250 HARRY POTTER breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709 , everyone knows that. lt's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons ⅲ the back garden ー anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got Off Wild Romania. 'But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?' said Harry. 'Of course there are,' said Ron. ℃ ommon Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our 10t have to keep putting spells on MuggIes who've spotted them, to make them forget. ' 'SO what on earth's Hagrid up to?' said Hermione. When they knocked on the door of the game- keeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised tO see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called, 'Who is it?' before he let them ⅲ and then shut the door quickly behind them. lt was stiflingly hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire ⅲ the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused. 'SO ー yeh wanted tO ask 1 れ e somethin'?' 'Yes,' said Harry. There was no point beating about the bush. 、 We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy' Hagrid frowned at him. 'O' course I can't,' he said. 'Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's

QUIDDITCH 197 through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice W00d was making them d0. She had also lent him Quidditch through the Ages, which turned out t0 be a very interes ting read. Harry learnt that there were seven hundred ways 0f committing a Quidditch foul and that all 0f them had happened during a World Cup match ⅲ 1473 ; that seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed tO happen t0 them ; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known t0 vanish and turn up months later ⅲ the Sahara Desert. Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her fror れ the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three Of them were out in the freezing court- yard during break, and she had co 可 ured them up a bright blue fire which could be carried around ⅲ a jam jar. They were standing with their backs t0 it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, Ron and Hermione moved closer together t0 block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed t0 be looking for a reason to tell them 0ff anyway. 'What's that you've got there, POtter?' lt was Quidditch through the Ages. Harry showed him. 'Library b00ks are not t0 be taken outside the

HALLOWE'EN 'Pig snout,' they said and entered. 195 The common r001 れ was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the f00d that had been sent up. Hermione, however, st00d alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none 0f them 100king at each other, they all said 'Thanks', and hurried 0ff t0 get plates. But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one Of them.

124 H A R R Y P 0 T T E R castle overhead. lt towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer tO the cliff on 、 vhich it stOOd. 'Heads down ! ' yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, 、 Mhich seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles. 'Oy, you there ! ls this your toad?' said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them. 'Trevor ! ' cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway ⅲ the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right ⅲ the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. 'Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?' Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

THE LETTERS FROM NO ONE 51 'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr H. potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk. ' She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address : Mr H. Po Room 1 7 Railview Hotel Co wo れ h Harry made a grab for the letter but UncIe Vernon knocked his hand out of the way The woman stared. 'I'II take them, said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining-room. 'WouIdn't it be better just to go home, dear?' Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. ExactIy what he was looking for, none Of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back ⅲ the car and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a sus- pension bridge and at the top Of a multi-storey car park. 'Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?' Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car and disappeared. lt started tO rain. Great drops beat on the roof Of the car. Dudley snivelled. 'lt's Monday,' he told his mother. 'The Great

10 HARRY POTTER that morning. He didn't see the OWIS swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as 0W1 after 0W1 sped overhead. Most 0f them had never seen an 0W1 even at night-time. 、 Dursley, howev- er, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit 1 れ ore. He was in a very good Ⅱ 100d until lunch-time, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road t0 buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite. He'd forgotten all about the people ⅲ cloaks until he passed a group 0f them nextto the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This 10t were whispering excitedly, t00 , and he couldn't see a sin- gle collecting tin. lt was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut ⅲ a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying. 'The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard ー ー yes, their son, Harry ー Mr Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted t0 say something t0 them, but thought better 0f it. He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not tO disturb him, seized his telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking ... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called P0tter who had a

292 HARRY POTTER because l'm never going over tO the Dark Side ! l'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me ! Voldemort killed 1 れ y parents, remember?' He glared at them. 'You're right, Harry,' said Hermione ⅲ a small VOlCe. 'I'II use the lnvisibility CIoak,' said Harry. 'lt's just lucky I got it back. 'But will it cover all three of us?' said Ron. 'AII ー all three of us?' 'Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?' 'Of course not,' said Hermione briskly. 'How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? l'd bet- ter go and look through my books, there might be something useful . 、 But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, t00. 'Not if I can help it,' said Hermione grimly. 'FIitwick told me ⅲ secretthat I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that. After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to Harry any more, after all. This was the first night he hadn't been upset by it. Hermione was skimming through all her notes, hoping tO come across one of the enchantments they were about tO try and break. Harry and Ron didn't talk much. Both of them were thinking about what they were about to do.

T H E S O R T I N G H A T 141 'Ah, music,' he said, wiping his eyes. 、 A magic beyond all we do here ! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!' The Gryffindor first-years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out 0f the Great HalI and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was t00 sleepy even to be sur- prised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hid- den behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and drag- ging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much further they had to go when they came to a sudden halt. A bundle of walking sticks was floating ⅲ mid- air ahead Of them and as Percy tOOk a step towards them they started throwing themselves at him. 'Peeves,' Percy whispered tO the first-years. 'A ShOW poltergeist. ' He raised his VOice, 'Peeves yourself. ' A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered. 'DO you want me [ 0 go t0 the B100dy Baron?' There was a pop and a little man with wicked dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks. 。 0000000h ! ' he said, with an evil cackle. 'lckle firsties! What fun!' He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked. ℃ 0 away, peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this,

270 HARRY POTTER Hagrid came striding towards them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver Of arrows hung over his shou lder. 'Abou' time,' he said. 'I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. AII right, Harry, Hermione?' 'I shouldn't be t00 friendly to them, Hagrid,' said Filch coldly, 'they're here to be punished, after all. ' 'That's why yer late, is it?' said Hagrid, frowning at FiIch. 'Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, l'll take over from here. 'I'II be back at dawn,' said Filch, 'for what's left of them,' he added nastily, and he turned and started back towards the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness. Malfoy now turned to Hagrid. 'l'm not going in that Forest,' he said, and Harry was pleased tO hear the note Of panic in his voice. 'Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts,' said Hagrid fiercely. 'Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've gotter pay fer it. 、 But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be writing lines or something. If my father knew I was doing this, he'd ー tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts,' Hagrid growled. 'Writin' lines ! What good's that ter any- one? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on ! ' Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furious- ly but then dropped his gaze. Right then,' said Hagrid, 。 no listen carefully,

CHAPTER SIXTEEN ー Through 市 6 叩面 or ln years tO come, Harry would never quite れれ - ber how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemortto come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door. lt was swelteringly hot, especially ⅲ the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell. They had practical exams as well. Professor FIitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse intO a snuff-box ー POintS were given for hOW pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how tO make a Forgetfulness PO ⅱ on. Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his forehead which had been both- ering him ever since his trip intO the Forest. Neville