The Half-Blood Prince Read online

  ‘Hmmm,’ said Mrs Weasley. ‘Maybe. I got the impression she was planning to spend Christmas alone, actually.’

  She gave Lupin an annoyed look, as though it was all his fault she was getting Fleur for a daughter-in-law instead of Tonks, but Harry, glancing across at Fleur, who was now feeding Bill bits of turkey off her own fork, thought that Mrs Weasley was fighting a long-lost battle. He was, however, reminded of a question he had with regard to Tonks, and who better to ask than Lupin, the man who knew all about Patronuses?

  ‘Tonks’s Patronus has changed its form,’ he told him. ‘Snape said so, anyway. I didn’t know that could happen. Why would your Patronus change?’

  Lupin took his time chewing his turkey and swallowing before saying slowly, ‘Sometimes … a great shock … an emotional upheaval …’

  ‘It looked big, and it had four legs,’ said Harry, struck by a sudden thought and lowering his voice. ‘Hey … it couldn’t be –?’

  ‘Arthur!’ said Mrs Weasley suddenly. She had risen from her chair; her hand was pressed over her heart and she was staring out of the kitchen window. ‘Arthur – it’s Percy!’

  ‘What?’

  Mr Weasley looked round. Everybody looked quickly at the window; Ginny stood up for a better view. There, sure enough, was Percy Weasley, striding across the snowy yard, his horn-rimmed glasses glinting in the sunlight. He was not, however, alone.

  ‘Arthur, he’s – he’s with the Minister!’

  And sure enough, the man Harry had seen in the Daily Prophet was following along in Percy’s wake, limping slightly, his mane of greying hair and his black cloak flecked with snow. Before any of them could say anything, before Mr and Mrs Weasley could do more than exchange stunned looks, the back door opened and there stood Percy.

  There was a moment’s painful silence. Then Percy said rather stiffly, ‘Merry Christmas, Mother.’

  ‘Oh, Percy!’ said Mrs Weasley, and she threw herself into his arms.

  Rufus Scrimgeour paused in the doorway, leaning on his walking stick and smiling as he observed this affecting scene.

  ‘You must forgive this intrusion,’ he said, when Mrs Weasley looked round at him, beaming and wiping her eyes. ‘Percy and I were in the vicinity – working, you know – and he couldn’t resist dropping in and seeing you all.’

  But Percy showed no sign of wanting to greet any of the rest of the family. He stood, poker-straight and awkward-looking, and stared over everybody else’s heads. Mr Weasley, Fred and George were all observing him, stony-faced.

  ‘Please, come in, sit down, Minister!’ fluttered Mrs Weasley, straightening her hat. ‘Have a little purkey, or some tooding … I mean –’

  ‘No, no, my dear Molly,’ said Scrimgeour. Harry guessed that he had checked on her name with Percy before they entered the house. ‘I don’t want to intrude, wouldn’t be here at all if Percy hadn’t wanted to see you all so badly …’

  ‘Oh, Perce!’ said Mrs Weasley tearfully, reaching up to kiss him.

  ‘… we’ve only looked in for five minutes, so I’ll have a stroll around the yard while you catch up with Percy. No, no, I assure you I don’t want to butt in! Well, if anybody cared to show me your charming garden … ah, that young man’s finished, why doesn’t he take a stroll with me?’

  The atmosphere around the table changed perceptibly. Everybody looked from Scrimgeour to Harry. Nobody seemed to find Scrimgeour’s pretence that he did not know Harry’s name convincing, or find it natural that he should be chosen to accompany the Minister around the garden when Ginny, Fleur and George also had clean plates.

  ‘Yeah, all right,’ said Harry into the silence.

  He was not fooled; for all Scrimgeour’s talk that they had just been in the area, that Percy wanted to look up his family, this must be the real reason that they had come, so that Scrimgeour could speak to Harry alone.

  ‘It’s fine,’ he said quietly, as he passed Lupin, who had half-risen from his chair. ‘Fine,’ he added, as Mr Weasley opened his mouth to speak.

  ‘Wonderful!’ said Scrimgeour, standing back to let Harry pass through the door ahead of him. ‘We’ll just take a turn around the garden and then Percy and I’ll be off. Carry on, everyone!’

  Harry walked across the yard towards the Weasleys’ overgrown, snow-covered garden, Scrimgeour limping slightly at his side. He had, Harry knew, been Head of the Auror Office; he looked tough and battle-scarred, very different from portly Fudge in his bowler hat.

  ‘Charming,’ said Scrimgeour, stopping at the garden fence and looking out over the snowy lawn and the indistinguishable plants. ‘Charming.’

  Harry said nothing. He could tell that Scrimgeour was watching him.

  ‘I’ve wanted to meet you for a very long time,’ said Scrimgeour, after a few moments. ‘Did you know that?’

  ‘No,’ said Harry truthfully.

  ‘Oh yes, for a very long time. But Dumbledore has been very protective of you,’ said Scrimgeour. ‘Natural, of course, natural, after what you’ve been through … especially what happened at the Ministry …’

  He waited for Harry to say something, but Harry did not oblige, so he went on, ‘I have been hoping for an occasion to talk to you ever since I gained office, but Dumbledore has – most understandably, as I say – prevented this.’

  Still Harry said nothing, waiting.

  ‘The rumours that have flown around!’ said Scrimgeour. ‘Well, of course, we both know how these stories get distorted … all these whispers of a prophecy … of you being the “Chosen One” …’

  They were getting near it now, Harry thought, the reason Scrimgeour was here.

  ‘… I assume that Dumbledore has discussed these matters with you?’

  Harry deliberated, wondering whether he ought to lie or not. He looked at the little gnome prints all around the flower-beds, and the scuffed-up patch that marked the spot where Fred had caught the gnome now wearing the tutu at the top of the Christmas tree. Finally, he decided on the truth … or a bit of it.

  ‘Yeah, we’ve discussed it.’

  ‘Have you, have you …’ said Scrimgeour. Harry could see, out of the corner of his eyes, Scrimgeour squinting at him, so pretended to be very interested in a gnome that had just poked its head out from underneath a frozen rhododendron. ‘And what has Dumbledore told you, Harry?’

  ‘Sorry, but that’s between us,’ said Harry.

  He kept his voice as pleasant as he could, and Scrimgeour’s tone, too, was light and friendly as he said, ‘Oh, of course, if it’s a question of confidences, I wouldn’t want you to divulge … no, no … and in any case, does it really matter whether you are the Chosen One or not?’

  Harry had to mull that one over for a few seconds before responding.

  ‘I don’t really know what you mean, Minister.’

  ‘Well, of course, to you it will matter enormously,’ said Scrimgeour with a laugh. ‘But to the wizarding community at large … it’s all perception, isn’t it? It’s what people believe that’s important.’

  Harry said nothing. He thought he saw, dimly, where they were heading, but he was not going to help Scrimgeour get there. The gnome under the rhododendron was now digging for worms at its roots and Harry kept his eyes fixed upon it.

  ‘People believe you are the Chosen One, you see,’ said Scrimgeour. ‘They think you quite the hero – which, of course, you are, Harry, chosen or not! How many times have you faced He Who Must Not Be Named now? Well, anyway,’ he pressed on, without waiting for a reply, ‘the point is, you are a symbol of hope for many, Harry. The idea that there is somebody out there who might be able, who might even be destined, to destroy He Who Must Not Be Named – well, naturally, it gives people a lift. And I can’t help but feel that, once you realise this, you might consider it, well, almost a duty, to stand alongside the Ministry, and give everyone a boost.’

  The gnome had just managed to get hold of a worm. It was now tugging very hard on it, trying to get it out of the frozen ground. Harry was s
ilent so long that Scrimgeour said, looking from Harry to the gnome, ‘Funny little chaps, aren’t they? But what say you, Harry?’

  ‘I don’t exactly understand what you want,’said Harry slowly. ‘“Stand alongside the Ministry” … what does that mean?’

  ‘Oh, well, nothing at all onerous, I assure you,’ said Scrimgeour. ‘If you were to be seen popping in and out of the Ministry from time to time, for instance, that would give the right impression. And of course, while you were there, you would have ample opportunity to speak to Gawain Robards, my successor as Head of the Auror Office. Dolores Umbridge has told me that you cherish an ambition to become an Auror. Well, that could be arranged very easily …’

  Harry felt anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach: so Dolores Umbridge was still at the Ministry, was she?

  ‘So basically,’ he said, as though he just wanted to clarify a few points, ‘you’d like to give the impression that I’m working for the Ministry?’

  ‘It would give everyone a lift to think you were more involved, Harry,’ said Scrimgeour, sounding relieved that Harry had cottoned on so quickly. ‘The “Chosen One”, you know … it’s all about giving people hope, the feeling that exciting things are happening …’

  ‘But if I keep running in and out of the Ministry,’ said Harry, still endeavouring to keep his voice friendly, ‘won’t that seem as though I approve of what the Ministry’s up to?’

  ‘Well,’ said Scrimgeour, frowning slightly, ‘well, yes, that’s partly why we’d like –’

  ‘No, I don’t think that’ll work,’ said Harry pleasantly. ‘You see, I don’t like some of the things the Ministry’s doing. Locking up Stan Shunpike, for instance.’

  Scrimgeour did not speak for a moment, but his expression hardened instantly.

  ‘I would not expect you to understand,’ he said, and he was not as successful at keeping anger out of his voice as Harry had been. ‘These are dangerous times, and certain measures need to be taken. You are sixteen years old –’

  ‘Dumbledore’s a lot older than sixteen, and he doesn’t think Stan should be in Azkaban either,’ said Harry. ‘You’re making Stan a scapegoat, just like you want to make me a mascot.’

  They looked at each other, long and hard. Finally Scrimgeour said, with no pretence at warmth, ‘I see. You prefer – like your hero Dumbledore – to disassociate yourself from the Ministry?’

  ‘I don’t want to be used,’ said Harry.

  ‘Some would say it’s your duty to be used by the Ministry!’

  ‘Yeah, and others might say it’s your duty to check people really are Death Eaters before you chuck them in prison,’ said Harry, his temper rising now. ‘You’re doing what Barty Crouch did. You never get it right, you people, do you? Either we’ve got Fudge, pretending everything’s lovely while people get murdered right under his nose, or we’ve got you, chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to pretend you’ve got the Chosen One working for you!’

  ‘So you’re not the Chosen One?’ said Scrimgeour.

  ‘I thought you said it didn’t matter either way?’ said Harry, with a bitter laugh. ‘Not to you, anyway.’

  ‘I shouldn’t have said that,’ said Scrimgeour quickly. ‘It was tactless –’

  ‘No, it was honest,’ said Harry. ‘One of the only honest things you’ve said to me. You don’t care whether I live or die, but you do care that I help you convince everyone you’re winning the war against Voldemort. I haven’t forgotten, Minister …’

  He raised his right fist. There, shining white on the back of his cold hand, were the scars which Dolores Umbridge had forced him to carve into his own flesh: I must not tell lies.

  ‘I don’t remember you rushing to my defence when I was trying to tell everyone Voldemort was back. The Ministry wasn’t so keen to be pals last year.’

  They stood in silence as icy as the ground beneath their feet. The gnome had finally managed to extricate its worm and was now sucking on it happily, leaning against the bottommost branches of the rhododendron bush.

  ‘What is Dumbledore up to?’ said Scrimgeour brusquely. ‘Where does he go, when he is absent from Hogwarts?’

  ‘No idea,’ said Harry.

  ‘And you wouldn’t tell me if you knew,’ said Scrimgeour, ‘would you?’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t,’ said Harry.

  ‘Well, then, I shall have to see whether I can’t find out by other means.’

  ‘You can try,’ said Harry indifferently. ‘But you seem cleverer than Fudge, so I’d have thought you’d have learned from his mistakes. He tried interfering at Hogwarts. You might have noticed he’s not Minister any more, but Dumbledore’s still Headmaster. I’d leave Dumbledore alone, if I were you.’

  There was a long pause.

  ‘Well, it is clear to me that he has done a very good job on you,’ said Scrimgeour, his eyes cold and hard behind his wire-rimmed glasses. ‘Dumbledore’s man through and through, aren’t you, Potter?’

  ‘Yeah, I am,’ said Harry. ‘Glad we straightened that out.’

  And turning his back on the Minister for Magic, he strode back towards the house.

  — CHAPTER SEVENTEEN —

  A Sluggish Memory

  Late in the afternoon, a few days after New Year, Harry, Ron and Ginny lined up beside the kitchen fire to return to Hogwarts. The Ministry had arranged this one-off connection to the Floo Network to return students quickly and safely to the school. Only Mrs Weasley was there to say goodbye, as Mr Weasley, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur were all at work. Mrs Weasley dissolved into tears at the moment of parting. Admittedly, it took very little to set her off lately; she had been crying on and off ever since Percy had stormed from the house on Christmas Day with his glasses splattered with mashed parsnip (for which Fred, George and Ginny all claimed credit).

  ‘Don’t cry, Mum,’ said Ginny, patting her on the back as Mrs Weasley sobbed into her shoulder. ‘It’s OK …’

  ‘Yeah, don’t worry about us,’ said Ron, permitting his mother to plant a very wet kiss on his cheek, ‘or about Percy. He’s such a prat, it’s not really a loss, is it?’

  Mrs Weasley sobbed harder than ever as she enfolded Harry in her arms.

  ‘Promise me you’ll look after yourself … stay out of trouble …’

  ‘I always do, Mrs Weasley,’ said Harry. ‘I like a quiet life, you know me.’

  She gave a watery chuckle and stood back.

  ‘Be good, then, all of you …’

  Harry stepped into the emerald fire and shouted, ‘Hogwarts!’ He had one last fleeting view of the Weasleys’ kitchen and Mrs Weasley’s tearful face before the flames engulfed him; spinning very fast, he caught blurred glimpses of other wizarding rooms, which were whipped out of sight before he could get a proper look; then he was slowing down, finally stopping squarely in the fireplace in Professor McGonagall’s office. She barely glanced up from her work as he clambered out over the grate.

  ‘Evening, Potter. Try not to get too much ash on the carpet.’

  ‘No, Professor.’

  Harry straightened his glasses and flattened his hair as Ron came spinning into view. When Ginny had arrived, all three of them trooped out of McGonagall’s office and off towards Gryffindor Tower. Harry glanced out of the corridor windows as they passed; the sun was already sinking over grounds carpeted in deeper snow than had lain over The Burrow garden. In the distance, he could see Hagrid feeding Buckbeak in front of his cabin.

  ‘Baubles,’ said Ron confidently, when they reached the Fat Lady, who was looking rather paler than usual, and winced at his loud voice.

  ‘No,’ she said.

  ‘What d’you mean, “no”?’

  ‘There is a new password,’ she said. ‘And please don’t shout.’

  ‘But we’ve been away, how’re we supposed to –?’

  ‘Harry! Ginny!’

  Hermione was hurrying towards them, very pink-faced and wearing a cloak, hat and gloves.

  ‘I got back a couple of ho
urs ago, I’ve just been down to visit Hagrid and Buck— I mean Witherwings,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Did you have a good Christmas?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Ron at once, ‘pretty eventful, Rufus Scrim—’

  ‘I’ve got something for you, Harry,’ said Hermione, neither looking at Ron nor giving any sign that she had heard him. ‘Oh, hang on – password. Abstinence.’

  ‘Precisely,’ said the Fat Lady in a feeble voice, and swung forwards to reveal the portrait hole.

  ‘What’s up with her?’ asked Harry.

  ‘Overindulged over Christmas, apparently,’ said Hermione, rolling her eyes as she led the way into the packed common room. ‘She and her friend Violet drank their way through all the wine in that picture of drunk monks down by the Charms corridor. Anyway …’

  She rummaged in her pocket for a moment, then pulled out a scroll of parchment with Dumbledore’s writing on it.

  ‘Great,’ said Harry, unrolling it at once to discover that his next lesson with Dumbledore was scheduled for the following night. ‘I’ve got loads to tell him – and you. Let’s sit down –’

  But at that moment there was a loud squeal of ‘Won-Won!’ and Lavender Brown came hurtling out of nowhere and flung herself into Ron’s arms. Several onlookers sniggered; Hermione gave a tinkling laugh and said, ‘There’s a table over here … coming, Ginny?’

  ‘No, thanks, I said I’d meet Dean,’ said Ginny, though Harry could not help noticing that she did not sound very enthusiastic. Leaving Ron and Lavender locked in a kind of vertical wrestling match, Harry led Hermione over to the spare table.

  ‘So how was your Christmas?’

  ‘Oh, fine,’ she shrugged. ‘Nothing special. How was it at Won-Won’s?’

  ‘I’ll tell you in a minute,’ said Harry. ‘Look, Hermione, can’t you –?’

  ‘No, I can’t,’ she said flatly. ‘So don’t even ask.’

  ‘I thought maybe, you know, over Christmas –’

  ‘It was the Fat Lady who drank a vat of five-hundred-year-old wine, Harry, not me. So what was this important news you wanted to tell me?’