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

before the man himself turned the corner, hunchbacked, his jowls aquiver.
    ‘Oho!’ he wheezed. ‘Out of bed so late, this’ll mean detention!’
    ‘No it won’, Filch,’ said Hagrid shortly. ‘They’re with me, aren’ they?’
    ‘And what difference does that make?’ asked Filch obnoxiously.
    ‘I’m a ruddy teacher, aren’ I, yeh sneakin’ Squib!’ said Hagrid, firing up at once.
    There was a nasty hissing noise as Filch swelled with fury; Mrs Norris had arrived, unseen, and was twisting herself sinuously around Filch’s skinny ankles.
    ‘Get goin’,’ said Hagrid out of the corner of his mouth.
    Harry did not need telling twice; he and Hermione both hurried off, Hagrid and Filch’s raised voices echoing behind them as they ran. They passed Peeves near the turning into Gryffindor Tower, but he was streaking happily towards the source of the yelling, cackling and calling,
     
    When there’s strife and when there’s trouble
    Call on Peevsie, he’ll make double!’
     
    The Fat Lady was snoozing and not pleased to be awoken, but swung forwards grumpily to allow them to clamber into the mercifully peaceful and empty common room. It did not seem that people knew about Ron yet; Harry was very relieved, he had been interrogated enough that day. Hermione bade him goodnight and set off for the girls’ dormitory. Harry, however, remained behind, taking a seat beside the fire and looking down into the dying embers.
    So Dumbledore had argued with Snape. In spite of all he had told Harry, in spite of his insistence that he trusted Snape completely, he had lost his temper with him … he did not think that Snape had tried hard enough to investigate the Slytherins … or, perhaps, to investigate a single Slytherin: Malfoy?
    Was it because Dumbledore did not want Harry to do anything foolish, to take matters into his own hands, that he had pretended there was nothing in Harry’s suspicions? That seemed likely. It might even be that Dumbledore did not want anything to distract Harry from their lessons, or from procuring that memory from Slughorn. Perhaps Dumbledore did not think it right to confide suspicions about his staff to sixteen-year-olds …
    ‘There you are, Potter!’
    Harry jumped to his feet in shock, his wand at the ready. He had been quite convinced that the common room was empty; he had not been at all prepared for a hulking figure to rise, suddenly, out of a distant chair. A closer look showed him that it was Cormac McLaggen.
    ‘I’ve been waiting for you to come back,’ said McLaggen, disregarding Harry’s drawn wand. ‘Must’ve fallen asleep. Look, I saw them taking Weasley up to the hospital wing earlier. Didn’t look like he’ll be fit for next week’s match.’
    It took Harry a few moments to realise what McLaggen was talking about.
    ‘Oh … right … Quidditch,’ he said, putting his wand back into the belt of his jeans and running a hand wearily through his hair. ‘Yeah … he might not make it.’
    ‘Well, then, I’ll be playing Keeper, won’t I?’ said McLaggen.
    ‘Yeah,’ said Harry. ‘Yeah, I suppose so …’
    He could not think of an argument against it; after all, McLaggen had certainly performed second best in the trials.
    ‘Excellent,’ said McLaggen in a satisfied voice. ‘So when’s practice?’
    ‘What? Oh … there’s one tomorrow evening.’
    ‘Good. Listen, Potter, we should have a talk beforehand. I’ve got some ideas on strategy you might find useful.’
    ‘Right,’ said Harry unenthusiastically. ‘Well, I’ll hear them tomorrow, then. I’m pretty tired now … see you …’
    The news that Ron had been poisoned spread quickly next day, but it did not cause the sensation that Katie’s attack had done. People seemed to think that it might have been an accident, given that he had been in the Potion master’s room at the time, and that as he had been given an antidote immediately there was no real harm done. In fact, the Gryffindors were generally much more interested in the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, for many of them wanted to see Zacharias Smith, who played Chaser on the Hufflepuff team, punished soundly for his commentary during the opening match against Slytherin.
    Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy. Still checking the Marauder’s Map whenever he got a chance, he sometimes made detours to wherever Malfoy happened to be, but had not yet