Harry Potter and the half-blood prince part 7 AUDIOBOOK

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#harrypotter  #audiobook #harrypotterfan  Narrator: James Dobinson

Transcript

00:00:00Chapter 18 BIRTHDAY SURPRISES

00:00:04The next day Harry confided in both Ron and Hermione the task that Dumbledore had set

00:00:09him, though separately, for Hermione still refused to remain in Ron's presence longer

00:00:13than it took to give him a contemptuous look.

00:00:16Ron thought that Harry was unlikely to have any trouble with Slughorn at all.

00:00:19"'He loves you,' he said over breakfast, waving an airy forkful of fried egg.

00:00:24"'Won't refuse you anything, will he?

00:00:26"'What, his little potions prince?

00:00:28Just hang back after class this afternoon and ask him!'

00:00:31Hermione, however, took a gloomier view.

00:00:33"'He must be determined to hide that what really happened if Dumbledore couldn't get

00:00:37it out of him,' she said in a low voice as they stood in the deserted snowy courtyard

00:00:41at break.

00:00:42"'Horcruxes!

00:00:43Horcruxes!

00:00:44I've never even heard of them!'

00:00:46"'You haven't?'

00:00:47Harry was disappointed.

00:00:48He had hoped that Hermione might have been able to give him a clue to what Horcruxes

00:00:52were.

00:00:53"'They must be really advanced dark magic, or why would Voldemort have wanted to know

00:00:56about them?

00:00:57I think it's going to be difficult to get that information, Harry.

00:01:00You have to be very careful about how you approach Slughorn.

00:01:03Think about a strategy.'

00:01:04Ron reckons I should just hang back after potions this afternoon.

00:01:08"'Oh well, if one-one thinks that, you'd better do it,' she said, flaring up at once.

00:01:13After all, when has one-one's judgment ever been faulty?'

00:01:16"'Hermione, can't you?'

00:01:18"'No,' she said angrily, and stormed away, leaving Harry alone and ankle-deep in snow.

00:01:24Potions lessons were uncomfortable enough these days, seeing as Harry, Ron and Hermione

00:01:27had to share a desk.

00:01:29Today Hermione moved her cauldron around the tables so that she was close to Ernie, and

00:01:33ignored both Harry and Ron.

00:01:34"'What have you done?'

00:01:36Ron muttered to Harry, looking at Hermione's haughty profile.

00:01:40But before Harry could answer, Slughorn was calling for silence from the front of the

00:01:43room.

00:01:44"'Settle down!

00:01:45Settle down, please!

00:01:46Quickly now!

00:01:48We've got to get through this afternoon.

00:01:49Go Polots' Third Law.

00:01:50Who can tell me?'

00:01:51"'But Miss Granger can, of course,' Hermione recited at top speed.

00:01:56Go Polots' Third Law states that the antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more

00:02:02than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components.'

00:02:05"'Precisely!'

00:02:06beamed Slughorn.

00:02:07"'Ten points for Gryffindor.

00:02:09Now, if we accept Go Polots' Third Law as true—'

00:02:13Harry was going to have to take Slughorn's word for it, but Go Polots' Third Law was

00:02:17true because he had not understood any of it.

00:02:19Nobody apart from Hermione seemed to be following what Slughorn said next, either.

00:02:24"'Which means, of course, that assuming we have achieved correct identification of

00:02:27the potion's ingredients by Scarpin's Revealer spell, our primary aim is not the

00:02:33relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves,

00:02:38but to find that added component which will, by an almost alchemical process, transform

00:02:45these disparate elements.'

00:02:47Ron was sitting beside Harry with his mouth half open, doodling absently on his new copy

00:02:51of Advanced Potion Making.

00:02:53Ron kept forgetting that he could no longer rely on Hermione to help him out of trouble

00:02:57when he failed to grasp what was going on.

00:02:59"'And so,' finished Slughorn, 'I want each of you to come and take one of these

00:03:03files from my desk.

00:03:04You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson.

00:03:08Good luck and don't forget your protective gloves.'

00:03:11Hermione had left her stool and was halfway towards Slughorn's desk before the rest

00:03:15of the class had realised it was time to move, and by the time Harry, Ron and Ernie returned

00:03:19to the table, she had already tipped the contents of her file into her cauldron and was kindling

00:03:24a fire underneath it.

00:03:25"'It's a shame that the Prince won't be able to help you much with this, Harry,'

00:03:29she said brightly as she straightened up.

00:03:31'You have to understand the principles involved this time, no shortcuts or cheats.'

00:03:35Annoyed, Harry uncorked the poison he had taken from Slughorn's desk, which was a

00:03:40garish shade of pink, tipped it into his cauldron and lit a fire underneath it.

00:03:45He did not have the faintest idea what he was supposed to do next.

00:03:47He glanced at Ron, who was now standing there looking rather gormless, having copied everything

00:03:52Harry had done.

00:03:53"'You sure the Prince hasn't got any tips?'

00:03:55Ron muttered to Harry.

00:03:57Harry pulled out his trusty copy of Advanced Potion-Making and turned to the chapter on

00:04:01Antidotes.

00:04:02There was Golperlot's Third Law, stated word for word as Hermione had recited it, but not

00:04:07a single illuminating note in the Prince's hand to explain what it meant.

00:04:11Apparently, the Prince, like Hermione, had had no difficulty understanding it.

00:04:15"'Nothing,' said Harry gloomily.

00:04:17Hermione was now waving her wand enthusiastically over her cauldron.

00:04:20Unfortunately, they could not copy the spell she was doing because she was now so good

00:04:24at non-verbal incantations that she did not need to say the words aloud.

00:04:28Ernie Macmillan, however, was muttering, "'Specialis Revealio' over his cauldron, which sounded

00:04:34impressive.

00:04:35Harry and Ron hastened to imitate him.

00:04:37It took Harry only five minutes to realise that his reputation as the best potion-maker

00:04:41in the class was crashing around his ears.

00:04:44Slughorn had peered hopefully into his cauldron on his first circuit of the dungeon, preparing

00:04:48to exclaim in delight as he usually did, and instead had withdrawn his head hastily, coughing

00:04:54as the smell of bad eggs overwhelmed him.

00:04:56Hermione's expression could not have been any smugger.

00:04:59She had loathed being outperformed in every potions class.

00:05:02She was now decanting the mysteriously separated ingredients of her poison into ten different

00:05:07crystal files, more to avoid watching the irritating sight than anything else.

00:05:12Harry bent over the Half-Blood Prince's book and turned a few pages with unnecessary force.

00:05:18And there it was, scrawled right across the long list of antidotes.

00:05:22Just shove a bazaar down their throats.

00:05:24Harry stared at these words for a moment.

00:05:26Hadn't he once long ago heard of bazaars?

00:05:29Hadn't Snape mentioned them in their first-ever potions lesson?

00:05:31A stone taken from the stomach of a goat, which will protect from most poisons?

00:05:36It was not an answer to the gulp-a-lot problem, and had Snape still been their teacher, Harry

00:05:40would not have dared to do it.

00:05:41But this was a moment for desperate measures.

00:05:44He hastened towards the store cupboard and rummaged within it, pushing aside unicorn

00:05:48horns and tangles of dried herbs, until he found, at the very back, a small card box

00:05:53on which had been scribbled the word, Bazaars.

00:05:56He opened the box, just as Slughorn called, Two minutes left, everyone!

00:06:00Inside were half a dozen shrivelled brown objects, looking more like dried-up kidneys

00:06:04than real stones.

00:06:06Harry seized one, put the box back in the cupboard, and hurried back to his cauldron.

00:06:10Times up! called Slughorn genially.

00:06:13Well, let's see how you've done.

00:06:14Blaze, what have you got for me?

00:06:17Slowly Slughorn moved around the room, examining the various antidotes.

00:06:21Nobody had finished the task, although Hermione was trying to cram a few more ingredients

00:06:25into her bottle before Slughorn reached her.

00:06:27Ron had given up completely, and was merely trying to avoid breathing in the putrid fumes

00:06:32issued from his cauldron.

00:06:33Harry stood there waiting, the Bazaar clutched in a slightly sweaty hand.

00:06:38Slughorn reached their table last.

00:06:39He sniffed Ernie's potion, and passed on to Ron's with a grimace.

00:06:43He did not linger long over Ron's cauldron, but backed away swiftly, retching slightly.

00:06:48And you, Harry, he said, what have you got to show me?

00:06:51Harry held out his hand, the Bazaar sitting on his palm.

00:06:54Slughorn looked down at it for a full ten seconds.

00:06:57Harry wondered for a moment whether he was going to shout at him.

00:07:00Then he threw back his head and roared with laughter.

00:07:03You've got a nerve, boy, he boomed, taking the Bazaar and holding it up so that the class

00:07:08could see it.

00:07:09Oh, you're like your mother?

00:07:11Well, I can't fault you, a Bazaar would certainly act as an antidote to all these potions.

00:07:16Hermione, who was sweaty-faced and had soot on her nose, looked livid.

00:07:20Her half-finished antidote, comprising fifty-two ingredients, including a chunk of her own

00:07:25hair, bubbled sluggishly behind Slughorn, who had eyes for nobody but Harry.

00:07:30And you've fought a Bazaar all by yourself, did you, Harry?

00:07:33She asked through gritted teeth.

00:07:35That's the individual spirit of a real potion-maker, said Slughorn happily, before Harry could

00:07:41reply.

00:07:42Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making.

00:07:45It's undoubtedly from Lily he gets it.

00:07:47Yes, Harry, yes.

00:07:48Have you got a Bazaar in hand?

00:07:50Of course, that would do the trick.

00:07:51Although, as they don't work on everything and are pretty rare, it's still worth knowing

00:07:55how to mix antidotes.

00:07:57The only person in the room looking angrier than Hermione was Malfoy, who Harry was pleased

00:08:01to see had spilled something that looked like catsick over himself.

00:08:05Before either of them could express their fury that Harry had come top of the class

00:08:08by not doing any work, however, the bell rang.

00:08:11Time to pack up, said Slughorn, and an extra ten points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek.

00:08:16Still chuckling, he waddled back to his desk at the front of the dungeon.

00:08:20Harry dawdled behind, taking an inordinate amount of time to do up his bag.

00:08:25Neither Ron nor Hermione wished him luck as they left.

00:08:27Both looked rather annoyed.

00:08:29At last, Harry and Slughorn were the only two left in the room.

00:08:33Come on now, Harry.

00:08:34You'll be late for your next lesson, said Slughorn affably, snapping the gold clasp

00:08:38shut on his dragon-skin briefcase.

00:08:40Sir, said Harry, reminding himself irresistibly of Voldemort, I wanted to ask you something.

00:08:46Ask away, then, my dear boy, ask away.

00:08:49Sir, I wondered what you know about horcruxes.

00:08:53Slughorn froze.

00:08:54His round face seemed to sink in upon itself.

00:08:58He licked his lips and said, hoarsely, What did you say?

00:09:01I asked whether you know anything about horcruxes, sir.

00:09:04You see, Dumbledore put you up to this, whispered Slughorn.

00:09:08His voice had changed completely.

00:09:10He was not genial any more, but shocked, terrified, he fumbled in his breast pocket and pulled

00:09:15out a handkerchief, mopping his sweating brow.

00:09:19Dumbledore's shown you that memory, said Slughorn.

00:09:23Well, hasn't he?

00:09:24Yes, said Harry, deciding on the spot that it was best not to lie.

00:09:27Yes, of course, said Slughorn quietly, still dabbing at his white face.

00:09:31Of course, well, if you've seen that memory, Harry, you'll know that I don't know anything,

00:09:37anything, he repeated the word forcefully, about horcruxes.

00:09:41He seized his dragon-skin briefcase, stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket and

00:09:45marched to the dungeon door.

00:09:47Sir, said Harry desperately, I just thought there might be a bit more to the memory.

00:09:51Did you?

00:09:52Said Slughorn.

00:09:53Then you were wrong, weren't you?

00:09:54Wrong!

00:09:55He bellowed the last word, and before Harry could say another word, slammed the dungeon

00:09:58door behind him.

00:10:00Neither Ron nor Hermione was at all sympathetic when Harry told them of this disastrous interview.

00:10:06Hermione was still seething at the way Harry had triumphed without doing the work properly.

00:10:11Ron was resentful that Harry hadn't slipped him a bazaar too.

00:10:14It would have just looked stupid if we'd both done it, said Harry irritably.

00:10:17Look, I had to try and soften him up so I could ask him about Voldemort, didn't I?

00:10:22Oh, will you get a grip, he added in exasperation as Ron winced at the sound of the name.

00:10:27Infuriated by his failure and by Ron and Hermione's attitudes, Harry brooded for the next few

00:10:32days over what to do next about Slughorn.

00:10:35He decided that, for the time being, he would let Slughorn think that he had forgotten all

00:10:39about horcruxes.

00:10:40It was surely best to lull him into a false sense of security before returning to the

00:10:44attack.

00:10:45When Harry did not question Slughorn again, the potions master reverted to his usual affectionate

00:10:50treatment of him, and appeared to have put the matter from his mind.

00:10:53Harry awaited an invitation to one of his little evening parties, determined to accept

00:10:58this time, even if he had to reschedule Quidditch practice.

00:11:01Unfortunately, however, no such invitation arrived.

00:11:05Harry checked with Hermione and Ginny.

00:11:07Neither of them had received an invitation, and nor, as far as they knew, had anybody

00:11:11else.

00:11:12Harry could not help wondering whether this meant that Slughorn was not quite as forgetful

00:11:16as he appeared, simply determined to give Harry no additional opportunities to question

00:11:20him.

00:11:21Meanwhile, the Hogwarts library had failed Hermione for the first time in living memory.

00:11:26She was so shocked, she even forgot that she was annoyed at Harry for his trick with the

00:11:30bazaar.

00:11:31I haven't found one single explanation of what Horcruxes do, she told him, not a single

00:11:36one.

00:11:37I've been right through the restricted section, and even in the most horrible books, where

00:11:41they tell you how to brew the most gruesome potions.

00:11:44Nothing.

00:11:45All I could find was this, in the introduction to Magic Most Evil, listen, of the Horcrux,

00:11:51wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction.

00:11:55I mean, why mention it then, she said impatiently, slamming the old book shut.

00:12:00She let out a ghostly wail, oh shut up, she snapped, stuffing it back into her bag.

00:12:05The snow melted around the school as February arrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness.

00:12:10Purpleish-grey clouds hung low over the castle, and a constant fall of chilly rain made the

00:12:15lawn slippery and muddy.

00:12:16The upshot of this was that the six years' first apparition lesson, which was scheduled

00:12:20for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed, took place in the Great Hall

00:12:25instead of in the grounds.

00:12:27When Harry and Hermione arrived in the hall, Ron had come down with lavender.

00:12:30They found that the tables had disappeared.

00:12:33Rain lashed against the high windows, and the enchanted ceilings swirled darkly above

00:12:37them as they assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Sprout, the

00:12:42heads of house, and a small wizard from whom Harry took to be the apparition instructor

00:12:47from the ministry.

00:12:48He was oddly colourless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair and an insubstantial

00:12:53air as though a single gust of wind might blow him away.

00:12:57Harry wondered whether constant disappearances and reappearances had somehow diminished his

00:13:02substance or whether his frail build was ideal for anyone wishing to vanish.

00:13:06Good morning, said the ministry wizard when all the students had arrived and the heads

00:13:10of house had called for quiet.

00:13:12My name is Wilkie Twycross, and I shall be your ministry apparition instructor for the

00:13:17next twelve weeks.

00:13:18I hope to be able to prepare you for your apparition test in this time.

00:13:22Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention, barked Professor McGonagall.

00:13:27Everybody looked around.

00:13:28Malfoy had a flushed dull pink.

00:13:30He looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been

00:13:33having a whispered argument.

00:13:35Harry glanced quickly at Snape, who also looked annoyed, though Harry strongly suspected that

00:13:39this was less because of Malfoy's rudeness than the fact that McGonagall had reprimanded

00:13:43one of his house.

00:13:46By which time, many of you may be ready to take your test, Twycross continued, as though

00:13:51there had been no interruption.

00:13:53As you may know, it is usually impossible to apparate or disapparate within Hogwarts.

00:13:57The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the great hall, for one hour,

00:14:02so as to enable you to practice.

00:14:03May I emphasize that you will not be able to apparate outside the walls of this hall,

00:14:07and that you would be unwise to try.

00:14:10I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of

00:14:14space in front of you.

00:14:15There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banging into each other,

00:14:19and ordered others out of their space.

00:14:21The heads of house moved among the students, marching them into position, and breaking

00:14:25up arguments.

00:14:26Harry, where are you going? demanded Hermione, but Harry did not answer.

00:14:32He was moving quickly through the crowd, past the place where Professor Flitwick was making

00:14:36squeaky attempts to position a few Ravenclaws, all of whom wanted to be near the front, past

00:14:41Professor Sprout, who was chivvying the Hufflepuffs into line, until, by dodging around Ernie

00:14:46MacMillan, he managed to position himself right at the back of the crowd, directly behind

00:14:50Malfoy, who was taking advantage of the general upheaval to continue his argument with Crabb,

00:14:56standing five feet away and looking mutinous.

00:14:58I don't know how much longer, all right, Malfoy shot at him, oblivious to Harry standing right

00:15:03behind him.

00:15:04It's taking longer than I thought it would.

00:15:06Crabb opened his mouth, but Malfoy appeared to second-guess what he was going to say.

00:15:10Look, it's none of your business what I'm doing, Crabb.

00:15:13You and Goyle just do as you're told and keep a lookout.

00:15:16I tell my friends what I'm up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me, Harry said,

00:15:22just loud enough for Malfoy to hear him.

00:15:25Malfoy spun around on the spot, his hand flying to his wand, but at that precise moment the

00:15:29four heads of house shouted, Quiet, and silence fell again.

00:15:33Malfoy turned slowly to face the front.

00:15:35Thank you, said Twycross.

00:15:37Now then.

00:15:39He waved his wand, old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of

00:15:44every student.

00:15:45The important things to remember when apparating are the three D's, said Twycross.

00:15:50Destination, determination, deliberation.

00:15:53Step one.

00:15:54Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination, said Twycross.

00:15:58In this case, the interior of your hoop.

00:16:00Kindly concentrate upon that destination now.

00:16:03Everybody looked around furtively to check that everyone else was staring into their

00:16:07hoop.

00:16:08Then hastily did as they were told.

00:16:10Harry gazed at the circular patch of dusty floor enclosed by his hoop and tried hard

00:16:14to think of nothing else.

00:16:16This proved impossible, as he couldn't stop puzzling over what Malfoy was doing that needed

00:16:20lookouts.

00:16:21Step two, said Twycross.

00:16:23Focus your determination to occupy the visualized space.

00:16:27Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body.

00:16:31Harry glanced around surreptitiously, a little way to his left, Ernie Macmillan was contemplating

00:16:36his hoop so hard that his face had turned pink.

00:16:39It looked as though he was straining to lay a quaffle-sized egg.

00:16:43Harry bit back a laugh and hastily returned his gaze to his own hoop.

00:16:46Step three, called Twycross.

00:16:48And only when I give the command, turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness,

00:16:53moving with deliberation.

00:16:54On my command now.

00:16:56One.

00:16:57Harry glanced around him.

00:16:58Lots of people were looking positively alarmed at being asked to apparate so quickly.

00:17:02Two.

00:17:03Harry tried to fix his thoughts on his hoop again.

00:17:05He'd already forgotten what the three D's stood for.

00:17:08Three.

00:17:09Harry spun on the spot, lost his balance and nearly fell over.

00:17:12He was not the only one.

00:17:13The whole hall was suddenly full of staggering people.

00:17:16Neville was flat on his back.

00:17:17Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, had done a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop and

00:17:21looked momentarily thrilled, until he caught sight of Dean Thomas roaring with laughter

00:17:25at him.

00:17:26Never mind, never mind, said Twycross dryly.

00:17:29Who did not seem to have expected anything better?

00:17:32Lost your hoops, please, and back to your original positions.

00:17:35The second attempt was no better than the first.

00:17:38The third was just as bad.

00:17:39Not until the fourth did anything exciting happen.

00:17:41There was a horrible screech of pain, and everybody looked around, terrified, to see

00:17:45Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in her hoop, with her left leg still standing five

00:17:51feet away where she had started.

00:17:54The heads of house converged on her.

00:17:55There was a great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared to reveal Susan sobbing,

00:18:00reunited with her leg, but looking horrified.

00:18:03Splinching!

00:18:04Or the separation of random body parts, said Wilkie Twycross dispassionately, occurs when

00:18:09the mind is insufficiently determined.

00:18:12You must concentrate continually upon your destination, and move without haste, but with

00:18:17deliberation.

00:18:18Thus, Twycross stepped forwards, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched, and

00:18:23vanished in a swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the hall.

00:18:27Remember the three D's, he said, and try again.

00:18:30One, two, three!

00:18:32But an hour later, Susan's splinching was still the most interesting thing that had

00:18:36happened.

00:18:37Twycross did not seem discouraged.

00:18:39Fastening his cloak at his neck, he merely said, Until next Saturday everybody, and do

00:18:43not forget, destination, determination, deliberation.

00:18:47With that he waved his wand, vanishing the hoops, and walked out of the hall accompanied

00:18:51by Professor McGonagall.

00:18:53Talk broke out at once as people began moving towards the entrance hall.

00:18:57How did you do?

00:18:58asked Ron, hurrying towards Harry.

00:18:59I think I felt something the last time I tried, a kind of tingling in my feet.

00:19:03I expect your trainers were too small, one-one, said a voice behind them, and am I any stalked

00:19:08past smirking?

00:19:09I didn't feel anything, said Harry, ignoring this interruption, but I don't care about

00:19:14that now.

00:19:15What do you mean, you don't care?

00:19:16Don't you want to learn to apparate? said Ron incredulously.

00:19:19I'm not fussed, really, I prefer flying, said Harry, glancing over his shoulder to see where

00:19:23Malfoy was, and speeding up as they came into the entrance hall.

00:19:27Look, hurry up, will you?

00:19:28There's something I want to do.

00:19:30Perplexed, Ron followed Harry back to Gryffindor Tower to run.

00:19:34They were temporarily detained by peeves who had jammed a door on the fourth floor shut,

00:19:39and was refusing to let anyone pass until they set fire to their own pants, but Harry

00:19:43and Ron simply turned back and took one of their trusted shortcuts.

00:19:47Within five minutes they were climbing through the portrait hall.

00:19:49Are you going to tell me what you're doing then?

00:19:52Passed Ron, panting slightly.

00:19:53Up here, said Harry, and he crossed the common room and led the way through the door to the

00:19:57boys' staircase.

00:19:59Their dormitory was, as Harry had hoped, empty.

00:20:01He flung open his trunk and began to rummage in it, while Ron watched impatiently.

00:20:06Harry?

00:20:07Malfoy's using Crabbe and Goyle as lookouts.

00:20:09He was arguing with Crabbe just now.

00:20:11I just, I want to know, ah ha!

00:20:14He had found it, a folded square of apparently blank parchment, which he now smoothed out

00:20:18and tapped with the tip of his wand.

00:20:20I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

00:20:24Or Malfoy is, anyway.

00:20:25At once, the Marauder's map appeared on the parchment's surface.

00:20:30Here was a detailed plan of every one of the castle's floors, and moving around it, the

00:20:34tiny labelled black dots that signified each of the castle's occupants.

00:20:38Help me find Malfoy, said Harry urgently.

00:20:41He laid the map upon his bed, and he and Ron leaned over it, searching.

00:20:45There, said Ron, after a minute or so, he's in the slivering common room, look, with Parkinson

00:20:50and Zabini and Crabbe and Goyle.

00:20:52Harry looked down at the map, disappointed, but rallied almost at once.

00:20:55Well, I'm keeping an eye on him from now on, he said firmly, and the moment I see him lurking

00:21:00somewhere with Crabbe and Goyle, keeping watch outside, it'll be on with the old invisibility

00:21:05cloak and off to find out what he's...

00:21:07He broke off as Neville entered the dormitory, bringing with him a strong smell of singed

00:21:12material and began rummaging in his trunk for a fresh pair of pants.

00:21:17Despite his determination to catch Malfoy out, Harry had no luck at all over the next

00:21:21couple of weeks.

00:21:22Although he consulted the map as often as he could, sometimes making unnecessary visits

00:21:26to the bathroom between lessons to search it, he did not once see Malfoy anywhere suspicious.

00:21:31Admittedly, he spotted Crabbe and Goyle moving around the castle on their own more often

00:21:36than usual, sometimes remaining stationary in deserted corridors, but at these times

00:21:40Malfoy was not only nowhere near them, but impossible to locate on the map at all.

00:21:45This was most mysterious.

00:21:47Harry toyed with the possibility that Malfoy was actually leaving the school grounds, but

00:21:51could not see how he could be doing it, given the very high level of security now operating

00:21:56within the castle.

00:21:57He could only suppose that he was missing Malfoy amongst the hundreds of tiny black

00:22:01dots upon the map.

00:22:03As for the fact that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle appeared to be going their different ways

00:22:07when they were usually inseparable, these things had happened as people got older.

00:22:11Ron and Hermione, Harry reflected sadly, were living proof.

00:22:15February moved towards March, with no change in the weather except that it became windy

00:22:19as well as wet.

00:22:20To general indignation, a sign went up on all common room notice boards that the next

00:22:25trip into Hogsmeade had been cancelled.

00:22:27Ron was furious.

00:22:28It was on my birthday, he said, I was looking forward to that.

00:22:32Not a big surprise though, is it, said Harry, not after what happened to Katie.

00:22:36She had still not returned from St Mungo's.

00:22:39What was more, further disappearances had been reported in the Daily Prophet, including

00:22:43several relatives of students at Hogwarts.

00:22:45But now all I've got to look forward to is stupid apparition, said Ron grumpily.

00:22:50Big birthday treat.

00:22:52Three lessons on, apparition was proving as difficult as ever, though a few more people

00:22:56had managed to splinch themselves.

00:22:59Frustration was running high and there was a certain amount of ill feeling towards Wilkie

00:23:02Twycross and his three D's, which had inspired a number of nicknames for him, the politest

00:23:07of which was Dog Breath and Dung Head.

00:23:10Happy birthday, Ron, said Harry, when they were woken on the 1st of March by Seamus and

00:23:15Dean looking noisily for breakfast.

00:23:17Have a present, he threw the package across to Ron's bed, where it joined a small pile

00:23:22of them that must, Harry assumed, have been delivered by house elves in the night.

00:23:26Cheers, said Ron drowsily, and as he ripped off the paper Harry got out of bed, opened

00:23:30his own trunk and began rummaging in it for the Marauder's Map, which he did after every

00:23:35use.

00:23:36He turfed out half the contents of his trunk before he found it hiding beneath the rolled

00:23:40up socks in which he was still keeping his bottle of Lucky Potion, Felix Felicis.

00:23:45Right, he murmured, taking it back to bed with him, tapping it quietly and murmuring,

00:23:50I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, so that Neville, who was passing the foot

00:23:55of his bed at the time, would not hear.

00:23:58Nice one, Harry, said Ron enthusiastically, waving the new pair of Quidditch Keeper's

00:24:02gloves Harry had given him.

00:24:03No problem, said Harry absentmindedly, as he searched the Slytherin dormitory closely

00:24:08for Malfoy.

00:24:09Hey, I don't think he's in his bed.

00:24:12Ron did not answer.

00:24:13He was too busy unwrapping presents, every now and then letting out an exclamation of

00:24:17pleasure.

00:24:18Seriously good haul this year, he announced, holding up a heavy gold watch, with odd symbols

00:24:22around the edge, and tiny moving stars instead of hands.

00:24:25See what Mum and Dad got me.

00:24:26Blimey, I think I'll come of age next year too.

00:24:29Cool, muttered Harry, sparing the watch a glance before peering more closely at the

00:24:34map.

00:24:35Where was Malfoy?

00:24:36He did not seem to be at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, eating breakfast.

00:24:40He was nowhere near Snape, who was sitting in his study.

00:24:43He wasn't in any of the bathrooms or in the hospital wing.

00:24:46Want one?

00:24:47said Ron thickly, holding out a box of chocolate cauldrons.

00:24:50No thanks, said Harry, looking up.

00:24:52Malfoy's gone again.

00:24:54Can't be done, said Ron, stuffing a second cauldron into his mouth as he slid out of

00:24:58bed to get dressed.

00:24:59Come on, if you don't hurry up, you'll have to apparate on the empty stomach.

00:25:03Might make it easier, I suppose.

00:25:06Ron looked thoughtfully at the box of chocolate cauldrons, then shrugged and helped himself

00:25:10to a third.

00:25:11Harry tapped the map with his wand, muttered, mischief managed.

00:25:15Though it hadn't been, and got dressed thinking hard.

00:25:17There had to be an explanation for Malfoy's periodic disappearances, but he simply could

00:25:22not think what it could be.

00:25:24The best way of finding out would be to tail him, but even with the invisibility cloak

00:25:28this was an impractical idea.

00:25:30He had lessons, Quidditch practice, homework and apparition.

00:25:34He could not follow Malfoy around school all day without his absence being remarked upon.

00:25:38Ready, he said to Ron.

00:25:40He was halfway to the dormitory door when he realised that Ron had not moved, but was

00:25:44leaning on his bedpost, staring out at the rain-washed window with a strangely unfocused

00:25:49look on his face.

00:25:50Ron?

00:25:51Breakfast.

00:25:52I'm not hungry.

00:25:53Harry stared at him.

00:25:54I thought you just said, well alright, I'll come down with you, sighed Ron, but I don't

00:25:58want to eat.

00:25:59Harry scrutinised him suspiciously.

00:26:01You've just eaten half a box of chocolate cauldrons, haven't you?

00:26:04It's not that, Ron sighed again.

00:26:06You... you wouldn't understand.

00:26:09Fair enough, said Harry, albeit puzzled, as he turned to open the door.

00:26:13Harry, said Ron suddenly.

00:26:15What?

00:26:16Harry.

00:26:17I can't stand it.

00:26:18You can't stand what? asked Harry, now starting to feel definitely alarmed.

00:26:22Ron was rather pale, and looked as though he was about to be sick.

00:26:25I can't stop thinking about her, said Ron hoarsely.

00:26:29Harry gaped at him.

00:26:30He had not expected this, and was not sure he wanted to hear it.

00:26:33Friends they might be, but if Ron started calling Lavender, Lav Lav, he would have to

00:26:37put his foot down.

00:26:39Why does that stop you having breakfast?

00:26:41Harry asked, trying to inject a note of common sense into the proceedings.

00:26:45I don't think she knows I exist, said Ron with a desperate gesture.

00:26:49She definitely knows you exist, said Harry, bewildered.

00:26:52She keeps snogging you, doesn't she?

00:26:54Ron blinked.

00:26:55Who are you talking about?

00:26:57Who are you talking about? said Harry, with an increasing sense that all reason had dropped

00:27:01out of the conversation.

00:27:03Remille de Veyne, said Ron softly, and his whole face seemed to illuminate as he said

00:27:07it, as though hit by a ray of purest sunlight.

00:27:11They stared at each other for almost a whole minute, before Harry said, This is a joke,

00:27:15right?

00:27:16You're joking.

00:27:17I think, Harry.

00:27:18I think I love her, said Ron in a strangled voice.

00:27:21Okay, said Harry, walking up to Ron to get a better look at the glazed eyes and the pallid

00:27:27complexion.

00:27:28Okay.

00:27:29Say that again with a straight face.

00:27:31I love her, repeated Ron breathlessly.

00:27:33Have you seen her hair?

00:27:35It's all black and shiny and silky, and her eyes, oh, her big dark eyes, and her...

00:27:42This is really funny and everything, said Harry impatiently, but joke's over, all right?

00:27:46Drop it.

00:27:47He turned to leave.

00:27:48He had got two steps towards the door, when a crashing blow hit him on the right ear.

00:27:52Staggering, he looked around.

00:27:54Ron's fist was drawing right back.

00:27:55His face was contorted with rage.

00:27:57He was about to strike again.

00:27:59Harry reacted instinctively.

00:28:00His wand was out of his pocket, and the incantation sprang to mind without conscious thought.

00:28:05Levicorpus!

00:28:06Ron yelled as his heel was wrenched upwards once more.

00:28:10He dangled helplessly, upside down, his robes hanging off him.

00:28:13What was that for?

00:28:15Harry bellowed.

00:28:16You insulted her, Harry.

00:28:17You said it was a joke, shouted Ron.

00:28:19He was slowly turning purple in the face, as all the blood rushed to his head.

00:28:23This is insane, said Harry.

00:28:24What's got into...?

00:28:26And then he saw the box lying upon Ron's bed, and the truth hit him with the force of a

00:28:30stampeding troll.

00:28:32Where did you get those chocolate cauldrons?

00:28:34They were a birthday present, shouted Ron, revolving slowly in mid-air as he struggled

00:28:39to get free.

00:28:40I offered you one, didn't I?

00:28:42You just picked them up off the floor, didn't you?

00:28:44They'd fallen off my bed, all right?

00:28:45Let me go!

00:28:46They didn't fall off your bed, you prat.

00:28:48Don't you understand?

00:28:49They were mine.

00:28:50I chucked them out of my trunk when I was looking for the map.

00:28:53They're the chocolate cauldrons Remilda gave me before Christmas, and they've all spiked

00:28:57with love potion.

00:28:59But only one word of this seemed to be of register with Ron.

00:29:02Remilda, he repeated.

00:29:04Did you say Remilda, Harry?

00:29:06Do you know her?

00:29:07Can you introduce me?

00:29:09Harry stared at the dangling Ron, whose face now looked tremendously hopeful, and thought

00:29:14a strong desire to laugh.

00:29:16A part of him, the part closest to his frobbing right ear, was quite keen on the idea of letting

00:29:20Ron down and watching him run amok until the effects of the potion wore off.

00:29:25But on the other hand, they were supposed to be friends.

00:29:27Ron had not been himself when he'd been attacked, and Harry thought that he would deserve another

00:29:31punching if he permitted Ron to declare undying love for Remilda Vane.

00:29:35Yeah, I'll introduce you, said Harry, thinking fast.

00:29:38I'm going to let you down now, okay?

00:29:40He sent Ron crashing back to the floor.

00:29:42His ear did hurt quite a lot, but Ron simply bounded to his feet again, grinning.

00:29:47She'll be in Slughorn's office!

00:29:49said Harry confidently, leading the way to the door.

00:29:51Why?

00:29:52Will she be in there?

00:29:54Asked Ron anxiously, hurrying to keep up.

00:29:56Oh, she has extra potion lessons with him, said Harry, inventing wildly.

00:30:01Maybe I could ask if I can have them with her, said Ron eagerly.

00:30:05Great idea, said Harry.

00:30:06Lavender was waiting beside the portrait hall, a complication Harry had not foreseen.

00:30:11You're late, One-One, she pounted.

00:30:13I've got you a birthday.

00:30:15Leave me alone, said Ron impatiently.

00:30:17Harry's going to introduce me to Remilda Vane.

00:30:19And without another word to her, he pushed his way out of the portrait hall.

00:30:23Harry tried to make an apologetic face to Lavender, but it might have turned out simply

00:30:27amused because she looked more offended than ever as the fat lady swung shut behind them.

00:30:32Harry had been slightly worried that Slughorn might be at breakfast, but he answered his

00:30:37office door at the first knock, wearing a green velvet dressing gown and matching nightcap

00:30:41and looking rather bleary eyed.

00:30:43Harry, he mumbled.

00:30:45This is very early for a call.

00:30:47I generally sleep late on a Saturday.

00:30:49Professor, I'm really sorry to disturb you, said Harry as quietly as possible, while Ron

00:30:54stood on tiptoe, attempting to see past Slughorn into his room.

00:30:57But my friend Ron swallowed a love potion by mistake.

00:31:01You couldn't make him an antidote, could you?

00:31:03I'd take him to Madame Pomfrey, but we're not supposed to have anything from Weasley's

00:31:06Wizard Wheezes and, you know, awkward questions.

00:31:09I'd have thought you could have whipped him up a remedy, Harry.

00:31:12An expert potioner like you, asked Slughorn.

00:31:15Er, said Harry, somewhat distracted by the fact that Ron was now elbowing him in the

00:31:19ribs in an attempt to force his way into the room.

00:31:22Well, I've never mixed an antidote for a love potion, sir.

00:31:25And by the time I get it right, Ron might have done something serious.

00:31:29Helpfully, Ron chose this moment to moan.

00:31:32I can't see her, Harry.

00:31:33Is he hiding her?

00:31:35Was this potion within date? asked Slughorn, now eyeing Ron with professional interest.

00:31:41They can strengthen, you know, the longer they're kept.

00:31:44I would explain a lot, panted Harry, now positively wrestling with Ron to keep him from knocking

00:31:48Slughorn over.

00:31:49It's his birthday, Professor, he added imploringly.

00:31:52Oh, all right, come in, come in, said Slughorn, relenting.

00:31:55I've got the necessary here in my bag.

00:31:57It's not a difficult antidote.

00:31:59Ron burst through the door into Slughorn's overheated, crowded study, tipped over a tussled

00:32:04footstool, regained his balance by seizing Harry around the neck and muttered,

00:32:08She didn't see that, did she?

00:32:10She's not here, yet, said Harry.

00:32:12Seeing Slughorn opening his potion kit and adding a few pinches of this and that to a

00:32:16small crystal bottle.

00:32:18That's good, said Ron fervently.

00:32:20How do I look?

00:32:21Very handsome, said Slughorn smoothly, handing Ron a glass of clear work liquid.

00:32:25Now drink that up.

00:32:26It's a tonic for the nerves.

00:32:28Keep you calm when she arrives, you know.

00:32:30Brilliant, said Ron eagerly, and he gulped the antidote down noisily.

00:32:34Harry and Slughorn watched him.

00:32:35For a moment, Ron beamed at them.

00:32:37And very slowly his grin sagged and vanished, to be replaced by an expression of utmost

00:32:42horror.

00:32:43Back to normal, then, said Harry, grinning.

00:32:46Slughorn chuckled.

00:32:47Thanks a lot, Professor.

00:32:48Don't mention it, my boy, don't mention it, said Slughorn, as Ron collapsed into a nearby

00:32:52armchair, looking devastated.

00:32:55Pick me up.

00:32:56That's what he needs, Slughorn continued, now bustling over to a table loaded with drinks.

00:33:00I've got butterbeer.

00:33:01I've got wine.

00:33:02I've got one last bottle of this oak-matured mead.

00:33:05Hmm.

00:33:06Meant to give that to Dumbledore for Christmas.

00:33:08Ah well, he shrugged.

00:33:09He can't miss what he's never had.

00:33:11Why don't we open it now and celebrate Mr Weasley's birthday?

00:33:14Nothing like a fine spirit to chase away the pangs of disappointed love.

00:33:18He chortled again and Harry joined in.

00:33:20This was the first time he had found himself almost alone with Slughorn, since his disastrous

00:33:24first attempt to extract the true memory from him.

00:33:27Perhaps, if he could just keep Slughorn in a good mood, perhaps that they could get through

00:33:31enough of the oak-matured mead.

00:33:34There you are then, said Slughorn, handing Harry and Ron a glass of mead each, before

00:33:38raising his own.

00:33:39Well, a very happy birthday, Ralph!

00:33:42Er, Ron, whispered Harry, but Ron, who did not appear to be listening to the toast, had

00:33:46already thrown the mead into his mouth and swallowed it.

00:33:49There was one second, hardly more than a heartbeat, in which Harry knew there was something terribly

00:33:54wrong and Slughorn, it seemed, did not.

00:33:57And there you have many more!

00:33:59Ron!

00:34:00Ron had dropped his glass.

00:34:01He half rose from the chair and then crumpled.

00:34:03His extremities jerking uncontrollably, foam was dribbling from his mouth and his eyes

00:34:08were bulging from their sockets.

00:34:10Professor!

00:34:11Harry bellowed.

00:34:12Do something!

00:34:13But Slughorn seemed paralysed by shock.

00:34:15Ron twitched and choked, his skin was turning blue.

00:34:18What?

00:34:19But, but, but, spluttered Slughorn.

00:34:21Harry leapt over the low table and sprinted towards Slughorn's open potion kit, pulling

00:34:25out jars and pouches, while the terrible sound of Ron's gargling breath filled the room.

00:34:30Then he found it.

00:34:31The shrivelled, kidney-like stone Slughorn had taken from him in potions.

00:34:35He hurtled back to Ron's side and wrenched open his jaw and thrust the bazaar into his

00:34:40mouth.

00:34:41Ron gave a great shudder, a rattling gasp, and his body became limp and still.

00:34:48Chapter 19 Elf Tales

00:34:51So, all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays, said Fred.

00:34:55It was evening.

00:34:56The hospital wing was quiet.

00:34:57The windows curtained, the lamps lit.

00:35:00Ron's was the only occupied bed.

00:35:01Harry, Hermione and Ginny were sitting around him.

00:35:03They'd spent all day waiting outside the double doors, trying to see inside, whenever somebody

00:35:08went in or out.

00:35:09Madame Pumphrey had only let them enter at eight o'clock.

00:35:12Fred and George had arrived at ten past.

00:35:14This isn't how we imagined handing over our presents, said George, grimly, putting down

00:35:18a large wrapped gift on Ron's bedside cabinet and sitting beside Ginny.

00:35:22Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious, said Fred.

00:35:26There we were in Hogsmeade, wanting to surprise him, said George.

00:35:29We were in Hogsmeade, asked Ginny, looking up.

00:35:31We were thinking of buying Zonko's, said Fred, gloomily.

00:35:34A Hogsmeade branch, you know.

00:35:36Bert a fat load of good it'll do us if you lots aren't allowed out at weekends to buy

00:35:40our stuff any more.

00:35:41But never mind that now.

00:35:43He drew up a chair beside Harry and looked at Ron's pale face.

00:35:46How exactly did it happen, Harry?

00:35:48Harry retold the story he had already recounted, what felt like a hundred times to Dumbledore,

00:35:53to McGonagall, to Madame Pumphrey, to Hermione and to Ginny.

00:35:57And then I got the bazaar down his throat, and his breathing eased up a bit.

00:36:00Slughorn ran for help, McGonagall and Madame Pumphrey turned up, and they brought Ron up

00:36:04here.

00:36:05They reckon he'll be all right.

00:36:06Madame Pumphrey says he'll have to stay here for a week or so.

00:36:09Keep taking Essence of Rue.

00:36:11Blimey!

00:36:12It was lucky you thought of a bazaar, said George in a low voice.

00:36:15Lucky there was one in the room, said Harry, who kept turning cold at the thought of what

00:36:19would have happened if he had not been able to lay hands on the little stone.

00:36:23Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff.

00:36:25She had been exceptionally quiet all day, having hurtled white-faced up to Harry outside

00:36:30the hospital wing and demanded to know what had happened.

00:36:32She had taken almost no part in Harry and Ginny's obsessive discussion about how Ron

00:36:36had been poisoned, but merely stood beside them, clenched-jawed and frightened-looking,

00:36:41until at last they had been allowed in to see him.

00:36:43Do Mum and Dad know?

00:36:46Fred asked Ginny.

00:36:47They've already seen him.

00:36:48They arrived an hour ago.

00:36:49They're in Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon.

00:36:52There was a pause while they all watched Ron mumble a little in his sleep.

00:36:56So, the poison was in the drink, said Fred quietly.

00:36:59Yes, said Harry at once.

00:37:01He could think of nothing else and was glad for the opportunity to start discussing it

00:37:04again.

00:37:05Slughorn poured it out.

00:37:06Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glass without you seeing?

00:37:09Probably, said Harry.

00:37:11But why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?

00:37:13No idea, said Fred, frowning.

00:37:15You don't think he could have mixed up the glasses by mistake, meaning to get you?

00:37:19Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?

00:37:21Asked Ginny.

00:37:22I don't know, said Fred, but there must be loads of people who'd like to poison Harry,

00:37:26mustn't there?

00:37:27The Chosen One and all that.

00:37:28So you think Slughorn's a Death Eater?

00:37:30Said Ginny.

00:37:31Anything's possible, said Fred darkly.

00:37:33He could be under the Imperious Curse, said George, or he could be innocent, said Ginny.

00:37:37The poison could have been in the bottle, in which case it was probably meant for Slughorn

00:37:41himself.

00:37:42Who'd want to kill Slughorn?

00:37:44Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side, said Harry.

00:37:48Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts, and he thought of the

00:37:52memory Dumbledore had not yet been able to extract from Slughorn, and maybe Voldemort

00:37:56wants him out of the way.

00:37:58Maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore.

00:38:00But you, said Slughorn, have been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas,

00:38:04Ginny reminded him, so the poisoner could just as easily have been after Dumbledore.

00:38:09Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well, said Hermione, speaking for the first

00:38:13time in hours, and sounding as though she had a bad head cold.

00:38:17Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something

00:38:20that tasty for himself.

00:38:22Hermione, croaked Ron unexpectedly between them.

00:38:28They all fell silent, watching him anxiously, but after muttering incomprehensibly for a

00:38:32moment he merely snorted and started snoring.

00:38:35The dormitory doors flew open, making them all jump.

00:38:38Hagrid came striding towards them, his hair rain-flecked, his bearskin coat flapping behind

00:38:44him, a crossbow in his hand, leaving a trail of muddy dolphin-sized footprints all over

00:38:48the floor.

00:38:49Been in the forest all day, he panted, Aragog's worse, I've been reading to him, didn't get

00:38:55it up to dinner till just now, and then Professor Sproat told me about Ron, how is he?

00:38:59Not bad, said Harry, they say he'll be okay.

00:39:02No more than six visitors at a time, said Madame Pomfrey, hurrying out of the office.

00:39:08Hagrid makes six, George pointed out.

00:39:10Yes, said Madame Pomfrey, who seemed to have been counting Hagrid as several people due

00:39:15to his vastness, to cover her confusion she hurried off to clear up his muddy footprints

00:39:19with her wand.

00:39:20I don't believe this, said Hagrid hoarsely, shaking his great shaggy head as he stared

00:39:25down at Ron, just don't believe it, look at him lying there, who'd want to hurt him, eh?

00:39:31That's just what we were discussing, said Harry, we don't know.

00:39:34Someone could have had a grudge against the Gryffindor Quidditch team, could they?

00:39:38Said Hagrid anxiously.

00:39:39First Katie, now Ron.

00:39:41I can't see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team, said George.

00:39:45Well, we might have done, the Slytherins, if he could have got away with it, said Fred

00:39:50fairly.

00:39:51Well, I don't think it's Quidditch, but I think there's a connection between the attacks,

00:39:54said Hermione quietly.

00:39:55How do you work that out?

00:39:57Asked Fred.

00:39:58Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was

00:40:01pure luck, and for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the

00:40:05person who was supposed to be killed.

00:40:07Of course, she added broodingly, that makes the person behind this more dangerous in a

00:40:11way because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually

00:40:16reach their victim.

00:40:18Before anybody could respond to this ominous pronouncement, the dormitory doors opened

00:40:22again and Mr and Mrs Weasley hurried up the ward.

00:40:25They had done no more than satisfy themselves that Ron would make a full recovery on their

00:40:28last visit to the ward.

00:40:30Now Mrs Weasley seized hold of Harry and hugged him very tightly.

00:40:34Dumbledore's told us how you saved him with a bazaar, she sobbed.

00:40:37Oh, Harry, what can we say?

00:40:39You saved Ginny, you saved Arthur, now you've saved Ron.

00:40:43Don't be, I didn't, muttered Harry awkwardly.

00:40:46Half our family does seem to owe you their lives.

00:40:49Now I stop and think about it, Mr Weasley said in a constricted voice.

00:40:52Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit

00:40:56in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry.

00:41:00Harry could not think of any reply to this and was almost glad when Madame Pomfrey reminded

00:41:05them again that there were only supposed to be six visitors around Ron's bed.

00:41:09He and Hermione rose at once to leave and Hagrid decided to go with them, leaving Ron

00:41:13with his family.

00:41:14It's terrible, growled Hagrid into his beard as the three of them walked back along the

00:41:19corridor to the marble staircase.

00:41:21All this new security and kids are getting hurt.

00:41:25Dumbledore is worried sick.

00:41:26He don't say much, but I can tell.

00:41:29Haven't ye got any ideas, Hagrid, asked Hermione desperately.

00:41:32I bet he's got hundreds of ideas, brain like his, said Hagrid staunchly.

00:41:36But he doesn't know who sent that necklace, nor who put poison in the wine.

00:41:40Or they'd have been caught, wouldn't they?

00:41:43What worries me, said Hagrid, lowering his voice and glancing over his shoulder.

00:41:47Harry for good measure checked the ceiling for peeves.

00:41:50Is how long Hogwarts can stay open if kids are being attacked?

00:41:53Chamber of Secrets all over again, isn't it?

00:41:56There'll be panic.

00:41:57There'll be more parents taking their kids out of school.

00:41:59The next thing you know, the Board of Governors.

00:42:02Hagrid stopped talking as the ghost of a long-haired woman drifted serenely past and then resumed

00:42:07in a hoarse whisper.

00:42:08The Board of Governors?

00:42:09Are we talking about shutting us for good?

00:42:12Surely not, said Hermione, looking worried.

00:42:14Gotta see it from their point of view, said Hagrid heavily.

00:42:16I mean, it's always been a bit of a risk sending a kid to Hogwarts, hasn't it?

00:42:20You expect accidents, don't you, with hundreds of underage wizards all locked up together?

00:42:25Attempted murder?

00:42:26That's different.

00:42:27It's no wonder Dumbledore is angry with Snape.

00:42:30Hagrid stopped in his tracks, a familiar guilty expression on what was visible on his face

00:42:34above his tangled black beard.

00:42:36What, said Harry quickly, Dumbledore's angry with Snape?

00:42:39I never said that, said Hagrid, though his look of panic could not have been a bigger

00:42:44giveaway.

00:42:45Look at the time.

00:42:46It's getting on for a midnight.

00:42:48I need to…

00:42:49Hagrid, why is Dumbledore angry with Snape?

00:42:52Harry asked loudly.

00:42:53Shhh, said Hagrid, looking both nervous and angry.

00:42:55Don't shout stuff like that, Harry.

00:42:57Do you want me to lose my job?

00:42:59Mine?

00:43:00I don't suppose you'd care, would you?

00:43:01Not that you've given up care of magical…

00:43:05Don't try and make me feel guilty.

00:43:07It won't work, said Harry forcefully.

00:43:09What's Snape done?

00:43:10I dunno, Harry.

00:43:11I shouldn't have heard it at all.

00:43:12I…

00:43:13Well, I was coming out of the forest the other evening as I overheard him talking, well,

00:43:18arguing.

00:43:19I didn't like to draw attention to myself, so I sort of skulked and tried not to listen.

00:43:23But it was a heated discussion, and it wasn't easy to block it out.

00:43:29Well, Harry urged him, as Hagrid shuffled his enormous feet enormously.

00:43:33Well, I just heard Snape saying Dumbledore took too much for granted and maybe he…

00:43:38Snape… didn't want to do it anymore.

00:43:40Do what?

00:43:41I dunno, Harry.

00:43:42It sounded like Snape was feeling a bit overworked, that's all, anyway.

00:43:46Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed to do it, and that was all there was to it.

00:43:50Pretty firm with him.

00:43:51And then he said something about Snape making investigations in his house in Slytherin.

00:43:54Well, there's nothing strange about that, Hagrid added hastily, as Harry and Hermione

00:43:59exchanged looks full of meaning.

00:44:00All the heads of house were asked to look into the necklace business.

00:44:03Yeah, but Dumbledore's not having rows with the rest of them, is he?

00:44:07Said Harry.

00:44:08Look.

00:44:09Hagrid twisted his crossbow uncomfortably in his hands.

00:44:11There was a loud splintering sound, and it snapped in two.

00:44:15I know what you're like about Snape, Harry, and I don't want you to go reading more into

00:44:19this than there is.

00:44:21Look out, said Hermione tersely.

00:44:23They turned just in time to see the shadow of Argus Filch looming over the wall behind

00:44:27them, before the man himself turned the corner, hunchbacked his jowls a quiver.

00:44:31Oho! he squeezed.

00:44:33Out of bed so late!

00:44:34This'll mean detention!

00:44:35No, it won't, Filch, said Hagrid shortly.

00:44:38They're with me, aren't they?

00:44:40And what difference does that make?

00:44:41Asked Filch obnoxiously.

00:44:42I'm a ready teacher, aren't I?

00:44:44You're sneaking squib, said Hagrid, firing up at once.

00:44:47There was a nasty hissing noise as Filch swelled with fury.

00:44:51Mrs Norris had arrived unseen, and was twisting herself sinuously around Filch's skinny ankles.

00:44:57Get going, said Hagrid out of the corner of his mouth.

00:45:00Harry did not need telling twice.

00:45:02He and Hermione both hurried off, Hagrid and Filch's raised voices echoing behind them

00:45:06as they ran.

00:45:07They passed Peeves, near the turning into Gryffindor Tower, but he was streaking happily

00:45:11towards the source of the yelling, cackling and calling.

00:45:14When there's strife and when there's trouble, call on Peevesy, he'll make double.

00:45:18The fat lady was snoozing and not pleased to be awoken, but swung forwards grumpily

00:45:22to allow them to clamber into the mercifully peaceful and empty common room.

00:45:27It did not seem that people knew about Ron yet.

00:45:29Harry was very relieved.

00:45:30He had been interrogated enough that day.

00:45:33Hermione bade him good-night and set off for the girls' dormitory.

00:45:36Harry, however, remained behind, taking a seat beside the fire and looking down into

00:45:40the dying embers.

00:45:42The Dumbledore had argued with Snape.

00:45:44In spite of all he had told Harry, in spite of his insistence that he trusted Snape completely,

00:45:48he had lost his temper with him.

00:45:50He did not think that Snape had tried hard enough to investigate the Slytherins, or perhaps

00:45:54to investigate a single Slytherin, Malfoy.

00:45:57Was it because Dumbledore did not want Harry to do anything foolish, to take matters into

00:46:01his own hands, that he had pretended there was nothing in Harry's suspicions?

00:46:04That seemed likely.

00:46:05It might even be that Dumbledore did not want anything to distract Harry from their lessons,

00:46:10or from procuring that memory from Slughorn.

00:46:13Perhaps Dumbledore did not think it right to confide suspicions about his staff to sixteen-year-olds.

00:46:17There you are, Potter!

00:46:19Harry jumped to his feet in shock, his wand at his ready.

00:46:22He had been quite convinced that the common room was empty.

00:46:25He had not been at all prepared for a hulking figure to arise suddenly out of a distant

00:46:30chair.

00:46:31A closer look showed him that it was Cormac McLagan.

00:46:33I've been waiting for you to come back, said McLagan, disregarding Harry's drawn wand.

00:46:38Must have fallen asleep.

00:46:39Look, I saw them taking Weasley up to the hospital wing earlier.

00:46:42Didn't look like he'll be fit for next week's match.

00:46:45It took Harry a few moments to realise what McLagan was talking about.

00:46:47Oh, oh, right, Quidditch, he said, putting his wand back into the belt of his jeans and

00:46:52running a hand wearily through his hair.

00:46:55Yeah, he might not make it.

00:46:57Well then, I'll be playing keeper, won't I? said McLagan.

00:47:00Yeah, said Harry.

00:47:01Yeah, I suppose so.

00:47:02He could not think of an argument against it.

00:47:04After all, McLagan had certainly performed second best in the trials.

00:47:07Excellent, said McLagan in a satisfied voice.

00:47:10So when's practice?

00:47:12What?

00:47:13Oh, there's one tomorrow evening.

00:47:16Good.

00:47:17Listen, Potter, we should have a talk beforehand.

00:47:19I've got some ideas on strategy you might find useful.

00:47:21Right, said Harry unenthusiastically.

00:47:23Well, I'll hear them tomorrow then.

00:47:26I'm pretty tired now.

00:47:27See you.

00:47:28The news that Ron had been poisoned spread quickly next day, but it did not cause the

00:47:32sensation that Katie's attack had done.

00:47:34People seemed to think that it might have been an accident, given that it had been in

00:47:38the Potion Master's room at the time, and that as he had been given an antidote immediately

00:47:42there was no real harm done.

00:47:44In fact, the Gryffindors were generally much more interested in the upcoming Quidditch

00:47:47match against Hufflepuff, for many of them wanted to see Zachariah Smith, who played

00:47:51chaser on the Hufflepuff team, punished soundly for his commentary during the opening match

00:47:55against Slytherin.

00:47:56Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch.

00:48:00He was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy, still checking the Marauder's map

00:48:04whenever he got a chance.

00:48:06He sometimes made detours to wherever Malfoy happened to be, but had not yet detected him

00:48:12doing anything out of the ordinary.

00:48:14And still, there were those inexplicable times when Malfoy simply vanished from the map.

00:48:19But Harry did not get a lot of time to consider the problem, what with Quidditch's practice,

00:48:23homework, and the fact that he was now being dogged wherever he went by Cormac McLagan

00:48:28and Lavender Brown.

00:48:29He could not decide which of them was more annoying.

00:48:32McLagan kept up a constant stream of hints that he would make a better permanent keeper

00:48:36for the team than Ron, and that now Harry was seeing him play regularly, he would surely

00:48:41come around to his way of thinking too.

00:48:43He was also keen to criticise the other players and provide Harry with detailed training schemes,

00:48:48so that more than once Harry was forced to remind him who was captain.

00:48:52Meanwhile, Lavender kept sidling up to Harry to discuss Ron, which Harry found almost more

00:48:57wearing than McLagan's Quidditch lectures.

00:49:01At first, Lavender had been annoyed that nobody had fought to tell her that Ron was in the

00:49:06hospital wing.

00:49:07I mean, I am his girlfriend.

00:49:09But unfortunately, she had now decided to forgive Harry for the lapse of memory, and

00:49:13was keen to have lots of in-depth chats with him about Ron's feelings, a most uncomfortable

00:49:17experience that Harry would have happily foregone.

00:49:20Look, why don't you talk to Ron about this?

00:49:23Harry asked after a particularly long interrogation from Lavender that took in everything from

00:49:27precisely what Ron had said about her new dress robes, to whether or not Harry thought

00:49:31that Ron considered his relationship with Lavender to be serious.

00:49:35Well, I would, but he's always asleep when I go to see him, said Lavender fretfully.

00:49:39Is he? said Harry, surprised, for he had found Ron perfectly alert every time he had been

00:49:44up to the hospital wing, both highly interested in the news of Dumbledore and Snape's row,

00:49:49and keen to abuse McLagan as much as possible.

00:49:52Is Hermione Granger still visiting him?

00:49:54Lavender demanded suddenly.

00:49:56Yeah, I think so.

00:49:57Well, they're friends, aren't they? said Harry uncomfortably.

00:50:00Friends?

00:50:01Don't make me laugh, said Lavender scornfully.

00:50:03She didn't talk to him for weeks after he started going out with me, but I suppose she

00:50:07wants to make up with him now.

00:50:08Now he's all interesting.

00:50:10Would you call getting poisoned being interesting? asked Harry.

00:50:14Anyway, sorry, gotta go.

00:50:16There's McLagan coming for a talk about Quidditch, said Harry hurriedly, and he dashed sideways

00:50:20through a door, pretending to be solid wall, and sprinted down the shortcut that would

00:50:25take him off to Potions, where thankfully neither Lavender nor McLagan could follow

00:50:29him.

00:50:30On the morning of the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Harry dropped in on the hospital

00:50:33wing before heading down to the pitch.

00:50:35Ron was very agitated.

00:50:37Madame Pomfrey would not let him go down to watch the match, feeling it would overexcite

00:50:42him.

00:50:43So how's McLagan shaping up? he asked Harry nervously, apparently forgetting that he had

00:50:48already asked the same question twice.

00:50:50I've told you, said Harry patiently.

00:50:52He could be world-class, and I wouldn't want to keep him.

00:50:55He keeps trying to tell everyone what to do.

00:50:57He thinks he could play every position better than the rest of us.

00:51:00I can't wait to be shot of him.

00:51:02And speaking of getting shot of people, Harry added, getting to his feet and picking up

00:51:06his firebolt, will you stop pretending to be asleep when Lavender comes to see you?

00:51:11She's driving me mad as well.

00:51:13Oh, said Ron, looking sheepish.

00:51:16Yeah, all right.

00:51:17If you don't want to go out with her anymore, just tell her, said Harry.

00:51:21Yeah, well, it's not that easy, is it? said Ron.

00:51:24He paused.

00:51:25Hermione going to look in before the match, he added casually.

00:51:28No, she's already gone down to the pitch with Ginny.

00:51:31Oh, said Ron, looking rather glum.

00:51:33Right, well, good luck.

00:51:35I hope you hammer McLag...

00:51:36I mean, Smith.

00:51:38I'll try, said Harry, shouldering his broom.

00:51:40See you after the match.

00:51:42He hurried down through the deserted corridors.

00:51:45The whole school was outside, either already seated in the stadium or heading down towards

00:51:49it.

00:51:50Harry looked out of the windows as he passed, trying to gauge how much wind they would be

00:51:54facing.

00:51:55When a noise ahead made him glance up and he saw Malfoy walking towards him, accompanied

00:51:59by two girls, both of whom looked sulky and resentful.

00:52:03Malfoy stopped short at the sight of Harry and then gave a short, humorless laugh and

00:52:07continued walking.

00:52:08Where are you going?

00:52:10Harry demanded.

00:52:11Yeah, I'm really going to tell you because it's your business, Potter, sneered Malfoy.

00:52:15You better hurry up.

00:52:16They'll be waiting for the chosen captain.

00:52:18The boy who scored, whatever they call you these days.

00:52:21One of the girls gave an unwilling giggle.

00:52:24Harry stared at her.

00:52:25She blushed.

00:52:27Malfoy pushed past Harry and she and her friend followed on at a trot, turning the corner

00:52:32and vanishing from view.

00:52:34Harry stood rooted on the spot and watched them disappear.

00:52:37This was infuriating.

00:52:38He was already cutting it fine to get to the match on time, and yet there was Malfoy skulking

00:52:42off while the rest of the school was absent.

00:52:45It was Harry's best chance yet of discovering what Malfoy was up to.

00:52:48The silent seconds trickled past and Harry remained where he was, frozen, gazing at the

00:52:53place where Malfoy had vanished.

00:52:55Where have you been?

00:52:57Demanded Ginny, as Harry sprinted into the changing room.

00:53:00The whole team was changed and ready.

00:53:01Coot and Peaks, the beaters, were both hitting their clubs nervously against their legs.

00:53:05I met Malfoy, Harry told her quietly, as he pulled his scarlet robes over his head.

00:53:10So?

00:53:11Malfoy wanted to know how come he's up at the castle with a couple of girlfriends while

00:53:15everyone else is down here.

00:53:17Does it matter right now?

00:53:18Well, I'm not likely to find out, am I?

00:53:21Said Harry, seizing his firebolt and pushing his glasses straight.

00:53:24Come on then.

00:53:25And without another word, he marched out onto the pitch to deafening cheers and boos.

00:53:30There was little wind.

00:53:31The clouds were patchy.

00:53:32Every now and then there were dazzling flashes of bright sunlight.

00:53:36Tricky conditions, McLaggen said bracingly to the team.

00:53:39Coot, Peaks, you want to fly out of the sun so they don't see you coming.

00:53:43I'm the captain, McLaggen.

00:53:45Shut up giving them instructions, said Harry angrily.

00:53:48Just get up by the goalposts.

00:53:50Once McLaggen had marched off, Harry turned to Coot and Peaks.

00:53:54Make sure you do fly out of the sun, he told them grudgingly.

00:53:58He shook hands with the Hufflepuff captain and then, on Madame Hooch's whistle, kicked

00:54:03off and rose into the air, higher than the rest of his team, streaking around the pitch

00:54:07in search of the snitch.

00:54:09If he could catch it good and early, there might be a chance he could get back up to

00:54:12the castle, seize the marauder's map and find out what Malfoy was doing.

00:54:17And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle, said a dreamy voice, echoing over the grounds.

00:54:23He did the commentary last time, of course, and Ginny Weasley flew into him, I think probably

00:54:27on purpose.

00:54:28It looked like it.

00:54:29Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor.

00:54:30I expect he regrets that now he's playing them.

00:54:33Oh look, he's lost the Quaffle.

00:54:35Ginny took it from him.

00:54:36I do like her.

00:54:37She's very nice.

00:54:39Harry stared down at the commentator's podium.

00:54:41Surely nobody in their right mind would have let Luna Lovegood commentate.

00:54:45Even from above, there was no mistaking that long, dirty blonde hair, or the necklace or

00:54:49butterbeer corks.

00:54:50Beside Luna, Professor McGonagall was looking slightly uncomfortable, as though she was

00:54:54indeed having second thoughts about this appointment.

00:54:57But now that big Hufflepuff player's got the Quaffle from her, I can't remember his name.

00:55:02Something like Bibble.

00:55:03No, Buggins.

00:55:05It's Cadwellada, said Professor McGonagall, loudly from beside Luna.

00:55:09The crowd laughed.

00:55:11Harry stared around for the snitch.

00:55:12There was no sign of it.

00:55:14Moments later, Calwadaba scored.

00:55:17McClagan had been shouting criticism of Ginny for allowing the Quaffle out of her possession,

00:55:21with the result that he had not noticed the large red ball soaring past his right ear.

00:55:26McClagan, will you pay attention to what you're supposed to be doing and leave everyone else

00:55:30alone, bellowed Harry, wheeling around to face the Keeper.

00:55:33You're not setting a great example, McClagan shouted back, red-faced and furious.

00:55:38And Harry Potter's now having an argument with the Keeper, said Luna serenely, while

00:55:42both Hufflepuffs and Slytherins bellow in the crowd cheered and jeered.

00:55:46I don't think that'll help them find the snitch, but maybe it's a clever ruse.

00:55:51Swearing angrily, Harry spun around and set off around the pitch again, scanning the skies

00:55:56for some sign of the tiny-winged golden ball.

00:55:59Ginny and Demelza scored a goal apiece, giving the red and gold-clad supporters below something

00:56:04to cheer about.

00:56:05Then Cadwalada scored again, making things level, but Luna did not seem to have noticed.

00:56:11She appeared singularly and not uninterested in such mundane things as the score, and kept

00:56:15attempting to draw the crowd's attention to such things as interestingly shaped clouds

00:56:19and the possibility that Zachariah Smith, who had so far failed to maintain possession

00:56:23of the Quaffle for longer than a minute, was suffering from something called Loser's Lurgie.

00:56:3070-40 to Hufflepuff, barked Professor McGonagall into Luna's megaphone.

00:56:35It's alright. Is it already? said Luna vaguely.

00:56:38Oh look, the Gryffindor keepers got hold of one of the beater's bats.

00:56:42Harry spun around in mid-air.

00:56:44Sure enough, McLagan, for reasons best known to himself, had pulled Peaks back from him

00:56:49and appeared to be demonstrating how to hit a bludger towards an oncoming Cadwalada.

00:56:54Will you give him back his bat and get back to the goalposts?

00:56:58roared Harry, pelting towards McLagan just as McLagan took a ferocious swipe at the bludger

00:57:04and mishit it.

00:57:05A blinding, sickening pain, a flash of light, distant screams and the sensation of falling

00:57:10down a long tunnel.

00:57:12And the next thing Harry knew, he was lying in a remarkably warm and comfortable bed and

00:57:16looking up at a lamp that was throwing a circle of golden light on the shadowy ceiling.

00:57:21He raised his head awkwardly.

00:57:23There on his left was a familiar-looking, freckly red-haired person.

00:57:27Nice of you to drop in, said Ron, grinning.

00:57:29Harry blinked and looked around.

00:57:32Of course, he was in the hospital wing.

00:57:34The sky outside was indigo streaked with crimson.

00:57:36The match must have finished hours ago.

00:57:39As had any hope of cornering Malfoy, Harry's head felt strangely heavy.

00:57:44He raised his hand and felt a stiff turban of bandages.

00:57:47What happened?

00:57:49Cracked skull, said Madame Pomfrey, bustling up and pushing him back against his pillows.

00:57:54Nothing to worry about.

00:57:55I mended it at once.

00:57:57But I'm keeping you in overnight.

00:57:58You shouldn't overexert yourself for a few hours.

00:58:01I don't want to stay here overnight, said Harry angrily, sitting up and throwing back his

00:58:05covers.

00:58:06I want to find McLagan and kill him.

00:58:08I'm afraid that would come under the heading of overexertion, said Madame Pomfrey, pushing

00:58:13him firmly back onto his bed and raising her wand in a threatening manner.

00:58:19You will stay here until I discharge you, Potter, or I shall call the headmaster.

00:58:23She bustled back into her office and Harry sank back into his pillows, fuming.

00:58:27Do you know how much we lost by, he asked Ron through clenched teeth?

00:58:32Well, yeah, I do, said Ron apologetically.

00:58:35Final score was 320 to 60.

00:58:38Brilliant, said Harry savagely.

00:58:40Really brilliant.

00:58:41When I get hold of McLagan, you don't want to get hold of him.

00:58:44He's the size of a troll, said Ron reasonably.

00:58:46Personally, I think there's a lot to be said for hexing him with that toenail thing of

00:58:51the princes.

00:58:52Anyway, the rest of the team, they might have dealt with him before you get out there.

00:58:56They're not happy.

00:58:58There was a note of badly supposed glee in Ron's voice.

00:59:01Harry could tell he was nothing short of thrilled that McLagan had messed up so badly.

00:59:05Harry lay there staring up at the patch of light on the ceiling, his recently mended

00:59:09skull not hurting, precisely, but feeling slightly tender underneath all the bandaging.

00:59:16I could hear the match commentary from here, said Ron, his voice now shaking with laughter.

00:59:20Hope Luna always commentates from now on.

00:59:23Losers lurgy.

00:59:24But Harry was still too angry to see much humour in the situation, and after a while

00:59:28Ron's snort subsided.

00:59:30Ginny came in to visit while you were unconscious, he said, after a long pause, and Harry's

00:59:35imagination zoomed into overdrive, rapidly constructing a scene in which Ginny, weeping

00:59:39over his lifeless form, confessed her feelings of deep attraction to him while Ron gave him

00:59:44his blessing.

00:59:45She reckons you only just arrived in time for the match.

00:59:47How come?

00:59:48You left here early enough.

00:59:51Oh, said Harry, as the scene in his mind's eye imploded.

00:59:54Yeah, well, I saw Malfoy sneaking off with a couple of girls who didn't look like they

00:59:58wanted to be with him, and that's the second time he's made sure he isn't down on the

01:00:02Quidditch pitch with the rest of the school.

01:00:04He skipped the last match too, remember?

01:00:06Harry sighed.

01:00:07Wished I'd followed him now.

01:00:09The match was such a fiasco.

01:00:10Don't be stupid, said Ron sharply.

01:00:12You couldn't have missed a Quidditch match just to follow Malfoy.

01:00:15You're the captain.

01:00:16I want to know what he's up to, said Harry, and don't tell me it's all in my head, not

01:00:20after what I overheard between him and Snape.

01:00:22I never said it was all in your head, said Ron, hoisting himself up onto an elbow in

01:00:26turn and frowning at Harry, but there's no rule saying only one person at a time can

01:00:31be plotting anything in this place.

01:00:33Yeah, you're getting a bit obsessed with Malfoy.

01:00:35Harry, I mean, thinking about missing a match just to follow him.

01:00:39I want to catch him at it, said Harry in frustration.

01:00:41I mean, where's he going when he disappears off the map?

01:00:44I don't know.

01:00:45Hogsmeade, suggested Ron, yawning.

01:00:47I've never seen him going along any of my secret passageways on the map.

01:00:51I thought they were being watched now anyway.

01:00:54Well, then, I don't know, said Ron.

01:00:56Silence fell between them.

01:00:58Harry stared at the circle of lamplight above him, thinking.

01:01:01If only he had Rufus Scrimgeour's power, he could have been able to set a tail upon Malfoy,

01:01:07but unfortunately, Harry did not have an office full of Aurors at his command.

01:01:12He thought fleetingly of trying to set something up with a DA,

01:01:15but there again was the problem that people would be missed from lessons.

01:01:18Most of them, after all, still had full timetables.

01:01:21There was a low, rumbling snore from Ron's bed.

01:01:24After a while, Madame Pomfrey came out of her office, this time wearing a thick dressing gown.

01:01:29It was easiest to feign sleep.

01:01:31Harry rolled over onto his side and listened to all the curtains closing themselves.

01:01:35As she waved her wand, the lamps dimmed, and she returned to her office.

01:01:40He heard the door click behind her and knew that she was off to bed.

01:01:44This was, Harry reflected in the darkness,

01:01:46the third time that he had been brought to the hospital wing because of a Quidditch injury.

01:01:50Last time he'd fallen off his broom due to the presence of Dementors around the pitch,

01:01:55and the time before that, all the bones had been removed from his arm

01:01:58by the incurably inept Professor Lockhart.

01:02:01That had been his most painful injury by far.

01:02:03He remembered the agony of regrowing an armful of bones in one night,

01:02:06a discomfort not eased by the arrival of an unexpected visitor in the middle of the…

01:02:11Harry sat bolt upright, his heart pounding, his bandage turban askew.

01:02:16He had the solution at last.

01:02:18There was a way to have Malfoy followed.

01:02:20How could he have forgotten?

01:02:22Why hadn't he thought of it before?

01:02:24But the question was how to call him.

01:02:26What did you do?

01:02:28Quietly, tentatively, Harry spoke into the darkness.

01:02:31Creature?

01:02:33There was a very loud crack, and the sounds of scuffling and squeaks

01:02:36filled the silent room.

01:02:37Ron awoke with a yelp.

01:02:39What's going?

01:02:40Harry pointed his wand hastily at the door of Madame Pomfrey's office and muttered,

01:02:44Muffiliato, so that she would not come running.

01:02:49Then he scrambled to the end of his bed for a better look at what was going on.

01:02:53Two house elves were trolling around the floor in the middle of the dormitory,

01:02:56one wearing a shrunken maroon jumper and several woolly hats,

01:03:00the other a filthy old rag strung over his hips like a loincloth.

01:03:04There was another loud bang, and Peeves the poltergeist appeared in mid-air

01:03:08above the wrestling elves.

01:03:09I was watching that potty, he told Harry indignantly,

01:03:12pointing at the fight below before letting out a loud cackle.

01:03:16Look at the ickled creature's squabbling, bitey-bitey, punchy-punchy.

01:03:20Creature will not insult Harry Potter in front of Dobby.

01:03:24No, he won't, or Dobby will shut Creature's mouth for him,

01:03:28cried Dobby in a high-pitched voice.

01:03:31Kicky-scratchy, cried Peeves happily,

01:03:33now pelting bits of chalk at the elves to engage them further.

01:03:37Tweaky-pokey.

01:03:39Creature will say what he likes about the master, oh yes,

01:03:41and what a master he is, filthy friend of Mudblood's.

01:03:45Oh, what would poor Creature's mistress say?

01:03:49Exactly what Creature's mistress would have said, they did not find out,

01:03:52for at that moment Dobby sank his knobbly little fist into Creature's mouth

01:03:56and knocked out half his teeth.

01:03:58Harry and Ron both leapt out of their beds and wrenched the two elves apart,

01:04:01though they continued to try to kick and punch each other,

01:04:04egged on by Peeves, who swooped around the lamp, squealing,

01:04:07stick your fingers up his nosy, draw his cork and pull his earsies.

01:04:12Harry aimed his wand at Peeves and said,

01:04:15Langlack.

01:04:16Peeves clutched at his throat, gulped and then swooped from the room,

01:04:19making obscene gestures but unable to speak,

01:04:22owing to the fact that his tongue had just glued itself to the roof of his mouth.

01:04:26Nice one, said Ron appreciatively, lifting Dobby into the air

01:04:29so that his flailing limbs no longer made contact with Creature.

01:04:33That was another prince hex, wasn't it?

01:04:35Yes, said Harry, twisting Creature's white wizened arm into a half Nelson.

01:04:39Right, I'm forbidding you to fight each other.

01:04:42Well, Creature, you're forbidden to fight Dobby.

01:04:44Dobby, I know I'm not allowed to give you orders.

01:04:47Dobby is a free house elf and he can obey anyone he likes

01:04:50and and Dobby will do whatever Harry Potter wants him to do,

01:04:54said Dobby, tears now streaming down his shriveled little face onto his jumper.

01:04:58Okay then, said Harry, and he and Ron both released the elves,

01:05:02who fell to the floor but did not continue fighting.

01:05:05Master called me, croaked Creature,

01:05:07sinking into a bow even as he gave Harry a look that plainly wished him a painful death.

01:05:12Yeah, I did, said Harry, glancing towards Madame Pomfrey's office door

01:05:16to check that the muffliato spell was still working.

01:05:20There was no sign that she had heard any of the commotion.

01:05:22I've got a job for you.

01:05:24Creature will do whatever Master wants, said Creature,

01:05:27sinking so low that his lips almost touched his gnarled toes.

01:05:31Because Creature has no choice, but Creature is ashamed to have such a master, yes.

01:05:37Dobby will do it, Harry Potter, squeaked Dobby,

01:05:39his tennis ball-sized eyes still swimming with tears.

01:05:42Dobby would be honoured to help Harry Potter.

01:05:46Come to think of it, would it be good to have both of you, said Harry.

01:05:50Okay then, I want you to trail Draco Malfoy.

01:05:54Ignoring the look of mingled surprise and exasperation on Ron's face, Harry went on.

01:05:59I want to know what he's going, where he's going,

01:06:02who he's meeting, and what he's doing.

01:06:04I want you to follow him around the clock.

01:06:06Yes, Harry Potter, said Dobby at once, his great eyes shining with excitement.

01:06:11And if Dobby does it wrong, Dobby will throw himself off the topmost tower, Harry Potter.

01:06:16There won't be any need for that, said Harry hastily.

01:06:19Master wants me to follow the youngest of the Malfoys,

01:06:22croaked Creature.

01:06:23Master wants me to spy upon the pure-blood great-nephew of my old mistress.

01:06:28That's the one, said Harry, foreseeing a great danger and determining to prevent it immediately.

01:06:34And you're forbidden to tip him off, Creature, or to show him what you're up to,

01:06:39or to talk to him at all, or to write him messages, or to contact him in any way.

01:06:44Got it?

01:06:45He thought he could see Creature struggling to see a loophole

01:06:48in the instructions he had just been given and waited.

01:06:50After a moment or two, and to Harry's great satisfaction,

01:06:53Creature bowed deeply again and said, with bitter resentment,

01:06:57Master thinks of everything and Creature must obey him,

01:07:00even though Creature would much rather be the servant of the Malfoy boy.

01:07:04Oh, yes.

01:07:05That's settled then, said Harry.

01:07:06I want regular reports, but make sure I'm not surrounded by people when you turn up.

01:07:11Ron and Hermione are okay, and don't tell anyone what you're doing.

01:07:14Just stick to Malfoy like a couple of warp-plasters.

01:07:20Chapter 20 Lord Voldemort's Request

01:07:24Harry and Ron left the hospital wing first thing on Monday morning,

01:07:27restored to full health by the ministrations of Madame Pomfrey,

01:07:30and now able to enjoy the benefits of having been knocked out and poisoned,

01:07:34the best of which was that Hermione was friends with Ron again.

01:07:37Hermione even escorted them down to breakfast,

01:07:39bringing with her the news that Ginny had argued with Dean.

01:07:42The drowning creature in Harry's chest suddenly raised its head,

01:07:46sniffing the air hopefully.

01:07:48What did they row about, he asked,

01:07:50trying to sound casual as they turned into a seventh-floor corridor which was deserted

01:07:54but for a very small girl who had been examining a tapestry of trolls in Tutus.

01:07:59She looked terrified at the sight of the approaching six years,

01:08:02and dropped the heavy brass scales she was carrying.

01:08:04It's all right, said Hermione kindly, hurrying forwards to help her.

01:08:08Here.

01:08:08She tapped the broken scales with her wand and said,

01:08:11Reparo.

01:08:12The girl did not say thank you, but remained rooted to the spot as they passed

01:08:16and watched them out of sight.

01:08:17Ron glanced back at her.

01:08:19I swear they're getting smaller, he said.

01:08:21Never mind her, said Harry a little impatiently.

01:08:23What did Ginny and Dean row about, Hermione?

01:08:26Oh, Dean was laughing about McLagan hitting the bludger at you, said Hermione.

01:08:30Must have looked funny, said Ron reasonably.

01:08:32It didn't look funny at all, said Hermione hotly.

01:08:35It looked terrible, and if Coot and Peaks hadn't caught Harry,

01:08:38he could have been very badly hurt.

01:08:40Yeah, well, there was no need for Ginny and Dean to split up over it, said Harry,

01:08:44still trying to sound casual.

01:08:46Or are they still together?

01:08:48Yes, they are.

01:08:48But why are you so interested, asked Hermione, giving Harry a sharp look?

01:08:53I just don't want my Quidditch team messed up again, he said hastily.

01:08:56But Hermione continued to look suspicious, and he was most relieved

01:09:00when a voice behind them called, Harry, giving him an excuse to turn his back on her.

01:09:04Oh, hi, Luna.

01:09:06I went to the hospital wing to find you, said Luna, rummaging in her bag.

01:09:10But they said you'd left.

01:09:12She thrust what appeared to be a green onion, a large spotted toadstool,

01:09:16and a considerable amount of what looked like cat litter into Ron's hands,

01:09:20finally pulling out a rather grubby scroll of parchment that she handed to Harry.

01:09:25I've been told to give you this.

01:09:27It was a small roll of parchment,

01:09:29which Harry recognised at once as another invitation to a lesson with Dumbledore.

01:09:33Tonight, he told Ron and Hermione once he had unrolled it.

01:09:37Nice commentary last match, said Ron to Luna,

01:09:39as she took back the green onion, the toadstool, and the cat litter.

01:09:43Luna smiled vaguely.

01:09:44You're making fun of me, aren't you?

01:09:46She said.

01:09:47Everyone says I was dreadful.

01:09:49No, I'm serious, said Ron earnestly.

01:09:51Can't remember enjoying commentary more.

01:09:53What is this, by the way?

01:09:54He added, holding the onion-like object up to eye level.

01:09:58Oh, it's a gurney root, she said,

01:10:00stuffing the cat litter and the toadstool back into her bag.

01:10:04You can keep it if you like.

01:10:05I've got a few of them.

01:10:06They're really excellent for warding off gulping pimpies.

01:10:10And she walked away,

01:10:11leaving Ron chortling, still clutching the gurney root.

01:10:15You know, she's grown on me, Luna, he said,

01:10:17as they set off again for the Great Hall.

01:10:19I know she's insane, but it's in her good.

01:10:22He stopped talking very suddenly.

01:10:24Lavender Brown was standing at the front of the marble staircase, looking thunderous.

01:10:29Hi, said Ron nervously.

01:10:31Come on, Harry muttered to Hermione as they sped past,

01:10:34though not before they had heard Lavender say,

01:10:36Why didn't you tell me you were getting out today?

01:10:38And why was she with you?

01:10:40Ron looked both sulky and annoyed when he appeared at breakfast half an hour later,

01:10:44and though he sat with Lavender,

01:10:45Harry did not see them exchange a word all the time they were together.

01:10:49Hermione was acting as though she was quite oblivious to all of this,

01:10:52but once or twice Harry saw an inexplicable smirk cross her face.

01:10:56All that day she seemed to be in a particularly good mood,

01:10:58and that evening in the common room she even consented to look over,

01:11:02in other words, finish writing Harry's herbology essay.

01:11:05Something she had been resolutely refusing to do up to that point,

01:11:09because she had known that Harry would then let Ron copy his work.

01:11:13Thanks a lot, Hermione, said Harry, giving her a hasty pat on the back

01:11:17as he checked his watch and saw that it was nearly eight o'clock.

01:11:20Listen, I've got to hurry or I'll be late for Dumbledore.

01:11:23She did not answer, but merely crossed out a few of his

01:11:26feebler sentences in a weary sort of way.

01:11:29Grinning, Harry hurried out through the portrait hole and off to the headmaster's office.

01:11:33The gargoyle leapt aside at the mention of Toffee Eclairs,

01:11:36and Harry took the spiral staircase two steps at a time,

01:11:39knocking on the door just as a clock within chimed eight.

01:11:44Enter, called Dumbledore, but as Harry put out a hand to push the door,

01:11:49it was wrenched open from inside.

01:11:51There stood Professor Trelawney.

01:11:53Aha, she cried, pointing dramatically at Harry

01:11:57as she blinked at him through her magnifying spectacles.

01:12:00So, this is the reason I am to be thrown unceremoniously from your office, Dumbledore.

01:12:05My dear Sibyl, said Dumbledore in a slightly exasperated voice,

01:12:08there is no question of throwing you unceremoniously from anywhere,

01:12:12but Harry does have an appointment, and I really don't think there is any more to be said.

01:12:16Very well, said Professor Trelawney in a deeply wounded voice.

01:12:19If you will not banish the usurping nag, so be it.

01:12:22Perhaps I shall find a school where my talents are better appreciated.

01:12:27She pushed past Harry and disappeared down the spiral staircase.

01:12:31They heard her stumble halfway down,

01:12:33and Harry guessed that she had tripped over one of her trailing shawls.

01:12:36Please, close the door and sit down, Harry, said Dumbledore, sounding rather tired.

01:12:41Harry obeyed, noticing as he took his usual seat in front of Dumbledore's desk

01:12:45that the pensieve lay between them once more,

01:12:47as did two more tiny crystal bottles full of swirling memory.

01:12:51Professor Trelawney still isn't happy for Enz's teaching, then, Harry asked.

01:12:55No, said Dumbledore, divination is turning out to be much more trouble

01:12:59than I could have foreseen, never having studied the subject myself.

01:13:02I cannot ask for Enz to return to the forest, where he is now an outcast,

01:13:06nor can I ask Sibyl Trelawney to leave.

01:13:09Between ourselves, she has no idea of the danger she would be in outside the castle.

01:13:13She does not know, and I think it would be unwise to enlighten her,

01:13:16that she made the prophecy about you and Voldemort, you see.

01:13:19Dumbledore heaved a deep sigh, and then said,

01:13:22But never mind my staff problems, we have much more important matters to discuss.

01:13:26Firstly, have you managed the task I set you at the end of our previous lesson?

01:13:30Ah, said Harry, brought up short.

01:13:32With, with, with, uh, apparition lessons and Quidditch and Ron being poisoned

01:13:37and getting his skull cracked, and his determination to find out what Draco Malfoy was up to,

01:13:42Harry had almost forgotten about the memory Dumbledore had asked him

01:13:45to extract from Professor Slughorn.

01:13:46Well, I asked Professor Slughorn about it at the end of Potions, sir,

01:13:50but, uh, he wouldn't give it to me.

01:13:52There was a little silence.

01:13:54I see, said Dumbledore eventually, peering at Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles,

01:13:59and giving Harry the usual sensation that he was being X-rayed.

01:14:02And you feel that you have exerted your very best efforts in this matter, do you?

01:14:07That you have exercised all of your considerable ingenuity?

01:14:10That you have left no depth of cunning unplumbed in your quest to retrieve the memory?

01:14:15Well, Harry stalled at a loss for what to say next.

01:14:18His single attempt to get hold of the memory suddenly seemed embarrassingly feeble.

01:14:23Well, the day Ron swallowed Love Potion by mistake, I took him to Professor Slughorn.

01:14:28I thought maybe if I got Professor Slughorn in a good enough mood...

01:14:31And did that work?

01:14:32Asked Dumbledore.

01:14:33Well, no, sir, because Ron got poisoned.

01:14:36Which naturally made you forget all about trying to retrieve the memory.

01:14:40I would have expected nothing else.

01:14:42While your best friend was in danger.

01:14:44Once it became clear that Mr Weasley was going to make a full recovery, however,

01:14:48I would have hoped that you returned to the task I set you.

01:14:51I thought I made it clear to you how very important that memory is.

01:14:55Indeed, I did my best to impress upon you that it is the most crucial memory of all,

01:14:59and that we will be wasting our time without it.

01:15:03A hot, prickly feeling of shame spread from the top of Harry's head all the way down his body.

01:15:08Dumbledore had not raised his voice.

01:15:10He did not even sound angry.

01:15:12But Harry would have preferred him to yell.

01:15:14This cold disappointment was worse than anything.

01:15:16Sir, he said a little desperately.

01:15:18It isn't that I wasn't bothered or anything.

01:15:21I've just had other, other things.

01:15:23Other things on your mind.

01:15:24Dumbledore finished the sentence for him.

01:15:26I see.

01:15:27Silence fell between them again.

01:15:29The most uncomfortable silence Harry had ever experienced with Dumbledore.

01:15:32It seemed to go on and on, punctuated only by the little grunting snores of the portrait

01:15:37of Armando Dippet over Dumbledore's head.

01:15:40Harry felt strangely diminished, as though he had shrunk a little since he had entered the room.

01:15:45When he could stand it no longer, he said,

01:15:47Professor Dumbledore, I'm really sorry.

01:15:49I should have done more.

01:15:50I should have realized you wouldn't have asked me to do it if it wasn't really important.

01:15:54Thank you for saying that, Harry, said Dumbledore quietly.

01:15:57May I hope, then, that you will give the matter higher priority from now on?

01:16:01There will be little point our meeting after tonight unless we have that memory.

01:16:06I'll do it, sir.

01:16:07I'll get it from him, Harry said earnestly.

01:16:09Then we shall say no more about it just now, said Dumbledore more kindly.

01:16:13But continue with our story where we left off.

01:16:16You remember what that was?

01:16:18Yes, sir, said Harry quickly.

01:16:19Voldemort killed his father and his grandparents and made it look as though his uncle morphinded it.

01:16:24Then he went back to Hogwarts and asked Professor Slughorn about horcruxes.

01:16:29He mumbled shamefacedly.

01:16:31Very good, said Dumbledore.

01:16:32Now you will remember, I hope, that I told you at the very outset of these meetings of ours

01:16:37that we would be entering the realms of guesswork and speculation.

01:16:41Yes, sir.

01:16:42Thus far, as I hope you agree, I have shown you reasonably firm sources of fact

01:16:47for my deductions as to what Voldemort did until the age of seventeen.

01:16:50Harry nodded.

01:16:51But now, Harry, said Dumbledore, now things become murkier and stranger.

01:16:56It was, if it was difficult to find evidence about the boy riddle,

01:17:00it has been almost impossible to find anyone prepared to reminisce about the man Voldemort.

01:17:05In fact, I doubt whether there is a soul alive apart from himself

01:17:09who could give us a full account of his life since he left Hogwarts.

01:17:13However, I have two last memories that I would like to share with you.

01:17:17Dumbledore indicated the two little crystal bottles gleaming beside the pensieve.

01:17:21I shall then be glad of your opinion as to whether the conclusions I have drawn from them seem likely.

01:17:28The idea that Dumbledore valued his opinion this highly made Harry feel even more deeply

01:17:33ashamed that he had failed in the task of retrieving the horcrux memory,

01:17:36and he shifted guiltily in his seat as Dumbledore

01:17:39raised the first of the two bottles to the light and examined it.

01:17:43I hope you are not tired of diving into other people's memories,

01:17:47for they are curious recollections, these two, he said.

01:17:50The first one came from a very old house elf by the name of Hokie.

01:17:54Before we see what Hokie witnessed, I must quickly recount how Lord Voldemort left Hogwarts.

01:18:00He reached the seventh year of his schooling with, as you might have expected,

01:18:03top grades in every examination he had taken.

01:18:06All around him, his classmates were deciding which jobs

01:18:09they were to pursue once they had left Hogwarts.

01:18:11Nearly everybody expected spectacular things from Tom Riddle.

01:18:15Prefect, head boy, winner of the special award for services to the school.

01:18:19I know that several teachers, Professor Slughorn amongst them,

01:18:23suggested that he join the Ministry of Magic,

01:18:25offered to set up appointments, put them in touch with useful contacts.

01:18:30He refused all offers.

01:18:31The next thing the staff knew, Voldemort was working at Borgin and Burkes.

01:18:36At Borgin and Burkes, Harry repeated, stunned.

01:18:38At Borgin and Burkes, repeated Dumbledore calmly.

01:18:41I think you will see what attractions the place held for him

01:18:44when we have entered Hokie's memory.

01:18:46But this was not Voldemort's first choice of job.

01:18:49Hardly anyone knew of it at the time.

01:18:51I was one of the few in whom he then, the then headmaster, confided.

01:18:55But Voldemort first approached Professor Dippet

01:18:58and asked whether he could remain at Hogwarts as a teacher.

01:19:01He wanted to stay here.

01:19:02Why, asked Harry, more amazed still.

01:19:05I believe he had several reasons,

01:19:07though he confided none of them to Professor Dippet, said Dumbledore.

01:19:10Firstly, and very importantly, Voldemort was, I believe,

01:19:13more attached to this school than he has ever been to a person.

01:19:17Hogwarts was where he had been happiest,

01:19:19the first and only place he had felt at home.

01:19:21Harry felt slightly uncomfortable at these words,

01:19:24for this was exactly how he felt about Hogwarts too.

01:19:27Secondly, the castle is a stronghold of ancient magic.

01:19:30Undoubtedly, Voldemort had penetrated many more of its secrets

01:19:34than most of the students who passed through the place,

01:19:36but he may have felt that these were still mysteries to unravel,

01:19:40stores of magic to tap.

01:19:42And thirdly, as a teacher, he would have had great power

01:19:45and influence over young witches and wizards.

01:19:47Perhaps he had gained the idea from Professor Slughorn,

01:19:49the teacher with whom he was on best terms,

01:19:52who had demonstrated how influential a role a teacher can play.

01:19:55I do not imagine for an instant that Voldemort envisaged

01:19:58spending the rest of his life at Hogwarts,

01:20:00but I do think that he saw it as a useful recruiting ground

01:20:03and a place where he might begin to build himself an army.

01:20:06But he didn't get the job, sir.

01:20:08No, he did not.

01:20:09Professor Dippet told him that he was too young at eighteen,

01:20:12but invited him to reapply in a few years,

01:20:15if he still wished to teach.

01:20:17How did you feel about that, sir?

01:20:18Asked Harry hesitantly.

01:20:20Deeply uneasy, said Dumbledore.

01:20:22I had advised Armando against the appointment.

01:20:24I did not give the reasons I have given you,

01:20:26for Professor Dippet was very fond of Voldemort

01:20:29and convinced of his honesty,

01:20:31but I did not want Lord Voldemort back at this school

01:20:33and especially not in a position of power.

01:20:36Which job did he want, sir?

01:20:37What subject did he want to teach?

01:20:39Somehow Harry knew the answer even before Dumbledore gave it.

01:20:43Defence against the dark arts.

01:20:45It was being taught at the time by an old professor

01:20:47by the name of Galatea Merrifort,

01:20:50who had been at Hogwarts for nearly fifty years.

01:20:54So Voldemort went off to Borgin and Burkes

01:20:57and all the staff who had admired him

01:20:59said what a waste it was,

01:21:02a brilliant young wizard like that working in a shop.

01:21:05However, Voldemort was no more assistant,

01:21:07polite and handsome and clever.

01:21:10He was soon given particular jobs of the type

01:21:12that only exist in a place like Borgin and Burkes,

01:21:15which specializes, as you know, Harry,

01:21:17in objects with unusual and powerful properties.

01:21:20Voldemort was sent to persuade people

01:21:22to part with their treasures for sale by their partners

01:21:25and he was, by all accounts, unusually gifted at doing this.

01:21:28I'll bet he was, said Harry, unable to contain himself.

01:21:31Well, quite, said Dumbledore with a faint smile.

01:21:34And now it is time to hear from Hokey the house-elf,

01:21:37who worked for a very old, very rich witch

01:21:40by the name of Hefzor Smith.

01:21:43Dumbledore tapped a bottle of his wand.

01:21:45The cork flew out and he tipped the swirling memory

01:21:48into the pensive, saying as he did so,

01:21:50After you, Harry.

01:21:51Harry got to his feet and bent once more

01:21:53over the rippling silver contents of the stone basin

01:21:56until his face touched them.

01:21:57He tumbled through dark nothingness

01:21:59and landed in a sitting room

01:22:01in front of an immensely fat old lady

01:22:02wearing an elaborate ginger wig

01:22:04and a brilliant pink set of robes

01:22:06that flowed all around her,

01:22:08giving her the look of a melting iced cake.

01:22:10She was looking into a small jeweled mirror

01:22:12and dabbing rouge onto her already scarlet cheeks

01:22:15with a large powder puff,

01:22:16while the tiniest and oldest house-elf

01:22:18Harry had ever seen

01:22:20laced her fleshy feet into tight satin slippers.

01:22:23Hurry up, Hokey, said Hepzibah imperiously.

01:22:26He said he'd come at four.

01:22:28It's only a couple of minutes to

01:22:29and he's never been late yet.

01:22:31She tucked away her powder puff

01:22:33as the house-elf straightened up.

01:22:35The top of the elf's head

01:22:37barely reached the seat of Hepzibah's chair

01:22:40and her papery skin hung off her frame

01:22:43just like the crisp linen sheet

01:22:44she wore draped like a toga.

01:22:46How do I look, said Hepzibah,

01:22:49turning her head to admire

01:22:50the various angles of her face in the mirror.

01:22:53Lovely, madam, squeaked Hokey.

01:22:55Harry could only assume

01:22:56that it was down in Hokey's contract

01:22:58that she must lie through her teeth

01:23:00when asked this question

01:23:02because Hepzibah Smith

01:23:03looked a long way from lovely in his opinion.

01:23:06A tinkling doorbell rang

01:23:07and both Mistress and Elf jumped.

01:23:10Quick, quick, he's here, Hokey,

01:23:12cried Hepzibah,

01:23:13and the elf scurried out of the room,

01:23:15which was so crammed with objects

01:23:17that it was difficult to see

01:23:18how anybody could navigate their way across it

01:23:20without knocking over at least a dozen things.

01:23:22There were cabinets full of little lacquered boxes,

01:23:25cases full of gold-embossed books,

01:23:27shelves of orbs and celestial globes,

01:23:29and many flourishing pot plants in brass containers.

01:23:32In fact, the room looked like a cross

01:23:33between a magical antique shop and a conservatory.

01:23:36The house elf returned within minutes.

01:23:38Followed by a tall young man,

01:23:40Harry had no difficulty whatsoever

01:23:42in recognising as Voldemort.

01:23:44He was plainly dressed in a black suit,

01:23:46his hair was a little longer

01:23:47than it had been at school,

01:23:48and his cheeks were hollowed,

01:23:49but all of this suited him.

01:23:52He looked more handsome than ever.

01:23:54He picked his way through the cramped room with an air

01:23:56that showed he had visited many times before,

01:23:58and bowed low over Hepzibah's fat little hand,

01:24:01brushing it with his lips.

01:24:03I brought you flowers, he said quietly,

01:24:05producing a bunch of roses from nowhere.

01:24:07You naughty boy, you shouldn't have,

01:24:10squealed old Hepzibah,

01:24:11though Harry noticed that she had an empty vase

01:24:13standing ready on the nearest little table.

01:24:15You do spoil this old lady, Tom.

01:24:18Sit down, sit down.

01:24:19Where's Hokie?

01:24:20Ah, the house elf had come dashing back into the room,

01:24:23carrying a tray of little cakes,

01:24:24which she set at her mistress's elbow.

01:24:26Help yourself, Tom, said Hepzibah.

01:24:29I know how you love my cakes.

01:24:30Now, how are you?

01:24:31You look pale.

01:24:32They overwork you at that shop.

01:24:34I've said it a hundred times.

01:24:36Voldemort smiled mechanically,

01:24:38and Hepzibah simpered.

01:24:41Well, what's your excuse for visiting this time?

01:24:43She asked, batting her lashes.

01:24:45Mr. Burke would like to make an improved offer

01:24:48for the goblin-made armour, said Voldemort.

01:24:50Five hundred galleons.

01:24:51He feels it is more than fair.

01:24:54Now, now, not so fast, or I'll think

01:24:56you've only come here for trinkets, pouted Hepzibah.

01:25:00I am ordered here because of them,

01:25:01said Voldemort quietly.

01:25:03I am only a poor assistant, madam,

01:25:04who must do as he is told.

01:25:06Mr. Burke wishes me to inquire.

01:25:08Oh, Mr. Burke Fooey, said Hepzibah,

01:25:11waving a little hand.

01:25:12I've something to show you

01:25:13that I've never shown Mr. Burke.

01:25:15Can you keep a secret, Tom?

01:25:16Will you promise you won't tell Mr. Burke?

01:25:18I've got it.

01:25:19He'd never let me rest if he knew

01:25:21I'd shown it to you, and I'm not selling.

01:25:24Not to Burke, not to anyone, but you, Tom.

01:25:26You'll appreciate it for its history,

01:25:28not how many galleons you can get for it.

01:25:31I'd be glad to see anything Miss Hepzibah shows me,

01:25:34said Voldemort quietly,

01:25:35and Hepzibah gave another girlish giggle.

01:25:38I had Hokie bring it out for me.

01:25:40Hokie, where are you?

01:25:42I want to show Mr. Riddle our finest treasure.

01:25:44In fact, bring both while you're at it.

01:25:47Here, madam, squeaked the house elf,

01:25:49and Harry saw two leather boxes,

01:25:51one on top of the other,

01:25:53moving across the room

01:25:54as if on their own volition.

01:25:56Though he knew the tiny elf

01:25:58was holding them over her head

01:26:00as she wended her way between tables,

01:26:02poofs and footstools.

01:26:03Now, said Hepzibah happily,

01:26:05taking the boxes from the elf,

01:26:07laying them in her lap

01:26:08and preparing to open the topmost one.

01:26:10I think you'll like this, Tom.

01:26:11Oh, if my family knew I was showing you,

01:26:14they can't wait to get their hands on this.

01:26:16She opened the lid.

01:26:17Harry edged forwards a little

01:26:19to get a better view

01:26:20and saw what looked like a small golden cup

01:26:22with two finely wrought handles.

01:26:25I wonder whether you know what it is, Tom.

01:26:27Pick it up.

01:26:27Have a good look, whispered Hepzibah,

01:26:29and Voldemort stretched out a long-fingered hand

01:26:32and lifted the cup by one handle

01:26:34of its snug silken wrappings.

01:26:37Harry thought he saw a red gleam in his dark eyes.

01:26:40His greedy expression was curiously mirrored

01:26:42on Hepzibah's face,

01:26:43except that her tiny eyes were fixed upon

01:26:45Voldemort's handsome features.

01:26:48A badger, murmured Voldemort,

01:26:50examining the engraving upon the cup.

01:26:53There, then, this was Helga Hufflepuff's.

01:26:57As you very well know, you clever boy,

01:26:59said Hepzibah, leaning forwards

01:27:01and a loud creaking of corsets

01:27:03and actually pinching his hollow cheek.

01:27:06Didn't I tell you I was distantly descended?

01:27:09This has been handed down in the family

01:27:10for years and years.

01:27:12Lovely, isn't it?

01:27:12And all sorts of powers it's supposed to possess, too.

01:27:15But I haven't tested them thoroughly.

01:27:16I just keep it nice and safe in here.

01:27:19She hooked the cup back off Voldemort's long forefinger

01:27:23and restored it gently into its box,

01:27:26too intent upon settling it carefully back into position

01:27:29to notice the shadow that crossed Voldemort's face

01:27:31as the cup was taken away.

01:27:33Now, then, said Hepzibah happily,

01:27:35where's Hokie?

01:27:36Oh, yes, there you are.

01:27:37Take that away now, Hokie.

01:27:39The elf obediently took the boxed cup

01:27:41and Hepzibah turned her attention

01:27:43to the much flatter box in her lap.

01:27:45I think you'll like this even more, Tom, she whispered.

01:27:48Lean in, a little dear boy, so you can see.

01:27:51Of course, Berk knows I've got this one.

01:27:53I bought it in from him

01:27:55and I dare say he'd love to get it back when I'm gone.

01:27:58She slid back the fine filigree clasp

01:28:02and flipped open the box.

01:28:03There upon the smooth crimson velvet

01:28:05lay a heavy golden locket.

01:28:07Voldemort reached out his hand,

01:28:09without invitation this time,

01:28:10and held it up to the light, staring at it.

01:28:13Slytherin's mark, he said quietly

01:28:16as the light played upon ornate serpentine S.

01:28:20That's right, said Hepzibah, delighted,

01:28:22apparently at the sight of Voldemort

01:28:24gazing at her locket, transfixed.

01:28:26I had to pay an arm and a leg for it

01:28:27but I couldn't let it pass.

01:28:28Not a real treasure like that.

01:28:30Had to have it for my collection.

01:28:32Berk bought it, apparently,

01:28:34from a ragged-looking woman

01:28:35who seemed to have stolen it

01:28:36but had no idea of its true value.

01:28:38There was no mistaking it this time.

01:28:40Voldemort's eyes flashed scarlet at her words

01:28:43and Harry saw his knuckles whiten

01:28:45on the locket's chain.

01:28:46I dare say Berk paid her a pittance.

01:28:49But there you are.

01:28:50Pretty, isn't it?

01:28:51And I, again, all kinds of powers attributed to it.

01:28:54Though I just keep it nice and safe.

01:28:57She reached out to take the locket back.

01:28:59For a moment, Harry thought Voldemort

01:29:00was not going to let go of it.

01:29:02But then it had slid through his fingers

01:29:05and was back in its red velvet cushion.

01:29:08So there you are, Tom, dear.

01:29:10And I hope you enjoyed that.

01:29:11She looked him full in the face

01:29:13and for the first time,

01:29:14Harry saw her foolish smile falter.

01:29:17Are you all right, dear?

01:29:18Oh, yes, said Voldemort quietly.

01:29:20Yes, I'm very well.

01:29:22I thought, uh, but a trick of the light, I suppose,

01:29:25said Hepzibah, looking unnerved.

01:29:27And Harry guessed that she too had seen

01:29:29the momentary red gleam in Voldemort's eyes.

01:29:32Here, Hokie, take these away

01:29:34and lock them up again.

01:29:35The usual enchantments.

01:29:37Time to leave, Harry,

01:29:38said Dumbledore quietly.

01:29:40And as the little elf bobbed away,

01:29:42bearing the boxes,

01:29:43Dumbledore grasped Harry once again

01:29:45above the elbow and together,

01:29:46they rose up through oblivion

01:29:48and back to Dumbledore's office.

01:29:50Hepzibah Smith died two days

01:29:52after that little scene,

01:29:53said Dumbledore, resuming his seat

01:29:55and indicating that Harry should do the same.

01:29:58Hokie the house-elf was convicted

01:29:59by the Ministry of Poisoning

01:30:01her mistress's evening cocoa by accident.

01:30:04No way, said Harry angrily.

01:30:06I see we are of one mind, said Dumbledore.

01:30:09Certainly there are many similarities

01:30:11between this death and that of the riddles.

01:30:14In both cases, somebody else took the blame.

01:30:17Someone who had a clear memory

01:30:18of having caused the death.

01:30:20Hokie confessed.

01:30:22She remembered putting something

01:30:23in her mistress's cocoa

01:30:25that turned out not to be sugar,

01:30:26but a lethal and little-known poison,

01:30:29said Dumbledore.

01:30:30It was concluded that she had not meant to do it.

01:30:32But being old and confused,

01:30:34Voldemort modified her memory,

01:30:36just like he did with Morphin.

01:30:38Yes, that is my conclusion too,

01:30:40said Dumbledore.

01:30:41And just as with Morphin,

01:30:43the Ministry was predisposed to suspect Hokie.

01:30:48Because she was a house-elf, said Harry.

01:30:50He had rarely felt more in sympathy

01:30:52with the society Hermione had set up, S-P-E-W.

01:30:55Precisely, said Dumbledore.

01:30:57She was old.

01:30:58She admitted to having tampered with the drink

01:31:00and nobody at the Ministry

01:31:01bothered to inquire further.

01:31:03As in the case of Morphin,

01:31:04by the time I traced her

01:31:05and managed to extract this memory,

01:31:07her life was almost over.

01:31:08But her memory, of course,

01:31:09proves nothing except that Voldemort knew

01:31:11of the existence of the cup and the locket.

01:31:15By the time Hokie was convicted,

01:31:16Hepzibah's family had realized

01:31:18that two of her greatest treasures were missing.

01:31:20It took them a while to be sure of this,

01:31:22for she had many hiding places,

01:31:24having always guarded her collection most jealously.

01:31:26But before they were sure,

01:31:28beyond doubt,

01:31:29that the cup and the locket were both gone,

01:31:31the assistant who had worked at Borgin and Burkes,

01:31:33the young man who had visited Hepzibah so regularly,

01:31:36had encharmed her so well,

01:31:38had resigned his post and vanished.

01:31:40His superiors had no idea where he had gone.

01:31:43They were as surprised as anyone at his disappearance,

01:31:46and that was the last that was seen or heard

01:31:48of Tom Riddle for a very long time.

01:31:52Now, said Dumbledore,

01:31:53if you don't mind, Harry,

01:31:54I want to pause once more to draw your attention

01:31:57to certain points of our story.

01:31:59Voldemort had committed another murder,

01:32:01whether it was his first since he killed the Riddles,

01:32:03I do not know, but I think it was.

01:32:05This time, as you will have seen,

01:32:07he killed not for revenge, but for gain.

01:32:10He wanted the two fabulous trophies

01:32:12that that poor, besotted old woman showed him,

01:32:15just as he had once robbed the other children

01:32:17at his orphanage,

01:32:18just as he had stolen his uncle Morfin's ring.

01:32:21So he ran off now with Hepzibah's cup and locket.

01:32:24But, said Harry, frowning,

01:32:26it seems mad risking everything,

01:32:28throwing away his job just for those.

01:32:30Mad to you, perhaps, but not to Voldemort,

01:32:33said Dumbledore.

01:32:34I hope you will understand in due course

01:32:35exactly what those objects meant to him, Harry,

01:32:38but you must admit that it is not difficult to imagine

01:32:42that he saw the locket at least as rightfully his.

01:32:45The locket, maybe, said Harry,

01:32:46but why take the cup as well?

01:32:49It had belonged to another of Hogwarts founders,

01:32:52said Dumbledore.

01:32:53I think he still felt a great pull towards the school

01:32:55and that he could not resist an object

01:32:57so steeped in Hogwarts history.

01:32:59There were other reasons, I think.

01:33:01I hope to be able to demonstrate them to you in due course.

01:33:04And now, for the very last recollection,

01:33:07I have to show you,

01:33:08at least until you manage to retrieve

01:33:09Professor Slughorn's memory for us.

01:33:12Ten years separate Hoagy's memory in this one,

01:33:14ten years during which we can only guess

01:33:16at what Lord Voldemort was doing.

01:33:19Harry got to his feet once more

01:33:20as Dumbledore emptied the last memory into the Pensieve.

01:33:23Whose memory is it, he asked.

01:33:26Mine, said Dumbledore.

01:33:27And Harry dived after Dumbledore

01:33:29through the shifting silver mass,

01:33:31landing in the very office he had just left.

01:33:34There was Fawkes, slumbering happily on his perch,

01:33:36and there behind the desk was Dumbledore,

01:33:39who looked very similar to the Dumbledore

01:33:40standing beside Harry,

01:33:42though both hands were whole and undamaged

01:33:44and his face was perhaps a little less lined.

01:33:47The one difference between the present day office

01:33:49and this one was that it was snowing in the past.

01:33:51Bluish flecks were drifting past the window in the dark

01:33:54and building up on the outside ledge.

01:33:56The younger Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for something

01:33:59and sure enough, moments after their arrival,

01:34:01there was a knock on the door and he said,

01:34:03Enter!

01:34:04Harry let out a hastily stifled gasp.

01:34:07Voldemort had entered the room.

01:34:09His features were not those Harry had seen

01:34:11emerge from the great stone cauldron

01:34:13almost two years before.

01:34:14They were not as snake-like.

01:34:16The eyes were not yet scarlet.

01:34:17The face not yet mask-like.

01:34:19And yet, he was no longer handsome, Tom Riddle.

01:34:22It was as though his features had been burned and blurred.

01:34:26They were waxy and oddly distorted

01:34:28and the whites of all the eyes now had a permanently bloody look,

01:34:32though the pupils were not yet the slits

01:34:34that Harry knew they would become.

01:34:36He was wearing a long black cloak

01:34:38and his face was as pale as the snow glistening on his shoulders.

01:34:41The Dumbledore behind the desk showed no sign of surprise.

01:34:44Evidently, this visit had been made by appointment.

01:34:47Good evening, Tom, said Dumbledore easily.

01:34:50Won't you sit down?

01:34:52Thank you, said Voldemort

01:34:53and he took the seat to which Dumbledore had gestured.

01:34:56The very seat, by the looks of it,

01:34:58that Harry had just vacated in the present.

01:35:00I heard that you had become headmaster, he said

01:35:03and his voice was slightly higher and colder than it had been.

01:35:06A worthy choice.

01:35:08I'm glad you approve, said Dumbledore smiling.

01:35:11May I offer you a drink?

01:35:12That would be welcome, said Voldemort.

01:35:14I have come a long way.

01:35:16Dumbledore stood and swept over to the cabinet

01:35:18where he now kept the pensieve,

01:35:20but which was full of bottles.

01:35:22Having handed Voldemort a goblet of wine

01:35:24and poured one for himself,

01:35:25he returned to the seat behind the desk.

01:35:27So, Tom, to what do I owe this pleasure?

01:35:30Voldemort did not answer at once,

01:35:32but merely tipped his wine.

01:35:34They do not call me Tom anymore, he said.

01:35:37These days I am known as...

01:35:39I know what you are known as, said Dumbledore smiling pleasantly,

01:35:42but to me I'm afraid you will always be Tom Riddle.

01:35:45It is one of the irritating things about old teachers, I'm afraid.

01:35:49They never quite forget their charge's youthful beginnings.

01:35:54He raised his glass, as though toasting Voldemort,

01:35:56whose face remained expressionless.

01:35:58Nevertheless, Harry felt the atmosphere in the room change subtly.

01:36:02Dumbledore's refusal to use Voldemort's chosen name

01:36:05was refusal to allow Voldemort to dictate the terms of this meeting,

01:36:08and Harry could tell that Voldemort took it as such.

01:36:11I am surprised you have remained here so long,

01:36:14said Voldemort after a short pause.

01:36:16I always wondered why a wizard such as yourself

01:36:18never wished to leave school.

01:36:20Well, said Dumbledore, still smiling,

01:36:22to a wizard such as myself,

01:36:24there can be nothing more important than passing on ancient skills,

01:36:27helping hone young minds.

01:36:29If I remember correctly, you once saw the attraction of teaching too.

01:36:33I see it still, said Voldemort.

01:36:35I merely wondered why you,

01:36:37who is so often asked for advice by the Ministry,

01:36:39and who has twice, I think, been offered the post of Minister...

01:36:43Three times at the last count, actually, said Dumbledore,

01:36:45but the Ministry never attracted me as a career.

01:36:48Again, something we have in common, I think.

01:36:50Voldemort inclined his head, unsmiling,

01:36:53and took another sip of wine.

01:36:55Dumbledore did not break the silence that stretched between them now,

01:36:57but waited, with a look of pleasant expectancy,

01:37:00for Voldemort to talk first.

01:37:02I have returned, he said, after a little while,

01:37:05later, perhaps, than Professor Dippet expected,

01:37:07but I have returned, nevertheless,

01:37:09to request again that he once told me I was too young to have.

01:37:12I have come to you to ask that you permit me

01:37:14to return to this castle, to teach.

01:37:17I think you must know that I have seen and done much

01:37:20since I left this place.

01:37:21I could show and tell your students things

01:37:23that they can gain from no other wizard.

01:37:26Dumbledore considered Voldemort over the top of his own goblet

01:37:29for a while before speaking.

01:37:31Yes, I certainly do know that you have seen and done

01:37:34much since leaving us, he said quietly.

01:37:36Rumours of your doings have reached your old school, Tom.

01:37:40I should be sorry to believe half of them.

01:37:43Voldemort's expression remained impassive, as he said,

01:37:46Greatness inspires envy.

01:37:48Envy engenders spite.

01:37:50Spite spawns lies.

01:37:52You must know this, Dumbledore.

01:37:54You call it greatness.

01:37:55What you have been doing, do you?

01:37:57asked Dumbledore delicately.

01:37:59Certainly, said Voldemort, and his eyes seemed to burn red.

01:38:02I have experimented.

01:38:03I have pushed the boundaries of magic further,

01:38:05perhaps, than they have ever been pushed.

01:38:08Of some kinds of magic, Dumbledore corrected him quietly.

01:38:12Of some.

01:38:12Of others you remain, forgive me, woefully ignorant.

01:38:16For the first time, Voldemort smiled.

01:38:18It was a taut leer, an evil thing,

01:38:20more threatening than a look of rage.

01:38:22The old argument, he said softly.

01:38:24But nothing I have seen in the world has supported

01:38:26your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful

01:38:29than any kind of magic, Dumbledore.

01:38:32Perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places,

01:38:35suggested Dumbledore.

01:38:36Well then, what better place to start my fresh researches

01:38:39than here at Hogwarts, said Voldemort.

01:38:42Will you let me return?

01:38:43Will you let me share my knowledge with your students?

01:38:45I place myself and my talents at your disposal.

01:38:48I am yours to command.

01:38:49Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

01:38:51And what will become of those whom you command?

01:38:54What will happen to those who call themselves,

01:38:57or so rumor has it, the Death Eaters?

01:39:00Harry could tell that Voldemort had not expected Dumbledore

01:39:02to know this name.

01:39:03He saw Voldemort's eyes flash red again,

01:39:06and the slit-like nostrils flare.

01:39:08My friends, he said, after a moment's pause,

01:39:11will carry on without me, I am sure.

01:39:15I am glad to hear that you consider them friends,

01:39:17said Dumbledore.

01:39:18I was under the impression that they are more

01:39:20in the order of servants.

01:39:22You are mistaken, said Voldemort.

01:39:24Then, if I were to go to the Hog's Head tonight,

01:39:27I would not find a group of them,

01:39:29not Rosia, Melsaba, Dolohov, awaiting your return.

01:39:34Devoted friends, indeed, to travel this far with you

01:39:37on a snowy night, merely to wish you luck

01:39:39as you attempted to secure a teaching post.

01:39:42There can be no doubt that Dumbledore's detailed knowledge

01:39:44of those with whom he was travelling

01:39:46was even less welcome to Voldemort.

01:39:48However, he rallied almost at once.

01:39:50You are omniscient, as ever, Dumbledore.

01:39:54Oh no, merely friendly with the local barmen,

01:39:58said Dumbledore lightly.

01:39:59Now, Tom.

01:40:01Dumbledore set down his empty glass

01:40:03and drew himself up in his seat,

01:40:05the tips of his fingers together

01:40:07in a very charismatic gesture.

01:40:10Let us speak openly.

01:40:11Why have you come here tonight,

01:40:12surrounded by henchmen, to request a job

01:40:15we both know you do not want?

01:40:16Voldemort looked coldly surprised.

01:40:18A job I do not want?

01:40:20On the contrary, Dumbledore, I want it very much.

01:40:23Oh, you want to come back to Hogwarts,

01:40:24but you do not want to teach any more

01:40:26than you wanted to when you were eighteen.

01:40:29What is it you're after, Tom?

01:40:31Why not try an open request for once?

01:40:33Voldemort sneered.

01:40:35If you do not want to give me a job.

01:40:37Of course I don't, said Dumbledore,

01:40:39and I don't think for a moment you expected me to.

01:40:41Nevertheless, you came here.

01:40:43You asked.

01:40:43You must have had a purpose.

01:40:45Voldemort stood up.

01:40:46He looked less like Tom Riddle than ever,

01:40:48his features thick with rage.

01:40:50This is your final word?

01:40:52It is, said Dumbledore, also standing.

01:40:55Then we have nothing more to say to each other.

01:40:57No, nothing, said Dumbledore,

01:40:59and a great sadness filled his face.

01:41:01The time is long gone when I could

01:41:04frighten you with a burning wardrobe

01:41:06and force you to take repayment for your crimes,

01:41:08but I wish I could, Tom.

01:41:10I wish I could.

01:41:11For a second, Harry was on the verge of shouting,

01:41:13a pointless warning.

01:41:14He was sure that Voldemort's hand

01:41:16had twitched towards his pocket in his wand,

01:41:18but then the moment had passed.

01:41:20Voldemort had turned away.

01:41:21The door was closing and he was gone.

01:41:23Harry felt Dumbledore's hand close over his arm again,

01:41:26and moments later they were standing together

01:41:28on almost the same spot,

01:41:30but there was now no snow building on the window ledge,

01:41:33and Dumbledore's hand was blackened

01:41:34and dead-looking once more.

01:41:36Why, said Harry at once,

01:41:38looking up into Dumbledore's face,

01:41:40why did he come back?

01:41:41Did you ever find out?

01:41:43I have ideas, said Dumbledore,

01:41:45but no more than that.

01:41:46What ideas, sir?

01:41:47I shall tell you, Harry,

01:41:49when you have retrieved that memory

01:41:50from Professor Slughorn,

01:41:52said Dumbledore,

01:41:53when you have that last piece of the jigsaw,

01:41:55everything will, I hope, be clear to both of us.

01:41:58Harry was still burning with curiosity,

01:42:00and even though Dumbledore had walked to the door

01:42:02and was holding it open for him,

01:42:04he did not move at once.

01:42:06Was he after the Defence Against the Dark Arts job again, sir?

01:42:09He didn't say.

01:42:10Oh, he definitely wanted the Defence Against the Dark Arts job,

01:42:13said Dumbledore.

01:42:14The aftermath of our little meeting proved that.

01:42:17You see, we have never been able to keep

01:42:19a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher

01:42:20for longer than a year,

01:42:22since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort.

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