TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT 24 страница

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he suspected had a lot to do with Cedric — he had an idea Cedric might have told the Hufflepuffs to leave Harry alone, in gratitude for Harry’s tip-off about the dragons. There seemed to be fewer

Support Cedric Diggory ! badges around too. Draco Malfoy, of

course, was still quoting Rita Skeeter’s article to him at every possi- ble opportunity, but he was getting fewer and fewer laughs out of it — and just to heighten Harry’s feeling of well-being, no story

about Hagrid had appeared in the Daily Prophet.

“She didn’ seem very int’rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth, ” Hagrid said, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the term. To their very great relief, Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and preparing a fresh selection of food with which to tempt the skrewts.

“She jus’ wanted me ter talk about you, Harry, ” Hagrid contin- ued in a low voice. “Well, I told her we’d been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the Dursleys. ‘Never had to tell him off in four years? ’ she said. ‘Never played you up in lessons, has he? ’ I told her no, an’ she didn’ seem happy at all. Yeh’d think she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Harry. ”

“’Course she did, ” said Harry, throwing lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up his knife to cut some more. “She can’t keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it’ll get boring. ”

“She wants a new angle, Hagrid, ” said Ron wisely as he shelled salamander eggs. “You were supposed to say Harry’s a mad delin- quent! ”

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“But he’s not! ” said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked. “She should’ve interviewed Snape, ” said Harry grimly. “He’d

give her the goods on me any day. ‘ Potter has been crossing lines ever

since he first arrived at this school. . . . ’”

“Said that, did he? ” said Hagrid, while Ron and Hermione laughed. “Well, yeh might’ve bent a few rules, Harry, bu’ yeh’re all righ’ really, aren’ you? ”

“Cheers, Hagrid, ” said Harry, grinning.

“You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid? ” said Ron.

“Though’ I might look in on it, yeah, ” said Hagrid gruffly. “Should be a good do, I reckon. You’ll be openin’ the dancin’, won’ yeh, Harry? Who’re you takin’? ”

“No one, yet, ” said Harry, feeling himself going red again. Hag- rid didn’t pursue the subject.

The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it pro- gressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Harry didn’t believe half of them — for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Harry didn’t know, never having had access to a wizard’s wire- less, but he deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group.

Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm

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Harry had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions — as Binns hadn’t let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn’t going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy’s cauldron-bottom report. Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.

“Evil, he is, ” Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor com- mon room. “Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying. ”

“Mmm. . . you’re not exactly straining yourself, though, are you? ” said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack — a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.

“It’s Christmas, Hermione, ” said Harry lazily; he was rereading

Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the

fire.

Hermione looked severely over at him too. “I’d have thought you’d be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don’t want to learn your antidotes! ”

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“Like what? ” Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins of the Can- nons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser.

“That egg! ” Hermione hissed.

“Come on, Hermione, I’ve got till February the twenty-fourth, ” Harry said.

He had put the golden egg upstairs in his trunk and hadn’t opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.

“But it might take weeks to work it out! ” said Hermione. “You’re going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don’t! ”

“Leave him alone, Hermione, he’s earned a bit of a break, ” said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.

“Nice look, Ron. . . go well with your dress robes, that will. ” It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done. “Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon? ” George asked.

“No, he’s off delivering a letter, ” said Ron. “Why? ” “Because George wants to invite him to the ball, ” said Fred sar- castically.

“Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat, ” said

George.

“Who d’you two keep writing to, eh? ” said Ron. “Nose out, Ron, or I’ll burn that for you too, ” said Fred, waving his wand threateningly. “So. . . you lot got dates for the ball yet? ” “Nope, ” said Ron.

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“Well, you’d better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone, ” said Fred.

“Who’re you going with, then? ” said Ron.

“Angelina, ” said Fred promptly, without a trace of embar- rassment.

“What? ” said Ron, taken aback. “You’ve already asked her? ” “Good point, ” said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, “Oi! Angelina! ”

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.

“What? ” she called back.

“Want to come to the ball with me? ”

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.

“All right, then, ” she said, and she turned back to Alicia and car- ried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

“There you go, ” said Fred to Harry and Ron, “piece of cake. ” He got to his feet, yawning, and said, “We’d better use a school owl then, George, come on. . . . ”

They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smoldering wreck of his card castle at Harry.

“We should get a move on, you know. . . ask someone. He’s

right. We don’t want to end up with a pair of trolls. ”

Hermione let out a sputter of indignation.

“A pair of. . . what, excuse me? ”

“Well — you know, ” said Ron, shrugging. “I’d rather go alone than with — with Eloise Midgen, say. ”

“Her acne’s loads better lately — and she’s really nice! ” “Her nose is off-center, ” said Ron.

“Oh I see, ” Hermione said, bristling. “So basically, you’re going

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to take the best-looking girl who’ll have you, even if she’s com- pletely horrible? ”

“Er — yeah, that sounds about right, ” said Ron. “I’m going to bed, ” Hermione snapped, and she swept off to- ward the girls’ staircase without another word.

The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed deter- mined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the dec- orations went up, Harry noticed that they were the most stunning he had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been at- tached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever any- one passed them. It was quite something to hear “O Come, All Ye Faithful” sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude. And still, Harry hadn’t asked Cho to the ball. He and Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Harry pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner; Harry was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions.

“I suppose there’s always Moaning Myrtle, ” he said gloomily, re- ferring to the ghost who haunted the girls’ toilets on the second floor.

“Harry — we’ve just got to grit our teeth and do it, ” said Ron on

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Friday morning, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress. “When we get back to the common room tonight, we’ll both have partners — agreed? ”

“Er. . . okay, ” said Harry.

But every time he glimpsed Cho that day — during break, and then lunchtime, and once on the way to History of Magic — she

was surrounded by friends. Didn’t she ever go anywhere alone?

Could he perhaps ambush her as she was going into a bathroom? But no — she even seemed to go there with an escort of four or five girls. Yet if he didn’t do it soon, she was bound to have been asked by somebody else.

He found it hard to concentrate on Snape’s Potions test, and consequently forgot to add the key ingredient — a bezoar — meaning that he received bottom marks. He didn’t care, though; he was too busy screwing up his courage for what he was about to do. When the bell rang, he grabbed his bag, and hurried to the dun- geon door.

“I’ll meet you at dinner, ” he said to Ron and Hermione, and he dashed off upstairs.

He’d just have to ask Cho for a private word, that was all. . . . He hurried off through the packed corridors looking for her, and (rather sooner than he had expected) he found her, emerging from a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

“Er — Cho? Could I have a word with you? ”

Giggling should be made illegal, Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around Cho started doing it. She didn’t, though. She said, “Okay, ” and followed him out of earshot of her classmates.

Harry turned to look at her and his stomach gave a weird lurch as though he had missed a step going downstairs.

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“Er, ” he said.

He couldn’t ask her. He couldn’t. But he had to. Cho stood there looking puzzled, watching him.

The words came out before Harry had quite got his tongue around them.

“Wangoballwime? ” “Sorry? ” said Cho.

“D’you — d’you want to go to the ball with me? ” said Harry.

Why did he have to go red now? Why?

“Oh! ” said Cho, and she went red too. “Oh Harry, I’m really sorry, ” and she truly looked it. “I’ve already said I’ll go with some- one else. ”

“Oh, ” said Harry.

It was odd; a moment before his insides had been writhing like snakes, but suddenly he didn’t seem to have any insides at all. “Oh okay, ” he said, “no problem. ”

“I’m really sorry, ” she said again.

“That’s okay, ” said Harry.

They stood there looking at each other, and then Cho said, “Well —”

“Yeah, ” said Harry.

“Well, ’bye, ” said Cho, still very red. She walked away. Harry called after her, before he could stop himself. “Who’re you going with? ”

“Oh — Cedric, ” she said. “Cedric Diggory. ”

“Oh right, ” said Harry.

His insides had come back again. It felt as though they had been filled with lead in their absence.

Completely forgetting about dinner, he walked slowly back up

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to Gryffindor Tower, Cho’s voice echoing in his ears with every step

he took. “ Cedric — Cedric Diggory. ” He had been starting to quite

like Cedric — prepared to overlook the fact that he had once beaten him at Quidditch, and was handsome, and popular, and nearly everyone’s favorite champion. Now he suddenly realized that Cedric was in fact a useless pretty boy who didn’t have enough brains to fill an eggcup.

“Fairy lights, ” he said dully to the Fat Lady — the password had been changed the previous day.

“Yes, indeed, dear! ” she trilled, straightening her new tinsel hair band as she swung forward to admit him.

Entering the common room, Harry looked around, and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice.

“What’s up, Ron? ” said Harry, joining them.

Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his face. “Why did I do it? ” he said wildly. “I don’t know what made me do it! ”

“What? ” said Harry.

“He — er — just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him, ” said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron’s arm sympathetically.

“You what? ” said Harry.

“I don’t know what made me do it! ” Ron gasped again. “What was I playing at? There were people — all around — I’ve gone mad — everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the en- trance hall — she was standing there talking to Diggory — and it sort of came over me — and I asked her! ”

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Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable.

“She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn’t even answer. And then — I dunno — I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it. ”

“She’s part veela, ” said Harry. “You were right — her grand- mother was one. It wasn’t your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it — but she was wasting her time. He’s going with Cho Chang. ” Ron looked up.

“I asked her to go with me just now, ” Harry said dully, “and she told me. ”

Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.

“This is mad, ” said Ron. “We’re the only ones left who haven’t got anyone — well, except Neville. Hey — guess who he asked?

Hermione! ”

“ What? ” said Harry, completely distracted by this startling news.

“Yeah, I know! ” said Ron, some of the color coming back into his face as he started to laugh. “He told me after Potions! Said she’s always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff — but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn’t want to go with Neville. . . I mean, who would? ” “Don’t! ” said Ginny, annoyed. “Don’t laugh —”

Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole. “Why weren’t you two at dinner? ” she said, coming over to join them.

“Because — oh shut up laughing, you two — because they’ve both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball! ” said Ginny.

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That shut Harry and Ron up.

“Thanks a bunch, Ginny, ” said Ron sourly.

“All the good-looking ones taken, Ron? ” said Hermione loftily. “Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I’m

sure you’ll find someone somewhere who’ll have you. ”

But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.

“Hermione, Neville’s right — you are a girl. . . . ”

“Oh well spotted, ” she said acidly.

“Well — you can come with one of us! ”

“No, I can’t, ” snapped Hermione.

“Oh come on, ” he said impatiently, “we need partners, we’re go- ing to look really stupid if we haven’t got any, everyone else has. . . ”

“I can’t come with you, ” said Hermione, now blushing, “because I’m already going with someone. ”

“No, you’re not! ” said Ron. “You just said that to get rid of Neville! ”

“Oh did I? ” said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously.

“Just because it’s taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn’t mean

no one else has spotted I’m a girl! ”

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.

“Okay, okay, we know you’re a girl, ” he said. “That do? Will you come now? ”

“I’ve already told you! ” Hermione said very angrily. “I’m going with someone else! ”

And she stormed off toward the girls’ dormitories again. “She’s lying, ” said Ron flatly, watching her go.

“She’s not, ” said Ginny quietly.

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“Who is it then? ” said Ron sharply.

“I’m not telling you, it’s her business, ” said Ginny. “Right, ” said Ron, who looked extremely put out, “this is getting

stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I’ll just —”

“I can’t, ” said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. “I’m going with — with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought. . . well. . . I’m not going to be able to go otherwise, I’m not in fourth year. ” She looked extremely miserable. “I think I’ll go and have dinner, ” she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.

Ron goggled at Harry.

“What’s got into them? ” he demanded.

But Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hole. The time had come for drastic action.

“Wait here, ” he said to Ron, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati, and said, “Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me? ” Parvati went into a fit of giggles. Harry waited for them to sub- side, his fingers crossed in the pocket of his robes.

“Yes, all right then, ” she said finally, blushing furiously. “Thanks, ” said Harry, in relief. “Lavender — will you go with Ron? ”

“She’s going with Seamus, ” said Parvati, and the pair of them giggled harder than ever.

Harry sighed.

“Can’t you think of anyone who’d go with Ron? ” he said, lower- ing his voice so that Ron wouldn’t hear.

“What about Hermione Granger? ” said Parvati. “She’s going with someone else. ”

Parvati looked astonished.

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“Ooooh — who? ” she said keenly.

Harry shrugged. “No idea, ” he said. “So what about Ron? ” “Well. . . ” said Parvati slowly, “I suppose my sister might. . . Padma, you know. . . in Ravenclaw. I’ll ask her if you like. ” “Yeah, that would be great, ” said Harry. “Let me know, will you? ”

And he went back over to Ron, feeling that this ball was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and hoping very much that Padma Patil’s nose was dead center.

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THE YULE BALL

espite the very heavy load of homework that the fourth

years had been given for the holidays, Harry was in no

mood to work when term ended, and spent the week leading up to Christmas enjoying himself as fully as possible along with everyone else. Gryffindor Tower was hardly less crowded now than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than usual. Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place. Before long, however, all the Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a Canary Cream concealed in the center, and George con- fided to Harry that he and Fred were now working on developing something else. Harry made a mental note never to accept so much as a crisp from Fred and George in future. He still hadn’t forgotten Dudley and the Ton-Tongue Toffee.

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Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Ha- grid’s cabin, while the Durmstrang ship’s portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savory puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about.

“It is too ’eavy, all zis ’Ogwarts food, ” they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening (Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). “I will not fit into my dress robes! ”

“Oooh there’s a tragedy, ” Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. “She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn’t she? ”

“Hermione — who are you going to the ball with? ” said Ron. He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, “I’m not telling you, you’ll just make fun of me. ”

“You’re joking, Weasley! ” said Malfoy, behind them. “You’re not

telling me someone’s asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared

Mudblood? ”

Harry and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione said loudly, waving to somebody over Malfoy’s shoulder, “Hello, Pro- fessor Moody! ”

Malfoy went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the staff table, finishing his stew. “Twitchy little ferret, aren’t you, Malfoy? ” said Hermione

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scathingly, and she, Harry, and Ron went up the marble staircase laughing heartily.

“Hermione, ” said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frown- ing, “your teeth. . . ”

“What about them? ” she said.

“Well, they’re different. . . I’ve just noticed. . . . ” “Of course they are — did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me? ”

“No, I mean, they’re different to how they were before he put that hex on you. . . . They’re all. . . straight and — and normal- sized. ”

Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously, and Harry noticed it too: It was a very different smile from the one he remembered.

“Well. . . when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were, ” she said. “And I just. . . let her carry on a bit. ” She smiled even more widely. “Mum and Dad won’t be too pleased. I’ve been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. You know, they’re dentists, they just don’t think teeth and magic should — look! Pigwidgeon’s back! ”

Ron’s tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle- laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls

paused and said, “Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn’t he cute? ”

“Stupid little feathery git! ” Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. “You bring letters to the addressee! You don’t hang around showing off! ”

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Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over Ron’s fist. The third-year girls all looked very shocked.

“Clear off! ” Ron snapped at them, waving the fist holding Pig- widgeon, who hooted more happily than ever as he soared through the air. “Here — take it, Harry, ” Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalized. He pulled Sir- ius’s reply off Pigwidgeon’s leg, Harry pocketed it, and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read it.

Everyone in the common room was much too busy in letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and Harry read out:

Dear Harry,

Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn’t be feeling too happy right now! I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitis Curse, as a

dragon’s eyes are its weakest point — “That’s what Krum

did! ” Hermione whispered — but your way was better, I’m

impressed.

Don’t get complacent, though, Harry. You’ve only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament’s got plenty more opportunity if they’re trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open — particularly when the person we discussed is

around — and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble.

Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything unusual.

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“He sounds exactly like Moody, ” said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. “‘Constant vigilance! ’ You’d think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls. . . . ”

“But he’s right, Harry, ” said Hermione, “you have still got two

tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means. . . . ”

“Hermione, he’s got ages! ” snapped Ron. “Want a game of chess, Harry? ”

“Yeah, okay, ” said Harry. Then, spotting the look on Hermione’s face, he said, “Come on, how’m I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won’t even be able to hear the egg over this lot. ”

“Oh I suppose not, ” she sighed, and she sat down to watch their chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron’s, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop.

Harry awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day. Wondering what had caused his abrupt return to consciousness, he opened his eyes, and saw something with very large, round, green eyes staring back at him in the darkness, so close they were almost nose to nose.

“ Dobby! ” Harry yelled, scrambling away from the elf so fast he

almost fell out of bed. “Don’t do that! ”

“Dobby is sorry, sir! ” squeaked Dobby anxiously, jumping back- ward with his long fingers over his mouth. “Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter ‘Merry Christmas’ and bring him a present, sir! Harry Potter did say Dobby could come and see him some- times, sir! ”