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

scarf!’
    Harry and the others followed Professor McGonagall upstairs and into her office. The sleet-spattered windows were rattling in their frames and the room was chilly despite the fire crackling in the grate. Professor McGonagall closed the door and swept round her desk to face Harry, Ron, Hermione and the still-sobbing Leanne.
    ‘Well?’ she said sharply. ‘What happened?’
    Haltingly, and with many pauses while she attempted to control her crying, Leanne told Professor McGonagall how Katie had gone to the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks and returned holding the unmarked package, how Katie had seemed a little odd and how they had argued about the advisability of agreeing to deliver unknown objects, the argument culminating in the tussle over the parcel, which tore open. At this point, Leanne was so overcome there was no getting another word out of her.
    ‘All right,’ said Professor McGonagall, not unkindly, ‘go up to the hospital wing, please, Leanne, and get Madam Pomfrey to give you something for shock.’
    When she had left the room, Professor McGonagall turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione.
    ‘What happened when Katie touched the necklace?’
    ‘She rose up in the air,’ said Harry, before either Ron or Hermione could speak. ‘And then began to scream, and collapsed. Professor, can I see Professor Dumbledore, please?’
    ‘The Headmaster is away until Monday, Potter,’ said Professor McGonagall, looking surprised.
    ‘Away?’ Harry repeated angrily.
    ‘Yes, Potter, away!’ said Professor McGonagall tartly. ‘But anything you have to say about this horrible business can be said to me, I’m sure!’
    For a split second, Harry hesitated. Professor McGonagall did not invite confidences; Dumbledore, though in many ways more intimidating, still seemed less likely to scorn a theory, however wild. This was a life and death matter, though, and no moment to worry about being laughed at.
    ‘I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor.’
    On one side of him, Ron rubbed his nose in apparent embarrassment; on the other, Hermione shuffled her feet as though quite keen to put a bit of distance between herself and Harry.
    ‘That is a very serious accusation, Potter,’ said Professor McGonagall, after a shocked pause. ‘Do you have any proof?’
    ‘No,’ said Harry, ‘but …’ and he told her about following Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes and the conversation they had overheard between him and Borgin.
    When he had finished speaking, Professor McGonagall looked slightly confused.
    ‘Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes for repair?
    ‘No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to mend something, he didn’t have it with him. But that’s not the point, the thing is that he bought something at the same time and I think it was that necklace –’
    ‘You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?’
    ‘No, Professor, he told Borgin to keep it in the shop for him –’
    ‘But, Harry,’ Hermione interrupted, ‘Borgin asked him if he wanted to take it with him, and Malfoy said “no” –’
    ‘Because he didn’t want to touch it, obviously!’ said Harry angrily.
    ‘What he actually said was, “How would I look carrying that down the street?”,’ said Hermione.
    ‘Well, he would look a bit of a prat carrying a necklace,’ interjected Ron.
    ‘Oh, Ron,’ said Hermione despairingly, ‘it would be all wrapped up, so he wouldn’t have to touch it, and quite easy to hide inside a cloak, so nobody would see it! I think whatever he reserved at Borgin and Burkes was noisy or bulky; something he knew would draw attention to him if he carried it down the street – and in any case,’ she pressed on loudly, before Harry could interrupt, ‘I asked Borgin about the necklace, don’t you remember? When I went in to try and find out what Malfoy had asked him to keep, I saw it there. And Borgin just told me the price, he didn’t say it was already sold or anything –’
    ‘Well, you were being really obvious, he realised what you were up to within about five seconds, of course he wasn’t going to tell you – anyway, Malfoy could’ve sent off for it since –’
    ‘That’s enough!’ said Professor McGonagall, as Hermione opened her mouth to retort, looking furious. ‘Potter, I appreciate you telling me this, but we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr Malfoy purely because he visited the shop where this necklace might have been purchased. The