Chapter 10 Luna Lovegood

Harry had a troubled night's sleep. His parents wove in and out of his dreams, never speaking; Mrs. Weasley sobbed over Kreacher's dead body, watched by Ron and Hermione who were wearing crowns, and yet again Harry found himself walking down a corridor ending in a locked door. He awoke abruptly with his scar prickling to find Ron already dressed and talking to him.

‘...better hurry up, Mums going ballistic, she says we're going to miss the train....’

There was a lot of commotion in the house. From what he heard as he dressed at top speed, Harry gathered that Fred and George had bewitched their trunks to fly downstairs to save the bother of carrying them, with the result that they had hurtled straight into Ginny and knocked her down two flights of stairs into the hall; Mrs. Black and Mrs. Weasley were both screaming at the top of their voices.

‘—COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS—’

‘—FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS—’

Hermione came hurrying into the room looking flustered, just as Harry was putting on his trainers. Hedwig was swaying on her shoulder, and she was carrying a squirming Crookshanks in her arms.

‘Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back'—the owl fluttered obligingly over and perched on top of her cage—'are you ready yet?’

‘Nearly—Ginny all right?’ Harry asked, shoving on his glasses.

‘Mrs. Weasley's patched her up,’ said Hermione. ‘But now Mad-Eye's complaining that we can't leave unless Sturgis Podmore's here, otherwise the guard will be one short.’

‘Guard?’ said Harry. ‘We have to go to King's Cross with a guard?’

‘You have to go to King's Cross with a guard,’ Hermione corrected him.

‘Why?’ said Harry irritably. ‘I thought Voldemort was supposed to be lying low, or are you telling me he's going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do me in.’

‘I don't know, it's just what Mad-Eye says,’ said Hermione distractedly, looking at her watch, ‘but if we don't leave soon we're definitely going to miss the train ....’

‘WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!’ Mrs. Weasley bellowed and Hermione jumped as though scalded and hurried out of the room. Harry seized Hedwig, stuffed her unceremoniously into her cage, and set off downstairs after Hermione, dragging his trunk.

Mrs. Black's portrait was howling with rage but nobody was bothering to close the curtains over her; all the noise in the hall was bound to rouse her again, anyway.

‘Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks,’ shouted Mrs. Weasley over the repeated screeches of ‘MUDBLOODS! SCUM! CREATURES OF DIRT!’ ‘Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage.... Oh, for heavens sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!’

A bearlike black dog had appeared at Harry's side as he was clambering over the various trunks cluttering the hall to get to Mrs. Weasley.

‘Oh honestly...’ said Mrs. Weasley despairingly, ‘well, on your own head be it!’

She wrenched open the front door and stepped out into the weak September sunlight. Harry and the dog followed her. The door slammed behind them and Mrs. Black's screeches were cut off instantly.

‘Where's Tonks?’ Harry said, looking round as they went down the stone steps of number twelve, which vanished the moment they reached the pavement.

‘She's waiting for us just up here,’ said Mrs. Weasley stiffly, averting her eyes from the lolloping black dog beside Harry.

An old woman greeted them on the corner. She had tightly curled grey hair and wore a purple hat shaped like a pork pie.

‘Wotcher, Harry,’ she said, winking. ‘Better hurry up, hadn't we, Molly?’ she added, checking her watch.

‘I know, I know,’ moaned Mrs. Weasley, lengthening her stride, ‘but Mad-Eye wanted to wait for Sturgis.... If only Arthur could have got us cars from the Ministry again ... but Fudge won't let him borrow so much as an empty ink bottle these days... How Muggles can stand travelling without magic...’

But the great black dog gave a joyful bark and gambolled around them, snapping at pigeons and chasing its own tail. Harry couldn't help laughing. Sirius had been trapped inside for a very long time. Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips in an almost Aunt Petunia-ish way.

It took them twenty minutes to reach King's Cross on foot and nothing more eventful happened during that time than Sirius scaring a couple of cats for Harry's entertainment. Once inside the station they lingered casually beside the barrier between platforms nine and ten until the coast was clear, then each of them leaned against it in turn and fell easily through on to platform nine and three-quarters, where the Hogwarts Express stood belching sooty steam over a platform packed with departing students and their families. Harry inhaled the familiar smell and felt his spirits soar.... He was really going back ...

‘I hope the others make it in time,’ said Mrs. Weasley anxiously, staring behind her at the wrought-iron arch spanning the platform, through which new arrivals would come.

‘Nice dog, Harry!’ called a tall boy with dreadlocks.

‘Thanks, Lee,’ said Harry, grinning, as Sirius wagged his tail frantically.

‘Oh good,’ said Mrs. Weasley, sounding relieved, ‘here's Alastor with the luggage, look...’

A porter's cap pulled low over his mismatched eyes, Moody came limping through the archway pushing a trolley loaded with their trunks.

‘All okay,’ he muttered to Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, ‘don't think we were followed....’

Seconds later, Mr. Weasley emerged on to the platform with Ron and Hermione. They had almost unloaded Moody's luggage trolley when Fred, George, and Ginny turned up with Lupin.

‘No trouble?’ growled Moody.

‘Nothing,’ said Lupin.

‘I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore,’ said Moody, ‘that's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus.’

‘Well, look after yourselves,’ said Lupin, shaking hands all round. He reached Harry last and gave him a clap on the shoulder. ‘You too, Harry. Be careful.’

‘Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled,’ said Moody, shaking Harry's hand too. ‘And don't forget, all of you—careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all.’

‘It's been great meeting all of you,’ said Tonks, hugging Hermione and Ginny. ‘We'll see you soon, I expect.’

A warning whistle sounded; the students still on the platform started hurrying on to the train.

‘Quick, quick,’ said Mrs. Weasley distractedly, hugging them at random and catching Harry twice, ‘Write.... Be good.... If you've forgotten anything we'll send it on.... Onto the train, now, hurry....’

For one brief moment, the great black dog reared on to its hind legs and placed its front paws on Harry's shoulders, but Mrs. Weasley shoved Harry away towards the train door, hissing, ‘For heaven's sake, act more like a dog, Sirius!’

‘See you!’ Harry called out of the open window as the train began to move, while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny waved beside him. The figures of Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shrank rapidly but the black dog was bounding alongside the window, wagging its tail; blurred people on the platform were laughing to see it chasing the train, then they rounded a bend, and Sirius was gone.

‘He shouldn't have come with us,’ said Hermione in a worried voice.

‘Oh, lighten up,’ said Ron, ‘he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke.’

‘Well,’ said Fred, clapping his hands together, ‘can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later,’ and he and George disappeared down the corridor to the right.

The train was gathering still more speed, so that the houses outside the window flashed past, and they swayed where they stood.

‘Shall we go and find a compartment, then?’ Harry asked.

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.

‘Er,’ said Ron.

‘We're—well—Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage,’ Hermione said awkwardly.

Ron wasn't looking at Harry; he seemed to have become intensely interested in the fingernails on his left hand.

‘Oh,’ said Harry. ‘Right. Fine.’

‘I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey,’ said Hermione quickly. ‘Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time.’

‘Fine,’ said Harry again. ‘Well, I—I might see you later, then.’

‘Yeah, definitely,’ said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry. ‘It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather—but we have to—I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy,’ he finished defiantly.

‘I know you're not,’ said Harry and he grinned. But as Hermione and Ron dragged their trunks, Crookshanks, and a caged Pigwidgeon off towards the engine end of the train, Harry felt an odd sense of loss. He had never travelled on the Hogwarts Express without Ron.

‘Come on,’ Ginny told him, ‘if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places.’

‘Right,’ said Harry, picking up Hedwig's cage in one hand and the handle of his trunk in the other. They struggled off down the corridor, peering through the glass-panelled doors into the compartments they passed, which were already full. Harry could not help noticing that a lot of people stared back at him with great interest and that several of them nudged their neighbours and pointed him out. After he had met this behaviour in five consecutive carriages he remembered that the Daily Prophet had been telling its readers all summer what a lying show-off he was. He wondered dully whether the people now staring and whispering believed the stories.

In the very last carriage they met Neville Longbottom, Harry's fellow fifth-year Gryffindor, his round face shining with the effort of pulling his trunk along and maintaining a one-handed grip on his struggling toad, Trevor.

‘Hi, Harry,’ he panted. ‘Hi, Ginny.... Everywhere's full.... I can't find a seat....’

‘What are you talking about?’ said Ginny, who had squeezed past Neville to peer into the compartment behind him. ‘There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here—’

Neville mumbled something about not wanting to disturb anyone.

‘Don't be silly,’ said Ginny, laughing, ‘she's all right.’

She slid the door open and pulled her trunk inside. Harry and Neville followed.

‘Hi, Luna,’ said Ginny, ‘is it okay if we take these seats?’

The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. Harry knew at once why Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by. The girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of Butterbeer corks, or that she was reading a magazine upside-down. Her eyes ranged over Neville and came to rest on Harry. She nodded.

‘Thanks,’ said Ginny, smiling at her.

Harry and Neville stowed the three trunks and Hedwig's cage in the luggage rack and sat down. Luna watched them over her upside-down magazine, which was called The Quibbler. She did not seem to need to blink as much as normal humans. She stared and stared at Harry, who had taken the seat opposite her and now wished he hadn't.

‘Had a good summer, Luna?’ Ginny asked.

‘Yes,’ said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off Harry. ‘Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. You're Harry Potter,’ she added.

‘I know I am,’ said Harry.

Neville chuckled. Luna turned her pale eyes on him instead.

‘And I don't know who you are.’

‘I'm nobody,’ said Neville hurriedly.

‘No you're not,’ said Ginny sharply. ‘Neville Longbottom—Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw.’

‘Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure,’ said Luna in a singsong voice.

She raised her upside-down magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent. Harry and Neville looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. Ginny suppressed a giggle.

The train rattled onwards, speeding them out into open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day; one moment the carriage was full of sunlight and the next they were passing beneath ominously grey clouds.

‘Guess what I got for my birthday?’ said Neville.

‘Another Remembrall?’ said Harry, remembering the marble-like device Neville's grandmother had sent him in an effort to improve his abysmal memory.

‘No,’ said Neville. ‘I could do with one, though, I lost the old one ages ago.... No, look at this....’

He dug the hand that was not keeping a firm grip on Trevor into his schoolbag and after a little bit of rummaging pulled out what appeared to be a small grey cactus in a pot, except that it was covered with what looked like boils rather than spines.

‘Mimbulus mimbletonia,’ he said proudly.

Harry stared at the thing. It was pulsating slightly, giving it the rather sinister look of some diseased internal organ.

‘It's really, really rare,’ said Neville, beaming. ‘I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even. I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My Great Uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I'm going to see if I can breed from it.’

Harry knew that Neville's favourite subject was Herbology, but for the life of him he could not see what he would want with this stunted little plant.

‘Does it—er—do anything?’ he asked.

‘Loads of stuff!’ said Neville proudly. ‘It's got an amazing defensive mechanism. Here, hold Trevor for me....’

He dumped the toad into Harry's lap and took a quill from his schoolbag. Luna Lovegood's popping eyes appeared over the top of her upside-down magazine again, watching what Neville was doing. Neville held the Mimbulus mimbletonia up to his eyes, his tongue between his teeth, chose his spot, and gave the plant a sharp prod with the tip of his quill.

Liquid squirted from every boil on the plant; thick, stinking, dark green jets of it. They hit the ceiling, the windows, and spattered Luna Lovegood's magazine; Ginny, who had flung her arms up in front of her face just in time, merely looked as though she was wearing a slimy green hat, but Harry, whose hands had been busy preventing Trevor's escape, received a faceful. It smelled like rancid manure.

Neville, whose face and torso were also drenched, shook his head to get the worst out of his eyes.

‘Sosorry,’ he gasped. ‘I haven't tried that before.... Didn't realise it would be quite so... Don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous,’ he added nervously, as Harry spat a mouthful on to the floor.

At that precise moment the door of their compartment slid open.

‘Oh ... hello, Harry,’ said a nervous voice. ‘Um ... bad time?’

Harry wiped the lenses of his glasses with his Trevor-free hand. A very pretty girl with long, shiny black hair was standing in the doorway smiling at him: Cho Chang, the Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

‘Oh ... hi,’ said Harry blankly.

‘Um...’ said Cho. ‘Well ... just thought I'd say hello ... ‘bye then.’

Rather pink in the face, she closed the door and departed. Harry slumped back in his seat and groaned. He would have liked Cho to discover him sitting with a group of very cool people laughing their heads off at a joke he had just told; he would not have chosen to be sitting with Neville and Loony Lovegood, clutching a toad and dripping in Stinksap.

‘Never mind,’ said Ginny bracingly. ‘Look, we can easily get rid of all this.’ She pulled out her wand. ‘Scourgify!’

The Stinksap vanished.

‘Sorry.’ said Neville again, in a small voice.

Ron and Hermione did not turn up for nearly an hour, by which time the food trolley had already gone by. Harry, Ginny, and Neville had finished their pumpkin pasties and were busy swapping Chocolate Frog Cards when the compartment door slid open and they walked in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage.

‘I'm starving,’ said Ron, stowing Pigwidgeon next to Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself into the seat next to him. He ripped open the wrapper, bit off the frog's head and leaned back with his eyes closed as though he had had a very exhausting morning.

‘Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each house,’ said Hermione, looking thoroughly disgruntled as she took her seat. ‘Boy and girl from each.’

‘And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?’ said Ron, still with his eyes closed.

‘Malfoy,’ replied Harry at once, certain his worst fear would be confirmed.

’ ‘Course,’ said Ron bitterly, stuffing the rest of the Frog into his mouth and taking another.

‘And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson,’ said Hermione viciously. ‘How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll...’

‘Who are Hufflepuff's?’ Harry asked.

‘Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott,’ said Ron thickly.

‘And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw,’ said Hermione.

‘You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil,’ said a vague voice.

Everyone turned to look at Luna Lovegood, who was gazing unblinkingly at Ron over the top of The Quibbler. He swallowed his mouthful of Frog.

‘Yeah, I know I did,’ he said, looking mildly surprised.

‘She didn't enjoy it very much,’ Luna informed him. ‘She doesn't think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘I don't like dancing very much.’

She retreated behind The Quibbler again. Ron stared at the cover with his mouth hanging open for a few seconds, then looked around at Ginny for some kind of explanation, but Ginny had stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself giggling. Ron shook his head, bemused, then checked his watch.

‘We're supposed to patrol the corridors every so often,’ he told Harry and Neville, ‘and we can give out punishments if people are misbehaving. I can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something....’

‘You're not supposed to abuse your position, Ron!’ said Hermione sharply.

‘Yeah, right, because Malfoy won't abuse it at all,’ said Ron sarcastically.

‘So you're going to descend to his level?’

‘No, I'm just going to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine.’

‘For heavens sake, Ron—’

‘I'll make Goyle do lines, it'll kill him, he hates writing,’ said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to Goyle's low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. ‘I ... must ... not ... look ... like ... a ... baboon's ... backside.’

Everyone laughed, but nobody laughed harder than Luna Lovegood. She let out a scream of mirth that caused Hedwig to wake up and flap her wings indignantly and Crookshanks to leap up into the luggage rack, hissing. Luna laughed so hard her magazine slipped out of her grasp, slid down her legs, and onto the floor.

‘That was funny!’

Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped for breath, staring at Ron. Utterly nonplussed, he looked around at the others, who were now laughing at the expression on Ron's face and at the ludicrously prolonged laughter of Luna Lovegood, who was rocking backwards and forwards, clutching her sides.

‘Are you taking the mickey?’ said Ron, frowning at her.

‘Baboon's ... backside!’ she choked, holding her ribs.

Everyone else was watching Luna laughing, but Harry, glancing at the magazine on the floor, noticed something that made him dive for it. Upside-down it had been hard to tell what the picture on the front was, but Harry now realised it was a fairly bad cartoon of Cornelius Fudge; Harry only recognised him because of the lime-green bowler hat. One of Fudges hands was clenched around a bag of gold; the other hand was throttling a goblin. The cartoon was captioned: How Far Will Fudge Go to Gain Gringotts?

Beneath this were listed the titles of other articles inside the magazine.

CORRUPTION IN THE QUIDDITCH LEAGUE:How the Tornados are Taking Control

SECRETS OF THE ANCIENT RUINS REVEALED

SIRIUS BLACK: Villain or Victim?

‘Can I have a look at this?’ Harry asked Luna eagerly.

She nodded, still gazing at Ron, breathless with laughter.

Harry opened the magazine and scanned the index. Until this moment he had completely forgotten the magazine Kingsley had handed Mr. Weasley to give to Sirius, but it must have been this edition of The Quibbler.

He found the page, and turned excitedly to the article.

This, too, was illustrated by a rather bad cartoon; in fact, Harry would not have known it was supposed to be Sirius if it hadn't been captioned. Sirius was standing on a pile of human bones with his wand out. The headline on the article said:

SIRIUS—Black As He's Painted Notorious Mass Murderer OR Innocent Singing Sensation?

Harry had to read this first sentence several times before he was convinced that he had not misunderstood it. Since when had Sirius been a singing sensation?

For fourteen years Sirius Black has been believed guilty of the mass murder of twelve innocent Muggles and one wizard. Black's audacious escape from Azkaban two years ago has led to the widest manhunt ever conducted by the Ministry of Magic. None of us has ever questioned that he deserves to be recaptured and handed back to the dementors.

BUT DOES HE?

Startling new evidence has recently come to light that Sirius Black may not have committed the crimes for which he was sent to Azhaban. In fact, says Doris Purkiss, of 18 Acanthia Way, Little Norton, Black may not even have been present at the killings.

‘What people don't realise is that Sirius Black is a false name,’ says Mrs. Purkiss. ‘The man people believe to be Sirius Black is actually Stubby Boardman, lead singer of popular singing group The Hobgoblins, who retired from public life after being struck on the ear by a turnip at a concert in Little Norton Church Hall nearly fifteen years ago. I recognised him the moment I saw his picture in the paper. Now, Stubby couldn't possibly have committed those crimes, because on the day in question he happened to be enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with me. I have written to the Minister for Magic and am expecting him to give Stubby, alias Sirius, a full pardon any day now.’

Harry finished reading and stared at the page in disbelief. Perhaps it was a joke, he thought, perhaps the magazine often printed spoof items. He flicked back a few pages and found the piece on Fudge.

Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, denied that he had any plans to take over the running of the Wizarding Bank, Gringotts, when he was elected Minister for Magic jive years ago. Fudge has always insisted that he wants nothing more than to ‘cooperate peacefully’ with the guardians of our gold.

BUT DOES HE?

Sources close to the Minister have recently disclosed that Fudge's dearest ambition is to seize control of the goblin gold supplies and that he will not hesitate to use force if need be.

‘It wouldn't be the first time, either,’ said a Ministry insider. ‘Cornelius “Goblin-Crusher” Fudge, that's what his friends call him. If you could hear him when he thinks no one's listening, oh, he's always talking about the goblins he's had done in; he's had them drowned, he's had them dropped off buildings, he's had them poisoned, he's had them cooked in pies....’

Harry did not read any further. Fudge might have many faults but Harry found it extremely hard to imagine him ordering goblins to be cooked in pies. He flicked through the rest of the magazine. Pausing every few pages, he read: an accusation that the Tutshill Tornados were winning the Quidditch League by a combination of blackmail, illegal broom-tampering and torture; an interview with a wizard who claimed to have flown to the moon on a Cleansweep Six and brought back a bag of moon frogs to prove it; and an article on ancient runes which at least explained why Luna had been reading The Quibbler upside-down. According to the magazine, if you turned the runes on their heads they revealed a spell to make your enemy's ears turn into kumquats. In fact, compared to the rest of the articles in The Quibbler, the suggestion that Sirius might really be the lead singer of The Hobgoblins was quite sensible.

‘Anything good in there?’ asked Ron as Harry closed the magazine.

‘Of course not,’ said Hermione scathingly, before Harry could answer. ‘The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that.’

‘Excuse me,’ said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. ‘My father's the editor.’

‘I—oh,’ said Hermione, looking embarrassed. ‘Well ... it's got some interesting ... I mean, it's quite...’

‘I'll have it back, thank you,’ said Luna coldly, and leaning forwards she snatched it out of Harry's hands. Riffling through it to page fifty-seven, she turned it resolutely upside-down again and disappeared behind it, just as the compartment door opened for the third time.

Harry looked around; he had expected this, but that did not make the sight of Draco Malfoy smirking at him from between his cronies Crabbe and Goyle any more enjoyable.

‘What?’ he said aggressively, before Malfoy could open his mouth.

‘Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention,’ drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointed chin were just like his father's. ‘You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments.’

‘Yeah,’ said Harry, ‘but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.’

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed. Malfoy's lip curled.

‘Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?’ he asked.

‘Shut up, Malfoy,’ said Hermione sharply.

‘I seem to have touched a nerve,’ said Malfoy, smirking. ‘Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line.’

‘Get out!’ said Hermione, standing up.

Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look and departed, with Crabbe and Goyle lumbering along in his wake. Hermione slammed the compartment door behind them and turned to look at Harry, who knew at once that she, like him, had registered what Malfoy had said and been just as unnerved by it.

‘Chuck us another Frog,’ said Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing.

Harry could not talk freely in front of Neville and Luna. He exchanged another nervous look with Hermione, then stared out of the window.

He had thought Sirius coming with him to the station was a bit of a laugh, but suddenly it seemed reckless, if not downright dangerous.... Hermione had been right.... Sirius should not have come. What if Mr. Malfoy had noticed the black dog and told Draco? What if he had deduced that the Weasleys, Lupin, Tonks and Moody knew where Sirius was hiding? Or had Malfoy's use of the word ‘dogging’ been a coincidence?

The weather remained undecided as they travelled farther and farther north. Rain spattered the windows in a half-hearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the carriages, Luna rolled up The Quibbler, put it carefully away in her bag and took to staring at everyone in the compartment instead.

Harry was sitting with his forehead pressed against the train window, trying to get a first distant glimpse of Hogwarts, but it was a moonless night and the rain-streaked window was grimy.

‘We'd better change,’ said Hermione at last, and all of them opened their trunks with difficulty and pulled on their school robes. She and Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their chests. Harry saw Ron checking his reflection in the black window.

At last, the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready for departure. Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this; they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Harry and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.

‘I'll carry that owl, if you like,’ said Luna to Harry, reaching out for Pigwidgeon as Neville stowed Trevor carefully in an inside pocket.

‘Oh—er—thanks,’ said Harry, handing her the cage and hoisting Hedwig's more securely into his arms.

They shuffled out of the compartment feeling the first sting of the night air on their faces as they joined the crowd in the corridor. Slowly, they moved towards the doors. Harry could smell the pine trees that lined the path down to the lake. He stepped down on to the platform and looked around, listening for the familiar call of ‘firs’ years over ‘ere ... firs’ years...’

But it did not come. Instead, a quite different voice, a brisk female one, was calling out, ‘First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!’

A lantern came swinging towards Harry and by its light he saw the prominent chin and severe haircut of Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a while the previous year.

‘Where's Hagrid?’ he said out loud.

‘I don't know,’ said Ginny, ‘but we'd better get out of the way, we're blocking the door.’

‘Oh, yeah...’

Harry and Ginny became separated as they moved off along the platform and out through the station. Jostled by the crowd, Harry squinted through the darkness for a glimpse of Hagrid; he had to be here, Harry had been relying on it—seeing Hagrid again was one of the things he'd been looking forward to most. But there was no sign of him.

He can't have left, Harry told himself as he shuffled slowly through a narrow doorway on to the road outside with the rest of the crowd. He's just got a cold or something....

He looked around for Ron or Hermione, wanting to know what they thought about the reappearance of Professor Grubbly-Plank, but neither of them was anywhere near him, so he allowed himself to be shunted forward onto the dark rain-washed road outside Hogsmeade Station.

Here stood the hundred or so horseless stagecoaches that always took the students above first year up to the castle. Harry glanced quickly at them, turned away to keep a lookout for Ron and Hermione, then did a double-take.

The coaches were no longer horseless. There were creatures standing between the carriage shafts. If he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither—vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gathering gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister. Harry could not understand why the coaches were being pulled by these horrible horses when they were quite capable of moving along by themselves.

‘Where's Pig?’ said Ron's voice, right behind Harry.

‘That Luna girl was carrying him,’ said Harry, turning quickly, eager to consult Ron about Hagrid. ‘Where d'you reckon—’

‘—Hagrid is? I dunno,’ said Ron, sounding worried. ‘He'd better be okay....’

A short distance away, Draco Malfoy, followed by a small gang of cronies including Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some timid-looking second-years out of the way so that he and his friends could get a coach to themselves. Seconds later, Hermione emerged panting from the crowd.

‘Malfoy was being absolutely foul to a first-year back there. I swear I'm going to report him, he's only had his badge three minutes and he's using it to bully people worse than ever.... Where's Crookshanks?’

‘Ginny's got him,’ said Harry. ‘There she is....’

Ginny had just emerged from the crowd, clutching a squirming Crookshanks.

‘Thanks,’ said Hermione, relieving Ginny of the cat. ‘Come on, let's get a carriage together before they all fill up....’

‘I haven't got Pig yet!’ Ron said, but Hermione was already heading off towards the nearest unoccupied coach. Harry remained behind with Ron.

‘What are those things, d'you reckon?’ he asked Ron, nodding at the horrible horses as the other students surged past them.

‘What things?’

‘Those horse—’

Luna appeared holding Pigwidgeon's cage in her arms; the tiny owl was twittering excitedly as usual.

‘Here you are,’ she said. ‘He's a sweet little owl, isn't he?’

‘Er ... yeah ... he's all right,’ said Ron gruffly. ‘Well, come on then, let's get in.... What were you saying, Harry?’

‘I was saying, what are those horse things?’ Harry said, as he, Ron, and Luna made for the carriage in which Hermione and Ginny were already sitting.

‘What horse things?’

‘The horse things pulling the carriages!’ said Harry impatiently. They were, after all, about three feet from the nearest one; it was watching them with empty white eyes. Ron, however, gave Harry a perplexed look.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I'm talking about—look!’

Harry grabbed Ron's arm and wheeled him about so that he was face to face with the winged horse. Ron stared straight at it for a second, then looked back at Harry.

‘What am I supposed to be looking at?’

‘At the—there, between the shafts! Harnessed to the coach! It's right there in front—’

But as Ron continued to look bemused, a strange thought occurred to Harry.

‘Can't ... can't you see them?’

‘See what?’

‘Can't you see what's pulling the carriages?’

Ron looked seriously alarmed now.

‘Are you feeling all right, Harry?’

‘I ... yeah...’

Harry felt utterly bewildered. The horse was there in front of him, gleaming solidly in the dim light issuing from the station windows behind them, vapour rising from its nostrils in the chilly night air. Yet, unless Ron was faking—and it was a very feeble joke if he was—Ron could not see it at all.

‘Shall we get in, then?’ said Ron uncertainly, looking at Harry as though worried about him.

‘Yeah,’ said Harry. ‘Yeah, go on...’

‘It's all right,’ said a dreamy voice from beside Harry as Ron vanished into the coach's dark interior. ‘You're not going mad or anything. I can see them, too.’

‘Can you?’ said Harry desperately, turning to Luna. He could see the bat-winged horses reflected in her wide silvery eyes.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Luna, ‘I've been able to see them ever since my first day here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am.’

Smiling faintly, she climbed into the musty interior of the carriage after Ron. Not altogether reassured, Harry followed her.

哈利度过了一个不眠之夜。他的父母不断在梦中隐现，但是从不说话；威斯里太太则对着克瑞彻的尸体痛哭流涕，而罗恩与荷米恩则头戴王冠在一边看着；接着哈利再次发现自己来到了那个尽头有一扇上锁的门的走廊之中。这时他头上的伤疤刺痛起来并猛然惊醒了，哈利发现罗恩已经穿好衣服在和他说话。

　　“…最好快点，妈妈心急火燎，她说我们要错过火车了…”

　　房间里出现了一阵骚动。哈利听见这话以最快的速度穿好衣服，他看见弗来德和乔治已经给旅行箱施法让它自己飞下楼以避免搬运的麻烦，结果是下了两层楼进入大厅的时候正撞上金妮并将她撞倒在地；布莱克太太和威斯里太太同时用最尖锐的嗓音叫了起来。

　　“—你这样会伤到金妮的，你们这两个白痴—”

　　“—肮脏的杂种，弄脏了我祖传的房子—”

　　哈利正在穿裤子的时候，荷米恩急匆匆的冲进房间，结果满脸通红。海维正摇摇晃晃的站在荷米恩的肩膀上，在荷米恩的手上则手脚蠕动的克鲁克山。

　　“爸爸和妈妈刚刚把海维送来，”猫头鹰亲切的鼓动双翼停在了笼子的顶上。“那么你们准备好了吗？”

　　“快了。金妮没事吧？”哈利推了一下眼镜问道。

　　“威斯里太太正在处理，”荷米恩说道，“但是现在疯眼汉穆迪正在抱怨说除非斯特吉斯 博得摩在，否则我们不能离开，警卫力量太薄弱了。” “警卫？”哈利说道，“我们难道必须由警卫陪同去国王车站吗？”

　　“你必须由警卫陪同去国王车站，”荷米恩纠正哈利的说法。

　　“为什么？”哈利急噪的说道，“我想伏地魔应当采取低调，要不你告诉我，他会从垃圾箱后面跳出来把我干掉啊。”

　　“我不知道，这是魔眼说的，”荷米恩漫不经心的一边看着表一边说道，“但是如果我们不马上动身的话，我们肯定会错过火车的…”

　　“你们几个现在下楼来，快！”威斯里太太咆哮道，荷米恩象被烫到一样跳起来并且快速跑出了房间。哈利抓着海维，随便的把它塞进笼子里，然后拖着旅行箱，跟着荷米恩跑下了楼。

　　布莱克太太的肖像正在狂暴的嚎叫，不过现在没人有工夫去关上她面前的窗帘；因为不管怎样，大厅里所有的噪音都会将她再次惊醒的。

　　“哈利，你跟着我和唐克丝去，”威斯里太太的叫声压过了布莱克太太不断重复的尖叫（布莱克太太总共也就是这么几句‘血统的叛徒！垃圾！肮脏的生物！’）说道，“把你的旅行箱和猫头鹰留下，阿拉斯特会处理这些行李的…哦，对着上帝发誓，天狼星，丹伯多说过不可以！”

　　一只象熊一样的黑狗（也就是天狼星的变身形态）出现在哈利的旁边，好象它正在将大厅里乱七八糟的旅行箱叼起来递给威斯里太太。

　　“哦，老实说…”威斯里太太绝望的说道，“好吧，你的脑子就和它一样！”

　　威斯里太太打开了前门并走进九月微弱的阳光里。哈利和天狼星变的那条狗跟在她的后面。大门猛的关上了，而布莱克太太的尖叫声也立即消失了。

　　“唐克丝在哪里？”当他们一行走下12号的石头台阶时哈利左右观望这问道。而那些石头台阶在他们到达人行道的一瞬间就消失不见了。

　　“她就在这里等我们，”威斯里太太呆板的说道，接着就将目光从哈利身边那条懒洋洋的大黑狗身上移开了。

　　一个老太太在街道拐角处向他们打招呼。她有着一头微微卷曲的灰色头发并且戴着一顶形状象猪肉馅饼的紫色帽子。

　　“我叫沃特彻，哈利，”唐克丝眨眨眼睛说道，“最好快点，不是吗，莫莉？”她看看手表补充道。

　　“我知道，我知道，”威斯里太太拉大了步子抱怨道，“但是穆迪要等斯特吉斯来…如果亚瑟能再次从魔法部借车带我们去就好了…不过这些日子福格恐怕一个空墨水瓶也不会让他借…真想象不出麻瓜是如何不靠魔法旅行的…”

　　但是那只大黑狗却发出一阵喜悦的吠叫声，它围着他们欢呼雀跃，猛扑那些鸽子并且追着自己的尾巴。哈利忍不住笑起来。天狼星已经困在屋里很长时间了。威斯里太太用一种几乎和派特妮亚姨妈相同的方式紧紧的抿着嘴唇。

　　他们花了大约20分钟步行抵达了国王车站，除了天狼星为了取悦哈利而抓伤了两只猫以外，一路上风平浪静。一旦进入车站他们就象往常一样闲逛着靠近九号和十号站台之间的护栏，知道滑坡变的清晰起来。接着他们依次身体前倾并很容易的通过护栏进入九又四分之三站台，在这里霍格瓦彻快车喷着乌黑的蒸汽，在站台上到处都是准备上车的学生以及他们的家人。哈利又闻到了熟悉的气味，他的灵魂都要飞了起来…他真的要回到学校了…

　　“我希望其他人准时抵达，”威斯里太太紧张的说道，她的眼睛盯着身后用钢铁制成的横跨站台的拱门，新来的旅客都要从这里经过。

　　“漂亮的狗，哈利！”一个高个子的男孩用害怕的口气说道。

　　“谢谢你，李。”哈利露齿一笑，而天狼星则狂暴的摇着尾巴。

　　“哦，太好了，”威斯里太太松了一口气说道，“阿拉斯特带着行李过来了，看…”

　　用一顶波特的帽子低低的盖住了比例失调的眼睛，穆迪一瘸一拐的拖着一辆装满旅行箱的拖车通过了拱门。

　　“一切都搞定了，”他对着威斯里太太和唐克丝嘟噜着说，“我们没有被跟踪…”

　　几秒钟之后，威斯里先生带着罗恩与荷米恩出现在站台上。当弗来德、乔治和金妮跟着卢平走过来的时候他们已经卸下了穆迪的行李拖车。

　　“没什么麻烦吧？”穆迪抱怨道。

　　“没事，”卢平回答说。

　　“我还是要把斯特吉斯告到丹伯多那里，”穆迪说道，“这已经是一周之内第二次失约了。他变的象蒙顿格斯一样不可靠。”

　　“好了，照顾好你自己吧，”卢平朝四周摆摆手说道。他接着走向哈利并在哈利的肩膀上拍了一下。“你也是，哈利。要小心。““是的，你要随时保持警惕，”穆迪也握了一下哈利的手说道，“而且你们所有的人都不要忘记—对你们信件的内容要谨慎。如果有怀疑的话，就不要把所有内容写在一封信里。”

　　“见到你们大家真的很棒，”唐克丝拥抱了一下荷米恩和金妮。“我期待着很快会再见面的。”

　　一声警告的汽笛声响起，仍然留在站台上的学生们开始匆匆忙忙的上火车。

　　“快点，快点，”威斯里太太手忙脚乱的说道。她随机的拥抱着孩子们并且抓着哈利两次。“写信…祝你们一切都好…如果你们忘了什么东西我会给你们寄去的…现在上车吧，快点…“很短的一瞬间，那只大黑狗用后腿站立并将前爪搭在哈利的肩膀上，但是威斯里太太将哈利推向车门处，嘴里发出不满的嘶嘶声，“对着上帝发誓，你要扮的更象一只狗，天狼星！”

　　“再见！”当火车开始移动的时候，哈利从开着的车窗向外叫道，与此同时，罗恩、荷米恩与金妮也在他身边挥着手。唐克丝、卢平、穆迪以及威斯里夫妇的身影很快的变小，但是那只黑狗却还在车窗边跳着，使劲的摇着尾巴；站台上已经模糊不清的人们都在笑着看它追逐火车；接着他们全都笑弯了腰，而天狼星已经走了。

　　“他不能跟着我们来，”荷米恩用一种忧郁的声调说道。

　　“哦，阳光，”罗恩说道，“他已经几个月没有见到阳光了，可怜的家伙。”

　　“好了，”弗来德拍拍手说道，“不能一整天站在这里聊天啊，我们要去和李讨论生意。再见了。”然后他和乔治就从右边的走廊消失了。

　　火车开始加速，因此车窗外面的房屋飞驰而过，他们也在站立的地方左右摇晃。

　　“那么，我们去找个隔间吗？”哈利问道。

　　罗恩与荷米恩交换了一个眼神。

　　“恩，“罗恩说道。

　　“我们—好吧—罗恩和我要去级长包厢，”荷米恩笨拙的说道。

　　罗恩没有看哈利；他看上去对自己左手的手指甲发生了浓厚的兴趣。

　　“哦，”哈利说道，“正确。很好。”

　　“我不认为我们整个旅途都会待在那里，”荷米恩很快说道，“我们的信上说我们要从男女班长那里获得指示，然后要不时的在车厢里巡逻。”

　　“很好，”哈利再次说道，“好吧，那么，我-我待会再见你们。”

　　“是的，毫无疑问，”罗恩向哈利投去一个交换的，紧张的眼神，“必须去级长车厢是一种痛苦，我宁愿—不过我不得不—我的意思是，我并不喜欢这样，我不是派斯，”他最后对抗性的说道。

　　“我知道你们不喜欢，”哈利露齿一笑。但是当罗恩与荷米恩提着他们的行李，带着克鲁克山以及装着小猪的笼子向驾驶室的末端走去的时候，哈利感到一种奇怪的失落感。他从未在没有罗恩陪伴的情况下乘坐霍格瓦彻快车旅行。

　　“来吧，”金妮说道，“如果我们走动一下也许能找到座位。”

　　“好吧，”哈利一只手提着海维的笼子，而另一只手则提着旅行箱。他们艰难的在车厢里移动，当他们经过隔间时就从平板玻璃们向里张望，而这些隔间全都坐满了人。哈利毫不惊讶的注意到许多人都用很有兴趣的目光回头看着他，还有几个人用肘轻轻推着邻居并对着他指指点点。在哈利连续五个隔间遇到这种情况之后，他想起来整个夏天每日先知报都在其读者中对自己进行诽谤。他只是有点疑惑现在看着他并窃窃私语的这些人是否相信了那些故事呢。

　　在一个很后面的包厢里面他们碰见了纳威 隆巴顿（哈利的同学之一，为人腼腆羞涩，不善言辞，由于父母受折磨对他的刺激，所以魔法能力极低，但是在魔法草药学上很有天分），他是哈利在格兰芬多的五年级同学，他的圆圆的脸上由于吃力的拖着旅行箱而满是汗珠，而一只手上还紧紧抓着他的那只宠物蟾蜍，特瑞沃。 “你好，哈利，”他气喘吁吁的说道，“你好，金妮…每个地方都尽是人…我找不到一个座位…”

　　“你们在说什么？”金妮挤开纳威并盯着他身后的隔间问道。“在这个房间里还有空位，这里只有朗妮 拉格顿一个人在里面—” 而纳威嘴里则嘟噜着什么不要打搅任何人之类的话。

　　“别傻了，”金妮笑着说道，“她很好。”

　　金妮把门拉开并拖着旅行箱进去了，哈利和纳威跟在她的后面。

　　“你好，露娜，”金妮笑着说道，“我们能坐这些位置吗？”

　　这个靠窗的女孩抬头看着他们。她有着凌乱的，及腰长的，很脏的白头发，非常苍白的眉毛以及鼓突的眼睛，这使她的样子看上去永远都是那么的怪异。

　　哈利立即知道纳威为什么选择掠过这个隔间了。这个女孩发出一股明显神智不清的气息。也许这种感觉事实上来源于她的魔杖就在左耳后面安全保存，或者她戴着的一串软木塞制成的项链，或者是她现在读的一份倒拿在手里的杂志。她的眼睛看看纳威接着又扫了一眼哈利。点点头。

　　“谢谢，”金妮对她笑笑说道。

　　哈利和纳威放下了三个旅行箱，并将海维的笼子放在行李架上，然后坐下了。露娜从那本颠倒的杂志上方看着他们，杂志的名字叫吹毛求疵者。（感觉就是上次哈利去奥罗总部时，肯斯雷与威斯里先生接头用的同一种杂志）她好象不象普通人那样需要眨眼睛。她盯着座位对面的哈利一直看，一直看，哈利现在真希望自己没有进来。

　　“暑假过的愉快吗，露娜？”金妮问道。

　　“是的，”露娜梦游一般说道。她并没有把目光从哈利身上移开。“是的，很开心，你知道的。你是哈利 波特。”她补充道。 “我知道我是，”哈利说道。

　　纳威吃吃的笑了。露娜将目光转向他。

　　“不过我不知道你是谁。”

　　“我谁都不是。”纳威急忙说道。

　　“不你不是，”金妮尖锐的说道，“纳威 朗伯顿—露娜 拉格顿。露娜是我同年级的同学，不过是拉文克罗学院的。”

　　“无可估量的智慧是男人最可宝贵的财富，”露娜用一种咏唱般的声调说道。

　　她高高举起那本颠倒的杂志挡住脸并陷入沉默。哈利和纳威互相看看对方，都抬了抬眉毛。而金妮则忍不住咯咯的笑了起来。

　　火车呼啸着向前，将他们载入开放的乡间。今天的天气古怪而毫无规律；上一刻隔间里还充满了阳光，可是下一刻他们就处在不祥的乌云笼罩之下。

　　“猜猜我得到了什么生日礼物？”纳威说道。

　　“另一只记忆秋？”哈利说道，他记得那个大理石一样的装置是纳威的祖母送给他以改善他严重的健忘症的。

　　“不，”纳威说道。“我有一个就够用了，尽管我在很久以前就把那个老的弄丢了…不对，看看这个…”

　　他的手里不再紧紧抓着特瑞沃，而是把它放进包里，然后经过一阵翻箱倒柜之后，拿出了一棵看上去象小瓶里装着的灰色仙人掌的东西，不过这棵植物浑身长满疙瘩而不是尖刺。

　　“米姆布拉丝 米姆布雷托妮亚。”纳威骄傲的说道。 哈利盯着这个东西。它正在微微的搏动，这给了它一种危险的外观，好象是某种疾病的内部组织。

　　“它是真的，真的非常稀有，”纳威喜气洋洋的说道，“我甚至都不知道在霍格瓦彻的温室里是否有这么一棵。我已经迫不及待的要将它展示给史包特教授了。我的大伯埃尔吉在西西里亚给我带来的。如果我能够有机会的话我会去那里看看。”

　　哈利知道纳威感兴趣的课程是魔法草药学，但是对哈利而言却怎么也看不出这辈子要这种矮小的植物干什么。

　　“它能—恩—干什么用？”哈利问道。

　　“吐东西，”纳威骄傲的说道，“它有一种令人惊异的防卫装置。来，帮我拿着特瑞沃…”

　　他将那只癞蛤蟆放在哈利的膝盖上，然后从书包里拿出了一只大号羽毛笔。露娜的鼓眼睛现在再次出现在那本颠倒的杂志后面，看着纳威的行动。

　　纳威把植物凑近眼睛的位置，他的牙齿咬着舌头，选好点，然后用羽毛笔狠狠的刺了一下它。

　　液体从植物的每个疙瘩里面喷射而出；象是粘稠、臭气熏天的暗绿色的墨汁。汁液飞溅在天花板，窗户以及露娜的杂志上；金妮及时的用胳膊挡住了脸，看上去仅仅象戴了一顶粘乎乎的绿色帽子，但是哈利就倒霉的多，他的手正在阻止特瑞沃的逃窜，结果被喷了个满脸。那种汁液味道闻起来就象腐臭的肥料。

　　纳威的脸上也被全部喷到了，他摇晃着脑袋把眼睛里的汁液弄出来。

　　“对—对不起，”他气喘吁吁的说道，“我以前从没试过…没有意识到它的喷射会如此猛烈…但是别担心，这种汁液是无毒的，”当他看见哈利吐了一大口在地板上时，紧张的补充道。

　　就在这个时候他们的隔间门被打开了。

　　“哦…你好，哈利，”一个不安的声音说道，“恩…好象来的不是时候。”

　　哈利用没拿着特瑞沃的那只手擦了擦眼镜片。一个非常漂亮的女孩站在门口对着他微笑，这个女孩长着长长的、富有光泽的黑色头发：是卓 常（哈利的梦中情人，开始喜欢塞德利克，不过小塞被老福给杀了，现在应该名花无主），拉文克罗学院快迪斯队的搜索者。 “哦…你好，”哈利的大脑一片空白。

　　“恩…”卓说道，“好吧…我只是想和你打个招呼而已…那么再见了。”

　　一抹粉红出现在脸上，她关上门离开了。哈利倒在椅子上痛苦的呻吟着。他可不喜欢卓发现他和一群这么酷的人待在一起，人们都在想他刚才谈论的那样嘲笑这些家伙；他也毫无选择的和纳威以及露娜 拉格顿坐在一起，手里还抓着一只癞蛤蟆，而且被汁液喷的湿头湿脑。 “别介意，”金妮振作起来说道，“瞧，我们很容易就可以除掉这些汁液的。”她抽出魔杖。“斯科吉费！”

　　汁液消失了。

　　“对不起，”纳威再次小声说道。

　　当餐车经过的时候，罗恩与荷米恩已经快一个小时了还没有过来。哈利、金妮和纳威已经吃完了他们的南瓜饼，现在正忙着交换他们的巧克力青蛙卡片。这时隔间的门打开了，罗恩与荷米恩走了进来，和他们一起的还有克鲁克山，以及在笼子里尖声乱叫的小猪。

　　“我饿的要死，”罗恩把小猪放在海维身边，从哈利那里抓过来一块巧克力青蛙糖并且一屁股坐在了哈利身边的位置上。他撕破了包装纸，咬了一小口青蛙头，然后闭着眼睛向后靠去，仿佛他度过了一个令人筋疲力尽的早晨。

　　“是的，每个学院有两个五年级级长，”荷米恩满脸不高兴的坐在位子上说道，“男女生各一个。”

　　“猜猜谁是史林德林的级长？”罗恩的眼睛仍然闭着。

　　“马尔夫，”哈利很快回答道，很显然他最大的担心得到了证实。

　　“当然了，”罗恩痛苦的说道，接着他就把手上剩下的青蛙糖塞进嘴里，然后又拿了一块。

　　“还有那个长的和母牛完全一致的帕茜 珀金斯，”荷米恩充满敌意的说道，“当她比一只滚筒还粗的时候，她是怎么当上级长的…” “那么谁是海夫巴夫的级长呢？”

　　“埃聂 麦克米兰和汉娜 阿波特，”罗恩重重的说道。

　　“而安斯尼 格登斯坦和帕得玛 帕提尔是拉文克罗学院的级长。荷米恩说道。

　　“你邀请过帕得玛 帕提尔一起去圣诞舞会，”一个含糊不清的声音说道。 所有人都转头看着露娜，而后者则两眼无神的从杂志上方看着罗恩。罗恩吞下了满嘴的青蛙糖。

　　“是的，我知道自己干过，”罗恩看上去略微有点诧异的说道。

　　“她很不喜欢那次舞会，”露娜告诉罗恩。“她认为你对她很不好，因为你没有陪她跳舞。不过我认为是我的话不会介意的。”她深思熟虑的补充道，“我不喜欢跳太多的舞。”

　　她再次缩回了杂志的后面。罗恩嘴巴张的大大的，眼睛发直，然后左顾右盼的寻找金妮想要做出某种解释，不过金妮已经用手指捂住嘴以防止自己笑出声来。罗恩呆呆的摇摇头，然后看了一下表。

　　“我们被要求经常的巡视走廊，”他告诉哈利和纳威说道，“而且如果发现有人行为不端，我们可以提出惩罚。我已经迫不及待的要给克劳伯和高勒一点教训…”（克劳伯和高勒都是马尔夫的死党，就如罗恩、荷米恩与哈利的关系一样）

　　“你不能滥用职权，罗恩！”荷米恩大声说道。

　　“是的，正确，因为马尔夫从不滥用职权。”罗恩辛辣的讽刺道。

　　“因此你就降低自己的标准吗？”

　　“不，我只不过是想在他对付我们的同伴之前能够确定抓住他的同伴。”

　　“对着上帝发誓，罗恩…”

　　“我要让高勒作诗，这会杀了他，他痛恨写作，”罗恩高兴的说道。他压低了声音以模仿高勒的粗嗓门，将脸扭曲成一个高度痛苦的表情，在空中模仿写字的动作，“我—从—背—后—看—一—定—不—象—一—只—狒狒。”

　　所有人都笑了，但是没有人笑的比露娜更强烈。她爆发出一阵尖锐的笑声，结果把海维吵醒了，使得它愤怒的拍打着翅膀，而克鲁克山则跳上了行李架并发出嘶嘶声。露娜笑的如此剧烈，以至于她手上的杂志都滑出来并顺着腿掉到了地上。

　　“这真是太搞笑了！”

　　露娜盯着罗恩，笑叉了气，她鼓突的眼睛里面笑出了眼泪。罗恩完全困惑了，他现在左顾右盼的看着其他人，而其他人都在为他脸上的表情而忍俊不止。而且大家也对露娜发出的那阵长的滑稽的大笑而乐个不停，现在露娜已经抓着侧边笑的前付后仰。

　　“你没问题吧？”罗恩对她皱着眉头说道。

　　“狒狒…的后背！”她抓着肋骨，笑的梗住了。

　　其他所有人都在看着她笑，但是哈利扫了一眼地板上的杂志，注意到上面有些东西值得他看看。杂志是颠倒的躺在地板上，文字很难阅读，不过在标题的位置上有一幅画，哈利现在认出来了，上面画的是法尼治 福格的讽刺漫画；哈利能够认出福格是因为那顶灰绿色的圆顶硬礼帽。福格的一只手上紧紧的抓着一袋黄金，而另一只手上则掐着一只小妖精。这幅漫画的题目是：福格离格林高斯（魔法银行）的赢利还有多远？ 在这条消息的下面还列出了杂志里面其他文章的标题。

　　快迪斯联盟的贪污案

　　唐纳德是怎样获得控制权的

　　远古诗歌所揭示的秘密

　　天狼星 布莱克：恶棍还是受害者

　　“我能看一下那本杂志吗？”哈利渴望的问露娜。

　　露娜点点头，仍然盯着罗恩，笑的喘不过气来。

　　哈利打开杂志，浏览着目录。直到这一刻他还是不记得肯斯雷要威斯里先生带给天狼星的杂志，但是肯定是这一期的吹毛求疵。

　　哈利找到那一页，并且兴奋的翻阅着这篇文章。

　　这一页同样有一幅讽刺漫画做插图：事实上，哈利如果没有看标题根本看不出那个是天狼星。在画上，天狼星正掏出魔杖站在一堆人骨头的上面。文章的标题写道：

　　天狼星—被描绘成的黑巫师吗？

　　声名狼藉的大杀手还是清白无辜的感人歌手

　　在确信自己没有误解文章意思之前，哈利将文章的头一句读了好几遍。什么时候天狼星做过一个感人歌手了？

　　十四年以来，天狼星一直被认为是一个大杀手，他杀害了12个无辜的麻瓜和一个巫师。两年前这个布莱克实施了一次大胆的越狱行动并从阿滋卡班逃脱了，这导致魔法部展开了有史以来最大规模的搜捕行动。每人怀疑他应当被重新捉拿归案并送回得蒙特那里。

　　但是他干了什么呢？

　　最近暴光的令人吃惊的新证据表明天狼星 布莱克并没有犯下导致他被送进阿滋卡班的那些罪行。实际上，家住小诺顿区阿堪迪那街18号的多里斯 帕金斯说，布莱克甚至还没有被指认为凶手。 “人们所不知道的是天狼星 布莱克是个错误的名字，”帕金斯先生说道，“人们相信是天狼星 布莱克的人实际上是斯图比 波德曼，流行歌唱乐团的领唱歌手，在大约十五年前从公众生活中退休并在小诺顿街拐角的教堂大厅开了一个告别音乐会之后隐居。因为在报纸上看过他的照片所以那时候我认识他。而现在，斯图比不可能犯下这些罪行，因为事发当晚他正在和我享受一个浪漫的烛光晚餐。我已经写信给魔法大臣，要求他向斯图比 阿里阿斯 天狼星先生正式道歉。” 哈利看完这篇文章并且难以置信的盯着这页杂志。他想，也许这是一个笑话，也许这个杂志经常登载一些骗人的消息。他向后快速的翻了几页并找到了有关福格的那篇文章。

　　魔法大臣法尼治 福格否认在他多年前被选为魔法大臣的时候曾经有过任何接管巫师银行格林高斯的计划。福格一直坚持说他除了与我们的财产监护者（指守卫格林高斯的小妖精）“和平合作”之外别无所求。 但是他干了什么呢？

　　最近从魔法部得到得消息显示福格最大的心愿就是控制小妖精的黄金供应，而且如果需要的话他会毫不犹豫的使用武力。

　　“这也已经不是第一次了，”据一位魔法部内部人士透露，“福格的朋友们都称呼他为”小妖精粉碎机“法尼治 福格。如果你能够在他认为无人偷听的时候听见他的谈话，哦，他总是说他要对小妖精采取行动；他要淹死他们，他要拆了他们的房子，他要给他们下毒，他要把他们做成馅饼…“ 哈利再也读不下去了。福格也许有很多的缺点，但是哈利无论如何不能想象福格会去把小妖精们做成馅饼。哈利继续翻阅着剩下的杂志。在翻过几页之后，他读道：有人指控，通过一系列的勒索，非法贿赂以及拷打，图特希尔 脱那德斯正在赢得快迪斯联盟德控制权；而据一个巫师提供德内幕消息宣称灵光6型扫帚可以飞上月球，并且带回来一包月球青蛙作为证明；那篇有关古代诗歌的文章则解释了为什么露娜会颠倒着看杂志。按照这篇文章的说法，如果你将诗歌颠倒过来读，它就会释放出一个咒语让你的敌人的耳朵变成两只金橘。实际上，按照这本杂志剩下的文章的情况看来，说天狼星是流行乐团领唱歌手的说法还是很明智的。

　　“那里面有什么好东西吗？“当哈利合上杂志的时候罗恩问道。

　　“当然没有，”在哈利回答之前，荷米恩就痛斥道。“这本杂志完全是垃圾，每个人都知道的。”

　　“对不起，”露娜的声音突然失去了那种梦游般的品质说道，“我的父亲是它的编辑。”

　　“我—哦，”荷米恩看起来十分窘迫，“好吧…它是有点有趣…我的意思是，它很…”

　　“我会拿回来的，谢谢。”露娜冷冷的说道。她身体前倾并且从哈利手中将杂志抓了过来。将杂志翻到57页，她又将杂志颠倒过来并消失在杂志后面。

　　哈利左顾右盼；他刚才希望的就是这样，但是没有什么比看见马尔夫在克劳伯与高勒的陪同下傻笑着向他走来更加令人不愉快了。

　　“什么事？”哈利在马尔夫开口之前充满火药味的问道。