Harry was so relieved she was taking him seriously that he did not hesitate, but jumped out of bed at once, pulled on his dressing gown and pushed his glasses back on to his nose.

‘Weasley, you ought to come too,’ said Professor McGonagall.

They followed Professor McGonagall past the silent figures of Neville, Dean and Seamus, out of the dormitory down the spiral stairs into the common room, through the portrait hole and off along the Fat Lady's moonlit corridor. Harry felt as though the panic inside him might spill over at any moment; he wanted to run, to yell for Dumbledore; Mr. Weasley was bleeding as they walked along so sedately and what if those fangs (Harry tried hard not to think ‘my fangs') had been poisonous? They passed Mrs. Norris, who turned her lamplike eyes upon them and hissed faintly but Professor McGonagall said, ‘Shoo!’ Mrs. Norris slunk away into the shadows, and in a few minutes they had reached the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore s office.

‘Fizzing Whizzbee,’ said Professor McGonagall.

The gargoyle sprang to life and leapt aside; the wall behind it split in two to reveal a stone staircase that was moving continually upwards like a spiral escalator. The three of them stepped on to the moving stairs; the wall closed behind them with a thud and they were moving upwards in tight circles until they reached the highly polished oak door with the brass knocker shaped like a griffin.

Though it was now well past midnight there were voices coming from inside the room, a positive babble of them. It sounded as though Dumbledore was entertaining at least a dozen people.

Professor McGonagall rapped three times with the griffin knocker and the voices ceased abruptly as though someone had switched them all off. The door opened of its own accord and Professor McGonagall led Harry and Ron inside.

The room was in half-darkness; the strange silver instruments standing on tables were silent and still rather than whirring and emitting puffs of smoke as they usually did; the portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses covering the walls were all snoozing in their frames. Behind the door, a magnificent red and gold bird the size of a swan dozed on its perch with its head under its wing.

‘Oh, it's you, Professor McGonagall ... and ... ah.’

Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair behind his desk; he leaned forward into the pool of candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before him. He was wearing a magnificently embroidered purple and gold dressing gown over a snowy white nightshirt, but seemed wide-awake, his penetrating light blue eyes fixed intently upon Professor McGonagall.

‘Professor Dumbledore, Potter has had a ... well, a nightmare,’ said Professor McGonagall. ‘He says ...’

‘It wasn't a nightmare,’ said Harry quickly.

Professor McGonagall looked round at Harry, frowning slightly.

‘Very well, then, Potter, you tell the Headmaster about it.’

‘I ... well, I was asleep ...’ said Harry and, even in his terror and his desperation to make Dumbledore understand, he felt slightly irritated that the Headmaster was not looking at him, but examining his own interlocked fingers. ‘But it wasn't an ordinary dream ... it was real ... I saw it happen ...’ He took a deep breath, ‘Ron's dad—Mr. Weasley—has been attacked by a giant snake.’

The words seemed to reverberate in the air after he had said them, sounding slightly ridiculous, even comic. There was a pause in which Dumbledore leaned back and stared meditatively at the ceiling. Ron looked from Harry to Dumbledore, white-faced and shocked.

‘How did you see this?’ Dumbledore asked quietly, still not looking at Harry.

‘Well ... I don't know,’ said Harry, rather angrily—what did it matter? ‘Inside my head, I suppose—’

‘You misunderstand me,’ said Dumbledore, still in the same calm tone. ‘I mean ... can you remember—er—where you were positioned as you watched this attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the victim, or else looking down on the scene from above?’

This was such a curious question that Harry gaped at Dumbledore; it was almost as though he knew ...

‘I was the snake,’ he said. ‘I saw it all from the snake's point of view.’

Nobody else spoke for a moment, then Dumbledore, now looking at Ron who was still whey-faced, asked in a new and sharper voice, ‘Is Arthur seriously injured?’

‘Yes,’ said Harry emphatically—why were they all so slow on the uptake, did they not realise how much a person bled when fangs that long pierced their side? And why could Dumbledore not do him the courtesy of looking at him?

But Dumbledore stood up, so quickly it made Harry jump, and addressed one of the old portraits hanging very near the ceiling. ‘Everard?’ he said sharply. ‘And you too, Dilys!’

A sallow-faced wizard with a short black fringe and an elderly witch with long silver ringlets in the frame beside him, both of whom seemed to have been in the deepest of sleeps, opened their eyes immediately.

‘You were listening?’ said Dumbledore.

The wizard nodded; the witch said, ‘Naturally.’

‘The man has red hair and glasses,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Everard, you will need to raise the alarm, make sure he is found by the right people—’

Both nodded and moved sideways out of their frames, but instead of emerging in neighbouring pictures (as usually happened at Hogwarts) neither reappeared. One frames now contained nothing but a backdrop of dark curtain, the other a handsome leather armchair. Harry noticed that many of the other headmasters and mistresses on the walls, though snoring and drooling most convincingly, kept sneaking peeks at him from under their eyelids, and he suddenly understood who had been talking when they had knocked.

‘Everard and Dilys were two of Hogwartss most celebrated Heads,’ Dumbledore said, now sweeping around Harry, Ron and Professor McGonagall to approach the magnificent sleeping bird on his perch beside the door. ‘Their renown is such that both have portraits hanging in other important wizarding institutions. As they are free to move between their own portraits, they can tell us what may be happening elsewhere ...’

‘But Mr. Weasley could be anywhere!’ said Harry.

‘Please sit down, all three of you,’ said Dumbledore, as though Harry had not spoken, ‘Everard and Dilys may not be back for several minutes. Professor McGonagall, if you could draw up extra chairs.’

Professor McGonagall pulled her wand from the pocket of her dressing gown and waved it; three chairs appeared out of thin air, straight-backed and wooden, quite unlike the comfortable chintz armchairs that Dumbledore had conjured up at Harry's hearing. Harry sat down, watching Dumbledore over his shoulder. Dumbledore was now stroking Fawkes's plumed golden head with one finger. The phoenix awoke immediately. He stretched his beautiful head high and observed Dumbledore through bright, dark eyes.

‘We will need,’ Dumbledore said very quietly to the bird, ‘a warning.’

There was a flash of fire and the phoenix had gone.

Dumbledore now swooped down upon one of the fragile silver instruments whose function Harry had never known, carried it over to his desk, sat down facing them again and tapped it gently with the tip of his wand.

The instrument tinkled into life at once with rhythmic clinking noises. Tiny puffs of pale green smoke issued from the minuscule silver tube at the top. Dumbledore watched the smoke closely, his brow furrowed. After a few seconds, the tiny puffs became a steady stream of smoke that thickened and coiled in the air ... a serpent's head grew out of the end of it, opening its mouth wide. Harry wondered whether the instrument was confirming his story: he looked eagerly at Dumbledore for a sign that he was right, but Dumbledore did not look up.

‘Naturally, naturally,’ murmured Dumbledore apparently to himself, still observing the stream of smoke without the slightest sign of surprise. ‘But in essence divided?’

Harry could make neither head nor tail of this question. The smoke serpent, however, split itself instantly into two snakes, both coiling and undulating in the dark air. With a look of grim satisfaction, Dumbledore gave the instrument another gentle tap with his wand: the clinking noise slowed and died and the smoke serpents grew faint, became a formless haze and vanished.

Dumbledore replaced the instrument on its spindly little table. Harry saw many of the old headmasters in the portraits follow him with their eyes, then, realising that Harry was watching them, hastily pretend to be sleeping again. Harry wanted to ask what the strange silver instrument was for, but before he could do so, there was a shout from the top of the wall to their right; the wizard called Everard had reappeared in his portrait., panting slightly.

‘Dumbledore!’

‘What news?’ said Dumbledore at once.

‘I yelled until someone came running,’ said the wizard, who was mopping his brow on the curtain behind him, ‘said I'd heard something moving downstairs—they weren't sure whether to believe me but went down to check—you know there are no portraits down there to watch from. Anyway, they carried him up a few minutes later. He doesn't look good, he's covered in blood, I ran along to Elfrida Cragg's portrait to get a good view as they left—’

‘Good,’ said Dumbledore as Ron made a convulsive movement. ‘I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive, then—’

And moments later, the silver-ringleted witch had reappeared in her picture, too; she sank, coughing, into her armchair and said, ‘Yes, they've taken him to St. Mungo's, Dumbledore ... they carried him past my portrait ... he looks bad ...’

‘Thank you,’ said Dumbledore. He looked round at Professor McGonagall.

‘Minerva, I need you to go and wake the other Weasley children.’

‘Of course ...’

Professor McGonagall got up and moved swiftly to the door. Harry cast a sideways glance at Ron, who was looking terrified.

‘And Dumbledore— what about Molly?’ said Professor McGonagall, pausing at the door.

‘That will be a job for Fawkes when he has finished keeping a lookout for anybody approaching,’ said Dumbledore. ‘But she may already know ... that excellent clock of hers ...’

Harry knew Dumbledore was referring to the clock that told, not the time, but the whereabouts and conditions of the various Weasley family members, and with a pang he thought that Mr. Weasley's hand must, even now, be pointing at mortal peril.But it was very late. Mrs. Weasley was probably asleep, not watching the clock. Harry felt cold as he remembered Mrs. Weasley's boggart turning into Mr. Weasley's lifeless body, his glasses askew, blood running down his face ... but Mr. Weasley wasn't going to die ... he couldn't ...

Dumbledore was now rummaging in a cupboard behind Harry and Ron. He emerged from it carrying a blackened old kettle, which he placed carefully on his desk. He raised his wand and murmured, ‘Portus!’ For a moment the kettle trembled, glowing with an odd blue light; then it quivered to rest, as solidly black as ever.

Dumbledore marched over to another portrait, this time of a clever-looking wizard with a pointed beard, who had been painted wearing the Slytherin colours of green and silver and was apparently sleeping so deeply that he could not hear Dumbledore's voice when he attempted to rouse him.

‘Phineas. Phineas.’

The subjects of the portraits lining the room were no longer pretending to be asleep; they were shifting around in their frames, the better to watch what was happening. When the clever-looking wizard continued to feign sleep, some of them shouted his name, too.

‘Phineas! Phineas! PHINEAS!’

He could not pretend any longer; he gave a theatrical jerk and opened his eyes wide.

‘Did someone call?’

‘I need you to visit your other portrait again, Phineas,’ said Dumbledore. ‘I've got another message.’

‘Visit my other portrait?’ said Phineas in a reedy voice, giving a long, fake yawn (his eyes travelling around the room and focusing on Harry). ‘Oh, no, Dumbledore, I am too tired tonight.’

Something about Phineas's voice was familiar to Harry, where had he heard it before? But before he could think, the portraits on the surrounding walls broke into a storm of protest.

‘Insubordination, sir!’ roared a corpulent, red-nosed wizard, brandishing his fists. ‘Dereliction of duty!’

‘We are honour-bound to give service to the present Headmaster of Hogwarts!’ cried a frail-looking old wizard whom Harry recognised as Dumbledore's predecessor, Armando Dippet. ‘Sharne on you, Phineas!’

‘Shall I persuade him, Dumbledore?’ called a gimlet-eyed witch, raising an unusually thick wand that looked not unlike a birch rod.

‘Oh, very well,’ said the wizard called Phineas, eyeing the wand with mild apprehension, ‘though he may well have destroyed my picture by now, he's done away with most of the family—’

‘Sirius knows not to destroy your portrait,’ said Dumbledore, and Harry realised immediately where he had heard Phineas's voice before: issuing from the apparently empty frame in his bedroom in Grimmauld Place. ‘You are to give him the message that Arthur Weasley has been gravely injured and that his wife, children and Harry Potter will be arriving at his house shortly. Do you understand?’

‘Arthur Weasley, injured, wife and children and Harry Potter coming to stay,’ repeated Phineas in a bored voice. ‘Yes, yes ... very well ...’

He sloped away into the frame of the portrait and disappeared from view at the very moment the study door opened again. Fred, George and Ginny were ushered inside by Professor McGonagall, all three of them looking dishevelled and shocked, still in their night things.

‘Harry—what's going on?’ asked Ginny, who looked frightened. ‘Professor McGonagall says you saw Dad get hurt—’

‘Your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix,’ said Dumbledore, before Harry could speak. ‘He has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am sending you back to Sirius's house, which is much more convenient for the hospital than The Burrow. You will meet your mother there.’

‘How're we going?’ asked Fred, looking shaken. ‘Floo powder?’

‘No,’ said Dumbledore, ‘Floo powder is not safe at the moment, the Network is being watched. You will be taking a Portkey.’ He indicated the old kettle lying innocently on his desk. ‘We are just waiting for Phineas Nigellus to report back ... I want to be sure that the coast is clear before sending you—’

There was a flash of flame in the very middle of: the office, leaving behind a single golden feather that floated gently to the floor.

‘It is Fawkes's warning,’ said Dumbledore, catching the feather as it fell. ‘Professor Umbridge must know you're out of your beds ... Minerva, go and head her off—tell her any story—’

Professor McGonagall was gone in a swish of tartan.

‘He says he'll be delighted,’ said a bored voice behind Dumbledore; the wizard called Phineas had reappeared in front of his Slytherin banner. ‘My great-great-grandson has always had an odd taste in house-guests.’

‘Come here, then,’ Dumbledore said to Harry and the Weasleys. ‘And quickly, before anyone else joins us.’

Harry and the others gathered around Dumbledore's desk.

‘You have all used a Portkey before?’ asked Dumbledore, and they nodded, each reaching out to touch some part of the blackened kettle. ‘Good. On the count of three, then ... one ... two ...’

It happened in a fraction of a second: in the infinitesimal pause before Dumbledore said ‘three', Harry looked up at him—they were very close together—and Dumbledore's clear blue gaze moved from the Portkey to Harry's face.

At once, Harry's scar burned white-hot, as though the old wound had burst open again—and unbidden, unwanted, but terrifyingly strong, there rose within Harry a hatred so powerful he felt, for that instant, he would like nothing better than to strike—to bite—to sink his fangs into the man before him—

‘... three.’

Harry felt a powerful jerk behind his navel, the ground vanished from beneath his feet, his hand was glued to the kettle; he was banging into the others as they all sped forwards in a swirl of colours and a rush of wind, the kettle pulling them onwards ... until his feet hit the ground so hard his knees buckled, the kettle clattered to the ground, and somewhere close at hand a voice said:

‘Back again, the blood-traitor brats. Is it true their father's dying?’

‘OUT!’ roared a second voice.

Harry scrambled to his feet and looked around; they had arrived in the gloomy basement kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. The only sources of light were the fire and one guttering candle, which illuminated the remains of a solitary supper. Kreacher was disappearing through the door to the hall, looking back at them malevolently as he hitched up his loincloth; Sirius was hurrying towards them all, looking anxious. He was unshaven and still in his day clothes; there was also a slightly Mundungus-like whiff of stale drink about him.

‘What's going on?’ he said, stretching out a hand to help Ginny up. ‘Thineas Nigellus said Arthur's been badly injured—’

‘Ask Harry,’ said Fred.

‘Yeah, I want to hear this for myself,’ said George.

The twins and Ginny were staring at him. Kreacher's footsteps had stopped on the stairs outside.

‘It was—’ Harry began; this was even worse than telling McGonagall and Dumbledore. ‘I had a—a kind of—vision ...’

And he told them all that he had seen, though he altered the story so that it sounded as though he had watched from the sidelines as the snake attacked, rather than from behind the snake's own eyes. Ron, who was still very white, gave him a fleeting look, but did not speak. When Harry had finished, Fred, George and Ginny continued to stare at him for a moment. Harry did not know whether he was imagining it or not, but he fancied there was something accusatory in their looks. Well, if they were going to blame him just for seeing the attack, he was glad he had not told them that he had been inside the snake at the time.

‘Is Mum here?’ said Fred, turning to Sirius.

‘She probably doesn't even know what's happened yet,’ said Sirius. ‘The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore's letting Molly know now.’

‘We've got to go to St. Mungos,’ said Ginny urgently, She looked around at her brothers; they were of course still in their pyjamas. ‘Sirius, can you lend us cloaks or anything?’

‘Hang on, you can't go tearing off to St. Mungo's!’ said Sirius.

‘Course we can go to St. Mungo's if we want,’ said Fred, with a mulish expression. ‘He's our dad!’

‘And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?’

‘What does that matter?’ said George hotly.

‘It matters because we don't want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having visions of things that are happening hundreds of miles away!’ said Sirius angrily. ‘Have you any idea what the Ministry would make off that information?’

Fred and George looked as though they could not care less what the Ministry made of anything. Ron was still ashen-faced and silent.

Ginny said, ‘Somebody else could have told us ... we could have heard it somewhere other than Harry.’

‘Like who?’ said Sirius impatiently. ‘Listen, your dad's been hurt while on duty for the Order and the circumstances are fishy enough without his children knowing about it seconds after it happened, you could seriously damage the Order's—’

‘We don't care about the dumb Order!’ shouted Fred.

‘It's our dad dying we're talking about!’ yelled George.

‘Your father knew what he was getting into and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order!’ said Sirius, equally angry. ‘This is how it is—this is why you're not in the Order—you don't understand—there are things worth dying for!’

‘Easy for you to say, stuck here!’ bellowed Fred. ‘I don't see you risking your neck!’

The little colour remaining in Sirius's face drained from it. He looked for a moment as though he would quite like to hit Fred, but when he spoke, it was in a voice of determined calm.

‘I know it's hard, but we've all got to act as though we don't know anything yet. We've got to stay put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?’

Fred and George still looked mutinous. Ginny, however, took a few steps over to the nearest chair and sank into it. Harry looked at Ron, who made a funny movement somewhere between a nod and a shrug, and they sat down too. The twins glared at Sirius for another minute, then took seats either side of Ginny.

‘That's right,’ said Sirius encouragingly, ‘come on, lets all ... let's all have a drink while we're waiting. Accio Butterbeer!’

He raised his wand as he spoke and half a dozen bottles came flying towards them out of the pantry, skidded along the table, scattering the debris of Sirius's meal, and stopped neatly in front of the six of them. They all drank, and for a while the only sounds were those of the crackling of the kitchen fire and the soft thud of their bottles on the table.

Harry was only drinking to have something to do with his hands. His stomach was full of horrible hot, bubbling guilt. They would not be here if it were not for him; they would all still be asleep in bed. And it was no good telling himself that by raising the alarm he had ensured that Mr. Weasley was found, because there was also the inescapable business of it being he who had attacked Mr. Weasley in the first place.

Don't be stupid, you haven't got fangs, he told himself, trying to keep calm, though the hand on his Butterbeer bottle was shaking, you were lying in bed, you weren't attacking anyone ...

But then, what just happened in Dumbledore's office? he asked himself. I felt like I wanted to attack Dumbledore, too ...

He put the bottle down a little harder than he meant to, and it slopped over on to the table. No one took any notice. Then a burst of fire in midair illuminated the dirty plates in front of them and, as they gave cries of shock, a scroll of parchment fell with a thud on to the table, accompanied by a single golden phoenix tail feather.

‘Fawkes!’ said Sirius at once, snatching up the parchment. ‘That's not Dumbledore's writing— it must be a message from your mother—here—’

He thrust the letter into George's hand, who ripped it open and read aloud: ‘Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum.’

George looked around the table.

‘Still alive ...’ he said slowly. ‘But that makes it sound ...’

He did not need to finish the sentence. It sounded to Harry, too, as though Mr. Weasley was hovering somewhere between life and death. Still exceptionally pale, Ron stared at the back of his mother's letter as though it might speak words of comfort to him. Fred pulled the parchment out of George's hands and read it for himself, then looked up at Harry, who felt his hand shaking on his Butterbeer bottle again and clenched it more tightly to stop the trembling.

If Harry had ever sat through a longer night than this one, he could not remember it. Sirius suggested once, without any real conviction, that they all go to bed, but the Weasleys’ looks of disgust were answer enough. They mostly sat in silence around the table, watching the candle wick sinking lower and lower into liquid wax, occasionally raising a bottle to their lips, speaking only to check the time, to wonder aloud what was happening, and to reassure each other that if there was bad news, they would know straightaway, for Mrs. Weasley must long since have arrived at St. Mungo's.

Fred fell into a doze, his head lolling sideways on to his shoulder. Ginny was curled like a cat on her chair, but her eyes were open; Harry could see them reflecting the firelight. Ron was sitting with his head in his hands, whether awake or asleep it was impossible to tell. Harry and Sirius looked at each other every so often, intruders upon the family grief, waiting ... waiting ...

At ten past five in the morning by Ron's watch, the kitchen door swung open and Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen. She was extremely pale, but when they all turned to look at her, Fred, Ron and Harry half rising from their chairs, she gave a wan smile.

‘He's going to be all right,’ she said, her voice weak with tiredness. ‘He's sleeping. We can all go and see him later. Bill's sitting with him now; he's going to take the morning off work.’

Fred fell back into his chair with his hands over his face. George and Ginny got up, walked swiftly over to their mother and hugged her. Ron gave a very shaky laugh and downed the rest of his Butterbeer in one.

‘Breakfast!’ said Sirius loudly and joyfully, jumping to his feet. ‘Where's that accursed house-elf? Kreacher! KREACHER!’

But Kreacher did not answer the summons.

‘Oh, forget it, then,’ muttered Sirius, counting the people in front of him. ‘So, it's breakfast for—let's see—seven ... bacon and eggs, I think, and some tea, and toast—’

Harry hurried over to the stove to help. He did not want to intrude on the Weasleys’ happiness and he dreaded the moment when Mrs. Weasley would ask him to recount his vision. However, he had barely taken plates from the dresser when Mrs Weasley lifted them out of his hands and pulled him into a hug.

‘I don't know what would have happened if it hadn't been for you, Harry’ she said in a muffled voice. ‘They might not have found Arthur for hours, and then it would have been too late, but thanks to you he's alive and Dumbledore's been able to think up a good cover story for Arthur being where he was, you've no idea what trouble he would have been in otherwise, look at poor Sturgis ...’

Harry could hardly bear her gratitude, but fortunately she soon released him to turn to Sirius and thank him for looking after her children through the night. Sirius said he was very pleased to have been able to help, and hoped they would all stay with him as long as Mr. Weasley was in hospital.

‘Oh, Sirius, I'm so grateful ... they think he'll be there a little while and it would be wonderful to be nearer ... of course, that might mean we're here for Christmas.’

‘The more the merrier!’ said Sirius with such obvious sincerity that Mrs. Weasley beamed at him, threw on an apron and began to help with breakfast.

‘Sirius,’ Harry muttered, unable to stand it a moment longer. ‘Can I have a quick word? Er— now?’

He walked into the dark pantry and Sirius followed. Without preamble, Harry told his godfather every detail of the vision he had had, including the fact that he himself had been the snake who had attacked Mr. Weasley.

When he paused for breath, Sirius said, ‘Did you tell Dumbledore this?’

‘Yes,’ said Harry impatiently,’ but he didn't tell me what it meant. Well, he doesn't tell me anything any more.’

‘I ‘m sure he would have told you if it was anything to worry about,’ said Sirius steadily.

‘But that's not all,’ said Harry, in a voice only a little above a whisper. ‘Sirius, I ... I think I'm going mad. Back in Dumbledore's office, just before we took the Portkey ... for a couple of seconds there I thought I was a snake, I felt like one—my scar really hurt when I was looking at Dumbledore—Sirius, I wanted to attack him!’

He could only see a sliver of Sirius's face; the rest was in darkness.

‘It must have been the aftermath of the vision, that's all,’ said Sirius. ‘You were still thinking of the dream or whatever it was and—’

‘It wasn't that,’ said Harry, shaking his head, ‘it was like something rose up inside me, like there's a snake inside me.’

‘You need to sleep,’ said Sirius firmly. ‘You're going to have breakfast, then go upstairs to bed, and after lunch you can go and see Arthur with the others. You're in shock, Harry; you're blaming yourself for something you only witnessed, and it's lucky you did witness it or Arthur might have died. Just stop worrying.’

He clapped Harry on the shoulder and left the pantry, leaving Harry standing alone in the dark.

Everyone but Harry spent the rest of the morning sleeping. He went up to the bedroom he and Ron had shared over the last few weeks of summer, but while Ron crawled into bed and was asleep within minutes, Harry sat fully clothed, hunched against the cold metal bars of the bedstead, keeping himself deliberately uncomfortable, determined not to fall into a doze, terrified that he might become the serpent again in his sleep and wake to find that he had attacked Ron, or else slithered through the house after one of the others ...

When Ron woke up, Harry pretended to have enjoyed a refreshing nap too. Their trunks arrived from Hogwarts while they were eating lunch, so they could dress as Muggles for the trip to St. Mungo's. Everybody except Harry was riotously happy and talkative as they changed out of their robes into jeans and sweatshirts. When Tonks and Mad-Eye turned up to escort them across London, they greeted them gleefully, laughing at the bowler hat Mad-Eye was wearing at an angle to conceal his magical eye and assuring him, truthfully, that Tonks, whose hair was short and bright pink again, would attract far less attention on the Underground.

Tonks was very interested in Harry's vision of the attack on Mr. Weasley, something Harry was not remotely interested in discussing.

‘There isn't any Seer blood in your family, is there?’ she enquired curiously, as they sat side by side on a train rattling towards the heart of the city.

‘No,’ said Harry thinking of Professor Trelawney and feeling insulted.

‘No,’ said Tonks musingly, ‘no, I suppose it's not really prophecy you're doing, is it? I mean, you're not seeing the future, you're seeing the present ... it's odd, isn't it? Useful, though ...’

Harry didn't answer; fortunately, they got out at the next stop, a station in the very heart of London, and in the bustle of leaving the train he was able to allow Fred and George to get between himself and Tonks, who was leading the way. They all followed her up the escalator, Moody clunking along at the back of the group, his bowler tilted low and one gnarled hand stuck in between the buttons of his coat, clutching his wand. Harry thought he sensed the concealed eye staring hard at him. Trying to avoid any more questions about his dream, he asked Mad-Eye where St. Mungo's was hidden.

‘Not far from here,’ grunted Moody as they stepped out into the wintry air on a broad store-lined street packed with Christmas shoppers. He pushed Harry a little ahead of him and stumped along just behind; Harry knew the eye was rolling in all directions under the tilted hat. ‘Wasn't easy to find a good location for a hospital. Nowhere in Diagon Alley was big enough and we couldn't have it underground like the Ministry—wouldn't be healthy. In the end they managed to get hold of a building up here. Theory was, sick wizards could come and go and just blend in with the crowd.’

He seized Harry's shoulder to prevent them being separated by a gaggle of shoppers plainly intent on nothing but making it into a nearby shop full of electrical gadgets.

‘Here we go,’ said Moody a moment later.

They had arrived outside a large, old-fashioned, red-brick department store called Purge & Dowse Ltd. The place had a shabby, miserable air; the window displays consisted of a few chipped dummies with their wigs askew, standing at random and modelling fashions at least ten years out of date. Large signs on all the dusty doors read: ‘Closed for Refurbishment'. Harry distinctly heard a large woman laden with plastic shopping bags say to her friend as they passed, ‘It's never open, that place ...’

‘Right,’ said Tonks, beckoning them towards a window displaying nothing but a particularly ugly female dummy. Its false eyelashes were hanging off and it was modelling a green nylon pinafore dress. ‘Everybody ready?’

They nodded, clustering around her. Moody gave Harry another shove between the shoulder blades to urge him forward and Tonks leaned close to the glass, looking up at the very ugly dummy, her breath steaming up the glass. ‘Wotcher,’ she said, ‘we're here to see Arthur Weasley.’

Harry thought how absurd it was for Tonks to expect the dummy to hear her talking so quietly through a sheet of glass, with buses rumbling along behind her and all the racket of a street full of shoppers. Then he reminded himself that dummies couldn't hear anyway. Next second, his mouth opened in shock as the dummy gave a tiny nod and beckoned with its jointed finger, and Tonks had seized Ginny and Mrs. Weasley by the elbows, stepped right through the glass and vanished.

Fred, George and Ron stepped after them. Harry glanced around at the jostling crowd; not one of them seemed to have a glance to spare for window displays as ugly as those of Purge & Dowse Ltd; nor did any of them seem to have noticed that six people had just melted into thin air in front of them.

‘C'mon,’ growled Moody, giving Harry yet another poke in the back, and together they stepped forward through what felt like a sheet of cool water, emerging quite warm and dry on the other side.

There was no sign of the ugly dummy or the space where she had stood. They were in what seemed to be a crowded reception area where rows of witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs, some looking perfectly normal and perusing out-of-date copies of Witch Weekly, others sporting gruesome disfigurements such as elephant trunks or extra hands sticking out of their chests. The room was scarcely less quiet than the street outside, for many of the patients were making very peculiar noises: a sweaty-faced witch in the centre of the front row, who was fanning herself vigorously with a copy of the Daily Prophet, kept letting off a high-pitched whistle as steam came pouring out of her mouth; a grubby-looking warlock in the corner clanged like a bell every time he moved and, with each clang, his head vibrated horribly so that he had to seize himself by the ears to hold it steady.

Witches and wizards in lime-green robes were walking up and down the rows, asking questions and making notes on clipboards like Umbridge's. Harry noticed the emblem embroidered on their chests: a wand and bone, crossed.

‘Are they doctors?’ he asked Ron quietly.

‘Doctors?’ said Ron, looking startled. ‘Those Muggle nutters that cut people up? Nah, they're Healers.’

‘Over here!’ called Mrs. Weasley, above the renewed clanging of the warlock in the corner, and they followed her to the queue in front of a plump blonde witch seated at a desk marked Enquiries.The wall behind her was covered in notices and posters saying things like: A CLEAN CAULDRON KEEPS POTIONS FROM BECOMING POISONS and ANTIDOTES ARE ANTI-DON'TS UNLESS APPROVED BY A QUALIFIED HEALER. There was also a large portrait of a witch with long silver ringlets which was labelled:

Dilys Derwent

St. Mungo's Healer 1722-1741

Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

1741-1768

Dilys was eyeing the Weasley party closely as though counting them; when Harry caught her eye she gave a tiny wink, walked sideways out of her portrait and vanished.

Meanwhile, at the front of the queue, a young wizard was performing an odd on-the-spot jig and trying, in between yelps of pain, to explain his predicament to the witch behind the desk.

‘It's these— ouch—shoes my brother gave me—ow—they re eating my—OUCH—feet—look at them, there must be some kind of—AARGH—jinx on them and I can't— AAAAARGH—get them off.’ He hopped from one foot to the other as though dancing on hot coals.

‘The shoes don't prevent you reading, do they?’ said the blonde witch, irritably pointing at a large sign to the left of her desk. ‘You want Spell Damage, fourth floor. Just like it says on the floor guide. Next!’

As the wizard hobbled and pranced sideways out of the way, the Weasley party moved forward a few steps and Harry read the floor guide:

ARTEFACT ACCIDENTS...................................... Ground floor

Cauldron explosion, wand backfiring, broom

crashes, etc.

CREATURE-INDUCED INJURIES........................ First floor

Bites, stings, burns, embedded spines, etc.

MAGICAL BUGS.................................................... Second floor

Contagious maladies, e.g. dragon pox,

vanishing sickness, scrofungulus, etc.

POTION AND PLANT POISONING...................... Third floor

Rashes, regurgitation, uncontrollable

giggling, etc.

SPELL DAMAGE..................................................... Fourth floor

Unliftable jinxes, hexes, incorrectly

applied charms, etc.

VISITORS’ TEAROOM / HOSPITAL SHOP.......... Fifth floor

IF YOU ARE UNSURE WHERE TO GO, INCAPABLE OF NORMAL SPEECH OR UNABLE TO REMEMBER WHY YOU ARE HERE, OUR WELCOMEWITCH WILL BE PLEASED TO HELP.

A very old, stooped wizard with a hearing trumpet had shuffled to the front of the queue now. ‘I'm here to see Broderick Bode!’ he wheezed.

‘Ward forty-nine, but I'm afraid you're wasting your time,’ said the witch dismissively. ‘He's completely addled, you know—still thinks he's a teapot. Next!’

A harassed-looking wizard was holding his small daughter tightly by the ankle while she flapped around his head using the immensely large, feathery wings that had sprouted right out through the back of her romper suit.

‘Fourth floor,’ said the witch, in a bored voice, without asking, and the man disappeared through the double doors beside the desk, holding his daughter like an oddly shaped balloon. ‘Next!’

Mrs. Weasley moved forward to the desk.

‘Hello,’ she said, ‘my husband, Arthur Weasley, was supposed to be moved to a different ward this morning, could you tell us—?’

‘Arthur Weasley?’ said the witch, running her finger down a long list in front of her. ‘Yes, first floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn Ward.’

Thank you,’ said Mrs. Weasley. ‘Come on, you lot.’

They followed her through the double doors and along the narrow corridor beyond, which was lined with more portraits of famous Healers and lit by crystal bubbles full of candles that floated up on the ceiling, looking like giant soapsuds. More witches and wizards in lime-green robes walked in and out of the doors they passed; a foul-smelling yellow gas wafted into the passageway as they passed one door, and every now and then they heard distant wailing. They climbed a flight of stairs and entered the Creature-Induced Injuries corridor, where the second door on the right bore the words: ‘Dangerous’ Dai Llewellyn Ward: Serious Bites.Underneath this was a card in a brass holder on which had been handwritten: Healer-in-Charge: Hippocrates Smethwyck. Trainee Healer: Augustus Pye.

‘We'll wait outside, Molly,’ Tonks said. ‘Arthur won't want too many visitors at once ... it ought to be just the family first.’

Mad-Eye growled his approval of this idea and set himself with his back against the corridor wall, his magical eye spinning in all directions. Harry drew back, too, but Mrs Weasley reached out a hand and pushed him through the door, saying, ‘Don't be silly, Harry, Arthur wants to thank you.’

The ward was small and rather dingy, as the only window was narrow and set high in the wall facing the door. Most of the light came from more shining crystal bubbles clustered in the middle of the ceiling. The walls were of panelled oak and there was a portrait of a rather vicious-looking wizard on the wall, captioned: Urquhart Rackharrow, 1612-1697, Inventor of the Entrail-expelling Curse.

There were only three patients. Mr. Weasley was occupying the bed at the far end oi the ward beside the tiny window. Harry was pleased and relieved to see that he was propped up on several pillows and reading the Daily Prophet by the solitary ray of sunlight falling on to his bed. He looked up as they walked towards him and, seeing who it was, beamed.

‘Hello!’ he called, throwing the Prophet aside. ‘Bill just left, Molly, had to get back to work, but he says he'll drop in on you later.’

‘How are you, Arthur?’ asked Mrs. Weasley, bending down to kiss his cheek and looking anxiously into his face. ‘You're still looking a bit peaky.’

‘I feel absolutely fine,’ said Mr. Weasley brightly, holding out his good arm to give Ginny a hug. ‘If they could only take the bandages off, I'd be fit to go home.’

‘Why can't they take them off, Dad?’ asked Fred.

‘Well, I start bleeding like mad every time they try,’ said Mr. Weasley cheerfully, reaching across for his wand, which lay on his bedside cabinet, and waving it so that six extra chairs appeared at his bedside to seat them all. ‘It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snake's fangs that keeps wounds open. They're sure they'll find an antidote, though; they say they've had much worse cases than mine, and in the meantime I just have to keep taking a Blood-Replenishing Potion every hour. But that fellow over there,’ he said, dropping his voice and nodding towards the bed opposite in which a man lay looking green and sickly and staring at the ceiling. ‘Bitten by a werewolf, poor chap. No cure at all.’

‘A werewolf?’ whispered Mrs. Weasley, looking alarmed. ‘Is he safe in a public ward? Shouldn't he be in a private room?’

‘It's two weeks till full moon,’ Mr. Weasley reminded her quietly. ‘They've been talking to him this morning, the Healers, you know, trying to persuade him he'll be able to lead an almost normal life. I said to him—didn't mention names, of course— but I said I knew a werewolf personally, very nice man, who finds the condition quite easy to manage.’

‘What did he say?’ asked George.

‘Said he'd give me another bite if I didn't shut up,’ said Mr. Weasley sadly. ‘And that woman over there,’ he indicated the only other occupied bed, which was right beside the door, ‘won't tell the Healers what bit her, which makes us all think it must have been something she was handling illegally. Whatever it was took a real chunk out of her leg, very nasty smell when they take off the dressings.’

‘So, you going to tell us what happened, Dad?’ asked Fred, pulling his chair closer to the bed.

‘Well, you already know, don't you?’ said Mr. Weasley, with a significant smile at Harry. ‘It's very simple—I'd had a very long day, dozed off, got sneaked up on and bitten.’

‘Is it in the Prophet, you being attacked?’ asked Fred, indicating the newspaper Mr. Weasley had cast aside.

‘No, of course not,’ said Mr. Weasley, with a slightly bitter smile, ‘the Ministry wouldn't want everyone to know a dirty great serpent got—’

‘Arthur!’ Mrs Weasley warned him.

‘—got—er— me,’ Mr. Weasley said hastily, though Harry was quite sure that was not what he had meant to say.

‘So where were you when it happened, Dad?’ asked George.

‘That's my business,’ said Mr. Weasley, though with a small smile. He snatched up the Daily Prophet, shook it open again and said, ‘I was just reading about Willy Widdershins's arrest when you arrived. You know Willy turned out to be behind those regurgitating toilets back in the summer? One of his jinxes backfired, the toilet exploded and they found him lying unconscious in the wreckage covered from head to foot in—’

‘When you say you were “on duty",’ Fred interrupted in a low voice, ‘what were you doing?’

‘You heard your father,’ whispered Mrs. Weasley, ‘we are not discussing this here! Go on about Willy Widdershins, Arthur.’

‘Well, don't ask me how, but he actually got off the toilet charge,’ said Mr. Weasley grimly. ‘I can only suppose gold changed hands—’

‘You were guarding it, weren't you?’ said George quietly. ‘The weapon? The thing You-Know-Who's after?’

‘George, be quiet!’ snapped Mrs. Weasley.

‘Anyway,’ said Mr Weasley, in a raised voice, ‘this time Willy's been caught selling biting doorknobs to Muggles and I don't think he'll be able to worm his way out of it because, according to this article, two Muggles have lost fingers and are now in St. Mungo's for emergency bone re-growth and memory modification. Just think of it, Muggles in St. Mungo's! I wonder which ward they're in?’

And he looked eagerly around as though hoping to see a signpost.

‘Didn't you say You-Know-Who's got a snake, Harry?’ asked Fred, looking at his father for a reaction. ‘A massive one? You saw it the night he returned, didn't you?’

‘That's enough,’ said Mrs. Weasley crossly. ‘Mad-Eye and Tonks are outside, Arthur, they want to come and see you. And you lot can wait outside,’ she added to her children and Harry. ‘You can come and say goodbye afterwards. Go on.’

They trooped back into the corridor. Mad-Eye and Tonks went in and closed the door of the ward behind them. Fred raised his eyebrows.

‘Fine,’ he said coolly, rummaging in his pockets, ‘be like that. Don't tell us anything.’

‘Looking for these?’ said George, holding out what looked like a tangle of flesh-coloured string.

‘You read my mind,’ said Fred, grinning. ‘Let's see if St. Mungo's puts Imperturbable Charms on its ward doors, shall we?’

He and George disentangled the string and separated five Extendable Ears from each other. Fred and George handed them around. Harry hesitated to take one.

‘Go on, Harry, take it! You saved Dad's life. If anyone's got the right to eavesdrop on him, it's you.’

Grinning in spite of himself, Harry took the end of the string and inserted it into his ear as the twins had done.

‘OK, go!’ Fred whispered.

The flesh-coloured strings wriggled like long skinny worms and snaked under the door. At first, Harry could hear nothing, then he jumped as he heard Tonks whispering as clearly as though she were standing right beside him.

‘... they searched the whole area but couldn't find the snake anywhere. It just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur ... but You-Know-Who can't have expected a snake to get in, can he?’

‘I reckon he sent it as a lookout,’ growled Moody, ’ ‘cause he's not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he's trying to get a clearer picture of what he's facing and if Arthur hadn't been there the beast would've had a lot more time to look around. So, Potter says he saw it all happen?’

‘Yes,’ said Mrs Weasley. She sounded rather uneasy. ‘You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Harry to see something like this.’

‘Yeah, well,’ said Moody, ‘there's something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that.’

‘Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning,’ whispered Mrs Weasley.

’ ‘Course he's worried,’ growled Moody. ‘The boy's seeing things from inside You-Know-Who's snake. Obviously, Potter doesn't realise what that means, but if You-Know-Who's possessing him—’

Harry pulled the Extendable Ear out of his own, his heart hammering very fast and heat rushing up his face. He looked around at the others. They were all staring at him, the strings still trailing from their ears, looking suddenly fearful.

因为她认真对待他，哈利十分放心，一点也没犹豫不决。他立刻从床跳出来，穿上袍子并且把他的眼镜推回到他的鼻子。

　　“威斯里，你也来，”麦格教授说。

　　他们跟随麦格教授，经过熟睡的Neville, Dean and Seamus, 走出宿舍，沿着螺旋形的楼梯走进公共休息室，穿过肖像，沿着月光普照的胖夫人走廊离开。哈利仿佛觉得心中的恐惧随时可能爆发，他想要飞跑着去告诉丹伯多一切，当他们如此镇静地漫步时，威斯里先生正在流血，如果那些尖利的牙齿（哈利努力尝试不去想：“我的牙齿”有毒，怎么办？他们经过诺里斯太太，它圆亮的眼睛上下打量着他们，发出微弱的嘶嘶声。麦格教授说，“ 嘘！”诺里斯太太窜进了阴影中逃开了，在几分钟后，他们到达石头怪兽守卫的丹伯多办公室门口。

　　“Fizzing Whizzbee，” 麦格教授说。

　　怪兽活过来跳到一旁，墙向两边裂开一条缝，出现了一条向上移动的螺旋形石头阶梯。 他们三个踏上移动楼梯，墙“砰”地一声在他们后面关上，他们在狭窄的通道内向上移动，最后来到饰有黄铜兽头的华丽栎木门前。 虽然已经时过午夜，房间里仍传出喋喋不休的声音，听起来好象丹伯多至少有一打的客人。

　　麦格教授握着兽头门环轻击三次，里面的声音突然安静下来。大门自动打开，麦格教授领着哈利和罗恩走了进去。

　　房间里半明半暗，各种奇异的银制仪器安静地待在桌上，而不是象平常那样飕飕地飞来飞去发出阵阵烟雾，老校长和女校长的肖像全部正在墙上的像框里小睡。门旁，一只巨大的、有着壮丽的红、黄色羽毛的鸟，头靠在翅膀下，停在栖木上打瞌睡。

　　“噢，是你，麦格教授，和，啊。”

　　丹伯多正坐在书桌后的一把高靠背椅子里；他俯身到闪烁的烛光下，一张文件摆在他的面前。他穿着一件白色的睡衣，外着披着件镶有刺绣的紫金色外套， 但是看起来十分清醒，他淡蓝色的眼睛注视着麦格教授。 “丹伯多教授，哈利做了一个恶梦，”麦格教授说。“他告诉了我。”

　　“这不是一个梦，”哈利快速说道。

　　麦格教授看着哈利，微微皱眉。

　　“很好，那么，哈利，请把它告诉校长。”

　　“我睡着了，”哈利说，努力使丹伯多理解他的恐怖和绝望。他感到稍微激怒，校长并没有看他，而是审视自己的手指。“但是这不是一个普通的梦。它是真实的。我看见它发生。”他深呼吸，“罗恩的爸爸-威斯里先生-被一条巨蛇攻击。”

　　他说完后，这些话语好像仍在空中回响，听起来有点可笑，就象喜剧。丹伯多停顿了一下，身体后仰，凝视着天花板。罗恩的眼神在哈利和丹伯多身上游移不定，脸色苍白，浑身颤抖。

　　“你怎样看到的？”丹伯多平静地问，看也不看哈利一眼。

　　“我不知道，”哈利说，他十分愤怒，这有什么关系？“在我的脑子里面，我认为 -”

　　语调仍然十分平静，“你误会了我的意思，” 丹伯多说。“我的意思是，你是否记得，-呃-，当你看到攻击发生时，你站在什么位置？你或许正站在受害者的旁边，要不然从现场的上方向下看？”

　　这个问题如此古怪，以致于哈利瞪着丹伯多，好象他知道似的。

　　“我是蛇，”他说。“我从蛇的视点看见事情经过。”

　　有一段时间没有人说话，然后丹伯多，看着仍然无法接受事实的罗恩，用一种不同的尖利声音问，“亚瑟受伤严重吗？”

　　“是，”哈利强调，- 他们为什么如此反应迟钝，他们不明白被尖牙刺透的人会出多少血吗？丹伯多为什么不能为着礼貌的原因看他一眼？ 但是丹伯多站起来，他动作如此迅速，哈利吓了一跳，把悬挂在天花板附近的一张旧肖像撞到一边。“埃弗拉德？”他迅速地说。“你也是，Dilys！”

　　黑色短发、黄色面孔的男巫师与银色卷发的老巫婆站在他身边的像框里，他们张开了眼睛，仿佛都从最深沉的睡眠中醒来。

　　“你在听吗？”丹伯多说。

　　巫师点点头，女巫道，“当然。”

　　“那个人长着红头发，戴着眼镜，”丹伯多说。“埃弗拉德，你发个警报，确保可靠的人找到他-”

　　两人点了点头，离开原来的像框。他们没有出现在相邻照片里，（在霍格瓦彻通常是这样） ，而是消失了。二幅像框背景里，只剩下黑色的窗帘和一把漂亮的皮扶手椅。 哈利注意到，其它大多数墙上的校长和夫人似乎令人信服地打着鼾和流着口水，但都从眼皮底下偷偷看他。他突然猜到当他们已经敲门时，谁一直在交谈。

　　“埃弗拉德和Dilys是霍格瓦彻最有名的校长，”丹伯多 说，他扫了一眼哈利、罗恩和麦格教授，他们站在门旁，旁边是一只睡在栖木上的壮丽的鸟。“他们名望如此之高，以至他们的肖像悬挂在许多其他重要的巫师机构。所以他们可以自由地在他们自己的肖像之间移动，告诉我们其他地方正在发生什么事情。” “但是威斯里先生可能在任何地方！”哈利说。

　　“你们三位请坐下，” 丹伯多说，不理会哈利说的话，“埃弗拉德和Dilys可能不会马上回来。麦格教授，请你再多变几张椅子。”

　　麦格教授从她的长袍口袋中掏出魔杖挥了一下，空气中出现三把木制直背椅，它们与丹伯多在哈利听证会上变出来的舒适的印花棉布扶手椅有些不同。哈利坐了下来，越过椅背看着丹伯多。丹伯多用一只手指抚摸着福克斯金色的头。福克斯立即醒过来。它扬起美丽的头，用明亮、乌黑的眼睛注视着丹伯多。

　　“我们需要，”丹伯多轻声对鸟儿说，“一个警告。”

　　火光闪动，福克斯已经飞走了。

　　丹伯多俯下身体，把一些哈利从未听说过用途的银色仪器放到书桌上，坐下来再次看着它们，用魔杖的末端温柔地击中它。

　　仪器发出有节奏的叮呤响声，活动起来。一缕淡绿色的轻烟从银色的管中冒出来。丹伯多皱着眉，仔细看着烟气。几秒钟后，烟雾由稀变浓，在空气中纠结在一起。 烟雾尽头伸出一只蛇头，嘴巴大张。哈利感到有些疑惑，仪器是否在验证他的故事，他急切地看着丹伯多，希望看到一点暗示，但是丹伯多没有抬头看他。 “自然，自然，”丹伯多低声地自言自语道，目光中不带一丝惊奇，继续观察着烟雾的变化。“本质有什么不同吗？”

　　哈利不知该怎么回答这个问题。烟蛇分裂成两条蛇，在黑色的空气中卷曲盘旋。 丹伯多露出冷峻、满意的表情，又挥了一下魔杖，叮呤的响声渐渐消失，烟蛇变得模糊，最后消失在空气中。 丹伯多把仪器放回狭长的小桌子。哈利看见肖像内的大多数老校长的目光一直追随着他，当他们意识到哈利看着他们，又急忙再次假装睡觉。哈利正想要问奇怪的银仪器是干什么的，他们右边的墙上传来一阵呼喊声，名叫埃弗拉德的巫师轻微地喘气，重新出现在他的肖像里。

　　“丹伯多！”

　　“有什么消息？”丹伯多立即问。

　　“我一直叫到有人跑过来，”巫师说，用他背后的窗帘擦擦眉毛，”我说听到有东西从楼上下来 - 他们不太相信，但是去做了检查 - 你知道在那里没有肖像，因此我无法前去查看。几分钟后，他们把他背了上来，他看起来不太好，浑身是血，他们离开时，我沿着Elfrida克拉格肖像，以便看得仔细一点。”

　　罗恩一阵痉挛。“ 好，”丹伯多说。 '我想Dilys可能看见他回来，那时-”

　　片刻之后，银色卷发的女巫也在她的照片内重新出现； 她咳嗽着坐回她的扶手椅，说，“是，他们把他带到St Mungo's，丹伯多。他们带着他经过我的肖像。他看起来不太好。”

　　“谢谢，”丹伯多说。他看了麦格教授一眼，“米纳瓦，请你去叫醒威斯里的其他孩子。”

　　“当然。”麦格教授站起来，迅速走到门旁。哈利匆匆瞥了一眼罗恩，他起来十分害怕。

　　“丹伯多，莫莉怎么办？”麦格教授说，在门口停住脚步。

　　“等福克斯完成警戒后，这项工作就交给它了。”丹伯多说。“但是她可能已经知道。她的那台极好的钟。”

　　哈利知道丹伯多指的那台钟，它指示的并非时间，而是威斯里不同家庭成员的下落和地点，他内心沉痛地想，威斯里先生的指针现在一定正指向致命的危险。但是时间已经很晚了，威斯里太太或许睡着，没有看钟。想到威斯里太太走近卫斯理先生毫无生气的身体，哈利感到一阵寒冷，眼镜歪在一旁，血涌上他的面颊。威斯里先生不会死。他不能死。

　　丹伯多在哈利和罗恩背后的一个碗柜里翻寻。他从那里找出一只熏黑的旧水壶，小心地把它放在他的书桌上。他举起魔杖低声说，“波特斯！”过了一会儿，这把水壶摇晃着，发出古怪的蓝光，然后平息下来，恢复以前一样的黑色。

　　丹伯多走到另一幅肖像前，这次是个留着尖胡子，看起来十分聪明的巫师，衣服的颜色是斯莱特林的绿色和银色，他睡得如此深，以致于没听到丹伯多试图唤醒他的声音。

　　“菲尼亚斯，菲尼亚斯。”

　　房间里一排肖像不再假装睡着，他们在他们的像框里到处移动，以便看清正发生什么。当样子聪明的巫师继续假睡时，他们中的一些也大叫他的名字。

　　“菲尼亚斯！ 菲尼亚斯！菲尼亚斯！”

　　他不能再装睡，他装做突然醒来并且瞪大眼睛。

　　“在叫我吗？”

　　“我需要你再次访问你的其他肖像，菲尼亚斯，”丹伯多说。“我收到另一条消息。”

　　“访问我的其他肖像吗？”菲尼亚斯咕哝道，假装打了一个长长的呵欠，（他眼睛在房间里看来看去，最后落在哈利身上）。“噢，不，丹伯多，我今晚太疲倦。”

　　菲尼亚斯的声音中的某些东西是哈利里所熟悉，他以前在哪里听到过？他正想仔细回忆，墙上的肖像爆发出暴风雨般的抗议。

　　“违抗命令，先生！”一名肥胖、红色鼻子的巫师吼叫道，挥舞他的拳头。“玩忽职守！”

　　“我们以为霍格瓦彻的现任校长服务为光荣！”一名外表瘦弱的老巫师叫道。哈利认出是丹伯多的前辈，Armando Dippet，“你让我们蒙受羞耻，菲尼亚斯！”

　　“我来劝劝他，丹伯多？” 一名眼睛gimlet的巫婆说，她举起一根特别粗的、不象是桦树杆制成的魔杖。

　　“噢，非常好，”，被叫做菲尼亚斯的巫师说，隐隐担忧地注视这根魔杖，“虽然他现在可能已经破坏我的照片了，他已不被大多数家庭承认-。”

　　“天狼星知道不要破坏你的肖像，”，丹伯多说，哈利立即意识到以前在哪里听到过菲尼亚斯的声音：从Grimmauld他卧室的空像框里。“告诉他，亚瑟·威斯里严重受伤，他的妻子、孩子们和哈利·波特不久将去他家。你明白吗？”

　　“亚瑟·威斯里受伤，妻子、孩子和哈利·波特将到那里，”菲尼亚斯用一种厌烦的声音重复。“是，是。非常好。”

　　他倾斜离开这幅肖像的像框，消失。就在这时，门被再次打开，麦格教授领着弗来德、乔治和金妮走进来，三个人看起来衣衫不整、睡眼惺松、十分震惊。

　　“哈利-发生什么事？”金妮问，看起来十分害怕。“麦格教授说你看见爸爸受伤了-”

　　“你父亲在为凤凰令工作时受伤，”丹伯多在哈利能讲话前回答，“他被带到St Mungo's医院治疗魔法损伤。我将把你送回天狼星的房子，从那里去医院比Burrow去更方便。你和你的母亲将在那里见面。”

　　“我们怎么去？”弗来德问，有些害怕，“用Tloo粉？”

　　“不，”丹伯多 说，“现在用Tloo 粉不安全，通道已经被监视。用门钥匙。”他指着书桌上的旧水壶。“我们正等菲尼亚斯·尼古拉斯反馈回来的信息。在送你们去之前，我想要确信这个地方是安全的 -”

　　办公室的中间火光闪动，一根金色的羽毛飘落到地板上。

　　“这是福克斯的警告，”丹伯多说，抓住落下的羽毛。“昂布拉吉教授知道你不在床上。米纳瓦，去阻止她 - 告诉她任何故事 -”

　　一阵苏格兰格子呢的瑟瑟声，麦格教授离开房间。“他说他会很高兴，”丹伯多背后响起一个厌烦的声音，菲尼亚斯已经在他的斯莱特林像框前重新出现。“我的曾曾曾孙选择房客的口味的确古怪。”

　　“来这里，然后，”丹伯多对哈利和威斯里说。“快点，在其他任何人进来以前。”

　　哈利和其他人聚集到丹伯多的书桌周围。

　　“你们以前都用过门钥匙吗？”丹伯多问，他们点点头，每个人都伸出手接触黑色水壶的一部分。“好。倒数到三，那么。一、二”

　　在很短的时间里，就在丹伯多 说“三”之前的一瞬间，哈利抬头看他 - 他们的距离非常近 - 丹伯多清澈、湛蓝的目光从门钥匙移到哈利的脸上。 哈利的伤痕马上灼热起来，好象旧的伤口已经再次裂开-不受约束、不被需要，但是非常强大，哈利内心感受到一股强烈的憎恨，那一瞬间，他什么都不管，只想用尖利的牙齿咬他面前这个人。

　　“三。”

　　哈利在肚脐后面感到一股强有力的推力，地板在他的脚下消失，他的手紧贴在水壶上。彩色的旋涡和疾风速度加快，他撞上其他的人，水壶把他们向前拉。直到他膝盖紧扣、双脚重重地触到地板。水壶落到地上，耳边不远处传来说话声：

　　“又回来了，血统的叛徒，他们的父亲真的死了吗？”

　　“出去！”另一个声音吼叫道。

　　哈利扫视着周围。他们已经回到Grimmauld第12号阴暗的地下室厨房。光线的唯一来源是火把和一支燃烧的蜡烛，光线照着剩下的残羹冷饭。 Kreacher消失在通向大厅的门口，边回头看他们，边系他的腰带。天狼星向他们跑去，看起来焦虑不安。 他仍然穿着平时的衣服，胡须没有刮，身上带着象Mundungus这样的饮料味道。

　　“发生什么事？”他说，伸出一只手帮助金妮站起来。“菲尼亚斯·尼古拉斯说亚瑟严重受伤。”

　　“问哈利，”弗来德说。

　　“是，我也想知道，”乔治说。双胞胎和金妮注视他。Kreacher的脚步停在外面的楼梯上。

　　“是的-”哈利开始。这比告诉麦格和丹伯多更困难。“我做了一个梦-”

　　他告诉他们他看到的一切，他稍稍改变了故事，这样听起来，当蛇攻击时他站在蛇的侧面，而不是通过蛇的眼睛去看。罗恩仍然脸色苍白，他习快地看了他一眼，但是没讲话。哈利说完事件经过，弗来德，乔治和金妮继续注视他一会儿。哈利不知道他是否正在想象这个过程，但是他觉得他们的表情有点责怪。如果他们怪罪他只顾旁观，他很高兴他没告诉他们他那时已与蛇合二为一。

　　“妈妈在这里吗？”弗来德说，转向天狼星。

　　“她或许甚至还不知道发生了什么，”天狼星说。在昂布拉吉出面干涉前，有重要的事情需要你离开。我希望丹伯多现在已经让莫莉知道这事。”

　　“我们不得不去St Mungo，”金妮急忙说。她看着她的兄弟，他们当然仍然穿着睡衣。“天狼星，你能把斗篷或其他衣服借给我们吗？”

　　“等一下，你不能挂着眼泪去St Mungo！”天狼星 说。 “如果我们想要，我们就能去St Mungo，”弗来德说，表情固执。“他是我们的父亲！”

　　“你打算如何解释，在医院告知他妻子之前你就已经知道亚瑟被攻击？”

　　“这有什么关系？”乔治激烈地说。

　　“这很重要，因为我们不想让哈利能够感受数百英里外发生的事情这件事引起注意！” 天狼星愤怒地说。“你知道魔法部会如何理解这个信息吗？” 弗来德和乔治看起来好象并不关心魔法部会怎么做。罗恩仍然脸色苍白和保持沉默。

　　金妮说，“其他人可能告诉我们。除了哈利，我们也可能在其他地方知道这件事。”

　　“比如谁？”天狼星不耐烦地说。“听着，你爸爸在为凤凰令工作时受伤，在那种情形下，他的孩子不可能在事件发生后几秒钟内知道情况，你会严重破坏凤凰令的。”

　　“我们不关心什么命令！”弗来德大叫。

　　“我们正在说我们的爸爸快死了！”乔治号叫道。

　　“你的父亲知道他在做什么，他不会因为你破坏凤凰令而感谢你！” 天狼星同样忿怒地说，“这就是它-这就是原因，你不属于命令成员-你不理解-有些事情值得为之而死！”

　　“你说得容易，还不是待在这儿！”弗来德吼道。“我没看见你为之冒险！”

　　天狼星的脸上的仅剩的一点血色消失了。他注视着，似乎很想要揍弗来德一顿，但是当他说话，声音回复坚决和平静。

　　“我知道这很困难，尽管我们还不知道发生了什么事情，但是我们已经全部开始行动了。至少在收到你母亲来信前，我们不得不待在这儿，好吗？”

　　弗来德和乔治看起来仍然有点逆反。金妮向最近的椅子走了几步，深深坐了下来。哈利看看罗恩，有点不知所措，最后也坐下。那对双胞胎对天狼星怒目而视， 然后分别坐在金妮两旁。 “这就对了，”天狼星鼓励道，“我们所有人都来吧，当我们等待时让我们都来喝一杯。Accio Butterbeer！”

　　在他说话时，半打瓶子从茶水室向他们飞来，沿着桌子刹住，整齐地落在他们六人的面前。他举起魔杖，清理着桌上饭后的残渣，他们一起喝着酒，过了一会儿，房间里只剩下厨房炉火的噼啪声和桌上的瓶子发出的“砰砰”声。

　　哈利只顾闷头喝酒，他的胃里充满炽热、汹涌的罪恶感。要是没有他，他们就不会在这里，仍然在床上睡觉。他告诉他自己，发出找到威斯里先生的警报是没用的，事实无法逃避，他在现场攻击了威斯里先生。

　　“不要发傻，你没有尖牙，”他告诉自己，努力保持平静，握着黄油啤酒瓶子的手发着抖，“你躺在床上，你没攻击任何人。”

　　“那么，在丹伯多的办公室发生了什么？”他问自己。“我感到我想要攻击丹伯多。”

　　他有些艰难地放下瓶子，啤酒从瓶里溢出来溅在桌子上。没人注意到这些。一声爆炸，火光照亮他们面前的脏盘子，他们吓得大叫，一卷羊皮纸和一支金色的凤凰尾羽“砰”地一声落到桌子上。

　　“福克斯！”天狼星马上说，他抓起羊皮纸。“那不是丹伯多写的，它一定是你们母亲寄来的信，给-。”

　　他把信塞入乔治的手，他撕开它并大声读：“爸爸仍然活着。我现在准备去St Mungo。待在你现在的地方，我将尽快告知消息。妈妈。”

　　乔治看看桌子。

　　“仍然活着。”他缓慢地说。“听起来是这样。”

　　他不需要把话说完。哈利明白，威斯里先生正在生死之间徘徊，非常虚弱。罗恩凝视着他母亲信纸的背面，好象它会说些什么安慰他。弗来德从乔治的手中抢过羊皮纸继续看，然后抬起头看着哈利。哈利感到他握着啤酒瓶的手再次颤抖起来，他不得不紧紧地抓住它以停止发抖。

　　在哈利的记忆中，这个夜晚比记忆中任何夜晚都更加漫长。天狼星建议，既然没有把握，他们应该全部上床睡觉，但是威斯里家的孩子一脸厌恶，已经给出了答案。他们静静地坐在桌子周围，看着蜡烛渐渐融化，越来越短，偶尔把瓶子凑到他们的嘴唇，除了问时间什么也不说，只想知道正发生什么，彼此安慰如果有重要消息，他们将会马上知道，因为威斯里太太老早就应该到达St Mungo'了。

　　弗来德打着磕睡，他的头斜着懒洋洋地靠到肩上。金妮在她的椅子上象猫一样蜷缩着，她的眼睛张开，眸子里映出火光。罗恩用手抱着头，不管醒来还是睡着都不说话。哈利和天狼星互相对视，受害者沉浸在家庭悲痛中，等待。等待。

　　罗恩的表指向早晨10点零5分，厨房门打开，威斯里太太走进厨房。她极其苍白， 他们都转身看着她，弗来德、罗恩和哈利从椅子里站起身，她露出苍白的微笑。 “他会没事，”她说，她的声音疲倦衰弱。“他正在睡觉。待会儿我们一起去看他。比尔在陪着他，他早上请了假。”

　　弗来德坐回他的椅子，手捂着他的脸。乔治和金妮站起身，迅速走到他们的母亲身边并且紧紧拥抱她。罗恩无力地笑了笑，把瓶中的黄油啤酒一饮而尽。

　　“早餐！” 天狼星跳起来，高声而快乐地说。“那个该诅咒的家养小精灵在哪里？Kreacher！KREACHER！”

　　但是Kreacher没有回答。

　　“噢，算了，那么，” 天狼星低声说，计算他前面人数。“这样， 7个人早餐，咸肉和蛋，我想，还有茶和烤面包。”

　　哈利赶快跑到厨房去帮忙。他很高兴，但也害怕威斯里太太会要他描述他的梦。 但是，他还来不及从桌布上收拾盘子，威斯里太太夺走他手中的盘子，热烈地拥抱他。 “我不知道要不是你可能会发生什么，哈利，”她的声音有点沙哑。“他们本来不会这么快就去找亚瑟，如果那样就太迟了，谢谢你他还活着，丹伯多会想出好的办法来遮掩亚瑟在那儿，你不知道如果他在那儿会有多麻烦，看看可怜的Sturgis。”

　　哈利几乎不能忍受她的感激，但是幸运的是，她不久就放开他转向天狼星，并且感谢他整夜照看她的孩子。天狼星说他很高兴能帮上忙，并且希望威斯里先生住院期间，他们全部继续留在这里。

　　“噢，天狼星，我太感激了。他们认为他应该在那里待一段时间，如果时间短一些就太棒了。当然，那可能意味着我们在这里过圣诞节。”

　　“人越多越热闹！” 天狼星说得很真诚，威斯里太太看着他微笑，她匆忙穿上围裙，帮助准备早餐。 “天狼星，”哈利低声说，一刻都不能再忍受。“我可以跟你说句话吗，呃-现在？”

　　他走进黑暗的茶水室，天狼星跟在他的背后。哈利开门见山地告诉他教父他梦中的每个细节，包括他变成蛇攻击威斯里先生的事实。

　　当他停下来喘气时，天狼星说，“你告诉丹伯多了吗？”

　　“是，”哈利不耐烦地说，“但是他不告诉我这意味着什么。 嗯，他不诉我任何事情。” “如果有什么值得担心，我想他一定会告诉你，”天狼星平静地说。

　　“不仅如此，”哈利说，声音稍稍抬高，“天狼星，我想我快疯了，在丹伯多的办公室，碰到门钥匙前一瞬间，我感觉我是一条蛇，我想要- 当我看着丹伯多，伤痕疼起来- 天狼星，我想要攻击他！” 他只能看见天狼星的部分面孔，脸的其他部分隐没在黑暗中。

　　“是那个梦仍然在影响你，” 天狼星说。“你仍然在想那些梦，或者其它-”

　　“不是，”哈利边说边摇头，“象是有东西在我身体里向上伸起来，我的身体中象有一条蛇。”

　　“你需要睡眠，”天狼星坚定地说。“你应该吃早餐，然后上楼睡觉，午餐之后和大家一起去看亚瑟。你受了刺激，哈利，你因为目击此事帮不上忙而内心自责，但是你在场是幸运的，否则亚瑟可能会死。请不要担心。”

　　他拍拍哈利的肩膀，离开茶水室，剩下哈利独自站在黑暗中。

　　*

　　除了哈利，早上每个人都在睡觉。他来到今年夏天的最后几周他和罗恩共同分享的卧室，罗恩爬上床几分钟内很快睡着，哈利合衣坐在床上，背靠着冰冷的金属床柱，明显有些不舒服。他决定不打瞌睡，害怕自己在睡着时再次变成蛇，而醒来时发现自己攻击了罗恩，或者一个接一个地攻击其他在房子里走动的人。

　　当罗恩醒来时，哈利假装也睡得十分香甜。当他们吃午餐时，他们的大箱子从霍格瓦彻运抵，因此他们能为St Mungo之行准备行装。他们换下长袍，穿上牛仔裤和圆领长袖运动衫，除哈利之外的每人都那么愉快和健谈。他们高兴地迎接唐克斯和疯眼出现，他们将护送他们穿过伦敦，他们嘲笑疯眼戴的圆顶硬礼帽，帽子的一角隐藏着他的魔眼，唐克斯的头发又变成短而粉红，不会在地铁上吸引别人的注意。

　　唐克斯对哈利看到威斯里先生被攻击的事十分感兴趣，这是哈利不愿谈论的。

　　“你的家庭并没有预言者的血统，对吗？” 当他们肩并肩坐在一辆驶向市中心的格格作响的火车上，她好奇地询问。“ 没有，” 哈利说，想起特里劳尼教授并且感到受辱。 “不，”唐克斯沉思道，“不，我认为这其实不是预言，是吗？我的意思是，你没看见将来，你正看见现在。这很古怪的，不是吗？可是，很有用。”

　　哈利没回答。幸好，他们在下一站，即伦敦市中心车站下车，匆忙离开火车时，他用弗来德和乔治隔开了自己和唐克斯。唐克斯带路，他们跟着她上了自动扶梯，穆迪留在队伍的最后面，他的帽子压得很低，一只骨节粗大的手插入外套钮扣之间，抓住他的魔杖。哈利感到那只被隐藏的眼睛在凝视着他。他试图回避更多的关于他的梦的问题，他问疯眼，St Mungo在哪里。

　　“离这里不远，”穆迪咕哝着，他们呼吸着冬天的空气，走在一条宽阔的商业街，路上到处是采购圣诞礼品的人。他让哈利走在他前面，自己走在后面。哈利知道那双眼睛正在倾斜的帽子下朝四面八方张望。“为医院找一个好位置不容易。在Diagon 单行线和双行线之间的细长地带不够大，又不能象魔法部一样建在地下，那对健康不利。最后他们设法在这里建了一座大楼，理由是有病的巫师能和人群自然相处。” 他抓住哈利，以免他们被一群冲向小电器商店的顾客冲散。

　　“我们往这边走，”过了一会儿穆迪说。

　　他们站在一幢巨大、老式的红砖商店门口，店牌上写着：Purge 6z Dowse有限公司。空气里带着陈旧的气息，橱窗随意摆放着一些已经破损的玩偶，他们假发歪斜、衣服还是十年前的过时式样。在布满灰尘的门上写着巨大的告示：装修期间停止营业。哈利清楚听见，一个大个子妇女手提塑料购物袋经过他们时，对她的朋友说，“那个地方从未营业。”

　　“是的，”唐克斯说，指着橱窗里一只特别丑陋的玩偶，向他们点头示意。它的假睫毛垂下来，它穿着一条绿色的尼龙涎布衣服。“你们准备好了吗？”

　　他们点头，紧紧围着她。 穆迪用力把哈利往前推，唐克斯斜靠在玻璃上，看着那个非常丑陋的玩偶，口中的水汽直喷到玻璃上。“Wotcher，”她说，“我们来看亚瑟·威斯里。”

　　哈利认为，唐克斯指望那个玩偶隔着一层玻璃、背后隆隆作响的公共汽车和充满顾客的街道听到她的轻声细语十分荒谬，无论如何那个玩偶不会听到。下一秒，当他看到那个玩偶微微点头，并用手指示意时，他的嘴巴吃惊得合不拢。唐克斯用手肘夹着金妮和威斯里太太，穿过玻璃消失了。

　　弗来德、乔治和罗恩走在他们后面。哈利看了一眼推挤的人群，没有人注意Purge & Dowse有限公司丑陋的橱窗陈设，也没有人注意到六个人刚刚在他们的前面消失得无影无踪。

　　“快点，”穆迪咆哮着，在哈利的背上推了一下。他们一起向前走，感觉穿过了一层凉爽的水，来到一个温暖干燥的地方。

　　这里没有迹象显示有过丑陋的玩偶或者她站过的地方。他们好象在一个拥挤的接待处，一排排巫婆和巫师坐在摇晃的木制椅子上，一些看起来完全正常，正在阅读过期的《巫师周刊》，其它人外貌可怕，如象牙损伤、或者胸口生着一只手。 房间里和外面的街道相比并不安静，因为大多数病人正制造非常独特的噪音：一个坐在前排中间的巫师满头大汗，正用一张《预言家日报》使劲地扇，当蒸汽从她嘴里涌出时，发出尖利的啸声；一个样子肮脏的巫师坐在角落里，每当他移动的时候，就发出叮当的铃声，他的头随着声音剧烈振动，以致于他必须抓住自己的耳朵保持稳定。 身穿橙绿色长袍的巫婆和巫师走来来去，问问题并且象昂布拉吉一样在记事本上记录。哈利注意到别在他们的胸前的徽章：交叉的魔杖和骨头。

　　“他们是医生吗？”他悄悄地问罗恩。

　　“医生？”罗恩说，看起来吃了一惊。“那些麻瓜疯子吗？那，他们是治疗者。”

　　“这里！” 威斯里太太叫道，above the renewed clanging of the warlock in the corner，他们跟随着她，加入到长长的队伍中，一名金发碧眼的女巫坐在咨询台前。 她身后的墙上贴着各种通知和海报：防止试剂变成毒药的干净大锅，处方解毒药，还有长着标志性银色卷发的一一女巫大肖像： DilysSt Mungo's 治疗者1722-

　　霍格瓦彻魔法学校校长1741-

　　Dilys 凝视着威斯里一家人，好象在数人数；当哈利看到她时，她微微眨了眨眼，斜着离开她的肖像消失了。 同时，在队伍的最前面，一名年轻巫师做着古怪的动作，痛苦地尖叫，向桌子后面的巫师解释他的困境。

　　“不是这些-哎唷-我兄弟给我的鞋-喔唷-他们吃我-哎唷-脚 -看它们，一定有-AARGH-祸咒在上面，我不能-AAAAARGH　-　除掉它”，他单脚跳来跳去，就象在热煤上跳舞。

　　“那些鞋不妨碍你阅读，是吗？”金发碧眼的女巫说，怒气冲冲地指着她书桌左侧的巨大标志。“如果你想要治拼写损害，楼层指南指示在4 楼。下一个！” 巫师蹒跚、跳跃着离开队伍，威斯里一家向前走几步，哈利读着楼层指南：

　　人工制品事故。底层

　　坩锅爆炸，魔杖产生不良后果，扫帚坠毁，等等动物引起的伤。一楼

　　咬，蛰，烧伤，骨伤，等等

　　魔术的缺陷。 二楼

　　传染疾病，例如龙痘，消失病，scrojungulus，等等药剂和植物中毒。 三楼

　　爆发的连串事件，回流，无法控制，等等

　　拼写损害。　四楼

　　Unliftable魔咒，hexes，不正确使用魔力，等等探访者休息室/医院商店。5楼，

　　如果你不知道怎么走，语言障碍，或者不记得你为什么在这里，我们的接待员乐意提供帮助。

　　一个戴着助听器的老巫师弯着腰，拖着步子走到队伍的前面，“我来见布罗德里克·博德！”他喘息着。

　　“49号病房，但是我想你在浪费时间，” 巫婆道，“他完全糊涂了，你知道 - 他仍然认为自己是一个茶壶。下一个！” 一个面带烦恼的巫师紧紧拉着他的小女儿，她巨大的羽毛翅膀穿透衣服，拍打着他的头。

　　“4楼，”女巫用一种厌烦的声音说，什么也没问，那人消失在在书桌旁边的双重门旁，拉着他的女儿象拉着一个形状奇特的气球。“下一个！”

　　威斯里太太走到书桌前。

　　“你好，”她说，“我丈夫，亚瑟·威斯里，据说今天早晨被送到特别病房，你能告诉我们吗-？”

　　“亚瑟·威斯里？”女巫说，她的手指顺着她的前面的目录滑动。“是，一楼，右边第二间，戴卢埃林·沃德的病房。”

　　“谢谢，”威斯里太太说。“你们跟我来。”

　　他们跟着她穿过双重门，沿着陈列着著名治疗者肖像的狭窄走廊往前走，天花板上是用来照明的放满蜡烛的水晶泡，看起来象巨人的soapsuds。更多身穿橙绿色长袍的女巫和巫师从他们经过的门前进进出出。他们经过一扇门时，一股恶臭的黄色气体飘进走廊，从远处传来嚎啕大哭的声音。他们走过一段楼梯，进入生物引起伤害走廊，右边第二个房间的门上写着：危险，Dai Llewellyn病房，严重咬伤。在这下面的黄铜支架上有张卡片，手写：负责治疗者：Hippocrates·Smethwyck。实习治疗者：奥古斯塔斯·派伊。

　　“我们在外面等，莫莉，”唐克斯说。“亚瑟不想被太多人打扰。家里人先进去。”

　　疯眼咆哮着赞成这种观点，背靠走廊的墙壁，他的魔眼四面八方转。哈利也想向后退，但是威斯里太太伸出一只手，把他推进门去，说，“别傻了，哈利，亚瑟想要感谢你。”

　　病房小而且昏暗，唯一的窗子安在对门的墙壁高处，十分狭窄。光线主要来自于穹顶中间一串串的发亮水晶泡。栎树板的墙壁上，挂着一幅邪恶的巫师画像：厄克特Rackharrow，1612- 1697，取消Entrail咒的发明者。

　　只有三位病人。威斯里先生的病床在房间尽头的小窗子旁。哈利高兴而放心地看到，他斜靠在几只枕头上，借着落在他床上的几缕阳光，阅读着《预言家日报》。他抬起头，看到他们向他走来。

　　“你们好！”他招呼道，把报纸扔到一旁。“比尔刚刚离开，莫莉，他不得不回去工作，他说他过会儿将去看你们。”

　　“你怎么样，亚瑟？”威斯里太太问，弯腰吻他的面颊，担忧地看着他的脸。“你看起来仍然很憔悴。”

　　“我感觉很好，”威斯里先生轻快地说，用没受伤的手臂热烈拥抱金妮。“如果他们拿掉绷带，我就能回家了。”

　　“为什么他们不能把它拿掉呢，爸爸？”弗来德问。

　　“每当他们想拿掉的时候，伤口就疯狂出血，”威斯里先生愉快地说，去拿放在他的床头柜上的魔杖，在床边变出六张椅子，好让他们所有人坐下。“那条蛇的牙齿里有一种特殊的毒，使得伤口一直开裂。他们相信他们将找到一种解毒药， 有些人的情况比我的还糟糕。与此同时，我必须每小时使用补血剂。但是那边那个人，”他说，放低声音，朝着对面的床示意，那个病人看上去浑身发绿、病得很厉害，正注视着天花板。“被狼人咬了，不幸的家伙。根本没有治愈希望。” “一个狼人？”威斯里太太低声地说，看起来有点惊慌。“他在公共病房安全吗？ 他难道不应该在单人房间里吗？” “还有二周才是满月，”威斯里先生平静地提醒她。“他们今天早晨和他交谈，治疗者，你知道，努力说服他过一种几乎正常的生活。我对他说 - 不要提名字，当然 - 但是我说我认识一个狼人，人很好，他把这种状况处理得很好。” “他说什么？”乔治问。

　　“他说如果我再不闭嘴，他将会咬我，”威斯里先生难过地说。“在那里的是一名妇女，”他指着另一张放在门边的床，“她没有告诉治疗者是什么咬她，我们都认为这一定是她使用不当。不管是什么，它从她的腿上撕走了一大块肉，发出非常难闻的味道。”

　　“那么，你会告诉我们你发生了什么事，爸爸？”弗来德问，把他的椅子再往床边拉近些。

　　“好，你已经知道，不是吗？”威斯里先生说，向哈利笑着示意。“非常简单 - 我有非常长的一天，打瞌睡，潜逃，被咬伤。” “《预言家日报》登了你被攻击的事？”弗来德指着威斯里先生扔在一边的报纸。

　　“不，当然没有，” 威斯里先生说，带着淡淡的苦笑，“部里不想每个人都知道一个肮脏、阴险的人回来了 -”

　　“亚瑟！”威斯里太太警告道。

　　“呃-　我 -知道，”威斯里先生急忙说。哈利十分确信这不是他所想说的。

　　“爸爸，当这件事发生时，你在哪里？”乔治问。

　　“这是我的事，”威斯里先生微笑着说。他抓起《预言家日报》，抖开它念道，“我从报上知道，你到那儿并逮捕了Willy Widdershins。你知道，威利夏天洗手间后面出现？他的一条咒语产生了不良后果，导致洗手间爆炸，他们发现他无意识地躺在地上，全身被碎片盖住 -”

　　“你说你在“上班”，”弗来德轻声打断他，“你在做什么？”

　　“听你父亲说，”威斯里太太低声说，“我们不是来这里讨论这个！继续说说Willy Widdershins，亚瑟。”

　　“好，不要问我怎么回事，他实际上已经不管洗手间了，”威斯里先生严厉地说。“我只能假设金子转手了 -”

　　“你在保卫它，不是吗？”乔治安静地说。“武器？是那个人干的吗？”

　　“乔治，安静！”威斯里太太打断他。

　　“不论如何，”威斯里先生说，提高他的声音，“这次威利因为把咬人的门把手出售给麻瓜而被捕，我想他是自毁前程，根据这篇文章，二个麻瓜丢了手指，现在在St Mungo接受紧急骨头再植和记忆修改。 想想吧，在St Mungo的麻瓜！ 我想知道他们在哪间病房？” 他看上去十分渴望看到一个指标。

　　“你不是说那个人变成了一条蛇，哈利？” 弗来德问，注意着他父亲的反应。“很大吗？你在夜晚看见他回来，不是吗？” “够了，”威斯里太太说。“疯眼和唐克斯在外面，亚瑟，他们想要来看你。 你们在外面等，”她拉着她的孩子和哈利。“你们下次再来，说再见。快点。” 他们返回走廊。疯眼和唐克斯走进病房，并在他们身后上关门。弗来德竖起眉毛。

　　“好，”他冷静地说，在他的口袋内翻寻，“象那样，不告诉我们任何事情。”

　　“在找这些？”乔治说，拿出一卷看来象肉色线的东西。

　　“你知道我在想什么，”弗来德露出牙齿笑道。“让我们看看St Mungo的病房上是否有咒语，怎样？”

　　他和乔治解开这根线，并且把五只窃听耳朵相互分开。弗来德和乔治分给周围的每人一只。哈利犹豫不决。

　　“来吧，哈利，戴上它！你救了爸爸的生命。如果说谁有窃听他的权利，那就是你。”

　　哈利禁不住笑得露出牙齿，他抓住细绳的末端插入他的耳朵，那对双胞胎已经戴好了。

　　“好，去！”弗来德低声地说。

　　肉色的线象细长的虫子一样扭曲，在门下蜿蜒前进。最初，哈利什么也没听到， 当他突然听到唐克斯耳语般清楚的说话声，好象她就站在他旁边时，他吓得跳起来。 “他们搜寻整个地区，但是什么地方都找不到蛇。看起来它攻击你之后就消失了，亚瑟。但是那个人只希望一条蛇进来吗？”

　　“我认为他把这作为一个警告，”穆迪咆哮道，“他以后难道会有这样的运气？不，我认为他试图更清楚的了解情况，如果亚瑟没到那里，那只野兽就会有更多的时间到处看看。所以，波特说他看见它发生？”

　　“是，”威斯里太太说。她听起来相当不安。“你知道，丹伯多 好像一直等哈利看见这样的事情。” “是，嗯，”穆迪说，“哈利有些地方很有意思，我们都知道。”

　　当我今天早晨我和他谈话时，丹伯多好像在担心哈利。”威斯里太太低声地说。

　　“他当然担心，”穆迪咆哮道，“这个男孩从那个人的蛇眼里看见这件事。 显而易见，哈利没有意识到那意味着什么，但是那个人在控制他 -”

　　哈利掏出窃听耳朵，心脏剧烈地跳动，热血涌到他的脸上。他看着其他人，他们都注视他，耳朵里仍然挂着那条线，看起来十分害怕。

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