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

same is probably true of hundreds of people –’
    ‘– that’s what I said –’ muttered Ron.
    ‘– and in any case, we have put stringent security measures in place this year, I do not believe that necklace can possibly have entered this school without our knowledge –’
    ‘– but –’
    ‘– and what is more,’ said Professor McGonagall, with an air of awful finality, ‘Mr Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today.’
    Harry gaped at her, deflating.
    ‘How do you know, Professor?’
    ‘Because he was doing detention with me. He has now failed to complete his Transfiguration homework twice in a row. So, thank you for telling me your suspicions, Potter,’ she said as she marched past them, ‘but I need to go up to the hospital wing now to check on Katie Bell. Good day to you all.’
    She held open her office door. They had no choice but to file past her without another word.
    Harry was angry with the other two for siding with McGonagall; nevertheless, he felt compelled to join in once they started discussing what had happened.
    ‘So who do you reckon Katie was supposed to give the necklace to?’ asked Ron, as they climbed the stairs to the common room.
    ‘Goodness only knows,’ said Hermione. ‘But whoever it was has had a narrow escape. No one could have opened that package without touching the necklace.’
    ‘It could’ve been meant for loads of people,’ said Harry. ‘Dumbledore – the Death Eaters would love to get rid of him, he must be one of their top targets. Or Slughorn – Dumbledore reckons Voldemort really wanted him and they can’t be pleased that he’s sided with Dumbledore. Or –’
    ‘Or you,’ said Hermione, looking troubled.
    ‘Couldn’t have been,’ said Harry, ‘or Katie would’ve just turned round in the lane and given it to me, wouldn’t she? I was behind her all the way out of the Three Broomsticks. It would have made much more sense to deliver the parcel outside Hogwarts, what with Filch searching everyone who goes in and out. I wonder why Malfoy told her to take it into the castle?’
    ‘Harry, Malfoy wasn’t in Hogsmeade!’ said Hermione, actually stamping her foot in frustration.
    ‘He must have used an accomplice, then,’ said Harry. ‘Crabbe or Goyle – or, come to think of it, another Death Eater, he’ll have loads better cronies than Crabbe and Goyle now he’s joined up –’
    Ron and Hermione exchanged looks that plainly said ‘there’s no point arguing with him’.
    ‘Dilligrout,’ said Hermione firmly, as they reached the Fat Lady.
    The portrait swung open to admit them to the common room. It was quite full and smelled of damp clothing; many people seemed to have returned from Hogsmeade early because of the bad weather. There was no buzz of fear or speculation, however: clearly, the news of Katie’s fate had not yet spread.
    ‘It wasn’t a very slick attack, really, when you stop and think about it,’ said Ron, casually turfing a first-year out of one of the good armchairs by the fire, so that he could sit down. ‘The curse didn’t even make it into the castle. Not what you’d call foolproof.’
    ‘You’re right,’ said Hermione, prodding Ron out of the chair with her foot and offering it to the first-year again. ‘It wasn’t very well-thought-out at all.’
    ‘But since when has Malfoy been one of the world’s great thinkers?’ asked Harry.
    Neither Ron nor Hermione answered him.

 
     
— CHAPTER THIRTEEN —
     
The Secret Riddle
    Katie was removed to St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries the following day, by which time the news that she had been cursed had spread all over the school, though the details were confused and nobody other than Harry, Ron, Hermione and Leanne seemed to know that Katie herself had not been the intended target.
    ‘Oh, and Malfoy knows, of course,’ said Harry to Ron and Hermione, who continued their new policy of feigning deafness whenever Harry mentioned his Malfoy-is-a-Death-Eater theory.
    Harry had wondered whether Dumbledore would return from wherever he had been in time for Monday night’s lesson, but having had no word to the contrary, he presented himself outside Dumbledore’s office at eight o’clock, knocked, and was told to enter. There sat Dumbledore, looking unusually tired; his hand was as black and burned as ever, but he smiled when he gestured to Harry to sit down. The Pensieve was sitting on the desk again, casting silvery specks of light over the