Book 6

“Harry’s already Apparated,” Ron told a slightlyabashed Seamus, after Professor Flitwick had driedhimself off with a wave of his wand and set Seamuslines: “I am a wizard, not a baboon brandishing astick.” “Dum — er — someone took him. Side-Along-Apparition, you know.”“Whoa!” whispered Seamus, and he, Dean, andNeville put their heads a little closer to hear whatApparition felt like. For the rest of the day, Harry wasbesieged with requests from the other sixth years todescribe the sensation of Apparition. All of themseemed awed, rather than put off, when he told themhow uncomfortable it was, and he was still answeringdetailed questions at ten to eight that evening, whenhe was forced to lie and say that he needed to returna book to the library, so as to escape in time for hislesson with Dumbledore.The lamps in Dumbledore’s office were lit, theportraits of previous headmasters were snoring gentlyin their frames, and the Pensieve was ready upon thedesk once more. Dumbledore’s hands lay on eitherside of it, the right one as blackened and burnt-looking as ever. It did not seem to have healed at alland Harry wondered, for perhaps the hundredth time,what had caused such a distinctive injury, but didnot ask; Dumbledore had said that he would knoweventually and there was, in any case, anothersubject he wanted to discuss. But before Harry couldsay anything about Snape and Malfoy, Dumbledorespoke.“I hear that you met the Minister of Magic overChristmas?”“Yes,” said Harry. “He’s not very happy with me.”P a g e | 401 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“No,” sighed Dumbledore. “He is not very happy withme either. We must try not to sink beneath ouranguish, Harry, but battle on.”Harry grinned.“He wanted me to tell the Wizarding community thatthe Ministry’s doing a wonderful job.”Dumbledore smiled.“It was Fudge’s idea originally, you know. During hislast days in office, when he was trying desperately tocling to his post, he sought a meeting with you,hoping that you would give him your support —”“After everything Fudge did last year?” said Harryangrily. “After Umbridge?”“I told Cornelius there was no chance of it, but theidea did not die when he left office. Within hours ofScrimgeour’s appointment we met and he demandedthat I arrange a meeting with you —”“So that’s why you argued!” Harry blurted out. “It wasin the Daily Prophet.”“The Prophet is bound to report the truthoccasionally,” said Dumbledore, “if only accidentally.Yes, that was why we argued. Well, it appears thatRufus found a way to corner you at last.”“He accused me of being ‘Dumbledore’s man throughand through.’ ”“How very rude of him.”“I told him I was.”P a g e | 402 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and thenclosed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix letout a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intenseembarrassment, he suddenly realized thatDumbledore’s bright blue eyes looked rather watery,and stared hastily at his own knees. WhenDumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quitesteady.“I am very touched, Harry.”“Scrimgeour wanted to know where you go whenyou’re not at Hogwarts,” said Harry, still lookingfixedly at his knees.“Yes, he is very nosy about that,” said Dumbledore,now sounding cheerful, and Harry thought it safe tolook up again. “He has even attempted to have mefollowed. Amusing, really. He set Dawlish to tail me. Itwasn’t kind. I have already been forced to jinxDawlish once; I did it again with the greatest regret.”“So they still don’t know where you go?” asked Harry,hoping for more information on this intriguingsubject, but Dumbledore merely smiled over the topof his half-moon spectacles.“No, they don’t, and the time is not quite right for youto know either. Now, I suggest we press on, unlessthere’s anything else — ?”“There is, actually, sir,” said Harry. “It’s about Malfoyand Snape.”“Professor Snape, Harry.”“Yes, sir. I overheard them during ProfessorSlughorn’s party … well, I followed them, actually. …”P a g e | 403 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Dumbledore listened to Harry’s story with animpassive face. When Harry had finished he did notspeak for a few moments, then said, “Thank you fortelling me this, Harry, but I suggest that you put itout of your mind. I do not think that it is of greatimportance.”“Not of great importance?” repeated Harryincredulously. “Professor, did you understand — ?”“Yes, Harry, blessed as I am with extraordinarybrainpower, I understood everything you told me,”said Dumbledore, a little sharply. “I think you mighteven consider the possibility that I understood morethan you did. Again, I am glad that you have confidedin me, but let me reassure you that you have not toldme anything that causes me disquiet.”Harry sat in seething silence, glaring at Dumbledore.What was going on? Did this mean that Dumbledorehad indeed ordered Snape to find out what Malfoywas doing, in which case he had already heardeverything Harry had just told him from Snape? Orwas he really worried by what he had heard, butpretending not to be?“So, sir,” said Harry, in what he hoped was a polite,calm voice, “you definitely still trust — ?”“I have been tolerant enough to answer that questionalready,” said Dumbledore, but he did not sound verytolerant anymore. “My answer has not changed.”“I should think not,” said a snide voice; PhineasNigellus was evidently only pretending to be asleep.Dumbledore ignored him.P a g e | 404 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“And now, Harry, I must insist that we press on. Ihave more important things to discuss with you thisevening.”Harry sat there feeling mutinous. How would it be ifhe refused to permit the change of subject, if heinsisted upon arguing the case against Malfoy? Asthough he had read Harry’s mind, Dumbledore shookhis head.“Ah, Harry, how often this happens, even between thebest of friends! Each of us believes that what he hasto say is much more important than anything theother might have to contribute!”“I don’t think what you’ve got to say is unimportant,sir,” said Harry stiffly.“Well, you are quite right, because it is not,” saidDumbledore briskly. “I have two more memories toshow you this evening, both obtained with enormousdifficulty, and the second of them is, I think, the mostimportant I have collected.”Harry did not say anything to this; he still felt angryat the reception his confidences had received, butcould not see what was to be gained by arguingfurther.“So,” said Dumbledore, in a ringing voice, “we meetthis evening to continue the tale of Tom Riddle, whomwe left last lesson poised on the threshold of his yearsat Hogwarts. You will remember how excited he wasto hear that he was a wizard, that he refused mycompany on a trip to Diagon Alley, and that I, in turn,warned him against continued thievery when hearrived at school.P a g e | 405 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Well, the start of the school year arrived and with itcame Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his secondhandrobes, who lined up with the other first years to besorted. He was placed in Slytherin House almost themoment that the Sorting Hat touched his head,”continued Dumbledore, waving his blackened handtoward the shelf over his head where the Sorting Hatsat, ancient and unmoving. “How soon Riddle learnedthat the famous founder of the House could talk tosnakes, I do not know — perhaps that very evening.The knowledge can only have excited him andincreased his sense of self-importance.“However, if he was frightening or impressing fellowSlytherins with displays of Parseltongue in theircommon room, no hint of it reached the staff. Heshowed no sign of outward arrogance or aggression atall. As an unusually talented and very good-lookingorphan, he naturally drew attention and sympathyfrom the staff almost from the moment of his arrival.He seemed polite, quiet, and thirsty for knowledge.Nearly all were most favorably impressed by him.”“Didn’t you tell them, sir, what he’d been like whenyou met him at the orphanage?” asked Harry.“No, I did not. Though he had shown no hint ofremorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how hehad behaved before and was resolved to turn over afresh leaf. I chose to give him that chance.”Dumbledore paused and looked inquiringly at Harry,who had opened his mouth to speak. Here, again, wasDumbledore’s tendency to trust people in spite ofoverwhelming evidence that they did not deserve it!But then Harry remembered something. …“But you didn’t really trust him, sir, did you? He toldme … the Riddle who came out of that diary said,P a g e | 406 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

‘Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as theother teachers did.’ ”“Let us say that I did not take it for granted that hewas trustworthy,” said Dumbledore. “I had, as I havealready indicated, resolved to keep a close eye uponhim, and so I did. I cannot pretend that I gleaned agreat deal from my observations at first. He was veryguarded with me; he felt, I am sure, that in the thrillof discovering his true identity he had told me a littletoo much. He was careful never to reveal as muchagain, but he could not take back what he had let slipin his excitement, nor what Mrs. Cole had confided inme. However, he had the sense never to try andcharm me as he charmed so many of my colleagues.“As he moved up the school, he gathered about him agroup of dedicated friends; I call them that, for wantof a better term, although as I have already indicated,Riddle undoubtedly felt no affection for any of them.This group had a kind of dark glamour within thecastle. They were a motley collection; a mixture of theweak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking someshared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward aleader who could show them more refined forms ofcruelty. In other words, they were the forerunners ofthe Death Eaters, and indeed some of them becamethe first Death Eaters after leaving Hogwarts.“Rigidly controlled by Riddle, they were never detectedin open wrongdoing, although their seven years atHogwarts were marked by a number of nastyincidents to which they were never satisfactorilylinked, the most serious of which was, of course, theopening of the Chamber of Secrets, which resulted inthe death of a girl. As you know, Hagrid was wronglyaccused of that crime.P a g e | 407 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“I have not been able to find many memories of Riddleat Hogwarts,” said Dumbledore, placing his witheredhand on the Pensieve. “Few who knew him then areprepared to talk about him; they are too terrified.What I know, I found out after he had left Hogwarts,after much painstaking effort, after tracing those fewwho could be tricked into speaking, after searchingold records and questioning Muggle and wizardwitnesses alike.“Those whom I could persuade to talk told me thatRiddle was obsessed with his parentage. This isunderstandable, of course; he had grown up in anorphanage and naturally wished to know how hecame to be there. It seems that he searched in vainfor some trace of Tom Riddle senior on the shields inthe trophy room, on the lists of prefects in the oldschool records, even in the books of Wizardinghistory. Finally he was forced to accept that his fatherhad never set foot in Hogwarts. I believe that it wasthen that he dropped the name forever, assumed theidentity of Lord Voldemort, and began hisinvestigations into his previously despised mother’sfamily — the woman whom, you will remember, hehad thought could not be a witch if she hadsuccumbed to the shameful human weakness ofdeath.“All he had to go upon was the single name ‘Marvolo,’which he knew from those who ran the orphanagehad been his mother’s father’s name. Finally, afterpainstaking research through old books of Wizardingfamilies, he discovered the existence of Slytherin’ssurviving line. In the summer of his sixteenth year, heleft the orphanage to which he returned annually andset off to find his Gaunt relatives. And now, Harry, ifyou will stand …”P a g e | 408 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Dumbledore rose, and Harry saw that he was againholding a small crystal bottle filled with swirling,pearly memory.“I was very lucky to collect this,” he said, as hepoured the gleaming mass into the Pensieve. “As youwill understand when we have experienced it. Shallwe?”Harry stepped up to the stone basin and bowedobediently until his face sank through the surface ofthe memory; he felt the familiar sensation of fallingthrough nothingness and then landed upon a dirtystone floor in almost total darkness.It took him several seconds to recognize the place, bywhich time Dumbledore had landed beside him. TheGaunts’ house was now more indescribably filthythan anywhere Harry had ever seen. The ceiling wasthick with cobwebs, the floor coated in grime; moldyand rotting food lay upon the table amidst a mass ofcrusted pots. The only light came from a singleguttering candle placed at the feet of a man with hairand beard so overgrown Harry could see neither eyesnor mouth. He was slumped in an armchair by thefire, and Harry wondered for a moment whether hewas dead. But then there came a loud knock on thedoor and the man jerked awake, raising a wand in hisright hand and a short knife in his left.The door creaked open. There on the threshold,holding an old-fashioned lamp, stood a boy Harryrecognized at once: tall, pale, dark-haired, andhandsome — the teenage Voldemort.Voldemort’s eyes moved slowly around the hovel andthen found the man in the armchair. For a fewseconds they looked at each other, then the manP a g e | 409 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

staggered upright, the many empty bottles at his feetclattering and tinkling across the floor.“YOU!” he bellowed. “YOU!”And he hurtled drunkenly at Riddle, wand and knifeheld aloft.“Stop.”Riddle spoke in Parseltongue. The man skidded intothe table, sending moldy pots crashing to the floor. Hestared at Riddle. There was a long silence while theycontemplated each other. The man broke it.“You speak it?”“Yes, I speak it,” said Riddle. He moved forward intothe room, allowing the door to swing shut behindhim. Harry could not help but feel a resentfuladmiration for Voldemort’s complete lack of fear. Hisface merely expressed disgust and, perhaps,disappointment.“Where is Marvolo?” he asked.“Dead,” said the other. “Died years ago, didn’t he?”Riddle frowned.“Who are you, then?”“I’m Morfin, ain’t I?”“Marvolo’s son?”“ ’Course I am, then …”P a g e | 410 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Morfin pushed the hair out of his dirty face, the betterto see Riddle, and Harry saw that he wore Marvolo’sblack-stoned ring on his right hand.“I thought you was that Muggle,” whispered Morfin.“You look mighty like that Muggle.”“What Muggle?” said Riddle sharply.“That Muggle what my sister took a fancy to, thatMuggle what lives in the big house over the way,” saidMorfin, and he spat unexpectedly upon the floorbetween them. “You look right like him. Riddle. Buthe’s older now, in ’e? He’s older’n you, now I think onit. …”Morfin looked slightly dazed and swayed a little, stillclutching the edge of the table for support. “He comeback, see,” he added stupidly.Voldemort was gazing at Morfin as though appraisinghis possibilities. Now he moved a little closer andsaid, “Riddle came back?”“Ar, he left her, and serve her right, marrying filth!”said Morfin, spitting on the floor again. “Robbed us,mind, before she ran off! Where’s the locket, eh,where’s Slytherin’s locket?”Voldemort did not answer. Morfin was workinghimself into a rage again; he brandished his knife andshouted, “Dishonored us, she did, that little slut! Andwho’re you, coming here and asking questions aboutall that? It’s over, innit. … It’s over. …”He looked away, staggering slightly, and Voldemortmoved forward. As he did so, an unnatural darknessfell, extinguishing Voldemort’s lamp and Morfin’scandle, extinguishing everything. …P a g e | 411 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Dumbledore’s fingers closed tightly around Harry’sarm and they were soaring back into the presentagain. The soft golden light in Dumbledore’s officeseemed to dazzle Harry’s eyes after that impenetrabledarkness.“Is that all?” said Harry at once. “Why did it go dark,what happened?”“Because Morfin could not remember anything fromthat point onward,” said Dumbledore, gesturing Harryback into his seat. “When he awoke next morning, hewas lying on the floor, quite alone. Marvolo’s ring hadgone.“Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, a maidwas running along the High Street, screaming thatthere were three bodies lying in the drawing room ofthe big house: Tom Riddle Senior and his mother andfather.“The Muggle authorities were perplexed. As far as Iam aware, they do not know to this day how theRiddles died, for the Avada Kedavra curse does notusually leave any sign of damage. … The exceptionsits before me,” Dumbledore added, with a nod toHarry’s scar. “The Ministry, on the other hand, knewat once that this was a wizard’s murder. They alsoknew that a convicted Muggle-hater lived across thevalley from the Riddle house, a Muggle-hater who hadalready been imprisoned once for attacking one of themurdered people.“So the Ministry called upon Morfin. They did notneed to question him, to use Veritaserum orLegilimency. He admitted to the murder on the spot,giving details only the murderer could know. He wasproud, he said, to have killed the Muggles, had beenawaiting his chance all these years. He handed overP a g e | 412 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

his wand, which was proved at once to have beenused to kill the Riddles. And he permitted himself tobe led off to Azkaban without a fight. All thatdisturbed him was the fact that his father’s ring haddisappeared. ‘He’ll kill me for losing it,’ he told hiscaptors over and over again. ‘He’ll kill me for losinghis ring.’ And that, apparently, was all he ever saidagain. He lived out the remainder of his life inAzkaban, lamenting the loss of Marvolo’s lastheirloom, and is buried beside the prison, alongsidethe other poor souls who have expired within itswalls.”“So Voldemort stole Morfin’s wand and used it?” saidHarry, sitting up straight.“That’s right,” said Dumbledore. “We have nomemories to show us this, but I think we can be fairlysure what happened. Voldemort Stupefied his uncle,took his wand, and proceeded across the valley to ‘thebig house over the way.’ There he murdered theMuggle man who had abandoned his witch mother,and, for good measure, his Muggle grandparents,thus obliterating the last of the unworthy Riddle lineand revenging himself upon the father who neverwanted him. Then he returned to the Gaunt hovel,performed the complex bit of magic that wouldimplant a false memory in his uncle’s mind, laidMorfin’s wand beside its unconscious owner,pocketed the ancient ring he wore, and departed.”“And Morfin never realized he hadn’t done it?”“Never,” said Dumbledore. “He gave, as I say, a fulland boastful confession.”“But he had this real memory in him all the time!”P a g e | 413 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Yes, but it took a great deal of skilled Legilimency tocoax it out of him,” said Dumbledore, “and whyshould anybody delve further into Morfin’s mindwhen he had already confessed to the crime?However, I was able to secure a visit to Morfin in thelast weeks of his life, by which time I was attemptingto discover as much as I could about Voldemort’spast. I extracted this memory with difficulty. When Isaw what it contained, I attempted to use it to secureMorfin’s release from Azkaban. Before the Ministryreached their decision, however, Morfin had died.”“But how come the Ministry didn’t realize thatVoldemort had done all that to Morfin?” Harry askedangrily. “He was underage at the time, wasn’t he? Ithought they could detect underage magic!”“You are quite right — they can detect magic, but notthe perpetrator: You will remember that you wereblamed by the Ministry for the Hover Charm that was,in fact, cast by —”“Dobby,” growled Harry; this injustice still rankled.“So if you’re underage and you do magic inside anadult witch or wizard’s house, the Ministry won’tknow?”“They will certainly be unable to tell who performedthe magic,” said Dumbledore, smiling slightly at thelook of great indignation on Harry’s face. “They relyon witch and wizard parents to enforce theiroffspring’s obedience while within their walls.”“Well, that’s rubbish,” snapped Harry. “Look whathappened here, look what happened to Morfin!”“I agree,” said Dumbledore. “Whatever Morfin was, hedid not deserve to die as he did, blamed for murdersP a g e | 414 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

he had not committed. But it is getting late, and Iwant you to see this other memory before we part. …”Dumbledore took from an inside pocket anothercrystal phial and Harry fell silent at once,remembering that Dumbledore had said it was themost important one he had collected. Harry noticedthat the contents proved difficult to empty into thePensieve, as though they had congealed slightly; didmemories go bad?“This will not take long,” said Dumbledore, when hehad finally emptied the phial. “We shall be backbefore you know it. Once more into the Pensieve, then…”And Harry fell again through the silver surface,landing this time right in front of a man he recognizedat once.It was a much younger Horace Slughorn. Harry wasso used to him bald that he found the sight ofSlughorn with thick, shiny, straw-colored hair quitedisconcerting; it looked as though he had had hishead thatched, though there was already a shinyGalleon-sized bald patch on his crown. His mustache,less massive than it was these days, was gingery-blond. He was not quite as rotund as the SlughornHarry knew, though the golden buttons on his richlyembroidered waistcoat were taking a fair amount ofstrain. His little feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, hewas sitting well back in a comfortable wingedarmchair, one hand grasping a small glass of wine,the other searching through a box of crystalizedpineapple.Harry looked around as Dumbledore appeared besidehim and saw that they were standing in Slughorn’soffice. Half a dozen boys were sitting aroundP a g e | 415 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Slughorn, all on harder or lower seats than his, andall in their mid-teens. Harry recognized Voldemort atonce. His was the most handsome face and he lookedthe most relaxed of all the boys. His right hand laynegligently upon the arm of his chair; with a jolt,Harry saw that he was wearing Marvolo’s gold-and-black ring; he had already killed his father.“Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought isretiring?” he asked.“Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn’t tell you,” saidSlughorn, wagging a reproving, sugar-covered fingerat Riddle, though ruining the effect slightly bywinking. “I must say, I’d like to know where you getyour information, boy, more knowledgeable than halfthe staff, you are.”Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast himadmiring looks.“What with your uncanny ability to know things youshouldn’t, and your careful flattery of the people whomatter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way,you’re quite right, it is my favorite —”As several of the boys tittered, something very oddhappened. The whole room was suddenly filled with athick white fog, so that Harry could see nothing butthe face of Dumbledore, who was standing besidehim. Then Slughorn’s voice rang out through themist, unnaturally loudly, “You’ll go wrong, boy, markmy words.”The fog cleared as suddenly as it had appeared andyet nobody made any allusion to it, nor did anybodylook as though anything unusual had just happened.Bewildered, Harry looked around as a small goldenP a g e | 416 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

clock standing upon Slughorn’s desk chimed eleveno’clock.“Good gracious, is it that time already?” saidSlughorn. “You’d better get going, boys, or we’ll all bein trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrowor it’s detention. Same goes for you, Avery.”Slughorn pulled himself out of his armchair andcarried his empty glass over to his desk as the boysfiled out. Voldemort, however, stayed behind. Harrycould tell he had dawdled deliberately, wanting to belast in the room with Slughorn.“Look sharp, Tom,” said Slughorn, turning aroundand finding him still present. “You don’t want to becaught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect …”“Sir, I wanted to ask you something.”“Ask away, then, m’boy, ask away. …”“Sir, I wondered what you know about … aboutHorcruxes?”And it happened all over again: The dense fog filledthe room so that Harry could not see Slughorn orVoldemort at all; only Dumbledore, smiling serenelybeside him. Then Slughorn’s voice boomed out again,just as it had done before.“I don’t know anything about Horcruxes and I wouldn’ttell you if I did! Now get out of here at once and don’tlet me catch you mentioning them again!”“Well, that’s that,” said Dumbledore placidly besideHarry. “Time to go.”P a g e | 417 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

And Harry’s feet left the floor to fall, seconds later,back onto the rug in front of Dumbledore’s desk.“That’s all there is?” said Harry blankly.Dumbledore had said that this was the mostimportant memory of all, but he could not see whatwas so significant about it. Admittedly the fog, andthe fact that nobody seemed to have noticed it, wasodd, but other than that nothing seemed to havehappened except that Voldemort had asked aquestion and failed to get an answer.“As you might have noticed,” said Dumbledore,reseating himself behind his desk, “that memory hasbeen tampered with.”“Tampered with?” repeated Harry, sitting back downtoo.“Certainly,” said Dumbledore. “Professor Slughornhas meddled with his own recollections.”“But why would he do that?”“Because, I think, he is ashamed of what heremembers,” said Dumbledore. “He has tried torework the memory to show himself in a better light,obliterating those parts which he does not wish me tosee. It is, as you will have noticed, very crudely done,and that is all to the good, for it shows that the truememory is still there beneath the alterations.“And so, for the first time, I am giving you homework,Harry. It will be your job to persuade ProfessorSlughorn to divulge the real memory, which willundoubtedly be our most crucial piece of informationof all.”P a g e | 418 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Harry stared at him.“But surely, sir,” he said, keeping his voice asrespectful as possible, “you don’t need me — youcould use Legilimency … or Veritaserum. …”“Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard whowill be expecting both,” said Dumbledore. “He ismuch more accomplished at Occlumency than poorMorfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he hasnot carried an antidote to Veritaserum with him eversince I coerced him into giving me this travesty of arecollection.“No, I think it would be foolish to attempt to wrest thetruth from Professor Slughorn by force, and might domuch more harm than good; I do not wish him toleave Hogwarts. However, he has his weaknesses likethe rest of us, and I believe that you are the oneperson who might be able to penetrate his defenses. Itis most important that we secure the true memory,Harry. … How important, we will only know when wehave seen the real thing. So, good luck … and goodnight.”A little taken aback by the abrupt dismissal, Harrygot to his feet quickly. “Good night, sir.”As he closed the study door behind him, he distinctlyheard Phineas Nigellus say, “I can’t see why the boyshould be able to do it better than you, Dumbledore.”“I wouldn’t expect you to, Phineas,” repliedDumbledore, and Fawkes gave another low, musicalcry.P a g e | 419 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

BIRTHDAY SURPRISESThe next day Harry confided in both Ron andHermione the task that Dumbledore had set him,though separately, for Hermione still refused toremain in Ron’s presence longer than it took to givehim a contemptuous look.Ron thought that Harry was unlikely to have anytrouble with Slughorn at all.“He loves you,” he said over breakfast, waving an airyforkful of fried egg. “Won’t refuse you anything, willhe? Not his little Potions Prince. Just hang back afterclass this afternoon and ask him.”Hermione, however, took a gloomier view. “He mustbe determined to hide what really happened ifDumbledore couldn’t get it out of him,” she said in alow voice, as they stood in the deserted, snowycourtyard at break. “Horcruxes … Horcruxes … I’venever even heard of them. …”P a g e | 420 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“You haven’t?” Harry was disappointed; he had hopedthat Hermione might have been able to give him aclue as to what Horcruxes were.“They must be really advanced Dark Magic, or whywould Voldemort have wanted to know about them? Ithink it’s going to be difficult to get the information,Harry, you’ll have to be very careful about how youapproach Slughorn, think out a strategy. …”“Ron reckons I should just hang back after Potionsthis afternoon. …”“Oh, well, if Won-Won thinks that, you’d better do it,”she said, flaring up at once. “After all, when has Won-Won’s judgment ever been faulty?”“Hermione, can’t you — ?”“No!” she said angrily, and stormed away, leavingHarry alone and ankle-deep in snow.Potions lessons were uncomfortable enough thesedays, seeing as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had toshare a desk. Today, Hermione moved her cauldronaround the table so that she was close to Ernie, andignored both Harry and Ron.“What’ve you done?” Ron muttered to Harry, lookingat Hermione’s haughty profile.But before Harry could answer, Slughorn was callingfor silence from the front of the room.“Settle down, settle down, please! Quickly, now, lotsof work to get through this afternoon! Golpalott’sThird Law … who can tell me — ? But Miss Grangercan, of course!”P a g e | 421 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Hermione recited at top speed: “Golpalott’s-Third-Law-states-that-the-antidote-for-a-blended-poison-will-be-equal-to-more-than-the-sum-of-the-antidotes-for-each-of-the-separate-components.”“Precisely!” beamed Slughorn. “Ten points forGryffindor! Now, if we accept Golpalott’s Third Law astrue …”Harry was going to have to take Slughorn’s word for itthat Golpalott’s Third Law was true, because he hadnot understood any of it. Nobody apart fromHermione seemed to be following what Slughorn saidnext either.“… which means, of course, that assuming we haveachieved correct identification of the potion’singredients by Scarpin’s Revelaspell, our primary aimis not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotesto those ingredients in and of themselves, but to findthat added component that will, by an almostalchemical process, transform these disparateelements —”Ron was sitting beside Harry with his mouth halfopen, doodling absently on his new copy of AdvancedPotion-Making. Ron kept forgetting that he could nolonger rely on Hermione to help him out of troublewhen he failed to grasp what was going on.“… and so,” finished Slughorn, “I want each of you tocome and take one of these phials from my desk. Youare to create an antidote for the poison within itbefore the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don’tforget your protective gloves!”Hermione had left her stool and was halfway towardSlughorn’s desk before the rest of the class hadrealized it was time to move, and by the time Harry,P a g e | 422 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Ron, and Ernie returned to the table, she had alreadytipped the contents of her phial into her cauldron andwas kindling a fire underneath it.“It’s a shame that the Prince won’t be able to help youmuch with this, Harry,” she said brightly as shestraightened up. “You have to understand theprinciples involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats!”Annoyed, Harry uncorked the poison he had takenfrom Slughorn’s desk, which was a garish shade ofpink, tipped it into his cauldron, and lit a fireunderneath it. He did not have the faintest idea whathe was supposed to do next. He glanced around atRon, who was now standing there looking rathergormless, having copied everything Harry had done.“You sure the Prince hasn’t got any tips?” Ronmuttered to Harry.Harry pulled out his trusty copy of Advanced Potion-Making and turned to the chapter on antidotes. Therewas Golpalott’s Third Law, stated word for word asHermione had recited it, but not a single illuminatingnote in the Prince’s hand to explain what it meant.Apparently the Prince, like Hermione, had had nodifficulty understanding it.“Nothing,” said Harry gloomily.Hermione was now waving her wand enthusiasticallyover her cauldron. Unfortunately, they could not copythe spell she was doing because she was now so goodat nonverbal incantations that she did not need to saythe words aloud. Ernie Macmillan, however, wasmuttering, “Specialis Revelio!” over his cauldron,which sounded impressive, so Harry and Ronhastened to imitate him.P a g e | 423 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

It took Harry only five minutes to realize that hisreputation as the best potion-maker in the class wascrashing around his ears. Slughorn had peeredhopefully into his cauldron on his first circuit of thedungeon, preparing to exclaim in delight as heusually did, and instead had withdrawn his headhastily, coughing, as the smell of bad eggsoverwhelmed him. Hermione’s expression could nothave been any smugger; she had loathed beingoutperformed in every Potions class. She was nowdecanting the mysteriously separated ingredients ofher poison into ten different crystal phials. More toavoid watching this irritating sight than anythingelse, Harry bent over the Half-Blood Prince’s book andturned a few pages with unnecessary force.And there it was, scrawled right across a long list ofantidotes:Just shove a bezoar down their throats.Harry stared at these words for a moment. Hadn’t heonce, long ago, heard of bezoars? Hadn’t Snapementioned them in their first-ever Potions lesson? “Astone taken from the stomach of a goat, which willprotect from most poisons.”It was not an answer to the Golpalott problem, andhad Snape still been their teacher, Harry would nothave dared do it, but this was a moment for desperatemeasures. He hastened toward the store cupboardand rummaged within it, pushing aside unicornhorns and tangles of dried herbs until he found, atthe very back, a small cardboard box on which hadbeen scribbled the word bezoars.He opened the box just as Slughorn called, “Twominutes left, everyone!” Inside were half a dozenP a g e | 424 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

shriveled brown objects, looking more like dried-upkidneys than real stones. Harry seized one, put thebox back in the cupboard, and hurried back to hiscauldron.“Time’s … UP!” called Slughorn genially. “Well, let’ssee how you’ve done! Blaise … what have you got forme?”Slowly, Slughorn moved around the room, examiningthe various antidotes. Nobody had finished the task,although Hermione was trying to cram a few moreingredients into her bottle before Slughorn reachedher. Ron had given up completely, and was merelytrying to avoid breathing in the putrid fumes issuingfrom his cauldron. Harry stood there waiting, thebezoar clutched in a slightly sweaty hand.Slughorn reached their table last. He sniffed Ernie’spotion and passed on to Ron’s with a grimace. He didnot linger over Ron’s cauldron, but backed awayswiftly, retching slightly.“And you, Harry,” he said. “What have you got toshow me?”Harry held out his hand, the bezoar sitting on hispalm.Slughorn looked down at it for a full ten seconds.Harry wondered, for a moment, whether he was goingto shout at him. Then he threw back his head androared with laughter.“You’ve got nerve, boy!” he boomed, taking the bezoarand holding it up so that the class could see it. “Oh,you’re like your mother. … Well, I can’t fault you. … Abezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all thesepotions!”P a g e | 425 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Hermione, who was sweaty-faced and had soot on hernose, looked livid. Her half-finished antidote,comprising fifty-two ingredients, including a chunk ofher own hair, bubbled sluggishly behind Slughorn,who had eyes for nobody but Harry.“And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you,Harry?” she asked through gritted teeth.“That’s the individual spirit a real potion-makerneeds!” said Slughorn happily, before Harry couldreply. “Just like his mother, she had the sameintuitive grasp of potion-making, it’s undoubtedlyfrom Lily he gets it. … Yes, Harry, yes, if you’ve got abezoar to hand, of course that would do the trick …although as they don’t work on everything, and arepretty rare, it’s still worth knowing how to mixantidotes. …”The only person in the room looking angrier thanHermione was Malfoy, who, Harry was pleased to see,had spilled something that looked like cat-sick overhimself. Before either of them could express their furythat Harry had come top of the class by not doing anywork, however, the bell rang.“Time to pack up!” said Slughorn. “And an extra tenpoints to Gryffindor for sheer cheek!”Still chuckling, he waddled back to his desk at thefront of the dungeon.Harry dawdled behind, taking an inordinate amountof time to do up his bag. Neither Ron nor Hermionewished him luck as they left; both looked ratherannoyed. At last Harry and Slughorn were the onlytwo left in the room.P a g e | 426 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Come on, now, Harry, you’ll be late for your nextlesson,” said Slughorn affably, snapping the goldclasps shut on his dragon-skin briefcase.“Sir,” said Harry, reminding himself irresistibly ofVoldemort, “I wanted to ask you something.”“Ask away, then, my dear boy, ask away. …”“Sir, I wondered what you know about … aboutHorcruxes?”Slughorn froze. His round face seemed to sink inupon itself. He licked his lips and said hoarsely,“What did you say?”“I asked whether you know anything aboutHorcruxes, sir. You see —”“Dumbledore put you up to this,” whisperedSlughorn. His voice had changed completely. It wasnot genial anymore, but shocked, terrified. Hefumbled in his breast pocket and pulled out ahandkerchief, mopping his sweating brow.“Dumbledore’s shown you that — that memory. Well?Hasn’t he?”“Yes,” said Harry, deciding on the spot that it wasbest not to lie.“Yes, of course,” said Slughorn quietly, still dabbingat his white face. “Of course … well, if you’ve seenthat memory, Harry, you’ll know that I don’t knowanything — anything” — he repeated the wordforcefully — “about Horcruxes.”He seized his dragon-skin briefcase, stuffed hishandkerchief back into his pocket, and marched tothe dungeon door.P a g e | 427 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Sir,” said Harry desperately, “I just thought theremight be a bit more to the memory —”“Did you?” said Slughorn. “Then you were wrong,weren’t you? WRONG!”He bellowed the last word and, before Harry could sayanother word, slammed the dungeon door behindhim.Neither Ron nor Hermione was at all sympatheticwhen Harry told them of this disastrous interview.Hermione was still seething at the way Harry hadtriumphed without doing the work properly. Ron wasresentful that Harry hadn’t slipped him a bezoar too.“It would’ve just looked stupid if we’d both done it!”said Harry irritably. “Look, I had to try and soften himup so I could ask him about Voldemort, didn’t I? Oh,will you get a grip!” he added in exasperation, as Ronwinced at the sound of the name.Infuriated by his failure and by Ron’s and Hermione’sattitudes, Harry brooded for the next few days overwhat to do next about Slughorn. He decided that, forthe time being, he would let Slughorn think that hehad forgotten all about Horcruxes; it was surely bestto lull him into a false sense of security beforereturning to the attack.When Harry did not question Slughorn again, thePotions master reverted to his usual affectionatetreatment of him, and appeared to have put thematter from his mind. Harry awaited an invitation toone of his little evening parties, determined to acceptthis time, even if he had to reschedule Quidditchpractice. Unfortunately, however, no such invitationarrived. Harry checked with Hermione and Ginny:Neither of them had received an invitation and nor, asP a g e | 428 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

far as they knew, had anybody else. Harry could nothelp wondering whether this meant that Slughornwas not quite as forgetful as he appeared, simplydetermined to give Harry no additional opportunitiesto question him.Meanwhile, the Hogwarts library had failed Hermionefor the first time in living memory. She was soshocked, she even forgot that she was annoyed atHarry for his trick with the bezoar.“I haven’t found one single explanation of whatHorcruxes do!” she told him. “Not a single one! I’vebeen right through the restricted section and even inthe most horrible books, where they tell you how tobrew the most gruesome potions — nothing! All Icould find was this, in the introduction to MagickMoste Evile — listen — ‘Of the Horcrux, wickedest ofmagical inventions, we shall not speak nor givedirection. …’ I mean, why mention it then?” she saidimpatiently, slamming the old book shut; it let out aghostly wail. “Oh, shut up,” she snapped, stuffing itback into her bag.The snow melted around the school as Februaryarrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness.Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle and aconstant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slipperyand muddy. The upshot of this was that the sixthyears’ first Apparition lesson, which was scheduledfor a Saturday morning so that no normal lessonswould be missed, took place in the Great Hall insteadof in the grounds.When Harry and Hermione arrived in the Hall (Ronhad come down with Lavender), they found that thetables had disappeared. Rain lashed against the highwindows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darklyabove them as they assembled in front of ProfessorsP a g e | 429 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout — theHeads of Houses — and a small wizard whom Harrytook to be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry.He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes,wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though asingle gust of wind might blow him away. Harrywondered whether constant disappearances andreappearances had somehow diminished hissubstance, or whether this frail build was ideal foranyone wishing to vanish.“Good morning,” said the Ministry wizard, when allthe students had arrived and the Heads of Houseshad called for quiet. “My name is Wilkie Twycross andI shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for thenext twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you foryour Apparition Tests in this time —”“Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!” barked ProfessorMcGonagall.Everybody looked around. Malfoy had flushed a dullpink; he looked furious as he stepped away fromCrabbe, with whom he appeared to have been havinga whispered argument. Harry glanced quickly atSnape, who also looked annoyed, though Harrystrongly suspected that this was less because ofMalfoy’s rudeness than the fact that McGonagall hadreprimanded one of his House.“— by which time, many of you may be ready to takeyour tests,” Twycross continued, as though there hadbeen no interruption.“As you may know, it is usually impossible toApparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. Theheadmaster has lifted this enchantment, purelywithin the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enableyou to practice. May I emphasize that you will not beP a g e | 430 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, andthat you would be unwise to try.“I would like each of you to place yourselves now sothat you have a clear five feet of space in front ofyou.”There was a great scrambling and jostling as peopleseparated, banged into each other, and orderedothers out of their space. The Heads of Houses movedamong the students, marshaling them into positionand breaking up arguments.“Harry, where are you going?” demanded Hermione.But Harry did not answer; he was moving quicklythrough the crowd, past the place where ProfessorFlitwick was making squeaky attempts to position afew Ravenclaws, all of whom wanted to be near thefront, past Professor Sprout, who was chivying theHufflepuffs into line, until, by dodging around ErnieMacmillan, he managed to position himself right atthe back of the crowd, directly behind Malfoy, whowas taking advantage of the general upheaval tocontinue his argument with Crabbe, standing five feetaway and looking mutinous.“I don’t know how much longer, all right?” Malfoyshot at him, oblivious to Harry standing right behindhim. “It’s taking longer than I thought it would.”Crabbe opened his mouth, but Malfoy appeared tosecond-guess what he was going to say. “Look, it’snone of your business what I’m doing, Crabbe, youand Goyle just do as you’re told and keep a lookout!”“I tell my friends what I’m up to, if I want them tokeep a lookout for me,” Harry said, just loud enoughfor Malfoy to hear him.P a g e | 431 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Malfoy spun around on the spot, his hand flying tohis wand, but at that precise moment the four Headsof House shouted, “Quiet!” and silence fell again.Malfoy turned slowly to face the front again.“Thank you,” said Twycross. “Now then …”He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoopsinstantly appeared on the floor in front of everystudent.“The important things to remember when Apparatingare the three D’s!” said Twycross. “Destination,Determination, Deliberation!“Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desireddestination,” said Twycross. “In this case, the interiorof your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon thatdestination now.”Everybody looked around furtively to check thateveryone else was staring into their hoop, then hastilydid as they were told. Harry gazed at the circularpatch of dusty floor enclosed by his hoop and triedhard to think of nothing else. This proved impossible,as he couldn’t stop puzzling over what Malfoy wasdoing that needed lookouts.“Step two,” said Twycross, “focus your determinationto occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning toenter it flood from your mind to every particle of yourbody!”Harry glanced around surreptitiously. A little way tohis left, Ernie Macmillan was contemplating his hoopso hard that his face had turned pink; it looked asthough he was straining to lay a Quaffle-sized egg.Harry bit back a laugh and hastily returned his gazeto his own hoop.P a g e | 432 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Step three,” called Twycross, “and only when I givethe command … Turn on the spot, feeling your wayinto nothingness, moving with deliberation! On mycommand, now … one —”Harry glanced around again; lots of people werelooking positively alarmed at being asked to Apparateso quickly.“— two —”Harry tried to fix his thoughts on his hoop again; hehad already forgotten what the three D’s stood for.“— THREE!”Harry spun on the spot, lost balance, and nearly fellover. He was not the only one. The whole Hall wassuddenly full of staggering people; Neville was flat onhis back; Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, haddone a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop andlooked momentarily thrilled, until he caught sight ofDean Thomas roaring with laughter at him.“Never mind, never mind,” said Twycross dryly, whodid not seem to have expected anything better.“Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your originalpositions. …”The second attempt was no better than the first. Thethird was just as bad. Not until the fourth didanything exciting happen. There was a horriblescreech of pain and everybody looked around,terrified, to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling inher hoop with her left leg still standing five feet awaywhere she had started.The Heads of House converged on her; there was agreat bang and a puff of purple smoke, which clearedP a g e | 433 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

to reveal Susan sobbing, reunited with her leg butlooking horrified.“Splinching, or the separation of random body parts,”said Wilkie Twycross dispassionately, “occurs whenthe mind is insufficiently determined. You mustconcentrate continuously upon your destination, andmove, without haste, but with deliberation … thus.”Twycross stepped forward, turned gracefully on thespot with his arms outstretched, and vanished in aswirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the Hall.“Remember the three D’s,” he said, “and try again …one — two — three —”But an hour later, Susan’s Splinching was still themost interesting thing that had happened. Twycrossdid not seem discouraged. Fastening his cloak at hisneck, he merely said, “Until next Saturday,everybody, and do not forget: Destination.Determination. Deliberation.”With that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops,and walked out of the Hall accompanied by ProfessorMcGonagall. Talk broke out at once as people beganmoving toward the entrance hall.“How did you do?” asked Ron, hurrying toward Harry.“I think I felt something the last time I tried — a kindof tingling in my feet.”“I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won,” saida voice behind them, and Hermione stalked past,smirking.“I didn’t feel anything,” said Harry, ignoring thisinterruption. “But I don’t care about that now —”P a g e | 434 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“What d’you mean, you don’t care? Don’t you want tolearn to Apparate?” said Ron incredulously.“I’m not fussed, really, I prefer flying,” said Harry,glancing over his shoulder to see where Malfoy was,and speeding up as they came into the entrance hall.“Look, hurry up, will you, there’s something I want todo. …”Perplexed, Ron followed Harry back to the GryffindorTower at a run. They were temporarily detained byPeeves, who had jammed a door on the fourth floorshut and was refusing to let anyone pass until theyset fire to their own pants, but Harry and Ron simplyturned back and took one of their trusted shortcuts.Within five minutes, they were climbing through theportrait hole.“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing, then?”asked Ron, panting slightly.“Up here,” said Harry, and he crossed the commonroom and led the way through the door to the boys’staircase.Their dormitory was, as Harry had hoped, empty. Heflung open his trunk and began to rummage in it,while Ron watched impatiently.“Harry …”“Malfoy’s using Crabbe and Goyle as lookouts. He wasarguing with Crabbe just now. I want to know —aha.”He had found it, a folded square of apparently blankparchment, which he now smoothed out and tappedwith the tip of his wand.P a g e | 435 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good … or Malfoyis anyway.”At once, the Marauder’s Map appeared on theparchment’s surface. Here was a detailed plan ofevery one of the castle’s floors and, moving around it,the tiny, labeled black dots that signified each of thecastle’s occupants.“Help me find Malfoy,” said Harry urgently.He laid the map upon his bed, and he and Ron leanedover it, searching.“There!” said Ron, after a minute or so. “He’s in theSlytherin common room, look … with Parkinson andZabini and Crabbe and Goyle …”Harry looked down at the map, disappointed, butrallied almost at once.“Well, I’m keeping an eye on him from now on,” hesaid firmly. “And the moment I see him lurkingsomewhere with Crabbe and Goyle keeping watchoutside, it’ll be on with the old Invisibility Cloak andoff to find out what he’s —”He broke off as Neville entered the dormitory, bringingwith him a strong smell of singed material, and beganrummaging in his trunk for a fresh pair of pants.Despite his determination to catch Malfoy out, Harryhad no luck at all over the next couple of weeks.Although he consulted the map as often as he could,sometimes making unnecessary visits to thebathroom between lessons to search it, he did notonce see Malfoy anywhere suspicious. Admittedly, hespotted Crabbe and Goyle moving around the castleon their own more often than usual, sometimesP a g e | 436 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

remaining stationary in deserted corridors, but atthese times Malfoy was not only nowhere near them,but impossible to locate on the map at all. This wasmost mysterious. Harry toyed with the possibility thatMalfoy was actually leaving the school grounds, butcould not see how he could be doing it, given the veryhigh level of security now operating within the castle.He could only suppose that he was missing Malfoyamongst the hundreds of tiny black dots upon themap. As for the fact that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyleappeared to be going their different ways when theywere usually inseparable, these things happened aspeople got older — Ron and Hermione, Harry reflectedsadly, were living proof.February moved toward March with no change in theweather except that it became windy as well as wet.To general indignation, a sign went up on all commonroom notice boards that the next trip into Hogsmeadehad been canceled. Ron was furious.“It was on my birthday!” he said. “I was lookingforward to that!”“Not a big surprise, though, is it?” said Harry. “Notafter what happened to Katie.”She had still not returned from St. Mungo’s. Whatwas more, further disappearances had been reportedin the Daily Prophet, including several relatives ofstudents at Hogwarts.“But now all I’ve got to look forward to is stupidApparition!” said Ron grumpily. “Big birthday treat …”Three lessons on, Apparition was proving as difficultas ever, though a few more people had managed toSplinch themselves. Frustration was running highand there was a certain amount of ill-feeling towardP a g e | 437 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Wilkie Twycross and his three D’s, which had inspireda number of nicknames for him, the politest of whichwere Dogbreath and Dunghead.“Happy birthday, Ron,” said Harry, when they werewoken on the first of March by Seamus and Deanleaving noisily for breakfast. “Have a present.”He threw the package across onto Ron’s bed, where itjoined a small pile of them that must, Harry assumed,have been delivered by house-elves in the night.“Cheers,” said Ron drowsily and, as he ripped off thepaper, Harry got out of bed, opened his own trunk,and began rummaging in it for the Marauder’s Map,which he hid after every use. He turfed out half thecontents of his trunk before he found it hidingbeneath the rolled-up socks in which he was stillkeeping his bottle of lucky potion, Felix Felicis.“Right,” he murmured, taking it back to bed with him,tapping it quietly and murmuring, “I solemnly swearthat I am up to no good,” so that Neville, who waspassing the foot of his bed at the time, would nothear.“Nice one, Harry!” said Ron enthusiastically, wavingthe new pair of Quidditch Keeper’s gloves Harry hadgiven him.“No problem,” said Harry absentmindedly, as hesearched the Slytherin dormitory closely for Malfoy.“Hey … I don’t think he’s in his bed. …”Ron did not answer; he was too busy unwrappingpresents, every now and then letting out anexclamation of pleasure.P a g e | 438 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Seriously good haul this year!” he announced,holding up a heavy gold watch with odd symbolsaround the edge and tiny moving stars instead ofhands. “See what Mum and Dad got me? Blimey, Ithink I’ll come of age next year too. …”“Cool,” muttered Harry, sparing the watch a glancebefore peering more closely at the map. Where wasMalfoy? He did not seem to be at the Slytherin tablein the Great Hall, eating breakfast. … He wasnowhere near Snape, who was sitting in his study. …He wasn’t in any of the bathrooms or in the hospitalwing. …“Want one?” said Ron thickly, holding out a box ofChocolate Cauldrons.“No thanks,” said Harry, looking up. “Malfoy’s goneagain!”“Can’t have done,” said Ron, stuffing a secondCauldron into his mouth as he slid out of bed to getdressed. “Come on, if you don’t hurry up, you’ll haveto Apparate on an empty stomach. … Might make iteasier, I suppose …” Ron looked thoughtfully at thebox of Chocolate Cauldrons, then shrugged andhelped himself to a third.Harry tapped the map with his wand, muttered,“Mischief managed,” though it hadn’t been, and gotdressed, thinking hard. There had to be anexplanation for Malfoy’s periodic disappearances, buthe simply could not think what it could be. The bestway of finding out would be to tail him, but even withthe Invisibility Cloak this was an impractical idea:Harry had lessons, Quidditch practice, homework,and Apparition; he could not follow Malfoy aroundschool all day without his absence being remarkedupon.P a g e | 439 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Ready?” he said to Ron.He was halfway to the dormitory door when herealized that Ron had not moved, but was leaning onhis bedpost, staring out of the rain-washed windowwith a strangely unfocused look on his face.“Ron? Breakfast.”“I’m not hungry.”Harry stared at him.“I thought you just said — ?”“Well, all right, I’ll come down with you,” sighed Ron,“but I don’t want to eat.”Harry scrutinized him suspiciously.“You’ve just eaten half a box of Chocolate Cauldrons,haven’t you?”“It’s not that,” Ron sighed again. “You … you wouldn’tunderstand.”“Fair enough,” said Harry, albeit puzzled, as heturned to open the door.“Harry!” said Ron suddenly.“What?”“Harry, I can’t stand it!”“You can’t stand what?” asked Harry, now starting tofeel definitely alarmed. Ron was rather pale andlooked as though he was about to be sick.P a g e | 440 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“I can’t stop thinking about her!” said Ron hoarsely.Harry gaped at him. He had not expected this andwas not sure he wanted to hear it. Friends they mightbe, but if Ron started calling Lavender “Lav-Lav,” hewould have to put his foot down.“Why does that stop you having breakfast?” Harryasked, trying to inject a note of common sense intothe proceedings.“I don’t think she knows I exist,” said Ron with adesperate gesture.“She definitely knows you exist,” said Harry,bewildered. “She keeps snogging you, doesn’t she?”Ron blinked. “Who are you talking about?”“Who are you talking about?” said Harry, with anincreasing sense that all reason had dropped out ofthe conversation.“Romilda Vane,” said Ron softly, and his whole faceseemed to illuminate as he said it, as though hit by aray of purest sunlight.They stared at each other for almost a whole minute,before Harry said, “This is a joke, right? You’rejoking.”“I think … Harry, I think I love her,” said Ron in astrangled voice.“Okay,” said Harry, walking up to Ron to get a betterlook at the glazed eyes and the pallid complexion,“okay… Say that again with a straight face.”P a g e | 441 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“I love her,” repeated Ron breathlessly. “Have youseen her hair, it’s all black and shiny and silky … andher eyes? Her big dark eyes? And her —”“This is really funny and everything,” said Harryimpatiently, “but joke’s over, all right? Drop it.”He turned to leave; he had got two steps toward thedoor when a crashing blow hit him on the right ear.Staggering, he looked around. Ron’s fist was drawnright back; his face was contorted with rage; he wasabout to strike again.Harry reacted instinctively; his wand was out of hispocket and the incantation sprang to mind withoutconscious thought: Levicorpus!Ron yelled as his heel was wrenched upward oncemore; he dangled helplessly, upside down, his robeshanging off him.“What was that for?” Harry bellowed.“You insulted her, Harry! You said it was a joke!”shouted Ron, who was slowly turning purple in theface as all the blood rushed to his head.“This is insane!” said Harry. “What’s got into — ?”And then he saw the box lying open on Ron’s bed,and the truth hit him with the force of a stampedingtroll.“Where did you get those Chocolate Cauldrons?”“They were a birthday present!” shouted Ron,revolving slowly in midair as he struggled to get free.“I offered you one, didn’t I?”P a g e | 442 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“You just picked them up off the floor, didn’t you?”“They’d fallen off my bed, all right? Let me go!”“They didn’t fall off your bed, you prat, don’t youunderstand? They were mine, I chucked them out ofmy trunk when I was looking for the map, they’re theChocolate Cauldrons Romilda gave me beforeChristmas, and they’re all spiked with love potion!”But only one word of this seemed to have registeredwith Ron.“Romilda?” he repeated. “Did you say Romilda? Harry— do you know her? Can you introduce me?”Harry stared at the dangling Ron, whose face nowlooked tremendously hopeful, and fought a strongdesire to laugh. A part of him — the part closest tohis throbbing right ear — was quite keen on the ideaof letting Ron down and watching him run amok untilthe effects of the potion wore off. … But on the otherhand, they were supposed to be friends, Ron had notbeen himself when he had attacked, and Harrythought that he would deserve another punching if hepermitted Ron to declare undying love for RomildaVane.“Yeah, I’ll introduce you,” said Harry, thinking fast.“I’m going to let you down now, okay?”He sent Ron crashing back to the floor (his ear didhurt quite a lot), but Ron simply bounded to his feetagain, grinning.“She’ll be in Slughorn’s office,” said Harry confidently,leading the way to the door.P a g e | 443 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“Why will she be in there?” asked Ron anxiously,hurrying to keep up.“Oh, she has extra Potions lessons with him,” saidHarry, inventing wildly.“Maybe I could ask if I can have them with her?” saidRon eagerly.“Great idea,” said Harry.Lavender was waiting beside the portrait hole, acomplication Harry had not foreseen.“You’re late, Won-Won!” she pouted. “I’ve got you abirthday —”“Leave me alone,” said Ron impatiently. “Harry’s goingto introduce me to Romilda Vane.”And without another word to her, he pushed his wayout of the portrait hole. Harry tried to make anapologetic face to Lavender, but it might have turnedout simply amused, because she looked moreoffended than ever as the Fat Lady swung shutbehind them.Harry had been slightly worried that Slughorn mightbe at breakfast, but he answered his office door at thefirst knock, wearing a green velvet dressing gown andmatching nightcap and looking rather bleary-eyed.“Harry,” he mumbled. “This is very early for a call. … Igenerally sleep late on a Saturday. …”“Professor, I’m really sorry to disturb you,” said Harryas quietly as possible, while Ron stood on tiptoe,attempting to see past Slughorn into his room, “butmy friend Ron’s swallowed a love potion by mistake.P a g e | 444 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

You couldn’t make him an antidote, could you? I’dtake him to Madam Pomfrey, but we’re not supposedto have anything from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and,you know … awkward questions …”“I’d have thought you could have whipped him up aremedy, Harry, an expert potioneer like you?” askedSlughorn.“Er,” said Harry, somewhat distracted by the fact thatRon was now elbowing him in the ribs in an attemptto force his way into the room, “well, I’ve never mixedan antidote for a love potion, sir, and by the time I getit right, Ron might’ve done something serious —”Helpfully, Ron chose this moment to moan, “I can’tsee her, Harry — is he hiding her?”“Was this potion within date?” asked Slughorn, noweyeing Ron with professional interest. “They canstrengthen, you know, the longer they’re kept.”“That would explain a lot,” panted Harry, nowpositively wrestling with Ron to keep him fromknocking Slughorn over. “It’s his birthday, Professor,”he added imploringly.“Oh, all right, come in, then, come in,” said Slughorn,relenting. “I’ve got the necessary here in my bag, it’snot a difficult antidote. …”Ron burst through the door into Slughorn’soverheated, crowded study, tripped over a tasseledfootstool, regained his balance by seizing Harryaround the neck, and muttered, “She didn’t see that,did she?”P a g e | 445 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“She’s not here yet,” said Harry, watching Slughornopening his potion kit and adding a few pinches ofthis and that to a small crystal bottle.“That’s good,” said Ron fervently. “How do I look?”“Very handsome,” said Slughorn smoothly, handingRon a glass of clear liquid. “Now drink that up, it’s atonic for the nerves, keep you calm when she arrives,you know.”“Brilliant,” said Ron eagerly, and he gulped theantidote down noisily.Harry and Slughorn watched him. For a moment, Ronbeamed at them. Then, very slowly, his grin saggedand vanished, to be replaced by an expression ofutmost horror.“Back to normal, then?” said Harry, grinning.Slughorn chuckled. “Thanks a lot, Professor.”“Don’t mention it, m’boy, don’t mention it,” saidSlughorn, as Ron collapsed into a nearby armchair,looking devastated. “Pick-me-up, that’s what heneeds,” Slughorn continued, now bustling over to atable loaded with drinks. “I’ve got butterbeer, I’ve gotwine, I’ve got one last bottle of this oak-matured mead… hmm … meant to give that to Dumbledore forChristmas … ah, well …” He shrugged. “He can’t misswhat he’s never had! Why don’t we open it now andcelebrate Mr. Weasley’s birthday? Nothing like a finespirit to chase away the pangs of disappointed love.…”He chortled again, and Harry joined in. This was thefirst time he had found himself almost alone withSlughorn since his disastrous first attempt to extractthe true memory from him. Perhaps, if he could justP a g e | 446 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

keep Slughorn in a good mood … perhaps if they gotthrough enough of the oak-matured mead …“There you are then,” said Slughorn, handing Harryand Ron a glass of mead each before raising his own.“Well, a very happy birthday, Ralph —”“Ron —” whispered Harry.But Ron, who did not appear to be listening to thetoast, had already thrown the mead into his mouthand swallowed it.There was one second, hardly more than a heartbeat,in which Harry knew there was something terriblywrong and Slughorn, it seemed, did not.“— and may you have many more —”“Ron!”Ron had dropped his glass; he half-rose from hischair and then crumpled, his extremities jerkinguncontrollably. Foam was dribbling from his mouth,and his eyes were bulging from their sockets.“Professor!” Harry bellowed. “Do something!”But Slughorn seemed paralyzed by shock. Rontwitched and choked: His skin was turning blue.“What — but —” spluttered Slughorn.Harry leapt over a low table and sprinted towardSlughorn’s open potion kit, pulling out jars andpouches, while the terrible sound of Ron’s garglingbreath filled the room. Then he found it — theshriveled kidneylike stone Slughorn had taken fromhim in Potions.P a g e | 447 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

He hurtled back to Ron’s side, wrenched open hisjaw, and thrust the bezoar into his mouth. Ron gave agreat shudder, a rattling gasp, and his body becamelimp and still.P a g e | 448 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

ELF TAILS“So, all in all, not one of Ron’s better birthdays?” saidFred.It was evening; the hospital wing was quiet, thewindows curtained, the lamps lit. Ron’s was the onlyoccupied bed. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny weresitting around him; they had spent all day waitingoutside the double doors, trying to see insidewhenever somebody went in or out. Madam Pomfreyhad only let them enter at eight o’clock. Fred andGeorge had arrived at ten past.“This isn’t how we imagined handing over ourpresent,” said George grimly, putting down a largewrapped gift on Ron’s bedside cabinet and sittingbeside Ginny.“Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he wasconscious,” said Fred.“There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprisehim —” said George.P a g e | 449 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

“You were in Hogsmeade?” asked Ginny, looking up.“We were thinking of buying Zonko’s,” said Fredgloomily. “A Hogsmeade branch, you know, but a fatlot of good it’ll do us if you lot aren’t allowed out atweekends to buy our stuff anymore. … But nevermind that now.”He drew up a chair beside Harry and looked at Ron’spale face.“How exactly did it happen, Harry?”Harry retold the story he had already recounted, it feltlike a hundred times to Dumbledore, to McGonagall,to Madam Pomfrey, to Hermione, and to Ginny.“… and then I got the bezoar down his throat and hisbreathing eased up a bit, Slughorn ran for help,McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned up, and theybrought Ron up here. They reckon he’ll be all right.Madam Pomfrey says he’ll have to stay here a week orso … keep taking essence of rue …”“Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar,” saidGeorge in a low voice.“Lucky there was one in the room,” said Harry, whokept turning cold at the thought of what would havehappened if he had not been able to lay hands on thelittle stone.Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff. She hadbeen exceptionally quiet all day. Having hurtled,white-faced, up to Harry outside the hospital wingand demanded to know what had happened, she hadtaken almost no part in Harry and Ginny’s obsessivediscussion about how Ron had been poisoned, butmerely stood beside them, clench-jawed andP a g e | 450 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling