284 HARRY POTTER thought Harry had a bad case 0f exam nerves because Harry couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Harry kept being woken by his 01d nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood ⅲ it. Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the Forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Ron and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them ⅲ dreams, and they were SO busy with their revisi on they didn't have much time tO fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to. Their very last exam was History 0f Magic. One hour Of answenng questions about batty Old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came 0 Ⅱ t. When the ghOSt Of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry couldn't help cheering with the rest. 'That was far easier than I thought it would be,' said Hermione, as they joined the crowds flocking out intO the sunny grounds. 'l needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the upnsing 0f Elfric the Eager. ' Hermione always liked t0 go through their exam papers afterwards, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking ⅲ the warm shallows.

CHAPTER EIGHT ー The Po ⅱ 0 れ s Master 'There, look. ' 'Where?' 'Nextto the tall kid with the red hair. ' 'Wearing the glasses?' 'Did you see his face?' Did you see his scar?' Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory next day. People queuing outside classrooms stOOd on tiptoe tO get a 100k at him, or doubled back to pass him ⅲ the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying tO C 0 ncentra te 0 n finding his way tO classes. There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; S01 れ e that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had tO remember t0 Jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them ⅲ exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. lt was alSO very hard tO remember where anything 、 vas, because it all seemed tO move

CHAPTER ONE ー The Boy Who Lived Mr and Mrs DursIey, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect tO be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. Mr DursIey was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount 0f neck, which came in very useful as she spent SO much Of her time cranmg over garden fences, spy- ing on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. The DursIeys had everything they wanted, but they alSO had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the POtters. Mrs POtter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because

322 HARRY POTTER something so good. Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the window-sill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet. When he had found his voice again, Harry said, 'And the lnvisibility Cloak ー dO you know whO sent it tO me?' 'Ah ー your father happened to leave it ⅲ my pos- session and I thought you might like it. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. 'Usefulthings ... your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here. 'And there's something else . 'Fire away.. 'Quirrell said Snape ー 'Professor Snape, Harry. 'Yes, him ー Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. ls that true?' 'WeII, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive. ' 'YVhat?' 'He saved his life. ' said Dumbledore dreamily 'Funny, the 'Yes way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being ⅲ your father's debt . I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace . Harry tried tO understand this but it made his head pound, so he stopped. 、 And sir, there's one more thing

THE FORBIDDEN FOREST 265 admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked pastthem, whistling and cheering, 'Thanks POtter, we owe you OnIy Ron stood by him. 、 They'II all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads 0f points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them. 'They've never lost a hundred and fifty points ⅲ one go, though, have they?' said Harry miserably. 'Well ー no,' Ron admitted. lt was a bit late t0 repair the damage, but Harry swore tO himself not tO meddle in things that weren't his business from now on. He'd had ⅱ with sneaking around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to Wood and offered to resign from the Quidditch team. 'Resign ? ' Wood thundered. 。、 Mhat good'll that do? HOW are we going tO get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?' But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest 0f the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him 'the Seeker'. Hermione and Neville were suffering, t00. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren't as well known, but nobody would speak t0 them either. Hermione had stopped drawing

HALLOWE'EN 193 up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagaII was looking at Ron and Harry Harry had never seen her 100k so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind. 'What 0 Ⅱ earth were you thinking of?' said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury ⅲ her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand ⅲ the air. 'You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?' Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the Ⅱ 00r. He wished Ron would put his wand down. Then a small VOice came out Of the shadows. 'PIease, Professor McGonagaIl ー they were look- ing for me. 'MiSS Granger ! ' Hermione had managed tO get tO her feet at last. 'I went looking for the troll because I ー I thought I could deal with it on my own ー you know, because l've read all about them. Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher? 'lf they hadn't found me, l'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time t0 come and fetch anyone. lt was about t0 finish me 0ff when they arrived. Harry and Ron tried to 100k as though this story wasn't new tO them.

132 H A R R Y P 0 T T E R remembered being picked for teams during sports lessons at his 01d sch001. He had always been last tO be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley t0 think they liked him. 'Finch-FIetchley, Justin!' 'HUFFLEPUFF ! ' sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at Others it tOOk a little while to decide. 、 Finnigan, Seamus', the sandy- haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the St001 for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor. 'Granger, Hermione ! ' Hermione almost ran tO the St001 and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. ℃ RYFFINDOR! ' shouted the hat. Ron groaned. A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train? When NeviIIe Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat t00k a long time t0 decide with Neville. When it finally shouted ℃ RYFFIN- DOR', NeviIIe ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales 0f laughter t0 give it t0 'MacDougal, Morag'. MaIfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had

THE JOURNEY FROM PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS 121 'Unless you get out now,' said Harry, more brave- ly than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a 10t bigger than him or Ron. 'But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have S01 れ e. Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron ー Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched GoyIe, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle Crabbe and MaIfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in. 'What has been going on?' she said, looking at the sweets all over the Ⅱ 00r and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail. 'I think he's been knocked out,' Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. 'No ー I don't believe it ー he's gone back to sleep. And so he had. 'You've met Malfoy before?' Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley. 'l've heard of his family,' said Ron darkly. 、 They were S01 れ e Of the first tO come back tO our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says

THE MIRROR OF ERISED 223 book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be. He had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the Ⅱ 00r , he looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting-looking b00k. A large black and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open. A piercing, blood-curdling shriek split the silence ー the bOOk was screaming! Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note. He stumbled back- wards and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside ー stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he ran for it. He passed Filch almost ⅲ the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through him and Harry slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked 0ff up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing ⅲ his ears. He came to a sudden halt ⅲ front of a tall suit of armour. He had been so busy getting away from the library, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. perhaps because it was dark, he didn't recog- nise where he was at all. There S a suit Of armour near the kitchens, he knew, but he must be five floors above there. 'You asked me tO C01 れ e directly tO you, Professor,

THE MIRROR OF ERISED 211 surmg out powdered spine 0f lionfish, ignored them. Malfoy had been even more unpleasantthan usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that Slytherin had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had man- aged t0 stay on his bucking broomstick. SO Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back t0 taunting Harry about having no proper family lt was true that Harry wasn't going back tO Privet Drive for Christmas. Professor McGonagaII had C01 れ e round the week before, making a list Of stu- dents who would be staying for the holidays, and Harry had signed up at once. He didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying t00 , because Mr and Mrs Weasley were going tO Romania tO visit Charlie. When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. TWO enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it. 'Hi, Hagrid, want any help?' Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches. 'Nah, l'm all right, thanks, Ron. 、、 MouId you mind moving out of the way?' came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. 'Are you trying tO earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping t0 be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose ー that hut 0f Hagrid's must