Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hp-6 Read online

  “Er-my-nee,” croaked Ron unexpectedly from between them.

  They all fell silent, watching him anxiously, but after muttering incomprehensibly for a moment he merely started snoring.

  The dormitory doors flew open, making them all jump: Hagrid came striding toward them, his hair rain-flecked, his bearskin coat flapping behind him, a crossbow in his hand, leaving a trail of muddy dolphin-sized footprints all over the floor.

  “Bin in the forest all day!” he panted. “Aragog’s worse, I bin readin’ to him—didn’ get up ter dinner till jus’ now an’ then Professor Sprout told me abou’ Ron! How is he?”

  “Not bad,” said Harry. “They say he’ll be okay.”

  “No more than six visitors at a time!” said Madam Pomfrey, hurrying out of her office.

  “Hagrid makes six,” George pointed out.

  “Oh… yes…” said Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have been counting Hagrid as several people due to his vastness. To cover her confusion, she hurried off to clear up his muddy foot prints with her wand.

  “I don’ believe this,” said Hagrid hoarsely, shaking his great shaggy head as he stared down at Ron. “Jus’ don’ believe it… Look at him lyin’ there… Who’d want ter hurt him, eh?”

  “That’s just what we were discussing,” said Harry. “We don’t know.”

  “Someone couldn’ have a grudge against the Gryffindor Quidditch team, could they?” said Hagrid anxiously. “Firs’ Katie, now Ron…”

  “I cant see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team,” said George.

  “Wood might’ve done the Slytherins if he could’ve got away with it,” said Fred fairly.

  “Well, I don’t think it’s Quidditch, but I think there’s a connection between the attacks,” said Hermione quietly.

  “How d’you work that out?” asked Fred.

  “Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren’t, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course,” she added broodingly, “that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way, because they don’t seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim.”

  Before anybody could respond to this ominous pronouncement, the dormitory doors opened again and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried up the ward. They had done no more than satisfy themselves that Ron would make a full recovery on their last visit to the ward; now Mrs. Weasley seized hold of Harry and hugged him very tighty. “Dumbledore’s told us how you saved him with the bezoar,” she sobbed. “Oh, Harry, what can we say? You saved Ginny… you saved Arthur… now you’ve saved Ron.”

  “Don’t be… I didn’t…” muttered Harry awkwardly.

  “Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it,” Mr. Weasley said in a constricted voice. “Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry.”

  Harry could not think of any reply to this and was almost glad when Madam Pomfrey reminded them that there were only supposed to be six visitors around Ron’s bed; he and Hermione rose once to leave and Hagrid decided to go with them, leaving Ron with his family.

  “It’s terrible,” growled Hagrid into his beard, as the three ol them walked back along the corridor to the marble staircase. “In this new security, an kids are still gettin’ hurt… Dumbledore’s worried sick… He don’ say much, but I can tell…”

  “Hasn’t he got any ideas, Hagrid?” asked Hermione desperately.

  “I ’spect he’s got hundreds of ideas, brain like his,” said Hagrid. “But he doesn’ know who sent that necklace nor put poison in that wine, or they’d’ve bin caught, wouldn’ they? Wha’ worries me,” said Hagrid, lowering his voice and glancing over his shoulder (Harry, for good measure, checked the ceiling for Peeves), “is how long Hogwarts can stay open if kids are bein’ attacked. Chamber o’ Secrets all over again, isn’ it? There’ll be panic, more parents takin their kids outta school, an nex’ thing yeh know the board o’ governors…”

  Hagrid stopped talking as the ghost of a long-haired woman drifted serenely past, then resumed in a hoarse whisper, “…the board o’ governors’ll be talkin about shuttin’ us up fer good.”

  “Surely not?” said Hermione, looking worried.

  “Gotta see it from their point o’ view,” said Hagrid heavily. “I mean, it’s always bin a bit of a risk sendin a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn’ it? Yer expect accidents, don’ yeh, with hundreds of underage wizards all locked up tergether, but attempted murder, tha’s diff’rent. ’S’no wonder Dumbledore’s angry with Sn—”

  Hagrid stopped in his tracks, a familiar, guilty expression on what was visible of his face above his tangled black beard.

  “What?” said Harry quickly. “Dumbledore’s angry with Snape?”

  “I never said tha’,” said Hagrid, though his look of panic could not have been a bigger giveaway. “Look at the time, it’s gettin’ on fer midnight, I need ter—”

  “Hagrid, why is Dumbledore angry with Snape?” Harry asked loudly.

  “Shhhh!” said Hagrid, looking both nervous and angry. “Don’ shout stuff like that, Harry, d’yeh wan’ me ter lose me job? Mind, I don’ suppose yeh’d care, would yeh, not now yeh’ve given up Care of Mag—”

  “Don’t try and make me feel guilty, it won’t work!” said Harry forcefully. “What’s Snape done?”

  “I dunno, Harry, I shouldn’ta heard it at all! I—well, I was comin’ outta the forest the other evenin’ an’ I overheard ’em talking—well, arguin’. Didn’t like ter draw attention to meself, so I sorta skulked an tried not ter listen, but it was a—well, a heated discussion an’ it wasn’ easy ter block it out.”

  “Well?” Harry urged him, as Hagrid shuffled his enormous feet uneasily.

  “Well—I jus’ heard Snape sayin’ Dumbledore took too much fer granted an maybe he—Snape—didn’ wan’ ter do it any more—”

  “Do what?”

  “I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin’ a bit overworked, tha’s all—anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he’d agreed ter do it an’ that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him. An’ then he said summat abou’ Snape makin’ investigations in his House, in Slytherin. Well, there’s nothin’ strange abou’ that!” Hagrid added hastily, as Harry and Hermione exchanged looks full of meaning. “All the Heads o’ Houses were asked ter look inter that necklace business—”

  “Yeah, but Dumbledore’s not having rows with the rest of them, is he?” said Harry.

  “Look,” Hagrid twisted his crossbow uncomfortably in his hands; there was a loud splintering sound and it snapped in two. “I know what yeh’re like abou’ Snape, Harry, an’ I don’ want yeh ter go readin’ more inter this than there is.”

  “Look out,” said Hermione tersely.

  They turned just in time to see the shadow of Argus Filch looming over the wall behind them before the man himself turned the corner, hunchbacked, his jowls aquiver.

  “Oho!” he wheezed. “Out of bed so late, this’ll mean detention!”

  “No it won’, Filch,” said Hagrid shortly. “They’re with me, aren’ they?”

  “And what difference does that make?” asked Filch obnoxiously.

  “I’m a ruddy teacher, aren’ I, yeh sneakin’ Squib!” said Hagrid, firing up at once.

  There was a nasty hissing noise as Filch swelled with fury; Mrs. Norris had arrived, unseen, and was twisting herself sinuously around Filch’s skinny ankles.

  “Get goin,” said Hagrid out of the corner of his mouth.

  Harry did not need telling twice; he and Hermione both hurried off; Hagrid’s and Filch’s raised voices echoed behind them as they ran. They passed Peeves near the turning into Gryffindor Tower, but he was streaking happily toward the source of the yelling, cackling and calling,

  When there’s strife and when the
re’s trouble

  Call on Peevsie, he’ll make double!

  The Fat Lady was snoozing and not pleased to be woken, but swung forward grumpily to allow them to clamber into the mercifully peaceful and empty common room. It did not seem that people knew about Ron yet; Harry was very relieved: He had been interrogated enough that day. Hermione bade him good night and set off for the girls’ dormitory. Harry, however, remained behind, taking a seat beside the fire and looking down into the dying embers.

  So Dumbledore had argued with Snape. In spite of all he had told Harry, in spite of his insistence that he trusted Snape completely, he had lost his temper with him… He did not think that Snape had tried hard enough to investigate the Slytherins… or, perhaps, to investigate a single Slytherin: Malfoy?

  Was it because Dumbledore did not want Harry to do anything foolish, to take matters into his own hands, that he had pretended there was nothing in Harry’s suspicions? That seemed likely. It might even be that Dumbledore did not want anything to distract Harry from their lessons, or from procuring that memory from Slughorn. Perhaps Dumbledore did not think it right to confide suspicions about his staff to sixteen-year-olds…

  “There you are, Potter!”

  Harry jumped to his feet in shock, his wand at the ready. He had been quite convinced that the common room was empty; he had not been at all prepared for a hulking figure to rise suddenly out of a distant chair. A closer look showed him that it was Cormac McLaggen.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to come back,” said McLaggen, disregarding Harry’s drawn wand. “Must’ve fallen asleep. Look, I saw them taking Weasley up to the hospital wing earlier. Didn’t look like he’ll be fit for next week’s match.”

  It took Harry a few moments to realize what McLaggen was talking about.

  “Oh… right… Quidditch,” he said, putting his wand back into the belt of his jeans and running a hand wearily through his hair. “Yeah… he might not make it.”

  “Well, then, I’ll be playing Keeper, won’t I?” said McLaggen.

  “Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah, I suppose so…”

  He could not think of an argument against it; after all, McLaggen had certainly performed second-best in the trials.

  “Excellent,” said McLaggen in a satisfied voice. “So when’s practice?”

  “What? Oh… there’s one tomorrow evening.”

  “Good. Listen, Potter, we should have a talk beforehand. I’ve got some ideas on strategy you might find useful.”

  “Right,” said Harry unenthusiastically. “Well, I’ll hear them tomorrow, then. I’m pretty tired now… see you…”

  The news that Ron had been poisoned spread quickly next day, but it did not cause the sensation that Katie’s attack had done. People seemed to think that it might have been an accident, given that he had been in the Potions master’s room at the time, and that as he had been given an antidote immediately there was no real harm done. In fact, the Gryffindors were generally much more interested in the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, for many of them wanted to see Zacharias Smith, who played Chaser on the Hufflepuff team, punished soundly for his commentary during the opening match against Slytherin.

  Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy. Still checking the Marauder’s Map whenever he got a chance, he sometimes made detours to wherever Malfoy happened to be, but had not yet detected him doing anything out of the ordinary. And still there were those inexplicable times when Malfoy simply vanished from the map…

  But Harry did not get a lot of time to consider the problem, what with Quidditch practice, homework, and the fact that he was now being dogged wherever he went by Cormac McLaggen and Lavender Brown.

  He could not decide which of them was more annoying. McLaggen kept up a constant stream of hints that he would make a better permanent Keeper for the team than Ron, and that now that Harry was seeing him play regularly he would surely come around to this way of thinking too; he was also keen to criticize the other players and provide Harry with detailed training schemes, so that more than once Harry was forced to remind him who was Captain.

  Meanwhile, Lavender kept sidling up to Harry to discuss Ron, which Harry found almost more wearing than McLaggen’s Quidditch lectures. At first, Lavender had been very annoyed that nobody had thought to tell her that Ron was in the hospital wing—“I mean, I am his girlfriend!”—but unfortunately she had now decided to forgive Harry this lapse of memory and was keen to have lots of in-depth chats with him about Ron’s feelings, a most uncomfortable experience that Harry would have happily forgone.

  “Look, why don’t you talk to Ron about all this?” Harry asked, after a particularly long interrogation from Lavender that took in everything from precisely what Ron had said about her new drew robes to whether or not Harry thought that Ron considered his relationship with Lavender to be “serious.”

  “Well, I would, but he’s always asleep when I go and see him!” said Lavender fretfully.

  “Is he?” said Harry, surprised, for he had found Ron perfectly alert every time he had been up to the hospital wing, both highly interested in the news of Dumbledore and Snape’s row and keen m abuse McLaggen as much as possible.

  “Is Hermione Granger still visiting him?” Lavender demanded suddenly.

  “Yeah, I think so. Well, they’re friends, aren’t they?” said Harry uncomfortably.

  “Friends, don’t make me laugh,” said Lavender scornfully. “She didn’t talk to him for weeks after he started going out with me! But I suppose she wants to make up with him now he’s all interesting…”

  “Would you call getting poisoned being interesting?” asked Harry. “Anyway—sorry, got to go—there’s McLaggen coming for a talk about Quidditch,” said Harry hurriedly, and he dashed sideways through a door pretending to be solid wall and sprinted down the shortcut that would take him off to Potions where, thankfully, neither Lavender nor McLaggen could follow him.

  On the morning of the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Harry dropped in on the hospital wing before heading down to the pitch. Ron was very agitated; Madam Pomfrey would not let him go down to watch the match, feeling it would overexcite him.

  “So how’s McLaggen shaping up?” he asked Harry nervously, apparently forgetting that he had already asked the same question twice.

  “I’ve told you,” said Harry patiently, “he could be world-class and I wouldn’t want to keep him. He keeps trying to tell everyone what to do, he thinks he could play every position better than the rest of us. I can’t wait to be shot of him. And speaking of getting shot of people,” Harry added, getting to his feet and picking up his Firebolt, “will you stop pretending to be asleep when Lavender comes to see you? She’s driving me mad as well.”

  “Oh,” said Ron, looking sheepish. “Yeah. All right.”

  “If you don’t want to go out with her anymore, just tell her,” said Harry.

  “Yeah… well… it’s not that easy, is it?” said Ron. He paused. “Hermione going to look in before the match?” he added casually.

  “No, she’s already gone down to the pitch with Ginny.”

  “Oh,” said Ron, looking rather glum. “Right. Well, good luck. Hope you hammer McLag—I mean, Smith.”

  “I’ll try,” said Harry, shouldering his broom. “See you after the match.”

  He hurried down through the deserted corridors; the whole school was outside, either already seated in the stadium or heading down toward it. He was looking out of the windows he passed, trying to gauge how much wind they were facing, when a noise ahead made him glance up and he saw Malfoy walking toward him, accompanied by two girls, both of whom looked sulky and resentful.

  Malfoy stopped short at the sight of Harry, then gave a short, humorless laugh and continued walking.

  “Where’re you going?” Harry demanded.

  “Yeah, I’m really going to tell you, because it’s your business, Potter,” sneered Malfoy. “Yo
u’d better hurry up, they’ll be waiting for ‘the Chosen Captain’—‘the Boy Who Scored’—whatever they call you these days.”

  One of the girls gave an unwilling giggle. Harry stared at her. She blushed. Malfoy pushed past Harry and she and her friend followed at a trot, turning the corner and vanishing from view.

  Harry stood rooted on the spot and watched them disappear. This was infuriating; he was already cutting it fine to get to the match on time and yet there was Malfoy, skulking off while the rest of the school was absent: Harry’s best chance yet of discovering what Malfoy was up to. The silent seconds trickled past, and Harry remained where he was, frozen, gazing at the place where Malfoy had vanished…

  “Where have you been?” demanded Ginny, as Harry sprinted into the changing rooms. The whole team was changed and ready; Coote and Peakes, the Beaters, were both hitting their clubs nervously against their legs.

  “I met Malfoy,” Harry told her quietly, as he pulled his scarlet robes over his head. “So I wanted to know how come he’s up at the castle with a couple of girlfriends while everyone else is down here…”

  “Does it matter right now?”

  “Well, I’m not likely to find out, am I?” said Harry, seizing his Firebolt and pushing his glasses straight. “Come on then!”

  And without another word, he marched out onto the pitch to deafening cheers and boos.

  There was little wind; the clouds were patchy; every now and then there were dazzling flashes of bright sunlight.

  “Tricky conditions!” McLaggen said bracingly to the team. “Coote, Peakes, you’ll want to fly out of the sun, so they don’t see you coming—”

  “I’m the Captain, McLaggen, shut up giving them instructions,” said Harry angrily. “Just get up by the goal posts!”

  Once McLaggen had marched off, Harry turned to Coote and Peakes.

  “Make sure you do fly out of the sun,” he told them grudgingly.

  He shook hands with the Hufflepuff Captain, and then, on Madam Hooch’s whistle, kicked off and rose into the air, higher than the rest of his team, streaking around the pitch in search of the Snitch. If he could catch it good and early, there might be a chance he could get back up to the castle, seize the Marauder’s Map, and find out what Malfoy was doing…