Untitled Part 28
— BY ORDER OF —
THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replacedAlbus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School ofWitchcraft and Wizardry.
The above is in accordance withEducational Decree Number Twenty-eight.
Signed:
Cornelius Oswald Fudge
MINISTER OF MAGIC
The notices had gone up all over the school overnight, butthey did not explain how every single person within thecastle seemed to know that Dumbledore had overcome twoAurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister of Magic, and hisJunior Assistant to escape. No matter where Harry wentwithin the castle next day, the sole topic of conversation wasDumbledore's flight, and though some of the details mighthave gone awry in the retelling (Harry overheard onesecond-year girl assuring another that Fudge was now lyingin St. Mungo's with a pumpkin for a head), it was surprisinghow accurate the rest of their information was. Everybodyseemed aware, for instance, that Harry and Marietta werethe only students to have witnessed the scene inDumbledore's office, and as Marietta was now in thehospital wing, Harry found himself besieged with requeststo give a firsthand account wherever he went.
"Dumbledore will be back before long," said ErnieMacmillan confidently on the way back from Herbologyafter listening intently to Harry's story. "They couldn't keephim away in our second year and they won't be able to thistime. The Fat Friar told me ..." He dropped his voiceconspiratorially, so that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had tolean closer to him to hear, "... that Umbridge tried to getback into his office last night after they'd searched thecastle and grounds for him. Couldn't get past the gargoyle.The Head's office has sealed itself against her." Erniesmirked. "Apparently she had a right little tantrum. ..."
"Oh, I expect she really fancied herself sitting up there inthe Head's office," said Hermione viciously, as they walkedup the stone steps into the entrance hall. "Lording it overall the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazyold —"
"Now, do you really want to finish that sentence,Granger?"
Draco Malfoy had slid out from behind the door, followedby Crabbe and Goyle. His pale, pointed face was alight withmalice.
"Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points fromGryffindor and Hufflepuff," he drawled.
"It's only teachers that can dock points from Houses,Malfoy," said Ernie at once.
"Yeah, we're prefects too, remember?" snarled Ron.
"I know prefects can't dock points, Weasel King," sneeredMalfoy; Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. "But members of theInquisitorial Squad —"
"The what?" said Hermione sharply.
"The Inquisitorial Squad, Granger," said Malfoy, pointingtoward a tiny silver I upon his robes just beneath hisprefect's badge. "A select group of students who aresupportive of the Ministry of Magic, hand-picked byProfessor Umbridge. Anyway, members of the InquisitorialSquad do have the power to dock points. ... So, Granger, I'llhave five from you for being rude about our newheadmistress. ... Macmillan, five for contradicting me. ...Five because I don't like you, Potter ... Weasley, your shirt'suntucked, so I'll have another five for that. ... Oh yeah, Iforgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten for that. ..."
Ron pulled out his wand, but Hermione pushed it away,whispering, "Don't!"
"Wise move, Granger," breathed Malfoy. "New Head, newtimes ... Be good now, Potty ... Weasel King ..."
He strode away, laughing heartily with Crabbe and Goyle.
"He was bluffing," said Ernie, looking appalled. "He can'tbe allowed to dock points ... that would be ridiculous. ... Itwould completely undermine the prefect system. ..."
But Harry, Ron, and Hermione had turned automaticallytoward the giant hourglasses set in niches along the wallbehind them, which recorded the House points. Gryffindorand Ravenclaw had been neck and neck in the lead thatmorning. Even as they watched, stones flew upward,reducing the amounts in the lower bulbs. In fact, the onlyglass that seemed unchanged was the emerald-filled one ofSlytherin.
"Noticed, have you?" said Fred's voice.
He and George had just come down the marble staircaseand joined Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ernie in front of thehourglasses.
"Malfoy just docked us all about fifty points," said Harryfuriously, as they watched several more stones fly upwardfrom the Gryffindor hourglass.
"Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break," saidGeorge.
"What do you mean, 'tried'?" said Ron quickly.
"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred,"due to the fact that we forced him headfirst into thatVanishing Cabinet on the first floor."
Hermione looked very shocked.
"But you'll get into terrible trouble!"
"Not until Montague reappears, and that could takeweeks, I dunno where we sent him," said Fred coolly."Anyway ... we've decided we don't care about getting intotrouble anymore."
"Have you ever?" asked Hermione.
" 'Course we have," said George. "Never been expelled,have we?"
"We've always known where to draw the line," said Fred.
"We might have put a toe across it occasionally," saidGeorge.
"But we've always stopped short of causing realmayhem," said Fred.
"But now?" said Ron tentatively.
"Well, now —" said George.
"— what with Dumbledore gone —" said Fred.
"— we reckon a bit of mayhem —" said George.
"— is exactly what our dear new Head deserves," saidFred.
"You mustn't!" whispered Hermione. "You really mustn't!She'd love a reason to expel you!"
"You don't get it, Hermione, do you?" said Fred, smiling ather. "We don't care about staying anymore. We'd walk outright now if we weren't determined to do our bit forDumbledore first. So anyway," he checked his watch,"phase one is about to begin. I'd get in the Great Hall forlunch if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can'thave had anything to do with it."
"Anything to do with what?" said Hermione anxiously.
"You'll see," said George. "Run along, now."
Fred and George turned away and disappeared in theswelling crowd descending the stairs toward lunch. Lookinghighly disconcerted, Ernie muttered something aboutunfinished Transfiguration homework and scurried away.
"I think we should get out of here, you know," saidHermione nervously. "Just in case ..."
"Yeah, all right," said Ron, and the three of them movedtoward the doors to the Great Hall, but Harry had barelyglimpsed today's ceiling of scudding white clouds whensomebody tapped him on the shoulder and, turning, hefound himself almost nose to nose with Filch, the caretaker.He took several hasty steps backward; Filch was bestviewed at a distance.
"The headmistress would like to see you, Potter," heleered.
"I didn't do it," said Harry stupidly, thinking of whateverFred and George were planning. Filch's jowls wobbled withsilent laughter.
"Guilty conscience, eh?" he wheezed. "Follow me. ..."
Harry glanced back at Ron and Hermione, who were bothlooking worried. He shrugged and followed Filch back intothe entrance hall, against the tide of hungry students.
Filch seemed to be in an extremely good mood; hehummed creakily under his breath as they climbed themarble staircase. As they reached the first landing he said,"Things are changing around here, Potter."
"I've noticed," said Harry coldly.
"Yerse ... I've been telling Dumbledore for years andyears he's too soft with you all," said Filch, chuckling nastily."You filthy little beasts would never have droppedStinkpellets if you'd known I had it in my power to whip youraw, would you, now? Nobody would have thought ofthrowing Fanged Frisbees down the corridors if I could'vestrung you up by the ankles in my office, would they? Butwhen Educational Decree Twenty-nine comes in, Potter, I'llbe allowed to do them things. ... And she's asked theMinister to sign an order for the expulsion of Peeves. ... Oh,things are going to be very different around here with herin charge. ..."
Umbridge had obviously gone to some lengths to get Filchon her side, Harry thought, and the worst of it was that hewould probably prove an important weapon; his knowledgeof the school's secret passageways and hiding places wasprobably second only to the Weasley twins.
"Here we are," he said, leering down at Harry as herapped three times upon Professor Umbridge's door andpushed it open. "The Potter boy to see you, ma'am."
Umbridge's office, so very familiar to Harry from his manydetentions, was the same as usual except for the largewooden block lying across the front of her desk on whichgolden letters spelled the word HEADMISTRESS; also hisFirebolt, and Fred's and George's Clean-sweeps, which hesaw with a pang were now chained and padlocked to a stoutiron peg in the wall behind the desk. Umbridge was sittingbehind the desk, busily scribbling upon some of her pinkparchment, but looked up and smiled widely at theirentrance.
"Thank you, Argus," she said sweetly.
"Not at all, ma'am, not at all," said Filch, bowing as low ashis rheumatism would permit, and exiting backward.
"Sit," said Umbridge curtly, pointing toward a chair, andHarry sat. She continued to scribble for a few moments. Hewatched some of the foul kittens gamboling around theplates over her head, wondering what fresh horror she hadin store for him.
"Well now," she said finally, setting down her quill andlooking like a toad about to swallow a particularly juicy fly."What would you like to drink?"
"What?" said Harry, quite sure he had misheard her.
"To drink, Mr. Potter," she said, smiling still more widely."Tea? Coffee? Pumpkin juice?"
As she named each drink, she gave her short wand awave, and a cup or glass of it appeared upon her desk.
"Nothing, thank you," said Harry.
"I wish you to have a drink with me," she said, her voicebecoming more dangerously sweet. "Choose one."
"Fine ... tea then," said Harry, shrugging.
She got up and made quite a performance of adding milkwith her back to him. She then bustled around the deskwith it, smiling in sinisterly sweet fashion.
"There," she said, handing it to him. "Drink it before itgets cold, won't you? Well, now, Mr. Potter ... I thought weought to have a little chat, after the distressing events oflast night."
He said nothing. She settled herself back into her seatand waited. When several long moments had passed insilence, she said gaily, "You're not drinking up!"
He raised the cup to his lips and then, just as suddenly,lowered it. One of the horrible painted kittens behindUmbridge had great round blue eyes just like Mad-EyeMoody's magical one, and it had just occurred to Harrywhat Mad-Eye would say if he ever heard that Harry haddrunk anything offered by a known enemy.
"What's the matter?" said Umbridge, who was stillwatching him. "Do you want sugar?"
"No," said Harry.
He raised the cup to his lips again and pretended to takea sip, though keeping his mouth tightly closed. Umbridge'ssmile widened.
"Good," she whispered. "Very good. Now then ..." Sheleaned forward a little. "Where is Albus Dumbledore?"
"No idea," said Harry promptly.
"Drink up, drink up," she said, still smiling. "Now, Mr.Potter, let us not play childish games. I know that you knowwhere he has gone. You and Dumbledore have been in thistogether from the beginning. Consider your position, Mr.Potter. ..."
"I don't know where he is."
Harry pretended to drink again.
"Very well," said Umbridge, looking displeased. "In thatcase, you will kindly tell me the whereabouts of SiriusBlack."
Harry's stomach turned over and his hand holding theteacup shook so that the cup rattled in its saucer. He tiltedthe cup to his mouth with his lips pressed together, so thatsome of the hot liquid trickled down onto his robes.
"I don't know," he said a little too quickly.
"Mr. Potter," said Umbridge, "let me remind you that itwas I who almost caught the criminal Black in theGryffindor fire in October. I know perfectly well it was youhe was meeting and if I had had any proof neither of youwould be at large today, I promise you. I repeat, Mr. Potter... Where is Sirius Black?"
"No idea," said Harry loudly. "Haven't got a clue."
They stared at each other so long that Harry felt his eyeswatering. Then she stood up.
"Very well, Potter, I will take your word for it this time, butbe warned: The might of the Ministry stands behind me. Allchannels of communication in and out of this school arebeing monitored. A Floo Network Regulator is keepingwatch over every fire in Hogwarts — except my own, ofcourse. My Inquisitorial Squad is opening and reading allowl post entering and leaving the castle. And Mr. Filch isobserving all secret passages in and out of the castle. If Ifind a shred of evidence ..."
BOOM!
The very floor of the office shook; Umbridge slippedsideways, clutching her desk for support, looking shocked.
"What was — ?"
She was gazing toward the door; Harry took theopportunity to empty his almost full cup of tea into thenearest vase of dried flowers. He could hear people runningand screaming several floors below.
"Back to lunch with you, Potter!" cried Umbridge, raisingher wand and dashing out of the office. Harry gave her afew seconds' start then hurried after her to see what thesource of all the uproar was.
It was not difficult to find. One floor down, pandemoniumreigned. Somebody (and Harry had a very shrewd ideawho) had set off what seemed to be an enormous crate ofenchanted fireworks.
Dragons comprised entirely of green-and-gold sparkswere soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud fieryblasts and bangs as they went. Shocking-pink Catherinewheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally throughthe air like so many flying saucers. Rockets with long tails ofbrilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls.Sparklers were writing swearwords in midair of their ownaccord. Firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhereHarry looked, and instead of burning themselves out, fadingfrom sight, or fizzling to a halt, these pyrotechnical miraclesseemed to be gaining in energy and momentum the longerhe watched.
Filch and Umbridge were standing, apparently transfixedwith horror, halfway down the stairs. As Harry watched, oneof the larger Catherine wheels seemed to decide that whatit needed was more room to maneuver; it whirled towardUmbridge and Filch with a sinister wheeeeeeeeee. Bothadults yelled with fright and ducked and it soared straightout of the window behind them and off across the grounds.Meanwhile, several of the dragons and a large purple batthat was smoking ominously took advantage of the opendoor at the end of the corridor to escape toward the secondfloor.
"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" shrieked Umbridge. "They'll be allover the school unless we do something — Stupefy!"
A jet of red light shot out of the end of her wand and hitone of the rockets. Instead of freezing in midair, it explodedwith such force that it blasted a hole in a painting of asoppy-looking witch in the middle of a meadow — she ranfor it just in time, reappearing seconds later squashed intothe painting next door, where a couple of wizards playingcards stood up hastily to make room for her.
"Don't Stun them, Filch!" shouted Umbridge angrily, forall the world as though it had been his suggestion.
"Right you are, Headmistress!" wheezed Filch, who was aSquib and could no more have Stunned the fireworks thanswallowed them. He dashed to a nearby cupboard, pulledout a broom, and began swatting at the fireworks in midair;within seconds the head of the broom was ablaze.
Harry had seen enough. Laughing, he ducked down low,ran to a door he knew was concealed behind a tapestry alittle way along the corridor and slipped through it to findFred and George hiding just behind it, listening toUmbridge's and Filch's yells and quaking with suppressedmirth.
"Impressive," Harry said quietly, grinning. "Veryimpressive ... You'll put Dr. Filibuster out of business, noproblem. ..."
"Cheers," whispered George, wiping tears of laughterfrom his face. "Oh, I hope she tries Vanishing them next. ...They multiply by ten every time you try. ..."
The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all overthe school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty ofdisruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachersdid not seem to mind them very much.
"Dear, dear," said Professor McGonagall sardonically, asone of the dragons soared around her classroom, emittingloud bangs and exhaling flame. "Miss Brown, would youmind running along to the headmistress and informing herthat we have an escaped firework in our classroom?"
The upshot of it all was that Professor Umbridge spenther first afternoon as headmistress running all over theschool answering the summonses of the other teachers,none of whom seemed able to rid their rooms of thefireworks without her. When the final bell rang and thestudents were heading back to Gryffindor Tower with theirbags, Harry saw, with immense satisfaction, a disheveledand soot-blackened Umbridge tottering sweaty-faced fromProfessor Flitwick's classroom.
"Thank you so much, Professor!" said Professor Flitwick inhis squeaky little voice. "I could have got rid of thesparklers myself, of course, but I wasn't sure whether I hadthe authority. ..."
Beaming, he closed his classroom door in her snarlingface.
Fred and George were heroes that night in the Gryffindorcommon room. Even Hermione fought her way through theexcited crowd around them to congratulate them.
"They were wonderful fireworks," she said admiringly.
"Thanks," said George, looking both surprised andpleased. "Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. Only thing is, weused our whole stock, we're going to have to start againfrom scratch now. ..."
"It was worth it, though," said Fred, who was takingorders from clamoring Gryffindors. "If you want to add yourname to the waiting list, Hermione, it's five Galleons foryour Basic Blaze box and twenty for the DeflagrationDeluxe. ..."
Hermione returned to the table where Harry and Ronwere sitting staring at their schoolbags as though hopingtheir homework might spring out of it and start doing itself.
"Oh, why don't we have a night off?" said Hermionebrightly, as a silver-tailed Weasley rocket zoomed past thewindow. "After all, the Easter holidays start on Friday, we'llhave plenty of time then. ..."
"Are you feeling all right?" Ron asked, staring at her indisbelief.
"Now you mention it," said Hermione happily, "d'youknow ... I think I'm feeling a bit ... rebellious."
Harry could still hear the distant bangs of escapedfirecrackers when he and Ron went up to bed an hour later,and as he got undressed a sparkler floated past the tower,still resolutely spelling out the word POO.
He got into bed, yawning. With his glasses off, theoccasional fire-work still passing the window becameblurred, looking like sparkling clouds, beautiful andmysterious against the black sky. He turned onto his side,wondering how Umbridge was feeling about her first day inDumbledore's job, and how Fudge would react when heheard that the school had spent most of the day in a state ofadvanced disruption. ... Smiling to himself, he closed hiseyes. ...
The whizzes and bangs of escaped fireworks in thegrounds seemed to be growing more distant ... or perhapshe, Harry, was simply speeding away from them. ...
He had fallen right into the corridor leading to theDepartment of Mysteries. He was speeding toward the plainblack door. ... Let it open. ... Let it open. ...
It did. He was inside the circular room lined with doors. ...He crossed it, placed his hand upon an identical door, and itswung inward. ...
Now he was in a long, rectangular room full of an odd,mechanical clicking. There were dancing flecks of light onthe walls but he did not pause to investigate. ... He had togo on. ...
There was a door at the far end. ... It too opened at histouch. ...
And now he was in a dimly lit room as high and wide as achurch, full of nothing but rows and rows of toweringshelves, each laden with small, dusty, spun-glass spheres. ...Now Harry's heart was beating fast with excitement. ... Heknew where to go. ... He ran forward, but his footstepsmade no noise in the enormous, deserted room. ...
There was something in this room he wanted very, verymuch. ...
Something he wanted. ... or somebody else wanted. ...
His scar was hurting. ...
BANG! Harry awoke instantly, confused and angry. Thedark dormitory was full of the sound of laughter.
"Cool!" said Seamus, who was silhouetted against thewindow.
"I think one of those Catherine wheels hit a rocket and it'slike they mated, come and see!"
Harry heard Ron and Dean scramble out of bed for abetter look. He lay quite still and silent while the pain in hisscar subsided and disappointment washed over him. He feltas though a wonderful treat had been snatched from him atthe very last moment. ... He had got so close that time. ...
Glittering, pink-and-silver winged piglets were nowsoaring past the windows of Gryffindor Tower. Harry layand listened to the appreciative whoops of Gryffindors inthe dormitories below them. His stomach gave a sickeningjolt as he remembered that he had Occlumency thefollowing evening. ...
Harry spent the whole of the next day dreading whatSnape was going to say if he found out how much fartherinto the Department of Mysteries he had penetrated duringhis last dream. With a surge of guilt he realized that he hadnot practiced Occlumency once since their last lesson:There had been too much going on since Dumbledore hadleft. He was sure he would not have been able to empty hismind even if he had tried. He doubted, however, whetherSnape would accept that excuse. ...
He attempted a little last-minute practice during classesthat day, but it was no good, Hermione kept asking himwhat was wrong whenever he fell silent trying to rid himselfof all thought and emotion and, after all, the best momentto empty his brain was not while teachers were firingreview questions at the class.
Resigned to the worst, he set off for Snape's office afterdinner. Halfway across the entrance hall, however, Chocame hurrying up to him.
"Over here," said Harry, glad of a reason to postpone hismeeting with Snape and beckoning her across to the cornerof the entrance hall where the giant hourglasses stood.Gryffindor's was now almost empty. "Are you okay?Umbridge hasn't been asking you about the D.A., has she?"
"Oh no," said Cho hurriedly. "No, it was only ... Well, I justwanted to say ... Harry, I never dreamed Marietta wouldtell. ..."
"Yeah, well," said Harry moodily. He did feel Cho mighthave chosen her friends a bit more carefully. It was smallconsolation that the last he had heard, Marietta was still upin the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey had not been ableto make the slightest improvement to her pimples.
"She's a lovely person really," said Cho. "She just made amistake —"
Harry looked at her incredulously.
"A lovely person who made a mistake? She sold us all out,including you!"
"Well ... we all got away, didn't we?" said Cho pleadingly."You know, her mum works for the Ministry, it's reallydifficult for her —"
"Ron's dad works for the Ministry too!" Harry saidfuriously. "And in case you hadn't noticed, he hasn't got'sneak' written across his face —"
"That was a really horrible trick of Hermione Granger's,"said Cho fiercely. "She should have told us she'd jinxed thatlist —"
"I think it was a brilliant idea," said Harry coldly. Choflushed and her eyes grew brighter.
"Oh yes, I forgot — of course, if it was darling Hermione'sidea —"
"Don't start crying again," said Harry warningly.
"I wasn't going to!" she shouted
"Yeah ... well ... good," he said. "I've got enough to copewith at the moment."
"Go and cope with it then!" she said furiously, turning onher heel and stalking off.
Fuming, Harry descended the stairs to Snape's dungeon,and though he knew from experience how much easier itwould be for Snape to penetrate his mind if he arrivedangry and resentful, he succeeded in nothing but thinkingof a few more good things he should have said to Cho aboutMarietta before reaching the dungeon door.
"You're late, Potter," said Snape coldly, as Harry closedthe door behind him.
Snape was standing with his back to Harry, removing, asusual, certain of his thoughts and placing them carefully inDumbledore's Pensieve. He dropped the last silvery strandinto the stone basin and turned to face Harry.
"So," he said. "Have you been practicing?"
"Yes," Harry lied, looking carefully at one of the legs ofSnape's desk.
"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we?" said Snape smoothly."Wand out, Potter."
Harry moved into his usual position, facing Snape withthe desk between them. His heart was pumping fast withanger at Cho and anxiety about how much Snape was aboutto extract from his mind.
"On the count of three then," said Snape lazily. "One —two —"
Snape's office door banged open and Draco Malfoy spedin.
"Professor Snape, sir — oh — sorry —"
Malfoy was looking at Snape and Harry in some surprise.
"It's all right, Draco," said Snape, lowering his wand."Potter is here for a little Remedial Potions."
Harry had not seen Malfoy look so gleeful since Umbridgehad turned up to inspect Hagrid.
"I didn't know," he said, leering at Harry, who knew hisface was burning. He would have given a great deal to beable to shout the truth at Malfoy — or, even better, to hithim with a good curse.
"Well, Draco, what is it?" asked Snape.
"It's Professor Umbridge, sir — she needs your help," saidMalfoy. "They've found Montague, sir. He's turned upjammed inside a toilet on the fourth floor."
"How did he get in there?" demanded Snape.
"I don't know, sir, he's a bit confused. ..."
"Very well, very well — Potter," said Snape, "we shallresume this lesson tomorrow evening instead."
He turned and swept from his office. Malfoy mouthed"Remedial Potions?" at Harry behind Snape's back beforefollowing him.
Seething, Harry replaced his wand inside his robes andmade to leave the room. At least he had twenty-four morehours in which to practice; he knew he ought to feelgrateful for the narrow escape, though it was hard that itcame at the expense of Malfoy telling the whole school thathe needed Remedial Potions. ...
He was at the office door when he saw it: a patch ofshivering light dancing on the door frame. He stopped,looking at it, reminded of something. ... Then heremembered: It was a little like the lights he had seen in hisdream last night, the lights in the second room he hadwalked through on his journey through the Department ofMysteries.
He turned around. The light was coming from thePensieve sitting on Snape's desk. The silver-white contentswere ebbing and swirling within. Snape's thoughts ... thingshe did not want Harry to see if he broke through Snape'sdefenses accidentally. ...
Harry gazed at the Pensieve, curiosity welling inside him.... What was it that Snape was so keen to hide from Harry?
The silvery lights shivered on the wall. ... Harry took twosteps toward the desk, thinking hard. Could it possibly beinformation about the Department of Mysteries that Snapewas determined to keep from him?
Harry looked over his shoulder, his heart now pumpingharder and faster than ever. How long would it take Snapeto release Montague from the toilet? Would he comestraight back to his office afterward, or accompanyMontague to the hospital wing? Surely the latter ...Montague was Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team,Snape would want to make sure he was all right. ...
Harry walked the remaining few feet to the Pensieve andstood over it, gazing into its depths. He hesitated, listening,then pulled out his wand again. The office and the corridorbeyond were completely silent. He gave the contents of thePensieve a small prod with the end of his wand.
The silvery stuff within began to swirl very fast. Harryleaned forward over it and saw that it had becometransparent. He was, once again, looking down into a roomas though through a circular window in the ceiling. ... Infact, unless he was much mistaken, he was looking downupon the Great Hall. ...
His breath was actually fogging the surface of Snape'sthoughts. ... His brain seemed to be in limbo. ... It would beinsane to do the thing that he was so strongly tempted todo. ... He was trembling. ... Snape could be back at anymoment ... but Harry thought of Cho's anger, of Malfoy'sjeering face, and a reckless daring seized him.
He took a great gulp of breath and plunged his face intothe surface of Snape's thoughts. At once, the floor of theoffice lurched, tipping Harry headfirst into the Pensieve. ...
He was falling through cold blackness, spinning furiouslyas he went, and then —
He was standing in the middle of the Great Hall, but thefour House tables were gone. Instead there were more thana hundred smaller tables, all facing the same way, at each ofwhich sat a student, head bent low, scribbling on a roll ofparchment. The only sound was the scratching of quills andthe occasional rustle as somebody adjusted theirparchment. It was clearly exam time.
Sunshine was streaming through the high windows ontothe bent heads, which shone chestnut and copper and goldin the bright light. Harry looked around carefully. Snapehad to be here somewhere. ... This was his memory. ...
And there he was, at a table right behind Harry. Harrystared. Snape-the-teenager had a stringy, pallid look abouthim, like a plant kept in the dark. His hair was lank andgreasy and was flopping onto the table, his hooked nosebarely half an inch from the surface of the parchment as hescribbled. Harry moved around behind Snape and read theheading of the examination paper:
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS —
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL
So Snape had to be fifteen or sixteen, around Harry's ownage. His hand was flying across the parchment; he hadwritten at least a foot more than his closest neighbors, andyet his writing was minuscule and cramped.
"Five more minutes!"
The voice made Harry jump; turning, he saw the top ofProfessor Flitwick's head moving between the desks a shortdistance away. Professor Flitwick was walking past a boywith untidy black hair ... very untidy black hair. ...
Harry moved so quickly that, had he been solid, he wouldhave knocked desks flying. Instead he seemed to slide,dreamlike, across two aisles and up a third. The back of theblack-haired boy's head drew nearer and nearer. ... He wasstraightening up now, putting down his quill, pulling his rollof parchment toward him so as to reread what he hadwritten. ...
Harry stopped in front of the desk and gazed down at hisfifteen-year-old father.
Excitement exploded in the pit of his stomach: It was asthough he was looking at himself but with deliberatemistakes. James's eyes were hazel, his nose was slightlylonger than Harry's, and there was no scar on his forehead,but they had the same thin face, same mouth, sameeyebrows. James's hair stuck up at the back exactly asHarry's did, his hands could have been Harry's, and Harrycould tell that when James stood up, they would be withinan inch of each other's heights.
James yawned hugely and rumpled up his hair, making iteven messier than it had been. Then, with a glance towardProfessor Flitwick, he turned in his seat and grinned at aboy sitting four seats behind him.
With another shock of excitement, Harry saw Sirius giveJames the thumbs-up. Sirius was lounging in his chair at hisease, tilting it back on two legs. He was very good-looking;his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual eleganceneither James's nor Harry's could ever have achieved, and agirl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though hedidn't seem to have noticed. And two seats along from thisgirl — Harry's stomach gave another pleasurable squirm —was Remus Lupin. He looked rather pale and peaky (wasthe full moon approaching?) and was absorbed in the exam:As he reread his answers he scratched his chin with the endof his quill, frowning slightly.
So that meant Wormtail had to be around heresomewhere too ... and sure enough, Harry spotted himwithin seconds: a small, mousy-haired boy with a pointednose. Wormtail looked anxious; he was chewing hisfingernails, staring down at his paper, scuffing the groundwith his toes. Every now and then he glanced hopefully athis neighbor's paper. Harry stared at Wormtail for amoment, then back at James, who was now doodling on abit of scrap parchment. He had drawn a Snitch and wasnow tracing the letters L. E. What did they stand for?
"Quills down, please!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Thatmeans you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while Icollect your parchment! Accio!"
More than a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed into theair and into Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms,knocking him backward off his feet. Several peoplelaughed. A couple of students at the front desks got up, tookhold of Professor Flitwick beneath the elbows, and liftedhim onto his feet again.
"Thank you ... thank you," panted Professor Flitwick."Very well, everybody, you're free to go!"
Harry looked down at his father, who had hastily crossedout the L. E. he had been embellishing, jumped to his feet,stuffed his quill and the exam question paper into his bag,which he slung over his back, and stood waiting for Sirius tojoin him.
Harry looked around and glimpsed Snape a short wayaway, moving between the tables toward the doors into theentrance hall, still absorbed in his own examination paper.Round-shouldered yet angular, he walked in a twitchymanner that recalled a spider, his oily hair swinging abouthis face.
A gang of chattering girls separated Snape from Jamesand Sirius, and by planting himself in the midst of thisgroup, Harry managed to keep Snape in sight whilestraining his ears to catch the voices of James and hisfriends.
"Did you like question ten, Moony?" asked Sirius as theyemerged into the entrance hall.
"Loved it," said Lupin briskly. " 'Give five signs thatidentify the werewolf.' Excellent question."
"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" saidJames in tones of mock concern.
"Think I did," said Lupin seriously, as they joined thecrowd thronging around the front doors eager to get outinto the sunlit grounds. "One: He's sitting on my chair. Two:He's wearing my clothes. Three: His name's Remus Lupin..."
Wormtail was the only one who didn't laugh.
"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and thetufted tail," he said anxiously, "but I couldn't think what else—"
"How thick are you, Wormtail?" said James impatiently."You run round with a werewolf once a month —"
"Keep your voice down," implored Lupin.
Harry looked anxiously behind him again. Snaperemained close by, still buried in his examination questions;but this was Snape's memory, and Harry was sure that ifSnape chose to wander off in a different direction onceoutside in the grounds, he, Harry, would not be able tofollow James any farther. To his intense relief, however,when James and his three friends strode off down the lawntoward the lake, Snape followed, still poring over the paperand apparently with no fixed idea of where he was going.By jogging a little ahead of him, Harry managed to maintaina close watch on James and the others.
"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," he heardSirius say. "I'll be surprised if I don't get Outstanding on itat least."
"Me too," said James. He put his hand in his pocket andtook out a struggling Golden Snitch.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Nicked it," said James casually. He started playing withthe Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away andseizing it again; his reflexes were excellent. Wormtailwatched him in awe.
They stopped in the shade of the very same beech tree onthe edge of the lake where Harry, Ron, and Hermione hadspent a Sunday finishing their homework, and threwthemselves down on the grass.
Harry looked over his shoulder yet again and saw, to hisdelight, that Snape had settled himself on the grass in thedense shadows of a clump of bushes. He was as deeplyimmersed in the O.W.L. paper as ever, which left Harry freeto sit down on the grass between the beech and the bushesand watch the foursome under the tree.
The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of thelake, on the bank of which the group of laughing girls whohad just left the Great Hall were sitting with shoes andsocks off, cooling their feet in the water.
Lupin had pulled out a book and was reading. Siriusstared around at the students milling over the grass,looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so.James was still playing with the Snitch, letting it zoomfarther and farther away, almost escaping but alwaysgrabbed at the last second. Wormtail was watching himwith his mouth open. Every time James made a particularlydifficult catch, Wormtail gasped and applauded. After fiveminutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn't tellWormtail to get a grip on himself, but James seemed to beenjoying the attention. Harry noticed his father had a habitof rumpling up his hair as though to make sure it did notget too tidy, and also that he kept looking over at the girlsby the water's edge.
"Put that away, will you?" said Sirius finally, as Jamesmade a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer. "BeforeWormtail wets himself from excitement."
Wormtail turned slightly pink but James grinned.
"If it bothers you," he said, stuffing the Snitch back in hispocket. Harry had the distinct impression that Sirius wasthe only one for whom James would have stopped showingoff.
"I'm bored," said Sirius. "Wish it was full moon."
"You might," said Lupin darkly from behind his book."We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you couldtest me. ... Here." He held out his book.
Sirius snorted. "I don't need to look at that rubbish, Iknow it all."
"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Lookwho it is. ..."
Sirius's head turned. He had become very still, like a dogthat has scented a rabbit.
"Excellent," he said softly. "Snivellus."
Harry turned to see what Sirius was looking at.
Snape was on his feet again, and was stowing the O.W.L.paper in his bag. As he emerged from the shadows of thebushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stoodup. Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Lupin was stillstaring down at his book, though his eyes were not movingand a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows.Wormtail was looking from Sirius and James to Snape witha look of avid anticipation on his face.
"All right, Snivellus?" said James loudly.
Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had beenexpecting an attack: Dropping his bag, he plunged his handinside his robes, and his wand was halfway into the airwhen James shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with alittle thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark oflaughter.
"Impedimenta!" he said, pointing his wand at Snape, whowas knocked off his feet, halfway through a dive toward hisown fallen wand.
Students all around had turned to watch. Some of themhad gotten to their feet and were edging nearer to watch.Some looked apprehensive, others entertained.
Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Siriusadvanced on him, wands up, James glancing over hisshoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went.Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edgingaround Lupin to get a clearer view
"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" said James.
"I was watching him, his nose was touching theparchment," said Sirius viciously. "There'll be great greasemarks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."
Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearlyunpopular. Wormtail sniggered shrilly. Snape was trying toget up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he wasstruggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.
"You — wait," he panted, staring up at James with anexpression of purest loathing. "You — wait. ..."
"Wait for what?" said Sirius coolly. "What're you going todo, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"
Snape let out a stream of mixed swearwords and hexes,but his wand being ten feet away nothing happened.
"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "Scourgify!"
Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once;the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, chokinghim —
"Leave him ALONE!"
James and Sirius looked around. James's free handjumped to his hair again.
It was one of the girls from the lake edge. She had thick,dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and startlingly greenalmond-shaped eyes —Harry's eyes.
Harry's mother ...
"All right, Evans?" said James, and the tone of his voicewas suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature.
"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking atJames with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done toyou?"
"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it'smore the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean. ..."Many of the surrounding watchers laughed, Sirius andWormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently intent on hisbook, didn't, and neither did Lily.
"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're justan arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."
"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly."Go on ... Go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on oldSnivelly again."
Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snapewas beginning to inch toward his fallen wand, spitting outsoapsuds as he crawled.
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between youand the giant squid," said Lily.
"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, turning back toSnape. "OY!"
But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight atJames; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared onthe side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood.James whirled about; a second flash of light later, Snapewas hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling overhis head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of grayingunderpants.
Many people in the small crowd watching cheered. Sirius,James, and Wormtail roared with laughter.
Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instantas though she was going to smile, said, "Let him down!"
"Certainly," said James and he jerked his wand upward.Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground.Disentangling himself from his robes, he got quickly to hisfeet, wand up, but Sirius said, "Petrificus Totalus!" andSnape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted. She had her ownwand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily
"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly."Take the curse off him, then!"
James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and mutteredthe countercurse.
"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feetagain, "you're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus —"
"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"
Lily blinked. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother infuture. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."
"Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wandpointed threateningly at him.
"I don't want you to make him apologize," Lily shouted,rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is. ..."
"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a — youknow-what!"
"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool tolook like you've just got off your broomstick, showing offwith that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexinganyone who annoys you just because you can — I'msurprised your broomstick can get off the ground with thatfat head on it. You make me SICK."
She turned on her heel and hurried away.
"Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hey, EVANS!"
But she didn't look back.
"What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing tolook as though this was a throwaway question of no realimportance to him.
"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bitconceited, mate," said Sirius.
"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right —"
There was another flash of light, and Snape was onceagain hanging upside down in the air.
"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"
But whether James really did take off Snape's pants,Harry never found out. A hand had closed tight over hisupper arm, closed with a pincerlike grip. Wincing, Harrylooked around to see who had hold of him, and saw, with athrill of horror, a fully grown, adult-sized Snape standingright beside him, white with rage.
"Having fun?"
Harry felt himself rising into the air. The summer's dayevaporated around him, he was floating upward through icyblackness, Snape's hand still tight upon his upper arm.Then, with a swooping feeling as though he had turnedhead over heels in midair, his feet hit the stone floor ofSnape's dungeon, and he was standing again beside thePensieve on Snape's desk in the shadowy, present-dayPotions master's study.
"So," said Snape, gripping Harry's arm so tightly Harry'shand was starting to feel numb. "So ... been enjoyingyourself, Potter?"
"N-no ..." said Harry, trying to free his arm.
It was scary: Snape's lips were shaking, his face waswhite, his teeth were bared.
"Amusing man, your father, wasn't he?" said Snape,shaking Harry so hard that his glasses slipped down hisnose.
"I — didn't —"
Snape threw Harry from him with all his might. Harry fellhard onto the dungeon floor.
"You will not tell anybody what you saw!" Snape bellowed.
"No," said Harry, getting to his feet as far from Snape ashe could. "No, of course I w —"
"Get out, get out, I don't want to see you in this office everagain!"
And as Harry hurtled toward the door, a jar of deadcockroaches exploded over his head. He wrenched the dooropen and flew away up the corridor, stopping only when hehad put three floors between himself and Snape. There heleaned against the wall, panting, and rubbing his bruisedarm.
He had no desire at all to return to Gryffindor Tower soearly, nor to tell Ron and Hermione what he had just seen.What was making Harry feel so horrified and unhappy wasnot being shouted at or having jars thrown at him — it wasthat he knew how it felt to be humiliated in the middle of acircle of onlookers, knew exactly how Snape had felt as hisfather had taunted him, and that judging from what he hadjust seen, his father had been every bit as arrogant asSnape had always told him.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: ZingTruyen.Xyz