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

expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius.’
    Harry raised his wand higher.
    ‘Harry, no!’ moaned Hermione, grabbing his arm and attempting to push it down by his side. ‘Think … you mustn’t … you’ll be in such trouble …’
    Madam Malkin dithered for a moment on the spot, then seemed to decide to act as though nothing was happening in the hope that it wouldn’t. She bent towards Malfoy, who was still glaring at Harry.
    ‘I think this left sleeve could come up a little bit more, dear, let me just –’
    ‘Ouch!’ bellowed Malfoy, slapping her hand away, ‘watch where you’re putting your pins, woman! Mother – I don’t think I want these any more –’
    He pulled the robes over his head and threw them on to the floor at Madam Malkin’s feet.
    ‘You’re right, Draco,’ said Narcissa, with a contemptuous glance at Hermione, ‘now I know the kind of scum that shops here … we’ll do better at Twilfitt and Tatting’s.’
    And with that, the pair of them strode out of the shop, Malfoy taking care to bang as hard as he could into Ron on the way out.
    ‘Well, really !’ said Madam Malkin, snatching up the fallen robes and moving the tip of her wand over them like a vacuum cleaner, so that it removed the dust.
    She was distracted all through the fitting of Ron and Harry’s new robes, tried to sell Hermione wizard’s dress robes instead of witch’s, and when she finally bowed them out of the shop it was with an air of being glad to see the back of them.
    ‘Got ev’rything?’ asked Hagrid brightly when they reappeared at his side.
    ‘Just about,’ said Harry. ‘Did you see the Malfoys?’
    ‘Yeah,’ said Hagrid, unconcerned. ‘Bu’ they wouldn’ dare make trouble in the middle o’ Diagon Alley, Harry, don’ worry abou’ them.’
    Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged looks, but before they could disabuse Hagrid of this comfortable notion Mr and Mrs Weasley and Ginny appeared, all clutching heavy packages of books.
    ‘Everyone all right?’ said Mrs Weasley. ‘Got your robes? Right then, we can pop in at the apothecary and Eeylops on the way to Fred and George’s – stick close, now …’
    Neither Harry nor Ron bought any ingredients at the apothecary, seeing that they were no longer studying Potions, but both bought large boxes of owl nuts for Hedwig and Pigwidgeon at Eeylops Owl Emporium. Then, with Mrs Weasley checking her watch every minute or so, they headed further along the street in search of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop run by Fred and George.
    ‘We really haven’t got too long,’ Mrs Weasley said. ‘So we’ll just have a quick look around and then back to the car. We must be close, that’s number ninety-two … ninety-four …’
    ‘Whoa,’ said Ron, stopping in his tracks.
    Set against the dull, poster-muffled shop fronts around them, Fred and George’s windows hit the eye like a firework display. Casual passers-by were looking back over their shoulders at the windows, and a few rather stunned-looking people had actually come to a halt, transfixed. The left-hand window was dazzlingly full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced and shrieked; Harry’s eyes began to water just looking at it. The right-hand window was covered with a gigantic poster, purple like those of the Ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters:
     
    Why Are You Worrying About You-Know-Who?
    You SHOULD Be Worrying About
    U-NO-POO –
    the Constipation Sensation That’s Gripping the Nation!
     
    Harry started to laugh. He heard a weak sort of moan beside him and looked round to see Mrs Weasley gazing, dumbfounded, at the poster. Her lips moved, silently mouthing the name, ‘U-No-Poo.’
    ‘They’ll be murdered in their beds!’ she whispered.
    ‘No they won’t!’ said Ron, who like Harry was laughing. ‘This is brilliant!’
    And he and Harry led the way into the shop. It was packed with customers; Harry could not get near the shelves. He stared around, looking up at the boxes piled to the ceiling: here were the Skiving Snackboxes that the twins had perfected during their last, unfinished year at Hogwarts; Harry noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf. There were bins full of trick wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber chickens or pairs of pants when waved; the most expensive beating the unwary user around the head and neck;