Untitled Part 11
Harry did not want to tell the others that he and Lunawere having the same hallucination, if that was what it was,so he said nothing about the horses as he sat down insidethe carriage and slammed the door behind him.Nevertheless, he could not help watching the silhouettes ofthe horses moving beyond the window.
"Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" askedGinny. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left,can he?"
"I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna. "He isn't a verygood teacher, is he?"
"Yes, he is!" said Harry, Ron, and Ginny angrily.
Harry glared at Hermione; she cleared her throat andquickly said, "Erm ... yes ... he's very good."
"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," saidLuna, unfazed.
"You've got a rubbish sense of humor then," Ron snapped,as the wheels below them creaked into motion.
Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron's rudeness; on thecontrary, she simply watched him for a while as though hewere a mildly interesting television program.
Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy upthe road. When they passed between the tall stone pillarstopped with winged boars on either side of the gates to theschool grounds, Harry leaned forward to try and seewhether there were any lights on in Hagrid's cabin by theForbidden Forest, but the grounds were in completedarkness. Hogwarts Castle, however, loomed ever closer: atowering mass of turrets, jet-black against the dark sky,here and there a window blazing fiery bright above them.
The carriages jingled to a halt near the stone stepsleading up to the oak front doors and Harry got out of thecarriage first. He turned again to look for lit windows downby the forest, but there was definitely no sign of life withinHagrid's cabin. Unwillingly, because he had half hoped theywould have vanished, he turned his eyes instead upon thestrange, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chillnight air, their blank white eyes gleaming.
Harry had once before had the experience of seeingsomething that Ron could not, but that had been areflection in a mirror, something much more insubstantialthan a hundred very solid-looking beasts strong enough topull a fleet of carriages. If Luna was to be believed, thebeasts had always been there but invisible; why, then, couldHarry suddenly see them, and why could Ron not?
"Are you coming or what?" said Ron beside him.
"Oh ... yeah," said Harry quickly, and they joined thecrowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.
The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoingwith footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stonefloor for the double doors to the right, leading to the GreatHall and the start-of-term feast.
The four long House tables in the Great Hall were fillingup under the starless black ceiling, which was just like thesky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candlesfloated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silveryghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of thestudents talking eagerly to one another, exchangingsummer news, shouting greetings at friends from otherHouses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes.Again Harry noticed people putting their heads together towhisper as he passed; he gritted his teeth and tried to actas though he neither noticed nor cared.
Luna drifted away from them at the Ravenclaw table. Themoment they reached Gryffindor's, Ginny was hailed bysome fellow fourth years and left to sit with them; Harry,Ron, Hermione, and Neville found seats together abouthalfway down the table between Nearly Headless Nick, theGryffindor House ghost, and Parvati Patil and LavenderBrown, the last two of whom gave Harry airy, overly friendlygreetings that made him quite sure they had stoppedtalking about him a split second before. He had moreimportant things to worry about, however: He was lookingover the students' heads to the staff table that ran along thetop wall of the Hall.
"He's not there."
Ron and Hermione scanned the staff table too, thoughthere was no real need; Hagrid's size made him instantlyobvious in any lineup.
"He can't have left," said Ron, sounding slightly anxious."Of course he hasn't," said Harry firmly.
"You don't think he's ... hurt, or anything, do you?" saidHermione uneasily.
"No," said Harry at once.
"But where is he, then?"
There was a pause, then Harry said very quietly, so thatNeville, Parvati, and Lavender could not hear, "Maybe he'snot back yet. You know — from his mission — the thing hewas doing over the summer for Dumbledore."
"Yeah ... yeah, that'll be it," said Ron, sounding reassured,but Hermione bit her lip, looking up and down the stafftable as though hoping for some conclusive explanation ofHagrid's absence.
"Who's that?" she said sharply, pointing toward themiddle of the staff table.
Harry's eyes followed hers. They lit first upon ProfessorDumbledore, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at thecenter of the long staff table, wearing deep-purple robesscattered with silvery stars and a matching hat.Dumbledore's head was inclined toward the woman sittingnext to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked, Harrythought, like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short,curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horriblepink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan shewore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly totake a sip from her goblet and he saw, with a shock ofrecognition, a pallid, toadlike face and a pair of prominent,pouchy eyes.
"It's that Umbridge woman!"
"Who?" said Hermione.
"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"
"Nice cardigan," said Ron, smirking.
"She works for Fudge?" Hermione repeated, frowning."What on earth's she doing here, then?"
"Dunno ..."
Hermione scanned the staff table, her eyes narrowed.
"No," she muttered, "no, surely not ..."
Harry did not understand what she was talking about butdid not ask; his attention had just been caught by ProfessorGrubbly-Plank who had just appeared behind the stafftable; she worked her way along to the very end and tookthe seat that ought to have been Hagrid's. That meant thatthe first years must have crossed the lake and reached thecastle, and sure enough, a few seconds later, the doors fromthe entrance hall opened. A long line of scared-looking firstyears entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who wascarrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat,heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayedbrim.
The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The firstyears lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest ofthe students, and Professor McGonagall placed the stoolcarefully in front of them, then stood back.
The first years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. Asmall boy right in the middle of the row looked as though hewas trembling. Harry recalled, fleetingly, how terrified hehad felt when he had stood there, waiting for the unknowntest that would determine to which House he belonged.
The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the ripnear the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and theSorting Hat burst into song:
In times of old when I was new
And Hogwarts barely started
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted:
United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning,
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach!"
The four good friends decided
And never did they dream that they
Might someday be divided,
For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffndor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Huffepuff and Ravenclaw?
So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there and so can tell
The whole sad, sorry tale.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry is purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name,"
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,
And treat them just the same."
These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light,
For each of the four founders had
A House in which they might
Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning, just like him,
And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.
Good Hufflepuff she took the rest,
And taught them all she knew,
Thus the Houses and their founders
Retained friendships firm and true.
So Hogwarts worked in harmony
For several happy years,
But then discord crept among us
Feeding on our faults and fears.
The Houses that, like pillars four,
Had once held up our school,
Now turned upon each other and,
Divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school
Must meet an early end,
What with dueling and with fighting
And the clash of friend on friend
And at last there came a morning
When old Slytherin departed
And though the fighting then died out
He left us quite downhearted.
And never since the founders four
Were whittled down to three
Have the Houses been united
As they once were meant to be.
And now the Sorting Hat is here
And you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
Because that is what I'm for,
But this year I'll go further,
Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it's wrong,
Though I must fulfill my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether sorting
May not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes
And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within.
I have told you, I have warned you. ...
Let the Sorting now begin.
The hat became motionless once more; applause brokeout, though it was punctured, for the first time in Harry'smemory, with muttering and whispers. All across the GreatHall students were exchanging remarks with theirneighbors and Harry, clapping along with everyone else,knew exactly what they were talking about.
"Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?" said Ron, hiseyebrows raised.
"Too right it has," said Harry.
The Sorting Hat usually confined itself to describing thedifferent qualities looked for by each of the four HogwartsHouses and its own role in sorting them; Harry could notremember it ever trying to give the school advice before.
"I wonder if it's ever given warnings before?" saidHermione, sounding slightly anxious.
"Yes, indeed," said Nearly Headless Nick knowledgeably,leaning across Neville toward her (Neville winced, it wasvery uncomfortable to have a ghost lean through you). "Thehat feels itself honor-bound to give the school due warningwhenever it feels —"
But Professor McGonagall, who was waiting to read outthe list of first years' names, was giving the whisperingstudents the sort of look that scorches. Nearly HeadlessNick placed a see-through finger to his lips and sat primlyupright again as the muttering came to an abrupt end. Witha last frowning look that swept the four House tables,Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece ofparchment and called out,
"Abercrombie, Euan.
The terrified-looking boy Harry had noticed earlierstumbled forward and put the hat on his head; it was onlyprevented from falling right down to his shoulders by hisvery prominent ears. The hat considered for a moment,then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted,"GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry clapped loudly with the rest of Gryffindor House asEuan Abercrombie staggered to their table and sat down,looking as though he would like very much to sink throughthe floor and never be looked at again.
Slowly the long line of first years thinned; in the pausesbetween the names and the Sorting Hat's decisions, Harrycould hear Ron's stomach rumbling loudly. Finally, "Zeller,Rose" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagallpicked up the hat and stool and marched them away asProfessor Dumbledore rose to his feet.
Harry was somehow soothed to see Dumbledore standingbefore them all, whatever his recent bitter feelings towardhis headmaster. Between the absence of Hagrid and thepresence of those dragonish horses, he had felt that hisreturn to Hogwarts, so long anticipated, was full ofunexpected surprises like jarring notes in a familiar song.But this, at least, was how it was supposed to be: theirheadmaster rising to greet them all before the start-of-termfeast.
"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice,his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips,"welcome! To our old hands — welcome back! There is atime for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"
There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak ofapplause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw hislong beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the wayof his plate — for food had appeared out of nowhere, so thatthe five long tables were groaning under joints and pies anddishes of vegetables, bread, sauces, and flagons of pumpkinjuice.
"Excellent," said Ron, with a kind of groan of longing, andhe seized the nearest plate of chops and began piling themonto his plate, watched wistfully by Nearly Headless Nick.
"What were you saying before the Sorting?" Hermioneasked the ghost. "About the hat giving warnings?"
"Oh yes," said Nick, who seemed glad of a reason to turnaway from Ron, who was now eating roast potatoes withalmost indecent enthusiasm. "Yes, I have heard the hat giveseveral warnings before, always at times when it detectsperiods of great danger for the school. And always, ofcourse, its advice is the same: Stand together, be strongfrom within."
"Ow kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?" said Ron.
His mouth was so full Harry thought it was quite anachievement for him to make any noise at all.
"I beg your pardon?" said Nearly Headless Nick politely,while Hermione looked revolted. Ron gave an enormousswallow and said, "How can it know if the school's in dangerif it's a hat?"
"I have no idea," said Nearly Headless Nick. "Of course, itlives in Dumbledore's office, so I daresay it picks things upthere."
"And it wants all the Houses to be friends?" said Harry,looking over at the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy washolding court. "Fat chance."
"Well, now, you shouldn't take that attitude," said Nickreprovingly. "Peaceful cooperation, that's the key. Weghosts, though we belong to separate Houses, maintainlinks of friendship. In spite of the competitiveness betweenGryffindor and Slytherin, I would never dream of seekingan argument with the Bloody Baron."
"Only because you're terrified of him," said Ron.
Nearly Headless Nick looked highly affronted.
"Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington,have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The nobleblood that runs in my veins —"
"What blood?" asked Ron. "Surely you haven't still got —?"
"It's a figure of speech!" said Nearly Headless Nick, nowso annoyed his head was trembling ominously on hispartially severed neck. "I assume I am still allowed to enjoythe use of whichever words I like, even if the pleasures ofeating and drinking are denied me! But I am quite used tostudents poking fun at my death, I assure you!"
"Nick, he wasn't really laughing at you!" said Hermione,throwing a furious look at Ron.
Unfortunately, Ron's mouth was packed to exploding pointagain and all he could manage was "node iddum eentupsechew," which Nick did not seem to think constituted anadequate apology. Rising into the air, he straightened hisfeathered hat and swept away from them to the other endof the table, coming to rest between the Creevey brothers,Colin and Dennis.
"Well done, Ron," snapped Hermione.
"What?" said Ron indignantly, having managed, finally, toswallow his food. "I'm not allowed to ask a simplequestion?"
"Oh forget it," said Hermione irritably, and the pair ofthem spent the rest of the meal in huffy silence.
Harry was too used to their bickering to bother trying toreconcile them; he felt it was a better use of his time to eathis way steadily through his steak-and-kidney pie, then alarge plateful of his favorite treacle tart.
When all the students had finished eating and the noiselevel in the hall was starting to creep upward again,Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceasedimmediately as all turned to face the headmaster. Harrywas feeling pleasantly drowsy now. His four-poster bed waswaiting somewhere above, wonderfully warm and soft. ...
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificentfeast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usualstart-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years oughtto know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds tostudents — and a few of our older students ought to knowby now too." (Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged smirks.)
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tellsme is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remindyou all that magic is not permitted in corridors betweenclasses, nor are a number of other things, all of which canbe checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch'soffice door.
"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We arevery pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, whowill be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we arealso delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our newDefense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiasticapplause during which Harry, Ron, and Hermioneexchanged slightly panicked looks; Dumbledore had notsaid for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching.
Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditchteams will take place on the —"
He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge.As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there wasa moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore hadstopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem,hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet andwas intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, thenhe sat back down smartly and looked alertly at ProfessorUmbridge as though he desired nothing better than tolisten to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adeptat hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows haddisappeared into her flyaway hair, and ProfessorMcGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it.No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before.Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviouslydid not know how things were done at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered,"for those kind words of welcome."
Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish andagain, Harry felt a powerful rush of dislike that he could notexplain to himself; all he knew was that he loathedeverything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffypink cardigan. She gave another little throat-clearing cough("Hem, hem") and continued: "Well, it is lovely to be back atHogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointedteeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back atme!"
Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could seelooked happy; on the contrary, they all looked rather takenaback at being addressed as though they were five yearsold.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know youall, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Students exchanged looks at this; some of them werebarely concealing grins.
"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow thatcardigan," Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of themlapsed into silent giggles.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("Hem,hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathinesshad vanished from her voice. She sounded much morebusinesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heartsound to them.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered theeducation of young witches and wizards to be of vitalimportance. The rare gifts with which you were born maycome to nothing if not nurtured and honed by carefulinstruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizardingcommunity must be passed down through the generationslest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magicalknowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded,replenished, and polished by those who have been called tothe noble profession of teaching."
Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow toher fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back.Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted sothat she looked positively hawklike, and Harry distinctly sawher exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout asUmbridge gave another little "Hem, hem" and went on withher speech.
"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts hasbrought something new to the weighty task of governingthis historic school, and that is as it should be, for withoutprogress there will be stagnation and decay. There again,progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for ourtried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. Abalance, then, between old and new, between permanenceand change, between tradition and innovation ..."
Harry found his attentiveness ebbing, as though his brainwas slipping in and out of tune. The quiet that always filledthe Hall when Dumbledore was speaking was breaking upas students put their heads together, whispering andgiggling. Over at the Ravenclaw table, Cho Chang waschatting animatedly with her friends. A few seats alongfrom Cho, Luna Lovegood had got out The Quibbler again.Meanwhile at the Hufflepuff table, Ernie Macmillan was oneof the few still staring at Professor Umbridge, but he wasglassy-eyed and Harry was sure he was only pretending tolisten in an attempt to live up to the new prefect's badgegleaming on his chest.
Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice therestlessness of her audience. Harry had the impression thata full-scale riot could have broken out under her nose andshe would have plowed on with her speech. The teachers,however, were still listening very attentively, and Hermioneseemed to be drinking in every word Umbridge spoke,though judging by her expression, they were not at all toher taste.
"... because some changes will be for the better, whileothers will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized aserrors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will beretained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded andoutworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then,into a new era of openness, effectiveness, andaccountability, intent on preserving what ought to bepreserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, andpruning wherever we find practices that ought to beprohibited."
She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed hislead, though Harry noticed that several of them broughttheir hands together only once or twice before stopping. Afew students joined in, but most had been taken unawaresby the end of the speech, not having listened to more than afew words of it, and before they could start applaudingproperly, Dumbledore had stood up again.
"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that wasmost illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now — as I wassaying, Quidditch tryouts will be held ..."
"Yes, it certainly was illuminating," said Hermione in a lowvoice.
"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" Ron said quietly,turning a glazed face upon Hermione. "That was about thedullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy."
"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," said Hermione. "Itexplained a lot."
"Did it?" said Harry in surprise. "Sounded like a load ofwaffle to me."
"There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle,"said Hermione grimly.
"Was there?" said Ron blankly.
"How about 'progress for progress's sake must bediscouraged'? How about 'pruning wherever we findpractices that ought to be prohibited'?"
"Well, what does that mean?" said Ron impatiently.
"I'll tell you what it means," said Hermione ominously. "Itmeans the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."
There was a great clattering and banging all aroundthem; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school,because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall.Hermione jumped up, looking flustered.
"Ron, we're supposed to show the first years where togo!"
"Oh yeah," said Ron, who had obviously forgotten. "Hey —hey you lot! Midgets!"
"Ron!"
"Well, they are, they're titchy. ..."
"I know, but you can't call them midgets. ... First years!"Hermione called commandingly along the table. "This way,please!"
A group of new students walked shyly up the gap betweenthe Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, all of them trying hardnot to lead the group. They did indeed seem very small;Harry was sure he had not appeared that young when hehad arrived here. He grinned at them. A blond boy next toEuan Abercrombie looked petrified, nudged Euan, andwhispered something in his ear. Euan Abercrombie lookedequally frightened and stole a horrified look at Harry, whofelt the grin slide off his face like Stinksap.
"See you later," he said to Ron and Hermione and hemade his way out of the Great Hall alone, doing everythinghe could to ignore more whispering, staring, and pointingas he passed. He kept his eyes fixed ahead as he wove hisway through the crowd in the entrance hall, then hehurried up the marble staircase, took a couple of concealedshortcuts, and had soon left most of the crowds behind.
He had been stupid not to expect this, he thought angrily,as he walked through much emptier upstairs corridors. Ofcourse everyone was staring at him: He had emerged fromthe Triwizard maze two months ago clutching the deadbody of a fellow student and claiming to have seen LordVoldemort return to power. There had not been time lastterm to explain himself before everyone went home, even ifhe had felt up to giving the whole school a detailed accountof the terrible events in that graveyard.
He had reached the end of the corridor to the Gryffindorcommon room and had come to a halt in front of theportrait of the Fat Lady before he realized that he did notknow the new password.
"Er ..." he said glumly, staring up at the Fat Lady, whosmoothed the folds of her pink satin dress and lookedsternly back at him.
"No password, no entrance," she said loftily.
"Harry, I know it!" someone panted from behind him, andhe turned to see Neville jogging toward him. "Guess what itis? I'm actually going to be able to remember it for once —"He waved the stunted little cactus he had shown them onthe train. "Mimbulus mimbletonia!"
"Correct," said the Fat Lady, and her portrait swung opentoward them like a door, revealing a circular hole in thewall behind, through which Harry and Neville now climbed.
The Gryffindor common room looked as welcoming asever, a cozy circular tower room full of dilapidated squashyarmchairs and rickety old tables. A fire was cracklingmerrily in the grate and a few people were warming theirhands before going up to their dormitories; on the otherside of the room Fred and George Weasley were pinningsomething up on the notice board. Harry waved good nightto them and headed straight for the door to the boys'dormitories; he was not in much of a mood for talking at themoment. Neville followed him.
Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had reached thedormitory first and were in the process of covering thewalls beside their beds with posters and photographs. Theyhad been talking as Harry pushed open the door butstopped abruptly the moment they saw him. Harrywondered whether they had been talking about him, thenwhether he was being paranoid.
"Hi," he said, moving across to his own trunk and openingit.
"Hey, Harry," said Dean, who was putting on a pair ofpajamas in the West Ham colors. "Good holiday?"
"Not bad," muttered Harry, as a true account of hisholiday would have taken most of the night to relate and hecould not face it. "You?"
"Yeah, it was okay," chuckled Dean. "Better thanSeamus's anyway, he was just telling me."
"Why, what happened, Seamus?" Neville asked as heplaced his Mimbulus mimbletonia tenderly on his bedsidecabinet.
Seamus did not answer immediately; he was makingrather a meal of ensuring that his poster of the KenmareKestrels Quidditch team was quite straight. Then he said,with his back still turned to Harry, "Me mam didn't want meto come back."
"What?" said Harry, pausing in the act of pulling off hisrobes.
"She didn't want me to come back to Hogwarts."
Seamus turned away from his poster and pulled his ownpajamas out of his trunk, still not looking at Harry.
"But — why?" said Harry, astonished. He knew thatSeamus's mother was a witch and could not understand,therefore, why she should have come over so Dursley-ish.
Seamus did not answer until he had finished buttoning hispajamas.
"Well," he said in a measured voice, "I suppose ... becauseof you."
"What d'you mean?" said Harry quickly. His heart wasbeating rather fast. He felt vaguely as though somethingwas closing in on him.
"Well," said Seamus again, still avoiding Harry's eyes,"she ... er ... well, it's not just you, it's Dumbledore too ..."
"She believes the Daily Prophet?" said Harry. "She thinksI'm a liar and Dumbledore's an old fool?"Seamus looked up at him. "Yeah, something like that."
Harry said nothing. He threw his wand down onto hisbedside table, pulled off his robes, stuffed them angrily intohis trunk, and pulled on his pajamas. He was sick of it; sickof being the person who was stared at and talked about allthe time. If any of them knew, if any of them had the faintestidea what it felt like to be the one all these things hadhappened to ... Mrs. Finnigan had no idea, the stupidwoman, he thought savagely.
He got into bed and made to pull the hangings closedaround him, but before he could do so, Seamus said, "Look... what did happen that night when ... you know, when ...with Cedric Diggory and all?"
Seamus sounded nervous and eager at the same time.Dean, who had been bending over his trunk, trying toretrieve a slipper, went oddly still and Harry knew he waslistening hard.
"What are you asking me for?" Harry retorted. "Just readthe Daily Prophet like your mother, why don't you? That'lltell you all you need to know."
"Don't you have a go at my mother," snapped Seamus.
"I'll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar," said Harry.
"Don't talk to me like that!"
"I'll talk to you how I want," said Harry, his temper risingso fast he snatched his wand back from his bedside table."If you've got a problem sharing a dormitory with me, goand ask McGonagall if you can be moved, stop your mummyworrying —"
"Leave my mother out of this, Potter!"
"What's going on?"
Ron had appeared in the doorway. His wide eyes traveledfrom Harry, who was kneeling on his bed with his wandpointing at Seamus, to Seamus, who was standing therewith his fists raised.
"He's having a go at my mother!" Seamus yelled.
"What?" said Ron. "Harry wouldn't do that — we met yourmother, we liked her. ..."
"That's before she started believing every word thestinking Daily Prophet writes about me!" said Harry at thetop of his voice.
"Oh," said Ron, comprehension dawning across hisfreckled face. "Oh ... right."
"You know what?" said Seamus heatedly, casting Harry avenomous look. "He's right, I don't want to share adormitory with him anymore, he's a madman."
"That's out of order, Seamus," said Ron, whose ears werestarting to glow red, always a danger sign.
"Out of order, am I?" shouted Seamus, who in contrastwith Ron was turning paler. "You believe all the rubbish he'scome out with about You-Know-Who, do you, you reckonhe's telling the truth?"
"Yeah, I do!" said Ron angrily
"Then you're mad too," said Seamus in disgust.
"Yeah? Well unfortunately for you, pal, I'm also a prefect!"said Ron, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger. "Sounless you want detention, watch your mouth!"
Seamus looked for a few seconds as though detentionwould be a reasonable price to pay to say what was goingthrough his mind; but with a noise of contempt he turnedon his heel, vaulted into bed, and pulled the hangings shutwith such violence that they were ripped from the bed andfell in a dusty pile to the floor. Ron glared at Seamus, thenlooked at Dean and Neville.
"Anyone else's parents got a problem with Harry?" he saidaggressively.
"My parents are Muggles, mate," said Dean, shrugging."They don't know nothing about no deaths at Hogwarts,because I'm not stupid enough to tell them."
"You don't know my mother, she'll weasel anything out ofanyone!" Seamus snapped at him. "Anyway, your parentsdon't get the Daily Prophet, they don't know ourheadmaster's been sacked from the Wizengamot and theInternational Confederation of Wizards because he's losinghis marbles —"
"My gran says that's rubbish," piped up Neville. "She saysit's the Daily Prophet that's going downhill, notDumbledore. She's canceled our subscription. We believeHarry," he said simply. He climbed into bed and pulled thecovers up to his chin, looking owlishly over them at Seamus."My gran's always said You-Know-Who would come backone day. She says if Dumbledore says he's back, he's back."
Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward Neville. Nobody elsesaid anything. Seamus got out his wand, repaired the bedhangings, and vanished behind them. Dean got into bed,rolled over, and fell silent. Neville, who appeared to havenothing more to say either, was gazing fondly at his moonlitcactus.
Harry lay back on his pillows while Ron bustled aroundthe next bed, putting his things away. He felt shaken by theargument with Seamus, whom he had always liked verymuch. How many more people were going to suggest thathe was lying or unhinged?
Had Dumbledore suffered like this all summer, as first theWizengamot, then the International Confederation ofWizards had thrown him from their ranks? Was it anger atHarry, perhaps, that had stopped Dumbledore getting intouch with him for months? The two of them were in thistogether, after all; Dumbledore had believed Harry,announced his version of events to the whole school andthen to the wider Wizarding community. Anyone whothought Harry was a liar had to think that Dumbledore wastoo or else that Dumbledore had been hoodwinked. ...
They'll know we're right in the end, thought Harrymiserably, as Ron got into bed and extinguished the lastcandle in the dormitory. But he wondered how many attackslike Seamus's he would have to endure before that timecame.
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