, Miss Granger?” 
+
+Hermione opened her mouth to answer, then closed it 
+again, looking more confused than ever. She, Harry, 
+and Ron glanced at one another, and Harry knew that 
+they were all thinking the same thing. It so happened 
+that a cloak exactly like the one Xenophilius had just 
+described was in the room with them at that very 
+moment. 
+
+“Exactly,” said Xenophilius, as if he had defeated 
+them all in reasoned argument. “None of you have 
+ever seen such a thing. The possessor would be 
+immeasurably rich, would he not?” 
+
+He glanced out of the window again. The sky was now 
+tinged with the faintest trace of pink. 
+
+“All right,” said Hermione, disconcerted. “Say the 
+Cloak existed ... what about the stone, Mr. Lovegood? 
+The thing you call the Resurrection Stone?” 
+
+“What of it?” 
+
+“Well, how can that be real?” 
+
+“Prove that it is not,” said Xenophilius. 
+
+Hermione looked outraged. 
+
+“But that’s — I’m sorry, but that’s completely 
+ridiculous! How can I possibly prove it doesn’t exist? 
+Do you expect me to get hold of — of all the pebbles 
+in the world and test them? I mean, you could claim 
+
+
+
+Page | 464 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+that anything’s real if the only basis for believing in it 
+is that nobody’s proved it doesn’t exist!” 
+
+“Yes, you could,” said Xenophilius. “I am glad to see 
+that you are opening your mind a little.” 
+
+“So the Elder Wand,” said Harry quickly, before 
+Hermione could retort, “you think that exists too?” 
+
+“Oh, well, in that case there is endless evidence,” said 
+Xenophilius. “The Elder Wand is the Hallow that is 
+most easily traced, because of the way in which it 
+passes from hand to hand.” 
+
+“Which is what?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Which is that the possessor of the wand must 
+capture it from its previous owner, if he is to be truly 
+master of it,” said Xenophilius. “Surely you have 
+heard of the way the wand came to Egbert the 
+Egregious, after his slaughter of Emeric the Evil? Of 
+how Godelot died in his own cellar after his son, 
+Hereward, took the wand from him? Of the dreadful 
+Loxias, who took the wand from Barnabas Deverill, 
+whom he had killed? The bloody trail of the Elder 
+Wand is splattered across the pages of Wizarding 
+history.” 
+
+Harry glanced at Hermione. She was frowning at 
+Xenophilius, but she did not contradict him. 
+
+“So where do you think the Elder Wand is now?” 
+asked Ron. 
+
+“Alas, who knows?” said Xenophilius, as he gazed out 
+of the window. “Who knows where the Elder Wand 
+lies hidden? The trail goes cold with Arcus and Livius. 
+Who can say which of them really defeated Loxias, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+and which took the wand? And who can say who may 
+have defeated them? History, alas, does not tell us.” 
+
+There was a pause. Finally Hermione asked stiffly, 
+“Mr. Lovegood, does the Peverell family have anything 
+to do with the Deathly Hallows?” 
+
+Xenophilius looked taken aback as something shifted 
+in Harry’s memory, but he could not locate it. Peverell 
+...he had heard that name before. ... 
+
+“But you have been misleading me, young woman!” 
+said Xenophilius, now sitting up much straighter in 
+his chair and goggling at Hermione. “I thought you 
+were new to the Hallows Quest! Many of us Questers 
+believe that the Peverells have everything — 
+everything ! — to do with the Hallows!” 
+
+“Who are the Peverells?” asked Ron. 
+
+“That was the name on the grave with the mark on it, 
+in Godric’s Hollow,” said Hermione, still watching 
+Xenophilius. “Ignotus Peverell.” 
+
+“Exactly!” said Xenophilius, his forefinger raised 
+pedantically. “The sign of the Deathly Hallows on 
+Ignotus ’s grave is conclusive proof!” 
+
+“Of what?” asked Ron. 
+
+“Why, that the three brothers in the story were 
+actually the three Peverell brothers, Antioch, Cadmus, 
+and Ignotus! That they were the original owners of the 
+Hallows!” 
+
+With another glance at the window he got to his feet, 
+picked up the tray, and headed for the spiral 
+staircase. 
+
+
+
+Page | 466 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You will stay for dinner?” he called, as he vanished 
+downstairs again. “Everybody always requests our 
+recipe for Freshwater Plimpy soup.” 
+
+“Probably to show the Poisoning Department at St. 
+Mungo’s,” said Ron under his breath. 
+
+Harry waited until they could hear Xenophilius 
+moving about in the kitchen downstairs before 
+speaking. 
+
+“What do you think?” he asked Hermione. 
+
+“Oh, Harry,” she said wearily, “it’s a pile of utter 
+rubbish. This can’t be what the sign really means. 
+This must just be his weird take on it. What a waste 
+of time.” 
+
+“I s’pose this is the man who brought us Crumple- 
+Horned Snorkacks,” said Ron. 
+
+“You don’t believe it either?” Harry asked him. 
+
+“Nah, that story’s just one of those things you tell 
+kids to teach them lessons, isn’t it? ‘Don’t go looking 
+for trouble, don’t pick fights, don’t go messing around 
+with stuff that’s best left alone! Just keep your head 
+down, mind your own business, and you’ll be okay’ 
+Come to think of it,” Ron added, “maybe that story’s 
+why elder wands are supposed to be unlucky.” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” 
+
+“One of those superstitions, isn’t it? ‘May-born 
+witches will marry Muggles.’ ‘Jinx by twilight, undone 
+by midnight.’ ‘Wand of elder, never prosper.’ You 
+must’ve heard them. My mum’s full of them.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 467 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry and I were raised by Muggles,” Hermione 
+reminded him. “We were taught different 
+superstitions.” She sighed deeply as a rather pungent 
+smell drifted up from the kitchen. The one good thing 
+about her exasperation with Xenophilius was that it 
+seemed to have made her forget that she was annoyed 
+at Ron. “I think you’re right,” she told him. “It’s just a 
+morality tale, it’s obvious which gift is best, which one 
+you’d choose — ” 
+
+The three of them spoke at the same time; Hermione 
+said, “the Cloak,” Ron said, “the wand,” and Harry 
+said, “the stone.” 
+
+They looked at each other, half surprised, half 
+amused. 
+
+“You’re supposed to say the Cloak,” Ron told 
+Hermione, “but you wouldn’t need to be invisible if 
+you had the wand. An unbeatable wand, Hermione, 
+come on!” 
+
+“We’ve already got an Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry. 
+
+“And it’s helped us rather a lot, in case you hadn’t 
+noticed!” said Hermione. “Whereas the wand would be 
+bound to attract trouble — ” 
+
+“Only if you shouted about it,” argued Ron. “Only if 
+you were prat enough to go dancing around, waving it 
+over your head, and singing, ‘I’ve got an unbeatable 
+wand, come and have a go if you think you’re hard 
+enough.’ As long as you kept your trap shut — ” 
+
+“Yes, but could you keep your trap shut?” said 
+Hermione, looking skeptical. “You know, the only true 
+thing he said to us was that there have been stories 
+about extra- powerful wands for hundreds of years.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“There have?” asked Harry. 
+
+
+
+Hermione looked exasperated: The expression was so 
+endearingly familiar that Harry and Ron grinned at 
+each other. 
+
+“The Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny, they crop up 
+under different names through the centuries, usually 
+in the possession of some Dark wizard who’s boasting 
+about them. Professor Binns mentioned some of 
+them, but — oh, it’s all nonsense. Wands are only as 
+powerful as the wizards who use them. Some wizards 
+just like to boast that theirs are bigger and better 
+than other people’s.” 
+
+“But how do you know,” said Harry, “that those 
+wands — the Deathstick and the Wand of Destiny — 
+aren’t the same wand, surfacing over the centuries 
+under different names?” 
+
+“What, and they’re all really the Elder Wand, made by 
+Death?” said Ron. 
+
+Harry laughed: The strange idea that had occurred to 
+him was, after all, ridiculous. His wand, he reminded 
+himself, had been of holly, not elder, and it had been 
+made by Ollivander, whatever it had done that night 
+Voldemort had pursued him across the skies. And if it 
+had been unbeatable, how could it have been broken? 
+
+“So why would you take the stone?” Ron asked him. 
+
+“Well, if you could bring people back, we could have 
+Sirius ... Mad-Eye ... Dumbledore ... my parents. ...” 
+
+Neither Ron nor Hermione smiled. 
+
+“But according to Beedle the Bard, they wouldn’t 
+want to come back, would they?” said Harry, thinking 
+
+Page | 469 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+about the tale they had just heard. “I don’t suppose 
+there have been loads of other stories about a stone 
+that can raise the dead, have there?” he asked 
+Hermione. 
+
+“No,” she replied sadly. “I don’t think anyone except 
+Mr. Lovegood could kid themselves that’s possible. 
+Beedle probably took the idea from the Sorcerer’s 
+Stone; you know, instead of a stone to make you 
+immortal, a stone to reverse death.” 
+
+The smell from the kitchen was getting stronger: It 
+was something like burning underpants. Harry 
+wondered whether it would be possible to eat enough 
+of whatever Xenophilius was cooking to spare his 
+feelings. 
+
+“What about the Cloak, though?” said Ron slowly. 
+“Don’t you realize, he’s right? I’ve got so used to 
+Harry’s Cloak and how good it is, I never stopped to 
+think. I’ve never heard of one like Harry’s. It’s 
+infallible. We’ve never been spotted under it — ” 
+
+“Of course not — we’re invisible when we’re under it, 
+Ron!” 
+
+“But all the stuff he said about other cloaks, and 
+they’re not exactly ten a Knut, you know, is true! It’s 
+never occurred to me before, but I’ve heard stuff 
+about charms wearing off cloaks when they get old, or 
+them being ripped apart by spells so they’ve got holes 
+in. Harry’s was owned by his dad, so it’s not exactly 
+new, is it, but it’s just ... perfect!” 
+
+“Yes, all right, but Ron, the stone ...” 
+
+As they argued in whispers, Harry moved around the 
+room, only half listening. Reaching the spiral stair, he 
+raised his eyes absently to the next level and was 
+
+Page | 470 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+distracted at once. His own face was looking back at 
+him from the ceiling of the room above. 
+
+After a moment’s bewilderment, he realized that it 
+was not a mirror, but a painting. Curious, he began 
+to climb the stairs. 
+
+“Harry, what are you doing? I don’t think you should 
+look around when he’s not here!” 
+
+But Harry had already reached the next level. 
+
+Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five 
+beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, 
+Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the 
+portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain 
+magic about them all the same: Harry thought they 
+breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains 
+wove around the pictures, linking them together, but 
+after examining them for a minute or so, Harry 
+realized that the chains were actually one word, 
+repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends . . . 
+friends . . . friends . . . 
+
+Harry felt a great rush of affection for Luna. He looked 
+around the room. There was a large photograph 
+beside the bed, of a young Luna and a woman who 
+looked very like her. They were hugging. Luna looked 
+rather better-groomed in this picture than Harry had 
+ever seen her in life. The picture was dusty. This 
+struck Harry as slightly odd. He stared around. 
+
+Something was wrong. The pale blue carpet was also 
+thick with dust. There were no clothes in the 
+wardrobe, whose doors stood ajar. The bed had a 
+cold, unfriendly look, as though it had not been slept 
+in for weeks. A single cobweb stretched over the 
+nearest window, across a bloodred sky. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What’s wrong?” Hermione asked as Harry descended 
+the staircase, but before he could respond, 
+Xenophilius reached the top of the stairs from the 
+kitchen, now holding a tray laden with bowls. 
+
+“Mr. Lovegood,” said Harry. “Where’s Luna?” 
+
+“Excuse me?” 
+
+“Where’s Luna?” 
+
+Xenophilius halted on the top step. 
+
+“I — I’ve already told you. She is down at Bottom 
+Bridge, fishing for Plimpies.” 
+
+“So why have you only laid that tray for four?” 
+
+Xenophilius tried to speak, but no sound came out. 
+The only noise was the continued chugging of the 
+printing press, and a slight rattle from the tray as 
+Xenophilius ’s hands shook. 
+
+“I don’t think Luna’s been here for weeks,” said Harry. 
+“Her clothes are gone, her bed hasn’t been slept in. 
+Where is she? And why do you keep looking out of the 
+window?” 
+
+Xenophilius dropped the tray: The bowls bounced and 
+smashed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione drew their 
+wands: Xenophilius froze, his hand about to enter his 
+pocket. At that moment the printing press gave a 
+huge bang and numerous Quibblers came streaming 
+across the floor from underneath the tablecloth; the 
+press fell silent at last. 
+
+Hermione stooped down and picked up one of the 
+magazines, her wand still pointing at Mr. Lovegood. 
+
+
+
+Page | 472 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry, look at this.” 
+
+
+
+He strode over to her as quickly as he could through 
+all the clutter. The front of The Quibbler carried his 
+own picture, emblazoned with the words 
+UNDESIRABLE NUMBER ONE and captioned with 
+the reward money. 
+
+“The Quibbler’s going for a new angle, then?” Harry 
+asked coldly, his mind working very fast. “Is that 
+what you were doing when you went into the garden, 
+Mr. Lovegood? Sending an owl to the Ministry?” 
+
+Xenophilius licked his lips. 
+
+“They took my Luna,” he whispered. “Because of what 
+I’ve been writing. They took my Luna and I don’t know 
+where she is, what they’ve done to her. But they 
+might give her back to me if I — if I — ” 
+
+“Hand over Harry?” Hermione finished for him. 
+
+“No deal,” said Ron flatly. “Get out of the way, we’re 
+leaving.” 
+
+Xenophilius looked ghastly, a century old, his lips 
+drawn back into a dreadful leer. 
+
+“They will be here at any moment. I must save Luna. I 
+cannot lose Luna. You must not leave.” 
+
+He spread his arms in front of the staircase, and 
+Harry had a sudden vision of his mother doing the 
+same thing in front of his crib. 
+
+“Don’t make us hurt you,” Harry said. “Get out of the 
+way, Mr. Lovegood.” 
+
+“HARRY!” Hermione screamed. 
+
+Page | 473 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Figures on broomsticks were flying past the windows. 
+As the three of them looked away from him, 
+Xenophilius drew his wand. Harry realized their 
+mistake just in time: He launched himself sideways, 
+shoving Ron and Hermione out of harm’s way as 
+Xenophilius’s Stunning Spell soared across the room 
+and hit the Erumpent horn. 
+
+There was a colossal explosion. The sound of it 
+seemed to blow the room apart: Fragments of wood 
+and paper and rubble flew in all directions, along with 
+an impenetrable cloud of thick white dust. Harry flew 
+through the air, then crashed to the floor, unable to 
+see as debris rained upon him, his arms over his 
+head. He heard Hermione’s scream, Ron’s yell, and a 
+series of sickening metallic thuds, which told him 
+that Xenophilius had been blasted off his feet and 
+fallen backward down the spiral stairs. 
+
+Half buried in rubble, Harry tried to raise himself: He 
+could barely breathe or see for dust. Half of the 
+ceiling had fallen in, and the end of Luna’s bed was 
+hanging through the hole. The bust of Rowena 
+Ravenclaw lay beside him with half its face missing, 
+fragments of torn parchment were floating through 
+the air, and most of the printing press lay on its side, 
+blocking the top of the staircase to the kitchen. Then 
+another white shape moved close by, and Hermione, 
+coated in dust like a second statue, pressed her finger 
+to her lips. 
+
+The door downstairs crashed open. 
+
+“Didn’t I tell you there was no need to hurry, 
+
+Travers?” said a rough voice. “Didn’t 1 tell you this 
+nutter was just raving as usual?” 
+
+There was a bang and a scream of pain from 
+Xenophilius. 
+
+Page | 474 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No ... no ... upstairs ... Potter!” 
+
+“I told you last week, Lovegood, we weren’t coming 
+back for anything less than some solid information! 
+Remember last week? When you wanted to swap your 
+daughter for that stupid bleeding headdress? And the 
+week before” — another bang, another squeal — 
+“when you thought we’d give her back if you offered 
+us proof there are Crumple” — bang — “Headed” — 
+bang — “Snorkacks?” 
+
+“No — no — I beg you!” sobbed Xenophilius. “It really 
+is Potter! Really!” 
+
+“And now it turns out you only called us here to try 
+and blow us up!” roared the Death Eater, and there 
+was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals of 
+agony from Xenophilius. 
+
+“The place looks like it’s about to fall in, Selwyn,” said 
+a cool second voice, echoing up the mangled 
+staircase. “The stairs are completely blocked. Could 
+try clearing it? Might bring the place down.” 
+
+“You lying piece of filth,” shouted the wizard named 
+Selwyn. “You’ve never seen Potter in your life, have 
+you? Thought you’d lure us here to kill us, did you? 
+And you think you’ll get your girl back like this?” 
+
+“I swear ... I swear ... Potter’s upstairs!” 
+
+“Homenum revelio,” said the voice at the foot of the 
+stairs. 
+
+Harry heard Hermione gasp, and he had the odd 
+sensation that something was swooping low over him, 
+immersing his body in its shadow. 
+
+
+
+Page | 475 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“There’s someone up there all right, Selwyn,” said the 
+second man sharply. 
+
+
+
+“It’s Potter, I tell you, it’s Potter!” sobbed Xenophilius. 
+“Please ... please ... give me Luna, just let me have 
+Luna. ...” 
+
+“You can have your little girl, Lovegood,” said Selwyn, 
+“if you get up those stairs and bring me down Harry 
+Potter. But if this is a plot, if it’s a trick, if you’ve got 
+an accomplice waiting up there to ambush us, we’ll 
+see if we can spare a bit of your daughter for you to 
+bury.” 
+
+Xenophilius gave a wail of fear and despair. There 
+were scurryings and scrapings: Xenophilius was 
+trying to get through the debris on the stairs. 
+
+“Come on,” Harry whispered, “we’ve got to get out of 
+here.” 
+
+He started to dig himself out under cover of all the 
+noise Xenophilius was making on the staircase. Ron 
+was buried deepest: Harry and Hermione climbed, as 
+quietly as they could, over all the wreckage to where 
+he lay, trying to prise a heavy chest of drawers off his 
+legs. While Xenophilius ’s banging and scraping drew 
+nearer and nearer, Hermione managed to free Ron 
+with the use of a Hover Charm. 
+
+“All right,” breathed Hermione, as the broken printing 
+press blocking the top of the stairs began to tremble; 
+Xenophilius was feet away from them. She was still 
+white with dust. “Do you trust me, Harry?” 
+
+Harry nodded. 
+
+“Okay then,” Hermione whispered, “give me the 
+Invisibility Cloak. Ron, you’re going to put it on.” 
+
+Page | 476 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Me? But Harry — ” 
+
+
+
+“Please, Ron\ Harry, hold on tight to my hand, Ron, 
+grab my shoulder.” 
+
+Harry held out his left hand. Ron vanished beneath 
+the Cloak. The printing press blocking the stairs was 
+vibrating: Xenophilius was trying to shift it using a 
+Hover Charm. Harry did not know what Hermione 
+was waiting for. 
+
+“Hold tight,” she whispered. “Hold tight ... any second 
+
+
+
+Xenophilius’s paper- white face appeared over the top 
+of the sideboard. 
+
+“Obliviate\” cried Hermione, pointing her wand first 
+into his face, then at the floor beneath them. 
+“Deprimo\” 
+
+She had blasted a hole in the sitting room floor. They 
+fell like boulders, Harry still holding onto her hand for 
+dear life; there was a scream from below, and he 
+glimpsed two men trying to get out of the way as vast 
+quantities of rubble and broken furniture rained all 
+around them from the shattered ceiling. Hermione 
+twisted in midair and the thundering of the collapsing 
+house rang in Harry’s ears as she dragged him once 
+more into darkness. 
+
+
+
+Page | 477 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATHLY HALLOWS 
+
+Harry fell, panting, onto grass and scrambled up at 
+once. They seemed to have landed in the corner of a 
+field at dusk; Hermione was already running in a 
+circle around them, waving her wand. 
+
+“Protego Totalum ... Salvio Hexia ...” 
+
+“That treacherous old bleeder!” Ron panted, emerging 
+from beneath the Invisibility Cloak and throwing it to 
+Harry. “Hermione, you’re a genius, a total genius, I 
+can’t believe we got out of that!” 
+
+“ Cave Inimicum ... Didn’t I say it was an Erumpent 
+horn, didn’t I tell him? And now his house has been 
+blown apart!” 
+
+“Serves him right,” said Ron, examining his torn jeans 
+and the cuts to his legs. “What d’you reckon they’ll do 
+to him?” 
+
+“Oh, I hope they don’t kill him!” groaned Hermione. 
+“That’s why I wanted the Death Eaters to get a 
+
+
+
+Page | 478 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+glimpse of Harry before we left, so they knew 
+Xenophilius hadn’t been lying!” 
+
+
+
+“Why hide me, though?” asked Ron. 
+
+“You’re supposed to be in bed with spattergroit, Ron! 
+They’ve kidnapped Luna because her father 
+supported Harry! What would happen to your family if 
+they knew you’re with him?” 
+
+“But what about your mum and dad?” 
+
+“They’re in Australia,” said Hermione. “They should 
+be all right. They don’t know anything.” 
+
+“You’re a genius,” Ron repeated, looking awed. 
+
+“Yeah, you are, Hermione,” agreed Harry fervently. “I 
+don’t know what we’d do without you.” 
+
+She beamed, but became solemn at once. 
+
+“What about Luna?” 
+
+“Well, if they’re telling the truth and she’s still alive — 
+” began Ron. 
+
+“Don’t say that, don’t say it!” squealed Hermione. 
+
+“She must be alive, she must!” 
+
+“Then she’ll be in Azkaban, I expect,” said Ron. 
+“Whether she survives the place, though ... Loads 
+don’t. ...” 
+
+“She will,” said Harry. He could not bear to 
+contemplate the alternative. “She’s tough, Luna, 
+much tougher than you’d think. She’s probably 
+teaching all the inmates about Wrackspurts and 
+Nargles.” 
+
+Page | 479 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I hope you’re right,” said Hermione. She passed a 
+hand over her eyes. “I’d feel so sorry for Xenophilius if 
+
+
+
+“ — if he hadn’t just tried to sell us to the Death 
+Eaters, yeah,” said Ron. 
+
+They put up the tent and retreated inside it, where 
+Ron made them tea. After their narrow escape, the 
+chilly, musty old place felt like home: safe, familiar, 
+and friendly. 
+
+“Oh, why did we go there?” groaned Hermione after a 
+few minutes’ silence. “Harry, you were right, it was 
+Godric’s Hollow all over again, a complete waste of 
+time! The Deathly Hallows ... such rubbish ... 
+although actually,” a sudden thought seemed to have 
+struck her, “he might have made it all up, mightn’t 
+he? He probably doesn’t believe in the Deathly 
+Hallows at all, he just wanted to keep us talking until 
+the Death Eaters arrived!” 
+
+“I don’t think so,” said Ron. “It’s a damn sight harder 
+making stuff up when you’re under stress than you’d 
+think. I found that out when the Snatchers caught 
+me. It was much easier pretending to be Stan, 
+because I knew a bit about him, than inventing a 
+whole new person. Old Lovegood was under loads of 
+pressure, trying to make sure we stayed put. I reckon 
+he told us the truth, or what he thinks is the truth, 
+just to keep us talking.” 
+
+“Well, I don’t suppose it matters,” sighed Hermione. 
+“Even if he was being honest, I never heard such a lot 
+of nonsense in all my life.” 
+
+“Hang on, though,” said Ron. “The Chamber of 
+Secrets was supposed to be a myth, wasn’t it?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 480 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But the Deathly Hallows can’t exist, Ron!” 
+
+
+
+“You keep saying that, but one of them can,” said 
+Ron. “Harry’s Invisibility Cloak — ” 
+
+“ The Tale of the Three Brothers’ is a story,” said 
+Hermione firmly. “A story about how humans are 
+frightened of death. If surviving was as simple as 
+hiding under the Invisibility Cloak, we’d have 
+everything we need already!” 
+
+“I don’t know. We could do with an unbeatable wand,” 
+said Harry, turning the blackthorn wand he so 
+disliked over in his fingers. 
+
+“There’s no such thing, Harry!” 
+
+“You said there have been loads of wands — the 
+Deathstick and whatever they were called — ” 
+
+“All right, even if you want to kid yourself the Elder 
+Wand’s real, what about the Resurrection Stone?” Her 
+fingers sketched quotation marks around the name, 
+and her tone dripped sarcasm. “No magic can raise 
+the dead, and that’s that!” 
+
+“When my wand connected with You-Know-Who’s, it 
+made my mum and dad appear ... and Cedric ...” 
+
+“But they weren’t really back from the dead, were 
+they?” said Hermione. “Those kinds of — of pale 
+imitations aren’t the same as truly bringing someone 
+back to life.” 
+
+“But she, the girl in the tale, didn’t really come back, 
+did she? The story says that once people are dead, 
+they belong with the dead. But the second brother 
+still got to see her and talk to her, didn’t he? He even 
+lived with her for a while. ...” 
+
+Page | 481 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He saw concern and something less easily definable 
+in Hermione’s expression. Then, as she glanced at 
+Ron, Harry realized that it was fear: He had scared 
+her with his talk of living with dead people. 
+
+“So that Peverell bloke who’s buried in Godric’s 
+Hollow,” he said hastily, trying to sound robustly 
+sane, “you don’t know anything about him, then?” 
+
+“No,” she replied, looking relieved at the change of 
+subject. “I looked him up after I saw the mark on his 
+grave; if he’d been anyone famous or done anything 
+important, I’m sure he’d be in one of our books. The 
+only place I’ve managed to find the name ‘Peverell’ is 
+Nature’s Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. I borrowed 
+it from Kreacher,” she explained as Ron raised his 
+eyebrows. “It lists the pure-blood families that are 
+now extinct in the male line. Apparently the Peverells 
+were one of the earliest families to vanish.” 
+
+“ ‘Extinct in the male line’?” repeated Ron. 
+
+“It means the name’s died out,” said Hermione, 
+“centuries ago, in the case of the Peverells. They could 
+still have descendants, though, they’d just be called 
+something different.” 
+
+And then it came to Harry in one shining piece, the 
+memory that had stirred at the sound of the name 
+“Peverell”: a filthy old man brandishing an ugly ring 
+in the face of a Ministry official, and he cried aloud, 
+“Marvolo Gaunt!” 
+
+“Sorry?” said Ron and Hermione together. 
+
+“Marvolo Gaunti You -Know- Who’s grandfather! In the 
+Pensieve! With Dumbledore! Marvolo Gaunt said he 
+was descended from the Peverells!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 482 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron and Hermione looked bewildered. 
+
+
+
+“The ring, the ring that became the Horcrux, Marvolo 
+Gaunt said it had the Peverell coat of arms on it! I 
+saw him waving it in the bloke from the Ministry’s 
+face, he nearly shoved it up his nose!” 
+
+“The Peverell coat of arms?” said Hermione sharply. 
+“Could you see what it looked like?” 
+
+“Not really,” said Harry, trying to remember. “There 
+was nothing fancy on there, as far as I could see; 
+maybe a few scratches. I only ever saw it really close 
+up after it had been cracked open.” 
+
+Harry saw Hermione ’s comprehension in the sudden 
+widening of her eyes. Ron was looking from one to the 
+other, astonished. 
+
+“Blimey ... You reckon it was this sign again? The 
+sign of the Hallows?” 
+
+“Why not?” said Harry excitedly. “Marvolo Gaunt was 
+an ignorant old git who lived like a pig, all he cared 
+about was his ancestry. If that ring had been passed 
+down through the centuries, he might not have 
+known what it really was. There were no books in that 
+house, and trust me, he wasn’t the type to read fairy 
+tales to his kids. He’d have loved to think the 
+scratches on the stone were a coat of arms, because 
+as far as he was concerned, having pure blood made 
+you practically royal.” 
+
+“Yes ... and that’s all very interesting,” said Hermione 
+cautiously, “but Harry, if you’re thinking what I think 
+you’re think — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 483 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, why not? Why not?” said Harry, abandoning 
+caution. “It was a stone, wasn’t it?” He looked at Ron 
+for support. “What if it was the Resurrection Stone?” 
+
+Ron’s mouth fell open. 
+
+“Blimey — but would it still work if Dumbledore broke 
+— ?” 
+
+“Work? Work? Ron, it never worked! There’s no such 
+thing as a Resurrection Stone\” 
+
+Hermione had leapt to her feet, looking exasperated 
+and angry. “Harry, you’re trying to fit everything into 
+the Hallows story — ” 
+
+“Fit everything in?” he repeated. “Hermione, it fits of 
+its own accord! I know the sign of the Deathly Hallows 
+was on that stone! Gaunt said he was descended from 
+the Peverells!” 
+
+“A minute ago you told us you never saw the mark on 
+the stone properly!” 
+
+“Where d’you reckon the ring is now?” Ron asked 
+Harry. “What did Dumbledore do with it after he 
+broke it open?” 
+
+But Harry’s imagination was racing ahead, far beyond 
+Ron and Hermione ’s. ... 
+
+Three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make 
+the possessor master of Death . . . Master . . . Conqueror 
+... Vanquisher ... The last enemy that shall be 
+destroyed is death. . . . 
+
+And he saw himself, possessor of the Hallows, facing 
+Voldemort, whose Horcruxes were no match ... 
+
+Neither can live while the other survives. ... Was this 
+
+Page | 484 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the answer? Hallows versus Horcruxes? Was there a 
+way, after all, to ensure that he was the one who 
+triumphed? If he were the master of the Deathly 
+Hallows, would he be safe? 
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+But he scarcely heard Hermione: He had pulled out 
+his Invisibility Cloak and was running it through his 
+fingers, the cloth supple as water, light as air. He had 
+never seen anything to equal it in his nearly seven 
+years in the Wizarding world. The Cloak was exactly 
+what Xenophilius had described: A cloak that really 
+and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and 
+endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable 
+concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it ... 
+
+And then, with a gasp, he remembered — 
+
+“Dumbledore had my Cloak the night my parents 
+died!” 
+
+His voice shook and he could feel the color in his face, 
+but he did not care. 
+
+“My mum told Sirius that Dumbledore borrowed the 
+Cloak! This is why! He wanted to examine it, because 
+he thought it was the third Hallow! Ignotus Peverell is 
+buried in Godric’s Hollow. ...” Harry was walking 
+blindly around the tent, feeling as though great new 
+vistas of truth were opening all around him. “He’s my 
+ancestor! I’m descended from the third brother! It all 
+makes sense!” 
+
+He felt armed in certainty, in his belief in the Hallows, 
+as if the mere idea of possessing them was giving him 
+protection, and he felt joyous as he turned back to 
+the other two. 
+
+
+
+Page | 485 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry,” said Hermione again, but he was busy 
+undoing the pouch around his neck, his fingers 
+shaking hard. 
+
+“Read it,” he told her, pushing his mother’s letter into 
+her hand. “Read it! Dumbledore had the Cloak, 
+Hermione! Why else would he want it? He didn’t need 
+a Cloak, he could perform a Disillusionment Charm 
+so powerful that he made himself completely invisible 
+without one!” 
+
+Something fell to the floor and rolled, glittering, under 
+a chair: He had dislodged the Snitch when he pulled 
+out the letter. He stooped to pick it up, and then the 
+newly tapped spring of fabulous discoveries threw 
+him another gift, and shock and wonder erupted 
+inside him so that he shouted out. 
+
+“IT’S IN HERE! He left me the ring — it’s in the 
+Snitch!” 
+
+“You — you reckon?” 
+
+He could not understand why Ron looked taken 
+aback. It was so obvious, so clear to Harry: 
+
+Everything fit, everything. . . . His Cloak was the third 
+Hallow, and when he discovered how to open the 
+Snitch he would have the second, and then all he 
+needed to do was find the first Hallow, the Elder 
+Wand, and then — 
+
+But it was as though a curtain fell on a lit stage: All 
+his excitement, all his hope and happiness were 
+extinguished at a stroke, and he stood alone in the 
+darkness, and the glorious spell was broken. 
+
+“That’s what he’s after.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 486 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The change in his voice made Ron and Hermione look 
+even more scared. 
+
+“You-Know-Who’s after the Elder Wand.” 
+
+He turned his back on their strained, incredulous 
+faces. He knew it was the truth. It all made sense. 
+Voldemort was not seeking a new wand; he was 
+seeking an old wand, a very old wand indeed. Harry 
+walked to the entrance of the tent, forgetting about 
+Ron and Hermione as he looked out into the night, 
+thinking. ... 
+
+Voldemort had been raised in a Muggle orphanage. 
+Nobody could have told him The Tales of Beedle the 
+Bard when he was a child, any more than Harry had 
+heard them. Hardly any wizards believed in the 
+Deathly Hallows. Was it likely that Voldemort knew 
+about them? 
+
+Harry gazed into the darkness. ... If Voldemort had 
+known about the Deathly Hallows, surely he would 
+have sought them, done anything to possess them: 
+three objects that made the possessor master of 
+Death? If he had known about the Deathly Hallows, 
+he might not have needed Horcruxes in the first 
+place. Didn’t the simple fact that he had taken a 
+Hallow, and turned it into a Horcrux, demonstrate 
+that he did not know this last great Wizarding secret? 
+
+Which meant that Voldemort sought the Elder Wand 
+without realizing its full power, without 
+understanding that it was one of three . . . for the 
+wand was the Hallow that could not be hidden, whose 
+existence was best known. ... The bloody trail of the 
+Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of 
+Wizarding history . . . 
+
+
+
+Page | 487 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry watched the cloudy sky, curves of smoke-gray 
+and silver sliding over the face of the white moon. He 
+felt lightheaded with amazement at his discoveries. 
+
+He turned back into the tent. It was a shock to see 
+Ron and Hermione standing exactly where he had left 
+them, Hermione still holding Lily’s letter, Ron at her 
+side looking slightly anxious. Didn’t they realize how 
+far they had traveled in the last few minutes? 
+
+“This is it,” Harry said, trying to bring them inside the 
+glow of his own astonished certainty. “This explains 
+everything. The Deathly Hallows are real, and I’ve got 
+one — maybe two — ” 
+
+He held up the Snitch. 
+
+“ — and You-Know-Who’s chasing the third, but he 
+doesn’t realize ... he just thinks it’s a powerful wand 
+
+
+
+“Harry,” said Hermione, moving across to him and 
+handing him back Lily’s letter, “I’m sorry, but I think 
+you’ve got this wrong, all wrong.” 
+
+“But don’t you see? It all fits — ” 
+
+“No, it doesn’t,” she said. “It doesn’t , Harry, you’re 
+just getting carried away. Please,” she said as he 
+started to speak, “please just answer me this: If the 
+Deathly Hallows really existed, and Dumbledore knew 
+about them, knew that the person who possessed all 
+three of them would be master of Death — Harry, why 
+wouldn’t he have told you? Why?” 
+
+He had his answer ready. 
+
+“But you said it, Hermione! You’ve got to find out 
+about them for yourself! It’s a Quest!” 
+
+Page | 488 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But I only said that to try and persuade you to come 
+to the Lovegoods’!” cried Hermione in exasperation. “I 
+didn’t really believe it!” 
+
+Harry took no notice. 
+
+“Dumbledore usually let me find out stuff for myself. 
+He let me try my strength, take risks. This feels like 
+the kind of thing he’d do.” 
+
+“Harry, this isn’t a game, this isn’t practice! This is 
+the real thing, and Dumbledore left you very clear 
+instructions: Find and destroy the Horcruxes! That 
+symbol doesn’t mean anything, forget the Deathly 
+Hallows, we can’t afford to get sidetracked — ” 
+
+Harry was barely listening to her. He was turning the 
+Snitch over and over in his hands, half expecting it to 
+break open, to reveal the Resurrection Stone, to prove 
+to Hermione that he was right, that the Deathly 
+Hallows were real. 
+
+She appealed to Ron. 
+
+“You don’t believe in this, do you?” 
+
+Harry looked up. Ron hesitated. 
+
+“I dunno ... I mean ... bits of it sort of fit together,” 
+said Ron awkwardly. “But when you look at the whole 
+thing ...” He took a deep breath. “I think we’re 
+supposed to get rid of Horcruxes, Harry. That’s what 
+Dumbledore told us to do. Maybe ... maybe we should 
+forget about this Hallows business.” 
+
+“Thank you, Ron,” said Hermione. “I’ll take first 
+watch.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 489 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And she strode past Harry and sat down in the tent 
+entrance, bringing the action to a fierce full stop. 
+
+But Harry hardly slept that night. The idea of the 
+Deathly Hallows had taken possession of him, and he 
+could not rest while agitating thoughts whirled 
+through his mind: the wand, the stone, and the 
+Cloak, if he could just possess them all. ... 
+
+I open at the close. ... But what was ‘the close’? Why 
+couldn’t he have the stone now? If only he had the 
+stone, he could ask Dumbledore these questions in 
+person . . . and Harry murmured words to the Snitch 
+in the darkness, trying everything, even Parseltongue, 
+but the golden ball would not open. ... 
+
+And the wand, the Elder Wand, where was that 
+hidden? Where was Voldemort searching now? Harry 
+wished his scar would burn and show him 
+Voldemort’s thoughts, because for the first time ever, 
+he and Voldemort were united in wanting the very 
+same thing. . . . Hermione would not like that idea, of 
+course. ... But then, she did not believe ... 
+
+Xenophilius had been right, in a way . . . Limited. 
+Narrow. Close-minded. The truth was that she was 
+scared of the idea of the Deathly Hallows, especially of 
+the Resurrection Stone ... and Harry pressed his 
+mouth again to the Snitch, kissing it, nearly 
+swallowing it, but the cold metal did not yield. ... 
+
+It was nearly dawn when he remembered Luna, alone 
+in a cell in Azkaban, surrounded by dementors, and 
+he suddenly felt ashamed of himself. He had forgotten 
+all about her in his feverish contemplation of the 
+Hallows. If only they could rescue her; but dementors 
+in those numbers would be virtually unassailable. 
+
+Now he came to think about it, he had not yet tried 
+casting a Patronus with the blackthorn wand. ... He 
+must try that in the morning. . . . 
+
+Page | 490 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+If only there was a way of getting a better wand . . . 
+
+And desire for the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, 
+unbeatable, invincible, swallowed him once more. ... 
+
+They packed up the tent next morning and moved on 
+through a dreary shower of rain. The downpour 
+pursued them to the coast, where they pitched the 
+tent that night, and persisted through the whole 
+week, through sodden landscapes that Harry found 
+bleak and depressing. He could think only of the 
+Deathly Hallows. It was as though a flame had been 
+lit inside him that nothing, not Hermione ’s flat 
+disbelief nor Ron’s persistent doubts, could 
+extinguish. And yet the fiercer the longing for the 
+Hallows burned inside him, the less joyful it made 
+him. He blamed Ron and Hermione: Their determined 
+indifference was as bad as the relentless rain for 
+dampening his spirits, but neither could erode his 
+certainty, which remained absolute. Harry’s belief in 
+and longing for the Hallows consumed him so much 
+that he felt quite isolated from the other two and their 
+obsession with the Horcruxes. 
+
+“Obsession?” said Hermione in a low fierce voice, 
+when Harry was careless enough to use the word one 
+evening, after Hermione had told him off for his lack 
+of interest in locating more Horcruxes. “We’re not the 
+ones with an obsession, Harry! We’re the ones trying 
+to do what Dumbledore wanted us to do!” 
+
+But he was impervious to the veiled criticism. 
+Dumbledore had left the sign of the Hallows for 
+Hermione to decipher, and he had also, Harry 
+remained convinced of it, left the Resurrection Stone 
+hidden in the golden Snitch. Neither can live while the 
+other survives. ... master of Death ... Why didn’t Ron 
+and Hermione understand? 
+
+
+
+Page | 491 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ‘The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death,’ ” 
+Harry quoted calmly. 
+
+“I thought it was You-Know-Who we were supposed to 
+be fighting?” Hermione retorted, and Harry gave up 
+on her. 
+
+Even the mystery of the silver doe, which the other 
+two insisted on discussing, seemed less important to 
+Harry now, a vaguely interesting sideshow. The only 
+other thing that mattered to him was that his scar 
+had begun to prickle again, although he did all he 
+could to hide this fact from the other two. He sought 
+solitude whenever it happened, but was disappointed 
+by what he saw. The visions he and Voldemort were 
+sharing had changed in quality; they had become 
+blurred, shifting as though they were moving in and 
+out of focus. Harry was just able to make out the 
+indistinct features of an object that looked like a 
+skull, and something like a mountain that was more 
+shadow than substance. Used to images sharp as 
+reality, Harry was disconcerted by the change. He was 
+worried that the connection between himself and 
+Voldemort had been damaged, a connection that he 
+both feared and, whatever he had told Hermione, 
+prized. Somehow Harry connected these unsatisfying, 
+vague images with the destruction of his wand, as if it 
+was the blackthorn wand’s fault that he could no 
+longer see into Voldemort’s mind as well as before. 
+
+As the weeks crept on, Harry could not help but 
+notice, even through his new self-absorption, that 
+Ron seemed to be taking charge. Perhaps because he 
+was determined to make up for having walked out on 
+them, perhaps because Harry’s descent into 
+listlessness galvanized his dormant leadership 
+qualities, Ron was the one now encouraging and 
+exhorting the other two into action. 
+
+
+
+Page | 492 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Three Horcruxes left,” he kept saying. “We need a 
+plan of action, come on! Where haven’t we looked? 
+Let’s go through it again. The orphanage ...” 
+
+Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, the Riddle House, Borgin and 
+Burkes, Albania, every place that they knew Tom 
+Riddle had ever lived or worked, visited or murdered, 
+Ron and Hermione raked over them again, Harry 
+joining in only to stop Hermione pestering him. He 
+would have been happy to sit alone in silence, trying 
+to read Voldemort’s thoughts, to find out more about 
+the Elder Wand, but Ron insisted on journeying to 
+ever more unlikely places simply, Harry was aware, to 
+keep them moving. 
+
+“You never know,” was Ron’s constant refrain. “Upper 
+Flagley is a Wizarding village, he might’ve wanted to 
+live there. Let’s go and have a poke around.” 
+
+These frequent forays into Wizarding territory brought 
+them within occasional sight of Snatchers. 
+
+“Some of them are supposed to be as bad as Death 
+Eaters,” said Ron. “The lot that got me were a bit 
+pathetic, but Bill reckons some of them are really 
+dangerous. They said on Potterwatch — ” 
+
+“On what?” said Harry. 
+
+“ Potterwatch , didn’t I tell you that’s what it was 
+called? The program I keep trying to get on the radio, 
+the only one that tells the truth about what’s going 
+on! Nearly all the programs are following You-Know- 
+Who’s line, all except Potterwatch. I really want you to 
+hear it, but it’s tricky tuning in. ...” 
+
+Ron spent evening after evening using his wand to 
+beat out various rhythms on top of the wireless while 
+the dials whirled. Occasionally they would catch 
+
+Page | 493 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+snatches of advice on how to treat dragon pox, and 
+once a few bars of “A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong 
+Love.” While he tapped, Ron continued to try to hit on 
+the correct password, muttering strings of random 
+words under his breath. 
+
+“They’re normally something to do with the Order,” he 
+told them. “Bill had a real knack for guessing them. 
+I’m bound to get one in the end. ...” 
+
+But not until March did luck favor Ron at last. Harry 
+was sitting in the tent entrance, on guard duty, 
+staring idly at a clump of grape hyacinths that had 
+forced their way through the chilly ground, when Ron 
+shouted excitedly from inside the tent. 
+
+“I’ve got it, I’ve got it! Password was Altars’! Get in 
+here, Harry!” 
+
+Roused for the first time in days from his 
+contemplation of the Deathly Hallows, Harry hurried 
+back inside the tent to find Ron and Hermione 
+kneeling on the floor beside the little radio. Hermione, 
+who had been polishing the sword of Gryffindor just 
+for something to do, was sitting open-mouthed, 
+staring at the tiny speaker, from which a most 
+familiar voice was issuing. 
+
+"... apologize for our temporary absence from the 
+airwaves, which was due to a number of house calls 
+in our area by those charming Death Eaters.” 
+
+“But that’s Lee Jordan!” said Hermione. 
+
+“I know!” beamed Ron. “Cool, eh?” 
+
+"... now found ourselves another secure location,” Lee 
+was saying, “and I’m pleased to tell you that two of 
+
+
+
+Page | 494 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+our regular contributors have joined me here this 
+evening. Evening, boys!” 
+
+“Hi.” 
+
+“Evening, River.” 
+
+“ ‘River,’ that’s Lee,” Ron explained. “They’ve all got 
+code names, but you can usually tell — ” 
+
+“Shh!” said Hermione. 
+
+“But before we hear from Royal and Romulus,” Lee 
+went on, “let’s take a moment to report those deaths 
+that the Wizarding Wireless Network News and Daily 
+Prophet don’t think important enough to mention. It is 
+with great regret that we inform our listeners of the 
+murders of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell.” 
+
+Harry felt a sick, swooping in his belly. He, Ron, and 
+Hermione gazed at one another in horror. 
+
+“A goblin by the name of Gornuk was also killed. It is 
+believed that Muggle-born Dean Thomas and a 
+second goblin, both believed to have been traveling 
+with Tonks, Cresswell, and Gornuk, may have 
+escaped. If Dean is listening, or if anyone has any 
+knowledge of his whereabouts, his parents and sisters 
+are desperate for news. 
+
+“Meanwhile, in Gaddley, a Muggle family of five has 
+been found dead in their home. Muggle authorities 
+are attributing the deaths to a gas leak, but members 
+of the Order of the Phoenix inform me that it was the 
+Killing Curse — more evidence, as if it were needed, of 
+the fact that Muggle slaughter is becoming little more 
+than a recreational sport under the new regime. 
+
+
+
+Page | 495 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Finally, we regret to inform our listeners that the 
+remains of Bathilda Bagshot have been discovered in 
+Godric’s Hollow. The evidence is that she died several 
+months ago. The Order of the Phoenix informs us that 
+her body showed unmistakable signs of injuries 
+inflicted by Dark Magic. 
+
+“Listeners, I’d like to invite you now to join us in a 
+minute’s silence in memory of Ted Tonks, Dirk 
+Cresswell, Bathilda Bagshot, Gornuk, and the 
+unnamed, but no less regretted, Muggles murdered 
+by the Death Eaters.” 
+
+Silence fell, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not 
+speak. Half of Harry yearned to hear more, half of him 
+was afraid of what might come next. It was the first 
+time he had felt fully connected to the outside world 
+for a long time. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Lee’s voice. “And now we turn to 
+regular contributor Royal, for an update on how the 
+new Wizarding order is affecting the Muggle world.” 
+
+“Thanks, River,” said an unmistakable voice, deep, 
+measured, reassuring. 
+
+“Kingsley!” burst out Ron. 
+
+“We know!” said Hermione, hushing him. 
+
+“Muggles remain ignorant of the source of their 
+suffering as they continue to sustain heavy 
+casualties,” said Kingsley. “However, we continue to 
+hear truly inspirational stories of wizards and witches 
+risking their own safety to protect Muggle friends and 
+neighbors, often without the Muggles’ knowledge. I’d 
+like to appeal to all our listeners to emulate their 
+example, perhaps by casting a protective charm over 
+
+
+
+Page | 496 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+any Muggle dwellings in your street. Many lives could 
+be saved if such simple measures are taken.” 
+
+“And what would you say, Royal, to those listeners 
+who reply that in these dangerous times, it should be 
+Wizards first’?” asked Lee. 
+
+“I’d say that it’s one short step from Wizards first’ to 
+‘Purebloods first,’ and then to ‘Death Eaters,’ ” replied 
+Kingsley. “We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human 
+life is worth the same, and worth saving.” 
+
+“Excellently put, Royal, and you’ve got my vote for 
+Minister of Magic if ever we get out of this mess,” said 
+Lee. “And now, over to Romulus for our popular 
+feature ‘Pals of Potter. ’ ” 
+
+“Thanks, River,” said another very familiar voice; Ron 
+started to speak, but Hermione forestalled him in a 
+whisper. 
+
+“We know it’s Lupin\” 
+
+“Romulus, do you maintain, as you have every time 
+you’ve appeared on our program, that Harry Potter is 
+still alive?” 
+
+“I do,” said Lupin firmly. “There is no doubt at all in 
+my mind that his death would be proclaimed as 
+widely as possible by the Death Eaters if it had 
+happened, because it would strike a deadly blow at 
+the morale of those resisting the new regime. The Boy 
+Who Lived’ remains a symbol of everything for which 
+we are fighting: the triumph of good, the power of 
+innocence, the need to keep resisting.” 
+
+A mixture of gratitude and shame welled up in Harry. 
+Had Lupin forgiven him, then, for the terrible things 
+he had said when they had last met? 
+
+Page | 497 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And what would you say to Harry if you knew he was 
+listening, Romulus?” 
+
+
+
+“I’d tell him we’re all with him in spirit,” said Lupin, 
+then hesitated slightly. “And I’d tell him to follow his 
+instincts, which are good and nearly always right.” 
+
+Harry looked at Hermione, whose eyes were full of 
+tears. 
+
+“Nearly always right,” she repeated. 
+
+“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” said Ron in surprise. “Bill told 
+me Lupin’s living with Tonks again! And apparently 
+she’s getting pretty big too. ...” 
+
+“... and our usual update on those friends of Harry 
+Potter’s who are suffering for their allegiance?” Lee 
+was saying. 
+
+“Well, as regular listeners will know, several of the 
+more outspoken supporters of Harry Potter have now 
+been imprisoned, including Xenophilius Lovegood, 
+erstwhile editor of The Quibbler,” said Lupin. 
+
+“At least he’s still alive!” muttered Ron. 
+
+“We have also heard within the last few hours that 
+Rubeus Hagrid” — all three of them gasped, and so 
+nearly missed the rest of the sentence — “well-known 
+gamekeeper at Hogwarts School, has narrowly 
+escaped arrest within the grounds of Hogwarts, where 
+he is rumored to have hosted a ‘Support Harry Potter’ 
+party in his house. However, Hagrid was not taken 
+into custody, and is, we believe, on the run.” 
+
+“I suppose it helps, when escaping from Death Eaters, 
+if you’ve got a sixteen-foot-high half brother?” asked 
+Lee. 
+
+Page | 498 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It would tend to give you an edge,” agreed Lupin 
+gravely. “May I just add that while we here at 
+Potterwatch applaud Hagrid’s spirit, we would urge 
+even the most devoted of Harry’s supporters against 
+following Hagrid’s lead. ‘Support Harry Potter’ parties 
+are unwise in the present climate.” 
+
+“Indeed they are, Romulus,” said Lee, “so we suggest 
+that you continue to show your devotion to the man 
+with the lightning scar by listening to PotterwatcM 
+And now let’s move to news concerning the wizard 
+who is proving just as elusive as Harry Potter. We like 
+to refer to him as the Chief Death Eater, and here to 
+give his views on some of the more insane rumors 
+circulating about him, I’d like to introduce a new 
+correspondent: Rodent.” 
+
+“ ‘Rodent’?” said yet another familiar voice, and Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione cried out together: 
+
+“Fred!” 
+
+“No — is it George?” 
+
+“It’s Fred, I think,” said Ron, leaning in closer, as 
+whichever twin it was said, 
+
+“I’m not being ‘Rodent,’ no way, I told you I wanted to 
+be ‘Rapier’!” 
+
+“Oh, all right then. ‘Rapier,’ could you please give us 
+your take on the various stories we’ve been hearing 
+about the Chief Death Eater?” 
+
+“Yes, River, I can,” said Fred. “As our listeners will 
+know, unless they’ve taken refuge at the bottom of a 
+garden pond or somewhere similar, You-Know-Who’s 
+strategy of remaining in the shadows is creating a 
+nice little climate of panic. Mind you, if all the alleged 
+Page | 499 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+sightings of him are genuine, we must have a good 
+nineteen You-Know-Whos running around the place.” 
+
+
+
+“Which suits him, of course,” said Kingsley. “The air 
+of mystery is creating more terror than actually 
+showing himself.” 
+
+“Agreed,” said Fred. “So, people, let’s try and calm 
+down a bit. Things are bad enough without inventing 
+stuff as well. For instance, this new idea that You- 
+Know-Who can kill with a single glance from his eyes. 
+That’s a basilisk, listeners. One simple test: Check 
+whether the thing that’s glaring at you has got legs. If 
+it has, it’s safe to look into its eyes, although if it 
+really is You-Know-Who, that’s still likely to be the 
+last thing you ever do.” 
+
+For the first time in weeks and weeks, Harry was 
+laughing: He could feel the weight of tension leaving 
+him. 
+
+“And the rumors that he keeps being sighted abroad?” 
+asked Lee. 
+
+“Well, who wouldn’t want a nice little holiday after all 
+the hard work he’s been putting in?” asked Fred. 
+“Point is, people, don’t get lulled into a false sense of 
+security, thinking he’s out of the country. Maybe he 
+is, maybe he isn’t, but the fact remains he can move 
+faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo 
+when he wants to, so don’t count on him being a long 
+way away if you’re planning on taking any risks. I 
+never thought I’d hear myself say it, but safety first!” 
+
+“Thank you very much for those wise words, Rapier,” 
+said Lee. “Listeners, that brings us to the end of 
+another Potterwatch. We don’t know when it will be 
+possible to broadcast again, but you can be sure we 
+shall be back. Keep twiddling those dials: The next 
+Page | 500 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+password will be ‘Mad-Eye.’ Keep each other safe: 
+Keep faith. Good night.” 
+
+
+
+The radio’s dial twirled and the lights behind the 
+tuning panel went out. Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+were still beaming. Hearing familiar, friendly voices 
+was an extraordinary tonic; Harry had become so 
+used to their isolation he had nearly forgotten that 
+other people were resisting Voldemort. It was like 
+waking from a long sleep. 
+
+“Good, eh?” said Ron happily. 
+
+“Brilliant,” said Harry. 
+
+“It’s so brave of them,” sighed Hermione admiringly. 
+“If they were found ...” 
+
+“Well, they keep on the move, don’t they?” said Ron. 
+“Like us.” 
+
+“But did you hear what Fred said?” asked Harry 
+excitedly; now the broadcast was over, his thoughts 
+turned again toward his all-consuming obsession. 
+“He’s abroad! He’s still looking for the Wand, I knew 
+it!” 
+
+
+
+“Harry — ” 
+
+“Come on, Hermione, why are you so determined not 
+to admit it? Vol — ” 
+
+“HARRY, NO!” 
+
+“ — demort’s after the Elder Wand!” 
+
+“The name’s Taboo!” Ron bellowed, leaping to his feet 
+as a loud crack sounded outside the tent. “I told you, 
+Harry, I told you, we can’t say it anymore — we’ve got 
+
+Page | 501 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+to put the protection back around us — quickly — it’s 
+how they find — ” 
+
+But Ron stopped talking, and Harry knew why. The 
+Sneakoscope on the table had lit up and begun to 
+spin; they could hear voices coming nearer and 
+nearer: rough, excited voices. Ron pulled the 
+Deluminator out of his pocket and clicked it: Their 
+lamps went out. 
+
+“Come out of there with your hands up!” came a 
+rasping voice through the darkness. “We know you’re 
+in there! You’ve got half a dozen wands pointing at 
+you and we don’t care who we curse!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 502 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MALFOY MANOR 
+
+Harry looked around at the other two, now mere 
+outlines in the darkness. He saw Hermione point her 
+wand, not toward the outside, but into his face; there 
+was a bang, a burst of white light, and he buckled in 
+agony, unable to see. He could feel his face swelling 
+rapidly under his hands as heavy footfalls 
+surrounded him. 
+
+“Get up, vermin.” 
+
+Unknown hands dragged Harry roughly off the 
+ground. Before he could stop them, someone had 
+rummaged through his pockets and removed the 
+blackthorn wand. Harry clutched at his excruciatingly 
+painful face, which felt unrecognizable beneath his 
+fingers, tight, swollen, and puffy as though he had 
+suffered some violent allergic reaction. His eyes had 
+been reduced to slits through which he could barely 
+see; his glasses fell off as he was bundled out of the 
+tent; all he could make out were the blurred shapes of 
+four or five people wrestling Ron and Hermione 
+outside too. 
+
+Page | 503 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Get — off — her!” Ron shouted. There was the 
+unmistakable sound of knuckles hitting flesh: Ron 
+grunted in pain and Hermione screamed, “No! Leave 
+him alone, leave him alone!” 
+
+“Your boyfriend’s going to have worse than that done 
+to him if he’s on my list,” said the horribly familiar, 
+rasping voice. “Delicious girl ... What a treat ... I do 
+enjoy the softness of the skin. ...” 
+
+Harry’s stomach turned over. He knew who this was: 
+Fenrir Grey back, the werewolf who was permitted to 
+wear Death Eater robes in return for his hired 
+savagery. 
+
+“Search the tent!” said another voice. 
+
+Harry was thrown facedown onto the ground. A thud 
+told him that Ron had been cast down beside him. 
+They could hear footsteps and crashes; the men were 
+pushing over chairs inside the tent as they searched. 
+
+“Now, let’s see who we’ve got,” said Greyback’s 
+gloating voice from overhead, and Harry was rolled 
+over onto his back. A beam of wandlight fell into his 
+face and Grey back laughed. 
+
+“I’ll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. 
+What happened to you, ugly?” 
+
+Harry did not answer immediately. 
+
+“I said,” repeated Greyback, and Harry received a 
+blow to the diaphragm that made him double over in 
+pain, “what happened to you?” 
+
+“Stung,” Harry muttered. “Been stung.” 
+
+“Yeah, looks like it,” said a second voice. 
+
+Page | 504 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“What’s your name?” snarled Greyback. 
+
+“Dudley,” said Harry. 
+
+“And your first name?” 
+
+“I — Vernon. Vernon Dudley.” 
+
+“Check the list, Scabior,” said Greyback, and Harry 
+heard him move sideways to look down at Ron, 
+instead. “And what about you, ginger?” 
+
+“Stan Shunpike,” said Ron. 
+
+“Like ’ell you are,” said the man called Scabior. “We 
+know Stan Shunpike, ’e’s put a bit of work our way.” 
+
+There was another thud. 
+
+“I’b Bardy,” said Ron, and Harry could tell that his 
+mouth was full of blood. “Bardy Weadley.” 
+
+“A Weasley?” rasped Greyback. “So you’re related to 
+blood traitors even if you’re not a Mudblood. And 
+lastly, your pretty little friend ...” The relish in his 
+voice made Harry’s flesh crawl. 
+
+“Easy, Greyback,” said Scabior over the jeering of the 
+others. 
+
+“Oh, I’m not going to bite just yet. We’ll see if she’s a 
+bit quicker at remembering her name than Barny. 
+Who are you, girly?” 
+
+“Penelope Clearwater,” said Hermione. She sounded 
+terrified, but convincing. 
+
+“What’s your blood status?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 505 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Half-blood,” said Hermione. 
+
+
+
+“Easy enough to check,” said Scabior. “But the ’ole lot 
+of ’em look like they could still be ’ogwarts age — ” 
+
+“Weh lebt,” said Ron. 
+
+“Left, ’ave you, ginger?” said Scabior. “And you 
+decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a 
+laugh, you’d use the Dark Lord’s name?” 
+
+“Nod a laugh,” said Ron. “Aggiden.” 
+
+“Accident?” There was more jeering laughter. 
+
+“You know who used to like using the Dark Lord’s 
+name, Weasley?” growled Greyback. “The Order of the 
+Phoenix. Mean anything to you?” 
+
+“Doh.” 
+
+“Well, they don’t show the Dark Lord proper respect, 
+so the name’s been Tabooed. A few Order members 
+have been tracked that way. We’ll see. Bind them up 
+with the other two prisoners!” 
+
+Someone yanked Harry up by the hair, dragged him a 
+short way, pushed him down into a sitting position, 
+then started binding him back-to-back with other 
+people. Harry was still half blind, barely able to see 
+anything through his puffed-up eyes. When at last 
+the man tying them had walked away, Harry 
+whispered to the other prisoners. 
+
+“Anyone still got a wand?” 
+
+“No,” said Ron and Hermione from either side of him. 
+
+“This is all my fault. I said the name, I’m sorry — ” 
+
+Page | 506 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry?” 
+
+
+
+It was a new, but familiar, voice, and it came from 
+directly behind Harry, from the person tied to 
+Hermione’s left. 
+
+“Dean?” 
+
+“It is you! If they find out who they’ve got — ! They’re 
+Snatchers, they’re only looking for truants to sell for 
+gold — ” 
+
+“Not a bad little haul for one night,” Greyback was 
+saying, as a pair of hobnailed boots marched close by 
+Harry and they heard more crashes from inside the 
+tent. “A Mudblood, a runaway goblin, and three 
+truants. You checked their names on the list yet, 
+Scabior?” he roared. 
+
+“Yeah. There’s no Vernon Dudley on ’ere, Greyback.” 
+
+“Interesting,” said Greyback. “That’s interesting.” 
+
+He crouched down beside Harry, who saw, through 
+the infinitesimal gap left between his swollen eyelids, 
+a face covered in matted gray hair and whiskers, with 
+pointed brown teeth and sores at the corners of his 
+mouth. Greyback smelled as he had done at the top of 
+the tower where Dumbledore had died: of dirt, sweat, 
+and blood. 
+
+“So you aren’t wanted, then, Vernon? Or are you on 
+that list under a different name? What House were 
+you in at Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Slytherin,” said Harry automatically. 
+
+
+
+Page | 507 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Funny ’ow they all thinks we wants to ’ear that,” 
+jeered Scabior out of the shadows. “But none of ’em 
+can tell us where the common room is.” 
+
+“It’s in the dungeons,” said Harry clearly. “You enter 
+through the wall. It’s full of skulls and stuff and it’s 
+under the lake, so the light’s all green.” 
+
+There was a short pause. 
+
+“Well, well, looks like we really ’ave caught a little 
+Slytherin,” said Scabior. “Good for you, Vernon, 
+
+’cause there ain’t a lot of Mudblood Slytherins. Who’s 
+your father?” 
+
+“He works at the Ministry,” Harry lied. He knew that 
+his whole story would collapse with the smallest 
+investigation, but on the other hand, he only had 
+until his face regained its usual appearance before 
+the game was up in any case. “Department of Magical 
+Accidents and Catastrophes.” 
+
+“You know what, Greyback,” said Scabior. “I think 
+there is a Dudley in there.” 
+
+Harry could barely breathe: Could luck, sheer luck, 
+get them safely out of this? 
+
+“Well, well,” said Greyback, and Harry could hear the 
+tiniest note of trepidation in that callous voice, and 
+knew that Greyback was wondering whether he had 
+indeed just attacked and bound the son of a Ministry 
+official. Harry’s heart was pounding against the ropes 
+around his ribs; he would not have been surprised to 
+know that Greyback could see it. “If you’re telling the 
+truth, ugly, you’ve got nothing to fear from a trip to 
+the Ministry. I expect your father’ll reward us just for 
+picking you up.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 508 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But,” said Harry, his mouth bone dry, “if you just let 
+us — ” 
+
+
+
+“Hey!” came a shout from inside the tent. “Look at 
+this, Greyback!” 
+
+A dark figure came bustling toward them, and Harry 
+saw a glint of silver in the light of their wands. They 
+had found Gryffindor’s sword. 
+
+“Ve-e-ry nice,” said Greyback appreciatively, taking it 
+from his companion. “Oh, very nice indeed. Looks 
+goblin-made, that. Where did you get something like 
+this?” 
+
+“It’s my father’s,” Harry lied, hoping against hope that 
+it was too dark for Greyback to see the name etched 
+just below the hilt. “We borrowed it to cut firewood — ” 
+
+“ ’ang on a minute, Greyback! Look at this, in the 
+Propheti” 
+
+As Scabior said it, Harry’s scar, which was stretched 
+tight across his distended forehead, burned savagely. 
+More clearly than he could make out anything around 
+him, he saw a towering building, a grim fortress, jet- 
+black and forbidding; Voldemort’s thoughts had 
+suddenly become razor-sharp again; he was gliding 
+toward the gigantic building with a sense of calmly 
+euphoric purpose. ... 
+
+So close ...So close . . . 
+
+With a huge effort of will Harry closed his mind to 
+Voldemort’s thoughts, pulling himself back to where 
+he sat, tied to Ron, Hermione, Dean, and Griphook in 
+the darkness, listening to Greyback and Scabior. 
+
+
+
+Page | 509 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ ‘’ermione Granger,’ ” Scabior was saying, “ ‘the 
+Mudblood who is known to be traveling with ’arry 
+Potter.’ ” 
+
+Harry’s scar burned in the silence, but he made a 
+supreme effort to keep himself present, not to slip 
+into Voldemort’s mind. He heard the creak of 
+Greyback’s boots as he crouched down in front of 
+Hermione. 
+
+“You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell 
+of a lot like you.” 
+
+“It isn’t! It isn’t me!” 
+
+Hermione ’s terrified squeak was as good as a 
+confession. 
+
+“ ‘... known to be traveling with Harry Potter,’ ” 
+repeated Grey back quietly. 
+
+A stillness had settled over the scene. Harry’s scar 
+was exquisitely painful, but he struggled with all his 
+strength against the pull of Voldemort’s thoughts: It 
+had never been so important to remain in his own 
+right mind. 
+
+“Well, this changes things, doesn’t it?” whispered 
+Greyback. Nobody spoke: Harry sensed the gang of 
+Snatchers watching, frozen, and felt Hermione ’s arm 
+trembling against his. Greyback got up and took a 
+couple of steps to where Harry sat, crouching down 
+again to stare closely at his misshapen features. 
+
+“What’s that on your forehead, Vernon?” he asked 
+softly, his breath foul in Harry’s nostrils as he 
+pressed a filthy finger to the taut scar. 
+
+
+
+Page | 510 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Don’t touch it!” Harry yelled; he could not stop 
+himself; he thought he might be sick from the pain of 
+it. 
+
+
+
+“I thought you wore glasses, Potter?” breathed 
+Greyback. 
+
+“I found glasses!” yelped one of the Snatchers 
+skulking in the background. “There was glasses in the 
+tent, Greyback, wait — ” 
+
+And seconds later Harry’s glasses had been rammed 
+back onto his face. The Snatchers were closing in 
+now, peering at him. 
+
+“It is!” rasped Greyback. “We’ve caught Potter!” 
+
+They all took several steps backward, stunned by 
+what they had done. Harry, still fighting to remain 
+present inside his own splitting head, could think of 
+nothing to say: Fragmented visions were breaking 
+across the surface of his mind — 
+
+— He was gliding around the high walls of the black 
+fortress — 
+
+No, he was Harry, tied up and wandless, in grave 
+danger — 
+
+— looking up, up to the topmost window, the highest 
+tower — 
+
+He was Harry, and they were discussing his fate in 
+low voices — 
+
+— Time to fly ... 
+
+“...to the Ministry?” 
+
+Page | 511 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“To hell with the Ministry,” growled Greyback. “They’ll 
+take the credit, and we won’t get a look in. I say we 
+take him straight to You-Know-Who.” 
+
+“Will you summon ’im? ’ere?” said Scabior, sounding 
+awed, terrified. 
+
+“No,” snarled Greyback, “I haven’t got — they say he’s 
+using the Malfoys’ place as a base. We’ll take the boy 
+there.” 
+
+Harry thought he knew why Greyback was not calling 
+Voldemort. The werewolf might be allowed to wear 
+Death Eater robes when they wanted to use him, but 
+only Voldemort’s inner circle were branded with the 
+Dark Mark: Greyback had not been granted this 
+highest honor. 
+
+Harry’s scar seared again — 
+
+— and he rose into the night, flying straight up to the 
+window at the very top of the tower — 
+
+"... completely sure it’s him? ’Cause if it ain’t, 
+Greyback, we’re dead.” 
+
+“Who’s in charge here?” roared Greyback, covering his 
+moment of inadequacy. “I say that’s Potter, and him 
+plus his wand, that’s two hundred thousand Galleons 
+right there! But if you’re too gutless to come along, 
+any of you, it’s all for me, and with any luck, I’ll get 
+the girl thrown in!” 
+
+— The window was the merest slit in the black rock, 
+not big enough for a man to enter. ...A skeletal figure 
+was just visible through it, curled beneath a blanket. . . . 
+Dead, or sleeping ... ? 
+
+
+
+Page | 512 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“All right!” said Scabior. “All right, we’re in! And what 
+about the rest of ’em, Greyback, what’ll we do with 
+
+
+
+’em? 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+“Might as well take the lot. We’ve got two Mudbloods, 
+that’s another ten Galleons. Give me the sword as 
+well. If they’re rubies, that’s another small fortune 
+right there.” 
+
+The prisoners were dragged to their feet. Harry could 
+hear Hermione’s breathing, fast and terrified. 
+
+“Grab hold and make it tight. I’ll do Potter!” said 
+Greyback, seizing a fistful of Harry’s hair; Harry could 
+feel his long yellow nails scratching his scalp. “On 
+three! One — two — three — ” 
+
+They Disapparated, pulling the prisoners with them. 
+Harry struggled, trying to throw off Greyback’s hand, 
+but it was hopeless: Ron and Hermione were 
+squeezed tightly against him on either side, he could 
+not separate from the group, and as the breath was 
+squeezed out of him his scar seared more painfully 
+still — 
+
+— as he forced himself through the slit of a window 
+like a snake and landed, lightly as vapor, inside the 
+cell-like room — 
+
+The prisoners lurched into one another as they 
+landed in a country lane. Harry’s eyes, still puffy, took 
+a moment to acclimatize, then he saw a pair of 
+wrought-iron gates at the foot of what looked like a 
+long drive. He experienced the tiniest trickle of relief. 
+The worst had not happened yet: Voldemort was not 
+here. He was, Harry knew, for he was fighting to 
+resist the vision, in some strange, fortresslike place, 
+at the top of a tower. How long it would take 
+
+
+
+Page | 513 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Voldemort to get to this place, once he knew that 
+Harry was here, was another matter. ... 
+
+One of the Snatchers strode to the gates and shook 
+them. 
+
+“How do we get in? They’re locked, Greyback, I can’t 
+— blimey!” 
+
+He whipped his hands away in fright. The iron was 
+contorting, twisting itself out of the abstract furls and 
+coils into a frightening face, which spoke in a 
+clanging, echoing voice: “State your purpose!” 
+
+“We’ve got Potter!” Greyback roared triumphantly. 
+“We’ve captured Harry Potter!” 
+
+The gates swung open. 
+
+“Come on!” said Greyback to his men, and the 
+prisoners were shunted through the gates and up the 
+drive, between high hedges that muffled their 
+footsteps. Harry saw a ghostly white shape above 
+him, and realized it was an albino peacock. He 
+stumbled and was dragged onto his feet by Greyback; 
+now he was staggering along sideways, tied back-to- 
+back to the four other prisoners. Closing his puffy 
+eyes, he allowed the pain in his scar to overcome him 
+for a moment, wanting to know what Voldemort was 
+doing, whether he knew yet that Harry was caught. ... 
+
+The emaciated figure stirred beneath its thin blanket 
+and rolled over toward him, eyes opening in a skull of 
+a face. ... The frail man sat up, great sunken eyes 
+fixed upon him, upon Voldemort, and then he smiled. 
+Most of his teeth were gone. ... 
+
+“So, you have come. I thought you would ... one day. 
+But your journey was pointless. I never had it.” 
+
+Page | 514 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ You lie]” 
+
+
+
+As Voldemort’s anger throbbed inside him, Harry’s 
+scar threatened to burst with pain, and he wrenched 
+his mind back to his own body, fighting to remain 
+present as the prisoners were pushed over gravel. 
+
+Light spilled out over all of them. 
+
+“What is this?” said a woman’s cold voice. 
+
+“We’re here to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!” 
+rasped Greyback. 
+
+“Who are you?” 
+
+“You know me!” There was resentment in the 
+werewolf’s voice. “Fenrir Greyback! We’ve caught 
+Harry Potter!” 
+
+Greyback seized Harry and dragged him around to 
+face the light, forcing the other prisoners to shuffle 
+around too. 
+
+“I know ’e’s swollen, ma’am, but it’s ’im!” piped up 
+Scabior. “If you look a bit closer, you’ll see ’is scar. 
+And this ’ere, see the girl? The Mudblood who’s been 
+traveling around with ’im, ma’am. There’s no doubt 
+it’s ’im, and we’ve got ’is wand as well! ’Ere, ma’am — ” 
+
+Through his puffy eyelids Harry saw Narcissa Malfoy 
+scrutinizing his swollen face. Scabior thrust the 
+blackthorn wand at her. She raised her eyebrows. 
+
+“Bring them in,” she said. 
+
+Harry and the others were shoved and kicked up 
+broad stone steps into a hallway lined with portraits. 
+
+
+
+Page | 515 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Follow me,” said Narcissa, leading the way across the 
+hall. “My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. 
+If that is Harry Potter, he will know.” 
+
+The drawing room dazzled after the darkness outside; 
+even with his eyes almost closed Harry could make 
+out the wide proportions of the room. A crystal 
+chandelier hung from the ceiling, more portraits 
+against the dark purple walls. Two figures rose from 
+chairs in front of an ornate marble fireplace as the 
+prisoners were forced into the room by the Snatchers. 
+
+“What is this?” 
+
+The dreadfully familiar, drawling voice of Lucius 
+Malfoy fell on Harry’s ears. He was panicking now: He 
+could see no way out, and it was easier, as his fear 
+mounted, to block out Voldemort’s thoughts, though 
+his scar was still burning. 
+
+“They say they’ve got Potter,” said Narcissa’s cold 
+voice. “Draco, come here.” 
+
+Harry did not dare look directly at Draco, but saw 
+him obliquely: a figure slightly taller than he was, 
+rising from an armchair, his face a pale and pointed 
+blur beneath white-blond hair. 
+
+Greyback forced the prisoners to turn again so as to 
+place Harry directly beneath the chandelier. 
+
+“Well, boy?” rasped the werewolf. 
+
+Harry was facing a mirror over the fireplace, a great 
+gilded thing in an intricately scrolled frame. Through 
+the slits of his eyes he saw his own reflection for the 
+first time since leaving Grimmauld Place. 
+
+
+
+Page | 516 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His face was huge, shiny, and pink, every feature 
+distorted by Hermione’s jinx. His black hair reached 
+his shoulders and there was a dark shadow around 
+his jaw. Had he not known that it was he who stood 
+there, he would have wondered who was wearing his 
+glasses. He resolved not to speak, for his voice was 
+sure to give him away; yet he still avoided eye contact 
+with Draco as the latter approached. 
+
+“Well, Draco?” said Lucius Malfoy. He sounded avid. 
+“Is it? Is it Harry Potter?” 
+
+“I can’t — I can’t be sure,” said Draco. He was keeping 
+his distance from Greyback, and seemed as scared of 
+looking at Harry as Harry was of looking at him. 
+
+“But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!” 
+
+Harry had never heard Lucius Malfoy so excited. 
+
+“Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the 
+Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv — ” 
+
+“Now, we won’t be forgetting who actually caught him, 
+I hope, Mr. Malfoy?” said Greyback menacingly. 
+
+“Of course not, of course not!” said Lucius 
+impatiently. He approached Harry himself, came so 
+close that Harry could see the usually languid, pale 
+face in sharp detail even through his swollen eyes. 
+With his face a puffy mask, Harry felt as though he 
+was peering out from between the bars of a cage. 
+
+“What did you do to him?” Lucius asked Greyback. 
+“How did he get into this state?” 
+
+“That wasn’t us.” 
+
+“Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me,” said Lucius. 
+
+Page | 517 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+His gray eyes raked Harry’s forehead. 
+
+
+
+“There’s something there,” he whispered, “it could be 
+the scar, stretched tight. ... Draco, come here, look 
+properly! What do you think?” 
+
+Harry saw Draco’s face up close now, right beside his 
+father’s. They were extraordinarily alike, except that 
+while his father looked beside himself with 
+excitement, Draco’s expression was full of reluctance, 
+even fear. 
+
+“I don’t know,” he said, and he walked away toward 
+the fireplace where his mother stood watching. 
+
+“We had better be certain, Lucius,” Narcissa called to 
+her husband in her cold, clear voice. “Completely sure 
+that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord . . . 
+They say this is his” — she was looking closely at the 
+blackthorn wand — “but it does not resemble 
+Ollivander’s description. ... If we are mistaken, if we 
+call the Dark Lord here for nothing . . . Remember 
+what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?” 
+
+“What about the Mudblood, then?” growled Greyback. 
+Harry was nearly thrown off his feet as the Snatchers 
+forced the prisoners to swivel around again, so that 
+the light fell on Hermione instead. 
+
+“Wait,” said Narcissa sharply. “Yes — yes, she was in 
+Madam Malkin’s with Potter! I saw her picture in the 
+Prophett Look, Draco, isn’t it the Granger girl?” 
+
+“I ... maybe ... yeah.” 
+
+“But then, that’s the Weasley boy!” shouted Lucius, 
+striding around the bound prisoners to face Ron. “It’s 
+them, Potter’s friends — Draco, look at him, isn’t it 
+Arthur Weasley’s son, what’s his name — ?” 
+
+Page | 518 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah,” said Draco again, his back to the prisoners. 
+
+“It could be.” 
+
+The drawing room door opened behind Harry. A 
+woman spoke, and the sound of the voice wound 
+Harry’s fear to an even higher pitch. 
+
+“What is this? What’s happened, Cissy?” 
+
+Bellatrix Lestrange walked slowly around the 
+prisoners, and stopped on Harry’s right, staring at 
+Hermione through her heavily lidded eyes. 
+
+“But surely,” she said quietly, “this is the Mudblood 
+girl? This is Granger?” 
+
+“Yes, yes, it’s Granger!” cried Lucius. “And beside her, 
+we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at 
+last!” 
+
+“Potter?” shrieked Bellatrix, and she backed away, the 
+better to take in Harry. “Are you sure? Well then, the 
+Dark Lord must be informed at once!” 
+
+She dragged back her left sleeve: Harry saw the Dark 
+Mark burned into the flesh of her arm, and knew that 
+she was about to touch it, to summon her beloved 
+master — 
+
+“I was about to call him!” said Lucius, and his hand 
+actually closed upon Bellatrix’s wrist, preventing her 
+from touching the Mark. “I shall summon him, Bella, 
+Potter has been brought to my house, and it is 
+therefore upon my authority — ” 
+
+“Your authority!” she sneered, attempting to wrench 
+her hand from his grasp. “You lost your authority 
+when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take 
+your hands off me!” 
+
+Page | 519 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture 
+the boy — ” 
+
+“Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy,” interjected 
+Greyback, “but it’s us that caught Potter, and it’s us 
+that 11 be claiming the gold — ” 
+
+“Gold!” laughed Bellatrix, still attempting to throw off 
+her brother-in-law, her free hand groping in her 
+pocket for her wand. “Take your gold, filthy 
+scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the 
+honor of his — of — ” 
+
+She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon 
+something Harry could not see. Jubilant at her 
+capitulation, Lucius threw her hand from him and 
+ripped up his own sleeve — 
+
+“STOP!” shrieked Bellatrix. “Do not touch it, we shall 
+all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!” 
+
+Lucius froze, his index finger hovering over his own 
+Mark. Bellatrix strode out of Harry’s limited line of 
+vision. 
+
+“What is that?” he heard her say. 
+
+“Sword,” grunted an out-of-sight Snatcher. 
+
+“Give it to me.” 
+
+“It’s not yorn, missus, it’s mine, I reckon I found it.” 
+
+There was a bang and a flash of red light: Harry knew 
+that the Snatcher had been Stunned. There was a 
+roar of anger from his fellows: Scabior drew his wand. 
+
+“What d’you think you’re playing at, woman?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 520 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Stupefyl” she screamed. “Stupefyl” 
+
+
+
+They were no match for her, even though there were 
+four of them against one of her: She was a witch, as 
+Harry knew, with prodigious skill and no conscience. 
+They fell where they stood, all except Greyback, who 
+had been forced into a kneeling position, his arms 
+outstretched. Out of the corners of his eyes Harry saw 
+Bellatrix bearing down upon the werewolf, the sword 
+of Gryffindor gripped tightly in her hand, her face 
+waxen. 
+
+“Where did you get this sword?” she whispered to 
+Greyback as she pulled his wand out of his 
+unresisting grip. 
+
+“How dare you?” he snarled, his mouth the only thing 
+that could move as he was forced to gaze up at her. 
+
+He bared his pointed teeth. “Release me, woman!” 
+
+“Where did you find this sword?” she repeated, 
+brandishing it in his face. “Snape sent it to my vault 
+in Gringotts!” 
+
+“It was in their tent,” rasped Greyback. “Release me, I 
+say!” 
+
+She waved her wand, and the werewolf sprang to his 
+feet, but appeared too wary to approach her. He 
+prowled behind an armchair, his filthy curved nails 
+clutching its back. 
+
+“Draco, move this scum outside,” said Bellatrix, 
+indicating the unconscious men. “If you haven’t got 
+the guts to finish them, then leave them in the 
+courtyard for me.” 
+
+“Don’t you dare speak to Draco like — ” said Narcissa 
+furiously, but Bellatrix screamed, 
+
+Page | 521 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can 
+possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious 
+problem!” 
+
+She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the 
+sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at 
+the silent prisoners. 
+
+“If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed,” she 
+muttered, more to herself than to the others. “The 
+Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself. . . . But 
+if he finds out ... I must ... I must know. ...” 
+
+She turned back to her sister again. 
+
+“The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I 
+think what to do!” 
+
+“This is my house, Bella, you don’t give orders in my 
+
+
+
+“Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!” 
+shrieked Bellatrix. She looked frightening, mad; a 
+thin stream of fire issued from her wand and burned 
+a hole in the carpet. 
+
+Narcissa hesitated for a moment, then addressed the 
+werewolf. 
+
+“Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback.” 
+
+“Wait,” said Bellatrix sharply. “All except ... except for 
+the Mudblood.” 
+
+Greyback gave a grunt of pleasure. 
+
+“No!” shouted Ron. “You can have me, keep me!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Bellatrix hit him across the face; the blow echoed 
+around the room. 
+
+
+
+“If she dies under questioning, I’ll take you next,” she 
+said. “Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. 
+Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they 
+are secure, but do nothing more to them — yet.” 
+
+She threw Greyback’s wand back to him, then took a 
+short silver knife from under her robes. She cut 
+Hermione free from the other prisoners, then dragged 
+her by the hair into the middle of the room, while 
+Greyback forced the rest of them to shuffle across to 
+another door, into a dark passageway, his wand held 
+out in front of him, projecting an invisible and 
+irresistible force. 
+
+“Reckon she’ll let me have a bit of the girl when she’s 
+finished with her?” Greyback crooned as he forced 
+them along the corridor. “I’d say I’ll get a bite or two, 
+wouldn’t you, ginger?” 
+
+Harry could feel Ron shaking. They were forced down 
+a steep flight of stairs, still tied back-to-back and in 
+danger of slipping and breaking their necks at any 
+moment. At the bottom was a heavy door. Greyback 
+unlocked it with a tap of his wand, then forced them 
+into a dank and musty room and left them in total 
+darkness. The echoing bang of the slammed cellar 
+door had not died away before there was a terrible, 
+drawn-out scream from directly above them. 
+
+“HERMIONE!” Ron bellowed, and he started to writhe 
+and struggle against the ropes tying them together, so 
+that Harry staggered. “HERMIONE!” 
+
+“Be quiet!” Harry said. “Shut up, Ron, we need to 
+work out a way — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 523 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“HERMIONE! HERMIONE!” 
+
+
+
+“We need a plan, stop yelling — we need to get these 
+ropes off — ” 
+
+“Harry?” came a whisper through the darkness. “Ron? 
+Is that you?” 
+
+Ron stopped shouting. There was a sound of 
+movement close by them, then Harry saw a shadow 
+moving closer. 
+
+“Harry? Ron?” 
+
+“Luna?” 
+
+“Yes, it’s me! Oh no, I didn’t want you to be caught!” 
+
+“Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?” said 
+Harry. 
+
+“Oh yes, I expect so. ... There’s an old nail we use if 
+we need to break anything. ... Just a moment ...” 
+
+Hermione screamed again from overhead, and they 
+could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words 
+were inaudible, for Ron shouted again, “HERMIONE! 
+HERMIONE!” 
+
+“Mr. Ollivander?” Harry could hear Luna saying. “Mr. 
+Ollivander, have you got the nail? If you just move 
+over a little bit... I think it was beside the water jug. 
+
+
+
+She was back within seconds. 
+“You’ll need to stay still,” she said. 
+
+
+
+Page | 524 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry could feel her digging at the rope’s tough fibers 
+to work the knots free. From upstairs they heard 
+Bellatrix’s voice. 
+
+“I’m going to ask you again! Where did you get this 
+sword? Where?” 
+
+“We found it — we found it — PLEASE!” Hermione 
+screamed again; Ron struggled harder than ever, and 
+the rusty nail slipped onto Harry’s wrist. 
+
+“Ron, please stay still!” Luna whispered. “I can’t see 
+what I’m doing — ” 
+
+“My pocket!” said Ron. “In my pocket, there’s a 
+Deluminator, and it’s full of light!” 
+
+A few seconds later, there was a click, and the 
+luminescent spheres the Deluminator had sucked 
+from the lamps in the tent flew into the cellar: Unable 
+to rejoin their sources, they simply hung there, like 
+tiny suns, flooding the underground room with light. 
+Harry saw Luna, all eyes in her white face, and the 
+motionless figure of Ollivander the wandmaker, 
+curled up on the floor in the corner. Craning around, 
+he caught sight of their fellow prisoners: Dean and 
+Griphook the goblin, who seemed barely conscious, 
+kept standing by the ropes that bound him to the 
+humans. 
+
+“Oh, that’s much easier, thanks, Ron,” said Luna, 
+and she began hacking at their bindings again. 
+
+“Hello, Dean!” 
+
+From above came Bellatrix’s voice. 
+
+“You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You 
+have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, 
+tell the truth\” 
+
+Page | 525 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Another terrible scream 
+
+
+
+“HERMIONE!” 
+
+“What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell 
+me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with 
+this knife!” 
+
+“There!” 
+
+Harry felt the ropes fall away and turned, rubbing his 
+wrists, to see Ron running around the cellar, looking 
+up at the low ceiling, searching for a trapdoor. Dean, 
+his face bruised and bloody, said “Thanks” to Luna 
+and stood there, shivering, but Griphook sank onto 
+the cellar floor, looking groggy and disoriented, many 
+welts across his swarthy face. 
+
+Ron was now trying to Disapparate without a wand. 
+
+“There’s no way out, Ron,” said Luna, watching his 
+fruitless efforts. “The cellar is completely escape- 
+proof. I tried, at first. Mr. Ollivander has been here for 
+a long time, he’s tried everything.” 
+
+Hermione was screaming again: The sound went 
+through Harry like physical pain. Barely conscious of 
+the fierce prickling of his scar, he too started to run 
+around the cellar, feeling the walls for he hardly knew 
+what, knowing in his heart that it was useless. 
+
+“What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! 
+CRUCIO\” 
+
+Hermione ’s screams echoed off the walls upstairs, 
+
+Ron was half sobbing as he pounded the walls with 
+his fists, and Harry in utter desperation seized 
+Hagrid’s pouch from around his neck and groped 
+inside it: He pulled out Dumbledore’s Snitch and 
+Page | 526 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+shook it, hoping for he did not know what — nothing 
+happened — he waved the broken halves of the 
+phoenix wand, but they were lifeless — the mirror 
+fragment fell sparkling to the floor, and he saw a 
+gleam of brightest blue — 
+
+Dumbledore’s eye was gazing at him out of the mirror. 
+
+“Help us!” he yelled at it in mad desperation. “We’re in 
+the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!” 
+
+The eye blinked and was gone. 
+
+Harry was not even sure that it had really been there. 
+He tilted the shard of mirror this way and that, and 
+saw nothing reflected there but the walls and ceiling 
+of their prison, and upstairs Hermione was screaming 
+worse than ever, and next to him Ron was bellowing, 
+“HERMIONE! HERMIONE!” 
+
+“How did you get into my vault?” they heard Bellatrix 
+scream. “Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help 
+you?” 
+
+“We only met him tonight!” Hermione sobbed. “We’ve 
+never been inside your vault. ... It isn’t the real sword! 
+It’s a copy, just a copy! 
+
+“A copy?” screeched Bellatrix. “Oh, a likely story!” 
+
+“But we can find out easily!” came Lucius’s voice. 
+“Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the 
+sword is real or not!” 
+
+Harry dashed across the cellar to where Griphook was 
+huddled on the floor. 
+
+
+
+Page | 527 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Griphook,” he whispered into the goblin’s pointed 
+ear, “you must tell them that sword’s a fake, they 
+mustn’t know it’s the real one, Griphook, please — ” 
+
+He could hear someone scuttling down the cellar 
+steps; next moment, Draco’s shaking voice spoke 
+from behind the door. 
+
+“Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don’t try 
+anything, or I’ll kill you!” 
+
+They did as they were bidden; as the lock turned, Ron 
+clicked the Deluminator and the lights whisked back 
+into his pocket, restoring the cellar’s darkness. The 
+door flew open; Malfoy marched inside, wand held out 
+in front of him, pale and determined. He seized the 
+little goblin by the arm and backed out again, 
+dragging Griphook with him. The door slammed shut 
+and at the same moment a loud crack echoed inside 
+the cellar. 
+
+Ron clicked the Deluminator. Three balls of light flew 
+back into the air from his pocket, revealing Dobby the 
+house-elf, who had just Apparated into their midst. 
+
+“DOB — !” 
+
+
+
+Harry hit Ron on the arm to stop him shouting, and 
+Ron looked terrified at his mistake. Footsteps crossed 
+the ceiling overhead: Draco marching Griphook to 
+Bellatrix. 
+
+Dobby’s enormous, tennis-ball-shaped eyes were 
+wide; he was trembling from his feet to the tips of his 
+ears. He was back in the home of his old masters, and 
+it was clear that he was petrified. 
+
+“Harry Potter,” he squeaked in the tiniest quiver of a 
+voice, “Dobby has come to rescue you.” 
+
+Page | 528 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But how did you — ?” 
+
+
+
+An awful scream drowned Harry’s words: Hermione 
+was being tortured again. He cut to the essentials. 
+
+“You can Disapparate out of this cellar?” he asked 
+Dobby, who nodded, his ears flapping. 
+
+“And you can take humans with you?” 
+
+Dobby nodded again. 
+
+“Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Dean, and 
+Mr. Ollivander, and take them — take them to — ” 
+
+“Bill and Fleur’s,” said Ron. “Shell Cottage on the 
+outskirts of Tinworth!” 
+
+The elf nodded for a third time. 
+
+“And then come back,” said Harry. “Can you do that, 
+Dobby?” 
+
+“Of course, Harry Potter,” whispered the little elf. He 
+hurried over to Mr. Ollivander, who appeared to be 
+barely conscious. He took one of the wandmaker’s 
+hands in his own, then held out the other to Luna 
+and Dean, neither of whom moved. 
+
+“Harry, we want to help you!” Luna whispered. 
+
+“We can’t leave you here,” said Dean. 
+
+“Go, both of you! We’ll see you at Bill and Fleur’s.” 
+
+As Harry spoke, his scar burned worse than ever, and 
+for a few seconds he looked down, not upon the 
+wandmaker, but on another man who was just as old, 
+just as thin, but laughing scornfully. 
+
+Page | 529 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ Kill me, then, Voldemort, I welcome death! But my 
+death will not bring you what you seek. . . . There is so 
+much you do not understand. ...” 
+
+He felt Voldemort’s fury, but as Hermione screamed 
+again he shut it out, returning to the cellar and the 
+horror of his own present. 
+
+“Go!” Harry beseeched Luna and Dean. “Go! Well 
+follow, just go!” 
+
+They caught hold of the elf’s outstretched fingers. 
+There was another loud crack, and Dobby, Luna, 
+Dean, and Ollivander vanished. 
+
+“What was that?” shouted Lucius Malfoy from over 
+their heads. “Did you hear that? What was that noise 
+in the cellar?” 
+
+Harry and Ron stared at each other. 
+
+“Draco — no, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!” 
+
+Footsteps crossed the room overhead, then there was 
+silence. Harry knew that the people in the drawing 
+room were listening for more noises from the cellar. 
+
+“We’re going to have to try and tackle him,” he 
+whispered to Ron. They had no choice: The moment 
+anyone entered the room and saw the absence of 
+three prisoners, they were lost. “Leave the lights on,” 
+Harry added, and as they heard someone descending 
+the steps outside the door, they backed against the 
+wall on either side of it. 
+
+“Stand back,” came Wormtail’s voice. “Stand away 
+from the door. I am coming in.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 530 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The door flew open. For a split second Wormtail gazed 
+into the apparently empty cellar, ablaze with light 
+from the three miniature suns floating in midair. 
+
+Then Harry and Ron launched themselves upon him. 
+Ron seized Wormtail’s wand arm and forced it 
+upward; Harry slapped a hand to his mouth, muffling 
+his voice. Silently they struggled: Wormtail’s wand 
+emitted sparks; his silver hand closed around Harry’s 
+throat. 
+
+“What is it, Wormtail?” called Lucius Malfoy from 
+above. 
+
+“Nothing!” Ron called back, in a passable imitation of 
+Wormtail’s wheezy voice. “All fine!” 
+
+Harry could barely breathe. 
+
+“You’re going to kill me?” Harry choked, attempting to 
+prise off the metal fingers. “After I saved your life? 
+
+You owe me, Wormtail!” 
+
+The silver fingers slackened. Harry had not expected 
+it: He wrenched himself free, astonished, keeping his 
+hand over Wormtail’s mouth. He saw the ratlike 
+man’s small watery eyes widen with fear and surprise: 
+He seemed just as shocked as Harry at what his hand 
+had done, at the tiny, merciful impulse it had 
+betrayed, and he continued to struggle more 
+powerfully, as though to undo that moment of 
+weakness. 
+
+“And well have that,” whispered Ron, tugging 
+Wormtail’s wand from his other hand. 
+
+Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew’s pupils dilated in 
+terror. His eyes had slid from Harry’s face to 
+something else. His own silver fingers were moving 
+inexorably toward his own throat. 
+
+Page | 531 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No — ” 
+
+
+
+Without pausing to think, Harry tried to drag back 
+the hand, but there was no stopping it. The silver tool 
+that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant 
+had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; 
+Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, 
+his moment of pity; he was being strangled before 
+their eyes. 
+
+“No!” 
+
+Ron had released Wormtail too, and together he and 
+Harry tried to pull the crushing metal fingers from 
+around Wormtail’s throat, but it was no use. 
+
+Pettigrew was turning blue. 
+
+“Relashiol” said Ron, pointing the wand at the silver 
+hand, but nothing happened; Pettigrew dropped to his 
+knees, and at the same moment, Hermione gave a 
+dreadful scream from overhead. Wormtail’s eyes rolled 
+upward in his purple face; he gave a last twitch, and 
+was still. 
+
+Harry and Ron looked at each other, then leaving 
+Wormtail’s body on the floor behind them, ran up the 
+stairs and back into the shadowy passageway leading 
+to the drawing room. Cautiously they crept along it 
+until they reached the drawing room door, which was 
+ajar. Now they had a clear view of Bellatrix looking 
+down at Griphook, who was holding Gryffindor’s 
+sword in his long-fingered hands. Hermione was lying 
+at Bellatrix’s feet. She was barely stirring. 
+
+“Well?” Bellatrix said to Griphook. “Is it the true 
+sword?” 
+
+Harry waited, holding his breath, fighting against the 
+prickling of his scar. 
+
+Page | 532 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Griphook. “It is a fake.” 
+
+“Are you sure?” panted Bellatrix. “Quite sure?” 
+
+“Yes,” said the goblin. 
+
+Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from 
+it. 
+
+“Good,” she said, and with a casual flick of her wand 
+she slashed another deep cut into the goblin’s face, 
+and he dropped with a yell at her feet. She kicked him 
+aside. “And now,” she said in a voice that burst with 
+triumph, “we call the Dark Lord!” 
+
+And she pushed back her sleeve and touched her 
+forefinger to the Dark Mark. 
+
+At once, Harry’s scar felt as though it had split open 
+again. His true surroundings vanished: He was 
+Voldemort, and the skeletal wizard before him was 
+laughing toothlessly at him; he was enraged at the 
+summons he felt — he had warned them, he had told 
+them to summon him for nothing less than Potter. If 
+they were mistaken . . . 
+
+“Kill me, then!” demanded the old man. “You will not 
+win, you cannot win! That wand will never, ever be 
+yours — ” 
+
+And Voldemort’s fury broke: A burst of green light 
+filled the prison room and the frail old body was lifted 
+from its hard bed and then fell back, lifeless, and 
+Voldemort returned to the window, his wrath barely 
+controllable. ... They would suffer his retribution if 
+they had no good reason for calling him back. . . . 
+
+“And I think,” said Bellatrix’s voice, “we can dispose of 
+the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her.” 
+
+Page | 533 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 
+
+
+
+Ron had burst into the drawing room; Bellatrix looked 
+around, shocked; she turned her wand to face Ron 
+instead — 
+
+“ ExpelliarmusV’ he roared, pointing Wormtail’s wand 
+at Bellatrix, and hers flew into the air and was caught 
+by Harry, who had sprinted after Ron. Lucius, 
+Narcissa, Draco, and Greyback wheeled about; Harry 
+yelled, “Stupefy\” and Lucius Malfoy collapsed onto 
+the hearth. Jets of light flew from Draco’s, Narcissa’s, 
+and Greyback’s wands; Harry threw himself to the 
+floor, rolling behind a sofa to avoid them. 
+
+“STOP OR SHE DIES!” 
+
+Panting, Harry peered around the edge of the sofa. 
+Bellatrix was supporting Hermione, who seemed to be 
+unconscious, and was holding her short silver knife 
+to Hermione ’s throat. 
+
+“Drop your wands,” she whispered. “Drop them, or 
+we’ll see exactly how filthy her blood is!” 
+
+Ron stood rigid, clutching Wormtail’s wand. Harry 
+straightened up, still holding Bellatrix’s. 
+
+“I said, drop them!” she screeched, pressing the blade 
+into Hermione’s throat: Harry saw beads of blood 
+appear there. 
+
+“All right!” he shouted, and he dropped Bellatrix’s 
+wand onto the floor at his feet. Ron did the same with 
+Wormtail’s. Both raised their hands to shoulder 
+height. 
+
+“Good!” she leered. “Draco, pick them up! The Dark 
+Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!” 
+
+Page | 534 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry knew it; his scar was bursting with the pain of 
+it, and he could feel Voldemort flying through the sky 
+from far away, over a dark and stormy sea, and soon 
+he would be close enough to Apparate to them, and 
+Harry could see no way out. 
+
+“Now,” said Bellatrix softly, as Draco hurried back to 
+her with the wands, “Cissy, I think we ought to tie 
+these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes 
+care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will 
+not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you 
+have done tonight.” 
+
+At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise 
+from above. All of them looked upward in time to see 
+the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and 
+an ominous jingling, it began to fall. Bellatrix was 
+directly beneath it; dropping Hermione, she threw 
+herself aside with a scream. The chandelier crashed 
+to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, 
+falling on top of Hermione and the goblin, who still 
+clutched the sword of Gryffindor. Glittering shards of 
+crystal flew in all directions: Draco doubled over, his 
+hands covering his bloody face. 
+
+As Ron ran to pull Hermione out of the wreckage, 
+Harry took his chance: He leapt over an armchair and 
+wrested the three wands from Draco’s grip, pointed all 
+of them at Greyback, and yelled, “Stupefyl” The 
+werewolf was lifted off his feet by the triple spell, flew 
+up to the ceiling, and then smashed to the ground. 
+
+As Narcissa dragged Draco out of the way of further 
+harm, Bellatrix sprang to her feet, her hair flying as 
+she brandished the silver knife; but Narcissa had 
+directed her wand at the doorway. 
+
+“Dobby!” she screamed, and even Bellatrix froze. 
+
+“You! You dropped the chandelier — ?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The tiny elf trotted into the room, his shaking finger 
+pointing at his old mistress. 
+
+“You must not hurt Harry Potter,” he squeaked. 
+
+“Kill him, Cissy!” shrieked Bellatrix, but there was 
+another loud crack, and Narcissa’s wand too flew into 
+the air and landed on the other side of the room. 
+
+“You dirty little monkey!” bawled Bellatrix. “How dare 
+you take a witch’s wand, how dare you defy your 
+masters?” 
+
+“Dobby has no master!” squealed the elf. “Dobby is a 
+free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and 
+his friends!” 
+
+Harry’s scar was blinding him with pain. Dimly he 
+knew that they had moments, seconds before 
+Voldemort was with them. 
+
+“Ron, catch — and GO!” he yelled, throwing one of the 
+wands to him; then he bent down to tug Griphook out 
+from under the chandelier. Hoisting the groaning 
+goblin, who still clung to the sword, over one 
+shoulder, Harry seized Dobby’s hand and spun on the 
+spot to Disapparate. 
+
+As he turned into darkness he caught one last view of 
+the drawing room: of the pale, frozen figures of 
+Narcissa and Draco, of the streak of red that was 
+Ron’s hair, and a blur of flying silver, as Bellatrix’s 
+knife flew across the room at the place where he was 
+vanishing — 
+
+Bill and Fleur’s . . . Shell Cottage . . . Bill and Fleur’s . . . 
+
+He had disappeared into the unknown; all he could 
+do was repeat the name of the destination and hope 
+
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+
+
+
+that it would suffice to take him there. The pain in his 
+forehead pierced him, and the weight of the goblin 
+bore down upon him; he could feel the blade of 
+Gryffindor’s sword bumping against his back; Dobby’s 
+hand jerked in his; he wondered whether the elf was 
+trying to take charge, to pull them in the right 
+direction, and tried, by squeezing the fingers, to 
+indicate that that was fine with him. ... 
+
+And then they hit solid earth and smelled salty air. 
+Harry fell to his knees, relinquished Dobby’s hand, 
+and attempted to lower Griphook gently to the 
+ground. 
+
+“Are you all right?” he said as the goblin stirred, but 
+Griphook merely whimpered. 
+
+Harry squinted around through the darkness. There 
+seemed to be a cottage a short way away under the 
+wide starry sky, and he thought he saw movement 
+outside it. 
+
+“Dobby, is this Shell Cottage?” he whispered, 
+clutching the two wands he had brought from the 
+Malfoys’, ready to fight if he needed to. “Have we come 
+to the right place? Dobby?” 
+
+He looked around. The little elf stood feet from him. 
+“DOBBY!” 
+
+The elf swayed slightly, stars reflected in his wide, 
+shining eyes. Together, he and Harry looked down at 
+the silver hilt of the knife protruding from the elf’s 
+heaving chest. 
+
+“Dobby — no — HELP!” Harry bellowed toward the 
+cottage, toward the people moving there. “HELP!” 
+
+
+
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+
+He did not know or care whether they were wizards or 
+Muggles, friends or foes; all he cared about was that a 
+dark stain was spreading across Dobby’s front, and 
+that he had stretched out his thin arms to Harry with 
+a look of supplication. Harry caught him and laid him 
+sideways on the cool grass. 
+
+“Dobby, no, don’t die, don’t die — ” 
+
+The elf’s eyes found him, and his lips trembled with 
+the effort to form words. 
+
+“Harry ... Potter ...” 
+
+And then with a little shudder the elf became quite 
+still, and his eyes were nothing more than great 
+glassy orbs, sprinkled with light from the stars they 
+could not see. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+THE WANDMAKER 
+
+It was like sinking into an old nightmare; for an 
+instant Harry knelt again beside Dumbledore’s body 
+at the foot of the tallest tower at Hogwarts, but in 
+reality he was staring at a tiny body curled upon the 
+grass, pierced by Bellatrix’s silver knife. Harry’s voice 
+was still saying, “Dobby ... Dobby ...” even though he 
+knew that the elf had gone where he could not call 
+him back. 
+
+After a minute or so he realized that they had, after 
+all, come to the right place, for here were Bill and 
+Fleur, Dean and Luna, gathering around him as he 
+knelt over the elf. 
+
+“Hermione?” he said suddenly. “Where is she?” 
+
+“Ron’s taken her inside,” said Bill. “She’ll be all right.” 
+
+Harry looked back down at Dobby. He stretched out a 
+hand and pulled the sharp blade from the elf’s body, 
+then dragged off his own jacket and covered Dobby in 
+it like a blanket. 
+
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+
+
+The sea was rushing against rock somewhere nearby; 
+Harry listened to it while the others talked, discussing 
+matters in which he could take no interest, making 
+decisions. Dean carried the injured Griphook into the 
+house, Fleur hurrying with them; now Bill was 
+making suggestions about burying the elf. Harry 
+agreed without really knowing what he was saying. As 
+he did so, he gazed down at the tiny body, and his 
+scar prickled and burned, and in one part of his 
+mind, viewed as if from the wrong end of a long 
+telescope, he saw Voldemort punishing those they 
+had left behind at Malfoy Manor. His rage was 
+dreadful and yet Harry’s grief for Dobby seemed to 
+diminish it, so that it became a distant storm that 
+reached Harry from across a vast, silent ocean. 
+
+“I want to do it properly,” were the first words of 
+which Harry was fully conscious of speaking. “Not by 
+magic. Have you got a spade?” 
+
+And shortly afterward he had set to work, alone, 
+digging the grave in the place that Bill had shown him 
+at the end of the garden, between bushes. He dug 
+with a kind of fury, relishing the manual work, 
+glorying in the non-magic of it, for every drop of his 
+sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who 
+had saved their lives. 
+
+His scar burned, but he was master of the pain; he 
+felt it, yet was apart from it. He had learned control at 
+last, learned to shut his mind to Voldemort, the very 
+thing Dumbledore had wanted him to learn from 
+Snape. Just as Voldemort had not been able to 
+possess Harry while Harry was consumed with grief 
+for Sirius, so his thoughts could not penetrate Harry 
+now, while he mourned Dobby. Grief, it seemed, drove 
+Voldemort out ... though Dumbledore, of course, 
+would have said that it was love. ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+On Harry dug, deeper and deeper into the hard, cold 
+earth, subsuming his grief in sweat, denying the pain 
+in his scar. In the darkness, with nothing but the 
+sound of his own breath and the rushing sea to keep 
+him company, the things that had happened at the 
+Malfoys’ returned to him, the things he had heard 
+came back to him, and understanding blossomed in 
+the darkness. ... 
+
+The steady rhythm of his arms beat time with his 
+thoughts. Hallows ... Horcruxes ... Hallows ... 
+Horcruxes ... Yet he no longer burned with that weird, 
+obsessive longing. Loss and fear had snuffed it out: 
+
+He felt as though he had been slapped awake again. 
+
+Deeper and deeper Harry sank into the grave, and he 
+knew where Voldemort had been tonight, and whom 
+he had killed in the topmost cell of Nurmengard, and 
+why. ... 
+
+And he thought of Wormtail, dead because of one 
+small unconscious impulse of mercy. . . . Dumbledore 
+had foreseen that. ... How much more had he known? 
+
+Harry lost track of time. He knew only that the 
+darkness had lightened a few degrees when he was 
+rejoined by Ron and Dean. 
+
+“How’s Hermione?” 
+
+“Better,” said Ron. “Fleur’s looking after her.” 
+
+Harry had his retort ready for when they asked him 
+why he had not simply created a perfect grave with 
+his wand, but he did not need it. They jumped down 
+into the hole he had made with spades of their own, 
+and together they worked in silence until the hole 
+seemed deep enough. 
+
+
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+
+Harry wrapped the elf more snugly in his jacket. Ron 
+sat on the edge of the grave and stripped off his shoes 
+and socks, which he placed upon the elf’s bare feet. 
+Dean produced a woolen hat, which Harry placed 
+carefully upon Dobby’s head, muffling his batlike 
+ears. 
+
+“We should close his eyes.” 
+
+Harry had not heard the others coming through the 
+darkness. Bill was wearing a traveling cloak, Fleur a 
+large white apron, from the pocket of which protruded 
+a bottle of what Harry recognized to be Skele-Gro. 
+Hermione was wrapped in a borrowed dressing gown, 
+pale and unsteady on her feet; Ron put an arm 
+around her when she reached him. Luna, who was 
+huddled in one of Fleur’s coats, crouched down and 
+placed her fingers tenderly upon each of the elf’s 
+eyelids, sliding them over his glassy stare. 
+
+“There,” she said softly. “Now he could be sleeping.” 
+
+Harry placed the elf into the grave, arranged his tiny 
+limbs so that he might have been resting, then 
+climbed out and gazed for the last time upon the little 
+body. He forced himself not to break down as he 
+remembered Dumbledore’s funeral, and the rows and 
+rows of golden chairs, and the Minister of Magic in 
+the front row, the recitation of Dumbledore’s 
+achievements, the stateliness of the white marble 
+tomb. He felt that Dobby deserved just as grand a 
+funeral, and yet here the elf lay between bushes in a 
+roughly dug hole. 
+
+“I think we ought to say something,” piped up Luna. 
+“I’ll go first, shall I?” 
+
+And as everybody looked at her, she addressed the 
+dead elf at the bottom of the grave. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from 
+that cellar. It’s so unfair that you had to die, when 
+you were so good and brave. I’ll always remember 
+what you did for us. I hope you’re happy now.” 
+
+She turned and looked expectantly at Ron, who 
+cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, “Yeah ... 
+thanks, Dobby.” 
+
+“Thanks,” muttered Dean. 
+
+Harry swallowed. 
+
+“Good-bye, Dobby,” he said. It was all he could 
+manage, but Luna had said it all for him. Bill raised 
+his wand, and the pile of earth beside the grave rose 
+up into the air and fell neatly upon it, a small, 
+reddish mound. 
+
+“D’you mind if I stay here a moment?” he asked the 
+others. 
+
+They murmured words he did not catch; he felt gentle 
+pats upon his back, and then they all traipsed back 
+toward the cottage, leaving Harry alone beside the elf. 
+
+He looked around: There were a number of large 
+white stones, smoothed by the sea, marking the edge 
+of the flower beds. He picked up one of the largest 
+and laid it, pillowlike, over the place where Dobby ’s 
+head now rested. He then felt in his pocket for a 
+wand. 
+
+There were two in there. He had forgotten, lost track; 
+he could not now remember whose wands these were; 
+he seemed to remember wrenching them out of 
+someone’s hand. He selected the shorter of the two, 
+which felt friendlier in his hand, and pointed it at the 
+rock. 
+
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+
+Slowly, under his murmured instruction, deep cuts 
+appeared upon the rock’s surface. He knew that 
+Hermione could have done it more neatly, and 
+probably more quickly, but he wanted to mark the 
+spot as he had wanted to dig the grave. When Harry 
+stood up again, the stone read: 
+
+HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF. 
+
+He looked down at his handiwork for a few more 
+seconds, then walked away, his scar still prickling a 
+little, and his mind full of those things that had come 
+to him in the grave, ideas that had taken shape in the 
+darkness, ideas both fascinating and terrible. 
+
+They were all sitting in the living room when he 
+entered the little hall, their attention focused upon 
+Bill, who was talking. The room was light-colored, 
+pretty, with a small fire of driftwood burning brightly 
+in the fireplace. Harry did not want to drop mud upon 
+the carpet, so he stood in the doorway, listening. 
+
+"... lucky that Ginny’s on holiday. If she’d been at 
+Hogwarts, they could have taken her before we 
+reached her. Now we know she’s safe too.” 
+
+He looked around and saw Harry standing there. 
+
+“I’ve been getting them all out of the Burrow,” he 
+explained. “Moved them to Muriel’s. The Death Eaters 
+know Ron’s with you now, they’re bound to target the 
+family — don’t apologize,” he added at the sight of 
+Harry’s expression. “It was always a matter of time, 
+Dad’s been saying so for months. We’re the biggest 
+blood-traitor family there is.” 
+
+“How are they protected?” asked Harry. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+“Fidelius Charm. Dad’s Secret-Keeper. And we’ve 
+done it on this cottage too; I’m Secret-Keeper here. 
+None of us can go to work, but that’s hardly the most 
+important thing now. Once Ollivander and Griphook 
+are well enough, we’ll move them to Muriel’s too. 
+There isn’t much room here, but she’s got plenty. 
+Griphook’s legs are on the mend, Fleur’s given him 
+Skele-Gro; we could probably move them in an hour 
+
+
+
+or — 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+“No,” Harry said, and Bill looked startled. “I need both 
+of them here. I need to talk to them. It’s important.” 
+
+He heard the authority in his own voice, the 
+conviction, the sense of purpose that had come to him 
+as he dug Dobby’s grave. All of their faces were 
+turned toward him, looking puzzled. 
+
+“I’m going to wash,” Harry told Bill, looking down at 
+his hands, still covered in mud and Dobby’s blood. 
+“Then 111 need to see them, straightaway.” 
+
+He walked into the little kitchen, to the basin beneath 
+a window overlooking the sea. Dawn was breaking 
+over the horizon, shell pink and faintly gold, as he 
+washed, again following the train of thought that had 
+come to him in the dark garden. ... 
+
+Dobby would never be able to tell them who had sent 
+him to the cellar, but Harry knew what he had seen. 
+
+A piercing blue eye had looked out of the mirror 
+fragment, and then help had come. Help will always 
+be given at Hog warts to those who ask for it 
+
+Harry dried his hands, impervious to the beauty of 
+the scene outside the window and to the murmuring 
+of the others in the sitting room. He looked out over 
+the ocean and felt closer, this dawn, than ever before, 
+closer to the heart of it all. 
+
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+
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+
+
+And still his scar prickled, and he knew that 
+Voldemort was getting there too. Harry understood 
+and yet did not understand. His instinct was telling 
+him one thing, his brain quite another. The 
+Dumbledore in Harry’s head smiled, surveying Harry 
+over the tips of his fingers, pressed together as if in 
+prayer. 
+
+You gave Ron the Deluminator. You understood him. . . . 
+You gave him a way back. . . . 
+
+And you understood Wormtail too. ... You knew there 
+was a bit of regret there, somewhere. ... 
+
+And if you knew them ... What did you know about 
+me, Dumbledore? 
+
+Am I meant to know, but not to seek? Did you know 
+how hard I’d find that? Is that why you made it this 
+difficult? So I’d have time to work that out? 
+
+Harry stood quite still, eyes glazed, watching the place 
+where a bright gold rim of dazzling sun was rising 
+over the horizon. Then he looked down at his clean 
+hands and was momentarily surprised to see the 
+cloth he was holding in them. He set it down and 
+returned to the hall, and as he did so, he felt his scar 
+pulse angrily, and there flashed across his mind, swift 
+as the reflection of a dragonfly over water, the outline 
+of a building he knew extremely well. 
+
+Bill and Fleur were standing at the foot of the stairs. 
+
+“I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander,” Harry 
+said. 
+
+“No,” said Fleur. “You will ’ave to wait, ’Arry. Zey are 
+both ill, tired — ” 
+
+
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+
+
+“I’m sorry,” he said without heat, “but it can’t wait. I 
+need to talk to them now. Privately — and separately. 
+It’s urgent.” 
+
+“Harry, what the hell’s going on?” asked Bill. “You 
+turn up here with a dead house-elf and a half- 
+conscious goblin, Hermione looks as though she’s 
+been tortured, and Ron’s just refused to tell me 
+anything — ” 
+
+“We can’t tell you what we’re doing,” said Harry flatly. 
+“You’re in the Order, Bill, you know Dumbledore left 
+us a mission. We’re not supposed to talk about it to 
+anyone else.” 
+
+Fleur made an impatient noise, but Bill did not look 
+at her; he was staring at Harry. His deeply scarred 
+face was hard to read. Finally Bill said, “All right. Who 
+do you want to talk to first?” 
+
+Harry hesitated. He knew what hung on his decision. 
+There was hardly any time left; now was the moment 
+to decide: Horcruxes or Hallows? 
+
+“Griphook,” Harry said. “I’ll speak to Griphook first.” 
+
+His heart was racing as if he had been sprinting and 
+had just cleared an enormous obstacle. 
+
+“Up here, then,” said Bill, leading the way. 
+
+Harry had walked up several steps before stopping 
+and looking back. 
+
+“I need you two as well!” he called to Ron and 
+Hermione, who had been skulking, half concealed, in 
+the doorway of the sitting room. 
+
+They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“How are you?” Harry asked Hermione. “You were 
+amazing — coming up with that story when she was 
+hurting you like that — ” 
+
+Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one- 
+armed squeeze. 
+
+“What are we doing now, Harry?” he asked. 
+
+“You’ll see. Come on.” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Bill up the steep 
+stairs onto a small landing. Three doors led off it. 
+
+“In here,” said Bill, opening the door into his and 
+Fleur’s room. It too had a view of the sea, now flecked 
+with gold in the sunrise. Harry moved to the window, 
+turned his back on the spectacular view, and waited, 
+his arms folded, his scar prickling. Hermione took the 
+chair beside the dressing table; Ron sat on the arm. 
+
+Bill reappeared, carrying the little goblin, whom he 
+set down carefully upon the bed. Griphook grunted 
+thanks, and Bill left, closing the door upon them all. 
+
+“I’m sorry to take you out of bed,” said Harry. “How 
+are your legs?” 
+
+“Painful,” replied the goblin. “But mending.” 
+
+He was still clutching the sword of Gryffindor, and 
+wore a strange look: half truculent, half intrigued. 
+Harry noted the goblin’s sallow skin, his long thin 
+fingers, his black eyes. Fleur had removed his shoes: 
+His long feet were dirty. He was larger than a house- 
+elf, but not by much. His domed head was much 
+bigger than a human’s. 
+
+“You probably don’t remember — ” Harry began. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — that I was the goblin who showed you to your 
+vault, the first time you ever visited Gringotts?” said 
+Griphook. “I remember, Harry Potter. Even amongst 
+goblins, you are very famous.” 
+
+Harry and the goblin looked at each other, sizing each 
+other up. Harry’s scar was still prickling. He wanted 
+to get through this interview with Griphook quickly, 
+and at the same time was afraid of making a false 
+move. While he tried to decide on the best way to 
+approach his request, the goblin broke the silence. 
+
+“You buried the elf,” he said, sounding unexpectedly 
+rancorous. “I watched you from the window of the 
+bedroom next door.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+Griphook looked at him out of the corners of his 
+slanting black eyes. 
+
+“You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter.” 
+
+“In what way?” asked Harry, rubbing his scar 
+absently. 
+
+“You dug the grave.” 
+
+“So?” 
+
+Griphook did not answer. Harry rather thought he 
+was being sneered at for acting like a Muggle, but it 
+did not much matter to him whether Griphook 
+approved of Dobby’s grave or not. He gathered himself 
+for the attack. 
+
+“Griphook, I need to ask — ” 
+
+“You also rescued a goblin.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What?” 
+
+
+
+“You brought me here. Saved me.” 
+
+“Well, I take it you’re not sorry?” said Harry a little 
+impatiently. 
+
+“No, Harry Potter,” said Griphook, and with one finger 
+he twisted the thin black beard upon his chin, “but 
+you are a very odd wizard.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry. “Well, I need some help, 
+
+Griphook, and you can give it to me.” 
+
+The goblin made no sign of encouragement, but 
+continued to frown at Harry as though he had never 
+seen anything like him. 
+
+“I need to break into a Gringotts vault.” 
+
+Harry had not meant to say it so baldly; the words 
+were forced from him as pain shot through his 
+lightning scar and he saw, again, the outline of 
+Hogwarts. He closed his mind firmly. He needed to 
+deal with Griphook first. Ron and Hermione were 
+staring at Harry as though he had gone mad. 
+
+“Harry — ” said Hermione, but she was cut off by 
+Griphook. 
+
+“Break into a Gringotts vault?” repeated the goblin, 
+wincing a little as he shifted his position upon the 
+bed. “It is impossible.” 
+
+“No, it isn’t,” Ron contradicted him. “It’s been done.” 
+
+“Yeah,” said Harry. “The same day I first met you, 
+Griphook. My birthday, seven years ago.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“The vault in question was empty at the time,” 
+snapped the goblin, and Harry understood that even 
+though Griphook had left Gringotts, he was offended 
+at the idea of its defenses being breached. “Its 
+protection was minimal.” 
+
+“Well, the vault we need to get into isn’t empty, and 
+I’m guessing its protection will be pretty powerful,” 
+said Harry. “It belongs to the Lestranges.” 
+
+He saw Hermione and Ron look at each other, 
+astonished, but there would be time enough to 
+explain after Griphook had given his answer. 
+
+“You have no chance,” said Griphook flatly. “No 
+chance at all. If you seek beneath our floors, a 
+treasure that was never yours — ” 
+
+“Thief you have been warned, beware — yeah, I 
+know, I remember,” said Harry. “But I’m not trying to 
+get myself any treasure, I’m not trying to take 
+anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?” 
+
+The goblin looked slantwise at Harry, and the 
+lightning scar on Harry’s forehead prickled, but he 
+ignored it, refusing to acknowledge its pain or its 
+invitation. 
+
+“If there was a wizard of whom I would believe that 
+they did not seek personal gain,” said Griphook 
+finally, “it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and 
+elves are not used to the protection or the respect 
+that you have shown this night. Not from wand- 
+carriers.” 
+
+“Wand-carriers,” repeated Harry: The phrase fell oddly 
+upon his ears as his scar prickled, as Voldemort 
+turned his thoughts northward, and as Harry burned 
+to question Ollivander next door. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“The right to carry a wand,” said the goblin quietly, 
+“has long been contested between wizards and 
+goblins.” 
+
+“Well, goblins can do magic without wands,” said 
+Ron. 
+
+“That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the 
+secrets of wand-lore with other magical beings, they 
+deny us the possibility of extending our powers!” 
+
+“Well, goblins won’t share any of their magic either,” 
+said Ron. “You won’t tell us how to make swords and 
+armor the way you do. Goblins know how to work 
+metal in a way wizards have never — ” 
+
+“It doesn’t matter,” said Harry, noting Griphook’s 
+rising color. “This isn’t about wizards versus goblins 
+or any other sort of magical creature — ” 
+
+Griphook gave a nasty laugh. 
+
+“But it is, it is about precisely that! As the Dark Lord 
+becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still 
+more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under 
+Wizarding rule, house-elves are slaughtered, and who 
+amongst the wand-carriers protests?” 
+
+“We do!” said Hermione. She had sat up straight, her 
+eyes bright. “We protest! And I’m hunted quite as 
+much as any goblin or elf, Griphook! I’m a Mudblood!” 
+
+“Don’t call yourself — ” Ron muttered. 
+
+“Why shouldn’t I?” said Hermione. “Mudblood, and 
+proud of it! I’ve got no higher position under this new 
+order than you have, Griphook! It was me they chose 
+to torture, back at the Malfoys’!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+As she spoke, she pulled aside the neck of the 
+dressing gown to reveal the thin cut Bellatrix had 
+made, scarlet against her throat. 
+
+“Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free?” 
+she asked. “Did you know that we’ve wanted elves to 
+be freed for years?” (Ron fidgeted uncomfortably on 
+the arm of Hermione’s chair.) “You can’t want You- 
+Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!” 
+
+The goblin gazed at Hermione with the same curiosity 
+he had shown Harry. 
+
+“What do you seek within the Lestranges’ vault?” he 
+asked abruptly. “The sword that lies inside it is a 
+fake. This is the real one.” He looked from one to the 
+other of them. “I think that you already know this. 
+
+You asked me to lie for you back there.” 
+
+“But the fake sword isn’t the only thing in that vault, 
+is it?” asked Harry. “Perhaps you’ve seen the other 
+things in there?” 
+
+His heart was pounding harder than ever. He 
+redoubled his efforts to ignore the pulsing of his scar. 
+
+The goblin twisted his beard around his finger again. 
+
+“It is against our code to speak of the secrets of 
+Gringotts. We are the guardians of fabulous 
+treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our 
+care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers.” 
+
+The goblin stroked the sword, and his black eyes 
+roved from Harry to Hermione to Ron and then back 
+again. 
+
+“So young,” he said finally, “to be fighting so many.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Will you help us?” said Harry. “We haven’t got a hope 
+of breaking in without a goblin’s help. You’re our one 
+chance.” 
+
+“I shall ... think about it,” said Griphook 
+maddeningly. 
+
+“But — ” Ron started angrily; Hermione nudged him in 
+the ribs. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Harry. 
+
+The goblin bowed his great domed head in 
+acknowledgement, then flexed his short legs. 
+
+“I think,” he said, settling himself ostentatiously upon 
+Bill and Fleur’s bed, “that the Skele-Gro has finished 
+its work. I may be able to sleep at last. Forgive me. ...” 
+
+“Yeah, of course,” said Harry, but before leaving the 
+room he leaned forward and took the sword of 
+Gryffindor from beside the goblin. Griphook did not 
+protest, but Harry thought he saw resentment in the 
+goblin’s eyes as he closed the door upon him. 
+
+“Little git,” whispered Ron. “He’s enjoying keeping us 
+hanging.” 
+
+“Harry,” whispered Hermione, pulling them both away 
+from the door, into the middle of the still-dark 
+landing, “are you saying what I think you’re saying? 
+Are you saying there’s a Horcrux in the Lestranges’ 
+vault?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “Bellatrix was terrified when she 
+thought we’d been in there, she was beside herself. 
+Why? What did she think we’d seen, what else did she 
+think we might have taken? Something she was 
+petrified You-Know-Who would find out about.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But I thought we were looking for places You-Know- 
+Who’s been, places he’s done something important?” 
+said Ron, looking baffled. “Was he ever inside the 
+Lestranges’ vault?” 
+
+“I don’t know whether he was ever inside Gringotts,” 
+said Harry. “He never had gold there when he was 
+younger, because nobody left him anything. He would 
+have seen the bank from the outside, though, the first 
+time he ever went to Diagon Alley.” 
+
+Harry’s scar throbbed, but he ignored it; he wanted 
+Ron and Hermione to understand about Gringotts 
+before they spoke to Ollivander. 
+
+“I think he would have envied anyone who had a key 
+to a Gringotts vault. I think he’d have seen it as a real 
+symbol of belonging to the Wizarding world. And don’t 
+forget, he trusted Bellatrix and her husband. They 
+were his most devoted servants before he fell, and 
+they went looking for him after he vanished. He said it 
+the night he came back, I heard him.” 
+
+Harry rubbed his scar. 
+
+“I don’t think he’d have told Bellatrix it was a 
+Horcrux, though. He never told Lucius Malfoy the 
+truth about the diary. He probably told her it was a 
+treasured possession and asked her to place it in her 
+vault. The safest place in the world for anything you 
+want to hide, Hagrid told me ... except for Hogwarts.” 
+
+When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his 
+head. 
+
+“You really understand him.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Bits of him,” said Harry. “Bits ... I just wish I’d 
+understood Dumbledore as much. But well see. 
+
+Come on — Ollivander now.” 
+
+Ron and Hermione looked bewildered but impressed 
+as they followed him across the little landing and 
+knocked upon the door opposite Bill and Fleur’s. A 
+weak “Come in!” answered them. 
+
+The wandmaker was lying on the twin bed farthest 
+from the window. He had been held in the cellar for 
+more than a year, and tortured, Harry knew, on at 
+least one occasion. He was emaciated, the bones of 
+his face sticking out sharply against the yellowish 
+skin. His great silver eyes seemed vast in their 
+sunken sockets. The hands that lay upon the blanket 
+could have belonged to a skeleton. Harry sat down on 
+the empty bed, beside Ron and Hermione. The rising 
+sun was not visible here. The room faced the cliff- top 
+garden and the freshly dug grave. 
+
+“Mr. Ollivander, I’m sorry to disturb you,” Harry said. 
+
+“My dear boy.” Ollivander’s voice was feeble. “You 
+rescued us. I thought we would die in that place. I 
+can never thank you ... never thank you ... enough.” 
+
+“We were glad to do it.” 
+
+Harry’s scar throbbed. He knew, he was certain, that 
+there was hardly any time left in which to beat 
+Voldemort to his goal, or else to attempt to thwart 
+him. He felt a flutter of panic ... yet he had made his 
+decision when he chose to speak to Griphook first. 
+Feigning a calm he did not feel, he groped in the 
+pouch around his neck and took out the two halves of 
+his broken wand. 
+
+“Mr. Ollivander, I need some help.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Anything. Anything,” said the wandmaker weakly. 
+
+“Can you mend this? Is it possible?” 
+
+Ollivander held out a trembling hand, and Harry 
+placed the two barely connected halves into his palm. 
+
+“Holly and phoenix feather,” said Ollivander in a 
+tremulous voice. “Eleven inches. Nice and supple.” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. “Can you — ?” 
+
+“No,” whispered Ollivander. “I am sorry, very sorry, 
+but a wand that has suffered this degree of damage 
+cannot be repaired by any means that I know of.” 
+
+Harry had been braced to hear it, but it was a blow 
+nevertheless. He took the wand halves back and 
+replaced them in the pouch around his neck. 
+Ollivander stared at the place where the shattered 
+wand had vanished, and did not look away until 
+Harry had taken from his pocket the two wands he 
+had brought from the Malfoys’. 
+
+“Can you identify these?” Harry asked. 
+
+The wandmaker took the first of the wands and held 
+it close to his faded eyes, rolling it between his 
+knobble-knuckled fingers, flexing it slightly. 
+
+“Walnut and dragon heartstring,” he said. “Twelve- 
+and-three-quarter inches. Unyielding. This wand 
+belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange.” 
+
+“And this one?” 
+
+Ollivander performed the same examination. 
+
+
+
+Page | 557 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Hawthorn and unicorn hair. Ten inches precisely. 
+Reasonably springy. This was the wand of Draco 
+Malfoy.” 
+
+
+
+“Was?” repeated Harry. “Isn’t it still his?” 
+“Perhaps not. If you took it — ” 
+
+“— I did — ” 
+
+
+
+“ — then it may be yours. Of course, the manner of 
+taking matters. Much also depends upon the wand 
+itself. In general, however, where a wand has been 
+won, its allegiance will change.” 
+
+There was silence in the room, except for the distant 
+rushing of the sea. 
+
+“You talk about wands like they’ve got feelings,” said 
+Harry, “like they can think for themselves.” 
+
+“The wand chooses the wizard,” said Ollivander. “That 
+much has always been clear to those of us who have 
+studied wandlore.” 
+
+“A person can still use a wand that hasn’t chosen 
+them, though?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Oh yes, if you are any wizard at all you will be able to 
+channel your magic through almost any instrument. 
+The best results, however, must always come where 
+there is the strongest affinity between wizard and 
+wand. These connections are complex. An initial 
+attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, 
+the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from 
+the wand.” 
+
+The sea gushed forward and backward; it was a 
+mournful sound. 
+
+Page | 558 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I took this wand from Draco Malfoy by force,” said 
+Harry. “Can I use it safely?” 
+
+“I think so. Subtle laws govern wand ownership, but 
+the conquered wand will usually bend its will to its 
+new master.” 
+
+“So I should use this one?” said Ron, pulling 
+Wormtail’s wand out of his pocket and handing it to 
+Ollivander. 
+
+“Chestnut and dragon heartstring. Nine-and-a- 
+quarter inches. Brittle. I was forced to make this 
+shortly after my kidnapping, for Peter Pettigrew. Yes, 
+if you won it, it is more likely to do your bidding, and 
+do it well, than another wand.” 
+
+“And this holds true for all wands, does it?” asked 
+Harry. 
+
+“I think so,” replied Ollivander, his protuberant eyes 
+upon Harry’s face. “You ask deep questions, Mr. 
+
+Potter. Wandlore is a complex and mysterious branch 
+of magic.” 
+
+“So, it isn’t necessary to kill the previous owner to 
+take true possession of a wand?” asked Harry. 
+
+Ollivander swallowed. 
+
+“Necessary? No, I should not say that it is necessary 
+to kill.” 
+
+“There are legends, though,” said Harry, and as his 
+heart rate quickened, the pain in his scar became 
+more intense; he was sure that Voldemort had 
+decided to put his idea into action. “Legends about a 
+wand — or wands — that have passed from hand to 
+hand by murder.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Ollivander turned pale. Against the snowy pillow he 
+was light gray, and his eyes were enormous, 
+bloodshot, and bulging with what looked like fear. 
+
+“Only one wand, I think,” he whispered. 
+
+“And You-Know-Who is interested in it, isn’t he?” 
+asked Harry. 
+
+“I — how?” croaked Ollivander, and he looked 
+appealingly at Ron and Hermione for help. “How do 
+you know this?” 
+
+“He wanted you to tell him how to overcome the 
+connection between our wands,” said Harry. 
+
+Ollivander looked terrified. 
+
+“He tortured me, you must understand that! The 
+Cruciatus Curse, I — I had no choice but to tell him 
+what I knew, what I guessed!” 
+
+“I understand,” said Harry. “You told him about the 
+twin cores? You said he just had to borrow another 
+wizard’s wand?” 
+
+Ollivander looked horrified, transfixed, by the amount 
+that Harry knew. He nodded slowly. 
+
+“But it didn’t work,” Harry went on. “Mine still beat 
+the borrowed wand. Do you know why that is?” 
+
+Ollivander shook his head as slowly as he had just 
+nodded. 
+
+“I had ... never heard of such a thing. Your wand 
+performed something unique that night. The 
+connection of the twin cores is incredibly rare, yet 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+why your wand should have snapped the borrowed 
+wand, I do not know. ...” 
+
+“We were talking about the other wand, the wand that 
+changes hands by murder. When You-Know-Who 
+realized my wand had done something strange, he 
+came back and asked about that other wand, didn’t 
+he?” 
+
+“How do you know this?” 
+
+Harry did not answer. 
+
+“Yes, he asked,” whispered Ollivander. “He wanted to 
+know everything I could tell him about the wand 
+variously known as the Deathstick, the Wand of 
+Destiny, or the Elder Wand.” 
+
+Harry glanced sideways at Hermione. She looked 
+flabbergasted. 
+
+“The Dark Lord,” said Ollivander in hushed and 
+frightened tones, “had always been happy with the 
+wand I made him — yew and phoenix feather, 
+thirteen-and-a-half inches — until he discovered the 
+connection of the twin cores. Now he seeks another, 
+more powerful wand, as the only way to conquer 
+yours.” 
+
+“But he’ll know soon, if he doesn’t already, that 
+mine’s broken beyond repair,” said Harry quietly. 
+
+“No!” said Hermione, sounding frightened. “He can’t 
+know that, Harry, how could he — ?” 
+
+“Priori Incantatem,” said Harry. “We left your wand 
+and the blackthorn wand at the Malfoys’, Hermione. If 
+they examine them properly, make them re-create the 
+spells they’ve cast lately, they’ll see that yours broke 
+
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+
+
+
+
+mine, they’ll see that you tried and failed to mend it, 
+and they’ll realize that I’ve been using the blackthorn 
+one ever since.” 
+
+The little color she had regained since their arrival 
+had drained from her face. Ron gave Harry a 
+reproachful look, and said, “Let’s not worry about 
+that now — ” 
+
+But Mr. Ollivander intervened. 
+
+“The Dark Lord no longer seeks the Elder Wand only 
+for your destruction, Mr. Potter. He is determined to 
+possess it because he believes it will make him truly 
+invulnerable.” 
+
+“And will it?” 
+
+“The owner of the Elder Wand must always fear 
+attack,” said Ollivander, “but the idea of the Dark 
+Lord in possession of the Deathstick is, I must admit 
+... formidable.” 
+
+Harry was suddenly reminded of how he had been 
+unsure, when they first met, of how much he liked 
+Ollivander. Even now, having been tortured and 
+imprisoned by Voldemort, the idea of the Dark wizard 
+in possession of this wand seemed to enthrall him as 
+much as it repulsed him. 
+
+“You — you really think this wand exists, then, Mr. 
+Ollivander?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Ollivander. “Yes, it is perfectly possible 
+to trace the wand’s course through history. There are 
+gaps, of course, and long ones, where it vanishes from 
+view, temporarily lost or hidden; but always it 
+resurfaces. It has certain identifying characteristics 
+that those who are learned in wandlore recognize. 
+Page | 562 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+There are written accounts, some of them obscure, 
+that I and other wandmakers have made it our 
+business to study. They have the ring of authenticity.” 
+
+“So you — you don’t think it can be a fairy tale or a 
+myth?” Hermione asked hopefully. 
+
+“No,” said Ollivander. “Whether it needs to pass by 
+murder, I do not know. Its history is bloody, but that 
+may be simply due to the fact that it is such a 
+desirable object, and arouses such passions in 
+wizards. Immensely powerful, dangerous in the wrong 
+hands, and an object of incredible fascination to all of 
+us who study the power of wands.” 
+
+“Mr. Ollivander,” said Harry, “you told You-Know-Who 
+that Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand, didn’t you?” 
+
+Ollivander turned, if possible, even paler. He looked 
+ghostly as he gulped. 
+
+“But how — how do you — ?” 
+
+“Never mind how I know it,” said Harry, closing his 
+eyes momentarily as his scar burned and he saw, for 
+mere seconds, a vision of the main street in 
+Hogsmeade, still dark, because it was so much 
+farther north. “You told You-Know-Who that 
+Gregorovitch had the wand?” 
+
+“It was a rumor,” whispered Ollivander. “A rumor, 
+years and years ago, long before you were born! I 
+believe Gregorovitch himself started it. You can see 
+how good it would be for business: that he was 
+studying and duplicating the qualities of the Elder 
+Wand!” 
+
+“Yes, I can see that,” said Harry. He stood up. “Mr. 
+Ollivander, one last thing, and then we’ll let you get 
+
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+
+
+
+
+some rest. What do you know about the Deathly 
+Hallows?” 
+
+
+
+“The — the what?” asked the wandmaker, looking 
+utterly bewildered. 
+
+“The Deathly Hallows.” 
+
+“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Is 
+this still something to do with wands?” 
+
+Harry looked into the sunken face and believed that 
+Ollivander was not acting. He did not know about the 
+Hallows. 
+
+“Thank you,” said Harry. “Thank you very much. We’ll 
+leave you to get some rest now.” 
+
+Ollivander looked stricken. 
+
+“He was torturing me!” he gasped. “The Cruciatus 
+Curse ... you have no idea. ...” 
+
+“I do,” said Harry. “I really do. Please get some rest. 
+Thank you for telling me all of this.” 
+
+He led Ron and Hermione down the staircase. Harry 
+caught a glimpse of Bill, Fleur, Luna, and Dean 
+sitting at the table in the kitchen, cups of tea in front 
+of them. They all looked up at Harry as he appeared 
+in the doorway, but he merely nodded to them and 
+continued into the garden, Ron and Hermione behind 
+him. The reddish mound of earth that covered Dobby 
+lay ahead, and Harry walked back to it, as the pain in 
+his head built more and more powerfully. It was a 
+huge effort now to close down the visions that were 
+forcing themselves upon him, but he knew that he 
+would have to resist only a little longer. He would 
+yield very soon, because he needed to know that his 
+Page | 564 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+theory was right. He must make only one more short 
+effort, so that he could explain to Ron and Hermione. 
+
+“Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand a long time ago,” 
+he said. “I saw You-Know-Who trying to find him. 
+When he tracked him down, he found that 
+Gregorovitch didn’t have it anymore: It was stolen 
+from him by Grindelwald. How Grindelwald found out 
+that Gregorovitch had it, I don’t know — but if 
+Gregorovitch was stupid enough to spread the rumor, 
+it can’t have been that difficult.” 
+
+Voldemort was at the gates of Hogwarts; Harry could 
+see him standing there, and see too the lamp bobbing 
+in the pre-dawn, coming closer and closer. 
+
+“And Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to become 
+powerful. And at the height of his power, when 
+Dumbledore knew he was the only one who could 
+stop him, he dueled Grindelwald and beat him, and 
+he took the Elder Wand.” 
+
+“Dumbledore had the Elder Wand?” said Ron. “But 
+then — where is it now?” 
+
+“At Hogwarts,” said Harry, fighting to remain with 
+them in the cliff-top garden. 
+
+“But then, let’s go!” said Ron urgently. “Harry, let’s go 
+and get it before he does!” 
+
+“It’s too late for that,” said Harry. He could not help 
+himself, but clutched his head, trying to help it resist. 
+“He knows where it is. He’s there now.” 
+
+“Harry!” Ron said furiously. “How long have you 
+known this — why have we been wasting time? Why 
+did you talk to Griphook first? We could have gone — 
+we could still go — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry, and he sank to his knees in the 
+grass. “Hermione’s right. Dumbledore didn’t want me 
+to have it. He didn’t want me to take it. He wanted me 
+to get the Horcruxes.” 
+
+“The unbeatable wand, Harry!” moaned Ron. 
+
+“I’m not supposed to ... I’m supposed to get the 
+Horcruxes. ...” 
+
+And now everything was cool and dark: The sun was 
+barely visible over the horizon as he glided alongside 
+Snape, up through the grounds toward the lake. 
+
+“I shall join you in the castle shortly,” he said in his 
+high, cold voice. “Leave me now.” 
+
+Snape bowed and set off back up the path, his black 
+cloak billowing behind him. Harry walked slowly, 
+waiting for Snape ’s figure to disappear. It would not 
+do for Snape, or indeed anyone else, to see where he 
+was going. But there were no lights in the castle 
+windows, and he could conceal himself ... and in a 
+second he had cast upon himself a Disillusionment 
+Charm that hid him even from his own eyes. 
+
+And he walked on, around the edge of the lake, taking 
+in the outlines of the beloved castle, his first kingdom, 
+his birthright. ... 
+
+And here it was, beside the lake, reflected in the dark 
+waters. The white marble tomb, an unnecessary blot 
+on the familiar landscape. He felt again that rush of 
+controlled euphoria, that heady sense of purpose in 
+destruction. He raised the old yew wand: How fitting 
+that this would be its last great act. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The tomb split open from head to foot. The shrouded 
+figure was as long and thin as it had been in life. He 
+raised the wand again. 
+
+The wrappings fell open. The face was translucent, 
+pale, sunken, yet almost perfectly preserved. They 
+had left his spectacles on the crooked nose: He felt 
+amused derision. Dumbledore’s hands were folded 
+upon his chest, and there it lay, clutched beneath 
+them, buried with him. 
+
+Had the old fool imagined that marble or death would 
+protect the wand? Had he thought that the Dark Lord 
+would be scared to violate his tomb? The spiderlike 
+hand swooped and pulled the wand from 
+Dumbledore’s grasp, and as he took it, a shower of 
+sparks flew from its tip, sparkling over the corpse of 
+its last owner, ready to serve a new master at last. 
+
+
+
+Page | 567 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SHELL COTTAGE 
+
+Bill and Fleur’s cottage stood alone on a cliff 
+overlooking the sea, its walls embedded with shells 
+and whitewashed. It was a lonely and beautiful place. 
+Wherever Harry went inside the tiny cottage or its 
+garden, he could hear the constant ebb and flow of 
+the sea, like the breathing of some great, slumbering 
+creature. He spent much of the next few days making 
+excuses to escape the crowded cottage, craving the 
+cliff-top view of open sky and wide, empty sea, and 
+the feel of cold, salty wind on his face. 
+
+The enormity of his decision not to race Voldemort to 
+the wand still scared Harry. He could not remember, 
+ever before, choosing not to act. He was full of doubts, 
+doubts that Ron could not help voicing whenever they 
+were together. 
+
+“What if Dumbledore wanted us to work out the 
+symbol in time to get the wand?” “What if working out 
+what the symbol meant made you ‘worthy’ to get the 
+Hallows?” “Harry, if that really is the Elder Wand, 
+how the hell are we supposed to finish off You-Know- 
+
+P a g e | 568 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Who?” Harry had no answers: There were moments 
+when he wondered whether it had been outright 
+madness not to try to prevent Voldemort breaking 
+open the tomb. He could not even explain 
+satisfactorily why he had decided against it: Every 
+time he tried to reconstruct the internal arguments 
+that had led to his decision, they sounded feebler to 
+him. 
+
+The odd thing was that Hermione’s support made him 
+feel just as confused as Ron’s doubts. Now forced to 
+accept that the Elder Wand was real, she maintained 
+that it was an evil object, and that the way Voldemort 
+had taken possession of it was repellent, not to be 
+considered. 
+
+“You could never have done that, Harry,” she said 
+again and again. “You couldn’t have broken into 
+Dumbledore’s grave.” 
+
+But the idea of Dumbledore’s corpse frightened Harry 
+much less than the possibility that he might have 
+misunderstood the living Dumbledore’s intentions. He 
+felt that he was still groping in the dark; he had 
+chosen his path but kept looking back, wondering 
+whether he had misread the signs, whether he should 
+not have taken the other way. From time to time, 
+anger at Dumbledore crashed over him again, 
+powerful as the waves slamming themselves against 
+the cliff beneath the cottage, anger that Dumbledore 
+had not explained before he died. 
+
+“But is he dead?” said Ron, three days after they had 
+arrived at the cottage. Harry had been staring out 
+over the wall that separated the cottage garden from 
+the cliff when Ron and Hermione had found him; he 
+wished they had not, having no wish to join in with 
+their argument. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Yes, he is, Ron, please don’t start that again!” 
+
+“Look at the facts, Hermione,” said Ron, speaking 
+across Harry, who continued to gaze at the horizon. 
+“The silver doe. The sword. The eye Harry saw in the 
+mirror — ” 
+
+“Harry admits he could have imagined the eye! Don’t 
+you, Harry?” 
+
+“I could have,” said Harry without looking at her. 
+
+“But you don’t think you did, do you?” asked Ron. 
+
+“No, I don’t,” said Harry. 
+
+“There you go!” said Ron quickly, before Hermione 
+could carry on. “If it wasn’t Dumbledore, explain how 
+Dobby knew we were in the cellar, Hermione?” 
+
+“I can’t — but can you explain how Dumbledore sent 
+him to us if he’s lying in a tomb at Hogwarts?” 
+
+“I dunno, it could’ve been his ghost!” 
+
+“Dumbledore wouldn’t come back as a ghost,” said 
+Harry. There was little about Dumbledore he was sure 
+of now, but he knew that much. “He would have gone 
+on.” 
+
+“What d’you mean, ‘gone on’?” asked Ron, but before 
+Harry could say any more, a voice behind them said, “ 
+’Arry?” 
+
+Fleur had come out of the cottage, her long silver hair 
+flying in the breeze. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ ’Arry, Grip’ook would like to speak to you. ’E eez in 
+ze smallest bedroom, ’e says ’e does not want to be 
+over’eard.” 
+
+Her dislike of the goblin sending her to deliver 
+messages was clear; she looked irritable as she 
+walked back around the house. 
+
+Griphook was waiting for them, as Fleur had said, in 
+the tiniest of the cottage’s three bedrooms, in which 
+Hermione and Luna slept by night. He had drawn the 
+red cotton curtains against the bright, cloudy sky, 
+which gave the room a fiery glow at odds with the rest 
+of the airy, light cottage. 
+
+“I have reached my decision, Harry Potter,” said the 
+goblin, who was sitting cross-legged in a low chair, 
+drumming its arms with his spindly fingers. “Though 
+the goblins of Gringotts will consider it base 
+treachery, I have decided to help you — ” 
+
+“That’s great!” said Harry, relief surging through him. 
+“Griphook, thank you, we’re really — ” 
+
+“ — in return,” said the goblin firmly, “for payment.” 
+
+Slightly taken aback, Harry hesitated. 
+
+“How much do you want? I’ve got gold.” 
+
+“Not gold,” said Griphook. “I have gold.” 
+
+His black eyes glittered; there were no whites to his 
+eyes. 
+
+“I want the sword. The sword of Godric Gryffindor.” 
+Harry’s spirits plummeted. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You can’t have that,” he said. “I’m sorry.�� 
+
+“Then,” said the goblin softly, “we have a problem.” 
+
+“We can give you something else,” said Ron eagerly. 
+“I’ll bet the Lestranges have got loads of stuff, you can 
+take your pick once we get into the vault.” 
+
+He had said the wrong thing. Griphook flushed 
+angrily. 
+
+“I am not a thief, boy! I am not trying to procure 
+treasures to which I have no right!” 
+
+“The sword’s ours — ” 
+
+“It is not,” said the goblin. 
+
+“We’re Gryffindors, and it was Godric Gryffindor’s — ” 
+
+“And before it was Gryffindor’s, whose was it?” 
+demanded the goblin, sitting up straight. 
+
+“No one’s,” said Ron. “It was made for him, wasn’t it?” 
+
+“No!” cried the goblin, bristling with anger as he 
+pointed a long finger at Ron. “Wizarding arrogance 
+again! That sword was Ragnuk the First’s, taken from 
+him by Godric Gryffindor! It is a lost treasure, a 
+masterpiece of goblinwork! It belongs with the 
+goblins! The sword is the price of my hire, take it or 
+leave it!” 
+
+Griphook glared at them. Harry glanced at the other 
+two, then said, “We need to discuss this, Griphook, if 
+that’s all right. Could you give us a few minutes?” 
+
+The goblin nodded, looking sour. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Downstairs in the empty sitting room, Harry walked 
+to the fireplace, brow furrowed, trying to think what 
+to do. Behind him, Ron said, “He’s having a laugh. We 
+can’t let him have that sword.” 
+
+“It is true?” Harry asked Hermione. “Was the sword 
+stolen by Gryffindor?” 
+
+“I don’t know,” she said hopelessly. “Wizarding history 
+often skates over what the wizards have done to other 
+magical races, but there’s no account that I know of 
+that says Gryffindor stole the sword.” 
+
+“It’ll be one of those goblin stories,” said Ron, “about 
+how the wizards are always trying to get one over on 
+them. I suppose we should think ourselves lucky he 
+hasn’t asked for one of our wands.” 
+
+“Goblins have got good reason to dislike wizards, 
+
+Ron,” said Hermione. “They’ve been treated brutally in 
+the past.” 
+
+“Goblins aren’t exactly fluffy little bunnies, though, 
+are they?” said Ron. “They’ve killed plenty of us. 
+They’ve fought dirty too.” 
+
+“But arguing with Griphook about whose race is most 
+underhanded and violent isn’t going to make him 
+more likely to help us, is it?” 
+
+There was a pause while they tried to think of a way 
+around the problem. Harry looked out of the window 
+at Dobby’s grave. Luna was arranging sea lavender in 
+a jam jar beside the headstone. 
+
+“Okay,” said Ron, and Harry turned back to face him, 
+“how’s this? We tell Griphook we need the sword until 
+we get inside the vault, and then he can have it. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+There’s a fake in there, isn’t there? We switch them, 
+and give him the fake.” 
+
+“Ron, he’d know the difference better than we would!” 
+said Hermione. “He’s the only one who realized there 
+had been a swap!” 
+
+“Yeah, but we could scarper before he realizes — ” 
+
+He quailed beneath the look Hermione was giving 
+him. 
+
+“That,” she said quietly, “is despicable. Ask for his 
+help, then double-cross him? And you wonder why 
+goblins don’t like wizards, Ron?” 
+
+Ron’s ears had turned red. 
+
+“All right, all right! It was the only thing I could think 
+of! What’s your solution, then?” 
+
+“We need to offer him something else, something just 
+as valuable.” 
+
+“Brilliant. I’ll go and get one of our other ancient 
+goblin-made swords and you can gift wrap it.” 
+
+Silence fell between them again. Harry was sure that 
+the goblin would accept nothing but the sword, even 
+if they had something as valuable to offer him. Yet the 
+sword was their one, indispensable weapon against 
+the Horcruxes. 
+
+He closed his eyes for a moment or two and listened 
+to the rush of the sea. The idea that Gryffindor might 
+have stolen the sword was unpleasant to him: He had 
+always been proud to be a Gryffindor; Gryffindor had 
+been the champion of Muggle-borns, the wizard who 
+had clashed with the pureblood-loving Slytherin. ... 
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+
+
+
+
+“Maybe he’s lying,” Harry said, opening his eyes 
+again. “Griphook. Maybe Gryffindor didn’t take the 
+sword. How do we know the goblin version of history’s 
+right?” 
+
+“Does it make a difference?” asked Hermione. 
+“Changes how I feel about it,” said Harry. 
+
+He took a deep breath. 
+
+“Well tell him he can have the sword after he’s helped 
+us get into that vault — but we’ll be careful to avoid 
+telling him exactly when he can have it.” 
+
+A grin spread slowly across Ron’s face. Hermione, 
+however, looked alarmed. 
+
+“Harry, we can’t — ” 
+
+“He can have it,” Harry went on, “after we’ve used it 
+on all of the Horcruxes. I’ll make sure he gets it then. 
+I’ll keep my word.” 
+
+“But that could be years!” said Hermione. 
+
+“I know that, but he needn’t. I won’t be lying ... 
+really.” 
+
+Harry met her eyes with a mixture of defiance and 
+shame. He remembered the words that had been 
+engraved over the gateway to Nurmengard: FOR THE 
+GREATER GOOD. He pushed the idea away. What 
+choice did they have? 
+
+“I don’t like it,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Nor do I, much,” Harry admitted. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Well, I think it’s genius,” said Ron, standing up 
+again. “Let’s go and tell him.” 
+
+
+
+Back in the smallest bedroom, Harry made the offer, 
+careful to phrase it so as not to give any definite time 
+for the handover of the sword. Hermione frowned at 
+the floor while he was speaking; he felt irritated at 
+her, afraid that she might give the game away. 
+However, Griphook had eyes for nobody but Harry. 
+
+“I have your word, Harry Potter, that you will give me 
+the sword of Gryffindor if I help you?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Harry. 
+
+“Then shake,” said the goblin, holding out his hand. 
+
+Harry took it and shook. He wondered whether those 
+black eyes saw any misgivings in his own. Then 
+Griphook relinquished him, clapped his hands 
+together, and said, “So. We begin!” 
+
+It was like planning to break into the Ministry all over 
+again. They settled to work in the smallest bedroom, 
+which was kept, according to Griphook’s preference, 
+in semidarkness. 
+
+“I have visited the Lestranges’ vault only once,” 
+Griphook told them, “on the occasion I was told to 
+place inside it the false sword. It is one of the most 
+ancient chambers. The oldest Wizarding families store 
+their treasures at the deepest level, where the vaults 
+are largest and best protected. ...” 
+
+They remained shut in the cupboardlike room for 
+hours at a time. Slowly the days stretched into weeks. 
+There was problem after problem to overcome, not 
+least of which was that their store of Polyjuice Potion 
+was greatly depleted. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“There’s really only enough left for one of us,” said 
+Hermione, tilting the thick mudlike potion against the 
+lamplight. 
+
+“That’ll be enough,” said Harry, who was examining 
+Griphook’s hand-drawn map of the deepest 
+passageways. 
+
+The other inhabitants of Shell Cottage could hardly 
+fail to notice that something was going on now that 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione only emerged for 
+mealtimes. Nobody asked questions, although Harry 
+often felt Bill’s eyes on the three of them at the table, 
+thoughtful, concerned. 
+
+The longer they spent together, the more Harry 
+realized that he did not much like the goblin. 
+Griphook was unexpectedly bloodthirsty, laughed at 
+the idea of pain in lesser creatures, and seemed to 
+relish the possibility that they might have to hurt 
+other wizards to reach the Lestranges’ vault. Harry 
+could tell that his distaste was shared by the other 
+two, but they did not discuss it: They needed 
+Griphook. 
+
+The goblin ate only grudgingly with the rest of them. 
+Even after his legs had mended, he continued to 
+request trays of food in his room, like the still-frail 
+Ollivander, until Bill (following an angry outburst 
+from Fleur) went upstairs to tell him that the 
+arrangement could not continue. Thereafter Griphook 
+joined them at the overcrowded table, although he 
+refused to eat the same food, insisting, instead, on 
+lumps of raw meat, roots, and various fungi. 
+
+Harry felt responsible: It was, after all, he who had 
+insisted that the goblin remain at Shell Cottage so 
+that he could question him; his fault that the whole 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Weasley family had been driven into hiding, that Bill, 
+Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley could no longer work. 
+
+“I’m sorry,” he told Fleur, one blustery April evening 
+as he helped her prepare dinner. “I never meant you 
+to have to deal with all of this.” 
+
+She had just set some knives to work, chopping up 
+steaks for Griphook and Bill, who had preferred his 
+meat bloody ever since he had been attacked by 
+Greyback. While the knives sliced away behind her, 
+her somewhat irritable expression softened. 
+
+“ ’Arry, you saved my sister’s life, I do not forget.” 
+
+This was not, strictly speaking, true, but Harry 
+decided against reminding her that Gabrielle had 
+never been in real danger. 
+
+“Anyway,” Fleur went on, pointing her wand at a pot 
+of sauce on the stove, which began to bubble at once, 
+“Mr. Ollivander leaves for Muriel’s zis evening. Zat will 
+make zings easier. Ze goblin,” she scowled a little at 
+the mention of him, “can move downstairs, and you, 
+Ron, and Dean can take zat room.” 
+
+“We don’t mind sleeping in the living room,” said 
+Harry, who knew that Griphook would think poorly of 
+having to sleep on the sofa; keeping Griphook happy 
+was essential to their plans. “Don’t worry about us.” 
+And when she tried to protest he went on, “We’ll be off 
+your hands soon too, Ron, Hermione, and I. We won’t 
+need to be here much longer.” 
+
+“But what do you mean?” she said, frowning at him, 
+her wand pointing at the casserole dish now 
+suspended in midair. “Of course you must not leave, 
+you are safe ’ere!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+She looked rather like Mrs. Weasley as she said it, 
+and he was glad that the back door opened at that 
+moment. Luna and Dean entered, their hair damp 
+from the rain outside and their arms full of driftwood. 
+
+"... and tiny little ears,” Luna was saying, “a bit like a 
+hippo’s, Daddy says, only purple and hairy. And if 
+you want to call them, you have to hum; they prefer a 
+waltz, nothing too fast. ...” 
+
+Looking uncomfortable, Dean shrugged at Harry as 
+he passed, following Luna into the combined dining 
+and sitting room where Ron and Hermione were 
+laying the dinner table. Seizing the chance to escape 
+Fleur’s questions, Harry grabbed two jugs of pumpkin 
+juice and followed them. 
+
+"... and if you ever come to our house I’ll be able to 
+show you the horn, Daddy wrote to me about it but I 
+haven’t seen it yet, because the Death Eaters took me 
+from the Hogwarts Express and I never got home for 
+Christmas,” Luna was saying, as she and Dean relaid 
+the fire. 
+
+“Luna, we told you,” Hermione called over to her. 
+“That horn exploded. It came from an Erumpent, not 
+a Crumple-Horned Snorkack — ” 
+
+“No, it was definitely a Snorkack horn,” said Luna 
+serenely. “Daddy told me. It will probably have re- 
+formed by now, they mend themselves, you know.” 
+
+Hermione shook her head and continued laying down 
+forks as Bill appeared, leading Mr. Ollivander down 
+the stairs. The wandmaker still looked exceptionally 
+frail, and he clung to Bill’s arm as the latter 
+supported him, carrying a large suitcase. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+‘Tm going to miss you, Mr. Ollivander,” said Luna, 
+approaching the old man. 
+
+“And I you, my dear,” said Ollivander, patting her on 
+the shoulder. “You were an inexpressible comfort to 
+me in that terrible place.” 
+
+“So, au revoir, Mr. Ollivander,” said Fleur, kissing him 
+on both cheeks. “And I wonder whezzer you could 
+oblige me by delivering a package to Bill’s Auntie 
+Muriel? I never returned ’er tiara.” 
+
+“It will be an honor,” said Ollivander with a little bow, 
+“the very least I can do in return for your generous 
+hospitality.” 
+
+Fleur drew out a worn velvet case, which she opened 
+to show the wandmaker. The tiara sat glittering and 
+twinkling in the light from the low-hanging lamp. 
+
+“Moonstones and diamonds,” said Griphook, who had 
+sidled into the room without Harry noticing. “Made by 
+goblins, I think?” 
+
+“And paid for by wizards,” said Bill quietly, and the 
+goblin shot him a look that was both furtive and 
+challenging. 
+
+A strong wind gusted against the cottage windows as 
+Bill and Ollivander set off into the night. The rest of 
+them squeezed in around the table; elbow to elbow 
+and with barely enough room to move, they started to 
+eat. The fire crackled and popped in the grate beside 
+them. Fleur, Harry noticed, was merely playing with 
+her food; she glanced at the window every few 
+minutes; however, Bill returned before they had 
+finished their first course, his long hair tangled by the 
+wind. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Everything’s fine,” he told Fleur. “Ollivander settled 
+in, Mum and Dad say hello. Ginny sends you all her 
+love. Fred and George are driving Muriel up the wall, 
+they’re still operating an Owl-Order business out of 
+her back room. It cheered her up to have her tiara 
+back, though. She said she thought we’d stolen it.” 
+
+“Ah, she eez charmante, your aunt,” said Fleur 
+crossly, waving her wand and causing the dirty plates 
+to rise and form a stack in midair. She caught them 
+and marched out of the room. 
+
+“Daddy’s made a tiara,” piped up Luna. “Well, more of 
+a crown, really.” 
+
+Ron caught Harry’s eye and grinned; Harry knew that 
+he was remembering the ludicrous headdress they 
+had seen on their visit to Xenophilius. 
+
+“Yes, he’s trying to re-create the lost diadem of 
+Ravenclaw. He thinks he’s identified most of the main 
+elements now. Adding the billywig wings really made 
+a difference — ” 
+
+There was a bang on the front door. Everyone’s head 
+turned toward it. Fleur came running out of the 
+kitchen, looking frightened; Bill jumped to his feet, 
+his wand pointing at the door; Harry, Ron, and 
+Hermione did the same. Silently Griphook slipped 
+beneath the table, out of sight. 
+
+“Who is it?” Bill called. 
+
+“It is I, Remus John Lupin!” called a voice over the 
+howling wind. Harry experienced a thrill of fear; what 
+had happened? “I am a werewolf, married to 
+Nymphadora Tonks, and you, the Secret-Keeper of 
+Shell Cottage, told me the address and bade me come 
+in an emergency!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Lupin,” muttered Bill, and he ran to the door and 
+wrenched it open. 
+
+Lupin fell over the threshold. He was white-faced, 
+wrapped in a traveling cloak, his graying hair 
+windswept. He straightened up, looked around the 
+room, making sure of who was there, then cried 
+aloud, “It’s a boy! We’ve named him Ted, after Dora’s 
+father!” 
+
+Hermione shrieked. 
+
+“Wha — ? Tonks — Tonks has had the baby?” 
+
+“Yes, yes, she’s had the baby!” shouted Lupin. All 
+around the table came cries of delight, sighs of relief: 
+Hermione and Fleur both squealed, 
+
+“Congratulations!” and Ron said, “Blimey, a baby!” as 
+if he had never heard of such a thing before. 
+
+“Yes — yes — a boy,” said Lupin again, who seemed 
+dazed by his own happiness. He strode around the 
+table and hugged Harry; the scene in the basement of 
+Grimmauld Place might never have happened. 
+
+“You’ll be godfather?” he said as he released Harry. 
+
+“M-me?” stammered Harry 
+
+“You, yes, of course — Dora quite agrees, no one 
+better — ” 
+
+“I — yeah — blimey — ” 
+
+Harry felt overwhelmed, astonished, delighted; now 
+Bill was hurrying to fetch wine, and Fleur was 
+persuading Lupin to join them for a drink. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I can’t stay long, I must get back,” said Lupin, 
+beaming around at them all: He looked years younger 
+than Harry had ever seen him. “Thank you, thank 
+you, Bill.” 
+
+Bill had soon filled all of their goblets, they stood and 
+raised them high in a toast. 
+
+“To Teddy Remus Lupin,” said Lupin, “a great wizard 
+in the making!” 
+
+“ ’Oo does ’e look like?” Fleur inquired. 
+
+“I think he looks like Dora, but she thinks he is like 
+me. Not much hair. It looked black when he was 
+born, but I swear it’s turned ginger in the hour since. 
+Probably be blond by the time I get back. Andromeda 
+says Tonks’s hair started changing color the day that 
+she was born.” He drained his goblet. “Oh, go on 
+then, just one more,” he added, beaming, as Bill made 
+to fill it again. 
+
+The wind buffeted the little cottage and the fire leapt 
+and crackled, and Bill was soon opening another 
+bottle of wine. Lupin’s news seemed to have taken 
+them out of themselves, removed them for a while 
+from their state of siege: Tidings of new life were 
+exhilarating. Only the goblin seemed untouched by 
+the suddenly festive atmosphere, and after a while he 
+slunk back to the bedroom he now occupied alone. 
+Harry thought he was the only one who had noticed 
+this, until he saw Bill’s eyes following the goblin up 
+the stairs. 
+
+“No ... no ... I really must get back,” said Lupin at 
+last, declining yet another goblet of wine. He got to his 
+feet and pulled his traveling cloak back around 
+himself. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Good-bye, good-bye — I’ll try and bring some 
+pictures in a few days’ time — they’ll all be so glad to 
+know that I’ve seen you — ” 
+
+
+
+He fastened his cloak and made his farewells, 
+hugging the women and grasping hands with the 
+men, then, still beaming, returned into the wild night. 
+
+“Godfather, Harry!” said Bill as they walked into the 
+kitchen together, helping clear the table. “A real 
+honor! Congratulations!” 
+
+As Harry set down the empty goblets he was carrying, 
+Bill pulled the door behind him closed, shutting out 
+the still-voluble voices of the others, who were 
+continuing to celebrate even in Lupin’s absence. 
+
+“I wanted a private word, actually, Harry. It hasn’t 
+been easy to get an opportunity with the cottage this 
+full of people.” 
+
+Bill hesitated. 
+
+“Harry, you’re planning something with Griphook.” 
+
+It was a statement, not a question, and Harry did not 
+bother to deny it. He merely looked at Bill, waiting. 
+
+“I know goblins,” said Bill. “I’ve worked for Gringotts 
+ever since I left Hogwarts. As far as there can be 
+friendship between wizards and goblins, I have goblin 
+friends — or, at least, goblins I know well, and like.” 
+Again, Bill hesitated. 
+
+“Harry, what do you want from Griphook, and what 
+have you promised him in return?” 
+
+“I can’t tell you that,” said Harry. “Sorry, Bill.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The kitchen door opened behind them; Fleur was 
+trying to bring through more empty goblets. 
+
+
+
+“Wait,” Bill told her. “Just a moment.” 
+
+She backed out and he closed the door again. 
+
+“Then I have to say this,” Bill went on. “If you have 
+struck any kind of bargain with Griphook, and most 
+particularly if that bargain involves treasure, you 
+must be exceptionally careful. Goblin notions of 
+ownership, payment, and repayment are not the same 
+as human ones.” 
+
+Harry felt a slight squirm of discomfort, as though a 
+small snake had stirred inside him. 
+
+“What do you mean?” he asked. 
+
+“We are talking about a different breed of being,” said 
+Bill. “Dealings between wizards and goblins have been 
+fraught for centuries — but you’ll know all that from 
+History of Magic. There has been fault on both sides, I 
+would never claim that wizards have been innocent. 
+However, there is a belief among some goblins, and 
+those at Gringotts are perhaps most prone to it, that 
+wizards cannot be trusted in matters of gold and 
+treasure, that they have no respect for goblin 
+ownership.” 
+
+“I respect — ” Harry began, but Bill shook his head. 
+
+“You don’t understand, Harry, nobody could 
+understand unless they have lived with goblins. To a 
+goblin, the rightful and true master of any object is 
+the maker, not the purchaser. All goblin-made objects 
+are, in goblin eyes, rightfully theirs.” 
+
+“But if it was bought — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — then they would consider it rented by the one who 
+had paid the money. They have, however, great 
+difficulty with the idea of goblin-made objects passing 
+from wizard to wizard. You saw Griphook’s face when 
+the tiara passed under his eyes. He disapproves. I 
+believe he thinks, as do the fiercest of his kind, that it 
+ought to have been returned to the goblins once the 
+original purchaser died. They consider our habit of 
+keeping goblin-made objects, passing them from 
+wizard to wizard without further payment, little more 
+than theft.” 
+
+Harry had an ominous feeling now; he wondered 
+whether Bill guessed more than he was letting on. 
+
+“All I am saying,” said Bill, setting his hand on the 
+door back into the sitting room, “is to be very careful 
+what you promise goblins, Harry. It would be less 
+dangerous to break into Gringotts than to renege on a 
+promise to a goblin.” 
+
+“Right,” said Harry as Bill opened the door, “yeah. 
+Thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.” 
+
+As he followed Bill back to the others a wry thought 
+came to him, born no doubt of the wine he had 
+drunk. He seemed set on course to become just as 
+reckless a godfather to Teddy Lupin as Sirius Black 
+had been to him. 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+
+
+
+GRINGOTTS 
+
+Their plans were made, their preparations complete; 
+in the smallest bedroom a single long, coarse black 
+hair (plucked from the sweater Hermione had been 
+wearing at Malfoy Manor) lay curled in a small glass 
+phial on the mantelpiece. 
+
+“And you’ll be using her actual wand,” said Harry, 
+nodding toward the walnut wand, “so I reckon you’ll 
+be pretty convincing.” 
+
+Hermione looked frightened that the wand might sting 
+or bite her as she picked it up. 
+
+“I hate this thing,” she said in a low voice. “I really 
+hate it. It feels all wrong, it doesn’t work properly for 
+me. ... It’s like a bit of her.” 
+
+Harry could not help but remember how Hermione 
+had dismissed his loathing of the blackthorn wand, 
+insisting that he was imagining things when it did not 
+work as well as his own, telling him to simply 
+practice. He chose not to repeat her own advice back 
+
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+
+
+
+to her, however; the eve of their attempted assault on 
+Gringotts felt like the wrong moment to antagonize 
+her. 
+
+“It’ll probably help you get in character, though,” said 
+Ron. “Think what that wand’s done!” 
+
+“But that’s my point!” said Hermione. “This is the 
+wand that tortured Neville’s mum and dad, and who 
+knows how many other people? This is the wand that 
+killed Sirius!” 
+
+Harry had not thought of that: He looked down at the 
+wand and was visited by a brutal urge to snap it, to 
+slice it in half with Gryffindor’s sword, which was 
+propped against the wall beside him. 
+
+“I miss my wand,” Hermione said miserably. “I wish 
+Mr. Ollivander could have made me another one too.” 
+
+Mr. Ollivander had sent Luna a new wand that 
+morning. She was out on the back lawn at that 
+moment, testing its capabilities in the late afternoon 
+sun. Dean, who had lost his wand to the Snatchers, 
+was watching rather gloomily. 
+
+Harry looked down at the hawthorn wand that had 
+once belonged to Draco Malfoy. He had been 
+surprised, but pleased, to discover that it worked for 
+him at least as well as Hermione ’s had done. 
+Remembering what Ollivander had told them of the 
+secret workings of wands, Harry thought he knew 
+what Hermione ’s problem was: She had not won the 
+walnut wand’s allegiance by taking it personally from 
+Bellatrix. 
+
+The door of the bedroom opened and Griphook 
+entered. Harry reached instinctively for the hilt of the 
+sword and drew it close to him, but regretted his 
+
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+
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+
+
+action at once: He could tell that the goblin had 
+noticed. Seeking to gloss over the sticky moment, he 
+said, “We’ve just been checking the last-minute stuff, 
+Griphook. We’ve told Bill and Fleur we’re leaving 
+tomorrow, and we’ve told them not to get up to see us 
+off.” 
+
+They had been firm on this point, because Hermione 
+would need to transform into Bellatrix before they left, 
+and the less that Bill and Fleur knew or suspected 
+about what they were about to do, the better. They 
+had also explained that they would not be returning. 
+As they had lost Perkins’s old tent on the night that 
+the Snatchers caught them, Bill had lent them 
+another one. It was now packed inside the beaded 
+bag, which, Harry was impressed to learn, Hermione 
+had protected from the Snatchers by the simple 
+expedient of stuffing it down her sock. 
+
+Though he would miss Bill, Fleur, Luna, and Dean, 
+not to mention the home comforts they had enjoyed 
+over the last few weeks, Harry was looking forward to 
+escaping the confinement of Shell Cottage. He was 
+tired of trying to make sure that they were not 
+overheard, tired of being shut in the tiny, dark 
+bedroom. Most of all, he longed to be rid of Griphook. 
+However, precisely how and when they were to part 
+from the goblin without handing over Gryffindor’s 
+sword remained a question to which Harry had no 
+answer. It had been impossible to decide how they 
+were going to do it, because the goblin rarely left 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione alone together for more 
+than five minutes at a time: “He could give my mother 
+lessons,” growled Ron, as the goblin’s long fingers 
+kept appearing around the edges of doors. With Bill’s 
+warning in mind, Harry could not help suspecting 
+that Griphook was on the watch for possible 
+skulduggery. Hermione disapproved so heartily of the 
+planned double-cross that Harry had given up 
+Page | 589 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+attempting to pick her brains on how best to do it; 
+Ron, on the rare occasions that they had been able to 
+snatch a few Griphook-free moments, had come up 
+with nothing better than “Well just have to wing it, 
+mate.” 
+
+Harry slept badly that night. Lying awake in the early 
+hours, he thought back to the way he had felt the 
+night before they had infiltrated the Ministry of Magic 
+and remembered a determination, almost an 
+excitement. Now he was experiencing jolts of anxiety, 
+nagging doubts: He could not shake off the fear that it 
+was all going to go wrong. He kept telling himself that 
+their plan was good, that Griphook knew what they 
+were facing, that they were well-prepared for all the 
+difficulties they were likely to encounter, yet still he 
+felt uneasy. Once or twice he heard Ron stir and was 
+sure that he too was awake, but they were sharing 
+the sitting room with Dean, so Harry did not speak. 
+
+It was a relief when six o’clock arrived and they could 
+slip out of their sleeping bags, dress in the 
+semidarkness, then creep out into the garden, where 
+they were to meet Hermione and Griphook. The dawn 
+was chilly, but there was little wind now that it was 
+May. Harry looked up at the stars still glimmering 
+palely in the dark sky and listened to the sea washing 
+backward and forward against the cliff: He was going 
+to miss the sound. 
+
+Small green shoots were forcing their way up through 
+the red earth of Dobby’s grave now; in a year’s time 
+the mound would be covered in flowers. The white 
+stone that bore the elf’s name had already acquired a 
+weathered look. He realized now that they could 
+hardly have laid Dobby to rest in a more beautiful 
+place, but Harry ached with sadness to think of 
+leaving him behind. Looking down on the grave, he 
+wondered yet again how the elf had known where to 
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+
+
+
+
+come to rescue them. His fingers moved 
+absentmindedly to the little pouch still strung around 
+his neck, through which he could feel the jagged 
+mirror fragment in which he had been sure he had 
+seen Dumbledore’s eye. Then the sound of a door 
+opening made him look around. 
+
+Bellatrix Lestrange was striding across the lawn 
+toward them, accompanied by Griphook. As she 
+walked, she was tucking the small, beaded bag into 
+the inside pocket of another set of the old robes they 
+had taken from Grimmauld Place. Though Harry 
+knew perfectly well that it was really Hermione, he 
+could not suppress a shiver of loathing. She was taller 
+than he was, her long black hair rippling down her 
+back, her heavily lidded eyes disdainful as they rested 
+upon him; but then she spoke, and he heard 
+Hermione through Bellatrix’s low voice. 
+
+“She tasted disgusting, worse than Gurdyroots! Okay, 
+Ron, come here so I can do you. ...” 
+
+“Right, but remember, I don’t like the beard too long 
+
+
+
+“Oh, for heaven’s sake, this isn’t about looking 
+handsome — ” “It’s not that, it gets in the way! But I 
+liked my nose a bit shorter, try and do it the way you 
+did last time.” 
+
+Hermione sighed and set to work, muttering under 
+her breath as she transformed various aspects of 
+Ron’s appearance. He was to be given a completely 
+fake identity, and they were trusting to the malevolent 
+aura cast by Bellatrix to protect him. Meanwhile 
+Harry and Griphook were to be concealed under the 
+Invisibility Cloak. 
+
+“There,” said Hermione, “how does he look, Harry?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+It was just possible to discern Ron under his disguise, 
+but only, Harry thought, because he knew him so 
+well. Ron’s hair was now long and wavy; he had a 
+thick brown beard and mustache, no freckles, a 
+short, broad nose, and heavy eyebrows. 
+
+“Well, he’s not my type, but he’ll do,” said Harry. 
+
+“Shall we go, then?” 
+
+All three of them glanced back at Shell Cottage, lying 
+dark and silent under the fading stars, then turned 
+and began to walk toward the point, just beyond the 
+boundary wall, where the Fidelius Charm stopped 
+working and they would be able to Disapparate. Once 
+past the gate, Griphook spoke. 
+
+“I should climb up now, Harry Potter, I think?” 
+
+Harry bent down and the goblin clambered onto his 
+back, his hands linked in front of Harry’s throat. He 
+was not heavy, but Harry disliked the feeling of the 
+goblin and the surprising strength with which he 
+clung on. Hermione pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of 
+the beaded bag and threw it over them both. 
+
+“Perfect,” she said, bending down to check Harry’s 
+feet. “I can’t see a thing. Let’s go.” 
+
+Harry turned on the spot, with Griphook on his 
+shoulders, concentrating with all his might on the 
+Leaky Cauldron, the inn that was the entrance to 
+Diagon Alley. The goblin clung even tighter as they 
+moved into the compressing darkness, and seconds 
+later Harry’s feet found pavement and he opened his 
+eyes on Charing Cross Road. Muggles bustled past 
+wearing the hangdog expressions of early morning, 
+quite unconscious of the little inn’s existence. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+The bar of the Leaky Cauldron was nearly deserted. 
+Tom, the stooped and toothless landlord, was 
+polishing glasses behind the bar counter; a couple of 
+warlocks having a muttered conversation in the far 
+corner glanced at Hermione and drew back into the 
+shadows. 
+
+“Madam Lestrange,” murmured Tom, and as 
+Hermione passed he inclined his head subserviently. 
+
+“Good morning,” said Hermione, and as Harry crept 
+past, still carrying Griphook piggyback under the 
+Cloak, he saw Tom look surprised. 
+
+“Too polite,” Harry whispered in Hermione’s ear as 
+they passed out of the inn into the tiny backyard. 
+“You need to treat people like they’re scum!” 
+
+“Okay, okay!” 
+
+Hermione drew out Bellatrix’s wand and tapped a 
+brick in the nondescript wall in front of them. At once 
+the bricks began to whirl and spin: A hole appeared 
+in the middle of them, which grew wider and wider, 
+finally forming an archway onto the narrow cobbled 
+street that was Diagon Alley. 
+
+It was quiet, barely time for the shops to open, and 
+there were hardly any shoppers abroad. The crooked, 
+cobbled street was much altered now from the 
+bustling place Harry had visited before his first term 
+at Hogwarts so many years before. More shops than 
+ever were boarded up, though several new 
+establishments dedicated to the Dark Arts had been 
+created since his last visit. Harry’s own face glared 
+down at him from posters plastered over many 
+windows, always captioned with the words 
+UNDESIRABLE NUMBER ONE. 
+
+
+
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+
+A number of ragged people sat huddled in doorways. 
+He heard them moaning to the few passersby, 
+pleading for gold, insisting that they were really 
+wizards. One man had a bloody bandage over his eye. 
+
+As they set off along the street, the beggars glimpsed 
+Hermione. They seemed to melt away before her, 
+drawing hoods over their faces and fleeing as fast as 
+they could. Hermione looked after them curiously, 
+until the man with the bloodied bandage came 
+staggering right across her path. 
+
+“My children!” he bellowed, pointing at her. His voice 
+was cracked, high-pitched; he sounded distraught. 
+“Where are my children? What has he done with 
+them? You know, you know\” 
+
+“I — I really — ” stammered Hermione. 
+
+The man lunged at her, reaching for her throat: Then, 
+with a bang and a burst of red light he was thrown 
+backward onto the ground, unconscious. Ron stood 
+there, his wand still outstretched and a look of shock 
+visible behind his beard. Faces appeared at the 
+windows on either side of the street, while a little knot 
+of prosperous-looking passersby gathered their robes 
+about them and broke into gentle trots, keen to 
+vacate the scene. 
+
+Their entrance into Diagon Alley could hardly have 
+been more conspicuous; for a moment Harry 
+wondered whether it might not be better to leave now 
+and try to think of a different plan. Before they could 
+move or consult one another, however, they heard a 
+cry from behind them. 
+
+“Why, Madam Lestrange!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry whirled around and Griphook tightened his 
+hold around Harry’s neck: A tall, thin wizard with a 
+crown of bushy gray hair and a long, sharp nose was 
+striding toward them. 
+
+“It’s Travers,” hissed the goblin into Harry’s ear, but 
+at that moment Harry could not think who Travers 
+was. Hermione had drawn herself up to her fullest 
+height and said with as much contempt as she could 
+muster: 
+
+“And what do you want?” 
+
+Travers stopped in his tracks, clearly affronted. 
+
+“ He’s another Death Eater\” breathed Griphook, and 
+Harry sidled sideways to repeat the information into 
+Hermione ’s ear. 
+
+“I merely sought to greet you,” said Travers coolly, 
+“but if my presence is not welcome ...” 
+
+Harry recognized his voice now; Travers was one of 
+the Death Eaters who had been summoned to 
+Xenophilius’s house. 
+
+“No, no, not at all, Travers,” said Hermione quickly, 
+trying to cover up her mistake. “How are you?” 
+
+“Well, I confess I am surprised to see you out and 
+about, Bellatrix.” 
+
+“Really? Why?” asked Hermione. 
+
+“Well,” Travers coughed, “I heard that the inhabitants 
+of Malfoy Manor were confined to the house, after the 
+... ah ... escape.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Harry willed Hermione to keep her head. If this was 
+true, and Bellatrix was not supposed to be out in 
+public — 
+
+“The Dark Lord forgives those who have served him 
+most faithfully in the past,” said Hermione in a 
+magnificent imitation of Bellatrix’s most 
+contemptuous manner. “Perhaps your credit is not as 
+good with him as mine is, Travers.” 
+
+Though the Death Eater looked offended, he also 
+seemed less suspicious. He glanced down at the man 
+Ron had just Stunned. 
+
+“How did it offend you?” 
+
+“It does not matter, it will not do so again,” said 
+Hermione coolly. 
+
+“Some of these wandless can be troublesome,” said 
+Travers. “While they do nothing but beg I have no 
+objection, but one of them actually asked me to plead 
+her case at the Ministry last week. ‘I’m a witch, sir, I’m 
+a witch, let me prove it to youV ” he said in a squeaky 
+impersonation. “As if I was going to give her my wand 
+— but whose wand,” said Travers curiously, “are you 
+using at the moment, Bellatrix? I heard that your own 
+was — ” 
+
+“I have my wand here,” said Hermione coldly, holding 
+up Bellatrix’s wand. “I don’t know what rumors you 
+have been listening to, Travers, but you seem sadly 
+misinformed.” 
+
+Travers seemed a little taken aback at that, and he 
+turned instead to Ron. 
+
+“Who is your friend? I do not recognize him.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“This is Dragomir Despard,” said Hermione; they had 
+decided that a fictional foreigner was the safest cover 
+for Ron to assume. “He speaks very little English, but 
+he is in sympathy with the Dark Lord’s aims. He has 
+traveled here from Transylvania to see our new 
+regime.” 
+
+“Indeed? How do you do, Dragomir?” 
+
+“ ’Ow you?” said Ron, holding out his hand. 
+
+Travers extended two fingers and shook Ron’s hand 
+as though frightened of dirtying himself. 
+
+“So what brings you and your — ah — sympathetic 
+friend to Diagon Alley this early?” asked Travers. 
+
+“I need to visit Gringotts,” said Hermione. 
+
+“Alas, I also,” said Travers. “Gold, filthy gold! We 
+cannot live without it, yet I confess I deplore the 
+necessity of consorting with our long-fingered 
+friends.” 
+
+Harry felt Griphook’s clasped hands tighten 
+momentarily around his neck. 
+
+“Shall we?” said Travers, gesturing Hermione forward. 
+
+Hermione had no choice but to fall into step beside 
+him and head along the crooked, cobbled street 
+toward the place where the snowy-white Gringotts 
+stood towering over the other little shops. Ron sloped 
+along beside them, and Harry and Griphook followed. 
+
+A watchful Death Eater was the very last thing they 
+needed, and the worst of it was, with Travers 
+marching at what he believed to be Bellatrix’s side, 
+there was no means for Harry to communicate with 
+
+Page | 597 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Hermione or Ron. All too soon they arrived at the foot 
+of the marble steps leading up to the great bronze 
+doors. As Griphook had already warned them, the 
+liveried goblins who usually flanked the entrance had 
+been replaced by two wizards, both of whom were 
+clutching long thin golden rods. 
+
+“Ah, Probity Probes,” sighed Travers theatrically, “so 
+crude — but effective!” 
+
+And he set off up the steps, nodding left and right to 
+the wizards, who raised the golden rods and passed 
+them up and down his body. The Probes, Harry knew, 
+detected spells of concealment and hidden magical 
+objects. Knowing that he had only seconds; Harry 
+pointed Draco’s wand at each of the guards in turn 
+and murmured, “Confundo” twice. Unnoticed by 
+Travers, who was looking through the bronze doors at 
+the inner hall, each of the guards gave a little start as 
+the spells hit them. 
+
+Hermione ’s long black hair rippled behind her as she 
+climbed the steps. 
+
+“One moment, madam,” said the guard, raising his 
+Probe. 
+
+“But you’ve just done that!” said Hermione in 
+Bellatrix’s commanding, arrogant voice. Travers 
+looked around, eyebrows raised. The guard was 
+confused. He stared down at the thin golden Probe 
+and then at his companion, who said in a slightly 
+dazed voice, 
+
+“Yeah, you’ve just checked them, Marius.” 
+
+Hermione swept forward, Ron by her side, Harry and 
+Griphook trotting invisibly behind them. Harry 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+glanced back as they crossed the threshold: The 
+wizards were both scratching their heads. 
+
+Two goblins stood before the inner doors, which were 
+made of silver and which carried the poem warning of 
+dire retribution to potential thieves. Harry looked up 
+at it, and all of a sudden a knife-sharp memory came 
+to him: standing on this very spot on the day that he 
+had turned eleven, the most wonderful birthday of his 
+life, and Hagrid standing beside him saying, “ Like I 
+said, yeh’d be mad ter try an’ rob it.” Gringotts had 
+seemed a place of wonder that day, the enchanted 
+repository of a trove of gold he had never known he 
+possessed, and never for an instant could he have 
+dreamed that he would return to steal. ... But within 
+seconds they were standing in the vast marble hall of 
+the bank. 
+
+The long counter was manned by goblins sitting on 
+high stools, serving the first customers of the day. 
+Hermione, Ron, and Travers headed toward an old 
+goblin who was examining a thick gold coin through 
+an eyeglass. Hermione allowed Travers to step ahead 
+of her on the pretext of explaining features of the hall 
+to Ron. 
+
+The goblin tossed the coin he was holding aside, said 
+to nobody in particular, “Leprechaun,” and then 
+greeted Travers, who passed over a tiny golden key, 
+which was examined and given back to him. 
+
+Hermione stepped forward. 
+
+“Madam Lestrange!” said the goblin, evidently 
+startled. “Dear me! How — how may I help you 
+today?” 
+
+“I wish to enter my vault,” said Hermione. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+The old goblin seemed to recoil a little. Harry glanced 
+around. Not only was Travers hanging back, 
+watching, but several other goblins had looked up 
+from their work to stare at Hermione. 
+
+“You have ... identification?” asked the goblin. 
+
+“Identification? I — I have never been asked for 
+identification before!” said Hermione. 
+
+“ They know\” whispered Griphook in Harry’s ear. 
+“They must have been warned there might be an 
+impostor !” 
+
+“Your wand will do, madam,” said the goblin. He held 
+out a slightly trembling hand, and in a dreadful blast 
+of realization Harry knew that the goblins of Gringotts 
+were aware that Bellatrix’s wand had been stolen. 
+
+“Act now, act now,” whispered Griphook in Harry’s 
+ear, “the Imperius Cursel” 
+
+Harry raised the hawthorn wand beneath the cloak, 
+pointed it at the old goblin, and whispered, for the 
+first time in his life, “Imperiol” 
+
+A curious sensation shot down Harry’s arm, a feeling 
+of tingling warmth that seemed to flow from his mind, 
+down the sinews and veins connecting him to the 
+wand and the curse it had just cast. The goblin took 
+Bellatrix’s wand, examined it closely, and then said, 
+“Ah, you have had a new wand made, Madam 
+Lestrange!” 
+
+“What?” said Hermione. “No, no, that’s mine — ” 
+
+“A new wand?” said Travers, approaching the counter 
+again; still the goblins all around were watching. “But 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+how could you have done, which wandmaker did you 
+use?” 
+
+Harry acted without thinking: Pointing his wand at 
+Travers, he muttered, “Imperiol” once more. 
+
+“Oh yes, I see,” said Travers, looking down at 
+Bellatrix’s wand, “yes, very handsome. And is it 
+working well? I always think wands require a little 
+breaking in, don’t you?” 
+
+Hermione looked utterly bewildered, but to Harry’s 
+enormous relief she accepted the bizarre turn of 
+events without comment. 
+
+The old goblin behind the counter clapped his hands 
+and a younger goblin approached. 
+
+“I shall need the Clankers,” he told the goblin, who 
+dashed away and returned a moment later with a 
+leather bag that seemed to be full of jangling metal, 
+which he handed to his senior. “Good, good! So, if you 
+will follow me, Madam Lestrange,” said the old goblin, 
+hopping down off his stool and vanishing from sight, 
+
+“I shall take you to your vault.” 
+
+He appeared around the end of the counter, jogging 
+happily toward them, the contents of the leather bag 
+still jingling. Travers was now standing quite still with 
+his mouth hanging wide open. Ron was drawing 
+attention to this odd phenomenon by regarding 
+Travers with confusion. 
+
+“Wait — Bogrod!” 
+
+Another goblin came scurrying around the counter. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We have instructions,” he said with a bow to 
+Hermione. “Forgive me, Madam, but there have been 
+special orders regarding the vault of Lestrange.” 
+
+He whispered urgently in Bogrod’s ear, but the 
+Imperiused goblin shook him off. 
+
+“I am aware of the instructions. Madam Lestrange 
+wishes to visit her vault. ... Very old family ... old 
+clients ... This way, please ...” 
+
+And, still clanking, he hurried toward one of the many 
+doors leading off the hall. Harry looked back at 
+Travers, who was still rooted to the spot looking 
+abnormally vacant, and made his decision: With a 
+flick of his wand he made Travers come with them, 
+walking meekly in their wake as they reached the 
+door and passed into the rough stone passageway 
+beyond, which was lit with flaming torches. 
+
+“We’re in trouble; they suspect,” said Harry as the 
+door slammed behind them and he pulled off the 
+Invisibility Cloak. Griphook jumped down from his 
+shoulders; neither Travers nor Bogrod showed the 
+slightest surprise at the sudden appearance of Harry 
+Potter in their midst. “They’re Imperiused,” he added, 
+in response to Hermione and Ron’s confused queries 
+about Travers and Bogrod, who were both now 
+standing there looking blank. “I don’t think I did it 
+strongly enough, I don’t know. ...” 
+
+And another memory darted through his mind, of the 
+real Bellatrix Lestrange shrieking at him when he had 
+first tried to use an Unforgivable Curse: “You need to 
+mean them, Potter!” 
+
+“What do we do?” asked Ron. “Shall we get out now, 
+while we can?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“If we can,” said Hermione, looking back toward the 
+door into the main hall, beyond which who knew 
+what was happening. 
+
+“We’ve got this far, I say we go on,” said Harry. 
+
+“Good!” said Griphook. “So, we need Bogrod to control 
+the cart; I no longer have the authority. But there will 
+not be room for the wizard.” 
+
+Harry pointed his wand at Travers. 
+
+“Imperio\” 
+
+The wizard turned and set off along the dark track at 
+a smart pace. 
+
+“What are you making him do?” 
+
+“Hide,” said Harry as he pointed his wand at Bogrod, 
+who whistled to summon a little cart that came 
+trundling along the tracks toward them out of the 
+darkness. Harry was sure he could hear shouting 
+behind them in the main hall as they all clambered 
+into it, Bogrod in front with Griphook, Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione crammed together in the back. 
+
+With a jerk the cart moved off, gathering speed: They 
+hurtled past Travers, who was wriggling into a crack 
+in the wall, then the cart began twisting and turning 
+through the labyrinthine passages, sloping downward 
+all the time. Harry could not hear anything over the 
+rattling of the cart on the tracks: His hair flew behind 
+him as they swerved between stalactites, flying ever 
+deeper into the earth, but he kept glancing back. 
+
+They might as well have left enormous footprints 
+behind them; the more he thought about it, the more 
+foolish it seemed to have disguised Hermione as 
+
+
+
+Page | 603 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Bellatrix, to have brought along Bellatrix’s wand, 
+when the Death Eaters knew who had stolen it — 
+
+They were deeper than Harry had ever penetrated 
+within Gringotts; they took a hairpin bend at speed 
+and saw ahead of them, with seconds to spare, a 
+waterfall pounding over the track. Harry heard 
+Griphook shout, “No!” but there was no braking: They 
+zoomed through it. Water filled Harry’s eyes and 
+mouth: He could not see or breathe: Then, with an 
+awful lurch, the cart flipped over and they were all 
+thrown out of it. Harry heard the cart smash into 
+pieces against the passage wall, heard Hermione 
+shriek something, and felt himself glide back toward 
+the ground as though weightless, landing painlessly 
+on the rocky passage floor. 
+
+“C-Cushioning Charm,” Hermione spluttered, as Ron 
+pulled her to her feet, but to Harry’s horror he saw 
+that she was no longer Bellatrix; instead she stood 
+there in overlarge robes, sopping wet and completely 
+herself; Ron was red-haired and beardless again. 
+
+They were realizing it as they looked at each other, 
+feeling their own faces. 
+
+“The Thief’s Downfall!” said Griphook, clambering to 
+his feet and looking back at the deluge onto the 
+tracks, which, Harry knew now, had been more than 
+water. “It washes away all enchantment, all magical 
+concealment! They know there are impostors in 
+Gringotts, they have set off defenses against us!” 
+
+Harry saw Hermione checking that she still had the 
+beaded bag, and hurriedly thrust his own hand under 
+his jacket to make sure he had not lost the Invisibility 
+Cloak. Then he turned to see Bogrod shaking his 
+head in bewilderment: The Thief’s Downfall seemed to 
+have lifted the Imperius Curse. 
+
+
+
+Page | 604 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We need him,” said Griphook, “we cannot enter the 
+vault without a Gringotts goblin. And we need the 
+Clankers!” 
+
+“Imperiol” Harry said again; his voice echoed through 
+the stone passage as he felt again the sense of heady 
+control that flowed from brain to wand. Bogrod 
+submitted once more to his will, his befuddled 
+expression changing to one of polite indifference, as 
+Ron hurried to pick up the leather bag of metal tools. 
+
+“Harry, I think I can hear people coming!” said 
+Hermione, and she pointed Bellatrix’s wand at the 
+waterfall and cried, “Protego\” They saw the Shield 
+Charm break the flow of enchanted water as it flew up 
+the passageway. 
+
+“Good thinking,” said Harry. “Lead the way, 
+
+Griphook!” 
+
+“How are we going to get out again?” Ron asked as 
+they hurried on foot into the darkness after the 
+goblin, Bogrod panting in their wake like an old dog. 
+
+“Let’s worry about that when we have to,” said Harry. 
+He was trying to listen: He thought he could hear 
+something clanking and moving around nearby. 
+“Griphook, how much farther?” 
+
+“Not far, Harry Potter, not far ...” 
+
+And they turned a corner and saw the thing for which 
+Harry had been prepared, but which still brought all 
+of them to a halt. 
+
+A gigantic dragon was tethered to the ground in front 
+of them, barring access to four or five of the deepest 
+vaults in the place. The beast’s scales had turned pale 
+and flaky during its long incarceration under the 
+
+Page | 605 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ground; its eyes were milkily pink; both rear legs bore 
+heavy cuffs from which chains led to enormous pegs 
+driven deep into the rocky floor. Its great spiked 
+wings, folded close to its body, would have filled the 
+chamber if it spread them, and when it turned its 
+ugly head toward them, it roared with a noise that 
+made the rock tremble, opened its mouth, and spat a 
+jet of fire that sent them running back up the 
+passageway. 
+
+“It is partially blind,” panted Griphook, “but even 
+more savage for that. However, we have the means to 
+control it. It has learned what to expect when the 
+Clankers come. Give them to me.” 
+
+Ron passed the bag to Griphook, and the goblin 
+pulled out a number of small metal instruments that 
+when shaken made a loud, ringing noise like 
+miniature hammers on anvils. Griphook handed them 
+out: Bogrod accepted his meekly. 
+
+“You know what to do,” Griphook told Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione. “It will expect pain when it hears the 
+noise: It will retreat, and Bogrod must place his palm 
+upon the door of the vault.” 
+
+They advanced around the corner again, shaking the 
+Clankers, and the noise echoed off the rocky walls, 
+grossly magnified, so that the inside of Harry’s skull 
+seemed to vibrate with the din. The dragon let out 
+another hoarse roar, then retreated. Harry could see 
+it trembling, and as they drew nearer he saw the 
+scars made by vicious slashes across its face, and 
+guessed that it had been taught to fear hot swords 
+when it heard the sound of the Clankers. 
+
+“Make him press his hand to the door!” Griphook 
+urged Harry, who turned his wand again upon 
+Bogrod. The old goblin obeyed, pressing his palm to 
+
+Page | 606 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the wood, and the door of the vault melted away to 
+reveal a cavelike opening crammed from floor to 
+ceiling with golden coins and goblets, silver armor, 
+the skins of strange creatures — some with long 
+spines, others with drooping wings — potions in 
+jeweled flasks, and a skull still wearing a crown. 
+
+“Search, fast!” said Harry as they all hurried inside 
+the vault. 
+
+He had described Hufflepuff’s cup to Ron and 
+Hermione, but if it was the other, unknown Horcrux 
+that resided in this vault, he did not know what it 
+looked like. He barely had time to glance around, 
+however, before there was a muffled clunk from 
+behind them: The door had reappeared, sealing them 
+inside the vault, and they were plunged into total 
+darkness. 
+
+“No matter, Bogrod will be able to release us!” said 
+Griphook as Ron gave a shout of surprise. “Light your 
+wands, can’t you? And hurry, we have very little 
+time!” 
+
+“Lumosl” 
+
+Harry shone his lit wand around the vault: Its beam 
+fell upon glittering jewels; he saw the fake sword of 
+Gryffindor lying on a high shelf amongst a jumble of 
+chains. Ron and Hermione had lit their wands too, 
+and were now examining the piles of objects 
+surrounding them. 
+
+“Harry, could this be — ? Aargh!” 
+
+Hermione screamed in pain, and Harry turned his 
+wand on her in time to see a jeweled goblet tumbling 
+from her grip. But as it fell, it split, became a shower 
+of goblets, so that a second later, with a great clatter, 
+
+Page | 607 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the floor was covered in identical cups rolling in every 
+direction, the original impossible to discern amongst 
+them. 
+
+“It burned me!” moaned Hermione, sucking her 
+blistered fingers. 
+
+“They have added Gemino and Flagrante Curses!” 
+said Griphook. “Everything you touch will burn and 
+multiply, but the copies are worthless — and if you 
+continue to handle the treasure, you will eventually 
+be crushed to death by the weight of expanding gold!” 
+
+“Okay, don’t touch anything!” said Harry desperately, 
+but even as he said it, Ron accidentally nudged one of 
+the fallen goblets with his foot, and twenty more 
+exploded into being while Ron hopped on the spot, 
+part of his shoe burned away by contact with the hot 
+metal. 
+
+“Stand still, don’t move!” said Hermione, clutching at 
+Ron. 
+
+“Just look around!” said Harry. “Remember, the cup’s 
+small and gold, it’s got a badger engraved on it, two 
+handles — otherwise see if you can spot Ravenclaw’s 
+symbol anywhere, the eagle — ” 
+
+They directed their wands into every nook and 
+crevice, turning cautiously on the spot. It was 
+impossible not to brush up against anything; Harry 
+sent a great cascade of fake Galleons onto the ground 
+where they joined the goblets, and now there was 
+scarcely room to place their feet, and the glowing gold 
+blazed with heat, so that the vault felt like a furnace. 
+Harry’s wandlight passed over shields and goblin- 
+made helmets set on shelves rising to the ceiling; 
+higher and higher he raised the beam, until suddenly 
+
+
+
+Page | 608 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+it found an object that made his heart skip and his 
+hand tremble. 
+
+
+
+“It’s there, it’s up there\” 
+
+Ron and Hermione pointed their wands at it too, so 
+that the little golden cup sparkled in a three-way 
+spotlight: the cup that had belonged to Helga 
+Hufflepuff, which had passed into the possession of 
+Hepzibah Smith, from whom it had been stolen by 
+Tom Riddle. 
+
+“And how the hell are we going to get up there 
+without touching anything?” asked Ron. 
+
+“Accio Cup\” cried Hermione, who had evidently 
+forgotten in her desperation what Griphook had told 
+them during their planning sessions. 
+
+“No use, no use!” snarled the goblin. 
+
+“Then what do we do?” said Harry, glaring at the 
+goblin. “If you want the sword, Griphook, then you’ll 
+have to help us more than — wait! Can I touch stuff 
+with the sword? Hermione, give it here!” 
+
+Hermione fumbled inside her robes, drew out the 
+beaded bag, rummaged for a few seconds, then 
+removed the shining sword. Harry seized it by its 
+rubied hilt and touched the tip of the blade to a silver 
+flagon nearby, which did not multiply. 
+
+“If I can just poke the sword through a handle — but 
+how am I going to get up there?” 
+
+The shelf on which the cup reposed was out of reach 
+for any of them, even Ron, who was tallest. The heat 
+from the enchanted treasure rose in waves, and sweat 
+ran down Harry’s face and back as he struggled to 
+
+Page | 609 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+think of a way up to the cup; and then he heard the 
+dragon roar on the other side of the vault door, and 
+the sound of clanking growing louder and louder. 
+
+They were truly trapped now: There was no way out 
+except through the door, and a horde of goblins 
+seemed to be approaching on the other side. Harry 
+looked at Ron and Hermione and saw terror in their 
+faces. 
+
+“Hermione,” said Harry as the clanking grew louder, 
+“I’ve got to get up there, we’ve got to get rid of it — ” 
+
+She raised her wand, pointed it at Harry, and 
+whispered, “Levicorpus.” 
+
+Hoisted into the air by his ankle, Harry hit a suit of 
+armor and replicas burst out of it like white-hot 
+bodies, filling the cramped space. With screams of 
+pain Ron, Hermione, and the two goblins were 
+knocked aside into other objects, which also began to 
+replicate. Half buried in a rising tide of red-hot 
+treasure, they struggled and yelled as Harry thrust 
+the sword through the handle of Hufflepuff’s cup, 
+hooking it onto the blade. 
+
+“Impervius\” screeched Hermione in an attempt to 
+protect herself, Ron, and the goblins from the burning 
+metal. 
+
+Then the worst scream yet made Harry look down: 
+
+Ron and Hermione were waist-deep in treasure, 
+struggling to keep Bogrod from slipping beneath the 
+rising tide, but Griphook had sunk out of sight and 
+nothing but the tips of a few long fingers were left in 
+view. 
+
+Harry seized Griphook’s fingers and pulled. The 
+blistered goblin emerged by degrees, howling. 
+
+Page | 610 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Liberacorpus\” yelled Harry, and with a crash he and 
+Griphook landed on the surface of the swelling 
+treasure, and the sword flew out of Harry’s hand. 
+
+“Get it!” Harry yelled, fighting the pain of the hot 
+metal on his skin, as Griphook clambered onto his 
+shoulders again, determined to avoid the swelling 
+mass of red-hot objects. “Where’s the sword? It had 
+the cup on it!” 
+
+The clanking on the other side of the door was 
+growing deafening — it was too late — 
+
+“There!” 
+
+It was Griphook who had seen it and Griphook who 
+lunged, and in that instant Harry knew that the 
+goblin had never expected them to keep their word. 
+One hand holding tightly to a fistful of Harry’s hair, to 
+make sure he did not fall into the heaving sea of 
+burning gold, Griphook seized the hilt of the sword 
+and swung it high out of Harry’s reach. 
+
+The tiny golden cup, skewered by the handle on the 
+sword’s blade, was flung into the air. The goblin still 
+astride him, Harry dived and caught it, and although 
+he could feel it scalding his flesh he did not relinquish 
+it, even while countless Hufflepuff cups burst from 
+his fist, raining down upon him as the entrance of the 
+vault opened up again and he found himself sliding 
+uncontrollably on an expanding avalanche of fiery 
+gold and silver that bore him, Ron, and Hermione into 
+the outer chamber. 
+
+Hardly aware of the pain from the burns covering his 
+body, and still borne along on the swell of replicating 
+treasure, Harry shoved the cup into his pocket and 
+reached up to retrieve the sword, but Griphook was 
+gone. Sliding from Harry’s shoulders the moment he 
+Page | 611 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+could, he had sprinted for cover amongst the 
+surrounding goblins, brandishing the sword and 
+crying, “Thieves! Thieves! Help! Thieves!” He vanished 
+into the midst of the advancing crowd, all of whom 
+were holding daggers and who accepted him without 
+question. 
+
+Slipping on the hot metal, Harry struggled to his feet 
+and knew that the only way out was through. 
+
+“Stupefyl” he bellowed, and Ron and Hermione joined 
+in: Jets of red light flew into the crowd of goblins, and 
+some toppled over, but others advanced, and Harry 
+saw several wizard guards running around the 
+corner. 
+
+The tethered dragon let out a roar, and a gush of 
+flame flew over the goblins: The wizards fled, doubled- 
+up, back the way they had come, and inspiration, or 
+madness, came to Harry. Pointing his wand at the 
+thick cuffs chaining the beast to the floor, he yelled, 
+“Relashiol” 
+
+The cuffs broke open with loud bangs. 
+
+“This way!” Harry yelled, and still shooting Stunning 
+Spells at the advancing goblins, he sprinted toward 
+the blind dragon. 
+
+“Harry — Harry — what are you doing?” cried 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Get up, climb up, come on — ” 
+
+The dragon had not realized that it was free: Harry’s 
+foot found the crook of its hind leg and he pulled 
+himself up onto its back. The scales were hard as 
+steel; it did not even seem to feel him. He stretched 
+out an arm; Hermione hoisted herself up; Ron 
+Page | 612 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+climbed on behind them, and a second later the 
+dragon became aware that it was untethered. 
+
+With a roar it reared: Harry dug in his knees, 
+clutching as tightly as he could to the jagged scales 
+as the wings opened, knocking the shrieking goblins 
+aside like skittles, and it soared into the air. Harry, 
+Ron, and Hermione, flat on its back, scraped against 
+the ceiling as it dived toward the passage opening, 
+while the pursuing goblins hurled daggers that 
+glanced off its flanks. 
+
+“Well never get out, it’s too big!” Hermione screamed, 
+but the dragon opened its mouth and belched flame 
+again, blasting the tunnel, whose floors and ceiling 
+cracked and crumbled. By sheer force the dragon 
+clawed and fought its way through. Harry’s eyes were 
+shut tight against the heat and dust: Deafened by the 
+crashing of rock and the dragon’s roars, he could only 
+cling to its back, expecting to be shaken off at any 
+moment; then he heard Hermione yelling, “Defodiol” 
+
+She was helping the dragon enlarge the passageway, 
+carving out the ceiling as it struggled upward toward 
+the fresher air, away from the shrieking and clanking 
+goblins: Harry and Ron copied her, blasting the 
+ceiling apart with more gouging spells. They passed 
+the underground lake, and the great crawling, 
+snarling beast seemed to sense freedom and space 
+ahead of it, and behind them the passage was full of 
+the dragon’s thrashing, spiked tail, of great lumps of 
+rock, gigantic fractured stalactites, and the clanking 
+of the goblins seemed to be growing more muffled, 
+while ahead, the dragon’s fire kept their progress 
+clear — 
+
+And then at last, by the combined force of their spells 
+and the dragon’s brute strength, they had blasted 
+their way out of the passage into the marble hallway. 
+
+Page | 613 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Goblins and wizards shrieked and ran for cover, and 
+finally the dragon had room to stretch its wings: 
+Turning its horned head toward the cool outside air it 
+could smell beyond the entrance, it took off, and with 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione still clinging to its back, it 
+forced its way through the metal doors, leaving them 
+buckled and hanging from their hinges, as it 
+staggered into Diagon Alley and launched itself into 
+the sky. 
+
+
+
+Page | 614 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FINAL HIDING PLACE 
+
+There was no means of steering; the dragon could not 
+see where it was going, and Harry knew that if it 
+turned sharply or rolled in midair they would find it 
+impossible to cling onto its broad back. Nevertheless, 
+as they climbed higher and higher, London unfurling 
+below them like a gray-and-green map, Harry’s 
+overwhelming feeling was of gratitude for an escape 
+that had seemed impossible. Crouching low over the 
+beast’s neck, he clung tight to the metallic scales, and 
+the cool breeze was soothing on his burned and 
+blistered skin, the dragon’s wings beating the air like 
+the sails of a windmill. Behind him, whether from 
+delight or fear he could not tell, Ron kept swearing at 
+the top of his voice, and Hermione seemed to be 
+sobbing. 
+
+After five minutes or so, Harry lost some of his 
+immediate dread that the dragon was going to throw 
+them off, for it seemed intent on nothing but getting 
+as far away from its underground prison as possible; 
+but the question of how and when they were to 
+dismount remained rather frightening. He had no idea 
+
+Page | 615 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+how long dragons could fly without landing, nor how 
+this particular dragon, which could barely see, would 
+locate a good place to put down. He glanced around 
+constantly, imagining that he could feel his scar 
+prickling. ... 
+
+How long would it be before Voldemort knew that they 
+had broken into the Lestranges’ vault? How soon 
+would the goblins of Gringotts notify Bellatrix? How 
+quickly would they realize what had been taken? And 
+then, when they discovered that the golden cup was 
+missing? Voldemort would know, at last, that they 
+were hunting Horcruxes. ... 
+
+The dragon seemed to crave cooler and fresher air: It 
+climbed steadily until they were flying through wisps 
+of chilly cloud, and Harry could no longer make out 
+the little colored dots which were cars pouring in and 
+out of the capital. On and on they flew, over 
+countryside parceled out in patches of green and 
+brown, over roads and rivers winding through the 
+landscape like strips of matte and glossy ribbon. 
+
+“What do you reckon it’s looking for?” Ron yelled as 
+they flew farther and farther north. 
+
+“No idea,” Harry bellowed back. His hands were numb 
+with cold but he did not dare attempt to shift his grip. 
+He had been wondering for some time what they 
+would do if they saw the coast sail beneath them, if 
+the dragon headed for open sea; he was cold and 
+numb, not to mention desperately hungry and thirsty. 
+When, he wondered, had the beast itself last eaten? 
+Surely it would need sustenance before long? And 
+what if, at that point, it realized it had three highly 
+edible humans sitting on its back? 
+
+The sun slipped lower in the sky, which was turning 
+indigo; and still the dragon flew, cities and towns 
+
+Page | 616 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+gliding out of sight beneath them, its enormous 
+shadow sliding over the earth like a great dark cloud. 
+Every part of Harry ached with the effort of holding on 
+to the dragon’s back. 
+
+“Is it my imagination,” shouted Ron after a 
+considerable stretch of silence, “or are we losing 
+height?” 
+
+Harry looked down and saw deep green mountains 
+and lakes, coppery in the sunset. The landscape 
+seemed to grow larger and more detailed as he 
+squinted over the side of the dragon, and he 
+wondered whether it had divined the presence of fresh 
+water by the flashes of reflected sunlight. 
+
+Lower and lower the dragon flew, in great spiraling 
+circles, honing in, it seemed, upon one of the smaller 
+lakes. 
+
+“I say we jump when it gets low enough!” Harry called 
+back to the others. “Straight into the water before it 
+realizes we’re here!” 
+
+They agreed, Hermione a little faintly, and now Harry 
+could see the dragon’s wide yellow underbelly rippling 
+in the surface of the water. 
+
+“NOW!” 
+
+He slithered over the side of the dragon and 
+plummeted feetfirst toward the surface of the lake; 
+the drop was greater than he had estimated and he 
+hit the water hard, plunging like a stone into a 
+freezing, green, reed-filled world. He kicked toward 
+the surface and emerged, panting, to see enormous 
+ripples emanating in circles from the places where 
+Ron and Hermione had fallen. The dragon did not 
+seem to have noticed anything: It was already fifty 
+Page | 617 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+feet away, swooping low over the lake to scoop up 
+water in its scarred snout. As Ron and Hermione 
+emerged, spluttering and gasping, from the depths of 
+the lake, the dragon flew on, its wings beating hard, 
+and landed at last on a distant bank. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione struck out for the opposite 
+shore. The lake did not seem to be deep: Soon it was 
+more a question of fighting their way through reeds 
+and mud than swimming, and at last they flopped, 
+sodden, panting, and exhausted, onto slippery grass. 
+
+Hermione collapsed, coughing and shuddering. 
+Though Harry could have happily lain down and 
+slept, he staggered to his feet, drew out his wand, and 
+started casting the usual protective spells around 
+them. 
+
+When he had finished, he joined the others. It was the 
+first time that he had seen them properly since 
+escaping from the vault. Both had angry red burns all 
+over their faces and arms, and their clothing was 
+singed away in places. They were wincing as they 
+dabbed essence of dittany onto their many injuries. 
+Hermione handed Harry the bottle, then pulled out 
+three bottles of pumpkin juice she had brought from 
+Shell Cottage and clean, dry robes for all of them. 
+
+They changed and then gulped down the juice. 
+
+“Well, on the upside,” said Ron finally, who was 
+sitting watching the skin on his hands regrow, “we got 
+the Horcrux. On the downside — ” 
+
+“ — no sword,” said Harry through gritted teeth, as he 
+dripped dittany through the singed hole in his jeans 
+onto the angry burn beneath. 
+
+“No sword,” repeated Ron. “That double-crossing little 
+scab ...” 
+
+Page | 618 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry pulled the Horcrux from the pocket of the wet 
+jacket he had just taken off and set it down on the 
+grass in front of them. Glinting in the sun, it drew 
+their eyes as they swigged their bottles of juice. 
+
+“At least we can’t wear it this time, that’d look a bit 
+weird hanging round our necks,” said Ron, wiping his 
+mouth on the back of his hand. 
+
+Hermione looked across the lake to the far bank, 
+where the dragon was still drinking. 
+
+“What’ll happen to it, do you think?” she asked. “Will 
+it be all right?” 
+
+“You sound like Hagrid,” said Ron. “It’s a dragon, 
+Hermione, it can look after itself. It’s us we need to 
+worry about.” 
+
+“What do you mean?” 
+
+“Well, I don’t know how to break this to you,” said 
+Ron, “but I think they might have noticed we broke 
+into Gringotts.” 
+
+All three of them started to laugh, and once started, it 
+was difficult to stop. Harry’s ribs ached, he felt 
+lightheaded with hunger, but he lay back on the grass 
+beneath the reddening sky and laughed until his 
+throat was raw. 
+
+“What are we going to do, though?” said Hermione 
+finally, hiccuping herself back to seriousness. “He’ll 
+know, won’t he? You- Know- Who will know we know 
+about his Horcruxes!” 
+
+“Maybe they’ll be too scared to tell him?” said Ron 
+hopefully. “Maybe they’ll cover up — ” 
+
+
+
+Page | 619 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The sky, the smell of lake water, the sound of Ron’s 
+voice were extinguished: Pain cleaved Harry’s head 
+like a sword stroke. He was standing in a dimly lit 
+room, and a semicircle of wizards faced him, and on 
+the floor at his feet knelt a small, quaking figure. 
+
+“What did you say to me?” His voice was high and 
+cold, but fury and fear burned inside him. The one 
+thing he had dreaded — but it could not be true, he 
+could not see how ... 
+
+The goblin was trembling, unable to meet the red eyes 
+high above his. 
+
+“Say it again!” murmured Voldemort. “ Say it again).” 
+
+“M-my Lord,” stammered the goblin, its black eyes 
+wide with terror, “m-my Lord ... we t-tried t-to st-stop 
+them. ... Im-impostors, my Lord ... broke — broke 
+into the — into the Lestranges’ v-vault. ...” 
+
+“Impostors? What impostors? I thought Gringotts had 
+ways of revealing impostors? Who were they?” 
+
+“It was ... it was . . . the P-Potter b-boy and t-two 
+accomplices. ...” 
+
+“And they took?” he said, his voice rising, a terrible 
+fear gripping him. “Tell me! What did they take?” 
+
+“A ... a s-small golden c-cup, m-my Lord ...” 
+
+The scream of rage, of denial left him as if it were a 
+stranger’s: He was crazed, frenzied, it could not be 
+true, it was impossible, nobody had ever known: How 
+was it possible that the boy could have discovered his 
+secret? 
+
+
+
+Page | 620 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The Elder Wand slashed through the air and green 
+light erupted through the room; the kneeling goblin 
+rolled over, dead; the watching wizards scattered 
+before him, terrified: Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy 
+threw others behind them in their race for the door, 
+and again and again his wand fell, and those who 
+were left were slain, all of them, for bringing him this 
+news, for hearing about the golden cup — 
+
+Alone amongst the dead he stormed up and down, 
+and they passed before him in vision: his treasures, 
+his safeguards, his anchors to immortality — the 
+diary was destroyed and the cup was stolen: What if, 
+what if, the boy knew about the others? Could he 
+know, had he already acted, had he traced more of 
+them? Was Dumbledore at the root of this? 
+Dumbledore, who had always suspected him; 
+Dumbledore, dead on his orders; Dumbledore, whose 
+wand was his now, yet who reached out from the 
+ignominy of death through the boy, the boy — 
+
+But surely if the boy had destroyed any of his 
+Horcruxes, he, Lord Voldemort, would have known, 
+would have felt it? He, the greatest wizard of them all; 
+he, the most powerful; he, the killer of Dumbledore 
+and of how many other worthless, nameless men: 
+How could Lord Voldemort not have known, if he, 
+himself, most important and precious, had been 
+attacked, mutilated? 
+
+True, he had not felt it when the diary had been 
+destroyed, but he had thought that was because he 
+had no body to feel, being less than ghost. ... No, 
+surely, the rest were safe. ... The other Horcruxes 
+must be intact. ... 
+
+But he must know, he must be sure. ... He paced the 
+room, kicking aside the goblin’s corpse as he passed, 
+
+
+
+Page | 621 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and the pictures blurred and burned in his boiling 
+brain: the lake, the shack, and Hogwarts — 
+
+A modicum of calm cooled his rage now: How could 
+the boy know that he had hidden the ring in the 
+Gaunt shack? No one had ever known him to be 
+related to the Gaunts, he had hidden the connection, 
+the killings had never been traced to him: The ring, 
+surely, was safe. 
+
+And how could the boy, or anybody else, know about 
+the cave or penetrate its protection? The idea of the 
+locket being stolen was absurd. ... 
+
+As for the school: He alone knew where in Hogwarts 
+he had stowed the Horcrux, because he alone had 
+plumbed the deepest secrets of that place. ... 
+
+And there was still Nagini, who must remain close 
+now, no longer sent to do his bidding, under his 
+protection. ... 
+
+But to be sure, to be utterly sure, he must return to 
+each of his hiding places, he must redouble protection 
+around each of his Horcruxes. ... A job, like the quest 
+for the Elder Wand, that he must undertake alone ... 
+
+Which should he visit first, which was in most 
+danger? An old unease flickered inside him. 
+Dumbledore had known his middle name. ... 
+Dumbledore might have made the connection with 
+the Gaunts. ... Their abandoned home was, perhaps, 
+the least secure of his hiding places, it was there that 
+he would go first. ... 
+
+The lake, surely impossible ... though was there a 
+slight possibility that Dumbledore might have known 
+some of his past misdeeds, through the orphanage. 
+
+
+
+Page | 622 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+And Hogwarts . . . but he knew that his Horcrux there 
+was safe; it would be impossible for Potter to enter 
+Hogsmeade without detection, let alone the school. 
+Nevertheless, it would be prudent to alert Snape to 
+the fact that the boy might try to reenter the castle. ... 
+To tell Snape why the boy might return would be 
+foolish, of course; it had been a grave mistake to trust 
+Bellatrix and Malfoy: Didn’t their stupidity and 
+carelessness prove how unwise it was ever to trust? 
+
+He would visit the Gaunt shack first, then, and take 
+Nagini with him: He would not be parted from the 
+snake anymore . . . and he strode from the room, 
+through the hall, and out into the dark garden where 
+the fountain played; he called the snake in 
+Parseltongue and it slithered out to join him like a 
+long shadow. ... 
+
+Harry’s eyes flew open as he wrenched himself back 
+to the present: He was lying on the bank of the lake in 
+the setting sun, and Ron and Hermione were looking 
+down at him. Judging by their worried looks, and by 
+the continued pounding of his scar, his sudden 
+excursion into Voldemort’s mind had not passed 
+unnoticed. He struggled up, shivering, vaguely 
+surprised that he was still wet to his skin, and saw 
+the cup lying innocently in the grass before him, and 
+the lake, deep blue shot with gold in the failing sun. 
+
+“He knows.” His own voice sounded strange and low 
+after Voldemort’s high screams. “He knows, and he’s 
+going to check where the others are, and the last 
+one,” he was already on his feet, “is at Hogwarts. I 
+knew it. I knew it.” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+Ron was gaping at him; Hermione sat up, looking 
+worried. 
+
+Page | 623 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But what did you see? How do you know?” 
+
+
+
+“I saw him find out about the cup, I — I was in his 
+head, he’s” — Harry remembered the killings — “he’s 
+seriously angry, and scared too, he can’t understand 
+how we knew, and now he’s going to check the others 
+are safe, the ring first. He thinks the Hogwarts one is 
+safest, because Snape’s there, because it’ll be so hard 
+not to be seen getting in, I think he’ll check that one 
+last, but he could still be there within hours — ” 
+
+“Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?” asked Ron, 
+now scrambling to his feet too. 
+
+“No, he was concentrating on warning Snape, he 
+didn’t think about exactly where it is — ” 
+
+“Wait, wait\” cried Hermione as Ron caught up the 
+Horcrux and Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak 
+again. “We can’t just go, we haven’t got a plan, we 
+need to — ” 
+
+“We need to get going,” said Harry firmly. He had 
+been hoping to sleep, looking forward to getting into 
+the new tent, but that was impossible now. “Can you 
+imagine what he’s going to do once he realizes the 
+ring and the locket are gone? What if he moves the 
+Hogwarts Horcrux, decides it isn’t safe enough?” 
+
+“But how are we going to get in?” 
+
+“Well go to Hogsmeade,” said Harry, “and try to work 
+something out once we see what the protection 
+around the school’s like. Get under the Cloak, 
+Hermione, I want to stick together this time.” 
+
+“But we don’t really fit — ” 
+
+“It’ll be dark, no one’s going to notice our feet.” 
+
+Page | 624 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The flapping of enormous wings echoed across the 
+black water: The dragon had drunk its fill and risen 
+into the air. They paused in their preparations to 
+watch it climb higher and higher, now black against 
+the rapidly darkening sky, until it vanished over a 
+nearby mountain. Then Hermione walked forward 
+and took her place between the other two. Harry 
+pulled the Cloak down as far as it would go, and 
+together they turned on the spot into the crushing 
+darkness. 
+
+
+
+Page | 625 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MISSING MIRROR 
+
+Harry’s feet touched road. He saw the achingly 
+familiar Hogsmeade High Street: dark shop fronts, 
+and the outline of black mountains beyond the 
+village, and the curve in the road ahead that led off 
+toward Hogwarts, and light spilling from the windows 
+of the Three Broomsticks, and with a lurch of the 
+heart he remembered, with piercing accuracy, how he 
+had landed here nearly a year before, supporting a 
+desperately weak Dumbledore; all this in a second, 
+upon landing — and then, even as he relaxed his grip 
+upon Ron’s and Hermione’s arms, it happened. 
+
+The air was rent by a scream that sounded like 
+Voldemort’s when he had realized the cup had been 
+stolen: It tore at every nerve in Harry’s body, and he 
+knew immediately that their appearance had caused 
+it. Even as he looked at the other two beneath the 
+Cloak, the door of the Three Broomsticks burst open 
+and a dozen cloaked and hooded Death Eaters 
+dashed into the street, their wands aloft. 
+
+
+
+Page | 626 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Harry seized Ron’s wrist as he raised his wand; there 
+were too many of them to Stun: Even attempting it 
+would give away their position. One of the Death 
+Eaters waved his wand and the scream stopped, still 
+echoing around the distant mountains. 
+
+“Accio Cloak).” roared one of the Death Eaters. 
+
+Harry seized its folds, but it made no attempt to 
+escape: The Summoning Charm had not worked on it. 
+
+“Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?” yelled the 
+Death Eater who had tried the charm, and then to his 
+fellows, “Spread out. He’s here.” 
+
+Six of the Death Eaters ran toward them: Harry, Ron, 
+and Hermione backed as quickly as possible down the 
+nearest side street, and the Death Eaters missed 
+them by inches. They waited in the darkness, 
+listening to the footsteps running up and down, 
+beams of light flying along the street from the Death 
+Eaters’ searching wands. 
+
+“Let’s just leave!” Hermione whispered. “Disapparate 
+now!” 
+
+“Great idea,” said Ron, but before Harry could reply a 
+Death Eater shouted, 
+
+“We know you’re here, Potter, and there’s no getting 
+away! We’ll find you!” 
+
+“They were ready for us,” whispered Harry. “They set 
+up that spell to tell them we’d come. I reckon they’ve 
+done something to keep us here, trap us — ” 
+
+“What about dementors?” called another Death Eater. 
+“Let ’em have free rein, they’d find him quick enough!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 627 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hand but his 
+
+
+
+“ — an’ dementors won’t kill him! The Dark Lord 
+wants Potter’s life, not his soul. He’ll be easier to kill if 
+he’s been Kissed first!” 
+
+There were noises of agreement. Dread filled Harry: 
+
+To repel dementors they would have to produce 
+Patronuses, which would give them away 
+immediately. 
+
+“We’re going to have to try to Disapparate, Harry!” 
+Hermione whispered. 
+
+Even as she said it, he felt the unnatural cold begin to 
+steal over the street. Light was sucked from the 
+environment right up to the stars, which vanished. In 
+the pitch-blackness, he felt Hermione take hold of his 
+arm and together, they turned on the spot. 
+
+The air through which they needed to move seemed to 
+have become solid: They could not Disapparate; the 
+Death Eaters had cast their charms well. The cold 
+was biting deeper and deeper into Harry’s flesh. He, 
+Ron, and Hermione retreated down the side street, 
+groping their way along the wall, trying not to make a 
+sound. Then, around the corner, gliding noiselessly, 
+came dementors, ten or more of them, visible because 
+they were of a denser darkness than their 
+surroundings, with their black cloaks and their 
+scabbed and rotting hands. Could they sense fear in 
+the vicinity? Harry was sure of it: They seemed to be 
+coming more quickly now, taking those dragging, 
+rattling breaths he detested, tasting despair on the 
+air, closing in — 
+
+He raised his wand: He could not, would not, suffer 
+the Dementor’s Kiss, whatever happened afterward. It 
+
+Page | 628 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was of Ron and Hermione that he thought as he 
+whispered, “Expecto Patronum).” 
+
+The silver stag burst from his wand and charged: The 
+dementors scattered and there was a triumphant yell 
+from somewhere out of sight. 
+
+“It’s him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, 
+it was a stag! 
+
+The dementors had retreated, the stars were popping 
+out again, and the footsteps of the Death Eaters were 
+becoming louder; but before Harry in his panic could 
+decide what to do, there was a grinding of bolts 
+nearby, a door opened on the left-hand side of the 
+narrow street, and a rough voice said, “Potter, in here, 
+quick!” 
+
+He obeyed without hesitation: The three of them 
+hurtled through the open doorway. 
+
+“Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!” muttered a 
+tall figure, passing them on his way into the street 
+and slamming the door behind him. 
+
+Harry had had no idea where they were, but now he 
+saw, by the stuttering light of a single candle, the 
+grubby, sawdust- strewn bar of the Hog’s Head Inn. 
+They ran behind the counter and through a second 
+doorway, which led to a rickety wooden staircase that 
+they climbed as fast as they could. The stairs opened 
+onto a sitting room with a threadbare carpet and a 
+small fireplace, above which hung a single large oil 
+painting of a blonde girl who gazed out at the room 
+with a kind of vacant sweetness. 
+
+Shouts reached them from the street below. Still 
+wearing the Invisibility Cloak, they crept toward the 
+grimy window and looked down. Their savior, whom 
+
+Page | 629 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry now recognized as the Hog’s Head’s barman, 
+was the only person not wearing a hood. 
+
+“So what?” he was bellowing into one of the hooded 
+faces. “So what? You send dementors down my street, 
+I’ll send a Patronus back at ’em! I’m not having ’em 
+near me, I’ve told you that, I’m not having it!” 
+
+“That wasn’t your Patronus!” said a Death Eater. 
+
+“That was a stag, it was Potter’s!” 
+
+“Stag!” roared the barman, and he pulled out a wand. 
+“Stag! You idiot — Expecto Patronum .!” 
+
+Something huge and horned erupted from the wand: 
+Head down, it charged toward the High Street and out 
+of sight. 
+
+“That’s not what I saw — ” said the Death Eater, 
+though with less certainty. 
+
+“Curfew’s been broken, you heard the noise,” one of 
+his companions told the barman. “Someone was out 
+in the street against regulations — ” 
+
+“If I want to put my cat out, I will, and be damned to 
+your curfew!” 
+
+“ You set off the Caterwauling Charm?” 
+
+“What if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill 
+me for sticking my nose out my own front door? Do it, 
+then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you 
+haven’t pressed your little Dark Marks and 
+summoned him. He’s not going to like being called 
+here for me and my old cat, is he, now?” 
+
+“Don’t you worry about us,” said one of the Death 
+Eaters, “worry about yourself, breaking curfew!” 
+
+Page | 630 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“And where will you lot traffick potions and poisons 
+when my pub’s closed down? What’ll happen to your 
+little sidelines then?” 
+
+
+
+“Are you threatening — ?” 
+
+
+
+“I keep my mouth shut, it’s why you come here, isn’t 
+it?” 
+
+
+
+“I still say I saw a stag Patronus!” shouted the first 
+Death Eater. 
+
+“Stag?” roared the barman. “It’s a goat, idiot!” 
+
+“All right, we made a mistake,” said the second Death 
+Eater. “Break curfew again and we won’t be so 
+lenient!” 
+
+The Death Eaters strode back toward the High Street. 
+Hermione moaned with relief, wove out from under 
+the Cloak, and sat down on a wobble-legged chair. 
+Harry drew the curtains tight shut, then pulled the 
+Cloak off himself and Ron. They could hear the 
+barman down below, rebolting the door of the bar, 
+then climbing the stairs. 
+
+Harry’s attention was caught by something on the 
+mantelpiece: a small, rectangular mirror propped on 
+top of it, right beneath the portrait of the girl. 
+
+The barman entered the room. 
+
+“You bloody fools,” he said gruffly, looking from one to 
+the other of them. “What were you thinking, coming 
+here?” 
+
+“Thank you,” said Harry. “We can’t thank you 
+enough. You saved our lives.” 
+
+Page | 631 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The barman grunted. Harry approached him, looking 
+up into the face, trying to see past the long, stringy, 
+wire-gray hair and beard. He wore spectacles. Behind 
+the dirty lenses, the eyes were a piercing, brilliant 
+blue. 
+
+“It’s your eye I’ve been seeing in the mirror.” 
+
+There was silence in the room. Harry and the barman 
+looked at each other. 
+
+“You sent Dobby.” 
+
+The barman nodded and looked around for the elf. 
+
+“Thought he’d be with you. Where Ve you left him?” 
+
+“He’s dead,” said Harry. “Bellatrix Lestrange killed 
+him.” 
+
+The barman’s face was impassive. After a few 
+moments he said, “I’m sorry to hear it. I liked that 
+elf.” 
+
+He turned away, lighting lamps with prods of his 
+wand, not looking at any of them. 
+
+“You’re Aberforth,” said Harry to the man’s back. 
+
+He neither confirmed nor denied it, but bent to light 
+the fire. 
+
+“How did you get this?” Harry asked, walking across 
+to Sirius’s mirror, the twin of the one he had broken 
+nearly two years before. “Bought it from Dung ’bout a 
+year ago,” said Aberforth. “Albus told me what it was. 
+Been trying to keep an eye out for you.” 
+
+Ron gasped. 
+
+Page | 632 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“The silver doe!” he said excitedly. “Was that you too?” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” said Aberforth. 
+
+“Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!” 
+
+“Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son. 
+Haven’t I just proved my Patronus is a goat?” 
+
+“Oh,” said Ron. “Yeah ... well, I’m hungry!” he added 
+defensively as his stomach gave an enormous rumble. 
+
+“I got food,” said Aberforth, and he sloped out of the 
+room, reappearing moments later with a large loaf of 
+bread, some cheese, and a pewter jug of mead, which 
+he set upon a small table in front of the fire. 
+
+Ravenous, they ate and drank, and for a while there 
+was silence but for the crackle of the fire, the clink of 
+goblets, and the sound of chewing. 
+
+“Right then,” said Aberforth when they had eaten 
+their fill, and Harry and Ron sat slumped dozily in 
+their chairs. “We need to think of the best way to get 
+you out of here. Can’t be done by night, you heard 
+what happens if anyone moves outdoors during 
+darkness: Caterwauling Charm’s set off, they’ll be 
+onto you like bow-truckles on doxy eggs. I don’t 
+reckon I’ll be able to pass off a stag as a goat a second 
+time. Wait for daybreak when curfew lifts, then you 
+can put your Cloak back on and set out on foot. Get 
+right out of Hogsmeade, up into the mountains, and 
+you’ll be able to Disapparate there. Might see Hagrid. 
+He’s been hiding in a cave up there with Grawp ever 
+since they tried to arrest him.” 
+
+“We’re not leaving,” said Harry. “We need to get into 
+Hogwarts.” 
+
+“Don’t be stupid, boy,” said Aberforth. 
+
+Page | 633 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“We’ve got to,” said Harry. 
+
+
+
+“What you’ve got to do,” said Aberforth, leaning 
+forward, “is to get as far from here as you can.” 
+
+“You don’t understand. There isn’t much time. We’ve 
+got to get into the castle. Dumbledore — I mean, your 
+brother — wanted us — ” 
+
+The firelight made the grimy lenses of Aberforth ’s 
+glasses momentarily opaque, a bright flat white, and 
+Harry remembered the blind eyes of the giant spider, 
+Aragog. 
+
+“My brother Albus wanted a lot of things,” said 
+Aberforth, “and people had a habit of getting hurt 
+while he was carrying out his grand plans. You get 
+away from this school, Potter, and out of the country 
+if you can. Forget my brother and his clever schemes. 
+He’s gone where none of this can hurt him, and you 
+don’t owe him anything.” 
+
+“You don’t understand,” said Harry again. 
+
+“Oh, don’t I?” said Aberforth quietly. “You don’t think 
+I understood my own brother? Think you knew Albus 
+better than I did?” 
+
+“I didn’t mean that,” said Harry, whose brain felt 
+sluggish with exhaustion and from the surfeit of food 
+and wine. “It’s ... he left me a job.” 
+
+“Did he now?” said Aberforth. “Nice job, I hope? 
+Pleasant? Easy? Sort of thing you’d expect an 
+unqualified wizard kid to be able to do without 
+overstretching themselves?” 
+
+Ron gave a rather grim laugh. Hermione was looking 
+strained. 
+
+Page | 634 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I-it’s not easy, no,” said Harry. “But I’ve got to — ” 
+
+“ ‘Got to’? Why ‘got to*? He’s dead, isn’t he?” said 
+Aberforth roughly. “Let it go, boy, before you follow 
+him! Save yourself!” 
+
+“I can’t.” 
+
+“Why not?” 
+
+“I — ” Harry felt overwhelmed; he could not explain, so 
+he took the offensive instead. “But you’re fighting too, 
+you’re in the Order of the Phoenix — ” 
+
+“I was,” said Aberforth. “The Order of the Phoenix is 
+finished. You-Know-Who’s won, it’s over, and anyone 
+who’s pretending different’s kidding themselves. It’ll 
+never be safe for you here, Potter, he wants you too 
+badly. So go abroad, go into hiding, save yourself. 
+
+Best take these two with you.” He jerked a thumb at 
+Ron and Hermione. “They’ll be in danger long as they 
+live now everyone knows they’ve been working with 
+you.” 
+
+“I can’t leave,” said Harry. “I’ve got a job — ” 
+
+“Give it to someone else!” 
+
+“I can’t. It’s got to be me, Dumbledore explained it all 
+
+
+
+“Oh, did he now? And did he tell you everything, was 
+he honest with you?” 
+
+Harry wanted with all his heart to say “Yes,” but 
+somehow the simple word would not rise to his lips. 
+Aberforth seemed to know what he was thinking. 
+
+
+
+Page | 635 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I knew my brother, Potter. He learned secrecy at our 
+mother’s knee. Secrets and lies, that’s how we grew 
+up, and Albus ... he was a natural.” 
+
+The old man’s eyes traveled to the painting of the girl 
+over the mantelpiece. It was, now Harry looked 
+around properly, the only picture in the room. There 
+was no photograph of Albus Dumbledore, nor of 
+anyone else. 
+
+“Mr. Dumbledore?” said Hermione rather timidly. “Is 
+that your sister? Ariana?” 
+
+“Yes,” said Aberforth tersely. “Been reading Rita 
+Skeeter, have you, missy?” 
+
+Even by the rosy light of the fire it was clear that 
+Hermione had turned red. 
+
+“Elphias Doge mentioned her to us,” said Harry, 
+trying to spare Hermione. 
+
+“That old berk,” muttered Aberforth, taking another 
+swig of mead. “Thought the sun shone out of my 
+brother’s every orifice, he did. Well, so did plenty of 
+people, you three included, by the looks of it.” 
+
+Harry kept quiet. He did not want to express the 
+doubts and uncertainties about Dumbledore that had 
+riddled him for months now. He had made his choice 
+while he dug Dobby’s grave, he had decided to 
+continue along the winding, dangerous path indicated 
+for him by Albus Dumbledore, to accept that he had 
+not been told everything that he wanted to know, but 
+simply to trust. He had no desire to doubt again; he 
+did not want to hear anything that would deflect him 
+from his purpose. He met Aberforth ’s gaze, which was 
+so strikingly like his brother’s: The bright blue eyes 
+gave the same impression that they were X-raying the 
+Page | 636 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+object of their scrutiny, and Harry thought that 
+Aberforth knew what he was thinking and despised 
+him for it. 
+
+“Professor Dumbledore cared about Harry, very 
+much,” said Hermione in a low voice. 
+
+“Did he now?” said Aberforth. “Funny thing, how 
+many of the people my brother cared about very 
+much ended up in a worse state than if he’d left ’em 
+well alone.” 
+
+“What do you mean?” asked Hermione breathlessly. 
+
+“Never you mind,” said Aberforth. 
+
+“But that’s a really serious thing to say!” said 
+Hermione. “Are you — are you talking about your 
+sister?” 
+
+Aberforth glared at her: His lips moved as if he were 
+chewing the words he was holding back. Then he 
+burst into speech. 
+
+“When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, 
+set upon, by three Muggle boys. They’d seen her 
+doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge: 
+She was a kid, she couldn’t control it, no witch or 
+wizard can at that age. What they saw scared them, I 
+expect. They forced their way through the hedge, and 
+when she couldn’t show them the trick, they got a bit 
+carried away trying to stop the little freak doing it.” 
+
+Hermione ’s eyes were huge in the firelight; Ron looked 
+slightly sick. Aberforth stood up, tall as Albus, and 
+suddenly terrible in his anger and the intensity of his 
+pain. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right 
+again. She wouldn’t use magic, but she couldn’t get 
+rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it 
+exploded out of her when she couldn’t control it, and 
+at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly 
+she was sweet and scared and harmless. 
+
+“And my father went after the bastards that did it,” 
+said Aberforth, “and attacked them. And they locked 
+him up in Azkaban for it. He never said why he’d 
+done it, because if the Ministry had known what 
+Ariana had become, she’d have been locked up in St. 
+Mungo’s for good. They’d have seen her as a serious 
+threat to the International Statute of Secrecy, 
+unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of 
+her at moments when she couldn’t keep it in any 
+longer. 
+
+“We had to keep her safe and quiet. We moved house, 
+put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after 
+her, and tried to keep her calm and happy. 
+
+“I was her favorite,” he said, and as he said it, a 
+grubby schoolboy seemed to look out through 
+Aberforth’s wrinkles and tangled beard. “Not Albus, 
+he was always up in his bedroom when he was home, 
+reading his books and counting his prizes, keeping up 
+with his correspondence with ‘the most notable 
+magical names of the day,’ ” Aberforth sneered. “He 
+didn’t want to be bothered with her. She liked me 
+best. I could get her to eat when she wouldn’t do it for 
+my mother, I could get her to calm down when she 
+was in one of her rages, and when she was quiet, she 
+used to help me feed the goats. 
+
+“Then, when she was fourteen ... See, I wasn’t there,” 
+said Aberforth. “If I’d been there, I could have calmed 
+her down. She had one of her rages, and my mother 
+wasn’t as young as she was, and ... it was an 
+
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+
+
+
+
+accident. Ariana couldn’t control it. But my mother 
+was killed.” 
+
+Harry felt a horrible mixture of pity and repulsion; he 
+did not want to hear any more, but Aberforth kept 
+talking, and Harry wondered how long it had been 
+since he had spoken about this; whether, in fact, he 
+had ever spoken about it. 
+
+“So that put paid to Albus’s trip round the world with 
+little Doge. The pair of ’em came home for my 
+mother’s funeral and then Doge went off on his own, 
+and Albus settled down as head of the family. Ha!” 
+
+Aberforth spat into the fire. 
+
+“I’d have looked after her, I told him so, I didn’t care 
+about school, I’d have stayed home and done it. He 
+told me I had to finish my education and he’d take 
+over from my mother. Bit of a comedown for Mr. 
+Brilliant, there’s no prizes for looking after your half- 
+mad sister, stopping her blowing up the house every 
+other day. But he did all right for a few weeks . . . till 
+he came.” 
+
+And now a positively dangerous look crept over 
+Aberforth’s face. 
+
+“Grindelwald. And at last, my brother had an equal to 
+talk to, someone just as bright and talented as he 
+was. And looking after Ariana took a backseat then, 
+while they were hatching all their plans for a new 
+Wizarding order, and looking for Hallows, and 
+whatever else it was they were so interested in. Grand 
+plans for the benefit of all Wizardkind, and if one 
+young girl got neglected, what did that matter, when 
+Albus was working for the greater good? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But after a few weeks of it, I’d had enough, I had. It 
+was nearly time for me to go back to Hogwarts, so I 
+told ’em, both of ’em, face-to-face, like I am to you, 
+now,” and Aberforth looked down at Harry, and it 
+took little imagination to see him as a teenager, wiry 
+and angry, confronting his elder brother. “I told him, 
+you’d better give it up now. You can’t move her, she’s 
+in no fit state, you can’t take her with you, wherever it 
+is you’re planning to go, when you’re making your 
+clever speeches, trying to whip yourselves up a 
+following. He didn’t like that,” said Aberforth, and his 
+eyes were briefly occluded by the firelight on the 
+lenses of his glasses: They shone white and blind 
+again. “Grindelwald didn’t like that at all. He got 
+angry. He told me what a stupid little boy I was, 
+trying to stand in the way of him and my brilliant 
+brother. ... Didn’t I understand, my poor sister 
+wouldn’t have to be hidden once they’d changed the 
+world, and led the wizards out of hiding, and taught 
+the Muggles their place? 
+
+“And there was an argument . . . and I pulled out my 
+wand, and he pulled out his, and I had the Cruciatus 
+Curse used on me by my brother’s best friend — and 
+Albus was trying to stop him, and then all three of us 
+were dueling, and the flashing lights and the bangs 
+set her off, she couldn’t stand it — ” 
+
+The color was draining from Aberforth ’s face as 
+though he had suffered a mortal wound. 
+
+“ — and I think she wanted to help, but she didn’t 
+really know what she was doing, and I don’t know 
+which of us did it, it could have been any of us — and 
+she was dead.” 
+
+His voice broke on the last word and he dropped 
+down into the nearest chair. Hermione’s face was wet 
+with tears, and Ron was almost as pale as Aberforth. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry felt nothing but revulsion: He wished he had 
+not heard it, wished he could wash his mind clean of 
+it. 
+
+“I’m so ... I’m so sorry,” Hermione whispered. 
+
+“Gone,” croaked Aberforth. “Gone forever.” 
+
+He wiped his nose on his cuff and cleared his throat. 
+
+“ ’Course, Grindelwald scarpered. He had a bit of a 
+track record already, back in his own country, and he 
+didn’t want Ariana set to his account too. And Albus 
+was free, wasn’t he? Free of the burden of his sister, 
+free to become the greatest wizard of the — ” 
+
+“He was never free,” said Harry. 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” said Aberforth. 
+
+“Never,” said Harry. “The night that your brother died, 
+he drank a potion that drove him out of his mind. He 
+started screaming, pleading with someone who wasn’t 
+there. ‘Don’t hurt them, please ... hurt me instead.’ ” 
+
+Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry. He had 
+never gone into details about what had happened on 
+the island on the lake: The events that had taken 
+place after he and Dumbledore had returned to 
+Hogwarts had eclipsed it so thoroughly. 
+
+“He thought he was back there with you and 
+Grindelwald, I know he did,” said Harry, remembering 
+Dumbledore whimpering, pleading. “He thought he 
+was watching Grindelwald hurting you and Ariana. . . . 
+It was torture to him, if you’d seen him then, you 
+wouldn’t say he was free.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Aberforth seemed lost in contemplation of his own 
+knotted and veined hands. After a long pause he said, 
+“How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn’t 
+more interested in the greater good than in you? How 
+can you be sure you aren’t dispensable, just like my 
+little sister?” 
+
+A shard of ice seemed to pierce Harry’s heart. 
+
+“I don’t believe it. Dumbledore loved Harry,” said 
+Hermione. 
+
+“Why didn’t he tell him to hide, then?” shot back 
+Aberforth. “Why didn’t he say to him, Take care of 
+yourself, here’s how to survive’?” 
+
+“Because,” said Harry before Hermione could answer, 
+“sometimes you’ve got to think about more than your 
+own safety! Sometimes you’ve got to think about the 
+greater good! This is war!” 
+
+“You’re seventeen, boy!” 
+
+“I’m of age, and I’m going to keep fighting even if 
+you’ve given up!” 
+
+“Who says I’ve given up?” 
+
+“ The Order of the Phoenix is finished,’ ” Harry 
+repeated. “ Tou- Know- Who’s won, it’s over, and 
+anyone who’s pretending different’s kidding 
+themselves.’ ” 
+
+“I don’t say I like it, but it’s the truth!” 
+
+“No, it isn’t,” said Harry. “Your brother knew how to 
+finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge 
+on to me. I’m going to keep going until I succeed — or 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+I die. Don’t think I don’t know how this might end. 
+I’ve known it for years.” 
+
+
+
+He waited for Aberforth to jeer or to argue, but he did 
+not. He merely scowled. 
+
+“We need to get into Hogwarts,” said Harry again. “If 
+you can’t help us, we’ll wait till daybreak, leave you in 
+peace, and try to find a way in ourselves. If you can 
+help us — well, now would be a great time to mention 
+it.” 
+
+Aberforth remained fixed in his chair, gazing at Harry 
+with the eyes that were so extraordinarily like his 
+brother’s. At last he cleared his throat, got to his feet, 
+walked around the little table, and approached the 
+portrait of Ariana. 
+
+“You know what to do,” he said. 
+
+She smiled, turned, and walked away, not as people 
+in portraits usually did, out of the sides of their 
+frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel 
+painted behind her. They watched her slight figure 
+retreating until finally she was swallowed by the 
+darkness. 
+
+“Er — what — ?” began Ron. 
+
+“There’s only one way in now,” said Aberforth. “You 
+must know they’ve got all the old secret passageways 
+covered at both ends, dementors all around the 
+boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from 
+what my sources tell me. The place has never been so 
+heavily guarded. How you expect to do anything once 
+you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the 
+Carrows as his deputies ... well, that’s your lookout, 
+isn’t it? You say you’re prepared to die.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“But what ... ?” said Hermione, frowning at Ariana’s 
+picture. 
+
+A tiny white dot had reappeared at the end of the 
+painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back 
+toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. 
+But there was somebody else with her now, someone 
+taller than she was, who was limping along, looking 
+excited. His hair was longer than Harry had ever seen 
+it: He appeared to have suffered several gashes to his 
+face and his clothes were ripped and torn. Larger and 
+larger the two figures grew, until only their heads and 
+shoulders filled the portrait. Then the whole thing 
+swung forward on the wall like a little door, and the 
+entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. And out of it, 
+his hair overgrown, his face cut, his robes ripped, 
+clambered the real Neville Longbottom, who gave a 
+roar of delight, leapt down from the mantelpiece, and 
+yelled, “I knew you’d come! I knew it, HarryY’ 
+
+
+
+Page | 644 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LOST DIADEM 
+
+“Neville — what the — how — ?” 
+
+But Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with 
+yells of delight was hugging them too. The longer 
+Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: One 
+of his eyes was swollen yellow and purple, there were 
+gouge marks on his face, and his general air of 
+unkemptness suggested that he had been living 
+rough. Nevertheless, his battered visage shone with 
+happiness as he let go of Hermione and said again, “I 
+knew you’d come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter 
+of time!” 
+
+“Neville, what’s happened to you?” 
+
+“What? This?” Neville dismissed his injuries with a 
+shake of the head. “This is nothing. Seamus is worse. 
+You’ll see. Shall we get going then? Oh,” he turned to 
+Aberforth, “Ab, there might be a couple more people 
+on the way.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Couple more?” repeated Aberforth ominously. “What 
+d’you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There’s a 
+curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole 
+village!” 
+
+“I know, that’s why they’ll be Apparating directly into 
+the bar,” said Neville. “Just send them down the 
+passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot.” 
+
+Neville held out his hand to Hermione and helped her 
+to climb up onto the mantelpiece and into the tunnel; 
+Ron followed, then Neville. Harry addressed 
+Aberforth. 
+
+“I don’t know how to thank you. You’ve saved our 
+lives twice.” 
+
+“Look after ’em, then,” said Aberforth gruffly. “I might 
+not be able to save ’em a third time.” 
+
+Harry clambered up onto the mantelpiece and 
+through the hole behind Ariana’s portrait. There were 
+smooth stone steps on the other side: It looked as 
+though the passageway had been there for years. 
+Brass lamps hung from the walls and the earthy floor 
+was worn and smooth; as they walked, their shadows 
+rippled, fanlike, across the wall. 
+
+“How long’s this been here?” Ron asked as they set 
+off. “It isn’t on the Marauder’s Map, is it, Harry? I 
+thought there were only seven passages in and out of 
+school?” 
+
+“They sealed off all of those before the start of the 
+year,” said Neville. “There’s no chance of getting 
+through any of them now, not with curses over the 
+entrances and Death Eaters and dementors waiting at 
+the exits.” He started walking backward, beaming, 
+drinking them in. “Never mind that stuff. ... Is it true? 
+Page | 646 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a 
+dragon? It’s everywhere, everyone’s talking about it, 
+Terry Boot got beaten up by Carrow for yelling about 
+it in the Great Hall at dinner!” 
+
+“Yeah, it’s true,” said Harry. 
+
+Neville laughed gleefully. 
+
+“What did you do with the dragon?” 
+
+“Released it into the wild,” said Ron. “Hermione was 
+all for keeping it as a pet — ” 
+
+“Don’t exaggerate, Ron — ” 
+
+“But what have you been doing? People have been 
+saying you’ve just been on the run, Harry, but I don’t 
+think so. I think you’ve been up to something.” 
+
+“You’re right,” said Harry, “but tell us about 
+Hogwarts, Neville, we haven’t heard anything.” 
+
+“It’s been ... well, it’s not really like Hogwarts 
+anymore,” said Neville, the smile fading from his face 
+as he spoke. “Do you know about the Carrows?” 
+
+“Those two Death Eaters who teach here?” 
+
+“They do more than teach,” said Neville. “They’re in 
+charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the 
+Carrows.” 
+
+“Like Umbridge?” 
+
+“Nah, they make her look tame. The other teachers 
+are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do 
+anything wrong. They don’t, though, if they can avoid 
+it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be 
+Defense Against the Dark Arts, except now it’s just 
+the Dark Arts. We’re supposed to practice the 
+Cruciatus Curse on people who’ve earned detentions 
+
+
+
+“What?” 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s united voices echoed up 
+and down the passage. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Neville. “That’s how I got this one,” he 
+pointed at a particularly deep gash in his cheek, “I 
+refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; 
+Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they’ve ever been 
+top in anything, I expect. 
+
+“Alecto, Amycus’s sister, teaches Muggle Studies, 
+which is compulsory for everyone. We’ve all got to 
+listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, 
+stupid and dirty, and how they drove wizards into 
+hiding by being vicious toward them, and how the 
+natural order is being reestablished. I got this one,” 
+he indicated another slash to his face, “for asking her 
+how much Muggle blood she and her brother have 
+got.” 
+
+“Blimey, Neville,” said Ron, “there’s a time and a place 
+for getting a smart mouth.” 
+
+“You didn’t hear her,” said Neville. “You wouldn’t have 
+stood it either. The thing is, it helps when people 
+stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to 
+notice that when you did it, Harry.” 
+
+“But they’ve used you as a knife sharpener,” said 
+Ron, wincing slightly as they passed a lamp and 
+Neville’s injuries were thrown into even greater relief. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Neville shrugged. 
+
+
+
+“Doesn’t matter. They don’t want to spill too much 
+pure blood, so they’ll torture us a bit if we’re mouthy 
+but they won’t actually kill us.” 
+
+Harry did not know what was worse, the things that 
+Neville was saying or the matter-of-fact tone in which 
+he said them. 
+
+“The only people in real danger are the ones whose 
+friends and relatives on the outside are giving trouble. 
+They get taken hostage. Old Xeno Lovegood was 
+getting a bit too outspoken in The Quihhler, so they 
+dragged Luna off the train on the way back for 
+Christmas.” 
+
+“Neville, she’s all right, we’ve seen her — ” 
+
+“Yeah, I know, she managed to get a message to me.” 
+
+From his pocket he pulled a golden coin, and Harry 
+recognized it as one of the fake Galleons that 
+Dumbledore’s Army had used to send one another 
+messages. 
+
+“These have been great,” said Neville, beaming at 
+Hermione. “The Carrows never rumbled how we were 
+communicating, it drove them mad. We used to sneak 
+out at night and put graffiti on the walls: 
+
+Dumbledore’s Army, Still Recruiting, stuff like that. 
+Snape hated it.” 
+
+“You used to?” said Harry, who had noticed the past 
+tense. 
+
+“Well, it got more difficult as time went on,” said 
+Neville. “We lost Luna at Christmas, and Ginny never 
+came back after Easter, and the three of us were sort 
+
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+
+
+
+
+of the leaders. The Carrows seemed to know I was 
+behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on me 
+hard, and then Michael Corner went and got caught 
+releasing a first-year they’d chained up, and they 
+tortured him pretty badly. That scared people off.” 
+
+“No kidding,” muttered Ron, as the passage began to 
+slope upward. 
+
+“Yeah, well, I couldn’t ask people to go through what 
+Michael did, so we dropped those kinds of stunts. But 
+we were still fighting, doing underground stuff, right 
+up until a couple of weeks ago. That’s when they 
+decided there was only one way to stop me, I suppose, 
+and they went for Gran.” 
+
+“They what?” said Harry, Ron, and Hermione 
+together. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Neville, panting a little now, because the 
+passage was climbing so steeply, “well, you can see 
+their thinking. It had worked really well, kidnapping 
+kids to force their relatives to behave, I s’pose it was 
+only a matter of time before they did it the other way 
+around. Thing was,” he faced them, and Harry was 
+astonished to see that he was grinning, “they bit off a 
+bit more than they could chew with Gran. Little old 
+witch living alone, they probably thought they didn’t 
+need to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway,” 
+Neville laughed, “Dawlish is still in St. Mungo’s and 
+Gran’s on the run. She sent me a letter,” he clapped a 
+hand to the breast pocket of his robes, “telling me she 
+was proud of me, that I’m my parents’ son, and to 
+keep it up.” 
+
+“Cool,” said Ron. 
+
+“Yeah,” said Neville happily. “Only thing was, once 
+they realized they had no hold over me, they decided 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Hogwarts could do without me after all. I don’t know 
+whether they were planning to kill me or send me to 
+Azkaban; either way, I knew it was time to disappear.” 
+
+“But,” said Ron, looking thoroughly confused, “aren’t 
+— aren’t we heading straight back into Hogwarts?” 
+
+“ ’Course,” said Neville. “You’ll see. We’re here.” 
+
+They turned a corner and there ahead of them was 
+the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps 
+led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana’s 
+portrait. Neville pushed it open and climbed through. 
+As Harry followed, he heard Neville call out to unseen 
+people: 
+
+“Look who it is! Didn’t I tell you?” 
+
+As Harry emerged into the room beyond the passage, 
+there were several screams and yells: “HARRY!” “It’s 
+Potter, it’s POTTER!” “Ron!” “Hermionel” 
+
+He had a confused impression of colored hangings, of 
+lamps and many faces. The next moment, he, Ron, 
+and Hermione were engulfed, hugged, pounded on the 
+back, their hair ruffled, their hands shaken, by what 
+seemed to be more than twenty people: They might 
+just have won a Quidditch final. 
+
+“Okay, okay, calm down!” Neville called, and as the 
+crowd backed away, Harry was able to take in their 
+surroundings. 
+
+He did not recognize the room at all. It was enormous, 
+and looked rather like the interior of a particularly 
+sumptuous tree house, or perhaps a gigantic ship’s 
+cabin. Multicolored hammocks were strung from the 
+ceiling and from a balcony that ran around the dark 
+wood-paneled and windowless walls, which were 
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+
+
+
+
+covered in bright tapestry hangings: Harry saw the 
+gold Gryffindor lion, emblazoned on scarlet; the black 
+badger of Hufflepuff, set against yellow; and the 
+bronze eagle of Ravenclaw, on blue. The silver and 
+green of Slytherin alone were absent. There were 
+bulging bookcases, a few broomsticks propped 
+against the walls, and in the corner, a large wooden- 
+cased wireless. 
+
+“Where are we?” 
+
+“Room of Requirement, of course!” said Neville. 
+“Surpassed itself, hasn’t it? The Carrows were 
+chasing me, and I knew I had just one chance for a 
+hideout: I managed to get through the door and this 
+is what I found! Well, it wasn’t exactly like this when I 
+arrived, it was a load smaller, there was only one 
+hammock and just Gryffindor hangings. But it’s 
+expanded as more and more of the D.A. have arrived.” 
+
+“And the Carrows can’t get in?” asked Harry, looking 
+around for the door. 
+
+“No,” said Seamus Finnigan, whom Harry had not 
+recognized until he spoke: Seamus’s face was bruised 
+and puffy. “It’s a proper hideout, as long as one of us 
+stays in here, they can’t get at us, the door won’t 
+open. It’s all down to Neville. He really gets this room. 
+You’ve got to ask it for exactly what you need — like, 
+
+‘I don’t want any Carrow supporters to be able to get 
+in’ — and it’ll do it for you! You’ve just got to make 
+sure you close the loopholes! Neville’s the man!” 
+
+“It’s quite straightforward, really,” said Neville 
+modestly. “I’d been in here about a day and a half, 
+and getting really hungry, and wishing I could get 
+something to eat, and that’s when the passage to the 
+Hog’s Head opened up. I went through it and met 
+Aberforth. He’s been providing us with food, because 
+Page | 652 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+for some reason, that’s the one thing the room doesn’t 
+really do.” 
+
+
+
+“Yeah, well, food’s one of the five exceptions to 
+Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration,” said Ron 
+to general astonishment. 
+
+“So we’ve been hiding out here for nearly two weeks,” 
+said Seamus, “and it just makes more hammocks 
+every time we need them, and it even sprouted a 
+pretty good bathroom once girls started turning up — 
+
+
+
+“ — and thought they’d quite like to wash, yes,” 
+supplied Lavender Brown, whom Harry had not 
+noticed until that point. Now that he looked around 
+properly, he recognized many familiar faces. Both 
+Patil twins were there, as were Terry Boot, Ernie 
+Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, and Michael Corner. 
+
+“Tell us what you’ve been up to, though,” said Ernie. 
+“There’ve been so many rumors, we’ve been trying to 
+keep up with you on Potterwatch.” He pointed at the 
+wireless. “You didn’t break into Gringotts?” 
+
+“They did!” said Neville. “And the dragon’s true too!” 
+
+There was a smattering of applause and a few 
+whoops; Ron took a bow. 
+
+“What were you after?” asked Seamus eagerly. 
+
+Before any of them could parry the question with one 
+of their own, Harry felt a terrible, scorching pain in 
+the lightning scar. As he turned his back hastily on 
+the curious and delighted faces, the Room of 
+Requirement vanished, and he was standing inside a 
+ruined stone shack, and the rotting floorboards were 
+ripped apart at his feet, a disinterred golden box lay 
+Page | 653 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+open and empty beside the hole, and Voldemort’s 
+scream of fury vibrated inside his head. 
+
+With an enormous effort he pulled out of Voldemort’s 
+mind again, back to where he stood, swaying, in the 
+Room of Requirement, sweat pouring from his face 
+and Ron holding him up. 
+
+“Are you all right, Harry?” Neville was saying. “Want 
+to sit down? I expect you’re tired, aren’t — ?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. He looked at Ron and Hermione, 
+trying to tell them without words that Voldemort had 
+just discovered the loss of one of the other Horcruxes. 
+Time was running out fast: If Voldemort chose to visit 
+Hogwarts next, they would miss their chance. 
+
+“We need to get going,” he said, and their expressions 
+told him that they understood. 
+
+“What are we going to do, then, Harry?” asked 
+Seamus. “What’s the plan?” 
+
+“Plan?” repeated Harry. He was exercising all his 
+willpower to prevent himself succumbing again to 
+Voldemort’s rage: His scar was still burning. “Well, 
+there’s something we — Ron, Hermione, and I — need 
+to do, and then we’ll get out of here.” 
+
+Nobody was laughing or whooping anymore. Neville 
+looked confused. 
+
+“What d’you mean, ‘get out of here’?” 
+
+“We haven’t come back to stay,” said Harry, rubbing 
+his scar, trying to soothe the pain. “There’s something 
+important we need to do — ” 
+
+“What is it?” 
+
+Page | 654 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I — I can’t tell you.” 
+
+
+
+There was a ripple of muttering at this: Neville’s 
+brows contracted. 
+
+“Why can’t you tell us? It’s something to do with 
+fighting You-Know-Who, right?” 
+
+“Well, yeah — ” 
+
+“Then we’ll help you.” 
+
+The other members of Dumbledore’s Army were 
+nodding, some enthusiastically, others solemnly. A 
+couple of them rose from their chairs to demonstrate 
+their willingness for immediate action. 
+
+“You don’t understand.” Harry seemed to have said 
+that a lot in the last few hours. “We — we can’t tell 
+you. We’ve got to do it — alone.” 
+
+“Why?” asked Neville. 
+
+“Because ...” In his desperation to start looking for 
+the missing Horcrux, or at least to have a private 
+discussion with Ron and Hermione about where they 
+might commence their search, Harry found it difficult 
+to gather his thoughts. His scar was still searing. 
+“Dumbledore left the three of us a job,” he said 
+carefully, “and we weren’t supposed to tell — I mean, 
+he wanted us to do it, just the three of us.” 
+
+“We’re his army,” said Neville. “Dumbledore’s Army. 
+We were all in it together, we’ve been keeping it going 
+while you three have been off on your own — ” 
+
+“It hasn’t exactly been a picnic, mate,” said Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I never said it had, but I don’t see why you can’t 
+trust us. Everyone in this room’s been fighting and 
+they’ve been driven in here because the Carrows were 
+hunting them down. Everyone in here’s proven they’re 
+loyal to Dumbledore — loyal to you.” 
+
+“Look,” Harry began, without knowing what he was 
+going to say, but it did not matter: The tunnel door 
+had just opened behind him. 
+
+“We got your message, Neville! Hello you three, I 
+thought you must be here!” 
+
+It was Luna and Dean. Seamus gave a great roar of 
+delight and ran to hug his best friend. 
+
+“Hi, everyone!” said Luna happily. “Oh, it’s great to be 
+back!” 
+
+“Luna,” said Harry distractedly, “what are you doing 
+here? How did you — ?” 
+
+“I sent for her,” said Neville, holding up the fake 
+Galleon. “I promised her and Ginny that if you turned 
+up I’d let them know. We all thought that if you came 
+back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to 
+overthrow Snape and the Carrows.” 
+
+“Of course that’s what it means,” said Luna brightly. 
+“Isn’t it, Harry? We’re going to fight them out of 
+Hogwarts?” 
+
+“Listen,” said Harry with a rising sense of panic, “I’m 
+sorry, but that’s not what we came back for. There’s 
+something we’ve got to do, and then — ” 
+
+“You’re going to leave us in this mess?” demanded 
+Michael Corner. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No!” said Ron. “What we’re doing will benefit 
+everyone in the end, it’s all about trying to get rid of 
+You-Know-Who — ” 
+
+
+
+“Then let us help!” said Neville angrily. “We want to be 
+a part of it!” 
+
+There was another noise behind them, and Harry 
+turned. His heart seemed to fail: Ginny was now 
+climbing through the hole in the wall, closely followed 
+by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Ginny gave Harry a 
+radiant smile: He had forgotten, or had never fully 
+appreciated, how beautiful she was, but he had never 
+been less pleased to see her. 
+
+“Aberforth’s getting a bit annoyed,” said Fred, raising 
+his hand in answer to several cries of greeting. “He 
+wants a kip, and his bar’s turned into a railway 
+station.” 
+
+Harry’s mouth fell open. Right behind Lee Jordan 
+came Harry’s old girlfriend, Cho Chang. She smiled at 
+him. 
+
+“I got the message,” she said, holding up her own fake 
+Galleon, and she walked over to sit beside Michael 
+Corner. 
+
+“So what’s the plan, Harry?” said George. 
+
+“There isn’t one,” said Harry, still disoriented by the 
+sudden appearance of all these people, unable to take 
+everything in while his scar was still burning so 
+fiercely. 
+
+“Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My 
+favorite kind,” said Fred. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’ve got to stop this!” Harry told Neville. “What did 
+you call them all back for? This is insane — ” 
+
+“We’re fighting, aren’t we?” said Dean, taking out his 
+fake Galleon. “The message said Harry was back, and 
+we were going to fight! I’ll have to get a wand, though 
+
+
+
+“You haven’t got a wand — ?” began Seamus. 
+
+Ron turned suddenly to Harry. 
+
+“Why can’t they help?” 
+
+“What?” 
+
+“They can help.” He dropped his voice and said, so 
+that none of them could hear but Hermione, who 
+stood between them, “We don’t know where it is. 
+We’ve got to find it fast. We don’t have to tell them it’s 
+a Horcrux.” 
+
+Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, who murmured, 
+“I think Ron’s right. We don’t even know what we’re 
+looking for, we need them.” And when Harry looked 
+unconvinced, “You don’t have to do everything alone, 
+Harry.” 
+
+Harry thought fast, his scar still prickling, his head 
+threatening to split again. Dumbledore had warned 
+him against telling anyone but Ron and Hermione 
+about the Horcruxes. Secrets and lies, that’s how we 
+grew up, and Albus ...he was a natural. ... Was he 
+turning into Dumbledore, keeping his secrets 
+clutched to his chest, afraid to trust? But 
+Dumbledore had trusted Snape, and where had that 
+led? To murder at the top of the highest tower ... 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“All right,” he said quietly to the other two. “Okay,” he 
+called to the room at large, and all noise ceased: Fred 
+and George, who had been cracking jokes for the 
+benefit of those nearest, fell silent, and all of them 
+looked alert, excited. 
+
+“There’s something we need to find,” Harry said. 
+“Something — something that’ll help us overthrow 
+You-Know-Who. It’s here at Hogwarts, but we don’t 
+know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. 
+
+Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone 
+ever come across something with her eagle on it, for 
+instance?” 
+
+He looked hopefully toward the little group of 
+Ravenclaws, to Padma, Michael, Terry, and Cho, but 
+it was Luna who answered, perched on the arm of 
+Ginny’s chair. 
+
+“Well, there’s her lost diadem. I told you about it, 
+remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? 
+Daddy’s trying to duplicate it.” 
+
+“Yeah, but the lost diadem,” said Michael Corner, 
+rolling his eyes, “is lost, Luna. That’s sort of the 
+point.” 
+
+“When was it lost?” asked Harry. 
+
+“Centuries ago, they say,” said Cho, and Harry’s heart 
+sank. “Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished 
+with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but,” she 
+appealed to her fellow Ravenclaws, “nobody’s ever 
+found a trace of it, have they?” 
+
+They all shook their heads. 
+
+“Sorry, but what is a diadem?” asked Ron. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s a kind of crown,” said Terry Boot. “Ravenclaw’s 
+was supposed to have magical properties, enhance 
+the wisdom of the wearer.” 
+
+“Yes, Daddy’s Wrackspurt siphons — ” 
+
+But Harry cut across Luna. 
+
+“And none of you have ever seen anything that looks 
+like it?” 
+
+They all shook their heads again. Harry looked at Ron 
+and Hermione and his own disappointment was 
+mirrored back at him. An object that had been lost 
+this long, and apparently without trace, did not seem 
+like a good candidate for the Horcrux hidden in the 
+castle. ... Before he could formulate a new question, 
+however, Cho spoke again. 
+
+“If you’d like to see what the diadem’s supposed to 
+look like, I could take you up to our common room 
+and show you, Harry? Ravenclaw’s wearing it in her 
+statue.” 
+
+Harry’s scar scorched again: For a moment the Room 
+of Requirement swam before him, and he saw instead 
+the dark earth soaring beneath him and felt the great 
+snake wrapped around his shoulders. Voldemort was 
+flying again, whether to the underground lake or here, 
+to the castle, he did not know: Either way, there was 
+hardly any time left. 
+
+“He’s on the move,” he said quietly to Ron and 
+Hermione. He glanced at Cho and then back at them. 
+“Listen, I know it’s not much of a lead, but I’m going 
+to go and look at this statue, at least find out what 
+the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you 
+know — the other one — safe.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Cho had got to her feet, but Ginny said rather 
+fiercely, “No, Luna will take Harry, won’t you, Luna?” 
+
+“Oooh, yes, I’d like to,” said Luna happily, and Cho 
+sat down again, looking disappointed. 
+
+“How do we get out?” Harry asked Neville. 
+
+“Over here.” 
+
+He led Harry and Luna to a corner, where a small 
+cupboard opened onto a steep staircase. 
+
+“It comes out somewhere different every day, so 
+they’ve never been able to find it,” he said. “Only 
+trouble is, we never know exactly where we’re going to 
+end up when we go out. Be careful, Harry, they’re 
+always patrolling the corridors at night.” 
+
+“No problem,” said Harry. “See you in a bit.” 
+
+He and Luna hurried up the staircase, which was 
+long, lit by torches, and turned corners in unexpected 
+places. At last they reached what appeared to be solid 
+wall. 
+
+“Get under here,” Harry told Luna, pulling out the 
+Invisibility Cloak and throwing it over both of them. 
+
+He gave the wall a little push. 
+
+It melted away at his touch and they slipped outside: 
+Harry glanced back and saw that it had resealed itself 
+at once. They were standing in a dark corridor: Harry 
+pulled Luna back into the shadows, fumbled in the 
+pouch around his neck, and took out the Marauder’s 
+Map. Holding it close to his nose he searched, and 
+located his and Luna’s dots at last. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We’re up on the fifth floor,” he whispered, watching 
+Filch moving away from them, a corridor ahead. 
+“Come on, this way.” 
+
+They crept off. 
+
+Harry had prowled the castle at night many times 
+before, but never had his heart hammered this fast, 
+never had so much depended on his safe passage 
+through the place. Through squares of moonlight 
+upon the floor, past suits of armor whose helmets 
+creaked at the sound of their soft footsteps, around 
+corners beyond which who knew what lurked, Harry 
+and Luna walked, checking the Marauder’s Map 
+whenever light permitted, twice pausing to allow a 
+ghost to pass without drawing attention to 
+themselves. He expected to encounter an obstacle at 
+any moment; his worst fear was Peeves, and he 
+strained his ears with every step to hear the first, 
+telltale signs of the poltergeist’s approach. 
+
+“This way, Harry,” breathed Luna, plucking his sleeve 
+and pulling him toward a spiral staircase. 
+
+They climbed in tight, dizzying circles; Harry had 
+never been up here before. At last they reached a 
+door. There was no handle and no keyhole: nothing 
+but a plain expanse of aged wood, and a bronze 
+knocker in the shape of an eagle. 
+
+Luna reached out a pale hand, which looked eerie 
+floating in midair, unconnected to arm or body. She 
+knocked once, and in the silence it sounded to Harry 
+like a cannon blast. At once the beak of the eagle 
+opened, but instead of a bird’s call, a soft, musical 
+voice said, “Which came first, the phoenix or the 
+flame?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Hmm . . . What do you think, Harry?” said Luna, 
+looking thoughtful. 
+
+“What? Isn’t there just a password?” 
+
+“Oh no, you’ve got to answer a question,” said Luna. 
+
+“What if you get it wrong?” 
+
+“Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it 
+right,” said Luna. “That way you learn, you see?” 
+
+“Yeah ... Trouble is, we can’t really afford to wait for 
+anyone else, Luna.” 
+
+“No, I see what you mean,” said Luna seriously. “Well 
+then, I think the answer is that a circle has no 
+beginning.” 
+
+“Well reasoned,” said the voice, and the door swung 
+open. 
+
+The deserted Ravenclaw common room was a wide, 
+circular room, airier than any Harry had ever seen at 
+Hogwarts. Graceful arched windows punctuated the 
+walls, which were hung with blue-and-bronze silks: 
+
+By day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular 
+view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was 
+domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in 
+the midnight-blue carpet. There were tables, chairs, 
+and bookcases, and in a niche opposite the door 
+stood a tall statue of white marble. 
+
+Harry recognized Rowena Ravenclaw from the bust he 
+had seen at Luna’s house. The statue stood beside a 
+door that led, he guessed, to dormitories above. He 
+strode right up to the marble woman, and she seemed 
+to look back at him with a quizzical half smile on her 
+face, beautiful yet slightly intimidating. A delicate- 
+P a g e | 663 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+looking circlet had been reproduced in marble on top 
+of her head. It was not unlike the tiara Fleur had 
+worn at her wedding. There were tiny words etched 
+into it. Harry stepped out from under the Cloak and 
+climbed up onto Ravenclaw’s plinth to read them. 
+
+“ ‘Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.’ ” 
+
+“Which makes you pretty skint, witless,” said a 
+cackling voice. 
+
+Harry whirled around, slipped off the plinth, and 
+landed on the floor. The sloping-shouldered figure of 
+Alecto Carrow was standing before him, and even as 
+Harry raised his wand, she pressed a stubby 
+forefinger to the skull and snake branded on her 
+forearm. 
+
+
+
+Page | 664 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SACKING OF SEVERUS SNAPE 
+
+The moment her finger touched the Mark, Harry’s 
+scar burned savagely, the starry room vanished from 
+sight, and he was standing upon an outcrop of rock 
+beneath a cliff, and the sea was washing around him 
+and there was triumph in his heart — They have the 
+boy. 
+
+A loud bang brought Harry back to where he stood: 
+Disoriented, he raised his wand, but the witch before 
+him was already falling forward; she hit the ground so 
+hard that the glass in the bookcases tinkled. 
+
+“I’ve never Stunned anyone except in our D.A. 
+lessons,” said Luna, sounding mildly interested. “That 
+was noisier than I thought it would be.” 
+
+And sure enough, the ceiling had begun to tremble. 
+Scurrying, echoing footsteps were growing louder 
+from behind the door leading to the dormitories: 
+Luna’s spell had woken Ravenclaws sleeping above. 
+
+“Luna, where are you? I need to get under the Cloak!” 
+
+Page | 665 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+Luna’s feet appeared out of nowhere; he hurried to 
+her side and she let the Cloak fall back over them as 
+the door opened and a stream of Ravenclaws, all in 
+their nightclothes, flooded into the common room. 
+There were gasps and cries of surprise as they saw 
+Alecto lying there unconscious. Slowly they shuffled 
+in around her, a savage beast that might wake at any 
+moment and attack them. Then one brave little first- 
+year darted up to her and prodded her backside with 
+his big toe. 
+
+“I think she might be dead!” he shouted with delight. 
+
+“Oh, look,” whispered Luna happily, as the 
+Ravenclaws crowded in around Alecto. “They’re 
+pleased!” 
+
+“Yeah ... great ...” 
+
+Harry closed his eyes, and as his scar throbbed he 
+chose to sink again into Voldemort’s mind. ... He was 
+moving along the tunnel into the first cave. ... He had 
+chosen to make sure of the locket before coming . . . 
+but that would not take him long. . . . 
+
+There was a rap on the common room door and every 
+Ravenclaw froze. From the other side, Harry heard the 
+soft, musical voice that issued from the eagle door 
+knocker: “Where do Vanished objects go?” 
+
+“I dunno, do I? Shut it!” snarled an uncouth voice 
+that Harry knew was that of the Carrow brother, 
+Amycus. “Alecto? Alecto? Are you there? Have you got 
+him? Open the door!” 
+
+The Ravenclaws were whispering amongst 
+themselves, terrified. Then, without warning, there 
+came a series of loud bangs, as though somebody was 
+firing a gun into the door. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ALECTO\ If he comes, and we haven’t got Potter — 
+d’you want to go the same way as the Malfoys? 
+ANSWER ME!” Amyous bellowed, shaking the door for 
+all he was worth, but still it did not open. The 
+Ravenclaws were all backing away, and some of the 
+most frightened began scampering back up the 
+staircase to their beds. Then, just as Harry was 
+wondering whether he ought not to blast open the 
+door and Stun Amycus before the Death Eater could 
+do anything else, a second, most familiar voice rang 
+out beyond the door. 
+
+“May I ask what you are doing, Professor Carrow?” 
+
+“Trying — to get — through this damned — door!” 
+shouted Amycus. “Go and get Flitwick! Get him to 
+open it, now!” 
+
+“But isn’t your sister in there?” asked Professor 
+McGonagall. “Didn’t Professor Flitwick let her in 
+earlier this evening, at your urgent request? Perhaps 
+she could open the door for you? Then you needn’t 
+wake up half the castle.” 
+
+“She ain’t answering, you old besom! You open it! 
+Garn! Do it, now! 
+
+“Certainly, if you wish it,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+with awful coldness. There was a genteel tap of the 
+knocker and the musical voice asked again, 
+
+“Where do Vanished objects go?” 
+
+“Into nonbeing, which is to say, everything,” replied 
+Professor McGonagall. 
+
+“Nicely phrased,” replied the eagle door knocker, and 
+the door swung open. 
+
+
+
+Page | 667 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+The few Ravenclaws who had remained behind 
+sprinted for the stairs as Amycus burst over the 
+threshold, brandishing his wand. Hunched like his 
+sister, he had a pallid, doughy face and tiny eyes, 
+which fell at once on Alecto, sprawled motionless on 
+the floor. He let out a yell of fury and fear. 
+
+“What’ve they done, the little whelps?” he screamed. 
+“I’ll Cruciate the lot of ’em till they tell me who did it 
+— and what’s the Dark Lord going to say?” he 
+shrieked, standing over his sister and smacking 
+himself on the forehead with his fist. “We haven’t got 
+him, and they’ve gorn and killed her!” 
+
+“She’s only Stunned,” said Professor McGonagall 
+impatiently, who had stooped down to examine 
+Alecto. “She’ll be perfectly all right.” 
+
+“No she bludgering well won’t!” bellowed Amycus. “Not 
+after the Dark Lord gets hold of her! She’s gorn and 
+sent for him, I felt me Mark burn, and he thinks we’ve 
+got Potter!” 
+
+“ ‘Got Potter’?” said Professor McGonagall sharply. 
+“What do you mean, ‘got Potter’?” 
+
+“He told us Potter might try and get inside Ravenclaw 
+Tower, and to send for him if we caught him!” 
+
+“Why would Harry Potter try to get inside Ravenclaw 
+Tower? Potter belongs in my House!” 
+
+Beneath the disbelief and anger, Harry heard a little 
+strain of pride in her voice, and affection for Minerva 
+McGonagall gushed up inside him. 
+
+“We was told he might come in here!” said Carrow. “I 
+dunno why, do I?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Professor McGonagall stood up and her beady eyes 
+swept the room. Twice they passed right over the 
+place where Harry and Luna stood. 
+
+“We can push it off on the kids,” said Amycus, his 
+piglike face suddenly crafty. “Yeah, that’s what we’ll 
+do. Well say Alecto was ambushed by the kids, them 
+kids up there” — he looked up at the starry ceiling 
+toward the dormitories — “and we’ll say they forced 
+her to press her Mark, and that’s why he got a false 
+alarm. ... He can punish them. Couple of kids more or 
+less, what’s the difference?” 
+
+“Only the difference between truth and lies, courage 
+and cowardice,” said Professor McGonagall, who had 
+turned pale, “a difference, in short, which you and 
+your sister seem unable to appreciate. But let me 
+make one thing very clear. You are not going to pass 
+off your many ineptitudes on the students of 
+Hogwarts. I shall not permit it.” 
+
+“Excuse me?” 
+
+Amycus moved forward until he was offensively close 
+to Professor McGonagall, his face within inches of 
+hers. She refused to back away, but looked down at 
+him as if he were something disgusting she had found 
+stuck to a lavatory seat. 
+
+“It’s not a case of what you’ll permit, Minerva 
+McGonagall. Your time’s over. It’s us what’s in charge 
+here now, and you’ll back me up or you’ll pay the 
+price.” 
+
+And he spat in her face. 
+
+Harry pulled the Cloak off himself, raised his wand, 
+and said, “You shouldn’t have done that.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, “Crucio\” 
+
+
+
+The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed 
+through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and 
+howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a 
+shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a 
+bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor. 
+
+“I see what Bellatrix meant,” said Harry, the blood 
+thundering through his brain, “you need to really 
+mean it.” 
+
+“Potter!” whispered Professor McGonagall, clutching 
+her heart. “Potter — you’re here! What — ? How — ?” 
+She struggled to pull herself together. “Potter, that 
+was foolish!” 
+
+“He spat at you,” said Harry. 
+
+“Potter, I — that was very — very gallant of you — but 
+don’t you realize — ?” 
+
+“Yeah, I do,” Harry assured her. Somehow her panic 
+steadied him. “Professor McGonagall, Voldemort’s on 
+the way.” 
+
+“Oh, are we allowed to say the name now?” asked 
+Luna with an air of interest, pulling off the Invisibility 
+Cloak. This appearance of a second outlaw seemed to 
+overwhelm Professor McGonagall, who staggered 
+backward and fell into a nearby chair, clutching at 
+the neck of her old tartan dressing gown. 
+
+“I don’t think it makes any difference what we call 
+him,” Harry told Luna. “He already knows where I 
+am.” 
+
+
+
+In a distant part of Harry’s brain, that part connected 
+to the angry, burning scar, he could see Voldemort 
+
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+
+
+
+
+sailing fast over the dark lake in the ghostly green 
+boat. ... He had nearly reached the island where the 
+stone basin stood. ... 
+
+“You must flee,” whispered Professor McGonagall. 
+“Now, Potter, as quickly as you can!” 
+
+“I can’t,” said Harry. “There’s something I need to do. 
+Professor, do you know where the diadem of 
+Ravenclaw is?” 
+
+“The d-diadem of Ravenclaw? Of course not — hasn’t 
+it been lost for centuries?” She sat up a little 
+straighter. “Potter, it was madness, utter madness, 
+for you to enter this castle — ” 
+
+“I had to,” said Harry. “Professor, there’s something 
+hidden here that I’m supposed to find, and it could be 
+the diadem — if I could just speak to Professor 
+Flitwick — ” 
+
+There was a sound of movement, of clinking glass: 
+Amycus was coming round. Before Harry or Luna 
+could act, Professor McGonagall rose to her feet, 
+pointed her wand at the groggy Death Eater, and 
+said, “Imperio.” 
+
+Amycus got up, walked over to his sister, picked up 
+her wand, then shuffled obediently to Professor 
+McGonagall and handed it over along with his own. 
+Then he lay down on the floor beside Alecto. Professor 
+McGonagall waved her wand again, and a length of 
+shimmering silver rope appeared out of thin air and 
+snaked around the Carrows, binding them tightly 
+together. 
+
+“Potter,” said Professor McGonagall, turning to face 
+him again with superb indifference to the Carrows’ 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+predicament, “if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named does 
+indeed know that you are here — ” 
+
+As she said it, a wrath that was like physical pain 
+blazed through Harry, setting his scar on fire, and for 
+a second he looked down upon a basin whose potion 
+had turned clear, and saw that no golden locket lay 
+safe beneath the surface — 
+
+“Potter, are you all right?” said a voice, and Harry 
+came back: He was clutching Luna’s shoulder to 
+steady himself. 
+
+“Time’s running out, Voldemort’s getting nearer. 
+Professor, I’m acting on Dumbledore’s orders, I must 
+find what he wanted me to find! But we’ve got to get 
+the students out while I’m searching the castle — it’s 
+me Voldemort wants, but he won’t care about killing a 
+few more or less, not now — ” not now he knows I’m 
+attacking Horcruxes, Harry finished the sentence in 
+his head. 
+
+“You’re acting on Dumbledore’s orders?” she repeated 
+with a look of dawning wonder. Then she drew herself 
+up to her fullest height. 
+
+“We shall secure the school against He-Who-Must- 
+Not-Be-Named while you search for this — this 
+object.” 
+
+“Is that possible?” 
+
+“I think so,” said Professor McGonagall dryly, “we 
+teachers are rather good at magic, you know. I am 
+sure we will be able to hold him off for a while if we all 
+put our best efforts into it. Of course, something will 
+have to be done about Professor Snape — ” 
+
+“Let me — ” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — and if Hogwarts is about to enter a state of siege, 
+with the Dark Lord at the gates, it would indeed be 
+advisable to take as many innocent people out of the 
+way as possible. With the Floo Network under 
+observation, and Apparition impossible within the 
+grounds — ” 
+
+“There’s a way,” said Harry quickly, and he explained 
+about the passageway leading into the Hog’s Head. 
+
+“Potter, we’re talking about hundreds of students — ” 
+
+“I know, Professor, but if Voldemort and the Death 
+Eaters are concentrating on the school boundaries 
+they won’t be interested in anyone who’s 
+Disapparating out of the Hog’s Head.” 
+
+“There’s something in that,” she agreed. She pointed 
+her wand at the Carrows, and a silver net fell upon 
+their bound bodies, tied itself around them, and 
+hoisted them into the air, where they dangled beneath 
+the blue-and-gold ceiling like two large, ugly sea 
+creatures. “Come. We must alert the other Heads of 
+House. You’d better put that Cloak back on.” 
+
+She marched toward the door, and as she did so she 
+raised her wand. From the tip burst three silver cats 
+with spectacle markings around their eyes. The 
+Patronuses ran sleekly ahead, filling the spiral 
+staircase with silvery light, as Professor McGonagall, 
+Harry, and Luna hurried back down. 
+
+Along the corridors they raced, and one by one the 
+Patronuses left them; Professor McGonagall’s tartan 
+dressing gown rustled over the floor, and Harry and 
+Luna jogged behind her under the Cloak. 
+
+They had descended two more floors when another 
+set of quiet footsteps joined theirs. Harry, whose scar 
+
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+
+
+
+
+was still prickling, heard them first: He felt in the 
+pouch around his neck for the Marauder’s Map, but 
+before he could take it out, McGonagall too seemed to 
+become aware of their company. She halted, raised 
+her wand ready to duel, and said, “Who’s there?” 
+
+“It is I,” said a low voice. 
+
+From behind a suit of armor stepped Severus Snape. 
+
+Hatred boiled up in Harry at the sight of him: He had 
+forgotten the details of Snape ’s appearance in the 
+magnitude of his crimes, forgotten how his greasy 
+black hair hung in curtains around his thin face, how 
+his black eyes had a dead, cold look. He was not 
+wearing nightclothes, but was dressed in his usual 
+black cloak, and he too was holding his wand ready 
+for a fight. 
+
+“Where are the Carrows?” he asked quietly. 
+
+“Wherever you told them to be, I expect, Severus,” 
+said Professor McGonagall. 
+
+Snape stepped nearer, and his eyes flitted over 
+Professor McGonagall into the air around her, as if he 
+knew that Harry was there. Harry held his wand up 
+too, ready to attack. 
+
+“I was under the impression,” said Snape, “that Alecto 
+had apprehended an intruder.” 
+
+“Really?” said Professor McGonagall. “And what gave 
+you that impression?” 
+
+Snape made a slight flexing movement of his left arm, 
+where the Dark Mark was branded into his skin. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Oh, but naturally,” said Professor McGonagall. “You 
+Death Eaters have your own private means of 
+communication, I forgot.” 
+
+Snape pretended not to have heard her. His eyes were 
+still probing the air all about her, and he was moving 
+gradually closer, with an air of hardly noticing what 
+he was doing. 
+
+“I did not know that it was your night to patrol the 
+corridors, Minerva.” 
+
+“You have some objection?” 
+
+“I wonder what could have brought you out of your 
+bed at this late hour?” 
+
+“I thought I heard a disturbance,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“Really? But all seems calm.” 
+
+Snape looked into her eyes. 
+
+“Have you seen Harry Potter, Minerva? Because if you 
+have, I must insist — ” 
+
+Professor McGonagall moved faster than Harry could 
+have believed: Her wand slashed through the air and 
+for a split second Harry thought that Snape must 
+crumple, unconscious, but the swiftness of his Shield 
+Charm was such that McGonagall was thrown off 
+balance. She brandished her wand at a torch on the 
+wall and it flew out of its bracket: Harry, about to 
+curse Snape, was forced to pull Luna out of the way 
+of the descending flames, which became a ring of fire 
+that filled the corridor and flew like a lasso at Snape 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Then it was no longer fire, but a great black serpent 
+that McGonagall blasted to smoke, which re-formed 
+and solidified in seconds to become a swarm of 
+pursuing daggers: Snape avoided them only by 
+forcing the suit of armor in front of him, and with 
+echoing clangs the daggers sank, one after another, 
+into its breast — 
+
+“Minerva!” said a squeaky voice, and looking behind 
+him, still shielding Luna from flying spells, Harry saw 
+Professors Flitwick and Sprout sprinting up the 
+corridor toward them in their nightclothes, with the 
+enormous Professor Slughorn panting along at the 
+rear. 
+
+“No!” squealed Flitwick, raising his wand. “You’ll do 
+no more murder at Hogwarts!” 
+
+Flitwick’s spell hit the suit of armor behind which 
+Snape had taken shelter: With a clatter it came to life. 
+Snape struggled free of the crushing arms and sent it 
+flying back toward his attackers: Harry and Luna had 
+to dive sideways to avoid it as it smashed into the wall 
+and shattered. When Harry looked up again, Snape 
+was in full flight, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout all 
+thundering after him: He hurtled through a classroom 
+door and, moments later, he heard McGonagall cry, 
+“Coward! COWARD !” 
+
+“What’s happened, what’s happened?” asked Luna. 
+
+Harry dragged her to her feet and they raced along 
+the corridor, trailing the Invisibility Cloak behind 
+them, into the deserted classroom where Professors 
+McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were standing at a 
+smashed window. 
+
+“He jumped,” said Professor McGonagall as Harry and 
+Luna ran into the room. 
+
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+
+
+
+“You mean he’s dead?” Harry sprinted to the window, 
+ignoring Flitwick’s and Sprout’s yells of shock at his 
+sudden appearance. 
+
+“No, he’s not dead,” said McGonagall bitterly. “Unlike 
+Dumbledore, he was still carrying a wand ... and he 
+seems to have learned a few tricks from his master.” 
+
+With a tingle of horror, Harry saw in the distance a 
+huge, batlike shape flying through the darkness 
+toward the perimeter wall. 
+
+There were heavy footfalls behind them, and a great 
+deal of puffing: Slughorn had just caught up. 
+
+“Harry!” he panted, massaging his immense chest 
+beneath his emerald-green silk pajamas. “My dear 
+boy ... what a surprise ... Minerva, do please explain. 
+... Severus ... what ... ?” 
+
+“Our headmaster is taking a short break,” said 
+Professor McGonagall, pointing at the Snape-shaped 
+hole in the window. 
+
+“Professor!” Harry shouted, his hands at his forehead. 
+He could see the Inferi-filled lake sliding beneath him, 
+and he felt the ghostly green boat bump into the 
+underground shore, and Voldemort leapt from it with 
+murder in his heart — 
+
+“Professor, we’ve got to barricade the school, he’s 
+coming now!” 
+
+“Very well. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming,” 
+she told the other teachers. Sprout and Flitwick 
+gasped; Slughorn let out a low groan. “Potter has 
+work to do in the castle on Dumbledore’s orders. We 
+need to put in place every protection of which we are 
+capable while Potter does what he needs to do.” 
+
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+
+
+“You realize, of course, that nothing we do will be able 
+to keep out You-Know-Who indefinitely?” squeaked 
+Flitwick. 
+
+“But we can hold him up,” said Professor Sprout. 
+
+“Thank you, Pomona,” said Professor McGonagall, 
+and between the two witches there passed a look of 
+grim understanding. “I suggest we establish basic 
+protection around the place, then gather our students 
+and meet in the Great Hall. Most must be evacuated, 
+though if any of those who are over age wish to stay 
+and fight, I think they ought to be given the chance.” 
+
+“Agreed,” said Professor Sprout, already hurrying 
+toward the door. “I shall meet you in the Great Hall in 
+twenty minutes with my House.” 
+
+And as she jogged out of sight, they could hear her 
+muttering, “Tentacula. Devil’s Snare. And Snargaluff 
+pods ... yes, I’d like to see the Death Eaters fighting 
+those.” 
+
+“I can act from here,” said Flitwick, and although he 
+could barely see out of it, he pointed his wand 
+through the smashed window and started muttering 
+incantations of great complexity. Harry heard a weird 
+rushing noise, as though Flitwick had unleashed the 
+power of the wind into the grounds. 
+
+“Professor,” Harry said, approaching the little Charms 
+master, “Professor, I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is 
+important. Have you got any idea where the diadem of 
+Ravenclaw is?” 
+
+“ — Protego Horribilis — the diadem of Ravenclaw?” 
+squeaked Flitwick. “A little extra wisdom never goes 
+amiss, Potter, but I hardly think it would be much 
+use in this situation!” 
+
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+
+
+
+“I only meant — do you know where it is? Have you 
+ever seen it?” 
+
+“Seen it? Nobody has seen it in living memory! Long 
+since lost, boy!” 
+
+Harry felt a mixture of desperate disappointment and 
+panic. What, then, was the Horcrux? 
+
+“We shall meet you and your Ravenclaws in the Great 
+Hall, Filius!” said Professor McGonagall, beckoning to 
+Harry and Luna to follow her. 
+
+They had just reached the door when Slughorn 
+rumbled into speech. 
+
+“My word,” he puffed, pale and sweaty, his walrus 
+mustache aquiver. “What a to-do! I’m not at all sure 
+whether this is wise, Minerva. He is bound to find a 
+way in, you know, and anyone who has tried to delay 
+him will be in most grievous peril — ” 
+
+“I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great 
+Hall in twenty minutes, also,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. “If you wish to leave with your students, 
+we shall not stop you. But if any of you attempt to 
+sabotage our resistance or take up arms against us 
+within this castle, then, Horace, we duel to kill.” 
+
+“Minerva!” he said, aghast. 
+
+“The time has come for Slytherin House to decide 
+upon its loyalties,” interrupted Professor McGonagall. 
+“Go and wake your students, Horace.” 
+
+Harry did not stay to watch Slughorn splutter: He and 
+Luna ran after Professor McGonagall, who had taken 
+up a position in the middle of the corridor and raised 
+her wand. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Piertotum — oh, for heaven’s sake, Filch, not now — ” 
+
+
+
+The aged caretaker had just come hobbling into view, 
+shouting, “Students out of bed! Students in the 
+corridors!” 
+
+“They’re supposed to be, you blithering idiot!” shouted 
+McGonagall. “Now go and do something constructive! 
+Find Peeves!” 
+
+“P-Peeves?” stammered Filch as though he had never 
+heard the name before. 
+
+“Yes, Peeves, you fool, Peevesl Haven’t you been 
+complaining about him for a quarter of a century? Go 
+and fetch him, at once!” 
+
+Filch evidently thought Professor McGonagall had 
+taken leave of her senses, but hobbled away, hunch- 
+shouldered, muttering under his breath. 
+
+“And now — Piertotum Locomotori” cried Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+And all along the corridor the statues and suits of 
+armor jumped down from their plinths, and from the 
+echoing crashes from the floors above and below, 
+Harry knew that their fellows throughout the castle 
+had done the same. 
+
+“Hogwarts is threatened!” shouted Professor 
+McGonagall. “Man the boundaries, protect us, do 
+your duty to our school!” 
+
+Clattering and yelling, the horde of moving statues 
+stampeded past Harry: some of them smaller, others 
+larger, than life. There were animals too, and the 
+clanking suits of armor brandished swords and 
+spiked balls on chains. 
+
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+
+
+“Now, Potter,” said McGonagall, “you and Miss 
+Lovegood had better return to your friends and bring 
+them to the Great Hall — I shall rouse the other 
+Gryffindors.” 
+
+They parted at the top of the next staircase, Harry 
+and Luna running back toward the concealed 
+entrance to the Room of Requirement. As they ran, 
+they met crowds of students, most wearing traveling 
+cloaks over their pajamas, being shepherded down to 
+the Great Hall by teachers and prefects. 
+
+“That was Potter!” 
+
+“ Harry Potted” 
+
+“It was him, I swear, I just saw him!” 
+
+But Harry did not look back, and at last they reached 
+the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Harry 
+leaned against the enchanted wall, which opened to 
+admit them, and he and Luna sped back down the 
+steep staircase. 
+
+“Wh — ?” 
+
+As the room came into view, Harry slipped down a few 
+stairs in shock. It was packed, far more crowded than 
+when he had last been in there. Kingsley and Lupin 
+were looking up at him, as were Oliver Wood, Katie 
+Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, Bill and 
+Fleur, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+“Harry, what’s happening?” said Lupin, meeting him 
+at the foot of the stairs. 
+
+“Voldemort’s on his way, they’re barricading the 
+school — Snape’s run for it — What are you doing 
+here? How did you know?” 
+
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+
+“We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore’s Army,” 
+Fred explained. “You couldn’t expect everyone to miss 
+the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the 
+Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed.” 
+
+“What first, Harry?” called George. “What’s going on?” 
+
+“They’re evacuating the younger kids and everyone’s 
+meeting in the Great Hall to get organized,” Harry 
+said. “We’re fighting.” 
+
+There was a great roar and a surge toward the foot of 
+the stairs; he was pressed back against the wall as 
+they ran past him, the mingled members of the Order 
+of the Phoenix, Dumbledore’s Army, and Harry’s old 
+Quidditch team, all with their wands drawn, heading 
+up into the main castle. 
+
+“Come on, Luna,” Dean called as he passed, holding 
+out his free hand; she took it and followed him back 
+up the stairs. 
+
+The crowd was thinning: Only a little knot of people 
+remained below in the Room of Requirement, and 
+Harry joined them. Mrs. Weasley was struggling with 
+Ginny. Around them stood Lupin, Fred, George, Bill, 
+and Fleur. 
+
+“You’re underage!” Mrs. Weasley shouted at her 
+daughter as Harry approached. “I won’t permit it! The 
+boys, yes, but you, you’ve got to go home!” 
+
+“I won’t!” 
+
+Ginny’s hair flew as she pulled her arm out of her 
+mother’s grip. 
+
+“I’m in Dumbledore’s Army — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“A teenagers’ gang!” 
+
+
+
+“A teenagers’ gang that’s about to take him on, which 
+no one else has dared to do!” said Fred. 
+
+“She’s sixteen!” shouted Mrs. Weasley. “She’s not old 
+enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her 
+with you — ” 
+
+Fred and George looked slightly ashamed of 
+themselves. 
+
+“Mum’s right, Ginny,” said Bill gently. “You can’t do 
+this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it’s only 
+right.” 
+
+“I can’t go home!” Ginny shouted, angry tears 
+sparkling in her eyes. “My whole family’s here, I can’t 
+stand waiting there alone and not knowing and — ” 
+
+Her eyes met Harry’s for the first time. She looked at 
+him beseechingly, but he shook his head and she 
+turned away bitterly. 
+
+“Fine,” she said, staring at the entrance to the tunnel 
+back to the Hog’s Head. “I’ll say good-bye now, then, 
+and—” 
+
+There was a scuffling and a great thump: Someone 
+else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced 
+slightly, and fallen. He pulled himself up on the 
+nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn- 
+rimmed glasses, and said, “Am I too late? Has it 
+started? I only just found out, so I — I — ” 
+
+Percy spluttered into silence. Evidently he had not 
+expected to run into most of his family. There was a 
+long moment of astonishment, broken by Fleur 
+turning to Lupin and saying, in a wildly transparent 
+
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+
+
+
+
+attempt to break the tension, “So — ’ow eez leetle 
+Teddy?” 
+
+Lupin blinked at her, startled. The silence between 
+the Weasleys seemed to be solidifying, like ice. 
+
+“I — oh yes — he’s fine!” Lupin said loudly. “Yes, 
+Tonks is with him — at her mother’s — ” 
+
+Percy and the other Weasleys were still staring at one 
+another, frozen. 
+
+“Here, I’ve got a picture!” Lupin shouted, pulling a 
+photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to 
+Fleur and Harry, who saw a tiny baby with a tuft of 
+bright turquoise hair, waving fat fists at the camera. 
+
+“I was a fool!” Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin 
+nearly dropped his photograph. “I was an idiot, I was 
+a pompous prat, I was a — a — ” 
+
+“Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry 
+moron,” said Fred. 
+
+Percy swallowed. 
+
+“Yes, I was!” 
+
+“Well, you can’t say fairer than that,” said Fred, 
+holding out his hand to Percy. 
+
+Mrs. Weasley burst into tears. She ran forward, 
+pushed Fred aside, and pulled Percy into a strangling 
+hug, while he patted her on the back, his eyes on his 
+father. 
+
+“I’m sorry, Dad,” Percy said. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Mr. Weasley blinked rather rapidly, then he too 
+hurried to hug his son. 
+
+“What made you see sense, Perce?” inquired George. 
+
+“It’s been coming on for a while,” said Percy, mopping 
+his eyes under his glasses with a corner of his 
+traveling cloak. “But I had to find a way out and it’s 
+not so easy at the Ministry, they’re imprisoning 
+traitors all the time. I managed to make contact with 
+Aberforth and he tipped me off ten minutes ago that 
+Hogwarts was going to make a fight of it, so here I 
+am.” 
+
+
+
+“Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at 
+times such as these,” said George in a good imitation 
+of Percy’s most pompous manner. “Now let’s get 
+upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters’ll be 
+taken.” 
+
+“So, you’re my sister-in-law now?” said Percy, shaking 
+hands with Fleur as they hurried off toward the 
+staircase with Bill, Fred, and George. 
+
+“Ginny!” barked Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Ginny had been attempting, under cover of the 
+reconciliation, to sneak upstairs too. 
+
+“Molly, how about this,” said Lupin. “Why doesn’t 
+Ginny stay here, then at least she’ll be on the scene 
+and know what’s going on, but she won’t be in the 
+middle of the fighting?” 
+
+
+
+“That’s a good idea,” said Mr. Weasley firmly. “Ginny, 
+you stay in this room, you hear me?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Ginny did not seem to like the idea much, but under 
+her father’s unusually stern gaze, she nodded. Mr. 
+and Mrs. Weasley and Lupin headed off for the stairs 
+as well. 
+
+“Where’s Ron?” asked Harry. “Where’s Hermione?” 
+
+“They must have gone up to the Great Hall already,” 
+Mr. Weasley called over his shoulder. 
+
+“I didn’t see them pass me,” said Harry. 
+
+“They said something about a bathroom,” said Ginny, 
+“not long after you left.” 
+
+“A bathroom?” 
+
+Harry strode across the room to an open door leading 
+off the Room of Requirement and checked the 
+bathroom beyond. It was empty. 
+
+“You’re sure they said bath — ?” 
+
+But then his scar seared and the Room of 
+Requirement vanished: He was looking through the 
+high wrought-iron gates with winged boars on pillars 
+at either side, looking through the dark grounds 
+toward the castle, which was ablaze with lights. 
+Nagini lay draped over his shoulders. He was 
+possessed of that cold, cruel sense of purpose that 
+preceded murder. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BATTLE OF HOGWARTS 
+
+The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall was dark and 
+scattered with stars, and below it the four long House 
+tables were lined with disheveled students, some in 
+traveling cloaks, others in dressing gowns. Here and 
+there shone the pearly white figures of the school 
+ghosts. Every eye, living and dead, was fixed upon 
+Professor McGonagall, who was speaking from the 
+raised platform at the top of the Hall. Behind her 
+stood the remaining teachers, including the palomino 
+centaur, Firenze, and the members of the Order of the 
+Phoenix who had arrived to fight. 
+
+"... evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and 
+Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you 
+will organize your House and take your charges, in an 
+orderly fashion, to the evacuation point.” 
+
+Many of the students looked petrified. However, as 
+Harry skirted the walls, scanning the Gryffindor table 
+for Ron and Hermione, Ernie Macmillan stood up at 
+the Hufflepuff table and shouted, “And what if we 
+want to stay and fight?” 
+
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+
+
+
+There was a smattering of applause. 
+
+“If you are of age, you may stay,” said Professor 
+McGonagall. 
+
+“What about our things?” called a girl at the 
+Ravenclaw table. “Our trunks, our owls?” 
+
+“We have no time to collect possessions,” said 
+Professor McGonagall. “The important thing is to get 
+you out of here safely.” 
+
+“Where’s Professor Snape?” shouted a girl from the 
+Slytherin table. 
+
+“He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk,” 
+replied Professor McGonagall, and a great cheer 
+erupted from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and 
+Ravenclaws. 
+
+Harry moved up the Hall alongside the Gryffindor 
+table, still looking for Ron and Hermione. As he 
+passed, faces turned in his direction, and a great deal 
+of whispering broke out in his wake. 
+
+“We have already placed protection around the 
+castle,” Professor McGonagall was saying, “but it is 
+unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I 
+must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, 
+and do as your prefects — ” 
+
+But her final words were drowned as a different voice 
+echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold, and 
+clear: There was no telling from where it came; it 
+seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the 
+monster it had once commanded, it might have lain 
+dormant there for centuries. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I know that you are preparing to fight.” There were 
+screams amongst the students, some of whom 
+clutched each other, looking around in terror for the 
+source of the sound. “Your efforts are futile. You 
+cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great 
+respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to 
+spill magical blood.” 
+
+There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence 
+that presses against the eardrums, that seems too 
+huge to be contained by walls. 
+
+“Give me Harry Potter,” said Voldemort’s voice, “and 
+none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I 
+shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry 
+Potter, and you will be rewarded. 
+
+“You have until midnight.” 
+
+The silence swallowed them all again. Every head 
+turned, every eye in the place seemed to have found 
+Harry, to hold him frozen in the glare of thousands of 
+invisible beams. Then a figure rose from the Slytherin 
+table and he recognized Pansy Parkinson as she 
+raised a shaking arm and screamed, “But he’s there! 
+Potter’s there\ Someone grab him!” 
+
+Before Harry could speak, there was a massive 
+movement. The Gryffindors in front of him had risen 
+and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then 
+the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same 
+moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs 
+to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead, 
+and Harry, awestruck and overwhelmed, saw wands 
+emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and 
+from under sleeves. 
+
+“Thank you, Miss Parkinson,” said Professor 
+McGonagall in a clipped voice. “You will leave the Hall 
+
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+
+
+
+
+first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could 
+follow.” 
+
+Harry heard the grinding of benches and then the 
+sound of the Slytherins trooping out on the other side 
+of the Hall. 
+
+“Ravenclaws, follow on!” cried Professor McGonagall. 
+
+Slowly the four tables emptied. The Slytherin table 
+was completely deserted, but a number of older 
+Ravenclaws remained seated while their fellows filed 
+out; even more Hufflepuffs stayed behind, and half of 
+Gryffindor remained in their seats, necessitating 
+Professor McGonagall’s descent from the teachers’ 
+platform to chivvy the underage on their way. 
+
+“Absolutely not, Creevey, go! And you, Peakes!” 
+
+Harry hurried over to the Weasleys, all sitting 
+together at the Gryffindor table. 
+
+“Where are Ron and Hermione?” 
+
+“Haven’t you found — ?” began Mr. Weasley, looking 
+worried. 
+
+But he broke off as Kingsley had stepped forward on 
+the raised platform to address those who had 
+remained behind. 
+
+“We’ve only got half an hour until midnight, so we 
+need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed 
+between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of 
+the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and 
+McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to 
+the three highest towers — Ravenclaw, Astronomy, 
+and Gryffindor — where they’ll have a good overview, 
+excellent positions from which to work spells. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Meanwhile Remus” — he indicated Lupin — “Arthur” 
+— he pointed toward Mr. Weasley, sitting at the 
+Gryffindor table — “and I will take groups into the 
+grounds. We’ll need somebody to organize defense of 
+the entrances of the passageways into the school — ” 
+
+“Sounds like a job for us,” called Fred, indicating 
+himself and George, and Kingsley nodded his 
+approval. 
+
+“All right, leaders up here and we’ll divide up the 
+troops!” 
+
+“Potter,” said Professor McGonagall, hurrying up to 
+him, as students flooded the platform, jostling for 
+position, receiving instructions, “ Aren’t you supposed 
+to be looking for something?” 
+
+“What? Oh,” said Harry, “oh yeah!” 
+
+He had almost forgotten about the Horcrux, almost 
+forgotten that the battle was being fought so that he 
+could search for it: The inexplicable absence of Ron 
+and Hermione had momentarily driven every other 
+thought from his mind. 
+
+“Then go, Potter, go!” 
+
+“Right — yeah — ” 
+
+He sensed eyes following him as he ran out of the 
+Great Hall again, into the entrance hall still crowded 
+with evacuating students. He allowed himself to be 
+swept up the marble staircase with them, but at the 
+top he hurried off along a deserted corridor. Fear and 
+panic were clouding his thought processes. He tried 
+to calm himself, to concentrate on finding the 
+Horcrux, but his thoughts buzzed as frantically and 
+fruitlessly as wasps trapped beneath a glass. Without 
+Page | 691 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Ron and Hermione to help him he could not seem to 
+marshal his ideas. He slowed down, coming to a halt 
+halfway along an empty passage, where he sat down 
+upon the plinth of a departed statue and pulled the 
+Marauder’s Map out of the pouch around his neck. 
+
+He could not see Ron’s or Hermione’s names 
+anywhere on it, though the density of the crowd of 
+dots now making its way to the Room of Requirement 
+might, he thought, be concealing them. He put the 
+map away, pressed his hands over his face, and 
+closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. ... 
+
+Voldemort thought I’d go to Ravenclaw Tower. 
+
+There it was: a solid fact, the place to start. Voldemort 
+had stationed Alecto Carrow in the Ravenclaw 
+common room, and there could only be one 
+explanation: Voldemort feared that Harry already 
+knew his Horcrux was connected to that House. 
+
+But the only object anyone seemed to associate with 
+Ravenclaw was the lost diadem . . . and how could the 
+Horcrux be the diadem? How was it possible that 
+Voldemort, the Slytherin, had found the diadem that 
+had eluded generations of Ravenclaws? Who could 
+have told him where to look, when nobody had seen 
+the diadem in living memory? 
+
+In living memory ... 
+
+Beneath his fingers, Harry’s eyes flew open again. He 
+leapt up from the plinth and tore back the way he had 
+come, now in pursuit of his one last hope. The sound 
+of hundreds of people marching toward the Room of 
+Requirement grew louder and louder as he returned 
+to the marble stairs. Prefects were shouting 
+instructions, trying to keep track of the students in 
+their own Houses; there was much pushing and 
+shoving; Harry saw Zacharias Smith bowling over 
+Page | 692 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+first-years to get to the front of the queue; here and 
+there younger students were in tears, while older ones 
+called desperately for friends or siblings. ... 
+
+Harry caught sight of a pearly white figure drifting 
+across the entrance hall below and yelled as loudly as 
+he could over the clamor. 
+
+“Nick! NICK! I need to talk to you!” 
+
+He forced his way back through the tide of students, 
+finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, where Nearly 
+Headless Nick, ghost of Gryffindor Tower, stood 
+waiting for him. 
+
+“Harry! My dear boy!” 
+
+Nick made to grasp Harry’s hands with both of his 
+own: Harry’s felt as though they had been thrust into 
+icy water. 
+
+“Nick, you’ve got to help me. Who’s the ghost of 
+Ravenclaw Tower?” 
+
+Nearly Headless Nick looked surprised and a little 
+offended. 
+
+“The Gray Lady, of course; but if it is ghostly services 
+you require — ?” 
+
+“It’s got to be her — d’you know where she is?” 
+
+“Let’s see. ...” 
+
+Nick’s head wobbled a little on his ruff as he turned 
+hither and thither, peering over the heads of the 
+swarming students. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That’s her over there, Harry, the young woman with 
+the long hair.” 
+
+Harry looked in the direction of Nick’s transparent, 
+pointing finger and saw a tall ghost who caught sight 
+of Harry looking at her, raised her eyebrows, and 
+drifted away through a solid wall. 
+
+Harry ran after her. Once through the door of the 
+corridor into which she had disappeared, he saw her 
+at the very end of the passage, still gliding smoothly 
+away from him. 
+
+“Hey — wait — come back!” 
+
+She consented to pause, floating a few inches from 
+the ground. Harry supposed that she was beautiful, 
+with her waist-length hair and floor-length cloak, but 
+she also looked haughty and proud. Close to, he 
+recognized her as a ghost he had passed several times 
+in the corridor, but to whom he had never spoken. 
+
+“You’re the Gray Lady?” 
+
+She nodded but did not speak. 
+
+“The ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?” 
+
+“That is correct.” 
+
+Her tone was not encouraging. 
+
+“Please: I need some help. I need to know anything 
+you can tell me about the lost diadem.” 
+
+A cold smile curved her lips. 
+
+“I am afraid,” she said, turning to leave, “that I cannot 
+help you.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“WAIT!” 
+
+
+
+He had not meant to shout, but anger and panic were 
+threatening to overwhelm him. He glanced at his 
+watch as she hovered in front of him: It was a quarter 
+to midnight. 
+
+“This is urgent,” he said fiercely. “If that diadem’s at 
+Hogwarts, I’ve got to find it, fast.” 
+
+“You are hardly the first student to covet the diadem,” 
+she said disdainfully. “Generations of students have 
+badgered me — ” 
+
+“This isn’t about trying to get better marks!” Harry 
+shouted at her. “It’s about Voldemort — defeating 
+Voldemort — or aren’t you interested in that?” 
+
+She could not blush, but her transparent cheeks 
+became more opaque, and her voice was heated as 
+she replied, “Of course I — how dare you suggest — ?” 
+
+“Well, help me, then!” 
+
+Her composure was slipping. 
+
+“It — it is not a question of — ” she stammered. “My 
+mother’s diadem — ” 
+
+“Your mother’s?” 
+
+She looked angry with herself. 
+
+“When I lived,” she said stiffly, “I was Helena 
+Ravenclaw.” 
+
+“You’re her daughter? But then, you must know what 
+happened to it!��� 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“While the diadem bestows wisdom,” she said with an 
+obvious effort to pull herself together, “I doubt that it 
+would greatly increase your chances of defeating the 
+wizard who calls himself Lord — ” 
+
+“Haven’t I just told you, I’m not interested in wearing 
+it!” Harry said fiercely. “There’s no time to explain — 
+but if you care about Hogwarts, if you want to see 
+Voldemort finished, you’ve got to tell me anything you 
+know about the diadem!” 
+
+She remained quite still, floating in midair, staring 
+down at him, and a sense of hopelessness engulfed 
+Harry. Of course, if she had known anything, she 
+would have told Flitwick or Dumbledore, who had 
+surely asked her the same question. He had shaken 
+his head and made to turn away when she spoke in a 
+low voice. 
+
+“I stole the diadem from my mother.” 
+
+“You — you did what?” 
+
+“ I stole the diadem,” repeated Helena Ravenclaw in a 
+whisper. “I sought to make myself cleverer, more 
+important than my mother. I ran away with it.” 
+
+He did not know how he had managed to gain her 
+confidence, and did not ask; he simply listened, hard, 
+as she went on: 
+
+“My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem 
+was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She 
+concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from 
+the other founders of Hogwarts. 
+
+“Then my mother fell ill — fatally ill. In spite of my 
+perfidy, she was desperate to see me one more time. 
+She sent a man who had long loved me, though I 
+
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+
+
+
+
+spurned his advances, to find me. She knew that he 
+would not rest until he had done so.” 
+
+
+
+Harry waited. She drew a deep breath and threw back 
+her head. 
+
+“He tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. 
+
+When I refused to return with him, he became violent. 
+The Baron was always a hot-tempered man. Furious 
+at my refusal, jealous of my freedom, he stabbed me.” 
+
+“The Baron? You mean — ?” 
+
+“The Bloody Baron, yes,” said the Gray Lady, and she 
+lifted aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark 
+wound in her white chest. “When he saw what he had 
+done, he was overcome with remorse. He took the 
+weapon that had claimed my life, and used it to kill 
+himself. All these centuries later, he wears his chains 
+as an act of penitence ... as he should,” she added 
+bitterly. 
+
+“And . . . and the diadem?” 
+
+“It remained where I had hidden it when I heard the 
+Baron blundering through the forest toward me. 
+Concealed inside a hollow tree. 
+
+“A hollow tree?” repeated Harry. “What tree? Where 
+was this?” 
+
+“A forest in Albania. A lonely place I thought was far 
+beyond my mother’s reach.” 
+
+“Albania,” repeated Harry. Sense was emerging 
+miraculously from confusion, and now he understood 
+why she was telling him what she had denied 
+Dumbledore and Flitwick. “You’ve already told 
+someone this story, haven’t you? Another student?” 
+Page | 697 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+She closed her eyes and nodded. 
+
+
+
+“I had ... no idea. . . . He was . . . flattering. He seemed 
+to ... to understand ... to sympathize. ...” 
+
+Yes, Harry thought, Tom Riddle would certainly have 
+understood Helena Ravenclaw’s desire to possess 
+fabulous objects to which she had little right. 
+
+“Well, you weren’t the first person Riddle wormed 
+things out of,” Harry muttered. “He could be 
+charming when he wanted. ...” 
+
+So Voldemort had managed to wheedle the location of 
+the lost diadem out of the Gray Lady. He had traveled 
+to that far-flung forest and retrieved the diadem from 
+its hiding place, perhaps as soon as he left Hogwarts, 
+before he even started work at Borgin and Burkes. 
+
+And wouldn’t those secluded Albanian woods have 
+seemed an excellent refuge when, so much later, 
+Voldemort had needed a place to lie low, undisturbed, 
+for ten long years? 
+
+But the diadem, once it became his precious Horcrux, 
+had not been left in that lowly tree. ... No, the diadem 
+had been returned secretly to its true home, and 
+Voldemort must have put it there — 
+
+“ — the night he asked for a job!” said Harry, finishing 
+his thought. 
+
+“I beg your pardon?” 
+
+“He hid the diadem in the castle, the night he asked 
+Dumbledore to let him teach!” said Harry. Saying it 
+out loud enabled him to make sense of it all. “He 
+must’ve hidden the diadem on his way up to, or down 
+from, Dumbledore ’s office! But it was still worth trying 
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+
+
+
+
+to get the job — then he might’ve got the chance to 
+nick Gryffindor’s sword as well — thank you, thanks!” 
+
+
+
+Harry left her floating there, looking utterly 
+bewildered. As he rounded the corner back into the 
+entrance hall, he checked his watch. It was five 
+minutes until midnight, and though he now knew 
+what the last Horcrux was, he was no closer to 
+discovering where it was. ... 
+
+Generations of students had failed to find the diadem; 
+that suggested that it was not in Ravenclaw Tower — 
+but if not there, where? What hiding place had Tom 
+Riddle discovered inside Hogwarts Castle, that he 
+believed would remain secret forever? 
+
+Lost in desperate speculation, Harry turned a corner, 
+but he had taken only a few steps down the new 
+corridor when the window to his left broke open with 
+a deafening, shattering crash. As he leapt aside, a 
+gigantic body flew in through the window and hit the 
+opposite wall. Something large and furry detached 
+itself, whimpering, from the new arrival and flung 
+itself at Harry. 
+
+“Hagrid!” Harry bellowed, fighting off Fang the 
+boarhound’s attentions as the enormous bearded 
+figure clambered to his feet. “What the — ?” 
+
+“Harry, yer here! Yer here\” 
+
+Hagrid stooped down, bestowed upon Harry a cursory 
+and rib-cracking hug, then ran back to the shattered 
+window. 
+
+“Good boy, Grawpy!” he bellowed through the hole in 
+the window. “I’ll see yer in a moment, there’s a good 
+lad!” 
+
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+
+
+Beyond Hagrid, out in the dark night, Harry saw 
+bursts of light in the distance and heard a weird, 
+keening scream. He looked down at his watch: It was 
+midnight. The battle had begun. 
+
+“Blimey, Harry,” panted Hagrid, “this is it, eh? Time 
+ter fight?” 
+
+“Hagrid, where have you come from?” 
+
+“Heard You-Know-Who from up in our cave,” said 
+Hagrid grimly. “Voice carried, didn’ it? Yeh got till 
+midnight ter gimme Potter.’ Knew yeh mus’ be here, 
+knew what mus’ be happenin’. Get down, Fang. So we 
+come ter join in, me an’ Grawpy an’ Fang. Smashed 
+our way through the boundary by the forest, Grawpy 
+was carryin’ us, Fang an’ me. Told him ter let me 
+down at the castle, so he shoved me through the 
+window, bless him. Not exac’ly what I meant, bu’ — 
+where’s Ron an’ Hermione?” 
+
+“That,” said Harry, “is a really good question. Come 
+on.” 
+
+They hurried together along the corridor, Fang 
+lolloping beside them. Harry could hear movement 
+through the corridors all around: running footsteps, 
+shouts; through the windows, he could see more 
+flashes of light in the dark grounds. 
+
+“Where’re we goin’?” puffed Hagrid, pounding along at 
+Harry’s heels, making the floorboards quake. 
+
+“I dunno exactly,” said Harry, making another 
+random turn, “but Ron and Hermione must be 
+around here somewhere. ...” 
+
+The first casualties of the battle were already strewn 
+across the passage ahead: The two stone gargoyles 
+
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+
+
+
+
+that usually guarded the entrance to the staffroom 
+had been smashed apart by a jinx that had sailed 
+through another broken window. Their remains 
+stirred feebly on the floor, and as Harry leapt over one 
+of their disembodied heads, it moaned faintly, “Oh, 
+don’t mind me ... I’ll just lie here and crumble. ...” 
+
+Its ugly stone face made Harry think suddenly of the 
+marble bust of Rowena Ravenclaw at Xenophilius’s 
+house, wearing that mad headdress — and then of 
+the statue in Ravenclaw Tower, with the stone diadem 
+upon her white curls. ... 
+
+And as he reached the end of the passage, the 
+memory of a third stone effigy came back to him: that 
+of an ugly old warlock, onto whose head Harry 
+himself had placed a wig and a battered old tiara. The 
+shock shot through Harry with the heat of firewhisky, 
+and he nearly stumbled. 
+
+He knew, at last, where the Horcrux sat waiting for 
+him. ... 
+
+Tom Riddle, who confided in no one and operated 
+alone, might have been arrogant enough to assume 
+that he, and only he, had penetrated the deepest 
+mysteries of Hogwarts Castle. Of course, Dumbledore 
+and Flitwick, those model pupils, had never set foot in 
+that particular place, but he, Harry, had strayed off 
+the beaten track in his time at school — here at last 
+was a secret he and Voldemort knew, that 
+Dumbledore had never discovered — 
+
+He was roused by Professor Sprout, who was 
+thundering past followed by Neville and half a dozen 
+others, all of them wearing earmuffs and carrying 
+what appeared to be large potted plants. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Mandrakes!” Neville bellowed at Harry over his 
+shoulder as he ran. “Going to lob them over the walls 
+— they won’t like this!” 
+
+Harry knew now where to go: He sped off, with Hagrid 
+and Fang galloping behind him. They passed portrait 
+after portrait, and the painted figures raced alongside 
+them, wizards and witches in ruffs and breeches, in 
+armor and cloaks, cramming themselves into each 
+others’ canvases, screaming news from other parts of 
+the castle. As they reached the end of this corridor, 
+the whole castle shook, and Harry knew, as a gigantic 
+vase blew off its plinth with explosive force, that it 
+was in the grip of enchantments more sinister than 
+those of the teachers and the Order. 
+
+“It’s all righ’, Fang — it’s all righ’!” yelled Hagrid, but 
+the great boarhound had taken flight as slivers of 
+china flew like shrapnel through the air, and Hagrid 
+pounded off after the terrified dog, leaving Harry 
+alone. 
+
+He forged on through the trembling passages, his 
+wand at the ready, and for the length of one corridor 
+the little painted knight, Sir Cadogan, rushed from 
+painting to painting beside him, clanking along in his 
+armor, screaming encouragement, his fat little pony 
+cantering behind him. 
+
+“Braggarts and rogues, dogs and scoundrels, drive 
+them out, Harry Potter, see them off!” 
+
+Harry hurtled around a corner and found Fred and a 
+small knot of students, including Lee Jordan and 
+Hannah Abbott, standing beside another empty 
+plinth, whose statue had concealed a secret 
+passageway. Their wands were drawn and they were 
+listening at the concealed hole. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“Nice night for it!” Fred shouted as the castle quaked 
+again, and Harry sprinted by, elated and terrified in 
+equal measure. Along yet another corridor he dashed, 
+and then there were owls everywhere, and Mrs. Norris 
+was hissing and trying to bat them with her paws, no 
+doubt to return them to their proper place. ... 
+
+“Potter!” 
+
+Aberforth Dumbledore stood blocking the corridor 
+ahead, his wand held ready. 
+
+“I’ve had hundreds of kids thundering through my 
+pub, Potter!” 
+
+“I know, we’re evacuating,” Harry said, “Voldemort’s 
+
+
+
+“ — attacking because they haven’t handed you over, 
+yeah,” said Aberforth, “I’m not deaf, the whole of 
+Hogsmeade heard him. And it never occurred to any 
+of you to keep a few Slytherins hostage? There are 
+kids of Death Eaters you’ve just sent to safety. 
+Wouldn’t it have been a bit smarter to keep ’em here?” 
+
+“It wouldn’t stop Voldemort,” said Harry, “and your 
+brother would never have done it.” 
+
+Aberforth grunted and tore away in the opposite 
+direction. 
+
+Your brother would never have done it. ... Well, it was 
+the truth, Harry thought as he ran on again; 
+Dumbledore, who had defended Snape for so long, 
+would never have held students ransom. ... 
+
+And then he skidded around a final corner and with a 
+yell of mingled relief and fury he saw them: Ron and 
+Hermione, both with their arms full of large, curved, 
+
+Page | 703 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+dirty yellow objects, Ron with a broomstick under his 
+arm. 
+
+“Where the hell have you been?” Harry shouted. 
+
+“Chamber of Secrets,” said Ron. 
+
+“Chamber — what?” said Harry, coming to an 
+unsteady halt before them. 
+
+“It was Ron, all Ron’s idea!” said Hermione 
+breathlessly. “Wasn’t it absolutely brilliant? There we 
+were, after you left, and I said to Ron, even if we find 
+the other one, how are we going to get rid of it? We 
+still hadn’t got rid of the cup! And then he thought of 
+it! The basilisk!” 
+
+“What the — ?” 
+
+“Something to get rid of Horcruxes,” said Ron simply. 
+
+Harry’s eyes dropped to the objects clutched in Ron 
+and Hermione’s arms: great curved fangs, torn, he 
+now realized, from the skull of a dead basilisk. 
+
+“But how did you get in there?” he asked, staring 
+from the fangs to Ron. “You need to speak 
+Parseltongue!” 
+
+“He did!” whispered Hermione. “Show him, Ron!” 
+
+Ron made a horrible strangled hissing noise. 
+
+“It’s what you did to open the locket,” he told Harry 
+apologetically. “I had to have a few goes to get it right, 
+but,” he shrugged modestly, “we got there in the end.” 
+
+“He was amazing.” said Hermione. “Amazing!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 704 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“So ...” Harry was struggling to keep up. “So ...” 
+
+
+
+“So we’re another Horcrux down,” said Ron, and from 
+under his jacket he pulled the mangled remains of 
+Hufflepuff’s cup. “Hermione stabbed it. Thought she 
+should. She hasn’t had the pleasure yet.” 
+
+“Genius!” yelled Harry. 
+
+“It was nothing,” said Ron, though he looked 
+delighted with himself. “So what’s new with you?” 
+
+As he said it, there was an explosion from overhead: 
+All three of them looked up as dust fell from the 
+ceiling and they heard a distant scream. 
+
+“I know what the diadem looks like, and I know where 
+it is,” said Harry, talking fast. “He hid it exactly where 
+I hid my old Potions book, where everyone’s been 
+hiding stuff for centuries. He thought he was the only 
+one to find it. Come on.” 
+
+As the walls trembled again, he led the other two back 
+through the concealed entrance and down the 
+staircase into the Room of Requirement. It was empty 
+except for three women: Ginny, Tonks, and an elderly 
+witch wearing a moth-eaten hat, whom Harry 
+recognized immediately as Neville’s grandmother. 
+
+“Ah, Potter,” she said crisply as if she had been 
+waiting for him. “You can tell us what’s going on.” 
+
+“Is everyone okay?” said Ginny and Tonks together. 
+
+“ ’S far as we know,” said Harry. “Are there still people 
+in the passage to the Hog’s Head?” 
+
+He knew that the room would not be able to 
+transform while there were still users inside it. 
+
+Page | 705 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I was the last to come through,” said Mrs. 
+Longbottom. “I sealed it, I think it unwise to leave it 
+open now Aberforth has left his pub. Have you seen 
+my grandson?” 
+
+“He’s fighting,” said Harry. 
+
+“Naturally,” said the old lady proudly. “Excuse me, I 
+must go and assist him.” 
+
+With surprising speed she trotted off toward the stone 
+steps. 
+
+Harry looked at Tonks. 
+
+“I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at 
+your mother’s?” 
+
+“I couldn’t stand not knowing — ” Tonks looked 
+anguished. “She’ll look after him — have you seen 
+Remus?” 
+
+“He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the 
+grounds — ” 
+
+Without another word, Tonks sped off. 
+
+“Ginny,” said Harry, “I’m sorry, but we need you to 
+leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in.” 
+
+Ginny looked simply delighted to leave her sanctuary. 
+
+“And then you can come back in!” he shouted after 
+her as she ran up the steps after Tonks. “ You’ve got to 
+come back ini” 
+
+“Hang on a moment!” said Ron sharply. “We’ve 
+forgotten someone!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 706 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Who?” asked Hermione. 
+
+
+
+“The house-elves, they’ll all be down in the kitchen, 
+won’t they?” 
+
+“You mean we ought to get them fighting?” asked 
+Harry. 
+
+“No,” said Ron seriously, “I mean we should tell them 
+to get out. We don’t want any more Dobbies, do we? 
+We can’t order them to die for us — ” 
+
+There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out 
+of Hermione ’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them 
+around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. 
+Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was 
+holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he 
+lifted Hermione off her feet. 
+
+“Is this the moment?” Harry asked weakly, and when 
+nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione 
+gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on 
+the spot, he raised his voice. “01! There’s a war going 
+on here!” 
+
+Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still 
+around each other. 
+
+“I know, mate,” said Ron, who looked as though he 
+had recently been hit on the back of the head with a 
+Bludger, “so it’s now or never, isn’t it?” 
+
+“Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?” Harry 
+shouted. “D’you think you could just — just hold it in 
+until we’ve got the diadem?” 
+
+“Yeah — right — sorry — ” said Ron, and he and 
+Hermione set about gathering up fangs, both pink in 
+the face. 
+
+Page | 707 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It was clear, as the three of them stepped back into 
+the corridor upstairs, that in the minutes that they 
+had spent in the Room of Requirement the situation 
+within the castle had deteriorated severely: The walls 
+and ceiling were shaking worse than ever; dust filled 
+the air, and through the nearest window, Harry saw 
+bursts of green and red light so close to the foot of the 
+castle that he knew the Death Eaters must be very 
+near to entering the place. Looking down, Harry saw 
+Grawp the giant meandering past, swinging what 
+looked like a stone gargoyle torn from the roof and 
+roaring his displeasure. 
+
+“Let’s hope he steps on some of them!” said Ron as 
+more screams echoed from close by. 
+
+“As long as it’s not any of our lot!” said a voice: Harry 
+turned and saw Ginny and Tonks, both with their 
+wands drawn at the next window, which was missing 
+several panes. Even as he watched, Ginny sent a well- 
+aimed jinx into a crowd of fighters below. 
+
+“Good girl!” roared a figure running through the dust 
+toward them, and Harry saw Aberforth again, his gray 
+hair flying as he led a small group of students past. 
+“They look like they might be breaching the north 
+battlements, they’ve brought giants of their own!” 
+
+“Have you seen Remus?” Tonks called after him. 
+
+“He was dueling Dolohov,” shouted Aberforth, 
+
+“haven’t seen him since! 
+
+“Tonks,” said Ginny, “Tonks, I’m sure he’s okay — ” 
+But Tonks had run off into the dust after Aberforth. 
+Ginny turned, helpless, to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 
+
+
+
+Page | 708 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“They’ll be all right,” said Harry, though he knew they 
+were empty words. “Ginny, we’ll be back in a moment, 
+just keep out of the way, keep safe — come on!” he 
+said to Ron and Hermione, and they ran back to the 
+stretch of wall beyond which the Room of 
+Requirement was waiting to do the bidding of the next 
+entrant. 
+
+I need the place where everything is hidden, Harry 
+begged of it inside his head, and the door materialized 
+on their third run past. 
+
+The furor of the battle died the moment they crossed 
+the threshold and closed the door behind them: All 
+was silent. They were in a place the size of a cathedral 
+with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built 
+of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students. 
+
+“And he never realized anyone could get in?” said 
+Ron, his voice echoing in the silence. 
+
+“He thought he was the only one,” said Harry. “Too 
+bad for him I’ve had to hide stuff in my time ... this 
+way,” he added, “I think it’s down here. ...” 
+
+He passed the stuffed troll and the Vanishing Cabinet 
+Draco Malfoy had mended last year with such 
+disastrous consequences, then hesitated, looking up 
+and down aisles of junk; he could not remember 
+where to go next. ... 
+
+“ Accio Diadem).” cried Hermione in desperation, but 
+nothing flew through the air toward them. It seemed 
+that, like the vault at Gringotts, the room would not 
+yield its hidden objects that easily. 
+
+“Let’s split up,” Harry told the other two. “Look for a 
+stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! 
+
+
+
+Page | 709 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+It’s standing on a cupboard and it’s definitely 
+somewhere near here. ...” 
+
+
+
+They sped off up adjacent aisles; Harry could hear the 
+others’ footsteps echoing through the towering piles of 
+junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, 
+broomsticks, bats. ... 
+
+“Somewhere near here,” Harry muttered to himself. 
+“Somewhere ... somewhere ...” 
+
+Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went, looking 
+for objects he recognized from his one previous trip 
+into the room. His breath was loud in his ears, and 
+then his very soul seemed to shiver: There it was, 
+right ahead, the blistered old cupboard in which he 
+had hidden his old Potions book, and on top of it, the 
+pockmarked stone warlock wearing a dusty old wig 
+and what looked like an ancient, discolored tiara. 
+
+He had already stretched out his hand, though he 
+remained ten feet away, when a voice behind him 
+said, “Hold it, Potter.” 
+
+He skidded to a halt and turned around. Crabbe and 
+Goyle were standing behind him, shoulder to 
+shoulder, wands pointing right at Harry. Through the 
+small space between their leering faces he saw Draco 
+Malfoy. 
+
+“That’s my wand you’re holding, Potter,” said Malfoy, 
+pointing his own through the gap between Crabbe 
+and Goyle. 
+
+“Not anymore,” panted Harry, tightening his grip on 
+the hawthorn wand. “Winners, keepers, Malfoy. Who’s 
+lent you theirs?” 
+
+“My mother,” said Draco. 
+
+Page | 710 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry laughed, though there was nothing very 
+humorous about the situation. He could not hear Ron 
+or Hermione anymore. They seemed to have run out 
+of earshot, searching for the diadem. 
+
+“So how come you three aren’t with Voldemort?” 
+asked Harry. 
+
+“We’re gonna be rewarded,” said Crabbe: His voice 
+was surprisingly soft for such an enormous person; 
+Harry had hardly ever heard him speak before. 
+
+Crabbe was smiling like a small child promised a 
+large bag of sweets. “We ’ung back, Potter. We decided 
+not to go. Decided to bring you to ’im.” 
+
+“Good plan,” said Harry in mock admiration. He could 
+not believe that he was this close, and was going to be 
+thwarted by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. He began 
+edging slowly backward toward the place where the 
+Horcrux sat lopsided upon the bust. If he could just 
+get his hands on it before the fight broke out . . . 
+
+“So how did you get in here?” he asked, trying to 
+distract them. 
+
+“I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last 
+year,” said Malfoy, his voice brittle. “I know how to get 
+in.” 
+
+
+
+“We was hiding in the corridor outside,” grunted 
+Goyle. “We can do Diss-lusion Charms now! And 
+then,” his face split into a gormless grin, “you turned 
+up right in front of us and said you was looking for a 
+die-dum! What’s a die-dum?” 
+
+“Harry?” Ron’s voice echoed suddenly from the other 
+side of the wall to Harry’s right. “Are you talking to 
+someone?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 711 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+With a whiplike movement, Crabbe pointed his wand 
+at the fifty-foot mountain of old furniture, of broken 
+trunks, of old books and robes and unidentifiable 
+junk, and shouted, “DescendoV’ 
+
+The wall began to totter, then the top third crumbled 
+into the aisle next door where Ron stood. 
+
+“Ron!” Harry bellowed, as somewhere out of sight 
+Hermione screamed, and Harry heard innumerable 
+objects crashing to the floor on the other side of the 
+destabilized wall: He pointed his wand at the rampart, 
+cried, “Finite!” and it steadied. 
+
+“No!” shouted Malfoy, staying Crabbe’s arm as the 
+latter made to repeat his spell. “If you wreck the room 
+you might bury this diadem thing!” 
+
+“What’s that matter?” said Crabbe, tugging himself 
+free. “It’s Potter the Dark Lord wants, who cares 
+about a die-dum?” 
+
+“Potter came in here to get it,” said Malfoy with ill- 
+disguised impatience at the slow-wittedness of his 
+colleagues, “so that must mean — ” 
+
+“ ‘Must mean?” Crabbe turned on Malfoy with 
+undisguised ferocity. “Who cares what you think? I 
+don’t take your orders no more, Draco. You an’ your 
+dad are finished.” 
+
+“Harry?” shouted Ron again, from the other side of 
+the junk wall. “What’s going on?” 
+
+“Harry?” mimicked Crabbe. “What’s going — no, 
+
+Potter! Cruciol” 
+
+Harry had lunged for the tiara; Crabbe’s curse missed 
+him but hit the stone bust, which flew into the air; 
+
+Page | 712 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the diadem soared upward and then dropped out of 
+sight in the mass of objects on which the bust had 
+rested. 
+
+“STOP!” Malfoy shouted at Crabbe, his voice echoing 
+through the enormous room. “The Dark Lord wants 
+him alive — ” 
+
+“So? I’m not killing him, am I?” yelled Crabbe, 
+throwing off Malfoy’s restraining arm. “But if I can, I 
+will, the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what’s 
+thediff— ?” 
+
+A jet of scarlet light shot past Harry by inches: 
+Hermione had run around the corner behind him and 
+sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crabbe ’s head. It 
+only missed because Malfoy pulled him out of the 
+way. 
+
+“It’s that Mudblood! Avada Kedavral” 
+
+Harry saw Hermione dive aside, and his fury that 
+Crabbe had aimed to kill wiped all else from his mind. 
+He shot a Stunning Spell at Crabbe, who lurched out 
+of the way, knocking Malfoy’s wand out of his hand; it 
+rolled out of sight beneath a mountain of broken 
+furniture and boxes. 
+
+“Don’t kill him! DONT KILL HIM!” Malfoy yelled at 
+Crabbe and Goyle, who were both aiming at Harry: 
+Their split second’s hesitation was all Harry needed. 
+
+“ Expelliarmusl” 
+
+Goyle ’s wand flew out of his hand and disappeared 
+into the bulwark of objects beside him; Goyle leapt 
+foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it; Malfoy 
+jumped out of range of Hermione ’s second Stunning 
+Spell, and Ron, appearing suddenly at the end of the 
+Page | 713 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+aisle, shot a full Body-Bind Curse at Crabbe, which 
+narrowly missed. 
+
+Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, “Avada 
+KedavraY’ again. Ron leapt out of sight to avoid the jet 
+of green light. The wandless Malfoy cowered behind a 
+three-legged wardrobe as Hermione charged toward 
+them, hitting Goyle with a Stunning Spell as she 
+came. 
+
+“It’s somewhere here!” Harry yelled at her, pointing at 
+the pile of junk into which the old tiara had fallen. 
+“Look for it while I go and help R — ” 
+
+“HARRY!” she screamed. 
+
+A roaring, billowing noise behind him gave him a 
+moment’s warning. He turned and saw both Ron and 
+Crabbe running as hard as they could up the aisle 
+toward them. 
+
+“Like it hot, scum?” roared Crabbe as he ran. 
+
+But he seemed to have no control over what he had 
+done. Flames of abnormal size were pursuing them, 
+licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were 
+crumbling to soot at their touch. 
+
+“Aguamenti\” Harry bawled, but the jet of water that 
+soared from the tip of his wand evaporated in the air. 
+
+“RUN!” 
+
+Malfoy grabbed the Stunned Goyle and dragged him 
+along; Crabbe outstripped all of them, now looking 
+terrified; Harry, Ron, and Hermione pelted along in 
+his wake, and the fire pursued them. It was not 
+normal fire; Crabbe had used a curse of which Harry 
+had no knowledge: As they turned a corner the flames 
+Page | 714 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+chased them as though they were alive, sentient, 
+intent upon killing them. Now the fire was mutating, 
+forming a gigantic pack of fiery beasts: Flaming 
+serpents, chimaeras, and dragons rose and fell and 
+rose again, and the detritus of centuries on which 
+they were feeding was thrown up in the air into their 
+fanged mouths, tossed high on clawed feet, before 
+being consumed by the inferno. 
+
+Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had vanished from view: 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione stopped dead; the fiery 
+monsters were circling them, drawing closer and 
+closer, claws and horns and tails lashed, and the heat 
+was solid as a wall around them. 
+
+“What can we do?” Hermione screamed over the 
+deafening roars of the fire. “What can we do?” 
+
+“Here!” 
+
+Harry seized a pair of heavy-looking broomsticks from 
+the nearest pile of junk and threw one to Ron, who 
+pulled Hermione onto it behind him. Harry swung his 
+leg over the second broom and, with hard kicks to the 
+ground, they soared up into the air, missing by feet 
+the horned beak of a flaming raptor that snapped its 
+jaws at them. The smoke and heat were becoming 
+overwhelming: Below them the cursed fire was 
+consuming the contraband of generations of hunted 
+students, the guilty outcomes of a thousand banned 
+experiments, the secrets of the countless souls who 
+had sought refuge in the room. Harry could not see a 
+trace of Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle anywhere: He 
+swooped as low as he dared over the marauding 
+monsters of flame to try to find them, but there was 
+nothing but fire: What a terrible way to die. ... He had 
+never wanted this. ... 
+
+
+
+Page | 715 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Harry, let’s get out, let’s get out!” bellowed Ron, 
+though it was impossible to see where the door was 
+through the black smoke. 
+
+And then Harry heard a thin, piteous human scream 
+from amidst the terrible commotion, the thunder of 
+devouring flame. 
+
+“It’s — too — dangerous — !” Ron yelled, but Harry 
+wheeled in the air. His glasses giving his eyes some 
+small protection from the smoke, he raked the 
+firestorm below, seeking a sign of life, a limb or a face 
+that was not yet charred like wood. ... 
+
+And he saw them: Malfoy with his arms around the 
+unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a 
+fragile tower of charred desks, and Harry dived. 
+
+Malfoy saw him coming and raised one arm, but even 
+as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no 
+good: Goyle was too heavy and Malfoy ’s hand, covered 
+in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry’s — 
+
+“IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I’LL KILL YOU, HARRY!” 
+roared Ron’s voice, and, as a great flaming chimaera 
+bore down upon them, he and Hermione dragged 
+Goyle onto their broom and rose, rolling and pitching, 
+into the air once more as Malfoy clambered up behind 
+Harry. 
+
+“The door, get to the door, the door!” screamed Malfoy 
+in Harry’s ear, and Harry sped up, following Ron, 
+Hermione, and Goyle through the billowing black 
+smoke, hardly able to breathe: and all around them 
+the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames 
+were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed 
+fire cast them high in celebration: cups and shields, a 
+sparkling necklace, and an old, discolored tiara — 
+
+
+
+Page | 716 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ What are you doing, what are you doing, the door’s 
+that way\” screamed Malfoy, but Harry made a 
+hairpin swerve and dived. The diadem seemed to fall 
+in slow motion, turning and glittering as it dropped 
+toward the maw of a yawning serpent, and then he 
+had it, caught it around his wrist — 
+
+Harry swerved again as the serpent lunged at him; he 
+soared upward and straight toward the place where, 
+he prayed, the door stood open: Ron, Hermione, and 
+Goyle had vanished; Malfoy was screaming and 
+holding Harry so tightly it hurt. Then, through the 
+smoke, Harry saw a rectangular patch on the wall 
+and steered the broom at it, and moments later clean 
+air filled his lungs and they collided with the wall in 
+the corridor beyond. 
+
+Malfoy fell off the broom and lay facedown, gasping, 
+coughing, and retching. Harry rolled over and sat up: 
+The door to the Room of Requirement had vanished, 
+and Ron and Hermione sat panting on the floor beside 
+Goyle, who was still unconscious. 
+
+“C-Crabbe,” choked Malfoy as soon as he could 
+speak. “C-Crabbe ...” 
+
+“He’s dead,” said Ron harshly. 
+
+There was silence, apart from panting and coughing. 
+Then a number of huge bangs shook the castle, and a 
+great cavalcade of transparent figures galloped past 
+on horses, their heads screaming with bloodlust 
+under their arms. Harry staggered to his feet when 
+the Headless Hunt had passed and looked around: 
+
+The battle was still going on all around him. He could 
+hear more screams than those of the retreating 
+ghosts. Panic flared within him. 
+
+
+
+Page | 717 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Where’s Ginny?” he said sharply. “She was here. She 
+was supposed to be going back into the Room of 
+Requirement.” 
+
+“Blimey, d’you reckon it’ll still work after that fire?” 
+asked Ron, but he too got to his feet, rubbing his 
+chest and looking left and right. “Shall we split up 
+and look — ?” 
+
+“No,” said Hermione, getting to her feet too. Malfoy 
+and Goyle remained slumped hopelessly on the 
+corridor floor; neither of them had wands. “Let’s stick 
+together. I say we go — Harry, what’s that on your 
+arm?” 
+
+“What? Oh yeah — ” 
+
+He pulled the diadem from his wrist and held it up. It 
+was still hot, blackened with soot, but as he looked at 
+it closely he was just able to make out the tiny words 
+etched upon it: WIT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN’S 
+GREATEST TREASURE. 
+
+A bloodlike substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be 
+leaking from the diadem. Suddenly Harry felt the 
+thing vibrate violently, then break apart in his hands, 
+and as it did so, he thought he heard the faintest, 
+most distant scream of pain, echoing not from the 
+grounds or the castle, but from the thing that had 
+just fragmented in his fingers. 
+
+“It must have been Fiendfyre!” whimpered Hermione, 
+her eyes on the broken pieces. 
+
+“Sorry?” 
+
+“Fiendfyre — cursed fire — it’s one of the substances 
+that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have 
+
+
+
+Page | 718 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+dared use it, it’s so dangerous — how did Crabbe 
+know how to — ?” 
+
+“Must’ve learned from the Carrows,” said Harry 
+grimly. 
+
+“Shame he wasn’t concentrating when they 
+mentioned how to stop it, really,” said Ron, whose 
+hair, like Hermione’s, was singed, and whose face was 
+blackened. “If he hadn’t tried to kill us all, I’d be quite 
+sorry he was dead.” 
+
+“But don’t you realize?” whispered Hermione. “This 
+means, if we can just get the snake — ” 
+
+But she broke off as yells and shouts and the 
+unmistakable noises of dueling filled the corridor. 
+Harry looked around and his heart seemed to fail: 
+Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts. Fred and 
+Percy had just backed into view, both of them dueling 
+masked and hooded men. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran forward to help: Jets of 
+light flew in every direction and the man dueling 
+Percy backed off, fast: Then his hood slipped and they 
+saw a high forehead and streaked hair — 
+
+“Hello, Minister!” bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx 
+straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and 
+clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful 
+discomfort. “Did I mention I’m resigning?” 
+
+“You’re joking, Perce!” shouted Fred as the Death 
+Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of 
+three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen 
+to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; 
+he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. 
+Fred looked at Percy with glee. 
+
+
+
+Page | 719 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You actually are joking, Perce. ... I don’t think I’ve 
+heard you joke since you were — ” 
+
+The air exploded. They had been grouped together, 
+Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Percy, the two 
+Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other 
+Transfigured; and in that fragment of a moment, 
+when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world 
+was rent apart. Harry felt himself flying through the 
+air, and all he could do was hold as tightly as possible 
+to that thin stick of wood that was his one and only 
+weapon, and shield his head in his arms: He heard 
+the screams and yells of his companions without a 
+hope of knowing what had happened to them — 
+
+And then the world resolved itself into pain and 
+semidarkness: He was half buried in the wreckage of 
+a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible 
+attack. Cold air told him that the side of the castle 
+had been blown away, and hot stickiness on his 
+cheek told him that he was bleeding copiously. Then 
+he heard a terrible cry that pulled at his insides, that 
+expressed agony of a kind neither flame nor curse 
+could cause, and he stood up, swaying, more 
+frightened than he had been that day, more 
+frightened, perhaps, than he had been in his life. ... 
+
+And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the 
+wreckage, and three redheaded men were grouped on 
+the ground where the wall had blasted apart. Harry 
+grabbed Hermione ’s hand as they staggered and 
+stumbled over stone and wood. 
+
+“No — no — no!” someone was shouting. “No! Fred! 
+No!” 
+
+And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was 
+kneeling beside them, and Fred’s eyes stared without 
+
+
+
+Page | 720 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon 
+his face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 721 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ELDER WAND 
+
+The world had ended, so why had the battle not 
+ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every 
+combatant laid down their arms? Harry’s mind was in 
+free fall, spinning out of control, unable to grasp the 
+impossibility, because Fred Weasley could not be 
+dead, the evidence of all his senses must be lying — 
+
+And then a body fell past the hole blown into the side 
+of the school, and curses flew in at them from the 
+darkness, hitting the wall behind their heads. 
+
+“Get down!” Harry shouted, as more curses flew 
+through the night: He and Ron had both grabbed 
+Hermione and pulled her to the floor, but Percy lay 
+across Fred’s body, shielding it from further harm, 
+and when Harry shouted, “Percy, come on, we’ve got 
+to move!” he shook his head. 
+
+“Percy!” Harry saw tear tracks streaking the grime 
+coating Ron’s face as he seized his elder brother’s 
+shoulders and pulled, but Percy would not budge. 
+
+
+
+Page | 722 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+“Percy, you can’t do anything for him! We’re going to 
+
+
+
+Hermione screamed, and Harry, turning, did not need 
+to ask why. A monstrous spider the size of a small car 
+was trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall: 
+One of Aragog’s descendants had joined the fight. 
+
+Ron and Harry shouted together; their spells collided 
+and the monster was blown backward, its legs jerking 
+horribly, and vanished into the darkness. 
+
+“It brought friends!” Harry called to the others, 
+glancing over the edge of the castle through the hole 
+in the wall the curses had blasted: More giant spiders 
+were climbing the side of the building, liberated from 
+the Forbidden Forest, into which the Death Eaters 
+must have penetrated. Harry fired Stunning Spells 
+down upon them, knocking the lead monster into its 
+fellows, so that they rolled back down the building 
+and out of sight. Then more curses came soaring over 
+Harry’s head, so close he felt the force of them blow 
+his hair. 
+
+“Let’s move, NOW!” 
+
+Pushing Hermione ahead of him with Ron, Harry 
+stooped to seize Fred’s body under the armpits. Percy, 
+realizing what Harry was trying to do, stopped 
+clinging to the body and helped; together, crouching 
+low to avoid the curses flying at them from the 
+grounds, they hauled Fred out of the way. 
+
+“Here,” said Harry, and they placed him in a niche 
+where a suit of armor had stood earlier. He could not 
+bear to look at Fred a second longer than he had to, 
+and after making sure that the body was well hidden, 
+he took off after Ron and Hermione. Malfoy and Goyle 
+had vanished, but at the end of the corridor, which 
+Page | 723 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+was now full of dust and falling masonry, glass long 
+gone from the windows, he saw many people running 
+backward and forward, whether friends or foes he 
+could not tell. Rounding the corner, Percy let out a 
+bull-like roar: “ROOKWOOD!” and sprinted off in the 
+direction of a tall man, who was pursuing a couple of 
+students. 
+
+“Harry, in here!” Hermione screamed. 
+
+She had pulled Ron behind a tapestry: They seemed 
+to be wrestling together, and for one mad second 
+Harry thought that they were embracing again; then 
+he saw that Hermione was trying to restrain Ron, to 
+stop him running after Percy. 
+
+“Listen to me — LISTEN, ROM” 
+
+“I wanna help — I wanna kill Death Eaters — ” 
+
+His face was contorted, smeared with dust and 
+smoke, and he was shaking with rage and grief. 
+
+“Ron, we’re the only ones who can end it! Please — 
+Ron — we need the snake, we’ve got to kill the snake!” 
+said Hermione. 
+
+But Harry knew how Ron felt: Pursuing another 
+Horcrux could not bring the satisfaction of revenge; 
+he too wanted to fight, to punish them, the people 
+who had killed Fred, and he wanted to find the other 
+Weasleys, and above all make sure, make quite sure, 
+that Ginny was not — but he could not permit that 
+idea to form in his mind — 
+
+“We will fight!” Hermione said. “We’ll have to, to reach 
+the snake! But let’s not lose sight now of what we’re 
+supposed to be d-doing! We’re the only ones who can 
+end it!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+She was crying too, and she wiped her face on her 
+torn and singed sleeve as she spoke, but she took 
+great heaving breaths to calm herself as, still keeping 
+a tight hold on Ron, she turned to Harry. 
+
+“You need to find out where Voldemort is, because 
+hell have the snake with him, won’t he? Do it, Harry 
+— look inside him!” 
+
+Why was it so easy? Because his scar had been 
+burning for hours, yearning to show him Voldemort’s 
+thoughts? He closed his eyes on her command, and at 
+once, the screams and the bangs and all the 
+discordant sounds of the battle were drowned until 
+they became distant, as though he stood far, far away 
+from them. ... 
+
+He was standing in the middle of a desolate but 
+strangely familiar room, with peeling paper on the 
+walls and all the windows boarded except for one. The 
+sounds of the assault on the castle were muffled and 
+distant. The single unblocked window revealed 
+distant bursts of light where the castle stood, but 
+inside the room it was dark except for a solitary oil 
+lamp. 
+
+He was rolling his wand between his fingers, watching 
+it, his thoughts on the room in the castle, the secret 
+room only he had ever found, the room, like the 
+Chamber, that you had to be clever and cunning and 
+inquisitive to discover. . . . He was confident that the 
+boy would not find the diadem . . . although 
+Dumbledore’s puppet had come much farther than he 
+had ever expected . . . too far. . . . 
+
+“My Lord,” said a voice, desperate and cracked. He 
+turned: There was Lucius Malfoy sitting in the 
+darkest corner, ragged and still bearing the marks of 
+the punishment he had received after the boy’s last 
+
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+
+
+
+
+escape. One of his eyes remained closed and puffy. 
+“My Lord ... please ... my son ...” 
+
+“If your son is dead, Lucius, it is not my fault. He did 
+not come and join me, like the rest of the Slytherins. 
+Perhaps he has decided to befriend Harry Potter?” 
+
+“No — never,” whispered Malfoy. 
+
+“You must hope not.” 
+
+“Aren’t — aren’t you afraid, my Lord, that Potter 
+might die at another hand but yours?” asked Malfoy, 
+his voice shaking. “Wouldn’t it be ... forgive me ... 
+more prudent to call off this battle, enter the castle, 
+and seek him y-yourself?” 
+
+“Do not pretend, Lucius. You wish the battle to cease 
+so that you can discover what has happened to your 
+son. And I do not need to seek Potter. Before the night 
+is out, Potter will have come to find me.” 
+
+Voldemort dropped his gaze once more to the wand in 
+his fingers. It troubled him ... and those things that 
+troubled Lord Voldemort needed to be rearranged. ... 
+
+“Go and fetch Snape.” 
+
+“Snape, m-my Lord?” 
+
+“Snape. Now. I need him. There is a — service — I 
+require from him. Go.” 
+
+Frightened, stumbling a little through the gloom, 
+Lucius left the room. Voldemort continued to stand 
+there, twirling the wand between his fingers, staring 
+at it. 
+
+
+
+Page | 726 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“It is the only way, Nagini,” he whispered, and he 
+looked around, and there was the great thick snake, 
+now suspended in midair, twisting gracefully within 
+the enchanted, protected space he had made for her, 
+a starry, transparent sphere somewhere between 
+glittering cage and tank. 
+
+With a gasp, Harry pulled back and opened his eyes; 
+at the same moment his ears were assaulted with the 
+screeches and cries, the smashes and bangs of battle. 
+
+“He’s in the Shrieking Shack. The snake’s with him, 
+it’s got some sort of magical protection around it. He’s 
+just sent Lucius Malfoy to find Snape.” 
+
+“Voldemort’s sitting in the Shrieking Shack?” said 
+Hermione, outraged. “He’s not — he’s not even 
+fighting?” 
+
+“He doesn’t think he needs to fight,” said Harry. “He 
+thinks I’m going to go to him.” 
+
+“But why?” 
+
+“He knows I’m after Horcruxes — he’s keeping Nagini 
+close beside him — obviously I’m going to have to go 
+to him to get near the thing — ” 
+
+“Right,” said Ron, squaring his shoulders. “So you 
+can’t go, that’s what he wants, what he’s expecting. 
+You stay here and look after Hermione, and I’ll go and 
+get it — ” 
+
+Harry cut across Ron. 
+
+“You two stay here, I’ll go under the Cloak and I’ll be 
+back as soon as I — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Hermione, “it makes much more sense if I 
+take the Cloak and — ” 
+
+“Don’t even think about it,” Ron snarled at her. 
+
+Before Hermione could get farther than “Ron, I’m just 
+as capable — ” the tapestry at the top of the staircase 
+on which they stood was ripped open. 
+
+“POTTER!” 
+
+Two masked Death Eaters stood there, but even 
+before their wands were fully raised, Hermione 
+shouted, “Glisseo\” 
+
+The stairs beneath their feet flattened into a chute 
+and she, Harry, and Ron hurtled down it, unable to 
+control their speed but so fast that the Death Eaters’ 
+Stunning Spells flew far over their heads. They shot 
+through the concealing tapestry at the bottom and 
+spun onto the floor, hitting the opposite wall. 
+
+“Duro\” cried Hermione, pointing her wand at the 
+tapestry, and there were two loud, sickening crunches 
+as the tapestry turned to stone and the Death Eaters 
+pursuing them crumpled against it. 
+
+“Get back!” shouted Ron, and he, Harry, and 
+Hermione flattened themselves against a door as a 
+herd of galloping desks thundered past, shepherded 
+by a sprinting Professor McGonagall. She appeared 
+not to notice them: Her hair had come down and 
+there was a gash on her cheek. As she turned the 
+corner, they heard her scream, “CHARGE!” 
+
+“Harry, you get the Cloak on,” said Hermione. “Never 
+mind us — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+But he threw it over all three of them; large though 
+they were, he doubted anyone would see their 
+disembodied feet through the dust that clogged the 
+air, the falling stone, the shimmer of spells. 
+
+They ran down the next staircase and found 
+themselves in a corridor full of duelers. The portraits 
+on either side of the fighters were crammed with 
+figures screaming advice and encouragement, while 
+Death Eaters, both masked and unmasked, dueled 
+students and teachers. Dean had won himself a 
+wand, for he was face-to-face with Dolohov, Parvati 
+with Travers. Harry, Ron, and Hermione raised their 
+wands at once, ready to strike, but the duelers were 
+weaving and darting around so much that there was a 
+strong likelihood of hurting one of their own side if 
+they cast curses. Even as they stood braced, looking 
+for the opportunity to act, there came a great 
+“Wheeeeeeeeeeee\” and, looking up, Harry saw Peeves 
+zooming over them, dropping Snargaluff pods down 
+onto the Death Eaters, whose heads were suddenly 
+engulfed in wriggling green tubers like fat worms. 
+
+“Argh!” 
+
+A fistful of tubers had hit the Cloak over Ron’s head; 
+the slimy green roots were suspended improbably in 
+midair as Ron tried to shake them loose. 
+
+“Someone’s invisible there!” shouted a masked Death 
+Eater, pointing. 
+
+Dean made the most of the Death Eater’s momentary 
+distraction, knocking him out with a Stunning Spell; 
+Dolohov attempted to retaliate and Parvati shot a 
+Body-Bind Curse at him. 
+
+“LET’S GO!” Harry yelled, and he, Ron, and Hermione 
+gathered the Cloak tightly around themselves and 
+
+Page | 729 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+pelted, heads down, through the midst of the fighters, 
+slipping a little in pools of Snargaluff juice, toward the 
+top of the marble staircase into the entrance hall. 
+
+“I’m Draco Malfoy, I’m Draco, I’m on your side!” 
+
+Draco was on the upper landing, pleading with 
+another masked Death Eater. Harry Stunned the 
+Death Eater as they passed: Malfoy looked around, 
+beaming, for his savior, and Ron punched him from 
+under the Cloak. Malfoy fell backward on top of the 
+Death Eater, his mouth bleeding, utterly bemused. 
+
+“And that’s the second time we’ve saved your life 
+tonight, you two-faced bastard!” Ron yelled. 
+
+There were more duelers all over the stairs and in the 
+hall, Death Eaters everywhere Harry looked: Yaxley, 
+close to the front doors, in combat with Flitwick, a 
+masked Death Eater dueling Kingsley right beside 
+them. Students ran in every direction, some carrying 
+or dragging injured friends. Harry directed a Stunning 
+Spell toward the masked Death Eater; it missed but 
+nearly hit Neville, who had emerged from nowhere 
+brandishing armfuls of Venomous Tentacula, which 
+looped itself happily around the nearest Death Eater 
+and began reeling him in. 
+
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione sped down the marble 
+staircase: Glass shattered to their left, and the 
+Slytherin hourglass that had recorded House points 
+spilled its emeralds everywhere, so that people slipped 
+and staggered as they ran. Two bodies fell from the 
+balcony overhead as they reached the ground, and a 
+gray blur that Harry took for an animal sped four- 
+legged across the hall to sink its teeth into one of the 
+fallen. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“NO!” shrieked Hermione, and with a deafening blast 
+from her wand, Fenrir Greyback was thrown 
+backward from the feebly stirring body of Lavender 
+Brown. He hit the marble banisters and struggled to 
+return to his feet. Then, with a bright white flash and 
+a crack, a crystal ball fell on top of his head, and he 
+crumpled to the ground and did not move. 
+
+“I have more!” shrieked Professor Trelawney from over 
+the banisters. “More for any who want them! Here — ” 
+
+And with a movement like a tennis serve, she heaved 
+another enormous crystal sphere from her bag, waved 
+her wand through the air, and caused the ball to 
+speed across the hall and smash through a window. 
+At the same moment, the heavy wooden front doors 
+burst open, and more of the gigantic spiders forced 
+their way into the entrance hall. 
+
+Screams of terror rent the air: The fighters scattered, 
+Death Eaters and Hogwartians alike, and red and 
+green jets of light flew into the midst of the oncoming 
+monsters, which shuddered and reared, more 
+terrifying than ever. 
+
+“How do we get out?” yelled Ron over all the 
+screaming, but before either Harry or Hermione could 
+answer they were bowled aside: Hagrid had come 
+thundering down the stairs, brandishing his flowery 
+pink umbrella. 
+
+“Don’t hurt ’em, don’t hurt ’em!” he yelled. 
+
+“HAGRID, NO!” 
+
+Harry forgot everything else: He sprinted out from 
+under the Cloak, running bent double to avoid the 
+curses illuminating the whole hall. 
+
+
+
+Page | 731 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“HAGRID, COME BACK!” 
+
+
+
+But he was not even halfway to Hagrid when he saw it 
+happen: Hagrid vanished amongst the spiders, and 
+with a great scurrying, a foul swarming movement, 
+they retreated under the onslaught of spells, Hagrid 
+buried in their midst. 
+
+“HAGRID!” 
+
+Harry heard someone calling his own name, whether 
+friend or foe he did not care: He was sprinting down 
+the front steps into the dark grounds, and the spiders 
+were swarming away with their prey, and he could see 
+nothing of Hagrid at all. 
+
+“HAGRID!” 
+
+He thought he could make out an enormous arm 
+waving from the midst of the spider swarm, but as he 
+made to chase after them, his way was impeded by a 
+monumental foot, which swung down out of the 
+darkness and made the ground on which he stood 
+shudder. He looked up: A giant stood before him, 
+twenty feet high, its head hidden in shadow, nothing 
+but its treelike, hairy shins illuminated by light from 
+the castle doors. With one brutal, fluid movement, it 
+smashed a massive fist through an upper window, 
+and glass rained down upon Harry, forcing him back 
+under the shelter of the doorway. 
+
+“Oh my — !” shrieked Hermione, as she and Ron 
+caught up with Harry and gazed upward at the giant 
+now trying to seize people through the window above. 
+
+“DONT!” Ron yelled, grabbing Hermione’s hand as 
+she raised her wand. “Stun him and hell crush half 
+the castle — ” 
+
+Page | 732 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“HAGGER?” 
+
+
+
+Grawp came lurching around the corner of the castle; 
+only now did Harry realize that Grawp was, indeed, 
+an undersized giant. The gargantuan monster trying 
+to crush people on the upper floors looked around 
+and let out a roar. The stone steps trembled as he 
+stomped toward his smaller kin, and Grawp ’s 
+lopsided mouth fell open, showing yellow, half-brick- 
+sized teeth; and then they launched themselves at 
+each other with the savagery of lions. 
+
+“RUN!” Harry roared; the night was full of hideous 
+yells and blows as the giants wrestled, and he seized 
+Hermione’s hand and tore down the steps into the 
+grounds, Ron bringing up the rear. Harry had not lost 
+hope of finding and saving Hagrid; he ran so fast that 
+they were halfway toward the forest before they were 
+brought up short again. 
+
+The air around them had frozen: Harry’s breath 
+caught and solidified in his chest. Shapes moved out 
+in the darkness, swirling figures of concentrated 
+blackness, moving in a great wave toward the castle, 
+their faces hooded and their breath rattling. . . . 
+
+Ron and Hermione closed in beside him as the 
+sounds of fighting behind them grew suddenly muted, 
+deadened, because a silence only dementors could 
+bring was falling thickly through the night, and Fred 
+was gone, and Hagrid was surely dying or already 
+dead. ... 
+
+“Come on, Harry!” said Hermione’s voice from a very 
+long way away. “Patronuses, Harry, come on!” 
+
+He raised his wand, but a dull hopelessness was 
+spreading through him: How many more lay dead 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+that he did not yet know about; he felt as though his 
+soul had already half left his body. . . . 
+
+
+
+“HARRY, COME ON!” screamed Hermione. 
+
+A hundred dementors were advancing, gliding toward 
+
+them, sucking their way closer to Harry’s despair, 
+which was like a promise of a feast. ... 
+
+He saw Ron’s silver terrier burst into the air, flicker 
+feebly, and expire; he saw Hermione’s otter twist in 
+midair and fade; and his own wand trembled in his 
+hand, and he almost welcomed the oncoming 
+oblivion, the promise of nothing, of no feeling. . . . 
+
+And then a silver hare, a boar, and a fox soared past 
+Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s heads: The dementors 
+fell back before the creatures’ approach. Three more 
+people had arrived out of the darkness to stand 
+beside them, their wands outstretched, continuing to 
+cast their Patronuses: Luna, Ernie, and Seamus. 
+
+“That’s right,” said Luna encouragingly, as if they 
+were back in the Room of Requirement and this was 
+simply spell practice for the D.A. “That’s right, Harry 
+... come on, think of something happy. ...” 
+
+“Something happy?” he said, his voice cracked. 
+
+“We’re all still here,” she whispered, “we’re still 
+fighting. Come on, now. ...” 
+
+There was a silver spark, then a wavering light, and 
+
+then, with the greatest effort it had ever cost him, the 
+stag burst from the end of Harry’s wand. It cantered 
+forward, and now the dementors scattered in earnest, 
+and immediately the night was mild again, but the 
+sounds of the surrounding battle were loud in his 
+ears. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Can’t thank you enough,” said Ron shakily, turning 
+to Luna, Ernie, and Seamus, “you just saved — ” 
+
+With a roar and an earth-quaking tremor, another 
+giant came lurching out of the darkness from the 
+direction of the forest, brandishing a club taller than 
+any of them. 
+
+“RUN!” Harry shouted again, but the others needed 
+no telling: They all scattered, and not a second too 
+soon, for next moment the creature’s vast foot had 
+fallen exactly where they had been standing. Harry 
+looked round: Ron and Hermione were following him, 
+but the other three had vanished back into the battle. 
+
+“Let’s get out of range!” yelled Ron as the giant swung 
+its club again and its bellows echoed through the 
+night, across the grounds where bursts of red and 
+green light continued to illuminate the darkness. 
+
+“The Whomping Willow,” said Harry, “go!” 
+
+Somehow he walled it all up in his mind, crammed it 
+into a small space into which he could not look now: 
+Thoughts of Fred and Hagrid, and his terror for all the 
+people he loved, scattered in and outside the castle, 
+must all wait, because they had to run, had to reach 
+the snake and Voldemort, because that was, as 
+Hermione said, the only way to end it — 
+
+He sprinted, half believing he could outdistance death 
+itself, ignoring the jets of light flying in the darkness 
+all around him, and the sound of the lake crashing 
+like the sea, and the creaking of the Forbidden Forest 
+though the night was windless; through grounds that 
+seemed themselves to have risen in rebellion, he ran 
+faster than he had ever moved in his life, and it was 
+he who saw the great tree first, the Willow that 
+
+
+
+Page | 735 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+protected the secret at its roots with whiplike, 
+slashing branches. 
+
+
+
+Panting and gasping, Harry slowed down, skirting the 
+Willow’s swiping branches, peering through the 
+darkness toward its thick trunk, trying to see the 
+single knot in the bark of the old tree that would 
+paralyze it. Ron and Hermione caught up, Hermione 
+so out of breath she could not speak. 
+
+“How — how’re we going to get in?” panted Ron. “I can 
+— see the place — if we just had — Crookshanks 
+again — ” 
+
+“Crookshanks?” wheezed Hermione, bent double, 
+clutching her chest. “Are you a wizard, or what?” 
+
+“Oh — right — yeah — ” 
+
+Ron looked around, then directed his wand at a twig 
+on the ground and said, “Wingardium Leviosal” The 
+twig flew up from the ground, spun through the air as 
+if caught by a gust of wind, then zoomed directly at 
+the trunk through the Willow’s ominously swaying 
+branches. It jabbed at a place near the roots, and at 
+once, the writhing tree became still. 
+
+“Perfect!” panted Hermione. 
+
+“Wait.” 
+
+For one teetering second, while the crashes and 
+booms of the battle filled the air, Harry hesitated. 
+Voldemort wanted him to do this, wanted him to 
+come. ... Was he leading Ron and Hermione into a 
+trap? 
+
+But then the reality seemed to close upon him, cruel 
+and plain: The only way forward was to kill the snake, 
+
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+
+
+
+
+and the snake was where Voldemort was, and 
+Voldemort was at the end of this tunnel. ... 
+
+
+
+“Harry, we’re coming, just get in there!” said Ron, 
+pushing him forward. 
+
+Harry wriggled into the earthy passage hidden in the 
+tree’s roots. It was a much tighter squeeze than it had 
+been the last time they had entered it. The tunnel was 
+low-ceilinged: They had had to double up to move 
+through it nearly four years previously; now there was 
+nothing for it but to crawl. Harry went first, his wand 
+illuminated, expecting at any moment to meet 
+barriers, but none came. They moved in silence, 
+Harry’s gaze fixed upon the swinging beam of the 
+wand held in his fist. 
+
+At last the tunnel began to slope upward and Harry 
+saw a sliver of light ahead. Hermione tugged at his 
+ankle. 
+
+“The Cloak!” she whispered. “Put the Cloak on!” 
+
+He groped behind him and she forced the bundle of 
+slippery cloth into his free hand. With difficulty he 
+dragged it over himself, murmured, “Nox,” 
+extinguishing his wandlight, and continued on his 
+hands and knees, as silently as possible, all his 
+senses straining, expecting every second to be 
+discovered, to hear a cold clear voice, see a flash of 
+green light. 
+
+And then he heard voices coming from the room 
+directly ahead of them, only slightly muffled by the 
+fact that the opening at the end of the tunnel had 
+been blocked up by what looked like an old crate. 
+Hardly daring to breathe, Harry edged right up to the 
+opening and peered through a tiny gap left between 
+crate and wall. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+The room beyond was dimly lit, but he could see 
+Nagini, swirling and coiling like a serpent underwater, 
+safe in her enchanted, starry sphere, which floated 
+unsupported in midair. He could see the edge of a 
+table, and a long-fingered white hand toying with a 
+wand. Then Snape spoke, and Harry’s heart lurched: 
+Snape was inches away from where he crouched, 
+hidden. 
+
+"... my Lord, their resistance is crumbling — ” 
+
+“ — and it is doing so without your help,” said 
+Voldemort in his high, clear voice. “Skilled wizard 
+though you are, Severus, I do not think you will make 
+much difference now. We are almost there ... almost.” 
+
+“Let me find the boy. Let me bring you Potter. I know I 
+can find him, my Lord. Please.” 
+
+Snape strode past the gap, and Harry drew back a 
+little, keeping his eyes fixed upon Nagini, wondering 
+whether there was any spell that might penetrate the 
+protection surrounding her, but he could not think of 
+anything. One failed attempt, and he would give away 
+his position. ... 
+
+Voldemort stood up. Harry could see him now, see the 
+red eyes, the flattened, serpentine face, the pallor of 
+him gleaming slightly in the semidarkness. 
+
+“I have a problem, Severus,” said Voldemort softly. 
+
+“My Lord?” said Snape. 
+
+Voldemort raised the Elder Wand, holding it as 
+delicately and precisely as a conductor’s baton. 
+
+“Why doesn’t it work for me, Severus?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+In the silence Harry imagined he could hear the snake 
+hissing slightly as it coiled and uncoiled — or was it 
+Voldemort’s sibilant sigh lingering on the air? 
+
+“My — my Lord?” said Snape blankly. “I do not 
+understand. You — you have performed extraordinary 
+magic with that wand.” 
+
+“No,” said Voldemort. “I have performed my usual 
+magic. I am extraordinary, but this wand ... no. It has 
+not revealed the wonders it has promised. I feel no 
+difference between this wand and the one I procured 
+from Ollivander all those years ago.” 
+
+Voldemort’s tone was musing, calm, but Harry’s scar 
+had begun to throb and pulse: Pain was building in 
+his forehead, and he could feel that controlled sense 
+of fury building inside Voldemort. 
+
+“No difference,” said Voldemort again. 
+
+Snape did not speak. Harry could not see his face: He 
+wondered whether Snape sensed danger, was trying 
+to find the right words to reassure his master. 
+
+Voldemort started to move around the room: Harry 
+lost sight of him for seconds as he prowled, speaking 
+in that same measured voice, while the pain and fury 
+mounted in Harry. 
+
+“I have thought long and hard, Severus. ... Do you 
+know why I have called you back from the battle?” 
+
+And for a moment Harry saw Snape ’s profile: His eyes 
+were fixed upon the coiling snake in its enchanted 
+cage. 
+
+“No, my Lord, but I beg you will let me return. Let me 
+find Potter.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You sound like Lucius. Neither of you understands 
+Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will 
+come to me. I know his weakness, you see, his one 
+great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck 
+down around him, knowing that it is for him that it 
+happens. He will want to stop it at any cost. He will 
+come.” 
+
+“But my Lord, he might be killed accidentally by one 
+other than yourself — ” 
+
+“My instructions to my Death Eaters have been 
+perfectly clear. Capture Potter. Kill his friends — the 
+more, the better — but do not kill him. 
+
+“But it is of you that I wished to speak, Severus, not 
+Harry Potter. You have been very valuable to me. Very 
+valuable.” 
+
+“My Lord knows I seek only to serve him. But — let 
+me go and find the boy, my Lord. Let me bring him to 
+you. I know I can — ” 
+
+“I have told you, no!” said Voldemort, and Harry 
+caught the glint of red in his eyes as he turned again, 
+and the swishing of his cloak was like the slithering of 
+a snake, and he felt Voldemort’s impatience in his 
+burning scar. “My concern at the moment, Severus, is 
+what will happen when I finally meet the boy!” 
+
+“My Lord, there can be no question, surely — ?” 
+
+“ — but there is a question, Severus. There is.” 
+
+Voldemort halted, and Harry could see him plainly 
+again as he slid the Elder Wand through his white 
+fingers, staring at Snape. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Why did both the wands I have used fail when 
+directed at Harry Potter?” 
+
+“I — I cannot answer that, my Lord.” 
+
+“Can’t you?” 
+
+The stab of rage felt like a spike driven through 
+Harry’s head: He forced his own fist into his mouth to 
+stop himself from crying out in pain. He closed his 
+eyes, and suddenly he was Voldemort, looking into 
+Snape’s pale face. 
+
+“My wand of yew did everything of which I asked it, 
+Severus, except to kill Harry Potter. Twice it failed. 
+Ollivander told me under torture of the twin cores, 
+told me to take another’s wand. I did so, but Lucius’s 
+wand shattered upon meeting Potter’s.” 
+
+“I — I have no explanation, my Lord.” 
+
+Snape was not looking at Voldemort now. His dark 
+eyes were still fixed upon the coiling serpent in its 
+protective sphere. 
+
+“I sought a third wand, Severus. The Elder Wand, the 
+Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. I took it from its 
+previous master. I took it from the grave of Albus 
+Dumbledore.” 
+
+And now Snape looked at Voldemort, and Snape’s 
+face was like a death mask. It was marble white and 
+so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that 
+anyone lived behind the blank eyes. 
+
+“My Lord — let me go to the boy — ” 
+
+“All this long night, when I am on the brink of victory, 
+
+I have sat here,” said Voldemort, his voice barely 
+
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+
+
+
+
+louder than a whisper, “wondering, wondering, why 
+the Elder Wand refuses to be what it ought to be, 
+refuses to perform as legend says it must perform for 
+its rightful owner ... and I think I have the answer.” 
+
+Snape did not speak. 
+
+“Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, 
+after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful 
+servant, and I regret what must happen.” 
+
+“My Lord — ” 
+
+“The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, 
+because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand 
+belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You 
+killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the 
+Elder Wand cannot be truly mine.” 
+
+“My Lord!” Snape protested, raising his wand. 
+
+“It cannot be any other way,” said Voldemort. “I must 
+master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I 
+master Potter at last.” 
+
+And Voldemort swiped the air with the Elder Wand. It 
+did nothing to Snape, who for a split second seemed 
+to think he had been reprieved: But then Voldemort’s 
+intention became clear. The snake’s cage was rolling 
+through the air, and before Snape could do anything 
+more than yell, it had encased him, head and 
+shoulders, and Voldemort spoke in Parseltongue. 
+
+“Kill.” 
+
+There was a terrible scream. Harry saw Snape ’s face 
+losing the little color it had left; it whitened as his 
+black eyes widened, as the snake’s fangs pierced his 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off 
+himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. 
+
+“I regret it,” said Voldemort coldly. 
+
+He turned away; there was no sadness in him, no 
+remorse. It was time to leave this shack and take 
+charge, with a wand that would now do his full 
+bidding. He pointed it at the starry cage holding the 
+snake, which drifted upward, off Snape, who fell 
+sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the 
+wounds in his neck. Voldemort swept from the room 
+without a backward glance, and the great serpent 
+floated after him in its huge protective sphere. 
+
+Back in the tunnel and his own mind, Harry opened 
+his eyes: He had drawn blood biting down on his 
+knuckles in the effort not to shout out. Now he was 
+looking through the tiny crack between crate and 
+wall, watching a foot in a black boot trembling on the 
+floor. 
+
+“Harry!” breathed Hermione behind him, but he had 
+already pointed his wand at the crate blocking his 
+view. It lifted an inch into the air and drifted sideways 
+silently. As quietly as he could, he pulled himself up 
+into the room. 
+
+He did not know why he was doing it, why he was 
+approaching the dying man: He did not know what he 
+felt as he saw Snape’s white face, and the fingers 
+trying to staunch the bloody wound at his neck. 
+
+Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak and looked down 
+upon the man he hated, whose widening black eyes 
+found Harry as he tried to speak. Harry bent over 
+him, and Snape seized the front of his robes and 
+pulled him close. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+A terrible rasping, gurgling noise issued from Snape’s 
+throat. 
+
+“Take ... it. ... Take ... it. ...” 
+
+Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. 
+Silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed from his 
+mouth and his ears and his eyes, and Harry knew 
+what it was, but did not know what to do — 
+
+A flask, conjured from thin air, was thrust into his 
+shaking hands by Hermione. Harry lifted the silvery 
+substance into it with his wand. When the flask was 
+full to the brim, and Snape looked as though there 
+was no blood left in him, his grip on Harry’s robes 
+slackened. 
+
+“Look ... at ... me. ...” he whispered. 
+
+The green eyes found the black, but after a second, 
+something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to 
+vanish, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The 
+hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape 
+moved no more. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PRINCE’S TALE 
+
+Harry remained kneeling at Snape’s side, simply 
+staring down at him, until quite suddenly a high, cold 
+voice spoke so close to them that Harry jumped to his 
+feet, the flask gripped tightly in his hands, thinking 
+that Voldemort had reentered the room. 
+
+Voldemort ’s voice reverberated from the walls and 
+floor, and Harry realized that he was talking to 
+Hogwarts and to all the surrounding area, that the 
+residents of Hogsmeade and all those still fighting in 
+the castle would hear him as clearly as if he stood 
+beside them, his breath on the back of their necks, a 
+deathblow away. 
+
+“You have fought,” said the high, cold voice, 
+
+“valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value 
+bravery. 
+
+“Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue 
+to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish 
+this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is 
+a loss and a waste. 
+
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+
+
+
+“Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to 
+retreat immediately. 
+
+
+
+“You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with 
+dignity. Treat your injured. 
+
+“I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have 
+permitted your friends to die for you rather than face 
+me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden 
+Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come 
+to me, have not given yourself up, then battle 
+recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, 
+Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish 
+every last man, woman, and child who has tried to 
+conceal you from me. One hour.” 
+
+Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads frantically, 
+looking at Harry. 
+
+“Don’t listen to him,” said Ron. 
+
+“It’ll be all right,” said Hermione wildly. “Let’s — let’s 
+get back to the castle, if he’s gone to the forest we’ll 
+need to think of a new plan — ” 
+
+She glanced at Snape’s body, then hurried back to 
+the tunnel entrance. Ron followed her. Harry gathered 
+up the Invisibility Cloak, then looked down at Snape. 
+He did not know what to feel, except shock at the way 
+Snape had been killed, and the reason for which it 
+had been done. ... 
+
+They crawled back through the tunnel, none of them 
+talking, and Harry wondered whether Ron and 
+Hermione could still hear Voldemort ringing in their 
+heads, as he could. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+You have permitted your friends to die for you rather 
+than face me yourself I shall wait for one hour in the 
+Forbidden Forest. . . . One hour. . . . 
+
+Small bundles seemed to litter the lawn at the front of 
+the castle. It could only be an hour or so from dawn, 
+yet it was pitch-black. The three of them hurried 
+toward the stone steps. A lone clog, the size of a small 
+boat, lay abandoned in front of them. There was no 
+other sign of Grawp or of his attacker. 
+
+The castle was unnaturally silent. There were no 
+flashes of light now, no bangs or screams or shouts. 
+The flagstones of the deserted entrance hall were 
+stained with blood. Emeralds were still scattered all 
+over the floor, along with pieces of marble and 
+splintered wood. Part of the banisters had been blown 
+away. 
+
+“Where is everyone?” whispered Hermione. 
+
+Ron led the way to the Great Hall. Harry stopped in 
+the doorway. 
+
+The House tables were gone and the room was 
+crowded. The survivors stood in groups, their arms 
+around each other’s necks. The injured were being 
+treated upon the raised platform by Madam Pomfrey 
+and a group of helpers. Firenze was amongst the 
+injured; his flank poured blood and he shook where 
+he lay, unable to stand. 
+
+The dead lay in a row in the middle of the Hall. Harry 
+could not see Fred’s body, because his family 
+surrounded him. George was kneeling at his head; 
+Mrs. Weasley was lying across Fred’s chest, her body 
+shaking, Mr. Weasley stroking her hair while tears 
+cascaded down his cheeks. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Without a word to Harry, Ron and Hermione walked 
+away. Harry saw Hermione approach Ginny, whose 
+face was swollen and blotchy, and hug her. Ron 
+joined Bill, Fleur, and Percy, who flung an arm 
+around Ron’s shoulders. As Ginny and Hermione 
+moved closer to the rest of the family, Harry had a 
+clear view of the bodies lying next to Fred: Remus and 
+Tonks, pale and still and peaceful-looking, apparently 
+asleep beneath the dark, enchanted ceiling. 
+
+The Great Hall seemed to fly away, become smaller, 
+shrink, as Harry reeled backward from the doorway. 
+He could not draw breath. He could not bear to look 
+at any of the other bodies, to see who else had died 
+for him. He could not bear to join the Weasleys, could 
+not look into their eyes, when if he had given himself 
+up in the first place, Fred might never have died. ... 
+
+He turned away and ran up the marble staircase. 
+Lupin, Tonks ... He yearned not to feel. ... He wished 
+he could rip out his heart, his innards, everything 
+that was screaming inside him. ... 
+
+The castle was completely empty; even the ghosts 
+seemed to have joined the mass mourning in the 
+Great Hall. Harry ran without stopping, clutching the 
+crystal flask of Snape’s last thoughts, and he did not 
+slow down until he reached the stone gargoyle 
+guarding the headmaster’s office. 
+
+“Password?” 
+
+“Dumbledore!” said Harry without thinking, because 
+it was he whom he yearned to see, and to his surprise 
+the gargoyle slid aside, revealing the spiral staircase 
+behind. 
+
+But when Harry burst into the circular office he found 
+a change. The portraits that hung all around the 
+
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+
+
+
+
+walls were empty. Not a single headmaster or 
+headmistress remained to see him; all, it seemed, had 
+flitted away, charging through the paintings that lined 
+the castle, so that they could have a clear view of 
+what was going on. 
+
+Harry glanced hopelessly at Dumbledore’s deserted 
+frame, which hung directly behind the headmaster’s 
+chair, then turned his back on it. The stone Pensieve 
+lay in the cabinet where it had always been: Harry 
+heaved it onto the desk and poured Snape’s memories 
+into the wide basin with its runic markings around 
+the edge. To escape into someone else’s head would 
+be a blessed relief. ... Nothing that even Snape had 
+left him could be worse than his own thoughts. The 
+memories swirled, silver white and strange, and 
+without hesitating, with a feeling of reckless 
+abandonment, as though this would assuage his 
+torturing grief, Harry dived. 
+
+He fell headlong into sunlight, and his feet found 
+warm ground. When he straightened up, he saw that 
+he was in a nearly deserted playground. A single huge 
+chimney dominated the distant skyline. Two girls 
+were swinging backward and forward, and a skinny 
+boy was watching them from behind a clump of 
+bushes. His black hair was overlong and his clothes 
+were so mismatched that it looked deliberate: too 
+short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have 
+belonged to a grown man, an odd smocklike shirt. 
+
+Harry moved closer to the boy. Snape looked no more 
+than nine or ten years old, sallow, small, stringy. 
+There was undisguised greed in his thin face as he 
+watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher 
+and higher than her sister. 
+
+“Lily, don’t do it!” shrieked the elder of the two. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height 
+of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, 
+launched herself skyward with a great shout of 
+laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground 
+asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the 
+air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly. 
+
+“Mummy told you not to!” 
+
+Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of 
+her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, 
+grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips. 
+
+“Mummy said you weren’t allowed, Lily!” 
+
+“But I’m fine,” said Lily, still giggling. “Tuney, look at 
+this. Watch what I can do.” 
+
+Petunia glanced around. The playground was 
+deserted apart from themselves and, though the girls 
+did not know it, Snape. Lily had picked up a fallen 
+flower from the bush behind which Snape lurked. 
+Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity 
+and disapproval. Lily waited until Petunia was near 
+enough to have a clear view, then held out her palm. 
+The flower sat there, opening and closing its petals, 
+like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster. 
+
+“Stop it!” shrieked Petunia. 
+
+“It’s not hurting you,” said Lily, but she closed her 
+hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground. 
+
+“It’s not right,” said Petunia, but her eyes had 
+followed the flower’s flight to the ground and lingered 
+upon it. “How do you do it?” she added, and there 
+was definite longing in her voice. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Snape could no longer contain 
+himself, but had jumped out from behind the bushes. 
+Petunia shrieked and ran backward toward the 
+swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained 
+where she was. Snape seemed to regret his 
+appearance. A dull flush of color mounted the sallow 
+cheeks as he looked at Lily. 
+
+“What’s obvious?” asked Lily. 
+
+Snape had an air of nervous excitement. With a 
+glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering beside the 
+swings, he lowered his voice and said, “I know what 
+you are.” 
+
+“What do you mean?” 
+
+“You’re ... you’re a witch,” whispered Snape. 
+
+She looked affronted. 
+
+“ That’s not a very nice thing to say to somebody!” 
+
+She turned, nose in the air, and marched off toward 
+her sister. 
+
+“No!” said Snape. He was highly colored now, and 
+Harry wondered why he did not take off the 
+ridiculously large coat, unless it was because he did 
+not want to reveal the smock beneath it. He flapped 
+after the girls, looking ludicrously batlike, like his 
+older self. 
+
+The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, 
+both holding on to one of the swing poles as though it 
+was the safe place in tag. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You are,” said Snape to Lily. “You are a witch. I’ve 
+been watching you for a while. But there’s nothing 
+wrong with that. My mum’s one, and I’m a wizard.” 
+
+Petunia’s laugh was like cold water. 
+
+“Wizard!” she shrieked, her courage returned now 
+that she had recovered from the shock of his 
+unexpected appearance. “I know who you are. You’re 
+that Snape boy! They live down Spinner’s End by the 
+river,” she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone 
+that she considered the address a poor 
+recommendation. “Why have you been spying on us?” 
+
+“Haven’t been spying,” said Snape, hot and 
+uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight. 
+“Wouldn’t spy on you, anyway,” he added spitefully, 
+
+“ you’re a Muggle.” 
+
+Though Petunia evidently did not understand the 
+word, she could hardly mistake the tone. 
+
+“Lily, come on, we’re leaving!” she said shrilly. Lily 
+obeyed her sister at once, glaring at Snape as she left. 
+He stood watching them as they marched through the 
+playground gate, and Harry, the only one left to 
+observe him, recognized Snape ’s bitter 
+disappointment, and understood that Snape had been 
+planning this moment for a while, and that it had all 
+gone wrong. . . . 
+
+The scene dissolved, and before Harry knew it, re- 
+formed around him. He was now in a small thicket of 
+trees. He could see a sunlit river glittering through 
+their trunks. The shadows cast by the trees made a 
+basin of cool green shade. Two children sat facing 
+each other, cross-legged on the ground. Snape had 
+removed his coat now; his odd smock looked less 
+peculiar in the half light. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+"... and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic 
+outside school, you get letters.” 
+
+“But I have done magic outside school!” 
+
+“We’re all right. We haven’t got wands yet. They let 
+you off when you’re a kid and you can’t help it. But 
+once you’re eleven,” he nodded importantly, “and they 
+start training you, then you’ve got to go careful.” 
+
+There was a little silence. Lily had picked up a fallen 
+twig and twirled it in the air, and Harry knew that she 
+was imagining sparks trailing from it. Then she 
+dropped the twig, leaned in toward the boy, and said, 
+“It is real, isn’t it? It’s not a joke? Petunia says you’re 
+lying to me. Petunia says there isn’t a Hogwarts. It is 
+real, isn’t it?” 
+
+“It’s real for us,” said Snape. “Not for her. But we’ll get 
+the letter, you and me.” 
+
+“Really?” whispered Lily. 
+
+“Definitely,” said Snape, and even with his poorly cut 
+hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly 
+impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of 
+confidence in his destiny. 
+
+“And will it really come by owl?” Lily whispered. 
+
+“Normally,” said Snape. “But you’re Muggle-born, so 
+someone from the school will have to come and 
+explain to your parents.” 
+
+“Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?” 
+
+Snape hesitated. His black eyes, eager in the greenish 
+gloom, moved over the pale face, the dark red hair. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference.” 
+
+“Good,” said Lily, relaxing: It was clear that she had 
+been worrying. 
+
+“You’ve got loads of magic,” said Snape. “I saw that. 
+All the time I was watching you ...” 
+
+His voice trailed away; she was not listening, but had 
+stretched out on the leafy ground and was looking up 
+at the canopy of leaves overhead. He watched her as 
+greedily as he had watched her in the playground. 
+
+“How are things at your house?” Lily asked. 
+
+A little crease appeared between his eyes. 
+
+“Fine,” he said. 
+
+“They’re not arguing anymore?” 
+
+“Oh yes, they’re arguing,” said Snape. He picked up a 
+fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart, 
+apparently unaware of what he was doing. “But it 
+won’t be that long and I’ll be gone.” 
+
+“Doesn’t your dad like magic?” 
+
+“He doesn’t like anything, much,” said Snape. 
+
+“Severus?” 
+
+A little smile twisted Snape ’s mouth when she said 
+his name. 
+
+“Yeah?” 
+
+“Tell me about the dementors again.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“What d’you want to know about them for?” 
+
+“If I use magic outside school — ” 
+
+“They wouldn’t give you to the dementors for that! 
+Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. 
+They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You’re not 
+going to end up in Azkaban, you’re too — ” 
+
+He turned red again and shredded more leaves. Then 
+a small rustling noise behind Harry made him turn: 
+Petunia, hiding behind a tree, had lost her footing. 
+
+“Tuney!” said Lily, surprise and welcome in her voice, 
+but Snape had jumped to his feet. 
+
+“Who’s spying now?” he shouted. “What d’you want?” 
+
+Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. 
+Harry could see her struggling for something hurtful 
+to say. 
+
+“What is that you’re wearing, anyway?” she said, 
+pointing at Snape’s chest. “Your mum’s blouse?” 
+
+There was a crack: A branch over Petunia’s head had 
+fallen. Lily screamed: The branch caught Petunia on 
+the shoulder, and she staggered backward and burst 
+into tears. 
+
+“Tuney!” 
+
+But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on 
+Snape. 
+
+“Did you make that happen?” 
+
+“No.” He looked both defiant and scared. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You did!” She was backing away from him. “You did). 
+You hurt her!” 
+
+
+
+“No — no I didn’t!” 
+
+But the lie did not convince Lily: After one last 
+burning look, she ran from the little thicket, off after 
+her sister, and Snape looked miserable and confused. 
+
+
+
+And the scene re-formed. Harry looked around: He 
+was on platform nine and three-quarters, and Snape 
+stood beside him, slightly hunched, next to a thin, 
+sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly 
+resembled him. Snape was staring at a family of four 
+a short distance away. The two girls stood a little 
+apart from their parents. Lily seemed to be pleading 
+with her sister; Harry moved closer to listen. 
+
+"... I’m sorry, Tuney, I’m sorry! Listen — ” She caught 
+her sister’s hand and held tight to it, even though 
+Petunia tried to pull it away. “Maybe once I’m there — 
+no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I’m there, I’ll be able to 
+go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to 
+change his mind!” 
+
+“I don’t — want — to — go!” said Petunia, and she 
+dragged her hand back out of her sister’s grasp. “You 
+think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to 
+be a — a — ” 
+
+Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats 
+mewling in their owners’ arms, over the owls 
+fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the 
+students, some already in their long black robes, 
+loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else 
+greeting one another with glad cries after a summer 
+apart. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“ — you think I want to be a — a freak?” 
+
+Lily’s eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in 
+tugging her hand away. 
+
+“I’m not a freak,” said Lily. “That’s a horrible thing to 
+say.” 
+
+“That’s where you’re going,” said Petunia with relish. 
+“A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy 
+... weirdos, that’s what you two are. It’s good you’re 
+being separated from normal people. It’s for our 
+safety.” 
+
+Lily glanced toward her parents, who were looking 
+around the platform with an air of wholehearted 
+enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked 
+back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce. 
+
+“You didn’t think it was such a freak’s school when 
+you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take 
+you.” 
+
+Petunia turned scarlet. 
+
+“Beg? I didn’t beg!” 
+
+“I saw his reply. It was very kind.” 
+
+“You shouldn’t have read — ” whispered Petunia, “that 
+was my private — how could you — ?” 
+
+Lily gave herself away by half-glancing toward where 
+Snape stood nearby. Petunia gasped. 
+
+“That boy found it! You and that boy have been 
+sneaking in my room!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No — not sneaking — ” Now Lily was on the 
+defensive. “Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn’t 
+believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, 
+that’s all! He says there must be wizards working 
+undercover in the postal service who take care of — ” 
+
+“Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!” 
+said Petunia, now as pale as she had been flushed. 
+
+“ Freak).” she spat at her sister, and she flounced off to 
+where her parents stood. ... 
+
+The scene dissolved again. Snape was hurrying along 
+the corridor of the Hogwarts Express as it clattered 
+through the countryside. He had already changed into 
+his school robes, had perhaps taken the first 
+opportunity to take off his dreadful Muggle clothes. At 
+last he stopped, outside a compartment in which a 
+group of rowdy boys were talking. Hunched in a 
+corner seat beside the window was Lily, her face 
+pressed against the windowpane. 
+
+Snape slid open the compartment door and sat down 
+opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked 
+back out of the window. She had been crying. 
+
+“I don’t want to talk to you,” she said in a constricted 
+voice. 
+
+“Why not?” 
+
+“Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from 
+Dumbledore.” 
+
+“So what?” 
+
+She threw him a look of deep dislike. 
+
+“So she’s my sister!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“She’s only a — ” He caught himself quickly; Lily, too 
+busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, 
+did not hear him. 
+
+“But we’re going!” he said, unable to suppress the 
+exhilaration in his voice. “This is it! We’re off to 
+Hogwarts!” 
+
+She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, 
+she half smiled. 
+
+“You’d better be in Slytherin,” said Snape, encouraged 
+that she had brightened a little. 
+
+“Slytherin?” 
+
+One of the boys sharing the compartment, who had 
+shown no interest at all in Lily or Snape until that 
+point, looked around at the word, and Harry, whose 
+attention had been focused entirely on the two beside 
+the window, saw his father: slight, black-haired like 
+Snape, but with that indefinable air of having been 
+well-cared-for, even adored, that Snape so 
+conspicuously lacked. 
+
+“Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave, 
+wouldn’t you?” James asked the boy lounging on the 
+seats opposite him, and with a jolt, Harry realized 
+that it was Sirius. Sirius did not smile. 
+
+“My whole family have been in Slytherin,” he said. 
+
+“Blimey,” said James, “and I thought you seemed all 
+right!” 
+
+Sirius grinned. 
+
+“Maybe I’ll break the tradition. Where are you 
+heading, if you’ve got the choice?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+James lifted an invisible sword. 
+
+
+
+“ ‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!’ Like my 
+dad.” 
+
+Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned 
+on him. 
+
+“Got a problem with that?” 
+
+“No,” said Snape, though his slight sneer said 
+otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy — ” 
+
+“Where ’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” 
+interjected Sirius. 
+
+James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather 
+flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike. 
+
+“Come on, Severus, let’s find another compartment.” 
+
+“Oooooo ...” 
+
+James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried 
+to trip Snape as he passed. 
+
+“See ya, Snivellus!” a voice called, as the 
+compartment door slammed. ... 
+
+And the scene dissolved once more. ... 
+
+Harry was standing right behind Snape as they faced 
+the candlelit House tables, lined with rapt faces. Then 
+Professor McGonagall said, “Evans, Lily!” 
+
+He watched his mother walk forward on trembling 
+legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor 
+McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+and barely a second after it had touched the dark red 
+hair, the hat cried, “ Gryffindoii” 
+
+
+
+Harry heard Snape let out a tiny groan. Lily took off 
+the hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then 
+hurried toward the cheering Gryffindors, but as she 
+went she glanced back at Snape, and there was a sad 
+little smile on her face. Harry saw Sirius move up the 
+bench to make room for her. She took one look at 
+him, seemed to recognize him from the train, folded 
+her arms, and firmly turned her back on him. 
+
+The roll call continued. Harry watched Lupin, 
+Pettigrew, and his father join Lily and Sirius at the 
+Gryffindor table. At last, when only a dozen students 
+remained to be sorted, Professor McGonagall called 
+Snape. 
+
+Harry walked with him to the stool, watched him 
+place the hat upon his head. “Slytherinl” cried the 
+Sorting Hat. 
+
+And Severus Snape moved off to the other side of the 
+Hall, away from Lily, to where the Slytherins were 
+cheering him, to where Lucius Malfoy, a prefect badge 
+gleaming upon his chest, patted Snape on the back as 
+he sat down beside him. ... 
+
+And the scene changed. ... 
+
+Lily and Snape were walking across the castle 
+courtyard, evidently arguing. Harry hurried to catch 
+up with them, to listen in. As he reached them, he 
+realized how much taller they both were: A few years 
+seemed to have passed since their Sorting. 
+
+"... thought we were supposed to be friends?” Snape 
+was saying. “Best friends?” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“We are, Sev, but I don’t like some of the people you’re 
+hanging round with! I’m sorry, but I detest Avery and 
+Mulciber! Mulciber\ What do you see in him, Sev, he’s 
+creepy! D’you know what he tried to do to Mary 
+Macdonald the other day?” 
+
+Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, 
+looking up into the thin, sallow face. 
+
+“That was nothing,” said Snape. “It was a laugh, 
+that’s all — ” 
+
+“It was Dark Magic, and if you think that’s funny — ” 
+
+“What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up 
+to?” demanded Snape. His color rose again as he said 
+it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment. 
+
+“What’s Potter got to do with anything?” said Lily. 
+
+“They sneak out at night. There’s something weird 
+about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?” 
+
+“He’s ill,” said Lily. “They say he’s ill — ” 
+
+“Every month at the full moon?” said Snape. 
+
+“I know your theory,” said Lily, and she sounded cold. 
+“Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do 
+you care what they’re doing at night?” 
+
+“I’m just trying to show you they’re not as wonderful 
+as everyone seems to think they are.” 
+
+The intensity of his gaze made her blush. 
+
+“They don’t use Dark Magic, though.” She dropped 
+her voice. “And you’re being really ungrateful. I heard 
+what happened the other night. You went sneaking 
+
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+
+
+
+
+down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and 
+James Potter saved you from whatever’s down there 
+
+
+
+Snape’s whole face contorted and he spluttered, 
+“Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? 
+
+He was saving his neck and his friends’ too! You’re 
+not going to — I won’t let you — ” 
+
+“Let me? Let me?” 
+
+Lily’s bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked 
+at once. 
+
+“I didn’t mean — I just don’t want to see you made a 
+fool of — He fancies you, James Potter fancies you!” 
+The words seemed wrenched from him against his 
+will. “And he’s not ... everyone thinks ... big Quidditch 
+hero — ” Snape’s bitterness and dislike were rendering 
+him incoherent, and Lily’s eyebrows were traveling 
+farther and farther up her forehead. 
+
+“I know James Potter’s an arrogant toerag,” she said, 
+cutting across Snape. “I don’t need you to tell me 
+that. But Mulciber’s and Avery’s idea of humor is just 
+evil. Evil, Sev. I don’t understand how you can be 
+friends with them.” 
+
+Harry doubted that Snape had even heard her 
+strictures on Mulciber and Avery. The moment she 
+had insulted James Potter, his whole body had 
+relaxed, and as they walked away there was a new 
+spring in Snape’s step. ... 
+
+And the scene dissolved. ... 
+
+Harry watched again as Snape left the Great Hall after 
+sitting his O.W.L. in Defense Against the Dark Arts, 
+watched as he wandered away from the castle and 
+
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+
+
+
+
+strayed inadvertently close to the place beneath the 
+beech tree where James, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew 
+sat together. But Harry kept his distance this time, 
+because he knew what happened after James had 
+hoisted Severus into the air and taunted him; he 
+knew what had been done and said, and it gave him 
+no pleasure to hear it again. ... He watched as Lily 
+joined the group and went to Snape’s defense. 
+Distantly he heard Snape shout at her in his 
+humiliation and his fury, the unforgivable word: 
+“MudbloocL.” 
+
+The scene changed. ... 
+
+“I’m sorry.” 
+
+“I’m not interested.” 
+
+“I’m sorry!” 
+
+“Save your breath.” 
+
+It was nighttime. Lily, who was wearing a dressing 
+gown, stood with her arms folded in front of the 
+portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor 
+Tower. 
+
+“I only came out because Mary told me you were 
+threatening to sleep here.” 
+
+“I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you 
+Mudblood, it just — ” 
+
+“Slipped out?” There was no pity in Lily’s voice. “It’s 
+too late. I’ve made excuses for you for years. None of 
+my friends can understand why I even talk to you. 
+You and your precious little Death Eater friends — 
+you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to 
+join You- Know- Who, can you?” 
+
+He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking. 
+
+“I can’t pretend anymore. You’ve chosen your way, 
+
+I’ve chosen mine.” 
+
+“No — listen, I didn’t mean — ” 
+
+“ — to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my 
+birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any 
+different?” 
+
+He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a 
+contemptuous look she turned and climbed back 
+through the portrait hole. ... 
+
+The corridor dissolved, and the scene took a little 
+longer to reform: Harry seemed to fly through shifting 
+shapes and colors until his surroundings solidified 
+again and he stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in 
+the darkness, the wind whistling through the 
+branches of a few leafless trees. The adult Snape was 
+panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly 
+in his hand, waiting for something or for someone. ... 
+His fear infected Harry too, even though he knew that 
+he could not be harmed, and he looked over his 
+shoulder, wondering what it was that Snape was 
+waiting for — 
+
+Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through 
+the air: Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had 
+dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of 
+his hand. 
+
+“Don’t kill me!” 
+
+“That was not my intention.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been 
+drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. 
+
+He stood before Snape with his robes whipping 
+around him, and his face was illuminated from below 
+in the light cast by his wand. 
+
+“Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort 
+have for me?” 
+
+“No — no message — I’m here on my own account!” 
+
+Snape was wringing his hands: He looked a little 
+mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him. 
+
+“I — I come with a warning — no, a request — please 
+
+
+
+Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and 
+branches still flew through the night air around them, 
+silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced 
+each other. 
+
+“What request could a Death Eater make of me?” 
+
+“The — the prophecy . . . the prediction . . . Trelawney 
+
+
+
+“Ah, yes,” said Dumbledore. “How much did you relay 
+to Lord Voldemort?” 
+
+“Everything — everything I heard!” said Snape. “That 
+is why — it is for that reason — he thinks it means 
+Lily Evans!” 
+
+“The prophecy did not refer to a woman,” said 
+Dumbledore. “It spoke of a boy born at the end of 
+July — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, 
+he is going to hunt her down — kill them all — ” 
+
+“If she means so much to you,” said Dumbledore, 
+“surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not 
+ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the 
+son?” 
+
+“I have — I have asked him — ” 
+
+“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, and Harry had 
+never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape 
+seemed to shrink a little. “You do not care, then, 
+about the deaths of her husband and child? They can 
+die, as long as you have what you want?” 
+
+Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“Hide them all, then,” he croaked. “Keep her — them 
+— safe. Please.” 
+
+“And what will you give me in return, Severus?” 
+
+“In — in return?” Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and 
+Harry expected him to protest, but after a long 
+moment he said, “Anything.” 
+
+The hilltop faded, and Harry stood in Dumbledore’s 
+office, and something was making a terrible sound, 
+like a wounded animal. Snape was slumped forward 
+in a chair and Dumbledore was standing over him, 
+looking grim. After a moment or two, Snape raised his 
+face, and he looked like a man who had lived a 
+hundred years of misery since leaving the wild hilltop. 
+
+“I thought ... you were going ... to keep her ... safe. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“She and James put their faith in the wrong person,” 
+said Dumbledore. “Rather like you, Severus. Weren’t 
+you hoping that Lord Voldemort would spare her?” 
+
+Snape’s breathing was shallow. 
+
+“Her boy survives,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+With a tiny jerk of the head, Snape seemed to flick off 
+an irksome fly. 
+
+“Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. 
+
+You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans’s 
+eyes, I am sure?” 
+
+“DON’T!” bellowed Snape. “Gone ... dead ...” 
+
+“Is this remorse, Severus?” 
+
+“I wish ... I wish / were dead. ...” 
+
+“And what use would that be to anyone?” said 
+Dumbledore coldly. “If you loved Lily Evans, if you 
+truly loved her, then your way forward is clear.” 
+
+Snape seemed to peer through a haze of pain, and 
+Dumbledore ’s words appeared to take a long time to 
+reach him. 
+
+“What — what do you mean?” 
+
+“You know how and why she died. Make sure it was 
+not in vain. Help me protect Lily’s son.” 
+
+“He does not need protection. The Dark Lord has gone 
+
+
+
+“The Dark Lord will return, and Harry Potter will be in 
+terrible danger when he does.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+There was a long pause, and slowly Snape regained 
+control of himself, mastered his own breathing. At 
+last he said, “Very well. Very well. But never — never 
+tell, Dumbledore! This must be between us! Swear it! I 
+cannot bear . . . especially Potter’s son ... I want your 
+word!” 
+
+“My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best 
+of you?” Dumbledore sighed, looking down into 
+Snape’s ferocious, anguished face. “If you insist ...” 
+
+The office dissolved but re-formed instantly. Snape 
+was pacing up and down in front of Dumbledore. 
+
+“ — mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined 
+rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, 
+attention-seeking and impertinent — ” 
+
+“You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said 
+Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of 
+Transfiguration Today. “Other teachers report that the 
+boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. 
+Personally, I find him an engaging child.” 
+
+Dumbledore turned a page, and said, without looking 
+up, “Keep an eye on Quirrell, won’t you?” 
+
+A whirl of color, and now everything darkened, and 
+Snape and Dumbledore stood a little apart in the 
+entrance hall, while the last stragglers from the Yule 
+Ball passed them on their way to bed. 
+
+“Well?” murmured Dumbledore. 
+
+“Karkaroff’s Mark is becoming darker too. He is 
+panicking, he fears retribution; you know how much 
+help he gave the Ministry after the Dark Lord fell.” 
+Snape looked sideways at Dumbledore ’s crooked- 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+nosed profile. “Karkaroff intends to flee if the Mark 
+burns.” 
+
+“Does he?” said Dumbledore softly, as Fleur Delacour 
+and Roger Davies came giggling in from the grounds. 
+“And are you tempted to join him?” 
+
+“No,” said Snape, his black eyes on Fleur’s and 
+Roger’s retreating figures. “I am not such a coward.” 
+
+“No,” agreed Dumbledore. “You are a braver man by 
+far than Igor Karkaroff. You know, I sometimes think 
+we Sort too soon. ...” 
+
+He walked away, leaving Snape looking stricken. ... 
+
+And now Harry stood in the headmaster’s office yet 
+again. It was nighttime, and Dumbledore sagged 
+sideways in the thronelike chair behind the desk, 
+apparently semiconscious. His right hand dangled 
+over the side, blackened and burned. Snape was 
+muttering incantations, pointing his wand at the 
+wrist of the hand, while with his left hand he tipped a 
+goblet full of thick golden potion down Dumbledore ’s 
+throat. After a moment or two, Dumbledore ’s eyelids 
+fluttered and opened. 
+
+“Why,” said Snape, without preamble, “ why did you 
+put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you 
+realized that. Why even touch it?” 
+
+Marvolo Gaunt’s ring lay on the desk before 
+Dumbledore. It was cracked; the sword of Gryffindor 
+lay beside it. 
+
+Dumbledore grimaced. 
+
+“I ... was a fool. Sorely tempted ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Tempted by what?” 
+Dumbledore did not answer. 
+
+
+
+“It is a miracle you managed to return here!” Snape 
+sounded furious. “That ring carried a curse of 
+extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope 
+for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time 
+being — ” 
+
+Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and 
+examined it with the expression of one being shown 
+an interesting curio. 
+
+“You have done very well, Severus. How long do you 
+think I have?” 
+
+Dumbledore ’s tone was conversational; he might have 
+been asking for a weather forecast. Snape hesitated, 
+and then said, “I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is 
+no halting such a spell forever. It will spread 
+eventually, it is the sort of curse that strengthens over 
+time.” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled. The news that he had less than a 
+year to live seemed a matter of little or no concern to 
+him. 
+
+“I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, 
+Severus.” 
+
+“If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might 
+have been able to do more, buy you more time!” said 
+Snape furiously. He looked down at the broken ring 
+and the sword. “Did you think that breaking the ring 
+would break the curse?” 
+
+“Something like that ... I was delirious, no doubt. ...” 
+said Dumbledore. With an effort he straightened 
+
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+
+
+
+
+himself in his chair. “Well, really, this makes matters 
+much more straightforward.” 
+
+Snape looked utterly perplexed. Dumbledore smiled. 
+
+“I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around 
+me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me.” 
+
+Snape sat down in the chair Harry had so often 
+occupied, across the desk from Dumbledore. Harry 
+could tell that he wanted to say more on the subject 
+of Dumbledore ’s cursed hand, but the other held it up 
+in polite refusal to discuss the matter further. 
+Scowling, Snape said, “The Dark Lord does not expect 
+Draco to succeed. This is merely punishment for 
+Lucius’s recent failures. Slow torture for Draco’s 
+parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price.” 
+
+“In short, the boy has had a death sentence 
+pronounced upon him as surely as I have,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Now, I should have thought the natural 
+successor to the job, once Draco fails, is yourself?” 
+
+There was a short pause. 
+
+“That, I think, is the Dark Lord’s plan.” 
+
+“Lord Voldemort foresees a moment in the near future 
+when he will not need a spy at Hogwarts?” 
+
+“He believes the school will soon be in his grasp, yes.” 
+
+“And if it does fall into his grasp,” said Dumbledore, 
+almost, it seemed, as an aside, “I have your word that 
+you will do all in your power to protect the students of 
+Hogwarts?” 
+
+Snape gave a stiff nod. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Good. Now then. Your first priority will be to discover 
+what Draco is up to. A frightened teenage boy is a 
+danger to others as well as to himself. Offer him help 
+and guidance, he ought to accept, he likes you — ” 
+
+“ — much less since his father has lost favor. Draco 
+blames me, he thinks I have usurped Lucius’s 
+position.” 
+
+“All the same, try. I am concerned less for myself than 
+for accidental victims of whatever schemes might 
+occur to the boy. Ultimately, of course, there is only 
+one thing to be done if we are to save him from Lord 
+Voldemort’s wrath.” 
+
+Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic 
+as he asked, “Are you intending to let him kill you?” 
+
+“Certainly not. You must kill me.” 
+
+There was a long silence, broken only by an odd 
+clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix was gnawing a bit 
+of cuttlebone. 
+
+“Would you like me to do it now?” asked Snape, his 
+voice heavy with irony. “Or would you like a few 
+moments to compose an epitaph?” 
+
+“Oh, not quite yet,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “I 
+daresay the moment will present itself in due course. 
+Given what has happened tonight,” he indicated his 
+withered hand, “we can be sure that it will happen 
+within a year.” 
+
+“If you don’t mind dying,” said Snape roughly, “why 
+not let Draco do it?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“That boy’s soul is not yet so damaged,” said 
+Dumbledore. “I would not have it ripped apart on my 
+account.” 
+
+“And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?” 
+
+“You alone know whether it will harm your soul to 
+help an old man avoid pain and humiliation,” said 
+Dumbledore. “I ask this one great favor of you, 
+Severus, because death is coming for me as surely as 
+the Chudley Cannons will finish bottom of this year’s 
+league. I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit 
+to the protracted and messy affair it will be if, for 
+instance, Greyback is involved — I hear Voldemort 
+has recruited him? Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to 
+play with her food before she eats it.” 
+
+His tone was light, but his blue eyes pierced Snape as 
+they had frequently pierced Harry, as though the soul 
+they discussed was visible to him. At last Snape gave 
+another curt nod. 
+
+Dumbledore seemed satisfied. 
+
+“Thank you, Severus ...” 
+
+The office disappeared, and now Snape and 
+Dumbledore were strolling together in the deserted 
+castle grounds by twilight. 
+
+“What are you doing with Potter, all these evenings 
+you are closeted together?” Snape asked abruptly. 
+
+Dumbledore looked weary. 
+
+“Why? You aren’t trying to give him more detentions, 
+Severus? The boy will soon have spent more time in 
+detention than out.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“He is his father over again — ” 
+
+“In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much 
+more like his mother’s. I spend time with Harry 
+because I have things to discuss with him, 
+information I must give him before it is too late.” 
+
+“Information,” repeated Snape. “You trust him ... you 
+do not trust me.” 
+
+“It is not a question of trust. I have, as we both know, 
+limited time. It is essential that I give the boy enough 
+information for him to do what he needs to do.” 
+
+“And why may I not have the same information?” 
+
+“I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket, 
+particularly not a basket that spends so much time 
+dangling on the arm of Lord Voldemort.” 
+
+“Which I do on your orders!” 
+
+“And you do it extremely well. Do not think that I 
+underestimate the constant danger in which you 
+place yourself, Severus. To give Voldemort what 
+appears to be valuable information while withholding 
+the essentials is a job I would entrust to nobody but 
+you.” 
+
+“Yet you confide much more in a boy who is incapable 
+of Occlumency, whose magic is mediocre, and who 
+has a direct connection into the Dark Lord’s mind!” 
+
+“Voldemort fears that connection,” said Dumbledore. 
+“Not so long ago he had one small taste of what truly 
+sharing Harry’s mind means to him. It was pain such 
+as he has never experienced. He will not try to 
+possess Harry again, I am sure of it. Not in that way.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I don’t understand.” 
+
+
+
+“Lord Voldemort’s soul, maimed as it is, cannot bear 
+close contact with a soul like Harry’s. Like a tongue 
+on frozen steel, like flesh in flame — ” 
+
+“Souls? We were talking of minds!” 
+
+“In the case of Harry and Lord Voldemort, to speak of 
+one is to speak of the other.” 
+
+Dumbledore glanced around to make sure that they 
+were alone. They were close by the Forbidden Forest 
+now, but there was no sign of anyone near them. 
+
+“After you have killed me, Severus — ” 
+
+“You refuse to tell me everything, yet you expect that 
+small service of me!” snarled Snape, and real anger 
+flared in the thin face now. “You take a great deal for 
+granted, Dumbledore! Perhaps I have changed my 
+mind!” 
+
+“You gave me your word, Severus. And while we are 
+talking about services you owe me, I thought you 
+agreed to keep a close eye on our young Slytherin 
+friend?” 
+
+Snape looked angry, mutinous. Dumbledore sighed. 
+
+“Come to my office tonight, Severus, at eleven, and 
+you shall not complain that I have no confidence in 
+you. ...” 
+
+They were back in Dumbledore ’s office, the windows 
+dark, and Fawkes sat silent as Snape sat quite still, 
+as Dumbledore walked around him, talking. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harry must not know, not until the last moment, not 
+until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the 
+strength to do what must be done?” 
+
+“But what must he do?” 
+
+“That is between Harry and me. Now listen closely, 
+Severus. There will come a time — after my death — 
+do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time 
+when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of 
+his snake.” 
+
+“For Nagini?” Snape looked astonished. 
+
+“Precisely. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort 
+stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but 
+keeps it safe beside him under magical protection, 
+then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry.” 
+
+“Tell him what?” 
+
+Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 
+
+“Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill 
+him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a 
+shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord 
+Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort’s soul was 
+blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto 
+the only living soul left in that collapsing building. 
+
+Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is 
+that which gives him the power of speech with 
+snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort’s mind 
+that he has never understood. And while that 
+fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains 
+attached to and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort 
+cannot die.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry seemed to be watching the two men from one 
+end of a long tunnel, they were so far away from him, 
+their voices echoing strangely in his ears. 
+
+“So the boy . . . the boy must die?” asked Snape quite 
+calmly. 
+
+“And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is 
+essential.” 
+
+Another long silence. Then Snape said, “I thought ... 
+all these years . . . that we were protecting him for her. 
+For Lily.” 
+
+“We have protected him because it has been essential 
+to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength,” 
+said Dumbledore, his eyes still tight shut. 
+
+“Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever 
+stronger, a parasitic growth: Sometimes I have 
+thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will 
+have arranged matters so that when he does set out 
+to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of 
+Voldemort.” 
+
+Dumbledore opened his eyes. Snape looked horrified. 
+
+“You have kept him alive so that he can die at the 
+right moment?” 
+
+“Don’t be shocked, Severus. How many men and 
+women have you watched die?” 
+
+“Lately, only those whom I could not save,” said 
+Snape. He stood up. “You have used me.” 
+
+“Meaning?” 
+
+“I have spied for you and lied for you, put myself in 
+mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be 
+
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+
+
+
+
+to keep Lily Potter’s son safe. Now you tell me you 
+have been raising him like a pig for slaughter — ” 
+
+“But this is touching, Severus,” said Dumbledore 
+seriously. “Have you grown to care for the boy, after 
+all?” 
+
+“For him?” shouted Snape. “Expecto Patronuml” 
+
+From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe: She 
+landed on the office floor, bounded once across the 
+office, and soared out of the window. Dumbledore 
+watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded 
+he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of 
+tears. 
+
+“After all this time?” 
+
+“Always,” said Snape. 
+
+And the scene shifted. Now, Harry saw Snape talking 
+to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk. 
+
+“You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of 
+Harry’s departure from his aunt and uncle’s,” said 
+Dumbledore. “Not to do so will raise suspicion, when 
+Voldemort believes you so well informed. However, 
+you must plant the idea of decoys; that, I think, ought 
+to ensure Harry’s safety. Try Confunding Mundungus 
+Fletcher. And Severus, if you are forced to take part 
+in the chase, be sure to act your part convincingly. ... 
+
+I am counting upon you to remain in Lord 
+Voldemort’s good books as long as possible, or 
+Hogwarts will be left to the mercy of the Carrows. ...” 
+
+Now Snape was head to head with Mundungus in an 
+unfamiliar tavern, Mundungus ’s face looking 
+curiously blank, Snape frowning in concentration. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You will suggest to the Order of the Phoenix,” Snape 
+murmured, “that they use decoys. Polyjuice Potion. 
+Identical Potters. It is the only thing that might work. 
+You will forget that I have suggested this. You will 
+present it as your own idea. You understand?” 
+
+“I understand,” murmured Mundungus, his eyes 
+unfocused. ... 
+
+Now Harry was flying alongside Snape on a 
+broomstick through a clear dark night: He was 
+accompanied by other hooded Death Eaters, and 
+ahead were Lupin and a Harry who was really George. 
+... A Death Eater moved ahead of Snape and raised 
+his wand, pointing it directly at Lupin’s back — 
+
+“ Sectumsemprcd” shouted Snape. 
+
+But the spell, intended for the Death Eater’s wand 
+hand, missed and hit George instead — 
+
+And next, Snape was kneeling in Sirius’s old 
+bedroom. Tears were dripping from the end of his 
+hooked nose as he read the old letter from Lily. The 
+second page carried only a few words: 
+
+could ever have been friends with Gellert Grindelwald. 
+
+I think her mind’s going, personally! 
+
+Lots of love, 
+
+Lily 
+
+Snape took the page bearing Lily’s signature, and her 
+love, and tucked it inside his robes. Then he ripped in 
+two the photograph he was also holding, so that he 
+kept the part from which Lily laughed, throwing the 
+portion showing James and Harry back onto the floor, 
+under the chest of drawers. ... 
+
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+
+
+
+
+And now Snape stood again in the headmaster’s 
+study as Phineas Nigellus came hurrying into his 
+portrait. 
+
+“Headmaster! They are camping in the Forest of Dean! 
+The Mudblood — ” 
+
+“Do not use that word!” 
+
+“ — the Granger girl, then, mentioned the place as she 
+opened her bag and I heard her!” 
+
+“Good. Very good!” cried the portrait of Dumbledore 
+behind the headmaster’s chair. “Now, Severus, the 
+sword! Do not forget that it must be taken under 
+conditions of need and valor — and he must not know 
+that you give it! If Voldemort should read Harry’s 
+mind and see you acting for him — ” 
+
+“I know,” said Snape curtly. He approached the 
+portrait of Dumbledore and pulled at its side. It 
+swung forward, revealing a hidden cavity behind it 
+from which he took the sword of Gryffindor. 
+
+“And you still aren’t going to tell me why it’s so 
+important to give Potter the sword?” said Snape as he 
+swung a traveling cloak over his robes. 
+
+“No, I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore’s portrait. “He 
+will know what to do with it. And Severus, be very 
+careful, they may not take kindly to your appearance 
+after George Weasley’s mishap — ” 
+
+Snape turned at the door. 
+
+“Don’t worry, Dumbledore,” he said coolly. “I have a 
+plan. ...” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+And Snape left the room. Harry rose up out of the 
+Pensieve, and moments later he lay on the carpeted 
+floor in exactly the same room: Snape might just have 
+closed the door. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FOREST AGAIN 
+
+Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the 
+dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought 
+he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry 
+understood at last that he was not supposed to 
+survive. His job was to walk calmly into Death’s 
+welcoming arms. Along the way, he was to dispose of 
+Voldemort’s remaining links to life, so that when at 
+last he flung himself across Voldemort’s path, and did 
+not raise a wand to defend himself, the end would be 
+clean, and the job that ought to have been done in 
+Godric’s Hollow would be finished: Neither would live, 
+neither could survive. 
+
+He felt his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. How 
+strange that in his dread of death, it pumped all the 
+harder, valiantly keeping him alive. But it would have 
+to stop, and soon. Its beats were numbered. How 
+many would there be time for, as he rose and walked 
+through the castle for the last time, out into the 
+grounds and into the forest? 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+Terror washed over him as he lay on the floor, with 
+that funeral drum pounding inside him. Would it hurt 
+to die? All those times he had thought that it was 
+about to happen and escaped, he had never really 
+thought of the thing itself: His will to live had always 
+been so much stronger than his fear of death. Yet it 
+did not occur to him now to try to escape, to outrun 
+Voldemort. It was over, he knew it, and all that was 
+left was the thing itself: dying. 
+
+If he could only have died on that summer’s night 
+when he had left number four, Privet Drive, for the 
+last time, when the noble phoenix-feather wand had 
+saved him! If he could only have died like Hedwig, so 
+quickly he would not have known it had happened! 
+
+Or if he could have launched himself in front of a 
+wand to save someone he loved. ... He envied even his 
+parents’ deaths now. This cold-blooded walk to his 
+own destruction would require a different kind of 
+bravery. He felt his fingers trembling slightly and 
+made an effort to control them, although no one could 
+see him; the portraits on the walls were all empty. 
+
+Slowly, very slowly, he sat up, and as he did so he felt 
+more alive and more aware of his own living body 
+than ever before. Why had he never appreciated what 
+a miracle he was, brain and nerve and bounding 
+heart? It would all be gone ... or at least, he would be 
+gone from it. His breath came slow and deep, and his 
+mouth and throat were completely dry, but so were 
+his eyes. 
+
+Dumbledore’s betrayal was almost nothing. Of course 
+there had been a bigger plan; Harry had simply been 
+too foolish to see it, he realized that now. He had 
+never questioned his own assumption that 
+Dumbledore wanted him alive. Now he saw that his 
+life span had always been determined by how long it 
+took to eliminate all the Horcruxes. Dumbledore had 
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+
+
+
+
+passed the job of destroying them to him, and 
+obediently he had continued to chip away at the 
+bonds tying not only Voldemort, but himself, to life! 
+How neat, how elegant, not to waste any more lives, 
+but to give the dangerous task to the boy who had 
+already been marked for slaughter, and whose death 
+would not be a calamity, but another blow against 
+Voldemort. 
+
+And Dumbledore had known that Harry would not 
+duck out, that he would keep going to the end, even 
+though it was his end, because he had taken trouble 
+to get to know him, hadn’t he? Dumbledore knew, as 
+Voldemort knew, that Harry would not let anyone else 
+die for him now that he had discovered it was in his 
+power to stop it. The images of Fred, Lupin, and 
+Tonks lying dead in the Great Hall forced their way 
+back into his mind’s eye, and for a moment he could 
+hardly breathe: Death was impatient. ... 
+
+But Dumbledore had overestimated him. He had 
+failed: The snake survived. One Horcrux remained to 
+bind Voldemort to the earth, even after Harry had 
+been killed. True, that would mean an easier job for 
+somebody. He wondered who would do it. ... Ron and 
+Hermione would know what needed to be done, of 
+course. ... That would have been why Dumbledore 
+wanted him to confide in two others ... so that if he 
+fulfilled his true destiny a little early, they could carry 
+on. ... 
+
+Like rain on a cold window, these thoughts pattered 
+against the hard surface of the incontrovertible truth, 
+which was that he must die. I must die. It must end. 
+
+Ron and Hermione seemed a long way away, in a far- 
+off country; he felt as though he had parted from 
+them long ago. There would be no good-byes and no 
+explanations, he was determined of that. This was a 
+
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+
+
+
+
+journey they could not take together, and the 
+attempts they would make to stop him would waste 
+valuable time. He looked down at the battered gold 
+watch he had received on his seventeenth birthday. 
+Nearly half of the hour allotted by Voldemort for his 
+surrender had elapsed. 
+
+He stood up. His heart was leaping against his ribs 
+like a frantic bird. Perhaps it knew it had little time 
+left, perhaps it was determined to fulfill a lifetime’s 
+beats before the end. He did not look back as he 
+closed the office door. 
+
+The castle was empty. He felt ghostly striding through 
+it alone, as if he had already died. The portrait people 
+were still missing from their frames; the whole place 
+was eerily still, as if all its remaining lifeblood were 
+concentrated in the Great Hall where the dead and 
+the mourners were crammed. 
+
+Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak over himself and 
+descended through the floors, at last walking down 
+the marble staircase into the entrance hall. Perhaps 
+some tiny part of him hoped to be sensed, to be seen, 
+to be stopped, but the Cloak was, as ever, 
+impenetrable, perfect, and he reached the front doors 
+easily. 
+
+Then Neville nearly walked into him. He was one half 
+of a pair that was carrying a body in from the 
+grounds. Harry glanced down and felt another dull 
+blow to his stomach: Colin Creevey, though underage, 
+must have sneaked back just as Malfoy, Crabbe, and 
+Goyle had done. He was tiny in death. 
+
+“You know what? I can manage him alone, Neville,” 
+said Oliver Wood, and he heaved Colin over his 
+shoulder in a fireman’s lift and carried him into the 
+Great Hall. 
+
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+
+
+
+Neville leaned against the door frame for a moment 
+and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He 
+looked like an old man. Then he set off down the 
+steps again into the darkness to recover more bodies. 
+
+Harry took one glance back at the entrance of the 
+Great Hall. People were moving around, trying to 
+comfort each other, drinking, kneeling beside the 
+dead, but he could not see any of the people he loved, 
+no hint of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, or any of the other 
+Weasleys, no Luna. He felt he would have given all the 
+time remaining to him for just one last look at them; 
+but then, would he ever have the strength to stop 
+looking? It was better like this. 
+
+He moved down the steps and out into the darkness. 
+
+It was nearly four in the morning, and the deathly 
+stillness of the grounds felt as though they were 
+holding their breath, waiting to see whether he could 
+do what he must. 
+
+Harry moved toward Neville, who was bending over 
+another body. 
+
+“Neville.” 
+
+“Blimey, Harry, you nearly gave me heart failure!” 
+
+Harry had pulled off the Cloak: The idea had come to 
+him out of nowhere, born out of a desire to make 
+absolutely sure. 
+
+“Where are you going, alone?” Neville asked 
+suspiciously. 
+
+“It’s all part of the plan,” said Harry. “There’s 
+something I’ve got to do. Listen — Neville — ” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Harry!” Neville looked suddenly scared. “Harry, 
+you’re not thinking of handing yourself over?” 
+
+
+
+“No,” Harry lied easily. “ ’Course not ... this is 
+something else. But I might be out of sight for a while. 
+You know Voldemort’s snake, Neville? He’s got a huge 
+snake. ... Calls it Nagini ...” 
+
+“I’ve heard, yeah. ... What about it?” 
+
+“It’s got to be killed. Ron and Hermione know that, 
+but just in case they — ” 
+
+The awfulness of that possibility smothered him for a 
+moment, made it impossible to keep talking. But he 
+pulled himself together again: This was crucial, he 
+must be like Dumbledore, keep a cool head, make 
+sure there were backups, others to carry on. 
+Dumbledore had died knowing that three people still 
+knew about the Horcruxes; now Neville would take 
+Harry’s place: There would still be three in the secret. 
+
+“Just in case they’re — busy — and you get the 
+chance — ” 
+
+“Kill the snake?” 
+
+“Kill the snake,” Harry repeated. 
+
+“All right, Harry. You’re okay, are you?” 
+
+“I’m fine. Thanks, Neville.” 
+
+But Neville seized his wrist as Harry made to move 
+on. 
+
+“We’re all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know 
+that?” 
+
+Page | 788 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Yeah, I — ” 
+
+
+
+The suffocating feeling extinguished the end of the 
+sentence; he could not go on. Neville did not seem to 
+find it strange. He patted Harry on the shoulder, 
+released him, and walked away to look for more 
+bodies. 
+
+Harry swung the Cloak back over himself and walked 
+on. Someone else was moving not far away, stooping 
+over another prone figure on the ground. He was feet 
+away from her when he realized it was Ginny. 
+
+He stopped in his tracks. She was crouching over a 
+girl who was whispering for her mother. 
+
+“It’s all right,” Ginny was saying. “It’s okay. We’re 
+going to get you inside.” 
+
+“But I want to go home,” whispered the girl. “I don’t 
+want to fight anymore!” 
+
+“I know,” said Ginny, and her voice broke. “It’s going 
+to be all right.” 
+
+Ripples of cold undulated over Harry’s skin. He 
+wanted to shout out to the night, he wanted Ginny to 
+know that he was there, he wanted her to know where 
+he was going. He wanted to be stopped, to be dragged 
+back, to be sent back home. ... 
+
+But he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best 
+home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, 
+the abandoned boys, had all found home here. ... 
+
+Ginny was kneeling beside the injured girl now, 
+holding her hand. With a huge effort Harry forced 
+himself on. He thought he saw Ginny look around as 
+he passed, and wondered whether she had sensed 
+
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+
+
+
+
+someone walking nearby, but he did not speak, and 
+he did not look back. 
+
+Hagrid’s hut loomed out of the darkness. There were 
+no lights, no sound of Fang scrabbling at the door, 
+his bark booming in welcome. All those visits to 
+Hagrid, and the gleam of the copper kettle on the fire, 
+and rock cakes and giant grubs, and his great 
+bearded face, and Ron vomiting slugs, and Hermione 
+helping him save Norbert ... 
+
+He moved on, and now he reached the edge of the 
+forest, and he stopped. 
+
+A swarm of dementors was gliding amongst the trees; 
+he could feel their chill, and he was not sure he would 
+be able to pass safely through it. He had no strength 
+left for a Patronus. He could no longer control his own 
+trembling. It was not, after all, so easy to die. Every 
+second he breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool 
+air on his face, was so precious: To think that people 
+had years and years, time to waste, so much time it 
+dragged, and he was clinging to each second. At the 
+same time he thought that he would not be able to go 
+on, and knew that he must. The long game was 
+ended, the Snitch had been caught, it was time to 
+leave the air. ... 
+
+The Snitch. His nerveless fingers fumbled for a 
+moment with the pouch at his neck and he pulled it 
+out. 
+
+I open at the close. 
+
+Breathing fast and hard, he stared down at it. Now 
+that he wanted time to move as slowly as possible, it 
+seemed to have sped up, and understanding was 
+coming so fast it seemed to have bypassed thought. 
+This was the close. This was the moment. 
+
+Page | 790 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He pressed the golden metal to his lips and 
+whispered, “I am about to die.” 
+
+The metal shell broke open. He lowered his shaking 
+hand, raised Draco’s wand beneath the Cloak, and 
+murmured, “Lumos.” 
+
+The black stone with its jagged crack running down 
+the center sat in the two halves of the Snitch. The 
+Resurrection Stone had cracked down the vertical line 
+representing the Elder Wand. The triangle and circle 
+representing the Cloak and the stone were still 
+discernible. 
+
+And again Harry understood without having to think. 
+It did not matter about bringing them back, for he 
+was about to join them. He was not really fetching 
+them: They were fetching him. 
+
+He closed his eyes and turned the stone over in his 
+hand three times. 
+
+He knew it had happened, because he heard slight 
+movements around him that suggested frail bodies 
+shifting their footing on the earthy, twig- strewn 
+ground that marked the outer edge of the forest. He 
+opened his eyes and looked around. 
+
+They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see 
+that. They resembled most closely the Riddle that had 
+escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been 
+memory made nearly solid. Less substantial than 
+living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they 
+moved toward him, and on each face, there was the 
+same loving smile. 
+
+James was exactly the same height as Harry. He was 
+wearing the clothes in which he had died, and his 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+hair was untidy and ruffled, and his glasses were a 
+little lopsided, like Mr. Weasley’s. 
+
+Sirius was tall and handsome, and younger by far 
+than Harry had seen him in life. He loped with an 
+easy grace, his hands in his pockets and a grin on his 
+face. 
+
+Lupin was younger too, and much less shabby, and 
+his hair was thicker and darker. He looked happy to 
+be back in this familiar place, scene of so many 
+adolescent wanderings. 
+
+Lily’s smile was widest of all. She pushed her long 
+hair back as she drew close to him, and her green 
+eyes, so like his, searched his face hungrily, as 
+though she would never be able to look at him 
+enough. 
+
+“You’ve been so brave.” 
+
+He could not speak. His eyes feasted on her, and he 
+thought that he would like to stand and look at her 
+forever, and that would be enough. 
+
+“You are nearly there,” said James. “Very close. We 
+are ... so proud of you.” 
+
+“Does it hurt?” 
+
+The childish question had fallen from Harry’s lips 
+before he could stop it. 
+
+“Dying? Not at all,” said Sirius. “Quicker and easier 
+than falling asleep.” 
+
+“And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over,” 
+said Lupin. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I didn’t want you to die,” Harry said. These words 
+came without his volition. “Any of you. I’m sorry — ” 
+
+
+
+He addressed Lupin more than any of them, 
+beseeching him. 
+
+“ — right after you’d had your son ... Remus, I’m sorry 
+
+
+
+“I am sorry too,” said Lupin. “Sorry I will never know 
+him . . . but he will know why I died and I hope he will 
+understand. I was trying to make a world in which he 
+could live a happier life.” 
+
+A chilly breeze that seemed to emanate from the heart 
+of the forest lifted the hair at Harry’s brow. He knew 
+that they would not tell him to go, that it would have 
+to be his decision. 
+
+“You’ll stay with me?” 
+
+“Until the very end,” said James. 
+
+“They won’t be able to see you?” asked Harry. 
+
+“We are part of you,” said Sirius. “Invisible to anyone 
+else.” 
+
+Harry looked at his mother. 
+
+“Stay close to me,” he said quietly. 
+
+And he set off. The dementors’ chill did not overcome 
+him; he passed through it with his companions, and 
+they acted like Patronuses to him, and together they 
+marched through the old trees that grew closely 
+together, their branches tangled, their roots gnarled 
+and twisted underfoot. Harry clutched the Cloak 
+tightly around him in the darkness, traveling deeper 
+Page | 793 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+and deeper into the forest, with no idea where exactly 
+Voldemort was, but sure that he would find him. 
+Beside him, making scarcely a sound, walked James, 
+Sirius, Lupin, and Lily, and their presence was his 
+courage, and the reason he was able to keep putting 
+one foot in front of the other. 
+
+His body and mind felt oddly disconnected now, his 
+limbs working without conscious instruction, as if he 
+were passenger, not driver, in the body he was about 
+to leave. The dead who walked beside him through 
+the forest were much more real to him now than the 
+living back at the castle: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and 
+all the others were the ones who felt like ghosts as he 
+stumbled and slipped toward the end of his life, 
+toward Voldemort. ... 
+
+A thud and a whisper: Some other living creature had 
+stirred close by. Harry stopped under the Cloak, 
+peering around, listening, and his mother and father, 
+Lupin and Sirius stopped too. 
+
+“Someone there,” came a rough whisper close at 
+hand. “He’s got an Invisibility Cloak. Could it be — ?” 
+
+Two figures emerged from behind a nearby tree: Their 
+wands flared, and Harry saw Yaxley and Dolohov 
+peering into the darkness, directly at the place Harry, 
+his mother and father and Sirius and Lupin stood. 
+Apparently they could not see anything. 
+
+“Definitely heard something,” said Yaxley. “Animal, 
+d’you reckon?” 
+
+“That head case Hagrid kept a whole bunch of stuff in 
+here,” said Dolohov, glancing over his shoulder. 
+
+Yaxley looked down at his watch. 
+
+
+
+Page | 794 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Time’s nearly up. Potter’s had his hour. He’s not 
+coming.” 
+
+“And he was sure he’d come! He won’t be happy.” 
+
+“Better go back,” said Yaxley. “Find out what the plan 
+is now.” 
+
+He and Dolohov turned and walked deeper into the 
+forest. Harry followed them, knowing that they would 
+lead him exactly where he wanted to go. He glanced 
+sideways, and his mother smiled at him, and his 
+father nodded encouragement. 
+
+They had traveled on mere minutes when Harry saw 
+light ahead, and Yaxley and Dolohov stepped out into 
+a clearing that Harry knew had been the place where 
+the monstrous Aragog had once lived. The remnants 
+of his vast web were there still, but the swarm of 
+descendants he had spawned had been driven out by 
+the Death Eaters, to fight for their cause. 
+
+A fire burned in the middle of the clearing, and its 
+flickering light fell over a crowd of completely silent, 
+watchful Death Eaters. Some of them were still 
+masked and hooded; others showed their faces. Two 
+giants sat on the outskirts of the group, casting 
+massive shadows over the scene, their faces cruel, 
+rough-hewn like rock. Harry saw Fenrir, skulking, 
+chewing his long nails; the great blond Rowle was 
+dabbing at his bleeding lip. He saw Lucius Malfoy, 
+who looked defeated and terrified, and Narcissa, 
+whose eyes were sunken and full of apprehension. 
+
+Every eye was fixed upon Voldemort, who stood with 
+his head bowed, and his white hands folded over the 
+Elder Wand in front of him. He might have been 
+praying, or else counting silently in his mind, and 
+Harry, standing still on the edge of the scene, thought 
+Page | 795 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+absurdly of a child counting in a game of hide-and- 
+seek. Behind his head, still swirling and coiling, the 
+great snake Nagini floated in her glittering, charmed 
+cage, like a monstrous halo. 
+
+When Dolohov and Yaxley rejoined the circle, 
+Voldemort looked up. 
+
+“No sign of him, my Lord,” said Dolohov. 
+
+Voldemort ’s expression did not change. The red eyes 
+seemed to burn in the firelight. Slowly he drew the 
+Elder Wand between his long fingers. 
+
+“My Lord — ” 
+
+Bellatrix had spoken: She sat closest to Voldemort, 
+disheveled, her face a little bloody but otherwise 
+unharmed. 
+
+Voldemort raised his hand to silence her, and she did 
+not speak another word, but eyed him in worshipful 
+fascination. 
+
+“I thought he would come,” said Voldemort in his 
+high, clear voice, his eyes on the leaping flames. “I 
+expected him to come.” 
+
+Nobody spoke. They seemed as scared as Harry, 
+whose heart was now throwing itself against his ribs 
+as though determined to escape the body he was 
+about to cast aside. His hands were sweating as he 
+pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it beneath 
+his robes, with his wand. He did not want to be 
+tempted to fight. 
+
+“I was, it seems ... mistaken,” said Voldemort. 
+
+“You weren’t.” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+Harry said it as loudly as he could, with all the force 
+he could muster: He did not want to sound afraid. 
+
+The Resurrection Stone slipped from between his 
+numb fingers, and out of the corner of his eyes he 
+saw his parents, Sirius, and Lupin vanish as he 
+stepped forward into the firelight. At that moment he 
+felt that nobody mattered but Voldemort. It was just 
+the two of them. 
+
+The illusion was gone as soon as it had come. The 
+giants roared as the Death Eaters rose together, and 
+there were many cries, gasps, even laughter. 
+Voldemort had frozen where he stood, but his red 
+eyes had found Harry, and he stared as Harry moved 
+toward him, with nothing but the fire between them. 
+
+Then a voice yelled: “HARRY! NO!” 
+
+He turned: Hagrid was bound and trussed, tied to a 
+tree nearby. His massive body shook the branches 
+overhead as he struggled, desperate. 
+
+“NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT’RE YEH — ?” 
+
+“QUIET!” shouted Rowle, and with a flick of his wand 
+Hagrid was silenced. 
+
+Bellatrix, who had leapt to her feet, was looking 
+eagerly from Voldemort to Harry, her breast heaving. 
+The only things that moved were the flames and the 
+snake, coiling and uncoiling in the glittering cage 
+behind Voldemort’s head. 
+
+Harry could feel his wand against his chest, but he 
+made no attempt to draw it. He knew that the snake 
+was too well protected, knew that if he managed to 
+point the wand at Nagini, fifty curses would hit him 
+first. And still, Voldemort and Harry looked at each 
+other, and now Voldemort tilted his head a little to 
+Page | 797 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the side, considering the boy standing before him, 
+and a singularly mirthless smile curled the lipless 
+mouth. 
+
+“Harry Potter,” he said very softly. His voice might 
+have been part of the spitting fire. “The Boy Who 
+Lived.” 
+
+None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: 
+Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and 
+Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably 
+of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips 
+on his — 
+
+Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still 
+tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what 
+would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into 
+the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, 
+while he could still stand, before he lost control, 
+before he betrayed fear — 
+
+He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, 
+and everything was gone. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+KING’S CROSS 
+
+He lay facedown, listening to the silence. He was 
+perfectly alone. Nobody was watching. Nobody else 
+was there. He was not perfectly sure that he was 
+there himself. 
+
+A long time later, or maybe no time at all, it came to 
+him that he must exist, must be more than 
+disembodied thought, because he was lying, definitely 
+lying, on some surface. Therefore he had a sense of 
+touch, and the thing against which he lay existed too. 
+
+Almost as soon as he had reached this conclusion, 
+Harry became conscious that he was naked. 
+Convinced as he was of his total solitude, this did not 
+concern him, but it did intrigue him slightly. He 
+wondered whether, as he could feel, he would be able 
+to see. In opening them, he discovered that he had 
+eyes. 
+
+He lay in a bright mist, though it was not like mist he 
+had ever experienced before. His surroundings were 
+not hidden by cloudy vapor; rather the cloudy vapor 
+
+Page | 799 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+had not yet formed into surroundings. The floor on 
+which he lay seemed to be white, neither warm nor 
+cold, but simply there, a flat, blank something on 
+which to be. 
+
+He sat up. His body appeared unscathed. He touched 
+his face. He was not wearing glasses anymore. 
+
+Then a noise reached him through the unformed 
+nothingness that surrounded him: the small soft 
+thumpings of something that flapped, flailed, and 
+struggled. It was a pitiful noise, yet also slightly 
+indecent. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he 
+was eavesdropping on something furtive, shameful. 
+
+For the first time, he wished he were clothed. 
+
+Barely had the wish formed in his head than robes 
+appeared a short distance away. He took them and 
+pulled them on: They were soft, clean, and warm. It 
+was extraordinary how they had appeared, just like 
+that, the moment he had wanted them. ... 
+
+He stood up, looking around. Was he in some great 
+Room of Requirement? The longer he looked, the more 
+there was to see. A great domed glass roof glittered 
+high above him in sunlight. Perhaps it was a palace. 
+All was hushed and still, except for those odd 
+thumping and whimpering noises coming from 
+somewhere close by in the mist. ... 
+
+Harry turned slowly on the spot, and his 
+surroundings seemed to invent themselves before his 
+eyes. A wide-open space, bright and clean, a hall 
+larger by far than the Great Hall, with that clear, 
+domed glass ceiling. It was quite empty. He was the 
+only person there, except for — 
+
+
+
+Page | 800 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+He recoiled. He had spotted the thing that was 
+making the noises. It had the form of a small, naked 
+child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, 
+flayed-looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat 
+where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, 
+struggling for breath. 
+
+He was afraid of it. Small and fragile and wounded 
+though it was, he did not want to approach it. 
+Nevertheless he drew slowly nearer, ready to jump 
+back at any moment. Soon he stood near enough to 
+touch it, yet he could not bring himself to do it. He 
+felt like a coward. He ought to comfort it, but it 
+repulsed him. 
+
+“You cannot help.” 
+
+He spun around. Albus Dumbledore was walking 
+toward him, sprightly and upright, wearing sweeping 
+robes of midnight blue. 
+
+“Harry.” He spread his arms wide, and his hands were 
+both whole and white and undamaged. “You 
+wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk.” 
+
+Stunned, Harry followed as Dumbledore strode away 
+from where the flayed child lay whimpering, leading 
+him to two seats that Harry had not previously 
+noticed, set some distance away under that high, 
+sparkling ceiling. Dumbledore sat down in one of 
+them, and Harry fell into the other, staring at his old 
+headmaster’s face. Dumbledore ’s long silver hair and 
+beard, the piercingly blue eyes behind half-moon 
+spectacles, the crooked nose: Everything was as he 
+had remembered it. And yet... 
+
+“But you’re dead,” said Harry. 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Dumbledore matter-of-factly. 
+
+Page | 801 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Then ... I’m dead too?” 
+
+
+
+“Ah,” said Dumbledore, smiling still more broadly. 
+“That is the question, isn’t it? On the whole, dear boy, 
+I think not.” 
+
+They looked at each other, the old man still beaming. 
+“Not?” repeated Harry. 
+
+“Not,” said Dumbledore. 
+
+“But ...” Harry raised his hand instinctively toward 
+the lightning scar. It did not seem to be there. “But I 
+should have died — I didn’t defend myself! I meant to 
+let him kill me!” 
+
+“And that,” said Dumbledore, “will, I think, have 
+made all the difference.” 
+
+Happiness seemed to radiate from Dumbledore like 
+light, like fire: Harry had never seen the man so 
+utterly, so palpably content. 
+
+“Explain,” said Harry. 
+
+“But you already know,” said Dumbledore. He 
+twiddled his thumbs together. 
+
+“I let him kill me,” said Harry. “Didn’t I?” 
+
+“You did,” said Dumbledore, nodding. “Go on!” 
+
+“So the part of his soul that was in me ...” 
+
+Dumbledore nodded still more enthusiastically, 
+urging Harry onward, a broad smile of encouragement 
+on his face. 
+
+
+
+Page | 802 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+"... has it gone?” 
+
+
+
+“Oh yes!” said Dumbledore. “Yes, he destroyed it. 
+
+Your soul is whole, and completely your own, Harry.” 
+
+“But then ...” 
+
+Harry glanced over his shoulder to where the small, 
+maimed creature trembled under the chair. 
+
+“What is that, Professor?” 
+
+“Something that is beyond either of our help,” said 
+Dumbledore. 
+
+“But if Voldemort used the Killing Curse,” Harry 
+started again, “and nobody died for me this time — 
+how can I be alive?” 
+
+“I think you know,” said Dumbledore. “Think back. 
+Remember what he did, in his ignorance, in his greed 
+and his cruelty.” 
+
+Harry thought. He let his gaze drift over his 
+surroundings. If it was indeed a palace in which they 
+sat, it was an odd one, with chairs set in little rows 
+and bits of railing here and there, and still, he and 
+Dumbledore and the stunted creature under the chair 
+were the only beings there. Then the answer rose to 
+his lips easily, without effort. 
+
+“He took my blood,” said Harry. 
+
+“Precisely!” said Dumbledore. “He took your blood and 
+rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, 
+Harry, Lily’s protection inside both of you! He tethered 
+you to life while he lives!” 
+
+
+
+Page | 803 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“I live . . . while he lives? But I thought ... I thought it 
+was the other way round! I thought we both had to 
+die? Or is it the same thing?” 
+
+He was distracted by the whimpering and thumping 
+of the agonized creature behind them and glanced 
+back at it yet again. 
+
+“Are you sure we can’t do anything?” 
+
+“There is no help possible.” 
+
+“Then explain ... more,” said Harry, and Dumbledore 
+smiled. 
+
+“You were the seventh Horcrux, Harry, the Horcrux 
+he never meant to make. He had rendered his soul so 
+unstable that it broke apart when he committed those 
+acts of unspeakable evil, the murder of your parents, 
+the attempted killing of a child. But what escaped 
+from that room was even less than he knew. He left 
+more than his body behind. He left part of himself 
+latched to you, the would-be victim who had survived. 
+
+“And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, 
+Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes 
+no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and 
+children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, 
+Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. 
+That they all have a power beyond his own, a power 
+beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has 
+never grasped. 
+
+“He took your blood believing it would strengthen 
+him. He took into his body a tiny part of the 
+enchantment your mother laid upon you when she 
+died for you. His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and 
+while that enchantment survives, so do you and so 
+does Voldemort’s one last hope for himself.” 
+
+Page | 804 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore smiled at Harry, and Harry stared at 
+him. 
+
+
+
+“And you knew this? You knew — all along?” 
+
+“I guessed. But my guesses have usually been good,” 
+said Dumbledore happily, and they sat in silence for 
+what seemed like a long time, while the creature 
+behind them continued to whimper and tremble. 
+
+“There’s more,” said Harry. “There’s more to it. Why 
+did my wand break the wand he borrowed?” 
+
+“As to that, I cannot be sure.” 
+
+“Have a guess, then,” said Harry, and Dumbledore 
+laughed. 
+
+“What you must understand, Harry, is that you and 
+Lord Voldemort have journeyed together into realms 
+of magic hitherto unknown and untested. But here is 
+what I think happened, and it is unprecedented, and 
+no wandmaker could, I think, ever have predicted it 
+or explained it to Voldemort. 
+
+“Without meaning to, as you now know, Lord 
+Voldemort doubled the bond between you when he 
+returned to a human form. A part of his soul was still 
+attached to yours, and, thinking to strengthen 
+himself, he took a part of your mother’s sacrifice into 
+himself. If he could only have understood the precise 
+and terrible power of that sacrifice, he would not, 
+perhaps, have dared to touch your blood. ... But then, 
+if he had been able to understand, he could not be 
+Lord Voldemort, and might never have murdered at 
+all. 
+
+“Having ensured this two-fold connection, having 
+wrapped your destinies together more securely than 
+
+Page | 805 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ever two wizards were joined in history, Voldemort 
+proceeded to attack you with a wand that shared a 
+core with yours. And now something very strange 
+happened, as we know. The cores reacted in a way 
+that Lord Voldemort, who never knew that your wand 
+was twin of his, had never expected. 
+
+“He was more afraid than you were that night, Harry. 
+You had accepted, even embraced, the possibility of 
+death, something Lord Voldemort has never been able 
+to do. Your courage won, your wand overpowered his. 
+And in doing so, something happened between those 
+wands, something that echoed the relationship 
+between their masters. 
+
+“I believe that your wand imbibed some of the power 
+and qualities of Voldemort’s wand that night, which is 
+to say that it contained a little of Voldemort himself. 
+So your wand recognized him when he pursued you, 
+recognized a man who was both kin and mortal 
+enemy, and it regurgitated some of his own magic 
+against him, magic much more powerful than 
+anything Lucius’s wand had ever performed. Your 
+wand now contained the power of your enormous 
+courage and of Voldemort’s own deadly skill: What 
+chance did that poor stick of Lucius Malfoy’s stand?” 
+
+“But if my wand was so powerful, how come 
+Hermione was able to break it?” asked Harry. 
+
+“My dear boy, its remarkable effects were directed 
+only at Voldemort, who had tampered so ill-advisedly 
+with the deepest laws of magic. Only toward him was 
+that wand abnormally powerful. Otherwise it was a 
+wand like any other ... though a good one, I am sure,” 
+Dumbledore finished kindly. 
+
+
+
+Page | 806 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry sat in thought for a long time, or perhaps 
+seconds. It was very hard to be sure of things like 
+time, here. 
+
+“He killed me with your wand.” 
+
+“He failed to kill you with my wand,” Dumbledore 
+corrected Harry. “I think we can agree that you are 
+not dead — though, of course,” he added, as if fearing 
+he had been discourteous, “I do not minimize your 
+sufferings, which I am sure were severe.” 
+
+“I feel great at the moment, though,” said Harry, 
+looking down at his clean, unblemished hands. 
+“Where are we, exactly?” 
+
+“Well, I was going to ask you that,” said Dumbledore, 
+looking around. “Where would you say that we are?” 
+
+Until Dumbledore had asked, Harry had not known. 
+Now, however, he found that he had an answer ready 
+to give. 
+
+“It looks,” he said slowly, “like King’s Cross station. 
+Except a lot cleaner and empty, and there are no 
+trains as far as I can see.” 
+
+“King’s Cross station!” Dumbledore was chuckling 
+immoderately. “Good gracious, really?” 
+
+“Well, where do you think we are?” asked Harry, a 
+little defensively. 
+
+“My dear boy, I have no idea. This is, as they say, 
+your party.” 
+
+Harry had no idea what this meant; Dumbledore was 
+being infuriating. He glared at him, then remembered 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+a much more pressing question than that of their 
+current location. 
+
+“The Deathly Hallows,” he said, and he was glad to 
+see that the words wiped the smile from 
+Dumbledore’s face. 
+
+“Ah, yes,” he said. He even looked a little worried. 
+“Well?” 
+
+For the first time since Harry had met Dumbledore, 
+he looked less than an old man, much less. He looked 
+fleetingly like a small boy caught in wrongdoing. 
+
+“Can you forgive me?” he said. “Can you forgive me 
+for not trusting you? For not telling you? Harry, I only 
+feared that you would fail as I had failed. I only 
+dreaded that you would make my mistakes. I crave 
+your pardon, Harry. I have known, for some time now, 
+that you are the better man.” 
+
+“What are you talking about?” asked Harry, startled 
+by Dumbledore’s tone, by the sudden tears in his 
+eyes. 
+
+“The Hallows, the Hallows,” murmured Dumbledore. 
+“A desperate man’s dream!” 
+
+“But they’re real!” 
+
+“Real, and dangerous, and a lure for fools,” said 
+Dumbledore. “And I was such a fool. But you know, 
+don’t you? I have no secrets from you anymore. You 
+know.” 
+
+“What do I know?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore turned his whole body to face Harry, and 
+tears still sparkled in the brilliantly blue eyes. 
+
+
+
+“Master of death, Harry, master of Death! Was I 
+better, ultimately, than Voldemort?” 
+
+“Of course you were,” said Harry. “Of course — how 
+can you ask that? You never killed if you could avoid 
+it!” 
+
+
+
+“True, true,” said Dumbledore, and he was like a 
+child seeking reassurance. “Yet I too sought a way to 
+conquer death, Harry.” 
+
+“Not the way he did,” said Harry. After all his anger at 
+Dumbledore, how odd it was to sit here, beneath the 
+high, vaulted ceiling, and defend Dumbledore from 
+himself. “Hallows, not Horcruxes.” 
+
+“Hallows,” murmured Dumbledore, “not Horcruxes. 
+Precisely.” 
+
+There was a pause. The creature behind them 
+whimpered, but Harry no longer looked around. 
+
+“Grindelwald was looking for them too?” he asked. 
+
+Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment and 
+nodded. 
+
+“It was the thing, above all, that drew us together,” he 
+said quietly. “Two clever, arrogant boys with a shared 
+obsession. He wanted to come to Godric’s Hollow, as I 
+am sure you have guessed, because of the grave of 
+Ignotus Peverell. He wanted to explore the place the 
+third brother had died.” 
+
+“So it’s true?” asked Harry. “All of it? The Peverell 
+brothers — ” 
+
+Page | 809 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“ — were the three brothers of the tale,” said 
+Dumbledore, nodding. “Oh yes, I think so. Whether 
+they met Death on a lonely road ... I think it more 
+likely that the Peverell brothers were simply gifted, 
+dangerous wizards who succeeded in creating those 
+powerful objects. The story of them being Death’s own 
+Hallows seems to me the sort of legend that might 
+have sprung up around such creations. 
+
+“The Cloak, as you know now, traveled down through 
+the ages, father to son, mother to daughter, right 
+down to Ignotus’s last living descendant, who was 
+born, as Ignotus was, in the village of Godric’s 
+Hollow.” 
+
+Dumbledore smiled at Harry. 
+
+“Me?” 
+
+“You. You have guessed, I know, why the Cloak was 
+in my possession on the night your parents died. 
+James had showed it to me just a few days 
+previously. It explained much of his undetected 
+wrong-doing at school! I could hardly believe what I 
+was seeing. I asked to borrow it, to examine it. I had 
+long since given up my dream of uniting the Hallows, 
+but I could not resist, could not help taking a closer 
+look. ... It was a Cloak the likes of which I had never 
+seen, immensely old, perfect in every respect . . . and 
+then your father died, and I had two Hallows at last, 
+all to myself!” 
+
+His tone was unbearably bitter. 
+
+“The Cloak wouldn’t have helped them survive, 
+though,” Harry said quickly. “Voldemort knew where 
+my mum and dad were. The Cloak couldn’t have 
+made them curse-proof.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 810 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“True,” sighed Dumbledore. “True.” 
+
+
+
+Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not speak, so he 
+prompted him. 
+
+“So you’d given up looking for the Hallows when you 
+saw the Cloak?” 
+
+“Oh yes,” said Dumbledore faintly. It seemed that he 
+forced himself to meet Harry’s eyes. “You know what 
+happened. You know. You cannot despise me more 
+than I despise myself.” 
+
+“But I don’t despise you — ” 
+
+“Then you should,” said Dumbledore. He drew a deep 
+breath. “You know the secret of my sister’s ill health, 
+what those Muggles did, what she became. You know 
+how my poor father sought revenge, and paid the 
+price, died in Azkaban. You know how my mother 
+gave up her own life to care for Ariana. 
+
+“I resented it, Harry.” 
+
+Dumbledore stated it baldly, coldly. He was looking 
+now over the top of Harry’s head, into the distance. 
+
+“I was gifted, I was brilliant. I wanted to escape. I 
+wanted to shine. I wanted glory. 
+
+“Do not misunderstand me,” he said, and pain 
+crossed the face so that he looked ancient again. “I 
+loved them. I loved my parents, I loved my brother 
+and my sister, but I was selfish, Harry, more selfish 
+than you, who are a remarkably selfless person, could 
+possibly imagine. 
+
+“So that, when my mother died, and I was left the 
+responsibility of a damaged sister and a wayward 
+
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+
+
+
+
+brother, I returned to my village in anger and 
+bitterness. Trapped and wasted, I thought! And then, 
+of course, he came. ...” 
+
+Dumbledore looked directly into Harry’s eyes again. 
+
+“Grindelwald. You cannot imagine how his ideas 
+caught me, Harry, inflamed me. Muggles forced into 
+subservience. We wizards triumphant. Grindelwald 
+and I, the glorious young leaders of the revolution. 
+
+“Oh, I had a few scruples. I assuaged my conscience 
+with empty words. It would all be for the greater good, 
+and any harm done would be repaid a hundredfold in 
+benefits for wizards. Did I know, in my heart of 
+hearts, what Gellert Grindelwald was? I think I did, 
+but I closed my eyes. If the plans we were making 
+came to fruition, all my dreams would come true. 
+
+“And at the heart of our schemes, the Deathly 
+Hallows! How they fascinated him, how they 
+fascinated both of us! The unbeatable wand, the 
+weapon that would lead us to power! The 
+Resurrection Stone — to him, though I pretended not 
+to know it, it meant an army of Inferi! To me, I 
+confess, it meant the return of my parents, and the 
+lifting of all responsibility from my shoulders. 
+
+“And the Cloak ... somehow, we never discussed the 
+Cloak much, Harry. Both of us could conceal 
+ourselves well enough without the Cloak, the true 
+magic of which, of course, is that it can be used to 
+protect and shield others as well as its owner. I 
+thought that, if we ever found it, it might be useful in 
+hiding Ariana, but our interest in the Cloak was 
+mainly that it completed the trio, for the legend said 
+that the man who united all three objects would then 
+be truly master of death, which we took to mean 
+‘invincible.’ 
+
+Page | 812 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Invincible masters of death, Grindelwald and 
+Dumbledore! Two months of insanity, of cruel 
+dreams, and neglect of the only two members of my 
+family left to me. 
+
+“And then ... you know what happened. Reality 
+returned in the form of my rough, unlettered, and 
+infinitely more admirable brother. I did not want to 
+hear the truths he shouted at me. I did not want to 
+hear that I could not set forth to seek Hallows with a 
+fragile and unstable sister in tow. 
+
+“The argument became a fight. Grindelwald lost 
+control. That which I had always sensed in him, 
+though I pretended not to, now sprang into terrible 
+being. And Ariana . . . after all my mother’s care and 
+caution ... lay dead upon the floor.” 
+
+Dumbledore gave a little gasp and began to cry in 
+earnest. Harry reached out and was glad to find that 
+he could touch him: He gripped his arm tightly and 
+Dumbledore gradually regained control. 
+
+“Well, Grindelwald fled, as anyone but I could have 
+predicted. He vanished, with his plans for seizing 
+power, and his schemes for Muggle torture, and his 
+dreams of the Deathly Hallows, dreams in which I 
+had encouraged him and helped him. He ran, while I 
+was left to bury my sister, and learn to live with my 
+guilt and my terrible grief, the price of my shame. 
+
+“Years passed. There were rumors about him. They 
+said he had procured a wand of immense power. I, 
+meanwhile, was offered the post of Minister of Magic, 
+not once, but several times. Naturally, I refused. I had 
+learned that I was not to be trusted with power.” 
+
+“But you’d have been better, much better, than Fudge 
+or Scrimgeour!” burst out Harry. 
+
+Page | 813 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Would I?” asked Dumbledore heavily. “I am not so 
+sure. I had proven, as a very young man, that power 
+was my weakness and my temptation. It is a curious 
+thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited 
+to power are those who have never sought it. Those 
+who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and 
+take up the mantle because they must, and find to 
+their own surprise that they wear it well. 
+
+“I was safer at Hogwarts. I think I was a good teacher 
+
+
+
+“You were the best — ” 
+
+“ — you are very kind, Harry. But while I busied 
+myself with the training of young wizards, 
+
+Grindelwald was raising an army. They say he feared 
+me, and perhaps he did, but less, I think, than I 
+feared him. 
+
+“Oh, not death,” said Dumbledore, in answer to 
+Harry’s questioning look. “Not what he could do to me 
+magically. I knew that we were evenly matched, 
+perhaps that I was a shade more skillful. It was the 
+truth I feared. You see, I never knew which of us, in 
+that last, horrific fight, had actually cast the curse 
+that killed my sister. You may call me cowardly: You 
+would be right. Harry, I dreaded beyond all things the 
+knowledge that it had been I who brought about her 
+death, not merely through my arrogance and 
+stupidity, but that I actually struck the blow that 
+snuffed out her life. 
+
+“I think he knew it, I think he knew what frightened 
+me. I delayed meeting him until finally, it would have 
+been too shameful to resist any longer. People were 
+dying and he seemed unstoppable, and I had to do 
+what I could. 
+
+
+
+Page | 814 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“Well, you know what happened next. I won the duel. 
+
+I won the wand.” 
+
+Another silence. Harry did not ask whether 
+Dumbledore had ever found out who struck Ariana 
+dead. He did not want to know, and even less did he 
+want Dumbledore to have to tell him. At last he knew 
+what Dumbledore would have seen when he looked in 
+the Mirror of Erised, and why Dumbledore had been 
+so understanding of the fascination it had exercised 
+over Harry. 
+
+They sat in silence for a long time, and the 
+whimperings of the creature behind them barely 
+disturbed Harry anymore. 
+
+At last he said, “Grindelwald tried to stop Voldemort 
+going after the wand. He lied, you know, pretended he 
+had never had it.” 
+
+Dumbledore nodded, looking down at his lap, tears 
+still glittering on the crooked nose. 
+
+“They say he showed remorse in later years, alone in 
+his cell at Nurmengard. I hope that it is true. I would 
+like to think he did feel the horror and shame of what 
+he had done. Perhaps that lie to Voldemort was his 
+attempt to make amends ... to prevent Voldemort 
+from taking the Hallow ...” 
+
+"... or maybe from breaking into your tomb?” 
+suggested Harry, and Dumbledore dabbed his eyes. 
+
+After another short pause Harry said, “You tried to 
+use the Resurrection Stone.” 
+
+Dumbledore nodded. 
+
+
+
+Page | 815 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“When I discovered it, after all those years, buried in 
+the abandoned home of the Gaunts — the Hallow I 
+had craved most of all, though in my youth I had 
+wanted it for very different reasons — I lost my head, 
+Harry. I quite forgot that it was now a Horcrux, that 
+the ring was sure to carry a curse. I picked it up, and 
+I put it on, and for a second I imagined that I was 
+about to see Ariana, and my mother, and my father, 
+and to tell them how very, very sorry I was. ... 
+
+“I was such a fool, Harry. After all those years I had 
+learned nothing. I was unworthy to unite the Deathly 
+Hallows, I had proved it time and again, and here was 
+final proof.” 
+
+“Why?” said Harry. “It was natural! You wanted to see 
+them again. What’s wrong with that?” 
+
+“Maybe a man in a million could unite the Hallows, 
+Harry. I was fit only to possess the meanest of them, 
+the least extraordinary. I was fit to own the Elder 
+Wand, and not to boast of it, and not to kill with it. I 
+was permitted to tame and to use it, because I took it, 
+not for gain, but to save others from it. 
+
+“But the Cloak, I took out of vain curiosity, and so it 
+could never have worked for me as it works for you, 
+its true owner. The stone I would have used in an 
+attempt to drag back those who are at peace, rather 
+than to enable my self-sacrifice, as you did. You are 
+the worthy possessor of the Hallows.” 
+
+Dumbledore patted Harry’s hand, and Harry looked 
+up at the old man and smiled; he could not help 
+himself. How could he remain angry with Dumbledore 
+now? 
+
+“Why did you have to make it so difficult?” 
+
+
+
+Page | 816 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Dumbledore’s smile was tremulous. 
+
+
+
+“I am afraid I counted on Miss Granger to slow you 
+up, Harry. I was afraid that your hot head might 
+dominate your good heart. I was scared that, if 
+presented outright with the facts about those 
+tempting objects, you might seize the Hallows as I 
+did, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. If you 
+laid hands on them, I wanted you to possess them 
+safely. You are the true master of death, because the 
+true master does not seek to run away from Death. 
+
+He accepts that he must die, and understands that 
+there are far, far worse things in the living world than 
+dying.” 
+
+“And Voldemort never knew about the Hallows?” 
+
+“I do not think so, because he did not recognize the 
+Resurrection Stone he turned into a Horcrux. But 
+even if he had known about them, Harry, I doubt that 
+he would have been interested in any except the first. 
+He would not think that he needed the Cloak, and as 
+for the stone, whom would he want to bring back 
+from the dead? He fears the dead. He does not love.” 
+
+“But you expected him to go after the wand?” 
+
+“I have been sure that he would try, ever since your 
+wand beat Voldemort’s in the graveyard of Little 
+Hangleton. At first, he was afraid that you had 
+conquered him by superior skill. Once he had 
+kidnapped Ollivander, however, he discovered the 
+existence of the twin cores. He thought that explained 
+everything. Yet the borrowed wand did no better 
+against yours! So Voldemort, instead of asking 
+himself what quality it was in you that had made your 
+wand so strong, what gift you possessed that he did 
+not, naturally set out to find the one wand that, they 
+said, would beat any other. For him, the Elder Wand 
+Page | 817 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+has become an obsession to rival his obsession with 
+you. He believes that the Elder Wand removes his last 
+weakness and makes him truly invincible. Poor 
+Severus ...” 
+
+“If you planned your death with Snape, you meant 
+him to end up with the Elder Wand, didn’t you?” 
+
+“I admit that was my intention,” said Dumbledore, 
+“but it did not work as I intended, did it?” 
+
+“No,” said Harry. “That bit didn’t work out.” 
+
+The creature behind them jerked and moaned, and 
+Harry and Dumbledore sat without talking for the 
+longest time yet. The realization of what would 
+happen next settled gradually over Harry in the long 
+minutes, like softly falling snow. 
+
+“I’ve got to go back, haven’t I?” 
+
+“That is up to you.” 
+
+“I’ve got a choice?” 
+
+“Oh yes.” Dumbledore smiled at him. “We are in 
+King’s Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not 
+to go back, you would be able to ... let’s say ... board 
+a train.” 
+
+“And where would it take me?” 
+
+“On,” said Dumbledore simply. 
+
+Silence again. 
+
+“Voldemort’s got the Elder Wand.” 
+
+“True. Voldemort has the Elder Wand.” 
+
+Page | 818 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But you want me to go back?” 
+
+“I think,” said Dumbledore, “that if you choose to 
+return, there is a chance that he may be finished for 
+good. I cannot promise it. But I know this, Harry, that 
+you have less to fear from returning here than he 
+does.” 
+
+Harry glanced again at the raw-looking thing that 
+trembled and choked in the shadow beneath the 
+distant chair. 
+
+“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, 
+above all, those who live without love. By returning, 
+you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer 
+families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy 
+goal, then we say good-bye for the present.” 
+
+Harry nodded and sighed. Leaving this place would 
+not be nearly as hard as walking into the forest had 
+been, but it was warm and light and peaceful here, 
+and he knew that he was heading back to pain and 
+the fear of more loss. He stood up, and Dumbledore 
+did the same, and they looked for a long moment into 
+each other’s faces. 
+
+“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or 
+has this been happening inside my head?” 
+
+Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded 
+loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the 
+bright mist was descending again, obscuring his 
+figure. 
+
+“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, 
+but why on earth should that mean that it is not 
+real?” * 
+
+
+
+Page | 819 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FLAW IN THE PLAN 
+
+He was lying facedown on the ground again. The 
+smell of the forest filled his nostrils. He could feel the 
+cold hard ground beneath his cheek, and the hinge of 
+his glasses, which had been knocked sideways by the 
+fall, cutting into his temple. Every inch of him ached, 
+and the place where the Killing Curse had hit him felt 
+like the bruise of an iron-clad punch. He did not stir, 
+but remained exactly where he had fallen, with his 
+left arm bent out at an awkward angle and his mouth 
+gaping. 
+
+He had expected to hear cheers of triumph and 
+jubilation at his death, but instead hurried footsteps, 
+whispers, and solicitous murmurs filled the air. 
+
+“My Lord ...my Lord ...” 
+
+It was Bellatrix’s voice, and she spoke as if to a lover. 
+Harry did not dare open his eyes, but allowed his 
+other senses to explore his predicament. He knew 
+that his wand was still stowed beneath his robes 
+because he could feel it pressed between his chest 
+
+Page | 820 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+and the ground. A slight cushioning effect in the area 
+of his stomach told him that the Invisibility Cloak was 
+also there, stuffed out of sight. 
+
+“My Lord ...” 
+
+“That will do,” said Voldemort’s voice. 
+
+More footsteps: Several people were backing away 
+from the same spot. Desperate to see what was 
+happening and why, Harry opened his eyes by a 
+millimeter. 
+
+Voldemort seemed to be getting to his feet. Various 
+Death Eaters were hurrying away from him, returning 
+to the crowd lining the clearing. Bellatrix alone 
+remained behind, kneeling beside Voldemort. 
+
+Harry closed his eyes again and considered what he 
+had seen. The Death Eaters had been huddled 
+around Voldemort, who seemed to have fallen to the 
+ground. Something had happened when he had hit 
+Harry with the Killing Curse. Had Voldemort too 
+collapsed? It seemed like it. And both of them had 
+fallen briefly unconscious and both of them had now 
+returned. ... 
+
+“My Lord, let me — ” 
+
+“I do not require assistance,” said Voldemort coldly, 
+and though he could not see it, Harry pictured 
+Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand. “The boy ... Is 
+he dead?” 
+
+There was complete silence in the clearing. Nobody 
+approached Harry, but he felt their concentrated gaze; 
+it seemed to press him harder into the ground, and he 
+was terrified a finger or an eyelid might twitch. 
+
+
+
+Page | 821 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“You,” said Voldemort, and there was a bang and a 
+small shriek of pain. “Examine him. Tell me whether 
+he is dead.” 
+
+Harry did not know who had been sent to verify. He 
+could only lie there, with his heart thumping 
+traitorously, and wait to be examined, but at the 
+same time noting, small comfort though it was, that 
+Voldemort was wary of approaching him, that 
+Voldemort suspected that all had not gone to plan. ... 
+
+Hands, softer than he had been expecting, touched 
+Harry’s face, pulled back an eyelid, crept beneath his 
+shirt, down to his chest, and felt his heart. He could 
+hear the woman’s fast breathing, her long hair tickled 
+his face. He knew that she could feel the steady 
+pounding of life against his ribs. 
+
+“Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?” 
+
+The whisper was barely audible; her lips were an inch 
+from his ear, her head bent so low that her long hair 
+shielded his face from the onlookers. 
+
+“Yes,” he breathed back. 
+
+He felt the hand on his chest contract; her nails 
+pierced him. Then it was withdrawn. She had sat up. 
+
+“He is dead!” Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers. 
+
+And now they shouted, now they yelled in triumph 
+and stamped their feet, and through his eyelids, 
+
+Harry saw bursts of red and silver light shoot into the 
+air in celebration. 
+
+Still feigning death on the ground, he understood. 
+Narcissa knew that the only way she would be 
+permitted to enter Hogwarts, and find her son, was as 
+
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+
+
+
+
+part of the conquering army. She no longer cared 
+whether Voldemort won. 
+
+“You see?” screeched Voldemort over the tumult. 
+“Harry Potter is dead by my hand, and no man alive 
+can threaten me now! Watch! CrucioV’ 
+
+Harry had been expecting it, knew his body would not 
+be allowed to remain unsullied upon the forest floor; 
+it must be subjected to humiliation to prove 
+Voldemort’s victory. He was lifted into the air, and it 
+took all his determination to remain limp, yet the pain 
+he expected did not come. He was thrown once, twice, 
+three times into the air: His glasses flew off and he 
+felt his wand slide a little beneath his robes, but he 
+kept himself floppy and lifeless, and when he fell to 
+the ground for the last time, the clearing echoed with 
+jeers and shrieks of laughter. 
+
+“Now,” said Voldemort, “we go to the castle, and show 
+them what has become of their hero. Who shall drag 
+the body? No — Wait — ” 
+
+There was a fresh outbreak of laughter, and after a 
+few moments Harry felt the ground trembling beneath 
+him. 
+
+“You carry him,” Voldemort said. “He will be nice and 
+visible in your arms, will he not? Pick up your little 
+friend, Hagrid. And the glasses — put on the glasses 
+— he must be recognizable — ” 
+
+Someone slammed Harry’s glasses back onto his face 
+with deliberate force, but the enormous hands that 
+lifted him into the air were exceedingly gentle. Harry 
+could feel Hagrid ’s arms trembling with the force of 
+his heaving sobs; great tears splashed down upon 
+him as Hagrid cradled Harry in his arms, and Harry 
+
+
+
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+
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+
+did not dare, by movement or word, to intimate to 
+Hagrid that all was not, yet, lost. 
+
+“Move,” said Voldemort, and Hagrid stumbled 
+forward, forcing his way through the close-growing 
+trees, back through the forest. Branches caught at 
+Harry’s hair and robes, but he lay quiescent, his 
+mouth lolling open, his eyes shut, and in the 
+darkness, while the Death Eaters crowed all around 
+them, and while Hagrid sobbed blindly, nobody 
+looked to see whether a pulse beat in the exposed 
+neck of Harry Potter. . . . 
+
+The two giants crashed along behind the Death 
+Eaters; Harry could hear trees creaking and falling as 
+they passed; they made so much din that birds rose 
+shrieking into the sky, and even the jeers of the Death 
+Eaters were drowned. The victorious procession 
+marched on toward the open ground, and after a 
+while Harry could tell, by the lightening of the 
+darkness through his closed eyelids, that the trees 
+were beginning to thin. 
+
+“BANE!” 
+
+Hagrid’s unexpected bellow nearly forced Harry’s eyes 
+open. “Happy now, are yeh, that yeh didn’ fight, yeh 
+cowardly bunch o’ nags? Are yeh happy Harry Potter’s 
+— d-dead...?” 
+
+Hagrid could not continue, but broke down in fresh 
+tears. Harry wondered how many centaurs were 
+watching their procession pass; he dared not open his 
+eyes to look. Some of the Death Eaters called insults 
+at the centaurs as they left them behind. A little later, 
+Harry sensed, by a freshening of the air, that they 
+had reached the edge of the forest. 
+
+“Stop.” 
+
+Page | 824 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Harry thought that Hagrid must have been forced to 
+obey Voldemort’s command, because he lurched a 
+little. And now a chill settled over them where they 
+stood, and Harry heard the rasping breath of the 
+dementors that patrolled the outer trees. They would 
+not affect him now. The fact of his own survival 
+burned inside him, a talisman against them, as 
+though his father’s stag kept guardian in his heart. 
+
+Someone passed close by Harry, and he knew that it 
+was Voldemort himself because he spoke a moment 
+later, his voice magically magnified so that it swelled 
+through the grounds, crashing upon Harry’s 
+eardrums. 
+
+“Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, 
+trying to save himself while you lay down your lives 
+for him. We bring you his body as proof that your 
+hero is gone. 
+
+“The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. 
+My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who 
+Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone 
+who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be 
+slaughtered, as will every member of their family. 
+Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you 
+shall be spared. Your parents and children, your 
+brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you 
+will join me in the new world we shall build together.” 
+
+There was silence in the grounds and from the castle. 
+Voldemort was so close to him that Harry did not dare 
+open his eyes again. 
+
+“Come,” said Voldemort, and Harry heard him move 
+ahead, and Hagrid was forced to follow. Now Harry 
+opened his eyes a fraction, and saw Voldemort 
+striding in front of them, wearing the great snake 
+Nagini around his shoulders, now free of her 
+Page | 825 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+enchanted cage. But Harry had no possibility of 
+extracting the wand concealed under his robes 
+without being noticed by the Death Eaters, who 
+marched on either side of them through the slowly 
+lightening darkness. ... 
+
+“Harry,” sobbed Hagrid. “Oh, Harry ... Harry ...” 
+
+Harry shut his eyes tight again. He knew that they 
+were approaching the castle and strained his ears to 
+distinguish, above the gleeful voices of the Death 
+Eaters and their tramping footsteps, signs of life from 
+those within. 
+
+“Stop.” 
+
+The Death Eaters came to a halt: Harry heard them 
+spreading out in a line facing the open front doors of 
+the school. He could see, even through his closed lids, 
+the reddish glow that meant light streamed upon him 
+from the entrance hall. He waited. Any moment, the 
+people for whom he had tried to die would see him, 
+lying apparently dead, in Hagrid ’s arms. 
+
+“NO!” 
+
+The scream was the more terrible because he had 
+never expected or dreamed that Professor McGonagall 
+could make such a sound. He heard another woman 
+laughing nearby, and knew that Bellatrix gloried in 
+McGonagall’s despair. He squinted again for a single 
+second and saw the open doorway filling with people, 
+as the survivors of the battle came out onto the front 
+steps to face their vanquishers and see the truth of 
+Harry’s death for themselves. He saw Voldemort 
+standing a little in front of him, stroking Nagini’s 
+head with a single white finger. He closed his eyes 
+again. 
+
+
+
+Page | 826 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“No!” 
+
+
+
+“iVo!” 
+
+“Harry! HARRY!” 
+
+Ron’s, Hermione’s, and Ginny’s voices were worse 
+than McGonagall’s; Harry wanted nothing more than 
+to call back, yet he made himself lie silent, and their 
+cries acted like a trigger; the crowd of survivors took 
+up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at the 
+Death Eaters, until — 
+
+“SILENCE!” cried Voldemort, and there was a bang 
+and a flash of bright light, and silence was forced 
+upon them all. “It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at 
+my feet, where he belongs!” 
+
+Harry felt himself lowered onto the grass. 
+
+“You see?” said Voldemort, and Harry felt him striding 
+backward and forward right beside the place where he 
+lay. “Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, 
+deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who 
+relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!” 
+
+“He beat you!” yelled Ron, and the charm broke, and 
+the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and 
+screaming again until a second, more powerful bang 
+extinguished their voices once more. 
+
+“He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle 
+grounds,” said Voldemort, and there was relish in his 
+voice for the lie, “killed while trying to save himself — ” 
+
+But Voldemort broke off: Harry heard a scuffle and a 
+shout, then another bang, a flash of light, and a grunt 
+of pain; he opened his eyes an infinitesimal amount. 
+Someone had broken free of the crowd and charged at 
+
+Page | 827 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Voldemort: Harry saw the figure hit the ground, 
+Disarmed, Voldemort throwing the challenger’s wand 
+aside and laughing. 
+
+“And who is this?” he said in his soft snake’s hiss. 
+“Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens 
+to those who continue to fight when the battle is 
+lost?” 
+
+Bellatrix gave a delighted laugh. 
+
+“It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has 
+been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of 
+the Aurors, remember?” 
+
+“Ah, yes, I remember,” said Voldemort, looking down 
+at Neville, who was struggling back to his feet, 
+unarmed and unprotected, standing in the no-man ’s- 
+land between the survivors and the Death Eaters. 
+
+“But you are a pureblood, aren’t you, my brave boy?” 
+Voldemort asked Neville, who stood facing him, his 
+empty hands curled in fists. 
+
+“So what if I am?” said Neville loudly. 
+
+“You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble 
+stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We 
+need your kind, Neville Longbottom.” 
+
+“I’ll join you when hell freezes over,” said Neville. 
+“Dumbledore’s Army!” he shouted, and there was an 
+answering cheer from the crowd, whom Voldemort’s 
+Silencing Charms seemed unable to hold. 
+
+“Very well,” said Voldemort, and Harry heard more 
+danger in the silkiness of his voice than in the most 
+powerful curse. “If that is your choice, Longbottom, 
+we revert to the original plan. On your head,” he said 
+quietly, “be it.” 
+
+Page | 828 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+Still watching through his lashes, Harry saw 
+Voldemort wave his wand. Seconds later, out of one of 
+the castle’s shattered windows, something that looked 
+like a misshapen bird flew through the half light and 
+landed in Voldemort’s hand. He shook the mildewed 
+object by its pointed end and it dangled, empty and 
+ragged: the Sorting Hat. 
+
+“There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School,” 
+said Voldemort. “There will be no more Houses. The 
+emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, 
+Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won’t 
+they, Neville Longbottom?” 
+
+He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and 
+still, then forced the hat onto Neville’s head, so that it 
+slipped down below his eyes. There were movements 
+from the watching crowd in front of the castle, and as 
+one, the Death Eaters raised their wands, holding the 
+fighters of Hogwarts at bay. 
+
+“Neville here is now going to demonstrate what 
+happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to 
+oppose me,” said Voldemort, and with a flick of his 
+wand, he caused the Sorting Hat to burst into flames. 
+
+Screams split the dawn, and Neville was aflame, 
+rooted to the spot, unable to move, and Harry could 
+not bear it: He must act — 
+
+And then many things happened at the same 
+moment. 
+
+They heard uproar from the distant boundary of the 
+school as what sounded like hundreds of people came 
+swarming over the out-of-sight walls and pelted 
+toward the castle, uttering loud war cries. At the 
+same time, Grawp came lumbering around the side of 
+the castle and yelled, “HAGGER!” His cry was 
+Page | 829 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+answered by roars from Voldemort’s giants: They ran 
+at Grawp like bull elephants, making the earth quake. 
+Then came hooves and the twangs of bows, and 
+arrows were suddenly falling amongst the Death 
+Eaters, who broke ranks, shouting their surprise. 
+Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from inside his 
+robes, swung it over himself, and sprang to his feet, 
+as Neville moved too. 
+
+In one swift, fluid motion, Neville broke free of the 
+Body-Bind Curse upon him; the flaming hat fell off 
+him and he drew from its depths something silver, 
+with a glittering, rubied handle — 
+
+The slash of the silver blade could not be heard over 
+the roar of the oncoming crowd or the sounds of the 
+clashing giants or of the stampeding centaurs, and 
+yet it seemed to draw every eye. With a single stroke 
+Neville sliced off the great snake’s head, which spun 
+high into the air, gleaming in the light flooding from 
+the entrance hall, and Voldemort’s mouth was open 
+in a scream of fury that nobody could hear, and the 
+snake’s body thudded to the ground at his feet — 
+
+Hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry cast a 
+Shield Charm between Neville and Voldemort before 
+the latter could raise his wand. Then, over the 
+screams and the roars and the thunderous stamps of 
+the battling giants, Hagrid’s yell came loudest of all. 
+
+“HARRY!” Hagrid shouted. “HARRY — WHERE’S 
+HARRY?” 
+
+Chaos reigned. The charging centaurs were scattering 
+the Death Eaters, everyone was fleeing the giants’ 
+stamping feet, and nearer and nearer thundered the 
+reinforcements that had come from who knew where; 
+Harry saw great winged creatures soaring around the 
+heads of Voldemort’s giants, thestrals and Buckbeak 
+Page | 830 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+the hippogriff scratching at their eyes while Grawp 
+punched and pummeled them; and now the wizards, 
+defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike, were 
+being forced back into the castle. Harry was shooting 
+jinxes and curses at any Death Eater he could see, 
+and they crumpled, not knowing what or who had hit 
+them, and their bodies were trampled by the 
+retreating crowd. 
+
+Still hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry was 
+buffeted into the entrance hall: He was searching for 
+Voldemort and saw him across the room, firing spells 
+from his wand as he backed into the Great Hall, still 
+screaming instructions to his followers as he sent 
+curses flying left and right; Harry cast more Shield 
+Charms, and Voldemort’s would-be victims, Seamus 
+Finnigan and Hannah Abbott, darted past him into 
+the Great Hall, where they joined the fight already 
+flourishing inside it. 
+
+And now there were more, even more people storming 
+up the front steps, and Harry saw Charlie Weasley 
+overtaking Horace Slughorn, who was still wearing 
+his emerald pajamas. They seemed to have returned 
+at the head of what looked like the families and 
+friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained 
+to fight, along with the shopkeepers and homeowners 
+of Hogsmeade. The centaurs Bane, Ronan, and 
+Magorian burst into the hall with a great clatter of 
+hooves, as behind Harry the door that led to the 
+kitchens was blasted off its hinges. 
+
+The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the 
+entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives 
+and cleavers, and at their head, the locket of Regulus 
+Black bouncing on his chest, was Kreacher, his 
+bullfrog’s voice audible even above this din: “Fight! 
+Fight! Fight for my Master, defender of house-elves! 
+
+
+
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+
+
+Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! 
+Fight!” 
+
+They were hacking and stabbing at the ankles and 
+shins of Death Eaters, their tiny faces alive with 
+malice, and everywhere Harry looked Death Eaters 
+were folding under sheer weight of numbers, 
+overcome by spells, dragging arrows from wounds, 
+stabbed in the leg by elves, or else simply attempting 
+to escape, but swallowed by the oncoming horde. 
+
+But it was not over yet: Harry sped between duelers, 
+past struggling prisoners, and into the Great Hall. 
+
+Voldemort was in the center of the battle, and he was 
+striking and smiting all within reach. Harry could not 
+get a clear shot, but fought his way nearer, still 
+invisible, and the Great Hall became more and more 
+crowded as everyone who could walk forced their way 
+inside. 
+
+Harry saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by George and 
+Lee Jordan, saw Dolohov fall with a scream at 
+Flitwick’s hands, saw Walden Macnair thrown across 
+the room by Hagrid, hit the stone wall opposite, and 
+slide unconscious to the ground. He saw Ron and 
+Neville bringing down Fenrir Greyback, Aberforth 
+Stunning Rookwood, Arthur and Percy flooring 
+Thicknesse, and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running 
+through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, 
+screaming for their son. 
+
+Voldemort was now dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, 
+and Kingsley all at once, and there was cold hatred in 
+his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable 
+to finish him — 
+
+Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away from 
+Voldemort, and like her master she dueled three at 
+
+Page | 832 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+once: Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, all battling their 
+hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to them, and Harry’s 
+attention was diverted as a Killing Curse shot so close 
+to Ginny that she missed death by an inch — 
+
+He changed course, running at Bellatrix rather than 
+Voldemort, but before he had gone a few steps he was 
+knocked sideways. 
+
+“NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” 
+
+Mrs. Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing 
+her arms. Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with 
+laughter at the sight of her new challenger. 
+
+“OUT OF MY WAY!” shouted Mrs. Weasley to the three 
+girls, and with a swipe of her wand she began to duel. 
+Harry watched with terror and elation as Molly 
+Weasley’s wand slashed and twirled, and Bellatrix 
+Lestrange’s smile faltered and became a snarl. Jets of 
+light flew from both wands, the floor around the 
+witches’ feet became hot and cracked; both women 
+were fighting to kill. 
+
+“No!” Mrs. Weasley cried as a few students ran 
+forward, trying to come to her aid. “Get back! Get 
+back ! She is mine!” 
+
+Hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the 
+two fights, Voldemort and his three opponents, 
+Bellatrix and Molly, and Harry stood, invisible, torn 
+between both, wanting to attack and yet to protect, 
+unable to be sure that he would not hit the innocent. 
+
+“What will happen to your children when I’ve killed 
+you?” taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, 
+capering as Molly’s curses danced around her. “When 
+Mummy’s gone the same way as Freddie?” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“You — will — never — touch — our — children — 
+again!” screamed Mrs. Weasley. 
+
+Bellatrix laughed, the same exhilarated laugh her 
+cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backward 
+through the veil, and suddenly Harry knew what was 
+going to happen before it did. 
+
+Molly’s curse soared beneath Bellatrix’s outstretched 
+arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over 
+her heart. 
+
+Bellatrix’s gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to 
+bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what 
+had happened, and then she toppled, and the 
+watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed. 
+
+Harry felt as though he turned in slow motion; he saw 
+McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn blasted 
+backward, flailing and writhing through the air, as 
+Voldemort ’s fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant 
+exploded with the force of a bomb. Voldemort raised 
+his wand and directed it at Molly Weasley. 
+
+“Protego\” roared Harry, and the Shield Charm 
+expanded in the middle of the Hall, and Voldemort 
+stared around for the source as Harry pulled off the 
+Invisibility Cloak at last. 
+
+The yell of shock, the cheers, the screams on every 
+side of “Harry!” “HE’S ALIVE!” were stifled at once. 
+
+The crowd was afraid, and silence fell abruptly and 
+completely as Voldemort and Harry looked at each 
+other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each 
+other. 
+
+“I don’t want anyone else to try to help,” Harry said 
+loudly, and in the total silence his voice carried like a 
+trumpet call. “It’s got to be like this. It’s got to be me.” 
+
+Page | 834 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+Voldemort hissed. 
+
+
+
+“Potter doesn’t mean that,” he said, his red eyes wide. 
+“That isn’t how he works, is it? Who are you going to 
+use as a shield today, Potter?” 
+
+“Nobody,” said Harry simply. “There are no more 
+Horcruxes. It’s just you and me. Neither can live while 
+the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for 
+good. ...” 
+
+“One of us?” jeered Voldemort, and his whole body 
+was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was 
+about to strike. “You think it will be you, do you, the 
+boy who has survived by accident, and because 
+Dumbledore was pulling the strings?” 
+
+“Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?” 
+asked Harry. They were still moving sideways, both of 
+them, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same 
+distance from each other, and for Harry no face 
+existed but Voldemort’s. “Accident, when I decided to 
+fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn’t defend 
+myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to 
+fight again?” 
+
+“Accidents'.” screamed Voldemort, but still he did not 
+strike, and the watching crowd was frozen as if 
+Petrified, and of the hundreds in the Hall, nobody 
+seemed to breathe but they two. “Accident and 
+chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled 
+behind the skirts of greater men and women, and 
+permitted me to kill them for you!” 
+
+“You won’t be killing anyone else tonight,” said Harry 
+as they circled, and stared into each other’s eyes, 
+green into red. “You won’t be able to kill any of them 
+ever again. Don’t you get it? I was ready to die to stop 
+you from hurting these people — ” 
+
+Page | 835 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“But you did not!” 
+
+
+
+“ — I meant to, and that’s what did it. I’ve done what 
+my mother did. They’re protected from you. Haven’t 
+you noticed how none of the spells you put on them 
+are binding? You can’t torture them. You can’t touch 
+them. You don’t learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do 
+you?” 
+
+“ You dare — ” 
+
+“Yes, I dare,” said Harry. “I know things you don’t 
+know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things 
+that you don’t. Want to hear some, before you make 
+another big mistake?” 
+
+Voldemort did not speak, but prowled in a circle, and 
+Harry knew that he kept him temporarily mesmerized 
+and at bay, held back by the faintest possibility that 
+Harry might indeed know a final secret. ... 
+
+“Is it love again?” said Voldemort, his snake’s face 
+jeering. “Dumbledore’s favorite solution, love, which 
+he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop 
+him falling from the tower and breaking like an old 
+waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping 
+out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter — 
+and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward 
+this time and take my curse. So what will stop you 
+dying now when I strike?” 
+
+“Just one thing,” said Harry, and still they circled 
+each other, wrapped in each other, held apart by 
+nothing but the last secret. 
+
+“If it is not love that will save you this time,” said 
+Voldemort, “you must believe that you have magic 
+that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than 
+mine?” 
+
+Page | 836 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
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+
+
+
+“I believe both,” said Harry, and he saw shock flit 
+across the snakelike face, though it was instantly 
+dispelled; Voldemort began to laugh, and the sound 
+was more frightening than his screams; humorless 
+and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall. 
+
+“You think you know more magic than I do?” he said. 
+“Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed 
+magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?” 
+
+“Oh, he dreamed of it,” said Harry, “but he knew more 
+than you, knew enough not to do what you’ve done.” 
+
+“You mean he was weak!” screamed Voldemort. “Too 
+weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been 
+his, what will be mine!” 
+
+“No, he was cleverer than you,” said Harry, “a better 
+wizard, a better man.” 
+
+“I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!” 
+
+“You thought you did,” said Harry, “but you were 
+wrong.” 
+
+For the first time, the watching crowd stirred as the 
+hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as 
+one. 
+
+“Dumbledore is dead\” Voldemort hurled the words at 
+Harry as though they would cause him unendurable 
+pain. “His body decays in the marble tomb in the 
+grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he 
+will not return!” 
+
+“Yes, Dumbledore’s dead,” said Harry calmly, “but 
+you didn’t have him killed. He chose his own manner 
+of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+whole thing with the man you thought was your 
+servant.” 
+
+“What childish dream is this?” said Voldemort, but 
+still he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver 
+from Harry’s. 
+
+“Severus Snape wasn’t yours,” said Harry. “Snape 
+was Dumbledore’s, Dumbledore’s from the moment 
+you started hunting down my mother. And you never 
+realized it, because of the thing you can’t understand. 
+You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, 
+Riddle?” 
+
+Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle 
+each other like wolves about to tear each other apart. 
+
+“Snape’s Patronus was a doe,” said Harry, “the same 
+as my mother’s, because he loved her for nearly all of 
+his life, from the time when they were children. You 
+should have realized,” he said as he saw Voldemort’s 
+nostrils flare, “he asked you to spare her life, didn’t 
+he?” 
+
+“He desired her, that was all,” sneered Voldemort, 
+
+“but when she had gone, he agreed that there were 
+other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him — ” 
+
+“Of course he told you that,” said Harry, “but he was 
+Dumbledore’s spy from the moment you threatened 
+her, and he’s been working against you ever since! 
+Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished 
+him!” 
+
+“It matters not!” shrieked Voldemort, who had 
+followed every word with rapt attention, but now let 
+out a cackle of mad laughter. “It matters not whether 
+Snape was mine or Dumbledore’s, or what petty 
+obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them 
+Page | 838 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+as I crushed your mother, Snape ’s supposed great 
+love\ Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways 
+that you do not understand! 
+
+“Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from 
+me! He intended that Snape should be the true 
+master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little 
+boy — I reached the wand before you could get your 
+hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught 
+up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the 
+Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is 
+truly mine! Dumbledore ’s last plan went wrong, Harry 
+Potter!” 
+
+“Yeah, it did,” said Harry. “You’re right. But before 
+you try to kill me, I’d advise you to think about what 
+you’ve done. ... Think, and try for some remorse, 
+Riddle. ...” 
+
+“What is this?” 
+
+Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond 
+any revelation or taunt, nothing had shocked 
+Voldemort like this. Harry saw his pupils contract to 
+thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten. 
+
+“It’s your one last chance,” said Harry, “it’s all you’ve 
+got left. ... I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise. ... Be a 
+man ... try ... Try for some remorse. ...” 
+
+“You dare — ?” said Voldemort again. 
+
+“Yes, I dare,” said Harry, “because Dumbledore’s last 
+plan hasn’t backfired on me at all. It’s backfired on 
+you, Riddle.” 
+
+Voldemort’s hand was trembling on the Elder Wand, 
+and Harry gripped Draco’s very tightly. The moment, 
+he knew, was seconds away. 
+
+Page | 839 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+“That wand still isn’t working properly for you 
+because you murdered the wrong person. Severus 
+Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. 
+He never defeated Dumbledore.” 
+
+“He killed — ” 
+
+“Aren’t you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledorel 
+Dumbledore’s death was planned between them! 
+Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand’s 
+last true master! If all had gone as planned, the 
+wand’s power would have died with him, because it 
+had never been won from him!” 
+
+“But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the 
+wand!” Voldemort’s voice shook with malicious 
+pleasure. “I stole the wand from its last master’s 
+tomb! I removed it against its last master’s wishes! Its 
+power is mine!” 
+
+“You still don’t get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the 
+wand isn’t enough! Holding it, using it, doesn’t make 
+it really yours. Didn’t you listen to Ollivander? The 
+wand chooses the wizard. ... The Elder Wand 
+recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, 
+someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new 
+master removed the wand from Dumbledore against 
+his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or 
+that the world’s most dangerous wand had given him 
+its allegiance. ...” 
+
+Voldemort’s chest rose and fell rapidly, and Harry 
+could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the 
+wand pointed at his face. 
+
+“The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco 
+Malfoy.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Blank shock showed in Voldemort’s face for a 
+moment, but then it was gone. 
+
+“But what does it matter?” he said softly. “Even if you 
+are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and 
+me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel 
+on skill alone ... and after I have killed you, I can 
+attend to Draco Malfoy. ...” 
+
+“But you’re too late,” said Harry. “You’ve missed your 
+chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks 
+ago. I took this wand from him.” 
+
+Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and he felt the 
+eyes of everyone in the Hall upon it. 
+
+“So it all comes down to this, doesn’t it?” whispered 
+Harry. “Does the wand in your hand know its last 
+master was Disarmed? Because if it does ... I am the 
+true master of the Elder Wand.” 
+
+A red-gold glow burst suddenly across the enchanted 
+sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared 
+over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both 
+of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort’s 
+was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high 
+voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the 
+heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: 
+
+“Avada KedavraV’ 
+
+“ Expelliarmus\ ” 
+
+The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden 
+flames that erupted between them, at the dead center 
+of the circle they had been treading, marked the point 
+where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort’s 
+green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly 
+high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the 
+Page | 841 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning 
+through the air toward the master it would not kill, 
+who had come to take full possession of it at last. And 
+Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught 
+the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, 
+arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling 
+upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane 
+finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white 
+hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and 
+unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own 
+rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in 
+his hand, staring down at his enemy’s shell. 
+
+One shivering second of silence, the shock of the 
+moment suspended: and then the tumult broke 
+around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the 
+roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun 
+dazzled the windows as they thundered toward him, 
+and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, 
+and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, 
+their incomprehensible shouts that deafened him. 
+Then Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then 
+all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and 
+McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and Harry could 
+not hear a word that anyone was shouting, nor tell 
+whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to 
+hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, 
+all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, 
+the reason it was over at last — 
+
+The sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, and the Great 
+Hall blazed with life and light. Harry was an 
+indispensable part of the mingled outpourings of 
+jubilation and mourning, of grief and celebration. 
+
+They wanted him there with them, their leader and 
+symbol, their savior and their guide, and that he had 
+not slept, that he craved the company of only a few of 
+them, seemed to occur to no one. He must speak to 
+the bereaved, clasp their hands, witness their tears, 
+Page | 842 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+receive their thanks, hear the news now creeping in 
+from every quarter as the morning drew on; that the 
+Imperiused up and down the country had come back 
+to themselves, that Death Eaters were fleeing or else 
+being captured, that the innocent of Azkaban were 
+being released at that very moment, and that Kingsley 
+Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister of 
+Magic. ... 
+
+They moved Voldemort’s body and laid it in a 
+chamber off the Hall, away from the bodies of Fred, 
+Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevey, and fifty others who had 
+died fighting him. McGonagall had replaced the 
+House tables, but nobody was sitting according to 
+House anymore: All were jumbled together, teachers 
+and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house- 
+elves, and Firenze lay recovering in a corner, and 
+Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and 
+people were throwing food into his laughing mouth. 
+After a while, exhausted and drained, Harry found 
+himself sitting on a bench beside Luna. 
+
+“I’d want some peace and quiet, if it were me,” she 
+said. 
+
+“I’d love some,” he replied. 
+
+“I’ll distract them all,” she said. “Use your Cloak.” 
+
+And before he could say a word she had cried, “Oooh, 
+look, a Blibbering Humdinger!” and pointed out of the 
+window. Everyone who heard looked around, and 
+Harry slid the Cloak up over himself, and got to his 
+feet. 
+
+Now he could move through the Hall without 
+interference. He spotted Ginny two tables away; she 
+was sitting with her head on her mother’s shoulder: 
+There would be time to talk later, hours and days and 
+
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+
+
+
+
+maybe years in which to talk. He saw Neville, the 
+sword of Gryffindor lying beside his plate as he ate, 
+surrounded by a knot of fervent admirers. Along the 
+aisle between the tables he walked, and he spotted 
+the three Malfoys, huddled together as though unsure 
+whether or not they were supposed to be there, but 
+nobody was paying them any attention. Everywhere 
+he looked he saw families reunited, and finally, he 
+saw the two whose company he craved most. 
+
+“It’s me,” he muttered, crouching down between 
+them. “Will you come with me?” 
+
+They stood up at once, and together he, Ron, and 
+Hermione left the Great Hall. Great chunks were 
+missing from the marble staircase, part of the 
+balustrade gone, and rubble and bloodstains 
+occurred every few steps as they climbed. 
+
+Somewhere in the distance they could hear Peeves 
+zooming through the corridors singing a victory song 
+of his own composition: 
+
+We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter’s the one, 
+
+And Voldy’s gone moldy, so now let’s have fun! 
+
+“Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the 
+thing, doesn’t it?” said Ron, pushing open a door to 
+let Harry and Hermione through. 
+
+Happiness would come, Harry thought, but at the 
+moment it was muffled by exhaustion, and the pain of 
+losing Fred and Lupin and Tonks pierced him like a 
+physical wound every few steps. Most of all he felt the 
+most stupendous relief, and a longing to sleep. But 
+first he owed an explanation to Ron and Hermione, 
+who had stuck with him for so long, and who 
+deserved the truth. Painstakingly he recounted what 
+Page | 844 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+he had seen in the Pensieve and what had happened 
+in the forest, and they had not even begun to express 
+all their shock and amazement when at last they 
+arrived at the place to which they had been walking, 
+though none of them had mentioned their 
+destination. 
+
+Since he had last seen it, the gargoyle guarding the 
+entrance to the headmaster’s study had been knocked 
+aside; it stood lopsided, looking a little punch-drunk, 
+and Harry wondered whether it would be able to 
+distinguish passwords anymore. 
+
+“Can we go up?” he asked the gargoyle. 
+
+“Feel free,” groaned the statue. 
+
+They clambered over him and onto the spiral stone 
+staircase that moved slowly upward like an escalator. 
+Harry pushed open the door at the top. 
+
+He had one, brief glimpse of the stone Pensieve on the 
+desk where he had left it, and then an earsplitting 
+noise made him cry out, thinking of curses and 
+returning Death Eaters and the rebirth of Voldemort 
+
+
+
+But it was applause. All around the walls, the 
+headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were 
+giving him a standing ovation; they waved their hats 
+and in some cases their wigs, they reached through 
+their frames to grip each other’s hands; they danced 
+up and down on the chairs in which they had been 
+painted; Dilys Derwent sobbed unashamedly; Dexter 
+Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas 
+Nigellus called, in his high, reedy voice, “And let it be 
+noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our 
+contribution not be forgotten!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the 
+largest portrait directly behind the headmaster’s 
+chair. Tears were sliding down from behind the half- 
+moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the 
+pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled 
+Harry with the same balm as phoenix song. 
+
+At last, Harry held up his hands, and the portraits fell 
+respectfully silent, beaming and mopping their eyes 
+and waiting eagerly for him to speak. He directed his 
+words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with 
+enormous care. Exhausted and bleary-eyed though he 
+was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last 
+piece of advice. 
+
+“The thing that was hidden in the Snitch,” he began, 
+
+“I dropped it in the forest. I don’t know exactly where, 
+but I’m not going to go looking for it again. Do you 
+agree?” 
+
+“My dear boy, I do,” said Dumbledore, while his fellow 
+pictures looked confused and curious. “A wise and 
+courageous decision, but no less than I would have 
+expected of you. Does anyone else know where it fell?” 
+
+“No one,” said Harry, and Dumbledore nodded his 
+satisfaction. 
+
+“I’m going to keep Ignotus’s present, though,” said 
+Harry, and Dumbledore beamed. 
+
+“But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you 
+pass it on!” 
+
+“And then there’s this.” 
+
+Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and 
+Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not 
+like to see. 
+
+“I don’t want it,” said Harry. 
+
+“What?” said Ron loudly. “Are you mental?” 
+
+“I know it’s powerful,” said Harry wearily. “But I was 
+happier with mine. So ...” 
+
+He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, 
+and pulled out the two halves of holly still just 
+connected by the finest thread of phoenix feather. 
+Hermione had said that they could not be repaired, 
+that the damage was too severe. All he knew was that 
+if this did not work, nothing would. 
+
+He laid the broken wand upon the headmaster’s desk, 
+touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand, and 
+said, “Reparo.” 
+
+As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end. 
+Harry knew that he had succeeded. He picked up the 
+holly and phoenix wand and felt a sudden warmth in 
+his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing 
+at their reunion. 
+
+“I’m putting the Elder Wand,” he told Dumbledore, 
+who was watching him with enormous affection and 
+admiration, “back where it came from. It can stay 
+there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power 
+will be broken, won’t it? The previous master will 
+never have been defeated. That’ll be the end of it.” 
+
+Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other. 
+
+“Are you sure?” said Ron. There was the faintest trace 
+of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“I think Harry’s right,” said Hermione quietly. 
+
+“That wand’s more trouble than it’s worth,” said 
+Harry. “And quite honestly,” he turned away from the 
+painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster 
+bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and 
+wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a 
+sandwich there, “I’ve had enough trouble for a 
+lifetime.” 
+
+
+
+Page | 848 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling 
+
+
+
+
+ayue 
+
+
+
+
+NINETEEN YEARS LATER 
+
+Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The 
+morning of the first of September was crisp and 
+golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed 
+across the rumbling road toward the great sooty 
+station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of 
+pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two 
+large cages rattled on top of the laden trolleys the 
+parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted 
+indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed tearfully 
+behind her brothers, clutching her father’s arm. 
+
+“It won’t be long, and you’ll be going too,” Harry told 
+her. 
+
+“Two years,” sniffed Lily. “I want to go now\” 
+
+The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the 
+family wove its way toward the barrier between 
+platforms nine and ten. Albus’s voice drifted back to 
+Harry over the surrounding clamor; his sons had 
+resumed the argument they had started in the car. 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+“I won’ti I won’t be in Slytherin!” 
+
+“James, give it a rest!” said Ginny. 
+
+“I only said he might be,” said James, grinning at his 
+younger brother. “There’s nothing wrong with that. He 
+might be in Slyth — ” 
+
+But James caught his mother’s eye and fell silent. 
+
+The five Potters approached the barrier. With a 
+slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger 
+brother, James took the trolley from his mother and 
+broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished. 
+
+“You’ll write to me, won’t you?” Albus asked his 
+parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary 
+absence of his brother. 
+
+“Every day, if you want us to,” said Ginny. 
+
+“Not every day,” said Albus quickly. “James says most 
+people only get letters from home about once a 
+month.” 
+
+“We wrote to James three times a week last year,” 
+said Ginny. 
+
+“And you don’t want to believe everything he tells you 
+about Hogwarts,” Harry put in. “He likes a laugh, 
+your brother.” 
+
+Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, 
+gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus 
+winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family 
+emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, 
+which was obscured by thick white steam that was 
+pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct 
+figures were swarming through the mist, into which 
+James had already disappeared. 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“Where are they?” asked Albus anxiously, peering at 
+the hazy forms they passed as they made their way 
+down the platform. 
+
+“Well find them,” said Ginny reassuringly. 
+
+But the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make 
+out anybody’s faces. Detached from their owners, 
+voices sounded unnaturally loud. Harry thought he 
+heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick 
+regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to 
+stop and say hello. ... 
+
+“I think that’s them, Al,” said Ginny suddenly. 
+
+A group of four people emerged from the mist, 
+standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces 
+only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and 
+Albus had drawn right up to them. 
+
+“Hi,” said Albus, sounding immensely relieved. 
+
+Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new 
+Hogwarts robes, beamed at him. 
+
+“Parked all right, then?” Ron asked Harry. “I did. 
+Hermione didn’t believe I could pass a Muggle driving 
+test, did you? She thought I’d have to Confund the 
+examiner.” 
+
+“No, I didn’t,” said Hermione, “I had complete faith in 
+you.” 
+
+“As a matter of fact, I did Confund him,” Ron 
+whispered to Harry, as together they lifted Albus ’s 
+trunk and owl onto the train. “I only forgot to look in 
+the wing mirror, and let’s face it, I can use a 
+Supersensory Charm for that.” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+Back on the platform, they found Lily and Hugo, 
+Rose’s younger brother, having an animated 
+discussion about which House they would be sorted 
+into when they finally went to Hogwarts. 
+
+“If you’re not in Gryffindor, we’ll disinherit you,” said 
+Ron, “but no pressure.” 
+
+“Ron\” 
+
+Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and Rose looked 
+solemn. 
+
+“He doesn’t mean it,” said Hermione and Ginny, but 
+Ron was no longer paying attention. Catching Harry’s 
+eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards 
+away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and 
+three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting 
+mist. 
+
+“Look who it is.” 
+
+Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and 
+son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair 
+was receding somewhat, which emphasized the 
+pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much 
+as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of 
+Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, 
+nodded curtly, and turned away again. 
+
+“So that’s little Scorpius,” said Ron under his breath. 
+“Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank 
+God you inherited your mother’s brains.” 
+
+“Ron, for heaven’s sake,” said Hermione, half stern, 
+half amused. “Don’t try to turn them against each 
+other before they’ve even started school!” 
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+“You’re right, sorry,” said Ron, but unable to help 
+himself, he added, “Don’t get too friendly with him, 
+though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive 
+you if you married a pureblood.” 
+
+“Hey!” 
+
+James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his 
+trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting 
+with news. 
+
+“Teddy’s back there,” he said breathlessly, pointing 
+back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of 
+steam. “Just seen him! And guess what he’s doing? 
+Snogging Victoire\” 
+
+He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by 
+the lack of reaction. 
+
+“Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin\ Snogging our Victoire! Our 
+cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing — ” 
+
+“You interrupted them?” said Ginny. “You are so like 
+Ron — ” 
+
+“ — and he said he’d come to see her off! And then he 
+told me to go away. He’s snogging her!” James added 
+as though worried he had not made himself clear. 
+
+“Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!” whispered 
+Lily ecstatically. “Teddy would really be part of the 
+family then!” 
+
+“He already comes round for dinner about four times 
+a week,” said Harry. “Why don’t we just invite him to 
+live with us and have done with it?” 
+
+“Yeah!” said James enthusiastically. “I don’t mind 
+sharing with A1 — Teddy could have my room!” 
+
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+
+
+
+
+“No,” said Harry firmly, “you and A1 will share a room 
+only when I want the house demolished.” 
+
+He checked the battered old watch that had once 
+been Fabian Prewett’s. 
+
+“It’s nearly eleven, you’d better get on board.” 
+
+“Don’t forget to give Neville our love!” Ginny told 
+James as she hugged him. 
+
+“Mum! I can’t give a professor love\” 
+
+“But you know Neville — ” 
+
+James rolled his eyes. 
+
+“Outside, yeah, but at school he’s Professor 
+Longbottom, isn’t he? I can’t walk into Herbology and 
+give him love. ...” 
+
+Shaking his head at his mother’s foolishness, he 
+vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus. 
+
+“See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals.” 
+
+“I thought they were invisible? You said they were 
+invisible !” 
+
+But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to 
+kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, then leapt 
+onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then 
+sprint away up the corridor to find his friends. 
+
+“Thestrals are nothing to worry about,” Harry told 
+Albus. “They’re gentle things, there’s nothing scary 
+about them. Anyway, you won’t be going up to school 
+in the carriages, you’ll be going in the boats.” 
+
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+Ginny kissed Albus good-bye. 
+
+“See you at Christmas.” 
+
+“Bye, Al,” said Harry as his son hugged him. “Don’t 
+forget Hagrid’s invited you to tea next Friday. Don’t 
+mess with Peeves. Don’t duel anyone till you’ve 
+learned how. And don’t let James wind you up.” 
+
+“What if I’m in Slytherin?” 
+
+The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew 
+that only the moment of departure could have forced 
+Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was. 
+
+Harry crouched down so that Albus ’s face was slightly 
+above his own. Alone of Harry’s three children, Albus 
+had inherited Lily’s eyes. 
+
+“Albus Severus,” Harry said quietly, so that nobody 
+but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to 
+pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the 
+train, “you were named for two headmasters of 
+Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was 
+probably the bravest man I ever knew.” 
+
+“But just say — ” 
+
+“ — then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent 
+student, won’t it? It doesn’t matter to us, Al. But if it 
+matters to you, you’ll be able to choose Gryffindor 
+over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into 
+account.” 
+
+“Really?” 
+
+“It did for me,” said Harry. 
+
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+He had never told any of his children that before, and 
+he saw the wonder in Albus’s face when he said it. 
+
+But now the doors were slamming all along the 
+scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents were 
+swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute 
+reminders. Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny 
+closed the door behind him. Students were hanging 
+from the windows nearest them. A great number of 
+faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned 
+toward Harry. 
+
+“Why are they all staring?” demanded Albus as he 
+and Rose craned around to look at the other 
+students. 
+
+“Don’t let it worry you,” said Ron. “It’s me. I’m 
+extremely famous.” 
+
+Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began 
+to move, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his 
+son’s thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry 
+kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a 
+little bereavement, watching his son glide away from 
+him. ... 
+
+The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. 
+The train rounded a corner. Harry’s hand was still 
+raised in farewell. 
+
+“He’ll be all right,” murmured Ginny. 
+
+As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand 
+absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his 
+forehead. 
+
+“I know he will.” 
+
+The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All 
+was well. 
+
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