Harry Potter 06 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Severus, watch over my son Draco as he attempts to fulfil the Dark Lord’s wishes?’
    ‘I will,’ said Snape.
    A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire.
    ‘And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?’
    ‘I will,’ said Snape.
    A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing chain.
    ‘And, should it prove necessary … if it seems Draco will fail …’ whispered Narcissa (Snape’s hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), ‘will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?’
    There was a moment’s silence. Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide.
    ‘I will,’ said Snape.
    Bellatrix’s astounded face glowed red in the blaze of a third tongue of flame, which shot from the wand, twisted with the others and bound itself thickly around their clasped hands, like a rope, like a fiery snake.

 
     
— CHAPTER THREE —
     
Will and Won’t
    Harry Potter was snoring loudly. He had been sitting in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face pressed against the cold window-pane, his glasses askew and his mouth wide open. The misty fug his breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light drained his face of all colour so that he looked ghostly beneath his shock of untidy black hair.
    The room was strewn with various possessions and a good smattering of rubbish. Owl feathers, apple cores and sweet wrappers littered the floor, a number of spellbooks lay higgledy-piggledy among the tangled robes on his bed, and a mess of newspapers sat in a puddle of light on his desk. The headline of one blared:
     
    HARRY POTTER: THE CHOSEN ONE?
     
    Rumours continue to fly about the mysterious recent disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which He Who Must Not Be Named was sighted once more.
    ‘We’re not allowed to talk about it, don’t ask me anything,’ said one agitated Obliviator, who refused to give his name as he left the Ministry last night.
    Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centred on the fabled Hall of Prophecy.
    Though Ministry spokeswizards have hitherto refused even to confirm the existence of such a place, a growing number of the wizarding community believe that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in Azkaban for trespass and attempted theft were attempting to steal a prophecy. The nature of that prophecy is unknown, although speculation is rife that it concerns Harry Potter, the only person ever known to have survived the Killing Curse, and who is also known to have been at the Ministry on the night in question. Some are going so far as to call Potter the ‘Chosen One’, believing that the prophecy names him as the only one who will be able to rid us of He Who Must Not Be Named.
    The current whereabouts of the prophecy, if it exists, are unknown, although (cont. page 2, column 5)
     
    A second newspaper lay beside the first. This one bore the headline:
     
    SCRIMGEOUR SUCCEEDS FUDGE
     
    Most of this front page was taken up with a large black-and-white picture of a man with a lionlike mane of thick hair and a rather ravaged face. The picture was moving – the man was waving at the ceiling.
     
    Rufus Scrimgeour, previously Head of the Auror Office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister for Magic. The appointment has largely been greeted with enthusiasm by the wizarding community, though rumours of a rift between the new Minister and Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, surfaced within hours of Scrimgeour taking office.
    Scrimgeour’s representatives admitted that he had met with Dumbledore at once upon taking possession of the top job, but refused to comment on the topics under discussion. Albus Dumbledore is known to (cont. page 3, column 2)
     
    To the left of this paper sat another, which had been folded so that a story bearing the title MINISTRY GUARANTEES STUDENTS’ SAFETY was visible.
     
    Newly appointed Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, spoke today of the tough new measures taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students returning to Hogwarts School of