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

Zabini.
    ‘Well, I certainly expect you to win your first match after all this hard work!’ said Slughorn. ‘But a little recreation never hurt anybody. Now, how about Monday night, you can’t possibly want to practise in this weather …’
    ‘I can’t, Professor, I’ve got – er – an appointment with Professor Dumbledore that evening.’
    ‘Unlucky again!’ cried Slughorn dramatically. ‘Ah, well … you can’t evade me for ever, Harry!’
    And with a regal wave, he waddled out of the shop, taking as little notice of Ron as though he had been a display of Cockroach Cluster.
    ‘I can’t believe you’ve wriggled out of another one,’ said Hermione, shaking her head. ‘They’re not that bad, you know … they’re even quite fun sometimes …’ But then she caught sight of Ron’s expression. ‘Oh, look – they’ve got Deluxe Sugar Quills – those would last hours!’
    Glad that Hermione had changed the subject, Harry showed much more interest in the new extra-large Sugar Quills than he would normally have done, but Ron continued to look moody and merely shrugged when Hermione asked him where he wanted to go next.
    ‘Let’s go to the Three Broomsticks,’ said Harry. ‘It’ll be warm.’
    They bundled their scarves back over their faces and left the sweet shop. The bitter wind was like knives on their faces after the sugary warmth of Honeydukes. The street was not very busy; nobody was lingering to chat, just hurrying towards their destinations. The exceptions were two men a little ahead of them, standing just outside the Three Broomsticks. One was very tall and thin; squinting through his rain-washed glasses Harry recognised the barman who worked in the other Hogsmeade pub, the Hog’s Head. As Harry, Ron and Hermione drew closer, the barman drew his cloak more tightly around his neck and walked away, leaving the shorter man to fumble with something in his arms. They were barely feet from him when Harry realised who the man was.
    ‘Mundungus!’
    The squat, bandy-legged man with long straggly ginger hair jumped and dropped an ancient suitcase, which burst open, releasing what looked like the entire contents of a junk shop window.
    ‘Oh, ’ello, ’Arry,’ said Mundungus Fletcher, with a most unconvincing stab at airiness. ‘Well, don’t let me keep ya.’
    And he began scrabbling on the ground to retrieve the contents of his suitcase with every appearance of a man eager to be gone.
    ‘Are you selling this stuff?’ asked Harry, watching Mundungus grabbing an assortment of grubby-looking objects from the ground.
    ‘Oh, well, gotta scrape a living,’ said Mundungus. ‘Gimme that!’
    Ron had stooped down and picked up something silver.
    ‘Hang on,’ Ron said slowly. ‘This looks familiar –’
    ‘Thank you!’ said Mundungus, snatching the goblet out of Ron’s hand and stuffing it back into the case. ‘Well, I’ll see you all – OUCH!’
    Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand.
    ‘Harry!’ squealed Hermione.
    ‘You took that from Sirius’s house,’ said Harry, who was almost nose-to-nose with Mundungus and was breathing in an unpleasant smell of old tobacco and spirits. ‘That had the Black family crest on it.’
    ‘I – no – what –?’ spluttered Mundungus, who was turning slowly purple.
    ‘What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?’ snarled Harry.
    ‘I – no –’
    ‘Give it to me!’
    ‘Harry, you mustn’t!’ shrieked Hermione, as Mundungus started to turn blue.
    There was a bang and Harry felt his hands fly off Mundungus’s throat. Gasping and spluttering, Mundungus seized his fallen case, then – CRACK – he Disapparated.
    Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot to see where Mundungus had gone.
    ‘COME BACK, YOU THIEVING –!’
    ‘There’s no point, Harry.’
    Tonks had appeared out of nowhere, her mousy hair wet with sleet.
    ‘Mundungus will probably be in London by now. There’s no point yelling.’
    ‘He’s nicked Sirius’s stuff! Nicked it!’
    ‘Yes, but still,’ said Tonks, who seemed perfectly untroubled by this piece of information, ‘you should get out of the cold.’
    She watched them through the door of the Three Broomsticks. The moment he was inside, Harry burst out, ‘He was nicking Sirius’s stuff!’
    ‘I know, Harry, but please don’t shout, people are staring,’ whispered Hermione.