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

slippery with blood; Snape had an immense head-start – was it possible that he had already entered the Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, or had the Order made steps to secure it, to prevent the Death Eaters retreating that way? He could hear nothing but his own pounding feet, his own hammering heart as he sprinted along the next empty corridor, but then spotted a bloody footprint which showed that at least one of the fleeing Death Eaters was heading towards the front doors – perhaps the Room of Requirement was indeed blocked –
    He skidded round another corner and a curse flew past him; he dived behind a suit of armour which exploded; he saw the brother and sister Death Eaters running down the marble staircase ahead and aimed jinxes at them, but merely hit several bewigged witches in a portrait on the landing, who ran screeching into neighbouring paintings; as he leapt over the wreckage of armour Harry heard more shouts and screams; other people within the castle seemed to have awoken …
    He pelted towards a short cut, hoping to overtake the brother and sister and close in on Snape and Malfoy, who must surely have reached the grounds by now; remembering to leap the vanishing step halfway down the concealed staircase he burst through a tapestry at the bottom and out into a corridor where a number of bewildered and pyjama-clad Hufflepuffs stood.
    ‘Harry! We heard a noise and someone said something about the Dark Mark –’ began Ernie Macmillan.
    ‘Out of the way!’ yelled Harry, knocking two boys aside as he sprinted towards the landing and down the remainder of the marble staircase. The oak front doors had been blasted open; there were smears of blood on the flagstones and several terrified students stood huddled against the walls, one or two still cowering with their arms over their faces; the giant Gryffindor hour-glass had been hit by a curse and the rubies within were still falling, with a loud rattle, on to the flagstones below …
    Harry flew across the Entrance Hall and out into the dark grounds: he could just make out three figures racing across the lawn, heading for the gates beyond which they could Disapparate – by the looks of them, the huge blond Death Eater and, some way ahead of him, Snape and Malfoy …
    The cold night air ripped at Harry’s lungs as he tore after them; he saw a flash of light in the distance that momentarily silhouetted his quarry; he did not know what it was but continued to run, not yet near enough to get a good aim with a curse –
    Another flash, shouts, retaliatory jets of light, and Harry understood: Hagrid had emerged from his cabin and was trying to stop the Death Eaters escaping, and though every breath seemed to shred his lungs and the stitch in his chest was like fire, Harry sped up as an unbidden voice in his head said: not Hagrid … not Hagrid too …
    Something caught Harry hard in the small of the back and he fell forwards, his face smacking the ground, blood pouring out of both nostrils: he knew, even as he rolled over, his wand ready, that the brother and sister he had overtaken using his short cut were closing in behind him …
    ‘Impedimenta!’ he yelled as he rolled over again, crouching close to the dark ground, and miraculously his jinx hit one of them, who stumbled and fell, tripping up the other; Harry leapt to his feet and sprinted on, after Snape …
    And now he saw the vast outline of Hagrid, illuminated by the light of the crescent moon revealed suddenly from behind clouds; the blond Death Eater was aiming curse after curse at the gamekeeper, but Hagrid’s immense strength, and the toughened skin he had inherited from his giantess mother, seemed to be protecting him; Snape and Malfoy, however, were still running; they would soon be beyond the gates, able to Disapparate –
    Harry tore past Hagrid and his opponent, took aim at Snape’s back and yelled, ‘Stupefy!’
    He missed; the jet of red light soared past Snape’s head; Snape shouted, ‘Run, Draco!’ and turned; twenty yards apart he and Harry looked at each other before raising their wands simultaneously.
    ‘Cruc—’
    But Snape parried the curse, knocking Harry backwards off his feet before he could complete it; Harry rolled over and scrambled back up again as the huge Death Eater behind him yelled, ‘Incendio!’ ; Harry heard an explosive bang and a dancing orange light spilled over all of them: Hagrid’s house was on fire.
    ‘Fang’s in there, yeh evil –!’ Hagrid