Harry Potter 02 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

the grounds descended on the castle. Harry found it peaceful, rather than gloomy, and enjoyed the fact that he, Hermione and the Weasleys had the run of Gryffindor Tower, which meant they could play Exploding Snap loudly without bothering anyone, and practise duelling in private. Fred, George and Ginny had chosen to stay at school rather than visit Bill in Egypt with Mr and Mrs Weasley. Percy, who disapproved of what he termed their childish behaviour, didn’t spend much time in the Gryffindor common room. He had already told them pompously that he was only staying over Christmas because it was his duty as a Prefect to support the teachers during this troubled time.
    Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Harry and Ron, the only ones left in their dormitory, were woken very early by Hermione, who burst in, fully dressed and carrying presents for them both.
    ‘Wake up,’ she said loudly, pulling back the curtains at the window.
    ‘Hermione – you’re not supposed to be in here,’ said Ron, shielding his eyes against the light.
    ‘Merry Christmas to you, too,’ said Hermione, throwing him his present. ‘I’ve been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the Potion. It’s ready.’
    Harry sat up, suddenly wide awake.
    ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘Positive,’ said Hermione, shifting Scabbers the rat so that she could sit down on the end of his four-poster. ‘If we’re going to do it, I say it should be tonight.’
    At that moment, Hedwig swooped into the room, carrying a very small package in her beak.
    ‘Hello,’ said Harry happily, as she landed on his bed, ‘are you speaking to me again?’
    She nibbled his ear in an affectionate sort of way, which was a far better present than the one which she had brought him, which turned out to be from the Dursleys. They had sent Harry a toothpick and a note telling him to find out whether he’d be able to stay at Hogwarts for the summer holidays, too.
    The rest of Harry’s Christmas presents were far more satisfactory. Hagrid had sent him a large tin of treacle fudge, which Harry decided to soften by the fire before eating; Ron had given him a book called Flying with the Cannons , a book of interesting facts about his favourite Quidditch team; and Hermione had bought him a luxury eagle-feather quill. Harry opened the last present to find a new, hand-knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley, and a large plum cake. He put up her card with a fresh surge of guilt, thinking about Mr Weasley’s car, which hadn’t been seen since its crash with the Whomping Willow, and the bout of rule-breaking he and Ron were planning next.
    *
    No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.
    The Great Hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe criss-crossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry, from the ceiling. Dumbledore led them in a few of his favourite carols, Hagrid booming more and more loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed. Percy, who hadn’t noticed that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that it now read ‘Pinhead’, kept asking them all what they were sniggering at. Harry didn’t even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, snide remarks about his new jumper from the Slytherin table. With a bit of luck, Malfoy would be getting his come-uppance in a few hours’ time.
    Harry and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding when Hermione ushered them out of the Hall to finalise their plans for the evening.
    ‘We still need a bit of the people you’re changing into,’ said Hermione matter-of-factly, as though she was sending them to the supermarket for washing-powder. ‘And obviously, it’ll be best if you can get something of Crabbe and Goyle’s; they’re Malfoy’s best friends, he’ll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can’t burst in on us while we’re interrogating him.
    ‘I’ve got it all worked out,’ she went on smoothly, ignoring Harry and Ron’s stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. ‘I’ve filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they’re bound to eat them. Once they’re asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom cupboard.’
    Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each